Thirty Years in the Itinerancy by Wesson Gage Miller

W >> Wesson Gage Miller >> Thirty Years in the Itinerancy

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

Four schools were organized, in which twenty teachers were employed, and
six languages were used in the various studies. When the schools were
first started not two natives in the District could speak English, but
after six years nearly six hundred had been taught in the schools to
both read and speak it. Regular services in the Chapel, such as
preaching, Sunday School, class and prayer meetings, were held in the
Urdu language for the native Christian Church. Brother Hauser also
conducted the Church of England service each Sabbath morning for five
years, for the few English residents stationed there, as they had
no Chaplain.

Besides studying the several languages of the country, preaching in the
bazaars and other public places to tens of thousands of people,
instructing the native preachers and teachers, looking after and giving
employment to the native Christians, he was appointed by the Publishing
Committee of the Mission to translate the Discipline into the Urdu
language, having the honor of making the first translation of that book
into any Eastern tongue. But in the midst of his labors, sickness fell
upon himself and family. Diptheria attacked himself, his wife, and two
of his children. One little girl died of that disease, and shortly
after another from fever. Brother Hauser's throat became seriously
affected, and he was compelled to retire from the work. With his family,
he made a tour of several months through the Himalaya Mountains, to
within eight miles of the borders of Thibet. In this tour he was not
unfrequently twenty thousand feet above the sea, but failing to recover
his health, he, in 1868, returned to the United States, after an absence
of eight years.

Since his return, he has devoted his labor to the publication of the
Christian Statesman, the only Protestant religious paper published in
Wisconsin. Being undenominational, the paper, patronized by all the
Protestant Churches, has attained a wide circulation. Brother Hauser is
a man of great energy, and is doing a grand work for the Churches of
Wisconsin.

Mrs. Hauser is a lady of very superior talent. In their Mission field
she took her full share of the work, and since her return, she has not
only been one of the best contributors to the Statesman, but has largely
identified herself with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society work in
the State. Both on the platform, and in the general work of the Society,
she holds a high rank. And in addition to this work, she is now
preparing a volume of sketches of Women in Heathen Lands.

At the close of the preceding year, the Summerfield Quarterly Conference
requested my appointment to the Pastorate of that station. The Bishop at
first was inclined to grant the request, but finally came to the
conclusion that I ought to remain on the District. This left the charge
to be supplied, and I secured the services of Rev. J.E. Wilson, then of
Ohio, but who had formerly served Milwaukee, as stated in a
preceding chapter.

Summerfield was just in the midst of her financial embarrassment. The
indebtedness was about fifteen thousand dollars, and threatened to
overwhelm the charge. But the good brethren were steadfast, and through
great labor and sacrifice, aided by Rev. S.C. Thomas, succeeded in
meeting their obligations. Brother Wilson rendered effective service,
but at the close of the year returned to his home in Ohio.

Rev. J.C. Robbins was appointed this year to the Spring Street Station.
Brother Robbins entered the North Indiana Conference in 1844. His
appointments were Winchester, Plymouth, Clinton, Hagerstown,
Williamsburg, Knightstown, Doublin and Lewisville. He was transferred to
the Wisconsin Conference in 1855, and stationed at North Ward, Fond du
Lac. His subsequent appointments were Waupun, Berlin and Empire. The
year opened finely, and during the winter Brother Robbins held a
protracted meeting, which resulted in the conversion of many souls. But
the Society met with a severe loss this year, in the destruction of
their Church by fire.

Brother Robbins remained a second year at Spring Street, and again
enjoyed a good revival. After leaving the city, he has been stationed at
Racine, Waukesha, Sheboygan Falls, Waupun, Berlin, Green Bay, Hart
Prairie, Sharon and Footville. At the present writing, he is at the last
named place, seeking to gather sheaves for the Master.

This year intense excitement prevailed throughout the country. The
Presidential election, which placed Abraham Lincoln at the head of our
national affairs, occurred in November. And during the following months,
the rebellion was taking form in the Southern States, but did not
culminate in open rupture until the middle of April. But before stating
the position of the Conference and Church in the pending struggle, it
will be proper to refer to the causes which produced the conflict.

In the settlement of the United States, two distinct types of society
planted themselves in the two great centres of the Atlantic Coast. The
one made New England the theater of development, and the other the
Eastern cordon of the Southern States. From the first center, the
population moved westward through New York, Pennsylvania, and the
Prairie States, to the Mississippi. From the other, the settlements
extended through the savannahs of the South to the Gulf.

The emigrants in the North were mainly those who came to the Western
world to find an asylum from the religious persecutions to which they
had been subjected at home. In the South, society was largely
established under the sanctions of royalty. These two facts will account
for the radical differences existing between the people of the two
sections. In the North, society very naturally accepted the political
doctrines of personal equality and universal freedom. In the South, the
people as naturally adhered to their aristocratic ideas, and held to the
doctrine of privileged classes.

The two types of society, thus placed side by side, were now given an
open field, in which the contest for supremacy could not long be
delayed. In geographical position, it would seem that the advantage was
decidedly with the South. And the same may be said of the patronage
bestowed by the home governments. But notwithstanding the high mountain
ranges, the deep forests, and the sterile coasts of New England, her
people cut their way through every obstacle, and soon stood face to face
with their aristocratic neighbors. A collision of ideas was now
inevitable. The South, quick to discover the unheralded force of Yankee
character, took the alarm and declared that "Mason and Dixon's line"
should divide between her and her neighbor. Here was deposited the first
egg in the nest, from which has been hatched the terrible brood of
vipers which, under the name of "State Rights," has involved the country
in a most desolating war. It was on this line that Calhoun planted his
standard when he sought to inflame the South against the North. And it
was on this fatal line that his followers, thirty years after, sought to
overturn the decisions of the ballot-box, and establish a Southern
Confederacy. With what result, the record of the conflict affords
an answer.

On the 13th of April, 1861, the rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter, and
on the 14th Major Anderson and his brave men were compelled to surrender
their stronghold. As the news of this attack and surrender swept along
the telegraphic wires throughout the North, a most intense patriotism
awoke in the heart of every loyal citizen. The people assembled on the
corners of the streets, in halls, in places of business, and in short,
at every convenient place of resort, to discuss the situation, and feed
the flames of patriotism. Everywhere men and money were offered to
support the government, without stint. The press teemed with burning
words, and the pulpit was outspoken in characterizing the rebellion and
vindicating the government.

The writer was in Milwaukee when the news of the surrender of Fort
Sumter reached the city. On Sabbath, April 21st, I preached a sermon,
from which the following extract is taken. I quote from Rev. Mr. Love's
"History of Wisconsin in the War."

"But, Ladies and Gentlemen, the war is inevitable. Its coming
may be hastened or retarded by the shaping of events during
the next thirty days, but that war is upon us, and a civil
war, of a most frightful character and most alarming
proportions, is to my mind no longer a question. You can no
more prevent it than you can stay the leaping floods of
Niagara, or ¸quench the king of day in the palm of your hand.
It is the legitimate offspring of an 'irrepressible conflict'
of ideas as antagonistic as light and darkness, as
diametrically opposed to each other as right and wrong, truth
and error. The Bible declaration, that God hath made of one
blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the
earth, so beautifully set forth in our Declaration of
Independence, and teaching the great lesson of universal
equality and universal freedom, forms the corner-stone of our
institutions. But a plague spot is found in the opposing
doctrine of caste and privileged classes, which finds
illustration in American slavery. This war of principles has
already culminated in a collision at Fort Sumter, and it
would be contrary to all history to arrest the tide of war at
this stage. The antagonism is too direct, and the conflict
too heated to quench the flame till rivers of blood shall
pass over it. The act of the South in firing on Sumter is
none other than a rebellion, and that of the most inexcusable
and wicked character, against the best government on earth;
and I am free to confess that I am filled with horror when I
contemplate the result of this suicidal act on their part, an
act that must lead to years of war, as far as human ken can
see, and the most fearful desolations in its train. But,
gentlemen, there is no alternative. The glove is thrown to
us, and we must accept it. If our principles are right, and
we believe they are, we would be unworthy of our noble
paternity if we were to shrink from the issue. Let there,
then, be no shrinking from the contest. The battle is for
human liberty, and it were better that every man should go
down, and every dollar be sacrificed, than that we should
transmit to the coming millions of this land other than a
legacy of freedom. Were it not that good men have gone down
into the dust and smoke of the battle, there would not be
to-day a government on the face of the globe under which a
good man could well live. And since God in his Providence has
brought us to this hour, I trust that by his help we shall
not prove unworthy of the trust--the noblest ever given to
man--committed to our keeping. There can be no question as to
the result. We shall triumph, and with the triumph we shall
win a glorious national destiny."

The next Conference session was held in Fond du Lac Sept. 18, 1861,
Bishop Baker presiding. The session was one of unusual excitement. The
war had been begun, the terrible Bull Run defeat had occurred, and
already seven regiments of our brave boys had gone to the front. And
with the seventh, one of our own members, Rev. S.L. Brown, had gone as
Chaplain, while several others were either in the ranks or looking in
the same direction. In the matter of furnishing men, Wisconsin was
already ahead of the call made upon her, but such was the devotion of
her people to the Old Flag, that ten other regiments could have been
sent during the year.

At this session, the Conference adopted a very able Report, written by
Rev. J.H. Jenne, on the state of the country, showing a deep interest in
the issue before the Nation, and pledging her unwavering support to the
Government.

Brother Jenne entered the traveling connection in Maine, and came to the
Wisconsin Conference by transfer in 1856. His first appointment was
Agent of the Lawrence University. His next appointment was Presiding
Elder of Appleton District, where he remained four years. His subsequent
appointments have been Janesville, Janesville District, Lake Mills, Hart
Prairie, Allen's Grove, Union Grove, Lyons, and Waupun. At the present
writing he is on his second year at the last named place.

Brother Jenne is an able Minister of the New Testament. He is a man of
large brain and profound research. Well versed in all the questions of
the day, as well as in the writings of the Fathers, he is able to
furnish a high standard of pulpit labor. He is a, true man, has a genial
spirit, and to persons who can strike his plane of thought he is
companionable.

At this Conference I was returned to the District for a fourth year,
and Rev. S.C. Thomas was appointed to the Summerfield Church.

Brother Thomas entered the Erie Conference in 1842, and, before coming
to Wisconsin by transfer in 1851, had been stationed at Conneautville,
Geneva, Ravenna, Willoughby, and Fredonia, besides serving two years as
Agent of the Alleghany College. After coming to Wisconsin, he had served
Spring Street, Platteville, Jackson Street, and had been Agent of the
Lawrence University for five years. He now remained two years at
Summerfield, when he returned again to the Agency of the University. In
1864 he was made Presiding Elder of the Milwaukee District, where he
remained four years. He next served four years as Presiding Elder of the
Janesville District, when he was appointed to Fort Atkinson. At the
present writing he is at Lyons. This outline completes a record of
nearly a quarter of a century of labor in Wisconsin.

Brother Thomas is a man of good business habits, a careful
administrator, and a good Preacher. He loves the theology and economy of
the Church for which he has so long expended his energies. He is wise in
counsel, closely attentive to all the trusts committed to his keeping,
and has a host of friends.

Rev. George C. Haddock, Pastor at Waukesha, was received into the
Conference the previous year, had been at Port Washington one year,
where he had been a supply a part of the previous year, and was now
appointed to Waukesha. He remained two years, and did a good work.
During the first year, the new stone Church was built in the place of
the old frame building that had been burned during the former year. And
during the winter following, the charge was blessed with a good revival,
and among the fruits gathered into the Church, was our second daughter,
then ten years of age.

After leaving Waukesha, Brother Haddock's appointments have been
Clinton, Oshkosh, Ripon, Appleton, Division Street, Fond du Lac; Fond du
Lac District, and Racine, where he is laboring at this writing.

Brother Haddock is a man of mark. Early in life he acquired the
printer's trade, and subsequently devoted several years to the business
of editing and publishing secular papers. Soon after his conversion he
entered the Ministry, and in less than two years he was received into
the Conference. During the fifteen years of his connection with the
Conference, he has been an earnest and successful laborer, making full
proof of his Ministry. Brother Haddock has a large intellectual
development, a warm heart, an eloquent tongue, and an intense spiritual
activity. What he does must be done at once, and done thoroughly. He has
an ardent hatred of shams, and despises all clap-trap. Both in sermons
and debate, he strikes home, and woe be to the luckless pate that has
the temerity to dash under his well-aimed strokes. And yet under all
this seeming severity, there dwells a spirit as kind and manly as ever
throbbed in a human bosom.

During this, the closing year of my term on the District, my labors were
very extended. Besides the regular duties of a large District, I added
that of aiding in raising regiments for the war. At all suitable times
and places, I held war meetings, as they were called, and addressed the
people, often finding immense crowds congregated in groves and other
convenient localities.

It was in connection with these services that I was nominated for the
Colonelcy of a religious regiment, to be raised out of the Churches of
the city. But such were my responsibilities at home, where the
Government needed all the support it could obtain, it was deemed
inadvisable for me to accept. And on further thought it was considered
better for the service to avoid such distinctive organizations.

During my term on the District, the annual Camp Meeting at Brookfield
greatly prospered. Permanent tents were erected, and the Meeting gave
considerable promise of stability. And on these grounds from year to
year many persons, were brought into the liberty of the Gospel.

CHAPTER XXI.

Conference of 1862.--The War.--Position of the Conference.--Rev. J.M.
Snow.--Appointed again to Spring Street.--Dr. Bowman.--Changes.--Rev.
P.S. Bennett.--Rev. C.S. Macreading.--Official Board.-The New Church
Enterprise.--Juvenile Missionary Society.--Conference of 1863.--Rev.
P.B. Pease.--Rev. George Fellows.--Rev. Samuel Fallows.--Rev. R.B.
Curtis.--Rev. D.H. Muller.--Third Year.--Pastoral Work.--Revival. Visit
to the Army.--Illness.--Close of Term.

The Conference of 1862 was held Oct. 1st at Kenosha, Bishop Janes
presiding. The country was now in the full tide of war. During the year
several members of the Conference had gone out as Chaplains, Rev. H.C.
Tilton with the Thirteenth Regiment, Rev. C.D. Pillsbury with the
Twenty-Second, and Rev. Samuel Fallows with the Thirty-Second.

This was the hour for brave words, and the Wisconsin Conference had them
to give. Nor was it in words alone that she was prepared to sustain the
Government. Such was the patriotism of the body that her ranks might
have been seriously depleted at any time, if it could have been done
with safety to the interests of the country. But it was conceded that
the Government must now have a vigorous support at home. Partisan
feeling in the late canvass had greatly demoralized the people, and a
strong moral influence was needed to rightly shape the tone of public
sentiment. In fact, it was necessary throughout the struggle that the
Churches, under the lead of the clergy, should act the part of Aaron and
Hur, in sustaining the Government.

The Report adopted by the Conference on the state of the country gave
no uncertain expression of sentiment. Assuming the position dictated by
the most lofty patriotism, she pledged the country an unwavering support
until the flag of the Commonwealth should again wave in peaceful triumph
over the entire land. Recognizing human freedom as the issue in the
conflict, she deemed it alike the duty of the citizen and the Christian
to prosecute the war.

At this Conference the death of Rev. Jonathan M. Snow was announced, and
his obituary placed upon the Minutes. Brother Snow, after spending a
short time in Racine, entered the Illinois Conference in 1838. His
appointments were Elgin, Princeton, Mount Morris, Geneva, Washington,
Sylvania, Troy, Janesville, Mineral Point and Madison. At the close of
his labors at Madison, in 1852, he retired from the active work, but in
1859, he was re-admitted and granted a superannuated relation. Brother
Snow was a decisive man, earnest, energetic and persevering. He
performed his full share of pioneer work, and deserves an honorable
mention among the Fathers of the Conference,

In compliance with the request of the Spring Street Station, Milwaukee,
I was this year appointed to its Pastorate, my term on the District
having expired. At the earliest possible moment, I entered upon the work
of my new field. But at the opening of the year we were called to pass
under a cloud. I refer to the death of Dr. Bowman, the father of Mrs.
Miller. The Doctor had been compelled, through illness, to surrender his
practice in Iowa, and had now been with us three years. His death was
peaceful, and his assurance triumphant.

Dr. Bowman came to Wisconsin in 1840, residing, as we have seen, first
at Troy, and subsequently at Waupun. In early life he was a skeptic, and
continued in unbelief, until after his elevation to a Judgeship in
Michigan. He was converted through the influence of his wife, and united
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Distinguished in his profession,
reliable in his religious convictions, and devoted to the Church, he was
an arm of strength to the cause in its early struggles in the West.

During the interval since my former Pastorate in 1851 and the present,
various changes had occurred at Spring Street. The Society had lost two
Churches by fire, and Summerfield charge had been formed. The successive
Pastors had been Revs. S.C. Thomas, Chauncey Hobart, P.S. Bennett,
Milton Rowley, C.S. Macreading, E. Robinson, J.M. Walker, and J.C.
Robbins. To several of them reference has been made in former chapters.
We will now refer to others.

Rev. P.S. Bennett entered the Black River Conference in 1838, and
remained a member of that body until 1849, when he was transferred to
the Wisconsin Conference. Among the several charges he filled in his old
Conference, were Norfolk, Bangor, Brownville, Salina, Cleveland, Van
Buren and Red Creek. In Wisconsin he had been stationed at Platteville,
Beloit, and Waukesha.

After leaving Spring Street, he was made Presiding Elder of the
Milwaukee District, where he remained four years. His subsequent
appointments were Racine, Appleton, Agent of Lawrence University, Green
Bay, and Appleton District. At the close of his term on this District,
he retired from active labor, having given to the Church a long,
devoted, and efficient service.

Brother Bennett is well read in the literature of the Church, and loves
her doctrines with a "true heart, fervently." During his active labor he
was faithful to every trust confided to his keeping, was a good Pastor
and a successful Presiding Elder. And at the present time, it needs only
an attack upon the doctrines or usages of the Church to bring him to the
front in their defence. He is emphatically a true man.

Rev. C.S. Macreading came from New England, where he had held leading
appointments in the Providence and New England Conferences for many
years. He had located, and had come West, seeking a field of labor.
Coming to Milwaukee, he found the charge vacant, by the removal of the
former Pastor on account of affliction in his family, and was employed
by the Elder. He served his full term, and at its close the people were
reluctant to part with him.

Brother Macreading was a man of superior preaching talent; had an
earnest spirit, and a warm heart. At Spring Street, the Lord greatly
blessed his labors in the conversion of souls, several of whom remain to
this day to bless the Church with their wise counsel and
devoted services.

In entering upon the labor of the year, it was my first concern to
retrieve, if possible, the disaster which had befallen the Society in
the loss of the Church. But to do this, it was deemed important to put
every branch of the work in the best possible condition. In this
endeavor I had the earnest co-operation of the Official Board, composed
at this time of Rev. T.T. Greenwood, Rev. Edwin Hyde, and Messrs. John
H. Van Dyke, J.B. Judson, A.J.W. Pierce, Walter Lacy, Cornelius Morse,
Daniel Petrie, Jonathan Crouch, James Seville, H.W. Goodall, Thomas
Greenwood, O.H. Earl, J.R. Cocup, James Cherry, and Lawrence Harrison.

The spiritual condition of the Society was excellent, and the class and
prayer meetings were in a flourishing condition. The next thing to be
done was to organize the financial department. In doing this I submitted
a new plan, called the "Card System," for raising the current expenses.
The plan provided for monthly payments, and was operated through the use
of cards. These were so prepared as to contain a subscription on one
side, and rulings for entering the payments monthly on the other. The
subscriptions were to be made at the beginning of the year, and each
subscriber was expected to hand to the collector the several amounts
promptly. The plan worked admirably, and placed the finances in a
healthy condition.

During the winter we held a series of meetings, which resulted in a
considerable accession to the membership. But this success was only
preparatory to the Church enterprise before us. The hall that had been
used as a chapel was small and inconveniently located. Better
accommodations must be had. By the middle of the year the necessity
became so urgent that the Pastor could hardly preach, pray or visit
without making this subject his principal theme. Finding that the
financial basis was quite limited, it was decided to erect a business
block, thereby providing for a subsequent income, should the enterprise
entail an indebtedness upon the Society. The precaution, however, was
unnecessary, as the unparalleled liberality of the people not only met
the demands of the enterprise, but provided for a former indebtedness.
Ground was broken for the new edifice on the fifteenth day of July, and
the Church was dedicated by Rev. Dr. Eddy on the twenty-third of January
following.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21