Robert Sidney Douglass, A. B., LL. B.; Professor of History, State Normal School, Cape Girardeau, Mo., History of Southeast, Missouri A Narrative of Its Historical Progress, Its People and its Principal Interests. Volume I Illustrated, (The Lewis Publishing Company; Chicago and New York 1912).

 

All rights reserved.  Genealogists may use the information provided here freely.

This page, and the information it provides may not be copied for commercial use of any kind. Judith Anne Weeks Ancell jancell@spro.net

 

 

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CHAPTER XIII
PROTESTANT IMMIGRATION
VISITS OF PROTESTANT MINISTERS — JOHN CLARK — JOSIAH DODGE — THOMAS JOHNSON — ANDREW
WILSON — RELIGIOUS CONDITION OF THE SETTLERS — MOTIVES WHICH BROUGHT THEM
TO LOUISIANA — THE WORK OF THE BAPTISTS — DAVID GREENE — BETHEL CHURCII NEAR
JACKSON — ITS EARLY MEMBERS — THE FIRST MEETING HOUSE — RELICS OF OLD BETHEL .
CHURCH — MEMORIAL SERVICES IN 1906 — GROWTH OP THE CHURCH — OTHER CHURCHES ORGANIZED
BY MEMBERS OF BETHEL — EARLY MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH — WILSON THOMPSON —
THOMAS STEPHENS — THOMAS P. GREENE — THE FIRST MISSIONARY COLLECTION — THE FORMATION
OP AN ASSOCIATION OF CHURCHES IN MISSOURI — JOHN M. PECK — THE WORK OP THE
METHODIST CHURCH — FIRST PREACHERS — JOHN TRAVIS — ORGANIZATION OF MCKENDREE—
EARLY MEMBERS — FIRST MEETING HOUSE — JESSE WALKER — THE FIRST CIRCUITS — FIBST
SERMON IN CAPE GIRARDEAU — CAMPMEETING AT MCKENDREE IN 1810 — HARBISON — NEW
CIRCUITS FORMED — ORGANIZATION OF THE MISSOURI CONFERENCE — RUCKER TANNER — THE
FIRST CONFERENCE HELD IN MISSOURI — THE WORK OF THE PRESBYTERIANS — HEMPSTEAD-
LETTER — A CHURCH ORGANIZED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY, 1816 — ORGANIZATION OF THE
PRESBYTERY OF MISSOURI — EARLY MINISTERS — TIMOTHY FLINT — THE COLUMBIAN BIBLE
SOCIETY — FLINT'S WRITINGS — DISCIPLES OF CHRIST — WILLIAM MCMURTRY — FIRST ORGANIZATION
IN MISSOURI, 1822 — DIFFICULTIES UNDER WHICH EARLY MINISTERS LABORED —
PROGRESS MADE — PECK'S DESCRIPTION — DEBT OWED TO PIONEER MINISTERS.

We have seen something of the work of the cases of families moving to Upper Louisiana missionaries who came to the state in the early then, on finding what they were required to years, and have traced and outlined the subscribe to, declining to stay and returning growth of the Catholic church up to the time to the east side of the river. Of course, these of the transfer in 1804. Of course, up to this restrictions were swept away with the trans-
time there was no religious history of the transfer to the United States. The principle recognized by the American people of absolute church. While, as we have seen, there were toleration in religious matters was extended other persons living in the state, they were to Louisiana. It was not long before the required to conform to the Catholic religion, activity of the Protestant ministers brought to rear their children in the Catholic faith, them to the new territory, and they were forbidden to hold public services of any kind. These restrictions, while We have seen, in fact, that even before the they did not prevent Protestant immigration, transfer some ministers had, in violation of hindered it greatly. There are a number of the provisions of the Spanish law, come to

 

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Louisiana and held services. John Clark, a minister of the Methodist church, was one of these who as early as 1796 came to Louisiana and visited a number of the settlements. Clark is described as a man simple, unaffected,
and wholly disinterested. He violated the Spanish law in holding these services, but the lieutenant governor, then at St. Louis, Zenon Trudeau, was very much in favor of the coming of American settlers and, in order not to
discourage them, he was disposed to allow these visits. He seemed to have warned Clark on a number of occasions, but he never really molested him, though he threatened him with imprisonment. Clark at the time resided in Illinois; he died in 1813; he became a Baptist at some time subsequent to his visits to Louisiana.
Doubtless the earliest of these ministers was Josiah Dodge. Dodge lived in Kentucky and was a Baptist. He was a brother of Israel Dodge, who lived near Ste. Genevieve. During his visits to his brother, Rev. Josiah Dodge was accustomed to preach to the American settlers in the vicinity. It is possible that these sermons were the first non-Catholic sermons delivered west of the Mississippi river. This was in 1794. In the same year, it is recorded that he crossed the river to Illinois and baptized four persons in Fountain creek.
Perhaps these were residents of Upper Louisiana who were thus baptized in the Illinois to avoid violating the law regarding baptisms in Upper Louisiana.

In 1799 Rev. Thomas Johnson, another Baptist minister, came to Cape Girardeau district ; he was a native of Georgia. In that year he baptized Mrs. Agnes Ballou in Randol creek. This was, doubtless, the first baptism, not performed by a Catholic priest, west of the river.
One of the men who came with Morgan to New Madrid was Andrew Wilson. He was a Scotchman and had been a Presbyterian minister. He never preached in New Madrid and it is probable that he had previously given up the ministry.

The testimony of almost all observers as to some of the American settlers prior to the transfer to the United States is that their condition, religiously considered, was deplorable. We cannot believe it to have been otherwise. In the first place, the fact that though they were Protestants they were willing to conform to the nominal requirements of the Spanish law with regard to the rearing of their children as Catholics, and the further fact that they were compelled to forego any public religious services, are sufficient to show that they were not distinctly or deeply religious. Cut off, as they were, from all religious teaching by their situation and the requirements of the laws under which they lived, they must have fallen into a deplorable condition. It was reported by some observers that in some cases they had even forgotten the days of the week and that they made no attempt whatever to observe the Sabbath in any way, and where it was observed, too often it was a day given up to amusements such as the country offered. Andrew Ramsay 's place in Cape Girardeau was used as an assembly place for all the people of the neighborhood. They came together, not for worship, but for the purpose of whatever amusement could be found. The condition of the early settlers, as here set out, unfavorable as it was with regard to religion, must not be taken to represent the feelings and convictions of all the people of Upper Louisiana. While those who were Protestants in belief had to give up, as we have seen, the open practice of their religion, it should not be forgotten that the motives that impelled men to settle in the Louisiana terri-

 

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tory were very strong. American settlers who lived in the Northwest territory and who owned slaves found that in order to continue holding them they must give up their homesteads and seek another territory after the passage of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Many of these men crossed the Mississippi river to Upper Louisiana; others came because they were attracted by the ease with which land might he secured from the Spanish government, and still others were moved by the love of adventure and of a free life in the open which characterized so many Americans in the early period of history. These motives were very strong and they induced many respectable, honest and upright people to give up their homes and to take up their residence in what is now Missouri.
These people no doubt felt the deprivation of religious service and experience. That they still meditated on religion and wished for an opportunity to exercise it openly is made evident by the cordial reception which was given to the few Protestant ministers who, in spite of the proclamation of Spain, made their way into the territory.

In the life of John Clark, which was no doubt written by John Mason Peck, it is clearly set out that the American families were very glad indeed to receive Clark into their homes and to listen to him as he read and preached, and were rejoiced at an opportunity to hear the Gospel in their new territory and according to their own beliefs again.
It seems that the first Baptists in Missouri were Thomas Bull, his wife and mother-in-law, Mrs. Lee. They moved to the Cape Girardeau district from Kentucky in 1796.

They were followed, in 1797, by Enos Randol and wife, and the wife of John Abernathy. For a number of years they lived without any religious services, except such as they held at private houses. At one time they were in fear of being required to leave the province on account of their religious belief, but Lorimier was favorable to them and they continued to reside here.

Elder Thomas Johnson, of Georgia, was perhaps the first Baptist minister who preached in Upper Louisiana. He was a resident of Georgia. He came to the Cape Girardeau district on a visit in 1799, and while there he preached. He performed the first non-Catholic baptism west of the river. He baptized Mrs. Ballou in Randol 's creek.

In 1805, Elder David Greene, a native of Virginia, but at that time a resident of Kentucky, came to the district. Greene preached, first, about the settlements near Commerce. He organized a church in Tywappity bottom in 1805. This was the first Baptist church in Louisiana. It had only some six or seven members and soon disbanded. Elder Greene, after a visit of some months, returned to Kentucky. He was impressed, however, by the importance of the field in Upper Louisiana and came back to the Cape Girardeau district in 1806. He resided in the district with his family until the time of his death in 1809.

On July 19, 1806, Elder Greene gathered together the Baptists near Jackson and organized a church which was called Bethel. It is not definitely known just where the organization took place, but it is believed to have been made in the house of Thomas Bull. This church so organized was the center from which sprang the large number of early Baptist churches in Missouri. The members who took part in the organization of the church were David Greene, Thomas English. Leanna Greene, Jane English, Agnes Ballou, Thomas Bull, Edward Spear, Anderson Rogers, John Hitt. Clara Abernathy, Katherine Anderson,

 

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Rebecca Randol, Frances Hitt and William Matthews.
The board which took part in the organization of the church was composed of Elder David Greene and Deacons George Laurence and Henry Cockerham. The officers of the church as organized were: David Greene, pastor; Thomas English, deacon. In August, after the organization, Thomas Bull was elected writing clerk, and in the following April, William Matthews was elected singing clerk.
Thomas English, who was thus one of the charter members of the church, was a native of Georgia. He came to Missouri about 1804, and lived in the Ramsay settlement. He remained a member of the church and a deacon until his death, May 16, 1829. He left a large family of sons and daughters, and his descendants still live in Cape Girardeau county. His wife, Jane, was also a member. He died in 1842.
William Hitt, who became a member of Bethel church in 1812, and who afterward served as its clerk for a number of years, was one of the prominent members. He was the grandfather of the late Deacon Smith Hitt of the Cape Girardeau Baptist church. Benjamin Hitt, who also united with Bethel church in 1812, was the father of the late Judge Samuel Hitt, of Cape Girardeau.
The Randol family was one of the early Baptist families in the district. Enos Randol united with Bethel church in 1808. His son, Enos, was a sergeant in Peter Craig's company of mounted rangers that fought the battle of the Sink Hole. The Randol family still live in Cape Girardeau county.
Edward Spear, who was one of the charter members of the church, was afterward a lieutenant in Craig's company, and was killed at the Sink Hole.

Some of the other members of the church in the early time were William Smith, John Sheppard and his wife, Nancy ; Isaac Sheppard, who united with Bethel church in 1809. Isaac Sheppard was elected deacon and treasurer, and was also one of the judges both of the common pleas court at Cape Girardeau and the county court. Ezekiel Hill, Rachel Hill, William Hill, the Thompson family, John Daugherty and Hiram C. Davis were also among the early members, having united with the church prior to the year 1820.

John Juden, Sr., was a native of England, and came from Baltimore in 1805 to Missouri. In 1820 he and John Juden, Jr., joined Bethel church. This family and its descendants were very prominent in Cape Girardeau county for many years.

On October 11, 1806, the congregation voted to erect a meeting house. In pursuance of this resolution, a small log house was built on the farm of Thomas Bull. It proved, however, to be too small and in 1812 was replaced by a hewn log building. This second house was well and strongly constructed of poplar logs. It was thirty feet by twenty-four feet in size. This house was used by the church until about 1861.

The church then transferred its sessions to a house northwest of Jackson on Byrd's creek. Sometime, about the same date, the old house was sold to a resident in the neighborhood who moved it away, about the distance of a mile, and rebuilt it into a barn. Some of the logs of the old house were saved at the time of the sale, and from them were constructed a number of walking canes and two gavels. One of these gavels was presented to the Baptist General Association of the state at its meeting in St. Joseph in the year 1875 by the Rev. Dr. J. C. Maple. It was handsomely inscribed and is still in 200 use by the moderator of the general association. The

 

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use by the moderator of the general association. The other of the two gavels made at the time remained in the possession of Dr. Maple until the year 1910, when it was presented by him to the moderator of the Cape Girardeau Baptist Association at its meeting in Crosstown, Perry county, in September of that year.

The old house as rebuilt still stands. The site on which it was erected has been purchased and is now owned by the Baptist General Association of Missouri.

In 1906 this association held its annual meeting in Cape Girardeau. This was the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of Bethel church. One reason for the selection of Cape Girardeau as the place of meeting was to hold appropriate exercises in commemoration of the founding at the site of the old church, and to unveil a monument which had been erected on the spot. One day during the meeting of the body was set aside for a visit to the site. After a session held in the Baptist church in Jackson on the morning of October 24th, the Association adjourned to meet in the grove of trees on the spot where the old church stood. This is about two miles from the town of Jackson and was reached after some difficulties. The meeting was called to order by E. W. Stephens of Columbia, the moderator of the General Association. After prayer and singing, E. W. Stephens delivered an address on the subject, "The Reason for Baptist Existence and Baptist Work One Hundred Years Ago and Now." The monument was then unveiled by Mrs. E. W. Stephens and Miss Mae Brown of Jackson.
The monument which was erected by the association is four feet high of granite and bears this inscription: "Here stood Bethel Baptist church, the first permanent non-Catholic church west of the Mississippi river. Constituted July 19, 1806, with these members: David Green, Thomas English,William Matthews, Leanna Green, William Smith, Jane English, Agnes Ballou, Thomas Bull. Clara Abernathy, Catherine Anderson, Anderson Rogers, Edward Spear, Rebecca Randol, John Hitt, and Frances Hitt. "What Hath God Wrought?"

The membership of the church had grown to eighty by the year 1812 and in 1813 it was one hundred eighty-six. In June, 1814, forty- five of its members were dismissed to organize a church in what is now St. Francois county, but even after this dismissal there remained one hundred seventy-three members.

In 1809 Bethel church became a member of the Red River Association, which held its meeting that year at Red River church, near Clarksville, Tennessee. It remained a member of this association until 1816, when it was decided to form a new association of the churches in Missouri. One thing which distinguished the members of Bethel church from the very day of the organization was their fervent missionary spirit. They were untiring in their efforts to have the gospel preached in every possible place within the bounds of Upper Louisiana. To this end they contributed money and encouraged their ministers to visit the different parts of the district. We find them organizing congregations wherever that was possible. These congregations remained for a time as members of Bethel church, and were looked after, as much as possible, by the pastor of that church. As soon as these congregations became large enough they were organized into regular churches and their direct connection with Bethel church ceased. The first of these in point of time was organized in the Bois Brule Bottom in what was then Ste. Genevieve county, but what is now

 

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Perry county. Members were received there in 1807. Among them was Thomas Donohoe, who afterward became a preacher. This congregation of members seems to have disappeared after the year 1815. Donohoe and, perhaps some of the other members, then joined a church called Barren church in the same vicinity. This church was constituted in 1816 at the house of Jesse Evans. It soon disappeared, also, and was succeeded by another church known as Hepzibah.
The second organization constituted by Bethel was that at St. Michaels. This was in October, 1812. On the same day John Farrar was obtained as a minister. He was a member of this congregation. In 1814 this congregation was organized into a church known as Providence church, and Farrar became its pastor.
In January, 1813, a committee was sent from Bethel to organize a congregation on Saline creek. This soon became a church and seems to have been united, later, with Barren church and still later with Hepzibah.
In 1813 there were twenty-three members of Bethel church who lived about twenty-five miles south of Fredericktown. In 1814 they were organized into a church called St. Francois.
A church was organized on Turkey creek in 1815. There had previously been a number of members of Bethel church living in that vicinity.
In June, 1820, an organization was established on Apple creek, near Oak Ridge, and it was formed into a church in September of that year. The committee which had charge of the organization of the church was composed of Elders T. P. Greene. James Williams, and J. K. Gile, and Isaac Sheppard, Benjamin Thompson, Abraham Randol, Thomas English and Benjamin Hitt.

In June, 1821, it was resolved to constitute a church in the Big Bend. The church so organized was called Ebenezer and was situated near the site of Egypt Mills.

On May 11, 1822, fourteen members of Bethel church were dismissed for the purpose of organizing Hebron church, five miles southeast of Jackson. These members so dismissed, were, most of them, of the Randol, Poe and Hitt families.

Seven members of Bethel were dismissed in April, 1824, and they constituted a church at Jackson. In the period from the organization of the church in 1806 to 1824, nine churches were constituted through the efforts of Bethel church. Of these nine churches, only two seem to have survived to the present date. They are Providence church at Fredericktown and the Jackson church.

The ministers of Bethel church from its foundation were David Greene, 1806 to 1809; Wilson Thompson, 1812 to 1814; Thomas Stephens, 1817; Thomas P. Greene, 1818 to 1826; Benjamin Thompson, 1826 to 1853; John Canterbury, 1853 to 1861, and Joel Foster, 1866.

David Greene, who organized the church, had spent some years as a minister in the Carolinas. He loved the life of the frontier, and moved from Carolina to Kentucky, where he preached among the frontier settlers of that date.

In 1805, as we have said, he visited Missouri and stopped for a time in the Tywappity Bottom. There were some Baptists living in the neighborhood, and he preached to them and organized a church. The members of this church were Henry Cockerham, John Baldwin, William Ross and a few others. After residing in this settlement for a few months. Elder Greene paid a visit to the vicinity of Jackson, but after preaching for a

 

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time he returned to Kentucky. The condition of the Baptists in Missouri, however, rested heavily on his mind, and, though he was old and had spent a long life in the ministry, he resolved to visit the Cape Girardeau district again. This time he moved and located with his family near Bethel church. He was the pastor of the church until his death in 1809.
The second pastor of Bethel church was Wilson Thompson. It was the work of Thompson that made the church a power in Missouri. Like so many other famous preachers, he was of Welsh descent. He was born in Woodford county, Kentucky, August 17, 1788. In 1810 he was married to Miss Mary Gregg, and in January. 1811, they moved to the Cape Girardeau district, settling near Jackson. They were accompanied by his father and mother, and the entire family united with Bethel church.

He had begun preaching at the age of twenty, before his removal from Kentucky, and his preaching was attended with marvelous results. Shortly after he united with Bethel church there occurred the great earthquake at New Madrid, and the shocks were felt over a large part of Upper Louisiana.
In the following February Thompson began a revival service in Bethel church. It was one of the most remarkable religious manifestations in Missouri. It covered a period of two years, and spread to almost all the congregations which had been organized by the church. There was evidence of the power of the revival at Bois Brule, Saline, Providence and St. Francois, and during its progress Thompson baptized about five hundred persons. Up to this time he had not been an ordained minister, but on April 11, 1825, a council composed of John Farrar and Stephen Stilly ordained him.

The following July he was chosen pastor of the church and served until September, 1814. At that time he resigned, and with his family moved to Ohio. He died in Indiana in 1865. He was, doubtless, the most powerful of the preachers ever connected with the church. For some years the church seems to have been without a regular pastor, but in February, 1817, it called Thomas Stephens, who was a resident of Louisville. Kentucky. He served the church until December of that year.

In the following year Thomas Parish Green- a native of North Carolina, who had lived for some time in Tennessee, was chosen as the fourth of the church's pastors. This was in March, 1818. Elder Greene had moved to Missouri in 1817. He served as pastor of the church for eight years, and it was under his leadership that an interest was aroused in missions and Sunday schools. Elder Greene was an ardent advocate of the church's duty to assist in preaching the gospel to the entire world. While he was pastor of the church it was voted that the association should correspond with the board of foreign missions.

Under his leadership the church welcomed the visit of John Mason Peck, who had come from the east under the direction of the board of missions to evangelize Missouri. During Peck's visit to Bethel church he organized a missionary society, and on November 8, 1818, after a missionary sermon, he took up a collection for missions, amounting to $31.37. The entire work of the church prospered, so long as Greene was its pastor. He closed his pastorate of the church in 1826, when he was called to the care of Hebron church. In 1828 he removed to Rock Springs, Illinois, where he was associated with Peck in publishing the Western Pioneer. He was also at the time agent of the American Sunday School Union, and assisted in establishing Sunday school and libraries in New Madrid, Scott, Cape Gir-

 

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ardeau, Perry, Madison, St. Francois, Wayne and Stoddard counties. He later became a missionary for the American Baptist Home Mission Society. In 1834 he organized a Baptist church at Cape Girardeau. There were nine members at that time and Elder Greene became the first pastor. After two years he removed to St. Louis, where he was pastor of the Second Baptist church.

Elder Greene had been educated as a printer, and had at one time conducted a little weekly paper himself.
This was a combination paper, being part a religious weekly and in part a newspaper. It was this training and experience which led to Greene's selection as an associate of John Mason Peck in the attempt to publish a paper at Rock Spring, Illinois. He was to look after the actual details of printing and publication.
Thomas P. Greene was a man of great ability. He is said to have resembled Senator Benton, and to have possessed something of Benton's oratorical capability. He had only limited opportunities for education, but continued his studies all through his life and became quite a scholar. Hon. Samuel M. Greene, of Cape Girardeau, is his son.
Some of the other ministers who were connected with Bethel church, or with the association during this period, were John Farrar, William Street, James P. Edwards and Wingate Jackson.

William Street was one of the early settlers in Wayne county, and was held in high esteem both as a citizen and a minister. He died in 1843.

John Farrar was a resident of Madison county until 1825, when he was removed to Washington county. He died there in 1829.

In 1811 James P. Edwards moved to Cape Girardeau from Kentucky. He was a lawyer, but was ordained as a minister in 1812, and afterward removed to Illinois.

Wingate Jackson was a Virginian. He was born in 1776 and resided for a number of years in Kentucky. About 1804 he located at New Tennessee, Ste. Genevieve county, where he died in 1835. It was under his ministry that Hepzibah church was established in 1820. The constituent members were Wingate Jackson, Obadiah Scott, Noah Hunt, and Joel and Enos Hamers.

In 1814 a committee of Bethel church was appointed to draw up a plan for the organization of an association of the Missouri churches. Invitations were sent to the various churches to meet the committee from Bethel church and for the consideration of this matter the representatives of the various churches met in Bethel in June, 1816. Bethel church was represented by Thomas Bull, John Sheppard, Benjamin Thompson and Robert English. Tywappity church was represented by Henry Cockerham, John Baldwin, and William Ross. Providence church was represented by William Savage; Saline church, by Elder Thomas Donohoe and John Duvall; St. Francois church, by Elder William Street and Jonathan Hubble; Turkey Creek church, by William Johnson, Daniel Johnson, E. Revelle and S. Baker. The organization thus effected was in the nature of a preliminary organization and it was decided to hold another meeting in September, 1816, at Bethel church. At this meeting, which was participated in by Bethel, Tywappity, Providence, Barren, Bellevue, St. Francois and Dry Creek churches, an association was constituted which was named Bethel association. These seven churches had an aggregate membership of 230, and there were five ministers included in the association. One of the famous and most active Baptist ministers of this time was John Mason Peck.

 

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He did not live in Southeast Missouri, but spent most of the years of his residence within the state, in St. Louis. On various occasions he visited the churches in Southeast Missouri and exercised a great influence on the development of religious work in this section. He resided for a time in New York and began his ministerial work there. He was appointed by the Home Missionary Society to prosecute the work of the church in Missouri. Accompanied by his family and by another minister named James E. Welch, he came to the state in 1817. The next twenty years of his life were spent in teaching, preaching and organizing all over the section. He was a student and collected most copious notes on social, religious and political conditions of Missouri. He was an indefatigable writer. His influence was very great over the course of Baptist development, and he, more than any other man, was responsible for the missionary spirit that prevailed among the churches of the early day.

The first Methodist society west of the Mississippi river was organized about 1806 at McKendree, three miles west of Jackson in Cape Girardeau county. Among the members of this church were William Williams and wife, John Randol and wife, Thomas Blair, Simon and Isaiah Poe, Charnel Glascock and the Seeleys. Within a short time after the organization of this church a meeting house was erected of large, hewn poplar logs. The house was in a beautiful situation near a spring and shaded by large oak trees. It soon became famous as a camp ground and was the site of many camp meetings. The house, with some alterations and repairs, is still in existence. It is, perhaps, the oldest Protestant meeting house west of the Mississippi river. It is a question as to what minister organized this early Methodist society. When John Travis came to Missouri he found this church already in existence, and it seems probable that it had been organized by Rev. Jesse Walker, who, in 1804, was stationed near the mouth of the Cumberland river, and who afterward came to Missouri. In 1806, while the Western Conference sent Travis to Missouri, it also sent Walker to Illinois. I: seems, however, to be fairly certain that he did not confine his labors to Illinois, but crossed over, preached, and organized churches in what is now Missouri. When the conference met in 1807, at Chillicothe, Ohio, Travis reported that the two circuits, Cape Girardeau and the Maramec, had one hundred and six members. At this time Walker was assigned to the Cape Girardeau circuit. He came to Missouri in the summer of that year and was accompanied on his trip by William McKendree, who was then presiding cider of 205 the Illinois district. He held the first quarterly meeting

 

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the Illinois district. He held the first quarterly meeting with Travis in that year on the Maramec river, it seems, at the place where Lewis chapel is now located.
In 1808 the Western Conference appointed the Rev. Jesse Walker for the Cape Girardeau circuit and Rev. David Young and Rev. Thomas Wright for the Maramec circuit.
This territory was then part of the Indiana district, over which Samuel Parker was presiding elder. Rev. Parker visited the Cape Girardeau circuit in that year, and came to the town of Cape Girardeau, where he preached the first sermon ever heard in the town. This was at the house of William Scripps, who was an Englishman, having come to America in 1791 and to Cape Girardeau in 1808. Scripps was a tanner by trade and he and Rev. Parker had been acquainted in Virginia. One of the sons of William Scripps, whose name was John, was admitted, at the conference in 1814, as a preacher on trial. Later, he was taken into full connection with the church and was active as a minister until his removal to Illinois in 1820.
In 1810 Jesse Walker and John Scripps crossed the big swamp to the New Madrid district and organized the New Madrid circuit. They traveled this circuit in connection with the Cape Girardeau circuit. There were thirty members in this circuit the first year. In this year, 1810, the first camp meeting in Cape Girardeau county was held on the camp ground in connection with McKendree chapel. Walker, Wright, and Presiding Elder Parker were present and conducted the camp meeting.
The conference of 1810 assigned John McFarland to the Maramec circuit and reappointed Walker to the Cape Girardeau circuit. Walker did not remain and McFarland ministered to both the circuits.

In 1811 McFarland was placed in charge of both Cape Girardeau and New Madrid circuits and Thomas Wright was sent to the Maramec.

In 1812 Cape Girardeau and the New Madrid circuits were divided. Benjamin Edge was appointed to the work at Cape Girardeau and William Hart to that at New Madrid.

In 1813 Thomas Wright was assigned to Cape Girardeau and Thomas Nixon to New Madrid.

in 1812 a camp meeting was held in what is now Madison county, though it was then a part of Ste. Genevieve county. The meeting was conducted by Thomas Wright and it was the first camp meeting held in Ste. Genevieve county. Like the great revival meeting by Wilson Thompson, in Bethel Baptist church, it followed very closely after the earthquake at New Madrid.

In 1814 the conference received John C. Harbison on trial, Harbison had been a resident of the district since 1798, but up to this time had been employed as a teacher at Mt. Tabor, and had also practiced law for a short period. He was of Scotch-Irish descent and had lived in other states before coming to Missouri. His descendants still live in Scott county. It is said that Harbison had been, for a long time, addicted to gambling and drunkenness before he became a member of the church, and that after he was converted and living an exemplary life as a minister, he met some of his former companions who challenged him to play a game of poker. He agreed to do this, provided that after the game was over they would listen to the sermon which he was to preach at the church. They agreed to this, and he preached such a powerful and convincing sermon that those who heard abandoned their wicked courses of In the same year Thomas Wright was ap- [Houck, Vol. Ill, p. 238.]

 

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pointed to the Cape Girardeau circuit, and Asa Overall began work in the New Madrid circuit. There was also formed this year a new circuit to include the territory between the Maramec and Apple creek. This was given the name of Saline circuit. Preaching was held at several points within this circuit, principally at the Murphy settlement, Cook settlement, Callaway settlement and new Tennessee.
The Murphy settlement was the oldest Methodist community west of the Mississippi river, and probably contained more Methodists than any other. The first Methodist sermon west of the river was preached in the Murphy settlement in 1804, by Joseph Oglesby. This was at the house of Mrs. Sarah Murphy.

One of the early Methodist preachers in the Saline circuit was Jacob White side. This circuit had, at the close of the year 1815, one hundred and fifteen members.
The conference in 1815 appointed Philip Davis to the New Madrid circuit, Jesse Haile for the Cape Girardeau circuit and Thomas Wright for the Saline circuit.
In 1816 a new conference was organized at Shiloh meeting house near Belleville, Illinois. It comprised Saline, Cape Girardeau, New Madrid and the St. Francois circuits and was called the Missouri Conference. Samuel H. Thompson was made presiding elder of the conference, and Bishop Roberts presided at the meeting. The conference appointed Thomas Wright and Alexander McAlister to the Cape Girardeau and New Madrid circuits, and John C. Harbison to Saline circuit.

In 1817 Thomas Wright was sent to Saline circuit, Joseph Spiggott to New Madrid circuit and Rucker Tanner to St. Francois circuit, while the Cape Girardeau circuit was left to be supplied.

Tanner was a rather remarkable man. He had been a very reckless youth and had spent his early life in the New Madrid district. It is related of him that on one occasion he and an elder brother made a trip to New Orleans. and while there ran short of funds. After all their money was exhausted, it was arranged between them that R. Tanner, whose complexion was very dark, should be sold by his brother as a slave. This arrangement was carried out and the elder brother departed with the money. After a considerable difficulty, R. Tanner succeeded in regaining his freedom and escaped from the country. He started to walk home but on the way hired himself out to a local Methodist preacher. He lived with this preacher for some time, becoming converted and professing a desire to preach. It may be imagined that his return home was a great surprise to his friends, who had thought him long since dead. Almost immediately upon his return he announced an appointment to preach. It was such a surprising thing that this reckless youth should be preparing for the ministry, that a very large congregation assembled to hear his first attempt. He was very soon admitted to the conference and appointed, as we have said, to the St. Francois circuit.

For the years 1818 and '19 Saline circuit, was served by Thomas Wright, Cape Girardeau circuit by John Scripps and the St. Francois circuit by John McFarland.

There is a question as to when the first conference west of the river was held. September 14, 1819, is sometimes given as the date of the beginning of the first conference. This conference was held at McKendree chapel. There is some authority, however, for believing that there had been a conference held in 1818 at Mt. Zion church in the Murphy settlement, at which conference Bishop McKen-

 

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dree presided. The appointments made in 1819 were John McFarland to the Saline circuit; Joseph Spiggott to the Bellevue circuit (which had, in the meantime, been organized); Philip Davis to the St. Francois circuit; Samuel Glaize to the Cape Girardeau circuit, and William Townsend to the New Madrid circuit.
When the conference met in 1820 it was decided to create a new district. This was called the Cape Girardeau district and Thomas Wright was appointed as presiding elder. The preachers for the year were: Bellevue circuit, John Harris; Saline and St. Francois circuits, Samuel Bassett ; Spring River, which was a new circuit, Isaac Brookfield; White River, another new circuit, W. W. Redman; Cape Girardeau circuit, Philip Davis; and New Madrid circuit, Jesse Haile.
When Missouri was admitted to the Union in 1821, Thomas Wright was continued as presiding elder, Thomas Davis was sent to the Cape Girardeau circuit, Philip Davis to the Saline circuit, John Cord to the St. Francois circuit, Abram Epler to Spring River, and Washington Orr to the New Madrid circuit.

The Presbyterians did not begin their work in Southeast Missouri quite so early as the Baptists and Methodists. The beginning of their interest in Missouri probably dates from the year 1812. In that year the Missionary Society of New England appointed two men, the Rev. John T. Schermerhorn and the Rev. Samuel J. Mills, as agents to ascertain the religious conditions of the western country and the places most in need of religious instruction, and to formulate some plan for the preaching of the gospel in the destitute places. These two men seem to have intended to visit St. Louis, and perhaps other parts of the territory, but, for some reason, they abandoned their visit and contented themselves with writing a letter of inquiry to Stephen Hempstead, of St. Louis. In the letter they asked concerning the condition of religion in Upper Louisiana, the number of clergymen and the places where they were settled, whether there was much infidelity existing, whether the Sabbath was observed, and whether it was thought best to attempt to found a Bible society. They offered to send two or three hundred Bibles and some tracts for distribution among the poor, provided it was thought best to do so.

Mr. Hempstead replied to these inquiries, and gave a picture of the religious conditions existing in the territory. He says that "the Catholic church has services; that there are some Methodists in the territory; that some of the Presbyterians, in the absence of their own preachers, have joined the Methodists, and that the Baptists have ten churches and two hundred and seventy-six members." And finally says that he "knows of no place in the United States that needs a Presbyterian missionary more than Missouri." He further requests that the Bibles and tracts be sent, which was done.

The first church in Southeast Missouri of the Presbyterian faith was organized in the Bellevue settlement in Washington county August 2, 1816.

The Presbytery of Missouri was formed by the Synod of Tennessee and held its first meeting in St. Louis, December 18, 1817. Its territory was all of the United States west of the Cumberland river.

The Presbytery of Missouri had, as its ministers, Solomon Giddings, Timothy Flint, Thomas Donnell and John Matthews. The only churches represented were those at Bellevue. Bonhomme, in St. Louis county, and St. Louis. In 1819 the number of ministers was increased by the addition of Rev. C. S. Robinson and

 

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the Rev. David Tenney. Mr. Tenney died in the same year.

The Rev. Edward Hollister was connected with the Presbytery for a short time in 1821.

The Rev. Timothy Flint was one of the most active of the Presbyterian ministers in Southeast Missouri in the early times. He seems to have organized a Bible society in Jackson about 1820 and also a Sunday school at the same place. This society was called the Columbian Bible Society.
Its officers were Jason Chamberlain, president; Christopher G. Houts, treasurer; and A. Hayne, secretary. Rev. Timothy Flint, seems to have traveled all through Upper Louisiana. He preached at Jackson, New Madrid, St. Charles and in Arkansas. He was a very vigorous, energetic and earnest man, had been thoroughly educated at Harvard college, and wrote a number of books bearing on Missouri history.

He spent the winter of 1819 at New Madrid. He was a man who had considerable influence but, also, considerable trouble, as he was not always able to adapt himself to the conditions under which he found himself placed.
Among the publications written by Flint were the "Life of Daniel Boone, " a "History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley," and "Recollections of the Last Ten Years in the Mississippi Valley."
In 1818 a presbytery was held at Potosi and a young man, who had been a ministerial student was ordained by Rev. Timothy Flint and Rev. Matthews. They rode from St. Louis to Potosi on horseback to perform this service.

That one of the Christian denominations known as Disciples, or simply Christians, seems to have begun its labors in Southeast Missouri in 1819. The teachings of this denomination had spread from Kentucky and Pennsylvania to the west, and in the year mentioned the Rev. William McMurtry came from Virginia and located in Madison county He was a carpenter by trade, but preached also. He began to teach the doctrines of the church as soon as he was located within the state, and in 1822 organized a church in what is now the town of Libertyville. There were only three members of the church at that time, and they held their meetings in the log school house. The increase was slow at first, for in 1826 there were only nine members of the church.

"We have thus recounted something of the beginning of effort by the Christian denominations in the early years in Missouri. "We find that the only formal organization before 1804 was the organization of the Catholic church; that its teachings had spread in practically every community in Upper Louisians; that its work had been organized and at least two houses of worship constructed. There were members of other denominations in Upper Louisiana before the transfer; that they held their regular services in private families, but were not allowed to build meeting houses or to perfect any kind of organizations. Upon the transfer to the United States, the Baptists and Methodists, and a little later the Presbyterians and Christians, or Disciples, began to prosecute the work of evangelism in a systematic way. There seem to have been two distinct methods of carrying on the work. The first Baptist church within the state was organized through the efforts of a visiting minister, and this church became the center for the sending out of the gospel to other parts and for the organization of other churches. In the same way the organization of the Disciples was begun. The first work performed by the Presbyterians within

 

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the state, as we have seen, was the result of the sending of missionaries from the East. A similar movement assisted and encouraged the work of the Baptists, when Peck and his companion, Welch, were sent into the territory.
The work of the Methodists began in an organized form by the erection of part of the territory into a circuit, and the appointment of a minister to supply the needs in the vast territory included within his circuit.
By the time of the transfer to the United States these denominations were nourishing, their work was progressing and they were building houses of worship, establishing Sunday schools and schools in many parts of the territory. It is plain to be seen that they labored under very great difficulties. The territory over which the ministers were called to travel was very extensive, the means of transportation very poor, the roads were simply paths and there were but few accommodations provided, in most places, for visitors. Many of the ministers were accustomed to travel on foot for distances that seem almost impossible.
It is said of Clark, who was an early minister of the Baptist church, that he would never ride to his appointments. Some of his friends presented him with a horse, but he was dissatisfied with it and returned it, preferring to walk from one place to another.
Some of the Methodist circuit riders traveled over immense distances to reach their various appointments. Those who lived east of the river, not infrequently walked for miles to reach a place where the river might be crossed and, having crossed, walked a long distance on this side to the place where they were to preach.
Another thing which very greatly retarded and made more difficult the work of the early [Vol. I— 14]ministers, was a feeling among the people that these ministers should labor without pay. Not all of them were of this belief, but it was sufficiently prevalent to render the support of the ministers very meagre and very uncertain. Perhaps all of the preachers in the early time were compelled to recoup their salary by work of one kind or another, that they might support their families.

We have seen that Elder McMurtry, an early minister of the Christian church, was a carpenter, and we find that Peck supported himself, in part, by teaching, as did Flint and many others.

Another thing which made their work difficult and their lives hard was the condition of many people among whom they must labor. Many of them were illiterate and could not appreciate the efforts which were being made for them. Some of these people lived under the most severe conditions of life, and some of them had no hope or ambition for better things. It was a work of the very greatest difficulty to arouse the people to action and to get them to accept the things which the ministers brought to them. Peck and Flint both relate amusing but unpleasant experiences concerning their visits in different parts of this section. They frequently were received into homes, if a single roomed log cabin may be so described, in which only the barest necessities were to be found.

These hardships are set out fully in the account which Peck gives in describing one of his trips from St. Louis, on hors back, to Bethel association in Cape Girardeau county. He made this trip in September, 1818, and the experience through which he passed induced him to moralize a little on the hardships which attended the life of the traveler. He says: “The route was the same one I last traveled until I got below Herculaneum, and then gradually bearing to the left and down 210 the direction of the Mississippi, through an extensive tract

 

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the direction of the Mississippi, through an extensive tract of barrens very thinly settled. It was in passing through these barrens that Joseph Piggott, a Methodist circuit rider, in the year 1820, came near freezing to death, on an extremely cold night, and without food for himself or his horse. He gave the writer a narrative of his sufferings that night, four years after, at his residence on the Macoupin, Illinois, and yet we were so hard hearted as not to express a word of sympathy. A few stunted and gnarled trees, and a sprinkling of brushwood, with now and then a decayed log, appeared above the snow. He was nearly chilled, after wandering about a long time in search of a path, and with great difficulty with his tinder-box, flint and steel, could he get a fire. He then scraped away what snow he could, and with his blanket lay down, broadside to the fire; but before he secured much warmth the other side was nearly frozen. Then he would turn over, but finding no relief would get up and stamp his feet, while the wind seemed to pass through him. When daylight appeared he was too cold to mount his horse, but led him while he attempted to find his way on to some lonely cabin, which proved to be not many miles distant. There he spent the day and enjoyed the hospitality of the squatter family.
We listened to the distressing tale with amazement ! This man was born and raised in Illinois and accustomed all his life to the frontiers, and yet had never learned one of the indispensable lessons of a backwoodsman — how to camp out, make a fire and keep warm. Eating was not so very important, for any man in the vigor of life in those days in this frontier country who could not go without food for twenty-four hours, and more especially a preacher of the Gospel, ought to be sent back where he came from, to the kind care of his friends.

The writer had not been in the country one year before he had learned half a dozen lessons in frontier knowledge of great vain in practical life.

One branch was how Indians, hunters, surveyors, and all others who had to travel over uninhabited deserts, made their camping-place and kept themselves comfortable. The first thing is to select the right place — in some hollow or ravine, protected from the wind, and if possible behind some old forest giant which the storms of winter have prostrated. And then, reader, don't build your fire against the tree, for that is the place for your head and shoulders to lie and around which the smoke and heated air may curl. Then don't be so childish as to Iie on the wet, or cold frozen earth, without a bed. Gather a quantity of grass, leaves and small brush, and after you have cleared away the snow and provided for protection from the wet or cold earth, you may sleep comfortably. If you have a piece of jerked venison, and a bit of pone with a cup of water, you may make out a splendid supper — provided you think so — 'for as a man thinketh so is he.' And if you have a traveling companion yon may have a social time of it. So now offer your prayers like a Christian, ask the Lord to protect you, wrap around you your blankets with your saddles for pillows, and lie down to sleep under the care of a watchful Providence. If it rains, a very little labor with barks or even brush, with the tops sloping downward will be no mean shelter. Keep your feet straight to the fire, but not near enough to burn your moccasins or boots, and your legs and whole body will be warm. The aphorism of the Italian physician, which he left in a sealed letter as a guide to all his former pa-

 

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tients, contains excellent advice to all frontier people: 'Keep your feet warm, your back straight, and your head cool, and bid defiance to the doctors.' "—["Life of Peck," pp. 103to 105.]
In spite of these and many other difficulties, of which we can have no proper appreciation at this time, the work progressed. There were men in the early days whose hearts were filled with enthusiasm for the work. They were not daunted by difficulties nor stopped by hardships.
They labored unceasingly in season and out of season. The journals and diaries of these early men reveal to us a remarkable story of energy and of self-sacrificing devotion to the work which they had in hand; that their labors were abundantly blessed and that they exercised a great influence over the course of early history is amply evidenced.
Under their ministrations hundreds, and even thousands, of men and women were changed in their lives; received something of inspiration and uplift; schools were founded by them and the beginning of culture, as well as of religion, were made under their direction. Many of these early ministers were educated men. They brought with them a knowledge of the world and they brought, also, the first libraries within the state. The example of their devotion and earnestness of purpose was contagious. The great religious denominations now within the state owe to the memory of these early pioneer preachers a debt which it is impossible for them to pay. It should not be forgotten, either, that not only do the churches owe to them a debt ; the state as a state is equally under obligations to them. If intelligence and morality are the twin pillars on which popular government rests, then these men who so largely contributed, not only to morality but also to the spread of education and the increase of intelligence, certainly deserve well at the hands of all the people in the state.