r >. . 
 
 
, fit ^^^« *^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 U.,'q(=> 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Purchased by the Hammill Missionary Fund 
 
 BX 9225 .S39 A3 1893 
 Sherwood, Elisha Barber, 
 
 1810-1905. 
 Fifty years on the skirmish 
 
 line 
 
 Number 
 
't::^tu^\u<. r^. 5 lUvi 
 
 Ihc-Hh tA^ 
 
Fifty Years On The 
 Skirmish Line. 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. ELISHA B. * SHERWOOD, D. u. 
 
 President of the Board of Trustees of Park College. 
 INTRODUCTION BY REV. GEO. P. HAYS, D. D. LL.D. 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company, 
 
 CHICAGO: I NEW YORK: 
 
 148 and 150 Madison St. | 112 Fifth Avenue. 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature, 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, by Fleming 
 H. Revell Company, in the office of the Librarian of congress at 
 Washington. All rights reservea. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This book is not meant as a display of what has 
 been called "autobiographical egotism." It is 
 intended for a tribute to the amazing grace of 
 God working through me as His servant. It was 
 verily a place on the "Skirmish Line" to which I 
 was appointed, and for more than fifty years work 
 has pressed upon me and God has blessed me in 
 doing it. There are many still living in whose 
 memories the events here recorded are fresh; 
 they may be helped by the telling of the story. 
 My recent years have thrown me into close connec- 
 tion with a large body of young people who are 
 entering upon life. If this book shall teach them 
 courage and confidence in God, and make them 
 more efficient soul-winners, it will well repay the 
 labor of its preparation. Already in my eighty-third 
 year, the call to a higher service cannot be long 
 delayed. All this earth-Hfe has been worth while. 
 Souls are worth winning. The Gospel is worth 
 preaching. It is worth while to labor tirelessly. 
 The nearer one gets to the throne the less one 
 counts the hardness which a good soldier must 
 endure. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The manuscript was read and the proofs were 
 revised by my young friend, Rev. Cleland B. Mc- 
 Afee, Professor of Mental and Moral Science in 
 Park College. This assistance, with that rendered 
 so kindly by others, is very gratefully acknowledged. 
 
 Elisha B. Sherwood. 
 St. Joseph Mo., June 30th, 1893. 
 
9 
 
 13 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Parentage and Youth 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Student Life 21 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 Work in Western New York 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Central New York 68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Work in Michigan , gg 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Work in Missouri 106 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Park College and my Relations to It iqc 
 
 SERMON I..... 219 
 
 SERMON II 236 
 
 SERMON HI 246 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 -^ji 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Biographies are generally written of people 
 whose record is remarkable. Most of us have not 
 had remarkable histories. To some extent this is 
 due to providential facts. We were not given re- 
 markable talents, and have not exercised any re- 
 markable diligence nor self-sacrifice. Success is 
 often due to opportunity. Sometimes success is 
 forced by ability to make opportunities. Our 
 part is to improve by wise use such opportunities 
 as Providence allots to us. We are not held 
 responsible for the employment of such things as 
 Providence has seen fit to withhold from us; thogh 
 others may have them. We have here a biography 
 of one whose opportunities were those of common 
 men. That he did a great work, was due to special 
 activity in making effective use of daily opportuni- 
 ties. It is not an easy thing to be content with 
 common life, and set ourselves to make it great by 
 the greatness of the results. But greatness is not 
 an absolute quality to be measured by the yard- 
 stick like a man's stature. Greatness is a com- 
 parison between opportunity and attainment. Gen. 
 Scott was developed by the war of 1812, and Gen. 
 
lo F'ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Grant by the war of 1861. There may have been 
 great generals between times, but, thank God, there 
 were no wars. There are always sinners and mis- 
 sion fields and conversions and preachers. Adap- 
 tation to the work at hand,, enables an earnest 
 man to do a great work in any community. Dr. 
 Sherwood succeeded in New York, very much as 
 he did in Missouri. 
 
 Circumstances change and fields have their pecu- 
 liarities; but human nature and divine grace do 
 not materially vary. 
 
 I like to read of these lives which are spent in 
 steady work. We cannot all be pioneer foreign 
 missionaries like Carey, nor pioneer home mis- 
 sionaries like Sherwood; for foreign missions have 
 been reduced to a system, the Bible is being rapidly 
 translated into all languages, and there is no longer 
 any Great American Desert, nor fartherdest border 
 frontier in the West. 
 
 The work now is building up the Churches these 
 pioneers have planted, and watching new fields 
 grow up between the towns. To compact and 
 energize churches and presbyteries — to educate 
 and guide growing Christians — to encourage needed 
 churches and discourage numerous needless enter- 
 prises; and all this without offending unwise good 
 people, will require as much tact as did the early 
 tasks. But the study of the difficulties of these 
 
Introduction 1 1 
 
 early tasks, and a re-survey of the way these 
 difficulties were overcome, will fit us for a careful 
 estimate of the real perplexities of our own times, 
 and will suggest good plans of applying the gospel 
 to modern problems. 
 
 The high esteem in which Brother Sherwood 
 is held by his brethren is justified by his record, 
 and is explained here to those who have not known 
 his early work of laying foundations. This book 
 will teach its readers to value aright the labors of 
 the early workers-— to love their Church as admir- 
 ably adapted to pioneer work, and capable of evan- 
 gelizing the most unpromising fields of any country 
 or city. Presbyterianism is sometimes disparaged 
 as unsuitable to hard places. So it is, for as soon 
 as it comes into a hard place the place begins to 
 improve, and if Presbyterianism continues to work, 
 the field becomes attractive. Then those who 
 forget the transformation which has been wrought, 
 wonder why Presbyterians always pick out such 
 good fields. Readers here will find that the good- 
 ness of the field is the result of the work. The 
 fields were discouraging enough when the work was 
 begun, but the reward of the toil was manifest 
 in the Garden of the Lord. 
 
 We cannot read of those early revivals without 
 wishing to see them once more. But it may be 
 true, that in that day of few churches or preachers, 
 
12 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 amid sparse populations, more serious young people 
 came to years of maturity unconverted, than are 
 to be found in these days of Sabbath Schools, 
 Young People's Endeavor Societies and regular 
 means of grace. The children's sacraments of 
 circumcision and baptism would indicate that 
 God's plan for His church in settled times was 
 always for family religion descending through the 
 generations. The woodsmen had fine times cut- 
 ting down big trees, and blasting out big rocks. 
 It took more strength and skill to plow among old 
 stumps and stones, than it does to cut a clean fur- 
 row quite across a cultivated field; but there may 
 be better crops in this latter case. It is the 
 resulting crop of ripened grain that we seek; and 
 if God gives that by dews and showers and sun- 
 shine, we may well be content if there are not 
 thunder-storms and floods. Nevertheless we pre- 
 fer to read of the great motions of the heavens, 
 and we long to see the spiritual heavens all flash- 
 ing with the lightning of the divine power. 
 
 So this book should have interest, instruction, 
 and encouragement for all. May God raise up 
 more men with such a personal histor}^ and such 
 experiences of good seed-sowing. 
 
 Geo. P. Hays, 
 2nd Pres. Church, Kansas City, Mo. 
 
FIFTY YEARS ON 
 
 THE SKIRMISH LINE 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PARENTAGE AND YOUTH. 
 
 As I began my theological studies in 1835 I 
 dropped into diary writing and in years that have 
 intervened have filled some two hundred and 
 seventy pages of foolscap with the events and items 
 that I have noted from day to day and from year 
 to year, therefore I believe that I can better 
 arrange these facts and give to my friends a more 
 satisfactory record than any one coming after me. 
 
 I was born in Fairfield, Franklin county, Ver- 
 mont, on the 15th of April, 18 10. My parents 
 were John Sherwood, son of Nathan Sherwood and 
 Joanna Noble. My mother was Lucy Barber, 
 daughter of Judge Elisha Barber, and Elizabeth 
 Adams. In February, 181 5, my parents removed 
 to Phelps, Ontario Co, N. Y., where my father 
 purchased a farm near the village of Orleans. It 
 was here in my seventh year that I received my 
 
 first religious impressions. I had with neighbor- 
 
 13 
 
14 F^ipy y^dfs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 ing boys spent the Sabbath at Clifton Springs. 
 On returning home my mother took me to her 
 room and inquired where I had spent the Sabbath. 
 I told her about our visit to the springs. She told 
 me 1 had been a naughty boy and sinned against 
 God. I asked her why I could not do as other 
 boys did. Her answer was, "You are God's child. 
 The first time I attended church after your birth 
 I took you with me and gave you to God and you 
 were baptised as God's child by my minister in 
 the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy 
 Ghost, and you are God's child. You must not 
 sin against Him again." This instruction gave me 
 an understanding of my relation to God and has 
 exercised a controlling influence upon my life. It 
 led me to my Savior and into the ministry, and 
 has imparted to me a moral courage that has sus- 
 tained me in a ministry of more than fifty years. 
 
 In the winter of 1819, my father exchanged the 
 property he had in Phelps for uncultivated lands 
 in what was then known as the Genesee Country, 
 which very soon became Orleans County. The 
 country was dotted with here and there a settle- 
 ment. Log school houses were the only public 
 buildings for schools and religious meetings. One 
 day the Rev. Alanson Darwin, a Presbyterian 
 minister from Riga, Monroe County, N. Y. , whose 
 heart was stirred within him to do something for 
 
Parentage and Youth 15* 
 
 the good of the scattered members of the Presby- 
 terian Church, rode up to our door; and said he 
 would preach to the people of that settlement, if 
 there was a house whose doors were open for such 
 objects. My mother told him her house was at 
 his service; furthermore, she would send her boys 
 out, and invite the people to come and hear the 
 stranger. Then and there commenced my home 
 missionary work. I little thought it was the first 
 lesson in what was to be the greater part of my 
 life's work. 
 
 My advantages for education until I was sixteen 
 years old, were such as the new settlements could 
 provide, and log school houses furnished. In 1826 
 our school district erected a frame school house, 
 which was used for religious meetings, as well as 
 for schools. With a better school house, we had 
 better school teachers, of whom I could avail my- 
 self four months each year. The remaining months 
 were given to work on the new farm. Six months 
 of my eighteenth year I attended the Gaines High 
 School taught by a Mr. Gazley, who did for the 
 youth of Orleans county a great and good work. It 
 was in these months my desire was awakened for 
 an education. The next winter I taught a district 
 school in the western portion of our township. 
 Here I learned the truth of that old saw, "A little 
 learning is a dangerous thing." 
 
i6 ^if^y y^ci^s 071 the Skirfnish Line 
 
 The winter of 1830, I again attended Gaines 
 High School. The following winter, I taught the 
 west Gaines district school. It was a pleasant 
 community, but filled with lovers of vain amuse- 
 ments. I entered into a full participation of these 
 pleasures, until about the middle of Febuary, 1831. 
 On returning home on Saturday evening, I found 
 a revival of religion in progress in the church and 
 community. Two of my sisters and two younger 
 brothers had experienced a great change. They 
 had give themselves to Christ and his work. They 
 had found a Savior. These facts troubled me. I 
 attended the meeting that night. What I saw and 
 heard troubled me more. I bore up under my 
 feelings as best I could, over the Sabbath. I 
 made my arrangements to leave early for my 
 school, on Monday morning. As I was about 
 leaving, I met my dear mother whose eyes were 
 red with weeping. I would have avoided her, if 
 there had been any way, but I saw it was of no use 
 to try. She took me by the hand lest I might slip 
 away from her. I listened to her tearful words. 
 She pressed me to attend to the one thing needful, 
 then and there. I said: "Mother, I have an en- 
 gagement to attend a dancing party this week. I 
 cannot break it." As we parted that morning, she 
 remarked, "If you will dance, remember that I 
 shall pray for you." Her prayers took all the 
 
Parentage and Youth 17 
 
 pleasure out of that dance, and made me loathe 
 the whole thing. Then and there, I lost all love 
 or desire for the dance hall. During that week 
 my mind often recurred to what might be going on 
 in that revival service of religion. On returning 
 home the next Saturday night, I found the revival 
 widening and deepening I went with the family 
 to the meeting, I had a seat beside a young 
 friend. As the minister announced the order of 
 the meeting, I whispered to my friend: "They 
 will not convert any one to night, for they have 
 gone to work by the square rule." The meeting 
 proceeded as announced by the minister. He 
 offered what was to be the closing prayer. But 
 it was not to be the close of that meeting. As he 
 closed, the Holy Spirit moved my brother Guy to 
 follow in prayer, that was indited of the Spirit, 
 who gave him such utterance that all felt that he 
 was taught of God. That prayer went through me 
 like a shock of electricity. Before he closed, I 
 was as helpless as an infant child. I could not sit 
 on the seat, and lay down upon it. At the close 
 of my brother's prayer Elder Chester Frost came 
 to me and taking me by the hand, asked me if he 
 should pray for me. I said "Yes." He knelt beside 
 the seat. I fell from the seat and dropped on my 
 knees, and gave myself to the Lord Jesus Christ 
 to be his servant. The next morning I heard for 
 
1 8 ^tf^y y^ars on the Skirjnish Line 
 
 the first time with an understanding heart the 
 blessed gospel from a strange minister. Old things 
 had passed away and all were new to me. I had 
 passed from darkness into light, from death in sin, 
 to a new life in Christ Jesus. 
 
 On Monday morning I returned to my school 
 which was near its close and finished the term and 
 returned with great delight to the revival meetings. 
 Everything was new to me. I saw men as trees 
 walking. I remained in that state for a number 
 of days. I had taken my stand for Christ; but I 
 had not the witness of my acceptance. One day 
 I was in the grain barn at work. There was a 
 pause for some time in the business of the hour. 
 I stepped back into a retired part of the barn, 
 leaned up against the side, and uttered in a whis- 
 per tone, "O Lord Jesus! So reveal thyself to me 
 that I may know thou hast accepted the consecra- 
 tion I have made of myself to thee." While I was 
 praying, the Holy Ghost was shed abroad in my 
 heart until I was filled with joy. I began to praise 
 God in song and sang everything I could call to 
 remembrance. "Jesus all the day long was the 
 joy of my song." From that hour I have never 
 doubted that God heard and answered my prayer. 
 Another thing I never doubted, that the soul who 
 does receive, believe and confess the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is "sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise 
 
Parentage and Youth 19 
 
 which is the earnest of our inheritance until the 
 redemption of the purchased possession." From 
 that blest moment when I felt the sealing witness 
 of the Holy Spirit upon me, I was deeply impressed 
 with the awful condition of those who are living 
 without God and without hope. Then came home 
 to me my duty to rescue the perishing and to seek 
 and save the lost. I then asked God to use me in 
 that work and in this way permit me to undo some 
 of the evil of my sinful life. 
 
 I lost my interest in the farm and business gen- 
 erally. No place was so enjoyable to me as the 
 one where sinners were repenting and turning to 
 the Lord, seeking the salvation of their souls. I 
 united with the church at Millville, N. Y., on the 
 first Sabbath in April, 1831, with three of my 
 sisters and three of my brothers, What a joy to 
 our dear mother to know that her prayers had been 
 heard for her children, and that she was permitted 
 to see them at that April communion season, con- 
 fessing Christ before their associates! I continued 
 on the farm with father and my brothers; each 
 brother had his specific work Mine was breaking 
 fallow ground. This year my work was on one 
 of the out farms, and near a grove of timber. In 
 the timber there was a quiet retreat to which I was 
 wont to retire, while my team was resting. In 
 that wooded retreat my hfe work was settled. At 
 
20 ^^f^y y^'Cf'f'S on the Skir?7nsh Line 
 
 evening I found a closet in the grain barn. Both 
 became hallowed to me. In them I experienced 
 that transforming power which was making me a 
 new creature in Christ Jesus. The busy season 
 on the farm was over, the question for the future 
 came up for settlement. The Holy Spirit wit- 
 nessed with my spirit that I must leave the farm 
 and give myself to a preparation to preach the 
 gospel. This was strongly opposed by my father 
 and a large circle of relatives. My mother en- 
 couraged me to follow my convictions of duty. 
 
 My father offered me an out farm of 80 acres of 
 choice land under good improvement if 1 would 
 stay with him and help him locate the other 
 brothers as they came to the age of twenty-one 
 years. I thanked him for his offer but assured 
 him duty pointed to the ministry. He said I 
 must throw myself on my own resources. I tried 
 to throw myself upon God's promises. A good 
 school opened to me for the winter. I taught it. 
 At the close of that school I gathered what re- 
 sources I could and prepared to leave all and 
 follow where duty led. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 STUDENT LIFE. 
 
 In the fall of 1831, there was opened in the city 
 of Rochester, N. Y. , a manual labor school where 
 young men, by three or four hours labor per day, 
 could pay their board. Tuition was provided 
 for by the benevolence of some gentlemen in the 
 city. Thrown upon my own resources, I had to 
 find a school where I could pay expenses. I was 
 cordially received into the Manual Labor School. 
 My department of labor was making flour barrels, 
 which I took to very quickly. My studies were 
 the Latin Grammar and Reader, Algebra and Eng- 
 lish branches. The Rev. Dr. William Wisner 
 was at that time pastor of the Second Presbyterian, 
 afterward known as the Brick Church. This 
 church was the home of most of the students, and 
 there I put my church letter and joined its 
 Sabbath School. I was very soon invited to be- 
 come a teacher in a colored Sabbath School. 
 They gave me a class of boys in whom I took much 
 pleasure. Our Manual Labor School ran along very 
 
 pleasantly until that dreaded scourge, the Asiatic 
 
 21 
 
22 Pifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 cholera, made its appearance in the month of Sep- 
 tember, when the school was scattered. I left 
 Rochester for Geneva which was spared that fatal 
 plague. I entered the preparatory school of Dr. 
 Squires and remained there until the frost of autumn 
 had purified the atmosphere, when I returned to 
 Rochester and entered the college institute under 
 the care of Dr. Morgan and Miss Mary Allen, 
 adding Greek to my other studies. I remained in 
 Rochester during the remainder of 1832 and 1833, 
 which were very effective in mental discipline. I 
 overstudied and brought on a rush of blood to the 
 brain. This with dyspepsia caused me to leave 
 study for a time and return home. I resorted to 
 physicians for medical treatment. The more I 
 came to know of doctors, the more I learned that 
 they did not take much of their own medicines. 
 Consequently I came to the conclusion that what 
 was not good for the doctors was not good for me. 
 Instead of dosing with drugs, I began a careful 
 study of myself. I learned what food agreed with 
 me and what did not, what quieted my system, and 
 what unduly excited it. I also learned the relation 
 between my physical and intellectual system, and 
 the relation of both to my spiritual nature. The 
 discipline that I passed through in acquiring this 
 knowledge was a painful one, yet its benefits to 
 me have been above all price. For the want of 
 
St 7^ de fit Life 23 
 
 this knowledge, there are more failures in the 
 various professions of life than from any other one 
 cause. Solomon says that "he that hath no rule 
 over his own spirit is like a city that is broken 
 down and without walls." 
 
 I gave the most of the year 1834 to the acquisi- 
 tion of that knowledge which enable me to rule my 
 own spirit. With this acquisition, came the 
 question, What shall I do? Shall I with my shat- 
 tered health and limited finances attempt a full 
 college course or with what discipline I have, enter 
 a theological seminary, and there take a full 
 course? I took this question to my Heavenly 
 Father, and asked Him for that wisdom which 
 would enable me to decide it. I decided to go to the 
 Lane Theological Seminary. On the 15th of 
 October, 1834, I left for Lane Seminary byway of 
 Buffalo; from Lake Erie to Cleveland, from 
 Cleveland to Wellsville by stage and from there by 
 the Ohio river to Cincinnati. I was cordially 
 welcomed by the faculty, including Rev. Lyman 
 Beecher, D.D., Professor of Theology, Rev. Calvin 
 E. Stowe, D.D., Professor of Biblical Criticism, 
 and Professor Biggs of Church History. I entered 
 the only theological class in the seminary at that 
 time. There were in this class Henry Ward and 
 Charles Beecher, Robert Stanton and others. I 
 was assigned a room and took board in the board- 
 
24 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 ing department of the seminary, and entered upon 
 the studies of the class with moderation. From 
 that time the darkness that had been over me dis- 
 appeared; hght shone upon my pathway. The 
 Lord provided for all my temperal and spiritual 
 wants. I put my letter into the Second Presby- 
 terian church of which Dr. Beecher was pastor, and 
 began to feel at home in my new relations. I fell 
 into the daily round of student life. Soon outside 
 work opened, the superintendency of a Sabbath 
 School on the Kentucky side of the river at Cov- 
 ington. The seminary duties became more en- 
 grossing as days and weeks multiplied. Thus we 
 passed until near the close of the seminary year 
 when I chanced to meet an acquaintance whom I 
 made at Rochester, N. Y., in 1832, who informed 
 me of the provision for a theological school at 
 Oberlin, Ohio, with the Rev. Charles G. Finney 
 as Professor of Theology, and a full equipment of 
 professors for the thorough training of young men 
 for the ministry. He told me also Mr. John 
 Rankin of New York City would pay the expenses 
 of those who wished to leave Lane for Oberlin. 
 While highly regarding the Lane Faculty for their 
 kindness to me, I was not in sympathy with the 
 leading students of our class, and longing for what 
 I knew I should find at Oberlin, I asked the faculty 
 of Lane to give me a letter of my standing in my 
 
Student Life 25 
 
 class. They very frankly gave me the letter asked 
 for. On the 19th of May, 1835, I took passage on 
 a steamboat for Wellsville, and from there across 
 the state of Ohio, by stage, to Cleveland; thence 
 to Oberlin. 
 
 On reaching Oberlin, I found the rush of students 
 so great, there was no place to lay my head or 
 even to leave my trunk. We had to wait until 
 temporary rooms could be provided. During the 
 fitting up of our rooms I dropped down the lake 
 and spent two weeks at home. On returning to 
 Oberlin I found the temporary rooms ready; but 
 there must be three in a room, and three in a bed. 
 With such accommodations a class of sixteen young 
 men entered upon our theological studies with the 
 Rev. Charles G. Finney as Professor of Theology. 
 Rev. John Morgan, Professor of the New Testa- 
 ment Scriptures, Professor John P. Cowles of the 
 Old Testament Scriptures, and the Rev. Henry 
 Cowles, Professor of Church History« Rev. Asa 
 Mahan was President of the college. All these men 
 were in their prime and each strong in the position 
 they had been called to fill. Here there was a full 
 fledged Christian College and theological seminary 
 moving into full work, well equipped amid the forest 
 of Lorraine County, Ohio, where the first tree 
 was cut down and the first field opened but two 
 years before. The college and Theological Semi- 
 
26 ^ifty Vears on the Skirjnish Line 
 
 nary were planted for Christian and evangelical 
 purposes, therefore our faculty were anxious to 
 have their students make proof of the power of 
 their doctrines to evangelize and Christianize the 
 surrounding population. Consequently the students 
 were expected to respond to any calls they had 
 from surrounding towns. I had not been in Oberlin 
 two months when I was invited to visit Rochester, 
 Loraine Co., Ohio, and conduct a service on the 
 Sabbath. I rode twelve miles on horseback. 
 Found a log school house with a clay floor, slab 
 seats, and a door hung on wooden hinges that an- 
 nounced the entrance of every attendant. We had 
 a good audience to whom I gave my first home 
 missionary address. They invited me to return in 
 two weeks. I did so; and continued my visits 
 alternate weeks until members sufficient to organ- 
 ize a church asked that organization be given 
 them. A church was formed and a supply was 
 secured and I was at liberty to take another 
 vacancy. Soon there came a man from Ridgeville, 
 a town adjoining the county seat, and stated his 
 case, and asked for a volunteer to go and hold 
 meetings in a town that had driven out every 
 minister that had attempted to hold meetings there 
 for the last two years. I accepted the invitation, 
 and the man was to announce service for the next 
 Sabbath. I went over on Saturday evening. 
 
Student Life 2y 
 
 Sabbath morning we met at the little church where 
 I talked to six adults and some children. I gave 
 notice of a meeting at four o'clock, and took recess 
 for dinner. As I went to my place for dinner, I 
 passed two hotels around which I counted forty 
 men. At 4 P. M. we had twenty adults, and some 
 tears which encouraged me to leave an appoint- 
 ment to return in two weeks. At this meeting we 
 had a fair audience. Arrangements were made to 
 continue meetings on alternate Sabbaths. I found 
 there a small church in the midst of the boldest 
 infidels that I have encountered in a ministry of 
 over fifty years. I held services in their church 
 mornings and afternoons; and at nights in their 
 school house. God blessed our efforts. Back- 
 sliders were reclaimed; their children were con- 
 verted. A revival of religion began. We thought 
 best to call in a minister and have the ordinances 
 administered to this oppressed church. The time 
 was fixed. Saturday preceding we held a prepar- 
 atory meeting. Five persons came forward and 
 asked to join the church. They were examined 
 and accepted. We made arrangements for the 
 reception of the new members and for the Lord's 
 supper, and a prayer meeting at nine o'clock, A. 
 M. The news went out from the Saturday meeting 
 what had been done. The infidels got together 
 and said: "This revival matter must be stopped 
 
28 F'ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 nowy They gathered what cattle there were feed- 
 ing on the grass in the plot of the town and drove 
 them into the meetinghouse, opened the Bible and 
 put into it a handful of salt and shut in the cattle 
 and left them there! On reaching the church the 
 next morning for the prayer meeting appointed for 
 nine o'clock, you can judge in what condition we 
 found it. The question was asked me, "What can 
 we do. " I answered, "There is but one thing to do: 
 clean out this house. You that have shovels, 
 mops, and pails bring them as quick as you can." 
 The house was cleaned up and ready for the regu- 
 lar service at II o'clock. The Holy Spirit was 
 with us in great power. The members were re- 
 ceived. The sacraments were administered. The 
 banner of the cross of Jesus was flung to the breeze, 
 and has floated in triumph in Ridgevilla ever since. 
 We organized a Sabbath School, our congrega- 
 tions increased steadily, converts were from time 
 to time received. I continued my labors until my 
 graduation from Oberlin. During this time I 
 encountered the most determined opposition that I 
 have met in my long ministry. It was there I 
 learned not to fear hard cases nor shun hard places. 
 The great Head of the church was schooling me 
 for my life's work. It was there that the Holy 
 Spirit revealed Himself to me. I was conscious of 
 His indwelling power which carried me beyond my- 
 
Student Life 29 
 
 self, enabling me so to preach the gospel that in- 
 fidelity quailed before the simple presentation of 
 Christ crucified, the only hope of the lost soul. 
 
 Almost the entire region of country at this time 
 was without suitable houses of worship. To 
 meet this state of destitution, Prof. Finney sent to 
 New York City for a tent that would hold 1,200 to 
 1,500, for holding meetings in the destitute towns. 
 The tent was furnished by friends in New York 
 and came on in August. It was thought best to 
 give the theological class a short vacation that 
 they might prove the gospel the power of God unto 
 salvation. They were to go out and spread the 
 new tent in Dover, a growing town which was 
 readily accessible from surrounding towns. We 
 held meetings daytimes and at night scattered out 
 to hold meetings in surrounding towns in their 
 school houses, wake up the people to the subject 
 of religion and gather them with us at the tent the 
 next day. It was so ordered that I went at night 
 to the town of Avon that joined Ridgeville on the 
 north. There had settled a colony of English 
 families with an organized Congregational Church, 
 and a pastor by the name of Sadd. He was anx- 
 ious that I should talk to his people from night to 
 night, as long as the tent meeting continued. 
 When the tent meetings closed, the interest in 
 Avon had become so great that it was thought best 
 
3© Ptf^y y^cirs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 for me to remain in Avon and do what I could in 
 directing anxious souls to Christ. I realized in 
 some measure what it was to stand between the 
 living and the dead. At one of the week day 
 afternoon meetings, after singing, I asked if there 
 were any present who desired special prayer for 
 themselves. There arose one of the principal men 
 of the town, and said: "Do pray for me." Then 
 another leading man in the town who seemed very 
 much in earnest. Then a lady came and knelt 
 in deep emotion at the table where the pastor and 
 myself were sitting, "What shall I do? What 
 shall I do.-*" she cried. The pastor turned to me 
 and said: "What shall we do?" I gently laid 
 my hand on his shoulder, and said, "Stand still 
 and see the salvation of God." There passed 
 through that audience an awful sense of the pres- 
 ence of the Holy One. Prayers were offered and 
 answered for those that had asked prayer. At that 
 meeting the waters of life were unsealed and the 
 life giving stream flowed from house to house and 
 from heart to heart until about one hundred drank 
 of the living waters within the next two weeks. 
 The entire township felt its quickening power. From 
 after visits made there I learned of its genuine and 
 vitalizing power, and of God's saving grace to that 
 dear people. 
 
 We returned from our vacation of work to sys- 
 
Student Life 31 
 
 tematic study of theology, to Hebrew of the Old 
 Testament and the Greek of the New Testament. 
 These were golden, happy days that passed 
 too quickly through the years of 1835 and '36, and 
 brought us to the time when we had completed the 
 curriculum of study and passed through a critical 
 examination of the studies of the senior year. 
 
 Wednesday the 14th of September, 1836, was 
 our graduation day. The forenoon was given to 
 Professors Henry and John P. Cowles. The ex- 
 ercises were held in the tent. The afternoon was 
 given to our class, the first to graduate from 
 Oberlin. I was the second speaker. The audience 
 said the class honored the professors who had in- 
 structed them. 
 
 On Thursday the 15th of September, the 
 Western Reserve Association, a Congregational 
 body, met at Oberlin, and decided to grant ordi- 
 nation to those candidates who were intending to 
 labor without their bounds. Six candidates came 
 before them and asked ordination, to wit: John W. 
 Alvord, John T. Pierce, Hiram Wilson, William 
 Putman, Charles W. Gurney and Elisha B. Sher- 
 wood. After the examination on personal piety 
 the association adjourned until Friday morning at 
 eight o'clock. 
 
 The association met at eight o'clock Friday 
 morning, and proceeded with the examination of 
 
32 Fijiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 the candidates for ordination. Their examination 
 was sustained and arrangements were made for 
 ordination to the ministry of the gospel. Presi- 
 dent Rev. Asa Mahan preached the sermon from 
 Gal. 5:1, "Be ye followers of God as dear children." 
 The ordaining prayer was offered by the moderator 
 of the association. Rev. Mr. Rockwell. The charge 
 to the candidates by the Rev. John Keep D.D. 
 right hand of fellowship was extended by the Rev. 
 Prof. John P. Cowles. The services were solemn 
 and impressive throughout. In my diary of Sept. 
 i6th, 1836 is the following: 
 
 "O! Thou who hath said, Go preach my gospel, 
 go teach all nations, open before me that door 
 where I can be the most useful and my labors the 
 most effectual for the salvation of souls. I ask not 
 the riches nor the honors of this world. I do desire 
 to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him to 
 give me souls for my hire, food and raiment for 
 the body, and a place in His kingdom where I may 
 praise Him through all eternity that He has counted 
 me worthy to enter the ministry of the gospel." 
 
 Before our class separated we agreed to return 
 to Oberlin the next summer and attend a full course 
 of lectures on pastoral theology to be given by 
 Prof. Finney. 
 
 On the 2ist of September, in company with 
 Prof. Dascomb and wife, I left Oberlin for my home 
 
Student Life 33 
 
 in Millville, Orleans Co., N. Y., reaching there 
 on the 24th. Had a warm welcome. On the Sab- 
 bath following I preached morning and night at 
 Millville to more of my relatives than I have ever 
 been permitted to address since. I gave the fol- 
 lowing week to visiting relatives and friends. The 
 next week my sister Jane was married to Mr. John 
 C. Cheesman, who after marriage became a physi- 
 cian, raised a family of five sons and one daughter. 
 One of the sons became a useful minister of the 
 gospel but died early. Two of them are successful 
 dentists. One is a physician and one a lawyer. 
 The daughter married a physician. My sister was 
 a noble Christian mother, and sleeps beside her 
 mother in the old cemetery given by father in the 
 year 1821. 
 
 The second Sabbath in October, 1836, I assisted 
 my young friend Joel Potter a licentiate who was 
 supplying the Lyndonville church of Niagara 
 Presbytery. At a communion season I preached 
 for him, and for the first time administered bap- 
 tism and served our Lord's table, after receiving 
 five members to the church. This was the first 
 meeting with Bro. Potter since we commenced the 
 study of Latin together. We had grown up to- 
 gether and were converted in the same revival of 
 religion. He was a good man. He died early. 
 
 During the latter part of October, I was invited to 
 
34 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 supply the Congregational church at Riga, Monroe 
 Co., N. Y., until the time of return to Oberlin next 
 summer. T accepted the invitation and entered upon 
 my work there. I took board with an aged couple 
 who had divided their farm with an only son who 
 had built a house on the opposite side of the road. 
 The wife of the son was an interesting Christian, 
 who enjoyed meetings. About the middle of 
 December she was taken suddenly ill. Her 
 case assumed an alarming aspect, soon all hope 
 was abandoned. She had called her husband to 
 her bedside and given him her dying charge for 
 the two bright sons she was leaving. She lay back 
 upon her pillow, after a few minutes she exclaimed: 
 "Oh, what beautiful music! Don't you hear it.^" 
 
 We did not, but Mrs. Little did. What a glow 
 of delight illuminated her countenance! She had 
 reached the Beulah land. There was glory in her 
 soul. Oh, such a death ! It seemed as if there 
 was a full company of ministering spirits waiting to 
 convey her spirit to the mansions of the blessed. 
 Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord! 
 
 As I stand on the departing verge of 1836, I can 
 truly say that it has been the most important year of 
 my life. The Lord has prospered me in all that I 
 have put hand to. A year of increase in Bible 
 knowledge, of faith in God, of communion with Him. 
 My health has been almost perfect, temporal wants 
 
Student Life 35 
 
 have all been supplied. I found it better to trust 
 God than men. The Lord has led me through 
 my studies and laid upon me the responsibilities of 
 a minister of the Gospel. 
 
 January 1st, 1837. Preached on our stewardship. 
 Ordained Nelson A. Frost, deacon. Administered 
 the Lord's supper for the first time to the Riga 
 church. Married my first couple on Monday morn- 
 ing, Mr. John Philips to Miss Caroline Thompson, 
 one of Riga's best girls. 
 
 Left immediately for Darien, Genesee county. 
 Stopped with the Rev. Truman Baldwin, whose 
 eldest daughter I was to marry the next evening 
 The day set for our nuptials was very stormy, the 
 wind drifting snow so that the road was nearly im- 
 passable, thereby shutting off the attendance of my 
 brothers and sisters from our wedding. At seven 
 P. M. I was married to Miss Aurelia Munson Bald- 
 win, by her father, Rev. Truman Baldwin. After 
 the guests withdrew, my father-in-law welcomed 
 me to his family in a formal yet affectionate and 
 tender speech. I found I had connected myself 
 with a large circle of ministerial families. The 
 storm abated in time for us to meet our Sabbath 
 services. I found in the minister's daughter an 
 excellent minister's wife, who had been to her 
 father a great help, therefore trained in the 
 duties expected of her. 
 
36 F'ifiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Wa moved on in the usual duties of a supply. 
 As the roads became settled, I suggested to the 
 congregation a plan for a general visitation of all 
 the families in that part of the township in which 
 Riga church was located. The congregation 
 adopted my suggestions and the result brought 
 quite an addition to the congregation during my 
 stay among them. I remained until some time 
 in May and then made my arrangements to return 
 to Oberlin for instruction in pastoral theology. 
 After spending a few days with friends, we left for 
 Oberlin. On reaching Lockport, N. Y. , I met 
 there Rev. Gilbert Crawford, the pastor of the 
 First Presbyterian church of Lockport, who in- 
 formed me that the Presbyterian church of Wilson 
 of the Presbytery of Niagara were anxious to have 
 me visit them. He asked me to remain over the 
 Sabbath and drive down with his horse and buggy 
 and spend the Sabbath at Wilson. This looked 
 like a providential opening. Therefore I accepted 
 his offer and drove down to see the people that 
 were ambitious to see me. We were cordially 
 received. I preached to them on the Sabbath. 
 They extended a call to me to return to them and 
 become their pastor after I had been through 
 the course of pastoral theology. We returned to 
 Lockport on Monday and resumed our journey to 
 Oberlin, which we reached in due time and I took 
 
Student Life 37 
 
 up the study of those things that six months' 
 experience had taught me I needed. On the 6th 
 of July, Prof. Finney gave us his introductory 
 lecture to his course on pastoral theology, followed 
 with thirty lectures embodying his rich experience, 
 his sanctified common sense, enforced by the teach- 
 ings of God's word, and pressed down upon our 
 hearts by his fervent prayers. Toward the close 
 of this course he came into the class room with an 
 expression of countenance that betokened there 
 was an unusual pressure upon him. He knelt, 
 which was his usual posture in prayer with the 
 class, and began thus: "Oh Lord! here is a class 
 of young ministers that are soon to leave us. Save 
 them from being parrot preachers! May they 
 know by blessed experience the power and excel- 
 lence of the gospel they preach." He began to 
 weep. He prayed and wept until the room was a 
 Bochim. At the end of a half hour, he arose, 
 looked at his watch and remarked, "Young gentle- 
 men, I feel more like praying than talking and per- 
 haps you sympathize with me. Let some one lead 
 in prayer." The hour was filled up with prayers. 
 It was the richest hour of all my theological course. 
 It was an hour that brought with it the enduring 
 power of the Holy Spirit fitting us to be witnesses 
 to the power of the Gospel. Oh, that every can- 
 didate for the ministry might enjoy such an hour, 
 
38 i^ipy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 the Holy Ghost resting upon him, imparting to 
 him a tongue of fire, that will set on fire his hearers 
 until they realize that their bodies are the temples 
 of the Holy Ghost. Herein lay Prof. Finney's 
 great power over men. He knew parrot preachers 
 might very eloquently repeat what they had heard, 
 yet no soul be saved. Prof. Finney held that soul- 
 saving was the great work of every minister of 
 Christ's gospel. He says He came to seek and 
 save the lost. 
 
 These lectures ran over into August. The time 
 spent hearing them was well employed. This in- 
 struction was the most valuable of any course in 
 my whole study. During this course the class 
 met twice a week for special prayer and free con- 
 versation on experimental religion. By these 
 meetings I was greatly strengthened and enlight- 
 ened and drawn nearer my Savior and given a bet- 
 ter understanding of His offices and what He will 
 do for them who only trust Him. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 WORK IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 
 
 We left Oberlin about the middle of September 
 and went direct to Wilson, where the door opened 
 to us without seeking or asking. Circumstances 
 seemed to indicate that Wilson was the place 
 where God would have us labor. I entered upon 
 work there on the last Sabbath of September, 1837. 
 The township of Wilson bordered on Lake Ontario 
 on the north. The village of Wilson was a short 
 half mile south from the lake. Twelve Mile creek 
 emptied into the lake at this point. On this creek 
 ' the Wilsons had erected mills in the early settle- 
 ment of the town. Around these mills a village 
 sprung up. The Presbyterians had built their 
 church there. They had been organized twelve 
 years and had not been without meetings on the 
 Sabbath for all these years extraordinaries excepted. 
 It was organized with only six members and these 
 all in one family: Mr. John Holmes and wife, 
 Daniel Holmes and wife, Mr. Crosby and wife, 
 daughter of John Holmes. These families had 
 been thoroughly trained in the doctrines and usages 
 
 of the Presbyterian church. 
 
 39 
 
40 ^^fly y^cirs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 They organized for work. Consequently they 
 gave notice of a meeting, and invited their neigh- 
 bors and famihes to meet with them. The people 
 came out. Mr. John Holmes was an elder in the 
 church he had left in Saratoga Co., N. Y. His 
 son, Daniel, was made an elder at the organiza- 
 tion of their church. The people looked around 
 for the preacher. Elder John Holmes opened the 
 meeting by reading a hymn. An extemporized choir 
 sang the hymn. He then read a portion of script- 
 ure and offered prayer. Another hymn was given 
 out and sung. Then elder Daniel HolmiCS 
 came forward with a sermon-book and read a ser- 
 mon. Another prayer was offered to God, they 
 sang the doxology, and were dismissed after a 
 meeting for the next Sabbath was announced. In 
 this way meetings were kept up from year to year 
 when there was no minister to preach to them. 
 
 In due time a Sabbath school was added to the 
 reading and prayer meetings. The people who 
 loved meetings soon learned where to go on the 
 Sabbath. Their congregation increased. God 
 gave them a spirit of prayer. Backsliders returned 
 to duty; anxious ones began to enquire what they 
 should do to be saved. They sent for a minister 
 to come and gather in the fruits of their reading 
 meetings. These fruits of faithful labor strength- 
 ened their faith and they worked on. When they 
 
Work in Western New York 41 
 
 called me to be their pastor, they had a church 
 house, and a parsonage and were ready to co-oper- 
 ate with me. A salary was pledged for my sup- 
 port. I was greatly encouraged that God opened, 
 unsought, such a field to me. God lifted upon me 
 the light of His countenance as I entered into this 
 field. He opened the scriptures to me. From 
 them I derived much comfort. The Lord gave me 
 liberty in preaching. The word was quick and 
 powerful to both Christians and careless sinners. 
 Backsliders began to confess their sins and return 
 to duty. The church came gradually up to their 
 duty. South of the parsonage three miles, the 
 people of that school district had completed a new 
 frame school house. They came to me and asked 
 me if I would not come up and hold some meetings 
 in their new house before the commencement of 
 their winter school. I consulted with the elders who 
 thought best to accept the invitation. We made 
 our arrangements accordingly, and sent an appoint- 
 ment for an evening meeting. One of my elders 
 went with me to the first meeting. The people of 
 the district were there; we had a good meeting 
 and I made appointment for the afternoon and even- 
 ing of the next day. There was a good interest in 
 both meetings. I repeated the same appointments 
 for next day. There were a good many out in the 
 afternoon. As I dismissed the afternoon meeting 
 
42 ^0y y^^^^ on the Skirmish Line 
 
 and they left, I turned the key on the door and 
 shut myself in with God, and wrestled in prayer 
 until near time for the evening service. I seemed 
 to sink into the atonement of Christ as I had never 
 before, and the love of Christ welled up and filled 
 me with a fulness that carried me out of myself. 
 I realize what the apostle meant when he said, 
 "Christ in me full of glory." That night God gave 
 me a message that seemed to unseal the waters of 
 life to that congregation. Three persons drank of 
 the living waters that Christ gave them. Convic- 
 tion took hold on all classes in that school district 
 and many of them sought the Savior and found 
 Him the joy of their lives. We held on some two 
 weeks. A number of families joined our church. 
 
 On the first day of January, 1838, we held a 
 meeting at our church. There came down to the 
 night meeting a sleigh load of young people from 
 Cambria to attend that meeting. In the company 
 there was a Miss Baker, who got up the party; 
 was led to Christ that night ; and made a confession 
 of having experienced forgiveness of her sins, be- 
 fore her associates, ere she left the church. There 
 were three others who experienced the same bless- 
 ing in that meeting. Som.e six months after I Avas 
 sent for, to visit Miss Baker. I was shown to her 
 sick-room. As I took a seat near her bed, she 
 said: "Mr. Sherwood, I am near the close of my 
 
Work in Western New York 
 
 43 
 
 young life. I felt that I could not leave this world 
 without seeing you, and telling you what a blessing 
 you have been to me, in preparing me for this 
 sick-bed, and what is just before me." She then 
 related how she was moved upon to get up that 
 sleigh load, and that I should preach the sermon 
 I did and that she then gave herself to Christ and 
 had the evidence of her acceptance and went home 
 a new creature in Christ Jesus. Then she was in 
 good health with as reasonable a prospect of life as 
 any of her companions. "How good God was to 
 prepare me in health for my dying hour!" Blessed 
 was the chamber where I met Miss Baker. I read 
 God's word to her, sang a hymn, prayed with her, 
 commending her to the Savior, then parted with 
 her to meet her where there will be no dying. 
 
 The influence of the meeting in that school 
 house had awakened a desire for a meeting in a school 
 house three miles east of the village of Wilson. 
 About the middle of January, 1838, we began a 
 meeting at this school house. The interest from 
 the first meeting to the last rose with the members of 
 the church. In the same proportion did conviction 
 take hold upon the impenitent. Christians wept 
 over dying men and sinners trembled in view of 
 coming wrath. Christians were humbled in the 
 dust, the most hardened bowed before the mighty 
 power of grace in Christ. The roads became so 
 
44 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 muddy that horse teams could not bring out the 
 people. They put on oxen and wallowed through 
 the mud night after night. We continued the 
 meetings for two weeks. Those weeks will never 
 be forgotten by those who participated in those 
 hallowed scenes. 
 
 During the month of February we began a meet- 
 ing in a school house some three miles north-west 
 of the village, where the fires of an old distillery 
 destroyed all moral feeling. For example, I found 
 a sick boy in a family who thought themselves re- 
 spectable, who at the age of twelve years had never 
 heard of Jesus Christ. On preaching to them a 
 few nights, conscience awakened under the power 
 of the Holy Spirit; backsliders repented and con- 
 fessed their sins; stumbling blocks were taken away 
 and some conversions were the fruits. Great good 
 was done in removing prejudice, silencing opposi- 
 tion and sowing the seeds of gospel truth which in 
 after years sprung up and brought forth fruit unto 
 eternal life. While this meeting was in progress 
 I received a letter saying that my eldest sister, 
 Mrs. Foot, was rapidly sickening under the influence 
 of an incurable disease. I left all to visit her. I 
 found on my arrival at my father's, that his 
 mother, my grandmother, aged 86 years, had died 
 the night before. I attended her funeral with other 
 members of the family. I found my dear sister 
 
Work in Western New York 45 
 
 very low, yet in full possession of all her faculties. 
 It devolved upon me to do what ought to have 
 been done some time before, to inform her that her 
 end was not far off. A great tear gathered in her 
 eye. She wiped it away, and gave herself to 
 arranging her things for her departure. She was 
 the first among the children of the family to take 
 her stand for Christ, and had adorned her profes- 
 sion with a consecrated life. I remained with her 
 two days. Then took my leave of her until we 
 meet where there are no farewells. On my return 
 from this mournful visit, we commenced a series of 
 meetings in the church at the village which was 
 continued every evening for two weeks. We had 
 set back-fires on three sides of the village. We 
 thought the time had come to kindle one in the 
 village. God bowed the heavens and came down, 
 and exalted His own cause. He gave me great 
 help in preaching the word. He gave the church 
 a spirit of prayer, and steadfast faith. Sinners 
 were converted and the church was greatly edified 
 and strengthened; infidelity was shaken, much 
 prejudice was removed. Long let the church of 
 Wilson praise God for what He did for them at 
 this meeting! On the first Sabbath in April 
 twenty-four were received on confession of their 
 faith. Thirteen were baptised. I began now to 
 instruct the church in doctrine and duty and to 
 
^6 F'ifiy y^^^^ on the Skirmish Line 
 
 feed the lambs. The revival spirit abode with us. 
 Every communion season added more or less to 
 the roll of the church. 
 
 On the twelfth of September, my wife gave birth 
 to our first child, a daughter. She bore the name 
 of her two aunts. Margaret Elizabeth. She was a 
 lovely child. 
 
 In November of this year we took possession of 
 the parsonage at the village, which our people 
 erected out of the proceeds of the one they owned 
 two miles in the country. The Lord had given us 
 great favor with this people. They did nobly in 
 providing for our comfort among them. The year 
 1838 was one of the right hand of the Most High. 
 Long let the church of Wilson celebrate it! 
 
 For outside work on our field we took school 
 districts lying in different directions from the 
 village from those we worked last year. They 
 were districts in which there was not a family 
 altar, nor a member of our church. We began by 
 visiting day times and preaching nights. In our 
 visits we passed no families. We talked with 
 parents and children. God put the seal of His 
 approbation upon our efforts. The eldership came 
 to our help. Conviction took hold of leading 
 families. They sought and found salvation. They 
 began to instruct their children. Quite a number 
 of families came into the church from these efforts. 
 
Work m Western New York 47 
 
 The Rev. Lemuel Clark came to my help at the 
 meeting we held in the village. His sermons 
 reached some whom I had failed to benefit. A 
 number of these came into the church. The con- 
 verts of last year were very much strengthened by 
 these services. 
 
 On September loth, 1839, the Presbytery of 
 Niagara met at Wilson for my installation. My letter 
 of dismission from the Western Reserve Association 
 was received by the Presbytery. Rev. Asa Mahan 
 of Oberlin preached the sermon. Rev. Truman 
 Baldwin, my father-in-law, gave the pastor his 
 charge. The Rev. Wm. C. Wisner, D.D., gave 
 the charge to the congregation. This was a great 
 day to the people of Wilson. They had been an 
 organized church fourteen years. All these years 
 they had struggled as best they could. They had 
 had a stated supply but for one consecutive year. 
 On this day for the first time they had a settled 
 pastor. 
 
 Early this autumn I commenced a course of doc- 
 trinal sermons, beginning with the genuineness 
 and authenticity of scripture; God, — His existence 
 and attributes; the Trinity; Divinity of Christ, and 
 of the Holy Spirit. The Fall of Man and its conse- 
 quences; the covenant of grace and the mediatoral 
 work of Christ. God put His seal upon this 
 course of sermons in outpouring His Spirit in the 
 
48 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Li?ie 
 
 convictions of sinners and their conversion and 
 confession of Christ before the world and in the 
 estabhshing of the church in the faith and order of 
 this people. 
 
 There was a marvelous interposition of divine 
 power in the removal of a young man who resisted 
 the Holy Spirit in the last revival of religion. He 
 became a scoffer and mocker, holding mock prayer- 
 meetings. After one of his mock prayer-meetings 
 he was taken suddenly sick. I called to see him. 
 He said he wanted no minister to talk to him. He 
 turned his face to the wall. I left him. He grew 
 rapidly worse and as death was feeling for his heart 
 strings, despair settled upon him. He broke forth 
 with a piteous cry, "Bring in a light! Bring in a 
 light!" But his cries soon ceased. Such a death 
 was never witnessed in Wilson. Infidelity stood 
 aghast to see their champion mourning at the last 
 in the darkness of despair. This death was sanc- 
 tified to young men of Wilson. 
 
 At the annual thanksgiving of 1839, I came out 
 with the history of Wilson, closing with two sug- 
 gestions which would add to their business and 
 population. First: The securing of the govern- 
 ment appropriation for the removal of the accumu- 
 lationsof ages from the mouth of Twelve-Mile creek, 
 where it empties into the lake, thereby furnishing 
 a harbor for vessels doing business on Lake 
 
Work in Western New York 49 
 
 Ontario, thus giving to the town a commercial 
 importance. Second: An academy that would 
 furnish the youth of this entire region with the 
 facilities for a thorough business and literary course. 
 I am happy to say these suggestions were well re- 
 ceived and were adopted and have added to the 
 business and influence of Wilson on surrounding 
 towns. 
 
 At the fall meeting of Niagara Presbytery, a 
 convention of ministers and churches was agreed 
 upon and appointed at Lyndonville in the town of 
 Yates, Orleans county, on a given day in Nov., 
 1840, for the purpos of considering what could 
 be done to strengthen the feeble churches in con- 
 nection with our Presbytery. 
 
 The convention met according to agreement, I 
 was designated to preach the opening sermon which 
 duty I performed. We spent two days in consul- 
 tation and prayer. The following plan was adopted, 
 to-wit: Every church in the Presbytery to be 
 visited, one week to be spent with each, visiting 
 from house to house during the day, preaching 
 every night and day time when circumstances 
 demanded it. Churches without pastors or supplies 
 were to be the first visited. The Presbytery 
 covered the counties of Niagara and Orleans. The 
 ministers and churches of each county were respon- 
 sible that the plan was carried out. We were to 
 
50 ^ifiy Ycaj'S on the Skirmish Line 
 
 begin as soon after the first of December as we 
 could. I left my home on the first week in De- 
 cember and rode on horseback to Wheatland 
 church, some twenty miles, on a cold day. The 
 stated supply of Lewiston church I met me there, 
 and no others came to that feeble, destitute church. 
 We spent a week with them and did what we could 
 for them. The bachelor brother from Lewiston 
 found a good thing there, a lady that made him an 
 excellent wife. Somerset was next visited. My 
 father-in-law was their supply, and had been for 
 two years. They had just completed a new meet- 
 ing house. Their Sabbath school was in a condi- 
 tion to be greatly benefited by the visitation, which 
 was crowned with rich results. There was at 
 Somerset a good list of helpers, some twenty from 
 the Sabbath school with quite a number of heads 
 of families from that church bringing it up \.h the 
 condition of self-support. The meetings at Somer- 
 set assumed so much interest they were protracted 
 for two weeks. Wilson was next visited. We had 
 a very profitable week with some conversions. The 
 church enjoyed the visits. At the close of the 
 meeting our baby boy, born on the 19th of Sep- 
 tember, Elisha Baldwin, took the lung fever and 
 died, aged four months and fourteen days. Sickness 
 and death coming upon us, I overworked and 
 brought on fever and ague which shut me up two 
 
Work in If es turn New York 51 
 
 weeks. When I so far recovered that I could, I 
 took my wife and daughter, two years old, and 
 drove out to Youngstown where the next meeting 
 was to be. 
 
 On reaching Youngstown I found their pastor. 
 Rev. J. Elliott, sick in bed, and no one on the 
 ground to preach a sermon or conduct a meeting, 
 but the session of the church. Learning that I was 
 present they waited upon me and requested me to 
 undertake the conducting of the services of the 
 Presbyterial visitation. I told them I was totally 
 unfit to do so, from the state of my health. Dr. 
 Hyde, one of the session said, "Put yourself under 
 my treatment and I will see you safely through." 
 The circumstances were such as made it seem 
 necessary that I should throw myself on the arm 
 of the Lord and do the best I could for them. 
 
 Our first service was held in the basement of the 
 church. In this meeting there were manifest evi- 
 dences of the Holy Spirit's presence and power. 
 At night I preached to an attentive and solemn 
 audience. The meeting the next afternoon took 
 the form of a prayer meeting attended with heart- 
 broken confessions. 
 
 The second evening's service was a memorable 
 one never to be forgotten. Towards the close of 
 the sermon, I noticed a gentleman enter and drop 
 into a seat near the door. The Holy Spirit gave 
 
52 Fifiy Years on' the Skirmish Line 
 
 me an illustration which I used which God blessed 
 to the opening of the eyes of this late comer. He 
 saw his lost condition as a sinner in the presence 
 of a heart-searching God. He was seen to weep. 
 Those who sat near were astonished to see his 
 tears. It was the first time he had attended a 
 gospel service for fifteen years. He was the 
 champion of infidelity, the ringleader of wickedness 
 in general. He was the village lawyer, a ready 
 talker and a man of influence among young men. 
 Seeing this man in tears moved his associates to 
 enquire, "What does this mean?" The next morn- 
 ing they met to talk up this question. They dele- 
 gated two young men to wait upon Lawyer Bab- 
 cock and learn from his own lips what those tears 
 meant the night before. The delegation soon re- 
 turned saying that Esquire Babcock was terribly in 
 earnest. The effect on his unrepentant associates 
 was like a shock of electricity. At that afternoon 
 meeting, Mr. Babcock arose and said, "Last night 
 on going home from that meeting, for the first 
 time in my life I began to pray, and my re- 
 quest is that you would all pray that I may always 
 continue to pray." That night when the invitation 
 was given, asking any who wished to be remembered 
 in the closing prayer to manifest it by rising to 
 their feet, Mr. Babcock was the first one that rose. 
 It was like wrenching the key stone from an arch. 
 
Work in Western New York 53 
 
 Infidelity and wickedness fell in. Seventy-five 
 arose for prayers. The place became a Bochim, 
 a place of tears. The next day was the Sabbath. 
 The great power of God was on the congregation. 
 Sinners were pricked in their hearts and cried out, 
 "What shall we do.?" General conviction of sin 
 took hold of all classes, whether they were church 
 goers or home stayers. Wives who had waited for 
 their husbands made up their minds that they could 
 not wait any longer. They made up their minds 
 to go to Jesus. Their action brought their hus- 
 bands with them sooner or later. 
 
 At the close of the morning service of the second 
 Sabbath, I went to the gentleman who kept the 
 principal hotel of Youngstown and asked him if he 
 had settled the question to go with his wife, who, 
 during the preceding week, had given herself to 
 Christ. He said he had and he invited me to go 
 home with him for dinner. I went with him. We 
 went through the form of dinner; but the dinner- 
 party wanted salvation more than they wanted 
 anything else. After dinner we repaired to the 
 parlor to guide enquiring minds to Jesus Christ, 
 the sinner's friend. I led in prayer. The hotel 
 keeper followed me. He began in this way: "O 
 Lord, thou knowest what has kept me away from 
 thy services so long. It is this bar. Now, O Lord, 
 I put it away; give me grace to live as a Christian 
 
54 Fifty Years o?i the Skirmish Line 
 
 should." His brother was no less explicit in re- 
 nouncing the pleasures of the world and in the con- 
 secration of himself to the Lord Jesus. There were 
 eleven prayers offered in that parlor by the inmates 
 and boarders of that hotel for the first time that 
 afternoon. We had not concluded that solemn 
 meeting, when I was sent for to visit another 
 family. I went with the messenger, where I found 
 a whole household in the same state of mind as 
 those with whom I had dined. There God in the 
 work of the Holy Spirit revealed Himself for the 
 salvation of the inmates of the family. Oh, what 
 a glorious Sabbath that was! On the next Tues- 
 day night that hotel with all its contents was con- 
 sumed by a mysterious fire breaking out about two 
 o'clock. 
 
 The revival became general throughout the vil- 
 lage, and spread into the country. The meetings 
 were thronged. Dr. Wisner came to my help and 
 for some three weeks the meetings were continued. 
 It was the first general revival ever enjoyed in 
 that frontier town. Its influence permeated every 
 class of society, working out a general reformation 
 in the habits of the people. Drinking was dried 
 up, gambling was stopped, the Sabbath hallowed, 
 family religion was established in what before had 
 been prayerless homes. Seventy converts joined 
 the Presbyterian Church, a majority of whom were 
 heads of families. 
 
Work in Western New York 55 
 
 During my stay in Youngstown, my wife and 
 daughter were taken sick, thus I was held there 
 that I might be a worker with God in that marvel- 
 ous display of His saving grace to that hitherto 
 neglected people. I felt that the providence and 
 blessing of God made plain my duty to remain at 
 Youngstown until I could safely take my family 
 home. My stay of three weeks at Youngstown 
 led to dissatisfaction with the Wilson congregation 
 which resulted in dissolving the pastoral relation, 
 and my undertaking the work of a missionary with 
 the feeble churches and destitute places in Niagara 
 county. The pastoral relation was dissolved in May 
 1 841. I removed my family to Middleport, a 
 village in the east part of the county where was one 
 of our feeble churches. I bought and fitted up a 
 comfortable home. I made up my mind that the 
 best way to change the moral aspect of Middleport 
 was to open an Academic school. With the assist- 
 ance of friends I built a school building in a 
 vacant lot that I bought with my home, in which 
 my father-in-law, Rev. Truman Baldwin, with two 
 unmarried daughters, opened an Academic school, 
 which, with Sabbath services, soon gave us a 
 pleasant introduction into that community. After 
 settling my family at Middleport and seeing the 
 Academy in working order, in connection with the 
 Rev. Wm. C. Wisner, I entered upon a series of 
 
56 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 meetings with the churches in Niagara county in 
 our Presbytery. We held a second meeting at 
 Youngstown where in addition to the seventy 
 members in March, 1841, ninety were added in the 
 winter of 1842. This revival reached out into 
 the town of Porter and brought in a large number 
 from the country east of Youngstown. We held 
 a second meeting at Somerset which was greatly 
 blessed to that people. During this meeting I 
 was called home on account of the sickness of our 
 little daughter. After her recovery, we held an 
 interesting meeting in Cambria. The work was 
 general and large numbers were added to the church 
 We then held a meeting at Lewiston. The work 
 was slow there, but we reached a class that was 
 never reached before, and families that gave influ- 
 ence to the church, which took on growth, and is 
 now a moral power that is felt in that part of the 
 country. Dr. Wisner was called to the pastorate 
 of the First Presbyterian church of Lockport which 
 took him out of the evangelistic work and left me 
 alone, with some lay helpers. I held an interest- 
 ing meeting at Gosport-. six miles east of Middle- 
 port. There were a large number added to Gos- 
 port Congregational church as the fruits of this 
 effort. 
 
 In May of 1842, I was invited by the Rev. 
 Wm. Beecher, who was pastor at Batavia, N. Y. , 
 
Work in Western New York 57 
 
 to come to his assistance for a week or more. In 
 going to Batavia I passed through Caryville, a 
 town on an old Indian reservation six miles north 
 of Batavia. At Caryville we had a small Presby- 
 terian church which was then supplied by an 
 acquaintance of mine, Rev T. Darling. Being 
 weary with the morning ride I stopped at the house 
 of Brother Darling for a little rest. On knocking 
 at his door he opened it with the salutation, 
 "God bless you, Brother Sherwood. I believe the 
 Lord has sent you here." I told him why I was 
 there. "Will you preach for us on your return?" 
 he asked. I replied that I would try to arrange 
 so to do. On completing my stay at Batavia I 
 informed Brother Darling that I would preach for 
 him on the next evening. I found their place of 
 meeting was a dining-room that would accommo- 
 date fifty persons. They had meeting there night 
 after night for six weeks for prayer. The room 
 was well filled. Before I was through with my 
 sermon, I was impressed that some one had a work 
 to do there. As I was about closing my sermon, 
 Brother Darling came and asked if I could stop 
 and give them another sermon. I consented, 
 remained, and preached with increasing interest. 
 As I was closing, Mr. Darling came again and 
 said, "Can you not stay and preach on the Sabbath, 
 and let me go and supply your appointment." By 
 
58 ^^f^y y^cif's on the Skirmish Line 
 
 this time I felt that God had opened a door forme 
 to enter into a good work. I consented to make 
 the exchange. Saturday night and Sunday the 
 school house could be used. Saturday night we 
 had a good audience. Sabbath morning the ladies 
 filled the school house leaving the gentlemen to do 
 the best they could. The attendance at night was 
 larger than in the morning. 
 
 What to do for room to accommodate the people 
 was the question on Monday morning. I did not 
 wait for Brother Darling to return. I called to- 
 gether some of the leading men to decide what 
 to do. There was a large building, 100x40 feet, 
 just finished for Col, Gary, the patron of the town. 
 The lower story had been finished as one room. 
 Mr. Gary was waited upon by a committee of gen- 
 tlemen, who asked for that room for the meetings. 
 The request was granted. The next thing was 
 seating the room. That was provided for, and a 
 meeting was announced at the hall for Monday 
 night. The congregation increased every night, 
 and they increased the seating, until the hall floor 
 was filled with seats, and the seats were filled with 
 the people. On Sabbath days this large building 
 was surrounded by buggies and carriages full of 
 people that could not get seats in the hall. I be- 
 gan to inquire, "Why are such multitudes gathering 
 here.?" 
 
Work in Western New York 59 
 
 During the year 1841 that whole region had been 
 visited by a disease known as the black tongue, 
 which swept off many by death, leaving on the 
 community an awful sense of the visitation they 
 had passed through. This state of things with six 
 weeks of prayer had prepared for this visitation of 
 the grace and Spirit of God. We settled on this 
 plan: meeting every day at 2 P. M., and at 7:30, 
 P. M., during week days, and on Sabbath preaching 
 morning and night at the usual hours, with a 
 prayer meeting at 4 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 Brother Darling gave up the meeting to me. After 
 the sermon at night, I invited forward any one 
 who felt his need of pardon for sin. There were 
 often twenty-five that came under this invitation, 
 sometimes fifty and even more. Converts began 
 their testimony for Christ. The work deepened 
 and widened, conviction took hold of all classes. 
 Farmers would work up to their dinner hour, and 
 be at the two o'clock meeting, take their rest at 
 the meeting and return home, work between meet- 
 ings and be out again at night. Thus we worked 
 on from the last week in May, until after the 4th 
 of July when it seemed I could not remain any 
 longer. I announced my closing sermon. We had 
 out a large congregation. I preached to the con- 
 verts. As I was about closing, there came up a 
 pour-down shower, and no one wanted to leave. 
 
6o Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 I spoke to those who knew their duty and had not 
 done it, for about fifteen minutes, and then asked 
 those who knew their duty and had not done it, 
 but would then begin, to arise. Col. Gary arose 
 and with him some fifteen others who had been 
 hiding behind Col. Cary. This action of Col. Cary 
 and his associates brought me into new straits. I 
 paused and asked wisdom from above. This plan 
 was suggested: leave the question of thecontinuance 
 of the meeting to the colonel and his associates, 
 and others in the congregation who have not taken 
 a stand for Christ; ask of these what they want. 
 So I put the matter in this form: "I shall leave 
 the question of the continuance of these services 
 to those who have this night risen, and all in the 
 congregation who have not professed Christ. If 
 you desire these meetings continued such will now 
 manifest it by arising." One hundred arose. I 
 then said: "The future meetings are for those 
 who have risen here to night and I shall expect 
 your faithful attendance, and that you will use your 
 influence to bring others here." I appointed meet- 
 ings for next day and night. 
 
 Col. Cary came right out and took his stand for 
 Christ, went to work, providing clothing (or some 
 poorfamilies which the ladies made up, and these 
 familiescommencedattendingmeetings. Thecolonel 
 asked me to go with him and visit a family in which 
 
Life in Western New York 6i 
 
 the parents were at variance. He brought them to- 
 gether and begged them for their children's sake 
 to love each other and to live as a family ought 
 to. I proposed a season of prayer, and I led and 
 the colonel followed. The parties wept on their 
 knees, got up and confessed to each other and 
 healed all manner of differences. I worked on four 
 weeks longer up into the month of August. We 
 reached out into the country north and south, 
 gathered the people at the school house and in the 
 groves and preached to them Jesus and the resur- 
 rection. All classes were reached, believed and 
 confessed the Saviour. Before I left. Col. Gary 
 offered the Presbyterian church a lot for a meeting 
 house, and started a subscription with $ioo. 
 $2,000 were raised to build a church. Seven- 
 ty persons united with the Presbyterian church. 
 Fifty with the Methodist and thirty-five with 
 the Free Will Baptist. Over 200 professed 
 conversion at our meetings. Many were converted 
 who came from adjoining towns. I saw the fruits 
 cf those meetings years afterward in Michigan. 
 An elder from an adjoining town told me that for 
 years after they had persons offer themselves for 
 membership, and, on asking when and where they 
 received their first religious impressions, they 
 replied: "At the Caryville meeting when they 
 met in the hall." An Academy was soon organized 
 
62 ^ipy y^(^^s on the Skirmish Li?ie 
 
 in the building where the meetings were held. 
 Col. Gary left money as an endowment for the 
 school at his death. The church was built the 
 next season and I was asked to go over and dedi- 
 cate it which I did. 
 
 On returning to Middleport, I commenced a 
 meeting there in the Methodist church. God 
 poured out a spirit of prayer on the few faithful 
 Christians of that place. It was a wrestling spirit 
 that God gave us which unsealed the waters of life 
 to that people. God gave me the indwelling 
 power in preaching His gospel. It was the first 
 effort any evangelistic denomination of Christians 
 had made for years. The Holy Spirit gave us an 
 earnest of what He was waiting to do when His 
 children would believe, receive, and confess Him 
 before that people. There were twenty hopeful 
 conversions as the fruits of these meetings. It was 
 the morning star of hope for Middleport. The 
 converts divided between the Methodist and Pres- 
 byterian churches. This meeting added to the 
 graces as well as the numbers of the churches. 
 
 On one of the Sabbath mornings of January, 
 1843, as I attempted to reach our place of worship 
 with my horse and cutter, I was met by a cyclone 
 that turned me back. As I returned to my house 
 and stepped out of my cutter, I was struck by the 
 end of a flying board which broke the outer bone 
 
Work in Western New York 63 
 
 on my left leg, half way between the ankle and the 
 knee, which confined me some weeks to my room. 
 "When I was able to be out, I found there was quite 
 an interest in our congregation, as I began to 
 move among the people. It is to the Rev. Jedediah 
 Burchard, that I owe most under God for my suc- 
 cess in revival efforts. I was with him more or less 
 for three years when a student. I learned from 
 him how to conduct such efforts and the secret of 
 success in them. It is this: waiting on God until 
 you are endued with the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 During the month of April, he came to my 
 assistance here and gave us two weeks' services. 
 Twenty were added to the church of Middleport 
 as the fruits of this meeting. Most of these con- 
 verts were young men and women connected with 
 our Academy and of an interesting class who are 
 useful in the church of Christ. Early in March I 
 commenced preaching once every Sabbath at 
 Gosport, six miles west of Middleport; returning 
 and preaching at Middleport in the evening of the 
 same day. 
 
 This on the whole was a sad year to us. God 
 was schooling us in affliction. My limb had not 
 fully recovered, when dear Margaret Elizabeth 
 was taken with the whooping cough. Not having 
 fully recovered from the long illness of inflamma- 
 tion of the lungs in the winter of 1842, we were 
 
64 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 fearful of the influence of this cough on her. She 
 soon began to droop under its strain upon her con- 
 stitution. She was subject to spasms when cough- 
 ing. Consequently she was carefully watched In 
 the dead of the night she was taken with a spasm. 
 I sprung out of bed, took her in my arms and 
 ere I was aware she fell back dead, before we 
 realized she was in such danger. This took place 
 on the 14th of March. Margaret was four years, 
 four months and two days old. We buried her 
 in the cemetery where sleep my father and mother. 
 We removed the body of her brother, Elisha Bald- 
 win. Sister and brother sleep side by side in hope 
 of the resurrection. 
 
 The remainder of this year was given to Gosport 
 and Middleport, with a growing interest in both 
 congregations. 
 
 The year of 1844, was also given to these fields 
 and intervening school districts. On the 29th of 
 March, 1844, my wife gave birth to a second son 
 whom we named after the two grandfathers, John 
 Baldwin. He had a delicate constitution, was 
 of lovely disposition, a very promising boy. The 
 year 1845 was entirely given to Middleport. We 
 raised money sufficient to build a Presbyterian 
 church on the lot owned by the society which was 
 dedicated in December of this year. I was assisted 
 in dedication by the Rev. A. T. Hopkins, D.D. of 
 
Work in Western New York 65 
 
 Buffalo and Rev. Wm. C. Wisner of Lockport. 
 Dr. Hopkins preached the sermon and Dr. Wisner 
 made the dedicatory prayer. We now had a good 
 church house and a respectable congregation. We 
 thought we had a degree of prosperity when there 
 was reason to hope for a permanent growth of the 
 church and congregation. 
 
 On the 2ist of December of this year, God 
 blessed us with a third son, a healthy boy. We 
 named him Charles Linsley after a favorite uncle 
 of his mother. 
 
 When we came to the period for making arrange- 
 ment for the year 1846 my expectations for support 
 at Middleport were not realized. I had devoted my 
 entire time to them for the year 1845 o^ 3- salary 
 that did not meet the expenses of my family. I 
 had raised every dollar we had for the new church. 
 I took them in 1841 when to other ministers there 
 seemed no hope of doing anything to save that 
 church. I made a great sacrifice to give them an 
 academic school which gave us the youth out 
 of which we gathered a congregation, and 
 revived and built up a church of some fifty 
 members, and had sacrificed my time for 1845 to 
 secure them a church. I had a right to expect 
 they would now make some sacrifice to sustain me 
 with a salary that would support my growing 
 family. They seemed to feel that because I had 
 
66 Fifty Yeais 07i the Skirmish Line 
 
 sacrificed for them 1 would still do it. I had 
 reached a point beyond which I must not go any 
 farther. It was a sacrifice of the property I had 
 fitted up there. I remained with them until June 
 of 1846, when I was invited to Liverpool, a subur- 
 ban town of Syracuse, N. Y. I gave nine years to 
 Niagara county. Three years and a half were 
 given to Wilson during this time, during which I 
 received one hundred and three to that church, one 
 half of whom were heads of families. Thirty-five 
 years elapsed before I could visit them. When 
 I did, and preached to them on the Sabbath, I 
 was stopping with the only elder left of those choice 
 men I found in 1837. He said to me: "Brother 
 Sherwood, you see that the meeting house you left 
 has undergone some changes and you are respon- 
 sible for these changes that have taken place, and 
 for the expenses we have been to to effect them, by 
 the course you adopted in going out into the school 
 districts and holding those meetings you did, with 
 the conversions that followed. The people from 
 those districts coming in, filled the house you left. 
 We first knocked off one end and put on fifteen 
 feet. The growth of the congregation was such 
 that they filled up this added space in a few 
 years. Then we knocked off the side of the house 
 and put on ten feet and that filled up and crowded 
 the choir so much that they demanded more room, 
 
Work in Western New York 67 
 
 and we knocked off the other end, put in an 
 orchestra and pulpit." I lay down this principle: 
 that the gospel is of such superlative importance to 
 all persons, that to those who do not come 
 where the gospel is preached, it should be carried 
 through school house efforts in the country, or 
 cottage meetings in the cities; lest the blood of the 
 lost be found on our garments, in the great day of 
 solemn review. The fruits of the five and a half 
 years given to Niagara county in evangelistic work 
 in 1841, — '42, according to the Presbyterial report 
 for these years, were ']66 hopeful conversions, 559 
 added on confession, and 60 by letter, bringing a 
 number of churches to self support. It was during 
 these years that glorious revival at Caryville took 
 place in which there were at least two hundred 
 hopeful conversions. The nine years in Niagara 
 county were precious years. The work was per- 
 manent. After I came to Missouri, I was invited 
 by their stated clerk to return to them and go 
 over the field again. Circumstances forbade. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CENTRAL NEW YORK. 
 
 On a more careful survey of Liverpool I found 
 it a village of about tw^elve hundred, a mixed mul- 
 titude, of salt manufacturers, canal boatmen, 
 mechanics, and day laborers, surrounded on three 
 sides by an intelligent farming population. 
 
 On entering upon work in my new field, the 
 first thing was the remodeling of the Sunday School. 
 This necessitated my taking the superintendency 
 of the school. I preached twice on the Sabbath 
 at the church and gave a third service in the 
 country. 
 
 On the 13th of August of this year brother 
 Charles, aged thirty-two, died, surrounded by 
 everything that made life desirable. 
 
 We went forward very pleasantly in our new field 
 with an increasing congregation with nothing of 
 special interest until the close of the boating 
 season. It had been the custom of the boatmen 
 at the close, of navigation to have a general jollifi- 
 cation, drink at every saloon, and keep the town 
 awake by their wild orgies and general parade, 
 
 m 
 
Central New York 69 
 
 They woke up one man, who the next morning on 
 meeting some of the business men of the town, 
 asked them if that was the way that Liverpool 
 celebrated the return of the boatmen. The answer 
 was, "The boys must have a good time once a 
 year. Last evening the saloons had their pull at 
 the boatmen, of what is left the gamblers will be 
 sure to get their share; and there will not be much 
 left for wives and children." I then put this ques- 
 tion to quite a circle of business men that had 
 gathered around: "Do the business men of this 
 town look on and see these saloons and gamblers 
 rob the laboring men without any remonstrance.? 
 For one L do not propose to let such a state of 
 things pass without making an honest effort to stop 
 it." "We have tried to correct it," they said, "but 
 it is of no use. You can not stop it." "I propose 
 to try my hand," I replied. I returned to my 
 study taking with me a young man who was at 
 home from New York city on a short visit. We 
 consulted together and I drew the following paper: 
 
 •Attention, Boatmen! 
 
 "Captain and all hands are invited to meet at 
 the Presbyterian church on next Sabbath evening 
 at 7 o'clock, at which time a plan will be submitted 
 how every boatman may be made rich. Seats free. 
 Good music. Come one, come all." 
 
70 J^ifiy Years 07i the Skirfnish Line 
 
 I went into my study to develop the plan, and 
 had it ready in time. 
 
 My study was near the sidewalk leading to the 
 church. The tramp began as soon as the first bell 
 rung. When I entered the church at the time 
 appointed, I thought all the boatmen of Syracuse 
 as well as all Liverpool were there. The choir 
 had made special preparation for the occasion. I 
 took for my text the words of Moses to his father- 
 in-law, Hobab, "Come thou with us; and we will 
 do thee good, for God hath spoken good concerning 
 Israel." After giving a history of the text, I 
 remarked to those present, "You have had such 
 invitations extended to you before, by Sabbath 
 breakers, by the saloon keepers, the harlot, the 
 gambler, the pleasure seeker. Did any of these 
 parties keep their promises to you? What good 
 did any of you experience from any of those } They 
 were like the promises of the devil to our Lord. 
 Here is the promise of God who cannot lie, that 
 He will do you good. He did me good. He will 
 do you good. If you come with us, we will do 
 you good. Our ways are pleasant. God hath 
 spoken good concerning us. There is peace in the 
 ways of religion. The man who fears God shall 
 not want any good thing. He has God for his 
 guide, his kecpcr\ no good thing will He withhold 
 from those who walk uprightly. To become rich 
 
Central New York 71 
 
 you must start right and do right and persevere in 
 the ways of well doing. The plan by which every 
 boatman may become rich will require a course of 
 lectures for its development. You who would like 
 such a course of lectures are requested to manifest 
 it by rising to your feet." Three fourths of that 
 large company arose ere I had the sentence out. 
 I announced for the next lecture, "How boatmen 
 should spend their time out of the season of navi- 
 gation." Text: "Diligent in business, fervent in 
 spirit, serving the Lord." After lecture we opened 
 an evening school with thirty that could neither 
 read or write. Before navigation opened they all 
 could read, write and reckon up an account in 
 figures. 
 
 The second lecture was, "Savings' Bank for Spare 
 Money rather than the Saloon Drawer." Text: 
 Haggai 1:5, 6, Boatmen earn money and put into 
 bags that have holes in them, burn it up in cigars, 
 drop in the saloon drawer, etc. Afterwards, we 
 started a savings' bank. 
 
 The third lecture was on the evils of intoxicat- 
 ing drinks. 
 
 The fourth lecture was on the curses that come 
 to the man who puts the bottle to his neighbor's 
 lips. The fruit of these lectures was an organiza- 
 tion of a lodge of the Sons of Temperance. 
 
 Scores of both sexes came into this lodge, among 
 
72 ^ifty y^ars on the Skirmish Line 
 
 them were the worst of drunkards. Some of the 
 scenes that I witnessed growing out of the refor- 
 mation of drunken husbands will be thelast to fade 
 from my memory. 
 
 The next three lectures were on gambling. The 
 first answered the question, What is gambling? 
 The second dealt with the evils of gambling. The 
 third pointed out the fruits of gambling. After 
 hearing my first lecture on gambling, they said: 
 "He is an old hand, we can learn something, we 
 will go again." There was quite an influx of 
 strangers as well as a full representation of Liver- 
 pool people. I cut right and left on the evils of 
 gambling. "How does he know so much about 
 us.? He must have been there," they said. The 
 fruits of gam.bling drew a full house and the last 
 twenty minutes of the lecture the audience was as 
 solemn as any I ever spoke to. These lectures 
 drove gamblers out of Liverpool. They could not 
 rent a place and went over into an old canal boat. 
 About the close of the lectures on gambling, I 
 chanced to open a Syracuse daily paper. There I 
 saw a full column on the work being done in Liver- 
 pool by a course of lectures unique in character and 
 productive of results in reforming a large number 
 of men in that hitherto immoral village. In the 
 years that I remained in Liverpool the fruits of 
 those lectures were more and more manifest in the 
 
Central New York 73 
 
 uplifting in moral character and in the education 
 diffused by the night schools. The mistake, if any, 
 was in not going right forward with revival efforts, 
 preaching to them plainly the gospel, urging them 
 to lay hold upon salvation and not stop at the half 
 way house of morality as some of them did. The 
 success of the lectures in the reformation of morals 
 of the men and the notices it called forth in the 
 daily and weekly papers brought to me calls from 
 the brethren of Onondaga Presbyterian to come to 
 their help in gospel meetings. In the fall of 1847 
 I was invited by the Rev. R. C. Cleveland, the 
 father of the President of the United States, who 
 was then a lad in roundabouts, to assist them in a 
 service of meetings at Fayetteville, N. Y., where he 
 was pastor of the Presbyterian church. I was his 
 guest for two weeks. I found Rev. Cleveland one 
 of the most perfect gentlemen I have ever met. 
 His noble wife was a true Maryland lady who 
 presided with dignity and grace over her large 
 family. The two weeks of special meeting, were 
 crowned with the rich blessing of the Great Head 
 of the church in the impartation of spiritual power 
 to the church members and the marked conversions 
 of youth and heads of families in his congregation 
 who in due time became members of his church. 
 In addition to my pastoral duties at Liverpool, I 
 did what I could for a number of vacant pulpits, 
 
^4 F'ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Jamesville, Onondaga Valley, Oneida Lake, 
 Ridgeville and Amboy. I also gave more or less time 
 to preaching in destitute regions north and east of 
 Liverpool. While the growth of the Sabbath school 
 and church was steady, there was no marked re- 
 vival of religion. Yet there were additions to the 
 church during the years I was in Liverpool. Im- 
 portant results were brought about during our 
 labors there, that our successors entered into and 
 were greatly profited by them. During my last 
 year there, 1850, I made a special effort to lift the 
 congregation above their dependence upon the Home 
 Missionary Society to one of self support. The 
 plan that I adopted was to go to the tax roll of the 
 county and get the amount of property on which 
 they paid taxes, in order that I might ascertain 
 what per cent each property holder was paying for 
 the support of the gospel among them. The ex- 
 hibit shamed them out of their miserly spirit. 
 They found no difficulty in lifting the support of 
 the Gospel above dependence on Home Missionary 
 help. 
 
 The years that we spent in Liverpool had their 
 dark days as well as those that were full of sun- 
 shine. Our living children were young and subject 
 to the diseases of childhood. Our dear son John 
 Baldwin went down to his early grave from the 
 after results of the measles during our residence 
 
Central New York 75 
 
 there. This dear boy was a marked case of the 
 early development of the fruits of the Holy Spirit 
 in the heart of a child, not quite five years old. 
 As I was sitting by him one day in his child's bed, 
 he looked up to me and said: "Papa, do you think 
 that the Lord Jesus will suffer naughty children to 
 come unto Him?" This question was the prompt- 
 ing of his own feelings. Nothing had been recently 
 said that would have led to such a question. I 
 answered this question by relating to him how the 
 Lord Jesus became a child that He might know the 
 mind and the feelings of a child and after He grew 
 to be a man, He told his disciples to suffer little 
 children to come unto Him, for of such is the 
 kingdom of heaven. He drank in this instruction 
 with such attention as showed he comprehended 
 it, and rested upon it. From that time to the 
 end of his young life, some two months, there was 
 nothing that would interest him as did the story 
 of Christ's love for little children. He recovered 
 from the attack of sciatica from which he was then 
 suffering; and was quite well before taken with the 
 measels. He was very fond of a picture book I 
 gave him for a Christmas present. In it were a 
 good many Bible scenes. There was no picture 
 that took his attention, like the one where our 
 Lord was extended upon the cross. His mother 
 was holding him in her arms on the day he died. 
 
76 ^ifiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 She was telling him of a little girl who was sick 
 near our house. He said, "Ma, I do not want to 
 hear about her." "What do you want to hear 
 about?" "I want you should tell me about the 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 As an illustration of his attention to religious 
 duties, one evening we left the children with our 
 housekeeper. She prepared their supper and 
 they gathered around the table. His other sister 
 and younger brother commenced eating; but John 
 Baldwin did not eat. He was asked why he did not 
 eat his supper with the other children. His answer 
 was that God's blessing had not been asked. His 
 mother asked the blessing when I was away so that 
 he had never ate until a blessing had been asked 
 at the table. 
 
 Our dear son died on February 14th, 1849, aged 
 four years, ten months, and twenty-six days. I 
 altered a poem that was composed by a friend on 
 the death of our -daughter Margaret Elizabeth. 
 
 TO MY SON JOHN BALDWIN. 
 
 'In bliss' young hour he faded like 
 
 All cherished things below. 
 As buds may wither on the stem 
 
 Ere yet the roses blow, 
 Ah! many loved thee, many gazed 
 
 Upon thy cherub brow; 
 Earthly hopes centered in thee, 
 
 But alas! they are blasted now. 
 
Central New York 77 
 
 Brief was thy stay on earth, dear boy; 
 
 Here thou mightst not long remain, 
 Thine was an exotic growth, 
 
 Thy mission done, and heaven gained, 
 Thou didst pass death's dark vale, 
 
 Cherub angels led the way, 
 And conveyed thy young spirit safe 
 
 To the realms of endless day. 
 There thou mayst of God more fully learn. 
 
 There thou hast the long wished for spring attained 
 There with brother and sister gone before. 
 
 Share all the bliss, death to thee hath gained." 
 
 He was buried in the cemetery at Liverpool. 
 The children and youth of that place erected a 
 neat little monument to his memory. Sweet 
 sleeper, rest in the arms of Jesus, until He shall 
 awake thee! 
 
 On the 1st of September, 1850, a daughter was 
 given us to fill the great vacancy made in our 
 family circle. This was our sixth child, which we 
 named after the two grandmothers, Sarah Lucy. 
 
 When I closed my labors at Liverpool, I had no 
 place in view. I made the field for future work a 
 subject for special prayer. Having spent some 
 time in prayer, I went down to the postoffice for 
 my daily mail. 
 
 I was handed a letter in an unknown hand and 
 from an unknown place. I opened it. To my 
 surprise it was a letter from Pitcher, Chenango 
 county, N. Y., inviting me to visit them as a sup- 
 
78 ^ifly y^ii^s on the Skirmish Line 
 
 ply for the church at that place. Not knowing the 
 writer nor the place, I started out to find some one 
 who knew where it was. After quite a search, I 
 found a man who was acquainted there, who gave 
 me a good report of the place and people and 
 advised me by all means to go and visit them. I 
 received that letter as answer to my prayer where 
 to go. I made my arrangements and visited them 
 that week; and spent the following Sabbath with 
 them. I was kindly received. They gave me a 
 fine congregation on the Sabbath. After having 
 two sermons they called a congregational meeting 
 and unanimously voted me a call to become their 
 pastor. I preached at night, left the next morning 
 for Liverpool, and returned in two weeks for a 
 more thorough acquaintance with the people. I 
 found an open door, a people hungry for the word, 
 and willing to do their duty. I could not say nay 
 to them. They offered to send their teams for my 
 goods and a carriage for my family. Furthermore 
 they offered to put on an addition to the parsonage 
 as soon as it could be done. I accepted their call 
 and took a carriage to bring back my family. 
 They sent on three teams to remove my goods 
 forty miles by wagon. Before I could get back a 
 revival of God's work had commenced. I put in 
 the sickle to this field white for the harvest and 
 glorious sheaves were gathered. Thirty-five came 
 
Central New York 79 
 
 into the church at our January communion. Seven 
 entered the ministry as the fruit of the wonderful 
 outpouring of the Holy Spirit in connection with 
 that revival of God's work, which spread up and 
 down the beautiful valley of the Otselic River. 
 
 God led me there in the right time. I never 
 doubted from the day I found that letter in the 
 postoffice after a season of prayer that it was 
 God's ordering to take me away from all my old 
 associates and associations and place me in that 
 field which had been left so long without spiritual 
 culture, yet well sowed with the seed of the king- 
 dom. The reapers had not been there for many 
 years. God sent me to reap and train up from that 
 large circle of youth those who would go forth into 
 His vineyard and do a great work for Him in other 
 fields. 
 
 My work for 185 1 was training those converts 
 we had received from the revival for Christian work. 
 We had anefficientSabbath school with experienced 
 teachers. We began to teach their teachers the 
 importance of Christian work in the Sabbath 
 school. We organized a young people's mission- 
 ary society and associated with it a literary society. 
 These societies met monthly. At their meetings 
 a paper called the "Evening Star" rose monthly on 
 the horizon of Pitcher, and shed its cheering light 
 on that inland town. Out of its contributors came 
 
8o ^if^y y^^^^ on the Skirmish Line 
 
 quite a number of literary characters, in the person 
 of ministers of the gospel, eminent physicians and 
 school teachers. It was marvelous what improve- 
 ment these youth made in Christian character and 
 literary persuits. 
 
 Most of the converts of the revival of 185c stood 
 firm, grew in grace and in the knowledge of God's 
 word. On a more careful survey of this field for 
 Christian effort, I found that it was limited. Three 
 miles up the river was a sister church. Four 
 miles below was another. Between our churches, 
 above and below, there were sandwiched in Meth- 
 odist churches. The only way to gather in new 
 families was to go over the hills and persuade 
 them to come to the beautiful valley of the Otselic. 
 The year 1852 saw but the repetition of the labors 
 of the previous one. When we went over the hills 
 and held meetings in the school houses, it was 
 difficult to induce the people to come steadily to 
 the village for worship. I was invited to assist 
 neighboring ministers and saw blessed fruit. 
 By repeated visits to one town, I effected 
 the organization of a new church. Our work 
 seemed to settle down about to this, care for the 
 flock, feed the sheep, feed the lambs. It gave me 
 a fine range for study. These years were furnishing 
 me for the after years of my ministry when there 
 was neither time nor opportunity for study. 
 
Central New York 8i 
 
 From year to year the ripe fruits of the chuich 
 were plucked by the cold hand of death and gath- 
 ered to the home above. There were some pain- 
 ful instances where death came to those who had 
 grieved the Holy Spirit or had procrastinated the 
 needful preparation until it was too late. It was 
 terrible to hear them mourn at the last and exclaim: 
 "Oh, if I had accepted salvation when the Holy 
 Spirit strove with me under such a sermon; but 
 now I am dying without hope; and the blackness 
 of despair is overshadowing my death bed!" 
 
 Though there may be in country fields a same- 
 ness from year to year, still there will be startling 
 scenes, which will throw a pall over the entire 
 community. One such occurred in Pitcher in 1853. 
 A young man was left with five other children by 
 the sudden death of a drunken father, the mother 
 dying from a broken heart. The children had 
 been cared for by as many families. The eldest 
 son, about eighteen years of age, in a drinking 
 spree at the hotel in town, fell from the piazza, 
 fractured his skull and died in a short time. 
 
 The enemies of temperance took charge of his 
 funeral, selecting a minister they could control to 
 preach the funeral sermon. He had preached an 
 inappropriate sermon and as he closed he turned to 
 me as I sat in the pulpit with him, saying: "Mr. 
 Sherwood, use your liberty." I did so, knowing 
 
82 Fifty Years 07i the Skirmish Li?ie 
 
 that in doing so I should bring upon myself all the 
 opposition that anti-temperance power could com- 
 bine against me. I wanted God on my side, then 
 I did not care who was against me. I alluded to 
 the painful circumstances under which we were 
 assembled. I then asked who was responsible for 
 this appalling scene. Not the man that sold 
 him the whiskey. Not the men who licensed 
 him to sell whiskey. "I charge the guilt upon the 
 legal voters of this township who voted to authorize 
 the Excise Board to grant a license. The blood of 
 this young man cries to God against every voter 
 who authorized that license. Blood has a voice 
 that will enter into the ears of the God of Justice." 
 The town election was just at hand. "Will you at 
 the coming election endorse this horrible deed by 
 authorizing this board or another which may be 
 chosen to license another fnan to repeat the bloody 
 scene?" Then I asked Almighty God to wake up 
 the consciences of that congregation to do as 
 they would wish they had when they should meet 
 the young man whose body was in the coffin before 
 us at the judgment seat of Christ Jesus, and that 
 this event might be sanctified to all present. That 
 prayer was answered. On the day of election, a 
 temperance board was chosen and no more licenses 
 were granted while I remained in Pitcher. I never 
 saw such an excitement as there was in that meet- 
 
Central New York 83 
 
 ing house when the congregation was dismissed. 
 The enemies of temperance were caught in a trap 
 they caused to be set. Their consciences became 
 their own accusers. They reahzed that truth was 
 mighty and had prevailed. One bold stroke at the 
 right time will do tremendous execution. The great 
 secret of success is to dare to do right at the right 
 time. It required the same moral courage to stand 
 where I stood that day that it would to face a 
 charge on the field of battle. God alone can give 
 it. It is that power that our Lord promised should 
 be given those that will witness for Him. 
 
 Towards the close of this year I received an 
 invitation to visit my brother, Dr. Willis M. Sher- 
 wood of Wilmington, North Carolina, which I 
 accepted. I went by way of New York city, Phil- 
 adelphia, Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk and then by 
 R. R. to Wilmington. After spending a week there, 
 1 took a trip into the interior of the state, where I 
 saw slavery in its mildest form as it existed in a 
 farming community. I preached most of a week 
 preparatory for a communion season, spending the 
 Sabbath there. Returning to the city, my brother 
 said, "If you want to attend a slave sale, you will 
 find one at the market to-day." I went and saw 
 an old wagon and horse cried off. Then a colored 
 woman was put up on the same block and she was 
 cried off in the same way. 
 
84 F'ifty Years on the Skirviish Line 
 
 Finishing my visit, I returned by way of the city 
 of Richmond, the tomb of Washington, and the 
 city of Washington, stopping at each place long 
 enough to take in what was of special interest. I 
 then left directly for home, and found all well. I 
 resumed my pastoral work for the remainder of 1853 
 and 1854, with the church and congregation keeping 
 up to their usual standard of numbers and interest. 
 
 At the spring meeting of Cortland Presbytery for 
 1855, I was chosen commissioner to the General 
 Assembly to meet in St. Louis, Mo., at the First 
 Presbyterian church on the third Thursday of 
 May. 
 
 On my way to St. Louis, I spent a Sabbath in 
 Michigan with an old friend, the Rev. Thomas 
 Jones. He gave me a very pressing invitation to 
 settle in Michigan. I said to him: "Get me a 
 field and I will come." I left my friend Jones on 
 Monday for St. Louis. That day I made the ac- 
 quaintance of the Rev L. L Root, who was on his 
 way to General Assembly. As we journeyed we 
 fell in company with divers commissioners. The 
 question of moderator was mooted. I mentioned 
 the name of the Rev. William C. Wisner, D.D., 
 of Lockport and of Niagara Presbytery. The sug- 
 gestion took and at the proper time and place Dr. 
 Wisner was elected moderator. This was my first 
 attendance on the General Assembly. I was given 
 
Central JSTew York 85 
 
 an honorable place on an important committee. 
 This was my first visit to the great West. I fell 
 in love v^ith the West and thirty-seven years of my 
 life's work have been given to that section. After 
 the close of the assembly, I returned to my charge 
 and settled into work. I had not been at home 
 two months when I received a letter from my 
 friend Jones saying he had found for me one of the 
 best country fields in the State of Michigan. 
 This letter opened the question of making a 
 change. 
 
 I was led to these considerations: I had worked 
 up all the accessible material in Pitcher; all that I 
 could do there was to care for the sheep and lambs. 
 There were ministers that could do this work as 
 well as I could, and would be satisfied to do it. 
 I decided to leave it, and go where I could find 
 plenty of accessible material. In September of 
 1855 I visited the field my friend had found for 
 me. It was Edwardsburgh in Cass county, Michi- 
 gan, within three miles of the south line of the 
 state, on the border of a beautiful prairie near a 
 small lake, surrounded by a rich farming country; 
 as pleasantly situated as a country charge need be. 
 
 They had outgrown their first house of worship, 
 and were building a new church house. I preached 
 to them twice on the Sabbath, and made such calls 
 as I could. They called a congregational meeting 
 
86 ^^f^y y^ctrs on the Skirmish Li7ie 
 
 and voted me a call. I took their call. Circum- 
 stances in my family demanding my immediate 
 return to my home, I left the next morning for 
 my family, reached home, and found my daughter 
 with a broken limb, but doing well. 
 
 Soon after my return, I was invited to Whitney's 
 Point, eighteen miles south of Pitcher on the same 
 river. My wife was anxious to have me visit 
 Whitney's Point. I did so. My visit was accepta- 
 ble to them and I was asked to accept a call from 
 them. I returned home and canvassed the two 
 openings before me. Mrs. Sherwood's parents 
 were living at their home in Onondaga county. 
 She wished to remain as near them as she could. 
 I visited Whitney's Point again and concluded to 
 accept their call if they would perform certain 
 things. They were to call a meeting on Monday 
 night and write me by Tuesday morning's mail, 
 the result. On Tuesday no letter came. There 
 was a daily mail between the towns. No mail 
 Wednesday nor Thursday. Friday I prepared a 
 letter to Edwardsburgh, Mich., saying I accepted 
 their call, provided I had no letter. I found no 
 letter, and mailed my letter to Edwardsburgh and 
 went home and commenced packing my goods for 
 removal there. That afternoon the looked-for 
 letter came from the north. I held the mail long 
 enough to say to the people of Whiteney's Point, 
 
Cefitral New York 87 
 
 "Your letter came this afternoon from the north; 
 too late; I go to Michigan.' The next morning a 
 delegation from Whitney's Point came up and asked 
 me to recall the letter sent. I said: "I cannot; 
 the hand of God is in this. I dare not recall it." 
 My wife realized there must have been an unseen 
 hand in keeping back that letter until the mail had 
 borne away my acceptance of the Edwardsburgh 
 call. Thirty-six years' work in Michigan and Mis- 
 souri illustrates what God had for me to do on the 
 skirmish line in the growing West. The next Sab- 
 bath I preached my farewell sermon to the best 
 people I had ever labored with. I had been with 
 them iive years in the prime of life. Many of them 
 I had received into the church; others I had mar- 
 ried and had baptized their children. They made 
 me every offer I could have asked for, yet I felt I 
 had finished my work there and I must leave them. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 WORK IN MICHIGAN. 
 
 We left Pitcher the next day for Edwardsburgh, 
 Michigan, reaching there the first week in Decem- 
 ber, just in time to get snugly settled in their par- 
 sonage before winter set in very cold. 
 
 The winter proved a long and cold one. We 
 worshiped in the old meeting house until about 
 the first of February, 1856, when the new house 
 was ready for dedication. I was assisted in the 
 dedication by the Rev. Alfred Bryant, a former 
 pastor. I preached the sermon from Ps. 46:4. 
 Rev. Bryant made the dedicatory prayer. Two 
 weeks after, the question of special meetings came 
 up. It was decided to begin a series of meetings 
 on the last days of February, which was continued 
 up to the last week in March greatly benefiting the 
 church and giving them over twenty new members. 
 These results gave me a pleasant introduction to 
 the ministry and churches of that region. More 
 than that, it was God's seal that I did my duty in 
 coming to Edwardsburgh. 
 
 As the spring opened, the work to be done 
 
 88 
 
Work in Michigan 89 
 
 opened also. They had been without a pastor so 
 long, a large amount of pastoral work had accumu- 
 lated. I now found plenty of accessible material 
 to be worked up. Edwardsburgh at that time was 
 the moral and religious centre of a large scope of 
 country settled and occupied by first-class farmers. 
 There was sharp competition in the various de- 
 nominations. They were well manned and well 
 equipped. I soon learned that Western people 
 were up and stirring, and they expected their min- 
 ister to be likewise. As I became acquainted with 
 the people, I liked their make up. 1 found one 
 family from Orleans county, N. Y. , Mr. Lewis 
 Gates. His children were of an interesting age. 
 Three of them made a profession of religion in the 
 revival of religion. I now had all the range I 
 wanted. I even found there was danger of a 
 minister spreading himself until he made himself 
 so thin that his efforts made no permanent impres- 
 sion anywhere. I gave myself to rewriting my 
 doctrinal sermons and instructing the converts, and 
 indoctrinating my hearers. The church experienced 
 a great loss in the death of Mr. William H. Bacon, 
 a man who always met every demand of the church 
 and suffering humanity. This fall we lost Miss 
 Margaret Foster in the wreck of a steamboat on 
 Lake Superior. 
 
 Towards the close of 1856, I was invited to the 
 
go J^^fly y^a^s on the Skirmish Line 
 
 city of Elkhart, Indiana, nine miles from Edwards- 
 burgh, to conduct a series of gospel meetings. 
 Elkhart was a business town on the Michigan 
 Southern R. R. and on the St. Joseph River in the 
 northern part of Indiana. It was at that time the 
 hot-bed of error. When they went to church, it 
 was to hear some new things. I made up my mind 
 to try the power of Christ crucified. I began 
 preaching that man was lost, dwelt upon his ruined 
 condition until conviction took hold of my hearers. 
 I then presented a crucified Savior as their only 
 hope. Some prominent families believed, received 
 and confessed Him. This produced a great flutter 
 in Elkhart. They sent and brought some of their 
 spiritualistic teachers; but the people came to hear 
 of Christ crucified. They sent to Boston, Mass., and 
 imported celebrated musicians hoping they would 
 draw the crowd away from our meetings. God 
 was giving the hearing ear, the understanding heart 
 and the obedient will. That series of meetings 
 was a new era to Elkhart. From that time Christ 
 crucified has had a high place in the confidence of 
 those who hold the truth in the love of it. There 
 is nothing that is the power of God unto salvation 
 but the gospel. I have made proof of it on the 
 most brazen faced infidelity, the most subtle forms 
 of error, the most polite worldlings; as well as the 
 grossest forms of wickedness. To the praise of 
 
Work in Michigan 91 
 
 God I here record that the gospel is the embodied, 
 concentrated power of the Godhead, the mightiest 
 weapon ever wielded for the subduing of the oppo- 
 sition of the carnal mind and bringing men into 
 allegiance to God. My wife and our youngest 
 daughter made a visit to her parents in Cicero, 
 N. Y. After six weeks I sent for her. This visit 
 made my wife a Western woman ever after. Our 
 congregations kept up to about the same standard. 
 If one dropped out, some one came in and filled 
 the vacancy. 
 
 In the autumn of 1857, I was invited to Misha- 
 waka to assist in a series of meetings. It was a 
 season of special interest to the members of the 
 church. Quite a number were led to Christ and 
 confessed Him and were received to the church, I 
 enjoyed my work there, and it led to a permanent 
 friendship with the pastor, the oldest minister in 
 Northern Indiana. 
 
 While I was at Mishawaka the Methodist and 
 Baptist began a union meeting at Edwardsburgh. 
 On returning to my field I found work to do in our 
 church. The church thought best to go in for 
 union meeting. Our own children were awakened 
 and wrought upon by the Holy Spirit. My son after- 
 wards told me that it was in those union meetings 
 he was taught his lost and ruined condition. Also 
 my eldest daughter had those revelations of sin 
 
92 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 and salvation which led her into the light of the 
 gospel. There were youth and some adults bene- 
 fited by this series of union meetings. Yet there 
 were young men who did not yield to the claims of 
 the gospel. I began to realize I was not holding 
 the young men in my congregation as I did in the 
 churches I served in New York. I began to search 
 for the reason. It appeared upon my finding in 
 our church young people who gave no evidence 
 of a new birth. One young lady came to me and 
 confessed that she did not have a saving knowledge 
 of Christ. She sought and truly found a Savior 
 and walked in the peace and love of the gospel. 
 When in that fearful storm on Lake Superior she 
 said to her brother: "Andrew, save yourself if you 
 can. If I go down into the deep it is well with 
 me." They were both thrown into the lake, the 
 sister sank, the brother was washed into a cove 
 and rescued. I was exceedingly tried with the 
 inpenitent young men in our church. I felt they 
 were a reproach to religion, and counteracting the 
 work I tried to do for the souls of others. Yet I 
 saw no way to correct the evil, or to remove it. 
 I came to the conclusion I would endure the best 
 I could this state of things until my fourth year 
 expired. I would then ask Presbytery to dissolve 
 my relation to the church and seek another field. 
 Things moved along pleasantly during the fall and 
 
Work in Michigan 93 
 
 winter of 1858 and '59. During the spring I 
 visited Buchanan, some fifteen miles from Edwards- 
 burgh. I found there a growing village on the 
 Michigan R. R. running from Chicago to Detroit, 
 with a scattered Presbyterian church that had been 
 left for years; with a small meeting house occupied 
 by the Methodists, until they seemed to think that 
 possession was nine points in law. I came to the 
 conclusion that there was not only a church to be 
 saved there, but there was an important point to 
 be occupied, for it was the only church in the west- 
 ern half of Berrien county with a population of 
 thousands. When Presbytery met in the fall I 
 asked them to dissolve the pastoral relation, the 
 church uniting with me in this request. The rela- 
 tion was dissolved. Pecuniarily it was an unwise 
 move, and the most unhappy one I ever made. I 
 removed to Buchanan in the fall of 1859. The 
 Great Head of the church had a work for me to 
 do there, to wit, to reestablish that church and 
 save the property. 
 
 We got possession of the church, and commenced 
 services therein. Soon a Sabbath School was 
 gathered. With the scattered families of the 
 church and other families raised in Presbyterian 
 faith we had a respectable congregation. Back- 
 sliders were reclaimed and sinners were converted. 
 The work of the church was very promising during 
 
94 ^ifly y^(^rs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 the winter of 1859 and '60. My Bible class grew 
 until I was compelled to give the afternoon of the 
 Sabbath to Bible study, at the request of a large 
 circle of friends on the following conditions: 
 
 1st. They should in all discussions treat each 
 other as gentlemen and ladies. 2nd. We would 
 confine ourselves strictly to the subject matter of 
 the lesson. 3rd. I reserved the right of closing 
 the discussion of any and all subjects growing out 
 of the lesson. 
 
 We began with the Acts of the Apostles. I have 
 reason to know this Bible class did great good in 
 sapping and mining the errors that were existing 
 in the minds of the class. A leading physician 
 made this statement before the class: "When I 
 began with you, one year ago, I did not believe 
 the divinity of our Savior. I do now. I come 
 now to the Bible to be taught. I accept its teach- 
 ings and submit to its authority." A new influence 
 was now inaugurated in Berrien county, and the 
 result was a growing influence in the village and 
 county for evangelical religion. It was an exciting 
 period in our national history. We passed through 
 the summer without any unpleasantness until the 
 firing upon Fort Sumter. Families then began 
 to take sides. Soon came the attack of the U. S. 
 troops in Baltimore. The time for neutrality had 
 passed. I could hold back no longer. While the 
 
Work in Michigan 95 
 
 blood of a revolutionary soldier flowed in my veins, 
 I did not propose to stand idly by and see the flag 
 of our nation insulted, our soldiers shot down, and 
 not speak out as a man, and citizen, though min- 
 ister of the gospel. This speaking out made my 
 situation unpleasant. 
 
 At the meeting of our Presbytery of Kalamazoo, 
 I was chosen commissioner to the General Assem- 
 bly that met in Syracuse, N. Y. My wife accom- 
 panied me on her last visit to her parents near 
 Syracuse. The Assembly met on the day the U. 
 S. troops marched over the long bridge into 
 Virginia. That night Col. Ellsworth was assassi- 
 nated. When the Assembly met the next morning 
 solemnity pervaded the entire body. Our country 
 was the subject of the morning prayer meeting. 
 After this came a committee on the state of the 
 country, with Albert Barnes as chairman. The 
 report of the committee was able, with the true 
 ring in it. 
 
 This was my second attendance on our General 
 Assembly. It was pleasant to meet so many whom 
 I had known and loved. When we parted, it was 
 to meet in the General Assembly of the redeemed. 
 Most of that assembly have joined the great assem- 
 bly whose names are written in heaven. We re- 
 mained a few days after the close of our assembly. 
 It was Mrs. Sherwood's last earthly visit with her 
 
96 Fif^y y^<^f'^ on the Skirmish Line 
 
 father and mother. They have all years ago met 
 to part no more. We stopped a few days with 
 my parents at the old homestead in Shelby, N. Y. 
 My father was then seventy-nine. It was my 
 last visit with him. He died the next March on 
 his eightieth birthday. I returned to Buchanan on 
 the last of June and remained with them to the 
 close of my second year when ended my engage- 
 ment at Buchanan. The war became the all- 
 engrossing subject. Little was done in churches. 
 I was without any ministerial charge for some 
 months. In October I was invited to the charge 
 of the Presbyterian church, Cassopolis, Mich., the 
 county seat of Cass county. I rented my home in 
 Buchanan and removed to the parsonage of Cass- 
 opolis. Here I found a loyal people and warm 
 hearted church, who gave us a Christian welcome. 
 The leading elder and his wife I had known since 
 1828. We found this church a pleasant and invit- 
 ing field for three years. During this time the 
 Presbyterian church of Cassopolis attained a 
 higher position than it ever held before. God 
 crowned our efforts with His blessing. I closed my 
 labors at this place October, 1865, but left my 
 family here until I could go to North Western 
 Missouri and determine whether I would enter that 
 field. In order to consolidate all the work I did 
 in Michigan, I here record a year's work done in 
 
Work in Michigan 
 
 ii' 
 
 97 
 
 1876. During the month of March, 1876, after an 
 absence of ten and a half years in Missouri, I re- 
 ceived a letter from Mr. D. O. Roberts of Kalama- 
 zoo, Michigan, asking me to visit Kalamazoo and 
 spend one year in North Kalamazoo in mission 
 work. Being under the necessity of passing 
 through there about the last of March, I replied to 
 him, that I would stop and learn what they wanted 
 done. On reaching Kalamazoo, on my journey 
 east, I called to see Mr. Roberts and learn what he 
 wanted and what material there was. I accepted 
 their proposition, went east, attended to the busi- 
 ness to be done, returned and entered upon my 
 work in Kalamazoo the second Sabbath of April, 
 1876, with a sermon to the children of the mission 
 Sabbath School at their chapel, built by the Sabbath 
 school of the First Presbyterian church. At night 
 I preached to those who had invited me to come 
 there, and gather the elements out of which a 
 Presbyterian church might be organized in North 
 Kalamazoo. I there gave notice that I would be 
 happy to meet all that would take hold of this en- 
 terprise. A few choice spirits of that locality came 
 to the meeting. We adopted the following pro- 
 gramme: Monday evening, prayer meeting for the 
 willing workers; Wednesday evening, general prayer 
 meeting; Sabbath morning, preaching at 10:30 
 A. M., Sabbath School at 2 P. M. and preaching 
 
g8 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 at 7:30 P. M. I was left to adopt such plans as 
 my experience would suggest in ascertaining about 
 the material to be employed in the organization. 
 
 North Kalamazoo was that portion of Kalama- 
 zoo cut off by the Central Michigan R. R., running 
 through the city. There were at least 3000 inhab- 
 itants in this district. The only means of grace 
 there was the Wood's Mission Sabbath School. 
 Consequently the saloons, houses of ill fame, and 
 wickedness generally, had congregated there. The 
 police justice's docket showed the fruits of being 
 thus left. 
 
 My first work was a moral survey of this field by 
 house to house visitation, taking the name of the 
 family, their religious preference, or church rela- 
 tions, whether Protestant, or Catholic, Jew or 
 Gentile, white or black. I then knew what mate- 
 rial that part of the town furnished. I found whole 
 streets on which there was not a Christian family. 
 Yet I was welcomed in every house I entered. , I 
 told my errand. I invited them to come to church 
 Sabbath morning, and their children to Sabbath 
 school. There were Catholic families that said 
 they only wished their priests would come and talk 
 with them as I did. Having learned the field, the 
 next thing was to cultivate if for Christ. We had 
 the promise in Ps. 126: 6: "He that goeth forth 
 and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless 
 
Work in Michigan gg 
 
 come again, with rejoicing; bringing his sheaves 
 with him." We ventured out on this promise of 
 God. Commenced holding cottage meetings on 
 Tuesday nights, and Friday nights. Our Monday 
 night prayer meetings assured us that there was 
 a working band in training for the cottage meetings. 
 Our plan was a simple one. Finding a family that 
 would welcome such a meeting at their home, we 
 announced the place and time of meeting a week 
 beforehand. The afternoon before the meeting 
 we visited through the neighborhood from house 
 to house, and invited all out to the meeting. The 
 praying band were on time. We commenced the 
 meeting with some familiar song followed by two 
 or more prayers, then read an appropriate passage 
 of scripture followed the reading with remarks on 
 some truth in the lesson read. The meeting was 
 then thrown open for song, remarks, or prayers. 
 The praying band was ready to fill up the time for 
 fifteen or twenty minutes. Then I would make 
 some practical remarks, and ask if there were any 
 present who desired to be remembered in the clos- 
 ing prayer. Almost every meeting developed one 
 or more, who would arise, asking prayer for them- 
 selves. Before closing, the question was put if 
 there were any present, who would like a similar 
 meeting at their homes. Generally someone was 
 ready with an invitation. The appointment wag 
 
loo Fifty Years on the Skir?ntsh Line 
 
 made for next Tuesday night. On Wednesday 
 was our general prayermeeting. All were invited 
 to attend and the children were invited to the 
 Sunday School. The adults were invited to the 
 Sabbath service. On Friday night we went to 
 another part of our field with a like meeting. In 
 this way we were sowing gospel seed and watering 
 it with prayer and song. It was not long before 
 sheaves began to come in at the Wednesday night 
 meeting in the testimony of new born souls, telling 
 to sinners all around what a precious Savior they 
 had found. It was marvelous what such a course 
 of Christian effort accomplished in the twelve 
 months that I remained in North Kalamazoo. We 
 not only gathered a full chapel on the Sabbath but 
 it was often full on Wednesday night to hear the 
 testimonies of the young converts. For nearly 
 six months there was not a Wednesday night passed 
 but brought some new testimony of what Christ 
 had done for some one that week. There were a 
 large number, about eighty, who professed hope in 
 Christ and signed the pledge to become members 
 of the church when the organization should take 
 place. Saloons were dried up, houses of prostitu- 
 tion became houses of prayer. There was one 
 notorious place where were a saloon and a dance 
 house, with the upper story devoted to rooms ot 
 prostitution, all run by one man. Being in that 
 
Work in Michigan loi 
 
 neighborhood one day, I heard that the keeper had 
 been stricken down with palsy. I went to see 
 him. I found him on a bed in the dance hall, re- 
 peating this short prayer, "God have mercy on my 
 poor soul.'' I knelt beside his bed, and prayed for 
 him. While at prayer a female entered the room. 
 As I arose from prayer, I saw her weeping. As I 
 approached her, she said: "Mr. Sherwood, I know 
 that I ought to be a better woman than I am. I 
 had a praying mother. When I came into this 
 room and heard the voice of prayer it brought back 
 those early impression of my life." The day before 
 the stricken man died, he said to his brother: 
 "Take down that saloon sign, I do not want to die 
 in this house with that sign on it." In less than 
 two weeks from that time they carried the poor 
 man out of the dance hall, and buried him. We 
 held a prayer meeting there, and in less than three 
 weeks they opened a Sabbath School in that hall! 
 The union evangelist meetings conducted by 
 Major Whittle and P. P. Bliss in the fall of 1876 
 were a great help in our work. It was near the 
 close of Mr. Bliss' labors. He had reached the 
 Beulahland; there was glory in his soul. He left 
 to all precious evidence he was fitted for the em- 
 ployment and enjoyments of that heavenly resi- 
 dence to which he was so soon to be transported. 
 Their labors were crowned with precious and last- 
 ing results. 
 
I02 F'iffy y^ccrs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 They left Kalamazoo on the last day of Novem- 
 oer, 1876. On the last day of December of the 
 same year, P. P. Bliss and his lovely wife perished 
 in that awful wreck at Ashtabula, Ohio. Not a 
 memorial was left of either of them but what they 
 had done while living. Illustrating the sentiment of 
 Bliss' own hymn, "Only remembered by what I 
 have done." 
 
 We continued our systematic work, holding our 
 cottage meetings in different parts of North Kala- 
 mazoo. The congregation seemed gathered and 
 to my mind the time had come for the organization 
 of the church. Our helpers were from the Baptist, 
 Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian 
 churches. While fully in sympathy with the work 
 accomplished, they had not yet assimilated their 
 belief so that they could covenant together in 
 church fellowship. 
 
 While waiting, they lost several who would have 
 gone into the organization if it had taken place be- 
 fore I left. It was a glorious year's work, and the 
 results were permanent, as I can testify from the 
 two Sabbaths I spent with them in September of 
 1883, which enabled me to see how the work of 
 1876 appeared six years after. 
 
 I will let one of the trustees of the First Presby- 
 terian church give his opinion: "Mr. Sherwood, 
 you did in that year's work what would take ten 
 
Work i?i Michigan 103 
 
 years in the usual routine of pastoral work to have 
 accomplished." 
 
 I closed my year's work on the second Sabbath 
 of April, 1877. The fruits were a full chapel con- 
 gregation gathered with eighty-two person's names, 
 to a solemn covenant henceforth to live Christian 
 lives. 
 
 We now resume our narrative of removal from 
 Michigan to Missouri in the spring of 1866, 
 
 At the close of my engagement at Cassopolis, 
 I received a letter from my brother, Dr. Willis M. 
 Sherwood, who had removed to St. Joseph, Mis- 
 souri, calling my attention to North Western 
 Missouri as a field of ministerial labor, asking me 
 to visit him and look over that destitute region. 
 
 I made provision for my family to remain in the 
 parsonage at Cassopolis and left on the first week 
 in November, 1865, for St, Joseph. I had a quick 
 and safe passage and spent my first Sabbath at 
 Savannah, Andrew county. This town had been 
 a Presbyterian center, since the settlement of the 
 Rev. Elijah Carson there in 1840, on the opening 
 of the Platte Purchase. He had done good pioneer 
 work in organizing the first Presbyterian church in 
 the bounds of said purchase about ten miles north- 
 west of Savannah, and about three miles this side 
 of Fillmore. He also organized the New School 
 church at Savannah, and built them a meeting 
 
I04 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Li?ie 
 
 house. He organized the Presbyterian church at 
 Weston, Platte county. Returning from Savan- 
 nah I met Rev. B. B. Parsons, D.D., who was 
 pastor of the newly organized Westminister church 
 of St. Joseph, who informed me that a minister 
 was wanted at Weston, the old field of the Rev. 
 Frederick Starr, from Rochester, N. Y. I visited 
 Weston and found there the Rev. George W. 
 Goodale at the head of an academy. He was also 
 supplying the Presbyterian church that had been 
 resuscitated by Dr. Norton of Alton, 111., and 
 himself, and put into working order. I was in- 
 vited to remain and spend the following Sabbath 
 with them. I did so, and preached twice. I was 
 asked to take charge of the church. They were in 
 possession of a brick church house and a nice brick 
 cottage as a prsonage. I took board with Brother 
 Goodale, and entered upon a supply of the pulpit 
 and looking after the scattered sheep of that once 
 interesting fold. I worked on until the first of 
 May, when I returned to Michigan for my family. 
 My eldest daughter had decided to remain in Mich- 
 igan as the wife of Dr. Thomas W. Anderson, who 
 had prepared a home for her at Marshall, Mich. 
 My son, Charles, came on from Albion, N. Y. , 
 where he had been for two years fitting himself for 
 a druggist, that we might once more as a family 
 be together. While it gave us great pleasure to 
 
Work i'n Michigan 105 
 
 meet once more, yet the fact that we were soon to 
 separate and all ^o their several ways, cast over 
 us a cloud of gloom. At last, the arrangement 
 being (Completed, a few friends came in to witness 
 the marriage of our daughter to Dr. Thomas W. 
 Anderson. After the ceremony the good-byes were 
 said, and they immediately left for Marshall, Mich. 
 My son left with them for Albion, N. Y. My wife 
 and daughter Sarah, left with me for Weston, Mis- 
 souri, where the parsonage had been put in order 
 and was waiting for us. On arrival at St. Joseph, 
 Mo., we spent a few days with Brother "Willis and 
 family and then entered upon the work opened to 
 us in Missouri. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WORK IN MISSOURI. 
 
 I am now fifty-six years old. I had been thirty 
 years an ordained minister and twenty-nine years 
 in active work. I was thus bordering upon that 
 age when many ministers are looking for a field 
 where they may be quiet. I had entered one where 
 the desolation of two wars were felt and seen. The 
 border war began the desolation of the Weston 
 church, and the war of the rebellion nearly finished 
 it. We found the parsonage a nice home, and 
 what was left of the church kind and considerate; 
 we enjoyed the time we spent there. I gave a good 
 deal of my energies to the Sabbath School and at 
 our Christmas festival, there was a good impression 
 made upon the citizens of Weston. Our congre- 
 gations increased and there was spiritual interest 
 developed in the congregations. Had we been left 
 to prosecute the work of restoring the desolation of 
 the Weston church, we should have had growth 
 in Sabbath School and the church. We had not 
 been long there before orders came from head- 
 quarters to go to Breckenridge, Caldwell county, 
 
 106 
 
Work in Alissouri 107 
 
 and gather the professed members of a Presbyte- 
 rian church, and organize them, and put them in 
 working order by ordaining elders and choosing 
 deacons. I asked the church of Weston what I 
 should do. They said, go. 1 went and did the 
 work so satisfactorily that it laid the foundation 
 for my appointment ere long as Presbyterial mis- 
 sionary of the Lexington Presbytery. I continued 
 at Weston, till the next year. At the spring meet- 
 ing of Lexington Presbytery I was chosen commis- 
 sioner to the General Assembly to meet in 
 Rochester, N. Y., on the third Thursday of May 
 that year. My brother Willis was lay commis- 
 sioner. 
 
 We left in season to reach Rochester for the 
 opening services. This was my third attendance 
 on the assembly. In the make up of the commit- 
 tees, I was given a place on the judicial committee 
 which brought me in contact with some of the best 
 minds in the assembly. This meeting was a good 
 school as a preparation for the work that was 
 opening out to me. On my return from the assem- 
 bly I found the way was opening for me to enter 
 upon the work of a Presbyterial missionary within 
 the bounds of the old Lexington Presbytery. I 
 received my appointment from New York city, and 
 entered upon work. Accordingly, I removed my 
 family to St. Joseph where my son had bought and 
 
io8 ^ifly Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 opened a drug store. Thus we were brought once 
 more together. My son joined the family, after a 
 separation of four years. In entering upon the 
 work of a Presbyterial missionary, I found a field 
 that covered twenty-five counties, including the 
 cities of St. Joseph and Kansas City. There was 
 at that time the New School church of Savannah, 
 with Rev. T. Reevis as a supply; Rev. B. B. 
 Parsons, D. D, , pastor of Westminister Church St. 
 Joseph; the church of Weston supplied by Rev. 
 George W. Goodale; the second church of Kansas 
 city, Rev. Timothy Hill pastor; the church which 
 I had organized at Breckenridge, supplied by the 
 Rev. Joel Kennedy; and the church of Mt. Zion at 
 Gentryville vacant. There were Rev. Elijah A. 
 Carson and the Rev. Mr, Morgan without charge. 
 The Rev. Seth G. Clark about this time had organ- 
 ized a small church at Holden, and was supplying 
 it. This was all the working force of the Lexing- 
 ton Presbytery in twenty-six counties in North 
 Western Missouri. There were three kinds of 
 work expected of the Presbyterial Missionary: 
 
 ist. Caring for the destitute churches; 2nd. 
 Gathering up the churches scattered by the war; 
 3d. Organizing new churches where there was 
 material for them, and assisting in procuring funds 
 to build churches. I had already helped the people 
 of Breckenridge to funds that enabled them to erect 
 a small church. 
 
Work i?i Missouri 109 
 
 In December, 1867, Maryville, the county seat 
 of Nodaway county, opened an inviting field for 
 the organization of a Presbyterian church. I visited 
 there early in December. The Methodist church 
 was tendered us for holding some meetings. I 
 accepted their offer and began a series of meetings 
 in their house. The word took effect. Backsliders 
 returned to duty in penitence. I circulated a paper 
 for such to sign as were ready to enter into the 
 organization of a Presbyterian church. Sixteen 
 persons on the 13th of December, 1867, presented 
 themselves for the purpose. Their letters were 
 found in order. One young lady came on confes- 
 sion of her faith. They entered into covenant with 
 God and each other. They chose Daniel Giger, 
 John Edwards, Esq., and John Blair as their elders. 
 They were ordained and installed to that office. 
 They were then declared the Union Presbyterian 
 Church of Maryville, Missouri. The reason why 
 the word 'Union' was prefixed to Maryville, was 
 that there were no less than five different kinds of 
 Presbyterians that entered into the make up of the 
 church. In November 1867, I visited Easton, 
 twelve miles east of St. Joseph, on the Hannibal 
 and St. Joseph R. R. On a careful canvass I 
 found much that was hopeful. On a second visit I 
 drew up the following paper: "We, the under- 
 signed, believing the doctrine and receiving the 
 
no Fifty Years ofi the Skirmish Line 
 
 polity of the Presbyterian Church, do by these 
 presents associate ourselves together for the pur- 
 pose of organizing a church and congregation in 
 Easton, Mo." Twenty-two signed this paper. I 
 then rented a hall for religious meeting, gave notice 
 of preaching next Sabbath, and preached a sermon 
 in the hall at the time appointed. After sermon 
 twenty-two persons came forward for membership. 
 Those having letters presented them. The others 
 were examined and found worthy. They covenant- 
 ed with Almighty God and each other. They chose 
 officers who were ordained and installed. The first 
 Sabbath in January was fixed upon for the first 
 communion season at Easton. I went down on 
 Saturday to hold^our preparatory meeting. Four 
 new members came forward to unite with the 
 church on the morrow. It was the earnest of 
 God's blessing on the Sabbath. The presence of 
 the Great Head of the church was manifest at the 
 first communion season. So much so, that we 
 thought best to protract the servicesfor nearly four 
 weeks. There were some very marked displays of 
 God's saving power. For example: On closing 
 my sermon one night, a gentleman arose and asked 
 the privilege of speaking. I said, "You can; if 
 you will speak for Christ. Speak on." Said he, 
 "When I first came to this meeting, I had on my 
 person a pistol I had worn for two years. I never 
 
Work in Missouri iii 
 
 left home without seeing that it was in order, well 
 capped and ready for any emergency. Under a 
 sermon which you preached, I saw myself as I 
 never had before. I realized I had a heart that 
 was desperately wicked and I had enough to attend 
 to to get my heart right. The first question that 
 presented itself was: Will you leave your pistol at 
 home? Here was a point that tried me; for I had 
 determined to shoot a certain man on the first 
 provocation. It took me a whole day to bring my 
 heart to say yes. I said it. Then another ques- 
 tion arose: Will you forgive the man you deter- 
 mined to kill? It took me two days to settle that 
 question. I forgave him, and God forgave me." 
 Turning to the father of the man he wanted to 
 kill, he went on: "And I forgive you," and 
 reached his hand towards the old father. The old 
 gentleman extended his hand. They clasped and 
 shook hands, and drew together, until they could 
 lay heads on each others shoulders; there they 
 wept like children. The hall was packed. Others 
 looked on until they caught the weeping spirit. 
 From that night the pistols were out of that con- 
 gregation. Many a deadly feud from that night 
 was settled in Easton. There was another no less 
 marked case. A leading young lady of Easton at 
 the close of my sermpn arose to go forward to the 
 seat that penitents were to occupy. As she at- 
 
112 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 tempted to step, she fell her whole length forward. 
 She was caught by a lady friend and supported in 
 a reclining posture. Prayer was offered for her 
 and the large number who came forward. When 
 she fell it seemed as though half of the congregation 
 were on their feet in a moment. I waved my hand 
 for them to be seated. When I quieted them, I 
 used the event as best I could. 
 
 The young lady could not rise to her feet for 
 some time after the services closed. She was 
 removed to a friend's home, near by. She was 
 present the next night. When the invitation was 
 given for those who wished to be subjects of prayer 
 she started to go forward, and fell again. After 
 the prayer, she arose to her feet and said God had 
 heard prayer in her behalf. Her load of guilt was 
 gone, her strength had come back, joy filled her 
 heart. Her testimony had a marked effect upon 
 those who were there both nights. She went home 
 that night rejoicing that she had been born again. 
 During the four weeks of our meeting, seventy-six 
 came forward to the church making with those 
 who united on the first Sabbath eighty new mem- 
 bers, giving us a church of 103 members; the 
 society was incorporated according to the laws of 
 the state, and trustees chosen. A lot for a meeting 
 house was secured. A subscription was started 
 headed by one man with $300.00, and in less than 
 
Work in Missouri u^ 
 
 one year, we had a church house, 60x40 feet, 
 finished and dedicated. At the spring meeting 
 we reported the largest church in Lexington Pres- 
 bytery. It was made up of a strange medley from 
 different sections of our own country, New Yorkers, 
 Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, Kentuckians, and native 
 Missourians, trained in different churches. One 
 quarter of them were from the Reformed Presby- 
 terian Church; quite a number were Lutherans, 
 only a fraction of them were trained up in the 
 Presbyterian faith. Some were from the Cumber- 
 lands. If I could have given myself wholly to 
 them I believe I could have brought about an 
 assimilation that would have made them a strong 
 church. We had not ministers to meet the exigen- 
 cies of the occasion. I did the best I could for 
 them. What they needed was a resident pastor. 
 We introduced a minister there; but he cared more 
 for the fleece than he did for the fiock. He did 
 not hold those we had committed to him. Under 
 him they began to scatter; some removed to other 
 places, some drew off to other churches, organ- 
 ized near them. Mr. Hugh Carmichel one of the 
 converts who was made elder, has remained at his 
 post, has kept a fast hold of the Sabbath School, 
 is an honor to the church and a blessing to those 
 around him. 
 
 In June, 1869, I organized a church of six 
 
114 ^ifiy y^ci^s o?i the Skirmish Li?ie 
 
 members at Osborn, Dekalb county, on the R. 
 R. line. The Rev, C. W. Higgins had made a 
 home for his growing family at this point, had 
 gathered an efficient Sabbath School, had built a 
 small meeting house, and had drawn around him 
 those that feared God and worked righteousness. 
 The church grew, and out of it came three efficient 
 Presbyterian ministers. The youth trained in this 
 Sabbath School are doing a good work for Christ 
 wherever God in His Providence has cast their lot. 
 This church like others, who were made up from 
 emigrant population, has suffered by removals and 
 death. 
 
 During the year 1869, Rev. Joel Kennedy, pastor 
 of Breckenridge church, in his labors in the region 
 beyond his own field found in New York Settlement 
 eight miles west of Breckenridge a people who de- 
 sired gospel privileges. He visited them, held 
 meetings with them from time to time. They 
 asked that a church might be organized there. I 
 visited them late in this autumn, holding meetings 
 evenings, and visiting from house to house by 
 day. An interest was awakened, and a goodly 
 number, more women than men, gave their names 
 as candidates for church membership. They were 
 the best citizens of the Settlement, Some of the 
 men whose wives had given their names pledged 
 to support the enterprise if we would organize. I 
 
Work in Missouri 115 
 
 did organize the Presbyterian church of New York 
 Settlement. They chose their elder who was 
 ordained and set over them. A deacon was set 
 apart to his duties. They passed to the care of 
 Brother Kennedy. They have grown, built a meet- 
 ing house and are exerting a happy Christian influ- 
 ence on that prosperous Settlement. Would that 
 we had such a church in scores of towns in the 
 bounds of Platte Presbytery! 
 
 I was soon called to Wheeling on the same R. 
 R., at the eastern limit of Platte Presbytery, to 
 organize a Presbyterian church. I went down in 
 November and complied with their wishes, ordaining 
 and in'^talling an elder and a deacon over them. 
 They were grouped with Chillicothe. They have 
 never been cared for as they ought to have been. 
 
 Three miles from Market Square in St. Joseph, 
 on the Upper Amazonia road is a good country 
 school house where my brother Willis had conduc- 
 ted a Sabbath School composed of children of the 
 families within a circumference of two miles The 
 people within this radius were mostly non-church- 
 goers, and took but little interest in religious 
 matters. The Sabbath School was a mission 
 school of the Westminister church of St. Joseph. 
 Mr. Logan Maxwell and others had invited me to 
 hold a series of meetings at that school house. 
 Friday, November 5th, was the time agreed 
 
Ii6 Fifty Years on the Skir7nish Line 
 
 upon to commence our meetings. I went to the 
 school house m season to give notice in the school 
 of our meetmgs. A good congregation gathered at 
 the first meeting. There were evident tokens at 
 this meeting that the Holy Spirit had gone before, 
 preparing the way for a precious ingathering of 
 souls into the fold of the Great Shepherd. There 
 being no school on Saturday we held meetings Sat- 
 urday afternoon and night, with two services on 
 the Sabbath. At the Sabbath morning meeting I 
 asked for the first expression of feeling. A number 
 arose. The meeting at night indicated increased 
 interest. Monday was devoted to calling on those 
 who had publicly expressed interest. My sermon 
 Monday night was on repentance. All through the 
 house there was weeping. From this time the re- 
 vival interest went steadily forward. New cases 
 of interest developed at every meeting. The days 
 except Saturday and Sabbath were devoted to 
 calling on all classes. Our preaching service at 
 night was preceded by a thirty minute prayer 
 meeting for God's special blessing on that night's 
 service. Thus we worked on for three weeks. 
 Thirty-eight gave their names as candidates for 
 membership in a new church to be organized at 
 the school house. Five persons presented letters 
 of dismission, making forty-three. Thirty-one of 
 the converts received baptism. The converts then 
 
Work in Missouri 117 
 
 gave their assent to the fundamental doctrines of 
 the Presbyterian church. Then the forty-three 
 entered into covenant with God and each other, 
 this act constituting them a church of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, They took the name of Oak Grove 
 church in connection with Platte Presbytery, the 
 legal successor of the Lexington and Upper Mis- 
 souri Presbyteries by virtue of the union of the 
 Old and New School General Assemblies at Pitts- 
 burgh. They chose Logan Maxwell and Joshua 
 Haxen elders. These brethren having answered 
 the constitutional questions were set apart to the 
 eldership by laying on of hands and prayer. I was 
 requested to supply them every alternate Sabbath. 
 The question of building a meeting house was 
 settled by the donation of a desirable lot from 
 Logan Maxwell and a contribution from the Brick 
 church of Rochester, N. Y. , which enabled them 
 to build the following season. On finishing up my 
 work at Oak Grove, I accepted an invitation from 
 the United Church of Savannah to conduct a 
 series of meetings at their church. Rev. J. Emery 
 Fisher a licentiate being their supply. On reach- 
 ing Savannah, I asked for a meeting of all who 
 desired my services. They assembled as soon 
 as they could. I asked them for what intent had 
 they sent for me. They replied, "We thought 
 the time had come to do something for our fami- 
 
ii8 ^^fly y veil's on the Skirmish Li?te 
 
 lies and church." I asked them how many there 
 were in their congregation who could be reached 
 by an honest effort for their salvation. They 
 named over some twenty-five. I took down their 
 names, and requested the list copied, and that they 
 be made subjects of special prayer. The first 
 meeting was held in the brick church. Brother 
 Carson invited me to make his house my home 
 while in Savannah. We arranged for two services, 
 one at 2 P. M., the other at 7:30 P. M. My first 
 sermon was written. The forty that I preached 
 after that I did not take even a scrap of paper into 
 the pulpit. They were carefully prepared extem- 
 pore sermons. My first call was on the third night 
 after a sermon from Jer. 17:9, "The heart is 
 deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." 
 Mr. John Tynor, a leading merchant led and four- 
 teen followed him to front seats. The waters of 
 life were unsealed, and most of the fifteen drank that 
 night; and were made partakers of eternal life, 
 and entered into Christian service. Our afternoon 
 meetings were precious seasons. There were 
 marked cases of answer to prayer. A wife was 
 brought to Christ by the agonizing prayer of her 
 husband, converted in the early part of the meet- 
 ing. There was a little child came forward alone 
 only nine years old. I asked her why she came 
 forward. She replied with clear tone of voice: 
 
Work in Alissouri 119 
 
 "Mr. Sherwood, ever since you preached that we 
 must have new hearts or we could not see the 
 Kingdom of God, I have wanted a new heart. I 
 have come to ask you to pray that God would give 
 me a new heart." The child's answer produced a 
 sensation that was felt in that full house. God 
 gave her a new heart. I met her eight years after. 
 She was then a young lady of seventeen, in her 
 junior year in the full seminary course of study. 
 Her pastor told me she was the most consecrated 
 young person in his church, a practical missionary 
 among the colored children of Jacksonville, 111. 
 The work of grace widened and deepened, taking 
 hold on business men, professional men, lawyers 
 and judges. We worked four weeks, carrying the 
 revival interest through and over the holiday 
 season up to the first Sabbath of January, 1870, 
 on which day we received fifty-seven to the com- 
 munion of the Union Church. These were the 
 fruits of the thirty days and nights of hard work. 
 The number embraced many heads of families, 
 judges of the county courts, lawyers, merchants, 
 business men, the head of the Union school, with 
 some of the promising youth of Savannah. Twelve 
 years after, I met Rev. J. Emery Fisher on the 
 floor of the General Assembly. In speaking of 
 the meeting at Savannah, he said: "Mr. Sher- 
 wood, I have never seen such a meeting as the one 
 
I20 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Lijie 
 
 you conducted in Savannah. Will you not come 
 and conduct one in my present field?" Sometime 
 after this he wrote me to come to his help, but I 
 could not. 
 
 On closing at Savannah, I was invited by Rev. 
 Edward Cooper, D.D., of Atchison, Kans, to assist 
 him in a series of meetings in his church at Atchi- 
 son. This was the gentleman who had written 
 up the work my lectures to boatmen accomplished 
 in the Syracuse daily of which he was the editor 
 at that time. He thought if I could do such a 
 work among boatmen, I could do something for 
 the good people of Atchison. His church at this 
 time was not the leading church in Atchison. They 
 were worshiping in a square hall on the second 
 floor. Dr. Cooper had some able men and excel- 
 lent families in his church. It did not draw the 
 multitude. The work there was from house to 
 house and hand to hand, very different from the 
 work I had left at Savannah. We visited during 
 the day; I preached at night in the hall. It was a 
 profitable meeting for that church; many of them 
 took their soundings and found themselves where 
 they ought not to be, and returned to duty recon- 
 secrating themselves to the Lord and becoming 
 mediums through which God brought salvation to 
 their prayerless husbands and their baptised 
 children. The waters of life did not rise high 
 
Work in Missouri 121 
 
 enough to impart their saving power to the many 
 that were living without God, and without hope. 
 It was a blessing to the church and the pastor. 
 They have passed out from the shadows of the 
 other denominations. They have now one of the 
 finest church buildings in eastern Kansas. Their 
 number on the roll of Presbytery is primus. When 
 I was called there as a supply during the sickness 
 of their pastor, I found them the drawing congre- 
 gation of Atchison. 
 
 While I was assisting Dr. Cooper, I had a call 
 from Dr. Timothy Hill, who at that time was 
 overseer of Home Missions in the state of Missouri. 
 He came to consult about our church work at 
 Chillicothe. Our missionary had disaffected the 
 elders and trustees and their families. The church 
 was closed, and Dr. Hill feared all was lost But 
 he wished me to go there and see what I could do. 
 My instructions were to go on there as soon as 
 I could, and save the church if possible. The 
 church at Chillicothe was organized by the Upper 
 Missouri Presbytery. During the war it had been 
 badly scattered. On the union of the Presbyteries 
 of Upper Missouri and Lexington, Platte Presby- 
 tery became the legal successor and sent a Home 
 Missionary who was not as wise as Solomon, — who 
 disgusted the elders and trustees of the church, 
 so that they would not go near him. The meeting 
 
122 P^fh' y<^<^^^ ^^^ i^i-^ Skirmish Line 
 
 house was turned into a school house and the mis- 
 sionary was running a school. 
 
 I found there three parties, the elders and trus- 
 tees, five families who were in sympathy with the 
 south, and quite a party that were in sympathy 
 with the missionary. His party had in it some 
 members of the church in good standing and more 
 that had no standing. After looking over the 
 situation and earnest prayer, I came to the con- 
 clusion that if I could bring about the return of the 
 families, who had southern sympathies, their re- 
 union with the official members would save the 
 church, and put us in a position where we could 
 begin work again. My visit to the five families 
 was successful. I appointed a meeting; the union 
 was effected. The members who had been acting 
 with the missionary came in with us. The Holy 
 Spirit was present with power. We held meetings 
 at night, and visited among the people during the 
 day. Sabbath night a young married couple asked 
 for admission to the church on profession of their 
 faith and baptism. We received them and bap- 
 tised them. This was God's seal to the work I 
 had begun among that people. From that night 
 the Holy Spirit rested upon the congregation. The 
 saving grace of God was manifest for three weeks. 
 We fathered in twenty-two members so that not 
 only was the church saved but it was firmly united 
 
Work in Missouri 123 
 
 and greatly strengthened, and took rank as one of 
 our better churches. I visited them every alternate 
 Sabbath until they settled a pastor who remained 
 w^ith them for years. 
 
 I soon met Dr. Hill; he took me by the hand and 
 said: "Brother Sherwood, you did for Chillicothe 
 what I thought no man could do." I told him that 
 it was God working through me who did it. 
 During the time I was supplying them, a lady came 
 to me after sermon and asked me to visit her sick 
 husband before I left town. I found him the boldest 
 infidel I had ever met. He was a lawyer. I read 
 the Bible and prayed with him. As I was about 
 leaving, he said, "Call again. I want to show you 
 how an infidel can die." His wife followed me 
 into the hall and asked me to covenant with her to 
 pray that God would save him. "I can not see 
 him die," she said, "without making an honest 
 effort for his salvation." I covenanted with her. 
 I called four times on him, and saw the effect of 
 the honest effort for his salvation. On my fifth 
 visit, I was met as I stepped from the car, by a 
 messenger requesting me to go directly to the home 
 of the sick man. I complied. I was shown to 
 his room. As I entered, he said: "I sent for you 
 to tell of the great change I have experienced since 
 you called on me. I want publicly to confess 
 Christ before my children and all others. I want 
 
124 Fifty Years o?i the Skir77iish Line 
 
 to be baptised a Christian, and confess Christ at 
 the communion table." I said to him, "I will have 
 the session of the church meet here this afternoon, 
 who will receive you to their church. I will ad- 
 minister to you the sacraments of the church and 
 enroll your name among God's people." This met 
 his wishes. The session came. He told us the 
 great change he had passed through. He was 
 accepted and I baptised him. The Lord's table 
 was spread; he ate and drank in honor of Christ 
 Jesus his Savior. Before two weeks came around 
 he died a Christian and not an infidel. Mrs. 
 Wait made an honest effort. In her wrestling 
 with God, she prayed herelf into the Beulah land; 
 she lived there. Her pastor told me that it was 
 almost marvelous what power she had in prayer. 
 The conversion of the infidel husband and the four 
 children attested the truth of the apostle James, 
 "The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous 
 availeth much." 
 
 In August, 1870, the Rev. Dr. Hill wrote 
 asking me to go to Moberly, Randolph county. 
 Mo., a new town on the St. Louis and Northern 
 Missouri R. R. A church was wanted there; if the 
 way opened, organize it. The way opened. On 
 canvassing three days, I found twenty-nine who 
 signed the following paper: "We, the undersigned, 
 believing the doctrine and receiving the polity of 
 
Work in Missouri 125 
 
 the Presbyterian church, do by these presents 
 associate ourselves together for the purpose of 
 organizing and sustaining a Presbyterian church 
 and congregation at Moberly, Mo." Having en- 
 listed that number I thought we ought to have 
 a drill before we entered into an engagement with 
 those we had to meet. I had learned that Palmyra 
 Presbytery had lost two engagements for the want 
 of a proper drill before they attempted to go into 
 action. The only place that I could find for drill 
 was in a Baptist Church. Securing this, I gave 
 notice of preaching there twice on the Sabbath. 
 On Sabbath morning I preached the first sermon 
 that had been preached there by a northern minis- 
 ter since the beginning of the war, which split the 
 synod of the old school churches. We were 
 greeted with a good audience. In the evening we 
 fixed upon the first Sabbath of September as the 
 day for organizing a Presbyterian church at 
 Moberly, a preparatory meeting to be held on the 
 Saturday before at 2 o'clock P. M. I returned to 
 St. Joseph, and spent the intervening time in 
 meeting the accumulating work growing upon my 
 hands. 
 
 I returned to Moberly on the first of September, 
 and found a protracted meeting in the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian church under the lead of two Southern 
 Presbyterian ministers. That was the way they 
 
126 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 had defeated two attempts of the Palmyra brethren 
 to organize. They drew away one of the 
 twenty-nine, a young man. We met according to 
 appointment. On Saturday the recruits were there 
 save the one. Their letters were in order. We 
 attended to all the preliminaries. After a sermon 
 on Sabbath morning, the action of Saturday was 
 rehearsed, the names of the candidates for mem- 
 bership were called, each taking his place in front 
 of the pulpit, and entering into covenant with God 
 and each other. They then chose Messrs. T. 
 McKay Wilson and Richard Jackson elders. After 
 answering the constitutional questions they were 
 set apart to their work and installed as overseers 
 of the church. They were then declared the Pres- 
 byterian church of Moberly, Mo. The Lord's table 
 was then spread and the supper administered. The 
 presence of the Great Head was realized as His 
 blessing on work done. The action taken was re- 
 ported to stated clerk of Palmyra Presbytery. I 
 then commended them to God and His watchful 
 care. They lengthened their cords and strengthened 
 their stakes. They are the third in membership 
 of Palmyra Presbytery. 
 
 I gave what remained of this year to Oak Grove, 
 Phelps City and Willow Brook. The year was one 
 of blessed results. It opened with the ingathering 
 of the rich harvest of Savannah, and included the 
 
Work in Missouri 127 
 
 saving of the church of Chillicothe, the work at 
 Moberly where there had been two failures, the re- 
 suscitation of Willow Brook and getting a sub- 
 scription for church house. 
 
 1 87 1. — The second Sabbath of January of this 
 year I spent at Rockport the county seat of Atchi- 
 son County. This church was organized by the 
 Upper Missouri Presbytery before the union took 
 place. After the English Grove church four miles 
 from there took the Southern shoot, this division 
 operated against the growth of our denomination 
 in this locality. I was requested to give one Sab- 
 bath out of every month to Rockport, for the 
 ensuing year, the third Sabbath to Oak Grove, the 
 fourth Sabbath to Phelps City. On the fifth Sab- 
 bath, I was invited to begin a series of meetings at 
 Filmore, then supplied by Rev. J. N. Young. I 
 began at the time appointed and preached twice a 
 day for two weeks. Fifteen were received to the 
 Filmore church. Two of these members were 
 daughters of the pastor. Willow Brook asked for 
 a series of meetings. I spent a week with them. 
 It was a precious week in the addition of substan- 
 tial members. I baptized one of the converts at 
 the age of sixty-seven. This week's labors for- 
 warded measures for the completion of their house 
 of worship. The last week in February I gave to 
 the North St. Joseph mission, with an efficient 
 
128 ^i'fty y^d^s on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Sabbath School, preparing the way for organizing 
 another church at the right time. The months of 
 March and April were given to the new churches 
 under my care. In May I was called to Daviess 
 county. In the early settlement of this county 
 Rev. Artemas Bullard, D.D., of the First Presby- 
 terian church of St. Louis, the real superintendent 
 of Home Missions for the Synod of Missouri, sent 
 up to this county a young man, a licentiate by the 
 name of Henderson, who was in search of afield of 
 ministerial labor. He was directed to Clear Creek 
 in Daviess County. He there gathered a congrega- 
 tion. Rev. Timothy Morgan, of Gentry County, 
 came to his aid and organized what was known as 
 the Clear Creek Presbyterian church. Not long 
 after this he was taken sick and died. The place 
 of his burial is unknown. The Clear Creek church 
 was the only memorial he left. This was scattered 
 by the war. 
 
 I was requested to visit there and gather together 
 what could be found. On going there I found the 
 members left were living miles from the old center 
 of the church and its significant name. Therefore 
 it was deemed advisable to change the name to 
 Bethel, and build their meeting house in the 
 center of the membership now there. They built 
 themselves a pleasant church house which I assist- 
 ed in dedicating to the worship of the Triune God. 
 
Work in Missouri 129 
 
 They are grouped with the Gallatin church. On 
 the 29th of April, 1871, in connection with Rev. 
 Duncan McRuer, I organized the Presbyterian 
 church of Gallatin with eleven members. A. 
 McDowell and B. Callahan were chosen elders, 
 ordained and installed over the new church. I re- 
 mained and preached on Sabbath, received one new 
 member after which I administered to them the 
 Lord's supper, returning on Monday to St. Joseph. 
 During the month of May I pursued my round 
 among the unsupplied churches. The General 
 Assembly met at Chicago this year. I took a few 
 days to look in upon them and learned some im- 
 portant things. Then I dropped down and visited 
 my daughter and family at Berrien Springs, Mich., 
 and was much refreshed with a week's rest. 
 
 At the fall meeting of Presbytery they adjourned 
 to meet at Lathrop on the ninth of October, to 
 ordain and install licentiate Joseph H. France, if 
 the way was clear. My appointment on Sabbath 
 the 8th was at Rockport seventy-five miles north- 
 west from St. Joseph. Presbytery was to meet on 
 Monday the 9th, forty-five miles south-east of St. 
 Joseph. I saw no way to reach there but to with- 
 draw my night appointment and go over to the R. 
 R. five miles and take the ten o'clock train for St. 
 Joseph; which I did in the most terrific wind storm 
 I ever encountered. I reached home at midnight 
 
130 Fifty y^ci7's on the SkirmisJi Line 
 
 and learned that the city of Chicago was all on fire. 
 I caught only four hours sleep, and at 6 A. M., 
 took the train for Lathrop. The storm prevented 
 a quorum and we had to wait until a quorum 
 came. Presbytery was constituted on the loth, 
 the candidate received from Kansas City Presbytery, 
 and examined, his examination was sustained and 
 he was ordained and installed. The young pastor 
 and his wife presented their first-born son for bap- 
 tism. He was baptized. Since then I have bap- 
 tised another son and daughter for these dear 
 parents. He is now pastor of a church of about 
 five hundred members. On the 20th of October, 
 being in the vicinity of the Synod of Iowa, I looked 
 in upon our neighbors on the north. I was cor- 
 dially received and spent a pleasant and profitable 
 day with them. I found Rev. Luther Dodd with- 
 out a charge and asked him to come over to help 
 us. He came and spent some years in Atchison 
 County, Mo., in labors for Christ and the upbuild- 
 ing of our churches in that county. On the 4th of 
 October I visited Hackberry Ridge and preached 
 at their school house, which visit led to a series of 
 meetings, the organization of a church and the 
 building of a good frame church within a year from 
 this time. On the following Sabbath I dedicated 
 the new church at Oak Grove and received two 
 members into the church. November 5th, we 
 
Work m Missouri 131 
 
 dedicated the new church at Willow Brook to the 
 worship of God, followed with some special meet- 
 ings. The annual thanksgiving was spent with 
 my family. 
 
 The month of December was divided between 
 Willow Brook, Barnard, Filmore, a series of meet- 
 ings at Rosendale, and a series at Hackberry Ridge 
 which led to the organization of a church there, 
 closing the year 1871 with a precious ingathering 
 of converts for Christ. 
 
 1872. — Spent New Year's with my family. On 
 the next day I received m}^ commission as Presby- 
 terian Missionary for this current year. After 
 visiting Dr. Hill at Kansas City, and settling on 
 plans of work for the coming year, I visited Willow 
 Brook and spent four days with them. Then I 
 went to Barnard to hold a communion service; 
 had a preparatory meeting Saturday and examined 
 candidates for membership, preached at night, and 
 on the Sabbath. Received the new members, 
 administered the Lord's Supper, preaching also at 
 night. After returning home, I went to Easton, 
 and married Dr. George Loomis to Franke Scoviel. 
 At home I found a letter from Rev. J. H. France, 
 asking for my help in a meeting at Lathrop. Be- 
 fore going there I went to Hackberry, preached 
 there twice. At Lathrop I preached twice every 
 day for eight days, and received six into the church 
 
132 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 as the fruit of the labors. Returned to St. Joseph 
 and found an accumulation of letters demanding 
 answers at once. On Saturday, I left for Barnard, 
 preached on Sabbath, receiving into the church 
 and baptizing Ida Jane McCandless; returned 
 home Monday. By request I went to Osborn on 
 Wednesday and visited Mr. George A. McKinlay, 
 who was considering the question, "Ought I to give 
 myself to the work of the ministry of the gospel?" 
 We had a full consideration of the above question. 
 He decided to begin a course of preparation which 
 I suggested for him. He has been a useiul min- 
 ister twenty years. I returned home, but left at 
 once for Filmore, where I preached three times and 
 held a session meeting. On Friday, February 23d, 
 I went down to Weston, preached that night, and 
 spent Saturday visiting families, preaching again at 
 night. Three interesting cases offered themselves 
 for membership to the church. John and George 
 Brill and Mrs. Laura Maitland, the only daughter 
 of the Rev. George W. Goodale. They were ex- 
 amined and accepted by the session. Mr. John 
 Cameron and wife from Montreal, Canada, were 
 received by letter. After sermon on Sabbath 
 morning these persons were admitted to church 
 fellowship. The work continued till Tuesday night 
 when Mr. Solomon Wallace came forward asking 
 for membership. After being examined, received 
 
Work in Missou7'i 133 
 
 and baptized, he entered into covenant with the 
 church. I left the church hopeful, returning home 
 March ist. March 2nd, I left for Willow Brook 
 where I preached two sermons on the Sabbath. 
 Monday was devoted to changing residences from 
 8th to loth street. The next Saturday I went up 
 to Barnard, and preached two sermons on the 
 Sabbath. At five P. M., on Monday, I left for 
 Quincy to meet my wife, on her return from Mich- 
 igan. 
 
 Thursday took me to Filmore, where I preached 
 that night, Friday and Saturday nights. On Sab- 
 bath I preached and received and baptized Mrs. 
 Root, a lady seventy-six years old. The next day 
 after my return home, I left for Bethel church, 
 Daviess County. Rev. Mr. Pinkerton was there. 
 On Friday I preached the first sermon in their 
 new church house, preaching also at night and 
 Saturday morning. Brother Pinkerton preached 
 Saturday night. Four persons came forward to 
 the church. Sunday March 24th, I preached and 
 dedicated their new church house to the worship 
 of God. After this I received the four candi- 
 dates for membership to the church, two by letter 
 and two on profession of their faith. Brother 
 Pinkerton then administered the Lord's Supper, 
 and preached at night. The house was packed 
 both times. On Monday I preached at 1 1 A. M. 
 
134 ^^fh^ Yeai'S on the Skir?Mish Line 
 
 and at 7 P. M., and after preaching on Tuesday 
 at 1 1 A. M. I took my leave of this people who had 
 endeared themselves to us hy their kindness. 
 Bethel is near Gallatin, and there I met the clerk 
 of the session and reviewed the minutes of the 
 Gallatin church beside assisting him in making his 
 report to Presbytery. Preached at night in the 
 courthouse, and left for home next morning, but 
 went on the same night to Weston. Sabbath, 
 March 31st, was Easter, and I preached on the 
 resurrection, followed by an evening service. 
 
 April 2nd the spring meeting of Platte Presbytery 
 was held at Savannah. I was unexpectedly called 
 to preach the opening sermon. It fell to me to 
 preside until Rev. M. L. Anderson was chosen 
 moderator. Wednesday came my report on mission 
 work done, also the report of a committee on Sab- 
 bath Schools. I spoke Thursday on the relation of 
 the church to Sabbath Schools. Friday returned 
 home to attend to my correspondence. The next 
 Sabbath was spent at Willow Brook, and after a 
 visit to Hamilton, I went to Wheeling where I spent 
 
 Sabbath, speaking words of encouragement to a 
 discouraged people. Returned home on my sixtieth 
 birthday. My diary reads: "Thirty six years I 
 have been a minister of Christ's gospel. Oh! what 
 a privilege to do and suffer, for One who has 
 suffered so much for me!" 
 
Work in Missouri 135 
 
 Saturday April 27th, a telegram came from Mr. 
 James McCandless of Barnard, that his adopted 
 daughter Ida Jane had died. I hurried away on 
 the first train and preached her funeral sermon on 
 Sabbath morning. In the afternoon I married Mr. 
 John V. Nelson of Maryville to Miss Lizzie Bar- 
 ringer of Bolckow. On Friday, May 3, I was 
 called to Mound City to organize a Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 Sunday May 5th, I preached from i Tim. 3:15: 
 The church of the living God, the ground and 
 pillar of truth. After sermon, six persons pre- 
 sented themselves as desiring the organization of a 
 Presbyterian church at Mound City. These persons 
 accepted the doctrines and received the form of 
 government of the Presbyterian church. They 
 covenanted with Almighty God and each other. 
 They then chose W. W. Frazier as elder. He 
 was duly ordained and installed overseer of the new 
 church. The Lord's table was then spread and 
 the sacrament of the Supper was administered. I 
 returned home on Monday and spent the week 
 there. Saturday May nth I went to Hackberry 
 to prepare for the organization of a Presbyterian, 
 church there on the morrow, preaching at night 
 and also on Sabbath morning. At three o'clock, 
 Dr. Cruickshank came over from Savannah to 
 assist. Twenty-six candidates presented them- 
 
136 F'ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 selves, the majority of them were the fruit of the 
 series of meetings held the last week of December, 
 1 871. They accepted the doctrines of and received 
 the polity of the Presbyterian church, covenanted 
 with God and each other. John Legget, Theo- 
 dore Hunter and Elijah Martin were chosen elders. 
 These brethern were ordained and set over this 
 church. I returned home Monday. 
 
 May 1 8th, went to Filmore, and had an evening 
 service. A session meeting was held and three 
 members were suspended from the communion of 
 the church. Sunday May 19th, communion was 
 held, the sermon being from John 11:56: The 
 Feast and its Guest. I went to Breckenridge on 
 Wednesday and reviewed the records oi that church. 
 Sabbath was spent at Barnard. Saturday June 
 1st, I went to Mirabile and preached Sabbath morn- 
 ing and night, returning Monday. A week later I 
 went to Barnard and met those who were anxious 
 to build a meeting house. A subscription paper 
 was drawn up and received a fair start. Made 
 calls Saturday on families, preaching at 2 P. M. a 
 sermon preparatory to the communion. James 
 Garvin and wife were received by letter. Chris- 
 topher Baker, and James Garvin were chosen 
 deacons. Preached on Sunday and administered 
 the Lord's Supper. Thursday June 13th, Henry 
 Page M. D., was married to my niece. Miss Carrie 
 
Work in Missouri 137 
 
 O. Cheeseman, at Dr. Willis M. Sherwood's, St. 
 Joseph. 
 
 The next Sabbath was spent at Filmore. On 
 Friday June 2 ist, I went to Albany, Gentry County, 
 to begin a series of meetings, on invitation of Rev. 
 Duncan McRuer, stated supply; preached Friday 
 and Saturday nights. Sabbath morning sixteen 
 candidates were examined by the session and ac- 
 cepted. Three were baptized. Rev. McRuer admin- 
 istered the Lord's Supper. I preached at night and 
 found deep interest. A children's meeting was held 
 on the 24th. We continued the meetings, visiting 
 during each day until July 2d, when I visited 
 Martinsville and preached on "Our Mission; 
 Saving the Lost." The next day I was again at 
 Albany and on Thursday, July 4th, I returned 
 home. 
 
 Saturday July 6th took me to Forest City to ex- 
 amine that church. After an interview with the 
 session, it seemed best for me to stay over the 
 Sabbath, and preach in the Baptist church. After 
 sermon, the congregation requested me to supply 
 them once a month until the meeting of Presby- 
 tery. The 13th was spent at Barnard; preached 
 twice on the Sabbath. 
 
 On the 19th I went to Filmore, and held a meet- 
 ing at 3 o'clock On Sabbath I called a meeting 
 at 2 o'clock of all the children of Filmore and 
 
138 F'ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 their parents; gave them a talk on Sunday School 
 and organized a Sunday School. Wednesday, July 
 24th, a letter came to me from Dr. Wilson, Secre- 
 tary of the Board of Church Erection, containing a 
 draft for one thousand dollars requesting me to act 
 as their agent in seeing to the title and conveyance 
 of a church belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists 
 of Hamilton. I went down to Hamilton that night, 
 and spent the next day in examining papers per- 
 taining to the transfer of the property. They were 
 defective and I demanded that a new deed be made. 
 On August 2nd, a letter reached me from Hamilton 
 saying that everything had been made right. When 
 I went down I found the business done wrong. I 
 told them I would not pay over a cent of money 
 until everything was right, and hence returned home 
 and deposited the money in bank. The evening 
 of August 3d I preached in Forest City. The 
 church chose Mr. John Demuth elder. Having 
 already been ordained and having served in that 
 capacity, he was immediately installed. Mrs. 
 France presented a letter from the Fourth Presby- 
 terian church of Washington City, D. C. , and she 
 was received. Sabbath morning after sermon the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. 
 I gave the week following to Filmore, holding 
 meetings every night, and closing my year's engage- 
 ment with them. Upon my return home I found 
 
Work in Missoic7'i 139 
 
 my wife sick, and at once wrote for the return of 
 our youngest daughter from Michigan. 
 
 Sabbath September ist, was my day at Forest 
 City, and in the morning I preached from Joshua 
 24:15 on Family ReHgion; in the evening from Isa. 
 57:21: No peace to the wicked. September 3d 
 the fall meeting of our Presbytery was held at 
 Oregon. On entering upon business, I offered the 
 following: "Resolved, That the time has come 
 when Platte Presbytery should undertake the work 
 of founding a training school for the education of 
 ministers and teachers to meet the wants of the 
 Missouri valley." I made my report on Home 
 Missionary work done in the Presbytery of Platte. 
 The report was accepted and adopted. Presbytery 
 voted to request the Board of Home Missions to 
 renew my commission for another year. I was 
 appointed a committee to bring in a report on a 
 training school at the spring meeting. I was also 
 appointed on mances, and with others on grouping 
 churches. Mr. George A. McKinlay was licensed 
 to preach and a course of study was designated. 
 Presbytery adjourned to meet at Weston. 
 
 On the 1 2th I received a letter informing me of 
 the sickness of my aged mother, and her strong 
 desire to see me at her bed side. I made my ar- 
 rangements to leave on the following Monday. In 
 the meantime I went down and filled an appoint- 
 
140 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Li fie 
 
 ment at Parkville on Friday September 13th, 
 spending the night with Hon. George S. Park, one 
 of the elders of the church and the founder of it. 
 I took a horse and visited the members of the 
 church, of whom I found sixteen resident. They 
 had a stone church house and a small brick par- 
 sonage. They gave me a good audience. On Sab- 
 bath September 15th, I preached to them 
 in the morning. I left St. Joseph Monday morning 
 for Millville, N. Y, reaching Medina at 4 P. M. on 
 the 15th of September. My brother Guy met me 
 at Medina and drove me to his home where I met 
 my sisters, Mrs. Jane Cheeseman, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 Ryan and sister Maria, Brother Guy's wife. 
 After tea, I visited our mother. She was waiting 
 for me. I found her in possession of her mental 
 and spiritual powers. She was physically very 
 feeble. My sisters had been with her about two 
 weeks. They had left their families for this last 
 care they could render to one of the best of 
 mothers. On Sabbath morning, September 22nd, 
 I preached at the church where 1 united on the first 
 Sabbath of April, 1831. My mother was the last 
 members surviving of those who entered into the 
 organization. As I looked over the congregation 
 that mornnig I saw I was the oldest one present. 
 I addressed the Sabbath school and preached at 
 night. Sister Hatch came up on Monday morning 
 
Work in Missouri 141 
 
 from Rochester. Sister Ryan felt that she could 
 remain no longer. It was her last interview with 
 mother until they met in the great beyond, a few 
 years after. (Her death was very sudden and with- 
 out warning. She led in the family worship hymn, 
 "I love to tell the story." Prayer was offered 
 by her husband. She retired to their bed. 
 They had not been in bed over an hour, 
 when her husband heard a strange sound. He 
 arose, struck a light, but her spirit had gone to 
 God who gave it. She was at home among the 
 redeemed before the throne. She was fitted for 
 the enjoyment and employments of that world.) 
 The leave-taking was too much for mother. She 
 had a sinking time after it. On the 24th, Sister 
 Cheeseman took her leave of mother. She has also 
 joined her on the other shore. (She was not trans- 
 lated like Sister Ryan. Hers was death from 
 cancer in the stomach. She bore the pain with 
 Christian fortitude. She has been joined by her 
 son, Rev. Eugene G. Cheeseman, Marcellus, N. Y. , 
 who was taken away from his work ere he reached 
 his prime.) When my sister left, mother seemed 
 to cling to me. She became quite worried, fearing 
 that I might have to leave also. I told her I came 
 to remain with her until she was better or worse. 
 This relieved her mind and she wanted me by her 
 bed side. Sister Hatch came from Rochester to 
 
142 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 remain till the closing scene. We all saw that it 
 was nearing. The last Sabbath mother spent on 
 earth sister Hatch and myself were with her. She 
 fully realized that she was near her rest. She 
 longed to enter into rest. Wednesday the 9th of 
 October she asked us, not to pray that her life be 
 continued in this vale of tears. During the day 
 she lay in a comatose state, rarely speaking. About 
 7 P. M. her arm was pulseless, and the death-damp 
 was on her person. At 9 o'clock, she offered a 
 short prayer, and after a few minutes, she said, 
 "Come, Lord Jesus," repeating it four times. She 
 paused as in the very presence of her Lord Jesus, 
 and then said: "Into thy hands, dear Lord Jesus, 
 I commend my spirit." She then carried my hand 
 which was on her wrist, to the top of her head, 
 and placed it there. She seemed conscious of the 
 death line. It had not reached the base of her 
 brain. I put my hand down upon her cheek and 
 watched the dead line as it advanced upward until 
 it struck the base of her brain, the moment that it 
 touched the vital nerve her spirit took its flight. 
 Such a death I never saw before. It was the over- 
 shadowing of the divine presence of her dear Lord 
 Jesus, who had answered her call, and accepted her 
 spirit that she had commended to Him. She was 
 eighty-eight years and twenty-two days old. Her 
 mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Adams Barber, the wife of 
 
Work in Missouri 143 
 
 Judge Elisha Barber, lived to be eighty-eight ye^rs 
 and two months old. My grandfather, Nathan 
 Sherwood lived to be eighty-four. My grandmother 
 Joanna Noble Sherwood lived to be eighty-six. 
 My mother made a profession of religion at the age 
 of eighteen. On Friday, October i ith, her funeral 
 was attended at her house. Her sons bore the 
 casket to the cemetery my father had deeded for 
 that purpose from his farm in 1820. We laid her 
 body beside father's, who died on his eightieth 
 birthday. My own daughter and son are sweet 
 sleepers by their side. My sister, Mrs. Cheeseman, 
 was soon laid beside our mother, borne there by 
 four of her sons. 
 
 On the Sabbath following her death I preached 
 at Millville on the employments and enjoyments of 
 heaven. On the 14th of October, I left for my 
 home, called on my children at Berrien, Michigan, 
 and reached home in safety. The following Sab- 
 bath I attended church with my wife the first time 
 in eighteen months. 
 
 On the 22nd of October, I left for Maryville to 
 attend an adjourned meeting of Platte Presbytery, 
 and was called to preach the opening sermon on 
 fifteen minutes notice. 
 
 On Friday the 25th, I went down to Parkville, 
 spent the night with Col. Park, and gave the next 
 day to calling from house to house upon families. 
 
144 ^^^f^y y^^^'s 071 the SkinnisJi Line 
 
 On Sabbath I preached morning and evening. My 
 object was the re-establishing of the preaching of 
 the gospel in Parkville. They had been more than 
 two years without preaching. The visit resulted 
 in their raising funds to repair the church and to 
 secure preaching alternate Sabbaths. Early in 
 November I returned to Parkville, to commence 
 the preparatory meeting for the communion. A 
 session was held on Saturday preceding and Mr. 
 Stone and wife, and Mr. Davidson and wife were 
 received by letters. I preached at night. On 
 Sabbath morning, the church renewed their cove- 
 nant, the Lord's Supper was served, and regular 
 services were held. These meetings introduced a 
 new order of things at Parkville. On November 
 i6th, I was called to Filmore to re-dedicate their 
 church after substantial repairs, the erection of 
 a tower, and the introduction of a bell. Also I 
 drew up articles of incorporation of the Presby- 
 terian church of Filmore. On Friday 22nd, I again 
 went to Parkville, spent Saturday in calling. 
 Preached that night, also on the Sabbath. At night 
 the service was at Prairie Point, about five miles 
 north of Parkville. Returning home I found my 
 wife quite sick, and was shut in with her until Satur- 
 day afternoon, when I left to fill an appointment 
 at Gallatin, where I preached twice in the court 
 house on the Sabbath. 
 
Work in Missouri 145 
 
 Wednesday, December 4th, at a called meeting 
 of Presbytery, I was called to preside in the exam- 
 ination of Mr. Frank L. Phelps as to his qualifica- 
 tions to preach the gospel. He was adjudged 
 worthy and was duly licensed. He was of lovely 
 spirit, and was invited to supply Oak Grove. While 
 doing his work with that church he was taken 
 with a fever by which he sank into the arms of 
 death. 
 
 December 6th, I was at Parkville, preached 
 Saturday night and Sabbath morning, and at 3 P. 
 M. at the house of Mr. and Mrs.Threlkeld, baptizing 
 their children, George, Theodore, and Eva Rose 
 May, and at the same place and time baptized the 
 children of Mr. and Mrs. Kahm, Minerva, Walter and 
 Frederick. Services continued until Tuesday night 
 with good congregations. I returned to St. Joseph 
 Wednesday, and made out my report to the Board 
 of Home Missions. 
 
 Friday, December 13th, I left for Martinsville, 
 Harrison county, having a very cold ride; preached 
 at night in their new meeting house, and dedicated 
 it on Sabbath morning, preaching again at night, 
 with three Methodist ministers to hear me, and a 
 large audience. The meeting continued Monday, 
 Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday we held 
 a meeting at the house of James Scott, preparatory 
 to organizing a Presbyterian Church. The sermon 
 
146 Fifty Years on the Skir??iish Line 
 
 was from James 3:15. "The church of the hving 
 God," after which a church of twelve members was 
 organized. James Scott Jr., and Archibald Scott, 
 having served as elders in Scotland were chosen 
 to the eldership and duly installed, after which the 
 Lord's supper was administered. 
 
 On Thursday, December 19th, I returned from 
 Martinsville and spent the following week v/ith 
 my family. 
 
 On the 28th of December I went to Plattsburgh, 
 Clinton county, on business for my brother, Willis 
 M. Sherwood, made sale of $2000.00 worth of 
 property and secured my son where he had en- 
 dorsed bank notes for my brother Willis. Returned 
 and spent the Sabbath with my family at West- 
 minister church. 
 
 Gave the fijst ten days of the year 1873 to 
 a united prayer meeting for a revival of religion 
 in St. Joseph. On the iith of January I went to 
 Parkville. I preached at night on the want of 
 willing workers in the harvest field of the world, 
 and on Sabbath morning to the young people; at 
 night on Christ our Advocate. My wife was taken 
 sick, spent most of the week caring for her. On 
 Saturday went to Rosendale. Preached on Sab- 
 bath twice. On the 25th of January went again to 
 Parkville, preached at 3 P. M. W^e received two 
 by letter, one on profession. After sermon Sabbath 
 
Work 171 Missouri 147 
 
 morning session met and examined one candidate 
 for membership, and accepted two from the Bap- 
 tist church, making six members received, after 
 which the Lord's supper was served. The evening 
 service was at Prairie Point. 
 
 February ist was spent at Oak Grove and Mis- 
 sion Chapel in North St. Joseph, with another 
 service on Monday night. The next Sabbath morn- 
 ing at Parkville after a sermon on feeding the 
 lambs, I organized a Sabbath School of fifty 
 scholars. The following week and Sabbath was 
 spent with my family in St. Joseph. 
 
 Following my previous work at Parkville, I 
 preached on Sabbath Schools in the morning, re- 
 mained over Monday and preached at the German 
 church near Parkville. My next visit to Parkville 
 was an important one. I spent the night with the 
 Hon. George S. Park, discussing at length the 
 necessity of a training school to raise up our 
 Christian workers. On March 13th visited Rev. 
 Frank L. Phelps at Oak Grove, suffering from 
 typhoid fever, prayed with him and parted with 
 him until we meet on the other shore. On March 
 14th went to Ebenezer church in Carroll county. 
 Preached to them seven sermons, baptized the son 
 of the elder of the church, administered to them 
 the Lord's supper, and took measures to have them 
 supplied with preaching. Left on Tuesday the 
 
148 F^fty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 1 8th of March, found on arriving at Carrollton 
 that the trains were deranged. Reached Kansas 
 City in time to get a train for Parkville to marry 
 Daniel Diester to Mary N. Dawson at Mrs. Dr. 
 Moore's. That night went on to St. Joseph, 
 
 Saturday, March 22d, returned to Parkville, 
 preached at night. Mr. John Long and Miss Eliza 
 Ayers came before the session for membership. 
 They were examined and received. After sermon 
 on Sabbath morning Mr. Long was baptized. The 
 candidates then were received to the church. On 
 my return home I found a letter from Dr. Kendall, 
 Secretary of the Board, commending my work as 
 Presbyterial Missionary. Beginning with March 
 25th, a week was spent at Hackberry Ridge in 
 the new church house. On the concluding Sabbath, 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Barr and Miss Katie Lanford were 
 received into communion of the church, the latter 
 being baptized. After which the Lord's supper 
 was administered. 
 
 On Tuesday April ist, Presbytery met at Weston. 
 My wife accompanied me. We were entertained 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Maitland. My report on training 
 school for Christian workers was backed by the lib- 
 eral offer of Mr. George S. Park of his hotel property 
 in Parkville, and land enough for a home for such a 
 school. The report was accepted, the committee 
 continued, with thanks to Mr. Park for his generous 
 
Work in Missouri 149 
 
 offer. I reported also as Presbyterial Missionary 
 and as committee on Sabbath schools. On Sab- 
 bath following I preached for Dr. Bullard at St. 
 Joseph. 
 
 After preaching two sermons at Parkville, married 
 Mr. John Long to Miss Eliza Ayres on April 13th, 
 
 1873. 
 
 Passed my sixty-third birth-day with my family. 
 
 On the 1 8th of April 1 received a telegram from Hop- 
 kins, Mo., to visit that young town, just rising in- 
 to importance as the connecting link between the 
 Kansas City and St. Joseph R. R., and the Iowa 
 branch from Creston. I went up that night, and 
 had an interview with W. K. Adams and others. 
 On Saturday visited families desirous of church 
 privileges. On the Sabbath at 3 P. M. I preached 
 in the Methodist church. Subject, Prophecy to the 
 Bones, Ezek. 37:4. The next day, Monday, I spent 
 in looking up the lost sheep who were seeking a 
 Presbyterian fold. Twenty gave me their names. 
 Went to Parkville Friday, and gave Saturday to 
 calling on families. Preached at night; on Sabbath 
 twice. Tuesday April 29th married Mr. Adolphus 
 Musser to Mrs. Susan A. Ritchester at her father's 
 house, Mr. Wilkinson. Returned home May 2nd. 
 Left for Hopkins, and stopped with Mr. Dryden. 
 Spent Saturday in calling. Found more seeking a 
 Presbyterian fold. Preached on May 4th twice to 
 
150 ^ifty y^cirs 071 the Skirmish Line 
 
 a full house. Received a telegram to return to 
 St. Joseph and preached Mr. Frederick Marey's 
 funeral sermon on the 6th of May. Spent the 
 loth and nth of May at Parkville. Preached 
 three times. Friday, May 20th, went to Hopkins. 
 Spent the 21st calling. At 3 o'clock P. M. I 
 preached from Ps. 20:5, Setting up our banner in 
 the name of the Lord. Received fourteen letters. 
 One came on profession of faith. Sunday, June 
 I St, preached on ist Timothy 3:15, the church 
 of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. 
 The candidates then came forward as their names 
 were called and entered into covenant with God 
 and each other. They chose W. K. Adams and 
 George Hotaling elders. They were then consti- 
 tuted the Presbyterian church of Hopkins. I 
 preached at night on the eldership and its obliga- 
 tions from Acts 20:28, and ordained and installed 
 the elders chosen. 
 
 Saturday, June 7th, was spent at Parkville. 
 Preached three times. The next week I attended a 
 picnic of the Sabbath school. Made an address 
 with other services. 
 
 Friday June 13th. Having an invitation to visit 
 Platte City as Presbyterial Missionary, I went there, 
 visited their families, met their session and preached 
 for them. 
 
 They expressed a desire for a supply from Platte 
 
Work in Missouri 151 
 
 Presbytery. We were not able to supply them at 
 that time. June 25th. Heard of the death of Mrs. 
 Frazier, one of the members of Parkville church. 
 Visited family, made arrangements for the funeral 
 at 4 o'clock P. M. on the Sabbath. Preached Sab- 
 bath morning. Attended Mrs. Frazier's funeral at 
 their home, expounded I Thess. 4; 13:18. Had 
 letters from my old fields of ministerial labor, 
 Liverpool and Pitcher, N. Y. 
 
 Thursday June 26. Visited King City. They 
 have a small church with a large open field all 
 around them. Gave them five sermons. Visited 
 from house to house. Administered the Sacraments 
 of our church. Returning home I found a letter 
 from the stated clerk of my old Presbytery where 
 I began my ministry in 1837, saying they would be 
 glad to welcome me back to that Presbytery again. 
 Two weeks later a second letter came requesting 
 me to come back and undertake the work of ai^ 
 Evangelist for that Presbytery. 
 
 Saturday July 5th. Went to Hopkins. Preached 
 Sabbath morning and night. On Friday July nth 
 attendedour July communion season, Parkville. My 
 time was divided this year between Parkville and 
 Hopkins, alternating between these churches. 
 On Sabbath July 27th, I preached at Parkville on 
 ruling elders. The church then chose Mr. Gano 
 elder. He was ordained and installed. The same 
 
152 FV^y y^ci'i's on the Skirmish Line 
 
 day I preached on the subject of infant baptism at 
 the house of Mrs. Dr. Moore. At the close of sermon 
 Mr. Benjamin and Mrs. Elizabeth Dawson pre- 
 sented seven children for baptism: Daniel, Frazier, 
 George, William, Valinda, Benjamin, John Moore, 
 and Charles, which were baptized. August 3d, 
 preached and administered Lord's supper at Hop- 
 kins. 
 
 August 17th, preached at Hopkins twice. Re- 
 ceived Mrs. Iden to the church on profession of 
 her faith. August 31. Was called to Dawn on 
 committee to examine into the wishes of a Welsh 
 church, who asked for membership with Platte 
 Presbytery. Presbytery held its fall meeting at 
 Cameron, during which the Rev. Joseph H. 
 France was installed pastor of the Cameron church. 
 Called to Hopkins by telegram to attend the funeral 
 of Mrs. Bradley. Remained, attended to pastoral 
 duties, until after the Sabbath. On 23d of Sep- 
 tember married my daughter, Sarah Lucy, to Mr. 
 Joseph R. Taylor, M. D. 
 
 October 7th. Presbytery of Platte called to meet 
 at North St. Joseph Mission Chapel, 7: 30 P. M., to 
 consider the question of organizing a Presbyterian 
 church at the Chapel. A quorum not appearing, 
 I was asked as Presbyterial Missionary to assume 
 the responsibility of organizing a church. Twelve 
 candidates presented themselves. Five presented 
 
Work in Missouri 153 
 
 letters of dismission, which were regular. Seven 
 professed their faith in Christ. Three were bap- 
 tized. The twelve gave their assent to the fun- 
 damental doctrines of the Presbyterian Church and 
 its polity, covenanting with Almighty God and with 
 each other. They chose D. B. Elliott and J. A. 
 Riggs elders. These brethren answered the con- 
 stitutional questions. They were then set apart as 
 elders and installed over North St. Joseph Presby- 
 terian church. 
 
 October 8th. The Presbytery of Platte met at 
 Oak Grove church to ordain and install Licentiate 
 Wm. H. Ilsley as pastor of that church. In the 
 absence of the moderator it became my duty to pre- 
 side, and examine the candidate, and to propound 
 the constitutional questions, and make the ordin- 
 ation prayer, and deliver the charge to the people. 
 As commissioner of Platte Presbytery, I attended 
 the Mission Chapel at North St. Joseph, preached a 
 sermon, proposed the constitutional question and 
 installed the Rev. William H. Ilsley as pastor of 
 the North Presbyterian church of St. Joseph. 
 
 Left for Parkville to commence a series of meet- 
 ings on the 23d of October. Began with a day of 
 fasting and prayer, and held twelve services. Re- 
 ceived two by letters and two on profession of faith. 
 Attended one funeral. Returning to Hopkins, I 
 visited seventeen new families, assisted by Rev. 
 
154 Fifh* Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Randolph of Bradford, Iowa. Saturday we 
 held children's meeting. Mr. Adams talked to 
 children. Preached Saturday night, and again 
 Sabbath night to a full house. The following week 
 there were some conversions. Met a gentle- 
 man who gave me $i.oo on hearing of my work. 
 Thursday our national Thanksgiving, our family 
 were together at our house. Was awakened this 
 morning by a fire consuming the next door neigh- 
 bor's house. Our Heavenly Fathersent a wi nd that 
 carried the flame from us. 
 
 Saturday, November 29th. Went to Osborn. 
 Spent the day in calling. Preached at night. At- 
 tended the Sabbath school in the morning, and 
 
 preached at 10:30 and 7:30. 
 
 « 
 
 Wednesday night preached at the chapel, North 
 St. Joseph, also Thursday night. Saturday 20th, 
 went to Maryville. Preached Sabbath morning. 
 After sermon moderated a meeting of the church 
 of Maryville to call a pastor. Preached at night. 
 
 Thursday, December 25th. Reached Parkville 
 in good time for Christmas exercises of the Sunday 
 School. They pleased every one in attendance. 
 These services did much to uplift the Presbyte- 
 rian church to its former good standing. Remained 
 over the Sabbath. Spent the last days of the year 
 with my family. The year had been one of hard 
 work. I had established two new churches, held 
 
Work in Missouri 
 
 155 
 
 special services in several churches, and visited 
 numerous fields. 
 
 The year 1874 was ushered in on a remarkably 
 pleasant day, which I spent with my family. Re- 
 viewed the past year and laid plans for the opening 
 one. Saturday went down to Osborn where I ex- 
 pected to preach alternate Sabbaths. Preached 
 morning and evening. 
 
 On Monday we held a prayer meeeting at Oak 
 Grove, and Tuesday another prayer meeting at 1 1 
 A. M., preaching at night. One lady seemed deeply 
 impressed. Spent most of the week there. Re- 
 turned Friday after meeting. Hopkins having 
 obtained a stated supply, divided my time, alter- 
 nating between Osborn and Parkville. Preached 
 and administered the Lord's supper at Park- 
 ville. Went to Osborn on the 17th. Found deep 
 interest in religion, and Christians united. In the 
 evening seventeen came forward for prayers. A 
 number professed hope in Christ. On Sabbath 
 night twenty came forward for prayers. I spent 
 Monday calling from house to house, until train 
 time. After a day in Parkville, I went over to 
 Cameron Mo., where I was met by Brother France 
 who conducted me to the church where I found a 
 good audience at the commencement of 
 series of meetings. The first sermon was from 
 Malachi 3:1, The Lord whom ye seek shall 
 
 a 
 
156 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 suddenly come to His temple. The Lord 
 came that night. Two arose for prayer, the 
 next night three more. The Comforter filled me 
 with joy that took away sleep. I sat up in bed 
 and praised God. The next day in calling, I 
 found the Holy Spirit had gone before us in the 
 deep distress we found sinners in. We continued 
 these special services for ten days and nights. The 
 fruits were twenty-seven added on profession. 
 Closing with reception of members and the Lord's 
 supper, I left Cameron for Parkville. Rev. C. 
 W. Higgins preached for me this morning. The 
 Sunday School scholars acquitted themselves with 
 honor at their anniversary exercises, leaving a good 
 impression. February loth. Received a letter 
 from Trenton asking for my services in a series of 
 meetings in the Hodge church at Trenton. Left 
 for Trenton, stopping a day to preach at Cameron. 
 Two came into the church making twenty-nine. 
 Spent another day with Brother France, preaching 
 at night. Three new cases of deep interest were 
 presented. One lady decided for Christ. 
 
 Left Cameron for Trenton. Preached at night. 
 Spent one week at Trenton. There were but a 
 few who entered into the work. One lady was 
 converted and united with the church. Went down 
 to Osborn on February 28th. Preached Sabbath 
 morning and night. At the night services Mrs. 
 
Work in Missouri 157 
 
 Patrick and Cbas. Bouton came forward and asked 
 for membership. They were accepted. 
 
 Tuesday March 3do Left for Lathrop to com- 
 mence a series of meetings. Spent all the week 
 in bringing about reconciliation between two lead- 
 ing families. On Tuesday, I attended the funeral 
 of George Threlkeld, at Parkville,one of the child- 
 ren I baptized last year. 
 
 Preached at Osborn on Friday and Saturday 
 nights. Mr. Duncan McRae and wife, and Mrs. 
 Boyd, asked for membership. 
 
 After sermon Sabbath morning, Mrs. Patrick, 
 Charles Bouton, Duncan McRae, Mrs. McRae, and 
 Mrs. Boyd entered into covenant with the church, 
 and were enrolled members of the Presbyterian 
 church of Osborn. The Sacrament of the supper 
 was then served. The Rev. J. M. Crawford 
 preached Thursday and Friday nights for me at 
 Parkville. Friday Mrs. Louisa Dunbar asked for 
 membership, was examined and received by the 
 session. On Sabbath after sermon Mrs. Dunbar 
 was baptized, entering into covenant with the 
 church. The Lord's table was spread and the 
 supper was administered. 
 
 Tuesday March 24th, was spent afMirable. After 
 a sermon I moderated a church meeting, at which 
 a formal call was given to the Rev. George A. Mc- 
 Kinlay to become their pastor. On Sabbath the 
 
158 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 29th, I preached and administered the Lord's 
 supper. Made ready for the spring meeting of 
 Presbytery at St. Joseph. Prepared my report for 
 Presbytery of work done as Presbyterial Mission- 
 ary. Mr. George A. McKinlay asked for ordination, 
 which request was granted. The Presbytery asked 
 the Board of Home Missions to continue my com- 
 mission as their missionary. I was made chairman 
 of a commission to install the Rev. Luther Dodd 
 pastor of Rockport church, and to organize a 
 church at Tarkio in Atchison county; also to 
 install Rev. George A. McKinlay over Mirabile 
 church ; and to organize a new church in his broad 
 field, if the way opened. 
 
 Saturday April 12th. Had an interview with 
 Miss Ella L. Park respecting her duty to confess 
 Christ before the world. Preached on Sabbath 
 morning and night. After sermon Mr. Lewis Dun- 
 bar and Miss Ella L. Park came forward as candi- 
 dates for membership. They were examined and 
 received by the sessfon. Mr. Dunbar was baptized. 
 They entered into covenant with the church and 
 their names were enrolled. 
 
 Spent my sixty-fourth birthday at home with my 
 wife. 
 
 Friday, I went to Parkville. Gave Saturday 
 to pastoral work, and preached on Sabbath. 
 Monday, had a long talk with Mr. Park on training 
 
Work in Missouri 159 
 
 school for young people of the Missouri valley. 
 The General Assembly met in St. Louis this year 
 immediately after the State Sunday School con- 
 vention. I attended both meetings for a few days, 
 renewing acquaintance with old friends and hear- 
 ing some of our strong men. While there I had a 
 very satisiactory interview with Dr. Henry Ken- 
 dall, of our Home Mission Board. 
 
 During the next week, beginning May 25th, 
 with the Rev. J. H. France, I visited Mirabile to 
 install the Rev. Geo. A. McKinlay. It fell to me 
 to preach, propound the constitutional questions 
 and deliver the charge to the pastor. Mr. France 
 delivered the charge to the people. We went home 
 with Brother Lanford, and had a meeting at his 
 house. 
 
 Next morning we went to Pleasant Ridge to organ- 
 ize a new church. Rev. France preached a sermon. 
 Ten candidates came forward and asked to be organ- 
 zed into a Presbyterian church. Nine had letters of 
 dismission, one young lady came on profession. The 
 letters were in order. The ten covenanted with 
 Almighty God and with each other. They chose 
 two of their number as elders who, answering the 
 constitutional questions, were then set apart to the 
 eldership by prayer and the laying on of hands. 
 They took the name, The Presbyterian Church of 
 Pleasant Ridge. I spent an agreeable night, and 
 
i6o ^ifiy y^cirs on the Skirfnish Line 
 
 left May 26th for Cameron. Princeton, the county 
 seat of Mercer county, called me, and I spent a 
 day canvassing the town. Of its population of 
 1,000, two hundred were professing Christians of 
 different denominations. I preached in the Metho- 
 dist church to a good audience; remained one Sab- 
 bath and preached Monday night. Left Princeton 
 Tuesday for Mill Grove, west some ten miles. 
 Visited there twenty-nine families. Preached at 
 night to a full school house, and did what 1 could 
 while with them. Left June 3d for home after one 
 month's absence. 
 
 The next Sabbath was my regular day at Os- 
 borne and the usual two sermons were preached. 
 While at Parkville on the following Sabbath, I 
 learned of the death of Mrs. Young, whom I had 
 received into the church. Mrs Sweet died during 
 my stay there, and I preached her funeral sermon. 
 
 Thursday, June i8th, the commission met 
 to install Rev. Luther Dodd over the church of 
 Rockport. Rev. McClung preached the sermon. 
 I presided and proposed the constitutional questions 
 and charged the pastor. Rev. Thomas charged the 
 people. Friday June 19th left Rockport for the 
 Valley of the Tarkio to organize a Presbyterian 
 church. Saturday afternoon after a sermon from 
 John I 5: 5, eight members appeared with letters of 
 dismission, all of which were in order, and accepted 
 
Work in Missouri i6i 
 
 b}^ the committee. They then entered into cove- 
 nant with the Great Head of the church and one 
 another, by which they constituted themselves 
 the church of Tarkio. They chose Mr. Marquis 
 elder, who answered the constitutional questions. 
 He was then set apart to the office of ruling elder by 
 prayer and laying on of hands. I remained in the 
 Valley of the Tarkio till after Sabbath June 2ist, 
 preaching to a full school house. A Sabbath 
 School was organized and put into working order. 
 Upon my return to St. Joseph I found my grand- 
 daughter sick, who died Friday, aged eight 
 months and fifteen days. 
 
 The month of July was given to Osborne and 
 Parkville, communion service being held in each 
 church. Two members were received by letter 
 at Osborne. Three children were baptized at 
 Parkville. 
 
 Early in August while riding a mule, near Park- 
 ville I was thrown, but was preserved in safety by 
 the care of my Heavenly Father. On one of the 
 days of this season the mercury stood at io6 in the 
 shade. 
 
 On Thursday August 13th left with the Rev. 
 J. W. Allen, D. D. for Hopkins to explore the 
 northern tier of counties of Platte Presbytery: to- 
 wit, Worth, Harrison, and Mercer. At Grant 
 City began the exploration and we found some 
 
1 62 ^if^y Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 families anxious for the introduction of a Presby- 
 terian church. No one among them seemed fitted 
 to lead such an enterprise. We remained and 
 looked over the county. We found a Cumberland 
 Presbyterian church, six miles out a Methodist, and 
 a Baptist in Grant City. Dr. Allen preached for the 
 Cumberlands and I occupied the Methodist pulpit 
 on Sabbath. Dr. Allen preached at the Methodist 
 church at night. Monday, we left Grant City for 
 Union Grove, the home of Rev. Duncan McRuer. 
 Mr. McRuer then proposed that we should go to 
 Denver, Worth county, and there confer together. 
 We did so, and spent the day there. August i8th. 
 Drove to Martinsville, Harrison county. Elder 
 Wren made arrangements for preaching that even- 
 ing, after which, the session of the church met to 
 talk up our object in visiting them. Dr. Allen 
 preached at night. The next morning Elder Scott 
 drove us to Bethany. We had a warm reception 
 from Banker Crossan. Held a good meeting at the 
 Methodist church. We spent the next day in 
 a survey of Bethany and vicinity. Dr. Allen 
 preached at night. There was nothing developed 
 that seemed to demand a church at Bethany just 
 then. Dr. Allen left for Eagleville, Akron, thence 
 to St. Louis. I remained to spend Sabbath at 
 Bethany. Preached on the sacraments of our 
 church in the morning, and at night on the mission 
 
Wor/c in Missouri 163 
 
 of Christ. Left Monday for Eagleville; found 
 only one Presbyterian family there, but preached at 
 night. Left for Goshen, Mercer county. Preached 
 to impromptu congregation. Next day left for 
 Princeton, county seat of Mercer county. Made ar- 
 rangements for Sabbath service, and went on to 
 Ravenna ten miles east. Found encouragement 
 there for a church in and around that town. 
 
 After a visit to Lineville, a town on the boun- 
 dary between Missouri and Iowa, where a church 
 had just been organized, I returned to Princeton 
 for Sabbath. The request was made that Presby- 
 tery make this one of our preaching points. 
 
 Monday, left for Spankersville where I spent the 
 day in visiting a godless community. Preached at 
 night to them on the need of the gospel to save the 
 soul, correct their morals, and improve their per- 
 sonal appearance. Left Spankersville for Trenton 
 where Presbytery was to meet on the first Tuesday 
 of September, at 7: 30. Presbytery met at the time 
 appointed. In absence of the moderator, I was 
 called to the chair called Presbytery to order. 
 Rev. J. Gillespie preached the opening sermon, 
 after which he was chosen moderator, and E. B. 
 Sherwood clerk. Wednesday made reports on ,the 
 installation of Rev. George A. McKinlay over Mir- 
 abile and Lincoln churches, and Rev. Luther Dodd 
 over Rockport church, and the organization of the 
 
164 Fifty Years on the Skir?nish Line 
 
 churches of Pleasant Ridge and Tarkio. Took part 
 in the examination of Mr. H. G. Pollock for ordi- 
 nation to the gospel ministry; and gave *him his 
 charge. Also made report of the visit to the 
 counties of Worth, Harrison and Mercer, of Dr. J. 
 W. Allen and myself. 
 
 Friday September 4th. Left Trenton. Met 
 Rev. J. H. France at Cameron, and spent the 
 night with him before going to Osborn. September 
 6th preached twice at Osborn. Reached home Mon- 
 day to find an accumulation work during of four 
 weeks absence to attend to. Tuesday, September 
 loth, married at my residence Mr. William H. 
 Boyer to Miss Maggie Myer, all of Marion town- 
 ship, Buchanan county, Mo. Attended the funeral 
 of Anna Brockman of Sabbath School, at 1 1 A. M. 
 Dropped into the Methodist conference (South). 
 Witnessed, with interest, their manner of re- 
 ceiv^ing candidates for the ministry. Heard them 
 pass on the character of their ministers. Listened 
 to a good sermon from their Bishop. Attended 
 their conference Friday and Saturday. Sabbath, 
 9 o'clock, attended their love feast. Heard their 
 Bishop again. After sermon he ordained eleven 
 deacons. In the afternoon their colored Bishop 
 preached a powerful sermon, and gave a statement 
 of his work. Bishop Marvin preached at night and 
 ordained nine elders. September 22nd. Left for 
 
Work jn Missouri 165 
 
 Mirabile. Spent the week preaching two sermons a 
 day until Saturday. Parkville had claims upon me 
 for Sabbath morning and night. Thursday, Octo- 
 ber 1st. Went to Osborn. Spent the time until 
 Saturday calling in the country. Found eight 
 persons who had been members of Presbyterian 
 churches. Three of these wished to become mem- 
 bers at Osborn. Saturday held preparatory meet- 
 ing. Heard good news of the Mirabile work. Sab- 
 bath preached and administered the sacrament. 
 Friday, October 7th, served at Parkville. On 8th 
 at Mrs. Moore's. On Saturday, lecture at 2 P. M. 
 Held a meeting at Mr. Frazier's at night. Sunday 
 preached and administered the sacrament. Left 
 for Kirksville to attend the meeting of Synod. 
 Reached there in time to attend the Sabbath 
 School institute. Found at Kirksville an old Pitcher 
 acquaintance, Mr. John Smith Blackman. I was 
 appointed chairman of the judicial committee, 
 also to open the discussion on home missions. Fri- 
 day night stopped with Brother Blackman. 
 
 Tuesday, October 20th. Left Kirksville for 
 Princeton. Stopped at Lineville a day and night 
 for a rest. Reached Princeton and preached at 
 night. Left next day for Bethany; found an ap- 
 pointment out for me. Preached from Ex. 12:20. 
 Death in every house. Visited young Hamilton 
 in jail who was to be hung the following Friday. 
 
1 66 Fifty Years oti the Skirmish Line 
 
 Remained over the Sabbath. Preached morning 
 and evening. Left Bethany for King City and 
 neighboring churches. Held service at Union 
 church, King City. Went to DeKalb county for 
 the purpose of exploring the northern portion. 
 Found a number of Presbyterian families. They 
 w^ere too far apart to associate in our church. 
 Three persons united with the Osborn church at 
 my next meeting there. After my next visit to 
 Parkville, I went on to Kansas City and met Dr. 
 Hill, who asked me to go to Armstrong, one mile in 
 Kansas from the state line, and see if I could gather 
 a church. With Rev. D. C. Milner I went, and 
 left an appointment for further preaching. The 
 visit included Wyandotte and Kansas City, Kansas, 
 where appointments were left. At home I found 
 a request for me to go to Oregon and help in a 
 meeting I went and spent three days with Brother 
 McClung, preaching twice a day. 
 
 About the middle of December, Dr. Hill again 
 earnestly urged me to make a moral survey of 
 Armstrong and Wyandotte, both in Kansas near 
 Kansas City. I did so, and found encouragement 
 to preach in both places on the third Sabbath of 
 the month. December 22nd I was called to Park- 
 ville to solemnize the marriage of the Rev. C. W. 
 Higgins and Miss Mary Frazier. Christmas day 
 was spent at my own home in St. Joseph, and the 
 
lVo?'k in A'lissotiri 167 
 
 last days of the year were given to Oak Grove. 
 
 In a review of the year, I find great reason for 
 gratitude to my heavenly Father for the health and 
 strength He has vouchsafed to me that I might do 
 the year's work. I give thanks to my Savior for 
 His presence, and to the Holy Ghost for the great 
 peace that He has shed abroad in my heart and 
 the comfort He has given me in my work. The 
 year, from its opening to its close, has been rich in 
 spiritual blessings, in the conversion of souls and 
 in additions to the churches I have served and to 
 those in which I have aided my brethren. The 
 churches I have organized have been richly blessed. 
 Opportunities for doing good have been frequent. 
 
 1875. Most of New Year's day was spent with 
 my family. In the afternoon, however, I left for 
 Osborn to hold communion the following Sabbath. 
 Until June, I continued to supply Osborn and Arm- 
 strong, Kansas, on alternate Sabbaths. The work 
 at the latter place was largely preparatory to church 
 organization. 
 
 During the first week in February, the Rev. A. 
 B Earle, a Baptist evangelist, held a series of 
 meetings at St. Joseph, which was crowned with 
 rich and precious results. He reached our leading 
 business men. He had peculiar power with that 
 class of men, because the Holy Ghost rested upon 
 him and abode with him. He did me great good. 
 
1 68 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Li?7e 
 
 Near the middle of March, the Rev T. E. Shel- 
 don sent me an urgent invitation to come to his 
 help in a series of meetings at Marysville, Kansas. 
 I accepted it and preached my first sermon there 
 from Acts 10:29, "I ask therefore for what intent 
 ye have sent for me." On my second Sabbath there, 
 ten persons were received at the morning service. 
 Sabbath evening four new cases came out under 
 the sermon. Monday evening one of the merchants 
 was so wrought upon that he did not leave his seat 
 when the congregation went out ; before he left the 
 church, he gave his heart to Christ. Several 
 others were brought to conviction and conversion 
 during the meetings, and the influence was lasting. 
 
 March 26th, 27th and 29th were spent in Park- 
 villa in interviews concerning the opening there of 
 a school for training Christian workers. Mr. Park 
 and Professor McAfee were both there at that time. 
 
 The Armstrong work had so prospered that it 
 seemed wise to organize a church there March 28th. 
 Dr. Hill came from Kansas City. It was Easter 
 Sabbath, and he preached an appropriate sermon 
 in the morning, while I preached in the evening. 
 At 3 p. m. we met and organized the church with 
 nine members. W. W. Spear was chosen elder 
 and ordained and installed. Before I left the 
 church in June there were several additions and 
 another elder, Brother Robinson, was installed. 
 
Work in Missouri 169 
 
 May 2nd I attended the Westminister church, 
 St. Joseph, and baptized my grandson, Charles 
 Sherwood Taylor, and the oldest son of Dr. Bul- 
 lard, Henry Nelson Bullard. I gave what spare 
 time I had during these months to the mission 
 chapel. 
 
 Meanwhile I had been asked to undertake an 
 agency in the East for the new college at Parkville. 
 A visit had already been made there during which 
 I had been pleased with the manner and spirit of 
 the devotional service. On the 8th of June I left 
 for the East and spent until the end of September 
 canvassing in the state of New York in behalf of 
 the college. 
 
 I had been made trustee of my father's estate 
 and while I was in the East in October I went to 
 Rochester, N. Y. , and began arrangements looking 
 toward the winding up of his affairs. This involved 
 delay and the Lord opened a door of usefulness. 
 I was invited to visit Pentield, six miles from 
 Rochester, and see what could be done toward 
 bringing back life to a church which had been in 
 a state of suspended animation for six years and 
 without a revival for eighteen years. Animation 
 was restored in four weeks' labor, with preaching 
 and visiting. The session and board of trustees 
 were filled by election. The sacraments were 
 administered to twenty-five members. 
 
lyo Fifiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Upon my return to St. Joseph in November I 
 had hardly got well settled when a request came 
 for help in meetings at Frankfort, Kansas. I found 
 there a half-finished meeting-house, which could 
 not be made comfortable during the cold weather 
 which came on. The meetings continued eleven 
 days and the church was revived. Six members 
 were received. At Osborn soon after I found the 
 Methodists engaged in revival effort, and took part 
 with them. The results were excellent. 
 
 In response to an appointment by the Presbytery, 
 I went to Trenton to assist in dedicating their new 
 church and installing their pastor. Saturday night 
 the new church took fire and was completely de- 
 stroyed! The other denominations of the city 
 threw open their pulpits the next day to the com- 
 mission and $950 were raised at the morning services 
 for a new building. A union meeting was held in 
 the opera house in the evening and $600 more 
 raised, making $1550 in all. I spent three days 
 more with the church. Rev. J, M. Crawford was 
 the new pastor. 
 
 The closing days of the year were spent in look- 
 ing back over its record. It was one of the hap- 
 piest in my life. The desire of my heart had been 
 realized. We had seen the humble beginning of 
 Park College for Training Christian Workers. 
 
 1876. Early in January I accepted an invitation 
 
Wo7'k in Missouri 171 
 
 from the church at Marysville, Kansas, to come to 
 them and stay as long as possible. I remained 
 three months, entered upon a systematic course of 
 ministerial work, preaching, visiting and holding 
 prayer^meetings, and besides looked after an out- 
 post at North Marysville, where steps had already 
 been taken toward a church organization. I per- 
 fected that work and laid foundations for still 
 another church, at Deer Creek, six miles west. 
 The word of God took effect, and gave the people 
 a mind to work. Congregations increased. Con- 
 verts came into the church. We had a profitable 
 three months. I left after the last Sabbath in 
 March to meet an engagement to spend a year in 
 Kalamazoo, Michigan, gathering a congregation in 
 the north part of that city. There was one item 
 of the business of my father's estate that demanded 
 my presence in New York early in April. After 
 attending to it, I returned to Kalamazoo and 
 entered on the work I was called there to do. The 
 details and results are found in Chapter V. 
 
 I closed my year's work in Kalamazoo on the 
 8th of April, 1877, and at once went with my wife 
 to my daughter's home at Berrien Springs, Michi- 
 gan. On reaching there we learned of the serious 
 illness of Judge Anderson, my daughter's father- 
 in-law. We were sent for to hasten to his bed- 
 side, but before we reached it he was gone. At 
 
172 ^tfiy y^ci^s on the Skirmish Line 
 
 his request, I preached the funeral sermon. It was 
 my 67th birthday. I had known the judge and his 
 wife since 1828. 
 
 From this time until July 5th, my time was 
 divided between the settlement of the estate and 
 collecting funds for Park College in western New 
 York where I was acquainted. After an absence 
 of a year and three months I finally reached St. 
 Joseph with my wife on the 20th of July. I met 
 Professor McAfee and reported what I had done, 
 turning over to him the money I had collected. 
 We conferred about future plans. 
 
 The Synod of Missouri met that year in October 
 at St. Charles. I was in attendance and was very 
 unexpectedly chosen moderator by acclamation. 
 I met the responsibilities of the position as best I 
 could. The remainder of the year was devoted to 
 work connected with Park College. 
 
 1878. January ist'I spent with my family and 
 newly consecrated myself to the work of the min- 
 istry. Calls came from every side. I went first to 
 the Third church of Kansas City and assisted the 
 pastor for a week in a series of meetings. Then 
 came such a request from the Chillicothe pastor 
 that I went to his aid for about two weeks. Eight 
 confessed Christ at the closing meeting. There 
 was a precious refreshing from on high. On the 
 26th I went to Hiawatha, Kansas, to assist Rev. 
 
Work in Missouri 173 
 
 Mr. Farmer in a series of meetings. Deep interest 
 was awakened. Twenty arose for prayers. We 
 reached an interesting class of young men who 
 became pillars in that church. On the 6th of 
 February I was compelled to leave to meet an en- 
 gagement for other work. I had been asked to 
 Kennekuk, an Indian town eight miles south of 
 Hiawatha. The church was supplied by Rev. Mr. 
 Todd. My first sermon seemed to be sanctified to 
 the congregation. Under the third sermon a young 
 lady gave herself to Christ. Every sermon seemed 
 to deepen the work of grace begun. Heads of 
 families were reached; husbands of believing wives 
 and wives of believing husbands came out and took 
 upon them the covenant of the church. The 
 windows of heaven were opened; the Holy Spirit 
 was poured out on all classes. The revival be- 
 came general. Family altars were set up and con- 
 secrated by morning and evening prayer. The 
 church was strengthened by the addition of whole 
 families. When they laid out the Rock Island R. 
 R. , they ran it through the farms of the leading 
 members of that church, and the town of Horton 
 covers almost the entire farm of one of the members 
 with whom I stopped often during the three weeks 
 I spent here. The church of Horton is the old 
 church of Kennekuk. This meeting laid the 
 foundation for lasting good to all that region. 
 
174 ^^Py yccif's 071 the Skirmish Line 
 
 About the ist of March, I received abetter from 
 Rev. Dr. J. W. Allen, Synodical missionary, 
 requesting me to go to Glenwood, Schuyler county, 
 in the northeastern part of the state, and there work 
 up and organize a Presbyterian church, if the way 
 was clear. Accordingly I spent sixteen days of 
 hard work there, and on March 31st organized a 
 church of twelve members, ordaining two elders, 
 and administering the Lord's supper. The evening 
 of the first Sabbath two mora united with the new 
 church. My friend Dr. Galbraith met me on my 
 arrival and cared for me pleasantly during my stay. 
 Immediately I left for Kirksville where I had an 
 appointment to preach on the importance of raising 
 up a ministry from our churches. I reached home 
 April 3d. 
 
 The spring meeting of Platte Presbytery was 
 held at Mound City. As committee on the narrative 
 I reported on the state of religion in our bounds. 
 I was also appointed to organize a church at Mt. 
 Salem school-house in Atchison county, which 
 duty I performed on Sabbath the 14th before 
 turning home. The church took the name Pizgah. 
 I left for home on my 68th birthday. 
 
 I had now reached a point where I thought it 
 my duty to lay off for some repairs. An experi- 
 enced dentist advised me to have several native 
 teeth removed and get a full set of upper teeth. 
 
Work in Missouri 175 
 
 This would forbid my public speaking for several 
 weeks. Duty demanded it and I rested off during 
 the remainder of April and all of May and June. 
 During these months, I was with my son in his 
 drug-store. In looking over his stock, I discovered 
 there had accumulated a good many articles not 
 wanted in St. Joseph but saleable in some other 
 place. This, with some other motives, led my son 
 to look for a new point. He found one at Sabetha, 
 Kansas, and opened his new store there late in 
 August, 1878. The St. Joseph store was left with 
 his clerk whom he had been training for five years, 
 the finances being under my oversight and control. 
 My son reached Sabetha at the right time. Two 
 years later we sold the St. Joseph stock and rented 
 the store to the former clerk, Mr. James T. Mead- 
 ows, who has become one of the leading druggists 
 of this growing city. In addition to the drug 
 business, my son had developed Sherwood's Ex- 
 celsior Liquid Blueing, which he had been making 
 for some ten years. It had grown to so much im- 
 portance that it was becoming a good thing, too 
 good to give up. This business he passed over to 
 me. I have cared for it and superintended it until 
 it has become the standard liquid blueing wherever 
 St. Joseph wholesale grocery trade goes. This 
 and the rent of the store have been my support 
 since August 1878. I have held myself ready to 
 
176 Fifty Years on the Skir7?tish Line 
 
 supply destitute churches, organize new churches, 
 assist my brethren in special meetings where open- 
 ings have occurred and duty called, and to do any 
 duty that was in the line of my profession as a 
 minister of Christ. For a number of years I was 
 stated clerk and treasurer of my Presbytery. 
 
 In September of this year (1878) I received a 
 letter from the church of Hiawatha, Kansas, asking 
 me to visit them and supply them as long as there 
 was mutual satisfaction. After preaching there 
 one Sabbath an agreement was entered into and I 
 supplied them twenty-eight weeks. My plan was 
 to go on Saturday, preach on Sabbath and teach a 
 Sabbath School class. At communion times I went 
 over on Friday and visited and held preparatory 
 service on Saturday. God blessed this arrangement. 
 Eighteen members were added to the church, sev- 
 eral being newly converted. Confidence was in- 
 spired. They soon called a pastor. From that 
 time they have gone right forward, enlarged their 
 meeting house, lengthened their cords and strength- 
 ened their stakes. Hiawatha now has a member- 
 ship of 250. The weeks spent there were happy 
 ones to me and began a new epoch in the church's 
 history. 
 
 At the meeting of Platte Presbytery in April 
 1879, I was chosen moderator at the opening. 
 During the meeting I was appointed alternatQ 
 
Work m Missouri 177 
 
 commissioner to the General Assembly, and Stated 
 Clerk and Treasurer of the Presbytery. These 
 ofBces, with the presidency of the Board of Trustees 
 of Park College, and an occasional call to organize 
 churches, gave me all I could well attend to of a 
 public nature. Add the private business and the 
 care of my family, and the year 1879 was filled 
 with hard work. 
 
 November 20th, 1880, I organized the Presby- 
 terian church of Goshen, Mercer county. Mo. 
 
 1 88 1. On the 29th of January I assisted in the 
 dedication of the new Presbyterian church at La- 
 clede, Mo. I preached twice and raised $223 from 
 the congregation so that we dedicated the building 
 free from debt. March i6th, I received a telegram 
 asking me to go to Ravennah, Mercer county, and 
 organize a Presbyterian church. This town is in 
 the extreme north-eastern part of Platte Presby- 
 tery. It meant a journey of 130 miles, ten of 
 which I traveled on horseback in a snow-storm. 
 Saturday night I preached to quite a good audience 
 and arranged for the organization. The next day, 
 Sabbath, a church of thirteen members was organ- 
 ized, one of whom was received by profession and 
 baptism. Two elders were ordained and installed 
 and the sacrament was administered. In the 
 evening after the sermon, the mother who had been 
 baptized in the morping brought her daughter for 
 baptism. 
 
178 ^ifh' y^<^'>'s on the Skirtnish Line 
 
 On the 14th of April Platte Presbytery met in 
 St. Joseph at Dr. Bullard's church. I reported the 
 three new churches organized. On my 71st birth- 
 day I was chosen commissioner to the General 
 Assembly at Buffalo, N. Y. , with elder Robert 
 Montgomery as lay commissioner. We started for 
 Buffalo, accompanied by our wives, May i6th, and 
 reached there with many others on the i8th. The 
 Assembly met on Thursday May 19. On the 
 election of moderator, I was privileged to second 
 the nomination of Dr. Henry Darling, a life long 
 friend. The short speech brought me many hand- 
 some compliments. For the second time I was 
 made a member of the judicial committee. On 
 Saturday the Assembly was given an excursion to 
 Niagara Falls. The next week Dr. and Mrs. 
 Chester gave us a reception at their elegant resi- 
 dence. Mrs. Chester was an old friend of our 
 family and we had a pleasant half hour together. 
 I had an apportunity to speak in the devotional 
 meeting of Saturday morning and also reported on 
 the records of the Synod of Kentucky. I was 
 appointed to preach at Millville, my old home, 
 forty miles from Buffalo on Sabbath the 29th. My 
 brother Guy came up from Millville to escort me 
 home. I preached from John 12:23, "What is to be 
 the result of lifting up Christ on the cross.?" I did 
 not return to the Assembly, which adjourned the 
 
Work in Missouri 179 
 
 following day. Instead I met a large circle of old 
 friends at my brother-in-law's home, where my 
 wife was visiting. It was her last visit with them. 
 Tuesday with brother Guy and his wife we went 
 to Rochester and spent a day with my sister, Mary 
 Hatch. Thence we came west to Michigan where 
 a visit was made to our children at Berrien Springs. 
 This is not far from Cassopolis and Edwardsburgh. 
 I spent one Sabbath with these churches, preach- 
 ing before a large union congregation at the latter 
 place in the evening and at the former place in the 
 morning. It was a cordial greeting of all the 
 churches after an absence of twenty-two years. 
 
 I had scarcely reached home in St. Joseph before 
 a call came for a visit to Wheeling. I spent a 
 Sabbath with them. On the 9th of October, I 
 organized the church of Grant City, Worth county, 
 and set over them an efficient session. They have 
 had a steady growth and are one of our better 
 churches. December 2nd I accepted an invitation 
 to hold a series of meetings at Akron, Harrison 
 county. The meetings lasted ten days. The 
 fruits were eleven added to the church, with seven 
 baptisms. Three others expressed hope and were 
 received at a chance visit I made some time after- 
 ward. 
 
 On March 19th, 1882, in company with elder 
 Robert Montgomery, I organized the church of 
 
l8o Fifty Years 07t the Skirmish Line 
 
 Fairfax, Mo., with twelve members. Two elders 
 were duly chosen and set apart. July ist, I was 
 called to a conference with the Platte Cit)^ church 
 and spent a Sabbath there. August nth, I left 
 for Blysdale, Harrison county, to dedicate a new 
 church, but found on my arrival that it was not 
 ready. During the delay I went to Akron and 
 spent a week, preaching every night. Six were 
 received into membership and the Lord's supper 
 was administered. At Blysdale the next Sabbath 
 I met Rev. Thomas Marshall, then Synodical mis- 
 sionary, who preached in the morning. I under- 
 took the work of raising the arrears and we dedi- 
 cated the building free from debt. Children were 
 baptized by Mr. Marshall, and the Lord's supper 
 was administered. 
 
 Saturday, August 26th, a telegram came from 
 the pastor at Atchison, Kansas, asking me to sup- 
 ply his pulpit the next day. I did so and again 
 the following Sabbath. In September a week was 
 spent at Avalon in a series of meetings. The 
 Lord gave us eight converts. The pastor and 
 three of his session were permitted to welcome 
 their children at the communion service held at 
 the close of the meeting. Soon after my return to 
 St. Joseph, I left for Union Star to organize a 
 church if the way was clear. After the evening 
 sermon sixteen candidates came, asking the organ- 
 
Work in Missouri i8i 
 
 ization of a Presbyterian church. Their credentials 
 were found in order, and they entered into cove- 
 nant with Almighty God and each other. They 
 chose Judge Dougherty elder and the following 
 Sabbath, October ist, he was ordained and in- 
 stalled. Meantime I had been calling from house 
 to house, and one lady came to unite with the 
 new church on confession on this first Sabbath. 
 Several received the sacrament for the first time. 
 During the same month, October, I organized the 
 church at Brooklyn, Carroll county, which has 
 since been merged into the Tina church in the 
 same county. 
 
 About the first of October my wife began to 
 suffer from inflammation of the stomach. The 
 usual treatment in such cases failing, a galvanic 
 battery was ordered and purchased while I was in 
 St. Louis at the Synod. When I returned she 
 had reached the stage in which no nourishment 
 except new milk coud be taken with any comfort. 
 The battery treatment seemed to impart vitality, 
 but she gained no permanent strength. The func- 
 tions of life were steadily failing. There was noth- 
 ing alarming in her case and nothing encouraging. 
 Nothing we could do imparted strength or recuper- 
 ated nature. Our daughter came from Michigan 
 and spent two weeks with her, which greatly com- 
 forted her. She stood the parting scene much 
 
1 82 Fifty Yean on the Skirmish Lifie 
 
 better than I had expected. In the latter part of 
 November symptoms of unhappy changes in her 
 system appeared. November 26th was her last 
 Sabbath on earth and she was cheerful, enjoyed 
 reading and conversed throughout the day. Dur- 
 ing the night of December ist, she awoke with 
 excruciating pains, which proved to be the premo- 
 nition of death. She was very restless and while 
 we were trying to give her an easier position she 
 fainted and it was some time before consciousness 
 returned. All that day she was in the agonies of 
 death. She said to me, "My husband, what is 
 this?" I answered her, "It is approaching death. 
 These are dying agonies and you will spend the 
 coming Sabbath with your father, mother, your 
 dear sister Margaret and our dear children in the 
 spirit world." She then asked us to sing and 
 while we were singing, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," 
 she sank into a quiet state in which she remained 
 and sweetly passed away before the midnight hour, 
 December 2nd, 1882, aged 72 years and three 
 months. On Monday December 4th, her funeral 
 was attended by her pastor, Rev. Dr. Henry Bul- 
 lard, assisted by Rev. Dr. R. S. Cam.pbell and 
 Rev, George Miller. There was a large gathering 
 of friends. We laid her to rest in Mt. Mora cem- 
 etery in a lot which I had purchased. Upon her 
 monument are inscribed the names of our 
 
tVork in Missouri 183 
 
 six children besides those of their parents. 
 
 The following Sabbath I spent in Parkville, 
 preaching to a large and interesting audience. 
 Upon my return I found an invitation from Tarkio 
 which I accepted, preaching to them on the last 
 Sabbath of the year. They supplemented their 
 request with another, viz., that I would supply 
 them on alternate Sabbaths until spring. West- 
 boro, six miles north of Tarkio, whose organization 
 was not complete, asked for the other alternate 
 Sabbaths of my time, and I accepted both invita- 
 tions. I perfected the latter organization and 
 gathered in the families through that region. I had 
 organized the Tarkio church some years before in 
 the valley of the Tarkio. When the Burlington 
 R. R. system run one of its branches through 
 Atchison county, Tarkio sprang up as a business 
 point and the church was removed there, built a 
 house, but had no minister at that time. I re- 
 mained with them throughout March. Twelve 
 members were added as the fruits of these three 
 months. They soon called a pastor and have 
 gone forward with steady growth. Another matter 
 of great importance was the stirring up of the 
 United Presbyterians to start a college in a build- 
 ing then unoccupied in the village. 
 
 On the I St of July this year, occurred the semi- 
 centennial of Oberlin College from whose the- 
 
184 Fifty Years on the Skir??iish Line 
 
 ological department I had graduated in September, 
 1836. I felt it a privilege and duty to be present 
 at the celebration. I reached Oberlin June 30th, 
 in time for the graduation of the theological class. 
 After dinner I attended the alumni meeting of that 
 department. The next day was Sabbath and was 
 full of interest. The history of the Sabbath school 
 for the past fifty years was given in the morning, 
 followed by the baccalaureate sermon giving the 
 history of the college. At 2 p.m. was an experi- 
 ence meeting and at 3 communion service with 
 fully 200 communicants. At night Rev. Dr. 
 Streiby of New York addressed a missionary meet- 
 ing. On Monday those present of the class of 1836 
 met. There were but four. The same number 
 were present from the class of 1838. They came 
 in with us and we were joined by the widow of 
 President Finney, his third wife, and also by the 
 widow of our classmate Rev. S. W. Streeter. It 
 was a review meeting of our life work. On Inde- 
 pendence Day, July 4th, Rev. Huntington Lyman, 
 of our class, and myself visited the cemetery where 
 sleep President Finney, Professor Henry Cowles, 
 Professor John Morgan and many of the founders 
 of Oberlin College. On the afternoon of the same 
 day our class held a closing meeting. We joined 
 hands in a circle, sang our parting hymn and took 
 our final leave of each other until we meet to part 
 no more. 
 
Work in Missouri 185 
 
 Towards the close of the year there sprung up a 
 correspondence which led to my marriage to Mrs. 
 Susan Butler on the 24th of July, 1884. 
 
 During the winter months I was shut in. In 
 March I was invited to Hopkins, one of the 
 churches I had organized, being now without a 
 pastor. I spent two weeks with them. The mem- 
 bers were quickened and one very interesting con- 
 version was made. At the preparatory meeting, 
 before communion, there was a providential meet- 
 ing of the original elders of the Hopkins church. 
 They remained over the Sabbath and assisted at 
 the Lord's table. One brought his son forward for 
 baptism. It was a spiritual feast. 
 
 Early in the spring I made quite a successful 
 change in our store property, built over a cottage 
 on the premises and fitted it up for a home for my- 
 self. I had remained with my daughter, Mrs. J. 
 R. Taylor, since the death of my wife. 
 
 A casual letter from Mrs. Susan Butler, written 
 while my first wife was alive and well, three years 
 before her death, was by chance re-read some 
 twelve months after her death. It contained some 
 sentiments of gratitude for instruction I had given 
 the writer when an inquirer after the way of rest 
 for her soul, which I thought demanded of me an 
 answer even after the intervention of four years. 
 This led to a reply asking me for an article for 
 
I 86 F^fh^ Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 their village paper giving an account of the revival 
 which had brought into their church seventy mem- 
 bers. I sent her the article. It was published in 
 their village paper and afterwards in the New York 
 Evangelist. In this way an acquaintance of forty 
 years ago was renewed. We had once met in 
 those years, had shaken hands and had been 
 twenty minutes in company in a circle of friends. 
 Our correspondence led to an engagement of mar- 
 riage and to seven years of as much happiness as 
 could be realized in that time. When we came to 
 know each other better, we found that we were 
 born within six miles of each other, that there was 
 but six days' difference in our ages and that we 
 were baptized by the same minister. When we 
 met on the 22nd of July in the parlor of Alfred 
 Emerson, we realized that an unseen hand had 
 guided our pens in the correspondence that brought 
 us together. Therefore we sealed with words what 
 our pens had effected. She was my spiritual child 
 in a revival of 1841 in Youngstown, N. Y. , referred 
 to in Chapter III. She was then the wife of Mr. 
 Robinson Butler, who was also a subject of that 
 work of grace. Mr. Butler adorned his profession 
 for over seventeen years, and died exclaiming, 
 "Grace! grace!" Mrs. Butler lived a widow 
 twenty-five years, finding consolation in comfort- 
 ing the sick and administering the balm of Gilead 
 
Work in Missouri 187 
 
 to the afflicted. She gathered one class after 
 another to the Sabbath School, and when the 
 second class of young ladies went out from her as 
 teachers and married ladies, she went to the 
 country and gathered a class of married ladies and 
 their husbands, numbering eight. She was teacher 
 of this class when I married her. Her old phy- 
 sician paid her this compliment: "Mr. Sherwood, 
 you might about as well take away the session of 
 our church as the lady you have married." In 
 due time we returned to Missouri and took pos- 
 session of our cottage home and entered upon 
 housekeeping. It was the return of happy, golden 
 days, which continued and increased with every 
 month of the seven years we were permitted to 
 enjoy each other's society. 
 
 The year 1885 was ushered in with very cold 
 and disagreeable weather. There were no calls 
 from vacant churches until midsummer when I was 
 invited to visit Lincoln church, seventy miles 
 southeast of St. Joseph in Caldwell county. We 
 left home in the hot days of July, spent a week 
 with the church, holding meetings from day to day, 
 and closed with a communion service, at which 
 time five new members united with the church. It 
 was a pleasant and profitable week to us and the 
 church. Mrs. Sherwood enjoyed the week very 
 much. About the 20th of December of the same 
 
1 88 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 year, the church of Hopkins sent for us to visit 
 them and spend some days with them. We 
 accepted their invitation and staid with them a 
 week, closing with a communion season. 
 
 1886. The year opened warm, with a genial 
 atmosphere, but the weather soon turned cold and 
 snow fell sufficient for good sleighing. The last 
 Sabbath of January was spent at Cameron, where 
 I preached morning and night. The way seemed 
 to open to recommence services at Easton church. 
 I went down a few times. The opportunity was 
 lost by the opposition of one man. The Sabbath 
 School is the hope for Easton. 
 
 This was the fiftieth year since my ordination to 
 the ministry of the gospel. Fifty years before, I 
 had received from the Congregational Association 
 of the Western Reserve the following certificate: 
 
 "Oberhn, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1836. 
 "Having examined Elisha B. Sherwood as pre- 
 paratory to the work of the gospel ministry and 
 finding satisfactory evidence of his personal piety, 
 his attainments in literature, science and theology, 
 and his ability to engage in the great work to 
 which the Great Head of the church has called 
 him, we do hereby authorize him to perform 
 the duties of the holy ministry, and affection- 
 ately recommend him to the fellowship of the 
 churches and ministers of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
Work in Missouri 189 
 
 as a fellow-laborer in the great field, ordained to 
 preach the gospel, administer its ordinances, and 
 take oversight of any church where the Lord may 
 direct him to labor. 
 
 "Done by vote of the Association. 
 
 "Daniel Rockwell, Moderator. 
 "William Bradley, Scribe." 
 
 I thank God that He counted me worthy to be 
 put into the ministry of the gospel. I thank the 
 Association that the Lord put it into their hearts 
 to authorize me to preach Christ. I thank the 
 Holy Ghost that He has given me the power to 
 preach this glorious gospel fifty years in the fields 
 that have opened to me; that more than two 
 thousand souls have been added to the churches 
 where I have preached this gospel; that I have 
 organized over thirty churches; that I have resus- 
 citated and put into working order a large number 
 of feeble churches; that He has counted me worthy 
 to have helped so many young men into the min- 
 istry of the gospel; and for the part I have had in 
 bringing about the organization of Park College. 
 This has all been done by God working in me to 
 will and to do. Not unto me, but to the Holy 
 Ghost be the glory ! 
 
 The year of jubilee having come, my friends took 
 notice of this event in my life's work. The city 
 ministry to the number of seventeen met at the 
 
I go Fifty Ycai's on the Skirmish Line 
 
 residence of my son-in-law, Dr. Joseph R. Taylor, 
 709 S. loth Street, St. Joseph, on Monday, Sep- 
 tember 2 1 St. They came early and staid late. 
 Not one of the seventeen was born when I was 
 ordained to my work. I received a large number 
 of letters of congratulation from friends in my New 
 York fields of labor and from the brethren of our 
 Presbytery. I will append one from an old lady 
 ninety-four years old, widow of elder Daniel 
 Holmes: 
 
 "Wilson, N. Y., Sept. 20, 1886. 
 "Rev. E. B. Sherwood. 
 
 "Dear Friend: — I thank you for your kind invita- 
 tion to attend the fiftieth anniversary of your ordi- 
 nation to the gospel ministry. My heart will be 
 with you. I think I had better remain at the 
 homestead until I have a call, 'Come tome,' from 
 on high. "With Christian love, 
 
 "Mrs. Sarah Holmes." 
 
 We received congratulations from Youngstown, 
 N. Y. , a joint letter from friends in Liverpool, 
 N. Y. , congratulations and love from brother and 
 sister Hatch of Rochester, N. Y., from Mrs. Dr. 
 Artemus Bullard, whose acquaintance I had made 
 in 1834 at Lane Seminary, from Rev. Mr. Hayden 
 and wife, from A. M. Saxton, banker in St. Joseph 
 and a Sabbath School scholar in 1835, from Rev. 
 C. J. Van Deventer of the M. E. Church, and 
 
Work i?i Missouri 191 
 
 members of Platte Presbytery: Rev. James Reed 
 of Savannah, Rev. A. B. Goodale of Kingston, 
 Rev. Wm. Meyer of Grant City, Rev. W. H. Rogers 
 of Hamilton, and Rev. T. D. Roberts of Oregon. 
 These letters were full of sympathy and tender 
 feeling. Mr. Roberts was the first student enter- 
 ing the ministry from Park College within our 
 bounds. At the fall meeting of Platte Presbytery 
 there was a sketch of the labors of these fifty years 
 read by Rev. Mr. Rogers and listened to with in- 
 terest. Following is an extract from the "New York 
 Evangelist," dated Sept. 30th, 1886: — 
 
 "It is fifty years since the ordination of the Rev. 
 E. B. Sherwood to the ministry, and that control- 
 ling event in his life was duly marked by a recep- 
 tion given at the residence of his daughter in St, 
 Joseph, Mo., on the evening of the 21st of Sep- 
 tember. Like his contemporary, the late Dr. 
 Hatfield, he was greatly blessed in his early minis- 
 try. The scene of these faithful and fruitful labors 
 was western New York and he is warmly remem- 
 bered there. And since then, though far from 
 these early activities, he has loved 'to mind the 
 same things. ' His has been a fruitful as well as a 
 protracted ministry; and now at evening time it is 
 light. A good degree of strength remains to him 
 and doubtless nothing so renews his prime as to 
 engage in special labors for the conversion of those 
 who are out of the fold of Christ." 
 
192 ^^f^y Years on the Skirmish Li7ie 
 
 The "St. Louis Evangelist" of Sept. 23rd 
 surprised me with an article by the editor on my 
 work, which he had known personally for forty 
 years. Here is an extract: — 
 
 "When a minister by a bold attack did what I 
 knew was done by the Rev. E. B. Sherwood in 
 Liverpool, N. Y. , in driving out drinking and 
 gambling, which for years had been the standing 
 wickedness of that town, and in giving the people 
 in this place an evening school for the instruction 
 of those adults who could not read nor write, a 
 savings bank in place of the saloon drawer, a lodge 
 of the Sons of Temperance instead of the corrup- 
 tions of the saloon, and Sabbath evening lectures 
 for the masses, I knew that he was worth some- 
 thing to the world wherever his lot was cast. Men 
 are remembered by what they have done." 
 
 This commemoration of the fifty years would be 
 the natural close of Chapter VL, but there is one 
 duty which I owe to Mrs. Susan Buller Sherwood, 
 which can be better discharged here than in any 
 other period connected with this sketch of my life. 
 
 Mrs. Sherwood had been with me tw^o years and 
 two months when the jubilee occurred. She was 
 deeply interested in the event, the first occasion of 
 the sort which she had witnessed. It gave her 
 great pleasure to witness the respect paid to her 
 husband on that occasion by home friends and 
 
Work in Missouri 193 
 
 those more remote. From that time she felt that 
 she was among friends. Her health had been 
 enfeebled by the greater heat of this climate over 
 that of New York. The pleasant fall that followed 
 toned up her system. Her general health im- 
 proved. The almost five years that she lived 
 after the jubilee were pleasant years to her, giving 
 her health and strength beyond her most sanguine 
 expectations. She was adding every year to her 
 list of friends, for she had only to be known to 
 make fast friends. She counted these five years 
 among the happiest periods of her long and useful 
 life. The day she was taken sick, she prepared, 
 cooked and ate her last meal. For seven days 
 she was the greatest sufferer I ever attended. 
 Everything was done that medical science could 
 devise, but no relief came until exhausted nature 
 worked its own relief. When relief came, she 
 was so prostrated that there was no recuperation, 
 and she steadily sank into the arms of death. 
 The day before she died she said to me, "How good 
 was my heavenly Father to send you to Youngs- 
 town in that meeting of 1841 to show me the way 
 to my Savior!" One of her lady friends asked her 
 the same day, "How do you feel? She replied, 
 "It is well with my soul, but my body is full of 
 pain." Dying was but going home with her. Her 
 mind was perfectly clear, so that she gave direc- 
 
194 Fifty Years oti the Skirmish Lifie 
 
 tions as to her dress and burial, and how 
 to distribute her mementos. She died about 
 half-past six in the morning of the hottest 
 day in the year, August 7th, 1891, aged 81 years 
 and four months. We carried out her wishes, 
 warm as the day was. The body was prepared 
 and coffined, and brief services were held in the 
 home she loved so well by Dr. Dinwiddie of the 
 M. E. church, her pastor being in Philadelphia. 
 In the evening we put her body on the fast train 
 and left for Youngstown, N. Y. , where we laid her 
 to rest on her own lot between her only son and 
 Mr. Butler. "Blessed are the dead which die in 
 the Lord." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PARK COLLEGE AND MY RELATIONS TO IT. 
 
 The great want of Missouri from its early settle- 
 ment was a Christian college. Dr. David Nelson 
 saw the need and attempted to supply it by estab- 
 lishing Marion College in the northeastern portion 
 of the state. He was in advance of the people he 
 attempted to benefit. They spurned his offer and 
 rejected his help and compelled him to flee from 
 the state. 
 
 Dr. Artemus Bullard, who has left his footprints 
 in almost every county in this large state, was the 
 next man who realized the want and began such a 
 college at Webster Groves. His sudden death at 
 the falling of the Gasconade bridge near the close 
 of 1855 Isft the infant college at Webster Groves 
 without any one to carry out Dr. Bullard's plan. 
 The college building was converted into an orphan 
 asylum. This is all that remains of that well- 
 begun effort. 
 
 When I came to the Missouri valley in Novem- 
 ber, 1865, Quantrell and the James boys were so 
 popular that emigrants on their way to Kansas 
 
 195 
 
196 Fifty Years o?i the Skirmish Line 
 
 would go around the state rather than chance 
 their lives by passing through it. Pistols out- 
 numbered Bibles in some congregations to which I 
 first preached. 1 found what was known as the 
 Platte Purchase one scene of moral desolation, save 
 at St. Joseph and some of the better county-seats. 
 I was invited to take charge of the church at Wes- 
 ton, Platte County. I accepted the invitation and 
 removed my family there in May, 1866. I had 
 been in Weston less than two months when I was 
 instructed to go to Breckinridge, Caldwell county, 
 and if the way was clear organize a church there. * 
 I obeyed instructions, found the way clear and 
 organized a Presbyterian church. Very soon there 
 came a like message to go to Forest City, seventy 
 miles northwest. Soon I was asked to undertake 
 the work of a Presbyterial missionary for the old 
 Lexington Presbytery. As we began organizing 
 new churches and gathering up those scattered by 
 the war, the question of supplies for these fields 
 came up. Whence were they to come? They must 
 come from the east or north. We made the effort 
 to introduce eastern men. I induced one man to 
 come from western New York. He staid just one 
 week. The first Sabbath he preached in a newly 
 organized church. Some roughs came in and un- 
 dertook to run the town. The citizens objected 
 and the roughs began shooting, which brought on 
 
Park College and 77iy relations to it igy 
 
 a bad state for the vSabbath day. I was with him 
 to introduce him to the people on that day. The 
 place did not please him. He packed his grip the 
 next morning and left. 
 
 Coming from either north or east there were 
 many things so different from what they had been 
 used to, that they had to go through a process of 
 acclimatization before they became adapted to the 
 new order of things. It would take from one to 
 two years before they could do efficient work. After 
 an experience of four years, I became thoroughly 
 convinced that our only hope of a supply of minis- 
 ters and Christian workers was to start a college 
 for training them on the field they are to occupy. 
 Accordingly I submitted to Platte Presbytery the 
 following thoughts: 
 
 "That there is a pressing need for ministers and 
 Christian helpers within our bounds, there can be no 
 doubt. Those of us who have had to do with sup- 
 plying our churches with ministers and our Sabbath 
 Schools with superintendents and teachers know 
 that the men we need are not to be had with the 
 inducements our churches can offer. We are 
 laying foundations for northwestern Missouri Pres- 
 byterianism. There are two sources of growth of 
 the church of Christ. One is from an internal life 
 outward. The other is by accretion. The first 
 is always a healthy growth. The second may or 
 
198 Fifiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 may not be healthy. There will be a large immi- 
 gration to us soon from other states and territories 
 and from other nations. To make such accessions 
 of population an integral part of ourselves, we must 
 fuse these different elements into one living mass, 
 that they may act together in a common cause. 
 This is a difficult process and not always successful ; 
 when not, it is always hazardous. Growth from 
 an internal life outward always secures the condi- 
 tions of unity. 
 
 "What is true of the membership is true of the 
 ministry of our church. An imported ministry 
 must possess some superior gifts over a home-born 
 one. These gifts enhance the value of such a 
 ministry, which puts them beyond our reach, for 
 the majority of our churches are not rich. It is 
 a serious question after all whether an imported 
 ministry has the elements of as much usefulness as 
 one that is the outgrowth of the church from an 
 internal life. I think it is a settled principle in the 
 history of a live church that its most useful laborers 
 have been the outgrowth of the church. Under 
 the Old Testament church the tribe of Levi were 
 consecrated to the priesthood. Under the New 
 Testament church the Holy Ghost selects from a 
 royal priesthood, a chosen generation. Christ 
 made His selection from the common people. The 
 Holy Ghost working through these turned the world 
 
Park College and my I'elations to it i gg 
 
 upside down in thirty years. He chose the weak 
 things of the world to confound the things that are 
 mighty, that no flesh should glory. 
 
 "Seeking and saving the lost is a practical work. 
 Therefore only practical workers succeed. When 
 God calls men and women into His vineyard, He 
 has work to be done. When, like Saul of Tarsus, 
 they put themselves into a waiting attitude, God 
 will show them what He has for them to do, and 
 how He means them to do it. Our standards define 
 the qualifications for the ministry. Our practical 
 duty as a Presbytery is to undertake the work of 
 raising up the men to cultivate this opening field 
 included in the nineteen counties in the bounds 
 of our Presbytery. To enable us to enter upon 
 this work, we have a property offered us by the 
 Hon. George S. Park for a home for such a train- 
 ing school for ministers and Christian helpers." 
 
 This paper was read and referred to a committee 
 consisting of Rev. E. B. Sherwood, Rev. J. M. 
 Crawford and elder John Maitland, to report at the 
 spring meeting. Accordingly, at that time the 
 committee reported that six months' experience 
 had added to our conviction of the necessity of 
 a training school for raising up Christian workers 
 and ministers, and that now was the time to seize 
 upon the offer of the Hon. George S. Park, who 
 was there to verify the statements I had previously 
 
200 F'ifiy Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 made. Mr. Park then rose and tendered the Pres- 
 bytery the hotel property at Parkville, Mo., a three- 
 story stone bnliding, 80 x 100 feet, with twenty 
 acres on the bluff for a campus and eighty acres 
 lying north of the village on the branch. The re- 
 port was accepted and the committee continued. 
 A vote of thanks was proffered to Mr. Park for his 
 generous offer, but Presbytery was not prepared 
 to avail itself of it then. This offer was the germ 
 of Park College. 
 
 The germ was developed on this wise. At the 
 union of the Old and New School Synods of Mis- 
 souri at St. Louis in June T870, I met the Rev. 
 Professor John A. McAfee. During his address 
 before the united Synod on the importance of a 
 Christian college, .1 said to myself, "I have found 
 my man." Professor McAfee was the first minister 
 I had met in Missouri whose views sympathized 
 with mine on the importance of a Christian college. 
 At the close of his address I sought him out and 
 gave him my hand and my heart. From that day, 
 to his death, our hearts were one on the subject 
 of Christian education. Not many weeks after 
 this synodical meeting I met Dr. Samuel Irvin of 
 Highland, Kansas, who was in search of a pro- 
 fessor for Highland University. I gave him the 
 name of Professor John A. McAfee. He wrote 
 and secured him for Highland. He remained there 
 
ParJz College and my relations to it 201 
 
 five years and did what no other professor had 
 done for them. He brought the University to such 
 a position that the Board of Trustees called a 
 president and elected a full faculty. Professor 
 McAfee v;/as given the Greek chair, with such 
 restrictions that he could not accept it, and his work 
 there ceased. 
 
 Learning that he had closed his work at High- 
 land, I wrote him that I had a place for him at 
 Parkville and told him of the offer of Mr. Park. 
 After the passage of several letters, a meeting was 
 arranged for the 29th of March, 1875. The Hon. 
 George S. Park and Dr. John A. McAfee met for 
 the first time. It was with great pleasure that I 
 brought these two gentlemen together. God had 
 given Mr. Park the means and Dr. McAfee the 
 training to use the means tendered by Mr. Park. 
 They were not long in settling the preliminaries. 
 The name was settled first: 
 "park college for training christian workers." 
 
 Professor McAfee was to take immediate pos- 
 session of the hotel property, and with it, lands 
 for garden and farming and fruit from the orchard 
 for family supplies. Mr. Park donated $500 to 
 enable Professor McAfee to change his location 
 from Highland to Parkville. These were the men 
 whom God had raised up to found a Christian 
 college in Missouri. They were both baptized by 
 
202 Pifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 Dr. David Nelson, Dr. McAfee in infancy, Mr. 
 Park at his conversion. Dr. Nelson had impressed 
 both these men with his self-denying> Christlike 
 example in educational efforts for the worthy poor. 
 Little did Dr. Nelson think while baptizing John 
 A. McAfee in infancy or George S. Park in his 
 majority that he was baptizing the men who would 
 take up and carry out the plan that lay in his own 
 heart and train the worthy poor youth as ministers 
 and teachers for the increasing millions of the 
 valley of the Missouri! 
 
 When God wants workers. He takes them from 
 the classes He designs to benefit. When He 
 wanted a man who would furnish a home for such 
 a school as the youth of Missouri demanded, he put 
 it into the heart of George S. Park, a youth of 
 sixteen years, to leave his home in Vermont on foot 
 in the winter of 1827, and thus make the entire 
 journey to the state of Illinois. On reaching that 
 state, he cast about for something to do. A school 
 opened to him. He entered it and taught through 
 the term. He learned one thing, to wit, that he 
 needed more education. Hence he entered Jack- 
 sonville College and pursued its course until he 
 completed its junior year. Wanting a change, he 
 took a hand in the conflict for Texan independence. 
 He was in the hottest of the fray in the bloody 
 scenes of those terrible days. In the Goliad mas- 
 
Park College and my relations to it 203 
 
 sacre he was one of three who escaped with their 
 Hves. Returning from Texas, he stopped in Cal- 
 laway County, Mo. Here he taught a school where 
 he was converted under the ministry of Dr. David 
 Nelson, was baptized and united with the Presby- 
 terian church. 
 
 On the opening of the Platte Purchase for set- 
 tlement, Mr. Park settled as a merchant at what 
 is known as Parkville, and became an extensive 
 land owner in Missouri and Texas, and later in 
 Illinois. He was one of three male members who 
 founded the Presbyterian church at Parkville. He 
 built a parsonage, gave the lot for the church and 
 $500 to start the house of worship, and saw it 
 finished. He next planned for the education of 
 the youth and was in the midst of these plans 
 when the border war troubles broke in upon them 
 and drove him from his home for a time. 
 
 I was introduced to Mr. Park in 1866 when he 
 was a candidate for the state senate, to which he 
 was elected. I did not meet him again until the 
 fall of 1872, when as Presbyterial missionary, two 
 years after the death of their old pastor. Dr. John 
 Moore, I was invited by Mr. Park to make his 
 house my home in Parkville. With a smiling 
 countenance he said that there was always a 
 prophet's chamber in it. At my second visit the 
 subject of our want of a Christian training school 
 
204 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Lt?ie 
 
 came up. I soon discovered that I had found the 
 man for whom I was looking, one who had a home 
 for such a school. 
 
 We had to wait some three years before the one 
 whom God designed to take possession of this home 
 was ready to enter it. He was in training in the 
 person of the Rev. Professor John A. McAfee. 
 Born of Scotch-Irish parentage, baptized by Dr. 
 David Nelson in the New Providence church, his 
 early life impressed with the consecrated life of 
 Dr. Nelson, trained by godly parents in the way 
 he should go, circumstances seemed to have 
 stamped his character as one that was set apart 
 for God's work. He devoted himself to a thorough 
 classical education and graduated from Westmin- 
 ster College, Fulton, Mo. As the question of his 
 life work came up for settlement, it became more 
 and more certain that John A. McAfee was to take 
 up the work which Dr. Nelson had been compelled 
 to lay down for want of sympathy and means to 
 carry it forward. Professor McAfee soon entered 
 upon his chosen work with a consecration that told 
 that his whole soul was in it. God gave him a 
 wife who was in full sympathy with him and was 
 his efficient helper in all that was given him to do. 
 They drew around them a choice circle of j^outh 
 who under their training became useful ministers 
 and teachers. Professor McAfee failed to enlist 
 
Park College and my relations to it 205 
 
 men of means to aid him in a large effort until, in 
 His own way and time, God brought him in contact 
 with the right man. Little did I think, when I 
 listened to those three serm.ons of Dr. David Nelson 
 in Rochester, N. Y., in 1832, that he was dropping 
 into my heart and brain germs whose growth 
 would control my preparation for the ministry, 
 direct my ministry for eighteen years in New York 
 and ten years in Michigan, and bring me to Mis- 
 souri when there was such a demand for a Christian 
 college, and when there was needed a man to bring 
 together the men whom God had been preparing to 
 meet that great demand. It was my privilege 
 to bring together the Hon. George S. Park and 
 the Rev. Professor John A. McAfee on March 29th, 
 1875. It was the linking together of two grand 
 men in one of the noblest objects that can occupy 
 the heart and hand of Christian men. 
 
 Impelled by convictions and driven by the dis- 
 pensations of an all-wise Providence, Professor 
 McAfee gave his life with its best energies to devis- 
 ing methods and organizing agencies for reaching 
 successfully the class of youth to which he had 
 belonged. The plan he adopted was that of a well 
 regulated Christian family. The name he gave it 
 was, "Park College Family." The age fixed for 
 entrance to this Family was sixteen. It was open 
 to any youth who desired a classical education and 
 
2o6 Fifty Years oti the Skirmish Line 
 
 would honestly and faithfull}^ manifest the disposi- 
 tion to use aright the opportunities afforded and 
 would develop the capacity that promised useful- 
 ness in the church and the world. The object of 
 Park College is to educate and develop each student 
 so that he will act well his part in whatever sphere 
 of life he is called to fill. The Family is a helper 
 and feeder to the College. Every student who 
 makes application for membership in the Family 
 receives a circular in which its object is clearly 
 stated in these words: 
 
 "Who are admitted.? — i. Those to whom God 
 has given a desire and purpose faithfully to study 
 the Bible, receive its teachings and practice its 
 precepts, and secure a training for efficiency in the 
 service of the Lord. No amount of money, no 
 appeal of sympathy or faithfulness in work will 
 secure a place for one who does not faithfully seek 
 the one object had in view here. 
 
 "2. Those who have entered upon, and will 
 
 steadily pursue a full classical course of training. 
 
 "3. Those who will heartily engage in some 
 
 manual labor each day and seek proficiency in any 
 
 sphere given them to fill. 
 
 "4. Those who will seek daily to glorify God in 
 work, study and a hearty and cheerful obedience 
 to those who are over them in the Lord. 
 
 "5. Welcome the youth who eagerly desires a 
 
Park College and my relations to it 207 
 
 development and a training for the Master's ser- 
 vice. But those vi'hose parents are unable to meet 
 the necessary expenses should and must have such 
 consent of parents as shall enable them to yield a 
 cheerful and unhesitating allegiance to the family 
 as its adopted children during the college course." 
 
 Prof. McAfee was put in possession of a place 
 and means to inaugurate his family plan by the 
 Hon. George S. Park in March 1875 in an unused 
 hotel building in the village of Parkville, on the 
 Missouri river nine miles above Kansas City. Be- 
 ginning with seventeen moneyless but determined 
 students, the work has grown to its present (1893) 
 number of 335 and will continue to grow as rapidly 
 as the Lord gives us means to provide rooms for 
 students. There is no endowment for the Family. 
 The Lord provides. The year from June 1892 to 
 1893 the Family received $39,404.30 which was 
 expended in table supplies, improvements, repairs, 
 implements, buildings and all kinds of expenses 
 for a family of over three hundred. Appeals are 
 made by pen and press. 
 
 Why this success.? The blessing of the Lord is 
 a moving power in the hearts of all engaged in the 
 work, resulting from the presence and power of 
 the Holy Spirit honoring the constant and large 
 use daily made of the Scripture. Devotional Bible 
 study is the one supreme thought overreaching 
 
2o8 Fifty Years on the Skir77iish Line 
 
 everything else. It is simply feeding upon the in- 
 spired word of God, and letting it influence and 
 control the motives and actions of all connected 
 with Park College Family. Another reason for 
 its success is the self-respect inculcated, fostered 
 and cultivated in each student. Another is the 
 devotion felt for their college home. All that 
 enter there feel it has been a home to them during 
 the years they remained there. Another reason is 
 the entire dependence upon the grace of God and 
 the faithfulness required of all connected with the 
 Family. 
 
 These are the reasons why Park College is draw- 
 ing students from Syria, Bulgaria, Spain, Ger- 
 many, Scotland, England, Canada and other 
 British provinces, as well as from a majority of the 
 United States. Our students are in demand for 
 the home and foreign mission work, and are 
 already doing valiant service both in the Missouri 
 valley and elsewhere. 
 
 On the I2th of April, 1875, Park College Family 
 had possession of the home. The course of study 
 was fully inaugurated. The system of work 
 indoors and out on the farm was begun. Spring 
 opened with promise; everything in garden and 
 field was flourishing. Mysterious as it may appear, 
 just at this time the grasshopper army put in 
 their appearance. In an incredibly short time 
 
.<? 
 
 Wn^J.U 
 
Park College and my relations to it 209 
 
 there was nothing left that was green on the entire 
 premises but a few tomato plants on the window- 
 stools of the third story of the home of the College 
 Family. Garden and farm all were swept clean. 
 Here was a crisis to be passed. Who was to meet 
 it? Providence seemed to indicate that I must 
 undertake it. 
 
 I left home on the 8th of June to see what I 
 could do among my friends in the state of New 
 York. In a few days I sent back from Lockport, 
 N. Y., a draft for $40, $20 of which came from T. 
 T. Flagler, Esq, I spent my time until the first 
 of November, about five months, in New York, 
 where I found a few friends in every circle of my 
 early acquaintances who contributed. Some gave 
 money; some gave other help. So that crisis was 
 passed. Dr. Knox of Elmira, N. Y., pastor of the 
 First Presbyterian church, entered into sympathy 
 with us and laid out a plan whereby I raised in his 
 congregation $160. Those months were not to 
 be estimated only by the money and the goods 
 obtained, which kept the Family in supplies. I 
 raised up future friends who have given thousands 
 of dollars to Park College Family. 
 
 An invitation to return to Michigan and spend a 
 year in gathering a new church in North Kalama- 
 zoo, took me out of Missouri one year and three 
 months. On my return to Missouri on the 20th 
 
210 Fifty Years on the Skiri7iish Line 
 
 of July 1877, Professor McAfee wished me to re- 
 turn to the financial agency of Park College. I 
 consented to give the remainder of the year to this 
 work, visiting the states of Illinois and Kansas. I 
 gave August and September to Kansas and to St. 
 Louis and other points in Missouri where there was 
 hope of doing anything for the young college. St. 
 Louis gave us considerable help. Kansas City 
 responded with money, lumber, nails and clothing. 
 I attended the meetings of Topeka Presbytery 
 and of the Synod of Kansas and was kindly received. 
 The Synod of Missouri met this year at St. Charles. 
 I attended, and to my surprise was nominated for 
 moderator and elected by acclamation. After 
 Synod I visited the eastern portion of Missouri and 
 passed over into Illinois. I found substantial aid 
 at Jacksonville, Springfield, Bloomington, Winona, 
 L'Ostant, Carrollton and many other places. Ten 
 days were spent at the home of the Hon. George 
 S. Park at Magnolia, 111., in work on a charter for 
 Park College in consort with Mr. Park, drafting 
 and perfecting the same. It was submitted to 
 competent judges and approved. This charter was 
 brought forward by Mr. Park at the first com- 
 mencement, June 1879. He had associated his 
 daughter, Ella L. Park, now Mrs. George A. Law- 
 rence of Galesburg, 111. , with himself. Also Rev. 
 C. C. Kimball, D.D., Jonathan Ford, Timothy 
 
Park College and my relations to it 211 
 
 Hill, D.D., J. W. Byers and P. S. Brown, Esq., 
 of Kansas City; Rev. E. B. Sherwood, Rev. Henry 
 Bullard and John De Clue of St. Joseph; James 
 Marsh, M. D., of Liberty, Mo., and Rev. Professor 
 John A. McAfee, Mrs. John A. McAfee and F. 
 Kahm of Parkville as trustees. These trustees 
 adopted the charter presented by the Hon. George 
 S. Park (see Charter in Appendix). At the first 
 meeting of the Board of Trustees under this 
 charter, the following officers were chosen: 
 
 Rev. C. C. Kimball, D.D,, President, Rev. E. 
 B. Sherwood, Vice-President, Mr. Jonathan Ford, 
 Secretary, Mr. J. W. Byers, Treasurer. 
 
 Advisory Committee: C. C. Kimball, E. B. 
 Sherwood, John A. McAfee, Jonathan Ford, J. 
 W. Byers. 
 
 At a called meeting of the Trustees of Park 
 College on the 31st of May, 1882, the vice-presi- 
 dent was called to the chair. The first business 
 v^as the acceptance of the resignation of the Presi- 
 dent of the Board on account of change of resi- 
 dence. The resignation was accepted. On motion 
 of Mr. John DeClue, Rev. E. B. Sherwood was 
 chosen President. The next morning, June ist, 
 the Board met at 8 o'clock and proceeded to 
 business preparatory to commencement duties. 
 The degree of A. B. was granted to the thirteen 
 graduates recommended by the faculty as entitled 
 
212 Fify Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 to this degree. I signed the diploma of that grad- 
 uating class, our fourth since the beginning, and 
 every year since have had the same pleasant duty 
 to perform. The class of 1893 brought up our 
 alumni roll to 200. My name stands on the 
 diplomas of 184 of these. 
 
 I am truly thankful that I am spared while so 
 many co-workers have died. As a Board we have 
 witnessed and aided the steady growth and the 
 uprising of Park College until it is the banner 
 college of our church in furnishing candidates for 
 the Presbyterian ministry. While many colleges 
 are soliciting students we have been compelled to 
 turn away from one to two hundred annually for 
 the last four or five years. 
 
 The friends of Park College have grown with its 
 growth. The wants of the college have increased 
 with our increasing members. According to our 
 faith in the divine Lord who gave us Park College 
 have our wants in buildings, lands, teachers and 
 supplies been met. It was God's planting. Its 
 growth is from an internal life outward. As long 
 as its Board of Trustees, its faculty, its alumni 
 and its students abide in Christ and His words 
 abide in us, we may ask whatever will be for God's 
 glory and the best interest of Park College and it 
 shall be done for us. 
 
 Since our incorporation in June, 1879, four of 
 
Park College and my relations to it 213 
 
 the incorporators have died. The first to be called 
 away was that prince of Home Mission leaders, 
 Rev. Timothy Hill, D.D., the vice-president of 
 our board. He had accompanied his younger son 
 to a new building that he was superintending. The 
 son had occasion to be absent from the room 
 where his father was looking over his morning 
 mail. When he returned he found his father dead, 
 his hand grasping the letter he was reading when 
 the unseen messenger called him home. 
 
 The Hon. George S. Park died on the 6th of 
 June, 1890, after a long and painful illness at 
 Magnolia, 111. His remains were brought to Park- 
 ville, attended by his widow, his daughter, Mrs. 
 Ella Park Lawrence and her husband, George A. 
 Lawrence, Esq., and his only grandson, Master 
 Park Lawrence. After funeral services in the 
 McCormick Chapel of Park College in which Dr. 
 John A. McAfee, Dr. Henry Bullard and the Rev. 
 E. B. Sherwood each took part, he was borne by 
 a large procession to the burial place of his own 
 selection m the cemetery of Parkville. After the 
 coffin was deposited in the grave, the corporate 
 Board, the faculty, alumni and students laid each 
 a flower upon his coffin as a token of their respect 
 for the man whose memory will live wherever 
 Park College is known. Mr. Park had passed his 
 79th birthday, and hence was ripe in years and 
 service. 
 
214 F'ifty Years on the Skirtnish Line 
 
 This was a mournful beginning of our com- 
 mencement for 1890. The Board of Trustees were 
 in full attendance on Wednesday and Thursday. 
 A large class had graduated. President McAfee 
 had said his farewell as he passed to each graduate 
 his diploma. The committee of the Board of 
 Trustees to whom had been referred the report of 
 President McAfee as to the state of the college, of 
 which Mr. John De Clue was chairman, were highly 
 pleased with the condition dispalyed. At the close 
 of the commencement exercises Mr. DeClue came 
 forward and read their report before the full house, 
 recommending that it be received by a rising vote 
 of the entire audience. The President of the Board 
 put the question; the entire audience arose. The 
 effect on Dr. McAfee was noticed by some. He 
 was under necessity of seeking fresh air at the back 
 door of the chapel before the audience was dis- 
 missed. That night there was an adjourned meet- 
 ing of the Presbytery of Platte in the chapel, in 
 which Dr. McAfee took an active part. His son 
 met him at the chapel with a horse and buggy, 
 with which the President drove to his house. 
 Soon after he retired to bed but without relief. 
 As the gates of day began to open on the 13th of 
 June 1890, the college bell began to toll. As soon 
 as I heard it, I said to my wife that I feared Dr. 
 McAfee was dead. I had been with him a good 
 
Park College and my relations to it 215 
 
 deal during the week. The preceding afternoon I 
 had said to a friend, "I should not be surprised if 
 he should drop off at any moment." I dressed and 
 went out on the street, and met the President's son 
 Lapsley coming to inform me that his father had 
 died before midnight. Commencement week began 
 with the burial of Mr. Park and ended with the 
 death of my other co-worker in the beginning of 
 Park College. They embalmed his body and ap- 
 pointed the Monday following for the funeral. 
 
 As president, I called a special meeting of the 
 Board of Trustees to be held in Parkville on Mon- 
 day, June i6th, at 11 o'clock. After organizing, 
 I handed the secretary the following resolutions 
 which were read and adopted: 
 
 "Resolved, by the Board of Trustees of Park 
 College, That in Rev. J. A. McAfee D.D. we have 
 an example of one, who though rich in natural 
 and acquired endowments yet, for the sake of 
 giving a Christian education to poor, deserving 
 youth, he so knew the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that he made himself poor that others 
 might become rich in Christian training. 
 
 "Resolved, That in the prosecution of his self- 
 denying work "his faith staggered not at the prom- 
 ises of God," for it mattered not how many obsta- 
 cles appeared, yet his faith rose superior to them 
 all, and he ceased not to wrestle in prayer. 
 
2i6 i'^ifly Years 07i the Skirmish Line 
 
 "Resolved, As the Board of Trustees of a col- 
 lege that was begun in prayer and self-denial, and 
 has been sustained by faith in God's daily care, 
 we do pledge anew our fidelity to the work to 
 which we have been called. Trusting alone in 
 God, we will labor to rear on the foundation already 
 laid, a structure that will outlast the lives of its 
 founders and bless the coming ages. 
 
 "Resolved, That with thanksgiving we learn of 
 the determination of Mrs. McAfee and her sons to 
 take up the mantle fallen from the husband and 
 father, and stand in his place in the care of the 
 family. We do hereby express our full confidence 
 in them and their ability to successfully maintain 
 the work. 
 
 "Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be 
 presented to Mrs. McAfee and family, also that 
 these resolutions be sent to our Church papers and 
 the papers of Parkville, Kansas City and St. 
 Joseph." 
 
 The Board then adjourned and attended the 
 funeral of President McAfee, acting as honorary 
 pall-bearers. A mournful procession bore his 
 body to the cemetery and laid it near where we 
 laid the body of Mr. Park a week before. If 
 flowers were the expression of affection for the 
 departed President, surely he was much beloved. 
 
 In August, 1890, died another of our co-laborers 
 
Park College a?id my relations to it 217 
 
 of the Board of Trustees, our secretary since our 
 incorporation, Mr. Jonathan Ford of Kansas City, 
 an elder in the Second Church. He is missed by 
 the Board, missed in the college, and especially 
 missed by the poor of Kansas City. 
 
 When the Board of Trustees of the College met 
 in June 1892, the following communication was 
 received from the faculty: 
 
 "To the Board of Trustees: 
 
 "In consideration of his long, valiant and suc- 
 cessful service in the cause of Christ in the Presby- 
 terian Church, and of his unwearied devotion to 
 the affairs of Park College from its founding, the 
 faculty of Park College recommend that the hon- 
 orary degree of Doctor of Divinity be conferred 
 upon the Rev. Elisha B. Sherwood." 
 
 This recommendation was a surprise to me. No 
 honorary degrees had been granted by the college, 
 and the adoption of the recommendation was an 
 added pleasure. In the afternoon of the same day 
 notice came that the Highland University of High- 
 land, Kansas, had conferred upon me the same 
 degree. This was even more of a surprise to me 
 than the first and was highly appreciated. 
 
 In conclusion, the writer of this sketch is truly 
 thankful to the great Captain, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that he was counted worthy to be called to 
 the services he has rendered on the skirmish line 
 
2i8 ^0y y^ars on the Skirmish Line 
 
 which are herein portrayed. He is thankful for 
 that drill which endued him with moral courage 
 which feared not hard cases nor shunned hard 
 places, for the armor of righteousness which enabled 
 him to stand in the evil day, for the sword of the 
 Spirit which has been his only weapon of defense, 
 for the effectual fervent prayer which has availed 
 much. Above all, he thanks the Father, Son and 
 Holy Spirit for the gospel which he has been ena- 
 bled to preach to the saving of precious souls. 
 
 I 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 Acts i:8. — "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is 
 come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusa- 
 lem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts 
 of the earth," 
 
 The last words of a departing friend or a dying 
 parent have a charm that impresses them upon 
 memory and makes us dehght to recall them. The 
 text is the closing words of their ascending Lord 
 to His sorrowing disciples. There are two thoughts 
 in the text that are very precious: The promise of 
 power from the Holy Ghost, and the assurance that 
 they should be Christ's witnesses. 
 
 The power from the Holy Ghost was indispensa- 
 ble to qualify them to take up the work Christ had 
 given them to do. Matthew designates it "teach- 
 ing the nations." Mark invests it with the author- 
 ity of a command: "Preach the gospel to every 
 creature." Luke defines it as "preaching repentance 
 and remission of sins in the name of Jesus among 
 all nations." Our Lord in the text calls it witness- 
 ing unto Him. Whatever name you give the work, 
 it is great. Who is sufficient for it? The apostles 
 
 were not. Notwithstanding, they had been 
 
 219 
 
220 i^ifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 specially chosen for it, and by our Lord instructed 
 and commissioned to undertake it. Said He to 
 them: "You need a power which nothing but the 
 Holy Ghost can impart to you; therefore tarry ye 
 in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with 
 power from on high." In the context they are com- 
 manded "not to depart from Jerusalem, but wait 
 for the promise of the Father which, saith He, ye 
 have heard of Me." "Ye shall be baptized with 
 the Holy Ghost not many days hence." 
 
 But there was one thing that had so taken pos- 
 session of the apostles' minds that the "promise of 
 the Father" was not appreciated. It was this: 
 "Lord, wilt thou not at this time restore again 
 the kingdom to Israel.''" To which He replied, I 
 have something better for you than the kingdom 
 restored. It is not for you to know the times and 
 seasons which the Father hath put in His own 
 power. The Holy Ghost coming upon you shall be 
 better for you than the restored kingdom. When 
 He had spoken these things, while they beheld, 
 Luke says while He blessed them, in the very act 
 of imparting a blessing to them, He was parted 
 from them and carried up into heaven. All their 
 hopes of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel 
 were now blasted. They were shut up to lay hold 
 of the "promise of the Father." 
 
 They return to Jerusalem and gather in that 
 
Sermon i 221 
 
 upper room and wait for the promised baptism of 
 the Holy Ghost "not many days hence." They 
 continue with one accord in prayer and supplication 
 with the women. Day after day they tarry in that 
 upper chamber, waiting on God. They stagger not 
 at the promise of God through unbelief. They 
 are strong in faith. They are fully persuaded that 
 what God had promised He is able to perform. 
 
 The first day passed and there was no power. 
 The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the 
 sixth — and no answer yet. The seventh is the for- 
 tunate day in the Hebrew calendar. "Surely the 
 Holy Ghost will come to us to-day," and the 
 seventh was passed in prayer and supplication — yet 
 no answer. "Wait thou only on God." They 
 clung closer to the promise and would not let the 
 angel of the covenant go. "When the day of 
 Pentecost" — the fiftieth from our Lord's crucifixion 
 and the tenth since His ascension — "was fully come, 
 they were all with one accord in one place. And 
 suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a 
 rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house 
 where they were sitting." We know not which of 
 the disciples was praying when the answer came. 
 We have often thought that it would have rejoiced 
 us to have been in that meeting. It was a wonder- 
 ful scene. There was nothing like it ever before. 
 There has been no nieeting like it since. Peter 
 
222 ^ifty y^cifs on the Skirmish Line 
 
 looked up and saw on John's forehead a lambent 
 flame of fire. John saw the same flame resting 
 upon Peter, and as they looked from one to the 
 other, there appeared "cloven tongues like as of 
 fire, and it sat upon each of them." "And they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost." The living 
 God was in contact with those one hundred and 
 twenty, Himself teaching and loving while they 
 learned and loved. This truth was then and there 
 illustrated, that God does work with men directly 
 and specially, and that He does reveal Himself 
 unto His children in such a manner that the hum- 
 blest of them are wiser than the most learned of 
 unregenerated men. It was there proved that the 
 God of life does take His chosen ones into such re- 
 lations with Himself that the soul is born again, 
 new-formed, re-created. 
 
 Such was the power coming upon the disciples 
 which prepared them to be witnesses for Jesus. 
 They now "began to speak with other tongues as 
 the Spirit gave them utterance." What a change 
 the coming of the Holy Ghost wrought upon these 
 hitherto timid disciples! They were true witnesses 
 unto Him. Beholding the power that had come 
 upon them, the people were amazed, "saying one 
 to another, "What meaneth this.?" Others mocking 
 said, "These men are full of new wine." Peter, 
 standing up with the eleven, showed them that men 
 
Sermon i 223 
 
 did not get drunk on new wine at nine o'clock in 
 the morning. "This is that which was spoken by 
 the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the 
 last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit 
 upon all flesh." The last days spoken of by Joel 
 have come, the Spirit is poured out. What you 
 see is the result. He then demonstrated to them 
 that Jesus was the Messiah and concluded his testi- 
 mony with the words of the 36th verse of the 
 second chapter of Acts: "Therefore let all the 
 house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath 
 made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, 
 both Lord and Christ." 
 
 The thousands of the house of Israel could not 
 resist such testimony. It pricked them to the heart 
 and they "said unto Peter and the rest of the 
 apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
 This is the very Christ. His blood is on us and 
 on our children. Then said Peter unto them. 
 There is only one thing you can do, "repent and 
 be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus 
 Christ for the remission of sins." By being bap- 
 tized in the name of Jesus Christ you confess your 
 faith in Him as the Messiah. Thus accepting 
 Christ, God will accept you as true penitents and 
 will grant you remission of sins. As evidence that 
 you are forgiven, you "shall receive the gift of the 
 Holy Ghost," the witness of the Spirit witnessing 
 
224 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 that you are born again, created anew in Christ 
 Jesus. As the effect of Peter witnessing for Christ, 
 many gladly received the word and three thousand 
 confessed Christ in the sacrament of baptism and 
 were added to the church the same day. Such was 
 the result of the first day's work for Jesus after 
 the Holy Ghost had come upon them. The next 
 recorded day's work gave them five thousand, and 
 in less than thirty-three years they literally turned 
 the world upside-down, so mightily did they wit- 
 ness for Jesus. 
 
 This leads us to this important truth: that power 
 communicated to the one hundred and twenty on 
 the day of Pentecost by the coming of the Holy 
 Ghost upon them is just as essential to us as it was 
 to them in order that Christ may now have a wit- 
 nessing church. The coming of the Holy Ghost 
 was the secret of their wonderful power in prayer 
 and in the preaching of the word. The same 
 power will give the same efficiency to those who 
 witness for Christ that the apostles possessed. 
 We use the word "essential" here understandingly. 
 We mean by the statement that the power of the 
 Holy Ghost is just as necessary to the constitution 
 and existence of the church now as it was when our 
 Savior spoke those last words to His disciples. 
 Before the Holy Ghost came upon them they had 
 no clearer ideas of the spiritual nature of Christ's 
 
Sermon i 225 
 
 kingdom than Nicodemus had of the new birth. 
 Even after our Lord had commanded them not to 
 depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the baptism of 
 the Holy Ghost, what was their first question on 
 being assembled with their Lord in this last inter- 
 view with Him on earth? "Lord, wilt thou at this 
 time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Out of 
 the abundance of their hearts they spoke. They 
 were full of the subject of the restoration of the 
 kingdom to Israel. The command not to depart 
 from Jerusalem until they were endued with power 
 from on high had made no impression on their 
 minds. They wished the Roman yoke broken and 
 their Lord seated on the throne of David. Some 
 of them were doubtless expecting a good place in 
 His cabinet and others hoped for a foreign appoint- 
 ment. It was when their Lord went up on high 
 that it first broke upon their minds that Christ's 
 kingdom is not of this world. "The natural man 
 receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." 
 This great fact is confirmed in the experience of 
 every natural man. The reason why the natural 
 man does not receive the things of the Spirit of 
 God is found in the fact that we are dead in tres- 
 passes and sins. Men are insensible to spiritual 
 truths as dead men are to passing events. It is 
 only when they are quickened by the power of the 
 Holy Ghost coming upon them that they are raised 
 
226 Fifty Years 07i the Skirmish Line 
 
 out of their graves of sin and come to understand 
 the truth as it is in Jesus. It is the Spirit that 
 quickeneth. "Now we have not received the spirit 
 of the world but the spirit which is of God, that 
 we might know the things that are freely given us 
 of God; which things also we speak, not in the 
 words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which 
 the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things 
 with spiritual." We witness for Christ only so far 
 as the Holy Ghost has taught us. "Howbeit, when 
 He, the Spirit of truth is come. He will guide you 
 into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, 
 but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, 
 and He will show you things to come. He shall 
 glorify me, for He shall receive of mine and show 
 it unto you." 
 
 Obedience to the truth as it is in Jesus is the first 
 condition of knowing it. "If any man will do His 
 will, he shall know of the doctrine." Saul of Tarsus 
 was in great doubt whether Jesus was indeed the 
 Christ. As soon as he submitted himself to Christ 
 to do His will, he came to know the truth and the 
 truth made him free. To know Christ and His 
 resurrection became the master-thought of his 
 master-mind. Christ so dwelt in his heart by faith 
 that he was rooted and grounded in love and was 
 able to comprehend with all saints what is the 
 breadth and length and depth and height and to 
 
Sermon I 21"] 
 
 know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, 
 that he might be filled with the fullness of God. 
 It was this wonderful knowledge that enabled Paul 
 to utter those precious sayings of the power of this 
 glorious gospel, such as are found in the Acts and 
 his epistles. For example: "I am not ashamed 
 of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God 
 unto salvation to every one that believeth." The 
 power of this gospel to save is limited only by want 
 of faith. To him that believeth, all things are 
 possible. This gospel not only possessed power to 
 save, but gave Paul great peace with God and set 
 him free from condemnation; for the spirit of life 
 in Christ Jesus had made him free from the law of 
 sin and death. This gospel bound him to Christ 
 by a tie that "neither death, nor life, nor angel_s, 
 nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, 
 nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any 
 other creature" could sever. Such a living witness 
 for Christ carried with him a power that convinced 
 both Jews and Gentiles that it was "a faithful say- 
 ing and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus 
 came unto the world to save sinners." It is such 
 a practical knowledge of Christ that gives power to 
 His gospel to-day. The Rev. George Muller, of 
 Bristol, England, speaking of a certain period of 
 his life, characterizes thus: "Since I came to 
 know the Lord." What we want is to know the 
 
228 Fifty Years on the Skirtnish Line 
 
 Lord. We want to know the power of an indwell- 
 ing God. We want so to live that friends and foes 
 will know that it is the Spirit of God who speaks in 
 us. 
 
 We need the power of the Holy Ghost not only 
 that we may witness from a knowledge of Christ's 
 work upon our hearts, but also to enable us to 
 teach transgressors God's ways that sinners may be 
 converted. The ministry should be the outgrowth 
 of the church and in full sympathy with it. Con- 
 sequently, a witnessing church will demand a wit- 
 nessing ministry. Before we can help sinners out 
 of the horrible pit and miry clay, our feet must 
 stand upon the Rock of Ages. Hence the great 
 number of ministers and Sabbath-School teachers 
 who, while they teach transgressors God's ways, 
 fail to lead them to the Lamb of God who taketh 
 away the sins of the world. They know more of 
 Sinai than of Calvary. The love of God shed abroad 
 in the heart by the Holy Ghost is the essential 
 power that enables us to lead sinners to Christ. 
 Hence the prayer of the Psalmist: "Restore unto 
 me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with 
 thy free Spirit." From joys of salvation and the 
 upholdings of God's Spirit comes that hope that 
 maketh not ashamed. 
 
 We are not only to hear the word at God's 
 mouth, but we are to give the people warning from 
 
Sermon I 229 
 
 God. The charge is to speak with God's words 
 unto them. We are not at liberty to say, "Thus 
 saith the Lord," when we have drawn our sermons 
 from German philosophy or have spun them out 
 of our own vain imaginations. "The prophet that 
 hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that 
 hath my word, let him speak it faithfully. What 
 is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not 
 my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a 
 hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" There 
 are those to whom the truth as it is in Jesus is a 
 stumbling-block and to others it is foolishness. In 
 the language of the Narrative of the State of Re- 
 ligion in the Bounds of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the United States (1884): "In these skeptical 
 times, when skepticism is in the air and when, to 
 a degree that few of us are perhaps willing to 
 admit, skeptical doubts are troubling the minds of 
 vast numbers of the people, it behooves us who 
 hold the truth of Jesus Christ to hold fast. It is 
 no time for speculations, apologies and compro- 
 mises. The Bible is the inspired word of God or it 
 is not. If it is not, it is of no more authority to 
 us than the Mohammedan Koran or the Hindu 
 Shasters, and Jesus Christ and redemption, heaven 
 and hell, are delusions and lies. But if it is, its 
 revelation and doctrines are true and infinitely 
 mportant. We believe it is, we know it is. And 
 
230 i^ifiy Years 07i the Skirmish Line 
 
 we who preach its doctrines should preach them 
 confidently, boldly, aggressively. It is to be feared 
 that in some of our pulpits this is not done. It is 
 to be feared that some of our preachers ignore the 
 bone and sinew, the marrow and fatness, of the 
 gospel and preach only or chiefly the glittering 
 generalities of a sentimental religion that makes a 
 mockery of the cross of Christ. And it is to be 
 feared that some of our people have lost their love 
 for and their faith in the glorious old saving doc- 
 trines of the gospel as they are embodied in our 
 Confession and the catechisms, and so have lost 
 all relish for them themselves and all desire to 
 teach them to their children." 
 
 Where there is a disposition to let down the 
 standard of Bible truth, it is evidence that such 
 persons do not receive the truth in the love of it. 
 We shall be saved through a belief of the truth. 
 Those who are damned will be lost because they 
 did not believe the truth. Those who in the end 
 perish, do so because they receive not the truth in 
 the love of it. For this cause Gpd sends strong 
 delusions to the rejectors of truth that they might 
 be damned because they had pleasure in unright- 
 eousness. The great inquiry, then, is. What is 
 truth.? Christ is the truth and the life. Let us 
 believe, receive and confess Him that all His salva- 
 tion may know. It is not sufficient to believe that 
 
Ser7?ion i 231 
 
 He was the best man that ever was born of a 
 woman. We must beheve that He was God as well 
 as man, that He died for our sins and arose 'again 
 for our justification, that "we have redemption 
 through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." 
 "When the Comforter is come whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, 
 which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify 
 of me." "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: 
 Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is 
 come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that 
 confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the 
 flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of anti- 
 Christ whereof ye have heard that it should come, 
 and even now already is it in the world." Yes, he 
 is in the world. He has entered our pulpits, and 
 through the press he lifts his hydra head. His 
 coming is after the working of Satan with all 
 power and "with all deceivableness of unrighteous- 
 ness in all them that perish because they received 
 not the love of the truth that they might be 
 saved." When a person lets goof the simple truth 
 as it is revealed in the scriptures of the Old and 
 New Testaments, he knows not whither he may 
 drift. 
 
 We are just in those times when the church needs 
 power from above. It is marvelous how our best 
 men have overlooked the true source of the church's 
 
232 ^ipy y<'"aj's 071 the Skirmish Line 
 
 power. In the examination of candidates for the 
 ministry, how many are ever asked the question, 
 Have you been endowed with power from on high? 
 Have you felt that power coming upon you that 
 carries you out of yourself and above yourself, that 
 gives the Word of God edge, that makes it prick 
 men in the heart, that begets in you an agonizing 
 spirit of prayer and enables you to wrestle with 
 God until the blessing comes? In selecting your 
 sermons, do you first go to God and get your ear 
 so near His mouth that you hear what God speaks; 
 and when you have a message from God do you 
 deliver it as from God? If not, your thoughts may 
 be very beautiful and your logic very clear and your 
 rhetoric fine and men may praise your effort, but it 
 will be powerless to save souls from the power of 
 sin. Such should tarry in some upper chamber 
 until they are baptized with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Suppose Paul should meet the masses of enrolled 
 church members and put the same question as to 
 the members of the church of Ephesus as recorded 
 in Acts 19:1 — "Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
 since ye believed?" How many would be com- 
 pelled to give the same answer as the Ephesian 
 members: "We have not so much as heard wheter 
 there be any Holy Ghost." Is He not promised 
 to all who repent and are baptized in the name of 
 Jesus Christ for the remission of sins? Acts 2:38 
 
Sermon I 233 
 
 — "In whom also after that ye beheved, ye were 
 sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is 
 the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption 
 of the purchased possession unto the praise of His 
 glory." Eph. 1:13, 14 — "Know ye not that ye are 
 the temple of God and that the Spirit of God 
 dwelleth in you?" These are truths which Chris- 
 tians are supposed to know and witness to. Herein 
 consists the power of the church: "as lively stones 
 ye are built up a spiritual house, an holy priest- 
 hood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to 
 God by Jesus Christ," "in whom all the building fitly 
 framed together groweth unto an holy temple in 
 the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together 
 for an habitation of God through the Spirit." 
 
 We see what is wanted to stay the tide of skep- 
 ticism that is setting in upon our churches: 
 
 First, a ministry that has received power because 
 the Holy Ghost has come upon it. There is noth- 
 ing like the simple truth of the Scripture, spoken 
 in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, to 
 overcome the unbelief of the sinful heart and the 
 power of sin in the world. The curse of the min- 
 istry is that for the last quarter of a century too 
 many have been drawing their inspiration from 
 German philosophy rather than from the word of 
 God. We are now beginning to reap the fruits of 
 such a philosophy. Many of our theological pro- 
 
234 -^^Py y^^^^ on the Skirmish Line 
 
 fessors are more or less tinctured with rationalism 
 and are not prepared to denounce the incipient 
 infidelity. A great number, especially of the 
 younger ministers, are making their sermons on 
 the literary models of Anglican and American 
 preachers of high intellect, but more than question- 
 able soundness. Thus straining to be intellectual, 
 they vitiate the truth. They do not preach Christ 
 Himself as our living Head, and His cross as the 
 Spirit's cure for worldliness in Christ's church. By 
 thus letting down the testimony of our Lord and 
 avoiding the offense of the cross, there has come to 
 be a strange mixing up of the church and the world 
 in every conceivable form, as if it were the church's 
 mission to attract the world to itself in all its world- 
 liness, denying the deep difference between the 
 church and the world, or that our Lord had ever 
 said, ^'Ye cannot serve God and mammon." The 
 country is full of such preaching; but where is 
 Christ? He is all but unknown as the Holy Ghost 
 has revealed Him in the word of God. What 
 kind of witnesses are such professors.? And what 
 deliverances from the power of sin can be expected 
 where Christ is not known as a Savior from sin.!* 
 
 Secondly, we need a witnessing church, one that 
 knows the truth and has experienced its saving 
 power. We need a church whose faith does not 
 stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of 
 
Sertnon i 235 
 
 God, a church that knows whom it has beHeved, 
 that has passed from death unto Hfe, a church that 
 has presented its body a Hving sacrifice, holy, 
 acceptable unto God which is its reasonable ser- 
 vice, a church that is not conformed to the world, 
 but is transformed by the renewing of its mind 
 that it may prove what is that good and perfect 
 will of God. Such a church is a commendation of 
 religion that skepticism cannot resist. Such living 
 witnesses to our religion will do more to convert 
 sinners from the error of their ways than all the 
 sermons ever drawn from German philosophy. 
 
 Ye shall have power. Has it come upon you.-* 
 If not, wait for it. It is your privilege to have it. 
 God gives it without measure. To him that be- 
 lieveth, all things are possible. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 Luke 19:10 — "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save 
 that which is lost," 
 
 Our text is the reason why our Lord was the 
 guest of Zaccheus. Jesus of Nazareth in His 
 search for the lost, passed through Jericho. There 
 was one, who was chief among a despised class, 
 who had a strong desire to see Him. To gratify 
 this desire, he climbed into a sycamore tree and 
 seated himself upon one of the branches. When a 
 person is in earnest to see Jesus, you will see him 
 use just the means to accomplish his object. 
 Christ knew his state of mind and looking up, said 
 to him, "Zaccheus, make haste, and come down; 
 for to-day I must abide at thy house." "And he 
 made haste, and came down, and received Him 
 joyfully. And when they saw it, they all mur- 
 mured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with 
 a man that was a sinner." 
 
 As He entered Zaccheus' house, what a blessing 
 
 He brought with Him! "This day is salvation 
 
 come to this house," for this man is a child of the 
 
 covenant; he is Abraham's son. This is my mis- 
 
 236 
 
Sermon ii 237 
 
 sion. "I am come to seek and to save that which 
 was lost." Zaccheus was a lost man, but now he 
 has salvation. He now acts like a new man. He 
 did love money, was grasping after the world; he 
 now divides with Christ and His poor. More: if 
 anything that I call mine own was obtained by 
 false accusation, I restore fourfold. They all 
 murmured that He had gone to be guest with such 
 a man. The Friend of sinners thought He was 
 doing the very work for which He came into the 
 world, to seek and save just such sinners as 
 Zaccheus. 
 
 Prejudice against certain classes in society is a 
 great barrier to doing good. If the Son of Man 
 had to meet it in seeking and saving the lost, all 
 that engage in like work will have like obstacles to 
 encounter. It matters not how penitent a sinner 
 may be or how much he is disposed to do right and 
 make restitution for the wrongs he may have done, 
 he has done thus and so, or she has done thus and 
 this — we cannot receive them into our circle, they 
 must not be admitted to our society. Why! they 
 live in such a street; none of the better classes 
 live in that part of town; they cannot maintain our 
 style; they cannot pay pew rent in our church; 
 they will be like pauper members if they come 
 among us. There are others who say, Why 
 attempt to build up churches among that class of 
 
238 Fifty Years on the Sktr?Hish Line 
 
 society? They will have to be carried by the 
 boards of the church. We meet all this prejudice 
 against the poor, and these distinctions that the 
 "tony" ones would introduce into the church- of 
 the living God, with the words of the text: "The 
 Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which 
 was lost." 
 
 The question is this: Shall we leave men and 
 women in their sins to corrupt themselves with 
 their vices and sink deeper and still deeper into all 
 the evils that sin and misery bring upon the human 
 family, or shall we go to them with the gospel, the 
 Sabbath School and God's appointed means, to 
 lift them from the horrible pit and the miry clay 
 and set their feet upon the rock and start them in 
 the race for immortality and eternal life? We take 
 the latter alternative decidedly. Our Lord made 
 no distmction in persons. It was the lost whom 
 He came to seek and save. It mattered not 
 whether it was a paralytic who had to be borne of 
 four, or he who had laid at the pool of Bethesda 
 for thirty and eight years, or the leper who was by 
 the law of Moses ceremonially unclean and so loath- 
 some that he was shut out from society, or the 
 adulterous woman taken in the very act, the blind 
 beggar or the rich publican. His mission was to 
 seek and save them because they were lost. 
 
 What is lost? The soul! In what sense is the 
 
Ser 171071 II 239 
 
 soul lost? Not the loss of existence. The sentence 
 upon the first transgressors was, "Dying, thou shalt 
 die." Death in sin is to suffer a living death. The 
 rich man in hell, as he lifted up his eyes and called 
 for water, gives us a literal idea of a death in sin. 
 "Tormented in this flame," was his expression of 
 it. "These shall go away into everlasting punish- 
 ment." Such is the loss of the soul whom Jesus 
 is seeking to save. The loss is of zvell-beiiig, the 
 loss of the object of our being. What is the chief 
 end of man? Not to get greenbacks, or bonds, 
 and so on. It is "to glorify God and to enjoy Him 
 forever." To be lost is to be cast away as when a 
 vessel is lost at sea, wrecked, stranded, sunk like 
 lead in the mighty waters. To be lost is to be 
 ruined, undone, utterly perish. 
 
 There are two ideas involved in the term "lost": 
 
 First, The loss of all the good that the soul is 
 capable of enjoying in this life and also in that 
 which is to come. 
 
 Second, The loss of pardon. Guilt is the una- 
 voidable attendant of the sinner. "There is no 
 peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Pardon blots 
 out sin and removes all consciousness of guilt and 
 restores the life of God to the soul. The loss of 
 the soul is the loss of this pardon. 
 
 It is the loss of holiness without which no man 
 shall see God in peace. It is the loss of a crown 
 
240 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 of glory, the palm of victory, of an inheritance in- 
 corruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away. 
 To be lost is to be shut out of heaven, to be shut 
 off from hope. It is the loss of all good and the 
 endurance of all evil and misery which the soul is 
 capable of suffering. Who can tell how much this 
 is? We know that sin and misery are in close 
 proximity to each other. Misery is the outgrowth 
 of sin. They go hand in hand. No one knows 
 what a soul endures in this world under the lashings 
 of conscience and the corrodings of guilt. What a 
 loss to be where there is no eye to pity, no cordial 
 to relieve, no ray of hope to cheer, where justice 
 and self-condemning guilt consign the lost soul to 
 the perdition of the ungodly! Such is the loss of 
 the soul. Dear hearer, the loss of your soul is your 
 own loss, your own voluntary act. The terrible 
 truth that will pierce the soul with the keenest an- 
 guish, is, I have destroyed myself! Who can cal- 
 culate the loss of one soul, or what shall a man 
 give in exchange for his soul! It is an irreparable 
 loss. A person may lose his health and by years of 
 great care recover it again. He may lose property; 
 years of toil and economy will restore it. He may 
 lose friends, but others may be raised up to fill 
 their places. But the soul — there is no replacing 
 that loss. If Christ be lost to you there is no 
 Savior for you. What a loss, not for a life-time^ 
 
Sermon ii 241 
 
 not for a century, but for eternity! It is this word 
 eternity that makes hell so terrible and heaven so 
 desirable. 
 
 The mission of Christ is to save us from all that 
 is terrible in hell. He saved Zaccheus and showed 
 his sympathy for him by being a guest at his house. 
 That He might seek and save us He came as the 
 Son of Man. He was both God and man. As 
 God He gave Himself a ransom for us. As the Son 
 of Man He knows us and is in full sympathy with 
 every lost soul. Though rich, for our sakes He 
 became poor. Though the omnipotent God, He 
 became as a little child. Thus He entered into all 
 the relations of life that He might become a sym- 
 pathizing High Priest. He came seeking and saving 
 the lost. The soul of the poor beggar was just as 
 precious to Him as the soul of Dives. Of the rich 
 it is said, How hardly shall they enter into the 
 kingdom. The rich young nobleman, when affec- 
 tionately told by our Lord what he must do to 
 inherit eternal life, turned away sorrowful, for he 
 had great possessions. When the rich are pro- 
 fessedly converted, they never do as much good as 
 those who have been trained up from youth in the 
 benevolence of the gospel. What did William B. 
 Astor in his life time do for Christ? There is no 
 record that he did anything for the Lord Jesus. 
 His sons were unwilling that his name should be 
 
242 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 lost and conceived the idea of building in Trinity 
 Church an altar as a memorial that such a man 
 once lived in the city of New York. Wm. E. Dodge 
 will not need such an altar. He will live in the 
 grateful hearts of thousands who have felt his in- 
 fluence for God. There is one difficulty in professed 
 conversion of some rich men. They do not feel 
 the necessity of taking their pocket-books to their 
 baptism. Wealth thus consecrated may be used 
 for the glory of God and for the spread of the 
 saving knowledge of Christ. 
 
 It is the poor that receive the gospel as good 
 tidings of great joy. But under the state of things 
 which has been growing in many of our churches 
 within the last twenty-live years, too many of the 
 poor are shut out from the privileges of the gospel 
 in all our towns and cities. I mean that system 
 which demands the pew-rentals must sustain the 
 running expenses of the congregation. This system 
 puts every minister in a wrong relation to his people. 
 What is the real question where the minister is 
 held responsible for sustaining the running expense 
 of the congregation .? Dollars and cents, not the 
 salvation of sinners. In the first place, he must 
 please the people in order to draw. But the 
 friendship of the world is enmity with God. The 
 crowd said, Not this man, but Barabbas! In the 
 second place, the system substitutes financial sue- 
 
Sermon il 243 
 
 cess for a spiritual growth and the power of the 
 Holy Ghost in the church. Christ did not say that 
 ye should receive power after your minister has 
 drawn a full house and every seat is rented. But, 
 "ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost 
 is come upon you." Give me the power of the 
 Holy Ghost and there will be no difficulty in run- 
 ning a church. In the third place, it deprives a 
 minister of his office as an ambassador of Christ. 
 An ambassador receives his instructions from the 
 government that commissions him. He is in 
 Christ's stead. Take up My mission where I left 
 it when I went up on high. He is Christ's minis- 
 ter. He must go to Christ for a message. When 
 he has put his ear so near to the mouth of Christ 
 that he has received a message from Christ, let him 
 speak as one who is commissioned from God. If 
 he has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. Such 
 is the minister who is in Christ's stead. Such an 
 one in seeking the lost. How many ministers there 
 are who act as if the word "seek" were not in the 
 text! Seek the lost if you would save him. 
 Rescue the perishing. Down deep in the human 
 heart there may be some chords that sin has not 
 destroyed. Go then where there is a lost one. Go 
 in Christ's name and in His strength. If you save 
 him there will be joy in the presence of the angels 
 of God. Their joy will not rise and fall in proper- 
 
244 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 tion to the greenbacks or bonds that he may have 
 to his credit. Their joy is that a soul is saved, 
 that another star is added to the crown and diadem 
 of Jesus, that in another soul eternal life has 
 sprung up. There are those who profess to be 
 seeking to save souls who act as if none but the 
 large fish are worth taking out of the gospel net. 
 
 What interest gathers around that scene where 
 the penitent soul offers his prayer in broken accents 
 for mercy. God rises from His royal seat and 
 bends His ear to catch the first penitential utter- 
 ance. Jesus is there, interceding with the Father. 
 The Holy Ghost is there convincing of sin and of 
 righteousness and of the judgment. Angels are 
 there on poised wing ready to carry the welcome 
 news that the dead is alive. There is no other 
 point where such interest clusters. It is not asked 
 whether he is rich or poor, but whether he is peni- 
 tent. If penitent, then says Jesus, You are the one 
 I am seeking; I am come to reconstruct you for 
 heaven and glory. What a work Jesus does for 
 that man! He was lost to his family, to society 
 and to happiness. The Son of Man has saved him. 
 Look at him now. He sits at Jesus' feet in his 
 right mind. His wife rejoices, his children rejoice, 
 his neighbors rejoice and exclaim, "Great is the 
 work!" None but the Son of God could do such a 
 work. Angels rejoice that it is done and all heaven 
 
Sermon II 245 
 
 rejoices that another soul is saved through the hlood 
 of the Lamb. Such is the mission of the Son of 
 Man. 
 
 As an ambassador of Christ I am here in His stead 
 to seek and save the lost among you. It may be 
 there are some dear children who want to be saved. 
 Or there may be some one here who has an un- 
 saved husband who feels that she has not done all 
 she could to save him. Let me encourage all such 
 in faith. 
 
 There is not an unsaved person in this congrega- 
 tion whom Jesus is not seeking to save and to do 
 it now. He has saved some of your dear friends. 
 They are before the throne of God, having washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb. Behold now is your time; now is the 
 day of your salvation, 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 Matthew 9:24 — "For the maid is not dead, but sleepeth," 
 
 Our severest and most relenting foe should be 
 called by a soft name. The entrance of the king 
 of terrors to any of our dwellings always brings the 
 most appalling results. Yet when we are taught 
 from the sacred Scriptures to look upon his most 
 fearful ravages as a sleep, it mitigates much of the 
 terror that this stern foe always brings. Conse- 
 quently the writers of both sacred and profane 
 history have united in designating death as a sleep. 
 For example, the writers of the books of Kings 
 and Chronicles in speaking of the death of the Kings 
 of Israel represent them as sleeping with their 
 fathers. Daniel (12:2) says that many of them 
 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. 
 Our Lord, in the eleventh chapter of John's 
 Gospel, speaking of the death of Lazarus, says 
 "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." The writer of the 
 Acts of the Apostles in recording the death of the 
 first Christian martyr says that he fell asleep. 
 
 These passages show how the word was used by 
 
 24G 
 
Sermon in 247 
 
 the sacred writers and will enable us to determine 
 how it was used by Christ in the text. It cannot 
 by supposed that Christ used it in a literal sense, 
 for there is every evidence that the maid was dead. 
 So confident of this fact were the friends and by- 
 standers that when our Lord affirmed that the maid 
 only slept, they laughed Him to scorn, supposing 
 that He meant only the repose of the body. Christ 
 acted upon the understanding that she was actually 
 dead. 
 
 There was now presented an opportunity to over- 
 throw the fallacy of the doctrine of the Sadducees 
 who denied the resurrection of the body. The 
 maid's father was a Sadducee. He looked upon 
 the death of his daughter as the end of her being. 
 She had ceased to be. Our Lord sought to re- 
 move from his mind this soul-chilling "doctrine by 
 the use of the term sleep. He sought to convey 
 to this father's mind that death is but the repose 
 of the body, that though there had been a separa- 
 tion of the soul and the body there was not the 
 destruction of either, that by a word He could 
 awake the body to life as a word would arouse the 
 sleeper to a state of consciousness. 
 
 The meaning, then, of this interesting passage 
 is this: Our deceased friends have not ceased to 
 exist. Though their bodies are dead, their spirits 
 live and their bodies sleep in hope of resurrection. 
 
24B Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 The two points that I call you to contemplate 
 on this occasion are, the immortality of the soul 
 and the resurrection of the body. 
 
 I. Mankind of all ages have believed the truth 
 that the soul is to live beyond this state of being. 
 The reasons of this belief were not clear nor well 
 defined by ancient philosophers. Yet the belief 
 existed with them. They looked upon the soul of 
 man as a mighty river, the track of which they 
 could follow from region to region and from land 
 to land, but which at last enters into some deep 
 and embowered wood. The wood was so thick 
 and the forest so dense that they could follow it no 
 further, but they knew that the river continued its 
 course by its furious roar. The heathen could 
 trace the soul of man to the death of the body. 
 They could go no further in their observations. 
 But when it entered that bourne from whence no 
 traveler returns, they saw enough to convince 
 them that its existence must run on through end- 
 less ages. They reasoned thus: The only wise 
 God never acts without reason and design worthy 
 of Himself. Is it conceivable that He would have 
 made man so wonderful, so stupendous in his 
 capacities and powers, if He had not intended that 
 he should exist longer than three score years and 
 ten ? Would the vessel have been so richly freighted 
 if He, who was the maker of that vessel and its 
 
Sermon lil ^49 
 
 freight, had determined it should become a total 
 wreck as soon as it had sailed across the stream, 
 the narrow stream, of time? Pagans could not 
 believe this. 
 
 If the spirit of man is not immortal, why this 
 strong desire of perpetuity among men? What 
 mean those ancient piles erected over the dust of 
 the great who have lived? Why do you see on 
 the stones that mark the place where our loved ones 
 sleep those memorials engraved? Is this not an in- 
 dication of man's belief in immortality? No one, 
 however humble his station, wishes to be forgotten. 
 No one wishes to be blotted out of being. 
 
 Again there is the desire after endless existence. 
 And do you think that He who formed us would 
 have given us this desire after a thing while that 
 thing itself is altogether deceptive and unreal? In 
 addition to this, we all know from what we feel 
 in ourselves that this cannot be the native region 
 of the soul, that this world is not the home of the 
 soul, that here it does not find anything congenial 
 to its nature or that is equal to its cravings and 
 capacities. It was obviously formed for a good 
 that this world does not contain. It seeks for a 
 higher and nobler state — immortality. 
 
 Let me ask the man who denies the immortality 
 of the soul whether he knows that it is not immor- 
 tal. Has he ever demonstrated that fact that he 
 
^^o Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 is to cease to be and cease to think? Has he ever 
 looked behind the curtain that separates between 
 time and eternity and there seen the inhabitants 
 of past ages reposing ahke in one eternal sleep, or 
 does he know that the spirit of man goes downward 
 with that of the beast? Till such have traced the 
 wondrous flight of the spirit as it leaves the body 
 and have demonstrated to the world by as many 
 incontestable truths that it ceases to be as those 
 upon which immortality rests, we shall still believe 
 in the consoling doctrine of the soul's endless ex- 
 istence. 
 
 What an overwhelming and yet consoling 
 thought, that we are always to be, that we have 
 commenced an existence that is commensurate with 
 eternity, that the soul shall live when all cieated 
 things shall die! For this truth well defined and 
 fully established we are indebted to the Holy 
 Scriptures. They have brought life and immortality 
 to light. They chase away the gloom of the grave 
 and assure us that beyond it there is a world 
 wherein dwelleth righteousness. They reveal to 
 us this consolation: "Blessed are the dead which 
 die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, said the 
 Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and 
 their works do follow them." They enter into a 
 state of rest at death. They are blessed at death. 
 From henceforth, saith the Spirit. Jesus Christ 
 
Sermon lit 251 
 
 assured the penitent thief as he hung upon the 
 cross that that day he should be with Him in 
 Paradise. Then from that day he was blessed. 
 Paradise, we understand to be the blissful state of 
 isanctified souls. On that day he should be with 
 Him in Paradise, the home of sanctified souls. 
 
 The apostle John in the vision of glory that he 
 saw on Patmos was permitted to look into heaven 
 and learn the state and employments of those who 
 are counted worth}^ to enter through the gates into 
 the celestial city. In speaking of those who had 
 washed their robes and made them white in the 
 blood of the Lamb, he tells us they are before the 
 throne of God and serve Him day and night. The 
 congregation never breaks up; the Sabbath has no 
 end. It is one ceaseless round of the worship of 
 God. 
 
 Perhaps there is no passage in the Bible that 
 more clearly establishes the existence of the soul 
 after death than that found in the sixteenth chapter 
 of Luke in the account of the rich man and Lazarus. 
 Whatever else this passage proves or does not 
 prove, it establishes beyond a doubt that the spirit 
 of both the righteous and the wicked enter imme- 
 diately upon a future state of being and that they 
 are happy and miserable in that state according as 
 they have been righteous or wicked in this world. 
 "And it came to pass that the beggar died and was 
 
252 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." The 
 Jews had no doubt but that Abraham was in Para- 
 dise. To say that the beggar was in his bosom 
 was the same as to say that Lazarus was in heaven. 
 "The rich man also died and was buried, and in 
 hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and 
 seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." 
 He had a distinct recognition of Lazarus. He 
 also retained the power of memory, for Abraham 
 called upon him to remember some thing, to-wit, 
 that in this life he received his good things and 
 Lazarus his evil things; now Lazarus was com- 
 forted, and he was tormented. 
 
 Is not this clearly in accordance with the princi- 
 ples of God's mortal government? "Say to the 
 righteous that it shall be well with him; for they 
 shall eat the fruit of their doings." But "woe unto 
 the wicked it shall be ill with him; for the reward 
 of his hands shall be given unto hrm." 
 
 Both reason and revelation establish the future 
 existence of the soul, that it has entered upon an 
 eternal state, that it is to live and sing as angels 
 do or it is to suffer the wrath of God forever, and 
 that these tremendous results are suspended upon 
 the moral characters that we form in this world. 
 With the righteous it shall be well. He has a 
 character that fits him for the society and employ- 
 ment of heaven. He is prepared to praise God 
 
Sermon ill 253 
 
 and the Lamb. With the wicked it is ill. His 
 character fits him for no other state. 
 
 II. We are taught that the bodies of our de- 
 ceased friends sleep in hope of the resurrection. 
 The spirit, disenthralled from the body, we have 
 seen is active in the spirit land. The body is no 
 less under the watchful care of Him who is the 
 Resurrection and the Life. He, having risen from 
 the dead and become the first fruits of them that 
 slept, has given the assurance that as death has 
 passed upon all because all have sinned, so the 
 resurrection power shall be imparted to all that 
 sleep. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive. But every man in his 
 own order; Christ the first fruits, afterward they 
 that are Christ's at His coming." "For the Lord 
 Himself shall descend in the clouds of heaven with 
 a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with 
 the trump of God;" and "all that are in the graves 
 shall hear His voice and shall come forth; they 
 that have done good unto the resurrection of life, 
 and they that have done evil unto the resurrection 
 of damnation." It matters not where we sleep or 
 where our friends may repose; whether in sculptured 
 marble or beneath the cold clods of the valley, or 
 whether the deep blue waters have sung your 
 requiem as they have rolled their mountain waves 
 over your coral bed, or whether you lie beneath 
 
254 •^l/O' y^^^^ on the Skir?nish Line 
 
 the polar snows of Siberia or are covered by the 
 burning sands of Africa, or whether you fall where 
 no kind hand may present itself to convey your 
 body to the grave and your body is left to return 
 to dust and your bones to bleach beneath a tropic 
 sun — wherever you are, God will watch over all 
 your dust till He shall bid it rise. "For this corrup- 
 tion must put on incorruption and this mortal must 
 put on immortality. So when this corruptible 
 shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall 
 have put on immortality, then shall be brought to 
 pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed 
 up in victory." Death, the last foe, will then have 
 been conquered and the soul reunited with the body 
 will enter upon the scenes of the judgment, to 
 meet the favor or frown of its Judge. 
 
 Why then should the Christian fear the sleep of 
 death? It is a blessed sleep from which none ever 
 wake to weep. When the Christian shall awake in 
 the morning of the resurrection, he will have done 
 with all weeping. All tears shall be forever wiped 
 away. There is no sickness, no dying, in that 
 better land. 
 
 "Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy, 
 Ear hath not heard its deep tones of joy, 
 Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, 
 Sorrow and death may not enter there; 
 Time does not breathe on its fadeless bloom, 
 Far beyond the cloud, and beyond the tomb, 
 It is there." 
 
Sermon ill 255 
 
 Death is the gate through which the Christian 
 enters the better land. Why then dread to enter 
 there? Jesus hath tasted death. He hath lain in 
 the grave and He hath triumphed over it. So if 
 we sleep in Him, we, too, shall triumph over death 
 and the grave. For "when He who is our life shall 
 appear, we shall also appear with Him in glory." 
 
 "O glorious hour! O blest abode! 
 
 I shall be near and like my God; 
 And flesh and sense no more control 
 
 The sacred pleasures of the soul." 
 
 We see that this subject is full of consolation to 
 those who are called to bury friends. And who 
 hath not lost a friend .!* There is no threshold so 
 sacred that this insatiate foe dare not enter. Whose 
 heart hath not bled as we have seen death with 
 fatal dart pierce our loved ones } Death may strike 
 them down. He may paint his pallid features on 
 their once rosy cheeks. Yet after all that he does, 
 he has only laid them down to sleep. Our Lord 
 and Savior will spoil him of his prey and chain him 
 to His triumphal car. Therefore when our friends 
 close their eyes in death, let us not look upon 
 them as having ceased to exist. If they have left 
 behind them a hope that centered in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ and have purified their hearts and brought 
 forth good fruits, then have they only ceased from 
 labors here below to enter upon a more exalted 
 
256 Fifty Years on the Skir7nish Lme 
 
 state above. Let us believe that He who is the 
 Resurrection and the Life will watch over their dust 
 and ere long adorn it with incorruption, and, re- 
 united with the soul, it will enter upon a participa- 
 tion of the glories of heaven. Death looked upon 
 thus will be the grave of our sorrows and the gate 
 way to the skies. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Following is the charter adopted by the Trustees 
 at the first meeting. 
 
 CHARTER OF PARK COLLEGE. 
 
 I. Know all men by these presents, that we, 
 Geo. S. Park, &c., do hereby agree to form our- 
 selves into a body corporate according to the 
 Constitution and Laws of the State of Missouri, 
 to be known as the "Board of Trustees of Park 
 College," located at or near Parkville, Missouri, 
 to consist of not more than twenty-five members. 
 As a body Corporate they shall have perpetual 
 succession, and a common seal. They shall have 
 full power to manage the institution, to receive 
 gifts of money, property, &c., to preserve, to 
 secure and appropriate them according to the pro- 
 visions of this Charter, and the will of the donors, 
 for the use of Park College. They shall devise 
 means and take measures to endow the institution 
 in all its departments. 
 
 The principles of the College shall be non-sec- 
 tarian, but evangelical, imbued with the spirit of 
 
 Christian liberty and charity. 
 
 257 
 
258 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 The object of this Corporation shall ever be to 
 diffuse knowledge, moral and religious principles, 
 in the most practical and effectual manner; to 
 afford the advantages of training and education to 
 the youth of both sexes of the West and South- 
 west, to give especially facilities to youth found 
 worthy and not having sufficient means, who may 
 be inured to hardship, acquainted, and in sympathy 
 with the people among whom they are to live and 
 labor, to obtain an education by labor, or otherwise; 
 thus offering a safe and unlimited opportunity to 
 the patriotic and benevolent to assist in this great 
 work, by their donations and endowments. 
 
 11. 1st. To secure the above objects, there 
 shall be daily Bible readings and expositions, with 
 lectures and practical training for evangelical A'ork, 
 especially adapted to those who propose to devote 
 their lives to such work in the various forms of 
 preaching, lecturing and teaching. 
 
 2nd. There shall be Normal Sabbath School 
 instruction, concentrating and applying the daily 
 Bible readings and lecturing in the form of a model 
 Sabbath School, fitting students for their work. 
 This work shall include instruction as to the best 
 methods of approaching and interesting children 
 and youth in the subject of religion, accompanied 
 by weekly reports of those students practically 
 engaged in Christian labors of their most successful 
 
Appendix 259 
 
 methods, together with the passages of Scripture 
 best adapted to reach individual minds. 
 
 3rd. There shall be a full course of instruction 
 in Science, Literature, and Art as taught in the 
 best Colleges as far as the funds will permit. 
 
 4th. In the Male department there shall be 
 taught agriculture, business management, skilled 
 labor and practical wisdom. 
 
 5th. In the Female department, in addition to 
 any of the previous course of study they may select, 
 or the faculty prescribe, there shall be taught 
 household and domestic duties, and management, 
 and culinary arts, accompanied with regular prac- 
 tical and skilled labor and wise arts required in 
 American homes. This practical work is designed 
 to benefit the College and the students. The 
 males by farm, garden and culinary arts, contribute 
 largely to their own support while gaining knowl- 
 edge of the useful pursuits of life, and more perfect 
 health. 
 
 It is designed to educate by practice, training 
 and doing, as well as by teaching, and these de- 
 partments of skilled labor, science, literature, and 
 art, shall be under the supervision and direction 
 of the most competent instructors that the funds 
 of the College will permit the Trustees to employ. 
 
 III. 1st, The Board of Trustees shall have 
 power to fill vacancies that may occur in the Board 
 
26o Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 of Trustees, by death, resignation, refusal to act 
 or otherwise, or to remove from office, and appoint 
 in their place, any Trustee, the President, or any 
 member of the Faculty, or agent, for misconduct, 
 or failure to do duty, or undue neglect of the 
 interests of the institution. 
 
 2nd. The Board of Trustees are hereby for- 
 bidden to contract any debts against the corpora- 
 tion, or to mortgage the property of the College 
 proper, or to do any act to erect a lien upon or in- 
 cumber any property given, or purchased or vested 
 in it in trust or otherwise, but shall hold inviolate 
 all furniture, stock, assets, lands, buildings, 
 moneys, or endowment funds, professorships, 
 scholarships, or other funds, preserving them in 
 perpetuity, using only furniture, stock, lands, and 
 buildings, and the interest of the funds, handling 
 them down to their successors forever; and all 
 claims against the above-named property or corpo- 
 ration shall be void in law; and any trustee voting 
 or acting against this provision of the Charter, or 
 any other officer or agent, shall not in any way 
 legally bind the Board of Trustees or the institu- 
 tion. They have superceded their authority and 
 can only assume individual and personal responsi- 
 bility, and the Record of this Charter in Platte 
 County, Missouri, shall be legal notice thereof to 
 all. 
 
Appendix 261 
 
 3rd. The Board of Trustees shall have over- 
 sight, approval and direction of all endowment 
 funds, of all real estate and personal property, and 
 of all loans made of them. They may invest in 
 United States bonds with interest payable semi- 
 annually, or they may loan on unencumbered real 
 estate, with a clear transcript of title and if build- 
 ings are included in the valuation, such buildings 
 must be insured, and the insurance assigned, valued 
 in cash at more than double the amount, taking 
 also good personal security with it, and a mortgage 
 or deed of trust with power of sale in default of 
 any payment of principal or interest when due, 
 and no member of the Board shall be received as 
 security of the Treasurer or for loans of the funds 
 o'f the Corporation. 
 
 4th. It is the earnest desire of the friends of 
 this institution that it be established and built up 
 by wisdom, and stand forever, and go on improving 
 like the older institutions of Europe and America. 
 To accomplish this purpose it is suggested that the 
 Board of Trustees look most critically into the way 
 things are going, and make wise provisions for 
 future contingencies; if any Trustee neglects such 
 care and caution request him to resign and appoint 
 another. It is a positive wrong to be indulgent to 
 incapacity or inefficiency, to idleness, wastefulness 
 or any other unfitness. Let the eyes of these guard- 
 
264 Fifty Years on the Skir7nish Line 
 
 ians pierce every nook and corner and thereby 
 insure wise and skilful management of the Institu- 
 tion. Let them provide the best instructors and 
 make the best provisions for the institution their 
 funds will permit, going no futher. Let them stop 
 all leaks, stir up the indolent, get honest work 
 done, and make purchases as far as practical, when 
 prices are lowest, for, "There is a time to get." In 
 summer prepare and lay up for winter. Let them 
 secure every trust, promptly discharge every trustee, 
 officer, agent or employee, and have the business, 
 work and instruction done by as few men and at 
 as small a cost as possible, consistent with the true 
 interests of the institution, without favor or par- 
 tiality, remembering that the Lord's work be done 
 better than our own. 
 
 5th. The Board of Trustees also shall have 
 power to take any measures or do any acts they 
 may think proper for the interests of the College 
 not forbidden in this instrument. They may ap- 
 point agents to canvas for funds, they may sell and 
 convey by deed or otherwise any outlying lands 
 or personal property except those lands and per- 
 sonal property used by the institution in or near 
 Parkville, Mo., which are to be preserved in per- 
 petuity. 
 
 6th. The Board of Trustees may appoint an 
 advisory committee, who, with the Facult}', shall 
 
Appendix 263 
 
 have the general control and supervision of the 
 College ad inteiHm, subject to the approval of the 
 Board and in consistency with the provisions of 
 this Charter and the By Laws that may be enacted. 
 
 The Rev. John A. McAfee in consequence of his 
 unwearied labors and ability as an instructor of 
 youth is hereby declared the permanent President 
 of the College. He, and his successors in office 
 shall make a report annually or oftener if required, 
 to the Board of Trustees of the conditions and prog- 
 ress of the College. 
 
 7th. The Board of Trustees shall meet at the 
 College on Tuesday, the 24th day of June, A. D. 
 1879, and thereafter, each year at such times as 
 they may decide. They may adjourn from time to 
 time till they have a quorum. The President of 
 the Board may, and at the call of five members 
 shall, call a meeting of the Board at any time, giving 
 ten days' notice of such meeting in writing, to each 
 member, addressed to his P. O. 
 
 A majority of all the members shall constitute a 
 quorum. At the first meeting, such quorum being 
 present, they shall at once proceed to elect a Pres- 
 ident of the Board, a Secretary and Treasurer, 
 and such other officers, agents and Faculty as the 
 means of the College will permit. 
 
 They shall keep full records of all proceedings of 
 the intstiution and shall make an annual report to 
 the Board, or oftener if required. 
 
264 Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line 
 
 The Treasurer shall give collateral and personal 
 security in more than double the amount that may 
 come into his hands and give additional security 
 from time to time as the Board may require. He 
 shallonly pay out money on order of the Board, and 
 he shall make an annual report of the moneys re- 
 ceivedand paid out and on hand, and the financial 
 condition of the institution, or oftener if required. 
 
 8th. The Board of Trustees shall have power 
 to frame a code of By-laws, also adopt the Curric- 
 ulum of Study, and change the same in any manner 
 not inconsistent with this instrument, and grant 
 upon recommendation of the Faculty, Literary and 
 Honorary Degrees. 
 
Important Missionary Publications. 
 
 4 ♦ » 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN G. PATON. Missionary to the 
 
 New Hebrides. Introductory note by Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 
 
 2 vols., 12mo., portrait and map, in neat box, $2.00 net. 
 
 One of the most remarkable biographies of modern times. 
 
 "I have just laid down the most robust and the most fascinating piece of auto- 
 
 biogfraphy that I have met with in many a day It is the story of the 
 
 wonderful work wrought by John G. Paton, the famous missionary to the New 
 Hebrides; he was made of the same stutt'witli Livingstone." — T. L. Cuyler. 
 
 "It stands with such books as those Dr. Livingstone gave the world, and 
 shows to men that the hei'oes of the cross are not merely to be sought in past 
 ages, " — Christian Intelligencer. 
 
 THE LIFE OF JOHN KENNETH MACKENZIE. Medical 
 
 Missionary to China ; with the story of the First Chinese Hospital 
 
 by Mrs. Bryson, author of "Child Life in Chinese Homes," etc. 
 
 12mo., cloth, 400 pages, price $1.50 with portrait in photogravure. 
 
 "The story of a singularly beautiful life, sympathetically and ably written, 
 . . . . A really helpful, elevating book."— iondo7i 3fissionar2/ C/irontcie, 
 
 "The volume records much that is fresh and interesting bearing on Chinese 
 customs and manners as seen and vividly described by a missionary who had 
 ample opportunities of studying them under most varied circumstances and 
 conditions." — Scotsman. 
 
 THE GREATEST WORK IN THE WORLD. The Evangeliza- 
 tion of all Peoples in the Present Century. By Rev. Arthur T. 
 PiersoD, D.D. 12mo., leatherette, gilt top, 35c. 
 
 The subject itself is an inspiration, but this latest production of Dr. Pierson 
 thrills with the life which the Master Himself has imparted to it. It will be a 
 welcome addition to Missionary literature. 
 
 THE CRISIS OF MISSIONS. By Rev. Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 
 
 Cloth, $1.25 ; paper, 35c. 
 
 " We do not hesitate to say that this book is the most purposeful, earnest and 
 intelligent review of the mission work and field which has ever been given to the 
 Church." — Christian Statesman. 
 
 MEDICAL MISSIONS. Their Place and Power. By John Lowe, 
 
 F. R. C. S. E., Secretary of the Edinburgh Medical Mission Society. 
 
 12mo., 308 pages, cloth, |1.50. 
 
 "This book contains an exhaustive account of the benefits that may, and in 
 point of fact do, accrue from the use of the medical art as a Christian agency. Mr. 
 Lowe is eminently qualified to instruct us in this matter, having himself been so 
 long engaged in the same field." — From Introduction by Sir William, Muir. 
 
 ONCE HINDU: NOW CHRISTIAN. The early life of Baba 
 Padmanji. Translated from the Marathi. Edited by J. Murray Mit- 
 chell, M. A., LLD. 12mo., 155 pases, with appendix. Cloth, 75c. 
 
 "A more instructive or more interesting narrative of a human soul, once held 
 firmly in the grip of oriental superstition, idolatry and caste, gradually emerging 
 into the light, liberty and peace of a regenerate child of God, does not often come 
 to hand." — Missionary Herald. 
 
 AN INTENSE LIFE. By George F. Herrick. A sketch of the life 
 and work of Rev. Andrew T. Prattt, M.D., Missionary of the A. B. 
 C. F. M., in Turkey, 1852-1872. 16mo., cloth, 50c 
 
 NEW YORK. : : Flcming H. ReucU Company : : chicago> 
 
important Missionary Publications 
 
 (Continued.') 
 
 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA, or, the Story of Coopoc 
 swame.v. Au Autobiography. With fine engravings by E. Whym- 
 per. 12mo., cloth, $100. 
 
 THE CHILDREN OF INDIA. Written for children by one of 
 
 their friends. Illustrations and map. Small 4to , cloth, $1,25. 
 
 " These are good books for the Sunday-School Library, and will help young 
 people in luissionary societies who desire to have an intelligent idea of the people 
 in India whom they are sending their money and their missionaries to convert." — 
 Missionary Herald. 
 
 HINDUISM, PAST AND PRESENT. With an account of recent 
 Hindu reformers, and a brief comparison between Hinduism and 
 Christianity. By J. Murray Mitchell, M.A., LLID. 12mo., cloth, 
 $1.60. 
 
 "A praiseworthy attempt to present a popular view of a ^ast and important 
 ubject." — Saturday Review. 
 
 GOSPEL ETHNOLOGY. With illustrations. By S. E. Paterson, 
 
 F. G. S. 12mo, cloth., $1.00. 
 
 ^ " The first attempt to treat this subject from a thorough-g«ing scientific stand- 
 point. A very powerful argument for the truth of Christianity. "—English Churchn 
 man. 
 
 "A book to refer to for information not easily to be o*>tained otherwise. — 
 Church Missionary Intelligencer. 
 
 NATIVE LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA. Being sketches of the social 
 
 and religious characteristics of the Hindus. By the Rev. Henry 
 
 Rice. With many illustrations from native sketches. 12mo., cloth 
 
 boards, $1.00. 
 
 " Those who have heard Mr. Rice's missionary addressee Will be prepared to 
 hear that this is a fascinating book." — Life and Work. 
 
 CHRISTIAN PROGRESS IN CHINA. Gleaning? fsom the writ- 
 ings and speaches of many workers. By Arnold Foster, B.A., 
 London Missionary, Hankow. With map of China. 12mo., cloth, 
 $1.00. 
 
 AMONG THE MONGOLS. By Rev. James Gilmour, M.A., London 
 
 Mission, Peking. Numerous engravings from photographs and 
 
 native sketches. 12mo., gilt edges, cloth, $1.00. 
 
 "The newness and value of the book consists solely in its Defoe quality, that 
 when you have read it you know, and will never forget, all Mr. Qilmour knows 
 and tells of how Mongols live." — Spectator. 
 
 EVERY-DAY LIFE IN CHINA, or, Scenes alon^ River and Road 
 
 in the Celestial Empire. By Edwin J. Dukes. Hlustrationa from 
 
 the author's sketches. 12mo., with embellished cover, $2.00. 
 
 That China is a mysterious problem to all who interest themselves in its tt^aira 
 is the only excuse for offering another book on the subject. 
 
 NEW YORK. :: Fleming H. Resell Company : : cmcAfio. 
 
Popular Missionary Biographies. 
 
 l2mo, i6o pages. Fully illustrated; cloth extra, 75 cents each. 
 
 Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, 
 
 jrrites: 
 
 *' Crowded with facts 
 that both interest and in- 
 spire, we can conceive of 
 no better plan to spread 
 the Missionary spirit than 
 the multiplying of such 
 biographies; and we 
 would specially commend 
 this series to those who 
 have the management of 
 libraries and selection of 
 prizes in our Sunday 
 Schools," 
 
 From The Missionary 
 Herald : 
 
 "We commended this 
 series in our last issue, 
 and a further examma- 
 tion leads us to renew our 
 commendation, and to 
 urge the placing of this 
 series of missionary books 
 in ail our Sabbath-school 
 libraries. 
 
 These books are hand- 
 somely printed and bound 
 and are beautifully illus- 
 trated, and we are confi- 
 dent that they will prove 
 attractive to all young 
 people." 
 
 SAMUEL CROWTHER, the Slave Boy who became Bishop of 
 
 the Niger. By Jesse Page, author of " Bishop Patterson." 
 THOMAS J. COMBER, Missionary Pioneer to the Congo. By 
 
 Rev. J. B. Myers, Association Secretary Baptist Missionary Society, 
 BISHOP PATTESON, the Martyr of Melanesia. By Jesse Page. 
 GRIFFITH JOHN, Founder of the Hankow Mission, Centra* 
 
 China. By Wm. Robson, of the London Missionary Society. 
 ROBERT MORRISON, the Pioneer of Chinese Missions. By 
 
 Wm. J. ToWxNSEND, Sec. Methodist New Connexion Missionary Soc'y» 
 ROBERT MOFFAT, the Missionary Hero of Kuruman. By David 
 
 J. Deane, author of " Martin Luther, the Reformer," etc. 
 WILLIAM CAREY, the Shoemaker who became a Missionary, 
 
 By Rev. J. B. Myers, Association Secretary Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 JAMES CHALMERS, Missionary and Explorer of Rarotonga 
 and New Guinea. By Wm. Robson, of the London Missionary Soc'y. 
 
 MISSIONARY LADIES IN FOREIGN LANDS. By Mrs. E, R. 
 
 Pilman, author of " Heroines of the Mission Fields," etc. 
 JAMES CALVERT; or. From Dark to Dawn in Fiji. 
 JOHN WILLIAMS, the Martyr of Erromanga. By Rev. James 
 
 J. Ellis. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH THE ABOVE. 
 
 JOHN BRIGHT, the Man of the People. By Jesse Page, author of 
 
 " Bishop Patteson," " Samuel Crowther," etc. 
 HENRY M. STANLEY, the African Explorer. By Arthur Monte- 
 
 FIORE, F.R.G.S. Brought down to 1889. 
 DAVID LIVINGSTON, his Labors and his Legacy. 
 
 CHICAGO : 
 
 148-150 Madison Street. 
 
 Flemiqg H. Mell Co. 
 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 112 Fifth Ave., near i6ih. 
 
Writings of Rey. F. B. MEYER, B. A. 
 
 a m* 
 
 Mr. Meger alwags writes to edificatiori.—C. H. SPURGEON. 
 
 ^£S_epJK Beloved— Hated— Exalted. CUtA, i6 mo., $i.oo. 
 
 In the present volume Mr. Meyer retells with skill and pathos the 
 old-world story of the Israelitish youth who rose through pit and prison to 
 the post of Premier of Egypt; a story of undying interest and worth, not 
 only as a true tale of Eastern romance, but as a unique example of the 
 value of piety, purity of life and fidelity in service. 
 
 lOTH THOUSAND. 
 
 b t CI t) d tn : or, The Obedience of Faith. C/o/k, ib mo., $i.oo. 
 
 % 
 
 A book we would very heartily commend to those who desire to make 
 progress in Christian life and experience; each will find it helpful and sug- 
 gestive, sending new light upon many a well-known narrative. — Christian 
 Progress. 
 
 The contents of the book before us are such that no one can rise from 
 its perusal without feeling consciously strengthened in God and inspired 
 afresh for the Godly life, — Sunday-School Chronicle. 
 
 Really a very beautiful work, which will be read with delight by 
 many a fireside. After all, this home-like treatment of Scripture biography, 
 with the object of bringing out the spiritual lessons, is amongst the highest 
 and most profitable studies. — The Freeman. 
 
 13TH THOUSAND. 
 
 "^ 6 r ex ^ I I A Prince with God. Cloih^ ib mo.^ $1.00. 
 
 s 
 
 Mr. Meyer has great descriptive power. He can tell a narrative 
 well. This subject in his hand glows with life, and the scenes and events in 
 the history of his hero pass vividly before you, and are ever being used to 
 force home some important principle. — British Messenger. 
 
 With a keen moral insight, and a deep spiritual sympathy, he de- 
 scribes the piety and weakness of the best beloved of the Patriarchs. 
 — Christian Leader. 
 
 Exceedingly good, not only spiritual, but also thoughtful, fresh, sug- 
 gestive and thoroughly practical. — C. H. Spurgeon, in Sword and Trowel. 
 
 From first to last the book is richly suggestive and spiritually fruit- 
 ful. — Word and Work. 
 
 I5TH THOUSAND. 
 
 ^3P Ii| a \\ : and the Secret of his Powero Cloth, j6 mo., $1,00. 
 
 The leading object of this volume is to show that Elijah's God is our 
 God; and how a like dependence may be ours if our dependence is in the 
 living God. It is encouraging and stimulating; yet full of solemn warnings. 
 Some parts are grandly written and of thrilling interest. — Footsteps of 
 Truth. 
 
 Good, exceedingly good I Mr. Meyer is a great gain to the armies of 
 Evangelical truth; for his tone, spirit and aspirations are all of a fine Gospel 
 sort. — Sword and Trowel. 
 
 NiwYORK s: Fleming H, Revell Co. s: cHicAoa 
 
WRITINGS OF REV. F. B. MEYER, B. A. 
 
 ^*'^th 
 
 Xitb bj) iFiti?:*' Expositions of the First Epistle of Peter. CMA 
 
 i6 mo., $1.00 
 
 We doubt whether any work has appeared since the time of Leighton, 
 on the same subject, which equals the one before us. These expositions of 
 one of the richest of the Epistles are brightly and beautifully written, and 
 infused by a lofty and evangelical Christian spirit — Primitive Methodist. 
 
 % 
 
 2IST THOUSAND. 
 
 [)e |)reggnt (Eenses of i\\z iBlesseb Cife. cioth, j^ mo., 50c. 
 
 We commend the book as one that cannot fail to be read with profit. 
 "^Evangelical Christendom. 
 
 A gem and brimful of spiritual life — Methodist New Connexion 
 Magazine. 
 
 30TH TMOUSANDa 
 
 0]^ linstian £it)lng« cioth, 32 mo., 50c. 
 
 Full of sweetness and light. No Christian can read it and fail to 
 receive stimulus in the direction whither the true-hearted would go. — Con- 
 gregational Magazine. 
 
 Special stress is made in this little volume on the practical side of the 
 Christian life. Thoughts calculated to strengthen and inspire in the per- 
 formance of every-day duties, are put in clear and simple form. — Advance. 
 
 Tbey prove most refreshing reading; and for the culture of the relig- 
 ous life we can recommend nothing better. — Standard. 
 
 IQTH THOUSAND. 
 
 3lJl)e Slieplierb JDsalm. ^^^^^^'^^''^l^^ *^® ^^^ ^'^^'"' ^^''^^' ^^ 
 
 We have never read anything so charming on the Twenty, third 
 •Psalm. It is full of beauty and poetry. Anything that this gifted and 
 spiritual author writes requires no recommendation, as he is well known to 
 the Christian public. — Irish Congregational Magazine. 
 
 Mr. Meyer has given us a devotional work on this inspired Psalm 
 which every Christian man and woman should not only read but carry about 
 in his pocket in order to match even amid the busy employment of life an 
 uplifting and elevating thought. This little book is worth its weight in 
 gold. — Central Baptist. 
 
 Envelops Series of Booklets, by Rev. F. B. Meyv. 
 
 The Chambers of the King. Words of Help for Christian The Lost Chord Found. 
 With Christ in Separation. Girls. Why Sign the Pledge? 
 
 Seven Rules for Daily Living. The Filling of the Holy Spirit. The Secret of Power. 
 The Secret ofVictory over Sin, The Stewardship of Money. Our Bible Reading. 
 The First Step into the Blessed Where am I Wrong? The Secret of Guidance. 
 
 Life. Young Man, Don't Drift! Peace, Perfect Pe»:e. 
 
 30C. per dozen, or $1.50 per 100. 
 CHOICE EXTRACTS from writings of F. B. Meyer, 48 pages, 50. per copy; 35c. dozea, 
 
 NEW YORK. :: Flcming H- Revell Co. :: Chicago. 
 
By-Paths of Bible Knowledge. 
 
 •The volumes issuing under the above general title fully deserve sue* 
 cess. They have been entrusted to scholars who have a special acquaint- 
 ance with the subjects about which they severally treat." — Athenaum. 
 
 These books are written by specialists, and their aim is to give the 
 results of the latest and best scholarships on questions of Biblical 
 history, science and archaeology. The volumes contain much informa- 
 tion that is not easily accessible, even to those who have a large 
 acquaintance with the higher literature on these subjects. 
 
 IS* £ar]y Bible Songs. 
 
 With introduction on the Nature and Spirit of Hebrew Song, by , 
 
 A. H, DrysdaleM. A $100 
 
 14. modern Discoveries on tlie Site of Ancient Epliesus. 
 
 By J.T.Wood, F.S. A. lUustrated $100 
 
 13. Tlie Times of IsaiaJi. 
 
 As illustrated from Con temporary Monuments. By A. H, Sayce, LL, D, .80 
 la. Tlie Hittites; or tlie Story of a Forgotten Empire. 
 
 By A. H, Sayce, LL. D. Illustrated. Crown, 8vo $1 20 
 
 11. Animals of tlie Bible. 
 
 By H. Chichester Hart, Naturalist to Sir G. Nares' Arctic Expedition 
 and Professor Hull's Palestine Expedition. Illustrated. Crown, 8vo $1 20 
 10, The Trees and Plants Mentioned in tlie Bible. 
 
 By W. H. Groser, B. Sc. Illustrated $1 00 
 
 9. The Diseases of tlie Bible. 
 
 By Sir J. Risdon Bennett $100 
 
 8. Tlie Dwellers on tlie Nile. 
 
 Chapters on the Life, Literature, History and Customs of Ancient 
 Egypt. By E. A. Wallis Budge, M. A., Assistant in Department of 
 
 Oriental Antiquities, British Museum. Illustrated. $1 20 
 
 T. Assyria; Its Princes, Priests and People. 
 
 By A. H. Sayce, M. A., LL. D., author of "Fresh Light from Ancient 
 Monuments," "Introduction to Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther," etc. 
 
 Illustrated $139 
 
 •• Egypt and Syria. 
 
 Their Physical Features in Relation to Bible History. By Sir J. W. 
 Dawson, Principal of McGill CoUege, Montreal, F. G. S., F. R. S., 
 author of "The Chain of Life in Geological Time," etc. Second 
 
 edition, revised and enlarged. With many illustrations $1 20 
 
 6. Galilee in tlie time of Christ. 
 
 By Selah Merrill, D. D., author of "East of the Jordan," etc. With Map $100 
 
 4. Babylonian Life and History. 
 
 By E. A. Willis Budge, M. A., Cambridge, Assistant in the Depart- 
 ment of Oriental Antiquities, British Museum, illustrated $120 
 
 8. Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill at Jerusalem. 
 
 By the Rev. J. King, M. A,, Authorized Lecturer for the Palestine 
 Exploration Fund. With Maps, Plans and Illustrations $1 00 
 
 5. Fresh Lights From the Ancient Monuments. 
 
 A Sketch of the most striking Confirmations of the Bible from recent 
 discoveries in Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Palestine and Asia Minor. 
 By A. H. Sayce, LL. D., Deputy Professor of (Comparative Philology, 
 
 Oxford, etc. With fac-similes from photographs $1 2<i 
 
 1. Cleopatra's Needle. 
 
 History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hiero- 
 g;^lyphics. By the Rev. J. King, Lecturer for the Palestine Explora- 
 tion Fund. With Illustrations $10t 
 
 CHICAGO: riDTnTTin U l?D\7Dlir^n NEW YORK: 
 
 1^-150 Madiion Street. riOmlllU ll. xVoyCii uUi 112 Fijth Ave,, near i6th 
 
REFBRBNCB BOOKS 
 
 FOR 
 
 BIBLB STUnBNTS, 
 
 ♦ » ♦ •■ 
 
 JAMIESON, FAUSSET & BROWN'S Popular Portable Com- 
 mentary. Critical, Practical, Explanatory. Four volumns in neat 
 box, fine cloth, f 8.00; half bound, $10.00. 
 
 A new edition, containing the complete unabridged notes in clear type on good paper, 
 in four handsome 12 mo. volumes of about 1.000 pages each, with copious index, numerous 
 illustrations and maps, and a Bible Dictionary compiled from Dr. Wm. Smith's standard 
 work. 
 
 Bishop Vincent of Chautauqua fame says : *' The des^ condensed commentary on the 
 whole Bible is Jamieson, Fausset & Brown." 
 
 CRU DEN'S UNABRIDGED CONCORDANCE TO THE 
 HOLY SCRIPTURES. With life of the author. 864 pp., 8vo., 
 cloth (net), $1.00; half roan, sprinkled edges (net), 2.00; half roan, 
 full gilt edges (net), $2,50. 
 
 SMITH'S BIBLE DICTIONARY, comprising its Antiquities, Biog- 
 raphy, Geography and Natural History, with numerous maps and illus- 
 trations. Edited and condensed from his great work by William 
 Smith, LL. D. 776 pages, 8vo, many illustrations, cloth, I1.50. 
 
 THE BIBLE TEXT CYCLOPEDIA. A complete classification of 
 Scripture Texts in the form of an alphabetical list of subjects. By 
 Rev. James Inglis. Large 8vo, 524 pages, cloth, $1.75. 
 
 The plan is much the same as the " Bible Text Book" with the valuable additional 
 help in that the texts referred to are quoted in full. Thus the student is saved the time and 
 labor of turning to numerous passages, which, when found, may not be pertinent to the 
 subject he has in hand. 
 
 THE TREASURY OF SCRIPTURE KNOWLEDGE; consist- 
 ing of 500,000 scripture references and parallel passages, with numer- 
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