VOLUME 3 — BOOK V — CHAPTER XI
REVIEW OF THE PERIOD: 1792 —1796

Importance of the Period — Numerical Declension — Sectional Growth — Statistics — Great Number of Locations — Public Fast and Thanksgiving— Slavery and Loyalty — Methodist Preachers and Politics — Washington's Letter to three of them — Ministerial Recruits — The Presiding Elders — Obituary Characterizations — Birchett — Scene at the Grave of Acuff — Prophetic Letter from Coke

I have treated, with the more minuteness, the interval between the General Conferences of 1792 and 1796, because it is one of the most important periods in the history of American Methodism. Within these years the denomination was chiefly founded in New England, in Canada, and in the valley of the Mississippi; for though it catered these sections somewhat earlier, it now really laid, in each of them, its permanent foundations, and stood forth a secured, a general, and more than a national form of American Protestantism.

Its aggregate membership shows a loss, since 1792, of more than nine thousand; it had been losing for three years, [1] the effect of the O'Kelly schism; but substantially it had never been more vigorous or more progressive. Away from the local disturbance it was not only fortifying all its positions, but gaining in numerical strength. In New England it more than doubled its circuits, and nearly doubled its preachers and communicants. It had now entrenched itself in all the Eastern States. In Canada it had trebled its circuits, quadrupled its ministry, and nearly trebled its membership.

In the great West everything had been in transition, no accurate returns could be made, the members in one settlement today being in another tomorrow; they were, however, extending their cause, and they had now much more than double the numerical strength of Canada and New England together.

The chief force of the denomination was now in Virginia; she reported nearly 14,000 members; more than three times the number of the state of New York. Maryland ranked next, and had nearly 12,500; more than four times as many as Pennsylvania, and more than three times the number of New York. New Hampshire ranked lowest on the list of the states, her Methodistic roll having yet but sixty-eight names.

The aggregate membership, throughout the republic and Canada, was 56,664, the aggregate ministry 293; showing a loss, for the four years, of 9,316 members, and a gain of 2 preachers. On a closer examination of the statistics of the Minutes, we are startled by the evidence of ministerial privation and suffering proved by the frequency of locations. Though we find a gain of but 2 itinerants in these four years, there were actually received, at the Conferences, no less than 161 candidates; and but twenty deaths and six expulsions occurred in all this period. There were, meanwhile, no less than 106 locations. These located men, however, as has been amply shown, ceased not to preach; they hardly ceased to travel, though their tours were more circumscribed.

The decrease, occasioned chiefly by the Virginia controversy, excited alarm. A General Fast was proclaimed for the first Friday in March, 1796, "to be attended in all the societies and congregations with Sabbatic strictness," and among the sins enumerated, as demanding this penitence, was that of slavery. The Church was called upon to "lament the deep-rooted vassalage that still reigneth in many parts of these free, independent United States; to call upon the Lord to direct our rulers, and teach our senators wisdom; that the Lord would teach our people a just and lawful submission to their rulers; that America may not commit abominations with other corrupt nations of the earth, and partake of their sins and their plagues; and that the Gospel may be preached with more purity, and be heard with more affection." In the following October a day of General Thanksgiving was observed, "to give glory to God for his late goodness to the ancient parent society from whom we are derived; that they have been honored with the conversion of hundreds and thousands within these two years last past; — for such a signal display of his power in the Methodist Society, within the space of twenty-six years; through the continent of America, as may be seen in the volume of our Annual Minutes; for the late glorious and powerful work we have had in Virginia and Maryland, and which still continues in an eminent and special manner in some parts of our American connection; for the many faithful public witnesses which have been raised up, and that so few (comparatively speaking) have dishonored their holy calling; — that we have had so many drawn from the depth of sin and misery to the heights of love and holiness among the subjects of grace, numbers of whom are now living, while others have died in the full and glorious triumph of faith; — to take into remembrance the goodness and wisdom of God displayed toward America, by making it an asylum for those who are distressed in Europe with war and want, and oppressed with ecclesiastical and civil tyranny; and the rapid settlement and wonderful population of the continent; — for the general union and government, that they may be kept pure and permanent; for the admirable Revolution, obtained and established at so small a price of blood and treasure. And for African liberty; we feel gratitude that so many thousands of these poor people are free and pious." [2]

The declension of numbers ceased from this year; slowly but surely the returns increased until they rolled up in those grand aggregates which have astonished not only the denomination itself, but the religious world. It will be observed, in the proclamations of the Fast and Thanksgiving, that these early Methodist preachers hesitated not to utter their solemn convictions on political matters involving Christian ethics. They denounced slavery, and some of them suffered violence and imprisonment for doing so. They gloried in our "admirable Revolution," and sustained with hearty patriotism the government and laws. Their ardent loyalty was appreciated by the government, and as early as 1793, when the noted "Whisky Insurrection" in Pennsylvania was alarming the country, Washington wrote to Thornton Fleming, Valentine Cook, and William McLenahan, preachers in the midst of the agitation, thanking them for "using their influence, in their several spheres, to inculcate the necessity of a peaceable compliance with the law," which, by laying a duty on distilled spirits, had occasioned the outbreak. "Your conduct on this occasion, gentlemen," he adds, "is that of good citizens and certainly meritorious, and I hope and trust that those good and enlightened characters who have at heart the true interest of the public, will endeavor to effect, by fair and just representations, what it would be extremely painful, however necessary, to carry into operation by compulsive means."

The young men received as recruits of the ministry, in this period, included some of our most memorable characters: William Burke, Tobias Gibson, Thomas Lyell, Lawrence McCoombs, Hezekiah C. Wooster, Enoch Mudge, Daniel Ostrander, Henry Smith, William Beauchamp, Nicholas Snethen, Joseph Mitchell, John Broadhead, Dr. Sargent, Benjamin Lakin, John Finnegan, John Sale, Timothy Merritt, Peter Vannest, and many more, the mere catalogue of whose names is full of significance to students of our early annals.

During these years the Church was strongly officered: in the South by such presiding elders as Ira Ellis, Reuben Ellis, Richard Ivey, Philip Bruce, Nelson Reed, Isaac Smith, Thomas Bowen, Lemuel Green, Joshua Wells, Joseph Everett, William McKendree, Enoch George; in the Middle and North with such as John McClaskey, Jacob Brush, Freeborn Garrettson, Richard Whatcoat, Thomas Ware, Thornton Fleming, Darius Dunham; in the East with such as Jesse Lee, Ezekiel Cooper, George Roberts, Sylvester Hutchinson; and in the West with such as Francis Poythress, Barnabas McHenry, John Kobler, Valentine Cook, Charles Conaway, Daniel Hitt — men of might.

Of the score who fell at their posts in this period, several have heretofore been fully noticed, such as Philip Cox, the first of Methodist Book Agents; Jacob Brush, one of Lee's first colleagues in New England; Zadok Priest, the first who died in the Eastern field; Reuben Ellis, Richard Ivey, William Jessup, and Benjamin Abbott. Of the others we have but few words, mostly from Asbury's pen, who was in too much haste to stop for details. Among them was Thomas Weatherford, "who lived the gospel, and died triumphant in the Lord;" George Browning, "a serious, devoted man, who died in peace;" Jacob Carter, who had long suffered from a wound received in the Revolutionary war, but preached six years zealously, and as a trained soldier was "a strict disciplinarian, a happy man, and one that feared not the face of any;" John Spraul, "a simple, honest man, who gave himself wholly to God and his work;" James Wilson, "whose piety, walking with God, fervor in prayer, and exhortations, were very great;" John Wynn, a young man "of address and natural eloquence, of an upright heart, a son of affliction, but willing to labor to the last;" Hardy Herbert, a "youth of genius, a pleasing speaker, of easy and natural elocution," "sentimental," but "not given to dissimulation," "loved and esteemed;" John Ahair, "meek-spirited, holy, zealous, weak in body, strong in faith and love," and who "sweetly slept in Jesus after a short but happy life;" Thomas Boyd, "a man of tender spirit and much afflicted, but who went to his long home in peace after giving strong proof of his piety by an innocent, holy life;" Emory Prior, whose "temper and spirit were a continual comment on 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ;' " Samuel Miller, "a man of genuine piety, deep experience, and useful gifts, preaching in both German and English; had he loved his ease he could have had it at home, but the love of God and souls moved him to spread the gospel;" Stephen Davis, "a man of established piety and great strength of memory, who wrought frequently with his own hands, and left what he possessed to his brethren in the ministry;" John Farrell, "of an honest heart, and faithful in his labors, a plain, holy preacher, a friend to discipline and order," who died "with unbroken confidence, peace, and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ."

Two are recorded as falling in the distant Western field. One was Henry Birchett, "a gracious, happy, useful man, who freely offered himself for the dangerous stations of Kentucky and Cumberland." We have seen him making such an offer when sinking with disease, and when none other was ready to go, and, facing privation, small-pox, and savages, departing to his far off and solitary post to die there. "He was among the watchers," say the Minutes; "his meekness, love, labors, prayers, tears, sermons, and exhortations will not soon be forgotten. He wanted no appeal from labor, danger, or suffering." The other was Francis Acuff, "a young man of genius, much beloved, and greatly lamented." He died near Danville, Ky., in 1795, not twenty-five years old. Though his career was brief; he left a profound impression; his extraordinary talents and great devotion won universal affection. We have seen the mournful interest felt in his death, as recorded by Asbury at "Acuff Chapel" in North Carolina. An historian of the Church has said that he left a name in the West which will be gratefully remembered while Methodism shall continue to live and flourish in that country. He adds an "instance of the strong attachment which was felt by those who were best acquainted with this man of God:" An Englishman, named William Jones, on his arrival in Virginia was sold for his passage. He served his time, four years, with fidelity, and was finally brought to the knowledge of the truth by means of Methodist preaching. As he had been greatly blessed under the ministry of Acuff; when he heard of his death, he determined to visit his tomb. Though he had to travel a long distance through the wilderness, exposed to the Indians, yet his affectionate desire to see the grave of his friend impelled him forward. "When I came to the rivers," he said, "I would wade them, or if there were ferries they would take me over; and when I was hungry travelers would give me a morsel of bread. When I came to Mr. Greene's, in Madison Comity, I inquired for our dear Brother Acuff's grave. The people looked astonished, but directed me to it. I went to it, felt my soul happy, kneeled down, shouted over it, and praised the Lord." [3] What eulogy could surpass such a proof of gratitude and affection?

Toward the close of this period Coke, then in Ireland, hearing of the prosperity of Methodism here as elsewhere, conceived the sublimest destinies for it, and wrote to one of the itinerants, in the Western wilds, with his characteristic ardor. "The last year," he says, "was the greatest Methodism has ever known in Europe. O, my brother, labor to stir up our dear American brethren, who are children of God, to go on to perfection. Let them expect and pray for the universal reign of Christ. The time is hastening on when all the world shall bow the knee to Jesus. I am glad to hear that your district schools are going on so prosperously. May the Lord increase the number of them, and give his constant blessing to them for the sake of the rising generation. My dear brother, have great compassion on the poor Negroes, and do all you can to convert them. If they have religious liberty, their temporal slavery will be comparatively but a small thing. But even in respect to this latter point, I do long for the time when the Lord will turn their captivity like the rivers of the south. And he will appear for them. He is winding up the sacred ball; he is sweeping off the wicked with the besom [broom — DVM] of destruction, with pestilence, famine, and war, and will never withdraw his hand till civil and religious liberty be established over all the earth. I have no doubt but if the body of Methodist preachers keep close to God, they will be the chief instruments of bringing about this most desirable state of things. Let us be a praying, preaching, self-denying, mortified, crucified set of men, (as, blessed be God! is the case with most of the preachers more or less at present,) and we shall carry the world before us." [4]

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ENDNOTES

1 It reported a diminution of white members as early as 1798, but the loss was then more than repaired by the gain of black members.

2 Bound Minutes, vol. i, p. 64.

3 Bangs, ii, 40.

4 Dated April 23, 1795. See South. Meth. Quart Rev., Oct., 1859.

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