. is) ~ ~ SS BX §3%| W %4 C43 Cornell Mniversity Library BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henry W. Sane 1891 A B015.63..... Sere 16 7X6. 3777 The date shows when this volume was taken. Yo renew w Chis book,copy the call No. and give to . the Hbrarian. x MAR-B5S=2c-gE I eens tae - “Books ueeded .sby ~- more than one petsdi. , are held on the reservery} 1 A HOME USE RULES. All Books subject to Recall. All books must be returned at end of col: lege year for inspec- | tion and repairs, Students must re- turn all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return..of books wanted during their absence from town.. list. . ‘ Volumes of periodi= ‘ cals and of pamphlets ~ are held in the library as much as possible. | For special purposes _ they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers ' should not use their library privileges for the bene- fit of-other persons, .« Books special value and gift books,- when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. ; Readers are asked to report all cases of — books marked or muti- lated, “Do-not deface “books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library BX8381.W99 C “Wining ii of t he History of the Wyoming Conference of the & Methodist Episcopal Church By A. F. CHAFFEE New York EATON & MAINS 1904 EV, i te Jd ae A015 &3 Vk r, . CBnnr-hi- \Q Vey ‘ Corl ee \\ ig af y To My Bretbren of Wyoming Conterence INTRODUCTION THE work of gathering information for this volume has extended over a period of seven or eight years. Files of the Northern and New York Christian Advocates have been carefully examined for material. County histories and gazetteers have yielded their contributions. County records have been searched, local histories eagerly read. A number of biographies have given some return for the labor of perusal. Dr. George Peck’s Early Methodism and Conable’s History of Genesee Conference have been invaluable helps. Thousands of letters have been written to pastors and laymen asking for facts. Again and again I have been told that the parties who knew all about the early history had recently passed away. Consequently, there are some sketches of churches which are tantalizingly meager. However, there are many which are exceedingly gratifying. I hope the publication of this book may lead to the discovery of hitherto hidden ma- terial, which will help some future writer to produce a more complete history of our Conference. The sketches of living preachers have been confined largely to the material they thought wise to furnish. The portraits of some do not appear. Iam sorry. At my expense every member of the Conference was asked to sit for a picture. Most complied; many since have been solicited. However, there is a larger percentage of portraits in this book than has ever been published of the Conference. One will look in vain for certain stock phrases of eulogy in connection with debt raising and building enter- prises. These worthy events are always brought about by the “skill, tact, indomitable energy, heroic self-sacrifice, and conse- cration of the pastor.” In reading a sketch in which any such events are recorded a glance at the pastorates will reveal the name of the hero. Vv vi INTRODUCTION I do not send this book forth unmindful of its shortcomings. At one time there was a Conference Association of Local Preach- ers. I have hunted in vain for information concerning its size, years of life, and notes concerning its members. I planned to put in a chapter concerning the local preachers of earlier days. Rev. C. L. Rice, the son of a local preacher, was to have furnished me the material for the chapter. His death, early in this Con- ference year, prevented. I regret this exceedingly. Some very interesting characters, strikingly original and powerful, existed among the early local preachers of the Conference. Some ex- tended notice ought to be made of W. F. Boyce, D. W. Swet- land, O. G. Russell, A. Eastman, W. H. Horton, N. W. Barnes, and many others, local preachers who have done most excellent work as supplies, and well deserve enshrining in historic page. More statistics might have been incorporated. The officiary of the various churches would have added interest. The work of the Epworth Leagues and Sunday schools might well have had a commanding place. The deliverances of the Conference on the great questions of the day could have been made fascinating. Rev. Benjamin Bidlack should have had some notice—but we lacked room. The cuts of the churches are mostly from photographs taken by myself, and were taken under a vast variety of conditions. Castle Creek was taken during a very heavy snowstorm. Some were taken during rainstorms, some in midwinter, and some at hours in the day. which could not yield the most artistic results. A number have been furnished by local artists. I have not attempted to include all, but enough to give the varieties of form within the Conference. Some for which I have appealed did not reach me. One has to work at a task of this kind but a little while to fully appreciate the statement of Arnold in which he calls history a great Mississippi of falsehood. In one case I received three dif- ferent dates of a dedicatory service from three parties, each of whom was present. I have done my best to be accurate, but do not claim infallibility. INTRODUCTION vil In tabulating the pastorates I have followed the published Minutes. These may occasionally vary from fact. The presiding elders, especially in early days, frequently adjusted the appoint- ments somewhat after Conference. In the main, however, the tabulations are accurate. The article concerning Wyoming Seminary is largely the work of its president, Rev. L. L. Sprague, D.D. The sketches in chapters nine and ten have been placed in alphabetical order. The insertion of cuts, however, has forced a little variation. I desire to express my high appreciation of the very valuable assistance given me by my brethren in the ministry, and by many laymen, without which the publication of a book of this kind would be an impossibility to a busy pastor. Now that the work is done, I realize that I shall miss its many demands. Hoping that I may have contributed to a larger appre- ciation of our heritage, and preserved from loss some valuable facts of our Conference history, and profoundly conscious that the work merited a more able and skillful pen, I submit the volume to the public. A. F. CHAFFEE. Carbondale, Pa., December 10, 1903. CONTENTS PAGES CHAPTER 1 GENERAL HISTORY........-0. agit @ Sage eanlete sae eekewas eee Hed AY I-II CHAPTER II EPARDY: CIRCUITS S jatcesniceiiin dice eeewend Be eae AE Ne I 12-54 CHAPTER III CONTROVERSIES. .......0ee..000- Fes ee see oe eer 55-64 CHAPTER IV CAMP MEETINGS, gavacsieiwes cheese dee ys odes sede ye atuk asa ees 4 65-82 CHAPTER V SCHOOLS iease sce cs vcew biecen gata tesbettra iste Sue Sacun oceans 83-98 CHAPTER VI PREACHERS’ AID SOCIETY sc cess cseees seeecss cece aaies sea vanes 99-106 CHAPTER VII HISTORICAL SOGIET Viiw ss -vessvsnie-s s saises stead aces ss wae s oles 107-123 CHAPTER VIII MATTERS: IN GENERALS 6.4.03 abide 6.006 sie de are oe bo Sisiee 6 oS aE AOS 124-146 CHAPTER IX DECEASED PREACHERS......... setae taheenue cd a Waeane eeouciske A stafana sd avout 147-269 ix x CoNTENTS ; PAGES CHAPTER X LIVING PREACHERS.......000008 Sis Aaa aouaieiee MnayaLE Cathie eer ee 270-439 CHAPTER XI BINGHAMTON DISTRICT......00.25 seeeeeccceeeees ree eeeenees 440-531 CHAPTER XII CHENANGO DISTRICT oy ..cawiecitis 885 ead ee heb ooneins beeweene 532-597 CHAPTER XIII HONESDALE! DISTRICT siisiga eine dina hee Sa ee area Sa Sleds Sees Wines 598-690 CHAPTER XIV ONEONTA DISTRICT..... Sais oa eke Serantaa ngewe Se Oe Me es © 691-771 CHAPTER XV QWEGO: DISTRICTH saci aes cach Meme DT eae Wee eae REN 772-843 CHAPTER XVI WYOMING! DISTRICT oiieis s:saceais'c sisin sips: He Seb s Snes bestest >. 844-953 CHAPTER XVII BRIEF STATISTICAL SUMMARY........0 cece cece see e cece eee n ee ees 954 WYOMING CONFERENCE CHAPTER I GENERAL HISTORY WyYoMING CONFERENCE of the Methodist Episcopal Church receives its name from the historic valley which lies within its boundaries. The word is said to be a corruption of the Indian word Maughwauwame, which is composed of two words, Maughwau, large, and wame, plains. Thus it will be seen that Wyoming really means Large Plains. The early settlers, finding it difficult to pronounce the word correctly, spoke it Wauwaumie, then Wiawumie, then Wiomie, and, finally, Wyoming. The valley deserves some further notice than a simple refer- ence to its name. It is a charming valley, situated in Luzerne County, Pa. It lies northeast and southwest, and is about three miles wide by about twenty-one miles long, with the Susque- hanna River winding serenely through its length. It was a favorite haunt of the Indians. When the white man first visited this valley he found it peopled with the Delawares, who, after becoming subordinate to the Six Nations, had been ordered to leave their homes on the Delaware and take possession of the Wyoming Valley. It is evident, however, that these were not the first Indians who made this valley their home. When the “forty settlers” came into the valley in 1769 they found the re- mains of two fortifications, one on the west side of Toby’s Creek in Kingston Township, and one on Jacob’s Plains, or upper flats, in Wilkes-Barre. Large trees were growing in the Kingston in- closure, one of which, when cut down, was discovered to be seven hundred years old. Mr. Stewart Pearce suggests that these forti- fications were made by the Toltecs, the same race of people whose works have been found in the Mississippi Valley. Wyoming Valley was the ground over which the Pennamite and Yankee war was waged for a period of thirty years, 1769- 1799. This war between the Yankees and Pennamites was made possible by King Charles II granting the same territory to two I 2 WYoMING CONFERENCE different parties. In 1662 he granted a charter to the Connecticut colony, which was really the reaffirming of a grant by James I, in 1620, to the Plymouth Company ; and in 1681 he granted letters patent to William Penn, his heirs, etc., for the same territory, a part of which was the Wyoming Valley. In this war the Yankees manifested singular pluck and heroism. The valley is made more famous because of the massacre which occurred therein on July 3, 1778. The Yankees were patriots, and furnished a liberal quota of soldiers to help in the war for American independence. There were a few forts in the valley, but these were practically useless without defenders. Major John Butler, a Tory of Niagara, raised a company of loyalists and In- dians, variously estimated as containing from seven hundred to sixteen hundred men, and marched into the valley for the purpose of destroying the settlement. On the afternoon of July 3 this army was met by Colonel Zebulon Butler at the head of about three hundred Yankees. The battle which ensued, and the hor- rible atrocities practiced by Tories and Indians, are faithfully told by Dr. Peck in his Wyoming, by Miner in his history, and by Stewart in his Annals of Luzerne. About two hundred Yankees were killed, and the Tory loss was about eighty. A monument stands in Wyoming commemorative of the battle. In the same village may be seen Queen Esther’s Rock, safely pro- tected from vandalism by an iron cage. With the exception of some territory in the Honesdale District which is drained by the Delaware River, the territory of Wyo- ming Conference lies in the basin of the east branch of the Susque- hanna River. The east branch is said to be about two hundred and fifty miles in length, over two hundred miles of which is in the territory of Wyoming Conference. In this basin are fertile valleys, rich pasture lands, rugged hills and mountains, and rich coal deposits. Here may be found picturesque and entrancing scenery, some of which compares favorably with any in the East. In this territory are quiet country villages, beautiful county seats, thriving cities, and railroad centers. In some portions of this territory may be found representatives of almost every nation on earth. Other portions are characterized by having as small a percentage of illiterates as any section of the United States. A study of the Minutes of the Annual Conferences is interest- ing indeed. From 1773 to 1784 there are no districts, nothing but a list of appointments and some Disciplinary questions and answers given. After the organization of the Methodist Epis- copal Church in 1784 we have presiding elders, but their districts Districts ForMED 3 have no names given to them until 1801, and in the following year, 1802, the Church is divided into seven Conferences—the Western, South Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and New England. In 1791 two circuits are among the appointments, Wyoming and Otsego, which are now important sections of our Conference —Wyoming on the south and Otsego on the northeast. In the following year Tioga Circuit appears, occupying the northwestern section of our territory. It seems by this that the work began at these three sections of our territory about the same time and worked toward the center. Chenango Circuit was formed in 1798, Canaan in 1808, Broome in 1812, and Bridgewater in 1813. Of the district containing Wyoming Robert Cloud was presiding elder. The territorial extent of his district was enormous, con- taining Newburgh, Wyoming, New York, New Rochelle, and Long Island. A little knowledge of the times and condition of work, and fair imaginative powers, will enable one to understand the heroism of the men who did the work, and the almost romantic lives they led. Otsego Circuit was on a district which covered almost as much territory—Dutchess, Columbia, New Britain, _ Cambridge, Albany, Saratoga, and Otsego. In 1802 the districts were named, and Wyoming is in the Phila- delphia District, while Otsego, Tioga, and Chenango are in the Albany District, Otsego being probably a part of Albany Circuit. In 1803 Conferences were formed. Wyoming now appears in the Susquehanna District of the Philadelphia Conference, and Otsego, Tioga, and Chenango in the Genesee District of the same Conference. In 1804 Susquehanna District appears as a part of the Balti- more Conference, and Wyoming is a part of this district, while Otsego, Tioga, and Chenango are still in Genre District of the Philadelphia Conference. In 1805 Wyoming and Tioga are in ihe Susquehanna District of the Baltimore Conference, which now comprises all the terri- tory from Tioga, N. Y., to Carlisle, Pa. Otsego and Chenango remain as before, the district containing about two and a half times as much territory as is now in Otsego and Chenango Counties. , No further change is made until 1808, when the Susquehanna District is put into the Philadelphia Conference and Canaan Circuit appears as part of the district, having been formed from the Wyoming Circuit. Otsego and Chenango Circuits are a part of the Cayuga District of the New York Conference. 4 WYOMING CONFERENCE In 1810 the Genesee Conference was formed, which had three districts, the Susquehanna, Cayuga, and Upper Canada. The Susquehanna District comprised the following appointments: Lyons, Ontario, Holland Purchase, Canisteo, Lycoming, North- umberland, Wyoming, Canaan, Tioga, Seneca. Cayuga District contained these appointments: Chenango, Otsego, Herkimer, Black River, Mexico, Western, Westmoreland, Pompey, Scipio, Cayuga. The Upper Canada District was as large. In 1812 the Chenango Circuit is put on the Susquehanna Dis- trict, and Broome Circuit first appears in the appointments. Oneida is substituted for the name of Cayuga District. In 1813 Bridgewater Circuit appears among the appointments, having been taken from the Wyoming Circuit. In 1814 Chenango District first appears, containing Chenango, Pompey, Onondaga, Sodus, Scipio, Cayuga, Lebanon, and Broome appointments. Susquehanna District comprised Lycom- ing, Shamokin, Northumberland, Wyoming, Canaan, Bridge- water, Wyalusing, and Tioga. Oneida District had eight ap- pointments, of which Otsego was one; and Genesee District about as many. Very few changes were made affecting our territory until Oneida Conference was formed in 1829, containing six districts— Oneida, Chenango, Cayuga, Black River, Potsdam, and Susque- hanna. The territory of our Conference lay in the two districts, Chenango and Susquehanna. It may be of interest to give the charges which comprised the districts. Lebanon, Chenango, Brookfield, Otsego, Sharon, Westford, Norwich, Cooperstown, and Bainbridge were in the Chenango District, and Wyoming, Canaan, Broome, Ithaca, Caroline, Berkshire, Owego, Bridge- water, Wyalusing, Binghamton, Pike, and Barton were in the Susquehanna District. In 1831 the Berkshi#e District was formed, of which the Owego District is the successor, containing the following appointments from the Susquehanna District: Berkshire, Ithaca, Spencer, Owego, Binghamton, and Broome. Cortland was taken from the Cayuga District, and Bainbridge from the Chenango District, to form a part of the new district; while Speedsville, Dryden, and Danby, the remaining charges on the district, appear for the first time in the list of appointments. In 1845 the Oneida Conference was practically redistricted, a new district being formed, called the Wyoming. Of the seven districts, four covered territory now in our bounds. Chenango District contained the following charges: Oxford, Norwich, ONEIDA RESOLUTIONS 5 Smyrna, Plymouth, Earlville, Sherburne, Exeter, Otsego, Cooperstown, Middlefield, Westford, Richmondville, Decatur, Otego, Butternuts, New Berlin, Edmeston, Chenango, and Bain- bridge. Owego District comprised Owego, Candor, Spencer, Speedsville, Slaterville, Newark and Berkshire, Flemingville, Broome, Union, Lisle, Newfield, North Danby, South Danby, Greene, McDonough, Smithville. The Susquehanna District con- tained Binghamton, Windsor, Page Brook, Lanesboro, Orwell, Pike, Nichols, Barton, Factoryville, Vestal, Montrose, Dundaff, and Brooklyn. Wyoming District comprised Wilkes-Barre, Wy- oming, Northmoreland, Skinner’s Eddy, Tunkhannock, Spring- ville, Abington, Lackawanna, Carbondale, Canaan, Salem, Lack- awaxen, Honesdale, Bethany and Mount Pleasant, Beach Pond, and Mehoopany. In 1846 an eighth district was created, called Otsego, compris- ing Cherry Valley, Ames, Canajoharie, and Springfield, from the Oneida District, and Otsego, Cooperstown, Middlefield, Exeter, New Berlin, Edmeston, Westford, Decatur, Richmondville, But- ternuts, and Otego, from the Chenango District. At the same Conference the name of the Owego District was changed to Newark. As the result of some considerable agitation concerning the formation of a new Conference, the following resolutions were passed by the Oneida Annual Conference at its session held in Ithaca, Tompkins County, N. Y., July 28, 1851: “Resolved, That it is the sense of this body that the Oneida Annual Conference should be divided at the approaching session of the General Conference to be held in Boston. “Resolved, That the delegates are instructed to request the General Conference to divide this body by the line of the road known as the ‘Ithaca and Cattskill Turnpike,’ running easterly from this place to the western boundary of the New York Con- ference, and that all charges through which said road passes shall — belong to the Conference on the north side of the line; it being understood that the boundary line of the patronizing districts of the Oneida Conference Seminary and Wyoming Seminary shall remain unaltered. “Resolved, That if the Conference be divided the present claimants on its funds shall be so distributed (with the approba- tion of the bishop) that each Conference may have an equal pro- portion of such claimants according to the number of members of the Church within the bounds of each respectively. It is also the understanding that the same rule be adopted in dividing the Con- 6 Wyominc CoNFERENCE ference funds, with the exception of the funds belonging to the Wesleyan University which shall remain undivided in the Oneida Conference, and that to carry out these measures, a joint commit- tee of three from each section be appointed at this Conference to meet, in case the division be effected, at that Conference which shall first convene and consummate the arrangement. “A true copy from the Journals of the Oneida Annual Con- ference. “Attest D. W. BristTor, Sec’y O. A. C.” The committee contemplated in the above resolution and which was appointed by the presiding bishop were the following, namely: from Oneida Conference, H. F. Rowe, D. Holmes, and A. E. Daniels; from Wyoming Conference, Nelson Rounds, E. B. Tenny, and W. H. Pearne. These resolutions were duly presented to the General Confer- ence of 1852. This Conference divided the Oneida Conference, and constituted the southern portion of it, lying chiefly in Penn- sylvania, a new Conference, giving it the classic name of Wyo- ming. It met for its first session on July 7, 1852, at Carbondale, Pa. Bishop Scott presided over the Conference and conducted the opening devotional services. N. Rounds was elected secretary and H. Brownscombe appointed assistant. At the roll call sixty- two members were found to be present. This number, however, does not give an accurate idea of the number of ministers in the Conference at its organization. There were fifty-seven active pastors, eleven superannuates, and three supernumeraries. Fitch Reed was transferred to the Oneida Conference, John M. Snyder and Joseph Whitham located, and C. M. Harvey was suspended from all official relation to the Church. Seven men were admitted on trial, which would give the Conference at its close sixty active members. Add to this number the fourteen supernumeraries and superannuates and the Conference had at its close seventy-four members. The membership was as follows: 10,662 members, 2,015 probationers, and 113 local preachers. The three districts which comprised the territory of the Con- ference were the Newark, the Susquehanna, and the Wyoming. In adjusting the work of the new Conference the territory was divided into four districts—Binghamton, Honesdale, Owego, Wyoming. We give the appointments as they appear in the Minutes of the first Conference: CoNFERENCE APPOINTMENTS, 1852 7 Wyominc District D. A. Shepard, Presiding Elder Wilkes-Barre, George Peck. Blackman’s Mines, to be supplied. Wyoming, T. D. Walker. New Troy, to be supplied. Newport, O. F. Morse. Pittston, G. M. Peck, one to be supplied. Northmoreland, A. H. Schoonmaker, one to be supplied. Lehman, C. Perkins, one to be supplied. Providence, H. Brownscombe, J. H. Cargill. Abington, A. Bronson. Newton, J. D. Safford, one to be supplied. Tunkhannock, J. F. Wilbur. Springville, C. L. Rice, E. F. Roberts. Skinner’s Eddy, C. E. Taylor. Mehoopany, F. S. Chubbuck. Wyalusing, to be supplied. Wyoming Seminary, R. Nelson, Principal; Y. C. Smith, Teacher of Ancient Languages. Oweco District W. H. Pearne, Presiding Elder Owego, G. P. Porter. Flemingville, to be supplied. Speedsville, William Silsbee. North Danby, O. M. McDowell. South Danby, L. Pitts. Candor, E. Owen. Van Ettenville and Spencer, B. Ellis, sy., ke P. Mead. Waverly, J. W. Davidson, V. M. Coryell, sy. Barton, J. W. Hewitt. Nichols, E. B. Tenny. Litchfield, to be supplied. Orwell, R. Van Valkenburg, one to be supplied. Le Raysville, John Mulkey, one to be supplied. BINGHAMTON DIstTRIcT Z. Paddock, Presiding Elder Henry Street, Binghamton, B. W. Gorham. Court Street, Binghamton, H. R. Clarke. Page Brook, to be supplied. Windsor, William Round. Osborne Hollow, William Roberts. Broome, R. Ingalls, H. T. Avery. Conklin, A. C. Sperry. Brooklyn, E. W. Breckinridge, one to be supplied. Montrose, P. Bartlett. Vestal, C. V. Arnold, one to be supplied, 8 WyoMING CoNFERENCE Union, J. Grimes, one to be supplied. Newark, N. S. De Witt. Berkshire, A. Brooks. Susquehanna and Lanesboro, G. H. Blakeslee. Conklin Forest, to be supplied. HoNESDALE DISTRICT N. Rounds, Presiding Elder Honesdale, C. W. Giddings. Canaan, D. C. Olmstead. Dundaff, S. S. Barter. Carbondale, W. Wyatt. Salem, G. W. Leach. Cherry Ridge, M. Carrier. Stoddartsville, F. Illman. Hawley, J. B. Cooper. Narrows and Flowers, to be supplied. Lackawaxen, to be supplied. Beach Pond, E. Smith, J. S. David. Bethany, Z. Kellogg, A. Barker, sy. Mount Pleasant, T. Wilcox. Sanford, R. S. Rose. Thompson, W. Shelp, one to be supplied. In 1855 Wyalusing District was created, comprising the fol- lowing appointments: Montrose, Brooklyn, Gibson, Le Raysville, Tunkhannock, Skinner’s Eddy, Mehoopany Mission, Colly Mis- sion, Nicholson, Wyalusing, Rome, Orwell, Litchfield, Windham, and Springville. This district continued until 1878. A glance at the list of appointments will reveal from what districts they were taken to form the district, and by what districts the Wyalusing was absorbed. During its existence it was served by the follow- ing presiding elders: 1855-58, George Landon; 1859-62, G. H. Blakeslee ; 1863-66, H. Brownscombe; 1867-70, D. C. Olmstead ; 1871-74, Luther Peck; 1875-77, I. T. Walker. In 1862 the Lackawanna District was formed, comprised of Scranton, Providence, Blakeley, Carbondale, Dundaff, Waymart, South Canaan, Salem, Sterling, Moscow, Stoddartsville, and Dunmore. This district continued until 1869, when it was ab- sorbed by Wyoming and Honesdale Districts. During its ex- istence it was served from 1862-65 by George Peck, and from 1866-68 by George M. Peck. In 1865 arrangements were made anticipating a reunion of the Oneida and Wyoming Conferences, some correspondence having passed between some members of both bodies relative to such a meeting. Dr. Z. Paddock, of Wyoming, was appointed to confer REUNION OF ONEIDA AND WYOMING 9 with the bishops and suggest the holding of both Conferences at the same time. In 1866 the Oneida Conference met in Ithaca and the Wyoming in Owego at the same time. The Oneida Confer- ence formally extended an invitation to the Wyoming Conference to visit the Oneida, and Drs. F. Reed, S. Comfort, D. W. Bristol, and Revs. William Reddy and B. I. Ives were appointed a com- mittee from Oneida Conference to make all necessary. arrange- ments and “‘superintend the courtesies” to be extended to Wy- oming. Wyoming Conference appointed Revs. G. P. Porter, D, A. Shepard, and R. Nelson a committee to make arrangements for the visit. On Friday morning, April 20, at seven o’clock the Conference started for Ithaca. On arrival at Ithaca they were given a very cordial welcome at their church, after which both bodies proceeded to Cornell Hall. At the hall Bishop Baker, who was presiding over the Oneida Conference, felicitously con- gratulated the two Conferences upon their reunion after laboring fifteen years in their respective fields; after which he formally in- troduced the members of the Wyoming to Oneida Conference. Dr. S. Comfort, having been selected for that purpose, then wel- comed Wyoming to the hospitalities of Ithaca Methodism, and extended the fraternal greetings of Oneida. His speech was full of interest and thrilling reminiscences. Hymn 707, “And are we yet alive,” was then sung as many persons present had never heard it sung before, after which the venerable Rev. George Harmon led in fervent prayer. Bishop Thomson, who was pre- siding over Wyoming Conference, responded to the address of Dr. Comfort, by invitation of Wyoming Conference. His address was characterized as inimitably happy and impressive. Dr. George Peck had been invited by his Conference the year previous to preach a semicentennial sermon. By arrangement of the com- mittee in charge of the reunion he delivered the sermon at this time. His theme was “The Past and the Present,” taking for his text Eccles. vii, 10, “Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than ‘these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.” The sermon was characteristically able, and was listened to with profound attention. Printed copies of the discourse were distributed to the audience. The Centenary Hymn, composed by Rev. L. Hartsough, of the Oneida Confer- ence, was then sung and the benediction pronounced by Bishop Thomson. In the afternoon the two Conferences united in a love feast of “unparalleled interest.” The Wyoming men were so de- lighted with the reunion that they passed appreciative resolutions and suggested a return visit in the near future. In 1867 the Con- 10 WyoMING CONFERENCE ference invited the Oneida Conference to make us a visit at its next session, which was to be held in Binghamton. They replied, “We cannot arrange for the visit next year, but will be happy to make it two years hence,” little thinking that when the time sug- gested should arrive many of them would come to stay. The General Conference of 1868 provided for the changing of several Conference boundaries, among which was the putting of Chenango and Otsego Districts, of the Oneida Conference, into the Wyoming Conference. Accordingly, in 1869 we find these two districts a part of Wyoming Conference. At the opening session of the Conference of 1869 resolutions were passed assur- ing the members from Oneida a hearty welcome. Subsequently the members on the two districts, appreciating their cordial recep- tion, passed resolutions to that effect and printed them in the Northern Christian Advocate. The districts of the Conference as they now are have been modified but slightly, with the exception of the two changes noted above, for many years. We give the list of elders on each district since organization: Binghamton District—We insert here the list of elders on the Susquehanna District: (In the Genesee Conference) 1821-22, George Lane; 1823, Fitch Reed; 1824-25, George Peck; 1826-29, Horace Agard (1829, in Oneida Conference) ; 1830, Elias Brown; 1831-33, Horace Agard; 1834-35, George Lane; 1836-38, J. M. Snyder ; 1839, George Peck; 1840-42, David Holmes, Jr.; 1843-46, J. M. Snyder; 1847-49, D. A. Shepard; 1850, Fitch Reed; 1851, Z. Paddock. Binghamton District: 1852-54, Z. Paddock; 1855, George Peck, 1856-59, N. Rounds; 1860-63, King Elwell; 1864- 67, Z. Paddock; 1868-71, D. W. Bristol; 1872-75, H. R. Clarke; 1876-79, William Bixby; 1880-83, J. G. Eckman; 1884-87, W. H. Olin; 1888-93, Thomas Harroun; 1894-95, J. O. Woodruff; 1896-1901, L. C. Floyd; 1902-03, J. B. Sweet. Chenango District—(In the Genesee Conference) 1821, Charles Giles; 1822-24, George Gary; 1825, Glezen Filmore; 1826-27, George Gary; 1828-31, George Harmon (1829, in Oneida Conference) ; 1832-35, Andrew Peck; 1836-39, D. A. Shepard; 1840-43, Nelson Rounds; 1844-45, Lyman A. Eddy; 1846-49, Selah Stocking; 1850-53, William Reddy; 1854-57, William Bixby; 1858-61, D. A. Whedon; 1862-64, W. H. Olin; 1865-68, W. N. Cobb; (in Wyoming Conference) 1869-72, Thom- as Harroun; 1873-76, J. G. Eckman; 1877-80, L. C. Floyd; 1881- 84, W. L. Thorpe; 1885-90, J. C. Leacock; 1891-96, H. M. Cry- denwise ; 1897, H. C. McDermott ; 1898-1903, C. H. Hayes, APPOINTEES TO DISTRICTS II Honesdale District.—1852-55, N. Rounds; 1856-57, C. W. Gid- dings ; 1858-61, W. Wyatt; 1862-64, J. J. Pearce; 1865-68, J. K. Peck; 1869-70, W. Bixby; 1871-74, D. C. Olmstead; 1875-78, L. W. Peck; 1879-82, A. J. Van Cleft; 1883-86, W. M. Hiller; 1887-92, J. B. Sumner ; 1893-98, W. L. Thorpe; 1899-1903, J. F. Warner. Oneonta District——From the time of formation until 1888 this district was known as Otsego District. At the Conference held in Oneonta in 1888 Bishop Walden gave the name of Oneonta to the district. While no one objected to the new name, many lamented that the historic Otsego should pass from our Minutes. (In Oneida Conference) 1846-49, Lyman Sperry; 1850-53, Isaac Parks; 1854-57, A. J. Dana; 1858-60, J. Shank; 1861-64, J. T. Wright; 1865-68, William Bixby; (in Wyoming Conference) 1869-72, W. N. Cobb; 1873-75, H. Wheeler; 1876-79, H. R. Clarke; 1880-83, F. L. Hiller; 1884-87, J. N. Lee; 1888-89%, W. H. Olin; 18894-9144, T. P. Halstead; 189144-96, A. J. Van Cleft; 1897-98%, A. Griffin; 189814-1903, T. F. Hall. Owego District—As Berkshire District, in Oneida Conference, 1831-33, Elias Bowen; 1834-37, H. Agard; 1838, Joseph Castle; 1839-42, George Harmon; name changed to Owego, 1843-45, V. M. Coryell; name changed to Newark, 1846, V. M. Coryell; 1847-50, J. M. Snyder; 1851, Fitch Reed; name changed to Owego in the Wyoming Conference, 1852-55, W. H. Pearne; 1856-58, Z. Paddock; 1859-61, J. J. Pearce; 1862, D. A. Shepard; 1863-66, G. P. Porter; 1867-70, H. R. Clarke; 1871-74, D. D. Lindsley; 1875-78, S. F. Brown; 1879-82, Y. C. Smith; 1883-86, H. M. Crydenwise; 1887-88, S. Moore; 1889-94, W. Treible; 1895-1900, George Forsyth; 1901-03, H. H. Dresser. Wyoming District—In Oneida Conference until 1852, when Wyoming Conference was organized. 1843-45, Silas Comfort; 1846-49, William Reddy; 1850-53, D. A. Shepard; 1854, George Peck; 1855-57, W. Wyatt; 1858-61, George Peck; 1862-63, R. Nelson; 1864-66, H. R. Clarke; 1867, G. P. Porter; 1868, R. Nelson; 1869-72, George Peck; 1873-76, G. R. Hair; 1877-80, W. H. Olin; 1881-84, A. Griffin; 1885-90, R. W. Van Schoick; 1891-92, M. S. Hard; 1893-9814, J. G. Eckman; 189814-1903, A. Griffin. ; 12 WYOMING CONFERENCE CHAPTER II EARLY CIRCUITS WYomING CIRCUIT MrtTuHopisM early took root in Wyoming Valley. Its planting, however, was not by the work of a missionary or itinerant preacher, but by the consecrated labors of a layman, and he a blacksmith. Anning Owen came to Wyoming from New England. “He was one of the handful of courageous men who were defeated and scattered by an overwhelming force under the command of Colonel John Butler. In the battle he was by the side of his brother-in-law, Benjamin Carpenter. He stood the fire of the enemy, and answered it, shot after shot, in such quick succession that the barrel of his gun became burning hot. “My gun is so hot that I cannot hold it! exclaimed the brave patriot soldier. ‘Do the best you can, then,’ was the reply of his friend. A shot or two more and the day was lost. Owen and Carpenter fled to the river, and secreted themselves under cover of a large grapevine which hung from the branches of a tree and lay in the water. Roger Searl, a lad, followed them, and the three lay in safety until the darkness of the night enabled them to gain the fort. They were a portion of the small number who escaped with their lives from the bloody encounter without swimming the river. The place of their concealment was near the mouth of Shoemaker’s Creek. While there fearful sights of barbarous cruelty in the river above pained their eyes and stung their souls to agony. They saw through the leaves Windecker, the Tory, tomahawk Shoemaker and set his body afloat, and the mangled corpse of their friend and neighbor passed quietly by them, carried slowly, down into the eddy by the current. “Tn the account which Mr. Owen often subsequently gave of his escape he stated that, when upon the run, he expected every mo- ment to be shot or tomahawked, and the terrible thought of being sent into eternity unprepared filled his soul with horror. He then resolved if he should be killed that he would fall on his face and spend his last breath in prayer to God for mercy. He prayed as he ran, and when he lay in the water his every breath was occu- pied with the silent but earnest prayer, ‘God have mercy on my ANNING OWEN 13 soul! There and then it was that he gave his heart to God, and vowed to be his forever. He was spared, and did not, as thousands do, forget the vows he made in the hour of his distress. “Mr. Owen returned to the East with the fugitives, but he was a changed man. He considered his deliverance from death as little short of a miracle, and that in it there was a wise and gracious design, which had reference to his eternal well-being. He was now a man of prayer, possessed a tender conscience, and indulged a trembling hope in Christ. “In this condition Mr. Owen became acquainted with the Methodists. Their earnest and powerful preaching, and the doc- trines which they taught, met in his heart a ready response. He was of an ardent temperament, and was never in favor of half- way measures in anything. He soon drank in the spirit of the early Methodists, and was as full of enthusiasm as any of them. His religious experience became more deep and thorough, and his evidence of sins forgiven more clear and satisfactory. He now rejoiced greatly in the liberty wherewith Christ had made him free, and panted to be useful. “In this state of mind Mr. Owen returned to Wyoming and settled among his old companions in tribulation. He was a black- smith, and he commenced, as he supposed, hammering out his fortune between Kingston village and Forty Fort, at the point where the highway crosses Toby’s Creek. There still stands the humble frame house which he built, and which his family occupied for many years. [Written by Dr. Peck about 1860.] “Mr. Owen had no sooner become settled in Wyoming than he commenced conversation with his neighbors upon the subject of religion, and began with many tears to tell them what great things God had done for his soul. His words were as coals of fire upon the heads and hearts of those he addressed, and he soon found a deep sympathy with his ideas and feelings was abroad and rapidly extending. He appointed prayer meetings in his own house. The people were melted down under his prayers, his ex- hortations, and singing. He was invited to appoint meetings at other places in the neighborhood, and he listened to the call. A revival of religion broke out at Ross Hill, about a mile from his residence, and just across the line which separates the townships of Kingston and Plymouth. Great power attended the simple, earnest efforts of the blacksmith, and souls were converted to God. He studied the opénings of Providence, and tried in all things to follow the divine light. He was regarded by the young 14 WYoMING CONFERENCE converts as their spiritual father, Sad to him they looked for ad- vice and comfort. “Mr. Owen, now considering himself providentially called upon to provide, at least temporarily, for the spiritual wants of his flock, formed them into a class. Most of the members of the little band residing in the neighborhood of Ross Hill, that point became the center of operations. This class was called the Ross Hill class until the old order of things passed away.” This class was organized in 1788, and the following were its members: Anning Owen and wife, Mr. Gray and wife, Abram Adams, Stephen Baker and wife, Mrs. Wooley and Nancy Wooley. Subsequently Mrs. Ruth Pierce, Alice and Hannah Pierce, Samuel Carver and his father, Joseph Brown, Captain Ebenezer Parish and wife, and Darius Williams and wife were added to the class. Mrs. Deborah Bedford, a veritable ‘‘mother in Israel,” has given the above list. She joined the class in the fall of 1788, but the class was formed in the spring. After a season Mr. Owen became convinced that it was his duty to devote his whole time to the ministry. In due time he became a local preacher, and was ordained deacon before he commenced traveling. He was admitted to Conference on trial in 1795, and in 1797 received elder’s orders. In 1796-97 he traveled Seneca Circuit; 1798, Albany Circuit; 1799, Flanders Circuit, in New Jersey; 1800, Bristol Circuit, near Philadelphia; 1801, Wyoming Circuit; 1802, Northumberland ; 1803, Strasburg and Chester, in Delaware; 1804, Dauphin Circuit, near Harrisburg; 1805-07, presiding elder of Susque- hanna District; 1808, Lycoming Circuit; 1809, Canaan Circuit. “All this time Mr. Owen’s family had lived in a comparatively comfortable little house, which he built himself, still standing in Kingston (1860), where industry and economy presided. Mrs. Owen, a neat little body, and her daughters took in work when they could get it, and earned a great part of their living.-. She wore a plain, clean dress, a check apron, a white neckerchief, and a strap cap, all beautifully clean and smoothly ironed. Her conversation and manners were plain, simple, modest, and pious. Such was the woman that Mr. Owen felt himself called to leave in charge of his affairs for weeks and months together, with the privilege of earning much of her own living and providing for and directing her children.” In 1810 Mr. Owen was sent to the Cayuga Circuit, where he now moved his family. In 1811 he was on Seneca Circuit; 1812, ANNING OWEN 15 New Amsterdam, a portion of the old Holland Purchase mission. In 1813, “in consequence of bodily debility,’ he took a superan- nuated relation, and died at his home in Ulysses, Cayuga County, N. Y., in April, 1814, in the sixty-third year of his age. We ought not to dismiss this character without further com- ment, he is so important a personage in connection with our history. He is described as being “‘a little above the ordinary size,” having “a dark complexion, piercing eye, athletic in appearance, and in fact possessed of a constitution capable of great endur- ance.” “Physically and intellectually, he was by natural consti- tution just the man for a Methodist preacher in the day in which he lived.” Rev. David Holmes said of him: “His literary acquirements were small. Unblest with early advantages, and having com- menced his ministry at an advanced period of life, it could not be expected he would distinguish himself in the departments of science. Besides this, the nature of the work in those days threw almost insuperable difficulties in the way of this kind of improve- ment. The circuits were often hundreds of miles in extent and the roads almost impassable ; the rides were long, and nearly every day in the week filled with an appointment. Under these circum- stances the acquisition of literature was scarcely to be thought of ; and yet such a man as Owen could never be at a loss for adequate means of communication with the people. He regarded the Gospel as perfect in itself, not needing the embellishments of rhetoric or the tinsel of human learning to make it efficacious; and if he might not draw materials from scientific sources, yet he had a resort which never failed him, namely, the Bible, common sense, and a knowledge of human nature. His figures were natural, not fantastic; not the unreal creations of a wild and un- chained imagination, but chosen from real life, and adapted to impress the mind of every grade of hearers. His speech was not with ‘enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and with power.’ ” Note the following quotations concerning him: ‘The zeal of Owen was limited only by his ability.” “A man of mighty faith and persevering prayer.” “A zealous, good man, very eccentric, and at times quite eloquent.” “Seemed in his element when he was debating the doctrine of unconditional election and reproba- tion.” “A shrewd man, and sometimes quite witty.” “Sometimes made chance shots which did great execution.” “Always ex- pected conversions at his quarterly meetings.” “He labored with 16 WyomiInG CONFERENCE all his might. He had a great voice and did not spare it. He thundered forth the terrors of the law in such tremendous tones, and prayed with such energy and power, that he was often called ‘bawling Owen.’ It was not all voice, however. He was a man of great religious sympathy, and of mighty faith. Under his preaching sinners trembled, and sometimes fell to the ground like dead men.”’ In 1791 Wyoming appears among the appointments in the Minutes with James Campbell as preacher in charge, Robert Cloud presiding elder. His district embraced Long Island, New Rochelle, Newburgh, New York, and Wyoming. Mr. Campbell was not the first itinerant preacher to visit this section, however. In 1789 Rev. Nathaniel B. Mills, who was traveling the Newburgh Circuit, made a visit to this field and preached several times. The following year Rev. Joseph Lovell, who was on the Newburgh Circuit, visited this section, and preached a few times. At the time Mr. Campbell took charge of the circuit there were one hundred members, about one half of whom were in the Ross Hill class. In 1792 William Hardesty is on the circuit, but no record re- mains of his work. In 1793 William Colbert and Anthony Turk are appointed to the circuit. Mr. Colbert was one of the very few men who kept a diary of his doings. His journal is not only interesting as a relic, but of untold value historically. This journal is now in the pos- session of the Historical Society of Philadelphia Conference. One interested in the early days of Methodism can but mourn the fact that so few such journals exist. Monday, April 15, 1793 Mr. Colbert with Rev. Thomas Ware, who had been acting in the capacity of “elder” in some parts of Tioga, took a boat at New Sheshequin and started down the river. They stopped at a cabin on the river’s side. They could find no straw to sleep on. Mr. Ware fixed himself on a chest with a bunch of tow for a pillow, while Mr. Colbert got some hay out of the boat for a bed. They landed in Wilkes-Barre on the 16th, about noon, dined at a Mr. Mann’s, and then rode to Richard Inman’s. Mr. Colbert had been on the Tioga Circuit four months and eight days. On the 17th Mr. Ware took his departure. On the 20th Mr. Colbert was twenty-nine years of age. He seemed to be very anxious to spend the balance of his days in God’s service. Needing his boots repaired, he took them to the prison, under the courthouse, and secured the services of a prisoner to do his work, as there was no shoemaker in town. He paid him WILLIAM COLBERT 17 double what he asked for mending them, as he was a poor prisoner. On the morning of the 21st, which was Sunday, the prison was found evacuated, and Mr. Colbert found only one of his boots mended—the prisoner not having had time to finish his job before leaving. He preached in the courthouse in the morning from Mark vi, 12, and in the evening from 2 Cor. xiii, 5. On the 26th he visited Mr. Owen’s, and, on the 27th he went to Philip Jackson’s, whose wife was a member of the society; he himself had been once. He lived on what has since been called the Fisher Gay place. The monument stands on a part of this place. On Sunday, the 28th, he preached at Rosencrantz’s on Matt. vii, 21-23; in the afternoon, at Captain Parish’s. Rosencrantz lived where “the old red house,” or “Captain Breese’s” house, stood in 1860, on the bluff near the Wyoming depot. Captain Parish lived on Ross Hill. In the evening he preached at Captain Ransom’s, in Shawney. On Wednesday, May 8, he went to Lackawanna Forge and preached at a James Sutton’s, from 1 Cor. vi, 19, 20. Mr. Sutton was not a member of the society, but was a man of very excellent spirit. On the following Sabbath his appointments were Rosencrantz’s, Captain Parish’s, and Shawney. From there he went to Briar Creek and was pleasantly entertained by Thomas Bowman. Thomas and his brother Christian were both local preachers, and did what they could in many ways to aid the work of Methodism. Thursday he went to Park’s in Salem (near Berwick). Sunday, 19th, he preached in the meetinghouse at Hanover Green, and in the afternoon at Wilkes-Barre. The meet- .inghouse here referred to was never finished, but was used. Bishop Asbury preached in it when he visited Wyoming. It was regularly occupied as a place of worship. Mr. Colbert next went to Capouse and “preached to a few people at Brother How’s,” met the class, and lodged at Joseph Waller’s. In June of this year Mr. Colbert is called upon to add to the work of Wyoming Circuit the work of the Northumberland Cir- cuit. This circuit contained “the whole country from the Susque- hanna to the Alleghany Mountains, including the Bald Eagle and Juniata Countries, Penn’s Valley, Buffalo Valley, and the settle- ments on the West Branch, penetrating in the wilderness as far north as Loyalsock.” For this toilsome work, which was faith- fully performed, he received his subsistence. In 1793 Methodism of this section was gladdened by a visit from Bishop Asbury. He made the visit while on his way from Maryland to New York in the latter part of June and the fore part of July. The following is from the bishop’s journal: 2 18 Wyominc CONFERENCE “Thursday, [June] 27th, was to me a day of trial. We set out late toward Northumberland; night coming on, we stopped at Penn’s Creek. Next morning we went to Northumberland to breakfast. It has a little chapel, that serves as a schoolhouse, belonging to the Methodists. We have a few kind, respectable friends, whose circumstances are comfortable. I gave them a sermon on John xiv, 6, and in the afternoon paid Sunbury a visit. The people here are almost all Dutch. I was enabled to speak alarming words on Acts iv, 12. “July 2. After preaching on ‘The Grace of God Appearing to All Men’ we wrought up the hills and narrows to Wyoming. We stopped at a poor house; nevertheless they were rich enough to sell us half a bushel of oats, and had sense enough to make us pay well for them. We reached Mr. P ’s about eleven o’clock. I found riding in the night caused a return of my rheumatic com- plaint through my breast and shoulders. But all is well; the Lord is with us. “Thursday, 4, being the anniversary of American independence, there was a great noise among the sinners. A few of us went down to Shawney, called a few people from their work, and found it good for us to be there. “Sunday, 7. The Lord has spoken in awful peals of thunder. O what havoc was made here fifteen years ago! Most of the in- habitants were either cut off or driven away. The people might have clothed themselves in sackcloth and ashes on the third, if in white and glory on the fourth of July. The inhabitants here are very wicked; but I feel as if the Lord would return. I hope Brothers F., I., and P. [probably Frisby, Inman, and Parish] will be owned of the Lord. The man at whose house I was to preach made a frolic the day before; it was said he sent a mile across the river to one of his neighbors, taking him from his work, and telling him he was about to bleed to death. This falsity was invented, I suppose, to incline the man to come. The people would not come to his house; I had to walk a mile through burning heat to preach. [This was from Richard Inman’s in Buttonwood to the meetinghouse on Hanover Green.] I was severely exercised in mind, hardly knowing where to go to get a quiet, clean place to lie down. “Monday, 8. I took the wilderness, through the mountains, up the Lackawanna, on the Twelve Mile Swamp; this place is famous for-dirt and lofty hemlock. We lodged in the middle of the swamp, at S ’s, and made out better than we expected.” Mr. Colbert met Bishop Asbury at Northumberland, being BisHor AsBury 19 greatly impressed by his agreeable manners. He went with the bishop, showing him the way, to Joseph Ogden’s, on Fishing Creek. From here they went to Berwick, where they called upon and prayed with “old Mother Salmons.” At this town the bishop preached to a considerable congregation at Isaac Hall’s. After this they journeyed to Captain Parish’s, at Ross Hill. On July 5 they went to Captain Satterthwaite’s where Mr. Colbert ex- pected the bishop to preach, but was disappointed, as the peo- ple would not gather there on account of the revelry there on the previous day. The people met at Rosencrantz’s. The cap- tain would not attend, being offended. On the 6th they went to Wilkes-Barre, where the bishop preached to a small congrega- tion in the courthouse. They went home with Richard Inman. On Sunday, the 7th, services were held as follows: At the meet- inghouse(?) Mr. Colbert sang, prayed, and read the first lesson for the day; Rev. Henry Hill, who apparently was with them from Northumberland until now, sang, prayed, and read the second lesson, after which the bishop preached and was followed in exhortation by Mr. Colbert and Mr. Hill. In the afternoon the bishop and Mr. Hill preached in the courthouse at Wilkes- Barre. The visit of Bishop Asbury to this section proved of great value to the work. It gave the bishop a better idea of the grade of talent needed for this field and of the needed readjustment of the work. At the following Conference, which was held in Bal- timore in October a new district was formed, consisting of but four circuits, Northumberland, Tioga, Wyoming, and Seneca Lake, with Valentine Cook as presiding elder. Mr. Cook was eminently fitted for the work. On July 20 and 21 a quarterly meeting was held at Nanticoke. On the 20th James Campbell preached and exhortations were made by Anning Owen and William Colbert. In the evening Owen preached, prayers followed, “and the windows of heaven were opened.” These meetings were at Aaron Hunt’s. A Pres- byterian by the name of Moore, who had traveled some thirty miles from up the river to be present, “was in raptures of joy, seeing so many people engaged with God.” The 21st was Sunday, and the services were held in Widow Bidlack’s barn. After love feast James Campbell preached, Anning Owen exhorted, and then William Colbert preached. After this the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was administered. This was the first administered by Mr. Colbert. Dr. Peck says: “Barns, for many years after this, were com- 20 Wyominc CONFERENCE mon places for the holding of quarterly meetings. Many a barn, like that of Widow Bidlack in the case above referred to, has been sanctified by the presence and power of God, and been the spiritual birthplace of precious souls. Quarterly meetings were just beginning to be great occasions in the interior, and to exert a great influence on the public mind. The people came from far to attend them, and returned home full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, The one noticed by Mr. Colbert was one of a series of these means of grace, which, within the course of a few years, were largely concerned in the permanent establishment of Meth- odism in Wyoming and its surroundings.” On Sunday, August 11, Mr. Colbert preached at Aaron Hunt’s, and in the afternoon in the courthouse at Wilkes-Barre. Took a collection which amounted to 13s. 5d. In December Mr. Colbert was at Stephen Baker’s, in Kingston, where he preached, and Mr. Turk, his colleague, formed four bands. Baker lived on the old road between Forty Fort and Wilkes-Barre, on what was afterward known as the Church place. This was for many years a great stopping place for the itinerants, and frequently services were held there. Rev. Anthony Turk, who labored this year on the circuit with Mr. Colbert, was really a character. Familiarly called “Daddy Turk,” a plain, rough man, very demonstrative in preaching, an indefatigable worker, holy and devout, greatly loved by the people, his name was held in reverence by old Methodists for many years. He died in Freehold Circuit, N. J., March 13, 1803. James Paynter was on the circuit in 1794. Little is known of him. He was called a good preacher, and a useful one, a man of few words and exceedingly grave. The year 1795 seems to have been a thrifty year for the circuit. This was the last year of Valentine Cook’s service on the Susque- hanna District. Alward White was on Wyoming Circuit, and there is some evidence that Rev. Joseph Jewell, who was received on trial in 1795, also worked on this circuit. Two notable quarterly meetings were held on the circuit this year, one at Amos Park’s in Salem (near Berwick), and the other in the upper part of Kingston, at Philip Jackson’s, who lived on what was afterward known as the Fisher Gay place. “The Quarterly Conference was held upstairs. We heard them shouting and praising the Lord. My mother, Betsy Dennison, Polly Dennison, Clara Pierce, Polly Pierce, and myself went into an adjoining room and looked in, when we saw them all lying on the floor. The one near the door said, ‘Sisters, come in.’ We went into the QUARTERLY CONFERENCES 21 room, and as soon as we entered the place we ail fell, so wonderously was the power of God manifested on that occasion. James Carpenter, who was not then a professor of religion, came into the first room, and we asked him to come in, but he would not. He told us afterward that he did not dare to come into the room, for he knew that if he had stepped over the threshold of the door he would have fallen. “The next morning in the love feast it seemed as if all the members, both preachers and people, were filled with the love and power of God. After love feast Elder Cook preached a most powerful sermon, and Brother White gave out an earnest and moving exhortation. The work now went on rapidly and spread far and wide.” The above is Mrs. Bedford’s account of the meeting as she gave it to Dr. Peck. To which the doctor adds: “In those days Quarterly Conferences were not mere meetings of business, but were occasions of searching examinations and fervent prayer; and the official members often came from them, like Moses from the mount, reflecting the divine glory. No wonder that at a Quarterly Conference where all were overwhelmed with adoring wonder the work of God should receive a new impulse.” This year the class at Wilkes-Barre witnessed a great revival, which shook the foundations of infidelity, entered some of the leading families of the place, and added many to the Church. At the close of 1796 the Wyoming Circuit reported 221 members. Roger Benton was on this circuit in 1797. He was called a modest, meek, consistent man, and an able preacher. Just here appears one of those things which makes one feel the uncertainty of historic data. According to the published Minutes, Mr. Colbert was appointed to the Chester Circuit for 1797. But from a study of his journal it is found that he spent part of the year on Bristol Circuit, which he served in 1796, and part of the year labored on Wyoming Circuit, to which he was appointed in 1798. But this does not tell all the truth. From October, 1797, to August, 1798, he traveled the Strasburg Circuit. We notice his stopping places, as it gives an idea of the size of the circuit: Benjamin Reeder’s, in Newport; Elijah Inman’s, in Buttonwood, or Hanover; David Taylor’s, in Capouse, or Provi- dence; preached at Squire Carpenter’s instead of Rosencrantz’s, in upper Kingston; preached at Jesse Gardener’s, on the Plains; ‘at Eden Rugger’s, in Bedford; at William George’s, in Wilkes- Barre. Here he was entertained at Mrs. Hollenback’s, Mr. 22 WYoMING CONFERENCE George being a poor man. At Shawney he stopped at Samuel Holley’s. This year Benjamin Bidlack and Darius Williams appeared at the quarterly meetings as exhorters. In 1799 Wyoming and Northumberland Circuits were united and James Moore, Benjamin Bidlack, and David Stevens ap- pointed to serve the circuit. James Moore was an Irishman, shrewd and a good preacher, “neat in his dress and precise in his manners.” He was somewhat annoyed by the application for a license to preach by Nathan Parish, a brother of the captain. Mr. Moore did not believe that he was called to the work, but at last proposed that he should preach a trial sermon. Parish assented to this. When the hour arrived on which the sermon was to be preached Mr. Moore opened the service with prayer, in which he prayed that the preacher might be confounded by God. Parish was vanquished. He could do nothing, and sat down, having made a fizzle. This ended his attempts to get into the Methodist ministry. During this year a class was formed at Charles Harris’s, over the Kingston mountain. Services, however, had been held there before this by a local preacher, Gilbert Carpenter. The following from the steward’s book, probably written by Calvin Wadhams, is of intense interest. It is of a quarterly meeting held at Ross Hill, March 26 and 27, 1803: “Stewards, Darius Williams, Calvin Wadhams, Solomon Chapin.” Note the following credits: Wilkes-Barre, $2.93; Plains, $1.70; Pittston, $0.50; Providence, $0.40; Little Beech Woods, ; Great Beech Woods, ——; Stanton Settlement, ; Tunkhannock Creek, ; Atherton’s, ——; Exeter, $1.11; Kingston, $4.37%4; Carver’s, $1.37%; Ross Hill, $2.02; Plymouth, $2.50; Briar Creek, $0.50; Salem, ; Newport, $3.48; Nanticoke, $1.48; public collections, $10.46 and $3.38. Disbursements are as fol- lows: Ephraim Chambers, expenses, $3; quarterage, $9.10; $1.13. William Brandon, expenses, $2.25; quarterage, $18.20; $2.25. Su Dr. Peck estimates that this year $169.45 was the amount raised on the circuit to support two preachers and help support the pre- siding elder, and to pay traveling expenses. Big Beech Woods was the Dutch settlement in Canaan, and Little Beech Woods was Springville Hollow. In 1806 the circuit contained eighteen preaching places, twelve of which were in Wyoming Valley, the others were in Wayne and Susquehanna Counties. WYoMING CIRCUIT 23 The year 1807 was a memorable one. Bishop Asbury visited this field this year. On Sunday, July 19, he preached in a grove by the old Forty Fort church, and ordained Christian and Thomas Bowman deacons. Rain, however, cut short the services of the morning. In the afternoon services were held in a nearby barn on account of rain. This is the year the old church of Forty Fort was built. The timbers for its construction were lying about at the time of Asbury’s visit. In 1812 the following preaching places constituted the circuit, and, according to Rev. Elisha Bibbins, necessitated traveling two hundred miles to get over it once: Newport (preaching in a schoolhouse near Jonathan Smith’s, an exhorter), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Providence, a point across the Susquehanna River opposite the Tunkhannock Creek, Stark Settlement, Hopbottom (now Brooklyn), Crowfoot Settlement (within eight miles of Great Bend), Springville, Leyman’s Settlement, Meshoppen, Braintrim (neighborhood of Captain Kinney’s), Hunt’s Ferry, Carver neighborhood, Kingston, Plymouth, Plains. In 1814 the following appear as preaching places: Kingston, Plymouth, Bedford, now Truxville, Dallas, C. Conkle’s, J. Whit- tock’s in Northmoreland, Wilkes-Barre, Hanover, Stoddartsville, Jacob’s Plains, Pittston, Providence, Carver’s, New Troy, New- port, and Leach’s in Abington. In 1818 Dr. George Peck was appointed to the circuit and notes the following appointments: Forty Fort; Plymouth; Wilkes- Barre; Hanover; Ruggle’s schoolhouse; Stoddartsville; Plains; house of Ebenezer Marcy above Pittston; house of Preserved Taylor, farmer, Mother Taylor, the class leader; Kingston. Six appointments were in private houses, three in schoolhouses, and three in churches, not one of which belonged to the Methodist Church. He took up work during the year at Leach’s in Abing- ton, Newport, Carver’s, Wyoming, and Blindtown. It will be seen by the above that the circuit changed somewhat from time to time. Perhaps the temperament and inclinations of the various pastors had something to do with that. _ In 1826 Dr. George Peck and Philo Barbary were appointed to the circuit. After the first quarter of the year had passed, upon petition of the people, Wilkes-Barre with Hanover, Plains, and Newport were constituted a charge, with Dr. Peck as pastor. Daniel Torry was put in Dr. Peck’s place on the circuit. In 1828 and 1829 these places were again in the Wyoming Circuit. After 1855 Wyoming Circuit ceases to be among the appoint- 24 WYoMING CONFERENCE ments. But little of its thrilling, adventurous, toilsome history is written. Long rides, often scanty fare, small pay, preaching almost daily, large revivals, phenomenal camp meetings, comprise the history. . If all its details might be known its record would be romantically glorious. Wyoming Circuit was served as follows: 1791, James Camp- bell; 1792, William Hardesty; 1793, William Colbert, Anthony Turk; 1794, James Paynter ; 1795-96, Alward White; 1797, Roger Benton; 1798, William Colbert; 1799 (and Northumberland), James Moore, Benjamin Bidlack, David Stevens; 1800, Ephraim Chambers, Edward Larkins, Asa Smith; 1801 (alone, and on Philadelphia District), Ephraim Chambers, Anning Owen; 1802 (on Philadelphia District, in Philadelphia Conference), Ephraim Chambers, William Brandon; 1803 (on Susquehanna District, same Conference), James Polemus, Hugh McCurdy; 1804 (same district, Baltimore Conference), Morris Howe, Robert Burch; 1805, James Paynter, Joseph Carson; 1806, Christopher Frye, Alfred Griffith; 1807, Gideon Draper, William Butler; 1808 (same district, Philadelphia Conference), James Reiley, Henry Montooth; 1809, George Lane, Abraham Dawson; 1810 (same district, Genesee Conference), Thomas Wright, Elijah Metcalf; 1811, Noah Bigelow, William Brown; 1812, John Kimberlin, Elisha Bibbins; 1813, Marmaduke Pearce; 1814, B. G. Paddock; 1815, George W. Densmore; 1816-17, Elias Bowen; 1818, George Peck; 1819, Marmaduke Pearce; 1820, Elisha Bibbins; 1821, Elisha Bibbins, John Sayre; 1822, John D. Gilbert, William W. Rundell; 1823, George Lane, Gaylord Judd; 1824, Morgan Sher- man, Joseph Castle; 1825, John Copeland, Philo Barbary; 1826, George Beck, Philo Barbary; 1827, Sophronius Stocking, Miles H Gaylord; 1828 (and Wilkes-Barre), J. Castle, Silas Comfort; 1829, Morgan Sherman, B. Ellis; 1830, V. M. Coryell, B. Ellis; 1831, C. W. Harris; 1832, Charles Nash, C. W. Giddings; 1833, H. F. Rowe; 1834, H. F. Rowe, A. J. Crandall; 1835, C. W. Giddings, A. J. Crandall, M. Pearce (supply); 1836, F. H. Stanton, K. Elwell; 1837, F. H. Stanton, William W. Wooley; 1838, William Round, Philo Blackman; 1839, William Round, Lyman Mumford; 1840-41, J. B. Benham; 1842, William Reddy, L. S. Bennett; 1843, L. S. Bennett, George H. Blakeslee; 1844, P. G. White; 1845, P. G. White, L. S. Bennett; 1846, Frederick Humphries; 1847, Thomas H. Pearne; 1848, E. P. Williams ; 1849, H. R. Clarke; 1850, Asahel Bronson; 1851, C. H. Harvey; 1852, T. D. Walker; 1853, T. D. Walker, A. Bronson (supply) ; 1854, C. W. Giddings; 1855, S, S. Kennedy. Orseco Circuit 25 Statistics T7QL» 6 sess gewese re 100 members. TOOT iste. vec cheeses 191 3 ISIT ase sa enw 377 ISSTatevessakarviesiss 307 nf TS3Iiniw, a eeingaareiere 546 of TSAR yes eva wiresiiere’s 224 ee POST spe eet oes apanaterais 126 St These figures show the growth of the circuit and also its dis- solution by forming charges out of it. OTSEGO CIRCUIT In 1791 Otsego Circuit first appears among the appointments. Just how long before this Methodism began to take root in this soil we are unable to say. This territory had been in the Mont- gomery Circuit prior to the forming of this circuit. “The country was wild; settlements few and far between. Roads were few, people poor, wicked, and reckless.” Otsego Circuit does not appear in the Minutes from 1796 until 1803. It could not have been merged in some other appointment, it was evidently too strong. When William Colbert takes charge of Albany District in 1802 he recognizes this circuit and gives it four quarterly meetings. The omission must have been by mis- take. The second of these quarterly meetings was held at Ed- son’s, in Milford. Another quarterly meeting was held in Middlefield, at a Mr. Green’s; another at Elwood’s, in Stewart’s Patent. William Jewett furnished Dr. Peck the following plan of Ot- sego Circuit as it was in 1810: “New Lisbon, S. Abbey, Sunday morning, schoolhouse. “Craftstown schoolhouse, Sunday afternoon. “Ostewa, Young’s, Monday. “Butternut, Chapin’s, Tuesday afternoon. “Butternut, Bedient’s, Tuesday evening. “Butternut, Johnson’s, Wednesday. “Burlington, Rawson, Thursday. “New Lisbon, Gross. “Burlington, Bloss, Friday. “Burlington, Rose’s, Friday. “Richfield, Morris, Sunday morning. “Stewart’s Patent, schoolhouse, afternoon; lodge at Elwood’s. “Warren, Talcot; German Flats, Voorhis; German Flats, Lewis; Manhein, Hendricks; Fordsbush, Arnold’s; Minden, 26 WYoMING CONFERENCE Howland’s, Nicholson’s, and Johnson’s; Springfield, Walrod’s ; Bowman’s Creek, Wheeler’s; Charlestown, Williams’s and Matti- son’s; New Sharon, Van Schaick’s; Bowman’s Creek, Cham- plain’s; Cherry Valley, Storm’s, New Boston schoolhouse; East Hill, Ross’s; Cherry Valley village, Farley’s; Middlefield, Peck’s, Blair's, Green’s, and McAllum’s;* Bowerstown, Raxford’s; Mil- ford, Biven’s; Hartwick, Algar’s and Lippit’s; Pittsfield, Crane’s; Piertown, Knowlton’s; Cooperstown village; and then ride to Middlefield for rest.” “This year (1812) Ebenezer White and Ralph Lanning were appointed to Otsego Circuit. Mr. White had the reputation of a revivalist of the old stamp. It was said that he always had re- vivals; but it was not by claptrap or eccentricities, or even pro- tracted meetings, for they were not then known, that he produced revivals, but by the old apostolic Methodist method of preaching the truth in simplicity and earnestness, and everywhere breathing the spirit of holiness. “When Father White came on the tone of religious fervor began to rise immediately. The old devout members in the Mid- dlefield class talked of his first sermon as a feast of fat things. The sermon was on a week-day afternoon, and few of the young people heard it; but the earnest conversation about it on the part of the church members created an interest in their minds, and a desire to hear the great preacher. “On his second or third round Mr. White visited the house of Mr. Peck, the class leader. While Betsy was combing his long black hair, and the younger members of the family were timidly skulking in corners, where they might hear what was said with- out being observed, the apostolic man began to catechise the class leader: “ “Flow many of your children have been converted, brother ?’ “Only the one combing your hair, among those who live at home,’ was the answer. ““Do you pray in your family ?’ ““T do.’ “*Do you pray for your children?” “T try.’ ““Have you given them to God in baptism ?’ ““Only that part of them born in Connecticut.’ “Why have you not had the others baptized ?’ “The answer was simple and straightforward: ‘After coming * Isaac Green’s house was on the hill north of Red Creek, about three quarters of a mile from Peck’s. McAllym’s was about the same distance in another direction, OrseGo CIRCUIT 27 to this country I lived for some years in a careless way, and thought but little about it, and now some of them are growing up in sin and are not fit subjects of baptism.’ Sundry of the children felt, ‘That means me!’ After some godly counsel to parents and children, which the occasion demanded, and a fervent prayer, the venerable man departed; but the words he had spoken were like nails fastened in a sure place. “Soon after the new preacher had left Mr. Peck’s house Polly, a little girl of about eleven years, came to her mother in tears and asked her if she was ‘too wicked to be baptized?’ The answer was, ‘If you wish to be baptized, and will repent of your sins, and pray for mercy, and try to be good, Father White will baptize you.’ The dear child began to read the Bible, and weep and pray in secret. Andrew, about thirteen, conversing with his sister, caught her spirit and followed her example. The next Sabbath evening in the prayer meeting the two children knelt and wept aloud. They were commended to God in the prayers of the members of the church, and received comfort to their wounded hearts. A con- versation with Andrew on the next day melted our hard heart, and we became deeply penitent. “From this beginning the work spread, and the children of the Methodist families shared largely in the reviving influence. When Father White came around the next time we were all ready for the baptism. He preached a glorious sermon on Heb. xi, 24: ‘By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,’ etc. After the sermon a large number of adults and infants were baptized, and all who desired were received on probation in the Church. We, children of Methodist parents—Blairs, McAllums, Greens, Pecks, and Ricters—were a class by ourselves, and a happy company were we. “The fire spread over the circuit. The same mode of visiting which we have described was pursued elsewhere with the same success, and an army of recruits was gathered into the Church before the first quarterly meeting for the year. That quarterly meeting was in a barn in Minden, in the month of December, and a warm time it was in the old barn, although it was severely cold without. On the stage were William Case, Ebenezer White, Ralph Lanning, and Jonathan Huestis, all now safely landed on the blessed shore.” —Peck, Early Methodism. In 1813 Ralph Lanning and Asa Cummins were sent to the Otsego Circuit. , “Mr. Cummins had been upon the circuit in 1803, and his excel- 28 WyomING CONFERENCE lent lady had taught the school and lived with her children in the schoolhouse. Of course he was an old acquaintance, but his health was bad, and he was getting advanced in life, and his physical strength was not adequate to the labors of a heavy charge. He held on until 1835, when he left the field of toil for a crown.”— Peck. . The following, from the pen of Charles Giles, presiding elder of Oneida District, will show clearly the state of the temperance question at and about the time we are now considering (1816) : “Intemperance, which was everywhere prevalent at that day, was a great hindrance to the reception and triumph of the Gospel. Though a ruinous and disgraceful evil to drink stimulating liquors habitually, still it had been a practice of long standing, and was authorized by fashion and custom in every class in the com- munity. So under the influence of perverted views and habits the world went on encouraging the evil without stopping to consider the fatal consequences. Though our Church bound her members by a practical rule to abstain from the use of ardent spirits as a drink, nevertheless the ruling custom in everyday business being to pass the intoxicating cup from hand to hand, the members of our communion were unavoidably exposed to the tempting evil, and as a natural consequence intemperate habits crept into our societies, which caused some promising members to lose their piety and standing among us. “Tn that day the views entertained by the public mind respecting the use of alcoholic drinks made it inglorious work for a minister of the Gospel to speak against the common tippling practice in a public discourse. Nevertheless, my vows to God, together with the dictates of my conscience, would not excuse me from per- forming the unpopular task. Therefore I improved the oppor- tunity, when addressing large assemblies, to portray the alarming evil of intemperance, and also brought out the thundering moral law to bear against the ungodly practice. “While superintending a camp meeting on Otsego Circuit my spirit was moved within me, seeing the wickedness of the land. The hateful genius of intemperance appeared crouching in obvious places on the environs of the encampment, grinning at us as we passed along. On the Sabbath, when my turn came to preach, I appeared before the multitude with my brow set against wicked- ness—alcoholic wickedness in particular. Being authorized by my text to bring arguments against the prevailing sin of intem- perance, I had no mercy to show to the evil in any of its branches. I shook the rod of truth over the distillery, the rum shop, and TEMPERANCE 29 the intoxicating fluid as it ran down the drunkard’s neck. It was plain, pointed work; every sentence went like a bullet to the mark. Knowing that truth and reason were on my side, I was not anxious about the judgment of men. While standing in the pres- ence of God, proclaiming his solemn truth, I was far above the scorn of the impious world. “Soon after the discourse was ended I learned that there was a man on the camp ground who owned a distillery; and only a few weeks before, in a revival of religion, he was numbered among the converts, but had not united with the Church. During the discourse the preachers and some others heard my pointed re- marks with much anxiety and trembling on account of the con- verted distiller, fearing the attack I made on his whisky business would destroy his religion, and hence the Church would lose him forever—his talents and influence having awakened much interest in his favor. Immediately after the exercise was closed the preachers and other friends gathered around him in a pious panic, anxious to heal his wounds and comfort his afflicted mind. Among other things they said, ‘Brother Giles did not mean you personally ; he does not know you, nor what business you are en- gaged in.’ All very true; they hoped that he would not be dis- turbed by the discourse. The distiller stood and heard them calmly and attentively for a few minutes, and then in this manner replied: ‘Brethren, what do you mean? If that man has preached the truth, I am glad that I was present to hear it.’ The gentleman appeared to be a sincere Christian, anxious to know the whole truth, and determined to do his duty as it was revealed to him. “The brethren who manifested so much anxiety over this young convert were temperance men themselves. They were only afraid that the tremendously strong meat I carved for the assembly at that time would destroy him, being only a babe in religion. But when they saw that he would live through the operation they were very glad, and, indeed, we were all glad. And the distiller after- ward showed to all around how religiously glad he was. In- fluenced by the power of truth and holy feelings, he returned home from the meeting and never run his distillery another day; nor did he sell it to anyone to work mischief in the neighborhood ; but he let it go down—yes, Brother Badger let his distillery rot down. I saw it afterward in a harmless pile of ruins, and rejoiced to see it in that condition. The pious brother joined the Methodist Church soon afterward, in whose communion he remained a use- ful and distinguished member till the day of his death.’—Quoted by Conable, pp. 110-112. 30 Wyominc CoNFERENCE The following is from a letter of Charles Giles published in the Methodist Magazine; the letter bears date of August 2, 1817: “At a certain time, on Otsego Circuit, an effort was made to illustrate and enforce this text: ‘As he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come, Felix trembled.’ The as- sembly was large and very attentive, and, while the discourse was coming to a close, there was a wonderful move among them: the Spirit of God was evidently working on the hearts of the people. After the exercise was closed, as we were descending the pulpit stairs I saw an aged man coming toward the altar with an anxious appearance. As I moved toward him he grasped my hand, and earnestly inquired, ‘Is there any mercy for such a sinner as I am?’ I pointed to the Bible which lay on the desk, and assured him that it contained many promises for sinners. Then, with greater earnestness, he seized my hand with both of his, and said, ‘Is it possible that such an old sinner can find mercy?’ I continued to show him that God would save all who came to him through Jesus Christ. This moving event caused many in the congrega- tion to wait. The aged penitent stood there in a state of bodily and mental agitation till he was requested to kneel at the altar. Then the congregation was invited to the opening of a season of prayer in behalf of the subject at the altar. The exercise com- menced immediately, and while our prayers were being offered for the aged sinner others felt the same convincing influence of the Holy Spirit, and began to cry for mercy likewise. Soon the mingled voices of prayer and lamentation filled the house. The scene was truly affecting. While some lay helpless under the overpowering operations of the Holy Spirit, others stood weeping around them—parents and children, husbands and wives, were mingled in the scene. They were mourning and rejoicing, sing- ing and shouting; but, fortunately, there was no confusion in the house; no one was there to oppose. Jehovah reigned and wrought, and all was right, and all was good. “From the time of the commencement of this work, which was about three o’clock in the afternoon, there was no cessation till eleven o'clock that night. Eight souls were converted; still some went away sorrowing under the burden of their sins. Soon after they came into the kingdom of grace rejoicing. Some who were converted that day were triflers in the morning. How wonderful are the works of God!”—Conable, pp. 113, 114. At the Conference of 1818 Abner Chase was appointed to the Otsego Circuit. He recollects that upon that circuit he found Josiah Keyes, “who was then but a lad, and gave him his first STRIKING CONVERSION 31 license to exhort, who afterward became so famous as a preacher, and died while he was presiding elder on Cayuga District, so universally lamented.” And he further states that ‘‘at a place called Fly Creek, a few miles west of Cooperstown, there was a little church, or meetinghouse, which was built or formerly occu- pied by Episcopalians, but at that time . . . mostly occupied by Methodists. In the month of December of that year we held a quarterly meeting in this little church. There had been something of a move among the people of the neighborhood for a few weeks preceding, and several young persons had professed a change of heart. When the quarterly meeting commenced, therefore, the people seemed prepared to avail themselves of its privileges. Through the entire meeting, from its commencement, there was a heavenly influence resting upon the congregation. But Sabbath evening was the great and memorable time. The presiding elder, C. Giles, remained with us; and was much in the spirit of the work. At about the usual hour for closing the meeting, while some were relating what God had done for them, an old man by the name of Shepard, who, as he afterward stated, had felt deeply for several days, but had not divulged his feelings to anyone, inquired of a lad who had spoken of the mercy of God to him if he thought there could be any mercy for such an old sinner as he was. It seemed that he made inquiry of the boy because he was near him, and because he had not confidence to speak to anyone else. The lad was rather taken by surprise, and did not answer imme- diately, but another person did, assuring the old man that there was mercy for him, and that he might find it then and there. Upon which the old man fell upon his knees, and many of us bowed with him,.and while we were interceding for him God spoke peace to his soul, and he arose and testified it to the congre- gation. This produced a powerful effect upon many. At the same time there arose a severe storm of lightning, thunder, and rain, attended or succeeded by a storm of snow. The thunder- storm at this season of the year added to the solemnity of the meeting, so that all idea of closing it was given up for the present, and cries and tears, prayers and praise, were mingled together without intermission for several hours; some having no disposi- tion to leave the house on account of the storm, while many more were induced to stay because of the interest they took in the meet- ing. Before the next morning dawned many souls in that house were delivered from the guilt of sin, and made to rejoice in God their Saviour. Of this number was Martin Marvin, now a member of the Oneida Conference. 22 WyoMING CONFERENCE “There lived at this time, in a little village called Milford, situated a few miles below Cooperstown, on the Susquehanna River, a Major Badger, a man who had enjoyed literary ad- vantages above most of his neighbors, and whose mind wasstored with general knowledge by reading and observation. But he was an unbeliever in revealed religion, and openly professed and ad- vocated deism. He held at this time the first office in town, and his influence was great. During the winter of 1817-18 some busi- ness had led him to attend the session of the Legislature in Al- bany for several weeks. During his absence his wife had attended a Methodist meeting in a neighborhood at some distance from home, a privilege she could not enjoy with the knowledge and consent of her husband, and at this meeting she had become awakened, and had sought the Lord in secret and found a sense of forgiveness of sin. But this, for the time being, she kept to herself, and when her husband returned she hesitated to mention what the Lord had done for her soul, fearing his opposition. “In an adjoining town lived a man by the name of Marvin, the father of Martin Marvin, whom I have mentioned before. Badger and Marvin had formerly been intimately acquainted, but, the latter having some time before this embraced religion, their inti- macy had been interrupted. But it happened soon after Badger returned from Albany that some business brought them together. After their business was accomplished, Marvin inquired of Badger if he ever attended Methodist meetings. ‘No,’ said Badger, ‘you know I do not believe in such things, and why should I go?’ Said Marvin, ‘There will be preaching in such a place, on such an evening, which is but two or three miles from your house, and I ask you as a friend to go, and at least for once hear a sermon.’ Badger gave him no promise to attend, but on going home he asked his wife if she wished to go to a Methodist meeting. She was so astonished and overcome, as she afterward stated, on hearing her husband make this inquiry, that for some time she could give no answer. But after recovering herself a little she replied, ‘Why, do you wish to go?’ ‘TI do not know that I do,’ said he, ‘but Marvin has been pressing me to go and hear a Methodist preacher at T.’s next Wednesday evening.’ ‘Well,’ said she, ‘if you wish to go I will accompany you.’ He replied, “Well, then, we will make our calculations to go.’ “She afterward told me that she could with difficulty suppress her feelings until she could retire to her room, where she poured forth her gratitude to God for this unexpected event, that she was likely to have the privilege to attend a Methodist meeting with Mitrorp, N. Y. 33 the consent of her husband. The evening arrived, and Badger and his wife repaired to the meeting. The preacher was entirely ignorant of the circumstances above narrated, but felt, in a rather unusual degree, the importance of his work, and endeavored to describe the wretched state of man by nature, his need of the mercy of God, and how that mercy could be exercised through Christ, and only through him. : “When the meeting was closed the major came forward and introduced himself to the preacher before all the congregation by giving his name and the place of his residence; and added, ‘If you have heard anything of Milford village you have probably heard that Methodist preachers have been abused there,’ alluding to the case of Ebenezer White, who once attempted to preach in Milford and was abused by a mob. ‘But,’ continued he, ‘I wish you to come and preach in Milford, and if you will consent I pledge my- self that you shall be well used.’ The preacher informed him that on such an evening he could be there, and if an appointment was given out he would, with the leave of Providence, fulfill it. The major assured him the appointment would be made, and requested the preacher to come to his house, and consider it his home while he remained in the place. This was assented to, and so they parted. When the day arrived the preacher came in the afternoon to Milford, and received a hearty welcome to the major’s house, who soon brought forward his Bible and commenced stating his deistical objections, and pointing out what he thought to be incon- sistencies and contradictions in it, though in a calm and gentle- manly manner. In this manner the afternoon passed, and, the hour for meeting having arrived, the congregation assembled in a large schoolhouse, with a swinging partition in the center, which was raised, and the house filled to overflowing. The season was solemn and impressive, and all seemed to listen with deep atten- tion. When the services were closed the major called the atten- tion of the congregation, and said he wished to know if they desired the preaching to be continued, and called on those who were in favor to arise. The whole congregation were at once upon their feet, and an appointment was accordingly left for four weeks from that evening. After returning to the major’s the sub- ject of the Bible and revealed religion was resumed and continued to a late hour. When the preacher came from his room, at an early hour in the morning, the major met him, saying, ‘I had a fire, and have been waiting for you for some time.’ The Scriptures were still the subject of conversation, until the preacher perceived that the major was evidently deeply wrought upon by 3 34 WyYoMING CONFERENCE the Spirit of the Lord. He therefore thought it best to leave him for the present to his own reflections, and immediately started for his next appointment, without dropping the least hint that he had discovered the major’s agitation. “On the day next preceding that on which the appointment was to be again met at Milford the major went to meet the preacher at an appointment a few miles distant, and on coming into the house where the preacher had put up he took him by the hands and, bathed in tears, exclaimed, ‘I find myself a wretched sinner, undone, without the mercy of God!’ After a little conversation they walked together to the schoolhouse, where the meeting was to be held. The text was taken from Phil. i, 29: ‘For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.’ While explaining the former part of this privilege, given us in behalf, or through Christ, the major found power of faith to lay hold upon the promises of God in Christ; the bands were broken, and his soul exulted in the joy of pardoned sin. The major stayed for class meeting, and, this being the nearest society to Milford, he offered himself as a probationer for membership before he left the house, and his name was enrolled among them. At the earnest solicitation of the major the preacher accompanied him home that night—and what a scene! Then, for the first time, the husband and wife unfolded to each other their views and feelings on the all-important subject of religion. The neighbors were called in, and praise and prayer, and sighs and tears, were mingled together. The next evening the schoolhouse could not contain the congregation which assembled, and the Presbyterian meetinghouse was obtained, and many that evening felt that the word of the Lord was quick and powerful. “To give the particulars of the revival which followed in Mil- ford would fill many sheets; but I will only add a society was raised, embracing the heads of many of the first families in the place. Among these was Major Eddy, the father of the Rev. L. A. Eddy, of the Oneida Conference. Major Badger exemplified religion in life for a number of years, and left the world full of a glorious hope of a blessed immortality.” —Conable, pp. 126-130. In 1838 Otsego Circuit comprised the following: Milford, Fly Creek, Phoenix Factory, Union Factory, Red School House, and Fitch Hill. It will be seen from this that the circuit was exceedingly limited compared with earlier days. It was, however, the strongest cir- cuit in that section of the country. At this time, Joseph Hartwell says, there was not a church building on the circuit. APPOINTEES TO OTSEGO CIRCUIT 35 The appointments to the circuit were as follows: 1791, Philip Wager, Jonathan Newman; 1792, J. Newman, James Covel ; 1793, Zebulon Kankey, Moses Crane; 1794 (and Herkimer), Smith Weeks, Ezekiel Canfield, John Wooster; 1795 (alone), John Fin- negan ; 1796-1802, unknown; 1803 (Genesee District, Philadelphia Conference), Josiah Wilkinson, Asa Cummins; 1804, Benjamin Bidlack, John P. Weaver; 1805, Frederick Woodward, Benoni Harris; 1806, Woodward and Harris, and C. Giles; 1807, William Hill, Aaron Baxter; 1808 (Cayuga District, New York Confer- ence), David Dunham; 1809, David Dunham, Isaac Puffer; 1810 (same district, Genesee Conference), W. Jewett, S. Mattison, M. Vanduzan; 1811, Isaac Teller, Samuel Ross; 1812 (Oneida District, Genesee Conference), Ebenezer White, Ralph Lanning; 1813, Ralph Lanning, Asa Cummins; 1814, George Gary, James Hazen; 1815, George Gary, Seth Mattison, Asa Cummins; 1816, unknown; 1817, Abner Chase; 1818, B. G. Paddock, John Hamil- ton; 1819, Elijah King, Enoch Barnes; 1820, James Hazen; 1821, Dan Barnes; 1822, Orin Doolittle, Eli Allen; 1823, Orin Doo- little, John Roper; 1824, Ephraim Hall, John Roper; 1825, Isaac Stone, Anson Tuller; 1826, Jesse Pomeroy, Henry Peck, Isaac Stone; 1827, Isaac Grant, J. Pomeroy; 1828, Isaac Grant (Chenango District) ; 1829 (same district, Oneida Conference), Henry Peck, John Roper; 1830, John Roper, H. F. Rowe; 1831, H. F. Rowe, L. C. Rogers; 1832, George Harmon, L. C. Rogers; 1833, George Harmon, J. Warner; 1834, John Ercanbrack; 1835, J. Ercanbrack, D. Davis; 1836, W. Round, Calvin Hawley, Ira D. Warren; 1837, W. Round, C. Hawley, M. Marvin; 1838, Isaac Grant, Joseph Hartwell; 1839, Calvin Hawley, William Bixby; 1840, M. Marvin, W. Bixby, R. Nelson; 1841, H. Halstead, S. C. Phinney; 1842, S. C. Phinney; 1843 (and Cooperstown), L. A. Eddy, J. Shank; 1844 (alone), C. Starr, J. Shank; 1845, C. Starr, D. T. Elliott; 1846 (Otsego District), W. Bixby, W. Burnside; 1847, W. Bixby, A. Queal; 1848, J. T. Wright, A. Queal; 1849, E. L. North, M. Marvin; 1850, E. Dennison; 1851-52, J. H. Hall. Statistics TOL ox nasecsiantna 80 members. TSO3's is sinwnasievewars, a 303 e TSU Asng waa necenainces 404 of TS2D secs wiawan exes 445 : TOBE i otrsteareea cos 727 s TB42 ss ssosie snate. reer 406 - 36 Wyominc CONFERENCE TroGA CrIRcuIT In 1792 this was a mission of an indefinite extent embracing the new settlements from Wyalusing north and west wherever they might be found. Rey. Loring Grant gives some idea of the extent of this circuit in 1810: Coventry, a point below Bainbridge, Oquaga, Randolph, Osborn Hollow, Brother Hale’s (father of the girl who became the wife of the notorious Joe Smith), Brother Comfort’s (father of Rev. Silas Comfort), Brother Rood’s, Chenango Point or Binghamton, Choconut, down the Susquehanna and over the mountains to Brother Canfield’s on Wyalusing Creek, down the Wyalusing to its mouth, up the Wysox, from the moutlt to the head waters of the Towanda, thence to the head waters of the Lycoming Creek, thence over to the Sugar Creek, thence to the river again at Sheshequin, Tioga Point, Waverly, Newtown or Elmira, Owego, Caroline, Lisle, Green, and back to the place of beginning. This circuit had about thirty preaching places and necessitated four hundred miles’ travel to go round it. In 1818 the circuit was substantially as in 1810. Broome Cir- cuit had been taken from the northeastern territory. It now was a four weeks’ circuit, and extended from Spencer several miles to the west and north, with Owego as its northeastern boundary and southward into Pennsylvania. It required about three hundred miles’ travel to get around the circuit, and there were twenty preaching places. There were but two meetinghouses on the circuit. ‘The walls of one, situated at Sugar Creek, consisted of hewed logs, with a door, floor, seats, and pulpit to match. The other, in the town of Tioga, was called ‘Light’s Meetinghouse,’ from the venerable man living near who furnished the land upon which it stood.” This building was roofed and inclosed, with seats made of rough boards. After 1828 Tioga Circuit disappears from the Minutes. The appointments to this circuit were as follows: 1792, John Hill; 1793, James Thomas; 1794, James Moore; 1795 (and Seneca), Joseph Whitby, John Lackey; 1796 (alone), Michael H. R. Wilson ; 1797, James Stokes ; 1798, Johnson Dunham; 1799, John Leach, David Dunham; 1800, Jacob Gruber; 1801 (and Unadilla), Gideon A. Knowlton; 1802, Joseph Osborn, Sharon Booth; 1803, J. Herron, $. Budd, John P. Weaver; 1804, John Billings, Parley Parker; 1805, Frederick Stier, Timothy Lee; 1806, Joseph Hays, Joel Smith; 1807, Robert Burch, Benedict Burgess; 1808, David Best, John Kimberlin; 1809, Thomas CHENANGO CIRCUIT 37 Elliott, George Thomas; 1810, Loring Grant, Joseph Kinkead ; 1811, John Wilson, Samuel Thompson ; 1812, Marmaduke Pearce, Abraham Dawson; 1813, James H. Baker, James Hall; 1814, James Hall, John Griffing; 1815, Palmer Roberts; 1816-17, Michael Burdge; 1818, John Griffing, Andrew Peck; 1819, John Griffing, James Gilmore; 1820, Hiram G. Warner, Hiram Moore; 1821, Hiram G. Warner, Caleb Kendall, Jr.; 1822, Gaylord Judd, Sophronius Stocking; 1823, Philetus Parkus, Mark Preston; 1824, Gaylord Judd, P. Parkus; 1825, George Evans, John Wilson, Jr.; 1826, Joshua Rogers, Joseph Towner; 1827, Mark Preston, Joseph Pearsall; 1828, Asa Orcutt. Statistics WUT O2 3 ek ieca te meunentas 76 members. TOO2 i x ous aoe ty 185 t TOT2s wave ows ween 484 TO 22) 6 oo deems ce 382 . 1828. esccxausingee v4 473 . CHENANGO CIRCUIT “Chenango Circuit appears in the appointments in 1798. It took in the extremes of Otsego, Herkimer, and Tioga, embracing the Chenango and Unadilla valleys and numerous small and re- mote settlements among the hills.” In 1800 a revival occurred in Brookfield and the Giles family were brought into the church, one of whom, Rev. Charles Giles, became widely known. 1813. During this year Loring Grant and Elisha Bibbins were on the circuit. ; “In the spring of 1814 Luther Peck removed from Middle- field, Otsego County, to Hamilton, Madison County, and set- tled on a ridge near the Brookfield line, in a somewhat new and secluded neighborhood. There were eight in the family who brought with them certificates of membership. There were no Methodists in the neighborhood, and no regular services. Mr. Peck immediately established a prayer meeting on Sunday morn- ing and Thursday evening. The preachers were next invited to come and preach in the old log house. They came on without delay, and Mr. Grant organized a society of about a dozen mem- bers, embracing a few who lived in other neighborhoods. The people flocked in, and we had crowded congregations and most interesting meetings. Here it was, at the paternal fireside, that 38 WyYoMING CONFERENCE we formed our earliest acquaintance with our excellent old friends Grant and Bibbins. Here Dr. Dempster made some of his early efforts, and won some souls to Christ; and here ‘the preaching family’ took their first lessons in theology, and made their first efforts in the way of warning sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and here they won their first triumphs in the name of the Lord. The class increased, and ‘Father Peck’s’ became a regular appointment, and continued to be so until he left the country.”— Peck, Early Methodism, p. 397. : We have been able to find but little concerning this old circuit. The list of appointments is about all we can give other than the above. It is to be hoped that some journal may yet be found which will give us further information. The appointments to the circuit were as follows: 1798, Jonathan Newman; 1799, ; 1800, Barzillai Willy, William Vreden- burgh; 1801, David Dunham, Matthew Vanduzan; 1802 (with Oneida), Zenas Covel, Griffin Sweet, Frederick Woodward; 1803, Alexander Morton, Ebenezer White; 1804, John Husselkus, Benoni Harris; 1805, Benjamin Bidlack, William Hoyer; 1806, Sylvester Hill, Parley Parker; 1807, David Dunham, Clement Hickman; 1808, John P. Weaver, Aaron Baxter; 1809, Matthew _ Vanduzan, Elijah Metcalf; 1810, Ebenezer White, C. Giles; 1811, Ebenezer White, C: Giles, Abner Chase; 1812, Chandley Lambert ; 1813, Loring Grant, Elisha Bibbins; 1814, Ralph Lanning, Nathaniel Reeder; 1815, Ralph Lanning, Elijah King; 1816, Dan Barnes; 1817, Dan Barnes, Paul Stowel; 1818, Joshua Rogers, Paul Stowel; 1819, James Kelsey, Joshua Rogers; 1820, Wyatt Chamberlain, J. D. Gilbert; 1821, John Arnold, Timothy Goodwin; 1822, G. W. Densmore, Ebenezer Doolittle; 1823, Henry Peck, John S. Mitchell; 1824, Henry Peck; 1825, Isaac Grant, Caleb Kendall, second; 1826, Isaac Grant, James Atwell; 1827, James Atwell; 1828-29, Joshua Rogers; 1830, W. S. Bow- dish, Lyman Sperry; 1831, W. S. Bowdish, Martin Marvin, Ly- man Sperry; 1832; W. Round, Martin Marvin; 1833, W. Round, I. Warren; 1834, Alvin Torry, I. Warren; 1835, A. E. Daniels; 1836, A. Calder, L. G. Weaver; 1837, George Harmon, E. L. Wadsworth, William Bixby; 1838, C. Starr, B. W. Gorham, J. Soule; 1839, C. Starr, B. W. Gorham, J. C. Ransom; 1840, J. C. Ransom, C. W. Harris; 1841, C. W. Harris, Philip Bartlett; 1842, D. Davis, P. Bartlett, R. Stockley; 1843, D. Davis, I. D. Warren; 1844, Andrew Peck, R. S. Rose; 1845, A. Peck, B. Ferris, William Silsbee; 1846, C. Starr, A. Queal; 1847, C. Starr, M. M. Tuke; 1848, John Crawford, William G. Queal. CANAAN CIRCUIT 39 Statistics 18008 wctsawaas vae ax 227 members. TS1O 5 cccnse seiealeae 383 i TSZOannesaiiecs hie 685 ef TS30 is, srecsustinid Seceorm 330 e T8408 aeiieca vg seas aes 537 TAS asic Bea eset 268 Bs CANAAN CIRCUIT As early as 1803 preaching at the Dutch settlement in Big Beech Woods is recorded. Big Beech Woods was in Canaan, and formed a part of Wyoming Circuit. In 1806 Wyoming Circuit had eighteen preaching places ; twelve were in the Wyoming Valley and six were within the bounds of what was afterward Canaan Circuit. The following from Dr. Nadal’s sketch of Rev. Alfred Griffith gives an excellent idea of some itinerant life in those days: — “The fare was poor and coarse enough. The only drink they had besides water was coffee made of buckwheat bread. The process of making this drink was to hold a piece of buckwheat bread, called a slapjack, in the fire in the tongs till completely charred, and then to boil it in an iron pot. The liquor thus ob- tained, sweetened with maple sugar, received from Mr. Griffith the name of ‘slapjack coffee,’ and by this designation came to be generally known. As to eating, from early in June till autumn they had not a morsel of meat of any kind. Poultry could not be raised, nor pigs, nor sheep, for as soon as anything of the sort made its appearance it was carried off by the foxes, the bears, the panthers, or the wolves. If now and then a man was found bold enough to attempt to keep a hog, the pen was built just at the front door of the cabin; and if he owned a'calf it was brought up and tied behind the house every night, and the guns kept loaded, and at hand, to drive off or kill the invading panther or wolf. As they rested at night on their bearskins or deerskins they frequently heard around them the wailing scream of the panther or the howl of the wolf; and the sight of the bear was more common than that of a pig or a lamb. “The sleeping was as poor in some instances as the eating and drinking. About fifty miles from the Flats (Wyoming Valley) lived a humble family by the name of Cramer, consisting of hus- band and wife, with one son, Abram. Their house was both stop- ping place and church for qur young itinerant, who had for his bed, when he remained over night with them, the frame of an old 40 Wyominc CoNFERENCE loom, across whose beams were laid slats, and on the slats a bear- _ skin or two. These, with a pair of clean sheets, which were kept exclusively for the preachers, and a few superincumbent duds, con- stituted the sleeping apparatus. Abe, as he was familiarly called, was the preacher’s bedfellow, and on one occasion, when Mr. Griffith had just committed himself to his room and bearskins for the night, and lay waiting for young Abram, who was a stal- wart boy of twenty, he happened to cast his eye in one corner of the room, or rather of the barn, that room being the only one, when a sight met him at once puzzling and grotesque. There was good Mother Cramer, with her boy, Abe, before her, who staod, with lamblike docility, while the old lady pinned around him a snow-white sheet, which reached from the chin to the ground, making him look, his decidedly human head being excepted, for all the world like a veritable ghost. ‘Why, mother,’ said the young preacher, ‘what on earth are you doing to Abe? Are you making a ghost of him?’ ‘No, child,’ replied the inventive housewife, ‘no; but Abe isn’t fit to sleep with a preacher unless he is wrapped up in some such way as this.’ “At one of his appointments the young preacher was met by an Irishman, by the name of Matthew Bortree, who had been a Methodist in his native country, but having emigrated to this country, and settled where he enjoyed no religious advantages, he had become cold and backslidden. But the Holy Spirit had again visited him, and he became deeply anxious to retrieve his spiritual losses, and the object of his present visit was to get the promise of the preachers to visit his settlement, and establish there an appointment. The settlement was of about twenty years’ standing, and yet a sermon had never been heard, nor a minister of the Gospel seen in it, “Upon consultation between the preachers it was agreed that Mr. Griffith should make the first visit to the new field, and preach the Gospel in the regions beyond to people who had never heard its joyful proclamation. The time was fixed, and a young man was to be sent to meet the preacher at Cramer’s, and conduct him through the great wilderness called the ‘Big Beech Woods’ to Bortree’s house. In pursuance of his engagement, at the proper time Mr. Griffith started for Cramer’s, rode all day without eating a morsel, and reached the friendly cabin about nightfall, having — come about fifty miles. Of course he was weary and hungry. Mother Cramer said she was glad to see him, but sorry he had come, for she had nothing, nothing at all to give him to eat. Mr. Griffith said he was sorry too, for he was very hungry; couldn’t ScANTY FARE 41 Mother Cramer possibly find something that a man could eat? The good woman promised to try, and upon rummaging among some broken crockery she found a dry crust of bread, which, added to a very small fish which Abe had that day caught in the branch, and which she immediately cooked, was the supper and dinner of the young preacher, after a ride of fifty miles and preaching twice. “The fish and the bread, which Providence made sufficient with- out a miracle, being found, the good woman drew out a washtub and placed a board over it for a table, on which in the moiety of a plate she arrayed the dinner, and before which she placed a three- legged stool; she invited the preacher to eat, adding as she con- cluded her invitation: ‘There’s your dinner; it’s all I have; if I had more you should have it. But if you are a good man it’s good enough for you, and if not it’s too good.’ “By daybreak the next morning the father and Abe had re- turned from the mill, whither they had gone to replenish their exhausted larder, and the young itinerant had, considering time and place, a good breakfast, plenty of corn bread, washed down with slapjack coffee, that and nothing else. “The next evening he and his guide arrived at the settlement, and were met by seventy or eighty persons, all anxious to see that strange sight, a preacher. He put up with Bortree, and no sooner was he in the house than they insisted he should preach the same evening. He consented, and while he preached the people gazed and wondered; not one present, perhaps, except Bortree, had ever before been witness of such a scene. The next day he preached morning, afternoon, and night. After the second service he was approached by a great rough fellow by the name of Bill Clemens, who asked him what he meant by the Methodist Epis- copal Church. The answer was given by reading from the Dis- cipline the General Rules and the articles of faith. Clemens, with ill-suppressed indications of feeling, remarked that if that was all he would not object to becoming a Methodist himself. The appointment was regularly kept up, and when winter set in the seriousness marked from the first had grown into deep penitence, and there was a repetition of those scenes of revival which had been witnessed in so many parts of the country. . . . Every man and woman, and every child over fourteen years old, in the whole settlement professed religion and joined the Church, with a single exception, and he was a whisky seller. Even this man’s wife was brought in. The reformation, however, took from him his occupation, and cursing the neighborhood into heaps he left for parts unknown. Matthew Bortree became a local preacher, 42 WYOMING CONFERENCE and Bill Clemens a class leader, and on the spot where Bortree’s house stood now stands, as we are informed, a fine church.” During Asbury’s visit to Wyoming Valley in the summer of 1807 he directed Gideon Draper to spend the balance of the year on what was subsequently called Canaan Circuit. However, it was then known as “the Mission.” Note the following places visited by him, and an idea will be had of the extent of the circuit: Salem, Paupack, Sterling; an appointment across the Delaware; Bethany; Mount Pleasant, Ouaquaga, Hopbottom. In 1808 Canaan Circuit appears among the appointments and continues until 1828. In 1810 the circuit was as follows: “The preachers then crossed the Delaware, and preached at Cochecton, Cross’s, Hurd’s Settle- ment, or White Lake, Liberty, and Mamakating Hollow, at Smith’s; crossed the Shawangunk Mountain, and preached at Higgins’s and at Squire Stoddard’s; recrossed the mountain and preached at Carpenter’s Point (now Port Jervis). These appoint- ments required the preachers to travel extensively over Sullivan and Orange Counties in the State of New York.” Classes were formed at Cherry Ridge and at Bethany this year. “Here is embraced the whole of the present Honesdale District,” besides portions of Wyoming and Binghamton Districts, and parts of New York and New Jersey Conferences. “The preachers of the circuit each received $49.98 and their traveling expenses this year.” 1818. Isaac Grant was on the circuit this year. “A camp meeting was held, early in September of this year, in Salem, which, on the invitation of our presiding elder, we attended. We crossed Cobb’s Mountain in a considerable company of men and women on horseback, led by our magnificent presiding elder on a mammoth horse. All in all it was a novel scene to us, and there was a sprinkling of romance in a train of travelers on saddles, composed of men and women, old and young, climbing the moun- tain and clambering over rocks, upon which the old Yankees trod when they first visited fair Wyoming, and upon which they. dropped their sweat and tears as they fled from the murderous savages. Many of them crossed this mountain on foot, we were well mounted ; they traveled in peril of their lives, we in safety. “The encampment was small, the ground rough, and the tents poorly built. Everything was rude and primitive; but God was there. The work of awakening and conversion soon commenced, and the groans of the wounded and the shouts of the saved Work on CANAAN CIRCUIT 43 resounded through the forest of tall hemlock and beech trees." — Peck. When Rev. George Peck went to this circuit in 1820 he “found it a two-weeks’ circuit, with a membership of 223, and twelve preaching places, one of them being the courthouse at Bethany, three or four schoolhouses, and the rest private houses—not one church.” He further says: “The work on Canaan Circuit was hard. It was sparsely settled, and the chief occupation of the people was clearing their land, and winning farms from the original forest, which still covered by far the greater portion of the country. The roads were simply wagon paths, made by cut- ting away the trees and undergrowth so as to admit of a passage, provided the driver was skillful in winding about rocks and stumps. They were so narrow that the dense foliage of the trees shut out the sun, and, in consequence, they were always muddy in the warm season, except where the rocks were bare. Through the swamps the roads were of the style called in some sections of our land ‘corduroy ;’ but the poles of which they were constructed were often decayed, and the way unsafe. When winter came, and the mud began to freeze, it was still worse. My poor horse be- came sore and stiff, and almost broke down. He often halted on the edge of some icy Slough of Despond, and could be forced into it only by a sharp application of the spur.” And yet it was vastly in advance of what it was when traveled by Owen and Draper! Mr. Peck received in “grain, meat, meal, maple sugar, and other articles too numerous to mention about one hundred dollars, all told.” Rev. Elisha Bibbins, who was on the circuit in 1822 and 1823, gives the following as the preaching places: Canaan Four Corners, Mount Pleasant, Bethany, Cherry Ridge, Salem, Sterling, Bennet’s Settlement, Lackawaxen, and the Dutch Settlement. All too meager are the records of those early days. Yet enough is known about them to cause great admiration for the men who heroically tilled the ground. The fathers of Methodism were sturdy heroes! In 1828 John Parker and V. M. Coryell were serving this cir- cuit. Brother Parker published in The Christian Advocate an account of a man whose name was Truman Matthews, and who was executed in Bethany, Wayne County, Pa., on the 24th of October, 1828, for the murder of Colonel Jonathan Brooks. His article was headed “Universalism Renounced Under the Gallows.” “During Matthews’s trial and imprisonment, Rev. John Parker visited him several times, in order, if possible, to convert him from 44 WyYoMING CONFERENCE the error of his ways, but found him fearfully hardened, and seeking miserable refuge in Universalism. No Gospel reasoning seemed to touch his feelings in the least. But on the day of exe- cution Brother Parker, having been appointed by the sheriff to preach on the awful occasion, went early to the courthouse, and learned that a change had taken place in the prisoner’s mind. The day previous to his execution he was designing, with a knife some wretch had furnished him, to commit suicide; but when about to execute the horrid deed he heard, to use his own words, ‘a voice louder than thunder, telling him to stay his hand, and he saw hell;’ and now his foundation of Universalism was all gone in a moment, and with ‘death staring him in the face’ he began to cry aloud for mercy, and continued to do so all day and all night, and all the next day, with few intermissions, until his voice was lost in death. In prison, and just before he was taken out for execution, he lamented that Universalism had so long de- ceived him; and on the scaffold, when addressing the thousands before him, he declared that Universalism had deluded him, and that it was a ‘doctrine of the devil.’ Brother Coryell, on the occasion, addressed the people by way of exhortation, warning them according to the suggestions of the awful spectacle before them, some votaries of Universalism taking high offense at some of his statements. There was much controversy with the Universalists in those days.”’—Conable, History of Genesee Conference, p. 271. The appointments to the circuit were the following: 1808, Gideon Draper; 1809, ——-; 1810, George Harmon, Samuel Thompson; 1811, John Kimberlin; 1812, Loring Grant, Orin Doolittle; 1813, Joseph Hickcox, Robert Menshall; 1814, James Gilmore, Israel Cook; 1815, Ebenezer Doolittle; 1816, Israel Cook; 1817-18, Isaac Grant; 1819, Abraham Dawson; 1820, George Peck; 1821, John D. Gilbert; 1822, Elisha Bibbins; 1823, Hiram G. Warren, Elisha Bibbins; 1824, Joshua Rogers, Mark Preston; 1825, Joshua Rogers, Sophronius Stocking, Joseph Castle; 1826, Sophronius Stocking, J. Castle, J. Pearsall; 1827, John Sayre, Silas Comfort; 1828, John Parker, V. M. Coryell. Broome Circuit Broome Circuit was formed in 1812, from the northeastern part of Tioga Circuit, taking its name from Broome County, N. Y. The circuit then extended across the Susquehanna at the Great Bend. According to Dr. William Round, Mr. King formed a BrooMeE Circuit 45 society in Gibson in 1812 or 1813. Its members were: George Williams, leader; Margaret Bennet, Sarah Willis, Susanna Fuller, and Jemima Washburne. Statistics of those days bewilder us. At the end of the first year Elijah King, its first preacher in charge, young and unor- dained, reported 247 members. Reports for 1813 gave an in- crease of 230 members, 1814 an increase of 175, and 1815 a decrease of 145. The preachers on the circuit had to travel from three hundred to four hundred miles and preach thirty-five to forty-five times, taking four weeks to get around the circuit. In 1816 Rev. George Peck was junior preacher on this circuit. We quote extensively from his account of the work as it gives so fine a description of the circuit: “When I reached the bounds of the circuit I found a letter from Mr. Bibbins, containing a plan of the appointments, with instruc- tions in regard to roads and stopping places. I was to visit the lower half of the circuit before I met my colleagues. My first preaching place was at Isaac Page’s, five miles above Chenango Point. Notice had been given, and I had a large congregation in Mr. Page’s barn. Here I found a good society which seemed to be prospering. My next appointment was in Osborn Hollow, Sabbath afternoon; the third in Stilson Hollow; the fourth at Richard Lewis’s, on the Susquehanna, near the present Kirkwood Station, on the Erie Railroad. Here I found a little log cabin, not of the most inviting aspect. The good woman informed me that they were out of meat, and that her husband had gone out to kill a deer. In due time the old gentleman returned, having succeeded in running a deer into the river, where he shot it. It was now the latter part of July, and we found the meat anything but palatable. I preached to about half a dozen poor people, led the class, and then answered sundry questions in regard to the Conference. My host and his old lady were from Wales, and when evening came they lighted pine knots, stuck them between the stones of the fireplace, and began to sing Welsh hymns. “In the morning I rode to Jesse Hale’s, some six miles above Great Bend. Father Hale was a mighty hunter. In fact, he came from Vermont, and fixed his home in this new region for the purpose of pursuing game in the Harmony Woods—the great forest which then stretched from the Susquehanna to the Dela- ware. He slaughtered about a hundred deer annually, most of which he sent to the Philadelphia market. He often killed bears and elks, as well as a great variety of smaller game, of the flesh: 46 WYoMING CONFERENCE of which I often partook at his table. He was a shrewd, witty man. He was the father-in-law of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. In his neighborhood Smith, at least in one version of his story, professed to find the golden plates from which he said he translated the Book of Mormon. He made love to Emma Hale, and finally married her, in opposition to the wishes of her friends. Hale himself detested Smith, considering him an im- postor and a knave. “Mr. Hale gave me a cordial reception, and in the afternoon I preached in a little log schoolhouse to a small but earnest congre- gation. When I was in the midst of my subject, and, perhaps, waxing warm therein, a young woman made a leap in the air and uttered an unearthly scream, which startled me, and came near scattering my thoughts and bringing my sermon to a premature end. I found afterward that she was given to this kind of pro- cedure. She was teaching school in this neighborhood, and the next day, when my path lay over the mountain to Windsor, where her residence was, she must needs borrow a saddle horse and insist on accompanying me as guide. Her father, now deceased, had been a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, and no one was at home when we reached her house but her mother, a genuine old Jezebel, who came hobbling out on her crutch and gave me a blast of wild denunciation, berating the Methodists in ‘good set terms,’ and heaping upon them all manner of angry abuse. The situa- tion was decidedly novel. “T rode on to Higby Hollow, where I stayed all night at Father Higby’s; and the next morning, which was the Sabbath, preached in a small schoolhouse. In the afternoon I preached at Randolph, where was one of the strongest societies on the circuit. My course that week lay in an irregular line through portions of Broome and Chenango Counties. The appointments for preaching were at Merwin’s, Wedge’s, Allise’s, Higby’s, Elliott’s, and Kimball’s, and then on Friday evening my colleague and I met at Page’s,.on the Chenango, five miles above Binghamton, which was then called Chenango Point. I gave Brother Bibbins an account of my ad- ventures, including my crossing the mountain with my volunteer escort, and my reception at her mother’s. He laughed heartily at this part of my recital, and remarked, ‘I will cure that.’ What he said to the lady I do not know; but on my next round I crossed the mountain alone. “On Saturday I set off on the northern range of appointments, and in the afternoon reached Smithville, where I found a kind reception at the house of Dr. Grant, the father of my friend, JumpPING 47 Loring Grant. In Dr. Grant and his wife I found two very pious, intelligent, sensible people, thoroughly attached to our Church, and firm friends and wise counselors of the Methodist preachers. Sunday morning I preached at Smithville, in a private house, and in the afternoon rode to Lee’s schoolhouse, where I preached again. “Amanda Hotchkiss was a member of the society at Lee’s. She was a very tall young woman, deeply pious, and universally re- spected, and yet somewhat peculiar. She had a way of expressing joyous religious emotion by ‘jumping.’ Her motions were modest, and even graceful. She moved gently, with her eyes closed, occasionally saying, in soft, musical tones, ‘Glory to God.’ The preachers did not wish to grieve her by questioning the pro- priety of her exercises, and the most careless of the wicked would not even smile at them. She long believed that she could not avoid these demonstrations, and that they were the result of divine power. But the conviction at last forced itself upon her mind that these movements were no necessary part of religion, that in her case they were partly the result of mere habit, and that they were undesirable. She wholly ceased from physical demonstrations, and yet averred that she enjoyed closer communion with God, and more solid religious happiness, than when she was more demonstrative. “On Monday afternoon I preached in the schoolhouse at Smith- ville Flats. That evening I lodged at the house of a man whose wife was a member of our Church, and who kept a little store. During the evening there was drinking and carousing in the store, and some one, evidently intoxicated, sung a vulgar song. I thoughtlessly inquired who it was. ‘It is my husband,’ said the lady, with painful embarrassment of manner. I was sorry that I had asked the question. The noise continued, the report of a gun adding to the uproar. In the morning, on taking down my saddle, which I had hung up under the piazza, I found that a musket ball had been shot through it, shattering the frame. My song- singing host did not make his appearance that morning. I com- plained of the outrage, and Dr. Grant and my colleague were so indignant that they concluded that we could spend our time to better purpose elsewhere. There had been good congregations, but no society, and we preached there no more. “The next preaching place was at Squire Hamilton’s, where I preached to a small congregation, and was kindly entertained by an estimable family. Thence I went to McDonough, where I preached in the comfortable log house of Mr. Oisterbanks, and 48 WYoMING CONFERENCE received a cordial welcome. Next I preached in the house of Deacon Punderson, who had been an officer in the War of the Revolution. He was a pious, well-informed man, a member of the Baptist Church. He had read much, and had a strong, sound mind, and was one of the few whom I met from whose conversa- tion I always expected to learn something. His talk was to me an intellectual feast. His children were Methodists, and he was very friendly to us. “From this place I went to Father Widger’ s, whom I found a little rough on the surface, but a man of generous impulses, with a fine, pleasant, pious family. I then passed through the village of Oxford, and preached at David Lyon’s. The day following 1 preached in the schoolhouse near Captain Tillotson’s, with whom I lodged. Neither he nor his wife professed religion, but they were very friendly and hospitable, and gave us a good home when we preached in their neighborhood. “The next Sabbath I preached in the morning in the village of Greene, in a schoolhouse. There were no members of our Church there at that time. In the afternoon I rode six or eight miles, and preached in the house of Benjamin Jackson, where I found a good society. Monday evening I preached at Lisle, in the house of Father Whitney; Tuesday, at Father Norton’s, Wednes- day, at Henry Palmer’s, in what is now called Kattelville ; Thurs- day, at Orin Seward’s, on Potato Creek; and Friday brought me to I. Page’s, where I again met my colleague. “Thus I made my first round of the circuit, having traveled over two hundred miles and preached twenty-eight times in four weeks, There was not a church on the circuit. We preached in schoolhouses, barns, and private houses. We had no appoint- ment in any village except Greene, which was then small, and in which we had no society, and not even a place to lodge. In those regions Methodism first took possession of the sparsely peopled country neighborhoods. There were on Broome Circuit 366 members. The congregations were good, often crowding the places of assemblage. The spirit of the people was excellent, and their cordiality and warm hospitality greatly encouraged me.”— Peck, Life and Times, pp. 66-72. In the early days of Broome Circuit Nathaniel Lewis, a local deacon, was a prominent character. He “was rough as a mountain crag, but deeply pious. He could read his Bible, and fathom the human heart, particularly its developments among backwoods- men. He was fearless, shrewd, and often witty. His labors were incessant and widely extended.” NatHaniet Lewis 49 On receiving information of a place, some distance from his home, where was no religious worship, he visited the place, can- vassed from house to house, and invited the people out to meeting. He preached from “Ye uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.” The sermon was with power. A great revival followed, and seventy souls were saved. Several interesting stories are told concerning him. One Sab- bath morning, in the year 1812 when provisions were scarce, he sat reading his Bible preparatory to preaching, when he discovered a deer near his house. He took down his gun, shot the deer, and after dressing it, sent portions to his neighbors. He was called to account before the church for breaking the Sabbath. ‘He pleaded not guilty. He asked the brethren who were gravely remonstrating with him: ‘What do you suppose the Lord sent that deer into my field for?’ ‘Well, I suppose it was to try you,’ one gravely answered. ‘No, it wasn't,’ replied the ac- cused, “for the Lord knows that when he sends blessings to me I don’t wait until the next day before I take them.’ ” He was acquitted. At one time, while preaching, he was disturbed by some disor- derly persons. After bearing with them for a season he reproved_ them by calling them “a hogmatical set.” After the service a local preacher, who was present and heard the rebuke, hinted to him that he had made use of a wrong word. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Why, hogmatical is not a proper word,” was the reply. “Yes, it is,” replied Mr. Lewis; “you have heard of dogmatical, I suppose?” “O yes, but—” “Well,” interrupted the old fox, “you can shame a dog, but a hog you can’t.” This ended the controversy. ‘Uncle Lewis was the instrument of the awakening of many souls.” In 1883 this circuit disappeared from the appointments. Over twenty-four charges now exist within its bounds. Henry Street Church, Binghamton, being the first Methodist Episcopal church built within its bounds. The circuit, when served by R. S. Rose, was as follows: Kattelville, a schoolhouse appointment; Chenango Forks, a schoolhouse appointment, subsequently the Congregational church was used; Barker, where the society had a church; Castle Creek, where the Presbyterian church was used; Frenches, or South Castle Creek, now Glenwood, a schoolhouse appointment; Chest- 4 50 WyoMING CONFERENCE nut Ridge, where a schoolhouse was used. Castle Creek, where the parsonage was located, was the head of the circuit. The circuit was served by the following: 1812, Elijah King; 1813, George W. Densmore, Peter Jones; 1814, George W. Dens- more, I. Chamberlin; 1815, William Cameron, Isaac Grant, as- sistant ; 1816, Elisha Bibbins, George Peck; 1817, Joshua Rogers, John Tooke; 1818, Michael Burge, Peter Baker; 1819, John Arnold, Belus Shepherd; 1820, Joshua Rogers, Caleb Kendal; 1821, John Griffin, James Hodge; 1822, Hiram G. Warner; 1823, Horace Agard, John Sayre; 1824, Horace Agard, Solon Stocking ; 1825, Gaylord Judd, Mark Preston; 1826, Gaylord Judd, George Evans; 1827, Philo Barbary, H. P. Barnes; 1828, James Kelsey ; 1829, Hiram G. Warner, Miles H. Gaylord; 1830, Miles H. Gaylord, David Torry; 1831, David Torry; 1832, supply; 1833, Joseph Atwell; 1834, Alonzo Wood, T. D. Wire; 1835, Alonzo Wood, L. Salisbury; 1836, Morgan Ruger, A. Warren; 1837, S. Stocking, S. Phinney; 1838, Dr. E. G. Bush; 1839-40, George Evans; 1841-42, Levi Pitts, C. Burlingame; 1843-44, Enos Puffer; 1845-46, King Elwell; 1847-48, T. D. Wire; 1849-50, R. S. Rose; 1851, Joseph Whitham, William Roberts; 1852, R. Ingalls, H. T. Avery; 1853, J. M. Grimes; 1854, Lowell Harding, supply; 1855-57(?); 1858, William Silsbee; 1859-60, S. E. Walworth; 1861, L. Pitts; 1862, supply; 1863, W. P. Abbott; 1864, P. S. Worden, F. L. Hiller; 1865, P. S. Worden; 1866-67, G. W. Leach; 1868, S. W. Lindsley ; 1869-70, L. Pitts; 1871-72, E. Sibley; 1873, S. W. Spencer; 1874, S. F. Ketcham; 1875-76, A. Brigham; 1877-78, C. Sweet; 1879-81, W. B. Thomas; 1882, B. B. Carruth. BRIDGEWATER CIRCUIT In 1813 Bridgewater Circuit was formed from the northern portion of Wyoming Circuit. In its early days it was a four- weeks’ circuit, having sixteen or eighteen appointments. In 1830 it contained the territory now comprising Springville, Auburn, Rush, Fairdale, Skinner’s Eddy, Meshoppen, Tunk- hannock, West Nicholson, and a part of Montrose charges, the parsonage being at Lymanville. Gibson was in this circuit in 1819. This fact and the following quotations will give something of an idea of its early extent, and the times. In 1814 Elisha Bibbins and Wyatt Chamberlin were on the circuit. “The circuit was large, and the preachers labored earnestly and ably for the good of the people. Hopbottom was Hopsotrom SI famous for the zeal and spirituality of the membership. This was the center of the circuit, and gave tone to the whole. Some of the meetings, to the eye of an outsider, were scenes of confu- sion. There was much of holy zeal there, but a little mixed up with something like fanaticism. The jumping spirit was often witnessed in the Hopbottom society, and some of the best mem- bers, male and female, were occasionally under its influence. When much excited they would commence moving up and down, apparently without effort, or a knowledge of what they were doing. The movement was perfectly graceful, and yet evidently unstudied. It was one of the phenomena which attended the great religious excitements of early Methodism. “Three hundred members were returned upon the Minutes at the close of this year.” 1816. “There was a camp meeting in September of this year on the land of Edward Paine, in Hopbottom, Bridgewater Circuit, which we attended. This was ‘the cold summer,’ and it was a season of scarcity and gloom. Frost had destroyed the crops in this part of the country, and the prospects of living appeared dull and doubtful. The nights and mornings were cold, and there scarcely seemed to be enough of the fire of the Holy Ghost in the souls of the people to counteract the chill of the atmosphere. Mr. Pearce, the presiding elder, preached a powerful sermon on the evidences of Christianity from the words of Nicodemus: ‘We know that thou art a teacher come from God.’ A few souls were converted, and some Christians quickened.”’ 1818. Ebenezer Doolittle and Edward Paine were the preach- ers. Doolittle was a “considerable scripturalist,” but without tact. This year a singular preacher of the Baptist denomination, by the name of Solomon Dimack, began to attract attention along the Susquehanna, between Tunkhannock and Wyalusing. He broached various heresies, which Mr. Doolittle did not fail to attack, sword in hand. This brought the two champions to- gether, in a public debate, at the forks of the Mehoopany. One of the questions discussed was the divinity of Christ. Dimack maintained that “Christ was not the eternal God, but the eternal Son of God.” Doolittle was too much for his antagonist, and he was finally left in possession of the field, as being armed with “too much human larnin’” for the redoubtable Dimack, who was only “taught in the school of Christ.” The affair made a great stir, but resulted in little good. The orthodox generally con- sidered that Doolittle acquitted himself passably, and had the decided advantage in the argument. 52 WyYoMING CONFERENCE 1819. “This year (1819) the preachers on Bridgewater Cir- cuit were George Peck and Edward Paine. We regarded this circuit with a sort of horror, and made only one request of the presiding elder, and that was not to be appointed to Bridgewater Circuit. When the appointments were read off we felt badly whipped. Brother Paine was in raptures, and took us in his arms and laughed heartily. Father Kimberlin seemed to delight in torturing us. ‘O George,’ exclaimed he, ‘you will starve to death; they will feed you on sorrel pie.’ The young wife to whom George had been but a few weeks married had not been used to living on ‘sorrel pie,’ and what could be done with her? We returned from Conference with a heavy heart. “Tt was a year of great trials, but of some triumphs. It seemed a settled fact that wherever we came into contact with any other denomination there was opposition to be encountered. Methodism had been long in existence in this region of country, but still it had to dispute every inch of ground, and, indeed, efforts were made to drive it from ground which it had long occupied. “The class in Hopbottom had been diminished and weakened by removals, and here we met with active hostility from Presby- terians and Universalists. Elder Davis Dimack was firmly in- trenched in his stronghold at Montrose, and from that point spread himself as widely as possible in all directions; and wherever he came he was tolerably sure to strike a blow at Methodism. We heard him preach on a week day in Springville, and were chagrined to hear him fall upon ‘the Methodists’ in a style of misrepresentation and abuse. The occurrence resulted in a voluminous correspondence between us. ‘Sol Dimack,’ as he was familiarly called, vented his spleen in right down vulgar style. We heard him deliver one of the most confused, shapeless discourses we ever listened to; and after the service closed, being introduced to him by a mutual friend, had a regular set-to with him. He had any amount of confidence, but was most lamentably ignorant. ; “In spite of all the opposing elements, we had seals to our min- istry, and a rising in the Church at all points. Our excellent colleague labored faithfully, and did much good. After con- cluding the labors of the third quarter we were removed to Wyoming Circuit. “A camp meeting was held just before Conference, in what is now called Lymanville, which we attended. Samuel Budd was present, and, in his slam-bang way, preached and exhorted with considerable effect. Edward Paine delivered a most thrilling AN INTERESTING CONVERSION 53 exhortation on the stand, which seemed to move everything.”— Peck, History, pp. 321-324. On the minutes of the Quarterly Conference, held September 28, 1822, appears for the first time the name of Joseph Towner, as exhorter. Since 1819 he had been a class leader. This man was one of nature’s noblemen. His early advantages were small, at his conversion being hardly able to read a hymn. By perse- verance he secured a fair knowledge of the English language and became a popular and useful man. For many years he traveled large circuits. He gave to Wyoming Conference a son, Rev. I. P. Towner. In 1826 a camp meeting was held in Lyman’s Settlement, Springville. “Rev. Philetus Parkus, preacher in charge, was lying upon a sick bed in the parsonage in the neighborhood, from which he went to his home on high. “The circuit was deprived of the services of its regular pastor, but there was a good degree of life among the membership. We had some strong sermons; among them was one from Mr. Castle. . . . Rev. Elisha Cole, of Towanda, then commonly called ‘Father Cole,’ preached a characteristic discourse from the ‘cloud coming up from the sea the bigness of a man’s hand.’ In treating his subject he said he should first philosophize it, second analogize it, and third theologize it. It was a singular sermon, but quite ingenious, and not without practical effect. “There were many interesting cases of conversion during the meeting; but one particularly interested us. A young couple at- tended ; the wife was awakened, but the husband seemed as hard as stone. He undertook to force his wife away from the ground, but she was so. deeply affected as scarcely to be able to support herself. He had hard work to get her along, she weeping, and begging him to let her remain for at least a short time. He finally said, “You may stay an hour if that will do you any good.’ Several preachers were standing around, to whom she looked im- ploringly, and exclaimed, ‘O, do pray for me now, right away, for the time is precious ;’ and, falling on her knees, she began to cry mightily to God for mercy. She was in a tent; her husband took a seat, and she, as she knelt, laid her head upon his knees. Fervent prayers went up to heaven, and before the hour expired she was blessed. She arose, and, smiling, said to her husband, ‘Now I am ready to go home.’ He was not now in so great haste to get away, but remained to witness the songs of praise and shouts of triumph which naturally followed. Before the meeting closed he sought and found the pearl of great price. 54 WYoMING CONFERENCE “A high degree of religious interest followed the camp meeting in Brooklyn, the place formerly called Hopbottom. Rev. E. Bib- bins was residing there at the time, and was very useful. Accom- panied by the Rev. Joseph Castle, we visited the place and spent a few days there. At an afternoon meeting an interesting little girl of perhaps ten years of age was converted and was very happy. She was on a visit to her uncle’s, James Noble, Esq. Our friend Bibbins invited us to attend the child with him to Mr. Noble’s, who was a friend to the Methodists, but not a professor of religion. We were anxious to witness the meeting of the uncle and niece, having no idea of the manner in which she would conduct herself. All doubts were soon settled, for the moment she saw him she threw her arms around his neck, exclaiming, ‘O, my dear uncle, the Lord has blessed my soul!’ Mr. Noble was evidently taken down. He blushed, and for'a moment hesi- tated, but finally responded, ‘Has he, indeed? I am very glad;’ and being seated he took her in his arms, and struggled hard against the emotions of his soul. The sweet face of the little joyful convert was bathed in tears, but they were tears of glad- ness. At the next meeting the squire came down upon his knees.” —Peck, History, pp. 439, 440. The old brick church, about two miles from Meshoppen, was the first church to be built on the Bridgewater Circuit, and the Lymanville church the second. In 1841 the circuit name was changed to Springville. The circuit was served as follows: 1813, John Hazzard, Elijah Warren; 1814, Elisha Bibbins, Wyatt Chamberlin; 1815, James Hall, Nathan Dodson; 1816, Isaac Grant; 1817, Israel Cook; 1818, Ebenezer Doolittle, Edward Paine; 1819, George Peck, Edward Paine; 1820, John Griffing; 1821, Joshua Rogers, Hiram Moore; 1822, Asa Cummins, Mark Preston; 1823, Caleb Kendall, Sophronius Stocking; 1824, William W. Rundell, S. Stocking; 1825, Philetus Parkus; 1826, Philetus Parkus, John Wilson; 1827, Joshua Rogers, Daniel Torry; 1828, Daniel Torry, Peter Wentze; 1829, Silas Comfort, V. M. Coryell; 1830, Joseph Towner, C. W. Harris; 1831, George Evans; 1832, George Evans, M. R. Cushman; 1833, Benjamin Ellis; 1834, Benjamin Ellis, S. B. Yarrington, L. S. Bennett; 1835, E. Smith; 1836, E. B. Tenny, C. T. Stanley; 1837, E. B. Tenny, A. Benjamin; 1838, King Elwell, Thomas Wilcox; 1839, King Elwell, Philo Black- man; 1840, William Round, William Reddy. CONTROVERSIAL PERIOD 55 CHAPTER III CONTROVERSIES Tue early days of Methodism were notable for two things, fire and fight. Men were zealous, impassioned. They were self- consumed, Christ-absorbed. Pentecost came again. In most places Calvinism had a footing. Its errors must be attacked. Methodism had to fight for standing room. The doctrine of a limited atonement and the doctrine of universal salvation were fiercely fought. In many places exclusive immersionists resisted the zealous expansionists of Arminianism. Arianism and spiritualism were at times antagonized. In those days there were found many preachers who were open to all comers. All they asked was a fair field. They trusted the majestic strength of truth to win. They asked for no quarter, gave none, and the fight was to a finish. What might be called the controversial age of Methodism had many charms about it. Controversies upon platform and in the public print were common. The writer of these lines can recall three different debates to which he listened within a period of about three years in his boyhood. One was between a Universalist preacher and a Methodist pastor, another between a spiritualist medium and a noted physician of the Seneca tribe of Indians, and the other between an infidel lawyer and a Methodist preacher. This Methodist preacher engaged in seven different debates, championing the cause of Christianity. He has since published a very interesting book upon Epidemic Delusions. These discussions occurred at about the close of the controversial period of our history. Wyoming Conference had its champions in the intellectual arena. We may not hope to chronicle all of their combats. Many occurred of which we have no account other than tradition, and many transpired so many years ago that even this source of authority would be of little value save to prove that the con- tests were held. We have some definite information concerning some. When Dr. George Peck was presiding elder of Susque- hanna District from 1824-25 he was drawn into a couple of dis- cussions. We can best tell the story by quoting the account from Dr. Peck’s Life and Times: “The Rev, C. R. Marsh, a young Universalist preacher from 56 WyomMING CONFERENCE New England, had been settled at Hopbottom in charge of a con- gregation of that faith. Zealous and confident, he began the pub- lication of a magazine entitled The Candid Examiner, and opened his battery upon the ‘limitarians,’ generously offering them space in his columns to defend themselves if they could. These banters were annoying to our people, and were commented on by others, and I began occasionally to hear the inquiry, ‘Why does not Mr. Peck meet Mr. Marsh in his magazine, if he thinks that he can sustain his doctrine?’ I resolved, at length, to accept the chal- lenge, and addressed to the editor a note to that effect, signing it ‘Observer.’ He gave me a cordial reception, and made profuse promises of fair play. I wrote five papers, embracing the main points of the controversy. These were published in successive numbers of the magazine, the editor replying to each in the same number. He evidently assumed that I was a Calvinist, and con- structed his replies accordingly. When I began my rejoinder he discovered that he had aimed his guns in the wrong direction, and that his ammunition had been wasted. He found that his arguments were not valid against a Methodist. He began to delay my articles, and finally declined to publish any more of them. I wrote him a letter on the subject, and my friends, in vain, called on him, and at last he discontinued his magazine alto- gether. My letters were published in a large pamphlet at Wilkes- Barre, in 1827. . “While the Universalist debate was pending, another assailant, whose name was also Marsh, came out for battle. He appeared as the champion of the doctrine of the Divine Unity, and felt called to attack Trinitarians everywhere. His assaults attracted considerable attention in Kingston, and the region round about, and some of the less intelligent of our people began to be dis- turbed. Happening to meet him one day, we had some conversa- tion, in which he told me frankly that he intended to make war upon the errors of the Methodists until he rooted them out. I remarked that I would like to hear him speak. This seemed to please him, and he immediately published an appointment in the old academy at Kingston, and set afloat the idea that we were to have a debate. The evening came, and a crowd, and the ser- mon, which was two hours long. At the conclusion Mr. Marsh turned to me and invited me to reply. I declined to do it at that late hour, but named a day, to which he agreed. “From certain signs I inferred that my assailant was a man of quotations only. I suspected that the pond by which he ran his controversial mill was small and not very deep. Examining WYATT AND SPIRITUALISM 57 Millard’s little book on the Unitarian controversy, I found all Mr. Marsh’s arguments, and nearly all his language. I prepared my answer accordingly, and when the time came, put Millard’s work in my pocket, and carried to the place a half dozen other books, which I placed upon the desk. My opponent was invited to take a seat with me, and did so, but seemed to look at my books with apprehension. “After prayer, and a brief introduction, I remarked that I had taken no notes of the discourse to which I was about to reply, but that I had it in a little book. As I drew it from my pocket, and named the author, Mr. Marsh, who was sitting at the desk facing the audience, gave evident tokens of dismay and consterna- tion. The wound was mortal. I spoke an hour and a half, and then gave the gentleman an opportunity to reply. He tried to do so; but it was clear that he knew nothing of the question beyond his single author, and when Millard was answered Marsh was confounded. The audience began to laugh, and we retired. Ina few days he left the region, and I saw him no more.” In 1850 Cassius H. Harvey was appointed to Honesdale. Dur- ing the year he was led into spiritualism. He went so far as to invite mediums to the parsonage, and seances were held there. He allowed himself to advocate some of the doctrines of spiritual- ism from his pulpit. In 1851 he was appointed to Wyoming, and instructor in Wyoming Seminary. At the Conference of 1852, when Wyoming was organized, he was tried for heresy and sus- pended from all official relation to the Church. He settled in Kingston, and did not abide by the action of Conference, but con- tinued to exercise ministerial functions. He was accordingly expelled from the Church. He gave himself without restraint to the spiritualistic movement. He went so far as to claim that spirits had communicated the information that so far as he was concerned the seventh commandment had been repealed. This much, simply that one may better understand the following history. Rev. William Wyatt was pastor at Carbondale for two years, 1852-53. During the first year a burdensome debt was raised and a remarkable revival followed, in which over two hundred were converted and one hundred and eighty joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. The following year was made memorable by his valiant fight with spiritualism. Let Father Wyatt tell the story: “Rev. Cassius H. Harvey moved to Carbondale [in the latter part of 1852 or early part of 1853] and introduced spiritualism 58 WYOMING CONFERENCE among the people. And on our return to the charge the second year we had to contend with those most singular and unique manifestations, said to be from the spirit world. A large number of the young converts and some of the more prominent members of the church embraced these sentiments, believing that they could hold intercourse with departed spirits. The Bible was well-nigh abandoned while they had daily communications right from heaven. “Communications were received not only from deceased friends, but from the distinguished dead of all ages and nations. They claimed to move tables and throw them out of the windows; to mark passages and fold down leaves in the Bible; to write autographs and tell all our past history. I posted handbills about town, inviting the people to come to the Methodist church next Sunday evening, and hear what we had to say to them on the subject of spiritualism. They came out and filled the house; there were about twenty mediums present; they came from every part of the city and from all classes of citizens, believers and un- believers. The mediums went into their tantrums, bowed their heads, and got the jerks and mesmeric influence upon them, prepared to receive any communication the spirits had to make to them. “T began my lecture by saying: “We have all heard of the great leap in Rhodes, but we prefer to see it for ourselves, for that which has been done can be done again, and we are now ready for communications and demonstrations. The house is beauti- fully lighted in every part, and the good people of the city are all here to guard well every act, so there can be no collusion. It is too late in the day for you to say that in the dark, with the lights all out, the spirits move the tables and make raps and write autographs. This people are not going to crawl off into the dark, under tables and chairs, to witness these demonstrations; we are here openly and before all the people, to witness and receive any new and great truths you have to communicate. ““And now we demand, we challenge, these spirits who have set all Carbondale in an uproar, to come out openly before the community, and do these things, or else acknowledge that the whole thing is a humbug, as it is; and thereafter, and forever, let us hear no more of it. Here is a pen, and ink, and paper— now write, write an autograph; write it quickly, or else acknowl- edge you never did it, and it cannot be done. If you have done it, you can do it again. The mediums are all here, and the influence is upon them, and the spirits are here—all things are now ready Wyatt AND SPIRITUALISM 59 for action, and we wait patiently to see it. Here stands the table, take it up as you say you have been wont to do, and dash it out of this large window without hands; I will repair the window, and pay all expenses. Then here is the Bible; let some one of these old prophets who understands these Scriptures come for- ward and mark a passage, and turn down a leaf, so we can see him do it, or see that he has done it. The fact is, ladies and gen- tlemen, these raps and strange noises, this tipping of tables, and writing of names, are all manufactured to order, and the work of human hands; the spirits have nothing to do with them.’ “Mr. Harmon Chambers, sitting in the gallery, rose and said: ‘T will give you ten dollars if you will detect a medium, that I will bring you, in making the raps.’ I told him to bring him along and it should be as he desired. Next day he brought a man to my house by the name of Corby, one of the greatest mediums of the place. I turned to him and said: ‘Mr. Corby, do you make these raps?’ He said, ‘No, certainly not.’ I then said, ‘Gentlemen, if you please, we will walk down to Alderman Root’s office.’ This took them by surprise, yet reluctantly they went with me. I said to the alderman, ‘You will please administer the oath according to law, to this young gentleman, for there is an important matter that he is about to communicate, honestly and truly, to the court.’ And, being under oath, I then said to Mr. Corby: ‘It is now expected that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as you have sworn, so help me God, or abide the consequences. Mr. Corby, have you in no case made these raps?’ He felt the force of the circumstances, and saw at once that he was caught in the web of deception, which he had woven for another. He said, ‘Mr. Wyatt, I will say nothing about it,’ took his hat, and left the house. He had an instrument in the toe of his boot by which he made the raps, and imposed upon the people. Mr. Chambers acknowledged that I had fairly and honestly detected his medium in the fraud, and paid over the ten dollars, which I gave to the poor of Carbondale city. “T had written several articles for the paper, exposing the ab- surdity of the whole matter, and warning our people to come out of it, and let it alone, for it was certain that nothing good would ever come of it. J had closed several articles with a postscript. A Mr. S. [James Stott], who was not present at the meeting Sunday night—for he seldom went to church—published an article the next day in which he said: He could see no use for my many postscripts, unless it was as tales for kites; he thought they might be useful for that purpose, and referred to the meet- 60 WYOMING CONFERENCE ing, that was now the common talk of the people, as a regular bear-garden performance, and closed up with a general denuncia- tion of myself, and said, ‘I go in for such men as Lord Swedenborg.’ “T wrote a reply to the article, in which I stated that nothing better could be expected of Mr. S. than that he should denominate these Christian churches and divine services ‘bear-garden per- formances.’ Then, as he was calling so loudly for Lord Sweden- borg, I stated that he was represented in his works as traveling in the spheres, in company with men who were wrapped in bear- skins, with their hats under their arms, riding on horses without any tails, and stated that as Mr. S. was rapidly approaching the noble lord, and as we would not have him singular in the spheres, he might have a few of my postscripts to supply the desideratum. For I thought it would be a sad misfortune for two such dis- tinguished men as Mr. S. and Lord Swedenborg to ride horses in that glorious land with no tails, and that kite tails under such circumstances might be better than none. This turned completely the burlesque and ridicule upon him, just as he deserved; he made no more attacks upon me, and I let him alone. “They challenged me to meet a certain lady medium, and detect if possible any fraud in her communications. A circle convened at a house near the parsonage, which I attended; this medium sat in the center of the room. I took a seat by her side; all closed their eyes as though engaged in the act of devout prayer, expect- ing every moment the coming of the invisible ones from the spirit land. Mr. Chambers called on me to lead in prayer. I said, ‘No, sir; I have not come to pray, but to watch.’ I knew very well that if we should bow down for prayer there would be raps enough before we were through. She sprang to her feet, and said to me, ‘Do you think, sir, I am going to make these raps?’ ‘Most certainly I do, madam,’ was the reply. She took herself into another room as fast as possible, and nothing more was seen of her while I remained in the house. They told me the spirits would not come while I was there; but as soon as [ left George Washington came and they had a great time. I told them George Washington must have greatly degenerated in the spirit land, for when he was here he certainly never was afraid of a poor Methodist preacher. “These things set the people thinking a little, and seemed to check for the time being the progress of the fearful scourge. The spirits became alarmed for the safety of their work, and sum- moned a convention at one of the largest halls in the city on WYATT AND SPIRITUALISM 61 Saturday evening. The spirit of old Lorenzo Dow sent word to me to be present, directing that the message be given to me precisely at four o'clock p. m. The messenger who brought it to me gravely took out his watch, and said, ‘If my time is right it is just the minute.’ I took my seat in the hall, at an early hour, with pencil and paper in hand, ready to take notes. It was given out that there would be manifestations and developments from the spirit world, such as had never been known in any age since the world was—manifestations of a convincing character, that would fully establish the truth of the reign and government of the spirits. We watched carefully all their movements, their mummeries and fooleries, until four o’clock on the Lord’s Day morning. There were many of my members there, on whom I had leaned at the altar in getting sinners converted, and in build- ing up and establishing the Church in her most holy faith. And here, too, was a large number of our young converts, over whom we had wept and prayed, and who had just been plucked as brands from the burning, and started in the way to heaven. “But the spirits notified the audience, after I left, that it was utterly impossible for them to make any great demonstration before me, as I was so full of unbelief. Hence the whole matter had been a failure, and they must try and have it over again with- out me. The name of the spirits about that house was legion, and not a few from whom I had a right to expect better things. I returned home, took a short nap, and went into my pulpit, and lifted up my voice against the whole matter, and in the evening again we cried aloud, and spared not, lifting up our voice like a trumpet, ‘showing to the house of Israel their sins, and to the house of Judah their transgressions.’ The next day, the editors sent around for a copy of my report for publication. It was the one absorbing topic of the city, engaging every man’s attention. “We had seen error and heresy before, but we had never seen a creature with such vast proportions as this, born and matured ina single day. We thought spiritualism at first of little account, and worthy of little attention; but in its developments we were taken wholly by surprise, and wrapped our mantle about our face, and stood amazed in the entrance of the church, where we had witnessed such wonderful displays of saving grace, a little while before. And the wind blew, the strong wind of spiritualism that rent the mountains ; but God was not in the wind. “Then the fire came with power to wither, and scorch, and blacken all it touched; but God was not in the fire. And after the fire, the earthquake that shook the Church to its foundations, 62 WyomiInc CONFERENCE so we really thought for a time that it would go down, and be utterly ruined, that no power could save it; but God was not in the earthquake. “Then, after the earthquake, came the still small voice, the whisperings from the valley, and from the hilltop, from dark rooms under tables and chairs, through windows and doors, the whisperings of the invisible spirits; but God was not in that, nor any part of it; it was the work of the devil, the whole of it, from the first to the last, from the eats to the end; of this we have never entertained a doubt. “The tendency of spiritualism was to no good—moral, physical, nor intellectual. There was not the shadow of orthodoxy, of Bible theology and religion, about it; but infidelity of the broad- est, rankest kind. Universalism, Deism, and Swedenborgianism were the principles of the system. Then the direct tendency of the whole was to licentiousness, free love, the violation of the marriage covenant, and the seventh commandment. “Some thought our measures were severe; be it so; a desperate disease requires a desperate remedy. We threw ourselves into the breach, and faced the storm, declaring openly, and constantly, that it was a senseless humbug, and the handiwork of the devil, to destroy these young converts and break up the Church. And very soon the people began to see that we were right, and turned a cold shoulder to the whole thing, and spiritualism took its place with the necromancy and legerdemain of the dark ages. The young converts were rescued, and the Church was redeemed and saved. “We had written an article for one of the city papers, every week, which largely increased its circulation, for the excitement was universal, and the controversy was circulated and read all over the country. “We had ignored Harvey, the man who introduced the trouble among us, entirely, and made no sort of reference to him. But he was telling his friends, ‘I will let Wyatt alone until he gets done; then I will walk right straight through him, and annihilate him.’ And when we had finished he opened fire upon us. No person replied to him. And that was the last we heard of Harvey, or his miserable ‘ism.’ It was completely dead; twice dead, and plucked up by the roots. Then had the churches rest, roundabout, and we took up our réle where we laid it down, and went on with our pastoral work as aforetime. It was the hardest fought battle and the greatest triumph of my life.” Fifty years have passed since this battle. Its memory is still PrecKx-MILLER CONTROVERSY 63 fresh in the minds of many. The victory was complete, un- doubtedly the greatest moral victory the city has ever seen. Blessings upon Father Wyatt’s memory! In November, 1858, a discussion was held at Strait’s Corners, Tioga County, N. Y., between Rev. J. K. Peck, of Wyoming, and Rev. J. J. Miller, a preacher of the Christian Church, J. K. Peck affirming the doctrine of the Trinity and J. J. Miller denying. The discussion lasted three evenings. It was brought about by two young men, living near Strait’s Corners, who had been arguing the question for some time in a friendly manner, until finally they agreed each to choose a man and let the two thus chosen debate the question in public. One chose J. K. Peck, then preaching at Candor, and the other chose J. J. Miller. The question as agreed upon was undoubtedly formulated by Brother Peck, and read as follows: “Do the Scriptures teach the doctrine that God exists in three persons?” In arranging the preliminaries the disputants agreed to the following: 1. Neither Greek nor Latin nor Hebrew shall be quoted in the debate. 2. We will select three judges—each one, and one between us to keep time and order. 3. There shall be also a moderator. 4. We will speak twenty minutes alternately. 5. While speaking we shall have no interference. 6. We will discuss the question in the Christian meetinghouse. On the evening when the debate opened these officers were agreed upon and announced: Moderator, A. J. Welton (Christian); judges, Elder Tyler (Christian), Elder Emory (Baptist), E. 5S. Beck (Christian). The debate was ably conducted by Brother Peck. He built up a very strong argument from Scripture, quoting a large number of passages in support of his positions. He was courteous in his treatment of his opponent, avoided slang or buffoonery, and manifested skill in replying to the criticisms of his antagonist. At the close of the debate a vote of the audience was taken which gave the debate to the affirmative by a vote of 118 to 30. A further vote revealed the fact that two had been converted to Mr. Peck’s side and one to Mr. Miller’s side. Some time after the debate an octavo pamphlet of sixty-three pages was published by the Rev. J. K. Peck giving the arguments as they were made by both debaters. The victory was manifestly his—so considered at the time in the section where it occurred. The pamphlet is conclusive evidence of the fact. We quote Brother Peck’s account of the debate: “I once went onto a brother’s charge to defend the doctrine of the Holy Trinity against an Arian minister who was spoiling to pulverize some 64 Wyominc CONFERENCE Methodist divine. I went into the neighborhood and found him top-loftical, booted, and spurred. He would stick the hair up on top of his head and look daggers. He even thought I wanted to back out, and intimated as much. But I had no inclination to back out. I even agreed to try the gauge of battle in his nice new church. We had none in the neighborhood. The time came, and the church was lighted up and was soon filled with eager persons to witness the fray. I made the first speech, and when I sat down he commenced to pulverize me. After three evenings of contention in high debate he was confident that somebody was pulverized, and he was half afraid it was himself, and I was sure it was not I. The audience decided that he had been squelched and annihilated. I left him in his own pulpit with his hair hang- ing down over his eyes, an utterly discouraged man. He never undertook again to annihilate the Methodist Church. Our society has been growing right there ever since, and we have two nice churches and a parsonage, while there is not now left a grease spot of the former flourishing Christian society. The house is still there, and that is all.” About thirty-five years afterward Brother Peck visited the scene of this victory. He found the church in which the debate was held unused, and fast going into decay. He brought away with him an arm rest from the end of a pen as a reminder of past battles fought and won. Probably the most unique debate in the history of Methodism occurred in Decatur, N. Y., when A. E. Daniels was pastor at that place. The debate was on the question of baptism, and was between Mr. Daniels and a Baptist clergyman. Mr. Daniels stipulated that during the debate he was to have twenty minutes at the close of each one of his speeches in which to exhort sinners to repent. His method in debate was to first give a history of the doctrine, follow this by an exegesis of Scripture on the question, and finally state the position of our church on the question, paying but little attention to his opponent. Never did his rugged intellect work to better advantage. His intensity of soul was striking, and his exhortations overwhelming. The debate closed with a great revival in progress, which moved on until over two hundred souls were converted. We doubt whether this can be duplicated in the history of controversies anywhere. CARMEL GROVE 65 CHAPTER IV CAMP MEETINGS BINGHAMTON District Carmel Grove Prior to the purchase of the grove at Hooper, camp meetings within the bounds of the present Binghamton District were migra- tory. In September, 1850, a camp meeting was held at Heart Lake, where one had been held several years before. In Sep- tember, 1851, a meeting was held on Boswell Hill, near Union, and near Father Boswell’s. This meeting was for the Newark District. In 1851 and 1852 meetings were held in the town of Conklin, Broome County, on land belonging to Thomas Bound, three miles north of Great Bend and two miles east of Conklin. In June, 1853, the camp meeting was held in Maine, nine miles above Union, on land owned by Mrs. Rhoda Lewis. In August, 1854, the meeting was held on land owned by Mr. French, near the church in Castle Creek. In September, 1855, September, 1857, September, 1858, and August, 1859, meetings were held at Kattelville, in the town of Chenango, on the land of Mr. L. Lewis, eight miles from Binghamton, and three from Chenango Forks. In September, 1861, a meeting was held at Vestal, on land be- longing to Henry Mersereau, about three miles from the Union depot. In September, 1866, a meeting was held at Port Crane, on land of William Ogden. A meeting was held at Auburn Four Corners, in September, 1867, for Wyalusing District. In August, 1861 and 1862, meetings were held in Maple Grove, near the Methodist Episcopal church at Lymansville, for the Wyalusing District. This camp was located on the Wilkes-Barre and Bridge- water turnpike, about one mile from Lynn and four from Spring- ville. A camp meeting was held in 1845 near Lynn, in a grove belonging to Sheldon Wilson. It does not follow that no meetings were held on years which are not mentioned above. We may have failed to get track of them. In those days camp meetings were literally camp meetings. Many inconveniences were suffered, but the results were glorious. It was a common thing to report over one hundred conversions as a result of a week or ten days’ service. Dr. Peck mentions a an 66 WYOMING CONFERENCE camp meeting of great power which he attended on Broome Circuit in 1816. At the ministerial meeting of Binghamton District, which was held at Whitney’s Point in July, 1872, action was taken in favor of securing a camp ground for the district. A committee, con- sisting of H. R. Clarke, L. C. Floyd, J. N. Lee, L. C. Phillips, C. V. Arnold, Elmer Brigham, L. S. Smith, and George Craver, was appointed to look for a location and call a meeting for further CARMEL GROVE AUDITORIUM action. On August 5 a meeting was held in the Centenary Church of Binghamton. A grove in Kattelville, owned by J. N. Lee, a grove near Lisle, and the present ground had been visited. After some discussion relative to the desirability of the different loca- tions the following committee was appointed with power to locate a ground and prepare for a camp meeting: H. R. Clarke, L. C. Phillips, C. V. Arnold, L. C. Floyd, A. J. Van Cleft, Asa Brooks, J. N. Lee, M. West, Elmer Brigham, and L. S. Smith. On the next day, August 6, the committee met at the present grove at eight o’clock a. m. After thoroughly viewing the grove the committee decided to purchase it, and H. R. Clarke and A. J. CARMEL GROVE CAMP GROUND 67 Van Cleft were appointed to negotiate for it. The committee leased the land of Mr. John Blakeslee for one year, agreeing to purchase it after the incorporation of the society at $175 per acre for twelve and a half acres. Preparations for a camp meeting were zealously pushed. The ground was cleared, fence built, a preachers’ stand costing $270 put up, a spring of water was bought of Mr. Dewitt Dunning, a temporary boarding hall erected, auditorium furnished with seats, the grounds having been laid out by H. R. Clarke and L. C. Phillips. On the evening of September 10, 1872, the first camp meeting opened. During HOTEL, CARMEL GROVE ASSEMBLY, HOOPER, N. Y. the meeting several important committee meetings were held. On September 16 the name “Carmel Grove” was adopted by the committee. On Tuesday, the 17th, the first sale of lots occurred, when about one hundred lots were sold. Neri Pine, acting as counsel for the association, secured the incorporation of the association by the Legislature on May 9, 1873. The following were the first board of trustees: H. R. Clarke, president; Judson H. Cook, vice president; L. C. Phillips, secretary; William N. Cobb, treasurer; A. D. Alexander, A. J. Van Cleft, D. D. Linds- ley, L. C. Floyd, E. W. Brigham, Scott Harris, C. V. Arnold, N. T. Childs, J. N. Lee, Henry Wheeler, Martin West. The last- named was the first superintendent of the grounds. In the sum- 68 WyomiInG CONFERENCE mer of 1873 the boarding hall was built, a building 64x24, 26 feet high, having three stories. In 1875 a camp meeting was held, designated “The Old Gene- see Conference Reunion Camp Meeting,” and was presided over by Rev. B. I. Ives, and was much enjoyed by the pioneers. This meeting commenced on June 29, and continued until July 4. On September 7 the regular camp meeting of the season commenced. A cottage for the presiding elder was built in 1881, and the bell purchased at a cost of $33.25. About 1892 a new auditorium was DIMOCK AUDITORIUM strongly talked, and in October of that year Rev. C. H. Newing, George E. Green, and H. F. Barrett were appointed a committee by the trustees to formulate plans and erect an auditorium before the next camp meeting. It was not accomplished. On August 13, 1895, the stockholders, in a meeting held in the Centenary tent, authorized the trustees to build a covered auditorium before another camp meeting. The trustees subsequently secured plans from Mr. Van Slyke, and let the contract to Baker & Weir for $1,444. The auditorium was dedicated in 1896, at which time about $800 was raised toward paying for it. In 1899 the Chautauqua idea was introduced, and has since become a very prominent feature of its annual program. Dimock Camp GRounpb 69 The grounds are sewered, and lighted by an acetylene gas plant, and have about fifty neatly arranged cottages. It is now costing about $2,000 annually to run the assembly. The plant is worth about $12,000, on which there is an in- debtedness covering over one half of this amount. The present trustees are: A. J. Dibble, John Attridge, Frank M. Leonard, C. C. Barnes, A. W. Carley, Reed B. Freeman, William H. Bristol, Edward Harris, Albert H. Bixby, W. L. Pierce, Rev. John B. Sweet, D.D., Dr. George F. Hand, Hon. EPWORTH HALL, DIMOCK W. J. Welsh, A. A. Brimmer, J. H. Hover. Reed B. Freeman is president, Arthur J. Dibble, corresponding secretary; H. F. Bar- rett, recording secretary. Dimock This camp was located for the purpose of serving Wyalusing District. When the district was absorbed this camp came into the Binghamton District. At a camp meeting held near Meshoppen in August, 1873, Rey. I. T. Walker, G. E. Palen, and J. C. Brown were constituted a committee to locate and purchase a grove for camp meeting purposes. Paul Billings, O. W. Stanton, and D. Billings were 70 Wyomine CoNFERENCE subsequently added to the committee. In May, 1874, this com- mittee, after looking at several groves, settled upon the present one, which is located a few miles below Montrose, on the rail- road leading from Montrose to Tunkhannock. In 1876 the land was purchased of Colonel Bailey, twenty-three and one tenth acres at $50 per acre. The first board of managers consisted of Rev. I. T. Walker, president; J. H. Weston, secretary; William H. Bloomer, treasurer; W. L. Thorpe, J. L. Race, G. T. Price, H. G. Harned, W. H. Barnes, G. E. Palen, A. G. Overfield, E. B. Gates, D. G. Bloch, J. G. Taylor, and W. B. Guile. The association has spent about $5,000 in improvements. There is a good boarding hall, preachers’ stand, Epworth League hall, a hall for meetings in rainy weather, an unsurpassed spring of water. Drinking from this spring well repays one for a trip to the ground. The grounds are nicely graded, and are kept in good order. There are about one hundred cottages on the ground, usually occupied by a thousand persons. It is claimed that this camp retains more of the old-time fervor than any other within our bounds. Its history has been one of revival, year after year. The present board of managers are Rev. Joshua S. Lewis, president; D. A. Titsworth, vice president; D. Billings, secretary; F. B. Jewitt, treasurer; Cyrus Shaw, J. G. Taylor, T. C. Allen, George Candee, I. S. Tewksbury, James Kassen, Perry Sweet, G. H. H. Davis, Albert Overfield. HoneESDALE DISTRICT Salem Camp meetings have been held in various places within the bounds of the present Honesdale District. Dr. Peck records a visit to a camp in Salem, in September, 1818, then on the Canaan Circuit: “We crossed Cobb’s Mountain in a considerable com- pany of men and women on horseback, led by our magnificent presiding elder on a mammoth horse. All in all it was a novel scene to us, and there was a sprinkling of romance in a train of travelers on saddles, composed of men and women, old and young, climbing the mountain and clambering over rocks, upon which the old Yankees trod when they first visited fair Wyoming, and upon which they dropped their sweat and tears as they fled from the murderous savages. Many of them crossed this mountain on foot, we were well mounted; they traveled in peril of their lives, we in safety. “The encampment was small, the ground rough, and the tents poorly built. Everything was rude and primitive; but God was SALem Camp GRouND 71 there. The work of awakening and conversion soon commenced, and the groans of the wounded and the shouts of the saved re- sounded through the forest of tall hemlock and beech trees. How many were converted we did not learn, but we were happy in sub- sequent years to find some who were there brought to God bright and shining lights in the Church.” Camp meetings were held in September, 1859, August, 1860, and September of 1861 and 1862 on grounds owned by Mr. A. Butler, near the turnpike leading from Honesdale to Bethany, two miles from Honesdale and one from Bethany. During these four years over three hundred conversions were reported. In SALEM AUDITORIUM 1862 and 1863 camp meetings were held on a ground three miles south of Mount Pleasant. In September, 1867 and 1868, meet- ings were held on a ground about one mile from Thompson, toward Carbondale. In August of 1866, 1867, 1868, and 1870, meetings were held at what was then called Dunning’s Station, now called Elmhurst, for the Lackawanna District. These meet- ings were held in a grove now owned by Mr. Rhodes, about a half mile from the station and on the left of the highway. The rear of the ground was on a high ledge overlooking the railway track, so that as a preacher stood in the stand passing trains seemed to be behind and nearly under him. This camp was called the Bethel Camp Ground. Several camp meetings were held at 72 WYOMING CONFERENCE South Canaan, in a grove not far from the parsonage. Meetings were held at Tallmansville in August, 1875, 1879, and 1880. One was held at Uniondale in August, 1885. The record of most of these meetings we have secured by consulting files of the Northern Christian Advocate. It is not presumed to be complete. With passing years, desire for a permanent location and more comfortable quarters manifested itself. At a District Conference of the Honesdale District, held in 1874, a committee was ap- pointed for the purpose of locating a ground and organizing an association. Accordingly, the following brethren met at the SALEM BOARDING HALL Salem parsonage on November 2, 1874: Rev. S. F. Wright, Rev. W. G. Queal, W. D. Curtis, A. J. Andrews, and James Van Camp. Rev. S. F. Wright acted as chairman, and James Van Camp, secretary. Motion carried to proceed to incorporate, and that the board of trustees consist of five ministers and ten laymen. The capital stock was to be $1,000, divided into one hundred shares of $10 each, with a privilege to increase the stock to $10,000, but not to exceed that amount. James Van Camp was instructed to draw the articles of incorporation with S. F. Wright, W. G. Queal, A. J. Andrews, O. H. Pease, and Sanford Williams advisory committee. The articles of incorporation were properly drawn, passed upon by the court, and recorded on February 2, 1875. The first board of directors, or trustees, consisted of Revs. SIDNEY Grove Camp GRouND 73 S. F. Wright, W. G. Queal, H. M. Crydenwise, Stephen Jay, and Jonas Underwood, and laymen W. D. Curtis, Gilbert White, San- ford Williams, George Williams, J. H. Williams, A. J. Andrews, J. P. Mitchell, J. W. Bidwell, O. H. Pease, and James Van Camp. Of this board S. F. Wright was president, George Williams, vice president, James Van Camp, secretary, and W. G. Queal, treasurer. In February, 1875, six acres of land were bought of A. J. Andrews, and on May 20, 1895, four and a half acres more were purchased. Owing to this last purchase the association was put $300 in debt. In 1900 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gillet, of Salem, gave the association $200. Subscriptions and collections added to that amount enough to liquidate the indebtedness, and build a much-needed preachers’ stand. This was erected in 1901, Rev. E. A. Quimby, R. H. Simon, and H. B. Goodrich being the build- ing committee. It cost $295, and was dedicated at the camp meet- ing of that year. The grove is about one half mile from Salem Corners, on the south side of the road. It has about twenty-five cottages, some of them being very respectable buildings, a large and commodious boarding hall, a store, a canvas tent which will seat four hundred people, and sufficient additional seating to accommodate one thousand people. The association has had open gates, fee at the gates, open and closed Sundays. Just now it is successfully running with gates closed on Sunday. The present board of directors is composed of Presiding Elder J. F. Warner, president; R. H. Simon, vice president; E. A. Quimby, secretary; H. B. Goodrich, treasurer; Isaac Barnes, Lewis Robacker, A. C. Howe, J. A. Yeager, G. H. Prentice, J. H. Powell, S. C. Simpkins, A. J. Simon, G. M. Bidwell, Mrs. Salinda Jones, Mrs. E. L. Stevens. ONEONTA DISTRICT Sidney Grove The present association accommodates Chenango and Oneonta Districts and is run jointly. We will first note the early camp meetings in the territory of each. Within the bounds of the present Chenango District the follow- ing meetings are known to have been held: At Guilford, on land of Daniel North, in June, 1848. In August of the same year a meeting was held on land of Dwight Ives, four miles north of 74 WYOMING CONFERENCE Oxford and four south of Norwich. In August, 1849, a meeting was held-at King’s Settlement, on land of M. C. Bar. In 1847 a meeting was held at North Afton, on land of Chauncey and Elijah Hyde, which resulted in over one hundred conversions. A meet- ing was held on the same ground in June, 1850. At this time this territory was in the Bainbridge Circuit. In June, 1851, a camp meeting was held between Plymouth and Smyrna, on the Stephen Anthony farm. In September, 1852, Bainbridge, Guilford, and Mount Upton charges united in holding a meeting at the Yale Settlement, eight miles east of Oxford, and six miles from Bain- bridge. In June, 1853, a meeting was held on land of David SIDNEY AUDITORIUM Fields, six miles east of Norwich and three west of the Unadilla River, near the point where the Oxford and Norwich roads come — together. In September of the same year, a meeting was held in a grove between Plymouth and Smyrna. Meetings were held on grounds of Otis Wiznor, five miles east of Norwich, on the _ road leading to Mount Upton, in August, 1857, September, 1858, August, 1859, and September, 1860. In September, 1861, a meeting was held at Guilford, on land of L. S. Manwaring, on the turnpike between Mount Upton and Oxford, two and a half miles from Guilford Center and one from Rockdale. Under the auspices of the Edmeston Methodist Episcopal Church a camp was held in August, 1864, on land of Nathaniel Aylworth, between Garrattsville and West Burlington. In August, 1866, a meeting SIDNEY GROVE Camp GROUND 75 was held at Plymouth. In 1867, September, 1868, August, 1870, and August, 1871, meetings were held at Guilford, near Rockdale. This spot is frequently spoken of as “the old Rockdale ground.” In September, 1867, a grove meeting was held at Chenango Forks, on the grounds of Dr. Carr. Camp meetings were held in several places within the bounds of Oneonta District. Meetings were held at Bowe Hill, a few miles above Laurens, in 1847, June, 1848, and June, 1849. Mrs. Palmer, of New York, known throughout Methodism as an ad- vocate of holiness, was at the 1848 camp. About forty conver- SIDNEY BOARDING HALL sions were reported. Meetings were held at Fly Creek in 1852, June, 1853, August, 1854, September, 1855, July, 1860, and June, 1861. In June, 1856, a camp was held on George Teel’s farm, two and a half miles west of Hartwick. In June, 1857, a meeting was held near South Hartwick. In June, 1864, a meeting was held on land of Mr. Wilsey, on Elk Creek, Westford charge, where a meeting had been held some few years previous. In 1865, and in September, 1866, meetings were held on a Mr. Shepard’s land in Hartwick. In July of the same year a camp meeting was held on land of Squire Sprague, about four miles north of Fly Creek. In July, 1867, a camp meeting was held on land of Ebenezer Cronkite, one half mile west of Milford village. Meetings were held in McClure Settlement, on Sanford Circuit, 76 WyYoMING CONFERENCE three and a half miles west of Deposit, in September, 1862, and September, 1863. McClure was then on the Honesdale District. The Sidney Grove Camp Meeting Association was organized in 1874, and held its first camp meeting in August of that year. The articles of incorporation are signed by the secretary of New York State, the charter coming from the Legislature. By the act of incorporation the association shall have nine trustees, who shall have power to purchase and convey real estate and care for the special and general interests of the association. The trustees are elected by the board of district stewards of Chenango and Oneonta Districts—the association being run by the two districts jointly. The officers are elected at the annual meeting of the trustees, which is held in June. The first real estate purchased was ten acres located about three quarters of a mile below Sidney, with a highway leading from the ground to the public highway. The ground is upon a table- land about one hundred feet above the valley, and so near the New York, Ontario, and Western and the Delaware and Hudson Railroads as to easily accommodate the two districts. After a few years’ experience it seemed desirable to have additional land. Accordingly, ten acres more were bought, joining the first pur- chase on the west. The auditorium has an acre in it, around which are located the cottages, which number forty-five. The association has expended about $10,000 in a boarding hall, lodg- ing hall, tabernacle, stand, sexton’s house, barn, and other im- provements. The first purchase of land cost $2,500, the second $1,000, thus making the total value of association property $13,500. It is supplied with an excellent spring of water. The grove, water, and scenery are admired by all who visit the grounds. Many have been converted here, and the influence of the annual meetings has been widely felt. OweEco DISTRICT Here, as in the other cases, we have gleaned advertisements and reports of camp meetings from our Church papers, and find that camp meetings were held in various places on the district. We have no doubt there were other meetings held. In September, 1831, a camp meeting was held on what is now the Tracy farm, just below Apalachin, at which J. W. Hewitt was among the converts. Camp meetings have been held in several places within the SIDNEY Grove CAMP GROUND 77 bounds of this district. In September, 1848, and in June, 1849, meetings were held between Spencer and Van Ettenville, near the turnpike. In September, 1850, a meeting was held on the farm of Mr. Eben Lake, in Fairfield, town of Candor. In August, 1852, and again in September, 1853, meetings were held three miles southeast of Speedsville and ten miles north of Owego, on the West Owego Creek. During the years 1856, 1857, 1858, and 1859 meetings were held on grounds of Mr. Loring, one and a half miles from the depot in Candor. This place was known as “Bethel Forest.” In 1854 and 1860 meetings were held near Waverly. The encampment was about one mile from the village and known as Mount Encampment. In 1860 fifty-five conver- sions were reported. Successful meetings were held in Septem- ber, 1869, August, 1870, and August, 1871, at Lime Hill, on the Wyalusing charge. The camp was located on land of Charles Sumner, an uncle of Rev. J. B. Sumner and an exhorter for many years. It was in an oak grove one half mile west of the old stage road from Tunkhannock to Towanda, and about four miles north of Wyalusing, on top of the hill before going down to Rummersfield, in Wyalusing township. It was inaugurated by Revs. P. R. Tower and J. B. Sumner, who were pastors of , Wyalusing at that time. The presiding elder, Rev. D. C. Olm- stead, was invited to take charge of it, and the next year it was adopted by the district (Wyalusing). This spot was not central enough. Bunnell Hill, one mile from Meshoppen, was chosen as a proper location, and meetings were held here from 1871 to 1874. In August, 1859, and again in August, 1860, meetings were held on land of Isaac Ford, two miles south of Le Raysville. In the summer of 1865 when the Rev. George Porter was presiding elder on Owego District, A. D. Alexander, pastor at Spencer, and J. M. Grimes, pastor at Van Ettenville, and several laymen planned a camp meeting at Spencer. John A. Nichols, an enterprising busi- ness man of Spencer, erected tents, built a large boarding and lodging house, and leased the grounds to the newly formed asso- ciation for five years. The lease was subsequently extended and a covered auditorium built, and the grounds fenced and improved. The camp was located in the western part of Spencer, in what is now called Seeleytown, close to the Lehigh Valley Railroad depot. The ground was level, nicely shaded, and well supplied with water from driven wells. The first meeting was held in August, 1865. The meetings became very popular, were largely attended and productive of much good. On August 13, 1881, when cot- tagers were moving in, preparatory to the camp meeting, fire 78 WyoMING CONFERENCE broke out in the cottage of the presiding elder, Rev. Y. C. Smith. His family had been on the ground several days. Mrs. Smith was alone in the cottage when some live coals accidentally fell from the stove through the cracks of the floor into the dry leaves underneath. Flames rapidly spread, and were soon beyond con- trol. The preachers’ stand, auditorium, chapels, and sixty-five cottages were all destroyed and never rebuilt. The boarding hall stood apart, and was not destroyed. It is now used as a glove factory. During the later years of the ground’s history great | WYOMING AUDITORIUM temperance rallies were held there, such men as Neal Dow, Colonel Bain, Governor St. John, Francis Murphy, and others, speaking to thousands. Since the burning of the buildings a number-of parties who used to attend camp meetings there now go to Carmel Grove and Dimock. Wyominc District Before the opening of the present camp ground on Wyoming District camp meetings were held in various places. September, 1825, a meeting was held in Truxville, on land owned by Jacob Wyominc Camp Grounp 79 Rice, father of Rev. C. L. Rice. This meeting was of extraor- dinary interest and power, and was spoken of for many years afterward as “the great camp meeting.” Meetings were held on Northmoreland Circuit, on land owned by George France, three miles back of New Troy (Wyoming) in August, 1847, and again in 1851 and 1852. The first camp resulted in fifty conversions. A meeting was held one mile and a half north of Providence, near Leach’s coal bed in August, 1849. There were between forty and fifty tents on the ground. A meeting resulting in one INTERIOR OF WYOMING AUDITORIUM hundred and fifty conversions was held in September, 1851, on the farm of Mr. Knowlton, four miles west of Wyoming. Meetings were held in a grove owned by Samuel Durland, four miles from Wyoming and one and a half miles from Carverton, in August, 1853, September, 1856, August, 1858, year of 1865, August, 1866 and 1867. In August, 1859, a meeting was held on the Lacka- wanna, near Pittston. Meetings were held on Everhart’s Island, near Pittston, in August, 1860, September, 1862, and August, 1863. A meeting of the minister's and laymen of Wyoming District was held in Kingston Methodist Episcopal Church on June 28, 1871, for the purpose of canvassing the question of a camp meet- 80 WyoMING CoNFERENCE ing association for the district. R. H. McKune acted as chair- man and C. A. Ward, secretary. The sentiment was in favor of purchasing ground and organizing an association at once. On motion of Dr. George Peck a committee was appointed to nego- tiate with Mr. Burgess for the purchase of land lying about three miles from Wyoming, this location having been favorably men- tioned by Revs. Joseph Madison and S. W. Weiss. The com- mittee consisted of Dr. George Peck, chairman; Revs. A. C. Bowdish, W. J. Judd, I. T. Walker, L. C. Floyd, F. L. Hiller, O. M. Martin, Joseph Madison, J. C. Leacock, and the following laymen: R. H. McKune, P. Pettebone, B. G. Carpenter, B. D. Beyea, and I. D. Shoemaker. On June 30, the committee met on the ground suggested. After careful examination of the ground, the committee met in a convenient spot and spent an hour in prayer and song. Fifty acres were offered the committee at $80 per acre. A business committee consisting of P. Pettebone, B. D. Beyea, R. H. McKune, B. G. Carpenter, I. D. Shoemaker, E. D. Wilson, and Jacob Rice was appointed, with power to act, and requested to report to the next meeting of the preachers of the district. This meeting was held in the Hyde Park Church (Simp- son) on July 10, 1871. At this meeting the original camp meet- ing committee was enlarged so as to include every preacher on the district and one layman for each charge. At this meeting attention was called to the Sutton farm, adjoining the Burgess farm, which could be had for $4,000, and contained sixty-seven acres. On July 12 a large number of the general committee met at the farms, looked each over thoroughly, and by ballot decided to purchase the Sutton farm. An executive committee was then appointed to purchase the ground and fit it up for a camp meeting to be held in the fall. This committee consisted of Revs. George Peck, D.D., chairman, F. L. Hiller, A. C. Bowdish, Joseph Madi- son, and the following laymen, R. H. McKune, I. D. Shoe- maker, P. Pettebone, and B. D. Beyea. A committee consisting of Dr. Peck, Joseph Madison, and S. W. Weiss was appointed to arrange for time of the first camp meeting. The executive committee located the camp on the northeast side of the public highway, and secured Mr. S. Jenkins, of Wyoming, to survey and lay out the ground. Joseph Madison and E. D. Wilson were directed to oversee and secure the preparation of the ground for the camp meeting. It was thought desirable to sell one thousand shares of stock in the association. A canvass of the district re- sulted in selling five hundred and eighty-four shares at $10 each, the holder of each share being a stockholder. Subsequently five WyomING CAMP GROUND 81 hundred additional shares were sold. On August 14, 1871, the stockholders met in the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wyoming. At this meeting it was resolved that the association be called “The Wyoming Camp Meeting Association.” Payne Pettebone was elected president, B. D. Beyea, treasurer, and G. B. Kulp, secre- tary. Revs. F. L. Hiller, A. C. Bowdish, and L. C. Floyd, with the following laymen: E. D. Wilson, B. G. Carpenter, and Richard Jones, were elected directors of the board. The presiding elder of the district was made a member of the board, ex officio. WYOMING BOARDING HALL The first camp meeting held on these grounds was in August, and the boarding hall was a tent, as were the accommodations for persons attending the meeting. On August 19, 1871, the directors constituted G. B. Kulp and Revs. L. C. Floyd and A. C. Bowdish a committee on charter. G. B. Kulp drafted the charter. This charter, with by-laws, was subsequently adopted by the board of directors, and the charter was granted by the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania April 8, 1872. Rev. George Peck, D.D., being the corporator, it devolved upon him to name the first board of managers under the charter. This he did on April 24, 1872. Revs. A. C. Bowdish, F. L. Hiller, I. T. Walker, R. W. Van Schoick, and the following 6 82 Wyominc CONFERENCE laymen were his appointees: Payne Pettebone, B. D. Beyea, Richard Jones, George B. Kulp, B. G. Carpenter, and E. D. Wilson. These parties met and elected Mr. Pettebone president, Dr. Peck vice president, G. B. Kulp secretary, and B. D. Beyea treasurer. Since then the managers have been elected annually by the stockholders. From time to time, as the association has grown, new build- ings have been erected. The present lodging house was the first boarding house erected. In 1884 the present boarding house was erected at a cost of $2,464, and the first boarding house trans- formed into a dormitory at an expense of $500. In 1891 the pres- ent pavilion, which seats one thousand people, was erected at a cost of $735. There are sixty cottages now on the ground, which average much better than the mass of camp meeting cottages. In June, ' 1895, twenty-three cottages were destroyed by fire. The following is considered a fair estimate of the financial standing of the association: Real estate, $4,000; improvements on the grounds, $4,000; water works, $3,000; preachers’ stand and fixtures, $910; boarding house, $2,562; furniture, $1,413; dormitory, $2,464; grocery, $748; ice house, $137; pavilion, $735; total, $19,969. Several issues of bonds have been made during the history of the association to meet the needs of the association. At the present time there is an indebtedness of $2,500 in the form of bonds. During the time Dr. Hard was presiding elder on the Wyoming District the assembly idea was introduced for several seasons. CoopersTOwN SEMINARY 83 CHAPTER V SCHOOLS CooreRSTOWN SEMINARY On December 20, 1853, a meeting was held in the village of Cooperstown for the purpose of organizing a movement for the erection of a seminary. The Oneida Conference held in July, 1854, appointed the following visitors to the school: Rev. Dr. Bannister, Rev. D. W. Bristol, Rev. John H. Hall, Rev. J. P. Newman, Rev. C. Blakeslee, Rev. C. G. Robinson, Rev. J. W. Steele, Rev. D. W. Thurston, Rev. J. L. Wells, Rev. A. S. Graves, Rev. H. Gee, John Emory, of Unadilla, William T. Broadfoot, of Otego, William E. Chapman, of Oxford, Randolph Randall, of Cortland. The citizens of Cooperstown subscribed $20,000, and the Methodists of the surrounding country $15,000 toward the project. The building was erected in 1854, so that the school opened on November 15 of that year, the formal dedication oc- curring on November 17, when addresses were made by Bishop Simpson, F. A. Lee, and Professor McKown. Mr. Elihu Phinney was the first president of the board of trustees. When the school opened Professor J. L. G. McKown was principal and there were six teachers besides him in the faculty. We can do no better than quote from the committee’s report on education to the Oneida Conference of 1855: “The edifice, which was in process of erection at our last session, has been completed. It is a noble pile. The center building, projecting in front 10 feet, is 70 feet long by 46 deep, and five stories high above the basement, which is used as the boarding hall and primary school rooms. The two wings on each side of the center building are 40x36 feet, connecting with ells 36x72, making the whole front 222 feet in length—the center building being five stories high and the wings and ells four stories. “The school opened on the 15th of November, and has just closed its first academic year, with an average attendance of three hundred and fifty students, including day scholars. “The income of the year has about equaled the expenses of the institution. “The aggregate amount invested, including eighty acres of land, buildings, and furniture, is about $50,000. 84 Wvyomince CoNFERENCE “The privileges secured in perpetuity to the Methodist Episco- pal Church comprehend the following particulars—a majority of the trustees, the principal, and a majority of the faculty must be members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the faculty have the right of nominating the steward.” The educational committee in 1856 was hopeful. It stated that the institution had a fair attendance, a commanding influence in the town, and promised to contribute largely to the facilities for giving the rising generation a generous and comprehensive education, and again nominated visitors to the school. COOPERSTOWN SEMINARY P. D. Hammond was the principal in 1855, and in 1856 the building was leased for five years to Hammond and Pomeroy, the latter becoming principal in 1857. Financial embarrassment was now upon the institution, and it soon closed its doors. The Oneida Conference in 1858 appointed Caleb Clark, John Eddy, L. E. Bow, William Kirby, H. F. Rowe, John Shank, A. E. Daniels, S. Comfort, and S. Stocking a permanent committee with full power to purchase, at their discretion. It was found that the property could be bought for $12,000, a mortgage being on the property of $5,000, making a total purchase price of $17,000. This would include the building, which cost about $27,000, and ten acres of land. The committee attempted to raise UNIVERSITY OF NorRTHERN PENNSYLVANIA 85 $8,000 in Cooperstown and $4,000 outside, intending to carry the $5,000 mortgage for some time. Failing in their plans, the project of purchasing the property for the Conference was abandoned. In 1859 the school was opened by R. C. Flack, who continued it until 1864, about which time Mr. William Clinton purchased the property, and in 1865 Dr. G. Kerr became principal, who was succeeded in 1867 by Rev. Orin Perkins. In 1869 the property was purchased by Mr. F. Phinney, when it was abandoned as an educational institution and became a summer hotel, known as the UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA Cooper House. It has been destroyed by fire within a few years, and has not been rebuilt. About the same time a seminary was projected at Fort Plain, N. Y., and another at Charlotteville, N. Y., neither of which had vitality enough to live long. It seems that Methodism was stricken with a seminary fever about this time. UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA The county seat was removed from Bethany to Honesdale in 1841. After the removal of the courts the courthouse was used as an academy until the University of Northern Pennsylvania was chartered in 1848, when the courthouse was so changed as 86 WyoMINnG CONFERENCE to answer the demands of the university. The university began its work in the fall of 1850, and the next year Professor John F. Stoddard was elected principal. While this school bore the ambitious title of university, it was in fact a preparatory school, and for a time drew a goodly number of students to its halls. In 1854 the school was tendered to the Conference, the property being valued at $8,000, and said to be nearly free from debt. A board of commissioners was appointed to effect the transfer, which was duly accomplished, and Rev. N. Rounds elected prin- cipal. The report of the trustees in 1855 indicates that they had many storms to contend with, and suggested that strong efforts would be necessary to put the school upon a healthful basis. Its principal this year was Rev. S. S. Milborne, A.B. Students were increasing in number, and it was hoped that the school might have a prosperous and useful future. The following year, 1856, found all hopes of success dashed in pieces. The committee on education, in view of financial and other embarrassments, advised the closing of the school, the sale of the property, and the pay- ment of its debts. The school went back into the hands of Pro- fessor John F. Stoddard, of whom it was secured. He ran it a short time, when it was destroyed by fire on the night of April 19, 1857, with the exception of a fireproof building, which, with the public square, he gave to the borough for the use of the com- mon school. SUSQUEHANNA SEMINARY The Conference in 1853 passed a resolution in the educational committee’s report, “That a literary institution of high character be established in the northern portion of our territory, at some point embraced within the Susquehanna Valley, to be denomi- nated the Susquehanna Seminary.” It was thought that the patronizing territory should comprise the whole of Owego Dis- trict, with the exception of Rome, Orwell, and Le Raysville charges, the whole of Binghamton District, with the exception of Montrose, Brooklyn, and Gibson charges, together with Sanford charge, at that time in the Honesdale District. A commission of seven was appointed to determine upon a site, and, in connection with the presiding elders of Owego and Binghamton Districts andthe preacher or preachers in charge where the school was to be located, nominate a board of trustees, and, further, to institute measures to obtain a charter. The commission was instructed to meet on September 13, at Binghamton. It is somewhat difficult to bring the above action into harmony with the fact that the same copy of the Minutes contains a list of the first board of SUSQUEHANNA SEMINARY 87 trustees. The Conference convened July 27. It is possible that the Minutes were not printed until after the meeting of the com- mission. The following is the first board of trustees: Rev. Z. Paddock, D.D., Binghamton, president; Hon. S. H. P. Hall, Binghamton, vice president; B. N. Loomis, Esq., Binghamton, secretary; Edward Tompkins, Esq., Binghamton, treasurer; Rev. H. R. Clarke, agent; Hon. D. S. Dickinson, Binghamton; Rev. W. H. Pearne; P. B. Brooks, M.D., Binghamton; A. Doubleday, M.D., Binghamton; J. C. Moore, Esq., Binghamton; Joseph Belcher, Esq., Richford; William McClure, Esq., Deposit; Revs. SUSQUEHANNA SEMINARY Asa Brooks, Solon Stocking, O. M. McDowell, G. P. Porter, E. Owen, and J. W. Davison. The Conference of 1854 found that the institution had been located on ground on the west side of the Chenango River, in Binghamton, N. Y., the ground having been offered by the Hon. Mr. Hall. A charter had been received from the regents of the University of New York, and a contract made for the first build- ing. It was 168x57 feet, four stories high, built of brick, and cost $20,600. The school opened in the fall of 1855 with the following faculty: Henry Carver, A.M., principal and teacher of mathe- matics; teacher of languages not yet secured; R. B. Van Petten, A.M., professor of experimental philosophy; Miss Maria Shep- 88 WYoMING CONFERENCE ard, preceptress; J. Hilton Jones, professor of instrumental music and thorough bass; William Marvin, professor of vocal music; Mrs. Lucretia Johnson, teacher of drawing and painting; Miss Mary Sinker, teacher of French. E. W. Breckinridge was ap- pointed agent this year. At this time the institution was in debt over $10,000. The trustees proposed to make a loan for the amount of indebtedness and reduce the debt during the ensuing year by the receipts of unpaid subscriptions and donations and new subscriptions. The debt apparently increased, for in 1856 the Conference subscribed $5,000 to relieve the school on condi- tion that the citizens of Binghamton decrease the debt to $15,000. In the following year it was believed that the requirements had been met, and the preachers were called upon to meet their obliga- tions made in 1856. Rev. P. S. Worden was principal from 1857- 61, acting also as agent for the school. The pecuniary embarrassments of the school culminated in 1861, when the mortgage was foreclosed by the comptroller of the State, which held the mortgage. It was bid in by the State. The failure of this enterprise was a sore disappointment to the Conference. The building is now owned by the Catholics and used as a home for friendless children. At the time the Susquehanna Seminary was projected the people of Waverly, N. Y., made application to the Conference to establish a seminary at that place. The committee on education reported favorably, suggested that the school be called Tioga Seminary, and made as a condition upon which the school should be located there the raising of $12,000 by the citizens of Waverly. Nothing further seems to have come from the matter. The fundamental mistake made in the foregoing was in wrongly estimating the patronage which would come from the territory. It was seriously overestimated. WyYomMING SEMINARY The early settlers of the Wyoming Valley were largely from Connecticut and brought with them the strong traits and tastes of the New England Yankee. Among these was a determination to make the fullest provision possible at that time for the educa- tion of their children. The foundation of the educational system of New England was an order passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in 1647, which read in part as follows: “It being one chief project WyomMInGc SEMINARY 89 of the old deluder, Satan, to keep men from a knowledge of the Scriptures as in former times, by keeping them in an unknown tongue; it is therefore ordered that every township in this juris- diction, after the Lord hath prospered them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all children as shall resort to him to read and to write.” It was a religious impulse that started the educational system of our country. The Puritan, after building a church, immedi- ately erected a schoolhouse by its side. Harvard University was founded by John Harvard, a Puritan clergyman. Nearly every other important college of New England was started under the auspices of a religious denomination. It was natural, therefore, that the Connecticut people who came to Wyoming, strong as they were in the instinct of educational training, should have given early attention to schools. Land grants and other provisions were made for the distinctively public schools. But a number of private academies and seminaries in addition to these were started especially for preparation for col- lege and for the further education of those who had outgrown the public schools. Wyoming Seminary was established at Kingston, Pa., in the year 1844 as an institution of Christian learning under the auspices of the Oneida Conference. At the session of this Con- ference held in Wilkes-Barre, August 9, 1843, the matter was fully discussed, and the necessary preliminary steps taken by the appointment of David Holmes, Jr., Lucian S. Bennett, Thomas Myers, Madison F. Myers, Lord Butler, Sharp D. Lewis, and Silas Comfort as “trustees of a contemplated seminary of learning to be located either in Wilkes-Barre or Kingston,” according to the amount of subscription obtained in each place within a given time. Kingston, providing the largest subscription, was the chosen locality. At the first meeting of the board of trustees David Holmes was elected president, Silas Comfort, secretary, and Madison F. Myers, treasurer. The first building, a brick structure of three stories, 37x70, was erected and opened for students in 1844. Size of the chapel, 24x29; recitation room, 13x29, and room for primary department, 20x29, with some twenty rooms in all for students. Cost of the building, about $5,000. Such was the beginning of this educational enterprise, one building, two teachers, and fifty scholars. The trustees were doubtless providentially directed in securing as their first prin- cipal Rev. Reuben Nelson, A.M., then a young man, but whose go WYoMING CONFERENCE energy of character and subsequent history and efforts have demonstrated his fitness to inaugurate and carry forward such an enterprise to a successful consummation. It is not surprising that, under such leadership, seconded by the energetic cooperation of a noble-minded and self-denying board of trustees and a corps of efficient teachers, the institution should attain a popularity and influence second to none of its class in the land. In half a dozen years after the erection of the first edifice, such was the patronage obtained that an additional building was demanded. No sooner did the emergency arise than the trustees and friends of the institution prepared themselves to meet the demand. In the spirit of an unselfish liberality the late William Swetland, of Wyoming, Pa., came forward and volunteered to erect the projected addi- tional building at his own expense. This second building was named by the trustees “Swetland Hall,” in memory of the re- spected donor. At the same time Hon. Ziba Bennett, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., contributed $1,000 as a foundation for a library. This was hereafter called, in honor of the giver, the Bennett Library. In the early spring of 1853, additional facilities were deemed essential, and the building of a wing, or wings, to the main building was contemplated, with a view to afford ac- commodation to a larger number of students. At this juncture, in the stillness of the midnight hour on the 15th of March, 1853, a furious fire broke out, and the seminary buildings were laid in ruins. Although this catastrophe was fearful, and the friends of the institution gazed in sadness on the scene, yet courageous men never despair, and while the brick and stone and ashes were yet warm the trustees, with undaunted heroism, in their a on the day of the fire resolved as follows: “With humble submission to our heavenly Father’s will, we turn from looking upon thesé ruins. Relying upon Him who hath hitherto helped us, buoyant with hope (for man’s extremity is God’s opportunity), we enter with heart and hand upon the rebuilding, pledging to each other cooperation and mutual sup- port; therefore, “Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to draw plans and specifications for the rebuilding of the seminary.” This showed the “stuff these men were made of.” Again did the tried friend of the cause, William Swetland, come to the rescue, and nobly undertook, at his own expense, the work of rebuilding and enlarging Swetland Hall. Through the liberality of P. Pettebone, George Swetland, A. Y. Smith, and Isaac C. Shoemaker, a third building was erected about the same time, to % ere vm SF A Hell, j Y allen ul ide. Adnrdnitrnlionn He tall, o, Metre a, le Z WyoMING SEMINARY gI which the name of “Union Hall” was given. Thus, through fire and disaster, larger and better buildings were erected, and the three blocks, ““Administration Hall” in the center, with ‘“Swet- land Hall” on the left and “Union Hall” on the right, stood a noble monument of the energy and liberality of the men of Wyoming Valley. In a few years afterward the fire fiend again visited the institu- tion, and the Ladies’ Boarding Hall was destroyed. Then, in the course of events, a fierce tornado swept over the place and un- roofed the building. Then, in 1865, the flood did more or less damage to the seminary property. Yet, with heroic spirit, the board of trustees measured up to every exigency, so that repeated difficulties have been overcome, financial embarrassments re- moved, and the whole machinery kept moving without intermis- sion, and without jar. The civil war seemed for a brief period to interfere with the wonted success of the institution. Yet, even amid this temporary drawback, the trustees projected other plans for the success of the school. A commercial department was added in 1863, and Professor W. S. Smythe was secured to take charge of the Commercial College, and under his supervision it proved a decided success. In 1868 Professor L. L. Sprague be- came the head of this department and continued until 1882, when Professor W. L. Dean, A.M., became the principal. The Com- mercial College has developed into one of the best schools of its kind in the country. At the close of the war it was found that such was the pros- perity of the seminary that scores of applicants had to be refused admission for lack of accommodation. This increasing popularity and demand again aroused the friends to effort, and the enlarge- ment of the seminary was absolutely required. The three build- ings had already been united by the addition of wings, yet this did not meet the demand for room. In the year 1866, the Cen- tennial of American Methodism, it was determined to erect a memorial building to be named Centenary Hall. This was com- menced in 1867, and completed in 1868, at a cost of about $25,000. These buildings are all under one roof, three and four stories high, with three hundred and twenty feet frontage. In 1887, by the aid of a few friends, the Nelson Memorial Hall was erected as a memorial of the late Reuben Nelson, D.D., who was the first president of the seminary. The first floor has seven- teen rooms devoted to the music department. The second floor is given entirely to the chapel. This room will accommodate six hundred persons, and is provided with the best quality of seating. 92 Wyominc CoNFERENCE It contains a beautiful Jardine two-manual organ, and carries with it all the dignity and attractiveness suitable to a room for public worship. The seats are numbered, and each student has a special seat. The chapel is also used for concerts and lectures given before the school. Its cost was $30,000. Nesbitt Science Hall was completed in 1894, and donated to the school by Abram Nesbitt, Esq., of Kingston, Pa., a trustee and generous benefactor of the seminary. Its construction is of brick, with red sandstone trimmings. The building is of dignified architecture, and one of the most substantial in educational use. Its dimensions are one hundred feet long, seventy feet wide, and three stories high. In the basement are the cloak rooms and lockers for day scholars. Tables are also provided for those who bring lunches. On the first floor are the art rooms, well located for light, a spacious hall, and a study room sixty-seven feet long by forty-two feet wide, with one hundred and fifty Berkeley desks and seats. These are a gift of the late Hon. W. H. Cool, of Pittston, Pa. On the second floor are the chemical and physical laboratories, a science lecture room, and a museum of natural history and In- dian archeology. On the third floor is a room seventy feet long by sixty-seven feet wide devoted to the use of the College of Business. Besides this there are rooms on this floor devoted to shorthand, typewriting, and business correspondence. Its cost was $40,000. By the munificence of friends of the seminary in 1894 a spacious Athletic Field of nearly five acres was purchased. This was graded and fenced with tight boards. It contains a hand- some grand stand, a track twenty feet wide, and tennis and alley- ball courts. There is ample room here for baseball, football, handball, running, bicycle riding, hammer throwing, vaulting, lawn tennis, croquet, etc. The young ladies have full access to the field, which is within five minutes’ walk of the seminary, and are encouraged to take open-air exercise. The Caroline M. Pettebone Gymnasium was erected in 1897, by her whose name it bears. Mrs. Pettebone was for many years an eminent and constant supporter of the school, and the gymnasium is a most beautiful and crowning gift of her many benefactions. The building is constructed of brick, with red sandstone trim- mings, fifty-five and one half feet wide by one hundred and eight and one half feet long, and is of attractive architecture. The floor of the main exercise room contains 4,268 square feet. The WA NELSON HOME PETTEBONE GYMNASIUM NESBITT HALL NELSON MEMORIAL HALL 04 WyYomMING CONFERENCE room is supplied with the best quality of apparatus, and a Rogers running track of the latest pattern, five feet wide and twenty-six laps to the mile in length. The building is so skillfully planned that it may be occupied cotemporaneously by the boys and girls in their respective apartments with perfect seclusion. It has two distinct and exclusive entrances. It is supplied with the best grade of modern baths and lockers, three bowling alleys (two for boys and one for girls), with skylight over the tenpins, two offices and examining rooms, respectively for the physical director and directress, football and baseball rooms, rooms for visiting teams, boxing room, trophy room, and spectators’ gallery. The gymnasium is complete in every appointment, and cost $33,000. The seminary from the first has been prosperous. Its begin- ning was small, but its growth has been rapid. From one hall, costing an inconsiderable sum, it has grown into seven buildings, with an aggregate property value of $300,000. More than eighteen thousand students have been registered on its rolls. More than two thousand five hundred young people have carried away its diploma. Its students are found in nearly, or quite, every political division of the globe. There are few communities in the United States where the influence of an old Wyoming stu- dent is not felt in either a business, professional, or social capacity. The seminary has bred at least two State governors—Hoyt, of Pennsylvania, and Carpenter, of Iowa; at least one United States senator, and several members of the lower house of Congress, among them the present member from this district, Henry W. Palmer. Several justices of State supreme courts received their early education there, among them Judge Winthrop Ketcham, of Penn- sylvania, now deceased. Judges Lynch and Ferris and ex-Judges Woodward and Rhone, of the Wilkes-Barre court, as well as a large number of others who have dignified the bench elsewhere, were students there in their early days. More than four hundred ministers of the Gospel received much of their preparation for their work at the seminary. Six gradu- ates are now in foreign mission fields. The great civil war re- ceived a full quota of Wyoming students who found lasting honor in fighting for the Union upon its battlefields. Among these are Colonel R. B. Ricketts, the late General E. S. Osborn, Captain David Schooley, and the late Judge Darte. These are only a few who went from the seminary’s immediate locality. Many went from distant sections in other States who attained high official WyomiInc SEMINARY 95 rank in the army and won fame and valor for our nation in that great conflict. The purpose of the seminary may be regarded as ideal in American education, namely, the preparation, under positive re- ligious influences, of boys and girls for college and the providing of courses of study in science, literature, art, and music for young men and women who lack the time and necessary means for a complete course in college. The college of business, moreover, is regarded as of great importance in fitting students for business pursuits. It is believed that having this department in close con- nection with the seminary work gives it a thoroughness and com- pleteness in business preparation that is of paramount importance. The seminary has been from the start coeducational. The his- tory and results of the school, and of education in general, prove beyond question that the plan of educating young people together is preeminently the natural plan and that it is productive of the best results intellectually, morally, and socially. The following are expressions concerning the question from high authority :— Richter: “To insure modesty I would advise the education of the sexes together, for two boys will preserve twelve girls, or two girls twelve boys, innocent. But I will guarantee nothing in a school where girls are alone together, much less where boys are. It is a striking fact that nearly all, if not quite all, those who have given their names against coeducation are those who have never tried it.” Colonel T. W. Higginson: “I believe heartily and fully in coeducation. The Creator, who placed boys and girls together in families, where the association of brothers and sisters is mutually helpful, knew what is best for humanity.” In 1883 Mrs. Jane S. Nelson, “in consideration of her desire and purpose to aid and benefit the seminary to which the labors of her husband were for many years devoted,” deeded to the trustees of the seminary the beautiful dwelling built by Dr. Nel- son, where he and family resided for several years prior to his election as Book Agent in New York. This gift was in full ac- cord with the noble impulse of one who did her full share in making sure the success of the institution, and all the efforts of her husband in its behalf. The seminary was fortunate in its first principal, Dr. Nelson. Elected to this position in 1844, he served until 1862, when he resigned. After a year’s service as presiding elder of Wyoming District he was reelected principal, and served until 1872, when he was called to the agency of the Book Concern. As principal of the seminary Dr. Nelson’s success was almost, 96 WyoMING CONFERENCE if not quite, unparalleled in the history of seminaries and other preparatory schools in the country. His ability as a teacher, his executive skill and financial wisdom, his indomitable perseverance, his great moral power, his fervid piety gave him an equipment for his work that made success assured. The second principal was Dr. Y. C. Smith, who served the school in that capacity from the spring of 1862 until the close of the school year in 1863. He was highly esteemed and affection- ately remembered by thousands of students of Wyoming Semi- nary. He was a superior teacher, a strong thinker, and his work was characterized by sound scholarship. His life left a durable and salutary impress upon the history of the seminary. The third principal was Rev. Daniel Copeland, A.M., who be- came principal in 1872. He remained in the faithful and efficient discharge of his duties until prostrated by disease in February, 1882. A rest of a few months at Clifton Springs afforded physical improvement and inspired a hope that he would be able to con- tinue his work. But the effort of opening the fall term of 1882 was too great and the vital flame began at once to flicker, and it became apparent to him that his work was ended. He resigned and moved with his family to Vermont, where the ravages of pulmonary disease closed his life, December 7, 1882. Dr. Copeland gave his life to education. As a teacher he was very successful. The teacher’s chair was his throne. His work in the class room was royal. Several of the most eminent of the seminary’s alumni graduated during his presidency. He made a strong impress of scholarly taste and refinement on the school, and will live long in high esteem in the memory of the thousands of students whose lives he richly endowed by precept and example. Rev. L. L. Sprague, A.M., D.D., was elected the fourth presi- dent of Wyoming Seminary upon the resignation of Dr. Cope- land in 1882. The first faculty of the seminary in 1844 was as follows: Rev. Reuben Nelson, A.M., principal; Winthrop W. Ketcham, teacher of mathematics; Edwin F. Ferris, teacher of natural science and normal department; Elisha B. Harvey, A.B., teacher of ancient languages; Miss Ruth S. Ingalls, preceptress; Mrs. Jane S. Nel- son, teacher of drawing and painting; Miss Sarah W. Tompkins, assistant in normal department; Miss Emily H. Schott, teacher of music. The following constitute the faculty in 1903: Rev. L. L. Sprague, M.A., D.D. (Wesleyan University), president, intel- lectual and moral science; Miss Charlotte L. Chubbuck, M.A. WyYoMING SEMINARY 97 (Elmira College), lady principal, history and English literature ; Rufus B. Howland, B.C.E. (Cornell University), mathematics ; Willis L. Dean, M.A. (Dickinson College), principal College of Business, lecturer on commercial law, business correspondence, etc.; Charles O. Thurston, B.A. (Dartmouth College), physics, botany, and zoology; Charlotte L. Blackman, Mus.B. (Norwich Free Academy ; Paris and Berlin), French and German; Pedro R. Gillott, M.A. (Wesleyan University; Heidelberg, Germany), Greek and Latin; Edward I. Wolfe (Public High School), pedagogy and English grammar; Junius W. Stevens, Ph.B. (Syracuse University), English language; Hugo V. Stadler (Berlin), piano, organ, and head of music department; Wesley A. Kuhn, M.E. (Millersville Normal School, and Wyoming Col- lege of Business), English and bookkeeping; Laura G. Thomp- son, A.B. (Woman’s College of Baltimore; Oxford University, England), Latin and English; Alice B. Russell, M.E.L. (Wy- oming Seminary), mathematics; George B. Lufkin, A.B. (Williams College), physiology, chemistry, and boys’ gymna- sium; Helen Jackson (Julian Academy, Paris; pupil of William Bouguereau. and Gabriel Ferrier), drawing and painting; Leon J. Russell, M.E. (Mansfield S. N. School), English; Laura J. Sprague, M.E.L. (Wyoming Seminary), English; Saidee E. Kaiser (Royal Academy of Music, London), vocal culture; Theo. Hemberger (Berlin), violin; June Southwell (Emerson College of Oratory), oratory and girls’ gymnasium; Alice Mor- gan (Wyoming College of Business), shorthand and typewriting ; Lulu M. Morgan (Wyoming Seminary), piano. Lecturers: Rev. Leonard C. Murdock, M.A. business ethics; Charles W. Laycock, Esq. (cashier Anthracite Savings Bank), practical banking; Fred Corss, M.A., M.D., L. L. Rogers, M.D., Henry Kunkle, M.A., M.D., physiology and hygiene. Miss Isabel Clint, matron. Martha Sackett, librarian. The seminary now has an enrollment of more than four hun- dred students per term. Its attendance is practically from all parts of the civilized world. It is a cause of profound gratitude that the blessing of God has so constantly and signally abided upon the school. Many powerful revivals have graciously visited its students. The voice of prayer and the song of praise to God are heard in its halls as well as the sound of the instructor’s voice and the laughter of the social throng. Thousands of young men and women have gone from Wyoming Seminary better because of their contact with Methodist influences, Methodist usages, and Methodist revivals. 7 98 WyomING CONFERENCE There are but few homes in the bounds of Wyoming Confer- ence that have not been touched by influences, near or remote, that have emanated from this alma mater. Her professional men—ministers of the Gospel, lawyers, physicians; her business graduates, as bankers, merchants, accountants, agents; her women who have gone forth from her spiritual and intellectual atmosphere, many to become home centers of love, refinement, and Christian precept, others to become teachers in the schools, authors in literature, or nurses in a ministry to physical suffer- ing—these are found all through the Conference, the Middle States, and indeed in almost every community of the nation. The Wyoming Conference has ever exercised a most faithful watchcare over the interests of its seminary. It has readily in- dorsed every proposition to advance its interests and enlarge its usefulness. It has given in this way prestige and influence to the school in the eyes of men of financial ability who have erected its buildings and enlarged its endowment. The pulpits of the Conference have been open to the financial agents of the seminary for public collections, and the pastors have urged upon the people the importance-of the seminary’s work. This support of the Con- ference has been fundamentally the source of its strength and the cause of its growth. The seminary is owned by the Conference, and therefore may rightfully claim this support, but as a return it renders a service to Methodism that cannot be overestimated. And in this great American republic, this “Giant of the West,” with its growing industries, its. unlimited resources, its tre- mendous strides of material conquest, with every artery of activity throbbing to its fullest tension with energy, with thou- sands of immigrants yearly coming to our shores who are strangers to our institutions, where the will of the people is the highest law of the land, and where the very well-being of the people, therefore, depends upon an educated heart as well as educated brain, this “seminary of Christian learning” will have even a larger work to do in the future than it has done in the past. Act oF INCORPORATION 99 CHAPTER VI PREACHERS’ AID SOCIETY WHEN Wyoming Conference was organized a commission composed of the following members of Oneida and Wyoming Conferences was appointed to divide the funds and claimants between the two Conferences: H. F. Rowe, A. E. Daniels, D. Holmes, N. Rounds, W. H. Pearne, E. B. Tenny. The commis- sion met several times during the first session of Wyoming Con- ference, and at the seat of Conference. The number of members of the two bodies was made the basis of division. Oneida had 18,248 and Wyoming 12,236. Accordingly, Oneida was to have three fifths of the funds and claimants and Wyoming two fifths. There was $4,640.92 in available funds to be divided. Of this $927.97 belonged to Wesleyan University, leaving $3,712.95 to be divided between the Conferences. Two fifths of this, Wy- oming’s share, was $1,485.18. Notes were held against various parties amounting to $911.32 in addition to the above-named amount. These were also divided, Wyoming receiving notes to the amount of $367, and against the following parties: Z. Pad- dock, two notes, $52; C. W. Giddings, $20; J. R. Boswell, $25; C. Starr, $33; A. E. Daniels, $50; H. Halstead, $25; J. Parks, $30; I. D. Warren, $25; G. Parsons, $25; J. Pomeroy, $25; L. K. Reddington, $25; W. H. Pearne, $12; E. Dennison, $20. It is supposed these notes were given to increase the fund. It became necessary to become a corporate body at once. Ac- cordingly, petition was made to the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania for a charter. It was granted on April 12, 1853, costing the modest sum of $15—$10 fee to the State and $5 fee to the attorney. It is as follows: Aw Act To INCORPORATE THE WyYoMING ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST EprscopaAL CHURCH Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That George Lane, C. W. Giddings, E. B. Tenny, George Peck, Nelson Rounds, V. M. Coryell, and B. W. Gorham, and their successors duly elected and appointed in manner herein prescribed, be and they are hereby made and constituted a body 100 WYOMING CONFERENCE politic and corporate in law and in fact, to have perpetual succession, by and under the name, style, and title of “THe TRUSTEES oF THE WYOMING ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE MeEtTHopIstT EpiscopaAL CHurcH,” and by the name, style, and title aforesaid shall be capable in law to take, purchase, receive, have, hold, and enjoy, and to demise, sell, and convey, any and all real and personal estate and property that hath heretofore been or may hereafter be devised and bequeathed to them, or to their successors, and for the use of them, or their successors, and said estate and the title to property shall be vested in them, the said Trustees, and their successors, as a fund to be held, appropriated, and disposed of under the direction of the Wyoming Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the limits of which Conference shall be such as from time to time may be designated by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Section 2. That at the first meeting of the corporators named in the first section of this Act, they shall proceed to divide their number into three classes, the first of which classes shall consist of two members, to hold their office during one year, and until their successors shall be duly and legally appointed; the second of which classes shall consist of two mem- bers, to hold their office during two years, and until their successors shall be duly and legally appointed; and the third of which classes shall consist of three members, to hold their office during three years, and until their successors shall be duly and legally appointed; and the said designation of classes shall be made by lot, and thenceforth as the terms of said several classes of said Trustees shall expire, their successors, in equal number, shall be annually elected by ballot by the members of the said Wyoming Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to hold their office for the term of three years. Section 3. That the business of said corporation shall be managed and conducted by the said corporators and their successors, a majority of whom shall be a quorum, in pursuance of such rules, regulations, and by- laws as they shall from time to time adopt for their government, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, or the Constitution of the United States, or of this Commonwealth; and said corporators and their successors shall have power to appoint such officers for the management of the said corporation as said rules, regulations, and by-laws shall from time to time prescribe. Section 4. That no misnomer of the said corporation shall defeat, or annul, any gift, grant, devise, or bequest to or from the said corporation: Provided, The intent of the party or parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, grant, will, or other writing whereby an estate or interest is intended to pass to or from the said corporation. Section 5. That the said corporation and their successors shall have full power and authority to make, have, and use one common seal with such device and inscription as they shall think fit and proper, and to break, renew, and alter the same at their pleasure. Section 6. That the said corporation and their successors, by the name, style, and title aforesaid, shall be able and capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any court, or before any judge or justice of the peace, in all and all manner of suits, complaints, pleas, and demands of whatsoever nature they may be, and all and every matter and thing to do in as full and effectual a manner as any other person, body politic or corporate within this Commonwealth, may or can do. By-LAWS OF THE CONFERENCE TRUSTEES IOI Section 7. That the said corporation may take, receive, purchase, and enjoy real and personal estate of any amount of which the annual income shall not exceed five thousand dollars, but the said limitation is not to be considered as including the annual collections and voluntary contributions made in the churches under the care of the said Wyoming Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. By-Laws The following by-laws were adopted on March 21, 1884, and amended on April 4, 1890: ARTICLE I The officers of the Board of Trustees shall consist of a President, Sec- retary, and Treasurer, and they shall be elected annually at the time of the meeting of the Wyoming Annual Conference. ARTICLE II The President shall preside at all the meetings of the Board, and in his absence a President pro tem. may be elected. The President shall have the general charge and direction of the business of the Board, and shall be ex officio a member of all the standing committees. He shall have power to call special meetings of the Board of Trustees whenever the exigency of the business shall seem to require it. He shall, moreover, call special meetings upon the written request of three members of the Board. ARTICLE III It shall be the duty of the Secretary to attend all meetings of the Board, and keep correct minutes of all its transactions in a book provided for that purpose, from which they shall be read at the close of the meeting by the Secretary for correction and approval. He shall give notice of all meetings of the Board, and in his absence a Secretary pro tem. may be elected. In case the office of President shall at any time become vacant by death or otherwise, the Secretary shall have power to call extra meetings of the Board under the same limitations as controlled the President. ARTICLE IV The Treasurer shall have charge of all the moneys of the Association, which shall be kept deposited to his account as Treasurer in a bank; he - shall have charge of all bonds, deeds, mortgages, leases, stocks, bills, notes, securities, and all other valuable papers of the Board. He shall furnish statements of his accounts and of all the property in his charge at each annual meeting of the Board, and at such other times as he may be directed by the President. ARTICLE V The officers of the Board shall hold their offices until their successors are duly elected and qualified. 102 WYoMING CONFERENCE ARTICLE VI Applications for loans shall be passed upon by the Board at the Annual Meeting; and in case money shall be applied for during the interim of the Conference sessions, the President shall be notified by the Treasurer, and he shall appoint a committee of two from among the Trustees residing in the vicinity of the county town of the applicant; and it shall be the duty of this committee to examine the security or securities offered by the applicant for the loan of the said moneys, and to report upon the same to the said Treasurer, and the Treasurer shall pay the money to the said applicant only upon the order of the said committee. ARTICLE VII Security in the case of personal loans must be upon real estate, unin- cumbered, and, without the buildings thereon, worth at least twice the amount of the loan. A certificate from the proper officers having charge of titles, deeds, judgments, and mortgages in the county and State where the property is located on which the money is loaned, shall be furnished to the Trustees of the Conference, or a committee appointed by them, at the expense of the person or persons to whom the loan is made. When the Conference received its charter the trustees took charge of the funds belonging to the Conference, amounting at this time to $1,485.18, invested them, collected the interest, and annually paid it to the Conference to be distributed by the stew- ards. The amount increased from time to time until it amounted to $10,584.69 in 1887. The organization of a Preachers’ Aid Society had been sug- gested prior to its birth in 1887. In 1860 P. S. Worden and E. Owen presented the following resolution, which was carried: “Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to consider the propriety and practicability of organizing an association to be known as ‘The Preachers’ Aid Society of the Wyoming Con- ference,’ and report at our next session.” G. Peck, W. Wyatt, N. Rounds, J. J. Pearce, and G. H. Blakeslee were appointed a committee, but no report is recorded as having been made. Again, in 1867, Y. C. Smith introduced the question of form- ing a Preachers’ Aid Society and introduced a printed resolution asking that a committee of one from each district be appointed to draft a constitution for a Preachers’ Aid Society, and report to the next Conference. Y. C. Smith, I. T. Walker, L. Cole, Dr. Bristol, L. C. Floyd, and J. F. Wilbur, were appointed such committee. Nothing was accomplished by this committee; at least the Minutes do not credit it with any report. At the Conference of 1887 Rev. J. E. Price, who was the PLAN oF PREACHERS’ Arp Socirety 103 moving spirit in the formation of the Preachers’ Aid Society, presented the following resolution: “Whereas, The provisions made for our superannuated min- isters, and the families of deceased ministers are wholly inad- equate; therefore, be it “Resolved, That a committee of nine, three of whom shall be trustees of the Conference, be appointed, whose duty it shall be to consider carefully this subject and report at the next session of the Conference whatever plans may be matured by them.” The resolution was adopted and the following committee ap- pointed: W. H. Olin, Y. C. Smith, D. C. Olmstead, trustees; J. O. Woodruff, J. E. Price, A. Griffin, G. M. Colville, J. G. Eckman, and A. H. Tuttle. At ‘he Conference of 1888 the committee eer the follow- ing plan, which was adopted: PLAN ARTICLE I _ This Society shall be called “The Preachers’ Aid Society of the Wyo- ming Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.” ARTICLE IT MEMBERSHIP Section 1. Members in full connection of the Wyoming Annual Confer- ence are members of this Society. Other persons may become honorary members upon the payment of five dollars annually into the fund of the Society. Honorary members shall be entitled to certificates of honorary membership. Section 2. The payment of fifty dollars at one time shall constitute the donor a life member of this Society. Section 3. Life members of our Society shall be entitled to certificates of membership. They shall also have the privilege of attending the meet- ings of the Society, and of participating in the deliberations of the same, without the privilege of voting. ARTICLE III MANAGEMENT Section 1. The business of the Society shall be managed by the Trustees of the Wyoming Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. [This was done because the Preachers’ Aid Society was not an incor- porated body, and had no legal status.] Section 2. A majority of the Trustees shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. They shall elect their own officers, make by-laws for their own government, not contrary to this plan, and adopt all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this plan, and securing the objects of the Society. 104 WyYoMING CONFERENCE Section 3. They shall take measures to increase the fund of the Society by subscriptions, donations, bequests, and otherwise. Section 4. They shall securely invest the funds of the Society, and cause the annual income to be apportioned among and remitted to the respective beneficiaries. Section 5. They shall present to each session of the Conference an annual statement of the operations of the Society, together with the amount and character of the securities belonging to the fund. Section 6. They shall arrange for holding an anniversary of the Society at some time during each session of the Conference, at which the annual report shall be read. Section 7. They shall be permitted to deduct from the receipts of each year such necessary expenses as have been incurred in the management of the fund: provided, however, that the amount deducted shall not exceed fifty dollars, without the consent of the Conference. ARTICLE IV THE FUND Section 1. The principal of this fund shall be intact forever, and the annual interest or income only applied to the purposes of the Society. Section 2. All subscriptions, donations, and bequests, together with any surplus which may remain after the payment of the amounts awarded by the Society, shall be added to the principal. Section 3. The fund shall be invested in United States bonds or in Penn- sylvania or New York State, County, Municipal, or Township securities, or in first mortgage, with bond, upon real estate appraised at twice the amount of investment, with ample policies of insurance assigned to the Trustees. Section 4. No money shall be invested in any other form of security nor loaned upon any property of the Conference, held by other Boards of Trustees, nor the property of any religious or benevolent society, associa- tion or institution, nor upon property in which any member of the Board of Trustees of this fund is in any way interested. ARTICLE V BENEFICIARIES Section 1. The beneficiaries of this fund shall be superannuated and supernumerary preachers of the Wyoming Annual Conference, and widows and orphans of those who have died in the work, with the following re- strictions: First. No superannuated or supernumerary preacher shall be a benefi- ciary unless he has held effective relations for five years after his admission in full connection in an Annual Conference, nor until his character has been passed by the Conference. Second. No widow of a preacher shall be a beneficiary unless she has traveled with her husband in effective relations for five years, nor for a longer time than she remains in widowhood. Third. Children of deceased preachers shall cease to be beneficiary at the age of fifteen; except in cases of mental or physical incapacity. PreacuHers’ Arp Society 105 Nevertheless, the Board of Trustees may, by a two-thirds vote, suspend any of the foregoing restrictions, in such cases where it may deem proper to do so. Section 2. Preachers in effective relations shall not be beneficiaries upon this fund. ARTICLE VI DISTRIBUTION Section 1. The annual interest accruing from the fund shall be appor- tioned among and remitted to the beneficiaries, by the Board of Trustees, during the month of October, in.each year. Section 2. The basis of appropriation shall be the years of effective serv- ice rendered by the preacher; nevertheless, it being the object of this society to aid only such persons as are in actual need of its help in order to a comfortable support, if it shall appear at any time that any superan- nuated or supernumerary preacher, or widow of such, has an actual income from other sources, which reaches the average annual income from salary and donations, of the effective members of this Conference, he or she shall not be allowed a claim on the funds of this Society. Section 3. Whenever there is serious ground to suspect that any benefi- ciary is actually receiving from other sources an annual income which is equal to the average annual income, from salary and donations, of the effective members of the Conference, he shall be required to appear before a committee of the Quarterly Conference, within whose bounds he may reside, and be examined touching the facts in the case; and said committee shall send a report, approved by the Presiding Elder of the District, of the findings, to the Trustees of the Society. _ The above plan was adopted at the session of Thursday morn- ing. At the Saturday morning’s session subscriptions were solicited for the Preachers’ Aid Society fund, and $7,725 was subscribed by preachers and laymen. Mrs. Caroline M. Pette- bone gave $2,000; William Connell, $1,000; Mrs. William Con- nell, $1,000; Mrs. Mattie Connell Edgar, a memorial, $1,000. Other gifts have been received, some before the organization of the Preachers’ Aid Society and some since: Ira Cargil estate, $1,904.32; D. Bensley, $2,000; Rosman Ingalls, $400; Z. Pad- dock, $500; Lowell Harding, $2,000; Mrs. Crary, $9,500; Mrs. D. Wilbur, $1,000; Maria Strong, $200 (an annuity) ; Mrs. S. M. Decker, $1,000 (an annuity); William Connell, $1,100; Mrs. William Connell, $1,100; Charles Schlager, $500; Mrs. Pette- bone, $500; C. D. Jones, $500; Royal W. Clinton, $271.50; Mrs. Judge Cool, $400; Jonathan Wilbur, $1,000. With the accession of Chenango and Oneonta Districts $2,264.59 was added to the fund. The one per cent of preachers’ salaries has added over $7,000. In 1903 Mr. William Connell gave the society $5,000, and the society received $10,000 from the estate of Mrs. Priscilla 106 WYOMING CONFERENCE Bennett. The fund has grown until at this writing the Confer- ence has about $60,000. Y. C. Smith, D.D., acted as agent of the society in 1888 at a salary of $300; A. Griffin, D.D., was agent from 1894-96 at a salary of $2,000 per year; and A. J. Van Cleft was agent in 1897 at a salary of $1,500. The Conference has been ably served by the following trustees: George Peck, D.D., George Lane, Nelson Rounds, B. W. Gorham, E. B. Tenny, V. M. Coryell, C. W. Giddings, Rosman Ingalls, John M. Snyder, H. R. Clarke, D.D., H. Brownscombe, R. Nel- son, D.D., C. V. Arnold, P. S. Worden, F. L. Hiller, W. G. Queal, T. Harroun, W. H. Olin, D.D., T. P. Halstead, Y. C. Smith, D.D., D. C. Olmstead, Royal W. Clinton, William Con- nell, A. Griffin, D.D., J. C. Leacock, L. L. Sprague, D.D., A. I. Decker, and S. Jay. The society has held several successful anniversaries in con- nection with our Conference sessions. HistoricaL Society 107 CHAPTER VII HISTORICAL SOCIETY At the Conference of 1887 Rev. H. C. McDermott presented the following resolution: “Whereas, The last General Conference having requested the Annual Conferences to organize Historical Societies, that all facts, documents, relics, and reminiscences that relate to the origin and growth of our Church, which may be of historical value, either now or in the future, may be preserved; and, “Whereas, No such organization exists within the bounds of this Conference; therefore, be it “Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare a form of Constitution for a Conference Historical Society, and report the same to the next session. H. C. McDermott, Manvey S. Harp.” After the adoption of the resolution the bishop appointed the following committee: H. C. McDermott, J. F. Warner, M. S. Hard, T. Harroun, L. L. Sprague. Three members of this com- mittee, H. C. McDermott, T. Harroun, and J. F. Warner, met at New Milford, on September 14, 1887, and formulated a constitu- tion, which was adopted by the Conference of 1888. CONSTITUTION WYOMING CONFERENCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARTICLE I NAME This Society shall be called the Wyoming Conference Historical Society. ARTICLE II OBJECTS The objects shall be to collect and preserve such books, pamphlets, papers, relics, and portraits as shall illustrate the origin and growth of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having special reference to the history of that Church within the bounds of the Wyoming Conference; and to promote a knowledge of history by such means as may seem best adapted to that end. ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP Any minister or member of the Methodist Episcopal Church may become a member of this Society by signing the Constitution. Honorary and cor- responding members may be constituted upon recommendation of the 108 WyomMING CoNFERENCE Executive Committee, and election by the Society; provided no one shall become a corresponding member who resides within the bounds of this Conference. ARTICLE IV DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS It shall be the duty of members to promote the objects of the Society by collecting books, pamphlets, documents, class-books, records, journals, relics, portraits, reminiscences, or other matter relating to the history and literature of Methodism; and ministerial members shall furnish biograph- ical sketches of themselves, and deposit the same in the archives of the Society. Members shall have access to the archives under the rules of the Society. ARTICLE V OFFICERS The officers of this Society shall be elected annually by ballot, and shall consist of a President; one Vice President for each district; a Correspond- ing Secretary; a Recording Secretary; a Treasurer; an Archivist, and Librarian. The officers shall constitute the Executive Committee. ARTICLE VI DUTIES OF OFFICERS 1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society, and per- form such other duties as usually pertain to presiding officers in similar societies. 2. The Vice President shall peform the duties of the President in his absence. 3. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the general correspond- ence of the Society; shall notify honorary and corresponding members of their election; shall collect and preserve materials for the history of this Society; shall seek by correspondence to enlarge its historical collection, and shall report the condition of the Society to each annual meeting. 4. The Recording Secretary shall keep a correct record of the proceed- ings of all meetings of this Society, and cause the same to be entered upon the journal after approval. He shall also keep a full list of the names of the members of the Society, that the same may be properly catalogued. 5. The Treasurer shall take charge of all moneys of the Society; pay all bills when approved by the Executive Committee; keep a full account of all receipts and expenditures, and report the same to the annual meeting. 6. The Archivist and Librarian shall take charge of all books, records, documents, literary contributions, and relics belonging to the Society. He shall classify and catalogue all such articles, and be responsible for the care and custody of the same, and shall reside in or near the place of deposit of said archives. 7. The Executive Committee shall have general charge of the affairs of the Society; shall arrange for the annual meeting in connection with tha session of the Annual Conference, and for special meetings when adjudged necessary; said committee shall provide for an essay or address at each annual meeting, the same to be written and deposited in the archives of the Society. HistoricaL Society 109 ARTICLE VII FINANCE The expenses of this Society shall be met by public collections at its annual meetings by donations, bequests, and such other means as the Executive Committee shall deem advisable. ARTICLE VIII AMENDMENTS, ETC. This Constitution shall not be altered except at an annual meeting, and upon the written recommendation of at least five members, and by a majority vote of all members present, and voting; notice of the proposed change having been published in an official church paper circulating within the bounds of this Conference, one month previous. J. F. Warner, Chairman. Tuomas Harroun. H. C. McDermort, Secretary. Since the organization of the society it has held several anni- versaries. In fact, it is a policy of the society to hold an anni- versary service once in two years. Its anniversary of 1902 was of exceptional interest. It marked the semicentennial of our Conference history. It was anticipated that the Conference of this year would be held in Carbondale, the place of the first Con- ference. The burning of the Carbondale church prevented, and the Conference was held in Waverly, N. Y. This caused a change in the plan for this anniversary. It is futile to speculate about what the program might have been had the Conference been in Carbondale. This is certain, the program given was very rich. Prayer was offered by Revs. G. W. Leach and Thomas Harroun. Rev. C. M. Surdam called the roll of the first Conference, G. W. Leach and C. L. Rice being the only ones still living to respond to their names. Rev. W. L. Thorpe made a brief address upon “Why Organize the Wyoming Conference?” in which he argued that it was a necessity arising from the development of the country and Methodism. A duet was sung by Revs. J. B. Sumner and J. C. Leacock, after which Rev. C. L. Rice read the following poem, which he had written for the occasion: CARBONDALE AND SoME oF Its Guests Firty Years Aco ’Twixt granite hills, a narrow vale Denominated Carbondale, With many toilers underground, And coal for millions erst was found. WYoMING CONFERENCE There rang some fifty years ago Glad bells of welcome, as you know, For those who freely gave their all In answer to the Master’s call, And went to seek and save the lost At any sacrifice or cost, To spread the name of Christ abroad, And call poor wanderers back to God. Those dear old friends of sterling worth Have gone the way of all the earth; But precious memories remain, Refreshing as the gentle rain. This town, divided into wards, Boasted its Welsh and Irish lords; City of huts, and mansions few, It rapidly to greatness grew. A Yankee met us now and then, Also, some sturdy Englishmen; The honors of the town to share, Old Scotland’s sons were also there. A band of Methodists devout, Who dared to say “Amen,” and shout, Strong preachers, found in Doctor Clarke For many years a man of mark; And Gorham, full of sweetest song, With sermons eloquent and strong; And he who governed with his fiat, The man magnetic—William Wyatt. By these inspired they made the call, “A cordial welcome to you all.” Then came the guests, each in his order, From every charge within our border; Heading the ranks we see on deck The stately form of Doctor Peck. One had received the doctorate, Who edited “Our Advocate,’’* And who became about this date Our pastor at the county seat,? A genial, friendly man to meet, Then a presiding elder made,t His laurels green will never fade, More scholarly than often found— The well-beloved Nelson Round. One doctor more, revered by all, Was well proportioned, six feet tall, In Binghamton did long reside, Four years as elder did preside; * The Northern, 1844-1848. + Wilkes-Barre. + Honesdale District, 1852-1855, Historica, Porm sy Rev. C. L. Rice III A man of learning and good sense, And not inclined to give offense; At eighty Doctor Paddock died, And joined in heaven the glorified. These three protected well our health, Which we regarded more than wealth. These latter days it takes a score— Some think we need a dozen more, For epidemics now prevail Enough to make the nation wail. Less medicine and more to eat, And washing one another’s feet, Would, no doubt, have good effect, And crown with glory our elect. But please to pardon this digression, Lest we should make a bad impression; Let playfulness your thoughts beguile, And please your ear, and win a smile. All honor to the later growth, The coming ages speak their worth, They’re born, no doubt, to fame, And who can tell what’s in a name? One other must not be forgot The worthy name of Bishop Scott. Six candidates were deacons made,* On each the bishop’s hands were laid; And, can it be? Alas, alas! I only live of all the class: The stronger were the first to fall, And I was the weakest of them all. Mrs. Grace Rounds Dale then read an exceedingly interesting article on “The Work of Woman in Fifty Years within Wy- oming.” We print it in full, as it contains valuable historic material : “To do justice to this theme one should give the history of every church in the Conference; for in each church is found a band of faithful women, a goodly number, and all so good that it would be a pleasure to mention every one by name. But we know that ‘In the book of His kingdom, On the page white and fair, The names of the faithful Are all written there.’ * A. Bronson, John F, Wilbur, Jasper W. Hewitt, Anthony H. Schoonmaker, Amos P. Mead, Charles L, Rice. 112 WYoMING CONFERENCE “The present is the focus of the past, as the future will be the focus of the present, and we can only determine the value of the past by what the present is... We trust our brief sketch will prove both the value of the labors of our mothers in Methodism, whose works shine in a halo of grand character, and that the success we have attained in the Women’s Societies of to-day is but the fruit of their labors and the reward of their faithfulness. “Holding the glass of time over fifty years of Church history, we find reflected the forms of loved and honored men and women. Many live only in our memories, and many live to-day, bearing burdens, singing songs, bestowing generous gifts, lifting high the banner of the cross. These forms mingle amid interesting reminiscences, full of touching remembrances and rich expe- riences. We could fill these pages with facts, stranger than fiction, and provide tales as charming as any romance, for fifty years ago the tinge of Revolutionary valor and enthusiasm had not entirely faded from the horizon—indeed, it had been carried into the Church, where, perhaps, there was quite as much need of bravery and sacrifice. We are proud and thankful to be able to trace back through this line of devoted Christian ancestors our right to belong to the grand association of Daughters of the American Revolution; and quite as proud and thankful of our indisputable claim to a place upon the roll of the Daughters of Methodism. Born in a Methodist parsonage; enrolled a Metho- dist by infant baptism; my mother a daughter of John Comfort, who so loved Methodism that he annually gave five hundred dollars for Church extension and education; my father a member of both Oneida and Wyoming Conferences, many years a pastor, and presiding elder of four districts, professor of ancient lan- guages in Cazenovia Seminary, principal of the Bethany Semi- nary, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate, member of the Book Committee from 1848-52, president of Willamette Uni- versity, and superintendent of education in the State of Wash- ington; two uncles and ten cousins being on the roll of the Methodist ministry: all make the earliest recollections and pre- cious memories of my childhood those of the Methodist parsonage and the Methodist Church. “The ministers’ wives of thirty, forty, and fifty years ago were educated, refined, and gifted women, who labored earnestly for the Church without the help of organized societies. Their chil- dren were educated along all lines of Church work and pre- pared for life’s duties mostly at home. Those childhood scenes in the parsonage, can we ever forget them? Do you remember the Woman’s WorkK IN THE CONFERENCE 113 pictures? Above all others the portrait of John Wesley? A face which must influence every child who has been made familiar with his history. Then the picture of his escape from the burning rectory? And again the wonderful picture of the ‘sunrise service,’ where John Wesley preached to an audience of thirty-two thousand people in the natural amphitheater of Gwennap, in England? With what reverence we used to look on the deathbed scene of that holy man! It was from these pictures the children received their object lessons in Methodism. “The ministers’ wives were busy women. Their homes and Church filled their hearts and time. Yet, between the periods of moving, they managed to raise flowers and grow plants till the parsonages became homes surrounded with beauty and filled with an atmosphere of Christian sympathy and refinement. “The custom of morning and evening prayers was remarkable, as well as spiritual, in feature. Father used his Hebrew Bible in the morning and the Greek Testament in the evening, and every child with his own Bible reading in turn. Mother sat in the circle, with the youngest in her arms. Those influences and the tender, earnest prayers of mother have followed us through life. How much they have blessed us, and from what they have saved us, who can tell? “Then the memories of the fireside tales as we gathered around mother’s chair and listened to her personal experiences, from the time when, as a child, she could hear the cry of the panther in the woods near her home, down through all the experiences of moving from one charge to the next. One move was from the most northern part of the Conference to Wilkes-Barre in wagons. The family was moved in installments, for we were an old- fashioned minister’s family. I remember asking my father, when he had been telling us of the early times when the preachers’ salaries were increased so much per child, if that were the reason he had so many children. “The women of Methodism early understood that the Church expected every woman to do her duty; and long before the organization of the Women’s Missionary Societies they had their sewing circles, pastors’ and ladies’ aid societies, and temperance unions. So that the history of the Church includes the history of woman’s work, and the building of every church, every parsonage, has been to some degree a monument of woman’s faithful assistance. “We would love to dwell upon the names of many Christian women who have been active in education, but scarcely dare to 8 114 Wyomine CoNFERENCE mention any lest by omission we shall do injustice to many who have rendered Church and country years of devoted service. Old Cazenovia has reason to be proud of the names found on her roll who have gone out to fill positions as ministers’ wives, mis- sionaries, and instructors. Among them Miss Hannah Shoe- maker, Mrs. Dr. Reddy, Mrs. Dr. Rounds, Mrs. Dr. Peck, and Mrs. Dr. Nelson, who came to Wyoming Seminary in 1844 and devoted her time and talents to that institution for twenty-seven years, filling the positions of matron, teacher of English and French, and for many years having charge of the art depart- ment—a noble woman, of large gifts and gracious insight. What Cazenovia was to our mothers, Wyoming Seminary has been to many of us. Too much praise cannot be given to faithful teach- ers, whose influence has helped to ennoble the lives of many who were under their care and instruction. Among the earlier pre- ceptresses were Miss Ruth Ingalls, Miss Frances Worthing, after- ward Mrs. George Porter, Miss Mary E. Wood, afterward Mrs. Y. C. Smith, whose names are still familiar to the Wyoming Conference. “Among the missionaries sent out from this Conference are the familiar names of Mrs. Charles W. Judd, Mrs. David Spencer, Mrs. Dr. Baldwin, daughter of Rev. B. W. Gorham, Mrs. Mary Chappel, daughter of Rev. P. Holbrook. But the missionary zeal was not confined to the parent board. In the month of June, 1870, Mrs. Dr. William Butler, so many years connected with the work in India, came to Binghamton to confer with Miss Fannie Sparkes regarding her appointment as missionary. Dr. Olin, then pastor of the Centenary Church, the only Methodist church in the city, invited the ladies to meet Mrs. Butler at his home. At that informal meeting the first Woman’s Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the Wyoming Conference was organized, with Mrs. H. R. Clarke as president, who continued for many years the moving spirit of the society, organizing auxiliaries through- out the Conference. In the following October Miss Fannie Sparkes sailed for India, giving the Wyoming Conference the honor of furnishing the first missionary sent out by the New York Branch of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. Mrs. Skidmore once said that Binghamton was a city known in many lands as the home of Miss Sparkes, one of the most successful missionaries ever sent to foreign lands. “This society has prospered greatly, for the work and its super- vision commanded public confidence. Among its faithful officers should be mentioned Mrs. Dr. Hard, who for several years filled Woman’s Work IN THE CONFERENCE 115 the arduous office of corresponding secretary. Since-her resigna- tion and removal from this Conference Miss Sparkes has filled the office. “The auxiliary at Tabernacle Church feel they have been honored by having for president Mrs. Charles W. Judd, of saintly memory. “Tt would be a pleasure to present the long list of life members of this society, but time forbids. Mrs. N. T. Childs, of Bingham- ton, however, has the honor of being the first life manager from this Conference, by the payment of $100. “The early minutes of this society were lost in the fire which destroyed the residence of Dr. Clarke. But, in looking through the Conference Minutes from 1871 to I901, we find some items which prove from what small beginnings great things may grow. In 1871 the auxiliary of Providence, Pa., is the only one reported, its contribution to the cause being $12. Every succeeding year the amount raised and the number of auxiliaries have increased until to-day there are 108 auxiliaries in our Conference, with a membership of 2,706. During the thirty years past these aux- iliaries have paid to the cause of missions $65,617.92. “The past fifty years have been full of stirring events. Wars and rumors of wars have filled our lives with lessons never to be forgotten, with results which affect not only our own country but many others. ‘The world is centering in America. We reach out one hand and touch all Europe, we reach out the other hand and touch all Asia.’ Hither are coming the peoples from all lands. To meet her obligations America must become broadly and deeply Christian. “The desire to meet their share of the obligation resting upon the Church led the women of Methodism to establish the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, ‘To enlist and organize the efforts of Christian women in behalf of the needy and destitute women and children of all sections of our country, without dis- tinction of race, and to cooperate with the other societies and agencies of the Church in educational and missionary work.’ The Woman’s Home Missionary Society of Wyoming Confer- ence was organized in April, 1883, at Centenary Church, Bing- hamton. Bishop Wiley presided at the session of Wyoming Con- ference this year. We believe this was a happy coincidence, for the society attributes its origin to Bishop Wiley. In Dr. Buck- ley’s History of Methodism he recognizes Bishop Wiley as the originator of the society. Bishop Wiley said at one time: ‘Woman’s susceptibility is an admirable trait in her character, “116 Wyominc CoNFERENCE adapting her to this great work. It enables her so readily to detect human sorrow and human need. She perceives the readiest mode of gaining access to the hearts of those whom she would benefit, and at the same time exercises a power of persua- sion which prevails where other means have failed. We often think that the hearts of women must yearn to hear Christ de- clared by woman’s lips, to catch the inspiration in all its delicacy from a woman’s heart.’ This quotation was once read in the presence of Bishop Wiley, when he said, ‘I had forgotten, until I heard it repeated, that I had ever said so bright a thing.’ The reply was made, ‘It was a bright thing, and we love to repeat it.’ So, we love to refer to the fact that our Conference society was organized at a session of Conference at which Bishop Wiley presided. “At that time Mrs. R. S. Rust came to the Conference with Mrs. L. M. Dunton, of Orangeburg, S. C., who gave the address. Mrs. Rust called a meeting, which was attended by interested women and ministers. The result of this meeting was the first auxiliary in this Conference. The officers appointed were: Mrs. J. Hartwell, president; Mrs. E. M. Caswell, corresponding sec- retary. For seven years Mrs. Hartwell filled the office of presi- dent, and during that time the number of auxiliaries grew from one to twenty, organized by the personal efforts of Mrs. Hartwell, who traveled at her own expense from one end of the Conference to the other, organizing in one of these journeys nine auxiliaries. The corresponding secretary, Mrs. Caswell, leaving for the Pacific coast, Miss Maria Judd was elected to fill her term. Since that time this very important office has been filled by faithful and competent women—Mrs. E. S. Tupper, five years; Mrs. O. P. Wright, two years; Mrs. E. Robins, three years, after whom Mrs. George B. Kulp, of Wilkes-Barre, was elected and has served most efficiently until now. In 1886 Mrs. H. H. Crary, of Bing- hamton, was elected treasurer, and served two years, when her daughter, Mrs. F. H. Haskins was elected and has held the office fourteen years, performing the duties of the office so faithfully, so methodically, so perfectly, that we hope to retain her in that office for a much longer period. The receipts of the society the first year were $578, Mrs. P. L. Bennett giving $500 of that amount for the work in Utah. “The society is now organized in the six districts, with forty- nine (49) auxiliaries, bands, and circles, having a membership of 1,640. The cash receipts of this society from 1883-1901 by payment of dues and special gifts have been $30,742.75. Much DEACONESS Work 117 of the success of this society is due to the untiring zeal of the Conference president, Mrs. Dr. Pearce, who for ten years has been a source of inspiration and help to all. We are glad of this opportunity to give a loving tribute to her devotion, expressing our appreciation of her labors, and our regret that she will be no more numbered among the workers of Wyoming Conference. Mrs. Dr. C. E. Mogg, of Wilkes-Barre, succeeds her in office, with prospect of much usefulness. Mrs. P. L. Bennett, of Wilkes-Barre, has been a generous supporter and friend of the society from the very beginning, giving annually from $500 to $1,000 for the cause so dear to her heart. Many members have left us bequests to be used to further the work they loved so well, among them one of $25,000, the largest ever received by the Home Society. ° “Mrs. J. W. Thomas, the Conference secretary of the Bureau of Supplies, reports that supplies have been sent to the frontier and the South, during the five years she has held office, valued at $11,727.37. “Mrs. Dr. Griffin, who has been Conference secretary of dea- coness work, reports five young ladies from this Conference at- tending the training school in Washington during this time. Miss Standish, of Wilkes-Barre, who is self-supporting, is taking the course of nurse deaconess. Miss Rose E. Santee, daughter of Rev. J. B. Santee, has graduated and is doing most excellent work in Portland, Me. Miss Eliza Blackburn, of Plymouth, is now in the school and very highly spoken of by the preceptress. The Conference has raised toward the tuition of these young ladies $270. It has also sent supplies to the training school and to Sibley Hospital valued at $92.33. These amounts added to the value of supplies sent and money raised make a grand total of $42,832.45 raised by the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. “The women of Wyoming Conference rejoice that they had at least a part in bringing to pass the great moral victory which occurred in Washington during the past year. Many names of our consecrated women were inscribed on the petition against the seating of Roberts, of Utah. The curse of Utah must touch every woman’s heart, and we must continue to pray that this evil may cease to defy the moral sense of our nation. “Do you remember the eulogy on the Methodist Church given by our martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, during the civil war? He said: ‘It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church, by its greater numbers, sends more soldiers, more nurses 118 WyomInGc CONFERENCE to the hospitals, and more prayers to heaven than any other.’ With these words ringing in our ears, let the women of Wyoming Conference go forth with consecrated zeal to help save the nation by giving ourselves to the saving of individual men and women! ‘Let it be our happiness each day to add to the happiness of those around us, to comfort some sorrow, to relieve some want, to add some strength to our neighbor’s virtue.’ ” A medley was then sung, after which Dr. L. L. Sprague read an article on “Why the Wyoming Conference Has Won:” “Have we won? Let us see. In 1852 the membership of the Conference in probationers, members, and local preachers was 12,790. In 1900 the membership was 49,470. Deducting from this the membership of the charges set off from the Oneida Conference in 1868, we have a membership occupying the original territory of 40,437, making an increase of two hundred and sixteen per cent. The population of the United States in 1852 was twenty-four and a half millions. In 1890 it was seventy-five and a half millions, making an increase of population in the United States of two hundred and eight per cent. The increase of the membership of the Conference is greater than this by eight per cent. The com- parison will appear even more favorable when we remember that the larger share of the growth of the national population has come through the filling up of the vast territorial domain of the West by migration from the Middle States, the East, and immi- gration from foreign countries. It is very clear, then, that the Conference in running a race with national growth has come out very perceptibly ahead. So, then, from this standard we have won; and this is saying much, for we remember that the growth of the great republic is the giant phenomenon of the ages. It took Rome seven hundred years to become imperial Rome. It took England more than a thousand years from the time that the Romans left it to become a respectable nation. ‘Tt has taken the United States less than one hundred and twenty-five years to become the greatest power of the world—a power that in three months humbled to the very dust proud Cas- tilian Spain, for centuries the proudest blood that flowed in the veins of men. “So it is saying much when Methodism keeps neck and neck with such tremendous advancement; and we must remember, furthermore, that the immigrant who helps so much to increase our population is not usually a Methodist. He does not come from soil where Methodism is indigenous. If he becomes a Methodist he has to be converted. I repeat, then, that we have Way WE Have Won 119 won grandly in membership. Let us take another view. Among the one hundred and twenty-seven Annual Conferences, Wy- oming stands twenty-fourth on a basis of membership. It also stands thirteenth in the probable value of its Church property. These are winning positions in the confederation of Conferences. In 1853 we had $177,000 worth of church property, exclusive of debts ; in 1900, $4,193,000, a gain of twenty-two hundred per cent. We may therefore regard it as settled that we have won, and may proceed at once to show why we have won. “First, we are located territorially in the winning belt. We are far enough from the north pole not to be frozen, and far enough from the equator not to be enervated by the heat. We are in the zone of power, on the parallel of latitude along which the winning nations of the earth have existed. We have had mountains to climb as well as easy plains to saunter along. We have had the penury of the ‘Sorrel District’ as well as the richness of the Wy- oming Valley. And it is well that we had the mountains and the ‘Sorrel District.’ Sunny plains with unvarying fertility are not the best fiber builders or character makers. We owe much as a nation to the gray rocks, the hills, and the sturdy forests that our forefathers contended with in New England. Our nation would be a different nation from what it now is if it had been born on the sunny plains of the South or at the Golden Gate instead of on Plymouth Rock. Take Greece, that most marvelous intellectual and physical development of ancient times. The historian asks if Greece had remained forever what it was during the tertiary epoch—a vast plain attached to the deserts of Libya, run over by the lion and rhinoceros—whether it would have been the home of Phidias, Aischylus, and Demosthenes, and answers, ‘Certainly not.’ But as it now is the land is a vast series of mountains and valleys. Every city or town has its amphitheater, its hill or mountain, its Acropolis. Greece had its Olympus, its Ossa and Pelion, and its Gita with its Thermopyle as well as its plains of Attica and vales of Thessaly with their sparkling waters. God has made the hills an avenue of moral, intellectual, and physical fiber. Look at the Waldenses of the Italian Alps. Where in the world do we find an intenser religious faith and fortitude than we find in the Waldenses, the Protestant people of Italy? The Wyoming Conference has a good proportion of hills all the way from the beautiful highlands of Otsego County, that have bred more Methodist preachers and more great men than any other equal territory, I believe, in the Union, to the Blue Ridge spurs that encircle the Wyoming Valley. These have stimulated effort 120 WyomiInc CONFERENCE and have bred determined and courageous men. This is one reason why we have won. “Still another is we were well-born. Some one has said to be strong we must select strong parents to be born from. Francis Asbury, Anning Owen, the great apostle to the Wyoming Valley, Benjamin Bidlack, Valentine Cook, William Colbert were noble sires of still more noble men, if possible. These were great cap- tains in the army of the Lord, and their leadership made noble soldiers. They were winners, and they breathed the spirit of victory into their followers. They endured hardness as good soldiers. They traversed forests, swam their horses across swollen streams, fasted often voluntarily and often necessarily, ate frozen turnips in the absence of other food, slept on hard floors with hay for pillows, thrashed rowdies who disturbed their meetings and threw them into the street, and then stood solidly against the door to prevent the escape of those who listened un- willingly to their preaching and who often before the sermon ended fell upon their knees and cried for pardon. They were keen of intellect and strong in grace. They smote wickedness hip and thigh. They preached the word, in season, out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all long-suffering and doc- trine, and of course were winners, and they bequeathed to us the sublimest examples of winning. “But if these were responsible for our birth, let us come down to the time of our christening in 1852. Who were present to give us tutelage and inspiration to heroic deeds? Among the men of the Conference were George Peck, Reuben Nelson, Nelson Rounds, Zachariah Paddock, David A. Shepard, Horatio Clarke, William Wyatt, and other noble ones some of whom, as Paul says, ‘remain unto this present.’ Among stiperannuated preach- ers were George Lane, at one time one of the Book Agents at New York; Marmaduke Pierce, who entered the ministry in 1812; Jonathan Worthing, who entered in 1810; and John Kim- berlin, who entered in 1808. “These were men who had fought on great battlefields, and the fires of those battles still kindled their eyes. They were still heroes even though the sword were sheathed and laid aside. We stood by their bent forms and heard of the great deeds that had been wrought in the past, and we caught their inspiration and were determined to emulate those deeds. Our standard was set by them, and we had but to work up to the standard to be sure winners. George Peck was the most prominent and influential man in the new Conference. WyoMING SEMINARY 121 “Reuben Nelson was another man of strong personality and of pronounced influence in shaping the best work of the Confer- ence. As a man he was of indomitable energy, of great moral power, and an eloquent preacher of especially superior hortatory ability. Of Rounds, Paddock, Shepard, Clarke, and Wyatt I knew but little except of their reputation as great preachers and administrators and as men abounding in every good word and work. They were royal and heroic leaders and led the hosts of God to constant victories. ; “Wyoming Seminary, the Conference school, has been a power- ful auxiliary in serving the best interests of the Conference. Christianity in all ages has ever utilized intellectual culture and made it a powerful factor in its work. Origen, Athanasius, and other early Christians flocked to the Alexandrian Library as naturally as doves flock to their cotes. Methodism has always remembered the place of its birth—Oxford University. Wy- oming Conference owned at one time two seminaries and one so- called university. One seminary and the university died in their infancy. Wyoming Seminary has continued a strong, beneficent, and fruitful life. Her children are as green olive trees and are numbered by the thousand. She has taken the children of Methodists and trained them in the faith of their fathers while giving them sound mental culture. She has taken the children of other denominations and while training them intellectually they have imbibed a higher respect for Methodism and a broader view of our Lord’s Christianity. Her diplomas are found in every land and in every clime. She has sent nearly, or quite, five hundred young men into the ministry, several of whom have gone into mission work. More than fifteen thousand young people have been brought into contact with Methodist culture, prayers, songs, and fires, and if they have not become actual Christians I believe that they are in warmer sympathy and in closer touch with Christianity and have a sincere determination ultimately to get to heaven because of their attrition with Methodism in one of her Conference seminaries. The seminary has helped the Con- ference to win. “But there is a greater and more fundamental reason than any of these why we have won. It is found in the genius and spirit of Methodism. This spirit was enunciated by one of the greatest men of recent centuries when he said, ‘The world is my parish.’ The Methodist preacher in his true form is a hero and a winner. He has an imperturbable faith, an unquenchable zeal, and a courage that is undismayed. He is the very personification 122 WYoMING CONFERENCE of the true warrior. He is fearless, self-sacrificing, persistent, ‘avoiding softness and needless self-indulgence.’ He has iron in his blood as well as love in his heart.. He is the man on horse- back with headquarters in the field. Alexander was never more eager for more worlds to conquer than he is for further conquést for his divine Master. Methodism believes in a free salvation, the witness of the Spirit, and that we are to strive for full sancti- fication. It has kept in full recognition the command, ‘Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,’ and the promise that followed the command, ‘Lo, J am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’ Wyoming Conference has tried to obey this command, and though our courage has been tested it has been constant be- cause of the assurance that supplemented the command. Then, because of the genius of Methodism, because our Conference has tried to be obedient to the divine command, and because we have been courageous and gone forth in the name of the Lord of hosts, are mainly why we have won.” Wyoming Seminary has given the Historical Society the use of a room in Nelson Memorial Hall where may be found a goodly number of interesting articles of historical value. Here one may see the saddle with which Joseph Hartwell began his ministry ; George H. Blakeslee’s valise, of singular shape; D. C. Olmstead’s saddlebags; a set of Disciplines; several volumes of the New York Christian Advocate; two complete sets of Wyoming Con- ference Minutes; Methodist Review 1818-26, 1858-84, 1857-81 (it is hoped that this set may be completed) ; about one hundred volumes from the library of Nelson Rounds; Bostwick Hawley’s desk; Plan of Entertainment of Oneida Conference held in Wilkes-Barre in 1843; cinders from Anning Owen’s blacksmith shop; a letter from John Wesley to his sister. Pictures are to be seen on the wall, among them the Conference picture taken at Honesdale in 1869 by E. J. Stearns, and the group taken at Binghamton in 1890, by W. N. Cobb, pictures of the General Con- ference of 1864, the Conference Trio, the Old Ship Zion, Jesse T. Peck, George Peck, Mrs. Deborah Bedford (who lived to be ninety-six years old), A. J. Kynett, W. A. Spencer, M. S. Hard and wife, Hon. J. C. Lattimer and wife. Numerous pamphlets, sermons, minutes of district ministerial associations, a copy of the Journal of Genesee Conference from 1810 to 1828 inclusive, quite a number of volumes of historical interest, and a number written by men who were identified with Methodism in Wyoming Con- ference. A very gratifying beginning has been made. We have OFFICERS OF HistTorIcAL SOCIETY 123 a chance to gather a fine historical collection. It can be done with the hearty cooperation of the members of qur Conference. The present officers are: C. E. Mogg, president; Presiding Elders, vice presidents; L. C. Murdock, secretary; C. M. Surdam, recording secretary; L. L. Sprague, librarian; O. L. Severson, treasurer; W. J. Hill, archivist. 124 WyomMInG CONFERENCE CHAPTER VIII MATTERS IN GENERAL CoNSTITUENT MEMBERS Arnold, C. V. Barker, A., sy. Barter, S. S. Bartlett, P. Bibbins, E., sd. Blakeslee, G. H. Breckinridge, E. W. Bridgeman, P. G., sd. Bronson, A. Brooks, A. Brownscombe, H. Carrier, Marcus Chubbuck, F. S. Clarke, H. R. Cooper, J. B. Coryell, V. Mz, sy. Davison, J. W. Dewitt, N. S. Ellis, Benjamin, sy. Elwell, King Giddings, C. W. Gorham, B. W. Grimes, J. M. Harris, C. W., sd. Harvey, C. H. Hewitt, J. W. Iilman, F. Ingalls, R. Johnson, Ahira, sd. Judd, Gaylord, sd. Kimberlin, John, sd. Lane, George, sd. Leach, G. W. McDowall, O. M. Mead, A. P. Morse, O. F. Mulkey, J. Nelson, R. Olmstead, D. C. Owen, E. Paddock, Z. Pearce, Marmaduke, sd. Pearne, W. H. Peck, George Peck, G. M. Perkins, C. Pitts, Levi Porter, G. P. Reed, Fitch Rice, C. L. Roberts, W. Rose, R. S. Round, William Rounds, Nelson Safford, J. D. Schoonmaker, A. H. Shelp, William Shepard, D. A. Silsbee, William Smith, E. Snyder, J. M. Sperry, A. C. Taylor, C. E. Tenny, E. B. Torry, D., sd. Whitham, Joseph Wilbur, J. F. Wilcox, T. Worden, P. S., sd. Worthing, Jonathan, sd. Wyatt, William RECEIVED INTO FULL MEMBERSHIP FROM TRIAL 1852 C. L. Rice A. Bronson J. F. Wilbur J. W. Hewitt A. H. Schoonmaker A. P. Mead 1853 W. Shelp M. Carrier S. S. Barter W. Roberts ADMISSIONS FROM TRIAL 125 1854 J. H. Cargill Joseph S. David 1855 W. B. Thomas S. E. Walworth J. K. Peck S. W. Weiss Luther Peck Davison Worrall Albert Brigham W. B. Kinney A. W. Loomis . V. Newell no w o 3 3 @ O. < 1856 J. La Bar Miner Swallow C. White A. F, Harding David Williams J. W. Munger Welcome Smith 1857 Joshua Lewis Francis Spencer John Bradbury E. Sibley B. B. Emory C. W. Judd E. F. Roberts (readmitted) J. J. Pierce (readmitted) 1858 Y. C. Smith T. J. W. Sullivan G. A. Severson A. P. Aiken George R. Hair I. P. Towner Philip Holbrook Henry Wheeler Silas Barner Julius A. Baldwin 1859 N. W. Everett Thomas Burgess Joseph Madison Henry Stanley 1860 Ira T. Walker . W. J. Judd Jacob Miller 1861 William Keatley David Personeus F. L. Hiller 1863 Gabriel Westfall George P. Porter Judson L. Legg A. J. Van Cleft 1864 L. C. Floyd Stephen Elwell Jesse T. Crowell S. F. Wright Taylor D. Swartz George Comfort Ira N. Pardee 1865 William P. Abbott William B. Westlake 1866 Winfield S. Smyth S. F. Brown A. J. Arnold .- George C. Hart N. S. Reynolds B. D. Sturdevant WyomiInG CONFERENCE 1867 Isaac Austin W. M. Hiller J. D. Woodruff J. H. Weston S. T. Cramp 1868 George Greenfield H. H. Dresser J. C. Leacock Philip Krohn George Pritchett G. Chamberlain Richard Varcoe Edgar M. High 1869 Charles A. Ward R. Hiorns McKendree Shaw C. D. Shepard George Forsyth H. G. Harned : g J. Underwood Race M. D. Matoon S. W. Lindsley George W. Reynolds A. D. Alexander A. M. Colegrove P. Krohn (readmitted) M. Shaw (readmitted) 1871 . Martin . Crydenwise . Van Schoick . Fuller . Tower . Sumner . Bloodgood Lee = 8 As . Kellogg . Barrows PROS De ATO grP AUP rode 1872 . J. Austin C. S. Alexander D. Larish eat B. Santee . E. Hathaway . W. Caswell . S. Clarke .H. Taylor . C. Shelland 1874 John F. Williams Josiah R. Wagner P. M. Mott J. B. Davis C. O. Hanmer L. A. Wild A. J. Cook 1875 . C. McDermott ‘Hartwell . W. Spencer . G. Bartholomew . C. Lyman . C. Fulton . H. Boyce . T. Burrall . C. Barnes Elijah Snell L. L. Sprague H. B. Cook F. C. Gendall R. C. Gill J. S. Southworth A. B. Richardson J. R. Allen Ziba Evans C. Fay Olmstead George O. Beers George C. Andrews 1877 Ty rf Roskelly G. M. Colville ADMISSIONS FROM TRIAL 127 E, L. Bennett J. B. Chynoweth Stephen Jay B. P. Ripley J. G. Stevens F. A. Dony D. F. Waddell 1878 A. W. Hood E. L. Santee Cornelius Sweet George A. Place A. W. Cooper C. H. Jewell W. R. Netherton E. C. Herdman T. F. Hall James Ryder Abel Wrigley M. E. Bramhall 1879 G. W. Leach (readmitted) O. L. Severson E. N. Sabin P. Houck H. G. Blair J. F. Jones O. H. McAnulty Simon Stevens Cyrus C. Lovejoy 1880 . Todd (readmitted) . Hayes Levi Jennison 1882 G. A. Cure E. A. Baldwin I. B. Wilson D. A. Sanford L. B. Weeks 1883 J. Belknap J. A. Transue W. C. Norris H. H. Wilbur C. A. Benjamin 1884 R. Turner oe Johnson . C. Lewis . H. Sackett . H. Marsh . B. Ripley . F. Chaffee eS 1885 J. A. Faulkner G. H. Prentice I. N. Shipman H. B. Johnson W. W. Smith E. B. Olmstead G. C. Jacobs T. M. Furey E. Kilpatrick F. A. Chapman C. B. Personeus 1887 Babcock tisby . Galpin . Kerr . King "Littell . Pascoe . Warnock HP oUENSO seatet A. G. Bloomfield J. E. Bone J. B. Cook 128 A. D. Decker W. H. Hiller J. L. Thomas 1889 J. C. Hogan A. S. Holland W. M. Shaw E. H. Truesdell H. Williston 1890 B. N. Butts Fred J. Jones L. W. Karschner J. W. Nicholson A. Osborn S. C. Simpkins G. B. Stone C. C. Vrooman 1891 I. C. Estes A. Schofield G. E. Van Woert H. A. Williams Li Shao-wen Thomas Eva George Jeffreys Charles Smith 1892 . H. Alger wks Dene _#H. ie Coen . A. Greene iC, . H. Murdock Newing ess 1893 . B. Wilder S. Crompton W. Price S70 1894 E. L. Jeffrey C. H. Reynolds J. Benninger H. L. Elsworth F. D. Hartsock E. E. Pearce L. E. Van Hoesen Wyominc CoNFERENCE 1895 Callendar D. David E. Sweet N. Underwood E. Wheeler W. Lowry N. Smith G. Snowden A. Terry T. Van Campen H. Worley A. Wild (readmitted) POP MM aamoaoroa 1896 Brundle D. Cornell M. Olmstead D. Palmer C. Brackenbury H. Flory . W. Noble H. Northrup E. Sanford . S. Wilcox se aeaaate 1897 . Hunt . Tiffany . Williams . Andariese . Cavanaugh . Custard vans . Henry McDonald . Quimby . Wagner 1898 George M. Bell Albert Clarke . D. Fisher . Humphries . S. McKellar . L. Meeker . J. Vaughn . W. Young . H. Worley 1899 . H. H. Davis Councilman . B. Miller . J. Neff oy m?onovs > Pr SAHOO N L . W. Johnson . G. McChesney F. Mead 1900 Ira L. Bronson Harry Kelley W. S. Adams E. Colwell Frank James W. W. Watrous A. O. Austin G. Gorisse D. H. Gridley IQOI E. E. Barker E. A. Martin J. N. Meaker G. A. Warburton TRANSFERS 129 1902 . R. Burke . S. Connell . N. Kline . L. Lewis . H. Crawford . i. Whitaker . W. Crosby . D. Finch . McMillen R. Hanton . A. Darling ZW >OA>SOMOD 1903 J. R. Austin W. M. Bouton C. H. Seward A. E. Potter W. D. Lathrop William McAlpine J. N. Goodrich (from Protes- tant Episcopal Church) In Stupies oF SECOND YEAR—ADMITTED ON TRIAL IN 1902 W. R. McDermott J. M. Coleman A. A. Callendar T. Livingstone G. L. Granger C. E. Waldron ADMITTED ON TRIAL IN 1903 s.L. Whiteman A. J. Chapman F. Lesh C. R. Vickery C. A. Frear J. L. Serviss F. F. Gibbs TRANSFERS Year. | From What Conference. Name. Year. | To What Conference. Fitch Reed............ 1852 | Oneida. 1852 | Oneida........... L. D. Tryon........... 1853 | Vermont.......... John A. Wood......... 1874 | Northern New York. 1853 | Baltimore......... Washington W. Welsh.. 1857 | Baltimore......... John J. Pearce.......... TB OB Wie e-scais cr ecoed wane wacgpers Be: Ri Reysisnactenarsnasias 1865 | New York. 1865 | Oneida........... D. W. Bristol .......... 1872 | Central New York. 1865 | New York........ Luther W. Peck........ 1865 | New York........ D. D. Lindsley......... W. Hz. Pearne.......... 1867 | Tennessee. W. P. Abbott.......... 1865 | Troy. G. P. Porter........... 1868 | Genesee. 1869 | Illinois............ H. G. Harned (on trial). 1869 | Central New York.| W. H. Olin............ 1869 | Cent. Pennsylvania,! Thomas M, Reese.......! 1872 ! Cent. Pennsylvania. 9 130 WyYoMING CONFERENCE TRANSFERS—C ontinued Year, | From What Conference. Name. Year. | To What Conference. 1869 | Rock River....... William N. Cooley...... W.S. Smyth........... 1870 | Central New York. Le. Vie Dermond +2 ¢050004% 1870 | Missouri. G. M. Mead...:....... 1871 | Central New York. Philip Krohn..........- 1872 | Cent. Pennsylvania. 1881 | East Maine....... George Forsyth......... 1872 | East Maine. 1873 | Upper Iowa....... W. L. Thorpe.......... 1873 | Cincinnati........ D. Copeland........... John Pilkington........ 1873 | New York East. 1874 | Cent. Pennsylvania.) Philip Krohn........... 1876 | Troy. A. He Wyatt, . 6s. c% sao 1874 | Erie. A. C. Bowdish.......... 1874 | New York East. McKendree Shaw....... 1874 | Central New York, Thomas S. Abrahams...| 1874 | North Carolina. 1875 | Central New York.] W. S. Wentz........... 1875 | West Wisconsin...| J. C. Brainerd.......... 1882 | Illinois. I. .B. Hyd@icxiss sees 1875 | Central New York, 1876 | Baltimore......... H. A. Cleveland........ 1876 | New England. T.oNj Pardee... .