A History of Nebraska Methodism

IF we turn our eyes to the north part of the State we find the same process going on, though the number of immigrants is not so great. As early as 1868 the rich Logan Valley began to be settled as far north as the Omaha Indian Reservation. The first Methodist preacher to go as far as Lyons was Jesse W. Perkins, then a local preacher, who organized the Church at that point in November, 1870. The first members were: Joel S. Yeaton, Susan Yeaton, John Armstrong, Roseanne Armstrong, Adam Hetzler, Adelia Hetzler, Charles Shaw, Theresa Shaw, Albert and Hattie Thomas. Brother Perkins also organized the class at Alder Grove in southeast part of Burt County.
North of the Omaha Indian Reservation, at what at first was called Omadi, and afterwards Dakota City, an appointment had been maintained from 1856 up to 1867 and then drops out, to reappear in 1870, with that man of consecrated push, courage, and tact, S. P. Van Doozer, as pastor, whose fiery missionary zeal reaches up the Missouri River twenty miles and takes in Ponca, besides other points in the surrounding country, and according to the report of his presiding elder, A. G. White, was rewarded with an increase of 500 per cent in the membership, and according to the list of appointments the succeeding year, was himself justly rewarded by being

placed in charge of the Covington District. As might be expected the event proved the selection to be wise, his tireless energy, resourceful tact, and warm-hearted sympathy, for preachers and people made him the man for the time and peculiar needs of the situation. There being no railroads, all his quarterly-meetings must be reached by private conveyance, involving sometimes travel of hundreds of miles and weeks of absence from home. He is verily another of those heroic spirits to whom will fitly apply the words by which as we have seen, Dr. Maxfield described C. W. Wells, being one of the men who "shake hands" with ease and comfort, bidding them farewell, and taking their lives in their hands, go forth bearing the precious seed."
   These high qualities were destined to be frequently called into action and subjected to the severest tests during his term of service. He will find but one organized charge as far west as Cedar County. Old St. James Class had been formed by an elderly preacher named Brown, as early as 1868, and had as one of the charter members Mrs. O. D. Smith, of precious memory. But about this time settlers began pouring into the southern parts of Dixon and Cedar Counties, penetrating as far as Wayne, Knox, Pierce, Madison, Boone, and Antelope Counties, all embraced in the Covington District. All these must be cared for and organized and it will tax even S. P. Van Doozer to keep up with the rapidly advancing tide.
   Of some of S. P. Van Doozer's experiences on this district, his devoted wife writes me as follows:
   "For four years and a half Mr. Van Doozer seemed like a stranger to his family, being gone nearly all of

the time, often being absent seven weeks on one trip. So much of a stranger was he that his first baby boy refused to notice him, and we always had trouble in the family when the papa came home.
   I am sure only God and Mr. Van Doozer knew the hardships of that new unorganized district during those years. Quarterly meetings were held in sod school houses, dug-outs, on the prairies in tents, or under a clump of cottonwood trees. He could always find a place to hold quarterly-meeting, 'Nothing daunting or making afraid.' On one of these long trips in the cool fall, he swam the Elkhorn River seven times to get his team and buggy with its contents over. The quarterly-meeting was held as per appointment and a grand spiritual feast was enjoyed. After giving me the details, he said, 'I brought home the quarterly collection to you.' 'How kind of you!' Drawing it from his pocket he handed me two copper pennies. 'Poor pay, do n't you think,' said I. 'No,' he replied, 'I held the quarterly-meeting in a poorly kept dug-out, all for Jesus' sake. He was with us in fullness of power. I was well paid.'"
   The work on the district progressed, as each Conference report gave proof. I question if any Methodist Episcopal minister had as great a variety of experience. He was obliged to cross the Indian Reservation going over his district. A good story is remembered by those people of a horse trade he made with an Indian, in which the Indian got the best of the preacher.
   After four years of aggressive leadership, S. P. Van Doozer retires from the North Nebraska District, and in his report for 1875 makes this summary of results: "When the district was formed, four years ago last

spring, there were nine charges, now there are seventeen, including one consolidation. Then there were two churches, one at Covington, valued at $2,000, and one at Decatur, valued at $1,500 ($3,500), which is too high by $1,000; now there are eight churches, whose probable value is $12,000. Then there was one parsonage valued at $600; now there are eight parsonages, whose probable value is not less than $3,000, making an increase of six churches and six parsonages, with an aggregate value of some $15,000, or, an increase of about $12,000, and an increase of membership of at least 200 per cent. And while we feel thankful for the prosperity that has attended the district in its first four years of struggle, I am sorry that more has not been done. Put I feel safe in saying that had it not been for providential calamities, much more would have been accomplished. In quitting this field of labor, I can not dismiss from my mind all feelings of solicitude and anxiety for its future welfare, and yet I cheerfully step aside and give place to some more worthy and efficient person as successor, praying the Divine blessing to rest upon him and crown his labors with abundant success, for Jesus' sake."
J. B. Maxfield is assigned to the North Nebraska District in 1875, having completed his full four years on the Beatrice District. It is still a frontier field, though some of the appointments are among the oldest in the Conference. The population is rapidly finding its way up the Logan, Elkhorn, and Niobrara Valleys, and on the fertile table-lands, the settlements extending as far west as Holt County. Of this district, the work of the year, and prospects, Dr. Maxfield gives this description in his first report: "The year now closing is my first on the North

Nebraska District. My predecessor, in his various reports, has conveyed to this Conference and to the public sufficient intelligence of its geographical contour, and natural resources. It comprises much the largest scope of actually inhabited territory of any district in the Conference. Its circuits are in consequence very large, each comprising many appointments; many of them remote from each other. This necessarily involves a great amount of travel in working each circuit, demanding large industry and faithfulness of every preacher in charge. Early in the year an unusual spirit of religious concern was observable almost everywhere upon the district. From very small beginnings, widespread revivals were the results. These continued during the entire winter, and in some places far into the spring and summer. A solid and considerable increase has thus ensued, both of numbers and, I am convinced, of personal piety.
"Looking upon the history of this centennial year, there are abundant reasons to be discovered for gratitude to Almighty God for the gracious mercies He has bestowed upon us. Our financial concerns have suffered in common with the business depression prevalent everywhere. Prices have been very small and money hard to obtain. Added to this general condition of monetary stringency, is the harm wrought by those periodical visitants, the grasshoppers, which have scourged this area of territory, comprised in the district I represent, once more. In the western and northern parts thereof, the harm done was much more severe than in the eastern portion. Yet there is not in my knowledge a single acre anywhere that entirely escaped, and in many instances the corn was entirely destroyed. The crops of small grains were meager.

and the farmers' hopes were builded upon an abundant corn crop; hopes that never were to be realized. An inevitable consequence is the poverty of our preachers, and a large deficiency arising from unpaid salaries. I do not recall more than one instance in which the entire salary has been paid. When we remember how small the salaries are, and then deduct therefrom at least one-third for deficiencies, we may then understand how many are the privations to be endured by the Methodist itinerants in the frontiers of Nebraska."
   It is to be greatly regretted from the standpoint of the historian, that for some reason the secretaries did not print the reports of the presiding elders for several years. This involves the final reports on both the Beatrice and North Nebraska Districts, which have special value, as usually containing a resume of the four years' work on their districts.
   While we are deprived of this valuable source of information, we know in other ways that Dr. Maxfield successfully led the forces during the following four years. and the district, while not expanding territorially, continues to develop along all lines of Church work.
   In 1871, George H. Wehn was admitted on trial and appointed to Madison Charge, which was, with the exception of a small class at Union Creek, an unorganized work, extending to the west as far as an enthusiastic young circuit rider, such as Brother Wehn was, would go in search of the scattered members of the Methodist fold. In a letter from Mrs. C. D. Trask, formerly of Oakdale, and one of the oldest settlers, she speaks thus of the beginning of religious work at that place: "Prior to any organization, Rev. George H. Wehn traveled as

far west as Frenchtown (near where Clearwater now is), preaching at some points along his line of travel, visiting from house to house and doing much good among the settlers. He organized the Oakdale class in the spring of 1872 at the residence of J. H. Snyder, the first members being A. M. Salnave, Hester A. Salnave, Wm. P. Clark, Mary E. Clark, Laura E. Snyder, Jacob Holbrook, Jesse T. Bennett, and Helen L. Bennett." In speaking of Brother Wehn, Mrs. Trask further says that "he possessed a good education, was a fair preacher, and diligent in labor."
Of Brother Wehn's circuit, and the work he did during that year, his presiding elder, S. P. Van Doozer, says: "Madison is a new work, and lies in the extreme western part of the district, embracing all of Madison and Antelope Counties, and a part of Boone County. One year ago Rev. George H. Wehn was appointed to this newly organized mission. When he entered upon his work he found a class of four or five members formed on Union Creek. From this small beginning he has gone on heroically, ascending the Elkhorn River and its tributaries, doing the work of an evangelist, and now reports five classes, and a membership, including probationers, of more than one hundred souls." During the year a camp-meeting was held, at which there were forty accessions to the Church. He significantly adds that the mission had assumed such proportions "that necessity will dictate a division for the ensuing year."
There appeared upon the scene in 1872 a sturdy Englishman, Jabez Charles. He was born in England, September 6, 1836, converted at the age of fifteen, and licensed to preach in the Primitive Methodist Church in

1864. In March, 1857, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Powles, and in June, 1868 they came to America, and he became a local preacher on the Charters Circuit, Pittsburg Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In March, 1872, he was recommended to the Pittsburg Annual Conference for admission on trial. But thinking he ought to avail himself of the opportunities offered in the great West to secure a homestead, he did not join the Pittsburg Conference, but came to Omaha, Nebraska, not intending to preach, but to make a home for himself and family. However, he preached once in a grove of scrub oaks just south of the Union Pacific depot, sometime during that summer, and soon a letter passed to that alert presiding elder, S. P. Van Doozer, who was on the lookout for good men to supply some unoccupied fields, informing him that in Omaha there was an English local preacher who would probably fill the bill. It was not long before Brother Charles received a letter from Van Doozer requesting him to meet him, which he did. The result of this meeting meant much for Nebraska Methodism, for he was at once requested to take charge of the work in Madison County. After informing him fully of the character and condition of the people, living in their sod houses; their poverty, intensified at that time by the grasshoppers; that there were no churches, and in many cases no school-houses even; no railroads through the country and no bridges over the streams, the presiding elder asked him how he liked it? Brother Charles answered, "I have learned to adapt myself to circumstances." The presiding elder said, "You will do," and at once employed him as a supply. On the 13th of September, 1872, Jabez Charles reached his

large and hard field of labor and began that self-sacrificing career of faithful and efficient toil and great usefulness, which continued without a break until the Conference of 1902, when at the age of sixty-six, worn out by thirty years of incessant toil on large circuits with small salaries, he requested, and was granted, a superannuated relation.
The history of the North Nebraska Conference would be very incomplete if what Jabez Charles has done for the Master were left out. Of that portion of it relating to the development of our work in Madison, Boone, and Antelope Counties, it was he, doubtless, above all others, who laid the foundations of our Zion during the first five years of his ministry in Nebraska, during which time he remained in the local ranks and was contented to serve as a supply under the presiding elder. The story of his work and experiences during these five years is so well told in a communication from him to the writer, that I can do no better than to quote his own words:
"On the 13th of September with a letter of authority, I found myself in Madison County, Nebraska, as preacher in charge of the Madison Circuit. I found six preaching places; namely, Madison, with no class and no church; Union Creek, with J. T. Trine as leader and local preacher; Battle Creek, three miles up the creek from the present town of Battle Creek, with no class at this place; Fairview (Clarion Postoffice), Brother Reigle, a local preacher and a good Methodist, and a class led by Brother E. Heath. At Buffalo Creek was the best appointment in every sense of the word. There we had a strong class, with good Father George Rouse as leader; we had two local preachers, Brothers J. T. Morris and R. J.

Harvey, and after a while two exhorters, Brother Shafer and Charles Rouse. (Ever since that time Brother Rouse has held a local preacher's license.) At Buffalo Creek we worshiped (sic) in a sod school-house, earth floor and sod roof, and yet what glorious times we enjoyed! After preaching in that old dug-out I heard sixty persons tell their experiences. I have known the men to put their spring seats around the door on the outside when there was snow on the ground because they could not get in side. This place is now known as Meadow Grove. Marietta was a preaching place, with a class, J. Alberry leader and local preacher. There were a number of other places at which we preached. The best appointment was five miles west of Norfolk; Solters, twelve miles west of Norfolk; Deer Creek, Dry Creek, and St. Clair Creek. At this place we held a very good revival-meeting in 1873 and 1874. Brother C. Rouse was leader. This place was five and one-half miles southeast of Oakdale. I forded the Elkhorn River at different points all the way from Westpoint to Oakdale. Once I crossed in a molasses pan. I have taken off all my clothing and waded the stream in order to get from one preaching place to the other. Those were the grasshopper times, when frozen squash was a luxury. Dry Creek Circuit was formed in 1873, taking in the northwest part of the county. In the fall of 1874 1 left ninety-three full members on the circuit. In the fall of 1874 I was sent to the Albion Circuit, including the entire county of Boone. I found four preaching places. At Albion we had no town and no church. True there was one store, a school-house, and a court-house, and John Avers's shanty, but no dwelling-house. Rev. S. P. Bollman, a local preacher,

lived in his homestead and preached all he could while holding various county offices. W. T. Nelson was our class-leader. At Boone we worshiped in a sod schoolhouse, R. W. King was leader. At St. Edwards we had not even a school-house, but worshiped in Joel Berrey's sod dwelling-house. J. Berrey was our class-leader and W. J. Thompson was postmaster and the most prominent member at this place. We held a revival-meeting in a blizzard, with thirteen conversions.
"Twenty miles from Albion was Dayton, on the Cedar River. Brother James Robinson kept the Post-office, Brother Broadbent was leader. This place is now called Cedar Rapids. At School-house No. 15 we held revival meetings, early in 1875, and formed a class of thirteen members, of which W. Deupoe, H. Guiles, and J. Moore were members. This place is now called Pinical Hill. At the first quarterly-meeting, when the question was asked, 'How much will you raise for the support of the minister this year?' Brother R. W. King said, 'We can not promise anything. If the grasshoppers take our crops, we can not pay anything.' but for 1875 I received $203.45; for 1876 I received $229.59. There was an increase of sixty-two full members and seven probationers. At our Conference held at Lincoln in 1875 1 was ordained a local deacon by Bishop Haven. In the fall of 1876 1 was sent back to the Madison Circuit a second time. On this work I found six appointments; namely, Madison, Union Creek, Fairview, Kalamazoo, Newmans Grove, and Tracy Creek. There was no church on this circuit. But in the summer of 1877 we commenced our Church enterprise at Madison. The first load of lumber for the new church came from Co-

lumbus, thirty-five miles away. The night before we started to Conference, which was held in Eighteenth Street, Omaha, October 11, 1877, Bishop Bowman presiding. At this Conference I was admitted on trial in the Nebraska Annual Conference, and was sent back to Madison for the second year. We continued work on our church all through the winter and in the summer we held a ministerial Conference in the new church, closing with a camp-meeting in Severens's grove, at which were present Rev. J. B. Maxfield, D. Marquette, J. B. Leedom, A. Hodgetts, and others. A good time was enjoyed.
"I received $175, and had an increase in membership of twenty-three. For the year 1878 I received $210.42, and had an increase in membership of four. Of this amount Madison paid $80 and I gave them on subscription $80 to the church. There went into the building of that church two yoke of oxen, one cow, and four pigs. My boy worked for the oxen and cow."
Another stalwart worker in the local ranks entered the field in Antelope and Madison Counties in the later seventies in the person of Charles G. Rouse, who was born in Dupage County Illinois, September 17, 1836; came to Nebraska in 1870, and received license to preach under Jabez Charles's pastorate in 1873, and has since, though remaining in the local ranks, assisted pastors and preached, as a supply, for twenty-five years, as regularly and efficiently as if he had been a member of the Conference. He would doubtless have been admitted into the Conference had he entered the work earlier in life. At the time his name was presented he was past forty and had a large family, and objection being made on

seemed not to be able to take in the unique situation of a Church with one of its subordinate departments more than twice as large as itself, or comprehend that geometrical contradiction, that in this case the part was greater than the whole. Nor did he understand Samuel Burns, and having himself no small store of ministerial dignity to maintain, it was difficult for him to brook what seemed undue arrogance on the part of Burns.
   That both these men were honest in their convictions, and that both loved the Church and were, in their different ways equally loyal, and willing to toil and sacrifice in order to build it up, did not relieve the situation, but as it often happens, the very intensity of their honest convictions increased the tension, and made it more difficult for either to understand the other.
   But probably these men might have gotten along together and perpetuated the situation that was so full of present power and future promise, if the pastor in his zeal for the spiritual interests of the Church had not introduced an element into the situation in the person of Mrs. Maggie Van Cott, which, as events proved, greatly increased the difficulty of a satisfactory adjustment of conflicting convictions.
   Assuming, as we may properly do, that it was right for the pastor and Burns and the entire Church, to conserve and perpetuate the Sunday-school in the high state of efficiency to which it had been brought, and that Burns was the only man who could do it, and his judgment as to what would best serve this purpose, was entitled to more than ordinary respect. And further assuming that the pastor was right in desiring a revival of religion, and in good faith sought to promote it by what he deemed

the most efficient means, by the employment of Mrs. Van Cott, who had already a great reputation as a successful evangelist; the problem now presented to the pastor and the whole Church was how to perpetuate the now powerful agency for good, the Sunday-school, and also make it possible for Mrs. Van Cott to accomplish all she could in her line of work.
She comes, as every evangelist should come, with a conviction that there is no work so important as the salvation of souls. And in this she shared what has been the universal sentiment of Methodism. She felt that for the time being all else should be subordinated to the revival, and as the leader in the special movement she also felt that all others should willingly submit to her will, and obey her commands, including pastor and Sunday-school superintendent. This had doubtless been conceded to her wherever she had been, and she knew nothing in the conditions at Omaha that would make that an exception. It did not occur to her that by careful and skillful methods, in which the weekly teachers' meeting was a most potent factor, Samuel Burns and his co-workers had built up one of the best schools in Methodism, and that therefore the situation in Omaha presented some features which were peculiar and probably different from any she had ever met, and called for special consideration, and special treatment.
There can be no doubt that Mrs. Van Cott was a consecrated woman, whom the Lord was using in the salvation of many souls. But it is to be feared that she was so constituted that her success had, perhaps unconsciously to herself, exaggerated her conception of her own importance, and narrowed her views as to Church

work, and greatly strengthened a naturally imperious will. This we know sometimes happens in the case of otherwise excellent evangelists. There was probably somewhat in the manner and spirit of her demands that would make it difficult for a man like Samuel Burns to accede to them, even if reasonable. And in view of the peculiar importance of maintaining his large Sunday-school and the teachers' meeting as all essential feature, he could not but regard her demand for unconditional surrender, and entire suspension of the teachers' meeting even after he had offered to hold it an hour later, so all could attend both services, as unreasonable, and refuse to surrender. Hence the disastrous rupture, that has many times overbalanced all the good that Mrs. Van Cott did in her revival, which would have been great and lasting but for this. And what was equally and more permanently harmful to Omaha Methodism, it destroyed the best Sunday-school she has ever had in her history. And still further, the withdrawal of Burns and his influential followers, was probably the chief cause of subsequent financial embarrassment by which they became bankrupt and lost their property. And we must still add as another item to the dark account of loss, the years of futile effort to build up a rival Church, which cost such men as Lemon, P. C. Johnson, Pardee, Shenk, Beans, and Leedom years of valuable ministry.
Some may doubt the propriety of dwelling so long on this unhappy affair. But the historian has not the option to choose only the pleasant features of the history, but is in duty bound to note what has obstructed the progress of the Church. It is my conviction that no event in the fifty years of Nebraska Methodism has been so far-reach-

ing in its pernicious influences, not only in Omaha, but to some extent, beyond the limits of that city, as this unhappy affair. It is here recorded as a monumental blunder, not to use a harsher name, that should stand out as a warning to good people not to sacrifice the interests of Christ's kingdom for the sake of having one's own way.
   Clark Wright was an attractive man and might have succeeded well but for these *troubles, and the financial embarrassment. But he was compelled to report a loss of sixty-three members, and the Sunday-school of 700 which he found, dropped down to 400, and this number was not maintained.
   He is followed by L. F. Britt, who remains a year and has to his credit a gracious revival resulting in the conversion of some seventy-five. But success along spiritual lines, could not avert the doom of bankruptcy impending, and the bondholders accepted in settlement all their property, both on Seventeenth and Thirteenth Streets, leaving the Church homeless.
   At. this juncture, that old veteran, H. D. Fisher, was induced to come to the rescue, though he would receive $800 less salary by doing so. He found a homeless Church, but temporary arrangements were made for services in a rented hall. A lot was purchased on Davenport Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth, and the third church enterprise was inaugurated, and in due time a plain frame structure, with parsonage at the rear, was completed and dedicated by Mrs. Van Cott. In speaking of this achievement, Dr. Fisher quotes Bishop Haven, who, when he preached in the church remarked to the congregation: (See Gun and Gospel, by Fisher, p. 257.)

   "It is marvelous indeed!" and to me, "where did you get all this? We have known of the state of things in Omaha for years before you came. Some said Methodism was dead there and ought to be buried. But when I learned you had gone to Omaha I told my friends that means resurrection, and so it did. The bishop preached for us, and told the congregation that the bishops had regarded the case as practically hopeless, and it was the man from Kansas who, in the economy of grace, had brought them resurrection."
   The growth of the city and of the Church seems to call for expansion, and the Second Church has been organized just north of Cumings Street, meeting a growing need of that part of the city. This expansion takes place in the south part of the city, in 1872, and its beginnings are thus reported by the presiding elder:
   "Omaha Mission - J. M. Adair, pastor. This is a new work, embracing the scattered settlements not included in any other pastoral charge in Douglas County. A church has been purchased in South Omaha, near the Union Pacific depot, and Brother Adair has labored to pay for it. He has displayed commendable zeal in city and country, but has received for his services barely sufficient to pay his house rent."
   In 1879, at the close of Dr. Fisher's pastorate, there appears as pastor, J. B. Maxfield, D. D., one who has already become familiar by his work on pastorates and districts. Of his work here Haynes says:
   "He never failed to enlighten his hearers on the subject in hand nor to edify his people. With him in the pulpit the assurance that the services would be interesting was not doubtful; and he was able to hold this good

opinion and respectful hearing to the end of his labors in the charge. Closing the second year as pastor, he was removed to take charge of the Omaha District."
The expansion noted before, consisting of a second charge on Izard Street, enjoyed some prosperity under the successive pastorates of C. A. King, Charles McKelvey, and J. H. Presson, and gave promise of steady growth, being in a growing portion of the city where it was much needed. But in 1874 the party who followed Burns out of the First Church, purchased the building and moved it up onto Eighteenth Street. After some eight or nine years, during which such men as Lemon, Pardee, P. C. Johnson, Beans, Shenk, and Leedorn had given their best service, the effort to establish a Church there was given up as hopeless, and it was sold and Seward Street Church established.
South Tenth Street was served during this period by J. M. Adair, T. H. Tibbles, John P. Roe, P. C. Johnson, and David Marquette. Under Father Roe's ministry the Church, during the first year, received his services free of charge on condition that they pay all their debts, amounting then to $500. This was done. The second year he agreed to put the entire salary, $500, into a building fund, to be available when they came to build. it was this and other generous actions of this man of God that made it possible for the writer to carry forward to success the building of both church and parsonage, during his three years' pastorate, beginning in 1879.