This dissertaUon has been microfUmed exactly as received 66-15,123 PITZER, Donald Elden, 1936- PROFESSIONAL REVIVALISM IN NINETEENTH- CENTURY OHIO. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan @ DONALD ELDEN PITZER 1967 All Rights Reserved PROFESSIONAL REVIVALISM IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY OHIO DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by Donald Elden Pitzer, A.B. , M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1966 Approved by Adviser <J Department of History PREFACE Professor Henry F. May recently suggested that for the study and understanding of American culture, the recovery of American religious history may well be the most important achievement of the last thirty years. A vast and crucial area of American experience has been rescued from neglect and misunder­ standing. Puritanism, Edwardsian Calvinism, revivalism, liberal­ ism, modernism, and the social gospel have all been brought down out of the attic and put back in the historical front parlor.^ Since Ohio shared in the western origins of modern revivalism in the canç meetings of the Second Great Awakening and in each of its major develop­ ments during the nineteenth century, it is hoped that the present in­ vestigation might make some contribution to the recovery of this facet of American religious history. Until the past decade, professional revivalism rarely has been the subject of objective research. Its proponents lauded its evangelists and their methods and overestimated its impact. Its critics exaggerated its bizarre aspects and underestimated its significance. Three recent studies have marked a new departure in the analysis and evaluation of revivalism--Timothy L. Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform in Mid- Nineteenth- Century America (New York, 1957), Bernard A. Weisberger, They Gathered At the River (Boston, 1958), and William G. McLoughlin,Jr., Modern Revivalism; Charles Grandison Finney to Billy Graham (New York, 1959). Their attempt at historical accuracy and impartiality while ^Henry F. May, "The Recovery of American Religious History," The American Historical Review, LXX (October, 1964), 79. 11 analyzing the causes, expressions, and effects of revivalism from a secular rather than a theological viewpoint also has been the objective of this work. It seems obvious today that "unless Christianity is de­ pendent upon propaganda, its case is better served when historians hew 2 to this line as best they can, letting the chips fall where they may." In the course of this research into the nature and extent of professional revivalism in nineteenth century Ohio, several overriding facts have become apparent. Ohioans participated significantly in the frontier phase of the Second Great Awakening after 1798 which contribu­ ted largely to the methods, emotionalism, and theology of the revival- istic tradition. They became acquainted with itinerant evangelism in the work of Lorenzo Dow during the first decade of the century, and called for the services of nearly every other major revivalist in the years that followed. The local evangelical Protestant churches readily adopted the pattern of annual winter revival meetings and, after the Awakening of 1838, often united their efforts under the direction of professional evangelists in city-wide campaigns. Although by 1900 it became clear to many evangelicals in Ohio that revivalism had demonstra­ ted itself to be neither an effective means of reaching the masses of citizens with the gospel thereby bringing them into the churches, nor a practical method of Christianizing society either by enforcement of the blue laws or by the implementation of the ideas of the social gospel, they continued to perpetuate what had become a vital part of their re­ ligious lives into the twentieth century. 2 Timothy L. Smith, Revivalism and Social Reform In Mid- Nineteenth-Century America (New York, 1957), 10. Ill The reconstruction of the story of professional revivalism in Ohio was made possible by the availability of several principal sources of information. The biographies of the evangelists and general histo­ ries of the profession provided insight into the nature of each revival­ ist's ministry and his itinerary in Ohio. Religious periodicals published in the state, histories of Ohio counties, and local city news­ papers (most of which could be found in the collection of the Ohio Historical Society) contained the details of their Ohio campaigns. The official membership statistics of the major participating churches gave some indication of effects produced upon them by the large urban re­ vivals . To the many kind persons who aided in the research and prepara­ tion of this volume, I wish to express my sincere appreciation. Dr. Francis P. Weisenburger patiently directed the research and carefully criticized the manuscript. Numerous librarians made the investigation convenient and enjoyable by their courteous service. Of special assist­ ance were Mr. Conrad Weitzel, reference librarian of the Ohio Historical Society, Miss Jane Gatliff, reference librarian of the inter-library loan division of The Ohio State University, Mrs. Helen Dineen, assistant circulation librarian of the Ohio State Library, Miss Lelia Holloway, reference librarian of Oberlin College, Dr. Elgin S. Moyer, reference librarian of Moody Bible Institute, Mrs. Hilda Wick, assistant reference librarian of Ohio Wesleyan University, and Mrs. Jane Secor, reference librarian of Denison University. Mrs. Laura and Miss Evelyn Bohland most hospitably provided a quiet place in their home to write the manuscript. IV My wife, Mariann, was a constant source of encouragement and a tireless helper in preparing the first typed draft. VIIA. May 6, 1936 Born - Springfield, Ohio 1958 . A.B. , Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio 1959 . Teacher in Public Secondary School, Clark County, Ohio 1959 . Graduate study, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 1959-1961 . Instructor, Division of Social Sciences, Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania 1962 . M.A. , The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1963 . Teaching Assistant, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1964-1966 . Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1966 . Assistant Professor of History, Department of Social Sciences, Taylor University, Upland, Indiana FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History United States Political and Social History 1865-1900. Professor Francis P. Weisenburger The Slavery Controversy and The Post-Bellum South. Professor Henry H. Simms Latin America. Professor John J. TePaske The History of England Since 1763. Professor Philip P. Poirier The Middle Ages. Professor Franklin J. Pegues Studies in Sociology. Professor J. Eugene Haas VI CONTENTS Page PREFACE ........................................................ 11 VITA .......................................................... VI Chapter I. THE GENESIS OF PROFESSIONAL REVIVALISM IN THE UNITED STATES ................................... 1 II. REVIVALISM ON THE OHIO FRONTIER .................. 53 III. LYMAN BEECHER, CHARLES FINNEY, AND THE SOLIDIFICATION OF THE OHIO REVIVAL TRADITION ....................................... 95 IV. THE AWAKENING OF 1858 AND OHIO'S FIRST UNION CITY-WIDE REVIVALS .............................. 136 V. THE ROLE OF E. PAYSON HAMMOND IN OHIO'S EARLIEST CITY-WIDE REVIVALS .............................. 191 VI. DWIGHT L. MOODY AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LAY REVIVALISM IN O H I O ............................ .. 246 VII. OHIO REVIVALS OF THE EIGHTEEN EIGHTIES ............ 310 VIII. B. FAY MILLS AND OHIO'S LARGEST NINETEENTH CENTURY REVIVALS ................................ 396 IX. PROFESSIONAL REVIVALISM AT THE END OF THE CENTURY 460 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................. 513 Vll CHAPTER I THE GENESIS OF PROFESSIONAL REVIVALISM IN THE UNITED STATES When Jonathan Edwards reflected upon the cause of the First Great Awakening which had begun in his Northampton, Massachusetts, con­ gregation in December, 1734, he could only conclude: This work, that has lately been carried on in the land, is the work of God, and not the work of man. Its beginning has not been of man's power or device, and its being carried on de­ pends not on our strength or wisdom . However, a century later, when Charles Grandison Finney assessed the re­ vivals of religion in which he had participated from 1825 to 1835, he concluded that "a revival is the result of the right use of the appro­ priate means" and "is not a miracle, or dependent on a miracle, in any 2 sense." "It is something for man to do." The divergent views on causation taken by these two famous re­ vival figures are indicative of the motivating forces behind the two 3 types of religious revivals which have been experienced in America. ^Jonathan Edwards, The Works of President Edwards, 4 vols. , Worcester edition (8th ed., New York, 1843), III, 333. 2 Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (Boston, 1848), 9, 12. 3 Calvin Colton, History and Character of American Revivals of Religion (London, 1832), 2-15, 30ff. As a contemporary of Finney, Colton recognized a difference between the Edwardsean revivals in which the human instrumentalities were not obvious and the revivals from 1810 to 1835 in which they were. 2 The first type has been distinguished as the "great awakening." Great awakenings are widespread and basically spontaneous