CHAPTER XXXII. THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST—SKETCH OF OTTERBEIN, ETC.

“The United Brethren in Christ” have often been confounded with the Moravians. They had gone by the name of “United Brethren” ever since Mr. Otterbein took my father in his arms and exclaimed, “We are brethren;” and at the conference in 1800 they added the words, “in Christ.”

There was a great effort made to unite the Methodists and the United Brethren, who were often called “German Methodists.” The Baltimore and Philadelphia Conferences not only corresponded with them, but delegates from both Churches were ordered to devise a plan of union. This was kept up for years. In 1813 William Hunter and myself were appointed delegates to them. This was the last of fraternal letters or fraternal delegates. Terms of union were agreed upon, and it promised well for a time, but before long there was dissatisfaction on both sides. So the United Brethren took their course and we ours, each doing our own work in our own way.

The United Brethren had class-meetings, but did not, like the Methodists, make them a test of membership. They had love-feasts also, but lacked discipline. William Otterbein recommended their adopting the Methodist discipline. They had at that time no regular organization, but were composed of persons belonging to different denominations. They recorded the name of their ministers but not of the membership. At their conference in 1802 a proposal to record the names of members as well as ministers was voted down. When they began to “number Israel” I cannot say.

In their Minutes for 1800 they named Henry Boehm one of their ministers; but I did not belong to them, and at that time had no license to preach. It was not till 1815 they had a regular discipline. Their doctrines are the same as the Methodists’, but they differ in practice. They wash each other’s feet; they are opposed to masonry and all secret societies; they always abominated slavery and would never tolerate it. They have bishops, Annual and General Conferences, traveling and local preachers. They have a large publishing house in Dayton, Ohio, and print two newspapers, one in German, the other in English. At their General Conference in May, 1861, they reported 5,166 preaching places, 3,900 classes, 94,443 members, 499 itinerant and 417 local preachers, and 15,130 Sabbath scholars.

REV. WILLIAM P. OTTERBEIN.

The relation of Mr. Otterbein to Bishop Asbury and my father was such as to require more than a passing notice. They were united by a threefold cord stronger than death, and lasting as their existence. They never met without complying with the apostolic injunction: “Salute one another with a holy kiss.”

Mr. Otterbein was one of the fathers of the “United Brethren in Christ.” He assisted in ordaining Francis Asbury bishop, and was ever a friend of the Methodists. There are but few living who knew him. I heard him preach frequently, have seen him at my father’s and at great meetings, have been his guest, and preached for him in Baltimore.

He was born in Nassau, Prussia, June 4, 1726. His education was of a superior order. In 1752 he emigrated to this country, and settled in Lancaster. Mr. Asbury and he became acquainted through Benjamin Swope, one of the German preachers, the year the apostle of Methodism came to America. Mr. Asbury wrote to Mr. Otterbein urging him to come to Baltimore, and he did so in 1774, and organized the “Evangelical Reformed Church” out of the ruins of another completely demoralized.

In sentiment they were like the Methodists, and somewhat in practice. Their constitution read thus: “No preacher can stay among us who teacheth the doctrines of predestination or the impossibility of falling from grace, or who holdeth them as doctrinal points.” They were genuine Arminians. No preacher could remain who did not strictly attend class-meetings.

Mr. Otterbein’s church was built on Howard’s Hill. My father and he first met at Isaac Long’s, a few miles from Lancaster. Various denominations had been invited to meet there, and my father preached the first sermon, which was attended with peculiar unction, and when he had finished, Mr. Otterbein arose and encircled him in his arms, and exclaimed, “We are brethren.” Shout after shout went up, and tears flowed freely from many eyes, the scene was so pentecostal. Such was the origin of the United Brethren. Mr. Otterbein used to itinerate, and hold great union meetings generally in groves, barns, or church-yards, for houses of worship were generally closed against him.

I first saw Mr. Otterbein and heard him preach in 1798. It was at my father’s, where a three days’ meeting was held. I heard him in 1800 at their conference, from Rev. iii, 7. It was a masterly sermon, and the effect was overwhelming. His sermons were scripturally rich, and were delivered with unusual energy. He was a great expounder of the word, giving the meaning of the inspired writer. His voice had lost its musical notes, and was harsh and husky.

Bishop Asbury speaks of him as the “great Otterbein.” There was no man for whom he had a higher regard, none whose death he lamented more deeply. In person he was tall, being six feet high, with a noble frame and a commanding appearance. He had a thoughtful, open countenance, full of benignity, a dark-bluish eye that was very expressive. In reading the lessons he used spectacles, which he would take off and hold in his left hand while speaking. He had a high forehead, a double chin, with a beautiful dimple in the center. His locks were gray, his dress parsonic.

He married the sister of the distinguished Dr. Handall, a man of profound learning and deep piety.

I was at his house the last evening Mr. Asbury and he ever spent together. This was April 22, 1813. The bishop says, “I gave an evening to the great Otterbein.” Mr. Otterbein was one year younger than my father, and nineteen years older than Mr. Asbury. Mr. Otterbein was useful in life, and triumphant in death. His last words were, “The conflict is over; lay me down upon the pillow, and be still.” His friends complied with his request. During that stillness angels whispered, “Sister spirit, come away.” Gladly he obeyed the summons, and entered into the joy of his Lord.

On Thursday, April 24, 1814, in Mr. Otterbein’s chapel, Bishop Asbury preached his funeral discourse. He says, “Solemnity marked the silent meeting in the German church, where were assembled the members of our conference, and many of the clergy of the city. Forty years have I known this retiring, modest man of God, towering majestically above his fellows in learning, wisdom, and grace, yet seeking to be known only of God and the people of God. He had been sixty years a minister, fifty years a converted one.” He was buried in the ground connected with his church.

I knew others of the fathers of the United Brethren Church. George Adam Guething was the most eloquent. He was truly an Apollos. He was born in Germany, and emigrated to this country when he was seventeen. He taught school in winter, and quarried stone and dug wells in summer. He became a splendid preacher. I heard him at my father’s, and at other places. In 1800 I was his guest with my father. He lived in Washington County, Md. Over sixty years ago I heard him preach from Jer. xvii, 7, 8, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,” etc. This beautiful text, which reminds us of the first psalm, just suited the genius of Guething, who preached a sermon of rare beauty and excellence. He was the spiritual father of the Rev. Henry Smith, late of the Baltimore Conference, who was converted under a powerful sermon which he preached at Antietam. Mr. Guething died in 1812, the same year as my father. He made a visit to Father Otterbein, was taken sick, started for home, and died before he reached it. His death was one of exceeding triumph. He was very quiet for a while, when he suddenly exclaimed, “I feel as though my end had come. Hark! hark! who spoke? whose voice is that I hear? Light, light, what golden light! Now all is dark again. Please help me out of bed.” He said, “Let us sing, ‘Come, thou long-expected moment,’” etc. He knelt and offered prayer. He was helped into bed, folded his hands across his bosom, and in fifteen minutes the angel of death had done his work. Thus triumphantly died my father’s friend, the most splendid orator among the United Brethren in Christ, aged seventy-two years, of which he had spent forty in the ministry.