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Preface and Introduction · Twenty Years on Horseback; or, Itinerating in West Virginia

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  Preface and introduction of Twenty Years on Horseback or Itinerating in West Virginia. This
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  is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For
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  Shakespeare. Twenty Years on Horseback or Itinerating in West Virginia by William Marian Weekly
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  Preface. It was not my purpose in the preparation of this little volume to
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  make it an autobiography, but rather a narration of incidents connected with the twenty
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  years of humble service which I tried to render the United Brethren Church among the
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  mountains of West Virginia. These incidents present an all round view in outline of
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  the real life and labors of the itinerant preacher a third of a century ago,
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  in an isolated section where the most simple and primitive customs prevailed. While
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  some of the things related will doubtless amuse the reader, others, I trust
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  will lead to thoughtful reflection and carry with them lessons inspiring and helpful. The
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  introduction should first be carefully read by those who expect to be profited by a
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  perusal of the pages which follow that good may come to the Church and glory
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  to our Redeemer through this unpretentious publication is the prayer of its author. Kansas
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  City, Missouri, May first, nineteen o seven. I have examined the
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  manuscript of twenty Years on Horseback or it in West Virginia, and cheerfully submit
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  this note of commendation the author, Bishop W. M. Weekly d D.
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  I have known for more than thirty years. He entered the ministry when
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  young, with an undivided heart and determined purpose. During the years he served
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  the church in that state, he traveled over almost the entire territory of the
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  West Virginia Conference. The country then was extremely primitive, but simple, as
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  the mode of life was at that time, the field was an interesting,
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  even an enjoyable one for a minister who could endure the hardness as a good
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  soldier of Christ. I am acquainted with nearly all the sections of the state
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  referred to, and am therefore familiar with many of the places, facts,
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  and persons mentioned, and can assure the reader that the author has given a
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  faithful account of these in this book. No statement is overdrawn or warped for
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  the sake of effect. WW Rymer Columbus, Ohio, May third, nineteen
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  o seven. An examination of the pages caused me to live my early life
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  over again. Having spent twenty three years in the ministry within the bounds of
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  the West Virginia Conference, and having been intimately associated with the author of this
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  volume during the most of that period, I am very familiar with many of
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  the places, persons, and events mentioned, and can testify to the correctness
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  of the records he makes and to the faithfulness of the pictures drawn. This
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  book will stir the thoughts and rekindle the fire within the old itinerants, and
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  as well I trust arouse the young to larger activities in soul winning r.
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  A. Height, Chillicothe, Ohio, May fourth, nineteen o seven.
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  The author of this book and myself were boys together. We were born and
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  reared within four miles of each other, were converted in the same church,
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  and for years were members of the same Sunday School and congregation. We were
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  licensed to preach on the same charge, and spent the earlier years of our
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  ministry in the same conference together. In many instances we traveled the same roads,
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  preached in the same communities, and mingled with the same people. After
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  having examined the contents of this volume in manuscript form, I am sure it
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  contains a faithful description of the very conditions which made up the life and experiences
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  of the United Brethren itinerant minister of that time among the hills and mountains of
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  West Virginia, a or circled Ville, Ohio. April thirtieth, nineteen o
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  seven. Introduction the past lives through the printed page. The ages would be
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  blank if books were not made recording the events and achievements of men. The
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  form of history is more interesting and profitable than that which recites the career of
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  those who, obedient to their divine commission proclaimed to fellow men, the sweet
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  message of Christ's redeeming love, the completeness of their consecration, their undaunted courage
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  and persistency in the face of many difficulties, and their marvelous success evidence in
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  them the presence of superhuman power. It is the genius of Christianity to inspire
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  and develop the unselfish and heroic in men. The splendid specimens of self sacrifice
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  and moral courage which adorned the pages of Christian literature charmed the reader and inspire
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  him to more christlike endeavor. These life stories constitute a rich, priceless legacy
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  for present and future generations. In this admirable volume, Bishop Weekly has modestly
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  removed the curtain from twenty years of his own strenuous ministerial life spent in the
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  mountains and valleys of West Virginia, and given the reader a conception of what
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  it meant to lift up the Christ and extend his kingdom in that rugged region.
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  The book is biographical in character, but since biography is the soul of
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  history, it is history in reality. The scenes and events which he presents
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  suggests the character of the work which others had to do in laying the foundations
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  of our Church. In those sections, it would be difficult to find more
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  strking examples of Christian altruism and heroism anywhere in this country than the godly men
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  who preached the Gospel among the mountains and in the valleys of the Virginias in
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  the early years of our denominational history. These men embodied those elements of character
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  and graces of the Spirit which are essential to success in Christian work anywhere.
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  Having heard the call of God and having felt the spell of the Divine Spirit,
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  they yielded themselves unservedly to the gospel ministry. They possessed strength of conviction,
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  singleness of aim, earnestness of purpose, and concentration of effort. As
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  a rule, these pioneer preachers had but one business, that of the king.
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  They were so absorbed in the saving of men and women, and in
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  extent ending the kingdom, that they gave but little attention to present physical comforts
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  and future needs. Many of them were without property, and they sang no
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  foot of land, Do I possess no cottage? In this wilderness. There
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  was a literalness about it which would have dismayed men of less faith and consecration.
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  Without seeking to enrich themselves in material things, they labored earnestly to bring
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  the spiritual riches of heaven to the hearts and homes of others. These were
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  busy men, men of action. They omitted no opportunities to do good.
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  Intervals of rest were few and far between. The modern minister's vacation was to
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  them unknown. They met their appointments with surprising regularity. Neither storm, nor
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  distance, nor weariness thwarted their plans. Their announcements were always made. Additionally,
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  no preventing providence, but they never calculated for providence to prevent them being
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  on hand at the appointed place an hour. The strain of toil was constant,
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  but their iron resolution and the work itself proved a strong tonic. The
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  success of one's service was inspiration for the next. Visiting from house to house,
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  exhorting the people to faithful Christian living, distributing religious literature, and preaching
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  week days as well as Sundays made their lives full of heavy tasks, all
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  of which were performed with happy hearts. They possessed the glowing and tireless zeal
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  of the preaching friars of the Middle Ages, and with many of them,
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  the clear flame of their zeal was undimmed until the fire was turned to ashes.
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  They were men of thought as well as action. Their preparation was made
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  in the college of experience, in which they proved themselves apt students. They
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  studied few books, and only the best. They cultivated and practiced the perilous
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  art of reading on horseback. They pored over books and papers in humble homes
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  by flickering candle or pine knot light, long after the family had retired.
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  It is remarkable what extended knowledge of the English scriptures, methods of sermonizing,
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  oratorical style, and forceful delivery. These men acquired. They knew well and
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  by the surest form of knowledge, the knowledge born of verified experience. All
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  they proclaimed in message to the people. There was freshness of thought, aptness
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  of illustration, and forcefulness of expression that was native to them. Majestic forms
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  of nature in the regions where they toiled inspired them in the sublimest thoughts of
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  God and his eternal truth. The marvelous results of the sermons of such men
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  as Markwood, Glossbrenner, Bachtel Warner, Nelson, Graham, Howe, Haught,
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  and others proved them great preachers in the highest and truest sense. They
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  were men of tact as well as thought, and adjusted themselves to the conditions.
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  They preached wherever the people would assemble, in leafy grove, by the
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  river bank, in the hobble home, in the log school house, in
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  the village hall, in the vacant storeroom, and in the unpretentious church house.
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  They did not always have the exhilarating and inspirational effect of great crowds,
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  but they preached in demonstration of the spirit, kindling the deepest motions in their
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  hearers, often arousing them to tremendous intensity and causing waves of overpowering feeling to
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  sweep over them. Saints shouted the praises of God, and penitence pleaded for
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  mercy. These heralds of the Cross employed none of the familiar devices of modern
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  times for securing crowds and reaching results. There were no specially prepared and widely
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  scattered handbills, no local advertising committees, no daily newspapers with flashing headlines and
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  portraits, no great chorl or orchestral attractions. What made these fallible men so
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  forceful and successful in winning others? The explanation lies in the fact of their
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  spiritual endewment. They wrought in the name of Christ, and under the influence
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  of the Holy Spirit, and no portion of our Zion havens made stronger and
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  more lasting impression upon the people. Whenever present in a home, they were
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  the guests of honor, their strong personalities and noble traits of character, as
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  well as their calling itself one for them the esteem of old and young.
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  Parents named their children after them and exhorted their sons to find in them their
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  models from manhood. In thus honoring these noble men of God. They exalted
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  the work of the ministry and the minds of the young, and prepared the
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  way for the Lord to call them into his service. This may account at
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  least in part for the great number who have gone into the ministry from these
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  mountain districts. Let no one fancy that somber shadows rested continually upon the pathway
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  of these ministers. There was a joyous side to their ministerial life. Went
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  together as a class or among their parishioners. Their stories and jokes were abundant,
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  spontaneous, and of the purest type. When they met at institutes,
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  the camp meetings, and conferences, they enjoyed one round of good cheer and
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  solid comfort. Their services of song drowned all dull cares. Their lives had
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  shadows, but they refreshed themselves in the rifts and glorious sunbursts. The people
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  to whom these men of God proclaimed the Gospel were not, as a rule
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  rich in material things, but they possessed great hearts in which love and kindness
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  flowed, as pure and refreshing as the streams of water that rippled down the
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  mountain side. We rejoice that Bishop Weekly has given to the church this book.
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  Many aged ministers who once toiled in the Virginias will live over again the
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  seams of their lives as they read these pages. Young men will be stimulated
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  to more earnest endeavor as they learn of the hardships in complete consecration of God's
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  servants in pioneer days. No one will weary in reading this excellent volume.
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  The Good Bishop has written in harmony with an established sentiment in bookmaking. It
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  is the chief of all perfections in books, to be plain and brief.
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  W. O. Fries Dayton, Ohio. End of preface and introduction