The Rise of Methodism in the West

THE RISE OF METHODISM IN THE WEST WILLIAM WARREN SWEET ex QforngU MnttterHitg Hibrarg Uttfaca. Sêtn âck iTKe rûbVi&herS Cornell University Library BX8381 .W52 Rise of Methodism in the West, being the 3 1924 029 471 194 oiin Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924029471 1 94 THE RISE OF METHODISM IN THE WEST BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE WEST- ERN CONFERENCE 1800-1811 EDITED, WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION, BY WILLIAM WARREN SWEET Professor of Sistortf, DeFauiv University THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN NEW YORK CmCINNATI SMITH & LAMAR NASHVILLE DALLAS RICHMOND Copyright, 1920 BY Smith & Lamar AND The Methodist Book Concern TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND MOTHER ; PREFACE. The manuscript Journal of the old Western Conference is the property of the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has, for the past number of years, been deposited in the Library of Ohio Wesleyan Univer- sity. The Journal of the Western Conference covers nine- ty-seven pages of the manuscript volume, while the latter part of the volume is given over to the Journals of the Ohio Conference from 1812 to 1826, inclusive. None of these Journals have before been published. Unfortunately Methodism has not been careful of her historical docu- ments, and it is hoped that the appearance of this document may encourage the publication of others. In many respects the Journal of the Western Confer- ence is the most important historical document relating to the establishment of Methodism in the Mississippi Valley. The heart of Methodism lies in the Mississippi Valley; there live the bulk of her membership, there she has performed her greatest achievements, and there per- haps lies her most brilliant future. For these reasons, if for no others, the materials in this volume deserve publication. Outside of the Editor, two others have shown particular interest in this ibook, and to tihem especial thanks are due. The first is Rev. Dr. W. E. Arnold, of Fort Thomas, Ky. the second is Mr. George H. Maxwell, of Boston, whose interest in Methodist history is quite largely responsible for this publication. Geeencastle, Ind., October 2, 1919. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. INTRODUCTION. Page. Pbepace 5 Chapter I. The Coming of the Circuit Rider Over the Mountains 11 Chapteb II. The Western Conference, 1800-1811 23 Chapter III. The Frontier Circuit and the Circuit Rider 38 Chapter IV. The Circuit Rider as a Factor in Frontier Society 58 PART 11. THE JOURNAL. I. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1800 73 II. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1801 75 III. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1802 80 IV. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1803 84 V. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1804 92 VI. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1805 100 VII. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1806 110 VIII. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1807 123 IX. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1808 138 X. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1809 153 XI. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1810 173 XII. Journal of the Western Annual Conference, 1811 191 PART I. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. THE COMING OF THE CIRCUIT RIDER OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 1782-1800. The Methodist Episcopal Ohurcli dates from the Christ- mas Conference which met in Baltimore on December 27, 1784.^ The American Revolution had closed and the Treaty of Paris had just been signed. John Wesley, al- though a consistent supporter of the British during the American war and an opponent of the rebelling colonists,^ yet when the war was over was wise enough to see that it would be best for all concerned to separate the Ameri- can societies from the English Conference, and according- ly sent over to America, toward the end of 1784, Dr. Thom- as Coke and two other English preachers to supervise the organization of the new American Church. The events of the Christmas Conference are familiar to all Methodists. Francis Asbury, the only English Methodist preacher who had remained in America throuôut the Revolution, was named by Mr. Wesley as General Superintendent for the American Church. Asbury, however, refused to accept the place solely on Mr. Wesley's appointment, but only after election by the preachers. At the time of the organization of the Methodist Epis- 'Jesse Lee, "A Short History of the Methodists in the United States of America; Beginning in 1766, and Continued Till 1S09" (Baltimore, 181D), pages 69, 70, 91-93. Wesley's letter setting forth his plan for the organization of the Church in America will be found in "Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the Years 1773-1828" (New York, 1840), page 21. ^For John Wesley's attitude toward the American Revolution, see John Wesley's "Journal," Vol. "VI.; reviewed in American Historical Review, Vol. XXI., pages 346-348. 12 The Rise of Methodism in the West. copal Church there were not more than 14,000 Methodists in America. The largest proportion of the membership was in the Southern States. Between 1777 and 1783 there was but one appointment north of some parts of New Jer- sey, while during the Eevolution practically every preacher received into the ministry by the Methodists was from the South.^ Methodism as yet had made no progress in New England, though in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey it had gained a foothold and there were flour- ishing societies especially in Philadelphia and New York. After the close of the French and Indian War, in 1763, a few backwoodsmen, especially from Virginia and the Carolinas, began to find their way over the mountains into what is now Kentucky and Tennessee. First came the hunters, Daniel Boone and his kind, to be followed by Sevier and Robertson and their kind. By the outbreak of the Revolution a number of English settlements had sprung up on the Tennessee and the Cumberland, as well as in Western Virginia and the Carolinas. These fron- tiersmen took part in the War for Independence under George Rogers Clark, while their settlements, under the stress of Indian wars and dangers from frontier condi- tions, were largely self-governing and self-sustaining. Al- together it was a rude and shifting population, made up largely of game hunters and Indian fighters who had set- tled this Western region. Many of them never took per- manent root in the region, but moved on westward, farther into the wilderness, and the descendants of those who fought under Clark at Vincennes or at King's Mountain "are as likely to be found in the Rockies as in the Alle- ghenies." With the close of the Revolution the tide of westward "DeVlnne, "The Methodist Episcopal Church and Slavery," pages 11-13; also "Minutes of Conferences," Vol. I., for the years indicated. The Coming of the Circuit Rider. 13 immigration greatly increased. At first they came mostly into Kentucky, and those who now came were of a differ- ent character from the pre-Eevolutionary pioneers. These came to find homes, and were often representative of the gentry of the seaboard. The long war had left them in straitened circumstances, and now they were looking toward this new and fertile country as a means of more easily staying their impending ruin. Such was the composi- tion of the immigrants who within a dozen years following the close of the Revolution completely swamped the original settlers.* The pre-Kevolutionary pioneers had been slow to establish cultural institutions, such as schools and churches; but the new settlers brought with them their institutions, their educational and religious ideals, and it was not long after their coming until churches and schools began to spring up in the wilderness. Both the organization and doctrine of the Methodists were well suited to the frontier. The circuit system which John Wesley devised and put into operation in England was brought to America by Asbury. When Asbury came to America he was urged to settle down in the centers of population ; but he was so thoroughly saturated with Wes- ley's plan of organization that he would listen to no other.^ So Asbury himself became an itinerant preacher, as all the Methodist preachers in America in that early day. The circuit system meant that a preacher served not one community, but a whole group of communities. These circuits varied in size. In the newer countries, where settlements were much scattered and far between, they covered many square miles of territory, and the preacher occupied from four to six weeks in making the rounds of the circuit. Nor was he particular where he conducted "Theodore Roosevelt, "The Winning of the West," Vol. III., pages 63-71. i^Bzra Squire Tipple, "Francis Asbury, the Prophet Of the Long Road" (New York, 1916), page 158. li The Rise of Methodism in the West. his services; a log cabin, or the barroom of a tavern, or out under the trees—all were alike to him. He preached whenever and wherever he found any one to listen, with little regard to either time or place. Moreover, the system of lay or local preachers was one which lent itself easily to the spread of Methodism in a new country. A young man who showed any ability in public speaking was urged by the class leader and the circuit preacher to exercise his gift on every possible occasion, and when the presiding elder came around to hold the "quarterly meeting conference" the young man was recommended for an "exhort- er's" or "local preacher's" license." He did not often trav- el a circuit, but he preached in his own and neighboring communities, and in many instances was instrumental in organizing new classes in frontier settlements before the regular circuit rider or presiding elder arrived upon the scene.

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