, ;, ;: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M;i<a)ii !iYTiiHm(iSn9l.iR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 :BX9678 
 
 I mm 
 
tihmry of Ithe €heolo0ical ^tminaxy 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Rufus H, LeFevre 
 
 BX^e>76 
 .8.B16 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Archive 
 
 in 2009 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/autobiographyofrOObald 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 JAAIES GILLETTE BALDWIN 
 
 
Autobiography of 
 
 Rev. James G. Baldwin 
 
 PUBUISHCO BY THE 
 
 EAST OHIO CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED 
 BRETHREN CHURCH 
 
 1912 
 
 UNITED BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE 
 DAYTON. OHIO 
 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE 
 
 The East Ohio Conference requested its honored 
 and revered senior member, Rev. J. G. Baldwin, 
 to write the story of his life that the conference 
 might publish it for the instruction and inspiration 
 of the people. The present volume is the result, 
 and it is now sent forth with gratitude to the 
 author for his life and story, and with confidence 
 that the book will be a blessing to all who read it. 
 
 Committee. 
 
Dedication 
 
 TO my beloved wife, faithful companion, and 
 partner of my joys and sorrows, my chief 
 earthly help to comfort and cheer me in affliction 
 and trial; one who bore all the discomforts of an 
 itinerant's life for almost sixty-two years without one 
 word of complaint, and who passed away peacefully 
 as an innocent child to the paradise of God on 
 Sabbath morning, August 28, 1910; this narrative is 
 lovingly dedicated, that her memory may be cher- 
 ished and her character revered as a pattern and 
 guide to others. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I would rather some one else would write the story 
 of my life. I have feared that there would be 
 a temptation to introduce too much of the ego, 
 that so many capital I's would be needed that the 
 printers might be embarrassed in providing this im- 
 portant letter. However, it has come to me of late 
 that my own life and labors are better known to my- 
 self than to any one else, ^^l^y then should it be a 
 duty to be dreaded, or to be left to another who 
 could not know the ins and outs of my life as well as 
 myself? If the critic would permit I should be glad 
 to write it in my individual style, so that those who 
 have heard me preach and sing and pray would say, 
 "That is Baldwin." 
 
 I do not wish to write out all my mistakes and 
 crookedness, but I shall try to chronicle as much 
 as I may of the good that it has been mine to do 
 and enjoy in the nineteenth and twentieth centu- 
 ries. 
 
 The time in which I have lived has been the most 
 wonderful in the history of the world's progress. 
 For many generations men appeared to be content 
 to move in the treadmill rounds of their ancestors. 
 Within my own lifetime it was deemed a wicked 
 interference with the laws of the Almighty to in- 
 vent a vehicle that would travel more than fifteen 
 miles an hour, but I have lived to see the age of 
 express trains, aeroplanes, and wireless telegraphy. 
 I have lived in the age of fat lamps, oil lamps, on 
 
6 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 into the time of gas and electric illumination, when 
 the darkness of night is turned into the light of 
 rlay. I saw the first train of passenger cars that 
 ran in the United States, and its speed of seven- 
 teen miles an hour filled the people along the route 
 with awe and amazement. I was present, in 1838, 
 when a professor of chemistry stretched a wire 
 from one corner to another of a large hall to show 
 his auditors how messages might be sent from one 
 point to another, but he remarked that it was hardly 
 possible that it ever would be utilized for long dis- 
 tances on account of the expense. Now, if I start 
 a message from Akron, Ohio, at sunrise to my 
 friends in Seattle, Washington, the message reaches 
 them three hours before sunup, although the sun 
 is doing its best — plodding along at the rate of a 
 thousand miles an hour. 
 
 When my father purchased a cookstove, the 
 neighbors came in to see it put up. They stood 
 around the kitchen wall, as far from it as possible, 
 in mortal fear that it would explode as soon as the 
 fire got hot enough for cooking. 
 
 Withal, it is an age which afifords the best op- 
 portunity for man to be good, great, and noble, so 
 I thank God that he arranged that in this period 
 of the world's history I should be born and live. 
 If one fails of being good, it is because he chooses 
 the evil. 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 Chapter I. Parents 9 
 
 Chapter II. School Days 16 
 
 Chapter III. Conversion 23 
 
 Chapter IV. Marriage 30 
 
 Chapter V. Licensed to Preach 35 
 
 Chapter VI. A TraveHng Preacher 41 
 
 Chapter \'II. An Itinerant in War Times 52 
 
 Chapter \TII. TraveHng Preacher, Presiding" 
 Elder, General Conference Dele- 
 gate 62 
 
 Chapter IX. A Chapter of Miscellanies 71 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Parents. 
 
 My parents, Isaac Baldwin and Sarah Gillette, 
 were both born in Litchfield, Connecticut, father in 
 1800, and mother in 1804. They were married 
 by Dr. Lyman Beecher in 1822. Soon after their 
 marriage they moved to Burlington, Hartford 
 County, Connecticut, where I was born December 
 15, 1824, being the first born of eight sons, there 
 being no daughters. 
 
 Dr. Lyman Beecher at 
 times was absent-minded. 
 On the day of the wedding 
 of my father and mother, 
 the preacher had one of 
 these lapses of memory. 
 Mother's home was three 
 miles northeast of Litch- 
 field, and there the guests, 
 sixty in number, were 
 gathered at ten o'clock for 
 the marriage ceremony. 
 Ten o'clock arrived and no 
 preacher appeared. At 
 twelve o'clock a messenger was sent to look up Dr. 
 Beecher, and it was learned that he had gone to 
 Bantan Lake, three miles southwest of town, on 
 a fishing excursion, having forgotten all about the 
 
 ^yuU^,^ 
 
10 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 wedding in his quest of fish. Dr. Beecher was 
 found, and reached the place of the wedding cere- 
 mony at three in the afternoon, and all was as 
 merry as a marriage bell. The circumstance was 
 the occasion of much merriment in the town for 
 many years. On a visit to the old place thirty 
 years afterward, when the older people learned that 
 I was the son of Isaac Baldwin, whom old Dr. 
 Beecher came very nearly not marrying, they 
 laughed as heartily as ever. ]\Iany pleasantries 
 were indulged in concerning my narrow escape 
 from having no father or mother. But Isaac Bald- 
 win and Sarah Gillette were both members of Dr. 
 Beecher's church, and I suppose he knew they were 
 foreordained not to get away. 
 
 When I was between four and five years of age 
 my father sold his place at Burlington and moved 
 to Litchfield, where he rented the farm formerly 
 owned by my maternal grandfather, a hilly, rocky, 
 thin-soiled farm, but fine for apples and pears, with 
 springs of pure water, just the place to lay a good 
 base for robust health. The farm was three miles 
 northeast of Litchfield Town Hill, as it was called. 
 It was mother's home, the place of her l)irt1i, both 
 natural and spiritual. 
 
 The story of my mother's conversion, told to me 
 when I was seven years old, made a deep impres- 
 sion upon me. 
 
 One beautiful September evening my mother with 
 a few of the young persons of the vicinity went to 
 the little red schoolhouse, about a mile and a half 
 
OS 
 
 Ox 
 
 
 
 2 i 
 
Parents. 1 1 
 
 from her home to hear the eccentric Lorenzo Dow 
 preach. The appointment had been made by him 
 one year previous. 
 
 At the time there was great excitement over the 
 noted preacher, who was a ''Billy" Sunday of his 
 day. The people flocked to hear him, the old and 
 the young, the curious and the critical, saints and 
 sinners, all eager to hear what he would say next. 
 
 On that particular evening when my mother 
 went to hear him, his subject was prayer. "Would 
 God hear and answer prayer, and is it possible 
 for us to know that our sins are pardoned?" 
 Mother said he made it so plain to her that there 
 could be but one answer to the question. It was a 
 blessed, astounding fact, and nearly a new reve- 
 lation to her and to most of his hearers, for they 
 had never regarded salvation in that light before. 
 
 At the close of the sermon the preacher proposed 
 that the audience test the matter in the following 
 manner : All those who would dare to sincerely 
 pray in secret twice a day for four weeks arise to 
 their feet, and by this act make their vow in the 
 sight of God and men and angels. In four weeks 
 he was to preach in the schoolhouse again. Twenty 
 persons arose, my mother being one of the number. 
 She said that the crowd was as solemn and serious 
 as if it had been a funeral. 
 
 As the young people returned to their homes 
 from the service they were quiet and thoughtful. 
 They separated at her father's house bidding her a 
 pleasant good-night. She stood a moment watching 
 
12 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 them as they walked along the highway, the moon 
 shining clear and bright, and as she stood there 
 the thought of the vow she had made that evening 
 to pray twice a day for four weeks came to her with 
 wonderful impressiveness. "Why not begin to- 
 night?" came a question as in an audible voice. It 
 was so distinct as to be irresistible, and immediately 
 she began to pour out her soul for light and divine 
 satisfaction. The struggle was hard and pro- 
 tracted, but the victory came, and so complete was 
 it that for sixty years she never expressed a doubt 
 as to her prayer being heard and answered. 
 
 One pleasant Sabbath afternoon mother related 
 the story of her conversion to us boys. She said 
 that one thing that quite surprised her was that 
 on entering the house she discovered that it was 
 two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 I was seven years old and my brother four at 
 the time she related her experience to us. As 
 she finished telling the old, old story, we sang a 
 hymn together, then all knelt about the old kitchen 
 chair, where our mother poured her soul out in 
 simple, earnest prayer to God that her boys might 
 early find the Pearl of great price, and if it should 
 be his will, that they might be spared to grow up 
 to be good men and preachers of the gospel. 
 
 We boys often said in after years that we never 
 have heard a testimony of prayer that followed us 
 everywhere as the simple story of that Sabbath after- 
 noon, and now after eighty years are passed away 
 the scene is as plainly fixed upon memory's page 
 
Parents. 13 
 
 as if it had occurred but yesterday. How could 
 we get away from such a mother! She Hved to 
 see her prayer answered in regard to both of us. 
 She was sixteen years of age when converted, and 
 passed on before at the age of eighty. 
 
 In our home, family worship was maintained 
 with strictness, and the duty of obedience to all 
 law, whether of God, the government, or the home, 
 was taught us. Parental authority, when exercised 
 in the Lord, was to be obeyed without questioning. 
 I have heard father say, ''Boys, you must obey 
 the rules of this house if you stay here till you 
 are forty years old." This was said when some 
 of the boys showed a disinclination to be quiet dur- 
 ing the hour for family worship. 
 
 The keeping of the Sabbath as a sacred day was 
 insisted upon, and it v/as rigidly observed in all 
 the country in which my youthful days were passed. 
 Henry Ward Beecher is reported to have said that 
 the roosters crowed psalm tunes on the Sabbath 
 in New England. I do not remember hearing 
 them do it, but I do remember that there was no 
 cooking done on that day, which was kept from 
 sundown on Saturday until sundown on Sabbath. 
 A holy calm was upon all nature. I may be thought 
 to be Puritanical, but I would greatly prefer the 
 quiet of the New England Sabbath to the noise and 
 cheering and baseball games of the present Lord's 
 day. 
 
 ]\Iy parents were members of Dr. Lyman 
 Beecher's church, and when they moved to Bur- 
 
14 Autobiography of Rez'. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 lington took their certificates of membership with 
 them, and on their return to Litchfield their mem- 
 bership was again placed in their home church, 
 where it remained until they removed to Ohio, in 
 1841. Arriving in Ohio, they did not unite with 
 the Presbyterian Church, but worshiped with the 
 Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren churches 
 in the vicinity of their home. 
 
 After I entered the itinerant ministry of the 
 United Brethren Church, and they had moved to 
 a locality west of VVadsworth, Ohio, in 1855, I 
 held a meeting in the schoolhouse of their district, 
 and organized a new society of United Brethren. 
 When the invitation was extended for membership 
 to my great surprise and joy my parents came, 
 with others, to receive the right hand of fellow- 
 ship in the United Brethren Church. They had not 
 told me of their purpose, and I was greatly aston- 
 ished, and for a time did not know whether my feet 
 were on the earth or in the air. 
 
 In 1857, my parents moved to Ganges, Allegan 
 County, Michigan, where two of my younger 
 brothers had gone to carve out a home in the woods. 
 There was no preaching of the United Brethren 
 Church in that vicinity, but father heard of a 
 preacher living some forty miles northeast of 
 Ganges. Immediately he visited him, and was suc- 
 cessful in securing him to hold a series of meetings 
 at their schoolhouse. The revival meetings were 
 held in due time, people were converted, a church 
 was organized, a house of worship was built, and a 
 
Parents. 15 
 
 circuit of six appointments had grown up when I 
 visited my parents in 1863. 
 
 Father and mother were greatly devoted to the 
 work in that locahty, and alwa\s insisted upon call- 
 ing it my circuit, and engaged me to come and 
 preach for them at all the appointments. That was 
 in 1863, when the Civil War caused much distrac- 
 tion. Alore than twenty years later another source 
 of distraction arose by reason of the forward step 
 the United Brethren took in 1885 regarding its 
 dealing with secret societies. I hear that the bitter- 
 ness incident to those days has largely passed away, 
 and it is the hope of all that peace and harmony 
 may prevail, and the w^ork of the Church go for- 
 ward with new impetus. 
 
 My parents continued to pray and labor in this 
 locality to the end of their earthly lives. After 
 fifty-seven years of wedded life, on August 15, 
 1879, father passed over the river to his eternal 
 rest, and on the 21st day of the next March my 
 mother followed on. They are buried in a beauti- 
 ful cemetery on the eastern shore of Lake Michi- 
 gan, where the waters of the lake seem to be sing- 
 ing a lullaby to soothe them to rest until the sum- 
 mons shall come to them to arise from their dusty 
 couch and meet the King in his beauty and to live 
 with him and his loved ones forevermore. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 School Days. 
 
 It was my good fortune to attend six district 
 schools, and to have three terms at an academy in 
 X'orfolk, Connecticut, in preparation for entering 
 Yale. This hope was never realized. 
 
 The first district school that I attended was about 
 a mile and a half from my home nordieast of Litch- 
 field. Across the rocks, hills, and huckleberry 
 patches I trudged for some four years. Then mov- 
 ing northeast of the Town Hill, my place was in a 
 school a mile from the courthouse, which I attend- 
 ed until I was thirteen. One winter was spent with 
 an uncle at Farmington, Connecticut, where I did 
 chores and attended school. The next winter I was 
 at my grandmother's on East Litchfield Hill, where 
 I attended a little red schoolhouse and added to my 
 stock of knowledge. On moving to Sheron, Con- 
 necticut, I attended the district school two terms, 
 and at the age of fifteen and one-half years I 
 landed safe and sound at Norfolk Academy, to 
 grapple with the higher branches of English educa- 
 tion. The three terms spent in the academy were 
 of great benefit to me, as I there was led to see 
 that there were vast fields of knowledge that before 
 I had not dreamed of. Then, alas, for my hopes! 
 we sold out and hiked to the woods of Ohio, when 
 I supposed my opportunities for more learning were 
 at an end. 
 
School Days. 17 
 
 In the autumn after our arrival in Ohio, my 
 father said to me : "Don't you think you could teach 
 school over in Wayne County if you tried ? I think 
 you can, and I have boys enough to help me in the 
 wagon shop without you. I will give you your 
 time, and you go and see what you can do." 
 
 I thanked him and started at once to secure a 
 school. The first one I applied for was southeast 
 of Burbank, Wayne County, Ohio. I interviewed 
 three directors who appeared pleased to employ me 
 at $10.50 a month and board. The board was to be 
 secured among the patrons of the school. 
 
 Xow the procuring of a certificate to teach was 
 the cause of some anxiety. The day after securing 
 the school I set out for Wooster, the county seat of 
 Wayne County. Arriving in the town I made in- 
 quiry at a dry-goods store for the officials who were 
 authorized to issue a teacher's certificate. The man 
 of whom I made the inquiry informed me that one 
 of the examiners, Mr. Schugars, was a bookkeeper 
 in the store. I was introduced to him, and he in- 
 formed me that it was not necessary to look up the 
 other two examiners, as he had the authority to 
 do the work, and to issue a certificate if the ex- 
 amination proved satisfactory. He remarked that 
 he was greatly pleased to have a young man so re- 
 cently from the Eastern schools to come among the 
 Wayne County people to teach, believing that some 
 new ideas in teaching might thus be secured. By 
 the time the examiner was through with his en- 
 couraging speech my trepidation was all gone, and 
 
18 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 I was ready for the examination, let it be what 
 it may. 
 
 My examination was about as follows : 
 
 "Mr. Baldwin, you may please write a sentence 
 on this sheet of paper." 
 
 I wrote the sentence, "He that hath ears to hear, 
 let him hear." 
 
 After scanning the writing a moment he said, 
 "The writing is good enough ; you may please parse 
 the sentence." 
 
 This I did to his satisfaction, except that we dis- 
 agreed as to the part of speech "that" is. In the 
 dispute that followed I told him he was certainly 
 mistaken and gave my reasons, whereupon he ad- 
 mitted that I was right. ; , 
 
 Then I was asked to bound the State of Ohio, 
 which I did, and the certificate was forthwith is- 
 sued, and I paid the fee of seventy-five cents. The 
 examiner volunteered the information that many 
 persons came to be examined who were not able 
 to bound the State of Ohio, and with that revela- 
 tion I thought it was about time for some light from 
 the East. 
 
 Armed with my certificate I was prepared to en- 
 ter upon my duties as a school-teacher. My school 
 enrolled sixty-nine pupils of all ages, sizes, and 
 sorts, and it met in a log schoolhouse eighteen by 
 tv/enty-four feet in size. Aly work began Novem- 
 ber 1, 1841, and I had to put in twenty-six days a 
 month. There was no uniformity in text-books, 
 there being five kinds of arithmetics, two of spelling 
 
ScJiooJ Days. 19 
 
 books, a dozen different readers, and three varieties 
 of geographies, but there was not a grammar of any 
 kind. The people generally deemed grammar un- 
 necessary, and many in the district were opposed to 
 its being taught, although it was agreed that I 
 might try it. 
 
 School was opened each morning with a short 
 scripture reading and with singing and prayer, and 
 if there was any opposition to such a proceeding it 
 did not appear. The patrons of the school were 
 mostly members of the church, and as I boarded 
 around I was called upon to conduct the family 
 worship. 
 
 The school I taught liad ll:e practice of barring 
 out the teacher of the schoolhouse at Christmas or 
 Xew Year's, sometimes on both days, and demand- 
 ing a treat of some sort before they would allow 
 him to enter and proceed with his work. A hint of 
 such doings came to my ears a few days before 
 Christmas. }vly plan was this : I would treat the 
 school, but I believed all would feel better if they 
 would omit the old barring out custom that might 
 cause trouble and spoil the fellowship of the oc- 
 casion. The older scholars readily agreed to my 
 plan, and I cast about to hnd something suitable 
 for the treat. I purposed to make a holiday of tlie 
 day, when no school work should be done. We 
 were to have the treat at the proper time, after 
 which we would have ball games, races, wrestling, 
 jumping, and other athletics. Fighting was to be 
 barred because it v/as Christmas Day. There were 
 
20 Autobiography of Rcz'. J. G. Baldzviii. 
 
 to be plenty of Rambo apples, which I was sure 
 could be found in my grand uncle's cellar, for I 
 had helped to store them in the fall, and they were 
 the finest I ever saw. It makes my mouth water 
 as I write about them. In addition there were to 
 be doughnuts in abundance, such as my mother 
 made. 
 
 On Christmas morning, assisted by my two broth- 
 ers and some of their boy chums, we toted the 
 bags and baskets containing the apples and douc^h- 
 nuts toward the schoolhouse. Arriving there we 
 found the doors barred and filled with the yoimg- 
 sters of the district. We expected some resistance, 
 but when our barricaded opponents beheld the boys 
 and baskets their belligerency subsided, and they 
 soon capitulated. We entered and after a song 
 suited to the day and occasion, the treat was dis- 
 tributed. The day was spent in sports and con- 
 tests, and without a fight or an oath or a jar. We 
 had some sweet cider, but there was nothing to in- 
 toxicate. The sentiment in the community was such 
 that, with very few exceptions, intoxicants Vv^ere not 
 used at log rollings, barn raisings, harvests, wed- 
 dings, or funerals. 
 
 I w^as eighteen years of age ten days before the 
 Christmas treat, and had boarded in nearly all the 
 homes of the district. Having started in with fam- 
 ily prayers in the first home in which I boarded, I 
 continued the practice and was not once forbidden 
 in the entire district. I have sometimes wondered 
 at my temerity, but I had found the Pearl of great 
 
School Days. 21 
 
 price on the 19th of the preceding August, and 
 soon learned that God's law was ''use or lose." It 
 was to use the grace that was given me that I 
 led in the family worship in the homes where I 
 boarded. I enjoyed this service well, but in some 
 homes it was not easy to do my duty. 
 
 There was one patron who sent five bright chil- 
 dren to the school. He was reported to me to be 
 an infidel and a wily critic. When the time came 
 for me to board in this home I had great trepida- 
 tion. Would it be right for me to omit the family 
 worship feature of my program? So great was my 
 anxiety that I spent a week in much thought and 
 earnest prayer. The resolve finally was made that 
 at the first meal I vx-ould wait for him to give me an 
 invitation to ask the blessing before eating, as he 
 knev/ that to be my practice at other homes. In 
 due time all were seated about the well-filled table, 
 and a painful pause ensued, my heart thumping so 
 loud that I thought others must hear it. All at 
 once, without any explanations or preliminaries, my 
 host said, ''Do your duty, Jimmie.'' Of course, I 
 said grace and felt free to conduct family worship 
 vrith prayer and song. 
 
 The next summer I met this man on a public 
 road, when he gave me the sad story of his life — 
 how he had left his home, his kindred knowing noth- 
 ing of his whereabouts ; how he had lived a double 
 life, his family knowing nothing of his former ir- 
 regularities. After my marriage I lived on a farm 
 adjoining his, and he often confided to me the state 
 
22 Autobiography of Rei'. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 of his mind, confessing the terrible mistake he had 
 made, and with tears besought me to remember him 
 in my })rayers. He often thanked me for my inter- 
 est in him and his family, and thus I was rewarded 
 for my faithfulness in his home. 
 
 I have great reason to thank God for the train- 
 ing I thus received in my early Christian life. I 
 was led to pray n.nich in secret for help in doing 
 my duty in the homes where I lived. Boarding 
 around was a fine school for the study of human na- 
 ture, living among all sorts of people and need- 
 ing a good deal of tact in many of my relations to 
 them. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Conversion. 
 
 For a year and a half before coming to Ohio, 
 I was in great distress of mind concerning my 
 spiritual state. I was rather glad to move into a 
 new country, to break away from my old compan- 
 ions and form new associations, with the hope that 
 under the new circumstances the atmosphere might 
 be more favorable for me to lead a genuine Chris- 
 tian life. I expected there to find less of tempta- 
 tion and fewer allurements to draw me into paths 
 of folly and sin. Days and nights were spent in 
 prayer and anguish of spirit, and the journey to 
 the new country was hailed with gladness. 
 
 In due time I found myself with my parents and 
 family located in the southern part of Medina 
 County, Ohio, arriving the 14th day of May, 1841. 
 A place was found for me to work on the farm of 
 my mother's uncle, where the summer was occu- 
 pied in the usual varied tasks of farm life. In the 
 fall, with the farm work well in hand, and the 
 ground plowed and ready for wheat sowing, I felt 
 that I could be spared for a few days. On the 
 morning of August 18, 1841, I said to my grand 
 uncle, "I would like to go to the camp meeting over 
 Sabbath and see what it looks like." 
 
 "This is Friday," he said, ''and you may rig 
 up right away and stay over Sunday, if you want 
 
24 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldnnn. 
 
 to, but don't get in with the rowdies and make a 
 disturbance." 
 
 He explained that often a lot of hoodlums from 
 the towns round about would go to the camp meet- 
 ing for the purpose of making a disturbance. "Don't 
 get into their company/' he said. I told him that 
 it was far from my thought to join such a crowd, 
 as ever since I could remember I had felt that I 
 would like to give such fellows a good thrashing, 
 if it were in my power. 
 
 After dinner I started for the camp meeting, 
 which was about a mile and a half from where I 
 worked. When about half the journey was com- 
 pleted I came to a place where a large sycamore had 
 stood, and the road had been filled up so as to be 
 even with the top of the stump. I stopped on the 
 stump, and this question came to my mind, "Why 
 am I going to the camp meeting?" In answering 
 this mental question I said to myself that it is a 
 new and strange thing to me, as I have never been 
 to a meeting of the kind, and I want to see if there 
 is a chance for me to become a Christian. I 
 thought that perhaps there would be present some 
 one who could show me liow to be a Christian, bet- 
 ter than I had ever known. Then another thought 
 came, "Would I act if I knew how ?" That ques- 
 tion revealed to me the true difficulty. I was a cow- 
 ard. I wanted peace with God, but was ashame 1 
 to let any one know it. I had expected to serve the 
 Lord in secret. It became apparent to me that 
 Satan was defeating me through my cowardice. 
 
Conversion. 25 
 
 There, upon that sycamore stump, I vowed that 
 if at the camp meeting an opportunity should be 
 given me to show my colors and to tell in public 
 that it was my desire to be a Christian, I would 
 at once accept the opportunity, even if it killed me. 
 My unrest had become unbearable, and I could en- 
 dure it no longer. Immediately a sense of relief 
 came to me, and I felt as if I had wings, and in 
 this frame of mind I continued my way until I came 
 in sight and hearing of the camp. All at once it 
 occurred to me that the crowd and the new and 
 strange surroundings might frighten me, and that 
 I would continue to show myself a coward. There- 
 upon I again vowed, as when I stood on that stump 
 alone before God, that I would publicly confess 
 Christ. 
 
 The first sermon preached that evening was by 
 Rev. John McNal, His text was ''He, that being 
 often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly 
 be destroved, and that without remedv." Proverbs 
 29:1. 
 
 The text itself fit me. As the preacher proceeded, 
 he portrayed my life, and I could not help asking, 
 "How does the preacher know all about my condi- 
 tion?" The sermon was a voice from heaven to 
 me, and I saw that to refuse to act would be at a 
 fearful risk. 
 
 At the conclusion of the discourse the preacher 
 exhorted his unconverted hearers to cease fight- 
 ing against God, and to do it at once and forever, 
 
26 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 since it was an unequal contest, and no mortal could 
 ever win. 
 
 The mourner's bench was now introduced, and 
 greatly to my relief I saw at once how I could pub- 
 licly part company with Satan. My cowardice was 
 gone, and there was' a great desire to kneel at that 
 humble place. Without waiting for further plead- 
 ing I arose and went to the mourner's b':nch, the 
 first one to reach it. Glancing about, I noticed that 
 there were a number of others kneeling with me, 
 about twenty altogether. 
 
 As I kneeled my first thought was, now I am no 
 longer a slave of Satan, but I soon found there was 
 a fierce contest awaiting me. Satan would not let 
 me go so easily. The first person to come to in- 
 struct me was a man with whom I had had dealings, 
 and who had tried to cheat me, as I believed. At 
 this there came to me the thought of getting up and 
 leaving the place in disgust. On second thought I 
 said to myself that that would never do, that I was 
 before God with a sincere purpose to find peace. 
 
 The battle proceeded until about eleven o'clock 
 when light from heaven came streaming into mv 
 soul, and my whole being was overwhelmed with it. 
 I felt that I was new through and through. It 
 seemed that a voice said to me, "Son, thy sins, 
 which are many, are forgiven thee, go in peace 
 and sin no more." In that light and in the sound 
 of that voice I have traveled over life's thorny road 
 with much joy and cheerfulness for more than sev- 
 
Conversion. 27 
 
 entv years, and often and often have I given thanks 
 to God for giving me such a good start. 
 
 The duty of joining church had next to be con^ 
 sidered. As I had been converted at a ISIethodist 
 Episcopal camp meeting, that church had first 
 claims upon me by reason of conquest, but when I 
 considered their practice of closed doors at class 
 meetino-s and love feasts, and the rule requiring a 
 probation of six months on the part of new mem- 
 bers, and some other features of their discipline, all 
 of which were rigidly adhered to, I found them 
 out of harmony with my views of the Bible plan. 
 After some delay and much persuasion and advice. 
 I consented to the six months of trial in which 
 time I should endeavor to learn more of the polity 
 of that church. 
 
 Vx' hen the six months had expired the probation- 
 ers were expected to answer several questions be- 
 fore being received into full membership. \\'hen the 
 question was asked, "Do you subscribe to the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal discipline, and are you willing to 
 be governed by it," I replied that I was not able 
 to do this, an.d my probation was extended. 
 
 About this time there arose a strife in that locality 
 in regard to the authority of the preachers in the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, there being many who 
 claimed that the laity of the Church had no voice 
 in its government, all power being in the hands of 
 the clergy. In this controversy over the matter of 
 church government about sixty of the members 
 withdrew, and for a space of a year we held serv- 
 
28 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzciu. 
 
 ices in private houses. Preachers of various faiths, 
 as the Lutherans, Wesleyans, and others came to 
 preach to us, and each sought to sweep us all into 
 his net. 
 
 Finally a little man with a big voice came among 
 us, and preached and visited through the commun- 
 ity, insisting that it would never do to have good 
 sheep so scattered. His name was Joseph Wal- 
 dorph. By circulating the Book of Discipline of the 
 United Brethren in Christ he persuaded six persons 
 to unite Vv^ith that denomination in church fellow- 
 ship. Afterwards, on January 1, 1843, myself and 
 v/ife with some forty others cast our lot with the 
 United Brethren Church, and I subscribed for the 
 Church paper, The Religious Telescope. We were 
 uniting with a Church that had no college or 
 school, and only three log houses of worship that 
 we knew anything about, and not a doctor of divin- 
 ity in all her borders. 
 
 Under the leadership of Joseph Waldorph, we 
 soon built a frame house of worship. A. Simpkins, 
 William Stiles, E. Sluts, S. C. Stewart, John Todd, 
 and others were our pastors and presiding elders. 
 The Weavers had been with us a few times in our 
 disorganized condition. Among the first sermons 
 preached by Jonathan Weaver, afterwards the great 
 bishop, was one delivered during that time in the 
 home of Willian Lamm. The house was crowded, 
 every room being filled, and after preaching there 
 was much praying with a number of conversions, 
 the singing and shouting lasting until after mid- 
 
Conversion. 29 
 
 night. Rev. Alexander Biddle was the first 
 United Brethren preacher I ever heard. He visited 
 in my home for a week when he was eighty-six 
 years of age. It was a time of pleasant reminis- 
 cence with us, and we greatly rejoiced together to 
 note how the Church had prospered in the half cen- 
 tury since we first met. Churches, colleges, denom- 
 inational institutions had been established, and the 
 membership increased from 30,000 to 250,000. "To 
 our Lord be all the glory. Amen," exclaimed the old 
 warrior. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 Marriage. 
 
 The marriage day came on apace, and two hearts 
 beat as one. 
 
 Miss Eleanor Lawrence was the eldest daughter 
 of Aaron B. and Mirtilla Lawrence, of Canaan, 
 Wayne County, Ohio. Both parents were born in 
 that county, the mother being the first white child 
 born in what aftenvards became the. town of Woos- 
 ter, the county seat, but at the time of her birth, 
 1809, it was far from being a town. 
 
 The one who was to be my wife, was converted 
 at the same camp meeting where I was, as I learned 
 afterwards, she lacking a month of being twelve 
 years of age. She was one of my pupils in the first 
 school that I taught in that district, and I boarded 
 at her home, where I noted that she was a diffident, 
 but obedient and dutiful daughter. She was also 
 pious and devoted to her Christian duties in a 
 quiet, determined way, and it came to me that she 
 should be my wife. However, she was five years 
 my junior, but I solved that difficulty by deciding 
 that I could wait four years, or perhaps a little 
 longer, as I was only eighteen. 
 
 When my winter school term closed her father 
 asked me as to my plans for the summer. I told 
 him that it was my desire to get work on a farm in 
 that vicinity if possible. He said that he needed a 
 hand, and ofifered me as pay the same as I had 
 received for teaching, $10.50 a month and board. 
 
J G. BALDWIN AND WIFE 
 Two Years after Marriage 
 
 MRS. BALDWIN AND SON CHARLES McKEXDRIE— Aged Five 
 
Marriage. 31 
 
 It was then sugar-making time, and I could go to 
 work at once. I accepted the proposition, but said 
 that as the day was Saturday and that I desired to 
 go to W^ooster to get my money for my teaching, 
 I would be ready to begin work on ?\Ionday. 
 Thus the contract was m.ade and on to Wooster I 
 went, feeling that somehow my fortune was already 
 secure. 
 
 The farm work I found to be strenuous. After 
 the sugar and syrup making, came plowing for 
 oats and sowing. Then came corn planting, fol- 
 lowed by the harvest of clover for hay. Then forty- 
 six acres of wheat had to be cut by hand in one way 
 and another, and be bound in sheaves and be stored 
 in the barn. Then came the threshing of some 
 twelve hundred bushels of grain, followed by corn 
 cutting and corn husking, potato digging, the butch- 
 ering of perhaps a dozen hogs, besides a beef and 
 several sheep. How much there was to do on a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres ! 
 
 But with all the vs^ork we attended church twice 
 on Sabbath and prayer meeting every midweek, 
 while family prayers were held each morning and 
 evening. With so many things to do and the time 
 so fully occupied, one might think that there was 
 no time left for courting. But a smile for the 
 one who was the choice of the heart received the 
 answering smile and I felt encouraged. In due 
 time, I ventured to ask the important question, 
 which was answered in the affirmative, but the 
 exact words of the question and answer I am un- 
 
2)2 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 able to recall. Suffice it to say that the agreement 
 was satisfactory to all concerned, and on the 31st 
 day of December, 1846, we were declared husband 
 and wife. The ceremony, performed by Rev. Wil- 
 liam Emerson, a Lutheran pastor, made it plain to 
 us that we were to cleave to each other ''until death 
 do us part." 
 
 We were now elected to remain upon the farm 
 and make our home there for a time at least. In 
 some respects we two, who had been made one, 
 were the chief factors in running the farm. 
 
 Two sons were given to us. The first born was 
 named William Emerson, born August 13, 1848, 
 and died in his fifth year. The disease was scarlet 
 fever. The physician came a few hours before he 
 passed away, and after an examination and the ad- 
 ministration of medicine he informed us that he 
 had done all that it was possible for him to do, and 
 that the child would leave us before the night should 
 pass. He then sang a verse of song and offered 
 a short, earnest prayer for the child and for us, that 
 we might have strength to pass through the ordeal 
 and finally meet in the land where there is no sick- 
 ness or parting. Upon the doctor's departure I 
 sought to be alone with God for a little while, and 
 went to the barn and asked for grace to know how 
 to say, "Thy will be done." Wlien I returned to 
 the house I foimd my wife with the child in lier 
 arms, carrying him about the room to re^t him, as 
 he had feebly requested. When I entered he said 
 to his mother, "Lay me down and let papa carry 
 
Marriage. 33 
 
 me, he is stronger and can do it better." I went 
 forward to take him up and carry him, and as I 
 leaned over to Hft him he exclaimed, ''Oh, papa, 
 you need not take me ; the white, bright being:- 
 have come to take me. Don't you see them?" He 
 was gone with these last words. 
 
 Our second son was born June 11, 1855, m 
 Canaan, Wayne County, Ohio, and was named 
 Charles ]\IcKendrie. He died in Seattle, Washing- 
 ton, ^lay 28, 1900, in his forty-fourth year. After 
 attending the district schools and the public schools 
 of Akron, and after some years at Smithville 
 Academy, he went to Otterbein University, where 
 he graduated in 1878. Two years later he completed 
 the course in the Homeopathic Medical College in 
 Cleveland, and married Alice M. Moore. He began 
 the practice of medicine in Ashland, Ohio. After 
 five years, on account of his wife's health, they 
 went to the Pacific Coast, finally locating in Seattle, 
 where he built up a great practice, being especially 
 skillful in surgery. 
 
 In the winter of 1899, a neighboring physician 
 desiring to attend medical lectures, secured our 
 son to look after his patients in his absence. An 
 epidemic of grip and typhoid fever called for such 
 service that led to overwork. Taking his bed and 
 diagnosing his own case, he told his wife that he 
 could not recover. He made arrangements at once 
 in regard to his affairs, and asked to be laid to 
 rest in the place where he had done his last work, 
 sending to his parents the message that thev were 
 
34 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 in his last thoughts, as he passed over to the home 
 beyond. He was a deacon in the Presbyterian 
 Church, and a useful man. 
 
 With hesitancy I come to record the illness and 
 demise of my beloved wife. After an illness of four 
 months she peacefully and without pain or fear 
 passed away on a Sabbath morning, August 28, 
 1910, being nearly eighty years old. 
 
 She had been soundly converted on the 19th day 
 of August, 1841, and was steadfast until the Master 
 called, "Come home." She was my companion in 
 joy, in sorrow, in toils and labors abundant for 
 almost sixty-four years, walking by my side, keep- 
 ing step, never complaining in discouragements, 
 faithful and hopeful always. She was a faithful 
 helper, a safe counselor and guide in spiritual af- 
 fairs, always apparently intuitively knowing what 
 was right. 
 
 I bless and revere her precious memory as she 
 waits within the portals of the city, just a little way 
 within, watching, I think, for my safe arrival. 
 "A land upon whose blissful shore 
 There rests no shadow, rests no stain ; 
 And those who meet shall part no more, 
 And those long parted, meet again." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 Licensed to Preach. 
 
 The church of which I was a member, recom- 
 mended me to the quarterly conference of the United 
 Brethren Church for Hcense to preach. Quarterly 
 conference met in my home church, November 19, 
 1848, Rev. S. C. Stewart was presiding elder, and 
 Rev. Eli Slutz was pastor. There were present 
 eleven other members, the total being thirteen. The 
 presiding elder examined me on the questions asked 
 in the Book of Discipline, and as was the custom, I 
 retired from the room in order that the members 
 might freely express their views as to the fitness 
 of the candidate. 
 
 I gladly retired and then spent nearly two hours 
 marching up and down in front of the church to 
 keep warm, as it was very cold. At times I was 
 tempted to retire for good and go home and give 
 my chance to some one else, as it began to appear 
 that my chance was no good anyhow. At last 
 the door opened and a beckoning hand invited me 
 in, and I went in to warm and to tremble. 
 
 The presiding elder informed me that they had 
 kept me out in the cold rather long, which I knew, 
 and that when they did come to a vote there was a 
 tie and the quarterly conference had instructed him 
 to give the deciding vote, which he would do after 
 asking a few more questions. The questions being 
 answered to his satisfaction he voted in my favor. 
 
36 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 The elder then gave me three items of advice for 
 my guidance and help. "First, whenever you have 
 an appointment to preach, before you stand in the 
 presence of the audience have your theme well in 
 your mind. If you go before an audience without 
 a theme vou will be at sea, and will be able to ac- 
 complish but little. 
 
 ''Second, be sure to think out some points (not 
 all) on the theme, and be thoroughly familiar with 
 them. You must know and understand that whidi 
 you would have your audience know and under- 
 stand. 
 
 'Third, be sure to quit when you are done, and 
 not talk your points out of mind by promising to 
 say one word more, and then talk on for thirty min- 
 utes." 
 
 Some years later, I learned something of the at- 
 titude of the members of the quarterly conference, 
 during the two hours I was out in the cold. After 
 considering and debating my case a long time, the 
 presiding elder put to vote the matter of recom- 
 mending me for license, and the vote stood three 
 in my favor, three against me, and seven not vot- 
 ing at all. The presiding elder's vote in my favor 
 elected me, and it was apparent that it was by a very 
 narrow margin that I entered the ministry. Those 
 who were opposed to recommending me argued, as I 
 was told, that I had but recently come from the East, 
 where I had been reared as a Presbyterian; that I 
 had been a school teacher and had worked up a 
 grammar class in school ; that I had also taught the 
 
RE\'. J. G. BALDWIN— 1860 
 
Licensed to Preach. 37 
 
 reading of notes to music ; consequently most of the 
 members of the quarterly conference feared that m\- 
 preaching would be from my head and not from my 
 heart. It was to my mind a clear case of knowing 
 too much, which was quite an uncommon situa- 
 tion. 
 
 My license was granted and the papers signed by 
 Presiding Elder Stewart, who kindly bade me God- 
 speed, declaring that he had no doubt of my success. 
 
 I was permitted afterwards to be the pastor, the 
 presiding elder, and the General Conference dele- 
 gate of the members of that quarterly conference, 
 and enjoyed sweet fellowship with them for years, 
 but they have every one received the summons, and 
 are now where toils and cares are ended, where I 
 hope to see them, every one, by-and-by. 
 
 In preaching my first sermon I took for mv text 
 the first Psalm. I chose to take the whole Psalm, 
 for I feared running out of matter if my text were a 
 short one. The appointment was at my home church 
 on a fine spring day. and some one had started the 
 report that the presiding elder was to be there to 
 preach. That brought a house full, and then it was 
 circulated that the report of the presiding elder's 
 coming was one of my jokes. Afterwards, however, 
 the person who was responsible for starting the 
 story volunteered to publicly own that he had started 
 the joke. 
 
 My sermon ended in time, but I soon learned 
 that too many points in one sermon are not easy to 
 mana2:e, 
 
38 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 As a local preacher I was not a success, it seemed 
 to me. Preaching just enough to get my official 
 character squeezed through the quarterly conference 
 did not agree with my disposition, or with my 
 call or conscience. I felt that preaching must be 
 the work of my life. I took my good wife into 
 counsel. After a thorough and prayerful consider- 
 ation of all the circumstances we concluded that I 
 should continue the work upon the farm as usual, 
 but hold myself in readiness to take a charge when- 
 ever the Lord should set before me an open door. 
 Then peace of mind came, and it was not long that 
 we were left in suspense. Occasionally an appoint- 
 ment for a Sabbath would be filled at the churches 
 at various places, but no responsibility seemed to 
 be attached to the work. 
 
 There was an exhorter in our vicinity who pro- 
 posed that he and I make appointments on a certain 
 Sabbath day, I to preach and he to exhort, thus 
 assisting each other. The plan was to have three 
 services, the first at the jMethodist church at Canaan 
 Center in the forenoon ; the second at the Stratton 
 schoolhouse in the afternoon ; and the work of the 
 day to close with a third service at St. Paul's 
 Lutheran church, which was occupied at the time 
 by the United Brethren people. 
 
 The eventful morning came with the singing of 
 birds, and in the joyous springtime we began our 
 journey on foot in primitive style, filled with the 
 hope of making the world a little better by that 
 day's work. The morning services were said to be 
 
Licensed to Preach. 39 
 
 excellent, and we were cordially invited to come 
 again. We were given our dinner and in due time 
 were on our way to the afternoon service some two 
 miles distant, much elated over the morning's work. 
 A great crowd assembled at the schoolhouse, which 
 was another evidence of our growing popularity, as 
 we opined, and after the sermon and exhortation 
 there was much handshaking with many compli- 
 ments and congratulations. 
 
 Soon we were on our winding way to the even- 
 ing appointment, feeling that we were prepared for 
 any emergency, but little knowing what was in store 
 for us. The house was crowded, with half the 
 township present, including many of my previous 
 pupils, and besides, right in the center of the au- 
 dience, immediately in front of the pulpit, was a 
 local preacher, a member of the annual conference. 
 He asked to be excused from taking a seat on the 
 platform. To my mind all at once he began to ap- 
 pear as a veritable Goliath, ready to slay green be- 
 ginners. 
 
 My boldness and self-confidence and every other 
 kind of confidence evaporated at once, and when 
 my text for the evening had been read three times 
 I was unable to utter a sentence. I was down and 
 out. As I sat down I told the exhorter to go ahead, 
 which he attempted to do, but it was no go with him, 
 and the best I could do was to turn the services 
 over to the big local preacher in front of the pulpit. 
 He, coming into possession of the floor, at once 
 called me by name, and advised me to dismiss the 
 
40 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 meeting, as there was "too much devil there that 
 night for any one to do anything." 
 
 I was reheved that some one knew what was 
 the matter, and very gladly hastened to carry out the 
 suggestion, and wath equal gladness hastened from 
 the place. 
 
 I had received my lesson, and it was so impressed 
 upon me that it could never be forgotten. I am 
 glad to record that for the sixty-four years since 
 I have never been placed in a like pitiable plight. 
 
 It was a chagrined and humiliated pair who 
 walked the four miles of our way homeward that 
 night after the severe lesson, sadly commenting upon 
 our elation of the morning, and of our overthrow 
 in the evening. I remember very distinctly a re- 
 mark I made to my comrade as we wearily jogged 
 along that IMay evening. ''John, I am pretty sure 
 that my call to preach has come to an end, and I 
 expect from present appearances I shall never un- 
 dertake a job of that kind as long as grass grows 
 or water runs." In reply he said, "You will get 
 over that," and we walked on in silence. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 A Traveling Preacher. 
 
 I found that it was not possible with a clear con- 
 science to get away from the vow which I had made 
 in my wife's presence, and with her advice and ap- 
 proval. That vow seemed ever to be before me, 
 but how it was to be fulfilled I did not know. 
 
 Quite early in the morning of June 17, 1854, 
 Presiding Elder Slutz rode up to my house as I was 
 feeding the pigs, and saluted me with a good morn- 
 ing. He declined my invitation to alight from his 
 horse and come in, as he was on his way to 
 hold a quarterly meeting at Brunswick mis- 
 sion. Instead he asked me to change my apparel, 
 saddle a horse, and go along with him to spend the 
 Sabbath. I made the excuse that there was so 
 much to do on the farm at that time of the year, 
 and that I did not see how I could spare the time. 
 My wife overhearing the conversation came for- 
 ward and said, "You had better go. I can do the 
 chores just as well as not, and it will do you good." 
 I soon was ready and in due time we reached the 
 place. 
 
 After dinner we went to the schoolhouse where 
 the presiding elder preached a short discourse, and 
 then called the quarterly conference to order. It 
 was revealed that there had been no preaching on 
 the charge for three months, and the preacher was 
 
42 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 ill and likely would never be able to preach again. 
 The presiding elder inquired of the quarterly con- 
 ference if the members desired a preacher to fill out 
 the year. They answered that they so desired. 
 "Whom do you want?" was the next question, and 
 to this they answered that the selection would be 
 left to the elder. Without a word of counsel with 
 me he said to the conference, "Seeing you have em- 
 powered me to select a man for the place, I hereby 
 appoint Brother Baldwin, who is present, to supply 
 the charge for the remainder of the year, and he 
 will preach for you this evening." 
 
 The announcement was like a cloudburst to me. 
 For a few moments I was so overwhelmed that I 
 could not utter a word. Conference presently ad- 
 journed and I made for the woods about half a 
 mile west of the schoolhouse, and there the matter 
 was settled for all time. A vow was made that 
 to do my Lord's bidding and follow his leading 
 should be my fixed purpose as long as life and 
 health were vouchsafed. 
 
 The way in which I was enabled to keep this 
 vow was marvelous. The financial end of the sit- 
 uation adjusted itself readily, the work on the 
 farm was easily done, and nothing blocked my way 
 to hinder my filling the six appointments of the 
 charge for the remaining three months of the year 
 at a salary of S48.10. In addition there was v$15 
 missionary funds appropriated by the annual con- 
 ference. The next session of the conference re- 
 turned me to the charge for another year. 
 
A Traveling Preacher. 43 
 
 The annual conference that year was held at Al- 
 liance, in Stark County, Ohio. Bishop J. J. Gloss- 
 brenner presided. I was one of the twelve licen- 
 tiates, all of whom were received into the conference 
 and granted license to preach the gospel. Of the 
 twelve, ten have gone to their rest and reward, and 
 as this is written, two, Rev. L. L. Hager, of Erie 
 Conference, and I. are left to expectantly watch 
 and hope. The preacher who was ill when the 
 charge fell into my hands, was Rev. A. Crum, who 
 died in triumph soon after my taking the work. 
 
 We moved to the charge immediately after the 
 conference session, and went to work preaching, 
 visiting, and in all ways possible stirring the peo- 
 ple to activity in preparation for a revival. I found 
 there were all sorts and sizes of isms, and soon 
 learned that it was much more difficult to get people 
 to go and keep going in the right direction than I 
 had expected. Many did not know the truth when 
 they saw it, it seemed to me, but the year was one 
 of valuable training for the work of preaching. I 
 found that there was a saying among the older 
 preachers of the conference that the mission was an 
 excellent charge on which to test a young hand, to 
 see whether he had the stuff in him to endure the 
 work, and if he seemed determined upon victory he 
 was fit to w^ork anywhere. 
 
 We had some revival interest and made many 
 life-long friends, some of whom are in the paradise 
 of God to-day. 
 
44 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 On that charge I received my parents into the 
 fellowship of the United Brethren Church, as re- 
 corded in a previous chapter. I incidentally learned 
 a good bit about living, a good bit about keeping 
 a family while in the ministry at that time, of the 
 work that had to be done in the hay and wheat fields, 
 in the hoeing and husking of corn, digging of po- 
 tatoes, etc. That year I earned something building 
 a barn for one of our valued members. 
 
 The next year was spent on Nelson Mission with 
 six appointments. At once we moved to the charge 
 and engaged in the work of the itinerancy in real 
 earnest, preaching, visiting, comforting the sick and 
 sorrowing, besides doing manual labor at times to 
 pay expenses. There was but one church house on 
 the charge, our meetings at other points being held 
 in schoolhouses, and occasionally in private houses. 
 in barns, or in the woods. A good deal of interest 
 was awakened during the year, and at one point a 
 good revival was had, a new society organized, and 
 a church house built. 
 
 At the next annual conference Nelson Mission 
 was attached to Fowler Circuit, constituting a 
 charge of sixteen appointments, and I with a col- 
 league was sent to the work. The helper never 
 came. 
 
 We moved at once to Fowler, near the center of 
 the charge, in order to travel the territory to the 
 best advantage. I undertook to fill the appoint- 
 ments every two weeks until my colleague should 
 arrive, but he finally sent word that it was too much 
 
A Traveling Preacher. 45 
 
 work to do in four weeks, and so resigned. The 
 quarterly conference then arranged that the work 
 should be entirely in my charge, three local preach- 
 ers to assist as I should direct, and that when I 
 should be engaged in holding revival meetings they 
 should fill the other appointments. This worked 
 right well and was continued for two years. Nearly 
 four hundred were converted in the three years that 
 I spent in that territory and three houses of wor- 
 ship were built. 
 
 Those were years when I learned a good deal 
 about the managing of family finances, and also 
 those of the church. The day we moved to Fowler 
 I wrote a letter to my wife's folks, and then found 
 that there was no money in the house nor a five- 
 cent postage stamp. Whom to ask for money I 
 did not know, for it was rumored in that locality 
 that the only thing we were after was their money. 
 So the letter was stowed away in my pocket and 
 developments awaited. The following Sabbath my 
 preaching appointment was in a schoolhouse over 
 the line in Pennsylvania. A good audience greeted 
 me, and after the services some time was spent in 
 greetings and visiting, that I might learn the names 
 and faces of some of the people. Among those 
 whom I met was a middle-aged woman, who diffi- 
 dently approached me and after the handshake 
 modestly inquired, "Do you need any money?" 
 That was a question that had not been put in the 
 program for the day, and it nearly took away my 
 breath, but I managed to say that I could use a 
 
46 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 trifle more than I then possessed. She said, "I have 
 not much means, but I feel it my duty to do what I 
 can." She handed me fifty cents. I never saw a 
 fifty-cent piece before or since that looked as large 
 as that one did. People who become rich suddenly 
 through some unexpected legacy, I opine, feel a 
 little as I did. I went to my evening preaching some 
 five miles distant with revived hopes, and somehow 
 I came to believe that God would not permit me to 
 suffer. 
 
 The following Friday, just as I was about to start 
 to fill my appointments at the end of the charge 
 where I had been pastor the previous year, my wife 
 came to the buggy and said : "J^^^^s, we have no 
 flour in the house, not a bit. We have half a loaf 
 of bread and a little cornmeal, which will do for 
 me and Charlie until you return on Monday, and 
 as you are going where you are well acquainted, 
 perhaps you can get flour from some of our friends 
 to bring home with you." I agreed to try, and 
 started. 
 
 My text on which I intended to preach that even- 
 ing at Braceville was, "Therefore, being justified by 
 faith, we have peace with God," etc. Thinking and 
 praying as much as I did, as I journeyed on, the 
 flour would slip into my thoughts and cause confu- 
 sion in the sermon making. Thus the conflict raged 
 until I came in sight of my stopping place and then 
 I said : ''Lord, help me to trust the flour to thee. I 
 am not able for it, and to preach beside." As a 
 cloud disappears before the wind, so the problem 
 
A Traveling Preacher. 47 
 
 of the flour went from my thought and rest and 
 trust came and not a thought of it returned to annoy 
 me during my preaching. 
 
 When the meeting was dismissed and greetings 
 were the order, a Mr. Smith came to shake hands 
 and to inquire about my family, and how we were 
 getting along. Before parting he asked if I could 
 come by his house on my way home on Monday. I 
 replied that I could if necessary, although it was a 
 mile or more out of the way. He said, "I have been 
 hauling flour to Warren and thought that you could 
 put a sack in your buggy to take home to the family, 
 if you could come this way as well as not." "Oh," 
 I said, "to be sure, I shall be glad to come this way 
 and take dinner with you, and accommodate you 
 by hauling away some of your flour." I was there 
 at the appointed time and had a splendid dinner and 
 formed a pleasant acquaintance with the family, who 
 once had been members of the German Lutheran 
 Church, but two of the sons had been converted at 
 the meeting which was held by me the year before, 
 and all came into fellowship with the United Breth- 
 ren Church soon afterwards. 
 
 As I was leaving for home the host said, "Now, 
 about that flour of which I was speaking to you 
 last Friday evening, can you take it with you?" 
 Replying in the affirmative, he said, "I think you 
 are entitled to two sacks if you can carry them." 
 I expressed the opinion that it would be possible, 
 as the horse was willing and the buggy was strong. 
 Forthwith two sacks of flour were placed beneath 
 
48 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 the buggy seat, and I went on singing and rejoicing. 
 From that time to this, I believe that the Lord knows 
 how and when to provide flour for us, with all 
 things else needed. So I bless and praise his name. 
 One time on this charge on opening the door of 
 the schoolhouse after the services I saw a large man 
 in his shirt sleeves walking to and fro in front of 
 the house swearing at me for coming to the vicinity 
 and publicly holding him up before the congregation, 
 telling them how he got drunk, abused his wife, and 
 was guilty of other bad things. In his ravings he 
 said it was not fair for me to take advantage of 
 him in that way, and that he would give me a 
 sound thrashing if I would just step out into the 
 road. I told him that he was mistaken, for I had 
 never seen him or heard of him before in my life, 
 and I assured him I did not want to be thrashed and 
 would not come out, advising him to go home, and 
 that when he came to soberly think it all over he 
 would see his mistake. Then his wife and a few 
 friends gathered about him and persuaded him to 
 put on his coat and go home. The brethren as- 
 sured me that he would feel very mean over it when 
 he became sober. And so it was, for as soon as 
 the booze that possessed him had spent its power 
 he was profuse with his apologies. I had the joy of 
 seeing him soundly converted afterward, and of re- 
 ceiving him into the United Brethren Church where 
 he walked as a man victorious over drink in the 
 name of the Lord. 
 
A Traveling Preacher. 49 
 
 When it came time to present the missionary cause 
 I found to my sad surprise that very many were 
 opposed to missions. They told me that it was not 
 right to send money to other localities when it was 
 so badly needed at home. One man declared that 
 he would not pay me anything if I should preach 
 missions. Well, I saw that light was needed there, 
 and at once I made up my mind to preach on the 
 subject of missions at all appointments on the 
 charge. 
 
 The next Sabbath I began the work at a place 
 called "Brimstone Corners," since named Wildare, 
 supposed to be a more respectable name. In my 
 sermon that day I dwelt at length upon our duty 
 to practice economy in order to have something 
 to give to spread the gospel in the whole world. I 
 urged economy in dress, and in the avoidance of 
 unnecessary luxuries. I illustrated from my own 
 experience, as I had bought a suit of clothes a few 
 days before. One suit had been offered to me at 
 $15, another at $12. The cheaper suit would be 
 as serviceable as the other, the difference being 
 that the $12 suit would not shine as the other, just 
 like Brother Johnnie Simons' vest, and thus the $3 
 would be spent for the shine alone. Brother Simons 
 was greatly stirred up at my remarks. He was a 
 sincere German who dressed neatly in a plain brown 
 suit, but by some means had a fine satin vest, which 
 to my mind, did not correspond to the rest of his 
 attire. I saw that he was greatly excited, as were 
 some others, and knew that I was in for it. Then 
 
50 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 with paper and pencil I went through the audience 
 asking each person to subscribe and give to mis- 
 sions as he was able. When I came to Johnnie he 
 astonished me by pulling off the vest and handing 
 it to me saying, "Take that." I felt that the best 
 thing to do was to take it, and then I offered it 
 for sale for the cause. Brother William Clemmens 
 helped me out by offering $2 for the vest, and it was 
 passed over to him and the cash given to me. After 
 the service Brother Clemmens took the vest to 
 Johnnie and explained that the preacher had merely 
 used the vest as an illustration, not meaning any 
 harm, and that he should take his vest back and it 
 would be all right with the preacher. He cooled 
 down and took the vest. The cause of missions got 
 the two dollars, and the community got lots of 
 fun and good cheer out of the incident. To this 
 day some of the older people talk and laugh about 
 the incident. The best of all was that never again 
 was there offered any opposition to my preaching 
 missionary sermons, and Brother Simons was a 
 faithful friend. I was in that vicinity a few years 
 after and made inquiry in regard to Brother Simons, 
 and learned that he had removed to a place in the 
 southeast of the county, where there was no United 
 Brethren church, and where he worshiped in an- 
 other church a mile or two from his home, and this 
 story was told me : 
 
 One morning in the autumn he was late in get- 
 ting ready to go to church, and while hurrying 
 about his chores he had occasion to go to the 
 
A Traveling Preacher. 51 
 
 cellar. Becky, his wife, handed him a vessel, asking 
 him to draw some sorghum molasses for breakfast. 
 As the molasses ran very slowly, he left the vessel 
 under the open spigot and attended to other duties, 
 intending to get the molasses when the vessel should 
 be filled. In the meantime Becky had made some 
 changes in preparing the meal so that the sorghum 
 was not needed. As soon as the hasty breakfast 
 was eaten they drove Gilpin-like to church, arriv- 
 ing after the services were well begun. They were 
 seated but a few minutes when suddenly, without 
 a word of warning or explanation, Johnnie jumped 
 to his feet, exclaiming, "Oh, mine Got, Becky, the 
 molasses! the molasses!" The two rushed to the 
 door while several men followed, thinking he had 
 suddenly gone mad, but Johnnie was specially in- 
 tent on getting into the conveyance as soon as pos- 
 sible, and with Becky he started pell-mell for home. 
 The interested onlookers saw that he evidently had 
 no time or disposition for explanations. Reaching 
 the cellar the faucet was turned to stop the flow of 
 sorghum, but a goodly quantity of the contents of 
 the barrel had obeyed the law of gravitation, and 
 was wasting its sweetness on the cellar floor, John- 
 nie took a philosophical view of the situation, say- 
 ing, ''Well, I raised the sorghum myself and made 
 the molasses, and I have not lost much but my labor, 
 but I did not intend it to be used for this purpose." 
 The incident was a source of merriment over all 
 that part of the county. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 An Itinerant in War Times. 
 
 The autumn of 1859 found us on the Erie charge 
 with six appointments. Those were stirring times 
 just preceding the Civil War, and all was commo- 
 tion in Church and State, and the possibility of 
 building up the Church seemed small. Especially 
 was this true in the United Brethren Church, for 
 we were known to be "black abolitionists," and all 
 sorts of charges were made against us as being 
 dangerous to the welfare of society. 
 
 Besides my work of preaching and visiting, the 
 provost marshal of Erie, Pennsylvania, appointed 
 me to enroll all who were fit for military service 
 in the township where I lived, Elkcreek Township. 
 I went to work at once and my report was the first 
 one in, and the marshal told me afterwards that it 
 was the cleanest and most complete of any in the 
 county. As I went about my work, I found large 
 posters on the trees and fences addressed to Uncle 
 Sam with the challenge "Draft if you dare." But 
 Uncle sent fourteen hundred persons dressed in blue 
 suits, and the draft went on without any trouble, 
 excepting hot words and dire threats. 
 
 It fell to me to be one of the first to be drafted, 
 and on the very day I received the notice, I reported 
 to the provost marshal. He promptly told me that 
 he would not allow me to go to war, as I was too 
 
An Itinerant in War Times. 53 
 
 tall ; the enemy would shoot my head off the first 
 day. He also informed me that there was other 
 work for me concerning which he would inform me 
 later. I went home and in a few days a letter 
 came asking me to come to Erie, but to do so with- 
 out giving any one the least hint as to my having 
 any business with the marshal. 
 
 Of course I went, my curiosity being aroused 
 as to the reason for secretiveness. Once in the 
 presence of the marshal he explained that there 
 was a goodly number who were drafted and had 
 hired substitutes, and that when the money was 
 paid over to the substitutes they went to Canada. 
 Some received a bounty and also went to Canada. 
 Others were unpatriotic cowards, and were ready 
 to desert their country. This, with similar infor- 
 mation was given me, and then he explained the 
 work he desired of me. As I was engaged in travel- 
 ing throughout Erie County, I was to be on the look- 
 out for any of the characters described, and to re- 
 port to him. In the meantime nothing was to be 
 said or done that would lead any one to suspect 
 that I was engaged in that kind of work. 
 
 So I was instructed and so I went to work, no 
 one but my wife knowing of it. I served in this 
 position while in that county about three years, and 
 succeeded in reporting perhaps a dozen men who 
 were guilty of bounty jumping, deserting, or cheat- 
 ing the Government in one way or another. Some 
 of them paid dearly for their mean business. One 
 rich old fellow was fined ten thousand dollars for 
 
54 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 the part he took in the unpatriotic procedure. But 
 I had to be very careful not to let any one know 
 of my business as I traveled to and fro in the 
 county. 
 
 It was suggested to me that it would be proper 
 for me to carry a revolver, a custom quite common. 
 I had a revolver in my hip pocket a half day, and 
 was in constant fear that it would go ofif at the 
 wrong time, and I laid it aside. I preached one even- 
 ing in a schoolhouse in a community generally cred- 
 ited with being a southern sympathizing community. 
 I was there in hunt of a man who was supposed to be 
 in Canada, but who was in the congregation before 
 me, as I learned before leaving. It was whispered 
 to me that he was there with eight or ten men with 
 revolvers to guard him, as his family lived in the 
 district and he was home on a furlough. The 
 Government had him well in hand within the next 
 twenty-four hours. I felt relieved when I was done 
 with the whole business. 
 
 While I was on this charge my wife had the ty- 
 phoid fever in the most malignant form. She hovered 
 between life and death for fifteen long, tedious 
 weeks, four of which were a blank to her ever 
 after. But God heard and answered our prayers, 
 and she was mercifully restored to us and spared 
 for fifty-four years, even to a good old age, as we 
 count duration. I cease not to praise the Lord for 
 his gracious providence in sparing her to such a 
 good age to be a blessed example of patience, hope, 
 and charity, and to come to the end of her life 
 
An Itinerant in War Times. 55 
 
 among her kindred and loved ones peacefully and in 
 glorious triumph. 
 
 I was next sent to Fowler Circuit, the charge 
 having been divided, there being about half the 
 number of preaching places as when I traveled it 
 previously. The quarterly conference in fixing my 
 salary agreed to pay one dollar a sermon, no ac- 
 count to be taken of donations or presents. I man- 
 aged to preach as many sermons as seemed really 
 necessary and no more. At the end of the year it 
 was found that two hundred and twelve sermons 
 had been delivered, and two hundred and thirteen 
 dollars had been received, I therefore, being over- 
 paid, but the quarterly conference generously al- 
 lowed me to keep the additional dollar. 
 
 .At one of the appointments there was an old 
 b-rotber who, in the class meetings, was always 
 saying things in a way no one else could say tliem. 
 Twice he was absent from the meetings, an unusual 
 thing. At the third service he was there, and after 
 preaching he arose in the class meeting and stated 
 the reason for his absence. He had been in spiritual 
 darkness and despondency for four weeks, but as 
 he was at work plowing in the field a passage of 
 Scripture came to him that gave him great comfort, 
 and his darkness disappeared. The passage was 
 this, 'Taint heart never won fair lady." The breth- 
 ren thought it was my duty to inform the brother 
 that his scripture was home-made and not to be 
 found in the Bible, but I said, "No, he had gotten 
 help from it, let it go at that." 
 
56 AutobiGgraphy of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 In the same neighborhood was a family not be- 
 longing to our church but regular attendants. I 
 was often invited to stop with them. One Saturday, 
 I drove to the house and was invited by the woman 
 of the house to put up my horse, she stating that the 
 men would soon be in for supper, and the horse be 
 fed and cared for. On going in the woman said : 
 "I am so glad you came to-night, for I have hunted 
 in the Bible all this week for a passage of scrip- 
 ture that father used to quote often to us girls when 
 we would get to cutting up and whistling and danc- 
 ing, but I can't find it anywhere. It was, 'Whistling 
 maids and crowing hens always come to some bad 
 ends.' " I told her that I had heard that sentiment, 
 but was quite sure it was not in the Bible. It might 
 be poetry, but was very poor poetry, and I had no 
 idea who the author was. She was incensed at my 
 remark, and said she was sure it was in the Bible, 
 for her father was great on the Bible and would 
 not have quoted it so often if it had not been there. 
 I soon saw that there was no chance to change he\ 
 mind, and I advised her to continue the search in 
 the Bible, and when she had found it to write 
 and give me the chapter and verse, and I would be 
 greatly obliged. I have not heard anything more 
 of the matter though some fifty years have come 
 and gone. 
 
 The war spirit was abroad in all the land at 
 this time, and was very much in evidence on a por- 
 tion of Fowler charge. We had withal a good re- 
 
All Itinerant in War Times. 57 
 
 vival spirit at two places, and over one hundred 
 were converted and joined the church. 
 
 At one place our church was burned, being totally 
 destroyed in the midst of a sweeping revival. As 
 the church was near the schoolhouse the meeting 
 continued therein. There was a man in the vicinity 
 who had threatened us, and so the trustees arrested 
 him, but there was not sufficient testimony to con- 
 vict him. Twice he was arrested, but we failed 
 to make a clear case and so gave it up until further 
 proof could be secured. The man whom we sus- 
 pected was a large landholder, and was considered 
 w^ealthy. After while it came out that he had had 
 a confederate in the burning of the church. The 
 two had quarreled about the pay and the confederate 
 ''let the cat out of the bag." To avoid being arrested 
 again, and to settle the matter the man bargained 
 with the trustees to give them five acres of land 
 and to build as good a church as the one which had 
 been burned. This was done, and several years 
 later I had the satisfaction of holding a quarterly 
 meeting in the new church, and the man who was the 
 principal in the burning of the former church, was 
 one of my auditors. After services I spoke to him 
 about the matter and he said that he was done with 
 such business. 
 
 There was a remarkable conversion of a noted 
 infidel in that meeting. The man's wife was a 
 member of the United Brethren Church, and with 
 her children, was a faithful attendant. She was 
 anxious that I should visit her husband and talk 
 
58 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 with him and examine his infidel library, of which 
 he was very proud, boasting of his weapons to be 
 used in combating the silly notions of Christians. 
 The next day I visited the home, arranging to take 
 a meal there. After a little talk with the man, it 
 was apparent to me that his whole effort had been 
 to find what he wanted to find, and, of course, he 
 found it. I declined to be led into an argument 
 with him, but examined and praised his fine library, 
 remarking that his books were all on one side of 
 the question. "Where are the books on the other 
 side?" I asked. "Are you willing to look earnestly 
 and candidly into the matter from our side of the 
 question, and will you read a small book that I will 
 furnish you? Are you afraid to study the other 
 side?" He replied, "I am not afraid to read any- 
 thing you choose to send me, and if there is good 
 sense in it, Lthink I am able to recognize it." I said 
 no more to him and on returning to my home, J 
 selected a small volume entitled, "Cause and Cure 
 of Infidelity," by Dr. Nelson. The book was in 
 his hands when his wife came to church at the next 
 service, and he was an eager student from the mo- 
 ment he began to investigate. 
 
 I saw no more of him until the next Thursday 
 evening. After dismissing the meeting and as I 
 was passing out of the door of the church, liis 
 hired man came to me in great haste and said that 
 Alex had sent him to tell me to announce in public 
 that he was done with infidelity, and had made a 
 bonfire of his costly books and asked the prayers 
 
An Itinerant in War Times. 59 
 
 of the congregation. It was an opportune time to 
 make the announcement at once; as the weather 
 was mild the people were visiting before going 
 to their homes. As soon as the announcement was 
 made there was such an awe of stillness apparent 
 as I had never beheld in an audience before, and 
 I have not experienced the like since. The people 
 appeared to be afraid to stir but they quietly re- 
 tired, and the next day we found that it was all 
 true as reported, and Alex came out fair and square 
 upon the Lord's side, greatly to the discomfiture of 
 Satan's followers. 
 
 I had all sorts of experiences during the meetings 
 in the schoolhouse after the church had been burned. 
 Some were bitterly opposed to our work, :md 
 sought to drive us away by all means they dared to 
 employ. The preacher's position was in front of 
 the blackboard. One night as I knelt in prayer there 
 was a constant noise about the blackboard in my 
 rear. After the service the brethren made an ex- 
 amination to find out what ailed the blackboard, and 
 they gathered up a dozen eight-penny nails, which 
 had been thrown at me, but evidently with poor 
 marksmanship, as not one hit me. This was re- 
 peated the next night, but the enemy's skill was 
 no better, for not one was allowed to touch me. 
 1 spoke of the incident in my sermon, and stated 
 that all who were in the audience were upon the one 
 side or the other. Either they were with the per- 
 son who threw the nails, or they were on the side of 
 the right, and all unrepented sinners would have 
 
60 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 to be counted with the one who threw the nails. 
 When mourners were invited one man went across 
 the aisle and taking his wife by the hand said, "Let 
 us get off the side of that feller that threw the nails." 
 They went together to the altar of prayer, and were 
 happily converted. 
 
 Some of our people advised me not to go to that 
 appointment to preach, as the hostility, resulting 
 from the war spirit, was so great that they might 
 kill me, accidentally or otherwise. It was not so 
 much that they were against me ; the church was 
 the foe which they hated, because its members were 
 "black abolitionists," and many did not know enough 
 to know what that meant. 
 
 I have read in one of Wesley's sermons that a 
 preacher is immortal until his work is done. It ap- 
 peared as if the statement is true, for the man who 
 threw the nails afterwards confessed that he did 
 his best to hit me, but I had a charmed life. So I 
 lived through the year, and am living some fifty 
 years later. W^ar is a great calamity, and I have 
 often prayed that there might never be another. 
 
 Two of my brothers were in the Civil War, and 
 both were spared to return to their families. My 
 youngest brother, John, was a captain in the 13th 
 Michigan V. I., and was in thirty-three regular 
 battles. He was wounded but once, in the engage- 
 ment at Chattanooga, when he was hit by a sharp- 
 shooter after the battle was over. He was in the 
 battle of Shiloh, and captured a whole regiment 
 of the Mississippi Confederates, or what was left 
 
All Itinerant in War Times. 61 
 
 of the regiment, there being a few over six hundred, 
 and took them to Johnson's Island as prisoners of 
 war. When the papers were being made out only 
 eleven of the number could write their names, one 
 of whom was the colonel, and he was found to be 
 an uncle of ours, our father's brother John, the next 
 to the youngest of nine sons. But it was war. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Traveling Preacher^ Presiding Elder, 
 General Conference Delegate. 
 
 In 1863, I was elected presiding elder and sent to 
 the Erie District. Six times afterwards was I 
 elected to the same office, serving seven years in all, 
 and when not in the presiding eldership, I served 
 various charges. I must say that the office of presid- 
 ing elder was not to my liking. There seemed to be 
 too much waste of labor; too much variety, even 
 though variety is the spice of life. The honor was 
 considerable, but was not equal to the honor and 
 pleasure of being on a charge where one could 
 keep account of his sons and daughters in the gos- 
 pel. It is just the place for those who are fitted for 
 it. 
 
 At the first quarterly conference which I was 
 permitted to hold, the pastor asked me where he 
 would be sent next year. I told him that if I had 
 my way he would be sent home to stay, for a man 
 who is planning to move from his charge before 
 he had been on it three months is not the man to 
 secure results. He did not vote for me as presid- 
 ing elder again. 
 
 The presiding elder has to deal with the vexatious 
 questions of all sorts in helping to solve the prob- 
 lems of the pastor or of the members, questions 
 of salary or financial matters, which keep the presid- 
 
Preacher, Elder, Delegate. 63 
 
 ing elder constantly between the upper and lower 
 millstones, until he is ground pretty thin. On the 
 other hand, when I was pastor I was always grate- 
 ful to have the presiding elder put in his appearance 
 and take the work in hand for a few days, and then 
 pay him and send him rejoicing on his way. 
 
 After a year's service I failed of reelection at the 
 session of the conference of 1864. Canaan Circuit 
 had had some serious disturbances, and the presid- 
 ing elder informed me that there was a request 
 from the officials of the charge that I be sent there, 
 as I was well acquainted with the situation, and 
 would know how to manage it better than any one 
 else. On Canaan Circuit I had taught school, had 
 received license to preach, and had married my wife, 
 so it seemed like going home, and we were glad to 
 get upon a circuit once more, even if there were 
 prospects of a conflict ahead. 
 
 Brother John Noel was my colleague. He was 
 an excellent preacher, but his health was not ro- 
 bust, and he needed rest after preaching a sermon. 
 So it fell to my lot to hold nearly all the protracted 
 meetings during the winter. He would undertake 
 his share all right, then his strength would fail 
 and he would have to go home to recuperate. For 
 fourteen weeks during the winter I preached and 
 sang and worked in revival services every night 
 in succession except one. In the spring the ague set 
 in to help me out, and at the time of the session 
 of conference I was nearly finished, both physically 
 and financially. I asked the conference to grant me 
 
64 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 a ''location" for one year with the hope that a year's 
 rest would restore me to my normal condition. 
 
 Then the question arose, Where shall we go, and 
 what shall I do? With nervous prostration, weigh- 
 ing 138 pounds, unable to read or study, I felt 
 that I could never, never preach another sermon. 
 My salary was all spent, and all the funds I had 
 accumulated before preaching were gone except 
 $142. With this we had to begin the quest for 
 health and funds. Well, some of my wife's folks 
 lived in Akron, Ohio. A new house had been built 
 on what is now Buchtel Avenue, and I was offered 
 the upstairs to live in if I would finish it off. I ac- 
 cepted this proposition in October, 1865. We were 
 settling in our new quarters, and I felt that it would 
 be my last abode on earth. But something must be 
 done to procure bread and butter. My wife's 
 brother came in one Saturday morning and pro- 
 posed to go with me to the manufacturing estab- 
 lishment of Weary, Snyder, and Wilcox to look for 
 a job. When I entered the plant with its humming 
 planers and buzzing saws and turning lathes, I said 
 to myself : ''This is the place for me. The odor of 
 pine lumber is the thing." Presently one of the 
 proprietors, D. G. Wilcox, came along and I was 
 introduced to him. He asked, "What can you do?" 
 I said that I was a broken down preacher, but had 
 the trade of carpenter and joiner, and could turn a 
 top or make a gunboat. "What wages do you 
 want?" he asked. My reply was, "I want just what 
 I can earn," I told him that I was not very strong 
 
Preacher^ Elder, Delegate. 65 
 
 at the time, but expected to regain my health. 
 *'Well," said he, "you are just the man we want. 
 Come next Monday morning, and we'll try you two 
 weeks, and see what you can do. We pay every 
 two weeks." 
 
 I was on hand Monday morning to hear the 
 whistle blow and learn what my job was to be. 
 The greetings of the morning were passed, and I 
 was asked if I could fix buzz saws so that they 
 would run right. I replied that I could do it splen- 
 didly. "Well, we wish you would, for there is 
 hardly one in the shop that does its work. Go at it, 
 and take your time, and if they are fixed that is 
 what we want." So that was my first work in the 
 establishment. The saws were gummed, filed, and 
 made to run true. The guides on the tables were 
 twisted and had to be put through the Daniel's 
 planer to get the twist out. Other machinery con- 
 nected with the buzz saws was not properly doing its 
 work, and I was kept busy during the two weeks 
 of my being on trial ; my work met their expecta- 
 tions. 
 
 On Saturday afternoon Mr. Wilcox passed 
 through the shop with the pay envelopes. When 
 he handed me mine I thrust it into my pocket and 
 said to myself, "I don't want to know what mine is 
 until I go to supper." I kept wondering whether 
 it would be SI. 50 a day or less. In due time when 
 supper was ready I proposed to open the envelope 
 and see. Wife said, "We had better eat first, and 
 we will be better prepared for what we see." How- 
 
66 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 ever, we were both anxious to know, and the revela- 
 tion was soon made to our astonishment and de- 
 Hght. We found %27, the most money I had ever 
 received for twelve days' work in my life, $2.25 a 
 day, and butter forty-five cents a pound, but who 
 cares ! That supper was eaten with as much relish 
 and thanksgiving to God as any supper since the 
 expulsion of our first parents from the garden of 
 Eden. 
 
 The following morning I was installed in charge 
 of a room with a man and two or three boys, where 
 lumber was prepared for the building of houses 
 and barns. At that time, the fall of 1865, Akron 
 had just well started to grow, and the demand for 
 building material was great. 
 
 I had my hands and mind fully occupied, with 
 no time to be sick. In the good providence of God 
 the nervous prostration passed away in the dust and 
 odor of pine lumber; my weight increased to 165 
 pounds in six months ; my wages were $3 a day 
 and the prospects roseate. 
 
 At this time I ventured to preach occasionally, 
 and went with Brother Crubaugh to schoolhouses 
 in the country about the city. My first preaching 
 in the city was in the Baptist church. The pastor 
 was ill, and one Friday Mr. Wilcox came to me as 
 I was at work in my department, and asked me if 
 I could preach a Baptist sermon the next Sabbath, 
 as their pastor was ill. I told him that I could 
 preach a sermon that would do the Baptists good ; 
 I was sure of that, so I was in for it. I preached 
 
Preacher, Eider, Delegate. 67 
 
 morning and evening, and they were very profuse 
 in their thanks and congratulations, and invited me 
 to come as often as convenient. I preached several 
 times at Grace Reformed Church and the First 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, and the following 
 winter rented a hall on South Main Street, and 
 held a week's meeting, at which five persons were 
 converted. I baptized them in the little Cuyahoga 
 River, at North Howard Street. I have made in- 
 quiries in regard to those who were saved at that 
 meeting, and learn that all have gone to their rest 
 in the paradise of God, and all had kept the faith to 
 the end. 
 
 A small class of United Brethren people was or- 
 ganized, and we had preaching occasionally in dif- 
 ferent homes on North Hill, called at that time "The 
 Chuckery." 
 
 My period of rest lasted two years instead of one. 
 In that time my health was fully restored. I found 
 that the way for me to gain health was to work, 
 rather than to be peddling patent medicine or taking 
 it, or dabbling in real estate, or other occupations 
 that are regarded as more refined. The shop was 
 the place for me, where there was work to do and 
 wages. Steady toil nine or ten hours each day, 
 and no fear when the day's work was done — em- 
 ployment concerning which some one else had to 
 do the thinking and planning, and I had only to 
 work and receive my pay. 
 
 When the second year was nearly ended and the 
 annual conference was approaching I began to feel 
 
68 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 that I must keep my vow to the Lord, and again 
 engage fully in the work of the ministry. It was 
 circulated among the employees that I was planning 
 to leave in September, and go to preaching. One 
 day Mr. Snyder came into my department and in- 
 quired as to the truth of the report. I assured 
 him that it was true, as I had made a solemn prom- 
 ise to God that when my health was restored I 
 would again preach, and now that my health was 
 good I felt it would not be safe to stay in the shop 
 any longer. He suggested that they would pay me 
 more money than I could get for preaching, and 
 that I had better stay. I was worth five dollars 
 a day to them, and they proposed to pay me a sal- 
 ary of twelve hundred dollars a year. I told him 
 that the money would never satisfy my conscience, 
 and that it was a clear conscience I proposed to 
 have. So the matter was settled, and I left on the 
 first of September. 
 
 At the session of the conference held at Clinton, 
 Ohio, in 1868, I was elected presiding elder and 
 assigned to the Erie District, which I had traveled 
 in 1863. In the former year I had received in sal- 
 ary $351.28. It was a little better in 1868, being 
 about v$400. I served the same district in 1869, 
 when the salary was $523.60. 
 
 That year I had my first experience as a dele- 
 gate to the General Conference, which was held 
 at Lebanon, Pennsylvania. When I returned I was 
 asked how I regarded being a delegate to the Gen- 
 
Preacher, Elder, Delegate. 69 
 
 eral Conference, when I told them to please never 
 elect me again. 
 
 At that time in the history of our Church there 
 was much confusion in regard to our position on, 
 and method of dealing with secret organizations. 
 "The contention and confusion was enough to be- 
 wilder an angel," I told some, and assured them that 
 I would not want to hear another three days' en- 
 tangling discussion in debate, such as took place 
 in Lebanon, for all the honor and money there was 
 in it. The secrecy question would get mixed with 
 nearly every other interest which came before the 
 conference; missions, election of officers and edi- 
 tors, the selection of trustees of our institutions — 
 no matter what came before the conference, every 
 delegate was expected to look sharp and see if the 
 man, the subject, or the enterprise, had or had not 
 the mark of the beast. 
 
 But my voice and vote availed not in the matter 
 of my election, and the annual conference contin- 
 ued to elect me as a delegate to the General Con- 
 ferences for five terms, the last being in 1885, when 
 the conference met at Fostoria, Ohio, at which 
 time was reached the beginning of the end of this 
 source of dissension in the Church. 
 
 ]\Iy time from the year I left the shop in Akron, 
 1868, until the session of conference in Loraine, 
 1901, thirty-three years was fully employed in the 
 work of the presiding eldership and the pastorate, 
 we living in Ashland, Burbank, and Nova most of 
 the time. 
 
70 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 Then being nearly seventy-seven years of age, 
 at my request the conference retired me from active 
 service, and gave me the position of conference 
 evangelist, and in that relation I have served ever 
 since. 
 
 My last regular charge was Nova, Ashland 
 County, Ohio, v^here we spent three and one-half 
 of the most pleasant years of our lives, but the 
 death of our only son made our hearts ache, our 
 only solace being that he died in the triumph of 
 the faith. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 A Chapter of Miscellanies. 
 
 This last chapter must needs have in it some 
 variety. 
 
 The sixty-four years of my ministerial life, 
 counting from the receiving of quarterly confer- 
 ence license, have not been as I anticipated. I had 
 thought that if I were to tell the story of Christ 
 as I had known it, all who heard would at once 
 fall in with it and turn their faces toward the 
 heavenly city. But I soon learned something of the 
 depravity and obstinacy of human nature, and how 
 men are disposed to listen to the siren song of 
 Satan, "There is time enough." There are excuses 
 without number for neglecting to "get right with 
 God," but not one valid reason for delaying. The 
 best thing in this life is being right with God, but 
 there is a universal tendency in human nature to 
 neglect to take the necessary steps. I soon found 
 that I had to deal with human nature as it is. I 
 found, too, that love, plead, entreat, weep, exhort 
 with all long suffering and doctrine as I might, 
 with the Holy Spirit to attend the efforts, yet mul- 
 titudes would go carelessly on down to perdition.. 
 
 All this was amazing and discouraging to me, 
 and it remains the most difficult problem in sav- 
 ing the world. "Who is sufficient for these things?" 
 
 On beinc; relieved from the responsibilitv of an 
 
72 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 active pastor, and being given work as conference 
 evangelist in 1901, we moved to Akron, Ohio, it 
 being the forty- fourth time we had moved during 
 our married Hfe. The question then to be answered 
 was, "How are we going to Hve?" I was too old 
 to work in any of the manufacturing establishments. 
 That means of earning a livelihood was not open. 
 I had no appetite or qualification for anything but 
 to preach, and it would be more difficult for me 
 to quit the preaching business than it was to begin 
 at first. My wife and I, therefore, agreed to just 
 wait on the Lord, and see what he should do for 
 us. It was not long until a door was opened for 
 me to do work here and there, and the door has 
 never been closed. I was not disobedient to the 
 heavenly vision, for it was indeed that kind of a 
 vision to us, and from then until these words are 
 written, over ten years, I have not had to ask a 
 man for a dollar, nor have I been so poor as to 
 cheat or steal. Many of the Sunday schools of 
 the conference have been very generous in their 
 offerings for my support every year on my birth- 
 day, the 15th of December. 
 
 Quite a number of my friends have thought that 
 I ought to marry them ere I pass away, as I have 
 the reputation of tying the knot so that it does not 
 easily slip. All of these have been very generous 
 in their fees, and once my breath was nearly taken 
 away when I found a twenty-dollar bill enclosed 
 in an envelope, which was placed in my hands as 
 my friends left. My wife opened the envelope 
 
r% 
 
 
 RE\'. J. G. BALDWIN xMRS. ELEANOR BALDWIN 
 
 As widely remembered in East Ohio Conference 
 
 REV. AND MRS. J. G. BALDWIN 
 Last Photograph 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 7Z 
 
 and said, "It is twenty dollars." I told her she 
 must be mistaken, and when we discovered that it 
 was really and truly twenty dollars, we just sat 
 down and cried like children, not knowing what 
 we were crying about. 
 
 I have been called upon to conduct funeral serv- 
 ices at various places in the conference during my 
 more than ten years of retirement, and my expenses 
 have always been paid, and sometimes I have re- 
 ceived more, just "to keep me alive and going," 
 as one brother said. 
 
 Years ago, when I refused a salary of twelve 
 hundred dollars to accept three hundred and fifty 
 dollars a year for the sake of paying a vow and 
 of being on good terms with a good conscience, 
 it seemed as if I was running a great risk. Some of 
 my friends said that it was too much like the spirit 
 of fanaticism. I then said that if I were to stay 
 in the factory and be suddenly killed with a buzz 
 saw, or by the bursting of a boiler, or a fly-wheel, 
 or in some other manner, a danger imminent at any 
 time, what good would money be to me? It would 
 intensify my remorse, and that is an aw^ful word ! 
 I will go and preach and fill my part of the con- 
 tract. And so I did and have continued in the 
 business until the present time, and God has kept 
 his part of the contract. 
 
 It has been the paramount object of my life to 
 publish abroad the old, old story, which is to make 
 this world what it ought to be. In fulfilling this 
 mission, we have lived as happily and as free from 
 
74 Autohiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 carking cares as any millionaire that dwells in the 
 land. We have a thousand tables where we are 
 cordially invited to eat, and are welcomed in a 
 thousand nicely furnished homes with their bless- 
 ings and conveniences and good fellowship among 
 the very best people who dwell this side of the 
 gold paved city. So we have been tenderly and 
 bountifully cared for all our days, and my faith 
 says, "Surely his goodness shall follow me all 
 the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house 
 of the Lord forever." 
 
 The United Brethren Church has been a price- 
 less blessing to me. To be sure there have been 
 "fightings without and fears within," leadings that 
 looked dark, afflictions and bereavements which 
 were mysterious, but the Lord, by his word and his 
 people, came in good time for our rescue. "Many 
 are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord 
 delivereth him out of them all." He delivers by tak- 
 ing the afflictions away, or by taking one away from 
 the afflictions, or by giving grace to bear them. 
 Great is our God in his resources, and great are 
 his people who are organized to work under his 
 direction and in partnership with him. 
 
 During these years I have sought to work under 
 God's supervision and with him. I have made 
 mistakes and blunders, but none as bad as if I 
 had sought to evade labor and responsibility. I can 
 truthfully record that the whole trend of body, mind, 
 and soul for more than three score years has been to 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 75 
 
 be a cheerful worker, a man that needeth not to be 
 ashamed. 
 
 It is perhaps proper for me to record as well as 
 I can a summary of my work during my ministry 
 of sixty-four years. 
 
 I have appeared before the people at various times 
 and places with the best message ever given to man, 
 perhaps fourteen thousand times. 
 
 Over one hundred evangelistic meetings have 
 been conducted by myself on various fields of labor, 
 in each of which from six to one hundred and 
 seventy-five have professed conversion. 
 
 I have received into the United Brethren Church 
 by right hand of fellowship nearly fourteen hun- 
 dred persons, and have the best of testimony that 
 many of them are to-day in the paradise of God. 
 
 Some eight hundred couples have been united in 
 marriage by me, and as far as I have been able 
 to learn there has been but one divorce sought or 
 granted. 
 
 I have been called upon to officiate at the fun- 
 erals of some twelve hundred persons. On one field 
 of labor, I had thirty-one funerals during a year, 
 and thirty-one marriages. 
 
 I have been honored with nearly every official 
 position in the United Brethren Church, except 
 class leader and bishop. I was secretary of the an- 
 nual conference thirty-one years ; secretary of Otter- 
 bein University Board of Trustees thirty years; 
 trustee of the United Brethren Publishing House and 
 secretary for eight years ; trustee of our theological 
 
76 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldzvin. 
 
 Seminary eight years; besides being presiding elder 
 seven years, and a delegate to the General Con- 
 ference five times. I might mention here as a pleas- 
 antry that at the General Conference held in Can- 
 ton, Ohio, in 1909, I was spoken of as the "Bishop 
 of the East Ohio Conference," and I heard no dis- 
 senting voice. As a bishop is an ''overseer" I accept 
 the honor, and shall seek to magnify the office by 
 continual watching and prayer, especially for the 
 pastors, that they may read Paul's second letter to 
 Timothy, second chapter, and read it frequently. 
 
 Amen. 
 
 ******* 
 
 And now this story of my life must come to a 
 close. I have sought to give the plain facts of a 
 humble life as they have been seen and known 
 by myself, without pretense to scholarship or em- 
 bellishment. It has been a blessing to me to thus 
 live over again my life, and if those who peruse 
 these lines find some of the joy and strength in 
 their perusal that I have found in recording them, 
 I shall be repaid for all my toil. 
 
 My earthly race is nearly run. As I look about, 
 I see that most of my comrades of life's noon have 
 gone from my sight. I feel almost alone. Occa- 
 sionally I think I hear some one calling tenderly 
 for me to "come home," and I can almost see the 
 hands that are beckoning me to follow, to show 
 me that there is some one waiting over there on 
 the farther side of the river. And so, when the 
 call comes, "Child, come home," I trust that I mav 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 77 
 
 slip away quietly and in great triumph to dwell 
 among the throng of blessed immortals. 
 
 My Prayer. 
 
 most merciful God, cast me not off in my 
 old age; forsake me not, if my strength faileth. 
 May my hoary head be found in righteousness. 
 Preserve my mind from dotage and imbecility, and 
 my body from protracted disease and excruciating 
 pain. Deliver me from despondency in my declin- 
 ing years, and enable me to bear with patience what- 
 soever may be thy holy will. 
 
 1 humbly ask that my reason may be continued 
 to the last, and that I may be so comforted and 
 supported that I may leave my testimony in favor 
 of the reality of religion and of thy faithfulness 
 in fulfilling thy gracious promises. And when my 
 spirit leaves this clay tenement, Lord Jesus, receive 
 it. Send some of the blessed angels to convey my 
 unexperienced soul to the mansions which thy love 
 has prepared ; and oh, may I have an abundant en- 
 trance ministered unto me into the kingdom of our 
 Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 
 
 — Dr. Archibald Alexander. 
 
 Kneeltnc at the Threshold. > 
 Pm kneeling at the threshold, so weary, faint, and 
 
 sore. 
 Waiting for the dawning, the opening of the door. 
 
78 Autobiography of Rev. /. G. Baldicin. 
 
 Waiting 'til the Master shall rise and bid me 
 
 (ome 
 To his most glorious presence, the gladness of his 
 
 home. 
 
 Chorus — 
 
 Kneeling at the threshold, weary, faint, and sore, 
 
 Kneeling at the threshold, my hand is on the door. 
 
 A weary path I've traveled, 'mid darkness, storm, 
 
 and strife. 
 Bearing many a burden, and struggling for my liie. 
 But now the morn is breaking, my toil is almost 
 
 o'er, 
 I'm kneeling at the threshold, my hand is on the 
 
 door ! 
 
 The friends that started with me, have entered 
 
 long ago, 
 r)ne by one they've left me, still struggling with the 
 
 foe, 
 Tiieir pilgrimage was shorter, their triumph sooner 
 
 won, 
 How lovingly they'll hail me, when all my toil is 
 
 done ! 
 
 Methinks I hear the voices of lov'd ones as they 
 
 stand 
 Singing in the sunshine of that fair and happy 
 
 land. 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 79 
 
 Oh, would that I were with them, amid the shining 
 
 throng, 
 And mingling in their worship, and joining in their 
 
 song! 
 
 With them the blessed angels, who know no grief 
 
 or sin, 
 See them by thy portals, prepared to let me in ! 
 O Lord, I wait thy pleasure, thy time and way are 
 
 best, 
 But I'm all worn and weary, O Father, give me 
 
 rest! 
 
 A Sermon. 
 The Christian's Sure and Secure Possessions. 
 
 Text. — ^latthew 6:20. "Lay up for yourselves 
 treasures in heaven." 
 
 Let us tarry for a time and scan, as we may have 
 ability, our future possessions beyond this present 
 state, a place called in the Bible, heaven! I wish 
 to call attention to three general items concerning 
 the "laying up of treasures" in that place. 
 
 1. Why hiy up treasures there? 
 
 2. Of what do those treasures consist? 
 
 3. When are we to lay them up? 
 
 First, we are to lay up treasures in heaven, be- 
 cause there is such a place. The Scriptures plainly 
 reveal to us the truth of the real existence of such 
 a place, a place of unspeakable glory and felicity. 
 The longings, fancies, and imaginations of the race 
 
80 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldivin. 
 
 of mankind intuitively look for a satisfaction to 
 correspond with those longings and soul hungerings. 
 The great Creator has in everything that we know 
 anything about, made the law of correspondence 
 plain. For example, have we hunger, there is bread 
 somewhere to satisfy that hunger; are we thirsty, 
 water is given to satisfy that thirst. The bird has 
 wings, there is air in which to use those wings ; the 
 fishes have fins, water is given for their use and 
 pleasure. Do we desire knowledge? over against 
 that desire there is an ocean of facts to find, which 
 may take an eternity to give employment to our 
 powers, and yet never be able to say, we have 
 learned it all ! And would it not be an unkind and 
 unusual thing to be expected of a great and good 
 Creator to thus make his offspring with such 
 longings and thirstings, and at the same time pro- 
 vide no ray of hope of a state wherein these visions 
 of their fancies could be realities ! So we must con- 
 clude that because of our being in possession of 
 these powers, which he has given us, he will in due 
 time give those who are duly prepared for the 
 state, the full fruition of their longings, and thirst- 
 ings : and it is intimated that it will be more than, 
 "eye hath seen, or ear heard, or hath entered into 
 the heart to conceive what God hath in reserve 
 for those who love him." A good place for treas- 
 ure to be laid up! 
 
 Second, a safe place. No moth or rust to corrupt, 
 no thieves to break in and steal ; all such characters 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 81 
 
 are imprisoned in their own place, forever barred 
 from the abode of the good and pure. 
 'Those holy gates forever bar 
 
 Pollution, sin, and shame. 
 
 None shall obtain admittance there 
 
 But followers of the Lamb." 
 No breaking of banks, no depreciation of values 
 there; our inheritance cannot be taken by another 
 by stealth or intrigue; mine will be mine, world 
 without end! And it cannot be squandered, but it 
 may be increasing in value and satisfaction. I am 
 disposed to think so. Certainly a safe and secure 
 and sane place to lay up treasure is in heaven. 
 
 Third, we should lay up treasure in heaven, be- 
 cause it is to be our home. We are to live there ; 
 our abode forever. Living, yes. An old brother 
 was sick unto death, and as he lay upon what was 
 supposed his dying couch, expecting a daughter 
 from the West, who soon arrived and immediately 
 spoke to him to see if he could still recognize 
 her, he called her name, to her delight. She then 
 remarked, "I am so glad to get here before you 
 passed from the land of the living to the land of 
 the dying." "Oh, no, daughter!" said he, "not so, 
 I am near home where the living are ; where they 
 live and never die, where they abide." These were 
 his last words to his daughter this side of the river. 
 What a triumphant exit ; what a joyful home-com- 
 ing! And then what a gathering that will be when 
 the saints all arrive to enter their immortal home, 
 and come into their immortal treasures, immune 
 
82 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 from sickness, disease, death, loss, separation, and 
 all that annoys or disturbs us here. 
 
 ''Where no fear or dismay, neither trouble nor sor- 
 row, 
 
 Will be feared for a day, or be feared for the mor- 
 row." 
 
 Lay up treasures where we are to absolutely live 
 and where we shall live the longest ! It would be 
 wise to have our principal treasure there. A little 
 may do here, as our possessions will soon be in 
 other hands, even if we stay here a thousand years. 
 
 ''But I shall know the loved ones gone before, 
 And joyfully sweet will the meeting be. 
 When over the river, the peaceful river, 
 The Angel of Death shall carry me." 
 
 What are the treasures to be laid up there? 
 
 First, a treasure of thought. Think of its being 
 "our Father's house." So Jesus named it, consist- 
 ing of "many mansions." May it not mean the 
 universe and the many worlds? No doubt but this 
 world, in which we now live, is but a speck, and 
 but a small one at that, among the countless worlds 
 rolling in space. Think of the magnitude, the beauty 
 and harmony in their construction and movements, 
 and no mortal is able to exaggerate or overdraw 
 anything in regard to their existence. "Great and 
 marvelous are thy works, O Lord." 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 83 
 
 Also think of the inhabitants of the Father's 
 house. None are there but the pure, the good, and 
 lovely, those who are fitted for the place, the im- 
 mortals. Certainly he who is able to clothe the 
 mortal with immortality, is also able to make a 
 place, a sphere, a state, or outward condition to 
 correspond. There is a vast deal more in a state 
 of immortality than we have thought of, or can 
 think or dream of. 
 
 I love to think of the place and read of it, as it 
 is pictured in the Bible, and think that when I get 
 there it may be possible I shall be able to say: "I 
 have thought of this and this, but still this is much 
 more than I was able to conceive in my mortal 
 state. It is in line of my thought and conception, 
 but far, far beyond my farthest flights of fancy and 
 imagination !" "But what must it be to be there ? 
 Oh! what must it be to be there?" 
 
 I wish to so think of the state and place as to be 
 able to say when I am permitted to arrive there, 
 "This is congenial; this is my home, better than I 
 deserve, a sinner redeemed, saved by grace; the gift 
 of God through Jesus Christ my Lord, to him be 
 endless praises !" 
 
 Then our zvords are to be laid up as treasures 
 there. Good words, instructive and comforting 
 words. "Words fitly spoken," what a benefit they 
 are — "like apples of gold in pictures of silver." 
 How a word of cheer may nerve the weary, foot- 
 sore pilgrim, how it may lighten the burden of the 
 bereaved and afflicted, and in how many number- 
 
84 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin. 
 
 less ways may a good word be spoken which will 
 help the fallen to rise, much more than words of 
 criticism or blame. They will be remembered ; they 
 will never die; they are words of truth and love, 
 and are immortal. We shall find them laid up in 
 the books of record in our Father's house. 
 
 Thirdly, good deeds are to be laid up, will be on 
 record in heaven. Our Lord makes it plain in the 
 twenty-fifth of Matthew that doing something is 
 counted in the final settlement ; namely, "Inasmuch 
 as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, 
 ye have done it unto me." And in the tenth chapter 
 of Matthew, the forty-first and forty-second verses, 
 the persons who have the smallest talent may find 
 encouragement. He says, "He that receiveth a 
 prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a 
 prophet's reward." That is, if he does the work of 
 a prophet, though not a prophet, he shall receive 
 a reward the same as a prophet. That is as fair as 
 any one could desire. And again, "Whosoever 
 shall gizfe to drink unto one of these little ones 
 a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, 
 verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his 
 reward." 
 
 We are to be careful to do good deeds in His 
 name and for his praise and glory, not to boast 
 of, or to be praised of men, or with any selfish 
 spirit, but whether we eat or drink, and "whatsoever 
 we do" is to be done in the name of him who has 
 done all good for us. Such deeds will be laid up 
 
A Chapter of Miscellanies. 85 
 
 as our treasure in heaven, never to be lost or for- 
 gotten. 
 
 When are these treasures to he secured and laid 
 up? 
 
 First. In the days of youth is as good a time 
 to begin as we can suggest, or as can be found by 
 scripture or reason. We seek a preparation in youth 
 in order to act our part in mature years. A trade, 
 profession, or business which we expect to pursue, 
 we are wise to begin in youth. Oh ! how many 
 have been filled with regret because of listening 
 to the siren's deceptive song, 'There's time enough 
 
 yet." 
 
 Second. While in health we should be careful to 
 lay up some store against the eternity to come. 
 Every day lay up some treasure. The time is brief 
 at the longest, and the chance to do is liable to be 
 taken away any moment. I was urging a strong 
 man, some twenty-five years ago, to become a Chris- 
 tian at once. He said, in a very light and trifling 
 manner : "If this was the last meeting I would ever 
 attend of this kind, I would, but I shall, from the 
 appearance of my health, have lots of chances. If 
 I were as feeble as my wife is, the matter would 
 be settled at once, to-night." Well, it was the 
 last meeting of the kind that he ever saw. He 
 passed on to the other side more than twenty years 
 since, but the feeble wife is still living and has 
 a hope of living in the land where sickness and 
 death can never enter. I have personally known 
 
86 Autobiography of Rev. J. G. Baldwin, 
 
 of scores of similar cases, and how difficult it is to 
 persuade fallen humanity to run no risk! 
 
 The time for laying up treasure in heaven is now. 
 It is God's time, and the only time we can call 
 ours. "Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, 
 now is the day of salvation !" No time to squander, 
 no opportunities suffered to slip away, all chances 
 too soon will be gone forever! The work must be 
 done in this life, or it will never be done. 
 
 You must lay up for yourselves; it cannot be 
 done by proxy. Wife, husband, son, or daughter, 
 the rich or poor, wise or unlearned; each and all, 
 for himself or herself, must take a personal interest 
 in this business, or it will be an absolute failure. 
 The loss will be no less than eternal ! 
 
 What a joy the soul has, which is conscious of the 
 possession of treasures laid up in heaven! What 
 comfort comes to him who day by day, is adding to 
 the immortal possession, and with what exultation 
 he can sing, 
 
 "Peace ! Peace ! Wonderful peace, 
 Coming down from the Father above ; 
 Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray. 
 In fathomless billows of love !" 
 
 Oh, blessed state, and blessed life to live on earth ; 
 with such assurance of unmeasured and untold 
 wealth laid up in heaven! 
 
 The End. 
 
AuSaphy^of Rev. James G. Baldwin 
 
 Princeton Theological Semmary-Speer Ubrary 
 
 1 1012 00047 2383