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As I have kept a journal, or diary, giving an account of my travels, preaching and
labors, especially in over one hundred revivals of religion in Indiana, Iowa and Missouri,
I have been impressed and solicited by friends to write a book of about two hundred and
fifty or three hundred pages, giving an account of the most interesting meetings that I
have preached and labored in, showing the methods and means that were used to promote
revival work in the churches and destitute communities; and as I was one of the pioneer
preachers in Southwestern Iowa, commenced at Bedford, Iowa, in 1854, when there were but
three churches of Baptists in fifteen counties in Southwestern Iowa, and as I labored and
preached in that field for about seventeen years, and saw the church rise up and was
connected with it to a state of prosperity, from the little beginning to four associations
with about eighty churches and numbering about four thousand members, having a good
Baptist meeting-house in nearly all the county seats in all these fifteen counties, and a
great many in the villages and country places, hoping and praying that the following pages
may be a help in the future to revive religion and save sinners, even when I am dead and
gone.J AMES M. SMITH.
A Brief Account of my Life and Conversion—Call to Preach the Gospel up to the Time of my Ordination, July 13, 1844.
The author of this book, Elder James M. Smith, is the son of William Smith and Margaret
Smith. They both were named Smith before they were married, but no relation of each
other as they knew of. They were both non-professors till after I made a profession and
they were about forty years old; they then both became professors of religion, and
joined the Baptist Church in 1842. So all of their seven children have become professors
of religion. Elder James M. Smith, was born the 19th day of October, 1819, in Fayette
county, Kentucky, not far from Lexington of that county, about a year after father moved
to Jessamine county, Kentucky, about three miles from Nicholasville, and lived there
till I was about eight years old; two years
In the fall of 1827 I moved with my father from Kentucky to Indiana, Shelby county;
landed there the 16th day of October, 1827. On the 19th day of that month I was eight
years old—this three days after we got there—the oldest child of the family
of six children. We settled down on the land that father had bought of the government,
in the green woods of Shelby county, Indiana. It was a very new country, heavily
timbered, thinly settled, very few neighbors, no schools at that time or churches. I,
being the oldest child of the family, here was a big work before me. Father put his
blacksmith tools up and worked in the shop for the people, and they worked for him in
clearing up the farm. I had to learn to chop and clear ground. I recollect the first
beech tree I attempted to cut down; I cut all around it; then I could not tell which way
it would fall, so I was in danger of its falling on me. I managed some how to cut it
down, then trimmed it up and chopped up the logs. So I learned how to clear ground and
chop and split rails. I could, and many a time did, cut and split two hundred a day, and
I used to split four hundred a day for my task, and generally easy, for I was hard to
beat on the chopping and splitting of rails and clearing ground, and thus I helped my
Soon after we settled there, six families came from North Carolina and settled in the
neighborhood. So the county began to settle. So we became very wicked; we all grew up
without religious instructions; hardly ever heard a sermon preached for several years
after we moved there; hardly any praying people in the whole community. So it became a
very wicked neighborhood. Most all engaged in all kinds of sports and amusements. Almost
all the old and young people in the entire community formed very evil and bad habits,
such as card playing, horse racing, gambling of most all kinds, swearing, dancing, and
most of all drinking to great excess. It was a general thing with most all in a large
community to make their own whisky. There was at least, at different times, over twenty
still-houses where they made whisky to drink and to sell. Several men in the community
killed themselves by strong drink. So under these influences and circumstances, I
partook
About that time I recollect of attending meetings and having preaching. I suppose I was
twelve or fifteen years old at that time. About that age I went to a meeting in the
neighborhood. There was some special interest, Father Stagdail, I think it was him, and
an Old Baptist preacher and Elder Hurst, or both of them, were conducting the meeting
and preaching. Some foul person's joined the church at that meeting, the first I ever
had seen join the church; one was a
I still neglected my vow and went on for a while in wickedness until in the fall, or fore part of the winter, 1840, just after that memorable election campaign of which General Harrison was elected President of the United States, there came a missionary in the person of old Uncle Nat. Richmond to this (Union) township, and Little Blue River Baptist church. The people were about as wicked as they get in a rural district as this was. The church people were about as wicked as the world. They were cold, lifeless and indifferent; so much so that when the missionary came to the deacon's house, he was at his son's still-house. They had to send for him to come, for the preacher had come to hold a protracted meeting at the old log meeting house of the Baptists in the community. So the old deacon came from the still-house, and he and old Uncle Nat, the preacher, with three or four more, went to the meeting house, but there were so few there I think he did not preach; probably prayed and talked a little, and they sent word that he would preach that night, and for all to come.
I recollect well of going to the meeting, and he had several persons out to hear him. I
recollect his talk and preaching. It was about what Paul said about Mars Hill, and at
the times of this ignorance God winked, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent.
The next day Elder Joshua Currier came. I was not there, but they said he, being a young
man and an entire stranger, gave them quite an exhortation, told them all about their
wickedness, and how they had been living so far from God, and what they had been doing,
most every bad thing they had done, and when they closed that day old Uncle Thomas
Golding stepped up to him and asked what his name was. He said it was Currier. "Well,"
says the old deacon, "I think you have the right name. You have given us an awful
currying to-day." Elder Currier stayed and continued the meetings about ten days, and he
was the right man in the right place. Uncle Nat went away, and Currier held a protracted
meeting, and they had the first revival they ever had of much importance. I think there
were somewhere about twenty converted and joined the church. I attended the meetings
most of the time. Some of my associates were converted, and I was deeply convicted of
sin, and greatly felt the need of being a Christian. I recollect on Friday that the
young men who had recently came out in the work were telling their experience,
The next day I recollect that father and I were putting charcoal into a coal house,
that we had burnt for the blacksmith work. I said, "Father, let's go to meeting to-day."
We thought that Uncle David Brown, with others, were going to be baptized that day, but
they were not till the next day. Father was wicked then, but he said we would go to the
meeting. So we were hurrying to get up the coal, and directly here came one of our old
horse-racing associates with the race horse. He hallooed out, "Come, Jim and Uncle
Billy, come and go to the horse race." So he just turned us over to go with him to the
horse race, and we went with him. We went by the still-house, and they were swearing and
drinking. I felt awfully convicted and sorry that I came with such a crowd, and that
they were leading me down to hell. I concluded I would not go, and I would turn back and
not go to the horse race; but my heart failed me, so I went on, but thought when I got
to town I would not go to the horse race. But when I got there I
Then I turned my attention to going to every meeting; attended the prayer-meeting
regularly; quit off going to dances, horse-racing and playing cards, and most all of
those evil practices. Outwardly I gave them up and sought the company of Christians, and
the next spring, the 9th day of May, 1841, I was married to Elizabeth J. Cotton, in my
twenty-second year. Elder Joshua Currier preached for them this year once a month, and
there was quite a better state of things in morals and religion that year, yet we became
wicked again, and sin and iniquity reigned to a great extent again that year, but it had
got a wonderful check by that revival the year before. However Joshua Currier was just
the man for that place. He kept on preaching once a month until about the 1st of
December, 1841. He then commenced another protracted meeting. I had become considerable
wicked again. I had not thought or known at all that I had been converted the year
before. Some thought I had,
As the work went on I became more deeply awakened and interested. Father and mother
were attending. Mother was somewhat interested, but father was not at first, so Brother
Matthew Golding one night told me if I would ask Brother Currier to go home with us, as
I was staying at father's then, he would go. So I said at once, "Tell him to come," and
he went home with us that night. I rather regretted that I had encouraged him, for now I
began to think he would talk to us about our own souls; but the thing was done now, and
he was on the way with us, and it could not be helped. After we got home and were seated
around the fireside we all felt solemn, for I do not know as there ever was a preacher
in our
The meeting had been going a week or two, so the next night we all went to meeting. I
became from
The next night, Saturday night, I went again, and the revival work still going on with
interest. I was still under deep conviction, and at the close of the sermon he asked all
who desired Christians to pray for them to come forward and give him their hand, I think
some went forward. It was said I started
That day Brother Currier preached from the text, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"
and he showed how the people persecuted Christ by making sport of religion, and making
light of Christians; then they were persecuting Christ. I paid a strict attention to it,
and felt all the time it was me, that I had been a persecutor all my life, and when he
closed his sermon he came out of the stand, and said all who desired the prayers of the
church and desiring to seek Christ to come forward while they sing and give him their
hand; so I went willingly and immediately, and as I gave my hand to him I said out that
I will never
I got home before any of the rest. I took down the Bible immediately to read the fourth
chapter of Matthew, where it is said of the scribe, "I will follow Thee, Lord, wherever
Thou goest." It was the language of my heart that I would follow the Lord. The reading
was beautiful to what it ever was before. I had to read that chapter twice, so I was
encouraged. It seemed to be a new book to me, so I enjoyed myself all the afternoon.
Went back to meeting that night. I was still blessed again; I loved the people of God
The next day was meeting. The revival work went on with power and great success. Mother
and I were going to the meeting together. I told her that I had made up my mind to join
the Baptists to-day. I had said I never would join the church without I was perfectly
satisfied that I had experienced religion. I was clear in my mind that I had, and I had
made up my mind in and by the grace of God I would serve the Lord and try to be a
faithful Christian. Singing had commenced, and it was delightful to me. Elder Benjamin
Reece preached that day. He was there assisting Brother Currier to carry on the meeting.
I recollect his text was: "Come, for all things are now ready." And I thought he
preached a very long sermon, but I expect it was not, for I wanted him to get through,
so I could go and tell them what the Lord had done for me. As soon as he closed an
invitation was given for those who had been converted and were satisfied with their hope
in Christ, and
The next Wednesday, the 23d day of December, 1841, I was baptized by Elder Joshua
Currier, who had been carrying on the meeting with great success. There were fourteen
new converts baptized on the same day and place. It was in the Little Blue river; it was
a little ways above Uncle Robert Brown's house,
I recollect well the circumstances of my father's conversion; he was attending the
meeting at the meeting-house, and there was a great interest in it by old gray-headed
men, and he saw several old men come forward for prayer; but his heart was hard and full
of unbelief, but he concluded he would go forward, and he came. He said he had a hard
heart, but seeing so many going forward, he thought he would come forward and ask them
to pray for him, that his heart might be tendered and convicted, and yet saved, or words
to that amount ; so we all prayed for him earnestly, and the result was, that in a short
time, in a few days, he was happily converted. It took place about midnight; he said he
was praying at that hour, and trying to look to the Lord for salvation, and at that time
and place he was made happy, and felt the Lord had forgiven his sins, and felt that his
peace
Elder John Reece was to preach Saturday, but he did not come, so we appointed old Tally
Wicker, as he was the deacon, to moderator, and to leader. The meeting commenced about
ten o'clock, so we had a covenant speaking meeting, and it was a happy time. So we kept
praying, singing and talking, and old Father Wicker opened the doors of the church and
gave the opportunity for any that had been converted and was satisfied of it, to come
forward and join the church; they could be baptised at some other meeting. As soon as
they began to sing I think father come first, so eleven came forward at once, mostly old
persons who had been converted recently and were satisfied of their conversion. They
told their experiences, and they were good, seemingly clear conversions, and would talk
it over and tell generally when and where and how God had wonderfully blessed them, and
that
I had three sisters that professed an interest in Christ, and also my wife was baptised
with several of her relatives and friends. The work went on till eighty professed
religion and joined the church. The whole community was entirely changed; two men,
especially, were converted that had almost been prize fighters. I saw these two men
fight till it seemed that they would kill each other. They were considered the bullies
in the community. They both embraced religion in this revival, and made men that loved
each other, and become praying in public and private, were
The old log church was taken down, and a good frame church-house was built, and the
people turned their attention to meeting and worshiping God. The
They are all living now except one, who several years ago, in the prime of life, and
who was one of the ablest preachers of us all-that was Elder
Elder John Phares, a brother of the lamented Matthew B. Phares, that I have already spoken of, was converted the first of these revivals, thirty-nine years ago, and was baptized in the Little Blue River. Baptist Church ; was licensed, and commenced preaching at the same time that the writer did. He was ordained by the same church; has lived on his farm ever since; has made a very useful and successful preacher for his chance; he has done well, for his health has never been very good, and his wife and family have been afflicted a great deal, that has hindered him from doing a great deal that he might have done. But he is living yet, holding on, and preaching and doing good in the cause of Christ.
Elder William Golding, another Baptist preacher who was raised up in this community,
but was converted
Elder John Huston, a brother of David Huston, was raised mostly in this Little Blue
river neighborhood, and took an active part in these revivals, but was a Methodist, but
was raised by Presbyterian parents. He worked with us well to carry on the revival, and
done well. He was a genteel, interesting, well-educated young man, but did not join the
Baptists here, though he was raised here, but he married a Baptist sister and moved to
Madison county, Indiana. And William Golding and I were holding a protracted meeting in
his community. So we visited him, and found he had made up his mind to join the Baptist
church. So he did that meeting, and Brother Golding baptized him, and he was licensed
Elder James Young, another Baptist preacher, was raised up in this community; was but a
small boy when these revivals took place, but some time afterwards when Brother David
Huston and I were holding a protracted meeting in this community, I recollect being up a
preaching in the school-house in the neighborhood, and James Young got up and went out
of the house. I spoke and said I did not want any one to go out any more that night; so
he came back directly and came forward for the prayers of God's people, and he was soon
converted; and I had the privilege of baptising him. He became an active worker in the
cause, and was soon licensed and ordained by the church to preach the gospel, and he
made a useful minister of the gospels The writer of this narrative, Elder James M.
Smith, soon after his conversion, (an account of which has been given before,)
immediately began to talk and pray in public, and took an active part in the revival
work; and had some freedom and liberty in speaking and exhorting the people. I began to
be impressed that it was my duty to take a public part in the work, and try if I could
preach the gospel; so these impressions increased on me and I did not resist them as
they grew on me until the Little Blue River Church licensed me to preach the gospel,
Brother Pavy and others had me go to Mud Creek to a protracted meeting. I preached
there one or two weeks, and we had a good revival there. Several joined the church, and
we had a good time. So
Now I wish to notice briefly that Elder Joshua Currier, who came from the east, a
Baptist preacher
He was pastor for about five years and preached once a month—only in his
protracted meetings. He had the revival to continue most all these five years to a
greater or less extent. God was with him; he had many great revivals in several places
in that country, and he stood high in the estimation of all
Now, the last I spoke of my preaching was when I was only a licentiate, in 1844, the
year I was ordained; that is, the winter before, at old Shelbyville and Mud Creek
churches, at the two revivals I
The council met on that day. I recollect some of the councilmen: Father Hurst, Elder
Emons Hurst, Elder Joshua Currier, Elder John Reece, Elder Thomas Townsend, Elder
Benjamin Reece. These were all Baptist preachers that I recollect distinctly, except
Benjamin Reece. I am not sure whether he was there or not. There might have been other
ministers that I don't recollect. It was a very serious and solemn time with me, for I
had poor advantages to prepare for that work. They examined me closely and carefully in
doctrine, on my experience and call to the ministry. I answered their questions, gave an
account of my experience and conversion, and my call to preach. After going through with
the whole of
An Account of my Life and Work for the First Five Years after Ordination, Ending December, 1849.
Now when I was ordained, as stated before, on the 13th day of July, 1844, in the
twenty-fifth year of my age, I felt I was poorly prepared for the great work of the
ministry. I never had but little advantages of education, having been raised up in the
green woods of Indiana where there were no schools hardly. Three months in a year was
the most we ever got, and sometimes not that much, and when I went to school I would
have to stay at home a good part of the time to work for our living, and when I was
ordained I could hardly cypher to the single rule of three, as it was called then, and I
don't recollect of ever looking in a grammar book; I knew nothing about the parts of
speech, but with all of this destitution of education I could speak with some liberty
and freedom, and did not know I was so defective in pronunciation and the rules of
language, so I started out to learn, and thought if I could learn and know things that I
could benefit and instruct the people; I could tell it to them in the way of preaching
the Gospel and do
Previous to my conversion, that was only about two years and a half before I was
ordained, I don't think I had ever read through the New Testament, so I concluded I must
read the whole Bible through; that is, every word that was in it. So I went to reading
it regular from Genesis to Revelation, and it was not long till I got it read all the
way through. I studied the best I could, but I had a poor chance along at first, for I
had to work for my living and support my family by hard, every-day work on the farm, and
had just settled on a new place, and I had to clear it out in order to raise bread for
my family. So, after I was ordained I worked on the farm and studied the Bible all that
I could, for I had hardly any other book, and went out and preached every Sunday
somewhere. I used to chop, split rails, and roll logs every day in the week and preach
every Sunday. I would study of nights as best I could. But the next winter after my
ordination—that is, in the winter of 1845—I was living on our place, that I
was trying to clear up in the country on Little Blue river, for we had eighty acres of
land that my father and father-in-law gave us. It was in the beech woods and had hardly
any improvement on it when they gave it to us; poor land at that, but we were trying to
clear it out to
There was a school teacher by the name of Christopher Sloan, who began to board at our
house. He was teaching about one mile and a half from us. He was a good scholar for that
time, and a good student studied hard, and understood grammar; and had a class in his
school. Studying grammar was a rare thing at that time, and somehow or another, through
his influence, I suppose, I don't recollect just how it come up, but I come to the
conclusion that winter to go to school to him a part of my time at least and study
grammar, about which I knew nothing at all. He had two scholars studying it, James Young
and a Miss Thornberry, so I started in to go to his school. Married as I was when I
first commenced my grammar lessons I was entirely ignorant of it, did not know anything
at all about it. At first I could not see into it at all, it was hard I thought, and
they would laugh at me when I would try to parse grammar, but I went on, kept trying.
The other two of the class had been studying it some time and were advanced some. The
teacher would show me and at last I began to see into it some, and the more I studied it
the better I liked it. I began to see the utility of it and the advantage it might be to
me. I began to study it hard, so I went twenty-six days to him and I got along
The Buck Creek Church called me as their pastor, so they helped me some to support my
family. I went into the work of studying hard to get a better education. My studies were
the grammar, arithmetic, logic, and moral science, rhetoric and natural philosophy, and
the Bible. I could learn as fast, I believe, as I could when a boy. I used to praise God
in the class-room for my privilege of going to the school there, where I had such great
privileges to learn. I was all the time with the learned and good. I belonged to a
debating society. The students that boarded with me agreed to have it a critical school,
and criticise each other for our good, and in this way I learned fast to correct my
language, which was my greatest object, so I went that term of about six months. I
learned a great deal about a good many things that have been of great good to me. Then
at vacation, in August and September, it became so wonderful sickly there at Franklin,
nearly every one was sick with the fever and ague. It was so bad that we concluded to
move back on our place that fall. So we did, and I taught school and preached that
winter in my own neighborhood, and then went back in the
Elder John Reece, the pastor's son, and I done the most of the preaching, and we had a
glorious revival of religion. That was in the winter of 1847. I recollect about the
meeting that the church had been in a low state for some time. Uncle Ben, the pastor,
put John and I to preaching turn about. We had large congregations and good attendance
from the start. I recollect on the first Sunday I noticed a man in the congregation
weeping, and would try to keep it from being seen. I thought then he was deeply
convicted, and the next morning at his father-in-law's I talked to him about his soul's
salvation. I asked him if he did not feel some interest in his soul's welfare; he
laughed at me at first, but I kept talking to him till he had to admit that he was some
interested about the matter. He went home that day and was wonderfully convicted
I soon finished up my school, and commenced a protracted meeting at Deacon Wicker's
house on Monday night, and my sister was converted the first night of the meeting. So a
good revival commenced, and we went from house to house, holding the meetings till we
had a glorious revival work. A part of them seemed to not want the meetings, and did not
come out at first. I recollect one sister who did not come at first, and the first night
she came we gave an invitation for all who desired the prayers of the church to come
forward. Several came and were deeply conscious about their souls' salvation. This
sister remarked at first that she did not know why we gave the invitation, for she was
so cold she could not pray for sinners, but she soon got so she could pray for sinners,
and she told about her feelings and coldness, and a good many professors were in the
same condition, but very soon revived and went to work for souls. One young man in this
revival was converted, who made a faithful Baptist preacher. He was at the
Brother Stogsdale had been their preacher for many years, and was, and had been, a very
good and successful preacher, but he was discouraged there till he wanted me to be
called to assist him. I went on there, preached once a month, and some I think joined
the church. That summer we had quite a revival interest. Congregations increased and
became large and attentive. I began to baptize the converts.
The 1st of January, 1848, we commenced a protracted meeting. I recollect it was New Year's day, and we tried to make a good impression on the minds of the people, to begin the new year with new consecration to God, and urged all the people to begin to seek God that New Year's day. I recollect my text. They began on the first day of the month to sanctify, and I believe almost all that were there did seriously anew engage in the work of serving God, for there was a deep impression made on the people that day, for it was the beginning of a glorious revival of religion in that church and community.
I recollect a case of answer to prayer in that meeting that was very interesting. A
very interesting and intelligent widow lady, who belonged to the church and was a good
Christian woman, had two very nice daughters, grown to womanhood, and a son, who was
married to a lady who was wicked. None of them had ever made a profession, and were
rather
The revival went on with power, and a great many were converted and added to the
church, some thirty or forty at that meeting. The church was wonderfully blessed and
raised up, till in the two years that I preached for them, I recollect that fifty were
added to them. They treated me very kindly. I was very much blessed and encouraged in my
work. There for two years they paid me better than any other
I shall always remember with pleasure and delight Old Father Stogsdale and his people
that treated me so kindly, for we used to have such happy times in the meetings we had
there for the two years I preached for them. At the close of that two years' preaching
there, the Salem church at Millford was without a pastor, so they called me there, and I
went and preached for them one year, had good meetings there for one year but no special
revival. That same year that I was preaching, that is, the first year I went to Mt.
Moriah, I took charge of the Brandywine church once a month to preach as their pastor,
so my time was all filled up with once a month to each church; that is, Middletown
church, Mt. Moriah, Brandywine, and my home church, Little Blue River. The church at
Brandywine was in a very low state. It was about ten miles east of my home which was on
Little Blue river. They had had for some time severe difficulties. When they called me
and I took charge in 1847 to preach for them, they were in a very discouraged
I recollect as I was going over to my appointment (I had been there a few times) the
river was up so high that I had to walk about six miles to the place where I intended
to, and did hold a protracted meeting. As I went along in the mud and water, for it was
deep all over the ground, I met a preacher, and I told him we had held a fine revival at
the Little Blue River Church a few days ago. He said a revival in this community was a
very scarce thing, and did not know of any such thing in all this country. He seemed to
think that such a thing as a revival of religion could not be expected now, the way
things were. Church members were all cold, and wickedness prevailed to such an extent
that there was but little hope of doing any thing in the cause here; but that did not
discourage me in the least, for my heart was warm in the cause. I felt satisfied that we
would have a revival there at old Brandywine church that time, although in some respects
it was very discouraging. I went on to the meeting and commenced work for a revival, and
God gave us a precious meeting.
I recollect a Methodist preacher helped me in the meeting, and when we were not in the
meeting, we were discussing our different opinions. Especially on the baptism and
conversion questions we would get warmly engaged, but in a good spirit; then we would go
to the meeting and pray, preach, sing and labor together as brothers in Christ. It was
my meeting, but he was a worker. Dr. Rigdon was his name. He is dead now. He helped very
much in the meeting; done all he could for the conversion of sinners. Quite a number
were converted and united with the Baptist church. I recollect one case of conviction,
and I think he was converted. That the
I recollect a man who was a great sinner, that was struck under conviction severely,
and he would set back among the wicked in the back part of the house, but it got too hot
for him and he got out from them and came forward to some front seat and was soon
I received encouragement from a good many brethren in the ministry. I preached and
labored with old Uncle Benjamin Reece, and he encouraged me very much, so did Father
John Pavy and old Uncle Billy Reece. I recollect he was agent for Franklin College, and
when he met me first on the college grounds, he took me by the hand and said he was glad
to meet me there at school, and said it was the wisest thing I could do; said he, you
will never regret it. So did Brother Chandler give me good instruction and
encouragement, and Brother Brand, professor in the dead languages. He was a Baptist
preacher. He helped me, encouraged and taught me, critlcised me, and would
In Which I Give a Narrative of My Life and Preaching in Revival Work for the Five Years Commencing the 1st of January, 1850, and Ending December, 1854.
In the previous chapters I gave an account of my life and work, preaching in revivals, my going to school to Franklin College, my teaching school, and some of the special events of my life for the first five years following immediately after my ordination; that is, commencing in 1844, the time of my ordination, and ending December, 1849. Now, in this chapter I propose to give sketches of my work and preaching in revivals, which took place in the period of five years commencing the 1st of January, 1850, and ending in December, 1854.
January, 1850, I was still pastor of the Little Blue River Baptist Church and other
churches that I mentioned previous in my last chapter in this year, 1850, so my time was
all taken up preaching, and had this year some revival interest. It was within this year
or the year previous that I had another special revival of religion in the Little Blue
River Church that I had not mentioned, so I narrate it here. Several were
There were at least seven who came forward for prayers and were deeply awakened, and
were earnest seekers of religion. I had to be gone two or three weeks, and when I came
back and commenced the meeting again I found that all of the seekers were converted and
ready to come out and tell their experience and join the church. I had the privilege of
baptizing them all. With several others, they united with the church. One of them was a
man that had been a great drunkard most all of his life. It was a remarkable case and
was a strange thing to the whole community. He told a good experience and was received
in the church. I baptized him and had a happy time. Another interesting case of
conversion took place in this meeting; it was a lady who was a relative of mine, who was
about thirty years old. She had lived all her life in wickedness and sin, but in this
meeting she was happily converted, or gave a bright evidence of conversion, and was very
clear in her mind that God had forgiven her sins. She joined the church and I baptized
her, a happy convert. Afterwards she became seriously afflicted with consumption and
still got worse
In October, 1850, I left this, my old field of labor and home of my youth, and moved to
Howard county, Indiana, near Kokomo. I was impressed to make this change, so I think it
was in the fore part of 1850 I sold our little farm on Little Blue river and bought a
little farm about three-fourths of a mile from Kokomo, Howard county, Indiana. I still
retained the pastorate of these churches till October, 1850, the time I moved. I
recollect I had another fine revival at Little Blue River Church this year, after I had
That meeting was a fine success; several joined the church. I recollect one case of a
sister, who was a cousin of my wife, that was converted in that meeting;
I had been pastor about three years, and had a revival every year of that time, and the
church was in a revived state; but with all that we felt our duty required us to go to
Kokomo to preach the gospel to that destitute country. So in a short time after this
meeting we got our things already as best we could, and with our prayer and trust in God
and the prayers of his people for us we got ready and started to move to our new field
and home of work. This brings us to our moving to Kokomo, Howard county, Indiana, in
October, 1850. We had three little boys—William, Joseph and Carey. Carey, the
youngest, was about three months old. We moved in wagons and camped out of nights. I
recollect that we camped on the last night we were on the road near where a Methodist
preacher had an appointment to preach. I went in and preached for them, and had a good
meeting. So
Elder Henry Cobb was pastor there, but sent for me to come and help in a protracted
meeting in the fore part of the winter of 1850. I went and stayed and preached about two
weeks, and we had a very fine revival. A good many were converted, and it was an
excellent work. About twenty conversions and additions were made to the church. I
recollect
I had to carry the little girl into the water, so I took her up in my arms. She was
anxious to follow her Lord, and be buried with him in baptism, and did not seem to dread
it at all, but was happy in going forward. We went down into the water with her, and I
stood her on her feet, but she could not stand alone. I held her up and baptized her,
and she got along nicely; she came up out of the water with a bright face, and was
happy. It seemed to affect the people the most that I ever saw at any baptism, I
believe, before or since. She got along extremely well,
There was a deep interest, but there seemed to be a hesitancy in starting, though a
good many were very much interested, but seemed they could not start forward at all. A
sister of the church started and came forward, and several followed right along after
her, and they were deeply interested, so that I think quite a number of them were
converted and united with the church. It increased the interest in the meeting very
much. This revival meeting in the Kokomo Church made a happy change. It encouraged our
people very much, and give some considerable strength to the Baptist cause at this
place. I took charge of the Springfield Church this winter, which is about six miles
west of Kokomo, and commenced preaching to them once a month, and the fall of 1851, I
think it was, we had a glorious revival there in the Springfield Church. It was just in
the time when the people were beginning to thresh their wheat when the meeting began; we
had some interest. Along in the summer, I think, I commenced a protracted meeting in
Brother Barnett's neighborhood, at their school house. The revival seemed to begin on
Saturday of their church meeting. The church was much revived, and we continued the
meeting for several days, and
I recollect the case of Brother Barnett's son, who was married, and was raising quite a
family. But he and his wife were very wicked. He swore a great deal, and was very
wicked. I talked kindly with him about it, and told him he had better become a
Christian. Well, he said, he had better quit swearing. He seemed to think it was
impossible for him to become a Christian; but in the meeting his wife became convicted,
and was interested, so he became awakened and interested, and went home from the
meeting; thought his wife was at home, but she was not there, but was in the meeting; so
he felt so badly he went right back to the meeting, and his father was at the door, the
house was crowded, full almost, and he stepped up to his father and said he was now
ready to go with him to pray, and took his father into the house where we were praying,
and falling down on his knees, asked us to pray for him. He said he wanted John Harding,
the deacon of the church, and who, afterwards, became a Baptist preacher, to pray for
him especially, so him and we all prayed for him. After the meeting was over that day,
he was not converted; he went to the baptizing, as he went along he looked as bad as if
he had lost his wife; he was deeply convicted and distressed about his situation; but he
soon
The church was much revived and strengthened and built up. It gave me great
encouragement in my new field of labor. In the spring of 1851 I assisted Brother Waters
in a meeting of a few days in the Deer Creek Church. We had some revival work there.
Several united and were baptized. I helped and preached in a protracted meeting I think
it was in 1852, in the Deer Creek Church in which we had a great revival about thirty
conversions and additions to the Deer Creek Church. It lasted about two weeks. There
were ten men and their wives converted and baptized in these meetings. I recollect of
Brother Elder Waters going to fill my appointment, and left me to carry on the meeting,
and while he was gone I baptized several converts, and among them there was an adopted
son and daughter-in-law of Elder Waters. It was one of the best meetings I ever had been
in at all. I remember the case of one man who had not been at any meeting it was
It was a grand revival work, and it done a great deal of good in the community; many were blessed in this meeting and we trust will be saved. Most all of the converts were heads of families and the leading and most influential people in the community, so it gave great strength to the church. The whole community became religious and took a great interest in the church and the cause of Christ.
I remember another meeting of great interest in this church that I assisted in. I think
it was the next
Elder Waters, the pastor of this church, was an able and faithful preacher of the
gospel. He and I preached and labored together in protracted meetings and revivals for
some three or four years, and he always treated me very kindly and gave me great
encouragement in the work with him. His wife was an excellent, fine and intelligent
worker in the cause, and did much to help in the gospel work and stood very high
I was a stranger there, though I had preached a few times; so was Brother Waters. But
after the meeting we learned that David C. Clark, one of the most influential
So we see and don't wonder that it was something very interesting to Deacon Williams
and the Baptist Church at Rossville, Indiana, for D. C. Clark to make the start he did,
the night he rose for prayers. It was the beginning of a great and glorious future for
the cause of Christ, and also for the Clark family, for they have all stood firm in the
cause and are doing good in many parts of the world. I think every one of the family is
baptized and a successful worker in the church. I shall always believe that God's hand
was in the work from the beginning, and he will carry it on with great success and
triumph till he comes again. In the second year of my preaching at Rossville, which was
in 1853, we had another glorious
I recollect that it was a glorious success in the Baptist church, although we were opposed very much by the Presbyterians. I remember one case of a young lady being converted in the meeting. Her parents opposed her being baptized and kept her from it. Another case they dealt with was a Presbyterian lady, a member of that church, for talking in the meeting at the Baptist church, where all were invited to speak for Christ. She talked and told what the Lord was doing for her, she enjoyed the meeting well, and it was said, and I believed it was so, they labored with her for it and told her that it was wrong; but they did not turn her out for it, but I suppose she gave satisfaction about it.
Another case, a young man who professed conversion in the revival and was received for
baptism. We just got to the river to baptize when I saw a man running his horse up the
lane as hard as he could run, and he came up to us just as we started to go down into
the water, and he made some very harsh remarks about his son, who was going to be
baptized. He then took his son, who was about twenty years old, I suppose, to one side,
and pressed him not to be baptized at all, so he was not that day. His father was a
strong
So in my three years preaching to the Rossville church we had a continued revival most
all the time, and we were wonderfully prospered. I think nearly one hundred were added
to the Rossville church during these three years' in out stations and all. And I. N.
Clark and Stephen Clark both were converted during these meetings. I baptized them and
gave them encouragement to preach the gospel, and they were licensed and afterwards
ordained to the gospel ministry and made successful preachers, and are still
They treated me well and I got along extremely well; better than I could have expected. I remember well the first appointment we had for I. N. Clark and his brother Stephen Clark, to preach at the Rossville church. There was a large congregation out to hear the boys preach. I. N. Clark was not yet twenty-one years old, and Stephen about twenty-three. They both made a noble effort and gave great satisfaction that they would make good ministers of the gospel, and so they did. Dr. Ivins, who was a practicing physician at that time and only a private member when I went there, became revived up so that he professed to be called to preach the gospel. He was licensed afterwards, ordained to the ministry, and did a good work for several years in Iowa, and stood high as a preacher most every where he went, and was well respected as a very good man and a good worker in the cause, but has for some reason quit preaching I think, most entirely. So, in view of the work that was done at Rossville and other places in that part of the country while I was preaching there, about three years, I have felt to praise God for such a blessing as we had while among that people.
I moved then to Rossville in September, 1852, and I had preached a year before I moved. We lived there two years ending the fall of 1854, when I concluded and did move to Iowa. Started October 4, 1854. It was a hard trial to leave such a good people as we did, but duty seemed to require us to go to Iowa, and we went; but while I lived at Kokomo and Rossville I preached in and was pastor of other churches, and had several good revivals in them in these four years that I lived at Kokomo and Rossville. I recollect I was pastor at Sugar Creek, about eight miles north of Rossville, about some three years of this time, and when I first went there the church was in a very low state. They had had a very serious difficulty in the church and neighborhood that had almost ruined the church at that place in that community. Brother Elder Waters and I went there to hold a protracted meeting, and it was manifest soon that there was encouragement in the meeting, and the church became much revived and a good many were converted in the first protracted meeting, and they called me as their pastor and preached for them about three years, and we had a revival, I think, every year of my preaching there and at an out station of the church.
I recollect old Brother Tod's (that is, Dr. Tod) family with many others were
wonderfully blessed in
That church and community were wonderfully revived
This has been great encouragement to me in my feeble efforts to preach the gospel; that
after twenty years to hear of one soul rejoicing in such a prospect of Heaven as she
had. This should encourage us in our work of preaching, for we don't know sometimes but
it is doing good, and may bring forth fruit many days hence. Soon after this meeting
Elder Waters and I held a meeting up on the Michigan Road, and organized a church there,
and had a good revival. Several were converted and united with that church, and it made
a very prosperous church, and is doing well
She went home and it was said she went to work and done her own housework right along
without injury, but seemed to do her good, soul and body. I remember another revival
meeting I labored in this period of time, it was at Michigantown. I was at first
assisting Elder John Hill. We commenced at first as a Baptist meeting, and had a good
revival
Elder Waters and I had had a revival meeting some time before, I think, in this period
of five years, at Normandy, Tipton county, Indiana, in which we had a good time. There
were some good brethren living there, but they had no organization or church
My next special revival, in connection with some others that I had this year, 1854, as
my last work in Indiana, was in the winter and spring of 1854 at an out station of the
Sugar Creek Church. I was called down there to preach a funeral, probably in the summer
of 1853, and when I went there was a large congregation of people there, and they paid
great attention, and the first sermon I preached there seemed to be an awakening and
good attention manifest. It was said there had not been a Baptist sermon preached there
for ten years or more. They solicited me to preach once a month in the afternoon, so we
made it an out station of the Sugar Creek Church, and every time I preached there seemed
to be quite an interest in the meeting, till at last it manifested itself in a glorious
revival. It seemed to begin more especially with one lady. She was the head of a family
and very interesting and well respected. Her husband was a Baptist, but she never had
made a profession at all, but she, with many others, became deeply interested and was
converted, and came forward and told her experience at that school house, as an arm or
branch of the Sugar Creek Church. She had a great and good influence in the
neighborhood, and when she told her experience she was received for baptism, and we went
We continued the meeting several days and had a glorious revival. Several were converted and united with the church and were baptized. It seemed to be a deep work and it resulted in a great good to the whole community. We received a lady school teacher who was converted and baptized that was a bright convert, for she was a bright and intelligent girl. She worked hard in the meeting for others to be converted. Another lady was happily converted in the meeting with a bright evidence of her conversion. She was an elderly lady and had never given any attention to religion until then. She said if she had known that there was so much joy and happiness in the religion of Christ she certainly would have sought it before. It was a glorious work of grace. It kept on every meeting nearly. When I would go back there to my appointment there would be some deep interest and some conversion and joining the church.
At the close of the protracted meeting I got several hundred dollars subscribed and
promised to build a meeting house. I was expecting to organize a Baptist church, but I
left for Iowa that fall. Another
In which I Give an Account of my Preaching and Labors in Revivals for the Period of Five Years Ending the Last of December, 1859.
This chapter begins to give an account of my work and preaching in the last of the year 1854. I shall begin with the time I left off the last chapter, which was the closing up of my preaching and labors with the Rossville church, and other churches in the Judson Association, Indiana.
In my previous chapters I had given an account of my life and work up to October, 1854,
when I closed my labors in Indiana and started to move to Iowa, my new field of labor.
My brother, David Smith, had moved to Taylor county, Iowa, and wrote to me that there
was not a Baptist preacher in all the ten counties in southwestern Iowa, a very new
country, and there were about ten families of Baptists, old acquaintances and friends,
that moved with him, and hads ettled in Taylor county at and near Bedford, and they
wanted me come and move out there and preach for them. He thought there was a great need
of my coming, and it was a good missionary field for work
At that time the Indians were pretty thick in the country, just moving off to other
quarters. The land was a rich rolling prairie, with several streams running through the
county. They all had some timber on them. We liked it very much, and thought it
So we went right to preaching most every Sunday
The Indians were thick around us, and sometimes would alarm us. Though they never did
seem to be unfriendly, they would come and stand around the house when I was preaching,
but with all this I was well pleased in this work, and liked it. When we organized the
first church there, I recollect it well, though it was twenty-five years ago, it was in
a log cabin with but one door, and no window at all, and the wind blew so hard that we
had to shut the door; then it was so dark we had to have a candle burning to
One of them was Brother E. Otis, who I had met the day before going down to an old
predestinarian Baptist church. He said to me as he went along, I want (as it was their
church meeting) to go and see if they are not the genuine Baptists, but he soon found
they were not his kind. He had a letter but did not bring it to the meeting that
afternoon, but he was so revived
I had regular preaching in that community till at length, probably, it was a year or
two after that, we had a protracted meeting in the neighborhood. We had a glorious
revival, and we organized a church, called it the Haden Grove Church. But I will speak
of this again. We established a preaching place at Platt Branch, about eight miles
southeast of Bedford. In this first year in that new country, we had
I recollect in one of my revival meetings there, the man at whose house we had the meeting was not a professor, but his wife was a Baptist. He became awakened and professed conversion, and we had to close the meeting that night, and he came forward at the evening meeting and told his experience and was received for baptism, and he requested to be baptized that night. It was close to a stream where there was much water; the moon was shining brightly, and we went about ten o'clock at night and baptized him. It had a powerful effect on the congregation. He seemed to be happy obeying Christ; as the jailer, the same hour of the night, was when he went to be baptized. I remember an old man, I think he was over fifty years old, who had never made a profession. He was so convicted at the water that night at the baptism that he could or did not leave till some of us helped him away, and he never rested till he was converted and came out and joined the church and was baptized. The last I saw of him he was holding on faithfully. We had a good many good revival meetings in that church; several conversions there in the first year.
I then went to Hawleyville and began to preach for them, and we had some revival
interest there, and
It was an organization of great success, as we shall show in these pages. They
appointed for the next association to be at Vernal Church, Clark county, Iowa. They had
a great meeting there, for the churches had made considerable progress and several
revivals had taken place in its bounds that year, and a good many additions were made to
the churches. I was not at that association, for I was back to Indiana on a visit with
my family. I recollect that soon after the organization at Bedford, I went up to Clark
county, about sixty miles, where Elder Seay lived, to the Vernal Church and held a
protracted meeting, and we had a very good revival, some conversions and additions to
the church. Now we had an association and we were pleased with it,,and went to work in
earnest to build it up, and it did prosper from the start and made a large association,
and did a great deal of good in the cause of Christ. So the next year after the meeting
at Bedford we had some additions to
I recollect soon after I came back from Indiana, I engaged earnestly to preach and
labor in the work of trying to see if we could not have some greater revivals than we
had. The country was still very much in its primitive state, but it was settling up
rapidly, and I liked it very much; thought it was a good place and would make a rich
country. We had some revival interest at Platt's Branch that fall and fore part of the
winter. Dr. Ivins, who was an ordained Baptist
I was deeply impressed when at Mt. Ayer and convinced in my mind that it was my duty to
leave the meeting there in the hands of Brother Todd and go home and commence a
protracted meeting at Bedford, but the rivers were up so high that I could not get home
to Bedford without walking most of the way. There were foot-logs, so we could walk
across, but could not ford them with a horse, but I became so anxious
I told my wife and people that I had come home to hold a protracted meeting; that we
could get the school house next week, and I believe we were going to have a revival.
Some thought and would say, we don't see why you think so, for we never saw the people
so wicked there as they are now, and the church is so cold; but I still believed we
would have a revival, and on Friday night we had a prayer meeting at my father's
residence in Bedford. We had only about six or eight persons present. Brother Winsor, an
Elder in the Presbyterian church, was at the prayer meeting, and took a part in it. We
had a glorious little prayer meeting, the few that were there were wonderfully blessed.
The prayers all seemed to be inspired and the cry was, "Oh, Lord, revive thy work in
Bedford." It was said by some that were there that they never heard, seemingly such
earnest prayers in their life. The next day was our church and covenant
We met with a great deal of opposition. The Universalists got up a debate in the time
of the meeting with a Methodist preacher, and we had, I think, to give up the school
house to them, but we went right along with the meetings at private houses, or where we
could get a house, and with all the opposition and bad weather, we went from house to
house; and the work began to reach the most wicked classes in the town and community.
Our church people were wonderfully worked up and worked hard for the cause, and stuck to
the meetings, and would help every way they could. I recollect I had Brother Derrickson
to stay out at night, and watch the teams that the people come to the meeting with, so
no mischief was done to them. So the meeting went on and the revival with it for about
three months in the town and country together, and the result was that about one hundred
conversions and additions were made to the Baptist Church. I recollect that after the
meeting had been going on with great power and interest, the Methodist preacher came
there and wanted very much to go in with us and have a union meeting, and he had talked
it up among some of our brethren and the people of the town before he come to me about
it. I
Court was in session at that time, and they did not do any business at all at nights,
as they had been in the habit of doing. Sears was the judge, and he was a Christian man.
He and the lawyers would come to our meetings at night, and they all admitted they had
never seen such a change as there was in that town. The people were nearly all quite
interested in the revival. I recollect the case of a very intelligent English widow
lady, sister Dalison, who had just moved into the town with her son. She came in some of
those meetings an entire stranger to us all. She seemed to be very distant, but she
listened to the word preached. She had been quite a wicked woman. Her husband was frozen
to death in Minnesota, and her son and her moved to Bedford, and are living
We had a good meeting; those that joined had been recently converted. After the meeting
was over one
The other man that came in with Guess the first night professed conversion, and he and
his wife were both baptized in that meeting, and many other of his old leading
associates came out in this work. One of his old friends who had a little grocery store,
and I suppose kept whisky to sell, became convicted and converted, and united with the
church. It was said, and I suppose it was true, that he had kept a good supply
I was with them in their organization and that little beginning. I labored with them till they went through many successes, with some adversities, until they built two meeting-houses. The noble house they are now in cost them over seven thousand dollars. I assisted, and was the pastor, in the building of their present house. It was here that I spent the best part of my life in trying to build up every good cause in, Taylor county, and in Southwestern Iowa, and I am glad to know since I left there that this church, and the churches generally, are in a prosperous state, and doing well.
Now, in this special revival that I have just been writing about, the judge of the
court and the lawyers and the jurymen would come into the meeting every evening, and
some of them, if not all, were very much interested in the work. I recollect one of the
jurymen from Hayden Grove, Brother Churchill, was in the meeting, and became wonderfully
convicted, though I think he had once been a professor, but was a great backslider at
that time. He came forward for the prayers of the church, and was wonderfully blessed,
and felt that the Lord had forgiven him of his sins. He became happy in the meeting and
determined that he would come out and join the church and from that time he would live a
devoted Christian. So he went home with that intention. He lived
It seemed to come from the Bedford revival and was the same work continued and was a
glorious work. A good many were converted in this meeting and we had a happy time. I
recollect it was in a meeting on next year, a man by the name of Moses Case, and he was,
and was said to be, a hard case. I could see that he was deeply convicted. I went to him
and urged him to come and accept of Christ and forsake his sins and do his duty. I found
he was an old back-slider. He did seek the Lord and soon felt he was forgiven and came
out and joined the church, and he went right to work for Christ, and soon began to
preach the gospel, and has done a great deal of good, and was still living and preaching
the last I heard of him. I remember in this meeting that quite a number of the best
citizens in the community were converted and joined the church at this meeting
I attended a fine association here only a few years ago. We had a good meeting, and the
church was getting along well. This same year (1858) I went to Clarinda and held a
meeting, and had a glorious revival there. I organized a Baptist church in that place
with a good revival interest. In the meeting I remember that Brother John Butler united
with the church as soon as it was organized, and I baptized him with some others. He
afterwards made a good deacon in the Baptist church. I recollect the circumstance of a
Methodist preacher who was stationed there, who was out in the country at the time of
the beginning of our meeting, and Methodists and all were taking a good interest in the
cause, because it
The association appointed a missionary board, and agreed to go into the missionary work
in our own bounds, and considerable money was subscribed to sustain a missionary in the
field the next year, and after much prayer and deliberation they appointed me as their
first missionary, and urged me to take the appointment. So I did, and went to work and
traveled
I recollect one brother walking several miles in the deep snow to bring me the
contributions. We had ministerial and quarterly meetings about every three months, on
the fifth Sunday of the month. They were well attended and we would have a good time. I
generally had a good report to make about the work, so we had a success all the year. I
recollect we had a good revival at Vernal Church, Clark county. Elder Seay was then
pastor, and was a very successful preacher. He and I preached together and had a great
many successful meetings in the field, as pioneers in southwestern Iowa for several
years. Several were converted. Elder Seay's daughter was converted and baptized with
several others, so I then went with him to the Laporte church, where he was pastor, and
had a good revival there with several conversions and a
I think it was in the year 1859 that we had a good revival meeting on the West Nodaway.
I recollect some of the circumstances. There was a young man died in the community who
was a Christian, and had been an active worker in the cause. He died happy and it had
quite an influence in the community. Then a young lady died who was a Christian. She
died happy and I went there to preach her funeral, and it was a very affecting time; a
deep impression was made. They invited me to preach, and I made a
Now I have given a brief account of our moving to Iowa in 1854, and our first five years' work there, and something of the work that was done in this period. That I preached and labored, and was identified, showing that we had a good revival work in this new country, and as good success as we could have expected, and better, under the circumstances, and that I preached in ten or fifteen special revivals in this period, and baptized about 160 new converts. So I close this fourth chapter account.
In which I Give an Account of my Preaching and Labors in Revivals
for the Period of Five Years, Ending the Last of December, 1864.
In this fifth chapter I give an account of my preaching in revivals which took place in
this period of five years, commencing the first of January, 1860, and ending the last
day of December, 1864. The first year of this period I find, from my journal, that I was
pastor of Bedford church, Iowa, Adams county, Haden Grove and the West Nodoway churches,
and from the account, I had some revival interest in all of these churches. There were
about sixty united with them this year-forty-two new converts that I baptized. We had a
good revival at Bedford. There were several young people converted and baptized. I think
it was in this meeting that A. Johns, William Evans, and my son, William E. Smith, were
converted and made a profession. They also had some revival interest at the Adams County
church, and some prominent ones were converted and baptized there; and also at the Haden
Grove church some conversions and additions, and at the West Nodaway
I had some revival interest at Lewis, Cass county, Iowa, this year. I went up there to assist Brother Golding, who was pastor there, and several were converted, baptized and united with the church.
We had some revival interest at Millford. Good
I had a revival at the Vernal church, with several additions. I recollect one or two of Elder Bullock's children were converted in the meeting. I baptized the converts, and we had to stand on the ice, the water was over it. So we went into the river, and the water was deep enough over the ice to bury the converts by baptism in the water, and raise them up to walk in newness of life. We had a happy time. Elder Hildreth preached in the meeting with good success, and we had a glorious time together. I recollect a revival we had at Osceola, Clark county, Iowa, in this period of time. I went there a stranger, as a missionary to hold a meeting. The Baptists had no organization there at that time, but the interest was so good in our meeting, that we organized a church, with several members. That was pretty good material, and we had a very good revival. There were some conversions and baptisms, and it was a good organization, and they moved forward and built a good brick church, and has done a great deal of good, and is still progressing and doing tolerable well. I shall speak of it again at a proper time.
I had a protracted meeting at Decatur city in this period of time, and it was a good
special revival with some conversions and baptisms. I recollect that I
I remember a revival we had in this period of time at Hopeville, Clark county, Iowa.
Elder Seay was living there, and was pastor of the church at that place, and went there
while I was traveling as a missionary for the association, and held meetings with him,
for he and I preached together a great deal in pioneer work in Southwestern Iowa. It was
said to be a good place, and it was. I recollect the first night I preached. There the
young people were all gay and wild. While I was preaching, they handed a bucket of water
around to each other to drink, and laughed and talked a good deal. So the next night I
went back among them and stood and preached, and they kept pretty still, and a revival
work began to manifest itself, and quite an interest was taken in the meeting. I
remember the case of Brother Mintonye, who was the deacon of the church, and his
brother-in-law Stonacker had a steam mill together. Brother Mintonye's wife wanted them
not to run the mill, but go to the meeting. But they thought they must run the mill that
day. So they went to the mill, and we all went to the meeting, and pretty soon after we
got there, and I think, had commenced the services at Brother Miner's house close to the
town, here comes Mintonye and Stonaclker; they had broken the mill, and so they
concluded at once they had better go to the meeting. It seemed that Stonacker was not
Brother Hildreth and I held a meeting here at Hopeville, about two years afterwards.
That was not so successful—it seemed that most everything went against us in that
meeting. In the first place it seemed that the Methodists were opposed to us holding the
meeting. It seemed that in a few days the interest began to be good, and there was a
prospect for a revival. There was a funeral of a little child took place. We went to the
burying ground, and Hildreth left his Bible and hymn book in the church, and it was
right in the time of the war, 1863. It seemed some one went into the church and looked
Then Brother Hildreth lost his pocket book and all the money he had with him and it was lost several days, but he fortunately found it. Then his horse kicked and hurt my horse so bad, and he was so lame that I had to leave him and borrow a horse to ride home, about fifty miles, so there is always some bitter with the sweet. I think that two or three united with the church, so it was not an entire failure, and we hope some good was done.
I had, in this period of time, while I was traveling as missionary, a very good revival at Bradyville, Page county, Iowa. Elder Seay was holding a meeting and sent for me, and I went. They had some interest, but it seemed that they could not get manifest as they wished.
The first night, at the close of the sermon, I gave an invitation for all who wished to
become Christians and desired the prayers of the church to come forward.
I recollect a Sister Blackford, who had been a member of the church for a good while, but had never spoken in a meeting or taken an active part in the cause, but she became so awakened and revived that she got to talking in every meeting about the cause of Christ or her soul's salvation, and how she was interested about the salvation of the people; and she was astonished at herself, and enjoyed the meetings so much better than she ever did before. She was happy in doing her duty as she never was before. She was very inspiring, and a great help to the work. She lamented that she never had taken an active part in the work before. She enjoyed the work so well, and did a great deal of good in the cause by her earnest efforts, but it was not long after the meeting closed she took sick and died, in the triumphs of a living faith in Christ. It was the best revival they had ever had there.
I recollect another interesting lady that came out in that work and united with the
church. She was a large lady, and was a cripple in her feet, so she had
Now I come back to the time where I left off in in my last year in Iowa; that is, to
the next meeting after Brother Hildreth and I had such trouble in our meeting at
Hopeville. I went from there and commenced a protracted meeting soon after that at
Plattville, Taylor county, Iowa. That church was in a very low state, but there were
some there that were anxious for me to come there and hold a meeting. I went, but it was
under unfavorable circumstances. As we progressed in the meeting quite an interest began
So I concluded I would talk to her about the matter.
I carried out this conclusion. I went there the next morning and told my wife what we
would do if
We regretted very much to leave Iowa and our missionary work, and kind friends that had treated us so well, but it seemed to be duty at that time, and it turned out to be so, as we think right and best, for the cause of Christ in general, for her father did die in a few months after we got there, so we had the privilege of staying with him the last months of his life, and was with him in his last sickness and death. We believe he died in the triumphs of faith in Christ.
Four churches called me to preach to them once a month, and we stayed in Indiana a little over six years, and gave myself wholly up to preaching, and we had the greatest success that we ever had. About six hundred joined the churches, mostly new converts, in which I preached, in about six years, so after all it seemed that it was a Providence of God in calling us back to Indiana, to our old native home.
Now I shall give a brief narrative of the work we
That old Little Blue River Church that had stood so nobly and had done so much good, as
I wrote in a former chapter, had made a very great mistake, and by bad management it had
gone down to a wonderful extent, and seven years before this time had divided into two
churches, and had been that way for seven years when I got there. It was done by
politics and some other things, by some of the leading brethren. They had voted and did
dissolve the church seven years before this, of two hundred members or more. One party
organized a new church and called it the Union Township Church; the other party held to
the old organization, and contended that they were the church; so they were thus divided
several years, and this year, 1863, I think in May, the Union Township Church called me
as their pastor, as they had no pastor at that time, so I took the
The war was upon us at that time very severely, and the churches and cause of religion
were very low indeed; these churches that I had just commenced preaching to were in a
very low state, and some ministers told me that nothing could be done till the war was
over, but I did not believe them, for I had just come from a glorious revival in Iowa,
and I thought there could be revivals there if the war was going on, if we, as
ministers, would preach right and work in the Spirit of Christ, as we should. Sure
enough we did, for I, had some of the best revivals that year that I ever had. I
commenced with these churches as I have mentioned, in the fore part of the year 1863,
and I had this same year, some of the best revivals, and most additions that year of
most any year before. My journal shows that there were one hundred and eighty-four
additions to the churches
I now give a narrative and some of the particulars of the work. I commence with my old
Little Blue River community, as I was preaching for the Union Township Church in that
neighborhood once a month. I was well acquainted with most all, for I had been raised
amongst them, and they knew me well. Now this division that they had there had been a
pest and distress to the baptist cause in all that county. Most everyone knew that there
was a great wrong somewhere. Elder John Reece was the pastor of the other church, that
is, the old Little Blue River Church, and he and I were good friends, and we both
believed about alike about the difficulty in many respects, and thought if we could get
them together and settle the difficulty, that it was what we would do as soon as we
could. So, with this idea of it, we preached and labored. Brother Reece was not well a
good part of that year, and was not very regular in his attendance, but here were the
two churches. Had these church meetings in the one house half of the time each, and so
prejudiced against each other, that hardly any of them would go to the other's meetings,
and neither of the churches had done hardly any good all these seven years that they
were apart. Very few conversions took place in the community. But strife and contention
were
They had meeting the next day and night, which was Friday, and I went home with some of the friends of the old church that night, and told them of my feelings, and desire, and plan, and that I firmly thought it was just the thing to do, and they would be in for it.
The next morning I went to see Elder J. Phares who was one of the preachers of the old church, and told him of my plan and desire to get these two churches together, and he said it would not do for his people; he said he knew they would not do. I told him they might, and I believed it would be best to try that thing.
I was with them in their meeting that day and night, and the next day was our church
meeting, and I invited them all to come out to our meeting. Several of them came and we
had a good-feeling meeting. Several talked in the meeting. I then advised our church
what to propose to do. That was to pass a resolution in their church meeting now, on
condition that the other church would have a called meeting next Tuesday, and pass the
same resolution; that
Our church passed the resolution, and Brother John Phares agreed and called a meeting of the old church on the next Tuesday to see if the old church would do it. I went right along with the meeting Saturday. Several came forward for the prayers of the church, I believe as many as twelve or fourteen earnest seekers of religion. Things looked favorable to have them settle the troubles and come together again.
I preached on Sunday on the one church. How desirable it was for them all to unite in
one church, and there was quite an interest in the meeting, and several came forward
that night again for prayers. A good revival was started. I announced the meeting of the
other church on Tuesday, and we would meet as a church at the same time. Tuesday morning
came, and it was said that there were nearly a thousand people on the ground to see what
was going to be done. Everybody seemed anxious about it, so I sent for Elder Ames, of
Shelbyville, to be with us and assist in the work. The old church organized for business
and invited Brother Ames to act as Moderator. They
The church has done well most all the time ever since. They have had revivals nearly every year; had a good revival last winter, with a good many additions. It is doing well now. The community has improved in most every respect and is getting along well together. They called me for their pastor and I preached for them some three years, and they did well. Had another good revival the next year, with several additions. My son, Joseph C. Smith, was converted and baptized, with several others. It is the greatest place for people to go to meeting I ever saw; it is a good place.
A good many of the young people were converted and united with the church. Great good has been done in that community by the preaching of the gospel, as I have shown before in my former chapters. I think it to be still a prosperous church, from what I hear.
I was preaching to the Sugar Creek Church at the same time, and we had a good revival
there—several
Then I went to Pennsylvaniaburg, having heard they were without a pastor, and my time
not being all taken up yet. I got there Saturday night about midnight, to Brother
Charles Perine's, the clerk of the church. I was an entire stranger to them all. Some of
them had heard of me. I had no recommendation from any one. On Sunday there was an old
brother to preach who lived in the community, and he asked me to preach, so I did, and
then had meeting at night. They told me if I would come back next Sunday they would see
one another and talk the matter up and let me know if they would want me. I went back
accordingly and they were somewhat particular, and one deacon asked me if I had any
papers or recommendations to show something of my standing. I said I did not think to
bring them with me; I generally let people judge of me from my ways and appearances.
They were strangers to me, and that was all right for them to inquire. I could have
brought my credentials and recommendations with me if I had thought of it. It made no
difference, for I went on to the meeting and I preached, and they had a little church
meeting and called me for one year to preach once a month. I went to work for them and
they were to pay me one hundred dollars for that much of the
It was a grand meeting. The church was much revived, and a great deal of good was done.
I recollect it was a very cold day when the converts were baptized, but they went
forward smilingly, and the ice and snow did not seem to be in their way. They all got
along well, and we had a good time at the water when the converts were baptized. I
remember a young man, though he was a married man—Washington Bowers—who was
a school teacher, and it was said he was a little inclined to unbelief in religion. His
wife was a member of the church. He came to the meeting at first very much unconcerned.
I think he did not expect to get interested in the subject of his soul's salvation, but
he soon became awakened and deeply convicted, with many others, and the meeting went on,
and some became converted, and he got so much interested that he came forward for the
prayers of the church, with several others, and there was earnest prayer for him and
others to be converted. He was soon happily converted, and had a bright evidence of it.
He came right out and told his experience and joined the church. I had the privilege of
baptizing him, with a good many of his associates. I think his father-in-law was
converted and baptized at the same time. Brother Bowers went right to work in the cause,
and was a
In which I give a Brief Account of the Preaching and Revivals that I Labored in During the Period of Five Years, Commencing January I, 1865, and Ending the Last of December, 1869.
In the former chapter I gave an account of my preaching and labor in revivals in the
period of five years, ending the last of December, 1864. In this chapter I give a brief
account of my preaching and labor in revivals for the period of five years, ending the
last of December, 1869. At the commencement of this period, I see from my journal, I was
still pastor and preaching for the Little Blue River Church, Pipe Creek, Rossburg and
Sugar Creek Churches. I labored the first year of this period with some success in the
work. I see from my diary that fifty-five joined these churches that year. Seventeen of
them I baptized, and had three special revivals, one at Pleasant Grove Church in Rush
county, Indiana, about five miles north of Rushville. I went there to assist Elder Hazen
in a protracted meeting. It was a little church that had just come out from the
anti-mission church that had been located in that neighborhood for many years, and there
were some that believed
This year I finished my work with the Rossburg church; had been preaching there about
two years, with good meetings most of the time, and we had a good revival there that
year. I recollect at some of my last meetings we had a good revival work, and some
conversions and baptisms. I closed with this church with a revival interest and some
baptisms. I had a pleasant time with them most all my pastorate, and I regretted to
leave them, but I was called to another field of labor, and had to leave off preaching
to them this year. I remember that I was still preaching at Sugar Creek Church, and went
up to Pleasantview of afternoons, Sunday, to preach to them some of the time. This was
an old broken-down church; though it had once been a prosperous church, it was now
almost broken-up by removals and other
At the time of this revival, I was living on Little Blue Rver on my father-in-law's
farm—the old homestead. I moved there from Shelbyville in the spring, 1864, and
lived there till the next spring, 1865. I then moved down on my father's old farm on
Little Blue River where I was raised from a boy eight years old. We stayed there from
March till September, 1865. In this month, I think it was, we 10
When we moved there, there were but two Baptists in the place that we knew of. We moved in September, 1865. We commenced work in this new place, and lived and preached in that part of the country about four years. We had the greatest success in revival work, additions to the churches, and organizing and building churches that we ever had had. We had about twenty revivals of religion in this time, that is, these four years that we lived at Acton, and over four hundred joined. Two hundred and eight joined the churches that I was preaching to in this part of the county in one year, and they united with the different churches. This past year I baptized one hundred and fifty-three new converts. We organized three new churches and built four meeting-houses, three of them brick and one frame. We had greater success and prosperity in the cause than any other year in our lives before, at least.
Now I will proceed to narrate and give the particulars of the work. I will commence at Acton. The first year after we went there, before I moved to Acton, I preached a few times at night. I would go from the Pleasant View church, at which I would preach in the afternoon, and at Acton at night. The first time I preached there, there seemed to be a good attendance and attention. It was a new thing for a Baptist preacher to preach there, for the Presbyterians and Methodists had held the place from the beginning of the town, I suppose. They had good meeting-houses. I preached the fist night in the Methodist church, and gave out the next appointment at that church. As I went to Sugar Creek on Friday or Saturday, I rode with the presiding elder. He was going to Acton to hold a quarterly meeting. I told him that I had an appointment at his church, and if he did not stay that night to give it out that I would. He said he would. He did not stay, nor did he give out my appointment; so we went to the Methodist church, and it was not opened for me. I don't know whether it was intended or not; I rather think it was not, but the preacher had neglected to give it out, any way.
There were with me some Presbyterians, and they said their house could be opened for me
to preach, so they went and rang the bell, and in a few minutes
We had a meeting every day and night for two weeks, and had one of the best revivals
that was ever held in that place. The Methodists and Presbyterians came out at first,
but afterward almost quit coming to the meetings. Several of their children and friends
were converted and joined the Baptist church. Every day and night through that week we
had conversions and additions to the Baptist church, so that on Saturday of the first
week of the meeting we had eighteen new converts for baptism, while a good many in the
country came out as Baptists. We concluded to organize a Baptist church there, and we
had the Pleasant View Church to be with us, and the assistance of several ministers. We
organized a Baptist church, with about forty members. The first week of the meeting, and
directly after we got through with the organization, I baptized eighteen new converts,
and all of them went into the organization. We had a grand time at the baptism of these
new converts. I spoke some on the subject of baptism at the water, and the Methodist
preacher was there, and it offended him so much that he got up at the night meeting and
So the revival work went on with great success that week. One lady, who was one of the
leading members of the Methodist church, and her daughter, united with the Baptists, and
were baptized. A good many prominent citizens united with us in this meeting. It was a
grand revival week; the whole community was interested in it. Three blacksmiths were
converted and baptized, and a great change was wrought in the entire community—the
greatest ever know in that part of the country. The meeting
Now, when we got through with this meeting, we went right to Bethel Church, four miles
north-east of Acton, and held a protracted meeting there. I had been preaching there as
pastor only three or four months. The church was in a wonderful low state, when I
commenced there; they had an old dilapidated house of worship, and the cause of the
church was very nearly gone down, but we commenced the meeting there and went to work in
earnest to revive the church and cause in that section, and we had the greatest revival
that was ever known in that community, in some respects, at least. The meeting lasted
about two weeks, and ninety-five united with the church in that short time-almost all
new converts. I recollect that on the first Monday night of the meeting, a young man who
had attended the Acton
A great many young men and young ladies were among the converts. It attracted the young
people wonderfully. They came to the meeting, instead of
I recollect a circumstance that took place in the meeting, of special interest. It was in the case of a young man who, after the meeting closed, came forward to ask us to pray for him. The congregation was leaving for home and most all had left the house, but we at once went to praying for him, and singing. Some heard it and several came back and we continued praying and singing until he and three other young men were happily converted right there, and we had the happiest meeting I most ever had in my life. It was a heavenly time, and we were all blessed and made happy. I think all four of these young men came right out and made a profession. It was one of the greatest revival works that ever was in that country. The church was wonderfully revived and blessed. I recollect that a good many were converted and joined the Baptist church that the Christians or Campbellites were expecting to get. This revival continued for some time after the meeting closed, and I would baptize some new converts most every time I went there for some time afterwards.
The church went right to work and built a fine brick house of worship and paid for it
easily, and has
I see from my journal that there were over one hundred joined that church that year, and eighty-seven I baptized as new converts. Most all the prominent citizens in the community belong to the Baptist church in this place, and it has been made a working church. From its low state it has been raised to a state of prosperity. Some united with the church most every year that I preached to them. It was a great place for the people to come to meeting. They kept up a good prayer meeting and a flourishing Sabbath-school, and the people of Bethel Church always treated me well, and I most always enjoyed the meetings with them well, and I shall always remember the meetings we held there, and the people, with pleasure and delight.
Now, I go back to Acton, where I left off. It was at the close of the first protracted
meeting, the organization of the church and closing of the first two
My journal shows that I preached and labored in seven revivals this year—one at
Sugar Creek, four miles from Acton. I had been preaching for them two or three years
before this, and this year we had an excellent revival, with several conversions and
additions to the church. This was one of the oldest
Old Brother Madison Morgan had lived here a good many years and worked hard for this church and community, and was quite a pillar in this church, and we think did a good work in the cause here in this neighborhood.
Deacon Norval lived here in this church and community for a good many years, and was a good worker in the place, and was always ready and willing to encourage the preaching of the Gospel, and help on with his means, and aid in the good work.
White Morgan, a son of Madison Morgan, had just come home out of the army and had a
hard time in the war, for he had been kept in Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, for
several months, and came very near starving to death. Here it was that he professed
religion, and was a member of this church before he went into the army; but his going to
the war did not lead him back into the world, but it seemed to keep him close to the
cause of Christ. He went to work in this meeting and became revived wonderfully, and it
seemed to help to revive every one. He would talk and pray very feelingly, so much so
that it made a deep impression on the minds of many. He would tell of how badly he was
treated in the prison, and how he trusted in God, and how
I continued to preach on for them some five years, and we generally had a good time every year. Though there were not so many additions as there were to some other churches, a good work was done, we believe, at Sugar Creek. I am glad I had the privilege of working with them in the cause, so pleasantly. They treated me very kindly, and we got along well with them in this good work.
I had this year an excellent revival at Pleasant View Church. This church had become
almost extinct when I commenced preaching there, about two years before this. I went
from Bethel to Pleasant View to hold a protracted meeting, after the special revival
that I mentioned at Bethel, and the same revival spirit manifested itself here very
soon, in this meeting, that was in the other revivals. Some of the brethren and friends
had been attending these other revival meetings, and some of them were converted there,
so we had the fire of these revivals to commence with again at Pleasant View, and these
meetings continued for several days, and we had a general revival work. Quite a large
number were converted
The fall previous to these revivals, and after we moved to Acton, we had quite a revival meeting at Little Blue River. I recollect of getting Brother Essex to help me in a meeting, and Joseph C. Smith, our sun, went over to the meeting with me. He had just come out of the army, and was very much hardened in sin, and did not seem to care for religion; but he went to this meeting, and we had considerable of a revival. Several were converted, and Joseph became convicted and came forward for the prayers of the church; he soon professed conversion, and came out and joined the church there. So I had the privilege of baptizing him, with several others. We had a glorious revival work at Little Blue River.
This same year Brother Essex and I went to Mud Creek and held a protracted meeting with
the church at Slabtown. This was one of the oldest churches in all that country. Old
Father Hurst, a Baptist preacher, settled here in Indiana in a very early day and built
quite a Baptist church, calling it Mud Creek Church. He was a good preacher, and did a
This year was one of the most prosperous of my life's work, at any place. So from the
account of it, you see that I have had seven special revivals this year, with two
hundred and eight additions to the churches-one hundred and fifty-three of them I
baptized, new converts; and organized two new churches—Acton and
Brookfield—and assisted in the building of three good brick meeting houses in this
field, costing, in the aggregate, about nine thousand
Now, this next year—that is 1866 and 1867—I find I was preaching to the
same churches as last year—Acton, Brookfield, Bethel, and Pleasant View. We had
precious revivals this year, in almost, if not all, these churches that had revivals
last year. There were some additions in most all, but not so extensive as the last year,
though the spirit kept up well. We worked and labored on the church houses this year,
and they were most all finished during 1867; and there was more temporal work done, and
they all
I noted that it was in this year, 1867, I assisted in a protracted meeting at old Big
Blue River Church, in Shelby county, Indiana. Brother Essex, who was pastor, had been
preaching there some time, and they had not had a revival work there for a long period,
and they were in a very low state, and the young people had grown up without religion.
So, under all the unfavorable circumstances, we commenced the meeting, and Brother Essex
would have me do most all the preaching. The people, and especially the young people,
were very careless and wild, and unconcerned at first; the meeting continued, in the
fore part of the week, some little interest was manifest and then it seemed to go down
until the second Sunday night of the meeting. Brother Essex went and filled my
appointments, and I stayed and preached for them; there was but little interest in the
meeting, but we felt hopeful till Sunday night; then there seemed to be a great
awakening, and several came forward for prayers, and they seemed to be deeply convicted,
and they were. So the next day, when Brother Essex came back, it was just before the
close of the meeting, quite a number were forward for prayers, earnestly seeking
religion, and the interest began to be very
The Methodists, who had a meeting-house within about a half-mile of the Baptist Church, commenced a meeting immediately after ours closed, and they continued it till they had a great revival. It just came right out of the Baptist revival work. Some fifty-one joined their church, and, it was said, forty-nine of the fifty-one were immersed for their baptism. They had a happy time even at the river, obeying Christ fully in baptism. So the revival work that commenced with the Baptist protracted meeting had a powerful effect on the entire community, and great good was done.
In the spring of 1867 I had been preaching out in what was called the Jackson Joice
neighborhood, about six miles east of Acton. I just preached of evenings through the
week, once a month, and there became some special interest in these meetings, and some
professed conversion; and in considering the matter and the cause in that community, as
there was
So I went out to my appointment and there seemed to be something of an opposition, and
some things looked as though they were not going to get along together very well, and
there was some difference of opinion about the organization; but I preached on Sunday or
Sunday night, on the church question; then we proceeded to organize a Baptist church,
but it was with some little difficulty that some would unite, but we succeeded and got
the church organized, and got it named the East Union Baptist Church. We had felt that
there was a good prospect for a revival at the last meeting, but we had so much caviling
and difference of opinions about the organization, that we became somewhat discouraged;
and the weather was so bad that night that few came out to
I recollect old Brother :Nichols and his wife, who were about sixty years old. They had never made a profession before. They were both clearly converted in this meeting. I baptized them, with several young converts, and they made faithful and devoted Christians. They have both died since, and I trust are in Heaven now.
A grand work was done, and we all felt happy over the results. The revival spirit
continued in that church for a long time. I preached for them over two years, and we had
a good time, and they
The next year we had another glorious revival work there. I recollect the weather was
very unfavorable, and when it was bad, rainy weather in that neighborhood it was
difficult getting about, for it was swampy, low land, and very muddy. I recollect riding
to the meeting and having to get off and hitch my horse a half-mile from the house. It
was so muddy that I could not get along on horseback, so had to leave my horse and get
along on logs, "cooning it," as we called it, through the swamps; but none of these
things moved us. We continued this protracted meeting—I think it was in March,
1868—and the people would come out, and a revival began to be manifest. It seemed
to commence among a large family connection named Means, and a great many of them were
converted. They were a very respectable and extensive family. They were old settlers in
that community, and they had a good deal of influence over each other, and they were
blessed. I recollect that the day we baptized it was disagreeable weather, and we had
sixteen converts to baptize, and I think more than half of them were of the Means
family. They were prominent and good people. I had a very bad and disagreeable cold, and
my voice had failed me to a great extent, and I was somewhat
Now this revival extended to London, a little town on the railroad about three miles
distant. I held a few days meeting there, and we had an excellent revival work. Quite a
number of souls were converted and united with the different churches nearest to them. I
recollect the converts generally were the prominent citizens in that community. I
baptized several converts at that meeting, and a good work was done there in the cause
of Christ. This revival work was felt
I recollect a young Englishman who professed conversion and joined the church, and was
baptized. He made an active worker in the cause. He was faithful as long as I knew him;
he seemed to be a devoted Christian. There were some of the hardest cases converted in
this meeting at Acton. I remember a man from the country who hardly ever attended
meeting at all, came in and was deeply convicted at once, and requested the prayers of
the church and was soon happily converted to Christ, and came right out and united with
the church and was baptized, and it was
Now, this brings us up to the last year in this sixth chapter. We had a good work this last year for I baptized twenty-three persons. This year we preached in several revivals, and there were some united with most all of my churches, and they were all doing well in these places in the churches.
This sixth chapter shows that in this period a great work has been done, as much or
more than in any other period of five years of my preaching, in a good many respects, at
least. It shows that I have preached and labored in about twenty special revivals,
In which I Give an Account of my Preaching and Labors in Revival Work for the Period of Five Years, Ending the Last Day of December, 1874.
In the sixth chapter of this book I gave an account of my preaching in revival work in that period of time, of five years ending the last of December, 1869. In this chapter I give an account of my preaching and labor in revival work for the period of five years ending the last day of December, 1874.
At the commencement of this period, January 1, 1870, I find that we were living at Bedford, Taylor county, Iowa, and pastor of the Bedford and Clarinda churches, preaching half of the time to each one of them.
We moved back from Acton, Indiana, to Bedford, in July, 1869, at the call of the
Bedford church, an old church that we organized in December, 1854, and had preached
there for several years, but we had been back in Indiana, preaching about six years, as
we have related in our former chapter. We left Acton the fifth day of July, 1869, and on
our way we came by my brother's, David Smith, in southeastern
Some revival interest was manifest in the meetings. One Christian lady got shouting
happy, and others were deeply interested in the meetings. Some of our friends that we
had been acquainted with in Indiana, came about forty miles to see us and be with us in
these meetings. We had a pleasant time. After staying there about two weeks, my brother
took us up to Paola, to the railroad, about one hundred miles distant, and then we took
the cars for Bedford, and when we got to St. Joseph, as there was no railroad
We were warmly received by our old neighbors and friends, to whom we had preached from
the organization of the church in the town of Bedford. We went to work preaching and
laboring for that church and the Clarinda church. The old church had run down
considerably, and was in a low state, but it was not long till our prayer-meetings were
of great interest, and signs were manifest of a revival work in the old church. Soon
after we got there they gave us a fine donation of over one hundred dollars. They had a
good supper and invited all, and there was a general turn-out of the people. I think
there were twelve preachers of the different denominations there. We had prayers,
religious speeches, and a good meeting of general interest. It was an expression of good
feeling toward us in our coming back that was interesting to us, indeed. They took in
for us in cash about one hundred dollars, besides a good many provisions and other
things were donated. I recollect conversing with several on the subject of religion.
They expressed great interest in it and were
We thought the prospect was good for a revival, as some had asked for the prayers of
the church ; but the first time that he preached, it seemed somehow that a gloom came
over the meeting, and we all felt discouraged,
I recollect Brother John Evans, a member of this church, and an ordained preacher; he
got so deeply interested in the work that he could not rest day or night. Several of his
children were not professors of religion, and he went in the night to his oldest son's
house, and talked with, and prayed, and urged him to seek salvation; and God wonderfully
blessed him in his work, and gave him success. Three of his sons were converted in the
meeting, and some of his daughters, and I think, all the family who were old enough,
made a profession, and came out in the cause. Our daughter, Electa Smith, professed
religion in this meeting and united with the church. I baptized her with a good many
others. The work went on powerfully, and the whole town and community
I recollect our son, Joseph C. Smith, who was a professor, was so awakened and revived
so much that he worked hard for the conversion of his associates. He went out four miles
with a family to pray and talk with them in their family prayer. They all prayed, and
the man and his wife both professed the next day and joined the church. They had both
been raised up and were Quakers, but I had the privilege of baptizing them both. Several
colored people were converted and professed in this work. The meeting went right along
for six weeks without intermission. It was one of the best and most extensive revivals
that ever was in that part of the country. One hundred and three joined the Baptist
Church, and a great many of them were prominent citizens in the town and country. They
have made faithful and useful members of the church, and are doing a noble work in the
cause of religion. I recollect that the Universalists became enraged against the
meeting, and fell out with some of the preaching, because we preached of Heaven for the
righteous, and a hell for the wicked. It was said, and I believe it was true, that
several of
So they, then and there, got up a subscription and handed it around and started it, and
they signed from one hundred to two and three hundred dollars, till they raised about
fourteen hundred dollars that night. So they went to work and got an old Universalist
preacher to come and preach to them and organize a church, and commenced to build in
spite of all others, it seemed. But the sequel will show what it was. They went to work
to build a Universalist church, and two men that were able, as was thought, took the
responsibility, to a great extent, and they built a good frame church house. It turned
out that these two men had most all to pay for it, as some of those men who signed their
two hundred dollars that night backed out and refused to pay it. So they sued one of the
men, and when he found he would have to pay it they compromised by paying part of it. So
the whole thing became an entire failure, for they had to sell the church to pay the
debts on it. The Presbyterians bought it, and this ended Universalism, to a great
extent, in the town of Bedford. They have no
This revival made a great change in the town and community. Before this meeting, drinking and intoxication had become very prevalent. An old settler had a saloon and the people patronized it to such an extent, and he had so much custom, that it was said he did not have time to leave his place of business to go and get his dinner, and he had to bring it with him. So it was evident he was making money to a great extent. He got to coming to the revival meeting several times, and he seemed to be serious, and we believe he was awakened to some extent, at least. Most all of his customers were converted, and they determined not to go near his saloon any more, so that after the meeting, his custom was so cut off that he actually had to, and did quit the business entirely, and the town and community became a temperate place to a great extent.
I remember the case of a lady who was afflicted and unable to attend the meetings. She
became convicted and converted at home, through the influence of the
We had a festival in this church house while we were building it, just after it was
enclosed, on Christmas, 1871. It was a grand thing for the church, socially and
financially, for in the afternoon and night we cleared one hundred and seventy dollars.
It helped us very much. The first winter after it was dedicated, that is the winter of
1873, we had a revival interest, with several conversions and some baptisms. In the year
1873 I closed up my labors as pastor of the Bedford church. During these three years of
my pastorate there, I preached half of my time at Clarinda Church, about twenty miles
west of Bedford, at Clarinda, the county seat of Page county. They had had a difficulty
there in that church, and it
I preached for them about three years, and they rose up from the eleven to about
seventy members. We had good meetings, and one special revival in which about forty were
added to the church. The meeting lasted about four weeks, and it was a glorious revival
work. It raised up the church to a state of prosperity and success. The other church
held the house, and had at first over one hundred members, and it declined, and ours
rose up till it was full as strong in members and interest as theirs, and the pastor
quit preaching for them, and they got into difficulty and
During this period, January, 1872, I think it was, I had another at Peace Church,
Missouri, and had some revival interest. I baptized seven converts there in the next
year after this. In 1872, I held, with others, a protracted meeting at Smithfield,
Missouri, of about two weeks; we had a glorious revival. They had no organization of a
church of any kind. We had a fine revival work. I baptized twenty new converts, and
organized the Smithfield Baptist Church with about forty members, as a result of the
meeting. They went to work and had a good Sabbath-school, and did well for a long time,
and have built and paid for a good church house, and have had several revivals in it,
and a great many have professed conversion in that community. Though they have had
Now in this period, in 1872, the Iowa Southwestern Baptist Association met at Viliska,
Iowa. They appointed me as their missionary. I accepted it and went to work for the
association with some considerable success. I see from my journal that I had some six
special revivals, and seventy-four additions to the churches. I recollect that my first
revival this year was at a little town called Memory, Iowa. I assisted Brother Ellis in
a protracted meeting for about two weeks. We had a fine work, all things considered, and
a good many conversions and baptisms. There were nearly twenty additions to the church.
It was in a very low state when we commenced the meeting, but it was greatly revived and
encouraged. Brother Ellis, who was pastor, did the baptizing. It was an excellent work,
and a larger interest was taken in it than ever before. A good work was done, and the
church was very much built up and prospered. It did well for some time. My next revival
was at Harlin, Shelby county, Iowa, where my old pastor lived, the one who baptized
me—Elder Joshua Currier. They sent for me to come and hold a protracted meeting
with them at their county seat. So I went up there in November, 1872. It was very cold
weather when I went, and it continued cold all the
Brother Lambert was pastor at this time. He worked hard, for it was a hard place to
work. Brother Currier and his wife labored hard, and attended most all of the meetings
and worked well. At length some interest began to manifest itself. We would have prayer
meeting every afternoon, and at night preaching. One afternoon, while we were in the
prayer meeting, there was a man in his corn-field gathering corn, and while there alone
at his work, he was suddenly struck under conviction, so much so that he came to the
meeting that night for the first time. We could see that the man was serious, so we
talked to him. He said he was interested and desired to be a Christian; so he came
forward for prayers that night, with a deep feeling of conviction, with several others
who were deeply convicted and seemed to be earnest seekers of salvation. He told how he
had been convicted, all at once, in his corn-field
Our next revival for this year was at the West Nodaway Church, Paige county, Iowa. This church had nearly gone down, and they desired me to go there and hold a protracted meeting. I went and preached about two weeks for them. We had some considerable revival interest. Several professed conversion; the church was very much revived and built up, and a good work was done. Some joined the church and were baptized, and some of them had been members of other churches. It was an excellent good meeting for that place.
I went next to Sciola, and held a meeting for several days. Elder Roe was pastor of
that church and wanted me to assist him in a meeting; as I went by his house, his wife
was sick and he could not go. I went on and commenced the meeting. He had had some
revival there the month before, so now we went to work and we had a noble revival. When
he came it was doing well. He could not stay but a short time till he had to go back to
his sick wife, and after he left a new interest was awakened, and several were converted
and joined the church. We had a happy time. I recollect that a very large and
influential man joined the church and came out in the work. They were very much
delighted with some of the old
My next revival this year was at Sidney, Fremont county, Iowa. When I came here from
Sciola I had a letter from Sidney, requesting me to come immediately and hold a
protracted meeting. That was in February, 1873. I went immediately, and when I got there
I found the church had nearly gone down, and had not held meetings for a long time. Some
difficulties and trouble were in the church, and all seemed to be discouraged and felt
that nothing could be done; but I had faith that something could be done, so I went to
work in earnest—had meetings day and night for about two weeks. At first very few
attended the meetings, and but little interest manifested itself; but I would have my
talk in conference meetings, till at last we had a grand breakdown of heart and
confessions all around, and all wept like children. It was a good time, and the revival
began, the old members began to come in, and soon interest began to be awakened and the
work was wonderfully revived. There were some conversions and additions to the church by
experience and baptism,
I commenced preaching for them all of my time, and had a very pleasant pastorate; had good meetings most all of the time we lived there-one year and a half. We had some special revivals in that church and community; the congregations became large and attentive during that time.
We had a very good revival in the Sidney Church the next winter, with several additions
by experience and baptism. The church was much revived, and old members who had been out
of this church were restored, and came back again. There was a general increase of
interest in the congregation and community. So the church that was, when we went there,
in a low state, was raised up to a state of prosperity. I preached most every Sunday
three times, morning and evening at Sidney, and in the afternoon in the country school
houses. I had an appointment in what was called the Lacy Grove school house. They
We also had an appointment at the Center school house. I preached on the Sabbath often to them in that community. I could see that there was some special interest in the meetings, so much so that in the summer of 1874 we had a protracted meeting there. We had a good revival work. The meeting lasted about two weeks, of evenings mostly. There was quite a special interest taken in it.
I recollect an interesting young man, who had been at the Des Moines Baptist College
attending the school, but was converted and baptized at the Des Moines Baptist Church,
and came home with a warm heart. He was interested in the salvation of his friends. He
would talk and pray in the meeting and exhort his friends to seek salvation and come out
in the service of God as he had done. It had a good effect in the community among his
friends. His father was
He would tell everyone he met what the Lord had done for his soul. He had a bright
evidence of his acceptance with God, which he never had before; and in the afternoon
meeting he met *me as I went into the house, and took me by the hand and said he was
ready to go with me now. He told me that the Lord had that morning converted him, and he
was happy, and would now join the church and be baptized. He talked in the meeting that
afternoon and told his experience; he said he had just been truly
The old Brother Chestnut and his wife were baptized. The old man got happy and praised
God at the top of his voice, and after he was baptized he walked on the bank of the
river and exhorted the people. It was very affecting; almost all wept like children. At
the other baptism the converts were happy. An old Methodist sister shouted on the bank
when her son was baptized. It was a glorious meeting. I shall always be glad that we had
this meeting at Center School-house, if it was an out-station from the Sidney Church,
for it was a meeting in which souls were converted, and I believe will be saved in
Heaven. Just that old man's conversion and baptism
We had a great temperance revival while we lived at Sidney. It was a place where drinking and saloon keeping was the order of the day, and a great many were in the habit of getting drunk, and drunkenness was carried on to a great extent. One man had kept a saloon there for over twenty years, and had become wealthy; he built him a fine brick saloon, and had it furnished nicely. He had made a great many drunkards in that town and community. So the first year we were there, the Methodist preacher came to me and suggested a temperance union prayer-meeting, and I at once said "Yes, I was in for that." So we appointed a meeting, first, one at the Methodist Church and the next one at the Baptist Church. We got Judge Day, one of the Supreme Judges of the Court, who was a temperance man, to attend these meetings, and explain the law. We sang, preached, prayed, and had the law explained. At the second meeting the saloon keeper, I think, was there, and the drug store men and all who sold whisky became alarmed, because the law positively forbid, and threatened a heavy fine on the very work that they were doing; and this old saloon man got so alarmed that he shut up his saloon for two weeks, and then finally opened only for the sale of beer and wine.
The drug stores did quit the business of selling whisky, and several men quit the cup and became sober men, and a great change was made in favor of the temperance cause in the town and community. It was said that there was less drunkenness there than there had been for twenty years before; a great work was done in the temperance cause, and it evidently began in the union temperance prayer meeting. It was carried to such an extent that a lady sued the old saloon keeper for making her husband a drunkard, and had an exciting trial in the Sidney Court for. about four days, resulting in a verdict in her favor, and he had to pay her five hundred dollars damages. It was said it cost him about one thousand dollars, and would have cost a great deal more, but he got a man on the jury that made the jury come down to five hundred dollars and costs. It is said that Sidney is a temperance town now to a great extent.
Now, in August, 1874, I received a letter from Brother Mintonye, of Osceola, Clark
county, Iowa, that they wanted me to move there and take charge of the Osceola Baptist
Church, which I had organized some ten years previous, and they were without a pastor.
The invitation was so urgent that I went up the first of September and preached a few
days, and they gave me a call and I accepted it, so after a year and a half of preaching
and work as pastor of the
We stored our goods in Osceola, and took our trip to Indiana and Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania. We were gone about eight weeks, and had a good time with my old friends
and churches, at Acton, Indiana, with some special revival work in that meeting,
resulting in some five or six additions to the church. I had the privilege of baptizing
some of them in the river at my old baptizing place some years before, near Acton, and
had a very happy and good meeting with them. The next two weeks we spent in preaching at
Brookfield, one of the churches that I organized, and where I had preached several
years. We had a glorious revival there, with twenty-four additions to the church. It was
a noble and glorious work. The church was wonderfully revived, and a good work was done;
most of them were new converts, and were baptized. "In these meetings some fine young
men and young ladies were converted and baptized. It was a happy time with us all. I had
the privilege of preaching in a good many of the churches that I used
I also preached at old Sugar Creek Church, where I ad preached for years before. It was good to meet with them once more. Then I preached several times at my old Little Blue River Church where I was raised and converted, and ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and where I had preached to them and labored with them for years as their pastor; where we had had many revivals together, and where I had got them together as one church, when they had been divided in two churches for seven years; and where one hundred and four united with them at the meeting when they came together in one church. We had a glorious time with them at the last Sabbath's preaching there. We had a great time, a good spirit was manifested and we were all happy. It was a glorious meeting with old friends once more, and it was the last with some.
My wife and Thomas and I went on from there to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to visit our
son-in-law and
I came back to old Bethel Church, Indiana, near Indianapolis, to hold a protracted
meeting. I preached for them about two weeks. It was one of the old churches that I
formerly was pastor of and preached in about four years. We had some of the best
revivals there that I ever had. It was there where ninety-three joined the church in a
two weeks' meeting. It was one of the oldest and best churches in that whole country,
where great good had been done in the cause of Christ. We had, at this time, a good
meeting for the church. I was happy to meet so many old friends that we used to work
with in the
My wife came back from Pittsburg at the end of the two weeks' meeting, and we visited
our friends on Little Blue River a few days; had a pleasant visit with them, and
preached our last sermon to them on Sunday, and had a happy time with them. It was
pleasant to preach in the same old church where I was first converted and joined the
church over thirty years before. It seemed to give new inspiration to look on the faces
of some that were with me in my beginning as a Christian, and with me when I first began
to preach the Gospel; who had given me aid and comfort in my first commencement of the
great work of life, preaching the Gospel of Christ to
I recollect a special revival work that I had in Iowa in this period that I have not given any account of. It is of some special interest, and I will narrate it here now. It was when I was preaching at Clarinda, Page county, Iowa. In 1871, or about that time, a young man came to me at a late hour of the night and requested me to come to his neighborhood, about fifteen miles distant, and hold a protracted meeting in his destitute community. He said he and his father had been members of the United Brethren Church, but they had concluded if I would come there and preach and organize a Baptist church they would unite with it. He said there were others that would go into the Baptist church, if they had the opportunity.
I felt it was a Macedonian cry, "Come over and help us," and I went and held the
meeting, and we had a fine revival interest. Several were converted and baptized, and we
organized a Baptist Church with some twelve or fifteen members. Special interest was
manifested and a good work was done, for Brother Ellis, the young man I spoke of, was a
married man, and his wife was a Baptist, for I had baptized her some years before. About
a month after the organization,
Now I came back to our starting from Little Blue River Church to our home in Osceola,
Iowa. We arrived at Osceola safe and all well, about the middle of December, 1874, and
commenced to preach there as we had agreed. We had good luck and got along well in all
of our visiting. I shall never forget the kindness and liberality of my old friends. It
cost us about one hundred and eighty dollars, that is the entire
In which I Give an Account of my Preaching and Labor in the Period of Five Years Commencing the 1st day of January and ending the 31st of December, 1879.
Now, at the commencement of this year, 1875, we are living at Osceola, Iowa, as pastor
of the Osceola Baptist Church, and also preaching at Vernal Baptist Church, about ten
miles southwest from Osceola, at a little town called La Salle. These two churches were
in a very low, cold, backward state, and the cause of religion was in a declined state
in this part of the county. My first revival in this field of labor was at La Salle,
Vernal Church, Clark county, Iowa. This church was in a very low state. Their house of
worship was not finished, and only temporary seats were provided. They had not had a
revival for several years of any note. The church had just gone through a good many
difficulties; but the time had come for a great change and a glorious revival. I took
charge of the church about the first of January, 1875, and commenced preaching in
earnest. I think in February, 1875, we commenced a protracted meeting. Although the
church was in a low down state, the
I remember one young married lady, who had never professed religion. She was converted
and came forward and told her experience and was received for baptism. Then the revival
began with power; all felt its influence to a powerful extent. We were encouraged to
believe that we would have a great work. So we did; the meeting lasted about five weeks,
and many souls were converted. The whole community was awakened and revived, the
congregation became large, day and night, and there was a great power in it. Conversions
were taking place every day, and some of the hardest cases in the community professed
religion and joined the church. The young people, most all in the neighborhood, became
converted and were baptized, and a good many old persons were converted. The meeting was
of great power and influence in the entire community. A great many backsliders were
restored, and great good was done in the entire community. It was the best and most
extensive revival that they had ever had in that part of the country. The church was
raised up from a destitute condition to a high state of success. A good many
I remember one Methodist family of about eight joined the Baptist Church. The children
who were not converted became interested specially; some of them experienced religion
and were converted, and joined the Baptist Church and were baptized, and their Father,
Brother Crawford, who had been a class leader, and had been licensed by the Methodist
Church to preach, but was in a somewhat cold state, came to the meeting and became
wonderfully revived, and was glad to see his children taking such an interest and become
converted in the Baptist Church, and being baptized, for we baptized some nearly every
Sunday during the meeting. The revival was going on with great power, and Brother
Crawford began to study his duty about being baptized himself, and joining the Baptist
Church. So he, after mature thought and examination of the subject, came to the
conclusion that immersion was the right way, and he came out and joined the Baptist
Church to be immersed. I had the privilege of baptizing him and his wife, and several of
the children. Brother Crawford came out happy, and is a good worker in the cause, and
was impressed to preach. The church licensed and ordained him to the work of the Gospel
ministry, and he has improved a great deal, and has been useful in preaching
I preached for them two years. We had another revival the second year, with several
conversions and additions. So for the two years there was a very good work done in that
community, and a great change for the good of the church and neighborhood, and over one
hundred joined the church there. I shall always
He went and preached in the morning at the Baptist
On Thursday night, after he was baptized at our church meeting, the church licensed him to preach the Gospel, and he soon received a call from two churches in Appanuse county, Iowa, and he went to work for them and was soon ordained by them, and he has made an able and successful preacher in the Baptist church, and is doing well, and is well pleased with his change.
I also had the pleasure of baptizing a prominent lawyer while I was at Osceola. I also raised while there six hundred dollars in notes and money to pay off their church debt. We also raised about two hundred and twenty-five dollars in cash, and bought and paid for a thousand pound bell, that was said to be the best in Iowa. So we are encouraged to the belief, and know that there was a good work done for the cause of Christ and the Baptists while we were at Osceola. Though it was a great sacrifice to us, yet the people treated us kindly, for which we are grateful to them.
The next revival that we notice was at the Banker School-house, about twelve miles
southwest from Osceola. This was an out-station from the Vernal
Now I notice the next revival at Smithfield, Mo. While I lived at Osceola, the Smithfield people requested me to come down to their church and hold a meeting with them, and be with them when the Spring River Association met at their place, as they had just finished their church house. That was in September, 1876. My wife had been there on a visit for four weeks, and I went to their association, and was with them and preached the first sermon in their new house of worship. I enjoyed the association well. They had me preach on the Sabbath, and at the close of the sermon, I gave an invitation for any one who wished to join the church to come forward. Seven united with them. We had a glorious revival meeting. They got me to take the collection for the associational mission, and they received over one hundred dollars for the mission work in the Spring River Association. We continued the meeting for about two weeks, and we had a glorious revival, with seventeen additions to the church, several of them by experience and baptism.
One old sister Alexander, who joined by experience, had never made a profession until
now. She obtained evidence and became satisfied of her conversion in this meeting and I
baptized her with several others. She was seventy-three years old. She was happy in her
baptism and got along as well
A good work was done, it was an excellent revival and gave great encouragement to the church, and the cause was built up greatly. When I left them they were doing well. They urged me very strongly to move down there, but when I went home the circumstances were such that I could not go.
My next revival was at Centerville, Iowa. Elder Edwards, who was pastor there, and who
had done nobly with his people, had just finished a parsonage and a good new house of
worship. He urged me to come there from Osceola and preach the dedication sermon and
stay and preach for them two weeks. So I went, an entire stranger to all but Brother
Edwards' family. All the other churches dispensed with their meetings that day. I found
a beautiful meeting house all nicely finished. They were about three or four hundred
dollars in debt for it and their parsonage. There was a large congregation gathered. I
preached and had quite a good attention. We took the collection and subscription and
raised more than the amount to pay the entire debt; had a glorious dedication service
and a great success in that meeting. All seemed to be well pleased. We continued the
meeting. I preached about two weeks, and we had
I had the privilege of meeting an old friend of mine, Brother Brand, who was my preceptor and teacher in Franklin College about thirty years before that time. We had a fine meeting together, and we enjoyed it well. It was pleasant to meet with such an old friend, especially in a blessed revival of religion as that was. The church and people treated me very kindly and paid me well for my work there.
The last year that I lived at Osceola I preached for the Bethesda Church, in Madison
county, Iowa, and also in Union Church a part of the time. We had some revival interest
at both places. The Bethesda
One thing that made the meeting interesting was the presence of Sister Ella Miller, whom I had baptized several years before and was now under an appointment as a foreign missionary to Burmah. She gave us some excellent talks and told her experience in being called to that work, which made a powerful impression upon the people. Her father and mother were present. He had been a successful preacher of this association for several years. It was a glorious associational meeting. Many were affected to tears, and the parting was a scene of great interest, as she was regarded as a pious, intelligent Christian worker by all who knew her; she was expecting in a short time to sail for Burmah to teach the glad tidings of salvation to the heathen. They gave her a good collection and pledged her our prayers and sympathies for her success in her chosen work.
Another thing that made the association interesting was the preaching and lectures of
Dr. Dunn, President of Pella College. He had traveled in the Holy Land, and was at
Jerusalem. He gave us in a lecture an account of that country, which was of great
interest to the large audience, and made the meeting interesting and pleasant. So we had
a good meeting of the East Grand River Baptist Association. It was the first
We moved from Osceola, Clark county, Iowa, to Smithfield the 28th day of September, 1877, and went to Sidney, Iowa, to visit our friends. I preached for them twice at Sidney on Sunday; had a good time with them, visiting our son Joseph and his family and many friends. We started from there on the 4th day of October, 1877, and arrived at Smithfield the next day, and commenced preaching and laboring with that church the first Sunday in October, 1877. I preached half of my time for them at Smithfield the first year, but was called and preached the other half at Carthage.
At Smithfield the first year we had some special interest and revival work. Twelve or
fifteen united with the church the first year; found some opposition
Next, I note that in November, 1878, we had a good revival meeting at Columbus, Kansas.
Brother Floyd, who was pastor there at that time, sent for me to come and assist him in
a protracted meeting at
Now we will notice an account of the work here at Carthage. In November, 1877, the
second Sunday, I took charge of the church here. It was in a very low state; they had
not had preaching for some time, and they had had great difficulties, so that the church
had almost gone down to nothing in influence and every thing else. So we commenced
preaching and laboring to raise it up again. The first year quite a favorable success
was made. We put new seats in the house and painted it nicely and it made a great
improvement in the looks and convenience of the house. The congregation began to
increase and something of
During this second year's work at Carthage we held a protracted meeting at an out-station about three miles southwest, at a school house, in which we had a good revival interest. Eight united with the Carthage Baptist Church, seven by experience and baptism. It was an excellent meeting and a good work was done, for we believe some souls were saved. At the end of this second year at Carthage, 1879, we had received in the two years seventy-three members in the Carthage Church, and there was a good prospect for others to come and unite with us.
Now we notice the next revival in August, 1879, at Newtonia. Brother Bowman, who was
pastor there, sent for me to come up and help him hold a protracted meeting at this
place; so I went and preached about two weeks, and we had an excellent revival. They
were in a very cold, backward state, but the Lord revived his work, and the church was
much encouraged, and good was done, souls were converted, and eleven united with the
church, most of them by experience and baptism. One lady who attended the meeting
Our next revival was at Pierre City, in October, 1879. Elder Bowman, who was pastor,
holding a protracted meeting there, sent for me by telegraph to come and help him in a
meeting, which was in progress there with some interest. The church had been in a very
cold state for some time. He and Brother Wheeler were protracting the meeting; so I
went, and though there had not been a very great interest, some had requested prayers.
The first night I was there eleven came forward for prayers, and a great interest was
manifest. They all seemed to be
I remember a young man who was so deeply awakened and impressed that he prayed out
aloud for mercy for some time, and when the meeting closed one night he could hardly
give it up and get away from the house; but a friend of his took him and we could hear
him pray most all the way to the house, and he prayed a good deal in the night and yet
was not blessed till the next day; at the close of the meeting, he told me that he felt
relieved and happy. He started home and got so happy that he praised the Lord aloud and
came some considerable distance to tell us that he was happily converted and that the
Lord had so wonderfully blessed him that he must come and tell us about it, and we all
got happy. He came out to meeting that night, and instead of mourning and praying and
weeping he was rejoicing and happy. Everybody could see such a wonderful change in him.
He came right out and told his experience and was received for baptism. He was a
promising young man. Several excellent young men were converted and baptized in that
meeting. Most all the community were awakened and interested. They had not had such a
revival there for a long time before. Twenty-five united with the church, most all new
converts, by experience and baptism. Brother Bowman
My next revival work which I notice was in the protracted meeting held in Barton
county, Mo., four miles south of Lamar, the county seat, in what is called the Forest
Grove, in the last weeks of November, 1879. I commenced laboring in the meeting on
Tuesday night before the third Sunday in November. There were several brethren and
sisters of my old friends and acquaintances in Indiana, to whom I used to preach and
labor in revival work there. They were anxious for me to help them in a meeting. I went
and preached about three weeks, and we had a glorious revival, with twenty-eight
additions to the church, mostly by experience and baptism. The circumstances at first
were discouraging. The first night it rained so that only five or six were out to the
meeting
I recollect an old man, over sixty years old, who had not been in the habit of attending church, and was considered a wicked man. He came to the meeting and became awakened and convicted, and came forward for prayers, and was wonderfully blessed the first time, and was made happy. He went home rejoicing, and the next night he and his wife came out to the meeting, and she became interested, and they both joined the church, and several of their children were soon converted and united with the church there. The revival went on with great power till the close of the meeting.
Elder Grubbs, who was pastor, had the privilege of baptizing several of his own
children who were converted and united with the church. So it was an excellent
The work is still going on well, for they have baptized several since the meeting
closed. I shall always remember them with pleasure and delight for their kind treatment
to me, for they paid me well for my time. It was a meeting of great pleasure and delight
to be with my old friends whom had I been acquainted and labored together with in
Indiana in former years. The next day after I closed this Barton county meeting, I
started to Bedford, Taylor county, Iowa, to the celebration of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Bedford Baptist Church, at Bedford, which I organized twenty-five
years before. They wished to have a reunion of the pastors and people and celebration on
the first Sunday of December, 1879. They requested me, as I was the first pastor, to
preach the celebration sermon. I went with great pleasure, expecting to have a grand
meeting, and so we did. I got there on Thursday before the first Sunday in December,
1879; was glad to meet with so many old friends. The first Sunday in December was the
day for the celebration; the house was full of interested people and a great many of my
old friends with whom I used to labor and work in the cause for seventeen years as
pioneers in Southwestern Iowa. Among them was my old mother, in
Elder John Evans, who was present, was with us in this pioneer work, and was successful
in doing good in that church and Southwestern Iowa. Elder Golding, an old pioneer worker
and preacher, was present with us, and had been pastor of this church, and is still
preaching and doing good in the cause in Southwestern Iowa, and Elder Seay, an old
pioneer preacher, was present, who had been pastor of this church. He and I had preached
together for several years in the first settling of this Southwestern Iowa. He is doing
a good work for the cause yet. He had felt such an anxiety to meet with us at that
meeting, that he walked fourteen miles to get there, and he was wonderfully blessed in
the meeting. Mr. Winsor, an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, who had worked with us in
the general pioneer work at Bedford and vicinity, was present and took an interesting
part in the services and did us all good in his warm and interesting speech in favor of
the cause. The programme and services of the entire day were highly interesting and
successful. First in the morning, at half-past nine, the Sabbath-school met, with
Brother
I had the privilege of giving a short talk about the origin and beginning of the
Sabbath work in that town in former years; had a good time. Then, at eleven o'clock,
their noble house of worship was filled to hear the anniversary sermon. I preached from
the text, "Praising the Lord and having favor with the people, and the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be saved." My subject was the organization of Christ's
Church by Christ at Jerusalem; gave a brief history of it up to the organization of it
in this country in 1638, at Newport, Rhode Island, by John Clark; then gave a brief
history of it up to the organization of the Bedford Church at Bedford, more than
twenty-five years ago, its success in Southwestern Iowa and all the world, showing that
we had reason to take courage and praise God. There was good attention, and good feeling
prevailed. It was a glorious meeting, and we all enjoyed it. At the close we had a grand
greeting of old friends; then in the afternoon we had a general experience meeting, and
a good many spoke. It was a happy time, and all seemed to be revived and blessed. Elder
Seay gave
Elder John Evans gave us an excellent account of his experience in the cause here at Bedford for over twenty years. It did us all good. He has been a successful worker in this church and community.
Brother Winsor, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, gave us an excellent talk, giving his experience in the work with us for over twenty years; spoke very favorably of the Baptist Church; told about helping us in our work when we did not know it till then. He is an old friend of mine. His speech did us all good.
Elder Roby, who is the present pastor, and has been for several years, gave his experience in the work here at Bedford. The church has prospered under his preaching.
I gave a short talk, telling some of my experience in the work at Bedford from its beginning. The exercises were interspersed with beautiful singing by the choir and congregation.
The time was too short for these interesting exercises. It was a glorious meeting. We
all were blessed and were almost shouting happy. All seemed to be blessed. We had a
blessed close with a hearty greeting and hand-shaking. Then, at night, Elder
Brother Roby, the present pastor, who has been a great success in that church, was leader and manager of the meeting, and followed Brother Seay in a nice speech, presenting, as a donation to me, a nice cake stand, which cost ten dollars, and a jewel casket and camp-kettle connected with it, reminding me of camp life in this new country when I came here, as a token of respect to me as the first pastor and organizer of the church. I made a short address in returning my thanks for their kindness. It was a surprise to me, for I did not know any thing about it till it was presented to me on the stand. It was a blessed meeting. I preached to them the next night and closed up this interesting quarter of a century of this noble church. It was one of the most interesting meetings we ever had together. It done us all good; the church and all were greatly blessed and is in a prosperous condition, having over two hundred members and doing a noble work for Christ. So this closed up my last meetings in the last five years ending December, 1879, in which I had preached in twenty revivals and baptized one hundred and fifty-one converts.
A Synopsis of the Preceding Pages which Gives a Particular Account of My Preaching and Work in Revivals for Thirty-five Years Ending the Thirty-first Day of December, 1879.
In this history or account I narrate something of my lifework up to the above date. I notice the date of my birth, which took place the 19th day of October, 1819, and my early life from childhood, showing that I grew up a wicked young man, without religious training, up to my twenty-second and twenty third years. The nineteenth day of December, 1841, I professed conversion in a revival held by Elder Joshua Currier, on Little Blue River, Shelby county, Indiana, in the twenty-third year of my age, and joined the Baptist Church, and was baptized by Elder Joshua Currier in a few days after my conversion, and the year afterward was licensed to preach. Then the year following, that is, on the thirteenth day of July, 1844, was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry by the Little Blue River Baptist Church, or the council they called for that purpose.
I have divided the work into periods of five years for the thirty-five years from the
time of my ordination,
My journal shows that I baptized thirteen hundred and forty of these new converts,
making an average of those I baptized of a little over thirty-eight new converts every
year for thirty-five years. Ten of
Stephen Clark, his brother, whom I baptized at Rossville, has been preaching for a good many years, and is a very useful man; has done a great deal of good in the cause of Christ. He lives in Clinton or Boone county, Indiana, and was still preaching the Gospel the last I heard of him.
G. W. Bowers, whom I baptized while I was pastor of the Pipe Creek Church, Pennsylvaniaburg, Ripley county, Indiana, has made an able and successful preacher, and has been useful in building up the cause in revival work in several places, and is still preaching and doing good in the cause of Christ.
James Young, whom I baptized while I was pastor at Little Blue River Church, Shelby
county, Indiana, has been preaching a good many years, and has been useful while in the
work, and was still preaching the
Brother Crawford, whom I baptized when I was pastor of Vernal Church, Clark county, Iowa, became useful in preaching, and had several revivals, and did a good work, and was still preaching the last I heard of him.
Brother Archer, whom I baptized when I was pastor at Osceola, Clark county, Iowa, made
a good preacher of the Gospel. He and Brother Crawford both came to us from the
Methodist Church. Brother Archer is now pastor of the Corridon Church, Wayne county,
Iowa, and is doing well in the cause. I baptized some others who are licensed preachers,
and who are hopeful of making good and useful ministers. In the preceding pages you will
find the particular accounts and incidents connected with, and circumstances of, some
remarkable conversions and answers to prayers in the special revival work in the
different States of Indiana, Iowa and Missouri, which I believe will be interesting and
useful to the readers of this book, and hope they may prove so. The means of doing good
is in the revival of God's people and leading souls to Christ and his salvation; and
that the people of God may ever continue to seek and pray and preach for the promotion
of revival work in the world; for that
An Article on and Narrative of the Primitive Revivals of Religion, how it is Obtained and Promoted, as Given by Christ and the Apostles.
Revival means a renewal of life or activity; so when we speak or write of a revival of
religion it means a renewal of spiritual life among Christians, and, as is generally
understood, the conversion of sinners and additions to the church such as shall be
saved, and a new interest in the cause of God. It is clearly manifest in the Old and New
Testaments that in all ages there have been times of revival of religion and declensions
in the history of God's people. The children of Israel had such a state of things among
them. They were revived when they started out of Egypt, then declined and discouraged at
the Red Sea; then, when God opened and divided the sea so they passed through on dry
land, they were revived and sang praises to God. All through the history of the children
of Israel, when they sinned or did wrong they declined; and when they would confess
their sins and pray to God and ask God's servants to pray for them, they would be
revived, as in the
So we have many such cases of the revival of God's cause in the Old Testament times.
Now we note something of the revivals that we have an account of in the New Testament;
the first under the preaching and labors of John the Baptist; for when he came preaching
in the wilderness of Judea, many went out to hear him, and when he preached to the
people saying to them to repent, and that they should believe on him that was to come,
that is, Christ, and should bring forth fruits, meet for repentance under his preaching,
a great revival took place, and we have reason to believe that hundreds were converted
under his preaching, and a glorious revival was enjoyed among the people. Then, when
Christ came and was
Pure Christianity was revived, and the people shout praises to Christ, and we have
reason to believe that hundreds were converted and followed him. The dead were raised,
the blind received their sight and the afflicted were healed. So the work of revival
went on with great success till Christ was betrayed into the hands of sinners; then
there seemed to be a declension; he was wickedly and unjustly tried before Pilate,
sentenced to be, and was crucified, died on the cross; then there seemed to be a
declension and gloom over his disciples till the third day, when he arose from the
grave. Then his people were revived again as he would meet with them and give
encouragement and evidences of his resurrection. He met with them several times and gave
the great commission to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every
creature, and he that believeth and is baptized shall
Now we have a new interest in revival work begun; now the disciples of Christ, after
the ascension of Christ, did as the Savior commanded them—went to Jerusalem and
assembled in a room where there were about one hundred and twenty disciples, and they
all continued in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and with his brethren in this meeting. After much prayer, it is said, they chose an
apostle in the place of Judas, who had betrayed Christ; then while they were engaged in
this prayer-meeting the day of Pentecost had fully come, and they were all, with one
accord, in one place, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a rushing, mighty
wind, and it filled all, the place where
Now, here is one of the first glorious revivals of religion after Christ's ascension. Thousands were converted, baptized and added to Christ's Church at Jerusalem, the mother church of all, and the only church of Christ in the world at that time.
Now we see from this example how the apostles, under Christ's direction and power,
carried on this revival work at Jerusalem, and Christ designed that in this or a similar
way his work should be continued till the end of time. We see from this revival that
they had a protracted or continued meeting at Jerusalem. At first it was a
prayer-meeting with about one hundred and twenty disciples in a room, and they all
continued in prayer, and in this prayer-meeting they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit. Then the multitude came together and Peter preached to them, and the other
disciples assisted, we believe, as they are spoken of as standing up with Peter. So the
multitude were preached to and, we believe, prayed for. It says they all continued in
prayer and supplication, and while they were using these means of continuing in the
temple daily, that is, protracting the meeting, the spirit of the Lord came upon them
with
So we see a glorious revival took place at these meetings. A great work was done.
Thousands were converted and added to his church such as should be saved. So this
continued revival meeting was carried on from day to day. The work went on powerfully
through the means used by the disciples and the multitude being gathered together, and
praying, preaching, exhorting and praising God, for they were filled with the Holy
Spirit, for God was with them as he promised. Now we have an example for all time to
come of the first revival in Christ's church immediately after his ascension, and
according to his direction; here we have the manner and way they carried it on, and they
were blessed with a glorious revival. So we believe we should strictly follow their
example in this great work, assemble the people together in continued meetings for
prayer, preaching, exhorting and praising God, and call on the sinners to repent, and
call on the
The next revival we mention immediately after this was at the house of Cornelius. It
commenced with prayer, for Cornelius was praying, and the angel of the Lord came to him
and told him his prayers and alms had come up before God as a memorial, and for him to
send men to Joppa for Peter and he would tell what they ought to do. So he sent
immediately and they found Peter praying on the house-top. So when the men got there
Peter, while praying, saw a vision in that he was convinced that the Gentiles had
salvation provided for them as well as the Jews; so the Spirit of the Lord said unto
him: "Behold three men seek thee; arise and get thee down and go with them, doubting
nothing, for I have sent them." So he went down immediately and found three men at the
gate waiting and inquiring for him, and they told him how Cornelius had sent for him; so
oi the next day Peter and certain brethren went with these men and found Cornelius had
gathered together his kinsmen and friends, and he said to Peter, after relating the
cause of his sending for him and the circumstances
So here is an account of another great revival, and we believe many souls were
converted to Christ, and it was through the beginning of prayer by Cornelius, and Peter
then assembling the people together and preaching Christ unto them, and through this
means of prayer and preaching the Holy Spirit fell on the people and they had a great
work done. We are here
Another account of a precious revival we have of the jailor and his family being
converted. Paul and Silas were preaching in that part of the country, and a great work
was being done through their ministry. The wicked people had them arrested and placed in
the jail, and the jailor was charged strictly to keep them safely; so he put them in the
inner prison. I suppose it did not look much like a revival here now, but Paul and
Silas, at midnight, prayed and sang praises to God, and the prisoners heard them; and
there was a great earthquake, and the foundations of the prison were shaken, the doors
flew open, and their bands were loosened; and the jailor, being alarmed and fearing the
prisoners had fled, would have killed himself, but Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do
thyself no harm, for we are all here." And the jailor, trembling, came and said, "What
must I do to be saved?" Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house; and he spoke the word of the Lord unto all that were in his house; and
the jailor rejoiced, believing in God, with all his house. And he took them the same
hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized,
Now we have noticed and narrated some of the special revivals that are recorded in the
Bible, and especially in the New Testament, and many more such might be mentioned;
however, enough has been noticed to show that God's people have had in all ages these
precious works of grace among them in which thousands of souls have been converted and
saved; and they also show the methods and means used by the people of God in these
revivals. The course generally pursued was for the people of God to be gathered together
to worship God in prayer, singing praises to God, and preaching the Gospel of Christ,
and in the use of these means in the Spirit of Christ the revival of God's work and the
conversion of sinners would generally take place, and hundreds and
I recollect many instances and circumstances that I have mentioned in the preceding pages where, by prayer first, then praise and preaching the word of Christ faithfully and earnestly, God has blessed with many precious revivals, and hundreds of souls saved. I have been permitted to witness their profession and addition to the churches where I have been permitted to labor and preach the Gospel, for which we have reason to praise God and take courage and labor on in the Gospel.
On the Subject of Missions.
In writing on this subject I will call your attention briefly to the origin, history and work of missions in the world. Missions means the act of sending or being sent to propagate the cause of religion. We claim that this mission work originated with Christ. In a special manner after his resurrection, when he gave his commission to the disciples, Christ said unto them: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and he that believeth not shall be damned." We believe that this is binding on the disciples of Christ in all ages of the world as long as time will last. Now, we see from this that the field is the world, that is, all nations of the earth. Now, when we consider the condition of all mankind without the Gospel, that they are in a lost state, and if they die in that destitute condition of unbelief that they will be lost, that they will be damned as our Savior says. He says: "As my father has sent me so send I you."
So we see that Christ authorized and originated the missionary work, and insisted that
it should be carried on till the end of time. Now, we believe the apostles and disciples
of Christ labored and preached under this commission and carried it out in their
preaching of the Gospel while they lived. Peter and others were called upon specially
and sent to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, and succeeded in converting many of them
to Christ. Paul and Barnabas were set apart especially by the Spirit, and sent to
different nations and parts of the world to preach the Gospel to them, and they
succeeded well. Paul says he robbed other churches, taking wages of them to do them
service, that is, to preach the Gospel to them. We see that the Apostles were evidently
missionaries, that is, they were sent of God to go everywhere preaching the Word. They
took wages for their services as missionaries and preachers of the Gospel. It is evident
from these facts that Christ originated the mission work, and that the Apostles carried
it forward in that day and age of the world. The result was that God blessed the work to
the conversion and salvation of thousands of the Gentiles, and wherever and whenever
they went, as a general thing, souls were saved, revivals took place, the cause of God
was wonderfully built up, thousands embraced the Gospel of Christ, and a foundation was
laid for the mission
In the eighteenth century modern missions were revived and reorganized in England by Dr. William Carey, Dr. Fuller an 1 others in about the year 1790. The Baptists then revived and reorganized a missionary society to preach the Gospel to the heathens. William Carey was the chief instigator. They had some years of work before they got the missionary society in working order. They then sent out Dr. Carey, a Baptist minister, and Thomas as missionaries to India. They started from England June 13, 1793, and went to India and commenced the missionary work to the heathens of that benighted country. Carey succeeded well in translating the Bible and preaching the Gospel to them for about forty years, and did a great work for them. Other missionaries were sent over there, and a wonderful work was done in that country by the English Baptist missions.
We now note that special missions were revived and reorganized in this country only
about sixty-five years ago. Adoniram Judson, his wife and Rice were educated by the
Congregationalists and sent to India by them from this country as missionaries, and
while
About fifty or sixty years ago the Home Mission Society was organized in this country. Its object is to preach the Gospel to the territories, the destitute and feeble churches in this country, where they are needy and not able to help themselves. It has a church edifice fund out of which they help to build church houses, and thus aid forward the cause of Christ, and it is doing a noble work in the cause of missions in these United States.
We also have a Baptist Publication Society, which is a missionary body to publish the Bible and all Baptist literature, for the Baptists especially, and for all others. This society sends out colporteurs and missionaries to preach the Gospel and sell and give the Bible and religious books to the people, which is doing a great work in the cause of missions for Christ in this country.
Great success has attended this work in these missionary societies that I have briefly
mentioned. Much more might be said in favor of these societies. They have missions
established and prospering in Rome and other points in Italy, China, Africa; Germany,
and most all nations of the whole world. So it is evident that God is favoring and
blessing the great mission cause in the world. While the Baptists
Now, in connection with this work, we have our State Missionary Societies organized, so that each State has a society called "State Missions." The object is to preach the Gospel to the destitute of its own State, and it is doing a great work. We have also in our local associations a Missionary Board, an organization to employ missionaries to travel and preach to the destitute of our own district associations. This, generally called "Domestic Missions," is at home in our own associations and field of labor, which comprises a few counties generally, sometimes called "District Associations," but which co-operate mostly with the foreign missions; home publication societies and State missions are organized so as not to conflict with each other, but to co-operate and furnish the Gospel to every creature in the world.
We all should take special interest in all of these missionary societies and organizations in connection with the church and to its pastors, who are preaching the Gospel to the whole human family, and God will still wonderfully bless the cause of missions everywhere.
Now, it has not been quite one hundred years since
Only see what a great work has been done by the Baptists. The cause of missions has been raised up to a wonderful state of prosperity. Now, about one hundred years ago the Baptists in this country only had about thirty-five thousand members; now, in that time, through the missionary principles and work under God's direction, we believe the work has been blessed and increased to that extent that we have now two million Missionary Baptists in these United States, and in India and other heathen countries it is supposed that two hundred thousand have been converted and saved. In this country we have been revived to that extent that our denomination has baptized about one hundred thousand every year for several years, which is an average of about two hundred and eighty-one converts every day for the whole year. I speak of this for information and encouragement in our work. The success of the past should stimulate and unite us in this great work. This shows that the Baptists are succeeding powerfully in the missionary work. We should be willing to make sacrifices for Christ's cause and support the mission work, for God has said: "Lo, I am with you to the end of the world."
On the Subject of Revivals and how to Obtain Them, and the Blessings of Them, to the Church and Communities.
It is certain from the Scriptures and history of the church in all ages of the world,
that revivals of religion have been obtained and enjoyed by the people of God. In the
days of the patriarchs and prophets and in the apostolic age they were experienced and
enjoyed. The question is first, how did they obtain them, and how are we to secure them?
They evidently sought for them by confession and prayer, and speaking the word of the
Lord to the people, in the Spirit of Christ. Just previous to the day of Pentecost, the
Apostles and Christ's people met together for the first time after the ascension of
Christ, and prayed for several days, and God revived his work, and they were filled with
the Holy Spirit. They began to speak the word of the Lord to the people, and this was
the way they obtained a great revival, so much so that the people of God were
wonderfully revived and thousands of them were converted to Christ. Now Christ had just
taught this people what to do and how to do it, and in obeying the command of Christ,
and
The people of God have always, ever since the days of Pentecost, sought and obtained a
special blessing from the hand of God, and we believe the people of God should make use
of these means always till the end of time with great earnestness and faith in God; then
the blessings of salvation will come to the church and people. We notice for this the
great blessings of revival work in the world. A genuine revival means a great victory in
the cause of God; it means a raising up of the cause of God in the hearts of the people;
they are revived and refreshed, and made happy. This is a great blessing enjoyed in the
hearts of the people when they have gained a victory over the wicked one. They were
wonderfully revived and blessed, so in all their travels they often received a revival
blessing. So the King and all his subjects were revived when they found that Daniel's
prayers
Now, these revivals in the days of Christ and the Apostles give us examples and lay a foundation for a great blessing to the church in all time to come.
So we see a great blessing has come from the revivals of Luther and Calvin. When they
came out in the reformation a great change was wrought and victory for truth, and it
resulted in a great blessing to the whole world. We notice a great blessing in the
revival of missions in heathen lands, which commenced about one hundred years ago when
the English Baptists formed a missionary society to preach the Gospel to India and sent
out Dr. Carey and others to preach to the heathen. A little while after
I well knew a community, with many others of similar circumstances, that was one of the
most wicked communities of any other in the State or country. It was so much so that it
was called Sodom. Wickedness prevailed to such an extent—swearing, drinking,
card-playing, gambling, horse-racing, dancing—almost all kinds were carried on in
the country to a fearful extent. It was a large settlement. Several men had killed
themselves drinking whisky in this neighborhood. There was a little Baptist church
there, and forty years ago they began to hold protracted meetings, and the Lord
wonderfully revived his work, and many souls were converted. A great many wicked men and
women embraced religion, a great change was made in the entire community, and a great
blessing was enjoyed. Several of the converts made preachers, were useful in the work,
and most all reformed and began to live
Now, in view of the success which God's people have obtained in the past in laboring to
promote revival work, our duty is to pray, labor and preach earnestly to promote
revivals and seek the blessings
On God's Call to the Unconverted.
1. We notice who they are and their condition. All who are unbelieving in Christ to the saving of the soul, those who are not born again, who have never for themselves embraced the religion of Christ, and are in a state of unbelief—they are in their sins and far from God by wicked works. There are many in this unconverted state who are engaged in outbreaking wickedness to a fearful state. Everyone can see by their couduct that they are unconverted and unsaved, walking the broad road to destruction. Then there are those who are unconverted, who are, as we term it, good, moral men and good citizens, show great respect for religion, are upright in all their dealings and outward character, and are good-hearted, moral, well-respected citizens; yet. they are in their sins, and never have been forgiven nor converted. There are hundreds and thousands who are in this unconverted state, amidst all the calls and means of grace, light and intelligence that they have to embrace religion and be converted and saved.
Now we note briefly the condition of the unconverted
The Bible teaches us clearly that the unconverted who die in this state lose Heaven;
for Christ says:
Then God calls on the sinners by his preachers of the Gospel. He has impressed them to call upon the sinners, that is, preach the Gospel to every creature, and he that believes and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned. Thus God has instituted the preaching of the Gospel in all the world to warn and call upon the people to prepare to meet their God. God's servants going everywhere preaching the Gospel and calling upon the people, for God and for the sake of the unconverted, to turn from sin, to serve God and live religious lives and be prepared for heaven when they die.
Many Christian men and women are engaged in calling upon the sinners to seek salvation.
All the protracted meetings and revivals that God's people are holding in all this land
of ours are designed of God to call upon the unconverted to a religious life; and it is
evident that God calls on the sinner by his Spirit. The Spirit says come. Christ says he
will send the Spirit to reprove the world of sin, of
We note, further, what God calls on the unconverted to do; it is to repent and forsake his sins and turn to the Lord, and believe in him with all the heart, and love God with all the soul, mind and strength, and take up his cross and follow Christ and obey him in all his commands and do his will in everything.
We notice further that many have obeyed the calls of God and have been wonderfully, blessed and saved; but we lament to know that many who have been called of God in many ways have rejected his calls, and we fear, and believe are lost. Many now, we fear, are rejecting his calls every day and are in danger of being lost. We urge all to give heed to the calls of God, and obey all his commands and do his will, and you have the promise and will be saved.
On Some Sketches of the History of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America, and the Men and Means They are Using to Carry on their Work.
The first Baptist Church that was organized in this country was constituted in the year 1638, in Newport, Rhode Island. That was about two hundred and forty-three years ago. It is said it was organized by a Baptist preacher from England or Wales by the name of John Clark, a noble man and a good preacher of the Gospel. He was able, by the help of God, to lay the foundation and commence a glorious work for this country. It was seemingly a small beginning, only probably twelve or fifteen Baptists to begin with. It is said that Roger Williams organized a Baptist Church in Providence, Rhode Island, 1639. Some have claimed that this was the first church in this country, but by a careful examination of their history it is and can be shown that the Newport church was organized the year before that was, and it can be shown that the Roger Williams church did not prosper; but failed, and went down as a church finally.
It is evident from the history of the Newport
It is said that Patrick Henry, an eminent lawyer, went a good many miles and
volunteered his services to three Baptist preachers who were indicted for preaching the
Gospel. It is also said that he, in their defense, took the indictment in his hand and
waved it over the court and said, "Great God, has it come to this, that here are three
men indicted for preaching the Gospel of Christ?" Then he went on with his argument and
defended these men, and with great difficulty succeeded in clearing them for what they
had thought was a great crime. It is said that the greatest crime they had against them
was, that they preached that immersion alone was the water baptism taught in the Bible,
and that nothing else was baptism at all. So, on account of the great persecution and
opposition that they had, the Baptists progressed slowly for the first hundred and fifty
years of their existence in this country. That brings us up to the time of the
revolutionary war, a little over one hundred years ago. At that time, that is at the
time of the war referred to, they only had increased from the little organization at
Newport, Rhode Island, which was their beginning in the country, to about thirty-five
About seventy years ago when A. Judson, his wife and Rice were sent from this country
by the Congregational
They have established church houses in the large cities, in places of influence, towns
and villages, and rural country districts. It is said that there are over
Now, we return to the history of our own denomination. We claim that our organization
in church and associational work is well adapted to the equality of its number; that its
freedom and equal liberty to any and all of its members has been and is efficient and
instrumental in doing a great good in the world. We believe, when we look to its
beginning and see
This Brother Clough was converted, ordained to the work of the ministry, educated and
sent from Burlington, Iowa. God has given him apparently the greatest success of any
missionary ever sent from this country, and he is still living and preaching with great
success, and great good has been done among the heathen. We notice another remarkable
circumstance that took place about forty years ago in the case of Dr. Sears, a Baptist
preacher, going over from this country to Germany, and if I mistake not he went over as
missionary. He found Onken, who was a preacher of the Pedo-Baptist denomination. He,
with five others, had studied the subject of baptism until they were convinced that
immersion alone was baptism. It is said they had sent to England for a Baptist preacher
to come and baptize them, but he did not come, so Dr. Sears found them in this
condition, anxious to have a Baptist minister come and baptize them. It is said that
Sears heard their experience and change of views, and he took them to the river, where
there was much water, and baptized them, and organized them into a Baptist church, and
God has wonderfully prospered them, so much that Onken has been preaching for over forty
years in that country; had a great many revivals, and many churches have been raised up
all over that country, and great good has been done in the cause of Christ, for the
Baptist
Now, in our own experience in the ministry for nearly forty years, we have seen a
number of instances where the church has been raised up to a great extent, and
remarkable and powerful conversions and changes have been experienced in the history of
the Church of Christ; so, when we look over the progress and success of the denomination
in this country, we will exclaim that God has done great things for us, whereof we are
glad. The Baptist denomination has been foremost in revival work and the conversion of
souls to Christ in this country. We have, as a people, baptized nearly one hundred
thousand new converts every year for several years. That certainly is a great success
and a wonderful increase to the church every year, and we believe that there is in the
history of the church an improvement in piety and a holy consecration to God; that the
people are getting to be more devoted to God; that the lay-members and the
We will note some of the means and instrumentalties that the Baptist denomination have
to carry on the great work of the church and the conversion of the people to the
religion of Christ and his cause in this country and all the world. We have, as I have
already stated, about fifteen thousand Baptist preachers who are preaching the Gospel to
the people of this country. A great many of these men are well educated and capable of
preaching with great success in any of the large cities of this country, and are doing a
noble work. They are earnest, pious and faithful men of God, and God is giving them
great success in their work of preaching the Gospel. Then there is a class of preachers
not so highly educated in schools and colleges, but are sufficiently educated to be
workmen that need not be ashamed of their work. They
Then we have a class of preachers called evangelists, who make it their special work to travel from one place to another and hold protracted meetings and preach the Gospel to the people, and labor and make special efforts, with God's help, to revive religion and be instrumental in saving souls and holding up his cause, and God has, we believe, greatly blessed their labors, and thousands of souls have been converted and saved through this evangelistic work. We have such noble evangelists as Elder Knapp, who stands at the head of the list, we believe, of these men of God, who did a great work in his time preaching the Gospel as an evangelist, having some of the largest revivals in the largest cities in this land of ours. Thousands have been converted through his instrumentality, and the cause of Christ has been greatly advanced through his labors. We also have Elder Earle, who is living now, and has been preaching with great success as an evangelist for about fifty years. We believe that thousands have been converted and saved through his evangelistic work, and the churches in the cities and towns and country places have been built up by his labors and work.
Then we have Elder Groves, who is a successful evangelist, and has been the means of a great many revivals, and the instrument in the hand of God in the conversion of many souls, and building up the churches, and a great good has been done in the places where he has labored as an Evangelist.
Then we have a great number of missionaries, who are appointed by missionary boards and
associations, traveling and preaching with great success in revival work, and building
up the cause of Christ and doing good in the destitute portions of our country. We also
have some twelve or fourteen thousand preachers laboring as pastors and doing a grand
work for Christ's cause. A great many are good revivalists, and very successful in
winning souls to Christ, and giving strength and power to the denomination, doing a
permanent work for the church, and God is blessing their labors wonderfully. The members
of the church are coming up to their work nobly, for a great improvement is being made
with them; for many of the lay-members of the churches are doing a good work in taking a
more active part in praying, speaking and exhorting and working with the ministers
directly for the conversion of souls and building up the cause in general. They are
doing more in the support of the ministry, and in all the expenses of the cause, such as
paying the pastor and giving to the missionary cause
The Sabbath-school is being greatly patronized and established in most of our churches, and is an institution in our denomination that is doing a good work in the advancement of the cause of Christ. It calls out and brings into active service a great many of our lay-members as superintendents and teachers, who are improving their gifts and talents, and are teaching the Gospel to the children and youth with wonderful success, and they are aiding and helping to build up the cause in many places, doing a valuable work for the church; and many of these children and youths are converted and saved by the means and effort of the Sabbath-school workers; and thus it has been and will be the means of the conversions of many souls to Christ among the young people, and they will be trained and useful members of the church, and help greatly to build up the cause of Christ.
We have another institution in the church that we believe is the means of advancing the
cause of Christ, and doing a great deal of good, that is, the regular weekly prayer
meeting. Most all of our churches have their weekly prayer meeting, in which they meet
to pray, sing and speak often to one another, and labor to advance the spiritual growth
of the church,
We have other means and instrumentalities to promote the cause of Christ in this
country and all lands. One is the religious press. We claim that that is a grand and
glorious means of advancing the cause of Christ, and preaching the gospel to the whole
world. We have about fifty religious journals published by the Baptists in this country,
that are doing a great deal of good in the cause of God, in publishing sermons and
religious articles, and giving accounts of revivals, instructing the churches,
publishing notices of meetings, and helping the pastors and missionaries in all our
church work. They are a great power and influence for good. It evidently gives
efficiency to
Another grand means, one used by the Baptist Church, and which is instrumental in carrying forward the great cause of Christ, is the educational interest conducted by the Baptists. We have over one hundred colleges, theological schools and academies, supported and conducted by our denomination, which have for their object the higher education of the young men and women of our people, to train and fit themselves to be preachers of the Gospel and teachers in the high school, to promote the cause of religion in the churches in general. These schools are doing a great good in the world. Many who are taught in these noble schools are fitted for laboring successfully in the cause of God. Many of the preachers of the Gospel and teachers in the schools are lay-members of the church, and Sabbath-school teachers have been trained in these noble schools, and have been prepared to be useful and instrumental in doing a noble work in the cause of Christ.
Another means that is being used to build up the
Another institution for good is the Home Missionary Society, which was organized about sixty years ago. It has for its object the preaching of the Gospel to the destitute of this country, and it has done a noble work in building up the cause of Christ.
The Baptist Publication Society is doing a great good, promoting the cause of religion, in teaching the Gospel in this country and distributing the literature of the denomination, and our State and local associations are all at work, and God is blessing the work.
Now, in view of the past, we have reason to praise God for what he has done, and take courage and be faithful to our calling in the work, and God will still prosper and give success till the end of time.
On the Subject of Temperance.
We believe and know that the Bible teaches us to be temperate in all things, and that it is full of admonitions for all mankind to be temperate. Now, temperance means a moderate use of all things that are adapted to promote our happiness and well-being in this life and to abstain entirely from all things that would intoxicate and injure us. So we fully believe that intoxicating liquors used at all as a beverage are injurious and should be abstained from. Now, when we look over the history of intemperance in our country we can see at once the great evils of it in the destruction of human life. Thousands have killed themselves—died drunkards and filled drunkards' graves—and have gone to a drunkard's hell; thousands of women and children have been injured and disgraced and brought to poverty and shame, and thrown out upon the cold charities of the world and suffered hunger and want and become destitute, because their husbands and fathers were intemperate and failed to support their families.
Now it is certain that the evils of intemperance are great in this country. Most of the crime is caused by the drinking of intoxicating liquors. It is said that about sixty thousand men die every year, caused by drunkenness. Intemperance is the greatest evil in our land. Every good citizen in this country deplores and laments the evils of intemperance, and desires to see it banished from our country. The great question is, how can it be done, and what shall we do to get rid of the great:evil. Much can be done by temperance societies, that is, organizations to promote temperance and put down the evil. We believe that the Washingtonian Society that was organized about forty years ago did a noble work to start the ball of temperance. It was the means of reforming and saving many from a drunkard's grave, though it was opposed and persecuted, and met with a great opposition. I remember well its beginning in the county where I lived in Indiana. It was threatened and denounced by many, yet it did a noble work in causing many to give up the cup, and become sober and temperate men; and many of them proved faithful to the end of their lives.
Then we believe that the organization of the Sons of Temperance did a good work in the
cause of temperance, in inducing many young men and old ones to
The Good Templars have done a good work, no doubt, in reforming many and helping them to give up intemperance, and reform their lives, and made sober men of them, and we believe all those temperance societies have done a good work, in saving many a man from a drunkard's life and a drunkard's grave.
We will now speak of the great Murphy movement in this country. We believe the motto of this organization is "Malice toward none and Charity for all," and the spirit of the pledge, "God being my helper that I will abstain from all intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and assist all to abstain from the intoxicating cup." This society, we believe, has done the most good of any other temperance society that has been organized, and is still doing a great work in the cause of temperance in the large cities, towns and country places in our land. The spirit and work of this society are adapted to do good, to reform the drunkard and save him from his intemperance, and has made a great many sober and Christian men, who are faithful in doing good, in carrying forward the temperance movement in this country.
These societies are engaged in moral suasion, and have done great good in this way. We
feel that we
A Tribute to my Wife, Elizabeth J. Smith.
In these reminiscences I must speak favorably of my wife, Elizabeth J. Smith, who has
labored and sacrificed with me in this great work of our lives of preaching the Gospel
for nearly forty years. While I have had to be away from home some times six weeks at a
time preaching as missionary in different States in over one hundred protracted meetings
and special revivals, that I have given an account of in this book, my wife has had to
stay at home and attend to the raising of the family of six children, four boys and two
girls. Four of them are now married. The two youngest are yet at home. She has had her
trials and lonesome days. Yet she has been faithful to do her part in her home-work. She
endured it with a great deal of cheerfulness as much so as could be expected, and has
generally had good health. So we are now, this the 1st of January, 1881, in our fortieth
year since our marriage, and in the thirty-eighth year of preaching the Gospel. She is
now in her fifty-seventh year, and I am in my sixty-second year; both been
A Skeleton or Outlines of a Sermon on the Text, Hebrews ii, 3:
"How
shall we Escape if we Neglect so great Salvation."
1. We notice what is meant by the term salvation. Salvation means to save; then, when it relates to the soul, as this does, it implies that in sin the soul is lost; and that is the condition of every soul in its sinful state. It has lost the Spiritual favor with God and is in a condemned state and far from God by wicked works, destitute and wretched, and is liable to be lost forever in eternity. This is the case with all mankind in a state of nature; for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; all have gone away from God in sin by nature and in practice. And in this lost and sinful state man could not save himself nor save his brother.
2. We notice how Christ has provided salvation for man, and its greatness. There are
many considerations of its greatness; it is so because it cost Christ so much to provide
it. We generally estimate the greatness of anything by the price we pay for it. If we
pay a big price for any literal object, we consider it valuable, because it cost a great
deal. Now, if we
Now, he was taken from the cross and placed in the new tomb, and on the third day arose
again from the grave and led captivity captive and went about among his disciples and
showed himself to them, and instructed them and gave them the great commission and told
them to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and he that
believes and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned."
After giving this last commission to the disciples he then took them out as far as
We note further its greatnass when we consider its fullness, its great extent, that is it was provided for all mankind; that it extends its offers, its provisions to all; none were left out of this provision; every one of the whole human family was provided for; for God says he "So loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall have everlasting life."
Many other passages prove the same thing. Paul says, "He died for all; he is a
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."
But while it is offered for all, yet all will not be saved by it; for the Savior says:
"Ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Now, for an illustration, suppose some
one should make a literal feast and invite the entire community to come and partake of
it. Now, those who would obey the invitation and come to the feast would enjoy its
benefits,
It is great because it is adapted to save us from our sins in this life and save us in
the life to come. Many who have embraced this salvation have demonstrated it in their
lives and characters by showing to the world a Christian character and life by their
pious examples. Thus they have given evidences of its greatness by thousands who have
embraced it. Then many have given evidences of its greatness in their death; for they
have told us in the hour of death that this salvation saves them in death, and have
often spoken of its greatness and blessedness when the soul and body were parting. It
gives triumph and victory over the last enemy, which is death. So, when
We notice further the great means, instrumentalities, capacities and abilities, God has given to obtain it. He has given us the Bible as a means to teach how to obtain salvation. Then he has given us the ministry of his word to preach the Gospel, to invite us to come to Christ and be saved. He has also given us the church, with all its meetings and members, as aid and help to the sinner to lead him to Christ and his salvation. Then he has sent his Spirit to reprove and invite the sinner to seek salvation. This means and light have been given to the children of men for them to obtain salvation.
In connection with these means of grace he has given the sinner the capacity and ability to use and exercise his mind if he will come to Christ and be saved, and by making an earnest effort, using all the means and ability that God gives him, he can seek salvation, and obtain the blessing.
All are called upon to engage in striving to be saved, and they will be blessed; many have made the effort and have been saved.
We notice further that many have neglected their soul's salvation; they have listened
to the wicked one and have made many unnecessary excuses, and thus