{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64765/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64765","id":"gutenberg_64765","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64765","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Weekley, W. M. (William Marion), 1851-1926"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustrations.\n      See 64765-h.htm or 64765-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/64765/pg64765-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/64765/64765-h.zip)\n\n\n      Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      https://archive.org/details/twentyyearsonhor00week\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: BISHOP W. M. WEEKLEY, D.D.]\n\n\nTWENTY YEARS ON HORSEBACK\nOR ITINERATING IN WEST VIRGINIA\n\nby\n\nW. M. WEEKLEY, D.D.\n\nAuthor of \u201cGetting and Giving,\u201d\n\u201cFrom Life to Life,\u201d Etc.\n\n\n   \u201cTake thy part in suffering hardship as a good\n   soldier of Christ Jesus.\u201d\u20142 Tim. 2:3\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNineteen Hundred and Seven\nUnited Brethren Publishing House\nDayton, Ohio\n\nAll Rights Reserved\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\n\nIt was not my purpose, in the preparation of this little volume, to make\nit an autobiography, but rather a narration of incidents connected with\nthe twenty years of humble service which I tried to render the United\nBrethren Church among the mountains of West Virginia.\n\nThese incidents present an all-round view, in outline, of the real life\nand labors of the itinerant preacher, a third of a century ago, in an\nisolated section, where the most simple and primitive customs prevailed.\n\nWhile some of the things related will doubtless amuse the reader, others,\nI trust, will lead to thoughtful reflection, and carry with them lessons\ninspiring and helpful. The introduction should first be carefully read by\nthose who expect to be profited by a perusal of the pages which follow.\nThat good may come to the church, and glory to our Redeemer through this\nunpretentious publication is the prayer of its\n\n                                                                  AUTHOR.\n\nKansas City, Mo., May 1, 1907.\n\n\n\n\nI have examined the manuscript of \u201cTwenty Years on Horseback, or\nItinerating in West Virginia,\u201d and cheerfully submit this note of\ncommendation.\n\nThe author, Bishop W. M. Weekley, D.D., I have known for more than thirty\nyears. He entered the ministry when young, with an undivided heart\nand determined purpose. During the years he served the Church in that\nState he traveled over almost the entire territory of the West Virginia\nConference. The country then was extremely primitive; but simple as the\nmode of life was at that time, the field was an interesting, even an\nenjoyable one for a minister who could endure hardness as a good soldier\nof Christ. I am acquainted with nearly all the sections of the State\nreferred to, and am therefore familiar with many of the places, facts,\nand persons mentioned, and can assure the reader that the author has\ngiven a faithful account of these in his book. No statement is overdrawn\nor warped for the sake of effect.\n\n                                                             W. W. RYMER.\n\nColumbus, Ohio, May 3, 1907.\n\n\n\n\nAn examination of the following pages caused me to live my early life\nover again. Having spent twenty-three years in the ministry within the\nbounds of the West Virginia Conference, and having been intimately\nassociated with the author of this volume during the most of that\nperiod, I am very familiar with many of the places, persons, and events\nmentioned, and can testify to the correctness of the record he makes,\nand to the faithfulness of the pictures drawn. This book will stir the\nthoughts and rekindle the fire within the old itinerants, and, as well, I\ntrust, arouse the young to larger activities in soul winning.\n\n                                                              R. A. HITT.\n\nChillicothe, Ohio, May 4, 1907.\n\n\n\n\nThe author of this book and myself were boys together. We were born\nand reared within four miles of each other, were converted in the\nsame church, and for years were members of the same Sunday school and\ncongregation. We were licensed to preach on the same charge, and spent\nthe earlier years of our ministry in the same conference together.\nIn many instances we traveled the same roads, preached in the same\ncommunities, and mingled with the same people.\n\nAfter having examined the contents of this volume in manuscript form,\nI am sure it contains a faithful description of the varied conditions\nwhich made up the life and experiences of the United Brethren itinerant\nminister of that time among the hills and mountains of West Virginia.\n\n                                                                  A. ORR.\n\nCircleville, Ohio, April 30, 1907.\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n\n    PREFACE\n\n    INTRODUCTION        9\n\n    CHAPTER I          15\n\n    CHAPTER II         27\n\n    CHAPTER III        44\n\n    CHAPTER IV         58\n\n    CHAPTER V          70\n\n    CHAPTER VI         86\n\n    CHAPTER VII       100\n\n    CHAPTER VIII      121\n\n\n\n\nIllustrations\n\n\n    BISHOP W. M. WEEKLEY (_Frontispiece_)\n\n    W. M. WEEKLEY AT TWENTY YEARS OF AGE\n\n    W. M. WEEKLEY AT THIRTY YEARS OF AGE\n\n    TRAVELING A DISTRICT\n\n    HOUSE WHERE BISHOP FIRST WENT TO HOUSEKEEPING\n\n\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n\nThe past lives through the printed page. The ages would be blank if books\nwere not made recording the events and achievements of men. No form of\nhistory is more interesting and profitable than that which recites the\ncareer of those who, obedient to their divine commission, proclaimed to\nfellowmen the sweet message of Christ\u2019s redeeming love. The completeness\nof their consecration, their undaunted courage and persistency in the\nface of many difficulties, and their marvelous success evidence in them\nthe presence of superhuman power. It is the genius of Christianity\nto inspire and develop the unselfish and heroic in men. The splendid\nspecimens of self-sacrifice and moral courage, which adorn the pages of\nChristian literature, charm the reader and inspire him to more Christlike\nendeavor. These life-stories constitute a rich, priceless legacy for\npresent and future generations.\n\nIn this admirable volume, Bishop Weekley has modestly removed the\ncurtain from twenty years of his own strenuous ministerial life spent\nin the mountains and valleys of West Virginia, and given the reader a\nconception of what it meant to lift up the Christ and extend his kingdom\nin that rugged region. The book is biographical in character, but since\n\u201cbiography is the soul of history,\u201d it is history in reality. The\nscenes and events which he presents suggest the character of the work\nwhich others had to do in laying the foundations of our Church in those\nsections.\n\nIt would be difficult to find more striking examples of Christian\naltruism and heroism anywhere in this country than the godly men who\npreached the gospel among the mountains and in the valleys of the\nVirginias in the early years of our denominational history. These men\nembodied those elements of character and graces of the Spirit which\nare essential to success in Christian work anywhere. Having heard the\ncall of God, and having felt the spell of the divine spirit, they\nyielded themselves unreservedly to the gospel ministry. They possessed\nstrength of conviction, singleness of aim, earnestness of purpose, and\nconcentration of effort. As a rule these pioneer preachers had but one\nbusiness\u2014that of the King. They were so absorbed in the saving of men and\nwomen, and in extending the kingdom, that they gave but little attention\nto present physical comforts and future needs. Many of them were without\nproperty, and when they sang,\n\n    \u201cNo foot of land do I possess,\n    No cottage in this wilderness,\u201d\n\nthere was a literalness about it which would have dismayed men of less\nfaith and consecration. Without seeking to enrich themselves in material\nthings they labored earnestly to bring the spiritual riches of heaven to\nthe hearts and homes of others.\n\nThey were busy men\u2014men of action. They omitted no opportunities to\ndo good. Intervals of rest were few and far between. The modern\nminister\u2019s vacation was to them unknown. They met their \u201cappointments\u201d\nwith surprising regularity. Neither storm, nor distance, nor\nweariness thwarted their plans. Their announcements were always made\nconditionally\u2014\u201cno preventing providence\u201d\u2014but they never calculated for\nprovidence to prevent them being on hand at the appointed place and\nhour. The strain of toil was constant, but their iron resolution, and\nthe work itself, proved a strong tonic. The success of one service was\ninspiration for the next. Visiting from house to house, exhorting the\npeople to faithful Christian living, distributing religious literature,\nand preaching week days as well as Sundays made their lives full of heavy\ntasks, all of which were performed with happy hearts. They possessed the\nglowing and tireless zeal of the preaching friars of the Middle Ages, and\nwith many of them the clear flame of their zeal was undimmed until the\nfire was turned to ashes.\n\nThey were men of thought as well as action. Their preparation was made in\nthe college of experience, in which they proved themselves apt students.\nThey studied few books and only the best. They cultivated and practised\nthe perilous art of reading on horseback. They pored over books and\npapers in humble homes by flickering candle or pine-knot light long\nafter the family had retired. It is remarkable what extended knowledge\nof the English Scriptures, methods of sermonizing, oratorical style and\nforceful delivery these men acquired. They knew well, and by that surest\nform of knowledge\u2014the knowledge born of verified experience\u2014all they\nproclaimed in message to the people. There was freshness of thought,\naptness of illustration, and forcefulness of expression that was native\nto them. The majestic forms of nature in the regions where they toiled\ninspired in them the sublimest thoughts of God and his eternal truth. The\nmarvelous results of the sermons of such men as Markwood, Glossbrenner,\nBachtel, Warner, Nelson, Graham, Howe, Hott, and others proved them great\npreachers in the highest and truest sense.\n\nThey were men of tact as well as thought, and adjusted themselves to the\nconditions. They preached wherever the people would assemble\u2014in leafy\ngrove, by the river bank, in the humble home, in the log schoolhouse,\nin the village hall, in the vacant storeroom, and in the unpretentious\nchurch-house. They did not always have the exhilarating and inspirational\neffect of great crowds, but they preached \u201cin demonstration of the\nSpirit,\u201d kindling the deepest emotions in their hearers, often arousing\nthem to tremendous intensity and causing waves of overpowering feeling to\nsweep over them. Saints shouted the praises of God and penitents pleaded\nfor mercy. These heralds of the Cross employed none of the familiar\ndevices of modern times for securing crowds and reaching results. There\nwere no specially-prepared and widely-scattered handbills, no local\nadvertising committees, no daily newspapers with flashing headlines\nand portraits, no great choral or orchestral attractions. What made\nthese fallible men so forceful and successful in winning others? The\nexplanation lies in the fact of their spiritual enduement. They wrought\nin the name of Christ and under the influence of the Holy Spirit.\n\nIn no portion of our Zion have ministers made stronger and more lasting\nimpression upon the people. Whenever present in a home they were\nthe guests of honor. Their strong personalities and noble traits of\ncharacter, as well as their calling itself, won for them the esteem of\nold and young. Parents named their children after them, and exhorted\ntheir sons to find in them their models for manhood. In thus honoring\nthese noblemen of God they exalted the work of the ministry in the minds\nof the young, and prepared the way for the Lord to call them into his\nservice. This may account, at least in part, for the great number who\nhave gone into the ministry from these mountain districts.\n\nLet no one fancy that somber shadows rested continually upon the pathway\nof these ministers. There was a joyous side to their ministerial life.\nWhen together as a class, or among their parishioners, their stories\nand jokes were abundant, spontaneous, and of the purest type. When they\nmet at institutes, camp-meetings, and conferences they enjoyed one round\nof good cheer and solid comfort. Their services of song drowned all dull\ncares. Their lives had shadows, but they refreshed themselves in the\nrifts and glorious sunbursts.\n\nThe people to whom these men of God proclaimed the gospel were not, as a\nrule, rich in material things, but they possessed great hearts, in which\nlove and kindness flowed as pure and refreshing as the streams of water\nthat rippled down the mountain side.\n\nWe rejoice that Bishop Weekley has given to the Church this book. Many\naged ministers, who once toiled in the Virginias, will live over again\nthe scenes of their lives as they read these pages. Young men will be\nstimulated to more earnest endeavor as they learn of the hardships and\ncomplete consecration of God\u2019s servants in pioneer days. No one will\nweary in reading this excellent volume. The good Bishop has written in\nharmony with an established sentiment in book-making\u2014\u201cit is the chief of\nall perfections in books to be plain and brief.\u201d\n\n                                                             W. O. FRIES.\n\n_Dayton, Ohio._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nThe Virginias have turned out more United Brethren preachers, perhaps,\nthan any other section of the same size between the oceans. These\npulpiteers have ranged in the scale of ability and efficiency from A\nto Z. Some achieved distinction in one way and another; others, though\nfaithful and useful, were little known beyond their conference borders.\nNor have all remained among the mountains. Dozens and scores of them have\ngone out into other parts of the Church. At this writing they are to be\nfound in no less than nineteen different conferences, and, as a class,\nthey are not excelled by any in devotion to the Church, in unremitting\ntoil, and in spiritual fervor and downright enthusiasm. Some\u2014many who\nspent their lives in building up the Zion of their choice among the\nVirginia hills, have gone to glory. Among these heroes I may mention J.\nMarkwood, J. J. Glossbrenner, Z. Warner, J. Bachtel, J. W. Perry, J. W.\nHowe, S. J. Graham, I. K. Statton, and J. W. Hott. Other names, perhaps\nnot so illustrious, but just as worthy, are to be found in God\u2019s unerring\nrecord. The historian will never tell all about them. Their labors,\nsacrifices, and sufferings will never be portrayed by any human tongue,\nno matter how eloquent, or by any pen, however versatile and fruitful it\nmay be. Footsore and weary, dust covered and battle scarred, they reached\nthe end of their pilgrimage and heard heaven\u2019s \u201cwell done.\u201d What a\nblessed legacy they bequeathed to their sons and daughters in the gospel!\n\n\u201cOld Virginia\u201d was, in part, the field chosen by Otterbein himself, and\nby his devout colaborers. This was more than a hundred years ago. In 1858\nthe Parkersburg, now West Virginia Conference, was organized out of that\npart of the mother conference lying west of the Alleghanies\u2014a territory\nthree hundred miles long, roughly speaking, by two hundred in width. In\nits physical aspects the country is exceedingly rough, and difficult\nof travel. But the people, though mostly rural in their customs and\nmode of living, and many of them poor, so far as this world\u2019s goods are\nconcerned, are warm hearted, genial, and hospitable. When a preacher goes\nto fill an appointment among \u201cmountaineers,\u201d he is not troubled with the\nthought that perhaps nobody will offer him lodging, or willingly share\nwith him the bounties of his table. I have found things different in\nother parts of the country.\n\n[Illustration: W. M. WEEKLEY, Twenty Years of Age\n\nTraveling Circuit]\n\nThe new conference was organized at Centerville, in Tyler County, by\nBishop Glossbrenner, in the month of March. Only a few ministers were\npresent, but they were brave and good, ready to do, and, if need be, to\ndie for their Lord. Five miles from this historic place the writer was\nborn on the eighteenth day of September, 1851.\n\nMy parents, though poor, were honest and honorable, and toiled\nunceasingly to provide for and rear in respectability their ten children,\nof whom I was the oldest.\n\nThe neighborhood was far above the average in its religious life and\nmoral worth. A man under the influence of liquor was seldom seen, and a\nprofane word was hardly ever heard. The United Brethren Church was by\nfar the leading denomination in all that country. The old log church\nin which we all worshiped stood on father\u2019s farm, and our home was the\nstopping-place not only of preachers, but of many others who attended\ndivine service. At times our house was so crowded that mother was\ncompelled to make beds on the floor for the family, and not unfrequently\nfor others as well. But to her it was a great joy to perform such a\nministry for the gospel\u2019s sake. Her loving hands could always provide for\nothers, no matter who they were, or how many. For the third of a century\nfather was the Sunday-school superintendent in the neighborhood, and,\nfor a longer period, teacher of the juvenile class. Thus he saw little\nchildren pass up into other and older classes, and finally to manhood and\nwomanhood, when by and by their children came in and were given a place\nin \u201cUncle Dan\u2019s\u201d class.\n\nAt the age of fourteen I was born the second time, and united with the\nChurch. The occasion was a great revival held by Rev. S. J. Graham,\nof precious memory. Seeing my oldest sister, Sarah, bow at the altar,\ngreatly moved my young heart. A few moments later I observed father\ncoming back toward the door, and thinking perhaps he was wanting to speak\nto me on the subject of religion, I immediately left the house. My state\nof mind became awful. The next evening I saw mother pressing her way\ntoward me through the standing crowd. I knew what it meant, and sat down\nwith the hope of concealing myself from her; but how vain the effort!\nWhat child ever hid himself away from a mother\u2019s love? Putting her hand\non my head, she said, \u201cWilliam, won\u2019t you be a Christian?\u201d I made no\nreply, but said to myself, \u201cI can\u2019t stand this; I must do something.\u201d How\nher appeal, plaintive and tender, made me weep! It was really the first\ntime she had ever come to me with such directness and warmth of heart.\nTo this very moment I can feel the touch of her hand and hear her loving\nappeal. The next day I talked with other boys who were with me in school,\nand asked them to accompany me to the \u201cmourner\u2019s bench,\u201d which they did.\n\nAt that time the class, though in the country, numbered one hundred and\nseventy souls. Three months later, I was appointed one of its stewards,\nand with this office came my first experience in raising money for the\nChurch.\n\nThe next year I was elected assistant class-leader, and though young and\ninexperienced, I rendered the very best service I possibly could.\n\nMy educational advantages up to this time had been only such as the\ncommon schools afforded, with the addition of a close application to\nstudy at the home fireside, aided by the historic \u201cpine torch\u201d and\n\u201ctallow candle.\u201d\n\nFrom the day of my conversion I could not escape the thought of\npreaching. The duty of being a Christian was never set before me more\nforcibly and clearly than was the duty of preaching; but I hesitated.\nMy ignorance, and lack of fitness otherwise for such a high calling,\nappeared as insurmountable barriers. I could not understand why God\nshould pass by others, better in heart and far more capable, and choose\nme. So the struggle went on. In the mean time I began to read such books\nas I could secure. The Bible, \u201cSmith\u2019s Bible Dictionary,\u201d and \u201cDick\u2019s\nWorks,\u201d constituted my library. The last named was rather heavy for a lad\nonly in his teens, but I rather enjoyed such studies. The first book I\never purchased was \u201cReligious Emblems,\u201d which proved exceedingly helpful\nto my young life.\n\nWhen seventeen I preached my first sermon, or, perhaps I should say,\nmade my first public effort. It was in an old log church on Little\nFlint Run, in Doddridge County. Brother Christopher Davis, a local\npreacher, was holding a meeting, and at the close of the morning services\nannounced that I would preach at night. What a day that was to me! How\nI tried to think and pray! When I reached the church I found it full,\nwith many standing in the aisle about the door. I felt so unprepared\u2014so\nutterly helpless\u2014that I immediately retired to a secret place, where\nI again besought the Lord for help. Returning, I started in with the\npreliminaries, but was badly scared. No man can describe his feelings\nunder such circumstances. Many a preacher who scans these pages will\nappreciate my situation. I spent a good part of the first fifteen minutes\nmopping my face. I seemed to be in a sweat-box; but by the time I reached\nmy sermon, or whatever it might be called, the embarrassment was all\ngone. I still remember the text: \u201cAnd I will bring you into the land\nconcerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to\nJacob; and I will give it you for an heritage. I am the Lord.\u201d It was\nimmense; but the most of young preachers begin just that way. At this\ndistance from the occasion, I do not recall anything I said, and am glad\nI cannot. However, there was one redeeming feature about the effort,\nand that was its brevity. In twenty minutes I had told all I knew,\nand perhaps more. I have never been able to understand why the people\nlistened so patiently. They really seemed to be interested, but why, or\nin what, I have never known. I have not tried that text since, and I do\nnot think I ever shall. It is too profound to even think of as the basis\nof a discourse to common people.\n\nDr. J. L. Hensley, when pastor of Middle Island Circuit, early in the\nsixties, had a somewhat singular experience in this same log church.\nWhile preaching one Sabbath morning in midsummer from the text, \u201cThe seed\nof the woman shall bruise the serpent\u2019s head,\u201d the people at his left\nsuddenly became excited, and looking around quickly for the cause, he\nobserved a snake, about two feet long, crawling in a crevice of the wall\nnear the pulpit. Reaching for his hickory cane, which he always carried,\nhe dealt the wily creature a blow which brought it tumbling to the floor,\nremarking at the same time, \u201cThe seed of the woman shall bruise the\nserpent\u2019s head.\u201d Thus in the midst of his discourse he was furnished an\nillustration which made a profound impression upon his hearers, and aided\ngreatly in bringing the truth home to their hearts.\n\nThe presiding elder, Rev. S. J. Graham, my spiritual father, by authority\nof a quarterly conference held at the Long Run appointment, October 23,\n1869, gave me a permit to exercise in public for three months. Shortly\nafter this I was prostrated with lung fever, which soon developed the\nmost alarming aspects. Though the ailment was outgeneraled, the process\nof recovery was slow. In fact, one of my lungs was so impaired that\nconsumption was feared. A noted physician, after carefully diagnosing my\ncase, frankly told me that nothing could be done for my lung; but I did\nnot believe a word he told me. I had decided that I would make preaching\nmy life work, and believed that God would give me a chance to try it.\nIt might be noted here that ten years later this same doctor was in his\ngrave, while I was a better specimen of physical manhood than he ever\nwas.\n\n\u201cCommit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it\nto pass.\u201d What will he bring to pass? The right thing, and in the right\nway. Such has been my observation and experience in all the years that\nhave come and gone since the hand of affliction was so keenly felt.\n\nDecember 25, 1869, I was granted quarterly conference license in a\nregular way, and attended the annual conference which met in Hartford\nCity, Mason County, the following March. Much of the time while there I\nwas not able to walk from my stopping-place to the church, though not a\nhalf dozen blocks distant. Some of the brethren feared that I would not\nlive to get back home again. But I wanted a circuit. With that end in\nview I had gone to conference, and no amount of persuasion could turn me\naside from the one great purpose that had taken complete possession of\nmy soul. I was entering the work with a full knowledge of what it meant.\nI had heard the brethren talk of their privations and abundant labors,\nand, as well, of their victories and joy of heart. The report of the year\nthen closing was most suggestive. The eighteen fields of the conference\ncontained one hundred and sixty-seven preaching places, and had paid\ntwenty-four men a little less than $140 each upon an average, not\ncounting outside gifts. West Columbia Circuit paid its two pastors, Revs.\nW. B. Hodge and I. M. Underwood, $400. The next highest was $339.19,\nand was paid the brace of pastors who served the Glenville charge\u2014Revs.\nW. W. Knipple and Elias Barnard. The other sixteen pastorates ranged\nfrom $267.15 down to $35, the last named amount having been received by\nRev. J. W. Boggess, on Hessville Mission. The Parkersburg District paid\nElder Graham $227.87, while West Columbia District only reached $152.85\nfor its superintendent, Rev. J. W. Perry. To the support of each of the\ndistricts, however, the parent missionary board added $100.\n\nWhen the Stationing Committee reported, my name was read out as the\njunior preacher for Philippi Circuit, with Rev. A. L. Moore, pastor in\ncharge. This appointment was given, as more than one assured me in later\nyears, simply to satisfy my mind. No one expected me to go to it. As the\nfield already had a man, my failure to reach it would make no difference\nin any way.\n\nReturning home I told father what had been done, and that I must have\nthe necessary outfit for a circuit-rider; namely, a horse, a saddle and\nbridle, and a pair of saddle-bags. No matter what else a man had, or did\nnot have, in those days, these things were essential to efficiency among\nthe mountains of West Virginia.\n\nAt once I began preparations for leaving home. Mother was thoughtful\nenough to make me a pair of leggings which buttoned up at the sides and\nreached above the knees. No one article made with hands was ever more\nvaluable to a Virginia itinerant than leggings.\n\nPhilippi Circuit was seventy-five miles distant among the mountains, and\nwould require, owing to the bad roads, two and a half days of hard travel\non horseback to reach it. At the appointed time, April 11, 1870, early in\nthe morning, I rode out of the old lane and up the hillside. All I had of\nearthly possessions was in my saddle-bags. One end contained my library,\n(Bible, Hymn-book, \u201cSmith\u2019s Bible Dictionary,\u201d \u201cBinney\u2019s Theological\nCompend,\u201d \u201cReligious Emblems,\u201d and one volume of \u201cWatson\u2019s Institutes,\u201d)\nwhile in the other was stored my wardrobe, scant and plain. When far up\non the side of the hill I looked back and saw mother standing on the\nporch. She had not ceased to watch me from the moment I started. Tears\nunbidden filled my eyes, and with these came an appreciation of our home\nthat I had never experienced before. The home had been humble, to be\nsure, but it was Christian. We had a family altar, from which the sweet\nincense of prayer ascended daily to God. I could truthfully say:\n\n    \u201cJesus, I my cross have taken,\n    All to leave and follow thee.\u201d\n\nA mile distant I joined, by a prearranged plan, Rev. G. W. Weekley, my\nuncle, and Rev. Isaac Davis, both of whom were also en route to their\ndistant fields of toil.\n\nAt the end of the second day we reached Glady Fork, on Lewis Circuit,\nwhere my uncle lived. How weary after so long a ride! At that time my\nhealth was still so precarious, and my strength so limited, that I could\nnot walk a hundred yards up grade without resting. To dismount from\nmy horse, open and close a gate, and then get back into the saddle,\nexhausted me. Remaining over a few days with my uncle, I tried to preach\non Sunday morning, but found myself exhausted at the end of twenty-four\nminutes. In a few days, however, I was sufficiently rested from my long\nride to journey on to my own circuit, where I soon found the preacher in\ncharge, and plans were discussed for the year\u2019s work. This was historic\nground. It was an old United Brethren field, having been traveled by\nStatton, Stickley, Warner, Hensley, and others, in the late fifties and\nearly sixties, when it included twenty or more preaching-places, spread\nover portions of several counties.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nPhilippi Circuit contained at this time the following appointments:\nRomines Mills, Gnatty Creek, Peck\u2019s Run, Indian Fork, Mt. Hebron, Green\nBrier, and Zeb\u2019s Creek. Later I added two more\u2014one on Big Run, and\nthe other on Brushy Fort, at the home of \u201cMother\u201d Simons. Two of the\npreaching places lay \u201cbeyond\u201d the Middle Fork River\u2014a rolling, dashing\nstream, fresh from the mountains, and at times dangerous to cross. It\nwas so clear that a silver piece the size of a quarter could be seen at\na depth of several feet. The first time I attempted to ford it I put my\nlife in jeopardy. Because the bottom could be seen distinctly, I imagined\nit was not deep, but after a few paces I was in mid-side to my horse,\nand going deeper every step. Perceiving the danger I was in, I tried to\nturn my horse about, and did so only after the greatest effort, owing to\nthe almost irresistible current which was gradually bearing horse and\nrider downward. Going to a house near by I made some inquiry about the\nstream, and was told that if I had gone ten feet farther I should have\nbeen swept away by the swift running waters. How grateful I was to God\nfor the deliverance. During the following winter my life was endangered\nby floating ice at the same crossing-place. Brother Moore about the\nsame time, perhaps a little later, seeing he could not ford the stream,\ndecided to lead his horse across the ice at a point below the regular\ncrossing, where there was but little current; but when twenty feet from\nthe shore toward which he was headed, the ice gave way, and the faithful\nanimal went under. Having hold of the bridle rein, however, he managed to\nkeep his head above the water until a passage way was broken through to\ndry land.\n\nOne instinctively shudders as he recalls the dangers which at times\nthrust themselves suddenly across the pathway of the early preachers of\nthe Virginia and Parkersburg conferences when the fields were so large\nand travel so excessive. Brother Moore informed me, as we looked over\nthe charge, that I would have to take the \u201coutsiders\u201d for my support, as\nthe circuit only paid $300, and he could not get along on less and pay\nrent. It struck me that he was about right, so I readily agreed to his\nproposition. Then what? Well, at each preaching place I found a \u201csinner\u201d\nwho agreed to serve as my steward, and these men did well, everything\nconsidered. For the year I received $97, including an overcoat and\nseveral pairs of yarn socks.\n\nAt one of the appointments an unfortunate episode occurred over my\nsalary. The steward one day stepped over the line, and got after some\nof the church-members for money. He very well knew they were abundantly\nable to help, but they flatly refused. This so upset him, so I was told,\nthat he expressed his opinion of them in language far more vigorous than\npolite. It is a joy, however, to note in this connection that some of\nthese stewards soon became Christians, and active helpers in the Church.\n\nOut of the pittance I received, possibly all, or more than I was worth,\nI added to my little library, which could easily be put in one end of\nmy saddle-bags when I left home, the following books: \u201cBible Not of\nMan,\u201d \u201cConversation of Jesus,\u201d \u201cJesus on the Holy Mount,\u201d \u201cPilgrim\u2019s\nProgress,\u201d \u201cDying Thoughts,\u201d \u201cBible Text Book,\u201d \u201cJacobus on John,\u201d \u201cGod\u2019s\nWord Written,\u201d \u201cPaley\u2019s Theology,\u201d \u201cOur Lord\u2019s Parables,\u201d \u201cWebster\u2019s\nDictionary,\u201d \u201cBible True,\u201d \u201cRock of Our Salvation,\u201d \u201cCompanion to the\nBible,\u201d \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d \u201cCredo,\u201d \u201cRise and Progress of\nReligion in the Soul,\u201d and \u201cHand of God in History.\u201d This, of course, was\nnot a lavish purchase of books, but it did pretty well for one with a\ncash income of not more than $75.\n\nWe had some good revivals that year. Ninety-nine were received into\nchurch fellowship, while many more were converted. At Indian Fork we held\nmeeting in a little log cabin, about twenty feet square, with a great\nfire-place in one side. It is surprising to see how many people can be\ncrowded into so small a place when they are anxious to attend a revival.\nNight after night for weeks this little room was packed like a sardine\ncase. But the outcome was glorious. Some of the best citizens of the\ncommunity were reached and won to Christ.\n\nAfter a few services were held, and it was seen how insufficient the\nlittle room was to accommodate the many who wanted to come, we put\non foot the project of building a church, and immediately set about\nthe work. The plan was so unique that the whole neighborhood became\ninterested. Some felled trees; others \u201cscored and hewed\u201d the logs; those\nwho had teams volunteered to haul them, while others still made shingles,\nor helped with the foundation; \u201cfor the people had a mind to work.\u201d\nBefore the meetings closed the house was up and ready for use\u2014an edifice\nwhich served as a place of worship for many years.\n\nThe people all over the circuit were kind and forbearing, and greatly\nencouraged me by waiting on my ministry, and hearing what little I had\nto say. I visited all classes of persons, rich and poor, and had all\nkinds of experiences. In some homes I enjoyed the hospitality offered;\nin others it was not so highly enjoyed, but keenly appreciated. At one\nof the preaching points a certain brother insisted upon my going home\nwith him for dinner after the morning service, which I consented to do.\nIt was a rainy day. He lived in a cabin of one room on the hillside. On\neither side of the dwelling was a shed. Under one of these he kept his\ncorn; under the other, where we entered the house, the hogs slept and the\nchickens roosted. His only piece of regular furniture was a chair. As to\nwhere and when he got it I did not inquire. Long poles reaching across\nthe room and fastened to the walls, with a forked stick under them in\nthe center, constituted a kind of double bedstead. When I entered the\ndoor I observed a large \u201cfeather tick\u201d piled upon these poles. Finally,\nsomething moved under it, and then a boy of ten or twelve summers, almost\nsuffocated, crawled out and made for the door. His purpose, no doubt, was\nto hide from the preacher when he saw him coming, but finding he could\nnot get his breath, decided to retreat to another place of concealment\nwhere there was more fresh air. I did not eat much dinner. I told \u201cmine\nhost\u201d that I was not hungry, and, in fact, was not. They had only a\nbroken skillet in which to bake bread, fry meat, and \u201cmake gravy.\u201d As\nsoon as possible I excused myself, and started for my next appointment.\nIndeed, I was glad I had another one that day.\n\nMany other amusing incidents occurred during the year. These always find\na place in the itinerant\u2019s life, and it is well, perhaps, that they do,\nas they offset in a measure his somber experiences. I am frank to confess\nthat it is easy for me to see the funny side of a happening, if it has\none, and to enjoy a joke though it be on myself.\n\nIn the early days of the West Virginia Conference, what was known as the\n\u201cplug hat\u201d was much in evidence among preachers. Such \u201cheadwear\u201d was a\ndistinguishing mark, hence no circuit-rider with proper self-respect, or\nwishing to give tone to his calling, could afford to don anything else.\nBeing young, and somewhat ambitious to hold up the ministerial standard,\nat least in appearance, I determined to secure one as soon as I could get\na few dollars ahead. However, the way opened for the gratification of my\nwish sooner than I had expected. Brother Moses Simons had one he didn\u2019t\ncare to wear, so I bantered him for a trade. It was in first-class\ncondition, but entirely too large for me. Even after putting a roll of\npaper around under the lining, it came down nearly to my ears. What was I\nto do? I must have a high-topped hat, but was not able to purchase a new\none. At last I decided to wear it, if my ears did occasionally protest\nagainst its close proximity to them. It distinguished me from common\npeople for the next two years, and so answered well its purpose.\n\nOne day as I was riding up a little creek between two high hills I passed\na group of urchins who evidently were unused to preachers. They watched\nme in utter silence till I had passed them a few yards, when one of them\npiped out, \u201cLord, what a hat.\u201d No doubt they had an interesting story to\nrelate to their parents when they returned to their humble cabin home.\n\nNot long after this I met a gentleman, so-called, in the road, and bade\nhim the time of day, as was my custom. He returned the salutation with,\n\u201cHow are you, hat?\u201d and passed on without another word. To me this was\nexceedingly offensive, for I was sure there was something in and under\nthe hat, and any such remark was an uncalled-for reflection upon my\ndignity and the high calling I represented. I did not know the man, and\nto the best of my knowledge have never seen him since, but to this day,\nthough removed from the event more than a third of a century, I harbor\nthe thought that if I ever do run across him I shall demand some sort of\nreparation for the insult.\n\nThe annual conference met in Pennsboro, Bishop Weaver presiding. During\nthe year I had improved much in health, owing to my horseback exercise\nand the great amount of singing I did, which doubtless had much to do\nwith the development of lung muscle.\n\nAt conference I went before the committee on applicants with eight\nothers, five of whom were referred back to their respective quarterly\nconferences for further preparation. For some reason the examination was\nunusually critical. One question propounded to each was, \u201cDo you seek\nadmission into the conference simply to vote for a presiding elder?\u201d\nThere was some doubt in my case on a doctrinal point, according to the\nreport of the chairman, Rev. W. Slaughter, an erratic old brother.\nHe said the boy was all right, except \u201ca little foggy on depravity.\u201d\nPossibly I was, for I didn\u2019t think much of that portion of our creed.\nHowever, I see more in it, and of it, after all these years, than I did\nthen. In the light of my observations and experiences with men, I am not\ninclined to deny the doctrine.\n\nI was appointed by this conference to Lewis Circuit, an old, run down\nfield, embracing parts of three counties. Rev. Isaac Davis was sent\nalong as a helper \u201cin the Lord.\u201d We had grown up together in the same\nneighborhood, and were members of the same congregation. He was a young\nman of sterling moral qualities, and proved himself a loyal and valuable\ncoworker.\n\nAfter spending a few days with our parents and friends, we started, early\nin April, for the scene of toil to which we had been assigned for the\nyear. From the day we left home we ceased not to pray that the Lord of\nthe harvest would give us at least one hundred souls as trophies of his\ngrace, and to that end we labored constantly.\n\nWe found the following regular appointments: Glady Fork, Hinkleville,\nUnion Hill, Little Skin Creek, White Oak, Waterloo, Indian Camp,\nWalkersville, Braxton, and Centerville. Soon we added two more, namely,\nBear Run and Laurel Run. The charge agreed to pay us $210, but fell a\nlittle short, reaching only $170. Of this I received $90, and Brother\nDavis the remaining $80. The assessment for missions was $25, and about\n$10 for other purposes, which we regarded as a pretty high tax for\nbenevolences. Yet the entire amount was raised after a most vigorous and\nthorough canvass of all the appointments. As I now remember, no one gave\nmore than twenty-five cents.\n\nOur protracted meetings lasted more than six months, and resulted in\nthe reception of one hundred and one persons into church fellowship.\nWhile in the revival at Hinkleville, a great shout occurred one night\nover the conversion of some far-famed sinners, during which the floor of\nthe church gave way and went down some two feet. Before dismissing the\npeople, I announced that we would meet and make repairs the next day.\nAt the appointed time it seemed that nearly all the men and boys in the\ncountry round about were on hand, ready to render what service they could\nin repairing the house of the Lord.\n\nThis was a revival of far-reaching influence. The country for miles\naround was thoroughly stirred. One of the leading men became interested\none night, and decided upon a new life. As he approached the church the\nnext day he heard us singing what was then a very popular song\u2014\u201cWill the\nAngels Come?\u201d The words and melody fairly charmed him, and kindled new\nhope in a life that had been given over to sin. As he opened the church\ndoor, the key of faith opened his heart\u2019s door to the Savior, and he\nrushed down the aisle to tell us of his wonderful experience. It was all\nvictory that morning. The conversion of such a man profoundly affected\nthe people, and led to many more decisions for Christ.\n\nDuring this meeting my colleague arose one evening to preach. As he had\nthe test, with book, chapter, and verse all by heart, he did not open his\nBible, but began by saying, \u201cYou will find my text in Revelation, third\nchapter, and twentieth verse.\u201d Just then an apple fell through a hole in\nhis coat-pocket on to the floor. As he stooped to pick it up, another\nfell out. Returning them to his pocket, he again started\u2014\u201cRevelation,\nthird chapter and twentieth verse,\u201d when suddenly the two restless apples\ndropped out again. After picking them up, he started in the third time,\n\u201cYou will find my text in,\u201d\u2014but all was gone. He couldn\u2019t even think of\nRevelation. The audience was at the point of roaring, so in the midst\nof his confusion he turned to me and said, \u201cBrother Weekley, what is my\ntext? I don\u2019t know what nor where it is.\u201d I answered, \u201cBehold, I stand\nat the door and knock.\u201d \u201cYes, yes,\u201d he said, \u201cI remember it now,\u201d and\nproceeded with his discourse, but did not recover that evening from the\nknock-out blow he had received.\n\nPreaching through such a long revival campaign was no easy thing, when\nI had only a few sermons in stock, and these were all \u201chome made.\u201d I\nthink the material in them was all right, but the mechanical construction\nwas not according to any particular rule. I endeavored to give my\nhearers plenty to eat, but I did not understand how to serve the food in\ncourses. It was like putting a lot of hominy, and pork, and cabbage, and\nbeans into the same dish, and saying to the people, \u201cHere it is; help\nyourselves.\u201d But as a few sermons could not be made to last indefinitely,\nI was compelled to apply myself to study, no little of which was done on\nhorseback. Every itinerant in West Virginia at that time had to do the\nsame thing. While this method of study was not the most desirable, it\nnevertheless had its redeeming features. Ofttimes, after riding a dozen\nor fifteen miles over rough, hilly roads, I would alight, hitch my horse,\nand while the weary animal was resting, mount a log near by and practice\nto my heart\u2019s content the sermon I was preparing for my next appointment.\nAgain and again did I make the welkin ring as I preached to an audience\nof great trees about me. Does this appear amusing to the reader? Do you\ndoubt that such experiences ever occurred? If so, ask some of the earlier\npreachers of the conference who are yet living if they ever did such a\nthing while circuit-riding among the mountains.\n\nDid we ever feel lonesome as we traversed the forests or climbed the\nhills? Not for a moment. It was an inspiring place to be. The birds sing\nso sweetly there. The gurgling, murmuring streamlets are ever musical\nas they steal their way along through gulches, over their rocky beds.\nThe scenery is sublime. Nature\u2019s book stands wide open, and abounds with\nrichest lessons and illustrations. No wonder Glossbrenner and Markwood,\nWarner and Howe, with a host of others, could preach! The very mountains\namid which they were born and reared conspired to make them lofty\ncharacters, and majestic in their pulpit efforts. While Union Biblical\nSeminary, and our colleges generally, are grand, helpful schools, let it\nnot be forgotten that \u201cBrush College\u201d is not without its advantages, and\nshould be given due credit for the inspiration and rugged manliness it\nimparts to its students.\n\nMy home this year was with Brother James Hull, on the headwaters of\nFrench Creek, fully forty miles from the nearest railroad station. Mother\nHull was one of God\u2019s noble women. She professed sanctification, and\nlived it every day. I can never forget her helpfulness to me, a mere\nchild in years and service. I must see her in heaven.\n\nIf I returned home after each Sabbath\u2019s work, it required one hundred\nand fifty miles travel to make one round of the circuit. My associate\nalso had a good home on another part of the charge; but unfortunately\nfor him, and for some others as well, his zeal led him into trouble.\nBrother Mike Boyles, with whom he stayed, was a good, true man, and was\never delighted to have a preacher with him. One Sunday he went to see a\nfriend a few miles distant, and innocently carried home on his horse a\nlarge, nice, well-matured pumpkin. His purpose, no doubt, was to prepare\na special dish for his guest; but his preacher was not pleased with such\nan infraction of the Sabbath law. A short while after this he discoursed\nin the neighborhood church on the text, \u201cI stand in doubt of you.\u201d Among\nother things, he said he stood in doubt of a church-member who would go\nvisiting on Sunday and carry \u201cpumpkins\u201d home with him. Brother Boyles\nvery naturally made the application a personal one, and ever afterward\nrefused to be reconciled.\n\nDuring the year I married two couples. One of the men was a horse\nbuyer, and was considered \u201caway up\u201d financially. Of course I expected\nno insignificant sum for my services; it ought to have been ten dollars\nor more; but let the reader imagine, if he can, my disappointment,\nif not disgust, when he handed me forty cents in \u201cshinplasters.\u201d By\n\u201cshinplasters\u201d I mean a certain kind of currency which circulated\nduring our civil strife in the early sixties, in the form of five, ten,\ntwenty-five and fifty cent certificates.\n\nSpeaking of this wedding recalls the fact that it was on this circuit,\nwhile visiting my uncle the year before, that I married my first couple.\nI remember, too, that I approached the occasion with great trepidation.\nIt was an awful task. But the eventful hour finally came. The parsonage,\nso called, where the nuptials were to be celebrated, was a log cabin of\none room. The kitchen, which stood several feet from the main building,\nwas the only place offered in which to arrange the toilet. At last\nI stood before the young couple and began the ceremony, which I had\ncommitted to memory. Yes, I had it sure, as I thought. I had gone over\nit twenty times or more. In practising for the occasion I had joined\ntrees and fence stakes, and I know not what all, together; but at the\nvery moment when I needed it, and couldn\u2019t get along without it, the\nwhole thing suddenly left me. There I was. After an extended pause and a\nmost harrowing silence I rallied, and began by saying, \u201cWe are gathered\ntogether.\u201d Just then my voice failed me; it seemed impossible to make\na noise, even. I fairly gasped for breath, for that was the one thing I\nseemed to need most. At last the effort was renewed. How I got through I\nnever knew. I seemed to be in a mysterious realm, where the unknowable\nbecomes more incomprehensible, and when all the past and future seem to\nunite in the present. Finally I wound up what seemed to be long-drawn out\naffair, and pronounced the innocent couple man and wife. I am glad they\nalways considered themselves married. I have but little recollection of\nwhat I did or said during the ordeal. In fact, I do not care to know,\nsince I am so far away from the occasion. Yes, that was my first wedding.\n\nThe year was not without its material enterprises, for we completed the\nchurches at Glady Fork and Waterloo, repaired one at Indian Camp, and\nstarted a new one at Laurel Run. Some of these stand yet as moral and\nreligious centers, and, at times, through the intervening years, have\nbeen the scenes of great spiritual awakenings.\n\nConference was held at New Haven, in Mason County, with Bishop D. Edwards\nin the chair. While our report was thought to be fairly good, I asked for\na change, believing that I could do better work on another field. The\nfavor was granted, and Hessville Mission assigned me as my third charge.\n\nAt the close of this year there were thirty-one ministers employed in\nthe conference, whose aggregate salary was $4,551.77, or an average of\n$147 each. The three presiding elders received, all told, $843.83. These\nfigures indicate something of the sacrifices made by the men who gave\nthemselves to the early work of building up the Church in the Virginias.\nGreater heroism of the apostolic type was never displayed by any of\nthe sons of Otterbein, nor can any part of the country show greater\nachievements for the work done.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nHessville Mission embraced portions of Harrison and Marion counties, and\nwas made up of the following preaching places: Quaker Fork, Glade Fork,\nIndian Run, Big Run, Little Bingamon, Ballard School-house, Salt Lick,\nPlumb Run, and Paw-paw. In all this territory we did not own a single\nchurch edifice. By fall I had added Dent\u2019s Run, Bee Gum, and Glover\u2019s\nGap, making twelve appointments in all. At the last named place I held\na revival in a union church. The meeting was good, and telling most\nfavorably upon some of the best families of the town, when an unknown\nmiscreant at an early morning hour applied the torch and reduced the\nbuilding to ashes. All I lost in the conflagration was my Bible and\nhymn-book. Moving into a schoolhouse near by, the meeting was continued,\nand a class organized. By the middle of the winter there had been\nsixty-five accessions, but from that on till spring I had to lay by on\naccount of measles.\n\nAt Little Bingamon we had a great meeting. The entire community was\ndeeply stirred. \u201cAunt Susan\u201d Martin was my main helper and standby.\nWhile devout in life, and strong in faith, she had a blunt, honest way\nof saying things which often amused the people. At this meeting two of\nher children made a start. One was a son of some fifteen winters. He\nliterally wore himself out by his night and day pleadings at the altar,\nand became so hoarse that he could scarcely talk. His mother was greatly\nagitated over his condition, and grew exceedingly anxious to see the\nintense struggle terminated. One evening she bowed at the altar with him\nthat she might, through instruction, show him a better way. She did not\nbelieve that bodily exercise could be made to avail anything in seeking\nsalvation. Finally, for a moment, she lost her patience, and said, \u201cNow,\nif you don\u2019t quit this kind of praying you will kill yourself. Stop it,\nI tell you, or I\u2019ll box your ears good. The Lord isn\u2019t deaf, that you\nshould \u2018holler\u2019 so loud.\u201d Then turning to her husband who, at the time,\nwas a professed moralist, though faithful in attending and supporting the\nchurch services, she said: \u201cGeorge, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.\nNot a word have you for this poor child. Now come and talk to him. To\nstand and look on is no way to do.\u201d\n\nThe dear sister was right, not only in thinking that the father ought\nto help the son, but in protesting against unnecessary physical\ndemonstrations in seeking religion. It is not the loud praying or\nconstant pleading that saves men, but faith in the world\u2019s Redeemer. Rev.\nH. R. Hess, one of the leading ministers in the West Virginia Conference,\nwas soundly converted and received into the church during this meeting.\n\nWhat a good home I had while on this charge! Brother Daniel Mason, a\nfather in Israel, whose life was as pure as a sunbeam, took me to his\nhome and heart, and treated me very much as the Shunammite did Elisha.\nHe built me a little room on his porch, and put therein a bed, bookcase,\ntable, and candlestick. The worth of such a place to a young minister is\nnext to incalculable. Twice a day he read the Word and prayed. He was on\ngood terms with his Lord, and talked to him with the greatest assurance.\nSome of the sweetest memories of my earlier ministry cluster about this\nChristian home. The fruition of the upper and better life he now enjoys\nas the reward of his faith, service, and devotion while here below.\n\nThe circuit agreed to pay me $100, and kept its contract. The first\nquarter I received $14.81, the second, $18.35; the third, $17.75; and\nthe last $49.05. The conference added $50, which pushed my support up\nto $150. With this salary, much above the average for a single man, I\ncould afford to pay $21.50 for a new suit of clothes, and $4 for a new\n\u201ctwo-story\u201d silk hat.\n\nOn my way to conference a few days were spent with friends in the home\nneighborhood. Rev. E. Lorenz, father of the music writer, was living\nand preaching in Parkersburg at this time. He had organized a German\ncongregation, and held services in the lecture-room of our English\nchurch. The Committee on Entertainment sent me to stay with him during\nthe conference session which was held in the city. Thoughts of that\nsuperlatively Christian home linger with me to this day. I shall never\nforget how parents and children bowed together in prayer, morning and\nevening, and how each took part in the devotions. Too much emphasis\ncannot be placed upon the importance of prayer in the home. Nothing else,\non the human side, so anchors the family and builds up character. The\nfact that the fire has died out on so many domestic altars is, itself,\nproof that family religion does not receive the attention it once did.\n\nAt this conference I was permitted to pass the second and third years\u2019\ncourse of reading, which put me in the class to be ordained. I can never\nblot from memory the prayer offered by the lamented Doctor Warner at the\nordination service. He seemed to pour out his very soul in petition to\nGod for the young men being set apart to the work of the ministry. I wept\nlike a child while he thus prayed, and anew pledged to Jesus and the\nChurch the service of my life.\n\nGrafton at this time was constituted a mission station, and made my field\nfor the coming year. The town then (1873) had a population of about three\nthousand souls, and was located mainly on a steep hillside. In fact, it\nstands about the same way yet, though containing several thousand more\npeople. We had no church-house, and no organization, though there were\na few members scattered through the place. Seventy-five dollars were\nappropriated by the conference toward my support. A preaching-place\ncalled \u201cOld Sandy,\u201d some twelve miles distant, was also given me. Here\nwe had a gracious revival. I later took up two more points\u2014Maple Run\nand Glade Run\u2014and organized a class at each. At the close of the year\nthese country classes were formed into a separate charge, and became\nself-supporting.\n\n[Illustration: W. M. WEEKLEY, Thirty Years of Age\n\nPresiding Elder]\n\nAt Grafton the work progressed slowly, and with some difficulty for\na time. A friend gave us, free of charge, the use of a church-house\nwhich, by some means, had fallen into his hands. The first thing was to\norganize a Sabbath school, which started off well. When certain church\npartisans saw the outlook, they offered to take part in the school,\nand adroitly got possession of the offices. When I discovered the real\nsituation, I determined to bring the matter of control to an issue,\nand did. I deliberately stated that I had been sent there to organize\na United Brethren Church and Sabbath school, and proposed to carry out\nmy instructions. I was pleased to have teachers and other helpers from\nsister denominations join in the work, I added, but the school would be\nreported to my conference. The result is easily imagined. Our friends,\nso-called, suddenly dropped out, and from that day to this the identity\nof the school has never been questioned.\n\nThe seventy-five dollars appropriated by the conference was about all\nI received, and twenty-five dollars of that went in a lump to the\ncentennial fund. If a kind family had not taken me in, free of cost, I\ncould not have remained the year through. For the second year the support\ngiven was about the same. The third year there were two of us to support,\nhence a special effort had to be made to increase the pay. Three hundred\nand twelve dollars was the amount actually received, eighty dollars of\nwhich was paid on rent; but we lived well; no such thing as want seemed\nto be within a thousand leagues of our humble home. We were thankful for\ncheap furniture and home-made carpet. Yea, more, we were happy. God\u2019s\nravens carried us our daily portion.\n\nIn the early spring of 1875, we began the erection of a chapel which\ncost, lot and all, $2,800. But a part of it had to be built the second\ntime. Just as the frame was up and ready for roof and siding, a storm\npassing that way piled it in a promiscuous heap. This occurred on the\nseventeenth of July. Immediately, however, the work of reconstruction was\nundertaken, and the edifice was completed in early fall, and dedicated by\nDoctor Warner. Such experiences try a young man\u2019s nerve and purpose, but\ninvariably prove a blessing when the difficulties accompanying them are\novercome.\n\nThat year I took up an appointment at the Poe School-house, two miles out\nof town, and organized a class. In those days the preacher was expected\nto look around for new openings, no matter where he was or how large his\nfield; there is no other way to expand. My criticism of many of our young\npreachers to-day is that they do not try to enlarge their work. They seem\nnever to look beyond the nest into which the conference settles them.\nThey will live on half salary, and whine about it all year, rather than\nget out and look up additional territory. Under fair conditions, the\nyoung man who is devout and active can secure a good living on any field.\nFaith and purpose and push will win every time. The year closed with\nfifty-three members, and ninety-five in the Sunday school.\n\nThe conference again convened in Parkersburg, with David Edwards this\ntime as bishop\u2014the last session he ever presided over.\n\nAt this period the battle in the Church over the secrecy question was\nwaxing warm. West Virginia had lined up on the liberal side. The bishop,\nbeing pronouncedly \u201canti\u201d in his views, determined to enforce the rules\nof the Church in the matter of admitting applicants into the conference.\nA brother who appeared for license was known to belong to some fraternal\norder, so the good bishop held him up. This brought on a crisis. All\nwas excitement. Some things, it was clear, would have to be settled\nthen and there, and they were. Doctor Warner arose, in the midst of the\nflurry, and demanded that the young brother be sent to the appropriate\ncommittee, which he said was thoroughly competent to deal with the\nquestion. The bishop was on his feet also with the fire of determination\nfairly flashing in his eyes. However, when he fully realized that, with\nan exception or two, the entire body was against him, he gracefully\nyielded, thus happily bringing the unfortunate conflict to a close. By\nmorning, matters had again assumed a normal condition, and the bishop\nkindly requested that all reference to the controversy be expunged from\nthe records.\n\nNotwithstanding Bishop Edwards\u2019 somewhat radical position on the secrecy\nquestion, he was greatly loved by all our brethren, and by none was\nhis death more sincerely mourned. On Sunday he preached on Elijah\u2019s\ntranslation; a few days thereafter he was himself translated.\n\nFrom Grafton I was sent to New Haven circuit, in Mason County, one\nhundred and sixty miles west. To get there I was compelled to borrow\ntwenty-five dollars. Dr. J. L. Hensley kindly entertained us until\na house could be found; for as yet there was not a parsonage in the\nconference. This was considered one of the best fields we had. The\nfirst year it paid me four hundred and sixteen dollars, and the next,\nfour hundred and twenty-seven dollars, with a few presents in the shape\nof vegetables, groceries, and the like. Of course, I paid rent out of\nthis\u2014thirty-six dollars one year, and fifty the other. I had only four\nappointments\u2014New Haven, Bachtel, Union, and Vernon, and these were close\ntogether. During the two years, one hundred and thirty were received\ninto the Church.\n\nThe next conference was held at Bachtel, which gave me my first\nexperience in caring for such a body. Bishop Weaver presided and preached\nthe word mightily on Sunday. He had been popular even since his first\nvisit to that section, in 1870. By request of Hon. George W. Murdock, a\nwealthy business man in Hartford City, three miles west, he went down\nthere and preached in our church on Sunday evening. Mr. Murdock was an\nardent admirer of the bishop. Six years before he had entertained him in\nhis home, and was charmed by him as a preacher and conversationalist.\nAfter spending the first hour with him, he slipped into the kitchen and\nsaid: \u201cWife, he is the most wonderful man I ever met. Do come in and hear\nhim talk.\u201d The old gentleman never forgot the bishop\u2019s sermon on Sunday.\nFor weeks afterward he would talk about it in his store, and elsewhere,\nsometimes in tears, nearly always ending with the observation, \u201cHe is a\nwonderful man.\u201d It might not be out of place to note here that the good\nbishop more than once shared the benefactions of his wealthy friend.\n\nDuring my second year on this charge, a peculiar and most trying\nexperience came to our home. A great revival was going on at the Union\nappointment. The altar was nightly crowded with earnest seekers, some of\nwhom belonged to the best families in the community. Early one morning a\nyoung man came hurriedly to the place where I was stopping, and calling\nme out, said, \u201cMr. Weekley, I have been sent to tell you that your babe\nis dead.\u201d Hastening home I found the faithful mother watching at the side\nof the withered flower, and anxiously awaiting my coming. How loving the\nministry of friends had been; nor did their tender interest abate a whit\nuntil the little lifeless form was put away to sleep in the cemetery on\nthe hillside, in the family lot of Dr. Hensley.\n\nThe reader may be anxious to know what I did under the circumstances.\nThere was but one thing to do, that was to seek the guiding hand of\nduty. Our little one was gone. Just as the thoughtful florist takes his\ntender plants into their winter quarters before the frost appears, or\nthe chilling winds sweep the plains, so a wise, loving, merciful Father\nhad plucked up the little vine which had rooted itself so thoroughly and\ndeeply in our hearts, and transplanted it in his own heavenly garden.\nYes, Charley was safe; so I returned to my meeting with a tender spirit,\nand the work continued with great power.\n\nMore than one preacher who reads this incident will recall the time,\nor times, when he, too, passed under the cloud, and walked amid the\nshadows. Again and again I have been made to feel that some people do\nnot sympathize with the minister and his wife, as they do with others,\nwhen the death angel tarries and lays his withering hand upon a young\nlife. Somehow they seem to think that the cup, when administered to\nthe preacher\u2019s family, is not so bitter\u2014that the thorn does not pierce\nso deeply. But I know better, and so do a thousand others. It is said\nof Dr. Daniel Curry, a great man in Methodism in his day, that he was\nso grieved over the death of his little boy that after returning home\nfrom the cemetery he went into the back yard, and observing his little\ntracks in the sand, got down on his hands and knees and kissed them.\nWords cannot express my sympathy for the faithful pastor and his family,\nand my admiration of that faith, devotion, and heroism which in so many\ninstances are necessary to keep them in the work.\n\nMason County was one of the first fields occupied by the ministers who\ncrossed the Alleghanies westward. Among these were G. W. Statton, J.\nBachtel, and Moses Michael. However, prior to this, preaching had been\nkept up on the Virginia side by pastors of the Scioto Conference. The\nmain one was Jonas Frownfelter, whose name deserves a place alongside the\nheroes enumerated in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. On one occasion,\nwhen the Ohio River was out of its banks, and too dangerous for the\nferryman to venture across, he plunged in a little below the town of\nSyracuse, swam his horse across, and came out at Hartford City, a half\nmile below, singing like a conqueror:\n\n    \u201cFrom every stormy wind that blows,\n    From every swelling tide of woes,\n    There is a calm, a sure retreat,\u201d etc.\n\nAll honor to those who put their sweat, and tears, and blood into the\nfoundations of the conference, thus enabling others to build safely and\nsuccessfully.\n\nEarly in the fifties a paper known as the _Virginia Telescope_, was\nstarted in West Columbia, ostensibly in the interest of the whole Church,\nbut later developments proved that the object was to organize a Southern\nUnited Brethren Church, making the slavery question the basis of the\nseparation. When the presiding elder, G. W. Statton, became aware of its\npurpose, he threw his official influence against its continuance, and\nsucceeded, by the aid of others, in eliminating it as a disturbing factor.\n\nThe reader will pardon me for taking up these early historical threads,\nwoven long before my day as an itinerant, but I have done so with the\nview to preserving in permanent form interesting facts not generally\nknown, and nowhere written into the history of the Church.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nIn March of 1878, the conference assembled in Grafton, with Bishop J.\nJ. Glossbrenner as its presiding officer. At this session the brethren\ngreatly surprised me by electing me one of the presiding elders. No\nthought of such a thing had ever entered my mind. I could not see the\npropriety of putting a young man, not yet twenty-seven, over men of age,\nability, and experience, hence it was with no little diffidence that I\naccepted the West Columbia District, in the bounds of which I had already\nworked two years. The district contained only eleven charges, but these\nwere widely scattered, embracing all or parts of Cabell, Mason, Jackson,\nWood, Putnam, Kanawha, and Roane counties, and were as follows: Milton,\nPoint Pleasant, Cross Creek, Thirteen, Jackson, Red House, Fair Plain,\nSandy, New Haven, Wood, and Hartford City. Later, Walton was added.\n\nThe salary assessed the district was $425; out of this I had to pay\ntraveling expenses, provide a house to live in, and pay a hired girl.\nUnder such conditions I could afford a house of only three rooms. I\nnever believed in a preacher, or any one else, for that matter, living\nbeyond his income. Debt is an awful devil for the itinerant to contend\nwith, and should be avoided at all hazard. In all the years of my\nministry I have never left a pastoral charge or district owing any one\nthereon a nickel. If a man is fit to be a preacher, debt will distract\nhis mind and put a thorn in his pillow; it cannot be otherwise with a\nsensitive nature. God save our young men from the habit and curse of\ndebt-making.\n\nNo little of my travel, while on the district, was by boat on the Ohio\nand Big Kanawha rivers. Only one of my fields was touched by a railroad,\nand that was sixty miles from where I lived. My custom was to go by\nboat to the point nearest the place of the quarterly meeting, and then\nwalk the remaining distance, whether it be five or twenty-five miles.\nOften I might have secured conveyance for the asking, but I felt that it\nwas humiliating to be always annoying somebody for favors, nor have I\nchanged an iota in all these years in this regard. If a preacher wants\nto make himself a nuisance among his parishioners, he can easily do so\nby constantly making demands upon them which look to his own comfort and\nthat of his family. Many a time I walked from twelve to fifteen miles\nin a day, held quarterly conference, and preached twice. Occasionally\nthe distance would stretch out to twenty miles. I did not mind the labor\nso much as I did the suffering from sore feet; walking in the hot sun\nor over frozen roads, hour after hour, often caused them to blister and\nbleed. In these experiences I was not alone; many others, some of whom\nyet live, suffered the same or kindred hardships.\n\nIn February of 1879 I was called home to my father\u2019s. After a day or\ntwo I tried to return, but upon reaching Parkersburg found the river\nso frozen and clogged with ice that the boats could not run. It was\nThursday afternoon. My quarterly was at Oakhill, fully forty miles\ndistant, the next Saturday at two o\u2019clock. The roads were badly frozen\nand almost impassable. When I saw the situation I determined to make the\ntrip overland as best I could; if I could not find assistance along the\nway, I would walk it. Leaving the city at four o\u2019clock, I traveled on\ntill darkness overtook me, when I turned aside and knocked at the door\nof a humble cabin and asked for lodging, which was cheerfully granted;\nbut I had made only a few miles. In addition to the rough roads, I was\nburdened with a good-sized grip and overcoat. The next morning at daydawn\nI resumed my journey. Once during the day I rode two or three miles in\nsomebody\u2019s sled, but beyond this I got no help. Long after the dinner\nhour I secured a cold lunch, which the reader may be assured was relished\nby a tired, hungry man. An hour before sundown I reached Sandyville,\nwhere a warm supper was enjoyed at a little hotel. Still I was fifteen\nmiles away from the point for which I was aiming, and felt that I could\ngo no farther without help; but a kind friend generously agreed to loan\nme his horse to ride as far as Ripley, seat of justice for Jackson\nCounty, from which place the mail-carrier was to lead it back the next\nday; but the poor animal was shoeless, and went crippling along at a\nsnail\u2019s gait over the rough ground.\n\nTwo miles distant I had to cross Sandy Creek, and found it partly frozen\nover. It was too dark to discern the danger of fording the stream. After\nrepeated efforts, I succeeded in getting the horse on to the ice, but as\nquick as a flash it fell broadside, pitching me\u2014I never knew where nor\njust how far; but the horse beat me up, turned its head homeward, and\ndisappeared in the darkness. What did I do? Well, what almost anybody\nelse would have done under like circumstances. I took the back track\nand returned to the village where the animal belonged, and found that\nit had returned in good order. The next morning my feet were so sore\nthat I could not wear my shoes, but was fortunate in securing a pair of\narctics in which to travel the rest of the journey. By noon Ripley was\nreached, where conveyance was secured which enabled me to make the place\nof meeting and call the conference on schedule time.\n\nSome one may suggest that I was foolish for making such an effort to\nreach the quarterly when nothing apparently unusual was at stake; maybe\nI was, but such was my way of doing. I always believed that a preacher\nought to fill his engagements promptly unless providentially hindered,\nand then he ought to be fair enough not to blame providence with too\nmuch; but few days are ever too cold and stormy, or nights too dark to\nkeep a man from his appointments if he is anxious to preach the word\nand minister to his people. I here record the fact, with feelings of\nsatisfaction and pride, that in more than a third of a century I have\nnot disappointed a dozen congregations. As I see it, a preacher succeeds\nin his work just as business or other professional men succeed in their\nrespective callings. He must bestir himself, and permit no obstacle\nto get between him and duty; any other policy means failure. At it\neverywhere and all the time, and keeping everybody else at work, are the\nonly ways to win for the Church and maintain a good conscience before\nGod.\n\nConference met in Hartford City. The chart showed that a good year had\nbeen enjoyed, 1,354 new members being reported. Of this number, 535 were\ncredited to West Columbia District.\n\nThe second year on the district was like unto the first\u2014full of toil,\nresponsibility, and peril betimes.\n\nAs an indication of what was required of a presiding elder in order to\naid his pastors and keep the work of the district well in hand, I relate\nthe following experience: A rainy winter morning found me on Milton\nCircuit\u2014the last charge in the southwestern part of the conference. I had\nan appointment that evening at Cross Creek, thirty-five miles east. The\nmud in some places was knee deep to my horse, but on and on I traveled,\nover hills and along meandering streams, sometimes walking myself up\nand down steep places in order to relieve my weary horse. At last, when\nit was nearly dark, I halted on the bank of the great Kanawha, opposite\nthe town of Buffalo. But how was I to get across the threatening stream?\nThe ice lay piled in great heaps on either shore; the man who tended the\nferry hesitated to come after me when I called to him, but he was given\nto understand that in some way I must be gotten over. Finally he agreed\nto make the attempt, and after hard rowing, landed me on the opposite\nside but below the regular coming-out place, and where the ice was badly\ngorged. Then the real difficulty of the venture was apparent. We had to\nget the horse up over the great blocks of ice that lay at the water\u2019s\nedge, and it was to two of us an exciting time; no one can describe it on\npaper. Holding on to the animal, pulling my best at the bridle-rein all\nthe while, the ferryman pushing with all his might, we finally scrambled\nover the ice and through narrow passageways until a place of safety\nwas reached. How thankful I felt when it was all over, and how I loved\nthat horse! Doctor Warner used to tell how his faithful horse once swam\nan angry stream, and that after the shore had been reached in safety\nhe dismounted, put his arms around the neck of his deliverer, kissed\nhis lips, and wept for joy. Itinerating in the early days of the West\nVirginia Conference meant all this, and sometimes much more.\n\nWhen I got to the church, two miles farther on, I found the congregation\nwaiting and ready to join in the service. It might be stated, in\nthis connection, that in those days the coming of the \u201celder\u201d was an\nextraordinary event, and seldom failed to bring out the entire community.\n\nThe following evening I had an engagement to preach at Mount Moriah,\nstill farther east some thirty miles. It rained the day through. A part\nof the journey I followed a single trail, popularly known as a \u201chog\npath.\u201d Such a route relieved me somewhat from the mud, but, being in the\nwoods, I could not carry an umbrella over me, hence had to take the rain\nas it came; but I must not disappoint the people. They had my word for\nit that I would be there, and the promise must be sacredly kept. It was\na little after dark when I caught a glimpse of the lights in the old log\nchurch; but, hold! I suddenly found myself up against another serious\ndifficulty\u2014Parchment Creek was out of its banks. There seemed no show\nfor getting over except to plunge in and swim my horse. I hesitated;\nalready wet and cold, I was loath to make the attempt. I would have to\ncarry my saddle-bags on my shoulder if I saved my Bible, hymn-book, and\nsermons; the water would come to my waist, to say the least. Then another\ntrouble appeared; it was too dark to see the road or landing-place on the\nopposite side, and I might drift below it with the current and not get\nout at all. While thus cogitating, I heard some boys talking on the other\nside as they were going to church. Calling to them, I said, \u201cBoys, can\u2019t\nyou in some way help me over the creek?\u201d \u201cWho are you?\u201d was the reply.\n\u201cI\u2019m the preacher,\u201d I answered, \u201cand want to get to the church.\u201d After\na short consultation among themselves, one of them shouted back, \u201cAll\nright; we\u2019ll bring the skiff after you.\u201d Soon I heard them push out from\nthe shore, and in a few moments they landed near me. \u201cNow,\u201d said one,\n\u201cyou get in here with Bill, and I\u2019ll swim your hoss over,\u201d and in less\ntime than it takes to pen the happenings, he was in the saddle on his\nknees and starting for the water. Did he get over safely? Yes, indeed;\nhe entered the stream above the usual place of going in, hence the horse\nswam, not against the current, but at an angle with it. In every way\npossible I thanked those boys for their kindness to me, for they had\ncertainly kept me from putting my life in peril. If they are still living\nand should happen to glance over these pages, they will readily recall\nthe event.\n\nThe church was nearly full of people, and I certainly enjoyed preaching\nto them. The great Father had been graciously with me to guide my ways\nand to protect my life. How glad I will be if, on the morning of the\neternal to-morrow, I shall find that the service that evening helped some\nsoul heavenward!\n\nRev. W. W. Rymer, over thirty years ago, nearly lost his life in this\nsame region on account of high waters. His horse either could not or\nwould not swim, but plunged furiously when beyond his depth. The heroic\nitinerant stayed in the saddle as long as he could, but was finally\ndislodged and went down. In the midst of it all he retained his presence\nof mind and aimed for the nearest shore, which was not far away. Being\nunable to swim, he crawled on the bottom a part of the way, and at\nlast found himself where he could stand with his head above the water.\nThe horse, fortunately, came out on the same side. Commenting on the\nincident, Mr. Rymer says: \u201cAfter my deliverance, it was clear to me\nthat I had been near death\u2019s door, and also near heaven. Two thoughts\nfollowed; one was: \u2018If I had not escaped, I would now be in glory,\u2019 and\nI confess I felt good over the reflection. The other was: \u2018No, it is\nbetter that I got out, for if I had drowned, my parents would have had\ngreat sorrow.\u2019 I took it all to mean that my work was not yet done, and\nsoon experienced great peace of mind. Almost thirty-one years have come\nand gone since then, but the ruling purpose of my heart all the while has\nbeen to preach Jesus. Before thirty-one years more have rolled around,\nI shall have gone through death\u2019s river\u2014yes, through to the other side,\nwhere I shall see my Lord face to face.\u201d\n\nLet the reader be assured that there is a profound satisfaction in\nlooking back to those times of trial and suffering, of battle and\nvictory, when the ways of Providence were so plain, and when an\nunspeakable jay crowned the years of toil and service.\n\nAfter another ride of twelve miles from Mount Moriah, I reached my home\nin Cottageville, near the Ohio River. How inexpressibly delightful to be\nat home again with wife and little ones! What a heavenly place home is\nwhen love and sunshine await the itinerant\u2019s coming! While he ministers\nto them, they also minister tenderly to him; such mutual love and\nhelpfulness is to be found nowhere else.\n\nMy support for the year consisted of $427.83 in salary and $22.41 in\npresents. Fifty dollars of this went for house rent, and fully as much\nmore for traveling expenses. Beside these outlays, we kept hired help in\nthe home all the time.\n\nBuckhannon, Upshur Country, was the seat of the next session of the\nconference. The noble Bishop Glossbrenner was with us in the fullness of\nthe Spirit, and charmed us with the warmth and sweetness of his gospel\nmessages. As recording secretary, I edited a little \u201cdaily,\u201d which gave\nthe proceedings of the conference. This was the first and last attempt of\nthe kind. Such an arrangement is nice, to be sure, and sounds well when\nwe talk about it, but it always costs more than it is worth. The town\npapers are usually willing and anxious to report the work.\n\nDuring the session a most amusing incident took place. A colored brother\nby the name of Waldo came to me at the noon hour on Thursday, and asked\nme to marry him that evening at eight o\u2019clock. I said, \u201cWaldo, I cannot\ngrant your request. We have an evening session of conference, and I must\nbe there. However, if you will put it off till nine o\u2019clock, I will be on\nhand.\u201d But to such an arrangement he would not agree. The long-looked-for\nmoment could not be delayed. Eight o\u2019clock was the hour about which\nclustered the sweetest anticipations of his life. The goal toward which\nhe had striven must be reached and won on schedule time. So, with a\ntwinkle of the eye, characteristic of the negro, he exclaimed: \u201cGood\nLawd! the thing\u2019s gone too fah now; no putting it off.\u201d Of course I had\nto arrange for another secretary under circumstances so vitally essential\nto the brother\u2019s happiness and welfare. The reason why he chose me to\nperform the ceremony, he said, was because I had converted him eight\nyears before.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe third year on the district brought the usual routine of duties and\nhardships. By the help of Brother John Dodds, who gave me fifty dollars,\nI was enabled to purchase a horse and buggy, paying $125 for the entire\noutfit. This arrangement relieved me of much walking. The horses and\nmules occasionally used during the previous years were borrowed or hired.\nMy muleback riding, however, was suddenly broken off by a rather painful\nincident which occurred one night. Striking a bit of good road, I spurred\nthe animal into a gallop, but something happened; its forelegs seemed to\ngive way, and it turned a complete somersault. With my arms extended, I\nwent on, like a flying-machine, several feet before I struck the ground.\nThe fall nearly killed me. I rolled about in agony for a while before\nI thought of the mule, but when I was able to get up I observed the\ntreacherous beast leisurely eating grass in the fence corner near by, as\nif nothing had happened. I never liked a mule after that, and, to the\nbest of my knowledge, have not been on one since.\n\nI never thought it out of place to have a little innocent fun once in a\nwhile. \u201cLaugh and grow fat,\u201d is an old adage which has more in it than\nsome people suppose. A long, wry face is a poor sign of piety. To assume\na look of seriousness, as though religion were made up of clouds and\nshadows and disappointments, is a false representation of the Christian\nlife. If any person on earth has a right to be cheerful and to smile all\nover his face, it is the one who honestly endeavors to serve God, and has\nhis eyes throneward all the while. Yes\u2014\n\n    \u201cA little nonsense now and then\n    Is relished by the wisest men.\u201d\n\nCertainly, then, there is nothing wrong in those not so wise enjoying it.\n\nOne blustery March day, after a long, irksome ride over the hills, I was\npassing a farm-house where two young lads were chopping wood. Here is an\nopportunity, I thought, to have a little sport; so, reining in my horse,\nI called, \u201cSay, boys, can you tell me how far it is to where I want to\ngo?\u201d In an instant one of them replied, \u201cYes, sir; three lengths of a\nfool; get off and measure.\u201d It was no time to talk back, or to interpose\nobjections to such rudeness with a presiding elder. I had gotten myself\ninto the difficulty, so had to get out as gracefully as possible. Bidding\nthem the time of day, I passed on, descanting in an undertone upon the\nsubject of depravity, and wondering what was to become of the rising\ngeneration. Since then I have deemed it wise to approach the average boy\nsomewhat cautiously, as one never knows when or in what direction his gun\nwill go off.\n\nAbout this time, and perhaps in connection with this trip, I had an\namusing experience with a brother who appeared before the quarterly\nconference for license to preach. When asked to state his views on\ndepravity, he frankly admitted that he did not fully understand the\ndoctrine, but said he believed that man was \u201c_teetotally deprived_.\u201d\nBefore the examination was over the conference was clear in its judgment\nthat it could not afford to credential a man who was _deprived_ of common\nsense.\n\nDuring the year it was my privilege and pleasure to convey the greetings\nof my conference first to the West Virginia Conference of the Methodist\nEpiscopal Church, and then to the Baptist Association of the State. Both\nwere large, influential bodies, and received with marked cordiality the\nmessenger sent by the United Brethren.\n\nWhile our people of the conference were loyal, and believed in a robust,\naggressive denominationalism, they were free from that narrow, bigoted\nsectarianism which is so unlike the religion we profess. They were\ncordial and generous in their treatment of others, and always ready to\ngrasp the hand of fellowship, no matter by whom extended. They believed\nin _union_, and do yet. As far back as 1870, the following was spread\nupon the conference minutes:\n\n\u201cWHEREAS, The tendency of the times is toward a more intimate union\namong the various religious denominations of the country; and, whereas,\nnegotiations are now going on between the Evangelical Association and the\nUnited Brethren in Christ, looking toward their union; therefore,\n\n\u201c_Resolved_, That we, as a conference, entertain the idea of such a union\nmost favorably, and hope that it can be effected on terms alike honorable\nto both denominations.\u201d\n\nBishop Glossbrenner again presided at the next session of conference,\nwhich convened in Parkersburg. The aggregate salary reported by my\ndistrict for pastoral support was $2,036, and for the presiding elder,\n$411.21. The thirty-four pastors in the entire conference received, all\ntold, $6,535, or an average each of $192. Think of it, ye who scan these\nlines! Men of God working twelve months for a pittance; men of brains\nand character, of devotion and heroism; think, too, of their families!\nThe wife and mother at home continually, with but few social, or other\nadvantages; the little ones barefooted the year \u2019round, and sometimes\nfar removed from school and church\u2014all that the husband and father might\npreach, and win sinners to the Cross. Glorious record, this! the dear\nLord has it in his book.\n\nDoes some one ask how our men died? Like conquerors. Awhile before\nconference William H. Diddle, my predecessor on the district, and a\ncomrade in toil, was called to the heavenly home. The end was beautiful,\nand found his soul in rapture. When far out in the river he shouted back,\n\u201cDo not be excited. If this is death, I am not afraid to die.\u201d His life\nhad been as pure as a sunbeam. His unselfishness was a marvel to many. He\nliterally gave himself for the good of others, and thus became one with\nhis divine Christ, both in sacrifice and service. As he entered the gates\nI think Jesus said: \u201cStand back, Gabriel; stand back, Michael; stand\nback, all ye angelic hosts, and make room for one who must be next only\nto myself.\u201d What a change from a poor, three-hundred-dollar circuit!\n\nFor the fourth time I was sent back to the district, but I returned with\nthe feeling that this must be the last year. In my report to conference\nI had asked to be relieved from district work, but the brethren did not\nsee fit to grant the request.\n\nI am, and always have been opposed to long terms of office. The duties\nentailed by positions of trust usually are such as to interfere with\nsystematic study. This is the main reason why many officials narrow down\nin their pulpit work to a few sermons. They do not have time to prepare\nnew discourses. Then there is a tendency among those who hold office,\nwhether in the annual conference or general Church, to develope a spirit\nof bossism, which is incompatible with United Brethrenism. Perhaps the\nmen in office are not so much at fault as is the system which keeps\nthem there. They somehow get the notion that they must have a finger in\neverything, and that nothing can be done exactly right without them.\nThere may be, and are notable exceptions, of course, but they are few and\nwidely separated.\n\nHaving been elected to the General Conference, with Z. Warner and E.\nHarper as associates, I attended the meeting of that body which occurred\nin Lisbon, Iowa, the following May. This was all new to me, but the\nconference was hardly so interesting as were the vast prairies of\nIllinois and Iowa, and the marvelous products of the great farms to be\nseen on every hand. In feeding our horses and cattle in West Virginia,\nwe almost invariably allotted to each just so many ears of corn. Even the\nswine we expected to butcher were given a daily allowance; but in Iowa I\nwas surprised to see chickens, hogs, cattle, and everything else given\nfree access to the compile. But such is their way of doing out West. The\nrich soil is transmuted into corn, the corn into pork and beef, and these\ninto gold, which has developed on the material side a wonderful country.\n\nDuring each of the four years I spent on the district, we held a\nministerial institute. This portable school of the prophets was suggested\nby Rev. E. Harper, now a presiding elder in North Nebraska, as far back\nas 1875. A whole week at a time would be spent in hearing recitations and\nlectures, and the work was most thorough. Our studies embraced Old and\nNew Testament history, systematic theology, Christian ethics, homiletics,\nchurch history, mental and moral philosophy, English grammar, the English\nBible, etc. Some of the textbooks used were gone through again and again\nin the course of a few years. We used charts, maps, the blackboard\u2014in\nfact, everything that would aid in the study of the Word, quicken a\ndesire for knowledge, and increase the preacher\u2019s efficiency in the\npulpit. Dr. Warner was at first our main preceptor; and what a teacher\nhe was! thorough, clear, and enthusiastic; he knew what he wanted to say,\nand how to say it. He was mighty in the Scriptures; and as a pulpiteer\nand platform speaker had no equal in his conference, and perhaps nowhere\nelse in the Church. Later, others took part in the work of instruction,\nwhich greatly pleased him, relieving him of much of the burden assumed in\nthe outset.\n\nA resolution was adopted to the effect that any preacher who wilfully\nabsented himself from these gatherings, designed especially for his\nmental and moral improvement, should be left without work until all\nothers had been employed. This policy was drastic, to be sure, but in the\nend it proved a blessing to our ministry. Much of the clerical material\nwe had on hand was exceedingly raw, but genuine, nevertheless, and\nsusceptible of being wrought into a highly-finished and useful product.\nOne young brother affirmed, publicly, that the crucifixion occurred\nseventy years before the flood; another, in preaching on Daniel in the\nlion\u2019s den, said he didn\u2019t know how he got to Babylon unless he had been\nshipwrecked. Both of these were good men, and one of them proved very\nsuccessful as an itinerant. Cases of such dense ignorance were rare, of\ncourse, but to such brethren the institute was of incalculable value,\nas history, geography, chronology, and other features of biblical study\nwere made a specially. But let no one be deceived into thinking that\nall, or a majority were illiterates. Far from it Some were giants in\nthe pulpit, and were heard with gladness by the multitudes. One after\nanother, other conferences took up the institute idea, until it prevails\nto-day in one form or another in nearly all the conferences, and no\ndoubt will remain a permanent fixture in the methods of the Church. The\nplan is a good one, and commends itself especially to young men who are\nstriving for self-improvement in the pulpit, and along lines of practical\nwork. However, before the institute should come the _college_ and\n_seminary_. At a time like the present, when money is abundant, and the\nbeneficiary aid of the church may be drawn upon, every one looking toward\nthe ministry should seek and secure the help proffered by these great\ninstitutions. The character and mission of any denomination depend upon\nthe type of its preachers. The United Brethren Church is no exception to\nthis rule.\n\nGrafton was the seat of the next conference, Bishop J. Dickson directing\nits business. The year had been fairly successful in various ways, but\nthe salaries remained exceedingly low. Over the conference they average\n$202.88. My own was $433.18, with the addition of $74.50 in presents. Of\nthe thirty-seven charges reported, only two paid as much as $400; five\npaid from $300 to $350; eleven from $200 to $300; while all the rest fell\nbelow $200. But the brethren were ready and willing to try it again. The\nsecretary says at the close of the proceedings: \u201cThe unanimity among the\npreachers and delegates, and the deep solicitude manifested by all for\nthe prosperity of the conference, made the entire session remarkably\npleasant.\u201d Referring to the Sabbath evening service, he adds: \u201cAt the\nclose a number of the ministers made brief remarks relative to their past\nhardships, and bespoke the prayers of the conference for success during\nthe coming year. This part of the service was deeply affecting.\u201d Yes, I\nremember the occasion well. Dr. Landis, of the Seminary, was present, and\nwept with the rest of us, as he listened to the story of more than one\nwho was willing to \u201cendure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nThe following will indicate the courageous attitude of the conference on\nquestions of moral reform:\n\n\u201cWHEREAS, the use of tobacco is expensive, filthy, unnecessary, and,\ntherefore, an evil, and,\n\n\u201cWHEREAS, it is especially unbecoming for ministers of the gospel to\nsurrender to an acquired appetite, defile the body, the temple of the\nHoly Ghost, and thus, by example, encourage the young to do likewise; and,\n\n\u201cWHEREAS, this evil cannot be remedied so long as ministers freely and\nopenly indulge in it, therefore,\n\n\u201c_Resolved_, 1. That from this time forward no person be granted license\nto preach by this Annual Conference who persists in the use of tobacco.\n\n\u201c_Resolved_, 2. That all licentiates who indulge this habit be required\nto give it up before taking upon themselves the vows of ordination.\u201d\n\nThe significance of this action will be more fully appreciated when it\nis understood that West Virginia is a tobacco-producing States and that\nits use, in one form or another, is pretty general among the people. A\nreport on temperance, which mercilessly arraigned the liquor traffic, and\nits political abetters, was also adopted. Here is a sentence or two from\nit: \u201cBelieving as we do that prohibition is both humane and holy, we can\nhave no sympathy for a policy, or a Christianity that ignores it at the\nballot-box.\u201d Men who were willing to work for a pittance, which meant\nthat they and their families were to go scantily fed, and half clothed,\nall for the sake of redeeming their native State, could not be expected\nto condone the offenses of the liquor dealer, or to have decent respect\nfor those who did.\n\n[Illustration: House Where the Bishop First Went to Housekeeping and\nWhere His First Child Was Born, Grafton, W. Va.]\n\nThe next two years were spent in Parkersburg. During the first we had a\nblessed revival which continued several weeks; in all, more than seventy\njoined the Church. But during the second year the work was hindered by\ncircumstances beyond human control. A great sorrow came to our home. By\ndegrees the shadows deepened, until the mother of my three children bade\nus a final adieu, and pushed out into the unseen. God pity and help the\nitinerant to whom such an experience comes! But my own mother, now of\nsuch precious memory, was ready to take the little ones, and to bestow\nupon them that wealth of care and love which never fails to enrich the\nlife.\n\nThe next year was given to the financial management of the West Virginia\nNormal and Classical Academy, located at Buckhannon. While the school\ndid excellent work for a few years, it eventually went down for want\nof material support. In view of the losses and disappointments and\nalienations caused by its failure, I am not sure that the conference\ndid a wise thing in starting it. Little colleges have their advantages,\nI grant, but trying to operate one at every crossroads on faith and\nenthusiasm, is too much of a good thing.\n\nBy consent of the conference I agreed to give a few months to the\nbusiness management and associate editorship of the _West Virginia\nFreeman_, the State prohibition organ. During this period I made a\npartial canvass of the State in the interest of a prohibition amendment\nthen pending. It would require a whole chapter to tell of my experiences\nwith the old political partisans, some of whom fairly went into spasms at\nthe very mention of prohibition. Our presidential candidate, John P. St.\nJohn, had defeated James G. Blaine, so the Republicans affirmed; hence\nthey were ready to vote against anything, or anybody, the angel Gabriel\nnot excepted, who believed on any point as St. John did. Many of these\nwere Christians, so-called, and some of them members of my own Church. I\nknew them well; and be it said to their everlasting shame, that they went\nagainst the amendment, just as did every whiskyite in the State.\n\nUnder our system of government the ballot has in it a moral element, and\ntherefore will meet us at the bar of final reckoning. It not only has\nto do with our political, industrial, and educational affairs, but with\nthe church and family as well. What show will a man have at the last\nday whose ballot has constantly belied his profession as a Christian?\nI have never been able to understand how he could enthrone his Lord\nin the affairs of state by voting a ticket perfectly satisfactory to\nthe drunkard-maker. It remains for an allwise God to determine what\ndisposition shall be made of these vicious ballots when the judgment day\ncomes. Personally, I have no respect for, or confidence in any United\nBrethren or member of any other church who, knowingly, votes for a man\nfor any office who is opposed to my Christ and the cause for which he\nstands.\n\nBeing ever ready to \u201cspeak my piece\u201d against the saloon and its allies,\nI was constantly stirring up a \u201chornet\u2019s nest\u201d over the business. When I\nspoke against it, whether in public or private, I never hesitated to pay\nmy respects to the machine politician, since I regarded him and rum as\nclosely related. As the result, some of the newspapers and office-seekers\ngot after me with a vengeance. This I confess was to my liking, since\nI felt sure I was making at least some kind of impression upon them.\nThen it gave me a chance to answer their criticisms, and puncture their\nfallacies. The following extract from one of my replies may be of\ninterest to the reader. The principle laid down will always hold good:\n\n\u201cAll at once the saloonist and politician are becoming greatly concerned\nover the question of \u2018pure and undefiled religion\u2019; and well they may,\nfor if religion is effectually taken into politics they will as certainly\ngo out. This they fully understand, hence yell themselves hoarse in\ntrying to divert attention when the pulpit begins to let the light in\nupon their devilish business. While a man is a minister of the gospel, he\nis also a citizen in common with other men. The fact that he pays taxes,\nlives under, and is subject to the laws of our commonwealth, makes him\nsuch. Then most assuredly he has the same right as other men to be heard\nupon great political issues that affect the well-being of his country. If\nnot, why not? Touching all moral and political affairs which have to do\nwith the home, the individual, and the general good of the community, the\npulpit has ever stood at the front, and so it ever will, unless it sells\nout to the saloon.\n\n\u201cThe truth is, under a government like ours, presumably Christian,\nall political questions have a moral phase, and to a greater or less\nextent involve the question of religion. In other words, every question\nin politics touches at some point the work of the pulpit, therefore\nit is right and proper for the minister to discuss before his people,\nprudently, of course, the moral bearings of all these issues. There is\nnothing that the liquor ring, and old-line politicians would rather do\nthan to stifle the utterances of the pulpit, for well they know that the\nmolding of sentiment, and the training of the moral forces by which the\neternal God proposes to overthrow and dash in pieces their strength, must\nthere begin.\u201d\n\nIn May of this year, 1885, I attended my second General Conference, which\nmet at Fostoria, Ohio, in company with Z. Warner, E. Harper, and S. J.\nGraham. The occasion was an historic one. Radicalism was given a black\neye; the forces of the Church were realigned, and the clouds which had so\nlong hung over our Zion were pierced by the sunlight of a new day.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nThe time of holding the annual conference having been changed from\nspring to fall, the next session was held at the Simmons\u2019 chapel, in\nLewis County. I was again made presiding elder, stationed on Parkersburg\nDistrict, and soon moved to Pennsboro, where my headquarters remained for\nthe next four years. My diocese extended from Parkersburg to Irondale, a\ndistance, east and west, of one hundred and sixteen miles, and from the\nOhio River on the north far interior to the south. The fields embraced\nwere Parkersburg Station, Parkersburg Circuit, Volcano, Pennsboro, Troy,\nMiddle Island, Littles Mills, Grafton, Irondale, Hessville, Tanner,\nSylvan Mills, and Smithton.\n\nA vast amount of hard work, I soon discovered, would be necessary to make\nanything like a commendable showing in a territory so large and difficult\nto cultivate. The first duty with me was to care for my preachers. It\nwas my notion then, and my views have not changed in all these years,\nthat if a presiding elder wants his men to do good work he must, first of\nall, do his best for them financially. If the salary was insufficient,\nand it nearly always was, as I have shown many times over, it had to be\nsupplemented in one way or another. If the stewards were worthless, I\nasked them to resign. If they did not know how to collect, I went along\nand instructed them as best I could. In some cases we would canvass\nthe entire neighborhood with a two-horse team and wagon, and gather up\nflour, corn, potatoes, chickens, meat, eggs, sorghum, butter\u2014in a word,\nanything and everything that could be used at the parsonage, or exchanged\nfor groceries. When nothing better could be done, I would load up my own\nhorse with flour and meat and lead him to the preacher\u2019s home with his\nprecious cargo of provisions. Then what a good time we would have! Some\nwho are yet at work in the conference were helped in this way. I also\nfound it profitable to have the people on each field, if at all possible,\nmake the pastor a present of a new suit of clothes each year. The plan is\nusually a popular one, and in most cases can be worked, if placed in the\nhands of the right persons. It is the equivalent of just so much extra\ncash to the preacher. But with some it may be a query as to how I managed\nthe indifferent pastor. Sometimes one way, and sometimes another. Every\npresiding elder, I suppose, has his own methods. My plan was first to\naid and encourage him all I possibly could. I tried to prove to him, in a\nsubstantial way, that I was his friend, and wanted to help him make his\nwork a success. If, after all this, he persisted in being a failure, I\nfrankly told him he would have to drop out. Such a step requires courage,\nI know, but it must be taken once in a while. No railroad company\nor any other business concern would think of employing inefficient,\nuntrustworthy men; such a policy would be suicidal; nor can an elder\nafford to supply his fields with those who are utterly devoid of fitness\nfor a work so high and responsible.\n\nA man may be a \u201cgood fellow\u201d in many respects, and promise to support\nhis elder if continued in active service, but these things should have\nno weight in the matter of appointments. The welfare of the church\nshould always be considered before that of the individual. If either\nmust go down, let it be the preacher. Why put him in a position to\nchill, discourage, and perhaps wreck a whole charge? Nor should a man be\nemployed if inefficient by reason of age or poor health. The fact that a\nminister was once successful is no reason for continuing him indefinitely\nin the pastorate. A record of usefulness, I know, is a crown of glory to\nany old, worn-out toiler, but with such glory he ought to be satisfied.\nI have always hoped, and still do, that I may have sense and grace enough\nto retire of my own accord before my conference is compelled to put me on\nthe shelf. The church, however, should provide a comfortable living for\nher servants when they can no longer remain at the front. They deserve\nsuch recognition, and to withhold it is to sin against them and the God\nwhose they are, and whom they have served.\n\nWith reference to the presiding elder, or superintendent, I will further\nsay that he is the most useful and important man we have if he does his\nduty faithfully; otherwise he is the biggest bore in the church. He is\nnot a success if he does mere routine work and nothing more. He must\nreach out. He must be larger than his district, yet strive all the while\nto make it as big as himself. He must keep things going. If resourceful,\nhe will always find a way to inspire and profit his men, if there is\nanything in them to respond to his efforts. If he is not a general, he is\nnot fit for the place. He must go panoplied with helmet and breast-plate,\nshield and sword, ready to fight, preach, or die, on a moment\u2019s notice.\nHow the church and pastor are to be pitied when compelled to suffer three\nor four official visits during the year from an old, dry stick, destitute\nof sympathy and enthusiasm.\n\nThe year was not without its incidents, both serious and amusing. During\none of my quarterlies held in the Big Fishing Creek region a fight\noccurred among some of the toughs as they went from church on Saturday\nevening. In an article to the county paper I took occasion to criticise,\nrather sharply, such behavior, and emphasized the fact that the officers\nof law ought to do their duty in all such cases. In fact, the derelict\nofficials were as severely arraigned as were the offending pugilists.\n\nThree months later I was in that section again; after the Sabbath morning\nservices, at Mt. Olive, I went to Laurel, some miles away, to fill an\nevening appointment. After riding quite a distance along a high ridge,\nwhich overlooks all the country around it, I turned down a little ravine\nwhich lead to Laurelrun; but suddenly my cogitations were interrupted by\na big, burly sixfooter, who knew of my coming and was waiting for me.\nStepping in front of my horse, he blurted out, \u201cAre you the feller what\nwrote that piece in the paper about me?\u201d I replied that I did not know\nwho he was, or what \u201cpiece\u201d he referred to. \u201cI\u2019m one of them fighters\nyou wrote about in the _Star_,\u201d he said, \u201cbut what you writ wasn\u2019t true,\nso I thought I would wait for you here.\u201d In the meantime we were both\nmoving slowly down the hill, and he was at my side. If ever I did hard,\ndouble-quick thinking, it was then. I knew what he was there for, and a\ngeneral mix-up seemed inevitable. I at once decided on a policy. I would\ntalk him out of any evil intent he might have, if it were possible to do\nso; if not, and nothing else would suffice, I would get off my horse and\nstay with him just as many rounds as I could, with the hope that somebody\nmight come along and help me out, if help was needed. I began to explain\nhow and where I got my information, and how I felt over such unbecoming\nconduct on the way from divine worship. At this point he interjected the\nremark that my informant was a liar, using adjectives and expletives\nwhich would not look well in print. But I kept on with my speech,\nusing all the eloquence and fervor at my command. I expatiated on the\nsacredness of worship, and portrayed in the most vivid colors possible\nthe beauty and praiseworthiness of the young man who honors the gospel,\nand loves and lives in peace with all men. Though there was blood in his\neye at the start, I soon observed that I was gaining on him. By and by\nhe began to sanction what I said. It was clear that I had his attention,\nso I kept on talking something good to him until he finally stopped me\nas abruptly as when we first met, saying, \u201cWal, I guess I\u2019le go back.\nI kinder thought I\u2019d like to ax you about it. Good-by.\u201d What a feeling\nof relief came to me as the fellow disappeared. A scrap, and possibly\nsomething worse, had been avoided. I at once decided, however, that the\ncountry editor thereafter would have to look elsewhere for information\nwhen such brawls occurred. Such a narrow escape from\u2014I did not know\nwhat\u2014convinced me that at least in that particular locality the work of a\nnewspaper correspondent was incompatible with that of a presiding elder.\n\nIt was on one of my visits to this same field that I made some of our\nown dear people very cross over a little verse, purely original, which I\nwrote on the blackboard. Nearly everybody used tobacco in some form. Many\nof the women were snuff dippers, and smoked the pipe, while nearly all\nthe men either chewed or smoked, or did both. The stanza ran thus:\n\n    Who can chew the dirty stuff,\n      In the sacred place of prayer?\n    Who can smoke or rub snuff,\n      And feel that God is there?\n\nYears afterward, I was told that some were still talking about that bit\nof poetry.\n\nThe district paid a salary of $496.53 to the elder. Out of this he paid\nfor house rent and car fare, $110. The thirty-seven pastors of the\nconference received an average of $140 each. The highest salary, $480,\nwas received by Rev. R. A. Hitt, on Parkersburg Station, $100 of which\nwas put into rent. The good Lord only knows how he managed to keep his\nfamily in respectability, entertain his many visitors, and meet other\nlegitimate expenses, on the pittance of $380. And the same query may\nbe raised in the case of nearly all his colaborers; but they somehow\nsucceeded in making ends meet. As one of them expressed it, \u201cWhen my wife\nscrapes the bottom of the flour barrel, God always takes notice.\u201d \u201cThis\nis the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.\u201d In addition\nto the aggregate salary received, the \u201cpresents\u201d amounted to $1,276.28,\nor about $34, upon an average, to each pastor. The net increase in the\nmembership of the conference was 564, an excellent showing. But the most\nvexing problem was financial. Times were hard, money scarce, and the\npeople generally poor. Yet we believed and wrought in expectation of\nlarger things. Thank God, they are coming.\n\nPennsboro was the seat of the next conference session. Bishop Weaver\npresided. Perhaps the most striking event of the occasion was the\npresence of Dr. Lewis Davis, of Union Biblical Seminary. It was his\nfirst appearance among us. Probably the wide difference between his views\nand those of the conference on the secrecy question had kept him from\nmaking an earlier visit; but his presence was highly appreciated by us\nall, and in turn he greatly enjoyed the courtesies accorded him by the\nbrethren. As I bade him good-by at the train, he said, \u201cDidn\u2019t we have a\nglorious time? I am glad I came. Wish I had come long ago.\u201d\n\nThe second year on the district was more trying and laborious than\nthe first. The preacher placed in charge of Volcano Circuit resigned\nbefore the holidays, and not being able to secure a suitable supply,\nI decided to keep up the work myself in connection with the duties of\nthe district. The nearest point was ten miles from my home, and the\nfarthest twenty-five; this gave me seven preaching-places; namely, Zion,\nVolcano, St. Paul, Long Run, Big Run, Harmony Grove, and Freeport. I\ncould give the charge only an occasional Sabbath, hence was compelled\nto do my preaching and visiting among the people on week days. I held\nthree revivals, preached eighty-three sermons, and collected all the\nconference benevolences; for this extra service I received $150. Serving\nas pastor and presiding elder both, kept me from home nearly all the\ntime. It was no uncommon thing to reach home late at night, and then\nleave early the next morning; but to work was a pleasure and joy; I did\nnot mind the loss of sleep. There was not enough terror in the storm,\nor \u201cwarring elements,\u201d to prevent the filling of my engagements. No day\nwas too cold, or night too dark to travel, if, by so doing something\ncould be done toward lifting up the district. I hope there is no egotism\nin what I here say. _There is none._ I simply state the facts. I lay no\nclaim to superior devotion over my brethren who worked at my side, and\nwere loyal to the core. No others but brave, true men can succeed among\nthe mountains, or anywhere else for that matter; but in some places more\nfaith and courage and sacrifice are necessary than in others.\n\nHow I pitied my family. They were alone almost constantly year in and\nyear out. Under such circumstances it was impossible for me to know my\nchildren well, or for them to know their father. This statement may be a\nrevelation to many. If any are in doubt as to its correctness, let them\nask the opinion of those who have done district work for years at a time.\n\nI never left home without first commending my loved ones to the care of\nthe sleepless Eye; nor did I at any time while absent forget them in my\ndevotions.\n\nToo much cannot be said for the faithful wife of the itinerant. But\nalas! her worth, I fear, is not appreciated by the church as it\ndeserves to be. People watch and criticise her, to be sure, as they do\nbut few other women, but as a rule she is not accorded a very large\nplace in the achievements of her husband. Indeed, I sometimes fear the\nminister himself does not realize her true relation to his success in\nsoul-winning. God only knows her anxiety and heart-yearnings as she\nstruggles with the problems of the home in the absence of her husband.\nWhat a care the children are to her! But she toils on, as best she can\nwith the means, sometimes sadly limited, at her command.\n\nThe fact is, many a successful preacher to-day would be out of the work\nbut for his devoted wife. When ready to quit, and turn aside to some\nother occupation more lucrative, she put her womanly heart up against\nhis, and urged him on to duty.\n\nSaid one of these noble helpers: \u201cHusband, I know we are poor. Our\ncarpets are old and faded, and our furniture is scant and plain. I know\nour dear children are barefooted, and can\u2019t go to school; but I want\nyou to keep on preaching.\u201d With a faith unfaltering, and a courage\ninvincible, she was willing to stay in the field\u2014ready to serve, ready\nto sacrifice, ready to die, and, thank God, ready for heaven.\n\nHer interest in her husband, God\u2019s servant, knows no abatement. Day and\nnight she is before the throne in his behalf; and are not her petitions\nheard? If not, whose will be? We must not deceive ourselves. She has a\ndivinely-appointed place in the work of redemption, and one of tremendous\nsignificance\u2014_a helper in soul-saving_. Her reward is sure. As she stands\nby her husband\u2019s side on coronation morning, she, too, will hear heaven\u2019s\n\u201cwell done\u201d for the loyal, royal part she has taken, and the service she\nhas rendered in the \u201cministry of reconciliation.\u201d\n\nIn the earlier days of the conference, district work was exceedingly\nlaborious, because of the vast mountainous territory to be traversed. If\nsome of the circuits embraced from ten to twenty appointments, extending\nover portions of three or four counties, it is evident that the presiding\nelder had his hands full in superintending twelve or fifteen of these\nfields. The journeys on horseback were long and fatiguing; it was no\nuncommon thing to change horses at the end of a twenty-five mile ride\nthrough the mud, or over the frozen roads. In the midst of one of these\nlong trips, Dr. Warner once stopped a few minutes in Pennsboro, at the\nhome of Mrs. Caroline Sigler, one of God\u2019s jewels, and after putting\nhis tired animal away, mounted a fresh one and started on toward his\nappointment, eating a piece of cold corn-bread. As the good woman looked\nafter him she could not keep the tears back. She knew something of the\nhardships which had fallen to his lot; yet those hardships were borne\nwith a martyr\u2019s courage for the sake of the Church he loved, and in which\nhe died.\n\nOn a certain Friday morning I was to leave for my second quarterly on\nLittles Mills charge, a circuit with which the reader is already familiar\nbecause of the happenings I have related in connection with it. The\ndistance was some thirty-five miles. The day brought with it a fearful\nsnow-storm, which seemed to make it unwise for me to attempt the trip\non horseback; but I meant to hold the meeting. Wife and children said,\n\u201cDon\u2019t go this time.\u201d Others interjected: \u201cYou are foolish. Nobody will\nexpect you.\u201d But they were mistaken. The people did look for me. Taking\nthe train in the evening I went to Parkersburg, forty miles, and the\nnext day to New Martinsville, fifty-seven miles, and then walked sixteen\nmiles, partly Saturday evening, and the balance of the way the next\nmorning, arriving in time for the 10:30 services. I was glad I went The\npastor needed me, and anxiously awaited my coming. I should never have\nfelt right over the matter if I had disappointed him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nIn the days of which I write, a quarterly meeting was a great event, and\nto many it was a rare privilege to see and hear the \u201celder.\u201d During the\nsummer and fall, especially, the attendance in many instances would be\nimmense. Not unfrequently the women and children present would more than\nfill the house, which made it necessary to seek a \u201cshady bower,\u201d if one\ncould be found. If convenient, the seats were removed from the church\nand used in the grove, but often this could not be done. More than once\nI have backed up against a tree, or mounted a log, and preached to a\ncrowd scattered over a quarter acre of ground. On one of these occasions\na young girl, of fifteen summers, perhaps, but large for her age, went\nto a house nearby and got a bucket of fresh water, and bringing it to\nme in the midst of my discourse, asked me if I would have a drink. I\npaused long enough to accept the courtesy, and, after thanking her for\nher thoughtfulness and kindness, continued my talk. Such an infraction of\nthe rules governing divine worship to-day in many sections would greatly\namuse the people, no doubt, and perhaps greatly annoy the preacher; but\nit was seldom noticed by speaker or congregation a third of a century ago\namong the mountains. When there was no grove near, or the atmosphere was\ntoo chilly, or the ground too damp to hold out-door services, we were\nsometimes sorely defeated by the crowds that came. I here give in full an\narticle which I furnished the _Telescope_ on the peculiar provocations of\nthe elder:\n\n\u201cTo be a presiding elder in the Parkersburg Conference means to travel\nover a large territory, and to do a vast amount of hard work on small\npay; but all this is nothing compared with some other things that we\nhave to endure. It is no uncommon thing in this country for a presiding\nelder to make a failure in the pulpit because of some circumstance, or\na combination of circumstances over which he can have but little or no\ncontrol.\n\n\u201cMany of the houses in which we worship are by far too small to\naccommodate the congregations that generally gather on quarterly meeting\noccasion. Indeed, many of our meetings are held in schoolhouses, only\nintended to seat fifty or seventy-five scholars. Now put two hundred\npersons, or more, into such a space, standing the most of them around the\nwall, and in the aisles, and then distribute from fifty to one hundred\naround the house on the outside, each striving to get his head in at a\nwindow, and any one, though he be unused to such things, can see the\ndifficulty of preaching under such circumstances. If the people listen\nwith interest they must be comfortably situated.\n\n\u201cIn many country districts away from the railroad, the time kept by the\npeople varies so materially that it is next to impossible to get them\ntogether at the same hour. No two clocks agree, hence the people begin\nto assemble at ten o\u2019clock in the morning and keep on _assembling_ till\nnoon. At the appointed hour the elder announces the first hymn, and then\nleads in prayer. During these opening exercises, perhaps twenty-five\npersons have come upon the ground, and as soon as the _amen_ is heard\nthey make a rush for seats.\n\n\u201cAnother hymn is sung, and still they come. The text is finally\nannounced, but what of it? The people keep on coming. The middle of\nthe sermon, by and by, is reached, and the preacher is still annoyed;\nnot for three minutes at any time has he had an open field. Only one\nmore proposition to discuss; it is the most important one. His strength\nhas been reserved mainly for it; but just as he begins to lay it open,\nhaving secured the attention of the audience, the door creaks and in\ncome a half dozen women. A general stir follows. The seats are all full;\nsomething must be done, so a half dozen men get up and surrender their\nplaces. Still the people come. The preacher is on the home stretch,\nbut is badly disheartened. He has preached to the people, to be sure,\nbut a good part of the time to the backs of their heads. Not half of\nthose present when he began can tell what his text is. Indeed, he is\nso confused sometimes that he hardly knows himself what it is. He has\njust one more illustration to give. He hopes to make it tell, and is\nsucceeding well. The audience for a moment is silent as death; but of a\nsudden the door opens again and a few more try to enter. In an instant\nevery eye is turned, and the thread of thought is dropped, and the\npreacher sits down disgusted and dissatisfied.\n\n\u201cOf course it is not always this way, but frequently such is the case. On\nsuch occasions the people go home no wiser than when they came. Having\nbeen to _meetin\u2019_ is the only pleasing thought enjoyed.\n\n\u201cToo many dogs go to church. I am not much of a friend to the canine race\nat home, much less at church. Dogs piously inclined are the meanest dogs\nin existence. If they would go under the house or even under the benches\nin the house, it would not matter so much, but they will not do that.\nThey walk up and down the aisle, and dare even to enter the pulpit where\nthe presiding elder is. All this attracts attention, and detracts from\nthe sermon. Once in a while a dog fight occurs during service, and two\nor three men have to interfere to adjust the difficulty. If the elder\nintimates that the congregation or neighborhood is a little too _doggish_\nto suit him, somebody gets mad and calls him a \u2018stuck up\u2019 sort of a man.\n\u2018Beware of dogs,\u2019 said Paul. Many a good sermon has been spoiled by them.\nIn West Virginia, especially, they are disturbing elements. I would favor\na war of extermination.\n\n\u201cBut things are much better with us now than they were twenty-five\nyears ago. We have larger and better houses of worship, and fewer dogs\nin proportion to population. We expect a great improvement in the next\nquarter of a century.\u201d\n\nIt was not an uncommon thing to see a glorious revival start at the\nquarterly meeting. The love-feast, which almost invariably occurred\non Sunday morning before the sermon, was usually an occasion of deep\ninterest. How the old veterans would talk! How eloquent some of them\nwere in their simplicity! How they relished such spiritual feasts! for\nsuch they were; and no wonder they were enjoyed by some, for they had\ntraveled, maybe on foot, twenty miles or more to get there. To such the\nday was a veritable Pentecost. Sometimes in the midst of the sermon or\nsacramental service, \u201challelujahs\u201d would be heard. Yes, once in a while\nthe people shouted, and nobody objected to the noise or excitement. I\nam no prophet, but will risk the statement that when the church gets so\nfar along that no more hosannah\u2019s are heard, it will be about time to\nreconstruct things and start anew.\n\nA red-hot testimony-meeting in many of our city churches, on the\nquarterly communion occasion, would make the recurrence of the day and\nthe coming of the elder an event of greater significance than it seems to\nbe at present. Such a service would doubtless lubricate the machinery of\nthe church, and make the work go better. The present plan of enlarging\ndistricts has its commendatory features, to be sure, and in some respects\nit works well, yet the old _r\u00e9gime_, which made it possible for the elder\nto be present at all the quarterlies, had its advantages.\n\nA word here respecting the genuine hospitality of the people might not\nbe out of place; this, however, is characteristic of Southerners. The\npresiding elder was not compelled to put up with the pastor all the time\nbecause nobody else wanted or invited him; far from it. A half dozen\nor more at a time would claim him as their guest. Instead of wondering\nwhere he would or could go, he was puzzled to know which of the many\ninvitations to accept. How it embarrasses a man to be in a neighborhood\nwhere no one seems to want him. Or, if entertainment is proffered he may\nbe further embarrassed by a question mark at the end of the invitation,\n\u201cWell, are you going with me?\u201d or, \u201cIf you\u2019ve no place else to go, come\nwith us.\u201d I have been chilled many, many times since leaving the mountain\nState by just such half-hearted treatment.\n\nNor were the presiding elder\u2019s official duties performed without an\noccasional break caused by a wag or ignoramus. Rev. G. W. Weekley was\ntraveling a circuit in Gilmer County with Rev. E. Harper as his elder.\nAt a certain meeting the latter was presiding with his usual grace and\ndignity while the pastor, being a stickler for law, was making the\nDiscipline the rule of his business conduct. A young man was before\nthem for license to preach. He seemed to be all right, and had made a\nfavorable impression upon his pastor. \u201cYou will please state before the\nchair and conference,\u201d said the pastor to the applicant, \u201cwhat your\nreasons are for desiring permission to preach the gospel.\u201d In an instant\nthe young brother was on his feet. The question was easy, he thought,\nand so his answer was clear-cut. \u201cWell,\u201d he said, \u201cI always had a desire\nto see the country, and I thought that being a preacher would give me a\nchance to do so.\u201d\n\nThen it was that the elder wilted and the preacher collapsed, and the\nquarterly conference looked blank, while the dear young brother felt\nhimself the hero of the occasion.\n\nWe met at the Bethel church in Mason County, in September of 1887, to\nmake reports and to review the work of another year. Bishop Kephart was\nwith us for the first, and Dr. Warner for the last time. To show our\nappreciation of Dr. Warner, the conference gave him a purse containing\n$25.00 in silver. My district paid, in salary and presents, $526.20, out\nof which $153 was expended for rent and car fare; 3,720 miles had been\ntraveled by rail, 941 on horseback, and 415 on foot. The average salary\nin the conference was a fraction over $200. Including \u201cpresents,\u201d which\nwere considerable in some cases, only one charge, Parkersburg Station,\nwent above $500. One other, Pennsboro, reached $400; eight got above\n$300, while seventeen paid less than $200 each. The financial report\ngenerally was much better than that of the previous year. The aggregate\nincrease in ministerial support on Parkersburg District was $600. Slowly\nbut surely we were pushing ahead and making progress, but at a cost known\nonly to those who were on the field.\n\nThe third year on the district was similar to the preceding one, fraught\nwith toil and responsibilities, but not without its spicery, which often\ndid much to enliven the routine work required. One of the first things\nI did was to secure a horse and buggy. By using the carriage when the\nroads would admit of it I relieved myself of a good deal of horseback\nriding. During the winter and early spring no sort of vehicle could be\nused because of the bad, and sometimes dangerous condition of the public\nthoroughfares. Nor is the situation in this respect very much different\nat present from what it was forty years ago. Great changes have been\nwrought in other regards, but the roads, for the most part, remain the\nsame, and will so continue through the centuries to come.\n\nI had a somewhat provoking experience, once upon a time, as I journeyed\nwith my uncle from Troy to West Union, a distance of twenty-five miles.\nAs the roads were exceedingly muddy I was concerned more than usual\nabout a new suit I was wearing, having pinned the skirts of my clerical\ncoat around my waist in order to keep them clean. We finally struck a\nplace where the thin mud was half knee-deep to the horses. Midway in\nthis mud-hole was a good-sized rock, but not being visible, my steed\nstumbled over it onto his knees, running his nose into the mud up to the\neyes. When he went down I went over his head, and into the puddle face\nforemost. Fearing that the animal would get on me, I suddenly rolled\nover and then bounded to my feet. What a picture I presented! I am sure\nI was no subject for artist or poet. My sleeves were full of mud and\nwater to the elbows, my hat and umbrella both were submerged, and, to\nadd to my chagrin, when I looked up at my uncle, from whom I had a right\nto expect at least a little sympathy, he was lying over on his horse\u2019s\nneck laughing his best. Going to a stream nearby, I took off my coat and\nplunged it into the water many times over, much like washing and wringing\na bed quilt, until the worst of the mud was off. But such an experience\nwas a mere incident with a mountaineer. When my clothes got dry and the\nmud was brushed off they seemed to be all right, and I went on with my\nwork just as though the awful mix-up had not occurred.\n\nDuring the year a great sorrow came to the conference. On the 24th of\nJanuary the news was flashed over the wires that Doctor Warner was dead.\nIn the next week\u2019s _Telescope_ \u201cDelta\u201d referred to the sad event as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cThe announcement of Dr. Warner\u2019s death has cast a deep sadness over the\nconference. No other conference can feel his loss as we feel it. In a\npeculiar sense he was ours. No man ever had the hold upon our preachers\nthat he had. We can scarcely realize that he has gone from us to return\nno more. He may have made mistakes in some things, like other men, but\nhe was a good man. That his soul during his last earthly hours should he\n\u2018wonderfully filled with the peace of God,\u2019 is just what we might have\nexpected. For thirty years he endured the hardships of a West Virginia\nitinerant, sometimes traveling day and night, and making the greatest\nsacrifices to build up the church he loved. Naught but devotion to God\u2019s\ncause ever led him to do so much for it. But his work now is done.\nPerhaps we should not grieve over his departure, but we cannot help doing\nso. The entire conference weeps. Said a brother, \u2018Why didn\u2019t the Lord\ntake me, and spare Brother Warner?\u2019 This expression serves to show how\nkeenly his loss is felt.\u201d\n\nBishop N. Castle held the next conference at New Haven. During the\nsession I received a telegram that I had been nominated by the\nprohibitionists of the fourth district for Congress, a compliment which\nI appreciated all the more because the honor came unsought. Yes, I was\na prohibitionist, and am yet, and expect to remain one until something\nbetter claims my support. The four hundred votes cast for the ticket\nin the district represented a thoughtful, moral, courageous element of\nwhich I have always been proud. Only such people, as a rule, vote the\nprohibition ticket. As I entered upon the fourth year of district work I\ndetermined it should be my last, at least for a while. I had been kept\naway from my books already too long, and consciously realized that,\nwhile I might be gaining a little some ways, I was losing in others. The\nchurch cannot find its highest ideals in men who live wholly outside\ntheir libraries. It is study\u2014familiarity with the thoughts and methods\nof others\u2014that broadens a preacher. The map studied by many of us is\ntoo small, and needs to be enlarged so as to extend the vision. If we\nwould see and know things, we must look and search after them. The man\nis exceedingly unfortunate who, having eyes, refuses to see, and having\nintelligence, neglects the acquisition of knowledge. My advice to the\nyoung man at the threshold of the ministry is, \u201cBuy good books and read\nthem; study your discourses thoroughly and with an eye to somebody\u2019s\nsalvation, and then give the people the very best that God has put in\nyou.\u201d\n\nThis was a good year for the district. As it was to be the last,\nI determined to make the best record possible for my successor, to\nduplicate or excel. To succeed meant to go all the time. Distance, bad\nweather, dangerous roads, swollen streams, or any other circumstances\nwere seldom allowed to get in the way. When Lincoln was asked if he\nthought the war would close during his administration, he replied, \u201cI\ndon\u2019t know, sir, I don\u2019t know.\u201d \u201cWhat, then, is your purpose?\u201d was\nfurther asked, to which the characteristic answer was given, \u201cPeg away,\nsir, peg away.\u201d It is this, everlasting \u201cpegging away\u201d\u2014forcing one\u2019s way\nthrough difficulties, and surmounting obstacles\u2014that wins, not only in\nWest Virginia, but everywhere else.\n\nBuxton wrote: \u201cThe longer I live the more deeply I am convinced that\nthat which makes the difference between one man and another\u2014between the\nweak and powerful, the great and insignificant\u2014is _energy_, invincible\ndetermination, a purpose once formed, and then victory or death.\u201d I\nquote Buxton\u2019s words because they are gold, and have in them the ring of\ntriumph.\n\n[Illustration: TRAVELING A DISTRICT]\n\nThe year brought its usual harvest of incidents\u2014some serious, others\nlaughable and amusing. It is well to have a streak of fun occasionally\nflash across our pathway to enliven a journey, or some task to which we\nhave set our hands.\n\nOne bleak Monday morning in December I was riding along a high ridge in\nWetzel County on my way home from a quarterly just held in that region.\nTo my right a few rods I observed a young man husking corn. He was\nevidently working his best to keep warm, and, of course, not in a very\ngood condition to be fooled with by a stranger; but I thought I must say\nsomething, and run the risk of an explosion. Reining up my horse and\ngetting his attention, I called to him, \u201cGo it; that\u2019s the way I got my\nstart.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d he said, with lightning speed, \u201cand a thunderin\u2019 start you\ngot,\u201d and then made the fodder rattle so that if I had replied he could\nnot have heard me. To be honest, I had not the disposition to talk back,\nfor nothing suggested itself at the moment as an appropriate response;\nbut for the next mile I laughed over the episode and considered myself\nfortunate that nothing more serious had happened.\n\nI might add that not far from this place Rev. S. J. Graham, years before,\nsuddenly found himself in a kind of menagerie one frosty morning. In\nthose days laymen would frequently make long trips with the preacher or\nelder; spending several days from home. They thought less about business\nand more about the church than some do at present. On the occasion\nreferred to, Brother N. Kuykendoll was with the elder. One night they\nlodged with a friend in his little log cabin of one room. Of course\nthey were well treated and given the best the humble home could afford.\nTheir host arose early next morning and built a fire in an old-fashioned\nfire-place, which admitted of a \u201cback log\u201d and \u201cfore sticks\u201d before the\n\u201ckindling\u201d was put in. Soon the shanty was warm. The lay brother awoke\nfirst, and, glancing about the room, said to his bed-fellow in a low\ntone: \u201cBrother Graham, get up; the millennium has come.\u201d The preacher\nraised himself on his elbow and looked, and sure enough there was a\nstrange mixture of animals lying on the hearth before the fire\u2014a pet\nlamb, a pet pig, a huge dog, and two or three cats. Years afterward I\nheard these brethren talk and laugh over the experience with as much zest\nas if it had occurred only the week before.\n\nTo indicate something of the work done this year, and that had to be done\nto carry out the program of a presiding elder, I here insert a few pages\nof a brief diary which I kept:\n\nJanuary 1, I wrote: \u201cI now begin a new year. God help me. My time,\nstrength, soul\u2014all must be given to the work of the church. With my\nfamily I took dinner with Brother C. R. Brown, a precious man.\u201d\n\n2.\u2014\u201cWorked on a sermon on coveteousness. Got \u2018Sweet Sicily\u2019 and read it.\u201d\n\n3.\u2014\u201cVoted for town corporation officers. Wrote a number of letters.\nBrother Poling came in the evening, and spent the night with me.\u201d\n\n4.\u2014\u201cWorked hard on my sermon on coveteousness.\u201d\n\n5.\u2014\u201cWent to Parkersburg in the forenoon, and held business meeting at\nnight. All was pleasant. Lodged with Pastor Martin.\u201d\n\n6.\u2014\u201cPreached from 1 Cor. 13:12 in the morning. Good meeting. Audience\nmelted to tears. Attended Sabbath school at 2:30 p. m., conducted the\nquarterly experience meeting at six, and preached again at 7:30. House\nfull of people.\u201d\n\n7.\u2014\u201cReturned home on early train. With wife went to hear Methodist\npreacher at night.\u201d\n\n8.\u2014\u201cAt home, studying and answering correspondence.\u201d\n\n10.\u2014\u201cWent to Parkersburg again. Dined with Brother J. H. Spence. Assisted\nin meeting at night.\u201d\n\n11.\u2014\u201cWith the pastor visited eleven families. Large crowd at evening\nservice.\u201d\n\n12.\u2014\u201cWent to Red Hill, six miles distant, and held quarterly at 2:00 p.\nm. Preached in the evening.\u201d\n\n13.\u2014\u201cPreached at 10:30 a. m. from Titus 2:9. Good feeling. Large\nsacramental service. Shout in the camp. Pastor Devol leaped for joy.\nPreached again at night.\u201d\n\n14.\u2014\u201cCame to the city and returned home. All well.\u201d\n\n15.\u2014\u201cIn study all day. Attended M. E. Church at night. An interesting\nrevival in progress.\u201d\n\n16.\u2014\u201cAt home preparing for dedication.\u201d\n\n18.\u2014\u201cLeft home on early train, and reached Buckhannon at 4:00 p. m. Went\nto Mt. Washington, eight miles in the country, and preached at night on\nthe \u2018Prodigal Son.\u2019 Thirteen seekers at the altar and four more asked\nprayers. Lodged with Brother Reese.\u201d\n\n19.\u2014\u201cRode fourteen miles to \u2018Uncle Jimmy\u2019 Hull\u2019s for dinner, and then\nwent to Union Hill where I preached at night. Met Elder Graham.\u201d\n\n20.\u2014\u201cRained hard. Congregation small. Raised $85. At night tried it\nagain. Good feeling. Secured $68.50 more and dedicated church. Opposition\nfrom another church.\u201d\n\n21.\u2014\u201cRode sixteen miles to Buckhannon through a fearful snow-storm. Went\nto Weston on train and rode seven miles in the country.\u201d\n\n23.\u2014\u201cReturned home. Found all well.\u201d\n\nI now turn to the March record because it has to do with one of the sad\nthings which not unfrequently comes to the itinerant.\n\n15.\u2014\u201cI started at noon for Troy Circuit, reached Auburn late in the\nevening.\u201d\n\n16.\u2014\u201cVisited Father Williams and wife. The latter has been in bed three\nyears. Read the Word and prayed with them. Both got happy. Sung a hymn or\ntwo for them. Held quarterly at 2 p. m., and preached on \u2018Stephen, the\nFirst Martyr.\u2019 A good time.\u201d\n\n17.\u2014\u201cSunday. Held prayer-meeting at 10 a. m., and preached at 11. Large\ncommunion. Big shout in the camp. Collection $20. Talked again at night.\nOne of the best quarterlies I ever held.\u201d\n\nI pause here. On Monday evening Father Perry came, and preached for us.\nAfter returning from church he turned to me and tenderly said, \u201cNow,\nBrother Weekley, I have a little news for you. As I came through your\ntown this noon I was told that your youngest child was critically ill.\nThe doctor regards her case as dangerous. I would have told you sooner,\nbut I knew it would so trouble you that you could not enjoy the service.\nI knew also that you would not dare start home in the night, and thus\nendanger your life. So I waited. Now leave her with God; get what rest\nyou can, and then be off by daylight in the morning.\u201d But I got no rest.\nIt was a long, long night of tossing and anxious waiting. At day dawn\nI started. The muddy roads were frozen over, but not sufficiently to\nbear up my horse. A part of the time I walked. It seemed I could make\nno headway at all, and didn\u2019t make much in some places. When within two\nmiles of home, I called at a farm-house and inquired if they had heard\nfrom my family, and they told me they had not. This brought me relief,\nfor I was sure they would have heard the news if the child were dead. At\n1 p. m. I landed safely and found, sure enough, that a blessed Providence\nhad kept the black-winged angel from our home.\n\nHow such harrowing experiences try the very soul of the over-worked,\nhalf-paid, care-worn man of God, who must spend all his time and strength\naway from home in some obscure field! They test the material that enters\ninto his composition. To put the Cross and sinful souls before one\u2019s own\nfamily requires great faith\u2014faith in the Redeemer, faith in his church,\nand faith in the winning, victorious power of the gospel; and this is\nwhat every itinerant in West Virginia had to have.\n\nTo indicate the nature and work of our preachers\u2019 institute. I return to\nmy diary and give the items of a few days.\n\nJuly 9.\u2014\u201cAt home preparing for institute which meets to-morrow.\u201d\n\n10.\u2014\u201cWent to Smithton, and took charge of institute. Rev. H. T. Athey\nassisted some. Lessons were in Old Testament history and homiletics.\nRevs. H. T. Athey, H. R. Hess, R. M. Hite, G. A. Davis, J. P. Piggott,\nand W. H. Albert were present.\u201d\n\n11.\u2014\u201cMet at 8 a. m. Recitations. Hess gave a talk on the \u2018Apocalypse.\u2019\nDavis preached at 7 p. m. Good sermon.\u201d\n\n12.\u2014\u201cRecitations as usual. Davis made an address on \u2018Prayer.\u2019 Good. Hite\nread a paper on \u2018Fore-ordination.\u2019 Discussed. Piggott preached well at\nnight.\u201d\n\n13.\u2014\u201cRecitations as usual. I read a paper on \u2018Divorce and Adultery.\u2019 Also\npresented a diagram of Solomon\u2019s Temple. Hess preached. Good meeting.\u201d\n\n14.\u2014\u201cSunday. I preached at 11 a. m. Large crowd in grove. Good liberty,\nand good attention. Athey preached at 3:00 p. m., and did well. Returned\nhome.\u201d\n\nThe records of a few days immediately following may also be of interest.\n\n24.\u2014\u201cDrove with my family to father\u2019s, fifteen miles distant.\u201d\n\n25.\u2014\u201cStarted for Hessville quarterly. Drove thirty-seven miles to Father\nMason\u2019s.\u201d\n\n26.\u2014\u201cDrove to Bee Gum Station fifteen miles further east. Good meeting in\nafternoon. Preached at night.\u201d\n\n27.\u2014\u201cSunday. Discoursed at 10:30 a. m. on \u2018The New Testament Church.\u2019\nPreached again at three o\u2019clock on \u2018Benevolence and Honesty.\u2019 Led song\nservice. Drove fifteen miles back to Brother Mason\u2019s.\u201d\n\n28.\u2014\u201cLeft at 6 a. m. and drove thirty-seven miles to father\u2019s.\u201d\n\nBut it is needless to further reproduce here the jottings made long years\nago. The brief memorandum given is but a fair index to the activities\nof the entire twelve months, or, I might say, to the forty-eight months\nspent on the district.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nBuckhannon was again the seat of conference, and was in charge of Bishop\nWeaver. This was his last visit to West Virginia. My district reported\nabout 600 conversions and accessions to the church. The average salary\nfor the pastors of the conference was $230. After paying house rent and\ncar fare, I had $365.79 left for the support of a family of five, and\nwith which to purchase books, papers, and stationery; but I did not\ncomplain; it was more than the average circuit-rider was getting. On\nthis little sum we seemed to live fairly well, and imagined ourselves as\nrespectable as anybody in the town.\n\nIn looking over my report, I see at its close the following significant\nstatement: \u201cNow, brethren, suffer a word more. I kindly and earnestly\nrequest that you relieve me from district work. Eight years out of the\npast eleven have been given to this kind of service. While I certainly\nappreciate what you have done for me, I must say that I am tired of the\nplace, and am anxious that some one else take it. All there is in it,\nwhether money, distinction, responsibility, or hard work, I cheerfully\nsurrender to some one else, with the earnest wish that he may prove more\nefficient than I have been, and that under his labors enlarged blessings\nmay come to the district.\u201d\n\nThis was my last year as a presiding elder in the dear old conference.\n\nIt is now many years since I was transferred to another field, but almost\ndaily my thoughts go back to my native home, and to the twenty years of\nunceasing toil given to the building up of the church in that mountainous\nregion. Indeed, I could scarcely get away. It was no easy matter to sever\nthe relations of a life-time. In looking over my brief record of daily\nhappenings I find that July 16, 1889, while pastor at Buckhannon I wrote:\n\n\u201cReceived a letter to-day from Rev. C. Wendle, urging me to come to Rock\nRiver Conference. Bishop Kephart also writes in like manner. Do not know\nwhat to do, but must do right. Lord help me.\u201d October 3, I expressed my\nthoughts and feelings as follows:\n\n\u201cAt home trying to pack our goods. What a task it is! Is God in this? I\ndo hope so. It is so hard to leave West Virginia. These hills and valleys\nall seem sacred to me.\u201d\n\nThe last time I visited my parents before removing West, I was deeply\naffected to see how frail they seemed, and thus referred to it: \u201cParents\nare getting old. How they are bending beneath the weight of years! Alas,\nhow short life is! Twenty years ago when I left home father had no gray\nhairs. Now his head is white as wool. Mother! what a faithful soul!\nHow self-sacrificing! Anything to help her children and make herself a\nblessing to others. Heaven is anxious to get such an angel. May earth\nkeep her yet a long while.\u201d\n\nThese excerpts from my diary indicate that it cost me something\u2014a\nheart-struggle, at least, to turn my back upon scenes and associations\nwhich were as sacred as life itself. But in making the change I felt I\nwas following the leadings of Providence, and that all would be well in\nthe end.\n\nThe fellowship of the brethren I left behind was sweet. Those who looked\non were compelled to say, \u201cBehold, how good and how pleasant it is for\nbrethren to dwell together in unity.\u201d There was as little jealousy and\nself-seeking and rivalry in the conference as I ever found anywhere. We\nall were poor, and could sing like the old Methodist pioneer on his four\nweeks\u2019 circuit:\n\n    \u201cNo foot of land do I possess,\n    No cottage in the wilderness;\n      A poor wayfaring man,\n    I lodge awhile in tents below;\n    Or gladly wander to and fro,\n      Till I my Canaan gain.\n\n    \u201cNothing on earth I call my own;\n    A stranger to the world unknown,\n      I all their goods despise;\n    I trample on their whole delight,\n    And seek a country out of sight,\n      A country in the skies.\n\n    \u201cThere is my house and portion fair;\n    My treasure and my heart are there,\n      And my abiding home;\n    For me my elder brethren stay,\n    And angels beckon me away,\n      And Jesus bids me come.\u201d\n\nThere was another verse we all cherished, and often sung it, as it seemed\nso appropriate:\n\n    \u201cA tent or a cottage, why should I care?\n    They\u2019re building a palace for me over there;\n    Though exiled from home, yet still I may sing,\n    \u2018All glory to God, I\u2019m the child of a King.\u2019\u201d\n\nIn all my travels throughout the Church I have never found any conference\nthat could sing as the West Virginians did. Diddle, Harper, Graham,\nOrr, Hitt, Holden, and Wood were among the earlier men. Later their\nplaces were taken by Cunningham, Piggott, Sallaz, Slaughter, Carder, and\nRobinson. But it is hardly fair to name a few. All could sing; and so\nthey can to-day.\n\nSinging was an inspiring feature of every conference gathering. It made\nthe air electric, and caused high voltage pressure. We would sing on the\ntrain, on the boat, at the hotel\u2014everywhere. On our way from conference,\nin 1879, we all stopped at a hotel in Weston for dinner. As usual, the\nsingers were lined up in a little while, and fairly shook the old inn\nwith some of their latest and freshest selections. Before we quit, the\ntown was thoroughly stirred up. People left their business places and\ncame to listen. Women and children stood in the doors of their homes, or\nlooked out at the windows, and wondered what it all meant. Two young men,\nsome blocks away, heard the singing and started on a run for the hotel.\nAs they passed some parties one of them was heard to say, \u201cI\u2019ll bet five\nhundred dollars they are Brethren preachers.\u201d\n\nProfessor Diddle, assisted by others, published the _West Virginia Lute_\nin 1868, which had a tremendous sale, both among our people and those\nof other churches. Then Baltzell\u2019s music, probably _Golden Songs_, came\nnext among our own publications. This was also a popular book, and one of\ngreat merit. While it contained many imperfections, it was nevertheless\nthoroughly \u201corthodox\u201d from our view-point. The author was not a\nscientific music writer. He did not grind his songs out at the organ in\na mechanical way, but manufactured them in his heart. Such music always\ntakes. There is something about it that gets hold of the soul and stirs\nits deepest emotions. I do not understand what that something is, but it\nis there, all the same.\n\nIt was a very common remark among the people of other churches: \u201cIf you\nwant to hear singing, get a lot of Brethren preachers together.\u201d We had\nno organs or pianos in any of the churches, with skilled performers to\nlead the audience. To aid in getting the \u201cpitch,\u201d a \u201ctunningfork,\u201d or\nhorn was used\u2014a clever little device which every leader carried. But few\nof the brethren, however, understood the grammar of music. They had had\nno special training\u2014but no difference; they could sing anyhow. They were\nnot poets, but had the poetic touch. I have heard these men of God again\nand again sing until the audience was fairly entranced, and until the\nfire of joy was kindled to a flame in their own hearts. They were rivals\nof Israel\u2019s shepherd king, and wrought things more marvelous than he,\nthrough the melodies they sang.\n\nWhile their music was not classical, it seldom failed to strike fire.\nThe people liked it, and were charmed, encouraged, and, in a thousand\ninstances, saved by it. Mr. Alexander, the great revival singer, has the\nright view of things. He writes: \u201cMusicians often say to me, \u2018Why do\nyou not use classical music, above the style of gospel songs?\u2019 I reply,\n\u2018When you can show me similar effects following such high-class music\nin moving the hearts of men and women, I will use it fast enough. Until\nthen I shall keep to gospel songs, which have a wonderful way of reaching\neverybody, because they touch the soul.\u201d\n\nVolume, fervor, soul, enthusiasm, is what we want in all our church\nmusic. Away, forever, with that operatic nonsense which the artistic\nwould introduce into our present-day religious services.\n\nWhat glorious revivals were promoted. Like cyclones they seemed, at\ntimes, to lay everything low in their course. How sinners wept and\nrepented! How saints shouted aloud for joy! \u201cWild fire!\u201d does some one\nsuggest? May be it was; but it achieved wonderful results. The present\nministry of the conference, with a great majority of the true and tried\nlaymen who constitute the very backbone of the church, were converted in\njust such meetings; and it is quite likely that the leading ministers\nand laymen of every other conference in our Zion were converted under\nlike circumstances. Call it \u201cwild fire\u201d if you will, but I would like to\nsee a good deal more of it.\n\nA revival that arouses a whole community and brings fifty or a hundred,\nor perhaps two hundred into the kingdom, some of whom become prominent\npreachers of the word, while others become very pillars in the church,\nis not to be ignored or decried by those who are too slow and formal and\ndull to create a stir. Better have a little \u201cwild fire\u201d than no fire at\nall.\n\nPersonally, I believe in excitement. Nothing worth thinking about is ever\naccomplished in its absence. We cannot relish food, or enjoy sleep, until\nfirst excited by hunger or fatigue. Why should not the church manifest as\nmuch zeal and enthusiasm in her work as political parties or commercial\nclubs do in theirs? I am tired of that contemptible sentiment which\nstands ready, everywhere, and all the time, to denounce everything that\nhas to do with the emotions. Religion, I readily grant, does not consist\nof noise and bluster. It means vastly more than that. Nor does it consist\nin sitting around like so many lifeless knots on a log.\n\nWe are told that it is the lightning and not thunder that kills. True\nenough, but lightning in the absence of thunder is harmless. Lightning\nmakes the thunder.\n\nIn our work but little was said about the new theology, or higher\ncriticism. Watson and Ralston in their theologies, and Smith and Clark\nand Lange and Barnes in their expositions, seldom referred to the\nnew-fangled theories which confuse and chill and curse some of the\nchurches to-day. We all believed that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and\nPaul the Epistle to the Hebrews; and personally I have never had any\nreason for changing my views. It had never occurred to us to put Job and\nJonah on the fictitious list. We actually believed and preached that\nthey lived and wrought, one in the land of Uz, and the other in Nineveh,\nafter escaping from the whale\u2019s belly. We tried to tell of the awfulness\nof sin, as well as the joys of religion. We believed in a heaven, and\nwould often talk and sing and preach about it until we felt ourselves\nwithin its very suburbs. When Jesus said, \u201cAnd these shall go away into\neverlasting punishment,\u201d we supposed he meant it, and no one attempted\nto put an artificial bottom in the \u201cbottomless pit.\u201d We divided our\ntime pretty well between Sinai and Zion. The decalogue and beatitudes\nwere included, ofttimes, in the framework of the same sermon. We knew\nthere were some inaccuracies in the authorized version, but nothing\nsufficiently serious to affect the fundamentals of Christianity. We\nwere justified, as we thought, in preaching the whole Bible, as it was\ncommonly understood and interpreted, because in doing so we were blessed\nand sinners were saved.\n\nThe \u201cmourners\u2019 bench\u201d was always a part of the program in our revival\nwork. While no one insisted that a man must be saved at the bench,\nif saved at all, we believed, nevertheless, that coming forward and\nbowing at the altar was a good way of confessing sin, and of plighting\nfidelity to Jesus Christ. I would not serve as pastor of a people who\nobjected to the use of an altar. If some of the unsaved wanted to seek\ntheir Lord elsewhere, and in some other way, I should not object; but I\nshould insist upon it that those who wanted to come forward for prayers\nshould have the privilege of doing so. It is refreshing to see how\nsimple and direct Dr. Torry, \u201cBilly\u201d Sunday, and \u201cGipsey\u201d Smith are in\ntheir methods, and the wonderful results that follow. They do not mince\nmatters. They go to the people with a burning message from the Throne,\nand deliver it, no matter what anybody may think or say about it. With\nsledge-hammer blows they drive it home to the hearts of their hearers,\nthat no man can be saved until he confesses his sins and his Savior.\nThey follow, largely, the old line of revival work\u2014and _succeed_.\n\nThe preacher who cannot build a fire in his church is a failure. In no\nother way can he attract attention. The church of God has been used to\nfire from the beginning. Moses got a good warming-up before the burning\nbush on Horeb; so did Elijah, and others, on Carmel. The disciples were\nnot ready to preach or the church to work until a burning Pentecost came,\nand fire-flakes fell from heaven upon them. We need great revivals, and\ncan have them, if we are willing to pay the price.\n\nOne serious hindrance to the work is the fact that too many profess to\nhave found a \u201cnew way.\u201d They council moderation, and would have us go\nabout the business with that cold, mathematical precision which the\nastronomer employs in measuring the heavens. As the result, many of\nour revival efforts turn out to be very _moderate_ affairs. They are\nself-constituted appointees to shut off steam and put down the breaks,\nand they succeed. What we need is more steam; that is, purpose, push,\nand power. And I rejoice in the thought that the thing for which we have\nwaited and prayed is at hand. The semi-skepticism and indifference which\nhave so handicapped the work of evangelism in the last twenty-five years,\nare giving place to larger activities and simpler methods. We are facing\nthe morning light. The reaction and readjustment will bring in a new era\nof moral and spiritual triumphs in soul-winning.\n\nThe church at large knows but little about the excessive labors and\nsacrifices of the earlier ministry in West Virginia. My heart still weeps\nas I think of what some of the brethren endured. But, brave souls they\nwere, they did it because they loved the church and her Christ.\n\nOnly three or four remain who were in the conference when I joined\nthirty-seven years ago. Four others\u2014Revs. E. Harper, I. M. Underwood, A.\nOrr, and Dr. J. L. Hensley\u2014have located in other conferences, but the\ngreat majority have gone to heaven. From hillside and mountain-top they\nascended to a place of honor by their Lord, to live in the white light of\nthe throne forever.\n\n    \u201cOh, how sweet it will be in that beautiful land,\n      So free from all sorrow and pain;\n    With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands,\n      To meet one another again.\u201d\n\nDoes any one inquire to know the real secret of their power? It is\nnot easily explained. They had intellectual girth, but this was only\nincidental to their success. Their surroundings were inspiring, their\nspirits exuberant, their physical endurance tremendous, their zeal\nunflagging, but the secret lay deeper; these were only tributary. It\nseems to me that the one quality which exalted them, and gave them the\nmastery over men was _reality_. They were _genuine_. God counted them\namong his captains, and they were loyal to the last. _Duty_ and _destiny_\nwere to them overwhelming suggestions. In them were wrapped up the\npresent and the eternal hereafter.\n\nI can still hear Brother Graham singing as he rode through storm and\nheat, carrying aloft the banners of the church:\n\n    \u201cAbove the waves of earthly strife;\n    Above the ills and cares of life;\n    Where all is peaceful, bright and fair,\n    My home is there, my home is there.\u201d\n\nChevaliers, divine!\n\n    \u201cTheir burning zeal no langour knew,\n    For Christ, his cause, his tempted few;\n    At home, abroad, where\u2019er their lot,\n    Their much-loved theme they ne\u2019er forgot.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne soweth and another reapeth,\u201d is the divine law. The foundations\nof the church among the Virginia hills and mountains were laid amid\nself-givings, known only to Him who gave to his servants their marching\norders, and who accompanied them every foot of the way. A better day has\ncome to the conference. The fields of labor have been greatly reduced in\nsize, pastoral support has been improved, educational advantages have\nbeen increased, which means so much to the itinerant\u2019s family, and in\nother respects conditions made many-fold better.\n\nThe present membership is 15,000 divided among sixty circuits and\nstations. Two hundred and six church edifices, worth $243,869, are\nreported, and thirty-eight parsonages valued at $31,939.\n\nThe territory embraces four districts. While the number of presiding\nelders might be diminished, it would not be wise to try the experiment of\ngiving one superintendent charge of the whole conference. The country is\ntoo rough, the distances too great, and the public facilities for travel\ntoo meager for one man to do it all.\n\nThe average salary paid the pastors in 1906 was $379.45, including\nhouse rent and special gifts. Three of the charges went to between $800\nand $900; one paid from $600 to $650, and eight others over $500 each.\nThe presiding elders averaged $563.97. For all purposes $50,589.49 was\ncollected. These figures show that in spite of the adverse circumstances\nwith which we have had to battle for the last half century, real progress\nhas been made. But more ought to be done in the next fifteen years than\nhas been accomplished in the last fifty.\n\nSome portions of the State are becoming immensely wealthy through the oil\nand mining industries. Our people are sharing in the general prosperity,\nand many of them are growing rich. The commercial possibilities of the\nState are great and promising as its hidden treasures are brought to the\nsurface, and put on the world\u2019s market. The work of the present ministry\nis to broaden the benefactions of our membership by teaching them the\ntrue meaning of Christian stewardship and the obligations which it\nimposes. In proportion as this is done, salaries will be increased more\nand more, the offerings to the various benevolent societies multiplied,\nand larger sums provided for Otterbein University and Union Biblical\nSeminary.\n\nThere is quite a stretch of time between the penning of these lines and\nthe day I started for my first circuit. Thirty-seven years is a good\nwhile. My experiences have been numerous and varied. The way at times has\nbeen rough, the tasks difficult, and the responsibilities great, but,\nafter all, if I had my life to live over _I should spend it in the gospel\nministry, and start again in West Virginia_.","title":"Twenty Years on Horseback; or, Itinerating in West Virginia","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":28548}