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FOETY YEAES or PIOHEEE LIPE. 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OP 
 
 JOHN MASON PECK D.D. 
 
 EDITED FROM HIS JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 B y 
 
 RUFUS BABCOCK. 
 
 . ' « ■ » » > -^ 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 5 30 ARCH STREET. 
 

 3J 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 
 
 THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court in and for the Eastern District 
 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 8TERE0TTPED AND PRINTED BY 
 
 8. A. GEORGE. 
 
TO THE CHURCHES 
 
 WHICH WERE GATHERED AND EDIFIED BY HIS MINISTRY ; 
 
 TO THE SUNDAY-SCHOOLS WHICH HE PLANTED ; 
 
 THE SEMINARIES WHICH HE FOUNDED OR FOSTERED, 
 
 AND TO 
 
 all those benefited by the evangelizing, humane, and enlightening 
 
 instrumentalities which he assiduously promoted, 
 
 this memoir op one calling himself 
 
 "an old pioneer," 
 
 is respectfully inscribed by 
 
 their fellow-laborer and friend, 
 
 THE EDITOK. 
 
We are likely in our efforts, in and for the present, to forget 
 what is due to pioneers-to those who went forward in the cause 
 of missions, amidst the scorn of the worldly and the doubt of the 
 pious, relying with a sublime faith on the promise made to 
 prophets and apostles. 
 
 President M. B. Anderson. 
 
 Some men are born to greatness, or have it thrust on them; 
 others worthily achieve it. 
 
 So have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was 
 named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation. 
 
 Paul. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 No compiler of a biography could desire to be favored with more 
 abundant and reUable materials. They consist of a very extensive 
 correspondence from the year 1808 to that of Dr. Peck's death, 
 covering full fifty years of his eventful life. Then in addition to 
 these well-arranged letters, which a thousand hands have contrib- 
 uted, with the substance of his more important replies, there are 
 his journals for almost this entire period, filling fifty-three volumes, 
 some few of them small and portable for his convenience in travel- 
 ing, but most of them large, either folios or quartos of some hun- 
 dreds of pages each, full of all facts and incidents which.his inquis- 
 itire and almost ubiquitous spirit of research brought under his 
 observation. The superabmidance of these materials has indeed 
 proved the principal embarrassment in this compilation. They 
 are ample, and by Dr. Peck himself were designed for a more fuU 
 and extended memoir of his Hfe and times than it seemed advisable 
 to the publishers now to send forth. 
 
 The embarrassment and perplexity of deciding what to reject 
 entirely, and what to condense, and to what extent, has been the 
 chief difficulty, and is the very point where most fault is Hkely to 
 be found with this volume. Many readers of it will no doubt fail 
 to find some of the things they had looked for with fondest ex- 
 pectation, and which, in their partial judgment, would have been 
 more interesting than other things which are here preserved. Let 
 all such charitably remember how many there are of different tastes 
 judgments, and personal predilections, and at least pardon, if they 
 do not fully approve, the earnest endeavor here made wisely to 
 compromise conflicting claims. 
 
 I have been mainly desirous to glye with impartial fidelity the 
 
 5 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 forty years of pioneer life — its preparation, its experiences, and 
 its resul+s — which was the grand specialty of Dr. Peck. It em- 
 braces ttie years of preparation, begun in privation, vexed with 
 incessant ti^ruggles by a very narrow, imperfect education, which 
 he was constantly striving to enlarge and improve ; by indigent 
 circumstances and various connections and concomitants not of an 
 encouraging character. But through all this environment of hin- 
 drances, a brave heart and steady persistence enabled him to press 
 his way successfM.^'y to the point where he was commissioned by 
 the Board of the Triennial Baptist Convention a missionary to the 
 great "VYest, regarded by such men as Baldwin and Furman, Sharp 
 and Mercer, John Wiilian;:'?. H. G.Jones and Staughton, as one 
 well fitted for this service. 
 
 Then follow through the two-score years of widely-varying expe- 
 riences in this kind of life ; his generally successful efforts in the 
 different but nearly related fields of evangelical enterprise — preach- 
 ing the gospel, establishing churches, Sunday-schools, Bible and 
 tract societies, educational institutions to train preachers and 
 teachers of common-schools, as well as calling into requisition and 
 sustaining the religious periodical press for its manifold uses ; and 
 while all this network of evangelizing processes was vigorously 
 pressed into requisition, he labored to surround, and supplement, 
 and sustain it by all desirable civilizing and humane instrument- 
 alities ; encouraging a better class of settlers to follow his " Guide 
 for Emigrants" and make permanent homes and thriving com- 
 munities in the fertile Western valley, or, as h« finally insisted it 
 should be called, the Great Central Yalley of North America, to 
 make them temperate, Sabbath-keeping, and free. His indefatig- 
 able labors in this incidental sphere have been productive of vast 
 and indeed the very best success. The venerable Dr. Lymaii 
 Beecker used to say, with emphasis, a quarter of a century ago, 
 that J. M. Peck of Illinois had led more valuable settlers into the 
 Northwest than any other ten men. Looking at what the mighty 
 West now is, and ever must be, in its relations to the other por- 
 tions of our country, this service can be scarcely over-estimated. 
 
PREFACE. T 
 
 His personal privations and endurances in all these years do not 
 stand forth in any marked degree of prominence. At the time of 
 their severest experience he measurably overlooked them, so com- 
 pletely were his thoughts and heart absorbed in contemplation of 
 the great benefits which were to result from them; and when they 
 were passed he would make no effort to recall them, his motto ever 
 being to forget the things behind and press forward for new and 
 higher, worthier attainments. Yet the reader of these pages will 
 catch many a glimpse of hardship and of actual peril and suffering 
 — physical, intellectual, and spiritual — just enough, it is hoped, to 
 win the full tide of generous sympathy, without such overshadow- 
 ing excess as would tinge the review with discouragement and 
 gloom. The hopeful ever largely predominated in the subject of 
 this memoir, and if it shall awaken in those perusing it, either at 
 the East or West, a spirit of cheerful self-sacrifice for the public 
 good, akin to that which it records, it will not be read in vain. 
 Self-denial in other and bloodier fields is now winning its meed of 
 fair renown to an extent formerly unprecedented. Let it be known 
 also that peace has its demands for large sacrifices and generous 
 offerings as well as war ; that their product oh this field is to say 
 the least equally beneficial with the other. 
 
 The results of this pioneer-life are but beginning to be seen. Yet 
 how cheering to one who had adventured his all in this cause were 
 the beginnings which his closing years witnessed. Little less than 
 two thousand Baptist churches were in flourishing existence in his 
 field ere he left it, where there were not a score on his entrance. 
 More than twice that number of Sunday-schools, of which he and 
 his yoke-fellow, "Welch, planted the first ; with colleges, universities, 
 and professional seminaries of promising character and sufficiently 
 numerous which were planted and flourishing in his day and greatly 
 by his aid. And had he Uved a little longer, he might have rejoiced 
 that his own Illinois, which he had watched over from infancy, and 
 aided in every stage of its transition and advancement, had given 
 a wise and faithful President to the Republic, and a commander-in- 
 chief of unsurpassed valor and skill to lead her armies, with one 
 
 h 
 
8 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 hundred and thirty thousand valiant soldiers, to crush out the most 
 atrocious rebellion the world has ever seen. Yea, more, and better 
 still, he would have hailed with devoutest gratitude the emancipa- 
 tion of all the enslaved of African race in Missouri, foretokening 
 the same result speedily in all the States. 
 
 It only remains to explain the delay in the publication of this 
 condensed memoir. Four years since it was written and submitted 
 for examination to the Board of that Pubhcation Society which 
 Dr. Peck had so faithfully served as its chief executive officer for 
 some of the most active years of his laborious and useful life. 
 Their committee of examination, after the thorough perusal of the 
 manuscript, were pleased to express high satisfaction with its prep- 
 aration, declaring it in their judgment worthy of a wide circulation 
 and adapted to important usefulness. But at just that period the 
 great Northwest, where its circulation was expected to be greatest, 
 was in such financial embarrassment from repeated failure in her 
 crops that all experienced publishers dissuaded from immediate 
 publication. Then came this fearful war, engrossing all thoughts 
 and efforts. 
 
 ^ Now, however, that the mighty giant of the West has thrown off 
 its incubus, and we have become so accustomed to the war as not 
 to disregard entirely other claims, and specially while that foreign 
 mission, of which the subject of this memoir was one of the earUest 
 appointed heralds to the region beyond the Mississippi, is now stir- 
 ring our hearts with notes of preparation for the first jubilee, it seems 
 an auspicious hour to send forth this volume. While it cheers the 
 humble beginner in his efforts for self-improvement, and gives to 
 the scattered immigrants into the wilderness the assurance that 
 they are not forgotten, and to all of us increasing sympathy with 
 pioneer-missionaries who go in jeopardy of their hves to obey the 
 great commission, may it promote the Redeemer's glory and the 
 extension and triumph of His peaceful reign I 
 
 PouGHKEEPsiE, N.Y., 31s^ ifarcTi, 1864. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 < • ♦ • » 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1789—1810. 
 
 Birth — Genealogy — Elementary Education — Conversion — 
 Marriage 13 
 
 CHAPITER II. 
 
 1811, 1812. 
 
 Removal to New York Stdte — Joining the Baptists — Begins 
 Preaching • 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1812—1814. 
 
 Preaching in Catskill — Ordination — School-teaching — Self-im- 
 provement — Illness — Necessity for Removal 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1814, 1815. 
 
 Pastorship in Amenia — Study of the Greek Testament under 
 DiflBculties — Missionary Zeal and Labors — First Intercourse 
 with Rev. Luther Rice 40 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 1816, 1817. 
 
 Student-Hfe in Philadelphia under Dr. Staughton — His Setting 
 Apart as a Missionary 48 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 1817. 
 
 Preparation — Journey to St. Louis — Traveling Experiences. . 70 
 
 CHAPTER YIL 
 
 1818. 
 
 Condition of St. Louis forty-six years ago , 81 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 1818. 
 
 Early Evangelizing Efforts in the West — Recollection of Towns 
 in Illinois a.nd Missouri — Backwoods Life— Squatter Family 
 
 • — Indian Council 93 
 
 9 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1818. 
 
 Missionary Tour in Southern Missouri .-. 117 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1818, 1819. 
 Tour in the Boone's Lick Country, North of Missouri River — 
 Visit to the venerated Daniel Boone, Founder of Kentucky 125 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 1819. 
 Recollections of Missouri in 1819 — Theological Seminary — 
 Alton in 1819 — Theology and Common-sense — Mission Soci- 
 eties — Support of the Ministry 149 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 1820. 
 
 Review of "Western Mission-school at St. Charles — Trials and 
 Sickness — Close of the Mission — Letter from Mr. Peck 162 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 1821, 1822. 
 
 Mr. Peck without support — Removes to Farm at Rock Spring 
 —St. Louis Church — Tour to Missouri — ^Visits VandaUa. .. 170 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 1822, 1823. 
 
 Conversion of Governor Carlin — Report of Ijabors — Itinerancy 
 • — Loss of Horse and Valuable Papers — Recollections by Mr. 
 Leman — Founding of Rock Spring Seminary, 178 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1823, 1824. 
 
 Extracts from Journal — Anti-jnission Baptists — Bible Societies 
 Formed — Report to Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Soci 
 ety — Baptism of Green, a Murderer ; His Execution — Sun 
 day-schools 183 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 1824, 1825. 
 
 Religious Destitution — American Sunday-soiiool Union — De- 
 feat of Slavery in Illinois — Governor Coles — Spiritual Con- 
 flicts — Study of Bible — Prejudices against Baptists — Camp- 
 meetings — Review of his Labors 193 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 1825. 
 Circuit-preaching — Robert Owen's Colony — Anti-slavery Bap- 
 tists — Missouri Slaveholders — Reflections 204 
 
CONTENTS. ' 11 
 
 CHAPTER XTlll. 
 
 1826. 
 Visits Eastern States — Washington City — Rice and Staughton 
 — New York Anniversaries — Visits Native Place — Theologi- 
 cal School Projected 212 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 1827. 
 Need of Theological Training — Rock Spring Seminary — Joshua 
 Bradley — Dependence on Mr. Peck and Family — Revivals — 
 Seminary Opposed 225 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 1828—1831. 
 First Religions Paper in the West— Rev. T. P. Green— Nicholas 
 Brown— "The Pioneer" Issued— Mr. Peck's Plans— Ameri- 
 can Bible Society — Guide for Emigrants — Rev. Dr. Goring 
 
 Self-examination 234 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1832—1834. 
 
 The Black Hawk War— Its Origin, Progress, and End— Re- 
 moval of Seminary to Alton — Illinois Anniversaries Ex- 
 tracts from Journal— Death of John Clark— Gazetteer of 
 Illinois— Failing Health— Endowment of Alton Seminary. . 246 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 1835, 1836. 
 
 Second Visit East — Triennial Convention at Richmond— Dr. 
 Cox and Mr. Hoby— Richmond College— Philadelphia and 
 Boston Anniversaries— Brown University— Dr. Shurtleff— 
 Shurtleff College Building 260 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1836, 1837. 
 
 Severe Illness— Press Removed to Alton— Western Pioneer 
 
 Illinois Baptist Education Society — Alton Riots — Murder of 
 Lovejoy — Pastorship 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 1838—1840. 
 Observance of Sabbath— Transfer of Pioneer— Dr. Harris on 
 Union — Reordination — Baptism of Son — Preaching Tour in 
 Missouri, etc. — Reports of his Labors 278 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 1840, 1841. 
 Labors and Trials — Lectures on Prophecies— Convention of 
 Western Baptists— Election Sermon— Death of General Har- 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 risen— We&lern Baptist Publication Society — Drama of Te- 
 cumthe 928 
 
 CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 1842. 
 
 'I'ennessee — Sale of a Negro Boy — New Orleans — Charles Dick- 
 ens — Visit to the East — Miller — The Adventists — Anniver- 
 saries at Boston and New York — Synopsis of Address at 
 Boston 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXYII. 
 
 1842. 
 
 Attacked by Banner and Pioneer — New York Associations — 
 Hamilton Seminary — Millerites — Home again — Correspond- 
 ence — Ministers' Meeting — Parental Authority 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXYIII. 
 1843. 
 
 Secretary of American Baptist Publication Society — New Plans 
 Proposed — Journey to Philadelphia — Accident — Anniversa- 
 ries at Albany and New York — Dr. Beecher — Society Work 
 — New Englan^i Anniversaries 318 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 1844. 
 
 Visits the West — Wreck of the Shepherdess — Narrow Escape 
 of Mr. Peck — Advocates the Publication Society in West — 
 Publishing Fund Started — Visits Kentucky — General Jack- 
 son — Description of Mr. Peck's Family and Home — Resigns 
 Secretaryship 327 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 1845—1853. 
 
 ife of Daniel Boone — Pastoral Duties — Literary Labors — 
 Western Watchman — Western Annals — Dr. Jeter's Letter 
 about Dr. Peck — Shurtleflf College — Rock Spring Seminary 
 Burned — Valuable Papers and Books Lost — Last Visit East 
 — American Baptist Historical Society Organized — Gathers 
 a New Library 341 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 1853—1857. 
 
 Pastor of Covington Church — Severe Illness — Resignation — 
 Retires to Private Life — Letter of Mr. Bush — Extracts from 
 Mr. Peck's Journals — Literary Labors — Reminiscences — 
 Death of Mrs. Peck — Last Tour — Last Illness — Death — 
 Funeral 352 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OP 
 
 JOHN M. PECK 
 
 -•♦»- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth — Genealogy — Education — Conversion — Marriage. 
 
 How diflferentlj the same object affects us as we know or 
 are ignorant of its relations. If in your casual wanderings 
 you pass some copious fountain, and step across the little 
 rivulet issuing from it, with only the vague conviction that it 
 must find its way to the ocean, the impression is slight. But 
 if after a thorough acquaintance with the Nile, or the Missis- 
 sippi, for instance — after tracing for thousands of miles their 
 magnificent course, witnessing the fertility they spread around 
 
 them, or the wealth which commerce wafts on their bosoms 
 
 you then follow them to their sources, and stand by the bub- 
 bling fountain from which each takes its rise, what a train of 
 musing such a spectacle suggests. With somewhat similar 
 feelings those of us who have known for scores of years the 
 beneficent and wide-reaching results of the life-labors of John 
 Mason Peck go back to the origin of his career. 
 
 The quiet home of Asa and Hannah Peck at their lowly 
 dwelling in the parish of Litchfield South Farms, Connecticut, 
 witnessed his birth on the 31st of October, 1189 ; and there 
 for eighteen years he was reared in the simplicity, frugality, 
 and industry becoming a child of the Puritans. The gene- 
 alogical track of his family leads directly to Deacon Paul 
 Peck, who in 1634 emigrated from Essex county, England, 
 2 13 
 
14 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and soon after, with the pious Hooker, came to Hartford and 
 founded the infant colony of Connecticut.* 
 
 Nothing of peculiar interest occurred to mark the character 
 of Peck's childhood, or early youth. His father was in very 
 
 * The following genealogical account of the ancestry of Dr. Peck 
 has been carefully prepared from numerous valuable papers fur- 
 nished by the Hon. Tracy Peck, of Bristol, Ct., a kinsman of the 
 Doctor. 
 
 Paul Peck and Martha his wife came to America in 1634. He was 
 one of the proprietors of the town of Hartford, and died there, De- 
 cember 23, 1695, aged eighty-seven years. He had five sons and 
 four daughters. The fifth son, Samuel, was born in 1647, and died 
 1696, at West Hartford, leaving one child also named Samuel, born 
 1672, and died December 9, 1765, aged ninety-three years. In the 
 year 1700 Samuel, the younger, married Abigail Collyer, and they 
 had a large family. Their son Elisha, the grandfather of Dr. Peck, 
 was born in 1720, and married his cousin Lydia Peck. He died 
 May 29, 1762, leaving six children. The oldest, named Asa— the 
 father of Dr. Peck — was born March 8, 1744, in Berlin, Ct. ; but in 
 1783 he and his mother moved to the parish of South Farms in 
 Litchfield, where, in 178^, he was married to Hannah Farnum, who 
 was born there July 25, 1755. They had but one child, John Mason 
 Peck, who was born at South Farms, October 31, 1789. He was mar- 
 ried. May 8, 1809, to Sarah Paine, who was born in Greene county, 
 N.Y., January 31, 1789. They had the following issue, viz. : 
 
 1. Eli Prince, born in Litchfield, July 28, 1810, and died in St. Louis 
 
 county, Mo., October 5, 1820. 
 
 2. Hannah Farnum, born July 10, 1812, and married Ashford Smith, 
 
 of Rockville, Iowa. 
 
 3. Hervey JenTcs, born September 28, 1814, and died December 17, 
 
 1855, leaving a widow and six children. 
 
 4. William Carey, born February 11, 1818 ; died September 14, 1821. 
 
 5. Mary Ann, born September 18, 1820, and married Samuel Gr. 
 
 Smith, and resided in Galena, 111. 
 
 6. William Staughton, born November 13, 1823, and resided at Spruce 
 
 Mills, Iowa. 
 
 7. John Quincy Adams, born August 27, 1825, and resides at Rock 
 
 Spring, 111. 
 
 8. An infant, born December 10, 1827, and died sine nomine. 
 
 9. Henry Martin, born May 7, 1829, and resides at Rock Spring. 
 10. James Ashford, born September 27, 1831. 
 
COMMON SCHOOL EDUCATION. 15 
 
 humble circumstances, and moreover was afflicted with lame- 
 ness, which early threw a large share of the care and the toils 
 of tilling the little farm upon this his only son. From the 
 time he was fourteen years old his summers were faithfully 
 devoted to farm work, while in the winter months he con- 
 tinued to enjoy the benefits of the common school — that pride 
 of New England, and especially, in that period of her history, 
 of the State of Connecticut. True, the range of studies was 
 not more than half as extensive as at present. The aim was 
 to teach boys and girls, gathered in the same little apartment, 
 to spell and read well, to write a fair, legible hand, and acquire 
 such familiarity with the fundamental rules of arithmetic as 
 would enable them to keep their simple accounts correctly, to 
 cast the interest which they paid or received, and generally 
 to familiarize themselves with the established forms requisite 
 for the transaction of ordinary business. Some geographical 
 and historical books were used for reading-lessons, and thus a 
 smattering of knowledge in these branches was secured. A 
 geography with, an atlas of maps, or a historical book adapted 
 to the capacity of children, had not then been introduced to 
 the common schools ; and grammar was chiefly or wholly 
 learned by imitating good usage without much knowledge 
 of its rules. Good elocution was sometimes attempted to be 
 taught by rehearsing memoriter fine select specimens of prose 
 and poetic compositions ; but lest this should too much attract 
 attention and pave the way for stage exhibitions, which were 
 deemed too theatrical, judicious cautions were frequently ad- 
 ministered both to teachers and scholars by the official visitors 
 — the parson being one. 
 
 The common school which young Peck attended must have 
 been rather inferior to the usual average of that period ; or he 
 was, as he frankly admits, more stupid and sluggish than or- 
 dinary lads, even with his scanty advantages ; for when he was 
 eighteen years old, and himself began to teach, his orthogra- 
 phy and chirography too were sadly deficient — and to correct 
 grammatical usages he seems to have made no pretensions. 
 Yet his mind and judgment were considerably exercised ; and 
 
16 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the common remark in the neighborhood was that John, 
 though uncultivated, was no simpleton. He regularly heard 
 the gospel preached on the Sabbath, and enjoyed the advan- 
 tages of personal intercourse with those more intelligent than 
 himself ; and especially after beginning to keep school during 
 the winter months, and board around among the families of 
 his employees, he seems to have made rapid advances in 
 acquiring general inft)rmation. 
 
 At just about this period also his religious nature seems to 
 have been quickened to new activity. I find among his papers 
 a sketch of his early religious exercises, hastily written by him, 
 as early as 1811, from which a small portion may here be 
 properly extracted : 
 
 The early period of my life was spent like the generality of 
 youth in willful opposition against God, and in pursuing those vani- 
 ties and follies which children and youth generally foUow. About 
 the age of ten or eleven years I had fearful apprehensions of the 
 danger of eternal punishment, and used to attempt to pray to God 
 to deliver me therefrom ; but I knew nothing of the way of salva- 
 tion through the righteousness of a Redeemer. 
 
 These impressions wore off, and I remained for the most part 
 Btupid and senseless until I arrived at the age of eighteen. The 
 Lord was then pleased to stop me in my rebellion, and turn me unto 
 himself. The summer previous I had been peculiarly thoughtless ; 
 but on the evening of the 15th of December, 1807 (a time never to 
 be forgotten), I was induced, rather from motives of curiosity, to 
 attend a meeting about three miles from home, where the work of 
 God's converting grace was progressing in a most remarkable man- 
 ner. Here I was brought to see myself a guilty sinner before God, 
 deserving his wrath. These exercises continued and increased for 
 about one week. I viewed myself as lost without the interposition 
 of God's mercy. My distress increased, and my burden became 
 heavier, until the end of the week, when I was delivered, and found 
 a peace of mind and a joy in God which I had never felt before. 
 Insensibly, my heart was drawn out to love and praise the Lord. 
 I looked around on the works of creation wit^j a satisfaction and 
 sweet delight before unknown ; for they seemed manifestly declar- 
 ing the glory of God. I then feared nothing so much as relapsing 
 into carelessness and stupidity. 
 
CONVERSION, AND ITS RESULTS. lY 
 
 My hope was not at first as clear and bright as it afterwards 
 became when a fuller discovery was made of the way of salvation 
 through the merits of Christ. Little by little this faint hope in- 
 creased. The character of God, his law, his providences, and the 
 plan of grace as far as I understood it, appeared glorious and ex- 
 cellent. The total depravity of the human heart was a doctrine I 
 was early acquainted with. I felt a pleasure, therefore, in ascribing 
 the whole work of salvation to the Lord, being sensible of my own 
 weakness and my absolute dependence on Divine grace. 
 
 It would be an interesting and profitable study for the 
 mental philosopher to consider fully the development which 
 this one impulse gave to the whole mind of the young man. 
 He who before had vegetated rather than lived, now rises by 
 rapid evolutions to a worthier elevation ; he breathes a purer 
 air, he sees through a clearer medium. He shakes himself 
 from the dust in which he was so willingly buried before, and 
 pants for the privilege of doing and being something worthy 
 of his new, his immortal nature. Aside from the mere de- 
 liverance from the thraldom and degradation of his moral 
 nature, he is now mentally a new creature—old things have 
 passed away : behold, all things have become new. 
 
 With this quickening impulse there soon comes the yearn- 
 ing solicitude, and then the importunate cry of the converted 
 Saul of Tarsus, '' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do V In 
 after years he tells us— though probably he told no one then 
 — that to him also the Lord seemed to say by his Spirit : 
 " Thou art a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name to the 
 Gentiles, and I will show thee how great things thou must 
 suffer for my sake." It would have seemed next to impos- 
 sible, then, that this rude, uncouth, poor, and almost friendless 
 boy should become a minister— and an able minister— of the 
 gospel ; that for scores of years ho should fill some of the ' 
 most prominent and respousible positions among the ambassa- 
 dors of Christ. No education-societies then sounded out their 
 welcome words of encouragement to those who are willing, 
 but unable, to give themselves to the work of needful prepara- 
 tion for this high and holy mission. The prevalent opinion 
 
ih> 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 then inculcated among his religious associates was that a full 
 and thorough course of classical and scientific training was 
 the indispensable prerequisite for preaching the gospel. He 
 saw himself the chief reliance of poor, infirm, and loving 
 parents; and he said to the promptings of the Spirit : " No, 
 no ; this can never be. I must abide in the useful calling of 
 husbandry, and serve God in a private station." This he 
 honestly, and for a period as considerable as two or three 
 years, attempted. But ever and anon — as he followed the 
 plough, or swung the scythe, as he delved with the hoe or the 
 mattock, or felled the forest, or tended his farm stock in the 
 barn, or drove his flocks afield — the sweet voice of the good 
 Shepherd would be sounding in his ears and reaching the 
 depths of his soul : "If thou lovest me, feed my sheep, feed 
 my lambs: go and publish the glad tidings to every creature." 
 This he especially remarked, that when God gave him most 
 religious enjoyment, when his heart was warmed with love to 
 his Saviour, and his own hopes of heaven were clearest, bright- 
 est, and the peace of God was keeping and filling his soul, 
 then he could not at all repress these exercises in regard to 
 preaching. But when he was dull and stupid in his religious 
 feelings, then this voice calling him to public duty died away. 
 
 Partly perhaps with the hope of driving such an idea from 
 him effectually and forever, he formed the next year after 
 his hopeful conversion a matrimonial connection. He mar- 
 ried, however, in the fear of the Lord ; and, as John Bunyan 
 said in his own case, his mercy was to light on one eminently 
 fitted to be to him, religiously as well as in temporal things, a 
 true helpmate. 
 
 In so important a matter no doubt he sought and found the 
 Divine guidance ; and that his memoir may contain his views 
 of the case, it will be proper here to give his own sketch, pre- 
 pared many years later, and embracing much in regard tcKhe 
 domestic and social habits of that age and vicinity. So rapid 
 have been the changes in society in these respects, that the 
 simple practices in our fathers' days are even now a refreshing 
 novelty. 
 
REQUISITES IN A WIFE. ISf 
 
 At the period we allude to — the early part of the present cen- 
 tury — every farmer's daughter, and every girl raised in a farmer's 
 family of the best credit, was trained by theory and practice in the 
 routine of household affairs. This was not peculiar to New Eng- 
 land. In New York among the Dutch settlements in the older 
 parts of that State, as well as in the families from New England 
 that planted themselves in middle and western New York, in New 
 Jersey and Pennsylvania, in Kentucky and Tennessee — even in 
 the ** Old Dominion" and further South where servants performed 
 the more onerous labor — the mistress of the family was the over- 
 seer in her department. The daughters were trained to follow the 
 footsteps of the mother. The dairy, the poultry, and the garden, 
 showed proofs enough of their industry and skill. 
 
 In the Northern and Middle States no girl raised on a farm was 
 deemed fit to marry, until her bedding, clothing, window curtains, 
 towels, table-cloths, and every article of domestic manufacture, 
 were made with her own hands in quantities suflBcient for respecta- 
 ble housekeeping. And no y6ung man who had enterprise, in- 
 dustry, and forethought, would marry a peevish, whimsical, senti- 
 mental, lazy slattern. Young men, then, who made visits to fami- 
 lies for a specific purpose were ingenious in finding out the domes- 
 tic habits and qualities of the mother before they committed them- 
 selves to the daughter. 
 
 We have drawn this portraiture that our readers may under- 
 stand to what class the writer was guided by Providence in the 
 selection of the woman who, for nearly fOrty-eight years, proved 
 his true helpmate. 
 
 She is thus described by his own hand : 
 
 Sally Paine — as was her customary designation in childliood 
 — was born in the county of Greene, N. Y., January 31, 1789. Her 
 mother died before she was twelve years old. Sally (who assumed 
 the legitimate name Sarah on entering womanhood) kept house for 
 her father, and had the charge of three younger children for two 
 years. The mother she had lost was an excellent housewife, but 
 one would think her daughter was too young to learn domestic 
 economy. Yet her father and others in the neighborhood ever 
 spoke of her as an extraordinary girl for tidiness, economy, and 
 domestic cultivation. She had but a few weeks opportunity of 
 school education, yet she taught herself and her brothers, a.nd set 
 them an example which would have done credit to any female of 
 
20 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 mature age. After her father's second marriage she went to reside 
 ■with her mother's parents — plains old-fashioned farming people in 
 Litchfield, Ct. Then she had opportunity of attending the common 
 district school some part of each season. Slight as were these ad- 
 vantages, she obtained from them, as was the common result of. the 
 traming of those days, a hardy, robust constitution, high health, a 
 vigorous mind, and a reasonable supply of common-sense. 
 
 In 1807, during an extensive revival of religion, in the first 
 parish of Litchfield, Sarah Paine professed to be savingly converted 
 to God, and next year joined the Congregational Church then under 
 the pastoral care of Rev. Danl. Huntington. It was at that period 
 we became personally acquainted, which resulted in esteem for each 
 other. 
 
 We knew nothing of the sickly, sentimental, mixed emotion 
 called love, so faithfully and foolishly portrayed in the novelettes 
 and periodicals of this age. We were joined in marriage on the 
 8th of May, 1809. About one month later, the young husband 
 with his chosen bride might have been seen on a farm-wagoa with 
 a load of household furniture. The chairs, table, bureau, kitchen 
 utensils, and a few other articles, were the gift of her grandparents ; 
 but every article of bedding, table-linen, and personal clothing for 
 home wear, with many other et ceteras, were made by her own 
 hands. And yet she was but twenty years and four months old, 
 and her husband was nine months younger. AVe moved "into the 
 house where the writer was born, and lived with his father and 
 mother about two years. 
 
 Some of the correspondence between these parties before 
 their marriage, and much afterward, has passed under review 
 in the preparation of this chapter, and if it does not imply 
 mutual hve — the purest and the best — it certainly looks very 
 much like it. Yet it is singularly free from what would be 
 rightly called foolish sentimentalism. A confiding esteem 
 based on the sterling excellencies discovered in each other, 
 controlled by Christian principle, expresses briefly and justly 
 what was the nature of their affection. How noble were its 
 achievements, and how faithfully and perseveringly it enabled 
 them to illustrate with beautiful and winning simplicity their 
 sacred union for nearly half a century, these pages will confirm. 
 
REMOVES TO YORK STATE. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Removes to York State — Joins tlie Baptists — Begins Preacliing. 
 
 When their eldest child was a month or two old, the ex- 
 pectation was that the infant would be taken to the meeting 
 and " dedicated to God by baptism/' as the phrase was. The 
 mother, for some reason, had no confidence in the Scriptural 
 authority of infant baptism when she joined the church ; and 
 the father, who had previously examined the subject, until he 
 honestly supposed he had proofs enough of it by inference, at 
 that period was in such perplexity as to stay proceedings. 
 The wftiter following, these parents had a number of inter- 
 views with Kev. Lyman Beecher — since the venerable Dr. 
 Beecher — who by a series of fair and candid efforts was unsuc- 
 cessful in convincing either of them of the Scriptural authority 
 of this Pedobaptist rite. 
 
 Next, and at no remote period, they were found revolving 
 the question of a removal to Mrs. Peck's native region. The 
 reasons for this procedure were probably such as often in that 
 day and since have induced the enterprising and hardy fami- 
 lies of New England to seek ampler room and more encour- 
 aging prospects beyond her narrow boundaries. But the sun- 
 dering of ties which bind them to their early homes always 
 costs a pang. Theirs, too, was a Christian home. In that 
 humble dwelling the morning and evening sacrifice had been 
 offered to God, their early vows had there been recorded, 
 and the day when they bade those hallowed scenes farewell 
 could not but' have been tinged with a tender sadness. But 
 they were young and hopeful; and they felt that while the 
 wide world was all before them where to choose. Providence 
 wofild be their guide. This transition and its results are thus 
 presented by the pen of Dr. Peck at a comparatively recent 
 period : 
 
22 MEMOIR or JOHN m. peck. 
 
 BEMINISCENCES OF "YORK STATE." 
 
 It was in the spring of 1811, 1 moved ray family, consisting of 
 a wife and one child, from South Farms, my native parish, in Con- 
 necticut, into the town of Windham, Greene county, N. Y. The 
 place of my residence for the summer was then known as Big 
 Hollow, a deep, narrow valley or gorge, near the head of one of the 
 Kills or mountain streams that united with East-Kill, West-Kill, 
 and other streams, to form Schoharie-Eall. It meandered through 
 a settlement further down, long since known as Prattsville, the site 
 of an extensive tannery. 
 
 With the exception of fifteen or twenty small clearings, on the 
 mountain sides and along the hollow for several miles, the country 
 was a dense wilderness, consisting of massive hemlocks, intermixed 
 with sugar maple, beech, birch, fir, and ironwood. Occasionally there 
 were clumps of pine. The Big Hollow settlement consisted of 
 seven families, mine making the eighth, within the distance of three 
 miles from the center. This was distinguished by a small log build- 
 ing which was occasionally occupied as a school-house, and on Sab- 
 bath by a religious meeting, conducted by Deacon Hitchcock, the 
 patriarch of this Uttle settlement. The venerable deacon originated 
 from Connecticut, belonging to the race of Congregational Puritans, 
 and of course was a rigid Pedobaptist, as were most of the members 
 of his family, who made half the population of the valley. 
 
 The writer and his wife were then, nominally, of the same de- 
 nomination ; but a year's careful investigation had brought them, 
 theoretically, on to Baptist ground. On invitation of the deacon, I 
 joined in the meeting. Having acquired the faculty of reading with 
 fluency and correctness, and being in possession of a number of 
 printed sermons, new to the hearers, I aided the deacon in reading, 
 and making the concluding prayer. Occasionally, if the sermon was 
 short, I spoke a httle extempore. This habit, and that of praying 
 in social meetings, had been acquired in the "Young People's 
 Conference," held during an extensive revival in Litchfield, Ct. 
 
 It was during the period of the earlier settlement of this village, 
 before my first visit, when twelve or fifteen famiUes, and as many 
 professors of religion, made up the community, that Deacon Hitch- 
 cock made an abortive attempt to get a Presbyterian church organ- 
 ized. It so happened, that at least one-half the professors had 
 their doubts about the Scriptural claims of Pedobaptism. But 
 what made the matter the more unpleasant to the good old deacon 
 was the fact that a daughter-in-law and her husband began to show 
 
• 
 
 CONTROVERSY ON INFANT BAPTISM. gjl 
 
 Bymptoms of believing in Scriptural baptism. As this question 
 must be settled, and doubts removed, before a Pedobaptist church 
 could be formed, the deacon made application to the Rev. Mr. 
 Townsend, then pastor of the Presbyterian church in New Durham, 
 to make them a visit, and remove the doubts Baptist principles had 
 engendered. A day was fixed, and some of the people sent word 
 to Deacon Rundell, who belonged to a Baptist church called Cairo, 
 on the east side of the mountains. The parties met, and Mr. 
 Townsend, by a very familiar illustration, showed how the inftint 
 children of behevers were brought into covenant relation with 
 their parents, and became entitled to baptism. " It is done by graft- 
 ing," said the shrewd divine. "You all know when the scion is 
 inserted in the stock by grafting, there are little buds on it that are 
 grafted in also. These buds represent the infants, who are received 
 to baptism by virtue of the faith of the parents." This was all 
 plain, and no mistake ; for the minister had proved it by reference 
 to the eleventh chapter of Romans. Some of the company called 
 on Deacon Rundell for his views. Now it so happened, the deacon 
 had a large nursery, raised and sold grafted fruit-trees to the farmers 
 throughout the country, and was a quick-witted, shrewd man withal. 
 " Deacon Rundell, you understand all about grafting, and know the 
 Scriptures too," replied one of the doubters. " Why, yes," said the 
 deacon ; " I have supplied all the people with fruit-trees of my own 
 grafting on t'other side of the mountains, and guess I shall furnish 
 several hundred for Windham this fall. But in grafting I always 
 noticed one thing that the minister has overlooked. The little buds, 
 when grafted in with the scion, always produced good fruit. If the 
 children of believing parents always produce the fruits of righteous- 
 ness, I think they ought to be baptized, because they are in spiritual 
 union, not with their parents, but with the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 Head of the Church." The response from the minister was : " Mr. 
 Rundell, we did not meet here to controvert disputed points ; re- 
 ligious controversy is very unprofitable. We will close the meet- 
 ing." This story was told the writer by some parties interested. 
 It prevented the formation of a Presbyterian church at that time. 
 Learning that the Baptist church of New Durham held meetings 
 monthly in a school-house on the Batavia turnpike, some five miles 
 north of our residence, and over the mountain by a winding path, 
 the writer might have been seen, with wife and babe about thirteen 
 months old, wending his way up the side of a steep moimtain, on a 
 beautiful Sabbath morning, the 10th day of August. We arrived at 
 the place of worship before any of the members who lived near 
 
24 MEMOIR OF JOUN M. PECK. 
 
 made their appearance. As they dropped in, one after another, 
 they greeted the strangers with a hearty welcome, inq^uiring, of 
 course, if we were Baptists. The facts being stated, the welcomes 
 became more cordial than before, and conversation on religious sub- 
 jects occupied the time till the pastor arrived, which, according to 
 usage, was rather late. This was Elder Hermon Harvey, who was 
 a descendant of a Baptist generation of that name. His father was 
 Deacon Obed Harvey. The family, I think, was originally from 
 Rhode Island, but at a later period from " Nine Partners," in Dutch- 
 ess county. Elder Harvey was a person of middle size and stature, 
 between thirty and thirty-five years of age. He was a plain, com- 
 mon-place preacher, studious in the Scriptures, mild in temper, and, 
 Hke other Baptist preachers at that period, worked a farm, received 
 casual contributions from the brethren, and was quite as self-deny- 
 ing, and devoted to the work of the ministry, as the men of modern 
 times.. I suppose he is still living, though he must be quite ad- 
 vanced in live. I met him for the last time at the Rensselaerville 
 Association, in 1842. 
 
 The brethren introduced us to the pastor before he had time to 
 take his seat by the rough table that served for the pulpit, behind 
 which he stood to preach the gospel to an attentive congregation. 
 By that time we were made acquainted with every Baptist and some 
 other persons within the house. In this mode of reception there 
 was nothing new or strange with the plain, country Baptist congre- 
 gations at that period in New York State. There was much of fra- 
 ternal feeling and social hospitality. Those who came from a dis- 
 tance were provided with refreshments by those who lived near. 
 Their attire was plain homespun garments, put on clean and tidy 
 for the Sabbath, and worn by laboring men and women through the 
 week. Generally, the people were in straitened circumstances. If 
 any vehicles brought the family to meetings, they were plain, rough, 
 farming wagons. Men, women, and children, often walked three or 
 four miles. In one thing they had the advantage of the present 
 generation. Neither custom, fashion, pride, nor luxury, compelled 
 them to pay heavy taxes for the benefit of their neighbors' eyes. 
 In this manner was I first introduced to the Baptists of York State. 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1811, accompanied by my wife and 
 child, we were again climbing the mountain range, to the same place 
 of meeting mentioned above. It was on Saturday ; for once in three 
 months the regular covenant meetings of New Durham church were 
 held on the mountain. This time we carried a small bundle of light 
 clothing. A great question of practical duty in obedience to Jesus 
 
CHL'RCH EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES. 25 
 
 Christ had been settled for many months, and the opportunity had 
 arrived when it could be carried out practically. I^et not our read- 
 ers express surprise at two persons, in early life, with a lusty infant, 
 and a bundle of clothing, walking five or six miles over a high moun- 
 tain to a church meeting. The young men and women of that day 
 ■were hardy, robust, and thought no more of a walk, than some of 
 the present effeminate race do of lolling in the easy-chair, or on the 
 lounge. 
 
 They breathed the pure, reviving air, 
 
 That's boru upon the mountains high ; 
 They saw health's ro.seate offspring there, 
 
 And hope beamed bright from every eye. 
 
 The members of the church assembled, and the customary greet- 
 ings and hearty expressions of Christian affection passed around. 
 The pastor made his appearance, and after giving out a hymn from 
 AVatts, and repeating the lines, all the brethren sung it who had the 
 least pretensions to the gift of modulating the voice in harmony, 
 and a prayer was offered, in which every member present joined with 
 sincere devotion. The pastor then introduced the old custom of " re- 
 newing covenant" by all the members, male and female, giving an 
 expression of their feelings, and their trials, their hopes, aspirations, 
 and joys, during the past month. All spoke with frankness and ap- 
 parent sincerity. The " door was opened" to hear " experiences of 
 grace" from others ; and the writer and his companion gave a nar- 
 rative of their conviction of sin and their gracious deliverance that 
 had occurred nearly four years previous. His union with the Con- 
 gregational Church, and being the subject of a ceremony that was 
 regarded at the time as a substitute for Christian baptism by that 
 Beet, were, of course, narrated. This ceremony consisted not in 
 pouring, nor in sprinkling w^ater on the subject, but in the minister 
 dipping the tips of his fingers in a basin of water and gently touch- 
 ing the forehead. 
 
 Questions then were propounded by the pastor, and opportunity 
 was given for each member of the church to question the candidate 
 on points of doctrine and experience. Far more pains were taken 
 in the examination of candidates for baptism and membership in 
 all our churches, than in this " fast age." Churches moved slow ; 
 and it w^as no unusual occurrence for candidates, after the hearing 
 of their relation, to be advised to wait for one or more months. 
 Apostasies were rare ; church discipline was strict — far more so 
 than at present ; and excommunications less, in proportion to bap- 
 tisms, in all the churches. 
 3 
 
26 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 At the close of the public exercises at the school-house, every 
 person in the congregation walked half a mile to a clear, beautiful, 
 mountain stream, of sufficient depth, hid away in a romantic dell, 
 where the two candidates put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and made 
 the oath of allegiance to the King of Zion, in the Scriptural form 
 of administration. 
 
 After the customary intermission, in which the hospitable breth- 
 ren and neighbors vied with each other in providing refreshments 
 for all who came from a distance, the members of the church, with 
 a few spectators, repaired again to the school-house, where, after a 
 brief address from the pastor, the Supper of the Lord was celebrated. 
 
 The day was' remarkably pleasant, and a large concourse of people 
 assembled to witness the baptisms. The countenances of all wore 
 a solemn aspect, and the utmost regularity and good order was ob- 
 served by every individual present. 
 
 Commencement of the Ministry— Suggestions on the Christian 
 
 Ministry. 
 
 On Saturday, the 12th of October, 1811, the Durham church held 
 its covenant-meeting in the Union School-house, on the east side of 
 the mountains. This was in the Harvey Settlement. 
 
 On our first acquaintance with the members of this church, even 
 before receiving baptism, nearly every male member had had con- 
 versation with us on what appeared to the writer a momentous 
 question. " Don't you think you ought to preach the gospel ?" was 
 seriously asked in every instance of private conversation. The 
 pastor, in particular, was too inquisitive to permit an evasive an- 
 swer. How these brethren, who were entire strangers, till within 
 the last two months, came to entertain such surmisings, I could 
 not guess. 
 
 It was a fact known only to the writer, that, from the first hour that 
 he indulged a hope of pardoning mercy, this subject lay with weight 
 on his mind, which at times Avas fearfully oppressive. Every excuse 
 had been put to his conscience, and yet he found no relief. The 
 only periods of rest were those of backslidings in heart, and accom- 
 panied with doubts of his title to the divine promises. And as the 
 period of his baptism drew nigh, the pressure of duty returned. 
 During the past month, since his consecration to Christ by baptism, 
 the question of his duty to preach the gospel had become quite agi- 
 tating. Still, had the brethren, and especially the pastor, not men- 
 tioned it, probably the subject would have remained for a much 
 longer time a private grief. 
 
BEGINS PREACHING. 27 
 
 Before the church canie to order, two or three of the brethren, 
 with the pastor, urged a disclosure of my feelings to the Mother- 
 hood. When it came to my turn to speak, as was then customary, 
 T gave a statement of my views and feelings on preaching the gospel, 
 and of the trials I had experienced for nearly four years on that 
 subject, and thus submitted the matter to the church, desiring them 
 to judge prayerfully and impartially what they considered my duty, 
 and left the house. In a few minutes a brother called me in, when 
 I learned the church had voted to have me ''improve my gift," as 
 they expressed it, within their limits, until they gained evidence of 
 my call to, and qualifications for, the work of the Christian ministry. 
 They also voted that I conduct the meeting, and speak to the con- 
 gregation in the aftt^rnoon of the next day. All this, I learned after- 
 wards, was in accordance with the old Baptist practice, especially in 
 country churches. I was not wholly unprepared. At various times, 
 in seasons of thoughtfulncss and study, I had drawn out plans of 
 discourses from texts of Scripture. One subject had primary place 
 in my thoughts and affections : that of Christian missions, or preach- 
 ing the gospel to every creature. 
 
 Next day, in presence of a crowded congregation, I made my 
 first essay in speaking from a text. This was Mark xvi. 15 : "And 
 he said unto them. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel 
 to every creature." At the close, I thought that no temptation or 
 despondency would ever cause me to doubt the Divine mission, but 
 one week had not passed away without sore trials on this question. 
 
 I have given this sketch of personal history to call the attention 
 of readers to the old practice in Baptist churches, of praying the 
 Lord of the harvest to thrust forth laborers, and especially the anxi- 
 ety and restlessness of the brethren in finding out who had the 
 *' call" and the " gift." 
 
 I have not a word to object against the efforts made to look out 
 and educate young men who give evidence of the gifts and graces 
 indispensable to the ministry, but the great and serious mistake 
 consists in the following particulars : 
 
 1. In fixing the impression on the churches, that young men, and 
 none hut young men, are to be looked for in relation to that office. 
 Nothing is said about men with families, and settled in business, 
 becoming preachers. This omission has done the mischief, until 
 what was once most common has become a rare exception. 
 
 2. That these young men must he first educated, all to the same 
 extent, and in the same school, in classical literature, science, and 
 theology. Many men, in some parts of our country, and in other 
 
28 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 countries where the gospel is preached and Baptist churches exist, 
 by self-tuition, under the guidance of ministers of experience, with- 
 out a classical and scientific education, become qualiiied for the min- 
 istry. They make useful and successful pastors and evangelists, by 
 the thorough training they get in the Word of God, by personal 
 efforts and constant practice. They learn to 'preach the gospel with 
 power and success, and to perform the duties of the Christian pastor, 
 or the itinerating evangelist, though they may learn little else. 
 
 3. That no others but young men, thus educated, will answer for 
 pastors in the churches. 
 
 All these exceptionable notions have been borrowed from the 
 Calvinistic Puritans within the last thirty years, and no more fit 
 Baptists for the work they have to do than Saul's armor suited the 
 stripling David. Uothe Baptists in "York State" look among their 
 enterprising men of thirty or fort^'^ years, or even amongst obscure 
 members of strong common-sense and ripe experience, for the ma- 
 terials of their ministry ? Has the instance occurred at meetings 
 on ministerial education, among the agents, lecturers, and other 
 speakers, urging the churches to look for ministerial gifts from any 
 other class than yonng men? Is there evidence of any such anxi- 
 ety and persevering effort in the churches throughout the State, to 
 learn the private feelings and convictions of duty, as the members 
 of the httle mountain church of Durham showed towards an indi- 
 vidual, who two months previous came amongst them a stranger ? 
 This course was not singular or unusual in Baptist churches at that 
 period in "York State." 
 
 Nor, with all their eagerness and anxiety to look out for ministe- 
 rial gifts, were they hasty and inconsiderate in acknowledging them. 
 The church first voted to invite the writer to exercise his " gift" — 
 whatever it might be — within its own limits. In about three months 
 they extended the limits to neighboring churches. In the spring 
 of 1812, being about to make a journey to Connecticut, the last was 
 recalled and a new one given, but still in the phraseology of the 
 Northern churches the expression was : " Liberty to improve his 
 gift wherever Divine Providence might open the door." This was 
 no license to officiate, and to pass as a regular minister of the gospel, 
 but only to exercise such gifts as the person possessed. Nor did 
 the writer ever receive any other license until after his ordination. 
 And why should men be licensed as ministers of the gospel until, 
 by a suitable probation, they give evidence of the " call," the " gift," 
 and the*qualifications for that office ? Why hold a brother up to the 
 world as designed for a " sacred profession," until it is known that 
 
BAPTIST USAGES. 29 
 
 he is fitted for that profession, and has evinced a settled determina- 
 tion to enter the ministry and abide in it, either as a pastor or an 
 evangelist. If he has the gift and grace of a true minister of Christ, 
 he will make that the paramount business of Ufe. To use a Western 
 figure, attributed to the eccentric Crockett, " He will stand up to the 
 rack, fodder or no fodder." If he has the gift and enterprise that 
 is characteristic of Christ's ministers, he will not wait till a church 
 call him, but go into some destitute field, sustain himself and family 
 by his own industry, and proceed to call a church, as many of our 
 old pioneer preachers have done. 
 
 At the church meeting last mentioned, when the writer made his 
 first essay in preaching the gospel, a messenger to the Eensselaer- 
 ville Association had to be appointed to fill a vacancy, and the new 
 member was chosen. I use the old term. Messenger, which is the 
 correct word to be employed, to designate all persons sent oh errands 
 by the churches. Baptist churches cannot transfer to individual 
 members, or through them convey to associations, conventions, 
 councils, or any other body of man's contrivance, delegated or 
 representative power. Hence the tendency to unscriptural notions 
 and practices in calling things by wrong names. Messenger was 
 the old Baptist term, when it was understood that Baptist churches 
 could not be represented. 
 
 This body contained fifteen churches, when the session for 1811 
 closed, and thirteen ordained ministers. Total number of members 
 eleven hundred and thirty-one. It had been a season of dearth for 
 a long time. Only two churches indicated any thing like a revival 
 the preceding year. 
 
 Elder John AVinans was elected Moderator, and Deacon Nathaniel 
 Jacobs, Sr., Clerk. 
 
 On the second day, Elder Wayland, Sr., preached from 2 Cor. iv. 15 ; 
 and, after an intermission for refreshments. Elder Pettit gave a dis- 
 course from John x. 27, 28. No collections were taken for philan- 
 thropic purposes ; nothing was said about missions, or even pro- 
 viding preaching for the destitute. South and west, within the 
 reach of this Association, was quite a destitute region, and the people 
 lived in small settlements, separated from each other, through the 
 valleys and mountain gorges. For the churches entirely destitute 
 of pastoral visitations, monthly visits were volunteered by the Elders. 
 The church of Kensselaerville and Coeymans, of thirty members, 
 and the church of Catskill, of thirty-two members, were thus sup- 
 plied monthly. 
 
30 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 CHAPTEU III. 
 
 PreacLing in Catskill — Ordination — Labors and Efforts for Self-im- 
 provement — Illness — Necessity for Removal. 
 
 A SHORT time after the events abnve narrated, Mr. Peck, 
 having received a full letter of license to preach the gospel 
 from the church at 'New Durham, of which he was a member, 
 and having frequently exercised his gift where the providence 
 of God opened the way before him, Avas invited to visit the 
 little Baptist church in Catskill, the county-seat of Green 
 county. He found here a few brethren and sisters, neither 
 united nor enterprising, and continued occasionally to visit 
 them till the spring of 1812. 
 
 His family were then absent on a visit to his native Litch- 
 field, Ct,, and on his way to see them he passed a day or two 
 in Catskill, and was encouraged to make arrangements to 
 remove there, keep a school for his support, and preach for 
 the little Baptist church when they had no other supply. They 
 had no house of worship, but met in private dwellings, and 
 sometimes in the old court-house. They proffered no salary ; 
 but whoever preached for them on the Sabbath received the 
 amount of the penny collection. This he was careful to note 
 in- his journal ; and the amount was less than an average of 
 one dollar a week, though he ordinarily preached three or four 
 times. But he loA'cd the work rather than the wages, and 
 therefore made no objection to these arrangements. His diary 
 at this period breathes a pure and excellent spirit. Indeed one 
 cannot read it without being deeply impressed with the fer- 
 vency of his devotedness to God his Saviour, and a deep 
 abiding sense of his dependence on him. It would be eas}'- to 
 fill many pages with extracts breathing most fervent desires 
 for entire conformity to Christ, and the pantings of intense 
 solicitude to be made useful to the souls of his fellow men 
 
STATISTICS AND JOURNEYS. 31 
 
 At the end of March, 1812, the following entry appears in 
 his journal, which is interesting as indicating how earh'^ he 
 became imbued with a desire for preserving accurate statistics. 
 They are the beginnings of what proved in his life a mighty 
 aggregate of such gathered, accurate facts. 
 
 I find by enumeration that in course of my past life I have had 
 the privilege of hearing twenty-four Baptist preachers improve, 
 many of them repeatedly. Fifteen of them I heard in Connecticut, 
 the other nine since I removed to this State. [N.Y.] I have seen 
 besides myself and wife three persons baptized, all of Litchfield, Ct. 
 Seven times I have had the privilege of communing since I joined 
 the Baptists. [Here follow the names of the preachers.] In Con- 
 necticut, Rufus Babcock, Sr., Isaac Bellows, Asa Tallmadge, Ben- 
 jamin Baldwin, Jesse Hartw^ell, Asa Niles, Samuel Miller, Henry 
 Green, Joshua Bradly, John Sherman, Asahel Morse, Isaac Fuller, 
 Oliver Tuttie, Wilson and Joseph Graves. In New York, Joseph 
 Arnold, Herman Hervey, Hezekiah Pettit, Orlando Mack, Francis 
 Wayland, Sr., James Mackey, Levi Streeter, Wm. Stewart, and 
 Josiah Baker.* 
 
 I have attended nine monthly church meetings, and five extra 
 church meetings, in cases of discipline ; have voted for the exclu- 
 sion of two members ; also have attended one Association and one 
 General Conference ; and have myself tried to preach twenty-seven 
 times. 
 
 The following month he visited his family in Litchfield on 
 foot, stopping after a weary walk each day where he could 
 preach the gospel to those hungering for the bread of life. The 
 journey and the visit occupied two or three weeks, in which 
 he traveled chiefly afoot one hundred and eighty-two miles, 
 and preached fifteen times. His old neighbors had not seen 
 him since the change of his ecclesiastical relations, and, on 
 the whole, rigid Pedobaptists as most of them were, they 
 seem to have received .him and treated him with as much 
 
 * Most of these men were personally known to me, as humble, 
 unlearned, and self-sustained ministers of Christ. Some toiling on 
 their little farms, others in their shops, that they might preach 
 Christ, and administer his ordinances, where otherwise they could 
 not have been enjoyed. Their record is on high. — Editou. 
 
32 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 respect and affection as could have reasonably been expected. 
 The Congregational church in Litchfield South, Farms still 
 claimed him as their member, since he had never sought a 
 dissolution of his covenant-engagement to walk with them ; 
 and they now insisted on their right and duty to discipline 
 him. They stated to him that what they had against him 
 was neither scandal, nor heresy, nor even his renouncing their 
 sentiments and joining the Baptists ; but for leaving them before 
 giving them a hearing — thus virtually excluding them without 
 giving them an opportunity to defend themselves — and, if 
 they could, to reclaim him. The case came before their 
 church, where he was regularly arraigned, and the parties 
 impleaded one another. His defence was in brief this : he 
 did not deny that it was his duty to make the effort for re- 
 claiming them from what he regarded their error in reference 
 to baptism. But according to the rules of the gospel he must 
 first reform himself, by being baptized, and then endeavor to 
 reform them, which he w^as now willing to attempt, both by 
 precept and example ; by Scripture argument and the alluring 
 act itself — the best of all arguments. In brief he found, as 
 he thought, himself and his brethren in a practical error, con- 
 sisting in the neglect of the believer's first duty — baptism. 
 Hence he deemed it his duty first to reform himself, and then 
 endeavor to reclaim his erring brethren. To which his op- 
 ponent, Esq. Morris, replied that it was a principle applicable 
 to all associated bodies, that one who had entered into a vol- 
 untary covenant engagement should not abandon his associ- 
 ates without at least giving them fair notice, or asking leave ; 
 that it was unmanly to do so. 
 
 There was perhaps an element of truth in the positions of 
 each ; and to the praise of the candor and forbearance of the 
 church it should be stated, that when they could not bring 
 their delinquent brother to acknowledge that he had done 
 wrong by leaving them in the icay he did, they did not 
 harshly and summaril}^ excommunicate him, but laid the case 
 over, from April to September, exhorting him meanwhile to 
 consider their expostulations. How much better and more 
 
NEIGHBORLY INTERCOURSE. S3 
 
 Christian-like was this than severer measures and an unlovely 
 spirit which churches not in ecclesiastical fellowship with each 
 other often evince. Their personal relations and their Chris- 
 tian intercourse through it all remained unbroken ; and finally, 
 some dozen years later, they invited him to preach in their 
 meeting-house, thus virtually canceling their slight censure. 
 Whenever he visited his native town, all classes gathered 
 around him with a loving and fraternal interest, and on the 
 occasion of the centennial celebration of the organization of 
 the country in the summer of 1851, he was invited by the 
 committee — almost exclusively Pedobaptists — to take an im- 
 portant part in the interesting public services. But Harvard 
 University had before this time honored him with one of its 
 highest badges of distinction ; and Litchfield might well be 
 proud of a son, who had reflected more honor on his birth- 
 place than she could now confer on him. 
 
 The summer of 1812 found him diligently plying his double 
 duties in Catskill. His school flourished and j^elded him 
 and his little family the amount of support which their fru- 
 gality and industry made sufiice. His preaching was pretty 
 regularly continued, and somewhat extended — wherever most 
 urgently demanded — in the regions around. He frequently 
 visited Hudson ; and before the end of this year found in the 
 excellent pastor of that church, Rev. Hervey Jenks, a neighbor 
 of congenial and truly fraternal spirit. This excellent man — 
 alas, so early cut down by death — was a recent graduate of 
 Brown University ; for a short time had been preceptor of its 
 grammar-school in Providence ; and having enjoyed ample 
 opportunities of intellectual and religious culture, was able to 
 impart to the young licentiate in close proximity just the 
 assistance in his earnest endeavors for self-improvement for 
 which he was now panting. 
 
 Yery instructive and delightful it is to trace the benign 
 influence which was thus exerted on the voumz: licentiate's 
 mind. His reading, study, and labor, henceforth assume a 
 higher and worthier aim ; and the results vrere speedily mani- 
 fest. Their correspondence too was frequent, animated and, 
 
84 . MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 to Mr. Peck, very improving, though they were located but 
 six miles apart, and saw each other very frequently. But 
 their full hearts could not wait for the expected Saturday 
 interview, and hence those exercises of the pen which still 
 remain, a memorial as beautiful and fragrant as the record of 
 the union of David and Jonathan. 
 
 From the Kev. Dr. Porter, also, pastor of the Presbyterian 
 church in Catskill, a man of some peculiarities, but able, and 
 generally of genial and catholic spirit, Mr. Peck experienced 
 many courtesies adapted to promote his improvement. They 
 attended funerals together, and listened to each other's exercises 
 frequently. Mr. Peck, as the younger and less improved of 
 the two, would be likely to receive the greater benefit in this 
 intercourse. Occasional entries in his journal would seem to 
 indicate that he thought the Doctor rather marred than im- 
 proved, by his deep tinge of Hopkinsianism, and a pretty 
 plain implication is furnished that the strong and undiluted 
 Calvinism of Dr. Chester, of Hudson, was more to his taste. 
 Honorable mention is also made of the family of Judge Day, 
 of Catskill, to whose hospitalities he seems to have been cor- 
 dially welcomed ; and when they were in deep affliction, and 
 their own pastor, Dr. Porter, was either absent or indisposed, 
 Mr. Peck was invited to officiate, and in all respects was 
 treated with a marked degree of deference and esteem. Such 
 traces, honorable alike to the givers and receiver, are the more 
 noticeable and deserving of commendation on the part of the 
 Presbyterians, from the fact that the Baptists were making 
 inroads upon them continually. In his circumstances, having 
 recently come out from a Pedobaptist communion, the ordi- 
 nance of baptism was very likely to occupy a prominent place 
 in his thoughts, his conversation, and his public ministry. In 
 his diary he thus notices the first administration of baptism 
 the month after he commenced preaching in Catskill, and a 
 year before his own ordination : 
 
 Lord's Day, 21st June, 1812. — In the forenoon Elder Hervey being 
 with us preached from Isaiah xxxv. 8. Afterward we repaired to 
 the river side, where prayer is wont to be made, and after a short 
 
A BAPTISM WITNESSED. , 36 
 
 but appropriate address by the administrator the two young candi- 
 dates were baptized in water — a beautiful emblem of Christ's death, 
 burial, and resurrection. Such an interesting scene I never before 
 beheld. The situation of the place, the devout attention of a large 
 audience, the tears discovered trickling down the cheeks of many, 
 together with the solemnity of the ordinance itself, seemed deeply 
 to impress my mind with a profound sense of the propriety of 
 strict adherence to apostolic precedent in the administration of 
 baptism. At the close of the afternoon service, when the baptized 
 had been welcomed into the fellowship of the church, I presented 
 my letter of dismission from Durham church ; and after relating 
 Iny experience, was admitted to this church, and we had a precious 
 season around the Lord's table. Truly we might say it was a feast 
 of fat things, and the Lord was sensibly present with us. At six 
 o'clock I preached at Brother Hill's house. Had a comfortable 
 ti]ne ; and after meeting, an aged gentleman came forward and re- 
 lated what the Lord had done for him, desiring to join with us, and 
 was fellowshipped. In the morning, the youth forsake the vanities 
 of the world, and profess to be dead to sin and alive to God. In 
 the evening, the aged wish to enter on the service of the Lord, and 
 go into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. 
 
 Well might he subjoin : "I never experienced such a day 
 before." Then follows an affecting expression of his sense of 
 great responsibility in ministering to that little church, now 
 happily — and by the aid of an advisory council called in part 
 at his instance — reconciled and walking in love. He was now 
 employed in feeding the lambs of the flock with the sincere 
 milk of the word, that they might grow thereby ; in guiding 
 inquirers to the Lamb of God ; and again in meeting the 
 w^ants of others who were tried about baptism and wanted 
 light to guide them. Similar exercises and successes con- 
 tinue to be noted till the end of the year. By a careful devote- 
 ment of all his spare hours when out of school, to self-im- 
 provement and to preparation for preaching, he was rapidly 
 advancing in grace and knowledge. Soon after the end of 
 his first year in Catskill, the following summary appears of 
 his entire course of ministrations, with all which he had re- 
 ceived in pecuniary recompense. He had preached in all 114 
 times, viz. : in Durham and vicinity, 42 times ; in Litchfield, Ct., 
 
3G MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 16 times ; in Hudson, 9 times ; in Madison (a little village 
 contiguous to his residence in Catskill), 15 times ; and in 
 Catskill, 92 times. He had also attended 23 monthly church 
 meetings, and 7 on special business ; attended 13 funerals, 
 ^ associations, and 1 general conference. Had received as a 
 compensation for preaching, as follows : Litchfield, $1 16 cts.; 
 in Hudson, $4 12 J cts.; in Catskill, $15 88 cts.; in Madison, 
 $21 8*1 cts. By subscription, presents, and otherwise, $18 92 
 cts., or $61 95 cts. in all. He enters no complaint, and appar- 
 ently feels no grievance that his work was not more ade- 
 quately remunerated. 
 
 The church in Catskill, at the end of his first year's resi- 
 dence and service with them, invited him to be ordained ; and 
 a council was called for that purpose, which met June 9, 
 1813. The Presbyterian church was cordially proffered and 
 accepted for the services, and Dr. Porter was invited to sit and 
 dine with the council, which he did. After the usual examin- 
 ation, which w^as deemed satisfactory, the ordination sermon 
 and right-hand of fellowship were by his neighbor and beloved 
 brother, Rev. Hervey Jcnks. Other principal parts were perr 
 formed by Elders Stewart, Streeter, Mack, Hervey, and 
 Pettit. All the services were appropriate and solemn, and 
 were listened to with lively interest by a large congregation. 
 
 The next Sabbath he baptized several candidates, and ad- 
 ministered the Lord's Supper ; and within a week officiated 
 at his first marriage, of which he has given us the written 
 form which he adopted, and the amount of fee (one dollar) 
 which was tendered him. Thus was he very fully inducted 
 into all the functions of the ministerial office. 
 
 His internal trials in the discharge of his duties seem some- 
 times to have been severe and protracted. But he learned 
 gradually that for all these seasons of darkness and depression 
 there was an adequate cause, physical -or moral, and he be- 
 came an adept in this species of pathology, and by carefully 
 securing a correct diagnosis of his own soul, he w^as the 
 better prepared to minister successfully to the spiritual mala- 
 dies, or the morbid imaginations of others. Those who have 
 
EXPERIENCES — PLANS — MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 31 
 
 only known him in the last half of his public life — ^who have 
 seen his spirits so buoyant and his disposition so equable, 
 would scarcely expect to find in his early years such evi- 
 dences as his journal discloses of a spirit so widely dissimilar. 
 This morbid succession of heights and depths he learned to 
 estimate more correctly as he advanced to maturity. These 
 pages might be filled with the record of them, but they are not 
 in harmony with his maturer judgment, and will therefore be 
 passed over. So, too, of the somewhat profuse recording of 
 his pious resolutions very formally adoptej^l on frequent occa- 
 sions of self-examination, for the first few years of his public 
 life, he early became apparently ashamed, and his practice in 
 this respect changed from about the time of his ordination. 
 His determination to do his duty to God and to his fellow men, 
 to the very best and utmost of his ability, became more and 
 
 more strong and equable, and would — so he thought be more 
 
 impeded and distracted than benefited by a superabundance 
 of abstract rules and resolutions previously adopted. 
 
 At one period he had n^nutely mapped out his whole time, 
 giving a specific appropriation of duties to every hour. But 
 the necessary interruptions and variations to which a pastor's 
 and teacher's life in such a population as here surrounded him, 
 is necessarily exposed, made adherence to this plan practically 
 impossible. Pastors will in the end very generally come to 
 adopt Dr. Payson's apothegm : " The man who wants me is 
 the man I want. " The duty now most urgently pressing must 
 first be met, despite all abstract rules. 
 
 The first indication of the missionary spirit which so thor- 
 oughly pervaded his subsequent life is found in his diary a 
 few weeks subsequent to his ordination ; and in consideration 
 of its wide-reaching and healthful results, it deserves to be 
 here copied and preserved. This, be it remembered, was just 
 before the news reached us of the conversion of Judson and 
 Kice to Baptist views, and the incipient steps were taken for 
 commencing our foreign mission operations : 
 
 Friday eyexixg, June 25, 1813. Eeceived the last number of the 
 Baptist Missionary Magazine. The missionary accounts from India 
 4 
 
38 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 are very interesting. How many thousands of the poor benighted 
 heathen there are who worship the idol of Juggernaut and adore 
 the river Ganges, but are ignorant of the way of salvation through 
 Jesus Christ ! How can Christians in this land of high privileges 
 sit easy and unconcerned, without contributRig out of their abun- 
 dance to spread the gospel in distant pagan lands ! My soul is 
 grieved for them in their ignorance. Oh, how I wish I was so circum- 
 stanced in life as that I might be able to bear the gospel into some dis- 
 tant pagan lands where it never yet has shined ! A large part of the 
 American continent is also involved in darkness. Yes, under the 
 immediate Government of the United States, there is an abundant 
 field for missionary labor. How I should rejoice if Providence 
 would open a door for my usefulness and labors in this way ! [This 
 prayer w^as certainly answered, but not yet was the door opened.] 
 But alas, how idle and vain are my thoughts ! In this place I am 
 too faithless, too prone to wander. Oh, that I might first learn to 
 perform the duties which come within my reach, and not presume 
 to think I should be more faithful in another part of the vineyard ! 
 
 One means of improvement adopted by brethren Peck, 
 Jenks, and Lamb — three Baptist ministers living near each 
 other — was to meet every fortnight at each other's houses 
 and discuss some question previously proposed. In this way 
 they appear to have gone over a number of the important 
 topics of systematic theology much to their mutual satisfac- 
 tion and edification. But before the year closed these multi- 
 plied efforts in his day school, in an evening school which he 
 conducted to eke out a scanty support, and in his numerous 
 evangelical labors, proved too hard for him. His health 
 failed, and he was brought apparently to the brink of the 
 grave. His wife also, at another time this year, was very 
 dangerously ill ; but both experienced recovering mercy. In 
 the meantime his improvement became ijiore and more obvious 
 to his ministering and other brethren. He was made clerk 
 of the Association for two consecutive years, and wrote by 
 appointment both the circular and corresponding letter — the 
 first of his compositions submitted to the press. The circular 
 was on Election. This Scripture doctrine he explained and 
 substantiated, and showed both its use and abuse. During 
 this year, also, he determined no longer to attempt preaching 
 
UNSTUDIED SERMONS — REMOVAL. 39 
 
 without carefully stuching each sermon. He acknowledges 
 the injurious effect on his OAvn mind, as well as on his hearers, 
 of going before his audience without due preparation and 
 trusting to the impulse of the moment for the thoughts and 
 illustrations which he should employ. It was but too common 
 with one class of preachers in that day (not of course the in- 
 telligent) to profess that they did not premeditate, but it was 
 given them in the same hour — so they said — what they should 
 utter. Yet such is the inconsistency of poor human nature, 
 these very men, if they heard from a studious brother minister 
 an excellent and well elaborated sermon, would not scruple, 
 when they thought the plagiarism would not be detected, to 
 appropriate to their own use such a discourse, and deliver it, 
 nearly as they could remember it, as though it had been given 
 them by a direct communication from heaven. 
 
 His inadequate support — the result in part of breaking up 
 his school during his sickness, and the fact that two summers 
 he had suffered in health by his residence and excessive labors 
 in Catskill — began to prepare his mind for leaving that affec- 
 tionate little flock. About the end of the year 1813 he re- 
 ceived an intimation of the desire of the Baptist church in 
 Amenia, Dutchess county, that he would come and labor with 
 them. After two visits among them, and the repetition of their 
 invitation, accompanied with the proffer of such support as 
 would enable him to give up a school, and devote himself 
 more concentratedly to the work of the ministry and to his 
 further improvement in education, he felt it his duty to accept 
 their invitation. The church in Catskill, in conformity to his 
 request, yet with much reluctance on their part, granted him 
 release from his pastoral care over them ; and in a letter, 
 bearing date February 19, 1814, expressed their gratitude for 
 his fidelity in the discharge of his onerous and almost unre- 
 quited labors among them for almost two years ; and the 
 assurances of their love, their gratitude, and their prayers for 
 his success in the new sphere where Providence seemed to 
 call him. This love was mutual, and he seems to have ever 
 borne towards the flock, whom he first served, unabated affec- 
 tion ; and it is pleasant to notice their mutual regard in all 
 tJie future years of his course 
 
4e 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECIL 
 
 CHAPTER ly. 
 
 PastorsTiip in Ameuia — Missionary Zeal and Labors. 
 
 On his first visit to Amenia, he records in his journal that 
 he found a respectable church and congregation, who appeared 
 in union, though there was much complaint of coldness among 
 them. Deacon Richard Gurnsey, one of the best of men, 
 was a leading instrument of his settlement with that people. 
 When our brother came to know them more intimately, he 
 found many things of a discouraging character impeding the 
 success of his labors. Discipline had been sadly neglected, 
 and a great part of the efforts for the two years he remained 
 with them had to be devoted to weeding out the disorders 
 which had been suffered to accumulate until they threatened 
 the ruin of the cause. The flock was somewhat widely scat- 
 tered in their residences on the mountain, and indeed over it, 
 as well as for a long distance up and down the fertile and 
 beautiful valley where their house of worship was located. 
 Some families, too, resided across the state line in Connecticut, 
 so that a widely diversified field of active labor was continu- 
 ally demanding his utmost energies, intellectual and physical. 
 His preaching was prized ; and there were calls for lectures, 
 or prayer and conference meetings, in so many different neigh- 
 borhoods, that he was kept in lively motion a great part of 
 his time. But relief from the drudgery of the school operated 
 favorably on his health, and his thirst for improvement tasked 
 his powers to the utmost. That noble man, and scholar and 
 teacher, Daniel H. Barnes, was at this time Principal of 
 Dutchess Academy in Poughkeepsie, and an esteemed member 
 and ere long a licentiate of the Baptist Church. Mr. Peck 
 formed his accpaintance, and by his generous proffer was 
 encouraged to commence under his instruction the reading of 
 
* STUDIES — LABORS HOPES OF A REVIVAL. 41 
 
 the Greek Xew Testament, as well as other kindred studies 
 which he prosecuted. Week after week he would devote four 
 days or more to earnest study under the guidance of this most 
 excellent instructor — living in his family, and spurred on by 
 the enthusiasm which this -teacher felt and communicated. 
 The Rev. Dr. Aaron Perkins was then his fellow-student, and 
 bears honorable testimony concerning the fidelity, conscien- 
 tiousness, and vigor of his associate in study. 
 
 Early in the second year of Mr. Peck's pastorship at Ame- 
 nia, his hopes were highly raised of an extensive revival under 
 his labors. How ardently he desired it, how indefatigably he 
 labored for its promotion, and with what pious confidence in 
 God, and what a deep sense of self-abasement and personal 
 unworthiness he relied on Divine grace alone, his journal at 
 this period abundantly testifies. The zeal which he put forth 
 to multiply his religious services, and the carefulness he evinced 
 to promptly instruct and encourage inquirers, were highly com- 
 mendable. But he seems to have failed — as many others 
 there and elsewhere have failed — to awaken the zeal, the self- 
 denying and hopeful activities of the church members, so as 
 to induce them to co-operate with him in his pious and praise- 
 worthy endeavors. Probably these members, or many of 
 them at least, thought his zeal was not according to knowl- 
 edge — that he had taken counsel of his desires, rather than 
 of any unmistakable tokens of the Divine favor. They saw 
 not the little cloud rising out of the sea, foretokening the 
 abundance of rain, nor heard they "the goings in the tops of 
 the mulberry trees" (a favorite emblem among these spiritual- 
 izing ministers and people of the olden times), and hence they 
 did not expect at that time great things from God, and of 
 course were very slow in attempting great things for God. 
 Some of his brethren indicated their unbelief of a revival as 
 near at hand, by reviving difficulties and church labors of dis- 
 cipline on trifling matters, most vexatious in their influence, 
 which for weeks and months attracted the chief attention and 
 absorbed the«zeal and spirit which the young pastor had hoped 
 to turn into a worthier channel. Thus his hopes were blighted, 
 
42 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the Holy Spirit was grieved away, and but few souls were 
 converted. How sadly and deeply he mourned over this and 
 similar hindrances to the progress of the cause with which 
 his soul was identified, is sufficiently manifest by frequent and 
 characteristic entries in his diary. But God was evidently 
 preparing him, by these very reverses, for a more cordial wel- 
 coming of what was to be his grand life-labor. 
 
 In the month of June, 1815, at the session of the Warwick 
 Association, which met that year with the church at Lattin- 
 town, of which his Brother Aaron Perkins was pastor, he met 
 for the first time with Rev. Luther Rice, who with character- 
 istic ardor was posting from one association to another fanning 
 the flame of missionary zeal. In this case the spark fell on a 
 train already laid, where little effort was needed to kindle a 
 soul already panting with intense desire to be and to do some- 
 thing worthy of its nature, its alliance, its destination. In a 
 word, Mr. Rice found in young Peck a congenial spirit ready 
 to drink in the words of fervent, glowing, holy love, in which 
 one who had just returned from heathen shores portrayed the 
 degradation of pagan gloom, and the duty and privilege of 
 hastening to rescue the souls of the perishing heathen from 
 destruction. After listening to the public appeal, the pastor 
 of Amenia managed to take Mr. Rice home with him ; and 
 in the hours they thus spent together a plan was consummated 
 for employing the former by the latter to visit in the coming 
 months two or three associations in central New York to pro- 
 mote a missionary spirit among them. A better and surer 
 method could not have been taken to perpetuate in his own 
 bosom the holy devotedness with which he was now beginning 
 to be imbued. 
 
 Ere long, therefore, having already made a hurried visit, 
 with success to the Franklin Association, by the consent of his 
 church, as it may be presumed, he set forth for a more thor- 
 ough labor with the others on this, to him, most important 
 and decisive tour. The record of it, very nearly filling his 
 Diary No. 5 (the first of those of a small, portable form), is 
 peculiarly interesting from the nature of the services in which 
 
VISIT TO HA3IILT0N AND EATON. 43 
 
 he was then for the first time engaging, and from the persons 
 with whom he then first came in contact, and the incipient 
 missionary movements which he was instrumental in setting 
 in motion, as wel] as some of the scenes he Visited — since so 
 hallowed in their associations, and where so many of the de- 
 voted missionaries have been trained. For all these reasons, 
 our readers will justly prize the reproduction of considerable 
 portions of this journal in our pages. 
 
 Hamilton, September lO^/i, 1815. Lord's Day. In the morning I 
 heard Elder Hascall preach a funeral sermon from Luke xii. 37. 
 He is a moderate speaker, but of sound judgment. In the after- 
 noon I preached with a great degree of freedom from Luke xix. 10. 
 The audience solemn, attentive" and many affected. May the word 
 be blessed for their good ! Spent the night at the house of Brother 
 King. Had a vei^ agreeaile interview with him and his family. 
 Conversed on the beauties of* poetry to which Mr. King is much 
 attached. 
 
 lli!/i. Still I enjoy the presence of my Eedeemer. I can truly 
 say my cup runneth over with blessings. I find kind and endearing 
 friends wherever I go, who strive to make me comfortable. My 
 mind is no longer harassed with the cares of the world, and per- 
 plexed with the embarrassments of my temporal concerns at home. 
 Now and then a thought of anxiety and grief steals across my mind 
 in reference to my family. But this is hushed when considering 
 that I have dedicated them to my God, and left them in his hands. 
 With the greatest confidence in the rectitude of his government, 
 I can anticipate the time of meeting my dear companion and my 
 prattling babes as they gather around on my return. In the evening 
 preached in the meeting-house in Hamilton from Psalm Ixxxv. 10. 
 Weather rainy, so that not many were present. Enjo^^ed consider- 
 able freedom in opening and explaining the doctrine of the atone- 
 ment. My mind still continues engaged. I feel an ardent desire 
 of doing good wherever I go. 
 
 Vlth. In company with Brother Hascall I went to Eaton — eight 
 miles — where the association is to meet to-morrow. [Here was 
 the residence and pastorship of that eminent man of God, Nathan'l 
 Kendrick, D.D., so long Divinity professor in the Hamilton Institu- 
 tion, and who shared with Dr. Hascall the honor of founding it.] 
 Put up at Brother Eels. In the afternoon the Hamilton Domestic 
 Missionary Society met and arranged their affairs for the year en- 
 
44 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 suing. This society is greatly assisted by female auxiliaries who 
 manufacture cloth and other useful articles. It is in encouraging 
 circumstances. In the evening I conversed with some of the breth- 
 ren on forming a missionary society for the foreign mission. It is 
 thought this is practicable. My mind still is peculiarly happy in 
 Divine things. Oh, my blessed Saviour ! all this I receive for thy 
 name's sake. 
 
 13^^. Spent the morning in further conversation on missions. At 
 ten o'clock the Madison Association met, and Elder Lathrop, from. 
 Warwick, preached from Ezekiel x. Many interesting ideas were 
 communicated, but his discourse in general was confused, and his 
 manner disagreeable. Not in general liked by the brethren. In the 
 afternoon the churches made their returns. Religion generally is 
 flourishing. Some churches complain of coldness, but many are 
 quite encouraged, and made returns of considerable additions. 
 Five churches joined the association this session. It is already a 
 large body, and embraces a number of Nourishing and respectable, 
 churches. The ministers are mostly valuable men, sound in doctrine 
 and much engaged to advance the cause of Christ. The churches in 
 this western country are generally liberal to their ministers, afford- 
 ing them a comfortable support. This is usually done by an average 
 according to ability. The justness and propriety of this method is 
 very apparent. Before the day closed, I presented the letter from 
 Mr. Rice, which I read. The association in a very spirited manner 
 took up the subject and appointed a committee to confer with me 
 on the question, and also requested me to preach a missionary ser- 
 mon on the morrow. At evening the committee conversed on the 
 subject, and agreed to form an auxiliary society. I drafted a report 
 and prepared a constitution to be presented to the association. 
 The spirit of missions greatly prevails in this quarter. It docs not 
 appear to be a hasty passion, but a settled conviction of judgment, 
 and a principle of duty. 
 
 14:fh. How greatly I am favored ! I share every comfort. What 
 a checkered scene is human life ! But a few weeks since I was re- 
 pining at my lot. Then my mind was filled with constant embar- 
 rassment. Now I share and rejoice in the light of life. 
 
 Presented the report of the Committee on Foreign Missions to 
 the association, which was readily approved. Some remarks were 
 then made. An address was read by Elder Lawton. The spirit of 
 missions seemed to kindle, and glow, and flame through the congre- 
 gation. Public worship commenced at ten o'clock. I preached 
 from Ezekiel xxxvii. 3 — enjoyed pecuUar freedom. Should I attempt 
 
MISSION AGENCY — ITS RESULTS. 43 
 
 to describe the effect on the congregation I could not do it justice. 
 The solemn attention, the trickling tear, the sob and groan disclosed 
 that the tenderest feelings of the heart were touched. It appears 
 that we can hardly be enthusiastic on the subject of missions. 
 Here i^ full scope for the most benevolent and feeling heart to ex- 
 ercise itself. It ill becomes me to say any thing respecting my own 
 performance. This, however, I can freely say, if I am not grossly 
 deceived, that to God — only wise — all the praise is due. A col- 
 lection for the benefit of the mission was taken amounting to eighty 
 five dollars, which was increased before the close of the session to 
 one hundred and three dollars, paid into thOv treasury in one day. 
 When I reflect that but a few years since all this country was» 
 one vast wilderness — properly missionary ground — I must exclaim : 
 What hath God wrought ! 
 
 This is a specimen of nearly fifty pages of the character- 
 istic journal of Brother Peck, which furnishes the true key 
 to his future movements. The three weeks of his experience, 
 as here developed, shows that his heart was fired with mis- 
 sionary zeal ; and that perhaps unconsciously to himself he 
 was beginning to loathe the kind of mixed employment — ' 
 partly secular and partly sacred — in which his public life had 
 hitherto been passed. Not unlikely, too, the hindrances he 
 had unexpectedly experienced in the work of the Lord in the 
 church at Amenia, their dilatoriness in furnishing him the 
 stipulated support, and the pertinacity with which some of 
 the members insisted on pushing their disciplinary action to- 
 wards a brother or two, who had fallen into disfavor, and 
 whose wrong-doing the pastor thought some of the brethren 
 inclined unduly to magnify, so as to turn off the regards of 
 the community from what he reckoned as now more import- 
 ant — all conspired to move him to the result which appeared 
 rapidly approaching. The letters which passed between him- 
 self and Mr. Kice, as well as his report to Dr. Staughton as 
 Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Missions, all tended 
 to the same result. 
 
 On his return from this tour, in which he rode four hundred 
 and forty miles, preached nineteen times, and took five mis- 
 sionary collections, he entered with characteristic ardor on the 
 
46 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 performance of his duties both in Amonia and Hudson (to 
 the church in the Letter city he seems to have preached regu- 
 larly for several months a portion of the time) ; but the cause 
 did not prosper. Early in October he attended the Hartford 
 Association, rneeting that year in North Colebrook, Ct., and 
 enjoyed the services very greatly, as a revival was then pro- 
 gressing there ; and his favorite missionary object continued 
 to increase in the interest awakened in its behalf. Early the 
 following month, he commenced teaching a school in Amenia, 
 led to it as he says by the necessitous circumstances of his 
 little family, and in hope of being of some benefit to the youth 
 placed under his charge. The same week he sent in a letter 
 to the Amenia church, giving notice of the discontinuance of 
 his pastorship at the termination of the year. -- 
 
 Various ecclesiastical duties and engagements led him 
 away from his school for a day or two at a time, for successive 
 weeks, to Poughkeepsie, to Hudson, and elsewhere. And the 
 double duties he was now attempting were unfavorable to his 
 health and his religious enjoyment. Of this his journal takes 
 frequent and sad notice. JSTotwithstanding, he appears to have 
 borne up under these discouragements in a manful and vigor- 
 ous manner. Twice a month he lectured before his school, and 
 probably a few others, on topics sacred and historical — en- 
 deavoring to arouse them to a livelier interest in mental as 
 well as religious exercises. 
 
 December 8th he mentions that w^ithin one week he had 
 married three couples and received for it sixteen dollars, of 
 which he was in pressing want, and could therefore regard 
 this in no other light than as a special providence, for which 
 he would render a tribute of praise to his ever bountiful 
 Provider. 
 
 Before the close of this year, he aided in the ordination of 
 Rev. J. G. Ogilvie in Hudson, to whom he gave the charge, 
 the first time he had ever attempted this service. It seems to 
 have been much blessed to his own soul, awakening a very 
 solemn sense of his responsibility in watching for souls. Re- 
 turning from this ordination, he perused by the way the me- 
 
spencer's memoir — J. E. WELCH. 4t 
 
 moir of Thomas Spencer, and found his soul more and more 
 kindled to holy emulation of his brief but distinguished career. 
 While riding along the road he frequently lifted his heart in 
 prayer to God, and felt assured of a gracious answer — com- 
 paring his own feelings on this occasion to those of President 
 Edwards, which the latter describes as an inward sweetness, 
 or ravishing desire of soul, taking the greatest satisfaction in 
 the adorable presence of God, " I thought" — says Mr. Peck 
 — '' I could be happy in any situation of life, even the most 
 trying. I felt not only willing, but ardently desirous to be 
 wholly devoted to the cause of Christ." 
 
 Friday evening, December 15th, occurs the first mention made 
 of the name of a dear brother, with whom he was to be most 
 interestingly associated for more than forty years in kindred 
 labors and trials for the promotion of Christ's kingdom. The 
 minute in his journal is in the following words: ''I wrote 
 a letter on missionary business to a minister by the name of 
 James E. Welch, he having written to me first. It is pleasing 
 to hold correspondence with any of the friends of Jesus, espe- 
 cially with such as devote themselves for life to the missionary 
 cause." 
 
 Towards the close of the year, he remarks that '' Teach- 
 ing a large school, and then preaching in the evening, is 
 quite fatiguing to this frail tenement of clay;" and his re- 
 ligious enjoyments and depressions seem to have alternated 
 frequently in this period of his history. How could it be 
 otherwise ? The bow constantly bent must lose its elastic, 
 recuperative force. The chief marvel is that either mind or 
 heart could retain a healthful vigor when so constantly taxed 
 bej^ond their power of endurance. At the end of the year 
 1815, he notices that he had preached the past year one 
 hundred and thirty-five times. 
 
48> MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Removal and Student Life. 
 
 The opening year, 1816, witnessed several events of most 
 important influence upon his future history which may be 
 appropriately noticed here. January 5th he mentions having 
 written to Dr. Staughton with a view of obtaining some assist- 
 ance from the Education Society. In that letter he says : 
 
 For more than two years past I have had my mind frequently 
 exercised about the situation, of the perishing heathen, and have 
 ardently longed to be the humble instrument of imparting to some 
 of them the word of life. My situation in life, and the want of 
 requisite qualifications have precluded the hope of ever entering 
 that field until a few months past. The difficulties in the way do 
 not seem quite insurmountable, since I have had opportunity of 
 becoming more attached to the missionary interest and learning 
 the wants of the poor heathen. By communications from Brother 
 Rice I learn that it is in contemplation to establish a mission in the 
 Missouri Territory. On this subject I found in my own mind such 
 a correspondence of feeling and sentiment that I could not forbear 
 opening my mind to him. Ever since I have thought upon the 
 subject of missions, I have had my eye upon the people west of the 
 Mississippi, particularly the Indian nations, and have often won- 
 dered why no attempts were made to send the gospel to them. I 
 have often thought that if it was my lot to labor among the heathen, 
 the Louisiana-purchase, of all parts of the world, would be my choice. 
 Since receiving the last communication from Brother Rice, I have 
 had serious thoughts of making a tender of myself to the Board 
 of Foreign Missions. As I am in great want of sufficient literary 
 acquirements, I have thought of spending a few months the ensuing 
 summer in Philadelphia could I obtain some assistance in board and 
 tuition from the Education Society. This would be, however, for 
 the exclusive purpose of qualifying myself to engage in the cause 
 of missions in some part of the heathen world. . . . As I earnestly 
 wish your friendly advice in what I have proposed, it may be proper 
 
LETTER OF LUTHER RICE. 49 
 
 to inform you of my circumstances a little more particularly. 1 am 
 twenty-six years of age, and have a family consisting of a wife and 
 three children. I began to preach in 1811, and was ordained in June, 
 1813. The opportunity I have had for an education has been quite 
 small. I have made some advance in the several branches of an 
 English education, and have paid some little attention to the Greek 
 and Latin languages, but without the help of an instructor, excep': 
 a few weeks which I spent with Mr. Barnes, late of Poughkeepsie. 
 I am not able to translate much of the Greek Testament without 
 the help of a lexicon. 
 
 This last letter from Brother Rice alluded to in the above 
 communication, and which Mr. Peck mentions in his diary, as 
 fixing his future destiny, is too important and characteristic 
 to be omitted or curtailed. The allusion to other things than 
 those immediately relevant to Mr. Peck's case are too interest- 
 ing, for other reasons connected with the history of that periodj 
 to be omitted. The letter is given entire. 
 
 South Fork of Lick Creek, Knox Co., 
 
 Indiana Territory, 
 
 November 30th, 1815. 
 To THE Eev. John M. Peck. 
 
 Fery Dear Brother: — Your very kind and highly interesting 
 letter, of October 12th, came duly to hand, and I intended to answer 
 it shortly, but have not found time till now. Brother James E. 
 Welch- was with me when I received it, and at my request he wrote 
 to you immediately. He thinks of undertaking a mission to the 
 West, should it be thought advisable. Possibly you maybe fellow- 
 laborers in this great field. Your success at the several associations 
 you visited — viz. : the Franklin in June, the Otsego and Madison in 
 September, and the Hartford in October — gives me very great sat- 
 isfaction indeed. In your next, I will thank you to furnish me with 
 the address of some principal minister, or private member, belong- 
 ing to the Madison Association, to whom a parcel of the next An- 
 nual Report may be forwarded. Also furnish me with the address 
 of the President and of the Corresponding Secretary of the " Madi- 
 son Society Auxiliary," etc., and the date of the formation of said 
 mission society ; and send me, if you can, a copy of their constitu- 
 tion. In answer to your inquiries : 
 
 ] St. Is it contemplated to form a permanent mission-station in 
 the West ? Yes ; certainly. 
 
60 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 2d. Would it be best to have schools connected with the mission ? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 3d. Any particular place in view for the seat of the mission ? 
 St. Louis, probably. 
 
 4th. What literary attainments would be indispensable ? A good 
 English education, to say the least, so as to be able to conduct a 
 school to advantage. In addition it would be very desirable to pos- 
 sess an acquaintance with the Latin and Greek, if not the Hebrew ; 
 and indeed it would be desirable that the missionary should be a 
 graduate of some college, though this should not be considered 
 indispensable. A thorough acquaintance with grammar, rhetoric, 
 geography, and history, are of very great importance. 
 
 5th. Would it be thought necessary for some person to accom- 
 pany you in this Western tour ? Should some suitable person find 
 his heart moved to offer himself to the service of the Board, as a 
 missionary to the West/o?' life, it might be very proper for him to 
 travel with me some time in the country for the purpose of ascer- 
 taining the best position for the seat and commencement of his 
 missionary labors. I thank you for the freedom with which you 
 have described your views and impressions relative to personally 
 engaging in the missionary service. It gives me great satisfaction, 
 too, that your views are so much inclined to the West. Not only 
 do I conceive it to be proper that a mission should be established 
 in the West on account of the importance of this region in itself, 
 but indispensably necessary to satisfy the wishes and expectations 
 of pious people in all parts of the United States. So that by no 
 means could I think it best for you to abstain from these reflections ; 
 much less that you ought to give them up as vain and hopeless. 
 
 From these observations you wiU receive the idea that I think it 
 not improper to encourage you in the consideration of undertaking 
 a Western mission. This is done by me on the ground that you 
 possess an education amply suflQcient to enable you to conduct an 
 English school to advantage, as well as from the very pleasing im- 
 pression, relative to your talents, piety, industry, and zeal, left on 
 my mind by my short acquaintance with you last spring. You 
 have at least shown ycmr self faithful over a few things, and I cannot 
 but cherish the hope that the Head of the Church designs in his 
 providence and grace to make you ruler over many things. 
 
 You mention a brother, Zalmon Tobey in Williams College j who 
 thinks of directing his attention to the Western Indians. I hope 
 this is of the Lord. No information could have imparted to me 
 more sincere pleasure. Who knows but you and he may labor to- 
 
SCHOOL AND PREACHINQ LABORS. 51 
 
 gether ? Consult him upon the suhject, and let me hear about the 
 matter. I beg you will request him to write to me, and to direct 
 his letter to Nashville, Tenn,, provided it be written in season to 
 arrive there by the 1st of February ; if not, direct to Augusta, Ga. 
 Direct your own in the same manner. Since my letter to Brother 
 Cushman, to which you allude, I have been present at the formation 
 of four new auxiliary mission societies in Kentucky. In that State 
 I have received more than eleven hundred dollars. In Lexington, 
 the contribution after a missionary sermon was two hundred and 
 forty dollars — the largest I have received on any one occasion. I 
 expect to spend all the winter and part of the spring in ranging 
 the Western and Southern States ; shall probably not reach Phila- 
 delphia earlier than April — perhaps not till the 1st of May ; fear I 
 shall not be able to visit New England again in all next year, as 
 there is much, very much to do yet in the Middle, Southern, and 
 Western States, besides my contemplated tour into the Missouri 
 country. 
 
 I beg you will write me as soon as convenient, and let me know 
 if you would hke to engage in the contemplated Western mission 
 for Hfe, and whether you would like the business of teaching a 
 school ; and whether you would be willing to offer to the Board 
 next spring, and would be ready to set out next season distinctly to 
 engage in the mission itself. It would afford me great satisfaction 
 to see you in Philadelphia next spring ; and I believe you might be 
 highly useful in this Western country, whether as a missionary or 
 otherwise. 
 
 Best regards to your dear lady, and believe me most sincerely and 
 affectionately yours, 
 
 Luther Kice. 
 
 While Mr. Peck was waiting for a fall decision of the mo- 
 mentous questions now before him, his school was continued, 
 and he preached in Amenia, in Sharon, in Ellsworth parish, 
 where was an interesting boarding-school, in which a precious 
 revival was then progressing ; and by request of pious Pedo- 
 biaptist conductors he visited and preached repeatedly to stu- 
 dents and others with happy effect. He also visited Hudson 
 and Catskill near the close of January, and enjoj^ed much 
 freedom in preaching and visiting among his old friends. On 
 leaving Catskill to return to Amenia, he commenced reading 
 the life of David Brainard, which he had just purchased. His 
 
63 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 mission labors and success among the Indians seem to have 
 fired his soul with fresh ardor. These impassioned utterances 
 occur in this connection : 
 
 Oh, what would I not willingly do or suffer if I could live as de- 
 voted as this eminent servant of God! His singular piety and 
 devotedness to the cause of Christ affected me so much that fre- 
 quently I shut up the book and indulged myself in meditation and 
 prayer. I felt an inward longing or panting of soul after more de- 
 votion. I had very clear views of my exceeding sinfulness and 
 depravity. But notwithstanding, I felt that with the presence of a 
 holy God I could be happy anywhere. I felt not merely to submit 
 to the hardships of a missionary hfe, but I ardently longed to enter 
 the field. Frequently did I hft up my soul in prayer to God ; and 
 toward the latter part of my ride my soul was much drawn out for 
 the youth in my society, particularly those in my school. I felt as 
 though I could wrestle with God in their behalf Oh, that these 
 desires and impressions might be lasting ! 
 
 Some weeks later, when going again to Hudson to preach, 
 he thus writes in his diary : 
 
 I am so much taken up in my school through the week that I can 
 hardly find time for religious meditation. Oh, how dreadful is the 
 thought of separation from God ! Stopped at an inn to feed my 
 horse, where there was a lewd, drunken, wicked set. It pained my 
 soul to be in such company. I felt a degree of joy that I was not 
 always to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 
 
 March 1st, he notices having just received letters from Brother 
 Welch and Dr. Staughton. From the first he learnt some 
 particulars of interest about the Missouri Territory ; and from 
 the last a favorable prospect of entering the theological school 
 in Philadelphia next summer. The Doctor recommended him 
 to apply to an education society in ISTew York city where he 
 would no doubt obtain the needed assistance. In the letter, 
 the first of along and interesting series, official and otherwise, 
 which the writer addressed to his subsequent pupil, Dr. 
 Staughton says : 
 
LETTERS OF GALUSHA AND JOHN PECK. 5^ 
 
 I am happy to find your mind impelled to devote your days to 
 the honorable and laborious service of a missionary of Jesus. I 
 trust the Lord in his providence will open before you a sphere of 
 useful action, and assist you to fill it to the honor of his blessed 
 name. I do not conceive that any difficulty will attend your in- 
 troduction into the Education Society for a few months, or a longer 
 time should it be found desirable. 
 
 He then points out the method for him to proceed in secur- 
 ing the assistance desired ; gives the last information received 
 from Brother Rice, indicating the vigor and success with which 
 he was prosecuting his laborious agency ; then mentions the 
 sailing of the missionaries Hough and wife, with Mrs. White, 
 and closes in a most fraternal manner. 
 
 Mr. Peck's visit to the several associations in the summer 
 and fall brought him into correspondence with several distin- 
 guished brethren in those bodies. Koom can only be found 
 here for extracts from the letters of two of them — Rev. Elon 
 Galusha and Rev. John Peck. The former, under date of 
 Whitesborough, lYth January, 1816, says : 
 
 I was highly gratified to learn your great success in the mis- 
 sionary cause, and the information with which you favored me 
 from Brother Eice was very grateful. Wonderful indeed are the 
 mercies of God. How transporting to contemplate the latter-day 
 glory, to which the pleasure of the Lord, now prospering with our 
 missionary brethren, is doubtless a prelude. Oh, that men would 
 praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the 
 children of men ! Nothing special has occurred in the place of my 
 late residence, since I saw you, except the establishment of the 
 *' Shaftsbury-and-vicinity Missionary Society," of which my father 
 is President, and Elder Mattison Corresponding Secretary. In sub- 
 scription by members of said society I obtained more than one 
 hundred dollars. The missionary cause also flourishes here. The 
 Female Mite Society, established by your request, now consists of 
 seventy members, twenty-three of whom pay annually one dollar 
 each, the others half this sum. Five or six dollars have also been 
 added as donations, amounting in all to between fifty and sixty 
 dollars already, and the year not half expired. 
 
 Oh, dear brother, pray for me that I maybe more engaged in the 
 
54 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 glorious cause of our precious Redeemer. May the pleasure of the 
 Lord prosper with you, and his special blessing rest upon you. 
 Your cordial friend and unworthy brother in gospel bonds, 
 
 Elon Galusha. 
 
 Father' Peck, as he has long been called, wrote as follows : 
 
 CitzENOviA, May 2Uh, 1816. 
 Dear Brother : — It is with pleasure that I learn your resolution 
 to devote yourself to the service of God in the missionary cause. 
 You inform me that you are on your way to Philadelphia to spend 
 some time in the theological seminary preparatory to your en- 
 gaging in the blessed cause of preaching the gospel in the regions of 
 superstition and idolatry. I rejoice that you find the means of ac- 
 complishing your desires. And I pray God that he may continue 
 his blessing to you, and grant success to all your endeavors for his 
 glory. I will take the liberty to inform you that the Lord has gra- 
 ciously been pleased to visit us with an outpouring of his Spirit : 
 sixty-five have been added to this church since July last. In the 
 town of Eaton, where the Madison Association was held which you 
 attended, free grace is now gloriously triumphing. Within a month 
 past, on two Sabbaths, thirty-eight were immersed in the name of 
 the Holy Trinity. In Homer, where Elder Bennett is pastor, Zion's 
 glorious King is exhibiting his matchless power. Last Sabbath, 
 twenty-four were added to that church. In Pompey the Lord 
 reigns : twenty-four have been added to the church in that town. 
 In Sherburn and Sangersfield God is doing wonders. According, to 
 your request I send a copy of our last minutes, also a copy of the 
 sixth and seventh numbers of "The Vehicle." I request you 
 to take an interest in the promotion of this Avork. And if you 
 could continue your correspondence with me, I should esteem it a 
 great pleasure ; and I desire you to send me any intelligence or 
 other communication suitable for the magazine. I consider your 
 situation favorable for this purpose, and all communications will be 
 thankfully received. I know of no person in the Cayuga Associa- 
 tion more suitable to be intrusted with missionary reports and other 
 communications than Deacon Squire Munro, of Gamillus, who is 
 now President of the Auxiliary Foreign Missionary Society. I feel 
 to congratulate ypu on the glorious triumph of our adorable Sove- 
 reign. Almost every breeze wafts to our ears some pleasing intel- 
 ligence of the increase of Christ's kingdom. Go on, victorious 
 King, nor stay thy hand until all thy enemies are sut;)dued, and the 
 
NEW YORK CITY AND PHILADELPHIA. 65 
 
 whole earth is filled with thy glory. This is the sincere prayer of, 
 
 dear brother, your sincere friend, 
 
 John Peck. 
 
 Brother Lawton presents his respects, and desires to be remem- 
 bered by you. 
 
 Peck and Lawton, Bennett and Kendrick, Hascall and 
 Galusha, are names not likely ever to fade from Baptist recol- 
 lection in Central New York ; and to all of them the subject 
 of this memoir had linked himself for a life-long affection by 
 his brief visit to them the preceding autumn. 
 
 At the end of March he closed his school, to which he had 
 become much attached, and it was hard parting. So he found 
 it in taking leave of the churches in Catskill, in Hudson and 
 Amenia, in all of which he left many loving friends. This and 
 the business cares of settling up his accounts, and providing for 
 his family's comfort through the summer, and especially taking 
 leave of them for so long a period — all tended to depress and 
 almost sadden him. Near the end of April he left them, and 
 stopped in Pougiikeepsie ; he afterward spent five days in 
 New York, where he preached in the principal Baptist churches, 
 and received the marked attention of ministers, deacons, and 
 influential brethren and their families. On some kind and 
 generous notices of his preaching which came to his knowl- 
 edge, he expresses in his journal the fear that he was in 
 danger of becoming popular. For Elders Parkinson in Gold 
 street, Williams in Fayette (now Oliver) street, and^ Maclay in 
 Mulberry street, he preached more than once each, thus filling 
 up his time and wearying him almost beyond his power of 
 endurance. Then on the 1st of May he set forth at seven 
 o'clock in the morning — and in a steamer tool— for Phila- 
 delphia, reaching as far as Trenton before midnight. Here 
 he stayed over, and reached Philadelphia by another steamer, 
 down the Delaware (which much delighted him by its earlier 
 vernal beauty than he had left behind him), before noon the 
 second day. He found Dr. Staughton's residence, and was 
 introduced to him and his laifHv and his three fellow-students, 
 
56 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Farnsworth, Wilson, and Meredith. Somers having just left 
 for a settlement in Troy, and Welch not having arrived. 
 
 His residence in the city of brotherly love — boarding in the 
 family of Dr. Staughton with his fellow-students, and mingling 
 freely with all the Baptist and other ministers who were then 
 accustomed to be the frequent guests of his renowned pre- 
 ceptor, and who often preached in his pulpit as well as ate at 
 his table — gave to this young man opportunities of improve- 
 ment to which he had never been accustomed, and not un- 
 likely were of quite as much' benefit to him, by their direct 
 and indirect influence, as the opportunities of study which he 
 enjoyed. He entered soon on the vigorous study of Latin, 
 and obtained a little knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, besides 
 reviving and enlarging his acquaintance with the Greek of the 
 New Testament. He also listened to the instructive lectures 
 of Dr. Staughton on botany and other branches of natural 
 science. He wrote essays and other compositions and sermons, 
 and submitted them for criticism to his fellow-students and 
 their teacher. Occasionally, too, he preached even in the 
 great Sansom-street church edifice, which was then his especial 
 admiration for its magnitude and unique construction. Gladly 
 would we transfer to these pages his first admiring im- 
 pressions of the house, the audience (which by a popular ex- 
 aggeration, then as now by no means uncommon, he greatly 
 over-estimated) rated at four thousand hearers seated, besides 
 multitudes standing in the aisles and about the lobbies and 
 doors of tlje edifice. It was then a time of revival in this 
 church. The first Sabbath he spent there, he saw eleven bap- 
 tized in the spacious font in the centre of that great theatre, 
 which for that purpose especially he greatly admired. The 
 next month fourteen were received by the same church. 
 
 No feature of the novelties now rushing on bis attention 
 seems to have more interested him than the Sabbath-schools, 
 then very recently introduced. That in the Sansom-street 
 church, where he soon became a teacher, embraced some four 
 hundred pupils ; held two sessions each Sabbath, which were 
 begun with reading the Scriptures, accompanied often with 
 
SUNDAY-SCHOOLS — PREACHING — SELF-IMPROVEMENT. 57 
 
 brief familiar expositions, with exhortation and prayer, at the 
 end of which all the children repeated in concert the Lord's 
 prayer, Then they divided off into classes of fifteen or twenty 
 each, having two teachers to every class, and pursued for an 
 hour the method, thought best for imbuing the young minds 
 with religious knowledge. They were closed with some gen- 
 eral remarks, or exercises, of review, and with one or more 
 appropriate hymns, in which all these young voices, as far as 
 possible, were taught to unite. The deep interest which he 
 soon came to take in these schools, his visits among the poor, 
 the sick, the ignorant, to whom his connection with the chil- 
 dren of his class introduced him, were all happily conducive 
 to that eminent fitness which he early attained for performing 
 an immense amount of successful and blessed labor of this 
 kind in the West. 
 
 As he had been for years an ordained minister, and as his 
 services were needed and welcomed in a somewhat wide circle 
 in and around Philadelphia, he found not a little interruption 
 to the regular course of his studies by such calls and diver- 
 sions. At times he regretted this ; but so much stronger 
 was his love for evangelizing labors of all kinds than for 
 mere book-learning, and so facile had the habits already 
 required rendered the performance of these semi-pastoral 
 or missionary labors that he very readily yielded himself 
 to nearl)^ every solicitation of this character; and almost 
 every Sabbath, and not unfrequently considerable part of 
 the week besides, he was exercising himself actively as a 
 minister of Christ. Nor was this by any means a total loss. 
 For by the various intercourse thus secured with all classes, 
 he became a successful and rapid learner in the great field of 
 the knowledge of mankind. 
 
 Considering his own want of early scholastic advantages, 
 it is interesting to notice the method he employed for supplying 
 these deficiencies and overcoming the bad habits into which he 
 had almost necessarily fallen. A letter of advice which he 
 about this time wrote to a dear young friend whose early years 
 had been passed somewhat as his own, but who had the pros- 
 
68 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 pect now opening of becoming a public character, and needed 
 therefore to be improved in many respects in intellectual fur- 
 niture and acquirements, develops, I doubt not, somewhat mi- 
 nutely some of the methods which he had found it necessary 
 to pursue in order to correct bad habits and elevate himself 
 to a worthier level of intellectual attainments. A few sen- 
 tences of that letter will indicate its general character : 
 
 I am pleased with your improvement in writing, and hope. you will 
 not be discouraged by any difficulties that may present. If you 
 intend to be a missionary, you must acquire the habit of pressing 
 through many difficulties to obtain important qualifications. I most 
 earnestly intreat you to spend at least half your time in reading 
 and writing. To facilitate your writing, it may be best for you to 
 make a little book and keep a diary of what is passing. But while 
 37^ou are attending to writing, it is also indispensably necessary that 
 you should attend to spelling. I do not say it to criticise, nor must 
 you let it hurt your feelings, but your spelling is very bad. In 
 order to correct this, whenever you write, it is best you should have 
 a small dictionary lie before you, and look out every word whose 
 spelling you are not sure you know. You can easily find any word 
 in the dictionary by its alphabetical arrangement. You had fetter 
 also study the spelling-book, and regularly teach some child a lesson 
 in it every day, thus helping to fix what you learn more firmly in 
 your memory. 
 
 Then follow some directions for learning grammar without 
 much aid from teacher or books, of which a specimen in 
 orthography may suffice : 
 
 In writing, you must begin every sentence after a period with a 
 capital letter. Also the name of any person or place. So when 
 you have the letter i or o by itself, you must use capital letters. 
 
 Then follow a number of corrections of this friend's bad 
 spelling, or faulty use or neglect of capital letters. Thus 
 anxious did he show himself that others should be early im- 
 bued with the spirit of intellectual improvement, and should 
 be shown some of the first steps of the ladder, for which he 
 had been obliged to feel his way in the dark. 
 
ESTIMATE OF PREACHERS AND COUNSELORS. 59 
 
 The presence of Mr. Rice in Philadelphia somer part of the 
 time while he was engaged in study, helped to keep his heart 
 still warmly alive to missionary duties. At his instance, 
 Mr. Peck was often sent forth to visit churches, associations, 
 and missionary societies at their anniversaries, to fan the flame 
 of holy zeal for the evangelization of the heathen. One of 
 the earliest of these tours took him into Delaware to attend ' 
 the Delaware Baptist Association. He describes its exercises, 
 preachers, subjects, etc., and indicates pretty clearly the blight- 
 ing influence of some of those hyper-calvinistic views among 
 them, which eventually dwarfed to nothingness most of those 
 churches. In these and like visits, and in the extensive facili- 
 ties he had for associating with the ministers of that day, he 
 came to know somewhat intimately a large portion of those 
 who figured most conspicuously in that early period of our 
 annals. To some of these he only briefly alludes, scarcely 
 more than mentioning their names ; others he very briefly 
 characterizes, with a free and generous frankness, ever more 
 ready to record their excellencies than to dwell on their defects. 
 Others again he portrays more fully and minutely. Dr. 
 Staughton and S. H. Cone — then a young man, and a still 
 younger preacher, having left the stage and political life to 
 preach the unsearchable riches of Christ — were his favorites 
 as pulpit orators. He draws a life-like picture of their man- 
 ners in the pulpit, and the effects which attended their most 
 powerful and successful public appeals. A sermon of the 
 latter, when on a visit to Philadelphia seeking some aid for 
 the little church in Alexandria, to which he had just begun 
 to minister, brought forth a collection of nearly two hundred 
 dollars — a large sum for that day. " The greatest pulpit 
 orator of his age 1 have ever heard, but appears humble and 
 discovers no disposition to gain the applause of the people. 
 His address most pleasing," etc. 
 
 Kevs. John Williams of N'ew York, Luther Rice, Daniel 
 Sharp, of Boston, and H. G. Jones, of Roxborough, were his 
 chosen counselors. The varied biblical learning of Dr. Staugh- 
 ton and Irah Chase, recently from Andover Seminary, he highly 
 
60 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 • 
 
 esteemed ; while with all his fellow-students above-named, as 
 well as Welch, Murphy, H. Malcom, Ashton and Walker who 
 joined them subsequently, he maintained a most fraternal 
 union. 
 
 Near the close of July their studies were intermitted for a 
 vacation of five or six weeks, most of which he spent in aiding 
 his dear Brother Rice in getting out and distributing the 
 annual missionary report of the Board ; and then in a kind 
 of volunteer missionary tour in lower New Jersey, where he 
 enjoyed very much the hospitality of Rev. Mr. Sheppard, of 
 Salem, and some others. He preached abundantly in the 
 counties of Salem, Cumberland, and Cape May, not only in 
 the Baptist churches, but in destitute neighborhoods, and 
 wherever the providence of God opened a door before him. 
 He seems to have enjoyed this tour very much, and also to 
 have been eminently w^elcome and useful. Wherever prac- 
 ticable he was, both privately and publicly, promoting the 
 foreign mission spirit and effort. 
 
 Just about this time also, both his journals and letters in- 
 dicate that he was much exercised in mind in regard to the 
 path of his personal duty. The Foreign Mission Board, at 
 their annual meeting in 'New York, had distussed but not 
 decided the question of establishing a mission in the Missouri 
 Territory. While all admitted the great desirableness of this 
 step, the more considerate and cautious brethren deemed it 
 the prerogative of the Convention (which would meet the 
 next year), and not of the Board, to decide a question of so 
 much magnitude. This conclusion necessarily deferred any 
 definite action on the case of Messrs. Peck and Welch, who 
 were quite willing at that time to have ofiTered themselves to 
 the Board for this Western mission. What should he do 
 therefore ? Dr. Staughton and Mr. Rice advised that he 
 should pursue his studies in Philadelphia until the next spring 
 or summer. Dr. Sharp, with whom he then for the first time 
 appears to have taken counsel, suggested his temporary em- 
 ployment by the Massachusetts Missionary Society, to travel 
 and preach under their auspices in central and western New 
 
REVISITING FIELDS OF EARLY LABOR — REVIVAL. 61 
 
 York, and perhaps extend his labors to Ohio. Another plan 
 was for him to teach school again for the winter in Amenia, 
 which would have brought him into close proximity to his 
 dear family, from whom this long separation was most un- 
 welcome. Air agreed, it seems, that for the ultimate benefit 
 of his proposed devotement to the mission in the great West 
 the first of these plans was the most desirable, provided he 
 could secure the comfortable support meanwhile of his little 
 family. Generous friends, chiefly in Philadelphia and Xew 
 York city, made up a purse for this object ; and thus his 
 way was cleared of impediments, and his heart leaped with 
 joy at thought of spending the winter in the very place of all 
 others most adapted to secure his personal improvement. 
 Somewhat more extensive plans of study were therefore 
 marked out for him and his destined associate, Welch, on 
 which he prepared to enter with vigor. Preliminary to this, 
 he spent a few weeks in a visit to his family. The joy of 
 returning to their embrace after an absence of five months or 
 more was great indeed. What added very much to his sacred 
 delight was the revival now progressing in Amenia, in which 
 many of his old friends and a remarkable proportion of the 
 dear pupils of his late school *had personally shared. With 
 what holy joy he now returned to see the valley of dry bones, 
 which he had left so lifeless, quickened to blessed vitality ; 
 with what religious fervor he preached, and prayed, and vis- 
 ited from house to house, is recorded in his journals and 
 letters of this period, and is still cherished in the grateful 
 recollections of some who then witnessed his joy and shared 
 his labors. In this visit he found it practicable to attend the 
 anniversaries of the Hartford and the Rensselaerville Associ- 
 ations, with both of which as a pastor he had been pleasantly 
 connected. In both of these bodies he watched with interest, 
 and in the latter especially he helped to promote and deepen 
 the missionary zeal of his late associates. With his family he 
 also visited Hudson, Catskill, and Durham, where troops of 
 old friends gathered around them with glowing affection. 
 Kev. Dr. Porter, of Catskill, opened his church to him, and he 
 6 
 
62 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 there preached in behalf of his favorite theme — missions — • 
 with decided success. So he did also in Amenia, where he 
 not only took up a collection twice as large as usual, but also 
 formed a juvenile missionary society of nearly forty members, 
 a majority of them his former pupils. To his father's house 
 in Litchfield, Ct., he also made a brief visit, and records his 
 thankfulness that his old Congregational brethren no longer 
 exhibited coldness to him on account of his change of eccle- 
 siastical relations, but loved him as of yore. 
 
 Passing through New York city, both going and returning, 
 on this visit to his family, he spent several days, and as usual 
 preached to several of the churches with increased acceptance. 
 On reaching Philadelphia again (November 8), he found that 
 he had traveled by land and water eight hundred and twelve 
 miles, had preached twenty-seven times, seven of which were 
 for missionary collections. Just about this time also, he 
 received from the indefatigable Rice a characteristic letter. 
 It should be remembered that he had left Philadelphia in 
 July, putting into the hands of Mr, Peck the work of sending 
 off the last half of the annual reports for that year. The 
 Napoleon-like movements of Mr. Kice — over the mountains, 
 crossing and recrossing State lines, through Virginia, North 
 Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, with a celerity which 
 nothing but the boldest zeal, and the most indomitable perse- 
 verance could have planned or executed — were well adapted 
 to kindle a similar spirit in those with whom he came in 
 closest contact ; and they did not fail of this result on him to 
 whom these hurried lines were addressed. To this letter 
 Mr. Peck promptly replied, giving to his honored friend all 
 the recent missionary intelligence. Thus imparting and re- 
 ceiving impulse in the chosen work to which his life was 
 devoted, he was the better prepared to enter again upon his 
 course of studies. The following plan he sketched for his 
 daily guidance through the winter ; and he adhered to it when 
 unavoidable interruptions did not turn him aside. 
 
 Rise in the morning at six o'clock. Engage in private prayer, 
 which I can well do, as my fellow-students will not have risen at 
 
DIVISION OF TIME, STUDIES, AND LABORS. 63 
 
 that hour. Then spend one hour in studying the sacred Scriptures, 
 with the assistance of Henry, Gill, Scott, or some other judicious 
 expositor. Commence and continue regular study till breakfast, 
 reviewing the Greek grammar first. After breakfast pursue regular 
 studies of the day, except the hours given to medical lectures. 
 After dinner come the recitations, after which miscellaneous read- 
 ing and writing till tea-time. The evenings — except two each week 
 given to lectures on osteology — to be devoted to studying the 
 classics, to writing, copying, etc., except some times an hour or 
 two given to attending pubUc worship. Then give the closing hour, 
 till half-past ten, to such study of the Scriptures, as occupies the 
 first hour of the morning. Eegular daily studies were : Monday 
 and Wednesday, Hebrew and Latin ; Tuesday and Thursday, Greek ; 
 Friday, natural philosophj^, use of the globes, astronomy, etc. ; Sat- 
 urday, composition of sermons, lectures on theology, and system- 
 atic reading. 
 
 He also resolved to be economical of time, frugal in expense, 
 temperate in diet, not over indulgent in sleep, nor to allow 
 himself in idle, unprofitable talk, and sacredly to keep up 
 secret communion with God. 
 
 Dr. Staughton, conceiving that his pupils, Welch and Peck, 
 would be greatly benefited in their vocation as missionaries, 
 by such improvement as a course of medical lectures would 
 furnish, procured toem tickets from the principal professors 
 in the medical college ; and they gladly availed themselves 
 of this additional means of generous culture. It may readily 
 be understood that with such an amount of demand on them, 
 taking full notes as they did of the lectures they listened to, 
 their time would be literally crowded with engagements. Yet 
 Mr. Peck preached on an average about three times a week 
 the whole winter, visited the prisons, conversed with and 
 preached to the prisoners, and made himself very useful among 
 the poor and ignorant of that city. It is no marvel that under 
 this system of overtasking, both body and mind began soon 
 to falter ; and many are the mournful intimations spread on 
 the pages of his private journal of the nature and amount of 
 his sufferings — physical, mental, and religious. Not yet had 
 he so fully learned, as he did subsequently, how certainly the 
 
64 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 overdone frame and the mind strained beyond its healthful 
 tension are sure to spread over the whole soul the tinge of 
 depression, or the fitfulness of unwholesome exhilaration, 
 which, as it cannot be sustained, will alternate with stupidity 
 and gloom. Affecting are the jottings down on successive 
 Sabbath mornings of his " stupidity, deadness, want of en- 
 gagedness in the cause of Christ," when he should have had 
 time for repose, but was obliged, as he and others thought, to 
 preach repeatedly. Can we wonder that he complains of a 
 heart so little attuned to the services on which he was re- 
 quired to enter ? They who give to mind or body no rest, 
 when both by the great Sabbath law are allowed it, must 
 expect to receive in their own abused nature the due pun- 
 ishment of the violation of these wholesome ordinances. 
 
 To add to his embarrassments the health of one of his 
 children failed, his family needed comforts which he was 
 unable to supply them, the aid which had been proffered him 
 for their support partially failed, and the remainder came but 
 tardily, so that his mind for February and March was' con- 
 tinually harassed with almost agonizing apprehensions in 
 regard to the welfare of those most dear to him. His letters 
 to his family, and especially his diary from day to day, bore 
 conclusive and sad evidence of what he in fhis respect suffered. 
 At length, with 'the advice and consent of his kind preceptor, 
 Dr. Staughton, he made a little tour among the churches in 
 the vicinity of Philadelphia, where his gratuitous labors had 
 been so largely given, aided by his fellow-students, Welch and 
 Meredith. At the home of the latter he addressed a cheerful 
 epistle to his wife ; and making known to the pastors and some 
 of the principal brethren, delicately as possible, his straitened 
 circumstances, they made up in small sums nearh^ sixty dol- 
 lars, which proved to be a timely relief in this trying exigency. 
 He was busily engaged in this business when the time arrived 
 for the assembling of the triennial convention for missionary 
 purposes in May, 1817, to whose decisions he had looked 
 forward with such mingled fear and hope, as certain to have 
 a decisive bearing on all his future course. He was, therefore, 
 
TRIENNIAL CONVENTION OF 18 IT. 65 
 
 a deeply-interested spectator of what transpired on that mo- 
 mentous occasion ; and as more than one generation has 
 since passed away, it may be interesting to reproduce on these 
 pages the more important portion of his condensed records of 
 those transactions. The principal actors have all been removed, 
 and their sayings and doings may without indelicacy be re- 
 viewed by us, with interest certainly, and perhaps with profit. 
 
 Wednesday, May 7, 1817. The missionary convention assembled 
 at Sansom street. Credentials were received from the delegates, 
 and they took their seats. Eev. Dr. Furman was chosen President, 
 and Rev. Daniel Sharp, Secretary— when further business was ad- 
 journed till to-morrow morning. 
 
 At evening. Rev. Dr. Baldwin preached the convention-sermon, 
 from John iv. 35, 36. He contemplated, 1st, the fields of missionary 
 labor ; 2d, the qualifications of missionaries ; 3d, the encouragements 
 assured. His discourse was interesting, but wanting in animation. 
 
 Thursday, ^th. The convention heard the report of Brother 
 Rice, their general agent. It was very interesting. Oh, how much 
 does the zeal and activity of this devoted servant of the Redeemer 
 reprove the slothfulness of others in this holy cause ! Communi- 
 cations were then read from our brethren in India, both from the 
 Serampore missionaries and our own missionaries in Rangoon. A 
 church has been formed at the latter place, and all things prosper. 
 Were it not for some particular circumstances, I should think it my 
 duty to devote my Hfe to that region. The Board made a report in 
 part, in which they express their desire that a Western mission be 
 entered upon. 
 
 Friday, ^th. Heard the further communications from Burmah 
 
 a joint letter from Brethren Judson and Hough : their plan of mis- 
 sionary operations. They utter the Macedonian cry : " Come over 
 and help us." They declare their intention never to give up the 
 missionary cause. Committees were then appointed to investigate 
 the minutes of the Board, and to prepare the business of the con- 
 vention. The Board recommended some necessary alterations in 
 the constitution so as to embrace home missions ; also to provide 
 for the education of missionaries. 
 
 Evening. A general prayer-meeting was held in Sansom street 
 for the blessing of God on the convention and for the success of 
 our efforts to spread the gospel. 
 
 Saturday, lO^/i— Heard the report of the committee to whom that 
 
66 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 part of the report of the Board concerning alterations in tlie con- 
 stitution had been committed. Considered the recommendations 
 in committee of the whole, and reached this result : 
 
 1. Incorporated with the foreign field certain portions of our 
 own country under the denomination of a Domestic Mission. This 
 secures the great object of a Western mission. 
 
 2. Directed the Board to raise a fund for the establishment of 
 one or more classical and theological seminaries to educate mis- 
 sionaries and others. 
 
 This, also, I view as a most important object, nearly concerning 
 the welfare of the mission. To qualify young men as missionaries 
 is a preliminary to sending them out. All this business was con- 
 ducted with the utmost love and harmony. Never did I see so 
 eventful a period in the cause of religion as the present. Events 
 of the utmost importance are depending on the developments of 
 every hour. From first to last the hand of God is clearly seen. 
 It is to be hoped that the present exertions will arouse every supine 
 professor, and excite every latent principle of piety amongst the 
 Baptists in our land. 
 
 Evening. Rev. Mr. Baptist, from Virginia, preached in Sansom 
 street from 2 Timothy vi. 12. He is a popular young inan, and in 
 many respects an orator. 
 
 Monday, 12lh. Convention still engaged in the consideration of ^ 
 the important business before them. Besides favorably confirming 
 the recommendations of the committee of the whole, from Satur- 
 day's sitting, the subject of a more permanent agency in this 
 country was considered. It is with no common emotions of delight 
 that I have to mention the harmony' and union which prevail in 
 our councils. 
 
 Tuesday, Idth. After several important resolutions considered 
 and adopted, the convention unanimously approved the doings of 
 the Board for the three years past, censuring those individuals 
 who have opposed and attempted to injure the mission. Next they 
 took into consideration the subject of a mission to Africa ; then 
 heard the communication of two young men from Massachusetts 
 (Coleman and Wheelock), who offer themselves to the Board. Their 
 letters were very animating. 
 
 Received also a communication from New Orleans, setting forth 
 the state of things in that region and the great, the pressing need 
 of missionary labors. A Board for conducting the missions the 
 next three years was then chosen. 
 
 Wednesday, 14</i. — Convention continued its sessions both fore- 
 
CONVENTION AND BOARD'S PROCEEDINGS. 6t 
 
 noon and afternoon. All things progressed with the utmost har- 
 mony. Much business oi" importance was transacted, which I trust 
 will be of lasting benefit to the churches. It was ah affecting time 
 at the close. Dr. Baldwin made a short address, which awakened 
 tender and tearful emotions in nearly all present. The one hundred 
 and thirty-third Psalm was then sung, and the convention adjourned 
 till the last Wednesday in April, 1820. It is probable that I shall 
 never see these fathers and brethren any more in this world, but I 
 hope to meet them in the next. Eev. Mr. Leonard preached in the 
 evening from Luke xxiii. 42, 43. 
 
 Next day (the 15th) the* Board commenced its important busi- 
 ness. Evening, Rev. Mr. Bates preached from Malachi i. 11. Doc- 
 trine : The worship of the true God will prevail in all the earth. 
 An interesting discourse. 
 
 Friday, 16^7i. The Board still in session. Messrs. Coleman and 
 Wheelock were accepted, and appointed missionaries to Rangoon. 
 The subject of a domestic mission in the Southwest was brought 
 forward. A letter from Rev. Mr. Ronaldson, of New Orleans, was 
 read, and an appointment given him with the provision of five hun- 
 dred dollars per annum for his support. 
 
 The business relating to myself was then brought forward. [He 
 had presented a written document, fully explaining his views and 
 feelings, offering himself as a candidate for appointment in the 
 Western mission.] 
 
 The business was not taken up in a manner quite satisfactory to 
 me ; and the views of the Board seemed rather discordant on the 
 question, T[liat should the Domestic fission embrace? Some 
 seemed to entertain the idea that it must only embrace an itinerant 
 mission among destitute churches and such places as are already 
 Christianized. The business was finally deferred till to-morrow. 
 
 This view of the case brought a heavy trial on my mind. Indeed 
 I see no way to obtain my object in the mission, but either to engage 
 as a mere itinerant for a limited time, or to go exclusively among 
 the Indians. The first I do not think my duty under existing cir- 
 cumstances ; the last does not seem expedient, '\^^lat will be the 
 result I know not. But I feel to trust in a gracious God who will 
 do all things well. 
 
 Evening. Heard Rev. John Peck preach from Psalm xxx. 5. 
 Retired to rest, but slept Httle, on account of the agitation of my 
 mind and the painful suspense under which I labored with regard 
 to the mission. 
 
 Saturday, \^^th. This day, I suppose, will decide my future pros- 
 
68 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 pects. How solemn the thought that a few hours must decide not 
 only with respect to what I have been pursuing for two years past, 
 but w^hat relates to my whole life in the future ! I feel a degree of 
 resignation to the hand of God in whatever he may please to appoint. 
 To rffm will I commit the whole concern, believing that he will order 
 what is best for his kingdom and glory. At ten o'clock met the 
 Board of Missions. After some business of minor importance, 
 Brother Welch made his communication to the Board. I made 
 some further explanations, and then we withdrew. The decision is 
 now pending. What will be the issue I know not. 
 
 Six o'clock. The long agony is over. The Board have accepted 
 Mr. Welch and myself as missionaries to the Missouri Territory 
 during our and their pleasure ; and have appropriated the sum of 
 one thousand dollars to defray our expenses in getting to St. Louis 
 and for the support of the mission. In this I think I see the hand 
 of God most visibly. From this moment I consider myself most 
 sacredly devoted to the mission. Lord, may I live and die in the 
 cause ! 
 
 Lord's-day, 18</i. Attended worship in the morning at Sansom 
 street. Rev. Daniel Sharp preached from Psalm cxix. 97 an ex- 
 cellent, eloquent, and appropriate discourse. After sermon Brother 
 John Walker (a fellow-student) received ordination. Dr. Staughton 
 asked the usual questions, and presented him the Bible. Dr. Fur- 
 man made the ordaining prayer, while all the ministers present im- 
 posed hands. Dr. Baldwin gave an excellent and very affecting 
 fellowship with the right-hand, and Rev. John Williams gave the 
 charge to the candidate. The exercises were solemn and impressive. 
 
 This day is one never to' be forgotten. My fellow-laborer Welch 
 and myself are to be solemnly set apart for the work of the mission. 
 The exercises are to commence at five o'clock. It is a solemn 
 consideration. I have now put my hand to the plow. Lord, 
 may I never turn back — never regret this step. It is my desire 
 to live, to labor, to die as a kind of pioneer in advancing the gospel. 
 I feel the most heavenly joy when my heart is engaged in this work. 
 
 At the appointed hour in Sansom street Rev. Dr. Furman preached 
 an appropriate discourse from Acts xiii. 2 : " Separate me Saul and 
 Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them." Dr. Staugh- 
 ton called on Brother Welch and myself briefly to explain why we 
 desired to engage in this mission. Dr. Baldwin offered the prayer. 
 Dr. Staughton gave the right-hand of fellowship with a most afiPect- 
 ing address, in which he adverted to our residence in his family. 
 Rev. Jesse Mercer gave the charge. One expression in the charge 
 
SETTING APAKT PECK AND WELCH AS MISSIONABIES." 69 
 
 deserves to be indelibly impressed on my heart. Speaking of the 
 success which, under the blessing of God, he hoped would crown 
 our labors, and enforcing the necessity of prudence in every respect, 
 he added : "A little imprudence may spoil the ivliole work." The 
 solemn exercises were closed by singing Rev. Sanil. Pearce's favorite 
 missionary hymn: ** O'er tlie gloomy hills of darkness," etc., etc. 
 After Dr. Staughton gave the right-hand of fellowship, all the min 
 'istering brethren gave us their hands and bade us God-speed. When 
 I came to take the hand of my ever-valued and much-endeared 
 friend. Rice, my heart well nigh failed. The thought rushed on my 
 mind with peculiar force : " Soon we separate, perhaps never to 
 meet in this world; but I hope we shall meet in heaven." 
 
 After the services closed, many of the dear flock of Sansom street 
 came and took me by the hand, bidding me an affectionate farewell. 
 
 Two pages of his journal are here filled with a very appro- 
 priate review of the months he had so pleasantly and profit- 
 ably spent in Philadelphia, the kind friends who had there 
 gathered around him, the obligations under which he was now 
 laid to devote himself unreservedly to the great cause of evan- 
 gelizing the destitute. A humble sense of his own conscious 
 weakness, and his dependence on Divine grace mingles with 
 his fervent gratitude to God and to his brethren for the privi- 
 lege of being allowed thus to devote himself on the altar of 
 duty. Then girding himself anew to the work before him, 
 he seems doubly resolved that no efforts or sacrifices on his 
 part shall be wanting to promote the cause to which his life 
 is now consecrated. 
 
70 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Preparation and Journey to the West. 
 
 Mr. Peck immediately hastened to his family that he might 
 prepare them for the long and toilsome journey to the place 
 of their destined residence and labors. He spent one night 
 in New York city, hearing Dr. Baldwin preach in Fayette 
 (now Oliver) street church, and another in New Haven, where 
 he formed the acquaintance of Rev. Mr. Lines, pastor of the 
 Baptist church, and of a young brother, Lindsley, a student in 
 Yale College, a candidate for the Baptist ministry ; and with 
 unutterable emotions reached his father's house, and embraced 
 his dear family after his long absence and their many trials. 
 This was on the 2 2d of May. The next two months, besides 
 the requisite arrangements for their journey, and the leave- 
 taking of his and his wife's families and their many friends in 
 the places where he had resided and the churches he had 
 served, he performed a large amount of pioneer missionary 
 work, of an agency kind, throughout a somewhat extensive 
 region of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and eastern New York. 
 He attended the anniversaries of the Shaftesbury and the 
 Saratoga Associations, before both which bodies he was per- 
 mitted to plead the cause of missions. He traveled during 
 these few weeks by private conveyance or on foot seven or 
 eight hundred miles ; and in preaching, visiting,, writing 
 letters, and arranging for, and actually forming, auxiliary, 
 societies, he performed an almost incredible amount of labor, 
 and apparently with gratifying success. He notices in his 
 journal the kind courtesy of several Pedobaptist churches in 
 New Haven, in Catskill and elsewhere, that opened their 
 houses of worship for him cordially, and allowed him to plead 
 the cause dearest to his heart before their people, and receive 
 their willing offerings. In Troy, Albany, and Hudson also, 
 
SETTING OUT ON HIS LONG JOURNEY. Tl 
 
 his labors were welcomed and TDlessed. In "West Stock- 
 bridge he examined and baptized five candidates, among them 
 Nathaniel Colver, then a young man. 
 
 Indeed, were the names of all the loved and honored serv- 
 ants of God whom then he met with, and to whom no small 
 share of the fire of his own zeal was communicated, here 
 enumerated, the catalogue would be found to embrace a large 
 number who have worthily carried forward the work on which 
 he was then entering. Merely preparatory to his great life- 
 labor — as he regarded these services — it may reasonably be 
 doubted whether they were not directly and indirectly as 
 useful as any which he ever rendered. The holy zeal thus 
 enkindled in so many breasts, of both pastors and influential 
 members of churches, was indeed a quickening leaven, giving 
 greater vitality to their own aflfections and to all with whom 
 they came in contact ; and by linking them in thought and 
 sympathy to the masses of the unevangelized at home and 
 in pagan lands, they experienced the benign influence of the 
 moral dignity of the missionary enterprise. On an average 
 he preached nearly one sermon a day (on some days not less 
 than four), and wrote and received twice as many important 
 letters on this great subject during this whole period. No 
 wonder he groaned out under this self-imposed burden, and 
 instead of recruiting -for the great labor before him, as he 
 needed to, he was absolutely exhausting both his physical and 
 mental forces. The tender, heart-moving adieus which day 
 after day he was taking of dear and valued friends, with the 
 feeling in most instances that it was a final parting, was also 
 exhausting and depressing. To counterbalance these things, 
 he had only the invigorating influence of faith, but this was 
 all powerful. 
 
 Friday afternoon, 25th of July, see a little one-horse wagon 
 leaving the door of Asa Peck, in Litchfield, with its precious 
 freight — his only son and wife with their three little ones. They 
 had together read the closing part of the twentieth of Acts, 
 had knelt down and prayed together, and with /such sad fare- 
 wells as were almost overwhelming, our brother with his 
 
*12 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 little family here set forth on their journey of more than 
 twelve hundred miles, not expecting ever again to meet on 
 earth. This was the external aspect of the scene. He who 
 w^ould look beneath the calm aspect of the surface -might 
 there discover a violent internal struggle. 
 
 This son, now leaving the parental mansion, is not a heed- 
 less young man, unacquainted with the depth and tenderness 
 of emotions which swell a father's heart. He has for years 
 been a father himself — has known the pain of parting with 
 his own offspring. He can, therefore, and he does, more 
 deeply and thoroughly than he thinks it wise at present to 
 manifest, sympathize with the agonizing sensations which his 
 feeble and decrepid father now evinces. That aged and infirm 
 man has not the faith of his son, nor the heroic fortitude of 
 his own wife. She, the tender-hearted mother, with a Chris- 
 tian heroism which her sex are so often enabled to exercise, 
 rises above the weakness of woman and the fondness of a 
 doting parent. Her lip quivers, but her iieart is firm. Tliere 
 are tears in her eyes, but there is also a triumphant, exulting 
 joy on her countenance as she says : " If the Lord hath need 
 of him — only son as he is, and we are growing old — let His 
 holy will be done I He gave, and though very precious to 
 us was this his gift, yet, if there is a needs be for the sacrifice, 
 God forbid that I should hinder his devotement to his Saviour 
 and mine." 
 
 The father yielded to his own overmastering sensibilities ; 
 he groaned and wept aloud ; and as the little wagon drove 
 from the door, his loud outcries of grief were the last sounds 
 which fell on the ears of the departing ones. Again and again 
 had this grandsire plead that one of the children at least might 
 be left to gladden his loneliness. It could not — must not be ; 
 and as all this now comes over the minds of these wayfarers, 
 doubt not that they too are glad of the shelter of their cov- 
 ered vehicle ; for they can give vent to the long pent-up emo- 
 tions which perforce they have endeavored to restrain. 
 
 The religion of the great Cross-bearer is essentially a system 
 of sacrifices ; but it has also its compensations. The very 
 
HINDRANCES IN FOUMER TRAVELING. 73 
 
 next Lord's-day this aged pair wiped away their tears, and 
 went up to the house of God to worship. They asked (as 
 w^as then and is now common in parts of New England) an 
 interest in the public prayers for themselves and the dear ones 
 on their long journey who had just parted with them. And 
 no doubt they felt even then, when all eyes and all kindly 
 hearts were turned to the pew which Asa Peck and wife occu- 
 pied, that they were privileged and honored in giving up such 
 children to the service of the Lord. JS'or were these children 
 without their rich recompense. In many ways and forms, 
 the bread which they cast upon the waters was found ]\y 
 them after many days multiplied an hundred-fold. 
 
 In no one aspect, scarcely, have the last forty years of our 
 country's history shown a greater advancement than in the 
 facilities for rapid and easy journeying from one remote point 
 to another. Now it is very easy in three or four days to 
 remove a family with all their substance from the Connecticut 
 to the western bank% of the Mississippi. Then it required 
 as many months of time, with not a little of toil, exposure, 
 and even peril. Will not the readers of this memoir very 
 naturally desire a pretty full view of what were the actual ex- 
 periences of this family in this their great transition, very little 
 more than forty years since ? And as very many of them arf 
 able to draw the favorable contrast, by their owm recent expe- 
 rience of a journey over the same extent, will not their grati- 
 tude be awakened by the facilities, the comforts, the expe- 
 dition now realized ? Mr. Peck thus states the distances 
 from one point to another, in the route then most frequented, 
 in a letter to his wife, some months before their actual setting 
 out : From Litchfield, Ct., to Philadelphia, two hundred miles ; 
 thence to Pittsburg, three hundred ; to Wheeling, sixt}^ ; to 
 Zanesville, fifty-five ; to Chillicothe, seventy-two ; to the cross- 
 ing of the Ohio river, sixty-three ; to Lexington, Ky., sixty- 
 eight ; to Louisville, seventy-three; to A^incennes, Ind., one 
 hundred and twenty-two ; through wilderness to Kaskaskia, 
 one hundred and forty-five ; to St. Louis, fiftj^-seven. Total, 
 twelve hundred and fifteen. 
 
14 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 For brevity's sake, pass over the journey to Philadelphia, 
 which had now become familiar to him, and which occupied 
 ten days, and the week which he spent in that city getting 
 his final instructions from the Board, and introducing his wife 
 and children to many of the families who, by previous ac- 
 quaintance with him, had become most interested in their 
 welfare. The subsequent itinerary, with such abridgment 
 from the original journal as can be made without essentially 
 marring its interest, had been faithfully prepared for insertion 
 in this place ; but the publishers cannot allow its introduction 
 here : it must find a less conspicuous place, in the appendix, 
 or be left out entirely. 
 
 Nearly one month was occupied in passing from Philadelphia 
 through the State of Pennsylvania over the Alleghany moun- 
 tains, till on the 10th of September he passed into Ohio. 
 Three weeks he journeyed in that State, and on the 23d of 
 October recrossed the Ohio river into the State of Kentucky, 
 where he met with his associate, Welch, and wife, and soon 
 left in company with them, and on the 6th of November 
 again crossed the Ohio river, into the then territory of Illinois, 
 at Shawneetown. Here again some extracts are given from 
 his journal. 
 
 Thuesday, October &h. Our arrival was late, and little could be 
 learnt in regard to this wretchedly-appearing village. Here the 
 glad tidings of salvation are but seldom heard. We are now prop- 
 erly on missionary ground, which from its location and destitute 
 state must belong to our field. 
 
 This was, indeed, their first entrance into Illinois — then a 
 territory — in which Mr. Peck and family were destined to 
 spend the greater part of their long and useful lives. How 
 full of morally sublime interest, now that we can look back 
 upon the whole history, was this entrance on his field I Not 
 Cajsar and his legions crossing the Rubicon involved interests 
 so vast and blessed, as the humble transit of that little cov- 
 ered wagon with its precious contents over the swollen flood 
 of the beautiful Ohio on the evening of that dark November 
 
THREATENING DELUGE. *l5 
 
 day. To the eye of sense how insignificant ! But faith invests 
 the scene and its results with new and hallowed attractions. 
 
 Fkiday, November Wi. Weather cloudy, with some rain. We 
 are now at the public house kept by Dr. H. Oldham, where we are 
 lying an expense, waiting for a turn of weather in our favor. Gen- 
 tlemen, lately from St. Louis and Kaskaskia, represent the roads for 
 fifty miles as extremely bad ; but, as every kind of carriage is pass- 
 ing, we apprehend no insuperable diflficulty. Lord, preserve us 
 from harm ! 
 
 Met with Mr. Paine, my brother-in-law, who has been waiting here 
 for us nearly three weeks. He is designing to accompany us to 
 St. Louis. 
 
 The waters in the Ohio are still rising rapidly. Should the banks 
 become full, this village mast be overflowed. Immense quantities 
 of driftwood are floating down the river, rendering the crossing 
 very difficult. 
 
 In the evening I preached, at the house where we lodge, to a 
 goodly number of people, from Acts xiii. 26, last clause. A decent 
 and solemn attention was given. Oh, that the word of salvation 
 may be sent with power to the people of this village ! 
 
 Saturday, 8^/i. Through the whole night the rain has fallen in 
 torrents, and continues to pour down. The river has risen the past 
 night between two and three feet, with the certain prospect of over- 
 flowing the town, should it long continue to rise. What is to be 
 done, I know not. In addition to the deep mud, hitherto our chief 
 obstacle, we are now to encounter the swollen creeks and rivers, ren- 
 dered, for some days at least, impassible. Still I am not disheart- 
 ened. Divine Providence will open some way for our relief. Should 
 a convenient boat come down the river, bound for St. Louis, I am 
 inclined to think it will be best to send on my family by water. 
 
 Evening. The rain has continued unabated, and the river rises 
 rapidly, threatening to deluge the town. Several times it has been 
 overflowed and destroyed by water, but ahvays in the spring. Never 
 was it known to rise so high at this season of the year before. Back 
 of the town, only one-half mile distant, the water has become so 
 deep as to be impassible with our wagon. Just at sunset there was 
 a breaking away of the clouds in the west, indicating fair weather 
 to-morrow. But passing is impossible until the waters on our road 
 are fallen. Here we are obhged to remain till the providence of 
 God shall relieve us from our present perplexed condition. 
 
16 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 I stepped into a grocery where were assembled a number of wild 
 fellows, swearing and blaspheming at a most horrid rate. I have 
 seen enough of Shawneetown to justify what is reported of it as a 
 most abandoned place. There are some decent, clever families; 
 but I have conversed with none who seem decidedly religious. To- 
 morrow will show how the Sabbath is regarded. I never saw a 
 place more destitute of religious instruction; and 3^et unless very 
 prudent measures are pursued, little good can be expected to result. 
 
 Lord's-day, 9th. At an early hour a boat came along, bound to St. 
 Louis ; and, leaving Brother Welch to conduct the religious services" 
 which had been announced, my family and I stepped on board it, 
 compelled thereto by our necessity, as I thought, and took our leave 
 of Shawneetown. The arrangement was that Brother AVelch and 
 wife should wait for the subsiding of the waters, and come on by 
 land ; and my Brother Paine should take on my horse and wagon, 
 while my wife and little ones would be more comfortable in the little 
 six-by-ten feet cabin of the keel-boat, which my family shared with 
 the captain, having accommodations for cooking and eating in what 
 they call the " midships" section of the boat. The captain, J. Nixon, 
 appears very friendly, and is to carry me and my family to St. Louis 
 for twenty-five dollars. The hands are young men, going into the 
 AVestern country, and as yet conduct themselves with decent civ- 
 ility. Though a little crowded, we feel ourselves comfortable and 
 happy. Down the Ohio we are pleasantly floating with the gentle 
 current, while nothing opposes our course but a slight breeze from 
 the west, which only renders our passage more agreeable. The 
 banks present little diversity for a considerable distance except a 
 few moderate hills on the Illinois side. The flat country back from 
 the river is now overflowed. The day is given to devout meditation. 
 
 Evening. The sun has just set behind the woods of Illinois, ex- 
 hibiting a most beautiful sight after so much bad weather. In a 
 figure, I seem to see in it Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, shining 
 upon the last hours of the dying saint, whose hope is in the 
 Redeemer, and whose glory then begins. "With much pain I reflect 
 on the necessity which seemed to demand of us such a use of the 
 Lord's day. I can truly say : "How amiable are thy tabernacles, 
 Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts 
 of the Lord. While traveling by land, it was not always prac- 
 ticable to have regular morning and evening worship. Now, in 
 our little, retired cabin, we hope to regularly engage in this im- 
 portant and delightful service. Read Isaiah i. and united in prayer 
 with my dear companion. 
 
CAPTAIN LOST IN THE WOODS. Tt 
 
 Monday, lO^Zi, Weather delightfully pleasant. Some of the time 
 the wind is in our favor. We ran with the current all the last night, 
 and a httle after sunrise found ourselves opposite the mouth of the 
 Cumberland river. About noon we passed the mouth of the Ten- 
 nessee. Soon after we stopped at Fort Massac, on the Illinois shore, 
 seeking for boat-stores, but could obtain nothing but potatoes. 
 Most of the way the banks are low on each side, and the country 
 overflowed at the present high water. In some few places, however, 
 the banks are bold, and the country back swells into gentle-rising 
 grounds. Most of it is still in the state of nature, through which 
 the wolf 4nd bear roam and the timid deer frisks its light gambols. 
 
 We are happy in our situation, though destitute of many ordinary 
 comforts. Confined in a small keel-boat, with few utensils for cook- 
 ing, our fare coarse and, in the article of bread, scanty, yet we are 
 far from complaining. Ours is destined to be a life of privation, 
 trial, and hardship. All this I anticipated before engaging in the 
 missionary work. I now begin again to feel the same devotion to 
 the cause, and the same willingness to be a sufferer, if that will 
 advance the cause of the Son of God, which used to animate me. 
 
 Towards night the clouds gathered, and a storm seemed coming 
 on. Our boat is heavily loaded, and the prospect induced our 
 captain to put in shore, and lie for the night, under a hill on the 
 Illinois side. 
 
 Tuesday, 11th. Last night proved rainy, with some wind, and 
 much thunder and lightning. This morning the wind and rain 
 keep us in harbor. My fears are not a little awakened for the 
 comfort and safety of Brother and Sister Welch. They have to 
 n»ake their way overland ; but if stormy weather continues, their 
 journey must be extremely uncomfortable, even if the roads should 
 be passable. Through the day the rain continued to fall copiously, 
 and the wind blew so hard that we did not venture to proceed. 
 Captain Nixon, who commands the boat, in the morning took his 
 gun and went out for game. At dark he had not returned, which 
 excited considerable uneasiness, lest some accident had befallen 
 him. A short distance from where we are lying are the ruins of 
 an old fort or encampment [Fort Wilkinson] , where are the ruins 
 of several houses which have been burned. Near by is a burying- 
 ground, where are multitudes of graves. We were informed by a 
 young man that it was a fortification, occupied in 1801, but evacu- 
 ated on account of the sickly condition of the troops stationed there. 
 Near sunset the rain ceased, and prospects of fine weather cheered 
 us. 
 
18 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Wednesday, Vltli. Last night was the most dismal we have yet 
 experienced. The wind began to rise in the evening, and con- 
 tinued to increase until it blew a gale. It was from the southwest, 
 and from that quarter alone we were unsheltered. It was found 
 necessary to moor both head and stern of our boat, which w-as done 
 by fixing strong ropes to small trees and saplings, the yielding of 
 Mhieh to the strain gave us some play. We were under fearful 
 apprehension of breaking from these moorings, in which case our 
 wreck on the shore or against some huge tree would be inevitable. 
 Our skiff drifted from the boat, and we expected we would be stove 
 or lost. These gloomy prospects, in the absence of the captain, 
 whose skill was now so necessary, seemed fearfully depressing. 
 Every countenance was covered with gloom. Yet even in the 
 midst of all this I found comfort in the reflection that the winds 
 and waves are under the Divine guidance ; that even the smallest 
 events occupy a special place under the economy of God's provi- 
 dence. Immediately after breakfast we agreed that assistance should 
 be obtained from the only two families living within twelve miles, 
 and that such of the hai^ds as could be spared from the boat should 
 go in search of the captain. I volunteered to go with one scouting- 
 party, and spent most of the day searching the woods, but without 
 success. Nor were the others more fortunate. One party, however, 
 liad the good luck to kill a deer, whose meat was a seasonable supply. 
 
 About four o'clock, afternoon, the captain arrived, quite worn-out 
 with fatigue and hunger. Having lost his way yesterday while 
 eagerly following a deer which he had shot, he wandered about 
 among dismal swamps and ponds till night, when he was obliged to 
 stop. In the morning he directed his course by the sun. Aftar 
 swimming one wide sheet of water, and wading through several 
 others, he at length reached a path which enabled him to find his 
 Avay out. Late in the afternoon the wind died away, promising us 
 a still night. Thus after all our threatening discouragements we 
 again have pleasant prospects, and are enabled to rear our Ebenezer. 
 " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." 
 
 Thursday, 13^/i. The weather proves delightful — a little frosty and 
 cold. Soon after sunrise the boat was on her Avay again, moving 
 with all the velocity which the swollen current could give. The 
 banks on each side are low, except some bluffs on the right or 
 Illinois shore. Many places were overflowed by the high water. 
 Now and then a solitary cottage gave variety to the scene. At 
 eleven and a half o'clock the majestic Mississippi presented itself 
 before us. The land on every side appeared too low to admit of 
 
SABBATH PRIVATIONS IN TRAVELING. TO 
 
 much settlement. Opposite the month of the Ohio, on the Mis- 
 souri shore, were a few houses and an encampment of soldiers. 
 Got up our sail, after considerable delay, and were wafted about 
 five miles up the river, and came to under the east shore. 
 
 Friday, l^th. Weather rainy. About sunrise the boat was under 
 weigh again, proceeding up the Mississippi. Various methods are 
 employed in propelling a boat against the current in these large 
 rivers. When the A\^nd is favorable the sail is used ; but often we are 
 obliged to creep along shore, and by the help of oars, or long poles, 
 and sometimes by catching hold of bushes, the men are enabled to 
 drag the boat along. In some cases, where the banks are sufficiently 
 high, a rope of a hundred fathoms length is attached to the top of 
 the mast, and men walking on the shore drag the boat after them. 
 A little past noon the wind and rain obliged us to He to, under the 
 Missouri shore, where we spent the night. 
 
 Saturday, 15^/1. The day fair, the air cool, and all things favorable, 
 for an early departure. We are now proceeding around the great 
 bend which the Mississippi makes in this part of its course, and 
 which is very accurately delineated on Mellfsh's new map of the 
 United States. The flood-water of the Ohio sets far up the Missis- 
 sippi, and neutrahzes the current so as not much to impede our 
 progress. 
 
 Lord's-day, IQth. Cloudy, cold, with wind from northeast, bring- 
 ing some flakes of snow, or rather hail. None but those deprived 
 of the privileges of the sanctuary can duly appreciate the blessed 
 enjoyment of meeting with the people of God. David seems clearly 
 to intimate this in the eighty-fourth psalm, where he envies even 
 the swallow who, through the desertion of the altar-worship, nestled 
 in the sacred place. This day, as the last Sabbath, must be spent 
 on board the boat ; but, oh, let a proper remembrance of it be im- 
 pressed upon my heart ! Enjoyed some freedom while engaged in 
 secret devotion. Towards noon, the boat being near the Missouri 
 shore, I went on shore at a small settlement. Here I found two 
 families of Baptists, and from them obtained considerable informa- 
 tion respecting religion on the west side of the river. There is a 
 Baptist church about fifteen miles above, where a Mr. Edwards 
 preaches to-day. Oh, that I were there to aid him in declaring the 
 name of Jesus ! 
 
 Monday, 17^7i. Called at a house on shore to inquire for provisions, 
 and learned from the people that there is a great opening in this 
 region for schools. My thoughts are much exercised on some sys- 
 tematic plan to be formed for planting and sustaining schools in all 
 
80 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 this country. How much wisdom is requisite to originate a judi- 
 cious system promotive of the cause in which I am engaged ! 
 
 Our progress up the river is slow and often retarded. We get 
 forward not more than eight or ten miles a day. About two o'clock 
 the boatman ran on a cleft of rocks, which threatened serious in- 
 jury, but, through a merciful Providence, we at last got off safe. 
 The land on each side of the river here assumes an aspect unlike 
 that below. Moderate hills give a pleasing variety to the scenery, 
 while the rugged rocks projecting from the banks remind the trav- 
 eler of dear New England. We are now just below Ross point, 
 where several Baptists reside. 
 
 Tuesday, 18^/i. Cloudy and cold. The ground is frozen in many 
 places. Last evening we lay a little above Ross's Ferry. Called on 
 Mr. Ross, a Baptist, and Mr. Edwards, a Baptist minister, in this 
 region. Was agreeably surprised to learn that there were seven 
 churches associated in this part of the territory of Missouri. Here 
 is a vast field for labor, and the work is already commenced. 
 
 Wednesday, 19^/i. To-day we passed Cape Girardeau. At night, 
 when the boat was moored, I went ashore to walk back to the Cape, 
 which was thought to be only a mile and a half distant. It proved 
 to be three miles. Walking there and back the same evening, the 
 exertion was too much for my feeble frame. This overdoing, with 
 a severe cold which I have recently taken, has thrown me into a 
 fever, which now confines me, and threatens some severe sickness. 
 
INTERRUrTION OF JOURNAL BY ILLNESS. 81 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 St. Louis — its condition forty years since. # 
 
 December 23d. A long blank here occurs in my journal. We 
 arrived here December 1st. Near Cape Girardeau sickness seized 
 me, and I have been unable to write. I am even now in a critical 
 situation. My disorder threatens to be of a pulmonary character. 
 Our trials are great, but we try to bear with patience. I have con- 
 sulted a skilful medical man, and he advised me to put myself im- 
 mediately under the care of some regular physician in the place for 
 a thorough course of medicine. 
 
 The above entry bears marks of having been made when 
 the writer was scarcely able to holc^ a pen, and wrote from a 
 kind of forced necessity. It is followed by another blank in 
 the journal almost as long. But we have now reached a point 
 where it is possible to substitute the later ''reminiscences" of 
 Dr. Peck, recorded by his own hand, and prepared by him for 
 the public eye, instead of the abstract of the journal which 
 the editor had prepared. These recollections of St. Louis, 
 which will occupy the present chapter, are prefaced by some 
 account of his manner in reaching it, and they shall be pre- 
 sented entire. 
 
 On two occasions, and for the first time in the history of the 
 Great River, steamboats had passed up to St. Louis and returned 
 the preceding summer. The first steamboat that ascended the 
 Mississippi above the mouth of the Ohio was the General Pike, 
 commanded by Captain Jacob Reed, which reached St. Louis, Au- 
 gust 2d, 1817. The second was the Constitution, commanded by 
 Captain R. P. Guyard, which arrived October 2d, the same season. 
 Captain G. was an Englishman, a professor of religion and member 
 of a Baptist church before he left his native country. He was a 
 man of great enterprise ; had followed the seas, as commander, with 
 success ; and came up the Mississippi from New Orleans with a 
 cargo for the then remote French village of St. Louis. 
 
 The keel-boat containing my family reached Cape Girardeau on 
 
BSL MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the 19th of November, and passed on above a point of land where 
 the " old town" was situated. Having letters to persons in the 
 village, and supposing it not to be over two miles, I went down in 
 the evening, following a trail that wound around the bluffs the dis- 
 tance, as I found on experiment, of nearly four miles. At the Cape, 
 as the village was called, I was introduced to Hon. Richard Thomas, 
 afterwards a judge of the circuit court in that district, and several 
 other gentlemen, and learned many facts about that part of Mis- 
 souri. 
 
 Being under the necessity of lodging on the boat, as we started 
 at the first appearance of daylight, I walked rapidly, became fatigued, 
 took a severe cold, and next day found myself too ill to leave the 
 cabin. We were ill-provided with medicine, no physicians of course 
 to be had, and suffering under a severe fever, while the boat by the 
 hard labor of the hands made about ten miles daily against the 
 strong current. I heard from the captain about the " grand tower," 
 the "devil's bake-oven," the "boatman's tea-table," aud other sin- 
 gular formations, as we passed, but could not see them. It was 
 somewhere above these places that a large sycamore had fallen from 
 the Missouri shore into the current, and stretched its long arms into 
 the river and down the stream. Around this the boat had to pass 
 against the foaming, rushing current. All the hands were on shore 
 tugging with all their force at the cordelle. I could hear the water 
 rush up the side of the boat where I lay, and knew there must be 
 danger, for the captain at the highest pitch of voice was calling to 
 the men, and, sailor-like, swore profanely, which he never did in my 
 hearing before or since. In a few moments the noise of the rushing 
 waters and the cry of the captain ceased. He entered the little 
 cabin, pale, ghastly, and in a tremor though he had the character 
 of a brave and fearless man. Soon as he could gain the power of 
 utterance, he replied to our inquiry, " AVhat's the matter ?" — "You 
 have had a perilous escape. Had the cordelle broke, or the men 
 not exerted themselves to the utmost, the boat would have been in 
 the bottom of the river, and no power on earth could save you." 
 Aided by the captain, I crawled out of the cabin to survey the perils 
 of the Mississippi. The boat lay safely moored to the shore in an 
 eddy, above the body of the tree. Around its top and among its 
 huge limbs the water was rushing furiously, and it'really seemed 
 marvelous that we escaped. I resolve all such deliverances by a 
 firm belief in that particular Providence whose ceaseless energy is 
 constantly employed in the sustenation and preservation of all his 
 creatures. How heathenish and unphilosophical is it for men of 
 
FORMER METHODS OF BOATTNO. 83 
 
 Bcientific attainments to talk, write, and lecture about the " Laws 
 of Nature," as though the infinite and all-creating God had made 
 a universe, containing some of his own essential attributes — a sort 
 of machine that, when once put in motion, can move itself by its 
 own imaginary "laws." 
 
 I recollect only one more incident on our voyage, for I was too 
 sick to make entries in my journal. At the mouth of the Platin 
 creek, a few miles below Herculaneum, is a flat rock extending 
 some distance under the river. Here so strong a current rushed 
 along shore that the hands could not pull the boat with the cor- 
 delle, and it fell back below two or three times. At last the cordelle 
 parted, and the boat fell below the current, being kept in shore by 
 the captain at the steering-oar. The aid of some men being ob- 
 tained, the hands succeeded in getting the boat to a safe landing. 
 
 As the keel boat, with the "last of the boatmen," has passed 
 away, with other conveniences and appendages of pioneer life, in 
 this "age of steam," many of our readers will not understand the 
 nature and mode of working this craft without further description. 
 
 A keel-boat in shape very nearly resembled a canal boat, but with 
 a gunwale on each side twelve or fifteen inches in width. Besides 
 hoisting a sail in a favorable wind, especially when going down 
 stream, there were three modes of propelling a keel-boat in passing 
 up. stream. These were the use of the cordelle, the setting-pole, and 
 occasionally bushwhacking. 
 
 Except in crossing a river, when oars were used, the boat had to 
 creep along shore. The cordelle (French for little rope) was a long 
 rope fastened to the bow of the boat, and drawn over the shoulders 
 of the men, who walked in a stooping position along the shore. The 
 setting-pole was ten or twelve feet long, the lower end shod with 
 iron, and the upper end terminating in a knob, which was pressed 
 against the shoulder. In using this where the water was of suffi- 
 cient depth, the men placed themselves on the narrow gunwale, 
 with their faces toward the stern, their heads bent low, and as the 
 boat moved ahead they walked toward the stern. The one in front 
 would turn about, pass the others, and take his station in the rear. 
 When the hands on the gunwale dropped their setting-poles, and 
 caught the limbs and brush along shore, and thus dragged the boat 
 ahead, it was called "bushwhacking." A long, heavy oar, with a 
 wide blade, was attached to the stern, and moved on a pivot, which 
 the captain or pilot managed while standing on the roof, or, in boat- 
 man slang, the deck. 
 
 It was early in the morning of the first of December we found 
 
84 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 ourselves lying about at the foot of Elm street. Ee v. Mr. Welch, 
 and wife, my colleague, my brotlier-in-law, with our horses, had 
 reached this place a week previous, and had made some acquaint- 
 ances in tiie village. I was still sick, with a low intermittent. He 
 had procured for my family a shelter — a single room at the corner 
 of Myrtle and Main streets. It was the only tenement that could 
 be found in the village, and had just been vacated by the now ven- 
 erable Matthew Kerr and his partner Mr. Bell, as a counting-room. 
 There I lay confined with illness two months. For three weeks I 
 had no physician, knowing that such a remote village would be the 
 point to which incompetent persons might resort, and attempt to 
 act the doctor. The late Dr. Young, who came from Kentucky, and 
 planted himself in the present county of Warren, and located Mar- 
 thasville, came to St. Louis. Mr. Welch, who knew him personally 
 in Kentucky, as a regularly educated physician, brought him to my 
 house. He recommended immediate application to Farrar and 
 AValker, then practicing physicians of skill and fidelity ; and Dr. 
 AYalker attended daily, and Dr. Farrar occasionally, until I was re- 
 stored. 
 
 At the commencement of 1818, St. Louis was crowded with inhab- 
 itants, including families temporarily residing there for the winter. 
 Every house and room that could shelter persons was occupied. 
 There was no regular hotel, nor were there even boarding-houses, 
 that afforded nightly accommodation. Alexandre Bellissamekept a 
 French tavern at the corner of Second and Myrtle streets, where 
 farmers from the country found food and shelter for themselves and 
 horses. The storekeepers, most of whom were without families, in 
 many instances, kept "bachelor's hall" in their counting-rooms, 
 and cooked their own meals. " Shin-plaster" currency abounded. 
 The bills were the droppings of the first generation of banks insti- 
 tuted in the far West without any adequate specie basis. Their 
 leaves were scattered over the frontiers like the leaves of the trees 
 by an autumnal frost, and the price of every article of necessity 
 (for articles of luxury were not thought of) was high in proportion. 
 
 This bore heavily on us as missionaries, under sacred obligations 
 to use an economy bordering on parsimony, m all our expenses. It 
 was " California times" for families to live in St. Louis in those days. 
 The houses, shops, and stores were all small. Many only one story, 
 and limited to two or three small rooms, were thought to be quite 
 commodious. For the single room my family occupied for nine 
 months, we paid twelve dollars per month. Mr. Welch engaged a 
 room in the rear of a store, for school purposes, about fourteen by 
 
EXPENSIVENESS OF LIVING IN ST. LOUIS. 86 
 
 sixteen feet, for fourteen dollars per month. Eatables were not 
 easily obtained, and only at extravagant prices. Butter was from 
 thirty-seven to fifty cents per pound, sugar from thirty to forty 
 cents, coffee from sixty-two to seventy-five. Flour of an inferior 
 quality cost about twelve dollars per barrel. Corn in the ear, for 
 horse-feed, from one dollar to one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
 bushel. Pork, raised on the range, was regarded a cheap article at 
 six to eight dollars per hundred pounds. Chickens sold readily for 
 thirty-seven cents each, and eggs from thirty-seven to fifty cents 
 the dozen. 
 
 Oppressive as were the prices of every article of living in St. Louis 
 at the commencement of 1818, and inconvenient as were our ac- 
 commodations, the morals and religion of the place were the most 
 •Ukely to awaken our attention and call forth our sympathies. 
 
 It is here expedient to draw an accurate picture of St. Louis as 
 it appeared to the writer, during a few months of his early acquaint- 
 ance, in the beginning of 1818. There was a class of gentlemen 
 of the bar, the medical profession, merchants, and ofiicers in civil^ 
 and military authority, Indian traders, etc., whose character and 
 behavior, for men of the world, and destitute of any strong religious 
 principles, were not gross, but respectable. They played cards for 
 amusement, and of course bet liberally. They had social " sprees" 
 occasionally, and indulged in habits of conviviality. Yet they ex- 
 hibited some noble qualities, were generous and liberal, and governed 
 by principles of honor. Some of these men in 1831, and at subse- 
 quent periods, made a profession of true religion, joined a Christian 
 church, and lived and died as Christian men should do. Some, with 
 hoary heads and feeling the infirmities of age still live, and are hon 
 ored, respected, and beloved by all who know them. 
 
 We would delight in giving the impressions, as among our most 
 vivid reminiscences, made on our mind from the casual social inter- 
 course, without any attempt at intimacy, with many whose names 
 and peculiar traits of character come within memory's vision. But 
 the field is too large, and propriety and delicacy forbid saying any 
 thing. Of the law profession there was the late Judge'Carr (Wm. C), 
 Edward Bates — still among us in the vigor of his profession — David 
 Barton, his brother Joshua, who was killed in a duel by one of the 
 rectors in 1823. This victim was an intelligent man, of a sprightly 
 mind, and possessed many amiable qualities, but fell a sacrifice to 
 the barbarous and unchristian practice of dueling. There had been 
 several duels within a year ; and I gave out an appointment to 
 prcacli on the subject at my next monthly visit to St. Louis, with 
 8 
 
86 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the resolution that I would not spare. In the interval of time, two 
 more duels had taken place. One had proved mortal to one of the 
 party, from a shot through the abdomen ; while his antagonist, who 
 escaped without a wound, took a severe attack of fever, caused, 
 probably, by the preternatural excitement, and died Avithin a week. 
 My text was from Isaiah i. 15, last .clause : ^'Your hands are full of 
 hlaody The old Baptist church-house, which stood on the corner 
 of Third and Market streets, was the place ; and it was crowded by 
 all classes, amongst whom I discovered the Hon. David Barton, then 
 a Senator in Congress, whose lamented brother was one of the vic- 
 tims, and the late Rev. Samuel Mitchell, whose eldest son was an- 
 other. I had taken the precaution to write out every word of my 
 discourse. I did my utmost to hold up the practice of dueling to 
 the abhorrence of all right-minded men, as a crime of no small mag- 
 nitude against God, against man, against society. 
 
 The discourse made a little *' town-talk" in the village, and I re- 
 ceived the thanks and approbation of many citizens. I made no 
 personal reflections, but portrayed to the best of my abilit3'^ the 
 disastrous effects of dueling on the social relations, and the folly of 
 obtaining satisfaction for injuries in such a mode. 
 
 But I have wandered ahead, and perhaps anticipated events that 
 belong to a future period of these reminiscences, and must nov/ 
 take the "back-track." And what shall I say of Robert Wash, 
 afterwards on the Supreme Bench of the State ; of Judge Tucker, 
 who lived in a log cabin, and had his law office in a hollow sycamore, 
 a few miles east of Florissant ; of a Mr. Cozzens (his first name for- 
 gotten), who was assassinated in 1826; of James H. Peck, after- 
 wards district judge of the United States court ; and of many others, 
 whose names for the moment have escaped my memory. 
 
 The Hon. Henfy S. Geyer, now (1856) in the United States Senate, 
 I thought was the keenest for wit and sarcasm, and the most biting 
 satire, of any lawyer I had ever heard before a jury. The distin- 
 guished ex-Senator of " thirty years" T. H. Benton, who, whatever his 
 political friends or enemies may think, has certainly made broad and 
 deep lines in the political history of this nation, was at the bar in 
 St. Louis at the period alluded to ; but it so happened, I never heard 
 him make a regular address to either court or jury. 
 
 Of the physicians, I have already mentioned Doctors Farrar and 
 Walker, both kind-hearted, respectable, and highly-respected physi- 
 cians. Dr. Walker died early with the bilious fever — that common 
 and fatal disease that carried off so many vigorous young men every 
 Bummer for several years. Dr. Farrar lived to an advanced period, 
 
DIFFERENT CLASSES OF EARLY INHABITANTS. 87 
 
 highly respected, and died some half dozen years since. Dr. Simp- 
 son and Qnarles kept a druggist shop and also practiced. Dr. S. 
 is known to many as a kind-hearted and good-natured old man, past 
 threescore and ten, and may be found regularly by his old acquaint- 
 ances in the counting-room of the Republican office about nine 
 o'clock, A.M. Then there was Dr. Garuiort, who had a respectable 
 hne of practice, and the venerable Dr. Saugrain, who Hved on Second 
 street, low down, and kept a neat garden. He had the confidence 
 of the French families, as a physician, and I think was something 
 of a naturahst and botanist in his pursuits. 
 
 There was another class ih St. Louis at the period of these rem- 
 iniscences that merit only that sort of notice which will place in 
 wide and vivid contrast the advances in morals and social order by 
 the American and French population. One-half, "at least, of the 
 Anglo-American population were infidels of a low and indecent 
 grade, and utterly worthless for any useful purposes of society. 
 Of the class I allude to, I cannot recollect an individual who was 
 reclaimed, or became a respectable citizen. The reader will keep 
 in mind that at that period there were no foreign emigrants from 
 their native country among us. 
 
 This class despised and villified religion in every form, were vul- 
 garly profane, even to the worst forms of blasphemy, and poured 
 out scoflfings and contempt on the few Christians in the village. 
 Their nightly orgies were scenes of drunkenness and profane revelry. 
 Among the frantic rites observed were the mock celebration of the 
 Lord's Supper, and burning the Bible. The last ceremony consisted 
 in raking a place in the hot coals of a w^ood fire, and burying therein 
 the book of God w^ith shoutings, prayers, and songs. 
 
 The boast was often made that the Sabbath never had crossed, 
 and never should cross the Mississippi. The portion of the Anglo- 
 American population who had been trained to religious habits in 
 early life, and manifested some respect for the forms of worship, 
 were kept av.ay from the place of worship by an influence of which 
 perhaps they were not fully conscious. Though the profane ribaldry 
 of the class already noticed did not convince their judgments of 
 the fallacy of all religion, it affected their feelings and pride of char- 
 acter. But there was another class whose influence was far more 
 eff'ective, because it carried with it a degree of courtesy, respecta- 
 bility, and intelligence. I refer to the better-informed French popu- 
 lation. These constituted at least one-third of the families. They 
 were nominally Roman Catholics, and their wives, sisters, and daugh- 
 ters adhered to the CathoHc faith, attended mass, and went to con- 
 
88 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK 
 
 fession regularly. The men attended church on festival occasions. 
 But every Frenchman, with whom I formed an acquaintance, of 
 any intelligence and influence, was of the school of French liberal- 
 ists — an infidel to all Bible Christianity. But they would treat 
 Christian people, and even Protestant ministers of the gospel, with 
 courtesy and respect. Romanism was the religion of their fathers, 
 but the casual correspondence held with France, where infidelity was 
 demolishing the thrones of political and religious despotism, and 
 tearing up the foundations of superstition, led them to regard all 
 religion as priestcraft, necessary perhaps for the ignorant, super- 
 stitious, and vicious, but wholly unnecessary for a gentleman — a 
 philosopher. 
 
 The good-natured jokes and badinage of their French acquaint- 
 ances, and the bitter taunts of the profane and drunken scoffers, 
 made it unpopular and unfashionable to be seen on the way to 
 church on Sunday, except on special occasions. 
 
 The Sabbath was a day of hilarity, as in all Catholic countries. 
 !^rass was attended in the morning by females and illiterate French- 
 men ; and in the afternoon, both French and Americans assembled 
 at each other's houses in parties for social amusement. Dances, 
 billiards, cards, and other sports, made the pastime. Four billiard- 
 rooms w^ere open throughout the week, but on the Sabbath each 
 was crowded with visitors and gamblers. With few exceptions, the 
 stores and groceries were open on that day, and in some of them 
 more trading was done then than on any other day in the week. 
 The carts and wagons from the country came to market, and sold 
 their provisions at retail through the village. 
 
 Another source of irreligion may be traced to officers in the 
 United States Army, who, with few exceptions, were irreligious them- 
 selves, having vague notions of a future state, with some crude 
 Universalian notions as the basis of their own prospects. 
 
 There was one family connection in St. Louis, the head of which 
 was a prominent officer of Government, and who had an influence 
 over many young men in his official relation. The influence of this 
 family in demoralization was by no means small. And when we 
 say family, let no one associate the idea of mother, wife, or sister ; 
 for females were not their associates, except an abandoned class. 
 It is a singular, but Providential retribution, that not one of the 
 name is now to be found on the city register. All the old ones 
 have gone to their graves and been forgotten ; and if any of the 
 younger branches are left, they must be sought for in other States. 
 
 It is here proper to allude to the great changes since wrought — 
 
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES IN MISSOURI. 89 
 
 partly by the immigration of Christian professors from older States, 
 and partly, to the power and grace of God, by individual conversion. 
 Leaving out the Germans and Irish of foreign birth, there are now 
 as great a proportion of pious Christian church-members and of 
 church-going people, in the ratio of the whole population, as in 
 Philadelphia, New York, or any other large commercial city in our 
 country. 
 
 The Eev. Salmon Giddings w^as the pioneer missionary in St. Louis, 
 and the first minister of the gospel who preached there in view of 
 a permanent location. Baptists and Methodists, though scattered 
 throughout the country, had never preached the gospel in this 
 toAvn. Messrs. Mills and Smith, as evangelical explorers, visited 
 and preached in St. Louis in November, 1814. The late Eev. Dr. 
 Blackburn, of Tennessee, made a visit to this remote village the 
 preceding summer, and preached to an audience respectable for 
 numbers. This iv as the first gospel sermon ever preached in the 
 town, for I never call the addresses of Eomanists gospel preaching. 
 
 The labors of Mr. Giddings for eighteen months were wholly itin- 
 erant, in which he visited most of the villages and settlements on 
 both sides of the Mississippi. One object of these labors kept in 
 view was to search out persons who had been members of Presby- 
 terian churches, and, as wandering sheep, to gather them into the 
 fold. The first church he gathered was in Bellevue settlement, 
 Washington county, about ten miles south of Potosi. There a 
 colony of Presbyterians had settled. This was on the 2d of August, 
 1816. It was- the first Presbyterian congregation ever gathered 
 west of the Great Eiver, and consisted of thirty communicants. 
 The next was the church in Bonhomme, thirty miles w^est of St. 
 Louis, and included sixteen communicants. The third was the First 
 Presbyterian church in St. Louis, of ten members, formed in Novem- 
 ber, 1817, to which he ministered as stated supply and pastor till 
 his death. He did not confine his labors wholly to the town, but 
 continued to itinerate, occasionally visiting the villages and settle- 
 ments. For four years he supplied the church in St. Louis one- 
 half the Sabbaths, and during ten years he gathered five churches 
 in Missouri and six in Illinois. He was one of the most quiet, pa- 
 tient, plodding, self-denying and faithful missionaries the Presbyte- 
 rians, or Congregationalists, ever sent into this country. 
 
 In addition to the obstacles to the propagation of a pure Chris- 
 tianity found in the laxity of morals, w^ant of reverence for the 
 Sabbath, and disinclination to regular attendance on a preached 
 gospel, there is another class which should be noticed. I refer to 
 
90 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the colored people, both free and bond. The number of free blacks 
 and mulattoes was small in comparison to the whole population. 
 Of these, two persons, the late J. B. Meachum and his first wife, were 
 Baptists, and truly religious. Of the rest, some were riiore moral 
 than others ; but all alike were without religious instruction. The 
 Sabbath to them was a relief from toil. There was an open space, 
 of a square or more, between Main and Second streets, and not far 
 probably from Green street. Here the negroes were accustomed to 
 assemble in the pleasant afternoons of the Sabbath, dance, drink, 
 and fight, quite to the annoyance of all seriously-disposed persons. 
 
 On the 11th of April, 1818, we had an introduction to the late 
 AVilliam Clark, Governor ot the Territory, who had been absent at 
 Washington city during the winter. We had letters of introduction 
 from distinguished citizens of Kentucky. The moral condition of 
 the negroes was one topic of conversation, and the best mode of 
 instruction. The governor, alluding to the scenes of dancing, riot, 
 drunkenness, and fighting on the Sabbath, already referred to, stated 
 that the preceding summer he had to call out a military company 
 three times to suppress riots amongst this class. The character 
 of negroes in general is a tolerably correct index to that of the white 
 population among whom they reside. They are characteristi(^for 
 imitation, and are quick in catching the living manners, and quite 
 successful in cultivating the low vices of their superiors. Such was 
 the condition of the negroes, which prompted us as missionaries to 
 make an eflPort to reclaim them through religious instruction. 
 
 The persons who gave evidence of true piety in St. Louis at that 
 period can be easily enumerated. Of Presbyterians of the General 
 Assembly, we have already mejitioned ten as united in covenant- 
 relation in the First Presbyterian church. The most prominent 
 and influential of these were the Hempstead family. The venerable 
 patriarch and his wife lived five miles north of the town on the farm 
 where the beautiful cem.etery called Bellefontaine is now situated. 
 
 He was eminently a religious man, while by untiring industry, a 
 commendable economy, and strict integrity in business, he acquired 
 property. His eldest son, Edward, was educated for the bar, and 
 possessed talents of a high order. He came to Missouri soon after 
 the treaty of cession, probably as early as 1806 or 1807. Three other 
 brothers came soon after. In 1811, the father with his family arrived. 
 
 Mr. Hempstead was active in correspondence with clergymen and 
 others in the Eastern States to obtain a Protestant minister. He 
 obtained a box of Bibles from the Connecticut Bible Society, rode 
 over the country, visited the families and supplied them with copies 
 
EARLY BAPTISTS AND METHODISTS IxN ST. LOUIS. 91 
 
 of the Word of God. Previous to that effort, m 1814, no Bibles 
 could be obtained on this remote frontier. The only chance for a 
 family to obtain a copy was to send by some friend or neighbor, who 
 was about to journey to the old States, to purchase them a Bible and 
 bring it in the saddle-bags. During the period of his residence in 
 the country, he was active in " works of faith and labors of love ;" 
 sought out and administered to the sick, the poor, and the friendless, 
 and prayed with the bereaved and distressed. He was ordained the 
 first ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and became a prom- 
 inent pillar therein. 
 
 The most prominent Baptist in St. Louis was John Jacdby, who 
 carried on the business of a saddler and harness-maker. Mr. Jacoby 
 was a native of Virginia, born in 1781, but his parents migrated to 
 Kentucky when he was a small child, where at an early age he left 
 his father, and was bound to a trade. After serving out his appren- 
 ticeship, with honor to himself and fidelity to his master, he com- 
 menced business, and, in 1806, married Miss Jane Starks. He was 
 exemplary in morals, but remained a stranger to the power and con- 
 solation of the gospel till 1810, when the death of his two eldest 
 children became such an admonition of Providence as led him 
 and his wife to the Saviour of sinners, and to hope in his mercy. 
 This was in October, 1811. The next April he and his wife were 
 baptized, and joined the Little Huston church in Bourbon county. 
 He emigrated to St. Louis in the autumn of 1816, and commenced 
 business under flattering prospects. His character for industry, 
 sobriety, and unwavering integrity in business, soon gained him the 
 confidence and esteem of the citizens. He became one of the con- 
 stituents of the Baptist church; was soon after elected deacon, and 
 took a deep and active interest in all its aS'airs. 
 
 In the autumn of 1820, he gave possession of his position to Mr. 
 Thornton Grimsley, whom he raised, and removed his family to St. 
 Charles. ' He died of a malignant bilious fever on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, 1822, aged forty-one years. 
 
 By his death the church in St. Louis lost one of its main pillars, 
 society one of its brightest ornaments, the cause of truth and justice 
 one of its firm supporters, the poor and afilicted a sympathizing 
 friend, his surviving widow a tender and aS"ectionate husband, and 
 his children a worthy parent. 
 
 At the period of our arrival, there were two young men from 
 Ireland who were Methodists. They are still living, and well-known 
 to the citizens as the Messrs. W. and J. Finney. In the spring, two 
 others came and remained for a time. In June, 1818, the late Bishop 
 
92 MEMOIR OF JOHN 31. TECK. 
 
 McKendree made a transient visit and preached once in a building 
 used as a court-room. The circuit preachers made several efforts to 
 organize a class and bring St. Louis within the circuit, but without 
 success. AVithout a room in which to hold meetings, and weekly- 
 ministrations, nothing effective could be done. 
 
 There was a Cumberland Presbyterian preacher and family who 
 resided in the place and kept a small store. His name was Green 
 P. Eice. He preached in our congregation and that of Rev. Mr. 
 Giddings whenever he could get an opening. He appeared to be a 
 good man, with promising talents, especially as an exhorter, and 
 was very desirous of establishing a church of his own sect on what 
 he considered very liberal principles of union. His doctrines would 
 compare well with what I have occasionally heard from Baptists 
 whose heads were muddy by a mixture of metaf^hysics with Bible 
 truths. He spent some time in each sermon to show and prove 
 that God had done all he could to save sinners, and, ergo, if they 
 were not saved, the Lord w^as not to be blamed. The fair implica- 
 tion of such notions is that if God had not done all he could to save 
 sinners, he would have been the guilty one, and they, poor innocent 
 creatures, would have suffered wrongfully. To such presumptuous 
 nonsense and blasphemy are men driven by their vain efforts to 
 reason about matters of faith. 
 
 Mr. Rice left St. Louis for Edwardsville the next autumn. At a 
 subsequent period we heard of him as a lawyer and a politician in 
 Alabama. 
 
 Rock Spking, III., February 2Sth, 1856. 
 
MR. PECK AND COLLEAGUE ACTIVE IN THE CAUSE. 93 
 
 CHAPTER yill. 
 
 Early Evangelizing Efforts in the West — Recollections of towns in 
 Illinois and Missouri in 1818. 
 
 Soon as Mr. Peck had sufficiently recovered from the illness 
 ^Yhich afifected him on his arrival at St. Louis, he and his col- 
 league, with their accustomed vigor and enterprise, set them- 
 selves to work in various ways to accomplish the important 
 objects of their mission. They rented a school-room, and 
 commenced teaching ; while for want of better accommoda- 
 tions, they occupied the same room on the Sabbath and on 
 Wednesday evening for preaching. In February, they con- 
 stituted a small church. In April, they baptized several can- 
 didates, for the first time, as they thought, using the Great 
 River for the solemn burial of believers with Christ, in the 
 ordinance sanctified by his example as well as his command. 
 Yery soon they opened a subscription for building a church- 
 edifice, and were greatly cheered by obtaining on it nearly 
 three thousand dollars. In June, they had purchased an eligi- 
 ble site and broken ground for the building. Public exercises 
 appropriate to laying the corner-stone were duly attended. 
 Their day-school flourished ; and not to be outdone by their 
 Catholic neighbors, they determined, in the lower department 
 of the school at least, to admit all who would come, whether 
 they could pay for tuition or not. To enhance the interest and 
 value of their seminary, Mr. Peck commenced courses of popu- 
 lar lectures on topics of chief interest in elementary instruc- 
 tion, which were well attended, and were continued from week 
 to week for some time. In the meantime, they opened a 
 Sunday-school for the instruction of colored children and 
 adults, and were soon cheered with finding nearly one hundred 
 names enrolled as pupils. The Holy Spirit's blessed influence 
 was manifest in this school very graciously, and several were 
 
94 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 hopefully converted. Most of these colored people were 
 slaves ; and though the missionaries were careful to admit 
 none without the permission of their masters, yet when the 
 religious influence began to manifest itself among them, the 
 sons of Belial began to sound out the notes of remonstrance 
 and alarm, and some were withdrawn from the school. Their 
 success in other respects also awakened some denominational 
 and other hostility, which for a time considerably retarded 
 their progress. 
 
 They sedulously endeavored to unite all Protestant Chris- 
 tians in common endeavors for the advancement of the cause of 
 Christ. For this purpose the monthly missionary concert was 
 regularly attended as a union meeting, held alternately in 
 Kev. Mr. Giddings' school-room (which was also his preaching- 
 place) and their own. The Cumberland Presbyterians and 
 Methodists, when visiting St. Louis, were often accommodated 
 (as they had then no preaching-place) by the Baptist brethren 
 with the use of their own place of worship, even when they 
 would have preferred to occupy it themselves, so anxious were 
 they to present as unbroken a front as .possible to the pre- 
 dominant Romanists. 
 
 Nor did they, by any means, confine their efforts to the place 
 of their residence. Nearly every Sabbath, and often on the 
 week-day, they would ride forth among the destitute settle- 
 ments, and fulfill appointments for preaching which had 
 been made for them, sometimes quite at a distance from 
 St. Louis. Here is introduced the account of several tours 
 for evangelizing purposes, as given by Mr. Peck, from his own 
 journals. 
 
 As these reminiscences are not confined to Missouri, it is time 
 to pay a little attention to Illinois. Our first visit from St. Louis 
 to this territory was to the Badgle^^ settlement, in St. Clair county, 
 on the 20th and 21st of Jmie, to attend the meeting of Ogle's Creek 
 chm'ch. This was one of several little churches that had originated 
 from a general rupture among the churches on the western side of 
 this territory in 1810. At tlie period of our visit, there were three 
 parties of Baptists in Illinois that had about the same fraternal in 
 
CHURCH MEETINGS — STATE ORGANIZATION. 95 
 
 tercourse with each other as the Jews and Samaritans of the old 
 time. Ostensibly the question of correspondence with slaveholding 
 churches in Kentucky was the bone of contention ; but the fact is 
 there were a few impracticable men who aspired to be leaders, who 
 had been quarrelsome from the beginning. We have the old records 
 of half a dozen of these churches, which have been extinct for a 
 long time, and these tell a monthly story of bickerings, '" hurts," 
 and complaints — imperfect as these records were kept. Among the 
 singular and mischievous ''rules" introduced, one was requiring a 
 unanimous vote on all matters " touching fellowship." This was 
 called "working by oneness." One selfish or headstrong man or 
 woman could keep a httle church in a state of turmoil for a twelve- 
 month: an admirable method of keeping "the unity of the Spirit 
 in the bond of peace." Allied to this was a rule of decorum which, 
 whether written or unwritten, was always put in force by a class of 
 preachers. Upon the opening of church-meeting, the first question 
 was to inquire " if all were in peace." This, when practically trans- 
 lated, always meant : " Now, brethren, think over your grievances 
 and ' hurts,' and see if you can furnish any cause of complaint 
 against a brother or sister." It is astonishing to notice what trifling 
 things made these "hurts :" for this was the slang term to express 
 their grievances. The most frivolous and insignificant charges 
 would get into the church through this back-door. It is really 
 Providential that not one of these litigious communities have had 
 a permanent existence ; but the effects of the spirit indulged and 
 the habits formed remained a long time, to the grievance and an 
 noyance of pure Christianity. AVe preached twice on this visit, 
 and was kindly received. 
 
 Our next visit to Illinois was on business, but it was at the old 
 town of Kaskaskia, and during the session of the convention, then 
 organizing a State Government. I rode on horseback along the 
 American Bottom, through the ancient village of Cahokia (or as 
 called by the Jesuit missionaries, '■'Notre Dame des Kahokias") 
 Adjacent to it, on the south side of the creek that came in from 
 the bluffs and gave its name, was the little hamletyDf Prairie dio 
 Pont. The "Caoquias" and " Tamaroas" Indians occupied these 
 villages when Charlevoix visited them in 1721. Here were located 
 two ecclesiastics from the Seminary of Quebec, who had been stu- 
 dents under Charlevoix. I followed the trace leading over the hills 
 of Monroe county to the old " Whiteside station," where I called 
 on the venerable widow and received her hospitality. 
 
 The Whiteside connection originated from Amherst county, Ya.j 
 
96 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 from whence they emigrated to Kentucky, and from thence to II- 
 hnois and Missouri. Colonel AVilliam AVhiteside, who had died a 
 year or two previous to my visit to his widow, though not a pubUc 
 speaker, was a leader among the early Baptists in Illinois. His 
 name occurs as clerk in the church, and other meetings, for many 
 years ; and the neat plain hand he wrote, and the structure of his 
 sentences, shows him to have been an able and useful clerk. He 
 was also selected as a leader in the parties of defense, during the 
 Indian assaults from 1786 to 1796. His house, with others attached, 
 was a stockade-fort, and a protection to his neighbors for many 
 years; and to this day, "Whiteside's Station" is a well-known lo- 
 cality in the north part of Monroe county. 
 
 An hour before sunset found me at the hospitable residence of 
 James Leman, Sr. It was a sort of half-way house between St. Louis 
 and Kaskaskia — a common stopping-place or house of " private en- 
 tertainment" to all travelers. I had previously formed an interest- 
 ing acquaintance with Rev. James Lemen, Jr., as he then wrote his 
 name, and who was then in Kaskaskia, in the convention, engaged 
 in framing a code of fundamental laws for the State. The old people 
 who had emigrated from Western Virginia to the Illinois country 
 in 1786, and were among the first converts ever baptized in this 
 remote wilderness, did not seem to be burdened by age. They were 
 hale and vigorous persons, perhaps a little over fifty years, and ex- 
 hibited the marks of health and constitutional" vigor. Two or three 
 stalwart men, with large bone and muscle, six feet high, stood 
 around. I learned they were two of the youngest sons, and one a 
 son-in-law. The appearance of these persons, with that of others 
 seen on this route, has any thing else than evidence of a sickly 
 country. The men and women who were born here, and had grown 
 to manhood on these prairies, had large, robust frames, healthy con- 
 stitutions, and gave proof direct of health. What was it for them, 
 if an occasional shake of the ague, or a touch of the autumn inter- 
 mittent annoyed them for a few days ? Since that period I have 
 gathered statistics of those and hundreds of other families among 
 the early American settlers that prove, past contradiction, that 
 Illinois and Missouri, off" the rivers and out of the low bottoms, are 
 the healthiest regions witliin the United States. 
 
 Our conversation was chiefly religious. Elder Lemen was frank, 
 open, very decided in his way ; but kind, benevolent, and conscien- 
 tious. He preached nearly every Sabbath, and often rode thirty or 
 forty miles to -visit destitute settlements. He and family, and many 
 others who lived in this settlement, had their membership in Can 
 
PRAIRIE DU ROCHER — KASKASKIA, 97 
 
 tine (now Bethel) church, in the north part of St. Clair county. 
 The distance was thirty-six miles, which they rode on horseback. 
 The meetings were held on alternate months in Cantine, and New 
 Design settlements, the first Saturday and Sabbath in each month ; 
 and for more than ten years, neither sickness, bad w-eather, much 
 less indolence, prevented the regular attendance at the church- 
 meetings, which never included less than two days at each meeting. 
 
 Old Mr. Lemen was a man of relnarkable punctuality. Family- 
 prayer was attended regularly, evening and morning. During his 
 absence on his preaching excursions, or at any other time, his wife 
 performed this duty. The two youngest sons, the able-bodied men 
 already mentioned, were not then professors of rehgion. Another 
 
 , but he had become wild and wayward, and w^as in an excluded 
 
 state. As the customary hour drew near for family-worship, both 
 parents requested the writer to pray for these sons, while tears and 
 sobs expressed their strong, pious, parental feelings. 
 
 Next morning found me pursuing a lonely, but pleasant route, 
 for sixteen miles, without a house, to the French village of Prairie 
 du E-ocher. This village was located about 1745, along the Ameri- 
 can bottom and a small, sluggish creek adjacent to an immense' 
 range on Chfi" Kock, from whence its name. In 1766, it had four- 
 teen families. It is a low, unhealthy situation, and about three 
 miles to the southeast of the ruins of old Fort Chartres. One in- 
 cident in this village deserves notice. The Jesuit missionaries were 
 ordered home by their superior-general, from the Illinois country, 
 about the time of its coming under the British Government in 
 1765. Father Meurain was the last, and he was ordered away, but 
 at the urgent request of the Kaskaskia Indians he returned and 
 became their father-confessor. He died at a very advanced age in 
 Prairie du Kocher in the year 1778. He was a learned man, and 
 left a valuable library and a manuscript dictionary of the Indian 
 and French languages in twenty-four volumes. 
 
 Our business at Kaskaskia had no connection with government 
 affairs, and we spent only one night. We called at the only hotel 
 kept in the place, by Mr. Bennett, who subsequently became a pio- 
 neer in Galena. We had a shght acquaintance with him at St. Louis, 
 but he regretted to inform me that he did not think it possible to 
 accommodate me. Every room was occupied, and every bed had 
 two or more lodgers. I laughed at his scruples, and told him I was 
 a real missionary, and could camp on the floor with my saddle-bags 
 for a pillow. At last it occurred to him that one of his beds had 
 
 but one occupant that night, the fellow-lodger being absent. It 
 9 
 
93 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 was a small room, and the bed, none too wide for two, was occu- 
 pied by Adolphus Frederick Hubbard, Esq., one of the delegates 
 from Gallatin county. Mr. H. had seen me in Shawneetown, and no 
 sooner was my name announced to him by the landlord than he in- 
 sisted I should share the hospitality of his bed. Being thus made 
 comfortable, I learned from my room-mate something of the prog- 
 ress made in the construction of the new Government. There are 
 a few incidents, gathered at a subsequent period, that may be ad- 
 mitted in these reminiscences. 
 
 In the formation of new States, from territorial possessions under 
 the Government of the United States, but one uniform rule was 
 observed in the pristine period of our national history. Congress, 
 under the authority of the Constitution, exercised the entire powers 
 of government. The first step after marking out the boundaries 
 of a new territory was to endow the Governor and Judges with the 
 authority to make a code of laws for the people. Soon as the gov- 
 ernor saw the population and orderly habits of the people justified 
 the measure, he made proclamation, and authorized the election of 
 the House of Eepresentatives. This body came together and nomi- 
 nated certain citizens — twice the number to which they were entitled 
 — for a " council," or Senate. These names were sent to the Presi- 
 dent, who made a selection, and brought them before the House for 
 confirmation. The House and the Council constituted the territo- 
 rial Legislature. In this mode the territories of the Northwest, 
 Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Orleans (now Louisiana), Upper Lou- 
 isiana (afterward Missouri), and Arkansas, came into existence. 
 Each of these territories became a State by virtue of a special 
 charter from Congress ; conventions were elected by qualified voters ; 
 a constitution adopted, and each was received as one of the States in 
 union. Arkansas was an exception in forming a State government. 
 The people, without law, formed a constitution in 1836. It was a 
 period of the prevalence of a spurious democracy or rather anarchy, 
 which sets at defiance all law, and claims what no person has any 
 right, or can possess under a government of laws — that oi popular 
 sovereignty. No such fallacy exists, or can exist, wherever the 
 boundaries and laws of a State, an organized territory, or the Con- 
 stitution and laws of the United States exist. 
 
 But to return to Illinois. The territory had been divided into 
 fifteen counties, wjiich, according to population, sent thirty-two 
 delegates. St. Clair county being the oldest and most populous 
 sent three ; Madison and Gallatin, being next in population, sent 
 also three each. 
 
ILLINOIS STATE ORGANIZED. 99 
 
 Madison, Bond, and Crawford were the three northern connties 
 across the State. All north was a wilderness, and one-half of the 
 territory then was supposed to be uninhabitable. By a grant in 
 the charter of 1787, of the Northwestern Territory, five States, 
 within prescribed limits, could form constitutions and be admitted 
 into the Union upon evidence of sixty thousand inhabitants ; but on 
 a special act of Congress the same district could form a State gov- 
 ernment on evidence of forty thousand population. Illinois, by its 
 territorial legislature, the preceding winter petitioned Con<jress, 
 and the charter was granted for forty thousand. Marshals were 
 appointed in all the counties to take the census. As the period of 
 their labors drew nigh, it became doubtful whether the requisite 
 number could be obtained. The public roads leading across the 
 territory were watched ; famiUes were found that were said to have 
 been missed ; and after every effort to make up the number, it was 
 officially?- proclaimed that the requisite number, with some two or 
 three hundred surplus, had been found. The emigration that season 
 was large ; and no doubt, before the constitution was submitted to 
 Congress in December, some three or four thousand additions were 
 made to the population. 
 
 Elias Kent Kane, Esq., of Kaskaskia, a man of superior talents, 
 made the draft of the Constitution. Hon. Jesse B. Thomas, of 
 Cahokia, St. Clair county, was the presiding officer. William C. 
 Greenup, Esq.,was Secretary to the body. In addition to Mr.Thomas, 
 John Massinger, Esq., and James Leman, Jr., were the delegates 
 from St. Clair county. The convention assembled at Kaskaskia in 
 July, and closed their labors by signing the constitution they had 
 framed, on the 26th day of August. 
 
 In the month of September, I made two excursions into the set- 
 tlements south and southwest of St. Louis. The first originated in 
 a misunderstanding of both the time and place of the meeting of 
 the Bethel Association. 
 
 My first tour led me into the region about St. Michael, in what is 
 now Madison county. I passed down the country, seeing only oc- 
 casionally a log cabin, to Herculaneum, then a river town, landing, 
 and a place of some importance. It then contained three or four 
 stores and about thirty dwelling-houses. It was situated on the 
 narrow, alluvial flat of the Joachim (called by the old settlers, 
 Sivaslien.) The flat on which the village was laid off was narrow, 
 and bounded at each end by perpendicular cliffs, rising two hundred 
 feet high, and which formed cheap and natural towers for the manu- 
 facturing of shot. The Flattin was another stream that entered 
 
100 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the Mississippi a short distance below the Joachim. On these 
 streams were several water-mills and distilleries at that early period. 
 Herculaneum at that day, and for several years after, was the depot 
 for the lead trade of the interior. 
 
 A few miles north, and which we passed as we came down the 
 country, are sulphur springs, which at that period bid fair to be- 
 come a watering-place when the country became settled. 
 
 My route lay in a southwesterly direction, towards the heads of 
 the Plattin, to McCormick's settlement. One object, never lost 
 sight of in my travels, was to examine into the condition of schools ; 
 and I found at least three-fourths of all the masters and schools 
 were public nuisances, and ought to have been indicted by the 
 Grand Jury. Mr. McCormick, an old settler in this range, and re- 
 garded by all his neighbors as a sort of captain, to whom they 
 looked for guidance, thoughabackwoodsman, with very little school 
 education, had sound common-sense, and was determined to have 
 a good school for his large family and the children of his neigh- 
 bors. He enlisted some of his friends in Herculaneum to send him 
 a " rale teacher," " none of those whisky-drinking Irishmen, such as 
 got into our settlement last year, or, sure as I'm a Methodist, we'll 
 lynch him !" So Mr. B., who knew "how the land lay" in that set- 
 tlement, sent out a Mr. Bellknapp, just from Connecticut. Mr. B. 
 was an experienced teacher, and being a man of observation and 
 strong common-sense, he soon found out how to manage some 
 thirty or forty stalwart young men and women. 
 
 Introducing myself and my object to Master B., I was invited 
 into one of the most primitive school-houses then to be found in 
 the Territory of Missouri. I was pleased with the regulations, and 
 the pupils were evidently in favor of the teacher, and they were 
 making good progress under his instructions. 
 
 Leaving the school-house I called on Mr. McCormick, had my 
 horse fed, and took dinner. The only preaching in the scattered 
 settlements among the hills was by the Methodists. The country 
 for many miles was very hilly, and the road I traveled a mere bridle- 
 path — that is, a trail for a single horse. I could learn nothing of 
 any Baptist association. Night found me at a Mr. Hale's, who kept 
 a house of private entertainment on the wagon-road from Mine-au- 
 Burton to Ste. Genevieve. Mr. H. was a Methodist, and could tell 
 me of all the Methodist preachers and meetings in that part of the 
 territory, but knew nothing of Baptists. Finally he proposed to 
 give me directions in the morning to a Baptist family who lived a 
 few miles off the main road, which I could reach by travehng 
 
A SQUATTER FAMILY. 101 
 
 through a '' hurricane" of two or three miles in extent. Now let 
 the reader know that a "hurricane" is a tract of timber over which 
 a tornado has passed, crushing all the trees, and throwing them in 
 every direction. 
 
 Next morning, ere the sun appeared, I was on my horse following 
 a devious horse-trail over logs and through brushwood. About two 
 years previous, large hickory, oaks, and other timber, two or three 
 feet in diameter, had been twisted from the stump, often splintered 
 for fifteen or twenty feet in height, and then thrown in every direc- 
 tion. The width in a direct line did not exceed one mile ; but the 
 pathway was so devious, and it was so difficult for the horse to 
 jump over the fallen timber, that two hours time passed away be- 
 fore I gained the distance. 
 
 About nine o'clock I found the family to which I was directed. 
 As this family was a specimen of the squatter race found on the 
 extreme frontiers in early times, some specific description may 
 amuse the reader, for I do not think a duplicate can now be found 
 within the boundaries of Missouri. The single log-cabin, of the 
 most primitive structure, was situated at some distance within the 
 cornfield. In and around it were the patriarchal head and his wife, 
 two married daughters and their husbands, with three or four little 
 children, and a son and daughter grown up to manhood and woman- 
 hood. The old man said he could read but " mighty poorly." The 
 old woman wanted a hyme book, but could not read one. The rest 
 of this romantic household had no use for books or "any such 
 trash." I had introduced myself as a Baptist preacher, traveling 
 through the country preaching the gospel to the people. The old 
 man and his wife were Baptists, at least had been members of some 
 Baptist church when they lived " in the settlements." The " set- 
 tlements" with this class in those days meant the back parts of 
 Virginia and the Carolinas, and in some instances the older sections 
 of Kentucky and Tennessee, where they had lived in their earlier 
 days. But it was " a mighty poor chance" for Baptist preaching 
 where they lived. The old man could tell me of a Baptist meeting 
 he had been at on the St. Francois, and could direct me to Elder 
 Farrar's residence near St. Michael. The old woman and the young 
 folks had not seen a Baptist preacher since they had lived in the 
 territory some eight or ten years. Occasionally they had been to 
 a Methodist meeting. This was the condition of a numerous class 
 of people then scattered over the frontier settlements of Missouri. 
 Ilie "traveling missionary" was received with all the hospitality 
 the old people had the abiUty or knew how to exercise. The younger 
 
102 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 class were shy and kept out of the cabin, and could not be per- 
 suaded to ccnie in to hear the missionary read the Scriptures and 
 offer a prayer. There was evidence of backwardness, or some other 
 propensity, attending all the domestic arrangej;ncnts. It was nine 
 o'clock when I reached the squatter's cabin, and yet no prepara- 
 tions had been made for breakfast. The beds, such as they were, 
 remained in the same condition as when the lodgers first crawled 
 from their nests in the morning. The young women appeared list- 
 less. Their heads, faces, hands, clothing, all indicated slothfulness 
 and habitual neglect. Soon the old woman made some preparations 
 for breakfast, and as the culinary operations were performed out 
 of doors, very probably the younger women assisted, but no other 
 female entered the cabin but the old lady. In an hour's time her 
 arrangements within cominenced. 
 
 Not a table, chair, or any article of furniture could be seen. 
 These deficiencies were common on the frontiers ; for emigrations 
 from the " settlements" were often made on pack-horses, and no 
 domestic conveniences could be transported, except the most indis- 
 pensable cooking-utensils, bedding, and a change or two of clothing. 
 But the head of the family must be shiftless indeed, and void of all 
 backwoods' skill and enterprise, who could not make a table for 
 family use. There were two fashions of this necessary article in 
 the time to which I refer. One was a slab, or " puncheon," as then 
 called, split from a large log, four feet long, and from fifteen to 
 eighteen inches wide, and hewn down to the thickness of a plank. 
 In this were inserted four legs, after the fashion of a stool or bench, 
 at the proper height. The other was a rough frame, in which posts 
 were inserted for legs, and covered with split clapboards shaved 
 smooth, and fastened with small wooden pins. We found one of 
 these descriptions of tables in hundreds of log cabins Mhere neat- 
 ness, tidiness, and industry prevailed. 
 
 Our landlady having nothing in the shape of a table, substituted 
 a box. On this she spread a cloth that might have answered any 
 other purpose than a table-cloth. The table furniture was various. 
 For knives, t\fo or three hunting-knives answered. The plates were 
 broken or melted pewter ones, except a single earthen one with a 
 notch broken out, which, with a broken fork, was placed for the 
 " stranger" to use. We could readily have excused the kind old 
 lady for this extra trouble ; for, being dim-sighted, in washing, or 
 more strictly in wiping it, she had left the print of her fingers on 
 the upper surface. 
 
 The viands now only need description to complete this accurate 
 
BACKWOODS LIFE. 103 
 
 picture of real squatter life. The rancid bacon when boiled could 
 have been detected by a foetid atmosphere across the yard, had 
 there been one. The snap-beans, as an accompaniment, were not 
 half-boiled. The sour buttermilk taken from the churn, where the 
 milk was kept throughout the whole season, as it came from the 
 cow, was " no go." The article on which the traveler made a hearty 
 breakfast, past ten o'clock in the morning, was the corn, boiled in 
 fair water. 
 
 According to universal custom among the squatter race, the men 
 eat first, the women followed, and, if the company were numerous, 
 the youngsters and children followed in regular succession. 
 
 We give this portraiture as a fair specimen of hundreds of fami- 
 nes we found scattered over the extreme frontier settlement in 
 1818-19. 
 
 Pursuing our route, we left appointments to preach on our return 
 in Cook's settlement in the day-time, and in Murphy's settlement 
 Sabbath night. And in passing from Cook's to Murphy's settle- 
 ment, Sabbath afternoon, who should we meet but the identical 
 family of squatters where we had taken breakfast, with an old wagon, 
 a pair of steers, two old horses which the women and children rode, 
 with their " plunder," moving to the southwest, on the waters of 
 Big Black. The day I left, some newly-arrived immigrant came 
 upon them, bought out their '* crap" and claim for the old wagon and 
 yoke of steers, and they were on their way to Big Black, where 
 a few squatters and bear-hunters had commenced a new settlement. 
 
 On the 25th September, 1818, I set out on horseback the second 
 time to find the Bethel Association. Tlie route was the same one 
 I last traveled until I got below Herculaneum, and then gradually 
 bearing to the left and down the direction of the Mississippi, through 
 an extensive tract of barrens very thinly settled. It was in passing 
 through these barrens that Joseph Piggott, a Methodist circuit 
 preacher, in the year 1820 came near freezing to death, in an ex- 
 tremely cold night, and without food for himself or his horse. He 
 gave the writer a narrative of his suff'erings that night, four years 
 after, at his residence on the Macoupin, III, and yet we were so 
 hard-hearted as not to express a word of sympathy. A few stunted 
 and gnarled trees, and a sprinkHng of brushwood, Avith now and 
 then a decayed log, appeared above the snow. He was nearly chilled, 
 after wandering about a long time in search of a path ; and with 
 great difficulty, with his tinder-box, flint and steel, could he get a 
 fire. He then scraped away what snow he could, and with his blanket 
 lay down, broadside to the fir e ; but before he secured much warmth 
 
104 • MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the other side was nearly frozen. Then he would turn over, but 
 finding no relief, would get up, stamp his feet, while the wind seemed 
 to pass through him. AVhen daylight appeared, he was too cold to 
 mount his horse, but led him while he attempted to find his way on 
 to some lonely cabin which proved to be not many miles distant. 
 There he spent the day and enjoyed the hospitality of the squatter 
 family. We listened to the distressing tale with amazement ! This 
 man was born and raised in Illinois, and accustomed all his life to 
 the frontiers, and yet had never learned one of the indispensable 
 lessons of a backwoodsman — how to camp out, make a fire, and keep 
 warm. Eating was not so very important ; for any man in the 
 vigor of life, in those days in this frontier country, who could not 
 go without food for twenty-four hours, and more especially a preacher 
 of the gospel, ought to be sent back, where he came from, to the 
 kind care of his friends. 
 
 The writer had not been in the country one year before he had 
 learned half a dozen lessons in frontier knowledge of great value in 
 practical life. One branch was how Indians, hunters, surveyors, and 
 all others who had to travel over uninhabited deserts, made their 
 camping-place, and kept themselves comfortable. The first thing 
 is to select the right place, in some hollow or ravine protected from 
 the wind, and if possible behind some old forest giant which the 
 storms of winter have prostrated. And then, reader, don't build 
 your fire against the tree, for that is the place for your head and 
 shoulders to lie, and around which the smoke and heated air may 
 curl. Then don't be so childish as to lie on the wet, or cold frozen 
 earth, without a bed. Gather a quantity of grass, leaves, and small 
 brush, and after you have cleared away the snow, and provided 
 for protection from the wet or cold earth, you may sleep comfort- 
 ably. If you have a piece of jerked venison, and a bit of pone with 
 a cup of water, ^^^ou may make out a splendid supper, provided you 
 tliink so ; " for as a man thinketh, so is he." And if you have a 
 traveling companion, 3^ou may have a social time of it. So now 
 offer your prayers like a Christian, ask the Lord to protect you, 
 wrap around you your blankets with your saddles for pillows, and 
 lie down to sleep under the care of a watchful Providence. If it 
 rains, a very little labor, with barks or even brush, with the tops 
 sloping downward, will be no mean shelter. Keep your feet straight 
 to the fire, but not near enough to burn your moccasins or boots, 
 and your legs and whole body will be warm. The aphorism of the 
 Italian physician, which he left in a sealed letter as a guide to all 
 liis former patients, when he was dead, contains excellent advice to 
 
STE. GENEVIEVE. 105 
 
 all frontier people : ''Keep your feet warm, your hack straight, and 
 your head cool, and hid defiance to the doctors.^^ 
 
 I got about half-way through the tract of barrens between Her- 
 culaneum and Ste. Genevieve, and stopped at a small cabin, where 
 I got such refreshment for " man and beast," and such lodging as 
 its inmates could furnish. Before noon the next day I was passing 
 through Ste. Genevieve. 
 
 As this was the first visit I made to this ancient town, I ma'y as 
 well give a brief sketch of its early history. 
 
 Ste. Genevieve is the oldest French village in Missouri. When 
 Lalede and the Chouteans came from New Orleans to establish a 
 trading-post at St. Louis, in 1763, they stopped at Ste. Genevieve, 
 which contained about twelve or fifteen families, in as many small 
 cabins, but finding no warehouse or other building in which they 
 could store their goods, they went on to Fort Chartres and wintered. 
 We date the commencement of Ste. Genevieve as a village from the 
 period of the erection of Fort Chartres, the second, about 1756. 
 Tery probably there were previous to this, as there were in the 
 lead-mining districts, what are called in patois-French, cahanes, a 
 term, expressing the idea of "shanties," a cluster of shelters for 
 temporary purposes. Such cabanes were in the lead-mining district 
 when Philip Francis Renault had his exploring parties out at various 
 points in the upper valley of the Mississippi. And, by the way, I 
 find no evidence that lead-mining was followed in the mining-coun- 
 try after Renault, disappointed, and a " broken merchant," quit the 
 business about 1740, until the possession of Illinois by the British 
 about twenty-five years thereafter. Many of the French inhabitants 
 who held slaves left the Illinois country ; some w^ent to the newly- 
 established town of St. Louis ; others to Lower Louisiana. Many 
 famihes also went to the lead mines in Missouri, while others stopped 
 at Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon with their servants. This gave 
 an impulse to the former town, which before 1770 became the depot 
 and shipping-port for the lead business. The French at St. Louis, 
 as a iLom-de-nique, called Ste. Genevieve Misers, as they did Caron- 
 delet Vide Poche ; and in their turn received the nick-name of 
 Pain Court, to indicate they were short of bread. 
 
 The old town of which I am writing was near the Mississippi, 
 and about one mile below the ferry and landing. From this point, 
 where the rock forms a landing, for seven miles down the river, w^as 
 an extensive tract of alluvial bottom about three miles in width. 
 On this rich alluvion the French of Ste. Genevieve and New Bour- 
 bon made one of the largest "common fields" to be found along the 
 
106 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Upper Mississippi. It contained within the common inclosure from 
 three tliousand to four thousand acres. The repeated inundations 
 of high water, and especially the great flood of 1784, drove the in- 
 habitants to the high ground in the rear, where they built the old 
 residences of the new town, or the existing Ste. Genevieve. Each 
 successive flood tore away the rich bottom along the river, until 
 that of 1844 about "used up" the great common field of the village. 
 No passenger in passing up or down the great expansive bend of 
 the river would hardly realize that the largest steamers now float 
 in a channel that is more than two miles from the Mississippi river, 
 as it ran in 1780. 
 
 Protestant Christianity has had but feeble influence in this 
 ancient French village. 
 
 Having no time to tarry, we found our way by the Saline works 
 "(where General Henry S. Dodge was manufacturing salt in the bar- 
 rens of Perry county, then known far and near as the name of this 
 tract of country) to the house of Mr. Duvol, where we arrived Sat- 
 urday evening after sunset. One day of the Association was over, 
 and though an entire stranger, and excessively fatigued from our 
 long ride, no excuse would be taken : we must preach : and preach 
 we did, a missionary discourse, ofif-hand, from Isaiah xlix. 20. Here 
 were two preachers from the Boone's Lick country, William Thorp, 
 and Edward Turner, who were messengers of correspondence from 
 the Mount Pleasant Association, then recently formed. They were 
 among the earliest settlers in that far-out-of-the-way region. Thorp 
 (we think) came there from Kentucky in 1810, and Turner soon 
 after. Of course, they knew not a single fact about missions, nor 
 any Ihing correctly of the progress of the kingdom of Christ on 
 earth, or of its destiny. A set of crude and erroneous notions had 
 been stereotyped in their minds, in Kentucky, about gospel doctrine 
 and moral obligation, and they were fixedly resolved to learn noth- 
 ing else. Having come from a new association to solicit correspond- 
 ence, and perceiving the writer was received with great promptitude 
 as a visitor, and invited to preach on the spot before the association, 
 which held a night-session, they were not openly hostile. They 
 only whispered about among a few of the brethren, and shook their 
 heads doubtingly. For several successive years we met those breth- 
 ren at associations, when they took a bolder and more decided 
 stand against all organized efforts to publish the glad tidings to a 
 sin-ruined world. They maintained that missions, Sunday-schools, 
 Bible societies, and such-like facilities, were all men's contrivances, 
 to take God's work out of his own hands. Their views of the plan 
 
BETHEL ASSOCIATION — MISSIONS. lOt 
 
 of salvation through Christ were exceeding limited and imperfect, 
 and their success was quite as limited as their Biblical knowledge 
 was deficient. 
 
 The Bethel Association this year consisted of five churches and 
 eight ordained ministers. The churches were Bethel, Tywappity, 
 Providence, Barren, St. Francois, Dry creek and Salem. The last 
 had been constituted on Fourche-a-Thomas, in Arkansas, and was 
 the first church ever gathered in that region. It had two minis- 
 ters (Benjamin Clark and Jesse James) and twelve members. Mr. 
 James disappeared from the minutes in after years, as we suppose 
 by death, but Mr. Clark lived and labored in that desolate region 
 for many years with great self-denial, zeal, and success. In the 
 early period of the Home Missionary Society, we obtained for him, 
 as we did for many other laborious frontier preachers, an annual 
 perquisite of one hundred dollars, and mission funds were never 
 better laid out. The last we heard of this excellent brother was 
 a vag«e»rumor that he had gone to Texas. >, 
 
 The Bethel Association had held a correspondence with the Little 
 River Association in Kentucky. That year the messenger was 
 Josiah Home, who preached an excellent sermon on the Sabbath. 
 On the preceding session the association had taken up the subject 
 of Foreign Missions, having received an annual report of the Board. 
 They now had a regularly-appointed missionary under the Board, 
 as their visitor, and seemed disposed to use him freely. We copy 
 from the minutes : 
 
 "The business relating to missions, postponed last year, was 
 taken under consideration, and Brother Peck called on for informa- 
 tion on the subject. Several interesting communications were read, 
 a circular from the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions presented, 
 and the great efforts of the Christian world to promote the cause 
 of Christ stated, together with the views, proceedings, object, and 
 success of the Baptist denomination generally in this great and 
 good work ; 
 
 ''Therefore, resolved, That Elder Thomas P. Green (near Jackson, 
 Cape Girardeau county) be our Corresponding Secretary, to open a 
 correspondence with the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions, trans- 
 mit to their secretary a copy of our minutes, and receive communi- 
 cations from them." 
 
 The missionaries at St. Louis, after conferring with their friends, 
 had concocted the plan of a society, embracing such of the denomi- 
 nation in Illinois and Missouri as chose to unite in it, the outline 
 
108 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. I'ECK, 
 
 of a constitution was read, and the project explained. Upon this 
 the following entry was made in the minutes : 
 
 " Heard a plan, drawn up by Brother Peck, to promote the gospel 
 and common-schools, both amongst the settlers and the Indians in 
 this country, which plan, we think, would be highly useful, and 
 which we earnestly desire to see carried into effect ; 
 
 " Therefore, resolved, That we view with pleasure the exertions 
 of our brethren J. M. Peck and J. E. Welch, united in the Western 
 Mission, to spread the gospel and promote common-schools both 
 amongst the whites and Indians, and that we recommend the above 
 plan for the consideration of the churches and a liberal public. As 
 Brother Peck engages to communicate an outline of the plan, it is 
 hoped each church will consider it, and instruct their delegates 
 against the next association." 
 
 The plan and constitution of this society was brought before the 
 Illinois Association, and approved by that body on the 10th of Oc- 
 tober and by the Missouri Association on the 24th of the same 
 month, where its organization was completed. 
 
 As this was the first society ever organized west of the Missis- 
 sippi for philanthropic and missionary purposes, some more details 
 of the plan and proposed methml of operations are deemed ex- 
 pedient. 
 
 Name. — " The United Society for the spread of the gospel." 
 
 Object. — To aid the "Western Mission" in spreading the gospel, 
 and promoting common-schools in the western parts of America, 
 both amongst the whites and Indians. 
 
 Terms of Membership. — Persons of good moral character by pay- 
 ing five dollars annually. Each [Baptist] association, contributing 
 annually, could send two messengers. Each branch or mite society, 
 church, or other religious society, contributing ten dollars annually, 
 to send one delegate. 
 
 Measures to be adopted. — The society, at its annual meeting, to 
 consult on the best measures to promote the gospef and common- 
 schools ; devise measures to assist ministers in obtaining an educa- 
 tion, and to qualify school-teachers ; consider the moral and re- 
 ligious welfare of the Indians, and devise means for their reform ; 
 and use every means in their power to send forth missionaries on 
 the frontiers and destitute settlements. 
 
 Qualifications of Missionaries and School-teachers. — The first 
 must be in full standing in the Baptist churches, and give satisfac- 
 tory evidence of genuine piety, good talents, and fervent zeal in the 
 Redeemer's cause. No person of immoral habits, or who, in the 
 
ANTI- MISSION BAPTISTS. 109 
 
 juclg:ment of the Board, was not qualified, could be employed as a 
 school-teacher. 
 
 It was not expected the society would pay teachers among the 
 white settlers, but to aid in introducing good ones, and thus encour- 
 age the people in an entire reformation in the schools throughout the 
 country. Thus the society, or rather its secretary, who also made 
 extensive excursions as a general agent, by an extensive correspond- 
 ence, found out where teachers were wanted and where the^^ could 
 be had. It is not extravagant to say that in three years, by so 
 simple and cheap an agenc}^ more than fifty good schools were es- 
 tabUshed in Missouri and Illinois, where common nuisances, with 
 drunken, illiterate Irish Catholics at the head, had before existed. 
 
 Funds. — The funds of the society were included in three depart- 
 ments : the Education fund, the Indian fund, and the Mission fund. 
 
 Having failed in establishing an Indian school amongst a band of 
 natives then located near the Pilot Knob, in Madison county. Mo., no 
 further eff'ort was made for that object. The education-object made 
 no demand for funds. Several missionaries in Missouri and Illinois 
 were employed as itinerants, at the rate of expense of hired men, 
 that is from sixteen to twenty dollars per month, according to 
 locality. The labors of most were successful and performed with 
 fidelity. Some received their compensation from voluntary con- 
 tributions. The writ^er being under patronage of the Baptist Board 
 of Foreign Missions made frequent collections without charge to 
 the society ;* for which, a few years after, when a class of Baptists 
 turned against their brethren, declared non-intercourse with all in 
 favor of missions, Sunday-schools, etc., the slang of " money-begging 
 missionary," "the gospel going on silver wheels," and "Judas hav- 
 ing the bag," was reiterated from that class. One well-meaning, 
 but short-sighted old preacher received seventeen dollars and 
 twenty-five cents, for a month's itinerant service and traveling 
 expenses. Hearing that he used this stereotyped slang, where he 
 ought to have preached repentance towards God and faith in 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, we sent him word by a common friend, ac- 
 knowledging our position analogous to that of Judas, who had been 
 appointed treasurer of the company by the Divine Master. But who 
 
 got the thirty pieces of silver ? Elder got seventeen dollars 
 
 and twenty-five cents, for which we hold his receipt. It troubled 
 tlie old man to no small extent when we turned the " silver wheels" 
 upon him. 
 
 There was an honest, but mistaken basis on which the objections 
 against missions were founded. These preachers were quite de- 
 10 
 
110 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ficient in correct and Scriptural views of church government. Its 
 extreme simplicity, and the large liberty it gave to its members in 
 their selection of objects, and divers modes of benefactions they 
 did not comprehend. Associations were called ** advisory councils," 
 but the advice had the effect of law. Hence, by a confused series 
 of far-drawn inferences, they arrived at the conclusion that all other 
 societies except churches and associations, not being specially 
 thorized in the Scriptures, must be forbidden. 
 
 Then in many minds crude antinomian notions were inter- 
 mingled w4th scattered and detached fragments of gospel truth. 
 They had no clear and correct notions of the connection of Divine 
 purposes and means to accomplish them. Because God worked in 
 us to will and to do his own pleasure, they had no conception of 
 human duty and responsibility. There was a mulish obstinacy 
 about some of these men, as there is about the same class now. 
 They would not examine the subject candidly and prayerfully ; 
 they shut their own eyes against the light, and as far as in their 
 power kept the members of their churches in darkness. They made 
 the singular blunder in denying the use of all means and instru- 
 mentalities in the conversion of sinners and sending the gospel 
 to the destitute, while they were active and zealous in using means 
 and trying to be instrumental in opposing gospel measures. A third 
 cause of this anti-mission spirit and practice among a class of preach- 
 ers, originated in sheer selfishness. 
 
 They knew their own deficiencies when contrasted with others, 
 but instead of rejoicing that the Lord had provided better gifts to 
 promote his cause, they felt the irritability of wounded pride, com- 
 mon to narrow and weak minds. They got no compensation for 
 their preaching ; but the smallest degree of power and influence 
 over others is more precious than gold to such men. As an illus- 
 tration of the nature and extent of this course of opposition to 
 missions, I will narrate an incident that occurred in Sangamon 
 county. 111., some five or six years after the date at the head of this 
 article. 
 
 A little association had been formed ; and after a hard struggle, 
 and by a bare majority, an article was adopted of this purport : 
 
 " It shall be the duty of the association to debar from a seat 
 any Baptist who is a member of a missionary society." 
 
 By a previous act they had made their articles of faith, and pro- 
 vided that they could not be altered except by a unanimous vote, 
 and then appended this little anti-mission and unscriptural rule by 
 a majority of one to their articles of faith. At that time, and for 
 
ANTI-MISSION BAPTISTS. Ill 
 
 ever after, there was a large majority of members in the churches 
 opposed to the rule, but they could not rid the association of it, as 
 long as ane selfish, crotchety member remained. The church where 
 the association was held were to a man opposed to this rule ; and 
 fearing it might prevent Baptist ministers from visiting them, a 
 resolution was introduced to the purport that they would invite 
 any orderly Baptist minister to preach for them, although he might 
 be a missionary. To give full opportunity to investigate the sub- 
 ject, the question was postponed one month. Fearing such an in- 
 vestigation might expose the designs of the anti-mission party, 
 four preachers rode from thirty to fifty miles to attend the church- 
 meeting. It was in the month of February ; the creeks were high ; 
 and two of these zealous visitors swam Sugar creek on their horses, 
 at the risk of their lives. One of these men was quite a simple- 
 hearted, weak brother, whose small mind was led by the others. 
 But he loved to hear himself talk, while in a confused manner he 
 uttered words that lacked ideas. He was interrupted by a motion, 
 which was put by the moderator and decided in the affirmative, 
 of this purport : 
 
 " That Brother J n be requested to state explicitly his ob- 
 jections against missionaries." 
 
 His reply was honestly made, as follows : 
 
 " We don't care any thing about them missionaries that's gone 
 amongst them heathens 'way ofi" yonder. But what do they come 
 among us for? We don't want them here in Illinois." 
 
 The moderator rephed : "We live in a free country, and Baptist 
 churches love liberty. We need not give them money unless we 
 choose, and we are not obliged to hear them preach if we do not 
 
 hke them. Come, Brother J n, let the church know your real 
 
 objections." 
 
 " Well, if you must know. Brother Moderator, you know the big 
 trees in the woods overshadow* the httle ones ; and these mission- 
 aries will be all great, learned men, and the people will all go to hear 
 them preach, and we shall all be put down. That's the objection." 
 
 - Indian Councils. 
 On my return from the Bethel Association, I found the Rev. John 
 Ficklin, from Kentucky, in town. He was on an agency from the 
 Kentucky Mission Society to certain bands of Indians in Missouri, 
 to obtain some of their children to commence an Indian school in 
 that State. This was the embryo of the Indian school, subse- 
 quently sustained by the national government, on the farm and 
 
112 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 under the supervision of the late Hon. R. M. Johnson, at the Blue 
 Springs, Scott county. Mr. Ficklin was a self-sacrificing, zealous 
 Baptist preacher, and for a long series of years was a member of 
 Great Crossings church, and connected with the Elkhorn Associa- 
 tion. He (with Mr. Short, his traveling companion) had made an 
 excursion to several places in the territory, where bands of Indians 
 resided, one of which was on the Fourche-a-Courtois in Washington 
 county, another was at Indiantown between the Bourbeuse and Mer- 
 rimac rivers. Here was a band of Shawanese and Delawares, called 
 Rogers' band, from their chief or head man. Mr. Rogers was origi- 
 nally a white man, taken prisoner in boyhood, and so trained in Indian 
 habits and tactics, that in mind, temper, disposition, and inclina- 
 tions, he was completely an Indian. He took for a wife a squaw, 
 who was the daughter of a chief, and through his influence and his 
 own superior talents he held the office of commander in that band. 
 During the series, of wars between the Indians and white people, 
 in their early migrations to Kentucky, Rogers commanded a ma- 
 rauding party on the Ohio river, who displayed their prowess in 
 plundering boats, and murdering the owners when they met with 
 resistance. The victory of General Wayne, in 1794, alid the treaty 
 of Greenville that followed, put an end to these depredations. Pre- 
 viously to this period, however. Captain Rogers had accumulated 
 wealth enough to satisfy the wants of himself and band, and ap- 
 prehensive they might be trailed out by some of the war-parties 
 of the whites, prudently migrated across the " Great River," and 
 located themselves at Yillage-a-Robert, afterward called Owen's 
 Station, and now Bridgton, in St. Louis county. 
 
 Rogers had not lost all predilections for the lower grade of civili- 
 zation. He had two sons, James and Lewis, who grew up to man- 
 hood, and two or three daughters. One daughter married Cohun, 
 a Delaware brave, and a fine, noble specimen of humanity. He 
 was a man of strong sense, industrious, generous, and a firm friend 
 to his white neighbors. 
 
 When, and under what circumstances, Captain Rogers died, I never 
 learned. His successor in office was Captain Fish, who also was one 
 of- our race, but taken a prisoner when a small boy, and acquired 
 the Indian character so perfectly, that a stranger would not have 
 suspected his white blood. He married a daughter of Captain 
 Rogers, and perhaps this connection tended to place him in office, 
 which was for life. 
 
 This band of Indians cultivated little farms. Captain Rogers 
 took an act' ve part in getting up a school in the village, in which 
 
INDIAN COUNCILS. 113 
 
 the American settlers united, and the white and Indian boys were 
 at their books in school hours, and engaged with the bow and arrow 
 and other Indian pastimes, during intermission. Amongst these 
 scholars was the late Eev. Lewis Williams, who obtained his educa- 
 tion in boyhood in this half-Indian seminary. 
 
 About the time, or a little before the cession of Louisiana to the 
 United States, Rogers and his band removed to the Big Spring at 
 the head of the main Merrimac. Here the water suddenly bursts 
 from the earth into a large basin from which flows a river more 
 than fifty yards in width, and from two to three feet deep. It 
 proved very sickly to the new-comers, and several died. I think 
 probably Captain Rogers was of the number. Supposing they had 
 intruded upon the dominion of a Matchee Monito, or Evil Spirit, 
 they broke up their lodges, came down the country, and built their 
 cabins on the borders of Indian prairie in Franklin county. This 
 spot is a few miles south of Union. 
 
 Captain Fish, the Rogers, and others, met Mr. Ficklin in St. Louis, 
 where, on the first day of October, we held a talk about sending 
 their children to Kentucky. Lewis Rogers, who could read and 
 write as well as most of the frontier settlers, offered to go,. provided 
 he could be permitted to take his wife and all his family with him. 
 To this proposal Mr. Ficklin consented. These Indians were thrifty 
 farmers, and brought the best cattle to St.Louis market the butchers 
 had received. Next year, in company with Elder Lewis Williams 
 and Isaiah Todd, I visited these Indians at their hunting-camps, 
 some eight or ten miles above their town. We were treated with 
 great hospitality. They heard favorable accounts from Lewis Rogers 
 at the school in Kentucky, and consented to send on more of their 
 sons. 
 
 About the same time two large parties of Indians came to 
 settle difficulties and make peace. These were on the one side 
 Cherokees, with a few Delawares and Shawanoes ; and on the 
 other side, Osages, or, more correctly, Wossoshes, as they pronounce 
 their name. These two bodies had been at war for more than two 
 years, and by the advice of their Great Father, the President of 
 the United States, had met in presence of their good father (Gov- 
 ernor Clark), who superintended the affairs of the Indians over a 
 vast district of country. The ostensible cause of this war may 
 serve to show that mistakes are made by commissioners, that 
 eventually produce ruptures between Indian tribes. Indian bound- 
 aries and Indian titles to particular tracts of country, among them- 
 selves, unless established by the government that acts as their 
 
114 MEMOIR OF JOIIX M. TECK. 
 
 common guardian, are vague things. Floods of sympathy have 
 been poured out by those who know nothing truthfully about Indian 
 titles, boundary lines, and Indian rights ; or their character, history, 
 and habits. "Attachment to the graves of their fathers" is all 
 poetry. From the earliest period that we can obtain any knowledge 
 of this race, they have been migratory. 
 
 In 1808, through the late Pierre Chotcau as United States Com- 
 missioner, at Fort Clark, on the Missouri, a treaty with the Osages 
 was negotiated, in which a line due south to the Arkansas was to 
 become the eastern boundar3^, and down the Arkansas to the Mis- 
 sissippi. These Osages some 3^ears after set up a claim to hunt on 
 the lands south of the Arkansas. In 1808-9, the President entered 
 into an arrangement with the Cherokees, for a portion of the nation 
 who desired to remove westward, to exchange their lands east 
 of the Mississippi for lands on the Arkansas river. They claimed 
 the right of hunting indefinitely westward. The Osages, not liking 
 these intruders,^ as they regarded them, broke up their hunting- 
 lodges, and plundered them of their peltry. One depredation pro- 
 voked another, until they came in collision ; murders were com- 
 mitted ; and finally the Cherokees made a formal declaration of 
 war. They took up the line of march in the spring of 1817, with 
 two field-pieces, mounted and drawn by horses, and the men armed 
 with rifles. The Cherokees were half-civilized, and understood and 
 kept up military discipline ; and adopted into their nation were not 
 a few " white skins," and the Shawanoes and Delawares. They 
 made a rapid march into the Osage country, surprised them in 
 their villages, made them run, killed a dozen or so, and took as 
 many prisoners, chiefly women and children, whom at the time we 
 are writing about they held as hostages. 
 
 The Great Chief of the Cherokees, on the Arkansas, was a most 
 venerable man named Tolrentuskee. He was one hundred years 
 of age, and entirely blind. It was not his business at that advanced 
 period of life, with his locks white as the mountain snow, to go out 
 to war. This duty, his braves, commanded by an experienced war- 
 rior, had performed under his authority. But his presence was 
 indispensable to the ratification of peace. He had traveled on 
 horseback from the Indian country on the Arkansas on a mission 
 of peace, accompanied by a beloved daughter, who appeared about 
 forty years of age. She was a pattern of fihal aff'ection ; for she 
 led her venerable sire to and from the council-room, and waited on 
 him with the greatest tenderness. 
 
 The council between the tribes was held in the Indian office, in 
 
TOLRENTUSKEE — INDIAN COUNCILS. 115 
 
 the presence and under the presiding influence of the late Governor 
 Clark. Few men in the nation had so extensive an influence over 
 the Indians, and so much tact in concihating as this Superintendent 
 of Indian affairs. The parties were seated on opposite sides of the 
 room ; the Governor, his aids, secretaries, and interpreters, around 
 a table in the center ; and the spectators, who were invited guests, 
 on elevated seats back. The Cherokees were first called on to ex- 
 hibit their complaints against the Osages, and the latter to respond. 
 The Osages had several talJcmg-hrsives, or those who claimed the 
 gift, of Indian oratory. The whole speaking on the part of the Chero- 
 kees, according to their usage, devolved on old Tolrentuskee ; and a 
 more dignified, grave, sententious speaker we never heard. The 
 intonations of his voice, and his occasional gesticulations, were 
 peculiarly impressive. He told of an interview between the chiefs 
 of the Cherokee nation with his Great Father Washington in Phila- 
 delphia, in 1794. Though he was not then a great chief, he opened 
 his ears to the lessons of the Great Father, who told the Cherokees 
 war was not good ; it made people unhappy, and the Great Spirit 
 became angry with his children. The Great Father told them they 
 must leave ofi" war and plunder, cultivate the soil, raise corn and 
 cotton, make good houses, and learn to talk from the book. His 
 ears were opened wide, and every word of the Great Father sank 
 into his heart. The same lessons had been taught them by the 
 successive Great Fathers, and the Cherokees were fast learning the 
 ways of the "VVhite-skins. They built houses hke their white neigh- 
 bors ; they touched their motljer earth, and she gave them corn, 
 and cotton, and other good things. These clothes I wear, my 
 daughter who sits there and leads me in the dark, made for me. She 
 grew the cotton in the field, and made the cloth. AVe do not desira 
 to go on the war-path : it is not good. When we came across the 
 Big river, our Great Father told us to Hve in peace with the Osages, 
 and Kanzaus, and Quppaws, and all the other Ked-skins. We tried 
 to do so, but the Osages came over the Arkansas to our hunting- 
 grounds. They destroyed our lodges, stole our meat and skins, 
 and killed and scalped some of our men. We sent them word to 
 keep on their own side of the Arkansas, and not molest us ; but 
 they grew worse. Bad birds flew through the air and told them 
 hes ; and they stole our horses and other property, and killed more 
 of our people. 
 
 The venerable chief spoke an hour in rehearsing the depredations 
 of the Osages, and proving the war on the part of the Cherokees 
 was a necessity. His intellect was remarkably clear, and the tones 
 
116 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 of his voice melodious. The responses from the Osages were vari- 
 ous, and a little contradictory. They claimed the country south 
 of the Arkansas as their ancient hunting-ground, without producing 
 any proofs from history or tradition. They regarded the Cherokees 
 as intruders, because they came across the Big river. Tolrentuskee 
 had alluded to the inferiority of the Osages in the war, and used 
 an expression that stung to the quick one of the Osage braves, who 
 proved himself to be not only a braggart, but a dastardly coward. 
 He was a large, robust man, six feet in height, painted in true Indian 
 style, with his head shaved close, only the scalp-lock being left, and 
 this done up with long red feathers. Springing to his feet, and 
 throwing off his blanket from his shoulders, with only his shroud 
 around his waist, his eyes flashing resentment, addressing Governor 
 Clark, as all the speakers had to do, he exclaimed : 
 
 "My father, I'm a man — an Osage brave; my heart is big; I 
 never quail before Red-skins ; I fear no Eed-skin ; I only bow in the 
 presence of White-skins, my father" — at the same time making a 
 somewhat awkward, but low obeisance. 
 
 Captain Cohun was sitting in front of the writer ; and I saw by 
 the curl of the lip, he was observing this Osage, and inquired: 
 "Do you know him?" "Yes; that's the very fellow who pushed 
 his wife off his horse when we drove them from the village, that 
 he might run away. We have got his squaw among our prisoners." 
 
 The Governor adjourned the council till the next day, without 
 any settlement, advising each party to yield something. Next 
 morning the Osages argued resolutely their right to the hunting- 
 grounds north of the Arkansas, thus tacitly relinquishing all claims 
 to the disputed country. Peace was made, and the treaty signed 
 by each party, and witnessed by the spectators — the Cherokees 
 promising to give up the prisoners, whom they held as hostages. 
 
MISSIONARY TOUR. H'JC 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Missionary Tour in Southern Missouri. 
 
 On the 3d day of November I started from St. Louis, on horse- 
 back, on a tour through a portion of the churches of Bethel Asso- 
 ciation. Near the Merrimac I tarried with a Mr. Moore, who treated 
 me hospitably, and furnished me with a buffalo skin, on which I 
 lodged for the night very comfortably. The puncheon-floor, with 
 a buffalo skin for a bed, and a saddle-tree for a pillow, furnished no 
 mean lodging in those frontier times. 
 
 Next morning, before the sun appeared, I was wending my way 
 down the country, in company with two men from Strawberry, in 
 the Arkansas country. AVe passed the sulphur springs, and Yan 
 Zant's Mill, and rode on to Horine's, who kept a house of enter- 
 tainment, for breakfast. For this and horse-feed, each traveler paid 
 thirty-seven and a half cents — the customary fare, supper, horse- 
 feed, and lodging for the night, was uniformly fifty cents. But if 
 it was known the traveler was a preacher of the gospel, and en- 
 gaged in that business, he was seldom charged, though the family 
 might keep a house of entertainment as a means of support. 
 
 I parted with my companions at Herculaneum, and followed a 
 "bridle-trail" near the bluffs of the Mississippi, and through an 
 immense tract of barrens-. In one place, amid the scattering and 
 scrubby timber the fire was raging through the tall, dry grass, and 
 even to the tops of dry trees. Beyond the fire, flocks of wild turkeys 
 would start up and light on the trees, and the startled deer would 
 bound away over the hills. 
 
 I reached Ste. Genevieve at eight o'clock, and put up at Donohue's 
 tavern. The landlord, with a company of gentlemen, was busily 
 employed at the card-table. Seeing that my horse was made com- 
 fortable, and getting quite an ordinary supper, I was successful in 
 obtaining a private-room, a table and candle, and was occupied in 
 writing until a late hour. One prominent object of my journeying 
 was to carry into effect the missionary society already mentioned, 
 and which was organized at the time of the Missouri Association 
 on the 24th of October. " 
 
 I had provided printed circulars, containing the constitution and 
 
118 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 other particulars, and these, with written letters, were sent off with 
 appointments to preach on my return. At sunrise, the 5th, I was 
 on my way down the country, and, after about fifteen miles ride, 
 was at the cabins of General Henry S. Dodge, who was then a salt 
 manufacturer at the Mississippi Saline. The Dodge family were from 
 Connecticut, and anciently a family of Baptists. Doctor Israel 
 Dodge, father to the gentleman whose hospitality I was sharing, 
 came to Kentucky, and from thence to Yincennes, before the close 
 of the last century. General H. S. Dodge, now the venerable sen- 
 ator from Wisconsin, was born in that French village. A brother 
 of Doctor Dodge, Elder Josiah Dodge, from the same State, settled 
 in Kentucky, and was an efficient Baptist preacher. His brother, 
 the Doctor, had migrated to Ste. Genevieve before 1794; for in 
 February of that year Elder Josiah Dodge made him a visit, came 
 over to the Illinois country, and baptized four persons in Fountain 
 creek. 
 
 The wife of General H. S. Dodge was a firm and zealous Baptist. 
 She was a McDaniel, of St. Louis county, and joined the church in 
 early life. After breakfast, and a season of devotion, I rode through 
 the barrens to the place where I had attended the Bethel Associa- 
 tion, as already narrated, to John Du Yol's, a Baptist, where I 
 passed the night. In the vicinity the Roman Catholics were estab- 
 lishing a college and a seminary for the education of priests. Next 
 day I reached the town of Jackson about sunset, and from thence 
 to Deacon Thos. Bull's house, where I was cordially received and 
 hospitably entertained. Deacon Bull was one of the constituents 
 and stated-clerk of Bethel church. He was an elderly man, plain 
 and old-fashioned in habits, and a warm-hearted Christian. 
 
 On the 7th (Saturday), I met the church in Bethel meeting-house. 
 This was a log-building, rough in style, but quite as fashionable as 
 any house of worship in the territory. Elder Wm. Street, who had 
 come from a settlement down the St. Francois, had preached before 
 my arrival. The church sat in order and transacted business. I 
 then preached from Isaiah liii. 1, and Elder Jas. P. Edwards followed 
 me from John xiv. 6. The people tarried during all these exercises 
 with apparent satisfaction. Custom and common-sense are the best 
 guides in such matters. Dinner was never thought of on meeting- 
 days. The Cape Girardeau Society, auxiliary to the "United So- 
 ciety," had already been formed in this vicinity, and there were 
 more real friends and liberal contributors to missions in this church 
 than in any other in the territory. Yet in a few years, by the 
 formation of Jackson and two other churches from this, the death 
 
CAPE GIRARDEAU — BOLLINGER'S. 119 
 
 of some valuable members and the removal of others, with the in- 
 troduction of some members of a difierent spirit, Bethel church, 
 the oldest in Missouri, had Ichabod written on her doors. It became 
 a selfish, hfeless, anti-mission body. 
 
 On Lord's-day, November 8th, I preached a missionary discourse 
 to a large congregation, from Exodfls xxxiii. 15 : " If thy presence 
 go not with me, carry me not up hence." A collection was taken, 
 amounting to thirty-one dollars and thirty-seven cents. This was 
 the second missionary collection ever made in Missouri ; the first 
 was taken at the Missouri Association, on the 25th of October, of 
 twelve dollars and twenty-five cents. 
 
 At evening I rode to Jackson, and preached at the house of 
 Hon. Eichard Thomas, where I was kindly and hospitably enter- 
 tained. Mrs. Thomas and her daughters were members of Bethel 
 church. 
 
 I continued visiting the settlements and preaching to the people 
 for several days. I visited Cape Girardeau and Eoss Point, and 
 formed a Mite society at each place. On the 11th I preached again 
 in Jackson, and aided in the organization of a Female Mite Society 
 of seventeen members. Jackson at that time was the county-seat 
 of Cape Girardeau county. It had been laid off" in 1815 ; and at 
 the time of my first visit, according to the notes made on the spot, 
 contained between sixty and seventy dwelling-houses, five stores, 
 two shoemaker-shops, one tannery, and two good schools, one for 
 males and the other for females. The population in and around 
 Jackson were more moral, intelUgent, and truly religious than the 
 people at any village or settlement in the territory. 
 
 I was now about to leave Cape Girardeau county, in a northwest- 
 erly direction, for St. Michael. The first prominent settlement was 
 Bollinger's, the name of the leading patriarch. Mr. Bollinger and a 
 number of other German families made their pitch here, under the 
 Spanish Government, about the commencement of the present cen- 
 tury. They were nominal Lutherans, but being destitute of a pastor, 
 and without schools, they degenerated in religion, but were indus- 
 trious farmers. Mr. Bollinger was a member of the Q rst Legislature 
 under the State government, and subsequently either he or his son 
 has been repeatedly a member. A few years since a new county 
 was laid ofi" from Cape Girardeau and adjacent counties, and named 
 after him. 
 
 The first night after leaving Jackson, I stopped with a ^Methodist 
 family — an elderly widow lady, her son, his wife and three children. 
 At first I did not make known my profession, but commenced a 
 
120 MEMOIR or JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 rcli<?ions conversation. I soon found that though members of the 
 society, neither could explain how God could he just, sustain his 
 law, and pardon sinners. At first they supposed he would do it 
 for our prayers ; then for our reformation; and finally for our sin- 
 cerity. This gave me a favorable opportunity to preach Jesus and 
 him crucified, as the only way of pardon. They listened with pe- 
 culiar interest ; begged me to stay, give out an appointment, and 
 preach the same doctrine to their neighbors. But I had appoint- 
 ments ahead, and left them at sunrise, after family-worship. My 
 kind host would take nothing, though he kept a house for private 
 entertainment, as one means of supJ)orting his family. 
 
 After riding seventeen miles, under the affliction of a severe sick- 
 headache, and calling on two families to rest, I reached Brother 
 James James'cabin, near St. Michael, where I tarried. Here I found 
 a venerable minister by the name of George Guthrie, formerly from 
 Ohio, but now residing on the Mississippi, near the mouth of Saline 
 creek. At night we both preached in St. Michael at the house of 
 a Frenchman whose name was Labbe. Though raised a Catholic, 
 he had renounced that fallacious system. His wife was a Baptist. 
 Next day, the Providence church held their regular meeting in an 
 old log-building called the block-house. Elder Guthrie and I both 
 preached, and left time enough for the church to attend to its 
 business. Next day, being Sabbath, we had the same arrangement. 
 After preaching. Elder Farrar baptized two females. At night I 
 preached again in the village of St. Michael. That village then was 
 a very wicked place. 
 
 The following week I visited and preached twice in Cook's settle- 
 ment, and obtained thirty dollars, subscribed by seventeen persons, 
 to have Elder Farrar visit them, and preach monthly. I had con- 
 versed with the Elder, with Deacon James, and several other breth- 
 ren, and found, if he could have one hundred and fifty dollars during 
 the year, he could devote his whole time to the ministry. There was 
 great destitution for fifty miles in each direction. Elder Farrar was 
 a moderate preacher, but^ godly, praying man, poor in this world's 
 goods, but his heart was in the work. He had truly a missionary 
 spirit, of which he gave evidence till his death, which took place 
 in 1829. Before I left this field, I had in subscriptions' over sixty 
 dollars, and a fair prospect that the whole would be made tip. But 
 there was ignorance of the most inexcusable kind, apathy, covet- 
 ousness, and bigotry in the church. There was a minority of 
 brethren of excellent spirit and desirous of seeing the plan carried 
 into effect. Some weeks after my visit, the subject was taken up 
 
ST. FRANCOIS — ^ELDER STREET. 121 
 
 in the church, which in fact had no business with it. The subscrip- 
 tions were voluntary. No one was pressed to give any thing. The 
 church, or at least the majority of the men who acted, were cer- 
 tainly under the influence of the Evil One. Like the persecutors 
 of Christ, they were blinded and knew not what they did. Ilie 
 majority actually voted that the subscription-papers be brought 
 forward and burnt ! The deed was done ! and I record this as the 
 first overt act by the antinomian and anti-mission faction in Mis- 
 souri. Nor have I ever heard in that State of as flagrant a viola- 
 tion of Baptist rights and privileges as this. The elder and the 
 dissenting brethren bore all this treatment with Christian meekness 
 and patience, but the church has never prospered. 
 
 On the 20th of November, in company with Elder Farrar, I 
 started southward down the St. Francois river, to visit the church 
 that was then the farthest south of any one in the Missouri Terri- 
 tory. We rode over a rough, unbroken tract of country about 
 twenty-five miles, and reached the cabin of Elder William Street 
 after dark. This church bore the name of St. Francois. Its loca- 
 tion could not have been far from the site of Greenville, the county- 
 seat of Wayne, which was established long after my visit. This 
 church was constituted July 11th, 1816, by the aid of Elders John 
 Farrar and James P. Edwards. There were ten males and thirteen 
 female members in the constitution. Elder William Street, who 
 had been accustomed to address his neighbors, and keep up religious 
 worship, was ordained by choice of the church the same day. One 
 of the constituents was Jonathan Hubbell, who, as I learned from 
 Elder Street, came into the country, and lived several years under 
 the Spanish Government, near the present site of Jackson. Though 
 never ordained, he preached to the people in a private way. He 
 had been a Baptist for many years, and was one of the first who 
 came into that part -of the territory. 
 
 Both the Providence and Belleview churches were at first " arms" 
 of Bethel church. Providence church was constituted in August, 
 1814, by aid of Elders Wilson Thompson, John Farrar, and James 
 E. Welch, from Kentucky, then a licentiate. The latter, by request, 
 wrote their articles of faith and covenant. A year or more before 
 this. Elder Farrar was ordained by Bethel church, aided by Elders 
 Colden Williams (then a preacher in the church), and Fielding 
 Wolfe from Kentucky. ^Ider Williams, shortly after this, was dis- 
 missed from Bethel church, and migrated to the Boon's Lick coun- 
 try, where I may notice him at a future time. 
 
 On Saturday, November 21. the St. Francois church held the 
 11 
 
122 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 monthly meeting in a rough log-cabin in the woods. The plan of 
 the " United Society for the spread of the gospel," was laid before 
 the church. Elder Street had the intelligence, kindness of heart, 
 and Christian spirit, to comprehend the plan, and engage heartily 
 in the work. Not another male member of this body of Christian 
 professors understood or cared about the object. They were stupid, 
 listless, and apparently indifferent to every thing. The people 
 throughout these extreme frontier settlements were quite ignorant ; 
 few could read, and fewer families had Bibles. They knew not the 
 name of a single missionary on earth, and could not comprehend 
 the reasons why money should be raised for the expenses, or why 
 ministers should leave their own neighborhood to preach the gospel 
 to the destitute. They manifested the same apathy in their worldly 
 business. A small cornfield and a truck-patch was the height of 
 their ambition. Yenison, bear-meat, and hog-meat dressed and 
 cooked in the most slovenly and filthy manner, with corn-bread 
 baked in form of a pone, and when cold as hard as a brickbat, con- 
 stituted their provisions. Cofiee and tea were prohibited articles 
 amongst this class ; for had they possessed the articles, not one 
 woman in ten knew how to cook them. Not a school had existed. 
 A kind of half-savage life appeared to be their choice. Elder Street 
 and family appeared to be an exception ; and he was doing his best 
 to raise his neighbors in the scale of civiUzation ; but he had a hard 
 field to cultivate. Doubtless, in a few years, when the land came 
 into market, this class of " squatters" cleared out for the frontier 
 range in Arkansas. Elder Street remained ; others of more indus- 
 try came in ; and some ten or twelve years later, we heard he had 
 organized a Bible-class and Sabbath-school, and taught it with suc- 
 cess. He was a moderate preacher, a spiritually-minded man, de- 
 siring to do all the good he could. The last time we find his name 
 on any document is as the preacher of St. Francois church, in the 
 minutes of the Black River Association, of which he was Moderator 
 in 1836. He died in 1843 or '44, at a very advanced age, probably 
 near ninety. 
 
 I returned home with Elder Farrar, Sabbath night. My route 
 that week was through Doe Run and Belleview settlements, where I 
 preached and introduced the plan of missions ; preached in several 
 other settlements ; was detained two days by a violent stomi of 
 rain, and preached at St. Louis on the 30th of November. 
 
 One specific object, during my excursions through the territory, 
 was to examine into the condition of the schools that existed, and 
 
IRISH SCHOOLMASTERS — CURIOUS CUSTOMS. 123 
 
 .aid the people in procuring a better class of teachers than could 
 generally be found. 
 
 After having gained correct knowledge by personal inspection in 
 most of the settlements, or by the testimony of rehable persons 
 living in such remote settlements as I could not visit, the conclu- 
 sion was that at least one-third of the schools were really a public 
 nuisance, and did the people more harm than good ; another third 
 about balanced the account, by doing about as much harm as good ; 
 and perhaps one-third were advantageous to the community in 
 various degrees. Not a few drunken, profane, worthless Irishmen 
 were perambulating the country, and getting up schools ; and yet 
 they could neither speak, read, pronounce, spell, or write the Eng-* 
 hsh language. These agents were encouraged by the priests to go 
 among the people. 
 
 A custom prevailed extensively, which had existed in the Southern 
 States from their early settlement, of turning out from the school- 
 house the master at Christmas, and frequently at Easter. This 
 custom can be traced back to the Feudal age in the mother country. 
 It belonged to the rude sports and semi-riots encouraged by the 
 Eomish priests and feudal lords, to keep the common people from 
 thinking about their down-trodden condition. These mock-festivals, 
 when the masses elected their "abbots of unreason," " bishops of mis- 
 rule," so graphically depicted by Walter Scott, are illustrations of the 
 anarchy permitted and even encouraged by the authorities in Church 
 and State. The half-reformed English hierarchy under Elizabeth, 
 James, and the Charleses, gave countenance to similar disorders to 
 gratify the whims, caprice, and the low sensualities of the people, 
 just as the priests, with their " file leader" in St. Louis, now encour- 
 age and countenance the low vices and Sunday revehngs of their 
 degraded subjects. 
 
 The schoolmaster riot was a common occurrence in Missouri at 
 the period of our date, and in not a few instances. The Irish mas- 
 ters to whom we have alluded, loved their poteen dearly ; and fre- 
 quently negotiated with the youngsters, who were ringleaders in 
 misrule, for a ''treat." "Cherry-bounce," sweetened with honey, 
 was the favorite beverage. The year before our tour South, men- 
 tioned above, Mr. O'Flaherty, not a hundred miles from Ste. Gene- 
 vieve, did more than his pupils exacted, the preceding Christmas. 
 He procured a supply of cherry-bounce, whisky and honey ; and 
 while he took his full share, distributed it so generously that one- 
 half his pupils were made " orful sick," as their parents expressed 
 it. Some had to be carried home, and the doctor called in ; while 
 
124 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the master required a wide path, and made zig-zag tracks in reach- 
 ing his lodging-place. He was turned out in fact by the indignant 
 parents. 
 
 Our eflforts were directed through the *' United Society" already 
 mentioned, to find out well-qualified teachers, and recommend them 
 to such settlements as would sustain them. This measure, fraught 
 with no small benefits to the people, cost us nothing but a little 
 trouble in corresponding and in our explorations. 
 
 On the 6th of December, at night, agreeably to previous arrange- 
 ments, I preached a missionary sermon in the Legislative Hall in 
 St. Louis, from Mark xvi. 19, 20, and received a collection of twenty- 
 *feix dollars and twenty-five cents for the "United Society," to sus- 
 tain itinerant missionaries within the territory. This was the ficst 
 collection for missions and the first sermon for that purpose iu 
 St. Louis. 
 
 A system of itinerant missions, or "circuit-preaching," as our 
 Methodist friends call it, is the most economical and successful 
 mode of supplying the destitute, and strengthening and building 
 up feeble churches, that has been tried. It is truly the apostolic 
 mode ; and if the finger of Divine providence ever pointed out a 
 method adapted to the circumstances of new and sparsely-settled 
 districts, it is itinerating or circuit missions. 
 
 The new-fangled notion that has gotten into Baptist heads, and 
 Baptist management of missions, that pastors of churches, and 
 none but pastors, are the instrumentalities God has appointed to 
 extend the borders of his kingdom, needs to be examined and 
 brought to the test of the Scriptures and common-sense. 
 
 "VVe know that bishops, or pastors,- were provided among the 
 ascension-giftSj and elders, or pastors (not one merely), were ap- 
 pointed in the apostolic churches. Their qualifications are specified 
 in the epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus. But we find no re- 
 port of the labors of this class of men. I should like some one to 
 give a sketch of the doings and success of these bishops, and refer- 
 ences made to the Scriptures where the history of these men's 
 labors is recorded. The Acts of the Apostles contains a sketch of 
 the labors of the apostles and evangelists ; but these were itinerants 
 and traveled from church to church, from country to country, as 
 pioneers in the gospel field. They planted and watered new churches, 
 and taught them to look out among their members men who were 
 able to preside over them. 
 
VISIT TO DANIEL BOONE. 125 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tour to the Boone's Lick Country. 
 
 Previous to this tour, and after consultation with Rev. Mr. Gid- 
 dings and other friends, Mr. Welch and the writer first held a meet- 
 ing with Mr. G. and drew up a plan for the Missouri Bible Society. 
 An abortive effort had been made, at the visit of Messrs. Mills 
 and Smith, to form such a society in 1814, but it proved a failure.* 
 A public meeting was held in Mr. Gidding's school-room, on the 9th 
 of December, and after a sermon by the writer from Psalm cxix. 97 : 
 *' 0, how I love thy law : it is my meditation all the day," the soci- 
 ety was formed. It was of course made auxiliary to the American 
 Bible Society, from which we received a supply of Bibles and Testa- 
 ments in the spring. I mention this as a point from which a system 
 of efforts proceeded in supplying the destitute population through- 
 out Missouri and Illinois. 
 
 Having made provision for my family to reside in St. Louis dur- 
 ing the winter, on the 12th of December I started on a tour on the 
 north side of the Missouri river for two months. I left my family 
 sick, but appointments had been sent forward ; and I knew of no 
 other way for an itinerant missionary, but to go forward, meet his 
 engagements, and trust his family and all things else to the disposal 
 of that Providence who watches over the birds of heaven, numbers 
 the hairs of each one's head, and has given assurance of being with 
 his ministers always, even to the end of the world. Nor have I 
 ever been disappointed in this exercise of confidence in the Divine 
 government. 
 
 From St. Charles, where I crossed the river amidst running-ice, 
 my route lay through the scattering settlements near the river, 
 
 * Rev. Samuel J. Mills and Rev. Daniel Smith, both natives of Con- 
 necticut, were sent forth as explorers by the missionary societies of 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut, who traveled extensively in the Mis- 
 sissippi valley, distributing the Scriptures and finding out the spir- 
 itual wants of the new settlements. The latter, Mr. Smith, settled 
 in Natchez, Miss., and the former, Mr. Mills, became the pioneer of 
 the Colonization Society in founding Liberia in Africa. 
 
126 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ■where I had appointments day and night. The " old Boone's Lick 
 trace" through the prairies was no route then for a missionary. 
 After passing the tavern-stand of Nicholas Kuntz, a rough, wicked, 
 and yet hospitable old German, the next pitch was '' Camp-branch," 
 fifty miles above St. Charles, and the next Yan-Bibber's at Loutre 
 Lick. I followed a bridle-path through the hills and bluffs near the 
 river. At old Brother Darst's house in Femme-Osage settlement, 
 I preached and formed a Mite society to aid the " United Society 
 for the spread of the gospel." Here I was met by Flanders Callei- 
 way, a leading member of the Baptist church near the mouth of 
 Charette, called Friendship. His wife, an excellent woman, was 
 Rebecca, the eldest daughter of Colonel Daniel Boone. After 
 dinner we rode together a few miles to the cabin of Squire Boone, 
 a nephew of Daniel. There has been a Squire and a Daniel in all 
 the old Boone families I have been able to trace out. Daniel had 
 a brother by the name of Squire. He had an uncle in Pennsyl- 
 vania, who raised a large family of children, and amongst them 
 were Daniel, Squire, and George. This coincidence of names in the 
 Boone connection has made sad work in the " biographies" and 
 "histories" of the veritable Daniel Boone. The Squire Boone and 
 his wife where we lodged were Baptists from Kentucky.. They 
 were true-hearted people, and possessed and retained the true mis- 
 sionary spirit. A few years later I found them above the Loutre, 
 and to the left of the Boone's Lick trace. 
 
 The morning of December 16th was clear, cold, and frosty. "We 
 started at the rising of the sun, and rode to Brother Callaway's 
 cluster of cabins on the bank of the Missouri — the distance being 
 twenty miles — where, in expectation, an excellent breakfast was in 
 rapid preparation. Here, for the first time, I saw and conversed 
 with the veritable Daniel Boone, the pioneer and hunter of Ken- 
 tucky. Instead of writing a new article of the impressions made 
 on my mind, as recorded in the life of Boone, found in Dr. Spark's 
 edition of the " Library of American biography," written in 1846, 
 vol. xxiii., two paragraphs are here inserted from that volume : 
 
 '* On his introduction to Colonel Boone, the impressions were 
 those of surprise, admiration, and delight. In boyhood, the writer 
 had read of Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky, the celebrated 
 Indian fighter ; and imagination had portrayed a rough, fierce- 
 looking, uncouth specimen of humanity, and of course at this period 
 of Ufe a fretful and unattractive old man. But in every respect 
 the reverse appeared. His high, bold forehead was slightly bald, 
 and his silvered locks were combed smooth ; his countenance was 
 
DANIEL BOONE. 12Y 
 
 ruddy and fair, and exhibited the simplicity of a child. A smile 
 frequently played over his countenance in conversation. His voice 
 was soft and melodious. At repeated interviews, an irritable ex- 
 ipression was never heard. His clothing was the coarse, plain manu- 
 facture of the family ; but every thing denoted that kind of comfort 
 that was congenial to his habits and feelings, and evinced a happy 
 old age. His room was part of a range of log-cabins kept in order 
 by his affectionate daughter and grand-daughters. 
 
 " Every member of the household appeared to take delight in ad- 
 ministering to his comforts. He was sociable, communicative in 
 replying to questions, but not in introducing incidents of his own 
 history. He was intelligent ; for he had treasured up the experience 
 and observations of more than fourscore 3^ears. In this and other 
 interviews, every incident of his eventful life might have been 
 drawn from his lips ; but veneration being the predominant feeling 
 which his presence excited, no more than a few brief notes were 
 taken. He spoke feelingly, and with solemnity, of being a creature 
 of Providence, ordained by heaven as a pioneer in the wilderness, 
 to advance the civilization and extension of his country." 
 
 He was not moody and unsocial, as if desirous of shunning t 
 society and civilization. 
 
 A thousand-and-one tales told of Colonel Daniel Boone are as 
 purely fictitious as the Arabian Nights' Entertainment. 
 
 I preached in the day and evening at the house of Mr. Callaway, 
 with Colonel Boone for a hearer. 
 
 On Thursday morning, the 17th of December, I rode along a blind 
 trail, or bridle-path, and over hills and through ravines, fifteen miles 
 to the cabin of Mr. James Stevenson. My route lay along the 
 blufi's that bordered on the Missouri river, the country thinly settled, 
 and wagon-tracks seldom seen. I had sent on an appointment at 
 Mr. McDermid's, but it had failed in being circulated. 
 
 Mr. S., of whose hospitality I was a welcome sharer, was an ex- 
 perienced hunter, then about sixty years of age. Two young 
 panthers graced the one room that answered for kitchen, dining- 
 hall, and lodging-room. My curiosity was gratified to hear and learn 
 something of the exploits of the chase. In our boyhood the story 
 of " Putnam and the wolf," so graphically described by Colonel 
 Humphry, his biographer, had been often read with thrilling in- 
 terest. But here was a man that threw old Putnam into the shade. 
 
 A few years previously to my visit, bear-hunting furnished both 
 sport and profit on both sides of the Missouri. On one year espe- 
 cially (we think it was 1807-8), the common black bear was so 
 
128 MEMOIR 10P JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 plenty on this range as to satiate and tire out the hunters. Mr. S. 
 narrated a most terrific account of a contest he had with a wounded 
 bear, and finished the story by exposing one of his arms and side, 
 where the teeth and claws of the enraged animal had left scars that 
 were truly frightful. The old hunter obtained the victory. He 
 had broken the barrel of his rifle over the head of the enraged 
 animal, and while one arm and his side were at the mercy of the 
 bear, he was successful in wresting his hunting-knife from its sheath, 
 and plunging it into the heart of his assailant. 
 
 My next appointment, at twelve o'clock, w^as twenty miles, and 
 no house on the route. Obtaining directions about the blind trail 
 I had to follow I returned thanks to my kind host, and was on my 
 horse before the sun peered his bright face over the bluffs, thinking 
 I could reach the preaching-station and get breakfast before the 
 people assembled. The day was pleasant, the air mild, and I found 
 it expedient to mail one overcoat with my traveling-valise behind 
 me. The morning wore away, and I must have traveled a dozen or 
 fifteen miles, when I found the path I had' followed came to an end. 
 I had passed divers paths that diverged to the right and left, but 
 the one I followed was the plainest, and the tracks of horses de- 
 ceived me, until I found myself in a large rush bottom. 
 
 "Taking the back-track" is the only remedy in such cases. As 
 I came to a fork I would follow that till it proved to be equally 
 fallacious. After several trials, I found myself in sight of the turbid 
 Missouri, and soon discovered that the path I had missed was a dim 
 trail that wound around a point of the bluff. I now pushed on in 
 hopes of making up for lost time, but I had not gone a mile before 
 I discovered that my overcoat and valise were gone from behind me. 
 
 The only alternative was to " take the back-track" again, and 
 ride till I found my missing property. This going and returning 
 caused me a ride of a dozen miles. The overcoat and other articles 
 lay unmolested in the path where they had dropped in the early 
 part of the day. Just as the sun set I came in sight of a clearing, 
 and, to my surprise, found more than twenty men and women, who 
 had patiently waited from the hour of twelve to hear the " strange 
 preacher." As some of the company had to return home, eight or 
 ten miles, that night, I arranged to preach at once to the com- 
 pany present. Several stayed through -the night, amongst whom 
 were Brethren Smith and Coats, who came to meet and pilot me 
 through to the monthly meeting of Salem church, on Coats' Prairie, 
 the next day. The family where we stayed were Methodists, and 
 once in three months a circuit-preacher visited them. 
 
A LATE BREAKFAST — WILLIAM COATS. 129 
 
 After the people had dispersed, our kind hostess set about pre- 
 paring supper for the familj'- and company who tarried. After com- 
 mencing the evening meal, Mrs. C. remarked, rather apologetically : 
 "I reckon that you have had no dinner to-day. I hope you will 
 find something that will answer." " I purpose, madam, to eat my 
 breakfast first, and then I will talk about dinner and supper." 
 " Law me, have you eat no breakfast to-day ?" "Not a morsel has 
 entered my mouth this day till I sat down to your table." I then 
 gave the company a brief sketch of my adventures during the day. 
 "But why did you not tell us when you first arrived? I would 
 have had a bite set before you at once." "Because I saw here a 
 number of people hungry for the gospel, and I knew they would 
 go home. I much preferred to do my preaching. Now I can eat 
 leisurely, and get a comfortable night's rest, and be off with these 
 brethren early in the morning." "And I shan't let you go before 
 breakfast, so you may make yourself easy." And sure enough, our 
 bustling, industrious, tidy hostess, had her table spread ; corn cakes, 
 venison, and fresh pork, with fine-flavored coffee, graced the board, 
 and a hearty welcome crowned all. Having had a season of family- 
 worship, we parted from this hospitable and pious family just as 
 the rising sun threw his beams on the tops of the forest trees. 
 
 The weather was quite moderate, and a pleasant ride of fifteen 
 miles brought us to the cabin of Brother AVilliara Coats, on the 
 border of a little prairie that bore his name, as the first settler in 
 all that region. Here my colleague gathered a small church the 
 preceding June, and mine was the first visit of a Baptist preacher 
 more than six months after. Prayer-meetings had been kept up 
 by Brethren Coats and Smith. The church was called Salem. 
 
 Brother Coats had been a member of a Baptist church more 
 than twenty 3^ears. During this period, whenever he enjoyed the 
 presence of God, his mind was deeply exercised about preaching 
 the gospel to his fellow-men ; but when in a worldly, backshding 
 state, these impressions left him. He came from Tennessee in 
 1817, and made the first settlement on the prairie that bore his 
 name. We held a long conversation with him about his duty, and 
 in less than two years he was numbered among the preachers. 
 
 Lord's-day, December 20th. The people collected from the scat- 
 tering settlements ten or fifteen miles around to hear the gospel. 
 I preached from Ephes. ii. 8 : " For by grace are ye saved through 
 faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God." 
 
 There was a vein of crude antinomianism that ran through the 
 minds of that class of Baptists who claimed descent from the party 
 
130 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 called " Eegulars" in Kentucky and Tennessee. They could not 
 comprehend that God in all the sovereign displays of his grace 
 worked by means, and made use of instrumentalities in the con- 
 version of sinners. Hence preachers, with crude and imperfect 
 notions about God working in us to do his own will and pleasure, 
 knew not how to preach the gospel to unconverted sinners. These 
 mistaken notions lay at the bottom of opposition to missions and 
 to all instrumentalities for the conversion of men. The mind of 
 Brother Coats, before referred to, had been stereotyped with the 
 fallacies he had heard, mixed up with gospel truth, from early life. 
 He was a plain, strong-minded man, who read the Bible and thought 
 out its meaning for himself; but he had been trained under that 
 mode of preaching which hampered his feelings. He lost twenty 
 years of usefulness for want of Scriptural instruction when he first 
 joined the church. For, amongst other errors, this class of preach- 
 ers taught that no one must intermeddle with those whom God 
 called to the ministry ; He would bring them out " in his own good 
 time." 
 
 At the close of preaching, the " Coats' Prairie Mite Society, 
 auxiliary," etc., was formed and several dollars raised. After 
 meeting closed, I rode ten miles in company with Brother Thomas 
 Smith, with whom I had formed an interesting acquaintance at 
 the Missouri Association in October. He was an active, intel- 
 ligent man, with a clear, strong mind, and one of the very few 
 lay-brethren I found who understood the duty of a Christian pro- 
 fessor. His wife was a daughter of David Darst, one of the old 
 pioneers who came into the country and settled on the Femme- 
 Osage, under the Spanish Government. 
 
 Brother Smith had none of the troubles of Brother Coats in 
 reconciling the purposes of God with the means and instrument- 
 alities He has directed us to employ. He was clear-headed in 
 Scripture doctrine, and warm-hearted in Christian practice. But 
 the mysterious providence of God saw fit to cut him down in a few 
 years and take him to the kingdom on high ! 
 
 Monday, the 21st, was spent with this hospitable family in writing 
 and arranging my affairs for the further prosecution of the mission. 
 
 Tuesday, 22d. Accompanied by Brother Smith, I set off at an 
 early hour. A ride of fifteen miles brought me to the French vil- 
 lage of Cote Sans Dessein (literally, " a hill without purpose.") 
 This village derives its name from an isolated hill or bluff that 
 stands, as if by accident, near the left bank of the river, a short 
 distance above the town site. 
 
BRAVERY or LOUIS ROI. 131 
 
 A colony of French families, at the head of which was Baptiste 
 Louis Eoi, settled here in 1808. The Indians began to be trouble- 
 some in 1812, and M. Roi, with a few others, erected a block-house 
 and an inclosure with palisades to protect the families. But as 
 danger approached, Roi was deserted by his comrades, who went 
 down the river in canoes, and left him with his men and a dozen 
 women and children to defend the fort. In the spring of 1814, they 
 were assailed by a large company of hostile savages. One of the 
 men took fright, hid himself, muttered over the prayers he learned 
 from the priest, and crossed himself, till he was driven from his 
 hiding-place by Roi, who threatened to shoot him if he did not quit 
 his foolery and fight for his life. 
 
 The heroic women cast bullets, cut patches, and loaded the rifles, 
 while Roi and his unflinching comrade poured on the assailants a 
 murderous fire in defence of the fort till fourteen braves were slain, 
 and many more wounded. After several bold attempts to storm 
 the fort, they were driven back with reduced numbers. They then 
 fastened combustible materials to their arrows and attempted to 
 burn the building. The supply of water in the fort was scanty, 
 but the women used it with parsimonious economy. The blazing 
 torches of the savages were sent on the roof with frightful ac- 
 curacy from a ravine that sheltered the assailants, and each new 
 blaze called out the demoniac yells of the Indians. At this crisis 
 the water was drained from the last bucket, and the blazing fire 
 broke out afresh ! Even Baptiste Roi himself looked aghast on 
 the helpless group around him ; the house on fire, and no means to 
 extinguish it ! Must they be burned alive, or fall victims to the 
 tomahawk and scalping-knife ! Just at that crisis, Madame Roi ap- 
 peared with the night-vessel from her lodging-room, the contents 
 of which just served to extinguish the fire and save the lives of 
 the party. The Indians with the howl of despair departed with 
 their wounded, leaving the dead bodies of fourteen braves to be 
 interred by the heroic defenders. 
 
 It was not till after the war that this extraordinary defense be- 
 came generally known. The young men of St. Louis honored him 
 with the present of a costly rifle for his gallant behavior. 
 
 Passing along the river bank, I reached the house of a Mr. Fer- 
 gusson, where my reception was friendly and hospitable. Here I 
 found a copy of Goldsmith's writings, and several other choice 
 books — a rare thing in that early period of log-cabins. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, the 23d, I found my horse was sick and 
 lame. It was the same horse that brought my family from the 
 
132 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 State of Connecticut to Shawneetown, and which performed hard 
 and valuable service through the summer and autumn. After 
 some detention, I rode a short distance to the cabin of a Mr. Scott, 
 where I preached to a small company. 
 
 Next morning, my horse being some better, I rode twelve miles 
 to Round Prairie in company with a young man by the name of 
 Henderson. Here I stopped a while to converse and pray with 
 Mrs. Henderson, the mother of my traveling companion. She be- 
 longed to the Presbyterian Church when she left the old States, and 
 expressed great satisfaction to see a minister of Christ. It was no 
 unusual occurrence to find intelligent and pious Christians in the 
 scattered log-cabins on these frontiers. And no service is more 
 important in the labors of an itinerant than family visits, and in- 
 structing and consoling the people of God, who, hke sheep scattered 
 through the wilderness, are beyond the reach of the pastor. After 
 a season of Christian conversation and prayer, and partaking of 
 refreshments, I proceeded forward to the Two-Mile Prairie, and 
 received the hospitality of a Mr. Brant. 
 
 December 25th. The people with whom I tarried last night are 
 young, with one little child, appear to be in fine health and spirits, and 
 have come to this new country to obtain land at government-prices 
 when it comes into market. They are industrious, active, and keep 
 private entertainment for travelers. They are not religious, but 
 civil and quiet, as were four travelers who tarried at the same place, 
 liearning by inquiry that I was a missionary, I was invited to pray 
 with the company before we retired. This morning they refused 
 pay for my entertainment, and invited me to call and preach when- 
 ever I passed that way. 
 
 To-day my route was* first across the Two Mile Prairie. It de- 
 rives its name from its average width, commences between two 
 points of timber towards the Missouri, and extends a long distance 
 northward until lost in the Grand Prairie. Here are about a dozen 
 families in log-cabins scattered along its borders. Crossing this 
 prairie in a horse trail, and after riding several miles through tim- 
 ber and brushwood, I came to a Mr. H 's, where report said break- 
 fast could be obtained, and which off'ered quite a contrast with the 
 family of last night. The cabin was a single room of most primi- 
 tive fashion, spice-bush tea was a substitute for coffee, and the flesh 
 of hog, bear, deer, and elk was plenty, of which the landlord showed 
 me enough to supply a regiment. The corn-dodgers were cold and 
 quite unpalatable ; for the good womcfn had never learned the art 
 of cleanliness and cookery. The man was a successful hunter, but 
 
TWO MILE PRAIRIE — A BAPTIST MUTE. 133 
 
 probably understood very little of agriculture. I paid fifty cents 
 for these accommodations ; for my horse was lame, and refused to 
 eat. 
 
 As I proceeded westward, cabins and smokes from clearings be- 
 came more frequent. The Methodist circuit-preachers, Messrs. 
 McAllister and Jones, pass through and preach in these scattering 
 settlements about once in six weeks, and Dr. David Doyle, a Baptist 
 minister from North Carolina, settled the last spring to the left of 
 my trail and near the Two Mile Prairie. He will soon gather the 
 scattered Baptists in this region into the field, 
 
 I could only travel my broken-down horse in a slow walk, and 
 night found me under the hospitable roof of Mr. Crump, where I 
 was kindly entertained. He was not a professor of religion, but 
 had the character of an orderly, excellent man. His wife was a 
 neat, tidy person, and the mother of three children. 
 
 December 2Qth. As I was about to start on my way towards 
 Franklin, a Baptist by name of Anderson Woods came along, and 
 was hailed by Mr. Crump. He was on his way to the monthly 
 meeting of Bethel church, at the house of Lazarus Wilcox, and 
 finding my horse was no better, I struck into the trail, and in 
 half an hour we were at the place of meeting, and soon surrounded 
 by the members of the church and others. Brother Woods was 
 not then in the ministry, but could lead a meeting in prayer and 
 exhortation. By request, I preached to the little congregation 
 before church-meeting, and again at night to six persons, one of 
 whom was a deaf mute from his birth. He was singularly intelli- 
 gent for one of that unfortunate class. He knew what we were 
 about in worshiping God. His brother. Deacon Wilcox, Telatcd an 
 incident that was proof of his knowledge and correct views of the 
 infinitely Holy God. He had occasion to correct his little son for 
 telling a lie. 
 
 The deaf mute was much attached to the child, and when the 
 father had corrected and given him a serious talk, the mute got an 
 old book in the house, with divers religious emblems for a frontis- 
 piece. One of these was the figure of a large human eye in one 
 of the upper corners. The deaf mute placed the boy between his 
 knees, and while the tears of sympathy and sorrow rolled down his 
 cheeks, he pointed to the emblem of the All-seeing Eye, raised it 
 upward and then to the boy as though he would pierce him. This 
 was the most impressive way he could say : " The eye of God is 
 on you, looks into your heart, and will punish you for lying." 
 
 ^This was done several times. This man, as I learned at a sub- 
 12 
 
134 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 sequent period, told his experience to the church by signs ; his 
 brother, being interpreter, was baptized and lived a Christian life. 
 
 Bethel church was situated on the waters of the Moniteau, 
 twenty miles east of Old Franklin. It was organized June 27th, 
 1817, by the ministry of Elders David McLain and Wm. Thorp. 
 
 On Lord's-day, the 27th, the weather was pleasant, the sun shone 
 bright, and all nature appeared gay and cheerful. The people report 
 the season as unusually mild and pleasant. 
 
 I preached from 1 Pet. iii. 18. The house contained two rooms, 
 and was crowded with people, who gave respectful attention. The 
 Bettlers in this region, in general, appear to be a respectable class 
 of citizens, tolerably well-informed, and enjoy gospel privileges to 
 a greater extent than in most parts of the territory. 
 
 On Monday, I rode through the country to Franklin, found a 
 Baptist family by name of Wiseman, where I had been directed to 
 call. A hasty appointment was circulated, and I preached to a 
 roomful of people. * 
 
 Franklin is a. village of seventy families. It is situated on the 
 left bank of the Missouri, and on the border of an extensive tract 
 of rich, alluvial bottom land, covered with a heavy forest, except 
 where the axe and fires had destroyed the undergrowth, " dead- 
 ened" the timber and prepared the fields for the largest crops of 
 corn. 
 
 If any one wishes to find the site of this flourishing town, as it 
 then appeared to promise, he must examine the bed of the river 
 directly opposite Booneville. Repeated floods, many years since, 
 drove the inhabitants to the bluff, with such of their houses- as 
 could be removed, where New Franklin, not a very thriving place, 
 now stands. At the period of our visit, no town west of St. Louis 
 gave better promise for rapid growth than Franklin. There was 
 no church formed in the village, but I found fourteen Baptists 
 there. 
 
 The country on. the north side of the Missouri above the Cedar, 
 a small stream on the western border of the present county of 
 Callaway, was known as Boone's Lick from an early period. Also 
 under the same cognomen was the country designated on the south 
 side and west of the Osage river. The particular salt-lick to which 
 this appellation was first given was ten or twelve miles above old 
 Franklin and about two miles back from the river. Tradition told that 
 this spot, in a secluded place among the bhiffs. was occupied by the 
 old pioneer, the veritable Daniel Boone, for his hunting-camp. But 
 the name came from the late Major Nathan Boone, who in company 
 
BOONE'S LICK — INDIAN MASSACRES. 135 
 
 •with the Messrs. Morrisons of St. Charles, manufactured salt at the 
 spring in 1806-7. About the same time a settlement was made on 
 the Loutre and on Loutre Island. This settlement, except Cote 
 Sans Dessein, was the veritable ** Far West" imtil 1810. 
 
 During the spring of 1810 several families from Loutre settle- 
 ment, and a large number, then recently from Kentucky, moved 
 westward and planted themselves in the Boone's Lick country, then 
 reported as the el dorado of all new countries. Off from the river 
 bottoms the land was undulating, the prairies small, the soil rich, 
 and the timber in variety and of a fine quality. Deer, bears, elk, 
 and other game were in abundance, and furnished provisions, and, 
 in many instances, clothing, until the people could raise crops. 
 
 There were in all about one hundred and fifty families that came 
 into the Boone's Lick country in 1810-11, when the Indian war 
 stopped further immigration till 1815 or 1816. Twelve families 
 settl^ on the south side of the river, not far from the present site 
 of Booneville, and several more formed a settlement south of the 
 Missouri, some ten or fifteen miles above Old Franklin. 
 
 Amongst the emigrants, both from Loutre and Kentucky, were 
 not a few Baptist families and two or three preachers. A church 
 had been organized in the Loutre settlement, a majority of which, 
 with their church records, were among the emigrants, and became 
 reorganized, and I think took the name of Mount Zion. 
 
 Soon the hostile Indians broke into these remote frontier settle- 
 ments. It was in July, 1810, that a hostile band of Pottawatomies 
 came stealthily into the settlement on the Loutre, nearly opposite 
 the mouth of the Gasconade river, and stole a number of horses. 
 A volunteer company was raised, consisting of Stephen Cole, Will 
 liam T. Cole, Messrs. Brown, Gooch, Patton, and one other person, to 
 follow them. They followed the trail across Grand Prairie to Bone 
 Lick, a branch of Salt river, where they discovered eight Indians 
 who threw off their packs of plunder, and scattered in the woods. 
 Night coming on, the party disregarded the advice of their leader, 
 Stephen Cole, an experienced man with Indians. He advised set- 
 ting a guard, but the majority exclaimed against it, and cried 
 ** cowardice." About midnight the Indian yell and the death-deal- 
 ing bullet aroused them from sleep. Stephen Cole had taken his 
 station at the foot of a tree, and if he slept, it was with one eye 
 open. He killed four Indians, and wounded the fifth, though se- 
 verely wounded himself. William T. Cole, his brother, was killed 
 at the commencement of the fight, with two other persons. Next 
 morning the survivors reached the settlement and told the dread- 
 
136 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ful tidings, and a party returned to the spot, buried the dead, but 
 found the Indians gone. 
 
 This was the first of a series of depredations, murders, and rob- 
 beries in these remote settlements that continued five years. The 
 district of St. Charles had the Cedar for its western boundary. The 
 Boone's Lick country was not recognized as within the organized 
 territory of Missouri. The people were " a law unto themselves," 
 and had to do their own fighting. Ev,ery male inhabitant of the 
 settlement, who was capable of bearing arms, enrolled and equipped 
 himself for defense. Each one pledged himself to fight, to labor 
 on the forts, to go on scouting-expeditions, or to raise corn for the 
 community, as danger or necessity required. By the common con- 
 sent of all these volunteer parties, Colonel Benjamin Cooper, a 
 Baptist from Madison county, Ky., was chosen commander-in-chief. 
 
 Colonel Cooper was one of Kentucky's noblest pioneers. He 
 had also been a prominent man in the wars with Indians in that 
 district, possessed real courage, cool and deliberate, with great skill 
 and sagacity in judgment. He had also been an efficient man in 
 the aff"airs of civil and political life, and a man of firmness and 
 correctness as a member of the church. 
 
 Among the principal officers who occupied subaltern positions 
 as the commanders of forts and partisan leaders for detached field- 
 service were Captain Sarshall Cooper (a brother of the Colonel), 
 William Head and Stephen Cole. 
 
 To guard against surprise, the people, under the direction of their 
 leader, erected five stockade forts : 
 
 1. Cooper' s fort was at the residence of the Colonel, on a bottom- 
 prairie. 
 
 2. McLairi' s fort (called Fort Hempstead afterward) was on the 
 bluff, about one mile from New Franklin. 
 
 3. Kmcaid's fort was near the river, and about one and a half 
 miles above the site of Old Franklin. 
 
 4. Head's fort was on the Moniteau, near the old Boone's Lick 
 trace from St. Charles. 
 
 5. Cole's fort was on the south side of the Missouri, about a mile 
 below Booneville. Here the widow of W.T. Cole, who was slain 
 by the Indians on Boone's Lick, with her children, settled soon after 
 the murder of her husband. 
 
 These forts were a refuge to the families when dangers threat- 
 ened, but the defenders of the country did not reside in them only 
 as threatened danger required. Scouting-parties were almost con- 
 stantly engaged scouring the woods in the rear of the settlements, 
 
STOCKADE PORTS — PERILS OP PIONEERS. 13t 
 
 watching for Indian signs, and protecting their stock from depre- 
 dations. 
 
 With all their vigilance during the war, about three hundred 
 horses were stolen ; many cattle and nearly all their hogs were 
 killed. Bear-meat and raccoon-bacon became a substitute, and 
 even were engaged in contracts for trade. They cultivated the 
 fields nearest to the stockade-forts, which could be cultivated in 
 corn with comparative security, but not enough to supply the 
 amount necessary for consumption. 
 
 Parties were detailed to cultivate fields more distant. These 
 were divided into plowmen and sentinels. The one party followed 
 the plows, and the other, with rifles loaded and ready, scouted 
 around the field on every side, stealthily watching lest the wily foe 
 should form an ambuscade. Often the plowman walked over the 
 field, guiding his horses and pulverizing the earth, with his loaded 
 rifle slung at his back. 
 
 With all these precautions, few men but would tread stealthily 
 along the furrows. As he approached the end of the corn-rows, where 
 the adjacent woodland might -conceal an enemy, his anxiety was at 
 its height. When these detachments were in the cornfield, if the 
 enemy threatened the fort, the sound of the horn gave the alarm, 
 and all rushed to the rescue. 
 
 It was in the autumnal season of corn-gathering, that a party of 
 these farming soldiers were hard pressed by a party of savages. A 
 negro servant drove the team with a load of corn. He knew nothing 
 of chariot races among the ancients, but he put the lash on the 
 horses, and drove through the large double-gateway without touch- 
 ing either post, as had been too often his unlucky habit. The 
 Indians were on the opposite side of the clearing, saw their prey 
 had escaped, raised their accustomed yell, and disappeared in the 
 woods. " Oh, Sam," said the Captain, whose servant he was, 
 "you've saved your scalp this time by accurate and energetic 
 driving !" 
 
 "Yes, Massa, I tink so," at the same time scratching his wool as 
 if he would make doubly sure that the useful appendage was not 
 missing. " De way I done miss dose gate-posts was no red man's 
 business. I never drove trew afore without I hit one side, and 
 sometimes bose of dem." 
 
 These pioneer Boone's Lick settlers deserve to be known and 
 had in remembrance by the present generation in that populous 
 and rich district of the State. I regret exceedingly, now it is too late, 
 that I did not gather many more facts, and record the names of the 
 
138 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 principal families. They suffered as many privations as any frontier 
 settlement in western history. The men were all heroes and the 
 women heroines, and successfully and skilfully defended their fami- 
 lies and the country about three years without the least aid from 
 the national or territorial government. Throughout the war but 
 ten persons were killed by Indians in all the settlements about 
 Boone's Lick. Several other persons besides those already men- 
 tioned were killed in the Loutre settlements and below. 
 
 Those killed in the Boone's Lick country were Sarshall Cooper, 
 Jonathan Todd, William Campbell, Thomas Smith, Samuel McMa- 
 han, William Gregg, John Smith, James Busby, Joseph W. Still, 
 and a negro man. Captain Sarshall Cooper came to his tragic end 
 at Cooper's fort, where his family resided. It was a dark night ; 
 the wind howled through the forest, and the rain fell in fitful gusts, 
 and the watchful sentinel could not discern an object six feet from 
 the stockade. Captain Cooper's residence formed one of the angles 
 of the fort. He had previously run up a long account with the 
 red-skins. They dreaded both his strategy and his prowess in 
 Indian warfare. A single brave crept stealthily in the darkness 
 and storm to the logs of the cabin, and made an opening in the 
 clay between the logs barely sufficient to admit the muzzle of his 
 gun, which he discharged with fatal effect. The assassin escaped 
 and left the family and every settler in mourning. Among a large 
 circle of relatives and friends, the impressions of their loss were 
 vivid at the period of our first visit. 
 
 After nearly three years of hard fighting and severe suffer- 
 ing, Congress made provision for raising several companies of 
 ''rangers" — men who furnished their own horses, equipments, 
 forage and provisions, and received one dollar per day for yarding 
 the frontier settlements — when a detachment was sent to the relief 
 of the people of Boone's Lick, under command of General Henry 
 S. Dodge, then major of the battalion. The mounted rangers in- 
 cluded the companies of Captain John Thompson of St. Louis, 
 Captain Daugherty of Cape Girardeau, and Captain Cooper of the 
 Boone's Lick. An expedition under command of Captain Edward 
 Hempstead was sent in boats up the Missouri. In the companies 
 were fifty Delawares and Shawnees, and two hundred and fifty 
 Americans. On the south bank of the Missouri, at a place now 
 known as Miami, was an Indian town of four hundred, including 
 women and children, who had migrated from the Wabash country 
 a few years previous. They were friendly and peaceable ; but bad 
 
CAPTAIN CALLAWAY — LUKE WILLIAMS. 139 
 
 Indians would report bad tales of them, and Major Dodge, under 
 instructions, guarded them" back to the Wabash country. 
 
 One more disastrous event, though it occurred in the Loutre, 
 deserves a brief record. Early in the season of 1814, the Sauks 
 and Pottawatomies stole horses in the neighborhood of Loutre 
 island. Fifteen or twenty rangers, commanded by Captain James 
 Callaway, being out on a tour of observation, accidentally fell on 
 their trail, and followed it. They came on the Indians in their 
 camp near the head of Loutre creek, found the horses, but the 
 Indians seemingly had fled. They retook the horses, and proceeded 
 toward the settlement until they reached Prairie Fork. Here the 
 captain, desirous of reheving the men who had charge of the horses 
 in the rear, gave the command to Lieutenant Riggs, who went on 
 with the main party. In a short time Captain Callaway and the 
 men who had charge of the horses were fired on by a large party 
 of Indians who lay in ambuscade, and he was severely wounded. 
 He broke the line of the Indians, while men and horses fled ; rode 
 towards the main Loutre, where he was again intercepted by the 
 savage enemy, and, being mortally wounded, fell from his horse 
 as he attempted to swim the stream and expired. Four rangers 
 of his party, McDermot, Hutchinson, McMillan and Gillmore, were 
 killed. 
 
 Captain Callaway was the son of Flanders Callaway, and grand- 
 son of Daniel Boone. He was respected and lamented by all who 
 knew him. The county of Callaway bears his name to posterity. 
 
 On my first visit to the Boone's Lick settlements, January, 1819, 
 there were five preachers and five churches on the Baptist platform. 
 Concord, I am inclined to think, had its origin in the party from 
 Loutre, already noticed ; and if so, it ranks first in the order of 
 time. This church was in what Is now Cooper county in the set- 
 tlement south of Booneville. It gave name to the Concord Asso- 
 ciation, the history of which will be noticed in due time. 
 
 From this church, about the time or soon after my first visit to 
 this part of Missouri, a preacher was raised up, and for a few years 
 was remarkably successful in the conversion of sinners and estab- 
 lishing churches. His name was Luke Williams. It appears on 
 the minutes of Mount Pleasant Association as a licentiate in 1820. 
 He settled on a quarter section of public land, which he could hold 
 by pre-emption for a limited period ; for he had no money to buy 
 land, and no means of getting any unless he should quit the min 
 istry and engage in secular business, as some of his brethren did 
 He was one of the most self-sacrificing itinerants in those days 1 
 
140 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ever knew. His zeal and Christian enterprise prompted him to 
 ride and preach through all the settlements to the extreme western 
 frontiers. No missionary society aided him ; no churches — even 
 those raised up under his ministry, and who claimed a share of his 
 time and talents — gave him a dollar. He had put up a cabin, made 
 a "truck-patch," and a cornfield, before he engaged in the ministry. 
 He stayed at home only long enough to cultivate, with the aid of 
 his industrious wife and little children, a crop of corn. The calls 
 on him to preach to the destitute churches were numerous and 
 pressing, but the members, not excepting the deacons, were too 
 intent on saving every dollar they could get to buy land when it 
 came into the market. Then a large majority of the Baptists that 
 came into the early settlements of Boone's Lick had strong preju- 
 dices, as unreasonable as they were unscriptural, against giving 
 any compensation to ministers. They made the egregious blunder 
 that because the gospel was " without money and without price," 
 therefore they might take the time and the talents of a minister 
 of Christ for their own use, and rob him of the means of support 
 due to his family. Luke Williams gave away many hundred dollars 
 in his time and talents for the personal benefit of those who were 
 too ignorant, too full of prejudice, or too avaricious to do justice to 
 one of Christ's laborious and self-sacrificing servants. Yet God was 
 with him, and scores of sinners were converted under his ministry. 
 He died after a short but severe illness, early in September, 1824 ; 
 leaving his land without a title, and his wife and little ones without 
 a shelter they could call their own. An attempt was made after 
 his decease, at the Fishing River Association, to raise a fund to 
 enable the widow to enter the land for the children ; but I am under 
 the impression that for want of promptitude, and taking "pledges" 
 and "promises" instead of dollars, the effort proved abortive. 
 
 Elder J. Hubbard, who was an old man and had been long in the 
 ministry, was a resident and a preacher in Howard county on my 
 first visit. He possessed a strong mind, and had received a better 
 education in early life than his brethren in the ministry. He was 
 clear-headed, Calvinistic in doctrine, and yet free from the blunders 
 of those who could not reconcile the duty of sinners to repent and 
 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with the sovereignty of God in 
 the dispensation 'of his grace. I found no preacher in Missouri, 
 and few anywhere else, who had such fuU and correct knowledge of 
 the Holy Scriptures as Elder Hubbam possessed. Yet he was 
 modest and unassuming, without the least dogmatism in giving his 
 views when solicited. He was quite deaf, and could enjoy con- 
 
DAVID M'LAIN — INDIAN FIGHT. 141 
 
 versation only when his brethren spoke in a distinct tone of 
 voice. 
 
 Elder Edward Turner was from Kentucky, and came to Howard 
 county soon after the close of the war. He was a man of moderate 
 abilities, and of correct deportment as a minister of the gospel. 
 His name appears on the minutes of Mount Pleasant Association 
 of 1820. 
 
 Elder Golden Williams was another of the early Baptist minis- 
 ters in the Boone's Lick settlements. He came there from Cape' 
 Girardeau county, where he had been pastor of Bethel church. 
 He possessed a strong discriminating mind, loved the work of the 
 ministry, and was faithful in his calUng. His membership was in 
 Mount Zion church, where he furnished the monthly supply. I 
 trace his name on the minutes of the association as a messenger 
 from that church till 1830, when it disappears. He was much re- 
 spected as a minister, and probably was called home about that 
 time. 
 
 The only one that remains to be noticed is Elder David McLain. 
 He was the first Baptist minister that came from central Kentucky 
 to the Boone's Lick country with the first colony in 1810. Early 
 in March, 1813, he started on horseback to Kentucky in company 
 with a man by name of Young. They traveled without molestation 
 till they reached Hill's ferry on the Kaskaskia river, old trace from 
 St. Louis to Vincennes, Carlyle, the seat of justice of Clinton county, 
 111. Three families that resided here, being alarmed by Indian 
 signs, had left the ferry for one of the settlements in St. Clair 
 county. The ferry-boat being fastened to the west bank, the two 
 travelers crossed with their horses, and had not proceeded more 
 than half a mile before they were fired on by Indians. Mr. Young 
 was shot, and fell from his horse. Mr. McLain's horse was shot 
 through the body, and fell ; but the rider extricated himself, threw 
 his saddle-bags into the bush, and ran for his life with several In- 
 dians in chase. Soon after, all the Indians fell back but one stout, 
 athletic fellow, that seemed determined not to lose his prey. Elder 
 McLain was encumbered with a thick overcoat, with wrappers on 
 his legs, and boots and spurs on his feet. The Indian fired and 
 missed him, which gave him the chance to throw off his overcoat, 
 in hopes the prize would attract the attention of his pursuer. The 
 other Indians having fallen ba^ek, Mr. McLain made signs of sur- 
 render as this one approached him, having loaded his gun. In this 
 way he deceived his foe till he got within a few feet, when he as- 
 sumed an attitude of defiance, watched his motions, and, at the 
 
142 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 instant he fired, dodged the ball, and then, with all the energy he 
 could command, ran for his life. The contest continued more than 
 one hour, during which his foe fired at him seven times. In one 
 instance as he threw his breast forward, unfortunately he threw 
 his elbow back and received the ball in his arm. During the chase 
 he contrived to throw of his boots and spurs. They had run three 
 or four miles in the timbered bottom down the river, and at a bend 
 came near the bank. Elder McLain found himself nearly exhausted, 
 mnd it seemed to him his last chance of escape was to swim the 
 river. He plunged in, making the utmost efl'ort of his remaining 
 strength, and yet he had to keep an eye constantly fixed on his 
 wily foe, who had loaded his gun for the eighth time, and from the 
 bank brought it to a poise, and fired a second of time after McLain 
 dove in deep water. By sw^imming diagonally down the stream he 
 had gained on his pursuer, who, with the savage yell peculiar on 
 such occasions, gave up the chase and returned to his band. Doubt- 
 less his report to the braves was that he had followed a " great- 
 medicine," who was so charmed that his inusket balls could not 
 hurt him. 
 
 On reaching the shore, Mr. McLain was so exhausted that it was 
 with the utmost difficulty he could crawl up the bank ; for he was 
 in a profuse perspiration when he plunged into the cold water. He 
 was wet, chilled through, badly wounded, and could not stand until 
 he had rolled himself on the ground, and rubbed his limbs to bring 
 the blood into circulation. It was thirty-five miles to the Badgley 
 settlement, where Elder Daniel Badgley and several Baptist fami- 
 lies Hved, which Mr. McLain, after incredible effort and sufferings, 
 reached the next morning. There, with his wounded arm, and a 
 burning fever, he lay several weeks, till some of his friends came 
 from the Boone's Lick settlements, and took him to his family. A 
 party of volunteers went over the Kaskaskia river, buried Mr. Young, 
 found McLain's saddle-bags, with the contents safe, but saw no 
 Indians. 
 
 I will now resume my journal, commencing January 1st, 1819, 
 on which I left Franklin, and rode twenty-five miles a northwestern 
 ;ourse to Chariton, where I called on and received a cordial welcome 
 from General Duff Green and his family. It may now amuse the 
 inhabitants on my route to read my remarks and speculations about 
 the new country in which I traveled for a month : 
 
 " The country over which I rode is naturally rich and fertile and 
 rapidly settling. This part of the territory will soon become the 
 garden of Missouri. The surface of the land over which for a few 
 
CHARITON — FIRST SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 143 
 
 miles I traveled before I reached this new town is rough and broken, 
 but will probably become valuable. 
 
 " Chariton, containing- about thirty'- families, has been laid off on 
 a stream of the same name. In the winter of 1816-17, it was the 
 wintering-ground of a tribe of Indians. The following summer, 
 three or four log-cabins were erected. Within a year the increase 
 has been rapid, and, in view of trade and business, it is thought 
 to be superior to any situation on the Missouri river. The Chariton 
 consists of three principal streams or branches that take their rise 
 in the great prairies far in the north, each of which when not un- 
 usually low is navigable for keel-boats. These branches unite their 
 waters in one noble channel as they approach the town, forming a 
 stream navigable for steamboats, and a safe harbor at all seasons. 
 
 " This stream forms a beautiful semi-circle, in the bend of which 
 lies the town site, the lower end of the circle touching on the Mis- 
 souri. On the east side of the town-plat lies a range of hills oi 
 bluffs, giving a romantic and variegated appearance. Some, like 
 pyramids, rise abruptly into the air, and from their summits show 
 one of the most delightful prospects in nature. Ascending one of 
 these bluffs, which rose majestically from the town site, I had an 
 extensive view of the surrounding country. To the west and north- 
 west the prospect is almost boundless." 
 
 On the Sabbath (January 3d), though in constant pain from a 
 swollen and inflamed face, I preached at twelve o'clock and again 
 at night. » 
 
 There are several very respectable and intelligent families in this 
 town, and several unquestionably pious. At night I called the at- 
 tention of the ladies to the formation of a " Female Mite Societ}^," 
 to aid the " United Society for the spread of the gospel," in sus- 
 taining some of our preachers in traveling and preaching in des- 
 titute settlements. This " Mite Society" was organized the follow- 
 ing week, of twenty-two members, who subscribed thirty-six dollars. 
 The officiating persons chosen were Mrs. Lucretia M, Green, Presi- 
 dent ; Mrs. Henrietta C. D. Finlay, Secretary ; Mrs. Polly Allen, 
 Treasurer ; and Mrs. Mary Ann Campbell and Miss Ann Green, 
 Assistant Directors. In the following spring, the first Sabbath- 
 school west of St. Louis was commenced in Chariton. It became 
 auxiliary to the "Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union," 
 which was the progenitor of the American Sunday School Union. 
 About this period the Baptist missionaries held some correspond- 
 ence and had some thoughts of making Chariton a station for the 
 "Western Mission." 
 
144 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 On the 7th of January, I rode to Franklin and preached at night 
 to a few persons. Next night I preached in Booneville, where the 
 people gave good attention. On returning across the river next 
 day, I found the Rev. Nicholas Patterson in town. Mr. P. was an 
 itinerant missionary from Philadelphia, and sent to the Far West 
 by the Board of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. 
 I had seen and formed an acquaintance with him the preceding 
 summer at St. Louis. He was a graduate of Princeton college, N. J., 
 where he also studied theology ; of medium talents as a preacher, 
 but possessed an amiable disposition, great simplicity of character, 
 and was habitually devotional. We traveled in company through 
 the frontier settlements, visiting every log-cabin we could find, read- 
 ing the Scriptures, conversing, exhorting, and praying with every 
 family. When opportunity offered, we would send an appointment 
 ahead, and gather in a congregation. Our principal range was 
 south of the Missouri and westward to the farthest settlements. 
 Many of the settlers then scattered through -that region were real 
 frontier squatters, who lived in single log-cabins of the most infe- 
 rior quality, and made a cornfield of half-a-dozen acres, and a 
 " truck-patch," on which they raised cabbages, turnips, cucumbers, 
 and melons. We visited families who had not heard a preacher 
 of the gospel for twenty years. 
 
 I give a description of one family we visited, not a dozen miles 
 above Booneville, as a specimen of many others. It is no disparage- 
 ment to the pioneer settlers that, in two years after our visitation, 
 they poured into the country from Kentucky, Tennessee and other 
 States ; bought out the " rights" of these primitive squatters ; made 
 farms and introduced the habits of industry and civilization. The 
 *' squatters" we saw ** cleared out" for the frontiers of Arkansas, or 
 some other unsettled region, where they would not be annoyed 
 with "improvements." 
 
 The only appearance of roads we found were bridle-paths, that 
 pursued a zigzag course from one cabin to another. Seeing a smoke 
 at a little distance from the trail we were pursuing, we found a cabin, 
 about twelve feet square, made of such rough black jackpoles, as 
 any stout man could lift, with a sort of wooden and dirt chimney. 
 Very little " chinking and daubing" interfered with the passage of 
 the wintry winds between the logs. We had to " stoop low," as 
 Cotton Mather advised Franklin when he bumped his head against 
 the cross-beam, to get in at the doorway. The floor was the earth, 
 and filthy in the extreme ; and the lodging-places of the inmates 
 were a species of scaff'olds around the walls, and elevated on forks. 
 
A BACKWOODS FAMILY. 145 
 
 In and around the dirty shelter we found eight liuman beings, 
 male and female, and the youngest nearly full size. Soon as we 
 entered, the youngsters rushed out with an expression that proba- 
 bly was a mixture of wonder and fear. The old man and woman 
 remained. He was either offended by having his domicile invaded 
 by decent-looking persons, or he was too stupid to converse much. 
 She was more tractable, and answered our questions as though she 
 folt some interest in the conversation. His shock-headed appear- 
 ance was as though he had slept alternately on a heap of cockle- 
 burs and ashes. The young men and women would show their 
 dingy faces through the crevices between the logs, and in the door- 
 way. It was not from destitution of water that the whole family 
 remained unwashed, for a fine spring burst out within twenty yards 
 of the cabin. Their dress was an object that attracted my atten- 
 tion, while my colleague made the effort to instruct them in some 
 of the primitive truths of religion. Not a particle of cloth of any 
 kind did I discover about their bodies. Men and women were 
 dressed in skins that once the wild deer claimed, but covered and 
 saturated with grease, blood, and dirt. We gathered the following 
 history, chiefly from the old woman. They were " raised in the 
 States," which, on further inquiry, meant North Carolina ; there 
 they were jnarried, and one or two children were born. There 
 slie and the " old man" joined a Baptist church, and heard preach- 
 ing once in a month. Neither had been to school in early life. 
 They soon moved " beyond the settlements," and had continued to 
 move as the "settlements" came near them. They had been in 
 Missouri some three or four years, and supposed they would have 
 to move again soon ; for they heard the " settlements" were getting 
 into the Boone's Lick country, and the land was to be sold. 
 
 On conversing with the old woman about an experience of grace 
 and the way of salvation for sinners, through Jesus Christ, she 
 wept and said : "That's jest what I hearn the preachers say afore 
 we left Carolina." She could read a little, but had neither Bible, 
 ']'estament, or hymn-book. She " wanted a hyme-hook mightily," 
 and we gave her a small one, and also a Testament. 
 
 We read a chapter, gave some familiar explanations, and prayed 
 with them ; but all we could say, aided by the persuasions of the 
 mother, we could not get one of the young folks into the cabin. 
 She said " they had never heard a human pray .in all their born- 
 days." 
 
 One of the most striking contrasts in the character and habits 
 of those we visited was in family government. Many of the fami- 
 
146 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 lies we called on, like the one described, were not only wretchedly 
 ignorant and filthy, but wholly destitute of skill in family govern- 
 ment. Children were left to act out their vicious propensities, 
 without the least effort on the part of the parents to assuage and 
 restrain their ungovernable passions. Some parents do not train 
 their children, from early boyhood to the period of manhood, to 
 habits of self-government. What helpless wretches, and how unfit 
 for social life, are those young men who have no government over 
 themselves ; and in nine instances out of ten the blame, guilt and 
 criijie may be justly charged to father or mother, or both. 
 
 Captain Stephen Cole survived the war, after making every efi'ort 
 for the defence of the settlements, and being wounded several times. 
 After living through and enduring all the hardships and privations 
 in settling and holding the country ; just as the period of prosperity 
 came, and lands and other property increased in value, and invited 
 repose and contentment ; in 1822 his love of adventure induced 
 him to become a pioneer in the trade to Santa Fe, from which he 
 never returned. He was killed by the red-skins on the plains ! 
 
 Colonel Benjamin Cooper attained to a green old age. He was 
 a member of the territorial council, and much respected and beloved 
 by all classes. 
 
 Mount Zion church, situated in the interior of Howard county, 
 was one of the oldest, and my impression is that it was formed by 
 emigrants before the war. No real progress was made in church 
 afi"airs during the period of the war from 1810 to 1815. Church- 
 meetings and preaching were very irregular. The loss of about 
 three hundred horses that were stolen by the Indians, and a large 
 portion of the cattle and swine killed, and no opportunity to pro- 
 vide a surplus of corn ; the old settlers fared hard and had to be 
 very industrious. Then the *' new-comers," hke a mountain torrent, 
 poured into the country faster than it was possible to provide corn 
 for breadstuff. Some families came in the spring of 1815 ; but in 
 the winter, spring, summer, and autumn of 1816, they came like 
 an avalanche. It seemed as though Kentucky and Tennessee were 
 breaking up and moving to the " Far West." Caravan after caravan 
 passed over the prairies of Illinois, crossing the "great river" at 
 St. Louis, all bound to the Boone's Lick. The stream of immigra- 
 tion had not lessened in 18X7. Many families came from Yirgitiia, 
 the Carolinas, and Georgia, and not a few from the Middle States, 
 while a sprinkling found their way to the extreme west from 
 Yankeedom and Yorkdom. Amongst these was the writer and his 
 family in 1817. 
 
LAND SPECULATION. 14T 
 
 Following in the wake of this exodus to the middle section of 
 Missouri was a terrific excitement about getting land. It had at- 
 tained the climax on my first visit. A delegate in Congress from 
 the Territory of Missouri, by one of those poHtical frauds common 
 to political manoeuvering, obtained the passage of an act for the 
 rchef of the New Madrid sufferers from the earthquakes of 1811-12. 
 It turned out in the result, if there was any truth in hard-swearing 
 before the courts, that there were fivefold more New Madrid claims 
 than there were heads of famihes and single men in that district. 
 There were honest claims, but the courts of justice in Missouri 
 are not yet through with the fraudulent ones. 
 
 The late William H. Crawford, Secretary of the United States 
 Treasury, decided that no pre-emption rights would be granted 
 west of Cedar creek. He overlooked an amendment to a law that 
 provided expressly for the Boone's Lick settlements. The mails 
 at that period were at least a month in going and returning from 
 Washington, and some three months passed away before the error 
 was rectified. 
 
 It was in the summer of 1818, that, by proclamation of the 
 President, the land-oflices of St. Louis and Old Frankhn were 
 opened, pre-emptions confirmed and paid for, and public sales com- 
 menced. But pre-emptions in the Boone's Lick county were held 
 in abeyance. In the meanwhile hordes of speculators in New 
 Madrid claims were scouring the country and laying a claim on 
 every farm that could be found. 
 
 Enterprising pioneers, who, like Colonel Benjamin Cooper, had 
 defended the country in most perilous times, were in imminent 
 danger of losing their lands and improvements. The Register and 
 Receiver of the land-ofiice, supposing Congress would make some 
 provision in the case, held back these farms from sale, and made 
 proclamation for those settlers, who ought to have pre-emption- 
 rights, to come to the ofi&ce, prove their rights, and have them 
 placed on record. My first visit was at this crisis ; and I could 
 not call at a cabin in the country without being accosted : " Got a 
 New Madrid claim?" ''Are you one of these land-speculators, 
 stranger?" 
 
 From the close of the war, the old settlers had been struggling 
 and putting forth all the industry and enterprise possible to obtain 
 money to pay for the pre-emptions at the minimum price of Con- 
 gress land. I will leave the reader to imagine the just indignation 
 of those pioneers, while in doubt about purchasing the land their 
 own honest industry had improved. After some delay the law was 
 
148 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 found to be in their favor, and all excitement was allayed when 
 they got their certificates of purchase. 
 
 During the war, when the people had to live in forts, and till 
 1818, no correctly-thinking person could expect Christian churches 
 to be organized, revivals to follow, and the baptism of converts to be 
 reported. With five Baptist preachers, and as many more Cum- 
 berland Presbyterians and Methodists, only five Baptist churches, 
 with members not much exceeding one hundred in all, were gath- 
 ered before 1818. That year the five churches united in organizing 
 the Mount Pleasant Baptist Association. The churches were Con- 
 cord, Mount Zion, Mount Pleasant, Salem, and Bethel. In 1820, 
 these five churches report to the association, seven ministers and 
 two hundred and thirteen members. Mount Pisgah, in Cooper 
 county, fifteen or twenty miles south of Booneville, was formed 
 by immigrants to that region in 1819-20, reported three ministers 
 — Elders John B.Logan, Jacob Chism, and Lewis Shelton — and 
 thirty-four members. Providence church, north of the Missouri, 
 was formed about the same time of ten members. In 1820, the 
 association was held with Concord church on the 9th, 10th, and 11th 
 days of September, when seven new churches, including four min- 
 isters were received. The churches were Petite Osage Bottom 
 (called Teetsaw), Mount Nebo, Double Springs, and Big Bottom," 
 south of the Missouri ; and Mount Arrarat, Little Bonne Femme, 
 and Chariton, north. The elders on the south or right side of the 
 river, all new-comers, were Peyton Nowlin, AVilliam Jennings, and 
 Peter Woods. In the Chariton church, then located in the old 
 town of Chariton, for the first time, is the name of the late Ebe- 
 nezer Rodgers. From the same church, a licensed preacher by 
 the name of John Bowles appears on the minutes. 
 
BIG BOTTOM SETTLEMENT. ^ 149 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Recollections of Missouri in 1819 — A Seminary contemplated. 
 
 On the 15th. of January we pursued our journey, visiting such 
 families as we could find scattered along the points of timber, con- 
 versing and praying with them. After a ride of ten miles we ar- 
 rived at the house of Mr. Ish, just in season to hear a Methodist 
 circuit-preacher by the name of Jones. Here we spent the day and 
 following night. Mr. Ish was a Presbyterian, and appeared to 
 be a pious, intelligent, and liberal man. His wife was an amiable 
 woman, and they lived in their double log-cabin, in a plain, but neat 
 and comfortable style. In their family-circle there was peace and 
 harmony, and their children were under the best go"^ ernment and 
 instruction I had seen for many months. Mr. Ish lamented the low 
 state of religion and the social habits that prevailed around him, 
 but lived in expectation of a change in morals and habits soon as 
 the land was brought into market, when the " squatter" class woulci 
 sell their pre-emptions to industrious immigrants, and '' clear out." 
 This settlement was extensive, and called the "Big Bottom." It 
 extended ten or twelve miles along the river, opposite the town of 
 Chariton. There was no school, and a majority of the squatters 
 wanted none. A Baptist church of a dozen members had been 
 gathered a few weeks previous to our visit, in the upper part of the 
 settlement, and may be found on the minutes of the Mount Pleasant 
 Association of 1820 with the name. Big Bottom. 
 
 On the 15th, at night, we saw a comet plainly visible, which not 
 a few regarded as the forerunner of another Indian war. 
 
 On the Big Bottom was a cornfield, under a common fence, of 
 nearly one thousand acres, and occupied by more than twenty fami- 
 lies, each of which cultivated their separate plat of ground. A ma- 
 jority of the families lived in the most primitive order of log-cabins 
 around this field. Several we passed by were not "chinked nor 
 daubed," and the chimneys were halves of logs, laid up as high as 
 the mantlepiece, and served as a slight barrier to keep out the cows 
 and hogs. Children and youth in almost countless numbers would 
 show their tangled and matted locks, dingy faces, and squalid dress 
 and appearance as we passed by. We had met with so little en- 
 
150 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 couragement in visiting, conversing, and praying "with tins class 
 that we concluded to pass them by, and go on to Mr. Job's house 
 (a Baptist family) where I had sent an appointmeijit to preach at 
 night. This was on Saturday, the 16th of January. Though the 
 appointment had not been circulated more than one hour before 
 our arrival, the house was full and the people solemn and quite 
 attentive. Wq conversed with several persons who appeared to be 
 seriously inquiring the way of salvation. For mixed up with the 
 ignorant, filthy, wretched squatters described, w^ere many decent, 
 respectable, and religious families, who were patiently waiting for 
 the land to be brought into market, when the squatters would give 
 place to an improved class. 
 
 On Sabbath, my colleague having gone over to Chariton to preach 
 there, I preached two sermons during the day. 
 
 The Sabbath, as a day of worship and rest, as a memorial of the 
 resurrection of Christ, being so much neglected and profaned, even 
 by professors of religion, and knowing the people on this frontier 
 seldom or never got any instruction from any source on this sub- 
 ject, I prepared myself, and preached to a crowded assembly from 
 Isa. Iviii. 13, 14, associating with it,.Heb. iv, 9, 10. The people were 
 attentive and solemn, and some seemed seriously impressed. After 
 a short intermission I preached again from Bomans x. 1. I dis- 
 missed the congregation as customary, but none seemed inclined 
 to move. After a short time a few went out, while the rest stayed 
 and sung hymns. I again exhorted, prayed, conversed, and by re- 
 quest I gave out an appointment to preach on Tuesday. Some 
 were in tears. This was the only place in which I saw any in- 
 dications of a revival in the Boone's Lick settlements during my 
 first visit. 
 
 After dinner I. rode to the house of Mr. Ish, and preached again 
 after night. Though it was dark and rainy I had a house full to 
 hear me. On Tuesday, accompanied by Mr. Patterson, I rode to 
 Mr. Job's, where both preached to an attentive congregation. 
 
 Next day we bid farewell to our friends in Big Bottom, crossed 
 the river to Chariton, and the next Sabbath both preached in that 
 village. 
 
 On Monday, January 25th, I gave the parting hand to my trav- 
 eling companion, whom I left to perform missionary labor in the 
 Boone's Lick country, and rode to Franklin.- My horse being lame, 
 I had left him in Booneville, and hired one for the late tour. Find- 
 ing his disease was the swinney, and that it would require many 
 months to recover, I was compelled to leave him and buy another 
 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PROPOSED. 151 
 
 to take me to St. Louis. On my way down I had appointments 
 for frequent preaching. 
 
 During the period of my visit to the Boone's Lick country, the 
 winter was unusually mild and open ; no snow of consequence, 
 light showers of rain, and for one-third of the nights no frost. I 
 reached St. Louis on the 5th of February. 
 
 February, 1819. It now became expedient to make such arrange- 
 ments in the Western Missouri enterprise, as would save expense 
 and promote its objects more effectually. It had been in our plan 
 at first, even before we left Philadelphia for this region, to estabhsh 
 a seminary for the common and higher branches of education ; and 
 especially for the training of school-teachers and aiding the preach- 
 ers now in office, or who may hereafter be brought forth in the 
 churches. The education of the ministry is of primary importance 
 in all new countries. A classical and scientific education, such as 
 academies and colleges furnish, has never been regarded by Bap- 
 tists as an indispensable requisite to entrance on the gospel min- 
 istry, or to perform the duties of a Christian pastor. But there 
 are certain branches of education that are indispensable to minis- 
 terial usefulness. 
 
 The mind must be trained to habits of thinking ; to logical rea- 
 soning, to readiness of speech; to systematical arrangement of 
 gospel truth, and to a practical appHcation of Christian duties. 
 Mere declamation is not preaching the gospel. A man may stand 
 up, rattle off words, tear his voice to tatters, and foam at the mouth, 
 and yet not communicate one Scriptural idea, nor excite one spirit- 
 ual emotion in his hearers. We have a very poor opinion of a 
 man who has to write all his discourses, and read them off on the 
 Sabbaths. If he has not, and cannot acquire the gift of *' aptness 
 to teach," he had better let this work alone. And yet the writer 
 has written out in full, and read from the platform not a few dis- 
 courses in early times through the old settlements of Illinois and 
 Missouri. This was done, in part, on special subjects, that seemed 
 to require a cluster of facts, and sometimes dates, to produce the 
 desired impression ; and partly to counteract the violent prejudices 
 that prevailed against preparatory study and written outlines in 
 pulpit discourses. The Puritans (Presbyterians and Congregation- 
 alists) since their origin, about three himdred years ago, have 
 gone to the extreme in their reading lessons. Baptists and Method- 
 ists, until late years, may have erred on the other hand ; and for 
 lack of concentrated thought, and writing out their thoughts in 
 logical and consecutive order, became mere declahners ; or, rather, 
 
152 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 like the blind horse in a mill, go round and round on the few 
 Scriptural ideas they profess. 
 
 Our aim was not to establish a regular theological institution, or 
 lay the foundation and build up a college. The writer never had 
 the gift of anticipating and attempting great things. It has been 
 his rule through life to do what he could for the present, and trust 
 to Providence for the future. 
 
 As my family was the largest, and better adapted to a (^untry 
 life, and the burden of a boarding-school, while the circumstances 
 of my colleague and his family made it expedient they should abide 
 in town, we soon settled that question. The next was the location. 
 Several points were thought of on both sides of the " Great Kiver," 
 but it was no easy matter then to find a village, or a country set- 
 tlement, where a respectable eeminary could be sustained and 
 boarders accommodated. The Catholics had several institutions, 
 they called seminaries and colleges ; but for literary, scientific, or 
 theological purposes, they could never do much good among the 
 American and Protestant population. It was deemed expedient 
 for the writer to visit several places within fifty miles of St. Louis. 
 St. Charles was one point to which our attention was directed ; and 
 the preceding autumn we had aided in gathering a school, and by 
 our influence with the citizens of that growing village to patronize 
 a man whose initials were J. C. Mr. C.»was a Baptist preacher, and 
 we honestly supposed he would cordially co-operate in all our Chris- 
 tian enterprises. But to our sorrow, within less than a twelve- 
 month, we found out by documents received that he was of doubt- 
 ful standing among Baptists in Kentucky and Ohio, and regarded 
 a disorderly person. He had been raised a Quaker, without the 
 honesty or truthfulness of that sect. He had been baptized, li- 
 censed, and ordained in Ohio, but never did have the confidence of 
 clear-headed and sound-hearted Baptists. 
 
 His personal appearance and address gained attention, and made 
 temporary claims to the respect of his patrons. He was a good 
 penman, but deficient in orthography, grammar, and other branches 
 of a good English education. He had made some progress in plain 
 mathematics, and had studied and practiced surveying, though 
 superficial in that branch. Yet he had shrewdness and tact to find 
 out he could not succeed and gather a profitable school without an 
 assistant or partner. He was anxious — all in kindness to the mis- 
 sionaries — to get one of us to join him. This made repeated visits 
 to St. Charles necessary during the latter part of February and 
 early in March 
 
ALTON IN 1819. 153 
 
 The late Hon. Rufus Easton of St. Louis, who had become inter- 
 ested in the landed property, projected as the site of Alton city, 
 exacted the promise that we should not decide on our location 
 until we had visited and explored that site, or rather the village 
 now known as Upper Alton, two and a half miles in the rear, and 
 on elevated and healthy ground. And we hope it will amuse and 
 not offend our readers in that vicinage if they have a truthful dc- 
 s«riptioii of the two Altons as they then appeared. 
 
 We (singly — not our colleague) left St. Charles on February 2r)d, 
 1819, and rode down to tlie "Point" towards Smeltzer's ferry, then 
 located about three miles above the site for a city. Here we crossed 
 the river a little after sunset, and had five miles to ride to the in- 
 habited village. For three miles the pathway lay along the brink 
 of the low water of the river under -the cliffs. Not far from the 
 present site of the Alton House, there was a building, but whether 
 a rough frame or a log-house it was too dark to perceive. (There 
 were four cabins on the town site.) Here we obtained directions 
 how to find and follow the dubious pathway through the brush and 
 forest, up a long hill to the village. It was cloudy and dark, but 
 on emerging from the forest, we found on every side the appear- 
 ance of camp-fires. Log heaps, piles of brush, old stumps and 
 other combustible materials were glowing with heat, and spreading 
 an illumination over the plateau. Inquiry was made for a tavern 
 or boarding-house, and we were directed to a long, low, ill-looking 
 log-house. It was about forty feet in length, and probably sixteen 
 feet wide, the doorway for entrance at the west end, and the dining- 
 room, as it seemed to be used for eating purposes, wa^s the first 
 room entered. Our readers are aware we had been in some dirty 
 places. The table was supported by forks driven in the ground, 
 on which rough, newly sawed boards extended perhaps twenty 
 feet. An old cloth, filthy like the rest of the establishment, covered 
 a portion of the table. A supply of dirty dishes indicated that 
 several boarders might have had a late supper. The part from, 
 which the dishes and cloth had been removed was occupied by 
 three parties with cards, or something resembling spotted pieces 
 of pasteboard ; all in harmony with the rest, for the cards and men 
 were the dirtiest objects I had seen since our pilgrimage in the 
 Boone's Lick country. On inquiring for the landlord, a shock- 
 head, begrimed features, and soiled garment that appeared to 
 belong to a "human" came in. The first thing was to find a stable 
 and feed for a wearied horse. 
 
 On exploring the premises, I found him in a log pen with some 
 
154 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 boards over one half the roof, and the mud mid-leg deep. Seeing 
 no chance for better quarters, I left him munching corn, of which 
 he had a supply. 
 
 It did not take many minutes to frame and carry into effect a 
 resolution to find better quarters for his rider. While living in 
 St. Louis the preceding year, I had formed a slight acquaintance 
 with the family of Doctor Erastus Brown, who in autumn had 
 removed to Upper Alton. Offering a dirty, ragged boy a dime to 
 pilot me to Dr. Brown's, slinging my saddle-bags on the arm, and 
 climbing over stumps and logs, brought us to the snug, neat, 
 newly-built log-house — no, we will call it a ''cottage" — where we 
 found the doctor, his lady, and two or three little ones, in as 
 comfortable quarters as any decent folks deserved to have in those 
 frontier times. 
 
 * " Doctor, I have called to impose myself upon your hospitality," 
 and gave him a brief sketch of my recent adventure, amongst 
 wretchedness, filth, drunken ribaldry, and low profanity of the 
 boarding-house. 
 
 Both declared a hearty welcome, and regretted I did not call on. 
 them on my first arrival. I told the good lady not to get supper, 
 for I had eaten a late dinner, and it was drawing towards bed-time, 
 but in the quickest time she had the tea made and the table spread. 
 I told her I was used to sleeping on the floor with my saddle for a 
 pillow, and saddle-blanket for covering, but I was ushered into a 
 neat little room, with a bed and covering fit for a prince. In all 
 my wanderings, I never experienced as great and sudden a transition 
 from wretchedness and filth to comfort and happiness. 
 
 In the morning, after an early breakfast, in company with my 
 friend, Dr. B., I made an exploration through the town, was intro- 
 duced to several citizens, and learned all that was necessary of 
 Upper Alton at that time, as the site for a seminary of learning. 
 
 There were on the spot between forty and fifty families, living 
 in log-cabins, shanties, covered wagons, and camps. Probably not 
 less than twenty families were destitute of houses ; but were getting 
 out materials and getting up shelters with industry and enterprise. 
 I had become acquainted with the extremes of the social-^etate, and 
 had no opportunity to enlarge my experience. Doubtless there 
 were other families living as comfortably as the one whose hospi- 
 tality I had shared. 
 
 I found a school of some twenty-five or thirty boys and girls was 
 taught by some backwoods fellow, but' the chance for a boarding- 
 school was small indeed. There was the old settlement about the 
 12 
 
8T. CHARLES — MISSISSIPPI. 155 
 
 forks of Wood river and Rattan's prairie that might furnish a few 
 scholars. The Macoupin settlement — real frontier rowdies — was 
 thirty miles north, of a dozen famihes ; then three families had 
 ventured over Apple creek. The emigrants to the Sangamon 
 country went there the preceding winter. Peoria, on the Illinois 
 river, was an old French village of twent^^-five cabins. Morgan, 
 Cass, Scott, and all those counties along the Illinois river were the 
 hunting-grounds of the Indians. The late Major Wadsworth and 
 half a dozen families had made their pitch in Calhoun county. All 
 the country to the east and north was one vast wilderness. Where 
 then could scholars be found to fill a seminary at Upper Alton ? 
 After deciding all such questions, I gave a fellow a quarter to clean 
 the mud from my horse, paid for his fare, received a hearty invita- 
 tion from Dr. and Mrs. Brown to call on them the next time I 
 visited Alton, and made my way by another path back to Smeltzer's 
 ferry. It was three or four years before I again visited Upper 
 Alton, during which period quite a town had sprung up, but I 
 never could find the locality of the dirty tavern house ; never again 
 saw the family or its inmates, and was so fortunate as not to learn 
 their names. It is thought not one of that breed can now be 
 found in Madison county. 
 
 Having crossed the river and rode a few miles, I preached to 
 about twenty people, at the house of Mrs. Griffith, a widow lady, 
 a dozen miles from St. Charles, which became one of my preaching- 
 stations through the season. I rode home with Mr. Ayres, where 
 I spent the night. Mr. A. and his wife were Presbyterians, and 
 originated from Stamford, Ct. They were intelligent and respecta- 
 ble people and lived in comfortable style. 
 
 Myself and colleague were engaged in a mission compact in the 
 F-a-r W-e-s-t, until it was dissolved by the joint action of the 
 Board of the old Triennial Conventioji, and the missionaries. 
 
 I have previously given an account of the organization of the 
 " United Society for the spread of the Gospel," in Illinois and 
 Missouri. This was the first missionary society that was formed 
 in this part of the world. One object was to aid the preachers 
 then in the country, to itinerate and preach the gospel to the 
 destitute. 
 
 I had volunteered to officiate as collecting agent, without charge, 
 to provide the funds to sustain the itinerants. It was in this busi- 
 ness I was engaged while traveling, from October, 1818, to April, 
 1819. That is, while performing all sorts of work as an itinerant 
 missionary, under supervision of the Board in Philadelphia,^ and in 
 
156 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 concert with my colleague in St. Louis, I did wliat I could to pro- 
 vide means for the local society, that had been organized by the 
 advice and approbation of three associations. One mode to secure 
 contributions, was to organize " 3Iite Societies" in the churches. 
 I had formed three such societies during my excursion in the 
 Boone's Lick country. 
 
 During the first w^eek in March (1819) it was decided that a new 
 mission station should be established at St. Charles, a seminary 
 planted there, and that I should take charge of that station, and 
 that my colleague should maintain the post at St. Louis. During 
 much of this month the weather was stormy ; rain, snow, and sleet 
 frequent, the roads muddy, and vegetation late in putting forth. 
 
 On the 19th I crossed the " Great River,"* and rode to Elder D. 
 Badgley's residence. The road was intolerably muddy, and before 
 I reached there the cold air was piercing. My object was to spend 
 a few days, in providing funds for the " United Society for the 
 spread of the gospel." 
 
 The church I first visited in the Badgley settlement was called 
 " Ogle's Creek," and the members were scattered over the field 
 now occupied by Unity and the southern portion of Bethel 
 churches. Here I formed the " Ogle's Creek Mite Society, auxili- 
 ary," etc. This was the first social organization for missionary 
 purposes ever formed in Illinois. 
 
 On Monday, the 22d, in company with Elder Badgley, I started 
 on a week's tou.*. "We rode across the spot of ground where I have 
 since resided for more than thirty-five years, crossed Silver creek 
 by deep fording, and spent the day and night with brother William 
 Padon, the father of our venerable Elder John Padon. 
 
 * This compound word as I give it includes every particle of 
 meaning contained in the modern name Mississippi. Some fancy- 
 monger, with more imagination than learning, since my first resi- 
 dence on its banks, gave the modern name, ^^ Father of Waters.'''' 
 It has just as much truth and real philology in it as another phrase, 
 ^^Darh and bloody ground," when applied to Kentucky. The word 
 Mississippi is a compound word in the Algonquin language ; — the 
 most extensive language of the Indians of North America, though 
 corrupted into different dialects by the Ottawas, Sauks, Foxes, 
 Miamis, and the tribes towards the Atlantic. Mr. Schoolcraft says, 
 (1820) "It is now spoken nearly in its primeval purity b}"" the 
 different bands of Chippeways. It is a compound of the word Missi, 
 signifying great, and Sepe, a river." Let no crack-brained genius 
 hereafter say or write ^^Falherof Waters.''^ 
 
THEOLOGY AND COMMON-SENSE. I57 
 
 Elder Badgley-like many of our frontier preachers, who never 
 knew any rules for the interpretation of Scripture, but their own 
 fancy, or as some of them mistakingly thought, the Spirit of God 
 taught them the meaning-had some queer speculations, which he 
 occasionally preached to the world. 
 
 We had a long but friendly talk about the fall of man, and the 
 l^md of death Adam died, according to the threatening denounced 
 on the partaldng of the forbidden fruit,-'' ^, shall not eat of it 
 neither shall ye touch it lest ye die.- (Gen. iii. 3.) I have heard 
 the whnnsical dogma preached, not merely on these frontiers but 
 m -York State," in early times, that man did not die a spiritual 
 death but a moral death; so we held a profitless discussion about 
 Bpiritual and moral death, and all the collateral circumstances and 
 contingencies. 
 
 These crude notions had their origin in ignorance of the meaning 
 of words, and the distinction between the literal and figurative 
 meanmg of words and phrases. A good English dictionary and a 
 careful exammation of the meaning of words, with a smatterin- of 
 the elements of rhetoric, about - tropes and figures," and a slight 
 touch of logic and mental philosophy would have been of -reat 
 service to this class of preachers. But some of them were as 
 much afraid of a dictionary as they were of a missionary. 
 ^ It would be -a capital thing if we could preserve the golden mean 
 m the education of ministers, and especially young ones. But 
 there is such a tendency to extremes in every thing, that it is next 
 to impossible to keep the middle track, and educate our vouno- 
 ministry in the Scriptures. They are taught-or rather in our 
 modern institutions, they are carried over superficially, a wide field 
 m science and Hterature, and learn very Httle of that book, doc- 
 trinally practically and spiritually, which God has given, and out 
 ot which he has commanded them to teach the people. Some of 
 these ilhterate old men have studied the Bible carefully and with 
 prayer, and guided by plain common-sense, and deep reverence for 
 the things of God, overflow with true BibHcal knowledge, and 
 spiritual emotions; though they sometimes make blunders in 
 speech and miss the meaning of figurative language. And yet 
 young preachers who have dabbled a httle in Latin and Greek are 
 apt to turn up their noses at these old fathers. Such is poor 
 human nature in young and old. 
 
 Tuesday morning, March 23d, we rode a northern course be- 
 tween Silver creek and Looking Glass prairie to Elder Robert 
 Brazil s house, where the heavy rains and our preaching appoint- 
 
158 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ments detained us till Friday. On this trip we rode over the town 
 plat of Lebanon, then containing- five log-cabins. We preached 
 daily, visited some families, and formed the " Looking Glass Prairie 
 Mite Society." 
 
 Elder Badgley (who was one of the managers) was soon after 
 appointed an itinerant missionary for Illinois, and performed two 
 months missionary service at sixteen dollars per month ; and the 
 Mite Societies I formed, as agreed upon, paid their funds over to 
 the missionary, and he reported to the treasurer in St. Louis. 
 
 Returning to Mr. Padon's on the 26th, I preached in the 
 vicinity at liight. My congregation were three-fourths Methodist ; 
 for Payfield's settlement was a regular old " stamping ground" for 
 Methodism. 
 
 Silver creek, from the heavy rains since we crossed it, was 
 swimming deep, and the bottom land was covered with water, up 
 to the mid-sides of a horse, and the prospect of reaching our next 
 appointment was quite dubious. However, Brother Padon, who 
 was inured to frontier life, had the will to help us onward, and 
 " where there is a will there's a way." 
 
 Saturday morning the sun shone out, and after an early break- 
 fast, our host yoked up his oxen, and hauled a big trough to Silver 
 creek, and crossed over the missionaries with their saddles and lug- 
 gage, and swam the horses along side the feeding-trough, converted 
 into a canoe. It required three trips to do this. 
 
 Amongst the contrivances of Infinite Wisdom for man's accom- 
 modation is his providential operations in forming the banks of all 
 our creeks and rivers in this valley, so as to leave a skirt of land 
 along the border, some four or five feet above the overflow of the 
 bottoms. This furnished a dry and convenient plateau for saddling 
 and mounting our horses. We rode half a mile through deep 
 water, and after crossing Ogle's and other creeks, and b^ following 
 a "blind trail," we reached old Mr. Seybold's residence in season to 
 meet the httle Baptist church then called Cantine Creek. 
 
 The situation of Mr. Seybold's residence (one of our old pioneers, 
 long since deceased) was about three miles north of west from 
 Troy. Here we preached on Saturday night and Sabbath, and 
 formed the " Cantine Creek Mite Society." 
 
 The state of religion throughout the whole country was very 
 low ; not a revival could be heard of in Illinois and Missouri. The 
 ministers and many of the members of any degree of intelligence 
 in the old Illinois Association, at that time, were friendly to these 
 missionary announcements. At the preceding session (October 
 
MISSION-SOCIETIES APPROVED OF. 159 
 
 10th, 1818), the following record was placed on the minutes without 
 opposition, and apparently with honesty of purpose. It was the 
 twentieth item : 
 
 " Brother Peck presented the plan of a society to employ mis- 
 sionaries, and promote common schools amongst the whites and 
 Indians, which we desire to see carried into effect, and which we 
 recommend to the churches." 
 
 I also give the record for Lord's-day, October 11th, Elder William 
 Jones being clerk : 
 
 "A respectable concourse of people having miet, Brother Peck 
 preached a missionary sermon from Exodus xxxiii. 15 : * If thy 
 presence go not with me, carry us not up thence.' A collection 
 for the Indian fund of the Western Baptist Mission Society, of 
 eleven dollars and twenty-five cents, was received by Brother Peck." 
 
 [This money was applied to the expenses of the Indian mission 
 in the AYabash country under Elder Isaac McCoy.] ^ 
 
 The record further says : 
 
 " Brother Jones preached from Heb. iv. 3, and Brother Musick 
 from Isaiah liii. 1. Brother Peck closed by giving some interesting 
 accounts of religious revivals in the Northern States and elsewhere." 
 
 The "plan of a society" to employ missionaries took the form of 
 the "United Society for the spread of the gospel." Five months 
 after this act of the only association then in Illinois, the venerable 
 David Badgley, the first Baptist minister who settled his family in, 
 the Illinois country, and the missionary of another Board, were 
 forming "Mite Societies," auxiliary to the first missionary organ- 
 ization in the Far West. 
 
 On Monday, the 29th, after a violent shower, with some thunder 
 and hail, I preached in the log-cabin of Messrs. Collins, three 
 brothers, who came to St. Louis in December, 1817, at the same 
 time the writer and his family arrived. They came over the river 
 early in 1818, purchased a farm and the cabin they then occupied, 
 and where I preached the first sermon ever heard on the site of 
 Collinsville. The Brethren Lemen and others had preached in the 
 adjacent settlements a dozen years previous. 
 
 On the 8th of April my family was removed to the town of 
 St. Charles. Here we commenced a literary institution with the 
 name of St. Charles Academy, having formed a partnership with 
 J. C, heretofore mentioned. 
 
 The number of scholars was about thirty, but soon increased 
 to forty. At the same time, Eev. Charles S. Kobinson, a Presby- 
 terian missionary from the Eastern States, established a meeting 
 
160 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 in the same village. He received occasional aid from another mis- 
 sionary (Rev. Mr. T.) 
 
 I heard Mr. T. preach several times. His sermons were good, 
 sometimes eloquent; but — as the laborer said to the prophet 
 (2 Kings vi. 5) : " Alas, master I — it was borrowed." One from 
 Luke xiv. 18 was from Burder's Village Sermons. At the monthly 
 concert for prayer in St. Louis, he gave us a lecture from Daniel 
 ix. 1-3. This discourse was chiefly made up from one then recently 
 preached before the East Tennessee Bible Society. A portion I 
 recognized as having been first preached and pubhshed in the 
 Eastern States. 
 
 Ministers of the gospel ought to collect all the ideas and thoughts 
 they can from every source, work them over in their own mental 
 laboratory, and clothe them in their own language. But, if they 
 copy other men's sermons, and retail them off as their own, those 
 present who recognize them, ought to exclaim : " Alas, master ! 
 for it was borrowed." 
 
 To lessen, as much as possible, the expense of the mission, I 
 made every effort to sustain my family by the fruits of my ovra 
 labor. Attendance in school, domestic affairs, and cultivating a 
 garden, kept me busily employed, and in a state of mind that was 
 a poor qualification foi* a preacher of Christ. There is such a 
 tendency in human nature to become worldly-minded, that it re- 
 quires constant watchfulness, and the abiding impression that the 
 ministry of the gospel is the paramount business of life, and every 
 other pursuit to be kept in subordination to this one great calling. 
 And I have no question that every man who has felt himself to 
 be called of God, and been set apart by the Church to the work of 
 the ministry, has no right to forsake it for any earthly advantage. 
 And every one who does forsake this calling, because of its sacri- 
 fices and inconveniences, and enter on the business of the world 
 that he may get rich, or that his family may be placed in respecta- 
 ble and fashionable circumstances, should be " unfrocked," as our 
 Episcopal friends express it. Such men have either made a sad 
 mistake in getting into the ministry, without those elements of 
 mind and character required in the gospel, or they will suffer the 
 chastisement of a merciful Saviour, and fail in their pursuit of 
 worldly prosperity and happiness. There is an immeasurable dif- 
 ference between such men and those ministers who provide a 
 support for their families by their own industry and the economy 
 and household-management of their wives ; while they feel and act 
 as though preaching the gospel was the paramount business of 
 
SUPPORT OF THE MINISTRY. 161 
 
 Ufe, and the class who give up that calling hecause it does not 
 afford them the income necessary to gratify their earthly desires. 
 Ministers who sustain themselves, and labor in the ministry for the 
 salvation of sinners and sustaining feeble churches, deserve all 
 praise. And while the ministers of Christ are entitled to a support 
 from the churches they serve (wherever ability exists), they should 
 be encouraged and commended whenever they devote such time 
 and talents as they have to the cause of Christ. 
 
 During the summer of 1P19, amidst the secular employments 
 alluded to (for teaching school is no more a gospel service than 
 plowing corn), I generally had appointments to preach in destitute 
 neighborhoods, in the town of St. Charles, and occasionally in 
 St. Louis. On the 18th of April we opened a Sunday-school, which 
 was the first known in that town. Another department of labor 
 was preaching to the colored people, chiefly slaves, on Sabbath 
 evenings. Several became seriously disposed, professed to be 
 savingly converted to God, and some were baptized. 
 
 During this season I suffered afflictions from impurity of the 
 blood. A series of severe boils annoyed me for three months, and 
 on two Sabbaths when I had appointments in the country, I was 
 prevented, from inability to ride on horseback. Thus the summer 
 passed away without any thing of particular notice. During vaca- 
 tion the latter part of June, I made a missionary tour to the Salt 
 river settlements, and found a call for Bibles and Testaments in 
 every neighborhood. The state of rehgion, even where small 
 churches existed, was very low. There were two or three preach- 
 ers without any regular standing in the churches of any evangelical 
 denomination, whose conduct was suspicious, and who did more 
 harm than good. Church-members were eagerly engaged in worldly 
 pursuits. They attended church-meetings monthly, when they had 
 nothing else to do, and preaching occasionally when some itinerants 
 passed through the settlement ; but I seldom found one who wor- 
 shipped God at home, or trained up his children in the way they 
 should go. If the mother was a real Christian, the children were 
 not wholly neglected. There were instances that came under my 
 observation, though few, in which the mother made it a matter of 
 principle to talk with her children and pray with them ; and the 
 blessed effects are visible in some families to this day. 
 
162 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Review of tho Western Mission — Position and prospects of Messrs. 
 * Peck and Welch — Experiences — Dissolution of their connection 
 as Missionaries of the Board. 
 
 The very full reminiscences of Mr. Peck, contained in the 
 preceding chapters, here close. Before taking up the thread 
 of the narrative of the future years, to be gathered from his 
 journals and correspondence, it seems appropriate "to make 
 up the reckoning," in sailor phrase, in regard to the progress 
 hitherto secured. Between two and three years had now 
 elapsed since Messrs. Peck and Welch had reached St. Louis 
 and commenced their mission and explorations. . They had 
 found in the territory and its neighborhood remote from Il- 
 linois, more Baptist churches and ministers (so-called) than 
 they had expected. The larger part were feeble, unintelligent, 
 and peculiarly susceptible of prejudices against better-in- 
 formed, more zealous, and ampler-sustained ministers, coming 
 among them, and, as they could readily perceive, supplanting 
 them in influence and favor with the people. Neither of these 
 missionaries had then had as ample experience as afterward 
 in dealing with the prejudices, and guarding against the jeal- 
 ousy of this class of preachers and churches. On a candid 
 and thorough review of all their proceedings during these 
 trying and eventful years, they might doubtless see how it 
 would have been possible to have so modified some of their 
 acts, and so have guarded some of their deportment, as to 
 have escaped, or at least diminished, a portion of the un- 
 toward influences which were raised up to oppose them. The 
 anti-mission party among American Baptists was just then 
 taking form, and assuming its attitude of hostility to those of 
 their brethren who heartily engaged in evangelizing opera- 
 tions, both at home and abroad It naturally allied itself to 
 
THE SCHOOL AT ST. CHARLES. 163 
 
 the antinomianism and selfishness too prevalent in all partially 
 sanctified hearts. It found, too, one of its securest intrench- 
 ments in ignorance, prejudice, and jealousy in the ministry. 
 There would occur frequent opportunity for misrepresentation ; 
 and of this a portion of those ministers availed themselves 
 with unscrupulous avidity. The best of men are imperfect ; 
 and there will be furnished abundant occasion among those 
 seeking occasion to find fault with the spirit or the manage- 
 ment of those who were struggling with all their might to 
 introduce a more orderly, intelligent, and efficient system of 
 operations among these sparsel3^-scattered churches, and their 
 illiterate and, therefore, very naturally jealous and prejudiced 
 ministers. • 
 
 Some infelicities, too, were just beginning to manifest their 
 influence in the associate in Mr. Peck's school operations in 
 St. Charles. Indeed it was quite impossible to effect very much 
 in teaching, while so many calls for preaching were responded 
 to, at such a distance from the residence of the missionaries, 
 either in St. Louis or St. Charles. A double object was re- 
 garded in attempting these schools. First, to furnish better 
 specimens of teaching than hitherto existed in that vicinity, 
 and to prepare more competent instructors for the many 
 schools needed ; and next, to secure in a great degree their 
 support from the tuition they should receive. The former of 
 these objects was measurably attained. But the latter signally 
 failed. After deducting the expenses for rents, assistants, etc. , 
 and the various losses from those unable or unwilling to pay, 
 the net income of the St. Louis school was never large, and 
 that- at St. Charles still less. 
 
 To some of us at this distance of time, and but little ac- 
 quainted with the concomitant circumstances, it no doubt 
 seems strange that these brethren had not, in the outset, con- 
 centrated their labors more on one or two important points, 
 and by thus more fully demonstrating their full success and 
 manifest advantages, have carried ampler and earlier con- 
 viction to the minds of all. The fact was that no small portion 
 of the censure they incurred was for going and settling them- 
 
164 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 selves in the chief towns to the neglect of the scattered pioneer- 
 dwellers in the wilderness. How baseless such an allegation 
 was, their abundant travels and exposures in the cabins of the 
 poor and destitute abundantly confirm ; while the motive for 
 their efforts, and for their too frequent and long absences 
 from home, is made manifest. They tried very resolutely 
 to take away occasion of offense from those too ready to seek 
 such occasion. 
 
 As the natural result of this course, though themselves 
 very full}'' convinced of the importance of giving more time 
 and attention to St. Louis especially, they had been so much 
 diverted from and hindered in this work, that the church- 
 edifice, which two years earlier had been commenced, was 
 scarcely completed ; their congregations had very much dwin- 
 dled ; and their taunting opponents seemed likely to realize 
 their hope of the discomfiture of the missionaries in their en- 
 deavor to plant firmly in that important post the banner of 
 the Cross. 
 
 Yery sad, though not altogether desponding, are some of 
 their letters and the entries in the journals of the mission at 
 this period. To add to the disquietude of Mr. Peck, he seems 
 to have suffered greatly at this period, in view of his own 
 want of more fervent zeal and pious devotedness to the spir- 
 itual duties of his high calling. His diary for some weeks is 
 filled with lamentations over his want of greater conformity 
 to his Saviour ; and the fervent prayers here recorded show 
 how far he was in reality from the deadness of soul which he 
 lamented. 
 
 The autumn of 1820 brought also other experiences of a 
 most afflictive and trying character to our brother and his 
 family. That season proved very sickly, and disease and 
 death spread their pallid influences all around them. First, 
 his eldest son, a fine, promising lad between ten and eleven 
 years old, who had begun to prove a comfort and joy to his 
 parents, by rendering himself useful in his father's long and 
 repeated absences from home, was prostrated by the prevalent 
 fever, and for a few days hung trembling between life and 
 
TRIALS AND SICKNESS OF MR. PECK. 165 
 
 death. With agonizing importunity the cry was uttered: 
 Spare him ! Spare him ! But such was not the will of 
 Heaven. He died, and two days afterward the brother-in- 
 law of Mr. Peck, a member of his family, Mr. S. Paine, also 
 died. Thus God sorely tried the faith and the submission of 
 his servant. But even in the furnace he found the sustaining 
 presence and favor of his Saviour. Looking up to him with 
 adoring reverence and love, he was enabled from the heart 
 to say : *' Though he slay me, I will trust in' him." 
 
 He was himself called to pass through a severe attack of 
 illness ; and when physicians and friends all gave him up for 
 lost, it pleased the Lord almost miraculously to raise him up 
 again. The sanctified influence of all this varied but severe 
 discipline upon his own soul was eminently salutary. Fer- 
 vently had he been praying that the Lord would quicken him 
 again, and give to him the true appreciation of the blessedness 
 of his chosen ones ; and specially that he would w^arm his 
 heart to engage in his missionary and evangelical labors with 
 the holy zeal which he had anticipated as he contemplated 
 them at a distance. The prayer was now answered. And 
 with a heart tremulous with deep emotion, and smarting from 
 recent chastisement, he was enabled to cleave to the hand 
 which had smitten him, not in anger but in tenderest love. 
 His journal and his letters breathe now the spirit of deadness 
 to the world, and an absorbed engagedness in his Master's 
 work ; of concern for the welfare of souls around him, and 
 the forgiveness of injury, which indicate the unmistakable 
 presence and power of the in-dwelling Spirit of God. How 
 readily he now found opportunities to plead with all the un- 
 renewed around him to be reconciled to God. How easy it 
 was, in every family where he gained admission, to converse 
 personally with the inmates, and press home the urgencies of 
 the great salvation. In preaching and prayer, too, he seemed 
 like another man ; so much so, that it was very noticeable 
 among his friends, some of whom thought it an almost su?^ 
 indication that his work on earth was nearlv done, and that 
 
166 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the Lord was rapidly ripening him for the blessedness on 
 high. 
 
 In the mean time very considerable changes were awaiting 
 him in his external relations. In a private letter to his es- 
 teemed former teacher, Dr. Staughton, the Secretary of the 
 Mission Board, he had intimated the difficulties experienced in 
 his and his colleague's attempts to do any thing effective for 
 the poor Indians from the point of their present location ; and 
 Rev. Isaac McCoy was urging his coming to the aid of that 
 mission under his care at Fort Wayne. It was thrown out 
 rather as an inquiry by Mr. Peck to elicit further light as to 
 whatever opinion the Secretary, from his intercourse with tho 
 Board, might be disposed to form, and privately communicate 
 it to him. But not very unreasonably it was otherwise inter- 
 preted, and made the ground of rather a summary proceeding. 
 The convention of 1820 was much engrossed at just this period 
 both with the Burman Mission and the founding of the Colum- 
 bian college for the training of their missionaries and others, 
 and, having listened with concern to some anti-mission com- 
 plaints from the West, proceeded to direct the Board to dis- 
 continue the mission at St. Louis, The following is the 
 minute entered on the records of the Western mission : 
 
 July 9th, 1820. The missionaries received official intelligence from 
 the Secretary of the Board that this mission was closed for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 1. The want of ample funds for its vigorous prosecution. 
 
 2. A supposition on the part of the Board that this region would 
 be soon supplied by the immigration into it of preachers from the 
 Middle and Eastern States. 
 
 3. The opposition in the West was also urged as a reason for its 
 being abolished. The triennial convention had accordingly recom- 
 mended this course, which the Board, as in duty bound, thus car- 
 ried out : 
 
 Brother Welch is requested to continue his labors in St. Louis 
 as a private minister and not as a missionary, no aid being promised 
 him. Brother Peck is directed as speedily as practicable, on the 
 termination of the present year, to remove to Fort Wayne, and 
 join Eev. Mr. McCoy in his labors among the Indians. Thus term- 
 inates the Western Mission. Attest : J. M.Peck, Secretary. 
 
CLOSE OP THE WESTERN MISSION. 16t 
 
 The missionaries experienced no little mortification and 
 surprise by this abrupt and unexpected termination of their 
 arrangements and connection. Little more than three years 
 had elapsed since their appointment, as they understood, for 
 life. And though they had expected to have made their 
 efforts in the school more remunerative, to lighten the expense 
 of the mission to the Board ; and though they had antici- 
 pated a more generous contribution from those to whom they 
 ministered, and had in a too sanguine confidence relied on the 
 hope of larger and earlier success in their missions, yet they 
 were not prepared for so summary a winding up of their 
 joint labors. It is noteworthy, however, that neither of them 
 became in the slightest degree alienated from the mission 
 cause, or even from the Board. On the contrary, both of them 
 remained for scores of years the faithful and devoted friends 
 of this cause. Mr. Welch, by domestic duties of an impera- 
 tive character, was soon called away from that field for a long 
 season. But he had too largely adventured his labors, en- 
 terprise, and even his little pecuniary patrimony, in the effort 
 to rear the house of the Lord, and carry forward to mature 
 strength the feeble Baptist Church in St. Louis, to prove 
 recreant to its interests. For years afterward his best energies 
 were often put forth to liquidate its debts and promote its 
 welfare, though not permitted by Providence to become a 
 resident preacher there. 
 
 The feelings and views of the other missionary may be 
 learned from the following communication to the Board ; 
 
 St. Louis County, November 17^/i,1820. 
 
 To the Corres'ponding Secretary of the Baptist Board of Foreign 
 
 Missions ; 
 
 Rev. and Dear Sir : — After a silence of some months I resume 
 my pen once more to address the Board. The hand of God has 
 lain heavily upon me and the waves of trouble have rolled in fright- 
 ful torrents over my head. First, I was attacked with bilious fever 
 in its most malignant form, which soon brought me past all ex- 
 pectations of recovery ; but when the hopes of friends and physi- 
 cians failed, a good and gracious Providence was pleased to raise 
 
168 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 me, and the same mercy has now restored me to my usual health. 
 Two of my younger children were sick at the same time. 
 
 The first week of October was a peculiarly trying time in ray 
 family. My oldest son— a promising, sprightly youth— was smitten 
 by the destroying *ngel ; and my brother-in-law, Mr. Paine, followed 
 two days after. My oldest daughter then lay low, but has since 
 recovered. Under these accumulated trials we have enjoyed a 
 spirit of submission. Why should a worm complain at what in- 
 finite wisdom and goodness have done ! 
 
 A letter from the Secretary, together with the annual report of 
 the Board, announced to me the important change in this mission ; 
 but the intelligence was received while I lay on the verge of the 
 grave. All things considered, perhaps the Board have pursued the 
 best course by dropping the mission ; but they widely mistake when 
 they deduce their reason " from the numerous emigrations of min- 
 isters to our Western settlements, that the period has arrived when 
 it is no longer necessary to support any brethren as missionaries 
 at these places." But one Baptist preacher has emigrated to Mis- 
 souri, within one hundred miles of St. Louis, since our arrival, and 
 we heartily wish him back again ; and not more than two or three 
 in IDinois, within the same radius, from this centre. Nor is there 
 a better prospect in future for this species of emigration in the 
 same extent of country. To reiterate what has been repeated often, 
 this region is deploeably destitute— the reports of professors of re- 
 hgion in Kentucky and elsewhere to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 llie direction of the Board that I should repair to Fort Wayne 
 has deeply engaged my thoughts. What the Board have done I 
 am not disposed to find fault with, but regret that they have ex- 
 pressed in so decisive terms "that Mr. Peck at the close of the 
 present year immediately become a laborer with Mr. McCoy." On 
 this point I have serious, conscientious difficulties. The field around 
 me appears too important to be thus early vacated. The sphere 
 of useful effort is certainly widening. With all the time I can spare 
 I am unable to visit even occasionally one-half of the destitute 
 churches and settlements that plead for the gospel. I hope I have 
 no objection to hving and laboring amongst the Indians and devoting 
 the remnant of my days to their welfare ; but by whom shall Jacob 
 arise here, for he is very small? The distance from this to Fort 
 Wayne is not less than five hundred miles, near the northwest corner 
 of Ohio. The expense of removing must be consideral^le, and when 
 there, continued expense must be incurred. Here I can minister 
 largely to my own necessities. I have no wish to incur further 
 
MR. PECK REMAINS AT ST. LOUIS. 1G9 
 
 expense to the mission. That has ah-eady been greater than I ever 
 anticipated, I have felt intensely desirous for the time to come 
 when missionary efforts here would no longer burden a liberal 
 public abroad. That time, I think, has already come. Though my 
 usefulness must be abridged greatly by it, I am willing to labor with 
 my hands, or to use any lawful effort to support my family, for the 
 furtherance of the gospel. It really seems to me as if the voice of 
 Providence was saying to me : " Stay where you are," especially 
 since the late distressing change in my family. May I offer one 
 consideration more ? The health of Mrs. Peck is somewhat pre- 
 carious. The vigor of her constitution has been impaired by her 
 removal to this country. In case of the proposed removal to Fort 
 "Wayne, she must (with a babe but a few weeks old) have female 
 help on the road, and that is next to impossible to get in this 
 country. All these considerations induce me to request the Board 
 to reconsider their resolution concerning the field of my future 
 labor. I do not wish to relinquish the principles of a missionary 
 and it weuld be my desire still to be under the wing of the Board, 
 though not as to support, in case they will recall my appointment 
 to Fort Wayne. Should circumstances prevent Brother Welch's 
 return to settle in St. Louis or vicinity, I do not see how I could 
 leave this region ; for St. Louis must not be relinquished by the 
 Baptists. 
 
 With sentiments of continued respect. I am yours, etc., 
 
 J. M. Peck. 
 
 To ^Ev. Wm. Staughton, Cor. Sec. 
 
 Six months later, viz., in May, 1821, Dr. Staughton wrote 
 to Mr. Peck : " The Board would have preferred your settling 
 down with Brother McCoy, but the reasons you assign for 
 continuing in the vicinity of St. Louis are so entirely satis- 
 factory, that the propriety of complying with your wishes 
 struck the mind of every member." Sufficiently equivocal 
 this, certainly, for the most astute Secretarj^ But it seems 
 to have been understood on both sides as closing the mission- 
 aries' relations of dependence on the support of the Board. 
 To obviate all possibility of misconception hereafter, it has 
 been deemed necessary to give these statements in full, from 
 the records of the Western mission, which have been carefully 
 
 preserved. 
 
 15 
 
170 MEMOm OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 New Position of Mr. Peck — Timely Aid from Massachusetts — Re- 
 moval to Rock Spring. 
 
 It may easily be supposed that Mr. Peck would feel some 
 solicitude in regard to his future course, after the dissolution 
 of his connection with the missionary Board which sent him 
 out, and hitherto had sustained him. For although their re- 
 mittances had been neither large nor regular, and more than 
 once the missionaries were for many months without answers 
 to their letters, or supplies for their wants, so that they were 
 left in great perplexity, yet eventually the Board made them 
 remittances which relieved them from suffering, and they 
 were thus enabled more vigorously to prosecute the important 
 object of their designation. Now, however, all expectation 
 of further aid from this quarter had been dissipated. At the 
 same time they had done absolutely nothing to educate the 
 churches which they had formed, or others which they in 
 part supplied, in the duty of contributing of their carnal things, 
 while the preachers were laboriously striving to promote 
 their spiritual welfare. This, at first view, seems unaccount- 
 able and wrong. But there were peculiar circumstances war- 
 ranting, or at least apologizing for it. These churches were 
 very small and poor, their members struggling with the infe- 
 licities of a new settlement, and having every thing to do for 
 themselves. The St. Louis church were deeply involved iu 
 debt for the church-edifice ; and it was thought better for the 
 time being to encourage them to concentrate their efforts on 
 paying the interest on this debt, rather than say any thing to 
 them about salary for the preachers. Moreover they were 
 aware of the prejudice existing in many minds against them 
 as missionaries ; and for the same reason that Paul, in pecu- 
 liar circumstances, would not be chargeable to young churches 
 
MR. PECK WITHOUT SUPPORT. lYl 
 
 which he planted and preached to, lest odium should thereby 
 be attached to the gcspel, so these missionaries wished as far 
 as possible to remove the reproach of having any worldly 
 interest of their own in planting and watering these germs 
 of a future and more perfect evangelization in that new field. 
 
 They had formed missionary societies wherever they had 
 deemed it prudent and practicable, and devoted the proceeds 
 faithfully to sustaining traveling preachers — the best which 
 could b^obtained in that region — to preach among the desti- 
 tute. Moreover, they hoped by this means to conciliate the 
 favor of these humble men to the idea of the wisdom and 
 beneficence of the missionary cause. But probably the con- 
 tributions were too small, irregular, and unreliable, to have 
 much favorable effect of this kind. Certain it is that some 
 of these recipients of the bounty of the churches, raised with 
 utmost difficulty by the solicitations of Messrs. Peck ' and 
 Welch, and paid over in full to those thus employed, turned 
 against the very men who had tried to feed them. Some 
 actually went over to the anti-mission party, and others 
 evinced a jealous and unlovely spirit toward their benefactors 
 which it was hard for the latter patiently to bear. In this 
 way, one after another of the associations and churches, which 
 they had influenced successfully at first to favor the missionary 
 cause, now turned against it, and seemed inclined to repudiate 
 them altogether. 
 
 It became, therefore, a matter of extreme difficulty and 
 delicacy for Mr. Peck now to introduce this matter of needed 
 support for his family, where he had been accustomed to give 
 his labors freely. More than ever did he therefore feel in- 
 clined to obtain as early as practicable a little farm, by the 
 cultivation and products of w^hich he might in a considerable 
 degree sustain himself. But even to make this experiment 
 required a considerable outlay, and he was now penniless, the 
 sickness of himself and family having entirely exhausted every 
 means. 
 
 Early in the year 1822, a correspondence was opened be- 
 tween himself and brethren in Boston, which ere long led to 
 
172 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 his appointment as the missionary of the Massachusetts Bap- 
 tist Missionary Society. His first commission in their service, 
 signed by the honored names of Thomas Baldwin, President, 
 and Daniel Sharp, Secretary, is dated Boston, March 12th, 
 1822. The correspondence which led to his appointment is 
 interesting and equally honorable to both parties ; but as it is 
 chiefly a recapitulation of the facts above stated, it need not 
 here be reproduced. The letter of the Secretary, accompany- 
 ing the commission, stated that the society's appropriation 
 would be five dollars a week for the time actually spent in 
 their service, and that he would be expected to raise as much 
 as practicable of this amount on the field of his labors, and 
 make regular returns of his labors and receipts. Here, then, 
 was a small but reliable foundation laid for some aid in his 
 family's support. Relieved so far from anxieties which had 
 preyed upon his spirit, he seems to have entered with un- 
 wonted ardor upon his chosen work. His family remained 
 for some time in the vicinity of St. Charles, but we find him 
 very often in St. Louis cheering on the feeble Baptist churches 
 there ; and the remainder of his time was pretty equally 
 divided between the destitute portions of Missouri and Illinois. 
 After balancing all the considerations for and against this 
 step, he came to the conclusion that it would best promote the 
 interests of the mission and the cause of Christ for him to 
 settle his family in Illinois. Accordingly, in the end of the 
 month of April, 1822, he removed to Rock Spring, which 
 henceforth became his family residence. Here he obtained a 
 half-section of unimproved land, and with some little assist- 
 ance from kind neighbors he was enabled to erect such build- 
 ings as made them measurably comfortable, and began the 
 cultivation of a little portion of the land to aid in supporting 
 his household. The time, and care, and toil, which he de- 
 voted to this seems to have been at times oppressive to him ; 
 but though he complains of its deadening his religious sus- 
 ceptibilities, he did not intermit or shrink from these en- 
 deavors till his family was made comfortable. His residence 
 on the Illinois side of the great river, though still in proximity 
 to St. Louis and the scenes of his former principal labors, 
 
SETTLEMENT AT ROCK SPRING. 173 
 
 brought him into closer connection with many brethren, minis- 
 ters, and others, whom he ardently loved and esteemed till 
 the end of his earthly course. The Lemens were among the 
 former ; and their living, increasing friendship and esteem 
 were based on the solid excellencies mutually recognized and 
 appreciated in each other. Yery many others, both ministers 
 and private Christians, and some who as philanthropists, 
 patriots, and promoters of the welfare of these incipient set- 
 tlements in the wilderness, became intimately connected with 
 him in counsels and labors, will be often mentioned in the 
 course of this narrative. 
 
 A little band of brethren, chiefly from Georgia, had settled 
 around the new home he had chosen, and they desired to be 
 formed into a church. Accordingly, on the 26th of May, 
 1822, the organization and public recognition of the church 
 was consummated. The day being very stormy, many were 
 detained from attending ; but sermons were preached by 
 B]*ethren Peck and Kinney, the church was constituted in duo 
 form, and the Lord's Supper administered. It was a solemn 
 and interesting occasion. 
 
 The following Sabbath found him ministering to the St. 
 Louis church, and on the 3d of June he set forth on a labori- 
 ous tour of some weeks to the eastward, visiting the TYabash 
 Association and several places of importance, both in Illinois 
 and Indiana. The following extracts from his journal will 
 indicate the state of feeling at that time in the association, 
 and the efforts he made to promote the cause of truth : 
 
 Saturday, 8^^ June. Reached the association, New Princeton, 
 Ind., and was affectionately received by Brother William Polke and 
 some other brethren, but soon discovered strong prejudices and 
 jealousies on account of my missionary character. No 'seat was 
 allowed me. However, the association appointed me to preach on 
 the morrow. Preached at night at a brother's where I tarried. 
 
 Lord's-day, 9^7i. A BrotherAnderson and Brother Parker preached. 
 In my interview with Brother Parker I alluded to his address about 
 missions, and told him I could cheerfully give liim my hand, as a 
 conscientious and well-meaning, though greatly-mistaken brother. 
 He is a most determined opposer of the whole mission system. In 
 the evening I preached in the court-house at Princeton on the sub- 
 
174 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ject of missions, and spent the night with Brother Devin. M^ 
 mind quite engaged. 
 
 Monday, lOi/i. I preached before the association on missions 
 The Wabash Association, ' thougli, while Brother McCoy was 
 amongst them, warm friends of the mission — at least a majority 
 were — have in too many instances become opposed. Prejudices 
 have risen up, and some are, I doubt not, influenced by selfish 
 motives. It appears very evident that Parker is determined not 
 to yield, or give up the ground he has assumed. To effect his pur- 
 pose he has been engaged for some time among a portion of the 
 churches. 
 
 After some amendments to the constitution of the association 
 had been discussed, the subject of missions came up. This was 
 occasioned by one church having charge*d another with having 
 supported missions as constituting a grievance. This gave full 
 scope for a discussion on the propriety of missions. Mr. Parker 
 opposed them with all the ingenuity in his power, and Mr. Wm. 
 Polke as ably defended them. I then obtained leave to speak, and 
 entered on a detail of facts connected with this subject. The whole 
 discussion lasted about five hours, and excited peculiar interest in 
 the public mind. A large assembly seemed unwilling to stir from 
 the place till the decision was reached. I have never before met 
 with so determined an opposer to missions in every aspect. But 
 the decision gave a decided victory to the cause, of missions, fully 
 sustaining the church which had contributed to their support. 
 
 In the evening preached again on missions, and received a gen- 
 erous collection in aid of the cause at Princeton court-house. Passed 
 the night with Judge Prince. The citizens in and about Princeton 
 have treated me with the utmost affection and respect. I was in- 
 vited to almost every house. A disposition to hear me preach was 
 manifested beyond any thing before witnessed in the West. Let 
 me never be so ungrateful as to forget the kindness they have 
 shown. The Lord reward them. 
 
 Then he proceeded as far as Yincennes, and preached in 
 various places, riding here and there, in sunshine and storm, 
 striving to instruct and comfort the churches, and win the 
 unbelieving to the Saviour. On returning home he thus 
 reviews the journey : 
 
 "I have been absent from home twenty days; have rode four 
 hundred and fifty-six miles, preached twenty-five times, visited 
 many families and settlements, and gained much information in 
 
MISSION TO MISSOURI. 1T5 
 
 regard to the destitution of this part of our country, the great 
 need of missionaries, and the promising fields which are ripening." 
 
 After a few days spent with his family, our brother left for 
 a mission tour in Missouri. Passing a Sabbath in St. Louis, 
 he ofl&ciated at the funeral of a poor Baptist brother, just 
 arrived from Ohio, with a wife and six children. They were 
 all sick and in the most distressing circumstances. He speaks 
 with some admiration of the humane and generous attention 
 manifested by the citizens generally in their great affliction — 
 consoling them in the bereavement, and contributing to supply 
 their needs. 
 
 Pursuing his route onward through Feefee and Bonhomme, 
 in each of which churches he had endeavored to make an 
 appointment for preaching, but found no hearers, or next to 
 none, he laments pathetically the low state of piety preva- 
 lent among them. At the latter place, however, he met with 
 an old disciple. Father Stephen Hancock, eighty years of age, 
 mourning over the low state of Zion. Yqtj sound in doctrine, 
 a great admirer of salvation by grace. He was one of the en- 
 terprising emigrants who accompanied the celebrated Colonel 
 Daniel Boone to- Kentucky in its ^rst settlement, and had long 
 maintained a pious deportment. They rode together, in pious 
 conversation, to Point Labadie, where the little church seemed 
 to prosper. Our brother visited the sick, instructed and prayed 
 with inquirers, and preached to them the gospel. Thus he 
 went on from place to place, ministering tlte word and ordi- 
 nances of the gospel to those rarely enjoying these privileges. 
 At the end of two or three weeks he returned home, finding 
 sickness and death in his way. A small assembly in St. Louis 
 was addressed, containing in all but fifteen females, of whom 
 it proved that thirteen were widows. His wife and two chil- 
 dren were soon prostrated by bilious fever, and for some days 
 their lives seemed to hang by a very brittle thread. Deeply 
 was his mind exercised in regard to this discipline, and very 
 humbly did he lie before the Lord, crying for his mercy ; and 
 at length it dawned upon them. His family's health having 
 measurably recovered, the 24th of August we find him attend- 
 vng the Illinois Association at Wood river. General coldness in 
 
176 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 religion, with not a little of personal pique and jeralousy toward 
 our brother, was here also evinced. He preached, however, at 
 the stand, while the business of the body was being transacted 
 in the meeting-house. In this latter, his journal records, was 
 brought to light much of the real nature of the opposition to 
 missions in this country. It evidently arises from some of 
 the most selfish and contracted feelings of the human heart. 
 Even some real Christians, in a low state of religion, some- 
 times evince much bitter prejudice, and such a disposition as 
 is entirely repugnant to the gospel. He preached here, but 
 without the good effects, apparently, which had lately attended 
 his efforts in Indiana under somewhat similar circumstances. 
 
 First of September he again preached, baptized four, and 
 administered the Lord's Supper in St. Louis. The sickness 
 then prevailing much thinned the meeting. He found diffi- 
 culties presenting themselves in the church, which he records 
 his conviction that nothing but the special influence of the 
 Lord's Spirit can reconcile. From this point he again pro- 
 ceeded into the interior of Missouri, and preached in many of 
 the places where he had before labored with various indications 
 of success. Gratefully he speaks of a Brother Louis Williams, 
 a preacher whom he met on this tour, and whose great im- 
 provement within two years and the indications of whose use- 
 fulness filled him with delight. In various parts of this wide 
 field, appearances of a genuine revival gladdened his heart. 
 So much so, that again and again he swept over this wide 
 circuit, visiting the feeble and young churches, and in some 
 instances baptizing into their fellowship recently-converted 
 souls. Abounding in labors of this cheering character, his 
 mind and heart evidently became more buoyant and cheerful. 
 Abounding in the works of the Lord was evidently his delight. 
 
 The church at St. Louis, whose pecuniary and other embar- 
 rassments had occasioned him so much solicitude, he was at 
 length enabled to snatch from pecuniary disaster. Early in 
 November I find the following record in his journals : 
 
 This night (November 4th) we entered into an arrangement with 
 the Presbyterian Society about holding and occupying the meeting- 
 house in joint concern — they advancing fifteen hundred dollars to 
 
ST. LOUIS CHURCH — VANDALIA. ITT 
 
 pay the debts and finish off the house, and the Baptist Society to 
 have ten years in which to refund the money and resume the ex- 
 clusive possession. This plan ultimately failed of execution. 
 
 On Lord's-day evening, the 12th of the same month, he 
 preached a funeral sermon for the beloved Jaeoby, in the 
 legislative hall at St. Charles, where this good man had died 
 a few weeks previously. He had been a main pillar in the 
 Baptist church at St. Louis ; and for a long time afterward 
 it seemed as though his removal threatened to terminate its 
 existence. An appropriate memoir of him was also forwarded 
 by Mr. Peck and inserted in the Massachusetts Baptist Maga- 
 zine. (See vol. for 1823.) 
 
 His first quarterly report was forwarded about this time to 
 the missionary society in Boston by whom he was in part 
 sustained. It breathes a cheerful and confiding spirit, and 
 earnestly pleads for more laborers to be sent into this wide 
 field. 
 
 Near the end of December, we find him visiting Yandalia, 
 the seat of government of Illinois. He preached in the 
 legislative hall by the desire of the legislature then in ses- 
 sion. Here, too, he met with the same Daniel Parker, his 
 antagonist at the Wabash Association, and who was here 
 as a senator of Illinois, as hostile as ever. A second time 
 Mr. Peck preached to a densely-crowded assembly in the 
 hall of the legislature in advocacy of Bible societies, to which 
 form of evangelical benevolence, as he saw, it was more diffi- 
 cult for the anti-mission party to offer objections, than to some 
 others where human infirmity is more mingled. To this topic, 
 for some time after this, our brother successfully devoted 
 much of his attention. 
 
 This same Parker also very considerably changed his track 
 from a little after this time. Wearying or discouraged in his 
 direct efforts in the anti-mission cause, he broached a new 
 form of heresy and schism. His two-seed doctrine has been 
 very fully described by Brother Peck at a later period of their 
 history. 
 
178 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Report of labors — Loss of Diary and otlier valuables, etc. 
 
 In the month of September, Mr. Peck made a tour through 
 Madison, Greene, and Morgan counties. 111., for preaching 
 the gospel ; which excursion he speaks of as having been 
 very satisfactory to himself, and he hoped of advantage to 
 the interests of Zion. He preached one night in Edwards- 
 ville, and the next in Carrolton, where the sermon from 
 Heb. xi. 25 was blessed to the fuller awakening and conversion 
 of one individual, Thomas Garlin, subsequently Governor of 
 the State of Illinois. The two following months ^.Iso found 
 him frequently revisiting these scenes, where there were dis- 
 tinct evidences of the Spirit's presence and power. We give 
 from his journal a single day's experience in each of these 
 months, indicating the prevalent spirit which now possessed 
 his mind. 
 
 Lord's-day, 28th September. "Wet weather, yet a tolerably large 
 assembly collected at Carrolton, to whom I preached from Heb. iii. 2 : 
 " Lord, revive thy work." My whole object now is to promote 
 a revival, if possible. For this end I exhort professors in the plain- 
 est language to arouse from their supineness, and call upon sinners 
 to repent. Besides public preaching and addresses, I spend much 
 time visiting families, exhorting and counseling individuals. In the 
 evening preached at Thomas Carlin's from the parable of the sower. 
 The people are attentive and solemn. Mrs. Carlin is under deep 
 conviction. (Her husband has already been baptized.) Spent a 
 happy time that night in conversation and prayer. The following 
 day was spent in visiting the sick, and in conversing and praying 
 with families. 
 
 Lord's-day, 5th October. The Sunday-school met at the house 
 and recited Scripture lessons. I found four or five of the children 
 under serious impressions. I then preached from Philippians i. 21, 
 with some humble confidence that God blessed the word. Beligion 
 
ITINERANCY — LOSS OF VALUABLE PAPERS. 179 
 
 now flourishes in the settlement. Here is distinct evidence of the 
 immediate good effect of exertions to promote religion. Many 
 of the Baptist preachers in this country, in what little doctrine they 
 exhibit, verge towards antinomianism ; or at least while they pro- 
 fess to contend for the doctrines of grace, they say very Httle about 
 duty and practical religion. They seem not to understand the con- 
 nection of means with the end, and are not usually inclined to make 
 exertions to promote religion. Hence, the churches do not increase 
 except by immigration. Professors live very carelessly, and sinners 
 remain quite stupid. It has been more the tone of my preaching 
 for some time past to inculcate human obligation and stir up pro- 
 fessors to prayer and effort, and to awaken sinners from their 
 dreadful slumberings. But my dependence for success is alone on 
 God. Without the special influence of the Holy Spirit, nothing 
 will be done effectually. 
 
 The following day, in company with several persons, he 
 rode to the county-seat, and towards evening the court ad- 
 journed (Hon. John Reynolds, judge), and he preached in 
 the court-room a spirit-stirring discourse from Rev. iii. 20. 
 
 He just notices in his journal that he was about this time 
 strongly urged to settle near Carrolton with the promise of a 
 liberal support, and he merely subjoins : '' My chief desire is 
 to be in that place where the Lord would have me." How 
 different the results both on his domestic happiness and the 
 welfare of the cause of Christ at large, had he then planted 
 himself down quietly, and given his chief labors to a single 
 church and the immediate neighborhood, from the results of 
 a very different course to which he actually gave his life I 
 There is no wisdom in praising the one of these plans at the 
 expense of the other ; for God blesses both ; and every in- 
 dividual ought to ascertain for which he is best fitted, and act 
 accordingly. It is very certain that if all ministers were to 
 wander as widely and concentrate their efforts as little as 
 did our esteemed brother, there would be little of stability 
 and real permanent progress in our cause. And on the 
 contrary, if none gave themselves as he did to the general 
 care for the welfare of the churches, the education of the 
 ministry, and the supply of vast destitute regions, whore 
 
180 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 Bome one must care for procuring the requisite ministrations 
 of gospel truth, a great hindrance in general progress would 
 be the inevitable result. By the stationary policy he would 
 probabl}^ have suffered less, and his family would have en- 
 joyed much more. But it is doubtful whether to himself at 
 least the compensations in various ways brought about by his 
 wide range and multifarious labors, were not generally re 
 munerative, so that bis gain, intellectual and moral, was as 
 great as his loss. The suggestion of this comparison almost 
 forces itself on one's mind in connection with this overture 
 from the good people in Carrolton and vicinity to monopolize 
 such a man. It was not the will of Providence that he should 
 then and there sit down to luxuriate in the rich spiritual en- 
 joyments, than which God has given no greater, growing out 
 of penning and feeding a spiritual fold, on which the dews and 
 sunshine of fructifying grace are abundantly falling. 
 
 The very next day after the events narrated in the above 
 extracts from his journal, he started early in the morning, in- 
 tending to reach Carrolton to meet an appointment, but his 
 horse, from fright or viciousness, broke away from him while 
 crossing the barrens, and for days, if not weeks, his search for 
 him was fruitless. Even when the horse was ultimately re- 
 covered, his loss in saddle, bridle, overcoat, and the valuable 
 contents of his saddle-bags, was a severe one, which it was 
 not easy to repair. Specially some valuable papers and 
 journals he was never able to make good again. But how 
 characteristic it was of the man that when he had done the 
 utmost in his power, that day and the next, to recover the 
 fugitive, in vain, he accidentally fell in company with some 
 f-mall boys gathering nuts ; and he entered with such zest 
 into the very spirit of their juvenile enjoyments, as planted 
 him deep in their affections and sympathies ever afterward. 
 One who was intimately acquainted with some of them has 
 thus written of the incident since the death of this venerated 
 man : 
 
 In the early years of his missionating in Illinois, he lost his horse, 
 with clothes, valuable papers, and journals. He was passing through 
 
RECOLLECTIONS BY MR. LEMAN. 181 
 
 a comparatively unsettled portion of the conntry, and had occasion 
 to dismount, when his horse took very sudden fright at himself or 
 at some other object, and ran very rapidly away through the bushes 
 and woods out of reach and out of sight directly. He followed in 
 pursuit all that afternoon, and at night came to a log-cabin upon 
 the spot where the town of Manchester now is, in Morgan county. 
 He was there made welcome and entertained for the night. The 
 friend in whose cabin he took refuge was afterwards Hon. Judge 
 Marks, of uncommon powers of discernment, who became much 
 interested in his guest from the first, and regarded him with life- 
 lasting affection. In the morning the horse-hunt was renewed with 
 all the help which could be mustered, but it was unsuccessful. 
 Then as jovially as though this had been the very object of his 
 visit, he joined the boys in picking up some fine large nuts, as they 
 returned ; and in the evening he was found seated flat on the 
 broad hearth-stones of the cabin, as one with the boys, cracking 
 and eating nuts, and entertaining the wondering family with lively 
 anecdotes one after another, of which he seemed to them to have 
 a marvelous supply. I have this story from the Judge's own 
 mouth and from the sons also. This kind of buoyancy of spirit 
 and versatility of powers gave him immense influence among the 
 people wherever his lot was cast. 
 
 The same individual to whom I am indebted for the record 
 of the above incident (Benjamin F. Lemen, Esq., a lawyer of 
 Salem, HI.) gives also the following incidents, illustrative 
 of this period of Mr. Peck's life and labors : 
 
 I well remember the night when I first heard him preach, and 
 just where he stood in my father's dwelling (there were no meeting- 
 houses then). His missionary life was at that time all before him. 
 Fresh from the exalting society of Dr. Staughton, full of zeal and 
 high with hope, he rose with a smiling countenance, and opening 
 the blessed book, he cast his eyes over the congregation and said : 
 " I am going to preach to the young people, and if there is any- 
 body who doesn't care about the subject, or is too old and sleepy 
 to hear — why it will make no difierence to me, I shall preach just 
 the same." This remark was so pecuhar and striking as to arrest 
 every one's attention at once. His subject was ihe crucifixion. 
 With affecting simplicity and solemnity he described the cross, and 
 portrayed the darkness and all the horrors of the scene of the Cal- 
 vary tragedy. He dwelt upon the incalculable value of the soul 
 of man, as evinced by the infinite cost of our salvation. 
 '16 
 
182 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 He was then young. His full, smiling, open visage, his clear, 
 musical voice and soul-stirring earnestness made his discourses 
 produce a powerful effect upon all ; and this first one, as well as 
 several others about that time, by many of us can never be forgotten. 
 
 When he first came to Illinois, he was opposed and bitterly per- 
 secuted in some of his missionary efforts and other undertakings. 
 But his every-day walk, and general gentlemanly deportment, con- 
 verted many of the crusty old Baptists, who had tried at first to 
 oppose him, and some of them became his warmest friends. The 
 first show of friendship from one of them was on the occasion of 
 the marriage of one of the family, when Brother Peck was chosen 
 as the master of ceremonies. A frank confession was made, and 
 fifty dollars were tendered him, as some offset to past opposition. 
 We all know that for a long series of years his house at Rock Spring 
 was a church and a missionary station — the place of constant resort 
 for great and learned men, and specially for ministers of all de- 
 nominations on first coming into the country. He was affable and 
 friendly to all, and a remarkably kind neighbor to every new-comer 
 that removed into his vicinity. He was a little eccentric in some 
 of his manners, quite comely in his appearance, and carefully neat 
 in his apparel ; but not ostentatious in either the one or the other. 
 
 Another iHustrative anecdote from the same authentic source, 
 though belonging to a little later period, may rightly enough 
 be introduced here, as it was doubtless characteristic of the 
 man on various similar occasions : 
 
 I once saw him, about the time of the founding of the Rock 
 Spring Seminary, in a large company of opposers, who at a big 
 meeting took the opportunity to array themselves in company and 
 oppose him jointly, to show him his infatuation I At that period, 
 he was a great smoker ; and while they were talking, he lighted his 
 pipe, and got up the smoke ! Then when they had about exhausted 
 their stores of opposition, he straitened himself up before them, 
 and laid out his arguments in order to them, as with quickened 
 puffs he sent forth the smoke, and with deliberateness and energy 
 he set forth his whole plan and object, and then awakened their 
 philanthropy and silenced all their cavil by bold and earnest prophe- 
 sying what would come of it. Thus, on all such occasions, doubts 
 were dissipated and opposition silenced, and so the good work went 
 on and triumphed. 
 
OPPOSITION TO mSSIONAKIES. 183 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 Bible Societies in Illinois — Domestic Missions — Green, the Mur- 
 derer — First Sunday-school Societies in the West. 
 
 The closing months of the year 1823, with the beginning 
 of the following year, were filled up actively and usefully in 
 the various preaching tours which Mr. Peck took, both in 
 Illinois and Missouri. In the former State, particularly, he 
 just now witnessed an increased and, as he feared, an implac- 
 able opposition, on the part of some of the ministers, 
 especially, to all missionary endeavors, which much grieved 
 and perplexed him. We give a few extracts from his journal, 
 indicating his experiences, both merciful and disquieting : 
 
 Friday, October 31st. This is my birthday : thirty-four years of 
 my life are fled. It deserves remark that every year seems to fly 
 away more rapidly as I advance. The last year of my life has been 
 free from domestic affliction. Praise the Lord for his goodness. 
 
 November 1st. Eode to St. Louis, and at night attended church- 
 meeting with the blacks. Each one conversed on the religious 
 state of their minds, and I gave them advice. 
 
 Lol-d's-day, 2nd. Yery cold weather. In the morning I preached 
 from the parable of Dives and Lazarus. Solemn attention. Some 
 aff'ected. Afternoon, preached again, from "Behold the Lamb of 
 God," etc. In the evening I addressed the blacks from the Lord's 
 prayer with much feeling and good effect. My mind is much led 
 out to God, and I feel resolved to be more circumspect, and more 
 engaged in private devotion. Oh, for grace and strength ! 
 
 I have lately learned, much to my disappointment, that the 
 new association up the Illinois river [the Sangamon, probably] 
 has made a rule to debar missionaries from a seat. Several of the 
 friends of missions were prevented by sickness from attending at 
 its formation, hence this untoward result. Oh, tell it not in Gath. 
 There is a regular conspiracy formed in the Illinois, to put down 
 missionaries. The root of all this opposition is from the preachers. 
 They fear losing their influence, which must be small indeed. 
 
184 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 After writing the above, I searched for and read my " Secret 
 Diary" of 1815 and 1816, in which I solemnly pledged myself in 
 covenant with God to submit to all the trials of a missionary life ; 
 and particularly to have my motives impeached and my name cast 
 out as evil. It is my sincere desire not to harbor a particle of ill 
 will toward those who oppose and persecute me ; but to cherish 
 great desires for their salvation. To the grace of God be all the 
 praise, that I have not felt much irritation of mind at what has 
 taken place, and what my enemies are disposed to do. I grieve, 
 however, to think of the injury they are inflicting on the cause of 
 the dear Kedeemer. 
 
 November bth. My mind this evening has been much occupied 
 on the subject of making some more efficient exertions to promote 
 the Bible Society, by ascertaining, in the first place, the exact 
 state of destitution in this county. While reading the Seventh 
 Annual Keport of the American Bible Society, my mind has been 
 all aglow with desire for the full accotnplishment of the noble work 
 aimed at. 
 
 This is the first intimation we have found, in a careful 
 examination of his journals and letters, of special interest in 
 this subject, which afterwards occupied so much of his time 
 and labors. A two-fold motive might very appropriately 
 lead him at just this crisis to entertain with favor some effort 
 of this kind. In the first place, there was palpable evidence 
 of much need of Bibles and Testaments in families and 
 schools ; and then again he could readily see that it would be 
 more difficult for the opponents of all those evangelizing 
 efforts with which his mission wap identified, to oppose the 
 diffusion of God's word, than any other form of evangeliza- 
 tion. Hence the wisdom of beginning on this impregnable 
 ground, and exercising the intelligence and the benevolence 
 of the churches on this branch of evangelical effort, that by 
 exercise it might be strengthened and expanded, and thus be 
 less exposed to be carried away by such anti-mission preju- 
 dices as were now artfully excited" among the ignorant and 
 the selfish. 
 
 Twenty days later the following occurs in his journal : 
 
FORMATION OP BIBLE SOCIETIES. 185 
 
 For some time I have had many thoughts about undertaking an 
 agency to form Bible societies, and thus endeavor to promote the 
 gospel in this country, by a more general circulation of the 
 Scriptures. My greatest desire is to pursue that course which will 
 most speedily and effectually pave the way to more systematic and 
 enlarged efforts to promote the kingdom of a dear Redeemer. 
 
 The middle of the following month, on occasion of forming 
 the Greene County Auxiliary Bible Society in Illinois, and the 
 second at Edwardsville for Madison county, he says, " I have 
 no doubt but this will be a death-blow to opposition to 
 missionaries in this quarter." 
 
 We 'have been the more careful to fortify this view from 
 his own recorded statements and convictions at the time ; be- 
 cause it fully redeems the policy he was pursuing from any 
 thing like fickleness. He was a missionary with his whole 
 heart, but when he thought the very cause of missions could* 
 for the time be better promoted by his turning to the work 
 of establishing Bible societies, he could not hesitate to 
 become an agent for this object. 
 
 Soon after his first successful demonstration in this work — . 
 distributing the Scriptures, and awakening interest in behalf 
 of the object, getting individuals of chief standing and in- 
 fluence to pledge him their aid, and preaching frequently on 
 this theme, and forming two county societies and taking 
 measures for a third — he accepted an agency from the Ameri- 
 can Bible Society to further prosecute this important work. 
 The records of this memorable^ year may be appropriately 
 closed with his report to the Massachusetts Baptist Mission- 
 ary Society, setting forth in a summary manner his labors, 
 and the plan on which they were prosecuted. 
 
 Rock Spring, St. Clair County, III. 
 December Zlst, 1823. 
 Rev. and Dear Sir : — In pursuing my labors in the missionary 
 service, it has been an important object with me to enlist as 
 many laborers in the vineyard as circumstances would admit. To 
 effect this I have ranged over a much wider field, and kept my eye 
 upon a greater number of objects than would have been useful had 
 
186 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 I aimed merely for the immediate success of my own labors. It. 
 affords me satisfaction to state that the advantage of this course 
 is now apparent. A part of my former field in Missouri, and 
 particularly the church in Bon-homme, is now partially supplied 
 by the labors of Brother Holmes, whom I formerly mentioned as 
 a student. By another arrangement, partly efifected through my 
 instrumentality, a valuable brother by the name of Lewis Williams 
 is enabled to devote much of his time in Franklin county, and the 
 adjacent settlements. Latterly I have taken some steps to enable 
 a venerable father in the gospel by the name of Sweet to travel 
 some portion of his time in the upper counties of Illinois, and I 
 hope to aid in providing means whereby a Brother Crane, who 
 is soon to be ordained at Oarrolton, will be liberated so as to 
 perform some itinerant service. Two or three other preachers 
 have been aided in profitable studies through the medium of 
 correspondence. Still a majority of those called preachers of the 
 Illinois Association may be regarded as opposed to missionaries, 
 missions, and every active systematic measure to promote the 
 gospel amongst the destitute. 
 
 Having long known that multitudes of families in this country 
 are destitute of the Scriptures, and having deeply felt the import- 
 ance of active measures for a wider circulation of the Bible, I pro- 
 vided myself from the Missouri Bible Society with a quantity of 
 Bibles, Testaments, annual reports, and monthly extracts of the 
 American Bible Society, together with a large assortment of 
 missionary pamphlets, tracts, etc., and started for the upper 
 counties in this State on the 8th inst. My chief object was to 
 convey intelligence of the successful efforts now making to pro- 
 mote religion amongst men. At Edwardsville I called on several 
 gentlemen of my acquaintance, made known my object, readily 
 engaged their co-operation, and published a meeting for Christmas 
 day to form a Bible society. Here I found that a few Bibles here- 
 tofore deposited by the Missouri Bible Society had served to dis- 
 close the wants of the public, and create a thirst for more copies. 
 Leaving ten copies of the Testament on deposit, and distributing 
 two annual reports, and a quantity of tracts, I departed for Carrol 
 ton, where I arrived on the 12th, and the next day attended the 
 meeting of the church, and brought about an appointment for the 
 ordination of Brother Crane, which is to take place in February. 
 I immediately wrote to influential men in different sections of the 
 county, and gave out an appointment to form a Bible society the 
 next night. Accordingly a respectable and crowded audience met 
 
REPORT OF HIS LABORS. 18T 
 
 in the court-house, to whom I preached from Isaiah hi. 10, and 
 immediately following was organized " The,Auxiliary Bible Society 
 of Green County." The officers were duly chosen. A number of 
 Bibles and Testaments were deposited in the hands of the mana- 
 gers, besides selUng a number to individuals, and distributing a 
 large number of missionary pamphlets and tracts. Pursuing my 
 route, I visited Morgan county, when I made arrangements to form 
 a Bible society in February. The Sunday-school on Indian creek 
 still progresses, and promises much usefulness. I preached to the 
 children as on former occasions, who assembled for the purpose. 
 
 Returning down the country, and explaining the nature and design 
 of Bible societies and other benevolent institutions of the present 
 age wherever I preached, and especially in Apple creek settlement, 
 where I spent the Sabbath and addressed an unusually large con- 
 gregation. On the 22d instant I met the managers of the Bible 
 society of Green county, and suggested several useful measures to 
 be pursued in their incipient efforts. On the night of the 24th I 
 plead the Bible cause before a respectable assembly in Alton, and, 
 the next day (25th) attended the proposed meeting in Edwardsville. 
 After a discourse on the subject, the Auxiliary Bible Society of 
 Madison County was formed under favorable auspices and the Board 
 of Directors chosen. At evening I addressed the public again on 
 the same subject, and deposited with the managers a few Bibles and 
 Testaments I had remaining. By a little seasonable and prudent 
 effort the Testament may become a class-book in most of the schools 
 in this country. I succeeded in introducing it into five schools on 
 my route. 
 
 The experiment I have made has fully answered my most san- 
 guine expectations of the important advantages the cause would 
 derive in Bible societies, and the distribution of mission pamphlets, 
 magazines and tracts. , A most important service might be rendered 
 to the cause, if the friends in Boston could supply me with an ad- 
 ditional quantity of the back numbers of the magazine, missionary 
 reports, old sermons, tracts, and every thing of the like description 
 for gratuitous distribution. These should be packed in a box marked 
 with my name, the freight paid to New Orleans, consigned to some 
 merchant there, and directed to the charge of A. Skinner, St. Louis. 
 I have found the most beneficial effects result from the distribution 
 of a few magazines or tracts after preaching ; and as the people in 
 all the settlements seldom hear preaching but once in the month, 
 these silent monitors serve to keep alive impressions and feehngs 
 till the return of the preacher. 
 
188 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Next week I expect to visit Missouri, and perform the circuit of 
 the Missouri Association to carry into effect the plan for itinerant 
 preaching suggested in the last minutes. 
 
 With sincerity of soul I can say there is no pursuit that affords 
 such exquisite satisfaction as activity and success in measures to 
 promote the gospel. I might dwell upon the difficulties attendant 
 on an itinerating life — as absence from home, exposure to sick- 
 ness, storms, cold, mud, swimming rivers, and not unfrequently 
 rough fare — but these are trifles not worthy of one moment's anx- 
 ious concern. To live and labor for Him who died for the redemp- 
 tion of man is the highest favor which we need seek after in this 
 transitory life. 
 
 May the God of all grace still prosper the efforts of the society, 
 is the prayer of your unworthy missionary, 
 
 J. M. Peck. 
 
 Eev. Daniel Sharp. 
 
 P.S. — I understand there is a paper published by some of the 
 Baptist brethren in Boston called the Christian Watchman. I wish 
 to receive it, commencing January 1st, and hope the Treasurer of 
 the missionary society will pay the subscription and charge the 
 same to me. Direct the numbers to Cherry Grove P.O., St. Clair 
 county, 111. Yours, etc., 
 
 J. M. Peck. 
 
 It was about this time made the painful duty of Mr. Peck 
 to officiate, under very affecting circumstances, at the execu- 
 tion of a murderer. He happened to be in Alton, HI., the 
 very day of the homicide, December 4th, 1823, and on noticing 
 the excitement produced, he subjoins the following remarks in 
 his journal : " The state of morals is truly deplorable in 
 this State ; and this does not so much arise from the general 
 depravity of Ishe inhabitants, as from the dreadful neglect (or 
 connivance, as may be feared) of the judiciary, leading to a 
 non-execution of the laws against crimes. No less than six 
 murders, or homicides in affrays, have been perpetrated iu 
 nine months, and as yet not one is convicted." 
 
 In this instance, however, the poor culprit was convicted 
 the 14th of the following month, and ordered to be executed 
 the 12th of the next month. He at once applied to Mr. Peck 
 
BAPTISM OP A PENITENT MURDERER. 18^ 
 
 to attend him at the execution ; and before our brother could 
 visit him in his cell, he had professed to be converted, and the 
 rumor was that he desired baptism. To this Mr. Peck felt the 
 strongest opposition, supposing it would possibly tend to the 
 delusion of the wretched felon, and moreover might lessen the 
 salutary horror to be produced by the just execution of the 
 laws. He was also full of suspicion of the murderer's sin- 
 cerity, and in this unfavorable state of mind had his first 
 interview with Green in his dungeon. Much time and very 
 thorough examination was devoted to his case, occupying the 
 4th and 5th of February. The result was that a very thor- 
 ough conviction of the genuineness of his conversion was 
 wrought in the mind of Mr. Peck, and he found his former 
 distrust and unbelief entirely removed. The penitence and 
 humility of the culprit were deep and thorough. His con- 
 viction commenced immediately after he committed the atro- 
 cious deed. The following notice of some of the circum- 
 stances of his interviews with the murderer will be interesting : 
 
 Thursday, fith. Spent most of the day with Green. Found that 
 the close talk that I had with him yesterday produced much effect 
 upon his mind. He had spent the whole night in prayer and self- 
 examination. He was now composed, firm in his hope, deeply 
 penitent, and the fear of death was removed. The Wood river 
 church, with their pastor, the venerable Father Jones, attended for 
 the purpose of public worship with the culprit in the prison ; and 
 Mr. Peck preached from Luke xxiii. 39-43 — the case of the penitent 
 thief. Green then related his experience, which deeply affected 
 every one in the house. His replies to very close, heart-searching 
 questions put to him were pertinent and satisfactory, and he was 
 received as a candidate for baptism. He was then conducted to the 
 water, about two hundred yards from the prison, having a small 
 chain attached to his leg, and a rope around his body and arms 
 which the sheriff held. The day was cold, and a hole was cut in 
 the ice for the administration of the ordinance. His baptism ex- 
 cited much solemnity and deep feeling amongst the people. To 
 baptize a murderer, under sentence of death, and who must inev- 
 itably be executed in one week, was a novel thing, and what I should 
 least thought of doing once ; but in this case I became satisfied that 
 it was my duty, and would not shrink from it. 
 
190 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 The next two days were spent chiefly in the jail with Green. 
 His Christian character became more fully developed, and 
 Mr. Peck could not but regard him as a monument of grace. 
 By the culprit's desire Mr. Peck wrote a brief account of his 
 life, taken down from his own lips, and carefully corrected by 
 himself. 
 
 Lord's-day, Sth February. The morning was spent with Green. 
 He is perfectly composed — has no fear of death. His hope seems 
 a solid and firm one, founded on the promises of the gospel. He 
 evinces no ecstacies, no enthusiastic passions. The narrative of 
 his life was read over to him after final revision, which he certified 
 and signed before the three witnesses present for this purpose. 
 
 Mr. Peck then left him for three days, and on returning to 
 him the evening before his execution, he found that Green 
 had experienced some trials and temptations, fearing that the 
 Lord w^ould not afford him comfort and support in the trying 
 hour. Still his hope remained unshaken in Christ. At night 
 a prayer-meeting was held in the jail. The poor malefactor 
 prayed, confessed, and exhorted the people, and it was an 
 affecting time. Some present were convicted of sin, and 
 Mr. Peck left him at a late hour, perfectly composed and 
 happy in the prospect of glory. He records in his journal 
 his heartfelt gratitude for the consolations which religion 
 affords. 
 
 Thursday, February I2th. The fatal day for Green has arrived. 
 I visited him early in the morning, read the Scriptures and prayed 
 with him, then left him alone for private devotion. At eleven 
 o'clock, he was dressed for the gibbet in a white shroud trimmed 
 with black, with a cap on his head. The guard forming a hollow 
 square around him, he walked on with a firm and steady step, ac- 
 companied by the sheriff and chaplain. He surveyed the imple- 
 ments of death, and ascended the scaffold and seated himself on the 
 drop with composure^ Two thousand spectators in deep and rev- 
 erent silence were gathered around; two or three prayers were 
 offered, and as many appropriate hymns sung. I then preached 
 the sermon from Ecclesiastes ix. 12 : *As the fishes that are taken 
 in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are 
 the sons of men snared in an evil time when it falleth suddenly 
 
EXECUTION OP GREEN — SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 191 
 
 upon them." I also read his narrative and experience, which pro- 
 duced a solemn effect. A great many were in tears. The ministers 
 and the jailer and family ascended the scaffold, shook hands with 
 him, and bade him farewell. The sheriff adjusted the rope and took 
 leave of him. As he did so, Green exhorted him and then the 
 people in a few words, most solemnly and feelingly. He confessed 
 the justice of his sentence, and prayed that he might be a salutary 
 warning to others. I then offered a final prayer and read the hymn 
 I had composed for the occasion. While the last line was sung, 
 
 " I make the signal for my flight," 
 
 the drop fell, and the immortal spirit took its flight. 
 
 The occasion, the prayers, the eloquent addresses, and perhaps 
 more than all, the behavior of the sufferer, impressed the behold- 
 ers with solemn awe. Never before did I witness any thing like 
 this. Never did I see such proof of the power and support of 
 Divine grace in the awful hour of dissolution. It appeared con- 
 vincing to every one that his repentance w'as real. The effect on 
 the bystanders was solemnity, a consciousness of religion, a deep 
 sense of the heinous crime of murder, and the nature of justice as 
 being but a modification of goodness. 
 
 The following Lord's-day Mr. Peck presided at the council, 
 and aided in the ordination of Mr. Crane, a licentiate in the 
 Carrolton church. He then the following evening repeated 
 the execution-sermon, and read part of Green's experience 
 and narrative to a crowded congregation in the court-house at 
 Carrolton. Returning to Edwardsville to put the sermon and 
 narrative to press, he was gratified in finding that some had 
 already been awakened and converted by means of them ; and 
 the same thing is once or twice noticed subsequently in his 
 journal. The pamphlet containing both sermon and narrative 
 was widely circulated at the time, but the writer has not been 
 able to find a copy. 
 
 The following month he records having attended by invita- 
 tion the session of the Presbytery at St. Louis, where one 
 candidate was examined for licensure and another for ordina- 
 tion. He was much edified and instructed during the session. 
 The harmony which prevailed, and the spirit of real religion 
 among the members were most cheering. Near the end of 
 
192 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the month he mentions reading the sermon on the moral dig- 
 nity of the missionary enterprise by Dr. Wayland. How 
 widely the aims of its author were now being realized at home 
 and abroad I 
 
 In April, while attending the first anniversary of the Greene 
 County Bible Society, he availed himself of a favorable oppor- 
 tunity to preach at the county-seat on the importance of 
 Sunday-schools, and with the aid of a few zealous spirits a 
 Sunday-school society for the county was also formed. The 
 following notice of this movement occurs in his journal, and 
 is noteworthy as one of the first records of what afterwards 
 engrossed much of his time and energies ; 
 
 It is my intention to form a number of county societies, and then 
 concentrate their efforts in a general union of Sabbath-schools. 
 These with the Bible institutions may be employed to exert a most 
 powerful influence through this "Western country, and will silently 
 undermine the prejudices against missions more than any thing 
 else. By the agency appointment which I have lately received, I 
 shall be enabled (if health and success are allowed) to do more for 
 the advancement of religion than I ever anticipated." 
 
 This, be it remembered, was more than a year before the 
 formation of the American Sunday-school Union in Philadel- 
 phia. Thus early was God opening before him paths of use- 
 fulness and honor, which have made his name so familiar and 
 distinguished. On this very occasion, the court adjourned to 
 listen to a sermon from him before the Bible society and for 
 the transaction of its annual business. 
 
 The whole of April and May were spent by Mr. Peck, 
 chiefly in Southern and Central Illinois, the Military Tract, 
 and the adjacent parts of Missouri, in indefatigable efforts to 
 awaken and increase an interest in behalf of Sunday-schools 
 and Bible societies. Frequent mention is found of the apathy, 
 the misconception and prejudices he had to encounter in his 
 advocacy of these good objects, and affecting testimonies of 
 the destitution which he found so prevalent. On the whole 
 his success was encouraging. 
 
AFFECTING INSTANCE OF DESTITUTION. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Destitution ascertained — Continued Labors — Opposition to Slavery. 
 
 Mr. Peck's diary number twenty is contained in a square 
 volume of one hundred and fifty pages, and covers a period 
 of little more than ten months, viz., from 28th of May, 1824, 
 to 5th of March, 1825. On many accounts this was an event- 
 ful and useful period of his life, though presenting few salient 
 points of striking interest. He was going on and on with 
 the work described in the last chapter, traversing the old 
 rounds in similar labors to those above recorded, and gradu- 
 ally extending the field of his explorations and labors. While 
 sedulously careful to preach the common salvation in all the 
 little and destitute churches which he could reach, he devoted 
 on an average one Sabbath a month to the Baptist interest in 
 St. Louis, and also made extensive tours through Central and 
 Southern Illinois, and over almost the entire State of Mis- 
 souri lying south of the Missouri river, and occasionally north 
 of it. These explorations aimed at ascertaining as fully as 
 possible the want of preaching, of Bibles, and of Sabbath- 
 schools, in the several settlements, and the facilities which 
 might be made available for supplying these wants. Some 
 instances of destitution which fell under his personal observa- 
 tion were most affecting. Here is one instance : 
 
 19^7i June,lS24:. On my route, twelve miles from Brownsville, I 
 called at the house of a Mr. Butcher to get directions in my journey. 
 The woman I found to be a Baptist, who had lived fourteen years, 
 eight of which were in this wilderness, without any religious privi- 
 leges. In this time she had heard but four sermons, two from 
 one of her own society, and he a man not in good standing. When 
 I told her my profession, she was too much affected with weeping 
 to speak for some time. She then related her trials and distresses 
 of soul for her forlorn state. She could not read except by slowly 
 It 
 
194 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 spelling out the words in her Testament and hymn-book, and this 
 was all the religious consolation she enjoyed. Her children were 
 growing up in ignorance, and this added greatly to her sorrows. 
 She would give all she possessed, yea, all the world if she had it, to 
 be reinstated in the same privileges she had once enjoyed. It 
 may be asked : " Why did she not return to Carolina, whence she 
 had emigrated, or to some more favored settlement ?" She was the 
 wife of a husband who had chosen his residence here for the advan- 
 tages of stock-raising ; had improved a large plantation, and chose 
 to remain. She was the mother of a large family of children, and 
 leaving them and her husband was impossible. Nor is this case a 
 singular one. But could I portray the real feelings, and the simple 
 but energetic cry of this wanderer from Christ's fold ; could I lay 
 all her woes and all her secret sighs before an opposer of missions ; 
 I would say to him : " Here is an instance of the fruit of your 
 criminal opposition. You would tear from the heart of this forlorn 
 lamb of Christ all the consolation she ever enjoyed in these years 
 of wearisome pilgrimage, in the visit, prayers, and instructions of 
 a missionary. You would tear from her the last hope of her de- 
 clining age, the hope of benefit to her children from the pious 
 labors of some herald of the Cross, who in his excursions might 
 alight at her cottage, bearing the message of redeeming love." 
 After instruction, and commending her to God, I took my leave of 
 herself and family. 
 
 At Kaskaskia he formed a female auxiliary Bible society 
 of some twenty members under circumstances of interest and 
 hopefulness, a pious Quakeress being made President, with 
 whom he formed a pleasant acquaintance. In the end of 
 June he notices seeing in the newspapers an account of the 
 formation of the American Sunday-school Union, Philadelphia, 
 and immediately entered into correspondence with it, giving 
 the facts he had gathered in the vast region over which he 
 was traveling. He notices also the preparation of a sermon 
 in favor of the colonization Society which he preached the 
 4th of July. Thus early was his heart opening to every good 
 enterprise for the bond and the free. During this year also 
 there are incidental notices in his journal of the great question, 
 then being covertly agitated in Southern Illinois especially, in 
 regard to calling a convention of the State for remodeling the 
 
SLAVERY IN ILLINOIS DEFEATED. 195 
 
 constitution so as to admit of slavery. There can be no doubt 
 that a deep-laid plan was formed for securing the consumma- 
 tion of this scheme. The legislature the preceding winter 
 had opened the way for the calling of such a convention, 
 though the real object .of it was skilfully veiled. Governor 
 Coles, a Yirginian, who had emigrated to this free territory, 
 relying on the inviolability of the ordinance of '87, and had 
 brought with him the patrimony of slaves from his father's 
 estate which he inherited, on purpose to settle them eligibly 
 in freedom, was now fortunately in the executive chair, and 
 to his commanding and consistent influence it was no doubt 
 principally owing, that this stealthy movement of the advo- 
 cates of hereditary bondage was thoroughly circumvented. 
 There can be no doubt that Mr. Peck, who shared the Gov- 
 ernor's intimate acquaintance and confidence, shared with him 
 also the sentiments above expressed, and in a quiet, unob- 
 trusive manner aided, so far as he properly could, in bringing 
 about this result. But it is not true that he traversed the 
 State, under cover of his commission as a missionary and 
 a Bible agent, but really as an emissary opposed to the pro- 
 posed convention. He seems on the contrary to have pru- 
 dently guarded his whole deportment, so as not to be obnox- 
 ious to censure in this respect. However deeply he may have 
 felt as a citizen, there is no evidence that he made himself a 
 partisan. Against ministers of the gospel doing this he al- 
 ways raised his voice and wielded his pen. And though, on 
 the defeat of the above measure, some of its too warm advo- 
 cates were inclined to censure him, and he notices in a few 
 instances the unkindness and injustice of their treatment, yet 
 in the end all the more considerate and trustworthy became 
 convinced of the erroneousness of their suspicions, and re- 
 stored to him the full measure of their confidence. This 
 result was no doubt all the earlier secured, because, when the 
 hallucination of the moment had passed away, all parties 
 seem to have rested satisfied of the fact that the best result 
 had been secured. A quarter of a century later, when Mr. 
 Peck edited the second edition of the "Annals of the West," 
 
196 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 it is correctly stated as the summing-up of this matter : "Id 
 six months after the question [of calling a convention] was 
 settled, a politician who was in favor of the introduction of 
 slavery into the State was a rarity." 
 
 This is the verdict of an impartiaj and somewhat remote 
 review of these transactions. But at the time, and when so 
 many causes were conspiring to unite all elements of opposi- 
 tion against our brother, as the staunch advocate of whatever 
 was enlightened, benevolent, and patriotic, it was a compara- 
 tively easy thing. to load him with obloquy for his sentiments 
 on this subject. Public attacks of a scurrilous and perfectly 
 baseless character were sometimes sent forth against him in 
 the newspapers. To some of these he replied in a temperate 
 but decided and manly denial of the allegations, and a fearless 
 demand for any proof to sustain the assault. He remarks in 
 his diary that to some extent these very attacks, by rendering 
 him more famous, drew towards him more of the attention of 
 the public, and gave him ampler opportunity to advocate with 
 success the great objects to which his heart and life were de- 
 voted — missions, the diffusion of the Bible, and the vigorous 
 support of Sunday-schools. In a very few instances, however, 
 he had occasion to lament the alienation of some of his former 
 friends on this account. He mourned over their misconcep- 
 tions, and, in a kind and fraternal manner, used the best means 
 in his power to disabuse their minds of the prejudices they 
 had entertained. So far as this was merely personal, ho 
 seems to have been willing to bear this obloquy and aliena- 
 tion ; but where, as in many cases, it affected injuriously the 
 cause of his Divine Master, dearer to him than life, he was 
 deeply grieved with the spirit and the opposition which it 
 stirred up against him. 
 
 His growth in grace and in knowledge, as a Christian 
 minister, appears to have fully kept pace with the celebrity 
 which unsought was widely extending his influence. At this 
 period he certainly watched over his heart, his spirit, his 
 entire deportment with scrupulous fidelity. He thus ex- 
 
SPIRITUAL CONFLICTS — STUDY OP THE BIBLE. 19t 
 
 presses himself on hearing of the death of a minister who 
 had injured him : 
 
 Though for three years past he has tried to injure me, I have freely- 
 forgiven him ; and I feel thankful that I treated him with the respect 
 due to his age, at the last Missouri Association. Let all that has 
 been unpleasant be buried in the dust and forgotten. 
 
 In case of another professed minister, with whom he and 
 his associate, Rev. Mr. Welch, had much diflBculty years 
 before, and who had been held up by decisions of churches 
 and associations against the full proofs they had adduced of 
 his unworthiness, when now at length he was demonstrating 
 beyond all question his flagitious character, the journal says, 
 evidently coming from the writer's heart, " Oh, that Divine 
 mercy might reclaim him !" On detecting in his own mind 
 the frequent and painful recurrence of doubts on some of the 
 fundamental principles of spiritual religion, he thus remarks 
 as to what he feared was his culpability in the cause : 
 
 My neglect of secret devotion, and fiiilure to cultivate the humility 
 of soul and close walk with God, which ought to be maintained, under 
 all circumstances, is probably the cause of these doubts. Amidst 
 a multiplicity of business, which though not chiefly of a worldly 
 character, yet proves a temptation for relaxation in more spiritual 
 and heavenly engagements, I find myself prone to depart from the 
 hving God. In too many instances my pulpit services are destitute 
 of the life of religion. To this I must add the levity of my con- 
 versation. There is a constitutional tendency in me to hilarity of 
 spirits which is frequently indulged beyond the bounds of propriety, 
 and on reflection induces me to exclaim, " Who shall deliver me 
 from this dead body ?" 
 
 . In the same spirit, when he had been obliged by public 
 duties to spend a few days at the seat of government, and 
 mingle very freely with the influential men from different 
 parts of the State, he records his estimate of the influence 
 of such association : " I find them not good for the soul." 
 As a means of intellectual and spiritual improvement, he 
 
198 MEMOIR OF JUli:i M. PECK. 
 
 records some experiments which he made in systematic study- 
 ing of the Divine word, even while traveling. The follow- 
 ing notice of such efforts occurs in his diary, and will be read 
 with interest : 
 
 Saturday, 9th October, 1824. Started on my way to Columbia. 
 For some weeks I have felt a growing attachment to reading the 
 word of God critically. I have gone through the Epistle to the 
 Romans in the most careful and minute manner, observing every 
 expression, and sometimes dwelling for two or three hours upon a 
 single chapter. This has vastly increased a thirst for a more inti- 
 mate acquaintance with the sacred volume. I can read while riding 
 horseback, by the help of sun-glasses which I generally use. My 
 method is to implore the unction of the Holy Spirit that I may 
 understand the portion I am about to study ; and then commence 
 and dwell on each verse, observing the connection till I can catch 
 what appears to be the distinct idea of the Writer ; often looking back 
 and examining the part I have gone over, and connecting it with 
 what follows. If a verse or sentence is not clearat first, I endeavor to 
 fix my mind on the passage with the utmost intensity, and in a little 
 time I generally find the obscurity vanish, and clear, definite ideas 
 present themselves. Passages remaining obscure, on which I can- 
 not satisfy myself, 1 mark with a pencil, for examination with the 
 best helps I may afterwards find accessible. This method of study- 
 ing the sacred oracles is both instructive and comforting. I know 
 a httle of what the pious Psalmist means in saying the words of 
 God were sweet to his taste, yea sweeter than honey or the honey 
 comb. 
 
 In the same connection he laments the indisposition of 
 some preachers to study the letter of Divine truth, making 
 extravagant claims to being led by the Spirit. 
 
 An old minister named H , famous for allegorizing, thus 
 
 noticed the plagues in Egypt, and the success of her magicians in 
 imitating some of the miracles of Moses, but could not produce 
 the lice. " These lice," he said, " signified the grace of God in the 
 soul. Now," said he, " as you can. feel these little animals," suiting 
 the action to the word he here scratched his head, " but cannot 
 see them, so you cannot see the grace of God, but you can feel it." 
 Such idle, ridiculous and disgusting comparisons are frequently 
 
PREJUDICE AGAINST BAPTISTS. 199 
 
 made ; and such preachers, by ludicxous and antic gestures, and a 
 drawling voice, can often raise a laugh among their hearers. Thus 
 rehgion becomes ridiculous, and excites contempt among sensible, 
 well-informed men. These too often fly off to deism and atheism, 
 imagining all religion to be foll^^. The cause of this may be 
 mainly traced to putting ignorant persons into the ministry, and 
 encouraging them to preach without study. Lord, deUver Zion 
 from such evils I 
 
 How incessantly, in all his journeyings, our brother was 
 laying under contribution all his opportunities for learning 
 human nature may be seen by the following item of his 
 journal ; 
 
 "While journeying in settlements where I am not known, I fre- 
 quently call at houses, and in a roundabout way introduce the 
 subject of religion, and in this way find out the views which differ- 
 ent denominations entertain of each other. They will converse 
 more freely and I can get a better insight into their charac- 
 ter than if my calling were suspected. To-day I called on a 
 Cumberland Presbyterian family to inquire the road, and soon fell 
 into conversation with a woman. She represented the Baptists as 
 believing that God had foreordained a certain part of mankind to 
 be saved, and the rest to be damned ; and that it would do no 
 good for us to attempt to do any thing till God did all the 
 work. She also said they believed no other society could be saved, 
 because they were not baptized. It is astonishing how much 
 honest, well-meaning people will mistake each other through preju- 
 dice and prepossession. I find there is but little diS'erence in the 
 strength and prevalence of their prejudices, however they may 
 differ in other respects. The absurdity of all this is the more 
 striking when it is seen with what eagerness they will receive 
 members from each other's society, and what anxiety is manifested 
 for proselyting. 
 
 His Bible and Sunday-school labors especially brought 
 him into close contact with all denominations, and taught him 
 important lessons of true, wide-reaching charity. Entertained 
 as the welcome guest by the good of all denominations, how 
 could he fail to leave the good among them all. Speaking 
 of a worthy Methodist family who had cordially received 
 him, he says : 
 
200 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 I was received as kindly as- 1 could have been in any Baptist 
 family. Experience has taught me that it is wretched policy for 
 the different sects in religion to oppose each other. As the late 
 excellent Dr. Ward observes, *' There is much trash cleaving to us 
 all." Christians can love each other, and provoke to good works 
 without sanctioning a particle of error, or relinquishing a particle 
 of truth. I have good reason to believe that the liberal policy 
 which I have observed for months past has had good effect. 
 
 To which we may safely subjoin, it certainly had a good 
 effect on himself, as it always does on every true disciple of 
 Christ. It need not render him indifferent to points of im- 
 portance held by each family of the Lord's people. That it 
 did not in the present instance is demonstrated by the follow- 
 ing account which he gives of a camp-meeting of the 
 Methodists and Cumberland Presbyterians in Missouri which 
 he attended, and of which he furnishes the following account : 
 
 At evening of the last day I heard a young Cumberland Presby- 
 terian attempt to preach from 1 Pet. i. 8. He was a young hand 
 and made out but poorly. A Mr. Chamberlain, a Methodist, 
 gave an exhortation, in which he began by lamenting the want of 
 effort on the part of the people, declaring at first that he had no 
 faith to exhort ; he reproved the people for sloth and neglect, but 
 soon fell into a strain of the most passionate, powerful appeals to the 
 hopes and fears of all around him. The Methodists were alternately 
 assailed and encouraged, till he wound up by proposing to all who 
 ever did pray, or ever would pray, to engage ten minutes by the 
 watch as the last alternative. Upon this the members and others 
 rushed forward to the stand, and all commenced as if with one 
 voice. Soon a black woman and some others commenced shouting. 
 Two or three appeared in agony for mercy. The preachers would 
 exhort them to have a little more faith, " to struggle a few minutes 
 longer, and God, Christ, and heaven are yours !" They would 
 constantly make appeals to those engaged to prevent the fervor 
 and zeal from expiring. I left them about nine o'clock still en- 
 gaged, and I could hear them shouting at a great distance. 
 
 I remark on this subject generally as follows : 
 
 1. Throughout the preaching, the exhortations, and the coia- 
 mimion nothing of this kind transpired : hence the people were 
 said to be indolent, lazy, and devoid of faith. 
 
ESTIMATE OF CAMP-MEETINGS. 201 
 
 2. The person who now exhorted evidently intended to produce 
 this excitement ; and as the assembly was rather small, he first 
 pretended he had no faith to exhort, and that they must depart 
 without a solitary conversion. 
 
 3. They all went to work in a way calculated to raise their own 
 and others' passions, and labored at it most determinedly. They 
 appeared to act as if they felt that all depended on human effort. 
 *' Come forward and help the Lord do it," was a common expres- 
 sion. 
 
 4. The excitement had to be kept up by the same causes which 
 produced it. The moment the preachers stopped, the nerves 
 of the people relaxed and their voices fell. 
 
 5. All this excitement and effect, so far as visible, might have 
 been produced without the agency of God, and might be and 
 seemed to be only the effect of human causes. 
 
 6. While from the fruits occasionally manifested, I have no 
 doubt that genuine convictions and saving conversions do some- 
 times follow such confused and disorderly meetings, yet it must 
 be confessed that most of these cases prove false — worse than 
 worthless. 
 
 7. The method of talking to and exhorting the persons apparently 
 under conviction is highly improper and injudicious. The whol-e 
 object of the preachers and leaders appears to be to get them 
 relieved from distress, quite irrespective of the character of the 
 relief. Hence, were it not for the apparent necessity for such 
 meetings, in a thinly populated country, and the fact that some- 
 times God blesses very imperfect means, I would disapprove of 
 them wholly. As they are congenial to the habits of the people, 
 and may do some good, reaching those not otherwise accessible, 
 they may be tolerated, and as far as practicable regulated. 
 
 All sorts of opposition came in his way, and valiantly did 
 he encounter it. In one of his tours for organizing Bible 
 societies, he says : 
 
 Instead of persuading the 'people to unite in circulating the 
 vScriptures, I find it necessary to take higher ground, and support 
 the Bible as the word of God — as a scheme of Divine revelation. 
 There are people of prominent and active influence who reject the 
 gospel of a precious Saviour. I was attacked by two men of this 
 sort, in the public house where I put up. 
 
202 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 This led him to review carefully the ground of early and 
 modern skepticism, and to prepare himself thoroughly to 
 defend that Holy Word he was laboring to disseminate. 
 
 July 30th, he thus sums up the results of an early, and 
 laborious tour as Bible agent : 
 
 In this journey in the Bible cause I have rode five hundred 
 miles, preached seventeen regular sermons besides delivering 
 several addresses ; have aided in forming eight Bible societies, two 
 of which are branches, the others auxiliaries. The Lord has 
 been exceedingly gracious to me in all my journeyings, granted 
 me ah unusual degree of health, prospered me in my labors much 
 beyond any reasonable anticipations, and returned me in safety 
 over several dangerous waters where I had to swim my horse. 
 
 Near the close of the following month, as he was prepar- 
 ing to set forth on a still longer tour through Missouri, his 
 wife became very ill, and for several days despaired of re- 
 covery. His mind was greatly exercised with distracting 
 emotions in view of this calamity, but at length he found 
 grace to commit himself and family entirely into the Lord's 
 hand, and wait his holy will. Almost immediately God 
 turned the shadow of death into the morning, and she began 
 steadily to recover. One week later, he set forth on this 
 important enterprise. A month later, he thus describes his 
 position and his feelings : 
 
 September 2Sth. I am now at Liberty, Clay county, on the ex- 
 treme western side of Missouri, north of the Missouri river. 
 Southeast lies the missionary station of Harmony, among the 
 Osages, one hundred miles distant. Northwest are the Council 
 Bluffs, and before me the interminable wilderness, over which the 
 savage Indians roam after the buffalo. Could I but succeed in 
 planting the Bible here, it would greatly rejoice my heart, but 
 prospects at present are not very favorable. The settlement of 
 this remote county in the extremity of the State was begun but 
 four years since, and it now contains about two thousand inhabi- 
 tants. Baptists, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Methodists, each 
 have societies here. The people who have settled this district are 
 chiefly from Kentucky and Teimessce, sadly destitute of public 
 
BIBLE EFFORTS — TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 203 
 
 spirit, and manifest a great degree of apathy towards benevolent 
 institutions, even when they are obviously intended for their own 
 benefit. More than one hundred of these families are believed to 
 be entirely destitute of the Scriptures, yet when I explained — after 
 preaching — the design of an auxiliary Bible society, the need and 
 the benefits of it, and then urged its formation, no one stepped 
 forward and offered to engage in it. In Eay and Clay and Lillard 
 counties, little or nothing could be eSected. 
 
 On reaching his home (October 20th), he thus recapitulates 
 the labors and successes of the journey ; 
 
 In this tour I have not been as successful in forming Bible socie- 
 ties as I had fondly anticipated, but I have done what I could. 
 May the blessing of Heaven follow ! I have rode on horseback 
 eight hundred and thirty miles, preached twenty-seven times regu- 
 lar discourses, formed five branch Bible societies, attended four 
 Baptist associations, two Methodist camp-meetings, besides making 
 a number of addresses, and preparing the way for other Bible 
 societies hereafter. This has occupied forty-five days. 
 
 In November of this year he mentions attending the organ- ^ 
 ization of a society, for the suppression of intemperance, in ) 
 one of the counties of Central Illinois ; and this is marked in [ 
 the margin at a much later date as the first temperance society 
 in the State, or possibly he means the first with which he had 
 met or co-operated. Thus we find him sowing beside all 
 waters, and he lived to verify the blessedness which the Divine 
 promise announ(^s. Having sowed bountifully the good seed 
 of all good enterprises — moral, religious, intellectual — it was 
 his privilege afterwards to reap bountifully. Having gone 
 forth, weeping, bearing precious seed, he did return rejoicing, 
 bearing the rich sheaves of an abundant harvest. But we 
 may not linger longer in our gleanings of this harvest. Very 
 appropriately might this chapter be closed by the letter of 
 Mr. Peck to the Secretary of the Missionary Society of Mas- 
 sachusetts, with which he still held a connection, but our 
 limits forbid. 
 
204 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIL 
 
 Revisiting — Circuit-preaching — Perverse Ministers — Infidelity. 
 
 The next ten months were spent in a manner so similar to 
 the preceding as scarcely to require a minute detail of his nu- 
 merous and multifarious engagements. The same objects aimed 
 at, as described in the last chapter, still engrossed his atten- 
 tion, and were prosecuted on the whole with cheering success. 
 The ordinary amount of discouragement from misconception 
 and prejudice among opponents, and from coolness, indiffer- 
 ence, and lack of fidelity in his professed coadjutors, cost him 
 many a severe disappointment. Yet through it all he bated 
 not a particle of heart or hope, but urged his way onward, 
 right onward. When for instance he would make his way 
 through many impediments of bad roads, swollen creeks, and 
 missing bridges, for scores of miles, to meet some Bible so- 
 ciety anniversary, and find, on arriving at the appointed place, 
 that no arrangements had been made for the meeting, instead 
 of abandoning such faulty individuals as these officers and 
 managers had proved themselves, he would set about the 
 work which they had neglected with imperturbable patience 
 and vigor, and when after struggling day and night to repair 
 the disaster occasioned solely by their neglect, and when the 
 full tide of success had again been secured, and their coldness 
 was giving place to general gratulations in view of the cheer- 
 ing results, then, and not before, would he kindly but faith- 
 fully lead these officers to see the bad effects of their luke- 
 warmness, and win from them a hearty pledge of greater 
 fidelity and zeal in future. He came very soon to understand 
 that no auxiliary, Bible, or Sunday-school society was reliably 
 established, until it had been revisited at the end of a year or 
 two of its history, to set in order and re-supply the things 
 which were wanting, and by continuous exercise on the part 
 
CIRCUIT-PREACHING — SUNDAY- SCHOOLS. 205 
 
 of its officers and managers, they had formed the habit of 
 earning success by patient and energetic well-doing. This 
 course of reiterated journeying over the same routes where ho 
 had passed before gave him much more thorough and com- 
 plete knowledge of the country and its wants, and the means 
 available for the supply of these wants, than he could have 
 otherwise secured. It made him familiar with the men and 
 the means which could be called out, and what was most 
 indispensable to secure them. So that, in reality, great as 
 may have been the immediate benefits from his previous and 
 his present exertions by preaching, and by his systematic 
 formation of Sunday-schools and Bible-distributing organiza- 
 tions, the chief value of these explorations may still be justly 
 reckoned as their preparation for more enlarged and efficient 
 measures in the future. In this light it is certain that he came 
 in the end to regard them. Indeed so little was he satisfied 
 with the amount of permanent and reliable success hitherto 
 secured, that we find him again and again during this period 
 very seriously revolving the question whether he should not 
 break away from the multifarious engagements on which, as 
 he feared, he was frittering away the best of his years, and 
 settling himself down in St. Louis, ministering to a single 
 church, regularly teaching some few hours a day for his reli- 
 able support, he should not devote himself to conducting a 
 weekly journal as the principal means of arousing and wisely 
 guiding the Western mind, and heart, and habits, for self- 
 improvement. His correspondence and journals show how 
 nearly he at one time came to yielding himself up to an in- 
 viting offer of this kind. But doubtless it was well for the 
 cause "that he did not. It was yet too early to trust to the 
 power of the press to set in motion and wisely guide the mass 
 of inert mind on which, for religious and moral improvement, 
 he had to operate. More of the hard, preliminary work had 
 first to be performed, and to that he earnest^ and bravely 
 devoted himself. 
 
 The necessity of something like a system of circuit-preaching, 
 by the most capable and faithful ministers attainable, seems 
 18 
 
206 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 to have been about this time fully impressed on his mind. 
 Returning from one of his usual preaching tours through a 
 pretty wide range of counties, churches, and preaching- 
 stations, he thus remarks in his journal : 
 
 On this route' I have rode three hundred and two miles. This is 
 a circuit suitable for an active missionary in this country to ride 
 over in one month, and preach thirty times, besides attending to 
 keeping alive Bible societies, Sunday-schools, and looking well to 
 the discipline of the churches. 
 
 The immense mischief done by ignorant, imprudent, and 
 pretentious preachers, was constantly forcing itself on his 
 notice ; and jottings down in his journals like the following 
 are of frequent occurrence : 
 
 After much serious reflection I am convinced that much of the 
 ignorance, prejudice, and bigotry, which exist among the Baptists 
 here, is to be traced to the men who pretend to preach the gospel. 
 
 Again, on the following page, he says : 
 
 The Church here is in serious difficulty, and from all appearances 
 there will be a division amongst the Baptists through the State. The 
 opposers of missions are determined to invade the inherent rights 
 and privileges of their brethren, and it really seems as if they were 
 given up to violent measures in order to hasten their own defeat. All 
 these difficulties originate from the ignorant and selfish preachers." 
 
 In the meantime the cheering influence of the Sunday- 
 schools which he had established, and the willingness of all 
 classes (with trifling exceptions) to co-operate in maintaining 
 and extending them, very greatly cheered his heart. In May, 
 1825, this record is found on his reaching St. Louis, and look- 
 ing over the extensive correspondence there received by him 
 as Secretary of a Western Sunday-school Union which had 
 there been formed : 
 
 From various quarters I learn that the Sunday-school cause 
 prospei:s. Schools are forming in different parts, and it is to be 
 hoped that great good will be the result. 
 
 Again, in August following, on occasion of his extending 
 his tour over the State line into Indiana and there forming 
 
VISIT TO ROBERT OWEN'S COLONY. 201 
 
 the Knox County Sunday-school Society under auspicioua 
 circumstances, he thus remarks : 
 
 If circumstances possibly admitted, I could form a complete 
 system of Sunday-schools in Indiana ; and I am almost induced 
 at times to forego the objects I have already contemplated, sacrifice 
 domestic enjoyment and family interest, and devote myself to such 
 a work. My lungs are still oppressed with cold and hoarseness, 
 but when I find a number of children and several people assemble 
 in the evening for instruction, I cannot hesitate to address them, 
 relating Sunday-school anecdotes and other things adapted to in- 
 terest them. In every part of the country is a wide field for exer- 
 tion. Twenty missionaries might find constant employment in 
 Indiana. 
 
 Later in the same month Mr. Peck visited Robert Owen's 
 colony at Harmony — of which he furnishes the following 
 account : 
 
 I rode a few miles on purpose to see the community lately 
 formed by Mr. Owen. The town of Harmony is situated on the 
 right bank of the "VVaba&h and was originially founded by a colony 
 of Germans under a Mr. Eapp. There are a number of excellent 
 buildings, fine gardens, with walks, labyrinths, vineyards, etc., but 
 at present much of it Ues waste. The town is crowded with popu- 
 lation, under somewhat singular pohce regulations. There is a 
 mixture of every class of people, as to their religious preferences ; 
 but a large number, perhaps one-fourth, are deists and atheists. 
 These are the principles taught in the schools. The children are 
 all taught to believe nothing but what the senses can demonstrate. 
 This society is only in the incipient stage of the social community 
 which Mr. Owen contemplates. Here men are to be prepared by 
 a state of probation and discipline, to enter into that rest and 
 happiness which he contemplates will be enjoyed by those who 
 shall be divested of all religious hopes and fears. 
 
 At evening, by arrangement of the committee, the meeting of the 
 eociety for business was postponed, and opportunity given for me 
 to deliver a lecture in the meeting-house. I did not begin in the 
 usual way of public worship, but lectured on man, his nature, his 
 character, wants, etc., the necessity of religion to such a being, the 
 character of the gospel ; and then enforced the duty of following 
 the guiding light of Scripture. A Mr. Jennings— head teacher, lee- 
 
208 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 turer, etc. — proposed to deliver a lecture in defence of his system 
 some ten days hence. But this did not satisfy the public mind. 
 Finally it was agreed that he should lecture the next evening, and 
 give me opportunity to reply. I soon found the whole town in 
 commotion. Parties were collected at the street corners, debating 
 Numbers called on me presenting their grateful acknowledgmentF 
 for my lecture, and expressing the hope that I would defend the 
 truth. I cannot but think that God in his providence has sent me 
 here to stay the devouring flood of infidelity and atheism. 
 
 The following evening I heard Mr. Jennings deliver his lecture, 
 in which he displayed considerable ingenuity, while supporting 
 his principles of atheism. He did not come out openly and fully to 
 the understanding of all, but presented the subject in such a way 
 as could not be mistaken by an observing person. I replied to him 
 in a short discourse, in which my endeavor was fully to expose his 
 principles, and publicly declared that I would expose them through 
 the country. It is now fully evident that Owen's system is based 
 on atheism ; and that every effort will be made to erase from the 
 minds of its receivers every idea of God. 
 
 As a practical demonstration of the bitter fruits of this 
 system Mr. Peck the next day visited a lady who was a 
 member of a Baptist church in Cincinnati, and being in 
 widowhood with several children, she had joined this com- 
 munity of Owen's. Here she was induced to marry one of 
 the members of it, who turned out very soon to be an atheist 
 in full, who now laughs at and mocks her, and in every 
 possible way interferes with her religious duties. She 
 evinced the utmost distress in regard to her situation and 
 that of her poor children. 
 
 On his return home, a few days later, he found that a son 
 named John Q. A. Peck had been born in his absence, and 
 that Mrs. Peck in her accouchement had come near losing her 
 life. God's goodness in sparing her called for the husband's 
 warmest and most devout acknowledgments. He thus sums 
 up the labors of this one journey : 
 
 I have been absent from home fifty-three days ; have traveled 
 through eighteen counties in Illinois, and nine in Indiana, rode nine 
 hundred and twenty-six miles, preached regular sermons thirty-one 
 
ANTI-SLAVERY BAPTISTS — MISSOURI SLAVEHOLDERS. 209 
 
 times, besides delivering several speeches, addresses, and lectures. I 
 have been enabled to revive three Bible societies, which would never 
 have been recognized but for my visit ; to establish seven new 
 societies ; to visit and give instruction and encouragement in the 
 management of two societies which had been formed without my 
 aid ; and to provide for the formation of four others. I have aided 
 in forming three Sabbath-school societies, and in opening several 
 schools where no societies exist, and improved many important 
 opportunities to aid the great cause in various ways. Now, Lord, 
 give me both gratitude and humility, that I may praise thee for 
 all my success, and seeing my own weakness and insignificance 
 may sink into the dust of self-abasement, that I may never be 
 proud or vain ! 
 
 The remaining months of the year 1825 were filled to re- 
 pletion with incessant engagements and labors of a somewhat 
 multifarious character, in supplying monthly the colored and 
 white churches in St. Louis, which had virtually if not 
 formally separated ; in traveling among the associations and 
 churches in Missouri and Illinois, especially in promoting the 
 formation, strengthening and encouragement of Bible and 
 Sunday-school societies in both these States, which threw on 
 him, as their Corresponding Secretary, the laboring oar, and 
 tasked every moment of his time in cares, toils, circulars and 
 letters to prominent individuals. We cannot follow him 
 minutely in these varied and most incessant labors, but will 
 only glean here and there an item from his hurried journal. 
 
 In October he attended the annual conference of the 
 "Friends of Humanity," an association of anti-slavery Bap- 
 tists, in Illinois, several of the members of which subse- 
 quently became his warmest personal friends. This is his 
 verdict in regard to their sentiments and practices at that 
 period : 
 
 I heard several discourses during the meeting. The preaching 
 is rather tinctured with Arminianism. Too much stress is laid on 
 the grace given equally to all men, and the whole result as depend- 
 ing on the improvement which they make of it. This in particu- 
 lar was the fault of a discourse from Father 0. At night the 
 communion was observed, but there was far too much confusion 
 
210 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and disorder during the observance, too much singing and shaking 
 hands, far too much bodily effort. Still there are valuable things 
 in this society, and, with some improvement, they will be far more 
 useful then the cold Laodicean Baptists around them. 
 
 He thus speaks of a Cumberland Presbyterian camp- 
 meeting in Missouri : 
 
 More than twenty professed to be converted, but from what I 
 could learn, there was too much of the imagination predominant — 
 such as seeing heaven, seeing hell, shaking hands with Christ, etc. 
 Amongst ignorant people such excesses are frequent, but no 
 doubt a good work is going on here. 
 
 On a visit in the same month to St. Charles, Mo., he 
 enters this minute : 
 
 I am happy to find among the slaveholders in Missouri a growing 
 disposition to have the blacks educated, and to patronise Sunday- 
 schools for the purpose. I doubt not but by prudent efforts this 
 may be effected extensively. 
 
 At the end of the year, and for some three weeks after- 
 wards, he was in and near Yandalia, the seat of government 
 of Illinois at that time, preaching in the legislature halls in 
 behalf of the Bible and Sunday-school cause. By public and 
 personal appeals among those attending the session of the 
 legislature, he was enabled to win many prominent men from 
 all parts of the State to favor these objects. But he was en- 
 couraged to aim at securing the funds possessed by a State 
 agricultural society, which was now about to be dissolved, to 
 be transferred to a Sunday-school society for the State. In 
 this he was entirely successful, and together with some indi- 
 vidual donations from members of the legislature, he secured 
 about two hundred and sixty dollars for this object.^ 
 
 In February, 1826,. while spending a few days in St. Louis 
 he assisted in the ordination of Rev. J. B. Meacham, a 
 colored brother, who then and even to his death was held in 
 high esteem by all who knew him. The General Sunday-school 
 Union also appointed him their agent to solicit funds in New 
 York, Boston, and other eastern cities. The Auxiliary 
 
REFLECTIONS. 211 
 
 Colonization Society of St. Louis also appointed him their 
 agent and representative to the American Colonization 
 Society, in whose efforts for the poor blacks he then, and 
 through life, felt the greatest interest. 
 
 Having in various' ways brought his important work in 
 hand to a state of as much completeness as possible, he was 
 prepared for an absence of several months in an eastern tour, 
 which must be chronicled in the following chapter. 
 
 Yery appropriate to the close of tRis are some general re- 
 flections written near this time in the beginning of one of 
 his journals, from which the following sentences have been 
 condensed : 
 
 I am beginning to fear that my mind is not as susceptible of high 
 religious emotions as formerly. I have less, far less feeling about 
 missions, but more firmness, resolution and perseverance to 
 accomplish my objects. In fine, I view an unseen hand guiding 
 me in all my ways, and desire to trust myself entirely to His dis- 
 posal. Though my labors have been more arduous, and have more 
 exposed me to the severity of weather and climate for the last 
 two years than before, I have enjoyed better health. After mature 
 deliberation, and ten years experience since I devoted my life as a 
 pioneer in the army of the Eedeemer, I am as firm and unshaken in 
 my resolution, as at the first moment I enlisted. I have been 
 sorely tried, my character reproached, and my name cast out as 
 evil, but I do not desire to give up the cause of missions or com- 
 promise one of its principles. Though my lot is not what I ex- 
 pected, yet I have hitherto been enabled to act on the great 
 principle I adopted at the first, viz. : that my time, property, talents 
 family^ body, soul, and all that I have and am, are sacredly conse- 
 crated to the missionary cause, as God's providence may order and 
 direct ; whether in the Bible, Sunday-school or missionary employ, 
 it is all with the same end in view. Lord, help me to continue 
 faithful and devoted to thee ! 
 
212 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 A Nine-montlis' tour to the Eastern and Middle States. 
 
 The time had at length arrived when imperative duty as 
 well as strong inclination led Mr. Peck for the first time after 
 his removal to the West to set his face towards the scenes 
 and friends of his earlier years. The nine years of his separa- 
 tion from them had in no degree dimmed his perceptions 
 of their worth, or chilled his heart towards them. On the 
 other hand, so free and frequent had been his correspondence, 
 and so vividly was all the past impressed on his mind, that 
 soon as circumstances permitted he yearned to revisit the 
 loved ones he had left so long. But stronger inducements 
 than any mere personal gratification impelled him to this 
 journey. He had borne into the deep mine the explorer's 
 torch, and felt an intense solicitude to rally to his aid the 
 requisite assistance to secure the rich treasures which he had 
 discovered. For six of these years, single-handed and with 
 but little aid from abroad, he had been manfully battling for 
 truth and righteousness, for the enlightenment and evangel- 
 ization of the mighty West, and he was now constrained to 
 report to the churches of New England and New York what 
 had been done, and what further eff"orts were immediately 
 demanded. He was the first who, from jninute, thorough 
 general knowledge, brought the appeal to the Baptist churches 
 of the East to come up promptly and energetically to the help 
 of their less-favored brethren in the West. While he had felt 
 constrained to correct many extravagant misrepresentations 
 which others had sent forth on this subject, and for this pur- 
 pose, throughout the previous year, had been writing a series 
 of articles in the " Christian Watchman," Boston, designed to 
 refute many of these misconceptions, he felt equally bound on 
 the other hand not to let the real and pressing religious wants 
 
VISIT TO CINCINNATI. 213 
 
 of the great valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries remain 
 unheeded. Yery well did he understand also that a personal 
 appeal would be much more efficient than any other. 
 
 The record of this tour fills nearly ninety pages of a quarto 
 volume of his journal, besides another folio volume of sixty- 
 seven pages, full of memoranda of various observations in 
 regard to weather, soil, topography, statistics, and whatever 
 he deemed most interesting not falling within the range of 
 his ordinary diary. These materials are superabundant, be- 
 sides which personal recollections in ample fullness and vari- 
 ety here come to the aid of the biographer. But necessity 
 seems to demand the compression of the most permanently 
 important of all these into the limits of a single chapter. 
 
 Mr. Peck left his home and family on the 22d of February, 
 and journeyed on horseback to Cincinnati, a distance of three 
 hundred and forty-eight miles. His health was not good, and 
 the weather and traveling were most wearisome and forbidding, 
 so that with the delays thus occasioned he consumed nearly 
 three weeks in this part of the journey. Over a great part 
 of this route he had traveled before, and here his way was 
 cheered by the society and hospitality of old friends. He 
 did what he could in public and private to strengthen the 
 things which remained — the Bible societies, Sunday-schools, 
 and little half-destitute churches. On reaching the eastern 
 portion of Indiana, he came upon new ground, and formed 
 new and interesting acquaintances. The Hon. Judge Holman, 
 near Aurora was one of these, and a life-long intimacy and 
 friendship grew out of it to their mutual satisfaction and the 
 benefit of the cause. 
 
 On reaching Cincinnati, which he now visited for the first 
 time, he found a more interesting state of things, both in the 
 city, where he remained five days, and in the State of Ohio, 
 of which he could here learn much more than had before been 
 known to him, — than he had even dared to anticipate. Mea- 
 sures were now set on foot by the personal appeals of one 
 or more of the brethren to the churches, which soon after 
 resulted in the formation of the Ohio Baptist Convention 
 
214 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 for domestic missions and education purposes. In the city 
 also be found himself surrounded by warm-hearted, intelligent 
 brethren, whose attentions to him and zeal for the cause 
 greatly encouraged his heart. Preaching to the Enon Bap- 
 tist church then worshiping in Walnut street, he found a 
 larger and more respectable assembly than he had addressed 
 for many years. Religion was flourishing, and additions were 
 made to the church every month. Here, too, a high and 
 increasing missionary spirit was manifest, and for his work's 
 sake he found himself surrounded by warm-hearted, devoted 
 friends, and almost devoured by the demonstrations of their 
 kindness. By special request he preached to them on Lord's- 
 da}" evening a missionary discourse, and a collection w^as taken- 
 for their own missionary purposes. So wearied had both man 
 and horse been by struggling through rain and mud to this 
 place that he was induced to put both on board a steamer, and 
 in this way accomplished with ease and satisfaction the next 
 four hundred miles to Wheeling. It seems to have been his 
 first experience of traveling any considerable distance in this 
 manner, by which subsequently he was to experience so much 
 of benefit and peril. He remarks on the rattling and crashing 
 of the engines, and the bustle and confusion on board, as 
 rendering it impracticable to have public worship on the 
 Sabbath as he had desired, and as on the large boats was 
 often practicable. In three and a half days he arrived at 
 Wheeling, and thence proceeded on horseback with ease and 
 expedition over the national road towards Washington city. 
 
 In Washington, Pa., he mentions an interesting interview 
 which he had with Rev. Charles Wheeler, pastor of the Bap- 
 tist church in that place (subsequently President of Rector 
 College, Western Virginia), who gave him a pretty clear idea 
 of the continued difficulties in the Redstone Baptist Associa- 
 tion, where there was a hyper-Calvinistic party, very rigid 
 and bigoted, and where Alexander Campbell was more and 
 more manifesting his opposition to the above party and their 
 shibboleth, while still a third and more numerous portion of 
 that body maintained a middle ground. 
 
WASHINGTON CITY — RICE AND STAUGHTON. 215 
 
 At Cumberland, where he spent a Sabbath, he mentions 
 hearing an excellent sermon from the Lutheran minister ; he 
 also visited and promoted the Sunday-schools in the place, 
 and preached in the evening. Rev. Isaac McCoy, having 
 passed through the place recently with several young Indians 
 whom he was taking for education in some of the Northern 
 colleges, had awakened considerable interest in the subject of 
 Indian missions, which the good people desired to have fanned 
 into a flame. They persuaded Mr. Peck to stop on Monday 
 and organize a juvenile society for this purpose. He did so 
 ^ith pleasure, preaching again on this subject, thus waken- 
 ing anew his own zeal and love for this kindred evangelical 
 enterprise. 
 
 By the end of March he reached Washington city, and 
 found himself surrounded, as he said, by every thing grand, 
 pompous, ceremonious, intelligent, and these traits probably 
 counterbalanced by those of the opposite character. His old 
 friends, Rice and Dr. Staughton, welcomed him cordially. But 
 he soon saw the incipient coolness and distrust which was 
 beginning to manifest itself between them and their respect- 
 ive adherents, which, before another month was at an 
 end, blazed out into open rupture. He visited the Capitol, 
 and heard McDuffie, and other of the principal speakers of 
 that era. Considerable of his time was also spent in the 
 Columbian College, into whose affairs, pecuniary and literary, 
 he seems to have looked somewhat closely. He preached 
 both in the city and in the college chapel ; and in company 
 with the member of Congress from his district, he waited on 
 President Adams, for whom he had felt so much admiration 
 that he had just named his youngest son after him. The last 
 Lord's day he was here, Dr. Staughton delivered in the chapel 
 a lecture on the wisdom of God in redemption, of which he 
 says : " Though the Doctor has failed in a number of respects, 
 I could see his usual vivacity and eloquence at times during 
 the discourse." The same evening he mentions holding a 
 long and painful conversation with his friend Luther Rice on 
 the various topics connected with the college and missions, 
 
216 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and became more fully impressed with the serious diflSculties 
 which threatened disturbance and the separation of those who 
 had been warm friends, by coldness, distrust, and jealousy. 
 With commendable prudence he determined to forbear ex- 
 pressing any judgment on these things till he had been enabled 
 to judge coolly and understandingly. 
 
 After a fortnight spent in the national capital, during a por- 
 tion of which time he was a housed-sufi'erer from a severe 
 influenza, he passed on through Baltimore, where a single day 
 sufficed him to renew his acquaintance with the Baptist pastors 
 and other friends, and by the middle of April again reache(f 
 Philadelphia, where so many pleasant associations and recol- 
 lections of the happy months of hjs student life were awakened. 
 
 Lord's-day morning he preached for Rev. Mr. Dagg, pastor 
 of Sansom street church, and in the evening listened to one, who 
 had been a fellow-student, in the same pulpit, of whose perform- 
 ance he thus speaks : *' He was rather too rapid and violent 
 in his tones and gestures ; otherwise there would have been 
 many admirable strokes of eloquence in his discourse, which . 
 on the whole was ingenious and instructive. Several times 
 he had the attention of the audience roused up to the highest 
 pitch, but had not the faculty of letting them down again 
 without too sudden and abrupt a transition." He rejoiced 
 also in the evidences of respect and love evinced by this 
 church and congregation for their new pastor, the successor 
 of his beloved instructor, Dr. Staughton. 
 
 His days and nights were here a continuous round of 
 welcomes among the friends he had formerly known and 
 loved. He mentions dining With a large company of Pres- 
 byterian ministers at the hospitable mansion of Alexander 
 Henry, President of the American Sunday-school Union. In 
 this city and its surroundings, among which is prominently 
 to be mentioned his dear friend and yoke-fellow's -home at 
 Mt. Holly and Burlington, New Jersey, he spent the next ten 
 days. Almost every day or night, or both, he was called 
 out for sermons, lectures, addresses, all bearing more or less 
 directly on the stores of definite and reliable information 
 
NEW YOIIK ANNIVERSARIES. 211 
 
 which he could furnish in regard to the mighty West — its 
 wants, its capabilities, and its prospects. 
 
 From the 26th of April to the 1th of May he was in 
 attendance on the session of the Tfiennial Convention in 
 New York, enjoying the hospitality of his old Dutchess 
 county friend Deacon Purser. There we met (his biographer 
 and himself), after eleven years separation. In the early part 
 of the session he was ill a day or two, and afterward in the 
 painful collisions so manifest and wide-reaching, between 
 some of his choicest early friends, he was very silent. In- 
 deed, he said little in public during that whole meeting. But 
 he was a keen observer, a good listener, and then and there 
 he learned to read the characteristics of many of those who 
 were more or less directly associated with him through the 
 remainder of his eventful life. There may have been another 
 reason which restrained him from taking a more prominent 
 part in those debates, besides the revering love he felt for the 
 leaders on both sides. He felt that immensely great and 
 sacred interests had been confided to him and his advocacy, 
 and he would not needlessly imperil them by mixing himself 
 with the debates, so engrossing and exciting, which were now 
 transpiring. He was no scheming, sellish trimmer, at this or 
 at any period of his life ; but he knew how to reserve him^ 
 self for an emergency of transcendent interest, compared 
 with which the animosities and collisions, chiefly of a personal 
 character, which now stirred the blood so quickly, were but 
 as the small chaff of the summer threshing-floor. 
 
 On both the Sabbaths during the session he preached, and 
 with liveliest interest he visited as many of the best con- 
 ducted Sabbath-schools as possible. The one in Yandam 
 (now McDougal) street was reckoned at that time one of the 
 largest and best schools in the city, and he made himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with its whole plan, and system of 
 operations. His verdict, after a full, repeated examination of 
 it, was, that it was probably the best conducted Sunday-school 
 in the world. "All the scholars are closely instructed into 
 
 the meaning of the Scripture." His old fellow-pupil in the 
 19 
 
218 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Dutchess Academy at Poughkeepsie, Rev. Aaron Perkins, 
 was then pastor of this church, and with him and their 
 former preceptor, Daniel H. Barnes, associate principal with 
 Dr. Griscom of one of the most important high schools of the 
 city, he enjoyed a delightful re-union. 
 
 Immediately succeeding the Triennial Convention, the 
 usual May anniversaries of general religious benevolence 
 were held in New York. These he attended with absorbing 
 interest and satisfaction, particularly the assemblage of five 
 or six thousand Sunday-school children in Castle Garden, 
 where Mars with his murderous accompaniments had been 
 turned out to let this lovely throng of Sunday-scholars in, 
 with their sweet faces and peaceful, holy banners, where 
 their hosannahs to the Prince of peace went up in blessed 
 harmony, and where prayers and addresses of a most appro- 
 priate and spirit-striking character were listened to, and drew 
 forth the exultation of his soul. The American Bible Society, 
 as a special and well-merited token of its favor, made him an 
 honorary life-member, for the important and distinguished 
 favor he had rendered to their cause in the West. This was 
 the first time he had ever been permitted to mingle in their 
 anniversary services. To all of them, the American Tract 
 Society, the American Home Mission, and the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, as well as those before mentioned, he gave his 
 attention, as a large-hearted man, loving his whole country 
 and his race, should do. His remarks on the several addresses 
 to which he had listened on this occasion are eminently just 
 and generous, while also they are faithfully discriminating. 
 Mcllvaine, then Professor and Chaplain at West Point, and 
 now Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Ohio, received his 
 highest praise in these words : " For sound reasoning, solid 
 eloquence, and brilliancy of thought, I have never heard his 
 address surpassed." 
 
 These services all over, he brought his horse from New 
 Jersey, where it had been kept during his sojourn in New 
 York, and hastened to his mother in his native town. The 
 floods of rain which impeded his journey on setting out from 
 
VISIT TO HIS NATIVE PLACE. 219 
 
 home had now been- exchanged for drought, and the roads 
 were so dry and dusty as to make his ride very unpleasant. 
 Passing through Stamford and Stratfield on the afternoon of 
 Thursday, the 18th of May, he says : 
 
 I drew near to the hills and prospects upon which a thousand 
 times I had gazed in childhood — my native town. How many 
 pleasing and painful associations rush into the mind, on returning 
 to one's native home after an absence of years ! Changes have 
 occurred, a new generation has started up, the old people have 
 mostly vanished from the earth ; but the hills and valleys, the 
 rocks and rills remain unchanged. Arrived at my mother's house 
 near night ; found her alone, and again a widow. Mr. King, whom 
 she had married after my father's death, died in February last. 
 Her health seems tolerably good, but age has silvered even her 
 locks, leaving the heart still unchilled. 
 
 The next few days his health was but indifferent, and he 
 felt the weariness and prostration whiyh the journey and the 
 scenes of excitement through which he had passed naturally 
 would produce. He visited among old neighbors and friends 
 with considerable interest. On Lord's-day he went to the 
 house of the Lord where in boyhood he had been accustomed 
 to attend, and heard a young candidate, of whose perform- 
 ances the following characteristic notice occurs in his journal : 
 
 He preached both morning and afternoon from Jer. xvii. 9 : "The 
 heart is deceitful and desperately wicked." He drew a very horrid 
 picture of the natural heart, by showing what man might do, pro- 
 vided he had opportunity, and was not restrained. It is question- 
 able whether this metaph^^-sical mode of preaching, developing so 
 much from the mental and moral capability, is calculated to do any 
 great good. One thing I remarked, that both discourses did not 
 contain enough of the gospel method of salvation to direct a single 
 inquirer to Christ. 
 
 The next week he hastened off by stage through Hartford, 
 where he spent a day or two conferring with brethren in 
 regard to the great errand with which he felt himself charged 
 — help for the West. Then he hurried out to Worcester, and 
 passed the night with Rev. Jonathan Going, and doubtless 
 
 9 
 
220 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 kindled up those sparks which half a dozen years later burst 
 forth into a genial flame, and led to the formation of the 
 American Baptist Home Mission Society. Then he hastened 
 to Boston, conferred with the pastors there, and on Lord's- 
 day preached for three of them. The following week the 
 religious anniversaries of New England were held in that 
 city, which he attended with lively interest. Wednesday 
 morning in the Baldwin Place Baptist church the anniversary 
 of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society was held. 
 ^His record is : 
 
 Dr. Sharp read his annual report, and addresses were listened to 
 from Gammel, Dunbar, Benedict, Lynd, Babcock and myself. It 
 was an interesting and most impressive meeting. 
 
 Certainly it was so to some of us who heard him for the 
 first time let out without stint the pent-up flames of holy 
 zeal which consumed him. That very afternoon the trustees 
 came together, and he explained to them, in minuteness of 
 detail, the plan of operations which he deemed most suited to 
 the wants of the West. Next day, his plan in its general 
 principles was adopted. He was appointed agent and commis- 
 sioned to go forth and raise the requisite funds to put the 
 system into operation. " Let me stop," says he, "to acknowl- 
 edge the Divine goodness in disposing these excellent brethren 
 to enter with so much spirit and life into the business. Oh, 
 for God's blessing to follow I" 
 
 This plan of operations as described by himself was three- 
 fold. 1. A system of circuit preaching for the States of 
 Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana — giving to each circuit 
 preacher to be employed, under direction of a committee in 
 each of these States, an average sum of one hundred dollars 
 per annum, and the remainder of his support to be secured 
 on his field. 2. An efficient preacher and teacher to be 
 secured for St. Louis, who would be able, it was thought, 
 to one-half sustain himself by the income of a school, and 
 steadily supply the church in that important city. 3. The get- 
 ting up a theological school in Illinois for all these States, 
 
THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL IN ILLINOIS. 221 
 
 where young men, approved as preachers, might have the 
 intellectual training which they needed, and be aided also in 
 preparing themselves specially for preaching, and the pastor- 
 ship of the churches. 
 
 In regard to this last he says, in a letter written about 
 this time : 
 
 The theological school has been an object in my mind for years, 
 as a very necessary part of that system of measures which I have 
 attempted to carry forward ; but I have never seen the time to 
 accomplish it until now. Friends about Boston and other places* 
 have come forward to aid, so that I can now (August 17th) reckon 
 upon about five hundred dollars, as secured, and hope to get the 
 remainder which will be necessary. Of the importance of such an 
 institution in the West there can be no question ; and yet I expect 
 that some of those for whose benefit it is designed will oppose it 
 with all their might, as they now oppose missions, Bible societies, 
 and Sunday-schools. But I cannot bear that our preachers in 
 Illinois and Missouri should continue as ignorant as some of them 
 now are. There are some who wish to improve their minds, and 
 gain useful learning. Young men who commence preaching with 
 very inadequate education will avail themselves of such a school, 
 with immense benefit to themselves and the cause. 
 
 When it is considered how much we have sacrificed in removing 
 to the Western country to promote the interests of religion and 
 the welfare of society, I cannot bear the thought of living and 
 dying without an attempt to establish an institution which, by 
 proper measures, may grow into a respectable theological school. 
 I hope to live to see a range of brick buildings put up, adequate to 
 accommodate one hundred students, and where a regular course of 
 instruction can be enjoyed. 
 
 To qualify himself to act as a wise pioneer and guide in 
 such an undertaking he managed incidentally to visit all the 
 similar institutions which had been established — Columbian 
 College, Brown University, Hamilton and Newton Institu- 
 tions — and learned all tlie interesting facts in regard to their 
 beginning, progress, and present state, thus preparing his 
 own mind fully with all the needed facts, so as to avoid mis- 
 takes and secure advantages. 
 
222 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 But his chief labors for the summer months of this year 
 were devoted to traveling and awakening an intelligent in- 
 terest among churches, pastors, and all the more influential 
 members of the community, in regard to means of benefiting 
 the West He aimed indeed to secure contributions to the 
 Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts, by which he 
 had been commissioned and sent forth ; but it was obvious to 
 all with whom he came in contact Miat he aimed less at get- 
 ting as many dollars as possible at present than at the diffusing 
 ,of correct information which would lead to permanent bene- 
 factions for this work. Well did he understand that giving a 
 cup of cold water to a weary pilgrim in the desert is not 
 comparable in its abiding good influence to digging a well 
 there, which may remain a blessing for generations to come. 
 During these three months he traveled chiefly in Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Eastern New York, 
 nearly fourteen hundred miles, and laid adequate foundations, 
 as was believed, for the safe and successful commencement 
 of all parts of his system of operations. 
 
 Besides this, we are to remember that he went everj'^where 
 with his eyes, and ears, and heart open, to learn and appre- 
 ciate whatever was excellent and worthy of imitation. Occa- 
 sional glintings of his convictions — as now a traveled Yankee 
 he returned to investigate more broadly and compare more 
 justly his native New England with fairer and more fertile 
 regions elsewhere — will peep out in his journals and letters 
 of this period. He particularly remarked with some aston- 
 ishment the littleness and narrowness of views, the hidebound 
 prejudices which here so generally prevailed, as they were 
 iiow magnified by contrast. But he did full justice, at the 
 same time, to the taste, the moral integrity, the industry and 
 sobriety, as well as the provident carefulness (not to say par- 
 simony), which he here witnessed. Their neat and inviting 
 villages, with the church-edifice and the school-house in 
 central prominence, indicated unmistakably the elements of 
 New England's welfare and happiness. These, too, by a 
 species of social transmission, she was sending abroad and 
 
FILIAL AFFECTION — RETURNS WEST. 223 
 
 planting and nurturing all over the fertile West. Here was 
 the hedged-up nursery, where the seedlings were defended 
 while taking root, and, if need be, receiving the budding or 
 inoculation which insured the excellence of their fruits. *' But 
 then," said he, " thej need to be transplanted to a broader 
 and more fertile field, where they will have ample space and 
 verge enough to be rooted in our broad, rich prairies, and bring 
 forward under more genial skies their abundant products." 
 
 Yery pleasant would it be to lead our readers more in 
 detail, to follow him from city to city, from village to village, 
 from the college halls to the workshop and the extensive 
 manufactory, during these months of exploration. "What he 
 then and there learned of the intellectual, moral, social, and 
 religious principles and practices of New England was of 
 essential service to him ever afterward. But we dare not 
 dwell longer upon this topic. 
 
 While he was gaining information of utmost advantage to 
 himself, he was also continually imparting that kind of definite, 
 practical knowledge of the West, its allurements, its capabilities, 
 its wants and its dangers, which was greatly conducive to its 
 prosperity, and was most useful and necessary for those who 
 in their own persons, or their children and friends, were about 
 to transfer themselves or tlieir interests thither. The circu- 
 lars which he distributed, the addresses, lectures, and various 
 appeals which he delivered, his private intercourse in the 
 families wherever he was domiciled for an hour, a day, or a 
 half-week, made their ineffaceable impression and did much 
 good. The broad catholicity and generous liberalism of his 
 views was also at this time and ever afterward more and 
 more evident. He was not less a Baptist, thorough and 
 decided ; but he learned the wisdom and advantage of heart- 
 ily uttering one form of apostolical benediction: "Grace be 
 with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
 
 It had almost from his first return to his mother been 
 obvious to him that as her only offspring his filial duty made 
 it imperative that he should render her few remaining days 
 as comfortable as possible. She was in comparative poverty, 
 
224 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and he saw no other way open for him to do this, but to pay 
 her debts and remove her to his home in the West. To this 
 proposition she cheerfully consented. About the middle of 
 September he had accomplished the details of this trouble- 
 some business, had procured an easy two-horse carriage, built 
 under his special directions, and an additional horse, and set 
 forth with his mother by easy stages for his distant home. 
 Crossing the Hudson river at Catskill, he visited his early 
 home at New Durham, and then proceeded by the way of 
 Buffalo and the south shore of Lake Erie, and through the 
 great State of Ohio to Cincinnati, where he spent several 
 days in soliciting and purchasing such articles as he most 
 needed for the building of his seminary-edifice, on which his 
 heart was now so much set. The cordial approval and aid 
 of the brethren here very much cheered him. Setting forth 
 again he was favored for the most part with fine weather and 
 roads, and made good progress. He stopped at one or two 
 places in Central Indiana to promote the objects of his Bible 
 society agency, and reached his home Thursday evening the 
 23d of November, having ^ode forty-four miles that short da}^ 
 He found his family in good health, and overjoyed to see him 
 once more in their midst. He had been absent nine months 
 and one day, and reached home just one day earlier than he 
 had told them to expect him when he wrote to them of his 
 time of setting out on his return journey three months before. 
 Devout, grateful, and humble are the acknowledgments he 
 records of the Divine goodness to himself and his family 
 during this period of their separation. But specially did he 
 record with overflowing thankfulness his sense of the Divine 
 favor in so prospering the great objects of his journey that 
 besides securing aid for the support of many preachers in this 
 Western field, he had also obtained in money, building-mate- 
 rials, and books and apparatus for his proposed seminary, 
 about seven hundred and fifty dollars, or three-fourths of what 
 he deemed requisite to be raised abroad for setting it in opera- 
 tion. To effect this he had traveled by land and water in his 
 whole journey four thousand four hundred miles. 
 
NEED OF THEOLOGICAL TRAINING. 225 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Establisliment of Rock Spring Seminary. 
 
 No soooer was Mr. Peck fairly at home again, and moving 
 in his accustomed circuit among his brethren and neighbors 
 in that region, than he began in earnest to lead their minds 
 to the same conviction which he had long entertained, that 
 one prime essential for the religious welfare of the West was 
 the establishment of a seminary of a comprehensive and some- 
 what unique character, where the elements of a good, tiior- 
 ough, practical English education should be open to all on 
 very economical principles, and where teachers of common 
 schools could receive better instruction tfean many of them 
 had enjoyed, but especially (and that was to be its grand 
 peculiarity) where ministers of the gospel, whether young, 
 or farther advanced in years, could come and spend more 
 or less time, according to their several circumstances and 
 exigencies, in learning those things in which their deficien- 
 cies were the most painfully felt, pertaining to their great 
 duties in preaching the gospel and building up the churches 
 aright. He saw plainly that to lay down a full ordinary 
 course, embracing two years to fit for college, and four 
 years curriculum, within its walls, and then two or three 
 years of theological training afterwards, would from the out- 
 set repel nine-tenths of those whose favor it was so important 
 to conciliate. Abiding cheerfully by the old-fashioned Baptist 
 doctrine that the churches were to be the judges in every case 
 whether any of their members were called of the Lord to 
 preach the gospel, and that those thus called were to give 
 themselves to study, to meditation, to reading, to doctrine 
 [teaching], that their profiting might appear unto all, and 
 they be enabled to make full proof of their ministry, he could 
 not doubt that, in circumstances such as existed in the vast 
 
226 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Western field, where in the little, feeble churches so many of 
 desirable gifts Avere being raised up to labor in the great 
 spiritual harvest field, many of them would be found, like 
 Apollos, taught of the Lord, i.e., regenerated, and fervent in 
 spirit, i.e., imbued with a noble Christian zeal, who would 
 still need to have some experienced disciples, like Aquila and 
 Priscilla, take them in hand, and teach them the way of the 
 Lord more perfectly. Occasionally such privileges might be 
 secured with some private family, or in traveling with some 
 able and discreet preacher. But such opportunities would be 
 rare. 
 
 It was manifestly needful that there should be some place to 
 which such young or inexperienced ones might repair, and 
 receive the aid which they so much needed. Some were 
 called to preach when they could scarce read a chapter or a 
 hymn intelligently. How obviously requisite that they should 
 be taught to read the Divine word, and give the sense, and cause 
 the people to understand the records contained in (he infalli- 
 ble guide-hook I It is scarcely needful, here, to go over this 
 ground more thoroughly, and reproduce the arguments and 
 the answers to objections which required to be so often com- 
 batted forty or fifty years ago. More germane to the present 
 purpose will it be to trace with some minuteness the success- 
 ful methods employed to disarm the hostility of even good 
 men to this enterprise ; to root out the prejudices, and correct 
 the misconceptions which unhappily had taken possession of 
 their minds, and bring them to entertain the idea of, and then 
 co-operate in securing the facilities which such an institution 
 would afford. To this end his correspondence, his visits, his 
 attendance on associations, and the various gatherings where 
 ministers and other brethren of influence came together were 
 mainly directed, for the next few weeks immediately after his 
 return from his eastern tour. True there were other duties, 
 domestic and official, which engrossed a portion of his time. 
 He was obliged to enlarge his dwelling to make a comfortable 
 suit of apartments for his somewhat uneasy mother ; and he 
 had to visit, and plan, and readjust very often the measures 
 
CONSTANT LABORS — SE.MINARY BEGUN. 221 
 
 for the resuscitation of the White Baptist church in St. 
 Louis, which often seemed nearly extinct ; and he had to 
 superintend the appointment and incipient action of the com- 
 mittees of superintendence, for selecting and locating his 
 circuit preachers in three great States, and moreover he was 
 the secretary and chief functionary relied on for promoting 
 the Bible society and Sunday-school interest in all this field. 
 Nine months absence had accumulated no little labor in all 
 these departments on his hands. Many kinks and entangle- 
 ments had been accumulating, which awaited his wise, 
 energetic, and loving efforts to smooth out, so that the work 
 might again go forward unimpeded. When with all this you 
 join the care and enterprise devolving on him alone, to pro- 
 vide for and train up a numerous family, with but slender and, 
 as most of us would think, altogether inadequate means, no 
 marvel that he complains of over-work. His now tender 
 hands he had to ply through the day to stone and brick and 
 mortar ; and at night, when other toiling men rested from 
 their fatigue, his sore and stiffened fingers had to grasp the 
 pen and issue as many epistles during the long evening as 
 most leisurely lecturers would think it possible to accomplish 
 in the whole day. It would be easy to demonstrate all this 
 multifarious activity of these important months. 
 
 Yet in the midst of it all, he appears to have been blessed 
 with unusual enjoyments. Such acknowledgments as the 
 following occur in his diary at this period : 
 
 I have enjoyed a peculiar flow of religious feeling, with only 
 occasional seasons of darkness, when fretted by the vexations of 
 life. Have a growing zeal in the cause of Christ, especially to carry 
 into effect the public measures I have been maturing. I rise early, 
 between five and six o'clock (this was mid-winter), labor on with 
 much toil and fatigue, incessantly, and cannot retire till after eleven 
 o'clock. Yet I burn with zeal to be more laborious and do more 
 good. I never felt so far removed from selfishness, or any personal 
 desires or aims. I am somehow pressed forward in a great work. 
 Yast and important benefits for future generations seem to hang 
 on present efforts. Had I the means I could cheerfully sacrifice 
 
228 me:moir of joiin m. ri:cK. 
 
 thousands for the good of the cause ; and such as I have of time, 
 talents, efforts, endurance, I cheerfully offer. 
 
 After visiting Yandalia — then the seat of government of 
 Illinois — and conferring with as many brethren, ministers, and 
 public-spirited citizens as possible, as well as writing to as 
 many more, a meeting was called at Rock Spring the first 
 of January, and an organization of trustees effected, with 
 great unanimity. They located the seminar}^, on land given 
 by Mr. Peck for this purpose. Early in February he con- 
 tracted with oarpenters to put up and cover in the edifice. It 
 was raised by the end of May. Nearly every thing con- 
 nected with this effort rested on his shoulders, and he was 
 constantly performing the usual work of two or three men 
 besides, in his preaching, his agency for missions, Bible and 
 tract societies, and Sunday-schools. It can scarcely be 
 claimed that all this was just as well done, as though he 
 could have given more undivided attention to each sphere of 
 service. Occasionally at the end of a week of unintermitted 
 and harassing over- work, and perplexing care, his journal 
 indicates how unfitted he felt for Sabbath ministrations. But 
 his rule was to do the very best in his power under these in- 
 felicitous circumstances. Subscriptions for the seminary had 
 to be gathered, and he was a complete factotum, a servant of 
 all work, in the general organizations he had originated. 
 
 In perusing the extensive correspondence which he held with 
 those he was striving to interest in this great work of found- 
 ing a theological and high school, one cannot but be deeply 
 impressed with the variety and sturdy character of the 
 opposition which he was forced to grapple with and overcome. 
 Far the larger number of so-called Baptist ministers at that 
 day, in the two or three States contiguous to this institution, 
 were most decidedly opposed to this movement. In the 
 " Friends of Humanity" or emancipationists, he found more 
 favor for this object, and though he never joined with them 
 in their peculiar organization, he induced a large proportion 
 of them to unite with him in carrying out this and most of 
 his other plans for evangelizing purposes. The anti-mission 
 
ROCK SPRING SEMINARY OPENED. 229 
 
 Baptists about this period came into an organization by them- 
 selves, sundering churches and associations very frequently to 
 secure themselves against the infection of contact or fellow- 
 ship with those who were seeking by all lawful means to carry 
 into effect our Divine Master's great commission — to publish 
 the gospel to every creature. Thus was the singular spectacle 
 presented of a party separating themselves from their brethren, 
 denouncing and excluding them, on the pretence of greater 
 piety and more exact conformity to New-Testament order, 
 whose chief peculiarity consisted in their opposition to the 
 Saviour's mandate, *' Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 gospel to every creature" — evangelize all nations. It is vain 
 to pretend that these ministers and churches were only oppos- 
 ing some (to them) objectionable methods of complying with 
 the risen Saviour's commission, for they did not prosecute any 
 other method. Jealousy, least they in their ignorance should 
 be cast into the shade — prejudice which shuts itself in and 
 will not come to the light — and the covetousness which 
 grudges any expense for educational or evangelizing purposes, 
 were probably the main elements of this opposition. Mr. Peck 
 had full experience of their combined power. But he had 
 counted the cost, and now set his face like a flint against this 
 array of opposition. Slowly and with difficulty his work was 
 going on, and the leaven of a quickening light and truth, 
 most salutary in its effects, was permeating the mass of the 
 Protestant community. This whole effort for raising up such 
 a seminary in such a community, at such a time, reminds one 
 vividly of Nehemiah's repairing the wall of Jerusalem with 
 the weapons of defence in one hand, while vigorously build- 
 ing up with the other. So successful was the effort that early 
 in September a boarding-house was raised, and 1st November, 
 1827, a seminary was opened for the admission of pupils. 
 The venerable Father Joshua Bradley was made principal, 
 Mr. Peck Professor of Theology, and other professors and 
 tutors were secured, so that very soon the number of students 
 flocking to enter and enjoy its advantages far exceeded their 
 
 most sanguine expectations. This very success embarrassed 
 20 
 
230 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 them. It led probably to some extravagant expectations 
 which could not be realized, and as this mortifying disappoint- 
 ment met them in the face, some of their associates were dis- 
 couraged and turned back. In these various alternations it 
 is most cheering to witness the steadfast zeal of the chief 
 founder. Never for a moment did he waver ; but in sunshine 
 and storm, when all was hopeful, or when reverses came thick 
 and aggravatingly upon them, he yielded to no discourage- 
 ment, but held on his vigorous, enterprising, persistent course. 
 To this alone, or almost alone, was it owing that the seminary 
 was made for years successful and eminently useful, until its 
 removal to another locality and its enlargement to a college 
 was its culminating triumph. 
 
 The large portion of the pupils at first came together with 
 extravagant ideas of what w;as to be done for them by a few 
 months instruction. They verily expected to be made very 
 learned, very eloquent, very accomplished, by the influence 
 which the seminary and the professors were to exert on them*; 
 and when, after three or four quarters instruction, they still 
 found themselves, and had to be again and again reminded, 
 sometimes in a way unwelcome to their pride, that they were 
 as yet but mere beginners, it was easy to see they were not 
 satisfied, and that the way to account for their disappointment, 
 most soothing to their self-esteem, was to throw the blame on 
 the management of the institution. -JSTo marvel, therefore, 
 that complaints became rife, and changes once and again were 
 made to meet these unreasonable expectations. 
 
 When all other resources failed them, the usual resort was 
 to fall back on Brother Peck or his family If no one else 
 could so manage the boarding department of the seminary as 
 to give satisfaction, an appeal was made to Mrs. Peck whether 
 she would not consent, rather than all should fail, to remove 
 into the boarding-house and become stewardess and matron. 
 So when the old veteran in setting academies agoing — Father 
 Bradley — was unable to give the satisfaction which unreason- 
 able expectations demanded, the question came back at last, 
 " Will not our professor of theology consent for a while at 
 
TROUBLES WITH ST. LOUIS CHURCH. '231 
 
 least to become principal of the literary and scientific depart- 
 ment also ?" Necessity knows no law but the hard one which 
 it makes, and submission to its requirements here seemed im- 
 perative. 
 
 All this would have been less intolerable, but for the 
 multifarious cares and engagements into which already he 
 had been drawn. There were, first of all, the complications 
 and embarrassments connected with the church and the un- 
 finished church-edifice in St. Louis. In the outset, when all 
 was fair and hopeful, certain brethren who had some little 
 pecuniary ability were induced to embark it in that most 
 doubtful and hopeless of all adventures, a loan to build a 
 meeting-house for a fluctuating and uncertain church. Some 
 of these generous lenders were now dead, and the widows and 
 fatherless children became clamorous for repayment. Others 
 feeling that their claims were larger and just as sacred, in- 
 sisted on sharing equally in the liquidation attempted. Nor 
 was there any pecuniary ability now in the church to meet 
 these demands. Mr. Peck had been a member of it when 
 the debts had been contracted, and though having no money 
 to loan, had freely given his name and notes, w^hich were now 
 presented and pressed for payment. How often, in all these 
 years and months of his engrossing cares and toils at home, 
 does the item creep into the diary — " Had to hurry over to St. 
 Louis and arrange for meeting the claims of the creditors of 
 the meeting-house," or some words of like import. These 
 efiTorts were for the most part temporary palliatives, delays, 
 not payments. At one time, near the close of 1827, he met 
 with the trustees of the Baptist church, St. Louis, and they 
 "agreed to divide the house, pay the interest, and eventually 
 liquidate the principal of the old debt, and put the rest of the 
 building in a state of repair." Then, before he left the city^ 
 he learned that all these well-laid plans were likely to fail 
 from the interference of the municipal government, in passing 
 a law widening a street, and thus cutting off twelve feet from 
 the side of the house. 
 
 On another occasion he went to St. Louis to attend the 
 
232 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 annual meeting of the Western Sunday-school Union, and 
 found to his mortification and grief that the resident managers 
 had made no preparation whatever for the meeting. In about 
 as much impatience as ever escaped from him, he says : ''It 
 seems as if they looked to me to go forward and do every 
 thing." Patiently and resolutely he went on and did up their 
 neglected duty and his own together — secured the meeting, 
 though by very great efforts. This could be borne occasionally, 
 but where as now the pressure and strain became habitual, with 
 no relaxation from such severe tension, the healthful vigor 
 and elasticity of mind and body must fail together. 
 
 In the meantime God was preparing some alleviation for 
 his over-burthened servant of another kind. Revivals began 
 to appear in several parts of his wide field of labor. In the 
 poor, cold, and long dwindling church at Fefee, northwest of 
 St. Louis, in Missouri, at Edwardsville, and at the seminary 
 itself, in Illinois, and in his own family ; w^hen, on returning 
 home from a preaching excursion in the autumn of 1828, he 
 found to his inexpressible satisfaction, that his eldest daughter 
 had experienced the converting grace of God. She had been 
 under conviction for some time, much distressed, and while in 
 her room at prayer Sunday night, she found blessed relief, and 
 broke forth into shouts of praise. Thus while her toiling father, 
 many miles off, was preaching the gospel to others, God waa 
 pouring into the heart of his precious child the consolations 
 of that truth which he was proclaiming. [He was preaching at 
 that very hour from 1 John iii. 1-3. ] How sweetly was the 
 promise verified, " He that watereth shall be watered." 
 
 It was after being permitted to visit and mingle in these 
 scenes of spiritual refreshing once and again, in the different 
 places where he had so often gone forth weeping, bearing the 
 precious seed, that he was forced to turn away, and spend 
 some weeks at Yandalia, endeavoring to secure an act of in- 
 corporation for the infant seminary. Nothing gives a truer 
 index of his really spiritual and sanctified nature than the 
 repugnance with which he entered upon the chilling inter- 
 course with these worldlings., and exchanged the blessed 
 
OPPOSITION TO THE SEMINARY. 233 
 
 scenes of revival for the turmoil and vexation of political 
 associations. In this legislature he had many worthy friends, 
 and the incorporating act was readily enough carried through 
 the lower house. In the senate, however, was one anti- 
 mission Baptist minister, who seemed to feel a malevolent 
 delight in leaving no stone unturned to foil his endeavor. So 
 nearly was this body balanced, and so easy was it for this 
 captious, unscrupulous hater of that which was good to barter 
 away his conscience, his principles, and his manliness, so as 
 to bend a few of his associates to do his bidding in this matter, 
 that the act failed of a passage by his casting vote. This 
 w^as enough, surely, to vex a more phlegmatic temperament ; 
 but it is delightful to see how Divine grace enabled our 
 brother to triumph even here. He breathes no maledictions, 
 but prays for his opponent, and hopes God will yet open his 
 eyes to see the evil of his course. 
 
234 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Establishment of a Religious Newspaper in the West — Mission- l| 
 ary Labors and Successes — Revivals and Candidates for the 
 Ministry Among their Fruits — Emigrant's Guide— First Visit of 
 Dr. Going to the West. 
 
 Leaving for a while the pragress of the seminary, which 
 Mr. Peck had successfully gotten under way, we shall next 
 find him very earnestly engaged in the establishment and 
 actual conducting both as editor and publisher of the first 
 religious newspaper in that wide region where so many have 
 since flourished. As this was a very important movement, 
 and moreover as at the time and subsequently serious doubts 
 of the wisdom of this procedure were entertained among his 
 friends, it may be well to trace with some care the idea of 
 originating such a paper to its first inception. Though some 
 overtures had been made to him several years before by Duflf 
 Green, Esq., then residing in St. Louis, to occupy a portion 
 of the columns of the political paper he was there conducting, 
 of which to a very limited extent Mr. Peck availed himself, 
 nothing farther in this direction appears to have engaged his 
 mind till near the close of the year 1827, when a distinct 
 overture was made to him on this subject from New England. 
 A Baptist brother, now laid aside from the active duties of 
 the ministry by failure of his voice, had his mind turned to 
 the importance of using the religious periodical press for the 
 purpose of counteracting infidelity, Romanism, and various 
 forms of error which were spreading with frightful rapidity in 
 the West. 
 
 This brother was now residing in the vicinity of Boston, 
 where the Christian Watchman, the earliest of Baptist news- 
 papers, had for ten years been augmenting and difl'using its 
 benign influence ; and no wonder that his mind eagerly seized 
 on the idea of inducing Mr. Peck, among his other means of 
 
FIRST ^YESTERN RELIGIOUS NEWSPAPER. 235 
 
 usefulness, to undertake the establishment of such a paper. 
 He was written to on the subject, and the distinct proffer of 
 funds to a considerable extent was made to him, to enable 
 him to secure so important an object. His own mind, ever 
 eager, enterprising, and almost too grasping in its conceptions 
 of the possibilities of success, was ready at once to entertain 
 the idea, and he began casting around him for the means of 
 carrying it into effect. Among his acquaintances at this period 
 there w^as one individual, Rev. Thomas P. Green, resident on 
 the borders of Missouri and Illinois, who had been educating 
 his sons as practical printers, and who had himself attained 
 some little experience in conducting a weekly journal of very 
 limited circulation. The idea at once suggested itself that 
 this man might be induced to remove to St. Louis or to Kock 
 Spring, bring his printing office along with him, and might be 
 made useful in preaching, partty editing and taking the general 
 oversight of the business transactions of the proposed paper, 
 while himself would give so much time to writing and select- 
 ing matter for it, as would multiply his own efficiency, giving a 
 wider extent and more of ubiquitous presence and influence 
 to what he might thus communicate over the vast region 
 where, with much toil and exposure, he had traveled and 
 preached at comparatively remote periods, for so many years. 
 Very naturally we may see how welcome would be such a 
 proposition to his mind. He was, by this time, somewhat 
 wearied with the futile endeavor of keeping things in good order 
 through the two or three large States over which his duties 
 of supervision, and the various kinds of evangelizing labors 
 confided to him, had extended. When by personal inter- 
 course with his brethren he had measurably removed their 
 prejudices, and partially imbued them with his own spirit, and 
 induced their seeming co-operation with him in some of his 
 Important missionary or other plans of doing religious good, 
 he would be surprised and mortified to find that before he could 
 again visit them, his opponents would upset his plans and 
 frustrate his begun labors, so that his work, would have to 
 be begun over again with increased embarrassment. In the 
 
236 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 absence of any well-conducted periodical publications, pam- 
 phlets — some of them sufficiently low, scurrilous and de- 
 moralizing to do immense harm — were circulating to a con- 
 siderable extent, without any facilities for warning the public 
 against their untruthfulness and perverse tendencies. He 
 saw, too, the advance which had been made in the Atlantic 
 States, where papers were beginning to be widely circulated, 
 and attributing too much of this effect very likely to this one 
 cause, he the more impatiently desired the same aids, where, 
 from the nature of the case, their availability would be less. 
 
 On the other side of the balance sheet, there were also 
 weighty reasons to dissuade from any such attempts. In the 
 first place, the inadequacy of means. By all his fervent 
 appeals for supplying the wants of the mighty West, the 
 help requisite for sustaining or half sustaining half a dozen 
 missionaries in half as many States, could* scarcely be relied 
 on ; and some years it had fallen off to a sad extent. It was 
 obvious to every considerate mind that besides what the dis- 
 abled clerical brother had offered to furnish him, quite as much 
 more would be indispensable, even to establish such a paper, 
 and then its current receipts for a year or two would not 
 equal its current expenses. Next, it was reasonably enough 
 urged, " How can one man, even with hands of Briareus, and 
 eyes of Argus, attempt so many distinct kinds of labor, with- 
 out the danger of embarrassing or ruining all of them ?" 
 The argumentum ad hominem was here plied most vigorously 
 against this new proposition. " Why does this man, who is 
 crying out under the 'burdens he now has on his shoulders, 
 seek to accumulate more and heavier still ; the result of which 
 will be either to withdraw his needed support from enterprises 
 which even now languish and fall into discouragement for want 
 of his more steady supervision, or to make what he now pro- 
 poses abortive, by his inadequate time and vigor to give it 
 vitality ?" Even his tried and long-confiding friends, the 
 executive officers of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary 
 Society, could not but urge him to desist ; and some of their 
 letters, after their earlier hints and suggestions had proved un- 
 
EEASONS FOR AND AGAINST A PAPER. 23t 
 
 availing to arrest his course, seemed to him at the time, as they 
 now do on the calm review, very stringent, and almost severe 
 in the demand they made on him to abandon this new and 
 costly, and, as it seemed to the writers, impracticable and un- 
 wise enterprise. They remind him that his first endeavor, 
 the establishing of a Baptist church in St. Louis, had become 
 very near a failure, and its church-edifice was about to be 
 sold, after so many appeals had been made to free it from 
 debt. Did he want, on that same spot, to lay another founda- 
 tion, and not being able to build, to excite the mockery of 
 beholders by another spectacle of miscalculation ? 
 
 And finally, these opposers ventured to suggest to him that 
 the time for the success of such an enterprise had not yet 
 come. The people of those new States and Territories were 
 most of them very recent settlers, having as yet almost every 
 thing necessary for their existence to secure, and they would 
 not now be likely to patronize such a paper. They had little 
 time to read it, little means to pay for it, and, if possible, less 
 disposition to encourage the effort, for the sake of what good 
 it might do for others. Thirty years ago those removing into 
 the wilderness, even from the Eastern and Middle States, and 
 muc^ less those from other quarters, had not been so accus- 
 tomed to the weekly visits of a religious newspaper as to miss 
 it, and sigh for it again. Doubtless it would be needed here- 
 after ; but they argued with much plausibility, certainly, that 
 the time had not yet come. Could they have clearly foreseen 
 the future working of this paper, under the editorship of our 
 worthy and self-sacrificing brother, they would have urged 
 another reason, not less potent than these above adduced by 
 them, viz. : that his identification with it, as chief manager, 
 would fill to overflowing the bitter cup of suspicion and 
 jealousy of himself personally, which already he had tasted 
 of repeatedly. Men older than himself, who in this and other 
 countries had been wont to find themselves looked up to as 
 wise and capable, must have found it somewhat humiliating 
 to their self-esteem that this young New Englander managed 
 their missionary, their educational, their Bible and Sunday- 
 
238 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 school affairs, and now sought to vault into the editorial chair 
 also, and thus form public opinion to suit himself, while they 
 all were obliged to follow in his train. From this cause, as 
 the sequel showed, he suffered more grief, inconvenience, and 
 the peril of alienation from choice friends than from almost 
 all other infelicities combined. 
 
 It should occasion no surprise that the above weighty 
 objections held back the establishment of the paper for more 
 than a year. True, there were make-weights on the favorable 
 side. While some of his most valued correspondents dis- 
 suaded, as above shown, others with scarcely less ardor 
 advocated the measure. Among this latter class was the 
 Hon. Nicholas Brown, of Providence, R. I., who wrote him 
 frequently, and with a steadiness and zeal characteristic of 
 that great and good man. He was accustomed to back up his 
 encouraging words of counsel by acts of liberality, and hints 
 and provocatives of various kinds made to bear efficiently in 
 favor of the evangelizing work in different quarters wherever 
 he learned that these helps were most necessary. This very 
 wise and far-seeing man, though he never personally visited 
 the West, had formed a more accurate idea of its ultimate 
 and not very remote relative importance than hundred^ who 
 had traveled widely, seen much, but thought less on this vast 
 problem of our whole country's improvement than himself. He 
 pursued one method which had commended itself to his judg-- 
 ment for interesting those whose co-operation seemed to him 
 desirable in certain efforts, by making them the almoners of 
 his bounty. It was not unusual for him, quite unsolicited, to 
 drop the hint in correspondence or in conversation with some 
 one in whom he thought it safe to confide. ''Will you look 
 into such or such a case, and if you think it practicable I 
 authorize you to draw on me for one or two hundred dollars to 
 promote it." It seemed to the individuals addressed that 
 Mr. Brown was only saving himself care, and labor, and time, 
 by using them for his mere convenience to examine such 
 cases, whereas the real point aimed at was to induce them to 
 inquire and investigate for the sake of interesting their own 
 
THE PIONEER ESTABLISHED. 239 
 
 minds more deeply in what he was satisfied was a worthy- 
 object and needed their co-operation for its successful prose- 
 cution. Probably in this very case he won over the influence 
 of several to aid this plan of a religious paper in the West, 
 who otherwise might have stood aloof, by the judicious divi- 
 sion through them of timely aid, which would have been less 
 efficient if given in the lump, and more directly from his owp 
 hand. 
 
 After considerable delay, and with enough misgivings on 
 the part of many friends to awaken the deepest solicitude in 
 reference to its success, near the close of the year 1828 an en- 
 gagement was entered into between the Rev. T. P. Green on 
 the one side, and Mr. Peck on the other, for issuing the pro- 
 posed religious paper. For economy's sake, and to make it 
 more convenient for Mr. Peck to conduct it, they had determ- 
 ined that it should be issued from Rock Spring instead of 
 St. Louis — a great mistake, certainly, so far as the success 
 of the paper was concerned. One-half the funds were fur- 
 nished by Eastern friends, and Mr. Peck was to be its editor, 
 while the other half was to be put into the concern by Mr. 
 Green, who was to superintend the printing and publication, 
 and for this purpose removed to Rock Spring with his family, 
 some of whom would attend the school. The Eastern donors 
 had stipulated that the share of profits from the printing- 
 establishment and the subscriptions to the paper over and 
 above paying current expenses, which their donation would 
 be entitled to claim, should be given to the seminary. But 
 alas for the profits! 
 
 The prospectus was issued about the middle of December, 
 1828, and the 25th of the following April the first number of 
 the paper, called the Pioneer, appeared. The remark was 
 currently made that " it looked well, and it was hoped that it 
 might succeed and do much good." The bona fide subscribers 
 were very few, but then and long afterward it was sent to 
 many whom it was hoped to induce to become its efficient 
 patrons, but who would pay for it or not as suited their con- 
 
240 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 venience. Rather a precarious reliance, surely, for sustaining 
 printers and paper-makers. 
 
 In the meantime revivals were appearing to cheer his heart 
 and encourage the supporters of the mission. The details of 
 these were exceedingly interesting at the time, but room can- 
 not be given for their insertion. Summarily it may be stated : 
 
 Churches in the Missouri Association aije under a reviving influ- 
 ence, for this work is spreading through several churches— St. Louis, 
 Bonhomme, Good Hope, and others. At Rock Spring there was 
 considerable religious excitement, especially among the students, 
 and the seminary was rising in public esteem. 
 
 Arrangements were now making to establish a depository at 
 Edwardsville of the Baptist General Tract Society. As a traveling 
 missionary I have been employed at those points where it appeared 
 that most good could be done to promote the general cause, and so 
 far as I can judge from the excitement of the public mind with 
 better success than at any former period. 
 
 As the fruits of these revivals, several promising candidates 
 for the Christian ministry were brought into the churches ; 
 and the pleadings of Mr. Peck for aid in sustaining those who 
 were indigent in a shorter or longer course of studies, to 
 increase their usefulness, were heart-moving. 
 
 We have thus seen the inception of the various interlinked 
 and co-operative plans of evangelization, progressively set on 
 foot by Mr. Peck and his coadjutors in the vast field of their 
 toil and care for the first dozen years of his residence in it. 
 First, preaching the gospel and establishing churches ; next, 
 promoting the wide and general diffusion of the Word of God ; 
 then following up these by Sunday-schools to teach children 
 and adults to some extent to read and appreciate the Scrip- 
 tures ; then, finally, the seminary to prepare teachers for 
 common schools and aid the ministers of the gospel in their 
 preparation for higher usefulness ; with the religious news- 
 paper to diffuse more equally, and sustain more constantly, 
 and quicken more energetically, and defend resolutely and 
 wisely, all these means of usefulness. Look at him now, as 
 seated in the center of all this diversified plan of operations, 
 
MR. peck's labors EXTENDED. 241 
 
 watching with deepest Bolicitude the working of every part, 
 endeavoring to impart strength to what was feeble, a far- 
 seeing wisdom to what was short-sighted, and the vigor and 
 purity of holy love to what was constantly in danger of de- 
 generating into formalism and partyisra for the want of it. 
 The years 1829 and 1830, while furnishing little of marked 
 and noticeable peculiarity, were characterized by a steady 
 persistence in the wide round of accustomed duties, evincing 
 variety in the midst of uniformity, and calling for sleepless 
 vigilance on his part to preserve the harmonious action of all 
 the agencies called into operation for the promotion of the 
 common cause. Soon as he could be freed from daily service 
 in the management of or instruction in the seminary, he set 
 forth again in those monthly or quarterly preaching tours 
 throughout Missouri, with Central and Southern Illinois, and 
 occasional extensions into Western Indiana, where though 
 the ostensible object was to meet a line of appointments for 
 churches and congregations almost every day of the week, 
 yet he did incidentally make these tours promotive of all the 
 other parts of the evangelizing process. He watched over 
 and infused vigor and steadiness into Sunday-schools and 
 Bible societies, looked out students for the seminary and sub- 
 scribers for the Pioneer, while in his private intercourse he 
 was assiduously striving to weed out petty jealousies and 
 misconceptions among ministers and private brethren, and 
 elevate the aims and efforts of all to a worthier appreciation 
 of the dignity and blessedness of laboring and making sacri- 
 fices for the cause of the lledeemer and the best welfare of 
 souls. 
 
 While thus employed, towards the close of 1829 he received, 
 unsolicited on his part, a pressing request to engage for a 
 portion of his time in the service of the American Bible 
 Society, then very earnestly endeavoring to supply every 
 family accessible with a copy of the Scriptures. What the 
 society asked of him was to superintend this work and select 
 and recommend for appointment suitable agents to canvass 
 the States of . Illinois and Indiana, so as to see to it that 
 21 % 
 
242 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 this great work was faithfully, promptly, and economically 
 performed. Of course he could not decline such a service, 
 and he gave to it considerable of his time for that and the 
 early part of the following year. Copies of the monthly 
 reports which he made to the Secretary from December, 1829, 
 to May, 1830, are among his correspondence, and they evince 
 his usual vigor and fidelity. Before this work was completed 
 he was again obliged to take the superintendence of the 
 instruction and government of the Rock Spring Seminary, 
 and of course resigned the Bible agency. 
 
 Nor were his labors by any means confined to these depart- 
 ments. By his travels and what he had published in the 
 various periodicals in the Eastern and Middle States, the 
 attention of great numbers had been turned to him as more 
 competent than any one else to answer their inquiries ; and 
 the large bundles of letters addressed to him by all sorts of 
 persons for all the various purposes which can be conceived, 
 begging him to answer them very fully and promptly, would 
 have required most men to employ a private secretary con- 
 stantly to give the desired information. As a very large part 
 of this was of a merely secular character, designed to settle 
 the doubts and facilitate the emigration of those revolving 
 the question of a removal to the great West, the idea natu- 
 rally enough suggested itself to his mind that a printed 
 manual for the answer of such inquiries would be fuller and 
 more satisfactory than he could afford to make each letter 
 answering the questions put to him. This idea originated 
 his " Guide for Emigrants," which was enlarged in its exe- 
 cution to a good-sized volume, and was very popular and 
 useful. In preparing it, along with his labor as principal of 
 the seminary, editor of the Pioneer, and all the other duties 
 of correspondence and domestic care, he was frequently 
 obliged to spend, week after week, sixteen hours a day 
 either teaching in the seminary or writing at his desk. No 
 wonder that this extra labor broke him down. Dyspepsia, 
 instead of being occasional, became chronic, and before the 
 
MR. PECK ENCOURAGED — DR. GOING. 243 
 
 end of th^ session in 1831 he was obliged to dismiss the 
 school and seek relief from this exhausting toil. 
 
 Some of the correspondence of this period, however, was 
 of a character greatly to cheer and encourage his heart. Of 
 this description was that commenced with him by the Mis- 
 sionary Society of Hamilton Theological Institution, New 
 York. Several of the most promising young men of that 
 school of the prophets early caught from his circulars and 
 appeals the spirit of emulous desire to devote themselves to 
 the great valley of the West. They wrote to him, both ofB- 
 cially and individually ; and such letters as those of H. C. 
 Skinner, Moses Field, and J. L. Moore, students or recent 
 graduates, who were in heart devoted to that field, and were 
 each month and week becoming a quickening leaven to vital- 
 ize those with whom they came in contact with the same 
 spirit, are refreshing to read even now. What must they 
 have proved to Mr. Peck himself but as cold water to the 
 
 thirsty ! 
 
 At just this period also, and as one result of the labors he 
 was performing and his loud cries for help, the hearts of his 
 Eastern brethren were beginning to warm towards him and 
 his great enterprise in a degree before unprecedented. He 
 had been for ten or more years the missionary, or superin- 
 tending agent for missionaries, for the Baptist Missionary 
 Society of Massachusetts, and as his reports became more 
 and more cheering, and were widely perused there, and in all 
 the Middle and Eastern States, the conviction was strength- 
 ening that Baptists had a work to do in the West, which 
 really required an organized and efficient society for its prose- 
 Qution more commensurate with its magnitude than any single 
 State. Dr. Jonathan Going of Worcester, Mass., who had 
 been intimately associated with Mr. Peck when the latter 
 visited the East m 1826, and who for the next five or six 
 years had kept up a deeply-interesting correspondence with 
 him on the best ways and means of arousing the evangelized 
 portions of our whole country to care efficiently and ade- 
 quately for the condition of the destitute, was this year 
 
244 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 deputed to visit him on his field of labor,- and bjr extensive 
 personal intercourse with him and all others similarly eu' 
 gaged, to devise the best means for promoting home missions. 
 
 The following very simple item occurs in our brother's 
 diary under date of June 20th, 1831 : '' To-day Elder J. Going, 
 of Massachusetts, sent out to explore the condition of the 
 Baptists in the West, arrived at my house." 
 
 Very earnestly did these men of kindred spirit, worthy to 
 be reckoned " true yoke-fellows," devote themselves for the 
 next three months to canvassing the mighty problem : '' How 
 can the great work of home-evangelization be most efficiently 
 promoted ?" They traveled together by day and by night, 
 in sunshine and in storm, through large portions of Illinois, 
 Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky. They conferred with all 
 the more intelligent and pious ministers and laymen ; at- 
 tended associations, churches, camp-meetings, and all other 
 gatherings of Baptists, as far as practicable ; inquired and 
 consulted, w^ept and prayed and rejoiced together ; and, 
 finally, just before they parted in September following, at 
 Shelby ville, Ky., there occurs the following note in Mr. Peck's 
 journal : " Here we agreed on the plan of the American 
 Baptist Home Mission Society." The next morning he 
 records : '' I parted with Elder Going to proceed homeward." 
 The journal of all this period of the intercourse of these great 
 and good men extends to thirty quarto pages of manuscript. 
 But it is more brief and condensed than usual, plainly indi- 
 cating how much their minds were absorbed by the great and 
 morally sublime theme which they were now canvassing ; and 
 how much more they thought, and inquired, and weighed the 
 difficulties and capabilities of the proposed organization than 
 were they disposed to give written expression and permanent 
 record to their plans. Nor did they confine themselves to 
 plans for the future, but indefatigably labored, preached, ex- 
 horted, instructed inquirers, promoted revivals, and in all 
 practicable ways sought the present benefit of the cause. 
 
 The very next day after these brethren parted, and per- 
 adventure in part at least in that spirit of sadness which the 
 
MR. peck's self-examination. 245 
 
 loss of such companionship not rarely induces, occurs the 
 following private entry in the diary of Mr. Peck : '' I traveled 
 all day, calling only at taverns for refreshment, and reached 
 a Mr. Osborne's — a Quaker family — four miles west of Paoli. 
 My mind is exceedingly wrong on the subject of religion. 
 Vain, wicked, and foolish thoughts possess me." After much 
 more of the same character, he devoutly prays : " Lord, 
 revive me, sanctify me wholly, and cause me to be entirely 
 devoted to thee." 
 
 In his earlier years such humiliating confessions abound in 
 his journals, and many pages might be filled with their 
 transcript. But they are less and less seen in all the later 
 portions ; and here they are, in part — at least much more 
 than he was aware — the effect of external causes. For 
 months he had enjoyed the cheering companionship of one of 
 the best and most genial Christian associates. After long, 
 anxious, and intensely prayerful deliberation, they had care- 
 fully reached and matured the most feasible plan which they 
 could devise, and having given to it the last finishing revision, 
 and parted company, no marvel that the tensity of mind sud- 
 denly relaxing, accompanied as it was by his utter loneliness 
 and listlessness, brought on a mental revulsion, which his 
 morbid sensitiveness records in the above self-condemnatory 
 language. Thus it is physically as well as mentally. The 
 best and wisest physicians, after long experience,, do not trust 
 their ability to prescribe for themselves, because of the dis- 
 turbing influence of disease on their discernment, and on the 
 equableness of their judgment. 
 
 Not many days passed before he acknowledges an entire 
 change in all his spiritual convictions. He is as fully imbued 
 with holy zeal and engagedness, and evinces as deep a con- 
 cern for the glory of his Saviour, and the welfare of perishing 
 souls as ever before ; and Gox^ is graciously blessing his labors 
 for the conversion of the perishing. Such alternations froni 
 depth to height are characteristic of many, and he who learns 
 to make the proper abatement from both extremes has gained 
 one important point in the rare attainment of self-inspection. 
 
246 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 The Black Hawk War, its Origin, Battles and Termination — Revivals 
 — Opposition — State Organizations for Evangelization — Gazetteer 
 of Illinois. 
 
 About this period also, that is through the summer of 1831, 
 and 1832, wherever his preaching excursions led him, in 
 Central and Northern Illinois especially, Mr. Peck found the 
 public mind much agitated by fears of Indian aggressions, 
 and still more by the efforts set on foot and prosecuted with 
 considerable vigor, for the extermination of these poor miser- 
 able remains of the aboriginal tribes. He does not seem to 
 have entered into the spirit of these measures as did many of 
 his brethren ; but their engrossment with these matters very 
 much hindered his religious efforts for the spiritual welfare of 
 these new settlements, and the subject in this aspect finds fre- 
 quent mention in his journals and correspondence. 
 
 To make some of these notices intelligible it may be re- 
 quisite to give, in his own words, a brief outline of what was 
 popularly known as the Black Hawk war. A condensed 
 statement only, will be hecessary, and this as far as possible 
 shall be given in his own language. 
 
 Black Hawk never was a chief, never was recognized as such either 
 by Indian authority or by the United States. He was a brave, in the 
 Indian designation, of the Sauk tribe, first heard of in the closing 
 scenes of the war of 1812-15, who was able to gather around him a 
 small party of disaffected spirits ; refused to attend the negotiations 
 of 1816 ; went to Canada, proclaimed himself and his party British 
 subjects, and received presents from that quarter. When, about the 
 year 1828, Keokuk was appointed chief of the Sauk nation, and in 
 accordance with treaties made with the United States, proclamation 
 was made that the Indians were now bound by their treaty engage- 
 ments to leave the country east of the Mississippi, and when a 
 portion of the tribe, under their regular chiefs, with Keokuk at 
 
THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 24T 
 
 their head, actually retired across the Mississippi, Black Hawk 
 refused to acknowledge this authority, and gathering around him 
 all the restless spirits he could muster, he set himself up as a 
 chief in opposition to Keokuk. Up to this time he continued his 
 annual visits to Maiden, in Canada, and received his annuity for 
 allegiance to the British government. Though he had not the 
 talent or influence of a Tecumseh to form any general and com- 
 prehensive scheme of action, yet he did make an abortive attempt 
 to unite all the Indians of the West, from Rock river to Mexico, 
 in a war against the United States. For this purpose he acknowl- 
 edges he sent runners to the Arkansas, to Red river, and to Texas, 
 on a secret mission. 
 
 The Indians in the spring of 1831, under the guidance of Black 
 Hawk, committed depredations on the frontier settlements. This 
 leader was a cunning, shrewd Indian, and trained his party to com- 
 mit various depredations on the property of the frontier inhabi- 
 tants, but not to attack or kill any person. His policy was to 
 provoke the Americans to make war on him, that he might seem 
 to be fighting in defence of Indian rights and the graves of their 
 fathers. Black Hawk had about five hundred Indians in training, 
 with horses, well-provided with arms, and came into the State of 
 Illinois with hostile designs. Consequently the Governor, on the 
 28th of May, 1831, issued a call for volunteers. The militia to 
 the number of twelve hundred or more turned out, and under th^ 
 command of General Joseph Duncan, proceeded on horseback to 
 Rock river, while a detachment of regular troops went up the 
 Mississippi river in June. Black Hav/k and his men, alarmed by 
 this prompt and formidable array against them, recrossed the 
 Mississippi, sent a white flag, and made a treaty with the United 
 States, in which the latter agreed to furnish the Indians a large 
 amount of corn and other necessaries, on condition of their strict 
 compHance with the treaty stipulations. 
 
 In open violation of these treaties, Black Hawk with his party, 
 in the spring of 1832, again crossed the Mississippi, though warned 
 by the commandant of« the United States fort at Rock Island not 
 to do so. Troops, both regular and militia, were at once mustered 
 and sent in pursuit. Among these was a party of volunteers under 
 the command of Major Stillman, who, on the 14th of May, was 
 out on a tour of observation, and close in the neighborhood of the 
 savages. On that evening, having discovered a party of the Indians, 
 the whites galloped forward to attack the savage band, but were 
 
248 MEMOm OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 met with so much energy and determination as to retreat in the 
 utmost consternation. The whites were one hundred and seventy- 
 five in number, the Indians were estimated at five or six hundred. 
 Eleven whites were killed and shockingly mangled, and many 
 wounded. This skirmish occurred at Stillman's run in Ogle county, 
 some twenty-five miles above Dixon. 
 
 On the 21st of May a party of Indian warriors, about seventy in 
 number, attacked the Indian Creek settlement in La Salle county, 
 killed fifteen persons, and took two young women prisoners. The 
 following day a scouting party was attacked and four of them slain. 
 Other massacres soon followed. Yery soon three thousand of the 
 Illinois militia were ordered out, who rendezvoused by the 20th of 
 June near Peoria. They marched forward to the Rock river, and 
 were there joined by the United States troops, the whole being 
 under the command of General Atkinson. On the 24th of June, 
 two hundred Indian warriors led by Black Hawk himself, were re- 
 pulsed by Major Demint, with but one hundred and fifty militia, 
 between Rock river and Galena. The Indians were understood to 
 be collected near the head of Rock river, and toward that locality 
 the American army now moved. A detachment under the com- 
 mand of General Henry, on the 21st of July, engaged the Indians 
 near the Blue Mounds, on the "Wisconsin river, where, after re- 
 peated but fruitless efforts on the part of the savages to break the 
 lines of the Americans, they had to submit to defeat, and fled, 
 leaving fifty or more dead on the field. The loss of the whites was 
 trifling. Black Hawk, with his now dispirited followers, fled west- 
 ward toward the Mississippi. Upon the bank of that river, near 
 the Upper Iowa, the Indians were overtaken and again defeated 
 on the 2d of August, with the loss of one hundred and fifty men, 
 while of the whites but eighteen fell. This battle entirely broke 
 the power of Black Hawk. He precipitately fled, but was seized 
 by the Winnebagoes, and on the 27th of August was delivered to 
 the United States officers at Prairie du Chien. The following 
 month the Indian troubles were closed by a treaty which relin- 
 quished on the part of the red men more than thirty millions of 
 acres, embracing what is now the eastern portion of the State of 
 Iowa — for which adequate annuities were paid the Indians. Black 
 Hawk and his family were sent as hostages to Fortress Monroe, 
 where he remained till June, 1833, when he was allowed to return 
 to his native wilds where he subsequently died. He cannot be 
 ranked with the greatest Indian warriors, since he fought only for 
 
VIEWS AND FEELINGS OF MR. PECK. 249 
 
 revenge ; he showed no great intellectual power, but proved him- 
 self a fearless man, and for many months spread consternation 
 through the scattered settlements of Illinois. 
 
 Yery frequently were Mr. Peck's appointmeiits, even on 
 the Sabbath, broken up by the military /wror which pervaded 
 the minds of the community. Some of his Christian brethren 
 also, according to the accounts preserved in his journal, became 
 brutalized by the war spirit w^hich this ferocious struggle too 
 naturally promoted. Little as Mr. Peck sympathized with 
 the peace party or the non-resistants at any period of his life, 
 he yet bore his decided testimony, in all proper ways, against 
 the unchristian spirit too frequently evinced even among those 
 of the professed household faith, who with unmixed hate de- 
 clared their settled purpose to shoot down the poor miserable 
 red-skins wherever they might find them, as unscrupulously 
 as they would shoot the wolves which prowled around their 
 dwellings. Our brother's spirit on these occasions was kindred 
 to that of Robinson, pastor of the Puritan church which first 
 came to Plymouth Rock, who on hearing from the pilgrims that 
 they had fought with and killed several Indians, piously re- 
 sponded, " Would to God that you had converted some before 
 you killed any !" Not unlikely the fact that Mr. Peck had 
 originally been sent to the West with special reference to the 
 work of missions among the Indians, and that subsequently 
 he had been directed, on the breaking up of the Mission of 
 the Triennial Convention at St. Louis, to join with McCoy 
 in his labors among the aborigines, though he had never 
 been able to do this, may have wrought a feeling of greater 
 tenderness in his heart toward these rude sons of nature. 
 
 It is pleasant to turn from this episode and find our 
 brother's heart greatly engaged in the work of the Lord, as 
 he went his rounds preaching and baptizing in the several 
 churches. Precious revivals began to be more frequent in 
 vari-ous parts of his circuit. He seems to have proclaimed the 
 gospel with great unction, and with manifest tokens of the 
 Divine approval, throughout the months and years now pass- 
 ing under review. And though there were some drawbacks of 
 
250 MEMOIE OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 various kinds — sometimes by the prevalence of Campbellism, 
 which he was learning to dread from the experienced ill effects 
 of many of its advocates, whose course he narrowly scrutin- 
 ized, and partly from the over-zealous and unscriptural 
 course of some of his own associates, as well as from the 
 anti-mission, anti-evangelizing spirit of the party still doing 
 so much around him to keep out the light of Scripture diffu- 
 sion, Sunday-school influences, and preaching the gospel to 
 sinners — still there was joy in his heart and joy in his 
 countenance, and joy giving renewed vigor to his often 
 wearied frame, when souls by scores were found crying out 
 what shall we do to be saved, and on welcoming the answer 
 which he gave them, to press their way into the kingdom of 
 God. Frequently on these joyous occasions, when he baptized 
 by the half score at a time, he preserves in his diary the names 
 of those who there put on Christ by his hand. And it is 
 instructive to mark the number of notices, appended at a 
 much later period, of the course which these subsequently 
 run. Some fell away and baffled his hopes ; others were 
 misled, as he thought, to join with other denominations; 
 while of the far larger part, the testimonies are, "they have 
 worn well, they became pillars in the church;" or, "they 
 early died, giving good evidence that their end was peace." 
 
 In such work, as well as in his widely extended correspon- 
 dence, and in the publications which he chiefly edited, and 
 for which, including his Weekly Pioneer, a religious paper of 
 catholic character, and a monthly journal more decidedly 
 Baptist, and another monthly half-sheet devoted to the 
 advocacy of Sunday-schools, he wrote a great deal — his 
 useful days and nights were more busy, and on the whole 
 more happily spent. 
 
 In the meantime it had become evident that the Rock 
 Spring Seminary, for which he had made and called forth so 
 generous offerings, was no*^ in the right situation to secure 
 the' extensive patronage, and to concentrate on it the uni- 
 versal favor which he and its other founders and friends 
 desired. True it had done much good — had more than re- 
 
SEMINARY REMOVED TO ALTON. 25 J 
 
 deemed what he had promised for it : but it had been begun 
 and conducted, as well as was located, on too low and inade- 
 quate a scale, and could not there — so it was thought — do 
 the important work which they desired to effect. While Dr. 
 Going was with him they had conferred much on this matter, 
 and had together reconnoitered the very spot in Upper Alton 
 subsequently purchased as the site for a new and more im- 
 posing institution. During the following year that eligible 
 site was purchased, designed for both Illinois and Missouri, 
 and therefort placed opposite to the junction of the Missouri 
 and Mississippi rivers, and measures set on foot for erecting 
 durable edifices, and the transfer of the school to that locality. 
 In an extensive preaching and exploring tour through the 
 counties of Fulton, McDonough, Hancock, and Warren, 111., 
 which filled up the month of June, 1832, he had various ex- 
 periences — some of them by no means cheering — occasioned in 
 part by the war alarms, and the Sunday musters ; in which 
 he complains that even professors of religion, class-leaders 
 and preachers took a prominent part, very needlessly desecrat- 
 ing the day of holy rest, as he thought ; and partly, too, from 
 the evil influence of anti-mission habits and prejudices. Here 
 is a specimen of some of those latter influences, which his 
 journal records : 
 
 Saturday, 9i7i June. Rode twelve miles to Crooked Creek church. 
 This is a small body, most of the old members inveterately opposed 
 to missions, and of the '' do-nothing" class. Brother Logan preached, 
 and they attended to church business. Two candidates for baptism 
 related their experience. A case of discipline came up, and a man 
 was excluded. The business was managed in a bad way, much con- 
 fusion and contradiction. The family where we stayed, by the 
 
 name of N 1, live very miserably, while they have ample means 
 
 of living better. They have large stock of hogs and cattle on the 
 range, and grain, yet for bread they eat mouldy and almost rotten 
 corn, ground in a hand-mill. Most of the people in this settlement 
 seem miserable and stupidly ignorant. 
 
 Lord's-day, 10^^.. After the people began to assemble, I addressed 
 those in the cabin on Sunday-school instruction. Some of the men, 
 members of the church, were out of doors, and kept on talking, 
 
252 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 scolding and making a mock of what I was saying, threatening and 
 blustering. One professor of religion was heard to say that I 
 ought to be shot while at prayer. A bitter, malignant, hostile spirit 
 is manifested by this class of persons. This is the temper com- 
 municated by a class of preachers here. About one hundred 
 people, old and young, assembled, to whom I preached from Ezekiel 
 xxxiii. 11. Some of the people kept on talking and laughing, en- 
 couraged by professors. Lord, have mercy on them. Brother 
 Logan exhorted : then we went to the water and baptized four young 
 persons Poor things ! No one to instruct them. There is great 
 need of a Sunday-school in this place, but I could find no one capa- 
 ble of giving instruction who would take hold of the business. 
 Some of the converts cannot read, and yet have none to teach 
 them. 
 
 In other cases it was his privilege to see and to aid in pro- 
 moting a better state of things. 
 
 Lord's-day, July 8th. Brother Bailey and M. Lenien preached 
 in the daytime and I exhorted. At night we assembled again in 
 the meeting-house, when I addressed them. At first many young 
 men behaved very rudely, conversing in groups out of doors ; but 
 before the meeting closed, we had a very solemn time ; many were 
 deeply impressed. Fifteen or twenty came up for prayers under 
 much distress. Professors began to be in earnest, and to agonize 
 for sinners. There were many appearances of a revival. One 
 additional candidate was received for baptism. I am in hopes the 
 good work of the Lord has truly begun in this congregation. 
 
 Monday, 9^/i. Returned home and spent the week in answering 
 letters, writing for the Pioneer, and other matters of business, all 
 of which press upon me when at home. 
 
 Such were the alternations and engrossments of weeks and 
 months as now they bore him along their varied current. He 
 seems at times at least to have been painfully impressed with 
 the multiplicity of his engagements, and with the want of 
 more spirituality of mind ; but for the most part with cheer- 
 ful equanimity, he was striving to do that first which was of 
 greatest importance ; or perhaps more accurately, to do that 
 first which would involve most disaster if delayed. And as 
 there was always on hand more than he could accomplish, 
 there was no time for ennui or listlessness. 
 
ANNIVERSARIES AT VANDALIA. 253 
 
 December, 1833, he records his visit to Yandalia, then the 
 seat of government for Illinois, to attend several of those 
 State organizations which he had been largely instrumental 
 in originating ; and as his journal gives a candid statement 
 of their actual condition at this time, it may be interesting to 
 our readers to, look over a few pages of it, condensed as much 
 as possible, but left to express in his own words his honest 
 convictions : 
 
 Monday, December 2d. I started for Yandalia, and tarried with 
 Mr. Johnson at Hickory Grove. 
 
 3d. Reached Yandalia, and at night attended the annual meeting 
 of the Illinois State Bible Society. Not a single thing has been 
 done the present year. It now appears that there was really no 
 use in forming a State society while every county, except on the 
 frontiers, had its own auxiliary. It was found on inquiry that this 
 State society had on hand a large quantity of Bibles, for which 
 they owe in good faith about nine hundred dollars, besides a large 
 stock for which the society is to pay if able. On a subsequent day 
 in the Board of Directors I introduced a series of resolutions and 
 marked out a plan to relieve ourselves of this burden and dispose of 
 these debts, which were adopted. The want of energy, system, and 
 correctness in the Secretary and acting portion of the Board, is a 
 serious impediment to operations of any kind. 
 
 Wi. Most of the day was employed in finishing my report of the 
 Illinois Sunday-school Union. On the evening the anniversary w&,s 
 held in the State-house. A large assembly was present, and much 
 interest excited. Several of the addresses were excellent. The 
 Sunday-school cause has obtained a strong hold upon the affections 
 and confidence of the people. With prudent and energetic manage- 
 ment it must succeed. 
 
 bth. Yery busy through the day in settling and arranging busi- 
 ness with the Sunday-school agents present, and attending meet- 
 ings of the Board, committees, etc. 
 
 In the evening the anniversary of the Illinois State Temperance 
 Society was held. Several addresses were delivered, and an im- 
 pulse given to the cause. The policy of distributing temperance 
 publications largely was adopted. 
 
 6^7i. Still very closely engaged in the objects of the various be- 
 nevolent institutions. The annual meeting of the Illinois Institute 
 of Education was held to-day, and a committee appointed to ex- 
 22 
 
254 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 amine the various documents in my possession, digest and prepare 
 a summary publication, and then try to arouse the people to the 
 subject, get up public meetings, have addresses made, and thus 
 produce general action throughout the State. [He was ahnost of 
 course the chairman of this committee.] In the evening the 
 Colonization Society had a meeting and adjourned. 
 
 "ith, Saturday. Busily engaged through the day in writing. The 
 Colonization Society again met, chose ofi&cers, and entered upon 
 business. A series of resolutions opposing anti-slavery societies 
 and measures, and urging the colonization scheme as the only safe 
 and effectual expedient to remove slavery, were introduced, and 
 the discussion on them postponed till Monday. 
 
 8ih, Lord's-day. In the morning attended the Sunday-school and 
 addressed it on the subject of temperance. Placed in the library a 
 copy of the Temperance Eecorder. Then I preached to a large 
 and attentive congregation from 1 Thess. i. 5. 
 
 In the evening I gave a lecture on the Burman Mission, which 
 was heard with great interest, and the next day six dollars and a 
 half were handed me by Presbyterians for that mission. 
 
 9th, Monday. I was induced to stay on account of the adjourned 
 colonization meeting to be held to-night. The day was occupied 
 in writing many letters. Evening, the Colonization Society met 
 and discussed the resolutions, in which I took part, proposing 
 several amendments, which were*adopted. A committee was ap- 
 pointed to digest a document of facts to be laid be/ore the public. 
 Of this committee I am one. Thus I have an amount of business 
 of various descriptions thrown upon my shoulders, which will, with 
 my Sunday-school concerns, occupy me very closely the whole 
 winter. 
 
 10th and 11^^. Journeyed home and found all well. 
 
 12th. Went to St. Louis, chiefly on Sunday-school business, and 
 returning reached home at a late hour of an exceedingly dark 
 night. 
 
 14^/i, Saturday. Very busy in preparing the Sunday-school re- 
 port for the press. 
 
 15^/i, Lord's-day. Very sick with my usual infirmity, sick-head- 
 ache, and unable to attend meeting which had been appointed 
 for me. 
 
 22d. Preached the funeral discourse for the late Governor Edwards 
 in the court-house, Edwardsville. Not only was the house crowded, 
 but a multitude were out of doors, the weather being pleasant. 
 I took a passage from Ezekiel xix. 12 for a text : " Her strong rods 
 
DEATH OF JOHN CLARKE. 255 
 
 were broken and withered," in which I portrayed the qualities of 
 an eminent statesman. A call was made next day for the publica- 
 tion of the discourse with a short memoir of his life and character, 
 which will be complied with. 
 
 23d and 24:th. Spent in Belleville, conversing widely as possible 
 on common-school education, and trying to enlist leading persons 
 in this subject. 
 
 Sth, Saturday. For three days I have been closely occupied in 
 arranging my correspondence and other papers, and in preparing 
 articles for the Pioneer on education, temperance, and colonization. 
 I have divers important letters to answer and much other business 
 which will require my utmost efforts to perform. 
 
 Lord's-day, 29th. Preached at Lebanon from the eighth chapter 
 of Romans. Church business followed, and several cases of diffi- 
 culty occurred. This church has lost considerable in order and 
 piety within a few months. In the afternoon it rained severely, 
 and I rode home in the storm. 
 
 The above items furnish a pretty fair sample of the manner 
 in which his time was filled up with urgent duties one day, 
 and one week, and one month after another, for this, and 
 preceding, and following years. 
 
 The next February mention is made of the funeral of that 
 veteran. Father John Clarke, of whom he says that '' he 
 spent part of a day at James Lemon's looking over the manu- 
 scripts left by Father Clark. The old man commenced writing 
 his life at my suggestion, made considerable progress, but was 
 never able to finish it. It was finally agreed that myself and 
 James Lemen should write and publish his life in a bound 
 volume. " This object was accomplished by our brother, but 
 not till nearly twenty years afterward. He purposed doing 
 the same for several friends, as Meacham, Bradley, and 
 others ; and so frequently, and for so long a period were these 
 things before him, and mentioned in his correspondence, that 
 the idea was naturally entertained that he had made con- 
 siderable progress in the preparation of materials for these 
 memoirs. Such, however, does not appear to have been the 
 case. They existed only in his teeming brain. 'Not a page 
 of either was ever written. 
 
256 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 To the preparation of- a gazetteer of Illinois, however, with 
 anew and much fuller and more accurate map than had before 
 existed, he devoted no small share of the early portions of the 
 year 1834. By the end of March he mentions having sold 
 the first edition of this book to- a Mr. Gandy of Jacksonville. 
 
 Under date of July 20th, of this year, occurs the following 
 entry in his journal, showing nt how early a period his heart 
 was greatly stirred in contemplating a work to which ten 
 years later he gave some of the most important and labori- 
 ous of his life-efforts : 
 
 Yesterday I received a communication from I. M. Allen, general 
 agent of the Baptist Tract Sijciety, urging me to engage as a super- 
 intending agent for the valley of the Mississippi. This is the third 
 communication made to me with that object in view. It proposes 
 an extensive course of operation for the specific purpose of raising 
 up the condition of the "Western Baptists, by addresses, forming 
 plans and organizations for usefulness, circulating tracts and other 
 valuable religious books, and endeavoring to bring the great body 
 of the Baptists to act in harmony and efficiently. This would be, 
 indeed, a Hfirculean enterprise, involving vast responsibility, re- 
 quiring diversified abilities far beyond what I can ever hope to 
 possess. Yet it is a work that must be done. Somebody must take 
 hold of it. It must be commenced speedily, and followed perse- 
 veringly. I have little reason to think that my circumstances and 
 deficiencies would justify such an effort on my part, but I feel 
 botmd to give the proposition a prayerful and respectful consider- 
 ation. 
 
 In August he took a somewhat extensive tour into Mis- 
 souri, traveled and preached in company with his beloved 
 Brother Yardeman whose house he visited and became for 
 a little season his welcome guest. Together they attended a 
 kind of convention of Baptists to take into consideration the 
 destitution in that State, and contrive the best means for 
 supplying it. Throughout the wide region where he now 
 traveled in this State, and in considerable part over ground 
 familiar to him in former preaching tours, he found the state 
 of religion low indeed just at present, but giving unmis- 
 
FAILING HEALTH OF MR. PECK. 25Y 
 
 takable evidences of progress. Anti-ism in its various forms 
 was dying out ; more regard was felt for Sabbath -schools, 
 missions, and even for the support of preaching in the several 
 churches. Though in all these respects the progress had been 
 slow, and the present state was far enough from satisfactory, 
 yet, compared with what he had seen eight or ten years pre- 
 vious, it was encouraging." 
 
 Early in November following we find him, with several of 
 his brethren in the ministry from his immediate neighborhood, 
 attending a convention of Western Baptists in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Among other objects of importance there considered the 
 Western Baptist Education Society was formed, and incip- 
 ient steps, or at least counsels, taken for the theological 
 institution afterwards established at Covington ; in all which, 
 though his health was very poor, he took the deepest interest. 
 Here he met with his endeared Brethren Going, Tell, Allen, 
 and many others, with whom he took counsel on matters of 
 paramount interest to himself and to the welfare of the 
 Baptist cause. 
 
 Under date of November 18th, 1834, the following minute 
 occurs in his journal : 
 
 Held consultation with several brethren from the East as to my 
 future destiny and course. All gave as their decided opinion that 
 I should go to the Atlantic States in the spring, spend the summer, 
 and collect funds for Alton Seminary and for the Home Mission. 
 Such a destination would require an entirely new arrangement of 
 business and prospects. I desire to be submissive to the order 
 of Divine Providence and enter the path of duty; yet such a 
 mission will be on my part a matter of much self-denial, and a 
 most arduous and responsible undertaking. 
 
 The following month he was again found, as the preceding 
 year, attending the State anniversaries at Yandalia. The 
 Sunday-school cause especially seems to have progressed 
 finely ,^and generally the educational interests were advancing. 
 Subsequently in St. Louis and at Alton, in company with his 
 early assistant. Rev. James E. Welch, they made some humili- 
 ating discoveries in regard to the unworthy conduct of a man 
 
258 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 employed at a generous salary by the American Sunday- 
 school Union to keep their depository. Farming out this 
 service for one-half the sum paid to him for its performance, 
 the other half enabled him to prosecute a sectarian purpose 
 of his own, in direct contravention of the principles of the 
 Union, whose commission he thus dishonored. Our brother's 
 reflections on this mean trickery indicate how sensitive his 
 mind was to every perversion of the noble catholicity of 
 union societies whose very existence depends on the irre- 
 proachable fidelity of those interested with their agency. 
 
 Yery poor health nearly prostrated him during the greater 
 part of this winter. He particularly notices his utter inability 
 to endure exposure to the cold as in former years ; and during 
 the severer portions of the season he represents himself as 
 only able to hover over a large fire, and strive to keep his torpid 
 liver from an entire cessation of action by vigorous restora- 
 tives. The affairs of the seminary (a charter of it as a college 
 was about this time obtained) caused him very frequent visits 
 to its locality at Upper Alton. To secure in an economical 
 and efficient manner the requisite buildings, to harmonize 
 teachers young and old from New England and from Old 
 England, as well as some raised up on the ground, to watch 
 over and procure in tolerable season the scanty finances de- 
 rived chiefly from small subscriptions, and to give as much 
 efficiency and reputation as possible to the young and unen- 
 dowed institution, required of him, with all his other cares 
 and toils, much more of effort than he was really able to put 
 forth. At this time, too, he seems to have contemplated a 
 removal of his family, his paper and printing-press to Alton 
 as soon as he could advantageously dispose of his farm at 
 Rock Spring. He even went so far as to purchase eligible 
 lots on which to erect a comfortable dwelling for his family 
 in the vicinity of the college campus ; but for some cause the 
 transfer of residence was never made. 
 
 In the early meetings of the trustees of the incorporated 
 college, the question primarily claimed their attention, How 
 should funds be secured for the erection of ampler edifices, 
 
ENDOWMENT OF ALTON SEMINARY. 259 
 
 and for the permanent endowment of at least some of the 
 professorships ? After much and earnest discussion of this 
 exigent demand, in every form in which any practicable hope 
 of success seemed to present itself, the conclusion was finally 
 reached that a sum not less than twenty-five thousand dollars 
 must be raised for these important purposes. Two agents 
 were appointed to solicit aid : one in the West, who might 
 raise — so they hoped — one-fifth of this sum, while our care- 
 w^orn and almost skeleton-looking brother was commissioned 
 to go to the East, with the forlorn hope of getting the other 
 four-fifths of this sum from that quarter. 
 
 Soon as this plan was definitely decided on, and he had 
 accepted the commission for this purpose, he immediately 
 arranged all his affairs with reference to it. He resigned the 
 office of Sunday-school superintendent and active manager in 
 that and other Boards, finished up so far as practicable his 
 correspondence and some special communications for his paper 
 which the exigencies of the times called for, and in all respects 
 endeavored to put his affairs in the best order practicable to 
 be loft, whether he should live to return or not. 
 
 )ng these last services may be reckoned a special com- 
 munication which he mentions having prepared with extra 
 carefulness to expose the pretensions of Mormonism, w^hich 
 just now was making some inroads among the ignorant and 
 vacillating in several parts of the State and in some neighbor- 
 hoods in his own vicinity. His expose of that bold delusion 
 was in several cases eminently successful. So was probably 
 a similar article, which just about this time he sent forth, 
 exposing the efforts of foreign priests to promote the Komish 
 religion. 
 
260 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Second Visit to the Eastern States — Triennial Convention at Rich- 
 mond, Va. — New York Anniversaries — General Operations in 
 Behalf of the College at Alton — Success and Return to Illinois. 
 
 Saturday, April 11th, 1835, Mr. Peck left home, and after spending 
 the Sabbath in St. Louis, where he gave the white Baptist church a 
 brief review of the state of things when he first came there seven- 
 teen years and a half before ; and then preached to the African 
 Baptist church a kind of farewell discourse, and they by their own 
 arrangement made him a free-will offering of thirty dollars to aid 
 him on his way, though most of them he says were slaves. The 
 next morning, in company with an unusual number of ministers and 
 other professors of religion who had insisted on the boat's not 
 leaving port on Saturday evening, he went on board the steamer 
 Potosi, and proceeded down the river at the rate of twelve miles 
 an hour. The weather was delightful, but the season late, and fires 
 were still needed in the cabins. The red buds were just in blossom, 
 the elm and cottonwood and a few other trees were beginning to 
 show leaves. Passed Fort Massac, now only distinguished as a 
 farm. The boat shook so much that he could not finish his writing 
 as he had intended, and he busied himself in reading the life of 
 Colonel David Crockett, a genuin#portraitureof backwood's talent 
 and address. Took on board the celebrated Dr. Caldwell, Professor 
 in Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky.,who about this period 
 was making himself conspicuous as the advocate of the views of 
 Gall and Spurzheim in phrenology, who had been on a lecturing 
 tour to Nashville, Tenn., and who aflbrded much interest and amuse- 
 ment. His semi4nfidel notions, not only in regard to phrenology, 
 but to a diversity of original races of mankind, called forth dis- 
 cussion between him and Dr. Ed. Beecher, President Baldwin, and 
 Mr. Peck, which pleasantly filled up their time till the boat reached 
 Louisville. Here they were transferred to another steamer. Stopped 
 for a day or two at Cincinnati, where an opportunity was afforded 
 Mr. Peck of renewing his intercourse with that distinguished pro- 
 moter of the Western Education Society, E. Robins, and others, 
 
TRIENNIAL CONVENTION AT RICHMOND. 261 
 
 then fully engrossed with the plans which ere long resulted in the 
 Covington-purchase of real estate for the founding of the Theologi- 
 cal School of the Northwest. Here also he again heard Alexander 
 Campbell, and says: "I have exposed the sophistry of his argu- 
 ments in the Pioneer." Ascending the Ohio river, which at this 
 season of the year he says is uncommonly pleasant, the banks 
 being both picturesque and romantic, he reached Guyandotte, Va., 
 and thence took stage across that State to Richmond. Spent a 
 Sabbath in Charlottesville, and as this whole route was new to 
 him — up the Guyandotte, across the dividing ridge to the Kana- 
 wha, then up that river past the extensive saline works where two 
 million bushels of salt were then annually manufactured, across 
 the Alleghany ridge and the Blue Ridge, near the White Sulphur 
 springs, the hot springs, and the warm springs, and through Louis- 
 burg and Staunton to Monticello — the scenes appear to have awak- 
 ened his highest interest. Passing from Charlottesville to Richmond 
 he found many streams without bridges, and in one instance the 
 water came into the stage. Such, says he, is Old Virginia even 
 now ! 
 
 Arriving at the capital, Tuesday, 25th April, he found welcome 
 quarters with Rev. I. T. Hinton, the pastor of the First Baptist 
 church, with whom then and long afterward his intercourse was 
 most endearing and mutually satisfactory. That evening he at- 
 tended the anniversary of the A^irginia Baptist Foreign Missionary 
 Society. Among the interesting addresses he remarks on one from 
 Rev. Mr. Sutton, English Baptist missionary to Orissa, India, the 
 seat of Juggernaut's temple, who described the car-festival of that 
 idol, the burning of widows, infanticide, and other abominations 
 which he had witnessed. 
 
 The next day the delegates of the general triennial convention 
 assembled and were organized. Twenty-one States were repre- 
 sented by a much larger body of delegates, and from a wider 
 extent of country than ever before. Rev. Dr. Cox and Hoby, from 
 the Baptist Union of England, were most cordially received. They 
 addressed the meeting in a most feeling manner. It was a thrilling 
 scene. In the midst of it, Mr. Peck, still suffering from his former 
 complaint, had a fresh attack of it, which obliged him to retire. 
 In the afternoon the anniversary sermon was preached by Rev. S. 
 H. Cone, of New York, and the next morning the annual report 
 was read, awakening more interest than had ever been called forth 
 before by any similar document. All the remainder of the week 
 
262 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 was given to the usual business of the convention, which progressed 
 and was closed harmoniously. 
 
 On Lord's-day there was preaching by visiting ministers in tho 
 third Baptist church and in several others. Mr. Peck heard Eev. 
 Mr. Hoby in the morning — an interesting sermon. In the after- 
 noon Rev. Mr. Sutton, above mentioned, preached and exhibited 
 specimens of the idol gods and other abominations of idolatry to a 
 crowded and deeply-affected audience, after which a collection was 
 taken to aid his mission. In the evening he heard Dr. Cox preach 
 a splendid and powerful discourse from Col. i. 28. 
 
 Monday, the Home Mission Society commenced its anniversary. 
 The report was quite interesting, showing an amount of sixty-four 
 years labor performed by the missionaries the past year. The 
 English delegation were here again introduced, when each made a 
 most impressive speech, which was suitably responded to by the 
 President and by Rev. Mr. Cone, as Chairman of the Executive 
 Committee, on behalf of the society. 
 
 Tuesday, Mr. Peck introduced a resolution urging the ground of 
 action on home missions, and made a speech an hour and a quarter 
 long, specially of the Mississippi valley. At a meeting held with 
 reference to the Baptist General Tract and Publication Society, tho 
 position was maintained that the Baptists should co-operate with 
 the great union societies, but at the same time should provide 
 books and tracts such as are specially needed by the denomination. 
 The following evening he preached in the second Baptist church 
 giving a sketch of affairs in the West, particularly some of the good 
 and hopeful things in Illinois. 
 
 Thursday, in company with Brethren Hinton and Going, he 
 visited Richmond College, a manual labor seminary with three 
 professors and sixty students, twenty of them Baptist beneficiaries, 
 all of whom labored three hours a day. He found it satisfactory 
 and encouraging. 
 
 Early next morning he went on board the steamer Thomas 
 Jefferson for Norfolk, and had an exciting race on the James river 
 with another boat named Patrick Henry, passing the ruins of old 
 Jamestown, and other interesting localities. Saturday noon he 
 took the steam packet David Brown from Norfolk for New York. 
 Passing the Rip Raps, Fortress Monroe and the Cape, they met a 
 violent storm, and he experienced for the first and perhaps the last 
 time, something like a gale at sea. Monday morning he saw the 
 sun rise from his ocean bed, off Sandy Hook, and was soon landed 
 in New York, where he foimd a welcome home wiA Professor 
 
NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA ANNIVERSARIES. 263 
 
 Abraham Mills of the university, an old and valued friend. It 
 was the week of anniversaries, and the next day he attended that 
 of the Anti-slavery Society, exciting this year more than usual 
 interest, because the English Baptist deputation had been invited 
 to address it. Though they had given encouragement of doing so, 
 yet on fuller consideration they declined, thereby exciting some 
 animadversion. The celebrated George Thompson, of England, 
 however, was present, and Mr. Peck says, " made a tremendous 
 speech. Much of his language was intemperate denunciation." 
 The same afternoon he attended the exhibition of the Sabbath- 
 school children in the Park — " a grand and pleasant sight." The 
 two or three following days and evenings were occupied with atten- 
 dance on the American Tract, Bible and Colonization Society 
 anniversaries, which seem to have exerted on his own mind a 
 powerful and salutary influence. In view of which, he says : " I 
 shall most certainly return to the "West with more expansive feel- 
 ings, and a higher relish for the great object of Christian philan- 
 throphy than I ever felt before. These great national festivals give 
 a wide and powerful impulse to the cause." From New York he 
 repaired to Philadelphia, attending the anniversary of the American 
 Sunday-school Union, which he efficiently addressed, as he had 
 several of the societies in New York. He spent two Sabbaths in 
 this city, visiting some of his old, choice friends, and preaching in 
 most of the Baptist pulpits. He laid his object — securing help for 
 the nascent college at Upper Alton — before the several congrega- 
 tions. As the result of his appeals, private and pubhc, he says : 
 *' I find that Philadelphia Baptists will do a Httle — contribute small 
 donations — but are not yet in the habit of doing things on a liberal 
 scale." Two or three visits he made to the good city of Penn, to 
 Burhngton, and Newark, N. J., and in the meantime did what he 
 could in New York and Brooklyn, until the middle of June, when 
 he went up the Hudson and attended at Schenectady the session 
 of the Hudson *Ri\ev Association, which he had assisted to form at 
 Poughkeepsie twenty years before. Then it was a small body, of 
 only four churches. Now he found it numbering forty churches, 
 many of them large and efficient. 
 
 Before this association, by its. appointment, Mr. Peck preached 
 and pleaded the cause of his Western Institution with so much 
 effect that, previous to the adjournment, a resolution was passed 
 recommending Alton College to the hberality of the churches. 
 
 Keturning then to New York and vicinity, he spent nearly five 
 weeks more in getting from churches and individuals the donations 
 
264 MEMOIR or JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 which they were willing to make for the endowment of a seminary 
 of learning in the West. 
 
 About the 20th of July he went to New England : in Providence 
 visited his generous, confiding friend Hon. Nicholas Brown, and 
 attended the examination of some of the classes in Brown Univerr 
 sity. Thence to Boston, to Dr. Shurtleff's, from whom himself 
 and his object experienced so much generosity. In and all around 
 the city and the vicinity, and even to Portland, Me., he extended 
 his energetic visits and appeals for aid. "With various measures 
 of success and failure he became familiarized, and seems to have 
 taken all in good part — or only indicating slight disappointment or 
 displacency when he failed of what he thought reasonable expecta- 
 tions. It was one of the fehcities of this good man's nature not to 
 be greatly elated or depressed by success or the want of it. It is 
 almost amusing to one knowing pretty thoroughly and accurately 
 the state of the churches, and the prevalent animus of their pastor3 
 in a matter of this kind, to follow his course from city to country, and 
 from one church to another, in all these toilsome weeks wliich so 
 perseveringly he spent in the endeavors to secure the indispensable 
 means for the incipient endowment of the college. Nor was his 
 attention confined to this matter. One day and night he devoted 
 to a visit to Newton Institution, where his endeavor was to imbue 
 the minds of the young brethren — the students — with the purpose 
 to give themselves to self-denying service requisite for success in 
 the noble field to which he belonged. 
 
 He attended, too, the anniversaries and lectures of the literary 
 and scientific institutions as far as possible, and in all proper ways 
 both gave and received information. In his journal he remarks, 
 " I find that those who have visited in behalf of the West, and 
 spoke on the state of things there, have almost exclusively con- 
 fined themselves to the dark side of our moral picture. They 
 have told of our destitution and our danger, without exhibiting 
 those facts which tend to show that great good can be done with 
 comparatively small means. I have endeavored to give both sides 
 — to show our evils and difficulties, and to show also the improve- 
 ments going forward by a judicious and timely use of such means 
 as are suited to the circumstances of the West. And on the whole 
 I think this course will secure most aid ultimately for the West. 
 At the Worcester Association, meeting that year in Sutton, he 
 spoke in behalf of the Home Mission and the seminary. On 
 again visiting Providence, he conferred at length with Hon. 
 Nicholas Brown on the project of his founding a professorship in 
 
COMMENCEMENT AT BROWN UNIVERSITY. 265 
 
 the college at Alton. "At first he seemed disinclined, but since 
 has proposed to consider the subject." In that vicinity, too, he 
 called on his frequent correspondent in those and subsequent days, 
 the Kev. David Benedict, historian of the Baptists, and seems to 
 have had much free conference with him on our denominational 
 affairs. In this connection he expresses his regret to see men who 
 have borne the burden and heat of the day cast into the back 
 ground towards evening. "Such," says he, "is human nature. 
 Such may probably be my fate. "Well, if those who enter the 
 field, for whom myself and others have 'pioneered out the waj?^, 
 thrust us back as lumber of a past age, be it so, provided they will 
 sustain the cause, and carry forward the great work." 
 
 In this vicinity, too, he fell in with one of Barnum's first hum- 
 bugs, Joice Heth, represented as one hundred and sixty-one years 
 old, and that she had been a Baptist one hundred and sixteen 
 years, the nurse of Washington, etc., of whom he correctly re- 
 marks : " She was certainly not a Baptist one hundred and sixteen 
 3-ears ago, for no Baptist minister lived in Virginia fhenP^ Show- 
 ing how useful in detecting imposture is some little knowledge of 
 chronology and history. 
 
 He attended the first week in September the commencement 
 exercises at Brown University, and remarks discriminately on the 
 day, as pretty uniformly regarded thoughout the httle State of 
 Rhode Island as a holiday — banks, factories, shops generally closed, 
 and all the people thronging to Providence. The day preceding 
 commencement he heard the oration on Intelloetual Philosophy 
 of President Ilopkins.of Williams' College, before the United 
 Brothers Society, and in the evening the discourse before the 
 Society of Missionary Inquiry by Eev. R. E. Pattison, anu in the 
 afternoon of commencement day, Professor Caswell on Mathematics 
 as a branch of literal education, and Professor Knowles, of New- 
 ton Institution, a poem on the Victories of Peace. The evening 
 of the same day Dr. Cox preached a grand sermon from John iii. 
 30, "He must increase." On the whole he was delighted and 
 profited by the services. 
 
 He then made a little tour into his native State, Connecticut. 
 
 Spent a Sabbath in Hartford, and received one hundred and fifty 
 
 dollars for his object — attended the Hartford Association at Canton, 
 
 and records with some feeling his meeting with old friends, naming 
 
 particularly Elder Rufus Babcock, then seventy-seven years old. 
 
 Elder Asahel Morse, Deacon John Gurney, and George D. James 
 
 of the church in Amenia, and others whom he had formerly known. 
 23 
 
266 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Here, too, Drs. Cox and Hoby were both present and preached 
 and he parted with them and others expecting never probably to 
 meet m time! Then he returned through Suffield, where he was 
 interested m the Literary Institution, and Springfield, where the 
 armory of the United States called forth the emphatic record. Oh, 
 when will the nations learn war no more ? 
 
 Keturning again to Boston, he found to his high satisfaction that 
 Mr. Lewis Colby, who had been associated with him in his collect- 
 ing agency, " had done nobly in collecting funds." He then attended 
 the Boston Association, meeting that year with the first Baptist 
 church m that city, where he again plead the cause of the West 
 The following week he attended in the same way the Salem Associa. 
 tion at Lowell, where he and others were solemnly impressed bv 
 the very sudden death of the Eev. Mr. Freeman, pastor of the 
 church where the association convened, who preached Sabbath 
 morning, and died the following Tuesday morning, the very day 
 before the association convened. 
 
 After visiting sundry other churches and places in the vicinity 
 of Boston, his journal states, under date of October 6th, 1835- 
 ''Held a conversation with Dr. Shurtlelf on the subject 'of the 
 college. He proposed to give ten thousand dollars on the following 
 conditions: Five thousand dollars for building purposes the 
 college to be named Shurtleff College, and the other five thousand 
 dollars to establish a professorship of rhetoric and elocution " 
 Besides this sum, Mr. Peck found that he and his associate had 
 made up m subscriptions, donations, and collections, about ten 
 thousand dollars more, or the entire four-fifths of the sum deemed 
 indispensable by the trustees when he had been sent forth Visiting 
 once more Hon. N. Brown in Providence, and holding another con- 
 versation with him in regard to the endowment of a professorship 
 he makes this final record :- Though he did not promise expressly 
 I have strong hopes that he will do it." The followmg day, Octo- 
 ber 9th, he took leave of New England. 
 
 After a hurried visit to his old friends in Caatskill and Hudson 
 and to the church in Durham, where he. was baptized and licensed 
 to preach twenty-four years before, where he found the same pastor 
 Elder HermonHervey, who had then officiated, and preached again 
 m the same house and from the same text where his first sermon 
 ms dehyered, he visited several of his wife's and his own relatives, 
 and left New York on his way home the 24th of October. He went 
 by the way of Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and reached, after several 
 detentions, the city of Cincinnati, November 3d. One week he re- 
 
RETURN HOME — WORK FOR THE COLLEGE. 26t 
 
 mained here, attending the Baptist convention and holding interest- 
 ing conversations and conferences -^yith private individuals and 
 larger bodi^, which he intended should be promotive of his great 
 object, the evangelization and general improvement of the West. 
 
 November 18th he reached his home at Rock Spring, and found 
 his family well. In this tour he had traveled five thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty miles, and secured the object aimed at. Yet 
 there seemed no exultation, only humble gratitude to the favoring 
 Providence which had protected him and the Spirit of God which 
 had inclined so many friends to aid the good cause which he had 
 advocated. 
 
 On reaching the site of the college at Upper Alton, he found to 
 his mortification that the buildings and other improvements had 
 not progressed as he expected. But one meeting of the trustees 
 had been held in the seven months of his absence, and ih.e festina 
 lente spirit had seemed to characterize all their proceedings. The 
 trustees immediately were called together, and considerable vigor 
 was infused into their counsels and action. His earnest spirit chafed 
 somewhat when, in one department and another, he found a vast 
 amount of business to be done, and yet no one to do it. But he 
 was not the man to sit down despondent. Yigor and efficiency 
 were soon predominant over former Hstlessness. One day he records 
 himself as engaged in preparing for the boarding-house of the col- 
 lege, and arranging the buildings and improvements ; drew plans 
 for out-buildings, etc. The next he was making out an approxima- 
 tion towards what must be charged for board of the students. The 
 following list of provision and other prices which he put down may 
 interest some readers as indicating a true comparison between that 
 day and this : 
 
 Pork, three dollars and a half a hundred ; beef, the same ; common 
 wheat flour, the same ; sugar, eight pounds for a dollar ; coffee, 
 five and a half ditto ; hyson tea, one dollar a pound or eighty-three 
 cents per the chest; corn, thirty-one cents a bushel; corn-meal, 
 fifty cents ditto ; boarding at common boarding-houses for me- 
 chanics at two dollars to two and a half per week ; iron castings 
 four to five cents a pound ; potatoes, twenty-five cents a bushel ; 
 cows (common) twelve dollars ; new milch, fifteen to eighteen 
 (scarce) ; butter by the firkin, twenty-five cents a pound, and scarce. 
 Property of all kinds has risen from twenty to thirty per cent, in 
 twelve months, or probably money has depreciated at that rate. 
 
 To facilitate his labors as factotum, he took up his residence in 
 the college boarding-house ; to regulate which — with forming rules 
 
268 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 for the preparatory department, and getting with much difficulty a 
 quorum of the trustees to act on matters of most pressing import- 
 ance, as well as an engagement to supply the church in Alton three 
 Sabbaths in the month, and strive to arouse them, and call back a 
 scattered congregation — occupied the chief of his time and efforts 
 during the closing weeks of the year 1835. 
 
 Early in January he was in Vandalia, the seat of government, 
 mingling from necessity with politicians and legislators. Part of 
 his object was to complete by the aid of a Mr. Messinger a larger 
 and more accurate map of Illinois with the latest and most reliable 
 accounts of counties, towns, and improvements. While there, by 
 request of the legislature, he officiated at the funeral of one of 
 their number. About this time, also, he was for several weeks very 
 busy in revising, enlarging, and almost making anew his " Guide 
 for Emigrants," a new edition of which was called for, and printed 
 in Boston. 
 
 Nearly the whole of this winter and the following spring he 
 seems to have been held in vacillating uncertainty as to his own 
 future course. His health was very infirm, and he was nearly dis- 
 couraged as to the prospect of being able to endure the rough-and- 
 tumble of such traveling preaching tours as he had hitherto fulfilled. 
 Ilie city of Alton (the lower town), was pretty rapidly advancing in 
 population and wealth, and there was a Baptist church very small, 
 but containing some efficient members, which desired him to settle 
 with them as their pastor. He seemed to think he might combine 
 with this a depository of Bibles, Sunday-school and other books, and 
 perhaps the Secretaryship of the Sunday-school operations in the 
 West. This would also bring him near the college, which greatly 
 needed the constant, nursing care of some loving and capable 
 friend. 
 
 The Pioneer was also to be removed from Rock Spring to Alton, 
 and a new project was set on foot to raise one thousand dollars in 
 twenty shares to set the paper on a more satisfactory footing, and 
 four-fifths of the shares were taken up. But on the contrary 
 Mr. Peck found unexpected difficulties in disposing of his real estate, 
 his homestead at Rock Spring, without the avails of which he 
 would be embarrassed in the attempt to establish himself else- 
 where. With very poor and infirm health, with responsibilities and 
 virtual pledges to Eastern contributors that their investment for 
 the benefit of the West should not be in vain and should be made 
 widely efficient, it may be well understood his solicitudes were 
 mcessant. 
 
SEVERE ATTACK OF SICKNESS, 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Sickness — New Series of Pioneer — Pecuniary Embarrassment — Pio- 
 neer Expenses — Excessive Labors — Alton Riots— Death of Lovejoy 
 — Revivals — Missionary Tours — Pastorship at Rock Spring. 
 
 The closing part of May, 1836, and the beginning of the following 
 month Mr. Peck experienced a severe attack of bilious fever, which 
 in a few days brought him apparently to the borders of the grave. 
 This seizure was sudden, and overtook him when away from home, 
 attending at Brown's Prairie the session of the Edwardsville Asso- 
 ciation. He lay for near three weeks at the dwelling of Elder Elisha 
 Starkweather too weak to be removed. For two or three days his 
 case remained doubtful, but the blessing of God accompanied the 
 use of vigorous means, and at length the fever left him, and very 
 slowly he began to amend. He remarks in regard to this illness 
 that in his extremity he was conscious of the critical situation he 
 was in, but was calm, and his confidence in the Saviour was un- 
 shaken, though from the nature of the disease probably he had no 
 joyful emotions. The day after his removal to Upper Alton, he 
 remarks : " I feel now exceedingly grateful to God whose arm alone 
 has sustained me. I am still exceeding weak, and gain but slowly, 
 but am free from fever." He was now in the family of his daughter, 
 Mrs. Smith, which had removed with the printing-office to Upper 
 Alton, and soon as he was able we find him going to the lower town 
 and arranging the Sunday-school depository and bookstore which 
 he there established. The pastorship of that church had in the 
 meantime been confided to the Eev. Dwight Ives, from whose effi- 
 cient labors much good was expected. The last day of June he 
 records in his diary : ''We got out the first number of the Western 
 Pioneer and Baptist Standard Bearer." This of course was but a 
 new name in part, and a new series of the paper before issued at 
 Kock Spring, but hereafter published at Upper Alton for some years, 
 and to editing which he seems to have returned .with fresh vigor. 
 In the month of August, this year, he mentions giving a thorough 
 revision and enlargement to his map of Illinois, adding the roads 
 and distances of principal places, also a Ihorough revision and con- 
 
270 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 rection of his " New Guide for Emigrants," another edition of which 
 his publishers called for. 
 
 Then during the same month lie arranged to attend a special 
 meeting of the Baptist State Convention of Illinois at Springfield, 
 after which he purposed to accomplish an extensive tour in Mis- 
 souri. During this meeting at Springfield the Illinois Baptist Edu- 
 cation Society was formed under auspicious circumstances. He 
 acted as Secretary of the convention, and remarks that all his time 
 out of the public meetings was taken up in preparing the minutes 
 for the press and reporting the speeches Avhich were delivered. 
 Two or three times during the session he preached in Springfield or 
 the vicinity. Then hurrying on through Jacksonville, where he 
 also preached, he reached, between the Illinois river and the Mis- 
 sissippi, the Blue River Association then in session. Two very 
 interesting subjects engaged their attention ; the foreign Bible 
 cause and the Education Society for the State, which had just 
 been formed. In the deeply-interesting discussions on these topics 
 he bore a leading part, and strove, out of the time of the sessions, 
 to report for his paper as fully as possible. The Lord's-day came, 
 but brought nO rest to him. He was appointed to preach the first 
 and principal sermon, which he delivered under the trees, where 
 it was very hot and he suffered much. At night the brethren com- 
 pelled him to preach again in a crowded school-room, where the 
 heat was almost intolerable. He suffered much from heat and 
 fatigue, and the result was great debility, with fever and inflamed 
 ^ore throat, through the following week. Proceeding on his way 
 he reached Quincy, and stopped at a " sorry tavern," where only 
 the most wretched accommodations could be obtained. Could get 
 no room, or fire, which in his chills he much needed, and his sleep- 
 ing-apartment was under a broken window, which added to his dis- 
 comfort and danger. He rested most uncomfortably, and next day 
 crossed the Mississippi and the Fabius (the latter in a canoe to 
 secure his trunk and box of books from wetting) ; he reached with 
 great difficulty through the muddy bottoms Palmyra, and for two 
 nights and a day rested himself in the hospitable mansion of Brother 
 Wm. Wright. September 1st he left for the residence of Father 
 Yardeman, in Ralls coimty, where he arrived at night quite ill. 
 This indisposition, which was little else than the result of over- 
 doing and expoatire while his system had not yet recovered from 
 the attack before mentioned, confined him for near a fortnight at 
 the house of this revered father in the ministry. It broke up his 
 plans, frustrated his hope of attending the Salt River Association, 
 
LECTURES ON ILLINOIS HISTORY. 2T1 
 
 and then pressing onward to the Boone's Lick Settlement in Mis- 
 souri, where he had hoped to accomplish 'considerable for the in- 
 creased circulation of the Pioneer. Yery reluctantly he abandoned 
 this part of ^jis enterprise, and the middle of September turned 
 his face homeward. On the way he mentions getting " stalled" in 
 crossing Bay creek, injured himself in lifting out his trunk, box, 
 and seat, from his wagon, and then had to go three miles to get a 
 man and oxen to haul out his wagon, and through all these diffi- 
 culties, after crossing the Mississippi and the Illinois rivers, he 
 arrived at his friend Eussell's near Beman's ferry, late at night, 
 broken down and ill. Detained in this manner about ten days. 
 Then passing through Alton, where he found many things suffering 
 from his absence, he reached his family the very last day of the 
 month at Eock Spring. After a week ©r two of lassitude his over- 
 tasked frame began to rally again, and by the middle of October 
 he was found at Bethel attending the regular anniversary of the 
 Illinois Baptist convention. Not able yet to be out evenings, he 
 was present at all the day-sessions, and found them interesting and 
 hopeful. Soon after he began to preach again with his usual fervor, 
 and at the end of the month this entry occurs in his diary : " This 
 evening I am forty-eight years old; Still I am a great sinner, felying 
 on a great Saviour. Lord, help me to live more to thy glory !" 
 
 Early in November he spent a Sabbath in Alton, preaching 
 twice for his brother Ives, who was ill, and the next Lord's-day he 
 was in St. Louis, where he preached three times, and aided his 
 colored brother Meacham in administering the communion. 
 
 Towards the end of January, 1837, he composed two lectures on 
 the early history of Illinois, with a view to deliver them at Van- 
 dalia, the seat of government, during the session of the Legislature. 
 February 2d he delivered the first of these lectures, embracing the 
 early exploration of Illinois by the French, from 1673 to 1687, to 
 a large audience, consisting of members of the legislature, officers 
 of government, and other gentlemen interested, assembled in the 
 state-house. 
 
 Two evenings afterward he delivered the second lecture, on the 
 early Indian history of Illinois. "At the close, a public meeting 
 was organized, and resolutions passed, one of which requested me 
 to write and publish a Compile History of Illinois." A com- 
 mittee of correspondence M'as also appointed to aid him in collect- 
 ing materials. He seems to have seriously entertained this 
 overture for some time, and made considerable preparation for ita 
 
2Y2 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 performance ; but his materials were subsequently used in the 
 Western Annals and in other publications. 
 
 Three or four weeks were now spent by him in the capital. In 
 some of the debates and other proceedings in regard to the in- 
 ternal improvements in the State, and the fixing its future seat of 
 government, he took some interest, and was present when the 
 measures adopted finally passed. His minute and thorough knowl- 
 edge of the different localities was also increased by his intercourse 
 with the members of the legislature ; and he seems to have given 
 considerable time to going over carefully the whole ground, for the 
 purpose of introducing into his State Gazetteer the most recent 
 and reliable information of every locality. While engaged in this, 
 another project was started. The friends of internal improvement 
 were desirous that a small, cheap monthly periodical should be 
 circulated to advocate their measures, and meet the opposition 
 raised against them. He was offered the editorship of this periodi- 
 cal, and seems to have thought it possible so to connect it with the 
 conducting of the Pioneer at Alton that it might prove a useful 
 auxiliary. He sa^^s that should one thousand subscribers be ob- 
 tained he had consented to undertake it, for without some such 
 appendage he could not sustain the Pioneer. The last day of 
 February he says, "This day, by vote of both houses of the legis- 
 lature, the seat of government is to be removed to Springfield 
 after the year 1840." 
 
 Late in the spring he took a preaching tour through portions of 
 Missouri. Called on a Baptist preacher by the name of Stevens, a 
 determined anti-missionary. Was treated kindly by him, but he 
 said very decidedly that he would have done the same for old friends 
 if we had been gamblers. Such are his notions of all missionaries, 
 and he preaches this boldly. He is a man of talents, and a good 
 speaker. 
 
 This year (ISS'T) will be long remembered for the financial 
 troubles which brought so much distress on almost all portions 
 of our country. In various ways it affected our brother very 
 sensibly. In July he mentions having been obliged to labor 
 for several days, as far as his strength would permit, in getting 
 in his rye and hay harvest, because his means had become so 
 exceedingly limited that he could not hire. 'The expenses of 
 the Pioneer were a continued drain upon his scanty purse, as 
 he was unable to collect from subscribers more than one-half 
 
SPECIAL AGENCY FOR HOME MISSION SOCIETY. 2Y3 
 
 its actual expenses. Yarious plans were set on foot to relieve 
 him from this pressure ; and on the failure of some of these, 
 from the lukewarmness of a portion of his associates, he be- 
 came for a time quite discouraged, and wrote a valedictory, 
 which was even put in type, with a view of suspending the 
 publication indefinitely. But at just this crisis other plans 
 were proposed, which inspired some degree of hope, and he 
 staggered on under the unreasonable load imposed on him. 
 
 Just about this time, also, the American and Foreign Bible 
 Society corresponded with him, proposing to give him the general 
 agency for that institution throughout the northwestern States. 
 He entertained the proposition with a degree of favor, and wrote 
 to the Corresponding Secretary very fully as to his plans and hopes 
 for promoting the object, specially the foreign objects of this or- 
 ganization. Conditionally he proposed to accept of this agency, 
 but before the time arrived when he had expected to enter on these 
 duties, other more pressing demands were urged upon him. One 
 of these was from the Baptist Home Mission Society, which he 
 and Dr. Going had united in maturing. The pecuniary pressure 
 of the whole country affected their treasury most seriously, so 
 much so as to render it doubtful whether it would be possible for 
 them to pay the small stipends they had promised to the poor, 
 toiling missionaries all over the West. Many of these men had 
 been appointed on his recommendation ; he knew them well, both 
 their worth and their present pressing needs, and he affirmed most 
 truthfully that if the society's sacred engagements were now 
 broken with them, not only would their families be in danger of 
 actual starvation, but the bad faith — as it would be reckoned — of 
 the society itself would bind a millstone around the neck of evan- 
 gelizing operations in all this region for many years to come. Under 
 these painfully disheartening circumstances he felt himself obliged 
 to proffer such aid as he could supply in acting as soliciting agent 
 for home missions until present relief could be procured. Under 
 a special commission for this purpose he hastened among the more 
 able churches of both Missouri and Illinois, and his importunate 
 pleadings for help — help in a pressing exigency — were so far re- 
 sponded to that the immediate distress was relieved. 
 
 The true character of this man of God shines out very 
 clearly in his efforts in this emergency. He had other plans 
 
274 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 connected with education, periodicals and books, for the pro- 
 motion of which he now felt the liveliest interest. He had 
 an amount of pecuniary pressure now resting on him enough to 
 have turned many a Great-heart into a Mr. Fearing. Besides, 
 some at least of these missionaries now in debt, and in dan- 
 ger of suffering, had been ungrateful for his past efforts in 
 their behalf, seemingly more ready to bite than to bless the 
 hand which fed them. But rising above all this untoward 
 combination, how nobly did he put forth the most energetic 
 and persistent efforts to aid those whose past and present 
 course but too fujly proved that the more abundantly he loved 
 them the less was he loved in return. But this ill-requital 
 was not true of all. The better and worthier class were be- 
 coming more and more thoroughly convinced that his career 
 was one of noble disinterestedness ; and his plans generally wise 
 and far-seeing. Hence the willingness of this class to come up 
 to his aid whenever he in earnest uttered the true hailing cry 
 of distress. Successful as he was in this endeavor, it was 
 only secured as the result of personal efforts and sacrifices 
 assumed by him which were quite disproportioned to any one 
 man's ability long to bear. The hurried entries in his journal 
 about these days show strikingly how he was driven. Here 
 is a specimen : 
 
 " September 22(i. Reached home [after traveling a great part of 
 the night] before breakfast. My health is failing from undue 
 labors and exposures. Spent the day in writing letters, of which 
 I despatched seventeen, several of them whole sheets full." Next 
 day he traveled nearly forty miles, so as to reach the South District 
 Association in time that very day to secure a collection for mis- 
 sions and to get this body to send a committee to visit the 
 Edwardsville Association next spring for a very important object, 
 and to induce them to recommend the Pioneer to general patron- 
 age. Thus indefatigably he pressed onward in promotion of the 
 Master's cause. How well that Divine Master knew how to mingle 
 sweetness in his cup of hard experience ! The very next week or 
 two after the above efforts, he returns home and finds a blessed 
 revival in progress among his neighbors. Yea, more, two of his 
 sons were among the subjects of the work wMch seemed to be 
 spreading all around him, specially in those places where his own 
 
ALTON RIOTS AND MURDER OF LOVEJOY. 275 
 
 preaching and praying had been most frequent. For months 
 about this period, it pleased the Lord to give him great enjoyment 
 and also great success in pleading with sinners to be reconciled to 
 God. So emphatically true and surprising was this that he enters 
 a minute of it with adoring thankfulness. '' Scarce a sermon have 
 I delivered of late which (lod has not blessed in the conversion of 
 souls." 
 
 In the midst of these pleasant experiences he was called to 
 witness other scenes of most tragic and painful character. 
 
 There is preserved in his journal, taken down obviously at 
 the very time, a pretty full account of the Alton riots, and 
 the murder of Bishop by the abolitionists, and of Lovejoy by 
 their opponents. He was induced afterwards to give a very 
 full, and, it may be presumed, a very impartial account of these 
 transactions, which transpired in the very scene of his daily 
 labors, and in the various stages of the progress of which his 
 neighbors and friends were actors and sufferers. Engaged as 
 he was in conducting the Pioneer at Upper Alton, but two 
 or three miles from the seat of the riots, and having daily to 
 mingle with the principal citizens who had endeavored to 
 quench the coals of strife, while some few, and those mainly 
 from a distance, seemed determined to fan them into a flame, 
 it may be presumed he would watch very narrowly, and re- 
 cord cautiously and truthfully, what came under his notice. 
 Accordingly his description of the occurrences of two prelimi- 
 nary meetings of the Law and Order citizens of Alton, the ap- 
 pointment of a committee of seven, their names, characters, and 
 propositions, with the tumultuous and excited meeting which 
 failed to adopt their recommendations, is all presented in this 
 private diary with every evidence of candor and impartiality. 
 Mr. Peck evidently thought at the time that there was no neces- 
 sity for the bloody result ; and while blaming with discrimina- 
 tion the faultiness and violent pertinacity on both sides, it is 
 obvious that he foresaw, as others did with equal clearness, that 
 the proposed compromise, not of principles, but of persons, 
 would be sure to gain more, and imperil less for the triumph 
 of truth, of righteousness, of freedom, than the rejection of 
 it. What he regarded as the wrong, the unwise course, how- 
 
276 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 ever, prevailed, and the fearful loss of life, and of the very 
 object for which all this contest was carried on, was the re- 
 sult. 
 
 Subsequently to these public meetings, at both of which he 
 was present, he was called away to attend a protracted 
 meeting, and engage in the labors of a revival, where God 
 was wondrously pouring out his spirit. At this place — 
 Edwardsville — he was thus engaged when the fearful catas- 
 trophe occurred. This is his account of the occurrence : 
 
 It appears from the various reports that a new press for the 
 Observer ofiice was landed at Alton on Monday night. On Tues- 
 day night Mr. Lovejoy and some fifteen or twenty associates, with 
 fire-arms, entered the warehouse of Godfry & Oilman, where the 
 press was stored, to defend it. That about ten or eleven o'clock 
 the building was attacked by 'a mob of some twenty or thirty 
 persons, who demanded the press for destruction. This being re- 
 fused, they assailed the house with stones. That Mr. Lovejoy 
 (or some other, for the accounts differ) then fired, mortally wound- 
 ing Mr. Bishop, who was standing alone, neither attempting nor 
 threatening violence. Bishop was carried to the surgeon's oflBce, 
 where he died in two or three hours. The mob then returned 
 more exasperated. The Mayor and civil authorities tried to com- 
 mand the peace, but the cry was " Burn the house ! burn them 
 out!" The building was then twice set on fire in the roof ; and 
 after much fighting, violence, and disorder, the persons in the house 
 — Mr. W. S. Oilman at the head — proposed to give up the press if 
 they might be allowed to depart in peace. Sometime previous 
 to this, however, Mr. Lovejoy, who is represented as having fought 
 like a hero, stepped out of the house so as to be fully exposed, and 
 while raising his gun to shoot a man on the roof setting fire to it, 
 received the shots of two guns in his breast. He walked into the 
 house, ascended the stairs, fell and expired. Horrible scene truly I 
 A deep and lasting disgrace to the city of Alton ! 
 
 In the meantime the revival in which our brother was en- 
 gaged went on with power, and about a score of precious 
 souls put on Christ in the initiatory ordinance of his appoint- 
 ment in Edwardsville, while the good work spread extensively 
 to other places in difi'erent directions. 
 
 Twice as many soon followed the Saviour at Bethel, still 
 
MISSIONARY SUPERINTENDENCE — PASTORSHIP. 27.7 
 
 nearer his residence. Then followed the regular meeting of 
 the State convention, which appointed him their general 
 agent ; and by an agreement with the American Baptist 
 Home Mission Society the supervision of their missionaries 
 in this field was confided to the Board of the convention, of 
 which by this appointment he became the efficient executive. 
 
 In prosecution of these duties he traveled extensively 
 through the central and western portions of Illinois, visiting 
 the missionaries on their fields of labor, advising with, encour- 
 aging them, and in some instances gathering information in 
 regard to them and the degree of their acceptableness, which 
 he bore to the Board, thus enabling the latter to make the 
 wisest disposition of 'those under their direction. 
 
 Early the next year he was with unanimity elected to the 
 pastorship of the Baptist church, worshiping at Rock Spring 
 and Zoar. He accepted with the understanding that he 
 should devote to them immediately one-fourth of his time, and 
 soon as he could terminate other engagements the half was 
 to be given them. In this service, and specially in religious 
 visiting among the families of this flock, he seems to have 
 felt unusual satisfaction. To himself this was most welcome 
 after so long having been deprived chiefly of such access ; 
 and as a means of increased usefulness to the souls over 
 whom he watched, he had the most satisfactory proof of its 
 efficiency. 
 
 As a specimen of his Christian and ministerial fidelity, a 
 letter, to an inebriate, backslidden brother, of the most 
 pungent character, in his journal, is well worthy of being 
 reproduced here, but space cannot be found for it. 
 
 He subsequently wrote : " This and other letters had the 
 desired effect, and completely reclaimed him." How blessed 
 the consciousness of having been thus made the honored 
 instrument of reclaiming the sinner from the error of his 
 ways, and saving a soul from death 1 This man, too, was 
 one of high standhig and wide influence, thereby enabled to 
 do extensive good. 
 24 
 
278 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 Transfer of the Pioneer — Mission Tours — Extent of Correspondence 
 —Return of Illness — Fifty Years Old — Pastorsliip at Belleville. 
 
 Near the close of the year 1838 sundry communications 
 were received by Mr. Peck from the publisher and editor of 
 the Baptist Banner, Louisville, Ky., proposing a union of the 
 two papers. So great had been his embarrassment in sus- 
 taining almost alone, with only casual and trifling contribu- 
 tions from a few public-spirited brethren, this whole enterprise 
 that he felt constrained to regard such an overture favorably. 
 
 Earlier in the year, about the last of May and June, he had taken 
 an extensive tour throughout the whole of Northeastern Missouri 
 from St. Louis and Columbia, in which latter place he had attended 
 the "central meeting" of Missouri Baptists, where some twenty 
 ministers and many private brethren convened, counseled, and in- 
 fused new vigor into their plans for domestic missions ; thence 
 onward to the northern corner, and even into Iowa across the 
 Des Moines river. He was performing in all this journey the work 
 of an exploring missionary agent, and made full report of the 
 result of his investigation to the Secretary of the American Baptist 
 Home Mission Society in New York. He found much to be done 
 in counseling with missionaries and churches on this field, and tried 
 to settle diiiiculties, remove misconceptions and prejudices, and 
 arrest the tendency to schism which he found prevalent in several 
 localities. 
 
 For this purpose he had some important advantages. A 
 native of New England himself, and fully acquainted with 
 the views and practices prevalent among his Eastern brethren, 
 he had also the experience of many years residence in the 
 free West, had mingled much with the in-comers from every 
 section of our own country and from other lands, had learned 
 that all possible excellencies were not found among any one 
 
PROMOTING SABBATH OBSERVANCE. 2Y9 
 
 class, but that the free mingling and blending of all, and the 
 eclectic spirit which culls the good from every quarter was the 
 true wisdom and the solemn duty of these new settlers. How 
 earnestly and perseveringly he labored to diffuse this spirit, 
 wherever most needed, his journals bear frequent witness. In 
 preaching and prayer, and specially in all his private inter- 
 course with the " one-sided" brethren whom he met, his en- 
 deavor was to soften their hearts, and to lessen, if he could 
 not entirely remove, their mutual prejudices and antipathies. 
 In these efforts he was measurably successful, and great good 
 was the result. 
 
 On his return home a notice occurs, under date of July 22d, 
 of his preaching with great earnestness in behalf of the better 
 observance of the Sabbath. As is too common in the new 
 settlements, and where but a portion of the Lord's-days have 
 religious services, the young persons get into lax and lawless 
 habits of desecrating the holy day. To his great grief he 
 learned that some of his own children along with many of 
 their neighbors had done this, and his spirit was deeply 
 stirred within him to attempt a thorough reformation. His 
 earnest and solemn remonstrance on this subject, with a lucid 
 illustration of the great Sabbath law, as made for man uni- 
 versal, seems to have done much good ; and in various circles, 
 at associations and elsewhere, he discoursed on this important 
 practical measure with happy effect. 
 
 Late in this month he set forth again for another similar tour 
 of nearly six weeks in Central and Western Illinois, and extending 
 into Iowa. He mentions, as one encouraging feature of what he 
 found, that " Baptist churches in every direction were building 
 meeting-houses." Some of these were indeed very humble and of 
 primitive simplicity ; others were more pretentious and commodious 
 as well as tasteful ; while in both classes there was a common dis- 
 position to begin and not finish, and hence many inceptive and 
 hitherto abortive efforts of this character stood forth only in their 
 incomplete and repellant condition to mock the inefficiency of their 
 projectors. His efforts had to be often turned to awakening and 
 directing public spirit and endeavors to the finishing of such enter- 
 prises, or at least to bringing them to such a condition that they could 
 
280 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 be used and preserved from ruinous waste or dilapidation. The 
 territory of Iowa was just now attracting considerable interest, 
 and was drawing into it a worthy class of emigrants from different 
 quarters. His efforts and counsels here in the several counties 
 which he visited, chiefly in the southeastern section of the ter- 
 ritory, were timely and useful in an uncommon degree. He man- 
 aged, too, to attend as many associations and protracted meetings 
 as possible throughout his whole tour. The Military Tract of 11- 
 hnois, as that inviting portion of the State between the Illinois 
 and Mississippi rivers is called, often drew him within its borders, 
 and the blessed fruits of his footprints, his early labors and counsels, 
 yet remain indelible there. 
 
 Immediately on his return home from this tour he was again 
 seized with congestive bilious fever, which brought him to the 
 brink of the grave. After Hngering a while in apparent equipoise 
 between life and death he at length slowly recovered, but was for 
 eight weeks unable to preach. During this confinement the State 
 convention of Baptists in Illinois held its anniversary, and knowing 
 with what difficulty he had for months struggled to maintain his 
 paper, the Pioneer, they proposed to raise a fund adequate to 
 purchase it, and help him hereafter to conduct it more efficiently 
 as their editor. The convention committee, charged with the exe- 
 cution of the enterprise, entered upon the attempt with consider- 
 able zeal, and raised in pledges about the half of what was requisite. 
 So sanguine were they of being able to complete the whole sum 
 that it for a while arrested the progress of the negotiation men- 
 tioned in the beginning of this chapter for uniting this paper with 
 the one in Louisville. 
 
 Mr. Peck did not share in these cheering expectations of success. 
 He had seen more efforts of the same kind, after beginning hope- 
 fully, end in disappointment, than the younger brethren who were 
 making this attempt. However, he waited patiently till the end of 
 the year, giving all the time asked to test the practicability of the 
 endeavor. He used this intervening period also most wisely in 
 writing to the more influential brethren in Illinois and Missouri, 
 especially those who had done most in aiding the circulation of the 
 paper, telling them frankly tliat in the years of his conducting it, 
 besides all his own time, labor, and risk, he had actually sunk between 
 three and four thousand dollars in cash in the endeavor to carry it 
 on, and that he could do no more, asking them, at the same time, 
 whether under these circumstances they would not advise the trans- 
 fer of its subscription-list to the Kentucky Banner. Almost unaui- 
 
TRANSFER OF PIONEER — HARRIS' UNION. 281 
 
 mously they responded in the affirmative, so that with cordial assent 
 and approval this transfer was made in January, 1839. The under- 
 standing was that he should continue to collect the outstanding 
 dues of the concern until he had paid himself for his current ad- 
 vances, and then all the future pecuniary interest was to become 
 vested in the publisher of the Banner, who obligated himself to 
 pay Mr. Peck a small amoimt for each subscriber who might con- 
 tinue to take the paper after this union. The name of the Pioneer 
 was also to be combined with the Banner so as to make the union 
 as perfect as possible. He was desired to continue his own services 
 as assistant-editor, but wisely declined at such a distance as his 
 residence from the place of publication being more than a con- 
 tributor, though afterward by the earnest entreaty of Illinois breth- 
 ren he did for a time assent to the former arrangement. His son- 
 in-law, Mr. Smith, who had been the printer, and greatly aided in 
 selecting articles for the Pioneer, was thus thrown out of employ, 
 and the poor, meager printing-office was left on Mr. Peck's hands 
 as well as the house and office in Upper Alton, where it had been 
 published. Soon as practicable these were disposed of, and thus a 
 great burden was cleared from his shoulders. 
 
 This gave him more time for pastoral and missionary work. 
 It also allowed him more opportunity to read and enrich his 
 mind, by a survey of the best thoughts of the most nobly 
 endowed and cultivated intellects, which he was always ready 
 to do, but often lacked the time for it. The brief and sum- 
 mary notes and critiques which appear in his journal, in 
 regard to books thus read by him, are often interesting. Here 
 is a specimen. He had much admired many of the writings 
 of John Harris, H.D., his Great Commission, Mammon, and 
 some others, and he now fell upon his volume on Christian 
 Union. After reading which, he thus discriminately analyzes : 
 
 Many good thoughts and suggestions are here, but also some 
 sophistry. Union among all Christians is certainly desirable, but 
 it never can be gained by compromise with any part of scriptural 
 obedience or duty. Harris lays down the following as the "Idnd" 
 of union to be sought : " Union, to he 'permanent, must he hased on 
 the sole authority of the word of God, and the inalienable right of 
 private judgment J^ And yet there runs through this treatise the 
 assumption that Christians must surrender minor matters. After- 
 
282 ' MEiMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 wards he urges, "A rejection of all terms of communion, ■uhich are 
 not terms of salvation." Now, as in exercising the " inalienable right 
 of private judgment," I verily believe this to be an unscriptural 
 doctrine, therefore, on this very point, Dr. Harris and J. M. Peck 
 are as wide apart as before. 
 
 Here is another specimen, in quite another range of literature. 
 " Read Faulkland by Bufwer. Its tendencies are certainly licen- 
 tious. The impression made by reading the book would be that 
 the passion of unlawful love is uncontrollable, and that^all attempts 
 at self-government are useless. Walter Scott's novels have a con- 
 trary tendency. They leave the impression of blame adhering to 
 criminal acts and desires, as well .as their destructive tendencies." 
 
 Early in the year 1839 he wrote a third lecture on the early 
 history of Illinois, embracing the conquest of that territory by 
 General G. R. Clark, which he also delivered at Yandalia by re- 
 quest of members of the legislature and others, with ^uch 
 acceptance. 
 
 How intensely busy he must have been during all this 
 period is obvious, for I find the record of two hundred and 
 twenty-five letters written by him in the first two months of 
 this year, besides transacting an unusual amount of business 
 connected with the transfer of his paper, the removal and 
 settlement of his son-in-law in a new location, and preaching 
 almost every Sabbath, as well as numerous journeys, which 
 even at that inclement season of hard traveling he was 
 obliged to undertake. Copies of some of these letters are 
 preserved, and they are by no means brief, but extend to a 
 dozen foolscap pages, written out and copied by no machine 
 process, but by the slow and careful labor of forming one 
 letter at a time by the pen. The matter of some of these 
 epistles is as elaborate and carefully constructed as any thing 
 which he ever wrote. Take for an example his defence of 
 the right and the wisdom of a Baptist presbytery to proceed 
 to the fellowship of a minister coming over to us from another 
 evangelical denomination without anew laying on hands 
 upon him, as an entire re-ordination. The ground he assumes 
 is, that Baptist independency of churches demands this free- 
 dom in judgment on the part of each church, and each 
 ordaining council assembled by their desire, and hence, while 
 
 I 
 
THE QUESTION OF RE-ORDINATION. 283 
 
 the practice in such cases is various, neither the one course 
 nor the other is to be condemned — for which judgment he 
 certainly furnishes very cogent reasons, in answer to a 
 ministering brother who had somewhat violently assailed 
 him, both as a pastor and an editor, for taking the part 
 which his conscience, in a particular case, approved. 
 
 It is doubtful whether an abler argument is extant than 
 this long letter contains on that side of the question. It 
 would seem that he had made himself familiar with all the 
 views and practices on this subject of Baptists, early and 
 modern, in this country and Sbroad, as well as the reasons 
 they assigned for them. One cannot but marvel at the extent 
 and accuracy of his research. At the same time he evinces 
 no pertinacity for the prevalence of his views in regard to 
 this practice of re-ordination ; but says candidly, on the very 
 threshold, that he regards it as one of those difficult and 
 delicate questions about which sound and orthodox Baptists 
 differ, and that a controversy on it would do no good, and 
 might do harm. Hence he forebore to publish these views, and 
 contented himself with presenting them to the brother referred 
 to, in a private letter. This was his more common practice 
 in all similar cases, and in after years he was wont to speak 
 of this course as in his judgment much happier than to 
 publish abroad more freely, in doubtful cases. 
 
 When his year of pastorship at Rock Spring terminated, he was 
 unanimously re-elected, and consented to serve the church as 
 before, viz. : to visit each family (they were not very numerous) 
 once a quarter, and to preach three or four sermons to them every 
 month, ordinarily occupying, however, but one Sabbath of the 
 month, as his other Sabbaths were claimed elsewhere, in- St. Louis 
 frequently, and in other important parts of his great field. 
 
 In the latter part of April, 1839, he was urged by brethren in 
 Kentucky to visit them, as an important meeting was to be held in 
 Lexington for the organization of a State auxiliary to the American 
 and Foreign Bible Society, and it was desired that the same occa- 
 sion should be improved, when the brethren were generally 
 together, to consider other questions of common and important 
 interest to the welfare of the denomination, not only in Kentucky, but 
 
284 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 also in other Western States. Thursday, April 25th, he left St. Louis 
 for this purpose in a splendid steamer — the Western, Captain 
 Price — making twelve miles an hour. How unlike the facilities 
 of locomotion twenty-two years before, when he first traversed 
 those waters ! He reached Louisville Sunday noon, and was 
 cordially welcomed by his yoke-fellows Elliott and Waller, the 
 pubHsher and editor of the Banner and Pioneer, and by other 
 brethren. After remaining three or four days there he took the 
 stage for Lexington, and was an active participant in the councils 
 and proceedings of the convention, which was in session a number 
 of days. He preached the opening sermon, and preached again on 
 the Sabbath. • 
 
 In regard to Bible operations, he records : " Find a concurrence 
 among the brethren on leading principles. None are friendly to a 
 new version of the English Scriptures. All agree that the first 
 and paramount object should be, the foreign field, and that very 
 little ought to be expended for home work, stereotype plates, etc. 
 During this meeting. Rev. Dr. Noel, pastor of the Lexington 
 Baptist church, a great and good man, died, and his funeral 
 sermon was preached by Elder Buck, pastor of the first Baptist 
 church in Louisville." 
 
 Before the close of the meeting other subjects were discussed,' 
 such as the union of the Banner and Pioneer, which was much ap- 
 proved, ministerial education, but more especially the desirable- 
 ness of a Western organization for home missions. Mr. Peck 
 spoke at large on this subject, and thought it could be effected so as to 
 move in entire harmony with the American Baptist Home Mission 
 Society by a sort of partnership ; and that it would give much < 
 energy and system to the cause in the Western and specially the 
 Southwestern States, where much more extensive eflbrts are 
 needed. 
 
 While in Lexington, he was waited on by a committee to 
 inquire if he would consent to receive an invitation to a 
 pastorship in that city. He records his conviction of the im- 
 portance and desirableness of the position, among wealthy, 
 spirited, and liberal brethren. No doubt he felt some influence 
 from these attractions ; but he remembered the destitution and 
 greater need of his services in the field he had left behind 
 him, and like a scripture worthy who was tempted by the 
 
ASSOCIATION — REVIVAL — BAPTIZING HIS SON. 285 
 
 proffer of elevation, he responded, " I dwell among my own 
 people." 
 
 He advocated the cause of temperance and of colonization while 
 there, and subsequently returned by the way of Georgetown, where 
 he preached, and then, in Louisville and the adjacent towns in 
 Indiana, he spent a Sabbath or two more, pleading the cause of 
 Christ and of souls, and aiding in the incipient measiu-es for the 
 formation of a new Baptist church. During all this period he was 
 much in consultation and co-operation with J. L. Waller, the 
 editor of the paper, in which, as the successor of his own " pet" 
 which had engrossed for years so much of his time, care, and 
 money, he felt a paternal interest. He reached home the 18th 
 of May, in imperfect health, having suffered considerable during 
 his whole journey from congestion of the liver, which was in 
 danger of becoming chronic. Near the end of May the Edwards- 
 ville Association held its annual session with the church at Eock 
 Spring, his residence. The business occupied but little of the time, 
 So that ample opportunity was gained for preaching, which was 
 continued day and night with happy effect. A considerable 
 revival was the direct result, in which two of his children and the 
 hired girl were deeply impressed, and one or more of the number 
 cherished hope of having passed from death to life. This was joy 
 indeed to a loving and devoted father. He baptized on two occa- 
 sions twenty-two in all, one of whom was his son William. 
 
 On the 4th of July he delivered in Belleville an oration on the 
 •principles and tendencies of democracy, meeting entirely the ap- 
 probation of both political parties. He endeavored to show that 
 gospel morality lies at the foundation of true democratic principles. 
 A committee from each party requested its publication, with which 
 he complied. One week later he set off with his old fellow-laborer, 
 Rev. J. E. Welch, on a preaching tour in Missouri, which occupied 
 a fortnight, and the following month, August, he rode one hundred 
 and thirty-seven miles to attend the Clear Creek Association in 
 Missouri. Was hospitably entertained during its session by an 
 intelligent and liberal-minded man,^Mr. A., who kept a small distil- 
 . lery to make whisky for his own use. He acknowledged that he loved 
 it, and sometimes got drunk. His guest, availing himself of the 
 man's frankness, gave him repeated and earnest admonitions during 
 his sojourn ; the result was that he soon became an active, praying 
 Christian, and of course put away his strange gods. Yea, much 
 more than this was effected : the holy flame of converting grace 
 
286 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 becoming thus kindled, spread in different directions. In a foot- 
 note, subsequently added to this part of his journal, it is stated 
 that ''This revival spread through the country, and many pro- 
 fessed Christ and were baptized. The churches took quite a dif- 
 ferent course in regard to practical religion from this time, said to 
 be caused principally by my very plain preaching. I preached 
 under a pecuHar impulse, as for my Hfe, to both saint and sinner, 
 and God blessed the word— his own word— abundantly. To him 
 be all the praise I" 
 
 On the 5th of September himself and wife started for a long tour 
 through Central- and Northern Illinois and a corner of Northern In- 
 diana into Michigan, partly for missionary labor and supervision and 
 to visit his wife's relatives. First reached and attended the North 
 District Association, held with the Salem church, Hamilton settle- 
 ment, at a camp-ground, where during the night they were thor- 
 oughly drenched with rain. By special appointment, and at the 
 Instance of a number of the Methodist neighbors, Mr. Peck preached 
 a long discourse on baptism. These Methodists said that they had 
 heard repeated representations from their own ministers as to what 
 the Baptists beheved and practiced, and they now desired to have 
 th€ statement from themselves. This resulted in the sermon of 
 two and a half hours above mentioned, which he preached from 
 Acts ii. 37 to the end of the chapter. Six or eight of the Method- 
 ist members left their society and were baptized before the end of 
 the meeting. The whole journey above indicated was accompUshed 
 not without the usual accompaniment of such tours, sundry break- 
 downs, the loss of the right way in the woods and on the prairies, 
 and specially many thorough wettings in the rains which were 
 more than usually abundant for this season of the year. As often 
 as possible he called on missionary and other ministering brethren, 
 aided them in labors, counsels, and sympathy, and learned all he 
 could of the existing and prospective religious condition of that 
 extensive country. On this tour he made his first visit to Chicago, 
 reaching that incipient city the end of September, and spending 
 a Sabbath and several days with Brethren Hinton, the pastor, 
 Dr. Boon, and others, and preaching several times. 
 
 At Elgin, on Fox river, he attended another association 
 (name not given) where by appointment he preached, giving 
 a historical sketch of the origin, rise, and progress of the Bap- 
 tists in Illinois. Then hurrying on his way by Ottawa towards 
 
FAILING HEALTH OF MR. PECK. 28*1 
 
 Bloomington, where the Illinois Baptist State convention was 
 about to meet, he was arrested by sickness, and confined for 
 ten days, so that he failed entirely of reaching the convention, 
 though having all the records and papers, so essential for 
 their use, in his trunk. Then, soon as he was able to ride 
 a little, he slowly moved on his weary way towards home 
 through Newark, Ottawa, Yermillionville, Washington, Tre- 
 mont, Delavan, to Springfield, where he stopped for a short 
 time, and reached home near the end of October. The fol- 
 lowing two days' entries in his journals are copied entire, as 
 indicating the convictions he had reached in regard to himself, 
 and the feelings with which life's survey was accompanied. 
 
 October 29th. Eeached home and found all well. Quite fatigued. 
 Learned the afflicting news that Charles Darrow (a valued neighbor) 
 died yesterday, and was buried to-day. This is a heavy loss to our 
 church and the neighborhood. After much serious reflection I 
 have come to the conclusion that I must give up traveling and all 
 missionary agency. I have now made trials for four seasons, and 
 cannot sustain the fatigue, labor, and exposure. My liver is per- 
 manently affected, my constitution seriously impaired, and I must 
 retire to a more quiet and sedentary life. There is field enough for 
 me to occupy around me, and Divine Providence will in some way 
 provide for me. 
 
 October 31st. This day I am fifty years old— turned half a cen- 
 tury. When I look back, how short and frail a thing is life ! Not 
 only my years are gone, but my physical powers have failed greatly 
 within a few years past. I am now anvold man, and ought to regard 
 myself as such, and be looking every day for my great change, O 
 Lord, help me to consecrate myself to thy work and cause. Help 
 me to live the rest of my feeble life to thy glory. 
 
 Near the end of the following month a pleasant incident 
 occurred, which illustrates very strikingly his Christian char- 
 acter, and its results. A neighbor who had been an anti- 
 mission Baptist minister, and both in that relation and as a 
 politician had done Mr. Peck all the injury in his power, but 
 towards whom our brother seems to have exercised the true 
 Christian return of rendering good for evil to an uncommon 
 extent, now summoned him to officiate at the marriage of his 
 
288 MEMOIR OF JOHN M, PECK. 
 
 youngest daughter, and at the end of the ceremony handed 
 him the unusual fee of fifty dollars, saying in the hearing of 
 all the guests that it was because of his special respect for 
 him. How blessed the privilege of thus overcoming evil with 
 good I 
 
 In furtherance of his plans to change somewhat the course of 
 his hitherto very active life, he endeavored to put off some of his 
 official cares and get others into liarness for hearing a portion of 
 his public burdens. After exerting himself to the utmost to wind 
 up his relations as general agent of the State convention and of the 
 Home Mission Society, he made a somewhat detailed report of his 
 last year's labors in these appointments, of which the summary 
 shows that he had written two hundred and ninety-four letters on 
 missionary affairs, visited and labored continuously in seventeen 
 different churches, attended four associations, preached (on his 
 mission field) sixty-four sermons, delivered thirty-eight lectures and 
 addresses, baptized twenty-one converts, and traveled three thousand 
 five hundred and twenty-eight miles, of which one thousand one 
 hundred and eighteen were by steamboat and stage, and two thousand 
 four hundred and ten by his horse. 
 
 Looking forward to some other disposal of his time, he yielded 
 to the solicitations of his neighbors in Belleville, and accepted the 
 pastorship of that church in addition to the one at his residence, 
 Rock Spring and Zoar. In this way he expected to have more 
 than half his time disposed of in his own immediate neighborhood. 
 
 The Belleville interest had sunk very low, though embracing 
 valuable materials, and he set himself immediately to work for 
 resuscitating it. For this purpose, in part, he announced a series 
 of lectures on sacred history, thus striving to call out and interest 
 the young men. The introductory of this course he delivered on 
 Saturday evening, January 18th, 1840, "to as crowded an assembly 
 as could get into the house, and many went away disappointed. 
 It seemed to produce an excellent effect." In this and other feasible 
 ways he was trying his utmost to prepare the way of the Lord, and 
 gain the ear that he might win the heart of a worldly-minded com- 
 munity. He immediately set about the systematic religious visiting 
 of the families of his flock, and with these labors for Belleville, and 
 somewhat similar efforts in the church at his residence, which had 
 fallen into some disorder and coldness in his long and frequent 
 absences, the early weeks of the year 1840 were fully occupied. 
 
ILLINOIS CONVENTION. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Various Labors and Trials — Transfer to Louisville, Ky. 
 
 It may be recollected that the illness of Mr. Peck pre- 
 vented his reaching the place of meeting for the Illinois con- 
 vention of Baptists in the autumn of 1839. Those who assem- 
 bled on that occasion, without the aid and the records of the 
 Secretary, proceeded to make some rather radical changes in 
 the constitution of the convention and in the general opera- 
 tions of an evangelizing character which it was seeking to 
 carry forward. Proceeding, too, without the requisite caution 
 and wisdom, what they attempted to accomplish was, in some 
 cases at least, irregular and abnormal. When the minutes 
 of their proceedings came into the hands- of the Secretary for 
 the usual revision and publication, he at once perceived these 
 unconstitutional proceedings, and so far as practicable cor- 
 rected what he was sure was wrong in the hasty proceedings 
 of the body. This gave offence in certain quarters, and at the 
 meeting of the Board in the early spring, which also the 
 Secretary failed to reach by reason of ill-health and bad 
 traveling, a vote of censure was passed upon his action, and 
 a communication forwarded to the Banner and Pioneer for 
 insertion, reflecting rather harshly on his proceedings. No 
 wonder that he, as principal founder of the convention, and 
 the man who had been throughout the right-hand of its ope- 
 rations, felt aggrieved by these proceedings, and earnestly 
 remonstrated against them. This led to some unpleasant 
 correspondence between the parties, in which, however, he 
 appears to have preserved a happy degree of equanimity, and 
 the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Eventually, the pro- 
 ceedings which he complained of were all rescinded, and their 
 record ordered to be struck from the minutes by a nearly or 
 25 
 
290 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 quite unanimous vote. In reviewing these proceedings at 
 this distance of time from their transaction, it may not be 
 easy to say who was most in fault. But this incident shows 
 most clearly how possible it is for very good brethren, aiming 
 at the good of the same cause, to see things differently and 
 how much allowance is due for human infirmity and mutual 
 misconception. 
 
 In the latter part of May, 1840, we find Mr. Peck setting 
 forth for a month's absence from home for the double purpose 
 of attending first the regular session of the Edwardsville Asso- 
 ciation, meeting that year at Carlinville, and next proceeding 
 across the country by land-route to Louisville, Ky., to meet 
 the convention of Western Baptists. The association, though 
 not very numerously attended, was a pleasant and satisfactory 
 session. On the Lord's-day, the great day of the feast, Elder 
 Hinton preached in the morning on the signs of Christ's 
 coming. He enumerated seven distinct signs, which seem to 
 have deeply interested our brother, and they are preserved 
 with considerable fulness in his diary. Yery instructive and 
 somewhat humiliating, too, is the review of these speculations 
 now after twenty-four years have passed away. How impress- 
 ively does it reiterate the wise and pithy sentiment of Sir Isaac 
 Newton on this subject, that " the prophecies were not given 
 to make us prophets, but the predictions were written down 
 by inspiration of the Divine Omniscience that when they 
 cOme to pass we may see and believe." There is, however, 
 something very captivating to most minds in the startling and 
 bold announcements put forth by writers and speakers on the 
 prophecies yet to be fulfilled ; and when they bring, as the ingen- 
 ious and enthusiastic always do, very plausible and apparently 
 Scriptural reasons for their credence that some events of ab- 
 sorbing and transcendent interest and importance are on the 
 eve of fulfilment, how easily may they attract attention and 
 deepen to profoundest deference a regard for their startling 
 vaticinations. In not a few instances, within the last fifty 
 or sixty years, have grave and learned doctors, as well as 
 some bold empyrics of less respectable attainments, ventured 
 
STUDIES AND LECTURES ON THE PROPHESIES. 291 
 
 most dogmatically to set the times and seasons for the events 
 which are to be hereafter. And how mortifying generally 
 have been their failures I It is easy to see that Mr. Peck, 
 from about this period for several of the following years, was 
 an enamored student of the prophecies. He prepared and 
 delivered in several places a course of lectures on this subject, 
 and his study of what pertains to it doubtless rendered him 
 more familiar with prophetic symbols for the remainder of 
 his life. 
 
 Soon as the meetings of the association were concluded, in 
 company with some others who had been in attendance with 
 him, Mr. Peck set out for Kentucky. They traveled' 
 through Yandalia, and stayed Over the Sabbath in Washing- 
 ton, Ind., where they heard a political speech from Robert 
 Dale Owen, and in course of their journey met with a large 
 procession, in wagons and on horseback, going to a Harrison 
 political gathering. On the 3d of June they reached Louis- 
 ville, and found many brethren already assembled from the 
 Eastern as well as from the Western States. 
 
 Dr. Going was made President of the convention, and Dr. 
 Lynd preached the opening sermon. The plan of a more 
 efficient organization coming up, a committee was raised to 
 report on the subject, of which Mr. Peck was chairm-an. 
 After much deliberation this committee agreed to recommend 
 the outlines of a constitution, to be published and referred 
 for co'nsideration to the conventions and general associations 
 of the Western States, and hold another general convention 
 the next year, to act on the adoption of the proposed consti- 
 tution as guided by the wishes of those appointing them. 
 Foreign and home missions, the American and Foreign 
 Bible Society interest, and a Western historical society, suc- 
 cessively engaged the attention of the brethren assembled. 
 The Lord's Supper was administered at the close of the 
 services on the Sabbath in the second Baptist church, at 
 which Drs. Going, Malcom, and others officiated. In subse- 
 quent conferences Mr. Peck was solicited to revise the 
 Social Hymn Book, most in use at the West and South, 
 
292 MEMOIR or JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 called Dupuy's Hymn Book, by removing the doggerel and 
 inserting good hymns in their places. To this proposition he 
 acceded, and subsequently spent considerable time in their 
 revision. 
 
 He mentions securing a valuable collection of papers, minutes, 
 manuscripts, and various materials for the Western Historical 
 Society, of which he had been made Secretary ; and on Wednes- 
 day, the 10th of June, he left Louisville on his return home. Spent 
 the Sabbath in Black's settlement, Indiana, where he officiated, and 
 aided in setting in order a new and promising Baptist church, or- 
 daining deacons, etc. Tuesday following he preached by request 
 in the court-house in Salem, Illinois, and two days after reached 
 his home, after an absence of four weeks and one day. The 4th of 
 July he deUvered an oration in Belleville, embracing the history of 
 the conquest of Illinois by General G. R. Clark in 1778. 
 
 In August and the early part of September "we find him engaged 
 in promoting a revival at Bethel with his beloved brethren, the 
 Lemens. A new house for religious worship bad been completed 
 there. He preached at its dedication, and again soon after a 
 funeral discourse for old Mother Lemen, in which he gave at much 
 length a sketch of the early religious efforts in Illinois, and of the 
 Lemen family. A blessed work of grace commenced and pro- 
 gressed with much power. He witnessed the baptism of nine on 
 one occasion, and a few days afterward of eight more, and still the 
 work went on. At Silver Creek, also, where the Southern District 
 Association was that year held, the church had erected a brick 
 meeting-house, so far completed that it could be used, and after the 
 business of the association was over, religious services were con- 
 tinued with happy effect for several days and seven or eight were here 
 baptized. Eeturning from the meeting, several cases of discipline 
 of a rather painful character demanded attention in the church at 
 Rock Spring. He mentions with evident feeUng that three of the 
 professed converts whom he baptized there turned out badly. 
 " They had been examined with carefulness, and all reasonable 
 pains taken in their instruction, and yet how soon have they 
 turned away to a course of profligacy !" He adds, *' I learn from 
 this, that persons who have been trained to bad habits, and who 
 have a peculiarly vicious mental organization, are not easily re- 
 claimed." 
 
 In October he attended the regular session of the Illinois Baptist 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SERMON. 293 
 
 Convention at Alton, where the adjustment of the difficulties 
 growing out of the action of the previous year was happily con- 
 summated, as mentioned in the beginning of this chapter. The 
 affairs of the college and of education of ministers engrossed con- 
 siderable attention, and was very fully considered. Rev. Mr. 
 Hinton, of Chicago, had been elected President of the college, and 
 measures were now set on foot to liquidate its debts, and provide 
 for the suj)port of its faculty and its general efficiency hereafter. 
 For the consummation of such an object Mr. Peck was induced to 
 pledge a liberal sum. He says that though he was greatly em- 
 barrassed, he felt that there was a necessity for this special effort 
 and sacrifice, as the movement now made was regarded as a turn- 
 ing point. On hearing a Brother Coles, a former pupil of his at 
 Catskill, speak with great efficiency, he records his satisfaction that 
 the disciple is much beyond his master. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of this year he was also en- 
 •gaged for many days in taking the United States census of St. Clair 
 county. This brought him into minute, personal intercourse with 
 every family, and furnished some amusement, especially among 
 the French settlers about Cahokia, as well as many instructive in- 
 cidents. It was while engaged in this service that he mentions 
 hearing a Mormon preach in the court-house, and try to prove the 
 truth of the Mormon book. He afterwards held considerable 
 conversation with one of this community, whom he found very 
 wild in his notions. He adds this general remark: "The worst 
 evil from Mormonism is its influence in strengthening the scep- 
 tical notions of unbelievers, by their ludicrous interpretations of 
 Scripture." 
 
 Early in January, 1841, we find him in Springfield, near the seat 
 of government ; and while detained there for several days on public 
 business, the following items are found in his journal. 
 
 Saturday, January 3d. I am preparing to preach to-morrow 
 three times ; in the afternoon in the state-house on a peculiar and 
 somewhat hazardous subject, viz. : to apply some of the principles 
 and methods of action in the late Presidential contest, to moral and 
 religious uses. 
 
 Lord's-day, ^d. p.m. Preached my projected discourse to a large 
 congregation in the state-house. Text, Luke xvi. 8. Had toler- 
 able liberty, and the people gave solemn attention. I inquired, 1. 
 Who are the children of light ? 2. Who are the children of this 
 world ? 3. In what sense are the cliildren of this world the wiser ? 
 
294 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 The principles and modes of action during the late Presidential 
 contest furnished a principle illustrative of this third part. 
 
 1. Look at the efforts made to enlighten the public mind. Politi- 
 cal discussions, newspapers, handbills, pamphlets, and preaching or 
 proclaiming, were all laid under contribution for this end. They 
 took the right way, in harmony with God's appointed method in 
 His kingdom. 
 
 2. Notice the continuity of their efforts, meeting after meeting, 
 at all seasons, in all places — protracted meetings truly. 
 
 3. The parties selected times, places, seasons, and instruments 
 wisely. Exchanged their orators in the most skillful manner, so 
 as to excite and deepen the interest. 
 
 4. By their untiring zeal they produced a great excitement 
 through the nation. 
 
 5. Their 'perseverance was unintermitted till the election was decided. 
 In all the above respects they went far ahead of Christians in 
 
 their endeavors to promote Christ's kingdom. 
 
 II. Showed that the men of this world were wise only in their 
 generation. How indifferent and neglectful they ate to the things 
 of another world. For that, too, they had an election to make. 
 Showed how they reproved themselves in their inactivity about 
 eternal things. Applied the subject also to professors, and offered 
 reproof for their supineness and inactivity. 
 
 On the way as he was returning home, at Bunker Hill, in the 
 southern part of Macoupen county, he preacned at the constitu- 
 tion of a new Baptist church. In his own immediate neighbor- 
 hood, in the churches of which he was pastor, he was indefatigable 
 in his efforts to promote a genuine revival, and with some success, 
 as the instances of baptism bore witness — seventeen on one 
 occasion, March 6th. About this time also, the St. Louis church 
 having become destitute by the resignation of their late pastor, 
 Kev. Dr. Pattison, he was induced to promise to take the oversight 
 of them, and supply their pulpit the second Sabbath in each month 
 at least. Himself and Father Rogers soon held a protracted 
 meeting there, with some happy effects. During all this period he 
 continued an extensive correspondence, wrote editorials for the 
 Banner and Pioneer, and made himself widely useful by his pen 
 in other enterprises for the public good. 
 
 In April, only a month after his accession to power, 
 President Harrison died, the first instance of the death of an 
 incumbent of his office since the organization of our national 
 
DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARRISON. 295 
 
 government. The sensation produced by this event was 
 deep and universal, and he endeavored, in all the churches 
 where he officiated, to improve it in the most efficient and 
 salutary manner. In St. Louis especially, the municipal 
 authorities set apart a day for public solemnities, on account 
 of this national bereavement. The stores and offices were 
 closed ; and a vast civic procession, consisting of all the 
 various associations, religious, mechanic, literary, military, 
 masonic, with a large concourse of citizens, marched through 
 the streets, while bells were tolling, and minute guns were 
 firing. At three o'clock all the churches were generally 
 opened. Mr. Peck officiated in the Baptist church, delivering 
 a discourse from Psalm xc. 3-12 to a crowded and very 
 solemn assembly. 
 
 Early in May he was enabled to sell, though at very con- 
 siderable sacrifice, lots of land which he owned in Upper 
 Alton, and thus pay off his most pressing debts. He re- 
 garded this as a most welcome Providential relief, and records 
 his gratitude for this favor at a time of great scarcity of 
 money, and when his pecuniary involvements were most 
 embarrassing. 
 
 From the 2d to the 5th of June he was on board the 
 steamer Ion, on his way from St. Louis to Louisville to attend 
 the meeting of the convention of Western Baptists, which 
 had been provided for in the arrangements of the preceding 
 year. From the 9th to the 14th of the month this meeting 
 continued its sessions, evincing at times considerable want of 
 harmony from the earnest desires evinced on the part of some 
 to sunder the ties between Western and Eastern Baptists m 
 their benevolent organizations. After much discussion and 
 the grave consideration of reports submitted on various topics, 
 the result was that a Western Baptist publication and Sunday- 
 school society was formed in strict co-operation with that in 
 Philadelphia. Mr. Peck was mainly instrumental in securing 
 this result, and his journal contains abundant evidence that 
 he introduced and carried through this proposition, not be- 
 cause he deemed it really the wisest and best course, but 
 
296 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 because he fo'und it was the only way in which a degree of 
 harmony and co-operation could be secured, and the utter 
 breaking off of a portion of the "\Vest from the East could be 
 prevented. Having thus thrown himself into the threatened 
 breach for the purpose of closing it, many of the better and 
 more influential of the brethren immediately turned their 
 eyes to him as the needed executive functionary of the new 
 society. Accordingly its general agency was tendered to 
 him by the Board elected for the purpose of setting it in 
 operation, and before he left Louisville he had agreed to take 
 into serious consideration the question of dropping his other 
 engagements and giving himself chiefly to this service. His 
 diary contains abundant evidence of the deep concern with 
 which this proposal was weighed by him. Two principal 
 objections seem to have had much influence with him. He 
 could not but feel sad in view of turning away from the field 
 and the labors which for so many years had engrossed him, 
 where, though he had many trials and impediments, he also 
 had enjoyed encouraging success, and now began to see the 
 fruit of his manifold sacrifices and efforts in the wider and 
 more inviting facilities opening before him for doing good 
 through these instrumentalities — the churches, the college, 
 and the convention, and education societies, which he had 
 been mainly instrumental in originating. But the chief diffi- 
 culty in accepting the appointment to the new post was his 
 health, and the fear that he should soon break down in at- 
 tempting so much travel as would be indispensable. True, 
 he would be able to go more by comfortable public convey- 
 ances than he had done hitherto, yet the whole business would 
 be of the most laborious description. In view of all these 
 difficulties, and with the urgent importunity of his brethren 
 whom he had just met that he would not decline, he resolved 
 on going home that he "would take tjme to weigh the subject 
 well, and would also consult our leading brethren, both East 
 and West, and endeavor finally to decide as may appear best 
 for all concerned." 
 
 The surprising versatility of his pen is manifested by his 
 
 I' 
 
DRAMATIC COMPOSITION. 291 
 
 writing a dramatic exercise about this time, called " Te- 
 cumthe," which was elaborated by him with considerable 
 care, and was actually presented in a college exhibition at 
 Alton in July of this year.* The composition required very 
 considerable knowledge of the astute Indian character, as 
 well as that of the other personages introduced — the scheming 
 British agent, and his subordinate, and the exposed pibneer 
 settlers whose safety was so deeply involved in the questions 
 then at issue. In all these respects the drama was a decided 
 success, though from want of more experience in this kind of 
 writing, it lacked the liveliness, and vivacious, life-like interest 
 so indispensable to successful exhibitions on the stage. The 
 marvel certainly is that with all his multifarious engagements, 
 preaching every Sabbath and frequently in the week, writing 
 for some half a dozen periodicals — some of his articles very 
 elaborate and extensive, such, for instance, as his contributions 
 about this time to the American Quarterly Register of Boston 
 on the history and statistics of the Baptist denomination in 
 each of the Western States — with many other cares and 
 labors, domestic and pastoral, that he could have found 
 time to contribute to the drama at all. His facility of com- 
 position, and the readiness with which he could turn from 
 one thing to another so widely dissimilar, was truly won- 
 derful. 
 
 On the 24th of September he wrote to the Secretary of the 
 Western Publication Society, Louisville, accepting the gen- 
 eral agency. This decisive step involves so much of responsi- 
 bility that it seems but just to him to give the reasons he 
 assigned at the time for taking it. He says : 
 
 After a pretty extensive correspondence East, West, North and 
 South, I have arrived at this conclusion : that 'unless I do take 
 hold of the general agency of this organization, the American 
 Baptist Publication Society will do very little. The field in the 
 
 •* Mr. Peck was present at the exhibition, and says it was well 
 spoken, though it must have suffered much from lack of appro- 
 priate costumes and scenery on which the real drama, as distinct 
 from the mere dialogue, so much depends. 
 
298 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 "West and South is the main place of operation, because its wants 
 are here more directly felt and its necessity appreciated. Here, 
 also, a very large part of the labor has to be performed. Our 
 "Western society will do nothing efficiently unless I take hold of it. 
 Moreover, all to whom I have written, and who have answered my 
 inquiries, say in substance that I am the man, and ought to engage 
 in this work. The condition of the denomination in the West and 
 South now calls for the free and extensive circulation of religious 
 books. Various indications of Providence in opening my way and 
 removing difficulties seem to point out the pathway of duty in this 
 direction. Whether I can endure the exposure and fatigue neces- 
 sarily involved, and sustain health, is to be tested by experience. 
 My hopes are that by steamboat and stage traveling, by spending 
 the winters South, and the summers North, and having comfortable 
 houses to lodge in, I may keep up a few years longer. This cer- 
 tainly is the greatest and most responsible business I have ever 
 undertaken. May the Good One direct and keep me, and allow me 
 to fill up the balance of my hfe with usefulness. 
 
 Immediately he tendered his resignation as pastor of the 
 churches he had served, and was happily instrumental in 
 leading some of them to the choice of his successor. 
 
 Early in October he attended the Illinois Baptist conven- 
 tion, meeting that year at Paysan. He was chosen President, 
 and every honor which afifection and fraternal confidence and 
 gratitude prompted was tendered him. He preached during 
 the session, and took occasion to contrast the present flourish- 
 ing aspects of their affairs with what he had witnessed on 
 the same field in former years. Especially did he strive — 
 and successfully too — to enlist them in the new enterprise in 
 which he was engaging. Many life-memberships were sub- 
 cribed, and the object was embraced cordially, with the pros- 
 pect that it would be prosecuted with vigor. About the same 
 time he mentions having written to the general associations 
 of Kentucky and Tennessee and the convention of Indiana to 
 enlist them in this enterprise. 
 
 Eeturning from the convention he spent some few days in Quincy 
 and its neighborhood, visiting with special interest a number of mis- 
 Bion institutes, or manual-labor schools, there established by Rev. 
 
AGENT OF WESTERN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 299 
 
 David Nelson. He found about sixty students, male and female, in 
 the two which he examined. The men were designed for mission- 
 aries, and many of them sustained themselves or nearly so by work. 
 He could not but condemn the fanaticism which he thought preva- 
 lent, while at the same time he found much to commend. He 
 says: "Nearly every species of ultraism springs up here as from 
 a hotbed. The j^ractice of what is called free discussion keeps the 
 students in a continual excitement which forbids cahn and deliber- 
 ate investigation, and prevents the formation of a sound mind." 
 He formed the acquaintance of a few Baptist students among them 
 who had apparently been injured in this way. 
 
 With different feeUngs he visited his old friend, Governor Carhn, 
 and held witllPhim a long and interesting conversation on personal 
 rehgion. The Governor manifested much devotedness and deep 
 feeling, declaring, among other things, that no man can be a par- 
 tisan politician and maintain a Christian character. 
 
 On his way to Kentucky he aided in the ordination of a worthy 
 colored brother, Anderson, belonging to the African Baptist church 
 in St. Louis, and preached the sermon, and remarks of this brother 
 that he passed a very good examination. It was near the middle 
 of November before he reached Louisville, and took his head-quar- 
 ters there for the purpose of carrying on with the utmost vigor the 
 plans of the new society. For a while he lodged, by his own desire 
 and preference, in the editorial office of the Banner and Pioneer, 
 of which paper he continued to be a kind of assistant-editor. He 
 also preached very often both on the Sabbaths and on week even- 
 ings in the Baptist churches in Louisville. Soon as arrangements 
 for this purpose could be completed, he visited Cincinnati and 
 Covington in furtherance of his agency ; and on returning, after 
 spending a few days more in Louisville, putting in order and sup- 
 plying as well as he could the things which were wanting, he set 
 forth on a tour through the Southwest. In the Green river country 
 he lingered some days, laboring for the diffusion of information on 
 his agency, and "securing the first fruits of the bounty of both 
 churches and individuals. By the close of the year he had reached 
 Nashville, Tenn., which he now visited for the first time, and 
 found a most cordial welcome at the City Hotel, then kept by the 
 excellent and lamented Colonel Marshall 
 
300 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Slave Sale — Visit to New Orleans and Mississippi, and again goes to 
 Eastern States. * 
 
 The first half of 1842 was maeea crowded with events of 
 stirring and, some of them, permanent interest in the life of 
 this active man. Some of the more important of them will 
 be gleaned from his journals and letters, so as tf furnish the 
 outlines of his eventful history. In Nashville, on New- 
 Year's day, the following item occurs : 
 
 To-day I attended for a few moments a sale in the market- 
 place. A negro boy was sold, who appeared about twelve years 
 old. He stood by the auctioneer on the market-bench, with his 
 hat off, crying and sobbing, his countenance a picture of woe. I 
 know not the circumstances ; but it was the first human being I 
 ever saw set up for sale, and it filled me with indescribable emotions. 
 Slavery in Tennessee is certainly not as oppressive, inhuman and 
 depressing, as the state of the poorer classes of society in England, 
 Ireland, and many parts of Continental Europe ; yet slavery in its 
 best state is a violation of man's nature and of the Christian law of 
 love. I mean as a state or condition of society ; for doubtless there 
 are individual cases where the slaves are truly better off than if 
 they were set free, and remained in this country. 
 
 For the next three weeks he remained in Nashville, or its imme- 
 diate vicinity, his health some of the time rather imperfect, but he 
 was able to preach, or otherwise address churches and congrega- 
 tions very frequently, averaging nearly one sermon or address 
 each day, promotive of the revival of religion or of his benevolent 
 object. He was also a laborious writer, sending forth from his 
 chamber at the hotel almost every day, letters, circulars, reports, 
 or communications for the press, enough to fill up the entire time 
 of an ordinary man. He then made an excursion into Wilson 
 county, visiting as many churches and prominent individuals as 
 possible, to enlist their convictions, and call forth their contribu- 
 tions for the Publication Society. On his return, February 1st, 
 he called on General Jackson at the Hermitage, and was welcomed 
 
VISIT TO TENNESSEE AND MISSISSIPPI. 301 
 
 with warm favor and interest by this distinguished man. The 
 General was in feeble health, warm and excited on political subjects, 
 but evincing a calm, intelligent, and considerate concern for tho 
 religious welfare of himself and his countrymen, and hence enter- 
 ing with cordiaUty into the object of Mr. Peck's mission among 
 the churches, and at the close of the interview wishing him God- 
 speed. With emphasis and iteration he thanked his visitor for 
 calling on him, and on parting said, " The Lord go with you." 
 
 The legislature of Tennessee was in session while he was in Nash- 
 ville, and occasionally he looked in upon their deliberations. With 
 several of the members, too, he formed an interesting acquaintance. 
 This body adjourned just about the time he was leaving the State, 
 the 7th of February, and several whom he names were his travel- 
 ing companions on board the steamer on which he embarked on 
 his way to New Orleans. lie had opportunity further to cultivate 
 their acquaintance as his fellow-passengers; and also as the 
 steamer touched and sometimes laid by for several hours, he 
 landed at Clarksville, and made a speech at a temperance meeting ; 
 at Ashportin West Tennessee, and again at Vicksburg in Mississippi. 
 Below this point Mr. Peck became greatly interested in the great 
 river, its " coasts," as the high levee banks are here called ; in the 
 milder climate and earlier foliage and bloom of the trees, which, in 
 his rapid passage to the south at that season of the year, very strik- 
 ingly impressed him. The plantations lining the river on both sides 
 like a continued village, with occasionally a Catholic church lifting 
 its spire and cross, were all features of novel interest to him. 
 
 The 14th of February he, for the first time, set foot in New 
 Orleans. He spent now but two or three days in the city, finding 
 the Baptist cause there lamentably low, and that very little could 
 be done in furtherance of the object he was laboring to promote. 
 He called upon the Baptist minister who was then officiating there, 
 and upon Cornelius Paulding, an eccentric and wealthy Baptist 
 professor, of whose peculiarities he seems to have formed a toler- 
 ably correct estimate. 
 
 Eeturning up the river, the steamer in which he was a passenger 
 had a race with a competitor, and a collision too, but without much 
 injury except the severe fright of the lady passengers. He landed 
 at Port Hudson and took the railroad to Clinton, La., where, and 
 in the vicinity, he spent the next two weeks, preaching, lecturing, 
 and conferring with influential friends, several of whom became 
 warmly interested in his object. He preached to whites and to 
 slaves, visited some of the latter in their quarters, especially the 
 20 
 
302 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 sick, attended some funerals among them, and evinced an earnest 
 desire to make himself as thoroughly acquainted with plantation 
 affairs as possible. • 
 
 The masters and proprietors were his guides, and he, as 
 their privileged guest, saw just as much and through such 
 a medium as they desired. He makes no comments at the 
 time ; and it is not strange that his subsequent recollections 
 are largely tinged with the favorable aspect in which the 
 peculiar institution was presented to his notice. 
 
 Returning to the river, he found passage, after some delay, to 
 Ticksburg, and thence by railroad to Jackson, the seat of govern- 
 ment of Mississippi. Here, and in several Baptist churches in the 
 vicinity, he spent some days profitably and wisely. Brethren of 
 intelligence and liberality were found, who appreciated the noble 
 object he was solicting for, and generously aided his enterprise. 
 The names of Lea, Granbury, Denson, Balfour, Whitfield, and ex- 
 Governor Runnells, with others, appear in his journal as those 
 whose sympathies and co-operation he had secured. Others in 
 Yicksburg of the same character were also mentioned : such as 
 Ranney, Sparkes, and Bond, whom he saw and loved for the truth's 
 sake, both as he went and returned. It was also agreed to raise 
 two hundred dollars to establish a depository of the books and 
 tracts of the Publication Society in Jackson for the accommo- 
 dation of the State of Mississippi. 
 
 On the evening of the 21st of March he got on board a steamer 
 for St. Louis, and after a rapid and pleasant passage reached that 
 city on the 25th. Here he rejoiced to find the Baptist cause flour- 
 ishing, and the following evening he reached his home at Rock 
 Spring, finding his family well and prospering after an absence on 
 his part of three and a half months. He found to his great joy 
 that the work of the Lord had cheeringly progressed in the 
 churches which he used to serve. In the Belleville church thirty 
 had been hopefully converted, and twenty of them baptized. Here 
 and at Rock Spring and at Bethel with his beloved brethren, the 
 Lomens, he spent a few days most delightfully and profitably, and 
 seemed much refreshed by the pious and fraternal sympathy which 
 was manifested towards him, and the object to which he was now 
 devoting his labors. At Upper and Lower Alton also he met with 
 the hke favor ; and having adjusted his most important business, 
 domestic and public, on the 9th of xipril, he set forth for another 
 long Eastern tour. Spent a Sabbath in St. Louis, preaching for 
 
 
CHARLES DICKENS — AGAIN VISITS THE EAST. 303 
 
 the white Baptist church in the morning, for the colored in the 
 afternoon (recounting with much tender feeling on both sides the 
 way the Lord had led them for more than twenty years), and in 
 the evening he officiated in the second Presbyterian church, whose 
 pastor was absent, and he mentions incidentally that the first and 
 second Presbyterian churches— the New and Old school— like the 
 Jews and Samaritans of old, have no religious intercourse with 
 each other, though both are clamorous for " open communion." 
 
 The following morning he took passage by steamer for Pittsburg, 
 paying only twelve dollars for the trip — one cent per mile, with 
 excellent fare. The cheapest traveling, he says, which he had ever 
 known. The same day, before the boat left, he and Rev. Mr. Hinton 
 called on Charles Dickens, then in St. Louis, on his tour through 
 the United States. He appeared to be a remarkably good-natured, 
 amiable, benevolent man, very much like the spirit of his stories. 
 He_statad that he had been educated by a Baptist clergyman. Mr. 
 Peck afterward sent himlwo of his books, " Guide for Emigrants," 
 and " Traveler's Directory." The trip, per steamer, seems to have 
 been unusually pleasant, affording him a few hours time for calls on 
 his brethren both at Louisville and at Cincinnati, which he gladly 
 embraced. Reached Pittsburg on the 19th, and found a good 
 hotel near the landing, at which for dinner, supper, room with fire, 
 and attendance, the charge was only seventy-five cents. Hence to 
 Philadelphia, by canal and railroad, stopping over the Sabbath in 
 Harrisburg, where he preached twice, and Monday afternoon reached 
 Philadelphia. The following day he went to New York, where the 
 Baptist anniversaries were then commencing. During the meeting 
 he mentions having made a long address before the Publication 
 Society, setting forth its claims on ministers and churches, which 
 was listened to with interest, and produced, as he thought, a good 
 effect. He also alludes to his having served on a committee in 
 reference to Indian missions, and particularly the relations of Rev. 
 Isaac McCoy to the Board, which involved matters which were not 
 a Uttle perplexing. This meeting with so many of the loved 
 associates of former years was not a small item in the gratification 
 which he now experienced. Particularly one evening which he 
 spent with Rev. A. Perkins, then a pastor in New York city, in 
 company with Rev. Lewis Leonard, he says, " Much of the old 
 times when we three were associated in Dutchess county in 1814- 
 15 was vividly revived in our recollection." The various meetings, 
 both denominational and general, which he attended seem to have 
 afforded him considerable satisfaction, and early m May he left 
 
304 MEiMOlR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 New York on his return to Philadelphia, stopping as usual a night 
 in Burlington with his old and dear friend, J. E. Welch, and family. 
 He preached here also in behalf of his object, and endeavored to 
 awaken the liberality of the church to make their pastor a life- 
 member of the Publication Society. The next day he met the 
 Board of this society in Philadelphia, and by their request gave them, 
 at full length, his impressions of what ought to be done by them, and 
 how to do it. His whole plan laid before them was looked into by 
 a special committee and subsequently adopted. The following is 
 his record of what he found, and what he recommended : 
 
 " I find that the brethren in Philadelphia have done but little com- 
 paratively in this cause. There has not been quite enough of har- 
 mony and mutual concert. Petty jealousies and rivalships about 
 officers and Httle matters have retarded the business. Yet, with 
 sufficient effort and patient perseverance, the society can be made 
 to live. I suggested a delegation to Boston to enter into arrange- 
 ments with the New England Sunday-school Union to raise a sum 
 of two thousand dollars to circulate Sunday-school books in the 
 valley of the Mississippi through the Publication Society and its 
 agency. Another suggestion was to negotiate with the Baptist 
 Library and the Baptist Memorial to secure a co-operation with 
 those who are interested in those publications." A delegation to 
 New England, of which he was one, was accordingly appointed. 
 
 On his Way East he spent a Lord's-day in New York, and came 
 in contact with the celebrated Miller (who gave name to the 
 Millerites, or Adventists), and heard him deliver one of his lectures. 
 " He believes that Jesus Christ is to descend from heaven, and 
 reign personally on this earth, and that the saints ^e to be raised 
 and the judgment to set in 1843— next year. This calculation he 
 bases upon his interpretation of the prophetical period of one 
 thousand two hundred and sixty days. This morning his lecture 
 was concerning the two witnesses (Rev. xi. 3, 4), which he supposes, 
 and with much ingenuity seemed to prove, were the Old and the 
 New Testament, the Word of God. There is plausibility in this as 
 the right interpretation. Much of his discourse was solemn and 
 impressive. He is undoubtedly sincere ; but like other men whose 
 whole physical ^nd mental system has become excited, he is very 
 sensitive, very positive, and will not bear to be contradicted or 
 argued against. Evidently to my mind there is a degree of mono- 
 mania about him, as there is about every one who dwells so in- 
 tensely and exclusively on one idea. I introduced myself, and codp 
 
ANiNlVERSARlES AT NEW YORK AND BOSTON. 305 
 
 versed with him a short time. He and his associate Adventists are 
 now holding a series of meetings in this city." 
 
 He preached in two Baptist churches on the Sabbath, and the 
 following week gave" himself up to attending the general anni- 
 versaries. The Old or Garrison Abohtionists, he thought were 
 monomaniacs; for if their principles were fully carried out, all gov- 
 ernment, authority, and rule, would be broken up. The Sunday- 
 school anniversary was dehghtful. The American Tract Society 
 gave him an opportunity to plead fifteen minutes for the great 
 West. Here also he heard and was introduced to Mar Yohannan, 
 Bishop of the Nestorians in Persia, whose address in Syriac was 
 translated to the audience by the Rev. J. Perkins, who also gave many 
 interesting facts in relation to the Nestorians. The following day 
 at the anniversary of the American Bible Society, Mar Yohannan 
 appeared again, presenting a Syriac New Testament written on 
 parchment more than six hundred years old. In like manner he 
 witnessed with interest the exhibition of the deaf mutes and tem- 
 perance and colonization meetings. In a more private way he 
 visited the rooms of the American and Foreign Bible and the Bap- 
 tist Home Mission Societies, conferring with their executive ofi&cers, 
 and contriving ways and means for their enlarged usefulness and 
 efiiciency. Another Sabbath he spent in Brooklyn, pleading his 
 cause before several churches there. 
 
 In Boston, whither he went the next week, he was welcomed by 
 his old friend. Dr. ShurtlefF, the generous patron of the college at 
 Alton, III, and for two or three days gave himself up to attending ' 
 on an anti-slavery Baptist convention, against many of whose doings 
 and speeches he in vain remonstrated. May 2l3t he attended a 
 meeting of the Board of the New England Sunday-school Union, 
 and laid before the brethren the project of aiding by a special fund 
 our Western operations. The plan was referred to a special com- 
 mittee. 
 
 On Lord's-day, after officiating in one of the Baptist churches, 
 he had an appointment in another (Baldwin Place), and had entered 
 the pulpit for its fulfillment, when he was suddenly seized with a 
 severe spasm, which made it impossible for him to preach. By 
 timely and vigorous treatment he soon recovered. Next day he 
 met again the Board of the New England Sunday-school Union, 
 who declined his overture, on the ground that they could not get 
 the requisite funds. Though this was a grievous disappointment 
 to him, yet it is pleasant to notice the equanimity of spirit with 
 which he received the announcement, and the undiminished love 
 
306 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 With which he stiU clung to his brethren and labored and coun- 
 seled with them for the promotion of their objects, while they 
 declmed co-operating to secure his. Particularly it may be no 
 ticed that he was invited to address the anniversary audience 
 ot the ISew England Sunday-school Union, and there urged that 
 they needed a fund of ten thousand dollars, to be raised and used 
 in Aew England for issuing books, which were now very necessary 
 m all parts of our country. In hke manner he addressed the anni- 
 versary meeting of the Northern Baptist Education Society and 
 spoke on their theme, particularly with reference to the mighty 
 West, givmg facts in regard to their ministerial education, the 
 states of colleges and schools, all of which was hstened to with 
 much interest. At the ministerial tea-party in the lecture-room 
 of one of the churches, he gave by request some account of two 
 of the deceased pioneers of the West-Elder John Clarke and 
 o. Lt. Holman. 
 
 One evening he went as a listener to the advent-meeting, and 
 heard one of their lectures, on which he makes this comment- "A 
 chart was used containing a representation of the prophetic sym- 
 bols, m the Book of Daniel, in painting. Most of what the lecturer 
 said m his definitions was correct, but the application was wholly 
 incorrect. The grand error of the Miller system is, that it employs 
 symbolical language correctly as to past prophecy, and then inter- 
 prets the symbols which relate to the conquests of Christ and the 
 setting up of his Kingdom hterally. It is this confusion of the 
 sijmhohcal and the literal which produces the wrong and mislead- 
 ing results." 
 
 His great effort for the week, however, was the closing address 
 before the Massachusetts Baptist Convention-the successor of 
 the old Massachusetts Missionary Society, under whose commis- 
 sion he had so many years labored. His principal design was to 
 show the effect of missionary operations on the Western valley for 
 seventeen years past, as follows : 
 
 1. In giving great encouragement to missionary friends there 
 
 2. In calhng out ministers from the influence of the world en- 
 abling them to acquire correct views and habits, and by emplovin- 
 to enlarge their talents. ^ J »» 
 
 3. In raising up, and sustaining, while feeble, churches in the 
 imporlant towns and cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Marietta, and" 
 Columbus, in Ohio; Covington, Louisville, and other places in 
 Kentucky; Xashville, in Tennessee; St. Louis, Alton, Springfield. 
 Chicago, Detroit, in the farther West and Northwest " 
 
ADDRESS IN BOSTON — HUDSON EIVER ASSOCIATION. 307 
 
 4. In waking up the churches and people throughout the whole 
 valley, to provide for, and sustain their own ministry. 
 
 5. In raising up ministers, and sustaining all other benevolent 
 measures. 
 
 6. In producing organization and system in benevolent opera- 
 tions generally. 
 
 7. In promoting revivals extensively, and numerous conversions, 
 so that Baptists had doubled in the West within eight years. 
 
 8. In the advancement, very generally, of religion, morals, edu- 
 cation, colleges and schools. 
 
 9. In uncovering the still great destitution, and making it more 
 widely known. The resident population doubles, in ten years, so 
 that one hundred missionaries were now wanted, and a very great 
 work yet remained to be done. 
 
 In conclusion, gave two reasons why this work has increased so 
 greatly ; 
 
 1. The rapid increase of population and extension of occupied 
 territory ; and this, on the whole, best for our country and the 
 world. 
 
 2. An increasing appetite or desire thus formed for missionary 
 service, even among Germans, Catholics, and others. 
 
 After the close of these Boston anniversaries, he thus sums up 
 the state of things and the prospects, so far as his own immediate 
 objects were concerned. Owing to the plans and arrangements of 
 the Na«7 England Sunday-school Union, the prospect of raising 
 funds for publication purposes is but meager. I must direct my 
 labors to New York and the Middle States chiefly. 
 
 He preached, however, in several pulpits in Boston, Lynn, Mai- 
 den, and then in Hartford, after which he attended the Connecticut 
 Baptist State Convention, at Middletown, where he explained and 
 pleaded his publication objects with happy effect. 
 
 Then he hastened through New York city to Poughkeepsie, to 
 attend the Hudson Eiver Association, which, he remarks, had be- 
 come an immense body of forty-five churches, and nearly ten thou- 
 sand communicants. What a change had twenty-seven years 
 wrought, since its formation at the same place I He was much 
 pleased with the aspect of things which he witnessed. Most of the 
 churches had been largely increased the preceding year, the aggre- 
 gate of additions by baptism being more than eleven hundred. The 
 evening of the second day he addressed his brethren on his publi- 
 cation cause, and there appeared to be much interest excited. 
 
 The following day he listened to the closing sermon before the 
 
308 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 association, by Dr. William R. Williams, reviewing the Baptist 
 history for the last fifty years, and contemplating particularly the 
 Influences, internal and external, which had so rapidly increased 
 their numbers and effectiveness. He well characterizes it as a 
 splendid sermon, by a masterly hand. It has been widely published, 
 and the analysis of it contained in his journal need not here be re- 
 produced. 
 
 The day following he attended an ordination in the interior of 
 Dutchess county, and remarked on the sermon — by one of the 
 pastors in that county — that it was exactly a Kentucky or Western 
 sermon in style, spirit, language, and mode of illustration. The 
 preacher had certainly never been at the West, and this similarity 
 therefore was the more pleasing, showing as it did how certain it 
 is that earnest minds, in their original and untrained manifestations, 
 will be found nearly assimilated. On this occasion, also, he im- 
 proved a favorable opportunity to address the large congregation 
 assembled, in behalf of the Western Publication Society. 
 
 The next few days and Sabbaths he devoted to New York city, 
 conferring with the pastors and preaching in as many churches as 
 possible, on the subject so near his heart, and with which he was 
 now officially charged. In the intervals of public service and 
 private conference he was writing extensively on the same subject 
 to influential brethren, throughout the Middle and Western States 
 especially. The confidence reposed in him and his judgment by 
 the Board of the American Baptist Publication Society, Philadel- 
 phia, and specially by its excellent secretary. Rev. Morgan J. 
 Rhees, drew forth from him long and carefully considered letters 
 to them, in which all the possibilities of ways and means for carry- 
 ing forward their enterprise were fully discussed. Indeed, his 
 mission to New England t this time had that object chiefly 
 in view, to settle the question whether both East and West 
 could not be induced cordially to co-operate in one national society 
 for the promotion of the object, which, as it seemed to him, ought 
 to be dear to every intelligent Baptist, viz. : the diflFusion of Bible 
 or gospel truth widely as possible among all our churches and their 
 surroundings, for the double purpose, first, of making all our mem- 
 bership more intelligent, united and harmonious in faith and 
 practice ; and next, to disabuse the minds of the uninformed 
 masses in regard to our real views, removing those monstrous 
 perversions which have been so industriously circulated to our dis- 
 advantage, and in derogation of our just claims to be reckoned an 
 important integral portion of the great evangelical brotherhood. 
 
 "■•«»v^ 
 
SOUNDING THE CHURCHES. 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXYII. 
 
 Testing tlie Churches in regard to Publication Society — Ministers* 
 Meeting in his own House. 
 
 The next eight months, from the closing days of June, 1842, 
 till April of the following year, he was most of the time 
 busily engaged, traveling much of the earlier part of this 
 period among the churches, with a view of sounding their 
 sentiments, and inciting their more systematic action on this 
 publication subject. Having no doubt himself that such a 
 denominational organization w^as needful, he quietly moved 
 among his brethren and the churches, determined to test their 
 convictions on this subject. It was no easy matter to induce 
 many of these to give sufficient heed to a great practical meas- 
 ure of this kind to enable them to settle it satisfactorily. So 
 many local interests were demanding aid, and so slow of heart 
 were the majority of the churches to co-operate in the other gen- 
 eral societies for foreign and home missions and the diflfusion 
 of God's word, that it is no wonder he was sometimes led to 
 doubt w^hethcr another general object of denominational be- 
 nevolence would secure a sufficient amount or degree of 
 favor to make it worth his w^hile to leave other spheres of 
 labor which were inviting his acceptance, and give himself to 
 the promotion of this. 
 
 His Western and Southwestern tour had fully satisfied him 
 that a Western publication society by itself would be too mea- 
 ger in resources to accomplish the desired object. It only 
 remained to test the question whether such a combination of 
 East and West, of North and South, in what would be sub- 
 stantially one Baptist Publication Society, would unite the 
 suffrages and call forth the liberality of the churches to such 
 an extent as to measurably insure success. He knew of no 
 other way of testing this than by actually visiting as widely 
 
310 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 as possible among the churches and associations, and learning 
 whether they would be willing, in view of the facts which 
 he spread before them, to take hold of this work systematically, 
 making this one of the cherished objects of their benevolent 
 endeavors, and giving it year after year a regularly assigned 
 place among their charities. 
 
 To test this matter as practicably and reliably as possible, 
 he spent about four months continuously in the Middle States, 
 and chiefly in Xew York. 
 
 Before setting out on this mission he met, while yet in 
 New York city, with one of those rebuffs which so often and 
 injuriously affect the course of public men. Taking up one 
 morning the Banner and Pioneer, the religious paper of the 
 West, which still kept his name on it as one of its editors, he 
 there saw a series of resolutions directly and somewhat 
 severely censuring him for leaving the Western agency with 
 which he had been commissioned, to labor in the publication 
 cause of the East. This he regarded as the more cruel, be- 
 cause the very man who was the mainspring and organ of 
 this attack upon him was his professed friend and co-adju- 
 tor. He sat down at once and wrote him a feeling letter, set- 
 ting forth the unkind and unchristian course which he had 
 thus pursued against him. Confident, as he says, that his 
 own course had been right, and that the Board of the Western 
 society through this man's influence had been wrong, he de- 
 termined to continue his labors as though this unpleasant 
 transaction had not occurred, and on his return West have it 
 adjusted correctly. Meekly enough he subjoins, '' Most men 
 in my circumstances would resign at once, thus producing 
 a family quarrel, but I do not think it is expedient." It is 
 very gratifying to know that Mr. Peck's favorable anticipa- 
 tions in this case were fully realized. In October following, 
 the same Board which now had censured him reversed their 
 action, and thus this storm blew over innocuous. Something 
 is to be learned from this case, however, both by general 
 agents and directing boards ; and very happy will it be for 
 both when they so adjust all matters of mutual conference 
 
NEW YORK ASSOCIATIONS — HAMILTON SEMINARY. 311 
 
 and control as to spare one another such damaging manifesta- 
 tions of antagonism. 
 
 Cheerfully as though nothing had occurred to dampen his 
 ardor, he set forth the very next week to meet the associa- 
 tions, whose annual sessions continued week after week for 
 most of the remainder of the summer and early autumn. He 
 had prepared and printed a little tract of eight pages, by 
 distributing which among the pastors and delegates at their 
 anniversaries, he was enabled to present many important 
 facts in a more consecutive and permanent form than by an 
 oral address, and leave him at liberty, when preaching or 
 speaking in behalf of his object, to give more space to the 
 utterance of truths connected with the common salvation, and 
 the very marrow of the gospel of Christ. In these visits to 
 associations throughout his whole circuit, reaching almost to 
 the west and south of New York, and quite through the 
 centre, the east and north of the State, he was accompanied 
 by Rev. Lewis Leonard, his old friend of former years, who 
 pleaded the cause of the State Convention, and part of the time 
 by the veteran Dr. Kcndrick, who earnestly solicited the aid 
 of the churches for the education cause. With these men 
 and their objects he most cordially co-operated ; and it is 
 pleasant to notice in his journal with what interest he listened 
 to the good and grave doctor, and how many of his different 
 sermons (all brought to the same practical point however) 
 Mr. Peck preserved an analysis of, and seems to have 
 treasured up with the highest satisfaction. 
 
 His remarks on the state of the churches and ministers as 
 compared with those in the West, together with some incidents 
 which he met with, developing matters of a more general 
 character, might give some variety and additional interest to 
 this part of the chapter, but space cannot be allowed for them. 
 
 He witnessed the anniversary exercises at Hamilton, 
 where eighteen young men, who had finished their course of 
 studies, were sent forth, with the benedictions of their pro- 
 fessors and the prayers of the churches, to engage in their 
 great woi'k. Intensely interesting was the scene to him, for 
 
312 , MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 several were going to the West for which he had pleaded so 
 long. Two to western Pennsylvania, one to Tennessee, and 
 another to Wisconsin. 
 
 In the same neighborhood, a few days later, he listened to 
 a lecture by a Kev. Mr. Storrs, now a zealous Millerite, and, 
 as Mr. Peck says : 
 
 " Quite enthusiastic in the belief that Jesus Christ is coming next 
 year to raise the saints and burn the world, and that he will dwell 
 on earth one thousand years. He was severe on the clergy, as he 
 called all those ministers who will not receive fully and examine 
 his dogmata. He represented them and their members who 
 adhered to them as foolish virgins, not willing to see their Lord. 
 Now I regard this doctrine of a personal reign of Christ on earth, 
 after the present inhabitants are destroyed and all generations of 
 men cease, as exceedingly dishonorable to the Son of God in his 
 mediatorial kingdom. The fair representation in regard to these 
 men is, that finding the impossibility of converting or reforming 
 the world with all their intense and alarming messages, they 
 therefore conclude that it must be destroyed ! This lecturer is 
 quite sincere, probably, and he has fully converted to his theory 
 the pastor of the Welch Baptist church in Utica." 
 
 Incidentally Mr. Peck mentions the cheapness and comfort he 
 found in traveling on the canal from Utica to Rochester, two hun- 
 dred miles, for two dollars, good board included. In the latter city 
 he devoted an evening to listening to the notorious Abby Kelly. 
 Her speech and the others which he then heard, he says, " Were 
 characterized by violent gesticulation, rant, denunciation, and 
 especially the abuse of ministers and all organized churches. There 
 was a singular mixture of fanaticism, Quakerism, Unitarianism, and 
 infidelity, with ultraism of various hues, in all their speeches. Such 
 measures as they advocate can never free the poor slaves ; and their 
 tendency to unhinge society is obvious and appaling." Occasioned 
 probably by what was now passing around him, he wrote, while on 
 his journey, a series of editorial articles for the Banner and 
 Pioneer on " Ultraism." He seems to have found the associations 
 which he was able to attend generally harmonious, and imbued 
 with a good spirit. For the most part they very cordially wel- 
 comed the object for which he was now pleading. Many of the 
 dear old friends whom he had known twenty-five or thirty years 
 before, now welcomed him to their hearts and houses with grateful 
 
CROTON WATER WORKS—WESTERN ANNIVERSARIES. 313 
 
 cordiality. Among these he specially mentions Elder Harvey, by 
 Tvhose hand he put on Christ in baptism, more than thirty years 
 
 before. 
 
 Near the end of September he found it practicable to gratify his 
 desire of once more visiting his birthplace in Connecticut, and 
 calling on a large number of old neighbors and friends, by whom 
 he seems to have been welcomed with the utmost cordiality. After 
 three or four days delightfully spent in their society, each recount- 
 ing the way the Lord had led them for so many years, he took 
 what he then expected, and indeed proved to be, his final fareweU 
 both of the place and people. The following Sabbath he spent m 
 Amenia with the church which he left a third of a century before, 
 to prepare for his mission labors. A new generation had arisen; 
 but he found a few of the families of his former flock delighted to 
 see and hear him once more. All of the congregation, indeed, 
 knew him well by the report of their fathers and mothers, if not 
 in person ; and to them, by their common desire, he recounted 
 with deep interest the way his Lord had led him so many "years 
 in the wilderness, to humble him, and prove him, and to see 
 whether he would follow the Lord or not." The state of the West 
 he also portrayed before them in a kind of living imagery, which 
 seemed to set all the objects of greatest interest in a clear and 
 satisfactory light. • 
 
 In the middle of October he attended in New York city the celebra- 
 tion of the completion of the Cwton Water Works, the most Hercu- 
 lean enterprise, he thinks, ever attempted in this country. As a 
 temperance man and advocate, one of the most delightful and notice- 
 able characteristics of that immense gathering was the almost 
 universal prevalence of the temperance reformation. Of all the 
 miles of procession, and the acres of people who were mere 
 spectators, scarcely one could be seen intoxicated. In the evening 
 of the same day he attended a temperance meeting, and heard 
 Hawkins and Anderson of the original Washingtonians give some 
 of their " experience." In this way, he says, more than one thou- 
 sand dram shops in New York city had been shut up effectually, 
 and an untold amount of misery and ruin had been prevented. 
 
 Soon after, he repaired to Philadelphia, and spent considerable 
 time in free and earnest conferences with the Board and executive 
 officers of the Publication Society. Their corresponding secretary 
 talked of resigning his official connection with the society. What 
 should be done if he did, and what if he did not? were questions 
 of serious magnitude which the more active and responsible mem- 
 27 
 
314 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 bers of the Board found it difficult to answer satisfactorily. To 
 him they looked as one better qualified to aid them than any other 
 one, both from his long and intimate acquaintance with their wants, 
 the necessities of our widely-spread denomination in all parts of 
 the country, and also from his having recently felt the pulse and 
 tested the willingness of the churches to entertain this society as 
 one of their regular objects of religious benevolence. His opinion 
 was frankly expressed, that the secretary had better resign. He 
 also pointed out what he thought requisite to be done in order to 
 give the society a firmer hold on the confidence and liberal support 
 of the churches. But he declined giving any encouragement that 
 he could come to their aid, though many of the brethren entreated 
 him to consider the question, and expressed their conviction that 
 he was the only man who could successfully carry forward the en- 
 terprise at that period. 
 
 The 20th of October he bade adieu to Philadelphia, and with as 
 much expedition as the low water in the Ohio river would allow, 
 pushed forward to meet the Western Association at Cincinnati. 
 He reached that city the 27th, after the meetings had commenced. 
 Here he participated in all the important deliberations. The for- 
 mation of the Indian Mission Association was one of the chief of 
 these ; and though he did not expect much benefit from it, further 
 than to gratify and sustain the veteran McCoy and his family, 
 and to gratify some local feeling in the West, which was scarcely 
 satisfied with having a mission so peculiarly Western in its scope, 
 managed exclusively by an Eastern Board, he thought it better on 
 the whole to gratify this demand than to resist it. For the same 
 reasons the Board of this Indian Mission Association was located 
 in Louisville. The educational interest, and specially the Theologi- 
 cal Institution in Covington, then rising into some notice, engrossed 
 considerable attention. He looked to this most hopefully, and 
 spent much time with Brother E. Bobbins, its enterprising founder, 
 in counselling for its future course, and in endeavoring so to pro- 
 mote its success as should least interfere with the prosperity of 
 the irtfant colleges in the Western States, which so much needed 
 the fostering care and united support of their several localities. 
 
 Monday, the 31st of October, was his birthday ; he had finished 
 his fifty-third year, and seems astonished at the rapid flight of time 
 and years. But another aspect of the case still more deeply im- 
 pressed his mind, and he cries out, Bless the Lord, my soul, for 
 his abundant goodness ! 
 
 He took leave of Cincinnati, and the next day spent some time 
 
 1 
 
HOME AGAIN — EXTENSIVE CORRESrONDENCE. 315 
 
 in Louisville looking into the state of things, which he. found, so 
 far as the interests of the denominational paper of the "West, the 
 Banner and Pioneer— of which he had continued one of the editors • 
 
 to this time were concerned, somewhat confused and misatisfac- 
 
 tory. An informal meeting of the Board of the Western Baptist 
 Publication Society was also held, to whom he communicated his 
 general views of this subject, as they have above been stated. 
 
 The next day he pursued his rather slow course— owing to the 
 low stage of water— towards home. A Sabbath was spent on the 
 steamer ascending the Mississippi, and he and an EngUsh Brother 
 May, both preached on board the boat. They reached St. Louis 
 in safety on Monday, the 7th of November, and the following day, 
 in company with Dr. Huxtable, an English Baptist brother, who 
 went West to spend some weeks with Mr. Peck, he reached home, 
 finding his beloved family well and happy, which called forth his 
 praise and grateful acknowledgments. He had been absent seven 
 months. 
 
 With more time and undisturbed quiet than he had hitherto been 
 able to command, he now sat down and made a full written report to 
 the Baptist Pubhcation Society at Philadelphia ; accompanying it, 
 by their desire, with suggestions as to the wisest course to be subse- 
 quently pursued. He wrote, also, to some of the brethren of the 
 Board personally, explaining more minutely the di fficulties which had 
 become known to him, as growing out of their past action or want 
 of action, and suggesting the appropriate remedies. The tenor of 
 his journal at this period, and such copies of his letters as he pre- 
 served, indicate very decidedly how deep a hold of his convictions 
 this pubhcation work had taken, and how anxiously sohcitous he 
 had become that just the right measures should be pursued to 
 give it a firmer, broader hold on the regards of the churches. 
 
 The remainder of this month and the following one Mr. Peck 
 was engaged mainly in an extensive and laborious correspondence 
 with brethren in all parts of the country, writing sometimes a 
 dozen long letters a day, and on a variety of subjects, some, private 
 and personal, but far the.larger part with reference to various aspects 
 of the Eedeemer's kingdom, and the ways and means of its ad- 
 vancement. He seems to have favorably entertained a proposition 
 about this time to engage as a Western assistant to the Rev. David 
 Benedict, in helping to prepare the new edition of his History of 
 American Baptists. His plan was for Mr. Peck to undertake the 
 Western portion, and secure recent and reliable information in 
 regard to the rise and progress of all the Baptist associations in 
 
816 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 the West, and sketches of the history of the more important 
 churches, and of prominent individuals, ministers and others. To 
 prepare himself for such a work, he spread the net of his inquiries 
 over this whole region, and called forth many responses and much 
 aid, both in letters written to him particularly on this subject, and 
 in minutes and other documents which he procured. 
 
 But his labors in correspondence did not prevent his preaching 
 or lecturing on prophecies or on temperance, or some other useful 
 topic, nearly every Sabbath, and frequently on week-days and even- 
 ings. Among the rest, a protracted meeting at Bethel was held for 
 a week or more, and he was desired to do all the preaching, while 
 other ministers helped in prayer and exhortation. He did preach 
 once or twice each day, and by giving something like systematic 
 order and coherence to the range of topics which he discussed, much 
 more religious instruction was communicated than usual, and a 
 high degree of satisfaction was expressed with the results of the 
 meeting. If less were professedly converted than at some former 
 meetings of the kind, the ministers thought that more permanent 
 good was done, as the mind was much more fed, and the character 
 of the converts evinced more solidity and Scriptural knowledge 
 than usual. 
 
 A ministers' meeting was appointed at his house for the end of the 
 year, and to secure a large attendance, he wrote scores of letters. 
 The last day but one of the year 1842, a goodly number of the 
 brethren assembled. They had preaching once or twice a-day, and 
 held a private conference among themselves in the intervals, dis- 
 cussing some of the iihore important practical questions, relating 
 to Shurtleff College and ministerial education in the AYest : how 
 both might be carried forward with vigor and success. His own 
 case, and w^hat might be his duty in present circumstances, seems 
 also to have occupied considerable attention ; and he mentions how 
 deeply all were affected, when one of the Lemens, by request of his 
 brethren^ engaged in special prayer for him ; thanking God for pre- 
 serving his life so long, and for his continued usefulness to the cause 
 of Christ at large, and begging for Divine direction for him in 
 future. 
 
 The meeting continued for more than a week, and seems to have 
 been a season of much spiritual refreshment to them all. The 
 last question on which they deliberated was: "Has a parent, from 
 the authority vested in his hands by God and the laws of our 
 country, any right to coerce his child in matters strictly religious .?" 
 This question, he says, was brought up by a decision of Judge 
 
DEDICATION-SERMON FOR AFRICAN CHURCH. 31T 
 
 IjGwis, of Pennsylvania, against a Baptist minister (Rev. William S. 
 Hall), for baptizing a minor daughter of a Dr. Armstrong. After 
 fuU discussion, this ministers' meeting decided this question in the 
 negative. A distinguished doctor of divinity and a Baptist, at 
 nearly the same time, however, wrote to this judge, approving his 
 decision. Who, alas ! shall decide where the doctors thus disagree? 
 
 The middle of January, Mr. Peck visited St. Louis by request, 
 and found, to his great joy, a pleasant revival in the white and 
 colored Baptist churches. The immediate object in his' invitation 
 was for him to preach at the dedication of a new house of worship, 
 Just erected by the African church — a substantial brick edifice, 
 thirty-five by sixty-five feet, with galleries, and costing four thou- 
 sand dollars. Their church then consisted of more than three hun- 
 dred members, and they maintained good discipline. They had 
 already raised among themselves the larger part of the cost of the 
 house which that day they solemnly gave to the Lord. He gave a 
 sketch of the origin and history of this church, and its several 
 places of worship, all of which was listened to with deep interest. 
 
 Once and again he also preached for his esteemed Brother Hin- 
 ton, then pastor of the other Baptist church, where several con- 
 versions had lately been witnessed, and more were anxious. At 
 the same time he was getting from the surveyor-general's office 
 in St. Louis, such sketches a» would enable him to correct and per- 
 fect his new map for his Gazetteer of Illinois. 
 
 For the same purpose, a few .weeks later, he visited Springfield, 
 the seat of government of Illinois, and while there, engaged in doing 
 good, lecturing, preaching, and counselling with all the wise and 
 good whom he found assembled from difierent parts of the State. 
 The governor solicited him to accept the office of State Superin- 
 tendent of Instruction, then, as was supposed, about to be perma- 
 nently created. So much was this in harmony with some of the 
 important objects of his Hfe, ever since he had been in the West, 
 and so wide a field would it open for his usefulness, that it is no 
 wonder he felt strongly tempted to engage in it. It shows, more- 
 over, the high estimation in which he was held by his fellow- 
 citizens, and those most competent to appreciate his worth. But 
 the Lord had other designs for him. 
 
31S MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Secretaryship of the American Baptist Publication Society— His Ac- 
 ceptance and its Conditions. 
 
 On the 27th of February, 1843, Mr. Peck received, from a 
 private source, intelligence that he had been unanimously 
 elected to the Secretaryship of the Baptist Publication So- 
 ciety, Philadelphia. Four days later he had the official an- 
 nouncement from the hand of his predecessor, who still held 
 the office ad interim. This was a fair specimen of the effi- 
 ciency with which the most important business of the society 
 had been conducted. He was in some degree prepared for 
 this announcement, as by previous correspondence he had 
 known the wishes of a large number of the Board. To an 
 inquiry addressed to him some weeks earlier, whether he 
 would consent to accept this plac«, if elected, he had very 
 freely responded, stating at considerable length the conditions 
 precedent on which alone he could consent to serve, and 
 closing with the assurance that if any other brother could be 
 found able and willing to assume the arduous and difficult 
 duties of this office, he sincerely desired that he might be ap- 
 pointed ; since in his own case there were other doors of use- 
 fulness opened before him, more congenial Avith his health 
 and former habits, and also more remunerative. 
 
 It may be well, in this place, to give, in a condensed form, 
 from his own statement, the conditions on which he would 
 feel at liberty to entertain the proposition of accepting this 
 appointment. They were as follows : 
 
 ^ 1. Measures must be promptly adopted to inspire the denomina- 
 tion with confidence in the management and efficiency of the so- 
 ciety. He had found, the preceding year, great want of confidence 
 in the energy, efficiency, and economy of its management, which 
 proved one of the most serious obstacles in his path. He then did 
 
NEW PLANS FOR PUBLICATlOxN SOCIETY. 319 
 
 all in his power to produce confidence, and thinks he succeeded in 
 some degree. 
 
 2. Economy in the incidental expenditures must be carried to 
 the lowest point possible, without impairing the efficiency of the 
 society. The salaries of all employed in Philadelphia to be reduced 
 twenty per cent., beginning with his own office. 
 
 3. A thorough, searching examination to be at once instituted 
 into every department of the society, so as to ascertain the exact 
 value of the stock on hand, whether at the depository, or in the 
 hands of agents and colporteurs, or in branch depositories, with 
 the losses incurred by bad debts, depreciation of books, tracts, 
 plates, etc. 
 
 4. Make the corresponding secretary the general agent, with the 
 understanding that he shall be relieved from editing the Record — 
 a small monthly paper — and, also, that he spend not less than 
 two-thirds, and perhaps three-fourths of his time in agency works, 
 getting funds and superintending the sales and the colporteur sys- 
 tem. Make it the duty of the depository agent to conduct the 
 appropriate business correspondence of the depository and sales, 
 as well as the ordinary correspondence of the society, in his ab- 
 sence ; having, if need be, associated with him an advisory com- 
 raiittee of the Board, to counsel him in important matters. The 
 secretary, even on his tours of agency, to be still a diligent corres- 
 pondent, endeavoring to address every association, and every 
 principal church once a year, unless he paid them a personal visit. 
 To facilitate his operations, he should be provided with two forms 
 of circulars : one for associations, churches, and auxiliaries ; and the 
 other for ministers and other individuals. In all cases, when send- 
 ing one of the circulars, he should write a short letter on the blank 
 side of the sheet ; since people do not notice a mere printed circu- 
 lar, as they do a written letter. 
 
 The secretary should also visit all our colleges and theological 
 institutions, address the students on the objects of the society, and 
 keep up a correspondence with the officers, and with every society 
 of missionary inquiry. Should correspond, also, with all our home 
 missionaries, and with the secretaries of all general associations and 
 State conventions, inducing mutual co-operation, and opening chan- 
 nels for the circulation of the society's publications. Though this 
 double duty of corresponding secretary and general agent must be 
 arduous, self-denying, and responsible, it all must be done; and 
 since the society has not means, at present, to support two men 
 for this work it must be done by one. 
 
320 
 
 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Now, in view of this outline of both the comprehension and dis- 
 tribution of duties, 
 
 5. Will the acting members of the Board stand pledged mutually 
 and efficiently to co-operate in any feasible measure to make the 
 society what the denomination needs and expects ? 
 
 "Probably it would be requisite for me, if I accept the office to 
 reserve one or two months, to be with my family and attend to my 
 personal affairs, with a proj)ortionate reduction of salary One 
 thing more in reference to my health: I cannot expose myself to. 
 travel m the severe weather of winter in a northern climate, and, 
 consequently, any agency service I may perform in winter mus 
 be in a southern field." 
 
 With this full outline of his views, which the Board bv 
 pressing his acceptance of the office, and the assurance ihat 
 he was the only man they could find capable of carrying out 
 their designs, did expressly indorse and approve, the wav 
 was fully opened for his entrance on this enlarged sphere of 
 labor. He had counted the cost, and with deliberation and 
 resoluteness put his hand to the plough. 
 
 March and the first part of April he remained at home, and in 
 Its immediate neighborhood, putting the finishing hand to some of 
 his begun labors and enterprises, and preparing himself and family 
 as well as possible for a long separation. He continued, moreover 
 the extensive correspondence in which he had been engaged' 
 making it a preparation for the work in which he was so soon to 
 be fully engrossed, and calling forth the counsels and pledges of 
 co-operation from those whom he addressed in all parts of the 
 country. He seems, also, very fervently to have sought the Divine 
 blessing on this devotement of himself to a new, wide, and very re- 
 sponsible sphere of service; and he also sought very earnestly the 
 prayers of his brethren, that the sacrifice he was now willing to 
 make might not be in vain. The weather, for these two monlhs 
 was remarkab y severe ; storm after storm of the most terrific char! 
 acter occurred; and when it was the time of year for the genial re- 
 turn of spring, the rigid frosts and deep snows held undisputed 
 sway. On the 5.h of April, he writes, not a green thing haslet 
 started from the frost-bound earth. The following day he engaged 
 his passage by steamer from St. Louis, and taking leave of his 
 family and other friends, he set forth on his way to Philadelphia. 
 A young man, an entire stranger, occupied the same state-room 
 
JOURNEY TO PHILADELPHIA. 321 
 
 with liim, and improved the opportunity, -wliile Mr. Peck was 
 asleep, of abstracting from his pantaloons' pocket two little pack- 
 ages of gold coin, amounting to sixty-two and a half dollars — nearly 
 all the money he had. It was done so stealthily — though his 
 nether garments had carefully been placed behind him in his berth 
 — that he was not awakened, and the thief went on shore, probably 
 at Sraithland, without exciting any suspicion. On his explaining 
 to the officers of the boat, in the morning, the robbery, they prom- 
 ised to use their best endeavors, by the aid of their agent at Smith- 
 land, to detect the perpetrator of this villainy. But he remained 
 undiscovered, and the loss was final. Our brother, with charac- 
 teristic equanimity, enters in his journal: "Though it is nearly all 
 of my ready money, yet I am not disturbed. Providence will pror 
 vide ! I can only say, in regard to this wicked young man, ' Lord 
 have mercy on him.' " 
 
 Stopping for a few hours at Louisville, he called on Mr. Buck at 
 his office, and about this time demanded to have his name taken 
 from, the head of the Banner and Pioneer as one of its editors. 
 This semi-official connection had continued from the time when his 
 own paper, the Pioneer, was transferred to Louisville and united 
 with the Banner, and he had written a great deal for it ; but in the 
 new and official relations which he was henceforth to sustain, he 
 seems to have felt, and justly, that there would be an incongruity 
 in his appearing as one of the editors of a paper some of whose con- 
 tents might prove embarrassing to him and to the society he was 
 to serve. 
 
 His good-will to the paper and its conductors was not by this 
 step diminished. He wrote for it frequently and ably, as a con- 
 tributor-, but ^thout editorial responsibility. While on the steamer, 
 passing up the Ohio river, his journal shows that he was busy 
 in writing out some numbers of a series of articles on the prophe- 
 cies, under the head of *' Millerism," which was now making con- 
 siderable headway in the West. In Cincinnati, he found that the 
 Episcopalians were lecturing and writing on the prophecies, espe- 
 cially on the second advent of Christ to live on earth one thousand 
 years — the old Millenarian doctrine. 
 
 He was cheered by the companionship of a Brother Potts, a 
 missionary to the Indians, and they reached Wheeling on ther night 
 of the 14th April. In getting his baggage from the steamer, Mr. 
 Peck fell down the stairway, cut his head, which bled profusely'-, 
 but undeterred by this and his want of rest, which it occasioned, 
 he took the early mail-stage the next morning and hastened ou his 
 
322 MEMOIR OF JOHN U. TECK. 
 
 journey. The next night, very weary and worn out, he reached 
 IBaltimore. But after restmg a few hours, he felt obliged to hasten 
 on to Philadelphia, which he reached the afternoon of the 17th, 
 and for about a week devoted himself early and late to the investi- 
 gation of the affairs of the Publication Society., 
 
 The investigation which he then made showed that some 
 things were better and some worse than he had expected. 
 On the whole, he determined to press onward, right onward, 
 and endeavor to earn and deserve success. In company with 
 several Philadelphia brethren, he hurried onward to Albany, 
 where the Baptist anniversaries were that year held. He 
 reached there in time for the earliest of them, and with deep 
 interest attended them all. This, indeed, was always char- 
 acteristic of him ; and to this trait he owed in no small degree 
 his success. He was too good and too great a man to narrow 
 down his sympathies and ardent good-will to that branch of 
 benevolence with which he was officially connected, and never 
 evinced the slightest jealousy l^gt others should secure more 
 than their share of the attentions and the benefactions of the 
 public. 
 
 The annual report of the Publication Society had been 
 drawn up by his predecessor, but he read it, and took at once 
 the official position to which he was entitled. The arrange- 
 ments for resolutions, addresses, etc., had been but imperfectly 
 made, and the audience at this anniversary was neither large 
 nor enthusiastic. However, the new secretary seemed to feel 
 that he must familiarize himself to reveres. 
 
 It appeared that the contributions to the society of the en- 
 tire 3^ear only reached the meager sum of fifteen hundred and 
 fifty dollars, for the general purposes of its organization, and 
 the receipts from all sources, exclusive of a small amount 
 towards a building fund, were eight thousand, five hundred 
 and fifty-three dollars. Triie, there had been some public re- 
 verses in the pecuniary affairs of the country. There had 
 been an opportunity for the penurious to excuse themselves 
 on the complaint of hard times ; but the report very justly re- 
 marked, that this excuse would not suffice to account for this 
 
NEW YORK ANNIVERSARIES — SOCIETY WORK. 323 
 
 beggarly deficiency: for, "The very superfluities of Baptist 
 living would have been ample to furnish a working capital 
 for the denominational Publication Society." 
 
 As soon as the anniversaries closed, he hastened back to 
 Philadelphia, and applied himself with vigor to preparing the 
 annual report and accompanying documents for the press, and 
 to examining still more minutely and thoroughly into the 
 general state of the society's affairs. This was only inter- 
 mitted for a few days the second week in May, to •'Enable him 
 to attend the general anniversaries in New York. 
 
 The anniversaries proper which Mr. Peck attended in New 
 York, were the Seamen's Friend Society, the New York 
 Sunday-school Society (where he made one of the addresses), 
 the American Tract Society, where Kincaid was very happy 
 in delineating tract operations among the Burmans and 
 Karens, and Dr. Nevin, very truthful in describing the Ger- 
 man character in the West ; a convention called by a Mr. 
 Bingham, a missionary from the Sandwich Islands, for a con- 
 ference on the evangelization of the world — a new organiza- 
 tion proposed for this end being opposed by Rev. Dr. An- 
 derson, Secretary of the American Board, for fear it would 
 clash with other organizations ; the American, Fedobaptist^ 
 Home Mission Society, w^here he heard some good and sen- 
 sible speaking ; the American Bible Society, where he thought 
 the tirades uttered against sectarianism, against Puseyism, 
 and against Romanism, by several of the speakers, were in 
 exceedingly bad taste at a Bible anniversary. In the end, he 
 attended the anniversary of the American Temperance Union, 
 where some of the Washingtonians held forth. 
 
 The venerable Lyman Beecher, his old neighbor and friend, also 
 gave the following account of the origin of temperance efforts in 
 America : — He stated that in 1811 he attended two ordinations in 
 Connecticut, where rum, brandy, and all sorts of intoxicating liquors 
 were profusely drank, even by the clergy ; that at the General As- 
 sociation of Congregationalists in 1812, a committee on this subject 
 reported that nothing could be done to arrest the evil of intemper- 
 ance, when he (Dr. Beecher) moved a recommitment of the report, 
 and was added to the committee, who thereupon brought in a reso- 
 
324 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK : 
 
 lution recommending the disuse of ardent spirits at - ordinations 
 and like occasions : that this led on to his six sermons, preached 
 and since published, and that here, and in this way, originated the 
 great temperance movement. 
 
 At the close of the week he returned to Philadelphia, and re- 
 sumed the work on which he was before engaged. Soon he ar- 
 ranged to lodge in the depository building, thus saving both time 
 and expense, and also securing what he seems to have much prized, 
 more undisturbed opportunity for private devotion. He was not a 
 little embarrassed by the connection of the Kecord with the Publi- 
 cation Society. . It was objected to by many, as really little else 
 than the local religious paper of the Baptists in Philadelphia, while 
 at the same time the funds of the Society were used to sustain it. 
 The desire of the secretary, after looking into the matter, was to 
 secure the Baptist Memorial and unite it with the Record, the Al- 
 manac and Annual Report, making the publication monthly, and 
 pretty closely identified with the interests of the society. But he 
 found a difficulty in securing the concurrence of the Board, some 
 of whose members were tenacious for having it a weekly paper. 
 
 Under date of May 20th he mentions that Brethren C^ and H., 
 formerly Baptist ministers, beloved and confided in, but now carried 
 away by Millerism, called on him in. passing through Philadelphia on 
 their way to the West, to propagate the delusion of Christ's personal 
 coming in 1843-44. "They conversed with me for an hour, and 
 I tried to show them that the judgment announced in Dan. vii. was 
 not the last great day of judgment, but rather the providential 
 judgment of God on the monster, in which he would break down 
 the anti-christian hierarchies and open the way for Christ to come 
 by his gospel and Spirit to convert the world. These good men are 
 deluded. The devil is certainly very busy with good men to spoil 
 their usefulness." 
 
 Mr. Peck's free and generous spirit led him often to overdo 
 in order to comply with the wishes, and lighten the burden 
 of his ministering brethren, the pastors of the city churches. 
 Once and again his journal notices the pressure thus brought 
 on him by being persuaded to supply for one and another, so 
 that very often he preached three times on the Sabbath, and 
 walked half a dozen miles from one remote part of the city 
 to another. The consequence was that at a late hour Sabbath 
 jaight he would reach his solitary lodgings in the depository 
 
NEW ENGLAND MEETINGS— REVIVALISTS. 325 
 
 quite worn out. On the 19th of May he took part in the 
 anniversaries of the American Sunday-school Lnion. Drs. 
 Tyng, Leland. and Higgins spoke before him, the two latter 
 quite long. He spoke twenty minutes, giving statistical fact^ 
 of the Western valley, and Dr. L. Beecher spoke as much 
 lono-er on general principles. Though quite unwell, he went 
 home from these exercises Snd was engaged several hours m 
 preparing a large amount of appropriate matter for an extra 
 Record which the Board now wished to issue. Such are fair 
 specimens of what occurred in the history of almost every 
 
 week and day. 
 
 Monday, May 29th. Though quite unwell, set forth on a tour to • 
 meet the New England anniversaries in Boston. Tuesday attended 
 the anniversary of the New England Sunday-school Umon, where 
 he had been announced to speak, but those preceding him were 
 so intolerably long, that he declined. Next day the Northern 
 Baptist Education Society was held, and at the end a sort of 
 conference on education occurred, at which he spoke a short 
 time on "the state of our ministry in the Western valley. 
 At the social tea-party that evening, he gave, by request, some 
 account of the late Jeremiah Yardeman. Then followed the meet- 
 ings promotive of foreign and home missions; before the latter, 
 Dr Wayland preaching from Rev. xiv. 15 with his usual ability. 
 The following Sabbath evening, at the united Baptist lecture, he 
 preached in behalf of the Publication Society and the West. The 
 house was full and the impression was favorable ; but just as he 
 was about to clinch the nail he had driven, and call out the 
 hberahty of the brethren in a collection for the object, there was 
 an alarm of fire, which broke up the assembly abruptly. Thus 
 were his hopes prostrated. He stayed another week, visited some 
 churches at their week-night lecture, and twice preached on his 
 object, the following Lord's-day, but it proved rainy. Then he 
 hastened away from Boston to attend the Connecticut anniversaries, 
 meeting that year at Norwich, where the pastor. Brother M. G. 
 • Clark received him most cordially. The Baptists in Connecticut 
 number about one hundred and twenty churches, and some fifteen 
 thousand communicants, with one hundred ministers. On home 
 missions Mr. Peck made an address, designed to show the encourage- 
 ment there was to labor for the evangeUzation of the Western valley. 
 On Thursday the Pubhcation and Sunday-school cause came up. He 
 ^8 
 
326 MEMOIIt OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Bpoke again on this^ubject, and notices that considerable feelin- was 
 mam ested. Prospects of eo-operation in his object of the breSiren 
 and churches in his native State he thought very favorable. x\ear 
 the close of the session, a celebrated revivalist preacher and pastor 
 of that neighborhood preached, producing as usual great effect. 
 Mr. Peck records his doubts, however, whether such spasmodic 
 nfluence is the best and most permanently useful. He notices 
 «iat a number of Baptists under nhis revivalist's ministrations 
 have become as noisy as any of our frontier people. They cry out 
 'Hallelujah!' 'Amen!' ■ (Jlory to God !' and other like explet!ves 
 very frequently and vociferously, and such habits, in these regions' 
 I c^annot but regard as decidedly injurious, as their natural 
 tendency ,s to ultraism and disorder." Friday he went to New 
 London and lectured at night on the Publication Society and its 
 influence on the West. The following day and the Sabbath 
 ensuing he spent w^th the second and thi/d Baptist churches 
 m Groton where a l.fe-membership was also secured. On Sabbath 
 evening he went to Stonington borough and preached. The 
 two fol owing days, in company with beloved brethren who 
 desired to promote his health and happiness, he took several water 
 ex ursions-boarded a noble, whaler just ready to sail for the 
 Indian Ocean-took a few blue fish and crossed over to Watch 
 House Point, and obtained a fine view of the three States, Rhode 
 Island Connecticut, and New York, as well as of Block Isknd and 
 the Atlantic Ocean. In the evening attended a temperance mee^ 
 
 ZiZ^ZfoT^tT ^^ '""'"'' ^-"'^ ^^^^* -tisfacLn tit 
 
 h:Xd:':T:ai?Lm!nT- :; ^^^°™"'°"' '-^'^^ -'^^-^^ 
 
 thft'vea';.\f r'r'/'" ^'°r'""' ^'"''" ^^-"-tion; meeting 
 that yeai at \ oluntown. He notices a characteristic sermon 
 preached during the session by the revivalist, and another ZZ 
 Bible Society question, in the close of which it was stated that oM 
 Irc^fer:; E °"" '=°""P"T^ '"'' -^"'^ «f *« -clesiastle 1 hief 
 
 mel'l JT V *^t"--l'-- 1° ^^"S-t h^e attended'a ea i^ 
 
 rur^and o the*; "' ""'''/' Winebrennarians, near Harris- 
 
 Durg, and so the summer passed away. 
 
SECRETARY OF PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 827 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Secretaryship— Wreck of the Shepherdess Steamer — Tonrs and 
 Labors. 
 
 The position of the Baptist Publication Society in the 
 year 1843, and that point at which it is found twenty years 
 later, are so dissimilar that it may be difficult fully to appre- 
 ciate the embarrassments of the chief functionary at the 
 former period. One prime object of Mr. Peck in his dis- 
 courses, and the written and printed appeals which he sent 
 forth to the churches, was to awaken a livelier interest in 
 good reading, for the purpose of promoting the higher intelli- 
 gence of the membership and the community. '* Give 
 attendance to reading" was a favorite and pertinent theme 
 on which he often discoursed to conventions, associations, and 
 churches. They began to wake up to the importance of it ; 
 and as the result, they sent to the society, not the means to 
 provide the requisite books, but clamorous demands for publi- 
 cations on credit — for more books, and in greater variety, but 
 not the funds for producing them. The demand was for 
 bricks in more extended tale than ever, but little straw was 
 furnished for their manufacture. This was one of the em- 
 barrassments of the secretary. Could but a few generous- 
 hearted, enterprising friends of this cause then have come 
 forward — as they have at a later period — with endowments 
 by thousands of dollars at once, how it would have lifted the 
 cloud before him, and smoothed ^his way to earlier, larger 
 success ! A public sentiment had not yet been formed of 
 sufficient power to draw forth such gifts, and the society had 
 to feel its way with a degree of timid caution which hard 
 necessity imposed. 
 
 Repeated, short ex.cursions were made into New England 
 and the Middle States, where some little help was obtained, 
 
328 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and more proiiHsed ; but it came very slowly. From May 
 to December he preached seventy-eight times, delivered thirty 
 other addresses, visited forty-five churches ofiicially, four 
 associations, five State conventions, six ministers' meetings, 
 one camp-meeting, and one college commencement, and 
 traveled three thousand three hundred and ten miles, besides 
 office- work enough to have fully engrossed an ordinary man. 
 Such were his common experiences and efforts, for the whole 
 period of his official connection with the society, varied and 
 somewhat relieved by his annual visit to Rock Springy The 
 first of these visits was marked by fearful peril. He was 
 hoping to reach his family by New- Year's day, but the boat 
 proved a slow one, and the low stage of the water retarded 
 their progress. On the last Sabbath of the year, by invita- 
 tion of the captain and passengers, he preached from the 
 text of 1 Peter iv. Y, The end of all things is at hand, etc. 
 How solemnly appropriate to the captain and others of that 
 company ! On entering the Mississippi river from the Ohio, 
 the " White Cloud," from New Orleans, passed them, and 
 some half a dozen passengers got on board of her, because 
 she was so much faster than the " Shepherdess," on which 
 he was traveling. His journal is as follows : • 
 
 Jan. dd. Our boat lay by for some hours this morning before 
 light, as the navigation was deemed dangerous. At sunset we 
 were a few miles above Herculaneum. At nine o'clock the cabin 
 passengers signed a testimonial of thanks to the captain for his 
 carefulness and prudence in navigating the boat amid the dangers 
 of the Mississippi at this low stage of water, as snags abound in 
 the channel. Retired to my berth at about half-past nine, with my 
 clothes on except my coat, the night being very cold. After con- 
 siderable time I fell asleep. Near eleven o'clock I was awakened 
 by a dreadful crash : the boat struck a large snag, scarcely above 
 the surface of the water. This occurred a little below the mouth 
 of Cahokia creek. I heard nearly at the same instant screams of 
 distress, and sprang from my berth, put on my coat, seized one 
 boot, but before I could put it on the water was rushing into my 
 state-room, which was forward of the wheel-house. Without boots 
 or hat I rushed on to the guard, seized the projecting portion of 
 
WRECK OF THE SHEPHERDESS — NARROW ESCAPE. 329 
 
 the hurricane (or upper) deck, where, after considerable difficulty, 
 I succeeded in getting on to that deck. A number of persons were 
 already there, and many more got on from the stern afterward. 
 The bow was so far under water as to cover the guards, but the 
 stern held up some time longer. 
 
 Hearing cries in the ladies' cabin I got the pole of a wagon on 
 the deck, and thrusting it in at the sky-light tried to pry off the 
 roof, but found it impossible. The ladies, however, succeeded 
 in getting on the hurricane deck, as did most of the steerage 
 passengers. The boat was then floating sideways down the current, 
 and soon ran on another snag and careened partly over. This 
 threw ofif the boilers, and the bow thus lightened, brought the 
 guards to the surface. The hull- of the boat then separated and 
 floated alongside the cabin and upper works. Next the smoke- 
 stacks, or chimneys fell, which tore off the end of the hurricane deck. 
 Captain Howell, with several other persons, was killed or knocked 
 overboard by the fall of the chimneys. The wheel-houses were 
 soon separated from the deck, and floated off or sunk. 
 
 Finding myself exposed to the piercing atmosphere, I got down 
 on the guards. But before this I had prayed repeatedly with the 
 people around me. At first there was much confusion, and many 
 screams and bowlings to God for mercy. Some professors of 
 religion prayed consistently. While I was on the guard, and the 
 hull of the boat was floating alongside, I got on the bow, and stood 
 for some minutes, but not liking its movements I was induced to 
 return to the guard again. Soon the hull struck a blufif-bar and 
 turned nearly over. Several were on it, and were drowned. Persons 
 now gathered planks, doors, and pieces of the wreck to swim on. 
 I looked about for something of the kind, but finally concluded to 
 stick by the wreck while it floated. 
 
 The hurricane deck fell after a -while, caused I suppose by the 
 weight of the people upon it. We were now on a sort of raft, 
 formed by the cabin-floor and guards, which continued floating as 
 the current bore us, first on one side, then in the middle, and then 
 on the other side of the river. Some were entirely wet— men, 
 women and children, with very Uttle clothing on. They suffered 
 intensely. A steamer lay at the shot-tower, just above Videpoche, 
 and as we passed near, we aroused the men on board, who came 
 off in their yawl. As it neared the wreck, I directed them to pass 
 around to the stern, and first relieve the women and children, who 
 were perishing. They took on board their boat most of the ladies 
 and children, and put them on shore. The next time the yawl 
 
380 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 came near the stern on my side. I had made up my mind — since 
 I did not suffer as severely as some others — to give them the 
 preference ; but seeing a httle girl quite helpless, I caught her up 
 and leaped into the boat. By this time we had floated a long 
 distance down the current, and were landed a full mile below Yide- 
 poche, so that I had to walk without boots or shoes. My stockings 
 were soon worn through. The ground was frozen hard, and its 
 sharpness hurt me at every step. One foot was frozen about the 
 ball, and very much cut. I carried, too, one of the babes of Mrs. 
 Snell, a passenger. On reaching the first house they would not let 
 us in. At the next we obtained shelter and refreshment. Soon 
 after a little girl was brought in by some men, entirely cold, speech- 
 less, senseless. I got a blanket, removed her wet and frozen gar- 
 ments, and rubbed her with flannels and vinegar. It was about an 
 hour before she began to moan, and more than four hours before 
 any warmth appeared, except about the heart. She so far 
 recovered before I left the place as to speak. [Her name was 
 Maria Pool, and some days after, in St. Louis, Mr. Peck received 
 the grateful acknowledgments of her parents.] A boy was 
 brought in alive and I prescribed the same course for him, but he 
 was suffered to die. Another girl was brought in dead. The 
 yawl went four times to the wreck, and the ferry-boat Icelander 
 helped to complete the work. Soon as da^^^hght dawned I went to 
 the store and bought a cap and shoes. Went also to the wreck in 
 a steam tug sent down by the Mayor of St. Louis, found my large 
 trunk with manuscripts and other materials, with overcoat, so that 
 the pecuniary loss was but about thirty dollars. At an early 
 period, and when the boat was breaking up, I fully expected death, 
 as I could not swim, but felt calm and resigned, no ecstasy and no 
 fear, but perfect self-possession, with ability to think of, and care 
 and pray for others. Eternity will never seem nearer till I enter it. 
 
 Though dreadfully lamed by the disaster, Mr. Peck, with 
 characteristic energy, rode home the next day, before his 
 beloved family had heard of his wreck. Far and near his 
 friends were greatly moved by his great peril, and their 
 sympathies and congratulations poured in upon him from 
 every side. Thus briefly he records his sense of obligation 
 to the Divine hand which rescued him : " Blessed be God 
 for his goodness to me. I consider myself under additional 
 
HIS LABORS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 331 
 
 obligation, anew to devote myself unreservedly to his ser- 
 vice." 
 
 Through the following week he was confined to his room, 
 obliged to poultice his frozen, lacerated, and badly swollen 
 feet, but nevertheless vigorously engaged in writing. A full 
 sketch of the disaster he sent off to several periodicals ; and 
 by the earnest desire of many friends he immediately set 
 himself to work collecting the proper facts to be embodied in 
 a memorial to Congress, urging an appropriation for the 
 removal of snags and obstructions to navigation in the 
 Western rivers. This was soon completed and forwarded, 
 and was so favorably regarded that a generous appropriation 
 was made for this important purpose. Thus promptly 
 assiduous did he prove himself in turning all the events of 
 his varied life to good, for the welfare of his country, and the 
 safety of his fellow-men 
 
 For about ten weeks, or till the middle of March, he re- 
 mained about his home at Rock Spring, though the larger part 
 even of this period was given, directly or indirectly, to pro- 
 moting the interests of the Publication Society. Besides 
 abundant correspondence in its behalf with friends all over 
 the country, he appealed personally to as many churches as 
 he could visit both in Illinois and Missouri. His prime 
 object was to raise two hundred dollars, and establish with it 
 a depository in St. Louis, and a somewhat smaller depository 
 of their publications at Alton, hoping that these examples 
 would provoke other communities to a worthy emulation. 
 The quotas of books and tracts which the life-members were 
 entitled to he also delivered or sent to them as far as possible, 
 so that zeal for this good work might grow by what it fed on. 
 
 In his return journey East, he contrived to plead his 
 cause in Kentucky and Ohio ; and early in April, found him- 
 self again in Philadelphia, where, after a brief survey, he 
 ^^Tites : " Prospects of the society far more encouraging than 
 when I entered the depository a year ago. In this respect 
 my success has fully equalled my expectations; not by 
 collecting ample funds, but by inducing economy and system. 
 
332 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 and especially by making a general impression on the denomi- 
 nation, and rousing up a spirit of practical and mutual co- 
 operation." 
 
 The next work was to gather materials, then prepare, write 
 and re-write the annual report of the society. On a review 
 of his own labors for the society he found that during the 
 year he had traveled seven thousand and ninety miles, 
 preached one hundred and twenty-four sermons, written eight 
 hundred and fifty letters of official correspondence, besides 
 sending out many hundreds of religious circulars. 
 
 In the report he advocated with earnestness setting about 
 raising a publishing fund of fifty thousand dollars in five 
 years. So favorably was this regarded, that at the anniver- 
 sary, held that year in Philadelphia, the project was approved, 
 and nearly one thousand dollars in cash and pledges were se- 
 cured on the spot, which the secretary hoped "might prove 
 an indication of what will generally be done." 
 
 In May and in July of this year, he notices with deep 
 sorrow and mortification the riots in Philadelphia, aimed 
 mainly against the Catholics. These were not the means he 
 approved for securing or defending Protestant ascendency. 
 The truth in love he thought better than bludgeons or incen- 
 diary torches for this purpose. 
 
 His time till near the middle of September was nearly 
 equally divided between office work, the selection and super- 
 intendence of publications, correspondence and the like, and 
 going among the churches and associations of the States of 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, 
 calling forth interest and aid, and specially pressing the fifty 
 thousand dollar effort. Carson's works on Baptism, Fuller's 
 works, and some of Booth's works, were then edited and their 
 publication commenced. 
 
 Early in the autumn he set his face to the West again, 
 spending some time in western Pennsylvania, and then 
 hurrying on as fast as the low stage of water in the Ohio would 
 allow, he just reached Illinois in time to meet their State 
 Convention in Belleville, near his family home, the first week 
 
VISIT TO GENERAL JACKSON. 333 
 
 in October. Failing to meet the Kentucky General Associa^ 
 tion the middle of that month, he met with that of Tennessee 
 at the end of it, and gave several weeks afterward to the 
 prosecution of the society's interests in middle Tennessee. 
 This was in the midst of the exciting political canvass of 
 1844, which nowhere raged with more violence and intensity 
 of interest than in the native State of Mr. Polk, the success- 
 ful candidate. His own State was carried, by a very small 
 majority against him, while he prevailed in the Union at 
 large. 
 
 Three or four days immediately preceding the election Mr. 
 Peck was in Nashville, where he says, " Meetings, mobs, 
 speeches, songs, processions and fights were the order of the 
 day." The week before, in company with a few Baptist 
 preachers on their way to Wilson county, where the Baptist 
 anniversaries Avere that year held, Mr. Peck had called again 
 on General Jackson, at the Hermitage. He was not well 
 that day and had refused himself to other company, but 
 learning who they were now desiring to pay their respects 
 to the Ex-President, he at once required their admission. He 
 was evidently quite feeble — sitting near his bed — but not 
 emaciated, and preserving still the same genial urbanity of 
 deportment of which he was a consummate master. He had 
 that very morning been publishing some political paper of 
 considerable severity, but which contained, in the close, a 
 few sentences from Washington's farewell address, -exhorting 
 all portions of the country to seek its continued Union. One 
 of the preachers adverted to this with commend'ation, which 
 fired up the patriotism of the old veteran. For a few 
 moments he quite forgot his infirmit}' , and poured out a well- 
 digested apostrophe to the spirit of union, and mutual con- 
 cession on the part of all his countrymen. His eye kindled, 
 his tall frame dilated to its full proportions, and he showed 
 himself again the great patriot captain which he was, 
 especially whenever "the designs of traitorous Catalines were 
 to be thwarted. 
 
 With the venerable Colonel William Martin also, a worthy 
 
334 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 Baptist brother, then seventy-nine years old, but hale and 
 vigorous, Mr. Peck formed a pleaaing intimacy, accompany- 
 ing him to his home in a romantic vale in Smith county, 
 Tenn., and spending a few days, pen in hand, taking down 
 from the Christian veteran's' lips many of the remarkable in- 
 cidents connected with his own and his associates' endurances 
 and successes, both in their civil and religious history. 
 
 This visit to Tennessee the secretary was wont to speak 
 of afterward as one of the pleasantest of his ofiBcial labors ; 
 not largely remunerative in pecuniary results, but helping, as 
 he thought, the fraternal union and permanent co-operation of 
 the widely-extended brotherhood for whose general welfare he 
 was always solicitous. Who can say how much the prayers 
 and labors, the spirit and deportment of such a man are even 
 now doing to bring back that noble State to the cordial union 
 and fellowship aimed' at by the loyal adherents to the Con- 
 stitution and Government which our fathers have bequeathed 
 to us ? 
 
 November 11th Mr. Peck set out, on his return from Nash- 
 ville, to St. Louis, on board a small, stern-wheel steamer, which 
 proved a slow one, and consumed a whole week in the trip, 
 which ordinarily occupies only half this time. He suffered some- 
 what from illness, but prompt remedies and cheerful friends 
 soon put him in good spirits again ; and when wearied with his 
 writing, to which, whenever able, he gave some of the best 
 hours of each day, he beguiled the weariness of the long pas- 
 sage by recapitulating, to willing listeners, his varied expe- 
 riences on these western waters for nearly thirty years, from 
 his first ascent in a little boat with oars, sails, and setting- 
 poles, in 181 T, down to his fearfully-disastrous shipwreck on 
 board the Shepherdess the winter previous. As he passed 
 the very spot which had so nearly proved fatal to him, he 
 looked through some dimming tears of tender, sad remem- 
 brances, on the scene of such deeply tragic interest. 
 
 On reaching St. Louis, he learned two things of significant 
 interest and importance : first, that Rev. Mr. Hinton, pastor 
 of that Baptist church which he had regarded with so much 
 
DESCRirTION OP MR. PECK'S FAMILY AND HOME. 835 
 
 love, and cared for and labored with so earnestly, had given 
 notice the day preceding of his determination to leave them 
 the following month, in order to raise a Baptist church in New 
 Orleans ; next, the news had just reached the place, that New 
 York had cast her electoral vote for Mr. Polk, instead of Mr. 
 Clay, thus deciding the contest in favor of the former. On 
 the result Mr. Peck remarks in his journal : " Thus, after thS 
 most exciting contest ever waged, and the most ludicrous, 
 reckless, unprincipled means ever employed in an election, 
 the result has turned out precisely as it would, had no such 
 efforts been made." 
 
 Early the following month, a considerable gathering of 
 ministers occurred at hfs house. He had lamed himself 
 badly, and could not go to them, and invited some twenty of 
 these brethren to meet him and a brother secretary, most of 
 whom came at the appointed time. One of the number thus 
 describes the scene, which, as it seems to have been no un- 
 usual occurrence, and helps to a more accurate conception of 
 his home and his neighbors, is here inserted : 
 
 "Kock Spring is the home, and for so many years has been the 
 center of influence of the veritable author of the Emigrant's Guide 
 and the Gazetteer of Illinois ; the man whose publications and cor- 
 respondence have led more settlers into this State than any other 
 ten men. Who needs to be told that this is the Eev. J. M. Peck ! 
 We should love to draw aside the veil, just a little, from this do- 
 mestic scene. It proves that he who has shared the hospitality of 
 BO many families, in all parts of our country, is as willing to exer- 
 cise as to accept it. See his cheerful helpmate, contenting herself 
 as best she may to abide at home and assiduously care for the wel- 
 fare of the family and guests, having never re-visited her native 
 New England since her first departure in 1817. Nor can you fail 
 to notice that daughter Mary, with the father's energy, and the 
 mother's quietness : how steady, noiseless, and efficient are all her 
 movements ! and to her, in no small degree, are owing the comfort 
 and happiness which always smile around that dwelling. We need 
 say nothing of the sons, for the older ones were now absent, and 
 of younger, half-grown men it is not quite fair to speak j for they 
 are not yet what they soon will be, or ought to be : but as their 
 good, considerate mother said : ' They do so much need their father 
 
336 I MEMOIR OF JOHN M. TECK. 
 
 Tv^itli them.' Still, we can truthfully testify to the kind-hearted 
 ingenuousness which they uniformly evinced. May they one day 
 prove their parents' crown of rejoicing! 
 
 *'A good farm, lying around this Kock Spring (you should re- 
 member that neither rocks nor springs are frequent hereabouts,) 
 and a comfortable, pleasant house, larger in its capacity to furnish 
 good accommodations for the family and numerous guests, by day 
 and by night, than any of its size we ever saw, is the home of this 
 brother. He had expected our coming, and knowing how very 
 hmited our stay must be, had arranged every thing in the best 
 order possible to fill up the day. Most of the morning was spent 
 with him alone, in his study. What accumulations of laborious 
 carefulness and orderly accretions, during a long lifetime, here sur- 
 round you ! Near noon the neighboring ministers, for a dozen or 
 twenty miles around, begin to arrive. After some time spent in 
 introductions and mutual greetings, dinner being over, a goodly- 
 sized congregation met in the Rock Spring Seminary building, of 
 former years, now only used as a chapel. After praise and prayer 
 and preaching, some of us strolled over the more interesting locali- 
 ties, bathed in the effluents of tlie spring, and drank of its pure 
 waters. After tea, all assembled in the largest room, our host act- 
 ing as moderator of the meeting ; and from each in turn, beginning 
 with the eldest, some recital was given of the way in which the 
 Lord had led them in the wilderness, lo, these many years ! Thus 
 we heard in succession from Darrow and Ross and the Lemens 
 (who witnessed the first baptism in this territory in 1794, and the 
 first Baptist Association formed in 1807), from Pulliam and Taylor, 
 from Rogers and Dawson and the younger Ross, and some others. 
 Most of these were inadequately-sustained ministers, but loved the 
 cause apparently in proportion to the sacrifices they had made for 
 it. In private, and in various incideiltal ways, it was gratifying to 
 see the high regard whkh they all felt for Brother Peck. "He 
 has been faithful to us in helping to correct our faults, and to im- 
 prove our minds and hearts, and we thank him for it," was the 
 common sentiment. At a late hour that evening, we prayed and 
 sang and wept and rejoiced together ; near midnight, retired to rest. 
 And when all were comfortably sleeping around, we long lay in 
 wakeful musings, thinking over the scene which we shall never wit- 
 ness again. Before daylight, next morning, we were hurried away." 
 
 With no little regret, the secretary gave up his well- 
 arranged plan of a southern tour for the promotion of his so- 
 
ALABAMA RESOLUTIONS — TROUBLES IX SOCIETIES. 33 i 
 
 ciety interests, that winter. Family cares, in part, rendered 
 this imperative ; and his concern for the Baptist cause in St. 
 Louis, and his hope by remaining at home to do something 
 more efficient by his pen, all conspired to the same result. 
 For nine successive Sabbaths he filled the pulpit left vacant 
 by his Brother Hinton, and succeeded, in some good degree, 
 in animating that church with fresh courage. His labors 
 were constant and efficient in other localities also. Dedica- 
 tion and ordination sermons, in city and country, were called 
 for, and he performed an immense amount of acceptable and 
 useful service, both sacred and secular, during the winter. 
 
 Early in March he was again at his post in Philadelphia. 
 Finding that the society had been obliged to embarrass itself 
 by temporary loans to the extent of twenty-four hundred 
 dollars, his first endeavors were to provide means for their 
 liquidation. But he found the minds of pastors and churches 
 so much engrossed by the new and disturbing influence of the 
 response given by the Boston Board of Foreign Missions to 
 the Alabama Resolutions, that it much impeded his success. 
 March 18th the pastors in and around Philadelphia met to 
 confer on this agitating matter. A wide difference of views 
 was found to prevail, and some ultra utterances on both sides 
 were listened to ; and Mr. Peck's journal says, that, after much 
 "free" discussion, a resolution was passed, avowing the ad- 
 herence of these pastors to the platform agreed on at the last 
 convention. This was reaching *' point-no-point," so far as 
 the recent agitating action was concerned. 
 
 At just this juncture, also, missionary meetings were held 
 successively in several of the Baptist churches in Philadelphia, 
 to listen to appeals for the Foreign Mission Board, already 
 forty thousand dollars in debt, and the current contributions 
 (by the withdrawment of the South) were steadily and largely 
 diminishing. The embarrassments thus thrown in the way 
 of the operations of his own society were greatly perplexing 
 to the secretary. He had been planning for a strong appeal 
 ,to these churches, for the relief of the Publication Board, 
 when this overshadowing and more urgent distress of another 
 29 
 
338 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 body, in whose prosperity they were deeply interested, inter- 
 vened to postpone, or thwart altogether, their own hopes of 
 relief. It only remained for him to do the best in his power 
 now, and hope for better times. He gathered some encouraging 
 contributions from a few churches, and with a brave and 
 trustful heart went on to arrange the materials for the annual 
 report. 
 
 At Providence, R. I., where the Baptist anniversaries were 
 that year held, he says : 
 
 The Bible and Publications Societies passed off with much har- 
 mony and success. But both the Home and Foreign Mission So- 
 cieties were greatly perplexed and worried by discussions growing 
 out of the slavery aspect, in the bearings which this subject now 
 assumed. Both of these organizations were plied with the practi- 
 cal question, "Will you appoint slaveholders your agents and your 
 missionaries ?" It became evident, before these anniversaries were 
 over, that all hope of harmonious reconciliation on these points was 
 futile. The Boards were placed in the midst of communities pretty 
 thoroughly anti-slavery, and becoming more and more so every 
 day ; and though many of the members, so far as they were indi- 
 vidually concerned, would not have hesitated to go on as they had 
 commenced, disregarding any distinctions between North and South 
 on this matter, and striving only to preach the gospel to all acces- 
 sible to them, by any competent instrumentality, yet even these 
 were forced to a stand by the surrounding pressure. 
 
 Mr. Peck's journal is very full and minute on all the ques- 
 tions then debated. He was no partisan in these distracting 
 deliberations ; his voice was rarely heard, and whatever utter- 
 ances fell from him, were characterized by the good sense, 
 the practical element of sound judgment, consistency, and ad- 
 herence to the golden rule, which were his daily guides 
 through life. It was now his happiness to disagree only with 
 extreme men and measures on either side ; while his views, 
 his feelings, his action harmonized entirely with nine-tenths 
 of the whole mass, the candid and moderate men of all por- 
 tions of the country. 
 
 In June he attended the Baptist conventions in Connecticut, 
 New Hampshire, and Maine. The interior of this last named 
 
 I 
 
MR. PECK RESIGNS AS SECRETARY. 339 
 
 State he had not before visited, and was now much pleased 
 with it, especially the Kennebec valley, Waterville College, 
 and the indomitable enterprise and industry which he saw on 
 every side. In like manner, during the summer and autumn, 
 he did his utmost, under the existing circumstances, to in- 
 crease, the efficiency of the society, whose chief executive offi- 
 cer he was — traveling into A^irginia and North Carolina, to 
 attend the associations, State conventions, and any meetings 
 where he could reach the public ear and heart. 
 
 As early as the end of September, he arranged with the 
 Board for his permanent retirement from the position he now 
 held, at the end of the current year of the society's operations, 
 and the appointment of his successor, for which cause he as- 
 signs these two reasons : " I think the society can now be 
 made to prosper, with such a secretary as Rev. T. S. INIalcom 
 would make ; and my presence is very necessary in Illinois, 
 both for my family and the churches." 
 
 His description is graphic of the special meeting of the 
 Old Triennial Convention, the last ever held, in November, 
 1845, where he was one of the committee on framing the con- 
 stitution of the Missionary Union, and active in the subse- 
 quent debates on its adoption ; where, also, he met the vener- 
 ated missionary Judson for the first time ; where, also, he 
 acted an important part as chairman of the committee on In- 
 dian missions, and also led off, by arrangement, in the one 
 hundred dollar subscriptions, which completed the extinction 
 of the forty thousand dollar debt of the Foreign Mission 
 Board are all of deepest interest, but room for their repro- 
 duction here cannot be allowed. 
 
 By the 1st of December he reached Charleston, S. C, on a 
 brief visit to that State and Georgia. The hope and effort 
 was earnestly, persistently made to retain the connection of 
 North and South in the Publication Society enterprise ; and 
 for this purpose, every concession and guarantee desired, 
 were cheerfully proffered, but not with much final success. 
 The spirit of secession was then as rife in the bosoms of many 
 southern leaders in the churches, as it has later become in the 
 
340 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 States. The majority of southern men of intelligence and 
 principle did m)t in heart approve of it ; but for the sake of 
 union among themselves, as they said, consented to w^hat was 
 neither wise nor right. They and others are now reaping the 
 bitter fruits of such concessions. 
 
 The remainder of the winter was passed chiefly in and 
 about Philadelphia, in much labor, care, and enterprise for 
 the furtherance of the society's interests, and to facilitate the 
 labors of his successor. His annual report argued, at con- 
 siderable length, the demand, the economy, and efficiency of the 
 colporteur system. In summuig up his own labors for the 
 year, he recounts his travels seven thousand, one hundred and 
 sixty-nine miles ; has been absent from the office one hundred 
 and seventy-one days ; had preached ninety-eight times, and 
 made forty-five addresses; had visited five Eastern, four 
 Middle, and five Southern States, in promotion of the Publi- 
 cation Society objects. 
 
 Wednesday, May 6th, he took a final leave of the scenes 
 and duties which for three or four years had engrossed his 
 thoughts, and tasked all his powers, and turned his face to- 
 wards his western home. How joyously he leaped up from 
 the removal of the heavy burdens he had so long borne, and 
 how, like the carrier-bird, long sundered, and by a wide in- 
 terval, from its rest and its young, he now sped on with an 
 impatience of delight to greet those from whom he had so un- 
 willingly been sundered, he found no language adequate to 
 express. 
 
LIFE OF P\NIEL BOONE. 34 1 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Authorship — Boone's Life — Western Annals— Characteristics— Br. 
 Jeter's Testimony — Burning of Seminary Building — Final Tour 
 in Eastern States. 
 
 Gracefully to retire from a prominent public station to % 
 narrower, humbler sphere, is at once difficult, and jet indis- 
 pensable to one in Mr. Peck's situation. He achieved this 
 transition with entire success, and reciprocating the cordial 
 welcome of all his friends and neighbors in Illinois and Mis- 
 souri, he seemed to enter without an hour's delay on the 
 discharge of the multifarious duties, public and private, 
 which had accumulated in his long absence. These will 
 hereafter be narrated only in the most summary manner, be- 
 cause they are generally quite similar in character and in- 
 fluence to those which have already been described. 
 
 One son was just now determining, against the father's 
 remonstrances, to enlist as a subaltern officer in the Mexican 
 army. Another, now a student in college, and under age, 
 could scarcely be restrained from following his example ; and 
 though finally yielding to parental remonstrances, had be- 
 wme so inoculated with the desire of roving as to unfit him 
 for study, and thus disappointed the hope of a literary career. 
 Beyond the bounds of his immediate family-circle Mr. Peck's 
 deepest solicitudes were awakened for the welfare of the 
 Baptist churches in southern Illinois ; and with great efiFort 
 and much correspondence he set on foot measures for their 
 improvement. This year, too, 1845, he wrote for Dr. Spark's 
 American Biography, the Life of Daniel Boone. Much of 
 the material for it he had long possessed, but he now took a 
 long journey among the old hunter's descendants, to glean 
 something more in reference to his later days. Rejecting 
 the many romantic stories in regard to him, Mr. Peck sifted 
 
842 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 every thing, and by the venera])le man's own statements was 
 able to give, in less than two hundred duodecimo pages, the 
 reliable record of his life, which afforded the public the highest 
 satisfaction. 
 
 At the New Englanders' celebration of Forefathers'-day in 
 St. Louis, he was called on for a speech and a sentiment, and 
 gave " The North, the South, and the West, a right-angled 
 triangle, the hypothenuse resting on the Mississippi valley." 
 His remarks were much admired. From his multifarious 
 correspondence at this period, two letters of superior interest 
 and importance should here be given but for want of room. 
 One to the Secretary of the Cincinnati Historical Society, on 
 occasion of his being elected a corresponding member, gives, 
 at great length, a summary of his own historical studies and 
 accumulation of materials. The other to the Home Secretary 
 of the Baptist Missionary Union, discusses very fully the 
 hindrances, specially in the West, to the more successful 
 prosecution of that great and good enterprise, with sugges- 
 tions as to the best method for their removal. He wrote also 
 in favor of African colonization ; on Biblical interpretation ; 
 on pulmonary diseases as affected by the Western climate : 
 lectured ably on both home and foreign missions ; prepared a 
 new and improved course of sermons for revival meetings, 
 and delivered them, in series, at different places ; correspon- 
 ded with Baptist ministers and others in Ireland, on- the 
 facilities and advantages of transferring their then starving 
 population to the fertile prairies of the West; prepared and 
 delivered a course of lectures on Aboriginal Missions in 
 North America ; drew up an elaborate report on the better 
 observance of the Lord's-day, and secured its adoption by a 
 convention of all denominations in southern Illinois. At the 
 college commencement at Alton in 184*7, he delivered a com- 
 memorative discourse, embalming the memory, character, 
 liberality and worth of Dr. Shurtleff, whose noble donation 
 had given name to that institution. The same year he failed, 
 by political trickery, to be elected to the convention called for 
 revising the Constitution of Illinois, after having been 
 
PASTORAL DUTIES AND LITERARY LABORS. 343 
 
 earnestly incited by both parties to allow himself to be *a 
 candidate ; this induced him to forswear politics entirely 
 for the future. 
 
 In the meantime he was pastor or stated supply of several 
 churches comparatively near his home, as Troy, Edwardsville, 
 Belleville, and Bethel. His zeal, system, fidelity, and the 
 versatility of his powers for reanimating a despondent church 
 were, in most of these cases, demonstrated in a way to inspire 
 fresh confidence in him as a wise and good under-shepherd of 
 the flock. Nor did he intermit at all, but rather increased his 
 contributions for different periodicals. A series on the 
 Pioneers of the West for the St. Louis Republican ; Notes 
 on Illinois for the National Era ; Incidents of Illinois for the 
 Illinois Journal, were each a series of articles begun about 
 this period, and some of them continued till the year of his 
 death. Other compositions of a higher order, on which he be- 
 stowed much labor, were often coming from his hand. Such 
 were his discourse on the anniversary of the battle of Buena 
 Vista ; a commemorative discourse on John Quincy Adams ; 
 and the Literary Address at the commencement of George- 
 town College, Ky., on Elements of Western character. 
 
 From the first of the year 1849 he officiated as pastor of 
 the St. Louis Baptist church, between the leaving of Dr. 
 Lynd, and the coming of Dr. Jeter, for about nine months, 
 editing also the Western Watchman, and giving much time 
 to the African Baptist churches and all other evangelizing 
 operations in the city. During this period he was the efficient 
 instrument in leading a large number of Germans and Holland- 
 ers who had been pedobaptists, but now embraced more 
 scriptural views, to be baptized and organized into a church. 
 Some of them had gifts for usefulness in the ministry. He 
 guided their studies and reading, and one of them formed the 
 nucleus of the German Baptist Mission of the West, which 
 at one time promised large results. He successfully also set on 
 foot measures for paying off a debt of twelve thousand dol- 
 lars on the church he was serving : by dint of his own perse- 
 vering efforts chiefly, this good work was accomplished, just 
 
844 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. rECI. 
 
 before a most disastrous and extensive conflagration laid 
 waste a large portion of the best of St. Louis, and its fleet 
 of steamboats, burning up several millions of wealth in a 
 few hours. The Western Watchman office was consumed 
 among the rest. It had been owned by a poor brother in the 
 church, and there seemed no way to recommence the publica- 
 tion, but to raise one thousand dollars at least, in small sums, 
 in that State and the proximate portions of Illinois. 
 
 Added to all the rest, the cholera made fearful ravages during 
 a portion of this summer, sweeping off many of his personal 
 friends, and clothing others in mourning. Nor was the college 
 at Alton — that fond child of his affections — without its serious 
 difficulties in these busy weeks. Once and again he was sum- 
 moned to meet with its trustees, to adjust difficulties with 
 agents or others, who had added to its embarrassments. The 
 autumn of this year, 1849, brought him also the visit of the 
 veteran Dr. Maclay, who seems to have spent some days 
 at Rock Spring, to their mutual satisfaction. Still later 
 Mr. Peck visited Iowa, where four of his children were then 
 settled, and seems to have taken much pleasure in the rapid 
 advances of that young State. 
 
 The year 1850 opened auspiciously. Dr. Jeter as pastor 
 of the second Baptist church, St. Louis, required Mr. Peck's 
 assistance very frequently, some protracted religious services 
 being now held. The German church was flourishing, and 
 both the African churches were doing better, and their valued 
 friend, the Pioneer, was helping them all. Meantime the 
 Western Watchman was resting almost entirely on his en- 
 ergy, for editorship and the means of its publication. Edit- 
 ing and greatly enlarging a new edition of the Annals of the 
 West, was also thrown upon him. As it came from his hand, 
 it is a noble octavo volume of six or seven hundred pages, full 
 of materials tolerably well digested, for the use of future 
 historians. 
 
 Soon after Dr. Jeter assumed the pastorship of the St. 
 Louis church, relieving Mr. Peck of that labor, his old friends, 
 the Lemens and others of the Bethel church Illinois, urged 
 
FAMILY REUNION. 345 
 
 him to accept its pastorship, which he did, and labored with 
 them in that relation for two or three years. Before the close 
 of 1851, Conrad Witter, a German, entered into a contract 
 with Mr. Peck to write a description of the scenery of the 
 Mississippi river, from its rise to its estuary, to accompany a 
 series of splendid engraved plates. He entered promptly into 
 its execution, and sent off his first number of eight pages, 
 beginning with Itasca lake, within a week, and by the end 
 of the month had brought his descriptive sketches down the 
 river as far as the Falls of St. Anthony. Witter finally failed, 
 and the plan was only partially carried out. 
 
 This was a fair §|pecimen of his promptness. ^ That was 
 one of his leading characteristics. Rarely did he hold any 
 matter under consideration a very long time, in order to gain 
 more evidence ; the best within his reach was grasped with 
 vigor, and then he acted on it without much delay. Because 
 his decisions w^ere thus prompt, it w^ould sometimes subse- 
 quently appear that they were less safe and reliable than 
 could be wished. But the celerity of his mental processes 
 made up, in a great degree, for this incidental disadvantage. 
 
 The first Sabbath in the year 1852 he gave this summary 
 of his labors with the Bethel church for the preceding nine 
 months : — Preached fifty-four sermons, besides thirty-two ad- 
 dresses and extended exhortations ; made one hundred and 
 nine family visits; attended nine monthly and five special 
 church meetings, and rode seven hundred and six miles ; he 
 had been present and ofiiciated thirty-four Sabbaths ; absent 
 by approval of the church, attending associations and the 
 like, five Sabbaths ; unable to attend by reason of sickness, 
 three Sabbaths. 
 
 June 13th he mentions having all his sons, with two of 
 their wives and two grandchildren, at home, and surrounding 
 the supper-table together. He says they were five strong, 
 hardy men, from twenty-one to thirty-eight years of age. 
 Two days later he was in St. Louis, and officiated at the Bap- 
 tist church, when their esteemed pastor. Dr. Jeter, very de- 
 cidedly, though kindly, tendered his resignation, having been 
 
346 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 called back to Yirginia. As a competent and impartial wit- 
 ness, the testimony of Dr. Jeter to the habits, standing, and 
 character of Dr. Peck, may appropriately here be given.* 
 
 * ** I had known Dr. Peck several years before I went to St. Louis 
 in 1849, but not intimately,^and my estimate of his worth was con- 
 siderably increased by my intimacy with him for nearly three years. 
 He was a true, earnest, laborious, faithful servant of the Lord Jesus. 
 I was particularly struck with his disinterestedness. He was willing 
 to labor anywhere, in any department, and with anybody, if he might 
 be useful. He engaged with equal readiness in the labors of a pas- 
 torate, an agency, an editorship, or authorship, with little regard 
 to the exposure and fatigue involved in the enterprise, or the 
 meagerness of its pecuniary reward. He was not a man to wait for 
 important and honored posts of usefulness to be opened to him ; 
 but he entered promptly the fields of service before him, and culti- 
 vated them diligently, with the assurance that he would not fail of 
 his reward. Though he was a man of strong will, and loved, as 
 earnest and energetic men are apt to do, to have his own way, yet 
 I never discovered in him the signs of envy or of mortified ambition. 
 He thought, of course, his own plans right, and struggled manfully 
 to carry them out ; but accorded to brethren diflTering from him 
 sincerity and worthy motives. In all his plans for extending the 
 kingdom of Christ — and they were numerous — aud in all his warm 
 controversies in supporting them, there was an almost perfect self- 
 abnegation. 
 
 The most remarkable trait in the character of Dr. Peck, that ar- 
 rested my attention, was volubility. Brother Peck was both a full 
 and r'eady man. He was well informed on almost all subjects ; and 
 on matters relating to the West, his knowledge was various, gen- 
 eral, and minute. He might be called a Western Gazetteer, and 
 poured forth an incessant stream of conversation on any subject — 
 religious, scientific or political, grave or ludicrous — that might be 
 broached in his presence. His resources in conversation were per- 
 fectly inexhaustible. When once he was fairly enlisted in conversa- 
 tion, the most resolute hearer could do nothing more than ask a 
 question, suggest a doubt or difficulty, or give some direction to 
 the current of discourse. Being somewhat fond of talking myself, 
 when I first became acquainted with him I made frequent attempts 
 to participate in the conversation ; but soon I resigned myself, as 
 did others, a mute auditor of his ceaseless and interesting remarks. 
 Let it not be supposed that he was rude or overbearing in his man- 
 ner. He was a courteous man His manners, however, were emi- 
 
CHARACrER OF DR. PECK BY DR. JETER. 34t 
 
 In the autumn of this year he prepared a special report on 
 the finances of Shurtleff College, and, in attending the meet- 
 ings of the committee and Board, devoted in all twelve days 
 hard work to this object. So, too, at the association, not a 
 
 nently Western. In most social circles lie was the acknowledged 
 autocrat. He talked because all wished him to talk, and all choso 
 to be silent in his presence. When he associated with those whose 
 age, culture, and position gave them a title to a full share in con- 
 versation, he still engrossed it, partly from habit, and partly from, 
 the gushing fulness of his thoughts which would admit of no re- 
 straint. You might as well roll a ball down the mountain side, and 
 attempt to stop it in its mid-career, as to arrest, or hold in check 
 the impetuous thought and bounding words of the old pioneer. 
 
 Much has been said, and foolishly said, of Western character, 
 Most people in the West formed their characters before they emi- 
 grated thither ; and they have been slightly or not at all modified 
 by their change of residence. But Mr. Peck was a Western man. 
 He removed to the West while young ; and his tastes, manners, 
 habits, and modes of thinking and speaking were formed there. 
 No intelligent and observant man could be in his presence five 
 minutes without perceiving unmistakable evidence of this truth. 
 The pioneers were a hardy, self-denying, courageous, and inde- 
 pendent class of men. For forms, etiquette, and pretensions they 
 had no respect. They were practical, not theoretic. Mr. Peck was 
 not only a pioneer, but a master-spirit among the pioneers. Perhaps 
 no man of the class did more than he to guide the thoughts, mould 
 the manners, and form the institutions of the West. He was an 
 embodiment of Western character — plain, frank, self-reliant, fear- 
 less, indomitable, with all his powers, physical and intellectual, 
 subordinated by grace to the ser^fice of Christ. 
 
 I will mention an anecdote as illustrative of the peculiar charac- 
 ter of Dr. Peck. When he resided in Philadelphia — so the story 
 runs — as Secretary of the American Baptist Publication Society, 
 after having been absent some months, he reached home by the 
 stage in the morning, and, unobserved by any of his family, went 
 into his study, and finding a great accumulation of letters and 
 papers during his absence, soon became absorbed in the examina- 
 tion of them. Late in the afternoon some memljer of his family, 
 to his great surprise, found him in his study, peering over his 
 papers. I do not vouch for the accuracy of the story — indeed, I do 
 not wholly believe it ; but it is significant that such a story should 
 be circulated concerning him. Of all the men I have ever known, 
 
348 MEMOIR OF JOHN M, PECK. 
 
 little extra labor fell on him. In preparing the minutes for 
 printing, carrying them through the press, and other connected 
 services, eight days labor, besides the Sabbath, was required. 
 He subjoins, with earnest positiveness : " This extra labor is 
 too pressing on me, and I am resolved hereafter to throw it 
 all off:" the practical comment on which was that, a few 
 weeks after, he attended the General Association of Illinois, 
 and in the absence of some to whom it more properly belonged, 
 he prepared" reports, and laboriously advocated important 
 measures in repeated speeches, very much the same as though 
 he had not so firmly resolved to the contrary. The same was 
 the case at the Pastors' Conference, later in the season. He 
 also wrote an elaborate article in the Christian Review, on 
 the History of the Baptists in the Mississippi Yalley, and 
 several papers of importance for the Christian Repository, as 
 well as carried on vigorously his numbers of the " Mississippi 
 River Illustrated." His old neighbor and friend, Governor 
 Reynolds, was importuning him to write a report and review 
 of the school laws of Illinois. Revolving this matter, he thus 
 jots down in his journal : " If I had time, I could at least pre- 
 pare a report on a more perfect system of common school, 
 academic, and college education. I will think of it.''^ 
 
 In the meantime a heavy calamity befell him, which must 
 be recorded in his own words : 
 
 it was most likely to be true of him. He was not without social 
 affections — had, no doubt, a fair measure of them. His wife held 
 him in the highest reverence. He was never charged with the 
 slightest neglect of his family. But so completely had he subor- 
 dinated all his social affections, and all his habits, to duty and use- 
 fulness, that if any man could have been innocently oblivious of 
 his family under the circumstances indicated in the anecdote, that 
 man was John M. Peck. 
 
 In a high sense of the terms, I did not consider Dr. Peck either 
 a great or a learned man, or an eminent preacher ; but a man of 
 sound sense — of various attainments — of earnest piety — of good 
 preaching gifts — of extensive labors — of much usefulness, and a3 
 deserving a name among the benefactors of his race, and the last- 
 ing gratitude of the inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley, and of 
 the Baptist denomination." 
 
ROCK SPRING SEMINARY ON FIRE. 349 
 
 November ISth, Thursday.^ What I have sometimes feared, but 
 tried to guard against, has to-day happened. Bock Spring Semi- 
 nary has been burnt ! My son, working in the lower story, had a 
 fire in the fireplace. Leaving for a few moments, he found on re- 
 turning that the wind had scattered fire among the combustibles 
 around his work-bench, and the flames soon reached the ceiling 
 above. He gave the alarm, but it was too late to put out the fire. 
 Some of the books of most value were saved, partly in a damaged 
 state. But an important branch of my labor for more than thirty 
 years is wholly lost. My collection of files of papers, periodicals, and 
 other pamphlets, amounting to several thousand volumes, mostly 
 unbound, but carefully filed, and my mineralogical collection from 
 every part of the country where I have traveled, thoroughly ar- 
 ranged and labeled, together with much other matter which I had 
 intended for some public institution, to be preserved for generations 
 to come — these can never be replaced. Well, it seems to me to be 
 providential. I have done what I could, and failed ! I am afraid 
 my materials are so destroyed that I cannot obtain means to pre- 
 pare my projected work on the Moral Progress of the Great Central 
 Valley of the Western World. I can only say, the will of the 
 Lord be done. 
 
 It must be very difficult for any one not acquainted with 
 the character of the man to appreciate the afflictive circum- 
 stances of this calamity — the loss of just what, of all material 
 things he most prized, and, as many thought, almost idolized, 
 the collection and preservation of which had, next to his 
 Christian duties, been the great absorbing passion of his life — 
 or to conceive aright of the composure with which he accepted 
 it, as the indication of his Heavenly Father's will. Though 
 it broke up his life-plans and hopes in a moment, yet it is. 
 doubtful whether any one half an hour afterward would have 
 noted any disturbance of his accustomed equanimity. 
 
 The middle of January, 1853, found him gathering his scat- 
 tered and charred books, some fifteen hundred volumes, into the 
 largest room in his dwelling-house, which became henceforth 
 his library and study. Later in the month he spent some 
 days in Springfield, where the legislature was in session, by 
 
 which he was supplied with all their published laws, journals, 
 30 
 
350 MEMOIR OP JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 etc., a unanimous resolution for this purpose having been 
 passed. 
 
 No little sympathy for his loss by this fire was expressed 
 to him by his correspondents, and also in the notices of the 
 papers east and west. Encouraged by numerous assurances 
 of loving friends, that they desired to supply in part, at least, 
 and in kind, what had been consumed, he set forth, April 21st, 
 for one more eastern tour, intending to be absent several 
 months. At Covington, Ky., he witnessed with sorrow the 
 failure of that theological institution which he and his friend 
 Robins had hoped would prove a blessing to the whole North- 
 west — one of the early sacrifices at the shrine of slavery. 
 
 At Philadelphia, with what delight he spent a Sabbath 
 with his friend. Dr. Kennard, "the model pastor," as he calls 
 him, witnessing the baptism of half a score of candidates, and 
 aiding in the sacramental services I At the annual meeting 
 of the Publication Society, in company with a young friend, 
 H. G. Jones, Esq., appointed a committee for this purpose, 
 he brought in a plan for a Baptist Historical Society, to form 
 a kind of adjunct of the Publication Society, and successfully 
 advocated its adoption, dwelling with satisfaction on the pro- 
 gress of Baptist principles. With his old friend, Dr. Malcom, 
 he visited the ecclesiastical patriarch ofthat vicinity, the ven- 
 erable Dr. Jones, at Roxborough, finding him, at the age of 
 seventy-six, still pastor of his beloved church in Lower Merion. 
 The American Sunday-school Union, which he had so early 
 and efficiently served, and the Presbyterian Publication Board, 
 tendered him such of their publications as would help to sup- 
 ply his loss, as did also several private publishers both here 
 and in the other principal cities which he visited. In Troy 
 and Albany he attended the Baptist anniversaries of that 
 year, noticing much to approve, and some things which he 
 could not approve. In Boston, too, he attended the May 
 meeting ; and at Harvard University, Cambridge (which the 
 preceding year had honored him with a Doctorate) he was 
 the guest of President Sparks, and witnessed the inauguration 
 of his successor, Dr. Walker. The younger Dr. Shurtlefif, and 
 
BAPTIST HISTORICAL SOCIETY — LAST EASTERN TOUR. 351 
 
 others, vied with each other in tendering him hospitality and 
 merited honors. Dr. Anderson, senior Secretary of the 
 American Board of Foreign Missions, invited him to their 
 rooms, to supply, from their -reports and other publications, 
 his losses as far as practicable ; he preached, also, in as many 
 of the principal churches as his time and strength would allow. 
 Yisiting all the public libraries of most importance in this 
 vicinity, he copied whatever was most important for his pur- 
 poses, and sent home two boxes of books and pamphlets to- 
 wards supplying his losses. Returni^ng to !N'ew York and 
 Philadelphia, the next two months were spent in a similar 
 manner. At Poughkeepsie, where an esteemed friend had 
 proffered him any fifty volumes he might choose from his 
 library, he secured many rare and valuable works not else- 
 where procurable ; and by the end of July set out on his 
 return West via Albany, Buffalo and Chicago, reaching his 
 home the 12th of August. He had been absent three and a 
 half months, visited for the last time many of his early East- 
 ern friends ; and had traveled by railroads, stages, and other 
 methods, a total of four thousand nine hundred and fourteen 
 miles. 
 
 He immediately recommenced his pastoral duties with the 
 Bethel church. Death had taken away some of its loved 
 members, but he was joyfully welcomed by the survivors. 
 In September .he was surprised by the reception of a unani- 
 mous call to the pastorship of the Covington Baptist church, 
 opposite Cincinnati. It occasioned him much solicitude. He 
 wrote to several friends for advice, and finally concluded to 
 visit them the following month to reconnoiter. Ere he did 
 so, the second Sabbath in October he terminated his official 
 labors with the Bethel church, satisfied that he could not con- 
 tinue them through the ensuing winter with safety to his 
 health. They parted in love and with mutual respect and 
 confidence, his labors having been very useful to the church. 
 
352 MEMOIE OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 LAST THINGS. 
 
 A Last Pastorship — Last Volume Prepared for the Press — Last Loss 
 of a Child— Last Hours of His Wife— Last Tour Through His 
 Wide Field — Last Illness — Death and Burial. 
 
 Some of Dr. Peck's correspondents, whom he consulted 
 in regard to the propriety of his accepting the call to the 
 pastorship of the Covington church, earnestly remonstrated 
 against it, as likely to involve both himself and the church in 
 great embarrassment. But it was always difficult for him, 
 with his buoyant, hopeful impulses, calmly to weigh the pro- 
 babilities of failure in his own case. He found the church 
 somewhat disheartened by repeated failures to secure as their 
 pastor some n\an of standing and influence. It consisted 
 of some two hundred members, resident in Covington and 
 vicinity, some of them most excellent persons ; but the 
 ordinary attendance of the whole congregation was scarcely 
 as large as this, even in favorable weather. 
 
 Scarcely six weeks had elapsed ere, in an attempt to hold 
 extra religious services, with preaching every evening, he 
 broke down utterly. He thought it, at the time, an attack 
 of his old foe, congestion of the liver ; but after his partial 
 recovery, his kind physician. Dr. Wise, informed him that his 
 lungs had been more diseased than his liver. Finally the 
 physician told him with candor, that he had never known a 
 case of a man at his age, and with his enfeebled constitution, 
 recovering entirely from so severe an attack of lung disease. 
 Hence the attempt to resume his pastoral duties was out of 
 the question, as it would involve the certainty of soon breaking 
 down. This decision, so unwelcome both to him and the loving 
 people whose hearts and hopes more and more clung to him 
 as their beloved pastor, was received by both with humble 
 
BRIEF PASTORATE AT COVINGTON. 353 
 
 Christian submission. In his private diary Dr. Peck says, 
 *' I have prayed most earnestly for Providence to show me my 
 duty in the present exigency, and am bound to regard the 
 affliction sent as the decision. I have been over forty-two 
 years in the ministry, and with all I have done in secular 
 labor, I have mtlde that the paramount business of life, and 
 every thing else subordinate." 
 
 He resigned the 19th of March, 1854, scarcely three and a 
 
 half months after entering on the duties of his pastorship 
 
 determining henceforth to devote himself to such work with 
 the pen, in finishing the books on hand, as he might be able, 
 and to be in readiness for his departure. The church, a week 
 later, by his earnest desire, accepted his resignation, and 
 passed resolutions, indicating their enhanced estimate of his 
 worth, and their continued confidence and esteem. • The testi- 
 mony of one of their number is subjoined in a note, written 
 after his death.* 
 
 His leave-taking of his dear church and Sunday-school and 
 many personal friends, was very tender and affecting. April 
 
 * Covington, Ky., Juli/ 1th, 1860. 
 
 Brother Peck was one of the most original and remarkable men 
 I have ever met with : he appeared to be guided and determined 
 by a stronger sense of duty and a more unwavering faith than any- 
 individual I have had the pleasure of observing. 
 
 When called to the pastoral charge of the first Baptist church in 
 Covington, he was told that the congregation could probably pay 
 him one thousand dollars per annum. His immediate reply was, 
 that eight hundred dollars was all he intended to receive ; that 
 two hundred dollars could be kept to help other ministers who 
 might be called in to assist him ; that his health might give way 
 and he might fail in any protracted effort. This soon proved to be 
 true, and brought on his severe illness. 
 
 When his physician, attendants and friends came to the conclu- 
 sion that his days were few and numbered, I asked him to let me 
 telegraph his wife (left at her home in Illinois) to come to see him. 
 He consented, with the instruction that nothing should be com- 
 municated that would alarm her, and declared that he would not 
 die then ; and for several days, when at his lowest, and all believ- 
 
354 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 20th, in company with his invalid friend Dr. Sherwood, he 
 left by steamer for St. Louis, recording his testimony : " Were 
 I twenty years younger, and able to perform the duties of 
 pastor, I know of no church I would prefer to this, no city I 
 would more desire to live in than Covington." 
 
 On getting home, he set himself down very diligently to 
 arrange materials and compose articles for reviews and other 
 periodicals, and wrote with care a life of Yardeman for Dr. 
 Sprague's Annals. The last volume he wrote was the Life 
 of Father Clark. 
 
 April 25th, 1855, the following entry was made in his jour- 
 nal : "It is one year to-day since I got home from Covington. 
 Now I am far more feeble than then." Nor till June was 
 he able to attend church, even as a hearer. Then he enjoyed 
 a visit at Bethel church, where a revival had occurred, and 
 sixty or more, many of them his old, dear friends, for whose 
 salvation he had long prayed, and wept, and labored, were 
 rejoicing in obedience to the Saviour. Near the end of the 
 month, at the commencement at Shurtleflf College, he was 
 drawn into extra efforts to settle difficulties. A special com- 
 mittee was raised for this purpose of which he was chairman, 
 and says, " I accepted the post with greatest reluctance, but 
 with the determination to risk health, or even life, to save the 
 college." Alternating between sickness and partial recovery, 
 he passed the next three or four months. 
 
 ing that he could'not live, his faith that he should recover never 
 wavered, although he was scarcely able to speak. 
 
 Dr. H. Malcom once said in my presence, that his greatest difficul- 
 ties in life were to know his duties — that knowing them he could 
 always do them. Dr. Peck seemed to have graduated in that knowl- 
 edge. He appeared always to know and equally to do his duty under 
 all circumstances. He was like an angel in the wilderness : he could 
 rise above every thing, and soar where and when he pleased. 
 With wonted esteem, your friend and brother, 
 
 p. S. Bush. 
 Dr. Rufus Babcock. 
 
, ILL-HEALTH. 355 
 
 October 3lst. My birthday has come round once more, and 
 finds me an infirm old man sixty-six years old, but as frail and 
 feeble as some men are at eighty-six. Still I have abundant reason 
 to be thankful to the good providence of God that I have been thus 
 far preserved on the journey of life ; and desire to trust in futuro 
 for all things to the same merciful and gracious Providence. 
 
 November llth. Ventured to preach a short discourse, sitting 
 in his chair to avoid the fatigue of standing. Eeturninghome, con- 
 versed too much with a beloved friend, and was injured by it. Until 
 Christmas continued in much the same state of health, getting out 
 to meetings in the neighborhood, when the weather was fine, and 
 occasionally speaking a few words, by request, after the sermon, 
 not more than once or twice attempting to preach, sitting in a 
 chair. 
 
 At the end of the year he received the tidings of the death of his 
 son, Harvey Jenks Peck, who departed this life at his residence in 
 Iowa, December 17th, a little over forty-one years old. 
 
 January 17th, 1856, he thus wrote : At the moment when your 
 letter came to me I was giving a familiar lecture to our youngf 
 pastor, on sermonizing. He expressed a desire to come to my 
 house once each w^eek, and get me to instruct him. He came 
 to-day with the skeleton of a sermon for the Sabbath, and so I gave 
 him a famiUar lecture on sermonizing, loaned him some books, and 
 pointed out in them several portions to be carefully examined. So, 
 you see, I am at the head of a theological school, with one student, 
 whom I most cordially regard as my pastor. I am working out 
 practically what Dr. Wayland — as " Roger Williams" in the Ex- 
 aminer — commends theoretically. 
 
 My life and health are exceedingly precarious ; and I know not 
 how soon I may break down entirely. Many have urged me to 
 prepare something like an Autobiography. I have thought of 
 " Reminiscences," and keeping person and self behind as much as 
 possible, draw sketches of what I have seen and heard ; the "Times" 
 in which I have lived, and the events which have occurred, in which 
 I have had some small part. This is the leading idea, and I have 
 actually commenced such a series of reminiscences, in the Western 
 Watchman. 
 
 In the same letter he solicited me to take charge of what 
 he should thus write, and of the manuscripts, journals and 
 correspondence which he might leave behind him, and pre- 
 pare them for the press. A few of the reminiscences, in full, 
 
356 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 or abridged, have been reproduced in the earlier portions of 
 this volume. 
 
 Again, October 11th, he wrote me : My health and strength" are 
 continually failing, of which I have conviction in the want of 
 ability to write which I possessed two years since. I cannot write 
 as much in three days as I then, could in one. I cannot walk' more 
 than one hundred yards without extreme fatigue. I cannot stand 
 ten minutes. I am literally worn out. 
 
 But another and altogether new ingredient was now to be 
 mingled in the cup which his heavenly Father prepared for 
 him. Hitherto his help-mate had vigorously sustained him ; 
 henceforth he was to finish his pilgrimage alone. It seems 
 proper to give the letter announcing this bereavement. 
 
 EocK Spring, III., November 11th, 1856. 
 
 My Dear Brother : — Before this reaches your office, you will 
 have seen in the Western Watchman, and perhaps other papers, 
 ^he weighty and crushing affliction that has befallen me. 
 
 The wife I have loved was an extraordinary wife and mother, and 
 I think, in justice to her memory, and as an illustration of my 
 poor labors, I ought to devote one reminiscence to her, as a re- 
 markable help-mate in all my labors and efforts. I have never 
 thought it expedient and proper to, write or speak in praise of my 
 late dear wife while living; but now she has finished her course, it 
 ought to be known in what sense, and to what extent she was the 
 help-mate, pre-eminently, in every department of labor her hus- 
 band undertook. I now assure all my friends that had not that 
 woman possessed the principles, and been the wise, prudent, self- 
 denying HEAD, and government of my family she was, I could not 
 have made half the sacrifices, and performed half the services my 
 kind friends have attributed to me. She was destitute of all senti- 
 mentality, never manifested the nervous emotion of many females, 
 while her mind and feelings were under perfect self-control. She 
 professed conversion in the great revival in Litchfield, Ct., in 
 1807, and joined the Congregational Church in 1808. We were 
 married. May 8th, 1809. * -^ * * Two years since about this time 
 both of us broke down by a little exposure and fatigue in attending 
 a series of meetings; both had the same complaints — congestion 
 of the liver primarily — attended with a bronchial affection. 
 
 There was so much affinity in our temperaments and constitu- 
 tions, that not only, were we afflicted with similar diseases, but the 
 
DEATH OF MRS. PECK. 35t 
 
 game medical treatment answered for either. My wife went with 
 me to St. Louis and Alton the last week in June to commencement. 
 As twice in nine months I had broken down by effort and fatigue, 
 in endeavoring to resuscitate the college, she seemed unwilling for 
 me to go alone without her watchful eye. This was the last time 
 my wife went from home. About the middle of July she was at- 
 tacked with an irregular intermittent fever. The usual remedies 
 for intermittents were employed, but without permanent effect. 
 Two days after she was growing worse and could take neither 
 medicine or nourishment, and her prospects of recovery became 
 hopeless. Her fever had subsided, but on the 14th it returned, and 
 become continuous with remissions till the 20th, when her fever left 
 her, never to return. On the 15th October I saw there was no hope 
 of her recovery, and held a special conversation and prayed with 
 her. She stated that she had always had doubts about her interest 
 in Christ, and many misgivings lest she should rest on a false 
 foundation ; but since her illness she had gained clearer views of the 
 all-perfect righteousness of Christ, and all doubts were gone. She 
 evinced no uncommon emotions, no raptures, but perfect calmness 
 and resignation, strong faith, and an unclouded hope of future and 
 immediate salvation. For three or four days (I think) she was 
 kept alive by the skill and palliative medicines of her physican. 
 
 Three of our six children now living w^re here. After giving 
 her granddaughter Mary one of the most pertinent and effective 
 addresses from a dying person I ever heard, she then addressed 
 all present, declared to them her assurance that before another 
 day she should be in that state where pain, sorrow, sickness, and 
 death can never enter. At a quarter before six p.m. on Friday 
 the 24th she was lying quite over on her side, when some of the 
 women noticed a struggle and change. I approached the bed where 
 she lay, turned her over, found no pulse in her wrists, and only 
 a slight pulsation at her heart. I held her hand, but not the least 
 consciousness remained. I felt no disposition to resist the impulse 
 to kneel by the bedside and offer prayer and thanks for such a tri- 
 umphant victory over death. 
 
 On Sabbath I was quite ill, and could not leave my house. At 
 ten A.M. the company assembled, and our pastor read and sung 
 Hymn 1072 of the Psalmist, and prayed. The procession formed 
 and moved to Oakhill church-house, where Elder James Lemen 
 preached from Ps. Ixxxviii. 10 : " Shall the dead arise and praise 
 thee ?" The coffin was opened, and several hundred friends saw 
 her face for the last time. The procession again formed, came 
 
358 MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. 
 
 past my house, and passed on northeast three-quarters of a mile 
 to Rock Spring cemetery, where she will remain till the resurrec- 
 tion. Yours fraternally, 
 
 J. M. Peck. 
 
 Yery shortly after the burial of Mrs. Peck, that early, con- 
 stant friend of their hearts, Rev. James E. Welch, arrived 
 from Missouri. His presence and sympathy were a timely 
 consolation to the bereaved one ; and the invitation, cordial 
 and earnest, which he tendered to Dr. Peck, to return with 
 him to his home that they might pass the winter together, 
 was fully appreciated, though it could not be accepted. 
 
 Near the end of June he was once more able to attend the 
 commencement at Alton, and took an important part in the 
 deliberations of the Board of Trustees of the college. 
 
 About the 20th of July he set forth on one more somewhat 
 extensive tour through the northern portion of the wide field, 
 which he had so often traversed. With an old and valued 
 friend, Colonel Shook, he took passage in an up-river Missis- 
 sippi steamer at St. Louis, and reached Smith's Ferry, nearly 
 opposite Galena, the 1st of August. Children and grand- 
 children here welcomed him most cordially ; and after four or 
 five days he went to Madison, Wis. , where he was the guest 
 of a dear friend, L. C. Draper, Esq. Thence he went to Chicago, 
 where he spent a Sabbath, and found troops of old friends 
 gathering round him, and much enjoyed their society. Dr. 
 Boon, the Mayor, made him his welcome guest, and in his car- 
 riage took 'him to the several localities of greatest importance. 
 Returning to Galena he spent a Sabbath there, and reached 
 home early in September. 
 
 During the autumn and winter Dr. Peck had frequent alter- 
 nations of illness and partial recovery. October 21st, his 
 journal says : " Find myself v^ery feeble ; unable to do much ; 
 and think I shall be compelled to quit writing for the papers 
 and periodicals and confine myself to such manuscripts as are 
 Indispensable to my reminiscences." Ten days later he says : 
 " This is my birth-day, and I am sixty-eight years old. It is 
 hardly possible for me to live to see another anniversary. My 
 
LAST SICKNESS — TRlUxMPHANT DEATH. 359 
 
 sole dependence is on the mercy and grace of God. Lord, 
 into thy hands I commit my spirit !" The following are among 
 the last entries in his journal : 
 
 November VUh. At one o'clock my old friend, Welch, came to 
 see me, and I talked and talked till quite fatigued. I forget to refrain 
 from talking, a sure sign that my mind and judgment are failing with 
 my body. 
 
 2^th. To-day my friend Russell arrived from BlufFdale. Of course 
 he was joyfully received. We conversed till I was tired out. 
 
 2Wi. Thanksgiving. Governor Reynolds, Deacou Simmons, El- 
 ders Storrs, Ross, and Ely, with neighbors Crosby, Colver and wife, 
 dined with me. 
 
 Feb. \Uh, 1857. President Read and my old friend Cyrus Edwards 
 came here to see me, and we met most cordially. Discussed college 
 matters very fully. The conversation was cheerful and exhilarating, 
 and we enjoyed ourselves greatly. 
 
 This was about the last of his social enjoyments which he 
 had health really to relish. For some days afterward he kept 
 about as before ; but on the 25th of February he made the 
 last entry in his journal, and that a brief one, chiefly in regard 
 to the weather. Next day, and several following ones, he 
 seemed to have no appetite, kept his bed most of the time, 
 merely rising to conduct morning family-worship, but not re- 
 maining for breakfast, and saying very distinctly, but with 
 much cheerfulness, to his son Henry, that his time was short. 
 
 Sunday, 28th February, he came into the dining-room in 
 the morning, took the Bible as usual, read three verses only, 
 and then kneeled with the family and with great diflSculty 
 offered a short prayer. It was the lad reading, the last prayer 
 with the family. 
 
 But why repeat here the struggling endurances of the last 
 few days ? His mind remained most of the time serene and 
 unclouded to the last. Lord's-day, March Tth, his pastor. Elder 
 Storrs, called after preaching ; had some very solemn con- 
 versation with him ; asked particularly how he felt in view 
 of dying. He replied : " I feel as I always have felt since 
 relying on Christ. If I was not ready for death, this would 
 
A^/ 
 
 360 ' MEMOIR OF JOHN M. PECK. ^ «r 
 
 be a poor time to prepare. But I have no fear of death at 
 all. I assure you I am a stranger to any such feeling as 
 fear in reference to dying. Tell this to all these kind friend's'^ 
 . — many were then in the room — '' and pray for them and the 
 family." 
 
 Sunday, March 14th, he had an interview with his friend, 
 Rev. W. F. Boyakin. He said to him with emphasis : " I have 
 never done any thing that can save me. All my works could 
 never rescue me from destruction. Only Christ is my Saviour, 
 my whole dependence I" His pastor and L. Sleeper of St. Louis 
 were with him in the evening. The latter, on coming in, was 
 recognized and addressed with the calm testimony of the dying 
 man : '' I am almost gone." He had before given his parting 
 w^ords and blessing to each of his family, and a quarter before 
 nine in the evening he expired. In imitation of his example at 
 the deathbed of his wife, a few months before, the company all 
 kneeled and joined with Mr. Storrs in fervent prayer and 
 thanksgiving. For thirty-six hours from that time the rain 
 came down profusely and incessantly. But when the hour 
 for the funeral arrived, the rain ceased and the sun shone out 
 beautifully. Rev. James Lemen preached a funeral sermon 
 from the emphatic words of the apostle : " / have fought a 
 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. ''^ 
 Yerj touching was the scene when the venerable preacher 
 descended from the pulpit and, approaching the cold remains, 
 laid his trembling hand on the brow of the deceased, and 
 with a choked utterance sung three stanzas of the hymn be- 
 ginning : " The languishing head is at rest. Its thinking and 
 aching are o'er." 
 
 Twenty-nine days later, by the special desire of many 
 friends, his remains were removed to the Bellefontaine ceme- 
 tery, St. Louis, where another funeral service was attended, 
 Rev. Dr. Crowell delivering a commemorative discourse, em- 
 bracing a well-merited eulogy of his character and labors. In 
 that central position of the wide field which he had watched 
 over, and labored so long and well to cultivate, his remains 
 repose. " Si monumentum quaeriscircumspice." 
 
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