Conference of 1862.--The War.--Position of the Conference.--Rev. J.M.
Snow.--Appointed again to Spring Street.--Dr. Bowman.--Changes.--Rev.
P.S. Bennett.--Rev. C.S. Macreading.--Official Board.-The New Church
Enterprise.--Juvenile Missionary Society.--Conference of 1863.--Rev.
P.B. Pease.--Rev. George Fellows.--Rev. Samuel Fallows.--Rev. R.B.
Curtis.--Rev. D.H. Muller.--Third Year.--Pastoral Work.--Revival. Visit
to the Army.--Illness.--Close of Term.
The Conference of 1862 was held Oct. 1st at Kenosha, Bishop Janes
presiding. The country was now in the full tide of war. During the year
several members of the Conference had gone out as Chaplains, Rev. H.C.
Tilton with the Thirteenth Regiment, Rev. C.D. Pillsbury with the
Twenty-Second, and Rev. Samuel Fallows with the Thirty-Second.
This was the hour for brave words, and the Wisconsin Conference had them
to give. Nor was it in words alone that she was prepared to sustain the
Government. Such was the patriotism of the body that her ranks might
have been seriously depleted at any time, if it could have been done
with safety to the interests of the country. But it was conceded that
the Government must now have a vigorous support at home. Partisan
feeling in the late canvass had greatly demoralized the people, and a
strong moral influence was needed to rightly shape the tone of public
sentiment. In fact, it was necessary throughout the struggle that the
Churches, under the lead of the clergy, should act the part of Aaron and
Hur, in sustaining the Government.
The Report adopted by the Conference on the state of the country gave
no uncertain expression of sentiment. Assuming the position dictated by
the most lofty patriotism, she pledged the country an unwavering support
until the flag of the Commonwealth should again wave in peaceful triumph
over the entire land. Recognizing human freedom as the issue in the
conflict, she deemed it alike the duty of the citizen and the Christian
to prosecute the war.
At this Conference the death of Rev. Jonathan M. Snow was announced, and
his obituary placed upon the Minutes. Brother Snow, after spending a
short time in Racine, entered the Illinois Conference in 1838. His
appointments were Elgin, Princeton, Mount Morris, Geneva, Washington,
Sylvania, Troy, Janesville, Mineral Point and Madison. At the close of
his labors at Madison, in 1852, he retired from the active work, but in
1859, he was re-admitted and granted a superannuated relation. Brother
Snow was a decisive man, earnest, energetic and persevering. He
performed his full share of pioneer work, and deserves an honorable
mention among the Fathers of the Conference,
In compliance with the request of the Spring Street Station, Milwaukee,
I was this year appointed to its Pastorate, my term on the District
having expired. At the earliest possible moment, I entered upon the work
of my new field. But at the opening of the year we were called to pass
under a cloud. I refer to the death of Dr. Bowman, the father of Mrs.
Miller. The Doctor had been compelled, through illness, to surrender his
practice in Iowa, and had now been with us three years. His death was
peaceful, and his assurance triumphant.
Dr. Bowman came to Wisconsin in 1840, residing, as we have seen, first
at Troy, and subsequently at Waupun. In early life he was a skeptic, and
continued in unbelief, until after his elevation to a Judgeship in
Michigan. He was converted through the influence of his wife, and united
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Distinguished in his profession,
reliable in his religious convictions, and devoted to the Church, he was
an arm of strength to the cause in its early struggles in the West.
During the interval since my former Pastorate in 1851 and the present,
various changes had occurred at Spring Street. The Society had lost two
Churches by fire, and Summerfield charge had been formed. The successive
Pastors had been Revs. S.C. Thomas, Chauncey Hobart, P.S. Bennett,
Milton Rowley, C.S. Macreading, E. Robinson, J.M. Walker, and J.C.
Robbins. To several of them reference has been made in former chapters.
We will now refer to others.
Rev. P.S. Bennett entered the Black River Conference in 1838, and
remained a member of that body until 1849, when he was transferred to
the Wisconsin Conference. Among the several charges he filled in his old
Conference, were Norfolk, Bangor, Brownville, Salina, Cleveland, Van
Buren and Red Creek. In Wisconsin he had been stationed at Platteville,
Beloit, and Waukesha.
After leaving Spring Street, he was made Presiding Elder of the
Milwaukee District, where he remained four years. His subsequent
appointments were Racine, Appleton, Agent of Lawrence University, Green
Bay, and Appleton District. At the close of his term on this District,
he retired from active labor, having given to the Church a long,
devoted, and efficient service.
Brother Bennett is well read in the literature of the Church, and loves
her doctrines with a "true heart, fervently." During his active labor he
was faithful to every trust confided to his keeping, was a good Pastor
and a successful Presiding Elder. And at the present time, it needs only
an attack upon the doctrines or usages of the Church to bring him to the
front in their defence. He is emphatically a true man.
Rev. C.S. Macreading came from New England, where he had held leading
appointments in the Providence and New England Conferences for many
years. He had located, and had come West, seeking a field of labor.
Coming to Milwaukee, he found the charge vacant, by the removal of the
former Pastor on account of affliction in his family, and was employed
by the Elder. He served his full term, and at its close the people were
reluctant to part with him.
Brother Macreading was a man of superior preaching talent; had an
earnest spirit, and a warm heart. At Spring Street, the Lord greatly
blessed his labors in the conversion of souls, several of whom remain to
this day to bless the Church with their wise counsel and
devoted services.
In entering upon the labor of the year, it was my first concern to
retrieve, if possible, the disaster which had befallen the Society in
the loss of the Church. But to do this, it was deemed important to put
every branch of the work in the best possible condition. In this
endeavor I had the earnest co-operation of the Official Board, composed
at this time of Rev. T.T. Greenwood, Rev. Edwin Hyde, and Messrs. John
H. Van Dyke, J.B. Judson, A.J.W. Pierce, Walter Lacy, Cornelius Morse,
Daniel Petrie, Jonathan Crouch, James Seville, H.W. Goodall, Thomas
Greenwood, O.H. Earl, J.R. Cocup, James Cherry, and Lawrence Harrison.
The spiritual condition of the Society was excellent, and the class and
prayer meetings were in a flourishing condition. The next thing to be
done was to organize the financial department. In doing this I submitted
a new plan, called the "Card System," for raising the current expenses.
The plan provided for monthly payments, and was operated through the use
of cards. These were so prepared as to contain a subscription on one
side, and rulings for entering the payments monthly on the other. The
subscriptions were to be made at the beginning of the year, and each
subscriber was expected to hand to the collector the several amounts
promptly. The plan worked admirably, and placed the finances in a
healthy condition.
During the winter we held a series of meetings, which resulted in a
considerable accession to the membership. But this success was only
preparatory to the Church enterprise before us. The hall that had been
used as a chapel was small and inconveniently located. Better
accommodations must be had. By the middle of the year the necessity
became so urgent that the Pastor could hardly preach, pray or visit
without making this subject his principal theme. Finding that the
financial basis was quite limited, it was decided to erect a business
block, thereby providing for a subsequent income, should the enterprise
entail an indebtedness upon the Society. The precaution, however, was
unnecessary, as the unparalleled liberality of the people not only met
the demands of the enterprise, but provided for a former indebtedness.
Ground was broken for the new edifice on the fifteenth day of July, and
the Church was dedicated by Rev. Dr. Eddy on the twenty-third of January
following.
The Juvenile Missionary Society was formed this year, and thereby the
Sunday School became an efficient agency in raising Missionary money.
In our plan, each class in the School constituted a Missionary Society,
taking a distinctive name. The gatherings of the class for a month went
into a common fund, and was reported at the monthly meeting. This
meeting was held on the last Sabbath of each month, and was usually made
an occasion of special interest.
The year now closing had been full of work. Besides my regular labor,
and the responsibilities of the Church enterprise, I had rendered
considerable service in raising regiments for the war, by delivering
addresses in various portions of the State.
From the beginning of the conflict, I greatly desired to go forward with
the brave boys and share with them the burdens and perils of the camp
and field. But it was the view of many of my friends, and especially of
the Central War Committee of the State, that I was doing a better
service for my country at home, in seeking to shape public sentiment,
than I could render by leading a regiment in the field. Accepting their
judgment, I endeavored to fulfil my mission to the best of my ability in
the field to which I seemed to be specially called.
The Conference of 1863 was held Oct. 1st, at Waukesha, and was presided
over by Bishop Scott. The body again adopted a strong report in support
of the Government. At this Conference Delegates to the General
Conference were again elected. They were H. Bannister, S.C. Thomas, C.D.
Pillsbury and M. Himebaugh. At the close of the session I was returned
to Spring Street. My fellow Pastors in the city were Revs. P.B. Pease
and George Fellows.
Brother Pease entered the Wisconsin Conference at its session in Fond du
Lac, Sept. 1st, 1852. His appointments had been Aztalan, Wauwatosa,
Palmyra, Appleton, Kenosha, and Beloit. He remained two years at
Summerfield. His subsequent appointments have been Spring Street,
Appleton District, and Janesville District, where at the present writing
he is doing a good-work.
Brother Pease has a clear head, a sound understanding, and positive
convictions. His pulpit ministrations are impressive and practical, his
administration wise and reliable, and his intercourse with the people
agreeable and spiritual. Wherever he has labored he has left a record of
ability and fidelity.
Brother Fellows entered the Wisconsin Conference in 1852, in the same
class with Brother Pease. He was stationed at Wauwatosa, Grafton,
Hartford, Oconomowoc, Beaver Dam, and Kenosha. He located in 1859, was
re-admitted in 1862, and appointed to Asbury the same year. Here he had
been engaged in the erection of a new Church. During this year the
building was completed, and the old Church changed into a Parsonage. The
Church was dedicated by Rev. Dr. Eddy, assisted by Rev. Dr. Tiffany.
In 1864 Brother Fellows located, and for two years served Madison
Station. He returned to the Conference in 1866, and was appointed to
Oconomowoc. His subsequent fields of labor were Waukesha, Neenah,
Menasha, and Cotton Street, Fond du Lac. In 1872 he accepted a Bible
Agency, and in 1874 was appointed Presiding Elder of Waupaca District.
Brother Fellows is a man of energy, and will doubtless make an efficient
Presiding Elder.
On the Spring Street charge the new year opened auspiciously. The
accessions of the former year, in connection, with the better Church
accommodations, had given to the work a broader basis, and afforded the
promise of wider usefulness. From month to month throughout the year,
the stakes were strengthened and the cords lengthened. And at its close
there was a general feeling of grateful satisfaction.
In 1864 the Conference was held Oct. 5th at Oshkosh, Bishop Scott
presiding. At this session Rev. Samuel Fallows was elected Secretary.
Brother Fallows, after his graduation from the State University, devoted
several years to the profession of teaching, in connection with the
Galesville University, in the Northwestern part of the State. He came to
the Wisconsin Conference in 1861, and was stationed at Oshkosh. Before
the expiration of the year, however, he went out as a Chaplain in the
army, in the service of the Thirty-Second Regiment, and at the
Conference of 1862, he received his appointment to that post. Having
returned from the army his next appointment, in 1863, was Appleton
Station. He was reappointed to the same charge in 1864, but before the
expiration of the year he became interested in raising a regiment of one
hundred days' men, and went out as Lieutenant Colonel. He graduated to
the Colonelcy while in the service, and was brevetted as Brigadier
General on his return home. The war having closed before the expiration
of the Conference year, he returned to the regular work, and received
his appointment in 1865 to the Summerfield Station. After serving three
years at Summerfield, he was appointed in 1868 to Spring Street. Here he
drew to his ministry a large congregation, and had an extensive revival,
thereby hastening the erection of a new Church. The building during the
second year was enclosed, but was not completed until the close of the
following year.
Brother Fallows enjoyed a successful Pastorate at Spring Street, but
before the expiration of his second year, he was appointed by the
Executive of the State to the position of Superintendent of Public
Instruction. He remained in this position until his second term expired,
Jan. 1, 1874, when having been elected President of the Illinois
Wesleyan University, he was transferred to the Illinois Conference.
Brother Fallows was a man whom his brethren delighted to honor. Though
still a young man comparatively, he had served his Conference as
Secretary nine years, and had been sent once as a Delegate to the
General Conference. He is a man of superior culture, pleasant voice, and
entertaining address. His genial spirit is a perpetual sunshine, and his
conversational interviews, the fragrance of summer. In his addresses and
sermons, the beautiful predominates. He was born an orator, and he has
never been able to shake off the enchantment. It is not his fault that
he is generally popular.
At this session the Conference adopted another report of the state of
the country. It was full of patriotism, pledging an unwavering support
to the Government. The chairman of the committee was Rev. R.B. Curtis.
Brother Curtis entered the Maine Conference in 1845, and in that
Conference and the East Maine he filled the following appointments:
Bingham, Corinth, Onoro, Frankfort, Searsport, Brick Chapel, Bangor,
Bangor District, and again Brick Chapel. He was transferred to the
Wisconsin Conference in 1862, and was appointed to Janesville. His next
appointment was Delavan, where he remained three years. While here his
health failed, and at the ensuing Conference he was compelled to take a
superannuated relation. He passed from the earthly to the heavenly home,
in Appleton, May 21st, 1872.
Brother Curtis was a man of rare endowments and sublime piety. In his
mental development, there was an almost absolute equipoise between the
imagination and the logical powers. In his logical dissections of error
and defence of truth, a keener blade has seldom, if ever, leaped from
its scabbard. Under his masterly imagery his audiences were sometimes
chained to their seats, as if held by the toils of an enchantment. With
such extraordinary elements of popular address, it is not surprising
that he held a high rank in the pulpit. Nor was he deficient in his
other qualifications as a Minister of Christ. When Brother Curtis fell
from the walls of Zion, it might have been truly said, "A Prince in
Israel has this day exchanged the earthly for the Heavenly Crown."
During this year Rev. D.H. Muller was Pastor of Asbury Church. Brother
Muller entered the Conference in 1861, coming from the Biblical School
at Evanston. His first appointment was Menasha, and his second Oshkosh.
And from the last named he came to Asbury. He remained two years, was
successful and highly esteemed; but at the close of his term he took a
transfer to the Genesee Conference. He has held leading appointments in
that Conference up to the present, and has also graduated to the dignity
of a Presiding Elder.
Brother Muller is a man of superior talent, genial spirit and fine
conversational powers. His name is fragrant in all the charges he served
in Wisconsin and the Conference regretted his transfer from the State.
I was again returned to Spring Street, and the salary was now placed at
thirteen hundred dollars. With the new Church full of people, with every
department of Church work thoroughly organized and in successful
operation, I was now permitted to devote my labor to the regular
pastoral work. As far as possible, the forenoons were given to my study
and the afternoons to pastoral visiting.
In a city like Milwaukee, this last department of labor is absolutely
indispensable. It is not intended in this form of expression to intimate
that it can be dispensed with in any other field, for it cannot, but
simply to indicate the impossibility of caring rightly for the souls of
men in a great city, if this form of labor shall be neglected.
In a large city, the population is constantly changing, and unless the
Pastor shall be on the alert in looking up the people, members of his
own flock, to say nothing of others, will drop out of sight. Soon they
will feel that the band of union between them and the Church has been
severed, and they have become outcasts. The result of such a state of
things, will be either recklessness of life, or a seeking of other
Church alliances. In either case, the charge itself suffers loss. In
addition to this class of cases that need the eagle eye of the Pastor,
there is a constant influx of population. These coming people, in large
numbers, will fail to find churchly affiliations unless there is some
one who shall seek them out at their new homes, and invite them to
attend the means of grace.
I know it will be said, "Let the members of the Churches do this." I
grant that the open field for this kind of labor is inviting to the
Church members, but suppose they do not enter it, what then? Shall the
work be left undone? Besides, the work can be done effectively only,
through systematic arrangement, and this feature can only be given to it
through the supervision of the Pastor. He only can know the entire
ground, and become the nucleus around which the membership will be
able to rally.
It would greatly aid the Pastor in his work, if all new-comers would
immediately report themselves at the Parsonage or the Church. But as all
such are usually burdened with many cares and perplexities during the
first weeks or months in making a new home, the only way to reach the
desired result seems to be through the vigilant maintenance of
pastoral visiting.
During the winter I held a protracted meeting, which gave an addition of
forty-seven probationers. I felt the fatigue very much, and at the close
of the meeting found it necessary for a time to abridge my labors.
In March following, the Official Board granted me leave of absence to
engage for six weeks in the service of the Christian Commission. I was
assigned to service at City Point, and along the lines of Gen. Grant's
army, before Richmond and Petersburgh. Leaving Milwaukee March 14th, and
passing through Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, I entered the
James River at Fortress Monroe, and reached City Point on the 21st.
After calling at the headquarters of Gen. Grant, and preaching once in
the Chapel at the headquarters of the Christian Commission, I went along
the line of the army, first to the north of Point of Rocks, twenty
miles, and then to the south, twenty miles, as far as Hatch's Run,
making forty miles in all. In these excursions I preached in the several
Chapels as opportunity offered, and rendered such assistance as I was
able, in making the necessary preparations for the forward movement of
the army, which was expected to occur in a few days. But I soon found
that the exposures along the front were too great for my system, in its
enfeebled condition. I contracted a severe cold, which rendered it
necessary to leave the lines. I returned to City Point, and was advised
to leave at once for Washington, where I could obtain the desired
medical treatment. I took the steamboat the very afternoon the army was
put in motion. By the time Gen. Grant had taken Gen. Lee, I had taken
Washington.
The physicians here believed that my lungs were seriously compromised,
and advised me to go to the seashore. I went immediately down to
Brooklyn, and became the guest of my cousin, Col. J.T. Hildreth. My
family and friends at Milwaukee at once became alarmed, and Mrs. Miller
came down. But through skillful treatment, good nursing, and a kind
Providence, the indications soon changed for the better, and at the end
of two months I was able to return to my people. On reaching the city
the friends gave us a reception, and left us over two hundred dollars. I
was able to resume my labors soon after, and the balance of the year
passed pleasantly. I had now completed my full term of three years.
During this time I had received into the Church about two hundred
members, and after allowing for removals and other changes, the net
increase had been about half that number.
Though the people had been greatly taxed in building their new Church,
it was found that the benevolent collections had considerably increased.
The Missionary, collection advanced during the first year from
seventy-five dollars to two hundred and twenty. The second year it was
two hundred and sixty-two, and the third, three hundred and forty.
The Sunday School had now reached an aggregate of four hundred scholars,
and the Library six hundred volumes. Among the accessions of the term,
there were several who gave considerable financial strength to
the charge.