CHAPTER XXIII. SECOND ANNUAL TOUR—WESTERN AND SOUTHERN CONFERENCE.

The relation of my first annual tour with Asbury has convinced the reader that the office of a bishop was then no sinecure, and that his traveling companion had something more to do than play the gentleman. It indeed was toil, intense toil, as much so as soul and body could bear. During the tour I visited all the conferences, and preached the Gospel in fifteen states, and became acquainted with the great men of Methodism in the ministry and laity, East, West, North, and South.

Never was a mariner, after a perilous voyage, more rejoiced to get into harbor than we were to reach the old family mansion of my father. We arrived there on Friday, July 28, 1809, but both my parents were from home, therefore Mr. Asbury concluded he would go right on, and I got a friend to go with him a distance, while I went to see my parents. I could not bear the thought of being gone ten months without having an interview with them before I left. They were infirm and I might never see them again. I went to a camp-meeting near Morgantown, where I met my parents, and they embraced me with joy. I had been in seven different states besides the Province of Maine since I saw them.

Mr. Asbury wrote: “On Friday a thirty mile ride brought us to Martin Boehm’s. Delightful rest! but it may not be so.” The next morning found him on his way to Lancaster. At the camp-meeting I heard my father preach from Luke on the Gospel Supper. He preached in German; I immediately after in English.

Sabbath was a great day. James Smith preached in the morning on the peculiar doctrines of Methodism, in opposition to antinomianism; I at noon from Isaiah xxxii, 17; then Thomas Burch. The next day I went home with my parents, remained a few hours, and then bade them farewell till the next spring.

My next business was to overtake Mr. Asbury, who had gone on, waiting for no one. I did not overtake him till the third of August at James Hunter’s, Fort Littleton. I found him in a sad plight. He was not able to stand, preach, kneel, or pray. He had needed both a traveling companion and a nurse. Suffering from rheumatism, he had applied several blisters to relieve him. He had put them on too strong, and the remedy was worse than the disease. Camp-meetings he still zealously engaged in, and said, “We must attend to them; they make our harvest times.”

In crossing the Alleghanies we were in great danger, and came near being dashed in pieces, but were providentially preserved. Mr. Asbury wrote: “The hand of God was manifested to-day in saving man and horse from wreck; the danger appeared exceeding great.” At Berlin the German Presbyterian minister caused the church-bell to be rung, and Mr. Asbury says: “Brother Boehm preached to them in high Dutch.”

On Tuesday the 8th we rode thirty miles in a heavy mountain rain, and were dripping wet. We put up with a German. Mr. Asbury says: “We called a meeting, and our exercises were in German. We gave away religious tracts, German and English. We have disposed of many thousands of these; it is our duty to do good in every possible way.” We were pioneers in circulating tracts. The German tracts were those I had published in Lancaster. I preached in the German language every day, and often in German and English at the same time. On Saturday we reached Pike Run camp-meeting. Here to our great joy we met Bishop M’Kendree.

On Sunday morning I preached at eight o’clock on the profitableness of godliness. Bishop Asbury preached at eleven, from 2 Cor. v, 20, on the dignity and employment of the embassadors of Christ. The grove rang with his deep-toned voice. Bishop M’Kendree preached at two o’clock from Deut. xxx, 19, “I call heaven and earth to record,” etc. I wrote: “The work of God is progressing mightily among sinners, mourners, backsliders, and believers.” The work went on until after midnight. It then began to rain, and continued until next day about noon, when I preached on Matt. xi, 28, 29, to the weary and heavy laden, for there were many such on the ground. At three o’clock Bishop M’Kendree preached again from 1 Cor. xiii, 13, on faith, hope, and charity. Such a time of power has seldom been witnessed. I wrote: “The cries of mourners, prayers, shouting, rejoicing, etc., were the uninterrupted exercises until after midnight. Some that were the companions of drunkards and persecutors in the first part of the meeting now swelled the number of mourners. Glory Halleluiah! The Lord’s supper was administered on Tuesday, after which Bishop Asbury delivered a profitable lecture.” He wrote: “It appears the bishops will hold a camp-meeting in every district. We are encouraged so to do. Great power was manifested here, and much good was done. I will not say how I felt or how near heaven.” Bishop M’Kendree preached four times at this meeting.

On Wednesday the 6th to Brightwell’s, Philip Smith’s, and then en route for Pittsburgh. On Thursday the cross-bar of that old sulky broke and brought us up all standing. I do not wonder Jacob Gruber could not bear a sulky. He thought they were sulky enough.

On Friday evening we reached Pittsburgh, and stopped at Brother John Wrenshall’s. I preached at Thomas Cooper’s on Friday and Saturday evenings. On Sunday Bishop Asbury preached at Brother Cooper’s at eight o’clock from Titus ii, 11-14. At twelve I preached in German in the same house from Rom. x, 12. Some felt the force and spirituality of the word. I closed by giving the substance of the discourse in English. My heart was much enlarged.

Bishop Asbury being invited to preach in the elegant Presbyterian church, did so at three o’clock from 2 Cor. v, 11, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men,” etc. Five hundred listened to his solemn persuasions. At six I preached in Brother Wrenshall’s yard to about three hundred attentive hearers from Heb. ii, 1.

On we journeyed to Zanesville, where I preached in the Court-house, as we had no house of worship there then. In New Lancaster I preached in German, and Robert Cloud exhorted after me. This is the man who was so useful in the East, and who was once under a cloud; but he was doing better, and the sun was once more shining upon him. He had a son, Caleb W. Cloud, a very good preacher, a member of the Western Conference.

We went to Chillicothe, and were made welcome at Dr. Edward Tiffin’s; then to Deer Creek, at White Brown’s. Here I saw Stephen Simmons, who used to travel our circuit in Lancaster County. He had located and married the daughter of White Brown. On Wednesday we reached Peter Pelham’s. I preached in German almost every day through this part of Ohio.

On Saturday, September 23, we reached one of Bishop Asbury’s best homes, that of one of his dearest friends, Philip Gatch. While the bishop rested there I took a tour among the Germans. Some of them had not heard preaching in their own tongue since they left their native land. Tears flowed from many eyes, and they heard with delight the word of life. What has God wrought since among the Germans!⁠[25]

On the 28th we reached Cincinnati, the seat of the Western Conference.

FIRST CONFERENCE IN CINCINNATI.

On Saturday, September 30, 1809, the Western Conference commenced its session in Cincinnati. This was the first conference held in what has since become the Queen City of the West. We were kindly entertained by Oliver Spencer, Esq. When a boy he was taken captive by the Indians, and his early history is full of wild romance and sober truth.

There were some splendid men at this conference, who were destined, under God, to lay the foundations of Methodism in what is now the mighty West. I heard some excellent preaching here. The evening before conference began I heard Miles Harper on “Set thine house in order,” etc. He was one of their strong men. I preached on Saturday from John i, 11, 12, and Brother Lakin exhorted. The Lord was eminently nigh. Several souls professed to find the Lord in the pardon of their sins.

The Lord’s day was a high day in Zion. We had four sermons. The first from Learner Blackman on Judges iii, 20, “I have a message from God unto thee.” It was a message of light and truth and power. At noon Bishop M’Kendree preached on a favorite subject, Prov. i, 23, “Turn you at my reproof,” etc. At three William Burke on 1 John i, 9, “If we confess our sins,” etc. A mighty preacher was William Burke in his palmy days. He wielded a tremendous power in the pulpit, and in the conference he was then the master-spirit. In the evening Caleb W. Cloud preached from the same text I had taken the evening before. This was a day of feasting for my soul and many others.

On Monday James Quinn preached at noon from Heb. xxiv, 26 on Moses’s choice and Moses’s reward. A wonderful man was James Quinn when he got the baptism of power. I wrote, “The Lord is with us both in the conference and the congregation.” On Tuesday at noon Bishop Asbury preached an ordination sermon from Titus ii, 7, 8, “In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works.” It was a most impressive discourse, and was owned of God. At noon on Wednesday Bishop M’Kendree preached on faith, hope, and charity. Our souls were richly fed with celestial manna. At night Daniel Hitt, the book agent, preached on “Pray for us, that the word of God may have free course,” etc. On Thursday I preached at noon from Matt. v, 20; on Friday William Burke preached from Isaiah xl, 1, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God;” a sermon full of consolation. James Quinn preached at night.

On Saturday Samuel Parker preached at noon from 1 John i, 3, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,” etc. This was an eloquent discourse, delivered in the sweetest spirit, making a powerful impression. He presented some fine thoughts on our union with the Father and the Son, and that all the divine attributes are engaged for our good; also the blessed effects of fellowship with the people of God.

On Sunday, the 8th, Bishop Asbury preached in the morning at nine, Learner Blackman in the afternoon at three, and Samuel Parker in the evening. The sermons were all good, but Samuel Parker’s excelled. His text was Phil. iii, 10, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Over fifty years have passed away since I heard him, and yet the image of the eloquent Parker is before me, and I remember with what overwhelming pathos he dwelt on the “fellowship of his sufferings.” The word ran through the audience like electricity, tears flowed, and shouts were heard. It was a most appropriate sermon for the last before the conference adjourned. It prepared the ministers for the work of suffering with their Lord if they would reign with him.

Bishop Asbury then delivered to the Methodists in Cincinnati a farewell address, which was not only able and ingenious, but truly affecting. We had spent two Sabbaths there, and on the morrow were to take our departure. I heard fifteen sermons at this conference from the master minds of the West, men who were giving tone and character to Methodism through all that vast region. The bishop does not name a text or theme that any of the ministers used at that conference; mine may be the only record there is. To the Methodists in Cincinnati, where so many conferences have since been held, it may be of interest to know the ministers who preached at the first conference there, and the texts they used on the occasion.

Seventeen were admitted on trial at this conference, among whom were Moses Crume and William Winans. The latter became a giant in the south and south-west. Eight elders were ordained, among others Samuel Parker, John Collins, Miles Harper, and Peter Cartwright. These were mighty men. Peter Cartwright is the only one living.

Three of the prominent ministers in this conference were from New Jersey: Parker, Blackman, and Collins. John Collins did wonders for Methodism in the West. His life, abounding with thrilling incidents, has been written by the late Judge M’Lean, to which I refer the reader.

Samuel Parker has been called the Cicero of the West. He was born in 1774, and early learned the business of a cabinet-maker. At the age of fourteen he gave his heart to the Saviour. In 1805 he joined the itinerancy, and after being in the work fifteen years, fell at his post. He volunteered to go to Mississippi, and died there of consumption in December, 1819, and was buried near Washington in that State. His name at the West will ever be fragrant. William Winans was deeply indebted to him, loving him as a father, for Mr. Parker was his counselor and friend, and gave him his first license to preach. There was nothing prepossessing in his appearance; his face was very thin, and his countenance dull, till he became animated with the truths he preached. His voice was uncommonly melodious; it was soft, rich, sweet. He was a very superior singer; but it was as a pulpit orator he excelled, and will long be remembered.

EPISCOPAL TOUR FROM CINCINNATI TO SOUTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE.

With regret we bade farewell to our kind friends in Cincinnati and started for the South Carolina Conference, several of the preachers with us. We entered Kentucky on Tuesday, and at midnight the bishop called us up, and we traveled twenty-five miles to Mount Gerizim, where he had an appointment. Bishop M’Kendree here preached a sweet sermon from “Is it well with thee?” He used to inquire of his dying sister, Frances Moore, whom I knew very well, “Is it well with thee?” and when he was himself on his deathbed he exclaimed, “All is well.” Bishop Asbury preached from “Suffer the word of exhortation,” and then ordained a person.

On Thursday we reached Martin’s meeting-house, called so from Major Martin, with whom we stayed; sometimes it was called “Ebenezer.” Bishop Asbury preached from Psalm lxxxv, 1-9. The reader will recollect what I have said about the bishop liking a long text.

There had been considerable excitement among the local preachers in this part of the country on the subject of ordination. The bishops had a number of them convened here by previous appointment, and they held what Bishop Asbury called a “Conciliatory Conference.”

The next day, at the same place, Bishop M’Kendree preached a characteristic sermon from “He that endureth to the end;” then I held forth, then Daniel Hitt, then Bishop Asbury. He says, “I embraced various subjects in my exhortation.” It was a very able address on the qualifications and duties of ministers. We rode a number of miles the next morning before breakfast, and there Bishop M’Kendree left us for Cumberland, accompanied by Thomas Lasley, who was his traveling companion.⁠[26] We forded the Kentucky and came to John Bennett’s, a very fine man and family, having a meeting-house called after him. On Sabbath the bishop preached at Bennett’s meeting-house on John iii, 19, 20.

We left Kentucky and entered Tennessee, crossing rivers and climbing mountains. Can we wonder the bishop wrote: “My mind and body have had no small exercise in bringing my stiff-jointed horse over the rocks and rough and deep roads.”

Crossing the French Broad, we reached Barnett’s Tavern. The old landlord was very sick and like to die. The bishop, who was a physician when necessary, always carrying medicine with him, gave Mr. Barnett a dose that almost instantly relieved him, and he fell asleep. He was so thankful he would receive nothing for our entertainment. The bishop writes: “Eight times within nine years have I crossed these Alps.” Well might he call those high mountains the Alps. Never can I forget the toils over those mountains, rocks, hills, stumps, trees, streams, awful roads, and dangerous passes.

We crossed to Buncombe, North Carolina, preaching every day. In South Carolina we attended a number of quarterly meetings with that excellent man of God, long since gone to his rest, Lewis Myers.

There were glorious revivals through the South this year, and the bishop’s soul greatly rejoiced. He wrote: “Great news, great times in Georgia; rich and poor coming to Christ.” Again: “The Methodists have great success on Camden District; surely there must be some good done; all are on fire, and I feel the flame! God is with preachers and people.”

On Tuesday, November 21, we stayed with William Gassoway, a noble old preacher, universally esteemed. He joined as early as 1788. He was William Capers’s first colleague. We had a very severe snow-storm. It was cold and chilly, and we reached Waxsaw and put up with Robert Hancock. Almost every prominent Methodist man had a meeting-house named after him: so we had a “Hancock Chapel.” On Saturday I preached in this chapel on John xiii, 35, and Brother William Capers followed with a charming exhortation. The bishop preached the next day in the chapel. “The next day on the south side of the Catawba river, piloted by Brother William Capers, who is a promising young man about twenty.” So I wrote over fifty years ago. We had a delightful interview with Capers at Robert Hancock’s, as well as the privilege of traveling with him many days. William Capers, in his Autobiography, (pp. 113-115,) has described what took place at Robert Hancock’s, and made such honorable mention of Bishop Asbury and his traveling companion that I transcribe it for my work now the writer is in his grave:

“At the close of the year 1809 Bishop Asbury passed through my circuit on his way to conference, and it was arranged for me to meet him at Waxsaw, (General Jackson’s birthplace,) and attend him along a somewhat circuitous route to Camden. I met him at the house of that most estimable man and worthy local preacher, Robert Hancock, who had been more than a friend to me, even a father, from the beginning. The bishop was then accompanied by the Rev. Henry Boehm as his traveling companion, so long afterward known in the Philadelphia Conference as one of the purest and best of Methodist ministers, and whose society I found to be as ‘the dew of Hermon.’ This was the last of my itinerant year on the Wateree Circuit; and as I have had quite enough of the disagreeable in my account of it, I will end the chapter (perhaps more to your liking) with an anecdote of my first night and last night on the trip with the bishop. I met him when a heavy snow had just fallen, and the north-west wind blowing hard made it extremely cold. The snow had not been expected, and our host was out of wood, so that we had to use what had been picked up from under the snow, and was damp and incombustible. Our bed-room was aloft, with a fireplace in it, and plenty of wood; but how to make the wood burn was the question. I had been at work blowing and blowing long before bed-time, till, to my mortification, the aged bishop came up, and there was still no fire to warm him. ‘O Billy, sugar,’ said he as he approached the fireplace, ‘never mind it; give it up; we will get warm in bed.’ And then stepping to his bed as if to ascertain the certainty of it, and lifting the bed-clothes, he continued, ‘yes, yes, give it up, sugar; blankets are plenty.’ So I gave it up, thinking the play of my pretty strong lungs might disturb his devotions, for he was instantly on his knees.

“Well, thought I, this is too bad. But how for the morning? Bishop Asbury rises at four—two hours before day—and what shall I do for a fire then? No light wood, and nothing dry. But it occurred to me that the coals put in the midst of the simmering wood might dry it sufficiently to keep fire and prepare it for kindling in the morning; so I gave it up. But then how might I be sure of waking early enough to kindle a fire at four o’clock? My usual hour had been six. And to meet this difficulty I concluded to wrap myself in my overcoat, and lie on the bed without using the bed-clothes. In this predicament I was not likely to over sleep myself on so cold a night; but there might be danger of my not knowing what hour it was when I happened to awake. Nap after nap was dreamed away as I lay shivering in the cold, till I thought it must be four o’clock; and then creeping softly to the chimney, and applying the breath of my live bellows, I held my watch to the reluctant coals to see the hour. I had just made it out, when the same soft accents saluted me: ‘Go to bed, sugar, it is hardly three o’clock yet.’

“This may do for the first night, and the last was as follows: It had rained heavily through the night, and we slept near enough to the shingles for the benefit of the composing power of its pattering upon them. It was past four o’clock and the bishop was awake, but ‘Billy sugar’ lay fast asleep; so he whispered to Brother Boehm not to disturb me, and the fire was made. They were dressed, had had their devotions, and were at their books before I was awake. This seemed shockingly out of order, and my confusion was complete as, waking and springing out of bed, I saw them sitting before a blazing fire. I could scarcely say good-morning, and the bishop, as if he might have been offended at my neglect, affected not to hear it. Boehm, who knew him better, smiled pleasantly as I whispered in his ear, ‘Why didn’t you wake me?’ The bishop seemed to hear this, and closing his book and turning to me with a look of downright mischief, had an anecdote for me. ‘I was traveling,’ said he, ‘quite lately, and came to a circuit where we had one of our good boys. O, he was so good! and the weather was as cold as it was the other night at Brother Hancock’s, and as I was Bishop Asbury, he got up in the bitter cold at three o’clock to make a fire for me; and what do you think? He slept last night till six.’ And he tickled at it as if he might have been a boy himself. And this was that Bishop Asbury whom I have heard called austere, a man confessedly who never shed tears, and who seldom laughed, but whose sympathies were, nevertheless, as soft as a sanctified spirit might possess.”

We next went to Camden and stayed with James Jenkins. Bishop Asbury baptized his daughter, Elizabeth Asbury Jenkins, perpetuating not only the bishop’s name, but his mother’s also. On Sunday at eleven Bishop Asbury preached at Camden from Rev. xxii, 14, on the blessedness of doing his commandment. I preached at three on Acts v, 2, after which the bishop addressed himself to the people of color. He was a great friend of the colored race, whom he called his “black sheep.” I held forth in the evening from 1 Peter iv, 7. It was a day of marrow and fat things.

On Tuesday we went to Father Rembert’s on Black River. On Wednesday the bishop preached to the negroes of Henry Young, who were called together to hear him. We then had free access both to the master and the slave.

On Sunday there was a quarterly meeting at Rembert’s for the Santee Circuit. I preached on Saturday, and John and James Capers exhorted. On Sunday the bishop preached from Matt. xiv, 35, then Joseph Tarpley and Lewis Hobbs exhorted. The meeting lasted five hours. At night I held forth on Heb. ii, 1.

On Monday we started for Charleston. The roads were muddy in the extreme, the rivers high, and we had swamps to go through; but Wednesday evening brought us to the goodly city.

On Tuesday of next week Bishop M’Kendree arrived with his traveling companion, Thomas Lasley. We had preaching nearly every night.

The South Carolina Conference commenced on Saturday, December 23. It was a very pleasant session. Preaching three times a day on Sunday, and in all the churches in the evening, and in the Bethel Church every morning at eleven. On Monday, being Christmas, I preached in Cumberland Church to a large audience on Luke ii, 15. Thomas Lasley exhorted. It was a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

There were several conversions during the conference. The closing scene was peculiarly affecting. On Friday, just before adjournment, the Lord’s supper was administered. It was a most melting time. No wonder I wrote, “O my soul, never forget this melting, soul-animating time of the power of God.” The excellent William Capers, with fifteen others, was received on trial; Joseph Travis, with a number of others, was ordained deacon; Lovick Pierce and his brother Reddick, and James Russell, with three more, were ordained elders.