diff options
Diffstat (limited to '24472.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 24472.txt | 1047 |
1 files changed, 1047 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/24472.txt b/24472.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c25721 --- /dev/null +++ b/24472.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1047 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Women of Early Indiana +Methodism: An Address Delivered Before the Indiana Methodist Historical Society, by Thomas Aiken Goodwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Heroic Women of Early Indiana Methodism: An Address Delivered Before the Indiana Methodist Historical Society + +Author: Thomas Aiken Goodwin + +Release Date: January 31, 2008 [EBook #24472] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC WOMEN INDIANA METHODISM *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +THE HEROIC WOMEN + +OF + +EARLY INDIANA METHODISM. + + +AN ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE + +Indiana Methodist Historical Society + +AT + +DE PAUW UNIVERSITY, + +June 16, 1889, + + +BY + +REV. T. A. GOODWIN, D. D. + + +INDIANAPOLIS, IND.: +INDIANAPOLIS PRINTING COMPANY. +1889. + + + + +The Heroic Women of Early Indiana Methodism. + + +"Arms and the _man_, _I_ sing," said the great Virgil, thousands of +years ago, and all the little Virgils have been singing the man ever +since. But who ever sings the woman? Occasionally a Debora or a Joan of +Arc, a kind of a female monstrosity, comes to the front and receives +recognition, but their conspicuousness is due more to the low level of +their surroundings, than to their individual pre-eminence. They were out +of their spheres in what gave them notoriety, and they have been so +voted by universal consent through the ages. It was not specially to +their credit that they successfully commanded armies, but it was to the +unutterable shame of the men of their period that they had to, or let it +go undone. No thanks to Betsey for killing the bear. She had to, or the +bear would have killed the baby, but everlasting shame upon her +worthless husband for making it necessary for her to do what he ought to +have done. Betsey was out of her sphere when killing the bear, and so +was the cowardly man when letting her do it. + +The great Virgil graciously introduces a Dido into his song, but he does +it apologetically, and only because it was necessary in order to make a +love story out of it, and all the little Virgils--all the writers of +love stories from that day to this--have treated her in literature as if +she were indispensable to point a moral or to adorn a tale, and really +fit for little else--that it was her mission to love and be loved, all +of which was easy enough on her part; and that, having filled this +mission, she ought to be happy and die contented, and to be held in +everlasting remembrance. This outrage upon woman's rights and woman's +worth has been carried so far that it has become common to assume that +it is her prerogative to monopolize the love of the household--at least +to possess and manage the greater part of it; and some women have heard +this so often that they more than half believe it themselves, so that +from away back men, and even some women, talk of a woman's love as being +a little purer and a great deal stronger than a man's love. There is not +a word of truth in it. It is one of the unfounded legends which have +descended through the ages, transmitted from father to son, while the +mothers and daughters, all unconscious of the great wrong they suffer by +it, have never denied it. It is not only false, but it is absurd. How +could it be true? A man is not lovable as a woman is. How can she love +him as he loves her, who is the personification and incarnation of +beauty and gentleness and sweetness? That is, some are, for it must be +conceded that woman is like Jeremiah's figs, the good are very, very +good, while the bad are very naughty--too bad for any use. + +This wrong against woman has gone even farther than that. In the battles +of life, however nobly she fights them, she receives no proper +recognition. The man who fights well is a hero, but the woman who fights +equally well, or even better, is only a hero_ine_. I despise the word +because I detest the discrimination it implies. We do not call the +devout Christian woman a saintess, nor the eloquent woman an oratrix, +but the woman who excels in endurance and bravery and in the virtues +that constitute a man a hero, is only a hero_ine_, as if heroism was a +manly virtue, to which woman may lay no claim. I long ago expunged it +from my vocabulary. It is entirely too femin_ine_ for me. Out upon such +unjust discrimination! + +This long and rather prosy introduction brings me to the theme of the +evening--woman the greater hero in early Indiana Methodism. + +You have often heard of the sacrifices and toils of the pioneer +preachers. Those sacrifices and toils were great, yet many of them were +of the character of those made by a young preacher in the Western +Conference about the beginning of this century. In one of his journeys +alone, over the Cumberland Mountains, Bishop Asbury lost his way, and +night coming on, he was about to dismount and prepare to sleep out, when +he was met by a young man, a hunter, who took the tired bishop to his +father's cabin and extended to the stranger the best accommodations that +home in the wilderness afforded. The bishop, true to his calling, +preached to the family and left an appointment for the preacher on that +circuit, who soon organized a class of mountaineers, with the bishop's +guide as class leader. In a short time he became a local preacher, and +soon after, he was admitted into the Western Conference. A few years +later at a session of the Conference, he was guest at the same house +with the bishop, and while the bishop was engaged in writing, he was +engaged in telling the young lady of the house how many sacrifices the +itinerant had to make for the church and for Christ. In spite of his +powers of abstraction, the bishop heard the preacher's story, and +turning from the table, he said: "Yes, Benjamin, I can testify to the +sacrifices you have made for the church. There never was a more +hospitable home in the Cumberland Mountains than that you left to become +an itinerant. I never slept better in my life than I slept on that bed +of bear skins in your father's cabin. It was such a contrast with the +accommodations I was about to prepare for in the woods alone, that I +have never forgotten it--and that corn bread baked in the ashes! And +that venison! And, Benjamin, you have sacrificed all this for the +church! You could not sacrifice more, for it was all you had to +sacrifice--a home in the mountains, a good gun, and a hunter's life--all +for the itineracy." + +And such were the sacrifices that many of the heroes made, whose fame +has come down to us. They never lived as well before, never dressed as +well nor fed as well, and yet their fare was not always sumptuous, nor +their garments of purple and fine linen, but both food and clothing were +better than the average of those to whom they preached. The story of +Allen Wiley is an oft told story. We have heard of his large circuits +and of his districts, extending from the Ohio at Madison, to Fort Wayne, +embracing all of the present North Indiana Conference and about one-half +of the Southeast, requiring him to be absent from home three months at a +time; and how he studied Latin and Greek and Hebrew on horseback, or by +the light of the settler's fire, or of an improvised lamp made of a +saucer or scraped turnip filled with hog's lard, and with a rag for a +wick. But who was Allen Wiley to begin with? What sacrifices did he make +for the opportunity to study Latin and Greek and Hebrew even under these +difficulties? He was an average farmer on a quarter section of only +medium land in Switzerland county, living in a cabin two miles from any +neighbor. By the dint of hard work, chopping or plowing by day, and +burning brush, or husking corn, or making splint brooms, or pounding +hominy, by night, he was succeeding in feeding his wife and Five +children, and in adding a few additional acres to his cleared land every +year; studying English grammar by taking his book to the field when +plowing, or to the woods when chopping; and preaching acceptably as a +local preacher in his own cabin, or in some neighboring cabin, on +Sundays. Did it require any great heroism to exchange all these for the +less laborious but more conspicuous calling of a traveling preacher, +uninviting as that calling was at that period, yet furnishing +opportunities for mental improvement such as his soul longed for? Nay, +rather, was not he the greater hero who remained among the untitled and +comparatively unknown laymen, and faithfully discharged the duties of a +layman, unsupported by the up-bearing pressure which comes of fame? +Allen Wiley sacrificed the hardships of a frontier farmer, with its +huskings and log-rollings and house-raisings, for the position of a +traveling preacher, with its opportunities to study and with the best +entertainment that the country afforded. But what of that wife whom he +left in that cabin, two miles from any neighbor, with five small +children, not one of whom was old enough to render any aid toward the +support of the family? And it was not grudgingly nor of constraint that +she gave him up to the work of the ministry; but, on the contrary, +knowing the desire of his heart to be wholly devoted to the ministry, +she long prayed that a door might be opened to him, so that when he +consented to go into the work, if his wife would consent, he was cheered +onward from the first by her God-speed and prayers. Leaving the heroic +husband, the growing and popular preacher, to travel long journeys, to +preach to large congregations and to be caressed everywhere by loving +and admiring friends, pursuing congenial studies under more favorable +surroundings than his farm ever could have afforded, let us look in upon +that heroic wife with her family of five children, increased ultimately +to ten, and for many years almost wholly unaided by the presence or +counsel of the husband, or by any considerable material aid from him. It +was hers, there alone on that farm, not only to spin, and weave, and +make, and mend, and cook, and wash for those children, but to train them +for the church and for God. Was not she the greater hero of the two? Did +not the patient endurance, which for years added new acres to the +fields, as well as new children to the family, call into exercise the +very highest qualities of heroism? Her door was not only always open to +the wayfaring preacher, but her cabin, and later her larger frame house, +was the neighborhood chapel, until, with very little help from her +neighbors, she built a log chapel on her own farm for the accommodation +of the church which was in her own house; and such was her fidelity and +her ability as well, that those children all became religious, and three +of them became able ministers of the gospel, one of them serving long +and well as a professor in this university. Meanwhile she took an active +part in every social enterprise of the times in the neighborhood. She +attended quilting bees in the neighborhood and had them in her own +cabin, and she was a ministering angel at the bedside of the sick and +the dying; so taking the lead in the early temperance work, that she was +the first one who dared to have a company of neighbor women without the +inevitable punch and toddy. We need not detract one iota from the +well-earned laurels of that great and good man, to say that the greater +hero of the twain was that faithful, uncomplaining wife: and that, great +as were his labors, hers were much greater, and all the more heroic +because they were unobserved and unapplauded. If heroism consists in +"the braving of difficulties with a noble devotion to some great cause, +and a just confidence of being able to meet dangers in the spirit of +such a cause," then was Mrs. Allen Wiley a hero second to none. + +George K. Hester is a name much reverenced among early Indiana +preachers. Beginning only a few years later than Wiley, his manner of +life was substantially the same as Wiley's--large circuits, long rides +and hard fare. He, too, was a hero. But what of that young wife, about +to become a mother, who sent him with a wife's blessing to a distant +circuit, not only large in extent, but embracing the hills of Crawford +county and a strip along the Ohio river of nearly two hundred miles in +length, inhabited by the poorest and roughest of the pioneer classes? If +he was a hero to undertake such a sacrifice, what shall we call that +young wife, who gave birth to her first-born during his absence, and +after a few months of budding promise, during which mother-love was +strongly developed, buried that child, all unsupported by the presence +and sympathy of her husband; and yet, near the close of the year, when +his heart began to fail and he thought of ceasing to travel, wrote to +the fainting hero: "Greatly as I would rejoice if I thought you could +live a located life, yet, if you can not feel clear in staying at home, +and if you believe you would not be as useful as when traveling, +notwithstanding the gloominess of our situation, I can not say stay. I +know very well there is no earthly enjoyment for me where you do not +participate; so, when you are absent, I do not look for any real +happiness, whether my situation be comfortable or not. Yet I well know I +can not enjoy happiness with you, except in the way of duty; therefore, +my dear, consult your situation, consult your feelings, but above all, +consult your God. Let His holy spirit be your counselor, and I will +endeavor to submit." Then, alluding to the very meager support the +circuit had given--less than ten dollars in all for the year--she adds: +"If you should conclude to quit the connection this year, I should be +well pleased if you would not receive anything from the circuit, but let +it be for those of our brethren who shall continue to travel." Heroic +little school teacher! What did she care for a trifle like quarterage +while she was able to support both herself and her husband? Of course +George K. Hester did not locate after receiving that letter, and he left +the quarterage for those to follow. Whether they got it or not is not +now known. + +The next year we find her in a cabin in Jennings county, teaching school +for her own support and the support of her heroic husband, and giving +birth to her second son, the now venerable and talented Dr. F. A. +Hester, of the Southeast Indiana Conference. + +George K. Hester was a great and heroic man, not only when traveling +large circuits with little pay, but during a long life, in which he was +even more heroic as a faithful local preacher, with no pay at all. But, +tested by any human standard, that gifted and devoted wife exhibited +more of the stuff that heroes are made of, than he ever had occasion to +show. That he did a father's part well, none will deny, but it was +chiefly the mother's hand that so trained that family of six boys that +four of them became eminent and useful preachers, while the mother of +the Bovard family of preachers always owned her as her spiritual mother +and guide. Ah, Bene Hester was a hero! + +A little later, but on the Wabash instead of on the Ohio, Daniel DeMotte +became a hero. He traveled large circuits, preached well, prayed well +and worked well. But, after all, who was Daniel DeMotte to begin with? A +fair tailor at the first, then a medium farmer, with all that being a +farmer meant on the Wabash sixty years ago. But he sacrificed all that +to become a traveling preacher. As a preacher he was faithful and +laborious, but he never worked harder or, personally, he never fared +harder as a preacher than he did as a farmer, while his sorest trials as +a preacher were always alleviated by attentions that amounted in many +cases almost to adoration. But what of his heroic wife and those eight +children, some of them strapping boys, and, judging from the way they +turned out, they were not spoiled by a disregard of Solomon's directions +as to boy culture. Of her descendants there are more than sixty +grand-children, and more than twenty of these are either preachers, +teachers or doctors, two being missionaries in China. Of only one is +there any occasion for the family to blush at the mention of his name. +One, the youngest of the eight, and who promised as well in boyhood as +any of them, was in his early manhood sent to----Congress, and he was a +member of that fool Indiana Senate last winter. + +Let me not be understood as detracting one jot from the well deserved +fame of Daniel DeMotte. He was a hero among heroes fifty years ago. His +circuits were large and his salaries small, but that wife, that mother, +was the chief of heroes. Bishop Bowman well said of her at her funeral: +"She was a woman of no ordinary character, full of faith, patient, +quiet, cheerful, happy." + +Edwin Ray, though he died young, was a great hero. Eloquent, energetic +and educated, he was second to none in everything which constituted a +real hero. But when Sally Nolan, the belle of young Indianapolis, the +tavern keeper's daughter, consented, at his request, to exchange her +leadership of fashionable society in Indianapolis for the lot of an +itinerant's wife, and to ride with him from Indianapolis to Madison on +horseback to enter upon her life work, she showed a greater heroism +than Edwin Ray ever did in his whole life; and when later she became his +strengthening angel, when poverty and actual want stared them in the +face, ministering by her heroic words when his own strong heart failed, +and with her own hands making calash bonnets for her neighbors to +prevent actual starvation, she became by far the more heroic of the two, +displaying a heroism which is not one whit abated as she waits for the +summons to call her from labor to reward. + +Joseph Tarkington was a hero, but when Maria Slawson, that was, mounted +her horse with her bridal outfit on her back and in her saddle-bags for +a bridal tour from Switzerland county to Monroe, through the hills of +Brown county--when she rode all day in the rain, and sat up all night in +a salt boiler's shanty with nothing to eat but one biscuit in +twenty-four hours, she displayed the material that heroes are made of, +and yet there were many experiences no less trying than this, for that +heroic woman to pass through in those days--such as her heroic husband +never had to encounter. + +Henry S. Talbott was one of the best preachers of his period, and one of +the most heroic. Unlike most of his contemporaries he left a lucrative +and promising business when he entered the traveling connection. He was +a physician with a profitable practice and a promising future when he +heroically forsook all for the special privations of an itinerant's life +as it was sixty years ago, and he heroically discharged the duties of +the calling for nearly a half century. But what of that wife, left +almost alone much of her time, with the cares and responsibilities of +ten children upon her hands? A section of her experience, and the +fortitude with which she bore it, would read like a fairy tale to this +generation, and she yet lives to bless her household and the world with +the sweetness of sanctified heroism. + +And what is true of these is true of the whole family of preachers' +wives of that heroic period of Methodism. They were called to endure the +greater hardships and to bear the greater burdens, and they bore them +heroically. The husband in his rounds may sometimes have had to share +with his people in their destitution, but, personally they shared also +in their abundance. The best bed in the best cabin of the settler was at +his command, and the best food of the fattest larder of the neighborhood +was set before him, and this was often both abundant and luxurious. +Besides this, he was the centre of a large social influence, receiving +attentions and admirations which greatly alleviated every discomfort, +while the wife was often alone in a remote cabin, or at best in such a +house as happened to be unoccupied in some half-deserted village, and +could be rented cheap for a parsonage. There she was surrounded by her +family of half-fed and half-clothed children, with none of the +alleviations which made her husband's life not only bearable but often +enjoyable. It is no exaggeration to say that the wives of our early +preachers often suffered for want of nourishing food, while, when on his +circuit, the husband had abundance. Besides this there was the absence +of almost every domestic and social comfort which the annual and long +moves necessarily implied, and yet in mentioning the heroes of early +Methodism in Indiana these are seldom referred to. They were in all +cases the greater heroes. + +But these heroic wives and their heroic husbands were not the only +heroes of that period, nor the greatest. We are so accustomed to sing +praises to those who are conspicuous because of accidental position, +that we fail to remember that in the humblest private in the ranks is +often to be found every element that constitutes the real hero, and who +is all the more worthy of recognition because never recognized. Allen +Wiley was never as great a hero in his after life as he was those years +in which he added the unrequited labors of a faithful and laborious +local preacher to the work of a diligent farmer. He became more +conspicuous but never greater. + +Among the real heroes of that heroic period were the Culls, the +Conwells, the Bariwicks, the Swartzes, the Brentons, the Morrows, and +hundreds like them, who did not merely supplement the labors of the +traveling preachers, but who often led the way. Three-fourths of the +early societies in Indiana were organized by local preachers, a class of +heroic men who never figured in Conferences, and whose names are not +mentioned among the heroes of the period, but who, on the contrary, were +often held in light esteem by their traveling contemporaries because +they were not in the regular work, though often in labors quite as +abundant as the most laborious of these. As she is the greatest of +heroes as well as the best of wives who faithfully discharges the duties +of a step-mother, under the burning criticisms of intermeddlers, not to +mention the too frequent ingratitude of the immediate beneficiaries of +her care, so the local preacher who is faithful to his calling, +notwithstanding unfriendly criticisms and conspicuous ingratitude, is to +be ranked as the greatest of heroes. And of such there were many in the +early years of Indiana Methodism. + +But even these were not the greatest heroes of early Indiana Methodism. +The exigencies of the period developed a class of heroes without whose +part the labors of the Wileys, the Stranges and the Armstrongs could not +have been any more than the achievements of the Grants and the Shermans +and the Washingtons in the military could have been without the +burden-bearings of the heroic private soldier. Was it nothing heroic to +open the cabin of the settler for preaching, month after month, for +years, and not merely to prepare it for the meeting, but to put it in +living order after the meeting was over, and then to feed the preacher, +and often a half dozen neighbors who were always ready to accept a half +invitation to dine with the preacher, without ever suggesting that a +good way to enjoy that luxury would be to invite the preacher to eat at +their own table? And yet the men who did this year after year are hardly +mentioned, even as an appreciable force in the history of early +Methodism, much less as heroes of no low grade. The preacher who +preached in that cabin and ate at that table has been duly canonized, +but the man who made that preaching possible at a sacrifice of time and +money, and of domestic comfort which money can not measure, has +generally been regarded as under unspeakable obligations to the preacher +and to his neighbors for being counted worthy to do and to suffer such +things for the church. But the demands upon these for heroic living did +not cease with the removal of the preaching from their cabins to the +school house, or to the church when built. To the end of their lives +their houses and barns were always open to Methodist preachers, whether +they were their pastors or were strangers. It was sufficient that they +came in the name of a Methodist preacher. These heroes were not always +the richest men of their several neighborhoods, nor of the church, but, +honoring God with their substance they not only prospered in worldly +goods, but as a rule they gave to the church and to the world a race of +stalwart Christian men and women, who, following in the footsteps of +their fathers, felt it a pleasure to do for the church. Three-fourths of +the early students of this University came from homes that had been open +to the early traveling preachers, and the generation of preachers and +the preachers' wives just passing away was recruited almost wholly from +them, and the later generations of students and preachers, and +preachers' wives, not to mention the men who are foremost in all +honorable callings, are largely the grand-children and +great-grand-children of these same devoted heroic men. + +Indelibly engraven upon the tablet of my memory is one such cabin, which +in many respects represents hundreds. In 1840, among the hills of +Dearborn county, on my first round on the Rising Sun circuit, I preached +at it. The congregation was composed of primitive country people, mostly +dressed in homespun. I had never seen one of them before, but the entire +class had turned out to hear the new boy preacher, filling every chair, +even the one behind which I was to stand, and every bench that had been +provided was full, and the sides of each of the two beds in the room, +and some were standing. Among these was a gawky youth, about twenty +years of age, green--that is, immature--in appearance, and dressed in +store clothes. I noticed that after meeting, with a great many others, +he stayed to dinner. Later on I learned that he was a son of the heroic +man and woman whose house had been open for years for preaching and for +the entertainment of preachers, and that he was at that time studying +law in Wilmington, which accounted for his wearing store clothes. Years +passed, and that green boy ripened and developed, and he went out into +the world to become a Circuit Judge, a State Senator, a Supreme Judge, +and he has been for nine years the honored Dean of the School of Law in +De Pauw University. + +But the opening of their doors for preaching was not all. Sometimes +these same heroes would entertain an entire quarterly meeting, and a +great part of a camp-meeting when it was expected that tent-holders +would feed all who were not tent-holders. Was not he a hero who would, +year after year, not merely kill the fatted calf for a quarterly or +camp-meeting, but the yearling, and provide as liberally of other things +required for entertaining the guests and their horses, and yet keep open +house, day and night, for the gratuitous entertainment of preachers? No +traveling preacher ever displayed greater heroism than these truly great +men, and yet they were not the greatest heroes of that heroic age. Such +sacrifices as they made from year to year are not to be lightly +esteemed, yet the supplying of the larder and of the crib was the +smallest part of the sacrifice required for such an offering to the +Lord. Was the cooking for twenty to fifty at a quarterly or +camp-meeting, or the care of the guests whom the open house invited, to +be counted as second to any work done for the church? Let it be borne in +mind that these demands were made before the introduction of cooking +stoves and other appliances for making housekeeping easy. The meals for +those quarterly meetings were cooked by the open fireplace, before and +over a huge log fire, often without the aid even of a crane, and at the +camp-meeting by the side of a big log used as a kitchen. Looking back +through the years, and having been in position to observe every type of +church work, and every class of church workers, from the early bishops +on their long horseback tours; and the early presiding elders, going the +rounds of their large districts; and the early circuit riders, preaching +twenty-five to thirty times every four weeks, and traveling hundreds of +miles on each round; and the early local preachers, with their +gratuitous work, often without even thanks, and the large-hearted men +who not only contributed of their substance toward the payment of +salaries and such benevolences as were then required, but who provided +liberally and cheerfully, also, for the entertainment of these bishops, +and elders, and preachers, I am prepared to say that the very highest +and purest type of heroism ever displayed in early Methodism in Indiana +was shown by the women who set the tables and cooked the food and +prepared the beds for these wayfaring men. And their name was legion. +Every circuit had one or more, though unavoidably and without rivalry +some one easily ranked all contemporaries of any given neighborhood, and +some, from position as well as real merit, acquired almost a national +reputation, so that a strange preacher or a bishop would be directed, +when hundreds of miles distant, to what were known as "Methodist +taverns," by the way. The presiding elder, before leaving home for a +series of quarterly meetings, always mapped out his journey with +reference to these "taverns," and the retiring preacher gave a list of +them to his successor with the plan of his circuit, and a long horseback +journey to conference was always arranged so as to strike one of these +at or about noon or night, and as they were not always located with +reference to such emergencies, this very often made an extra dinner or +extra supper, or an early or late breakfast, a necessity, imposing an +amount of extra labor upon the generous housewife that few are now aware +of, and which tested her heroism as a face to face encounter in battle +tests the heroism of the soldier. To call the roll of these heroes would +be impossible, yet some so stand out in the unwritten history of Indiana +Methodism that I can not avoid the mention of Mrs. John Wilkins, of +Indianapolis, whose hospitable door was always open to the Methodist +preachers of that heroic period, whether they came as bishops, or +elders, or circuit riders, and her central position made her house +almost an open one. Mrs. Isaac Dunn, at Lawrenceburg; Mrs. Caleb A. +Craft, at Rising Sun; Mrs. Charles Basnett, at Madison, and Mrs. Roland +T. Carr, at Rushville. But I can not name them all. There were thousands +of them. They bore the very heaviest burdens of their times; and yet, +outside of the little family circle that knew what was involved in their +toils and sacrifices, no one ever seemed to care for them or sympathize +with them. The men who received these hospitalities were rated as the +heroes, while what these women did or suffered was counted of little +worth, or certainly only as commonplace; yet they were the greater +heroes by far, if for no other reason, yet, because their labors were +even harder than the labors of others, and quite as essential to +results, and wholly without compensation--even the moral compensation +which comes from realizing that the eyes of approbation are upon +you--the only eye that seemed to see them was the eye of the Father in +Heaven. It took the stuff that heroes are made of to endure all this, +yet they endured it for years and until the necessity for such service +had passed. + +Merely as a specimen of this line of service, let me lift the curtain +and introduce you to the inner life of one of these heroes as I knew it +for fifty years or more. We are familiar with the deeds of those who +have been voted the heroes of early Methodism, but no one has ever told +what were the sacrifices and hardships of the heroic women, whose time +and strength were devoted to the same cause, in a less conspicuous way. + +While Indiana was yet a Territory, and her one-roomed house, with a +half-story above, was yet unfinished, and while the Indian reservation, +yet inhabited by the Delawares, was less than two miles distant, and no +Methodist preaching had yet been established in Brookville, my mother +opened her doors to the transient preacher and for prayer-meetings, then +for class-meetings and for preaching, and thus she entered upon her life +work, and for more than fifty years those doors stood open to Methodist +preachers. Was it any inferior heroism which would prepare that single +room, at once parlor and bed-room and kitchen, for prayer-meetings, and +then, after the meeting was over, clean up after the filthy tobacco +chewers who not only defiled the floor, but sometimes, from sheer +devilishness, would besmear the walls? Later, and when an addition was +built to the house, the best room was specially fitted up for a +preacher's room, with its bed, and table, and chair, and fire-place, and +then another bed was added, because one bed, though carrying double, was +often insufficient for the demands. That room was never occupied for +twenty-five years by any member of the family, for it could never be +certain, even at bed time, that some belated traveler would not call for +entertainment before morning. + +A panorama of that heroic woman's work for twenty-five years would give +new ideas to many of this generation of the demands made upon the women +of that heroic period, and how they were met. For many years either +Bishop Soule or Bishop Roberts, or both, were frequent guests, going to +or returning from one of their Conferences, and Presiding Elders +Griffeth, and Strange, and Wiley, and Havens, for twenty years never +stopped in Brookville with any other family, whether attending our own +quarterly meetings or passing through to some other; and for more than +twenty years the bi-weekly rounds of the circuit preacher never failed +to bring a guest, while the junior preacher, always an unmarried man, +made it his headquarters, and spent his rest weeks in that preachers' +room. There John P. Durbin studied English grammar without a teacher, +and Russel Bigelow, and John F. Wright, and James B. Finley were +frequent guests. The new preacher, with his family, always stopped with +us until some house somewhere on the circuit could be rented, for it +was before the days of parsonages, and preachers moving through to their +circuits stayed over night, and often over Sunday, with their hired team +and all. This, too, at a period when in addition to the duties of +housewifery as now understood, spinning, and weaving, and knitting, and +making, and milking, and churning constituted no small item of domestic +affairs, and usually without the intervention of the modern appliance +called "help." To these were to be added a quarterly meeting once a year +for a circuit that embraced nearly half of the present Connersville +district, when for years no other door was opened to entertain a single +one of those who came from all parts of the circuit, and a camp-meeting +once a year, with all the burdens that old-fashioned camp-meetings +fastened upon tent-holders. But this was not all--it was hardly half. +For a decade or more after the opening of the "New Purchase," not a week +passed that some one, purporting to be a Methodist preacher, did not +claim the rites of hospitality as he was going from Ohio or Kentucky to +the "New Purchase" to enter land or to see the country. These, with an +eye to economy, always inquired for the next "Methodist tavern," and +they never failed to avail themselves of the information obtained. In +many respects these were sometimes burdensome. They were not only +strangers, but they were traveling on business purely secular, and they +were often irregular and called at unseasonable hours. One of these +calls I had occasion to remember. It was in the summer of 1825, and +before the days of lucifer matches. If the fire died out, there was no +starting another without getting a live coal from some neighbor. Such a +calamity had occurred at our house, and I was dispatched to the nearest +neighbor's for a coal, only to return with the intelligence that her +fire was out, too. "But why did you not go to the next neighbor?" asked +my mother. "Go, and keep on going, till you get what you go for," was +the command, and I went. The next day was wash day, and the family +dinner had been served, and the dishes put away, and the wash tub +resumed, when two strange preachers rode up and asked for dinner. What +was to be done? In addition to the hindrance in washing, there was not a +crust of bread in the house, and even if the travelers had time to wait, +there was no time to spare from washing to bake bread. In the emergency +I was dispatched to the nearest neighbor to borrow a loaf, but her +cupboard was bare, too. Remembering the instructions, "Keep going until +you get what you go for," I started at double quick to the next +neighbor, and to the next, and the next, for three-quarters of an hour. +I must have zig-zagged several miles, only to return with the sad news +that there was not a loaf of bread in the town. Meanwhile my mother had +taken in the situation, and when I got home exhausted and disgusted, the +travelers were eating their dinner, a skillet full of biscuits having +been baked at short notice. Soon they were on their horses, and the work +at the wash tub was resumed. Though the occasion was a trying one, not a +word of murmur escaped the lips of that heroic woman, for she endured as +seeing the Invisible. Was she not a hero? + +During those years of special hardships, my mother had the companionship +and aid of a younger sister, a bright, red-headed girl, as fleet of foot +as the mountain gazelle, with a voice, at least to me, as sweet as the +melody of angels. Through the misty past of more than sixty years, there +comes the memory of several incidents illustrative of both her moral and +physical heroism. On one occasion, not unlike that just referred to, she +was called to set aside her spinning-wheel just when the weaver was +clamoring for the yarn which was to go into the beautiful home-made +flannel, from which her new Sunday dress was to be made, and which she +had promised to furnish that day. More than an hour of precious time had +been consumed when she resumed her spinning, striking up in her +inimitable treble: + + + "And let this feeble body fail." + + +Young as I was, I had sympathized with her in her loss of time, feeling +that at least on that occasion it was an imposition that entire +strangers should call at that unreasonable hour for a dinner, because +they could get it free, but her heart seemed to be in the song, and as +she whirled the wheel still more vigorously, and stepped mere rapidly, +as if to make up lost time, she came to + + + "In hope of that immortal crown, + I now the Cross sustain: + And gladly wander up and down, + And smile at toil and pain." + + +It seemed to my childish imagination that she was triumphing over her +difficulties and defying toil and pain, with words specially adapted to +her "up and down," the to and fro movement in spinning. It was an +exhibition of moral heroism, not often surpassed by martyr or confessor. +But she was a physical hero as well. I saw her tested once at a +camp-meeting, when she was about twenty years of age. My father had +invited a number of young men, who were standing around, to eat dinner +at his table on Sunday. Already more than fifty had eaten. When these +young men were seated her eye caught one, to whom she walked without +consulting any person, and laying her hand upon his shoulder, she said +in a distinct voice: "Sir, you can not eat dinner at this table. You +were with that crowd of rowdies last night that held a mock sacrament +with whisky, and if you do not leave in a second, I'll help you leave." +One glance at her eye was sufficient, and he left at once. The deed was +the more heroic because the unfortunate youth belonged to a family that +was much respected. The great fighting preacher, Havens, never displayed +more heroism in any of his encounters with the roughs of that period. +That heroic girl became a mother afterwards, and she communicated to her +children the same high purpose of life. She, though a widow, gave her +eldest son to her country, and his blood was the very first to fatten +the soil of West Virginia in the late war, and her second son, under +difficulties and discouragements that would have appalled any one but a +hero, was wisely trained in head and heart, and she gave him to De Pauw +University in the person of your gifted and honored red-headed +Vice-President. Others may sing the man, but give me the loftier theme, +the heroic women of early Indiana Methodism. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heroic Women of Early Indiana +Methodism: An Address Delivered Before the Indiana Methodist Historical Society, by Thomas Aiken Goodwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROIC WOMEN INDIANA METHODISM *** + +***** This file should be named 24472.txt or 24472.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/4/7/24472/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |