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

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Chapter three of twenty Years on Horseback or Itinerating in West Virginia. This LibriVox
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recording is in the public domain. Chapter three Hesville Mission embraced portions of Harrison
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and Marion Counties and was made up of the following preaching places Quaker Fork,
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Glade Fork, Indian Run, Big Run, Little Bingaman, Ballard school House,
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Salt Lick, Plum Run, and Papaw. In all this territory we
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did not own a single church edifice, but by fall I had added Dense
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Run, be Gum and Glover's Gap, making twelve appointments in all. At
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the last named place, I held a revival in a Union church. The
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meeting was good and most favorably upon some of the best families of the town.
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When an unknown miscreant at an early morning hour, applied the torch and
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reduced the building to ashes. All I lost in the conflagation was my Bible
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and hymn book. Moving into a schoolhouse nearby, the meeting was continued and
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a class organized. By the middle of the winter there had been sixty five
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accessions. But from that on till spring I had to lay by on account
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of measles. At Little Binghaman. We had a great meeting. The entire
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community was deeply stirred. Aunt Susan Martin was my main helper and stand by.
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While devout in life and strong in faith, she had a blunt,
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honest way of saying things, which often amused the people. At this meeting,
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two of her children made a start. One was a son of some
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fifteen winters. He literally wore himself out by his night and day pleadings at
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the altar and became so hoarse that he could scarcely talk. His mother was
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greatly agitated over his condition and grew excitedly anxious to see the intense struggle terminated.
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One evening, she bowed at the altar with him that she might,
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through instruction, show him a better way. She did not believe that bodily
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exercise could be made to avail anything in seeking salvation. Finally, for a
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moment she lost her patience and said, now, if you don't quit this
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kind of praying, you will kill yourself. Stop it, I tell you,
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or I'll box your ears. Good. The Lord isn't deaf that you
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should holler so loud. Then, turning to her husband, who at the
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time was a professed moralist, though faithful and attending in supporting the church services.
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She said, George, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Not
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a word have you for this poor child. Now come and talk to him.
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To stand and look on is no way to do well. The dear
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sister was right not only in thinking that the father ought to help the son,
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but in protesting against unnecessary physical demonstrations in seeking religion. It is not
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the loud praying or constant pleading that saves men, but faith in the world's
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redeemer. Reverend hr Hess, one of the leading ministers in the West Virginia
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Conference, was soundly converted and received into the Church during this meeting. What
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a good home I had while on this charge. Brother Daniel Mason, a
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father in Israel whose life was as pure as a sunbeam, me to his
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home and heart and treated me very much as the Shunamite did Elisha. He
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built me a little room on his porch and put there in a bed,
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bookcase, table and candlestick. The worth of such a place to a young
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minister is next incalculable. Twice a day he read the Word and prayed.
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He was on good terms with the Lord and talked to him with the greatest
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assurance. Some of the sweetest memories of my early ministry cluster about this Christian
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home, the fruition of the upper and better life he now enjoys as the
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reward of his faith, service and devotion while here below. The circuit agreed
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to pay me a hundred dollars and kept its contract. The first quarter I
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received fourteen eighty one cents, the second eighteen thirty five cents, the third
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seventeen dollars seventy five cents, and the last forty nine dollars and five cents.
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The conference added fifty dollars, which pushed my support up to one hundred
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and fifty dollars. With this salary much above the average for a single man,
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I could afford to pay twenty one dollars and fifty cents for a new
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suit of clothes and four dollars for a new two story silk hat. On
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my way to conference, a few days were spent with friends in the home
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neighborhood. Reverend E Lorenz, father of the music writer, was living and
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preaching in Parkersburg. At this time. He had organized a German congregation and
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held services in the lecture room of our English Church. The Committee on Entertainment
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sent me to stay with him during the conference session, which was held in
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the city. Thoughts of that superlatively Christian home linger with me to this day.
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I shall never forget yet how parents and children bowed together in prayer morning
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and evening, and how each took part in the devotions. Too much emphasis
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cannot be placed upon the importance of prayer in the home. Nothing else on
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the human side so anchors the family and builds up character. The fact that
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the fire had died out on so many domestic altars is itself proof that family
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religion does not receive the attention it once did. At this conference, I
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was permitted to pass the second and third year's course of reading, which put
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me in the class to be ordained. I can never blot from memory the
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prayer offered by the lamented doctor Warner at the ordination service. He seemed to
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pour out his very soul in petition to God for the young men, being
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set apart to the work of the ministry. I wept like a child when
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he thus and anew pledged to Jesus and the Church the service of my life.
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Grafton at this time was constituted a mission station and made my field for
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the coming year. The town, then eighteen seventy three, had a population
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of about three thousand souls and was located mainly on a steep hillside. In
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fact it stands about the same way. Yet, though containing several thousand more
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people, we had no church house and no organization, though there were a
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few members scattered through the place. Seventy five dollars were appropriated by the conference
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toward my support. A preaching place called Old Sandy, some twelve miles distant,
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was also given to me. Here we had a gracious revival. I
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later took up two more points, Maple Run and laid Run, and organized
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a class at each. At the close of the year, these country classes
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were formed into a separate charge and became self supporting. At Grafton, the
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work progressed slowly and with some difficulty. For a time a friend gave us
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free of charge, the use of a church house, which by some means
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had fallen into his hands. The first thing was to organize a Sabbath school,
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which started off well. When certain church partisans saw the outlook, they
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offered to take part in the school and adroitly got possession of the offices.
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When I discovered the real situation, I determined to bring the matter of control
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to an issue, and did. I deliberately stated that I had been sent
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there to organize a United Brethren church and Sabbath school, and proposed to carry
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out my instructions. I was pleased to have teachers and other helpers from sister
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denominations join in the work, I added, but the school would be reported
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to my conference. The result is easily imagined. Our friends so called suddenly
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dropped out, and from that day to this the identity of the school has
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never been questioned. The seventy five dollars appropriated by the conference was about all
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I received, and twenty five dollars of that went in a lump to the
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Sentinel Fund. If a kind family had not taken me in free of cost,
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I could not have remained the year through. For the second year,
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the support given was about the same. The third year there were two of
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us to support, hence a special effort had to be made to increase the
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pay. Three hundred and twelve dollars was the amount actually received, eighty dollars
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of which was paid rent. But we lived well, no such thing as
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want seemed to be within a thousand leagues of our humble home. We were
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thankful for cheap furniture and homemade carpet. Yea more, we were happy God's
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ravens carried us our daily portion. In the early spring of eighteen seventy five
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we began the erection of a chapel, which cost lot and all two eight
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hundred dollars, but a part of it had to be built the second time.
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Just as the frame was up and ready for roof and sighting, a
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storm passing that way piled it in a promiscuous heap. This occurred on the
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seventeenth of July. Immediately, however, the work of reconstruction was undertaken,
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and the edifice was completed in early fall and dedicated by Doctor Warner. Such
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experiences try a young man's nerve and purpose, but invariably prove a blessing when
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the difficulties accompanying them are overcome. That year I took up an appointment at
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post schoolhouse two miles out of town and organized a class. In those days,
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the preacher was expected to look around for new openings, no matter where
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he was or how large a field. There's no other way to expand.
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My criticism of many of our younger preachers today is that they do not try
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to enlarge their work. They seem never to look beyond the nest into which
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the conference settles them. They will live on half salary and wine about it
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all year, rather than get out and look up additional territory. Under fair
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conditions, the young man who is devout and active can secure a good living
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on any field. Faith and purpose and push will win every time. The
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year closed with fifty three members and ninety five in the Sunday School. The
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Conference again convened in Parkersburg, with David Edwards, this time as Bishop,
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the last session he ever presided over. At this period, the battle in
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the church over the secrecy question was waxing. Warm West Virginia had lined up
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on the liberal side. The Bishop, being pronounced anti in his views,
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determined to enforce the rules of the church in the matter of admitting applicants into
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the conference. A brother who appeared for license was known to belong to some
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fraternal order, so the good Bishop held him up. This brought on a
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crisis. All was excitement. Some things, it was clear would have to
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be settled then and there, and they were. Doctor Warner arose in the
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midst of the flurry and demanded that the young brother be sent to the appropriate
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committee, which he said was thoroughly competent to deal with the question. The
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Bishop was on his feet, also with fire of determination fairly flashing in his
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eyes. However, when he fully realized that, with an exception or two,
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the entire body was against him, he gracefully yielded, and thus happily
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bringing the unfortunate conflict to a close. By mourning, matters had again assumed
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a normal condition, and the Bishop kindly requested that all reference to the controversy
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be expunged from the records. Notwithstanding Bishop Edward's somewhat radical position on the secrecy
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question. He was greatly loved by all our brethren, and by none was
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his death more sincerely mourned. On Sunday he preached on Elijah's translation. A
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few days thereafter, he was himself translated from Grafton. I was sent to
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new Haven's Circuit in Mason County, one hundred and sixty miles west. To
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get there, I was compelled to borrow twenty five dollars Doctor J. L.
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Hensley kindly entertained us until a house could be found, for as yet
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there was not a parsonage in the conference. This was considered one of the
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best fields we had. The first year it paid me four hundred and sixteen
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dollars, and the next four hundred and twenty seven dollars, and a few
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presents in the shape of vegetables, groceries and the like. Of course,
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I paid rent out of this thirty six dollars one year and fifty the other.
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I had only four appointments new Haven, Bachtel, Union and Vernon,
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and these were close together. During the two years, one hundred and thirty
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were received into the church. The next conference was held at Bachtel, which
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gave me my first experience in caring for such a body. Bishop Weaver presided
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and preached the word mightily on Sunday. He had been popular even since his
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first visit to that section in eighteen seventy. By request of Honorable George W.
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Murdoch, a wealthy business man in Hartford City, three miles west,
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he went down there and preached in our church on Sunday evening. Mister Murdoch
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was an ardent admirer of the Bishop. Six years before, he had entertained
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him in his home and was charmed by him as a preacher and a conversationalist.
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After spending the first hour with him, he slipped into the kitchen and
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said, wife, he is the most wonderful man I ever met. Do
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come in and hear him talk. The old gentleman never forgot the Bishop's sermon
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on Sunday. For weeks afterward he would talk about it in his store and
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elsewhere, sometimes in tears, nearly always ending with the observation, he is
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a wonderful man. It might not be out of place to note here that
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the good Bishop more than once shared the benefactions of his wealthy friend. During
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my second year on this charge, a peculiar and most trying experience came to
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our home. A great revival was going on at the union appointment. The
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altar was nightly crowded with earnest seekers, some of whom belonged to the best
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families in the community. Early one morning, a young man came hurriedly to
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the place where I was stopping and calling me out, said mister Weakley,
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I have been sent to tell you that your babe is dead. Hastening home,
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I found the faithful mother, watching at the side of the withered flower,
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and anxiously awaiting my coming. How loving the ministry of friends had been,
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nor did their tender interest abaite a wit until the little lifeless form was
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put away to sleep in the cemetery on the hillside, in the family lot
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of Doctor Hensley. The reader may be anxious to know what I did under
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the circumstances. There was but one thing to do, and that was to
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seek the guiding hand of duty. Our little one was gone, just as
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the thoughtful florist takes his tender plants into their winter quarters before the frost appears
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or the chilling winds sweep the plains. So a wise, loving, merciful
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father had plucked up the little vine which had rooted itself so thoroughly and deeply
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in our hearts, and transplanted it in his own heavenly garden. Yes,
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Charlie was safe. So I returned to my meeting with a tender spirit,
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and the work continued with great power. More than one preacher who reads this
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incident will recall the time or times when he too passed under the cloud and
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walked amid the shadows again and again. I have been made to feel that
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some people do not sympathize with the minister and his wife as they do with
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others when the death angel tarries and lays his withering hand upon a young life.
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Somehow they seem to think that the cup, when administered to the preacher's
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family, is not so bitter, that the thorn does not pierce so deeply.
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But I know better, and so do a thousand others. It is
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said of doctor Daniel Curry, a great man and Methodism in his day,
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that he was so grieved over the death of his little boy, that after
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returning home from the cemetery, he went into the backyard, and, observing
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his little tracks in the sand, got down on his hands and knees and
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kissed them. Words cannot express my sympathy for the faithful pastor and his family,
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and my admiration of that faith, devotion, and heroism which, in
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so many instances are necessary to keep them in the work. Mason County was
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one of the first fields occupied by the ministers who crossed the alleghanies westward.
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Among these were G. W. Staton, J. Backtel, and Moses
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Michael. However, prior to this, preaching had been kept up on the
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Virginia side by pastors of the Scioto Conference. The main one was Jonas Frownfelter,
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whose name deserves a place alongside the heroes enumerated in the eleventh chapter of
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Hebrews. On one occasion, when the Ohio River was out of its banks
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and too dangerous for the ferryman to venture across, he plunged in a little
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below the town of Syracuse, swam his horse across, and came out at
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Hartford City a half mile below, singing like a conqueror. From every stormy
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wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm,
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a sure retreat, all honor to those who put their sweat and tears
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and blood into the foundations of the Conference, thus enabling others to build safely
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and successfully. Early in the fifties, a paper known as the Virginia Telescope
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was started in West Columbia, ostensibly in the interest of the whole church,
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but later developments proved that the object was to organize a Southern United Brethren church,
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making the slavery question the basis of the separation. When the presiding Elder
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G. W. Statin became aware of its purpose, he threw his official
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influence against its continuance, and succeeded, by the aid of others, in
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eliminating it as a disturbing factor. The reader will pardon me for taking up
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these early historical threads woven long before my day as an itinerant. But I
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have done so with the view to preserving in permanent form interesting facts not generally
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known and nowhere written in the history of the Church. End of Chapter three