DELAWARE DISTRICT, 1819-21—THOMAS AND EDWARD WHITE—JOSHUA THOMAS—CIRCUITS.
In 1819 our conference commenced its session in Philadelphia on the
19th of April. Bishop Roberts presided. Bishop M’Kendree was too ill to
attend. During the session Bishop Roberts dedicated the Ebenezer Church.
I was appointed to the Delaware District. William Bishop was my
predecessor. He was an odd, eccentric man, the Billy Hibbard of the
Philadelphia Conference. When he rose to speak in conference the
brethren would smile in advance, expecting some strokes of wit or
shrewd expression. In representing a brother on his district he said,
“He appears to be tired of everything but rest.” The character of the
brother was so well known, and the hit so capital, that the whole
conference was convulsed with laughter. However, he was a good preacher,
and, notwithstanding his eccentricities, had the confidence of his
superintendents and of his brethren in the ministry.
Delaware District included much of the ground I had traveled years
before. Many camp-meetings were held this year. I can name but one. It
was held on the Tangier Islands the last week of August. I went with
Francis Watters in his boat. We preached one sermon, and then we had the
most awful storm I ever beheld. The island was bleak, the waves dashed
against it, and the winds blew over it. The tents were blown down and
trees were prostrated; the water rose to a prodigious height, and we
feared the island would be submerged. Notwithstanding the storm, many
were converted to God.
In 1820 our conference was held in Smyrna, Delaware, commencing on April
12. Bishop George presided. On Sunday he preached an ordination sermon
from Phil. iii, 13, 14, on the course Paul pursued to obtain the prize.
The unction of the mighty one rested on him and his audience.
Four were received into full connection: Charles Pitman, James Long,
Samuel Grace, and William Wright. Brother Long was a simple-hearted
Irishman, who preached the pure Gospel. Charles Pitman had a noble frame,
a massive brow, an expressive eye, and a voice as deep-toned as an organ.
No man ever did more for Methodism in New Jersey than he. Bishop Hedding,
no mean judge, considered him the greatest pulpit orator he had ever
heard.
We held several camp-meetings this year. One was at the Tangier Islands.
The weather was fine, contrasting agreeably with the terrible storm we
had the year before.
In April, 1821, our conference met in Milford, Delaware, where I was
residing. Bishop George, Freeborn Garrettson, and Ezekiel Cooper were my
guests. When dining one day Mr. Garrettson inquired, “Where did you find
this little woman?” speaking of Mrs. Boehm. I answered, “On the Eastern
Shore of Maryland.” He smiled and seemed to be much pleased, as it was
the scene of his early trials and triumphs.
I was reappointed to the Delaware District. We this year held another
camp-meeting on the Tangier Islands, which was even more successful than
the preceding ones.
Thomas and Edward White are names very dear to American Methodists.
Thomas has a conspicuous place in the early annals of our Church, while
Edward’s name is scarcely known, and yet he was in Christ before his
uncle, and was the cause of his uniting with the Methodists.
Dr. EDWARD WHITE formerly lived in Kent County, Maryland, near his
Uncle Thomas, but he removed to Cambridge, Maryland, in 1799. I became
acquainted with in 1800, and for years his house was my home. He was my
physician in sickness, my counselor in perplexity, my faithful friend.
Bishop Asbury loved him tenderly, called him “Dear Edward White,” and
says “he had known and followed the Methodists since 1778.” He was much
beloved and esteemed, a pillar in our Church, and his house was a home
for all the bishops and all the ministers of Jesus. He was a large fleshy
man, with a good understanding and an intelligent countenance. His wife
was a most estimable woman.
He was the means of leading Joseph Everett to the Methodists. Everett
joined the Philadelphia Conference in 1781, and was a mighty man in our
Israel. He went from Dr. White’s to travel, and when he broke down he
returned to the doctor’s to spend the evening of life and to die. There
I used to see the old soldier and hear him talk of former conflicts and
triumphs. His first circuit was Dorchester, and in Dorchester he died.
The last time I was at Dr. White’s was in 1822. He was then “in age and
feebleness extreme.” The strong man was bowing himself. He went years ago
to join Asbury and Everett and his Uncle Thomas, “where no friend goes
out or enemy comes in.”
JOSHUA THOMAS resided on one of the Tangier Islands, (a group in
Chesapeake Bay,) and was called “The Parson of the Islands.” He was a
local preacher, a man of great notoriety and influence, especially among
the Islanders. I was acquainted with him several years, having been to
his island home and sailed with him in his boat, which he called “The
Methodist.”
I often met him at camp and quarterly meetings, and heard him preach and
exhort and relate his Christian experience with great effect. He was
perfectly artless, a child of nature. He never tried to be anybody but
Joshua Thomas.
During the war with England, in 1812, twelve thousand British soldiers
encamped on Joshua’s island. Both the officers and men admired him, and
called him “Parson Thomas.”
He raised vegetables on the Island and fished in the waters of the
Chesapeake. He had an impediment in his speech. He told me that when
the British fleet lay in the Bay the officers sent for him on board the
admiral’s ship. They had heard he stuttered when talking on worldly
business and not when he was preaching, and they did not believe this
could be possible. He did not know why they had sent for him, but he
obeyed the summons and was taken on board the admiral’s ship and into
the cabin, where he saw the officers of several ships. They said they
wished him to preach to them. He was perfectly astonished, but believing
it his duty to be “instant in season and out of season,” he took his
text and commenced his discourse. He was a little embarrassed at first,
and stated that he was unlearned and they were men of cultivated minds;
but as he proceeded he gathered confidence and strength, and preached to
them just as he would have done to the sinners on the islands. He showed
them that notwithstanding their learning, talents, and position, if they
neglected the condition of salvation they would be lost and damned with
common sinners, and find one common hell. He did not stutter once while
he delivered his faithful message, and the officers listened to him with
great attention.
At the conclusion of the discourse one of the officers inquired,
“Parson Thomas, can you tell us for what reason President Madison
declared war against England?” Then he stuttered exceedingly, and
it was some time before he could get the answer out. He began,
“Tut—tut—tut—tut—tut-tut-tut,” and after various efforts said, “I was not
in his cabinet, and therefore I cannot answer.”
The following incidents will still further illustrate his influence
with the British officers. Some of the soldiers were cutting down some
large pine trees which furnished a beautiful shade, under which large
camp-meetings had been held. Parson Thomas went to the commanding
officer, told him what the soldiers were doing, and expostulated against
it. He said that grove was their house of worship, and to destroy the
trees was to destroy God’s house. His appeal was irresistible. The trees
were spared, and for years the grove continued to be a place of worship.
Just before the British made their attack on Baltimore, Parson Thomas, at
their request, preached to them on the island. He was as true a patriot
as Joshua of old, whose name he bore. He gave the following account of
the sermon he preached: The old camp-ground was the center of the British
camp. The soldiers were drawn up in solid column under the pine trees.
Mr. Thomas occupied a stand; all the soldiers were before him, and on
his right and left were the British officers. He determined to clear his
skirts of their blood; if they wished to hear him they should have a
faithful warning. He did not know but his plainness might give offense
and cause him to fall a sacrifice. Singing and prayer, however, quieted
his fears, and put his soul in frame for the occasion. He faithfully
warned the British of the unholiness of their cause, of the wickedness of
killing their fellow-men. He told them he had heard they were going to
Baltimore to take that city; but, said he, “you cannot take Baltimore;
if you attempt to you will not succeed; and you had better prepare to
die.” Both officers and soldiers were very attentive. They admired his
patriotism, his honesty, his simplicity. Soon after that memorable
meeting the British made their attack on Baltimore, and Parson Thomas’s
prediction was fulfilled to the letter.
As he saw the British returning, Parson Thomas went down to the shore to
meet them, and the first inquiry he made of the officers was, “Have you
taken Baltimore?” They mournfully answered, “No. It turned out just as
you told us the Sunday before we left. The battle was bloody. Hundreds of
our men were slain, our general also; and all the time we were fighting
in the field we thought of what you told us, ‘You cannot take Baltimore.’”
Here we see the true character of the man. Though he did not possess the
talents, he had the boldness of Luther or John Knox; and such was his
good common sense and his simplicity of character that he retained the
confidence of the British while they continued on the island.
I must abridge my narrative or it will swell to volumes. In 1823 I was
on Lancaster Circuit. Joseph Holdich was my colleague. It was his first
circuit. He was young but studious, and then gave promise of the future
man. My mother died in November of that year, and was buried beside my
father. I was returned to the circuit the following year.
In 1824-5 I was upon old Chester Circuit; in 1826-7, Strasburgh; in
1828-9, Burlington Circuit, N. J. Rev. Charles Pitman was my presiding
elder. He was then in the days of his glory. In 1830-31 I was at
Pemberton; in 1832, at Bargaintown; in 1833, at Tuckerton; in 1834, New
Egypt; in 1835-6 I had the whole of Staten Island for my circuit. For
fourteen years I was on circuits after I left the districts. I have a
full record of men, and thrilling scenes, and glorious revivals, but have
not space even to name my colleagues or their characteristics.
Methodism was introduced into Staten Island very early by Francis
Asbury, before he preached in New York. I was with him on the island
in 1809. When I was stationed on Staten Island there were two hundred
and seventy-eight members; now there are one thousand one hundred and
forty-nine, and instead of one preacher we have seven. Having been many
years in the work, at the close of the two years on Staten Island I took
a supernumerary relation. I bought me a little place on the island, where
I lived for many years, till death invaded my dwelling and laid my loved
one low. In 1837 the Philadelphia Conference was divided and I fell
into the New Jersey, and then by a subsequent division into the Newark
Conference.
I have preached in all parts of the island; have married many, and buried
many of the dead. In great harmony I have lived with all the friends of
Jesus. I was a member of the General Conference in 1832, and was present
at the memorable conference in 1844 when our Church was divided. I had
much to do with laying the foundation of German Methodism in New York.
By both preachers and the laity I have ever been treated with the utmost
kindness. Many of them I should like to notice but have no space, but
their names are in the book of life.