Acq. Dept., library 
 Unlv. of North Carolina 
 Chapel Hill, N. C. 27514 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 ENDOWED BY THE 
 DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC 
 SOCIETIES 
 
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 1838 
 
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 1974 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 LIBRARY 
 
 
 PRESENTED BY THE 
 WILLIAM A. WHITAKER 
 FOUNDATION 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 10000474586 
 

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 A 
 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 E^tO 
 
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 1 * 3 * 
 
 JOHN ARCH, 
 
 A CHEROKEE YOUNG MAN. 
 
 COMPILED FROM COMMUNICATIONS OF MISSIONARIES 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CHEROKEE NATION. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SA 
 
 Depository No. 
 
 TY. 
 
 REVISED BY THE 
 
 PUBLIS 
 
 18 3 8 
 
t» 
 
 Entered according- to act of Congress, in the year I83G, by 
 CHRISTOPHER C. HE AN, 
 m Iho Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
The subject bf this memoir was converted 
 from heathenism through the preaching of 
 American Missionaries, and died in the faith 
 and hope of the Gospel. The reader will find 
 in his history a proof of the excellent influence 
 which Missionaries may be expected to exert 
 wherever they shall be sent among the be¬ 
 nighted millions of pagans. The authenticity 
 of the narrative may be depended on by the 
 reader. 
 
 1 * 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN ARCH, 
 
 A CHEROKEE YOUNG MAN. 
 
 John Arch* was bom about the year 
 1797 , in a part of the Cherokee country, 
 called Nun-ti-ya-lee , which is surrounded by 
 almost impassable mountains. There also, 
 he spent the years of his childhood and youth. 
 His mother died when he was very young, 
 and his father taught him scarcely any thing 
 except to hunt deer and other wild animals of 
 
 * John’s Cherokee name was Atsee; on which account, it is 
 presumed, the English name Arch , of similar sound, was 
 given him by the white residents in the Cherokee nation. 
 The origin of his other English name was probably as ac¬ 
 cidental. 
 
B 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the forest. This was his father’s occupa¬ 
 tion. 
 
 The old man, when traveling through the 
 woods in search of game, used to cany his 
 son on his back, and on discovering a deer, 
 would stop and make the little boy look over 
 his shoulder till he could see the animal, and 
 then would creep up and shoot it, with John 
 still on his back. As the son grew older, and 
 became expert in discovering deer at a dis- 
 . tance, the father would sometimes rest his gun 
 on a bush or log, and make him shoot them. 
 Thus John killed several deer before he could 
 
 if # 
 
 raise a gun to his face, or walk alone through 
 the woods. 
 
 As soon as he could run about, and take 
 some care of himself, his father used to leave 
 him all day at the hunting camp; and though 
 he generally returned in the evening, he would 
 sometimes be absent through the night. . John 
 amused himself by shooting turkies with a little 
 gun his father had bought for him, always taking 
 oare not to go out of sight of the camp. 
 
 When he had become fully instructed in 
 
JOHN ARCH. 9 
 
 the art of hunting, and old enough to travel 
 
 O' O 
 
 all day through the woods with a gun on his 
 back, his father bought him a good rifle, and 
 bade him seek his own support. He was re¬ 
 markably successful in hunting, always killing 
 more game than his companions/* and re¬ 
 ceived a great deal of praise whenever he re¬ 
 turned to the village. The last year which he 
 spent as a hunter, however, he had a poor gun, 
 and then his companions succeeded better than *' 
 himself, which so mortified him that he was 
 ashamed to return home, and resolved to hunt 
 no more. In speaking of this period of his life, * 
 five vears afterwards, he said the world then 
 appeared empty and vain, and life seemed a 
 burden. A deep melancholy seized upon his 
 spirits, and nothing could afford him relief.— 
 This was in the year 1818, when he was about 
 twenty-one years of age. 
 
 Coin^ soon after with several of his coun- 
 
 o 
 
 trymen, to Knoxville, in East Tennessee, he 
 
 * It is customary for several to hunt in company, though 
 each retained without division whatever game he had him¬ 
 self acquired. 
 
10 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 there met, incidentally, one of the assistant 
 missionaries among the Cherokees. The 
 missionary soon perceived that John was de¬ 
 sirous of learning to read, and advised him to 
 apply for admission to the school at Brainerd. 
 He was so much interested in the prospects 
 thus opened before him, that he could not. 
 wait to revisit his home, but traveled through 
 the woods, nearly a hundred miles, to the late 
 Mr. Hick’s, well known to the patrons of the 
 Cherokee mission as an excellent Christian 
 chief, and there inquired the way to the mission- 
 * ary school. 
 
 His dress and appearance, when he came to 
 Brainerd, showed at once that he belonged to 
 the most uncultivated portion of his tribe ; and 
 he had spent so many years in savage life* 
 that the missionaries received his application 
 with reluctance : but having heard his story,, 
 and noticed the marks of intelligence which 
 his countenance exhibited, they consented to 
 take him on trial. He informed them that, 
 having lived on the borders of North Caro¬ 
 lina, and near the white people, he had at- 
 
I 
 
 JOHNARCH. 15 
 
 tended school a short time when quite young, 
 and had learned the letters of the alphabet. 
 After his removal from school, he studied his 
 spelling-book till it was w r orn out, and had 
 ever since desired to learn to read ; but being 
 too poor to support himself at school, and hav¬ 
 ing worn out his book, he had relinquished the 
 hope of learning, and nearly forgotten all that 
 he had known. 
 
 He once traveled to Washington, wdiere 
 he received some tokens of kindness from 
 Mr. Madison, then President of the United 
 States : but it w r as the state of despondency, 
 into which he had been thrown by his un- 
 prosperous pursuit of the chase during one 
 whole hunting season, which was the prin¬ 
 cipal cause of his looking for enjoyment be¬ 
 yond the confines of his native forests ; and 
 it was his interview with the missionary at 
 Knoxville, which had led him to determine 
 on cultivating his mind at school. He said, 
 he had never before been in the part of the 
 9 nation where the school was situated, nor had 
 he heard of the school, till informed of it in 
 
12 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the manner above stated; but lie had come 
 with the intention of remaining, if possible. 
 
 His views on religious subjects, before and 
 after his coming to Brainerd, as he subsequently 
 described them to one of the missionaries, were 
 as 1 follows : 
 
 He always believed, that there was a 
 “ Great Being above.” hut supposed he took 
 little or no notice of his creatures here below. 
 With regard to man, his prevailing impression 
 was, that when he died he ceased to exist, 
 and that there was no future state, tie had 
 heard it said, however, that men lived after 
 death, and that the good went to a place of 
 happiness, and the bad to a place of misery, 
 and he sometimes thought this might be true. 
 But he was persuaded, he said, if this was true, 
 he must go to the place of misery, for he was 
 bad, and had no idea that his character could 
 be changed. 
 
 Not long after his coming to Brainerd, he 
 was convinced that there was a future state 
 of rewards and punishments, but he saw not * 
 how any, who had been once sinners, could 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 13 
 
 be pardoned and saved. On this account, he 
 became very much distressed, and the more he 
 saw of his own sinfulness the more distressed 
 he was; until he began to wish he had never 
 known any of these things. 
 
 He had, indeed, heard the missionaries say, 
 that the greatest of sinners could be saved 
 through the blood of Christ, but he did not 
 believe it. In his apprehension it seemed 
 plain that the sinner could not become holy, 
 and thuj^gain admittance to heaven. When, 
 howey^r, the method of salvation, as revealed 
 in tlfe Gospel, and exemplified in the experi¬ 
 ence of good men, was more fully explained 
 to him, he saw his error. But perceiving in 
 himself a repugnance to this method, that re¬ 
 pugnance seemed to him more criminal than all 
 his other sins, and his distress became almost 
 insupportable. 
 
 One whole night he lay awake, as he said, 
 expecting sudden destruction, and such was 
 his terror, that he trembled all the while (to 
 use his own comparison) like one in an ague. 
 But in the morning a new scene opened. 
 
14 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Then the way of salvation through the Lord 
 Jesus appeared perfectly reasonable, and ex¬ 
 actly suited to his case ; and the thought of 
 being saved in that way, and in no other, 
 gave him unspeakable joy. “From that 
 time,” says one of the missionaries who knew 
 him well, “ John Arch lived a consistent 
 Christian.” 
 
 Near the close of the year 1819, ten 
 months after John entered the school, his 
 father come to take him home, and was not 
 easily diverted from his purpose. He was un¬ 
 willing that his son should be so far from him. 
 This was a season of severe trial to John. 
 He loved his father, and was desirous to 
 please him ; he loved his Savior, also, and was 
 willing to leave all for his sake. Anxiety to 
 be qualified for usefulness among his country¬ 
 men, was his ruling passion. Happily the 
 old man, after spending several days with the 
 missionaries, was so wrought upon by kindness 
 and persuasion, that he consented to leave his 
 son in the school. 
 
 About this time there was an occurrence 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 15 
 
 which strongly developed the character of 
 this young man. One of his schoolmates 
 wrongfully accused him of doing an improper 
 act. Conscious of innocence, and yet not 
 having the means of exculpation at command, 
 he could not well brook the charge. That 
 evening and night he was missing, and it was 
 supposed he had absconded. But in the 
 course of the forenoon, he made his appear¬ 
 ance. On being informed that the rules of 
 the school made it necessary for him to as¬ 
 sign the reasons of his absence, he said :— 
 “ I felt angry, and knew that it was wicked ; 
 but l could not suppress it ; I therefore went to 
 the Savior, that he might reconcile my heart.” 
 He had spent the night in devotional exer¬ 
 cises. 
 
 Being now able to read and write with 
 tolerable correctness, and possessing naturally 
 a good judgment, John was employed, with 
 another young Cherokee, to assist one of 
 the missionaries in preparing an elementary 
 school-book in the Cherokee language, which 
 
16 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was afterwards printed. About the same time, 
 he was examined by the mission church as to 
 his religious attainments, and was admitted a 
 candidate for Christian baptism. In Decem¬ 
 ber, before the rite was administered, a benevo¬ 
 lent clergyman of East Tennessee came to 
 Brainerd on a visit, and, hearing the story of 
 John Arch, was so much interested that he ex¬ 
 pressed a desire to take John into his family, 
 and to give him the benefit of his private in¬ 
 structions, and also of a respectable school in 
 the place where he resided. 
 
 John referred the whole subject to the mis¬ 
 sionaries, whom he regarded, he said, as his 
 fathers, F and whose direction he should gladly 
 follow. It being thought best for him to go, 
 he accompanied the gentleman to Tennessee. 
 The clergyman and his lady showed him 
 every kindness, and secured his confidence 
 and affection ; and so far as they were con¬ 
 cerned, he said it would have been pleasant 
 to reside with them. But he was so shocked 
 by the profaneness of some white men in the 
 place, that, finding he could not remain with- 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 17 
 
 out bearing the name of God continually blas¬ 
 phemed, he returned abruptly to Brainerd. 
 
 Early in the year 1820, it was proposed 
 that John, with one or two other promising 
 Cherokees, should be removed to the Foreign 
 M ission School at Cornwall, Conn. ; but he 
 not being willing to leave the land of his 
 fathers, the plan, so far as it regarded him, was 
 relinquished. 
 
 In February, he passed through a second 
 examination before the church, particularly 
 with respect to the nature and design of bap¬ 
 tism ; and the members being fully satisfied 
 as to his knowledge of the doctrines of the 
 Gospel, and as to the genuineness of his piety, 
 he was baptized on the 20th. On that occa¬ 
 sion, the missionaries made these remarks :— 
 “ When we consider the manner of his com¬ 
 ing among us, but little more than a year ago, 
 from the most distant and most ignorant part 
 of his tribe, having no one to encourage him, 
 and having barely heard that there were peo¬ 
 ple here who would teach him ; and when 
 we think, also, of his diligence and study, the 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 progress he has made, and his apparent de¬ 
 votedness to God; we are led to hope, that, 
 in due time, he will prove a blessing to his 
 people.” 
 
 It having been resolved to establish a school 
 at Creekpalh, about one hundred miles west of 
 Brainerd, Mr. Butrick was appointed to that 
 service, and was permitted to take John Arch 
 with him as an assistant. On the 18th of 
 March, they arrived at the place of their des¬ 
 tination, and lodged in the dwelling of the father 
 of Catharine Brown. 
 
 The Cherokees commenced the prepara¬ 
 tions they had engaged to make for a school 
 with promptness, and conducted them with 
 zeal, and a school was soon opened with the 
 fairest prospects. The people of all ages 
 seemed anxious to learn, and some were dis¬ 
 posed to serious inquiry as to their spiritual in¬ 
 terests. John was wholly devoted to his work, 
 and pursued it with judgment, intelligence, and 
 delightful animation. 
 
 The calls upon Mr. Butrick as a minister 
 of the Gospel, became at length so numerous 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 19 
 
 and urgent, that he found it necessary to com¬ 
 mit the business of elementary instruction in the 
 school, very much to his Cherokee assistant. 
 As John was thus deprived of time to cultivate 
 his own mind by study, he was sent to Brainerd 
 to ascertain if assistance could not be afforded 
 them. This application led to the sending of 
 Catharine Brown to Creekpath, as is described 
 in her Memoir. 
 
 John returned to Brainerd in the autumn 
 of 1820, and soon afterwards visited his father 
 and other relatives. The sight of their moral 
 degradation called up the tenderest feelings 
 of his heart, and he warned them of the 
 scenes and events of a future world. At 
 first, he was listened to with a silent amaze¬ 
 ment, then with uneasiness, and at length 
 some left the house. He then proposed 
 prayer, and while he was praying others re¬ 
 tired, till he was left almost alone. These 
 things greatly discouraged him, and for a 
 time he knew not what to do. But he finally 
 resolved to be familiar and cheerful in his 
 address, whenever he went among his people, 
 
so 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and to converse respecting their hunting and 
 other customary avocations until he had se¬ 
 cured their confidence, and then to introduce 
 divine subjects as they were able to bear 
 them. During this visit, he attended a meet¬ 
 ing of the Presbytery and Missionary Society 
 of North Carolina, on which occasion he had 
 the privilege of sitting at the Lord’s table with 
 above five hundred Christian brethren. He ex¬ 
 cited considerable interest, and the people made 
 him a valuable present, and also Constituted 
 him a member for life of their Missionary So¬ 
 ciety. 
 
 John returned to Brainerd early in No¬ 
 vember, and at the close of the month re¬ 
 paired again to Creekpath, at the earnest so¬ 
 licitation of Mr. Butrick, who needed his assist¬ 
 ance. 
 
 About this time, he had the satisfaction of 
 witnessing an important step taken by his 
 people in the career of improvement. The na¬ 
 tional council "divided their country into eight 
 districts or counties, appointed four circuit 
 judges, laid a general tax to build a court-house 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 21 
 
 in each district, and took such other measures 
 as were deemed necessary to facilitate and se¬ 
 cure the administration of justice. This in¬ 
 cipient jurisprudence secured the respect of the 
 people. The council also engaged to fur¬ 
 nish such of the young men of the nation as 
 should learn any trade, with a set of appropri¬ 
 ate tools, as soon as tfyey were qualified to com¬ 
 mence business. 
 
 When Mr. Potter took charge of the sta¬ 
 tion at Creekpath, in January, 1821, John 
 Arch returned to Brainerd, with Mr. Butrick, 
 • and remained there until October, when he 
 again went to Creekpath at the request of 
 Mr. Potter. While at Brainerd, besides pur¬ 
 suing his studies attentively, and interpret¬ 
 ing a discourse on the Sabbath, he usually, 
 after sermon, read a chapter to the people, 
 translating it into the Cherokee language as 
 he went along, and making remarks upon it.— 
 These remarks were very appropriate and 
 edifying to the Cherokees. Old Mr. Mc¬ 
 Daniel, a respectable and intelligent white 
 man, and grandfather to the present principal 
 
22 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 chief, was well versed in the Cherokee lan¬ 
 guage. He often said that John’s knowledge 
 of the Scriptures was truly astonishing, and 
 that there was something great in that young 
 man. 
 
 In January, 1822, he accompanied Mr. 
 Butrick on a tour of two months to some 
 of the most important places in the nation.— 
 Tours of this kind formed his principal em¬ 
 ployment during the remainder of his life.— 
 The distance traveled in this, was above five 
 hundred miles. John was now 'brought into 
 close connection with the missionaries as in- , 
 terpreler ; an employment for which he was 
 well qualified by his good sense, his sound 
 judgment, his acquaintance with the Gospel, 
 his familiarity with the English and Cherokee 
 languages, and the deep interest he felt in 
 the present and eternal welfare of his country- . 
 men. 
 
 During the summer and autumn of this 
 year, beside his other journeys, he accom¬ 
 panied Mr. Chamberlain on preaching tours 
 of about a thousand miles. On one of these 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 23 
 
 tours they called at Willstown, near the east¬ 
 ern limits of the State of Alabama, where they 
 made arrangements for a school. In the winter 
 he accompanied Mr. C. again to that place, 
 and assisted the people in erecting the neces¬ 
 sary buildings. 
 
 He also engaged in active measures with a 
 view to another station farther east, near the 
 E-tow-ee, or Hightower river, and about seven¬ 
 ty-five miles from Brainerd. He made one or 
 two journeys to the place, in order to consult 
 with the chiefs and other leading men. Wicked 
 t white men had taken much pains to prejudice 
 and mislead the minds of this people, and to 
 some extent had succeeded ; but John finally 
 made them understand and pursue their best in¬ 
 terests. 
 
 During the winter, he accompanied Mr. 
 Chamberlin in several tours for evangelical 
 labor. In one of them, having gone as far 
 as Willstown, he left Mr. C. and proceeded 
 alone to Creekpath, whence he accompanied 
 Catharine Brown and some others of kindred 
 spirit to Brainerd. He said that, on this oc- 
 
24 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 casion, he distinctly perceived a gradual in¬ 
 crease of religious light among the people, as 
 he approached a missionary station, and a 
 gradual diminution as he receded, until at con¬ 
 siderable distances, he often seemed to have 
 come into total darkness. But, he added, the 
 people every where have a disposition to hear 
 the preaching of the Gospel, and he greatly de¬ 
 sired to spend his days in proclaiming it to 
 them. He was willing to devote his life to the 
 employment of interpreter, if that was best ; 
 but he would do any thing in his power to 
 become qualified to be himself a minister of the 
 Gospel. 
 
 In the spring of 1823, a missionary sta¬ 
 tion was commenced in the neighborhood of 
 Samuel J. Mills, (a converted Cherokee of 
 great zeal and activity,) and called Haweis. 
 The agency of John Arch was employed, 
 though to a less extent than in respect to 
 the stations above mentioned, the previous 
 agency of Mills having rendered it unneces¬ 
 sary. 
 
 There is no doubt but he was active and 
 
JOHNARCH. 25 
 
 W ■■ t 
 
 useful during all the following summer, but 
 nothing worthy of notice is recorded. In 
 October, he made a circuit through the 
 eastern part of the nation, on a visit to his 
 relatives and the friends of his early years.— 
 He was delighted to see the change, which 
 had taken place among them, since his visit 
 a year before. He no longer found them 
 
 ■ 
 
 averse to instruction. The inmates of almost 
 every cabin were disposed to serious inquiry.— 
 He declared that the Cherokees in all that 
 part of the nation were ready to receive the 
 Gospel ; and so animated was he by the dis¬ 
 covery, that he desired to go and spend a 
 year among his countrymen in the wilderness 
 of the Arkansas, to assist in making them ready 
 also. 
 
 He returned to Brainerd by way of New¬ 
 town, or New Echota, the seat of the Chero¬ 
 kee government, and where the Cherokee 
 printing establishment now is, and spent a 
 Sabbath with the national council, which had 
 ordered that no business should be done in 
 the council, and no secular work in the 
 3 
 
26 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 neighborhood of the council,, on the Sabbath. 
 He said he found every one cleanly dressed on 
 that day, and that the observance was apparent¬ 
 ly strict and solemn. 
 
 He now remained some months at Brainerd, 
 assisting in the steward’s department, interpret¬ 
 ing on the Sabbath, and aiding Mr. Hoyt in 
 giving religious instruction to the Indians who 
 called during the week. 
 
 Some time in the winter, going to Wills- 
 town on business, he wept when Mr. Cham¬ 
 berlin told him how much he was needed 
 there. John said it was the same at every sta¬ 
 tion, and felt anxious to help all. When 
 he returned to Brainerd he could not rest till 
 he had obtained leave of the brethren to spend 
 some weeks at Willstown. He told Mr. C. 
 he could not get the people of Willstown 
 out of his mind, night or day. A meeting 
 was appointed for the evening after his 
 arrival. Many attended, and a very great 
 solemnity was visible on the countenances 
 of all present. John was heartily engaged 
 in promoting the salvation of the people 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 27 
 
 during the whole time of his residence at the 
 station, and a number of hopeful conversions 
 occurred. This was the commencement of the 
 church at Willstown. 
 
 And here it should be remarked, that John 
 Arch was the instrument through which the 
 word was conveyed to the understandings, and 
 proved effectual to the conversion, of both of 
 those eminent Cherokee servants of the Lord, 
 John Huss and Samuel J. Mills. 
 
 In the spring of 1824, the subject of this 
 memoir accompanied Mr. Evarts, the Cor¬ 
 responding Secretary of the Board, to sev¬ 
 eral places in the Cherokee nation, and 
 through a part of Alabama and Mississippi to 
 Mayhew in the Choctaw nation. During 
 this journey of four hundred miles, or more, 
 in the course of which visits were made to a 
 considerable number of families in the white 
 settlements, to several missionary stations, 
 and to many of his own people, he was every 
 where treated with respect, and every where 
 left a favorable impression of his character. 
 
28 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 He was a pattern of mildness and amiableness, 
 in his whole conduct. 
 
 John spent the summer at Creekpath inter¬ 
 preting for Mr. Potter on the Sabbath ; and 
 as Mr. Potter was then busily employed in 
 erecting buildings, John was left to labor much 
 of the time alone among the people, which he 
 did by going from house to house. He met, 
 however, with many discouragements, on ac¬ 
 count of a sectarian spirit which then prevailed 
 in that place. He sometimes thought he was 
 laboring entirely in vain. But he was enabled 
 to make some abiding impressions ; and the 
 church at Creekpath is now, doubtless, enjoy¬ 
 ing the benefit of his prayers and labors at that 
 time. 
 
 At the close of the year, he went to Wills- 
 town, to travel as interpreter with Mr. Cham¬ 
 berlin who resided at that station. This con¬ 
 nection subsisted till his fatal illness left him no 
 longer the ability to labor for the good of his 
 beloved people. 
 
 The disease of which he died, which was 
 the dropsy, began to assume a serious aspect 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 ‘29 
 
 in February, 1825 ; when he found himself 
 unable to render Mr. Chamberlin the usual as¬ 
 sistance. He employed himself, however, in 
 translating the third chapter of John into the 
 Cherokee language. He wrote it in the syllabic 
 alphabet invented by George Guess. The 
 translation thus written, was received with won¬ 
 derful avidity, and was soon copied, as was sup¬ 
 posed, some hundreds of times, and read by 
 multitudes. All who understood both languages, 
 strongly approved of it. 
 
 In April his health was better, and he re¬ 
 sumed his usual labors. He rode with Mr. 
 Chamberlin to Candy’s Creek, eighty-four miles 
 distant, and returned to Brainerd, having con¬ 
 siderable intercourse with the natives by the 
 way: but the exertion was too great. At 
 Brainerd he was afflicted with a hemorrhage, 
 which constrained him to relinquish, in a great 
 measure, the hope of life ; and he expressed 
 the wish, that he might spend the residue of 
 his days at that place. He said he came 
 first to Brainerd ; there he received his edu¬ 
 cation ; there he was brought to the knowl- 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 edge of the Savior ; and there he desired 
 to die. He was not left in doubt, as to the 
 disposition of the missionary friends at that 
 station, to render him every attention in their 
 power. 
 
 He had not been long there, before he re¬ 
 ceived a kind invitation from Dr. Stout, of 
 Athens, in Tennessee, about sixty miles dis¬ 
 tant, to spend some time under his care. He 
 was accordingly taken to Athens, and received 
 temporary relief from a surgical operation. But 
 the physician was soon convinced, that his 
 case was hopeless ; and no soorier did John 
 learn this fact, than he determined, if possible, 
 to return ro Brainerd. 
 
 He commenced the journey on horseback, 
 hoping to be able, in that way, to travel four¬ 
 teen miles to the Cherokee Agency. The 
 motion of the horse, however was too violent 
 for his feeble frame ; and, after going six 
 miles, he was obliged to stop. It so hap¬ 
 pened that the family, in which his lot was 
 now cast for a week, knew his character, and 
 treated him with the utmost kindness. At 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 31 
 
 the end of the week, one of his brethren came 
 for him from Brainerd, and conducted him, by 
 easy stages, to that beloved spot. 
 
 In June, two days before his death, he was 
 visited by Mr. Chamberlin, and was greatly 
 animated by the interview. He told Mr. C. 
 that he had often heard about ministers visiting 
 the sick and dying, but he never knew before 
 what a comfort it was to receive such a visit. 
 He declared repeatedly to Mr. C. that he was 
 entirely willing to trust himself, in life and 
 death, to the disposal of his Almighty Savior. 
 Indeed, his peace of mind was uninterrupted to 
 the last. 
 
 He died calmly on the 18th of June, 
 1825. When told just before his decease, 
 that the pains he felt were those of dissolu¬ 
 tion, and that in a few minutes more he would 
 be in eternity, his countenance indicated great 
 pleasure, and raising his hand, he said, “ Well, 
 it is good.” These were the last words he was 
 heard to utter. 
 
 He was buried near the grave of Dr. Wor- 
 
 % 
 
32 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cester. His age was about twenty-eight years, 
 and seven years had elapsed from his first 
 coming to Brainerd. 
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 After mentioning the death of John Arch, 
 his friend, Mr. Chamberlin, speaks of him in 
 the following manner : “ He, indeed, sleeps 
 
 in the dust, but his memory will ever be dear 
 to all his missionary brethren. He has been a 
 warm friend to us, and to the cause in which 
 we are engaged, and his loss will be severely 
 felt. We feel ourselves admonished by this 
 stroke. Perhaps we relied too much upon 
 him ; for we almost felt that the work could not 
 go on without him.” 
 
 Mr. Butrick gives the following testimony : 
 ec this dear brother, from his conversion till his 
 death, was a general example of piety.— 
 Though he was not perfect, yet I cannot now 
 look back upon his life, and point out any 
 particular stain in his Christian character.—• 
 He appeared sensible of his obligations to do 
 what he could for the salvation of his people, 
 
\ / 
 
 JOHN ARCH. 33 
 
 but having less confidence in his own judg¬ 
 ment, than in that of those who had more ex*- 
 perience than himself, he chose to be direct¬ 
 ed in his labors by the proper authority of 
 the mission. And when thus directed, he did 
 not complain, nor seem to suppose that his 
 opinion would have been preferable. In this 
 he was a reproof to many of his missionary 
 brethren. 
 
 “ He was not inaccessible to pride and 
 vanity; yet these passions no sooner gained 
 admittance into his heart, than they became 
 the occasion of his humiliation before God. 
 For this reason, I think, none of his brethren 
 ever found it necessary to reprove him for self- 
 sufficiency or stubbornness. 
 
 “ He was peculiarly anxious to maintain 
 the honor of the missionary character among 
 his people, and to shield the Christian name 
 from reproach. Wherever he went, by an¬ 
 swering objections, exposing calumnies, and 
 exhibiting the excellencies of the religion of 
 
 Christ, he left a sweet savor to the honor of 
 
 # 
 
34 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 his God, and the great benefit of his Christian 
 brethren.” 
 
 It should be remembered, that all the heathen 
 are in as wretched a condition as John Arch 
 was before his acquaintance with the mis¬ 
 sionaries, though most are not as sensible 
 of it. They know nothing of the only name 
 given under heaven among men, whereby they 
 can be saved. Christ says, Go preach the gos¬ 
 pel to them all, that these captives of sin may 
 be delivered. 
 
 It should be remembered, too, that other 
 heathen may be regenerated and sanctified by 
 the gospel, as well as he who is the subject of 
 this memoir. Yea, hundreds among the tribes 
 of our western wilderness, and many thousands 
 in foreign parts of the pagan world, are now 
 members of the Christian church, and adorn 
 their profession. The preaching of the gospel 
 is as successful in heathen lands, as it is in lands 
 called Christian. 
 
JOHN ARCH. 
 
 35 
 
 Finally, it should be remembered, that only 
 a few districts of the heathen world, in com¬ 
 parison with the whole number, have yet been 
 visited by the missionary of the cross. The 
 day has not dawned upon the great mass of the 
 six hundred millions of Pagans and Mohamme¬ 
 dans. Will not some of the pious youth who read 
 these pages, consecrate themselves to the work of 
 missions among the heathen, and educate them¬ 
 selves with a view to that service ? Many others 
 should make untiring efforts to procure the ne¬ 
 cessary funds for supplying the heathen with 
 the means of salvation. The missionary and 
 missionary school, with school-books and the 
 Scriptures were the means, in the hands of 
 God, of making John Arch what he was ; and 
 these should be multiplied till every one of the 
 children of men has it in his power to enjoy 
 them. Then will the day of millennial glory 
 have fully risen upon the world, and the earth 
 will be full of the knowledge and love of God.