Conference of 1851.--Presiding Elder.--Presentation.--Give and
Take.--Fond du Lac District--Quarterly Meeting--Rev. J.S.
Prescott.--Footman vs. Buggies--Fond du Lac.--Two Churches.--Greenbush
Quarterly Meeting--Rev. David Lewis--Pioneer Self-Sacrifice.--Finds a
Help-Meet.--Sheboygan Falls.--Rev. Matthias Himebaugh.--Oshkosh--First
Class.--Church Enterprises.
The Conference for 1851 was held June 25th, at Waukesha. The Sessions
were deeply spiritual, and were characterized by general harmony among
the preachers. At this Conference the Committee on Periodicals, of which
I was a member, reported in favor of the establishment of a North
Western Christian Advocate, and the report was unanimously adopted.
In the arrangement of appointments I was assigned to the Fond du Lac
District. The appointment was a great surprise to myself, and doubtless
to others. Besides, it was not in harmony with my judgment or wishes. It
seemed to me to be an unwise measure to take so young a man, only
twenty-nine, from the companionship of books and the details of the
Pastoral office, and place him on a District where both of the
Departments of labor, so essential to success in the Ministry, must
necessarily be abridged. And in the next place, it appeared to me that,
since there were so many other men in the Conference, who were better
qualified than I for the position, my appointment was but doing violence
to the work. But I soon came to the conclusion that when an appointment
has been made there is no further need to debate the question. In such a
case, the sooner both the Ministers and people adjust their views to
the new order of things, the better for all concerned. Accepting this
view, I hastened to conform to the situation with as good grace as
possible. And to aid me perhaps a little, several of the preachers
surprised me by the presentation of a cane.
I had heard it remarked that when a man used a cane, it was an evidence
that he had a weak place somewhere between the crown of the head and the
sole of the foot. I was now puzzled to know what the cane meant. There
was doubtless a weak spot somewhere, in the opinion of the brethren. It
must of course be either in the District or the incumbent. But my query
as to which was soon answered. Dr. Bowman, my father-in-law, was
traveling soon after in company with a good brother, when the
conversation turned upon the appointments of the recent Conference. It
had not proceeded far when the brother remarked, in referring to my
appointment, "The Conference must have been hard up for material when it
appointed that young stripling Presiding Elder." The mystery of the cane
was now explained. The good brethren of the Conference doubtless thought
the matter could be helped out by the use of a cane.
But a sharper joke than that was passed upon the people of Fond du Lac.
Only six years before they had given me license to preach, and sent me
to the Conference, and now, in sending me back so soon, the Conference
seemed to say, "Brethren, we return you as good as you gave." I have
heard it said that sometimes Quarterly Conferences grant licenses with
the implied understanding that the recipients are not expected to serve
the home Church, but are good enough to preach to less highly favored
people abroad. If this course had been adopted by these Fond du Lac
brethren as their policy, certainly it was a cruel joke to return the
labor of their hands on such short notice.
But fortunately I was not supposed to know anything about this matter,
and hence, on the principle that "where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly
to be wise," I had nothing to do but to gather up my family and hasten
to my new field of labor.
Fond du Lac District at this time embraced that portion of the State
lying North and East of the city of Fond du Lac, and included thirteen
charges. A few of the charges could be reached by steamers on the Fox
and Wolf Rivers and Lake Winnebago, but the balance could only be
visited by the stage or private conveyance. I chose to adopt the latter.
Having provided board for my wife and child with Rev. M.L. Noble, and
secured a horse and buggy, I was ready to enter upon my work.
The First Quarterly Meeting was held at Fond du Lac. The Church edifice
was unfinished, and the celebrated school house having been burned, as
stated in a former chapter, the Meeting was held in the Court House. At
that time the building, though now so dingy, was new, and aspired to be
the most respectable edifice in the village. To prepare the Court House
especially for the Quarterly Meeting, the floors were newly carpeted
with sawdust, even then a famous product of the village, and the seats
well broomed. The place was crowded with people, and the occasion one of
rare interest. The Gospel was dispensed from the "Seat of Justice," the
Sacrament was administered within the "Bar," now vacated by the lawyers,
and the people knelt outside to receive the sacred emblems. Several of
the Members present had attended the Quarterly Meeting in the school
house six years before, and among them were a few who had known me from
my boyhood. It afforded me great pleasure to meet them and receive
their friendly greetings.
Rev. J.S. Prescott, the Pastor at Fond du Lac, had been bred to the
legal profession in the State of Ohio. He came to Wisconsin as a Local
Preacher, and joined the Conference in 1846. He had been stationed at
Sheboygan, Waupun, and Green Bay. He was a man of sharp, decisive
movements, sometimes angular in his opinions and measures, but full of
energy and not afraid of hard work. He kept no horse, even when on the
largest circuits, as he could not afford to wait for so laggard a
conveyance. In this particular he became notorious, and marvelous
stories are related of his pedestrian abilities. It is affirmed that, on
one occasion, in going to the Conference, he walked from Waupun to
Platteville, and reached his destination in advance of the long line of
ministerial buggies that were headed in that direction. Carrying the
same energy into every Department of his work, he always left his
"footprint" behind him. But his most devoted friends would sometimes
question the wisdom of his measures. Even in the small village of Fond
du Lac, he had now two churches in process of erection. But such was his
skill in raising funds at home and abroad that one of them was dedicated
by Bishop Ames at the close of the year and the other by the writer in
the year following.
Subsequently he served for several years as Agent of Lawrence
University, and then entered upon the project of founding an Institution
of learning at Point Bluff. The selection of a location, however, was
unfortunate, and his expectations were only partially realized. After
this disaster he addressed himself to business pursuits.
The Fond du Lac charge had now gained an influential position in the
Conference. Among her membership she had several leading business men.
And in addition, this place had now become the home of Rev. H.R. Colman
and Rev. M.L. Noble, the last two Pastors of the charge.
My next Meeting was held on Greenbush Circuit. This charge was midway
between Fond du Lac and Sheboygan, and had been established only two
years. Its Eastern portion had been opened from Sheboygan, and its
Western from Fond du Lac. It had neither Church nor Parsonage, and the
Minister lived in a shanty.
The Quarterly Meeting was held in Mr. Tunis Burhite's barn, about nine
miles east of Fond du Lac. I found the Pastor, Rev. David Lewis, at his
post. As was his wont, he had made every needed preparation, and had
brought out nearly the entire strength of his charge. The barn was
filled with people, and the neighborhood taxed to its utmost to
entertain the visitors. Nor was it surprising that, with such a
preparation, the Meeting was an occasion of rare interest. For months
and even years after, it was referred to with great satisfaction. At the
time the opinions of people were found to differ. One good sister said
in my hearing, "I think it is better to have old men like Elder Wilcox
for Presiding Elders, rather than such young men, because they can keep
a meeting steady and not let the people get so excited." But at the
close of the services a veteran Local Preacher said, "The old Elder gave
us a straight talk this morning." Both remarks were suggestive, and I
resolved to bear myself with becoming dignity.
Brother Lewis entered the Rock River Conference August 24th, 1842, and
was sent as Junior Preacher to Indian Creek, Ill., a four weeks'
circuit, the labor of which greatly taxed his strength. His next
appointment was Manitowoc, the charge extending from Port Washington to
Two Rivers, and requiring one hundred and fifty miles of travel to each
round of appointments. Through these dense forests, as I have had
occasion to remark in a former chapter, the roads were almost
impassable, with long distances intervening between residences, and
involving great fatigue and exposure. Like the good Brother Frink, who
preceded him in this field, he was compelled to swim rivers, suffer
hunger and endure fatigue, that would appall a man of less nerve. During
the winter his horse became disabled and he made the entire round on
foot, carrying his provisions in a knapsack. Such were the trials and
exposures of the pioneers who planted the standard of the Cross in the
"Sheboygan Woods," as this region was called. They were indeed
heroic men.
There were a few scattered sheep in the wilderness, and these were
gathered into the fold. At Manitowoc, Brother Lewis formed a class.
In 1844 Brother Lewis was sent to Pewaukee, where he had eleven
appointments. Though at the beginning of the year there was no class on
the charge, at its close Brother Lewis, was able to report sixty-five
members. It was during this year that our sturdy pioneer took to himself
a worthy helpmeet, in the person of Miss Adelia Morley, who, as an
inmate of the Presiding Elder's family, spread the table for the
writer's first meal as an Itinerant. Brother Lewis was next appointed
successively to Root River, Kankakee, and Brothertown, in which charges
he enjoyed his usual share of hard work and spiritual prosperity.
In 1849 he was appointed to Sheboygan Falls. The circuit was very large,
taking the entire tract of country between the Lake and Fond du Lac,
but the year was one of marked success. Finding the Parsonage under a
mortgage that imperiled the safety of the property, Brother Lewis
stepped forward and offered his horse, saddle, and a dollar and a half,
all the money he had, in liquidation of the indebtedness. They were
accepted, and as a result, the dear brother traveled his circuits on
foot for two years before he was able to procure another horse. Such is
the sterling material out of which the early Itinerants were made. With
such men in the field, it is not a matter of surprise that, under the
Divine blessing, the "Wilderness and solitary place" were made
to rejoice.
At the close of his labors on this circuit, Brother Lewis was again sent
to Manitowoc for one year, when, the Greenbush charge having been
created, principally out of the west part of his former work, he was
appointed to it, as before stated. After leaving Greenbush he was
stationed at West Bend, Columbus and Fall River, Oneida Indian Mission,
New London, Markesan, Caldwell's Prairie, and New Berlin. At the
Janesville Conference in 1870, Brother Lewis, having served the church
nearly thirty years with great devotion, took a superannuated relation.
At this writing he is residing in Fond du Lac, maintains a happy frame
of mind, and is still doing what he can for the cause. He certainly
deserves well of his Conference.
Sheboygan Mission, the next point visited, appears on the Minutes, as
stated in a former chapter, in 1837, with Rev. H.W. Frink as Pastor.
During this year Brother Frink formed a class at Sheboygan, consisting
of the following members: Mr. and Mrs. Morris Farmin, Uriel Farmin,
Benjamin Farmin, Mr. and Mrs. Elder Farmin, and Mr. and Mrs. McCreedy.
At the close of this year Sheboygan disappears from the list of
appointments, but in 1843 the Manitowoc mission appears with Rev. D.
Lewis as Pastor, and Sheboygan, it will be recollected, is named as one
of the appointments. In 1845, however, the name re-appears, and Rev.
Joseph T. Lewis was sent to the charge. From this time until 1849 the
strength of the circuit consisted largely in the outlying appointments.
But at this date Sheboygan Falls was erected into a separate charge,
taking from Sheboygan its several interior appointments.
Rev. Daniel Stansbury, the Pastor, had commenced his labors in 1849, and
was now on his second year. The Membership numbered only thirty-three,
but Brother Stansbury had achieved a great work in the erection of a
large and convenient Church edifice. I had visited the village the
preceding year, as before stated, to dedicate the German Church, and had
formed a very agreeable acquaintance with this truly noble man and his
most estimable family.
Brother Stansbury was from Baltimore, and brought with him to Wisconsin
a goodly portion of the warm and cheerful type of Baltimore Methodism.
He was received on trial by the Wisconsin Conference in 1849, and hence
Sheboygan was his first appointment. His subsequent appointments were
Janesville, Union, Portage City, Beaver Dam, Berlin and Janesville
District. In July of his second year on the District, and while
preaching at his Quarterly Meeting on Cambridge circuit, he was stricken
down by paralysis. He was taken to his home in Janesville, where he
lingered in extreme feebleness until Oct. 28, when he died in
great peace.
Brother Stansbury was a man of warm impulses, practical mind, and
abundant labors. In the protracted meeting, his rare gifts of prayer
and exhortation, made his labors a grand success, and, in the bright
world beyond, it will be found that his comparatively short ministry
gathered a large harvest of souls.
I next visited Sheboygan Falls. The charge first appears on the Minutes
in 1849, it having been created out of the interior portions of the
Sheboygan circuit. Its first Pastor, as we have seen, was Rev. David
Lewis. In 1850, the following year, Rev. Matthias Himebaugh was
appointed to the work. At this time the field embraced fifteen
appointments, and required the travel of two hundred miles each month.
Like his predecessors, Revs. J.S. Prescott and D. Lewis, Brother
Himebaugh traveled this circuit on foot. The Society in the village
consisted of thirteen members, and included the names of Mr. and Mrs. L.
Cheeseman, Mr. and Mrs. Parrish, Mr. and Mrs. Goodell, Mr. and Mrs.
Sully, Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. Waite, and others.
The public meetings were held in a school house outside of the village,
and the prayer meetings in private houses. A lot had been purchased for
a Church and Parsonage, and the latter had been partly built. On the
arrival of Brother Himebaugh a hall was obtained in the village for the
meetings, and soon after he commenced a subscription for a Church.
A revival occurred during the winter, and there were a goodly number of
accessions, but they did not bring very much financial strength. The
Society, though small and in moderate circumstances, were very
enterprising and generous in their effort to erect a Church, subscribing
towards the building one-fifth of their entire property. Having secured
pledges, amounting to twelve hundred dollars, the Pastor now led a
strong force of volunteer laborers in the manual labor of the
undertaking. Felling the first tree for the timber in the woods with his
own hands, Brother Himebaugh gave the keynote to the movement. Nor did
he stay his hand until he had expended sixty days of labor.
After accomplishing what he could at home, he visited Milwaukee,
Chicago, and several towns and cities in the Erie, Pittsburgh and
Genesee Conferences, to obtain aid to complete the enterprise. The
edifice, forty by sixty, with a basement, was so far completed that the
lecture-room was ready for dedication in December, 1851. With this good
work accomplished, our Quarterly Meeting at Sheboygan Falls was an
occasion of great rejoicing.
Brother Himebaugh entered the Erie Conference in 1839, then twenty years
of age. His first circuit was Red Bank, on the Alleghany Mountains. At
the end of eleven years he was transferred to the Wisconsin Conference,
and Sheboygan Falls was his first charge. After leaving this work, he
was stationed in the North Ward charge in Fond du Lac. Here he also did
a good work towards completing the Church edifice, which had been begun
by Brother Prescott. He also had a good revival during the year.
In 1853, Brother Himebaugh was stationed at Oshkosh, where he performed
prodigies of labor, preaching during a portion of the first year, on
every other Sabbath, four sermons, and walking fourteen miles. He also
gathered large accessions, which rendered the charge self-sustaining
thereafter.
His subsequent appointments have been: Madison, Madison District,
Appleton, Appleton District, Agent of Lawrence University, and Assistant
Superintendent of the Western Seaman's Friend Society. At the present
writing, he still holds the last named position, and represents the
Bethel interests in this city. He is yet strong physically and
intellectually, and bids fair to give to the good cause many
additional years.
Oshkosh was the next place visited. Instead of finding, as in 1845, a
few small cabins, I now found a respectable village and a
flourishing Church.
The first Methodist sermon delivered in Oshkosh was preached by the
veteran pioneer, Rev. Jesse Halstead, at the residence of Mr. Webster
Stanley, in 1841. The place was now taken into the list of his
appointments, and was supplied by Brother Halstead with considerable
regularity.
At a subsequent visit he was accompanied by his Presiding Elder, Rev.
James R. Goodrich. The services were again held in the residence of Mr.
Stanley, and at this meeting, which was held in the fall of 1841, the
first class was formed. The members were: Ira Aikin, Mrs. Aikin, his
mother, Rachel Aikin, his sister, Mrs. Chester Ford, Miss Ann Brooks,
and Mrs. Electa Wright. Brother Aikin was the first Leader, but soon
after Brother William W. Wright and his wife becoming members, the
Leadership passed over to Brother Wright. Before other provision was
made, the meetings were held at the residences of Mr. Stanley, Mrs.
Electa Wright and William W. Wright, but subsequently they passed to the
school house and ultimately to the Court House.
In 1842, Rev. John P. Gallup was appointed to the Winnebago Lake
Mission. His plan of labor gave to Oshkosh every fourth Sabbath, and the
intervening time was filled by Rev. Clark Dickinson, a highly esteemed
Local Preacher, and others. A revival occurred this year that brought
into the Church the larger portion of the people living in Oshkosh
and vicinity.
Rev. Harvey S. Bronson was the Pastor in 1843, and was succeeded the
following year by Rev. Joseph H. Hurlbut. The first Church edifice was
erected under the Pastorate of Rev. Robert Everdell in 1851. Being the
Presiding Elder of the District at that time, the writer performed the
dedicatory service. The building was enlarged in 1856 and again in 1861.
Under the Pastorate of Rev. Wm. P. Stowe there were large accessions,
and he found it necessary to enlarge again, when in 1870 the writer was
called to preach the re-opening sermon.
The mother charge at this writing ranks among the leading stations of
the Conference, and rejoices in the companionship of two promising
daughters. The first is located on the South Side, where a lot was
purchased and the contract for a building let, under the Pastorate of
Rev. J.M. Walker, in 1868. The charge was organized the following year,
and under the successive Pastorates of Revs. C.W. Brewer and Joseph
Anderson, the Church was completed and the station assigned an honorable
place in the Conference. The other, located in the Western part of the
city, was erected into a separate charge at the last Conference session,
a Chapel having been previously built.