CHAPTER III.

FIRST PERIOD. (1854-1861.)

   FROM tracing the history of the beginnings in the centers, we pass to a general survey of the whole. While there is little difference in the date of the first settlements during this first period along the eastern tier of counties, probably with the exception of the Morris settlement noted, we find, as might naturally be expected, that the rich valleys of the Nemahas lying contiguous to the Territory of Kansas, were among the first to be settled. Indeed, as early as April or May, 1854, Christian Bobst and family came with some others from Ohio and settled on the South Fork of the Great Nemaha in the southeastern corner of Pawnee County, near where Dubois now is. These were joined in the following August by the Methodist families of Henry and Jerome Shellhorn. During the summer another settlement was made where Pawnee City now is. When in the early spring of 1855, that sturdy Englishman, David Hart, was appointed to the unorganized region between the Nemahas, he found no class-leader to tell him of spiritual affairs, no committee to estimate or Quarterly Conference to fix his salary, or steward to collect it, but he soon found a warm-hearted welcome to this Methodist neighborhood at South Fork, that had been waiting nearly a year for the coming of the itinerant. Here in the cabin of Henry Shellhorn he preached the first sermon in Pawnee County, and in the

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fall of that year he organized the first class in that county, in the cabin of Christian, or Judge, Bobst.
   The following named persons constituted this historic class: Judge Bobst, Sarah Bobst, his wife; Mariah Shellhorn, Jerome Shellhorn and his wife, Mary E. Shellhorn. Judge Bobst was class-leader and steward. A characteristic incident which occurred during the summer is related by Brother H. Burch, who was traveling a circuit in Kansas, just across the line, and was at the time visiting Brother Hart's work, having been invited to preach on the Sabbath at the Bobst appointment. The afternoon was rainy and no one was present but the family. They had no sermon, but the opportunity for doing something for the Master was not allowed to pass. Some time was spent in religious conversation, reading the Scriptures, singing and prayer. The pastor had called for their Church letters, but in their moving from Ohio these had somehow got mislaid. During this informal religious exercise good Sister Bobst was wonderfully blessed. The memories of the past and the experience of the present filled her heart so full of joy that it shone out of her countenance. The pastor, quick to perceive these religious expressions, remarked that he guessed Sister Bobst has found her Church letter. "This," writes Brother Burch, "was like the spark to the powder, and there was an explosion of religious joy and acclamations of praise that continued long after we had retired." Thus the fires of spiritual life were burning on the altars of many hearts, ere organization could be accomplished.
   A general "history of Nebraska" credits David Hart with organizing the first Methodist Church in Richardson County, at Archer, some time in 1855, which after-

ward became the Church at Falls City, Archer, itself being moved to that place.
   There is no reason to believe that Brother Hart was able to effect any organizations other than these two, but doubtless had other preaching places, and was able to report at the Conference of 1856, forty-four full members and six probationers.
   These items given by Rev. C. W. Giddings in a History of Nebraska, published in 1882, are of interest. "The Church at Table Rock was organized in 1857, by Rev. C. V. Arnold, a member of the Wyoming Conference, Pennsylvania, and consisted of forty members. The meetings were held for four years at the house of Rev. C. W. Giddings, who had himself just come to Nebraska. But many who came at the first settlement got discouraged by the hard times and in 1858 left, so that out of one hundred and fifty families who had come, during the eighteen months preceding, to make their homes in Table Rock and vicinity, but fifteen families remained."
   In 1856 Nemaha Mission is left to be supplied and Brother Burch thinks it was served by a local preacher named King. At the Conference of 1857 there are reported sixty members, an increase over the preceding year. In 1857 Nemaha does not appear, but probably Table Rock takes its place, and is again left to be supplied. Again there is no information in the Minutes as to who supplied, but it was probably C. V. Arnold, who, as before referred to by C. W. Giddings, organized Table Rock Church in 1857. In 1858 Falls City becomes the name of the circuit, with the old hero, J. W. Taylor, as circuit preacher. Thus we see that what was originally Nemaha Mission changed its name twice in three years.

   These changes in the names and forms of circuits, occurring frequently in those days, make it difficult and often impossible to trace the growth of any one charge. Brother Taylor reports at the Conference in 1859 forty members. At this Conference there are two circuits formed out of the original Nemaha Mission; Falls City and Table Rock, the former receiving as pastor, Jesse L. Fort, and the latter, J. W. Taylor. It is not unlikely that Beatrice, on the Big Blue, that for the first time appears in the Minutes, included also some of the work in Pawnee County. For Falls City there are reported in 1860, seventy-four members and probationers; and for Table Rock, seventy-two. In 1860 Falls City is left to be supplied, and Table Rock has L. W. Smith, under whose labors there was a great revival.
   In the spring of 1857 a steamer was making its toilsome way up the Missouri River, often detained by grounding on sandbars, delaying its journey. Some of those on board, who at the beginning of the trip were entire strangers, soon found that many were headed for Nebraska, and during the trip formed a colony to be located somewhere in the Territory, the exact location to be determined after investigation. After landing at Nebraska City, two committees were sent out to find a suitable place, and their report was submitted to a full meeting of the colony in Omaha. The committee recommended a point on the Big Blue and decided to name the place Beatrice, after one of Judge Kinney's daughters. Among those who were in this colony and were the first settlers of Beatrice, were Judge John F. Kinney, J. B. Weston, and Albert, or "Pap" Towle, as he was known familiarly, and his family. The same boat that brought

this colony to Nebraska brought Bishop Ames to preside at the Kansas-Nebraska Conference at Nebraska City, and Adam Poe to represent the "Book Concern," of which he was one of the agents. Dr. Poe related the following incident, which occurred on the way up the river:
   "There was a young man on board who was very officious and curt. He was exceedingly anxious to have a dance. The cabin was cleared, a fiddler employed, and everything was made ready for the hop, when the young man stepped up to a young lady who sat at my side, and after a very polite bow, said: 'Will you dance with me?' 'No, sir; 1 was better raised,' was the prompt reply. 'And where were you raised?' said the voting man, somewhat abashed. 'In the Sunday-school and at the family altar,' calmly replied the young lady. Involuntarily I clapped my hand on her shoulder and said, 'Good!' (Dr. Poe was a tall man, standing six feet in his stockings, and proportionately large in body.) The young man squared himself up, thinking he saw something in my proportions that would do to fight, and then said, 'Well, if we can't have a dance, perhaps we can have a sermon.' 'Yes, sir', said I. Knowing the bishop could preach much better than 1, we put him up, and Bishop Ames gave us one of his best."
   The young lady referred to in the above incident is said to have been the daughter of "Pap" Towle, of Beatrice.
   D. H. May preached the first sermon in Beatrice in 1858, in Towle's cabin. J. W. Foster was assigned to Beatrice in 1859, being the first pastor ever sent to that place. His circuit included Blue Springs and perhaps

some other points on the Big Blue. He reports at the Conference in 1860 fourteen members.
   Brownville was among the first in time on the list of appointments, appearing in 1856, but there was no organization till 1858, the first class being formed by Philo Gorton, in February, 1858. During that winter there was a gracious revival in which some forty of fifty were converted. Dr. Goode and J. T. Cannon assisted the pastor. At London, as early as 1856, a society was formed by J. T. Cannon, consisting of six members, and the following year a log church was built, which was also used for school purposes. J. W. Taylor preached the first sermon at a point where Peru now is, probably some time in 1856, but the first class was formed by Rev. J. T. Cannon, at the house of Geo. K. Pettit, early in 1857. Peru at that time was a part of the Brownville Circuit, and the next year Philo Gorton was pastor, a name which appears for the first time in 1858 and continues well at the front for a few years and then disappears. He did faithful work while he remained.
   Tecumseh, in Johnson County, appears in the Minutes for the first time as early as 1857, with H. A. Copeland, who was received on trial that year, as circuit preacher. He reports forty-seven members at the next Conference. At that time Tecumseh itself was little more than a postoffice, the number of people never exceeding one hundred until after the war, when a number of old soldiers and others coming in, the town was incorporated in 1865. There were probably a number of appointments on the circuit in 1857, all together making the forty-seven members above referred to. Following Copeland was J. R. Minard, in 1858, who was received on trial that year and

discontinued at his own request in 1859. The fact that the statistics for 1859 are the same as for 1858, being forty-seven members, indicates that Brother Minard made no report, and the figures for 1858 are repeated in 1859. In 1859 Tecumseh Circuit was left to be supplied, and there was reported at the next Conference thirty-nine members, a slight loss, which is probably accounted for by some change in the circuit, or by the rush to the newly discovered gold fields in Colorado, which attracted many from Nebraska, and temporarily depleted our population. Hiram Burch was succeeded in Nebraska City by D. H. May, who continued two years. Brother Burch reported seventy members and four probationers at the Conference of 1857, and Brother May reports one hundred and forty-eight members and fifty-eight probationers; a very substantial growth in two years, and indicating faithfulness and efficiency on his part. The two Chivingtons now appear in Nebraska City; as presiding elder of the district, and Isaac as preacher in charge. The membership drops to ninety, with three probationers, a falling off of over half in a single year. In 1860 J. M. Chivington goes to Colorado, and Isaac Chivington becomes presiding elder, with L. D. Price as pastor. There is a note in the Minutes of 1861 stating that "there was no regular preacher last year, hence no report," from which it seems that L. D. Price did not go or did not remain, and this, then the strongest charge, was without a pastor. In Otoe County, besides the work of W. D. Gage, Hiram Burch, and their successors at Nebraska City, we find traces of that hardy pioneer, Z. B. Turman, as early at 1857, as far west as Walnut Creek, near where Syracuse now stands. Jacob Sollen-

burger had taken his family and settled on Walnut Creek as early as 1858, and the McKee family came soon after and a small class was formed by Brother Turman about that time. The permanence and final success of this little struggling society was probably due more to this faithful layman, Jacob Sollenburger, than to any other one person. He was as true as steel and a faithful pastor would always find him a faithful friend and one of the most efficient stewards the Church has had in Nebraska, as the writer learned by experience a few years later. He was one of those stewards who said "something must be done." He will appear at a later stage of this history, but always the same earnest, consistent Christian and efficient official in whatever place he was called to fill.
   Wyoming, about nine miles north of Nebraska City, was laid out as early as 1855, and was a part of the first Nebraska City Mission, but never developed into anything for Methodism.
   A few settlements were scattered along Salt Creek from a point fifteen miles south, and up to the present site of Lincoln, as early as 1857, and these appear in the appointments as Salt Creek Circuit, which is left to be supplied. The following year Z. B. Turman was appointed circuit preacher. Of this devoted pioneer Dr. Davis speaks as follows:
   "There were many thrilling events connected with the early history of Brother Turman's work in Nebraska which can but be of very great interest and profit to the reader. At the second session of the Kansas and Nebraska Conference, in 1857, the Salt Creek Mission was formed and Zenus B. Turman was appointed preacher in charge. The first sermon ever preached in Lancaster

County was by Brother Turman. This was in 1857, and in the private house of James Eatherton, some twelve miles south of where the city of Lincoln now stands. The same year he preached the first sermon ever preached on the present site of Lincoln. Salt Creek Mission embraced seven counties, and Brother Turman established sixteen preaching places. The settlements were sparse and confined to the streams and the distance from one to the other was often very great. Over these prairies, under the burning rays of the summer sun, and the fierce winds, blinding storms, and terrible winter blizzards, Brother Turman rode from settlement to settlement, and calling the people together in their rude dwellings, proclaimed to them the Word of Life. All over this part of the State we see to-day the grand results of the sacrifices and toils of this noble man of God. The Church planted by him has arisen in beauty, grandeur, and glory, and we now enjoy its sacred privileges. I have been intimately acquainted with Brother Turman for thirty years, and I have often heard him tell of his work in the State in an early day; but never have I heard a murmur escape from his lips. He has always been a genial, uncomplaining, happy, sunny-hearted minister of the Gospel. The winter of 1858 witnessed one of the most powerful revivals of religion under his labors, near where Louisville now stands, that was ever known in that region of the country. The singing, praying, and rejoicing could be heard for miles away. The people said, 'The only reason why there were not more converted was because there were no more people to convert.' The revival swept the entire community into the Church - men, women, and children."*

   Salt Creek becomes Saline Circuit and appears as 'supplied" in 1859, and only twelve members reported at Conference in 1860. That year W. H. Kendall, who had just been admitted on trial, was appointed to travel it. He reports at the Conference of 1861, only ten members.
   Burwell Spurlock, who came to Plattsmouth in 1856, informs me that the first class, of which he was a member, was one that had been formed at Broad Cole's cabin, on what has since been known as the "Perry Walker" farm, two miles southwest of Plattsmouth, there not being enough Methodists in Plattsmouth to form a class. The first pastor was W. D. Gage, whom we have seen was the first pastor ever appointed to a pastoral charge in Nebraska, he having been assigned to Nebraska City Mission in October, 1854. This class at Cole's was very probably a part of this first Nebraska City Mission at that time, but the next year became a part of Rock Bluffs Circuit, organized in 1856, which included Rock Creek, Plattsmouth, Eight Mile Grove, and Mt. Pleasant, with J. T. Cannon as the second pastor.
   At the Conference of April, 1857, held at Nebraska City (and the first one held in the Territory), Hiram Burch was appointed to Plattsmouth, which appears for the first time in the minutes. Early in the year he organizes the class at Plattsmouth, of thirty members, The following are some of the names of the first members: Wesley Spurlock and wife. Burwell Spurlock, Stephen Spurlock, Charlotte Spurlock, John Spurlock and wife, Mr. McCarthy and wife, John W. Marshall and wife, and Father Throckmorton and wife. Among these appears the honored name of Burwell Spurlock, who came to Plattsmouth as early as 1855, and has ever since been

an influential and useful member of the Church, for many years at Plattsmouth, and for the last thirteen years he has, along with his wife Isabella, had charge of the Mothers' Jewels Home, at York. His wife was Betty Davis, the daughter of Wade Davis, who was a member of the Morris class, before referred to as the first formed in the Territory, and which was now a part of Plattsmouth Charge. There were three other appointments, one at Rock Bluffs, another at Wade H. Davis's, and a fourth at Eight Mile Grove. For three months Burch also served the Mt. Pleasant Circuit, until supplied by M. Pritchard.
   Following Hiram Burch at Plattsmouth, was David Hart, whom we first met in the Nemaha country, preaching where opportunity offered and visiting the people and talking religion in their homes and organizing classes.
   David Hart was born in England, November 21, 1821. He was early left an orphan and was apprenticed to a machinist. He was converted at the age of sixteen, and at twenty-one entered the ministry. After spending some years in that thorough training school, the Wesleyan local ministry, he, in 1852, emigrated to America, locating at Jacksonville, Illinois, where his first wife died. In 1854 he came to the Kansas and Nebraska Indian Missions, and, as elsewhere noted, was, in the spring of 1855 assigned to the Nemaha Mission. While at the Indian Mission he became acquainted with one of the teachers, Miss Martha Higley, to whom he was married after completing his work on the Nemahas. He then resided two years in Holt County, Missouri, and did missionary work and assisted in establishing Methodist Churches in Holt, Nodaway, and Andrews Counties. The following trib-

ute to his work and worth is put on record in the Minutes by his brethren in the Conference, who esteemed him very highly:
   "Closing his pastorate at Beatrice he was appointed a third time to Plattsmouth. Here his labors in connection with Conference commenced, and here, with failing health, prostrated by his pulpit efforts, his labors closed. Often with his countenance all aglow with heavenly transport, he would exclaim, 'I am ready now, this moment, to depart, if it be the Lord's will.'
   "He preached his last sermon from 2 Tim. iv, 6, 7, 8. The text and sermon were a fitting close to his ministerial life. He attended Conference at Omaha last October, took a superannuated relation, and in company with his wife, went to Utah, hoping that a change of climate might so restore health as to enable him to resume labor in that dark, difficult field. He had no desire to live only to be useful, and his zeal in the cause of God could only be quenched by the waters of death. While at Salt Lake City he took part in the services of the Church as far as he was able, greatly to the edification of its members. Leaving there he went to American Fork to spend the winter with his brother-in-law, where, on the 14th of January, 1878, he passed away from earth in holy triumph, exclaiming, 'Glory,' and saying, 'They are waiting. I see them - a great company. Let us go.'
   "Brother Hart was a man of strong faith and full of the Holy Ghost, and his preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He possessed great energy of character and was unswerving in his adherence to the right. He was ardent in his affections and faithful in all the relations of life. Abundant in labors, he gath-

ered many sheaves into the garner of the Lord and will doubtless have many stars in the crown of his rejoicing."
   David Hart was followed at Plattsmouth by Philo Gorton, but of his pastorate there we have no record except that he remained the full term of two years and turned the charge over to his successor in good condition.
   Jesse L. Fort is appointed in 1860, and is able to report in 1861, sixty-eight members.
   When Brother Burch went to Plattsmouth it was the head of a circuit of four appointments with the strong class in the Davis settlement as one of these. In 1859 this becomes the head of the circut, which reports one hundred and forty-eight at the close of the year. To make this circuit probably the outside appointments were taken off from Plattsmouth, leaving that with Eight Mile Grove and Oreapolis as a charge. Probably Plattsmouth society was having a substantial growth during the years it was seeming to be losing, or barely holding its own, or actually reporting a heavy loss.
   Mt. Pleasant was one of the earliest circuits formed and for many years one of the strongest and most desirable circuits. It appears as the head of a circuit for the first time in 1857, and was left to be supplied. Pending the securing of a man for the place, Hiram Burch served it temporarily in addition to his four appointments on the Plattsmouth Charge.
   Among the first settlers was W. D. Gage, who had located and taken a claim there as early as 1856, and was living there with his family. In 1856 a stanch Methodist layman, Stephen B. Hobson, long known as "Uncle Stephen," moved into that settlement, and from his daughter, Mrs. J. H. Bates, now residing in California,

and Rev. George Hobson, his son, and other sources, and my own knowledge, I am able to glean a few facts concerning the beginning of the work at Mt. Pleasant and vicinity, and the part their honored father bore in the planting of the afterward flourishing vine.
   That same summer that Stephen Hobson settled at Mt. Pleasant (then called Cassville), a Sabbath-school was held in the shade of a large oak-tree near the house, of Rewel Davis, conducted by Matthew Hughes, Milton Case, J. F. Buck, and a few others. Mrs. Bates says the first sermon she heard was by W. D. Gage, in an unfinished frame building that afterward belonged to Brannon. That old veteran, Joseph T. Cannon, was the first circuit preacher, having been assigned to Rock Bluff Circuit in 1856, which then included Mt. Pleasant, and indeed all of Cass County and part of Otoe. He preached in the house of Matthew Hughes. In the summer of 1857, Sabbath-school was held in Uncle Stephen Hobson's house, as was also the preaching; and several quarterly-meetings were held there. By much effort a log school-house was built that year, which also served as a place of worship. Though no mention is made of the fact by Mrs. Bates, it is very probable that during J. T. Cannon's pastorate, the first organization of a class was effected, with the Gage and Hobson and other families as members.
   It was a characteristic fact that in the home of Stephen Hobson, the infant society was first nursed into strength and begun that career of growth and power and influence, which, for nearly forty years, was equaled by few and excelled by none of the other stations or circuits of Nebraska Methodism. And through all that magnificent

history, Uncle Stephen Hobson was the mainstay of the Church. He was recording steward for thirty-five years, missing but two quarterly-meetings in the first ten years of the history of the charge, and one of these was on account of sickness, and the other was once when serving on a jury. He always made it a point to be on hand in time to pass the bread and water. Not only was he faithful in these official relations, but also in his attendance on the means of grace. The pastor not only expected to see

"UNCLE" STEPHEN AND "AUNT" MARY
HOBSON, AT WHOSE HOME THE MT.
PLEASANT CLASS WAS ORGANIZED.

him at the preaching service, but was just as sure to find Uncle Stephen in his place at prayer and class meeting. He would never go to town (Plattsmouth, their nearest trading point, twelve miles distant) on Thursday, lest he might not get back in time for prayer-meeting.
   It may be truthfully said that all the pastors who have ever served Mt. Pleasant Circuit have reason to thank God for faithful, punctual, sympathetic, helpful Stephen D. Hobson, and his not less devoted wife, "Aunt Mary." The writer looks back to the fact that he was one of those fortunate pastors and Uncle Stephen and Aunt Mary
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hold a warm place in his affections and he and his wife will never forget them.
   I offer no apology for giving this much space to this layman. He stands as a representative of a class of faithful men and women who helped plant and develop the Church in all parts of Nebraska, and who have been among the Aarons and Hurs who, during the battle, have held up the hands of the leader. I would give equal space to many other men and women of the laity, equally deserving, but can not. For while their deeds of faithful self-sacrifice are on record on high, they are not on earth, and to-day only God knows how much the faithful men and women of the laity have done in the last fifty years for Nebraska Methodism.
   In after years Stephen Hobson found by his side such faithful friends and helpers as Bird and family, Brother and Sister John Frew and Flora Frew, Wm. Schleistimeir, Brother and Sister Winslow, and others of like precious memory.
   Stephen Hobson raised a family of children who all, early in life, became stanch Methodists, and one son, George A. Hobson, was given to the ministry, and has spent many years in the ranks of the itinerancy. His clear thought and sound preaching have been a blessing to many; and though now on the superannuated list in the Nebraska Conference, because of partial deafness, is still busy along literary lines, and is highly respected by his brethren.
   When, as before noted, Mt. Pleasant was made the head of a circuit, Dr. Goode, as he frequently did during his administration, drew on Indiana Methodism for the man to supply the place, and at the end of the first quar-

ter, that stalwart Methodist preacher, Martin Pritchard, entered upon his pastorate at Mt. Pleasant, a circuit with six appointments, and began all honorable career of great usefulness, which was to continue twenty years. It closed in triumph at Peru, March 24, 1877. At the next Conference his brethren pay the following tribute of his work and worth:
   "Rev. Martin Pritchard was born in the State of Ohio, April 23, 1827. When seventeen years of age he was converted and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. About the same time he left home, and without any pecuniary aid from others he secured a good education. He then engaged in teaching, and continued in that employment until he entered the traveling connection. He was licensed as an exhorter when twenty-three years of age, and as a local preacher about two years later.
   "In the spring of 1857 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Howard, and a month or two after came to Nebraska, and was employed as a supply on Mt. Pleasant Mission, by Rev. W. H. Goode, presiding elder of Nebraska District. He at once entered upon his duties as an itinerant with that energy and devotion to his work which so signally characterized his whole career as a minister and the fruits of his labor gave abundant proof that he was indeed called to the work of the Gospel ministry. At the close of the year he was recommended to the traveling connection, and was received on trial in the Kansas and Nebraska Conference at its session in Topeka, April, 1858. As a preacher he was sound in doctrine, his sermons solid rather than brilliant. His piety was of that cheerful type that caused him to look on

the bright side of life, and rendered him hopeful and happy. During the last two years of his life he was at times a great sufferer. For months together paroxysms of pain were frequent and very severe, but amidst it all he maintained that same cheerful spirit, and was never heard to utter a word of complaint. During his last illness, which continued ten days, his mind and heart was still upon his work; and as late as Thursday, he still thought he would be able to attend his quarterly-meeting on Saturday and Sunday, but when Saturday morning came, the messenger of death came also, and found him ready alike for labor and for rest. When the congestive chill, of which he died, was upon him, stupefying both body and mind, so that he thought and spoke of little that related to earth, he was twice asked if he felt Jesus to be precious, and twice answered with emphasis, 'Yes, O yes,' and soon, with apparently little or no pain, he passed from earth to heaven to join the happy spirit of his cherub child, which only a few hours had preceded him to glory, leaving his family thus doubly bereaved to mourn the loss of a kind and loving husband and father, and this Conference one of the ablest and most efficient members. But while we mourn, we also rejoice, rejoice that he being dead yet speaketh. Though our lamented brother is no more among us, he lives in his labors and in his influence, and his memory is enshrined in our hearts."
   Besides what his brethren have noted above of the facts of Martin Pritchard's life and work, there are a few others which in justice ought to be mentioned. It was he who built the first Methodist parsonage in Nebraska, this being erected during his pastorate at Peru in 1860. He also built the first church in Pawnee City.

   At the election for the delegates to the General Conference of 1876, Martin Pritchard came within one vote of being elected delegate, W. B. Slaughter and H. T. Davis being the successful competitors. He was twice elected reserve delegate and served four years as a member of the Book Committee, one of the most responsible positions of the Church.
   These facts tell of the high esteem in which Martin Pritchard was held by the Nebraska Conference and the Church at large. His wife, and now his widow, is a most noble specimen of beautiful, sanctified, Christian womanhood, and bore well her part as an itinerant's wife.
   After Martin Pritchard's two years expired, Rock Bluffs becomes the head of the circuit, and as the name does not appear separately, Mt. Pleasant doubtless remains a part of the Rock Bluffs Circuit till 1862, when it again becomes the head of a circuit. J. T. Cannon is Martin Pritchard's successor, remaining the legal limit of two years. The first year he had (as we have seen) Jacob Adriance as junior preacher, but he was soon sent out to Colorado. The second year Philo Gorton was junior preacher. This being the only circuit that had two men assigned to it, indicates, as do the statistics, that it is the largest and strongest in the Territory. This is in marked and sad contrast with the Rock Bluffs of to-day, where town and Church are extinct.
   This will, perhaps, be a suitable place to make further mention of J. T. Cannon, who was Jacob Adriance's senior preacher on the Rock Bluffs Circuit when the latter was taken away for the Colorado work.
   Joseph T. Cannon came to Nebraska among the first, and from 1855 he becomes a member of the little band

that during the fifties were laying the foundations of Nebraska Methodism. Mt. Pleasant Circuit and other charges mentioned elsewhere were helped by his faithful labors. After his death his brethren give this brief account of his life and death:
   "Rev. Joseph T. Cannon was born in Shelby County, Ohio, September 18, 1814, and died of dropsy in Cass County, Nebraska, July 24, 1883, in the seventieth year of his age.
   "His grandfather was a native of Tennessee, and a schoolmate of General A. Jackson. Joseph T. Cannon was converted to God at the age of seventeen. Was married November 7, 1835, to Miss Phoebe Jordon. In 1839 he was licensed to preach, and for fourteen years labored on various circuits in the Missouri Conference as local preacher. In 1851 he joined the Missouri Conference and was ordained deacon by Bishop Waugh, at Hannibal, Missouri. In 1855 he moved to Otoe County, Nebraska, within the bounds of Kansas and Nebraska Conference, and continued in the itinerancy three years. In 1860 he was appointed to pioneer work, and stationed at Central City, Colorado. While there, he, with Rev. Brother Watson (brother to Richard Watson of Methodist fame), erected the first Methodist church in that country. They built it mostly with their own hands, hewing the logs on the mountain side, and carrying them on their shoulders to the site of the church. His labors there told seriously on his health, and he returned to Nebraska, and settled on his farm in Cass County, near the Union Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1870 he was elected to the eighth Legislature of Nebraska, and did his work well. In 1871 his wife died, in the blissful hope of heaven, leaving a

husband and three children to mourn their loss. In 1874 he married Miss Mary S. Daley.
   "As a preacher, Brother Cannon was moderate in speech, concise and practical. In the Conference he enjoyed the respect of all, and was highly esteemed by those who knew him best. As a Christian he was quiet, thoughtful, patient, and persevering. He suffered much by disease, which sometimes brought clouds and disappointments to his mind, but never did he lose confidence in his God. His end was peaceful and grandly triumphant. He even exulted in the approaching hour, and passed gently away to his reward, leaving a wife and little son, Wallace, and three adult married children. Thus Brother Cannon lived long, labored much, and. died triumphantly."