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 PROCEEDINGS. 
 
 On Monday evening, the 19th of November, 1866, a large 
 and attentive audience gathered in the First Congregational 
 church, to listen to an address by Rev. Joseph Edwin Roy, 
 of Chicago, in commemoration of the Thirtieth Anniversary 
 of the Settlement of Geneseo. The exercises were opened 
 by appropriate devotional services, under the direction of the 
 pastor, Rev. Harry Brickett. 
 
 MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 As the West, one-third of a century ago, was rapidly opening 
 to emigration, the fearful question arose among thoughtful 
 and patriotic Christians at the East: What shall be done to 
 save that immense region of our country from Romanism, 
 barbarism, and infidelity ? The Papacy had early explored 
 this vast domain, and had established its series of mission 
 stations across the continent. Detroit, Sault Ste. Marie, Prai- 
 rie du Chien, Kaskaskia and St. Louis were Catholic centers 
 of occupation, from which the whole land was to be possessed. 
 A tide of foreign and Catholic immigration was setting in. 
 Then it was seen that the tendency of new settlements, with- 
 out the restraints of established society, without the influence 
 of education and of Christianity, would be to lower the tone 
 of culture and of morality, and so to produce barbarism. 
 Besides this, it was know^n than certain infidel leaders had 
 their eye upon this open field, and hoped, as they actually 
 made effort, to plant their skepticism here. 
 
 Thus, while the West was filling up, the forces of Gog and 
 
Magog seemed to be mustering here for a defiant occupancy. 
 It was a crisis of solemn import in our country. Our repub- 
 licanism, which is based upon the virtue and intelligence of 
 the people, was in jeopardy. But God met the crisis. He 
 met it by that wondrous out-pouring of his Spirit, which 
 resulted in those distinguished revivals of religion that swept 
 over the eastern and middle States from 1830 to 1835. This 
 w^as just as the flood of emigration was rising. Multitudes 
 of those who had been converted were among the emigrants. 
 Many were young men, who yet had their life-work before 
 them, and a broad field for its development. 
 
 That revival was characterized doctrinally — not, as the one 
 which had preceded it, by an exaltation of the sovereignty of 
 God, but by an urging of the individual obligation of man. 
 This was true, not simply in regard to the matter of personal 
 salvation, but in regard to the whole sphere of religious life 
 and influence. That revival made practical Christians. The 
 great question was : "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
 In the travail of that revival the two great reforms of Temper- 
 ance and Anti-Slavery had their birth. Then the schemes of 
 organic benevolence, that had grown out of the preceding 
 revival period of 1787, took on new life and vigor. Especially 
 did the work of home and of foreign missions receive new 
 impetus. New zeal was awakened for the conversion of Jews, 
 Romanists, and other foreign immigrants, and particularly of 
 our own native population. This state of mind, taken in con- 
 nection with the rapid opening of the West, revived in many 
 Christian minds the prayerful inquiry: Where can I go^ to 
 make my life tell the most for my Redeemer, for my country ? 
 
 Just then God answered that prayer, and solved the prob- 
 lem of the destiny of the West, by turning thither many 
 young Christian families and colonies, a vast population, to 
 plant churches and schools, to organize society upon the 
 gospel basis, to extend that Christian civilization which is the 
 support of our republicanism. Many came with a purpose to 
 accomplish moral and religious results, as much so as did the 
 original Pilgrims ; while others, coming more from personal 
 motives, did not know, till they had entered upon their allotted 
 work, what God had determined for them to do. Many a man 
 
3 
 
 of those immigrants did not know the plan for which God had 
 girded him, until he found himself away from the society 
 where he had nothing to do, and in a community where his 
 influence was eminent and superior. Two or three of these 
 Christian households, or even one, were enough to form the 
 nucleus of a Christian society — the leaven of a community. In 
 my pilgrimage through the West I have been surprised to 
 find how many of the influential men of our churches were 
 converted at the East during that revival era. We find them 
 almost every where. 
 
 As examples of this influence, organized into colonies, we 
 have Marietta, Oberlin, Olivet, Galesburg, Princeton, Grin- 
 nell, and many others of less extensive combination. These 
 became the centers of organizing power, the result of which 
 has been that our western States are to-day practically Puritan 
 in civil administration, in prevailing sympathy and influence. 
 Thus God has saved tlie West from false Christ and anti- 
 Christ; so that, in spite of the immense immigration of for- 
 eign papists and infidels, a larger proportion of the people of 
 our country are in connection with evangelical churches than 
 before this tide of population set in. By this Christianizing 
 process the West has been saved to the cause of our country. 
 Thus its people had been prepared for the rude shock of trea- 
 son, having been dissociated from the hordes of traitors, who 
 had counted on local interest and consanguinity as motives 
 that would overmaster loyalty. The West, Christianized, has 
 preserved the national life. 
 
 In connection with this grand providential development 
 was the planting of this colony, with its enfolded church and 
 school. Bergen and its vicinity, in New York, had shared, in 
 an unusual degree, the blessing of that revival period. In 
 1831 several neighboring pastors united in holding at that 
 place a series of meetings, which resulted in bringing almost 
 the whole community into the church. After that, under the 
 Rev. John T. Avery, who was just then starting upon his 
 career as an evangelist, powerful revivals were enjoyed in this 
 and the contiguous places of Riga, LeRoy, and Stone Church, 
 the church in Bergen receiving some sixty or seventy addi- 
 
tions. In the glow of this revival was developed the idea and 
 the plan of onr colony. Some of the brethren were moved, 
 as Gov. Bradford tells us the Pilgrims were, " by a great hope 
 and inward zeal of laying some good foundation, or at least to 
 make some way thereunto, for the propagating and advancing 
 of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts 
 of the world ; yea^ though they should he hut as stepping-stones 
 unto others for the performing of so great a work." It would 
 be extremely interesting if we could reproduce the scene of 
 those early, prayerful consultations, — the brethren, w^ith their 
 pastor, Kev. Jairus Wilcox, planning, like Abraham, and for 
 the same purpose, the extension of the kingdom of God, to 
 go out into a distant country, they knew not where, and with 
 the courage of the explorers of Canaan, who said : " Let us 
 go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome 
 it." The uppermost thought with them was not of bettering 
 their worldly condition, but of doing good. Deacon Ward 
 writes me of that period: "Many Christians felt that they 
 ouo-ht to do more for the spread of the blessed gospel. It was 
 our special object to plant the institutions of religion and of 
 education." When Mr. Stewart returned from one of those 
 consultations at the house of Elisha Cone, where were also 
 assembled Jairus Wilcox, J. C. Ward, Eeuben Cone, Harry 
 Manville, and Cromwell K. Bartlett — the eight men having 
 their supper furnished them by the child colonist, Clara, six 
 years of age — he inquired of his eldest son if he did not think 
 it would be a good thing to go out West, as missionaries. 
 
 The idea of the colony originated with Kev. J. Wilcox and 
 J. C. Ward. The others having the West in mind, readily 
 fell in with this scheme. Messrs. Bartlett, Ward and Stewart 
 were appointed an exploring committee, being instructed to 
 fix upon a site for a village, and to lay off the same into lots, 
 which should be sold when purchasers might be found of 
 good character and husiness, the avails to be applied to a high 
 school. 
 
 Arriving at Chicago in June, 1836, they met Judge (after- 
 ward Governor) Ford, who advised them to strike for this 
 tract of land, which they did without delay. At Branden- 
 burg's they found Mr. James M. Allen, who assisted them in 
 
locating the site of the colony, where now stands tliis thriving 
 young city. They bought this section of land at one dollar 
 and a quarter per acre, selected the best part of it for the vil- 
 lage plat of forty acres, set apart the cemetery, a block for the 
 school and the church, the beautiful public square, and "the 
 gospel lot,^' which has just received its commodious parson- 
 age. At first the plan and the practice was to give every 
 respectable man a village lot, if he would build upon it. The 
 committee returned and made report to the proprietors, who 
 determined to make the removal that fall. 
 
 But, as the Pilgrims came to this ]^ew World as an organ- 
 ized church, so our colonists preferred to covenant with God 
 and with one another before going forth ; and so, in the Stone 
 Church, on the 13th of September, 1836, they were, by eccle- 
 siastical council, organized a self-governing band of disciples 
 to go out and become a church in the wilderness. Rev. Messrs. 
 Wilcox, Hull and Bridgman acted in the council. The two 
 Messrs. Cone, C. K. Bartlett, J. C. Ward, and Harry Man- 
 ville, with their wives and the three children, Mary E. and 
 Amanda E. Bartlett, and Harriet Cone, constituted the church 
 of thirteen members. Elisha Cone and J. C. Ward were 
 chosen and ordained as deacons. A sermon was preached 
 from that beautifully appropriate text : ''^Ile that goeth forth and 
 weepeth^ hearing precious seed^ shall doubtless come again luith 
 rejoicing^ hringing his sheaves with himP A solemn address 
 was delivered to the church, and another to the deacons. 
 
 Three days later, on the 17th of September, five families of 
 the colony — those of the two Cones, the two Bartletts, and R. 
 R. Stewart — numbering forty persons, in their own wagons, 
 entered upon the journey. The families of Mr. Ward and 
 Mr. Manville remained behind, to follow on the next spring. 
 The route of the company was across Canada, Southern Mich- 
 igan and Northern Indiana, via Princeton, Illinois. The 
 journey required nine weeks. Kear Ypsilanti, Michigan, the 
 roads were so bad that they made only seven miles in six 
 days, their wagon boxes sometimes dipping mud. The stage 
 coach, keeping them company for a time, was once upset in 
 their sight, plunging a woman and her child out of sight, 
 while the other passengers, on foot, were literally carrying the 
 
6 
 
 mythical rail. In Illinois they report that they got sloughed 
 many times. They kept the Sabbath all the way, attending 
 church where they found it, and holding their own worship, 
 along with the read sermon, when they did not find public 
 service. In Canada, while they were attending church, there 
 was a horse race immediately in front of the sanctuary. One 
 of the horses, bolting, threw his rider against a grave-stone in 
 the grave-yard, and killed him before their eyes. There was 
 only one exception to their sanctifying the Lord's da}^, when 
 two of the families, the Bartletts, pushed on, one Sabbath, 
 only to meet with disaster, and soon to be overtaken by the 
 remnant of the company 1 
 
 That Fall was not so pleasant as this has been ; but was wet, 
 cold and stormy. Says one of the colonists : *' It was after 
 suifering incredible hardships by mud and storm, and snow 
 and cold, that we arrived upon the chosen site, just two months 
 after the departure, on the 19th of JSTovember ;" and this is 
 the day, my friends, which the remnant of the colony, and 
 those who have come after them, join in celebrating. It is 
 but an act of piety thus to recognize the wisdom and the 
 goodness of God in initiating this movement, and to recount 
 the many blessings with which he has crowned it. It is but 
 a filial duty to commemorate the beginnings of so good a work, 
 undertaken by godly parents for Christ and his church, and 
 in behalf of children and children's children. 
 
 Let us in imagination set ourselves back to the 19th day of 
 November, 1836, and, from the ridge on the south, look in 
 upon the freshly arrived colony. It is a wide, broad prairie, 
 not in the bloom of spring, but in that sombre brown of the 
 autumn, so desolate and drear. The wild fowls and the prairie 
 wolf have scarcely had their right of occupancy questioned. 
 As far as the eye can reach, no human habitation is visible, 
 except the canvas-covered wagons of the colony, huddled 
 under the edge of the grove. The music of the waterfall upon 
 the stream, which waits to take to itself the name of the pro- 
 jected village, is a promise of lumber and of bread. On the 
 west, twenty-five miles, is the fort on Kock Island, with the 
 small settlement about it. On the south the little colony of 
 Andover and Wethersfield are just taking possession of their 
 
territory, while at Henderson Grove, forty miles away, is an 
 old Sucker settlement, with the Galesburg colony hovering 
 under the border of its forest in the famous " log city." On 
 the east is the village of Princeton, settled in 1831, by a col- 
 ony from Northampton, Massachusetts. On the north three 
 families are just settled on Rock River, where Lyndon is to 
 be. Here and there is the solitary family of Brandenburg, of 
 Gordon, on Green River, of Crook and Seeley, at the Proph- 
 etstown. But all of these are only like the solitary ships upon 
 the undulating ocean of the prairie. 
 
 But our colony must have shelter for the winter. They 
 live in their wagons while preparing their cabins. A rude log 
 house is laid up on the edge of the grove south. In it three 
 families lind a home. At night, from the adjoining hill, the 
 opening shakes of the roof, nailed on, instead of being bound 
 down by timbers, make the cabin resemble a lighted lantern. 
 Then, in the teeth of winter another is built for the Cones, 
 where now stands the house of Lyman Snow, and another for 
 Mr. Stewart — the same which, with its leather latch-string, 
 served for so many years, and on the same site, as the Geneseo 
 House — now displaced by the elegant hotel, which can accom- 
 modate its one hundred guests. Elisha Stewart, as he draws 
 out upon the prairie the first log for that cabin, freezes his face. 
 It was in February of that winter, when occurred that sudden 
 and dreadful change of the weather, when many people per- 
 ished, when travelers cut open their horses to find shelter and 
 warmth — when, as at Galesburg, hogs froze into their tracks. 
 At that time Reuben Cone and Elisha Stewart were at French's 
 Grove, to get three tons of pork for the colony — not afraid of 
 trichinae then ! While there, men come in from Indian Creek, 
 badly frozen. Deacon Cone, while out looking for his cows, 
 freezes his feet; and Reuben, at another time, is frozen to insen- 
 sibility, and almost to unconsciousness. The colony goes down 
 to Egypt, to buy corn, that is to Henderson Grove, though 
 they say the Suckers did not put their money back into the 
 mouth of the sacks. Their principal living is corn bread and 
 pork. For three years they go to Andover for post-office 
 accommodation — a subordination now reversed. To Andover 
 they draw logs to be sawed for building purposes. 
 
8 
 
 In the winter of 1836 and 1837, Mr. James M. Allen goes 
 to Yandalia and secures a separate organization of Henry- 
 county — it having before that been attached to Knox. At the 
 first county election, held in June, 1837, only thirty-seven 
 votes are polled ; the vote is now five thousand. In the Spring 
 Mr. Rufus Hubbard, who, emigrating from Bergen the same 
 year with the colony, had settled in Adams county, Illinois, 
 comes up and builds a hewed log house, the best in town, 
 where now stands Wells and Bidwell's store, though he does 
 not bring up his family till the fall of the year. In June, 
 Messrs. Ward and Manville bring on their families, twelve 
 members in all, and find quarters in Mr. Hubbard's cabin. 
 The land is divided into parcels and drawn by lot, in propor- 
 tion to the amount of money put in. Then comes the task of 
 subduing and fencing the prairie. The people are poor. The 
 expense of removal and new country life exhaust their lim- 
 ited funds. Distance from market keeps prices down, so that 
 for several years corn is worth only ten or twelve cents a 
 bushel ; wheat, thirty to fifty ; pork, a dollar and a half per 
 hundred ; and cows, ten or twelve dollars each. This is also 
 the period of the great financial crash of 1837 and 1838. Yet, 
 struggling with adversity, the community advances. Other 
 families, of like sympathy, are drawn in, and they deserve 
 almost equal credit with the original settlers. Some of these 
 were the households of Marcus B. Osborne, Lyman Snow, 
 Philo Ward, Enos Pomeroy, Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Richards. 
 The town grows but slowly, and for several years before the 
 railroad comes along, it is nearly at a stand-still as to its exter- 
 nal progress. But that great thoroughfare brings the place 
 out into the world, gives it new life, makes it a commercial 
 center with four thousand population, an annual railroad busi- 
 ness of three hundred thousand dollars, and a grain business 
 of half a million of bushels, and with its Congregational, 
 Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and German 
 churches. 
 
 In order to secure something of completeness, and yet avoid 
 repetition, I will reduce the remainder of this Memorial Nar- 
 rative to the to2?ical order. 
 
PLACES OF WORSHIP. 
 
 As the church and the school were the twin ideas of the 
 colony, we should expect that they would speedily be symbol- 
 ized in a jplace for worship and for study. The first place of 
 this kind was erected in July of 1837, upon the Public Square: 
 It was eighteen feet square, built of poles laid up three feet 
 high, with crotches set up in the corners, to sustain the poles, 
 over which, for a roof, were stretched their several wagon 
 covers. Bass wood puncheon served as flooring and seats. 
 This was a pleasant-weather building, as we have now-a-days 
 a pleasant-weather religion ; for when it rained, the scholars 
 or the worshipers were compelled to retreat to the cabins. 
 The next year, that of 1838, a school-house was built upon 
 the square, twenty feet on each side, covered with siding split 
 out of oak, the colony having resolved that the first frame 
 building erected should be consecrated to the church and the 
 school. This was afterwards removed to the corner, where 
 now stands this church, and enlarged by an addition of twelve 
 feet. This house was used until it was supplanted in the 
 spring of 1848, by the brick building, which also in turn 
 served the double purpose of sanctuary and seminary, till the 
 28th of May, 1856, when this ample and substantial church 
 edifice was dedicated with great joy. The sermon, preached 
 by the pastor, Kev. S. H. Waldo, was from a text character- 
 istic of the spirit of the colony : " Always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your work is 
 not in vain in the Lord." 
 
 THE MINISTERS. 
 
 For a year and a half the colony was without a stated min- 
 istry; but still public worship was all that time sustained, 
 either in the private cabins or in the rude pole sanctuary — the 
 deacons conducting the service and reading sermons, mostly 
 those published in the Oherlin Evangelist. Eev. Mr. Pills- 
 bury, of Andover, gave them an occasional sermon, and 
 administered their first communion in Deacon Ward's cabin, 
 on the 18th of April, 1838 — a day well remembered by a hail 
 storm that broke out nearly all their window glass. In May, 
 
10 
 
 1838, Rev. Jairus Wilcox came on to the colony with his 
 family, and in June was elected pastor, upon a salary of four 
 hundred dollars. In the seminary at Yale he had promised 
 Flavel Bascom that he would go West. It was in response to 
 Mr. Bascom's continued solicitations that he came on. Ar- 
 rived at Chicago, after ten days upon the lakes, his family was 
 met by C. K. Bartlett and Anson M. Hubbard, who moved 
 them in. Having been drawn through many sloughs with 
 chains, they came to Green River, where there was neither 
 bridge, nor ferry, nor ford. Finding Mrs. Gordon at her 
 home, upon the bank, it took but a word to interest her in the 
 new famil3^ She said she would set them over; and so, 
 instructing them to swim the horses over by the side of the 
 canoe, she had the wheels of each wagon set into two canoes, 
 and so ferried them over. 
 
 Going lirst into Deacon Ward's cabin, Mr. Wilcox built a 
 log shanty on his place, north of the village, and covered it 
 with hay. There they lived nine months. A traveling cler- 
 gyman, upon being invited to spend the night with them, 
 declined, saying that his health and life were too valuable to 
 be thus exposed. Mr. Wilcox had a business tact, which made 
 him useful to the secularities of the place. It has been said 
 that the community is not a little indebted to his taste and 
 enterprise for the ornamenting of the Public Square and the 
 streets of the town with trees. Surely he that plants a tree 
 is a benefactor; but the second planting, that is now^ growing 
 up around the noble, central elm, reminds us of the wisdom 
 of caution as to what we plant, whether it be in the vegetable 
 or the moral kingdom. He was also greatly interested in the 
 seminary, making two trips to the East in its behalf, and look- 
 ing up the first two principals of the institution — Revs. Jason 
 Chapin and Addison Lyman. Indeed he took up the entire 
 interest of the colony into his aspiration, and accomplished 
 great good as the pioneer missionary. In 1845 he closed his 
 labors here and removed to Chicago, to take charge of the 
 Seamen's Bethel, in which service he was engaged until called 
 to his reward, leaving his family to grow up in that city into 
 a sphere of influence and usefulness. After him Rev. William 
 T. Allen supplied the pulpit six or eight months. 
 
11 
 
 The next minister was Rev. Addison Lyman, from Torring- 
 ford, Connecticut, who began his service here on the 6th of 
 October, 1845. In this capacity he sei*ved for two years, nntil 
 he entered upon the principalship of the seminary, continu- 
 ing, however, to supply the desk for some months, till a, pastor 
 was secured. Bev. C. S. Cady served the church one year 
 from the 1st of October, 1848. Eev. A. J. Copeland then 
 served the church for two years and three months, from the 
 1st of December, 1S49, to February, 1852. The church then 
 called Rev. H. Ward ; but having already accepted a call at 
 Lyndon, he declined. His most acceptable ministry there was 
 soon cut short by a casualty that ended his life. Rev. J. "W. 
 Korth occupied the pulpit for one year from November, 1852. 
 Here I have myself to acknowledge the honor of a call to this 
 jDastorate, which came to me in 1853, just as I was entering the 
 ministry, but after I had engaged to labor in the missionary 
 church at Brimfield. The next pastor was Rev. S. H. Waldo, 
 who labored among you three years, from January, 1855, to 
 January, 1858. Under his pastorate this house of worship 
 was erected, forming a new era in the history of the church. 
 Next comes the pastorate of Rev. Milo N. Miles, during the 
 two years of 1858 and 1859. Then that of Rev. B. C. Ward, 
 for one year and a half. Rev. J. T. Cook served you in the 
 ministry two years, those of 1862 and 1863. During the year 
 1864, Rev. M. N. Miles served as supply. In May, 1865, the 
 present pastor. Rev. Harry Brickett, began his labors among 
 you. This glance at the apostolic succession in this church 
 shows that it has not lacked for variety in the ministerial 
 office, having had the average of a new minister every three 
 years ; nor has it lacked in ministerial fidelity, ability, self- 
 denial and usefulness. 
 
 REVIVALS OF RELIGION. 
 
 Coming from the midst of that spiritual refreshing in New 
 York, and very much on account of it, we should expect that 
 our colonists would love revivals, and be anxious to promote 
 them. And here was another element in the ministration of 
 that period of awakening. It not only sent the men West, 
 but it taught them how to work. Indeed, in searching the 
 
12 
 
 records of this church, it has struck me that its revival spirit 
 has been its peculiarity. Before the colony had settled down, 
 before it had secured a pastor, while it was occupying the 
 canvas-covered hut on the Public Square, in the Summer of 
 1837, the first work of grace was enjoyed. They could not 
 wait for the more permanent settling of their affairs ; and, as 
 they had covenanted to pray for the conversion of every adult 
 person in the community, God could not wait, for he had 
 promised that if his people would bring all the tithes into the 
 storehouse, he would pour them out such a blessing that there 
 would not be room enough to receive it. And he did it. 
 There were no more adult persons left to be converted. In 
 1838-'39 there was another season of spiritual exaltation, with 
 a similar result — all the youth of suitable age and all the 
 adults becoming the hopeful disciples of Christ. In the Win- 
 ter of 1841 and 1812, our pastor at Lyndon, Kev. E. H. Haz- 
 ard, and our deacon, A. R. Hamilton, both of them dear men 
 of God, and now" with Him above, came here to assist Mr. 
 "Wilcox in a meeting, which resulted in the hopeful conversion 
 of all the adults, save two men. Deacon "Ward, writing to me, 
 speaks of this as a continuous revival for five years. Soon 
 after this these three men met for a similar work at the log 
 school-house in Sharon, Mr. Wilcox's out-station, to which he 
 had frequently walked across the desolate prairie, twelve miles, 
 and where he had organized a Presbyterian church. The 
 result was a precious movement, which brought in the princi- 
 pal man of the neighborhood, who, at Portland, Maine, had 
 been one of Dr. Payson's stony-ground hearers, who then, 
 largely by his own means, built a neat church and a parsonage, 
 which yet crown the hill of Sharon, and who, in Chicago, has 
 been for many years a pillar in the church. Just there, in the 
 freshness of my first love, it was my pleasure to attend that 
 church dedication, the services being conducted by your pastor 
 and mine. In April, 1819, during Mr. Cady's ministr}^, thir- 
 teen persons were gathered into the church upon profession of 
 faith, as the fruit of a spiritual harvest. In 1851, under Mr. 
 Copeland, another refreshing from the presence of the Lord 
 was experienced, and a number of souls were added to the 
 company of the disciples. Nineteen persons united with the 
 
13 
 
 clinrcli, on profession, during Mr. Waldo's ministry. In the 
 o;reat awakening of 1858, Mr. Miles was assisted by Kev. 
 Nathaoiel Smith, and in one month thirty-eight persons made 
 a public profession of Christ. In 1862, Mr. Cook was per- 
 mitted to rejoice in an in-gathering, which added thirty-six 
 persons to the church. During this harvest it was my joy to 
 take a place by the side of Brothers Cook and Miles, and 
 thrust in my sickle for a week. A morning prayer meeting 
 observed at that time went far on into the summer. Again, 
 in the fall of 1863, Mr. Cook was assisted by Eev. George 
 Clark in a protracted meeting, which brought in another band 
 of disciples. During the present pastorate thirty-three per- 
 sons have been joined to the church by confession of Christ, 
 twenty-seven of whom came last May, as the result of the last 
 season of refreshing. 
 
 Of the aggregate membership of the church, six hundred 
 and ninety-six, I find that two hundred and fifty-four were 
 added by profession of faith. But this does not represent the 
 entire number of hopeful conversions ; for many of those who 
 have here been led to Christ were pupils in the schools, and 
 became identified with churches at their respective homes. 
 Yet this diffusiveness of the work is one of the features of its 
 interest and excellence. Then some went into other churches 
 here. It is interesting to observe that revival efforts have not 
 lost their effectiveness in this church, the last year having had 
 its refreshing as well as the first, and the last several years 
 having had works no less powerful than those of the earlier 
 period, and so it may continue to be, if the church shall not 
 fall into any stereotyped system of measures, but pursue in 
 the future, a^3 in the past, the leadings of God's Spirit in using 
 a variety of special means along with the regular administra- 
 tion of the gospel. These have been seasons of precious 
 spiritual exaltation. They have been the power of God unto 
 salvation. Without these seasons of spiritual heat many a 
 covenant of death would never have been broken. Some 
 tares have grown up with the wheat — some chaff has been 
 gathered with it into the garner of church fellowship ; but the 
 result of these revivals has been the spiritual life of the com- 
 munity. 
 
14 
 
 THE SABBATH SCHOOL 
 
 Was commenced in the rude tabernacle upon the square, in 
 1837, and has been continued through Summer and Winter. 
 Its first superintendent was Deacon Ward, who continued in 
 this oifice until his removal from the place, in 1855, except 
 that Rev. John T. Pierce held this office during 1852 and 
 1853. Referring to that first place of meeting, Deacon Ward 
 says : '' There the Lord Jesus met with us, and blessed us in 
 reviving our spirits and in the conversion of souls. There, 
 too, we had a blessed Sabbath School, with children finding 
 Jesus precious to their souls." After him Mr. John G. Walker 
 served as superintendent two or three years; then Deacon 
 Huntington, and then Mr. A. M. Hubbard. Mr. H. Thomas, 
 in 1856, was installed in this office, and has remained in it to 
 the present time, with the exception of the year and a half of 
 the efficient service of J. T. K. Sleight, himself a child of the 
 church and of the Sabbath School. Under Mr. Thomas the 
 monthly Sabbath School Concert was introduced, and has been 
 continued with increasing interest and profit. During these 
 last ten years the number of scholars has increased from 
 eighty -five to two hundred and fifty. There have not been 
 more than two years without a revival in the school, and in 
 this time it is thought that two hundred of its members have 
 been brought into fellowship with Christ ; thus proving that 
 the Sunday School is the nursery of the church. The super- 
 intendent testifies that "such has been the faithfulness and 
 success of the teachers in winning souls to Christ, that very 
 few of those who have been habitual attendants have failed 
 to become decided Christians." It is also to be said in com- 
 mendation of this school, that it has adopted the graded sys- 
 tem, which runs from the infant class up through those of boys 
 and girls, lads and misses, young men and young women, and 
 middle-aged people to the spectacled class — all thus joining in 
 the beautiful service of. the study of God's word; the older 
 setting for the younger the example and the stimulus of love 
 for the school, and so leaving no place for any to drop out as 
 too big or too old for this Lord's-day school. In this connec- 
 tion it may be stated that there is on record the baptism of 
 
15 
 
 fifty-nine infants, which, being only two a year, though some 
 may have not been recorded, would seem to fall below a due 
 appreciation of the duty and the privilege of consecrating to 
 God the offspring of the church. 
 
 OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 J. C. Ward and Elisha Cone were elected deacons at the 
 organization of the church, and remained in that office until 
 Deacon Cone was removed, in September, 1846, to bear the 
 vessels of the Lord in the upper sanctuary, and Deacon Ward 
 returned, in 1855, to the old homestead, to discharge a filial 
 duty. Keuben Cone, one of the colonists, succeeded his 
 brother in this office, and after several years of service 
 removed to Kansas, to help to lay the foundations of that 
 historic State. His place was filled by E. P. Yan Yalkenburg. 
 John Tufts succeeded Deacon Ward, and continues in the 
 office to this day. 
 
 In July, 1859, the number of deacons was increased to four, 
 and Daniel Little and Eobert Steele were elected. Kecently 
 the church has added, as a fifth deacon, Mr. Elihu Bryant; so 
 that the diaconate now stands — John Tufls, Daniel Little, 
 Robert Steele, E. P. Yan Yalkenburg, and Elihu Bryant, 
 whom may God bless in purchasing to themselves a good 
 degree, and great boldness in the faith, which is in Christ 
 Jesus. During the period of the connection of the church 
 with the Presbytery, Messrs. J. C. Ward, Harry Manville, R. 
 R. Stewart, Elisha Cone, Amos Adams, George Richards, 
 and Philo S. Ward, served as elders. The clerks of the church 
 have been C. K. Bartlett, William H. Hubbard, Enos Pome- 
 roy, Harry Manville, Gustavus Wilcox, S. H. Waldo, J. D. 
 K. Sleight, G. B. Perry, and Ira Wells, now in office. 
 
 Down to the time of the building of this house of worship, 
 the church elected its trustees directly, as a special statute of 
 this State authorizes. In March, 1855, by the approving vote 
 of the church, an Ecclesiastical Society was formed, and N". 
 B. Huntington, Merritt Munson, Whitfield Sanford, J. N. 
 Stewart and Robert Getty were chosen trustees, and D. L. 
 Perry clerk. The present officers are: Trustees — J. M.'Tay- 
 
16 
 
 lor, A. W. Bidwell, C. S. Ward, E. P. . Yan Yalkenburg ; 
 Clerk — Frank Curtis. 
 
 MORAL TESTIMONY. 
 
 That great revival which produced these colonies also toned 
 up public sentiment upon questions of moral reform ; so that 
 this church came West with its principles adopted and recorded 
 as standing rules, namely, not to receive to its fellowship any 
 who made, used, or sold intoxicating drinks, nor any who did 
 not believe that slaveholding was sin, and were not willing to 
 do what they could to break every yoke, nor any who disfel- 
 lowshiped the cause of moral reform, nor any who fellow- 
 shiped the Papal church. The purpose of the colonists was 
 not to sell lots to any persons who would use them for the 
 traffic in liquors. Until the opening of the railroad this was 
 essentially a temperance town. But now I wish to give the 
 alarm to the stalwart Samson : '' The Philistines are upon 
 thee !" Would that he might arise and break the withes of 
 conservatism, and custom, and cruel traffic, and with the jaw- 
 bone of an ass drive them hence ! This town was early, and 
 for a long time, a station on the underground railroad, which 
 a nephew of John C. Calhoun, a Methodist Episcopal preacher, 
 thought, as he told a friend of mine at the South, was really 
 a subterranean passage ! The gospel of freedom has ever here 
 been boldly proclaimed. The influence of Geneseo in leaven- 
 ing public sentiment upon the subject of our nation's crime 
 and shame, has been quite extensive, and now the glorious 
 triumph of this reform, which one of your own citizens,* 
 thirty-five years ago, assisted in initiating, taking refuge from 
 mob violence in my own father's house, in Ohio, is the result 
 of that testimony of conscience through a third of a century, 
 
 CHURCH SINGING. 
 
 In the earliest part of the settlement, Mr. Samuel E. Bacon 
 was here, to instruct in vocal music; and, later, Mr. Anson 
 M. Hubbard. The community has been noted for its musical 
 attainment. The singing of that early choir I remember as 
 
 * Rev. William T. Allen. 
 
17 
 
 of a high order. The singers of Geneseo and of Galesburg 
 were accustomed to unite in musical exercise. The high 
 standard of that early day has had its effect upon the later 
 services of the choir, holding it up to an unusual degree of 
 excellence. 
 
 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 
 
 One, in reading over the records of this thirty years, is 
 made to realize that saying of Jesus : " It must needs be that 
 offences come." Some of these were cases that occasioned 
 sore trial to the church ; but, so far as the records report, there 
 seems to have been a mingled fidelity and forbearance. If, 
 as Dr. Dwight teaches, church discipline is a means of grace, 
 this church must have made commendable progress under the 
 exercise of this church function. 
 
 HOME MISSIONARY CONNECTION. 
 
 It was but natural that the missionary colony should be 
 associated with the American Home Missionary Society. Ac- 
 cordingly, we find that the first minister came on with a com- 
 mission from that Society, which met the expenses of the 
 journey, and began by paying three-fourths of the then stand- 
 ard ministerial salary at the "West — four hundred dollars. The 
 three hundred dollars of aid was reduced the next year to two 
 hundred and fifty dollars, and again to two hundred dollars, 
 and then to one hundred dollars, until the church became self- 
 supporting, having received from that source, in the aggre- 
 gate, eighteen hundred and fifty dollars. As a representative 
 of that Society, I pronounce its appropriations here a good 
 investment ; it has realized such grand moral results, and is 
 receiving back such generous contributions of the church as 
 will eventually cancel principal as well as interest. It is grati- 
 fying to find in the records the appreciating recognition of the 
 mutual relation of the two missionary organizations, in the 
 yearly vote of application, in the constant desire to reduce the 
 amount of aid needed, and to hasten the day of self-support, 
 and in the disposition to relinquish the pastor for a portion of 
 the time, to engage in such outside labor as that at Sharon. 
 2 
 
18 
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The churches in New York, out of which this one was 
 formed, were Congregational. As already detailed, it was 
 regularly constituted a Congregational church by an Ecclesi- 
 astical Council. It settled upon the prairie here as such. 
 According to the instinct of church life, it desired church fel- 
 lowship; but whither should it look for such communion? 
 By the working of the plan of union, nearly all of the Con- 
 gregational material coming West was being vamped into 
 Presbyterian churches. Previous to 1836, there were only 
 ten Congregational churches in Illinois, and these were scat- 
 tered all over the State, without any associational affiliation 
 except that of the Illinois Association. Then the ten Congrega- 
 tional churches organized during that year of 1836 were also 
 scattered over the whole field ; but on the south was Knox Pres- 
 bytery, and on the north Galena Presbytery. Then the first 
 pastor had his honest convictions of preference for the Pres- 
 byterian polity. The first record in regard to a change of 
 polity was that of a meeting of the church, under date of the 
 4th of November, 1838, called " for the purpose of receiving 
 a communication from the Knox Presbytery, respecting the 
 propriety of this church's changing her form of government, 
 and joining that body." About this time a member of Knox 
 Presbytery visited the church, to persuade it to make the 
 change. After consultation the church adjourned, " for the 
 purpose of more mature consideration," to another date, when, 
 after discussion, a committee of two — K. K. Stewart and E. 
 Qotie — were appointed to visit the members of the church, 
 and ascertain their personal views upon the subject. The 
 committee subsequently recommended the change, and 
 reported that the members were willing to abide by the 
 voice of the church. Upon this there was a tie vote — three 
 yeas and three nays. At the next meeting Deacon Ward 
 moved that the church remain Congregational, and take 
 measures to join some association. This was lost, and then a 
 motion to make the change, and to join Knox Presbytery, was 
 carried, with only two dissenting voices, November 19th, 1838. 
 
19 
 
 An eldership was then elected ; but, as modified by their 
 Congregational ideas, it was made rotary^ whereas the Pres- 
 byterian idea required permanence in the office. This plan 
 of reelecting the elders was strictly carried out overy two 
 years ; and still, though the session did the general business 
 of the church, there were frequent church meetings for the 
 transaction of special business. 
 
 I have been thus particular in this history, to show how 
 reluctant the church was to part with its prerogative of self- 
 government, and that the animating motive in the change 
 was to secure church communion, as appears from the record 
 of the 1st of April, 1850, when the church resumed its func- 
 tion as a Christian democracy, which is but another name for 
 Con gregation alism . 
 
 " Whereas the Presbyterian church of Geneseo was origin- 
 ally formed a Congregational church, but became Presbyterian 
 solely for the purpose of becoming connected with some eccle- 
 siastical body (there being no Congregational body within a 
 convenient distance), and did it with the express condition, on 
 the part of the church, that they might have the opportunity 
 of returning to their original form of government whenever 
 an Association should be formed in the neighborhood ; and 
 whereas the General Presbyterian Assembly (JST. S.), with 
 which this church has been connected, has failed, in our 
 opinion, to take that decided stand in opposition to the system 
 of slavery and to slave-holding in the church, which our duty 
 to those in bonds and to the cause of Christ, and especially 
 the duty of Christian ministers demands ; and believing, as 
 we do, that the faith and practice of orthodox Congregational 
 churches are more in accordance with our views of truth and 
 duty : therefore resolved^ That this church re-adojpt the Congre- 
 gational form of government, and request of the Presbytery 
 a letter of dismission to the Central Association." 
 
 If, therefore, this church and society could have forfeited its 
 own property by a change of ecclesiastical relation, the prop- 
 erty would have belonged to the New School General Assem- 
 bly, with which the church was associated, and not to the Old 
 School, which has no more semblance of legal claim than it 
 
20 
 
 has of moral claim to that which, by all laws of possession, 
 belongs to another. 
 
 The church, after belonging to Knox Presbytery for a time, 
 changed its relation to the Galena Presbytery, for the sake of 
 local convenience. After joining the Central Association it 
 was disconnected to unite with other churches in forming the 
 Geneseo Association. But by the diversion of travel occa- 
 sioned by the introduction of the railway lines, many of the 
 churches of this Association have fallen off to more contiguous 
 Associations, until only three living churches remain in it, and 
 it has scarcely had a vital existence for three or four years ; 
 so that the church which was so desirous of church-fellowship 
 has been eminently disappointed, yet it has strength enough 
 to stand alone until agreeable relations may be formed. 
 
 CHRISTIAN EDrCATIO^. 
 
 Their institution was chartered by the Legislature of Illi- 
 nois, as the Geneseo Manual Labor High School ; this name 
 was afterward, by the same authority, changed to Geneseo 
 Seminary. Rufus Hubbard, who was the first president of 
 the Board of Trustees, E. Cone and Jairus Wilcox were the 
 incorporators. 
 
 The iirst school was opened in the pole cabin on the square, 
 in the Summer of 1837, and taught by Susannah D. Stewart. 
 In the second season Miss Karcissa Stewart taught the school 
 in the new school-house. During 1839, a young Mr. Holmes, 
 whom Rev. Jason Chapin had sent on, taught. In the Spring 
 of 1840 Mr. Chapin came on with his family, and in June he 
 commenced teaching, and continued in the service till he was 
 removed by death, in September of 1846. It was during the 
 iirst nine months of 1843 that I was in the school, commencing 
 my preparation for college. It is my delight to bear testimony 
 to the excellence of the school, and it is with gratitude that I 
 acknowledge its influence in my course of education. Follow- 
 ing Mr. Chapin, for seven years the seminary was under the 
 care of Rev. A. Lyman, who, by teaching, by persistent efforts, 
 at home and abroad, to raise funds for the completion of the 
 seminary, getting three thousand dollars from the East, and 
 
21 
 
 by preaching a part of the time for the church, performed 
 a prodigious amount of laborious and self-den^nng service. 
 Miss Pomeroy (now Mrs. F. Bascom), Miss Hooker, Miss Fos- 
 ter and Miss Earl were his accomplished assistants. 
 
 Rev. S. H. Waldo was for a few months in temporary charge 
 of the institution. Then Mr. M. S. Croswell, just from Am- 
 herst College, followed, for a short time. He enlisted in the 
 army, and came out from a four-years' service as lieutenant 
 colonel, and is now preparing for the ministry in Chicago 
 Theological Seminary. He was succeeded by a Mr. Bartlett, 
 who was assisted by Miss Sarah Andrews and Miss Hume. 
 After accomplishing a great deal of good, the Seminary found 
 itself competing with the increasingly popular system of 
 graded schools, and found the place too small to sustain 
 both. Having a considerable amount of accumulated indebt- 
 edness, the trustees at last sold the brick seminary building 
 and grounds to the city, to be used as the High School of 
 the public system ; and so in a new form it is serving the cause 
 of higher education. Rarely has a more noteworthy self- 
 denial been exhibited than that which prosecuted the building 
 of the brick seminary. In the po.verty of the people they 
 subscribed labor. They worked in the brick yard ; they 
 worked upon the building, tending masons. Some young 
 men, just coming of age, subscribed two hundred dollars, to 
 be worked out. Then, just as the walls were up, a storm blew 
 down the sides, which were again put up. The ladies turned 
 out to prepare a common table for the working " bees." 
 
 THE WOMEN OF THE COLONY. 
 
 I wish that I were able to pay them a suitable tribute. The 
 rigors of a new-country life bear most severely upon the 
 women. The tearing away from the comforts and the associ- 
 ations of an eastern home, the exposures of removal and new 
 settlement, the cramping of domestic accommodations, the 
 absolute deprivation of many things ordinarily considered 
 essential to family living, and hard, hard work, press heavily 
 upon them. IS'ot thrown out upon the world, as men are, their 
 life being within doors, they must necessarily feel most keenly 
 
22 
 
 in their sensitive natures, the yawning contrasts of present 
 with former surroundings ; yet, by their quiet faith, by their 
 instinctive sight of the things that are coming, by their cheer- 
 ing spirit, and by their multiform helpfulness, they become of 
 the utmost importance to the immigrating community. Mis- 
 sionary societies, that once thought it necessary to send out 
 missionaries without wives, have found that the female mem- 
 bers of the mission are of the utmost importance, and now 
 they will scarcely send a man if he is not provided with that 
 "good thing" called in the Bible, a wife. 
 
 The lady members of this colony made themselves of the 
 same necessity to it. Whether it was threading their way on 
 foot around the morasses of the journey, or raising their bread 
 during the day in the wagons, under the feather beds, or 
 baking it at night, after the weary day, by the smoky camp- 
 lire, or piling two or three families into one cabin, or living 
 six months on pork and corn-bread, or refitting their ancient 
 wardrobe to the hard times, or pining in sickness from the 
 climatic malaria, or stealing a good cry. just occasionally, over 
 the terrible wrenching off of all former enjoyments, — if you 
 ask them how it was about those early experiences, they will 
 tell you, '^ AVhy, it was all joy and no comforts ;" " we have 
 never been happier since ;" " we never have done so much 
 good as then." 
 
 Yet not only in ordering their own households does their 
 efficiency appear. They organize the social life ; they set in 
 motion the delicate influences that assimilate it; they set up 
 the sewing circle, the sociable, the ladies' prayer meeting, the 
 festival ; they throw grace and cheer over the rude places of 
 public worship, and furnish the more tasteful edifice that 
 comes by and by — in short, they are just the Christian wives, 
 and mothers and sisters that God made them to be, giving 
 them to his church for helpmates and comforters. Their deli- 
 cacy would be offended by singling out individuals ; but of 
 each one may we not say, in this whole colonial development, 
 '' she hath done what she could ;" she hath done it as unto her 
 Master ; she hath emptied her alabaster box upon him in the 
 perfume of her Christian spirit, while bearing the burdens of 
 a new-country life. 
 
23 
 
 GENESEO IN THE WAR. 
 
 It is a most grateful service to recognize the relation of this 
 colony to the war for our national life and for universal free- 
 dom. Geneseo sent two full companies in the Ninth Illinois 
 Cavalry, two full companies in the One Hundred and Twelfth 
 Illinois, and nearly half a company besides in the same regi- 
 ment, one company in the Eighth Kansas, one full company 
 in the One Hundred and Ninth Illinois, besides many soldiers 
 in the Thirty-fourth, Thirty-seventh, and other regiments. 
 The record from official documents of the soldiers, who were 
 either members of this church or attendants upon its worship, 
 must surprise even you, as it has myself. I find that the list 
 numbers forty-eight — twelve co«imissioned officers and thirty- 
 six non-commissioned officers and privates. Two former pas- 
 tors are reckoned in the number : Rev. Lieut. B. C. Ward, 
 who fought with musket and bayonet, as well as with sword, 
 and Eev. Capt. J. T. Cook, who was chaplain of the One Hun- 
 dred and Ninth Illinois. Two sons of another former minister 
 were among your braves — C. E. and Albert Miles ; and one 
 son of a pastor elect — M. W. Ward. One of the old colonists, 
 Harry Manville, sent four sons — Lieut. Charles Philo, Free- 
 land Warren, Hichard Henry, and Septimus Ward, who gave 
 his life to his country. The widow of Elisha Cone sent her 
 two only sons, Francis and Charles, who lost his life. Eeuben 
 Cone sent his sons, Edgar and Sidney, in the Seventh Kansas 
 Cavalry; and the widow of Cromwell K. Bartlett sent her 
 son David. Sixteen were members of the church, and thir- 
 teen were from communicant families. A large number of 
 the Geneseo boys were wounded in battle, and a much larger 
 number suffered from sickness and personal injury. Some 
 escaped from prison. Five from this congregation died in 
 rebel prisons — Sergeant John Liken, C. B. Lord, J. W. Dowd, 
 W. R. Ford, E. D. Hunt. When your own Major J. M. Hos- 
 ford, having used himself up for the cavalry service, had 
 become Commissary of Camp Douglas, and was showing me 
 the process of baking soft bread for the rebel prisoners, and 
 showing me the stores of inspected beans, crackers, pork and 
 beef, which he served out to them in ample quantity, I could 
 
24 
 
 not resist the suggestion : " Treat these fellows as the rebels 
 treat our boys in prison !" Besides these five, five others from 
 this congregation lost their lives — S. G. Bacon, Septimus W. 
 Manville, Charles Cone, George Bernard and Simon Elliott. 
 Oh, the precious offerings in sacrifice ! They gave their 
 lives for their country, saying, virtually, as did that wonderful 
 man, John Brown, " I am worth more to die than to live 1" 
 Their memory we will cherish — their patriotism we will emu- 
 late ; and, as there is a God in heaven, the fruit of their vic- 
 tory in anguish and in blood we will preserve ! 
 
 In estimating the complete influence of this church and 
 colony, we are not to look simply at the present state of the 
 community, the church and the school. Impalpable influences 
 have gone out from this place to surrounding neighborhoods. 
 Then the men and women, who have been sent out into differ- 
 ent professions — those who have gone forth to give character 
 to other churches elsewhere — the influence of early testimony 
 on moral reform, and all the streaming influences of education 
 that have gone forth from this place, must be taken into our 
 estimate of the moral power generated by the simple Chris- 
 tian institutions which have here been developed. In the final 
 revelation of character and of principle it will be found that 
 mighty forces have gone forth from this Christian movement. 
 
 This review of thirty years must excite our gr'atitude for all 
 the tokens of divine favor thus recounted. It is a matter of 
 thanksgiving that God has thus honored this people with the 
 privilege of fellowship with him in this service of the gospel. 
 This review should also increase love for the church of Christ 
 and for this particular church. 
 
 Grateful for these tokens of God's favor, this church has 
 occasion to renew its devotement to the great work of Chris- 
 tianizing our country. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIOK OF THE LORd's SUPPER. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon a very interesting communion sea- 
 son was enjoyed. The services were introduced by the pastor, 
 Rev. Harry Brickett, by remarks from Psalm Ixxviii : 19 — 
 
25 
 
 " Can God furnisli a table in the wilderness ?" This question, 
 he said, was proposed by an enemy of God to Israel, at the 
 time of their passing through the wilderness, to possess the 
 land of promise. The water gushing from the rock, the manna 
 covering the ground, and quails in countless numbers, were 
 the answer. The "West was considered years ago, as now, a 
 land of promise. Thirty years ago unbelief prompted the 
 same question, and others of like import : Can churches ever 
 be planted and sustained on the hitherto untrodden prairies 
 of the West ? Will the population ever warrant the building 
 of houses of worship and the settlement of pastors ? We had 
 the answer in the eloquent address of last evening. 
 
 I thank God that this church has such a history, and, allow 
 me to add, such a historian — one of her own sons, as she 
 claims Mr. Roy to be, who loves her so well as to be willing 
 to perform the labor of collecting and putting into form the 
 scattered fragments of her history, her small but honorable 
 beginning, and of the numberless mercies God has continued 
 to bestow down to the present year. 
 
 Let me assure you, my brother, that this church, which 
 fondly claims the parental relation, welcomes you back, now 
 and ever, to her affection and communion. 
 
 I rejoice that these brethren in the ministry, Bros. Lyman 
 and Miles, who have labored here in the Lord, sometimes in 
 one capacity, sometimes in another, but always for Christ and 
 his cause, are here. Some have been called away at the voice 
 of the Master, to the enjoyment of the promised reward. I 
 rejoice to meet this large band of brethren and sisters, with 
 our friends who have come to commune with us on this festive 
 occasion. You have come with grateful hearts, I trust. 
 
 I have been but a short time, comparatively, with you — my 
 first visit west of Niagara Falls. I loved, and still love, Kew 
 England. Myself and family have left too many friends 
 behind ever to forget. But I believe I am rapidly becoming 
 a Western man : I feel at home among you. I have easily 
 learned to love the children, and long for nothing more than 
 to see them gathered for Christ. 
 
 I find here at the West — in Geneseo and the environs, 
 where only I feel much acquainted — New England rejuven- 
 
26 
 
 ated : claiming and exercising a larger liberty of expression 
 and action — having a newer life and a freer heart. 
 
 We love our new home, and feel especially grateful for the 
 commodious dwelling which has been built by the society for 
 a parsonage, and for other conveniences and comforts provided 
 by the ladies. 
 
 The question proposed in the Psalm was — " Can God fur- 
 nish a table in the wilderness ?" 
 
 Thirty years ago, when the little church, already formed, 
 came here in their covered wagons, this was a wilderness, 
 literally, in all the wildness of Nature. See what in thirty 
 years, by your hands, God hath wrought. The handful has 
 become a congregation. This church has on its roll of mem- 
 bers not far from three hundred names. Not only so : out of 
 this church, in part, and in no small degree by her material 
 aid, other evangelical churches have sprung up on either hand, 
 with whom we dwell in friendly intercourse, often uniting in 
 our labors for Christ. These churches — the Methodist, the 
 Baptist, the Presbyterian, and the Episcopalian — have an 
 aggregate of nearly four hundred members. Besides these 
 are churches using the Swedish and the German languages. 
 
 Jacob, on a memorable occasion, said : " With my staff I 
 passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands." 
 If the veterans of this settlement, some of whom I see before 
 me, should in like manner look over the ground, they might 
 say, " We came a little band, but we have been multiplied 
 many fold, both in members and in places of worship." Breth- 
 ren, the Lord hath spread a table for us and for our children. 
 We bless his name that the little ones have not been forgotten 
 at our Lord's Thanksgiving Supper, that he especially cares 
 for them. 
 
 A table ! — what pleasant thoughts and associations it sug- 
 gests ! — it smacks of home — of love — of happy, joyous hearts. 
 The Lord prepares this table, and gives us his choicest dain- 
 ties. We acknowledge this as the Lord's table — Jesus as the 
 true Master of the feast. How simple, yet how expressive, 
 are these symbols, which the people of all languages can 
 understand alike ! 
 
 They are sj^read on a table. Is not the social character of 
 
27 
 
 our religion here indicated? It is not in its essence exclusive. 
 The bowels of sympathy yearn towar^ all for whom Christ 
 died— to the poor, the lowly, the down-trodden. We, the 
 church, are to keep this feast tillJesus comes— till the end of 
 this dispensation— till he comes in person, when he will take 
 charge of this ordinance himself. 
 
 Brothers M. N. Miles and Addison Lyman, former minis- 
 ters, presided at the table, and made the occasion interesting 
 and profitable by happy reminiscences of the past. 
 
 After the bread and wine had been passed, the audience 
 again listened for a few minutes to Kev. J. E. Koy, who gave 
 some additional items of interest. 
 
 In the singing the audience were pleased to recognize and 
 listen to a former leader of the choir, Mr. Anson M. Hubbard, 
 now of Moline. It was a happy meeting. 
 
 SOCIAL EETJNION. 
 
 On Tuesday evening a social reunion was enjoyed at the 
 Geneseo House, Mr. Abram Miller, proprietor. No pains 
 were spared to make it pleasant to all assembled. The com- 
 pany relished the supper and toasts and speeches, some of 
 which could hardly be called " dry." 
 
 LIST OF OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS, 
 
 WHO WENT INTO THE SERVICE FROM GENESEO, OR ITS IMMEDIATE VICENITT. 
 
 Hector J. Humphrey, Lieutenant Colonel, 9th Illinois Cavalry. 
 James M. Hosford, Major, 112th Illinois Infantry. 
 J. E. Wilkins, Captain, " 
 Joseph Wesley, " " 
 
 E. H. Colcord, 
 
 J.S.Buckley, " 9th " Cavalry. 
 
 S. A. Davison, '* 
 
 F. H. McArthur, " " 
 Thomas J. McNair, " 
 Rev. R. N. Henderson, Captain and Chaplain, 112th Illinois Infantry. 
 
28 
 
 Frank Curtis, Captain, 8th Kansas. 
 
 T. W. O. Braffitt, " 9th Illinois Cavalry. 
 
 Hanson Harrington, " " " " 
 
 Charles Blakeman, " 
 
 P. H. Sniff, " 139th " Infantry. 
 
 George W. Lawrence, Lieutenant. 
 
 Harry Fones, " 
 
 C. G. Gearhart, " 
 
 Rev. B. C. Ward, 
 
 Jacob Bush, *' 
 
 Charles M. Marshall, " 
 
 Rev. J. T. Cook, Chaplain 139th Illinois Infantry. Former pastor. 
 
 Jeremiah Duesler, Lieutenant. 
 
 F. W. Harding, 
 
 Charles P. Manville, " 
 
 R. W. Calkins, '' 
 
 W. G. Godfrey, " 
 
 C. G. Gearhart, " 
 
 former pastor of Congregational church. 
 
 NON-COMMISSIONED OPPICERS AND PRIVATES. 
 
 D. C. Bartlett 
 A. H. Booth 
 
 A. C. Bardwell, died in 
 camp 
 
 E. G. Comstock 
 Albert Colbert 
 Simon Elliot 
 
 Thos. Faunce, died in 
 rebel prison, Georgia 
 
 Augustus Gregory 
 
 Joseph Hart 
 
 Warren Hart 
 
 Henry Hardesty 
 
 Wm. Hesler, captured 
 and exchanged 
 
 Godfry LaSalle 
 
 Richard H. Manville 
 
 Richard Miller 
 
 J. S. Morrow 
 
 Samuel Morrow 
 
 Septimus Manville 
 
 Isaac Morrow 
 
 Jacob B. Maslin 
 
 Freeland W. Manville 
 
 W. A. Power 
 
 Edwin A. Richmond 
 
 Albert A. Sedgley 
 
 D. R. Smith 
 
 L. S. Long 
 W. F. Remington 
 Jackson Whitney 
 Wm. Withrors 
 Charles W. Sedgley 
 John F. Browning 
 W. W. Nye 
 George W. Rasor 
 N. W. Adams 
 A. L. Adams 
 Charles A. Ball 
 Wm. Bernard 
 E. W. Bishop 
 G. W. Bracken 
 H. M. Breed 
 J. W. Brown 
 Thomas H. Bush 
 John Curly 
 Hugh Doyle 
 John Fleming 
 E. O. Foss 
 W. H. Harrington 
 Henry Harrington 
 A. J. Kinsey 
 Joseph Mason 
 Leonard May 
 Clarence R. Miles 
 D. W. C Miller 
 
 Cyrus B. Lord, starved to 
 death in Andersonville 
 prison 
 
 John Liken, starved to 
 death in Andersonville 
 prison 
 
 Watson R. Ford, died at 
 Danville prison 
 
 Charles F.Barber, starved 
 to death in Anderson- 
 ville prison 
 
 Lewis R. Colby, died in 
 Danville prison 
 
 Peter Colby, died in Dan- 
 ville prison 
 
 Thomas H. Daring, died 
 in Andersonville prison 
 
 George Crummitt, cap- 
 tured, escaped from An- 
 dersonville prison, and 
 killed by bloodhounds. 
 
 Frank Gurstung, died in 
 Danville prison 
 
 John W. Goss 
 
 James Hart, died in An- 
 dersonville prison 
 
 Edwin D. Hunt, died in 
 rebel prison 
 
29 
 
 J. S. Smith 
 John Timerman 
 W. B. Thompson 
 J. H. Underwood 
 Charles H. Ward 
 J. H. Ward 
 Henry Young 
 S. J. Aldrich 
 James Bracken 
 Charles Daily 
 A. H. Mapes, wounded 
 at battle of Hurricane 
 Creek, and died of 
 wound three days be- 
 fore his term of ser- 
 vice would have ex- 
 pired. 
 Thomas A. Matsell 
 Theodore A. Weld 
 E. A. Anderson 
 Henry Bickly 
 Munson Pierce 
 A. T. Thompson 
 Marcus Burton 
 Andrew Cedarburg 
 John Dolquiet 
 Andrew Lindburg 
 
 John Ott 
 G. W. Parker 
 F. F. Philbrook 
 W. W. Raser 
 James Stewart 
 D. J. Tourley 
 Emmett Turner 
 Charles E. Turner 
 Thomas White 
 
 Nathan Williams 
 
 George Bernard, died 
 in hospital 
 
 Albert Miles 
 
 James Beston 
 
 G. W. Bracken 
 
 John R. Beveridge 
 
 Bruce Crain 
 
 A. B. Coe 
 
 Byron Coe 
 
 O. A. Cliflon 
 
 John Doyle, starved to 
 death in Anderson- 
 ville prison 
 
 J. W. Dowd, starved to 
 death in Anderson- 
 ville prison 
 
 George W. Hatten, died 
 
 in rebel prison 
 Joseph C. Johnson 
 James A. Little 
 J. H. Lowe 
 Wm. Miller 
 Henry Maybie 
 H. L. Powell 
 W. H. Rankin 
 John Ritchey 
 
 T. W. Rickell 
 
 J. S. Snyder, died in rebel 
 prison 
 
 R. O. Serene, died in An- 
 dersonville prison 
 
 R. F. Steele 
 
 Charles Tyler 
 
 F. H. Secord 
 
 Ira White 
 
 John Welch 
 
 F. F. Westerfield 
 
 Lewis Welch 
 
 I. N. Welch 
 
 Jacob Zimmerman 
 
 Milo Ward 
 
 Horatio Bacon 
 
 Geo. L. Shafer, 1st Serg't 
 Harry Fones, 2d " 
 John Gustus, 3d " 
 A.P.Lanphere,5th " 
 David Vader, 1st Corp. 
 Edw'd Cragin, 3d " 
 John Welch, 4th " 
 J. H. Gleason, 5th " 
 Geo. B. Mo wry, 7th " 
 C. R. Munson, 8th " 
 Milo D. Daily, Musician 
 Henry Lanphere, " 
 Judson M. Atwood 
 Samuel S. Barnhart 
 WilberF.Broughton 
 Thomas G. Bliss 
 Rulandus Brown 
 Charles F. Barber 
 George Bunnel 
 
 COMPANY I, GENESEO. 
 
 Myron Dilenbeck 
 Charles W. Eastman 
 Robert Gay 
 Charles T. Goss 
 Frank Gurstung 
 Wm. Griflan 
 John Hamilton 
 Cephas B. Hunt 
 Richard D. Hoffman 
 Harmon Hinkle 
 Lewis E. Hill 
 Calvin H. How 
 Sylvester Kimball 
 Swan Linquist 
 Samuel Long 
 James McClung 
 Wm. D. McGaflfee 
 Wm. Mitchell 
 John C. Marshall 
 
 Henry M. Phillips 
 James Pierce 
 Marcellus E. Preston 
 Henry M. Richard 
 Sanford W. Remington 
 Thomas J. Reynolds 
 George B. Ramsey 
 Daniel R. Riggs 
 John C. Rockwell 
 Daniel Roberts 
 Elias Rolin 
 John Shattuck 
 Eliton W. Smith 
 Peter B. Shafer 
 William Shattuck 
 August H. Shrader 
 Randolf M. States 
 Alanson D. Thomas 
 Thomas Van Buskirk 
 
30 
 
 Jacob Barnhart 
 Frederick Baser 
 Peter Coyle 
 Oric Cole 
 Joshua Cain 
 Lewis Deem 
 
 Jacob Bush, 1st Segt. 
 E.R.Pearsons, 2d " 
 S'l W. Weaver, 3d " 
 J. G. Rowland, 4tli " 
 Milton Hill, 5th " 
 Step'n Martin, 1st Corp. 
 G. L. Brackey, 2d •' 
 Adam Dunlap, 3d " 
 James S. Riggs, 4th " 
 John Murry, 5th " 
 Nathan Smith, 7th " 
 A. McMichol, Musician. 
 W. B. French, " 
 H. S. Humphrey, Wag'r. 
 John Adams 
 James Ague 
 Martin Bartlett 
 Moses Bensinger 
 Charles Baum 
 Henry J. Bucklesly 
 Job Bartlett 
 Fred Bach 
 John M. Blade 
 Jackson Biggs 
 Robert Burrons 
 George W. Buflfum 
 Michael Crile 
 Joseph Clough 
 
 Joseph Mitchell 
 "Wesley Neiswender 
 Hugh Pound 
 John B. Peterson 
 James M. Price 
 John M. Poor 
 
 COMPANY K, GENESEO. 
 
 John p. Cooper 
 George CoUis 
 Charles Crommett 
 Abram A. Christ 
 Michael Dilahenty 
 Lewis H. Determan 
 Cornelius G. Fike 
 James Pones 
 David Grant 
 Wm. Harbaugh 
 George Harbaugh 
 Wm. Hilker 
 Adam Heneger 
 Wm. T. Hoyt 
 S. Ingram 
 Henry H. Joles 
 Isaac P. Joles 
 James Kenney 
 Jesse B. Kilgere 
 John W. Kenzen 
 Frederick C. Lober 
 Mason C. Long 
 Michael Leddy 
 Joseph W. Livermore 
 Thomas McHenry 
 Adam Miller 
 Wm. Miller 
 Wm. W. McHenry 
 
 John G. White 
 Marvin Welton 
 Llewellyn Worthly 
 Thomas J. Welch 
 Joseph M. Welch 
 
 Abner Mason 
 Abraham Niswender 
 Peter John Olson 
 Gunne Opplequest 
 Lewis Peters 
 Elijah A. Pinnell 
 Andrew Peterson 
 Frank H. Rickel 
 Adam H. Raisar 
 John R. Renner 
 Samuel Straus 
 Conrad Smith 
 Michael Sweeney 
 Joseph Sneller 
 Daniel D. Shellhamer 
 Peter Shoe 
 John Seivers 
 Wm. Schull 
 Conrad Stansver 
 Amos Timmerman 
 Delos Taylor 
 Wm. A. Taylor 
 James H. Vanwinkle 
 James Wilson 
 John H. Whittel 
 Adam Whittel 
 John Wahl 
 
 3477-212 
 Un I2.1J 
 
 9TXU MBCBSKEHDS) 
 
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 016 097 873 9