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Chapter VII · Twenty Years on Horseback; or, Itinerating in West Virginia

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Chapter seven of twenty Years on Horseback or itinerating in West Virginia. This LibriVox
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recording is in the public domain. Chapter seven. In the days of which
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I write, a quarterly meeting was a great event, and to many it
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was a rare privilege to see and hear the elder during the summer and fall,
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especially the attendants in many instances would be immense. Not unfrequently the women
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and children present would more than fill the house, which made it necessary to
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seek a shady bower if one could be found. If convenient, the seats
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were removed from the church and used in the grove, but often this could
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not be done. More than once I have backed up against a tree or
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a mounted log and preached to a crowd scattered over a quarter acre of ground.
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On one of these occasions, a young girl of fifteen summers perhaps but
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large for her age, went to the house near by and got a bucket
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of fresh water, and, bringing it to me in the midst of my
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discourse, asked me if I would have a drink. I paused long enough
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to accept the courtesy, and, after thanking her for her thoughtfulness and kindness,
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continued my talk. Such an infraction of the rules governing divine worship today
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in many sections would greatly amuse the people, no doubt, and perhaps greatly
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annoy the preacher, but it was seldom noticed by speaker or congregation. A
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third of a century ago. Among the mountains, when there was no grove
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near, or the atmosphere was too chilly or the ground too damp to hold
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outdoor services, we were sometimes sorely defeated by the crowds that came here.
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I given full article which I furnished the telescope on the peculiar provocations of the
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elder. To be a presiding elder in the Parkersburg Conference means to travel over
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a large territory and to do a vast amount of hard work on small pay.
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But all this is nothing compared with some other things that we have to
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endure. It is no uncommon thing in this country for a presiding elder to
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make a failure in the pulpit because of some circumstance or a combination of circumstances
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over which he can have but little or no control. Many of the houses
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in which we worship are by far too small to accommodate the congregations that generally
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gather on quarterly meeting occasion. Indeed, many of our meetings are held in
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school houses only intended to seat fifty or seventy five. Scholars now put two
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hundred persons or more into such a space, standing the most of them around
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the wall and in the aisles, and then distribute from fifty to one hundred
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around the house on the outside, each striving to get his head in at
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a window. And any one, though he be unused to such things,
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can see the difficulty of preaching under such circumstances. If the people listen with
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interest, they must be comfortably situated. In many country districts away from the
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railroad. The time kept by the people varies so materially that it is next
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to impossible to get them together at the same hour. No two clocks agree.
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Hence, the people begin to assemble at ten o'clock in the morning and
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keep on assembling till noon. At the appointed hour, the elder announces the
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first hymn and then leads the prayer. During these opening exercises, perhaps twenty
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five persons have come upon the ground, and as soon as the Ahmen is
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heard, they make a rush for seats. Another hymn is sung, and
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still they come. The text is finally announced, but what of it?
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The people keep coming. The middle of the sermon, by and by is
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reached, and the preacher is still annoyed. Not for three minutes at any
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time has he had an open field, only one more proposition to discuss.
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It is the most important one. His strength has been reserved mainly for it.
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But just as he begins to lay it open, having secured the attention
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of the audience, the door creaks and income a half a dozen women.
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A general stir follows. The seats are all full. Something must be done,
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so half a dozen men get up and surrender their places. Still the
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people come. The preacher is on the home stretch, but it is badly
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disheartened. He has preached to the people, to be sure, but a
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good part of the time till the backs of their heads, not half of
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those present when he began can tell what his text is. Indeed, he
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is so confused sometimes that he hardly knows himself what it is. He has
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just one more illustration to give. He hopes to make it tell, and
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is succeeding well. The audience for a moment as silent as death. But
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of a sudden the door opens again, and a few more try to enter.
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In an instant, every eye is turned and the threat of thought is
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dropped, and the preacher sits down, disgusted and dissatisfied. Of course,
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it is not always this way, but frequently such is the case. On
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such occasions, the people go home no wiser than when they came, having
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been to meetin is the only pleasing thought enjoyed. Too many dogs go to
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church. I'm not much of a friend of the canine race at home,
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much less at church. Dogs piously inclined are the keenest dogs in existence.
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If they would go under the house, or even under the benches in the
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house, it would not matter so much. But they will not do that.
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They walk up and down the aisle, and dare even to enter the
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pulpit where the presiding elder is. All this attracts attention and detracts from the
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sermon. Once in a while a dog fight occurs during the service, and
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two or three men have to interfere to adjust the difficulty. If the elder
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intimates that the congregation or neighborhood is a little too doggish to suit him,
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somebody gets mad and calls him a stuck up sort of a man. Beware
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of dogs, said Paul many. A good sermon has been spoiled by them.
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In West Virginia especially. They are disturbing elements. I would favor a
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war of extermination. But things are much better with us now than they were
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twenty five years ago. We have larger and better houses of worship and fewer
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dogs in proportion to population. We expect a great improvement in the next quarter
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of a century. It was not an uncommon thing to see a glorious revival
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start at the quarterly meeting. The love fest, which almost invariably occurred on
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Sunday morning before the sermon, was usually an occasion of deep interest. How
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the old veterans would talk, how eloquent some of them were in their simplicity,
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how they relished such spiritual feasts, for such they were, and no
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wonder they were enjoyed by some, for they had traveled, maybe on foot
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twenty miles or more to get there to such. The day was a veritable
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Pentecost. Sometimes in the midst of the sermon or sacramental service, Hallelujah's would
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be heard. Yes once in a while, the people shouted, and nobody
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ejected to the noise or excitement. I am no prophet, but will risk
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the statement that when the church gets so far along that no more hossannas are
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heard, it will be about time to reconstruct things and start anew A red
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hot testimony meeting in many of our city churches on the quarterly communion occasion would
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make the recurrence of the day and the coming of the elder an event of
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greater significance than it seems to be at present. Such a service would doubtless
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lubricate the machinery of the church and make the work go better. The present
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plan of enlarging districts has its commendatory features, to be sure, and in
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some respects it works well. Yet the old regime, which made it possible
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for the elder to be present at all the quarterlies, had its advantages.
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A word here respecting the genuine hospitality of the people might not be out of
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place. This, however, is characteristic of Southerners. The presiding elder was
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not compelled to put up with the pastor all the time because nobody else wanted
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or invited him. Far from it, A half a dozen or more at
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a time would claim him as their guest. Instead of wondering where he would
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go or could go. He was puzzled to know which of the many invitations
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to accept. How it embarrasses a man to be in a neighborhood where no
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one seems to want him, or if entertainment is preferred. He may be
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further embarrassed by a question mark at the end of the invitation, well are
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you going with me? Or if you have no place else to go,
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come with us. I have been chilled many many times since leaving the Mountain
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State by just such half hearted treatment. Nor were the presiding elder's official duties
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performed without an occasional break caused by a wag or ignoramu. Reverend G.
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W. Weekly was traveling a circuit in Gilmore County with Reverend E. Harper
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as his elder. At a certain meeting, the latter was presiding with his
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usual grace and dignity, while the pastor, being a stickler for law,
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was making the discipline the rule of his business conduct. A young man was
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before them for license to preach. He seemed to be all right and had
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made a favorable impression upon his pastor. You will please state before the chair
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and conference said the pastor to the applicant, what your reasons are for desiring
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permission to preach the Gospel? In an instant, the young brother was on
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his feet. The question was easy, he thought, and so his answer
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was clear cut. Well, he said, I've always had a desire to
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see the country, and I thought that being a preacher would give me a
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chance to do so. Then it was that elder wilted and the preacher collapsed,
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and the quarterly Conference looked blank, while the dear young brother felt himself
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the hero of the occasion. We met at the Bethel Church in Mason County
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in September of eighteen eighty seven to make reports and to review the work of
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another year. Bishop Kephart was with us for the first and doctor Warner for
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the last time. To show our appreciation of doctor Warner, the conference gave
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him a purse containing twenty five dollars in silver. My district paid in salary
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and presence five hundred and twenty six dollars and twenty cents, out of which
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one hundred and fifty three was expended for rent and car fare. Three seven
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hundred twenty miles had been traveled by rail, nine hundred and forty one on
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horseback, and four hundred and fifteen on foot. The average salary in the
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conference was a fraction over two hundred dollars, including presents, which were considerable
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in some cases. Only one charge Parkersburg Station, went above five hundred dollars.
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One other, Pennsborough, reached four hundred dollars, eight got above three
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hundred, while seventeen paid less than two hundred dollars each. The financial report
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generally was much better than that of the previous year. The aggregate increase in
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ministerial support on Parkersburg District was six hundred dollars. Slowly but surely, we
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were pushing ahead and making progress, but at a cost known only to those
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who were on the field. The third year in the district was similar to
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the preceding one, fraught with toil and responsibilities, but not without its spicery,
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which often did much to enliven the routine were required. One of the
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first things I did was to secure a horse and buggy. By using the
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carriage when the roads would admit of it, I relieved myself of a good
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deal of horseback riding during the winter. In early spring, no sort of
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vehicle could be used because of the bad and sometimes dangerous condition of the public
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thoroughfares. Nor is the situation in this respect much different at present from what
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it was forty years ago. Great changes have been wrought in other regards,
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but the roads, for the most part, remained the same, and will
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so continue through the centuries to come. I had a somewhat provoking experience once
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upon a time, as I journeyed with my uncle from Troy to West Union,
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a distance of twenty five miles. As the roads were exceedingly muddy,
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I was concerned more than usual about a new suit I was wearing, having
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pinned the skirts of my clerical coat around my waist in order to keep them
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clean. We finally struck a place where the thin mud was half knee deep
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to the horse. Midway in this mud hole was a good sized rock,
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but not being visible, My steed stumbled over it onto his knees, running
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his nose into the mud up to the eyes. When he went down,
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I went over his head and into the puddle, face foremost fearing that the
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animal would get on me, I suddenly rolled over and then bounded to my
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feet. What a picture I presented I'm sure I was no subject for artist
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or poet. My sleeves were full of mud and water to the elbows.
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My hat and umbrella both were submerged. And to add to my chagrin,
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when I looked up at my uncle, from whom I had a right to
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expect at least a little sympathy, he was lying over the horse's neck,
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laughing his best. Going to a stream nearby. I took off my coat
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and plunged it into the water, many times over, much like washing and
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ringing a bed quilt, until the worst of the mud was off. But
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such an experience was a mere incident with a mountaineer. When my clothes got
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dry and the mud brushed off, they seemed to be all right, and
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I went on with my work, just as though the awful mix up had
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not occurred. During the year, a great sorrow came to the conference.
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On the twenty fourth of January, the news was flashed over the wires that
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doctor Warner was dead. In the next week's Telescope, Delta referred to the
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sad event as follows. The announcement of doctor Warner's death has cast a deep
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sadness over the conference. No other conference can feel his loss as we feel
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it. In a peculiar sense. He was ours. No man ever had
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the hold upon our preachers that he had. We can scarcely realize that he
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has gone from us to return no more. He may have made mistakes in
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some things, like other men, but he was a good man. That
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his soul during his last earthly hours should be wonderfully filled with the peace of
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God is just what we might have expected. For thirty years he endured the
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hardships of a West Virginia. I tinerant, sometimes traveling day and night,
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making the greatest sacrifices to build up the church. He loved naught, but
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devotion to God's cause ever led him to do so much for it. But
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his work now is done. Perhaps we should not grieve over his departure,
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but we cannot help doing so. The entire conference weeps, said a brother,
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why didn't the Lord take me and spare brother Warner. This expression serves
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to show how keenly his loss is felt. Bishop and Castle held the next
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conference in New Haven. During the session, I received a telegram that I
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had been nominated by the Prohibitionists of the fourth District for Congress, a compliment
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which I appreciate it all the more because the honor came unsought. Yes,
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I was a prohibitionist and am yet and expect to remain one until something better
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claims my support. The four hundred votes cast for the ticket and the district
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represented a thoughtful, moral, courageous element of which I have always been proud.
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Only such people, as a rule, vote the prohibition ticket. As
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I entered upon the fourth year of the district work, I determined it should
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be my last, at least for a while. I had been kept away
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from my books already too long, and consciously realized that while I might be
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gaining a little in some ways, I was losing in others. The Church
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cannot find its highest ideal in men who live wholly outside their libraries. It
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is study familiarity with the thoughts and methods of others that broadens a preacher.
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The map studied by many of us is too small and needs to be enlarged
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so as to extend the vision. If we would see and know things,
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we must look and search after them. The man is exceedingly unfortunate who,
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having eyes refuses to see and have intelligence, neglects the acquisition of knowledge.
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My advice to the young man at the threshold of the ministry is buy good
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books and read them, study your discourses thoroughly and with an eye to somebody's
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salvation, and then give the people the very best that God has put in
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you. This was a good year for the district, as it was to
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be the last. I determined to make the best record possible for my successor
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to duplicate or sell. To succeed. Meant to go all the time.
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Distance, bad weather, dangerous roads, swollen streams, or any other circumstances
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were seldom allowed to get in the way. When Lincoln was asked if he
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thought the war would close during his administration, he replied, I don't know,
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sir, I don't know. Oh what then is your purpose? Was
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further asked, to which the characteristic answer was given, peg away, sir,
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peg away. It is this everlasting pegging away, forcing one's way through
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difficulties and surmounting obstacles, that wins not only in West Virginia, but everywhere
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else. Buxton wrote, the longer I live, the more deeply I am
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convinced that that which makes the difference between one man and another, between the
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weak and powerful, the great insignificant is energy, invincible, determination, a
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purpose once formed, and then victory or death. I quote Buxton's words because
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they are gold and have in them the ring of triumph. The year brought
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its usual harvest of incidents, some serious, others laughable and amusing. It
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is well to have a streak of fun occasionally flash across our pathway to enliven
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a journey to some task to which we have set our hands. One bleak
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Monday morning in December, I was riding along a high ridge in Wetzel County,
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on my way home from a quarterly just held in that region. To
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my right a few rods, I observed a young man husking corn. He
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was evidently working his best to keep warm, and of course not in a
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very good condition to be fooled with by a stranger. But I thought I
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must say something and run the risk of an explosion. Reining up my horse
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and getting his attention, I called to him, go it, that's the
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way I got my start. Yes, he said, with lightning speed and
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a thunder and start you got, and then made the fodder rattle, so
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that if I had replied, he could not have heard me. To be
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honest, I had not the disposition to talk back for nothing suggested itself at
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the moment as an appropriate response. But for the next mile I laughed over
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the episode and considered myself fortunate that nothing more serious had happened. I might
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add that not far from this place, Reverend S. J. Graham,
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years before, suddenly found himself in a kind of menagerie one frosty morning.
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In those days, layman would frequently make long trips with the preacher or elder,
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spending several days from home. They thought less about business and more about
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the church than some do at present. On the occasion referred to Brother N.
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Quakendall was with the elder one night. They lodged with a friend in
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his little log cabin of one room. Of course, they were well treated
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and given the best the humble home could afford. Their host arose early the
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next morning and built a fire in an old fashioned fireplace which admitted of a
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back log and four sticks. Before the kindling was put in. Soon the
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shanty was warm. The lay brother awoke first, and, glancing about the
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room, said to his bedfellow in a low tone, Brother Graham, get
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up. The millennium has come. The preacher raised himself on his elbow and
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looked, and sure enough there was a strange mixture of animals lying on the
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hearth before the fire, a pet lamb, a pet pig, a huge
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dog, and two or three cats. Years afterward, I heard these brethren
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talk and laugh over the experience with as much zest as if it had happened
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only a week before. To indicate something of the work done this year,
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and that had to be done to carry out the program of a presiding elder.
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I here insert a few pages of a brief diary which I kept January
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one, I wrote, I now begin a new year. God help me
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my time, strength, and soul all must be given to the work of
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the church. With my family, I took dinner with Brother C. R.
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Brown, a precious man. The second work on a sermon on covetousness,
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got sweet sicily and read it. The third voted for town corporation officers,
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wrote a number of letters. Brother Holing came in the evening and spent
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the night with me. The fourth worked hard on my sermon on covetousness.
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The fifth went to Parkersburg in the forenoon and held business meeting at night.
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All was pleasant lodged with Pastor Martin. The sixth preached from First Corinthians thirteen
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twelve in the morning, good meeting, audience melted to tears. Attended sabbath
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school at two thirty pm. Conducted the quarterly experience meeting at six, and
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preached again at seven thirty house full of people. Seventh returned home on early
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train with wife. Went to hear a Methodist preacher at night. Eight at
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home studying an answering correspondence. Tenth went to Parkersburg again, dined with Brother
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J. H. Spence, assisted meeting at night eight eleventh with the pastor,
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visited eleven families, large crowded evening service. The twelfth went to Redhill,
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six miles distant and held quarterly at two pm. Preached in the evening.
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Thirteen preached at ten thirty a m from Titus two nine, good feeling,
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large sacramental service, shout in the camp. Pastor devil leaped for joy.
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Preached again at night. The fourteenth came to the city and returned home
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all well. Fifteenth in study all day, attended m E Church at night,
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an interesting revival in progress. Sixteenth at home preparing for dedication. Eighteenth
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left home on early train and reached Buchannan at four pm. Went to Mount
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Washington, eight miles in the country, and preached at night on the prodigal
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Sun. Thirteen seekers at the altar and four more asked prayers. Lodged with
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Brother Hye nineteenth, rode fourteen miles to Uncle Jimmy Hull's for dinner, and
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then went to Union Hill, where I preached at night. Met Elder Graham
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twentieth reigned hard congregation small, raised eighty five dollars at night, tried it
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again good feeling, secured sixty eight dollars and fifty cents more, and dedicated
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church opposition from another church. Twenty first rode sixteen miles to Buckhannon through a
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fearful snow storm, went to Weston on train and rode seven miles in the
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country. Twenty third returned home found all well. I now turned to the
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March record because it has to do with one of the sad things which not
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unfrequently comes to the itinerant. The fifteenth. I started at noon for Troy
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Circuit, reached Auburn late in the evening. Sixteenth visited Father Williams and wife.
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The latter has been in bed three years, read the word and prayed
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with them. Both got happy, sung a ham or two for them.
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Held quarterly at two PM and preached on Stephen the first Mortyr a good time.
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Seventeenth Sunday held prayer meeting at ten am and preached at eleven large communion,
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big shout in the camp collection twenty dollars. Talked again at night.
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One of the best quarterlies I ever held. I pause here. On Monday
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evening, Father Perry came and preached for us. After returning from the church,
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he turned to me and tenderly said, now, brother Weekly, I
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have a little news for you. As I came through your town this noon,
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I was told that your youngest child was critically ill. The doctor regards
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her case as dangerous. I would have told you sooner, but I knew
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it would so trouble you that you could not enjoy the service. I knew
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also that you would not dare start home in the night and thus endanger your
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life. So I waited. Now, leave her with God, get what
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rest you can, and then be off by daylight in the morning. But
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I got no rest. It was a long, long night of tossing and
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anxious waiting. At day dawn I started. The muddy roads were frozen over,
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but not sufficiently to bear up my horse. A part of the time
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I walked, it seemed I could make no headway at all, and didn't
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make much in some places. When within two miles of home, I called
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at a farmhouse and inquired if they had heard from my family, and they
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told me they had not. This brought me relief, for I was sure
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they would have heard the news if the child were dead. At one p
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m. I landed safely and found sure enough that a blessed providence had kept
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the black winged angel from our home. How such harrowing experiences try the very
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soul of the overworked, half paid, care worn man of God, who
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must spend all his time and strength away from home in some obscure field.
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They test the material that enters into this composition. To put the cross and
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sinful souls before one's own family requires great faith, faith in the Redeemer,
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faith in his Church, and faith in the winning, victorious power of the
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Gospel. And this is what every itinerant in West Virginia had to have indicate
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the nature of work of our preacher's institute. I returned to my diary and
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give the items of a few days. July ninth, at home, preparing
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for institute, which meets tomorrow. Tent went to Smithton and took charge of
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institute. Reverend HT. Hathley assisted. Some lessons were in Old Testament,
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history and homiletics. Reverend's HT Athlete H. R. Hess, R,
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M. Height, GA, Davis, JP, Pigott, and wh Albert
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were present. The eleventh met at eight a m. Recitations. Hess gave
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a talk on the apocalypse. Davis preached at seven pm. Good sermon,
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twelfth recitations as usual. Davis made an address on prayer with good Height,
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read a paper on four ordination discussed. Piggott preached well at night thirteen recitations
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as usual. I read a paper on divorce and adultery. Also presented a
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diagram of Solomon's temple. Hass preached good meeting. The fourteenth Sunday. I
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preached at eleven am, large crowd in grove, good liberty and good attention.
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Eighty preached at three pm and did well. Returned home. The records
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of a few days immediately following may also be of interest. Twenty fourth drove
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with my family to Fathers fifteen miles distant. Twenty five started for Hessville quarterly
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drove thirty seven miles to Father Mason's. Twenty six drove to b Gum Station,
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fifteen miles further east. Good meeting in after preached at night twenty seventh
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Sunday, discoursed at ten thirty am on the New Testament. Church preached again
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at three o'clock on Benevolence and Honesty, led song service. Drove fifteen miles
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back to Brother Mason's. Twenty eight left at six a m. And drove
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thirty seven miles to Fathers. But it is needless to further reproduce here the
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jottings made long years ago. The brief memorandum given is but a fair index
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to the activities of the entire twelve months, or I might say till the
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forty eight months spent on the district. End of Chapter seven