aid of a few kind settlers, erected a log cabin in which to shelter his
family. He found it difficult to procure sufficient provisions, but soon
succeeded in obtaining a sack of coarse flour in the vicinity; and
hearing of a barrel of pork for sale at Painesville, he sent a man with
a team thirty miles through the woods to purchase it, and paid twenty
silver dollars for it, and found on opening it that it contained the
"whole hog,"--feet, head, snout and ears,--and weighed but one hundred
and seventy pounds. This, with the milk from two cows that were pastured
in the woods and sometimes missed for a day or two, was all the
provision he could make for his family when it became necessary for him
to leave them and enter upon his missionary labors in other parts of the
Reserve. He visited Mentor, Chagrin, and other settlements. At Euclid he
found a family by the name of Burke, who had resided in a lone situation
in the woods for over three years, in so destitute a condition that the
wife had been obliged to spin cattle's hair and weave it into blankets
to cover her children's bed and save them from suffering in cold
weather. At Newburg he visited five families, the only residents in the
place, but discovered to his regret "no apparent piety among any of
them. They all seemed to glory in their infidelity." He continued
visiting families and preaching throughout the southeastern part of the
Reserve, and establishing churches. He called on his return at "Perkins'
Station" in Trumbull County, where an election was pending and a goodly
number of voters present. He was invited to dine with them. All took
their seats and began to help themselves, when he interrupted them and
remarked: "Gentlemen, if you will attend with Christian decency, and
hear me invoke the blessing of God, I will sit down with you; otherwise
I cannot." Knives and forks were instantly laid down and a blessing
invoked. The dinner was then discussed with a keen relish by the
assemblage, who seemed to appreciate the fact that "blessings sometimes
come in disguise." He then continued on his way home. Soon after this a
revival commenced in most of the infant settlements, and his missionary
labors were largely increased.
In some of the settlements the revival was attended with miraculous
power. In many instances the converts were stricken down in convulsions,
groaned in apparent agonies, and tore their hair; and in other instances
they fell in a trance, saw visions, awoke, and leaped for joy, shouting
long and loud, "Glory to God!" All this surprised the itinerant
missionary and presented him with a problem which he could not solve;
yet being a disciple of the "Calvinistic school," and charitably
inclined, he attributed the "spasmodic demonstrations" to the mysterious
workings of the Holy Spirit. The people far and near partook of the
excitement and flocked to hear him. On one occasion he preached to an
audience of five hundred. Though some scoffed, many professed to have
experienced religion. The general impression was in those days that
conversion consisted in experiencing some sudden and mysterious
shock,--a puritanic idea that is now held to be absurd; yet this wild
excitement doubtless produced some good fruit, if not a "rich harvest."
Be this as it may, Rev. Mr. Badger persevered in extending his labors,
and between June 18 and July 1 of the year 1802, rode two hundred miles,
preached eight sermons, and administered two sacraments. In riding
through the dense woodlands, especially after nightfall, he was often
followed by hungry wolves and bears, manifesting a desire to cultivate a
toothsome acquaintance with him. On one occasion, when riding through a
dark and pathless forest late at night, along the banks of Grand River,
and drenched with rain, he discovered by the sound of distinct footsteps
that some large animal was following him. He stopped his horse, turned
on the saddle, and with loud vociferations and clapping of hands
attempted to frighten the animal away, but instead of the noise having
the desired effect, the bear, as it proved to be, sprang towards him
with hair standing on end and with eyes flashing fire. At this critical
juncture, as Rev. Mr. Badger states in his diary: "I had no weapon of
defence. I thought best to leave the ground, turned to the left, and
walked my horse partly by the bear, when the brute stepped directly on
behind me and within a few paces. By this time it had become so dark
that I could see nothing, not even my hand holding the bridle, and the
bear was still snapping his teeth and approaching nearer. I had in my
hand a large heavy horse-shoe, took aim by his nose, and threw the shoe,
but effected no alarm of the enemy. To ride away was impossible in a
pathless wood, thick with brush and fallen timber. I concluded to resort
to a tree if I could find one. I reined my horse first to the right and
then to the left, at which instant some sloping limbs brushed my hat. On
feeling them, I found them to be long pliable beech limbs. I reined my
horse again and came with his shoulder close to the tree. I tied the
bridle to the limbs, raised myself on the saddle, and by aid of the
small limbs began to climb. I soon got hold of a limb large enough to
bear me; and at this instant the evil beast came to the tree with
violent snuffing and snapping. I fixed my stand on the limb, took out a
sharp knife, the only weapon I had, and prepared for battle. But I soon
heard the bear snuffing near the horse's nose as he was crunching the
boughs and leaves within his reach. I then ascended about forty feet, as
near the top of the tree as I thought was safe, found a convenient place
to sit on a limb, and then tied myself with a large bandanna to the
tree, so as not to fall if I fell into a drowse. The bear continued
smelling at the horse until he had passed around him to the opposite
side of the tree; and all was still but the champing of the horse. By
the roaring of the wind it appeared that a heavy gust was approaching.
It soon began to rain powerfully, with wind and heavy peals of thunder.
At this time the horse shook himself, which startled the bear to a quick
rush for a few rods, when he stopped and violently snapped his teeth,
and there remained until a few minutes before daylight, when he went
off. My horse standing as he did at the foot of the tree, without moving
a foot from the place where I left him, and in no way frightened by the
approach and management of the bear, seemed to be peculiarly
providential. This was the only time I was disturbed in camping out many
times. As soon as I could see to take my course, I mounted my horse and
arrived at my house, about six miles from my lodging-place in the tree,
with a pretty good appetite for breakfast. Having in my saddlebags two
volumes of the 'Ohio State Laws,' it was remarked by some of my friends
that the old bear did not like so near a 'union of Church and State.'"
Rev. Mr. Badger continued his missionary work with zeal and with highly
encouraging prospects. He organized many churches and schools, and
distributed many Bibles and school-books, and often assisted the
settlers in erecting their log cabins and in securing their harvests.
In 1804, the missionary society reduced his compensation to six dollars
a week, being the same they allowed their missionaries nearer home. This
he did not relish, but accepted the reduced pittance, remarking that he
would go on with his work and trust to Him who "feeds the ravens." At
this time he was obliged to pay at the rate of sixteen dollars a barrel
for salt pork, though the other provisions were comparatively cheap and
plenty. Early in the spring of 1809, his house was burned, and nothing
saved but two beds and a few articles of clothing. He at once built a
small cabin, with the generous aid of his neighbors, and moved his
family into it, without bedstead, table, knife, fork, or spoon. In June
of the same year he returned to Hartford, Connecticut, and made a final
settlement with the Connecticut Missionary Society, and received an
honorable discharge from further services as a missionary under its
auspices. He then proposed to engage in missionary work among the
Indians west of the Cuyahoga, known as the Wyandots; and having within a
short time received cash donations from the Massachusetts Missionary
Society to the amount of over a thousand dollars, he returned to the
Reserve and commenced his missionary labors among the Indians at Upper
Sandusky, which he regarded as a central point, and from which he
extended his labors in the region round about so as to include all the
Indian villages in the vicinity of the lake, from the west side of the
Cuyahoga River to the city of Detroit. This mission was called the
"Wyandot Mission." His labors in this missionary field consisted mainly
in visiting the Indians in their lodges, instructing them and their
children in the elementary principles of Christianity and in the
observance of peaceful relations. He also gave them practical lessons in
agriculture and other arts of civilized life, and tried to reform their
intemperate habits by condemning the use of whiskey. He was a stanch
advocate of "temperance in all things," denounced slavish habits and
also slavery long before the latter became the subject of political
agitation. In 1812, he took a deep and active interest in the war, and
accepted the position of chaplain in the command of General Harrison. He
also exercised a wide influence over the Indians in preventing them from
making alliances with the enemy. At the close of the war he resumed his
missionary labors. In August, 1818, his good wife died, and left to him
the care of their children. His grief seemed inconsolable, but he soon
so far overcame it as to marry in April, 1819, Miss Abigail Ely for a
second wife. In the following June he took his bridal trip with her to
his old home in New England, and after a brief but delightful visit,
returned and devoted himself to preaching in the eastern part of the
Reserve, where he soon settled as pastor of the church at Austinburg,--a
church which he had organized, and which had become so large in the
number of its communicants that it was generally known as the "mother
church" of the Reserve. He subsequently officiated as pastor of the
church at Ashtabula for some years, then at Kingsville, and lastly at
Gustavus, Trumbull County, where he settled in 1825, and officiated not
only as pastor of the parish, but as postmaster, having been appointed
to the latter office by the postmaster-general. In 1835, he resigned his
position as pastor at Gustavus, and preached a farewell sermon, taking
the following words for his text: "Finally, brethren, farewell. Be
perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God
of love and peace shall be with you." The sermon was a masterly one, and
the audience was affected to tears. It was long remembered, and was
never forgotten by those who heard it. He had now become so enfeebled by
age as to disqualify him for further service as pastor of a church. From
Gustavus he went to reside with his married daughter in the township of
Plain, Wood County, Ohio, where for eight or nine years, he devoted
more or less time, as he was able, to missionary work in the vicinity.
In 1844, he changed his residence and went to the neighboring town of
Perrysburg, where he lived with his married granddaughter, and where he
died in 1846, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. In six months
afterward his wife died. But two of his six children survived him.
In personal appearance Rev. Joseph Badger was tall, slim, erect, had
blue eyes, brown hair, and a pleasing expression of face. In temperament
and action he was quick and somewhat impulsive, yet he was considerate
and slow of utterance, rarely, if ever, uttering an imprudent word. In
his social intercourse he was sedate or facetious as the occasion seemed
to require. He enjoyed hearing and telling amusing anecdotes. In his
style of preaching he was apostolic, plain, simple, and logical. In
creed he was an orthodox Presbyterian. He had but one grand aim in life,
and that was to do what he could to advance the moral and spiritual
welfare of mankind. In a word, Rev. Joseph Badger, though dead, still
lives and will ever live in memory as the early western missionary whose
lifelong labors were prompted by the spirit of a true Christian
philanthropy.
"His youth was innocent, his riper age
Marked with some act of goodness every day;
And watched by eyes that loved him, calm and sage,
Faded his late declining years away.
Cheerful he gave his being up, and went
To share the holy rest that waits a life well spent."
MISSION MONUMENT.
[Dedicated at Williamstown, Mass., July 28, 1867.]
In the accomplishment of great moral purposes, a Divine Providence
employs human instrumentalities. Of this we have ample evidence, not
only in the history of nations, but in the career of individuals.
A little more than eighteen centuries ago, a few obscure fishermen,
while casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee, were called to abandon
their nets, and become "fishers of men."
A little more than sixty years ago, a few obscure young men, while
pursuing their classical studies in Williams College, were called to go
into benighted lands beyond the sea, and proclaim the divine doctrine of
"peace on earth and good-will to men."
These students, though unknown to fame, were young men of thought and of
high moral aspirations. Influenced by a devotional spirit, they felt
that God had a great work for them to do, and that it was therefore
important for them to comprehend their true relations, both to God and
to man.
What was the precise character of the great work assigned them, they
did not seem to know; and for this reason they sought for more light,
and for guidance from the Mighty Counsellor, whose wisdom is infinite,
and who cannot err. In seeking for that knowledge which "cometh from
above," they were accustomed, in the milder months of the year, to hold
occasional prayer-meetings in the solitudes of Nature, believing that
"The groves were God's first temples."
And doubtless they felt that the Divine Presence dwells more essentially
in the silent sanctuaries of Nature than in "temples made with hands."
It was here, within the quiet and cool retreat of the maple-grove in
which we are now assembled, that they had convened at the close of a
sultry summer day, in the year 1806, to hold the accustomed
prayer-meeting, when they were overtaken by a sudden shower of rain, and
compelled to seek the friendly shelter afforded them by a neighboring
haystack.
The group of young evangelists who were present at the prayer-meeting on
this particular occasion consisted of Samuel J. Mills, James Richards,
Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byram Green. Protected from the
rain by the haystack, they continued, amid the conflict of the
elements, their devotional exercises, and also discussed religious
topics of deep interest to themselves and to the world. It was a sublime
moment for them and for the world. The heavens were darkened; the
lightnings flashed; dread thunders rolled; the rain fell; yet amid this
conflict of the elements there came "a still small voice," as if from
the storm-cloud. It was a divine whisper, an inspired thought, which
stirred the life-currents in the heart of Mills, and diffused upon his
brow a celestial radiance. That inspired thought, broad as the earth in
its comprehension, Mills announced to his devout companions. They felt
its divinity, and regarded it as a divine communication. At the instance
of Mills, they knelt in prayer, and besought divine aid and guidance in
executing the great work which they now believed had been revealed to
them. It was nothing less than a mission to some foreign heathen land,
and the ultimate evangelization of the world. In offering up the last
prayer at this meeting, so enthusiastic became Mills that he invoked
"the red artillery of Heaven to strike down the arm that should be
raised against a herald of the cross."
And now, as the storm-cloud passed away, the skies became bright and
serene; the air was pure and fragrant as balm. The raindrops, like
jewels, glittered on the leaves in the grove, and on the grass and
wild-flowers in the meadows. In short, the smile of Heaven was reflected
in the face of Nature. And the sublimity of the scene, as it may be
supposed, was heightened by the appearance of a rainbow in the
east,--that glorious emblem of a divine love, which is so ample in its
character as to embrace within its golden circle the great world of
mankind, of "every nation, kindred, and tongue."
As these inspired young men of the haystack wended their way back to the
college halls, they "pondered these things in their hearts" and
communicated their thoughts to such of their fellow-students as they
believed would sympathize with them in the desire they felt to
consecrate their lives to the great work of foreign missions, and
especially a mission to India. Several of their associates became at
once inspired with a similar missionary spirit. But as yet the interest
felt in this new enterprise was restricted to the circle of the "Society
of Brethren," as it was designated. This society was a secret
organization, composed of such students as had made a profession of
religion, and had for its object the promotion of the spiritual welfare
of its members. In pursuance of this object, they held private
prayer-meetings in each others' rooms, and discussed questions of
special religious interest, and often, in the summer season, retired for
the same purpose to the neighboring groves.
In this way was sown the first grain of "mustard seed," which was
destined soon to vegetate and grow to a tree of gigantic proportions.
The planting of this "smallest of all seeds" constituted a nucleus for
more extended effort. Consequently other societies were soon organized
to promote the good work. In fact, new life was breathed into the "dry
bones" of every valley; and Heaven repeated the command, "Go, teach all
nations."
The grand result of this day of "small things" was the organization at
Bradford, in 1810, of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions,--an organization which under the direction and favor of a
Divine Providence has achieved so much for the civilization and
evangelization of the benighted races of mankind. Of this we need adduce
no other proof than the leading facts of its history.
In its inception, this Board consisted of but few members. At its first
meeting there were but five members present, and at its second, but
seven. Its receipts for the first year were but a thousand dollars. Now
its annual receipts exceed a half-million of dollars, and its annual
meetings are attended by thousands of people. In the aggregate, it has
collected and disbursed nearly twelve millions of dollars. It has never
lost a dollar by the fraud or embezzlement of any of its officers or
agents. Since its first meeting of five persons, in 1810, its corporate
members have been increased to two hundred, and its honorary members to
seventeen thousand.
It has sent into the missionary field thirteen hundred persons, in
various capacities, including nearly five hundred ordained missionaries.
It has established missions in almost every benighted region of the
habitable globe, especially in the Eastern Hemisphere,--in India, in
China, in Persia, in Syria, in Greece, in Turkey, in Africa, and also in
several isles of the sea, including the Sandwich Islands. It has more
than a hundred missionary stations, and nearly two hundred out-stations
occupied by native helpers. It has in the native ministry three hundred
Christian converts, about seventy of whom are pastors of churches. These
native Christian churches have now increased to two hundred, in
communion with which more than sixty thousand hopeful converts have been
received.
It has printing-presses, which have printed more than a thousand
millions of pages of religious and educational matter, which has been
distributed in forty-two living languages, as now spoken in pagan and
other unevangelized lands. It has invented alphabets, and reduced
eighteen native languages to writing. It has put in successful operation
more than four hundred native schools, in which more than twelve
thousand native children have been taught. All this has been done in
less than sixty years, and still the great work progresses with
increasing zeal and efficiency.
Thus has the Board proved itself to be, in the providence of God, a
great moral power in the nineteenth century. It is the star in the West,
which flings its cheering light into the East. The wise men have seen
it, and the shepherds have seen it. Like the star of Bethlehem, its
errand is divine, for it was born of an inspired thought which has now
become an invincible element in the moral world,--a power which must and
will do its work; and though opposition and discouragement may come,--
"Truth crushed to earth shall rise again."
Yes, millions of Christian heroes will come to the rescue, still bearing
aloft the banner of the cross, and shouting the battle-cry of civil and
religious freedom. And woman, first at the sepulchre, first in deeds of
charity, first in every good work, will renew her activities in the
great warfare with moral darkness, until the "uttermost parts of the
earth" have been illuminated with the light of divine truth.
It is expected, perhaps, that some allusion will be made to the motive
which has induced the erection of the monument you see standing before
you in its modest yet truthful significance. The motive was simply a
desire felt in common with many other persons to see a spot which has
become sacred in missionary history commemorated by some permanent
expression of Christian gratitude. An expression of this kind seemed due
not only to the great and good cause of American Foreign Missions, but
to the revered memories of the five young men of prayer, who knelt here,
under shelter of the haystack, and received from on high a divine
commission. And permit me to add that the filial regard I entertain for
my Alma Mater, and for my native State of Massachusetts, has had its
influence in disposing me to make this contribution to a heaven-born
enterprise, and in remembrance of those truly good, and therefore truly
great, men, whose names are inscribed on the monument. The plan of the
monument, as well as its erection here, it gives me pleasure to state,
has received the cordial approval of the Faculty and Trustees of the
college. The grand object for which the monument has been erected, is
the commemoration of the "birthplace of American Foreign Missions;" and
to this object we now dedicate it, in the name of a Christian
philanthropy, whose "field is the world."
In its character the monument is not less unique than emblematical. It
stands on the identical spot where the haystack stood. As a specimen of
fine material and artistic sculpture, it is strictly a Berkshire
production, composed of Berkshire marble quarried at Alford, and wrought
in the workshops of The Berkshire Marble Company. Its entire height is
twelve feet; its shaft, cap, and base, square; its surface polished; its
color a silver-blue. It is surmounted with a globe three feet in
diameter, traced in geographical lines. On its eastern face, and
immediately below the globe, are inscribed these words, "The Field is
the World." Then follows a similitude of the haystack, sculptured in
bas-relief, and encircled with these words, "The Birthplace of American
Foreign Missions, 1806." And beneath this appear the names of the five
young men who held the prayer-meeting under the shelter of the haystack.
The maple-grove, amid whose cool shadows we now stand, is the same grove
from which the five heavenly minded young men were driven by the
impending rain-storm.
This maple-grove, which has now become ever memorable, is included
within the boundaries of Mission Park. The park contains ten acres, and
was purchased on account of its historical interest, and made part of
the domains of Williams College. It is the design of the friends of the
college to embellish the park with specimens of the trees and shrubs and
flowers of every foreign land to which missionaries have been sent by
the American Board, so far, at least, as such specimens can be
successfully acclimated in this country.