CORNELL |
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

 

 

JACOB H. SCHIFF

ENDOWMENT FOR STUDIES
IN
HUMAN CIVILIZATION

 

 

  
 
   

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Cornell University Library

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lin/Kroch Library
DATE DUE

 
 
HISTORY

OF THE

Old Baltimore Conference

FROM THE

Planting of Methodism

TO

The Division of the Conference

IN 1857

BY

JAMES EDWARD ARMSTRONG
Secretary of the Baltimore Conference, M. E. Church, South.

ae EAE SE Oe

Printed for the Author
By KING BROS., PRINTERS,
Baltimore,

1907.
COPYRIGHT,
1907,
BY JAMES EDWARD ARMSTBONG.
TO MY COMRADES WHO HAVE STOOD SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
THROUGH THE HEAT AND BURDEN OF THE DAY

TO THE YOUNG MEN TO WHOM IT IS MORNING AND

TO THE OLD MEN WHO WATCH FOR THE DAWN OF THE DAY THAT
WILL HAVE NO NIGHT

TO THE THOUSANDS OF METHODISTS IN THE BOUNDS OF
THE OLD BALTIMORE CONFERENCE

THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
INTRODUCTION.

 

The writer of this History was admitted on trial
into the Old Baltimore Conference at its session in
Hagerstown, Maryland, in March, 1853, four years
before the division into the Baltimore and East Balti-
more Conferences. At the same session John 8.
_ Martin was elected Secretary. Five years later James
E. Armstrong was selected as Assistant Secretary.
These two served the Conference with entire har-
mony and with unsurpassed efficiency until the death
of Dr. Martin in 1888. At the next session, March,
1889, James E. Armstrong was elected to succeed his
much-loved co-worker ; and has continued in office
by unanimous vote of his Conference until this day.
Thus by personal association with many of the “Old
Guard” and by familiarity with the records of the
body from the beginning, he is eminently fitted for
the work he has essayed in this volume.

His own long service in the itinerant ranks, on cir-
cuits, stations, and districts, with unwavering fidelity
and unswerving devotion, gives ample proof that he
has imbibed the spirit of the fathers, and has held
fast the traditions of the old Conference.

In 1906, worn by the unremitting labors of half a
century, and enfeebled by disease, he felt constrained
to ask relief from the requirements and responsibil-
ities of active service ; and has given the leisure of
this closing period of his life to the completion of
vi Introduction.

this work which has been long in his mind, and for
which he had made large preparation.

Those of us who were, in our earlier years, in
association with the survivors of the generation then
passing, will enter heartily into the feeling that
prompted this undertaking. The men of that time,
in their persons and work, brought down to us the
life and power of the pioneers of Methodism. The
intenseness of religious experience, the singleness of
purpose and aim, and the entire independence of
worldly considerations that characterized the early
heroes of the Church had fallen as an inheritance to
these, their successors. Nor were they wanting in
the qualities that were needed to make the kingdom
of God in the earth a compact and effective organi-
zation. If they were “beside themselves to God,”
in their relation to and management of the affairs
affecting the secular side of the church’s life and its
still unforeseen future, they were “sober” sagacious
and skilful. They took account of existing conditions
and possible changes, and built up an economy which
could adjust itself to every need as it should appear,
and lose none of its efficiency. They builded better
than they knew. The result of their labor and
planning is before us in the various Methodisms, all
alike “contending earnestly for the faith once deliv-
ered to the saints,” still “fervent in spirit,” and _
unflagging in endeavor, while by their diversities
they make their appeal to many types of mind and
life, and fit themselves more easily to the manifold
social and civil forms with which they come into

“4
Introduction. vil

relation. Nothing finer, nothing more wonderful,
has been done since Apostolic days.

The men who did such things are worthy to be
“had in everlasting remembrance.” It would be
worse than ingratitude for us, who “have entered
into their labors,” to let them get out of the ken of
this and the coming generations. It would argue a
religious obliquity, failure to discern spiritual rela-
tionship and dependence ; and as time goes on, the
loss of the historic life of Methodism would inevit-
ably result in the loss of the fundamental characters
of that life which have come down to us.

It is something, too, to note how intimately the
fortunes of our country have been bound up with the
life and labors of these heroes of God’s kingdom.
It is undoubtedly due, in no insignificant measure, to
the establishment, all over this land, of well-ordered,
moral, religious communities, that the passion and
lawlessness that many times threatened the very exis-
tence of government did not prevail. The leaven-
ing influence and the repressive power of these un-
pretending messengers of the Gospel cannot be meas-
ured until the day come that will make all things
plain.

We of the Baltimore Conference, above all others,
should keep alive the faith, the evangelical fervor,
the self-devotion of our fathers. In the rush and
confusion of our times, with new forms of life and
business forcing themselves upon our attention, and
new civil and social issues presented to us, we are
apt to imagine that we must make concessions and
vili Introduction.

enter into compromises with the spirit and method
of the times, if we would make our old Gospel effec-
tive in the new age. “ Having begun in the spirit”
we think we “must now be made perfect by the
flesh.” These splendid towers of the city of God
were not builded out of materials furnished by this
world, nor upon foundations laid on the sands of
mere human thought and plan. The men that built
them digged deep, and rested at last upon the con-
sciousness of an immediate personal relation to the
Son of God. They handed that down to us as the
only sure thing, the thing for each man’s experience,
the thing that makes the church eternal, the thing to
be preached to every man that cometh into the
world. It was this that gave these itinerants their
power. It is this that will bear on through the ages
the currents of life in the church.

You will find rich illustrations of these things in
this record of the men of faith and power in the Old
Baltimore Conference. May it stimulate, inspire us
and impel us to sing

“We are traveling home to God
In the way our Fathers trod.”

1601 Park Place, Baltimore, A. W. Wizson.
January 23, 1907.
PREFACE.

 

The justification for an organization formed to
advance spiritual living is tested in two ways: has it
made those whom it has sought to reach in the past
better men for its presence among them? Were its
aims and works so shaped that, in addition to its
influence upon the future through its effect on the
lives of the men of its times, it is still so qualified
and equipped that it will, in the days to come, be an
active power for good? This book seeks to be, in a
measure, an answer to both these questions: first, to
preserve the record of the Old Baltimore Conference
as it wrought for its own period; and secondly, to
show that as an organization it maintained its princi-
ples, and kept them a vital force under changing con-
ditions and in the face of new problems. It will be
observed that the fathers realized the importance of
these questions, and earnestly endeavored at various
periods to present in enduring form a history that
would prove their work, guided by a Divine Hand to
be effectual and successful.

It may have been providential that their purpose
was delayed. They were yet in the midst of a for-
mative period. Nor was the period of maturity
more favorable. A history can not be written with-
out bias in the time of war. The highest obligation
rests on him who attempts it, to give a truthful
x Preface.

statement of facts fully authenticated, and to make
clear that suggestions and inferences are put forward
as such. He must also keep in mind that a state-
ment of all the important or significant facts is essen-
tial to a history worthy of credit.

The author of this history did not undertake the
work on his own motion. The Conference of which
he is a member, on the sixth day of its session, April
2, 1895, in the city of Washington, unanimously
requested him “to write a history of the Baltimore
Conference.” It has taken twelve years to complete
the task pursued in the midst of the exacting duties
pertaining to the regular work of the ministry.

To make available to the student of our Conference
history matter now to be obtained only from the
records and other original sources, has been deemed
by the author a most important duty. But the
adequate presentation of the facts concerning the
origin and development of such a body as the Balti-
more Conference taxes the limits of a single volume.
He has therefore been compelled reluctantly to deny
himself extended excursions into the fields of romantic
incident and pleasing reminiscence.

The history of an epoch or of a great movement is
the aggregate of the history of the individuals of
the times, and the character of those times is the
product of the character of the men who were the
leaders. The Baltimore Conference was the outcome
of the character of the men who formed and built it
up. The dominant element of character with them
Preface. xi

was godliness, expressed in a high type of personal
religion, an intense zeal for souls and for the develop-
ment of a pure and vital religious experience in their
converts.

The philosophy of history is the last and most
delicate work of the historian. Want of time and
space limit the author here, but certain obvious
things are almost necessarily to be mentioned :

1. In the development of Methodism spiritual
power has been gained by division into separate
bodies, rather than by uniting distinct ecclesiastical
organizations. Great revivals and quickened spiritu-
ality followed upon the O’Kelly secession, the Meth-
odist Protestant secession and the division of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844.

2. The Old Baltimore Conference always stood
against dangerous innovations and radicalism in
doctrine and polity. Has not this fact had much to
do with the preservation of high standards of faith
_ and living among preachers and people ?

3. The Old Baltimore Conference maintained the
preaching of the Gospel as the one mission of the
Church, and jealously refused political affiliations
and secular entanglements. Hence her ee
never lost their power.

4. The aim of the preachers of the Old Baltimore
Conference was the salvation of souls and their edi-
fication. Their zeal and ambition were not for eccle-
siastical domination or denominational aggrandize-
ment. Hence they were men of sincere and single
heart and of power with God and man.
xii Preface.

References to authorities and’ to sources of in-
formation will, when necessary, be found in foot
notes at the bottom of the pages. Facts condensed
from the Journals and Files of the Conference are
in most cases left without reference. Permission was
kindly granted by the Publishing House at Nashville,
Tenn. to copy what might be needed from its publi-
cations. To Rev. R. H. Bennett, D. D., of Ran-
dolph-Macon College, the writer is indebted for the
privilege of using the valuable work of his father, the
late Rev. W. W. Bennett, D. D., ‘The Memorials of
Methodism in Virginia.” Rev. John A. Kern, D. D.,
and Rey.Collins Denny, D. D., professors in Vanderbilt
University, have rendered prompt and efficient service,
both in collecting and preparing items of interest.
Rey. W. G. Hammond industriously and carefully
prepared an account of the rise of Methodism in the
Greenbrier country. Rev. W. F. Roberts, of the
Baltimore M. E. Conference, has, from the beginning
of the work, been a faithful friend and helper, and
Rev. J. F. Anderson, Secretary of the Central Penn-
sylvania Conference, has contributed what was needed
in preparing sketches of preachers who, from 1857,
continued their work in the bounds of that Confer-
ence. Information has been sought in the rooms of
the Methodist Historical Societies in Baltimore and in
Harrisburg, Pa. It will not be amiss to add that the
children of the author have greatly aided him in his
work, and have contributed largely to its successful
completion.

Jas. E. ARMSTRONG.

College Park, Va., March 1, 1907.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I—THE PLANTING—1760-1784.

CHAPTER 1.—1760-1769. Early Local Preachers;
Strawbridge and others in Maryland; Baltimore
Town; First Society; William Watters and Philip
Gatch in Northern Maryland; Bush Forest Metho-
dist Laymen

CHAPTER 2.—1770-1774. Boardman, Pilmoor and
Asbury in Northern Maryland; King and Asbury in
Baltimore; Maryland Methodists; Asbury’s First
Circuit in Baltimore and Vicinity; Quarterly Con-
POPONCOS: + iia esa hs-te ee Fes eRe Gh eae donna’

CHAPTER 3.—1775-1776. Early Itinerants; Growth of
Methodism in Maryland; Perry Hall; United Breth-
ren and Otterbein; Fairfax County; Lower Valley
of Virginia; Loudoun............. 0... 00.

CHAPTER 4.—1776-1779. The Revolution and Method-
ism; Persecution; Lovely Lane Conference; Free-
born Garrettson; Asbury on his Circuit; Departure
of English Preachers; Leesburg Conference; Berke-
TOY CCU trina cts cecal SUN aAS AaaeaR Newel aie

CHAPTER 5.—1780-82. Asbury in Retirement; The
Ordinances; Early Locations; Nelson Reed; En-
largement; Garrettson in Pennsylvania; Asbury in
Upper Virginia; Death of Strawbridge .............

CHAPTER 6.—1783. Self-abnegation of Early Preach-
ers—Everett, Bruce, Jesse Lee, Phoebus, Ware,
Isaac Smith, Wilson Lee; Lay Workers—Carnan,
Wright, Gorsuch, Howard...............0ee ec eeeee

CHAPTER 7.—1784. Pioneersin the West; The Green-
brier Country—Keenan, McNeil, Kennison, Valentine
Cook, Ogburn, Edward Mitchell; Allegheny—Red-
stone, Huntingdon and Bedford, Ohio; Review.....

12-22

23-33

34-43

44-55

56-67
Xiv Table of Contents.

PART II—THE ORGANIZATION—1784-1812.

CHAPTER 1.—1784-1791. Thomas Goke; The Christmas
Conference; Light Street Chapel; Cokesbury Col-
lege; Rules; Destroyed by Fire; Baltimore Now the
Centre; Richard Owings; The Council; Sunday
Schools; Death of Wesley; Carson’s Narrative.....

CHAPTER 2.—1792-1799. General Conference; A Radical
Movement; O’Kelly Secession; New Circuits; Val-
entine Cook; Mead at Rehoboth Conference; Asbury
and Heterodoxy; Wyoming; Greenbrier; John
Kobler; First Conference in Harrisonburg; Roszel
and Wells; Scott and Tiffin in Ohio; Coke with
Asbury; Dickens; Benton Riggin....... .........

CHAPTER 3.—1800-1812. First Conference Journal;
Enoch George; Daniel Hitt; General Conference;
Great Revival; Three Original Districts; Freder-
icksburg; Revival at Harrisonburg; Death of Gen-
eral Morgan; James Quinn’s Story; Henry Smith;
Conference in Alexandria; General Conference, 1804;
The Jerks; Lorenzo Dow; Asbury on Married
Preachers; Winchester Conference, 1805; Carson’s
Narrative; S. G. Roszel; Death of Whatcoat; Car-
son at Blacksburg; General Conference, 1808;
McKendree Elected Bishop; Overtures to United
Brethren; Proposed History; Slavery; Review.....

PART III—THE CONSERVATION—1812-1857.

CHAPTER 1.—1812-182U. First Delegated General Con-
ference; Death of Coke and Asbury; Two New
Bishops—George and Roberts; Preachers’ Aid and
Missionary Societies; Jacob Gruber................

CHAPTER 2.—1820-1857. The Presiding Elder Ques-

John Summerfield; General Conference, 1824; Soule
and Hedding elected Bishops....................
Sundry Preachers; The Radical Controversy.......
Passing of Bishop George and Others; Bishop Soule
at the Conference of 18380........................
The Temperance Reform; The College Movement...

101-123

124-170

171-200

201

209
216

220
223
Table of Contents. KV

General Conference, 1832; Andrew and Emory

Bishops wx i'si se s-wesewn ee esa aeh oe qaowe Seeds aes 224
Dickinson College, Established .................... 225-242
Famous Trial; Death of Bishop McKendree........ - 244
Book Concern Burnt; Abolition.................... 248
Bible Society; Death of Bishop Emory............. 252
Centenary of Methodism; Slavery Question........ 257-262
General Conference 1840: Death of Roszel, Cookman

and others; Report on Slavery.................. 264-269
General Conference 1844; Plan of Separation....... 274-277
Report on Separation 1845; Conference of 1846;

Adherence to M. E. Church Conditional.......... 279-283
Wesleyan Female Institute; Border Troubles...... 284-285
Seminaries; General Conference 1848.............. 287-292
Property Question; Baltimore Female College...... 295-296
Movement for Conference Paper; Re-affirmation of

Principles on the Slavery Question..... apis mesaiead 297-303
Conference Divided; Protest against Abolition Agi-

TAiOD ss agninieaceiascatemessee ansibtawdtaey 307-309
Summary; Review; Conclusion................... 310-315
Sketch of Joshua Soule.................. 0.22000 316-324
Appendix A—Clerical Sketches.................... 327-495
Appendix B—Personal Notes and Reminiscences... 496-506
Appendix C—Names of Laymen 1801-1850.,....... 607-511

TOK escsscajcch ca elon awe Le PANS Poulan eee 513-527
ILLUSTRATIONS.

; Facing Page
James Armstrong....... Title

Francis Asbury.......... 1
Mrs. Harry Dorsey Gough 26
Freeborn Garrettson..... 38
Henry Willis............ 42
Robert Strawbridge ..... 54
William McKendree ..... 80
Ordination of Bishop As-
DUTY oasis Guetta eres 83
Thomas Coke........... 89
Valentine Cook.......... 106
Joshua Wells............ 117
Henry Smith............ 134

Stephen George Roszel .. 185
Richard Whatcoat....... 146
Fac-Simile of Page of Con-

ference Journal........

Joshua Soule............

 

Facing Page
Enoch George........... 179
Robert R. Roberts...... 180
John Emory............. 184
John Bear............... 213
Norval Wilson........... 223
Beverly Waugh.......... 249
8. Asbury Roszel........ 270

Thomas B. Sargent (1842). 277
Alpheus W. Wilson (1853). 300

John §. Martin.......... 305
William Gwynn Coe...... 349
S. Samuel Roszel........ 448

Thomas B. Sargent (1872). 453
William G. Eggleston.... 492
Alpheus W. Wilson (1907). 492
Fac-Simile of Love-Feast

Tickets... esac swans
 

FRANCIS ASBURY
History of Methodism

—IN THE—

OLD BALTIMORE CONFERENCE.

PART I—The Planting.

CHAPTER I.

The history of the Baltimore Conference as to its
territorial limits properly begins with the first year
of the last century (1801). The preceding period
was a time of planting, the conditions of which were
of the simplest kind. Without any human prevision
or concert of action the movement began about the
year 1760. Two local preachers, both from Ireland,
emigrated to this country. Robert Strawbridge, a
genuine Irishman, settled on Sam’s Creek, Frederick
County, Maryland. Philip Embury, though born in
Treland, was of German extraction, his father’s
family being from the Palatinate. He resided in
New York city, a carpenter working at his trade.
Strawbridge was a tiller of the soil. Both, like their
Divine Master, began their work in the humblest
places and preached the gospel to the poor. Straw-
bridge had no sooner found his lowly home (about
1760), than he began to preach and organize socie-
ties. Embury, more diffident, waited several years,
and was then aroused to ministerial effort only by
2 Part I—The Planting.

the earnest appeal of Barbara Heck, in 1766. Next
followed Robert Williams, with license to preach —
from Mr. Wesley. He arrived in New York, 1769,
began his work in Embury’s Chapel,’ pushed south-
ward, and helped Strawbridge (1772) to plant
Methodism in Baltimore County and on the Eastern
Shore of Maryland. The same year (1772) he
appeared in Norfolk, Virginia, formed the first
society there, and became the “ Apostle of Method-
ism” in that State. He was the “first Methodist
preacher to publish a book, the first that married,
the first that located, and the first that died.”
Jesse Lee, the founder of Methodism in New Eng-
land, was among the first fruits of his ministry.
His ardor led him to enter North Carolina, and to
open the way for the further advance southward of
Methodism. A few months after the arrival of
Williams in New York, came John King, known to
Mr. Wesley in England. Philadelphia was his
starting point. He soon found, in Maryland, Straw-
bridge and Williams, and they together formed an
invincible trio of zealous workers. He has the dis-
tinction of introducing Methodism into Baltimore,
preaching from a blacksmith’s block, at the intersec-
tion of Front and French streets, soon after, from a
table on the corner of Baltimore and Calvert streets,
and then from the pulpit of St. Paul’s, (Church of
England) near the corner of Charles and Saratoga
streets, where it is said he beat the dust out of the
old velvet cushion and woke the audience with

 

ISee Atkinson, page 102, Robert Emory.
2Wakeley’s Lost Chapters, page 20.
Baltimore Town 1780. 3

Boanergian thunder. He went to Virginia, co-
operating with Williams, and thence, into North
Carolina, where, after arduous and successful labors
in New Jersey and other points, he located in 1778.

Strawbridge, Embury, Webb, Williams, King—
irregulars, voluntary heralds of the great Methodist
movement in America—heroes of faith, today known
and read of all men, their lives and deeds are
recorded in imperishable annals. Their memory will
be blessed forever. It is needless to repeat, in all
its details, the well-known story here, nor does the
scope of this work require it. So, also, must suffice
the brief outline sketch of the appointed missiona-
ries, who, following these faithful forerunners, found
‘a people made ready for the Lord.”

At the very time the Wesleys were organizing the
“ Holy Club” at Oxford University, England, 1729,
Baltimore Town, in the colony of Maryland, was
being laid out. Of its site an eminent authority
has written: “It is a meeting place of many things.
It lies at the head of tidewater, or junction of the
foot-hills with the plain; at the junction of the
granite, gneiss and slate with the deposit of gravel,
clay and iron ore; at the junction of the region of
oaks, chestnuts and beeches, with that of pines and
magnolias. Its mild climate, with a mean tempera-
ture of 54°, and its exemption from epidemics, make
it, in these respects, the most favored of all the cities
on the Atlantic seaboard; yet it grew but slowly,
and in twenty years (from 1730), had only twenty
dwellings and one hundred people.”’ Its advance

 

1Browne’s History of Maryland, page 211.
4 Part I—The Planting.

in population was much more rapid during the next
twenty years. In 1773 it numbered about 5,000, but
its material improvements were not commensurate
with the increase of inhabitants. The town proper
began at the corner of Pratt and Light streets.
Extending northwesterly to Sharp street, it was
turned by “a great gully” northeasterly to a preci-
pice, near Charles and Saratoga streets, where St.
Paul’s Church stood, overlooking the town and the
bay. Close under this cliff, Jones’ Falls, with
meadows on the eastern side, over which the cattle
were grazing, pursued its winding way to Lexing-
ton and Calvert streets, the head of deep tide water,
where vessels were often moored, then by various
courses reached Pratt street. Fell’s Point, at that
time almost an island, was separated from Baltimore
Town by wide marshes and inlets. Jones’ Town
comprised three streets on the northeast side of the
Falls, and in procees of time extending northward
became Old Town. Baltimore Town and its suburbs
are described by the earliest historian as “ having
no pavements, no police or street lights till after the
Revolution ; there were pools of stagnant water in
the heart of the town, and in the autumn and spring,
the mud rendered the main streets almost impassa-
ble.” Such was its condition when John King
(1770) proclaimed for the first time the Wesleyan
interpretation of the Gospel; nor had it improved
when, two years later, Asbury made his entrance
into what must have appeared to him only a scat-
tered village. How must it not have grown when,

 

1Griffith’s Early History of Maryland.
Methodism in Northern Maryland. 5

twenty years afterwards, Chateaubriand, the cele-
brated French author and diplomatist, visited it in
1791, and described it as “a handsome town, very
clean and very lively.”” During these two decades
the population had increased from five thousand to
thirteen thousand five hundred.

The first Methodist Society of forty members,
June, 1772,’ numbered, in 1792, nine hundred
and forty-one.

Methodism was slow in its approach to Baltimore,
compared with its progress in the contiguous country
places. It is not difficult to understand the reasons.
Outranked by the older town of Annapolis, which
had been for seventy-five years the seat of the Colon-
ial government, Baltimore had neither the popula-
tion nor the prestige of a metropolis. For thirty
years it had a fierce struggle with its rival, Joppa,
some twenty miles northeast, at the head of naviga-
tion on the Gunpowder River, and was just entering
upon its more rapid development in 1772. Straw-
bridge, who, in 1760, had settled on Sam’s Creek,
thirty miles northwest of Baltimore, naturally organ-
ized societies radiating from his humble home to
those rural districts where the open doors invited
him to enter. This section of the colony was peo-
pled mostly by German immigrants from Ireland,
originally driven from the Palatinate, and the first
churches built were either Lutheran or Reformed,
and distinctly Calvinistic in doctrine. Whitefield,

 

lAsbury says, ‘‘Jan. 3, 1773. After meeting the Society I
settled a class of men, and on the following evening a class of
women.”
6 Part I—The Planting.

as far back as 1740, had labored in Bohemia Manor,
on Elk Run, in Cecil county, and doubtless prepared
the ground for the more extended work of Straw-
bridge and his fellow laborers twenty-five years
later. It was here that Asbury preached his first
sermon in Maryland, April, 1772. It was included
in the first regular itinerant work organized by
Asbury, and called Philadelphia Circuit. His com-
panion on the ocean voyage, Richard Wright, went
by direction of Boardman, then Mr. Wesley’s ‘“Assis-
tant,” or Superintendent of the American work, to
the help of Strawbridge, King and Williams, and
established three appointments in and near Bohemia
Manor (1772), at the residence of Solomon Hersey,
Thompson’s schoolhouse and Back Creek.! Board-
man and Pilmoor, the first missionaries sent to
America by Mr. Wesley, arrived in Philadelphia,
October 24, 1769.2 They alternated three times a
year between the cities of New York and Philadel-
phia with encouraging success. They both made
occasional excursions into the adjacent country.
Pilmoor preached in Baltimore as early ‘as 1772.
He remained there eleven days, preaching every
day and three time on Sunday, and forming a society
of 40 persons. Mr. Boardman soon afterwards fol-
lowed him to Maryland and preached in Baltimore.’

Fifteen persons or more constituted the ‘first
society in Maryland and America,” * at the house of

 

1Lednum, page 63.

Armenian Magazine, 1785.

’Pilmoor’s Journal. See Atkinson’s Beginnings of the Wes-
eyan Movement in America, page 338.1

JAsbury’s Journal, Vol. 1, page 27. 3
First Society in Maryland and America. 7

Robert Strawbridge.' Their names have fortunately
been preserved: John Evans, William Durbin,
William Daman, George Havener, Richard Smith,
Thomas Leakin, James Crawford, Robert Walker,
William Snader, Thomas Donaldson, Daniel Stephen-
son, Philip Nicodemus, Andrew Poulson, Jacob Cas-
sell, George Logman, (with their wives and some
children). Afterwards were added John Todd,
George Saxton, Mrs. Alexander Warfield, Hezekiah
Bonham, John and Paul Hagerty. Some of these
names are still extant in Maryland Methodism. The
son of William Durbin was a traveling preacher and
died triumphantly in 1805. Samuel Merryman also
became a member at Sam’s Creek.

Strawbridge gathered the first society in Baltimore
county at the home of Daniel Evans, near Baltimore.
Names that have become famous in the annals of
Methodism were on the class book of that society.
Richard Owings, the first native American local
preacher labored usefully in this relation until the
last two years of his life, when he was honored by
admission into the traveling connection, and died in
Leesburg, Va., in 1786. It was his privilege (1781)
to preach the funeral sermon of Robert Strawbridge.
He is described in the Minutes as ‘‘a man of honest
heart, plain address, good utterance and sound judg-
ment.” Three other local preachers came from the
same society, all men of high character: Sater
Stephenson, Isaac Rollin, and Nathan Perrigo (living

1Wm. Hamilton in Quarterly Review, 1866. See also Led-
num, page 70.
8 Part I—The Planting.

six miles northeast of Baltimore), the spiritual father
of Philip Gatch).

Baltimore county, at that period, extended to the
Susquehanna river, including Harford county, which
was set off in 1773. It was in this section that
Richard Webster, in 1768, was converted. His house
became a home for the preachers, and he himself, for
a short time, was in the traveling connection, after-
ward useful as a local preacher. Thomas Bond and
his first wife were brought into the Methodist Society
under the preaching of Strawbridge. Two of their
sons became widely known in the subsequent history
of Methodism. Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Sr., was for
a number of years, editor of the Christian Advocate
and Journal, and the Rev. John Wesley Bond was
the last traveling companion of Bishop Asbury.
Under the preaching of Strawbridge, King and Wil-
liams, William Watters, the first native American
itinerant, was (1770) convicted of sin; and in May,
1771, at a prayer meeting held in the same house
in which he was born a child of wrath, he was also
born a child of grace. Deer Creek was the home of
the notable family of Watters. There were seven
brothers, all of whom within one year professed
faith in Christ and joined the Methodists. Nicholas
entered the traveling connection in 1776, three years
after his brother William, and after a faithful min-
istry, died in Charleston, 8. C., 1804. Another
brother also entered the ministry in the local ranks:

Philip Gatch’ was born, 1751, on what has long
been known as the “Gatch Farm,” near Baltimore.

 

1John McLean’s, Memoir.
Philip Gatch. 9

He had nearly attained the age of twenty-one, when
he heard Nathan Perrigo, under whose prayer he
became alarmed, and whose sermon thoroughly
awakened him. For four months he was in deep
distress and almost in despair. During a prayer
meeting at a neighbor’s house he was powerfully
converted. In a short time, his parents, most of
their children, a brother-in-law, and others fonnd
peace in believing, and joined the church. He soon
began to exhort. Rankin met him at a quarterly
meeting in Baltimore county, and commissioned him
as a traveling preacher. Born in the same year as
William Watters, and converted one year after his
noble comrade, he was the second native itinerant,
and destined to become famous both east and
west as one of the most zealous and successful
pioneers of Methodism. His name should have ap-
peared in the Minutes of 1773; since, as Watters
failed to reach his appointment in New Jersey, he
was sent by Rankin to supply it.

The second house of worship in Maryland was
erected in Bush Forest, in Baltimore (afterwards
Harford) county, either in 1769 or 1770. It is
presumable that Strawbridge, having been instru-
mental in building the church, organized the first
society there. It must indeed have been a primitive
structure, since Asbury describes it, in 1772, as
“having no windows and doors.” He adds: “In
the cold weather my heart pitied the people. Put-
ting my handkerchief over my head, I preached two
sermons, giving an hour’s intermission, and such was
10 Part I—The Planting.

the eagerness of the people to hear the word that
they waited all the time in the cold.”

The zeal and enterprise of Strawbridge led him to
push forward into Kent, where at Worten, in the
house of John Randall, in 1770, he delivered his
message. Joined soon after by Richard Owings, he
preached in Georgetown, and crossing the Potomac
river, planted societies in Fairfax county, Virginia.

The records have fortunately preserved to us the
names of those who were brought into fellowship
with these earnest local preachers. The region
between Baltimore and the Susquehanna river,
directly on the main highway between north and
south, became the centre of Methodist influence.

From testimony of Freeborn Garrettson,’ Richard
Webster was converted under Strawbridge in 1768.
James Baker, from the Forks of Gunpowder, deputy
surveyor of the county, happening to be in Balti-
more Town, and attracted by the crowd in attend-
ance upon the first appearance of John King, sat
upon his horse, and listened to the sermon. It
proved to be “the power of God” unto his salva-
tion. He is said to have been the first Methodist
convert in Baltimore. For sixty-four years he
adorned the profession of faith among the Metho-
dists, and died (1835) in the city of Baltimore, at
the advanced age of ninety-one years.

Henry Bowman? heard King during his first visit
to Maryland. He came to scoff but went away to

 

1 Life of Garrettson, page 248.
?Lednum, page 67.
Early Methodists. Il

pray. He lived and died a happy Methodist.
Joseph Presbury, also converted under King, led the
meeting when William Watters was saved. Stan-
ford became a local preacher, and, years later,
Henry Smith found him in Kentucky, still in the
faith.

William Duke, a personal friend of Captain Webb,
by whom he was presented with his Greek Testa-
ment, was admitted into the traveling connection,
1775, spent four years in the work. Returning to
his original denomination, he lived for many years a
Protestant Episcopal clergyman, and died in Elkton,
Cecil county, Maryland, in 1840.

The names of Giles, Forwood, Moore, Sinclair,
Aquilla Galloway, Colgate, M. Brown, Murray, Bar-
nett Preston, Richard and Josias Dallam are to be
added to the memorable list, furnishing the nucleus
around which should gather equally illustrious
names in the near future, under the ministry of
Asbury and his co-adjutors.
12 Part I—The Planting.

CHAPTER II.

Tidings of these wonderful movements in the new
world could not fail to reach the ears of Mr. Wesley
and his preachers in the mother country. They
produced a profound impression, and led to the
appointment of two of the best men of the Wesleyan
Conference, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor,
to take charge of the work, and place it in line with
the now settled organization in Great Britain. The
year 1769, and the Conference at Leeds, constitute
the time and place of this most important action.
Boardman was thirty-one years of age and had spent
about six years in the itinerancy. His training,
brief but thorough, had fitted him for the position
of leader in the work, and to be entitled Mr. Wesley’s
Assistant in America. Pilmoor, though younger,
was none the less prepared to fulfil the mission to
which he had been called. Both are described as
possessed of admirable qualities that eminently
fitted them for their work. Not very long after they
had begun to preach, alternating between Phila-
delphia and New York, Whitefield gave them his
greeting und blessing as he passed through Phila-
delphia, on his way north, for the last time. Reach-
ing Newburyport, Massachusetts (1770), the great
evangelist closed his glorious career, preaching to
the very last night of his life.

The year 1770 seems to begin the era of the sys-
tematic planting of Methodism by these two Wes-
leyans. Great awakening and continuous revivals
Francis Asbury. 13

were the results of their earnest efforts. They
pushed southward, and Pilmoor extended his jour-
ney even as far as Georgia, visiting in Savannah
the orphan school that Whitefield had founded.
“America” is the one missionary circuit, with
three hundred and sixteen members in Society, now
for the first time reported to Mr. Wesley. Four
regular itinerants, Boardman, Pilmoor, Williams and
King, occupied the field. The call for new recruits
was urgent. Two, Francis Asbury and Richard
Wright, were appointed.

In the parish of MHandsforth, Staffordshire,
Francis Asbury was born, the only son of humble
but intelligent parents. The mother was devout,
leading her husband to a religious life, and her son
to correct conduct, to the love of the Scriptures, and
ultimately to the Methodists, where he was first
surprised, and then delighted, with their service,
their singing, and their devout worship. Testing
his own experience by the new doctrine of assurance,
he was convicted, and finally, at a meeting in his
father’s house, he believed that “the Lord had
pardoned his sins and justified his soul.” At the
age of seventeen he began to hold meetings. A year
later he was licensed to preach, and at his majority
started out as an itinerant preacher, filling, as a
supply, a vacant charge. Five years’ experience in
the active work of the ministry not only gave proof
of his capacity, zeal and industry, but discovered to
the discerning eye of Wesley those qualities of
leadership which so eminently filled him for the
highest post of honor and responsibility. This
14 Part I—The Planting.

relation virtually began in 1772, was confirmed
in his ordination to the Episcopal office in 1784,
and was maintained with unabating zeal, unflinching
courage and incessant activity to the latest hour of
his life.

The faculty of organization, so predominant in
Mr. Wesley, reveals itself in Asbury in the very first
observation he makes after his arrival in America.
He reached Philadelphia, October 27, 1771, met
with Pilmoor and preached several times. Novem-
ber 12th he set out for New York, where he found
Boardman, “in peace, but weak in body.” He
preached day after day, but became restless. “I
have not the thing which I seek for—a circulation
of preachers to avoid partialty and popularity.”
Two days later he chafes again: “I judge we are to
be shut up in the cities this winter. My brethren
seem unwilling to leave the cities, but I think I
shall show them the way.” And show them he did,
both by planning and example. The tendency had
been strong to a settled pastorate. To Asbury’s
inflexible purpose and indefatigable journeys and
labors, will American Methodism, under God, be
ever indebted for the inauguration and perpetuity of
the itinerant system, and its marvelous results.
In one year from his arrival in Philadelphia, so
fully had he revealed his peculiar qualifications for
leadership, that the sagacious Wesley appointed him
“Assistant,” or General Superintendent, of the
American Societies, though he was but twenty-
seven years of age.
Asbury in Training. 15

It is true that, possibly at the instance of Asbury
himself, Thomas Rankin superseded him in 1773,
by appointment of Mr. Wesley, as General Assistant
over the American Societies. That clear-headed
and honest Scotchman was probably needed to give,
by his wise and firm administration, body and sys-
tem to the crude elements that had hitherto been
gathered into the Methodist Societies. That Asbury
fell into line with the same readiness that had
marked the retirement of Boardman is evidenced by
the enthusiastic reception accorded to Rankin and
Shadford on their arrival in Philadelphia, and the
cheerful acceptance of his appointment at what has
been called the First American Methodist Con-
ference.! Providence, turning to good account the
changing circumstances of time, so ordered that this
interval should afford opportunity for the thorough
training of the future great Bishop of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Standing with a loyal and un-
faltering devotion in the ranks, the observant eye of
Asbury watched the progress and development of the
work, until Thomas Rankin and his fellow-laborer,
George Shadford, felt impelled, in the Spring of
1778, to return to the mother country. The “Calm
Address” of Mr. Wesley, and the imprudent conduct
of Martin Rodda, one of the missionaries sent over
by him, brought about this result and left Asbury

 

1Hitherto the meetings had been only casual, and were
termed ‘‘Some Conversations,” but in 1785 they are to take
the name of ‘‘Conferences”—the annual gathering of the
‘traveling preachers,” with an order of business. Not until
seventeen years later did the term include also the territorial
limits, even thereafter to be clearly defined.
16 Part I—The Planting.

the sole representative of the English Wesleyans, but
thenceforth to remain the true leader of the native
preachers until the close of his life.

The vicinity of New York became Asbury’s first
field of labor after his arrival in this country in
1771.1 It was not long before the power of the man
began to be felt and his mission recognized. After
his appointment by Wesley to the superintendency
of the societies, he moved southward, preaching
almost daily. Crossing the Susquehannah, he found
comfortable quarters at Friend Nathaniel Giles’,
where they had a family meeting, and at which
Richard Webster gave a moving exhortation. He
preached first sermon at Rock Run, then at Mr.
Morgan’s on Deer Creek, next at Samuel Litten’s, a
converted Quaker, then at Henry Watters’, where
“they had a powerful meeting.” Here he was at
headquarters and fonnd many warm in their first
love. He was astonished at the marvellous work of
God in transforming the worst of sinners into happy
saints, and rejoiced with those whose lips, once foul
with profanity, were now filled with the praises of
God. In rapid succession he visited and preached
at Samuel Forwood’s, Richard Webster’s, the widow
Bond’s, Charles Baker’s, J. Moore’s, Sinclair’s,
Aquilla Stanford’s, Galloway’s and Chamberlain’s.
Coming nearer to Baltimore, we find him preaching
at Philip Gatch’s, John Colgate’s and Richard
Owings’ ; then pushing on to the home of Straw-
bridge, he found hospitable welcome there, and, with

 

1Lednum, page 83.
Baltimore Societies. 17

Durbin and Saxton, went to Frederica (now Fred-
erick City,) where many came to hear him. The
old log meeting house on Sam’s Creek, on the fol-
lowing Sunday, (November 22,) was his preaching
place.’ Interesting as it must have been, he tarried
not in this first home of American Methodism ; but
accompanied by John and Paul Hagerty and Heze-
kiah Bonham, he filled another appointment on the
same day, then preached at Durbin’s; again at
Westminster. Returning to Richard Owings’, he
“preached with much feeling to many people ;”
thence to Joshua Owings’ (father of Richard), whose
piety deeply impressed him; and on to Samuel
Merryman’s and Daniel Evans’, near Baltimore.

The first visit of Asbury to Baltimore was in
company with John King, about the middle of
November, 1772. They tarried but a night. It was
a brief survey of the field, which was soon to yield a
rich fruitage.

Just two years before, King had for the first time
in this town preached on the street corners to groups
of people, who listened with eager curiosity, some
with deep conviction to his vehement appeals.
Boardman and Williams followed in quick succes-
sion. A month previous to Asbury’s entrance into
the city, William Watters, starting from Harford on
his itinerant career, accompanying Robert Williams
to Virginia, stopped in Baltimore to preach his third
sermon. On the 28th of November, 1772,? Asbury
“preached at the Point the first time,” and on Sun-

 

‘Lednum, page 84.
2 Asbury’s Journal, volume 1, page 34.
2
18 Part I—The Planting.

day morning the crowd filled Captain Patton’s house
to hear him again. Crossing the Falls, he “dined
with William Moore,” and “preached in town at
three and six o’clock.” Soon two societies were
organized. Jesse Hollingsworth, George Wells,
Richard Moale, George Robinson and John Wood-
ward, constituted the first class at Fells Point.
William Moore, a Mrs. Moore, whose short but
happy Christian life closed with rapturous fervor
and glorious triumph, Philip Rogers and his saintly
mother, Samuel Owings and his wife, Mrs. Triplett,
whose house was the second preaching place in Bal-
timore Mrs. Rachel Hulings, useful, devoted and
zealous, Mrs. Chamier, Mrs. Martha Allison, sensi-
ble and pious, a class leader among the women,
and, at a later date, Hawkins, Fonerden, McCannon
and Chamberlin were distinguished as leaders and
supporters of the cause in Baltimore Town.

One year after Mr. Asbury first visited Baltimore,
November, 1773, he, “assisted by Jesse Hollings-
worth, George Wells, Richard Moale, George Robin-
son, and John Woodward,” purchased (at five shill-
ings) the lot sixty feet on Strawberry alley, and
seventy-five feet on Fleet street, for a house of wor-
ship,' the only original Methodist structure extant in
the city. The following year Mr. William Moore and
Mr. Philip Rogers took up two lots of ground, and
erected a church in Lovely Lane, founded April 18,
17742 This building was completed prior to the

 

1 The building was still standing when Bishop Galloway and
the writer visited it in 1896. :
2William Hamilton, Methodist Quarterly, July, 1856.
Maryland Methodist Families. 19

occupancy of the chapel on Strawberry alley, and
was the seat of the first Conference that met in Bal-
timore, May 21, 1776, twenty-three preachers pres-
ent. At the Christmas Conference in the same house
(1784), sixty preachers participated in the organiza-
tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. Coke
tells in his journal, of the refitting that took place
for that momentous occasion ; how the benches were
furnished with backs, a gallery constructed, and for
the first time a stove provided to warm it. The stir-
ring appeals of this first Missionary Bishop in
Methodism, brought about the sale of Lovely Lane
Chapel, in 1785, and the erection, near its site, of
the Light Street Chapel. The last vestiges of both
these old landmarks of Methodism, together with
the third old Light Street Church, have disappeared,
and the stranger passing down Light street would
never dream, as he crossed German street, that he
was stepping on ground hallowed by the sacred
memories of over a hundred years.

It must not be forgotten that the appointment of
Francis Asbury to Baltimore in 1773, included all
the adjacent territory lying in Frederick, Balti-
more, Harford, Kent and Cecil counties, His col-
leagues were Strawbridge, Whitworth and Yearbry.'
He had much fruit from his labor, both in confirm-
ing the young disciples, and briging sinners to God.
Francis Hollingsworth, a gentleman of large estate
near Baltimore, became a Methodist, and many of
the same name and family have been in union with

 

lLednum, page 115.
20 Part I—The Planting.

them. Mr. F. Hollingsworth, probably a son of
this gentleman, and a spiritual son of Mr. Asbury,
transcribed his journal.

Wm. Lynch, of Patapsco Neck, was brought to
the Lord this year. He became a useful traveling
preacher, a man of more than ordinary powers of
speech, and of holy life, dying triumphantly, 1806.
Joseph Cromwell, a stiff old Churchman near Balti-
more, differing from his parson about predestination,
offered his house as a preaching place for the Meth-
odists. Joseph and James Cromwell became travel-
ing preachers. At Elk Ridge the Worthingtons
became staunch supporters of Methodism. Mr.
Asbury describes the place as “wealthy and wicked.”
A society was formed there, but with so few male
members, that, even after a lapse of twenty-two
years, a few good women composed the board of
trustees.

Joseph Taylor, who married Sarah, a sister of
Rev. Philip Gatch, became a Methodist. Their
descendants still live on the old place near Govans-
town, and Taylor’s Chapel in sight of the house is
still a preaching place. John Dougherty and his
wife belonged to this Society, and after a faithful
life, died in a good old age in the hope of glory.

Phineas Hunt and Susan, his wife, were among
the first to unite with the Methodists under the
earliest preachers. For sixty years the weary
itinerants found.a congenial resting place in the
home of this pious couple. Father Hunt died in
1837. Hunt’s Chapel, built about 1780, was for
many years a well-known appointment; and upon
Maryland Methodist Families. 21

the same site there is still a Methodist church.
Daniel Ruff was a native of Harford county, Mary-
land, near Havre de Grace. He was brought to God
during the great revival of 1771. The next year his
house became a preaching place. In 1773 he began
to exhort his neighbors to “flee from the wrath to
come,” and turned many of them to the Saviour.
Mr. Asbury, in his journal, refers to him: ‘Honest,
simple Daniel Ruff, has been made a great blessing
to these people. Such is the wisdom and power of
God, that He has wrought marvellously by this
plain man, that no flesh may glory in His presence.”’
He was received on trial in 1774, and appointed to
Chester Circuit.

We may form some idea of the labors of Asbury
and his colleagues in 1773, on Baltimore Circuit, by
the list of their preaching places. Pipe’s Creek,
Bush Forest, John Watters’, Henry Watters’ (near
Deer Creek), Barnet Preston’s, Josias Wm. Dal-
lam’s, Joseph Presbury’s, James J. Baker’s (near
the Forks of Gunpowder), Daniel Ruff’s (near Havre
de Grace), William Duke’s, Daniel Evans’, Owings’,
Nathan Perrigo’s, Simms’, Patapsco Neck, Back
River Neck, Middle River Neck, Bush River Neck,
Fell’s Point, Baltimore, Charles Harriman’s, Hunt’s,
Seneca, Georgetown on the Potomac, Sugar Loaf
Mountain ; and on the Eastern Shore : Solomon Her-
sey’s (Bohemia Manor), John Randall’s (at Wor-
ten’s), and at Hinson’s, in Kent county ;’ in all
thirty societies, comprising five hundred members—
nearly one-half of the entire connection. What a

 

1Lednum, page 119.
22 Part I—The Planting.

glorious year must it not have been for these inde-
fatigable itinerants, since they could report, at the
next meeting of the Conference, from their large
circuit, no less than one thousand and sixty-three
members !

As we gather from Asbury’s Journal and other
sources of information, the Quarterly Meeting Con-
ferences became during this year, under the manage-
ment of their ever present head, the centres of relig-
ious power, the occasions of enthusiastic assembly
for the Methodist people, and the points of attrac-
tion for the unconverted multitudes. Preaching,
praying, singing, exhortation and the inculcation of
discipline appear to have constituted the chief
business. Great awakenings, many conversions, and
large measures of comfort to the infant church
invariably followed these meetings. They proved to
be the means of reconciling differences of opinion,
and of keeping the societies in unity and peace.
The tide of religious feeling swept away narrow
predjudices, whilst the rigid discipline of the great
organizer gave order and stability to the crude ele-
ments that were gathered from all classes into
Methodist fellowship. Grand was the opportunity,
and grandly did Asbury improve it. The year 1773
was an era in the history of the Baltimore Con-
ference.
. Early Preachers. 23

CHAPTER III.

At the Conference of 1774, Kent and Frederick
were taken from Baltimore Circuit. Abraham Whit-
worth was assigned to Kent; Philip Gatch and
William Duke to Frederick; George Shadford,
Edward Drumgole, Richard Webster and Robert
Lindsay to Baltimore. Shadford proved to be a
man after Asbury’s heart. They were knit together
in the closest ties of friendship... When Shadford
was about to return to England in 1778, the parting
between them was most affecting. He was a man of
ferved eloquence, great tenderness of feeling and
readiness for any opportunity of usefulness. The
first trophy he won to Christ and to the Methodist
itinerancy after his arrival in Baltimore, was Joseph
Cromwell, before mentioned. Robert Lindsay was
an Irishman, who remained in this country three
years, then returned to England, where he continued
in the Wesleyan Ministry till 1788. Drumgole, also
an Irishman, renounced Romanism in 1770, came to
this country through the instrumentality of Straw-
bridge, was brought into the full assurance of faith,
and began to preach in 1773. Richard Webster,
as we have already seen, was one of the earliest
Methodists of Harford county. His name appears
on the Minutes in the appointments for 1774 and
1775, but he was never received on trial. He
married early, located, but never relaxed his efforts
to do good. For nearly fifty years, around his home

 

1$tevens’ Hist: vol. 1, page 243.
24 Part I—The Planting.

near Abingdon, Maryland, he preached and labored
to promote the cause he so dearly loved.

Isaac Rollin was the third native American to
become a traveling preacher. Born and reared in
Patapsco Neck, he professed religion about 1770,
and in December, 1772, Asbury appointed him to
labor in Kent and Cecil counties, with Richard
Webster and John King. In 1774, he was sent
to Brunswick and remained in lower Virginia till
1778. In 1781, he was sent to Pennsylvania, where
he withdrew, and set up for himself. His death was
occasioned in 1783 by a fall from his horse.’

Whitworth was an Englishman who traveled and
preached in New Jersey, in 1772, where the famous
Benjamin Abbott was awakened under his ministry.
In 1773, under the direction of Asbury, he traveled
the first half of the year in Frederick, was then sent
to Kent, where he was successful in his work, and
was returned as preacher in charge. Within two
months after his return he suddenly and sadly fell.
Said Asbury, when the news reached him: “ Alas
for that man! he has been useful but was puffed up,
and so fell into the snare of the devil.” Gatch had
made but two or three rounds on Frederick Circuit,
when he was ordered to Kent to take the place of
the first apostate from the Methodist connection.
The story of his preaching on his first Sabbath at
the very place where the cause of God had been so
sorely wounded ; of his persecutors ; of the revivals
which followed his preaching, the most powerful one

 

1Lednum, page 389.
Advance. 25

occurring at the place where the offense had been
committed ; of the conversion of Philip Cox, after-
wards a useful traveling preacher ; of the opposition
by Parson Kain—all is told with thrilling interest in
Judge McLean’s Memoir of Gatch."

Frederick Circuit, the birthplace of American
Methodism, embraced all that territory north of
Baltimore which afterwards was comprised in Fred-
erick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington and Alle-
gheny counties. It had grown but slowly during
fourteen years in consequence of the predominance
of Calvinistic Lutheranism, deeply embedded in the
stolid German mind. But from 1774, with 175
members in society, its advance was more rapid,
nearly doubling its numbers in one year. From
year to year the increase was steady, until Metho-
dism securely planted itself in the heart and life of
the people.

Strawbridge and his spiritual son, Richard Owings
had, in the earlier days of Methodism, crossed the
Potomac from Georgetown and penetrated into
Fairfax ‘county, Virginia, where in 1773 the house
of Wm. Adams became a preaching place. From
that starting point, Methodism made its way north-
ward to the Valley of Virginia, then keeping for
awhile close along the banks of the Potomac, until
it joined forces with those which met it near the head
waters of that beautiful river.

In 1774, we find Fairfax included in Frederick
Circuit as a regular appointment. Meanwhile the

 

1Pages 30 and 38.
26 Part I—The Planting.

adventurous spirit of John King presses him beyond
even the wide limits of Norfolk Circuit.’ He enters
Alexandria, opens his commission there, and organ-
izes a society of twelve persons. John Littlejohn,
a man of superior abilities, afterwards for a few
years in the traveling connection, stood at the head
of this society, and, for a number of years after his
location, gave character and marked success to
Methodism in that city.

Perry Hall, situated about twelve miles northeast
of Baltimore, on the Bel Air road, became at this
time a centre of attraction to Methodist preachers,
and a famous spot around which linger interesting
memories. The name of Harry Dorsey Gough will
ever be coupled with that of Francis Asbury, his
father in the Gospel, and his most devoted friend.
All of earthly good that wealth could bring was his.
Friends high in social position thronged his “ele-
gant and spacious country residence.” A multitude
of servants waited upon the bidding of their master.
An amiable and accomplished wife, a sister? of
General Ridgley (who became subsequently Gov-
ernor of the State), graced the home with refined
manners and courteous hospitality. She had heard
the Methodist preachers, and seen, in the saintly
lives of those who had been converted under their
ministry, the power of the religion they taught.
Her husband, gay and worldly, was adverse to these
influences, and, it is said, opposed his wife’s placing

 

1Lednum, page 141.
2See Lednum; also Smith’s Recollections. But Stevens,
Vol. 1, page 236, says daughter.
 

MRS. HARRY DORSEY GOUGH
(Prudence Ridgely—From a Portrait by Jarvis)
Perry Hall. 27

herself within their reach. At the bantering invita-
tion of a boon companion, and, in order to be enter-
tained by a new diversion, he went to the place
where Mr. Asbury was preaching. He was first
aroused, then convinced, and deep distress followed.
The prayer of a negro slave, which he overheard, led
him to pray earnestly for himself. Retiring one day
from the midst of a circle of friends, he fell on his
knees in his closet, and found pardon and peace.
He returned to his guests, and surprised them with
his joyous exclamations: “I have found the Metho-
dists’ blessing! I have found the Methodists’ God!”
His wife soon found the same blessing, and took
her place by the side of her husband, in the first
Methodist class organized by Asbury in Baltimore’.

Thenceforth, his beautiful home was consecrated
to Christ and to His servants, from the humblest local
preacher to the most eminent itinerants in the con-
nection. There, in 1775, Rankin had a charm-
ing stay. In the evening the numerous servants
were called in, and prayer, exhortation and praise
made the hour a delightful and profitable season.
Within its walls assembled Asbury, Coke and Vasey
with others, the famous conclave, who prepared the
outline of the organization of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, at the Christmas Conference of 1784;
and, at the same time projected the institution of
“Cokesbury,” the first Methodist college ever erected
in America.

Hardly had this notable couple embraced religion
under the ministry of Asbury, before another name,

 

1Lednum, page 154. Smith, page 191.
28 Part I—The Planting.

near by, was added to the list of illustrious leaders
among the Methodist hosts. Freeborn Garrettson,
hearing from childhood, through the inner ear,
heavevly voices speaking to the conscience and the
heart, could not rightly interpret them till he listened
to the Methodist preachers, and conversed with
happy converts. He heard Asbury with delight,
following him from place to place. Finally, riding
alone, he threw the reins of the bridle on the horse’s
neck and cried aloud, “Lord, I submit!’ Then
came reconciliation, the power of faith and love, and
a joy that made him want to “take wing and fly
away to Heaven.” His home, near Havre de Grace,
Maryland, became at once the starting point of his
wonderful career, which reached from North Carolina
to Nova Scotia, and covered half a century with
labors and travel that rivalled his great leader and
almost made him a bishop in the Methodist Church.

It is interesting to note the origin and progress of
the “ United Brethren in Christ,” simultaneous with
that of Methodism. The parallel lives of their
founder and bishop, Philip William Otterbein, and
of Francis Asbury, were distinguished by similarity
of doctrine and methods of administration. Both
had the same centre of operations in Baltimore, the
one carrying forward with zeal and success the new
movement in the reformed Church, destined to
develop amongst those earnest Germans a system of
doctrine, discipline and economy almost the counter-
part of Methodism ; the other, not antagonizing, but
aiding in brotherly love, a kindred work with
unbroken harmony. Each lived to see the work of
Bishop Otterbein. 29

God extending beyond his most sanguine expecta-
tions. Their friendship continued until death parted
them for a season. Three years after Otterbein
died (1813), Asbury was doubtless welcomed by him
into the eternal heavenly fellowship.

Asbury’s first appointment to Norfolk tested his
faith and patience. In Norfolk, together with Ports-
mouth and eight minor appointments, his work con-
sisted chiefly in reducing to order and discipline the
crude societies. Whilst he was thus busily engaged,
near at hand on old Brunswick Circuit, Shadford
and his four colaborers—Robert Williams, Lindsay,
Drumgole and Glendenning—were sweeping over
their wide territory with extraordinary results. Jar-
rett, the Church clergymen, astonished at the great
revival, threw his influence and efforts freely into the
work. Thomas Rankin came to their aid. When
Robert Williams fell on his work, and was buried
near Norfolk, Asbury, who in the funeral sermon,
expressed the conviction, “that no man in America
had been equally successful in saving souls,” hastened
to Brunswick, to wield the sword of the spirit in
the place made vacant by the death of the founder
of Methodism in Virginia.! The wonderful revival
went on in Brunswick and Caroline, until eighteen
hundred souls were, during that year (1775), added
to the church.

At the same time William Watters,? with Straw-
bridge, penetrated beyond the northern limits of
Frederick, along the Alleghenies; then six months

 

1Bennett’s Methodism in Va., page 74.
2Watter’s, Autobiography.
30 Part I—The Planting.

later, crossing the Potomac at Georgetown to Fair-
fax. he kindled a flame that spread from appoint-
ment to appointment, until, within six months, he was
able to report at the session of the Conference in
Baltimore (1776) that the membership had increased
from thirty to three hundred and fifty.'| Then Fairfax
Circuit took its place in the regular appointments,
with three preachers assigned to it-—Watters,
McClure and Fonerdon. Amongst the trophies won
were Nelson Reed, a name never to be forgotten in
the Baltimore Conference, and Mr. Fairfax, a relative
of Lord Fairfax, who came to Conference, and told
with powerful effect the story of his conversion.
That year (1775) had also witnessed the introduc-
tion of Methodism, not only along the Piedmont
country, at the base of the Blue Ridge, but across
the mountain, in Berkeley and Frederick, where the
joyful message was heard from the lips of William
Watters, and the “first fruits’ were gathered in the
Valley of Virginia.’

“ About the year 1775 (more probably 1780), two
traveling straiugers called at the residence of Major
Lewis Stephens, the proprietor and founder of
Newtown Stephensburg (now Stephens City), and
enquired if they could obtain quarters for the night.
Major S. happened to be absent, but Mrs. Stephens,
who was remarkable for hospitality and religious
impress, informed them that they could be accom-
modated. One of them observed to her: ‘ We are
preachers, and tomorrow being the Sabbath, we shall

 

10ld Minutes 1775-6.
?Bennett’s Methodism in Virginia, page 240.
Preacher in Frederick County, Va. 31

have to remain with you till Monday morning, as we
do not travel on the Sabbath.’ To which the old
lady replied: ‘If you are preachers you are the
more welcome.’ John Hagerty and Richard Owings
were the names of the preachers. The next morn-
ing, notice was sent through the town, and the
strangers delivered sermons. A number of people
were very much pleased with them and they soon
organized a small church at the place. The late
John Hite, Jr., Mrs. Elizabeth Hughes, John Taylor
and wife, and several others joined the church and >
in a few years it began to flourish.” '

Thomas McClure was a useful preacher, continuing
in the traveling connection till 1782, when he was
located.? Adam Fonerden appears to have been a
local preacher taken up asa temporary supply. With
Freeborn Garrettson and John Tunnell as his col-
leagues, Watters made a good record on Brunswick
Circuit in 1777 ; but in 1778, he was returned to
Fairfax, which, together with Baltimore and Fred-
erick Circuits, was the chief field of his labors. He
married in Fairfax county, three miles north of Falls
Church, Sarah, a daughter of William Adams, one
of the first Methodists.* When he located (1783),
he took up his residence in that part of the county.
There his remains, together with those of his faith-
ful wife, lie on the summit of a high hill, overlooking
the capital of the nation. His descendants still live
at the old home, within a short distance from the

 

1Kercheval’s History of the Valley.
?Lednum, page 171. -
‘Lednum, page 212.

a
32 Part I—The Planting.

graveyard, in which a neat monument erected in
1892, marks the spot where this noble couple are
buried. The names of Colonel Ball (not Bell) and
Captain Ward in Fairfax, Bushby, Shaw and John
and William Hickman in Alexandria, are upon the
records of the first societies.

In Fauquier county, Herman Hitt, a sturdy
patriarch, living to a good old age, gave to the
traveling ministry three sons, Martin, Samuel and
Daniel, the last named, afterward Methodist Editor
and Book Agent. A grandson, William, also became
a preacher.’

In Loudoun county the name of Roszel runs
through more than a century of Methodist history.
The class leader of the first society was Mrs. Sarah
Roszel (a Chilton), the saintly mother of Stephen
George Roszel, for many years an acknowledged
leader in the Baltimore Conference, whose sons,
Stephen Asbury and Stephen Samuel, at a later
period gave additional lustre to the name. Sarah
Roszel had, in the fourth generation, a lineal
descendant in the Baltimore Conference, Dr. Robert
R. S. Hough.

In that early day the itinerancy meant not only
constant travel but also short terms—three, some-
times four, and never more than six months on a
circuit; according to the Minutes in 1774, “all
the preachers to change at the end of six months.”
In 1775 the Minutes read: “Thomas Rankin to
travel (at large) until December, and then take a

1Lednum, page 186.
Mtt— Boszel. 33

quarter in New York; the preachers in New Jersey
to change in one quarter; Webster and Cooper to
change with Gatch and Watters at the end of six
months ;”’ “the preachers in Brunswick and Hano-
ver to change as the Assistant thinks proper.’ The
system was, in later years, wittily described by
quaint Jemmy Sewell as “The Flying Artillery.”
But “the King’s business required haste,” and these
consecrated messengers were “not disobedient to
the heavenly vision.”
34 Part I—The Planting.

CHAPTER IV.

The war of the Colonies could not fail to exert an
important influence upon the young American Church.
Methodism in this country had been bound by the
closest ties to the English Wesleyans. Revering
Mr. Wesley as their Father in God, his spiritual
children were naturally influenced by his opinions
on all subjects. He had shown the deepest interest
in their welfare, had sent worthy and honored men
as missionaries to preach the Word and organize
societies ; and, until the war actually broke out, had
prudently refrained from interfering with political
affairs. Unquestionably he must have been acquainted
with the spirit and feeling of the American people.
His constant correspondence with his preachers in
this country, and the outspoken declarations of the
larger part of those who had been gathered into the
Methodist fold, warrant this view. The latter not
only had sympathized with their countrymen in
resisting the oppressions by the Mother country,
but under the influence of the independent Irishman,
Robert Strawbridge, had already given expression to
their revolt against receiving the sacraments at the
hands of the priests of the Anglican Church. The
war intensified this revolt, and disaster to the infant
societies would have been inevitable but for the wise
conservatism of Asbury.

The public feeling, which revealed itself in the
cruel persecution that began even prior to the war,
The Revolution and Methodism. 35

was manifestly political, and grew out of the pecu-
liar circumstances by which the Methodists were
surrounded. The larger number of their preachers,
with Wesley as their chief authority, were English-
men. Their religion was love, and inclined them to
peace. But suspicion grew into violent hostility. In-
sults, fines and imprisonment followed. The oppo-
sition culminated in personal assaults, bloodshed,
wounds and scars. In Annapolis, several preachers
were committed to jail. In Prince George county
one was tarred by a mob. In Queen Anne’s, Joseph
Hartley was arrested and prevented, under bond,
from preaching in the county; in Talbot, he was
whipped by a young lawyer and imprisoned. From
the grates of his jail window he preached to large
eoncourses of people, who came from long dis-
tances to hear him. In Queen Anne’s, Freeborn
Garrettson was beaten with a stick by an ex-judge
of the county, and felled to the ground from his
horse. Caleb Peddicord was whipped in Dorchester
and carried the scars to his grave. What gave the
greater fierceness to these persecutions was the
imprudent conduct of some of the English preach-
ers. Asbury and Shadford were shining excep-
tions. The latter, after much hesitation, decided to
return to England with his brethren in the spring of
1778, and Asbury was left the single representative
amongst the preachers of the Wesleyans in America.

The record in Asbury’s Journal after the parting
scene, is peculiarly pathetic: ‘I am under some

 

1Cooper on Asbury, page 80.
36 Part I—The Planting.

heaviness of mind. But it is no wonder, three thou-
sand miles from home—my friends have left me—I
am considered by some as an enemy of the country—
every day liable to be seized by violence and abused.
All this is but a trifle to suffer for Christ and the
salvation of souls. Lord, stand by me!”

When Mr. Wesley’s “Calm Address to the
American Colonies,’ written in the fall of 1775,
reached this country, it fell with crushing force alike
on preachers and people. Asbury wrote (1776): “I
received an affectionate letter from Mr. Wesley, and
am truly sorry that the venerable man ever dipped
his pen into the politics of America. My desire is
to live in love and peace with all men: to do them
no harm but all the good I can.” He was worn in
body and troubled in mind. In the midst of great
excitements, he strove to rally the societies in the
vicinity of Philadelphia early in 1776. The strain
upon muscle and nerve was too much for him; he
was stricken down in Pennsylvania with serious
illness and prevented from reaching the first Con-
ference that met in Baltimore, May 21, 1776.

It will be remembered that the transfer of Confer-
ence sessions to Baltimore was occasioned by the
political agitation in Philadelphia. In less than two
mouths after the Baltimore Conference met, the dele-
gates from thirteen colonies adopted (July, 4) the
Declaration of Independence.

During the war that ensued, Maryland and Vir-
ginia, the colonies in which Methodism had already
struck its deepest roots, neither of them at any time
Lovely Lane Conference. 37

the theatre of protracted military operations, afforded
a field of comparative security to the Societies already
organized. With the exception of one year (1780)
there was, despite the serious obstacles, remarkable
and steady growth in numbers to the end of the war.

The Conference in the humble chapel on Lovely
Lane compels our interest and excites our admira-
tion. No luxurious appointments are about the
place. The benches are plain, and, as yet without
backs. Fortunately the rigor of winter has passed,
and we may hope that the spring has so far advanced,
that the preachers shall not miss the absent fire.
The alarms of war are at their very doors; distrust
and open hostility are all aroundthem. Some of them
already “bear in their bodies the marks of the Lord
Jesus.” There is sublimity in their simple silence.
Besides the five regular questions, one minute alone
of their deliberations, remains: “July 26 is appointed
a day of fasting.” As one by one the nine young
men, more than one third of the entire body, present
themselves for admission on trial, we think of them
as ready to face hardship, imprisonment, scourging
and death, so that they may preach the Gospel com-
mitted unto them. ‘Let their names be held in ever-
lasting remembrance: Nicholas Watters, John Sig-
man, Joseph Hartley, Francis Poythress, James Fos-
ter, Freeborn Garrettson, Thomas McClure, Isham
Tatum, William Wren.

Calmly, but with firm resolve, do they all go forth,
“not knowing the things that shall befall” them ;
yet they go, trusting in Him “whose they are and
whom they serve.” Freeborn Garrettson had left
38 Part 1—The Planting.

his home sick in body, and in sore conflict of spirit,
rode to Baltimore, passed in examination and was
admitted on trial. Leaving the Conference room,
and reaching his temporary lodgings, he fainted, but
reviving, was so happy that the preachers around
him seemed to him angels, and his room the ves-
tibule of heaven. Frederick Circuit was his first
appointment. To preach was a sore cross, but the
power of God attended his word. One of his meet-
ings lasted all night and twenty souls were added to
the little society of four members. In the second
half of the year, three months were spent in Fairfax.
Then crossing the Blue Ridge into the Valley (then
called New Virginia), he preached three or four times
daily, building up the new societies that Watters had
organized the year previously in Berkeley; and,
pausing several days in Shepherdstown, drew large
crowds to hear him. At his last meeting, a woman
cried aloud for mercy, and was happily converted.
The resident minister looked on in wonder, and said
that the doctrine Mr. Garrettson preached might be
true, as he seemed to bring Scripture to prove it,
but he knew nothing about it. The next year Gar-
rettson followed Shadford and his colleagues on
Brunswick, and with William Watters and John
Tunnell, preached to immense congregations with
such effect that he was reminded of the day of
Pentecost. He extended his travels into North
Carolina, and encountered opposition, but came out
‘“‘as gold tried in the fire.” Joseph Hartley, one of
the nine of the first year (1776), became his colleague
in Kent, Maryland, in 1778, and shared with his
noble comrade imprisonment and violence.
                                

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Asbury a Circuit Preacher. 39

Asbury, sick and absent from Conference, 1776,
was again assigned to the Baltimore Circuit.’ On
reaching Perry Hall, his feeble condition com-
pelled him to sojourn there a few days, and then,
with his friends, Gough and Merryman, he pro-
ceeded to the springs in Berkeley county, Virginia, to
try the waters. Richard Webster, having at the
session of 1776, retired from the itinerancy, sup-
plied the Baltimore Cireuit during his absence.
The three friends improved their time at the Springs
by holding daily meetings for prayer and exhorta-
tion, Asbury preaching as often as he could. He
was impressed by the contrasts experienced; and
after he retired from the famous watering place,
pronounced it “the best and the worst place he had
ever seen; the best for health and the worst for
religion.” Returning to his work,? he appears to
have sought new preaching places, visiting Reisters-
town, Md., February 6, 1777, where with Rankin he
held a quarterly meeting, February 10. In March
he entered Annapolis, where infidelity was so
rampant that ‘courage was needed to preach the
gospel.” He persevered, however, making appoint-
ments as he could; at one time arrested and fined,
at another refused admission to a private house.
At the forks of the Patuxent he found “a large
company of wild looking people.” On the road a
bullet passed through his chaise. He pressed on,
not heeding danger and opposition, until the good
seed sown took root, and at last came the joyous

 

1Lednum, 168.
2Asbury’s Journal, Vol. 1, pages 200-246.
40 Part I—The Planting.

harvest of souls. Names that are today familiar
among the families of Calvert and Anne Arundel
counties appear on the record of first converts :
Weems, Childs, Griffith, Heneliss, Bignell, Gray,
Dorsey, Ridgeley, Bennett, Wood and Wilson.
Annapolis yielded as the first fruits of Asbury’s
preaching the name of Wilkens, afterwards noted
among Baltimore Methodists. Richard and Dorothy
Guest, parents of Reverend Job Guest, for over fifty
years an honored member of the Baltimore Confer-
ence, lived near Annapolis. Afterwards the names
of Watkin, Simmons and Williams appear.

The conference held at Watters’ on Deer Creek,
Md., May 20, 1777, is remarkable as presenting for
the last time the names of Rankin, Shadford and
Rodda, the English preachers, soon to return on
account of their loyalty to the mother country ; and,
for the first time the names of men who were to
become illustrious in the annals of the church:
Caleb B. Peddicord, whose handsome person, saintly
character, sweet spirit and pathetic tones of voice
gave wondrous power in both song and pulpit elo-
quence; John Tunnel, frail in body but “with great
gifts as a preacher ;” William Gill, his bosom friend
“pre-eminently astute and philosophical ;’ Reuben
Ellis, “a weighty and powerful preacher ;” John
Dickens, in “literature, logic, zeal and devotion a
Paul among the preachers ;”” John Littlejohn, “but
little his inferior ;’’ LeRoy Cole,’ for a long time an
itinerant and doing great good; Thomas 8. Chew,

 

1LeRoy Cole joined the Kentucky Conference 1814—died at
an advanced age.
Departure of English Preachers. 41

“very popular as a preacher ;’ Joseph O. Cromwell,!
“a mystic giant,” and Edward Bailey, whose brief
career closed gloriously by the side of his leader,
Asbury, in Virginia, in 1780.

Though the war was now raging, Asbury tells us
that the session of the Conference was marked by
“harmony, peace and love.” The parting with the
English brethren, who had determined to return to
the old country, is described as peculiarly affecting.
“We parted,” says Garrettson, “bathed in tears, to
meet together no more in this world. I wish I could
depict to the present generation of preachers, the
state of our young and prosperous Society. We had
gospel simplicity and our hearts were united to Jesus
and to one another. We were persecuted and at
times buffeted, but we took our lives in our hands
and went to our different appointments, weeping and
sowing the precious seed, and the Lord owned and
blessed his work.”

The year that followed (1777-8) was most trying
to the faith and patience of the little band of heroes.
Asbury attempted to continue his work in the counties
on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Delaware,
but so fierce were the, fires of political opposition
that in February, 1778, he found refuge in Delaware
at the home of Judge Thomas White, who became
one of his staunchest friends. There George Shad-
ford met him for the last time. Then for five weeks
he was in seclusion, and after eleven weeks of silence,

 

1J. O. Cromwell went with Garrettson to Nova Scotia, after-
wards was P. E. in New Jersey, and died in Baltimore.
42 Part I—The Planting.

could be no longer restrained, but resumed his work,
confining it, however, to Delaware and the Eastern
Shore.

Leesburg, Virginia, became for the first time, the
seat of Conference, May 19, 1778. Their leader
was for the second time absent, and Rankin was in
New York, awaiting with his colleagues the departure
of the vessel that should convey them to their native
land. William Watters presided. The ravages of
war had diminished the numbers in society by 873,
with a net loss among the preachers of six. Lee tells
us that, “by the war on the one hand and persecu-
tion on the other, the preachers were separated from
their flocks, and all conspired to increase the bur-
dens of the Christians.”

The young men attending the session were wisely
directed and acted with great prudence, and the
appointments were judiciously made. Of the nine
admitted on trial, James O’Kelly was destined to
become, by his talents and devotion, a prominent
person in the councils of the church, and in later
years (1792) the notable leader in the first secession
from the Methodist ranks; Richard Ivy, capable,
pious, eloquent and courageous ; Henry Willis, fav-
orite of Asbury, frail in body but steadfast in work,
dying, 1808 at Pipe Creek, the first home of Straw-
bridge; and John Major, the “ weeping prophet,”
surpassingly popular and wonderfully successful.

Berkeley Circuit was formed at this Conference
with Edward Bailey as the preacher. It covered all
 

 

 

 

 

HENRY WILLIS
Berkeley Circuit. 43

the territory that had been penetrated by the
Methodist pioneers in the Valley of Virginia, and
stretched northward, beyond Capon river, to the
south branch of the Potomac.
44 Part I—The Planting.

CHAPTER V.

The year 1779 was marked by serious events that
threatened consequences more dire than even the
war produced. For a decade of years the itinerant
system had, under the blessing of God, yielded
marvellous results. The consecrated enthusiasm of
the preachers, the crowds attracted by their minis-
try, and the constantly increasing number of their
adherents, had thus far given promise of unlimited
success. But these itinerants, like the most of Mr.
Wesley’s helpers in Great Britain, were as yet only
lay-preachers. There were however enough ordained
ministers in connection with Mr. Wesley, and many
more in the Church of England not members of Mr.
Wesley’s societies, who were in warm sympathy
with the Methodist movement, to supply the need
for the administration of the sacraments. In fact
the Wesleyans for the most part were regular com-
municants in the State Church. But when the war
of independence occurred, many Anglican priests
fled to the old country, and left their flocks unpro-
vided. No English Bishop had ever resided in this
country; and especially in Virginia, the heart of
Anglicanism in the American colonies was this want
felt to the utmost degree.

Mr. Asbury had been sent out by his chief as an
unordained missionary. No authority was present
to invest the growing company of earnest, holy men
with the ecclesiastical functions of their ministry.
Asbury in Forced Retirement. 45

The very first man who, as a Methodist preacher, pro-
claimed the Gospel, felt an instinctive revolt against
the yoke of Anglican Ecclesiasticism. Strawbridge
was, on that account, looked upon with distrust by
the conservative Asbury. He had pleaded for pres-
byterial ordination in the first years of his ministry,
and doubtless his zeal and independence had fostered
the spirit of resistance among the native preachers.
And now in the midst of war’s alarms, the severest
test was to be applied to the new Societies. Asbury,
wrongfully suspected of sympathy with the English
side during the two first years of the war, had been
driven into retirement. We have seen that he was
hindered by sickness from the Lovely Lane Confer-
ence in 1776. Though present at the Deer Creek
Conference in 1777, he was troubled in spirit on
account of the near departure of his English co-labor-
ers. When the first Virginia Conference was held
in Leesburg in 1778 he was in hiding from his
enemies ; and in 1779, he felt constrained to remain
in seclusion. But he called the preachers east of
the Potomac to the house of Judge White in Kent
county, Delaware, April 28, 1779, and, while not
claiming any formal authority to preside, or to
regard the meeting as a regular session of the Con-
ference, it is evident, from his Journal, and from
the writings of contemporaneous preachers, that he
desired to interpose such action as might tend to
restrain the more southern preachers from a course
which he believed would be dangerous to the peace
and unity of the connection. But he failed in his
expectation. The regular conference, held May 18
46 Part I—The Planting.

at the Brokenback Church in Fluvanna county,
Virginia, believing, that, as ministers called of God,
the right inhered in them to administer the sacra-
ments, appointed a committee to ordain each other
and then to ordain those among them who would
consent. Watters, who was present, tells us that
besides himself there were ‘“‘a few who did not
agree with the affirmative.” But this action, so
distressing to Asbury, was an important one, not
only in furnishing a precedent in Methodist history
for a repudiation of what Mr. Wesley had called
“ The fable of Apostolical Succession,” but doubt-
less in determining the great Founder himself five
years later, virtually to sanction the act by giving it
the very best authority his followers could desire,
namely, by setting apart Dr. Coke to the Episcopal
office, and Whatcoat and Vasey as Elders. These
were to inaugurate the organization of the church
upon a. firm ecclesiastical basis whose validity is
demonstrated by the millions today dependent upon
its ministrations and ordinances. Surely such men
as Gatch, Dickens, Ellis and others, renowned for
their preaching power, and for the multitudes saved
under their ministry, could have been actuated only
by the highest and purest motives in yielding to
what seemed to them a providential call to meet the
most pressing needs of the church. They were
abundantly vindicated when Asbury himself sub-
mitted to ordination by the hands of Coke, Vasey,
Whatcoat and Otterbein at the Christmas Confer-
ence, 1784.
Ordinances—Early Locations. 47

The Conference that met in Baltimore, April 24,
1780, deputed three of their number—Asbury,
Watters and Garrettson—to visit the Virginia Con-
ference two weeks later at Manakintown. Brave,
honest men, strong in their conviction of right, but
ready with “strong cries and tears” to plead with
God for a way out of the threatening danger, at
last found the way that led to reconciliation and
unity. For a year the administration of the ordi-
nances was suspended. They waited in rare patience
for five years,' and then rejoiced together in the won-
derful liberty wherewith God had set them free.

Amid all the hinderances that the disturbed con-
dition of the country presented, we are impressed
with the fact that new recruits to the itinerancy
came in at every session of the Conference. While
some of the most useful of these were, after a few
years of effective service, compelled to locate,
others equally noted for their ability and zeal in the
work, pursued it with fidelity to the end of their
lives. The instances are rare of those who proved
unworthy. William Adams (1779) was the brother-
in-law of William Watters. He fell at his post during
the one year of his appointment, not having reached
his majority. Richard, brother of Freeborn Garrett-
son, and Micaijah Debruler, both of Harford county,
Maryland, traveled five years and then located.
John Hagerty, born in Prince George’s county,
after five years of active labor, located in 1794.
For many years he continued to preach with great
acceptability. His fine personal appearance, his

 

1Except Strawbridge, the first on the ground.
48 Part I— The Planting.

devotion to Methodism, and his unselfish service in
the church make his name memorable. His death
in Baltimore, 1823, was witnessed by Bishop Soule,
who spoke to him about his near approach to eter-
nity. ‘ Yes,” he replied, “ all is straight; the way
is clear before me.” Praise employed all his vocal
powers till his voice was lost in death.

No member of the Baltimore Conference has a
record superior to that of Nelson Reed. A native
of Anne Arundel county, born November 27, 1751,
converted under the ministry of Watters (1775) he
was soon licensed to preach. His name first appears
on the Minutes of 1779, as the second man on
Fluvanna Circuit." He gave to the church forty-five
years of eminent service as an effective preacher ;
and, after his superannuation, he continued to preach
and labor, in and near the city of Baltimore, where,
October 20, 1840, in his eighty-ninth year he died
‘with his feet on the Rock Christ Jesus crucified.” ?
He was a sound theologian, a wise counsellor,
courageous in times of danger, admired, trusted and
beloved. George Mair, William Patridge and James
O. Cromwell continued to honor God during life.
Caleb Boyer and Ignatius Pigman were men of
renown as eloquent preachers.*

The session of 1780 is notable for the considera-
tion of new subjects of momentous import in the
future of Methodist history. The first action on
record adverse to slavery and the liquor traffic; the

 

1Sprague’s Annals of Am. Pulpit, Vol. VII, page 69.
2?Memoir in Minutes.
3Lednum, page 306.
Enlargement. : 49

first definite provision for safe deeds and the conduct
- of trustees, looking to the protection of church prop-
erty ; regulations for examination into the character
of local preachers and exhorters; provision for the
preachers’ wives, and the appointment of a com-
mittee to visit the Conference in Virginia, and pre-
sent their ultimatum on the question of ordinances—
these were the chief matters of affirmative action.
The young church is girding herself to enlarge the
place of her tent, to lengthen her cords and strengthen
her stakes. In the latter part of this year Watters
went with Tunnell to form Calvert Circuit. Asbury,
four years earlier, had sown the seed, and though it
took root slowly around the capital of the State, now
its fruits were beginning to appear, and the itinerants
went to the ensuing Conference with the report of
twenty-three members from a territory that em-
braced all of Southern Maryland on the Western
Shore, including Annapolis. When (1781) Nelson
Reed was sent to take charge of this new work, he
was gladdened by its wonderful enlargement, and
carried to the next session of the Conference, the
report of 305 members. A steady increase from
year to year followed, until in 1788 a new circuit
was set off, with Annapolis as its name and centre.

In 1780, Daniel Ruff, Freeborn Garrettson and
Joshua Dudley were appointed to Baltimore Circuit.
Among the converts this year was the family of
Martin Tschudy.1. His house became a preaching
place, and a large class was formed there. ‘He
was a man of few words, but as honest and steady

1 Pronounced Judy.
4
50 Part I—The Planting.

as the day was long. His wife was one of the excel-
lent of the earth, deeply experienced in the things of -
God, and a mother to the preachers. Their daughter
Barbara was much devoted to God.” She was the
first of the family that went to the heavenly reward.
Her father went home in 1828, in his eighty-eighth
year. The dear old mother survived till some years
later. Joseph Perrigo, a man of unblemished charac-
ter and deep piety, was the class leader at Tschudy’s
for many years, living to be upwards of eighty,
‘beloved by the pious, respected in life by all who
knew him, and honored in death.” !

On the 24th of January, 1781, Garrettson, cross-
ing the line into Pennsylvania, found his way to
Little York. At the tavern where he stopped, he
lectured on a portion of Scripture, and had prayer
there. Daniel Worley, who was present, was
awakened. The next day he was permitted to
preach in the Dutch Church, where, under the ser-
mon, Mrs. Worley was also awakened. Garrettson
. was permitted to preach in the Lutheran Church
also. The hearts of the mother and sister of the
Lutheran minister were touched, and they accom-
panied him to Berlin, where he preached twice to
large congregations. As the result, though the
churches were closed against him, a large school-
room haying been offered, he continued to preach
with unusual power and success. Opposition seemed
to stimulate him to further effort, and for two months
he traveled through the adjacent country, preaching
in more than twenty different places. The first

 

1H. Smith’s Recollections, page 186. Lednum, 306.
Asbury West of the Blue Ridge. 51

society was organized at the house of Daniel Worley,
in York. Soon about one hundred souls were added
to the church ; and, at the ensuing Conference, Little
York became the second circuit in Pennsylvania.
Philip Cox was sent to this promising field, and the
next year, 1782, it had increased so rapidly that two
preachers, Nelson Reed and John Major, were
assigned to the work. Lednum has preserved the
names of the first Methodist families on this charge,
viz., Daniel and James Worley, Wierly Pentz, Lay,
Drinnon, Nailor, Wall, Weaver, Holspeter. This
new field was visited by Asbury in 1781.

It was in the early part of this year that Asbury
made his way for the first time to what was then
called new Virginia.’ Starting from the Conference
in Baltimore in company with a young preacher,
recently admitted on trial, William Partridge (cor-
rectly, Patridge), he passed through Fairfax, Lou-
doun and Fauquier counties, and then, from Rector-
town, crossing the Blue Ridge, found entertainment
and rest at the home of John Hite near Winchester,
in the Valley. Visiting Martinsburg, he preached
there, and, retracing his steps as far as Brucetown,
lodged with Brother Bruce, whom he describes as
“a lily among thorns.” Then, pushing on over the
rugged spurs of the Alleghenies, fording or ferrying
the mountain streams, lying out at night among the
rocks, finding but little more comfort in the rude
cabins of the settlers, whose stories of Indian depre-
dations and of miraculous escapes made a deep
impression upon him, he discovers even amid these

 

1Lednum, page 313.
52 Part I—The Planting.

wilds traces of the labors of the pioneer itinerant.
On the South Branch of the Potomac he reached
the home of Richard Williams, of whose wonderful
adventures among the Indians he gives a detailed
account, and preached to a rude and disorderly
company of three hundred at this place. He did
not ascend to the top of the Allegheny mountain, but
contented himself by visiting at its foothills the few
homes of those who had previously entertained the
pioneer preachers of Methodism. Pursuing his
course along the South Branch of the Potomac to its
junction with the North Fork (now the site of Moore-
field), he followed the course of the latter stream,
and, crossing the mountain near its source, entered
the Valley of Virginia. There he visited a cave
(probably Weyer’s, in Augusta), whose marvels were
to him “all new, solemn and grand.” He came
away filled with wonder, with humble praise and
adoration. The rugged mountains and the lovely
valley of Hampshire and Hardy deeply impressed
him. Probably as a result of this visit, the name of
Berkeley Circuit was, at the ensuing Conference,
changed (for one year only) to South Branch.

It was after Asbury’s return, and while he was
at Bush Forest Chapel in Maryland, that he heard of
the recent death of Robert Strawbridge. The severe
sentence, which is found in the Bishop’s Journal of
the date September 2, 1781, was doubtless reversed
when the two heroes met in the heavenly habitations.
Opposite in their personal characteristics, both were
in the providence of God used for his wise purpose,
the one digging the foundation and the other build-
Death of Strawbridge. 53

ing thereon the firm fabric of American Methodism.
The bold independence and the ardent zeal of the
impetuous son of Erin needed the wise conservatism
of his more prudent English brother.

Strawbridge did not live to see the ordination of
Asbury, but the Christmas Conference of 1784 fully
vindicated his position on the subject of the ordi-
nances. ‘Tradition says that Strawbridge himself
had really been ordained by Rev. Benedict Swope, a
minister of the German Reformed Church. This
tradition would seem to be confirmed by the note in
Asbury’s Journal, referring to the action of the first
Conference (1773): ‘That no preacher in our con-
nection shall be permitted to administer the ordi-
nances except Mr. Strawbridge, and he under the
particular direction of the assistant’? (Mr. Rankin).’
The condition was refused by Strawbridge, inasmuch
as he had not derived his authority from Mr. Rankin
or from the Conference.

Twice does the name of Robert Strawbridge
appear on the Minutes—1773 and 1775. But his
glorious work in the local ranks went on without
ceasing for upward of twenty years; and, although
a century and more has elapsed since his departure,
his works still follow him. The remains of the first
Wesleyan preacher in America and of first Bishop
of the Methodist Episcopal Church lie peacefully
side by side in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Baltimore.

The personal appearance of Strawbridge has for-
tunately been described by one who knew him well.

 

Lednum, page 20.
—~=O4 Part I—The Planting.

Rey. John Bowen writes: “‘From Mrs. Sarah Porter,
who is a daughter of John Evans (the first person
who joined the Methodist Society in America), now
(1856) in her eighty-fourth year, I have the follow-
ing description of Robert Strawbridge : ‘As of strong
muscular frame, about medium size, lean of flesh,
black hair, dark, thin visage, the bones of his face
projecting prominently; a pleasant voice, was a
melodious singer and a great favorite with the chil-
dren. And he appears to have been a general
favorite in the community among whom he resided ;
for, before any Methodist society was formed there,
the neighbors were in the habit of cultivating his
farm gratuitously and supplying the wants of his
family while he was dispensing the Word of Life
abroad.’ .* * * «My. Strawbridge formed the
first society in America at his own home, 1764, with
seven or eight members.’”’ The same authority
states that Mrs. Strawbridge was instrumental in the
awakening and conversion of John Evans, the first
person who became a Methodist in this country.
Strawbridge was undoubtedly a man of remarka-
ble qualities. A true Hibernian, he possessed the
proverbial traits of his countrymen. Sanguine in
temperament, quick in temper, he had the enthu-
siasm and energy that prompted him to a ceaseless
activity, and the will that, directed by the Holy
Spirit, overcame all opposition. There must have
been a charm about him that disarmed hostility,
and drew to him ardent admirers and warm personal
friends. We are surprised that there should be no

'Rev. John Bowen’s Manuscript, 1856.
 

ROBERT STRAWBRIDGE
Four Young Preachers. 55

intimation given, at any time, of resistance on the
part of those who listened to his message. His
soul was on fire with zeal for the salvation of his
fellows. He was absorbed by this passion. Poor,
like his Master, he trusted Him for earthly good,
and his family were cared for. In the later period
of his life God put it into the heart of a wealthy and
generous friend, Captain Charles Ridgely, of Long
Green, Baltimore county, to provide him a com-
fortable home and farm rent free. Here he pur-
sued his loved employ, under the shadow of
“Hampton,” the residence of his benefactor, until,
in one of his visiting rounds among his spiritual
children, the summons came, and he “died in great
peace,” at the house of a neighbor, Joseph Wheeler.
His son in the gospel, the first native American
‘Methodist preacher, Richard Owings, who had
shared with him many of his toils and triumphs,
preached his funeral sermon in the open air to a
vast concourse of people, from Rev. xiv. 13:
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”
56 Part I—The Planting.

CHAPTER VI.

In 1782 two sessions were held as one Conference.
The Conference began at Ellis Chapel, Va., April 17,
and adjourned to meet in Baltimore, May 21. The
double sessions continued until 1784, those in Bal-
timore authoritatively deciding all doubtful ques-
tions. We observe a forward movement in several
directions made necessary by the changing condi-
tions. To understand them, we must not forget that
the war was still dragging its slow length along,
exhausting the pecuniary resources of the people,
and at the same time promoting a spirit of lawless-
ness, to which must be ascribed not only the more
violent forms of opposition, but the failure of the
adequate support of the preachers, and the oppor-
tunities for designing persons to practise imposition
upon the simple-hearted confidence of those who
regarded the messengers of the Gospel almost as
angels sent down from heaven. While on the one
hand, the collections raised among the societies
required a definite regulation in their distribution
for the benefit of the most needy of the itinerants ;
on the other, both the preachers and the societies
demanded such protection against the unworthy as
the Conference could afford. Hence the wise system
of certificates, limited in duration for the itinerants
to the Conference year, subjecting them in the mean-
time to the watchful care of their brethren ; and for
the local preachers, to good behavior and submission
Distinguished Preachers. 57

to constituted authority ; and made absolutely nec-
essary as a condition of recognition of church mem-
bership on the part of those removing from one
place to another.

We cannot fail to admire the total self-abnegation
of the preachers, who, in those times of general des-
titution, willingly imposed upon themselves such
stringent regulations for “the regular and impartial
supply for the maintenance of the preachers.”
Money, clothing, profits from the sale of books, Con-
ference collections—everything must be reported for
equitable disbursement. It is the history of the
early church repeating itself.

Renowned names appear for the first time on the
Minutes. Joseph Everett was born in Queen Anne’s,
Maryland, 1732. He was reared in the Church of
England, awakened under Whitfield, converted 1763,
and became for a time a zealous member of the
Presbyterian Church, but afterwards relapsed into
his former state. When the war broke out he
volunteered in the service of his country. Return-
ing from the army, 1778, he heard Asbury, became
convinced of the truth of Methodist doctrine, was
happily restored from his backslidden state, and
began to warn others to flee from the wrath to come.
He became an itinerant preacher, 1780, and traveled
extensively through the middle states. Lednum con-
siders him “the roughest spoken preacher that ever
stood in the itinerant ranks.”’ In the Conference
Memoirs he is described as a bold, fearless man, but
seeking the good of all. For thirty years he was
08 Part I-—-The Planting.

abundant in labors, had large success, and died, 1809,
shouting victory over death with his latest breath.

Philip Bruce,’ born in North Carolina, 1755, came
of Huguenot ancestry, and was also a soldier in the
revolutionary war. At an early age he was con-
verted to God, and with his pious mother joined the
Methodists. Admitted on trial 1781, he traveled
for thirty-six years on circuits and districts as well
as in the most important stations, with honor to
himself, and had success in his work. In person he
was commanding, perfectly straight, in manner grave
and dignified, yet with a pleasing, open countenance.
His thin visage, dark complexion, bright and pierc-
ing eyes, long black hair betrayed his French origin.
His sermons were usually short but powerful, his
exhortations sometimes irresistible. He was a great
favorite among the preachers and people, and especi-
ally beloved by the Virginia Conference, in whose
territory he chiefly labored. His cultured mind, fine
conversational powers, and polished manners, made
him the centre of attraction in every company. He
retired from the active work, 1817, worn out by
unremitting zeal and labors, and spent the few
remaining years of his life among his kindred in
Tennessee, where the-end came in glorious triumph,
May 10, 1827.

At this period other names appear, of whom
Asbury writes to his dear friend in England, George
Shadford (1783) : “I do not think there has appeared
another such a company of young, devoted men.”

 

1Bennett’s Memorials.
Jesse Lee. 59

Peter Moriarty, born in Baltimore county, 1758,
educated in the Roman Catholic Church, converted
through the agency of the Methodists at sixteen,
preaching at the age of twenty, served the work in
Virginia ; then he is found in the northern cities ;
afterwards in the far west, and finally, in New Eng-
land. On his way from the New York Conference
to his district, 1818, God called him suddenly to his
reward. Woolman Hickson’s career was brief but
brilliant. According to Asbury, Ira Ellis was “a
man of quick and solid parts.” He had traveled
fourteen years and was then forced by “ domestic
necessities ’’ to locate. John Easter, a Virginian,
is described as ‘‘the most powerful hortatory preach-
er of his day.” Highteen hundred souls were added
to the church in a single year. Thousands were
converted during the ten years of his effective minis-
try. Among these were Evoch George and William
McKendree. He sleeps cn the field where he won
so many victories.

With these appears the name of Jesse Lee, born
1758, in Prince George county, Virginia, who was
converted in early life (1773). He began to preach
November 17, 1779, supplying for a few weeks the
place of the circuit preacher. When the storm of
war burst on his native State, he was drafted to
serve in the militia. He was in a strait; he was
opposed to fighting; but he must obey the civil gov-
ernment. He made up his mind to join the army,
but determined not to fight. He was placed under
arrest, and sang and prayed in the guard room. His
scruples were deferred to, and he was put in com-
60 Part I—The Planting.

mand of a baggage wagon. During the retreat, which
followed the defeat of General Gates at Camden, he
was assigned to the command of a small band of
pioneers, and during the sufferings that ensued, Lee
found his true field, administering spiritual consola-
tion and earnest exhortations to the sick and dying.
After his discharge from the army, in the spring of
1782, he attended the Conference at Ellis, in Virginia.
There his call to preach was confirmed and in the
fall he was sent to North Carolina to aid in forming
the Camden circuit. After his admission on trial,
at the ensuing Conference, he was appointed again
to the same State, and in 1785, accompanied Bishop
Asbury, on a tour to South Carolina.' We can easily
imagine how the quick eye of the sagacious leader
saw the elements of power in the young companion
who shared his travel and toil. Lee traveled three
years in Maryland, and, in 1789, realized the long-
ing he had cherished from the beginning of his min-
istry, preached on Boston Common and became the
apostle of Methodism in New England. Called in
1797 again to travel with Bishop Asbury, he left in
the country of Calvinism and the Puritans forty
traveling preachers and three thousand Methodists.
At the General Conference of 1800, a tie vote brought
him near the Episcopacy, Whatcoat being elected on
the third ballot by a majority of only four votes. For
several successive years he was chosen Chaplain of
the House of Representatives. During the last
fifteen years of his life, his fields of labor were
chiefly in Virginia.

 

1Bennett’s Memorials of Meth. in Va., page 193.
Jesse Lee. 61

The rigid and impartial manner in which the Con-
ference dealt with its members, in the examination of
character, is illustrated in the case of Jesse Lee. The
following is a transcript from the Journal: “On the
examination of Jesse Lee it was stated by Brother
Joseph Frye (within the bounds of whose district he
was appointed at the last Conference) that Brother
Lee had not filled the appointment assigned him by
the Bishop at the time above mentioned. It was, on
motion of Brother Roszel, resolved that the Confer-
ence do request of the president at his discretion any
letters from Brother Lee, which he may have in his
possession, containing any matter that has a bearing
on the case; upon which a letter from Brother Lee
to Bishop McKendree was presented and read to the
Conference.” When the Conference met again at 2
P. M.: “ Brother Lee’s case was resumed. He was
present and made his defence, and, after his having
retired, it was moved that Brother Lee should be
present during the whole determination of his case,
but this motion was negatived. Conference then,
after due deliberation, did on motion of Brother
Roszel, Resolve, 1 That it is the opinion of this
Conference, that Bro Lee, in not going to the station
given to him by the Bishop, at the last Baltimore
Conference, has violated our discipline and order,
which is inconsistent with the obligations of a travel-
ing minister among us; Resolved 2, That it is the
opinion of this Conference, that Brother Lee should
make concessions for his improper conduct in not
going to the station given to him last year; and
assurances that we may depend on his services as a
62 Part I—The Planting.

Methodist traveling preacher in future; which
resolves, were read in Conference to Brother Lee. And
on the suggestion of Brother Toy, Conference deter-
mined to postpone the case till tomorrow in order
to give Brother Lee time to deliberate on the course
he would pursue.” The next morning: “ Brother
Lee’s case was resumed. The following concession
was made and the following assurance given by
Brother Lee: ‘I am sorry that I did not understand
my appointment as given me by the Bishop last year,
and should I be so circumstanced again, I would go
to my appointment. And Ido promise the Confer-
ence that I will so far as I have it in my power,
render the services of a Methodist traveling preacher.’
This giving satisfaction to the Conference, Brother
Lee passed, approved.”’?

That same year while he was stationed in Annap-
olis, Maryland (1816), he went to the Eastern Shore
to attend a camp meeting near Hillsboro. After hay-
ing preached two sermons with his accustomed pow-
er, he was taken ill. At the home of Brother Sellers,
in Hillsboro, on the 12th of September, this hero of
Methodism passed to his final reward. The end was,
as his life had been, glorious. “Glory, glory, glory !
Hallelujah, Jesus reigns!” “Give my respects to
Bishop McKendree, and tell him that I die in love
with all the preachers, and that he lives in my heart.”
His remains are buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery,
Baltimore, near the spot where the dust of Straw-
bridge, Asbury and a host of early Methodist itiner-
ants lies, awaiting the resurrection.

1Conference Journal, 1816, pages 349-354.
Eminent Preachers. 63

William Phoebus was born in Somerset county,
Maryland, 1754. He traveled fifteen years, located
and practised medicine in New York City till 1806,
occupied important positions in the itinerancy till
1821, became supernumerary, and in 1831, “ sweetly
fell asleep in Jesus.” He was at the Christ-
mas Conference, and edited for a short time a
magazine in the interest of his denomination. He
was a man of great integrity, pious, well read in the
Scriptures, a sound, experimental and _ practical
preacher.

Thomas Ware was well and long known as an able
and faithful laborer in the itinerancy. A native of
New Jersey, born 1758, he was another soldier of the
Revolution, serving until his health gave way. In
despondent mood he chanced to hear Peddicord, who
was riding along the road singing. Charmed with
the sweetness of the voice, he followed at a distance,
listened to the preaching of the word by the devoted
man of God, sought an interview and was converted
during Peddicord’s prayer for him. Ware was a
prominent figure in Methodism during the long years
of his ministry.

Another soldier comes to the front at this time.
Isaac Smith rose to eminence as an officer in the
army, was in many severe battles and bore to his
grave honorable scars. He labored chiefly in the
South, carrying the gospel to the Creek Indians,
entering the State of Georgia and pressing into
Mississippi. He died in 1834 “full of faith and the
Holy Ghost.”
64 Part I—The Planting.

Wilson Lee, born in Delaware, 1761, entered the
traveling connection, 1784. His first appointments
were in Maryland; subsequently, he endured the
hardships and encountered the dangers along the
western frontier; then returned to Maryland, where
he “ceased at once to work and live.” John Smith,
from Maryland, was also among the pioneers who
carried Methodism west of the Alleghenies. He
came back to his native state and “died in holy rap-
ture.” Joseph Wyatt, of Delaware, “was in talent
little inferior to any among us; in purity perhaps
to none. He was for awhile Chaplain to the Legis-
lature of Maryland, and resided for a number of
years in Annapolis.”’ Jonathan Forrest, a native
of Frederick county, Maryland, had his share of
suffering and persecution, and was at one time
imprisoned. He traveled until 1793, was super-
numerary until 1805, and died at the age of eighty
“in hope of the crown of righteousness.” Michael
‘Ellis, also of Maryland, was ordained deacon at the
Christmas Conference, 1784; located 1788 ; removed
to Belmont county, Ohio; there re-entered the itiner-
ancy in 1810; traveled nine years; then was super-
annuated and died 1830. Henry Metcalf was from
the South; “‘a man of sorrowful temper and under
constant heaviness. Lee says: ‘He was a man
deeply rooted and grounded in the faith.’ He died
on his knees, 1784.”’ Edward Morris, who maintained
a consistent character, ceased traveling in 1790.
James White labored successfully for eight years.

 

‘Autobiography of Thomas Ware.
Lay Workers. 65

“His preaching was made a blessing to many, and
his holy life a safe example.” He died peacefully,
1789. Jeremiah Lambert, of New Jersey, served
the first circuit in Holston, southwestern Virginia,
1783, and completed a short life as a missionary in
Antigua, West Indies. He died 1786, ‘much
lamented by all who knew him.” David Abbott, son
of Benjamin Abbott, traveled for several years, located
and was “through his subsequent life faithful as a
christian.”’ These and other eminent preachers of
that day, either falling at their posts at an early
period of their ministry, or forced into the local
ranks by the hardships they were called upon to
endure, deserve to have their names inscribed in
history as worthy to be associated with those whose
more protracted service gave them high distinction.

Scarcely less illustrious are the lay-workers who,
at the same time, were raised up by the great Head
of the Church to nourish the plant of His right
hand planting. The year 1782 marks the acces-
sion of a notable group of these consecrated men.
Robert North Carnan was a citizen of Baltimore
county, Md., a cousin of General Ridgely and Mrs.
Gough, and had rendered active service during the
war of the Revolution.” Through the personal appeal
of Rev. Richard Owings, his wife had been happily
converted. He himself, after vainly endeavoring by.
ridicule to discourage her, became awakened, and
abandoned his worldly pleasures for the veligion his

 

1Lednum, page 329.
?Recollections, H. Smith, page 179.

5
66 Part I—The Planting.

wife had so steadfastly maintained. He soon found
peace and joy in believing in Christ, joined the
Methodists, and began to pray in public and exhort
his neighbors to serve God. His house became the
headquarters of Methodism in his community. He
was very zealous in the cause of God and gave a
fine tone to Methodism in Baltimore county. An
exhorter, class leader and steward for fifty years, he
might be called the father of Baltimore Circuit.
Caleb Bosley, joining the society at the same time
with R. M. Carnan, became his true yokefellow.
David Gorsuch and Cornelius Howard soon fol-
lowed, and “Stone Chapel” became a stronghold of
Methodism. The first Journal of the Baltimore
Conference records the session held there in 1800.

In Queen Anne’s there were some remarkable
men added to the Methodist Society.!. Robert
Wright at one time had been Governor of Maryland.
His son Thomas, against the wishes and threats of
his father, was drawn towards the Methodists.
While his father was plying the lash, the son caught
him round the waist, saying “Father, how I love
you! I have had doubts of my acceptance with
God, but now they are all gone; I have assurance. ”
When the father died, the homestead was given to
his Methodist son, and it became thenceforth a home
for Methodist preachers. Thomas Wright became a
local preacher, was very popular and served his
county in the Legislature. He lived and died in the

 

1Ledpum, page 350.
Lay Workers. 67

favor of men and of his Maker. Boardley, Hopper
and Chair were brought in to the society about the
same time as Thomas Wright.
68 Part I—The Planting.

CHAPTER VII.

The Conference of 1783 takes up again the ques-
tions of slavery and liquor traffic. With regard to
slavery it simply deferred action as to slaveholding
local preachers, and virtually took the same position
in 1784, suspending the Minute entirely in 1785.
The manufacture, sale and use of spirituous liquors
is pronounced “wrong in its nature and conse-
quences,”’ and the preachers are desired to “teach
the people by precept and example to put away this
evil. For the first time provision is made by “small
collections on all the circuits for the support of
preachers’ wives,” eleven in number. Also permis-
sion is given for local preachers to be employed and
supported as supplies for vacant circuits. At the
session of 1784, the church extension movement had

its beginning, and the preachers were required ‘to
put a yearly subscription through the circuits, and

“to insist on every member that is not supported by
charity giving something.”

The Conference of 1784 may be noted as the last
of twelve annual sessions designated as “Minutes of |
some Conversations between the Preachers in Con-
nexion with the Rev. John Wesley.” They began in
1773 with the recognition of Mr. Wesley’s authority
over six circuits, ten preachers, and eleven hundred
and sixty members. The movement had made steady
progress in the midst of war’s commotion and against
the most formidable difficulties. In the Minutes of
1784 there are reported forty-six circuits, eighty-four,
The Greenbrier Country. 69

itinerant preachers, and nearly fifteen thousand mem-
_ bers ; of these last, 1600 were found north and 13,400
south of Mason and Dixon’s line. This marvellous
success, so far from satisfying the workers, seemed
only to stimulate them to more heroic endeavor.
What had happened before Mr. Wesley appointed
regular missionaries from Great Britain, again
occurs. Local preachers and converted laymen,
pressing on to the western frontier across the Alle-
ghenies, so soon as they build their own rude cabins
in the wilderness, hew the logs and rear the simple
houses of worship. We can trace in four different
directions, generally following the water courses, these
streams of emigration. From Eastern Virginia and
North Carolina the sturdy pioneers go as far as to
the headwaters of the Holston and push even to Hast
Tennessee. In 1783, the Holston Circuit was formed.
Jeremiah Lambert whose first year (1781) was spent
on Talbot Circuit, Maryland, and the second on the
famous Brunswick Circuit in Virginia, gathered, in
the third year of his itinerancy, the little flock of
seventy-six members in this rugged Holston country,
stretching from New River to Hast Tennessee and
Western North Carolina, which should in after years
yield to Southern Methodism one of its finest Con-
ferences.

In what was then called the “Greenbrier Country,”
the beginning of Methodism, are of intensest inter-
est. Among the earliest settlers, who after the
Indian troubles, found permanent lodgment, were
some that came from Rockbridge county, Virginia,
and found their homes in the southern part (now
70 Part I—The Planting.

Monroe county); others, from Augusta, occupied the
middle part (now Greenbrier county) ; those abiding
in the northern part (now Pocahontas county) came
chiefly from the lower Valley of Virginia. Patrick
Keenan, a Roman Catholic, of Ireland, owned a
“corn-right ” at the head of Indian Creek. His son
Edward was (1785) converted on the mountain road,
while riding in company with William Phoebus, the
first intinerant preacher sent to Greenbrier Circuit.
The Koontz family were from the borders of France
and Germany. The Hills moved from North Caro-
lina; the Waughs, Warwicks and others from eastern
Virginia.’

John McNeil was the first settler in Little Levels,
1765... From him and a half brother, who settled
in Swago, came all the McNeils of Pocahontas.
He was born near Winchester, Virginia, and his
wife, Martha Davis, in Wales, England. Both evi-
dently brought their Methodist convictions from
original sources. John McNeil, when quite a young
man, visited Maryland, near where Robert Straw-
bridge was preaching, and his wife brought with
her to this country her Welsh bible from the region
where Charles Wesley had preached and Howell
Harris had carried the gospel to thousands of his
countrymen. Edward and Charles Kennison were
neighbors of John McNeil. Tradition says that
McNeil, “after building his cabin, remembered his
obligation to his God and built the White Pole
Meeting House,” which it is believed was the first

 

1William G. Hammond’s manuscript.
The Greenbrier Country. 71

Methodist place of worship, if not the first of any
denomination, west of the Allegheny mountains.
McNeil and the Kennisons were in the battle of
Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774. While they were
absent, the wife of John McNeil buried their child,

who had died, having made with her own hands a
rude coffin, and dug the first grave that was ever
made at the White Pole Meeting House. The
Beard family moved to Rennick’s Valley, 1780, and
their descendants are still represented in the Method-
ist Church.!

At an early date Jacob and Valentine Cook moved
from Pennsylvania and settled in the southern part
of Greenbrier (now Monroe county.) They were
the sons of John Hamilton Cook, of London, Eng-
land, who was first cousin to Captain Cook, the cele-
brated voyager. They assisted in building Mann’s
Fort, near Centreville, 1770. It is said that Jacob
Cook was a preacher. His brother Valentine was
the father of Valentine Cook, than whom there is no
more illustrious pioneer among the earlier itiner-
ants, and of Jacob Cook, who although only a
local preacher, traveled extensively. Here the first
Methodist society was formed in a school-house.
Two years later, on the land of Edward Keenan,
two miles east of Union, Rehoboth Church was
built, and is still standing. Some names of the
original society are still preserved to us. The local
preachers who regularly met this society were J.
Hemphill, James Chistie and John Wiseman; and

 

1William G. Hammond’s manuscript.
72 Part I—The Planting.

among the most substantial familes were the McMul-
lens, Johnsons, Warrens. and Blanters. They were
active farmers and owed large estates."

Botetourt and Greenbrier were so closely allied in
the movements of Methodism that, in the frequently
shifting relations they sustained to the general work,
they always went together. In Botetourt as well as
in Greenbrier the planting was mainly through the
ageucy of local preachers.*

Henry Ogburn was converted in the great Meck-
lenburg revival of 1776, was received on trial in the
traveling connection, 1779, but his name is not found
among the appointments for that year. But we are
informed that a great revival occurred during the
year, under his preaching, in Botetourt ; and that,
among the converts, was Edward Mitchell, a leading
man in that portion of Virginia. Edward Mitchell
was born in Hanover county, entered the Army at an
early age, was in the same company with Patrick
Henry, serving with great fidelity, and was present
at the bloody battle of Guilford. After the war he
married and settled in Botetourt. He and his
brother Samuel became local preachers, and con-
tributed greatly to the establishment of Methodism
in Botetourt and the adjacent counties. He was one
of the first and most decided temperance men in
Virginia. He banished whiskey wholly from his
harvest field, and gave the hands its value in money.
His example had a happy influence on his neigh-
bors ; drunkenness decreased and temperance began

 

1J. M. Hawley, Baltimore Christain Advocate, October 7, 1896.
2Bennett, pages 136, 336.
Edward Mitchell— Allegheny. 73

to be regarded as a virtue. We are informed by
those who knew him best, that “there was a beauti-
ful consistency running through his whole life and
character.” Later in life he removed to Illinois, and
there, full of days, was garnered like a ripe shock of
corn. He retained his faculties to the last and sunk
to the peaceful slumber of the grave, leaving to his
‘posterity the priceless legacy of a holy life. Many
of his descendents in Virginia and in the West are
enrolled as members of the Methodist Church.’ Our
house of worship in Fincastle, Virginia, stands on
the lot deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church,
by Edward Mitchell.

Allegheny Circuit, first on the Minutes in 1783,
comprised all the territory lying west of the Blue
Ridge not included in the Holston, and stretched
northward to the headwaters of the Potomac, where
it joined Berkeley (called for one year [1782] South
Branch). It embraced the Greenbrier country,
though it did not include Botetourt. In 1783,
Francis Poythress and Benjamin Roberts were
assigned to Allegheny Circuit. Numerous as were
these vast mountain ranges, the indomitable spirit of
Poythress impelled him to cross them and go beyond.
Following the Cheat river, in company with Roberts
and Haw, he penetrated as far as the waters of the
Little Youghiogheny river, into Fayette county,
Pennsylvania, where he found that the pioneer local
preacher had preceded him.

 

1Bennett, pages 133, 336.
74 Part I—The Planting.

As early as 1768 John Jones, of Maryland, built
his cabin on Redstone Creek, Fayette county, Penn-
sylvania. Robert Wooster, a local preacher, came
soon after to Beesontown (or Uniontown). Jones
rode ten miles to hear him preach, was awakened
under the sermon, and invited the preacher to his
house. While Wooster was praying with the family,
Jones was coverted, and afterward became the lead-
ing member of the first Methodist Society formed
in Uniontown. He gave a son to the western itiner-
ancy. Doddridge’s and Moore’s were among the
first preaching places in this region, the latter on the
Youghiogheny river. The Redstone Circuit was
formed, 1784, with John Cooper and Samuel Breeze
stationed on it. Methodism also dates back to an
early period on the Juniata river. Juniata Circuit,
constituted 1784, lay among the Tuscarora Moun-
tains, in Central Pennsylvania. As early as 1775,
Michael Cryder, a local preacher, settled near Hunt-
ingdon, built a mill, preached and organized a
Methodist Society. From this Society, through the
valleys and hills of this portion of the State, Method-
ism has been increasing, until the Central Pennsyl-
vania Conference now will compare in numbers,
wealth, and influence with any of her sister Confer-
ences. Northeast of Juniata is Penn’s Valley, one
of the most famous in the State. Here Robert
Pennington came from Delaware, and settled in Cen-
tre county, “the first Methodist in this valley.”
He built of logs the first Methoodist chapel in this
region.

For this and the following paragraph see Lednum, pages
391-394.
In Pennsylvania. 15

Peter Shaver and Catherine, his wife, were early
Methodists in Huntingdon county. There was a
church in their house. Another was in the house
of John and Mary Oaks. In Perry county, in the
Juniata Circuit, Jesse and Sarah Bowman, old dis-
ciples, entertained the preachers. James Campbell
and Benjamin and Mary Owen of the same county
were also Methodists at that time. Further south,
in Bedford county, Methodism bad an early planting.
Three local preachers, sometimes called the “ three
Bishops”’ on account of their indefatigable labors,
are not to be forgotten. Thomas Lakin, a native of
Montgomery county, Maryland, united with the
Methodists, 1780. Soon after, he settled in Bedford
county, Pa., one of the first Methodists. He pos-
sessed talent above mediocrity and filled frequently
the appointments of the itinerants. He ended his
life in Ohio, 1834, in his seventy-first year, leaving
the odor of a good name. William Shaw has the
distinction of association with Lakin in his work.
John J. Jacob, also a native of Maryland, a revolu-
tionary hero in the battles of Brandywine, German-
town, Monmouth and Camden, had lived and preached
in the rugged regions of Hampshire county, Virginia.
He was abundant in labors and expired in 1834,
exclaiming ‘all is well—safe!” a veteran of eighty-
two years. Simon Cochrane, a frontier pioneer,
born in Harness Fort, 1755, a soldier in Dunmore’s
war, and also during the Revolution, joined the
Methodists, and became a mountainer champion of
the faith, though in the local ranks. He died in
Ohio, nearly ninety years of age.
76 Part I—The Planting.

The close of this starting period, so full of wondrous
interest to the generations of Methodists following,
would not be complete unless the central figure, the
leading personality, were seen bringing to the unfore-
shadowed coming of the new era the latest sheaves
gathered into the garner. Hardly.had Asbury dis-
missed the preachers to their fields of labor from
the Conference of 1784, before he set out upon his
annual circuit, in company with Hezekiah Bonham.
Leaving “Sister Boydstone’s,” near Shepherdstown,
he passed the Little Meadows, keeping the route of
Braddock’s road for twenty-two miles along a rough
pathway, sleeping “as thick as three in a bed” on
the floor of the humble cabin, suffering with fever
for days together, yet preaching almost every day in
cabins and under trees, wherever the people gathered
to hear him. He pressed on across the Allegheny
mountains to the western margin of Methodism on
the Redstone settlement, left the impress of his
presence upon the newly formed societies, then
retraced his steps, and made his way through Mary-
land and Pennsylvania to Philadelphia and New
York. In the latter city he found “ about a hundred
Methodists much alive to God.” It seems that the
war had acted as a purge to fan the floor. Return-
ing through New Jersey, he found “death among
the few Methodists.”” Passing to the Peninsula he
preached for the first time in Dover, Delaware.
Going through Queen Anne’s, Maryland, he made
his first visit to Kent Island, and thence to Taylor’s
Island, in Dorchester county. The furies had spent
their wrath and peace prevailed.’

 

'Lednum, page 395.
Review of the Period. Ue

Crossing the Chesapeake bay, he entered for the
first time the Northern Neck of Virginia. Here he
says there was an “abundance of the productions of
earth and sea. The people are well featured, good
livers, generous, hospitable, social and polished in
their manners, but blind in spiritual matter and gay
in life.’ Many afterwards had their eyes enlight-
ened. One hundred members were at that time in
society with Heury Willis in charge. Recrossing the
bay, he reached Snow Hill, Maryland, where the
Judge opened the court house for him, and he
preached his first sermon in the place to a large
congregation. Thence he proceeded to Delaware,
and at Barrett's Chapel met Dr. Thomas Coke,
recently arrived from England, Sunday, November
14, 1784."

Thus for twenty years had the planting of Method-
ism in this country been going on. It had begun in
Maryland, and soon found congenial soil in Virginia.
The conditions in both those colonies were peculiarly
favorable. Several reasons may be assigned for this.
In the country farther north, New York and Phila-
delphia were city centres. Each had its well organ-
ized churches, with congregations whose traditions
came from England and the Continent. The Dutch
Church in Holland had, from the origin of the New
York colony, its roots deeply fixed, and its people
were firmly attached to the doctrines and usages
inherited from the fatherland. Their spirit pervaded
all classes of society. William Penn had brought
from Great Britain the peculiar religious views and

 

1Bennett, page 166.
78 Part I—The Planting.

customs that were nearly akin to the Puritans. The
same may be said of the Lutherans, who settled in
Pennsylvania. The force of these traditions was felt
beyond the cities. The religious element in both
places had a predominating influence. The teach-
ings of Calvin permeated the social and personal life
of their communities. Moreover, there had been no
neglect or ill-treatment on the part of the parent
churches in the old countries to weaken the attach-
ment of the members of these churches in the new
world. Besides this, it must be remembered that
just previous to the Revolution, the large cities, then
as now situated in the north, were as commercial
centres and proportionately affected by the unjust
course of England, very greatly stirred by the politi-
cal action of the times. Then, when the war broke
out, these cities were long occupied by the British,
and the surrounding territories were the fields of
hostile operations.

On the other hand, Methodism in its doctrinal
teachings and its ecclesiastical economy was nearer
to the Church of England—a prevalent form of wor-
ship in Maryland and Virginia—than to any other
ecclesiastical system. Mr. Wesley had never severed
his connection with that branch of the Church of
Christ. The more evangelical and pious of the
clergy of that church were in hearty sympathy with
the Wesleyan movement. Asbury found no more
sincere and active co-adjutors than Jarrett, McGaw
and Pettigrew. But it is an historical fact that the
Episcopal churches were in large measure poorly
served, that they were neglected and ill-treated by
Review of the Period. 79

the hierarchy in England, and that membership was
often merely nominal. It is also a fact that the
social conditions in the two southern colonies were
especially favorable. The freer life of the people,
the more restricted opportunities for public worship,
the small villages and scattered settlements guaran-
teed a hospitable welcome to the Methodist itinerants.
Baltimore, a small town, partook of the characteris-
tics of the country region. Besides these advantages,
Maryland was at no time the seat of war, and Vir-
ginia was undisturbed except towards the close of
the struggle.

From this favored. section went forth the chosen
laborers, the local preachers sowing the seed, and
the prompt itinerants following, to care for the plant
of evangelical religion, until now it is ready to put
forth its sturdy boughs and its luxuriant foliage.
Asbury has been, to the outermost settlements, and
with his own eyes, has surveyed the wonderful
expansion of the work of grace, and is now ready
with the eager interest, wise sagacity and spiritual
enthusiasm of a great leader, to take his providenti-
ally appointed position as Bishop of the first estab-
lished Episcopal Church in America.
PART I]—The Organization, 1784-1812.

CHAPTER I.

The early planting of Methodism in the Balti-
more Conference (1760-84) has now reached a
period when it is to assume the form of a provi-
dentially developing growth. The times were ripe
for organization and more systematic work. One
year after peace had been proclaimed and when social
order was in a measure being restored, the keen eye
of John Wesley saw the opportunity, as well as the
need, for his infant sucieties in the New World to
be more firmly fixed. The same genius that had
seized the providential openings for a wide-spread
revival of spiritual religion in his own country, and
had covered it with a net-work of stations and
circuits, provided a new and living way along
which the divinely guided forces became consoli-
dated into a Christain Church, soon to rank among
the very first for its purity of doctrine, its evangeli-
cal spirit and its adaptation to the conditions of
American society. The itinerant system, which had
carried the gospel to every nook and corner of the
United Kingdom, had in it the germ of still greater
success in the United States. God had raised up
and equipped the men who, with rare wisdom,
unshrinking courage and unswerving fidelity, would
meet the moral and religious needs of growing
centres of population, and at the same time brave
 

WILLIAM McKENDREE
Thomas Coke. 81

the dangers of the frontier settlements and organize
churches on the most distant borders of the country.

The story of the Christmas Conference of 1784
has been so often and so fully told, that the minute
details need not in this history be repeated. The
appointment and ordination by Mr. Wesley of Dr.
Thomas Coke as superintendent or bishop, and of
Whatcoat and Vasey as elders, at Bristol, England,
September 2, 1784, and the prescription of a liturgy
for the infant church across the Atlantic, were the
first decisive steps that lead to the grandest results.
We read with deepest interest of the embarkation
and six weeks’ voyage of these consecrated men; of
their reception by Stephen Sands, the influential
layman and trustee of John Street Church, New York ;
of the hearty welcome by John Dickens and his
emphatic approval of Mr. Wesley’s plan; of the
meeting with Asbury at Barrett’s Chapel, Delaware ;
of the overflowing love and fellowship, the holy joy
and affecting scenes during the services; of the pre-
sentation to Asbury of the purport of Coke’s mis-
sion; of the appointment of the first meeting of
Methodist preachers; and of Garrettson, “sent as
an arrow” personally to summon them to meet at
Lovely Lane Chapel, in Baltimore city.’

While waiting for this trusted messenger to per-
form the duty assigned him, the great leaders were
not idle. A plan of itinerary was arranged.” Black
Harry, himself an eloquent and popular preacher,

 

JLednum, page 409.
?Lednum, page 410.
6
82 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

and Asbury’s faithful traveling servant, was made
the guide of Dr. Coke through the Eastern Shore,
where at every point vast numbers of people waited
on his ministry and Methodist families received with
joy the sacraments from his hands. To the West-
ern Shore, Whatcoat and Vasey proceeded, preach-
ing as they went, during the months of November
and December. Joined at Abingdon by William
Black, an English preacher seeking ministerial help
for Nova Scotia, and by Dr. Coke, they reached the
spacious and elegant mansion of Harry Dorsey
Gough at Perry Hall, December 17. Whatcoat,
delayed by preaching, arrived on the 19th. Busily
engaged for four days in revising the Rules and
Minutes, discussing and perfecting the scheme for a
college, first projected by John Dickens ; and at the
same time, filling up the odd hours with religious
services, they were ready to set out on the early
morning of December 24th, to meet at Lovely Lane
the sixty preachers whom Garrettson, after a ride of
1200 miles in six weeks, had successfully called
together. It was meet that the place where the
chief planting had been done, and from which the
noble workers had mainly gone out, should consti-
tute the historic site where American Methodism
should take its first form. It was meet that the new
church should be born, as was her Divine Head
eighteen centuries before, in humblest place. A
rude structure with no adornment, and with simplest.
furniture, some of the benches with backs supplied
only a few days previous by kind friends, served the
purpose of organization, and provision for the most
 

 

 
The Christmas Conference. 83

aggressive and successful body of christians on this
continent.

With singular unanimity the plan of Wesley was
accepted. His preference for an Episcopal form of
Church government suggested the title, “ Methodist
Episcopal Church.” But one supplemental addition
to the plan was made. The voice of Wesley must
have the concurrent vote of the preachers, or Asbury
would decline nomination. It was unanimously
given to both Coke and himself; and, on Christmas
Day, the second of the session, Coke, assisted by
Whatcoat and Vasey, ordained Asbury deacon. On
Sunday they ordained him elder; and on Monday
he was solemnly set apart as superintendent, or
bishop. By Asbury’s special request his old friend
Philip William Otterbein also assisted in the ordi-
nation on Monday. Three days were spent in enact-
ing rules of Discipline, and the election of preachers
to orders. Several were ordained deacons on
Friday. On Saturday, the project of the college
was considered. On Sunday (January 2, 1785)
twelve, previously ordained deacons, were set apart
as elders, and “thus,” adds Whatcoat, ‘“‘we ended
our Conference in great peace and unanimity.”
John Dickens was ordained deacon. Ignatius Pig-
man and Caleb Bover were elected, but not ordained
until the meeting of the Baltimore Conference in
June following. William Gill, LeRoy Cole, Nelson
Reed, John Hagerty, Reuben Ellis, Richard Ivy and
James O'Kelly were ordained Elders. John Tunnell,
Henry Willis and Beverly Allen were elected, but
ordained subsequently. Freeborn Garrettson and
84 Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

James O. Cromwell were ordained elders for Nova
Scotia, and Jeremiah Lambert for the same office for
Autigua in the West Indies. Besides these, Lednum
tells us, there were certainly present William
Glendenning, Francis Poythress, Joseph Everett,
William Phoebus, Thomas Ware, William Black (of
N.8.).

There is reason to suppose that the following
preachers, from their standing and the place of their
labor, were also there : Edward Drumgole, Caleb B.
Peddicord, Thomas 8. Chew, Joseph Cromwell, John
Major, Philip Cox, Samuel Rowe, William Patridge,
Thomas Foster, George Mair, Samuel Dudley, Adam
Cloud, Michael Ellis, James White, Jonathan Forrest,
Joseph Wyatt, Philip Bruce, John Magary, William
Thomas, John Baldwin, Woolman Hickson, Thomas
Haskins, Iva Ellis, John Easter, Peter Moriarty,
Enoch Matson, Lemuel Green, Thomas Curtis, Wil-
liam Jessup, Wilson Lee, Thomas Jackson, James
Riggin, William Ringold, Isaac Smith, Matthew
Greentree, William Lynch, Thomas Bowen, Moses
Park, William Cannon and Richard Swift.

Organization, so happily begun, was not, however,
during those memorable days completed. The doc-
trines of Armenian Methodism must be reduced to
such form that they may be clearly comprehended.
Discipline that had already been applied by the
hand of Asbury must now become accepted law by
solemn enactment. Plans for enlargement and
extension must now give more definite aim and
wider scope to the quickened impulses that had been
Taking Form. 85

glowing in the hearts of both preachers and people.
Ordinances that had been withheld until the newly
constituted societies could be no longer restrained,
may now, under the authentic forms of providential
appointment, be so satisfactorily administered that
the waiting thousands may rejoice in the conscious-
ness that Methodism really meant a church whose
privileges and blessings would be equal, if not
superior, to any other among God’s militant hosts.
Upon the details we need not dwell. They are as
familiar as household words throughout the length
and breadth of America. This notable period was
but the beginning of the formative era of Episcopal
Methodism whose reach and development were to
extend far into the years of the coming century.
Principles were to be tested “so as by fire.” Plans
had to be modified—some of them to prove abortive.
New conditions were to be encountered and serious
difficulties to be overcome. Our task will be to
describe them as the years go on, and to note the
result especially with reference to Baltimore Con-
ference history.

We have heretofore found the Conference so inti”
mately connected with the period of planting, that it
was impracticable to review its work without in some
measure attempting to cover the entire field. Nor
can it yet be separated from the mass in which it is
still seen working as a leaven. Sixteen years must
pass before Conference boundaries even begin to be
well defined. For five years after the organization
of the church no Conference was held north of Bal-
timore. There Bisphop Asbury announced the
86 Part. II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

appointments of the preachers to their several fields,
extending to Philadelphia, New York and even to
Nova Scotia, while, besides Maryland and a part of
Eastern Virginia, they reached to the western por-
tions of the latter State, and to the frontiers of Penn-
sylvania. It was uot until 1789, that Philadelphia,
Trenton, New Jersey and New York city, became the
centres of new Conferences. To the Philadelphia
Conference was remanded the whole of the Eastern
Shore of Maryland ; the rest of the State, that part of
Virginia lying north and west of the Rappahannock
river, and Western Pennsylvania to the Ohio outline,
formed the territory proper of the Baltimore Con-
ference. The Presiding Eldership dates back to the
Christmas Conference. It was not a forethought
but became a necessity, growing out of the great
demand- for the administration of the ordinances.
The twelve elders who had received ordination were
placed in charge, each, of one of twelve groups of
appointments, taking the oversight of the traveling
preachers as well as administering the sacraments.
The term “presiding elder,” though incidentally
used on announcing the appointments in 1789 was
not permanently employed until 1797. In 1789 the
circuits began to assume a more definite shape and
Conference relations. Rockingham, constituted a
circuit in 1788, heads the list of a group under
Philip Bruce as Presiding Elder — Allegheny,
Berkeley, Fairfax, Lancaster and Gloucester being
included.’ Calvert leads the next group with

 

1Botetourt Circuit, from 1789 until 1803, is found in the
Virginia Conference.
Districts—Light Street Chapel. 87

Nelson Reed Presiding Elder, followed by Annapo-
lis, Baltimore, Fell’s point, Montgomery, Frederick,
Bath, Huntingdon, Little York, Harford and Balti-
more Circuits, in the order named. The farther
western charges, which for two years preceding had
been associated with Philadelphia, are henceforth to
be identified with Baltimore, until they become
strong enough to form a new Western Conference.
Anson G. Thomson is Presiding Elder of this group:
Randolph, Clarksburg, Redstone, Ohio (1787), and
Pittsburg (1788), with the West Indies as a tempor-
ary adjunct. These are the names of the pioneers,
constantly in the saddle, that are embalmed in the
memory of Methodists. They will be recalled as the
more prominent events pass before our view.

Hardly had the Christmas Conference completed
its work in Lovely Lane Chapel when that humble
but famous edifice passed away from the control of
the church, to be remembered only as the starting
point of Methodism in the city of Baltimore, glorified
by the heroic scene in the Conference of 1776, and
justly honored as having been the seat of the Gen-
eral Conference that organized the Church. The
new order of things demanded a more commodious
place of worship. Light Street Chapel, on the
corner of Light street and Vine alley, was built ;
destroyed by fire in 1795, and rebuilt in 1797, when
Asbury opened it. This structure remained until it
was condemned by the city authorities for the open-
ing of German street, 1869, and like its predecessors,
passed into the history of famous places that were,
but are not.
88 Part 11-—The Organization, 1784-1812.

In 1785 St. Mary’s was added to the Maryland
circuits, and Lancaster in the northern neck of Vir-
ginia, Ignatius Pigman appointed to the former, and
Joseph Everett to the latter. Both of these were
men of mark. In the Minutes of this year is the
first record of death notices: “Caleb B. Peddicord,
a man of sorrows, and like his Master, acquainted
with grief; but a man dead to the world and much
devoted to God.” “George Mair, a man of affliction,
but great patience and resignation ; and of excellent
understanding.” These are models of brevity and
terseness.

Dr. Coke remained in this country five months
after the Christmas Conference. Just before his
departure, he and Asbury dined by appointment with
Washington. ‘He received us,” says Coke, “very
politely and was open to access. He is quite the
plain country gentleman. After dinner we desired
a private interview and opened to him the grand
business on which we came, presenting to him our
petition for the emancipation of the negroes, and
entreating his signature, if the eminence of his sta-
tion did not render it inexpedient for him to sign
any petition. He informed us that he was of our
sentiments, and had signified his thoughts to most
of the great men of the State; that he did not see
proper to sign the petition; but, if the Assembly
took it into consideration, would signify his senti-
ments to the Assembly by letter. He asked us to
spend the evening and lodge at his house, but our
engagement at Annapolis would not admit of it.”
 

THOMAS COKE
Cokesbury College. 89

From Mount Vernon they went to Baltimore to
attend Conference, which met June 1, 1785. The
return of Dr. Coke to England compelled him to
leave immediately after its adjournment. Two days
later Asbury laid the corner stone of Cokesbury
College at Abingdon, Maryland. Nearly five thou-
sand dollars had already been contributed toward
the enterprise, and the building materials had been
contracted for by Dr. Coke.’ Fifteen chartered trus-
tees had been appointed, five of them Methodist
preachers, viz: John Chalmers, Henry Willis, Nel-
son Reed, Richard Whatcoat and Joseph Everett ;
and ten laymen, viz: Judge White and James Ander-
son from Delaware; Henry Ennalls and John Car-
nan from the Eastern Shore of Maryland; William
Wilkins from Annapolis; Philip Rogers, Samuel
Owings, Isaac Burneston, James McCannon and
Emanuel Kent from Baltimore. The original trus-
tees named in the deed were Henry Dorsey, Jesse
Hollingsworth, Philip Rogers, Charles Carnan,
Samuel Owings, Nicholas Jones, Cornelius Howard,
Dr. Moses Allen and William Frazier. Of the site
Dr. Coke said at his second visit: ‘The place
delights me more than ever. There is not I believe
a point of it from which the eye has not a view of
at least 20 miles; and, in some parts, the prospect
extends even to 50 miles in length. The water front
forms one of the most beautiful views in the United
States ; the Chesapeake bay in all its grandeur, with
a fine navigable river, the Susquehanna, which

 

1Dr. Hamilton, Meth. Quar. Review, 1859, page 178.
90 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

empties into it, lying exposed to view through a
great extent of country.”

The situation was the more suitable, because it
lay in the very centre of Methodist influence, one-
third of the entire membership in the United States
being at that time in Maryland. It was easy to
reach, being on the great highway, then a stage route
from Baltimore to Philadelphia. The ground for the
building was bought of Richard Dallam and Aquilla
Paca for £60 sterling. The building was said to
have been “in dimensions and style of architecture
fully equal, if not superior, to anything of the kind
in the country.” ‘It was of brick, 100 feet in length
and 40 in width, facing east and west, and stood on
the summit and centre of six acres of land, with an
equal descent and proportion of ground on each side.”
“The walls were painted on the outside and the win-
dows completely glazed.” The hall, 40 feet square,
was in the middle of the lower floor; school rooms ©
on the second and bed chambers on the third floor.
The premises were enclosed by a substantial fence,
and a portion of the enclosure was appropriated for
a garden, in which the students were at liberty to
indulge their peculiar tastes in the culture of flowers
and vegetables, under the oversight of the gardener.
Work in wood was also taught by a skillful mechanic,
for which all proper materials and instruments were
furnished. A bathing place was provided, a “ master
or some one appointed by him being always present.”
Only one was permitted to bathe at a time, and one
minute only was allowed to each for that purpose.
Bathing in Bush river was strictly forbidden. Walk-
The College Regulations. 91

ing and riding were the remaining out-door exercises
permitted. When the trustees met they formulated
twenty-nine rules for the government of the institu-
tion. The 18th prohibited the students from indulg-
ing in anything which the world calls play. “ Let this
rule be observed with the strictest nicety, for those
who play when they are young will play when they
are old.” The 29th provided that “a convenient
room shall be set apart as a place for confinement.”
Students were to rise at 5 A. M. the year round and
to be in bed by 9 P. M. They were to study seven
hours daily. Three hours were allowed for dinner
and recreation. Each student occupied a separate
bed, and feathers were not permitted. The bishops
were to examine the studeuts twice yearly. Sons
of preachers, subscribers and other friends, together
with poor orphans, were to be educated free of
charge, if the finances allowed. The same privi-
lege was extended to young men called to preach.
Especial care was to be taken that “due attention
should be paid to the religion and morals of the
children, and to the exclusion of all such as continue
of an ungovernable temper.” All the usual branches
were to be taught, but “our first object shall be to
answer the designs of Christian education by form-
ing the minds of youth, through divine aid, to
wisdom and holiness by instilling into their minds
the principles of true religion.” The rules, rigid as
they were, correspond for the most part with those of
other colleges of the day. As soon as the house was
under roof and one or two rooms finished, a prepara-
tory school was opened with fifteen scholars, taught
92 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

by Mr. Freeman Marsh, a Quaker, reported “to be
a good Latin scholar and an excellent disciplinarian.”’

The trustees appealed to Mr. Wesley in 1786 for
a president, and he suggested a Rev. Mr. Heath. The
trustees-were called together by Asbury, who found
that they had expended £2,000. They agreed to
finish two rooms and send for Mr. Heath. He was
the master of the grammar school at Kidderminster,
England, to whom Dr. Coke wrote, and Mr. Heath
accepted his proposal. March 22, 1787, Wesley
wrote: “I had seen Mr. Heath before, a middle-aged
clergyman, who is going over to Cokesbury College,
and is, I believe, thoroughly qualified to preside
there. I met his wife and two lovely daughters
here, who are quite willing to bear him company,
and I think their tempers and manners, ‘so win-
ningly soft, so amiably mild,’ will do him honor
wherever they come.” When Heath arrived at Cokes-
bury with Patrick McCloskey, he was formally inau-
gurated, December 8-10, 1787. Bishop Asbury
preached each day. “Trust in the Lord and do
good;”’ “O man of God, there is death in the pot,”
and “They shall not labor in vain,” were the texts
of the three successive sermons. Twenty-five students
were entered.

Abingdon, the near-by village, attracted attention
and grew rapidly. In 1786 the Conference held its
session there ; and indeed, subsequently, after meeting
in Baltimore, would adjourn to Cokesbury College to
conclude its deliberations. Joseph Everett was for
years the Chaplain. Joseph Toy, converted under
Cokesbury Burnt. 93

Webb at Burlington, New Jersey, became a professor.
He was a good mathematical scholar and “one of the
purest men and soundest preachers known to Method-
ism.” He was the first Secretary of the Baltimore
Conference, and the old Journal still exhibits his fine

penmanship and accurate records.

Famous as the place became, ‘a shelter to the chil-
dren of the preachers, a favorite resort of the itiner-
ants and an honor to the Church,” it was a constant
care and a heavy burden on Asbury, who, during the
ten years of its existence, wrought diligently for
ite maintenance, and, when it was destroyed by fire
at midnight, December 7, 1795, the news reaching
him at Charleston, 8S. C., wrote in his Journal: ‘We
have now a second and confirmed account that
Cokesbury College is consumed to ashes, a sacrifice
of £10,000 ($50,000) in ten years. If any man
should give me £10,000 per year to do and suffer
again what I have done for that house, I would not
do it. The Lord called not Mr. Whitefield, nor the
Methodists to build colleges. I wished only for
schools—Dr. Coke wanted a college. I feel dis-
tressed at the loss of the library.” Who can help
sympathizing with the good man in such an exper-
ience? Similar trials later on awaited him. Could
his eyes have been opened to see the present times
he would have realized, in the spectacle of the grand
system of education in Methodism, how that great
ultimate triumphs are born out of defeat and disaster.

At the Christmas Conference the appeal of William
Black for Nova Scotia stirred the zeal of the first
great Missionary Bishop of Methodism. Significant
94 Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

as was the appointment of Freeborn Garrettson as
missionary to Nova Scotia, followed by the early
sending of three others from Great Britain by
Wesley, equally so was the providential diversion
that occurred on Coke’s return, September, 1786,
to the new world. Terrific storms on the high seas
drove the frail and leaking ship far away from Nova
Scotia, their point of destination, to the grateful
though unexpected haven of Antigua, in the West
Indies. Eight years after the arrival of John Baxter,
a London mechanic and local preacher, practically a
missionary, was Coke driven by the winds of heaven
to his relief. Marvellous results followed. How
clearly can we not trace the movements of Divine
Providence! Twenty-eight years before, Nathaniel
Gilbert, a West India planter and two of his female
slaves were converted in England under Wesley. A
century later, and nearly an entire island in the
midst of surrounding moral darkness and degreda-
tion sheds it benign light upon its nearest neighbors.
On the first of May, 1787, Coke is again in Balti-
more. The Conference had, the preceding year, been
appointed for July, but it was anticipated to accom-
modate him. The assumption of authority to change
both time and place gave rise to serious discussion
and animadversion during the session. But while
storm was on the surface, the spirit of love and
unity prevailed in the depths below. Coke embarked
again for Europe, June oF, 1787.

Meanwhile, Asbury pursued his incessant jour-
neyings on horseback through the Middle States and
then southward as far as Georgia, where he held his
Raciates from Baltimore. 95

first Conference in that section—his Journal says,
at the Forks of Broad river. Directing his course
to the northwest, he climbed the Alleghenies into
the Holston country, and, penetrating into Tennessee,
held his first Conference in May, 1788, at Haif Acres
(Huffaker) and Keywoods. Returning into North
Carolina, passing into Virginia, still among the
mountains, he reached Pennsylvania; and, at Union-
town, with Whatcoat and eleven other preachers,
held another first Conference, July 22, 1788, stop-
ping to rest, after this memorablet our, perhaps the
grandest of his whole life, at Bath, Berkeley county,
Virginia. Asbury attends the Baltimore Conference,
September 10th, and pushes on to New York; where,
at the old John Street Church, he holds the first
Conference ever assembled north of Philadelphia,
September 30. Wakely describes this session as
‘an era in the history of the church.”

In the Minutes of 1787 is the record of the death
of Richard Owings: “one of the first local preachers
on the continent. Though he had charge of a large
family, he labored much in word and doctrine, travel-
ing for weeks and months in the back settlements in
the infancy of the work. He was a man of honest
heart, plain address, good utterance and sound judg-
ment. He gave himself up to the work during the
two last years of his life. He died at Leesburg,
Virginia, September 1786, and we trust rests from
his labors.”

The year 1789 is marked by the futile attempt to
organize an executive body to be known as the
“Council,” to be composed of representative men
96 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

out of the several districts. The bishops and pre-
siding elders, never fewer than nine, were to have
‘authority to mature everything they should judge
expedient” for the unity, the doctrine and moral
integrity of the church, and the improvement of “its
colleges and plan of education; provided, however,
that only its unanimous decisions should be pre-
sented to the Church, and these be binding “in any
district”? only when they “have been agreed upon
by a majority of the Conference which is held for
that district.” The weakness and impracticability
of this measure were soon revealed in the two ses-
sions held 1789 and 1790, and the opposition to its
continuance compelled the bishops to substitute in
its stead a General Conference in 1792.

The most important act of the Church during this
decade was the establishment of Sunday schools.
This took place by the concurrent voice of the Con-
ferences during the year 1790. It had been only
nine years since this grand movement was begun
in England by Robert Raikes, at the instance
of a young Methodist woman, afterward the wite
of Samuel Bradburn, a distinguished Wesleyan
preacher. John Wesley was the first man in Eng-
land to publicly approve Raikes’ plan ; and the same
year John Fletcher, of Madely, introduced it into his
parish, and wrote an essay on “The Advantages
likely to arise from Sunday Schools.” In the year
1786, four years before this order of the Conferences,
and five years before any other attention was given
to the institution in this country, Asbury opened the
first Sunday School in America at the house of
Sunday-Schools— Growth. 97

Thomas Crenshaw, in Hanover county, Virginia.'
‘“The pious labors of the pioneer teachers in this
school were crowned of God in the conversion of a
number of scholars, among whom was a colored boy,
John Charleson, who afterward became a local
preacher, and labored with zeal and success for
more than forty years.” The movement beginning
with those cheering prospects, subsequently shared
with Cokesbury a temporary decline, only to be
revived in good time and grow into a world-wide
and glorious achievement.

Joshua Wells, afterwards one of the pioneers in
Canada, a great preacher in the Baltimore Conference
and living to within two years of one hundred, is
admitted 1789. This year Fell’s Point is made a
separate charge from Baltimore, and Botetourt is
taken from Greenbrier. In 1790 Enoch George,
future Bishop, is admitted on trial and the same year
is recorded the death of John Tunnell, whose short
career of thirteen years closes in a halo of glory at
the Sweet Springs, Virginia. Kanawha is added to
the Greenbrier work, Stafford and South river, in
Maryland. Alexandria becomes a station, 1791,
with Ezekiel Cooper, who had been six years in the
work, as the preacher. Winchester, with Richard
Swift, and Severn, with John Hill, preachers, also
make their first appearance. Seely Bunn and
Joseph Rowan are among the probationers of 1792,
and Prince George’s appears for the first time among
the charges, with forty members.

 

1Bennett’s Methodism in Virginia, page 297.
7
98 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

On the first of March, 1791, John Wesley died in
great triumph. The news reached Coke and Asbury
at Port Royal, South Carolina. Coke, stunned and
depressed, hastened to seek passage to England, but
had to wait until May 16, when he embarked at
Newcastle, Delaware. Asbury, with deep feeling,
recognized the loss which had befallen the church,
concluding that “ his equal is not to be found among
all the sons he hath brought up, nor his superior
among the sons of Adam he hath left behind.” On
receiving the news of his death, all the Methodist
Churches in the principal communities of America,
were draped in mourning. Coke and Asbury preached
funeral sermons from Baltimore to New York, espe-
cially at the sessions of the Conferences.

Joseph Carson, long known as an honored mem-
ber, first in the Baltimore, and subsequently in the
Virginia Conference, furnished an account of his
early life and Christian experience to Dr. Bennett,
as follows: ‘My earliest recollections of Metho-
dism in Winchester (his native town), date back to
1791, when I was but six years old. About this
time my brother, Brattie Carson, joined the church,
and I doubt not my youthful mind was more deeply
impressed with the fact from my distress at his cut-
ting short his elegant suit of hair, which it was
then fashionable to wear in a queue ; but there was
not room for a man and a queue both in the Methodist
church in those days. My brother, George A. Reed
and James Walls were, I believe, almost the first
members in the town; he was the steward, and Reid
and Walls became local preachers. The first travel-
Carson's Narrative. 99

ling preacher of whom I have any personal know!l-
edge, was John Talbot [it is William in the Minutes].
He was a faithful, dauntless man of God, and feared
not to deliver his Master’s message while stones and
eggs were being hurled at his head. I still remem-
ber with what veneration I regarded him, of whom
T had heard it said, that while he was preaching, the
blood was trickling from gashes in his face. He
used sometimes to preach on my brother’s lot under
a tree, beneath whose spreading branches was a large
rock which formed his pulpit. The houses of Mrs
Bowers, and of Walls and Reid, were also places of
preaching. Class and prayer meetings were often
conducted by the wives of these brethren. The first
time I ever saw Bishop Asbury he was standing on
a table on the green preaching. About 1795, I
think they began a church, but were not able to
finish it for some time. Philip Bruce and Leroy
Cole, men dear to the hearts of many, used to
accompany the Bishop occasionally. Among the
local preachers in the Valley, I remember the names
of Lewis Chastain, John B. Tilden, William Cravens
(besides those before mentioned); and of prominent
lay members, those of Samuel Calvert, Simon Lauck
and James Newham. Enoch George, Nicholas
Snethen, Thomas Lyell, Hamilton Jefferson, Jere-
miah Browning and Stephen G. Roszel, are also
names around which cluster many associations of
Methodism in this section of the country. Our
Quarterly Meetings used to be occasions of special
interest, and were attended by persons from great
distances, even 40 and 50 miles ; they were always
100) = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

seasons of revival. I well remember the first one I
ever attended, held at Shepherdstown, in 1800.
Seely Bunn was preacher in charge, Daniel Hitt,
presiding elder. I went with Brothers Walls, Reid
and Shields and a number of ladies and gentlemen.
I was not then a Christian, but was considerably
interested on the subject of religion. We were on
horseback ; and, as we approached the town, we
formed a procession, the ministers being in front,
and began to sing. As we rode through the town
singing, the people regarded us very curiously.
Near this place lived Brothers Lafferty and Bunnis-
ton, men known for their zeal and piety.”
General Conference of 1792. 101

CHAPTER I.

The scheme of a governing Council having proved
a failure, it was deemed necessary to call the
preachers to meet in a General Conference, and this
became a quadrennial gathering from 1792. It met
in Baltimore, November 1. Bishop Coke had been
absent since May 1791. “The difficulties attending
the settlement of the Wesleyan Connection aftet
Wesley’s death were exaggerated by jealousy, if not
maltreatment of the Bishop, among the English
preachers.”' Patiently pursuing both his public work
and the preparation of his Bible Commentary, he
undertook a mission to France, where he staid but
a short time. Returning to London, he traversed
the United Kingdom, preaching and soliciting funds
for his West India Mission. Then embarking for
the General Conference in Baltimore, he was for
sixty days on the sea, but all the while indefatigable
in work on his commentary. He was now in his
prime, observing his 45th birthday (October 9), on
the high seas. On his arrival at Newcastle, Dela-
ware, he hastened with all speed to be in time for
the General Conference, wearing out one chaise
horse, and breaking down another, making the dis-
tance in a little more than one day.” Jesse Lee’s
history represents the gathering as numerous “from
all parts of the United States, where we had any
circuits formed.”’ The first week of the session was
distinguished by the severest test of the integrity of

 

1Drew’s Life of Coke, page 232.
102) Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

the ecclesiastical system of Methodism it had as yet
experienced. James O’Kelly, of Virginia, introduced
a motion affecting radically the Episcopal preroga-
tives, and indirectly assailing Bishop Asbury. The
proposition was to allow a preacher, if he felt him-
self injured by the Bishop’s appointment, “to appeal
to the Conference and to state his objections ; and
if the Conference approve his objection the bishop
shall appoint him to another circuit.”

Leaving Bishop Coke in the chair, Asbury retired,
“anxious and sick.” His letter to the Conference
reveals in a few words the wise and noble charac-
ter of the worthy pioneer Bishop of Methodism :
“Let my absence give you no pain: Dr. Coke
presides. I am happily excused from assisting to
make laws by which myself am to be governed. I
have only to obey and execute. Iam happy in the
consideration that I never stationed a preacher
through enmity or as a punishment. I have acted
for the glory of God, the good of the people, and to
promote the usefulness of the preachers. Are you
sure that, if you please yourselves, the people will
be as fully satisfied? They often say, ‘Let us have
such a preacher,’ and sometimes, ‘ We will not have
such a preacher ; we will sooner pay him to stop at
home.’ Perhaps I must say, ‘His appeal forced
him upon you.’ Iam one, ye are many. I am as
willing to serve you as ever. I want not to sit in
any man’s way. I scorn to solicit votes. I am a
very trembling, poor creature to hear praise or dis-
praise. Speak your minds freely; but remember,
you are only making laws for the present time. It
The O Kelly Secession. 103

may be that, as in some other things, so in this, a
future day may give you further light.”

The discussion lasted nearly a week. It was the
first great parliamentary debate in the body. It
revealed mighty talent, before lying latent. It was
the beginning of a series of encounters between
masterly minds and eloquent tongues. O’Kelly
bafiled, disappointed and sorely grieved, withdrew
from the Conference and connection, became the
leader of the first secession (a small fragment of
which still survives) from the Methodist Episcopal
Church.

The result proved the foresight and wisdom of the
body, and more than a century has attested the fact.
Assault, again and again, has been made upon this
bulwark of Episcopal Methodism, but the vital princi-
ple has never been overthrown. The very controver-
sies have served to keep our chief pastors in line
with their great prototype.

After the withdrawal of O’Kelly, peace and broth-
erly feeling marked all the subsequent sessions of
the Conference. The discipline was revised. Reg-
ular General Conferences were ordained. The
Annual Conferences were distinguished from them
by the title of District Conferences, the districts not
"to include more than twelve nor less than three cir-
cuits in each. The character of the supernumerary
preacher was for the first time defined as one parti-
ally worn out in the itinerancy, yet capable and will-
ing to do any work which the Conference may direct
and his strength enable him to perform. Special
104 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

regulations were made for the election, ordination
and trial of bishops. The presiding elder had now
for the first time his peculiar functions so clearly
defined that they remain almost literally untouched
by subsequent legislation until the present time—a
“virtual though subordinate episcopacy without the
right to ordain.” Provision for the support of the
ministry is made to include the wife on the same
basis as the husband ($64 annually), and traveling
expenses,—specifying ‘ ferriage, horseshoeing and
provisions for himself and horse on the road, when
he necessarily rode a distance.” The preacher was
permitted to retain his marriage fees, a privilege not
previously allowed ; but other gifts were to be placed
in the hands of the stewards to be equally divided
among the preachers. They were not allowed to
receive presents for baptism or the burial of the
dead. A rule was inserted for the settlement of dis-
putes between brethren concerning the payment of
debts, continued with various modifications till 1812,
when it received the form it still bears in the disci-
pline. The order of public worship was prescribed
and the use of fugue tunes disapproved. The indi-
spensable requirement of certificate for removal was
made—continued without intermission to the present
day. The forms of trial for both preachers and lay-
men were provided, not since materially changed.
This General Conference may be justly regarded
as the constitutional body that gave to the church
its definite form as to law and administration. The
changes that have followed, made necessary by the
needs of progress and enlargement, have not violated
Stations and Circuits Formed. 105

the great underlying principles then taking well-
defined shape in the book of discipline.

In 1791 Ezekiel Cooper had been assigned to
Alexandria, Virginia. It was a test of faith to detach
a society of fifty-eight members from prosperous
Fairfax circuit, with its membership of 798. The
test proved perhaps too severe, for Alexandria drops
back the next year into the circuit. It appears again
as a station in 1793, making a struggle for life dur-
ing ten years, when the great revival of 1803 brought
its numbers up to 485, from that time forward to be
one of the most prominent stations in the Con-
ference. Tioga, Seneca, and Wyoming in upper
Pennsylvania are found enrolled as circuits in 1791.
Anning Owen has the distinction of planting Method-
ism in the northern section of Pennsylvania.’ Soon
after the Revolutionary war began, he accompanied a
party of adventurers to the Wyoming Valley and
was one of the few who escaped the bloody Wyom-
ing Valley massacre of 1778. His _providential
deliverance led him to serious reflection, and under
the influence of the Methodists he was converted to
God. Returning to Wyoming from the east, he
began to converse with his neighbors on religion,
going with eager haste from house to house, appoint-
ing prayer meetings and forming the first Methodist
class in 1788. As no Methodist itinerants had yet
penetrated that region of country, it was impressed
on him that he must preach the gospel. He took
his journey again to the east, where he obtained
license to preach, returned, and was shepherd to the

 

1Stevens, History of Methodism, Vol. II, page 333.
106 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

flock until Nathaniel B. Mills was sent by the
Bishop to take charge of the work in 1789. It was
not reported a circuit till 1791, was then served by
New York preachers until 1795, when a District of
four charges was formed, consisting of Northumber-
land, Wyoming, Tioga and Seneca, under Valentine
Cook as elder. Not until 1804, two years after the
Conferences with their specific boundaries were estab-
lished, were these four circuits attached to the Bal-
timore Conference and placed in the newly constructed
Susquehannah District, with James Smith, Presid-
ing Elder. They so remained until 1808, when the
General Conference transferred the District to’ the
Philadelphia Conference. In 1809 the Gennessee
Conference was formed, embracing that District.

One of the most unique characters of this period
was the celebrated Valentine Cook. His father,
Valentine Cook, Sr., a cousin of the famous sailor
and discoverer, Captain Cook, lived in London, Eng-
land, until his sixth year, when, after his father’s
death, he was taken by his mother to Amsterdam,
Holland, where he received a tolerable English and
German education. Coming to this country before
the Revolution, he is said to have taken a decided
and active part in the struggle for independence.
After the close of the war he married in Pennsyl-
vania; and after several years removed to Western
Virginia and settled in Greenbrier county, where he
spent the rest of his life, esteemed and beloved by
all as an intelligent, upright and highly respectable
citizen. His son, Valentine, born in Pennslvania,
had but few advantages, and yet managed to acquire
 

VALENTINE COOK
Valentine Cooke, Jr. 107

the rudiments of an English and German education.
His fondness for hunting, his providential escape
from the Indians, his fine qualities of mind and
heart, his happy conversion under the preaching of
the Methodist itinerant, his call to preach and his
rapid progress at Cokesbury College are attractively
told in Dr. Edward Stevenson’s biographical sketch :
“Wonderful in the pulpit; overwhelming in the
discussion of Methodist doctrine; useful and suc-
cessful when his health failed him; principal of
Bethel Academy in Kentucky (the second Methodist
educational institution in America) ; indefatigable in
seeking the lost; and, to the very end of his life,
instrumental in saving multitudes of souls, he has
left an indelible impress on the various sections of
the wide field through which he traveled. He was
an instance of the triumph of intellect and goodness
over singular physical defects. A figure without
symmetry, with long limbs, stoop-shouldered, a long
neck projected at right angles from between his
shoulders, a remarkably low forehead, small deeply
sunken hazel eyes, a prominent Roman nose, large
mouth, thin lips, sallow complexion, coarse black
hair, with here and there a thread of gray—he pre-
sented an eccentric appearance that could not fail to
impress one by its very singularity. But when he
began to speak all these peculiarities were forgotten
as attention was arrested by the tones of his voice
and words that, burned by the spirit’s mighty power
into the hearts of his hearers, produced wonderful
effect in comforting believers and saving sinners.
108 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

He died as he lived, ‘strong in faith, giving glory
to God.’”’

Asbury’s journal is singularly lacking in descrip-
tive detail of his Conference sessions. It will be
interesting to reproduce a rare picture of a Confer-
ence session in those early days, copied by Bennett,
in his “ Memorials of Methodism in Virginia,” from
the journal of Stith Mead, in the year of his admis-
sion on trial in the Virginia Conference, which met,
May 22, 1792, at Rehoboth in the Greenbrier dis-
trict. Mead was converted in Bedford county, Vir-
ginia, in 1789, at the age of twenty-two, under the
preaching of Richard Pope; and, three years later,
we find him at the starting point of his long and
eminently useful career as a Methodist itinerant,
jotting down his first impressions of a Conference
session: ‘ Monday, May 21,1792. We rode over
Peter’s Mountain by the Sweet Springs, to brother
Edward Keenan’s at Rehoboth Chapel, Sinks of
Greenbrier county, where I was glad to meet with
the bishop, Rev. Francis Asbury ; Hope Hull, Philip
Cox, Jeremiah Abel, elders ; Salathiel Weeks, John
Lindsey, Bennett Maxey and John Metcalf, deacons.
John Kobler, remaining on trial, was received into
connection and ordained deacon; Jeremiah Abel
located. James Ward and Stith Mead admitted on
trial, as probationers. Rev. Samuel Mitchell, local
preacher, ordained deacon. The above named
preachers were all that composed and had business
with the present Annual Conference. Bennett Maxey
and John Kobler, by requests of the bishop, related
to the Conference their religious experience, and
Mead’s Sketch. 109

then the Conference adjourned until Tuesday, at 8
o'clock A. M., at which time J. Kobler, Geo. Martin,
S. Mead were examined by the bishop before the
Conference, first, of our debts ; secondly, of our faith
in Christ; thirdly, of our pursuits after holiness.
The bishop preached in the chapel, which was near,
at the usual hour, from Deut. 5: 27: ‘Go thou near
and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and
speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall
speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it.’
Brother Hope Hull preached from 1 Cor., 1:23:
‘But we preach Christ Crucified.” This afternoon
I was requested by the bishop to relate to the Con-
ference my religious experience, which I accordingly
did.

«The appointments or stations were received from
the Bishop this evening, as follows: No Presiding
Elder. Holston Circuit, Salathiel Weeks, James
Ward; Botetourt Circuit, Bennett Maxey, Stith
Mead; Bedford Circuit, John Metcalf, George
Martin; Greenbrier Circuit, John Kobler; Cow
Pasture Circuit, John Lindsay.

“Wednesday 23. When met in Conference, we
were all examined by the Bishop as to our confession
of Faith and orthodoxy of doctrine, agreeable to the
economy of Wesleyan Methodism. Ona close exami-
nation it was discovered that two of the preachers
composing the present session of the Conference,
namely, John Lindsay and George Martin, coming
from the district where the Rev. James O’Kelly was
the presiding elder, had imbibed heterodox opinions
110) Part J—The Organization, 1784-1822.

from him tending to Unitarianism. All the Con-
ference were now requested by Bishop Asbury to
bring forward all the scripture texts they could
recollect to prove the personality of the Trinity, and
particularly that of the Holy Ghost, at which time
these two preachers recanted their errors in doc-
trine, and were continued in Methodist fellowship.
Bishop Asbury preached at the usual hour, Tit. ii: 1. .
‘But speak thou the things which become sound doc-
trine.’ Rev. Hope Hull preached after the Bishop,
from 1 John, iv: 17: ‘Herein is our love made
perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of
Judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.’
A moving, melting time occurred during the sequel
of this discourse ; the holy Sacrament was adminis-
tered ; God manifested himself in his Spirit’s power,
the doors were opened, sinners came in, and there
was a great shaking among the dry bones. Such a
time, as I suppose was never seen and experienced
at this place before; ten souls were converted and
many sinners were cut to the heart. The lively
exercises continued until nearly sundown.

“Thursday, 24th. John Lindsay, Salathiel Weeks
and Bennett Maxey were ordained elders, John
Kobler and Samuel Mitchell were ordained deacons.
This is a rough, uncultivated country in soil, ways
and manners; the Conference was held in a log-
body cabin house, the residence of brother G.
Keenan of Irish national descent. Our accommoda-
tion was the best in this part of the world.
Dr. Bennett?s Comment. 111

“The Conference broke about ten o’clock ; we took
leave of each other and departed to our respective
circuits.”

Doctor Bennett adds: “This account may be
taken as a fair type of most of the Conferences held
at this period. We see how closely the early
preachers watched over each other in christian
experience and in doctrine. That is a deeply inter-
esting scene in which the whole Conference comes
forward with scriptural proof to convince two beloved
brethren who had been seduced from the true faith
by a zealous but wrong-headed presiding elder; and
then the sermons of Asbury and Hull, immediately
following, were admirably adapted to confirm and
admonish these two brethren who had flung away
their errors and again firmly laid hold on the truth
as it is in Jesus. God set the seal of his approval
to the work of this little Conference by the gracious
revival in the midst of which it closed. Each man
went to his field of toil with the pure flame of love
burning in his soul, and the rugged region embraced
in the Greenbrier Conference felt the refreshing
showers of grace.”

The old log church at Rehoboth, now in Monroe
county still stands, lovingly cared for by the descen-
dants of those who witnessed the memorable scenes
at their first Annual Conference.

The name of William Colbert as a pioneer of
Methodism in the Wyoming Valley, is still in grate-
ful remembrance. ‘Traversing the Tioga wilds in
the dead of winter, losing his way, surrounded by
112 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

wolves and bears, breakfasting on a frozen turnip,
sleeping in wretched cabins, with his head in a
chimney corner, fording rushing streams, living on
the poorest fare, preaching to small groups of people,
part of whom were drunk, and at other times inter-
rupted by bawling children, he received for the four
months of his toil— ‘three dollars and fourteen
cents.” Yet after all lie writes: ‘Though the life
of a Methodist preacher is very laborious and fatigu-
ing, it is what I glory in.” At one of the humblest
appointments on Tioga Circuit, Captain Clarke’s at
old Sesequin, Henry B. Bascom, the most celebrated
orator of his day, and subsequently a Bishop in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, received his
deepest religious impression.

A Conference was held in Greenbrier county, Vir-
ginia, May 25, 1793." Preachers’ experiences and
reports of their work filled up the sessions on Sat-
urday. On Sunday, Asbury and Bruce preached
with power. Kobler and Mead exhorted. ‘“ During
prayer,” writes Stith Mead, “the windows of heaven
were opened ; we had a great time; some were con-
verted, and there was a great shout among the
Christians. John Kobler was ordained elder, and
Edward Mitchell local deacon. Kobler was one of
the purest and most zealous of that noble band that
planted Methodism in the wilds of the west. * * *
He traveled his circuit with his trusty rifle, ready for
the prowling savages that lurked along the mountain
passes. In those days guns seemed to be as indis-
pensable as Bibles and Hymn Books. Kobler is said

 

1Bennett’s Methodism in Virginia, page 335.
Kobler.— Asbury on His Rounds. 113

to have preached the first Methodist sermon on the
ground now covered by the city of Cincinnati. At
that time a small fort and a few soldiers’ huts were
the only marks of civilization. Forty years after-
warks he found a beautiful city on the banks of the
Ohio, and the gray-baired patriarch delivered his
message toa multitude of eager hearers in an elegant
Christian temple.” He survived nearly all his cotem-
poraries, and closed his useful life in Fredericks-
burg, Virginia, July 26,1843. In his memoir, the
Journal records: ‘The saint-like spirit, the Chris-
tian conversation, the dignified and ministerial bear-
ing, and the untiring labors in preaching, exhorting,
praying, visiting the sick and imprisoned, of John
Kobler, have, under God, done more to give per-
manency to Methodism in Fredericksburg than any
other instrumentality ever employed.” ‘Come,
Lord Jesus, come quickly!” was his last prayer.

From Rehoboth the Bishop passed on horseback
over the Allegheny Mountains, along primitive roads
deep in mud, but welcomed by the people in wonder
and veneration. On his way, “an old German,” he
says, “met me, shook me by the hand, and said he
wished he might be worthy to wash my feet. Ah,
thought I, if you knew what a poor, sinful creature
I am, you would hardly look at one so unworthy ;
but Jesus lives.” He stopped at Staunton, Virginia,
then “a small but lively village. There was an Epis-
copal Church, a court-house, a tavern and some good
stores.” By the middle of June, after riding with
but little rest, except for a few days at Bath (now

- 8
114 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

Berkeley Springs), he was again in Maryland holding
a Conference at Old Town. Then penetrating to
obscure societies among the Juniata valleys in Penn-
sylvania, thence hastening north he passed through
upper Jersey and took his course to Albany, New
York. From that point he reached Lynn, Massa-
chusetts ; and last, on this northward itinerary, held
a Conference at Tolland, Connecticut. With a
blister behind his ear and a poultice for rheumatism
on his feet, he consented to stay two days. On his

return, when near Whitehall, New York, his horse
threw him into a mill race, and his shoulder was
hurt by the fall. He stopped at a house, changed
his wet clothes, and prayed with the people, com-
forted by the thought that his enforced stop might
prove a blessing to them. He met the New York
preachers, August 25th; then urging his way to
Philadelphia, where he found the streets deserted on
account of the yellow fever, staid three weeks,
closing, at Baltimore, his twentieth session of Con-
ferences since May, 1792. He had traversed the
whole territory north and south, suffering hardships
and privations with heroic fortitude, making hair-
breadth escapes from death, yet rejoicing that he
could live to serve the Lord and His Church. The
sorest trial to him, however, was the spirit of dis-
affection that was rife in some quarters. Hostile
forces were confronted by him with unshrinking cour-
age, with inimitable tact and with ultimate triumph."

We may not follow Asbury in his next campaign,
beginning with Petersburg, Va., November 15, 1793,

 

1Asbury’s Journal.
First Conference in Harrisonburg. 115

and continuing until he reached Catawba river, South
Carolina ; where, with his faithful companion, Isaac
Smith, he encountered almost incredible difficulties
of “swamps, colds, rains, and starvation.” Retrac-
ing his path northward, he entered the wilds of Ken-
tucky and held a Conference there, April 15, 1794.
We find him, May 22, at Mitchell’s in Botetourt,
Va., where only a few preachers met him in Confer-
ence. Barnabas McHenry was the elder. “He
had,” writes Finley, “the peculiar honor of being
the first Methodist preacher raised up west of the
mountains.”"'~ He was born December 10, 1767, in
Eastern Virginia ; but when he was ten years old,
his family emigrated west of the Virginia mountains.
Converted in his fifteenth year, he entered the itin-
erancy in 1787, when not twenty years old. Two
years later, he was ordained elder, and in 1791, was
appointed presiding elder. He became a chieftain
of Western Methodism, braving its severest trials,
and leading on immense districts bands of its min-
isterial pioneers.

The Conference at Harrisonburg, Va., was held
June 3. The old stone house where Asbury and
his preachers met still stands (1906) in the rear of
the residence of General Roller on Main street, near
the centre of the city. Asbury, then entering upon
his fiftieth year, mature but not yet aged, was the
chief figure. Solemn and dignified in the pulpit,
with a voice sonorous and commanding, an eye that
looked deep into men, he was a born leader. Men
who were destined to become great preachers and

 

1Finley’s Autobiography, page 57.
116) Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

wise counsellors were there in their youth. Richard
Whatcoat, the senior by nine years of Bishop
Asbury, afterwards his co-adjutor in the episcopacy,
was perhaps the oldest preacher present. His
saintly character, his amiable and courteous carriage,
his fearlessness, his tenderness, won all hearts.
Nelson Reed, then in his prime, who became the
patriarch of the Conference, living to the eighty-
ninth year of his age, beloved and honored to the
last ; Lemuel Green, who for six years subsequently
held a prominent place in the Conference, but was
compelled to locate in 1800—these were the elders
who had supervision of the three several districts
of the Conference. Others were there, younger but
perhaps equally worthy—how many the indefinite
Minutes fail to tell us.

Six years had elapsed since the organization of the
Rockingham Circuit. During that interval ten travel-
ing preachers, had with unretarded success, carried
forward the good work, viz: William Phoebus, James
Riggin, Samuel Breeze, Isaac Lunsford, Stuart Red-
man, Jephtha Moore, Daniel Fidler, Elijah Sparks,
Randolph Smith and Stephen George Roszel. Of
these, only the last one named remained on the roster
of the Conference. Dr. Phoebus removed to New York
city, where for some time he practiced medicine.
He was held in high esteem by his brethren, and
died in the faith of the Gospel. Samuel Breeze
went to Ohio and did noble pioneer work. Luns-
ford and Fidler made a good record in Nova Scotia.
Lunsford returned to Virginia, Fidler to New Jersey.
But among them none commanded more attention
 

JOSHUA WELLS
Joshua Wells. 117

or wielded a more controlling influence than S. G.
Roszel. When he became the host of the first Con-
ference held in Harrisonburg, he was but twenty-
four years of age, and had traveled five years in the
connection. His strong talents and flaming zeal had
already given promise of his high position which,
for fifty years, he held among his brethren.

When the appointments were announced, the Bishop
assigned to the charge of Rockingham Circuit a
preacher no less distinguished than his predecessor,
and no less fitted to continue the work so ably begun.
Like Roszel, Joshua Wells was in the full vigor of
his young manhood, scarcely less majestic in his
physical proportions, and giving promise, afterwards
fulfilled, of greatness in the pulpit and wisdom in
the councils of the church. For him it was reserved
to remain on the rolls of the itinerancy till his ninety-
eighth year, with an unsullied record of faithful and
effective labor for thirty-five years. The remaining
period of his long and useful life was not idly spent.
He was assigned, by a unanimous vote of his Con-
ference, a superannuated relation, but his wise coun-
sels were still sought; and, until age and infirmity
compelled him to decline the honor, he represented
the body in the General Conference.

Maryland and Virginia Methodism continues to
send out from its bounds both itinerant and local
preachers, the latter not less imbued with true mis-
sionary zeal than the former, to penetrate the west-
ern wilds and plant the standard of Christianity
among the first settlers of western Pennsylvania,
western Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. Poythress,
118 = Part II— The Organization, 1784-1812.

Kobler, McHenry and Stith Mead have been already
referred to. Thornton Fleming and Daniel Hitt were
men of great ability and leaders in this noble work.
Here and there they found the way had been pre-
pared for their successful ministry by the efforts of
local preachers who had preceded them.

Thomas Scott, a native of Allegheny county, Md.,
converted in his fourteenth year, received on trial
into the Conference, 1789, in his seventeenth year ;
and traveling in various circuits in Virginia, was
sent, 1793, to Ohio Circuit, embracing frontier settle-
ments in western Virginia and Pennsylvania. At
the command of Asbury, he descended the Ohio
river, 1794, on a flat boat and served the work in
Kentucky. On his marriage, 1796, as was usual in
those days, he located, but did not cease from
preaching. In 1801 he removed to Chilicothe, Ohio,
where he found an old friend, Dr. Edward Tiffin,
who had been converted under his ministry near
Charlestown, Virginia. He had wandered from
Virginia, and was already an influential citizen,
preaching the gospel and healing the sick. Scott
became a chief justice, and Dr. Tiffin governor of
the State of Ohio. To these two local preachers
Methodists in Ohio, beyond any others, owe a debt
of gratitnde. Francis McCormick, a native of
-Frederick county, Virginia, when “a wild and
wicked youth,” heard William Jessop preach and
was awakened. He went again, heard Lewis Chas-
tain. who he says preached “like a son of thun-
der,” and the next Sunday, under the preaching
of the same itinerant, “received peace and joy.”
Ohio.— Virginia. 119

He also emigrated with his family to Kentucky,
moved thence to Milford, Clermont county, Ohio, ten
miles from the site of Cincinnati. There he pro-
claimed the message of the gospel to his ungodly
neighbors, and organized the first Methodist Society
in the northwestern territory. He called upon the
itinerants of Kentucky for aid; John Kobler, of Vir-
ginia, responded, and became the first regular
Methodist preacher north and west of the Ohio
river. McCormick was a man suited to his mission.
In person he was tall and robust, six feet in height,
weighing 240 pounds; his presence was command-
ing. He was intelligent and amiable, attractive
socially, liberal in the bestowment of his means,
making his home a preaching place, with free
entertainment.

New circuits appear on the Minutes: Prince
George’s (1792) with 40 members; Federal with
732 white and 565 colored members ; Cokesbury,
Carlisle, and Pendleton (1794). Leesburg the same
year was made a station and joined with Alexandria
and Winchester. Thomas Anderson, John Blood-
good and John Wynn are appointed “to change
after six months.” John Wynn died in Winchester
a short time after reaching that place. He was
twenty-seven years of age, ‘“ of good address, natural
elocution and an upright heart.” About the same
time Hardy Herbert, “a young man of promise and
piety,” the first stationed preacher in Winchester,
died in Norfolk, Va., at the age of twenty-five.

The quadrennium (1792-96) was remarkable for
the vicissitudes attending this formative period of
120 = =Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

Methodism. The secession of O’Kelly had much to
do with the loss of over nine thousand in an aggre-
gate of 56,664 members. Asbury’s Journal dis-
covers depression of spirits, attributable to his phys-
ical ailments, enhanced by the declension of the

young church in numbers. This feeling was shared
by the general traveling ministry, and a fast was
proclaimed for the first Friday in March, 1796.
Various prevalent vices were named as occasions for
serious declension of religion throughout the country,
and earnest prayer was urged in behalf of a general
awakening and reformation. The effect was evident
in the courageous forward movement by the heroic
band of 393 preachers. When the General Confer-
ence met in Baltimore, October 20, 1796, it was
determined that the last Thursday of that month be
‘observed as a day of holy gratitude and thanks-
giving for the late glorious and powerful work we
have had in Virginia and Maryland, and which still
continues in an eminent and special manner in some
parts of our American connexion.”

The multiplication of appointments or charges
irregularly placed under the supervision of “ elders”’
on districts made a more definite arrangement nec-
essary. The entire work was divided into six
Annual Conferences: New England, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Virginia, South Carolina, and Western.
The former designation, however, as districts remains
in the old Minutes till 1802, the elder becoming
Presiding Elder in 1797.’ The adoption of a form

 

1The name ‘‘ Presiding Elder” occurs in the old Minutes of
1789.
Episcopal Visitations. 121

of deed for the securing of church property; of a
rule that a deacon should serve two years before his
ordination as an elder, except in missions ; the estab-
lishment of the Chartered Fund (equivalent to our
Superannuated Fund), with some minor items, reveal
the further development of formative tendencies,
during this session of the General Conference (1796).

Hardly had the General Conference adjourned
when Asbury, in company with Dr. Coke started for
the south. They attended a session of the Virginia
Conference at Maberry’s Chapel, and then parted,
Coke traveling through the hill country of North
and South Carolina, and Asbury along the seacoast.
Coke, strong in health and in a happy frame of
mind, evidently enjoys his journey through lofty
pines and dense forests. Asbury, worn with travel
exposure and serious illness, feels the deep depres-
sion. They met again at Charleston and preached
to great multitudes. In the midst of their labors,
on December 24th, the news came that the new Light
Street Church, with the parsonage, the new academy
(substituted for Cokesbury), Baltimore, and several
other buildings had been destroyed by fire, entailing
a loss of nearly £20,000. His philosophical con-
clusion was: ‘God loveth the people of Baltimore,
and He will keep them poor to make them pure, and
it will be for the humiliation of the society.” With
this second great loss the Bishop feels that he has
not been called to build schools. He never again
attempts the business. As he returned north his
sufferings increased so greatly that he reluctantly
consented to rest in eastern Virginia, and employed
122) Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

Jesse Lee to relieve him. So well did Lee discharge
this duty that Asbury was convinced that he ought
to be associated with him in the Episcopal office.

The death of John Dickens, who fell a victim of
yellow fever in Philadelphia, September 27, 1798,
produced a profound sensation throughout the con-
nection. Born and educated in London, he came to
this country, 1774; in 1777, entered the itinerant
~ ranks and traveled extensively in Virginia and North
Carolina. He has the distinction of being the first
Book Agent in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Learned, capable and versatile, he was pre-eminent as
a preacher and publisher of Methodist books. He
died in triumph, aged 52 years.

The name of Lorenzo Dow, one of the most
remarkable characters of his time, appears in the
old Minutes as admitted on trial in the New York
Conference, 1798, remaining on trial only in 1799-
His eccentricities prevented his admission into full
connection ; but he became an independent evanga-
list and we shall have occasion to refer to him in
relation to his work both in Maryland and Virginia.
For the first time question 8 of the General Minutes,
“Who desist from traveling?” is changed (1776) to
“Who are the supernumeraries ?”

The death of Benton Riggin, September 1799,
deserves special notice. A native of Somerset county,
Maryland, he was a man of delicate constitution,
but of fine natural and acquired abilities as well as
of spiritual gifts and graces. After traveling in
Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and,
Benton Riggin. 123

despite his declining health, as far as Redstone on
the western frontier, he closed his continuous labors,
which had been attended by great success in winning
souls to Christ, at Fell’s Point, Baltimore, a victim
to yellow fever.
124 =Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

CHAPTER UT.

The Conference Journal, the first of the series,
comprises sixteen years from 1800. The record of
the “yearly Conference at Stone Chapel,” a few
miles north-west of Baltimore, May 1, 1800, is very
meagre, occupying three small pages, is without
signature and furnishes only a few short notes.
The session was evidently a brief and hurried one,
as the General Conference assembled in Baltimore
on the 6th of May, of that year.

The first entry records the re-admission of Enoch
George. He was received in the traveling connection
in 1790, but his health having failed after eight years’
work in the south, he spent two years in the north ;
and, resuming his effective relation, 1800, was
assigned by Bishop Asbury as Presiding Elder of
the Potomac District. Sixteen years later he was
elected and ordained Bishop and ended his labors in
1828 at Staunton, Virginia.

The entire session was occupied, so far as the
record shows, in closely scrutinizing the relations
and character of the preachers. Samuel Hitt and
Jacob Calvert, supernumeraries, were located. A can-
didate for the Elder’s office was rejected ‘because ”
it was supposed “he had not qualifications nor
ability for it.” Another was complained of for
“lying in bed too late on Sunday morning,” and
also for ‘ courting some young woman on his circuit.”
He explained matters satisfactorily, stating that his
The Earliest Jow nal. 125

detention in his room on Sunday morning was
caused by the coming in of visitors; and “that a
certain young lady, converted under his ministry,
having no conveyance to the preaching appointment,
he ‘ through pity took her behind him on his horse,’
and Conference ‘dismissed the subject.’”’ Marriage
fees were divided among the needy preachers, and
private gifts were made to satisfy claims for deficien-
cies.

The printed Minutes show three districts included
in the territory of the Conference. Enoch George,
Daniel Hitt and Christopher Sprye were the Presid-
ing Elders. They covered a part of Pennsylvania,
from Carlisle to Pittsburg, all of Maryland, except
a part of the eastern shore, and of Virginia, north of
the Rappahannock river, to Augusta and Pendleton
counties. The names of fifty preachers are on the
roll, and the membership, 7,964 white and 3,520
colored, aggregated 11,484. Besides Benton Riggin,
Robert Bonham and Thomas Haymond, faithful
messengers of the truth, had died in their prime.

The General Conference of 1800 met, as usual, in
Baltimore. Its sessions continued from the 6th till
the 20th of May. One hundred and sixteen mem-
bers were present. Nicholas Snethen was secretary.
The published Minutes furnish only a bare outline
of its proceedings. The salaries of the preachers
were raised from $64 to $80 per annum. ‘The wives
of the preachers received the same. Each child of
a traveling preacher was allowed $14 to the age of
seven, and $24 from the age of seven to fourteen
126 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

years of age. The rule requiring preachers to give
account of their donations was rescinded. The
allowance for the support of the bishops, for which
there had been no special provision, but which had
been secured by private donations, was ordered to be
paid proportionately by each Annual Conference.
The territory of the Annual Conferences was more
specifically divided into seven, and each Conference
was required to keep a journal and submit it to the
General Conference for examination. The provision
of furnished parsonages was recommended, and
special relief, designated as the Preachers’ Fund, for
the suffering ministry. Ezekiel Cooper was elected
Book Agent. Asbury desired to resign his office as
bishop, but was deterred by the earnest entreaty of
his preachers. To relieve him they elected Whatcoat
as his companion in the episcopacy, and allowed him
to select a traveling companion from the ranks of the
itinerant preachers, which privilege remained till his
death. They gave Dr. Coke, in compliance with the
request of the British and Irish Conferences, leave
of absence, the ultimate time being the next ses-
sion of the General Conference. Membership in the
General Conference was limited to those who had
traveled at least four years. Church trials were
modified so that a member of the church could be
tried by his peers, the preacher retaining the right
to pronounce sentence, and in case of dissent to
carry an appeal to the Quarterly Meeting Conference.
Local preachers were refused ordination as elders.
The bishops were authorized to ordain colored
The Great Revival. 127

preachers deacons ; but owing to opposition in the
South, the rule was not inserted in the discipline.

That which made the General Conference, in this
closing year of the eighteenth century, most memora-
ble was the wonderful revivai of religion that broke
out in the very midst of the sessions—‘“ the greatest ”’
says Boehm in his reminiscences (page 37), “that
has ever occurred at any General Conference.! In
private houses, in prayer meetings, there were the
greatest displays of divine power and the most num-
erous conversions. Dr. Coke, at the ordination of
Whatcoat (as bishop), on Sunday the 18th, in Light
Street Church ; Jesse Lee at the market house on
Howard’s Hill, in company with such men as Philip
Bruce, George Roberts, Ezekiel Cooper, Nicholas
Snethen, Thomas F. Sargent, William McKendree,
and others like them, made Baltimore Town (as it
was then called) the scene of great excitement.”
Whatcoat writes: ‘‘We had a most blessed time,
and much preaching, fervent prayers and strong
exhortations through the city, while the high praises
of our gracious God reverberated from street to
street and from house to house, which greatly
alarmed the citizens. It was thought that not less
than two hundred were converted during the sitting
of our Conference.” Nor did the good work stop;
but after the General Conference, spread to the east-
ern shore of Maryland, the lower counties of Dela-
ware and Tastern Virginia. It is estimated that in
the vicinity of Baltimore alone, one thousand souls

 

1gtevens’ History, Volume III, page 403.
128) = Part II—-The Organization, 1784-1812.

were converted and joined the church. For three
successive years a continuous wave of spiritual
power, unsurpassed by any preceding period in
Methodist history, swept over the country.

At the first session of the Nineteenth Century,
May 1, 1801, the Conferences begin to take definite
shape, but the term used is not yet “ Conference ”
but “District” in the list of appointments in the
Minutes. The territory afterwards known as the
Baltimore Conference comprised three groups of
charges, which groups are now (1801) for the first
time called Districts. The appointments to these
charges are given below, but it must be remembered
that the appointments of all three were not made at
the same time. As Bishop Asbury traveled from
place to place, he met as large a group of preachers
as could conveniently assemble, and assigned them
anew to their work. The record of these occasions
was originally termed ‘Minutes of Some Conversa-
tions between the Preachers in Connexion with the
Reverend John Wesley.” ‘The Minutes of the
Methodist Conferences Annually Held in America,”
a book published in 1813 by Daniel Hitt and Thomas
Ware, “ For the Methodist Connexion in the United
States,” changes the designation for 1785 to “ Minutes
Taken at the Several Annual Conferences of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.” As before noted, it
must be borne in mind that not until 1802 did the
term “Conference,” used at first to denote a meet-
ing, carry with it the idea of territory. The terri-
tory then, afterwards known as the Baltimore Con-
ference, comprised three groups, denominated the
The Three Original Districts. 129

next year, 1802, as Districts ; viz., Alexandria, Pitts-
burg and Baltimore. Daniel Hitt was Presiding
Elder of the first, consisting of Alexandria, William
Waters ; Fairfax, Seely Bunn ; Stafford, Nathaniel
Greaves and William Knox; Lancaster, John Potts ;
Berkeley and Winchester, Hamilton Jefferson and
Nicholas Watters ; Rockingham, James Ward ; Pen-
dleton, James Paynter ; Allegheny, Solomon Harris
and Edward Wayman.

Over the second group Thornton Fleming was
Presiding Elder : Redstone, Jesse Stoneman and Asa
Shinn ; Pittsburg, Lasley Matthews and Isaac Rob-
bins ; Shenango, Joseph Shane; Erie, James Quinn ;
Ohio, Benjamin Essex and Joseph Hall; Muskin-
gum and Hockhockin, Joseph Chieuvront; Little
Kanawha, John Phillips; Clarksburg, Thomas
Daughaday and Thomas Kewley.

Wilson Lee was Presiding Elder of the Baltimore
group: Federal, John Cullison and Peter B. Davis ;
Prince George’s, Thomas Lucas ; Montgomery, David
Stevens, G. Askin and Jonathan Forrest ; Calvert,
John Simmons; Annapolis, John Bloodgood ; Bal-
timore city, George Roberts and Lawrence McCombs ;
Fell’s Point, Alexander McCaine ; Baltimore Circuit,
Curtis Williams and John Pitts; Carlisle, James
Smith, John Walls, Nathaniel B. Mills, Edward
Whittle ; Harford, Joseph Rowan and Rezin Cash ;
Georgetown, Thomas Lyell. The last named place
appears for the first time on the Journal. Thirty
charges in all were served by forty-nine preachers.

9
130 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

The Conference was held in the parlor of Henry
Willis, on Pipe’s Creek, Frederick county, Md., near
its birthplace. Two preachers had died: Abraham
Andrews, an Englishman, aged 66 ; who, as a chris-
tian and a minister had maintained a good reputa-
tion ; and Charles Burgoon a native of Maryland,
whom Henry Smith in his “ Recollections of an Old
Intinerant,” says he saw at the General Conference
of 1800, “ pretty well worn down by hard labor and
affliction.” Under the hospitable roof of Martin
Tschudy he met the last enemey and conquered.

The Journal is made up largely of recommenda-
tions by Quarterly Conferences of candidates for
admission on trial and local preachers for ordina-
tion. As in many cases these recommendations are
signed by laymen, the names of many who were
representative men, are fortunately preserved and
will be found in the Appendix.

The Conference of 1802 met in Baltimore, April
1. The names of fifty-four preachers were on the
roll, forty-four of whom were present. The great
religious awakening of the preceding year not only
had gathered many into the church, but had also
largely increased the ministerial supply. The names
of Robert R. Roberts, a future Bishop ; Joseph Toy,
first Secretary whose name is signed to the Journal ;
William Ryland, who planted Methodism in Wash-
ington city ; Leonard Cassell, gifted, zealous and
successful, with a brief, but grand career ; Christo-
pher Fry, model Presiding Elder and preacher, are
well known as foremost in the work of the first half
of the 19th Century.
Revival at Harrisonburg. 131

At this session Fredericksburg was placed among
the charges of the Conference, John Pitts the first
preacher. The term Conference now takes on a
double meaning, designating, not only, as heretofore,
the body of the preachers in their assemblies, but
also the territory to which they were assigned. The
three Districts are with their several charges grouped
together under the name “ Baltimore Conference.”

In this year, Bishop Asbury, accompanied by
Nicholas Snethen and Enoch George, visited Harri-
sonburg, in Rockingham county, Virginia. At a
meeting which continued for nine days, so great was
the excitement that almost all secular business was
suspended and the people flocked in crowds to the
house of God. Rev. Joseph Travis, who was pres-
ent, tells us that the preaching of Asbury and his
two companions “ was in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power.” Leonard Cassell, assisted by the
local brethren, continued the meeting after their
departure. While Cassell was preaching, ‘“ about
midway in the sermon, quick as lightning from
heaven, the power and presence of the great Head
of the Church was manifested in the midst; sinners
erying for mercy, happy christians shouting, luke-
warm professors weeping and groaning, those who
had been at variance, in each other’s arms weeping
and mutually begging each other’s pardon, and
promising hereafter to live in peace and pray for one
another. The exercises lasted till midnight. For
nine days and nights the work went on with increas-
ing success.” The holy flame spread through the
Valley, and across the mountains to the counties
lying along the Potomac.
182. = Part IJ—The Organization, 1784-1812.

The venerable James Quinn, who traveled on the
Winchester Circuit in 1802, says: “The territory
of three large counties—Frederick, Berkeley and
Jefferson—was embraced in our bounds, and we must
have rode near 400 miles in reaching our appoint-
ments.” Within these bounds he found a number
of excellent and talented local preachers. ‘In
Winchester, Enoch George and Stephen George
Roszel, both located, and both engaged in school
teaching. Near the same place, Richard Swift was
located on a farm, and Samuel Welch between Shep-
herdstown and Charlestown. In the vicinity of N. T.
Stephenburg (now Stephen’s City) there were Elisha
Phelps, William McDowell and Lewis Chastain.
These had all been successful and popular traveling
preachers, and were considered men of first rate
talents.”

Quinn visited the celebrated General Daniel
Morgan of Revolutionary fame, on his death bed.
He was warmly welcomed, and asked to pray for
him. He pointed him to Christ, prayed with him
and “left him bathed in tears.” Quinn gives a
graphic description of the gathering of a most inter-
esting company at the lovely country residence of
Rev. Elisha Phelps. Bishop Asbury “in better
health than usual and in fine spirits,” Philip Bruce,
a bachelor, bringing good news from the South of
Virginia; Samuel Mitchell of Botetourt, a whole-
souled Virginian, whose “ heart was all on fire with
the news of the great work of God in West Tennes-
see and Kentucky, just come to hand by private
letters ;"’ Dr. J. Tilden, a local preacher, who had
Gathering at N. T. Stephensburg. 133

been a Captain in the Revolution; Dr. William
McDowell “late of Chilicothe, at that time in the
prime of life, a man of most dignified appearance ;”
Rev. Edward Matthews, “a Welshman, not long from
his native land, with the fine manners and dialect of
his country, modest and reserved, but led out by
Asbury and made to feel at home. At the table the
Bishop tuned his musical powers—a deep toned, yet
mellow bass, to

‘Be present at our table Lord,

Be here and everywhere adored,
Thy people bless and grant that we
May feast in Paradise with Thee.’

“‘The blessing asked and all were seated—old Vir-
ginia for all the world; and we ate our bread with
singleness of heart. The decanters, with wine or
stronger drink, were neither on the table nor side-
board ; but we had a fresh supply of new wine just
from the Kingdom. From the dining room we
returned to the parlor, and again united our musical
powers in one of the songs of Zion, then bowed
before the sprinkled Throne and found access, by
one Spirit, through the one and only Mediator, to
the God of all consolation. We had just entered the
nineteenth century. It was a season not soon to be
forgotten. It savored of heaven.”

Fifty preachers attended the session held again in
Baltimore, April 1, 1803. Four were admitted on
trial: John Durbin, Nicholas Willis, Andrew Hemp-
hill and John Ball. William Ryland had been
appointed by the United States Government as
chaplain to the United States Navy. Having taken
134 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

a local relation, he sold his horse and devoted the
proceeds ($80) to his deficient brethren. Greenbrier
District is constituted with only four charges, but
covering a large area—Botetourt, Greenbrier, Pen-
dleton and Rockingham—over which James Ward
as Presiding Elder had to ride.

Fredericktown, in the Alexandria District, is made
a new charge, and Deerfield, in the Pittsburg Dis-
trict, was added with Shadrack Bostwick as ‘“ mis-
sionary.”” One preacher had died, Edward Wayman,
a native of Anne Arundel county, Maryland. He
traveled five years in the active work, did effective
service and finished his brief course at the house of a
Mrs. Breeze on Patterson’s creek, Hampshire county,
Virginia, April 21, 1802. :

After an absence of nine years of hard pioneer
service in the western wilds, Pennsylvania, Kentucky
and Ohio, Henry Smith returns to Virginia and is
glad to take his place on the Winchester Circuit,
where in 1793, at old Milburn’s Meeting House, he
had been licensed to preach. His “ Recollections of
an Old Itinerant”’ is a treasured volume in our Con-
ference, valuable, not only for the story of his hard-
ships and triumphs in the West, but also as a
repertory of interesting facts and names of well-
known Methodists in Maryland and the Valley of
Virginia. He was employed in the active work of
the ministry forty-two years, became superannuated
in 1835, and remained in that relation till 1863, the
venerable patriarch of the Conference. His home
‘«Pilgrim’s Rest,” near Baltimore, was, for many
 

HENRY SMITH
 

STEPHEN GEORGE ROSZEL
Alexandria Conference, 1804. 135

years a Mecca for Methodist preachers and people.
Whenever the Conference met in Baltimore he was,
by special invitation, seated on the platform, where
this writer has several times seen him. He lived to
be nearly ninety-four years of age, surviving nearly
all his compeers and presenting, in his remarkably
impressive features and style of dress, to the young
preachers of the Conference, a lasting and accurate
illustration of the heroes of the earlier times. He
died in 1863, having been an itinerant preacher for
nearly sixty-nine years.

In 1804 the Conference met in Alexandria, Vir-
ginia, April 27. Forty-four preachers were present,
and fourteen were admitted on trial. Rezin Cash
had died. He was a native of Montgomery county,
Maryland, admitted into the traveling connection
1794. “A man of great solemnity of mind and
goodness of heart, blameless in life and steadfast in
the duties of his ministerial and christian calling.
He lingered and languished away his life and died
in peace between thirty and forty years of age.”
Stephen George Roszel was re-admitted, but, “his
case was reconsidered and the Conference concluded
that he should continue in his local relation,’ proba-
bly because he had a family. His name does not
appear again on the Conference roll until 1807, when
he is assigned to Baltimore Circuit. It may be
inferred that conditions had changed. Virtually,
however, he was in the regular work, rendering as
effective service in the Lower Valley of Virginia as
if he had received his appointments at the hands of

10]1d Minutes.
136 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

the Bishop. He was in constant touch with the
Conference, and took the deepest interest in all its
proceedings.

The name of Pittsburg District was changed to
Monongahela, and Susquehannah District was con-
stituted with the following six charges: Wyoming,
Northumberland, Carlisle, Huntingdon, Lyttleton and
Juniata, with James Smith as Presiding Elder.

The General Conference met in Baltimore, May 7,
1804. A few changes were made. Hitherto there
had been no restriction of the time limit of the
preachers’ appointments. The new law provided
that a preacher could not be re-appointed beyond
the second year to the same circuit or station. The
Bishop was allowed to appoint the President of a
Conference in his absence. “If no appointment were
made, the Conference shall elect a President by
ballot without debate.” The Presiding Elder was
not permitted to employ a preacher who had been
rejected at the preceding Annual Conference “ unless
the Conference give him liberty under certain condi-
tions.”” Members who married out of society here-
tofore were expelled. The rule was changed to put
back the offenders on trial for six months.

‘During this year Camp Meetings gave a fresh
impulse to the religious movement of the preceding
quadrennium. At Harrisonburg thirty souls were
gathered into the church. At Shepherdstown there
was a gracious visitation ; at Leesburg, a most re-
freshing season; one of the meetings lasted sixteen
hours without intermission, in which time fifteen
souls were converted. On Winchester Circuit fifty
The ‘ Jerks.’’ —Lorenzo Dow. 137

were added. The work broke out at Front Royal
and many were brought to God. At Alexandria there
was a gracious season. “ At this Conference,” says
Henry Smith, “Bishop Asbury dedicated a new
church” and it was doubly consecrated by the con-
version of a number of souls. Ata Quarterly Meet-
ing held at Little Levels in Greenbrier one hundred
were converted in six days. At the different Camp
Meetings in Botetourt and Greenbrier five hundred
were converted.” '

It was at this period that a most singular and
inexplicable physical phenomenon became epidemic,
which, commencing with the Camp Meetings in the
west extended eastward and prevailed in Virginia.
It was called “the Jerks,” affecting saints and
sinners alike, with the most grotesque and fearful
muscular contortions. They have never been satis-
factorily accounted for, but fortunately did not con-
tinue beyond a few years.

At the same time Lorenzo Dow, the most eccentric
preacher of his day, made his appearance in Virginia.
His life and travels, his remarkable adventures and
peculiar mission are portrayed in the most charac-
teristic manner by himself in a large volume that
finds its place in many homes today. He was born
in Coventry, Connecticut, in 1777. He had strange
religious impressions at an early age. Dreams and
visions alarmed him when he was twelve years old.
These continued until under the preaching of Hope
Hull, he was convicted of sin, found peace, felt an
irresistible call to preach; and was employed by

 

1Bennett’s Methodism in Va., pages 449 and 471.
188 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

Jesse Lee on a circuit, though, after three months,
he was dismissed because of eccentricities. He was
sent home four times ; but, in 1798, having obtained
recommendation, signed by thirty local preachers,
stewards and class leaders, attesting his useful and
moral conduct, he was received on trial and sent to
Cambridge Circuit. Subsequently he became an
independent evangelist; and, though he was not
under the control of the authorities of the church,
labored zealously with the regular itinerants and
was thoroughly Armenian in doctrine.’

One of his favorite and emphatic expressions in
preaching was “A-double-l-spells-All!” In the Pre-
face to his own book it is stated that “his eccentrici-
ties attracted great attention, while his shrewdness
and discernment of character gave him no inconsid-
erable influence over the multitudes that attended
his ministry. He traveled extensively in England
and Ireland, and repeatedly visited almost every por-
tion of the United States. He was a preacher for
more than thirty years, and probably more persons
heard the gospel from his lips than [from those of]
any other minister since the days of Whitefield. He |
wrote several books, particularly a history of his own
life, so singularly eventful and full of vicissitudes.
His purity of purpose and benevolence of character
can hardly be questioned.” Dow closed his erratic
life at Georgetown on the 2d of February, 1834. He
was buried in the city of Washington, and over his
remains was placed a tombstone bearing only two
words—Lorenzo Dow.

 

‘Bennett’s Methodism in Va., page 463.
Asbury on Married Preachers. 139

Henry Smith heard at this session of the Confer-
ence the famous utterance of Bishop Asbury when
the application of a preacher for admission on trial
was under consideration. ‘But he is married,” said
one of the members. ‘ What of that?” replied the
Bishop. ‘Perhaps he is the better for it. Better
take preachers that are well married than be at the
trouble of marrying them after you get them.”
Nevertheless the good bishop was sometimes sorely
harassed when he learned that some of his best men
had entered into that state. The very next year
(1805) we find this record in his journal: ‘Marriage
is a ceremony awful as death ; two hundred men are
lost to the itinerancy by it.” When he heard that
same year of the marriage of his friend and fellow
itinerant, Jonathan Jackson,' he exclaimed: “ O thou
pattern of celibacy! Art thou caught? Who then can
resist ?”

So far as the records show, Conference met for
the first time in Winchester in 1805. Forty-two
members were in attendance. Juniata and Tioga
Circuits were formed and added to the Susquehanna
District ; Monroe to the Greenbrier District. Wash-
ington city was separated from Georgetown, with
William Watters as its first station preacher.

Several resolutions were adopted :

1. That the presiding elders shall be a standing
committee to examine any books or hymns that may
be published or circulated in our societies, and
endeavor to prevent the circulation of any whose
contents are contrary to our doctrines or discipline.

 

1Grandfather of Stonewall Jackson.
140) Part II—T he Organization, 1784-1812.

2. That William Watters, Daniel Hitt and John
Pitts be a committee to examine the manuscript of
the Rev. Wilson Lee’s funeral sermon ; and, if they
approve of it, to have it printed.

3. That in future the preachers shall not have
their waistcoats made with double breasts.

Of the nine preachers admitted on trial at this
session, two are worthy of special mention—Caleb
Reynolds, well known and greatly beloved in the
Baltimore Conference for thirty-two years, and
Joseph Carson (uncle of the late Judge Joseph 8.
Carson of Winchester), whose travels and labors
covered, for many years, extensive circuits in both
the Baltimore and the Virginia Conference. Doctor
Bennett, in his Memorials of Methodism in Virginia,
was fortunate enough to obtain from this devoted
itinerant a vivid description of his earlist experiences
in the bounds of the Baltimore Conference.

Mr. Carson writes :

In March, 1805, the Baltimore Conference sat in
Winchester in an upper room of the house of George
A. Reid, corner of Piccadilly and Braddock streets.
My recommendation having preceded me I was
admitted on trial with twenty-two others,! of whom I
am the only survivor. I was appointed to Wyoming
Circuit, Pennsylvania. Immediately after the close
of the Conference, in company with James Paynter, a
man many years my senior, I set out from the home
of my youth without the expectation of returning for

1He must have included those also admitted into the Vir-
ginia Conference, since the Minutes record only 9—the Virginia
Conference 14.
Joseph Carson’s Narrative. 141

at least two years. After about thirteen days’ travel,
through mud and marsh, swimming creeks and rivers,
we reached the house of Christian Burnan, on the
West Fork river, opposite the village of Berwick.
Here we were kindly received and found a pleasant
home during our stay on the circuit. It was one of
our regular preaching places, for be it remembered
there was not a Methodist Church on the circuit.
Wyoming Circuit then included all of Pennsylvania
from the West Fork nearly to the boundary of New
York. We had thirty-two appointments in twenty-
eight days, to reach which we travelled 400 miles,
crossing eight mountains, and passing through Beach
Swamp, fifty miles in length, which abounded in
rattlesnakes. But this was by no means its worst
feature. Our physical labor was of small moment
when compared with the persecutions of every kind
with which we met from the Universalists, Hell
Redemptionists, Seventh Day Baptists, Free Will
Baptists, Deists, Atheists and sinners of all classes.
Among the wealthy and refined very bitter opposition
to Methodism existed ; consequently our homes were
among the poor, who were scarcely able to supply us
with the necessaries of life, to say nothing of comforts ;
but they had kind hearts, and such as they had gave
they unto us. Our food was of the coarsest kind and
not the most cleanly. Breakfast generally consisted
of coffee made of toasted corn bread, sometimes a
little pickled pork, fried to a cracklin, and a scanty
supply of bread. For dinner we had a few vege-
tables, and occasionally wild meat. Supper was
pretty much a repetition of breakfast; tea was made
of hemlock leaves sweetened with honey. The most
of the houses were log cabins, covered with bark,
straw or slabs. Many of them contained but one
142

Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

room, which they used for everything, and in which
the family and guests all lodged. The bedsteads were
made of by driving forks into the puncheon floors,
placing poles in them and laying slabs across; a little
straw covered by a piece of coarse cloth, served as the
bed. Many a morning have I found a layer of snow
forming my outer coverlet, for the roofs were too open
to prevent its entrance. In only two settlements could
we be at all comfortable for the first six months, but
afterwards a brighter prospect opened before us and
we were welcomed to many a fireside from which we
had been excluded.

He gives us a picture of a Quarterly Meeting in
those days:

At our Second Quarterly Meeting we concluded
to begin on Friday and give them ‘a long heat.’ A
great number came from a distance. We preached
in a barn, and the congregation, many of them not
being able to get into the house, were seated on rocks,
stumps and logs in the yard. After the sermon
many of the strangers came to me to know where they
were to stay. I replied, “I really did not know, for
as yet I had no invitation myself.’ However, the
ladies were disposed of after awhile, but the men found
lodging that night in the hay mows. * * * On
Sunday I saw a yonng lady visibly affected during
the exhortation that followed the sermon. I made my
way to her and soon she was on her knees, and in a
short time was happily converted. Soon I heard the
whisper “Disorder! disorder! We cannot submit to
anything of this sort.’ Some complained to my col-
league and asked if he thought it was right. “Of
course I do,” he replied. ‘ Well,” said they, “we
have a stick in soak for him, and we will let him know
Joseph Carson's Narrative. 143

he shall not behavesoamong us.” But he advised them
to be quiet, saying, “he was born in the fire, and you
may expect such things of him as long as he lives.”
The young lady was the only convert, and she after-
wards walked thirteen miles to join the church; she
was the first one we received on trial.

At the next Quarterly Meeting they had fifteen
converts, and a glorious work broke out, which con-
tinued until the close of the year, when they counted
six hundred converts, four hundred of whom were
added on the old circuit and the remaining two hun-
dred placed on a new two weeks’ circuit. At the
Conference the Bishop appointed a preacher to this
new field with the remark: ‘Two weeks’ work is
ready for you; go and dig up the other two.”

* * * * *

During this year I preached several times in Hagers-
town, Maryland. There Methodism had very few
friends. Louis R. Fechtig, who was afterward an elo-
quent preacher, was then an apprentice boy living
there. He had been converted a short time before,
and was very zealous for our cause, and notwithstand-
ing the heavy stripes with which he was beaten by
both father and master, who “were determined to
whip Methodism out of him,” he would always light
the church for me. He told me after he became a
preacher, that his father once stood in the yard, for
he would not go in a church, and listened to me
preach, from this text: “Every one shall be salted
with fire, etc.,” and from that time he ceased to whip
him for his religion.

The death of three veterans during the preceding
year was announced at this session (1805). Nicholas
Watters of Anne Arundel county, Md., commenced his
144 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

itinerant career about the same time with his brother
William Watters (1773), had traveled in Maryland,
Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia in the earliest
period of the history of the church, made his noble
record on high, dying in Charleston, S. C., with the
words on his lips:

‘« Farewell vain world I’m going home
My Jesus smiles and bids me come.”

Wilson Lee, a native of Delaware, came into the
line of traveling preachers in 1784. He showed him-
self a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.
Though he was “slender in constitution,” ‘zeal
urged him on to surprising constancy and great
labors.” His death was due to exposure in visiting
a dying christian on the west side of the Allegheny
mountains. Sudden death was for him sudden
glory.

John Durbin, born in Frederick county, Md., ran
a short race in the itinerancy, was taken ill after
preaching at Linganore, Md., and died exclaiming :
« Jesus—Jesus—Angels, Angels beckoning—there’s
two—I’ll go.”

Fifty-eight preachers are marked present at the
session held in Baltimore, March 14, 1806. Three
notable names are among the thirteen added as pro-
bationers : Gerard Morgan,’ than whom no purer or
better man came into the ministry ; Job Guest, a
model christian gentleman and a popular preacher ;
and Alfred Griffith, with iron will and pulpit power—
each with his peculiar gifts, and all rendering long
and valuable service. Lycoming is a new charge in

1See Appendix.
Staunton, Va.—Baltimore County. 145

the Susquehannah District, Timothy Lee and Jesse
Pinnell, preachers. Staunton is added to the Green-
brier District, Noah Fidler its first preacher. A
blacksmith and wagon shop on Gospel hill was the
humble place wheré the Methodist Society in Staun-
ton had its beginning. A Brother Eagan owned the
building and gladly furnished it for religious wor-
ship. More than a thousand Methodists now crowd
the three churches, while the District parsonage, a
fine brick building, stands nearly opposite the site of
the original place of worship.

In Baltimore county, Md., Robert North Carnan,
a soldier of the Revolution, of highly respectable par-
entage, found peace with God simultaneously with the
news of peace with Great Britain. It is said of him
that he was one of the first in his county to liberate
his slaves. Henry Smith, in his “ Recollections,” !
writes: ‘One of the oldest preachers said to me one
day, ‘we did more good and got more slaves free
when we had no rules about it than we have done
since we had rules,’ and this brother never owned a
slave in his life. Carnan must have been an exhor-
ter, class leader and steward for more than fifty
years.” Smith also writes of Martin Tschudy’s as
‘‘a preaching place, and one of the best homes of
the preachers. He was man of few words but as
honest as the day was long. The family was a pat-
tern of order, neatness, piety and hospitality * * *.
Joseph Peregoy was the leader of the class for many

 

1Page 179.

10
146 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

years. He was beloved by the pious, respected by
all in life and honored in death.”

Sixty-one preachers attended the session held in
Baltimore, March 2, 1807. Eighteen were admitted
on trial. At last, Stephen George Roszel resumes
his place as a regular itinerant destined to occupy a
distinguished position among his brethren until he
receives the crown of life.

The most important action taken was the recom-
mendation by the Conference to their brethren of
the other six Conferences “to take into their most
deliberate consideration, the propriety of a selected
or delegated General Conference ;”’ also advising and
recommending to the brethren, “composing the
Eastern, Southern and Western Conferences, to take
such measures as they in their wisdom and prudence
may devise, that they may have a more full repre-
sentation at the next General Conference.” These
recommendations were adopted practically by a
unanimous vote.

During the previous year Bishop Asbury sus-
tained the grievous loss of his faithful co-adjutor
in the episcopacy, Bishop Richard Whatcoat. He
died at the house of Richard Bassett, Esq., in
Delaware, July 5, 1806. lected to the episcopacy
by the General Conference of 1800, he had filled
the office during the six succeeding years of his life
with the same fidelty that had marked all the long
years of effective service in the church. In the
town of Darlaston, Staffordshire England, one mile
from Wednesbury, his parents lived; and, at the
latter place, young Whatcoat became a member
of the Methodist society. For nine years he filled
 

RICHARD WHATCOAT
Bishop Whatcoat. 147

the offices of leader, steward and local preacher. In
1769 he was admitted into the British Conference,
and traveled extensively in England, Ireland and
Wales. He came to this country in 1784, and
served the Methodist connection in various cities,
towns, circuits and districts with unswerving fidelity.
At the age of sixty-four, he was chosen Bishop, and
the Journal shows that he attended every session of
the Baltimore Conference, sharing with Asbury the
presidency, until a short time before his death. He
magnified his office, traveling annually three to four
thousand miles through the United States. He
proved himself worthy of the affection and confi-
dence of the Methodist connection in Enrope and
America. Bishop Asbury, from his early life, “had
known him most intimately, and had tried him in
the soundness of his faith, in his holy manner of
life, and in his long suffering by reason of severe
diseases and great labors. In life and death he was
placid and calm ; as he lived so he died.” '

Dr. Bennett? has quoted at some length the por-
trait drawn by a personal friend: ‘Bishop What-
coat’s personal appearance was interesting ; so much
so as to invite and please the good and wise. The
form of his body was genteel and grave; his soul
comprehensive, noble and active; his presence and
aspect smooth and pleasing, yet solemn, often strik-
ing reverence and awe into the minds and deport-
ment of such as looked upon him, especially when
exercising the office of his function. * * * I

 

1Asbury’s Funeral Sermon on Bishop Whatcoat.
2Bennett’s Methodism in Va., page 515.
148) =Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

may say of him as was said of Basil, ‘that so much
divine majesty and lustre appeared in him, it made
the wicked tremble to behold,’ and in like manner
this most exact and holy man’s solemn deportment
was such as to command respect. * * * Com-
passion for the lost, fearlessness in danger, a man
of peace and a great peacemaker, uniform in his
calmness; calm in the wilds as in the cultivated
fields ; in the smoky cabin as in the carpeted parlor ;
amidst the clamors of untoward children, where he
was detained during the mountain storm or flood of
rain. * * * His moderation was known to
all—in all things he showed himself a pattern; in
piety, in doctrine, in zeal, he was a living witness of
all he taught to others.”

To the Susquehanna District were added this year
Conestio, John Richard and Gerard Morgan, preach-
ers; and Bald Eagle, Lasley Matthews, in charge.
Randolph is added to Greenbrier District, Jacob
Gruber, Presiding Elder.

March 2, 1808, forty-six preachers met in Con-
ference at Georgetown, D. C., with Bishop Asbury.
He had just returned from his annual visit to the
south. Resting for several days at Rectortown,
Fauquier county, Virginia, under the roof of Her-
man Hitt, he tells us of the venerable patriarch of
eighty-six years, who had lived to see four genera-
tions, was at the head of eighteen families, and had
given three sons and one grandson to the Methodist
ministry. He preached at the new house at Rector-
town, and says, ‘the wind blew and it was cold, but
they had an open season ;” next he preached to a
Carson at Blacksburg. 149

full house at Mount’s, visited the widow Roszel and
her afflicted children, and called on Brother Donahoe,
who was “weak but faithful.” He rejoiced to hear
of a “blessed work of grace in East Loudoun.”
After preaching at Leesburg, Va., he passed on to meet
the Conference at Georgetown. Of the ten preach-
ers received on trial, three, Gerard Morgan, Job
Guest and Alfred Griffith, were distinguished through
many years for their great usefulness and success in
the active work of the ministry. Leonard Cassell
had died. He is described “as that happy model of
pulpit simplicity, eloquence and piety, which shone
with such astonishing lustre and unabating zeal,
especially in the last few months of his life.”

Joseph Carson was sent this year to Botetourt
Circuit. Four local preachers lived within its
bounds: Burgess, Edward and Samuel Mitchell and
Doctor French. ‘At Blacksburg,” he writes, “a
little village on the top of the Allegheny, we had
some bitter foes. The brethren there had bought a
dwelling-house and fitted it up for a church, and at
this place I was once arrested for the purpose of
being putin jail. These were the circumstances, I
‘preached there one Sabbath night, the text I do not
remember but the position assumed was, that we
were all candidates either for the kingdom of heaven
or hell. While on this point a young man arose,
put on his hat and took a stand just in front of me.
I presently requested him to take his seat, where-
upon he uttered some insulting and blasphemous
language and walked out of the house. As he turned,
I observed that I feared that young man was a can-
150 = =Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

didate for the region of darkness. At the close of
the sermon he returned, and seeing nothing favor-
able in his countenance, I concluded to remain and
attend to some business which I had with the
brethren; he remained also, and aftcr dispatching
my business I started out, but placing himself in the
door he refused to let me pass, saying, ‘You
insulted me, sir, and Ill have satisfaction.’ ‘Who
are you?’ ITasked, ‘are you the young man who
misbehaved during the services?’ He denied the
charge and gave me a blow which had well nigh
sent me backward, but I recovered, and finding I
must defend myself, I seized him by the arm and
led him out of the way. Just then an old Dutch-
man came up and collaring him, gave him a pretty
rough shaking, saying, ‘You Shon Myers, you
*haves yourself or I makes you.’ I then walked off
with Brother Burgess, and left them to settle the
matter between them. I left the village next morn-
ing, without seeing anything more of ‘Shon Myers,’
though I heard of some of his bold threats about
horsewhipping me, etc. However, before I went
there again, fearing to undertake that, I suppose, he
changed his tactics, and concluded to have me
arrested.

It so happened that there lived in the village
a magistrate whose enmity I had incurred in the
following way. The first time I was ever in the
place I chanced to hear this man repeating a petty
slander on Bishop McKendree, to this effect, the
Bishop and another preacher were passing through
that part of the country not long before, and coming
Carson at Blacksburg. 151

to a spring they alighted, took out a bottle, and drank
very copiously ; a negro boy happening to pass at
the time, they gave him a dram and the bottle not
to tell on them, but he had disclosed the whole
affair. I listened to him silently, and when he had
finished I said, ‘Mr. B., I would never repeat that
again, for really it sounds so much like a lie that it
does not claim credit. I doubt not, sir, you heard it
all, but I would not tell it again. Don’t you sup-
pose, if it were true, that these men were too wise to
give the negro the only tangible proof of their guilt ?’
But notwithstanding my assurance that I did not
intend to doubt his word, I saw that he was offended.
To this Magistrate Myers made his complaint, and
he most cheerfully promised that he should be
avenged. When next I went to Blacksburg the arrest
was presented, and on examining it I found the
indictment was for a ‘Breach of the Sabbath.’ At
the appointed hour I went to his office, and there
found the Magistrate, the prosecutor, his witnesses,
and a crowd of my own friends besides those who
went with me. They proceeded to the trial; Myers
swore that I collared him and called him ‘a
black candidate for hell.’ The Magistrate then broke
out in a long tirade against Methodist preachers ;
they thought they could do as they pleased, ete. I
listened to it all without interruption, and after he
got through, I demanded that my witnesses be
called ; he refused. I then asked him to give me the
‘Revised Code,’ and told him I had never studied
law, but I had been fortunate enough to read a little.
Turning to the ‘ Breach of the Sabbath,’ and reading

 
152 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

what was said on that subject, I asked him if any of
his testimony proved that I had been engaged in any
unlawful pursuit on the Sabbath night in question.
I asked again that my witnesses be sworn. He
again refused, saying, ‘You are dismissed.’ ‘I am
then no longer your prisoner?’ ‘No. ‘Iam a
freeman?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well then, sir, I will tell you in
the presence of this assembly what I think of you.
Iam not here to answer for Methodist preachers,
but for myself. Hoping to have an opportunity to
revenge yourself on me for an offence innocently
offered by trying to defend an absent brother, you
issued this warrant of arrest, but you did not know
under what statute to put it. I now demand a copy
of this man’s oath. He has sworn falsely as I can
prove. This he also refused, but I told him it mat-
tered not, for I knew where to find the grand jury,
and I had the requisite number of witnesses to prove
it a perjury. This scared poor Myers so badly that
he left for parts unknown. I had no more trouble
the remainder of the year.” '

The same writer, Carson, relates an amusing
incident of this session (1808): ‘At this period
there were few married men in the Conference to be
obliged—such a thing as a Bishop’s council was
unknown, and as long as he presided, Bishop
Asbury made his own appointments. I remember a
remark the old Bishop made at this Conference,
which produced quite a panic in the body. He was
much perplexed about his appointments. ‘Brother

1 Bennett, page 536.
Asbury and the Married Preachers. 153

A,’ said he, ‘must go here, and brother B could not
go there, etc., etc.;’ until at length the old gentleman
straightened himself up and with an impatient ges-
ture, exclaimed, ‘I would not give one single
preacher for a half dozen married ones.’ Where-
upon, 8S. G. Roszel rose and said, ‘I ask a location,
sir;’ then followed John Pitts, then another and
another till everyone in the condemned list had
made the same request. The Bishop looked startled,
and asked what was the matter. ‘Why,’ answered
one, ‘if that is your opinion of married preachers,
we will receive no more appointments at your
hands.’ ‘What did I say?’ asked he. His remark
was repeated. ‘Did I say that?’ said he now fully
aroused from his reverie. ‘Yes, Bishop,’ was heard
from every side. ‘Well, my brethren, forgive me,
I will say it back,’ answered the good Bishop.
‘Then, sir, we will withdraw our applications,’ said
they, and all was harmony and love again.” '

This indefatigable itinerant was sent to Green-
brier. His circuit embraced the whole of that
county, with parts of Bath and Giles. There were
twenty-two appointments for four weeks, some of
them fifty miles apart. He says, “I had been told
it was a rude country and a very hard circuit.”
This he found to be true, it being “not very pleas-
ant to use bear’s meat for both bread and meat.”
But his recompense was the addition of one hundred
and fifty souls to the church.’

 

1Bennett, page 555.
Bennett, page 556.
154 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

Hardly less severe was the work in Allegheny to
which Henry Smith was assigned at this session.
But he had had rougher experiences in Ohio. On
Patterson’s creek he met with James M. Hanson,
who subsequently attained such a high position in
the Conference that be received a unanimous vote
as a delegate to the General Conference. Smith
gave him license to exhort, and encouraged him to
improve his mind by reading and study. At the
close of the year, he was licensed to preach and
recommended to the Conference. Smith also found
William Munroe near the mouth of the South
Branch, who afterwards became an active itinerant.
The favorite home of Smith was at John Jeremiah
Jacobs,’ who had served as Captain in the Revolu-
tionary War. It was a pleasant change when the
Bishop found it necessary, the following August,
to remove Smith from Allegheny to Fell’s Point.
Two years previous, he had found delightful asso-
ciation with the Methodist folk in the vicinity of
Baltimore. He tells us that in the Baltimore Cir-
cuit he visited Samuel Merryman, senior, the first
Methodist convert under Strawbridge in this neigh-
borhood. Caleb Merryman’s was a preacher’s home
for years. Amon Price was the leader of the first
class organized in that neighborhood. Joseph
Taylor was the Methodist patriarch. His wife was
a sister of Philip Gatch. These two good people
were the main stay of the society. At first they had
preaching in their house and afterwards they built a
small frame meeting house near their dwelling.
Thursday was their preaching day, and had been so
Around Baltimore. 155

for fifty years. They had never been clamorous for
Sunday preaching. Joseph Taylor, John Dougherty,
their pious wives, and others, gave a character and
standing to Methodism here that have withstood all
the drawbacks and difficulties it has had to contend
with.!

At Evans’ Meeting House he found “ Brother
Stevenson, an old local preacher,” who had “also
traveled as most of the local preachers did in early
days.” He, Daniel Evans, Joseph Merryman and
others ‘gave tone to Methodism here, and it still
lives among their descendants.” Strawbridge and
nearly all the first preachers who traveled in Mary-
land had preached at Hunt’s Meeting House.
Phineas Hunt’s house was a preaching place, and
he was the first class-leader of the Society, and con-
tinued in that relation till his death. Nicodemus
Bond’s, who was a local preacher at Chesnut Ridge
twelve miles from Baltimore; Michael Emmart’s at
“the White Grounds;” John K. Wilson’s, Gallo-
way’s, Spindler’s, Vaughan’s, Major’s, John Alghier’s,
Cullison’s, Cole’s, Charles Gorsuch’s—all in Balti-

more county—were preaching places.’

 

1Dr. Thomas E. Bond, in a foot note, in the Christian Adv.
and Journal, 1848, adds: ‘‘A younger brother inherits good
old Joseph’s premises; and with them his hospitality. It is
still a house of prayer.” At this date, 1906, on the same site,
a fine residence is occupied by two limeal descendants, Misses
Sarah and Annie Taylor, who still preserve the devotion to
Methodism shown by their progenitors. A neat chapel is still
a regular preaching place. Jacob Taylor, a brother, lives in
Baltimore.

2H. Smith, pages 208, 252.
156 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-18 12.

At the session of 1808, five chargés were taken
from the Susquehannah District, which was then
transferred to the Philadelphia Conference. A new
district, Carlisle, was constituted with these five
charges (Harford, Carlisle, Lyttleton, Juniata and
Huntingdon) and Auwick circuit added.

The last session of the General Conference as an
aggregated body was held in Baltimore in May,
1808. It was more important than any that pre-
ceded it. The growth in numbers and the unduly
preponderating influence of those Conferences whose
proximity to the place of the session gave them
ready access to it, had already made apparent to
both Asbury and his preachers the necessity of
formulating a plan for proportionate representation.
Happily, this was consummated. The wise and saga-
cious Joshua Soule drew up the “ Restrictive Rules,”
which were to prove the safeguard against future
dangers threatening the integrity of the church.
The plan adopted, which was to go into effect four
years later, has given to Methodism a legislative
authority, the flexibility of which has shown its
adaptation’ to all the changes that. the progress of
the church has made necessary. The rule by which
local preachers had hitherto been ordained on the
* recommendation of nine traveling preachers, was
altered by placing in the Quarterly Conference the
right to recommend, subject to examination of
character and the approval of the Annual Confer-
ence. Each Annual Conference was at liberty to
adopt such measures as it might deem best for pro-
viding the necessary support of the preachers. Dr.
General Conference of 1808. 157

Coke’s proposal to divide the American field equally
with Bishop Asbury was respectfully declined.

A letter confidentially written by Dr. Coke to
Bishop White of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
April, 1791, made public only in 1804, proposing a
union of the two churches, was not approved by his
colleague, Bishop Asbury, nor by a single minister
in the United States. Dr. Coke made satisfactory
explanation, and afterwards candidly acknowledged
that the failure of his scheme had been for the best.'
His name was retained on the Minutes with the pro-
viso that “he was not to exercise the office of a
Superintendent in the United States until he was
recalled by the General Conference, or by all the
Annual Conferences respectively. ”

The election of William McKendree to the Episco-
pacy reveals the man for the new era. The great
expounder of the constitutional law of Methodism,
whose unquestioned authority abides to this day, he
was pre-eminently fitted to prepare the way for the
important changes to be inaugurated.

On the last day of the session this remarkable
action was taken: ‘Moved from the chair that
there be one thousand forms of discipline prepared
for the use of the South Carolina Conference, in
which the section and rule on slavery be left out.
Carried.” Concerning this action, Dr. L. M. Lee
comments, as quoted by Dr. Bennett: “One thing
is apparent in this and in all other anti-slavery pro-
ceedings of our fathers. They would never have

 

1Emory’s Defence of the Fathers.
158 Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

suffered ‘the great evil of slavery’ to produce the
still greater evil of rending the seamless garment of
Christ in twain.”’!

March 2, 1809, the Conference met in Harrison-
burg, Virginia. Forty-seven members were in attend-
ance. Both Bishops, Asbury and McKendree, were
there; and for the first time since the Journal was
kept, affixed their signatures, together with that of
Joseph Toy, the faithful Secretary. This signature
of Bishop Asbury is the only one in the records.
Of ten preachers admitted on trial, three were dis-
tinguished for long and valuable service: Joseph
Frye, Beverly Waugh and James M. Hanson.

At this session a committee was appointed to draft
an address to the United Brethren. The report was
adopted and forwarded to them. Its purport was,
first, to recommend the careful licensing of their own
preachers, who might then be admitted to “our privi-
leges,” and that they should admit none of our
preachers to their privileges without due authority ;
secondly, the adoption of our Discipline, which had
already been translated into the German language ;
thirdly, that their members be furnished with cer-
tificates, which might entitle them to the privileges
of class-meetings, sacraments and love-feasts in our
Church. It was advised that lists of all their
preachers and lay members should be furnished to
our Presiding Elders and preachers. To this a
favorable response was made by the German brethren
at the following session, 1810.

 

1Bennett, page 544.
TIVNUQOL AONAUAANOO AO 8FI ADNVd JO ATINIS-OVA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The Conference of 1810. 159

Bedford Circuit appears this year in the Carlisle
District, and Potomac is the new name for Alexan-
dria District.

Henry Smith went from this Conference to Annap-
olis, Maryland, boarded with “Sammy Peaco,” and
received Thomas Bassford into the church the first
Sunday he was there. Bassford was for many years
a local preacher and school teacher in Baltimore,

a good preacher, useful and faithful and highly
esteemed.

Conference met in Baltimore, March 9, 1810. Both
Bishops were present, and fifty-seven preachers.
The triumphant death of Joseph Everett, noted in
the Minutes of this session, marked the close of a
long and illustrious life (see page 57). John Davis,
afterwards a great leader, and John Wesley Bond,
traveling companion of Bishop Asbury, and with
him at the time of his death, were among the proba-
tioners admitted. A number of changes in the con-
stitution of the work took place this year. Loudoun
has grown strong enough to be taken from Fairfax
in the Potomac District, with Edward Matthews and
Joseph Stone its first preachers. Hagerstown also
becomes a separate charge, under James Paynter.
In the Monongahela District, Hartford and East
Wheeling are added, and in the Carlisle District,
Mishannon is made a new Circuit, Daniel Stansbury
the preacher.

The organization, by the Bishops, of the Genesee
Conference, the eighth in the connection, gave rise
to the appointment of a committee, consisting of S.
160 = =Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

G. Roszel, Nelson Reed and R. R. Roberts, whose
report questioning the propriety and legality of the
act was adopted. The report is written in the most
respectful and loyal spirit, but evidently had its
effect, the General Conference afterwards (1812)
assuming the right to organize and determine the
boundaries of Conferences.

It was resolved that every preacher within the
bounds of this Conference be instructed to catechize
the children in every station and on every circuit.
For the first time in the history of the Conference, a
schedule of rules was adopted for the government of
the body ‘in their sittings.” The President was to
arrange and bring forward the business specified in
the discipline, to determine questions of order, sub-
ject to an appeal, without debate, to preserve order,
and to call for division on a vote when doubted. The
members were to have the business of their several
charges properly arranged when called for; no one
to speak twice on the same subject, nor longer at a
time than fifteen minutes, unless permission were
given by the Conference; to avoid irritating and
disrespectful language ; not to be interrupted, except
by the President when they wander from the ques-
tion; the Conference without debate deciding on
an appeal from the decision of the President, with
the right of any member to call the attention of the
President when the speaker was supposed to be out
of order ; motions when seconded to be considered.
The duties of the Secretary were to keep a fair and
correct record of proceedings; no one, except a
member of the Conference, was to be permitted to
Proceedings, 1810, 1811. 161

examine said record or papers or to take a copy
without leave of the Conference; they were to be
safely preserved and the Journal to be brought for-
ward to the Conference.

The German [United] Brethren addressed a
reply to the letter sent to them at the previous
session, agreeing to adopt the suggestions offered
(except a few on minor points), looking to a union
of the two bodies. The Conference returned to them
a grateful acknowledgment.

Nicholas Snethen, William Ryland and Robert R.
Roberts were appointed to draw up an address “to
all our members ” within the bounds of the Confer-
ence. The address was adopted. It lamented the
small increase of numbers in Society, assigned
reasons for it, in the neglect of family and private
devotions, the use of spirituous liquors, conformity
to the world and the love of money. It closed with
an earnest exhortation to prayer and reformation,
and appointed the first Fridays in June and
November as days of fasting and prayer.

March 20, 1811, sixty preachers met in Baltimore,
Bishops Asbury and McKendree present. Only one
death in the preceding year was reported, Thomas
Daughaday.' Five were admitted on trial, of whom
the name of James McCann became afterwards nota-
ble. James Wilson was continued on trial. ‘“ He
was a candidate at the last Conference for full mem-
bership, but being refused on account of some

 

1See Appendix.
11
162) = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

imprudence in his disposition and manner, such as
jealousy of the success or praise of his brethren,
dissatisfaction with his fare in families, and with his
circuit, etc., ete., he fell under such peculiar exercise
of mind as to refuse to continue and went home.
During ‘the year he became convinced of the impro-
priety of his conduct, and gave so much evidence to
the preachers and friends of his sincerity, that the
Presiding Elder took him on to a circuit, about the
last of August; and he had continued to travel
much to the approbation of his colleague and the
people on the circuit. Having been called before
the Conference, and made acknowledgment, it was
voted—That the particular circumstances of his
case were such that he might be received without a
formal recommendation * * *. 2. That he could
not be received into full connection, but might remain
on trial.” ?

Two additional rules were adopted: ‘1. That no
member shall speak a second time until every mem-
ber who offers to deliver his sentiments, has spoken
once. 2. That no member shall nominate more than
one person on any committee, and on making a
nomination shall rise and address himself to the
President.”

Georgetown District, the sixth, was formed, Nelson
Reed, Presiding Elder. Beverly Waugh was stationed
in Washington, which is for the first time constituted
a separate charge, Frederick Town is also a new
charge, Andrew Hemphill the preacher. A great

 

2Conference Journal, page 183.
Proposed History of Methodism. 163

camp meeting was held this summer near Winches-
ter. It was estimated that five thousand persons
were on the ground. One night three hundred peni-
tents were counted, one hundred of whom were con-
verted.

Efforts had at different times been made, and
especially during this year, to obtain materials for a
History of Methodism. The plans proposed were
admirable. The entire action taken at this session
will not be without interest. Nelson Reed, Enoch
George, Nicholas Snethen, Asa Shinn and Joshua
Wells were appointed ‘“‘a committee to devise ways
and means to collect such materials.” Their report
was adopted, as follows:

“1. That every traveling preacher shall collect
from the most aged among our official brethren and
membership, the most correct account of the time
when, and the person by whom, Methodism was in-
troduced among them, and how [the] Gospel spread,
as to its extent, and the reception it met from the
people in general, and particularly those in fellow-
ship with us, together with such other articles as
they may think necessary.

«2, Every Presiding Elder shall inquire of the
preachers in his district whether they have attempted
to collect materials, and with what success. They
shall also procure all the information in their power.

“3, That the Bishop shall be requested by the
Conference to preserve and deposit all letters and
papers (not of a confidential nature but which relate
to the church and ministry in general) in such places,
164 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

and in such hands, that the compiler may have
access [to them] at discretion; and also that the
Conference request them to dispose of their papers,
for the same purpose by will; or authorize thei,
executors to submit their papers to such persons ag
may be appointed by the Conference to compile the
aforesaid history, and none others.”

The committee also advised ‘“ that the Conference
should give a general invitation to all the members of
the Conference to follow their own inclination in
attempting to sketch historically any materials they
may be in possession of; and to request, as a favour,
any preacher who may be in possession of such
sketch or draft, to present it to the Conference.”
“Bishop Asbury informed the Conference through
Bishop McKendree that he consented to the request
made in the above report respecting his letters, etc.,
and that he wished Bishop McKendree and Nicholas
Snethen to aid him in the examination of the same.’”!
This action shows not only the concern the Confer-
ence felt in that early day for the faithful record of
the history of Methodism, but impresses us with the
earnest purpose of Bishop Asbury himself to furnish
the church with the matter he had already written,
revised and corrected by the ablest minds in the
connection.

The negotiations with the “German Brethren’
continue with favorable indications of ultimate suc_
cess in the;mutual endeavor to effect a union: certi-
ficates of membership from either church were to be

 

1Conference Journal, page 192.
Conference of 1812. 165

accepted, houses of worship to be used in common,
consultations to be had in the interval of Conference
sessions between the Presiding Elders of both
churches to expedite the union, preaching places to
be open to both churches, the intercourse between
~ the two Conferences to be kept up, and difficulties
to be adjusted by special arrangement.’

A motion that inquiry should be made “respect-
ing the enforcing and operation of the rule on
Slavery’ was indefinitely postponed. Conference
‘resolved that we “object to Bishops Asbury and
McKendree traveling alone;”’ also, that “no Camp
Meeting be appointed or held except under the
direction and approbation of the Presiding Elder.”

Leesburg, Virginia, was the seat of the Conference,
March 20, 1812. Those received into full connec-
tion included, seventy preachers were enrolled as
present. Both Bishops were again in attendance.

Jesse Pinnell had died. The first name on the
list of twelve admitted on trial, Lewis R. Fechtig, is
well known in the annals of the Baltimore Confer-
ence. Ohio District, with eight charges—two of
them, Shenango and Erie, taken from the Monon-
gahela District, and six new ones—forms the seventh
in the Conference, Jacob Young, the Presiding Elder.
Chambersburg is a new circuit in the Carlisle and
Mahonan in the Monongahela District. Nicholas
Snethen was the Secretary of the Conference. Great
preacher and leader as he was, his minutes are
remarkable for “ditto” often repeated. The corres-

 

1Journal, page 197.
166 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

pondence between the Conference and the United
Brethren is still in progress.

The fact that the territory of the Conference em-
braced both free and slave States, made the question
of slavery an embarrassing one. The first recorded
action in the Journal is found on page 142 (1809),
and is simply a reaffirmation of the old rule forbid-
ding the buying and selling of slaves. The action
of the General Conference of 1808, gave rise to ser-
ious discussion in the Baltimore Conference in 1812,
when after several motions the following was adopted :
“Tt was moved that the present rules respecting
slavery be retained and enforced in their full extent
in those parts of the Conference, where the enforce-
ment of them does not interfere with the civil author-
ity, under the following regulations, to wit :

“1. That if any member of our society shall pur-
chase a slave or slaves, the Assistant Preacher of the
circuit or station [that is, the Preacher in charge]
shall appoint a ‘committee of members who shall
determine the time such slave or slaves shall serve ;
and, in case of dissatisfaction, the person or persons
so complaining, shall be allowed an appeal to the
ensuing Quarterly Conference whose decision shall
be final.

«2. That if any member or members shall violate
the decision aforesaid, by selling or disposing of said
slave or slaves, for a longer term of years, he shall
be expelled, except it be made to appear to a com-
mittee of five members, appointed by the preacher
having charge of the circuit or station, to be a case
of mercy or necessity.”
Delegates to General Conference of 1812. 167

It was then resolved that each Presiding Elder
should take a copy of the rules as passed above.

The most important action was the election of fifteen
delegates to the approaching General Conference.
Asa Shinn led the ticket. A man of high mark, he
occupies a large place in the ensuing records. The
first theologian and author, he was also great in
pulpit power and extensive travels, great alike on the
frontier and in the cities. Enoch George and Robert
R. Roberts, afterwards became Bishops. Joshua
Wells, of commanding person, grand preacher and
wise counsellor, attained the age of ninety-eight, and
closed his long and useful life in his native county of
Baltimore, in 1862. Christopher Frye, of Winches-
ter, Virginia, possessed high spiritual power, trav-
eled extensively, was fatally hurt in an accident and
passed away with the triumphant words “happy,
happy, happy!” on his lips. The list includes also
Nicholas Snethen, of whom record has already been
made; Hamilton Jefferson and Nelson Reed, long
known, honored and loved ; William Ryland, popular
pulpit orator, six times chaplain to Congress, and
the family pastor of Andrew Jackson at the White
House ; James Smith, eloquent in speech, charming
in manners, social in disposition, and constant in his
friendship ; Jacob Gruber, a Pennsylvania German,
original, quaint and witty ; Robert Burch, occupying
prominent appointments, but falling out of line in
later years; Andrew Hemphill, a genial Irishman,
extensive in labors, successful in winning souls, a
fine organizer, punctual and faithful; Joseph Toy,
the first Conference Secretary, and Henry Smith,
168 Part II—-The Organization, 1784-18 12.

honored for piety, usefulness and pioneer work—a
galaxy of noble men worthy of the honor conferred
on them, and of their contemporaries, whom they so
faithfully represented.

Bishop Asbury on his way to this session stopped
at Fredericksburg, and found that “the Methodists
had done great good there.’ From this place he
toiled on through mud and mist, stemming the cold
and boisterous northwest wind, and joined his col-
league, Bishop McKendree, at the seat of the Con-
ference. His terse and brief comment in his journal
at the close is, “they had a solemn, loving, peaceful
session.”

We are now at the end of what may be distinct-
ively called the Formative Period of the Old Balti-
more Conference. The roll has grown from twenty
in 1784 to seventy during the intervening twenty-
eight years. In 1784, the members in society num-
bered 2,359. In 1812, the tables record a member-
ship of 29,136. At the Christmas Conference, dis-
trict and territorial limits were not clearly defined ;
now seven districts belong to the Baltimore Confer-
ence. The financial interests also discover progress,
although not in proportion to membership and terri-
tory. In 1784, the wives of thirteen preachers were
inadequately provided for. Subsequently deficient
preachers were paid, so far as possible, out of a fund
systematically provided. The first recorded financial
report noted in the Journal appears in 1801, and
accounts for $829.93: the wedding fees, twenty
dollars; contributed by preachers, seventy-four
dollars ; by Bishop Asbury, twenty dollars, and the
Migh Ideals. 169

remainder from the collections in the various charges
in the Conference. Surely these heroes of the
cross could not be accused of preaching for earthly
gain.

This minute appears in the Journal of 1801:
“Notwithstanding the supply was not sufficient to
make up the deficiencies, the Conference, considering
that their brethren belonging to the Kastern Confer-
ences might be in much more need than themselves,
generously voted their dividend from the Chartered
Fund to be at the disposal of the Bishops, wherever
they, in their wisdom, might think it most wanting,
excepting a small sum otherwise disposed of by the
Conference.” The annual collections were continued
until, in 1812, the amount reached the sum of
$2,352.77. Out of these collections the Bishops
were paid a certain proportion ; and, at times, dona-
tions were granted to the New England Conference.

It is to be noted in these earlier days of the Con-
ference history how very careful the Conference was
to preserve its high ideal of purity and integrity. The
annual examination of the character of the preachers
was conducted with honesty, thoroughness and im-
partiality. Men proving themselves morally unfit
for their high office, were promptly tried and ex-
pelled. Applicants for admission on trial were held
back until every question of doubt was settled in their
favor. Errors in temper, imprudence of conduct, or
faulty administration were rebuked. The preachers
were held to strict account for negligence or failure
in their work; and, if found to be unadapted to it,
were located. Yet in no instance was censure
170 = Part II—The Organization, 1784-1812.

administered with harshness, and if it proved effec-
tive in curing offending brethren, they were gladly
restored, and afterwards became useful ministers of
the gospel. ,

When we consider how extended was the territory
comprised in the appointments of the Conference,
the absence for the most part of suitable places of
worship, the severe labors, privations and exposure
to which the preachers were subjected, then the suc-
cessful organization of societies, the rapid increase
in numbers, and the zeal and devotion of the people
converted through the instrumentality of the itiner-
ants, are simply wonderful. Preachers were placed
on the supernumerary list, prematurely incapacitated
for full work, yet ready and willing to do what they
could ; numbers located nearly every year on account
of “family concerns,” or other hinderances—some
temporarily, others for a longer period, yet carrying
forward the great work of saving souls meanwhile,
and resuming their blest employ in the itinerant
ranks when freed from embarrassment. Who can
fail to recognize the hand of Providence in the suc-
cessful formation of a church that was to prove one
of the greatest forces in the extension of Christ’s
Kingdom over the whole earth? Let it not be for-
gotten that this great achievement was not without
serious checks. It was accomplished despite internal
dissensions, persecution from without, and seasons
of defection and discouragement. Great revivals
ocenrred just in time to raise the drooping spirits of
the toilers, to give fresh impulse to activity that
would yield grander results.
 

JOSHUA SOULE
PART III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

CHAPTER I.

The first delegated General Conference assembled
at the Old John Street Church, New York, May 1,
1812. Ninety delegates represented eight Annual
Conferences. Bishop McKendree presented a care-
fully written address, showing an increase during the
quadrennium of nearly 40,000 members, and an
aggregate of about 190,000 members, 2,000 local
and 700 traveling preachers, scattered over seventeen
States, besides Canada and several territories. Obio
District was taken from the Baltimore Conference
and constituted an Annual Conference. The Ten-
nessee Conference also was formed, and the prior
organization of the Genesee Conference sanctioned.
Local preachers were, under prescribed conditions,
allowed to be elected elders. Stewards were to be
no longer appointed by the preachers, but, on their
nomination, were to be elected by the Quarterly Con-
ferences. Annual Conferences were to be allowed to
provide funds for the relief of their own preachers
and for mission purposes. After two days’ debate,
the movement to elect Presiding Elders by the An-
nual Conference was defeated, although it was ably
advocated by such leaders as Lee, Shinn, Snethen
and others. The Bishops opposed it, as seriously
172 =Part II1T—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

encroaching upon the fundamental principles of the
itinerant system. In the General Conference of
1808, it was lost by only three votes.

Sixty-four preachers met in Baltimore, March 24,
1813. Lasley Matthews had died in Alexandria.
On his way to Conference he was so ill that he
could not dismount from his horse without help.
He wished to have little more said about him than—
“Lasley Matthews died in peace—universal peace ;
for I feel universal peace in my soul.” He be-
queathed his personal effects to the Chartered Fund.
He was a native of Ireland. His parents were Roman
Catholics, who removed to this country before the
Revolution. He served as a soldier in the war, was
converted in the army during the siege of Yorktown,
through the instrumentality of Rev. Joseph Cheieu-
vront, was admitted on trial into the Baltimore Con-
ference, 1786, and for twenty years traveled with
zeal and success, through the whole extent of the
Conference territory.

Beverly Waugh became the Secretary at this
session, and continued in that office for nearly
fifteen years.

The ordination of Daniel McJilton as local
deacon at this session calls up a striking figure
well known and greatly beloved in the city of Balti-
more. His special work was among the poor, for
which his original gifts and genuine piety peculiarly
fitted him. Asa Shinn, Robert R. Roberts and
Beverly Waugh were appointed “to receive and
arrange materials from the Presiding Elders and
Sessions 1814, 1815.—Death of Coke. 173

preachers for the composition of the History of
Methodism.” It is to be regretted that their efforts
in this direction proved a failure. The address by
Bishop Asbury on “Preachers and their Wives,” on
Saturday morning, one might wish to have been
preserved.

Sixty-four preachers assembled in Baltimore,
March 16, 1814. Rezin Hammond and John
Wesley Bond were re-admitted. The collection
taken throughout the Conference for meeting the
deficiencies in the support of the preachers amounted
to $3,014.04. The sum of $63.85 collected in the
Conference was placed in the hands of the Superin-
tendents to be applied to the relief of the most neces-
sitous cases. The annual interchange of fraternal
feeling, in the hope of a union of the two bodies of
United Brethren and Methodists, is spread upon the
pages of the Journal. This interchange lasted for
several years at the annual sessions, but finally failed
of its object. Juniata Circuit was added to the Car-
lisle District

Again, in Baltimore, March 20, 1815, sixty-three
preachers gathered to hold their annual session.
Walker’s Creek Circuit was added to Greensbrier
District. Hampshire was called Moorefield Circuit.

The subject of deepest interest was the announce-
ment of the death of the first Bishop of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church—Rev. Thomas Coke. When
the news of the sad event reached Asbury, he wrote
in his journal: “Thomas Coke, * * * asa
minister of Christ, in zeal and labors and in services,
174 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

the greatest man of the last century.” Great hearted,
his vision world-wide, he was neither intended nor
fitted for the administration of affairs in any given
locality. The ocean, which took his body into its
limitless bosom, May 3, 1814, was the appropriate
resting place for the grandest missionary Method-
ism ever possessed. He served as an _ illustrious
connecting link between John Wesley, the Apostle
of Methodism, and Francis Asbury, the first real
Bishop in American history; a personal magnet,
that, alternating between the English Wesleyans
and the Episcopal Methodists in this country, drew
them together in inseparable bonds of unity, and
gave highest inspiration and foretoken of the con-
quest of the world for Christ. He accomplished
more, doubtless, by his death, than he might have
done, had he been permitted to land on the shores
of India. Marvellous indeed, is the record of the
progress of the gospel in that land of deeply rooted
idolatry.

This session stresses one of the distinguishing
features of the Conference in the close examination
of character. The Bishop was requested to admon-
ish one brother for certain errors in his conduct :
First, that he was too much addicted to the relation
of unprofitable anecdotes in private circles and fam-
ilies. Secondly, that he was too much disposed to
criticize the talents of his brethren and manifested
too much solicitude to know the sentiments of others
in regard to his own. Thirdly, that he was supposed
not to have zeal enough in the work of the Lord.”
Bishop Asbury. 175

The correction was given, and was received by the
offender with meekness, and he was admitted into
full connection and ordained. Another was discon-
tinued for frequently exchanging horses, and for
being remiss in attending his appointments. Still
another was charged with making contracts which
he did not comply with, and was subsequently
expelled. A local preacher failed of election to
deacon’s orders ‘because he did not govern his con-
duct aright.” A member of some years’ standing in
the Conference was deprived of his ministerial func-
tions ; but, on confession of his fault, was allowed
to remain in the private membership of the church.
These instances show how jealously the fathers
guarded the moral character of the preachers.

Bishop Asbury attended every session of the Balti-
more Conference with the exception of one during
the Revolution and the last held before his death.
From South Carolina he was urging his way with his
faithful traveling companion, Rev. J. Wesley Bond,
to reach the session at Georgetown, March 8, 1816.
But his increasing infirmities delayed him. He was
halted at the home of his old friend, George Arnold,
and, from that humble spot, ascended to the skies.
McKendree, waiting in vain for the coming of his
venerable colleague, must have sadly missed his
presence at the Conference session. For seven years
they had taken counsel together. Sixteen years later
(1832) he, in turn, was looking for the last time into
the familiar faces of his faithful preachers, three of
whom, Nelson Reed, Joshua Wells and Henry Smith
were the compeers of his earliest ministry. But not
176 = Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

the less well known to him was the newer race of
Methodist preachers. He had presided over them
during nine consecutive sessions and had _ been
present on five subsequent occasions. The vanish-
ing form of McKendree in 1832 was the climacteric
of the new and last era.

Asbury, like Wesley, grows on the thought of the
world as time passes. The current histories of
American Methodism make him its central figure,
and are replete with the details of his personality,
his sufferings, his travels and his labors. Bishop
McTyeire says: ‘To him has been justly applied
the remark of a British essayist, that ‘it is vain to
talk of men numerically ; if the passions of a man
are exalted to a summit like the majestic steadiness
with which St. Paul points out the single object of
his life, and the unquenchable courage with which
he walks toward it, he is a thousand men!’ ”’

Asbury began his ministry at seventeen and ended
it in his seventy-first year. During that time it is
estimated that he averaged one sermon or exhorta-
tion a day. The extent of his journeys by private
conveyance, mainly on horseback, was equal to the
circumference of the globe. During the last thirty-
two years of his life he presided in two hundred and
thirty-four Conferences and ordained about four
thousand ministers.’ In summing up the estimate
of him, Abel Stevens places him “ at the head of the
leading characters of American Ecclesiastical history.
No man has done more for Christianity in the West-

ern Hemisphere.”

 

1Stevens’ Memorials of Methodism.
The Representative Men. 177

At this session sixteen delegates were elected to
the ensuing General Conference: Thomas Burch,
Joshua Wells, Beverly Waugh, William Ryland,
Enoch George, James Smith, Alfred Griffith, Nelson
Reed, S. G. Roszel, Asa Shinn, Andrew Hemphill,
Henry Smith, Jacob Gruber, Daniel Hall, Hamilton
Jefferson, Christopher Frye.

During the preceding quadrennium the number of
preachers had increased from 66 to 77, despite the
annual depletion by location. The apparent loss in
membership of 1300 was largely due to the with-
drawal of colored members during 1815, who in
1816 became members of the first African Methodist
Episcopal Church, organized in Philadelphia with
Richard Allen as its first Bishop

Somersett Circuit was added to Carlisle District,
Harrison to Monongahela District, and St. Mary’s to
the Baltimore District.

The view that has been taken of the equal periods
in the history of Methodism in the old Baltimore
Conference, is sustained by the fact that three great
leaders—Asbury, McKendree and Soule—represent
these epochs. This is true, whether we count the
respective years of their ministry, each covering half
a century, more or less, or the successive terms of
their Episcopal office. The entire term of Asbury
reached thirty years; that of McKendree twenty-
seven ; that of Soule, in the M. E. Church, twenty-
two, and in the Church, South (till 1857), eleven
years. Asbury was the founder, McKendree the

organizer, and Soule the conserver: Asbury, blend-
12
178 =Part ITJ—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

ing with marvellous tact, the absolute authority of
Wesley, with the free and independent spirit of the
new country ; McKendree, gathering the principles
underlying the progress of Methodist itinerancy,
moulding them into a concise, solid and enduring
structure; Soule, with firm will and unbending
tenacity, securing the administration of these prin-
ciples until, without the loss of a single one of them,
Methodism today numbers its millions. The work
of each, it is true, in turn, overlaps the other; but
this was necessary, that each, in the order of succes-
sion, should have the inspiration of his living prede-
cessor,

At the close of the session, Bishop McKendree
started for Philadelphia ; but, after one day’s journey
he was violently attacked with rheumatism, and re-
turned to Baltimore, staying with his old friend, Dr.
Wilkins, until the opening of the General Conference,
May 1. While confined to his bed, he received in-
telligence of the death of his venerated and beloved
colleague, Bishop Asbury.

Of one hundred and fifteen preachers elected by the
nine Annual Conferences, one hundred and six took
their seats in the General Conference in 1816. The
recent death of the senior Bishop cast a gloom over
the Conference, as well as the entire church. Among
their first acts was an arrangement to move his re-
mains to the city of Baltimore. The valedictory
address he had prepared was read to the Conference.
In a few days a vast concourse of citizens, with
clergymen of other denominations, and the members
 

ENOCH GEORGE
Burial of Asbury.— New Bishops. 179

of the General Conference, preceded by Bishop
McKendree, followed the body of Bishop Asbury
from Light street to Eutaw Chureh. Bishop
McKendree delivered the funeral oration and the
body was deposited in a vault under the pulpit,
whence forty years later, it was removed to Mount
Olivet Cemetery, its final resting place.

The feeble state of Bishop McKendree’s health,
together with the decease of Bishop Asbury, made
imperative the duty of the General Conference to
strengthen the episcopacy. May 18, two additional
Bishops were elected—George and Roberts. Enoch
George was born in Lancaster county, Va. (the North-
ern Neck), converted under John Easter, and began
to travel in 1789. His health failing, he obtained
a local relation, re-entered the Baltimore Conference
(1800), and filled various important appointments
and Districts. Bishop Paine thus describes him:
“He was low of stature, but stoutly built. His
features were grave and expressive of strong emo-
tions; his eyes, small and deeply seated beneath an
overhanging heavy brow, twinkled or melted into
tears as the sentiments he uttered might demand ;
and his voice thrilled or softened the hearts of his
auditory as he poured out his sou] with a pathos the
writer never heard excelled. * * * He was not
a ‘son of thunder,’ but of yearning pity and holy
sympathy. It was this wonderful power that must
have carried him into the episcopacy. In the chair
at Conference sessions he did not excel ; he was not
remarkable for his knowledge of the polity of the
church, but ‘let constitutional questions take care of
180 Part I17—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

themselves.’ Nevertheless he never lost his hold
upon preachers and people, was greatly beloved in
life and very extensively lamented in death. He
died in Staunton, Va., August 23, 1828, in the power
and triumph of gospel faith, with his latest breath,
giving glory to God.”

Robert R. Roberts, though a native of Frederick
county, Maryland, was reared among the Allegheny
foothills of Western Pennsylvania. As a preacher he
graduated in “Brush College.” A self-made man,
he acquired rich stores of knowledge, added to
natural gifts. Bishop Paine gives us this pen
picture of him: ‘His whole person indicated him
to be one of ‘nature’s noblemen.’ His features were
large, benignant and intellectual. His head was of
uncommon size, his forehead high and massive, his
manner of address always easy and graceful, his
voice a deep bass, soft and musical. When excited
by ‘thoughts that burn’ his majestic frame seemed
to expand and his mind-illumined face glowed. He
was remarkable for humility and simple dignity of
manners. He was surprised at his own popularity
as a preacher, and his election to the episcopacy
almost overwhelmed him. He made an excellent
Bishop, his size and sympathies being his only
defects. He presided over the preachers in Confer-
ence like a father among his children, and no Bishop
was ever more generally or deeply loved.” ? After
twenty-seven years of honored service as an itiner-

 

1Paine’s Life of McKendree, page 266.
*Life of McKendree, page 271.
Tere
Ra
aa
Y

 

ROBERT R. ROBERTS
eRe
Close of General Conference of 1816. 181

ant Bishop, in the spring of 1843, he passed peace-
fully and with resignation from earth to heaven.

A course of study to be prepared by the Bishops or
by a committee appointed by them, for ministerial
candidates who were to be examined at the Annual
Conference, was ordered. Reading and study had
always been enjoined, but this was the first example
of such requisition in the church. One hundred
do!lars were now allowed for the support of a
preacher, an advance of sixteen dollars. Pews in
churches were forbidden; heresies were to be
repressed ; deficiencies in salaries of preachers were
not allowed to be claimed as of debt; Presiding
Elders were, as heretofore, to be appointed by the
Bishop, and slavery was to be tolerated in States
where the laws prevented emancipation. Joshua
Soule and Thomas Mason were appointed Book
Agents. A Book Depository was authorized at
Pittsburg. The Missouri and Mississippi Confer-
ences were authorized.

Bishops McKendree and George held the Confer-
ence in Baltimore, March 12, 1817, the former pre-
siding at the morning sessions and the latter during
the afternoon. The second Journal records Beverly
Waugh as the continuous Secretary from 1817 to
1821. The Conference appointed a committee, con-
sisting of Joshua Wells, 8S. G. Roszel, Nelson Reed,
William Ryland and Dr. Henry Wilkins, to compile
a life of Bishop Asbury. They reported to the
session of 1818, and the manuscript was referred to
the ensuing General Conference, but it does not
appear to have been published. The course of
182 Part I1[—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

study recommended by the General Conference
embraced Divinity, Rudiments of the English Lan-
guage, and Geography. It was determined ‘to
carry our rules into effect according to the very best
of our views in regard to said rules.”” After a state-
ment by Bishop McKendree about the evangelization
of the Indians, Conference resolved to help the work.
Money had been collected from year to year to pro-
mote efforts in destitute fields. This action may be
regarded as the first movement to spread the gospel
in the regions beyond. Local preachers applying
for re-admission into the traveling connection in this
Conference were required to produce a recommenda-
tion from the Quarterly Meeting Conference of the
circuit or station in which they may reside. Two
preachers, William Houston and Morris Howe, who
had asked for a superannuated relation, were honor-
ably located. It was decided that if a preacher
married in the interval of Conference without inform-
ing the superintendent of his intention, he shall
receive no allowance for his wife until he enters as a
married man at the ensuing Conference. It was also
determined that the study of physic, with a view to
practice, is incompatible with the duties of a travel-
ing preacher. The statistics show a net increase
during the preceding year of 3,318 members.
Foundry Station, Washington, was organized.

The session of the Conference heid in Baltimore,
March 26, 1818, at which Bishops McKendree and
George presided, fifty-eight preachers present, is
distinguished by the record of the origin of the
Preachers’ Aid and Foreign Missionary Societies.
Preachers’ Aid and Missionary Societies. 183

Practically, both these great interests had been in
vogue, but in an informal manner. Funds had been
collected annually from the several charges for the
- relief of deficient preachers, aggregating for the pre-
ceding Conference year between three and four
thousand dollars, the Bishops presiding having
appropriations made out of the fund. Special cases
of need among the preachers were also considered,
the Conference, on many occasions, taking a collec-
tion during the session.

To their honor be it said that Methodist women
in the city of Baltimore composed the first organized
body that projected the movement. In their address
to Conference, which is spread upon the pages of the
Journal, signed by the gifted Mary Hewitt as Presi-
dent, they state, that “believing that the plan
adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church is
superior, to any on earth for the extension of the
Redeemer’s Kingdom, we wish, so far as in us lies,
to hold up the hands of our brethren in this good
work, and have united ourselves together in a society
called the ‘Female Benevolent Society of Baltimore,’
for the relief of supernumerary and superannuated
preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, their
widows and the wives and children of preachers,—
and for Missionary purposes.” Three hundred and
seventy dollars were the first fruits of this noble
enterprise. Its presentation, couched in the most

modest and delicate terms, awakened the deepest
~ interest and a grateful response by the Conference.
The Conference Missionary Society, four years later
(1822), was the outcome of this remarkable move-
184 Part ITI— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

ment, now world-wide in its results. In 1826, the
Preachers’ Aid Society was the expansion of the
faithful annual contribution, for eight years, of the
christian women of Baltimore.

John Emory, a Marylander by birth, was admitted
in 1810 into the Philadelphia Conference, and trans-
ferred this year to the Baltimore Conference. He
remained a member until his election, at the same
time with Beverly Waugh, as Agent of the Book
Concern in New York. At the General Conference,
1820, he was elected a delegate to represent the
M. E. Church in the British Conference. With
great ability and tact, he brought about an amicable
adjustment of the difficulties in Canada. In 1832
he was elected a Bishop. His brief tenure in that
office made a profound impression on the mind of
the church, as he developed a wonderful adaptation
for every department of his work. On Wednesday,
December 16, 1835, he left his home to go to Bal-
timore on business connected with his office. He
was thrown from his carriage, receiving a wound in
the head, of which he died on the evening of the
same day. He was a great preacher; thoroughly
versed in the knowledge of constitutional law. His
“Defense of the Fathers” is to this day regarded as
an unanswerable argument. His death was felt to
be a great calamity to the church. His remains,
first placed under the Eutaw Church pulpit, were
subsequently interred with those of Bishop Asbury,
in Mount Olivet Cemetery.

The net increase, the past year, of two thousand
members was encouraging. Fell’s Point, Baltimore,
 

JOHN EMORY
186 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

slavery in particular, it was thought, were calculated
to defeat, rather than promote, the end in view. At
the same time, traveling and local preachers were re-
quired, so far as practicable, to keep themselves free
from slave holding. A committee was appointed to
prescribe a plan for the education of preachers’ chil-
dren and report at the next Conference. York, Penn-
sylvania, is found for the first time enrolled as a
circuit in the Carlisle District. Pittsburg District is
formed largely from the Monongahela District.
South Branch Circuit is formed, taken from Alle-
gheny.

About this time, John Hersey was entering upon
his public career. The following sketch of this
remarkable man is taken from the files of the Nash-
ville Christian Advocate, July 17 and 24, 1880. It
is written by the late Bishop Robert Paine, and is so
accurate and so interesting, that it is deemed worthy
of a place in this History :

“At the Tennessee Conference, held in Nashville,
Tennessee, 1819, I was appointed in charge of the
Tuscaloosa Circuit, North Alabama. It was the
beginning of the third year of my itinerant ministry.
* * * The work assigned me was in a section
rapidly filling up, but sparsely populated, the State
having been admitted into the Federal Union only
that year.

“While prosecuting my labors on this circuit, I
frequently came in contact with Indians, two of the
largest southern tribes, the Chickasaws and Choctaws,
being separated from us by the Tombigbee, their
John Hersey. 187

eastern boundary, as the Mississippi was their west-
ern. I was solicited to visit the tribe and ascertain
from the chiefs of the nation if they would receive
and protect missionaries ; and, if so, to select a suit-
able location for a school. The appointment was
accepted, and I started for the Choctaw Nation.
* * * Upon my trip I reached the ‘ United
States Factory ’"—the government depot, where the
Indians exchanged skins and peltries for such things
as they needed, and where agents resided for the
protection of Indians from the intrusion of white
men, etc. * * * Previous to my arrival I learned
that a Methodist preacher was an official at that
establishment, but none of the Choctaws of whom I
inquired could tell his name, they only knew him by
a name in their language, which means ‘the man
that talks to the clouds.’ In skulking about the
place they had doubtless seen him on his knees, his
face uplifted, wrestling with God in secret prayer.
Hence the name they gave him. This man I found
to be John Hersey. He was a small, cadaverous
looking man, thin breasted, slightly stooping in the
shoulders, with features clean cut, somewhat wrinkled,
and strikingly expressive of earnestness and tender-
ness. In animated conversation, especially on preach-
ing, that pale face beamed, his eyes glittered and his
whole manner was such as would become one who
had just come down from the transfiguration scene,
having caught the reflected radiance of his Master,
and bringing a message of mercy and truth divine to
his fellowmen. He was probably about thirty-two
years old, and weighed about one hundred and ten
188 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

pounds. A striking peculiarity of the man was his
dress. The style of his coat was that of our old
preachers, the quaker cut—the material good but
inexpensive, without a button, except where indis-
pensable, hooks and eyes substituting them. There
was not the least ornamentation or approach to it,
but extreme simplicity throughout ; and yet he was
scrupulously neat and prim in his attire and in all
his domestic arrangements.

“When I arrived at the Factory, I was sick from
travel and exposure. It was late in June, 1820. I
had ridden through the scorching sun, had got lost
the previous afternoon, and lain out nearly all night
in a canebreak swamp, surrounded and serenaded by
its wild beast tenants, and had passed thirty hours
without food or repose. But, as soon as he learned
my name, and the object of my trip, he welcomed
me with all his heart. Indeed, he became my physi-
cian and nurse three weary days and nights of a
malarial fever, which, but for his tender and intelli-
_ gent watchfualness, would most likely have resulted
in my death among strangers and savages. While
sitting by my bed, after convalescence had begun, he
gave me the following account of himself:

‘““A few years before this he resided in the city of
Georgetown, D. C., and was prosperously engaged
in mercantile business. He was thoroughly a man
of the world in all of his habits and aspirations,
without God or care for the future. In the midst of
worldly pleasure and bright prospects, by one of those
financial cyclones, which sometimes burst upon the
commercial world, he became embarrassed. The
John Hersey. 189

failure of others, for whom he had endorsed, com-
pleted his ruin; but, by a judicious management of
his assets, he succeeded in settling his own private
and strictly personal indebtedness, and some of his
security obligations. The remainder he assumed ;
and * * * his creditors agreed to extend him
time, as they could gain nothing by pressing him
after he had given up all he possessed. This sudden
eclipse of his prospects of worldly enjoyment opened
his eyes to the folly and sinfulness of his past life,
and his mind and heart were deeply stirred. Suflice
it to say, he deliberately renounced the world, sought
God by repentance, and after a struggle like Saul’s,
was powerfully converted to God.’

“The change wrought was sudden and radical. It
involved the whole man. Like Paul’s conversion,
it marked distinctly a crisis in his history; and
with it came a divine call to the ministry. Nor was
he disobedient to the heavenly mandate, but having
sought communion with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, he consecrated himself to God, and was
licensed as a local preacher. He solemnly vowed
that as soon as he could pay his debts, he would
without reserve devote all his time and energy to
the itinerant ministry.

«“ While praying and trusting that a way would be
opened for the accomplishment of his wishes, the
attention of Mr. W. H. Crawford, Secretary of the
Treasury, under the presidency of President Monroe,

 

1This occurred at a Camp Meeting on Fairfax Circuit, Va.
190 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

about the year 1817, was called to Mr. Hersey as a
person well fitted for the responsible position of
clerk in the General Government depot in the Choc-
taw Nation. He accepted the office with the inten-
tion that the whole business should be conducted
upon strictly Christian principles, so far as he could
control it. About the third summer after he got
there the small pox broke out among the tribe in one
part of the nation, while a malarial fever ravaged
another. By his visits, his sanitary arrangements
and his constant and fearless exposure of himself
for their benefit, the poor Indians were drawn to him
as a father and benefactor ; insomuch, that when he
left them, they felt that their best friend was gone.

“T have already alluded to some of his peculiarities,
which I observed while at ‘the Factory’ and dur-
ing several weeks afterwards, while traveling around
my circuit with me. Whenever we had no night
preaching he retired to his room at an early hour to
read the Bible and pray ; and often, after I had fin-
ished my devotions, and had fallen asleep, I have
awakened and found him engaged in earnest prayer.
It was his custom to sleep on the floor with a blanket
or coverlet under bim,—never, if it could be avoided,
on feathers or a soft bed. He arose before day for
prayer, and used the first light of morning in reading
his Bible on his knees. He was methodical in
everything and especially in his hours for religious
devotion. Indeed, his life was one long prayer.
His abstinence was wonderful ; his leanness was not,
therefore, remarkable. He learned to deny himself
in everything not necessary for life. Yet was he
John Hersey. 191

careful to let me understand that, while practising
such a rigid self-denial, he did not exact it of others
to the same extent. He could do so, but those who
led a more active life could not. He conserved his
health as well as met the demands of his conscience.
It looks like a kind of self-retaliation for past volup-
tuousness. In his official duties he was prompt,
faithful and successful. He was grave, without
being morose; dignified without repulsiveness, and
socially pleasant without levity. He had a cul-
tured mind, wrote rapidly and correctly, and his
conversation was edifying, ‘seasoned’ always
‘with grace.’ No one evinced less moodiness of
of temper. Genial and loving in manner, he was
inflexible in questions of conscience. Always happy
and composed, he seemed ready to live or die. An
instance of his moral courage was his respectful but
decided reproof of General Andrew Jackson. While
surrounded by his staff officers, the chiefs of the
nations and a crowd of braves, who had been his
allies in many battles, the General in the excitement
of the moment, uttered an oath, ‘by the eternal!’
The little clerk, placing himself in front of the great
Chieftain, and looking up respectfully and earnestly
into his face, reminded him that he had not only
offended God, but had set a bad example to the
Indians, thus counterworking the efforts of their
friends to instruct and save them. The General was
taken aback, and looking down upon the diminutive
hero, who had publicly and decisively dared to
rebuke him, after a pause, and calling to mind that
the speaker was a brave and conscientious minister
192 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

of the gospel, accepted the reproof with characteristic
candor, publicly confessing his sin and asking
pardon. It was a double victory: the humble
preacher and the Law of God obtained a triumph,
and Jackson a victory over himself. No doubt the
character of the reprover, and the manner in which
the reproof was administered gave it force; for, had
it been given in a harsh or dictatorial way, or by
one of questionable reputation, it would certainly
have aroused the lion in General Jackson, and have
met with a very different response. While Mr.
Hersey felt bound, on all suitable occasions, to pro~
test against sin, his manner of doing so was ever
kind and Christ-like * * *

“In fulfilment of a promise Mr. Hersey made me
on leaving him, he visited my circuit in the fall, and
traveled with me several weeks. I need not say, his
daily conversation, his ministrations and godly
example were a benediction, and to no one more
than the writer, whose youthful mind was impressed
with fresh aspirations after holiness and the salva-
tion of souls.

“And now, after the labor of sixty years, altho’
others may coldly criticize and condemn him for his
peculiarities, I devoutly thank God that our lines of
life ever met, and that I had the privilege of witness-
ing daily, and for weeks at a time, such an illustra-
tion of true Christian graces and lofty virtues.
True, he had his peculiarities, and in some little
things he was not, nor did he claim to be, a model
to be imitated by every professed Christian or mem-
ber of the Church; but, in the great underlying
John Hersey. 193

principles which prompted and guided his life and
gave him the victory over self, sin and death, he
will ever stand in my mind as a sublime monument
of sanctified Christian humanity. Hard as it may
seem to lead such a life as his, who would not rejoice
to have lived such when death and the judgment
shall have come?

“My next interview with my old friend was in
Baltimore, in May, 1824, during the session of the
General Conference. His connection with the agency
had closed, and, true to his vow, he had come back
to work as an itinerant. * * * Upon my arrival,
I was taken quite ill, and before I had fully recovered
my strength, I was surprised to learn that I had been
announced to preach in Eutaw Street Church, Sun-
day, at 3 o’clock. Being the youngest member of
the Conference, and physically as well as otherwise
unfit for the occasion, I had hoped to be let alone as
to preaching. When I found ‘no substitute’ was
the rule, yet I consoled myself with the hope that
the attractive names of other ministers, and the
unpopular hour, would leave me a very small audi-
ence. But to my surprise and pain, I found a large
number of preachers and people present. Under my
feet reposed the remains of the sainted Asbury.
Before me were Bishops and many other venerable
and gifted members, besides a large and imposing
auditory. The cross of preaching, seldom a light
one to me, was on this occasion almost crushing.
Weak from recent illness, worn out with fatiguing

travel, having had no chance to read and study for
13
194 Part I1I—The Canservation, 18 12-1857.

months, and trembling from head to foot under a
sense of responsibility and incapacity, the service
began. Presently, in taking a timid glance at my
dreaded audience, I saw John Hersey’s well-known
face. It was a surprise, for I did not know he had
left the Indian Agency. Yet, there he was, and I
knew he was praying for me, and in sympathy with
me. His moral courage, his fidelity as a preacher
in declaring the whole counsel of God to all classes
of men, his unswervering consecration of his entire
being to God and the immortal interests of men, and
the results of his labors, rose before me. The great
Master and Teacher, whom he adored and so strove
to love and obey, was associated in my mind as
present, if with no one else, with this humble and
faithful servant. I felt, surely God is. in this place.
Suffice it to say, I was strengthened, and preached
as best I could, poorly, and, as usual, far below my
own estimate of what I ought to have done. Under
a humiliating sense of failure, I was among the last
to leave the church, when my old friend joined me,
and embracing me, took me to his humble lodging,
where we spent the evening in sweet counsel. He
had entered anew his life work.

“Tn the latter part of 1860, while on a tour to the
friends and scenes of his labors in the South, forty
years before, to my surprise and pleasure he came to
my home in Aberdeen, Mississippi, and spent some
time with us. He was the same holy, happy man.
He preached and labored as formerly. Our people
were edified and a goodly number were converted
and joined the church. During his stay with us in
John Hersey. 195

Aberdeen our private interviews were frequent, and
often tinged with melancholy. The political signs
of the times were ominous, boding ill to church and
State. A majority of our southern statesmen and
cultured people, from the formation of our Colonial
organization, had opposed the slave trade. * * *

** Whether the States would patiently abide the pro-
cess of reason and law, or rush to a conclusion by
the quick and bloody arbitrament of the sword, was
a question of fearful interest. While we honestly
differed as to the policy and duty of the Government
in tne premises, we both deprecated the latter alter-
native. I. was the more despondent, he the more
hopeful. Both had fears. Alas! our fears were
realized sooner than either of us had apprehended.
He lived to hear the storm burst, but far away from
his couch of death in Pennsylvania; while I wit-

nessed its fury. * * *

“Tn concluding this imperfect sketch it may be
proper to make a few general remarks. While
maintaining his unquestionable sincerity, his entire
consecration to God and the welfare of men, I do
not claim that, in every respect, he was a model.
Indeed, there has never been but one perfect type of
human character. That Mr. Hersey was a holy
man I fully believe, yet he was only 2 man, and,
while I would not criticize severely, much less con-
demn any act of his life known to me, I do believe
that if he had exhibited more forbearance towards
others in things of minor importance, and less self-
abnegation, his life might have been much more
196 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

genial and joyful, without being less holy and useful.
And yet, who can say that such a life, even with its
peculiarities, was either unnecessary or fruitless?
The church has demanded in every age, earnest and
self-sacrificing spirits to arouse and reform it.

“The natural tendency of humanity is toward
deterioration. ‘facilis est descensus Averni’ [The des-
cent to Hades is easy] is true both as to church and
State, to communities and individuals. Hence the
necessity for Enoch and Noah, for Moses and
Joshua, for Jeremiah and Ezra, for John Baptist,
Luther and Wesley. Woe to the church when her
ministers, instead of sternly and faithfully maintain-
ing the purity and simplicity of Scripture doctrine
and practice, lose their true claims to apostolic suc-
cession by yielding to worldliness, and thus exchange
the spirit for the flesh, self-sacrificing piety for forms
and ceremonies. To prevent the church from back-
sliding, or to call back and restore it, requires a bold
and holy ministry both as teachers and exemplars ;
and whenever God calls and raises up such men,
from the very nature of their vocation they are apt
to be decried, and from the strength of their convic-
tions and the consequent intensity of their emotions,
they are almost certain to be wzque in character as
well as singular in manners.

“Since this fragmentary tribute of esteem was being
finished, I have received a copy of ‘sketches of John
Hersey’ by Rev. F. E. Marine, in which I learn
that Mr. Hersey continued to Jabor, with undimin-
ished zeal, on foot and on horseback, in the city full
and in the desert waste, visiting in the last years of
John Hersey. 197

his life the savages of the southwest, and the jungles

of Africa, giving all he could spare of the proceeds

of his pen, and all he could obtain by begging, for

the poor and suffering. Like Wesley and Coke,

Asbury, McKendree, Lee, Bruce, and a host of other

Methodist preachers who follow the long list of

Apostles, he literally gave himself wholly and unceas- .
ingly to Christ. One, and only one, purpose engaged

his mind and heart, the highest end and aim of

angels and men—to be good and to do good. Finding

his health and strength, which had for years been

slowly, but surely declining, about to finally succumb,

and having made all needful preparation for the

solemn event, even to the selection of the house of |
an old congenial friend in which to die, and a place
to be buried, he withdrew from the city of Baltimore
into Pennsylvania; and on the 17th November,
1862, calmly and triumphantly whispering ; ‘Sal-
vation! Salvation!’ breathed his last. Is not such
a life sublime ?”

The writer retains from early childhood (1836), a
vivid remembrance of John Hersey, who was a wel-
come visitor in the home of his father, the late J. L.
Armstrong. Hersey was partial to it, because his
hostess strictly conformed to his every wish. He
drank no tea or coffee at meals, but was fond of milk.
His hair could be trimmed squarely across his fore-
head as he liked it. A hard mattress was provided
at night and the carpet removed from his room.
The animated discussion that occurred between him
and my father as to the propriety of having the cor-
ners of the ten-plate stove adorned with brass knobs
198 Part IT]—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

has never been forgotten. But his genuine piety
and the zeal for his Heavenly Father’s cause placed
in the background all these peculiarities, and left a
permanent influence for good in our home. The
grandmother, Mrs. Philippa Smith, who lived in
Alexandria, Va. at the beginning of the nineteenth
.century, was at the Fairfax Camp-meeting when
Hersey was converted. She often rehearsed the
story of his life in Georgetown, how, defrauded by
his partner and discarded by the lady to whom he
was engaged, after his financial failure, he wandered
aimlessly through the adjacent country, until brought
by a good providence, about the year 1815, into “the
glorious liberty of the children of God.”

Bishop George is alone at the session in George-
town, March 20, 1820, the feebleness of Bishop
McKendree compelling his absence. The first
practical action by the Conference on missions
looked definitely to the work among the Indians,
for the promotion of which an auxiliary to the
New York Bible Society was planned, to take effect
if the next General Conference approved. A plan
was adopted to establish an Educational Fund,
to be raised by subscription, out of which each
preacher who subscribe should be allowed a certain
sum for the education of his children, provided that
the money he drew should be applied to no other
purpose. The subscription to this fund was signed
by sundry persons and left with the Secretary of the
Conference. Special provision was made for the
care of Rey. Asa Shinn, whose mental faculties had
become impaired after the death of his wife. He
Conference of 1820. 199

was considered one of the foremost preachers of his
day, and this affection cast a deep gloom over the
Conference. Several of the brethren were required
to make arrangements to free their slaves, according
to the rule of the church. The followiug were
elected delegates to the General Conference: Joseph
Frye, John Emory, 8. G. Roszel, Louis R. Fechtig,
Beverly Waugh, Joshua Wells, Nelson Reed, Alfred
Griffith, James McCann, Thomas Burch and Gerard
Morgan. Ebenezer becomes a new circuit in the
Potomac District, and Preston in the Monongahela
District.
200 Part IIT—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

CHAPTER I.

Four years of prosperity gave proof of the wisdom
of the plan of a delegated General Conference. In
May, 1820, eighty-nine delegates representing eleven
Annual Conferences met in Baltimore. According
to the General Minutes, the increase in the number
of preachers during the quadrennium was one
hundred and eight and of the membership 29,759 ;
aggregating 3,800 traveling and local preachers and
240,924 members. At this important session’ “the
measures adopted gave a new impulse to the educa-
tional enterprises of the church, organized the Mis-
sionary Society, established the system of District
Conferences for local preachers ; and, after having,
for many years, left the Annual Conferences to
manage the subject of slavery, under the General
Rule Clause, as they might severally think best,
again assumed the task of legislating for the whole
church upon this subject. But the principal topic
of excitement was the Presiding Elder question and
the consequences growing out of the action on this
subject.”

“From 1784 there had always been an agitation
for modifying, or taking away altogether, the power
of stationing the preachers. To give every preacher
an appeal to the annual Conference from the appoint-
ment by the Bishop, was the motion by O’Kelly in

 

'Paine’s Life of McKendree, page 292.
The Presiding Elder Question. 201

1792, and its failure caused the first secession from
the Church. In 1800 attempts were made to restrict
the power of the Bishops. In 1808 an effort was
made to render the office of Presiding Elder elective ;
and, in 1812, the measure lacked only three votes of
success. A similer effort failed in 1816; but at the
present session was carried after Bishop Soule had
been elected. He conscientiously declined ordina-
tion on the ground of the unconstitutionality of the
measure adoptod.”' Bishop McKendree was ill and
out of the city, but it was known that he disapproved
of the proposed change; and, on the 22d of May
sent his protest against the action of the Conference.
To relieve the Bishops, and the Conference also,
Soule presented his resignation, which was finally
accepted on the 27th. On the same day the General
Conference suspended the famous resolution for four
years. The question was submitted by Bishop Mc-
Kendree to the twelve Annual Conferences. Seven
judged the suspended resolutions unconstitutional ;
the other five refused to act. So the matter was left
for another vigorous contest at the next General
Conference and opened the way for exciting discus-
sion, which continued to agitate the church for the
next four years.’

In Baltimore, May 16, 1821, Bishop George,
again alone presides at the conference session. He
presented a letter from Bishop McKendree, addressed
to the Conference, informing them that he “does
not expect to reach Baltimore during the present

 

1McKendree’s Journal, and Paine’s Life of McK., page 354.
202 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

sitting,’ noticing in terms of marked approbation,
the friendship and attention of brother Henry
Smith, while with him, and requesting to be remem-
bered at a Throne of Grace.

Much of the time of the session was taken up in
the consideration and disposal of four cases of
preachers found to have come into the possession of
slaves.

At this session, on motion of S. G. Roszel, it was
resolved “that this Conference does request its mem-
bers to wear strait breasted and plain coats.” Once
before (1805), Conference forbade the wearing of
double-breasted waistcoats.

Jefferson circuit takes its place for the first time
among the charges of the Potomac District.

After four years’ absence, Bishop McKendree
appears and presides with Bishop George at the
session held in Baltimore, April 19, 1822. The
chief subject of discussion and action, during the
session, was the Bishop’s address, submitting the
proposition to the several Annual Conferences with
regard to the Presiding Elder question. After much
discussion, the consideration of the matter was
indefinitely postponed. Several colored preachers
were elected and ordained local deacons. A bequest
of $742, left by John Cunningham to Bishops
Asbury and McKendree and to the Baltimore Con-
ference, was received. Bishop Asbury’s share was
conveyed to Elizabeth H. Hall. The local preachers
of the Winchester District sent a communication to
the Conference, requesting them to assign reasons
Conference of 1822. 203

why certain brethren recommended by them were
not elected elders and deacons. The reply, by a
unanimous vote, was returned, that “an Annual
Conference is not obliged to assign reasons why they
do or do not elect all the men who may be recom-
mended to them for deacons’ or elders’ orders.”
This session was distinguished by the organization
of the Conference into a Missionary Society. The
Presiding Elders and Preachers in charge were
requested to do all in their power to promote the
organization of Missionary societies in their work.
The annual scrutiny of cases of traveling and local
preachers who were connected with slavery resulted
in adjustments, censures or suspensivuns.

The death of Hamilton Jefferson, announced as
having occurred June 21, 1821, removes from the roll
aman of amiable disposition, great dignity and moral
worth. Respectful and submissive to his superiors,
affable and familiar with his equals, polite and oblig-
ing to all men, he proved himself to be worthy of the
confidence and esteem of his brethren. He was not a
man of brilliant talents, but sound in the faith,
acceptable and useful? He served twenty-seven
years, chiefly in Maryland, his native State, and in
Virginia, as Presiding Elder and Preacher in charge,
his whole course marked by punctuality, prudence
and fidelity.

Joshua Soule became, by transfer, a member at
this session, so remaining till his election to the
Episcopacy, in 1824. Hagerstown Circuit was
formed from Frederick. In the event of Bishop
Kendree’s electing any member of this Conference
204 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

to travel with him, the expenses were pledged to be
paid. Alfred Griffith, elected Secretary, served
during five sessions of the Conference in that office.

The session of 1823 was held in the McKendree
Sunday-School House, Baltimore, April 17, Bishops
McKendree and George presiding. The Conference
(51 present) confined its deliberations to routine busi-
ness—answering Minute Questions, hearing appeals,
reports of societies, statistics, etc. The ordination of
one brother, afterwards a highly esteemed member of
the body, was suspended for one year, because “ of
imprudent and unjustifiable action” in a matter of
courtship. §. Cushen, about whose ownership of
slaves there had been much discussion, asked and
was granted a location. John Summerfield, the elo-
quent young English preacher, was elected to Elder’s
orders. ;

The session of the Conference at Winchester, Vir-
ginia, April 8, 1824, was marked by the unusual
attendance of eighty-two members. Bishop George
presided. The following delegates to the General
Conference elected were: Nelson Reed, 8. G. Roszel,
Joshua Soule, Robert Burch, Joseph Frye, Andrew
Hemphill, Daniel Hitt, Henry Smith, James McCann,
Richard Tydings, John Thomas, John Bear. Two
young men had died, Richard McAllister, from Har-
risburg, Pennsylvania, and Mordecai Barry, from
Anne Arundel county, Maryland. Hach had spent
four years of active service, and both died in the
faith of the gospel. The Conference mourned the
loss, by unexpected illness and death, of one of its
brightest jewels—Louis R. Fectig (see appendix).
John Summerfield. 205

But as the workmen fell others came to supply their
places.

John Summerfield, the gifted young Englishman,
who, though in feeble health, had already delighted
and profited listening thousands by his astonishing
pulpit powers, and attracted them none the less by
his urbanity of manners, his loving nature and his
deep piety, spent the last year of his brief yet
glorious career in traveling without special appoint-
ment in the bounds of the Conference. Preston,
England, was the place, and January 31, 1798, the
date of his birth. His father removiny to Ireland,
he was converted in his seventeenth year, received
on trial in the Irish Conference, 1819, and came with
his father to this country in 1821, and was received
into the New York Conference. Despite his impaired
health, his ministry was marked by surprising popu-
larity. He was transferred to the Baltimoré Con-
ference, 1824, and attracted vast crowds, who hang
with rapture upon his eloquent words and were filled
with admiration by his sweet and gentle manner and
the exalted purity of his character and life. The
echoes of his memorable career remain to the present
time. He died at Dr. Stephen Beekman’s, New York
city, June 13, 1825.

During this year there were gracious revivals.
Under the ministry of William Munroe and Philip
D. Lipscomb, on Rockingham circuit, one hundred
souls were added to the church.

The agitation on the question of electing Presid-
ing Elders, which had for so long a time disturbed
206 =Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

the Church, reaches a critical period during this
session.

Henry Smith furnishes an inside view of the feel-
ing at that time, which it may be worth while to
quote :

“T took a lively interest in the controversy ; and,
whether I was right or wrong, it makes an important
part of my narrative. In the fall, I went to Virginia
to see my friends and attend to some business. I
called to see my Brother Roszel, in Loudoun ; and
although not easily discouraged, I found him so on
the Presiding Elder question. We took the Minutes,
and I put my finger upon every man’s name that I
had reason to believe was firm on the old side, and,
casting all doubts in the opposite scale, still we had
a majority, and we plainly saw that if we acted in
concert, we could send a delegation of old-side men
to the General Conference. A short time before the
Conference in Winchester, Bishop George came to
see me at my brother’s. I always loved him very
much and was glad to see him. We had much conver-
sation on the exciting subject and agreed in one thing
at least, that the Baltimore Conference would decide
the question; only he believed the majority would
go for the suspended resolutions, and I had good
reason to believe otherwise. The Conference met,
and it looked a little like making a decisive battle
on which much depended. One of our worthy young
men said, ‘we intend to call a meeting, make out our
ticket, and send all old-side men of the right stamp.’
I called on Brother Soule and communicated to him
The Presiding Elder Question Again. — 207

what was on hand. He, as well as myself, was
opposed to any such meeting, but he thought that
circumstances justified a meeting where brethren
might freely interchange thoughts and fix upon the
men to represent them in the General Conference.
A meeting was, however, called. Dr. Cook gave us
the use of his room. John Bear, then one of our
young men, was called to the chair and the business
brought up; and, after some conversation on the
subject, a ticket was made out by ballot, which was
afterwards carried in Conference on the first balloting.
At this decision many rejoiced and others were
disappointed and deeply mortified. Rev. Richard
Reece, the British Delegate, was present at this Con-
ference and saw Joshua Soule and John Emory, two
of our strong men, take opposite sides and put forth
all their strength.”

Carlisle, Pa., was made a station this year. The
net gain in membership for the preceding four years
was reported—2, 244.

The General Conference met again in Baltimore,
May 1, 1824. Bishops McKendree, Roberts and
George, with 134 delegates, were present. John
Emory was the Secretary. It was distinguished by
the presence of the first representatives of English
Methodism, Rev. Richard Reece as Messenger, and
Rev. John Hannah his companion. Dr. Robert
Paine (subsequently Bishop of the M. E. Church,
South) describes it as an imposing spectacle. He
says :
208 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

“Bishop McKendree observed the action of the
body with great solicitude. In a few days petitions
and addresses began to pour in, declaring that ‘the
people were the source of legislative authority ;’ ‘the
power of the Bishops to be found nowhere else but
in popes ;’ ‘we have no constitution ;’ ‘the restrictive
parts of the discipline not binding on succeeding
General Conferences after 1808, nor upon the laity
as they were made by a legislative body, without the
design or authority to adopt a constitution ;’ ‘let the
Church try and expel her own members;’ ‘laity to
have equal representation,’ etc. Several remon-
strances were made against Presiding Elders as
‘needless and doing a work of supererrogation,’ etc.
Among others, on the same topic, one asking that
‘no slavebolder shall be a member of the church.’

“The first report from Committees was that upon
Episcopacy. Two items aroused discussion, viz :—
to strengthen the Episcopacy by the election of two
more Bishops, and for the Bishops, if necessary, to
lay off Episcopal departments. After an animated .
discussion the Report was adopted. The next ques-
tion of importance was ‘the constitutional test,’ the
object of which was to prevent hasty action violative
cf the constitution by giving the Bishops a qualified
veto, with an ultimate reference of the question to the
Annual Conferences. The question was carried by a
vote of 64 to 58.”

But the “Suspended Resolutions,’ mrking the
Presiding Elders elective, after much debate and
delay, having been declared null and void, the vexed
question which had agitated the church since 1808,
Conference of 1825. 209

was finally settled. The reason for the refusal,
at the previous General Conference, of Joshua Soule
to submit to consecration being thus removed, he
and Elijah Hedding were elected Bishops, and on
the 27th, after a sermon by Bishop George, were
solemnly ordained to that office.

Seventy-nine preachers assembled in Baltimore,
April 6, 1825, under the presidency of Bishop Soule.
Jacob B. Crist, who became the faithful traveling
companion of Bishop McKendree, was received on
trial.

The action of the preceding General Conference
appears to have produced a lull in the agitation of
controverted questions. It was the calm however
before the storm. Routine business for the most
part occupied the attention of the brethren. Evi-
dences of advance in the material prosperity of the
church were not wanting. Small bequests for benev-
olent purposes had at times been made and applied.
Now they begin to increase in both volume and num-
bers. A layman, Mr. John Cunningham, of Harford
county, Maryland, left a valuable estate to the Con-
ference, the proceeds of which were applied to educa-
tional purposes. The Book Concern looms up into
greater proportions, and measures were adopted for
the increase of the distribution of books and period-
icals. A resolution was adopted disapproving of
preachers meeting with, or joining, Masonic Societies.
Another condemned those preachers who left their
work for fear they might be sick, or on account of

sickness. Another recommended the establishment
14
210 =Part I17—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

of a Conference seminary of learning. The territory
of the Conference was reduced by the General Con-
ference having assigned the Monongahela and Pitts-
burg Districts to the Pittsburg Conference. Han-
cock (Md.) was constituted a circuit. Greenbrier
and Monroe were placed in connection with Rock-
ingham District ; Lewistown, Clearfield and Concord
with Northumberland District.

Bishops McKendree and Soule met the Conference
in Baltimore, March 15, 1826. Eighty-four preach-
ers were present. Four well known and _ highly
esteemed workmen had gone to their eternal reward.
The death of John Summerfield has already been
noticed. Daniel Hitt had served the church in
various relations as an itinerant—on circuits, sta-
tions and districts ; as traveling companion for sev-
eral years with Bishop Asbury ; and eight years in
the Book Concern, New York. He was for thirty-six
years in the regular work. His simplicity and
integrity stood forth as prominent features in his
character, while the affability of his manners, and
the sweetness of his disposition in his private inter-
course in society, gained him the affection of all.
Tn his last moments, he testified that he “ had peace
with God, and, therefore, all is well.”

Joseph Toy, the first and faithful Secretary of the
Conference, a native of New Jersey, converted under
the preaching of Captain Webb, and one of the first
preachers in the connection, labored first as a local
preacher, and was admitted in 1801 into the Balti-
more Conference. In 1819 he was superannuated,
and lived in Baltimore, still preaching occasionally,
Conference of 1826. 211

as his strength would permit, until, respected and
beloved by all, he was called to his reward, January
28, 1826, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. At
the age of seventy he was heard to say that he had
not disappointed a congregation in twenty years.
David Stevens, born in Baltimore county, 1759, en-
tered the traveling ministry in 1795. His labors
were not in vain; many heard the joyful sound from
his lips, and believed. He died December 15, 1825,
saying to those who attended him: “My peace
flows like a river.”

Hezekiah Best, admitted at this session, traveled
for twenty-seven years in the Baltimore Conference,
filling some important charges; located 1857, and
removed to the State of Georgia. In response to a
communication from the Secretary of the American
Colonization Society, the Conference expressed its
high approval of the objects of the Society, and
pledged the use of all means to promote its success.
The preachers were instructed to impress upon their
people the necessity of reading and understanding
the Discipline. Fraternal correspondence with the
United Brethren, which had been suspended for
eleven years, was renewed. A communication from
the General Conference of the Church named was
received and responded to in the most friendly terms.
The dropping of membersZor erasing their names
from the class papers without calling them before
the society or a committee, was declared to be con-
trary to the Discipline, and any preacher im charge
acting in that manner was deemed worthy of censure.
212 = Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

The establishment of a weekly religious newspaper
was recommended to the Agents of the Book Concern.

Bellefout and Phillipsburg were assigned to North-
umberland District ; Moorefield, Warm Springs and
Woodstock to the Rockingham District. Hancock
circuit appears on the list of appointments for the
first time. The name of Botetourt circuit was
changed to Fincastle, and Christiansburg made the
centre of a new circuit. The name of Fell’s Point
Station was changed to East Baltimore. Clearspring
was placed in the Carlisle District.

Again, in Baltimore, seventy preachers assembled
April 12, 1827, Bishops McKendree, Roberts and
Soule being present.

The death of two venerable pioneers of great dis-
tinction, at an advanced age, one in 1826 and the
other 1827, deserves honorable mention. Both had
served in the Baltimore Conference in the earliest
period of their ministry. Their names are widely
known in the history of Methodism: Freeborn Gar-
rettson and Philip Bruce.—Garrettson, in Harford
county, Md., his native place, received his first ap-
pointment, 1776, to Frederick Circuit, and his name
is forever identified with the rise and progress of
Methodism for half a century. Bruce, born in North
Carolina (1755), had led the heroes of the Church in
Virginia and the South in the earliest days of her
history, while Garrettson extended his labors north-
ward. Their lives were tong spared to bless the church
with their bright example of christian character and
holy experience, and both triumphantly passed from
 

JOHN BEAR
Garretison, Bruce and Cravens. 213

earth to heaven—Garrettson from the beautiful
shore of the Hudson River, New York, and Bruce

from his home, Giles county, in the fertile lands of
Tennessee.

William Cravens, born 1766, long known and ex-
tensively as “ Billy Cravens,” was an eccentric, but
zealous and powerful local preacher, rude in speech
and uncultured in manner, yet instrumental in the
conversion of multitudes in the Valley of Virginia.
Among the number was John Bear, one of the fore-
most preachers of his day in the Baltimore Confer-
ence. Having preached from the text: ‘Curse ye
Meroz, etc,” in a house that still remains in Elkton,
Rockingham county, he is said to have remarked to
young Bear, after his conversion: “John you got
converted under a curse ;—most people get converted
under a blessing.’ Cravens went to the West, joined
the Illinois Conference, 1820, where he died, October,
1826. The Minutes make this record of him: “He
was a devoted man and blessed in his labors.”

_ The question of election of Presiding Elders had
hardly been settled when another of equally grave
import began to agitate the church. The former
found its arena of controversy chiefly among the
traveling preachers, the latter among the laymen, the
local preachers largely taking part.

« As early as 1820 the most zealous advocates of
lay representation established a paper at Trenton,
New Jersey.! It was the organ of the new party,
and its columns were usually filled with strictures

 

1Bennett’s Methodism in Va., page 734.
214 Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

upon the government of the church and personal
attacks upon the Bishops and chief ministers.
With a view to concert of action in pushing forward
their measures, a ‘Union Society’ was established
in the city of Baltimore with proper officers, and a
committee of correspondence, urging all who agreed
with them in opinion to form similar societies
throughout the church. The controversy went on
with increasing heat until a short time before the
meeting of the General Conference of 1824, when a
sort of council of the leading disaffected spirits was
called in Baltimore to consider and decide upon the
nature of an address to that body. In the midst of
conflicting views it was agreed to waive the question
of right and to memoralize the General Conference
to grant lay representation on the ground of expedi-
ency alone. It was hoped that this measure, if
adopted, would allay the feverish excitement and
prevent the calamities of a schism. A number of
the malcontents, dissatisfied with the memorial
because it yielded, or at least waived the question of
right, met in Baltimore during the session of Confer-
ence, and claimed representation as a ‘natural and
social right,’ declaring that its rejection would be a
proof of spiritual despotism, unworthy the character
of christian ministers. Taking this high ground
they at once published proposals for a new organ
bearing the captivating title of ‘Mutual Rights.’
The formation of ‘Union Societies’ within the
church, and the publication of a paper whose
columns teemed with bitter and inflammatory articles
The Radical Controversy. 215

against her chief ministers, was simply the incorpo-
ration of schism within her sacred pale.”

The General Conference kindly but emphatically
denied the right. At the session of 1827 the issue
was for the first time introduced, discussed and
acted upon on the floor of the Baltimore Conterence.
Two members of the body, Dennis B. Dorsey and
William Houston, were charged with circulating an
improper publication, and with writing disrespect-
ful letters to the Conference. Dorsey acknowledged
writing the letter read, but would not promise to
desist from spreading or supporting any publication
in opposition to our Discipline or government ;
whereupon the Bishop was requested not to give
him an appointment for the present year, and that
his name be returned on the Minutes with the
reason assigned, viz: contumacy in regard to the
authority of the Conference. William Houston, in
his absence, was located and a letter sent to him,
reproving him for his disrespectful communication
to the Conference. The following action was also
taken :

“ Resolved, That we consider it highly censurable
in any member of the Conference to circulate or sup-
port any works defamatory of our christian and min-
isterial character, or in opposition to our Discipline
and Church government.

Bishop Soule presided at the session of 1828,
which met in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, April 9.

The death of Freeborn Garrettson, in New York,
September 26, 1827, removed one of the earliest
216 Part II—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

pioneers, formerly of the Baltimore Conference, from
earth to heaven. His name will ever be held in
veneration as a great man and minister of the gospel.
He passed away in triumph: “Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty: Hallelujah !” was his last utter-
ance.

S. G. Roszel, N. Head, J. Wells, J. M. Hanson,
B. Waugh, A. Hemphill, J. Frye, J. Davis, H.
Smith, J. Guest, M. Pearce, C. Frye (and J. Bear
alternate) were elected delegates to the ensuing
General Conference. They were instructed to use
their influence to have the Suspended Resolutions
done away. The controversy on the question of lay
representation had during the preceding year
reached an acute stage. The advocates of ‘ Reform”’
had put forth all their strength. They had pub-
lished a paper in 1820, called The Wesleyan Reposi-
tory. In Baltimore, the storm centre, the Mutual
Rights” became their chief organ in 1828. Their
opponents established a weekly Journal in the same
city called The Itinerant. Alexander McCaine,
Nicholas Snethen, Eli Henkle, Asa Shinn and others
were the champions in the “Reform Movement ;”
and, among the principal laymen on that side, Dr.
Samuel K. Jennings, a local preacher and prominent
physician, was the leading figure. Those who stood
for the Discipline and economy of the church were
S. G. Roszel, J. M. Hanson, Beverly Waugh and the
large majority of the Conference, and they were sup-
ported by Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Sr., Editor of the
New York Christian Advocate, and Christian Keener,
father of the late Bishop Keener of the M. E.
Resolutions Re-affirmed. 217

Church, South. The contest raged for several years,
during which time the Methodist Protestant Church
became fully organized, and has occupied a field of
work, in which the gospel has made its way to the
present time with good results. It has lived to see
its chief contention, lay representation, grafted upon
the Methodist Episcopal Churches, both north and
south, working satisfactorily and profitably.

A committee appointed by the Conference to
examine the Journals and to reiterate resolutions
still binding upon the members, presented a report,
and the following abstract of previous acts was
re-affirmed, viz:

Request of preachers to form Missionary Societies ;
disapproval of preachers joining the Masonic order ;
censure of those appointed to charges in the effective
work absenting themselves without sufficient excuse,
and of others dropping the names of members of the
church from the rolls, contrary to the Discipline ;
urging collections for the Preachers Aid Society ;
condemnation of any member of the Conference
circulating works defamatory of our christian and
ministerial character in opposition to the Discipline
and government of the church ; approval of the work
of the Colonization Society ; and the recommenda-
tion of the formation of Sunday Schools and Tract
Societies.

The General Conference met in Pittsburg, Pennsyl-
vania, May, 1828. Five delegates from the Canada
Conference were in their seats, representing 9,678
218 Part IJI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

members with valuable property.'. Memorials were
presented asking for the dissolution of the connec-
tion with the M. E. Church; and authority was
given them to organize a separate church. Their
proportionate interest in the Book Concern and the
Chartered Fund was provided for. Bishop Hedding
subsequently presided at their session, ordained
their ministers and gave them his blessing. In
1833 they united with the British Wesleyans; a few
re-organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in
Canada; and more recently (1906) a union was
effected with the Congregational and Presbyterian
Churches.

The Christian Advocate and Journal took form in
New York in 1826, shortly before that of the Wesleyan
Journal in Charleston. The two became merged
and Nathan Bangs was elected editor. John Emory
was elected Book Agent and Beverly Waugh, Assist-
ant. Dr. William Capers was chosen as “the first
fraternal delegate from American Methodism to the
British Wesleyans, and none more fit has ever fol-
lowed.” ?

Two districts, Pittsburg and Monongahela, were
taken from the Baltimore Conference to form a new
one, reducing the number of preachers from 116 to
99, and causing a loss of 7,270 members. Despite
this loss, the net increase during the previous quad-
rennium was 6,520 members, giving a total of 37,781.

In Baltimore, March 18, 1829, Bishops McKendree
and Roberts presided at the Conference session.

 

\McTyeire’s History of Methodism, page 575.
2McTyeire’s History of Methodism, page 576.
Passing of Bishop George and Others. 219

Bishop George, so well known as a member for
many years of the old Baltimore Conference, had
passed to his eternal reward, August 28, 1828. He
had been lovingly greeted at nearly every session of
his incumbency as Bishop by his former associates
in the work of the ministry. They will now miss
his genial presence but the memory of his wonder-
ful life of simplicity, purity and piety will abide.
Robert Minchall, who for nearly fifteen years had in
the midst of his itinerant labors, been distinguished
for success in organizing Sunday Schools and Tract
Societies had died at the age of forty-five. William
H. Chapman and Samuel McPherson, both young
men of promise, had finished their course with joy
and triumph.

The first recorded action ultimately resulting in
the establishment of Dickinson College, is found in
the Journal of 1825. It recurs at this session.

Leesburg was transferred to the Potomac District,
and Cumberland, heretofore included in Allegheny
Circuit, was made a station.

In the old Conference room in the rear of Light
Street Church, Baltimore, Bishop Soule met and
presided over the Conference, March 10, 1830.
John Childs, an eighteenth-century veteran, had died
in Alexandria the previous year, esteemed for his
faithful service, and with the expression in the last
hour of his “entire confidence in God, his Saviour.
Simon L. Booker is also added to the number of the
Church of the First Born in heaven. The contro-
versy on the question of lay representation had
reached its height, but the field of battle is not now

”
220 Part III— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

on the Conference floor. We may so conclude, not only
from the absence of any reference to it in the Con-
ference Journal, but also from the following descrip-
tion of a Conference Sunday, taken from the columns
of The Itinerant, March 17, 1830: ‘The Balti-
more Conference of the M. E. Church commenced
its annual session in this city on the 10th inst.
From the press of business before the Conference, it
is supposed this session will continue longer than
usual. Great peace and unanimity of feeling, we
are told, have prevailed thus far, though a few cases
of trying character have occurred. Bishop Soule
presides and is in usual health. On Sunday the
weather was unusually fine, and presented a scene of
more than ordinary interest to many of the friends
of religion in Baltimore. Several clergymen of
other churches politely tendered their houses of
worship to the service of the Methodist preachers,
and we believe between forty and fifty officiated in the
different congregations during the day. Bishop
Soule delivered at Caroline Street Church in the
morning a most interesting and impressive discourse
on the authority and duties of the Christian Minis-
try, after which he ordained eleven deacons. The
sermon was alike eloquent and able, and furnished
a striking specimen of that boldness and depth of
thought, and original, just and energetic application
of it for which we believe Mr. Soule is distinguished.
The congregation, though overflowing, was serious
and attentive throughout the discourse, and at times
many were deeply affected. The Bishop himself
wept when he touched upon the extent of the com-
The Temperance Reform. 221

mission and the promise—‘ Lo! I am with you’—and
seemed to regret that he could not call back the days
of youth and devote another life to the preaching of
the gospel. Deep, we believe, was the conviction
felt by many that eloquence more than human was
there and that God of a truth was in His holy Temple
to bless the administration of His Word.”

That the Conference anticipated the general Tem-
perance movement, beginning in Baltimore a few
years later, under the six Washingtonians (reformed
drunkards), may be gathered from the Resolutions
adopted: 1. That we highly appreciate the addresses
of Doctors Baker and Bond, delivered before this
Conference, on the danger of using ardent spirits,
and do unanimously approve of the efforts now mak-
ing by Temperance Societies to prevent the evils of
intemperance, by a total abstinence from such intoxi-
cating drinks. 2. That the members of this Confer-
ence, believing that all who have been seduced into
habits of intemperance, have fallen into the practice
of needlessly indulging in what they deemed the tem-
perate use of ardent spirits, will therefore endeavor,
both by precept and example, to prevent the use and
sale of them in the Districts, Stations and Circuits
in which we may be appointed to labor, and we deem
this duty imposed upon us by the General Rules of
the Church.

The preachers were instructed to enquire into deeds
of meeting houses and other property. Lotteries
were emphatically denounced. A resolution was
adopted by a large majority, refusing hereafter to
receive into membership any graduate who has
222 Part I1I-—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

entered into courtship with any lady, or formed any
matrimonial contract during his probation, and de-
clining to continue on trial any one that commences
a courtship with any lady. Professor Elliott of
Pittsburg presented the advantages of Madison Col-
lege. Two agents were appointed to see if the Pitts-
burg and Baltimore Conferences could unite on one
school. The Philadelphia Conference was also
invited to unite in the plan.

Cumberland District was formed, and Cumberland
(tuken from Allegheny Circuit) was made its centre.
Liberty Circuit, taken from Frederick and Shrews-
bury, taken from York, were placed in the Carlisle
District. Winchester, Virginia, was made a station.

Bishop Hedding presided at the session held in
Washington city, March 10, 1831. EHighty-two
preachers were present at the call of the roll. Only
one had died, Yelverton Peyton. Nine were admitted
on trial.'_ The question of transfers looms up at this
session. It was moved that the Conference consent
to the transfer of C. Ireson to this Conference. The
motion was lost. A motion opposing the transfer of
Jacob Gruber was adopted, but afterwards, in 1835,
expunged. In 1833, the Conference resolved that “in
their opinion the right of transferring preachers as
from one Conference to another, is by our economy
vested in our Bishops, they having the general over-
sight of our work. But we are of opinion that
it is a right which should at all times be exercised
with great wisdom, prudence and caution, and we do

 

1See Appendix.
Beasts Srs

eae

 
The College Movement. 223

most respectfully request our Bishops not to make
transfers to this Conference, unless in their judgment
such transfers are absolutely necessary for the pro-
motion and success of the work of God.” A resolu-
tion was adopted unaniniously, disapproving of the
practice of spitting tobacco on the church floors or
in the pulpits. The movement to establish a college
within the bounds of the Conference, made first in
1825, took form at this session. Dickinson College
was the outcome, an institution that has had marvel-
ous success for the last three quarters of a century
and continues to flourish. At this session Sharp
Street, Baltimore, with the large colored membership
of 1,919, was constituted a separate station. Solo-
mon Cartwright, a man of color, was recommended as
a suitable person to be sent to Liberia as a mission-
ary to Africa.

Bishop Hedding again presided at the session
held in Baltimore, March 14, 1832. The venerable
Bishop McKendree was present and delivered an
address that was described as pathetic. The Con-
ference roll numbered 125. Ten were admitted on
trial. John Miller was re-admitted as an elder and
into full connection. Seventeen delegates were
elected to the General Conference: James M.
Hanson, Norval Wilson, Alfred Griffith, Joshua
Wells, David Steele, Henry Furlong, William Hamil-
ton, Gerard Morgan, Charles B. Tippett, John Davis,
Henry Slicer, Henry Smith, Robert Cadden, Charles
A. Davis, Andrew Hemphill and John Bear.

Springfield Circuit was formed and placed on the
Rockingham District. The number of members
224 Part IT1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

reported at the end of this quadrennium was 43,390,
an increase of 6,219. Edward Smith, having failed
to give satisfaction as to the time fixed for the manu-
mission of his slaves, was deprived of his orders and
required to return his credentials at the next Confer-
ence.

The General Conference met in Philadelphia in
May, 1832. James O. Andrew of the Georgia and
John Emory of the Baltimore Conference were elected
Bishops. McKendree was going out as James O.
Andrew was coming into the office. After his elec-
tion the latter asked his senior for the guiding rule
that had made his own administration so successful.!
He gave him this: “James, do not seek responsi-
bility, but never shun a responsibility which properly
belongs to you; for, in so doing, you assume the
gravest of all responsibilities.”

Bishop Emory, small in physical size and weight,
but mentally and morally a giant, discovered an emi-
nent adaptation to his high office, but occupied it for
the short space of three years. He died in 1835.

The Missionary movement begun among the Indians
in America had grown so rapidly that the General
Conference sanctioned the project of the society to
extend its work to the regions beyond. Africa was
the first field. The first Missionary abroad was
Melville B. Cox, a native of Maine, whose itinerant
service at the time was in Raleigh, N. C., volunteered,
went in 1833, successfully planted the Mission at
Monrovia and died in less than five months, prescrib-

 

\McTyeire’s History of Methodism, page 591.
Cookman.—The College Enterprise. 225

ing as his epitaph: “Let a thousand fall before
Africa be given up.” Perhaps that many or more
have since fallen, but the work on the Dark Conti-
nent still goes on.

The Conference met in Baltimore, March 27, 1833,
Bishops Hedding and Emory presiding ; 102 mem-
bers present. This session is memorable because of
the unprecedented number, eighteen, admitted on
trial. Among these the names of William Wickes,
Aquilla A. Reese, Benjamin N. Brown, David Thomas
and others became well known in subsequent years.

George G. Cookman was transferred at this session
from the Philadelphia Conference. This gifted
preacher, after eight years of brilliant service in the
Baltimore Conference, was lost at sea on the ill-fated
steamship The President. A sketch of his life will
be found in the Appendix. William H. Coffin served
seventeen years and then located.

The movement for the establishment of Dickinson
‘College, now approaching complete success, is deemed
worthy of detailed account. At the session of 1829
a letter was received from the Pittsburg Conference
inviting the Baltimore Conference ‘to share equally
in the government and privileges”? of Madison Col-
lege, an institution already in operation.' This letter
was referred to a committee appointed to consider the
expediency and necessity of establishing a Seminary
of Learning within the bounds of the Conference.

 

‘Conference Journal, 1829, page 296, and files.
15
226 = =Part IIT— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

- The following report, which the Journal (1829, page

306) shows to have been adopted, is found in the
files :

We your Committee to whom was referred the
necessity and propriety of establishing a seminary of
learning within the bounds of this Conference have
had the subject under serious consideration and are of
opinion that the moral, literary and christian educa-
tion of the rising generation, next to the salvation of
the soul, is of the first and greatest importance, and
too much care, attention and labor cannot by us be
devoted to this important and interesting subject. The
children of our members and friends within the
bounds of this Conference have been almost if not
altogether dependent on other denominations of chris-
tians for a literary education. This in many instances
has been a source of painful affliction to the minds of
many parents; they must see their children grow up in
ignorance, or place them for instruction in institutions
where, under the influence of the teachers, they have
imbibed doctrines contrary to our standard of doc-
trine and dangerous to the salvation of their souls.

Many of our sister Conferences, convinced of this
great evil, have had the subject of a course of literary
education for the benefit of their children before them,
and have decided on the erection of Academies, Semi-
naries or Colleges within their boundaries. The Pitts-
burg Conference have a College already in successful
operation. By a committee appointed at their last
session, they have addressed a letter to this Confer-
ence, which has been referred to your committee,
inviting us to become joint patrons of the Madison
College. However desirable it may be where circum-
stances wil] admit, with equal advantages for both for
The Conference Resolves. 227

sister Conferences to unite in their efforts and interest,
jointly to support such institutions, it is the opinion of
your committee that a union with the Pittsburg Con-
ference, from the location of the Madison College,
would be of but little benefit to us or our people
within the bounds of our Conference.

Your Committee are well satisfied that no Confer-
ence in the Union holds out greater advantages or
offers greater facilities to support a seminary of learn-
ing than the Baltimore Conference, and that such an
institution, within our own boundaries, and located as
near the centre of the Conference as circumstances will
admit, would be of vital importance to us as a people,
and that we ought to use our best endeavors to origi-
nate such an institution, and that the most advisable
means to be pursued in bringing such an institution
into successful operation is that of a general subscrip-
tion offered by an agent appointed by the Bishop or
Bishops to our members and friends for their annual
contributions or otherwise.

Your Committee therefore offer the following reso-
lutions :

1. Resolved, That it is expedient to have a semi-
nary of learning established within the bounds of the
Baltimore Conference as soon as practicable, and that
such seminary be under the direction of the Confer-
ence.

2d. Resolved, That an Agent be appointed by the
Bishop or Bishops, whose duty it shall be to travel
through the Conference and elsewhere as by him may
be judged most advantageous to raise funds by sub-
scription or otherwise for the establishment and sup-
port of said seminary.
228 Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

3d. Resolved, That a committee of 8 be appointed
who in conjunction with the agent shall select the
most eligible site for the location of said seminary,
and that as soon as funds shall be obtained to the
amount of $3,000 they be authorized to make the pur-
chase, and that the right of property be secured to
trustees appointed by this Conference to hold the
same in trust for the use of the Conference.

4th. Resolved, That the said Agent and Committee
report to the next Annual Conference.

5th. Resolved, That the Agent be supported out of
the funds he may collect, so that the sum he receives
be no greater than what is allowed by the discipline
to our preachers—

All which is respectfully submitted,

STEPHEN G. RoszEeL, Chairman.

The following were appointed the Committee
referred to in the third Resolution: S. G. Roszel,
Joshua Wells, William Ryland, Christopher Frye,
John Davis, William Monroe, Job Guest, James M.
Hanson. This Committee was requested to address
an answer to Rey. Messrs. Waterman and Fleming
of the Pittsburg Conference, in reference to their
communication on the subject. It appears that a
circalar, presenting the interests of Madison College,
and dated July, 1828, was sent in that year to the
members of the Baltimore Conference and probably
it inspired the new movement to establish an insti-
tution of learning.

It is interesting to note that nearly thirty years
_ had elapsed since the destruction by fire of Cokes-
Negotiations with Other Conferences. 229

bury College and of buildings soon afterwards erected
on Light street in Baltimore. Now the Conference
is, for the first time since those crushing disasters,
becoming aroused to the vital necessity of the educa-
tion of the children and youth of their people. The
action of 1829 excited the deepest interest in the
minds of both preachers and laymen, and at the
session in March, 1830, 8. G. Roszel and James
M. Hanson were elected Agents to visit the Phila-
delphia and Pittsburg Conferences, to ascertain
whether they would unite in the establishment of a
College for the benefit of the three Conferences, and
to report to this Conference at the next session. The
Agents were instructed that, in the event the two
Conferences to be visited “should consent to a union
with us in the establishment of a College,” they
should give notice that they were “only authorized
to enter upon a negotiation in the premises upon the
principle of a mutual reciprocity of interests, advan-
tages, management and control of said institution.”
In reference to the site, they were instructed ‘to
invite the appointment of a committee to act in con-
junction with a similar committee or committees, as
the case may be, appointed by the other Conference
or Conferences, to take into consideration that sub-
ject and report at the proper time and place.”

The report of the Agents to the Conference of 1831
is referred to, but cannot be found. Evidently, how-
ever, the negotiations failed, so far as the Pittsburg
Conference was concerned. They met with favorable
response from the Philadelphia Conference, but were
retarded by a misunderstanding as to the conditions
230) = Part IIJ— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

inserted. Two sites were offered, one by Dr. Durbin
of Dickinson, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the other
by Mr. Charles A. Warfield, Agent in behalf of
Methodist brethren in Washington County, Md.

The following resolutions and letters explain the
misunderstanding :

1. That we will use our best efforts in union with
the Philadelphia Conference, should they hold us
bound or pledged to establish a college within the
boundaries of said Conferences, so that this Confer-
ence shall not be involved in debt thereby.

2. That a Committee be appointed to carry the
above resolution into effect.

3. That the Committee be authorized to appoint an
agent to solicit subscriptions to aid in the establish-
ment of a college, provided the Philadelphia Confer-
ence hold us pledged or bound on this subject.

4. That the committee appointed by this Confer-
ence be and hereby are instructed to use their best
endeavors to prevail with the Philadelphia Confer-
ence in accepting the offer made by our Brethren of
Washington county, Maryland, through their Agent,
Charles A. Warfield of A.

5. That in case the Philadelphia Conference do not
unite in accepting the above offer, or if they should
think proper not to erect a college, the Committee be
and hereby are authorized to accept the offer of our
Washington county Brethren for the establishment of
an Academy or Seminary of learning.

The Committee ordered in the second resolution
was appointed, as follows : Stephen G. Roszel, James .
M. Hanson and John Davis.
Reply of the Philadelphia Conference. 231

At the session of 1832, the following communica-
tion signed by Thomas Sargent and U. Force, a
Committee appointed by the Philadelphia Confer-
ence, was presented and read :

To the Bishop and Members
of the Baltimore Conference:

Drar BRETHREN—The undersigned Committee
were appointed by the last Philadelphia Conference to
address a note to your body, stating the reasons why
our Conference did not deem it expedient longer to
continue the negotiations which had commenced
between the two Conferences on the subject of uniting
in the erection of a college to be under the joint
superintendence of the two Conferences. Three con-
siderations particularly influenced this Conference to
suspend any farther proceedings on the subject for
the present.

First. It was stated in your communication to us,
that the Baltimore Conference would still go on in its
efforts to erect and put into operation a college or
institution of learning—“ Provided the Philadelphia
Conference still held it bound or pledged to do so.”
This “ Proviso” led to the conclusion that your Con-
ference was disposed to relinquish the enterprise,
unless this Conference held you pledged, or bound to
go on, which we did not wish to do unless you could
freely co-operate with us.

Secondly. The two highly respectable brethren,
which you did us the honor to send to us as delegates
to carry on the negotiations on the college subject,
differed entirely in their verbal communication as to
the views of the Baltimore Conference. One of
them, Brother Roszel, coutended that the Baltimore
232

Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Conference was still desirous to continue the enter-
prise to its consummation, and that the only reason
the proviso was introduced was that you had been
informed that we did not hold ourselves pledged to
you.

The other, Brother Davis, contended that the pro-
viso did indicate the wish which was really felt by
the Baltimore Conference to abandon the enterprise
unless we held it bound to us. And as evidence of
the correctness of this view, that he had been appointed
one of the delegates, although it was known that he
was opposed to the enterprise altogether. The con-
flicting views of the two brethren, as well as the pro-
viso, made it difficult for us to determine what you
really desired in this matter.

Thirdly. On the whole the Conference conceived
it would be the best and safest course to await the
decision of the approaching General Conference on
the subject generally of literary institutions and make
no further special effort until after its session.

We remain dear brethren yours in behalf of the
Philadelphia Conference, most respectfully and kindly,

THo. SARGENT,

U. Force.
Philadelphia, March 1, 1832.

The Baltimore Conference met March 14, 1832,

and

on the 27th addressed through the Secretary the

following letter in reply :

Rey. Dr. Sarcent and
Rev. U. Forcr, Committee,
Dear BretHREN—I have been instructed by the
Baltimore Annual Conference to acknowledge the
receipt of your communication of the Ist inst.
Reply of the Baltimore Conference. 233

I have also been directed to say that the Baltimore
Annual Conference have determined to postpone the
further consideration of establishing a college, etc.,
until after the session of the ensuing General Confer-
ence of our church.

In the event that the General Conference should
fail to adopt measures on the subject of education,
generally this Conference have no wish whatever to
release the Philadelphia Annual Conference from its
pledge to unite with this Conference on the subject of
establishing a college under the joint superintendence
of the two Conferences. On this point the Conference
desire most earnestly that their views may be under-
stood by our Brethren of the Philadelphia Confer-
ence.

The Proviso introduced into the resolutions of last
year was not intended as an intimation of the wish of
this Conference to be released from obligation to our
Philadelphia Brethren, in the important enterprise
upon which they have entered.

Respectfully,
C. A. Davis Secretary.

At the session of 1833, a Committee on Literary

Institutions was appointed, of which S. G. Roszel
was Chairman, the following resolution, which was
adopted, gave added stimulus to the Educational
Question :

Resolved, That, in the opinion, of this Conference,
for ministers traveling or local, or members of our
church to send their children to Roman Catholic
Schools is rendering our ministerial efforts measurably
ineffectual with regard to such children.
234 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

The next day, Tuesday, April 2, the Committee on
Literary Institutions brought in their Report, which
was substituted by the following resolutions :

1st. Resolved, By the members of the Baltimore
Annual] Conference, that it is highly expedient and
proper that a College should be established within
the bounds of this Conference, or contiguous thereto,
either in connexion with some .of the neighboring
Conferences, or separately by this Conference and
under its own control.

2d. Resolved. That the transfer of Dickinson Col-
lege including the buildings, books, libraries, chymical
and philosophical apparatus, etc., would be highly
advantageous and ought to be promptly embraced by
the members of this Conference.

3d. Resolved, That in order to avail ourselves of
this transfer, a committee of three be appointed whose
duty it shall be to confer immediately and directly
with the Trustees of the College aforesaid, for the
purpose of ascertaining definitely and positively
whether a transfer of their rights and privileges can,
and will be legally made, and, if so, to unite with
them in an application (if it should be found neces-
sary) to the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania,
in order to the enjoyment and possession of all the
rights and privileges now vested by law in the afore-
said Trustees of Dickinson College.

Ath. Resolved, That whenever it is ascertained
that such transfer can and will be legally effected,
this Conference pledges itself to the acceptance of the
transfer and to the establishment and support of a
College.
Dickinson College Chosen. 235

oth. Resolved, That a Committee of twenty be
appointed to whom it shall be the duty of the Com-
mittee appointed to confer with the Trustees of Dickin-
son College on the subject of a transfer as aforesaid
to report, and said Committee of twenty shall be
clothed with discretionary authority to accept or reject
the offers made by the said Trustees of Dickinson
College.

6th. Resolved, That Forty Trustees be provision-
ally appointed, that in the event that the Trustees of
Dickinson College shall consent, and be able in Law
to make a fair and full transfer of said College, that
then and in that case the premises shall be transferred
to said Trustees herein required to be appointed, fifteen
of whom shall be traveling Preachers, fifteen from
among the Laity and ten from other citizens, the
same number of whom to constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business as is now provided for in the
Charter or By-Laws of Dickinson College.

It was also Resolved that a delegate be appointed
to attend the Philadelphia Conference to bring before
that body the subject of the contemplated transfer and
possession aforesaid and to ask the co-operation of that
body, in the event of successful negotiations in the
premises. After which, as amended, the Report was
adopted.

John Early, of the Virginia Conference (afterwards
Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South),
presented at this session (1833) an invitation to
unite with his Conference in the establishment of
Randolph-Macon College. The invitation was cour-
teously declined in the following resolution :
236 = =Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Resolved, By the Baltimore Conference in Confer-
ence assembled, that the visit of our Brother the
Rev. John Early of the Virginia Conference, is
received with the highest gratification on the part of
this Conference, and although we have not found it
expedient at this time to unite with the Conference
of which he is a member in giving our patronage to
the interests of Randolph Macon College, having in
prospect the establishment of a College within the
bounds of our own Conference, yet we regard with
sentiments of the highest respect the invitation so
kindly offered by the Board of Trustees through their
worthy delegate, and most earnestly desire the pros-
perity of their excellent institution, in the literary
and moral character of which we have the highest
confidence.

The net increase of the membership during the
preceding year, 5,249, was a cheering report. The
recommendation made by the General Conference to
grant the claim of the Canada Conference for an
equitable division of the funds of the Book Concern
and other monied institutions was non-concurred in.
“Home Missionaries” were recommended to be
appointed for Giles, Montgomery and Floyd coun-
ties in the Rockingham District ; also in St. Mary’s,
Charles and Prince George’s Circuits in the Balti-
more District. Appropriations were made for Matta-
woman and Craig’s Creek Missions, of $398. A
letter from Bishop Soule was received, giving an
encouraging account of the Missions among the
Indian tribes. The credentials of Edward Smith, of
which he had been deprived at the last session of
the Conference, were restored to him upon the assur-
The Conference of 1834. 237

ance of a satisfactory adjustment with regard to his
ownership of slaves, and his character was passed.
The Conference, by a vote of 87 yeas to 2 nays, con-
curred in a resolution of the New York Conference,
recommending the restoration of the original note of
Mr. Wesley, so as to read: “Drunkenness; buying
or selling spirituous liquors or drinking them,
except in case of necessity.” Lexington Circuit,
within the Rockingham District, and Springfield
Circuit, in the same district, were constituted.

Alexandria was the seat of Conference, March 12,
1834. Bishops Andrew and Emory, with 107 mem-
bers, were in attendance. Twenty-two were admitted
on trial.1. John Chalmers had died. He had entered
the active work in 1788, and traveled nine years. He
was a local preacher until 1832, when he was appointed
to Fairfax Circuit, where he closed his labors and
his life. Seely Bunn and Edward Matthews, faith-
ful and devoted pioneers, had also passed to their
reward. Daniel Lee, from the New Hampshire Con-
ference, Missionary to the Flat Head Indians, was
elected and ordained elder. Dr. Thomas E. Bond
was elected and ordained a local elder. He was a
leading layman of Harford county, Maryland, after-
wards the distinguished editor of the New York
Christian Advocate. The Conference provided for a
vault to be erected under the pulpit of the new
church at Staunton, Virginia, in memory of Bishop
George, and to entomb his remains. They now rest
in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Baltimore. A series of reso-

 

See Appendix.
238 =Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

lutions, recommended by Bishop Andrew, looking to
a correct listing of subscribers to the church periodi-
cals, was adopted, as also a plan to secure uniformity
in the administration of discipline. Chambersburg
District was organized and six new cireuits added:
Baltimore, Patapseo, Mattawoman, on the Baltimore
District, Warrenton and Prince William, on the
Potomac, and Harrisonburg, on the Winchester
District.

In this session (1834) plans for the establishment
of Dickinson College were consummated and appear
on the Journal as follows:

The Committee to which was referred the report of
the Rev. S. G. Roszel, the Conference Agent, with the
accompanying documents, relating to Dickinson Col-
lege, begs leave to report that it has given this subject
a deliberate and a patient investigation, and this Con-
ference is not aware of the many difficulties encount-
ered by the committee in the consideration of the
important matter contained therein.

The Conference Agent appeared before the Com-
mittee and twice addressed it in regard to the Dickin-
son College. He also laid before the Committee two
letters from the Rev. J. P. Durbin, the President of
the College. The Committee is happy to state that
the principles embraced in the views of the President
and of the Agent, are for the most part contained in
those resolutions, which ‘your Committee presents for
your consideration, and which it recommends for your
adoption.

From the representations made to the Committee,
of the correctness of which it entertains no doubt, this
Conference must decisively redeem its pledge for
College Plans Consummated. 239

Dickinson College, or materially injure the interests
of our Zion, in that section of country in which the
College is located, and perhaps throughout the whole
Conference.

And the plan which the Committee has recom-
mended for the redemption of this pledge, after mature
and deliberate reflection, the Committee believe to be
the very best that your Conference can adopt.

The collection and investment of the funds are sub-
jects of vast importance, and the plan proposed by
the Committee is believed to be one by which all the
objects contemplated in subscriptions will be accom-
plished, such funds being amply secured only for the
purposes of Education.

Justice, goodness and the future prosperity of our
church demand, that some provision shall be made
for the female part of the young under our care.
Your Committee therefore recommends the adoption
of a resolution which shall speak out the sentiments
of this Conference on this all-important subject.

Wherefore your Committee, after the maturest
reflection and with deep solicitude, for the advance-
ment of education, among the people of our charge,
recommends to this Conference the reception of the
Agent’s report, and the adoption of the following res-
olutions :

Resolved, 1. That the Baltimore Annual Confer-
ence will use every reasonable exertion to redeem its
pledge for Dickinson College.

Resolved, 2. That a subscription be forthwith opened
in this Conference, and that it be recommended to
each preacher to subscribe one hundred dollars or
upward, payable in four equal annual instalments,
240

Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

with the interest on the whole amount remaining
unpaid from and after the 1st day of May next, so
long as each individual subscriber may be a member
of this Conference. Provided, nevertheless. that if
any preacher shall be incapacitated from any circum-
stance to make payment of the principal in four years,
then such further time shall be granted for the pay-
ment thereof, as thisjConference may deem proper ;
and provided also, that in the event of the death of
any preacher, his family shall not be held responsible
for the same, provided it shall be understood that
each subscriber shall be at liberty to use his personal
influence among his friends and acquaintance to
enable him to meet his subscription if he chooses to
do so.

Resolved, 3. That a Board of Seven Trustees, mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church be appointed,
a discretionary part thereof members of this Confer-
ence, who shall take charge of all collections, sub-
scriptions, Bonds, etc., relating to the objects herein
contemplated, and shall be known hy the name of
Trustees of the Education Fund of the Baltimore
Annual Conference ; said Board of Trustees shall be
elected annually by this Conference.

Resolved, 4. The aforesaid Board of Trustees shal]
invest all monies received by them on subscription,
or otherwise, as principal, in any way they may deem
best calculated to promote the prosperity of the Fund,
provided, nevertheless, that no interest shall be
funded.

Resolved, 5. That it shall be the duty of the said
Board to pay over the proceeds or interest of said
Fund from time to time, to the Trustees of Dickinson
College, which interest shall be appropriated to the
Dickinson College. 241

salaries of the principal, and Professors of said Col-
lege, during such time as it shall be either in part, or
whole under the control of the Baltimore Annual
Conference.

Resolved 6. That if at any time Dickinson Col-
lege shall by any means be diverted or alienated
from the said Baltimore Annual Conference, then and
in that case said fund shall still be held inviolate for
the purposes of education under the direction of said
Conference.

Resolved, 7. That the Legislature of Maryland
be at its next session memorialized and respectfully
petitioned to incorporate the aforesaid Board of
Trustees.

Resolved, 8. That until the foregoing Board of
Trustees shall be regularly organized and prepared to
vest the amount collected, there shall be two treasurers
appointed to take charge of the funds intended to be
placed in the hands of said Trustees.

Resolved, 9. That the Bishop be and is hereby
requested to appoint two Agents, one to travel north
and the other south of the Potomac river, whose duty
it shall be to solicit contributions within the bounds
of this Conference for Dickinson College.

Resolved, 10. That whenever the Agent or Agents
shall find it impracticable to see the subscribers, they
shall be at liberty to forward the accounts to the
Presiding Elders or preachers on the stations or
circuits; and it shall be their duty to attend as far
as possible to the collection of all such subscriptions,
and to forward the sums thus collected to the Agent,
Treasurer or Trustees hereinbefore mentioned.

16
242 Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Resolved, 11. That the Trustees of Dickinson Col-
lege be and they are hereby respectfully requested to
establish the Manual Labor System as soon as practi-
cable.

Resolved, 12. That this Conference shall annually
appoint five persons, to unite with a similar number
that may be appointed by the Philadelphia Confer-
ence as a Board of Visitors, who shall attend the
examinations of Dickinson College, and make a report
to this Conference.

Resolved, 13. That the Secretary be instructed to
inform the Philadelphia Conference of the resolutions
and proceedings of this Conference.

Resolved, 14. That the Baltimore Conference
pledges itself to the members and friends of our
church, that as soon as sufficient funds shall be raised
to endow permanently the Professorships of Dickinson
College, and redeem the pledge it has given to its
acceptance, it will take measures for the establishment
of two female Academies, one to be located in Virginia,
and the other in Maryland.

Subscriptions were then received in the Conference
amounting to Twelve Thousand Dollars.

Bishop Emory presided at the Conference held in
Winchester, Virginia, March 11, 1835, ninety-five
present, seventeen were admitted on trial. The
names of Jobn S. Martin, Bernard H. Nadal and
Thomas O. Summers become distinguished in the
years following. At this session, the venerable
Henry Smith, the pioneer preacher in the west,
obtained a superannuated relation, and James M.
Hanson, at his own request was made supernumerary.
Famous Trial.—Dickinson. 243

Harper’s Ferry appears for the first time in the list
of appointments. Bishop Emory presented a Con-
ference Course of Study. Deeds for the manumission
of slaves who had come into the possession of Alex-
ander Compton and T. J. Deyerle were ordered to be

prepared and signed.

Perhaps one of the most famous trials in the
history of the Conference was the result of charges
against J. W. Dunahay, preferred by Dr. T. E. Bond,
Sr. The charges and specifications are minutely
spread upon the Journal, occupying the space of
twenty-three folio pages. The result was the depri-
vation of his credentials of ordination for twelve
months, and ultimately a location, granted at his
own request.

Dickinson College occupies again a large space
in the report of the consummation of the united
ownership by the Baltimore and Philadelphia Con-
ferences. The Board of Trustees for the Education
Fund of the Conference, to be used in the establish-
ment of Dickinson College, was incorporated. The
Agents reported subscriptions, amounting to $39,546,
of which $2352.84 had been collected, and the Col-
lege in successful operation. Rev. J. P. Durbin,
D. D., was President, Rev. Robert Emory, Professor
of Languages, and Professor Caldwell, of Exact
Science. Thus upon a wisely built foundation was
this grand institution started on its glorious and
suceessful career.

The documents transcribed above are inserted in
full, because they indicate how strongly preachers
244 Part I1I-—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

and laymen in the Conference realized the import-
ance of education as auxiliary to their great work,
and how carefully and diligently they labored to
accomplish their purpose. They also demonstrate
the fidelity with which they ae fulfilled their
pledges.

Six days before this session Bishop McKendree
died. Upon this second great leader of Methodism
in this country, fell the mantle of its Founder. He
was worthy of it. Like his predecessor, he lived
only for God and the people to whom his divine
Lord had sent him. The younger, often in company
with his senior, traversed the same rugged roads,
across mountains and rushing torrents, through
dense forests and by thinly settled open sections,
with equally unquenchable zeal, preaching the gospel
alike to rich and poor, in humblest and higher
places. They partook of the same spirit and pro-
claimed the truth with power and effect. Yet how
different they were in their mental and administrative
qualities! Asbury, trained under the eye of Jolin
Wesley in England, was better suited even than his
first Episcopal colleague, Dr. Coke, to adapt himself
to the needs of the country with which he had so
thoroughly identified himself, and to the conditions
requisite for the successful planting of a religious
society destined for such a wonderful growth.
McKendree was indeed his true son in the gospel,
rescued by him from the danger of an early alienation
from tbe doctrines and economy of Methodism, and
started as the master-mind of the second epoch in
her history, specially endowed for the cultivation of
Bishop McKendree. 245

a growing plant, whose branches would cover the
entire continent. It was his mission to conserve and
consolidate the forces that were rapidly increasing
in every direction, and bind them together in one
mighty bond of union—a union that even external
divisions have not been able to dissolve. Is not
Episcopal Methodism still one in essential doctrine
and economy? Territorial division has only served
to hold Methodists in each section more closely to
fundamental principles, as well as to increase their
numerical force.

William McKendree was born in King William
County, Virginia, 40 miles northeast of Richmond.
He was a soldier and officer in the War of the Revo-
lution and was present during the battle and at the
surrender at Yorktown. His religious awakening
occurred in early life, but only after a hard and
long struggle was he happily converted, under the
ministry of Rev. John Easter, during the remarkable
revival in Brunswick, Virginia, in 1787. Nine
months later he entered upon the itinerant service
and traveled thirteen years in Virginia, eight of
them on circuits and the last five on two districts.
Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat took him with them
to the Western Conference, held in October, 1800,
in Kentucky, where he was appointed to a district
that comprised the whole of Kentucky, parts of
East and West Tennessee, Western Virginia and all
the region including what is now Ohio and Illinois.
During the eight years of McKendree’s service there,
the one district on which he entered, expanded into
five, with a marvelous increase of both preachers and
246 =Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

members. At the General Conference of 1808, he
was elected Bishop, and his life during the quarter
of a century in that office, is so well known that it
is unnecessary even to outline it in this volume.
When, at last, worn out with incessant travel, con-
sumed with the care of the churches, harassed by
distraction and secession, yet living to see bis loved
church once more at rest and prosperous, he came
to lay down his divine commission with his earthly
life, his chamber was radiant with celestial presences,
and his final triumph was the oft-repeated exclama-
tion “ AJ] is well,” closing with a verse of Charles
Wesley’s hymn.

“Not a cloud doth arise to darken my skies

Or hide for a moment the Lord from mine eyes.”

Just as McKendree had been ready to follow
Bishop Asbury, so, in turn, the third distinguished
Leader was at hand to bring the old Baltimore Con-
ference to the climax of her history, before she
should break into separate and yet ever increasing
bands. McKendree lived to see his chosen comrade
and intimate friend, Joshua Soule, equipped and
ready to stand in the forefront of our Israel’s hosts,
and to apply with unceasing firmness the great
principles, which he had victoriously maintained, to
the still greater enlargement of the church he loved.

Bishop Hedding presided over 116 preachers at
the session in Baltimore, March 9, 1836.

The loss of the Methodist Book Concern in New
York by fire awakened profound sympathy and
earnest afforts. Waugh and Mason were the Agents
at the time, and their appeal to the Conference for
Preachers Aid Society. 247

relief was not in vain, for $1,100 were subscribed
during the session. A large part of this sum
was immediately paid. Conference advised that no
preacher should hold a Camp Meeting in another
preacher's charge. Delegates were elected to the
ensuing General Conference as follows: S. G.
Roszel, Norval Wilson, Alfred Griffith, David Steele,
William Hamilton, John Davis, William Prettyman,
Robert Cadden, John A. Collins, John Bear, Samuel
Brison. Isaac P. Cook, long known in Baltimore,
was elected and ordained a local deacon. John
Kobler, formerly a member of this Conference, was
re-admitted. West River is a new charge (first in
Calvert Circuit); Bladensburg circuit is formed from
Prince George, and Frederick City is separated from
the circuit and made a station. John Berry, Sterling
Thomas, James Brundige, Conrad R. Fite, Robert
G. Armstrong, Alexander Yearley, Christian Keener,
Jacob Rogers and Comfort Tiffany, leading laymen
in the city of Baltimore, are recorded as Managers
elect of the Preachers Aid Society.

This important organization had its inception
among the godly Methodist women in Baltimore in
1817, as has already been noted. The President of
the Female‘Benevolent Society was Mary Hewitt;
the Treasurer, Sarah Brice, and the Secretary,
Mary Ann Walls. The contributions from this
Society were regularly and faithfully forwarded by
the gifted President to every session of the Confer-
ence for eight successive years. They were to be
divided according to the judgment of the Conference
between the ‘“Supernumerary and Superannuated
248 = Part IIJ—The Conservation, 18 12-1857.

Preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, their
widows and the wives and children of Preachers, and
for Missionary purposes.”” In 1826, some laymen
of Baltimore organized a Preachers Aid Society, and
asked the Conference to form Auxiliary Societies
and take up collections. This the Conference was
willing to do, provided the Society amended its Con-
stitution so as to allow the Baltimore Annual Con-
ference to choose one half of its Managers. At the
following session (1827) the Society was organized
on this basis, 79 preachers becoming members
thereof.

While the Conference was careful, in consideration
of that part of the territory lying in Pennsylvania,
to keep the preachers free from slavery, yet it is a
well established fact that even in that State the senti-
ment, though anti-slavery, was hostile to the aboli-
tion agitation further north. The action of the Con-
ference during the session of 1836 is in harmony
with its previous utterances, as is shown by the fol-

lowing preamble and resolution :'

Whereas, great excitement has pervaded this country
for some time past on the subject of abolition, and
whereas such excitement is believed to be destructive
to the best interests of the country and of religion ;
therefore,

Resolved, 1st. That ‘we are as much as ever con-
vinced of the great evil of slavery.”

2d. That we are opposed in every part and par-
ticular to the proceedings of the abolitionists which

 

1Journal, page 67.
 

BEVERLY WAUGH
Anti- Abolition Resolutions. 249

look to the immediate, indiscriminate, and general
emancipation of slaves.

3d. That we will have no communion with any
press, by whomsoever conducted, in the interest of the
abolition cause.

4. That the foregoing Preamble and Resolutions,
signed by the members of this Conference be sent on
to the Editors of the Christian Advocate and Journal
and to the Western Christian Advocate for publica-
tion in those papers, and that the Editors of the
Christian Sentinel at Richmond and Zions Herald at
Boston be requested to copy them into their papers.

At the close of this quadrennium (1832-1836) the
aggregate membership numbered 50,553, being an
increase of 563. The preachers on roll numbered
154, an increase of twenty. The small increase in
membership reported is evidently due to the impor-
tant secession following the organization of the
Methodist Protestant Church.

Cincinnati was the place of meeting of the
General Conference in May, 1836. The ratio of
representation having been reduced, the delegation
was small, Bishop McTyeire regards it as “a very
able body.” Two Bishops, McKendree and George, ,
had died, and the infirm health of three others made
the strengthening of the Episcopacy necessary.
Beverly Waugh, then Book Agent at New York, a
native of Fairfax County, Virginia, and for sixteen
years Secretary of the Baltimore Conference, Wilbur
Fisk, President of the Wesleyan University (who
subsequently declined under the conviction that it
250 = Part III— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

was his duty to remain in his important position),
and Thomas A. Morris, of Ohio, were elected. Dr.
Nathan Bangs was chosen as the first Missionary
Secretary, thus inaugurating a special department in
the church, and organizing the Missionary cause on
an expanded and ever increasing scale.

The abolition agitation reached Cincinnati during
this session. The projectors, evidently with fell
intent, held a meeting, which two members of the
General Conference attended, taking part in the
proceedings. Their action was condemned and led
to the following resolution, the first member adopted
by a vote of 124 to 14, and the second unanimously :

Resolved, That they [the delegates] are decidedly
opposed to modern abolitionism and wholly disclaim
any right, wish or intention to interfere in the civil
and political relation between master and slave as it
exists in the slave-holding States of the Union.

It is noticeable that the first utterance against
abolition was upon the motion of John Davis, a
delegate from the Baltimore Conference, and that.
S. G. Roszel, from the same body, moved the
appointment to frame a Pastoral Address embodying
the same sentiments. The motion was adopted and
the Address was published and widely circulated.
These positive deliverances quieted the general
agitation, (except in New England) for tha next
eight years, when the church was divided into two
great branches.

In the city of Baltimore, March 8, 1837, Bishop
Waugh presides for the first time in the Conference
Conference Items. 251

where for so long a period he had been an honored
member. About one hundred preachers were present
at Wesley Chapel on roll call. Thomas B. Sargent
was chosen Assistant Secretary to Charles A. Davis.
The only survivor of that body is the venerable
William G. Eggleston, now in his ninety-second
year, a member of the Baltimore Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Bishop Emory,
John Howell and Eli Nicodemus had died. The
resolution adopted at the session of 1830, refusing
“to receive into membership any graduate who has
entered into courtship with any lady or formed any
matrimonial contract during his probation, or to con-
tinue on trial any one that commences courtship with
any lady,” was annulled and rescinded.

The Bible Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church having been dissolved by the action of the
General Conference, a resolution, transferring “our
cordial support and co-operation to the American
Bible Society and its Agents,” was adopted. The
first volunteers for Missionary work deserve honor-
able mention—Bernard H. Nadal, Horace Holland
and Charles E. Brown. Harrisonburg, Va., was
selected as the site of a projected Female Academy.
‘The Presiding Elder of the District and the Preacher
in charge of Rockingham Circuit, together with Dr.
Peachy Harrison, a well-known and active layman,
were appointed to direct the work.

In the case of an appeal made by Benjamin
Denton, a local deacon, the Conference adopted the
following resolution :
252 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Resolved, By the Baltimore Annual Conference,
that in their judgment, the Quarterly Meeting Con-
ference of Rockingham Circuit had no right under the
Discipline of the Church to deprive Benjamin Denton,
a Local Deacon, of his credentials, in consequence of
an alleged want of gifts and usefulness, and that the
decision of the said Quarterly Meeting Conference in
the case of Benjamin Denton, be reversed.

The following resolutions also were adopted :

1. That we have undiminished confidence in the
Managers of the Preachers’ Aid Society of Baltimore,
and that we will, as heretofore, afford them every aid
in our power in raising funds for the accomplishment
of the benevolent objects of that Institution.

2. That this Conference disclaim any wish or desire
to have the contro] and management of the funds or
said society, believing as we do, that they have been
faithfully and advantageously managed by the Board
of Managers of the Society.

The sudden death of Bishop John Emory, Decem-
ber 16, 1836, had shocked and saddened the entire
Church. He was a native of Maryland, converted at
the age of seventeen and educated for the profession
of the law. In his twenty-second year, 1810, he’
entered the traveling connection on trial in the Phila-
delphia Conference. In 1818 he was transferred to
the Baltimore Conference. In 1820 he was delegated
by the General Conference to visit the British Con-
ference of the Wesleyan Methodists as their repre-
sentative to that body. In 1824 he was elected by
the General Conference as Assistant Agent in the
Bishop Emory. 253

Book Concern in New York; and in 1828, as Princi-
pal Agent. During this latter period he discharged
the duties of editor of the Magazine and Quarterly
Review with distinguished ability. In 1832 he was
elected Bishop. This office he was permitted to fill
but a short time. By an inscrutable Providence he
was removed from his work in the prime of his life,
when the whole Church was looking with much confi-
dence to the beneficial influence of his counsels and
labors in promoting the prosperity of its institutions.

Caroline Street Church, East Baltimore Station,
was the seat of the Conference, March 11, 1838, at
which Bishop Morris, assisted by Bishop Waugh,
presided. Thomas B. Sargent was Secretary and
William O. Lumsdon his Assistant. Seventeen were
admitted on trial. Of these, Thomas Bowman, now
Senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
still lives, honored and loved. Stephen Samuel and
Stephen Asbury Roszel, sons of 8. G. Roszel,
Thomas Sewell, John Lanahan and several others of
this class attained eminence in after years. Andrew
Hemphill had died. Wesley Chapel in Washington
City becomes a station. The proceeds of the sale of
certain lands in Ohio bequeathed to the Conference,
amounting to $1,700, were by resolution placed in
hands of the Preachers’ Aid Society for investment,
the income to be applied to the objects contemplated
by the Society. A resolution was adopted, by a
vote of 111 yeas to 13 nays, that in the opinion of
the Conference “it is a violation of the true intent
and meaning of that part of the Discipline of the
M. E. Church which admits of the appointment of
254 Part II]—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Itinerant Ministers to Literary Institutions, to
receive into the Travelling Connection any individual
or individuals with an understanding either tacit or
avowed, that such individual or individuals will
receive an appointment or appointments at some
Literary Institution, or to engage in any business
other than that of a Travelling Preacher.”

The Report of the Committee on the affairs of
Dickinson College having represented its condition
flourishing both as to patronage and financial sup-
port, upon the call of the Conference roll “ $3,000
were obtained from the Preachers,” and an addi-
tional Agent was recommended. ‘It was resolved
that each Preacher in charge, on going to his appoint-
ment, record in a book the numbers in Society in
each class and state on a separate page, the Elders,
Deacons, Preachers, Stewards and Trustees, and on
leaving his station or circuit, leave the book in the
care of the Recording Steward.” The Temperance
reformation was regarded as entitled to the confi-
dence and support of the whole community, and the
Maryland State Temperance Society and its pledge
recommended.

March 13, 1839, Bishop Andrew presided at the
session of the Conference held at Wesley Chapel,
Baltimore. Bishop Waugh was present; Thomas
B. Sargent was Secretary. Joseph Rowan, John
Watson, Thomas J. Dorsey and James Houseweart
had died. Fourteen were admitted on trial. Robert
Emory, son of the Bishop, resigned his professorship
in Dickinson College to enter the itinerant ranks,
Discipline.— A bolitionism. 255

where he attained distinction during the nine years
of his service.

North Baltimore and South Baltimore are new
stations taken from the old City Station. In this
session a preacher was deprived of bis official rela-
tions for a breach of marriage contract. The Con-
ference, in passing on a case where charges were
preferred against a preacher in charge for admitting
an expelled member into his society, adopted the
following :

Resolved, That in the judgment of this Conference
it is an irregular proceeding for a preacher in charge
of one circuit or station, with a knowledge of the fact,
to admit on trial an individual who may have been
expelled from the church in another circuit or station
without proper contrition on the part of an expelled
person * * * and that such practice meets the
decided disapprobation of this body.

After indefinitely postponing the consideration of
a letter from Phineas Crandall, Secretary of the New
England Conference, the following was unanimously
passed by a rising vote:

Resolved, By the Baltimore Annual Conference in
conference assembled, that they are decidedly opposed
to the vexed question of abolitionism being agitated
in any of our Conferences.

A committee of nine was appointed to take into
consideration the expediency of dividing the Con-
ference and the naming of the line of division, to
report at the next session.
286 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

In the report of Dickinson College, the gratifying
statement was made that, during a gracious revival
at the College and the neighboring town of Carlisle,
fifty-seven of the sixty-three students were converted
and joined the church. Whereupon the following
action was had :

Resolved, As the sense of this Conference that it is
highly important to the interests of the literary insti-
tutions under our care, that the Principals and Pro-
fessors should, as far as practicable, be men of decided
piety and members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

At an extra meeting of the Managers of the Mis-
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
held in the city of New York, March 1, 1839, the
subject of the approaching Centenary of Methodism
was called up. A preamble and resolutions were pre-
sented and adopted, in which it was stated that it
was most desirable for the whole Church to harmon-
ize and act with a view to the general good of the
whole connection, and that, if the Bishops and the
several Annual Conferences should think it advisible
to divide the sums, which may be collected, between
the Missionary Society and the superannuated
preachers, widows and orphans, and the colleges
under the patronage of the Church, the Missionary
Society would use its best efforts to co-operate with
them in the accomplishment of those objects in such
a way and in such proportion as shall hereafter be
agreed upon.

Prior to the session of Conference a meeting of
the preachers was held in Baltimore, who recom-
Centenary of Methodism. 257

mended the action proposed by the Managers of the
Missionary Society, and appointed a committee of
three to prepare and present to the Conference the
resolutions above referred to.

When the Annual Conference met, a Committee of
nine was appointed, as follows: The Presiding
Elders of the seven Districts, John Davis, John Bear,
Samuel Brison, D. Steele, R. Cadden, J. Miller and
A. Griffith, together with J. A. Collins and Henry
Slicer, “to report a plan for the proper celebration
of the Centenary of Methodism.” The report was
presented and read. It set forth at some length the
reasons for the celebration of so important a fact
and submitted the following resolutions, which were
adopted :

Resolved, 1st. That we cordially approve of the
celebration of the approaching Centenary of Metho-
dism.

Resolved, 2d. That the primary object had in view
in the celebration is spiritual and religious improve-
ment to effect which the Conference earnestly recom-
mend that the — day of — , 1839, be set
apart as a holy day; on which the members of our
Church are affectionately requested to refrain from all
business of a worldly character, attend Church and
unite in such other exercises as tend to promote “a
growth in grace and in the knowledge and love of

God.”

Resolved, 3d. That in connexion with the object
specified in the preceding resolution we recommend that
contributions, by subscription, and public collections,
be made in view of the Centenary of Methodism, as

17

 

 
258

Part ITJ— The Conservation, 1812-1857.

a thank-offering to God for His manifold mercies and
favors.

Resolved, 4th. That in the judgment of the Confer-
ence the superannuated and supernumerary preachers,
the widows and orphans of deceased travelling preach-
ers, and all other objects embraced in the Constitution
of the Methodist Preachers Aid Society of Baltimore,
the Missionary cause and the cause of education are
the objects to which subscriptions and the collections,
raised in view of the Centenary, should be applied.
The distribution of the amount to be made in the fol-
lowing manner, to wit: five-tenths of the whole sum
collected and subscribed to be appropriated to the
benefit of the superannuated preachers, etc. And for
that purpose to be deposited with the Board of Mana-
gers of the Preachers Aid Society of Baltimore, to be
invested in such manner as they may deem most judi-
cious and profitable. Four-tenths to be applied to the
interests of education under the direction of the Balti-
more Annual Conference. The remaining one-tenth
to be sent to the General Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church at its session in May, 1840, to be
applied to the Missionary cause, at the discretion ot
that body.

Resolved, 5th. That the following plan be adopted
in taking up said subscriptions and collections: A
subscription of $100 and upwards to be paid one-third
in cash, the other two-thirds in two annual instalments,
the subscriber giving his negotiable notes or bonds to
secure the payment, and all sums below $100, cash.

Resolved, 6th. That to carry out the above plan in
regard to the subscriptions and collections effectually,
a central committee of seven shall be appointed by the
Conference to whom all the subscriptions and collec-
Centenary of Methodism. 259

tions shall be sent. And to facilitate the raising of
subscriptions and collections, a public meeting shall
be held in each circuit and station under the superin-
tendence of the Presiding Elder and Preachers in his
charge, as soon as they may think advisable, provided
such subscriptions and collections are completed before
the day of , 1839. After such public
meeting the preachers shall proceed to take up Cen-
tenary collections, at each appointment.

Resolved, 7th. That the Bishops be respectfully
requested at their meeting in Philadelphia in April
next to draft an Episcopal Address to the members of
our Church, throughout the United States, in refer-
ence to the Centenary Celebration.

 

 

The blank date in the 2d and the 6th resolution
was filled subsequently by the 23d day of October.

It is a singular fact that no record can be found
in either the Journal or the files of the Conference of
1840 of a report of observance of October 23, 1839,
or of the amount collected and applied to the objects
designated above. Collections afterwards were re-
ported annually. That the day was a great day
among the Methodist people of Baltimore is well
remembered by the writer, who, as a boy of nine
years, marched in procession with Light Street Sun-
day School to old Eutaw Church, where a large
assembly were gathered, and interesting and enthu
siastic services were held.

The Journal of 1841 contains a resolution direct-
ing the preachers in charge “to furnish a list of
subscribers to the Centenary Fund with the amount
subscribed by each individual, to be entered in a
260 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

register to be kept for that purpose, in conformity
with a previous resolution of this Conference.” In
the session of 1842 a resolution was adopted, calling
upon the preachers to ascertain the amounts of the
Centenary subscriptions in the bounds of this Con-
ference, to draft an address to the subscribers to
redeem their pledges, and to report the same to this
Conference. No report, however, is on record of the
aggregate amount raised.

Bishop Waugh presided at the session of Con-
ference held March 11, 1840, at Georgetown, D. C.,
126 preachers in attendance. Fifteen were admitted
on trial. James Paynter had died. James Berkeley
was re-admitted.

The Committee appointed at the session of 1839,
to consider the subject of a division of the Confer-
ence, recommended a division, placing the Rocking-
ham, Winchester and Potomac Districts, Ebenezer
Station and Bladensburg, St. Mary’s, Calvert and
West River, Montgomery and Chickamuxen Circuits
in the Southern Division. This recommendation
was substituted on Thursday by the following reso-
lutions, offered by D. Steele and J. A. Collins :

Resolved, 1. That they [the delegates] respectfully
solicit permission of the next General Conference to
divide said Conference at any time within the néxt
four years by such lines as may be agreed upon by a
majority of its members under the direction of the
Presiding Bishop, provided that in the judgment of
said majority such a measure should become expedient
and necessary.
Conference Proceedings. 261

2. That our delegates to the next General Confer-
ence be instructed firmly to oppose any attempts which
may be made to amputate any part or parts of our
Conference by appending such part or parts to any of
the adjacent Conferences.

Daniel McJilton, well known, useful and beloved,
for many years City Missionary in Baltimore, was
among the local preachers elected to Elders’ orders.
Two hundred acres of Texas land were donated by
Eliza Reynolds as a Centenary offering, to be applied
to the Texas Mission. Samuel Brison, John A.
Collins, John Miller, 8. G. Roszel, Henry Slicer,
Norval Wilson, Edwin Dorsey and John A. Gere
were elected delegates to the General Conference.

An organization of the “Asbury Historical Society”
was heartily approved, and historical documents were
earnestly solicited. The Preachers Aid Society was
highly commended for its spirit and its work. The
annual resolution of the New England Conference on
the subject of slavery and abolition, was non-
concurred in by a unanimous vote of 126. The
Colonization Society was approved and the Confer-
ence pledged to promote its objects. Shepherds-
town, taken from Jefferson and Berkeley, becomes a
circuit.

The Quadrennium closing with 1840 indicates a
growth of 27 preachers and 2,162 members, the
aggregate being 181 preachers and 52,715 members.

The General Conference was held in Baltimore in
May, 1840. One hundred ard forty-two delegates
represented twenty-eight Conferences with 3,555
262 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

traveling preachers, 5,856 local preachers and 749,216
members.

The Bishops in their Pastoral Address adverted
to the prosperity of the Connection and the happy
effects and general observance of the recommenda-
tions in the Pastoral Address of 1836, which advised
‘abstinence from all abolition movements and from
agitating the exciting subject in the Charch,’’ but
add:

We regret that we are compelled to say that in
some of the Northern and Eastern Conferences, in
contravention of your christian and pastoral counsel,
and our best efforts to carry it into effect, the subject
has been agitated in such forms and in such a spirit
as to disturb the peace of the Church. This unhappy
agitation has not been confined to the Annual Confer-
ences, but has been introduced into Quarterly Confer-
ences, and made the absorbing business of self-created
bodies in the bosom of our beloved Zion.

In New England, a systematic effort had been
made to convert Annual and Quarterly Conferences
into abolition meetings. Bishops and Presiding
Elders had been at their wits’ end to control the
tumult. The claim made by the agitators to so-called
rights of action in these subordinate Conferences
was violently insisted upon, notwithstanding the
rulings of the Presidents against them. The point
at issue came before the General Conference and was
definitely settled by the following enactment proposed
by a Committee, of which Dr. Winans was chairman :

The President of an Annual or a Quarterly Meet-
ing Conference has the right to decline putting a ques-
Slavery Question — 263

tion on a motion, resolution or report, when in his
Judgment such motion, resolution or report does not
relate to the proper business of the Conference; pro-
vided, that in all such cases, the President, on being
required by the Conference to do so, shall have inserted
in the journals of the Conference, his refusal to put
the question on such motion, resolution or report, with
his reason for so refusing.

The President of an Annual or Quarterly Meeting
Conference has the right to adjourn the Conference
over which he presides, when in his judgment all the
business prescribed by the Discipline to such Confer-
ence, shall have been transacted, provided that, if an
exception be taken by the Conference, to his so
adjourning it, the exception shall be entered upon the
‘ournal of such Conference.

A memorial from the official members of West-
moreland, Virginia, repeated the complaint, made four
years before, that while geopraphically they were
subject to State Laws, under which emancipation, in
the sense of the Discipline, could not take place, the
Baltimore Conference to which they ecclesiastically
belonged, discriminated against them, refusing to
elect local preachers to orders or to admit them into
the traveling connection, because they were slave-
holders. The General Conference resolved :

That under the provisional exception of the General
Rule of the Church on the subject of slavery, the
simple holding of slaves, or mere ownership of slave
property in States and Territories where the laws do
not admit of emancipation and permit the liberated
slave to enjoy freedom, constitutes no legal barrier to
264 Part IIJI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

the election or ordination of ministers to the various
grades of office known in the ministry of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, and cannot therefore be con-
sidered as operating any forfeiture of right, in view of
such election or ordination.

>

The discouragement of the “Reformers” was gen-
eral and deep—the quiet before the storm.

The General Conference of 1840 was an extraor-
dinary event in the early life of the writer of this
history. Young as he was, it left its ineffaceable
impression on his memory. The scene at old Light
Street Church, during the sittings of the Conference,
is well remembered—the chancel filled with the great
men of the Church—the venerable senior Bishop
Roberts attended his last session of the General
Conference ; he survived it only three years; Bishop
Hedding, whose imposing figure on the day he was
presiding in the Conference has never lost its im-
pressiveness; Bishop Soule still full of vigor ;
Bishop Waugh “native and to the manner born ;”’
Bishop Morris, ranked among the foremost men of
his times ; Bishop Andrew, whose lot it was to be
the centre of the great struggle in 1844, bearing
himself with calmness and gentleness, yet with
indomitable courage—these were the official leaders
ranged in the chancel, while Wilbur Fisk, Nathan
Bangs, William Winans, Stephen George Roszel,
John A. Collins, Henry Slicer and a host of others
gave dignity and weight to all the deliberations of
the body. The man of the hour who attracted most
interest was Henry B. Bascom, whose sermon at
General Conference, 1840. 265

Light Street was preached to so great a throng that
when the writer, a small boy, stood in the crowded
aisle, he could obtain only an occasional glimpse of
the majestic form of the wonderful preacher, but
could hear the resounding tones of a voice and
speech so eloquent they could never be forgotten.
He also had the high privilege of listening to the
Rev. Robert Newton, the distinguished representa-
tive of British Methodism, who received such an
ovation in Monument Square on a Sunday during the
session as has perhaps never been accorded to any
other preacher. He still remembers, as he sat on
the marble step of Reverdy Johnson’s porch, within
a few feet of Dr. Newton, his remarkable physique,
his keen, yet benevolent eye, his voice matchless in
its sweetness of tone and the unction with which he
dwelt upon the power of the Gospel of Christ as he
was preaching from I Timothy 1:15 “This is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners ; of
whom I am chief.’ It was the echo of the Cen-
tenary of Methodism.

The death of Nelson Reed, which occurred near
Baltimore, October 20, 1840, produced a profound
impression when it was announced at the session of
the Conference held at Monument Street Church in
Baltimore, February 10, 1841. He began his min-
istry in 1775 and spent sixty-five years in preaching
the gospel. At the time of his decease he was the
oldest preacher in Europe or America.

The sudden death of Samuel Harden, one of the
foremost laymen of Baltimore, occurred during the
966 Part IEL—The Consepontion, 1812-1857.

session, and the Conference gave expression of their
high sense of his worth by attending bis funeral the
next day ina body. Isaac P. Cook, for many years
a prominent local preacher in Baltimore, was elected
to Elders’ orders.

The first record of the ordination of Deacons and
Elders was entered on the Journal at the request of
Bishop Morris. Fayette Street Station, taken from
the City Station, became a separate charge. Havre
de Grace, from old Harford Circuit, is constituted a
Station. Alfred Griffith was nominated as one of
the Book Agents to fill a vacancy. The Bishop was
requested to appoint a Sunday School Agent.

A resolution was adopted by a vote of 103 to 3,
respectfully requesting the Bishops “ not to transfer
preachers from another Conference to this, unless in
their judgment the work of God makes it impera-
tively necessary.” It was also “Resolved, That in
the judgment of this Conference, it is extremely incon-
venient for the Preachers to meet in Conference in
the month of February. Therefore, resolved that
the Bishops do and they are hereby respectfully
requested so to arrange the plan of Episcopal visita-
tions as to hold the Baltimore Conference at a time
not later than the 15th nor earlier than the 10th of
March.”

At the session held in Caroline Street, East Balti-
more Station, March 16, 1842, Bishop Soule pre-
siding and Bishop Waugh being present, the death
of four notable men was reported—George G. Cook-
man, lost at sea on his way to England, Jchn Rice,
Conference Changes. 267

another Englishman who had served but one year in
the City Station, Stephen George Roszel, famous in
the earlier and later annals of the Baltimore Confer-
ence, James Reiley, an old and faithful veteran, and
James Berkely’ As these noble workmen fell, twenty
new recruits are admitted on trial, some of whom
rendered during the subsequent years, long and
valuable service.

The first movement to publish the proceedings of
the Conference was made. Resolutions were adopted
invoking the prayers of the Church in behalf of
Bishop Soule and his traveling companion, Rev.
Thomas B. Sargent, in their travel to England to
represent American Methodism in the Wesleyan
Conference. The tomb of Rev. Jesse Lee, near the
city of Baltimore, was ordered to be repaired and a
suitable inscription placed thereon. The Conference
expressed its disapproval of membership of a travel-
ing preacher in the Odd Fellows Order. West-
minster is organized from Liberty Circuit, and Frost-
burg from Allegheny. Columbia Avenue appears as
a new station in Baltimore. Both Bishops sign the
Journal.

Bishop Waugh presided at the session at Wesley
Chapel, Baltimore, March 15, 1848; ninety-nine
members responded to the roll call. Five preachers—
John Gill Watt, John Rhodes, Joseph Parker, Albert
Baker and George L. Brown, had died. Among the
thirteen received on trial, George D. Cummins served
a little more than two years, and then withdrew to
unite with the Protestant Episcopal Church. Years

 

1See Sketches in the Appendix.
268 = Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

later he was elected and consecrated a Bishop in that
church, and finally organized and exercised his office
as Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church.

The building of a new church with rented pews,
proposed by a porticn of the members of the Balti-
more City Station, elicited an animated discussion.
The resolution disapproving the project was carried
by a vote of 93 yeas against 9 nays. Despite this
action, Charles Street pewed church was built, after-
wards replaced by the First Methodist Episcopal
Church. Subsequently the pewed system went out
of use.

A resolution denouncing the delivery of a sermon
composed wholly or in part by another, without
acknowledgment, and making it the just ground of
objection to the character of any preacher known to
be guilty of it, was adopted by a rising vote of 116.

The Treasurer of the Centenary Fund reported the
collection of $1,511. James M. Green’s parchments
were restored and sent to him in the Ilinois Confer-
ence. Huntingdon District became the eighth in
the Conference. East and West Harford Circuits,
(taken from old Harford) were constituted. Here-
ford Circuit is formed from the Baltimore and Great
Falls Circuits. Emory, Strawbridge and Whatcoat
appear as new stations in Baltimore.

The Report on Slavery (affecting the relation of
T. J. Deyerle, James Brads and 8. V. Blake) was
adopted as follows :

Whereas, the Baltimore Conference is located on a
territory partly slaveholding and partly non-slave-
Report on Slavery. 269

holding ; and whereas, a preacher who is a slave-
holder, and known to be such (no matter under what
circumstances), would not be kindly received, and
could not make himself useful in the greater propor-
tion of our appointments; and whereas, the General
Superintendents must therefore, sooner or later, be
under the necessity of stationing the preachers, in
view of their relation to the subject of slavery, thus
producing a new and most anomalous state of things
among brethren ; and whereas, the Baltimore Confer-
ence occupies an intermediate, and central position,
between the two great divisions of slave-holding
States and Conferences, on the South, and non-
slaveholding States and Conferences on the North
and East, it is therefore deemed of vital import to
the interests of Methodism, that this Conference firmly
maintain the integrity of its character for constancy
and consistency unimpaired ; retaining and preserving
that fair model of primitive Methodism transmitted to
us by our Fathers, to serve as a beacon of light,
elevated far above the stormy elements of contention,
and strife which are unhappily around her, by most
bitter controversies concerning abolition and pro-
slavery ; and whereas the Discipline of the Church
declares, page 196, answer 2, that “when any travel-
ing preacher becomes an owner of a slave or slaves,
by any means, he shall forfeit his ministerial character
unless he execute, if it be practicable, a legal emanci-
pation of such slaves conformably to the laws of the
State in which he lives.”” Therefore,

Resolved, etc. 1. That the above named brethren,
L. J. Hansberger, etc., and all others similarly cir-
cumstanced be, and they hereby are, most affection-
ately and earnestly urged, and required, to take
270 = Part ITI—T he Conservation, 1812-1857.

measures within the current Conference year, to free
and rid themselves, of the relation of master to their
slaves; Provided always that no sale, or other method
of transferring the right of property to a third person,
shall be deemed, or taken to be, within the meaning
of this resolution.

This Preamble and Resolution was signed by A.
Griffith, G. Morgan, R. S. Vinton, Wm. Prettyman,
Jas. Stevens.

L. J. Harnsberger was elected to Elders’ Orders,
but by request of the Conference not ordained till he
should meet the requirements in the above resolution.

A resolution was adopted ordering a Committee
of nine to consider both the necessity of dividing the
Conference and the lines of an equitable division,
and to report at the next annual session.

The Presiding Elders of the several Districts were
appointed to co-operate with other Trustees from the
Church in Baltimore City in the establishment of a
Female Seminary in the city under the patronage of
the Conference.

The work of the Preachers Aid Society may be
estimated from the recommendation by the Commit-
tee on Necessitous Cases, suggesting the sum of
$1,522 to be appropriated to those worthy of relief. .

The Conference convened at Foundry Chapel,
Washington, D. C., March 13, 1844, Bishop Morris
President—Bishops Soule and Waugh assisting,
ninety-two preachers answering the roll call. S. A.
Roszel was Secretary and William O. Lumsdon assist-
ant. John Kobler and Tobias Reiley, Morris Howe,
Ss.

ASBURY

 

ROSZEL
On Division of the Conference. 271

John V. Rigdon, Z. Jordan had died. Eighteen
were admitted on trial. Rev. Dr. Burns and Rev.
Mr. Lewis, representatives of the Free Church of
Scotland, were introduced. Their eloquent addresses
induced the following action :

Resolved, That the cause of the Free Church of Scot-
land is the cause of religious liberty, and that it emi-
nently deserves the sympathy of the Christian world,
in which we cordially participate.

One hundred and five dollars in aid were contributed.

In view of the connection of L. J. Harnesberger
with slavery, his ordination was suspended until
assurance should be given that the freedom of the
younger slaves had been secured. The same decision
was applied also in the cases of N. Head and S. V.
Blake. These brethren agreed to the terms imposed.

A Committee reported that the proposition to divide
the Conference, according to certain lines, ‘ was
deemed inexpedient in consideration of the central
position of our Conference and the conservative in-
fluence which it has always exerted upon the con-
flicting extremes of our Church. * * * To divide
at the present crisis might impair this influence and
prove highly predjudical to the best interests of
the Church.” The delegates were to be instructed
“to resist any attempt of the General Conference
either to divide or take off any part of its terri-
tory.” A substitute offered by John A. Collins was
adopted requesting the General Conference not to
divide or alter the present bounds of the Conference ;
272 = Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

but in the event of a determination by the General
Conference to do so, to recommend the division
by lines beginning at the mouth of the Patapsco
River and running with the northern boundaries of
Patapsco, Montgomery and Frederick circuits, strike
the Potomac at the line of Frederick circuit ; and
then, running up the Potomac River to the Allegheny
Mountains ; and the delegates were instructed to
carry out the resolutions according to their full intent
and meaning.

A recommendation was offered by the Preachers
Aid Society to establish a school or schools for the
education of preachers’ children. But, though the
suggestion was regarded as laudable, the Conference
deemed ‘the present not the proper time for the
consummation of their noble purpose.”

Henry Slicer, Alfred Griffith, John Bear, N. J. D.
Morgan, Charles B. Tippett, Thomas B. Sargent,
John A. Collins, John Davis, John A. Gere and
George Hildt, were elected delegates to the ensuing
General Conference.

The famous case of Francis A. Harden was taken
up. He announced “the impossibility in his view
of a compliance with the resolutions passed regard-
ing the possession of slaves.” A Committee, ap-
pointed to consider his case, reported the failure “of
their attempt to induce brother Harden to comply
with the wishes of the Conference, whereupon the
following was adopted :

Rssolved, That brother Harden be suspended from
his ministerial standing until the next Conference, or
Recommendations to the General Conference. 273

until he shall have given satisfactory assurance to the
Episcopacy that he has already secured the freedom
of the slaves in the possession of himself or wife, in
compliance with the report and resolution adopted in
his case on Wednesday last, March 20,

F. A. Harden then gave notice of his intention to
appeal from the above decision to the General Con-
ference.

Upon a reconsideration of the vote against the
division of the Conference, J. A. Collins withdrew
the first two resolutions, and the following action
was had: Resolved that it is expedient and nec-
essary that this Conference be divided (carried by
102 to 53). Resolved that the line recommended
run “with the north line of the Patapsco to the
Relay House, then with the Baltimore and Obio
Railroad to the Point of Rocks, then with the North
Branch of the Potomac to the western line of the
Conference.

A circular with resolutions from the Genesee Con-
ference, requesting an alteration of the Rule on
Slavery, was unanimously non-concurred in, by a
rising vote of 148. It recommended the addition of
the clause, ‘or the holding them (men, women and
children) as slaves, in any State, territory or district
which will admit emancipation and permit the
liberated slave to enjoy freedom.

The resolution from the New Jersey Conference to
make local preachers responsible for offences against
the law of the Discipline cognizable in the pluce where

the offences were committed, was concurred in.
18
274 Port II]—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

A resolution from the New York Conference recom-
mending a suspension of the restrictive Rule on the
subject of spirituous liquors, failed to obtain the
sanction of the Conference on the ground that there
is no authority in the General or Annual Conferences
to suspend any one of the restrictive regulations, but
to alter or change them.

The names “Baltimore” and “Washington” were
directed to apply to the respective Conferences in
case of a division, and the property to be equitably
divided between the two bodies. The proposed meas-
ures, as may well be supposed, failed during the Gen-
eral Conference session in May following.

Resolutions recommending sympathy and aid to
the colored societies, in keeping them united to the
whites in church services, appropriating separate seats
for them in our houses of worship, serving them with
the preachers of the Conference, instructing them and
establishing Missions among them, were adopted.

The Journal of this session is signed only by S. A.
Roszel, secretary. Charles Street Station, Baltimore,
was organized. Caroline Street Station, formed from
East Baltimore Station, appears for the first time ;
also High Street. Rockville Circuit is taken from
old Montgomery and constituted a separate charge.

The General Conference which met in New York
city, May 1, 1844, was the most memorable in the
history of the Methodist Church, since it gave rise to
the severest rupture a great body of christians has
ever sustained in this country. It can now be suc-
cessfully affirmed that the Methodist Episcopal
The Church not Responsible. 275

Church was not responsible for the slavery agitation,
nor for the fratricidal contest of 1861-65. She had,
throughout the entire period of her existence as a
church, maintained a conservative position on that
subject. The disturbers of her peace had been
effectually quelled, and an era of unprecedented
prosperity had set in. In his History of Method-
ism, Bishop McTyeire has with great clearness
shown that the abolitionists, having lost the battle
in the ecclesiastical arena, tried the political, and
won. It is a well known fact that, after defeat on
religious and moral lines, they began by spurn-
ing the Bible and the civil Constitution, and that
they honored the churches by their denounciation.
Dr. D. D. Wheedon, one of the best thinkers in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, himself fully com-
mitted to abolitionism, does not hesitate to say:
“Tt is a signal, popular illusion that original aboli-
tion was a great moral reform. * * * The aboli-
tion was not a moral achievement, but a war meas-
ure.” To the realm of politics the movement prop-
erly belonged ; to that realm it went, and there it
also ended. The Methodist Church never tried,
much less expelled, a single member for slave hold-
ing, up to the hour when Lincoln issued the emanci-
pation proclamation. As might well be supposed,
the agitation became sectional and extended to all
classes of society. No organization, political, moral
or religious, escaped it. When the delegates to the
General Conference assembled, the wave of political
excitement met and submerged them. No impartial
observer can fail to recognize the high character of
276 = =Part I1]—T he Conservation, 1812-1857.

the men who composed that august body. They met
the issue with dignity, gravity and brotherly love.
A leading Journal in New York City said at the
time: “It is but simple justice to say that the Con-
ference was worthy of eminent distinction on the
score of talent. Its members were all clergymen,
and therefore public speakers by profession, and
many of them were gifted with the highest order of
eloquence. Perhaps no body of men in the country
ever contained in a higher degree those peculiar
talents which give strength and force to oral discus-
sion.” Upon these men, North and South, the
necessity of a peaceable separation was laid. Other-
wise, either in one section or the other, disintegra-
tion and absorption into non-Methodistic commun-
ions were inevitable. Many in all probability would
have lapsed into the world and lost their souls. The
sublimity of the scene was unparalleled in Church
history. The wisdom and magnanimity of their
action are today manifest to every impartial mind.
So far from having proven a calamity, as many
imagined, the well-organized millions on both sides
clearly reveal its providential direction.

In this Conference, Baltimore had her best men.
Slicer led the delegation and Bear followed. N. J.B.
Morgan, Tippett, Sargent, John A. Collins, John
Davis, Jno. A Gere, George Hildt complete the list.

Age and youth were represented. Griffith had sat
with Nelson Reed, George Roszel, Joshua Wells and
Henry Smith in 1816; John Bear had been associ-
ated with Joshua Soule, Hitt and Roszel, in 1824 ;
Slicer, Tippett and Davis had been together in 1832;
 

THOMAS B. SARGENT
(From a portrait painted in London in 1842)
General Conference of 1844. 277

Collins had been trained already in two General Con-
ferences. Thomas B. Sargent, attractive in face and
form, modest and graceful in manner, and eloquent
in speech, had made his mark in the Church. It was
not surprising that the General Conference of 1844
should elect him Secretary, nor that he should have
been placed upon the famous Committee of Nine that
drew the plan of Separation. We may safely sup-
pose that the paper was in his handwriting and that
he was largely instrumental in its adoption.

The full proceedings of this General Conference
cannot practically be detailed in this Conference his-
tory. Nor need they be. They have gone into all
the printed books on Methodism, books that have
been widely circulated both North and South, and
contain the diverse opinions of the greatest minds of
the Church as to the questions of ecclesiastical law
and polity—questions that divide the two branches
of Methodism to this day.

 

Monument St., Baltimore, was the place, and March
12, 1845, date of this session of the Baltimore Con-
ference. Bishop Waugh presided, aided by Bishops
Soule, Hedding and Janes. Nineteen were admitted.

Nathaniel B. Mills, a faithful bachelor veteran, who
left all his personal effects, his savings, horse, saddle
and bridle to the Conference, had died. He was
born in Newcastle County, Delaware, February 23,
1766, converted in his fifteenth year, admitted in the
Baltimore Conference, 1787, traveled in New Jersey,
New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, as far west as
Pittsburg, Maryland and Virginia, embracing a period
278 Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

of active work of 58 years. He spent ten years
from 1835 in the superannuated relation, laboring
still, as he was able, with untiring constancy, preach-
ing even on the last Sunday of his life. He was a
holy man of God, a sound, good and_ practical
preacher, not free from infirmities inseparable from
humanity, but with the unblemished moral reputation
of purity and innovency of life.

Resolutions were adopted recommending Wyoming
Seminary, the better observance of the Sabbath,
urging attendance upon the Sunday School and pro-
viding a thorough organization of the Tract Society.
The discussion of the characters of Nelson Head
and Thomas C. Hayes in connection with their rela-
tion to slavery, occupied some time, but they were
finally passed.

The recommendation by the last General Confer-
ence for the change of the Sixth Restrictive rule of
the Discipline was presented by the President and
read as follows: ‘They shall not appropriate the
produce of the Book Concern nor of the Chartered
Fund to any purpose other than for the benefit of the
traveling, supernumerary, and superannuated and
worn-out preachers, their wives, widows and children ;
and to such other purposes as may be determined
on by the votes of two-thirds of the members of the
General Conference.” The recommendation was
non-concurred in by a vote of 40 ayes to 148 noes.

Resolutions, offered by Robert Emory, with refer-
ence to the position of the Conference on the subject
of Slavery and its attitude as to the division of the
Report on Separation. 279

Church, in reply to certain memorials, coming to the
Conference, some favorable and others unfavorable
to the action of this Conference at the last session
of the General Conference, were referred to a Com-
mittee of Nine. Their report was as follows :

Your Committee have devoted their candid and
respectful consideration to the alleged grievances of
the memorialists, and regret that any action of this
body should have been interpreted by said memorial-
ists as hostile to their disciplinary privileges and
religious prosperity. The position of the Baltimore
Conference on the great question which now agitates
our hitherto united Zion is a peculiar one. Occupy-
ing an intermediate place between the North and
South, she has up to the present period successfully
endeavored to preserve her members from abolitionism
on the one hand and voluntary slaveholding on the
other. In order to effect this it has been her uniform
usage to make non-slaveholding a term of admission
and continuance in the ranks of her traveling min-
istry. So far however as the Local Ministry are con-
cerned your Committee are of the opinion, that in the
State of Virginia they are covered by the provisions
of the discipline on this subject, insomuch as in the
said State the laws do not allow the emancipated slave
to live within her bounds and enjoy his freedom. The
Baltimore Conference does not regard the ownership
of slaves as a disqualification for Church membership,
and hence while she believes (doubtless with the con-
currence of our brethren in Virginia) that slavery is
a great evil, yet it forms no part of her creed that
slaveholding is necessarily and under all circumstances
asin. With these views your Committee propose the
subjoined resolutions for adoptions by this Conference :
280 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Resolved, 1. That inasmuch as we are not included
as a Conference in the invitation to participate in the
Louisville Convention, for this as well as for other and
weightier reasons which it is unnecessary at present to
assign, we decline the appointment of delegates to said
convention.

Resolved, 2. That we regret that our brethren in
Virginia should feel themselves so aggrieved by any
past action of this Conference as to be inclined in the
event of division or secession to separate themselves
from the Church to which under God they owe their
spiritual existence.

Resolved, 3. That while we cannot compromit in
any degree the great principles which have hitherto
controlled our conduct on this subject, we disavow any
purpose whatever to disregard the rights and privi-
leges of our Local Ministry and membership guaran-
teed to them under the discipline.

(Signed) James M. Hanson, H. Slicer, J. Davis,
Wm. Prettyman, B. N. Brown, John Bowen, William
B. Edwards, William Hamilton.

This report was laid on the table, and no action is
subsequently recorded.

The Sailors’ City Bethel, Light Street Wharf,
Baltimore, was organized in an old sailing vessel,
where much good was accomplished among the coast-
wise and Chesapeake Bay sailors during subsequent
years. McKendree finds its place as a separate sta-
tion in Washington City.

The Conference assembled in Eutaw Street Church,
Baltimore, March 11, 1846, Bishop Hedding pre-
siding. Bishop Janes and 188 members were in
Witham Ryland. 281

attendance. Sixteen were admitted. William Ry-
land, admitted in 1802, had died January 19, 1846,
He was a native of Ireland; came to the United
States when eighteen years of age; first settled in
Harford County, Md., where he was converted, came
to Baltimore and entered the Conference in 1802.
For twenty-seven years he was in the itinerant ranks ;
then, though superannuated, acted as chaplain in the
United States Navy, and was stationed at the Marine
Barracks, Washington City, where he spent the
remainder of his useful life. His last moments were
peaceful and calm. One said to him, as he ap-
proached the close of his illness : ‘Trust in the Lord,
for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength.”
His last utterance was : “I can trust in none other.”
The death of other worthies was announced : Gerard
Morgan, admitted 1806; Joseph Fry, 1809; John
W. Cronin and Charles E. Brown, 1837, and John
Ball, 1839. They are referred to in the Appendix.
Much time was consumed in trials of John A. Hen-
ning and John Wesley Osborne. The former was
admonished by the President and the latter acquitted
of the charges preferred against him.

Ryland Chapel, Washington, was constituted a
station.

On the first day of the session, a paper was pre-
sented by John A. Collins, containing a Preamble
and resolutions relative to the Plan of Separation
adopted by the General Conference in 1844. The
paper was read and on motion of Henry Slicer it was
laid on the table and 250 copies were ordered to be
printed.
282 Part IIJ—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Memorials poured in from almost every section
of the Conference territory, “setting forth their
views and wishes respecting their position as
affected by the action of the last General Conference
in regard to the Plan of Separation.” Some in that
part of the Conference east of the Blue Ridge in
Virginia, had early in 1845 urged the Conference to
send delegates to the Louisvilie Convention with the
view of adhering to the Southern organization ;
others, in the Valley, were satisfied to remain in con-
nection with the Methodist Episcopal Church, if the
Discipline “as it is’? should not be changed.

A Committee of one from each District was
appointed, to which was referred all these documents,
together with the paper of J. A. Collins, as follows :
William Hamilton, Henry Slicer, James M. Hanson,
William B. Edwards, James H. Brown, George
Guyer, John Bowen, Benjamin N. Brown.

The Committee, after a week’s serious delibera-
tion, presented a Pastoral Address which was adopted
by a vote of 177 affirmative, 3 negative. The same
Committee also submitted the following report :

Whereas, the General Conference of 1844 adopted
the report generally known as the “ Report of the
Committee of Nine,” embracing certain resolutions to
meet the contingency of a separation of several Annual
Conferences in the slaveholding States from under the
jurisdiction of the Methodist Episcopal Church ;

And whereas, that separation was carried into effect
by a Convention of Delegates from sixteen Annual
Conferences assembled in Louisville, Kentucky, in

May, 1845 ;
Adherence to M. E. Church Conditional. 283

And whereas, by said separation the Baltimore
Annual Conference became a border Conference, and
as the first resolution of said “Committee of Nine”
seems to contemplate that Societies, Stations and Con-
ferences bordering on the line of division shall by a
vote of a majority decide whether they continue to
adhere to and remain under the jurisdiction of the
M. E. Church—Therefore,

Resolved, 1. By the Baltimore Annual Conference
in Conference Assembled, That we still continue to
regard ourselves a constituent part of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in the United States ;

Resolved, 2. That this Conference disclaims having
any fellowship with abolitionism. On the contrary
while it is determined to maintain its well known and
long established position, by keeping the traveling
preachers composing its own body free from slavery,
it is also determined not to hold connection with any
ecclesiastical body that shall make non-slaveholding a
condition of membership in the Church, but to stand
by and maintain the Discipline as it is ;

Resolved, 8. That the decision of this Conference at
the last session, non-concurring in the proposed altera-
tion of the sixth restriction, was not based upon
opposition in the Conference to a fair and equitable
division and distribution of the property and funds of
the Church, as provided for in the plan of separation,
to the Church, South, but on other grounds altogether.'

The Preamble and Resolutions were ‘then adopted
as a whole by an overwhelming vote.” The Balti-
more Conference held unswervingly to this action,
reaffirming it repeatedly by a unanimous vote for

 

1Conference Journal, 1846, page 383.
284 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

fourteen years, until in 1860 the General Conference
virtually made non-slaveholding a test of member-
ship, and at the session of the Conference at Staun-
ton, Va., in 1861, the pledge made to its people was
redeemed by a vote of eighty-seven ayes-—noes, 1;
forty-one declining to vote, and three reserving their
votes.

The Conference at this session (1846) requested
the Rev. Robert Emory, then the President of Dick-
inson College, “to attend the Convention proposed
to be held in London during the month of August
next for promoting Christian Union among the
Protestant Churches of Christendom, and as one,
represent the Methodist Episcopal Church, provided
his services at the College can be dispensed with.”

Bishop Hamline presided in the session at Foundry
Chapel, Washington, March 10, 1847, Bishop Morris
assisting. Jacob R. Shepherd, Samuel Ellis and
James Guyer had died. The Conference deemed it
inexpedient to receive any preachers on trial, the
only occasion on record of such action.

A communication from a Committee of laymen
recommending the Wesleyan Female Institute at
Staunton, Virginia, was presented, read and referred
to the Committee on the Affairs of Dickinson College.
The Committee deemed the subject of so great
importance that they submitted a special report,
which, with the following resolution attached, was
adopted, and a Committee of Visitation ordered :

Resolved, 1. That the Female Seminary at Staun-
ton, under the control of Rev. J. R. Finch, is recom-
Border Difficulties, 285
mended by this Conference as meriting the support of
all those friendly to the diffusion of learning among
females in union with good morals and religion.

Resolved, 2. That we respectfully request the pre-
siding Bishop to appoint 2 Committee of Visitors who
shall attend the next annual examination on the last
day of June.

A circular from the Erie Conference proposing
an amendment, in which the General Conference was
asked to add to the General Rule on Slavery, “The
holding of Slaves in any State, Territory or District
where the Laws will admit of emancipation and per-
mit the liberated slave to enjoy freedom,” was non-
concurred in by a unanimous vote of 236 ayes. A
Committee on Border Difficulties was ordered and
appointed, as follows: Job Guest, John Davis, John
Bear, John Bowen, Norval Wilson, David Steele,
Henry Slicer, William Prettyman and John A. Gere,
to whom was referred a communication from Lan-
caster Circuit, Virginia. Their report was presented
near the close of the session, and was adopted, as
follows :

The Committee to whom was assigned the duty of
considering and reporting on the subject of border
difficulties, after hearing statements from several of
the brethren who labored on the border during the
past year, and carefully deliberating upon the matters
referred to them, have arrived unanimously at the
following conclusion—That as the Conference clearly
defined its position at the last session, and no action at
this time is therefore called for to set forth its views,
and as the Bishops are the authorized interpreters of
286 = =Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

the Plan of Separation. so called, and of the law gen-
erally, being constituted such by the General Confer-
ence, and as it is not therefore our right, as a Confer-
ence, but theirs, to decide what constitutes the line of
separation, and what may be regarded as encroach-
ments upon that line : your committee therefore deem
any action at this time upon the subject by this Con-
ference as not only uncalled for but inexpedient.

At the session held in Caroline Street Church,
Baltimore, March 8, 1848, Bishop Janes presided.
Bishop Waugh and 144 members were present.
William Edmonds, Joseph Merriken and Joseph
Plotner had died.' Twenty-five were admitted on
trial. One of these, Robert L. Dashiell, became sub-
sequently Missionary Secretary in New York. The
General Conference was solicited not to interfere with
the present territoria] limits of the Conference, either
by division or by cutting off any portion of its terri-
tory. Eleven delegates to the General Conference
were elected as follows: John Davis, Samuel Brison,
Alfred Griffith, John A. Collins, N. J. B. Morgan,
William Hamilton, John Bear, Norval Wilson, John
Bowen, John Miller, S. Asbury Roszel. The health
of Robert Emory having failed, he asked by letter for
a superannuated relation, which was granted. An
appropriation of fifty dollars a month was allowed
for the support of the German Misson, which had
previously been organized in Baltimore. Union
Station in Washington was constituted.

A Standing Committee on Female Seminaries was
ordered on the first day of the session and appointed,

 

1For sketcher, see Appendix.
Female Seminaries. 287

as follows: Thomas B. Sargent, Charles B. Young,
David Steele, John Bowen, Nelson Head, Josiah
Forrest, Mabury Goheen, Benjamin H. Creever.

It will be remembered that at the session of 1834,
after the resolutions that led ultimately to the estab-
lishment of Dickinson College, the pledge of the
Conference was given “ that as soon as sufficient funds
shall be raised to endow permanently the Professor-
ships of Dickinson College and redeem the pledge it
has given to its acceptance, it will take measures for
the establishment of two female academies, one to be
located in Virginia and the other in Maryland.”
Although nine years had elapsed, this pledge was not
forgotten. Meanwhile schools and seminaries for
girls, some within the bounds of the Conference and
others beyond, were receiving annually the recom-
mendations of the Conference. Finally, just pre-
vious to the Conference session of 1843, the official
members of Baltimore City Station elected a Board of
Trustees—George C. M. Roberts, chairman ; Chris-
tian Keener, Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Jr., Dr. Chapin
A. Harris and Comfort Tiffany—to make the neces-
sary arrangements for the opening of a female semi-
nary of learning of high grade and moral character,
provided the sanction and co-operation of the Annual
Conference should be first obtained. Their Chair-
man presented a communication conveying the action
of the meeting of the official members. The paper
was referred to a committee, who reported :

It is thought that a female Seminary will not be
extensively patronized unless located within our
bounds, and various propositions to establish such an
288 Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

institution in other parts of the Conference having
failed, your Committee see no prospect of success in
such an enterprise unless on the plan proposed by our
friends in Baltimore. They therefore recommend to
the Conference the following resolution :

Resolved, That six Trustees be appointed out of
this body to co-operate with other Trustees from the
Church in Baltimore City in the establishment of a
female Seminary in this City under the patronage of
the Conference ; provided, that the Conference shall
be involved in no pecuniary liability.

This report was adopted in the session of 1848,
and the Presiding Elders of the Baltimore and North
Baltimore Districts and the Preachers in charge of
Baltimore City, North Baltimore, East Baltimore and
William Street Stations were appointed Trustees to
co-operate with the other Trustees for the Church
in Baltimore in the establishment of a Female Semi-
nary in this city, under the patronage of the Confer-
ence. No further action by the Conference, with
regard to the Seminary in Baltimore, is recorded
until 1849.

But at the session in 1848, a committee ordered
and appointed on Female Seminaries, to whom sun-
dry communications were referred, reported the fol-
lowing resolutions which were adopted :

1. Resolved, That the Baltimore Annual] Confer-
ence accept the proposition to take under its patronage
and control the Wesleyan Female Institute at Staun-
ton, and that a Board of Trustees be appointed con-
sisting of five members of the Conference and seven
laymen, the former to be appointed by the presiding
»

Wesleyan Female Institute. 289

Bishop, the latter by the Conference, and in the event
of a vacancy occurring in the interval of Conference
a majority of the entire Board may appoint some one
to fill such vacancy until the next session.

2. Resolved, That the Trustees be directed to take
charge of the present subscription of $2,000, and
endeavor to increase it to a sufficient amount to enable
them to erect buildings suitable for a seminary of the
highest order, to be the property of the Baltimore
Conference, the Conference not assuming any pecuni-
ary liability in the matter.

3. That the Bishop be requested to appoint an
Agent to collect funds for the institution, that the
members of the Conference afford any facilities to
enable the Agent and Trustees to secure the necessary
means and that the institution be recommended to the
favour of our people generally.

4. That the Principal be elected by the Board of
Trustees subject to the appointment by the presiding
Bishop of the Baltimore Annual Conference.

Similar resolutions were adopted in relation to
Dickinson Seminary, the only addition being an
invitation sent to the Philadelphia Conference “to
co-operate with us in patronizing Dickinson Semi-
nary at Williamsport, Pa.” The number of Trus-
tees, appointed by the Bishop at the close of the
session, for the Wesleyan Female Institute at Staun-
ton, was increased to seven, and are recorded as fol-
lows : John Bowen, B. N. Brown, G. W. Israel, J.
McK. Reilly, W. L. Spottswood, Thomas Hildebrand
and Tillotson A. Morgan.

19
290 =Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Two questions at issue between the two branches
of Episcopal Methodism were reaching a critical
point. Regarding the question of the division of
property, Henry Slicer reflected the sentiment of the
Conference in the following resolutions :

1. That the General Conference be recommended
to divide the property of the Book Concern and the
Chartered Fund between the M. E. Church and the
M. E. Church South, in accordance with the plan
recommended by the Editor of the Christian Advo-
cate and Journal in his editorials of March 1 and 8,
1848.

2. That the General Conference be recommended
sacredly to observe and keep the terms of the compact
as set forth in the Plan of Separation.

These resolutions were laid on the table and the sub-
ject was deferred until the next session (1849).

The second question gave rise to more serious con-
cern. King George, Westmoreland and Lancaster
Circuits, lying between the Potomac and Rappahan-
nock rivers, in what was called the Northern Neck of
Virginia, were by clear construction on the border,
and under the Plan of Separation had already adhered
to the Church, South. It was unavoidable that con-
tiguous charges should be affected and agitation
ensue. Memorials came up from some of these “in-
terior charges” asking the Conference to withdraw
its jurisdiction and to be left entirely to the superin-
tendence and care of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, claiming to have a decided majority in favor
of such action. The Committee on Memorials in
their report denied the legal right of said charges to
Interior Charges. 291

take such action, or of the Conference to assent to
it. They contended that the Plan of Separation did
not provide for a movable line in the border Confer-
ences, and that such a construction as the memorial-
ists placed upon it was in direct opposition to the
spirit and purpose of the Plan of Separation, which
had been adopted asa ‘Peace Measure,” and that
all the charges memorializing were “ interior charges”’
and not ‘border charges.” The Report embodied
the following resolutions, which were adopted :

1. That the line of Separation between the M. E,
Church and the M. E. Church South, as provided by
the Plan of Separation, is immovably fixed upon the
northern boundary of the thirteen protesting Confer-
ences, as it existed at the time it was formed; and that
therefore charges that were “interior” then, remain so
at the present time.

2. That Leesburg, Stafford C. H. and Brooke’s
School House, on Stafford Circuit; Rectortown and
Salem, on Loudoun Circuit; Harrisonburg and Elk
Run, on the Rockingham District, as well as all the
appointments not bordering upon the line, as defined
in the above report, are “interior charges” in the
sense of the Plan of Separation; and therefore, their
connection with the Virginia, or any other Conference
of the Church, South, is revolutionary to all intents
and purposes, and imposes on us the necessity of a
firm and steady resistance.

3. That the aggressions recently made on the south-
ern territory of our Conference by ministers of the
Virginia Conference, are without legal authority, and
we therefore do most solemnly protest against them ag
in violation of the provisions of the Plan of Separa-
292 = =Part IJI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

tion, and derogatory to the friendly relations that
should always exist between different denominations
of christians.

The so-called Border War, thus inaugurated within
the territory of the Baltimore Conference, continued
to disturb the peace and prosperity of the Church,
until the action of the Buffalo General Conference
in 1860 brought matters to a final issue, and the
majority of the Conference fulfilled its oft repeated
pledges at Staunton, Va., March, 1861.

During this session (1848) two important trials
occurred. John A. Henning was charged with mal-
administration and was acquitted ; John W. Osborne,
after a protracted examination was, by resolution,
“deprived of his ministerial relation to the Church,”
and the Conference directed that “his name be
omitted on the General Minutes.” An appeal was
taken to the ensuing General Conference, which
reversed the decision of the Annual Conference. He
was granted a location at the next session at his own
request.

The statistics at the close of this quadrennium,
1844-48, record 261 preachers and 67,433 members,
of whom 51,161 were white and 16,272 colored.
The net decrease of 5,392 members was due to the
severance by many under the Plan of Separation, and
to the border strife attendant upon it. The net gain
of 41 in the ministry shows in how small a degree
the integrity of the body was affected.

The General Conference meeting in’ Pittsburg,
Pa., May 1, 1848, the first session after the Sepa-
General Conference, 1848. 293

ration, was reduced in representation from 34 to 21
Conferences, with a loss of 440,000 members of
the Church. A large part of the proceedings of
the body were of necessity occupied with the results
of the action of the session of 1844. While the
progress of the Church had not been hindered by
the organization of the M. E. Church, South, the
border Conferences had suffered greatly by reason of
the lack of unanimity in opinion as to the provisions
in the Plan of Separation regulating the decisions of
societies on the Southern lines. The brunt of this
‘‘border war” fell upon the Baltimore Conference,
and the occupancy of “interior charges,” voting for
adherence to the M. EK. Church South, by preachers
from that section, naturally produced dissension and
strife in the communities where two rival Method-
isms, in small towns and country places, set “altar
against altar,” and militated greatly against peace
and progress. From a membership of 72,528 in
1844, there had been a loss of 6,949 in the terri-
tory of the Baltimore Conference. While not affect-
ing the integrity of the body, such a defection spread-
ing over the northern section of the State of Virginia
in isolated places, gave rise to constant agitation and
friction, carried its baneful influences into the Gen-
eral Conference, and evidently had much to do in
determining the action of that body.

The refusal to recognize Dr. Lovick Pierce, the
fraternal messenger from the M. E. Church, South,
and the repudiation of the Plan of Separation, widened
the breach between the two great branches of Meth-
odism in this country, and delayed for years the
294 Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

reconciliation, which happily came to pass at the
General Conference in Baltimore, May, 1876. This
delay, in the opinion of the wise and good Bishop
Morris, might have been obviated. He says:

“Tf the Plan of Separation had been carried out
in good faith and Christian feeling on both sides, it
would scarcely have been felt any more than the
division of an Annual Conference.”

Few changes were made during this session, and
those adopted did not seriously affect the Baltimore
Conference.

A petition from the colored Methodists of Balti-
more to organize separate Conferences with colored
ministers who should have the oversight of all the
colored people in connection with the M. E. Church,
was reported adversely, but it was suggested that the
discipline be so amended as to allow the Bishops to
employ colored preachers to travel and preach where
their services are deemed necessary ; and the report
was adopted.

On appeal of Rev. J. W. Osborne, tried and de-
prived of his credentials at the last session of the
Baltimore Conference, the sentence was reversed.

At Staunton, Va., March 7, 1849, Bishop Morris
was in the chair. Shortly after the close of the last
session, May 18, 1848,’ Robert Emory, son of the
Bishop, Professor of Languages in Dickinson Col-
lege at the age of twenty, itinerant preacher for six-
teen years, and finally President of Dickinson College,
(1845-48) surrendered his earthly work for the
heavenly reward.’ ;

 

'See Appendix.
Property Question.—Literary Institutions. 295

The following resolution of the General Conference
on the property question with the M. E. Church,
South, was unanimously concurred in—183 ayes :

Resolved, That should the Agents find that they are
not authorized to tender a voluntary arbitration, and
should no suit be commenced by the commissioners
aforesaid, then and in that case the General Confer-
ence, being exceedingly desirous of effecting an amica-
ble settlement of said claim, recommend to the Annual
Conferences so far to suspend the Sixth Restrictive
Article of the Discipline as to authorize our Book
Agents at New York and Cincinnati to submit such
claim to arbitration.

It was at this Conference that Dr. Jesse T. Peck,
afterwards elected Bishop in the M. E. Church,
became a member by transfer. He was an hon-
ored and useful co-laborer for several years. A
tombstone and epitaph were ordered for the burial
place of John W. Cronin. Summerfield is a new
charge, taken from Baltimore Circuit. In the Report
of the Committee on Literary Institutions it is stated
that the Board of Trustees of the Baltimore Female
College had successfully organized that institution
under the Presidency of Dr. Nathan C. Brooks, who
had for years been Principal of the Baltimore High
School (afterwards Baltimore City College); that
Dickinson Seminary, under the care of Rev. Thomas
Bowman (now Senior Bishop in the M. E. Church)
as Principal, with 160 scholars; and the Wesleyan
Female Institute at Staunton, had a hopeful future.
The Boards of Trustees for these institutions were
appointed as follows :
296 Part II—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

For the Baltimore Female College, clerical: John
A. Collins, Charles B. Tippett, Edwin Dorsey, N.
J. B. Morgan, Thomas B. Sargent, William Hamil-
ton, Lyttleton F. Morgan, Samuel Brison, William
B. Edwards; laymen to he elected by the stock-
holders. A charter was to be obtained from the
Legislature at its meeting in December, 1849.
For Dickinson Seminary at Williamsport, Pa., cler-
ical: The Presiding Elder of Northumberland Dis-
trict, Preacher in Charge of Williamsport Circuit,
and Rev. Thomas Bowman; laymen: General
James Irvine, Rev. J. W. Toner and George Hart-
man, of Centre County ; C. Goodykuntz, R. Farris, R.
Fleming, Henry Hartman, Hezekiah Packer, John
Crawford, C. Lowe, John Smith, David Shower and
David Webb, of Lycoming County; Hon. George
Crawford, of Clinton County; C. B. Bowman and
Thomas Wood, of Columbia County ; Moses Cham-
berlain, of Northumberland County ; Benjamin Har-
vey, of Luzerne County. For the Wesleyan Female
Institute, clerical: B. N. Brown, John Bowen,
George W. Israel, James McK. Reiley, Wilson L.
Spottswood; laymen: Judson McCoy, Stephen
Harnesberger, William Eagan, D. W. Arnold, A. M.
Simpson, B. F. Poyntz, Thornton Berry, John Good-
win and Patrick Beirne.

Thus, after years of planning and waiting, three
institutions of higher grade were successfully estab-
lished, all of which afforded annually increasing
facilities for the education of the daughters of our
preachers and people.
Movement for a Conference Paper. 297

At the session, March 6, 1850, at Alexandria,
Bishops Waugh and Morris presiding, nineteen were
admitted on trial. At the head of the list appears
the name of James A. McCauley. He was the first
Principal appointed to the Wesleyan Female Insti-
tute at Staunton after its organization, and during
the later years of his ministry, the President of his
Alma Mater, Dickinson College. The Methodist
people of Carlisle aroused much feeling among the
preachers during this session by the effort to change
free seats to pews, and resolutions were adopted
condemning the act as against the provisions of the
Discipline. Martinsburg, formerly embraced in
Berkeley Circuit, was constituted a station. The
credentials of Francis A. Harden, the famous appel-
lant in 1844, were returned and filed with the papers
of the Conference.

A movement was made looking to the publication
in Alexandria of a religious journal, to be called
The Baltimore Christian Advocate and Itinerant. It
seems to have resulted in failure, as no mention of
it appears afterwards. The increase in membership,
the past year, of 2,622 was encouraging. No preacher
had died, but the names of seven filled up the list
reported at the next session: Jacob Gruber, fifty
years in the ranks, James Reid, forty-six years a
member, John W. Richardson, Peter McEnally, Joseph
S. Morris and Thomas Fulton.

The session, March 5, 1851, was held at Winches-
ter, Bishops Waugh and Janes present. Of the

 

See Appendix.
298 Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

eighteen admitted, Henry Bascom Ridgaway, admired
for his eloquence, and none the less for the sweetness
of his spirit and the purity of his life, filled promi-
nent places in various Conferences, was Professor in
the Garrett Biblical Institute, near Chicago, and died
in his early prime.

Dickinson College, The Baltimore Female College
and the Seminaries continue to prosper. The last
Thursday of February was designated as the date for
an annual concert of prayer for Literary Institutions.
Gratification was expressed at the revivals of religion
occurring among them. Resolutions were adopted
deprecating the neglect of class-meetings and the
practice of some members of the church of indulging
in fashionable and sinful amusements, aud urging
the preachers to enforce the Discipline. The Sunday
School cause had risen to large proportions. The
Bible cause had become one of the foremost in the
thought and effort of the church. The Colonization
Society received annually sympathetic and cordial
support. The Missionary movement, both in the
Foreign and the Home department, reached full tide
of enthusiasm at the Conference anniversaries.

Cumberland was the seat of the Conference, March
3, 1852, Bishops Janes and Waugh present. Stephen
Asbury Roszel, son of the famous pioneer S. G.
Roszel, for eight years the Conference Secretary, a
wonderful pulpit orator and beloved as a pastor,
had passed into the heavenly life; and during the
year five other worthy workmen had also exchanged
their earthly labors for their eternal reward. William
Butler, Joseph White, John Smith, Zane Bland and
Conference 1852. 299

Thomas Cornelius. The glorious death of Bishop
Hedding was reported. John A. Collins became the
Secretary. Twenty-five were admitted on trial.
Twelve delegates to the General Conference were
elected: N. J. B. Morgan, Alfred Griffith, John Davis,
Norval Wilson, John A. Collins, S. Samuel Roszel,
Aquilla A. Reese, John Bear, Henry Slicer, John A.
Gere, Charles B. Tippett and Benjamin N. Brown.

The Conference was in no mood to recommend
division at this time. An earnest remonstrance was.
sent to the ensuing General Conference against any
attempt to cut off any portion of the territory for-the
purpose of annexation to any other Conference. In
the event that, notwithstanding the General Confer-
ence should insist on a division or amputation of the
body, the delegates were instructed to ask an equal
division of it.

A subscription amounting to $1,566 was taken up
to liquidate a debt on the Warrenton Church.

Piedmont is made a circuit, from Westernport.
The summing up in the Statistical Tables shows a
total of 55,601 whites and 16,272 colored members,
a gratifying net increase of 5,554 white and 1,184
colored. The Conference also adds, during the last
four years, fifty-six to the roll, making a total of
317 preachers. This result is the more surprising
in view of the agitation and strife still prevailing
because of the conflicting intrepretations of the Plan
of Separation. Preachers were sent from the Vir-
ginia Conference to societies bordering on the State
of Pennsylvania.
300 = =Part I1I—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

At the General Conference, which met in Boston,
May 4, 1852, the only action affecting the situation
in the Baltimore Conference was a favorabie report
with regard to the proposed erection of the Metro-
politan Church, in Washington city, and the appoint-
ment of a committee to receive voluntary contribu-
tions to aid in the project of the Baltimore brethren
for the erection of a monument to the memory of
Bishops Asbury, George and Emory.

The Conference met at Hagerstown, March 2, 1853.
Bishops Morris and Waugh present. John S. Mar-
tin was elected Secretary, to which office he was re-
elected for thirty years consecutively. He was present
at every session till the time of his death. John H.
C. Dosh was chosen his assistant, filling that posi-
tion for five years until transferred to the East Balti-
more Conference in 1858. David Steele, William
Houston and John 8S. Gorsuch had died. Thirty-five
were admitted—the largest class on record. A few
still survive (1907): Bishop A. W. Wilson, James 8S.
Gardner, Hamilton A. Gaver, Ephraim L. Kregelo,
and the writer, in the Baltimore Conference in the
Church, South ; Joseph R. Wheeler and Asbury R.
Reiley in the Baltimore Conference, M. E. Church.
Dy. Charles Collins succeeded Dr. Jesse T. Peck in the
presidency of Dickinson College. He was re-admit-
ted into the Conference. The Metropolitan Collegiate
Institute, enterprized by the Methodists of Washing-
ton City, was endorsed, and a committee appointed
to draw up a charter and petition Congress for its
passage. Cassville Seminary was offered to the Con-
ference and taken under its control. The movement
 

 

ALPHEUS W. WILSON
(1853)
Conferences 1853-4. 301

for the erection of the Metropolitan Church in Wash-
ington, recommended by the General Conference, took
definite shape at this session. A subscription amount-
ing to $2,355 was taken up, and Henry Slicer ap-
pointed Agent.

The trial of one of the preachers for “breach of
promise of marriage” resulted in his expulsion from
the Church. An auxilliary Tract Society was organ-
ized. The remains of Bishop George had been
removed from Staunton to Mount Olivet Cemetery in
Baltimore, at the expense of the City Station. A
Committee on Memoirs was for the first time ordered
and appointed at the close of the session, to collect
material and prepare the memvirs of those who
might die during the ensuing year. Hampstead was
taken from Westminster and made a separate charge.
The net increase of 2,754 in the membership was
reported. The Conference Minutes were also, for the
first time, ordered to be published after the close of
the session. They contain, however, only an abstract
of the proceedings.

Conference assembled at old Light Street Balti-
more, March 1, 1854, Bishop Ames presided and
Bishop Waugh attended. Five preachers—all men
of mark—had presented their credentials to the Great
Head of the Church: John Davis, Henry Tarring,
Levi N. Monroe, Samuel Brison and Henry B. Fur-
long.’ A full supply of new recruits, twenty-eight,
were admitted. Six were located and three discon-
tinued.

 

1S8ee Sketches in Appendix.
302) Part III—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

The Troy Conference resolutions memorializing
the General Conference to change the rule on Slavery
were negatived by a rising vote of 251, none voting
nay. A paper from Fincastle, Virginia, taking
exception to certain editorials in the Christian Advo-
cate and Journal on the subject of slavery was
presented, read and referred to a special Committee.
The Committee reported that the Editor of the said
Journal was responsible for his opinions only to the
General Conference, and that, if the memorialists
were desirous to ascertain the true position of the
Conference on the subject of slavery, they were most
respectfully referred to the Pastoral Address and
accompanying resolutions, sent out in 1846, a copy
of which was presented as a part of this report.

Resolutions approving the basis agreed upon
respecting the dispute upon the property question
(between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South,) were presented,
read and unanimously adopted by a rising vote :

Resolved, by the Baltimore Annual Conference, in
Conference assembled, That we are highly gratified
at the settlement of the property question which had
long been the subject of agitation between the Method-
ist Episcopal Church and. the Methodist Episcopal
Church, Soufh, announced to this Body by Rev. T.
Carlton, Agent of the Book Concern, and we approve
cordially of the principles upon which said settlement
has been effected.

Resolved, etc., That the adjustment of this question
in an amicable way was demanded by the spirit of our
Holy Christianity and the interests of the large and
Re-affirmation of Principles. 303

influential Bodies concerned in it, and that the parties
by whom this desirable result has been obtained merit
the commendation of the Church—which, so far as the
expression of this Conference represents it, is hereby
tendered to them.

[Signed] Joun A. CoLiys,
Joun 8. Martin.

A resolution recommending a better support for
unmarried preachers was adopted. Exeter Street
and Jefferson Street, in Baltimore, were made
stations. Another member of the Conference was
tried and expelled for immorality at this session.

Bishop Waugh, in association with Bishops Janes
and Scott, presided at the session held March 7,
1855, in Monument Street Church, Baltimore.
Michael L. Pugh, Edwin L. Dulin and Adam
Hockinbury had died. The decease also of two
probationers, J. M. D. Meek and H. W. Ewing, was
reported. Thirty-one were admitted.

Resolutions, petitioning the General Conference to
so change the General Rules as to make non-slave-
holding a test of membership, were presented from
the Wisconsin and North Ohio Conferences. They
were non-concurred in by a rising vote of 200, none
voting in the affirmative.

Charles B. Tippett moved that “a Committee of
one from each Presiding Elder’s District be appointed
to take into consideration the subject of the division
of this Conference, and if they do not find it practi-
cable to report during this session, they are instructed
to continue their deliberations during the interval of
304 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

Conference sessions and to report at the next session
of this Conference.” The Committee was appointed
as follows: B. N. Brown, Samuel V. Blake, John A.
Collins, John Poisal, E. P. Phelps, John S. Martin,
Thomas B. Sargent, Mabury Goheen, John Miller
and A. A. Reese.

A committee was appointed to secure from Con-
gress a charter for a Seminary or College to be
established in Washington City on the joint stock
principle. Another Committee was also appointed
to prepare a plan for the Education of the Preach-
ers’ children. Jessie T. Peck became the editor of
Tracts and Corresponding Secretary of the Tract
Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  B.
H. Nadal was transferred to the North Indiana
Conference and stationed at Greencastle. He was
elected President of the Indiana Asbury University,
remained there till 1857, then returned to the Balti-
more Conference, was appointed Presiding Elder of
the Roanoke District, and in 1858 to Foundry Sta-
tion, Washington City.

The session, March 5, 1856, was held in Light
Street Church, Baltimore, Bishop Scott presiding,
assisted by Bishops Waugh, Janes and Ames. The
death of five veterans, James Ward, William H.
Enos, Jared H. Young, Matthew G. Hamilton, Horace
Holland, was reported. Twenty-four were aduitted.
The Conference directed a monument to be erected
over the remains of Bishop Asbury in Mount Olivet
Cemetery. The death of the elder Doctor Thomas
E. Bond was reported and a suitable notice of this
distinguished layman of the church, was prepared.
 

JOHN 8S. MARTIN
General Conference of 1856. 305

Resolutions commendatory of Rev. J. N. Keyes, who
withdrew to join the Irish Wesleyan Conference,
were adopted. By a non-concurring vote of 221 ayes
to 3 nays, a resolution to change the General Rule on
Slavery was negatived. Mechanicstown, formerly in
Frederick Circuit, is made a new charge. Gorsuch
is made a station in Washington. Robert S. Maclay
received his appointment as Missionary to China.
Fifteen delegates were elected to the General Con-
ference : John A. Collins, Henry Slicer, Samuel V.
Blake, N: J. B. Morgan, John S. Martin, Norval
Wilson, Alfred Griffith, Thomas B. Sargent Aquilla
A. Reese, John Lanahan, William Hamilton, Jobn
Poisal, Mabury Goheen, William Hirst, Benjamin
N. Brown.

The General Conference met in Indianapolis May,
1856. John A. Collins presented a memorial from the
colored membership of Sharp Street and Asbury Sta-
tions, Baltimore, asking to be permitted to form a
Conference among themselves. The report of the
committee to whom it was referred, was adopted, in
which some concessions were made in response to
the memorials, respecting the rights of the colored
membership. They were allowed the following priv-
ileges :

First. To have separate Quarterly Conferences,
when, in the judgment of the Presiding Elders it shall
be expedient.

Secondly. The Bishop or residing Elder may em-
ploy colored preachers to travel and preach, whet
their services are judged necessary.

20
306 = =Part IT7—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

These privileges, however, could not take effect
unless the Quarterly Conference gave its endorsement.

An enabling act was passed, by which the Balti-
more Conference might divide itself and the East
Baltimore Conference be formed.

A report was made of the progress of the effort to
erect in Washington City a church that would
worthily represent the denomination at the National
Capital. Henry Slicer and W. M. D. Ryan had acted
as agents, having collected in cash and subscriptions
$37,000 during the three previous years. The Gen-
eral Conference again most heartily endorsed the
enterprise and ordered a collection in all the churches.
Norval Wilson was appointed Chairman of the Com-
mittee on Itinerancy. The Young Men’s Christian
Association of Baltimore City made an appeal to the
General Conference to authorize the Book Committee
to donate books for use in their library.

Again, and for the last time, the old Baltimore
Conference met in old Light Street Church, Bal-
timore, March 4, 1857. James Watts, with a noble
itinerant record of fifty-three years, Thomas H.
Busey, John M. Jones, John W. Elliott, Plummer
E. Waters, J. Hanson Knotts, had died. Twenty-
three were admitted on trial.

Rev. William Reilly, of the Irish Wesleyan Con-
ference, and Rev. F. S. DeHaas were introduced,
and a committee was appointed to confer with them
in reference to Irish Missions. The report of the
Committee recommending these brethren and their
cause to the confidence and sympathy of the church
Division of the Conference. 307

and the public, and requiring collections to be taken
up in June, 1857, in aid of the Irish Missions, was
adopted.

Three members of the Conference, charged with
immorality were tried, convicted and _ expelled.
Franklin Street was disconnected from Fayette
Street and constituted a separate station in Balti-
more. Edwin Dorsey, long a prominent preacher
in the Conference, withdrew, and subsequently united
with the Lutheran Church. Bishop Simpson was
introduced, and by request of the President, took
the chair during the session on Monday, the 9th. In
the afternoon of that day Norval Wilson, who had
been appointed to preach the Missionary Sermon,
delivered a fine discourse on the text found in Daniel
xii, 3: “They that turn many to righteousness,
shall shine as the stars forever and ever.” The
General Conference, at its session in 1856, having
authorized the division of the Baltimore Conference
by the lines it might agree upon, a Committee was
appointed on the Division, consisting of one from
each Presiding Elder’s District. Their report was
presented on Friday, March 10, one from the ma-
jority, and another from the minority. A substitute
was also presented for both reports. All were laid
on the table till the next day, when a paper offering
resolutions was substituted for the reports, and on
motion it was adopted, 219 voting in the affirmative
and 17 in the negative, as follows :

Resolved, That the Baltimore Aunual Conference
be and his hereby divided, as follows :
308 Part I1J—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

The Baltimore Conference shall be composed of
the Baltimore, Potomac, Lewisburg, Rockingham and
Winchester Districts, excepting Emory and Whatcoat
Stations, including in said Conference the lot on
Madison Avenue, in this City, Patapsco Station and
Circuit and Montgomery Circuit. The Baltimore Kast
Conference shall be composed of the remaining terri-
tory, Emory and Whatcoat Stations being included
in this Conference.

A Committee composed of six members, three from
each Conference, was appointed by the chair to con-
fer with the Board of Managers of the Preachers’
Aid Society and Trustees of the Education Board,
to make an equitable division of the funds of their
respective Boards between the two Conferences ; and
in the event of a disagreement, Bishop Waugh was
requested to act as umpire. Legal counsel was to
be employed if necessary. Bishop Janes gave his
concurrence to this action of the Conference.

A Committee of twelve was appointed by the chair,
six from each Conference, to apportion the claimants
upon the Conference funds between the said Confer-
ences respectively. Bishop Waugh was also asked
to act as umpire in case of disagreement.

Rev. Alfred Griffith, William Monroe, Robert
Cadden, John Bear and William Hamilton were
requested to furnish for the Baltimore Conference
Historical Society, through the Methodist Magazine
‘and Christian Advocate and Journal, historical
sketches of the rise and progress of Methodism in
the United States, in such form and at such time as
may suit their leisure and convenience. Some inter-
Protest Against Abolition Agitation. 309

esting articles were accordingly prepared, mostly by
Rev. William Hamilton, and published. The great
fire in Baltimore in 1904, destroyed the manuscripts
and many other valuable materials, the accumulation
‘of years, in the rooms of the Historical Society,
involving an irreparable loss.

The Journal of the last session of the Old Balti-
mure Conference contains its protest against abolition
agitation, in the following resolutions :

1. Resolved, by the Baltimore Annual Conference
in Conference assembled, That we highly deprecate the
agitation of the slavery question, which has already
resulted to the great detriment of the political and
religious interests of the country.

2. Resolved. That, as heretofore, we will oppose
with zeal any aggressions which shall be attempted
by the abolition agitation of the country.

A memorial was presented from those who antici-
pated being in the eastern division of the Conference
asking that the style and title of the Conference be
The East Baltimore Conference, and the request was
granted. Conference ordered that the Baltimore
Conference hold its next session in Wesley Chapel,
Washington, and that the East Baltimore Conference
hold its session in East Baltimore Station, Balti-
more. The Bishops were requested to exercise the
transfer power freely between the two Conferences
until in their judgment sufficient time had been
allowed to adjust the members of the Conferences,
respectively, to their appropriate positions.
310 = Part III—T he Conservation, 1812-1857.

- The Conference ordered that 3,000 copies of the
Annual Minutes of this session be published under
the supervision of the Secretary, and that each
preacher pledge himself to take not less than ten copies.
[Underscored in the Journal.]

The Reports, in this final and memorable session
of the Old Baltimore Conference, furnish the evi-
dence of the wonderful progress made since the
opening of the Nineteenth Century. The first report
in the Journal on the Bible cause appropriately says :
‘““Many things tend to divide us—this alone binds
us together, and reminds us that however we may
differ in name, in policy, in minor doctrines, we have
one religion and one Saviour.’’ Not only had the
entire country at home been fully supplied by the
auxiliaries to the great American Bible Society with
the pure Word of God, but the translation of the
Bible into foreign languages, and its amazing dis-
tribution among foreign nations gave cheering signs
of speedy entrance into the darkest regions of the
earth.

The cause of Education, seriously halted at the
beginning of the century by the great fire that dis-
couraged all effort for the promotion of higher
culture, has now reached an advance that had been
hardly dreamed of. Dickinson College not only has
been successfully established with a full corps of
professors and over one hundred and fifty students,
but has secured an endowment of $87,500. The
Baltimore Female College has a good _build-
ing (not involving the Conference in debt) with
Summary of Work. 311

excellent teachers and one hundred and fifty-seven
pupils. The Dickinson Seminary under the guid-
ance of Dr. Thomas Bowman, is under the control
of the Conference with four hundred and fifty pupils.
The Wesleyan Female Institute, notwithstanding its
financial embarrassment, prospers in the patronage
extended to it and in its capable management by
Rev. John Wilson, a man of superior ability and
high moral worth. The Cassville Female Seminary,
with Rey. A. S. Hank, the gifted and competent
Principal, fulfils its promise of usefulness and suc-
cess. Olin and Preston Institute for boys, at
Blacksburg, Virginia, has for it the prediction of “a
high and honorable destiny.” Besides these, five
other institutions are recommended to the patronage
of the Methodist public. The collections throughout
the Conference for the education of preachers’ chil-
dren amounted to $1,000, and was distributed among
fifty-one families.

The contributions for missions reached the sum
of $23,498 ; for the Tract Society, $2,731; for the
Bible Society, $2,642 ; for the Sunday School Union,
$1,712 ; for Conference Claimants, $7,229 ; for neces-
sitous cases, $1,800. There were 781 churches
reported, valued at $1,270,329, and 97 parsonages,
worth $159,250. The membership numbered 58,969
white, and 930 colored, making an aggregate of
59,899. The number of Sunday Schools reported
were 783, with 10,202 officers and teachers and
50,417 scholars. The Metropolitan Church in
Washington City was on the way to completion.
The Colonization Plan was cordially endorsed, Street
312 Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

and Field Preaching recommended, and the cause of
Temperance urged with emphasis.

Three hundred and sixty preachers are at last to
be divided into two nearly equal bands, 157 receiving
their appointments in the Baltimore Conference, 178

in the East Baltimore Conference. Eleven super-
annuated preachers fell into the Baltimore, and

eleven into the East Baltimore Conference.

That the rise and progress of Methodism in this
country was purely providential is manifest from the
fact that even Mr. Wesley himself did not look
across the Atlantic until the news reached him that
emigrants from Ireland, impelled by the love of God
and of immortal souls, had voluntarily begun the
work of evangelization at the points from which the
gospel might spread, first, to the adjacent sections,
and then to the regions beyond. But when the in-
telligence came to him, he was not slow to discern
the grace of God, and promptly to send missionaries
who could give direction to the movement. Even
then the work was crude and without definite form.
Gradually the scope of territory became enlarged
and was speedily occupied by the zealous and faith-
ful pioneers. The war of the Revolution checked
their labors for seven years, but the very tribulations
and persecutions they suffered served only to feed
the fire the Lord had kindled. Se soon as peace
prevailed, it burst forth into a lambent flame and
reached the period of organization as early as 1784.

The Baltimore Conference became the mother of
Conferences, with truly representative men—great as
Review. 313

pioneers and equally great as leaders in wise Church
statesmanship and paramount influence. They con-
trolled the legislation of the Church before she had
a real legislative body, and the principles evolved
from their itinerant experience are found today
imbedded in her constitution. They were unselfish
men, uninfluenced by motives of personal ambition
or greed of gain; seeking only the sheep lost in the
wilderness, and submitting gladly to all kinds of
privation and suffering, that they may save perish-
ing souls. If their record is rightly considered,
every act in every period was, regardless of criticism
or opposition, dictated by the purest intention to
promote the welfare of the church they had learned
to love. This is true in every hour of peril and in
every agitation that has excited the church. The
attitude of the body, especially in 1844 and 1846,
reveals the intense desire to preserve the integrity of
Methodism within her territory, and to save it from
entire defection, not simply from her ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, but far more from what would have
doubtless happened—the lapse of many into indiffer-
ence and irreligion.

When the Conference boundaries were fixed, at
the beginning of the last century (1802), and the
sessions became more definitely organized, it re-
quired all the energies of the Baltimore Conference
to care for the thousands that came into the fold of
Christ during the great revivals that for several years
prevailed in every part of her territory. Little
thought could therefore be given to the questions of
a better support of her ministers or to mission fields
314. Part ITI—The Conservation, 1812-1857.

beyond her own bounds. But when these multiplied
numbers brought larger means within reach, and
church buildings were provided, interest began to be
awakened in behalf of the worn-out preachers,
widows and children, and simultaneously of the
Indian tribes in the West, as well as of more desti-
tute fields from which the cry for help began to be
heard. The Baltimore Conference, to her honor be
it said, was the first to heed these calls, and from her
prompt response grew the organization of Preachers’
Aid and Missionary Societies, so well known today.
So soon as these agencies were in effective operation,
the equally important subject of Education began to
re-awaken concern and lively effort. Years had
intervened since the destruction by fire of the early
schools, but now the opportunity comes and is
seized. After mature deliberation and well concerted
planning, a broad and deep foundation is laid for
the sons and daughters of the people, presenting at
the close of this last period, beautiful and adequate
edifices and capable instructors, meeting, at least as
fully as the patrons at that time desired, their long-
cherished wish.

Without taking a further survey of this last period,
closing in 1857, it may not be amiss to state, that
when the imperative necessity for a division came,
the change, so radical in the ranks of the three hun-
dred and sixty men, who were looking into each
other’s faces for the last time as an associated body
in the old historic Light Street Church, meant only
the better opportunity to advance the cause of Christ.
The scene was impressive and solemn, but it was not
Conclusion. 815

disheartening. The element of hope was in it—a
hope which no seeming disaster, even that of an
awful period of civil war, could destroy. It is true
that darkness and perplexity came with that terrible
chapter in the nation’s history.

The Baltimore Conference was in 1861, as she
always has been, a unit in principle, as the record
declares, and the only diversity in opinion was as to
the method by which that unity might be preserved.
The war changed the situation, and was the chief
factor in the later division which followed. As in
1844, politics wrought temporary damage to the
spirit and temper of that time, and alienated many
who had been closest friends, so in 1861 the excite-
ment produced by an unprecedented civic struggle
had its serious effect in separating brethren formerly
joined in the bonds of genuine Christian affection.
Surviving this unhappy period, Methodism held its
people to the faith of the fathers, and has since, by
Divine aid, guided them to greater achievement and
success. Let us rejoice in what has been saved, and
forget what may have seemed to be lost. ‘Love
never faileth.”’ Like Truth, it may be hidden for
awhile, but in God’s good time it will be revealed
with intenser light and grander power.
316 Joshua Soule.

JOSHUA SOULE.
By Couuins DENNY.

 

{Summary,—Born August 1, 1781, Bristol, Hancock county,
Maine. Licensed to preach 1798. Admitted on trial at a Con-
ference held in New York City, June 19, 1799, and appointed
Junior Preacher on Portland Circuit, Maine, a circuit 500 miles
around, with 27 appointments to be met each month. 1800, in
charge of Union Circuit, Maine. 1801*, ordained Deacon by
Bishop Whatcoat and sent to Sandwich, Massachusetts. 1802,
in charge of Needham Circuit. 1803, ordained Elder by Bishop
Whatcoat and sent to Nantucket. This year he married, in
Providence, R. I., Miss Sarah Allen, an orphan, who for 54
years, shared his burdens loyally. 1804-5, Presiding Elder of
the District of Maine, a District including the whole of the
present State of Maine, 1,200 miles around, with thirteen
charges. In 1806 Maine was divided into two Districts, and for
two years he was Presiding Elder of Kennebec District. The
next four years, Presiding Elder of the other District in Maine—
Portland. 1812, in chargeof Lynn, Massachusetts. Next four
years, Presiding Elder of Kennebec District, Maine. 1816,
elected General Book Steward (Senior Book Agent) and editor
of The Methodist Magazine. 1820, elected Bishop on first bal-
lot by General Conference in Baltimore and declined the office ;
also declined re-election to the Book Agency. 1820-21, stationed
in New York city. 1822-24, stationed in Baltimore. 1824, again
elected Bishop in Baltimore and there ordained. For some
time after his ordination tothe episcopacy his family continued
to reside in Baltimore, then moved to Lebanon, Ohio. After
the division of the Church, Nashville, Tenn., and vicinity
became his headquarters. 1842, fraternal delegate to the
English Methodists. Died March 6, 1867, in Nashville, Tenn.
Buried by the side of McKendree in the campus of Vanderbilt
University. ]

God sometimes uses what may be termed the lack
of human resources as the means to advance His
Kingdom, to bring blessing to men. Poverty drove

 

* There is doubt about this date and some reason for changing it to
1802.
Joshua Soule. 317

from Ireland to America Robert Strawbridge and
Philip Embury—the one to Maryland, the other to
New York. American Methodism, through these
men, owes more to poverty than it does to wealth.
Wealthy homes send few preachers into the ranks of
the itinerancy. To be “ compassed with infirmities”
is a condition needed to equip a man with ‘“ com-
passion on the ignorant and on them that are out of
the way.” To give one’s self, full of infirmities as
that self may be, is the highest, most precious gift
any one can offer, really the fruitful gift,

‘For the gift without the giver is bare.”

The early itinerant, possessing nothing of this
world’s goods, but rich in God’s favor and in com-
passion on the multitude of the unsaved, went
throughout the country preaching the gospel, seek-
ing men even in the most sparsely settled sections.
Jesse Lee of Virginia, the Apostle of Methodism to
New England, had in 1793 the whole of Maine within
his circuit. That year Readfield Circuit, the first
circuit in the Province, was formed. Soon the Meth-
odist itinerant, keeping pace with the settlers through-
‘out the country, followed the way blazed by Lee
through the wilderness of Maine. If a few poor folk
could be gathered to hear the word of salvation, the
lack of roads and ferries did not deter the men in
whose hearts God’s truth shone with heavenly light
from going to the people with their message. Those
wonderful men—the early itinerants—faced wintry
storms, slept where they could find a covering, knew
how to suffer want of food and clothing and every
318 Joshua Soule.

material comfort, and rejoicingly gave themselves to
save men.

Among that heroic band of seekers for a larger
freedom who sailed into Plymouth Bay in the May-
flower was George Sowle, whose name is found among
the company of Edward Winslow. From him de-
scended Joshua Soule, for some time the master of a
sailing vessel, who abandoned the sea to live with his
family on a farm in Maine. His fifth son, also named
Joshua, when still an infant, was taken with the
family to the new home at Avon, on the Sandy river,
a small and new settlement. The family had been
reared Presbyterians, and the parents were rigid
Calvinists. A mile and a half from this home the
Methodists preached in a private house. Here
young Joshua heard the flaming Methodist itinerants
preach a gospel as broad as the human race and as
deep as human needs. His soul was stirred, and he
gave himself to his Lord. The Calvinistic family on
the remote frontier. was in consternation when this
dutiful son asked permission to become a Methodist.
His father, mortified at the suggestion and indignant
at the persistency of his son, tried to break this pur-
pose by the exercise of authority. His mother
sobbed out her prophecy that he would be ruined if
he joined the Methodists.

Here was a sore trial to a boy whose serious
nature had led his playmates to give him the nick-
name of “the Deacon.” He took time to consider,
he prayed, and concluded that duty called him to
become a Methodist. For the lad, as afterwards for
the great Bishop, when duty called there was but
Joshua Soule. 319

one thing to do—obey. Late in life he said: «It
cost me something to be a Methodist ; I became one
fully expecting to be an exile from my father’s
house.”” Light shone along the path of duty. The
once indignant father soon joined the Methodists,
gave long years of service to the Church, and died an
official member.

To face day by day the freezing wintry winds, to
endure hardship for no pay, meant little to the
itinerants who believed they had a work to do for
God. They counted not their comfort dear unto
themselves, not even their lives, if they could open
the kingdom of heaven to believers. To be sure they
found and helped to develop “the most dominating -
personality in American Methodism, next to Bishop
Asbury ;”’ but to them, doubtless it was a greater
privilege to be used to help the unknown multitude,
whose names are written only in the Lamb’s book of
life.

Shortly after his conversion young Joshua “rides
with the elder”’ around the district, and exhorts after
the sermon. At seventeen he is a preacher, at
twenty-three a Presiding Elder, with a whole State
for a District. Reared on the hardest frontier of
the country, in a remote region oi that frontier, he
grew physically and intellectually amid the hardest
scenes. Given native capacity and a purpose to
profit by opportunities, and the hardest conditions of
any field of duty can be made to furnish cultured
training. A few poor sheep in a wilderness may
seem to be no school at all in which to begin the
320 Joshua Soule.

training for highest usefulness in the widest sphere,
yet that was David’s school. A Methodist preacher
has been known to use the children in the homes
that gave him shelter to teach him his letters by a
pine-knot fire, and ultimately to acquire an almost
faultless English style. American Methodism has
had no mightier preacher, no greater administrator,
no mind more delicately adjusted to constitutional
problems in the Church, than Joshua Soule. He
owed nothing to the schools. What might he have
become had scholastic training been open to him ?

At his first General Conference, when not yet twenty-
seven years old, he wrote the constitution of the
Church, and carried it through the committee against
the opposition of Hzekiel Cooper, “the philosopher
and logician of the Church,” and through the Gen-
eral Conference itself against the opposition of Jesse
Lee, one of the mightiest among the mighty. He
entered the Book Agency and editorial chair without
experience of business or of writing. He did the
work both of clerk and porter, ‘“ packing, hooping
and shipping boxes.” The business grew in volume
and prosperity and in favor with the people. With
him our periodical literature really began. Ten
thousand subscribers greeted the first volume of
“The Methodist Magazine,” and he was the editor.
He took active part in the organization of the
American Bible Society, and the Missionary Society
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, speaking over-
whelmingly for the adoption of the constitution of
the latter, and was elected its first treasurer.
Joshua Soule. 321

Few men in American Methodism have endured
the strain from good people who were Methodists to
which Bishop Soule was subjected ; none have borne
that strain with a more manly dignity and stainless
honor. He knew the difference between the com-
promise of policies and the surrender of principles.
To shirk a plain duty is to assume a greater respon-
sibility. From 1791 onwards, the method of appoint-
ing Presiding Elders, even the existence of that office,
was a fruitful source of discussion and of difference
among our fathers. Good and true men differed on
this question, and sometimes lost their temper.
Chief friends were separated, only to be reunited in
that presence where all eyes shall see alike. Ameri-
can Methodism has more than once divided on this
and related questions.

The General Conference of 1820 elected Joshua
Soule a Bishop on the first ballot, but before his
ordination, adopted by a large majority, as ‘“‘a peace
measure,” a resolution to give the Annual Confer-
ences the power to elect the Presiding Elders, and
also to give them, with the presiding Bishop, the
appointing power. In the judgment of the Bishop
elect this was a breach of the constitution. To his
mind that path led to anarchy. He understood the
protection and order of law; he had too clear a mind
to fail to see the possible disaster when law is dis-
regarded. The question is not now the correctness
of his judgment. We are dealing with a man of
clear, settled convictions, one to whom duty was even
more alluring than peace. He resigned the episco-

21
322 Joshua Soule.

pacy. The resolutions were suspended for four years.
He was the most powerful aid to McKendree in
saving what they believed to be the constitution of
the Church.

Great was the strife in the Church following that
General Conference. When the next General Con-
ference met the forces were nearly equally divided.
On the second ballot Soule was elected Bishop by a
bare majority. Then began that efficient episcopal
career over the connection, which only failing
strength, indeed which only death, terminated.

In 1844 the General Conference again took action
that the great Bishop believed to be unconstitutional.
Again he took his position without wavering, and
for the remainder of his life he was the chief figure
around which the fires of controversy raged. In
1820 not a few of the Methodists in our Baltimore
territory were opposed to his position. In 1844
very few of the preachers of our Conference agreed
with him. Many men in the Church with whom for
long years he had worked with increasing love, men
who had loved the Church as he loved her, who had
thanked God for his great gifts, his even greater
character, his unswerving loyalty and his unstinted
devotion, turned against him, sometimes with bitter-
ness and scorn, sometimes even denying his integ-
rity. Never during the remainder of his life did
‘this man, who for nearly fifty years had been preach-
ing the gospel and who had given his all for the
upbuilding of the cause of God, have surcease of
opposition, at times of tumult and calumny. An
Joshua Soule. 323

editorial of a chief paper now before me seems sur-
prised that he died in triumph, and pointedly says :
‘The personal influence of no man gave a higher
sanction and encouragement to the greatest sin of
American Methodism ; and that sin dragged on the
‘Great Rebellion,’ and its stupendous retributive
war.”

This is a sad spectacle, not honoring to human
nature, and not calling for bitter words or thoughts.
It does suggest that men should cultivate a spirit
that will allow differences of opinion even on the
gravest matters without going to the extreme of
breaches of personal relations. Daniel, in early
manhood, was saved the trial of the fiery furnace.
Only after a long, upright life, filled with useful
labors performed in positions of great distinction,
did he find the den of lions. A good man is not
saved from trouble. The house built on the rock
endures rain and floods and wind—and stands.

In person Bishop Soule .was tall, slight, erect.
There was a dignity in his manner that verged on
majesty. In the social circle, especially when with
close friends, there was a constant flash of wit and
pertinent anecdote. Few men could so charm and
hold those who had the opportunity to know him.

Asa preacher he ranked with the best America
has produced both in manner and matter. He took
time to preach, generally an hour and a half. He
was not a rapid speaker, but rather measured and
always stately. His auditors felt a master was before
them, as with growing power, though with little use
324 Joshua Soule.

of rhetorical figure he unfolded his theme. He
seemed to gather up his audience in his hands, and
to mould them to his thought and spirit, till toward
the close the total effect was often overwhelming.
Those who heard him often, especially in his prime,
give the impression of a preacher whose dignity was
inherent in his nature, whose commanding speech
often carried men out of themselves, one who preached
with an authority and effect that men felt and ac-
knowledged. There was nothing in his preaching
that suggested artificiality. His very atmosphere
was sincerity, and sincerity that revealed one to whom
life and duty were full of solemnity. He was vener-
able even when he was young.

As an administrator he emphasized law, not as a
burden, but as a guide and safeguard. He won the
confidence of the people by his impartial and able
supervision, Preachers took hard work without com-
plaint from the Bishop who did not spare himself.
Many of them knew that for two years ali the time
he spent at home did not aggregate two weeks. ‘To
him office was not a crown, but a larger field for
work, and right nobly he did that work. In him, if
we consider his combination of pulpit ability, states-
manship, rigid adherence to the constitution as he
understood it, we see American Methodism’s greatest
administrator.

He died admired, respected, venerated, loved by
the Methodists of the South, and passing years do
not dwarf him.
 

 

APPEN DIX.

 

 
APPENDIX A.

The Preachers named in the following sketches
were all received on trial in, or were transferred to,
the Old Baltimore Conference. Many fulfilled their
ministry prior to 1858. Others continued in connec-
tion with one or the other of the three succeeding
‘Conferences until their decease.

Epwarp E. ALLEN, admitted in 1827, was born in
Accomac County, Virginia, August 16, 1804; converted
at the age of seventeen, and died in Shrewsbury, Pa.,
May 28, 1872. He was a practical, scriptural
preacher ; fervent, energetic, tender and affectionate.
In his last illness, continuing for three months, he
was almost constantly engaged in prayer and in
searching the scriptures. His active service covered
a period of thirty-five years. His end was peace.

Tuomas D. ALLEN, a brother of Edward, was born
in Accomac County, December 21, 1801; converted
at nineteen; admitted into the Ohio Conference in
1829; transferred to the Baltimore Conference in
1834, and was appointed to Warrenton Circuit. His
constitution gave way under the burning zeal with
which he cultivated his new field of labor, and in the
home of his brother in Annapolis he calmly and
joyfully entered into rest June 25, 1835.

Joun ANDERSON, born in Frederick County, Mary-
land, 1803, died in 1867 ; admitted, 1834; reared in
Centre County, Pennsylvania, converted at a Camp-
meeting in Centre County, 1829; was in 1839
transferred to the Missouri Conference, served four
charges there and then in Illinois ; 1854, re-transferred
to Baltimore, and 1857 in the East Baltimore Confer-
328 Appendix A.

ence. Clear, earnest and successful as a preacher, he
was eminently a man of the people, commanding
their sympathies ; genial and kind, yet unflinching
in adherence to principle. His keen sense of humor
was accompanied by tenderest sympathy for those in
distress. Returning with a friend, from three Sun-
day appointments he suddenly fell in the road,
stricken with heart trouble. After being carried to
his home he never spoke again.

Davip W. ARNOLD, born in Frederick County, Vir-
ginia, 1816 ; died in 1875 ; converted at 16 at a camp-
meeting ; admitted in 1852, supernumerary 1875. He
travelled on various circuits in Maryland and Vir-
ginia. His closing testimony was: “My trust is in
Jesus, I know whom I have believed, and am per-
suaded that he is able to keep that I have committed
unto him against that day.”

GerorGE ASKIN, born in 1816, died in 1831, was
an Irishman. His last words were: “My God is
mine and I am his, I have been in the dark moun-
tains ; but King Jesus has given me complete victory.
Glory, honor, praise and power be to God!”

James Avis, born near Shepherdstown, Virginia»
January 7, 1795; joined the Conference in 1820.
His labors were successful; on his last charge,
Columbia, between three and four hundred were
added to the Church. His death in 1824 was
sudden but peaceful.

ALEXANDER M. Barnrrz, born in York, Pa., June 13,
1824; died in the same city January 18, 1903; con-
verted at the age of 19 ; admitted in 1849 ; strong phy-
sically and mentally and in the faith of the Gospel ;
his active and useful labors covered a period of fifty-
two years, all within the Pennsylvania territory of
the old Baltimore Conference. Thoroughly versed
in the Scriptures, a fine memory enabled him to use
Clerical Sketches. 329

them with unwonted power. Precepts and promises
flowed from his tongue as water from a fountain.
He fully believed them and had the rich experience
of their meaning in his own heart, and they adorned
his life. His closing days were as beautiful as his
former life had been. For two weeks prior to his
death he was in the land of Beulah. When near his
end some one felt his pulse. Looking up, he said:
«Praise the Lord, I'll soon be in heaven.” When
his voice failed his hand was raised, and pointing
upward it indicated final victory.

Morvecal Barry, born in Anne Arundel County,
Maryland, 1793; was the son of pious Methodist
parents; converted in 1812, and entered the traveling

connection in 1820. His career, though brief, closed
in peace July 29, 1823.

 Basit Barry, born in Aune Arundel County, Mary-
land, attained the ripe old age of over 88 years ;
admitted in 1815 ; he traveled in the regular work for
twenty-nine years ; compelled by ill health to retire,
he sustained a superannuated relation till his death
in 1877 in Rockville, Md. He was always ready,
when his health allowed, to render valuable aid to
the effective preachers on the work. Plain and
simple in his manner of preaching, his sermons were
apt and forcible. His uniform cheerfulness often
reaching vivacity, doubtless contributed to the exten-
sion of his life. His last utterances were the words
of the dying Stephen: “Lord Jesus receive my
spirit.”

Witiiam 8. Barrp, born in New Liberty, Lycom-
ing county, Pa., 1815 ; died in Berkeley county, West
Virginia, 1874; converted early in life ; graduated at
Allegheny College, 1841 ; admitted in 1842; spent
nineteen years in the M. E. Church, and fourteen in the
Church, South. He was in charge of the Wesleyan
Female Institute (1860-66), Staunton, Va., and
330 . Appendix A.

appointed Editor of the Baltimore Episcopal Metho-
dist 1872. A man of decided culture and taste,
faithful to every obligation of duty, he was esteemed
and loved by all who knew him. Modest and unob-
trusive, he never sought publicity. The purity of
his motives were never questioned. He was an
Israelite indeed in whom was no guile. His last
message to the Conference was one of ‘warmest
christian love;” and, when unable to speak, he
raised his hand in token that all was well.

Apert Baker, born in Baltimore, 1820 ; converted
1835 ; admitted in 1839 ; served three years accepta-
bly and died, 1842, exclaiming “All is well.”

Dasney Batt, born in Fairfax County, Virginia,
1820 ; died in Baltimore, 1878 ; converted at fifteen ;
admitted in 1843 ; he was from 1862 to 1865 chaplain
in the Confederate States Army; 1871, in broken
health, he was transferred to California ; improved
in health he returned and finished his work and his
life as Presiding Elder of the East Baltimore Dis-
trict, M. E. Church, South. Whether in the itinerant
field or in the midst of civil war, he was one of the
bravest of soldiers. He often preached standing
on feet that quivered with agony. He made long
journeys to distant churches in mountain regions till
the raiment that covered his racked limbs froze, and
refrained from speaking of his sufferings, except
incidentally to a few. On the staff of General J. E.
B. Stuart, his coolness, courage and unflinching forti-
tude in the midst of danger were matters of common
remark. His social qualities won him many friends.
At the last he testified to the settlement of the ques-
tion of his faith and hope in Christ.

Joun Batt, born in Fairfax County, Virginia, Sep-
tember 1, 1812; converted at a camp-meeting when
fifteen years old; admitted in 1837; traveled nine
years in the Conference ; was a young man of great
Clerical Sketches. 331

promise, qualified for extensive usefulness, but cut
down in the vigor of life by disease produced by
exposure in the discharge of duty. During his
sufferings his mind was serene and tranquil. He
ended with the shout, Glory!

RoszertT Barnes was received in the Virginia Con-
ference in 1807, and into the Baltimore Conference
in 1822; located in 1834; was re-admitted, 1851,
and assigned a superannuated relation. He was a
plain, gospel preacher and did much good. He
loved the Church, her doctrines and her usages. He
died in the faith in 1867.

JouNn Bear, born in Rockingham County, Virginia,
1794, was brought to repentance under the preaching
of the famous and eccentric Billy Cravens, at the age
of eighteen ; two years later, entered the Conference
on trial in 1814, and did effective work in Western
Pennsylvania. In his thirtieth year he was chosen
one of the delegates to the General Conference of
1824 and five times subsequently. He spent fifty
years in the effective ranks including every depart-
ment of itinerant service. His personal appearance
was striking. Of medium height, his well-knit frame
denoted muscular power and his strongly marked
features indicated the blending of firmness with
gentleness. His preaching was after the Wesleyan
type, and always with power. As an exhorter he
was unsurpassed. His administrative ability was
superior and eminently fitted him for the duties of a
Presiding Elder. He was a wise counsellor. Once
decided in his convictions he never faltered. He
was true to the original couception of the itinerancy,
the Episcupacy and its necessary adjunct, the presid-
ing eldership. He was so distinctively Wesleyan in
his statement of the doctrines of the Church, that
Bishop Janes regarded him as approaching most
nearly to the earliest Methodist preachers. He lived
332 Appendix A.

to be eighty-four, and died as he had lived, sending
as his last message to his Conference these char-

acteristic words: ‘Strong in faith, giving glory to
God.”

Ropert BeEEks, born near * Concord, Franklin
County, Pa., February 138, 1806; died in Hunting-
don County, Pa., February 15, 1870. He was con-
verted in his twentieth year under the ministry of
Rev. Jonathan Monroe, and admitted in 1835. His
active work in the Conference was in the Pennsyl-
vania part of the territory. During the last three
years of his life he suffered greatly from disease of
the heart. He retained his faculties till the latest
moment, singing near the close: “On Jordan’s
stormy bank I stand, etc.” He was a good man
and a faithful minister of the Gospel.

JaMES Beaty, born in Loudoun County, Va., April
1, 1827 ; died at Moorefield, W. Va., April 18, 1888 ;
converted at the age of 20; admitted in 1850; trav-
eled in the regular work twenty-six years, and was a
superannuate twelve years. He was a faithful expo-
nent of the Gospel. Expecting immediate results
he was not disappointed. Nor was he idle during
the period of his retirement from the active work,
preaching as his strength would allow, often going
out into the “byways and hedges” to carry the
Gospel to the poor. Sweet glimpses of Heaven
came to him in his last hours, and as the end drew
near he whispered: ‘The weary wheels of life will
soon stand still.”

Amos J. Brenper, born in Bendersville, Pa., July
31, 1824; died at Dublin, Md., June 30, 1897; he was
converted very young, and early in life there was a
definite call to the ministry ; was admitted in 1856.
He had a gentle disposition. While the work to
which he was assigned was sometimes hard and the
Clerical Sketches. 333

compensation very meager, he was never known to
complain. He was as plain and simple as a little child.
His preaching always was effective. As the end of
life drew near, serenity and peace changed to rap-
ture. ‘I have the victory, the victory!” “Thanks
be to God which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ,” were his last words.

James BERKELEY, born in Fairfax county, Virginia,
May 18, 1801; converted in 1821; traveled fourteen
years from 1827; ruptured a blood vessel and died,
April 23, 1841. He was of a mild and amiable dis-
position, kind and courteous in manner, not a
preacher of brilliant talents, but acceptable and use-
ful. He died in great peace in Alexandria, Va.

GEroRGE BrerKsTrEssEeR, born August 12, 1807, in
Pennsylvania; died in Dadeville, Alabama, Novem-
‘ber 3, 1896. Admitted in 1836, within twenty-
nine years he traveled on nineteen circuits in Penn-
sylvania, and for thirty-one years from 1865 was on
the retired list. He spent the last seven years with
his son, in Dadeville. The pastor of the M. E.
Church, South, thus wrote of him: “TI knew him for
two years. He was as nearly without faults as men
get to be. Being feeble, he could do little active
work, but he did what he could. His triumph over
death was complete.”’

Ropert WestEy Brack, born in Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania, September 6, 1824; died in Balti-
more, May 9, 1895; converted and joined the
church, 1842; shortly afterwards he was called to
preach the gospel; entered Allegheny College, 1847,
and graduated from that institution, 1850 ; admitted
1851. He was known as a careful man in looking
after all the interests of the church. He was a
polished christian gentleman. His sermons were
carefuliy thought out, every sentence well rounded,
334 Appendix A.

and they were models of rhetorical and logical beauty.
His pastoral work was of a high order.

SaMuEL V. Buaxkg, born in Easton, Talbot County,
Maryland, January 15, 1814. Deprived by death of
his father in early youth he found his home with an
uncle, Rev. R. 8. Vinton in Washington, D. C.;
admitted 1835. His work in the traveling connec-
tion was within the bounds of the Conference and
extended over a period of thirty-six years. His
characteristics were earnestness, energy, activity and
fidelity to his one work, joined with the strongest
trait, conscientiousness. He was gentle in his spirit,
attractive in his personality, and beloved by the
people everywhere in his long service. His work
ceased with his life. While attempting to preach at
Jefferson street, Baltimore, April 9, 1871, he was
compelled by physical prostration to desist, and with
difficulty succeeded in reaching the Monument street
parsonage. Just one month later the end came and
with it the shout of “ victory!”

ZANE BianD, born in Pendleton County, Virginia,
October 5, 1816; died in Cumberland, Maryland,
December 12, 1851; admitted in 1840. Eleven
years covered the period of his work. Original,
earnest and industrious, his brief life was not in vain.
“ Allis right! Sing home, and Jet me die shouting”
were his last words.

JoHN Westey Bonn, born in Baltimore, December
11, 1784. His father, Mr. Thomas Bond, was
among the first fruits of Methodism in Maryland,
under the preaching of Strawbridge. John was con-
verted in 1800 and received on trial in the Baltimore
Conference in 1810. He located in 1813, was re-
admitted in 1814 and appointed to travel with Bishop
Asbury till the close of his life, in 1816. After the
death of Bishop Asbury, he was appointed first to
Severn und then to Harford Circuit, where his labors
Clerical Sketches. 335

were greatly blessed. He died in Baltimore, January
22, 1819, in peace and triumph.

Simon Booker, a native of Newtown (now Stephens
City), Frederick county, Virginia ; entered the travel-
ing connection 1820, in the Kentucky Conference,
and was transferred, 1826, to the Baltimore Confer-
ence. His career was brief but attended with great
success. His death was occasioned by sleeping
between damp sheets, while engaged in a wonderful
revival of religion on Loudoun Circuit. He reached
the home of a friend, Mr. Ritenour, in his native
town, where he ‘finished his course with joy,”
August, 1829. A short time before he expired he
said: “I want a conductor to heaven,” a moment
after triumphantly exclaiming: ‘‘I have one—a sub-
lime One!”

JouNn W. Boreter, born in Washington, D. C.,
March 12, 1829; died April 12, 1896; converted at
the age of ten years, and admitted in 1851. With the
exception of a few years spent as an itinerant in the
Baltimore Conference and then in the Upper Iowa
Conference ; his labors, as a minister and leader in
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, were con-
fined to the city of his birth ; where, notwithstanding
the malady which occasioned his retiring from the
active ministry of his Conference, he has left an in-
delible impress. He never became secularized, but
devoted all his leisure hours to the promotion of the
enterprises and movements of the church of his
choice. He had the love and confidence of all the
christian people of his native city. “The Lord will
provide ” was his final note of triumph.

GroraE W. Bouss, born in Pendleton County, Vir-
ginia, April 9, 1823; was admitted in 1849, and
died at Woodland, Pennsylvania, July 21, 1892. A
plain, practical, scriptural preacher, presenting the
essential doctrines of the gospel with earnestness and
336 Appendia A.

force. The directness of appeal, the depth of his
piety, the fervor of his zeal, the purity and upright-
ness of his character rendered his sermons very
effective.

JOHN Bowen, admitted 1823, was another man of
original powers ; for forty years honored, venerated
and beloved. He did not run in vain, neither labor
in vain. His useful toil was crowned with a peaceful
end. ‘No fear of death?” asked his pious physi-
cian. ‘“Notany! not any! notany!” was the reply.
An unostentatious man, he was yet instrumental in
the conversion of many souls, punctual in filling his
appointments, diligent in all his duties. He was
generous, kind and unselfish, patient and hopeful.
His equanimity was remarkable, his faith strong and
his trust in God’s care habitual. Even when deprived
of sight he never murmured. The evening of his life
was calm and tranquil.

AtEm Brirarn, born near Light Street, Pennsyl-
vania, September, 19, 1809; died November 9, 1889,
near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He was admitted
in 1830. His work in the active relation was entirely
in Pennsylvania and covered most of the territory in
that part of the Baltimore Conference. From the
severity of his labors and travel he was compelled
twice to stop and rest. His final superannuation
occurred in 1880. He was well versed in the Scrip-
tures, quoting them accurately and with readiness.
His manner was affectionate—at times pathetic. His
diction was chaste and clear and simple. At pro-
tracted and camp-meetings he was atower of strength
in song, prayer and exhortation. Numbers were
converted under his ministry. His life was consis-
tent both at home and abroad.

SamurL Brisoy. The little village of Newtown,
(now Stephens City), Frederick County, Virginia,
claimed him as a native (1797). Converted at nine-
Clerical Sketches. 337

teen, under the ministry of Rev. Thos. Kennerly, he
entered the itinerancy (1821) with little culture, but
with great natural gifts. He has been called a
‘‘model preacher,’ and his record testifies to the
correctness of that term. His style, though not
ornate and brilliant, was perspicuous and forcible.
Relying less on books, (outside of the Scriptures),
he was marked by an originality and freshness of
thought, a plainness and earnestness in delivery, a
simplicity and sincerity that gave him power over his
audiences and produced lasting effect. Thirty-two
years of unabated labor on circuits, stations and dis-
tricts found him at their close with the harness on
and ready for the speedy summons of his Lord. “TI
can very easily be spared, I shall not be missed.
* * * T know my brethren have always loved me,”
were among his last and simple, unaffected utter-
ances.

Grorce G. Brooksz, born in Fauquier County, Vir-
ginia, 1808; died in Berryville, Va., December 8, 1878,
closing his fiftieth year of active work. He was
admitted on trial in the Baltimore Conference, 1829.
He was remarkable for constancy and earnestness in
his private devotions, and for unwavering faith in
the Divine promises. His labors were blessed with
great success in the conversion of souls. In social
life he was genial, courteous, kind and obliging, as a
pastor faithful and vigilant and uniformly beloved.
He served as Chaplain in the Confederate Army
during the war, and commanded the respect and won
the love of all that knew him. Approaching the close
of his life, and the second year of his service on
Berryville Circuit (Church South), scores of souls
having been converted during a protracted meeting
of several weeks, when about to retire he said to his
wife: “If I had some items of temporal business
attended to I would be ready to die now.” Struck

22.
"338 Appendix A.

with apoplexy he never spoke again. On the Sunday
morning following he was “absent from the body
and present with the Lord.”

James Braps was admitted in 1836. The record
of his active labors in the itinerancy covers a period
of nearly forty years. Two brief seasons of illness
compelled him to rest awhile, but so soon as health
returned, he resumed his effective work. In 1871,
his final retirement became imperative, and for six-
teen years he waited, but not inactively, for the end.
His pulpit work was uniformly acceptable and profit-
able, his manner invariably earnest, devout without
the faintest approach to trifling. Some of his dis-
courses were of an unusually high order. Revivals
brought many seals to his ministry. In his pastor-
ate he counselled, exhorted and comforted as the
case demanded. The poor and sick were visited and
aided, and at the death bed he was courageous,
tender and faithful—‘‘a pure true man of God.”
An hour before the death struggle ceased, he looked
up with rapture and said: “I see the King, eternal,
immortal, invisible. Victory! Victory! Victory !”’

Jacos L. BRoMWELL, born in Talbot county, Mary-
land, August 1, 1792; was converted in early life;
admitted on trial in 1817 ; superannuated in 1826 ;
made effective in 1830; and was again superannuated,
in which relation he continued forty years. He died
in Morgan county, Indiana, March, 1871. He was
an effective preacher doing good service till his
throat became affected, then moved to Indiana, where,
as he was able, he preached in cabins, log school
houses and the woods. His labors were greatly
blessed. He became the founder of a number of
societies in the bounds of Waverly Circuit in the
Indiana Conference. He was at last stricken down
with pneumonia. At times he was rational, and once
he said to a son-in-law, he was glad there was a
Clerical Sketches. 339

country that knew no pain, and that he was not far
from it.

Bengamin N. Brown, born in Martinsburg, Vir-
ginia, December 19, 1808; died in Washington,
D. C., January 17, 1869; converted in his fifteenth
year. arly impressed in favor of the ministry, he
resolved not to thrust himself forward, but to wait for
the call of the Church. When the call came he was
obedient to it and entered the Conference, 1833.
The character of his appointments on circuits,
stations and districts indicate the estimate in which
his abilities were held. Asa preacher, he was sound
in doctrine, clear and logical] in statement and dis-
cussion, earnest and expressive in manner, and fear-
less in the utterance of conviction. Sometimes his
exposition and enforcement of the cardinal doctrines
were masterly, swaying the mind and moving the
hearts of his hearers. He loved his church and
endeavored to promote her interests. He appeared
sometimes stern and severe; but in reality he was
a man of the kindliest nature, warm, genial and
pleasant in his intimate friendships. Humor, wit
and anecdote graced and seasoned his conversation.
In his family, he was uniformly cheerful, at times
playful asa child. His death was unexpected, but
was one of triumph. Two days before his death,
when asked by his daughter as to his condition, he
replied: “ Very, very” when his daughter, sup-
posing he could not connect his thoughts, supplied
the word “comfortable,” but in a moment he secured
his own word : ‘triumphant, very triumphant.” His
last utterance was: “Christian friends, look fully to
Christ.”

BensaMin Peyron Brown, born in King George
County, Va., July 5, 1830; died in Baltimore,
August 26, 1896. He entered the Church early in
life under the ministry of Dr. Lanahan while pastor

 
340 Appendix A.

at Fredericksburg, Va. He entered Dickinson Col-
lege, 1849, and made a hard struggle to acquire ah
education, but bad health forced him into the active
work in 1853, and he never completed his collegiate
course. He was a true christian gentleman, with a
high ideal of a minister’s calling, a splendid preacher
and a nobleman in God’s kingdom.

Cuartes E. Brown, born in Alexandria, 1815 ;
converted in Baltimore when a boy ; entered Confer-
ence at the age of 21; traveled 9 years, and in 1846
was Home Missionary in the city of Washington,
where, July 12, severe labors and frequent exposures
brought on a violent illness, terminating in his death.
His one last sentence was “To die is gain.”

Grorce L. Brown, born in Baltimore, January,
1809, born again 1830;-was admitted 1835. Six
years of active service in the Conference developed
useful talents, deep piety and an amiable spirit. He
was greatly beloved and died after a short illness in
1848, saying as he received the summons: “The
Lord wiil do what is right.”

James H. Brown, was a man of peculiar mould ;
his father, an Irish Catholic until near his death,
his mother a devout Lutheran. He was born at Mt.
Vernon Furnace, Lancaster county, Pa., August 20,
1807. A watchmaker by trade, he boarded in a
family of Methodists, where he encountered a num-
ber of pioneer preachers. At Shrewsbury camp-
meeting he was led to Christ, and three years later,
1829, was received on trial in the famous Conference
Room in the third story of the Light Street par-
sonage. In his personal appearance we remember
him as small in stature, slender and well propor-
tioned. In manner and voice he was precise; in
dress, neat and clerical. In the pulpit he was at
times argumentative, occasionally eloquent; but his
power was chiefly in persuasion, when, in tender
Clerical Sketches. 341

tones and with tears, he lifted his audiences in sym-
pathetic response. He was methodical in all his
work, whether in the careful preparation of ser-
mons, in pastoral visiting or in secular business.
He was strong in his convictions and prompt in
expressing them. At the close of his useful life,
after a ministry of fifty-eight years, these were some
of his last words: “I have but one day more to
live ; tomorrow I shall die; all is well.’ * * *
“The end has come, and I meet it with faith in
God ; I have tried to preach His Truth, and I die
in the faith of the Fathers. Farewell.”

RicHarp Brown, admitted in 1827, was the Con-
ference Steward for seventeen years; great camp-
meeting manager ; the genial christian gentleman and
successful preacher, whose name rightfully leads
seventeen admitted on trial, stands out in our memory
unique in his personality. Possessed of fine physical
proportions, a clear, resonant yet musical voice, and
impressive manner, we can hear him still reading
out, on the Conference floor, the claims and dis-
bursements, so deeply interesting to the preachers.
His ministry was solid, instructing and soul convert-
ing. His sterling qualities of mind, heart and char-
acter drew to him many friends who admired and
loved him. He was true, sincere and steadfast ;
firm in principle, frank in manner, honorable in
action and refined in his sensibilities. As a preacher
he was faithful and self-sacrificing, spending an
ample fortune in the cause of Christ while showing
men the way of salvation.

Naraan §. Bucxincuam, born in Montgomery
county, Virginia, September 13, 1821; died in
Lewisburg, Pa., April 27, 1884 ; converted at 20 years
of age; admitted, 1843. He spent forty years of
faithful and abundant labors in the gospel. He was
an energetic, constant worker, throwing all his reserve
342 Appendix A.

forces into the work, especially in seasons of revival
where he was abundantly successful. At the end, to
his wife’s remark “ You will soon be with Jesus,” he
at once replied: “ Why of course, God is now my
eternal refuge.”

Joun W. Butt, born in Baltimore county, Mary-
land, September 6, 1819; died in Alexandria, Va.,
December 25, 1873; converted at 18, admitted,
1843, and travelled in the Conference, in the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, till 1854, and in the Church,
South, from 1866 till 1869. He was happy in death.

JAMES Buntinc, born in Baltimore, 1814, con-
verted at a camp-meeting upon the old Water’s
ground near Reisterstown, at the age of ten, under
the preaching of Rev. John Bear. For four years
he taught in the Grammar School at Dickinson Col-
lege, and also graduated in medicine; labored in the
itinerancy from 1842 till 1849, when he retired on
account of failing health, and died at his residence
in St. Mary’s County, Md., June 24, 1880. His
abilities, culture and information made him a fine
pulpit orator. He had revivals wherever he went,
some of them extensive and with abiding results.
He had a sanguine temperament, a fine memory,
and could reproduce the very tones of voice and the
exact words of the greatest preachers of his day.
He retained his zeal and devotion to the chureh
to the last, instructing the children in the Sunday
School and taking a deep interest in all the move-
ments in the church, When dying he sent messages
of love and farewell to the members of his Confer-
ence, telling them that he was a firm Methodist and
loved the doctrines and usages of the church, that he
was dying full of glory and only waiting for the
chariot into which he should enter and ascend to his
home in heaven.
Clerical Sketches. 343

Ezra F. Busgy, born in Berkeley County, Virginia,
October 6, 1819; died May 13, 1880. Was in the
active work of the ministry thirty-six years, from .
1842 to 1861, in the Baltimore Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church—then five years in inde-
pendent ministerial work in the city of Baltimore,’
and from 1866 till 1878 in the Methodist Episcopal
-Church, South. His retirement from the effective
relation lasted only a little over one year before his
death. He was more than an ordinary preacher. His
sermons were thoroughly prepared. He treated every
subject exhaustively ; his manner of delivery was
usually calm, dispassionate, free from much emotion,
but sometimes his feelings would rise with his theme
and his hearers would be borne upward with him.
This was notably so toward the last of his life. He
had some high qualities of character and they were
transparent. Honest in his convictions, severely just
in his dealings, independent in his decisions, he
never swerved from what he believed right, yet toler-
ated the opinions of others. To those who knew him
slightly he might have seemed cold and unsympa-
thetic, but a closer acquaintance revealed a warmth
of love before unknown. Singularly, pure he stood
above reproach, and underneath was a deep religious
experience. During his last illness he seemed to
catch glimpses of heaven and holy rapture possessed
his soul. At one time, holding a glass of water in
his hand, he said: “I will soon drink the pure water
from the river of Life.’ Among his last words
were: “My trust is in the Father and his Son Jesus
Christ, and I hope to meet you all on the other side.”

Tuomas H. Buszy, a brother of Ezra Busey, born
in Washington, D. C.;converted at Harpers Ferry in
his eighteenth year; admitted in 1837, and labored
in the Conference till 1855. Broken in health by a
severe cold, he retired with a supernumerary rela-
344 Appendix A.

tion, and died April 19, 1856, in the forty-second
year of lis age. He was possessed of genuine piety,
and preached often with great force and power.

ExisHa Butter, born June 8, 1798, in Connecti~
cut; died in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, April 5, 1883;
admitted in 1838. A man of strong character,
strong convictions, strong predilections ; strict in his
religious life, as also in doctrine and discipline. As
a Biblical scholar he had few equals, perhaps no
superlor. When, approaching the end of his earthly
pilgrimage, as Rev. Cambridge Graham said to him
“Good night,” be replied: “‘When next we meet it
may be good morning.” His last words were: ““O
my blessed Jesus!”

Witu1sm Buruer, whose father brought his family
from Ireland when William was three years of-age,
was reared in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and
admitted on trial in 1807. His ministry in the
actual work covered a period of thirty-five years, and
extended over a territory reaching from Western
Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake. He was a man of
deep piety and great consistency of character. It
appears from his diary that on the different circuits
on which he traveled, nearly four thousand souls
were added to the Church.

RoBperT CADDEN, born in Ireland, came with his
mother to this country in 1798, and settled near Lan-
caster, Pa., moving in 1800 to Shippensburg. At
the age of twenty, the Gospel found its way to his
heart. Trained at home by a pious mother, he was
soon called by the Church to fill the offices of class
leader, exhorter and local preacher ; then for thirty-
seven years, from 1815, sustained an effective rela-
tion to the Baltimore Conference, gave full proof of
his ministry, was instrumental in the conversion of
many souls, and was for the last seven years of his
Clerical Sketches. 345

life superannuated. On Sabbath morning, June 26,
1859, he raised his voice, and with great distinct-
ness, cried out: ‘My prospects are exceedingly
bright,” and passed to his eternal rest.

Tuomas E. Carson, born in Baltimore, Md., March
12, 1832; died in the city of Roanoke, Va., October
18, 1902 ; was admitted, 1853. He was educated in
the City College, taking, in his sixteenth year, the
highest honors of his classes ; converted at Water’s
camp ground in his seventeenth year. He began that
reading habit, which served to preserve the freshness
of his thought and made him waster of his mother
tongue. He was stationed in the city of Baltimore,
and when the civil war broke out in 1861. His con-
victions led him, with four others, to abide by the
decision of the Conference at Staunton, Va., and he
took his place with the majority of his brethren, at
Alexandria, Va., 1866, and continued his active service
until 1902, when he retired, six months before his
death. He was a gentleman by nature, and by cul-
ture and divine grace as well. His hospitality was
easy, cordial and cheerful. Wise, bright, joyous,
gentle, tactful, he, like his Master, “ went about doing
good.” The end came suddenly, yet there seemed
to be a premonition. On the afternoon previous, he
asked to be left alone to do some writing. It was
his last will and testament. An early paragraph
contains his final testimony: “I approach my end
in peace with all men, at peace with God and in full-
ness of hope.” Completing the instrument he
walked to a neighbor’s house to sign it in the pres-

-ence of witnesses, saying : “It is better in the midst
of life to prepare for death.” That night he “fell
on sleep.”

Francis 8. Cassapy, born in Baltimore, Md., Feb-
ruary 5, 1827; died November 22, 1872. He was
converted in his twentieth year, and admitted on
346 Appendix A.

trial in 1850. For twenty-two years he wrought,
sometimes on the hardest fields; made full proof of
his ministry with enlargement of the Church and the
conversion of souls. To natural ability, he added
careful discipline, and increasing culture. He was
a chaste and instructive writer, a true man and with-
out guile, humble in spirit and without reproach. A
long and wasting illness did not abate his zeal or
dim his faith. As the end approached, among his
last utterances were these: “I am nestling on the
bosom of Jesus.”

LeronarD CassELL, admitted in 1809, was cut off
by yellow fever in Baltimore at the early age of
twenty-four years. His career was short, but for
seven years his circuits, from Rockingham and
Pendleton in Virginia, to Carlisle in Pennsylvania,
and then to Fells Point, to Harford, to Annapolis and
again to Fells Point, bear to this day the abiding
marks of his pulpit power, his zeal and his success.

Davip CastLeman, born in Adams County, Penn-
sylvania, November 4, 1825; died November 10,
1875. He was converted in his youth, and admitted
in 1849. Approved in his ministry, faithful in the
pastorate, of a gentle and loving spirit, he did his
work well and was suddenly translated to the “ Gen-
eral Assembly ” on high.

JOHN CHALMERS, a native of Annapolis, Md., a
pioneer preacher, entered the traveling connection
in 1788, having begun to preach the gospel before
he was sixteen years of age. He traveled nine years
from 1833 with great acceptance and usefulness, then
located (1797), and was re-admitted, 1832, and
appointed to Fairfax Circuit as supernumerary.
He died in Montgomery County, Md., June 3, 1833,
his peace undisturbed, his triumph complete.
Clerical Sketches. B47

WILLIAM CHAMPION, born in St. Just, near Pen-
zance, England, May 23, 1817 ; died at Moorefield,
W. Va., January 20, 1873; was converted at the age
of 23; came to this country 1848; entered the con-
ference, 1850 ; served nine years in the effective work ;
was superannuated, 1861. He proved to be an
acceptable and useful preacher of the gospel. ‘The
will of God be done. Hence no will but His,” was
his closing testimony.

Wituiam H. Cuapman, a Marylander, traveled only
seven years, from 1821, in the effective work. Plain
in his manners, powerful and searching in his appeals
to the heart, diligent in the duties of his oftice, he
closes his record with the triumphant shout, “Glory!”

Grorce D. CHEenowirH, born in Berkeley County,
Va., August 3, 1811; died May 18, 1880; converted
at a camp-meeting at 18, and admitted in 1833. His
effective ministry continued unbroken for 35 years.
A sound theologian, a useful preacher, a devoted
husband and father and a christian gentlemen. His
death in Washington, D. C., was sudden and unex-
pected.

Tuomas B. CHEw, born in Anne Arundel County,
Md., January 2, 1823; died February, 1864; converted
at a camp-meeting when a youth; labored for some
time as a local preacher, but spent a brief ministry
in the itinerant field from 1852. During this period
his work was blessed in the conversion of souls.
His feeble health at last compelled him to ask for
a supernumerary relation. When informed by his
physician that he was near his end, he joyfully re-
sponded: “Then I’m almost home!”

JoHN CHILDS, born in Calvert County, Md., was
converted in early life and admitted on trial in
1789 ; located and was re-admitted in 1816; located
again in 1823, but returned to the active work in
348 Appendia A.

1827. He served two years and died at an advanced
age at the house of Mr. Thomas Jacobs, in Alex-
andria. He was highly esteemed as a man and a
minister, and died expressing confidence in God his
Saviour.

James M. Cxarke, born in Baltimore County,
November 16, 1806; died in Duncansville, Pa.,
March 12, 1880. He was converted at eighteen,
educated at Dickinson College, and studied and
practiced medicine until he entered the itinerant
ranks in 1831. He was a Christian gentleman in
the best sense of the word; a true man, a devoted,
laborious and successful Methodist preacher. Hun-
dreds were led to the cross under his ministry. He
died in the full assurance of faith and in glorious
triumph.

CuarLes CLeaver, born in Brackley, Northhamp-
toushire, England, June 11, 1815. Converted when
15 years of age, he united with the Wesleyans against
the opposition of his parents, who were members of
the Church of England. He lived to see them in
the communion which they once despised. He came
to this country in 1844. Arriving in Baltimore, he
immediately joined at Caroline Street Station as a
local preacher, remaining until his entrance into the
Conference in 1858. He continued to travel in the
regular work till 1876, when, in consequence of
feeble health, his relation was changed, first to super-
numerary and at last to superannuated. His minis-
try is described as earnest, faithful and successful.
He promoted revivals, visited the sick, and looked
after the poor and distressed. His faith to the last
was firm, his hope steadfast and unshaken.

Wituiam T. D. Ciemm, born in Tennessee, April
14, 1814; died in Govanstown, Md., February 12,
1895 ; united with. the M. E. Church early in life,
 

 

 

 

WILLIAM GWYNN COE

 
Clerical Sketches. 349

and admitted on trial in 1840. He was a uniqne
personality. He possessed a fund of wit and humor
which made him a formidable antagonist in public
debate. He was always ready—a man of wonderful
originality. His pulpit ministrations were always of
a high order. He was a real optimist, loyal to his
convictions and loved by all who knew him. His
one and continuous expression at the last was “ Hal-
lelujah ! ”

Wittiam G. Cor, born April 15, 1832, in Balti-
more, Md.; died in Lewisburg, W. Va., March 29,
1877 ; educated at St. Mary’s College; was selected
at the age of 19 as clerk of the Court of Common
Pleas ; converted under the ministry (in the parson-
age of Eutaw Church) of Rev. Henry Slicer, and
was admitted on trial in 1854. He spent fourteen
years on circuits and seven on two Districts, and
was a delegate to the General Conference of the
Church, South. Washington and Lee University
conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
He served the Conference eleven years as Statistical
Secretary. Pulpit ability and capable administra-
tion in all matters entrusted to him marked every
period of his work. Accurate in thought and
expression, thorough in working out all details, dili-
gent in the employment of time, and faithful to the
last, he crowned his career with supreme love and
loyalty to God, and as a necessary sequence, with
overflowing love and zeal for the welfare of others.
To the last record in his diary “In Lewisburg, at
home,”’ may well be added: ‘In heaven, at home,”
as he cried at the last: “Let us make haste and
cross over this Jordan!”

NatTHaNnreEL W. CoLpurn, born in Wales, June 3,
1829. His parents came to this country when he
was one year old and settled in Centre County, Penn-
sylvania, removing soon afterward to Karthaus, where
350 Appendix A.

he spent his early years in the rough and laborious
occupation of a luamberman. Converted at the age
of 18, he obtained an education at Allegheny College
and was admitted in 1854. An earnest, plain, prac-
tical preacher, his highest aim was the saving of
souls. It is estimated that, under his ministry, at
least two thousand souls were led to Christ. On
Saturday, April 11, 1891, with his family about him,
his spirit in great calm and peace took its flight
heavenward.

James A. CoLEemMaN, born in Baltimore in 1831;
died March 30, 1879, in Philadelphia; converted at
the age of 14; entered the Conference in 1851.
He was affable in manners, earnest in prayer, affec-
tionate in his intercourse with the people, and untir-
ing in his labors to save souls. These labors proved
too great ; and, with a shattered constitution he prose-
cuted with difficulty the duties of his holy calling.
Was appointed, in 1862, chaplain of the United
States Navy, but was obliged to resign in consequence
of failing health, at the end of thirteen months. For
the fourteen years of his superannuated relation he
resided in Philadelphia, preaching, even beyond his
strength, and laboring for the salvation of souls.
This was his farewell message to the Conference :
“Tf I were placed upon the witness stand, this would
be my testimony: ‘Jesus died for me and I know it.’”

Isaac Conins, born in Baltimore County, 1789 ;
served under General Harrison along the western
lakes during the war of 1812, and was one of the
Old Defenders at the battle of North Point; he en-
tered the Conference in 1823. A plain, earnest,
useful preacher, eminently conscientious, complete
in integrity, and thoroughly honest—a true man.
Sometimes he would speak on the floor of the Con-
ference, and when he did, the young preachers would
crowd the aisles to catch his characteristic and origi-
Clerical Sketches. 351

nal remarks. ‘It is said, sir, that an honest man is
the noblest work of God—and I claim to be that
man.” His claim was a just one. “Iam almost
home” was his last distinct utterance.

Joun A. CoLins, entered the Baltimore Conference
in 1830. Without disparagement to any of their con-
temporaries, who, with united voice, gave to both
the palm of leadership, the names of John A. Collins
and Henry Slicer are, to Baltimore Conference
Methodism, as familiar as household words. Born
in the same year (1801), Collins, near Seaford, Del.,
and Slicer, in Annapolis, Md., they justly merit the
high place in the history of their times which the
record assigns to them. Those who looked upon
them can never forget their personal appearance,
their tones of voice, their manner of address so
entirely dissimilar, yet both so commanding, that
each in his own individuality never failed of audience
nor of power. Each had his own circle of devoted
admirers, and when they divided the Conference on
a question, so close would be the vote that it was
often doubted which would win; and when they
were united, they swept everything before them. In
person Collins was of medium height, neither stout
nor slender, a neat, trim, well built man, with regular
features, eyes set well back behind a close fitting
pair of spectacles; perfect in grace of speech,
natural and easy in every gesture; calm and delib-
erate in repose; animated, stirring and overwhelm-
ing. when aroused; a born orator, with every
faculty thoroughly trained for pulpit, platform and
Conference floor. For twenty-seven years he was
the eloquent preacher, the peerless debator, the
genial and generous compeer among his brethren.
Educated a successful teacher, a student of law in
the office of the great William Wirt; afterwards in
public service, four years in Washington City ; dur-
352 Appendix A.

ing that time getting ready for his wider field by
serving the church as a local preacher, he came into
the Conference in 1830. As a true itinerant, sound
in distinctively Wesleyan theology, thoroughly con-
versant with the polity of Methodism, he was the
effective expounder and defender of both. Crowds
waited on his ministry in city churches and country
places, and thousands thronged the tented groves of
Loudoun County, Virginia, to be convinced by his
arguments, thrilled by his eloquence and moved by
his appeals. On the floor of his Conference, when
he spoke all gave heed, and it was seldom that he
spoke in vain. Dickinson tried to claim him as an
agent for her College, New York to hold him in the
Editorial chair of the great Advocate, but the itiner-
ant work claimed him back to the Old Baltimore
Conference, where, with untiring zeal and devotion
he gave his best service, and died with the harness
on May 7, 1857. Impulsive, and generous to a
fault, when he erred it was like a tree bending at
the top. No one was more ready than he to acknow-
ledge a wrong or repair an injury. Happily the
imperfections attaching to our humanity, are either
buried in the grave or fade out of view in the course
of time, while what is really great in men’s lives, not
only survives them but brightens in its beauty as the
years go by.

S. L. M. Conser, born in Lewistown, Pa., June 6,
1812 ; died on February 20, 1896; converted in the
days of his boyhood; graduated from Dickinson
College ; admitted, 1840. He was a man of strong
convictions, and expediency never became a rule of
action for him. He possessed some eccentricities,
but at the same time a noble and genuine spirit.

IsraEL B. Coox, born 1789; died March 7, 1868 ;
traveled nine years, from 1813, on hard fields of
labor in Pennsylvania ; lost his health; retired from
Clerical Sketches. 353

the active work and remained feeble until lis death.
“Angels are waiting for me,” was his dying word.

GeEorGE G. Cookman was born in 1800, in the
town of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England.
His parents were Wesleyans, and endeavored to train
him in correct, moral and religious principles. He
sought in his youth happiness in vain from things
on earth, but found peace and pardon while still
young. Visiting this country in 1821 on business
for his father, he received the impression that he
ought to preach the Gospel. On his voyage home-
ward a storm threatened the loss of the vessel, and
he then became convinced that he ought to preach
the Gospel—and that too, in America. The final
result was that, against the opposition of his friends,
he, after being licensed to preach, resolved to re-
linquish every earthly advantage, embarked for
America, landed in Philadelphia on the 16th of
May, 1825, and, at the next session, was received
as a traveling preacher in the Philadelphia Con-
ference—his work for eight years being on two cir-
cuits and three stations. In 1833 he was trans-
ferred to the Baltimore Conference, and filled suc-
cessively five stations, the last in Alexandria, Va.
He was among the best pulpit orators. His style
was nervous and often elegant, and such was the
power of his magnetism that he was seldom at a
loss for images of beauty and apt illustrations. A
man of intense feeling himself, he possessed the
power of arousing the feelings of his audience. He
had many seals to his ministry. After an absence
of fourteen years from his native country, he deter-
mined to return that he might receive the blessing
of an aged father and visit the grave of a sainted
mother. A few days before he left home, he said
to his children: ‘Now, boys, remember, that if

23
354 Appendix A.

your father should sink in the ocean, his soul will
go direct to the paradise of God, where you all must
meet him.” On the 11th of March, 1841, he em-
barked at New York in the fated steamship “ Presi-
dent,’ which has never since been heard of. His
sons rose to eminence—the eldest, Rev. Alfred Cook-
man, having had a brief but glorious career in the
Philadelphia Conference, died with the triumphant
shout: “I’m sweeping through the gates, washed in
the blood of the Lamb!”

GrEorcE W. Cooper, born in Gettysburg, Pa., July
11, 1825 ; died in Baltimore, January 22, 1902 ; con-
verted at the age of sixteen. Alfred Griffith, Pre-
siding Elder of the Carlisle District, gave him work
as a supply on Greencastle Circuit, 1847. While
there was nothing specially demonstrative in bis
nature, he was always looked upon as a very good
man. His congregations loved him fervently. Asa
pastor he was unsurpassed. No case of sickness
ever came to his attention but, in a short time, his
hand of love and sympathy was there to help. He
was eminently a comforter in the time of trouble.
“T am just waiting—all my life I have been pre-
paring for this,” were his last words.

JoHN W. CorRNnELIvs, born at Lutherville, Baltimore
County, Md., January 25, 1835; died in Baltimore,
September 23, 1894; was converted in his nineteenth
year and joined Monument Street M. E. Church ;
eraduated from Dickinson College in 1857, and was
admitted on trial in 1856. He was a scholarly
preacher, and diligent in the discharge of all his
ministerial duties. He was for some years editor of
the Baltimore Methodist. He published a volume
entitled Sabbath Home Readings, which was so well
received that a second edition was called for. His
home life was such that his “children rise up and
call him blessed.’’ The day before he died he said:
Clerical Sketches. 355

“T want to leave this my last testimony to the power
of true religion to save to the uttermost. I have
that power.” In his sufferings he would exclaim :
“The Captain of our salvation was made perfect
through suffering.” As he felt earth receding, he
said: “I feel I am grasping the eternities.” When
he caught sight of the “City of the King,” he cried
out, ‘“ Heaven! Heaven! I am there, prostrate at the
Saviour’s feet. Glory be to God!”

Tuomas CoRNELIUS, born in Baltimore, November
12, 1823; converted at Water's camp ground ; en-
tered Conference in 1845. Delicate in health, he
did good work during bis brief career in the minis-
try. He was a clear and sound expositor of the
gospel ; as a pastor faithful, as a christian exemplary.
He was asked as he entered the valley of shadows :
“Js all well?’ He lifted his hands and raised his
eyes heavenward in token of triumph.

ApraM M. CreicHron, born near Lewistown, Pa.,
April 16, 1831; died at Philipsburgh, Pa., July 7,
1884. Converted in his nineteenth year and edu-
cated at Dickinson Seminary, Williamsport. His
ministerial work (from 1857) covered thirteen charges
and twenty-four years. Failing health compelled
his retirement from the active work in 1881. He
was a man whose face beamed with kindness, and
whose heart overflowed with love and sympathy.
His religion was practical rather than sentimental.
This disposition found expression in preaching and
pastoral work. In all the charges he served he left
the impress of his practiced hand. A faithful servant
has gone to take his crown.

Bengamin H. Crever, born in Carlisle, Pa., March
16, 1817; died April 15, 1890; converted at 18
years of age under the ministry of Dr. J. P. Durbin.
Among the first students at Dickinson College, he
lacked the means to complete his course. After six
356 Appendix A.

years, from 1840, in the Conference, ill-health com-
pelled a suspension of four years, during which he
founded the Williamsport Dickinson Seminary, with
Rev. Thomas Bowman (now Bishop) as Principal.
In 1850 he resumed the active work of the ministry,
serving Circuits in Pennsylvania and stations in
Baltimore. During the Civil War he filled with
fidelity the place of hospital chaplain in Frederick
City, Md. Twice he served on Districts in Pennsyl-
vania, during which time he was elected a delegate
to the General Conference of 1868. His health
again failing, he removed with his family to Minne-
sota, where he did pioneer work and established a
seminary at Worthington, of which he was made
president. He returned to his old Conference in
1875, entering again upon the duties of the pastorate.
He was superannuated in 1886. His death was
singularly peaceful and triumphant. His ability as
a preacher was recognized as of a high order.

Freperick E. Crever, born in Carlisle, Pa., April
9, 1824; died near Shrewsbury, Pa., August 17,
1887; converted at 25; twenty-four years from
1853 were employed in the active ranks of the
itinerancy ; the last ten years heart trouble compelled
him to desist. He retired to his home near Shrews-
bury, holding himself in constant readiness to depart
and be with Christ. Reticent in society, he was
most genial and free in the intimacy of private
friendship. His life was spotless and his ministry
a benediction. His death. was a quick transition
from earth to heaven.

CoRNELIUS C. Cronin, born at Paradise, Harford
County, Md., August 17, 1819; died May 15, 1891,
while pastor of Long Green Circuit ; he was admitted
in 1839. He was of Irish ancestry ; raised under
Roman Catholic influences ; converted in his nine-
teenth year. Preached his first sermon in the historic
Clerical Sketches. 357

Bush Chapel in 1848. A great revival always fol-
lowed his appointment to a charge. He had a warm
heart and made a host of friends wherever he was
sent. ‘Iam all right, living or dying,” was the last
sentence escaping his lips.

Joun W. Cronin, born in Harford County, Md., in
1813; converted early in life; traveled nearly nine
years, from 1837, with zeal, eloquence and success.
Malignant typhus fever seizing upon him in the
midst of the year during his pastorate in Staunton,
Virginia, his last hours were marked by the most
signal triumph of grace. ‘“ How dark it is,’’ cried he,
“Tight a candle.” “The candle is burning,” his
wife said. ‘Light two,” he replied. ‘You are near
home,” said a friend.. “Heaven is very near; I
shall suon be in glory.”” Commending his family
and friends to God, he broke out in rapturous
strains : “ Glory—Hallelujah |!” and, when his voice
failed, waved his right hand in token of victory.

Wititam G. Cross, born in Morgan County, Vir-
ginia, January 17, 1822; died near Leesburg, August
4, 1873. Converted at 22; traveled in the Baltimore
Conference two years, from 1846; in 1848 adhered
to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and
labored extensively in the Virginia Conference till
1867 ; was transferred to the Baltimore Conference,
South, where he closed his life-work. A man of
more than ordinary intellectual strength, a useful
preacher, of uniform piety, with a rich, deep experi-
ence, a holy walk, and winning cheerfulness ; child-
like in his simplicity, warm in his attachments and
faithful in his friendships. His death was sudden.

J. WesLEY CuLtom, born in East Baltimore, Feb-
ruary 18, 1808; died in Baltimore, April 30, 1886 ;
converted at eight years of age; admitted on trial,
1832, and traveled twenty-five years. In 1856 he
became agent of the Maryland Colonization Society ;
358 appendix aA.

was superannuated four years from 1861, and then
regaining in some measure his health, did what work
he could in aid of his brethren in the active service,
and in 1882 was again superannuated to the time of
his death. As a preacher he was without pretense.
Humble in spirit, simple in manner, sound in doc-
trine and practice; his pulpit ministrations were
peculiarly blessed, particularly to the poor and out-
cast ones to whom he sought to make himself the
instrument of salvation. All revered his genuine
godly simplicity and bore testimony to his unswerv-
ing fidelity.

JaMES Curns, born at Chatam’s Run., Pa., August
10, 1824; died at Chambersburg, Pa., December 29,
1891 ; converted at seventeen years of age ; was ad-
mitted in 1852; circuits, stations and districts were
the fields of his itinerant labors for thirty-nine years.
Honored in the saving of hundreds of precious souls,
superior as a preacher, firm and efficient as an admin-
istrator, earnest in presenting the various benevolent
interests of the church; he was prominent in the
deliberations of his Conference, a member of its most
important comwittees. There were few questions
discussed or great movements inaugurated in which
he did not take part. Sudden death was to him a
sudden translation from the midst of his labors on
earth to his eternal reward.

Rosert L. Daswie tt, born in Salisbury, Md., 1826 ;
died at Roseville, near Newark, N. J., March, 8,
1880; graduated from Dickinson College, which
afterwards conferred the degree of D. D.; became
President of his Alma Mater in 1868. In 1871, he
was elected Secretary of the Missionary Society, fill-
ing that office with distinction and success till the
time of his death. His fine personal appearance,
combined with his pre-eminence as an orator, drew
delighted audiences in his earliest ministry, and
Clerical Sketches. 359

his great ability in guiding the work of Missions,
places him among the foremost men of his times.
Trusting only in the merits of his Saviour in his last
moments, he passed safely and triumphantly over
the river of death, and was doubtless welcomed by
angels and his victorious compeers who had _pre-

ceded him.

Tuomas Davuauapay, born in Baltimore County ;
became a member of the Church at Taylor’s, near
Baltimore ; was admitted on trial at the Conference
session of 1798, and died in Uniontown, Pa., October
12, 1810. He traveled four years, located three
years, and re-entered the active work in 1805, in which
he continued till his triumphant death, at the age of
of thirty-three. He possessed a delicate constitu-
tion, but great meekness of spirit, gentleness of
manners and goodness of heart. His last words
were “Glory, glory!”

Joun Davis, a strong preacher and a wise coun-
sellor; admitted, 1810. Never did the Northern
Neck of Virginia, prolific in great Methodist preachers,
send out a sturdier man. He was tall and command-
ing in person, with strongly marked features and a
voice whose tones were far reaching and as clear as
a bell. His sermons, unwritten but thoroughly pre-
pared, fell with unusual power upon the minds and
hearts of his hearers. A single sentence remains
to day distinct in the memory of a youth who heard
it: ‘There never was a soul converted who was not
first moved by the fear of hell.” One thousand con-
verts, within three months, at Fells Point, Baltimore
(1818), was but a single illustration of his success in
the pastorate. He took rank with the foremost
leaders. His judgment was accurate, and common
sense one of his strongest characteristics. Both in
his own and in the General Conference his influence
was felt and recognized. ‘Tell the Conference all
360 Appendix A.

is peace” were his last words. The end came in
the sixty-ninth year of his age and the forty-sixth
of his ministry.

James N. Davis, born near Blacksburg, Va., 1826 ;
died at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, October 4,
1898. He was reared in the Christian (Campbellite)
Church. He first attended a Methodist meeting in
his seventeenth year, and was wonderfully converted.
His brother was a Bishop in the United Brethren
Church. Acting on the advice of this brother, he
entered the Circleville Academy in Ohio, and became
a diligent student, especially of the classics. He
had, after entering upon his itinerancy in 1848, some
of the hardest work in the Conference, but whatever
his hand found to do he did with all his might.
His fidelity to every obligation was recognized by all
who knew the man. He was a devout christian.
None was more faithful in the careful study of the
Word than was Dr. Davis. He read all the best
authors. He was a fine sermonizer. (He had
preached an admirable sermon on the Sunday morn-
ing on which he was taken sick. He lingered only
two days, and then went to glory.

SAMUEL Davis, admitted on trial in 1814; was a
Pennsylvanian. He was correct in his deportment
as a child; his conversion, powerful and clear, oc-
curred at the age of nineteen, and his ministry of but
eight years was attended with Divine unction, and to
the awakening of many. He died peacefully Sep-
tember 16, 1822.

GipEon H. Day, born in Ellicott City, Md., May
16, 1816; died May 16, 1901; converted in his fif-
teenth year, and admitted in 1840. He was not a
polished product of the schools, yet a man of mind,
of studious habits and very respectable acquirements.
The virtues of essential manhood were conspicuous.
Clerical Sketches. 361

He was of a gentle nature, his courage being blended
with delicacy of feeling. He was honest and stain-
less. In the Lord’s vineyard he was both a worker
and a watchman. His work was hard and his care
of the flock faithful. He served twenty-three charges
notwithstanding two periods of retirement. The end
came peacefully on his birthday, the close of his
eighty-fifth year.

Joun 8. Dzare, born September 3, 1825, in Annap-
olis, Md.; died in Baltimore, Md., April 19, 1885.
He was converted at the age of 16; graduated at
Dickinson College, and admitted in 1849. He
received the degree of D. D. (1872) from Allegheny
College, Pa., and was a delegate the same year to the
General Conference. In temperament, nervous,
deeply sympathetic, modest and retiring, he won his
way into the love and confidence of those he served
in the gospel, filling every station, circuit and dis-
trict with ability and success. Though in feebleness,
he worked up to the very end. His themes for the
pulpit were prepared on the Saturday before his
death, his hymns selected; but on Sunday morning
at 4.30, fully conscious and with the words: “ Pre-
cious Saviour,” on his lips, he was ushered into the
presence of his Lord.

Joun A. De Moyer, born at New Berlin, Union
County, Pa., March 12, 1826; died at Trevorton,
February 9, 1903; converted at 17 years of age;
admitted in 1851. His itinerant service extended
beyond half a century, and when the end came it
found him at his post of duty. His career as a min-
ister was not only a long but a very useful one. A
great cloud of witnesses attest the successful char-
acter of his ministry. The special study of the Ger-
man language extended the sphere of his labors.
His ministrations of the Word were more practical
than profound, but they were earnest and effective.
362 Appendi.c A.

After preaching three times and administering the
communion twice on Sunday, February 8, he went to
Trevorton Station, homeward bound, stopped to Jeave
his satchel to visit a sick brother; but before he
could start on this errand of mercy, was suddenly
stricken with apoplexy. Recovering somewhat from
the shock, he said to a brother by his side, quoting
from an old hymn,
“If this be death I soon shall be
From pain and death and sorrow free,”

and then exclaimed: ‘“‘O, Glory! Glory be to God!
I am ready!” In a few hours he passed to his
reward.

Joun C. Dick, born near Franklin, Pendleton
County, Va., November 8, 1820; died at Upperville,
Va., April 5, 1892. He was converted in his seven-
teenth year, at a camp-meeting on Reid’s creek. The
death of his father called him early in life to the
care of the family. He lost no moments, but was
diligent in reading and study during the intervals of
work. He was admitted in 1848. The secret of the
great success that often followed his active ministry
is to be found, not so much in brilliant pulpit ability,
as in consecration to personal work in saving souls,
to which he joined with the firmest convictions, a
most winning gentleness of manner in his intercourse
with others. Strangers thrown into company with
him, or even casually observing him, would be
instantly impressed in his favor. To him life here
was a joy continually. His very face gave sponta-
neous suggestion of sweetness and humor. He bore
ample testimony at the last to the sufficiency of the
grace of God, and sent a loving message to his
brethren of the Conference. His later service was
in the Church, South.

SamueL M. Dickson, born in Georgetown, D. C.,
January 3, 1837; died November 13, 1866; was
Clerical Sketches. 363

converted in his 16th year, and admitted in 1857.
While a student at Dickinson College he felt the
call of God and gave himself to the work of the
ministry. He was unusually endowed both in mind
and heart. He won all by the sweetness of his
spirit, and his grace of manner. His sermons were
replete with truth, chaste and beautiful, warming often
into fervid and impressive eloquence. His career was
a brief but glorious one. One of his last utterances
was: “My body is weak, but I am exceedingly
happy in mind.”

Henry G. Ditz, born in Gettysburg, Pa., July 18,
1808 ; died in Lewisburg, Pa., May 30, 1887; con-
verted at nineteen; traveled from 1833 in the
itinerant work thirty-eight years; superannuated
seventeen years; honored and loved—a good man
and a good preacher, instrumental in the conversion
of souls, and building up the charges he served—
aggressive, methodical and practical, pure in life
and exceedingly conscientious. He was ready to go .
wherever sent, and do the best he could for God and
the Church. When age and infirmity compelled him
to retire, he continued to preach and care for souls.
He made preaching places and held successful pro-
tracted meetings. As a preacher he was plain,
logical and practical. In appearance he was win-
ning, and his voice was sweet, strong and enduring.
His last message to his brethren: ‘Give my love
to the brethren. Tell them I have tried to preach
Christ for a good many years, and I am now resting
on the atonement of Christ for my comfort here
and to take me to my home in heaven.”

Sau B. Doty, born in Pendleton county, Vir-
ginia, August 9, 1827; died August 8, 1903, in
Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was converted at the
age of 18, and educated in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
As a local preacher he supplied Churchville Circuit
364 Appendix A.

for two years, and upon entering the Conference in
1856, his work for twenty-eight years was on large
and laborious circuits in Virginia and West Virginia ;
then for fifteen years in Maryland, closing with nine
years east of the Blue Ridge, in Virginia. After his
superannuation in 1903, and during the absence of
the pastor, he filled the pulpit at Fredericksburg.
He was a strong, forcible and evangelical preacher,
well informed as to the doctrine and polity of his
Church, and always ready to defend either. Many
were the revivals under his ministry, and numbers
were saved through his earnest efforts. He com-
bined in his nature, sweetness and firmness in a
remarkabie degree. When death came he was ready.

Tuomas J. Dorsgy was, for thirteen years, from
1819, an efficient and valuable laborer in the vine-
yard of the Lord. He was zealous and untiring ;
free, open, amiable and courageous. He died at the
home of Rev. Joshua Wells, June 3, 1838.

Witrorp Downs, born in Rockbridge County, Vir-
ginia, March 12, 1857; died in Baltimore, Md.,
October 12, 1884 ; converted at 14; worked in the
printing office of the Lexington Gazette for nearly
four years, then studied and graduated at the Vir-
ginia Military Institute and elected principal of the
Male Academy of Fincastle, Va., where he remained
three years before entering on the work of the min-
istry in 1851. As a preacher, he was scriptural,
practical and intensely earnest; a successful worker
in revivals and camp-meetings ; careful and exact
as an administrator, a peacemaker without sacrificing
his own convictions ; a diligent and persevering pas-
tor. His last speech was of Jesus: “He is very
precious ! precious! precious !”

Joan H. C. Dosx, born in Strasburg, Va., April
17, 1821; died in Arlington, Md., April 16, 1881 ;
converted at the age of twenty-one in Woodstock,
Clerical Sketches. 365

Va., where he had-been employed as deputy clerk of
Shenandoah County. He entered the Conference in
1848, was chosen assistant to Dr. J. S. Martin, sec-
retary of the Conference, in 1853 ; served five years,
until the Conference was divided in 1858, and after-
wards as secretary in the East Baltimore and Balti-
more Conferences. He was eminently fitted for this
work, as the journals of the several conferences which
bear hisimprint show. Though not an orator, modest
and diffident always, yet he was a faithful preacher,
logical, scriptural and spiritual, bringing souls to
Christ and edifying Christians. He ruled his own
house well and brought all his children into the
church of his choice. Paralysis sealed his lips ten
days before his death, but previously he had borne
his testimony as to the possible issue of his illness :
“T leave it all with God. Whether I live or die it
is all right. I am very unworthy, but have a glori-
ous Saviour.”

Martin L. Drum, born at McKee’s Falls, Pa., in
1834 ; died in Philadelphia, April 7, 1898. He was
educated first at Dickinson Seminary and later at
Dickinson College. His itinerant labors from 1855
included eighteen charges within a period of forty-
three years. In 1898 a bronchial affection, superin-
duced by a severe attack of grippe, caused his first
absence from the Conference session and his applica-
tion for a supernumerary relation. A few weeks
subsequently he ceased both to work and live on
earth, and went to join the grander assembly of
redeemed and ransomed ones on high.

Epwarp L. Duin, born in Fauquier county, Va.,
May 14, 1808; died in Washington City, July 28,
1854; converted at the age of nineteen under Rev.

Robert Cadden, and admitted in 1842. His work of .- - -

_ twelve years was marked by zeal and piety too great
for his strength, which gave way in consequence of
366 Appendix A.

a hemorrhage of the lungs, in 1854. His end was
triumphant—death had lost its sting. He met it
with the signal gospel word: “Thanks be to God
who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.”

Grorae W. Duntap, born January 20, 1827; died
at Williamsport, Pa., June 23, 1901; was educated
in the public schools at Brownsville, Pa.; converted
at sixteen years, and became a diligent student of
the word of God. He was in the effective ranks 33
years from 1855, and in retired relation five years.
“Frank, friendly, generous and a true man, earnest
in preaching, clear in statement and very sympa-
thetic ; loving revival work and successful in winning
souls” is the testimony to his character and work.

SamuEeL B. Duntap, born in Brownsville, Fayette
County, Pa., May 19, 1816; died in Baltimore, May
14, 1861. Converted in his 16th year, he com-
menced his itinerant career on Kingswood circuit,
Virginia, under the direction of Rev. Jas. G. Sansom,
P. E., in the Pittsburg Conference, which he joined
in 1838. In 1842 he was transferred to the Missouri
Conference, but returned in 1845 to the Pittsburg
Conference ; was transferred to the Baltimore Con-
ference in 1855, in whose bounds he served five
years consecutively, and, upon the failure of his
health, was superannuated. One year later, death
came to release him from his earthly toil. Genial in
his temper, earnest in his religion, indefatigable in
his ministerial vocation, he won all hearts. Many
seals to his ministry and success marked his varied
life work. When nearing the end of his journey he
felt just as confident of his reward in heaven as he
ever did of his conversion.

James R. Dursurrow, born September 17, 1818,
in Kent County, Delaware ; died October 20, 1858 ;
Clerical Sketches. 367

was converted, 1838, in Exeter Street Church, Balti-
more, and admitted in 1844. A man of feeble health,
he was assigned a supernumerary relation in 1854.
As a preacher he was eminently experimental and
practical, excelling in the pastorate. When the end
came, his message to his brethren was: “Tell them
I fall a conqueror through the merits of Christ.”

Franxuin Dyson, born in Charles County, Mary-
land, November 26, 1810; died in Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, February 10,1880. He was converted
at the age of twenty, and admitted in 1839. The
labors of seventeen years in the active ministry were
so incessant and exhaustive, that in 1857 he obtained
a superannuated relation, but his zeal for the spread
of the gospel led him to accept the agency of the
Franklin County Bible Society, which he held till
his death. As a man he was meek and quiet, honest
and sincere. As a preacher, evangelical, practical,
calm in delivery, but fearless and faithful. His last
words were: ‘I have a conscious trust in Christ—
that I have had for years. I have no special ecstacy.
but a heavenly calm, deep down in my soul.”

James N. Eaxtn, born December 26, 1824; died
January 18, 1859; converted at nineteen years of
age, and admitted in 1848. Possessed of a clear
mind and a warm heart, earnest as a preacher, he
was instrumental in the conversion of many hun-
dreds, and built up the churches on every charge.
His work in the ministry was limited to thirteen
years. He was cut off in his prime and in the
midst of a successful term at Front Royal, Va.
With the joyful expression of his hope: “Tm
going to live forever!’ he passed gently away to his
home in heaven.

JoserH T. Eaxin, born in Botetourt County, Vir-
ginia, 1830; died in Woodstock, Va., August 29,
368 Appendix cd.

1859. He was coverted in his fourteenth year, and
admitted in 1851. His piety was like the light, his
peace flowed as a river, his righteousness always
abounding. He was distinguished for usefulness,
zeal and earnestness during his entire brief ministry.
“ All bright and clear” at the last.

Witi1am Earnsuaw, born in Philadelphia, May
12, 1828; died at National Soldiers’ Home, Dayton,
Ohio, July 17, 1885. He was converted in early
life and admitted in 1853; traveled on five circuits
and was chaplain in the United States service from
1868 till the time of his death. Of him his biogra-
pher says: “On nineteen battle fields ministered to
the wounded and dying, while the incessant round
of duty in camp and hospital made General Geo. H.
Thomas say: ‘Mr. Earnshaw is the best chaplain I
have known during the war.’” His service as chap-
lain to the National Soldiers’ Home at Dayton, Ohio,
was marked by fidelity, most active sympathy, inces-
sant effort and unfailing love.

Wiuiam Epmonps was born in Lancaster County,
Va., February 16, 1804; embraced religion in Balti-
more, 1823; received on trial in the Baltimore Con-
ference, 1829; traveled several years, became sup-
ernumerary, and died in Bladensburg, Md., Octo-
ber 25, 1847. He was a devout, holy and useful
minister of Jesus Christ, delighting to dwell in his
sermons and exhortations on entire holiness. His
last hours were marked by joy and triumph.

Wituiam B. Epwarps was admitted in 1830. At
the time of his death (1888) he was at the head of
his Conference roll. Through the fifty-six years of
his active ministry he was in many respects the fore-
most among his brethren. Born in King George
County, Virginia, 1809, he was converted early in
life, licensed to exhort in his nineteenth year, and
admitted on trial into the Conference in the twenty-
Clerical Sketches. 369

first year of his age. His educational advantages
during his minority were limited, but his thirst for
knowledge led him, by assiduous and never ceasing
application, to rank highest in theological attain-
ment. He became conversant with the German,
French, Latin and Hebrew languages, and was con-
sidered by his brethren of the Conference the ablest
expositor of the word of God, and one of the best
preachers of his day. The personal traits of his
character were of the finest quality. He was ambi-
tious, yet humble; manly, yet modest; highly honored
in his appointments and by the unstinted praise
of his brethren, yet never puffed up by vanity or
self-conceit. Reserved and retiring in his manner,
yet to those who learned to know him he was ever
affable, courteous and gentle. He loved his brethren
in the ministry and they returned his love with equal
ardor. At the last, when dying, he said to his life
long friend, Dr. L. F. Morgan: “I have no misgiv-
ings about the future. I am not dismayed by death.
Why should Ibe? Why should the christian ever
be? ‘I the chief of sinners am—but Jesus died for

29

me.

Otiver Eas, born at Boiling Springs, Cumberland
County, Pa., December 11, 1802, died at Mechan-
icsburg, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1889. He was con-
verted under the ministry of Jacob Gruber, and joined
the Methodist Church (1819), at Harrisburg, Penn-
sylvania, at the age of seventeen. He was educated
at Duncannon Academy, Perry County, Pennsylvania,
of which Rev. Joseph Brady, a Presbyterian clergy-
man, had charge. At the age of nineteen he heard the
call of God to the ministry of the Word, surrendered ~
a fine prospect of material success, and, in the home
of Dr. Herring, in Mechanicsburg, for two years,
prepared himself for his life-work. He was admitted

24
370 Appendix A.

in 1827. Inhis Conference work he is said to have
sold $10,000 worth of books, etc., from his saddle-
bags. In the sketch, written by himself in 1844,
and on file among the Conference papers, he says :
“T have done a good deal of hard work, and seen
hundreds of souls converted. I think I have not lost
six months from the work in twenty-seven years of
my ministry. I am trying to live for heaven; though
I ‘cannot of my goodness boast, O may I, when I
come to leave this world, be full of faith and the
Holy Ghost.’” As a preacher, he was “direct,
earnest, forcible, and heart-searching.” He took the
supernumerary relation in 1860, and, making his
home in Mechanicsburg, was selected as principal of
a school of high grade, and continued to teach for
eighteen years. As a preacher, teacher, man and
citizen, he had great influence. He lived to be nearly
eighty-eight years old, suffered greatly towards the
end of his journey, patient and trustful to the very
last.

Joun W. Exuiott, born in Baltimore, November,
1818; died January 19, 1857; converted in 1839
and admitted in 1844. He was a burning and a
shining light, a consistent christian and a truly
upright man. He labored acceptably and usefully
as a traveling preacher. In the closing struggle
with disease, he clapped his hands in token of final
victory.

SamMvuEL ELuis, a native of Yorkshire, England,
was converted among the Wesleyans and by them
licensed as a local preacher. He emigrated to this
country in 1819 and was admitted in 1821. Solid
and useful were his qualifications as a preacher—
industry and punctuality marked his habits—his
piety was deep and consistent. He was calm and
submissive during his last illness, bequeathed a
legacy to the Missionary cause, and died in holy
Clerical Sketches. 371

triumph, September 24, 1846, on St. Mary’s Circuit,
in his sixty-fourth year.

Rosert Emory, son of Bishop Emory, born in
Philadelphia, July 29, 1814; died May 18, 1848;
graduated at Columbia College, New York, with first
honors ; commenced the study of law in the office of
Reverdy Johnson, Baltimore ; visited Montgomery
Circuit at a quarterly meeting and embraced religion ;
elected Professor in Dickinson College, but soon after
obeyed the Divine call; entered the Conference in
1839; served two stations in Baltimore, and was
elected President of Dickinson College, July, 18435.
When dying, he sent his affectionate greetings to his
brethren of the Conference. ‘Tell me, not how a
man dies, but how he lives,’ were among his utter-
ances, and his short but brilliant career illustrates
his favorite expression.

Wituiam H. Enos, was a native of Salem, Mass.,
born in 1800; left an orphan he went to Virginia
about the year 1816; taught in a private family ;
embraced religion in Montgomery County, Virginia ;
was admitted in 1829, and traveled in the effective
work until 1849. Modest and retiring in his man-
ners, sincere and ardent in his friendships, Metho-
distic in his theology and well trained mentally, he

proved a faithful laborer. ‘‘ Almost at home” was
his last exclamation, October 6, 1855.

ALFRED A. Eskripae, whose earthly life extended
through a period of nearly ninety-three years, was
born in Centreville, Fairfax County, Va. For several
years he was clerk of the Court of Loudoun county,
his residence being at Leesburg; was reared in the
Protestant Episcopal Church; was awakened by a
dream, sought and found religion, united with the
Methodist Church in Leesburg, Rev. Charles B. Tip-
pett, preacher in charge, and was admitted in 1830.
372 Appendix A.

His active labors in the itinerancy extended through
an unbroken period of forty-five years. He sustained
a superannuated relation for sixteen years, residing
in Harrisonburg and Staunton, a preacher in the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His personal
traits of character presented a striking combination
of firmness, energy and courage, with common sense,
honesty and piety. He was modest and retiring, yet
faithful in warning sinners, and successful in winning
many to Christ. He was punctual in all his engage-
ments, and systematic in the performance of his min-
isterial duties. He presented, during his latter years,
the ideal of a beautiful old age. As he was able, he
was always ready to respond to calls for service in
the work of his Lord. He retained his mental facul-
ties in full vigor to the last; and, as the bodily func-
tions gradually failed, grew gentler and more cheerful
in spirit. “All right!” was almost the closing, and a
characteristic utterance of this noble, good man.

Jason P. Ercuison, born in Montgomery County,
Maryland, September 22, 1820; died at Arlington,
Maryland, May 31, 1876. He was converted in his
17th year and admitted in 1852—a man of rare piety
and zeal, undiminished by feeble health, and often
by extreme sufferings. He was induced to rest one
year, but his love for the church and the souls of
men forced him back to his loved employ. Never-
theless his work was done. He fell at his post a
victim of pneumonia. Of him it may with truth be
said that he loved God and his fellow men. Like
his master, he lived for others. Far from seeking
place, preferment, ease, the applause of men, his
purpose was purely “to do the work of an evangelist
and make full proof of his ministry.” He died with
unwavering confidence in God and conscious victory
through the blood of the Lamb. He adhered with
his brethren in 1866 to the M. E. Church, South.
Clerical Sketches. 373

Luruer J. Ercutson, born in Montgomery County,
Maryland, May 1822; died August 22, 1850. Con-
verted August 22, 1840, he traveled under the Pre-
siding Elder two years before his admission on trial
in 1848. He was a useful preacher and a good pas-
tor, beloved by his people. He was not afraid to
die—death is gain; he triumphed at the last.

Joun W. Ewan, born in Newtown (now Stephens
City), Frederick County, Va., November 10, 1831;
died in Washington City, D. C., December 29, 1890.
He studied in a classical school at Harrisonburg, Va.,
and was in that period converted at Bridgewater,
Va., under the ministry of Dr. Samuel Regester. He
was admitted in 1853. His preaching was instruc-
tive, his sermons being carefully prepared. He pos-
sessed a dignified presence, a winning manner and
a musical voice. He was a general reader, keeping
abreast of the times, a man of strong convictions,
but of sweetness of spirit. His life was a continual
battle with disease, but he heroically clung to his
active work, till complete failure of health forced
him to retire in 1877. He fell at last by a stroke of
paralysis at midnight, sustained by an unfaltering
trust to the very end. He died in the work in the
Church, South.

JamMES Ewine, was from 1809, fifty-two years in the
ministry. His fields of labor were exclusively in
Pennsylvania, where he spent forty years of active
service. As a preacher, he was earnest and prac-
tical, his style pure and his diction almost faultless.
His end was peace. ;

Louis R. Fecurie, born of Lutheran parentage in
the city of Philadelphia, received his training in
Hagerstown, Md. to which place his parents
removed. Under the preaching of Rev. William
Ryland he was happily converted at the age of six-
874 Appendix A.

teen, and soon afterwards was appointed leader of
the class. Here he exercised his gifts, until his
brethren obtained for him license to exhort. After
his admission on trial in 1812, the several charges
to which he was appointed, Connellsville, Pittsburg,
Baltimore and Annapolis, recognized his growing
power, his deep piety and his burning zeal. Of his
labors as Presiding Elder of the Greenbrier District,
one of his compeers, in the ordinary course of
examination, said: “Brother Fechtig’s zeal and
industry knows no bounds; he goes like a burning
torch around the district.”” He wound up his glorious
work on the Baltimore District to which he had been
assigned in 1823. He preached to delighted thou-
sands and with great success. He died in Wash-
ington City, September 25, 1823. «T feel like living
forever !”” was among his last utterances.

Wituiam G. Frrevuson, born at Halifax, Pa., May
7, 1832; died in Philadelphia, August 22, 1898.
He was converted at a camp-meeting at the age of
sixteen; educated at Dickinson Seminary and Col-
lege, and entered the Conference in 1857. He was
a preacher of much more than average ability ; an
original thinker, with fine power of expression,
exceedingly clear and logical, easily understood and
wonderfully impressive. In many places the mem-
bership of his church was doubled during his pas-
torate ; in all places it was largely increased. Every
interest of the Church was attended to and prospered
in his hands. A chaplain in the army for three
years during the war, he made a good record for
ability, devotedness and success. He was a model
pastor. He died under an operation at the Metho-
dist. Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia. He was a
true man wholly consecrated to his work, which lay
chiefly in the Central Pennsylvania Conference.
Clerical Sketches. 375

Jostan Forrest, born in Anne Arundel County,
Maryland, October, 1797; died in Zanesville, Ohio,
April 18, 1873. He was converted in his ninth year
while his father was leading in prayer during family
worship. He became an exhorter in 1825, was
received into the Baltimore Conference in 1828, and
was made supernumerary in 1850. After eight
years, in improved health, he was again at the front
and was in the regular work till 1869, when he was
granted a superannuated relation. As a preacher he
was warm, earnest and persuasive. His success in
winning souls for Christ was wonderful, and justiy *
entitles him to rank with the foremost evangelists of
his day.

JosepH France, born in Baltimore, August 26,
1819; died July 27, 1889. He united with Wesley
Chapel when only ten years of age, and entered the
itinerancy in 1842. He was a successful preacher, a
clear, soundand helpful expounder of Divine truth.
His sermons excelled in their evangelical tone. He
gave special attention to the care of young converts
and had great success in holding them in the church.
He not only professed but was an example of holi-
ness. At the last hour, “There is light ahead!”
fell from this honored servant’s lips. Then the
supreme effort was made, the final message: “ Love,
eternal love to all!’ and the Father’s smile wel-
comed, through the heavenly gates, this victor.

JosePH Frye, born in Winchester, Va., 1786, was
in the effective work twenty-seven years from 1809 ;
a man of fine common sense and sound preaching
abilities. His pulpit efforts were marked with sim-

plicity, suavity and earnestness. He died peacefully,
May, 1845.

Tuomas Futron, born in York County, Pennsyl-
vania, 1819; died in Middletown, Frederick County,
Md., December 1, 1850. He was converted early,
376 Appendix A.

was admitted in 1845, and was in active service in
the Conference five years. He was deeply pious.
His final words were: ‘All is well—there is not a
cloud to darken my sky. Hallelujah !”’

Henry FURLONG was received on trial at the ses-
sion of 1818. He was born in Baltimore, 1797 ; was
in the effective work forty-five years from 1817; was
a delegate to the General Conferences of 1828 and
1832. Dying August 29, 1874, he closed his earthly
testimony with the words: “When the Master says
Come, I say, ‘Here am I.’” Neat and precise in
his personal appearance, clear, strong and spiritual
in his ministry, he impressed his hearers, and com-
manded the respect of every community in which he
lived and Jabored. Sound in judgment, judicious in
the administration of discipline, he possessed great
purity of character, with a happy blending of com-
mon sense and spotless reputation. His ministry was
eminently successful in all his fields of Jabor. His
latter days were marked with saintly resignation,
solid peace and joyful hope.

Henry B. Furtone, born in Brownsville, Pennsyl-
vania, November 29, 1825; died in Baltimore, June
27, 1853; converted in his fourteenth year, entered
the Conference in 1848. His career, though brief,
was bright, not with the effulgence that dazzles, but
the milder, gentler radiance of piety and usefulness.
His sermons were marked by method in arrangement,
neatness of style and clearness of thought ; but above
all, by deep and subdued feeling. His tremulous
voice, his earnest sermons thrilled the hearts of the
people, and added many living epistles known and
read of all men to the Church of Christ. His last
letter to his mother, written four weeks before his
death, contained this closing sentence: “I have a
desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far
better.”
Clerical Sketches. 377

JAMES GAMBLE, born near Carlisle, Pa., February
22, 1802 ; died in Hagerstown, Md., March 10, 1890 ;
converted at Winchester, Va., May, 1821, at a class-
meeting and admitted in 1837. He was an enthusi-
astic advocate of this institution as a means of grace.
He was known as an “old-fashioned Methodist,” a
simple hearted, humble, faithful and useful itinerant.
The fact that Bishop William Taylor was converted
under his ministry will perpetuate his name.

FRANKLIN GEARHART, born near Danville, Pa., June
18, 1821 ; died January 31, 1890. He was converted
at the age of 18 and admitted in 1845. He was a
good-man, a good preacher and an efficient worker.
Many conversions followed his ministry. During
his last illness his mind was clear. He meditated
upon the truths of Scripture, and, with the songs he
loved to cheer his departing spirit, he passed to his
eternal reward.

JoHn A. GERE, born in Chester, Mass., April 9,
1799; died in Shickshenny, Pa., June 3, 1874; was
worthy to stand side by side with the worthiest.
He was admitted in 1822. Firm in his convictions,
dauntless in his effort, he combined in a most
remarkable degree the rare qualities of courage and
meekness. Sound in doctrine, clear in statement,
cheerful in spirit, earnest in work, he was looked up
to by his contemporaries, and loved by his children.
Four times did his brethren send him to the General
Conference. At the age of seventy-five death found
him “entirely ready.” He was honored with the
degree of Doctor of Divinity by the Indiana Asbury
University.

JouNn L. Gipzons, originally from Shepherdstown,
Va., served the church in the effective ranks twenty
years from 1820, and then took a supernumerary
relation, engaging in the practice of medicine, in
378 Appendix A.

which profession he was distingushed for his ability
and success. He was a man of high character. His
death occurred in Baltimore County, Maryland, in
1871.

ALEXANDER E. Gipson, born in Baltimore, September
2, 1825; died January 10, 1897. He was carried
when a babe to St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal
Church and dedicated to the Lord in the ordinance
of baptism by Dr. Wyatt. When a boy he entered
the chair-painting establishment of a Mr. Daily.
Mr. Daily was connected with Exeter Street Church.
There at the altar, when fifteen years of age, young
Gibson was converted, and was admitted on trial in
1849. While in the active work of the Conference he
graduated at Dickinson College in 1860. He was a
brilliant pulpit orator. His sermons were of a high
order. His diction was the purest Anglo-Saxon. He
never had a robust frame, but he did have an iron
will, yet also the simplicity and tenderness of a child.
He was generally selected as the preacher for a
Sunday morning camp-meeting service. He never
had an inattentive audience. His life was unsullied,
his work approved and his memory will be cherished
by his brethren who loved him and the many friends
who admired him.

JoHN L. Givpert, born in Frederick County,
Maryland, October 3, 1818; died January 28, 1880.
He was converted at the age of 16, and traveled from
1842, in the Baltimore Conference, M. E. Church,
till the war. In 1866 reported to the Conference
adhering to the M. E. Church, South, in Alexandria,
Va., and continued in the effective work till 1879.
A short time before his death he said: “I have not
lost five Sundays in about 37 years on account of ill
health.” In all his work he was faithful, diligent
and earnest; in many places eminently successful.
He was a man of deep conviction and unselfish
Clerical Sketches. 379

nature ; true and sincere, of lofty piety and uoble
character ; a fine theologian, a diligent student, a
well-known debater, and a champion for the doctrines
of his church.

Mayperry GOHEEN was born in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, August 14, 1804. When he was a
boy his father moved to Antietam, Washington
County, Maryland. His father was an Episcopalian,
his mother a Methodist. He wrote: “In my twen-
tieth year I experienced religion, the witness of
which was clear and unquestionable.” He also
penned the following : “ My call to the ministry was
without a doubt ; it was as sudden as my conversion
* * *. A sense of divine honor filled my heart.”
He entered the Baltimore Conference in 1833.
Bishop Emory ordained him a Deacon in 1835.
Bishop Waugh made him an Elder in the year 1837.
He was a member of the Conference 57 years, 32 of
which he was effective, and 25 years retired. He
was honored by filling some of the best churches in
the Conference. He died August 21, 1890, just a
few days beyond his eighty-sixth birthday. He was
possessed of some means, and designed in his will
to aid the Church in Hagerstown in paying its mort-
gaged indebtedness, but on a mere technicality the
Church never received the money he willed to it.
As a preacher, he “ was earnest and spiritual.” He
was an excellent pastor. His character “was saintly
and heroic, but prudent and reserved beyond most
men.” He loved his aged mother as he had done
when a boy. He loved his church and did all in his
power for her interests. His end was peaceful, and
he gave to those about him assurances of his victory
in death.

: J. 8. Gorsucu, born in Baltimore County, Mary-
land, December 17, 1820; died March 16, 1852, at
Cumberland ; was converted in his 13th year, and
380 Appendix A.

was a graduate of Dickinson College. He entered the
itinerancy in 1846. He possessed more than ordi-
nary talent and bade fare to arrive at a high emi-
nence. In his brief labor in the Conference he gave
entire satisfaction in all his relations; and at the
close of his earthly life, expressed his firm confidence
in the merits of Christ, and his strong hope through
the mercy of God.

Tuomas D. GotwaLt, born in Bloomfield, Pa.,
1833; converted in the 14th year of his age ata
camp-meeting and was admitted on trial in 1853.
He died in the eleventh year of his ministry at
Williamsport, Pa. Pleasing in his address and in
his social intercourse, he won his way into all
hearts. His piety was living and glowing. In his
preaching he felt the burden of souls; as a pastor
he excelled; he was abundant in labors in every
department of the church. The death hour was one
of triumphant exclamation: “Glory! O how sweet
it is thus to die!” At his request the hymn was
sung, commencing “On Jordan’s stormy banks I
stand.” His last words were ‘“ Brethren, sing!”
While they sang the end came.

CAMBRIDGE GRAHAM, born near Bellefonte, Pa.,
December 19, 1816; died in Tyrone, Pa., December
20, 1885. Converted early in life at a camp-meeting
and admitted in 1845; he was an indefatigable
worker and eminently successful everywhere in
saving souls. In the presentation of truth he was
original, forcible and persuasive, producing convic-
tion and bringing men to decision ; he had intensity
. and power in prayer. He was superannuated 1880,
and grew old gracefully, wise in counsel, ready in
reproof and strong in encouragement. He had a
triumphant experience in suffering, and still more so
at the end.
Clerical Sketches. 381

JosHua M. Grawpin, born at Hector, Schuyler
County, N. Y., April 3, 1814, was admitted in 1845.
His father died when he was. eight years old, and he
was taken to New York City, converted at the age of
twelve, licensed to exhort at the age of fifteen, and
the next year, visiting his eldest brother in Portland,
Maine, filled the pulpit of an absent preacher for one
or two months, studied medicine for several years,
entered Dickinson College and graduated. He was
the nephew of Joshua Marsden, the English Wes-
leyan, familiar to the church by his hymns and by
his missionary labors in Nova Scotia, Bermuda and
the West Indies, as also by his long services at home.
He was also the grand-nephew of Samuel Seabury of
Connecticut, who received the Episcopate at the
hands of three non-juring prelates of the Church of
Scotland, a month prior to the ordination of Bishop
Asbury, but who did not exercise the functions of
his office till June 7, 1785. J. M. Grandin was in
some respects a remarkable man. His originality in
the conception of Bible truth, and in the vivid illus-
trations abounding in his sermons was striking. At
times he preached with great power and effect.
Many were brought through his instrumentality to
the knowledge of the truth. He served during the
civil war as chaplain in the Confederate Army. “TI
am only just waiting for the call of Jesus—it may
come any day, but I am waiting and am ready,” he
was able to say at the last moment, after a long
mental haze had, at the age of eighty-two, led him
into eccentric turns.

Gerorae T. Gray, born in Half Moon Valley, Centre
County Pa., November 13, 1832 ; died at Irvona, Pa.,
February 18, 1898 ; converted at seventeen years of
age and admitted in 1856. With the exception of
one year (1871) a continuous service of nearly forty-
two years was rendered. In person dignified and

py
382 Appendix A.

commanding, in manner courteous, in spirit tender
and kind, thoughtful, chaste in language, easy and
persuasive in delivery, his preaching conveyed the
truth with clearness, and seals were given to his
ministry. He was also a faithful and devoted pastor,
winning the confidence and respect of all he served.

Joun M. Green, born near Harrisburg, Pa., Octo-
ber 14, 1812; died in Washington City, December
28, 1877. In early life he chose for his work the
profession of medicine, which he followed for six
years. His plans were changed by his conversion
to God and he gave himself to the life of an itinerant
Methodist preacher in 1839, traveling in the Balti-
more Conference, twenty-seven years ; 1861 super-
annuated ; 1863-5 chaplain in United States Army,
and 1870 superannuated till his death. As a
preacher he was good rather than great, clear, forci-
ble, persuasive, tender and sympathetic. His relig-
ious character was marked by simplicity, purity and
piety. His death was sudden. He left no word,
nor was it needful.

ALFRED GRIFFITH, a Marylander, born in Mont-
gomery County, entered the traveling connection in
1806. Forty-six years effective, nine supernumerary,
and ten superannuated, he attained the ripe old age
of eighty-eight years, retaining his mental vigor to
the last and triumphing when the end came. Short
in stature, strongly marked in physiognomy, without
any grace of manner, he was notwithstanding, one
of the most prominent figures in the heroic age of
Methodism. Rarely did he ever debate on the Con-
ference floor. It.was only a great occasion that drew
him out. But when his hour came, it was one to be
yemembered. Every bodily defect was forgotten, and
he was recognized as a master of men. As he stood
in front of the Bishop’s table, facing the throng of
preachers and visitors, will those who saw and heard
Clerical Sketches. 383

him ever forget the thunder of his tone, when he
startled all listeners, and made the Bishop himself
quail under an appeal from the chair: “Am I in the
Vatican?” He never descended to paltry themes.
It was God’s truth, the gospel in word and power,
solemn and dignified. He was always gentle to
children, a genial friend, charming the social circle
with an inexhaustible store of incident and aneedote.
Of a life like his, filled up with marvellous travel,
exhausting labors, exposures and privations, with
equally wonderful success, for a while the capable
secretary of the Conference, and a delegate in nine
General Conferences, the limitations of this history
will not allow an adequate detail.

JacoB GRUBER, born in Pennsylvania, of German
descent, February 3, 1778 ; converted in his fifteenth
year. Opposed by his Lutheran parents, he united
with the Methodists, and entered the Conference on
trial in 1800. He was thirty-two years on circuits,
seven in stations and eleven in districts. After fifty
years of hard and uninterrupted toil, he sent a request
that he might be permitted to enjoy a jubilee rest,
and he was accordingly transferred to the superan-
nuated list. Three months later disease laid him on
his couch of death. When the hour of departure
came it found him ready to meet it, calm, peaceful
and happy. A few hours before he expired he en-
quired of a preacher at his bedside whether he thought
it possible for him to survive through another night,
and he was answered in the negative. He exclaimed :
“Then tomorrow I shall spend my first Sabbath in
heaven. Last Sabbath in the church on earth, next
Sabbath in the church above,” and with great emotion
added, ‘“‘where congregations ne’er break up and
Sabbaths never end.” While they were singing at
his request, “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,”
his happy spirit passed away without a struggle or
384 Appendix A.

a groan, May 25, 1850. Jacob Gruber was unique
in his personality, strong in his originality, full of
energy, deeply pious, in labors abundant, with
extraordinary power of endurance, and abstemious,
simple, economical and regular in his habits. He
was sound and orthodox in his preaching, quick to
expose false doctrine, and often severe in the
denunciation of vice. He left an indelible impress
for good on the people of his day, and his name is
still in the memory of those who heard him and is
familiar to their children to the present time.

Jos GuEsT was found in Anne Arundel County,
Maryland, in 1805, by Henry Smith, who says: “He
had just begun to speak in public. I took him by
the hand, gave him license to exhort, encouraged
him to hold religious meetings and to ‘go ahead.’ ”’
He eutered the Conference in 1806. For fifty years
he “went” from the shores of Lake Erie on the
north, with all the intermediate territory on the
south, to the waters of the Chesapeake bay, together
with all Western Maryland, Western Pennsylvania
and Northern and Southwestern Virginia. God gave
him great acceptability among the people and much
success in winning souls to Christ. He was a man
of more than ordinary talents and a fine model of a
christian minister and a christian gentleman.

Joun Guss, born in Perry County, Pennsylvania,
January 31, 1832; died at Riverside, Pa., September
3, 1880. He was converted when sixteen years of
age at a camp-meeting. He entered the Conference
in 1856. His fields of labor were for a considerable
part of his ministry in the lumber region of Penn-
sylvania, involving severe toil and constant self-sac-
rifice. But he was faithful and true, and when he
was met by the last emeny it was with calmness and
without fear.
Clerical Sketches. 385

Aspury W. Guyer, born at Warrior’s Mark, Pa.,
April 26, 1832; died at Duncansville, Pa., December
17, 1899 ; converted at eighteen years of age at a
camp-meeting and admitted in 1854. To him the
ministry never lost its importance. He preached the
gospel nearly forty-six years, and in twenty-three
different appointments. Without a college education,
by close application and diligent habits of study, he
acquired a substantial fund of information. He had
the gift of extemporaneous speech to a remarkable
degree ; he used no notes; his power of appeal in
pulpit efforts and in exhortation was wonderful.
Always a gentleman, dignified and commanding in
address, he seemed never to forget that he was a
minister of Jesus Christ. An optimist, he carried
sunshine wherever he went; his consecration was
sincere and his life untarnished. He was one of the
“sweet singers of Israel.’’ He went out of this life
into the eternal blessedness leaning on the arm that
had been his strength and solace through an experi-
ence of nearly fifty years.

GrorcE Guyer, born on Logan’s Branch, Centre
County, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1812; died
March 24, 1891, at Tyrone, Pa. He was converted
at the age of eighteen. For fifty years, from 1837,
he was a faithful itinerant, filling important places
as preacher in charge on circuits and stations, and
as presiding elder on two districts, with ability and
distinction. He was a delegate to the Buffalo Gen-
eral Conference in 1860. His character was not
marked by any one conspicuous excellency, but by
the blending of many. He was not a fanatic, but an
earnest man, a true, noble, communicative, grand
friend. His sermons quickened and comforted his
hearers.

25
386 Appendix A.

JAMES GuyER, born in Huntingdon County, Pa.,
January 8, 1817; died August 12, 1846, in Clinton
County, Pa.; he was converted at a camp-meeting ;
traveled five years in the Conference, from 1842, and
ended his life with joy. ‘Am I yet here? I
thought I had gone. O heaven, it is a glorious
place!” were his last utterances. Attestation is
given to his high sense of honor and integrity, his
great love for his brethren and his attachment to
the cause of God.

JoHN GuyeER, born in Huntingdon County, Penn-
sylvania, February 13, 1808. Converted at the age
of twenty-two, he entered Conference in 1834. The
first ten years of his ministry he met the expecta-
tions of the appointing power as a single man, and
his later life was in harmony with the earlier.
Earnest piety, sound judgment, and superior pulpit
and administrative qualities gave success to his
work. His sermons were expository and instructive,
solid rather than brillant. His social qualities com-
mended him to all his acquaintances. His religious
experience was of the highest order. His death
took his friends by surprise, but did not take him
unawares. ‘It is sweet to die,’ was one of his
exclamations ; and when his two sisters sang at the
end, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me,” his last word
was “Amen.”

WILLIAM Gwynn, born in Gettysburg, Pa., August
22, 1823; died in Wrightsville, Pa., January 26,
1887. Converted at nine years of age, he began
to exercise his gifts at seventeen. At the age of
nineteen he was admitted on trial in 1841; traveled
extensive circuits; and at the close of his faithful
and arduous labors, testified on his death-bed: «I
have served the church in the work of the ministry
for forty-four consecutive years and have seen over
4,400 converted to God, and I feel I have not lived
Clerical Sketches. 387

in vain.” One says of him who knew him well:
“He was an almost perfect man, childlike in his
simplicity, in disposition perfectly guileless, modest,
unobtrusive, genial, honest and true, with an admir-
ably transparent character. As a preacher, not
scholarly, not an extensive reader, not always exact
in language, but his ministrations in the pulpit
glowed with truth and carried conviction to many
hearts. He looked well after every interest of the
church and cared for his flock.” As the Celestial
City came into view, waving his hand he exclaimed :
“Tam ahead ; I leave my pain and suffering on this
shore.” * * * To his daughter: “Take my
hand; my feet are in the waters ; I will soon be at
rest. * * * Fix my pillow for my last sleep.”

BensaMin B. Hamiin, born in Kinzua, Pa., in 1823 ;
died at Huntingdon, Pa, March 8, 1904. He was
converted in boyhood; educated at Williamsport
Seminary and admitted in 1848 ; received the degree
of D. D. from the Pennsylvania College (Lutheran)
of Gettysburg ; was chosen three times to represent
his Conference in the General Conference, and filled
the office of Presiding Elder seventeen years. In
1900, after fifty-two years of work, unbroken by
sickness, accident or resting, he laid aside the duties
of the effective ministry, but continued to “ bring
forth fruit in his old age,” preaching with great effi-
ciency until death. He was called “a very prince of
preachers.” When at his best he would lift and
sway vast audiences with an eloquence and power
almost superhuman. He was “ mighty in the Scrip-
tures,’ and used them with a remarkable aptness
that threw new light upon them. He preached twice
on his last Sabbath on earth, and was taken slightly
ill on Monday, but seemed relieved by the applica-
cation of remedies. Tuesday evening he retired to
his room for rest, and in a few moments was found
388 Appendix A.

prostrate. The vital spark had fled. “By reason
of strength’ he passed the limit of fourscore years,
but they were not “labor and sorrow.” His long
life was a grand one.

Marrsew G. Hamitton, born in Leesburg, Va.,
March 29, 1810, of genuine old Methodist stock,
and early instructed in the truths of Christianity.
At a camp-meeting near Leesburg, September 25,
1827, he was converted ; traveled in the Conference
from 1836 till 1850; resumed for a short time an
effective relation, and suffered for sixteen months
subsequently from the attack of a malignant disease,
when death released him. His ministry was dis-
tinguished by a wonderful talent in exhortation.
Hundreds were gathered into the Church during the
fourteen years of his active service. His cheerful-
ness, generosity and courtesy endeared him to those
he served and kept him, long after his decease, in
grateful memory. His last word, said toward the
end of his suffering, was “‘ Glory !”

WituiaM Hamitron’s name appears on the list of
those admitted on trial in 1818. Born near Green-
castle, Pennsylvania, 1798 ; converted in his eigh-
teenth year, he led his Presbyterian parents with him
into the Methodist Episcopal Church. Tall and
stately in person, courtly and engaging in manner, he
was a favorite with his brethren in the ministry, who
sent him four times to the General Conference. Not
less attractive and popular was he in the charges he
served. In the pulpit he was tender, pathetic, and
often eloquent. His tones were rich and soft; his
style flowing and easy ; his appeals persuasive rather
than forceful. His tastes were highly cultivated.
Music, flowers, literature occupied his leisure hours.
Always cheerful, never failing in hospitality, pos-
sessed of varied information, thoroughly conversant
with Methodist history, he was a man whose com-
Clerical Sketches. 389

pany was eagerly sought and greatly enjoyed by his
many friends. The crown of all these admirable
qualities was the “beauty of holiness” which adorned
both his spirit and life. The pleasing remembrance
accompanies this inadequate sketch, that William
Hamilton preached the sermon in old Eutaw, in
Baltimore, one Sunday night in 1845 when, among
the many converts at the altar, this writer found “the
pearl of great price.” His death in 1872 was sudden
and painless, an instant translation into the life
eternal.

A. SUMMERFIELD Hank, son of Rev. William Hank,
born in Harrisonburg, Va., July 20, 1831; died in
Martinsburg, W. Va., June 6, 1887; was converted
in early childhood on Waters’ camp ground, near
Reisterstown, Md., and graduated at Dickinson Col-
lege, 1850. After his admission into the Conference
in 1852 he was, for eleven years either as Principal
or Instructor, in several institutions of learning, and
also in the active work of the ministry for twenty
years, filling both positions with ability, usefulness
and success. ‘A cultivated gentleman, a modest
christian, a conscientious teacher,’ said one who
knew him well. Clear, practical, unctuous as a
preacher—excelling as a pastor;— his praise is in all
the churches he served. The end came suddenly.
On the morning of his death he quoted the 121st
Psalm: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills
whence cometh my help,” and shortly after sweetly
fell asleep in Jesus.

JeHU Hank, born in Monroe County, Va., March
26, 1801; converted at a camp-meeting in 1818;
admitted on trial, 1828. He was junior preacher
with his brother, William Hank, on Fincastle Cir-
cuit, where over three hundred were converted.
He was granted a local relation in 1830; was re-
admitted into the Virginia Conference in 1834;
390 Appendix A.

served in the North Carolina Conference till 1847,
then located again ; was re-admitted into the West-
ern Virginia Conference in 1856. At the close of
the war he was transferred to the Baltimore Con-
ference, South ; remained on the supernumerary list
till 1872, when he was made effective and traveled
two years. He was superannuated in 1876 and died
at his home in Monroe County, Va., July 7, 1880.
He was a man of unblemished Christian character.
A son, Rev. J. D. Hank, is a useful member of the
Virginia Conference. He shared with his brother
William his reputation as a sweet singer of our
Israel, and on his death-bed sang some of his
favorite hymns.

J. Newman Hang, born in Fincastle, Virginia, Oc-
tober 18, 1827 ; died in Baltimore, Maryland, Decem-
ber 10, 1899 ; son of Rev. William Hank, of precious
memory; graduated at Dickinson College, 1846;
taught school for several months prior to his entrance
upon the work of the ministry in 1851. He prosecuted
this work with great acceptability for several years,
when a chronic affection of. the throat disabled him
entirely from pulpit efforts. He was eminent as a
teacher and never failed in his devotion to the Church,
South, or in any aid he could render.

Witiiam Hank, the ‘sweet singer of Israel,” died
at the age of nearly seventy-four, in Middleway, Va.,
1869. After nearly forty years of consecutive service
from 1820, with large fruitage of spiritual results,
he partially laid by the weapons of his warfare and
spent the remaining nine years of his life in exerting
a happy influence over his friends and brethren.
Eminently unselfish, always preferring others, in his
last hours he was largely occupied in urging those
who had been the special subjects of his prayers, as
they stood around his dying form, “to come to
Jesus.” His death was a calm, holy triumph.
Clerical Sketches. 391

JaMEs M. Hanson was for many years, from 1809,
a prominent figure in the Baltimore Conference. A
power in the pulpit, he was not less so in ecclesias-
. tical administration. So great was the estimation of
him by his brethren that he frequently. represented
them in the General Conference, and was the only
delegate ever unanimously elected. He would have
been elected to the Episcopacy, but shrinking from
the responsibilities involved in that high position, he
decisively declined. He lived to regret this decision.
He died March 15, 1860, at the age of seventy-seven.

Witiiam Harpen, born in Baltimore, Md., August
27, 1828; died in Baltimore, November 9, 1873;
was admitted on trial in 1848. At the division of
the Conference in 1858, he fell into the East Balti-
more Conference, then twice’ into the Central
Pennsyvania Conference, and finally, in 1869, trans-
ferred again to the Baltimore Conference. He com-
bined all the elements that distinguish a successful
man. With an impressively fine physique, he had a
strong and well-trained mind, with high moral and
spiritual attainments. His ministry bore abundant
fruit, his pastoral work was peerless ; as an adminis-
trator he was extraordinarily gifted ; he filled every
station, whether as Presiding Elder, pastor or repre-
sentative in the General Conference, with eminent
ability.

Tuomas S. Harpine, born in Eastern Virginia,
July 30, 1803; died December 21, 1880. He was
licensed to preach by the Stafford Quarterly Confer-
ence and joined the Conference in 1833, traveled in
the active work for thirty years, failed in health in
1846, retired to his home in Stafford County until
1855, when he removed to Iowa and practised medi-
cine. He preached during these last years with
profit and success. He was a great sufferer at the
392 Appendix A.

last, but testified to all that he was saved and waiting
to receive his crown.

Dante, Hartman, born in Salona, Clinton County,
Pa., July 8, 1810; died March 14, 1891, in West
Chester, Pa. ; was converted at the age of seventeen,
and entered the ministry in 1833; his forte lay in
exhortation. ‘In the pulpit, on the platform, in the
interest of reforms, in the street as an individual per-
suader of men, he acted and spoke as one who
believed God and of whom the times expected sume-
thing.” He was a power for good at camp- meetings.
At the close of life he looked across the narrow
bound and called back to those about him: “ Sun-
shine! Sunshine!”

Marvin L. Hawzey, born in Farmington, Conn., .
April 21, 1813; died in Washington, D. C., August
11, 1898; was converted in early life, and taught
school before entering upon the regular work of the
ministry in 1846. He traveled twenty-two years in
the Baltimore Conference and was made supernu-
merary, 1868. He wasacultured man and published
a book of poems. His son, Rev. J. M. Hawley, is a
member of the Southern Baltimore Conference.

NELSON Heap, born at Leesburg, Va., February 3,
1811; died in his native town, June 15, 1902, in his
ninety-second year. Converted at the age of sixteen
at a camp-meeting near Leesburg, he entered the
Baltimore Conference, 1834. His active ministry
embraced a period, without intermission, in the Bal-
timore and Virginia Conferences, of fifty-two years.
He traveled on two circuits in the Baltimore Con-
ference, was transferred to the Virginia Conference,
and served two circuits. On returning to the Balti-
more Conference, 1840, his work for several years
was mainly in Baltimore city. He adhered South in
1848 with the Virginia Conference, and remained
Clerical Sketches. 393

till 1868, occupying many important stations. Then
transferred to his first Conference, he was sixteen
years in the active work, and retiring 1886, enjoyed
a well-earned rest until he was summoned to his
heavenly home. He was elected a delegate to the
General Conference of the M. E. Church, South, in
New Orleans, 1866 ; a trustee for a number of years
in Randolph-Macon College, which body honored
him with a degree of Doctor of Divinity. His
earlier and later ministry were strangely co-incident
with the stirring historic changes in both periods.
He was a marked figure both in 1848. and 1866.
His power in the pulpit, so far from declining in his
later years, had the advantage of added wisdom
and experience, and to the last day of his active
ministry he impressed his audiences with the fresh-
ness and vigor of his thought, the dignity of his
manner and the force of his utterances. ‘He had,”
wrote Bishop Granbery, ‘a passion for knowledge
and useful service. His vigorous and active intellect
was sustained by robust health, fitting him for pro-
tracted study and work. His temperament was even,
cheerful and hopeful. Feeling never ran away with
judgment and self-control; yet, with all his marked
poise and dignity, his emotional nature was well
developed, especially in friendship and devotion.
Usually sedate, he could overflow with tenderness
and shout aloud the praises of God.” At the last
session of the Conference he ever attended (in Wash-
ington City, nearly ninety years of age), while stand-
ing on the pulpit platform, he was so exalted in spirit
that he shouted aloud: “Glory!” A successful
revivalist, a faithful pastor, a diligent worker, he has
left the impress of a long and useful life on. the
churches he served and the people who knew and
loved him. As might have been expected, such a life
ended with the words: “It is all bright—all bright.”
394 Appendix A.

Anprew Hempaity, born in the north of Ireland,
emigrated to this country about the beginning of the
century. He began his ministry in the Baltimore
_ Conference in 1803, on the frontier reaching to the

great lakes on the northwest, and endured the
severe privations of an itinerant missionary. He is
subsequently found supplying stations and circuits
in almost every section of the Conference, with most
remarkable success. Everywhere he won souls to
Christ. As a preacher he was grave, simple, sincere,
pure in doctrine, affectionate in address; he was
careful of the material interests of the church, punc-
tual to all his engagements, a workman needing not
to be ashamed ; his fine venerable form and silvery
locks gave him a truly patriarchal appearance.
Over death and the grave he shouted “Glory.” His
last words, August 27, 1837, were: “happy!
happy!”

Levin D. Herron, born in Salisbury, Md., October
20, 1824; died in Washington, April 4, 1897. He
was of Scotch Irish extraction. When in his seven-
teenth year, God led him into the light, and he was
admitted in 1853. He practically embodied in his
life the moral precepts of the New Testament. His
convictions were deep and strong. He is said to
have been a good scriptural preacher. He was
supernumerary for a number of years.

Epwarp F. Herericx, born in Winchester, Va.,
February 19, 1821; died at Welltown, Frederick,
County, Va., May 28, 1891; converted at old Mil-
burn’s Meeting House. He was 36 years of age
when he entered the ministry in 1857, served but
six years, and from 1868 sustained supernumerary
relation, preaching when he could and with power
and success. His faith was firm to the end.
Humble, earnest, devout and zealous, he was gener-
ous in his contributions to the benevolent enter-
Clerical Sketches. 395

prises of the church, especially to the care of the
worn-out preachers. He was a lover of children and
did excellent work in the Sunday School.

THomas HitpEeBranD, born in Adams County, Penn-
sylvania, March 12, 1816; converted at the age of
fifteen, and from 1838 spent thirty-eight years with-
out intermission i in the work of the ministry in Penn-
sylvania and Virginia; was superannuated in 1876,
and died November 28, 1887, in great peace and in
the triumphs of faith. He adhered to the Church,
South, in 1866. He was a charming preacher, a
great revivalist, an indefatigable worker, always on
circuits, many of them extensive, some numbering as
many as twenty-eight appointments.

GeorceE Hut, Baltimorean by birth (1803), was
converted in early youth; entered the itinerancy in
his twenty-third year in 1826, and gave his best
efforts to the Church he served for fifty-six years.
Who that ever knew him, failed to love him?
Whether in the pastorate or on a district, his genial
spirit, his amiable qualities and personal magnetism
drew to him all within the circle of his influence.
His preaching was persuasive. He constantly held
up the cross of Christ as the hope of the race.
With tones full of pathos he would rise to the high-
est point of passionate appeal, which, especially in
revival seasons, proved most effective in winning sin-
ners to Christ. His intuitive perception of charac-
ter, his inimitable tact and his untiring zeal, pecu-
liarly fitted him for the conduct of a District. He
was a most popular Presiding Elder, and also one
of the most successful. He was kind and consider-
ate with his juniors. They invariably sought his
company and confided in his excellent judgment.
Years after their youth had ripened into maturity,
he would meet them with the old loving smile and
kindly greeting, so familiar to them in their earlier
396 Appendix A.

association with them. No wonder when the final
hour came, that ‘not a cloud nor a doubt disturbed”
him, nor that “the veil had grown so thin’’ that he
could ‘almost see through it.” No wonder that the
gospel he had preached so faithfully should be his
“ strength and comfort.”

Wiiuiam Hirst, born January 13, 1815, in Sauls-
bury, Huntingdon County, Pa. died August 11,
1862, in the city of Washington; was admitted in
1838, and served circuits, stations and districts for
twenty-four years, closing his ministry at Foundry
Station, Washington City. Commanding in person,
genial and friendly, an earnest preacher and a faith-
ful worker, he gathered about him a large circle of
friends and was esteemed and loved by the people
he served.

Dante Hirr, born in Fauquier County, Virginia ;
died in 1826. His father, Martin Hitt, was one of
the first among those converted under the preaching
of the early itinerants, gave three of his sons to the
ministry, and lived to a good old age, a vener-
able patriarch whose house was ever open to the
preachers and was a favorite resting place of Bishop
Asbury. Daniel was admitted on trial in the Bal-
timore Conference in 1790, and soon gave indica-
tion of great ability as a preacher and a man of
affairs. He served as Presiding Elder, was for sev-
eral years the traveling companion of Bishop Asbury,
and was for eight years one of the Agents of the
Book Concern of New York. Simplicity and integ-
rity stood forth as prominent features of his char-
acter, while the affability of his manners and the
sweetness of his disposition in his private intercourse
with others gained him the affection of all. In his
last sickness he was uniformly calm and tranquil,
saying that he had peace with God, and therefore all
was well.
Clerical Sketches. 397

Apam Hockensury, born 1824; died in Clearfield
County, Pa., August 28, 1854; was converted in his
16th year, and admitted in 1849. His career in the
work of the ministry is represented as “brief but
triumphant.” Deep piety, burning zeal, great amia-
bility and modesty, sound common sense, with more
than ordinary preaching ability, were his chief char-
acteristics. His shout in death was: “I have the
victory—all is well!”

Henry Horrman, born in the town of Severn,
Hanover, Germany, May 28, 1814; came to America
1831 ; was converted in William St. Church, Balti-
more, 1833, and traveled in the Conference till
1862. The war hindering him, he remained in
Rockingham County, Va., and in 1866 preached for
nearly two years in and around New Creek, W. Va.
Superannuated in 1869, he still did much effective
work, organized a Sunday School, and, notwithstand-
ing his age and feebleness, devoted himself to that
work to the end of his life, which occurred January
12, 1892. Just before he passed away he replied to
his wife: ‘Yes, it is all bright, meet me in heaven.”’

Horace Hottanp, born at Ellicotts Mills, Mary-
land, 1809, converted early in life, entered the
ministry of the Baltimore Conference in 1834, and
died in Cumberland in 1855. As a man, amiable,
ingenuous and agreeable; as a preacher, able,
impressive and not infrequently overwhelming, the
instrument in saving many souls ; a model pastor, a
pions and devoted christian.

Wim H. Hotipay, born in Berkeley County,
W. Va., August 31, 1835; died March 23, 1878;
was converted at the age of eleven, under the minis-
try of Rev. Samuel Rodgers; studied at Dickinson
College. When nineteen years of age, was employed
on Berryville Circuit, 1854, and entered the Conter-
ence the ensuing year. He was transferred in 1858
398 Appendix A.

to the Iowa Conference. The climate there proving
too severe for his wife, he returned to the Baltimore
Conference, in whose territory he spent the subse-
quent period of his ministry. Familiar with his
Bible, well read in theology, he preached with clear-
ness, unction, force aud pathos. His manners were
attractive and his address captivating. Large congre-
gations, extensive revivals and the capacity to abate
and liquidate church debts, marked the path of his
toil. But his excessive labors surpassed the measure
of his strength, and brought on a hemorrhage of
the lungs. When his last hour came he joyfully
responded to the summons with the words: “O
Lamb of God, I come!”

Joun W. Hoover, born in Huntingdon County,
Pennsylvania, December 12, 1820; died February 3,
1876. Of Swiss descent, of pious ancestry, con-
verted August 5, 1839 ; admitted in 1844, was twenty-
four years effiective, five supernumerary and two
superannuated. He served as Chaplain in the U. 8.
Army during the war. Just before he expired, he
exclaimed : “I am nearing the shore.”

Ropert R. 8S. Hovau, born September 9, 1829, in
Loudoun County, Virginia; 4 grand-nephew of S.
George Roszell; was converted when thirteen years
of age; educated at the Academy, Morgantown,
(now W. Va.), and graduated in the medical depart-
ment of Hampden-Sidney College, Va. His practice
of medicine was soon interrupted by the divine call
to a higher vocation, entering upon which, in 1854,
he rendered effective service for forty-seven years,
when, at the session of 1901, he felt constrained to
give up his loved employ. His fine character may
be readily summed up. With a robust body and a
well-trained mind were joined strength, steadfastness,
truth, gentleness, purity. His christian experience
was rich, full and constantly enlarging. He was
Clerical Sketches. 399

entirely unselfish, never seeking an appointment nor
complaining of any ; an evangelical preacher, clear
in his presentation of truth and earnest in enforcing
it. The Roanoke, East Baltimore and Washington
Districts in the Church, South, prospered under his
lead as Presiding Elder. He was wise in counsel,
prudent in speech, affectionate in spirit. His home,
the social circle, the Church—all testify his noble-
ness of aim and the force of his christian life. He
died in Fredericksburg, Va., April 19, 1902, after
severe suffering, patiently endured, in the full assur-
ance of faith.

Joun W. HovcHawovur, born in Mifflin County,
Pennsylvania, May 13, 1811; died in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania, March 24, 1891; converted at the age
of sixteen. His active ministry extending through
a period of forty-two years, from 1838, was spent in
connection with the Baltimore, East Baltimore and
Central Pennsylvania Conferences, but within the
Pennsylvania territory. He was possessed of a meek
and gentle spirit, always genial and unselfish. Under
his effective ministry hundreds were converted and
saved. It is an interesting coincidence that he and
Rev. George Guyer entered the Conference the same
year, and went together to their heavenly reward on
the same day and at the same hour.

James J. Housewkart, born in New Jersey, August
15, 1806; converted in his fifteenth year ; admitted
in 1834; traveled four years in the Conference.
Declining health led him to attempt to go to the
South, but he was compelled to return to the house
of his friend, Dr. James Owens, in Prince George’s
County, Maryland, where he met the last enemy with
victory on his lips: “All is well! I feel that Christ
is with me—I never had such happy feelings in all
my life.”
400 Appendix A.

Wituiam Hovusron had traveled twelve years in the
Kentucky Conference, entering in 1798, at the age of
nineteen, was sent as a Missionary to the South-
western Territories, endured great hardships, was
transferred in 1813 to the Baltimore Conference, and
traveled a few years, when, his health failing, he was
made supernumerary and died April 27, 1852. He
had a vigorous mind, an extensive knowledge of his-
tory and geography, and was proficient in biblical
and theological lore. He died in full hope of im-
mortal life. -

Wes Ley Howeg, son of Rev. Morris Howe, of the
Baltimore Conference, was born near Millerstown,
Pa., February 5, 1802. His mother died when he
was an infant,and he was reared by relatives in
Green Spring, Pennsylvania. Converted at the age
of twenty-five, licensed to preach by the Quarterly
Conference of Carlisle, Pa., in 1829, he entered the
Conference in 1831. It is said of him that he
neither quailed before the enemies of christianity
nor swerved from conscientious duty, nor coveted
ministerial gifts for sordid gain. He traveled
extensively in Pennsylvania, and on five charges in
Virginia, maintaining throughout the forty-two years
of an unbroken itinerant service, an irreproachable
moral character. He was liberal, high toned, jealous
of the reputation of his ministerial brethren, yet
kind, modest, prudent, and safe in counsel. As a
pastor he pursued a straight forward, manly course,
and invariably left his charges in a wholesome,
spiritual, financial and numerical condition. He was
superannuated in 1858, but continued fruitful in
labors until the close of his life. He was taken sud-
denly ill in Orrstown, in the Cumberland Valley,
Pennsylvania, was heard offering prayer to God
after retiring to his chamber at night, and in the
early morning, “was not for God took him.”
Clerical Sketches. 401

JoHN HowELL was another worthy co-laborer from
Fairfax County, Virginia; admitted in 1823; a “man
of solid sense and deep piety, amiable, prudent and
sincere ; not showy as a preacher, but sound in doc-
trine, plain in manner and irreproachable in con-
duct.” In all his circuits seals were given to his
ministry. When the time of his departure came, the
messenger found him, after thirteen years of unre-
mitting labor, diligently engaged reaping a field ripe
to the harvest.

GroraE W. IsraEt, born October 27, 1813, in
Howard County, Maryland ; converted when a boy ;
entered the Conference in 1838; died November 25,
1891. He was regarded as a strong preacher, and
especially edifying to his more thoughtful hearers.
He had a fine legal mind and was a powerful and
convincing advocate in cases of judicial trial in the
Conference. He answered the roll cal] for fifty-three
consecutive years. His labors as an active itinerant
ceased in 1857, but during the long period of his
superannuation, he never lost interest in his Confer-
ence or his Church.

Enocn G. Jamreson, born in Stafford County, Va. ;
died near Newport, Giles County, Va., December 10,
1880 ; admitted on trial in 1841, and served with
faithfulness in arduous missions and mountain cir-
cuits, often with success. He was located in 1871;
re-admitted in 1878, and was given a superannuated
relation till his death. Somewhat eccentric, he was
at the same time zealous, laborious and pious. His
end was peace.

Grorce R. JEFFERSON, born in Talbot County,
Maryland, July 28, 1833; died near Parnassus, Va.,
January 2, 1890; was converted at fourteen and
admitted in 1855. For eighteen years, from 1855,

26
402 . Appendix A.

he was a faithful laborer in the itinerant field—-from
1866 in the Church South. In 1873, on account of
failing health, he was granted a supernumerary rela-
tion, and in his quiet home in Augusta County, Va.,
he practiced dentistry and conducted a farm. He
was always ready to render aid to the preachers
when his strength and circumstances permitted ; con-
tributed liberally to all church enterprises, especially
to the cause of missions. When -the end came he
was ready.

Hamitron JEFFERSON, born in Calvert County, Mary-
land, March, 1769 ; died June 13, 1821 ; was converted
in early life and admitted on trial in the Baltimore
Conference in 1798, and served the Church with
unabated ardor and zeal until the close of his life.
He was a man of amiable disposition, of great dignity
and moral worth ; respectful and submissive to his
superiors, affable and familiar with his equals, kind
and condescending to his inferiors ; polite and oblig-
ing to all men, he proved himself a gentleman and
achristian. His talents were not of the most brilliant
kind, but he was sound in the faith and was a very
acceptable and useful minister of Jesus Christ.
Through his severe affliction, at the last, he was
calm, patient, cheerful and resigned. His end was
peace.

Joun M. Jones, born in England, educated under
Roman Catholic influence, emigrated to Canada,
thence to Maryland, and was engaged as a teacher in
a Catholic institution in Prince George County. At
a camp-meeting on Severn Circuit, in 1834, was con-
verted and entered the itinerant work in 1837. With
quenchless zeal and arduous labor for twenty years
he wrought successfully in the Baltimore Conference,
and met death calmly April 20, 1855. A man of rare
excellence and many virtues, a blameless christian
Clerical Sketches. 403

and an eminent preacher, gaining the hearts of the
people and turning many to righteousness.

ZACHARIAH JoRDAN, from Baltimore County, Mary-
land, born January 19, 1796; died October 3, 1843 ;
was converted through the instrumentality of Rev.
Anderw Hemphill, and served acceptably both on
circuits and in stations fourteen years. Diffident in
manner; plain in preaching; prudent in his inter-
course, and remarkably exemplary in his life, is the
concise yet satisfactory picture of a good man, whose
work stands on the record as approved, and whose
end was peace.

Revuspen E. Ketty, born in Centre County, Pa.,
June 18, 1825; died in Lock Haven, Pa., October
20, 1904; was admitted in 1855. A very hum-
ble man, submissive, deferential and unpretending
among his brethren; kind, gracious and amiable,
agreeable in companionship, considerate in all his
social and pastoral intercourse. In the pulpit there
were signs of varied gifts ; at one time a “Son of
thunder,” and again a “Son of consolation ;” re-
markably effective often in revival seasons. His
nervous temperament sometimes led him to extremes,
but his worth was appreciated and his infirmities
always evoked warm sympathy. When the sum-
mons came at last, greeting his pastor, he said: “I
have heard beautiful singing last night. The angels
came and sang to me.”

Witiiam H. Keirs, born in Cecil County, Md.,
1829 ; died in Gettysburg, February 4, 1896; was
converted in early life and admitted in 1855. After
forty-one years of honorable service, including a
captaincy during the Civil War, he reluctantly retired,
and was translated in a short time to his heavenly
rest. His record in the Central Pennsylvania Con-
ference for zeal, self-sacrifice and fidelity is without
a blot.
404 Appendix A.

Pamir KENNERLY, a native of Augusta County,
Virginia, born October 18, 1769; died October 5,
1821; was converted at seventeen, and admitted in
1804. In 1807, he located and moved to Logan
County, Kentucky, where his labors were extensive
and useful until the time of his death. He wasa
good and faithful preacher of the Word, and had the
confidence and good will of all who knew him. He
was recommended for re-admission into the traveling
connected in 1821, and was received by the Kentucky
Conference. He hardly entered upon his work when
he was seized with a fatal disease. He was happy
in God and resigned to His will. His sun went
down without a cloud.

SamMvuEL KEppter, born in Baltimore, 1804; started
from old Eutaw Church to preach the gospel; and,
for forty-four years, from 1827, gave full proof of
his ministry in the active work ; then, 1871, retiring,
spent thirteen years serving the church as his failing
health permitted. He was a man of sound judgment,
strong conviction and candor of expression; genial,
but dignified in manner. When the time of suffering
came, he was resigned and peaceful, and triumphant
as the end drew near.

Aaron M. Kester, born in Mt. Pleasant, Columbia
County, Pa., November 25, 1827; died at Lincoln,
Nebraska, October 4, 1892. At the age of 27 he
was brought to Christ at a camp-meeting. He became
a Christian of deep religious experience, and a plain
practical and effective preacher, having been admitted
in 1856. He was specially gifted in exhortation.
His health failing, he was transferred to the Kansas
Conference in 1878, but at his request he was
re-transferred in 1879 to the Central Pennsylvania
Conference and placed on the supernumerary list,
and in 1883 became superannuated. Returning one
evening from a revival service in Lincoln, he retired
Clerical Sketches. . 405

for the night. In the morning he was not, for God
had taken him.

Epwarp Kinsey, born in Montgomery County,
Maryland, March 21, 1834; died in Keyser, West
Virgiuia, September 10, 1877; he was converted at
the age of eighteen; admitted in 1853 and super-
annuated in 1875. Notwithstanding the disadvan-
tages of his early life, he was above mediocrity.
Simple, systematic and impressive, he seldom failed
to reach the minds and hearts of his hearers. Pa-
ralysis, at the close of his life, clouded his intellect.
But his “record is on high.”

J. Hanson Knorts, born in Baltimore, Md., No-
vember 1, 1832; died June 29, 1856; converted at a
camp-meeting held at Parkton, Md., in his eighteenth
year. His life was short and his work in the ministry
lasted but two years from 1854. His heart was in
the work; his greatest ambition, to call sinners to
Christ. He died in the full triumph of faith.

JoHN Koster, born in Culpeper County, Virginia,
August 29, 1768; died in Fredericksburg, Va., July
26, 1843; was converted at a very early period in
life, admitted into the traveling connection in 1789,
and soon afterwards volunteered to be the pioneer in
the North Western territory. Endowed with preach-
ing abilities above mediocrity and a zeal worthy of
his high vocation, he labored with great success.
Many souls were brought to God through his instru-
mentality. The toils, privations and hardships inci-
dental to traversing the wilds of the yet unsettled
West gave his constitution, strong as it was, so
severe a shock, that in 1809 he was compelled to
locate; returned to his native county and married.
In 1836, the Baltimore Conference, unsought by him-
self, placed his name on the superannuated list. He
selected Fredericksburg as his place of residence,
406 Appendix <A.

and at the close of a remarkable revival was taken
ill and died uttering the words: “Come Lord Jesus,
in power! come quickly!”

Jos W. Lampetu, born in Baltimore, August 6,
1817; died August 19, 1871. He was a nephew of
Rev. Job Guest, of precious memory. Converted in
early life, he entered the Conference in 1842, serving
the Church effectively nineteen years. His health
failing in 1846, he was supernumerary five years.
He resumed the active work in 1852, and continued
effective till 1867. He died in great peace.

JouN Lanawan, born in Harrisonburg, Virginia,
1815; died in Baltimore, December 8, 1903. His
parents were Roman Catholics, but of liberal tenden-
cies, as they allowed their children to attend Protes-
tant churches. He was converted at eighteen years
of age. Bishop Thomas Bowman is the only sur-
viving member of the class admitted in 1838. Dr.
Lanahan was in the front rank of the men who
entered the Conference in his day. He was popular
as a man anda preacher. He was of commanding
presence and always enlisted the undivided attention
of the Conference when he arose to speak. He had
a seat in every General Conference from 1856 to
1900. Though elected in 1860 as an alternate, he
took the place of Thomas Sewell, who was not pres-
ent. At the General Conference of 1868 he was
elected as one of the Agents of the New York Book
Concern. Here he fought a royal battle for his
Church, and nobly won laurels for himself and the
cause he represented. At a camp-meeting held at
Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a few months before his
death, he preached on Paul’s conversion. This mas-
ter of pulpit eloquence was at his best. The influence
of the sermon was profoundly felt by all, and its
matter and the manner of delivery were the subject
of favorable comment by all who listened. He was

wet
Clerical Sketches. 407

honest, brave and fearless, of strong convictions and
outspoken in his expression of them.

JOHN LanpsTREET, born in Baltimore, Md., April
23, 1818; died in Martinsburg, W. Va., November
21, 1871; was converted at a camp-meeting when a
young man, and admitted in 1848. Energetic in
temperament, eagerly zealous, he joined with Alfred
Cookman, Gershom Broadbent and others, in or-
ganizing, on an old sea hulk lying at Light street
wharf, one of the best known and most successful
missions in Baltimore—the Seamen’s Bethel. His
labors in the itinerancy were attended with gra-
cious results, especially at Warrenton, Va., where
an extraordinary revival occurred in 1855. He
was, of choice, with his brethren at the Staunton
Conference in 1861, and when the civil war broke
out in that year, entered the Confederate army as
chaplain, and in that capacity he continued with
eminent success during four years, ready always
with the helping hand to administer comfort to the
sick and wounded, and to offer consolation to the
dying soldier on the field of battle in time of great-
est danger. Returning, at the close of the war, to
the regular work of the ministry, with undiminished
zeal and unremitting service, with touching words at
the Staunton Conference, 1886, he asked for a super-
annuated relation, in which he continued till his
death. Social in his tendencies, magnetic in his man-
ner, he drew to him both young and old. In the pas-
torate he was a power; in the pulpit, earnest; in his
home, beloved. With his family around him at the
last moment, he repeated the lines of a favorite song :
“In the sweet fields of Eden,” and finally: “There
is rest for the weary.”

JoserH J. Larcent; born in Hampshire County,
Va., August 25, 1824; died June 11, 1892; con-
verted at a camp-meeting at the age of nineteen,
408 Appendix A.

and received on trial in 1852. He was an earnest,
whole-souled worker in the Master’s vineyard ; could
not be content unless in a revival meeting leading
in song and rejoicing with the newly converted;
affable in his manners, hearty in his greetings and
ready for every good word and work.

Jacop Larkin, Maryland (1792), was converted in
1808 ; traveled thirty-four years from 1819, and was
superannuated five years. In the social circle, a
man of few words; in the pulpit, endowed with
great force of language, he proved in stations and
circuits to be an able, enterprising and successful
minister. He met death with his confidence un-

shaken in God and in the blessed hope of immor-
tality, March 25, 1857.

JouN J. LEATHERBURY, born at Onancock, Accomac
County, Virginia, April 6, 1832; died in Galesville,
West River, Md., January 8, 1858 ; was converted in
his fifteenth year at a camp-meeting on Tangier
Island, Maryland, and admitted in 1854. His brief
career of but three years in the Conference was
marked by devotedness and usefulness. The lips
closing in death whispered : “‘ Precious Jesus.”

JosErH 8. Lex, born in Lycoming County, Pennsyl-
vania, December 16, 1808 ; died at Glen Hope, Clear-
field County, Pa., March 4, 1864. His father, Rev.
Timothy Lee, was an itinerant Methodist preacher,
a man of great power, and known long and favorably
as the champion of Methodism in his day. His con-
version occurred at a camp-meeting held in Clearfield
County, Pennsylvania, September, 1829, as his last
words before his death testified. He was admitted
into the Conference in 1834, the eighteen charges he
served being nearly all in Pennsylvania. He lived
only one year after his superannuation in 1863, dying
while the East Baltimore, afterwards the Central
Clerical Sketches. 409

Pennsylvania, Conference was in session at Altoona,
Pa. As a preacher, he was logical, pointed and prac-
tical, at times powerful in exhortation, and successful
in bringing many into the fold of Christ. As a pastor,
he was diligent “in season and out of season,” accept-
able and useful everywhere he was sent. His last
words were: “Joy! I feel no condemnation.”

GerorGE V. Lrecu, born at Nassau, N. Y., October,
1835 ; died in Washington, March 24, 1905; was
converted at thirteen years of age and united with
McKendree Church, September 10, 1848. He grad-
uated from Columbia College (now George Washing-
ton University), in 1853. In 1854 he entered the
Methodist General Biblical Institute, Concord, N. H.
He afterwards took supply work under the Presiding
Elder as an assistant to Rev. Thomas Sewall, and
was admitted in 1856. He was scholarly and of
spotless character.

James F. Liccerr, born in Greenbrier County,
Virginia, April 13, 1831; died at Churchville, Va.,
April, 1875 ; was converted at seventeen years of age
and entered the Conference in 1855. An earnest
preacher (in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South),
a faithful pastor, a successful revivalist, he was
ready always to go where the appointing power
thought he could work best. He died at his post in
great peace and triumph.

Cuar.es G. Linraicum, born in Baltimore County,
Maryland, June 25, 1822; died in Prince George’s
County, Maryland, October 25, 1903; was converted
before his majority, at a camp-meeting, near Balti-
more ; admitted into the Conference in 1848, and
served in the M. E. Church, South, during his later
years. His parents dying in his early childhood, he
was reared by an older sister. His academy course
and subsequent training as a merchant’s clerk, fol-
lowed by the study and practice of dentistry, fur-
410 Appendix A.

nished him with a varied experience. Religion
tempered these phases of life and moulded the char-
acter of a sincere, honest, upright christian gentle-
man. His retiring nature inclined him to shrink
from social prominence; but in the pulpit oftentimes
he became a master of assemblies, lifting his audience
to grand conceptions of the truth. He went cheer-
fully and witbout a murmur to the humblest appoint-
ments, and, as best he could, faithfully served them.
He closed his earthly life with early morning songs
of praise, and when dying tried in vain to send a
loving message to his brethren.

Paitie D. Lipscoms, admitted in 1822, was the
elder of two brothers, both of whom for many years
filled, with honor and usefulness, their appointed
places in the work of the ministry. Of the forty-one
years of his uninterrupted active service, the record
says: “His ministry was in soundness of speech.
No strange doctrines were taught from his pulpit,
but ably, earnestly and clearly did he expound the
doctrine of Christ.” A capable administrator in the
pastorate, he was assigned important duties at the
sessions of the Conference. They were wisely, punc-
tually and faithfully performed. For some years of
his ministry he gave himself to the service of the
American Colonization Society. For seven years his
name appears on the retired list. His last days were
eminently peaceful. “Tell him I am all right and
ready for what may be in store for me,” was his last
message to his brother, Robert M. Lipscomb.

Rosert M. Lirscomp, born in Georgetown, D. C.,
February 19, 1807; died February 5, 1890, in Bal-
timore ; was converted at a camp-meeting in Loudoun
County, Virginia, and admitted in 1831. He was
connected by birth with the Lipscomb family from
which many ministers of distinction came. His
sermons were always carefully prepared ; neat in
Clerical Sketches. 411

style, instructive and edifying. He had at times
signal success in his work, nowhere more so than at
Front Royal, Va., where a glorious revival, lasting
many weeks resulted in so great a change in the
religious and moral condition of the people, that the
fruits remain to this day. A prosperous Methodist
Society has existed there ever since that memorable
event. He was modest and and retiring in disposi-
tion, pure in his life, genial and beloved by the
people he served. As the supreme hour drew near
he was heard to exclaim: “Is this earth or heaven ?
If it be earth, it must be that part which is nearest
heaven.” The last exclamations were : ‘“ Beautiful!
Beautiful!”

Joun M. Lirrett, born in Newmarket, Va., about
"1832; died in Shepherdstown, W. Va., September
13, 1861; was converted in 1849. He spent two
years at the University of Virginia (1852-4), was
employed by the Presiding Elder of Rockingham
District, on Front Royal Circuit, and traveled from
1855 in the Conference over five years. A man of
unblemished character, good education and deep
piety, he gave himself so ardently to the work of the
ministry that his health, naturally frail, gave way,
and his life of more than ordinary promise was early
cut off—and he entered upon the life eternal.

Naruan Lopes, like Leonard Cassell, had a brief
but a brilliant career, having entered the ministry in
1810. It covered a period of hardly six years. He
was a native of Loudoun County, Virginia, but was
brought up in Concord, Pa. He finished his course
with joy at Shepherdstown, Va., then within the
bounds of Berkeley Circuit.

Raieu Lorspeicu, after ten years of hard service,
from 1803, deeply pious and very studious, deservedly
esteemed as a sound, profitable Gospel preacher, died
412 Appendix A.

June 15, 1813, with words of triumph on his lips:
“Tell all my old friends all is well—all is well.”

Joun Z. Lioyp, born in Shropshire, England,
1818 ; died December 6, 19038, in Swedesboro, Pa. ;
was converted at the age of seventeen, united with
the Wesleyan Society in 1836, and was admitted on
trial into the British Wesleyan Conference in 1840.
He came to America in 1843, and was admitted in
1846 ; was in the effective work of the miuistry forty-
two years and superannuated in 1886. His was a
unique character; a preacher of ability above the
ordinary, earnest, devoted, evangelical ; a conscien-
tious and fearless expounder of the Word. Though
formally retired, he never ceased from active service.
He was affable in manner, dignified in bearing, genial
in spirit and generous. The end came peacefully
and triumphantly.

THomas Lucas, born in Prince George’s County,
Maryland, as early as 1732 ; became a local preacher,
and did excellent work in that relation. He com-
menced traveling in 1791, and is said to have been
faithful and successful.

Wituiam O. Lumspon, of Alexandria, Va., was
admitted on trial at the session of 1824. After
traveling twenty-six consecutive years from 1824 on
various fields of labor, from failing health he retired
from active work, and for eighteen years responded,
so far as he was able, to every call for ministerial
service. For many years he was Recording Secre-
tary of the Conference, and the Journals bear testi-
mony to the excellent manner in which he performed
this arduous duty. Pure and irreproachable in his
life, he was suddenly translated to be with Christ,
May 14, 1868.

James H. Marcu, born in Winchester, Va., January
22, 1820; died in Middletown, Va., July 30, 1885;
Clerical Sketches. 413

was converted under the preaching of Rev. Job Guest,
1837, and entered the Conference in 1842; travelled
in the two Baltimore Conferences over twenty-five
fields through a period of forty-one years. By
reason of sheer exhaustion he was compelled to retire
from the active work four years before his death. A
man of unusual ability, clear in statement, unique in
manner, his character united originality, courage and
goodness. Humor, pathos and unction were blended
in his discourses. Gracious revivals attended his
early ministry and the fire of his youth burned
brightly during the later years of his work. The
closing days of his life were attended with severe
cares and trials; he lingered nine days in pain, put-
ting a modest estimate on the work of his life, yet
trusting in his Saviour to the last.

Francis Macartney, born January 11, 1803; died
October 7, 1873; by birth an Irishman. He was
converted in his fifteenth year and was admitted
in 1823. His service extended over a period of half
a century. As a preacher he is described as practi-
cal, rather than brilliant, a faithful and fearless
expounder of the truth as it is in Jesus ; in the pas-
toral work a master, tender and loving, noble and
unselfish ; he ministered comfort to the sorrow-
stricken and counsel to the unfortunate. He
answered the final summons with the thrice repeated
shout of “Glory!”

Joun §. Marrin, born in Alexandria, Va., Sept.
7, 1815. At the thorough school of Benjamin
Hallowell he obtained a scholastic training which ©
served as a sufficient basis for continuous study
during the years of his ministry. He was converted
at the age of sixteen and licensed at nineteen; was
received on trial into the Conference in 1835, as-
signed to his work on Lexington Circnit, and covering
an unbroken period of fifty-three years of active labor,
414 Appendia A.

ceased at once to work and live, July 8, 1888, in the
city of Baltimore, where he had at intervals filled
important stations. Upon Circuits in Virginia and
Pennsylvania, some having as many as twenty-eight
appointments, in the pastorate of smaller and larger
stations, and on districts, with city centres, or on those
traversing the most rugged and mountainous sections,
he proved equal to as well as ready for every demand
the itinerancy of the Church required. No place was
too exalted, none too humble for him willingly and
gladly to serve. For thirty-five years he stood before
his brethren as a model Secretary of the Conference,
as his Journals attest. Recognizing his great ability,
his brethren sent him as early as 1856 to the General
Conference at Indianapolis, and also in 1860 at
Buffalo. He was a commanding figure at every Gen-
eral Conference of the M. E. Church, South from 1866 ;
and in 1884 and 1886 was Secretary of the General
Conference. At the Methodist Centenary, held in
Baltimore, in 1884, he was elected Secretary by accla-
mation, and his Journal has been placed in the keep-
ing of the American Historical Society. He was a
man of striking physique; of medium height, with
well-knit and developed frame. His voice, clear and
penetrating, could be raised to a resonant pitch, with-
out break or discord, to reach the largest assembly.
His preaching was with power and in demonstration of
the Spirit. His intimate acquaintance with the Scrip-
tures, and his fine memory, gave accuracy and beauty
to his apt and frequent quotations, and his burning
zeal often swept the assemblies, and brought multi-
tudes to repentance and salvation. Systematic in his
methods, a fine organizer, a faithful pastor, and, to
the last, a constant student, he ever kept fresh and
vigorous, in both thought and action. He had been
appointed to his last charge at St. Paul’s, in Balti-
more ; and, though in his seventy-third year, entered
Clerical Sketches. 415

upon his work with an enthusiasm and activity that
seemed to renew his youth. He preached to crowded
houses as if his tongue had been touched with a live
coal from off the altar. But disease soon laid him
low. For seven weeks torturing pain gave no inter-
vals of. rest, but his faith and hope held firmly.
“Precious Saviour! Underneath me are the ever-
lasting arms!” were among the last utterances. On
Sunday evening, July 8, 1888, the Church bells,
ringing for service, blent with angelic harps above
the peal of the final triumph of a noble christian
soldier, entering with joy upon the worship before
the ‘Great White Throne’”’ above.

James A. MoCdutzy, born in Cecil County, Md.,
October 7, 1822; died in Baltimore, December 12,
1896; converted at Fayette street Church, 1837 ;
graduated from Dickinson College and admitted on
trial in 1850. After entering the Conference and
traveling for some years, he was placed in charge of
the Wesleyan Female Institute, at Staunton, Va.,
where he remained for three years, and then returned
to the work of the pastorate. He filled with special
distinction many of the most prominent pulpits in
the Conference. He was President of Dickinson
College from 1872 to 1888. During his term of
office there he had marvelous success in his admin-
istration of the affairs of that institution. He was a
brilliant scholar, a careful and painstaking instructor,
and a clear and strong preacher. His entire life was
without reproach. During the feebleness of his body,
while resting from active work, he was placid and
content, and when the moment of his departure came,
he said with composure: “I have always prayed
that when the end came to me, my way might be
bright.” He was asked if his wish had been realized.
With a luminous expression of countenance the reply
416 Appendix A.

came: “Oh, as the sunlight!” Then he passed
into the everlasting light.

Dr. McCauley took the deepest interest, when the author began this
history of the Old Baltimore Conference, and voluntarily offered to aid his
early friend in the work, but his illness and death shortly afterwards
prevented the fulfilment of his purpose.

Txaomas F. McCuure, born near Alexandria, Pa.,
April 3, 1817; died suddenly in the parsonage at
Wolfsburg, Pa., December 22, 1879; was converted
in early life and admitted on trial in 1841. He was
a faithful and consistent christian minister of more
than ordinary abilities, a man of affairs, building
churches and paying Church debts, and at the same
time effective in the pulpit, sound in doctrine, fearless
in his statements of truth, often*illustrating them
with quaint and striking original remarks, incidents
and anecdotes.

Wituiam McDowet1, born in Franklin County,
Pennsylvania, September 22, 1795, converted at
twenty-one, was admitted on trial in 1822, traveled
only five years, and died in the full triumph of faith,
July 27, 1827. His short race was a successful one,
furnishing a bright example of piety and faithful
labors.

Jacop McENALLy, was a Pennsylvanian, born in
Lancaster County, 1794; converted in 1829; he
served the Church as an active and energetic layman
for ten years, and ten years from 1829 in faithful
and successful work in the ministry. His health
failing, he retired in 1839, and lived twenty years at
Muncy, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. He was
humble, cheerful and laborious to the extent of his
ability, a man of prayer and faith. He died happily,
March, 1859.

Prerer McEnatiy, born in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, July 22, 1796; was converted May
19, 1819 ; admitted on trial in 1828 ; superannuated_
Clerical Sketches. 417

in 1849; and died suddenly April 19, 1850. He
was a man of strong mind, of good preaching ability,
and of undoubted honesty and integrity.

CuarLtes McE:rresn, born in Hyattstown, Md.,
1819 ; died July 19, 1887, at Waverly, near Baltimore ;
was converted in his 14th year ; was in the effective
ranks from 1844 till 1858; re-entered in 1865, and
remained in the active work till his death, serving
with zeal and acceptability. He was short in stat-
ure, but massive in frame, and was distinguished by
a heavy suit of hair and overhanging eyebrows.
A kindly smile and a warm greeting gave to his
personal appearance and manner a pleasing inter-
est. He was recognized as a superior sermonizer,
coupling with his preaching systematic pastoral
work and rare good judgment. He was chosen
chaplain of the Seamen’s Union Bethel, Fells Point,
Baltimore, which position he filled for fourteen years
with eminent ability and usefulness.

Tomas MoGeg, born in Centre County, Pa., July
15, 1794; converted in 1811 at Warrior's Mark
camp-meeting ; was received on trial by the Genesee
Conference in 1816, and transferred to the Baltimore
Conference in 1820. He served various charges in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia
and Virginia, to the end of his life. He was a man
of fine presence. His face beamed with kindness
and benevolence; his intellect was strong and his
pulpit ministrations were effective. Asa pastor he
was tender yet faithful, his life unobtrusive and irre-
proachable. He was a noble, generous and brave
man. He died suddenly on the railroad train as he
was returning from Warrenton to Baltimore, August

8, 1859.
27
418 Appendix A.

Wim A. McKesg, born in Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, January 28, 1820; died at Houtzdale,
Pa., February 7, 1892; was converted in Carlisle at
the age of seventeen, and admitted in 1846. He lab-
ored in the active work thirty-nine years and was sup-
erannuated four years. He is characterized as “good,
gentle, sweet spirited, kind, loving and patient ;” in
preaching ‘clear, plain, practical, earnest.” The
summons, ‘‘Come up higher,” came in the night,
without opportunity to say farewell. Sudden death
was to him sudden glory.

JosepH G. McKernan, born near Abbottstown, Pa.,
March 23, 1810; was converted in his twentieth year
and admitted on trial in 1836. He was twenty-nine
years in the active work and twenty years on the
retired list. As a preacher he was thoroughly scrip-
tural, sound in doctrine, earnest, tender and often
tearful in delivery. As a man he was unselfish in
his nature and gentle in spirit. Said his son: “I
have never heard father say an improper word or
knew him to do a wrong act.” The last sermon he
ever preached was from the text: ‘Because I live ye
shall live also.” His death was sudden.

Sotomon McMvttiny, born in Centre County, Pennsyl-
vania, 1808 ; died in Shepherdstown, Va., November
20, 1863; was converted in his seventeenth year ;
admitted on trial in the Baltimore Conference in 1832,
and continued, with the exception of two years in
the supernumerary relation, in the effective ranks ;
he was a man of unwavering integrity and of unim-
peachable character, a preacher of commanding and
popular talents and a pastor of untiring labors.
Among his last words were these: “Tell my friends
it is well with me; it is only my family and my
Church I am sorry to leave, but tell them to let me
go; death has no terrors for me; this bed is to me —
a paradise.”
Clerical Sketches. 419

Jacop S. McMurray, born on Pine Creek, near
Jersey Shore, Pa., October 26, 1831; died at Lilley-
ville, near Lewistown, Pa., November 27, 1885; was
converted when fourteen years of age, and educated
at Dickinson College, which, in 1879, conferred on
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was admitted
in 1845, was an efficient and eloquent preacher,
possessing fine administrative talent, and was a force-
ful debater. He represented his Conference in two
sessions of the General Conference, where he exerted
commanding influence; he was also a very active
leader in the Temperance movement, instrumental in
the enactment by the Legislature of a local-option
measure. During the whole course of his life work
he was pre-eminently useful and successful. On his
third round on the Juniata District and at his quar-
terly meeting, at Lilleyville, he was seized with
apoplexy and died during the communion service.

Harrison McNemar, born in Hampshire County,
Va., January 19, 1826; died January 12, 1889.
Converted in early life, he became richly endowed
with the experimental knowledge of the things of
God. He was admitted in 1854. His power in
preaching lay mainly in direct appeal rather than in
logical reasoning, and proved eminently successful
in gathering multitudes of souls. Meek and lowly
in heart, of a cheerful disposition, unselfish and
loving, he was also distinguished by decision of
character. He died of paralysis—a sufferer for
weeks, but a conquorer at last.

SaMUEL McPHERSON, a native of the County of Done-
gal, Ireland, born 1797 or 1798, became a christian
at the tender age of ten years, came to this country
in 1814, joined the M. E. Church in 1818, was re-
ceived on trial into the Baltimore Conference in
1825, traveled three years, and died in peace near
Staunton, Va., August, 1828. He was a young man
420 Appendix A.

of great prudence, industrious in his habits, friendly
and sociable in his dispositian, and spiritually
minded. He fell a martyr to his work.

Justus A. Meticx, born at Light Street, Columbia
County, Pa., March 7, 1823 ; died in Harrisburg, Pa.,
March 23, 1886; converted in his twentieth year;
educated at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima,
N. Y., and admitted on trial in 1848. He was in the
active work twenty-nine years, and was retired for
eight years. He was a modest, shrinking man, with a
warm, generous, brotherly heart. In his ministry he
was successful in winning souls to Christ. On Sun-
day evening, his last on earth, saying that the room
seemed -dark, he was told that on the morrow he
would be taken to another and brighter room ; he
replied: “Yes, I will be in a brighter room tomor-
row,” and at three o’clock P. M., the next day, he
entered the heavenly mansion.

Witiiam M. Memincer, born in Liberty Valley,
Pa., March 15, 1822; died at Tyrone, Pa., January
5, 1888 ; converted at a camp-meeting when sixteen
years old. For forty-three years, from 1845, he
made full proof of his ministry. ‘A quiet, modest
and extremely retiring man, devout in manner, sweet
in spirit, high toned in manhood, gentlemanly, cour-
teous and honorable” —this is the tribute his brethren
award him. Onhis way toan appointment on a cold
and tempestuous Sunday evening, he fell between
the timbers of a bridge over the Juniata river, re-
covered himself, crossed the bridge, preached to a
crowded congregation and returned to his home.
The fall, injuring the blood vessels about the heart,
superinduced the succeeding fatal illness. At the
Conference of 1885 he received a supernumerary
relation, and for nearly three years was an invalid.
When death approached it found him calm and tri-
umphant. In answer to an inquiry by his pastor at
Clerical Sketches. 421

Tyrone how the future appeared, he said: “All
bright.” When unable to speak at the last, with
uplifted hands he pointed first to his loved ones and
_then heavenward, his face radiant and glowing as if
the reflection of sunshine were upon it. His true
worth was revealed when, from all parts of the terri-
tory where he had labored, tributes of esteem and
love came from his former co-laborers.

Henry S. MENDENHALL, born at Nescopeck, Pa.,
August 1, 1829; died at Berwick, Pa., February 5,
1899; converted at the age of fifteen; educated at
Williamsport Dickinson Seminary; for some years
taught in the public schools of Columbia and
Luzerne Counties. He was in the active work of the
ministry thirty-three years, from 1855, serving nine-
teen charges. Of rather feeble frame, he possessed
remarkable energy and more than ordinary powers
of endurance. He was scholarly, a wide reader and
a deep thinker. For many years he served the Con-
ference as Recording Secretary. In his character
he manifested the highest traits of a Christian
gentleman. In the study, in the pulpit, in his pastoral
work, his one purpose was. the salvation of souls,
and the building up of Christ’s Kingdom. His fare-
well message to the brethren of the Conference was:
“Tell them to preach a whole gospel. That is our
one work.”

Francis A, Mercer, born near Hyattstown, Md.,
December 25, 1829; died in Baltimore, January 15,
1902; converted at a camp-meeting near his home
in his twenty-fourth year; educated at private
schools in Montgomery County, Maryland. He pre-
pared to study medicine, but, when the spiritual
change came he yielded to the call of God, and,
entering the Conference in 1855, filled the gap
during the War of 1861, with teaching and preach-
ing in Dorchester County, Maryland. He took his
422 Appendix A.

place again among his brethren in Alexandria, Va.,
1866 ; served in the active work till 1896, when
he was granted a supernumerary relation, and then
finding himself permanently disabled by progressive |
paralysis, was placed on the superannuated list and
settled in Baltimore till his death. He had fine
ability as a preacher, was fearless in denouncing.
wrong and earnest in the advocacy of the truth.
Crippled by disease for years and unable to do active
work, he never failed to be in the house of worship
and to render aid to his brethren.

JOSEPH MERRIKEN, born in Annapolis, 1811, grew
up in Cumberland, Md., entered the ministry in
1831, before he was twenty-one, and was assigned to
Staunton Circuit, Virginia. Though not in the
ordinary sense of the term, a great preacher, his
zeal, fidelity and especially his pastoral labors made
him acceptable, useful and eminently successful in
winning souls to Christ. ‘He instructed, admon-
ished and warned his flock from house to house with
tears.” He won the affections of his people where-
ever he was sent. His career in the intinerant work
was comparatively short, yet the sixteen years of his
ministry present a record of wonderful results. His
death in Alexandria, Va., early in 1848, was the fit-
ting close of a noble life. The last words: I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, “I
have kept the faith ; Glory, glory be to God!” were
the victor’s pan of christian triumph.

Joun Miter, well known and greatly esteemed
during the extended term of his ministry, a native of
Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, was converted at
the age of twenty-two, under the preaching of Samuel
Davis, and spent thirty-three years, from 1819, in
the effective work, sixteen on circuits, nine in stations,
and eight on districts ; died in Westminster, Md.,
1878, at the ripe age of nearly eighty-four. He was
Clerical Sketches. 423

a self-made man, endowed with solid and practical
qualities. His sermons, though with the manuscript
before him, were delivered with earnestness and
pathos, his tall commanding form, penetrating voice
and distinct utterances, making one forget that he
was reading. He was a wise counsellor, a judicious
administrator and a good pastor. “Tell all the
members of the Baltimore Conference I am dying
in the faith, happy in the Lord, and want them to
meet me in heaven,” was his last message to his
brethren.

Francis M. Mints, born in Williamsburg, Va.,
August 5, 1810; died in Neosho, Missouri, March
10, 1900. His parents moved to Washington in
1819, where in the old Foundry Church, Francis
was converted. He was an effective itinerant for
seventeen years, serving acceptably at different
- periods in seven States. He cast in his lot with his
brethren of the majority in 1866, living at that time
in Alexandria, Va. Not long afterwards he moved
to Neosho, where he was held in high esteem. He
lived to the ripe old age of nearly ninety, and died
suddenly of heart failure.

NaruanreL B. Mitts, born in Newcastle County,
Delaware, February 23, 1766; died February 20,
1845 ; converted in his seventeenth year, and received
on trial in 1787. His travels and work extended
to New York and Connecticut in his earliest min-
istry, and in after years over the entire territory
of the Conference. He was placed on the super-
annuated list in 1835, but ceased not to preach with
untiring constancy till the last Sabbath of his Hfe.
His last sermon on that morning was from Judges,
V. 31: “So let all thine enemies be scattered, O
Lord; but let them that love him be as the sun when
he goeth forth in his might.” On the following
Thursday he led the devotion in family worship ;.
424 Appendix A.

then ceased at once “to work and live.” Pure in
purpose and innocent in life, he was not free from
human infirmities, yet these were hidden by the
brightness of a holy life. He was a sound, prac-
tical preacher, of the primitive school of Methodist
itinerants.

Wim R. Mitts, born in Alexandria, Va., July
5, 1816; died in York, Pa., December 19, 1869; at
an early age was converted at a camp-meeting in
Fairfax County, Virginia, and from 1840 spent twenty-
nine years in the active ministry of the Conference.
He was six feet tall, with a massive frame, broad face,
well-developed forehead,-a dark piercing eye, and a
firm expression of countenance. His fund of informa-
tion was varied and extensive; his pulpit efforts
evinced research, were argumentative, logically ar-
ranged and pronounced in a strong voice, with great
fervor ; his religious experience was of a high order.
The closing work of his ministry in York resulted in
the accession to the Church of sixty-eight persons.
He was stricken with apoplexy, and his death was
sudden.

Roserr MincHALL, born in Pennsylvania in 1788 ;
began his ministry in 1813; transferred to the Bal-
timore Conference in 1821, and died July 15, 1828.
His talents, piety and zeal made him extensively
useful, especially in the formation of Sunday-Schools
and tract societies. On his death bed he said to his
wife: “I have been a traveling man, my lot is in
heaven.” “Glory, glory, forever and ever.”

Tromeson MITCHELL, born in Mifflin County, Penn-
sylvania, March 22, 1817 ; died in Williamsport, Pa.,
May 9, 1897; converted at the age of twenty. He
was a calm, deliberate thinker. He had keen insight
and sound judgment. Sagacious, meditative and pro-
gressive, it is not remarkable that he occupied a high
Clerical Sketches. 425

place in the estimate of his brethren. He was four
times in the General Conference, and four years on the
Book Committee of the M. E. Church. His service
in the Church was of inestimable value. His last
words were: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all
that is within me bless his holy name! ”

Levi N. Monroz, born in Prince George’s County,
Maryland, August 11, 1810; died November 16,
1853 ; converted at the age of twenty-one; was
admitted on trial in 1836 and labored in the Confer-
ence eleven years. For five years he patiently bore
his great bodily afflictions and died in great peace,
testifying that for him death had no terrors. His
talents as a preacher commanded respect. His de-
meanor was dignified, his piety ardent and his whole

life an exhibition of the excellency of the gospel of
Christ.

JONATHAN Mownroz, born in Annapolis, June 11,
1801, died in Westminster, Md., December 4, 1869 ;
converted in his nineteenth year and admitted on
trial in 1825. He was a useful, honored and suc-
cessful preacher of the gospel. His christian vir-
tues, gentlemanly and courteous manners, constant
and uniform piety, clear knowledge and faithful de-
lineation of the truth not only endeared him to all
who knew him, but demonstrated the power of
Divine grace. As death approached he raised his
arm, waved his hand and exclaimed: “ The day of
jubilee is come! Hallelujah!”

T. H. W. Mowros, a native of Fairfax County,
Virginia (1804), traveled thirty-seven years, from
1827, without intermission, within the bounds of the
Baltimore Conference. His fine personal appear-
ance gave added weight to his ability as a preacher.
His sermons were doctrinal, expository, clear and
426 Appendix A.

systematic. They were delivered with an unction
that did not fail to impress his hearers. He was
eminently fitted for the work of a Presiding Elder,
faithful, punctual and incisive. Equally useful was
he in the pastorate, winning in his manner, yet
warning faithfully when conscience demanded. “My
hope is based on the atonement of Jesus Christ,”
was among his last utterances.

Jacop Monrcomery, born in Ireland, County An-
trim, June 30, 1818 ; diedin Keyser, W. Va., October
8, 1881; converted at the age of eleven. Three
years later his family came to this country and
settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was
admitted in 18438. After serving six circuits in
Pennsylvania, his health failed. He received an
appointment as financial agent of Olin and Preston
Institute at Blacksburg, Va., and some time after was
transferred to the Southeast Indiana Conference.
Still strugling with physical disability, he entered
the East Baltimore Conference, and finally the Cen-
tral Pennsylvania, where he ended his labors and
sufferings with calm and holy trust, exclaiming in
clear accents: ‘All is well, all is well.” With an
unabated love for his Church, he everywhere, with
boldness and zeal, defended her doctrines and led his
people in a constant enquiry after the old paths.

JoHN Moornead, born in Waynesboro, Pa., Janu-
ary 4, 1814; died in Mt. Union, Pa., July 16, 1890.
He travelled ten years as a single man from 1840.
He rounded half a century in the traveling connec-
tion, forty-one years in the active work; a man of
decided character, with clear convictions, loving truth
and righteousness, firm in the exercise of discipline,
but not obtrusive or offensive ; a sensible scriptural
preacher, not scholarly, but effective and forcible,
moving by his earnest appeals both saints and sinners.
Clerical Sketches. 427

GERARD Moraan, born June 8, 1784, in Baltimore
County, Maryland; converted in his seventeenth
year; admitted on trial 1806, and died March 17,
1846. Tall and slender in person, gentle and pleas-
ing in manner, pure in heart and upright in life,
he was universally esteemed by his brethren in the
Conference and the people whom he served. In
common with other preachers of his class, his earlier
work was on the sparsely settled parts of the Con-
ference, lying in North and Western Pennsylvania
‘and Western Virginia. Later on, he traveled exten-
sively in the Valley of Virginia and in Maryland.
_ Zeal, constancy and fidelity characterized his faithful
and successful service. He was instrumental in the
salvation of multitudes of precious souls, and was
especially profitable in the edification and comfort of
believers. He had a well-balanced mind and a
strong vein of common sense, which, joined with
unaffected piety, made his ministry marked by un-
common results for permanent good Among the
seven sons and one daughter who survived him, he
left the precious legacy of three gifted and faithful
preachers—Brown, Tillotson and Lyttleton Morgan,
who preserved the memory of their sainted father
fresh and green, until they, in turn, went to join him
in the heavenly habitations. When the last sum-
mons came, he was ready to obey the Master’s call.

Lyrrieton F. Moraeay, son of Rev. Gerard Morgan,
born June 10, 1813, in Bath County, Virginia; died
February 28, 1895, in Baltimore ; converted when a
boy, and admitted in 1834. He enjoyed the special
distinction of having oceupied the pulpit of every
prominent church in the Baltimore Conference, and
was pre-eminently a “station preacher.” Bishop
Simpson is reported to have said that Dr. Morgan
was the finest sermonizer he had ever known. He was
chaplain to Congress during the sessions of 1851-52.
428 Appendix A.

During this period he frequently preached in the
Hall of Representatives at Washington. He gained
a national reputation as a pulpit orator. He was
largely instrumental in the organization of the
“ Preachers Fund Society, and his frequent benefac-
tions greatly enriched its treasury. He took special
interest in the Woman’s College of Baltimore, and
also was second to none in his interest in Morgan
College. He was a mighty man in Scripture inter-
pretation. When the infirmities of age obliged him
to retire from the regular work of the ministry he
was always ready to go, even beyond his strength, to
supply a vacant pulpit. His last illness may be
attributed to the exposure incident to filling the pul- —
pit of an absent pastor on a bitterly cold and windy
Sabbath. He was genial and kindly in social inter-
course, charming in conversation, an admirer and
lover of all good men, ready always to do a needed
service, when asked, or when an opportunity offered.
As the last hour approached he delighted to hear
the rich hymns sung, such as: ‘“ There’s a wideness
in God’s mercy,” “Rock of Ages,” and others.
He sent this last message to the Conference : “ Tell
my brethren I have greatly appreciated their friend-
ship and their devotion to me: tell them I have been
true and faithful to them.” This noble christian
worker had the Pauline experience when he faced
“ Jordan’s waves.”

N. J. Brown Moraan was another great leader in
the ranks of Baltimore Conference Methodism ; like
Dr. Sargent, he also was reared in the home of a
revered itinerant preacher, Gerard Morgan; it is
hardly necessary to note the spot where such sons
are born; they are the common possession of Balti-
more Conference Methodism ; at the time however,
his father, who travelled forty years in the active
work, was appointed to Pendleton Circuit, in 1812,
Clerical Sketches. - 429

but presumably was temporarily in Bath County, in
the mountains of Virginia, the previous year, where
the eldest son saw the light. A subsequent resi-
dence, from the age of ten to sixteen, in Harrison-
burg, enabled him to acquire a fair classical training.
Converted at the age of fourteen under the ministry
of Rev. John Bear, he soon became impressed with
the conviction that it was his duty to devote his life
to the work of the ministry, and, at the early age of
seventeen, entered the Conference as a probationer, in
1829. Though he died at the age of sixty he spent
forty-three years in the effective service, and fell at his
post, attacked while he was preaching with the malady
that closed his successful career on earth. From the
age of thirty-three, he was elected a delegate to every
General Conference, except the last, when he pub-
licly refused the use of his name. In the pulpit he
was the peer of his contemporaries. As a wise
administrator he was superior. In the Conference
room he seldom engaged in the discussions, but was
fearless and independent in his decisions. He was
sometimes seen standing alone on the negative side
of a question. Quiet and unobtrusive in his man-
ner, he was ready for work and faithful in its per-
formance. His greatest pulpit efforts were at the
camp-meetings of his day. Once he was selected to
preach the Missionary sermon at Conference. It
was a thrilling sermon, rousing to the highest pitch
of enthusiasm both the preachers and the crowded
assembly, in old Light Street Church, at the session
of 1855. Calmly, when the end came, did he meet
it. Triumphing at the last moment, he shouted,
with uplifted voice, the Gloria in Excelsis, then with |
his last breath: ‘“‘ Blessed are the dead who die in
the Lord!”

TrtLtotson A. Moraeay, one of three brothers, with
a marked career in the ministry, was the son of that
430 Appendix A.

old and tried veteran, Gerard Morgan. His ministry
embraced fifty-one years in active work in the Con-
ference, which he entered in 1837, at the age of
twenty, and honored with faithful and efficient service.
A sound gospel preacher, faithful in his pastorate,
richly endowed with the finer qualities of human
nature, singularly quiet in his deportment, a faithful
friend, a safe counsellor, an uncomplaining toiler in
his Master’s vineyard, he came to the end of life’s
journey with a sudden transition from earth to
heaven. His ministry had been interrupted by only
two brief periods, the first early in his work and the
the other just at its close.

JosepH §S. Morris, born in Western Virginia,
March 20, 1806, and admitted on trial in 1836, was
in labors abundant. Though possessed of moderate
abilities as a preacher, he had great success in
pastoral visitations and in personal work in saving
souls. During the last three days of his life his
mind was unusally clear, and on several occasions he
repeated the words: “I am anxiously waiting to
cross over Jordan to join the assembly of the first-
born.”

Wrw1am Munrog, a native of Allegany County,
Maryland, born in 1783. His active ministry ex-
tended over a period of thirty-three years from 1810,
embracing a wide range of laborious circuits, largely
in Western Pennsylvania, reaching also into Mary-
land and Virginia. For a quarter of a century he
sustained a superannuated relation, and died in great
peace at the age of eighty-eight. ‘His great moral
dignity, true christian virtues, uniform piety, clear
knowledge of divine things, faithful preaching of the
Word, and true friendship for Methodism, greatly
endeared him to the whole Church, and to the com-
munity in which he lived.” He died at his home in
Boonsboro, Maryland, May 29, 1871.
Clerical Sketches. 431

Ranpotpo R. Morpuy, born near Hyattstown,
March 30, 1829 ; died in Baltimore, August 30, 1903.
The Spirit gave him assurance of salvation in 1848.
His character was marked by strict integrity. He
was an earnest preacher and a “house-to-house”
pastor. He always left every church of which he
had been pastor in better condition than he found it.
During his last hours he said: ‘“ As I draw near the
end of life I see more and more the need of atone-
ment; I need a mediator.” At the moment of
translation he exclaimed: ‘Jesus is my hope, His
precious blood cleanseth from all sin. My hope is
full of glorious hope of immortality.”

THomas Myrrs, born in Georgetown, D. C., May
18, 1813; died July 27, 1894; converted at the age
of eighteen. He was a self-made man, faithful in all
the positions assigned him. He spent the evening
of his life as Agent of the Maryland State Bible
Society.

Brrnarp H. Napat, born in Talbot County, Mary-
land, March 2, 1813; died at his home, Madison
County, New Jersey, June 20, 1870. When a well-
grown youth, and while learning a trade in York, Pa.,
he was converted. In 1835 he was received into the
Conference ; and with a laudable ambition, when
stationed at Carlisle, Pa., pursued a full course of
study in Dickinson College, graduating in 1848.
His active service extended over a period of more
than thirty years. In 1855 he was transferred to
the North Indiana Conference, having been elected
professor of Ethics and English Literature in Indiana
Asbury University. In 1857 he was returned to the
Baltimore Conference and made Presiding Elder of
Roanoke District. In 1866 he was transferred to
the Philadelphia Conference and stationed at Trinity.
At the close of the year 1867 he was elected Profes-
sor of Historical Theology in Drew Seminary. As
432 Appendix A.

a preacher he was clear, convincing, scriptural and
practical. Expostulation and appeal, at times tenderly
followed by logical demonstration made him truly
eloquent. As a writer he was even more effective.
Keen discrimination, enabled him to separate the
essential from the accidental and come at once to the
core of his subject. A lively fancy gave freshness
to his treatment, while an unfailing felicity of expres-
sion furnished appropriate vesture to every thought.
His range of writing included theology, ethics, poli-
tics, social life, nature and art, and each was treated
in a masterly way. lectures, addresses, sermons
and newspaper editorials were continually pouring
from his tireless pen. At the time of his last illness
he was devoting his best thought to an important
theological essay, which he had nearly finished ;
and was also gathering materials for a life of Dr.
Jokbn McClintock, his friend and associate in Drew
Seminary. He was ill but a few days. During his
sickness his conversation was cheerful, at times even
to gaiety. When fatal symptums were developed
and he was informed of the fact, he replied promptly
that he left the issue with the Lord.

E11 NicopEemvs, born in Frederick County, Mary-
land, January 14, 1811; died April 16, 1836; con-
verted at a camp-meeting at eighteen years of age;
admitted in 1833. With a delicate constitution, and
extremely diffident, he did good work, and faltered
not during the short service of three years, which
he filled up with zeal, fidelity and profit to many.
The last enemy found him ready for the conflict, full
of peace and abounding in hope.

Lorenzo D. Nrxon, born in Loudoun County, Vir-
ginia, July 28, 1811; was converted at seventeen ;
a local preacher eight years ; twenty years from 1854
in the traveling ministry; a model of meekness and
simplicity, systematic in his work; a faithful and
Clerical Sketches. 433

laborious servant of Jesus Christ, full of faith and of
the Holy Ghost. A stroke of paralysis closed in a
few hours his earthly labors in the Church, South.

RicHarp Norris, born in Richmond, Va., March 25,
1835; died in Baltimore, Md., April 13, 1897; was
converted when thirteen years old at a camp-meeting
at White Marsh, Lancaster County, Va; licensed to
exhort by Rev. John A. Gere, and admitted in 1855.
He was in his glory in the midst of revivals ; he made
full proof of his ministry in every charge he served ;
his services were in great demand in the liquidation
of church debts. His body lies in the beautiful
Greenmount Cemetery, Baltimore, awaiting the resur-
rection morn.

ExitsHa D. Owen, by birth a Quaker, born in Phila-
delphia, Pa., May 2, 1821; died December 17, 1892;
was converted in boyhood and admitted in 1840. He
had a fine ministerial record, having served many of
the prominent churches during the fifty-two years of
his ministry. He was noted for his ability to clear
off debts from church property and as the promoter
of many new churches; he was known also as a
revivalist of great influence.

Epwarp Orem lived only two years after he was
received on trial. He was born in Talbot County,
Maryland ; was admitted on trial 1819 and ordained
deacon in 1821, in Baltimore; was taken sick and
died in the city, May 26, “Joyful in the Rock of his
salvation.”

Henry PabdGEtTt’s career in the ministry was short
but glorious. A native of Charles County, Maryland,
converted in 1809 and admitted in 1814, he traveled
only a little over three years, and witnessed on his
last circuit (Lancaster, Va.) the conversion of more
than three hundred souls. He was stricken with

28
434 Appendix A.

fever September 3, 1817, and died on the following
Wednesday in great triumph, saying: “Who are
these arrayed in white? They are waiting to receive
my spirit. Welcome death! I am not dead but
living. O yes, living in heaven!”

JOSEPH PARKER, born in Lancaster County, Penn-
sylvania, April 11, 1811; died at Newport, Pa., July
29, 1842; was converted in his nineteenth year and
traveled in the Conference seven years, from 1835,
with acceptability, usefulness and success. His ser-
mons were evangelical and attended with unction.
On his last charge, Bloomfield Circuit, he was in the
midst of a constant revival, which resulted in large
accessions tothe Church. Death by apoplexy closed
suddenly the life of a good man.

CHRISTOPHER PaRKISON, born in Cecil County,
Maryland, October 18, 1797; converted in early life
at Old Bethel Church, Delaware ; received on trial in
the Conference in 1829; traveled in Virginia and
Maryland thirty-six years, superanuated in 1865, and
died April 30, 1867. He was appreciated by those
who knew him best; his piety was earnest and con-
sistent; he read and thought much; his sermons
were able expositions of the Gospel of Christ. His
last words were: “All is well.”

James Paynter, born in Sussex County, Delaware,
September 1, 1764; was converted in 1787; trav-
eled from 1798 till 1830; was supernumerary ten
years, and died at the house of Benjamin Lyon, on
March 2, 1840. He was plain and practical in his
preaching, and modest, affable and kind in his dispo-
sition, dying with words of holy triumph: “Iam not
afraid to die; I know in whom I have put my trust ;
my trust is in the blood and righteousness of Christ.”

YELVERTON PEYTON, a native of Stafford County,
Virginia, born 1797 ; converted in 1815, was admitted
Clerical Sketches. 435

on trial at the session of 1818. A sound preacher,
an untiring and devoted pastor, he travelled twelve
years, was superannuated in 1830, and died the fol-
lowing year, “happy in the Lord.”

JESSE PINNELL, of Culpeper County, Virginia ; born
October 27, 1783 ; died February 12, 1812 ; admitted
in 1805. It is said of him that he was a yourg man
of blameless and harmless character, whose record of
seven years in the work was approved. He died in
the faith, uttering at last the words “Happy!

happy !”

Wruiam H. Prrcuer, born in Anne Arundel
County, Maryland, November 25, 1824; died Decem-
ber 25, 1893. When a youth of sixteen he gave his
heart to God, and was admitted on trial in 1846.
Throughout his life he was of a delicate constitution,
which several times forced him into a supernumerary
relation and was finally superannuated in 1861. He
was a man of more than ordinary gifts, with fine
sensibilities, and preached sermons that always
brought sunshine into sad hearts. He had also
many seals to his ministry.

JoHN Prrrs, born in Anne Arundel County, Mary-
land, February 23, 1772; was converted at the age
of seventeen, and entered the travelling connection
in 1795. By reason of bodily infirmities, the result
of severe labors in the work of the ministry, he
alternated between the relations of location, super-
numerary and superannuation. A man plain in
person, manner and language, his attraction in the
pulpit was his love to God and for immortal souls.
Tenderness and pathos in the pulpit, meekness and
patience in the endurance of affliction, and success in
the promotion of great revivals, brought hundreds,
through his instrumentality, into fellowship with
Christ. He fell asleep in Jesus February 21, 1821.
436 Appendix A.

JOSEPH PLOTNER, born in Centre County, Pennsyl-
vania, in 1811, was converted in his twenty-fifth year,
was admitted on trial in 1835, and died in Baltimore,
April 15, 1847. He was a young man of more than
ordinary attainments. His close application to study,
it is thought, vitally impaired his health, but did not
prevent faithful and successful work. He bore his
last illness with christian firmness and submission,
calmly awaiting the approach of death.

JouN PorsaL, born in Martinsburg, Va., and admit-
ted in 1827, was for over half a century a familiar
name in three Conferences: Baltimore, New York
and Philadelphia. His main work was within the
bounds of the Baltimore Conference, and yet more
diversified than falls to the lot of Methodist itiner-
ants. He traveled on six circuits; was a Presiding
Elder in Pennsylvania and Maryland ; stationed in
prominent charges in New York city, Philadelphia
and Baltimore ; served three years as Agent of the
Bible Society ; was for a year Chaplain to Congress;
for several years was Editor and publisher of the
Baltimore Episcopal Methodist, and subsequently
Secretary to the Mayor of Baltimore. With an attrac-
tive personality, a suave and courteous address, he was
fluent and sometimes eloquent in the pulpit, wonder-
fully successful in revival meetings. He died in the
city of Baltimore in the seventy-sixth year of his
age and the fifty-fifth of his ministry. The closing
hours of his life were expressive of joyful hope and
calm confidence in his Lord.

James F. Porter, born in Danville, Pa., Septem-
ber 25, 1833; died on Jeansville Circuit, July 11,
1866; was converted in his sixteenth year, in the
Sunday School in Milton, Pa., and admitted in 1854.
While at York Springs during the Civil War, he
became chaplain in the United States Army, and in
that trying position won the esteem and confidence
Clerical Sketches. 437

of those he served. His work in the Conference
was always acceptable, often with marked success.
An unselfish man with a genial temper, amiable
qualities and a pleasing address, he was beloved by
all who knew him. His preaching was impressive,
evangelical and attractive. His social qualities and
warm christian sympathies fitted him peculiarly for
the pastorate. His zeal in promoting the success of
Sunday Schools grew out of his having himself
been converted through their instrumentality. Dis-
ease assailed him and quickly did its work. Dur-
ing his lucid intervals he spoke confidently of his
future home, and when dying sang in concert with
his friends, “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand.”

Wittiam Prerryman lived to the age of nearly
eighty-three. Born in Delaware in 1782, he was
converted during the great revivals at the beginning
of the last century ; entered the itinerancy in 1814
in the Philadelphia Conference, and was transferred
to the Baltimore Conference in 1819 by Bishop
George. He traveled thirty-six years on circuits,
was thirteen years stationed in Baltimore and
was Presiding Elder four years on the Northumber-
land District, making an aggregate of fifty-three
years in the effective service. He was a man of
vigorous constitution, and had, through all the years
of his active life, been singularly free from physical
suffering. Though released from the regular work at
the age of seventy-five, he did not allow his sword
to rust, but preached extensively, and at times with
the energy and power of his best days. He was a
man of vigorous intellect and well-balanced faculties.
His knowledge and ready command of Scripture
gave to his ministry a rare power, while his kindly
nature and cheerful piety made him ever a welcome
guest in the homes of his people. Two of his sons
became ministers, and his grandson is at this time a
438 Appendia A.

prominent preacher in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. The day before his death he was
walking the streets of Milford, Delaware ; the next
day he “ was not, for God took him.”

SamMvuEL W. Pricz, born in Mifflin County, Penn-
sylvania, December 19, 1833; died January 8, 1866;
was converted at the age of seventeen, and admitted
in 1853. He was universally popular, useful and
faithful. With a limited education, he applied him-
self with zeal and diligence to those studies best cal-
culated to promote ministerial usefulness. Original,
independent and self-reliant, he , expressed his
thoughts in a systematic way. In his pastorate he
won his way among the people by his considerate
kindness and his love of children. His illness
was brief, as was his itinerant work, but the end was
glorious, full of song and triumph.

Micuart L. Pues, born in Montgomery County,
Maryland, February 23, 1818; died July 18, 1854;
converted in 1839 at a camp-meeting on Rockville
Circuit and admitted in 1845. He was made super-
numerary, by reason of failing health, in 1850—a
man of one work, zealous and active; in the pulpit
evangelical and impressive; grave and serious in
manner and successful in winning souls. ‘Tell my
brethren,” was his last message to his Conference
comrades, “that the faith I professed in life and
preached to others sustains me in death.”

Netson REED, born in Anne Arundel County, Mary-
land, November 27, 1751; died October 20, 1840, at
his residence near Baltimore. His name as an itine-
rant preacher first appears on the records of the
Church in 1779, though it is stated that he com-
menced his public ministry in the summer of 1765.
After forty-five years of effective service he took a
superannuated relation, and at the time of his decease
Clerical Sketches. 439

was the oldest Methodist preacher in Europe or
America. In all the varied relations which he sus-
tained to the Church and the world he evinced a
firmness of purpose, an integrity of character and a
fervency of zea] that gave to his life a power for
good which was felt in society and recognized in the
Church. He was venerated and loved by his brethren,
who always welcomed his coming at the Conference
sessions. When at last, “in age and feebleness
extreme,” the summons came for his departure, the
last intelligible accents on his faltering tongue were :
“My dependence is not on my own works, it is on
the Rock, Christ Jesus crucified.”

AguiLLa A. REEsE, born in Baltimore, Md., Decem-
ber 20, 1812 ; fell on sleep March 7, 1878 ; was con-
verted at the age of fifteen ; joined the Church in the
City Station, and admitted in 1833; was super-
numerary for one year (1837), and was in the regular
work till 1862, when he was appointed by the Secre-
tary of War chaplain in the United States Army,
and was ordered on duty at Fort McHenry. He
served afterwards at several points on the frontier,
and, retiring from active service in 1877, returned to
his native city, where he taxed his feeble strength in
continuing to preach the Gospel. He was an earnest,
zealous and successfnl minister of the Gospel. His
end was peace.

Pair B. Rerss, born at Swan Creek, Harford
County, Maryland, September 30, 1811. Converted
at the age of nine, he never doubted his acceptance,
and gave himself with joy to the work of the minis-
try, in 1839, and served with eminent success, and
without intermission, in prominent stations and cir-
cuits, and on humblest fields, without murmur and
with no abatement of zeal and earnestness. On the
morning of February 7, 1880, he was in his study
until 9 A. M., closeted with God, was taken ill short-
440 Appendix A.

ly after, and within three hours “was not, for God
took him.” His character was without blemish, and
his work was approved.

Tuomas M. Rezsg, born in Baltimore, July 18, 1820 ;
died in Altoona, Pa., March 27, 1882 ; was converted
in his fifteenth year. Forty years-in the itinerant
active service, from 1842, he was a power in the pulpit,
many of his sermons being masterpieces of argument
and oratory. He filled important stations in Balti-
more and Washington, and in Maryland and Penn-
sylvania, and was twice Presiding Elder in the latter
State. He was highly esteemed for his personal and
social qualities, as well as for his fidelity and success
in his ministry. His last words were: “I have no
fear.”

SamvEL RecEstTER, born in Queen Anne’s County,
Maryland, April 25, 1818, died October 17, 1881, in
Prince George’s County, Maryland ; was converted at
a camp-meeting (1837) near Baltimore, and admitted
in 1840. After traveling years on circuits, most of
which involved severe toil, he was stationed in Balti-
more and Washington, served Rockville Circuit, and
in 1860 was made Presiding Elder of Roanoke Dis-
trict. He became a prominent figure in the famous
Conference at Staunton, 1861, and also at Alexandria,
Va., when the majority of the Conference adhered to
the M. E. Church, South, and when he was appointed
to the Baltimore District. In the summer of 1869 he
was elected to the Presidency of the Maryland Agri-
cultural College, which he filled with honor to him-
self and marked advantage to the institution. In
1873 he resigned ; and, serving temporarily at Moore-
field, W. Va., was successively appointed to the Win-
chester, Washington and East Baltimore Districts, in
which later work he closed his labor and his life.
He was recognized as a man of great native strength.
of intellect, which he cultivated by habits of thought
Clerical Sketches. 441

and reading. Catholic in spirit, his heart went ont
in generous sympathy to all christians. His honest
convictions impelled him to separate himself from
those with whom he had long been united in christian
fellowship, yet the severance produced no rupture of
brotherly love. In the pulpit he was pre-eminent,
earnest, eloquent and at times overpowering. Such
was his sense of the dignity of the sacred office that
he never compromised it by irreverence of manner
or speech. His presence was imposing. The mas-
sive frame, the fine arch of the forehead, the deep
set eyes, the overhanging brow, bespoke no ordinary
man. He was four times elected to the General
Conference, prominent in the councils of the Church,
and in the administration of her affairs. In manners
he combined a graceful dignity with gentleness and
sweetness. With all the grandeur of his character
he had the simplicity of a child. His estimate of
himself was far below that held of him by others.
His last illness was comparatively brief, involving
great suffering, but he passed through the ordeal
with resignation and, at the last, with the brightest
utterances of joyful hope and rapturous visions of
heavenly scenes.

CuarLes A. Rem, born in Rockbridge County,
Virginia, February 21, 1820; died in Westminster,
Md., March 2, 1890. He was reared as a Presby-
terian, became a Methodist in 1839. Heand William
Taylor afterwards Bishop in Africa, were intimate
friends, entering the Conference in 1843 together.
He filled some of the best churches in the Con-
ferference, and was a successful preacher and
pastor. He rigidly enforced the discipline in the
case of those who were loose in their habits. He
was leyal to Methodist usages and allowed no dis-
turber of the peace of Zion to remain in her fold.
He was a man of pure and unspotted life. He died
442 Appendia A.

suddenly on the Sunday on which was to be observed
the fifty-first anniversary of his second birth. As
his friends were on their way to the church militant,
this veteran entered the celestial city and joined the
hosts triumphant.

James Rem heads the list of those admitted on
trial in 1804; he was a native of Annapolis, Md. ;
born January 12, 1780; converted at the age of
twenty ; entered the itinerancy four years later, and
served the Church faithfully forty-four years. He
was endowed with a gifted intellect, a voice of un-
common sweetness and compass, and an action and
utterance highly dignified and graceful. His elo-
quent and impressive sermons lived long in the
hearts of his hearers. His last words, June 16,
1850, were: “I die in great peace with God and
men. God is with me and lights up the gloomy
pathway.”

J. McKenprez Remy, born March 8, 1817, at
Broad Top Mountain, Bedford County, Pa.; died
June 2, 1897, in Baltimore, Md. He was the son of
Rev. James Reiley. Under the care of pious parents
he early found the Saviour. He had limited educa-
tional advantages, but fully improved all his oppor-
tunities. He taught school from 1835 to 1844. In
1839 he opened a school of academic grade at Charles
Town, Jefferson County, Va. He never had a clear
or definite religious experience until August 31, 1839,
when he was visiting at Middleway, and heard a ser-
mon that powerfully convicted him. He went to
William Grantham and told him he was miserable
and wanted to go home with him. Brother Grantham
said, “Come on, James.” He took young Reiley
into his bedroom, knelt down and prayed for him and
Reiley was powerfully converted. The Divine call
came: ‘Go work in my vineyard.”” In September,
1840, he was licensed to preach. His father died
Clerical Sketches. 443

September 28, 1841. Young Reiley was appointed
to supply his father’s work in St. Mary’s Circuit.
He returned to Virginia in the spring of 1842, and
resumed his school work until 1844, when he was
admitted into the Conference. He was a scholarly
preacher ; and, when a Presiding Elder, was always
considered a good disciplinarian. He was elected to
the General Conference several times. It was he
who secured the necessary legislation to organize the
Colored Conferences into separate organizations. He
was twice transferred from the Baltimore Conference,
but returned to his first Conference, and was super-
annuated in 1896. His last hours were blessed : “I
leave all the crosses below;” “I am going to
Heaven;” “Allis well;” “With God I am safe.”
On the morning of his death he called for water ; and
finding he could not swallow, he said: “God will
give me water.’’ His Christian physician said: “He
will give you living water.” “Yes,” was Dr. Reiley’s
reply, ‘living water and full satisfaction.” Thus
ended a life rich in years and noble service.

James Retey, born in Somerset, Pa., 1784; was
converted in 1804, admitted in 1807, and was
effective (with the exception of two years) until 1841,
the date of his death. He possessed a clear and
discriminating mind ; was plain, forcible and practi-
cal, frequently eloquent.

Toptas RerLey, a Pennsylvanian, born 1789, lived
fifty-five years, and served thirty-two years in the
effective ranks from 1810. His intellect was above
the ordinary grade. He was a sound theologian.
His preaching was powerful, often eloquent, and
many souls were given as seals to his ministry.
With much comfort and great triumph he met the
final hour, April 9, 1843.

Puaiip Rescort, born in Cornwall, England, in
1801; died in Waynesboro, Pa., August 22, 1862;
444 Appendix A.

was converted in 1819, emigrated to this country in
1829, and_settled in Powhattan Valley, Maryland,
making himself useful as a local preacher. He was
received into the Baltimore Conference in 1832,
traveled in the three States included in its territory,
and was superannuated in 1861. He was a Chris-
tian gentleman and an agreeable companion, a good,
substantial Wesleyan preacher, faithful as a pastor,
eminently practical, and beloved by his people. The
close of his life was marked by holy triumph.

CaLEB REYNOLDS, born in Anne Arundel County,
Maryland, 1785, was converted in 1802, entered the
travelling ministry in the Baltimore Conference, in
1805, and was laborious and successful in winning
souls to Christ during the twenty years of unbroken
service. He died in triumph at the parsonage on
Montgomery Circuit, Maryland, October 7, 1827.

JoHN Ruopgs, born in Northampton County, Pa.,
September 17, 1783, died in Milton, Pa., January
18, 1848. Soon after his admission into the Balti-
more Conference in 1808, he was transferred to the
Philadelphia and later to the Genesee Conference,
extending his labors into Northern Canada. Re-
turning to the Baltimore Conference in 1810, he
traveled till 1841, boldly and conscientiously dis-
charging his duties as a preacher. He died in full
and triumphant hope of immortal life.

JoHN Ricr, born in Gosport, England, was con-
verted at Bath in his sixteenth year. In 1829 he was
sent as a teacher to one of the West India Missions.
He returned to England and engaged for a time as a
lecturer in promoting the cause of Protestant Reform.
Came to the United States in 1837, spent three years
in the New York and New England Conferences, was
transferred to the Baltimore Conference in 1840, and
died in Baltimore city, 1841. He was eloquent,
laborious and successful as a preacher.
Clerical Sketches. 445

JoHN W. RICHARDSON, a native of Calvert County,
Maryland, September 4, 1810; died March 18, 1850 ;
was converted in his eighteenth year and admittde
in 1833. In all his various relations to the church
he discharged his duty with fidelity. His meekness
of spirit and dignity of deportment commanded
reverence and admiration. Perspicuity of arrange-
ment, simplicity of thought and transparency of
style, marked his discourses ; he was greatly blessed
in his work. The decline of his health forced him,
a few years before his death, to take a supernumerary
relation. A short time prior to his decease, he testi-
fied that his mind was in perfect peace, undimmed
by a doubt, and his hope of heaven unsullied by a
cloud.

Francois H. Ricnry, born in York Couvty, Penn-
sylvania, August 26, 1817; died February 21, 1891,
in Woodstock, Va.; was converted at the age of
seventeen; served in the Baltimore M. E. Church
from 1843 till 1861; joined with his brethren at
Alexandria in adherence to the Church, South, till
1881, and retiring from the active work, resided in
Woodstock till his death. He was supernumerary
three years (1873-6), teaching in Woodstock. A man
of remarkable presence, with a strong mind, well
balanced, forcible in the pulpit, wise and prudent in
administration, he left his impress on the Church for
good in his day, and the memory of his excellencies
of character and disposition abides. His confidence
as he was passing away was expressed in quoting:
“ For I know that if my earthly house of this taber-—
nacle were dissolved, J have a building of God, a
house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.”’

Fintey B. Riwp1e, born in Howard, Center County,
Pennsylvania, December 23, 1829 ; died in Blooms-
burg, March 24, 1902; was converted in 1850; edu-
cated at Dickinson College, and graduated at Con-
446 Appendix A.

cord Biblical Institute, N. H. He was admitted in
1857. His was an unusually active and fruitful life,
embracing a period, on seventeen Conference fields,
of forty-two years. Revivals of far-reaching influ-
ence, with large results, church building and improve-
ments, marked his capable and earnest labors. He
was an heroic, sincere, uncompromising, plain and
faithful expositor of the Word, a courageous reformer,
pure in character, lofty in his views and complete in
his devotion to the cause of truth and righteousness.
“Tell them,” was his farewell message to his brethren,
of the Conference, “that I have a good hope of
eternal life.”’

Joun V. Riapon, born in Georgetown, D. C.,
1810; was converted in his sixteenth year in Fred-
erick City, Md. He began his itinerant career in
1829 on Great Falls Circuit as assistant preacher.
During fourteen years of active service his ministra-
tions evinced endowments of no ordinary character,
and, in their matured development distinguished him
as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. His
health failing December, 1843, he lingered till Janu-
ary 31, 1844, and fell asleep in Jesus.

SamuEL Ropesrs, born in Baltimore, Md., July 29,
1825; died November 1,1894, in the same city; was
converted during a wonderful revival in Exeter Street
Church, Baltimore, 1840, at the age of 15. His first
act afterward was to purchase a hymn book, Disci-
pline and the life of Hester Ann Rogers. Reared in
a Presbyterian family, he added to his former dili-
gent study of the Word of God, the perusal of the
biographies of Fletcher, Carvosso and others. Thus
prepared he entered, in 1848, upon the regular work
of the ministry, in which he became distinguished
as preacher, pastor, presiding elder, and, toward the
close of his life, a most capable editor of the Confer-
ence Organ, the Episcopal Methodist. In the Gen-
Clerical Sketches. 447

eral Conference of the Church, South, sent first in
1870, he served six times successively. Driven
from Fredericksburg, Va., 1862, by the awful bom-
bardment and the ruin which followed, he found
refuge in the mountains of West Virginia, and then
served for a year, as chaplain in the 22d Virginia
Infantry, those whose sufferings and privations were
keenest at the supreme hour of disaster and defeat.
When stationed in Lexington, Va., 1868, it was his
privilege to become the personal friend of General
Robert E. Lee, whose esteem and affection continued
until death separated them. At this time Wash-
ington and Lee University conferred on him the
degree of Doctor of Divinity. If true preaching
consists in the clear exposition of the Word of God;
if the best type of a pastor is found in one who can,
with accurate judgment and deepest sympathy, min-
ister consolation to the penitent, the sick, the dying
and the bereaved; if conscientious devotion to duty
is the highest quality of service, whether in the chief
councils of the Church, or in the humblest place of
work; if wise and gentle administration at home or
in the Church; if ready and generous response to
the call of distress or the needs of the Church—in a
word, if the whole course of a life marked by the
steadfast glow of the light of Christ be the require-
ment of Christianity, has it not been met by Samuel
Rodgers? Is it to be wondered at that, toward the
last, the unvarying testimony should be: “Not great
joy, but peace?”

JosepH A. Ross, born at McVeytown, Pa., July 4,
1816; died February 6, 1888, was converted at a
camp-meeting at the age of 21 and admitted 1839.
His ministry was specially marked as evangelistic.
He won many to Christ. He was brave, thoroughly
original, with a slight touch of eccentricity. His
power of persuasion was great and due chiefly to
448 Appendia A.

his wonderful knowledge of human nature. His
sermons were not distinguished so much for depth of
thought or strength of reasoning as for their pun-
gency and power as a proclamation of gospel truth,
as a vivid presentation of the motives that prevail
over the will and influence men to act. His force
was in his fervor, an appeal less to the bead than to
the heart. He went to sleep quietly on the night of
February 5, and was found the next morning sleep-
ing the sleep of death with a smile on his face and
his eyes gently closed.

8. SamuEL RoszeL, born in Philadelphia during the
stay there of his father, Rev. S. G. Roszel, October
20, 1812; died in Fauquier County, Virginia, April
27, 1882; was converted at a camp-meeting in Lou-
doun County, Virginia, and graduated at Augusta
College, Kentucky, in which the eloquent Dr. Bascom
was professor. When Dickinson College was placed
under the joint supervision of the Baltimore and
Philadelphia Conferences, he was selected as one of
the instructors, but yielded to the higher call to the
ministry, was admitted in 1838, and was appointed
to important and responsible fields on circuits, in
stations, and was Presiding Elder of the East Bal-
timore District. He resembled his distinguished
father, not only in the vigor of his intellect, fearless
avowal of the truth, and the wonderful power of his
preaching, but also in his commanding figure. His
ta]], well-knit frame, his majestic head and hand-
some features, his well-modulated voice, engaging
manner and felicity of expression, attracted multi-
tudes in city churches and on camp-ground. - At
Staunton, Va., 1861, when the Conference was
brought to the most critical and exciting period in
its history, Roszel stood by the action of the majority,
and in 1866, adhered with that majority to the M. E.
Church, South, doing good service, as long as his
 

S. SAMUEL ROSZEL
Clerical Sketches. 449

health would permit, in the various prominent fields
of labor, assigned him. Robust and healthy as
Samuel Roszel appeared to be, he suffered for years
with a constitutional malady that baffled the skill of
physicians and seriously interrupted his regular
work. Randolph-Macon College and other institu-
tions conferred on him the degree of Doctor of
Divinity. He was five times elected to the General
Conference. As death drew near, home was the word
oftenest on his lips. ‘Iam due at home,” and he
added, “just to think, such a poor worm of earth
shall see the King in his beauty. I have no fear, all
is calm ;

Not a cloud doth arise to darken my skies

Nor hide for one moment the Lord from mine eyes.”

Then with much emphasis he added :

‘‘This I do find we two are so joined
He will not live in glory and leave me behind.”

STEPHEN AsBuRY RoszeEL, born in Georgetown, D.
C., February 18, 1811; died in Alexandria, Febru-
ary 20, 1852; son of the great pioneer leader, S. G.
Roszel ; was converted in his sixteenth year in Mid-
dleburg, Va. Well educated and thoroughly equipped
both in mind and soul, he soon closed his law office,
and chose the higher calling of the ministry ; becom-
ing fully convinced while teaching in Dickinson
College, that the call was divine. He entered the
regular work of the ministry in 1838 and for four-
teen years gave full proof of his calling. He was
elected reporter for the General Conference of 1840,
his published synopsis of debates indicating his fit-
ness for that work. Subsequently he was (1848)
elected a delegate to that body, which met in Pitts-
burg, Pa. In the puipit he was gifted as men rarely
are. Reason, imagination and eloquence poured
with the force of a rapid torrent, carrying with it the

29 :
450 _ Appendix A.

minds and hearts of his hearers. In the strength of
his manhoood he suddenly fell. On Sunday, Febru-
ary 8, 1852, he preached to a densely crowded
audience at Fairfax, C. H., sixteen miles from his
evening appointment. The day was cold and he was
in an open buggy. His sermon on that evening was
his last. A few days after, pneumonia did its work.
His last words were: “O that I had wings like a
dove, for then I would fly away and be at rest.”

STEPHEN GrorGE Roszez, born in Loudoun County,
Virginia, April 8, 1770, was converted at the age of
sixteen. Starting from Loudoun, his native county
1789, under the immediate direction of Asbury, he
discovered wonderful physical and mental endow-
ments. For five years he traveled, from the lowest
point on the Chesapeake to the summit of the Alle-
ghenies. Being the oldest son, and the main depend-
ence of a large family, he was called by a sense of
duty into retirement from the effective ranks for twelve
years, but not from incessant labors in and near his
native county. Because of his readiness for a tilt with
the opponents of Methodist doctrines and usages, many .
were the blows given and taken in ardent controversy,
and many were the stories of his mental and muscu-
lar prowess that are still told by the older people.
Thus trained and exercised, he re-entered the travel-
ing connection in 1807, to take at once his place
among the very foremost of the staunch defenders
of Methodist doctrine and polity. Fearless and
tirm, he preached with unction and power. Disturbers
of the peace fled at the very sound of his voice.
He was a member of the first and of every succeding
delegated General Conference until his death, and
filled many responsible and important appointments.
With the harness of the Christian warrior clad, and
with sword in hand, he fell at his post on the Hills-
boro Circuit, in the town of Leesburg, Va., May 14,
Clerical Sketches. 451

1841. When the hour of departure arrived, his
speech but not his reason having failed, when one
of his sons asked him as to his prospect of entering
into rest, he raised his hand, gave the sign and
passed to the bosom of his God. Two of his sons,
Stephen Asbury and Stephen Samuel, entered the
ministry of the Baltimore Conference three years
before their father’s death, the former dying in his
prime, after a brief but glorious career, and the latter
living forty-four years to bless the Church with his
eloquence in the pulpit and his brethren with his
happy and genial temper.

JosEPH Y. RoTurRocg, born at Shrewsbury, Pa., in
1823 ; died at Forksville, Pa., November 11, 1894;
was converted at twenty-five, and admitted in 1852.
An earnest, tender preacher of the Gospel, he was
successful in edifying the Church and winning sinners
to Christ. He was especially gifted in prayer and
song, helpful in counsel and consolation. His last
months were spent in severe affliction, but amid it
all he was cheerful, hopeful, happy. In his closing
hours, in delirium, he frequently sang, prayed and
exhorted as if in a revival service.

JosEPH Rowan, born in Dorchester County, Md.,
January 19, 1770; was converted in 1787 ; admitted
into the traveling connection in 1792, and died in
Washington, May 31, 1838. His work was in the
Philadelphia and Baltimore Conferences, and was
attended with success. His abilities were above
mediocrity. Very many were brought into the Church
through his instrumentality. His preaching was
marked by intelligence, zeal and animation.

Wim M. D. Ryan, born in Western Virginia,
April 14, 1811, died January 4, 1872 ; was converted
at a camp-meeting when about twenty-eight years old,
and in an hour after his conversion began to preach
452 Appendix A.

Christ. He was admitted into the Ohio Conference
in 1839. He served four years within the bounds of
that Conference ; was then transferred to Illinois,
and was stationed in Chicago and in Milwaukee. He
was next, in 1847, sent to East Baltimore, and later
to Columbia Street Station; spent four years at St.
George’s and Union Churches in Philadelphia, then
back to Baltimore in 1856, and appointed Agent for
the Metropolitan Church in Washington. Again
sent to Chicago in 1857-8, serving Wabash Avenue
Church ; back again to Washington City, spending
seven years from 1859 in stations in that city, then
four years in Baltimore. He was transferred in 1870
to the Central Pennsylvania Conference, and wound
up his varied and wonderful career as a Methodist
itinerant, while engaged in the work of erecting a
magnificent church in York. In all his charges he
left enduring monuments of his indefatigable work.
During his ministry of thirty-one years, about five
thousand souls were gathered into the fold of the
Great Shepherd. The author heard him at Columbia
Street, Baltimore, in 1850. One thousand penitents
crowded, at different times, the altar during the pro-
tracted services. Though he was deficient in literary
attainments, often doing violence to his mother
tongue, his native eloquence rushed with overwhelm-
ing force, and attended by divine unction, proved
irresistible. ‘ His place,” writes his biographer, ‘in
the history of the Church of his choice is that of a
successful evangelist and an ardent revivalist and an
untiring church builder.”

JAMES SaNKs, born in Anne Arundel County, Mary-
land, June 12, 1806; died 1862; converted at the
age of eighteen, and admitted on trial in 1828.
He fell into the East Baltimore Conference at the
time of the division in 1858, and spent the last four
years of his ministry and of his life on the Bellefont.
 

THOMAS B. SARGENT
(1872)
Clerical Sketches. 453

District. He was highly esteemed as a preacher and
was an excellent administrator. His last illness was
of short duration. Shortly before his death he said
to his daughter, “I know not how this will result,

but put your trust in God.” He left behind him
many seals to his ministry.

Tuomas B. Sarcent, the son of Rev. Thomas F.
Sargent, a friend of Bishop Asbury, was born in
East Baltimore, March, 1805; died October 13,
1879 ; was educated at the University of Pennsylva-
nia, spent a year in a law office, and began his min-
istry in 1825, at the age of eighteen. He was, in
many respects, a remarkable man. His handsome
figure, genial smile, musical voice and courtly man-
ners never failed to attract attention and win admir-
ation. At the very outset of his career he charmed
the General Conference by his eloquent preaching.
John Summerfield was his contemporary and by
some regarded as hardly his superior. He was his
intimate friend. Bishop Soule had him chosen as
his traveling companion in England in 1842, where
he made a fine impression on the British Wesleyan
Conference. It is not surprising that the General
Conference of 1844 should elect him Secretary, nor
that he should have been placed on the famous com-
mittee of nine that drew the plan of separation. His
wide acquaintance with men and books, his extensive
travels, his fluency and felicity of expression, joined
with an accurate memory, made him the centre and
charm of the social circle. Besides his thorough
committal to the doctrines of Wesley, Fletcher and
Watson, no one was better acquainted with Methodist
hymnology. He could repeat Charles Wesley’s
hymns with peculiar force, and his quotations from
scripture were always apposite and finely expressed.
His pulpit power never declined. A scene at the
Warrenton Conference in 1872 will never be forgot-
454 _ Appendix A.

ton by those who witnessed it. His increasing in-
firmities had made it necessary for him to be placed
on the retired list. In all meekness he acquiesced,
and, at the request of his Presiding Elder, W. H.
Wheelwright, made the application himself. That
crisis, in an itinerant preacher’s life, is always affect-
ing. It was never more so than on this occasion.
Said he, “these eyes have looked on every Bishop
in the two branches of Methodism. When a little
child in my father’s home, Bishop Asbury held me
on his knee and pronounced his blessing on me.”
In a few simple, touching words he reviewed his life
and work as a Methodist preacher. The venerable
Bishop Paine was deeply moved. Every eye was
moist and every heart was thrilled. But Dr. Sargent
could not retire from the field, where for so long a-
period he had delighted, cheered and blessed those
who sat under his ministry. For several years the
pulpit was still his throne of power. The area of
his preaching expanded, and as long as he could
travel, and in every part of the country and even in
Canada, he “ceased not to preach Jesus Christ.”
Like his father, who died in the pulpit in Cincinnati,
he was, early in the morning of the thirteenth of
October, 1879, suddenly translated from earth to
heaven. He began his ministry in the Philadelphia
Conference, was trasferred to the Baltimore Confer-
ence in 1829, and fell into line with the majority in
in 1866 at Alexandria, Va.

SaMvEL W. Szars, born in Baltimore, Md., February
27, 1834 ; died in Philadelphia, June 10, 1896. He
gave forty-one years (from 1855) to the gospel min-
istry and though twice compelled by impaired health
to turn aside for a short while, he was abundant in
labors. His sermons were original, ornate, thought-
ful; luminous with illustrations, spiritual and de-
livered with fervor. Revivals attended his ministry ;
Clerical Sketches. 455

he excelled as a pastor; by his skill in organization
and leadership he brought success to seemingly
hopeless enterprises. At the session of 1896, he took
a supernumerary relation and removed to Philadel-
phia for medical treatment; disease had, however,
too far advanced, and after intense suffering, but
with a triumphant shout, “All right!” he sweetly
fell on sleep.

THOMAS SEWALL, JR., son of an eminent physician,
who was a profound and exact enquirer, an accom-
plished writer, and distinguished for a pure christian
life, was born in the town of Essex, Massachusetts.
April 28, 1818, and received his education at the
Wesleyan Academy, (Wilbraham ;) Phillips Academy,
(Andover,) and the Wesleyan Seminary, Readfield,
Maine. Soon after his conversion, when a college stu-
dent the call to the ministry came. He entered the
Baltimore Conference in 1838. In 1841 his health
failed and he received a supernumerary relation, and
spent a year traveling in Europe and the far Hast.
He returned to the work of the ministry, was located
in 1848, re-admitted in 1849, became superannuated
and was in Government employ till 1853, when he
resumed pastoral work. In 1864 he received Doctor’s
degree from Dickinson College. He was a delegate
to the General Conference of 1860, and transferred
to the New York East Conference in 1866; in 1869
was re-transferred to the Baltimore Conference,
placed on the supernumerary list, and was in the
Custom House till his last illness. Scholarly and
refined, he had genius, witand humor. An orator of
high order, with a melodious voice, regal diction and
faultless action, he was handicapped by feeble health.
He died in the faith in 1870.

James SEWELL, born in Kent County, Maryland,
May 19, 1791; reared in Baltimore under Presby-
terian influences ; was converted at old Wilkes Street
456 Appendic A.

Church, under the preaching of Asa Shinn, and
entered the Conference two years later (1814). His
active ministry, running through a period of forty-
six years, was marked by varied appointments, both
in his own Conference and in distant fields. He filled
acceptably stations in Charleston, South Carolina,
Savannah and Augusta, Georgia, Brooklyn, N. Y.,
Philadelphia and St. Louis. Quaint and witty as he
always was, the eminently spiritual character of his
preaching, his intense zeal for God, his wonderfully
clear exposition of the Scriptures, accompanied by
frequent sallies of humor, completely swayed the
emotions of his listeners, alternately with smiles and
tears, all chastened by the graces of simplicity, sin-
cerity and faith in God. He drew large audiences
and won many to Christ. When, at the close of a
singularly successful ministry, age and illness had
made a wreck of both mind and body, so that he
could not recognize the youth he had loved and
helped amid perplexing doubts as to the call to the
ministry, one name was never to the last forgotten :
“O yes! I know Jesus.”

SAMUEL SHaNNon, born at Muncy, Pa., August 1,
1830; died in Washington, December 27, 1896; con-
verted in 1849, and admitted in 1856. His minis-
try was characterized by great fidelity to every obli-
gation. He filled acceptably some of the more prom-
ineut pulpits. Several churches of which he was
the pastor, were blessed with gracious revivals. He
lives in the memory of those who knew him. He
was more than an average preacher.

Jacop R. SHEPHERD, admitted in 1821, served the
Church in the active relation nine years, and was
retired for sixteen years. A native of Halifax, Pa.,
he died in Loudoun County, Virginia at the age of
fifty-eight. ‘Great zeal and fidelity marks his record
in the itinerancy. As his strength permitted subse-
Clerical Sketches. 457

quently, he ‘“ went about doing good.” Two others
of this class, passing from active service into the
local ranks, were prominent figures both in their
itinerant and local relations : Charles A. Davis, for
twenty-one years in the regular work was appointed
chaplain in the United States Navy, and French 8.
Evans, for nine years in leading appointments, and
for many years afterwards a successful factor in
Methodism in Washington City.

THomas SHERLOCK, born in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb-
ruary 28, 1826, converted at the age of twelve, grad-
uated at Dickinson College 1852, and was admitted
on trial in 1853; his work on eighteen charges was
fruitful of success. The testimony borne by those
who knew him was: “ He was a very fine specimen
of a christian gentleman, straightforward and honest
as the light.” Walking one day on the beach a
short distance from Ocean Grove, he was suddenly
summoned to his heavenly home, August 25, 1885.

Davip SHoarr, born in Juniata County, Pennsyl-
vania, July 17, 1823 ; died May 26, 1871; was con-
verted at the age of 21, and entered the traveling
connection in 1848. He served two years under the
Presiding Elder, became connected with the East
Baltimore Conference atthe time of the division in
1858, and in 1866 met with and joined the M. E.
Church, South at the Conference session in Alexan-
dria, Va. His work in the two Baltimore Conferences
covered an unbroken period of eighteen years, at the
end of which he passed, in the midst of his glorious
ministry and in the vigor of his prime, from labors
incessant to eternal reward and rest. He was an
effective preacher and excellent pastor. Wherever
he went, revivals followed. His amiable qualities,
his genuine piety, devotional spirit and blameless
christian life, commanded the confidence and won the
love of his people. ‘All is well; I will soon be in
458 Appendix A.

heaven ; all right,” were the last whispers that fell
on the ears of his stricken wife and anxious friends.

Westey M. SHowatrer, born in Clearfield County,
Pennsylvania, February 24, 1831; died at Salona,
Clinton County, Pa., November 27, 1865, converted at
ten years of age and admitted in 1855. As a Chris-
tian, he was frank, conscientious and devoted ; as a
preacher, discriminating and direct. He had a voice
of singular sweetness and power. Many were the
seals to his ministry. He wrought well, with
acceptability and success. At the end, his faith was
unwavering. “I trust in the Lord Jehovah in whom
is everlasting strength.”

Henry N. Sires, born in Fulton County, Pennsyl-
vania, 1833; converted in early youth ; was admitted
on trial in 1854, and died June 20, 1865. He pos-
sessed a vigorous and well stored mind, untiring
industry and unflinching courage. He was well in-
structed in systematic theology and in the peculiar
doctrines of Methodism. Large numbers were added
to the Church under his ministry. His labor at East
Washington Station hastened his end. He fell at
his post, full of faith and complete in the peace of
the Lord Jesus Christ.

Puimir 8. E. Srxzas, born in St. Thomas, Pa., in
1832; died in New Castle, Va., December 23, 1904 ;
was converted in early life, and admitted in 1856.
His active work in the Conference extended over a
period of fourteen years, when failing health made
it necessary for him to retire. He resumed his active
relation in 1891 and worked acceptably in the
Church, South, for five years. His feeble health
again constrained him to take a superannuated
relation, which he held to the close of his life.
Though hindered by a delicate constitution, he was
faithful in serving large and mountainous circuits,
Clerical Sketches. 459

meeting with success in winning souls to Christ and
faithful in the discharge of his duties in both the
pulpit and the pastorate.

Henry SLICER, was born in Annapolis, Md., March
27, 1801 ; died April 23,1874. A humble mechanic
in Baltimore, Md., he was converted in his sixteenth
_ year at Exeter Street under the preaching of Rev.
Gerard Morgan. In his twentieth year he began the
work of an itinerant preacher under Rev. 8. G. Roszel
in 1822. It was a stirring period during his earlier
years ; his training was in the midst of heated con-
troversy. The so called ‘“ Reformers” were inflict-
ing their heaviest blows. In the thick of the fight
he learned to practice skilfully the arts of attack and
defense. His experience served him well. In the
Northern Neck of Virginia he graduated in polemics
among that aggressive body of the Church mili-
tant, named Baptists. Voice and pen here reached
their highest point of effectiveness. Methodism, to
this day, holds its own in that section, mainly
through the wonderful victories this valiant soldier
won there seventy years ago. His appointment in
Washington City gave him acquaintance with public
men. For seven successive sessions he was chaplain
to Congress. There his natural powers found ample
exercise and full development. In personal appear-
ance, his well knit frame, his Carvosso-like features,
his strong and peculiarly penetrating voice, his
emphatic rather than graceful gestures, his abrupt
style, his earnest, hortatory speech revealed a man
of power. He was a member of eight General Con-
ferences. In all these, with the exception perhaps
of the first, he was conspicuous and influential. The
last two years of his life was a period of severe suf-
fering. When the end came, it was like him to say,
“T am willing to preach no more if need be. I have
perhaps preached long enough. My trust is only in
460 Appendix A.

the Mediator.” For a period of fifty-two years he
had been in the active service of the church, recog-
nized as one of its greatest leaders.

Amos SmirH, born in Frederick, County, Va.,
April 30, 1795; died June 20, 1868; was converted
at camp-meeting near Winchester, Va., 1811; served
as a soldier in the war of 1812, and took part in the
defence of Baltimore during the bombardment of
Fort McHenry. Admitted -on trial, 1820, he was
sent to Greenbrier Circuit, then embracing a large
extent of territory. He also traveled on large cir-
cuits in Pennsylvania. He was located in 1836, and
removed to Lancaster, Ohio, remained one year, re-
turned and was re-admitted into the Baltimore Con-
ference. He was Presiding Elder of Chambersburg
District two years and filled Fayette Street Station
in Baltimore and successive circuits with remarkable
revivals in Maryland, and during the closing years
of his life on charges in Pennsylvania. Super-
anuuated in 1863, he ceased not to labor, preaching
often two and three times from Sabbath to Sabbath.
A violent attack of rheumatism disabled him for one
year. On the evening before bis departure he said:
“T think I shall go home tonight.”” On the morning
of January 20, 1868, while sitting in his chair, he
fell asleep in Christ.

Bennetr H. Smirg, born in Mecklenburg County,
Virginia, January 10, 1824; died in Baltimore,
December 28, 1902. arly in life he entered the
Church of his choice, and in 1851 the ministry.
He served some of the hardest fields of labor with
zeal and fidelity. He became supernumerary in 1870,
and was superannuated in 1889.

Henry{Smira was born near Frederick City, Md.,
April 23, 1769. His parents were from Germany
and were members of the Reformed Church, in which
he was dedicated to God in his infancy by baptism.
Clerical Sketches. 461

When Henry was four years old his father purchased
land at the head of Long Marsh twelve miles east of
Winchester, Va., where he soon settled. Being a
man of sober habits and of great industry as well as
economy, he acquired sufficient means to place his
family in comfortable circumstances. Like many
others in that day, he enjoyed but limited means of
education. The greater share of managing the farm
fell on young Henry, the eldest son of a large
family. The studies at the German school where
he was taught in his early life, included the Bible
and the Catechism. He was awakened under the
preaching of Rev. Thomas Scott, and admitted into
the Church as a seeker of religion. Two weeks later
while conversing with his father, who had been lately
converted, he believed with the heart unto righteous-
ness and stepped into the liberty of the children of
of God. He entered at once upon the work of a
Christian, was soon licensed to exhort, and in 1793
was licensed to preach in old Milburn’s Meeting
House and recommended for admission into the
Baltimore Conference, which received him on trial,
October 29 of that year. It is needless to recount,
what has already been told at different periods in
this history—his noble work as a pioneer in the
West, and in his later years his labors in the Balti-
more Conference. In 1835, he was granted a super-
annuated relation, and settled at Hookstown, Balti-
more County, giving to his home the name of Pil-
grim’s Rest. “Perhaps,” he says, ‘“Pilgrim’s Lodge
would have been a more suitable name, for this is
not yet my rest.”” That rest was attained in 1863.
As_he drew near his end, and no longer able to speak,
he made signs to those who sat by watching him, to
place him in his usual attitude of prayer. After
remaining on his knees about two minutes, he was
gently laid upon his bed again, where he lingered a
short time and then expired, in the ninety-fourth
year of his age and the sixty-ninth of his ministry.
462 Appendix A.

James SMITH was born in Virginia, 1783, where he
was converted in early life and joined the Virginia
Conference, 1802, but, at the time of his death, was
in the City of Baltimore. He was in the active work
for twenty-four years and died, in his prime, in
peace.

JoHN SmitH, born in Harford County, Maryland,
1802; died in Bladensburg, Md., 1851; was con-
verted in early youth and admitted in 1826; spent a
quarter of a century in faithful, useful and active
service, occupying some of the most important
stations, at one time Presiding Elder of the Win-
chester District, and six years holding the responsi-
ble post of chaplain of the Seamen’s Union Bethel
in Baltimore. Mild in disposition, unobtrusive in
manner, untiring in his work, clear in conception of
gospel truth, and impressive in his delivery, he was
more than an ordinary minister of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The close of his life presented a sublime
scene of christian triumph.

Pres.ey B. Smits, born in Hampshire County, Vir-
ginia, 1832; died at Alameda, California, June 1,
1891; was admitted in 1853. He was abundant in
labors till 1889, serving from 1866 in the Church,
South, when failing health made the change of his
relation necessary. He went to the Pacific Coast
hoping to regain his vigor, but his burning zeal for
souls pressed him again into active service against
remonstrance, and he died in full armor. He was
naturally of a joyous temperament and after he
experienced religion, his entire life was marked by
a happy realization of grace abounding. Sunlight
was in his face, and no joy to him was greater than
to be where souls were converted and to rejoice with
them. The man who did not love him is hard to

find.
Clerical Sketches. 463

SamuEL W. Smira was converted to God in his
native county in Ireland, emigrated to Quebec, and
thence to Point of Rocks, Md., where he taught
school, 1833, obtained local preacher’s license in
1835, and was in the active work of the Conference
from 1838 till 1858. Struck by a fire engine on the
streets of Cumberland, Md., he never recovered from
the blow, dying in Frederick City, June, 1859. He
was a plain, practical preacher, pious and fervid, and
an untiring pastor. He died serenely and with good
hope.

STEPHEN SMITH, a native of Hampshire County,
Virginia, converted at the age of thirteen, was
admitted on trial in 1830, at the age of twenty-eight.
He labored on large and hard circuits with zeal and
success for fourteen years, at the end of which,
1844, his health and voice failed him in consequence
of preaching in a new, damp church, and he was
retired. He became effective in 1867 ; and for five
years served the charges to which he was assigned.
While riding to an appointment on Morgan Circuit
he fell from his horse and in a few days exchanged
his labors on earth for a home in heaven. “TI feel
that God is with me!” was his last exclamation. A
self-made man mentally, endowed with high spirit-
ual gifts, he added many souls to the church and
was greatly esteemed on the charges where he served.

JosEPH N. Spaneuer, born in Williamsport, Md.,
March 12, 1820; died December 27, 1887 ; was con-
verted in early manhood and traveled in the Balti-
more and East Baltimore Conferences from 1845 till
1862; united, 1866, with the Conference, South, and
was assigned a supernumerary relation which he held
till the time of his death. In this relation he ren-
dered efficient service in and near Baltimore City.
He was a man whose character was distinguished
not only by great activity and zeal in his master’s
464 Appendix A.

service, but equally by humility and “lowliness of
mind,” of great kindliness of heart and pre-eminently
given to hospitality. Childlike in the simplicity of
his faith, intent upon saving souls, he was ever ready
to minister to either the temporal or the spiritual
needs of those within his reach. His death was
sudden. From the threshold of his home his spirit
rose to be ushered into the presence of his Lord.

Wiuiam F. Speake, born in Baltimore, Md., August
3, 1831; died May 15, 1892, just after a few weeks’
pastorate at Fourth Street Church in Washington.
Reared in a christian home, he was soon led to
Christ ; at the age of thirteen was converted in
Fayette Street Church. He preached his first sermon
when he had just entered his eighteenth year and
was admitted in 1850. He was more than an ordi-
nary preacher and had special adaptation to the
work of the pastorate. He was a Presiding Elder on
two districts and possessed in a large degree the
qualifications for this position. He was a careful
administrator of all the affairs of the church; was
sent a number of times to the General Conference,
and his assignment to the work of important com-
mittees shows the high esteem in which he was held
in the councils of the church. He was a fearless.
advocate of the cause of Temperance, and, in all
other good works he was active and ready. Undoubt-
edly he was ready for the sudden summons to the
higher realm of life eternal.

Wuson L. Sporrswoop, born in Carlisle, Pennsyl-
vania, November 3, 1822; died in Kansas City,
Missouri, where the last four years of his life were
spent. In his sixteenth year he entered Dickinson
College ; was converted while a student, at a camp-
meeting near Carlisle, and was admitted in 1843.
His alma mater conferred on him the degree of D. D.
in 1870. In 1868 he was elected delegate to the
Clerical Sketches. — 465

General Conference. His active ministry embraced a
period of thirty-two years, four of which were spent
on districts. His Conference designated him “a
ready debater, an able preacher, a faithful pastor, a
successful teacher, a joyous Christian, deeply re-
ligious, and, at last, triumphant in death.”

Joun T. Sranspury, born in Baltimore, Md., July
15, 1828; died January 26, 1873; was converted at
the age of ten years and admitted in 1850. During
his brief ministry he was faithful to every interest of
the Church, and on several fields was favored with
encouraging success ; a sincere, single minded man ;
modest, gentle and true. “I feel prepared and will-
ing to go,” were his last words.

Davip STEELE, the ‘weeping prophet,” as he some-
times was called, was born in 1792; died May 4,
1852; was thirty-two years in the Conference from
1820—twenty-seven of which were diligently and
successfully spent on Circuits, Stations and Districts.
He was eminently evangelical and spiritual in his
preaching, a lover and defender of the doctrines and
usages of his Church. His end was peaceful, giving
satisfactory sign of the presence of his Savior.

Davin Srevens, born in Baltimore County in 1759,
entered the traveling ministry in 1795, and died in
Shippensburg, Pa., December 15, 1825. Until the
day of his death, he traveled extensively in the
bounds of the Conference. Many heard the joyful
sound from his lips and believed. He died with
the utterance: ‘My peace flows as a river.”

James Srevens, born in Baltimore County, July 19,
1776; converted early in life, received on trial in
1810, and died in Williamsburg, Pa., August 13,
1859. In 1814 he located and served the Church
faithfully in that relation until 1835, when he was

30
466 Appendix A.

ye-admitted into the traveling connection, continuing
in the active work till 1851, when he was granted a
superannuated relation. For several years he was
an invalid, but patiently waited till the summons to
the heavenly rest should come. Without alarm he
heard it. His last words were: “Calmly! Calmly!
Cally !”

Wiuam H. Stevens, born near Shirleysville, Pa.,
December 12, 1831 ; died in Shelby, Iowa, June 10,
1901; was converted at a camp-meeting in his
nineteenth year, and admitted in 1855. Fifty-six
years of itinerant labor were followed by ten years
of superapnuation. He was godly, spiritually minded,
unselfish, eminently successful in his ministry, and
useful as a chaplain in the army. His last message
to one of his sons had this testimony: “ My happi-
ness is not based upon things temporal and seen,
but on things unseen and eternal.” He was seized
with pain near the heart and in fifteen minutes God
had taken him.

Isaac T. Stratren, born September 4, 1807, Centre
County, Pennsylvania, converted September 1, 1829,
and admitted in 1836. The four years of his
itinerant service gave proof of his good preaching
talents, as well as of his piety. He was tenderly
loved and was successful in his brief career. He
died with the words of triumph: “I have a bright
and glorious hope of immortality beyond the grave.”

GEORGE STEVENSON, born September 20, 1810, in
the County of Tyrone, Province of Ulster, Ireland ;
died in Stephens City, Frederick County, Va., July
8, 1893. Reared in the Presbyterian Church, he
was converted among the Wesleyans. Licensed there
to preach, he wrought day and night in the midst of
a great revival. In 1840 he emigrated to this country
and settled in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, join-
ing the M. E. Church, and entering the Baltimore
Clerical Sketches. 467

Conference in 1841. His active work in the ministry
continued till 1864, when he was superannuated.
In 1865 he withdrew, temporarily uniting with the
Methodist Protestant Church, and serving Buck-
eystown Circuit. He went to Alexandria, Va., Feb-
ruary 1866 and joined his former brethren in their
adherence with the M. E. Church, South, and was
actively engaged on various fields of labor till
1877. From that date he continued in the super-
annuated relation till his death. He was a man
below medium stature, compactly built, and of great
physical strength. He had a strong will, tempered
with boundless sympathy, was strong in his convic-
tions and of unbending religious principles. Devout
in his religious character, he was a constant reader,
a clear, analytic, forcible and practical preacher.
Revivals during his ministry added many stars to
adorn his heavenly crown. The last three years of
his life were years of suffering.

Joun Stine, born at Leetown, Jefferson County,
Virginia, August 12, 1813; died May 5, 1898, in
Chicago, Ill. ; was converted at a camp-meeting near
Winchester, Va., at the age of twenty. He was in
the active work forty-three years, traveling large and
hard circuits and filling important city stations with
ability, fidelity and success. St. Paul’s final triumph-
ant words were his at the last : “I have fought a good
fight. I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith.”

Wiuiam R. Srringer, born in Allegany County,
Va., near Sweet Sulphur, November 10, 1834; died
November 15, 1888, at Reisterstown, Md.; was con-
verted at a camp-meeting near Fletcher Chapel at
eighteen years of age, and admitted on trial in 1855.
His work in the active ministry in the Conference,
South, was interrupted by ill-health, and from 1871
to 1876 he sustained a supernumerary relation. He
468 Appendie A.

resumed the active work, in which he continued
till 1888. A few months later the summons came
to the heavenly rest. He was a man of deep
piety, marked by cheerfulness, gentleness and humil-
ity. He was sincere in motive and charitable in
judgment. His lips were free from guile. His
preaching was clear, practical and scriptural and in the
pastorate he was faithful. His crown will not be
starless. At times during his illness he became
exultant, and the peace of God kept his heart and
mind to the last.

THomas O. Summers. At the Conference of 1835
two young men were received on trial who became
notably prominent and influential, one as leader in
his own Conference, the other in the whole Church—
John S. Martin and Thomas O. Summers. Forty-
seven years afterward the latter fell at his post as
Secretary of the General Conference, during its ses-
sion at Nashville, Tenn., and the other was elected to
fill the vacated place. They rode on horseback, side
by side, on their way to their first circuits—Martin
to Lexington, Summers to Augusta; and at the close
of the vear met at Mount Sidney and “journeyed to-
gether on the same road through snow or mud to
Conference” in Baltimore. Summers’ calling was
that of a student and writer of books. He was to be
made Book Editor, Editor of the Quarterly Review
and of the Christian Advocate, Professor of Syste-
matic Theology in Vanderbilt University and Dean
of its Biblical Faculty, and was to spend many years
in such offices, as also to write a Commentary on the
New Testament. He was a man of loud voice, quick,
aggressive and often imperious manner, likely to
make an unfavorable impression at first acquaintance,
but kind and brotherly at heart, devout, single-
minded in devotion to his Church and his Tord. and
withal a marvel of intellectual industry. But the last
Clerical Sketches. 469

word he was heard to utter on earth disclosed, as no
other word could have done, the secret of Thomas
Osmund Summers’ life and work: “Faith, faith,
faith.” At about eighteen years of age he had landed
in New York City, an English immigrant, compara-
tively friendless, but eager, ambitious and determined
to make this country his home. Soon afterward he
appeared in the City of Washington, working there
atghis trade as a shoemaker. It was the old Ebe-
nezer Church in South Washington that on Octo-
ber 18, 1832, admitted him as a probationer into the
Methodist Episcopal Church and recommended him
three years later for admission into the Conference.
He spent the first five years of his ministerial life in
the Baltimore Conference, one of them in the Balti-
more City Station, and was then transferred to Texas.
His thoroughgoing English energy, and especially his
bookish tastes and studious habits, were very marked
in these early years, foretelling his forceful theologi-
cal and literary career.

THomas H. Swirzer, born in Baltimore, August
19, 1818; died in Philipsburg, Pa., March 24, 1879;
was converted at fourteen. He was in the effective
ranks 24 years from 1841, and retired in 1865. He
was not inactive during the years of precarious health,
but labored as he could among the miners and lum-
bermen, establishing societies and maintaining ser-
vices in the absence of the regular pastors. Fearless
of death, he welcomed the messenger, calmly awaited
the summons and peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. #'

f¢ Henry Tarrina, born near Church Hill, Queen
Anne’s County, Maryland, 1800; admitted in 1827;
was a preacher held in high esteem by his brethren
and the churches he served during a period of more
than twenty-six years. Though never strong in
body, his knowledge of Divine things, his zeal and
tenderness, and the blamelessness of his holy life,
470 Appendix A.

endued him with a wonderful power over the people
to whom he delivered the message of the Gospel.
Such a life could not fail of a triumphant close.
“Filled with delight’”—he could not complete the
sentence, but raised both hands in token of victory,
and August 23, 1852, entered into rest.

’ Tuomas TaNEYHILL, born in Calvert County, Md.,
December 7, 1803; died November 19, 1904, in
Toledo, Ohio ; was converted at the age of twenty,
and admitted in 1828. One wrote of him: “He
was one of the many examples of a self-made man,
who, endowed with an unconquerable mind, had not
achieved fame in an imperishable sense as the world
views it, but in a stronger and more noble way demon-
strated that manliness and worth can not be measured
by miles or monuments, and that nature gives her
patent of nobility to many an humble toiler who is
unknown to men.” He was a constant student to
the end of his life. Personally, “a man in whom
integrity and rectitude were notably instanced, and
whose character exhibited in high degree the virtue
and the grace of the Holy Spirit.’ His active
ministry continued for thirty years and was crowned
with eminent success, both in soul saving and edifi-
cation to believers.

Bishop Wiuw1am Taytor, born in Rockbridge
County, Virginia, May 2, 1821; died at Palo Alto,
California, May 18, 1902. Converted in his youth,
licensed to preach 1842, and received on trial by
the Baltimore Conference 1843. His father, Stuart
Taylor, was well known as a useful local preacher
who had been instrumental in building a substantial
Methodist Church at Rockbridge Baths, which still
is used for religious worship. In the graveyard
adjacent lie the remains of the honored parents of
the Bishop. When he had served six years in the Con-
ference, the Missionary Society sent him in 1849 to
Clerical Sketches. 471

San Francisco, California, as a pioneer Missionary
to the Pacific Coast. Here he soon became known
as the “street preacher” and gave seven years of
useful labor to the work in that region. These years
were crowded with events of deepest interest and
marvelous results. In 1856 he became an evangelist
and traveled largely in the United States and
Canada, where thousands of souls were converted to
God under his ministry. We find him next in
Australia, where his labors were abundantly blessed.
Through England and Ireland he also passed as a
flaming torch. He was then led to Africa, and held
a series of evangelistic services among the Kaffir
tribe, speaking through an interpreter. The results
of his labors here were unsurpassed in the history
of the Christian Church. Over seven thousand pro-
fessed conversion under his ministry. Afterwards
he made a successful evangelistic tour of the West
India Islands and British Guiana in South America,
and then again to Australia, meeting everywhere
with great success. In 1870 he found his way to
India, and began his work of self-supporting mis-
sions. Throughout the great centres of population
God gave him marvelous success. While in India
he heard the voice of God calling him to South
America. Thither he went and laid the foundations
of the educational work of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in that country. While there he was elected
a lay delegate to the General Conference of 1884
from the South India Conference. At the session of
the General Conference of 1884, under such a wave
of enthusiasm as never before or since swept over
that body, he was elected Missionary Bishop to
Africa. He accepted the voice of the church, went
forth to that dark continent.and gave twelve years of
the most arduous toil for the uplifting of its inhab--
itants to a better civilization. ‘The General Confer-
ence of 1896 thought it best that he should be’
472 Appendia A.

released from the burdens of an active ministry.
To their decision he gratefully yielded. Bishop
Taylor was a man of great original thought, unique
in his ideas and methods, persistent in the work
to which he believed himself called, self-denying,
consecrated, energetic. He has left a record of
apostolic zeal and diligence, of earnest and successful
evangelistic work on two continents that is unpar-
alleled in the history of the Church.

FousHEee ©. Trpss, born in Fauquier County, Va.,
October 11, 1820; died November 18, 1875; con-
verted at the age of sixteen under the preaching of
Rev. Jobn Bear, he was admitted on trial in 1845,
and served in the Methodist Episcopal Church till
1861—uniting with his brethren in 1866. A man
of vigorous mind, his preaching was clear, compact,
and replete with gospel facts, and his ministry fruit-
ful in turning many to righteousness. His delicate
sense of honor, his straightforward candor often
touched some to the quick, but always left respect
for the man who would not call evil good or good
evil. Overtaken after a ride of 30 miles by typhoid
pneumonia, the disease proved fatal. The prayer of
his devoted wife is answered, he is roused to con-
sciousness, praises God and sends the message of love
to his brethren of the Conference, sings “ Precious
Name,” and utters his last words: ‘There is a man-
sion for me.”

Davi THomas, born in Northumberland County,
Pennsylvania, October 9, 1808; died in Baltimore,
January 3, 1905 ; was converted at his majority, and
joined the M. E. Church. He was in youth a con-
scientious student, first of logic and metaphysics,
giving attention to Latin and Greek, and later to
Hebrew. This habit lasted through his life. His
admission on trial in 1833, was followed by a long
and successful service on Circuits, Stations and Dis-
Clerical Sketches. 473

tricts, broken only by two years, 1853-5, by a super-
numerary relation, on account of an affection of the
throat. In 1867 he was appointed Conference
Missionary and rendered valuable service on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland. In 1870, he was made
Agent for Randolph-Macon College, and was honored |
with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. His adher-
ence to the Baltimore Conference of the M. E.
Church, South, was the result of a deep seated con-
viction of duty as well as choice. He was by nature
sympathetic and loving, gentle and winning.
Humility, zeal and courage were marked character-
istics. His sermons, profound and massive in
thought were always carefully prepared, though
never written. His ministry covered a period of
sixty-two years, nearly fifty of them spent in the
active work. The closing years of his life were a
protracted experience of suffering, which he bore
patiently and with fortitude. Buoyant and cheerful
in spirit, strong in faith, he ever spoke confidently of
the joy and glory beyond.

JoHN THOMAS, was in the active work of the min-
istry for nineteen years from 1807. Endowed with
a voice of singular power and sweetness, he excelled
in song, in prayer and in exhortation. His success
in winning souls was wonderful. He finished his
course triumphantly October 17, 1867, in Williams-
port, Pa.

Joun Turuss, born at Shippensburg, Pa., March 4,
1822; died at Lewistown, Pa., July 12, 1872; was
admitted in 1845. His widow writes: “I don’t know
the time of his conversion, but he was quite young.
He was assigned, in 1863, to McKendree Church,
Washington, and was in charge there two years,
till President Lincoln appointed him Chaplain of
“Lincoln Hospital.” He remained in this position
a short time, and was transferred to the North-West
474 Appendia A.

Indiana Conference in 1865. He was again trans-
ferred in 1870 to the Central Pa. Conference, and
was appointed to Lewistown, from which place he
gloriously entered into the heavenly rest two years
later. He was held in the highest esteem by his
ministerial brethren, did excellent work in the old
Baltimore Conference and was a good all-round man.

Cuar.es B. Treprrr, a native of Prince George’s,
Md., 1801, converted under Henry Smith in 1816,
began to preach in 1819, was admitted on trial in
1820, and died in Hookstown, 1867. “A soul win-
ner,” he is called. Wise, honest, zealous for God,
good-natured and kind to every one, he filled up the
meusure of nearly half a century, beloved, honored
and successful.

Joun W. Toneus, born in Warrenton, Va., Febru-
ary 12, 1821; died in Baltimore, December 31,
1898 ; was converted January 22, 1840, in Carlisle,
Pa., while a student at Dickinson College. He
served from 1844 in the two Baltimore Conferences
till 1871, when he was granted a superannuated
relation, and resided in Charlestown, W. Va. until
within a few weeks of his death. He was possessed
of great earnestness, consecration and zeal, was an
effective speaker and a ready writer. During the
period of his retirement from the effective relation,
he rendered what service he could and with great
usefulness. His end was peace.

Irvin H. Torrence, born in Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, February 24, 1821; died near Dan-
ville, Pa., February 11, 1899; was converted at the
age of seventeen, travelled in the Baltimore Confer-
ence eight years from 1843, and was then appointed
Secretary of the Pennsylvania Bible Society, which
position he occupied with acceptability and success
for thirty-four years. Rev. Dr. Morrow, his suc-
Olerical Sketches. 475

cessor in office, pays this merited tribute: “Earnest
and eloquent in the pulpit and on the platform, he was
eminently successful in the advocacy of the interests
and mission of the Society, and in defending the
Bible against the attacks of its enemies.” His per-
sonality was unusually attractive; he was fearless
and conscientious in opposing wrong, but was ever
courteous and winning in manner ; he was felicitous
in this work among the children and was loved by
them. For ten years or more before his death he
was blind and helpless, confined to his room and
mostly to his bed. When nearing the end he said
to a neighboring pastor: ‘I am too weak to con-
verse now, but we will have a long conversation when
we get home.”

JosEPH Toy, the first Secretary, closed the labors
of a long and faithful itinerant life, January 28,
1826. New Jersey was his native State. Captain
Webb, of the British Army, one of the first Meth-
odist preachers in America, was instrumental in
his conversion as early as 1770. For a number of
years he did good work as a local preacher, and
entered the traveling connection in 1801. For
eighteen years he continued with much fervor and zeal,
and, retiring in 1819, made his residence in Balti-
more City, where he died in great peace in the
seventy-ninth year of his age.

Joun T. Tronz, son of a local preacher, Rev. J. 8S.
Trone, born in Prince William County, Virginia,
February 1, 1834, was converted in his seventeenth
year, under 8. A. Roszel and died September 22, 1859,
in Frederick County, Virginia. For two years he
studied in the Biblical School, Concord, New Ham-
shire, and was employed as a supply in 1855. He
traveled two years in the Conference and became
supernumerary in 1859. He was a young man of
deep and genuine piety, unassuming, cheerful and
476 Appendix A.

pleasant in his intercourse with others. His race
was short and brilliant—his end marked by an ear-
nest exhortation to two unconverted friends to seek
religion.

Davip Trout, born at Newtown, Frederick County,
Virginia, December 25, 1795; son of Lutheran
parents ; was converted in early life, joined the M.
E. Church, and was admitted on trial in 1837;
traveled 29 years; in 1856, he retired and lived in
Front Royal, Va., till December 6, 1869. This saintly
man both during the years of his active service
and the sixteen years of his life after he was super-
annuated gave abundant proof of the genuineness
of his call to the ministry. He was a living illus-
tration of our holy religion. During the closing
months of his life his sufferings were intense. They
tested thoroughly the faith and patience which had
ever characterized his previous record. He was
“ made perfect through suffering.” When death came
he was ready. Music of heavenly harps seemed to
fall upon his ears, and he expired with the words:
“Glory to God! He giveth me peace.”

Marruew A. Turner, born March 30, 1815, at
Jersey Shore, Pa., died October 17, 1901, at Wash-
ington, D. C., converted in 1834. He went early
in life (1836) to Illinois, and preached in Chi-
cago when that place had only 1,500 inhabitants.
He returned East and entered the Baltimore Confer-
ence in 1838. He held for a number of years a
supernumerary relation. He was a good and useful
man to the day of his death. He was long in the
public service in the Post Office in Washington,
and, carrying the influence of his Christian character
and his ministerial fidelity into every department of
duty to which he was called, retained to the last the
esteem, confidence and love of his brethren in the
Clerical Sketches. ATT

Church, and of the many associates and friends in his
public life.

James TurNER, born in Jersey Shore, Pa., February
19, 1822; died in Anne Arundel County, Maryland,
June 2, 1865; was converted in his eighteenth year
at a camp-meeting on Lycoming Circuit; taught
school in Anne Arundel County, Md.; traveled from
1846 till 1849, when his health failing he was
granted a supernumerary relation. In the pulpit he
was earnest, evangelical and impressive, instrumental.
in adding many souls to the Lord. “All calm and
resigned ; I know in whom I have believed,” were his
last words.

Exprince R. Vzrrcg, “one of the wisest and greatest,
the purest and best,” was written of him in the
Conference Journal of 1867. The year 1810 was
the date, and Alexandria, Va., the place of his nativity.
For thirty-seven years, from 1831, he devoted him-
self to the arduous but glorious work of the itinerant
ministry, filling some of the most important stations,
circuits and districts in the Conference. At the ses-
sion of the Conference, March, 1860, Brother Veitch
was elected a delegate to the ensuing General Con-
ference, held at Buffalo, N. Y. When the Conference
met at Harrisonburg, March, 1862, after the Civil
War had begun, that part of the body in Virginia
elected E. R. Veitch President, and he again pre-
sided at the session held in Churchville, March, 1863.
“As a preacher he was sound, earnest, forcible ; mighty
in doctrine, original in thought and expression, and,
at times, grand and overpowering. As a counsellor
he was wise, safe and conservative. In his home,
and among the preachers of his district he was kind
and loving. His amiable qualities endeared him to
the people he served in the Church.”” At the Confer-
ence held in Alexandria, Va., 1866, he was elected a
delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist
478 Appendix A.

Episcopal Church, South, to be held at New Orleans
in the month of May following. On his return he
entered upon his new work on the Winchester Dis-
trict with his accustomed zeal and promptness. He
had for several years suffered from a severe malady,
which was attended by periodical attacks of pain.
They deterred him however only for the moment,
from his work. But during this last year the disease
pressed to the fatal point, prostrating him from
November 15th till the 10th of the following Feb-
ruary, when his last word so oft on the lips of the
dying Christian gave highest expression of victory
over death—it was “Glory.”

Rosert 8. Vinton, born in Maryland, was effec-
tive from 1818 till 1865, then three years supernum-
erary, superanuated 1869, and died July 31, 1870.
He was dignified in his bearing, earnest and affec-
tionate in the pulpit, a man of solid judgment and
sterling worth.

Nataan WALKER, born in Montgomery County,
Maryland, October 20, 1795; was received on trial
in 1820, and served with fidelity and success for five
years. He died August 26, at the home of Mrs.
Butler, in Old Town, on Deer Creek Circuit, was
patient and resigned during his illness, and after
fifteen days of suffering departed in peace.

James Warp, born September, 1771, in Somerset
County, Maryland, converted in his seventeenth
year, admitted on trial in 1792, and died in Floyds-
burg, Ky., April 13, 1855. He traveled for fifteen
years as Preacher in charge, and also as Pre-
siding Elder, chiefly in the Valley and along the
mountains of Virginia. He was ranked among the
ablest and most successful men of his times. Multi-
tudes thronged to hear him, and many were saved
under his ministry. In the spring of 1807 he was
Clerical Sketches. 479

transferred to the Western Conference. He located
in 1814, was re-admitted into the Kentucky Confer-
ence in 1829, and was finally superannuated in 1840.
In 1846 he united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South; and, at his request, his name was
recorded in 1848 in his first Conference and placed
on the superannuated list. His last days had no
darkness in them. His sun went down without a
cloud.

Prummer E. Warers, born in Anne Arundel
County, Maryland, May 4, 1817; died in Castle
Finn, Pa., October 17, 1856 ; was converted in man-
hood. He was in the effective ranks from 1844, dur-
ing his entire ministry, “ most faithfully and success-
fully, though in humility,” performing his work. In
every charge he served he had seals to his ministry.
His piety was deep and fervent ; and in diligent study
of the Bible, with much time spent on his knees, he
imbibed the spirit of Him with whom he communed,
and carried the influence into his ministry and life.
When death came it had no terrors. One moment
he was gazing on the forms of weeping friends; the
next on heavenly forms. One moment his ears were
saluted by the sobs of grief-stricken ones, the next
by the songs of seraphs. He passed from the dark-
ness of earth to the land where there is no night.

Joun Watson, born in Calvert County, Maryland ;
traveled in the Conference from 1792, thirty-three
years, and died near Martinsburg, Va., in the summer
of 1838. During the last thirteen years of his life
he was superannuated.

James Watts, born in Greenbrier County, Vir-
ginia, in 1782, converted at the age of fourteen and
admitted into the Conference in 1804. His first
year was spent on Prince George and Stafford Cir-
cuits. In 1805 he was appointed to Ohio Circuit,
traveling thither a hundred miles with Bishop
480 Appendia A.

Whatcoat. He says “I found him an excellent
man, and strove to profit by his example.” At his
camp-meeting he met Bishop Asbury. The next
year his colleague on the Erie Circuit was Robert R.
Roberts. Thev preached in the neighborhood of
Lake Erie. Nathaniel B. Mills was sent to aid them
after their first Quarterly Meeting. The privations
and labors of Watts rank him among the pioneer
heroes of Methodism. On one occasion he had to
move at the eve of winter and had his house to
build. At the first Quarterly Meeting he received
twenty-five cents, and at the second he received be-
tween eleven and twelve dollars. After traversing
the whole extent of territory from Lake Erie on the
north to the Chesapeake Bay on the south for forty-
eight years with constancy and unwavering fidelity,
he was granted a superannuated relation. His last
sermon was on Easter Sunday, from Psa. CKX XVIII
7: “Though I walk through the midst of trouble
thou wilt revive me.” His illness continued but six
days. As death approached he called his family
together and gave them his counsel. His last words
were: ‘God isa refuge in time of trouble,” and
raising his hands in triumph, he added: “ He is my
strength ; all is well, Glory! Glory.”

BrEveRLY WAUvGH was born in Fairfax County, Vir-
ginia, October 8, 1789. His father had been a
soldier in the Revolution, and was present at the
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Rev. Dr. T.
F. Sargent received Beverly into the communion of
the Methodist Church, at Alexandria, Va., when he
was fifteen years of age. From the Conference at
Harrisonburg in 1809, he was assigned to Stafford
Circuit. In 1813 he succeeded Nicholas Snethen as
Conference Secretary. With the exception of one
or two years of necessary absence he filled this re-
sponsible office until, in 1828, he was selected by
Clerical Sketches. 481

the General Conference to take charge of the Book
Concern in New York City. Near the end of his
eight years’ term, the Book Room was consumed by
fire, with a total loss of nearly $250,000. In 1836
the General Conference elected him to the Epis-
copacy. He served with fidelity twenty-two years
in this relation, and died February 9, 1858. He
was commanding in appearance, but his spirit was
marked by gentleness, sweetness and simplicity.
Strength and meekness were happlily blended in his
character. Those who knew him best loved him
most.

J. Horrman Wavau, born in Alexandria, Va.,
March 27, 1814, died in Harrisonburg, Va., August
10, 1900, the son of a distinguised attorney in
Washington, D. C., and a nephew of Bishop Waugh.
He was liberally educated at the school of Benjamin
Hollowell, in Alexandria, and at Georgetown College,
D.C. His mother, a devout member of the Society
of Friends, had dedicated him at his birth to the
Lord, but informed him of that fact only on his
entrance into the ministry. He spent some vears
in secular pursuits ; yielding at last to the impres-
sion of his call from above, he resigned a govern-
ment position paying him $1,200 a year, for a rural
appointment in the Conference. Converted at ten
years of age, when he entered the traveling connec-
tion in 1842 he was twenty-eight. He traveled with-
out intermission in the two Baltimore Conferences a
full half century, making a record of rare pulpit
ability, fine administrative talent and conscientious
fidelity to every department of his work. He
traversed large circuits, filled important stations, and
served three terms as Presiding Elder. He declined
no work and shrunk from no labor or responsibility
it involved. While he was stationed in Lexington,

31
482 Appendix A.

Va., Washington and Lee University conferred on
him the degree of D. D. In person Dr. Waugh was
tall and commanding. He was dignified in bearing
both in and out of the pulpit. He had an incisive
order of mind, was a diligent siudent, a learned theo-
logian and possessed wide information. His choice
of words and manner of expression were singularly
fine—the gift of genius as well as culture. Simple as
a little child, with a quiet touch of humor, he was not
only a charming preacher, but a most agreeable com-
pavion. His eight years of retirement in Harrison-
burg, Va. were a benediction and blessing to our
people in that place. At the last he spoke calmly of
‘his approaching departure and hopefully of the
bright and blessed future awaiting him.

JosHua WELLS, born in Baltimore County in 1764;
was converted through the instrumentality of Mr.
Robert North Carnan, in whose store on the Forks
of Gunpowder River young Wells was emplvuyed as
a clerk. He was received into the Church in 1787,
admitted on trial into the Conference in 1789, and
after having carried the gospel as far north as
Boston, Lynn, Marblehead and Nantucket, traveled
extensively in the then large territory of the Balti-
more Conference. In 1821, he asked for a location ;
but such was the high estimate placed upon his wis-
dom as a counsellor and his worth as a man that his
brethren, unwilling to lose him from their ranks,
assigned him a superannuated relation. Further
evidence of the confidence reposed in him by the
Church is to be found in the fact that, with no
single exception until his age and physical infirmi-
ties compelled him to decline the honor, he was
elected a member of the General Conference. His
marked ability and sterling qualities enabled him
to exert a decided influence upon the deliberations of
that body. He lived to be almost a centenarian
Clerical Sketches. 483

reaching the age of ninety-eight years. He always
sat with his old comrade, Henry Smith, on the
platform at the Conference sessions, both the noble
pioneers giving by their presence inspiration to the
young preachers, who regarded them with the deep-
est feeling of reverence and admiration. He passed
to his eternal reward from the residence of Mr.
William Fite in Baltimore county, January 25, 1862.

Wiuu1am Wickes, born in Chestertown, Md., May
26,1789; died in Bel Air, Md., April 7, 1862. Con-
verted in early manhood, he joined the M. E. Church,
but subsequently, under peculiar circumstances, took
orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, serving
various parishes on the Eastern Shore of Maryland,
in Delaware, and Norfolk, Va. In time, circum-
stances brought him back to the Chuch of his early
choice, and for several years he was engaged in
teaching in Baltimore, Md., and Leesburg, Va.,
officiating acceptably meanwhile as a local preacher.
He was admitted in the Baltimore Conference, 1833,
and served various appointments till 1860, when for
two years he was superannuated. While stationed
in Georgetown, D. C., he received from Dickinson
College the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity,
the first preacher in the Conference thus honored.
His scholarship, theological attainments and general
worth as a man and a Christian minister were thus
recognized. In style his sermons were strong rather
than ornate, abounding in instruction and frequently
in unction. He was a man of genial disposition,
winning kindest regards and the highest respect of
his acquaintances.

JOSEPH WHITE is first on the list among those enter-
ing on trial in 1823. He was another Marylander,
from Anne Arundel County. His life covered fifty-
four years, twenty-seven of which were spent in the
active work of the ministry. His person was plain, his
484 Appendix A.

manner earnest, and his zeal unconquerable despite
his delicate health. “Give my love to the brethren
and tell them I die in the faith of the gospel,” was
his message sent to the Conference. His last word
was ‘“ Hallelujah !”

Wiuuiam R. Waire, born in Georgetown, D. C.,
November 26, 1829; died at Fairmount, W. Va.,
November 10, 1893. He graduated at Dickinson
College in 1841, entered the active work in 1844,
was President of Olin and Preston Institute, Blacks-
burg, Va., 1852-55, Principal of the West Virginia
Conference School, 1856-63, and superintendent of
Education (the first the State ever had) 1864 to 1869.
President of State Normal School, at Fairmount,
1869-70. He served in the regular work of the
ministry thirteen years, and was granted a super-
numerary relation in 1889, subsequently travelling
on small circuits and doing limited educational work
at Fairmount and Buckannon. Allegheny College con-
ferred on him the degree of D.D., 1886. Probably,
in his prime, he was the foremost scholar and greatest
preacher in the West Virginia Conference.

Henry WILLIs, was a native of Brunswick County,
Virginia; received into the traveling connection in
1779, and continued in the ministry twenty-nine
years. He was a man of great gifts, natural, spirit-
ual and acquired ; of slender habit of body with a
feeble breast and lungs; yet, by the force of will, he
extended his labors during the first ten years of his
ministry, from New York to Charleston, South Caro-
lina, and to the Western waters. Nor did he cease
his work when he became supernumerary in 1790.
For nearly eighteen years, ministering with his own
hands to the necessities of himself and family that
he might not eat the bread of the Church of God, he
filled up all his available time in serving, as best he
might, the cause of his Redeemer. His marked char-
Clerical Sketches. 485

acteristics were an open, pleasant, smiling counte-
nance, great fortitude in adversity, courage tempered
with moderation, cheerfulness without levity, sober-
ness without sadness. He was the warm personal
friend of Asbury, and was universally beloved wher-
ever he was known. He died with an unshaken con-
fidence in God and triumphant faith in Christ Jesus
as his Saviour.

Henry WILson, boru at Lamar, Clinton County,
Pa., September 8, 1826; died at Chatam’s Run,
September 25, 1881. His educational advantages
were limited, but he succeeded in acquiring a good
knowledge of English, and being rarely gifted with
a natural ability to perceive truth and then to analyze
and array it before other minds, his fervid love of
the Church and the work of soul-saving-led him to
the most practical and successful exercise of these
qualities. His talent for song added largely to his
usefulness and success. His last hours were glori-
fied by visions of heaven, and with memorable words
of love and wonder, he exhorted and consoled those
who were present.

James T. Wuson, born near Salona, Clinton
County, Pa., October 22, 1834 ; died in Duncannon,
Pa., February 27, 1890 ; was converted in his boyhood
at a camp-meeting at Cedar Run. His ministry from
1857 was varied, including circuits and stations and
a chaplaincy during the Civil War. In the pulpit
he was animated, fervent, forcible, clear, sometimes
eloquent; as a pastor, sympathetic and faithful, a
warm friend, a genial companion, a manly man.
His death was a happy one.

Norvat Witson, beginning in 1821 his itin-
erant work, became a Prince in our Israel. He
entered upon his natural life, December 24, 1802,
‘ and, seventeen years later, was born again into the
486 Appendix A.

life spiritual. His ancestors were of the sturdy
Scotch Irish stock, and Presbyterians of the Presby-
terians. His education was liberal, sedulously
cultivated, and the foundation laid broad and deep
for the subsequent love of letters which character-
ized the whole course of his life. But his conversion
at a camp-meeting concentrated his studies upon the
classics of Methodism. No preacher among us
knew John Wesley’s writings more thoroughly than
Norval Wilson. To the close of his life he could
not endure any depreciation of them. His work as
a preacher, beginning in the rugged mountains of
Western Virginia, was soon transferred to the tide-
water counties of the Northern Neck, then to Balti-
more City, extending over the well-known fields of
early Methodism in the Baltimore Conference. His
preaching was in “demonstration of the Spirit and
with power” and his faithful and efficient pastorate
covered a period of thirty-nine years. His health,
never strong, failing in 1860, he retired from the
active work and chose Winchester, Virginia, as his
home, where for sixteen years he never ceased
itinerating among the churches, as vacancies gave
opportunity for Presbyterian, Lutheran and Reformed
congregations to invite him temporarily to ‘occupy
their pulpits. The close of his life was consistent
with all his past. ‘TI trust in the dying hour I shall
give an example of resiguation that shall be a comfort
to those that are left behind. Eternity is just before
me. In all the struggle ’’—his voice failed, but at last
in response to an enquiry if he wanted anything he |
said: “IT want to go home.” On Wednesday, August
9, 1876, he breathed his last. The personal appear-
ance of Norval Wilson was so striking, that it is not
difficult for those who knew him to recall it. Tall,
slender, slightly stooping, his closely shaven face,
calm, yet penetrating eye, Roman nose, firmly set
Clerical Sketches. 487

mouth, all betokened a man of unbending will and
steadfast resolve. But it was not till you had heard
him speak that the full measure of his personality
could be taken. Deliberate in utterance and usually
free from gesture, the resounding tones of his voice,
without seeming effort, reached the outermost circle
of the large assembly and penetrated by its intensity
of earnestness, not only the understanding, but also
the lowest depths of the consciousness and the heart.
His christian character may be fully expressed in a
single sentence—he was a man of God. He was
fearless, yet modest and gentle. His son, Bishop A.
W. Wilson, and two daughters, consecrated workers
in the church, are worthy successors of their sainted
father.

ReEvsen E. Wizson, born at Masseyburg, Pa., Feb-
ruary 26, 1828 ; died at Newville, Pa., October 19,
1901; was converted at twenty, and admitted in
1854. He spent some time at Dickinson Seminary,
Williamsport, in preparation for the ministry, and
during the years that followed, a rare and remark-
able eloquence drew crowds to his services, and hun-
dreds were brought into the Church. After a faith-
ful service of 45 years he was seized with a sudden
illness. Only a few hours before his death he was
heard to repeat: “The sting of death is sin, the
strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God,
who giveth us the victory through Our Lord Jesus
Christ.” With uplifted arms in token of that final
victory, he passed without a struggle to the God
who gave it.

SamueL A. WILson, born in Boonsboro, Washing-
ton County, Maryland, September 9, 1826 ; died Sep-
tember 27, 1903 ; was converted at a camp-meeting
when a boy, and admitted in 1848. His assignment
to churches in the Conference will compare favorably
with any of his associates in the ministry. He was
488 Appendia A.

on terms of special intimacy with President Grant.
The Secretary of War, General Rawlings, united
with McKendree Church in Washington during this
brother’s pastorate there. He was eminent as a
counsellor and a true friend, giving as a preacher
full proof of his call to the ministry. He was
especially attractive in the social circle. An acci-
dent befell brother Wilson, from the effect of which
he died. As he was carried to the hospital he was
heard to say “ God’s will be done!”

Wituiam H. Wirson, born in Maryland about 1824 ;
was converted when a boy, admitted on trial in
1844, and died in Washington, D. C., in 1884. With
the exception of the four years of the Civil War and
two years when he was supernumerary, he was in
the effective ranks. He was a preacher of no ordi-
nary gifts, whether in the pulpit or in debate on the
Conference floor, a man small in stature, but of keen,
searching mind. Brusque he was in manner, some-
times sharp, always straightforward, but not wanting
in kindliness. He could not tolerate meanness in
others, was quick with the helping hand to a brother
in distress, and prompt to come to the defense of one
wrongfully accused. He was a vigorous thinker, a
strong original preacher, without the graces of ora-
tory, but natural and forcible. Many were converted
under his ministry. Long continued sickness and
other painful circumstances at times depressed him ;
but as the close of life drew near the clouds passed
away, and the ‘everlasting light” broke joyfully
upon him.

Wiruam T. Wrison, born March 14, 1797, in Cal-
vert County, Maryland, died September 1, 1869 ; con-
verted at nineteen ; was forty-two years in the minis-
try ; twenty-four years local, eighteen in itinerancy,
from 1853; superannuated 1859. As an expounder
of the scriptures, pointed, positive and clear, at times
Clerical Sketches. 489

his preaching was powerful. “Hallelujah! I shall
soon be at home,” was his last shout on the margin
of the river.

Octavius P. Wireman, born in or near London,
England, about 1816, died at Romney, W. Va.,
April 18, 1890. He was converted in Baltimore
whilst listening to a sermon preached by a minister
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, at a regular
service of that denomination. He specially mani-
fested his joy by outward expressions. He graduated
from a college in Richmond, Va., and entered the
ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church. He
was assistant to Dr. Peterkin, father of Bishop
Peterkin. He honorably left the Protestant Episco-
pal Church and asked to be received into the Balti-
more Conference in 1846. He was a spiritually
minded man and respected by all who knew him.

Davin Wotr, born in Bedford County, Pennsyl-
vania, August 19, 1821, died April 9, 1875, was
converted in early life, and admitted on trial in 1845.
His career, like most of his class, was brief. He
was an earnest Christian, and lived in close com-
munion with God.’ As death approached, he said :
“Tt is all right now. Iam trusting in Jesus.”

Joun W. WotFe, born in Martinsburg, Va., Decem-
ber 24, 1824, died in Springfield, W. Va., June 5, 1894;
was converted in early life, and admitted on trial in
1846. In 1862, he left Baltimore, where he had
served at Seamen’s Union Bethel for one year, and
aligning himself with his brethren of the majority of
the Conference, was assigned to Winchester Circuit.
The remaining years of his active life he spent on
circuits in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland,
until superannuated in 1893. Possessed of a stout,
muscular frame, he endured the fatigue and exposure
which accompanied hard work on large circuits. He
490 Appendix A.

was unswerving in his principles, and firm in the dis-
charge of duty, yet kindhearted and _ hospitable.
Strong, clear and scriptural in the pulpit, eschewing
sensational methods, he was successful in his minis-
try, a man useful and practical in all his work. He
met the last enemy with true Christian fortitude.

CuarLes B. Youna, served the work in the Con-
ference long and faithfully ; born in Stafford County,
Virginia, 1800, he spent forty years from 1821 in
the effective ranks ; his voice having failed, he took
a superannuated relation. He had served large and
laborious circuits on meagre pay, but without com-
plaint or murmur. As a christian man and minister
his reputation was unblemished. Nor was he with-
out success in his work or seals to his ministry.
When the end came, his testimony was: ‘“ Death
has for me no terrors. I have comfortable hope
through the merits of Christ, the Rock of my
Salvation.” —

*

JarED H. Youne, born at Aaronsburg, Pa., April
14, 1810; converted in Muncy, Pa., November 7,
1830, and received on trial in the Conference 1834.
After traveling ten years, winning many souls to
Christ, his health failing, he was superannuated,
and resided at Berwick, Pa., till his death, April 29,
1855. His mental endowments were far above me-
diocrity. Eminently practical, yet strikingly origi-
nal in thought and expression, he was not only
interesting and instructive, but deeply impressive
and often powerfully eloquent in the pulpit. Asa
writer he was clear, terse and vigorous in style, his
published articles having attracted no little attention
and won for him no mean fame. He was generous,
both from principle and impulse, a friend to the
poor, the widow and the orphan, as well as to the
church. In the last love feast he attended, after
relating his experience, with an irresistible elo-
Clerical Sketches. 491

quence under which the people wept aloud, he said :
“‘T expect soon to die, but I have no fear of death.
When I am buried I wish this simple inscription
on my tombstone: ‘Here Jared H. Young awaits
the resurrection.’ ”’

THomas E. Bonn, son of Dr. Thomas E. Bond,
Sr., born in Harford County, Md. November 5, 1813.
Both were physicians and ministers of the Gospel,
and both celebrated as editors of Church papers.
Thomas E. Bond, Jr. was a specially gifted man,
intellectually, morally, socially and religiously. His
native endowments were of a high order.- Logic,
wit, humor and imagination all combined to make
him a power among men. Well educated in his
youth, he applied himself to various studies in his
maturer life, until his mind was stored with philoso-
phy, history, science and theology. As an editor,
he has not been surpassed. His brilliant articles in
the Baltimore Christian Advocate, before and after
the War, attracted wide notice and delighted his
readers. The service he rendered in this depart-
ment for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, up
to the time of his death, in 1872, can not be esti-
mated. Calmly, with fullness of peace and hope, he
met the last enemy and triumphed.

Although Dr. Bond was a local preacher, his relations to the Conference

were So close and prominent that itis deemed appropriate for him to
occupy a place in these sketches.
492

Surviving Members of the Old Baltimore Conference

 

 

    

 

  

  

 

   

 
  
 

 

 

 

1907
a
5 NAMES. CONFERENCE. RESIDENCE.
a
<
1837 | William G. Eggleston.....| Baltimore, South............. Middletown, Va.
1839 | Thomas Bowman..... .--.| Bishop M. E. Church... .| East Orange, N. J.
1844 | John J. Pearce... ...| Central Pennsylvania.. .| Conneant, Ohio
1845 | John W. Start............. Baltimore, M. E........ 838 N. Carey Street, Baltimore
John W. Hedges........... Baltimore, M. E..........-... Palo Alto, California
1846 | Robert Smith.............. Baltimore, South.. Manassas, Va.
1848 | William H. Chapman..... Baltimore, M. E.............. 1405 Rhode Island Ave.,
Washington, D. C.
1851 | Andrew W. Gibson........ Central Pennsylvania........ Muncy, Lycoming County, Pa.
1852 | Humphrey C. McDaniel..| Baltimore, M. E. .| Shepherdstown, W. Va.
John H. Dashiell.......... Baltimore, M. E. Annapolis, Md.
1853 | James E. Armstrong...... Baltimore, South............. College Park, Va.
James S. Gardner.........| Baltimore, South............. Middletown, Va.
Alpheus W. Wilson........ Bishop M. E. Church, South.| 1601 Park Place, Baltimore
Hamilton A. Gaver........| Baltimore, South............. Middletown, Va.
Ephraim L. Kregelo......| Baltimore, South. -| Shepherdstown, W. Va.
Asbury R. Reiley.......... Baltimore, M. E. -| Cumberland, Md.
Joseph R. Wheeler. .| Baltimore, M. E........ -| Reisterstown, Md.
1864 | Samuel Creighton.... .| Central Pennsylvania.. -| Mackeysville, Pa.
Leonard M. Gardner. Baltimore, M. E........ .| York Springs, Pa.
David 8. Monroe..........| Central Pennsylvania........| New Cumberland, Pa.
Richard Hinkle........... Central Pennsylvania........ 481 Madison Ave., York, Pa.
George Warren............ Central Pennsylvania........ Tyrone, Blair County, Pa.
1855 | Benjamin F. Stevens...... Central Pennsylvania........ Harrisburg, Pa.
William V. Tudor.... .| Virginia, South......... -| Richmond, Va.
James Hunter.. .| Central Pennsylvania.. -| 222 Chatam St., Williamsport, Pa.
James H. Wolff. .| Baltimore, South....... Charles Town, W. Va.
Job A. Price.......... .| Baltimore, M. E.............. 1831 4th Street, N. W.,
Washington, D.C.
Archibald J. Porter....... Baltimore, M. E.............. Baltimore County, Md.
1856 | Joseph J. Engle........... Baltimore, South............. Berryville, Va.
Andrew E. Taylor......... Central Pennsylvania........ Mechanicsburg, Pa.
William S. Edwards.......| Baltimore, M. E.............. 2416 N. Calvert St., Baltimore
B. G. W. Reid............68 Baltimore, M.E...... Soianeek 304 East 20th St., Baltimore
1857 | Samuel H. Cummings....| Baltimore, M. E........ -| 586 Presstman St., Baltimore

 

 

John W. Buckley...
8. M. Hartsock,...........

 

.| Central Pennsylvania. .

 

 

Baltimore, M. E...........

 

.-| White Haven, Luzerne Co., Pa.
-| Laurel, Md.

 
 

WILLIAM G. EGGLESTON
(Oldest survivor of Old Baltimore Conference. 92 years of age, 1907)
 

ALPHEUS W. WILSON

Senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
(1907)

 
493

Some Preachers Received on Trial and Discontinued, Located or
Withdrawn.
Received
1820—John Allemong, traveled one year and dis-
continued on account of ill health. Lived
in N. T. Stevensburg, Va.
1824—Richard Bond, located in 1832.

1842—Benjamin F. Brooke, in the active work till
1862. Served a while in the Methodist
Protestant, then in the Protestant Episcopal
Church and finally was re-admitted into the
Baltimore Conference M. E. Church.

1829—William H. Coffin, located in 1850.

1829—Jonathan Clary, located in 1845. Lived in
Harrisonburg, Va.

1843—George A. Coffey, withdrew March, 1852.

1851—Moncure D. Conway, withdrew 1853. Sent
the following letter to the Conference:
« Reverend Fathers—Change in many of
my theological tenets and a consciousness
of immaturity in others render it my duty
to decline offering for further orders. God
knows, my brothers, it was in my heart to
live and die with you. There is not one of
your body that I do not love; and nothing
but the most solemn convictions of right
could ever cause me to leave a church
which holds all that I hold dear on earth.
May I not trust that your creed, however
dear, may not end like that of the Nicene
Fathers, with an Anathema against all who
dissent, but rather with a prayer that those
whom you think in error may become
494 Appendix A.

Received
children of the Light.” He afterwards
became celebrated for high literary attain-
ments.

1821—Charles A. Davis, located in 1828. Chaplain
in U. S. Navy. ©

1835—George W. Deems, located in 1850. Lived in
Baltimore.

1835—Thomas J. Deyerle, located in 1844. Lived
in Montgomery County, Va.

1839—Penfield Doll, located in 1849. Was useful
as a Local Preacher.

1836—William Evans, located in 1854. Lived in
Martinsburg, Va.

1840—Nathaniel L. Fish, located in 1854. Removed
to the West.

1833—Stevens D. Hopkins, located in 1838. Was
‘Editor of the Fincastle Herald. Died in
Staunton, Va.

1827—John A. Henning, located in 1850. A man of
talent, but ecceutric.

1845—Fielder Israel, Jr., located in 1851. Became
a Unitarian minister.

1839—Andrew Jamison, located in 1850.

1827—Henry S. Keppler, located in 1836. Minister
in Protestant Episcopal Church, Richmond,
Va.

1813—Thomas Kennerly, located in 1822. Lived in
Clarke County, Va. Died March, 1853.

1813—Samuel Kennerly, located in 1827. Lived in
Augusta County, Va.

1826—John H. Linn, transferred to Missouri in
1838. Officiated at the marriage of Gen-
eral Grant. Was pastor of Central M. E.
Charch, South, Baltimore, in 1870.
Discontinued—Located— Withdrawn. 495

Received

1833—John Wesley Osborne, located in 1849 and
removed to Chicago.

1840—William H. Renick, located in 1846. Lived
in Salem, Va.

1826—Dr. George C. M. Roberts, located in 1829.
Practised medicine for many years and
served the Baltimore pulpits acceptably.
Was greatly loved.

1807—Benedict Reynolds, located in 1814, and prac-
tised medicine in Pennsylvania.

1850—William C. Steele, was transferred to New
York, and was useful in mission work in
that city. Died 1907.

1828—Joseph Spriggs, adhered to the Church South
in 1851, serving in the Virginia Confer-
ence.

1808—Daniel Stansbury, located in 1818.

1813—Thomas C. Thornton, located in 1822. An
estimable man.

1832—Thomas Wheeler, located in 1848.

1850—Edmund H. Waring, transferred to Iowa.
Long in the itinerant field.

1844—Alfred Wiles located in 1849, afterwards in
the Virginia Conference.

1822—Thomas T. Wysong, located in 1867.
496 Appendix B.

APPENDIX B.
Personal Notes and Reminiscences.

Born in Alexandria, Va., October 15, 1830, I
was taken to Baltimore in 1832, reared and educated
in that city. Four generations back Edward Martin
lived in Cornwall, England, from 1744 to 1789.
His ancestors were refugees from France at the time
of the persecution of the Huguenots. They went
first to the island of Guernsey, thence to the Scilly
Isles, and subsequently to Cornwall, near Penzance
in the south of England. The home was a favorite
stopping place of John Wesley. My grandmother,
Mrs. Philippa Smith, a daughter of Edward Martin,
and an older sister, Mrs. Jane Broad, used to enter-
tain the children with stories of Mr. Wesley’s visits
to the home of their father. I count it a privilege
thus to have received fragments of his conversations
from the lips of those with whom he talked. The
family emigrated to this country near the close of
the eighteenth century and lived in Alexandria.

Joseph Smith, whose ancestors came from Ger-
many and settled in Germantown, Pa., was born
in Berkeley County, Va., in 1761, was a soldier in the
war of the Revolution ; went to Trappe, Loudoun
County, Va., and conducted a country store, thence
to Leesburg, and finally became a shipping merchant
in Alexandria. He was converted among the Meth-
odists and was an official member of the original
society in Alexandria. His son, Samuel Smith,
married Philippa Martin, conducted a store and died
in his prime. His widow, my grandmother, was an
inmate of my father’s home for fifty years.
 

 

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Notes and Reminiscences. 497

A great aunt of my father, Alice Hill, born 1742,
lived in New York City, belonged to the first Metho-
dist Society, under Captain Webb and Philip Em-
bury, and died, at the advanced age of eighty-nine
years, in 1831.

Thus I have a goodly Methodist heritage. That,
however, would have availed me nothing had not
the early religious impressions formed in the home
and in the Sunday School laid the foundation for
a Christian life. My father led me, at the age of
five, into the Fayette Street Sunday School. Placed
in the care of a gentle, pious young man, whose
name was Parsons, I found my only duty was to
recite as many verses from the Gospels as I could
commit to memory. For a certain number recited a
blue ticket was given, and, as the number grew, a red
ticket, and the climax of reward was, to each little
fellow in the class who reached the summit, an attrac-
tive book. Edward Frey was the superintendent, a
man admirably fitted to the place. He was highly
esteemed for his Christian character, his liberality
and his business integrity. In association with his
two brothers, Samuel and James Frey, he conducted
a wholesale druggist establishment on West Balti-
more street for many years. Devoting his life and
his means to the care of an aged mother and to his
church, he remained unmarried and died in the faith.
At that time William G. Eggleston was just about
entering the traveling connection from the Fayette
Street charge. In his ninety-second year, he is now
’ the oldest survivor of the old Baltimore Conference.

Two boys in that Sunday School were my early
companions—the late Rev. Thomas E. Carson, son
of a devoted Methodist, David Carson, and Rev.
William V. Tudor, now in the active work as Pre-
siding Elder of the Richmond District, in the Vir-

32
498 Appendix B.

ginia. Conference. Luther Wilson, grandfather of
Bishop Luther B. Wilson, in the M. E. Church, was
one of the leading members at Fayette street, as were
also William Welsh (a devoted friend of Rev. John
Hersey), Edwin C. Thomas, long a valued and useful
member, Matthias Shroate and others. Rev. Henry
M. Harman, I think connected with Fayette street,
became a distinguished professor in Drew Seminary.

Two very old men impressed themselves deeply on
my memory. Father King, a veritable member of the
church militant, always fighting the devil, and Father
Oldham, meekest and purest of the saints. A char-
acteristic incident related in those early years illus-
trates the contrast in their temperament. A rule had
been established by the Quarterly Conference, that
none should be admitted at the lovefeasts unless he
showed his ticket at the door. Father King, having
forgotten his ticket, was refused admission by the
doorkeeper. His indignation. was so great that he
left and did not return. The same misfortune hap-
pened to Father Oldham. He meekly hastened back
to his home, and returning with his ticket before the
doors were closed, was admitted. Irecall with vivid-
ness bow this good old Methodist, who could not
sing a note, would, when the volume of sound rose
with the inspiration of spiritual power, lift himself to
his utmost height, with his hands on the pew in front
of him, and swell the chorus with a “joyful noise,”
not an uncertain sound, because it was shouted “unto
the God of his salvation.” The children who came
with their parents to these lovefeasts were permitted
to enter without the formality of tickets. In my
childhood, my mother sometimes found it convenient
to take me with her to class-meeting. James Brun-
dige was the leader. When he came round to the
place where I was sitting he would lay his hands
on my head and invoke Heaven’s blessing upon me.
Notes and Reminiscences. 499

Watch-night meetings at the close of the year were
regularly observed in all our churches. The services
were always solemn and profitable.

The Methodist Churches were not neglectful of
their poor. In 1820 a number of two-story brick
houses on Lombard street west of Paca were leased
by the City Station for the care of indigent widows.
A fund was created for their support, “ not a dime
of which” says Isaac P. Cook, “was lost.” The
Poor Board of the City Station, composed of four-
teen members, continued its noble work for forty
years. The Aged Women’s Home is its successor.
James Brundige was the last Church Patron, attend-
ing to all their wants. Mary Hewitt was for years
a most competent director. She was a power for
good in the Church ; her thrilling experiences told in
love feasts and her extraordinary gift in public
prayer produced inestimable spiritual results. She
lived near my father's, and when she died at an
advanced age my mother, whom she loved, at her
request prepared her body for burial.

A change of residence to the centre of the city in
1839, was the occasion of my transfer to Asbury
Sunday School No. 1. It was held in the room of
Rey. Thomas Bassford’s Free School on Courtland
street near Mulberry. George Baughman was the
Superintendent, and Robert M. Lockwood the Sec-
retary. My teacher, Dr. Jones, a dentist, was earn-
est and devout, often exhorting the boys with tears.
Philip Hiss taught the adjacent class—a man of fine
christian character, who lived long to bless the —
Church with faithful service and generous benefac-
tions. The room was divided by a partition about
six feet in height, separating the boys from the
girls. Every Sunday morning at the close of the ex-
ercises, the scholars were marshalled into line, the
girls leading, and marched to Light Street Church.
500 Appendix B.

Entering by side doors, they ascended to the galle-
ries and were seated, the boys on one side and
the girls opposite. The Choir (I believe the only
one in the Methodist Churches in the city), led by
Comfort Tiffany, occupied the front gallery. It was
the custom when the last two lines of the hymn were
being sung, for the people to turn round before
kneeling. Rev. Joshua Wells who was preaching
there on one occasion, in order to illustrate the
absurdity of such a practice, as he announced the
two last lines, turned his back to the congregation.
Philip Rogers, an old member, loved to sit among
the boys in the gallery. One morning, during the
service he passed suddenly from the Church- below
to the Church on high. As his body was being
removed a solemn awe rested upon the entire assem-
bly.

The General Conference held its session in 1849
in Light Street Church. As I lived at a short dis-
tance, it was one day my privilege to attend. I
distinctly remember Bishop Hedding, who was in
the chair. On Sunday morning, packed in the aisle
in the midst of a throng of people, I looked as best
I could upon the splendid form and face of Henry
Bascom, and heard his voice as it penetrated every
part of the house, impressing his audience with
measured periods, alternating with the rapid utter-
ance of his wonderful oratory. No less attractive
was Rev. Robert Newton, the delegate from the
British Wesleyans. He preached on Sunday after-
noon from the porch in front of Hon. Reverdy John-
son’s fine residence on Monument Square, Fayette
and Calvert streets. Thousands thronged the square
to hear this distinguished visitor. I sat on the steps
within a few feet of the preacher and listened with
eager interest to his message.
Notes and Reminiscences. 501

Baltimore City, after the country appointments were
taken off, remained in effect a circuit, the preachers
serving the several churches in regular turn, the local
preachers always included in the plan of appoint-
ments and doing faithful and acceptable work. The
only memory I have of Stephen George Roszel is that
after preaching twice in the city, while he was at night
ascending the spiral stairway at old Eutaw Church,
his large muscular frame and his firm step impressed
me with his strength. The moves back and forth in
the city afforded apportunity to hear the celebrated
preachers of that day. Rev. John Newland Maffit
created a great stir in Baltimore as an orator and
revivalist. Rev. John Daily, of Ohio, preached on
one occasion at Light Street until the general shout-
ing drowned his voice. Rev. J. M. Trimble, from
the same state, was a great favorite, and late in the
fifties Henry Clay Dean, of Iowa, preaching on a
Sunday evening at Eutaw, lifted the larger part of a
thousand hearers to their feet by a torrent of elo-
quence unsurpassed in my recollection.

Light Street was the mother of Methodist churches
in Baltimore. She gave regulation, counsel and help
to each society springing up in every part of the
city. She. was always eminently conservative but
never closed her eyes to the signs of progress. She
had in her communion the venerable laymen of the
former days as well as those who in the active
service held fast to the early traditions.

Abner Neal was a local preacher, who for many
years kept a bookstore on Baltimore Street which
was the rendezvous for the preachers to the time of
his death in 1824. His daughter was the wife of
Rey. John A. Gere and a first cousin to ex-President
Cleveland. Joseph Wilkins, George Earnest, Joshua
Royston, Joshua Dryden, Conrad R. Fite were men
of note. Paul Ruckle conducted a large grocery
502 Appendix B.

store on Baltimore Street near Paca. He was a
brother of Barbara Heck, the mother of Methodism
in New York. A son, Thomas C. Ruckle, was a
famous portrait painter, for whom after much persua-
sion Bishop Asbury sat for his likeness. Another
son, Samuel, I found at Kearneysville, Jefferson
County, Va., in 1855, an estimable Christian gentle-
man. Thomas Armstrong was for many years the
Secretary of the City Station Quarterly Conference,
and was, to the time of his death, the head of the
prosperous business house of Armstrong, Cator &
Company.

Before 1837 Light, Eutaw and Fayette Streets,
Wesley Chapel, William, Exeter and Monument
Streets, comprised the Baltimore City charges—all
served in regular rotation by both traveling and local
preachers. In that year a forward movement began,
resulting first in the organization of North Baltimore
Station. Fells Point became at an earlier period
(1824) East Baltimore Station, and included old Wilk
Street and afterward Caroline Street Churches. Wes-
ley Chapel, we are told by Isaac P. Cook, originated
in a carpenter’s shop in South Baltimore, which was
in 1822 enlarged and fitted up for religious services.
From its proximity to a brick yard pond it was known
as “Frog Eye.” Soon after the new church was
built my father took his three children there to be
baptized by Rev. James H. Brown, the pastor. I
remember how he lifted me, the eldest, to the top of
the altar rail to receive at the hands of the minister
my initiation into church membership.

Christian Keener, the Reese brothers and sons,
Wesley Disney, Richard H. Battee, Solomon Allen,
the Cochrane brothers, William Sullivan and others,
were well known leaders. Christian Keener was a
zealous advocate of the cause of temperance. Mainly
through his instrumentality, John B. Gough came,
Notes and Reminiscences. 508

about 1838, and organized societies at Wesley
Chapel, among them a juvenile society, of which I
became a member. Eleven years of my later youth
were spent in the Sunday School and Church at
Eutaw. The memory of Charles Blake, in whose
Sunday School class I was so fortunate as to be
placed, remains fresh and green. He kneeled within
the chancel rail of the Church, when I was seeking
religion, and with his whispered word of encourage-
ment, I passed out of the darkness into the glorious
light of the saved. Years afterward, it was my
privilege to kneel by his death couch and commend
him to the Infinite Father, to whom instrumentally
he had led me in my early youth.

Robert G. Armstrong was the Sunday-School
Superintendent. No layman was better known
throughout the Conference than this good and true
man. His was the Methodist book-store at the
corner of Baltimore and Calvert streets, the suc-
cessor of Abner Neal’s. He distributed more Meth-
odist literature than any one in his day. The boys
occupied the first floor of the Sunday-school building,
and the girls the second, with Miss Mary Fisher
their capable, efficient and successful superintendent.
In the great revival of 1845, under Rev. William
Hamilton, George Hildt and Henry Slicer, over two
hundred were converted. A happy class of boys
was brought into the fold during that meeting and
afterwards. The association that made those years
pass in delightful service includes W. F. Ames, who
after two years of glorious success on the Eastern
Shore, in the Philadelphia Conference, died in
triumph; Charles Keener, son of Christian and
youngest brother of Bishop J. C. Keener, after-
wards a noble philanthopist; W. G. Coe, converted
in the parsonage of Rev. Henry Slicer and trans-
lated in his early prime while Presiding Elder of
504 Appendix B.

the Lewisburg District, and a number of other dearly
cherished friends. Besides these, I recall David S.
Monroe, from Wesley Chapel, who was examined with
me in the Light Street parsonage in 1852, by the
preachers of the City Station, for license to exhort.
He is still in the active work, an honored member
of the Central Pennsylvania Conference. Of the
thirteen in the senior class at the High School in
1846 (now City College) when Nathan C. Brooks
was Principal, six became preachers—Andrew J.
Sutton (in the Protestant Episcopal Church), Thomas
Daugherty, Henry B. Ridgaway, Henry C. West-
wood, William V. Tudor and the writer; the last two
only survivors. Tudor and I were children together
at Fayette street, class-mates together at the High
School and companions together in the Conference.

Time would fail me to enumerate the many faith-
ful laymen at Eutaw whom I learned to know, admire
and love. Among these was Wesley Stevenson (a
grandson of the old pioneer, Rev. Sater Stevenson),
a local preacher of more than ordinary ability, to
whom and myself alone one Sunday morning at 5
o'clock John Hersey preached the last sermon I ever
heard from him. His text was appropriate, at least
to the size of his congregation: ‘Fear not, little
flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give
you the kingdom.” Brother Stevenson has entered
the “kingdom” long since. There were also the
wise counsellor, Fielder Israel; the grave, dignified
old Christian gentleman, Alexander Yearley ; good,
pious John Lynch, with always a happy experience
at lovefeast; shouting old Joseph Cassell, brother of
the sainted preacher, Leonard Cassell, and a host of
others. What a throng has “ passed the flood ’—and
we are approaching it, and “soon their happiness
shall see.” My father was for a number of years
Treasurer of the Board of Stewards at Eutaw.
Notes and Reminiscences. 505

I received, one day in January, 1853, a summons
from Rev. John Bear, the Presiding Elder of the
Baltimore District, to appear before the Quarterly
. Conference of the City Station to be examined for
license to preach and for recommendation for ad-
mission into the traveling connection. From the time
Bishop Asbury met the Baltimore Conference, the
old Conference room, in the third story of the Light
street parsonage, had been used for official meetings
of the City Station. I had often heard of it, but did
not even know how it was reached. A flight of steps
in the rear on the outside of the building gave access
to the second floor. From there an inclosed stair-
way led to a small platform with a hand rail and a
door opening into a spacious room with old-fashioned
benches and a pulpit desk in one corner. A large
. stove stood in the centre, and, as i was midwinter,
there was a fire in it which comfortably heated the
room. Many a youth had, like myself, entered there
with fear and trembling. I was soon re-assured,
however, by the kindly tones of the President, and,
forgetful of the august body assembled, used my
best endeavors to answer his questions. When he
concluded, he turned me over to the tender mercies
of the Quarterly Conference, but only two questions
were propounded. William Watkins, of Wesley
Chapel, asked: ‘Is sanctification instantaneous or
progressive?” ‘ Both,” was the reply. A pause of
some length ensued, after which Rev. John H. Mark,
an old English local preacher, after expressing sur-
prise that the usual question on such an occasion
had not been asked, solemnly inquired: ‘Is the
young brother under any matrimonial engagement? ”
Dr. Thomas E. Bond, Jr., licensed only a short time
previous, promptly interposed a question of order,
the Presiding Elder as promptly ruled the question
out and thus annulled a precedent of long standing.
What young preacher, after being directed to retire
506 Appendix B.

at the conclusion of the examination, has ever failed,
as he stood waiting on the outside for the vote to be
taken, to‘hear his heart beat and feel his nerves
shaking? When the sound of the affirmative vote
reached his ears, he felt the “die was cast,” and that
the lines of his future lay in an altogether new and
strange direction. So I felt; the doubts of two long
years vanished and the work of an itinerant Methodist
preacher really began. How rapidly have the years
flown by, until at last nothing remains to be done
but, not inactively, to wait for the final summons:
“Tt is enough—come up higher.”

NotE.—These notes and reminiscences have been written
only at the urgent request of others. Should it please God to
continue my life yet a little space and bless me with strength
sufficient, I may, if desired, give some sketches of a half cen-
tury’s experiences in the active work of the ministry.
Oficial Members. 507

APPENDIX C.

Names of Official Members in the Files of the First Conference
Journal (1801-1809).

Alexandria—John B. Bryan, Benjamin Baden,
Ralph Douglass, James Emmett, James Flood, James
Grimes, Thomas Jacobs, Samuel Kirk, William
Rhodes, Charles Slade, John Sloan, Joseph Smith,
William Veitch.

Allegheny, Md.—Thomas Altroy, M. Clymer,
Stephen Dickin, John Johnson, John J. Jacobs,
William Knox, Thomas Lakin.

Bald Eagle, Pa.—John Ake, Thomas Bateman,
Daniel Clark, John Crum, Mark Evans, Aquilla Green,
John Rhoades, John Stonebraker, Abraham Vantius,
Thomas Weston.

Baltimore— William Ashman, Thomas E. Bond, J.
Bassett, John and George Baxley, Benjamin Berry,
John Brevitt, J. Burniston, Daniel Chambers, Joseph
Carnaby, John M. Dennison, William Duncan, George
Earnest, Adam Fonerden, Moses Hand, John Hagerty,
William Hawkins, Caleb Hewitt, John Hollings-
worth, James Ives, Joshua Jones, Emmanuel Kent,
Jacob King, Philip Littig, William Lynes, James
McCannon, Daniel McJilton, Benjamin Merrill,
Abner Neal, Samuel Norwood, Joseph J. Ogden,
Mabury Parks, John Parker, Paul Ruckle, George
Watt, William M. Wood, William H. Wood, William
Woods.

Baltimore Circuit—Robert N. Carnan, Richard
Clark, James O. Cromwell, Ellis Jones, John Lowe,
Joseph Peregoy, Joseph Wampler, Robert Williams.
508 Appendix C.

Carlisle, Pa.—James Anderson, Thomas Atherton,
Samuel Brandebury, Joseph Brearley, William Brook-
ins, George Coffman, Johu and Thomas Davis,
Michael Dipple, James Elliott, Josiah Foster, Samuel
Greer, Jacob Kerns, William Keith, John Kennedy,
Thomas Ling, Henry Linhart, David Pike, Lewis
Phipps, Charles Rice, John Scott, John Smith,
Thomas Yoak.

Fairfax, Va.—Samuel Adams, Wesley Adams,
John Cartwright, Benjamin Hitt, David English,
John Littlejohn, John Littletore, John M. Pearson.

Federal, Md.—John, Peter and Tyson Baggerly,
Thomas Bicknal, Basil Burton, Martin Fisher,
Nathan Hoskinson, Seth Hyatt, James Lazenberry,
John Morris, Richard Nixon, Jacob Riddle, Green-
bury Ridgeley, Josiah Selby.

Fell’s Point—Joseph Benson, Samuel Chubb,
Samuel Dorsey, William Drummond, Edward and
Ezekiel Hall, John Hawkins, James Heath, Michael
Logan, Edward Scott, Frederick Shaffer, John
Timmis.

Frederick, Md.—Lewis Browning, George Cassel,
Jobn Decus, John Durben, Lawrence Everhart,
John Evans, James Frazer, Jacob Hynes, Henry
Jefferson, Joshua Jones, Burgess Nelson, John
Norris, Andrew, James and Samuel Poulson, Samuel
Phillips, L. Selby, Alexander Warfield.

Georgetown, D. C.—William D. Bell, Joseph and
Richard Beck, William Doughty, Matthew Green-
tree, Isaac Owens, John Lipscomb, James Patterson.

Greenbrier, Va.—Peter Blake, William Cherington,
William Cravens, Robert Chambers, Robert Johnson,
Samuel McWilliams, Abraham Melony, John Ragan.

Harford, Md.—Thomas Bond of John, Alexander
Ewing, Aquilla Galloway, Nathaniel Greenfield,
Oficial Members. 509

Aquilla and John Hatton, Thomas McLaughlin,
Thomas Meredith, Benjamin Richardson, Joseph
Slee, Jr., Abraham Standeford, Henry Watters, John
Wright.

Huntingdon, Pa.—Henry Broosick, Thomas Bur-
rell, Alexander Byers, Robert Corran, John Crum,
James Deaver, Michael Dunn, Jeremiah Duvall,
James Edwards, Mark Evans, Richard Goddard,
Joshua Gosnell, Philip Houghenberry, Edward Mat-
thews, Hugh McMullen, James McNutt, John Mor-
rison, James Saxton, Isaac Thompson, Thomas Wes-
ton, James, John and Charles Widney.

Juniata, Pa.—James Davisson, John and Peter
Coffman, John Higerman, Samuel Osborne, John
Owens, Henry McConnell, Arthur Waight.

Lancaster, Va.—Baker Angel, John Doggett,
Thomas Dosy, William Forrester, Martin Hayne,
Lewis Hilyard, John Lackey, Richard Mitchell,
John Potts, Lewis Sutton.

Lycoming, Pa.—William Butler, Nicholas Egbert,
John Foster, Michael Lincoln, John Rhoads, Jacob
Snyder, Samuel Sunderland, Robert Pennington,
William Tallman, John and George Thomas.

Montgomery, Md.—Abednego Baker, Joseph and
Benjamin Benton, Archibald Browning, Enoch Bus-
som, Jonathan Oash, Henry Camden, James Day,
Joshua Digman, Rezin Davis, John Douglass, Daniel
Elliott, Vachel Hall, James Hawkins, Levi and Joseph
Hayes, Nathan Holland, John Hunnan, George For-
quener, Dennis Lackland, Kingsley Linthicum, John
Magruder, Thomas Morton, George Norris, Michael
Mires, Jasper Peddicord, William Ridgeley, John
Thomas, Thomas Watkins, William Wilson.

Pendleton, Va.—William Bryan, Moses and Abra-
ham Henkle, John Knapp, Ferdinand Lair, John
510 Appendix C.

Mitchell, Adam Mosier, Samuel Peter, William
Peterson.

Rockingham, Va.—James Cochran, William Cra-
vens, Jacob Custer, John Emmett, Reuben Harrison,
Sr., Reuben Harrison, Jr., Joseph Hicks, William
King, Samuel McWilliams, Archibald Rutherford,
James and Benjamin Smith, Joseph Thornton,
Reuben Wallace.

Wyoming, Pa.—Abraham Adams, Thomas Borch,
Christian Bowman, Jonathan Brown, Gilbert Car-
penter, Azael Dana, Thomas Dunn, Jesse Gardner,
J. W. Mears, Newton and Jonathan Smith, Moses
Wadham, Ashbell Waller, Joseph Whitlock, Darius
Williams.

Stafford, Va.— William Butts, Colin Campbell,
Isaac Camper, James Cowles, James Cox, Andrew
Hawkins, Hezekiah Oliver, James Rose, William
Suttle.

Winchester, Va.—Samuel Calvert, William Car-
negie, John Davenport, George M. Frve, Simon
Lauck, Jr., Jesse Manly, James Newham, Elisha
Phelps, George Reed, John B. Tilden, James Walls.

Names of Some Laymen Gathered From the Conference Files
and Other Sources.

Alexandria (1850)—R. 8. Ashby, William N.
Berkeley, William A. Brown, George Bryan, James
H. Carlin, John T. Creighton, James Green, Benja-
min H. Lambert, A. Lockwood, Samuel Lunt, J.
McCormick, Lewis McKenzie, James H. and William
N. McVeigh, William B. Price, John R. Pierpont,
Henry Simpson, P. G. Uhler, William and Daniel
Veitch, Thomas A. Waters, Benoni and J. J. Wheat,
S. H. Williams, R. Zimmerman.

Baltimore (east of the Falls) in 1837—William
Askew, Henry Bailey, Daniel R. Barry, Robert Bol-
Official Members. 611

ton, Jesse Chesney, Charles Cave, Joshua Creamer,
Jacob Daley, Daniel Dale, James Disney, Richard
Donahoe, Robert Frederick, William Fusselbaugh,
Joseph Farrow, William Goldsborough, J ohn Grape,
Nathan Hall, David Harriman, Samuel Hindes,
James Haggerty, Charles Hogg, Levin Jones, John
W. Krebs, Columbus A. Leaman, John Lamb,
Joseph Loane, John C. Letherbridge, John Morrow,
Samuel McPherson, Daniel Pentz, Addi Pindle,
Henry Powell, Samuel Rankin, Nathan Richardson,
Daniel E. Reese, George Sanders, Stephen Severson,
James A. and James B. Smith, Abraham Silver, John
Snaveley, James Suter, Sterling Thomas, Harry F.
Turner, John G. Wilcox, Levin Wood. In 1850—
Hosea Armstrong, William K. Boyle, Robert N.
Crawford, James Corner, Edward Heffner, Jacob
Hiss, Asbury Jarrett, John and Thomas Kelso,
William J. King, John H. Mark, F. E. Marine,
Samuel J. Pentz, John F. Plummer, John B. Seiden-
stricker, James P. Thomas, James Wright and a
host of others.

Baltimore, west of Falls, besides those already
referred to in Personal Notes—Col. John W. Berry,
Samuel M. Barry, Elisha Carback, Capt. Henry Cot-
trell, Abraham V. Cosine, John W. Drakely, Daniel
Fosbenner, Thomas Flint, Richard Gees, William
Gist, Samuel Harden, Daniel Hoffman, Samuel
Kramer, Caleb Littig, Hugh M. Logan, William Mc-
Conkey, William R. Monroe, George W. Nabb,
Joseph J. Ogden, John Plaskett, Samuel Rankin,
William Reany, 8. Wesley Roszel, Joseph Shane,
John W. Tilyard, Charles Towson, Joseph Tucker,
Samuel W. Williams, Nicholas L. Wood, William
Woods, William G. Young and many others.

Washington (1853)—C. W. Boteler, William G.
Deale, John C. Harkness, F. Howard, Thomas H.
Havenner, Charles H. Lane, Z. W. McKnew, Samuel
Norment, Thomas Pursell.
510 Appendix C.

Mitchell, Adam Mosier, Samuel Peter, William
Peterson.

Rockingham, Va.—James Cochran, William Cra-
vens, Jacob Custer, John Emmett, Reuben Harrison,
Sr., Reuben Harrison, Jr., Joseph Hicks, William
King, Samuel McWilliams, Archibald Rutherford,
James and Benjamin Smith, Joseph Thornton,
Reuben Wallace.

Wyoming, Pa.—Abraham Adams, Thomas Borch,
Christian Bowman, Jonathan Brown, Gilbert Car-
penter, Azael Dana, Thomas Dunn, Jesse Gardner,
J. W. Mears, Newton and Jonathan Smith, Moses
Wadham, Ashbell Waller, Joseph Whitlock, Darius
Williams.

Stafford, Va.— William Butts, Colin Campbell,
Isaac Camper, James Cowles, James Cox, Andrew
Hawkins, Hezekiah Oliver, James Rose, William
Suttle.

Winchester, Va.—Samuel Calvert, William Car-
negie, John Davenport, George M. Frve, Simon
Lauck, Jr., Jesse Manly, James Newham, Elisha
Phelps, George Reed, John B. Tilden, James Walls.

Names of Some Laymen Gathered From the Conference Files
and Other Sources.

Alexandria (1850)—R. 8. Ashby, William N.
Berkeley, William A. Brown, George Bryan, James
H. Carlin, John T. Creighton, James Green, Benja-
min H. Lambert, A. Lockwood, Samuel Lunt, J.
McCormick, Lewis McKenzie, James H. and William
N. McVeigh, William B. Price, John R. Pierpont,
Henry Simpson, P. G. Uhler, William and Daniel
Veitch, Thomas A. Waters, Benoni and J. J. Wheat,
S. H. Williams, R. Zimmerman.

Baltimore (east of the Falls) in 1837—William
Askew, Henry Bailey, Daniel R. Barry, Robert Bol-
Oficial Members. 511

ton, Jesse Chesney, Charles Cave, Joshua Creamer,
Jacob Daley, Daniel Dale, James Disney, Richard
Donahoe, Robert Frederick, William Fusselbaugh,
Joseph Farrow, William Goldsborough, John Grape,
Nathan Hall, David Harriman, Samuel Hindes,
James Haggerty, Charles Hogg, Levin Jones, John
W. Krebs, Columbus A. Leaman, John Lamb,
Joseph Loane, John C. Letherbridge, John Morrow,
Samuel McPherson, Daniel Pentz, Addi Pindle,
Henry Powell, Samuel Rankin, Nathan Richardson,
Daniel E. Reese, George Sanders, Stephen Severson,
James A. and James B. Smith, Abraham Silver, John
Snaveley, James Suter, Sterling Thomas, Harry F.
Turner, John G. Wilcox, Levin Wood. In 1850—
Hosea Armstrong, William K. Boyle, Robert N.
Crawford, James Corner, Edward Heffner, Jacob
Hiss, Asbury Jarrett, John and Thomas Kelso,
William J. King, John H. Mark, F. E. Marine,
Samuel J. Pentz, John F. Plummer, John B. Seiden-
stricker, James P. Thomas, James Wright and a
host of others.

Baltimore, west of Falls, besides those already
referred to in Personal Notes—Col. John W. Berry,
Samuel M. Barry, Elisha Carback, Capt. Henry Cot-
trell, Abraham V. Cosine, John W. Drakely, Daniel
Fosbenner, Thomas Flint, Richard Gees, William
Gist, Samuel Harden, Daniel Hoffman, Samuel
Kramer, Caleb Littig, Hugh M. Logan, William Mc-
Conkey, William R. Monroe, George W. Nabb,
Joseph J. Ogden, John Plaskett, Samuel Rankin,
William Reany, S. Wesley Roszel, Joseph Shane,
John W. Tilyard, Charles Towson, Joseph Tucker,
Samuel W. Williams, Nicholas LL. Wood, William
Woods, William G. Young and many others.

Washington (1853)—C. W. Boteler, William G.
Deale, John C. Harkness, F. Howard, Thomas H.
Havenner, Charles H. Lane, Z. W. McKnew, Samuel
Norment, Thomas Pursell.
INDEX.

ABBOTT, BENJAMIN, 24.

Abbott, David, 65.

Abel, Jeremiah, 108.

Abolition, Anti, 248, 250, 255,
262, 275, 309.

Adams, William, 25, 47.

Adams, Sarah, 31.

Address, Pastoral, 161.

Adherence to M. E. Church,
Conditional, 283.

African Mission, 224.

Agent, Sunday School, 266.

Albany, Asbury at, 114.

Allen, Beverly, elected Elder,
83.

Allen, Moses D., Trustee, 89.

Allegheny Circuit, 73, 86;
Henry Smith on, 154.

Alexandria, a Station, 97, 105;
Conference at, 135, 137.

Alghier, John, 155.

Allison, Mrs. Martha, 18.

Anderson, James, 89.

Anderson, Thomas, 119.

Andrews, Abraham (died), 130.

Andrew, J. O., elected Bishop,
224, 264.

Annapolis, 40, 49, 87.

Appointments, changes in, 33.

Armstrong, Robert G. 247.

Armstrong, J. E. 300.

Asbury, Francis, in Bohemia
Manor, 6; Sketches of, 13;

in training, 15; in New
York, 16; first visit to Bal-
timore, 17; on circuit, 21;
in Norfolk, 29; remarks on

33

 

Wesley, 36; at Perry Hall,
39; on Eastern Shore, 41;
in seclusion, 41; troubled,
45 ;in Little York, 51; in Vir-
ginia, 51; in Martinsburg,
51; Brucetown, 51; South
Branch, 52; traveling, 76;
met Coke, 77; elected
Bishop, 83; with Coke at
the White House, 88; lament
for Cokesbury, 93; on
O’Kelly, 102; at Rehobeth,
108; at Staunton, 113; in
Charleston, S. C., 121; trav-
eling companion, provided,
126; visits Harrisonburg,
133; Newtown, 133; on un-
married preachers, 139, 152;
signature in journal, 158;
death of, 175; character,
176; funeral, 178; life to be
compiled, 181.

Asbury Historical
261.

Society,

BAILEY EDWARD, 41.

Baker, Albert, death of, 267.

Baker, Charles, 16.

Baker, James, 10.

Bald Eagle, 148.

Baldwin, John, 84.

Ball, Colonel, 32.

Ball, John, 133; death of, 281.

Baltimore, 3, 85.

Baltimore Conference first to
organize Missionary So-
ciety, 183.
514

Baltimore Christian Advocate
and Itinerant, 297.

Baltimore Female College,
287. 295, 298.

Bangs, Nathan, 218, 264.

Barrett’s Chapel, 77, 81.

Barry, Mordecai; death of,
204.

Bassford, Thomas, 159.

Bath Circuit, 87.

Bear, John, 204, 207, 213, 223,
247, 272, 286, 299, 308.

Beard, 71.

Bellefont Circuit, transferred,
212.

Bennett, 40.

Bennett, Dr. W. W., 111, 147,
157.

 

Bequests, 202, 209, 253, 261. |

Berkeley, James, death of, 267.

Berkeley Springs, (Bath,) As-
bury at, 113.

Berry, John, 247.

Best, Hezekiah, 211.

Bible Society, 198, 251.

Bishops, trial of, 104.

Black, William, 82, 83.

Blacksburg, Carson at, 149.

Blake, Samuel V., 304.

Blanter, 72.

Bloodgood, 119.

Boardman, 6, 12, 17.

Boardley, 67.

Bohemia Manor, 6.

Bond, John Wesley, 8, 159, 173.

Bond, Thoinas E, Sr., 8, 216;
ordained Elder, 237.

Bond, Thomas E. Jr., 287.

Bonham, Hezekiah, 7, 17.

Book Agents, 126, 181, 218, 266.

Book Concern, 209, 246.

Index.

Booker, Simon L., death of,
219.

Bostwick, Shadrack, 134.

Botetourt, 72, 97.

Botetourt, Conference at, 115;
Circuit, 134; Camp-meeting,
137.

Botetourt becomes Fincastle,
212.

Bowen, Thomas, 84.

Bowen, John, 282.

Bowers, Mrs.. 99.

Bowman, Henry, 10.

Bowman, Jesse, 75.

Bowman, Thomas, 253, 295.

Bowyer, Caleb, 48.

Brads, James, 268.

Breeze, Samuel, 116.

Brice, Sarah, 247.

Brokenback Church, 46.

Brown, Benjamin N, 225, 289,
299, 304, 305.

Brown, Charles E, 251; death
of, 281.

Brown, George L, 267.

Brown, M, 11.

Browning, Jeremiah, 99.

Bruce, Philip, 58, 84, 86, 99,
132; death of, 212.

Brundige, James, 247.

Brunswick Revival, 29.

Bunn, Seely, 97, 100; death of,
237.

Bunniston, 106.

Burch, Robert, 167, 199, 204.

Burgoon, Charles, death of,
130.

Burnam, Christian, 141.

Burgess, 149.

Burns and Lewis, Free Church
of Seotland, 271.
Index.

Busey, Thomas H., death of,
306.

Bush, Forest, 9.

Butler, William, death or, 298.

CADDEN, ROBERT, 223, 247,
308.

Caldwell, Professor in Dickin-
son College, 243.

Calvert Circuit, 49, 86.

Calvert, Jacob, 124,

Calvert, Samuel, 99.

Campbell, James, 75.

Camp-meetings, 136, 163.

Canada, Separated, 217.

Canada, claim non-concurred
in, 236.

Cannon, William, 84.

Capers, William, delegate to
Wesleyans, 218.

Carlisle District, formed, 156;
Circuit, 119; Station, 207.

Carnan, John, 89.

Carnan, Charles, 89.

Carnan, Robert N., 65, 145.

Caroline Street Station, 274.

Carson, Joseph, 98, 140, 149,
152, 153.

Cartwright, Solomon, (colored)
Missionary to Africa, 223,

Cash, Resin, death of, 135.

Cassell, Jacob, 7.

Cassell, Leonard, 130,
death of 149.

Cassville Seminary, 300.

Centenary of Methodism, 257,
268. i

Centres, Baltimore till 1789,

~ 95.

Centres, Radiate from Balti-
more, 95.

131;

 

515

Chalmers, John, 89; death of,
237.

Chamberlain, 16, 18.

Chambersburg Circuit,
District, 238.

Change of Mules non-con-
curred in, 237.

Chapman, William H, death
of, 219.

Characters of Preachers Ex-
amined, 124, 174.

Charges, definite
ment of, 120.

Charnier, Mrs., 18.

Chair, Mr., 66.

Charles Street Station, 274.

Charleson, John, (colored,) 97.

Chew, Thomas, 40, 84.

Childs, Mr., 40.

Children, to be catechized,
160.

Christie James, 71.

Christiansburg Circuit, 212.

Christmas Conference, 81.

Church of England, 44.

Churches, pewed forbidden,
181.

Church Trials, modified, 126.

Clarksburg Circuit, 87.

Clearfield Circuit, 210.

Clearspring, 212.

Cloud, Adam, 84.

Coats, straight breasted, 202.

Cochran, Simon, 75.

Coffin, William H, 225.

Colbert, William, 111.

Cole, LeRoy, 40, 83, 99,

Coles, 155.

Colegate, John, 11, 16.

Coke, Thomas, 27, 81, 82, 88,
89, 94, 101, 121, 126, 157.
173.

165;

arrange-
516

Cokesbury College, 89, 90, 93.
Cokesbury Circuit, 119.
Collins, Charles C, 300.
Collins, John A., 247, 261, 264,
272, 286, 299, 304.
Colonization, 211, 217, 261.
Colored Societies, 274, 294,305.
Columbia ave. Station, 267.
Concord Circuit, 210.
Conestio Circuit, 148.
Cook, Valentine, 71, 106.
Cook, Isaac P., 247.
Cookman, George G., 225, 266.
Cooper, Ezekiel, 105, 126.
Conferences, 109, 120, 125;
called Districts, 128, 129,
139, 148, 160, 171, 202, 220,
284, 301.
Conversations, original desig-
nation of Conferences, 68.
Council The, 95.
Courtship, bars admission, 221.
Cravens, William, 99, 213.
Crawford, James, 7.
Crenshaw Thomas, 97.
Creever, Benjamin H., 287.
Cromwell, James O., 48, 84.
Cromwell, Joseph, 20, 41, 84.
Cryder, Michael, 74.
Cullisons, 155.
Cumberland,
222,
Cunningham, Bequest, 202,
209.
Curtis, Thomas, 84.

219; District,

DALLAM, JOSIAS AND RicH-
ARD, 11.

Daman, W., 7.

Daughaday, Thomas, death
of, 161. ,

Dashiell, Robert L., 286.

 

Index.

Davis, Charles A., 223.

Davis, John, 159, 216, 223,
228, 247, 250, 272, 286, 299;
death of, 301.

Debruler, Micajah, 47.

Debts, how settled, 104.

Deeds, Church, to be exam-
ined, 221.

Deficiencies, not to be claimed,
181.

Deer Creek, 8.

Deerfield Circuit, 134.

DeHaas, F. S., 306.

Delegated General Confer-
ence considered, 146,

Delegates to General Confer-
ence, 177, 199, 204, 216, 223,
247; described, 276.

Denton, Benjamin, Appeal,
251.

Deyerle, T. J., 268.

Dickins, John, 40, 46, 83;

death of, 122.

Dickinson College, 219, 223,
235, 238, 243, 254, 298.

Dickinson Seminary, 289, 295.

Discipline, rules enacted, 83,
255.

District Conferences, 103.

District Conferences for Local
Preachers, 200.

Division of Conference, pro-
posed, 255, 260. 270, 271,
272, 274, 299, 303, 306;
effected, 307.

Donaldson, Thomas, 7.

Dorsey, Dennis B., censured,
215.

Dorsey, Edwin, 261, 307.

Dorsey, Thomas J., death of,
254.

Dorsey, Mr., 40.
Index. 517

Dougherty, John, 20, 155.

Drinnon, Mr., 51.

Drumgole, Edward, 23, 29, 84.

Dudley, Joshua, 49.

Dudley, Samuel, 84.

Duke, William, 11, 23.

Dulin, Edward L., death of:
303.

Dunnohay, J. W.,
243.

Durbin, John, 133; death of,
144.

Durbin, Dr. J. P., President
of Dickinson College, 243.

trial of,

EARLY, JOHN, 235.

East Baltimore Conference,
309.

Easter, John, 59, 84.

East Harford Circuit, 268.

Ebenezer Circuit, 199.

Education of Preacher’s Chil-
dren, 186, 233, 272, 304.

Education Fund, 198.

Eggleston, William G., 251.

Elk Ridge, 20.

Elliott, John W., 306.

Ellis Chapel, 56.

Ellis, Ira, 59, 84.

Ellis, Michael, 64, 84.

Ellis, Reuben, 40, 46, 83.

Ellis, Samuel, death of, 284.

Embury, Philip, 1.

Emmart, Michael, 155.

Emory, John, 184, 199, 207,
218, 224; death of, 251, 252.

Emory, Robert, 248, 254, 286;
death of, 294.

Emory Station, 268.

Enos, William H, death of, 304.

Evans, Daniel, 7, 17.

Evans, John, 7.

 

Everett, Joseph, 57, 84, 88,
89; death of, 159.

Ewing, H. W., death of, 303.

Exeter Street Station, 303.

Expelled, 303, 307.

FAIRFAX CIRCUIT, 30, 86.

Fairfax, Mr., 30.

Fayette Street Station, 266.

Fechtig, Lewis R., 143, 165,
199; death of, 204.

Federal Circuit, 119.

Fells Point becomes East Bal-
timore, 212.

Female Seminaries, 270, 286,
288.

Fidler, Daniel, 116.

Fidler, Noah, 145.

Fincastle Church, 73.

Fincastle Clreuit, 212.

Fisk, Wilbur, 249, 264.

Fite, Conrad R., 247.

Fleming Thornton, 118.

Fonerden, A., 18, 30, 31.

Force, U., of Philadelphia Con-
ference, 232.

Forrest, Jonathan, 64, 84.

Forrest, Josiah, 287.

Forwood, Samuel, 11.

Foster, Thomas, 84.

Franklin Street Station, 307.

Frazier, William, 89.

Frederick Circuit, 17, 25, 87.

Frederick Town, 134, 162.

Fredericksburg, 131.

French, Doctor, 149.

Front Royal, 137.

Frostburg Circuit, 267.

Frye, Christopher, 130, 167,
228.

Frye, Joseph, 158, 199, 204,
216; death of, 280.
518

Fulton, Thomas, death of, 297.

Funds of Conference to be

. equitably divided, 308.

Furlong, Henry, 223; death
of, 301.

GALLOWAY, AQUILLA, 11, 155.

Gaver, Hamilton A, 300.

Gardner, James §, 300.

Garrettson, Freeborn, 28, 31,
38, 41, 49, 50, 81, 82, 94,
212; death of 216.

Garrettson, Richard, 47.

Gatch, Philip, 16, 23, 46.

Genesee Conference, 160, 171.

Gere, John A, 261, 272, 299.

General Conferences, 101, 103,
127, 136, 146, 156, 171, 178,
249, 261, 274, 293, 300, 305.

General Conferences, Dele-
gates to, 167, 177, 199, 204,
216, 223, 247, 261, 272, 286,
299, 305.

General Conference,
of a, 265.

George, Enoch, 59, 97, 99, 124,
131, 167, 179, 206; death of,
219, 237, 301.

Georgetown Conference of
1808, 148.

German Mission, 286.

Gifts to Preachers,
104.

Giles, Nathaniel, 11, 16.

Gill, William, 40, 83.

Glendenning, William, 29, 84.

Gloucester Circuit, 86.

Goheen, Mabury, 287, 304, 305.

Gorsuch, Charles, 155.

Gorsuch Chapel, 305.

Gorsuch, David, 66.

picture

divided,

 

Index.

Gorsuch, John §S., death of,
300.

Green Lemuel, 84, 116.

Gray, 40.

Greenbrier Circuit, 69, 72, 134,
210.

Greenbrier District, 134.

Greenbrier Camp - meeting,
137.

Gough, Harry Dorsey, 26.

Griffith, 40.

Griffith, Alfred, 144, 199, 204,
223, 247, 266, 270, 272, 286,
299, 305, 308.

Gruber, Jacob, 167, 185, 222;
death of, 297.

Guest, Job, 40, 144, 216, 228.

Guyer, James, death of, 284.

HAGERSTOWN CIRCUIT, 143,
159, 203.

Hagerty, John, 7, 17, 31, 47,
83.

Hagerty Paul, 7, 17.

Hall, Mrs. Elizabeth H., 202.

Hamilton, William, 223, 247,
286, 305, 308.

Hammond, Rezin, 173.

Hampstead Circuit, 301.

Hanson, James M., 154, 158,
216, 223, 228, 242.

Harden, Francis A., 272, 297.

Harden, Samuel, 266.

Harnesberger, L. J., 269, 271.

Harpers Ferry, 243.

Harry, Black, 81.

Harris, Dr. Chapin A., 287.

Harrison Cireuit, 177.

Harrison, Peachy, 251.

Harrisonburg Camp-meeting,
136.
Index.

Harrisonburg Circuit, 238.

Harrisonburg Conference, 115,
158.

Harrisonburg Revival, 131.

Haskins, Thomas, 84.

Havenner, George, 7.

Havre de Grace Station, 266.

Hawkins, 18.

Hayes, Thomas C., 278.

Head, Nelson, 216, 271.

Heath, Rev. Mr., Cokesbury,
92. :

Hedding, Bishop E, 209, 228,
264, 299.

Hemphill, J., 71.

Hemphill, Andrew, 133, 162,
167, 204, 216; death of, 253.

Henning, John A, 292.

Herbert, Hardy, 119.

Hereford Circuit, 268.

Hersey, John, sketch of, 186.

Heneliss, 40.

Henkel, Eli, 216.

Heresies, to be repressed, 181.

Hewitt, Mary, 247.

Hickson, Woolman, 59, 84.

High Street Station, 274.

Hildebrand, Thomas, 289.

Hildt, George, 272.

Hill, John, 97.

Hirst, William, 305.

History, 1, 163, 173, 177, 261,
308.

Hitt, Daniel, 100, 118, 204«
death of, 210.

Hitt, Herman, 32, 148.

Hitt, Samuel} 124.

Hockenbury, Adam, death of,
303. ‘

Holland, Horace, 251; death
of, 304.

Hollingsworth, Francis, 19.

 

519

Hollingsworth, Jesse, 18.

Home Missions, 236.

Holspeter, 51.

Holston Circuit, 69.

Hopper, 66.

Houseweart, J., death of, 254.

Houston, William, 215; death
of, 300.

Howard, Cornelius, 66.

Howe, Morris, death of, 270.

Howell, John, death of, 251.

Hughes, Mrs. Elizabeth, 31.

Hulings, Mrs. Rachel, 18.

Hull, Hope, 108, 109.

Hunt, Phineas, 155.

Huntingdon Circuit, 87.

Huntingdon District, 268.

Inp1an Missrons, 182,
224, 236.

Trish Missions, 306.

Israel, George W, 289.

Itinerant, (Paper) 216.

Ivey, Richard, 42, 83.

186,

JACOB, JOHN JEREMIAH, 75.

Jackson, Thomas, 84.

Jarrett, 78.

Jefferson Circuit, 202.

Jefferson, Hamilton, 99, 167;
death of, 203.

Jefferson Street Station, 303.

Jennings, Dr. Samuel K., 216.

Jessup, William, 84, 118.

Jones, John, 74.

Jones, Nicholas, 89.

Jones, John M., death of, 306.

Johnson, 72.

Jordan, Zechariah, death of,
271.

Journal, First Conference, 124.

Journal, Required, 126.
520

Journal, to be examined, 217.
Juniata Circuit, 74, 136, 173.

KANAWHA CIRCUIT, 97.

Keenan, Patrick, 70.

Keenan, Edward, 108.

Keener, Christian, 216, 247,
287.

Kennison, Charles, 70.

Kennison, Edward, 70.

Kent Circuit, 23.

Keyes, James N., 305.

Knotts, J. Hanson, death of,
306.

King, John, 2, 4, 26.

Kobler, John, 108, 112, 119,
247; death of, 271.

Koontz, 70.

Kregelo, E. L., 300.

Lakin, THomas, 75.

Lafferty, 100.

Lambert, Jeremiah, 65, 69, 84.

Lanahan, John, 253, 305.

Lancaster Circuit, 86.

Lauck, Simon, 99.

Lay, 51.

Lay Preachers unordained, 44.

Lay Representatives, 214.

Leakin, ‘Thomas, 7.

Lee, Daniel, ordained for
Missions, 237.

Lee, Jesse, 2, 59, 60, 61; death
of, 62, 122, 138, 171, 267.
Lee, Wilson, 64, 84, 140; death

of, 144.
Leesburg Station, 119, 136,
149; Conference at, 165, 219.
Lexington Circuit, 237.
Liberty Circuit, 222.
Light Street Academy, burnt,
121.

 

Index.

Light Street Chapel, 19, 87’
121.

Lindsay, John, 108.

Lindsay, Robert, 23, 29.

Lipscomb, Philip D., 205.

Liquor Traffic, 48.

Littlejohn, John, 26, 40.

Little Levels, 137.

Little York, 50, 87.

Logman, George, 7.

Lotteries denounced, 221.

Loudoun Cireuit, 159.

Lovely Lane, 18.

Lovely Lane Conference, 81.

Lumsden, William O., 253, 270.

Lunsford. Isaac, 116.

Lycoming Circuit, 144.

Lyell, Thomas, 99.

Lynch, William, 20, 84.

Lynn, Massachusetts, 114.

MADISON COLLEGE, 222, 225.

Magary, John, 84.

Mahonan Circuit, 165.

McAllister, Richard, death of,
204.

McCann, James, 161, 199, 204.

McCaine, Alexander, 216.

McClure, 30, 31.

McCormick, Francis, 118.

Maclay, Robert 8., 305.

MeDowell, William, 133.

McGaw, 78.

McEnally, Peter, death of, 297.

McHenry, Barnabas, 115.

McJilton, Daniel, 172, 261.

McKendree, William, 59, 157,
178; death of, 244.

MecMullen’s, 72.

MeNeil, John, 70.

McPherson, Samuel, death of,
219.
Index.

Mair, George, 48, 84, 88.

Major, John, 42, 51, 84.

Mannakintown Conference, 47.

Marriage, Breach of Promise
of, 185, 301.

Marriage Fees, divided, 125.

Martin, George, 109.

Martin, John S., 242, 300, 304.

Martinsburg, a station, 297.

Maryland, congenial soil for
Methodism, 77.

Mason, Thomas, Book Agent,
181.

Matson, Enoch, 84.

Mattawoman Circuit, 238.

Matthews, Lasley; 148, death
of, 172.

Matthews, Edward, 133, 159;
death of, 237.

Mechanicstown Circuit, 305.

Mead, Stith, Sketch by, 108.

Meek, J. M. D., 303.

Merriken, Joseph, death of,
286.

Merryman, Caleb, 154.

Merryman, Joseph, 155.

Merryman, Samuel, 154.

Metcalf, Henry, 64.

Metcalf, John, 108.

Methodist Episcopal Church,
83.

Metropolitan Church, 300, 301,
306.

Metropolitan Collegiate Insti-
tute, 300.

Methodism, in Baltimore
County, 2; in Baltimore
City, 2; First Society, 5.

Milford, Ohio, 119.

Mills, Nathaniel B., 106; death
of, 277. ;

 

521

Miller, John, 261, 286, 304.

Minchall, Robert, death of,
219.

Minutes of Conference, first
pnblished, 301, 310.

Mishannon Circuit, 159.

Missions, 224, 298,

Missionary Society, 182, 200.

Mississippi Conference, 181.

Missouri Conference, 181.

Mitchell, Edward, 72, 112, 149.

Mitchell, Samuel, 72, 108, 115,
132, 149.

Moale, Richard, 18.

Montgomery Circuit, 87.

Monongahela District, 210.

Monroe Circuit, 139, 210.

Monroe, Levi N., death of,
301.

Moore, Jeptha, 11, 16, 116.

Moore, William, 18.

Moorefield Circuit, 52, 173,
212. :

Monument to Asbury, George
and Emory, 301, 304

Morgan, Gerard, 144, 148, 199,
223, 270; death of, 281.

Morgan, N. J. Brown, 272,
286, 299.

Morgan, Tillotson A., 289.

Moriarity, Peter, 59, 84.

Morris, Edward, 64.

Morris, Joseph §, death of,
297.

Morris, Bishop Thomas A,
264, 294.

Mount’s, Asbury at, 149.

Munroe, William, 154, 205,
308.

Murray, 11.

Mutual Rights (Paper), 214.
522

Napbat, B. H., 242, 251; trans-
ferred, 304.

Nailor, 51.

Narrative,
140.

Necessitous Cases, 270.

Newham, James, 99.

Newton, Rev. Robert, 265.

Newtown. Stephensburg, 30.

Nicodemus, Philip, 7.

North Baltimore Station, 255.

Joseph Carson’s,

Oaks, JOHN, 75.

Odd _ Fellows,
proved, 267.

Ogburn, Henry, 72.

Ohio Circuit, 87.

Ohio District, 165.

Ohio Conference, 171.

O’Kelly, James. 42, 83.

Secession, 102, 120.

Ordinations Recorded, 266.

Ordinances Suspended, 47.

Osborne, John Wesley, trial,
292.

Otterbein, P. W., Bishop, 28;
assisted in Asbury’s ordina-
tion, 83.

Owen, Anning, 105.

Owen, Benjamin, 75.

Owings, Joshua, 17.

Owings, Richard, 7, 16, 25, 31,
55, 65; death of, 95.

Owings, Samuel, 18, 89.

order dlsap-

PaInrE, BISHOP ROBERT,
sketch of Hersey, 186.

Park, Moses, 84.

Parker, Joseph, death of, 267.

Parsonages, 125. :

Pastoral Address, 161, 262.

Patapsco Circuit, 238.

 

Index.

Patapsco Neck, 20.

Patridge, William, 48, 51, 84.

Patton, Captain, 18.

Paynter, James, 159.

Peck, Jesse T, 295, 304.

Peddicord, Caleb B, 40, 84, 88.

Pendleton Circuit, 134.

Pennington, Robert, 74.

Penn’s Valley, 74.

Pentz, 51.

Periods, Three, of History,
177.

Perrigo, Nathan, 7.

Perrigo, Joseph, 50.

Perry Hall, 26, 82.

Persecution, 35.

Pettigrew, 78.

Pewed Churches forbidden,
181, 268, 297.

Peyton, Yelverton, death of,

222.
Phelps, Elisha, 132.

Phelps, E. P., 304.

Philipsburg, 212.

Phoebus, William, 63, 70, 84,
116.

Pigman, Ignatius, 48, 83, 88.

Pierce, Lovick, 293.

Piedmont Circuit, 299.

Pilmoor, Joseph, 6, 12.

Pitts, John, 131.

Pittsburg Circuit, 87.

Pittsburg District, 136, 186.

Pittsburg Conference, 210.

Plan of Separation, 1844, 284.

Plotner, Joseph, death of, 286.

Poisal, John, 304, 305.

Poulson, A., 7.

Poythress, Francis, 73, 84.

Preachers, characters exam-
ined, 124, 174; salaries of,
125, 181; fund, 125; appoint-
Index. 523

ments, 136; to be elected
Elders, 171; marrying,
185; absentees censured,
217; better support, 302;
not to drop members, 211;
not to be appointed to liter-
ary institutions, 254.

Preachers Aid and Foreign
Mission Society, 182, 247,
248, 253.

Preachers, Local, 126, 273.

Presiding Elders: Term ap-
plied, 86; Functions de-
fined, 104, 120; Motion to
elect defeated, 171; Contro-
versy, 200, 202; Henry
Smith, on, 206; Bishop
Paine, on, 207.

President of Conference, in
absence of Bishop, 136.

Preston, Barnett, 11.

Preston Circuit, 199.

Prettyman, William, 247, 270.

Price, Amon, 154.

Prince George’s Circuit, 97,
119.

Prince William Circuit, 238.

Principles, Re-affirmed, 302.

Property Question, 290, 295,
302.

Pugh, Michael L., death of,
303.

QUARTERLY MEETINGS, 22.
Queen Anne’s Circuit, 66.
Quinn, James, 132.

RaDicaL CONTROVERSY, 215.
Randall’s, 10.

Randolph Circuit, 87, 148.
Rankin, Thomas, 9, 15, 27, 40.

 

Recollections, H. Smith’s,
134, 145.

Redman, Stuart, 116.

Redstone, 74, 87.

Reece, Rev. Richard, 207.

Reese, Aquilla A., 225, 299,
304, 305.

Reed, George A., 98.

Reed, Nelson, 48, 51, 83, 87,
89, 116, 167, 181, 199; death
of, 265.

Reformers, 216.

Rhodes, John, death of, 267.

Rehoboth Church, 71, 108, 111.

Reiley, James, 267.

Reiley, James McK., 289. ‘

Reiley, Asbury R., 300.

Reiley, Tobias, death of, 270.

Reilley, Rev. William, 306.

Restrictive Rules, 156.

Review, 11, 170; Final, 313.

Revivals, 127, 131.

Revolution, 1776, 34; Wesley
on, 34, 36; occasion of per-
secution, 35.

Reynolds, Caleb, 140.

Reynolds, Mrs. Eliza, 261.

Rhodes, John, death of, 267.

Richard, John, 148.

Rice, John, death of, 266.

Ridgaway, Henry B., 298.

Richardson, John W., death
of, 297.

Riggin, James, 84, 116.

Riggin, Benton, death of, 125.

Ridgely, Charles, 40, 55.

Ringold, William, 84.

Roberts, Dr. G. C. M., 287.

Roberts, Robert. R., 130, 161,
167, 172, 179, 264.

Robinson, George, 18.
524

Rockingham Circuit, 86, 116,
134.

Rockville Circuit, 274.

Rodda, Martin, 15, 40.

Rogers, Jacob, 247.

Rogers, Philip, 18, 89.

Rollin, Isaac, 7, 24.

Roszel, Stephen Asbury, 253,
270, 274, 286: death of, 298.

Roszel, Stephen Samuel, 253,
299.

Roszel, Stephen George, 99,
116, 135, 146, 181, 204, 206,
216, 228, 247, 250, 261, 264;
death of, 267.

Rowan, Joseph, 97.

Rowe, Samuel, 84.

Ruff, Daniel, 21, 49.

Rules, Conference, 160.

Ryan, William M. D., 306.

Ryland Chapel Station, 281.

Ryland, William, 133, 161, 167,
181, 228; death of 281.

SaILors’ Crry BETHEL, 280.
St. Mary’s Circuit, 88, 177.

Salaries of Preachers, 104, 181. -

Sam’s Creek, 1, 7, 8, 17.

Sands, Stephen, 81.

Sargent, Thomas F, 232.

Sargent, Thomas B, 253, 254,
267, 272, 287, 304, 305.

Saxton, George, 7, 17.

Scott, Thomas, 118.

Secession of O’Kelly, 120.

Secretaries, Conference, 125,
130, 165, 172, 204, 253, 270,
300.

Seminary, Recommended,
210, 242, 304.

Seneca Circuit, 105.

 

Index.

Separation of Canada, 217.

Separation 1844, justified, 276.

Separation, Report on, 279,
282.

Sermons, borrowed, censured,
268.

Severn Circuit, 97.

Sewall, Thomas, 253.

Sewell James, 33.

Shadford, George, 15, 23, 40.

Sixth Restrictive Rule, 278. —

Sharp Street (colored), a sta-
tion, 223.

Shaver, Peter, 75.

Shaw, William, 75.

Shepherdstown, 136, 261.

Shields, 100.

Shinn, Asa, 167, 171, 172, 198.

Shrewsbury Circuit, 222.

Simmons, 40.

Simpson, Bishop, 307.

Sinclair, 11, 16.

Slavery Question, 48, 157, 166,
181, 199. 200, 269, 273, 275,
283, 285, 303, 310.

Slicer, Henry, 223, 264, 306.

Smith, Edward, 236.

Smith Henry, 134, 154, 159,
167, 223.

Smith, Isaac, 63, 84.

Smith, James, 167.

Smith, John, 64.

Smith, Richard, 7.

Snader, William, 7.

Snethen, Nicholas, 99, 125,
131, 161, 165, 167, 171, 216.

Societies; Preachers’ Aid
and Missionary, 182, 184,
200, 203: Colonization and
Tract, 217.

Somersett Circuit, 177.
Index.

Soule, Joshua, 156, 203, 204,
206, 209, 220, 236, 246, 264,
267 ; sketch of, 316.

South Baltimore Station, 255.

South Branch Circuit, 52.

Sparks, Elijah, 116.

Spindler’s, 155.

Springfield Circuit, 223, 237.

Spottswood, W. L., 289.

Stafford Circuit, 97.

Stanford, Aquilla, 11, 16.

Statistics, 177, 184, 200, 218,
249, 261, 292, 299, 311.

Stauuton, 113, 145.

Steele, David, 223, 247; death
of, 300

Stephens, Major Lewis, 30.

Stephenson, Sater, 7.

Stevens, James, 270.

Stone Chapel, 66.

Stone, Joseph, 159.

Strawberry Alley, 18.

Strawbridge, Robert, 10, 25,
death of 53. 7

Strawbridge Station, 268.

Study, course of, 181, 182.

Swago, 70.

Swift, Richard, 84, 97.

Swope, Benedict, 53.

Summerfield, John, 204; death
of, 205.

Summers, Thomas O., 242.

Summary, Final, 310.

Sunday Schools, 96, 217, 298.

Supernumerary, Defined 103.

Susquehanna District, 106,
136.

TALBOTT, WILLIAM, 99.

Tarring, Henry, 301.

Taylor’s Chapel, 21.

 

 

525

Taylor, John, 31.

Taylor, Joseph, 20, 155.

Temperance Movement, 221,
254, 274.

Tennessee, Conftrence, 171.

Territory, Conference, 86.

Thomas, David, 225.

Thomas, John, 204.

Thomas, William, 84.

Thomas, Sterling, 247.

Tiffany, Comfort, 247, 287.

Tiffin, Dr., 118.

Tioga Circuit, 105.

Tippett, Charles B., 223, 272.

Todd, John, 7.

Tolland, Connecticut, 114.

Tract Society organized, 217.

Transfer Question, 222, 266.

Travis, Joseph, 131.

Trial, Forms Provided, 104.

Trial, Forms Modified, 126.

Triplett, Mrs., 18.

Toy, Joseph, 130, 158, 167;
death of, 210.

Tschudy, Martin, 49.

Trustees: Baltimore Female
College, 287, 296; Dickinson
Seminary, 296; Wesleyan
Female Institute, 296.

Tunnell, John, 31, 40, 49, 83;
death of, 97.

Tydings, Richard, 204.

UNITED BRETHREN, 28, 158,
161, 165, 173, 211.

Union Station, 286.

Uniontown, 74.

VASEY, 27, 83.
Vaughan’s, 155.
Vinton, Robert S., 270.
526

WalISTCOATS, DOUBLE BREAST-
ED, FORBIDDEN, 140.

Walker, Robert, 7.

Walker’s Creek Circuit, 173.

Wall, 51.

Walls, James, 98.

Walls, Mary Ann, 247.

Ward, James, 108; death of,
304.

Ward, Captain, 32.

Ware, Thomas, 63, 84.

Warfield, Mrs. Alexander, 7.

Warm Springs, 212.

Warren’s, of Monroe County,
72.

Warrenton Circuit, 238.

Warrenton Church, 299.

Warwick’s, 70.

Washington, Visit to, by As-
bury and Coke, 88.

Waters, Plummer E., death
of, 306.

Watkins, 40.

Watson, John, death of, 254.

Watt, John Gill, death of, 267.

Watters, Nicholas, death of,
143.

Watters, William, 8, 17, 29,
30, 31, 42, 49, 139.

Watts, James, death of, 306.

Waugh, Beverly, 158, 162, 172,
181, 199, 216, 218, 249, 266.

Waugh’s, 70.

Wayman, Edward, death of,
134.

Weaver, 51.

Webb, Captain, 3.

Webster, Richard, 8, 16, 23.

Weeks, Salathiel, 108.

Weems, 40.

Wells, Joshua, 97, 177, 199.

Wells, Goerge, 18.

 

Index.

Wesley, John, 15, 23, 24, 80;
death of, 98.

Wesleyan Conference, 12.

Wesleyan ‘‘ Repository,” 216.

Wesley Chapel Station, 253.

West Harford, 268.

Weyer’s Cave, 52.

Whateoat, Richard, 61, 89,
126; death of, 146.

Whatcoat Station, 268.

Wheeler, Joseph, 55.

Wheeler, Joseph R, 300.

Wheeling, East, 159.

White, James, 64, 84.

White, Judge Thomas, 41, 45.

Whitefield, George, 6; death
of, 12.

White Pole Meeting House, 71.

White Hall, N. Y., 114.

Whitworth, Abraham, 19, 23,
24.

Wickes, William, 225.

Wilkens, Dr. Henry, 181.

Wilkens, William, 89.

Wilson’s, 40.

Wilson, Alpheus W., 300.

Wilson, James, 161.

Wilson, Norval, 223, 247, 286,
299, 306, 307.

Winchester Circuit, 97.

Winchester Station, 119, 222.

Wiseman, John, 71.

Wood, 40.

Woodstock Circuit, 212.

Woodward, John, 18.

Worley, Daniel, 50.

Worley James, 51.

Wooster, ‘Robert, 74

Worship, Public. prescribed
104.

Worthington’s, 20.

Wright, Richard, 13.

,
Inde. : 527

Wright, Robert, 66. Young, Jared H., death of, 304.
Wright, Thomas, 66. Young, Jacob, 165.

Wyatt, Joseph, 64, 84. Young Men’s Christian Asso-
Wynn, John, 119. ciation, 306.

Wyoming Circuit, 105, 140, 143.
Wyoming Seminary recom- | Appendix A, Clerical Sketches,

mended, 278. 327.
Appendix B, Personal Notes
YEARBRY, 19. and Reminiscences, 496.
York, (First called Little Y.) | Appendix C, Names of Some
50, 186. Laymen, 1801-1857, 507.

Young, Charles B, 287.

CORRECTIONS—

Page 66—Robert W. (not M.) Carnan.

Page 172—N. J. B. (not D.) Morgan.

Page 149—Morgan, Guest and Griffith were admitted in 1806
(see page 144).