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Title
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Arnold, John M.
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REV. JOHN MOTTE ARNOLD
He lived in Detroit, Mich. between 1862 and 1884. He
started the business now operated as the Methodist
Book Concern, a branch of the New York City firm known
as that of Eaton and Mains.
Thi s business was carried on by my father between
1863 and 1879• Then my father became the Editor in
Chief of the Michigan Christian Advoca te that represents
Michigan Methodism.
He died December 5, 1884 aged 60 years 1 month and
20 days . He was born in South Durham, Green Co. N. Y.
Oct. 15, 18G4• He died suddenly of hea rt failure.
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Personalities out of the past cast their shadows upon institutions
of the present. The intriguing life of John M. Arnold casts such a
shadow upon Michigan Methodism.
John M. ArnoldEarly Methodist Bookman
of t he prominent Methodist
O NEleaders
in Michigan a century
ago, was John M. Arnold. He promoted many causes, and his life
story shows a man who by indomitable will, overcame seemingly
unending hardships and tribulations.
J ohn Motte Arnold was born in
Acra, a hamlet in the Catskill
Mountains, on Oct. 15, 1824. His
father Joseph was an old school
Baptist preacher, who had a small
farm and preached to neighboring
churches, receiving but a pittance.
And he had eleven children ! When
J ohn was a year old, his father
died, leaving to his mother "nothing but the care of a large family
.. . and a childlike dependence upon the widow's God."
It is difficult for us today to
picture the widow's plight in past
ages. Employment opportunities
were nearly nil; no factories,
stores, or business executives were
looking for female help. The
mother was obliged to scatter her
family; she took J ohn with her to
live with a brother.
J ohn first went to school at the
age of three and a half. His was
a brilliant mind ; at the age of six
he r ead well. At seven he undertook to read his bible through.
Later he said, "Had I then had
access to good books of travel and
history, I should have read them
with great profit." At the age of
five he attended Sunday school for
the first t ime. He had to run away
from home to do t his ; his clothing
was so poor that his mother had
refused him permission to go.
JUNE 20, 1968
By RONALD A. BRUNGER
P1·esiclent, Det1·oit
Con! m·ence Histo1·ical
Society
Once as a boy he suffered extreme
pain for several days, and asked
his mother to reconcile the sufferings of men with the goodness
of God. The mind of a futu re minister was in training.
The mother's faith was severely tried and her heart almost broken by some of the tendencies of this
precocious youth . At that time intoxicating liquors were alm ost universally used. Liquor was served
for barn-Taisings and house-raisings; pails of whiskey were available in the gener al st ores. The
youthful J ohn tasted, and soon had
the urge to drink. Once he was
brought home from a "raising" so
drunk that he could not walk. This
tendency was never r estrained until he took the pledge ·a t the age of
nine!
When he was six, his mother
was compelled to seek another
home. Unable to keep John longer,
and hearing of a family who desired to take a child, she r eluctantly
accepted the offer to bind him out.
His new master proved a taskmast er , entirely unpleasant. The
f amil y wanted work of this small
boy, and he was not equal to the
demands placed upon him . He was
very pale and afflicted with a persistent cough; it seemed that he
had little prospect of attaining
manhood.
There came a change of fortune ;
the mother and son were reu nited.
She worked as a housekeeper for
six shillings a week and the privilege of sending her boy to school.
For two happy years he attended
regularly and learned rapidly.
Then the couple died, and mother
and son wer e separated again.
J ohn went to live for f ive years
with an uncle, " a farmer among
the stones (always ·a fertile crop)
on the mountain side." The uncle
was irreligious and peculiar. His
aunt took an interest in him, but
his uncle regarded him as a totally
depraved child, and did not hesit ate to say so. However, he was
allowed to attend school, six
months in the year for three years,
and then f or two succeeding winters. Th ese year s were marked by
mischief and f requent whipp ings.
They were also filled with r eading
everything available. Books such
as Life of Ann Judson, Murray's
Reader, Addison's Writings, and
especially The Arabian Nights,
were eagerly devoured.
The favo rite punishment inf licted upon John was banishment t o
the attic; there with a book, he
was happy. He was also sustained
by a great love of nature. He loved
the mountains and the clouds. He
was gr eatly interested in trees,
plants, and wild f lowers ; he never
saw cultivated f lower s in his childhood.
His uncle cast him forth telling
him he must seek another home. A
f armer promised him a home and
"winter schooling" in return for
his summer 's work. At the end of
the summer he was dismissed, rag3
ged and dirty. He found another
uncle, a bachelor, whose house was
kept by a "low Dutch woman."
Years later he recalled that "the
old lady smoked and required me
to light her pipe, so that I became
accustomed to the taste and effects
of tobacco at t hirteen years of
age."
At the age of 15, his mother
came on the scene again, proposing
that they move to Michigan, where
the rest of her children had alr eady moved . In Michigan it was
arranged that he would work for
an older half-brother; he was to
have "winter schooling" and $100
at the age of 21. He labored hard
to clear and improve a tract of
wild land. "Wolves, hawks, bears,
and plenty of rattlesnakes varied
the monotony of stump pulling."
At first he had att ended the
Baptist Church with the family,
but later he grew negligent and
fell into various vices. In September 1841, with some friends he
took a load of melons to sell at a
Methodist camp meeting south of
Romeo. In the evening John joined a motley cr ew of youth who had
come in from the surrounding
country for mischief. He had
heard of peculiarit ies at camp
meetings, and was curious.
The youth made so much tumult
that people could not sleep. At
midnight the leaders of the camp
decided t o hold a service. Rev.
Daniel C. J acokes, then in his early
prime, was called to the stand, and
suiting his subject to his audience
in frontier fashion, began to
preach on t he theme of "Judgement." His eloquence reached
J ohn, and brought conviction. He
attended the services the next
morning. In the afternoon he
st arted for home feeling keenly
t hat he was without God.
Young J ohn went through a
pet·iod of six months of seeld ng
and searching. In March 1842,
he went to -the mourner's bench at
a protracted meeting near Romeo.
On t he way home that afternoon,
he knelt in the field and prayed
earnestly. Late that evening, unable to sleep, he was praying earnestly, when suddenly peace filled
his heart. He felt that he loved
God and all His creatures, and covenanted to serve God always.
4
When he arose the next morning, it
seemed a new world to him. A
few days later he went ten miles to
a Quarterly Meeting, and gave his
testimony for Christ.
Presently he decided t o join the
Methodist Church, a step that was
not easy in those days of denominational bigotry and strife. His
friends were all Baptists. He was
regarded as something of a traitor
to his family. The Methodists received him cordially. When his six
months probation was completed,
and the question of baptism came
up, out of deference to his family,
he chose immersion.
F r om the moment of his conversion, he f elt that he was under
divine obligation t o devot e his life
to the ministry. He felt his education was not at all adequate. He
began to study diligently, borrowing some books, and buying
some. He studied Milton's PaTadise Lost, Watson's Institutes, the
dictionar y, Bur ns' Poems, a Greek
grammar, a botany text, a mong
others. He worked hard on the
farm, becoming strong in constitution. He taught school three winters. After giving six years of
service, and all the money gained
by teaching winters, his halfbrother let him go at twentyone with a check for $40 and an
old watch!
Dressed in a suit of "sheep's
grey, coarse, cowhide boots, never
having known the luxury of a linen
front" and with only $40, he set
out in quest of an education. He
tried Romeo and went down to
Rochester, entering the academy
there. He chopped wood for bread
and milked a cow for a share of the
milk He covered part of his ex-
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penses by teaching in the same
school. "He was poorly dressed,
awkward and unattractive in appeai·ance, but soon won an enviable place in the esteem of teachers
and pupils by the quality of his
wor k." After a t ime his health
broke and he became very sick.
But he determined by for ce of will
not to die, rose from his bed, and
presently was back at his schoolwork again.
In 1849 he entered the ministry
as a supply on the Birmingham
Circuit. He was r eceived into t he
Michigan Confer ence on trial that
fall , and sent as junior preacher
on the Litchfield Circuit. There
were 22 appointments, with 12 t o
r eceive "Sabbath preaching." He
received $80 that first year, and
boarded around. He studied the
Conference Course of Study diligently, and at the next Conference
received perfect mal'l<s in all his
studies.
In 1850 he married Hannah
Redway of Ray, who had been his
intended bride for seven years. In
1855 he was sent to Corunna which
had then a very undesirable reputation. A church had been begun
with a lack of finances. Arnold
hitched his horse with another and
drew lumber from F lint, over a
terribl e road where Jogs alternated with mud a foot and a half in
depth. The treasury of the church
had been drained to its extr eme
limit, and so a good proportion of
the pastor's salary was drawn upon to furnish necessary money,
and the church was built. But
Arnold left in debt. He increased
the preaching appoint ments on the
circuit, and in the summer Jed in a
camp meeting which r evived the
church.
In 1856 he was honor ed by being
appointed to the new Owosso District. At that time the salary of
a Presiding Elder was ordinar y
and very uncertain; t hus he had
little prospect of paying his debt
incurred on the Corunna Circuit.
T o add to his trouble, 1857 was a
year of cold, snow, and financial
distress. Hay soared even in the
country, to $26 a ton, and all provisions were scarce and high.
Continued on page 23
MICH IGAN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE
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/ 'the screen are used in introduction to
lead the audience into symbolis m of sto1·y
whil e winding and unwinding t he complicated threads of the plot. This is made
all the str onger with s upporting authenticity of filmin g on location in Engl a~d
and Wes t Berlin. Acting may seem st1ff
but this is also a r equi s ite in such a t ale.
A, l\IY
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John M. Arnold Early Methodist Bookman
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Continued from page 4
Moreover Arnold was af.flicted again
with lung trouble and di spepsia.
In a sta.t ion appointment at Dexter,
Arnold studied hard to improve his
preaching. "There was a la11ge and intell igent congr egation fo r the place, and
he was cordially received and heartily
s upported." His health ·had been poor;
n'ow by gymnastics, he s ucceeded in
gaining •com paTatively good health. In
1861 he was honored with his appointment to Woodward Avenue Church , Detroit. This was in the da1•kest period
of the war; every call fo 1· troops was
commemorated by a sermon. Many
people in Detroit were southern sympathizers; Arnold was cautioned by
chu1·c!h leaders t ha t he should not di scuss "national matters." Like his predecessor, Seth Reed, John A·rnold was undaunted a nd continued to preach his
convictions strongly.
This ris ing preacher with his front ier
backgrou'Tid, found the social life of the
city un·congenia l; some of it he 'Opposed.
He ·befriended the poor and lowly. He
saw the benevolent g iving of his churc h
rise to new •h eights. Attendance so increased that the building was no longer
adequate. Hi s Ghurch and the old Con~ress Street Church soon adopted a plan
to unite to form Central Church, and to
b uild a new edifice.
Jo'hn A·rnold as a boy, like Abraham
Lincoln, had a manifest hunger f or
books. As a preacher he continued to
s how the same interest. Whil e on the
Li tchfield Circuit he ordered a box of
books from t he Book Concern, which he
so ld to the people as he 'could. He kept
up this practice. It was very advantageous ·to him , for he had t he opportunity to r ead those books. While traveling
on the road with his horse, or wher eever the chance was offered, ·he was
r eadin g , memorizing poetry of which he
was very fond, or storing his mind with
useful facts. In Detroit he enjoyed a
cent ra l location. He blocked his study
with boxes of books , and he sol d $2500
a year.
Leaving the
Woodwa rd
Avenu e
Chu·r•ch, Arnold resolved to go out of the
book business. He would take his stock
of books to Conference at Romeo and sell
out. He prepared a nd distributed handbills adverti sing his s tock for sa le. However, the teamster who was to deliver the
books, failed him. He then asked for
an a ppointment in Detroit, whe re he was
Continued on back cover
JUNE 20. 1968
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Lesson commentary, based on " International Sunday School Lesson: the Interna-
tional Bible lesson for Christian Teaching." Bib lical quotations . are from the
Revised Standard Version. Both lessons and RSV aro copyrighted by the
National Council of Churches of the U.S.A.
By Rob a rt C. Brubaker
Sunday, June 30
Patience and Pra yer
James 4: 13 through 5:20
OU may well Temember your
g randmother saying (as did
mine): " I'll be over to see you, the
Lord willing." So the author of James
says that we oug ht not to say we ar e
going to such-and-s uch a city and stay
there doing business for a year. We
can never be sure what tomorrow will
bring. We s houl d sa y, "If it be the
Lord's will, we shall Ji ve to do thi s or
thaot." (see 4:13-15.) Our Jives a.re not
our own, and we need to r emember that
our future is ultima tely in God's hands.
Y
This is not to s uggest that we are
puppets Jet down from t he sky (we
think of Parable) , but God is mightily
at work in t his world and His will is
not a lways our will. Actually it is a
freeing ex perience to know that your
li fe is in the car e of One g r eater than
yourself. Dag Hamm arskjold writes
in Markings: "He who has placed
himself in God's hand s tands free vis a-vis men : he is entit·ely at his ease
with them because he has granted th em
the right to j udge." If this truth penetrat ed the inner f ibers of our being,
how might ou 1· behavior be t ransiformed ?
Then our a uthor t akes off after t:Jhe
afflu en t of his time. Th ese "plutocr ats" are in for a ·tough time. Will ia m
Ba r clay points out that the1·e we re in
that time thr ee main sou1·c es of wealth,
and the author of J ames has a word
about all of them. Corn a nd grai n will
r ot. Ga rm ents represented wealth, and
we think of how Josep h gave ohanges
of raiment to his brother s. Splendid
thou ~rh thi s cloth ing may •a ppea l·, it
would be food for moths. Even gold
and s ilver would be shot through with
1·ust. Since these metals do not rus t,
om· author is vividly warning men that
even the most "indestructible" t:Jhings
will be des troyed. So me peopl e as they
g row olde r become a lmost obsessed
with the accumulation of thin gs. Could
it ·be that they are try ing to buy back
their youth?
Then foi'Jows another blast at the
wealthy: "You have made a fine pile
in these las t days, haven't you? But
look, here is the pay o.f bhe reaper
you hired a nd whom you cheated, •and
it is shou ting out agains t you! (3c-4a
-Phillips ). We so metimes f o1·get that
the Bible is a stick of so'c ial dynamite,
a nd thai Chris tia ns were orig inally the
ones who tumed the world ups ide
down. Not that the Bible condemns
wealth as such, but it does point up
bhe perils which stalk any man who
su·c cessfull y amasses the world's goods.
The day labore r in Palestine always
Jived on the verge of starvation. His
wage was so s mall that it was almost
impossible for him to save anything.
So if it was withheld even for a day
ot· two, •he and hi s fam ily might not
eat. That cry for justice was heard by
the Lord Himselof. The Bible is t he
ch arter for the work ing man who has
every r ight to the frui ts of hi s labors.
Of cou rse in our day, the dis inherited
a re not in t he labor unions. Most of
these men a re ·c·o nservatives in our day,
a s Saul i\.linsky points out, •a nd have
lost their passion foT social justice as
it affects the poor.
The cry of Jam es could well apply
to the migrant laborer, who makes as
little as 45c an hour in some situations.
Did you know that the minimum wa ge
gua rantees a full-tim e wor ker an annual income of not mo·re t:Jha n $2,600!
Many jobs do not even come under t he
minimum wage Jaw. The "Pro~rre ss
Report" from t he New Detroit Committee states that the Michigan recipient of Old Age Assis tan·c e is allowed
$1.00 per day f or food itf h e can do his
own cooking, and $1.43 per day if he
mu st eat in restaur a nts. This invites
the g mdual destruction of t emples of
God , t:Jhe Jos·s of health and v ital it y.
And s urprisin gly, in 1967 only 19 % of
the poo1· in Detroit benefited j"1·om
1Uelfa1·e 7n·ograms suppo1·ted through
federal funds . In a nation wit h n ational wealbh in t erms of buying power
t hat exceeds t w<> trillion dollars, the
judgement of God is upon us.
There is an intimate •connection between prayer a nd health, a.ffim1s the
author of Jrames. If a man in the cong•regation is s ick, he s hould send for
the elders of the con~regation to pray
over him and •ano int him with oil in the
Lord's name. Confession of sin is also
a channel fo r ·bhe h ealing power O<f God.
Most of us know from experience that
it is a terrible thin•g to " st ew in y·our
ow n juice," but a wonderfully relea sing
thing to "get it off your chest." Dr.
Leslie Weatherhead calls the fact of
God's loving forg iveness "the most
powerful psychotherapeutic idea in the
world." How can we provide for ·more
of this experience of confession and
forgiveness in the life of the lo'Ca l
ch urc•h ? And how can we make for a n
increa se of intercessor y prayer within
bhe pa rish ? W e are deali ng with m a t ters O<f life and death.
23
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REV . FL OYD w. PORTER
2 05 W. STE WART AVE.
FL I NT, MICH.
4B50S
-to be able to dispose of his stock.
Presently he changed hi s mind, and decided to open up a Methodist Book Depository in Detroit. He es tablished a
small store in a rented room, and his
sa•l es reached $20,000.
I n 1864 Elijah Pilcher successfully
promoted a plan in General Confe1·ence,
to establish an official Methodist Hook
Dep-ository in Detroit. Arnold's store was
made the depository. The business prospered and was located in large stores,
and finally at 189 Woodward. The book
business was very congenial to J ohn
Arnold. He was happy to be in a position
that he felt placed him out of 1:!ompetition with his brothers in the ministry.
He no longer felt ambitious to rise to
positions of power and influence.
In the 1865 Detroit Conference Minutes, Arnold was advertising vig'o1·ously.
"DETROIT BOOK DEPOSITORY Established By Order of General Conf erence. A Full Supply of METHODIST
PUBLICATIONS, S.S. Books and Requisites, Marriage Certiifi'c ates, Photograph Albums, etc. W e s hall keep The
Best Sto·c k of THEOLOG ICAL BOOKS
in the state. Also, Stand~wd Works on
History, Philosophy, Metaphysics, and
Poetry. A lat•ge assortment of Books,
for Youth and Children, suit aJble for
S.S. AND BIBLE CLASS LIBRARIES
. . . J.M. ARNOLD & CO." When the
branch of the Book Concern was withdrawn, Arnold continued to l'Un his book
store in much the same way.
Arnold was 1:onscientious and "very
generous" in business, we are told. He
was not real successful financially. In
1882 he was happy to sell out and settle 'his indebtedn ess of $40,000. But for
years he was the Methodist bookman of
Detroit; he printed the conference
minutes and his store was the ancestor
of our pr esent Ookesbu r y sto re.
John M. Arnold was one of the major
f'Ounders of the Michigan Ch1·istian Advocate. In 186(} h e was offered ·remuneration for ICOntribu·tions· to the New
York Advocate. At the Romeo Detroit
Annual Conference in 1863, Arnold insti'gated "a lively and interesting d~bate
on the advisability of a State paper."
Later in a Methodist State Convention at
J ackson, he argued for a state Met•h odist
paper again. In the fall of 1873, Orrin
Whitmore, Pres iding Elde r of the Adrian
District, and Isaa'C Elwood of Morenci,
began the publication of a distri ct paper.
Arnold got togethe1· with Wh itmore;
they agreed to unite their efforts to
publish a state paper to be called The
Michigan Ch?-istian Advocate. A Joint
stock company was fo rmed in Decembe1·
with $10,000 stock, in s·hare of $100 ea•c h.
Arnold himself subscribed 11 shares.
Presently Le!wis R. Fis ke was elected
editor and J ohn Arnold was assistant
editor. In 1879 Amold became tJhe
----
editor. The circulation and popularity of
the new Advocate grew r apidly. Arnold
stated that "it has been the most congenial work of my life , thus to converse
weekly with not less than 10,000 of the
best people in the s tate."
Although Arnold thought h is change
from t.'he pastorate to the book was removing him from influence in the Conference, events proved him wrong. I n
1865 he preached in the Detroit service
commemo1·ating Lincoln's death, and
prophesied that ·his name would be equal
with Washington's name in the future.
In 1869 he stood for the beginning of
lay r epresentation in the Clhurch. In
1870 •h e was appointed Salb bath School
Agent. Arnold vigor ously declared his
My Neigh bDrs
"Can't you set it to come up
with onl y hope ful predict ions?"
willingness to be s pent for the cause,
to condu·c t Sunday School I nstitut es in
any charge which -could be 1·eached
from Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
With the growth of Detroit, the need
of a ·c ity Methodist organization became
increasin gly apparent, and in 1878 the
Detr oit Methodist Alliance was re-organized. J ohn Arnold devoted himself
vigorously to ·the Alliance. In the· spring
of 1879 it was sugg·ested that the Alliance should undertake a concerted effort to lift the debts on all Methodist
churches of Detroit. By dint of great
effort, the grand total n-e·e ded was raised,
and a long rem embered Tha nks·g iving
J'Ubilee Service was held in Central
Ohurch, Nov. 25, 1880. Arnold gave the
H istorical Address on this occasion.
John Arnold was also one <Yf the Methodist leaders who founded Bay View. He
was one of the men who in 1875 walked
the rforest at the head of Uttle Traverse
Bay and selected the spot in the woods
where bh'e auditorium is now located.
He att ended Bay View during the first
nine s umm ers, 1876-84, while he was
a live. He enthusiastically promoted Bay
view in t he Advocate.
John Arnold for most of h is life was
not a s aint. We have wl'itings tha t
revea l him to have been rathe r caus tic
and cr itical of his fellowmen. In early
life he was impetuous a nd hasty in
tempe-r. He was earnest , hardworking
and conscient ious, but like many of us
he ·had la cked patience a nd tolerance.
In the s pring of 1883 he came into a
new r elig ious experien ce and was a
man ifestly diffe1·ent ma n. His biognpher s peaks of t he "s pectacle of the
rough, unseemly stone, polished by the
Divine hand into a gem ready fo r its
heavenly setting , s uch was seen in the
developmen t of the s pirit ual nature of
Mr. Arnold."
At the Conference of 1884 ·he wrote,
"I am g lad to reco rd that I have gone
through the Conference and . . . been
kept in perfect peace." At his boardingplace at Conference, he had rejoiced in
the fellowsh ip with kindred spirits. He
exclaimed, "It was by fa r the best Conf eren·ce I have ever attended."
He mentioned one of his personal
problems. "I s till live by the moment
as respect s tobacco." H e had used tobarcco fo r 44 years, but now had not used
it fo r a year and a half. In 1871 on a
Conference Committee "On The Use of
Tobacco," he ·had prese nted a majority report stating that its use was a
matter of "private individual prerogative to be dete1·mined by the conscience
and discretion of Chris tian men," and
that it was unwise to be dictato1ial on
this s ubject.
On Dec. 5, 1884, after passing the
morning in his us ual work at the Advocate office, Arnold sank into a chair and
passed awa y. His death came " without
a moment's warning " a nd was a great
s ho'ck not only to his wife a'lld four
children, but to the Confe1·ence as well.
It was said that he held "four of the
most ardu ous offices" in the Conference,
and was on six com mi ttees. He was a
leader in the Centenary Celebration and
a d·r iv t:. to raise $500,000 in Michigan, for
Albion College and the r etired preacher s. His death seemed to sound the
death knell to this drive.
John Arnold is rightly characterized
as a bookman. From his childhood he
had a burning thirs t fot· knowledge. He
was a lover and promoter of books. He
was given an honorary D.D. Arnold is
also rightly cha ract erized as <a Methodist
leader, a strong chm,chman. He was
interested in, and was a promoter of
many ca uses. John Amold literally g-ave
his lif e for the Church. Often he would
s ing with sincere loyalty, "For her my
tears shall fall . . ." He was ·g iven a
very len g thy memoir of five •p age s in
the Confe rence Minutes <Xf 1885. 'l'he
Conferen•ce f elt that a mig•hty oa1k had
fallen in the for est.
p
3
SELECTI NS FRG-1 THEAU1DBICXiR.4P H OF REV . J . l4 . ARI~OLD , D. O• • • •
Comp iled and J-ly.ranged by 1 '. A. Boughton •
.Afm Jlr bor , '''ic h . Index Pub. Hous e , 1E85
"At the c:Jrne st soli ci' a tion of s vera l Mi nst erial f r i ems... Unusual faci l i ties were
at hand for such an undertakin g, as he left 11 for the sole us e and ·· enefit of h is children ''
a comple t e j ourna l . • down to th eye ar 1882 . ..
iii
In t he village ~f Acr~ onE oft ose romantic haml ets •• among • • Ca tskill mountains ••
a fet·J mi l e s f r om the Liudson ri ver , o n ""ct. 15 , 182h, John 1''ott e Ar noldtcas born . • h is
gr andfather , .EdvJQrd , a farner i !"l .L.·uthe s s Co ., N. Y • • f at'"ler Josep'"l , was an old school Baptist
mi :- st r , who owned a small :arm and preached to the c hurche s in t'le vicinity r ece i vin g but
lit tle • • lie had 11 children. John t·J as t he youngest of five by i s second t·Jife. \·hen Jo"m
\-!as a l ittle over one ye r of a ge , h is father di ed, l ea ving to the fr a i l , dependent rl i dow ,
no t hi ng but the care of a la r ge family , an indomit abl e •:i ll , and a c hildlike dep endance
up n the \-Ji dm11 ' s God. She kept t e fami l y to ge the r for two yea s ,. b ut wa s t hen compelled to
s catter trem , going hersel f wit h John to live wi th a br other. 1 he re a t thr '-2 am a ha lf
years of age , he wa s ~ent to school , b ut be was more p rof i te~ by th ( faithf ul andp atient
tachings of a devo t ed C1ristian moth r •• At five he att ed ed .::.unayschool for the fir s t t i me, ]
running away from home to do so, as his cloth ing/ was so unsuitabl e th a his mot her had refusJI
him permission to go.
7-8
At six years ofa £e, he r ead well, am at s even , und er touk to read the 0 ible t hr ough,
t.Jh i ch he d i d , with the except i on of some gen eal ogic al and des c ri pt i ve port i ons . rrrlad I
ti-tan had acces s t o good b o ks of travel and hi story , l s houl d have r ead them t·J it h great
profit • • ~ Gnce when suffering extr em e p a in for sever a l days , l ask ed her(his mother) t o r econ
cile t he sufferin gs of menwith t he goodness of '-'od, w· ich s he effectua lly d id • • "
rrne r fa i t h was severely tr i edand he r heart al ·ost broken by so:ne of my _out hful tend encies. At that tim ~ in t oxicatin g l iquors we r e in common us e, a nd no sooner d i d 1 tas t e t he m
t han a d :>si r e for them ga i ned the mastery over me. Once I wa s broug ht home f rom a r aising so
dr unk that I cou ld not ~a l k , . Th i s tendency was n ev r r e s t r a i ned t i ll I to ok the pledge at
n i ne years of a ge . On one/ occas i on 1 used p r ofane l angua £e , and it was reported to mo~,
The l e ss ''~"she gave me was s uch t hat Inve r but onc e di d it again.
8-9 .
' t si x hi s mother was canpelled to s eek ano th er home, andbei ng unable to keep ~ im
l onge r, on hear i ng of a family who d es ired to take a ch i ld, a c cept ed , t hough relu:tantl y ,
t he offer t o bind him out. Hi s new master proved anyt 'li ng but pl easant. ~t wa s work th ey
t.Janted. a nd he " a not equa l to the demans placed up n h i m. \... e ha d always been a puny,
delic at e chi l d, with bu t l i t t l e p r ospect of at t aining manhood , ver y pal e , weally and aff l ict ed
with a p et sta t ent cough ..
9
Another opportun ity offer ed itself , wh i c h promi sed the l ooged-for reuni on ofmo t t£ r a
child , ancl f or t wo years they wer e to gether , she receiv i ng for her ser vi c e s as h ou se-keep~:r
six sh i ll i n ~ s per week and t he p r ivilege o fsend inr her boy to schoo l. This he attended
r egu l arl y, and l earned rap dl y. But this h appy state o f aff a ir s was term in~ te d by the
death of both the cot.. p l e for w om she worked , and a separ at i on took p l ce which was final
l he n ext 5 years \-Je r e spent l-Jit h an unc l e , a farme r amorg the stone stal\o>ays a fer
crop) on the mounta i n s i de. ne wa s a man of ~ o erate intel l i genc e, irreligious, and ve ry
pecu l i ar. l-fer e he bec ame gen ra l he lp •• J.he uife to ok some interest in him and was not
unki nd, but t he un l e rega rded ~o · n as a tota l ly d epraved ch il d , a nd spared · no oc casio n
ofsay ing so. But he was allot.Jed toattem school 6 onths i n th eymr f or three years amthe
two succeed i ng wint er s. At s chool he a s regarded as a troulidsome scho l ar ard rec e i ved
frequent and severe ~~whipp ing s in which he to ok a her o i c delight . .
10
But t ese years though f~ll of - i schief, wer e f i l ed to~i th everyl'"l \ ng i n the line o:Ly ~
r ead i ng \.Jhich came i n his Hay . ~ch bo k s as Li f of ~nn Ju:Jgson , l·lurray s 1\eader, J 0 hnson s'1
Allegor i es, Add i son s ••ri gings, lh oJll!ions ' s Seasons , Pollock, e tc . t-J r e ager l y devoured • •
Arabian Nights was a ve ritabl e fai r land of delight. 1l'l: favorite punishmen t of a mild character generally inflict ed upon him for any misd emeanor\anJ the y were fre quentJ was banishment tothe at tic,where with a book .• he hurled himself •• 10
~
J. :11. Ar nold
l
r
I
- 2-
A Dr eam : l1e 11 seemed in t hE: forest in a familiar spo t, an od spoke to me, say ing thct
he had heard my p raye rs, and t ha t l shoul d not be lost • • the vi s ion l i gered • • 11 He l-Jas • •
thro"L-Jin in with t 'lose wl-tose st.Jore and rlrank, but at n i ne he to ok th p l edge and ev e r after
kept it . . '-le had a love for ·•ature t·J~ i ch commenced in earl y c h i1!.dhood end gr e w.. At six, he
says, he coul d r ecol l e t l yin[ on h i s back and gaz ing at thech anginr form of the ligh t,
fleecy cl ouds, endot-J i ng them wi th life , arrl represent ing dif fe r ent f o rms of an i mals,
ma r shalled arm i e s, or tran sf ormed into a f l ock of sheep , of wh i ch 0 od was the shepherd.
lhe mountains of h i s boyhood were li ke f amili ar acqua intan:es . Thei r grand and
gged ot.t l i
li nes l ay a gains t the sky and seemed to him endoHed i.Jith persona lit y, wi tne ss es of al l !) is
acts. The moon t-Ja s .. a mys t e ri ous symbol..
11
• • al on e in the for es t, into t he deep r avine , under cataracts •• He re I s eemed to
find a rea l pr es ence . I tal ked al oud to myse l f and f elt pe rfec tly happy . I wa s ~reat l y
interst ed in t r ee s, plants and ·:lf flowers . I do not, in f act , r ecolle c t t have seen any
culti vated flot.;er s or flm..rer in£1 shr ubs dur i ng my ch ildhood •.• I x .• rose early ona clear
,:,und ay morni n g, am vJander ed alone along the str eam whi l e ~ ve ry object gl i stened vJ it h delrJ
anthe bird s w ~ r e s i ng in g ~ he ir sweet caro l s . I became i ntoxica ted withth s cene and har dl y
kneH '\oJheth Er .Lwa s i n the body. Thi secs t asy c onti n ued for s o e tirr.e , a sort of dreamy
bl iss in r apport t.J i t h ·· a ture ~
12.
~ i s unc le t o l d h i m fue must se ek ano ther home .• He s tar ted out. ~fa rmer promis ed h
1
a home an win ter schooli ng fer hi s summer s work am four do ll ars a month . At the end of t:
the summer he wa !:" d i charged ,r ag£"ed and d irty . ne foundanoth er uncl e , ignor an t ; ir reli ~ i ou
~bac he l or ; hous r- kept by a lo"L-J .uu tch wor1an.
J. he enr i v onment lrJas ver y bad. dut he con11
tinued vJ i th l oe of bo oks ad na tur e.
the ol d la dy smoked a nd r e quired me to ligh t her
p i pe , so t'la t I became acc ustomed to the tas t e and effect of tobacc o at t htr teen years of
age • ..,
14
11 1
t he fall of 1839 •. 1-J i s mot her t hought best to s t a · t f or H ichi £a n, as the r est
of her children t.Jer e already t rer e .• Comi ng b way of tm -rie can al, they r eached Uet roi t
af t er a long and wearinsome journey. Arrangemen ts were mad e with a half brother to take
John to work until he was of age , gi vin g h m win er school ing a m one hundr ed do llars when
t t·•en t y- one.
14-15.
~e i mmed i atel y settled 4 own t o har d l-Jork t oi mpove more than one hum r ed acr es of
wild oa !"ld . The coun t r y \'as entirely nel-J , am everyt ~ in c insociety arrl rel i gi on crude and
unsett l ed. Wolves, hawks, bears , and pl enty of r a t t l e snakes vari ed t he mono to ny ofst ump
pulling • .Lt 1.-1as his hab i t a t f i rs t to attend t \. 1 e Bapt i st Chur ch wit h t he family but he
soon grew neg li gen t • •
11 1 f ell i nto t he hab it of s pend ing my ~abba ths wi th som
e ne i ghbori n g boys p l aying
ca rds, and in other vi ces . ivJother t..ras no t mur h wit'! me , but she ur ged me to a diffe r en t
lif e . I gr aduall y became skep ti ca l, and a l most r eckl es of uodand duty. ~ Sept ember,
1841 , I went l.Jith some ne i ghboring boys toattend a camp-meet i n g,soutJ:i of Romeo. We t ook
alOad of mel ons to sell, and our · rio s ityHa s very ' i gh to s ee t ~ u t hodis peculi a ri tiel:
of wh~ch I ha d oft en he a rd. We had but ju t r eached the g r ound, whe n a man told us we had
no ri ght to sell ther e , and ordered us away . \~e man aged hot-Jeve r, to close o u our s tack,
andi-Jhen night came, I j oi ned the mot l ey crevJ who came fro mall the surrounding country for
~ar t. h
15•
.Lt was a ni ght o f unea rthly t umult , so ti"Et noone co..tld shep , and a t midni g t thosE
i ncharge of t h meeting de cided to hold a service. R v. D. c. Jacokes , then in h i s ea rly
pr i me , w ; callen to th e s tand, and su it i ng his subj ect to his aud i ence , pr eached on the
miseri es of the damned . iHth a profusi on o P criptur e image ry, with the mos t t err ibl e ea rnel
ness, he rang out on t he s tilln es s of/ midn i ght, the denunciation of Divin e wra th upon t he
ungo,. . l y. \~henthe inviaati on was gi vEn to come f orward f or praye s, 1 proposed to my compan i ons to se ek religion , bu t as they dec lined , I did not go .
15-16
The mor n ing o f the '"'abbath dawned up n a quiet , solemn assembly, and 1.-1i th others
1 oa t her ed around the t ents ivher e the voice offamily pr ay er ro s e 1 ike inc en se to he<aJven.
- t ~as to me the vista of e t ernity . 1 f elt t h3 .l. :.a s 'l-J ithout uod, end my hea rt sank wit hin
me a t bhe~ p r ospect of my futur e . I stayed until aft - rno n , when, as my pre -ar ranged
timewa s up , 1 st a rt ed for home . 1he j ourney Ha s like a de 3t h march to me . My companions
s topped a t a lak e to bathe , but , t ho ugh a good swimmer , I d~d not dar to venture i nto
the \..rat er. All was now changed in my v i ews of life .
16
l
-3-
• John Arnol d
Ror abou t s i x months I 1r1r e st1ed with convicti on, sometimes tryin.:: to doupt a future
li f e, and at others despa i ri~ of salvati n, but constantly exercis ed unon the subje ct.
Afte r a p r o tr actedmeet i ng, held ne a Korr.eo , had been in prognss for a f eH days, I d etermined tea t tend and t o ho l d m:ls ·l f hone tly open to conv i cti n. I went accor d i ngly, and tho~..
ot f irs t tender, J. soon gr ew hard tmder th appe als that ·H ue ma:J e, and with othe rs turned
the vJhol e t o rid icua: e . On Sabba t h, mar ch 20 t h, 18L 2, I F as as i nd i ffer ent and t r ifling
a s the mo st car de and har dened •• • an ex~orter t.: as to speak .. as he 1r1ent on a te r r i ble
we i ght o f conv i ct i on r e s t ed pon me ; i t see~ ,.. tha ' t he l ast oppor tuni t y hm come, and thct
God c alled me wit h/a vo ic e of sover€ i fn aut~or it y .
16-1 ~
" 1 hen the
inv it at i on was g i ven
sta gger ed tothe mourne r's bench, a nd ther e , almost
ut t er l y obli v i ous to all tha t was s id or done , I pou r ed rut my soul t o Go for par don .
I co ul d no t r i se to speak , and 1r1hen servi ce c l osed went a l o~ homeward . Gn tre way I
kne lt in t hE f i el ds to pr ay, andunder the clear , starlit heavens , tvith ope n eyes , I looked
up to the th r one of th ._ .t rna l i near m s ~ voca l prayGr. 1-lhen.l. a r rvved at ho~ , J. r e t i red,
bu t not tosle ep . About e l even, whi l e engaged in a strugg l e of pr ayer, a sudden peace f i l l ec
my soul . My burden t-Ja s gone , .l. was fr e • I felt t rnt l. l oved '"'od and all Hi s c r eat ures.
·-~
I covenant ed myse lf to Hi m f or t ~me and e t erni ty , and sank to r est feeli ng t hat i f .L should
d i e , a ll was well. l arose to be lb.oh J a ner.-' t·Jorld , and to del i gh t in ne w th oughts and exper
i ences . I was t hen enga · ed in t ea c hi~g schoo l, and f ound t i me t o pr ay am i d my du t i es •. In
a f e1r1 days I wen t t en miles t o a quar t erly me ., tin£, , 1r1he r ..: I i)or e t esti mony for '--hr i st . 17
I decided to j o i n the '1 e t hod ist '--hur ch , a s tep wh i ch ost me muchsacr i f ice. ·ly
f riend s were a ll Bap ti s t s , and I had been r Ea r ed in ~alvi ni st i c views. They r egar ded it
as an opprobri um to t he fam ily t hat l shouldbe come a e t hodi s t. . fhe church re c e i ved me
cor d i ally and J. tri ed to be fa it hful , and began e t once to exerc i s e my Christ i an g ifts. ·ry
s i x mon t hs ' proba t i n was compl eted , and the quest i on of bapt i sm was forc ed up n me. Uut
of defer ence to the fami ly I cho s e i mmers i on .
17
from the moment of my conv ers i on I had the coov i ct io~ trn l I was under wivine obliga
tion to devo t e my li fe to the mi ni s try, and I at onc e formed mi pl ans acco r di ngl y .
ly
educa ti on H as not a t all adequate to such an engagement , but
r ~ so l v ed tosecur e as thorough an edu ca ti on as po ssib l e . The year s subsequent to y ccnv ers i c.nw ere spent in the
most earnest devot i on to s tudy . I ha:l bu t f e w books, but I borrot-:ed some and bought some
so t hat I kep t stead i ly pldsdli ng on . I }?or rrn.Je d Di ck s 11 Chr i stian Ph i 1osop her 11 w"' iciT l -........ill
alos • memor i zed a nd fell in vJi th 1'1 iltoo s rl"aradise Cos t , 1 and found it a neH world to me ~
Pollock's ' Cour se of 1 i me ' I · commit ted l i ne for l ine t i ll I could repea t more ~an half of
it. Young ' s ' .N i ght Thoughts ', .durns ' .Poems , am some others were t hooough l y conned. I pro- ~
cured a Greel{ gr ammar , a Botany an:J'--hem istry and commencec studyihg them. ~'~y half brot hn
· o ul d not a llow me to have a cand l e at n i ght , but l. cou ld see to commi t by moon light , and
have o: t en done so . Watson ' s Inst i tutes , Phr eno l ogy, and thex± Dict i onary, in cour e,
wer stud i ed with zeal.
18
,
For t'lree t.J i nter s , wh i l e at my br o the r s i n boardin pa!'oun among t ~e fam i l ies int!'-e
ne i g hborhood wher e I taugh t, ~b e came qu i te a~c l os ob s erver of charac t er. On one oc cas i on
w ile boa r d i ng, I found a l arge libnry embracing s~v er a l hundred vol umes . It Has an enchant i ng si ght to me ...... fixed up n s se t of'",., -J ison s ""'p e cta tor and asl{e d t heot·mer if he
woul d lend me ne of the vo l umes • • • 18
l.Dur ing this prepa r a ti onfor min isteria l ~!ork , he perfor med t he sev erest tnana l l abor
on the farm , becomi~g hov1ever, strong in con s ti t ut i on . • . rl.fter g iving six ye ar s of t e b £ ~
phys i cal s ervice he could render and all t he moneygained by teachin ~ during t h wint ers, tl
ha lf-brother l e t him go at t Hen ty-one t·Ji th a check :Df forty dollars and an o l d valueless
•. .•atch ! 'Clu the time and discinline thus gaine d wer e not waste •
19
11
He
st arted out in search of t.ays and means to obtain an edu1aticn, which he
des i red at any J st, dr ss ed in a sui t of sheep ' s g r ey, coarse co t-Jh i de boots, never hav in
known as yet te luxury of a li ~en front, an:J h av ing ooly forty doll ar s i n money . After
1
11
-
•
-4-
fr uitl e ss endeavor s t o ohtah a f oo thol d i ..., h o...,e o, H1cr e the r e Ha s a!'l a cademy , he sta r e ed
fo r ''oc!"le st e:- . u:1i le t here he fi rs t dug s t urr.p s for a Bapt i st mil i s t er, ::n d Hhe n t h e
season vi as over su':ls i s t ed for m t 1s b y c hop;:> in£1 t-1ooj for br ead an d tTJ i l king a ne i gh. . or' s
covJ for a s ha re of t he "Tl i lk .
20
In th e Meant i flle hav i no en t ered un n 1i s s tudy in.th~: acad emy there, he covered
par t of hi s exp enses by t ea c 1i ng in t~:: san e school.
e was poorly dre ssed , awk\var d and
una tractive in app earan ce , b ut so :-n won an enviable p l a c e in the est zem of teac he rs and
pup il s by the qua lity of 1is i·; ork, and took a p ror1 inent and sa tisfactory part inall school
ex ercise s . It Ha s her e th at he prea ched h i s first s r mon. Soon a severe lung diff icul
ty attacked h i · hich t h-- ea tened h is li f e , b u t Hhen ofd i:1ary me ans fail ed to cur e he under
t ook a d ::spera te r emedy. Risin r fro m a s ick bed, I"E \vent i :~to a harves t fi el d, b egan
vJork in t he he i gh1b of t h e se ason , arrl clo s .:d the trial of hi s strength and t-J i ll - pmver wit
the enormous/ r ec or d of p it chi n £ 6 , 0 00 sh -ave s in one day . Th i s rash p r oc edure Ha s fol
l m..r ed b a l ow f _. ver, run'1 ing in t o t yphoi d , and b ringing h im again near to ueath ' s door;
but a s econd ti me he aros e , and .c. t e r mi ned by fo r e of will n ot to di e, an d in four Heeks
was at h i s school work a oa in .
20-21
I t he f al l of 1E4B.. h e st rugg ~ed with th e question of co ll ege or no co ll ege •• to
t each hfs ·.:ay throu gh Has a l ong and pr a ct i cally i mpossibl e t a sk •. A £Bnero us offer was
ma de to hi m b a gent l eman of ~a lv inistic faith who • • d esired to send hi m a s a substitute
t o a Pr esbyter i an college . 3ut he could but b e l oyal t o the church which had saved h i m,
=md to t-lhi ch he ha d d e ~ ic a t ed hi mse lf fo r life , a rd d ecli n ed t
offer •• This year was
spent in pr i vate study and tea c hing in the academy a t Roc 'tes t er . 21
I!'l 1a49 he began the i t j nEr an t work as a supp l y on Birmi n gham Ci rcuit. ror t his he
r e gard ed 1 imself as very i nadequa tely prepa red, rut t he z eal t o undertake anyt 1inQ t-Jh i ch
tended to't.ra rd the s ~ cred calli ng i n:luc ed him to rus h into r esp onsi b' i ti e s t o \·Jhi ch he
wa s unequa l. On e flat failure in pr eac1i n• 'tJhile on tha ~ circuit al most induced h i m to
r e turn to the f i e l d of prep:~ration, rut he continue d in his wor k. In th e f all of 1849,
· h en r eceiv ed on tria l dm t he L-onfer ence , he ent er ed th e regular work, h av ing 22 appo intme n t s/ t o be f i lled i nfo ur \-le eks, t we lve of t he m to r ece i ve Sabba th pre acl-ting . For
this he received during the ye ar eig ~ tyd o llars, and boa rd \.Jhe r e the op-.ortumity furnish ed
it . l f.
21 - 22
_;- ~ ·
He r eally enjoyed t he var i e ty of such an iti nerant lif e,st udy ing the habit s and pe cu
li ari ti es of th e peopl e , a nj en tereing h artily in to th e i r la bors ard p l easur e s. During
t !l i s ye ar he s tudi ed the en tire cour s e as p r e scribed by the Di s c i pline and was examin ed
in t he following "'onf;., rence. 1 he sca l e of markingt··a ~ th en as now, from f i ve t o ten, bu t
he re ce i v ed h is t en a ll aroum ard f elt h appy.
t-Ie was i n 1850 app . in t ed to Port H..ron, whe r e he had a most d eli ghtful home wi th
one of the membe r s . An event fer which h e ha d cherished an und ivi ded purpo se and hopeful
de s ir e f o r s v en years tran spired Hhi le here , in his marri age with dannah !! . Redway, of
Ray ''1acomb county •• an ozbl y c1 ild, and\·J i th h i m s he li ved to shar e t he to i l s a nd joys of
n ea; l y JL y~' s. To her h earty co-ope r at i on ard ass i d ance i n hi s ev ery under taki ng durin
t '-1a t ti me may be ascribed much of th e success dllfi'a t subsequmtly cro ,.,n ed his l a bors. 22
3ut littl e of genz r al i ntere s t o c c urre ~ a t Por t Huron, and vt • ~la ir wa s hi s next
appoint ment. 11e found thin gs in a di scou:a gin ~ s ta t e. Had the sfadlet ben made to put
them in t he mo s t uncomforta b l 2 pl a ce t o l1 ve , 1t coul d scar cely have s uc ce eded b e tt er.
l he church vi a an oU - ·H lapidated shop , rudel ff se ated , the s oci z ty in a formative peri od,
and some country appoi n t me nts wer e attached . e ~ad some revival s , a nd ['re\-J in self-assura nc e
11
and amb iti on. 1... the second ye r, af t e r a "uni n r ev i val/savi e , in t-Jhich many were
convert ed , by a droit Man agement t he p a s tor of ano ther d enomina t i on s ecur ed almost the en 22-23.
t ir e numher. Bu t t hese t H:> J«lrs were filled wi th t he s t udy ofbooks and p eop l e .
Following ~ t. ~lair, he vJ nt to I'lint, wher e h e f oun da good soci e tyand a cor di a l
r ec eption. The two ya r s at Flin were b l e ss ed to the good ofb oth pas to r a nd p eop l e ,
\·J it h an abundant and wid espread revi val.
23
L
John Ar no ld.
-5-
. - _.
'
But the a11bitious prEa cher was d e st in ed tosuffer disappointme nt,for '"'orunna, to which
he t11as nex t ap •Joi nt ed , had anyt ., in!: but an invitin. o ut l o k , and in the C-onference had
g.J bed a v <:ry dndesi ra~l e reputati on . tjut <t''e thod ist itine r ant che er full y accepts the
uninviting work withthe mor e pl easan t , and a y ar was spe nt as pastor at Co runna . i-Ie fo Lmd
t he r e - a c hurch commenced td th no :noney advan c ed en it, and in a yea r of f inanci
alstress, ru t
H
he secured out s i de assistance fro m D troi t ,.and the church \oJas p us hzd on.
ar ness ing hi s
1
horse wi th atothe r s, h e dr ew l UIT!ber from "lint ,over a terri ble road , here ba r e l ogs alterna ted wi t h mud a f ootand a ha l f i n depth . The tre as ur y o: t he c ~u rch had b e en dr a ined t o tts
ext r eme li:nit, and so a good p r o porti on oft~e pa stor ' s salary wa dr awn upon to furnish nece s sary money, and the chur ch ¥.as buil t--but he l ef t t he r e mor e heavily i nvolved tha n when he
came . The s Even ap ointments \oJhich he found when he went t here, he nearly doubl ed duri~ t he
year .
23
Bu t the Hin er passed wit hout a revival , a fact Hhichso sadcened hi m, tha t when summer
came , he de t er mined to inaugur at e a camp- me Eting f or a g enera l re l i gi ous campai gn. A beautiful site t~as s elected , ma ny minsters were presen t, am a time of marke d an d unusual aHaken- ~
ing follo wed. The mos t hardene d men in the commun it y stood aroun wi t h tearful eyes am
rece iv ed • • be ._xhor tati cn o t hos e alterna t el y prayed t n the M.tar , and wen t out t o exhor t
t he ir acqua i nt ances to cane to '--hrist . • The me e tin:;J hel d its pr e scri bec ti me , and , as i t was
in t he pr es sure of t he har ves t season it t.ra s t hough b es t not to prolon g it. We ther efore
adjourned for a week , andthe n came together for another week ' s effort. 1 his c amp- me e t i ng
wa s the bl essed inst rument of a bout 100 convers i on : am its fru i t Ha ::; m_an i fe st in f o r mi ng new
clas se s amstreng theningexistin g orns. 24
The following ~onfer ence placed !1im over uHas so Distri c t, a'1d he s tarted in the work
persona lly burd ened wi th t h? deb t of the \..or unna church, and no p rosp ect of l e ss ening it b y
d i s t r ict l a bor. The y ar 1EI57 will neve r be for got ten by thosE wh opass ed t hrough i t s cold, its 1
snow am its financial d is t r ess . Hay I·Ja s ev-:n in the country t t·Jenty- six dollars a t on , am
"
all provi s i ons scarce am high.To add to th e misery of that year, lung trouble anddyspepsia
again thre atened his life . ~ ielding for once to t he imperative d em ~nd for r s t, he rallied,
t1o ·gh already ha vin ~ suffered tHo severe hemorrhage s. ~ree ye'3t' s pa s sed in the d i strict
with a reviva l each ye ::li' .
24
In 1859he wa s sent t o uex ter, without any add i ti onal appo i n tments . He r e began, ver y
distinctly, a new period i n his l i f e, atl he/ s et tle at once t o hard prepa r ato r y work fer th e ~
pul p it. lie was a l r eady wi dely read in hist ory , science arrllite rature, rutde ter mi ne d to be
more sy ·t emm c and thorough i n p ·l p i t effort. Th er e was a l arge and int elligent congr egati on
for t he place,and he wa c- cordia l ly receiv ed and hear ti l y sup ~o ted. His hea lth wa s very f ee... ~
··
but by viol ent exerc is e in gymnastics , he su cc eeded in ge ttin : stren f th , and final y comp arativel y good h alth. The ~ e corrl yar t he r e was uneventful but full of 1 abor , and he began
to feel the p.~ lsati on o f a n ambition tmt lo:.ked for p r ef erment end posi ti n in the church.
f'l en , whom he !'Ed b ut a shor t ti me prev i ously regarded a s vastly hi s st.per i.Jrs, and had
cherished towa rd them a feelingal most akin to envy, b egan to shaH t oward h i m what he c onsida-e
as uroue r e ga r d . R-ceivinr frequent i nt i ma tions trnt he mi !;11 t be appoi nted to De troit, he
watch ed the ind i ca ti ons with mingl ed hope and fea r, dr eading sucha re sult.
24-25
Wh en Confe r enc e arrived , ancl t ha t appoin tment loBs given h i m, he went t o Bishop rlme s,
and with much sincerity and ear nestne ss , pleaded with '"lim not to venture such an app-.~ int me nt.
3 ut "hd Bishop r ep li ed :"It is a ll ri gh t; l will staro by .rou;" and he alway s did. To mai nt ain
the p ul p it standi nGr equired for the -oodwar d Avenue '--hurch •• was no easy t ask for th~ back1rlood s preacher ;but he went bra vel y onand kept his aud i ence . The interrupti ons to clos e study
wer e mor e numerous a rr:l serious t han ever befor e • .t'astoral l abor, funerals, t he r equ ir ements
ofsocial life , and out s id e calls ofevery descrip ti on, each d emand ed its qo t a of att enti on. ~ t_
w;;s in/ t he a rk est peri od o f t he war, and evt.ry ca l for tro op s W3 s commemor a t ed by a ser mon.
1 h aaution o fthe 1 ead ing members, t hat it would not do to di s cuss nati onal mat t er s in t ha t
' p ul p it, only served to s treng t he n his earnestness to push the cl ai ms ofp3triotism in the
sacred desk .
25-26.
r
a
uq a
J nhn Arnold
r
'
4
.:
.
- 6-
0ne s rmon ltJhich had been prev i ously advert i sed, re re . arded as suc h a tota l fa i lure
tha t he neve r after ceased
to la ment i ts delivery. 0ut it l·Ja s fo ll oW2d soon afte r, on
I
the oc casi :m of Li ncoln s as sassi nat i m , by an effort t·Jhich s · r ved tor ed e em is standing
before hiMse lf, a nd ~e received ma:1y token s of its succe s s fro:n the churc'l . 11 i'1y pos iti on in
Det roit wa s tilot the mo s t comforta b l asi de from the p t.l pit. 1 t uas quite unaccustome d to
f nshdmnable li fe and had li ttl Eelish f or it. Soci a l p :r- ti es , i nvitati - ns to tea, and fashi on
aible 111eddings £ ve me much embarassme nt. I Ha s not popular vdt~ the firs t fa mi l ie s . I stoos
s qtli:l rel y up to my convict i cn s i n dealin~ t·si t~dan gi.•g andthe t ~ eatre , preachingagain t
f ashionabl e dissipati on , and i ncul e a ted w it ~ a ll my pow r spiritual ~hr i st i anit y . I bec ame
hearts i ck at the conflict of crld l iness and pi e ty, ard reached the conc lusion t hat I must
abandon a ll ambit i m to b ecmme a popu l ar city pr e acher. 1 do not allude to an open co:npr o:n<i>se
"l-Jith the opera, the thea tr e ,and the dmce , but to t he d i spo • it i on toattac h so much i mportance
to soci a l l i fe i n gene r al, a s o n~oses an e ffec t ua l b a rr i er between t he richand t he p oor ••
I det er mi ned t o a lly mys e lf wi th the 1 l oltJer strata ' aril di d it in t he pu l pit , in soc iety and
every-~;he r e , and .J.. bec a mehappy in the/l e~ :- prec ar i ous ard purer fri e;~d sh i p of the loov1l y and
hurnb l e . 11
26-27
.::,ur ing the t riO years of h i s st a y he had the s at i~ f§ct i n of seein~ the c olle vt i . ns f>r
b enevo l en t ob j ec ts carried beyond all prec Edent , an d exceed i ng subsequent amounts , except
in t he years of chur ch- buil d in g. Th e :i oodov1ar ri .tlvenue ~ hu rchbe ing no lon ger ad equaee to the
Hant s of the peo:-- l e, th e proj ect l.·la s started of un iteno wi t'"l the ol d '"'cn ~r e ss ~ r et Chur ch
(wh ich be fore i t burned st ood at t e rear o f the ma rk etJ a nd build ing a more suitable church
edifice. This p l an •1as c onsunmated during t h., year, and the Centra l L,hurch Has subsequently
built ...
27
Hi s asso cia.~i ons during the y ea r s of 1 61 an:l 1 62 \oJith th e --etr o it cl e · gy Has of mar ked
benefit t o h i m.
e ne eded and r ece i ved t he i r synra thy andgave it i nr eturn. In the s econd
ye ar of his p2s torate , 1' 1r. 11am!:.c,nd, the r evivalist, came to Je tr oit and di .:· good tw r k. n e
hel d Un ion s erv ices, but eachc.~uch l ab or e~ as s i duously, am man youn~peo ·- l e and ~hil d ren
t··ere co n· e r ter, a nd j qined the l'lethod i s t chur ch •• !is t er m i n the " oodl·'a rd Avenue '-'hur ch
closed plEa::antly • . ema r:=e and ret a i ned many fri ends w'' om he l on£ l oved and cherished . 27
Ye served 'hut 0:1e mor e pastorate proper . .. .,e ~va lnut Str ee t 1..-hur h 11 as in a p rimiti ve
condition, it s member ship ~-·as scatte r ed t.,rcuch t he ent ir e l-Jest er n p art o.: theci ty, th en
spars e !~ s e t t l ed. , To i t "~~:er e al so a tta ched t~ o country appointments. Some fevl conver s i ns
fo ll ow~.- th e yea rs work the r e , 1-> t little of s pcci a linteres t tra nspired .• 27
1~-ae churc~ gr n1 sl o~. ly, b ut surely, a nd soon afte r b gan to p l an for the er ccti n
of a net-1 bid ding . The r s ul t \va s t he ::, i ,·oson '-'hurc '"l , e recte d soon afte r, and noH . l 585)
ha vin [ a member sh i · of d>OO. ~is clo s es 1 i s car ee r as a pa stor , excep tir~g on e year a t
1ti yandotte ... 28
vJ i l e on L;t cbfi e l d L i.r.c· t, h i s firs t cp 'I_P int men t in 1f 49, ~ not i ced that t he pastor
vlit'"l whor:1 he was associa t ed bour ht and sold a f e\·J bo ·J,s, an:l thinkin g t~is aus ef ul and l e giti rr.ate bran ch of work, h ~ ordered f rom thP Bo 3 k.Kf Conc ern a box of bo.... k s , an-'~ comm enced
to ~e: l to p re acher s ard others , to wh om opportun ity o: fered •• Th is p r ac tice of ke ep i n g a f tv
1:-ook s with him on sa l e \·as onti nually ma intaine l t'"Jrou gh i s s ubs equent app i nt me nts. ~ is
p ro ved , in one r egard , a t l e ast , very a dvantag eous to hi m, for he thus gaine d t he use of the
bes t c hur ch and s7cular lit erature f cr ru s own study •• \h i le on the r oad and whe n evu ..an:l
to~he r ever op por turnt ·.· off ered, he was r ead ino
comm itting poety , of Hh:ch he vi as ver y ~ o n d ,
<md stori!1£ his mind wi th us ful f ac ts •• 29""'
vJhen pa : tor of t ''e .ood1o1ard Avenue L-hurch he had a l oca tion accessible by rail f ro m
a ll p ar t s o th St · t e , andbl ock ing u the study of bhe chur ch with boxe s of book s , c o ntin~d
to buy an:l se ll, till h i s
les f ro m the s t udy we re t•;enty-five hundred/ dollars a y ear.
At the c l <bse of "' i s pa s to ra te th, r e , he re solved tooo for ever out afthebook trade, and devot e
"'imsd f solely to t~e min istry. ue had a stoc~~ 0 books wh i ch he co ncl ud ~d totake to Lonfer
en ce, at Komeo, and cl ose ent ire l y oLt, befor e co i m to h i s n~ w appointment out of thr city .
:•e prepa r ed am d i s tri b ut ed harrlbills a d verti si ~ c the stock for . ale, but t h e teams ter who
v1as to deliver t he bocks f a iled him..
29-30
11
I
$1UlW 4J
....
"'John .Krnol d
-7-
''e th ~ efo r e aske c for some ap poi ntme nt in t he c i t y , and ..alnut ::,r ee t '-'hur ch vJa~ giv e n
hi m, and s o an op ·or tuitz to d i spose of his tock. ··e t hen and ther e de t um i n€d to alXXJ:Gilm
Nf)C}ti;~bimrkx open up a
E t ho d i s t Book uepos i tory i nJpt roi t. 11 ~e rr.o~t ra dical eff ect of
these expe rienc e s upon me t·J as tod stro y my ambiti on. J. de ter mhed tofind a relation and a
pc stur e that woul d p l ac e me out of th.: p ovJe r of envy or compe tit i on ld t h my bre thren i:1 the
mi n istry. This I eff~ ctua ll y d i d . Hy f an i l y, t he church, and u o ' s poor were to sha r e
my future s olicitude • .L tva s no lo:ts er to p reach f or bre ad , but for du t y am usefulness, and
had no further solicitude for p c•pulari ty. 11
30
de 1 ir ed a ro om int he thi d story or the Fi : her 15lock, for J lhLt a y ear, anci som o n to
t ake care of it in is absence, and soon a cro · d of p eop leHere cli rr.b ing t ~ e sta irs, in
ques t of h is e st abli shment . In the first year t1 er e, 1 i ssa l es r ea ch e ·: t -.Jenty t housand dollars,
thou~h h i s co--:pet it ors i nthe trace di - a ll int 11ei r pO\Je r to s uppr e s s it, em ~ an tl y affirmin g
t hat he kept only a f a J l'le thodi t Books. "Fromt h fi st I pu t my busines s und er s tt t ct
/conscienti u s p rinci r l e s , detrnti ne d to buy, and ther for e to se ll bo oks, ~ on t he ir mer it s .
30-31
1
' e became embaras s ed , a nd in t e sprin ~ ofl e 64, made an effort to pla ce the bus ine ss onthe j o i nt stock p l an .• l nth same y e~ r , the plan Has urrl ertaken to establish a Gener al
Con.f c r en e Deposito ry. The gene ral Confe r ence i ndorsed the s cheme, a nd ar ran gements t~ er e
made Hi thth :1 ster n Bo k
on e r n tocombine his busine s s Hith church i nt er c: sts. T1ey
l oaned the con~ern so~ c ap! tal, which it r e t ained until he gave up the busi ness i n 1 8 ~~.2. lhe
busine ss i nc 1 ea ed and t e on e sma l l room in t he t h i r d s to was supp l anted b a ., tore opposit E
t he t..,ampus 'lar t i us, and soon after •• to 123 ood\var d Aven u~ . Inabout 3 yea:s , it .. became toc
small anri t-~a remlvd to 189 vloodHard A ve . ~ 31
I n bus i ne s : he was very gene rou s. Though '1i s s ales r each as hi s h as 4:> 60,000 a year,
~ e bar •d y ma de it.
I .... 18 2 an oprt uity to d i s pose of '"l i s l£nt ersst and ab l e to ettl e ~~40 , 000
of i ndeb tedne s ~ at par , meant much f o im.
32
I n 1860 hE Ha s of f e r e d r emune rat i nfur every .la:t er he vJoul d tvri t e for the N. Y.A0 voca t e
"T~ e germ wh ich ultima t e l y gre· into the 'l ic ~ i gan l-hr i sticn rl vocate , \:a s pl anted i n t he
Conferen ce of 1863, a t F<omeo , where re i ns ti gated a li vel y and i ne ere t i n..: deba t e on ihe advisability of a S t .., te paper • .in this di s cussi o1 , Dr. E. v . · 1aven took a pro~n in ent part. " Sub
s equent l y at ..; ackson, ina 1· 1, t hodi s t Star e ~Jon e.,tion, I ar gued thequst i n . In Hay , 1873 , at
a Pr eacher ' s :\ssocation, th e p r oject t·J a: cons i der ed with fa vor . \'ie found hat Rev. o. \~h itmor €
Has p ubl i s h inga j ournal f or hi s o•m d i s tri t, and He a gre ed to un it e with h i m to bring it
into circul a ti on upon the De tro it Di st r i ct, and call it The Hich i £a:1 . . . dvo , at e . It \o!as .furt 1e r arran ~em~ that at t he '"'onfe r enc He VK>ul c att empt the or g aniati ~, n o f a joi nt stock company to tal~e the r e sp n s i bility of publ~ sh in g it. The )Toj ect d i d n ot succeed He~l at the
Conf e ren ce , but i n l.Jec ember , 1873, the Otq:J any \·J as formed; $10, 000, i n shares of ~ 1 00 each
wa s s ubscri b ed , and -~J>5000 pa id in during the year . At the s econd annua l el ection, R~v . L.R.
Fi sk e , D. L.. .was e l e cted ed itor. My co ·nectim toJ ith the Aivocat e for t he ne :, t t hr ee years
tvas t hat of asso ciat e ed i t or." 33
In 1879 I Has el e ct ed edit or . \~h i l e I have not a ttaine d th esuccess t~ i c hi cou l d hate
d e~ ired, the A .:~'· oc a t e has taken rank a:--ong th f i r s t of its class . It has been he mos t fongen i al work of my li f e: , thus to con~ rs e weekly \·lit ~ not l e ss t t, an 10,00 of the be st p e o~ le
of the s t a te. 11 34
vJ i le thus e ng a~·ed v!ithth e8ook DEpos itory or the .. dvoca ' e, and for five ye ars l-Jith
both , ther e t·Ja s anot her s p·~e re of influ ence in t he .ch urchas i mporta nt as eit h r .• There a re
con:-1ect i onal int erests and ~eneral plans of ope r at 10n, th at r e q uirE expe rienced men t osup ervis e ••• An inter , st oft his cha: a c t er w~·lich prh aps de s erves spec ial flint i o n, as what •·· a s knowr
a s liThe .Al l iance." Ther had b r;en in 1868 an or gan i ~·a t ion k ot.Jn ash De tr oit S ...... 1-\l l i ance ,
t hroughwh i chthe .::>i r p son t..,hur ch was comm enced, but the effo r t proved t o o gr at, end it br oke
datvn theSoci e t y . From t h3 ti me ti 1 t ~ 'l.li an ce as r e-forme d i n 1877, t he r e \\las no/
comrr.unity ofinte r e s t among th e churches i n t he ci t y , e x-cept as i nd i v i dualchu ch e ap 0 i €d
t o o t her churches for a i d.
3tiY5
J. 0 t he r r.; tor ffi m
rt re-or gan i z a icn o the Hlli ance hewas mos t devo t e d, am the
s uc c es s of it s • ub sequent VJork i s l arge l yattri but abl e t o h i s uns wervi n int Hes t and t i rel es~
en er gy i n its beh ·l f . 'fhe Alli an e Qr w in i Qt er u t ti 11 t he sp ri ng of 1 879 , when in a me ~:: t
i ng 0 th e ~xecu ti ve '"'om. a t the Taber nac l e hurch , it \oJ8 ~ SU£g es t ed that i t l.S houl d under-
-8-
.
.
.
-
t ake th e payment of the church d eb ts oft hecity, wh ich t,•ere mostly of long s t anding andve:ry
burdensome. The T;:.berna cl e O l·~d ~12,000 , ::,i'is;:::n .,8 , 600 , .,~ ef t"e rs cn '\,e . ~ 3, 750, fo :- t ::;t •
.w2,200 , Si xteenth $1,100 , and the ven • ral -w8 ,000; tota l ~3.5, 650. 1ft the enc of th fir st
year a plan v:as adop t ed b.:· H~ ich t tx who l e was to be r aised by -•!ov ember , 1880 . .J..twas
t:m ine:1tly suc cessful in its '1-•ork, c:nd an t-il? 25th of r~ovember, as Jievirusly arran ed , a grand
lhanks~)ving jubilees rvice vias held .••
3.5.
" e was also one of the originators of the Bay Vi et·J "'amp round Associ a tion •• .Ln
12·7.5 he , in coropany vii th a f et-1 ot ~ rs,l.-Jent ro urda good porticn o f the t ract at the head af
Li tt l e Traverse Bay,/ befo r e a b la.J 1 as s truck at the i rr.mens e old fo r est tre es .• and
s ~ l ected the sp t i:1 t h.: forest t·:~ re t he auditorium is noH lac a ted.
It vJas his privilege
to be pr esent ea ch summer during the subseqt£ nt nine ye <Jr s , to :1 ke an active a-td i mportant
part in its service s. ue spa:e d no pains thru the Advocate to spr ead the fame of t ffit
deli ghtful p lace .
3.5- 36
•• t he respns i bility arrl ccre of so many important and varied church intue ts • • in the
CoD.fe r ence min utes of H:64 his nan~ aa hold i n four~ of t '!e most. arduous offices of the
vonference, t-lhi le t.p n s i x commit t ees a l mos t as l aborious . To at ~ end tothe cor respondence
a;1d in '.ervievls grot·J i nr ou t of thes._ r esp nsibiliti s wa s no small it em •• in the ov erload i ng
and d i straction o the min d ••• ~o sli'ad: yral y anc t r uly d i d he oft en sin g:"f or her my tear s s ha ll
fall •. 11 36-7
• • the spectacle ofthe rrug h , unsee l y stcre, po lis~ ed by the uiv im hand into a gem r e ady
for its he avenly se tti ng , sue~ Ha seen in t~e s::leve lo;>!!!ent af th e s p iritual natu::e of ·rr.
: rnold •• he wa .: fasi:Jrn ripenin g f or the rieavenly s r der . In eTly ~rd midd le life, th o ug:1
ah.J ays, after con ve rsi on , uns · riling in v1ha t he kneH vicsduty, ~ was i mpetuous , h asty in
tenp er , and vac illating t o a degr e e i n 11 is re li gi ous exp<: r i ence •• the la s t f ew months , seemed
to raise him above t~turmo il of strife in t o a re gion of perp e tual p ea c e arrlj oy. .
38
Sept. 2.5, 1884 . "I aP'l glcd to eccrd t hat I h:ive gone t hr rugh t he Conference and retained my assurance b efore uod . • I have l ooked upto Go d .fur help , andhav e een kept in
perfect peace. I still live by t t-K moment as reS}:e cts tobacco(t hi s re had use d, most of the
ti e moderat e , for f orty-four years , but fro .. conscient i ,' uslrinc i p l es , had not used it for a
yea r and a ha l f .). At our boa rdin: -place ( at Confer enc e)
fourrl s everal opportuniti es to
commun e vJit h _,thos e vJho have tru sted the b lss of ful l red emption . Upon th2 v.ho le, it was !:::y
f a r t hebes t L;cn fe r enc e I mve ever at tended, because no thino for a moment distur bed my
11
peace."
e v1as in the latt er p ert cf li fe , afirm believe r in
40
· the "Second 0 l E: ssi ng 11 or the doc ~ rin e of Saactifica t i --not in t}) e isappl i ed sen s:: Hhi .
is comn:on, th a t to live in sucha s ta~e places one out of th er a c h of telll]±atLn and
'
renders s in i mpossible- - but tl-s t t he a ttain ~nt of suc ha com itio h is poss ible in whi c ther
is perfect un ity of the '"'i vine and humcn will, sin i s o bnox i ous , an tl-1 believe r is enab l ede
to live in/ perpe t ua l cmsc iousn e-ss of pardm , pea _e an:i h2a rt purit y. 40- ul
On ue c• .5 , 1 884 aft er pa sing t he mor n in£; i n hi s usua ll-Jorkat the of fice .. si n .l:"i n g into
a cha ir,yi e l ded up his noble spirit..
4.5-uh
Read i ng . In e l y youth ha d 't he v1 i ld d e termina tion "of r E:ad i n £ so \oJidely and v a ri ousl
as to b ab l e to converse with my ma n on any subject, " and fo r al rr.o st 40 y ers t his r esolv Y
Has ar her e d to. 1-Iistory , ci ence , phi losro hy, the vari ous crafts, poetry, ficti n andart ;
.
.
.
•ver (
all meddl ed Wlth, but so braodly arrl g e112 r a lly as to oe f a al totha t accuracy artpr ecis i on
in le urni no so nece::sary to atta in rank as aschol
ar
. • \·Iorks •• of a skeptic a l mture
t-'· hen
r
I
I
• •
1
about t wenty t_he fi e l d vJ as O'">ened to hi m by a ims "Age of ea son." •• Vo l ney s Rui ns and
1
S tr mil.s s Ol d f ait; an:i .Nel-J .
48 .
J
~a lt er Scott, Geor £e ~ li ot ,
a:lame Sa-~d , ~ r s. S t onJ r, Irv.i ng an d-gg l cs tm •• • s ome
ficti on v1as r ead fo r purposes o re~ie t~,but he r eed notmore than a 100 vo luMs of cfictim
a1to0e t her. lhere Has to h im su ch d e li £h t in tho·JOrld of real it y a round hi m•• 49
•• v:eak constitutioo, not t-Jal king ti ll thr e years ofage , and s truggling \·Jith sickn ss, 1 on
and Sllver e ••
a man of strong pur pose and independence •• fearl es to l::attl~ with evil. . On one
occas ion he \oJas called up n to pr each the f uner al sermon of an int e l liGent, spirited vioma
WhO S~ husband, a li quor deal er , hail lit er ally fo r ced her,by his brut a lit y andimmoral C<ndu~t
toea • it suicide . In t hepr ence of a l ar Ge aud ienc e ,an dbefore her d <: sperate and r eckl es '
husband, h e f e rl ess l y charged treact up cn the liquord ealer, thus branding i m as a ffi1...1rder s
rfe w.rrites, "1 nevEr sa1r: such a sen sa ti on in an a udi en ce. The husl::and of the s ui c iee rose a t ~r
t te s i de of th e coff i n , p ronouoc ed my statement a li e , ord ered me to stq::J , am once sta r t d
t o gr apple me , but I vJent c a lmly on. The "t:Jolor came and went, f aash after flash, in the e
'-J
1
..
-9-
~e
throat~
fa ces of ma ny in the a u di e n ce . 0 em an t old me t h3 t he sa t r ea::l y to
i ze h i m by the
/ i f h e tou ched me . 'Iha t mam1 :: an h emper ate , skGp tica l ph~i c ian • • '\ft en Jar d, l he ld a
pro tFac t d me Ltin g in t he vi ·1a ~ e , and ,·ir. __ attended n i9h t af t Er ni ght, a .... arently deeply
moved . 11
50-51.
• • f neral ad dr e s ~ of one Hho se 1 i fe ha c ben notorio usl y s nful, he n:::v c:r si-Jrank fr an p
picturi nr the nature and con se quences o: sin, if he th ::l.l ght i t t·Joulc be a profi tcille 1 s son
t hrugh i t should r e sul t in an a l iern ti m of persma l f!'iendsh i p a s i ndeed it d i d in the
case of one or t lr:o ,..:el a~ thy famili es .
0 ne i nstanc e of fla grCI~ t s in among his mi ni sterial brethren a rose , Hh ich Hou ld hav e
een conce ·- led, ha not his per s i~t ency in p ursui f1; end a c cusing the offender , re s ult ed in
a confes~ i on of a mos t s t artlin g charact er . L ~ church s t agger ed under it as u n :er an ear t h- ·
qu 2 ke .• 11e attacked me b it erly, an ib ·, t'.hE mos c un inr and ma li gnant f al se hoods . J·t ore t han
once have I s m e toa qudr t er ly mee tinr, Hhenthe reo rt thct lvJas in j ail f or si rr. ilar cri me , hac
p r ecede me •• a fev! ye rs s i rce 1 b r e<Jth2d e as ie r ,when l heard cf his deat h . 11 51
.tis r eput a ti on fo r drollery end mirth-provok ing inci dent ..• :-i i s personal a _wearance,
vJ'l ich especi ally in early 1 ife was una 1 tra ct1hie, as he Has 'lam ely a nd at·Jkwar d , added mat.::ri a:
to f:l!:ie s tock of merri ment. An in st mce .• cancer. ing one of th e old am V?.ry eccentr i c minist er s •.• 11 Finall y", J. V. Ha tson t urr-ed to me , \·J i th i n i mit abl e fa c e tiousness, ard said, ' Arnold,
you 'I ve troubled me exceedingly . I h3ve had ::}y eye on you ev er since you joi ned the ~on
f vrenc e ,ard my conscience t.Ji l l not all o\-J ITE l onQer to c oncea l the sacred trust I GJe you •
.,any year s ago, vlheni Has a youn£: minist er, I r e c e ived from an old it iner a nt, a p e nny, lrJhich
~e sa id ri gi-Jt f ul y belon e · to me, a s t he ho Me li es t man in theconne cti on • .L held it t.J ith
no mi s oiv5nc tillaft er l saH yo u, \\he n I Has cmvicted witha sense ofunfith f ul m: ss in fulfil , i ng t he trus t t he old man r epo sed in me , as he ch arged me to pass it aver, when I found
a home lier •·1e tho dist minister. 111ere it is, ' sai d ;·Ja tson, 1 be faithfu l to your trust. 111 TI-J is ,
penny he carr i e wi th h i m for yea: s , dl i ll dut y comp<El l ed h im , in turn, to r e li nquesh the hmor o.
11
he in• t ~ ho ne lisst man in th2 cannec tim •
52-53.
'--h ildre n we r E his deli gh t, and he fe l t h ~ most ardent ple as ur ~ in t he ir j oy uus gl ee a:
innoc ent hap ine ss, b ecane 1~1 ile wi th t'lem, on:: oftl'Em . Those vJho have been a ccustomed to
pas ~ th
s ummer a t t'1e Bay Vi ew r esort will r ead iy r ec all the ~nd ay afternoon °ibl e s tory ,
Fh ich was as eagerly told t o the 1 ittle oms as it was lis tered to by them. 11
53
11
•• be longin g,tn it s h i g~ t d e £r ee , to the ' asooi c 6 rd er •• / .. As to 1' 1asonry, it a
t each i n s are in h armony hi th th? .o
of 0 od , andfor t.'1 ::: mo tpar t, par all e l \·li th c·~ risti anit y/
So·.e of its c eremon i es and obli ga ti c ns are ext r av a gan t, andbelong in an ag e of compa rative }barbar ism. Othe r s of it s t €a chings, inth2 hif tc.r d egr ees , ar e p r and, be ing t horoughly
Christiani an •• In my j ud gm ent, the ma in s ervice Masonry r enders to the :V~Hl d is in conse rvin~ a nominal '"'hristi an ity a r ai nst the encroachme n ts of skeptici sm .. 1e assault up ~:m •he
Or der is a mi staken z 9:1
5L,-5
.• A a writ er, h2 t-Jas bec i n if1, to atain mer: th ana loc 1 r eput ati o n •• he exertl e d a str
5
infl ue nce for l'le t hodi sm throu~ out t J-.e .._)t ate , thr ough th . A0 voc a te..
56
11
J. M• .ARNOLD
Anecdot es & Reminiscences of i•len Connected wit h Earl yMethod ism in N. i chigan
Among the ear l y preachers in Mich. vias E, Mc~l11 r:e, 'l'lhen I knew him he was stationed at
Marsha ll • • McClure was an i ntimate fri end of J.V.Watson. It i s related that he WGS with
t-latson at one t ime vrhen h e wa ~ suff 2ring one of his mos t s evere paroxysms of Asthma and life seem
ed precarious. I his extreme he called McClure , nr•1ac--if --I d~ die- - I Hant (you) to preach my
funeral sermon--agd Iwlac--you must put in your best licks--"
MacClure wa a man of rare eloquence. I heard him once describe a dream of heaven l·rhich l.Jas m
most beautiful and enrap t ur ing. In the same disco urse he spoke o f the absence of tears in heaven, and made a most qffecting and philosophical presentat i on of the occasions which bring t ear s
. and clo s 2d with the occasi cns which pr oduc e t ears of joy--a contrast to the saf refrain of ordira ry life.
A. t e lls that the Indian preacher Kahbege uas put on trial one time . ~. trial l asted
sane days ; He v.e s one of s everal summoned as a committee; t my boarded l·I ith r s. P ,O,Johnson,
l·1issionary. She was a f ine cook. They rad one day a l a r ~e fine roa st of veniscn hamvTith all t he
side d i shes "of a first class meal. 11 Coffee Has s erved. l·1ilk was passed f or it. One man tried
it 11 an dwith significant expression r eturne d the C lp to it s place to vmtch tm next make t he experiment. So it 11ent on ti ll t h e P . c . Br. -4nith who •• took a good swallow•• he mde a s cowlin g
grimace and demanded of the g:> od sister t.rha t Ha the mat t er with the coffee . She was thWlderstrucli
and coul d give no e:xplanati cn till it was ascertained that she hcd by mistake emp tied a ' paper
of salaerutus i nto t he sugar bo\o1l. 11
HJno . A. Bat1ghman 't-Jho was in his prime when I joined the Conference was Wldoubtedl y the
f i nest pulpit orator of the peri od . He t.ras of medium hei ght, quite corpulent and of s tentori an
voice Hhich was well modul a t ed-- He poss es s ed t he pm.rer of climax to a r emarkab le degree, a nd
t.rhen a •• vrould hold an aupience spell bound. He had the habit of r epeating his discourses on
fNer y p racticable occasi on t ill some of them wer e about as famil iar to some of his hearers as
to himself. Hehad a varie t y of quaint quips am quirks <.rhich were exceedingly amus i ng. He ~uld
say .• Catholi cism he vlescribed as the adora tion of a wafer God, and fish on Friday ' s. Ittvas an
ironical expr es si on of his 11 that a ll change is pr og ress ." He had a stub fin er on the righ t hand
am whene xcited it t.r a s amu s i ng to see him shuffle th at i rrl ex finger at a conr r ega tion. He u sed
no not e s, a nd no on eever s aw him Hith a scrap of paper as an aid to h i s pul pi t eff orts. \ihen
he ·Ha sat ~ end in a quarterly me eting or other s ervice he r ead all the ti me , to~hen not enga ed in
pub li c or in social co nver s e . Hewa at one pe r i od very s u::c e ssful i n r evival work but as he
advanced in 1 ife he became t·m rldly . He enter ed i n to real e state specula ti on in the City of
Detroi t an d f or a whi e i ma !? i ned hi ms lf rich and aped a s t yle of lif e befittin g a millionatre
but his busine s s IJlatters colla~d and he becam2 g r ea tly embarrassed . His last y ea rs 1-1ere embittered by an unfortunate suspic i on whic h resul ted in an misfortunate susp ici on which r ... sult ed i
a church trial. He was pr eachinga t ridrian whee trnre ltJa s a widow who had been long confined to
her hous e and whom he took o u t to ride . They stopped t-Jher e an old r oa d b.trned into the woods
and s a t down t o enjoy the beaut i es of ratur e muc h to tm di sgust am mortific a tion ofhis susp icious pari shioners. He Ha s fully v ind icated but the affa ir alienated his family from the M.E.
Church. I att erd ed his f uneral and me t(?) of h i s wi f e a s a b earer.
The re vJ
formerly in th e l'i ~:thcd ist Church in De t roit a Frenchman by the name of Fr ancois
Pepin. In hi s early 1 i feha« had b een a Catholic but thrrughthe labors of Rev• Thomas Carter he
was con e rted. At f i s t he wa squ it e a char acter and us ed t o go out to s urrounding tc:Jt.ms expcssir
Romaniaim. l::lut his trade declined end h e sank do1-m i n to obs curity and em ed hi s c ar eer as the
driver of an e xpress wag on. Toward t rn l as t h e became quite i m ifferent t oreli ious matt ers. But
while he pr eser ved his int eres t, he was exceedingly demons tra tive interlac~ng the pr aya: s
arrl te s t i moni e s with his r esp ns es. Kev. J. Buckl ey w a~ Jl3 tor a t the Wood Avenue Chur ch.
1
• e co U' t ed and wed th daught er o f Jame s Burns Esq. the wealthies t memb~:. r in t he '-hur ch.
The
affair a ttra c ted a gooo d ea l of a t t enti on on accomt of Mr. Burns oppos itio n • .t:l ut t i s s e ttled
down arila ll
smo oth on th e surface. It just a li ttle af t e t he ma rriage tl'B t the bri de arose
t n t h e pra}£r meet ing to speak . She sa t near the front and spoke lm~ a nd Father Pep i was rather
a l oss Hher e to put w a respo nse bu t as She sat dollm he 1 roar ed ou t , "Lord hel p the young girl n
It wa enough to make a Bi shcp 1 a ugh t o watch the pasbor s face as he s a t for a number of min~tr
wi t h hi s eyes fixed at a n angl e of 45 de gues contempl a t i ng the fi gur es in the Carpet.
""'---
.......
ARNOlD --2--
Rev • ._J!!£ . Levin gton.
0 e of th e most eccentric Characters i n 1'1 et~odis m -.as Jno Levington. He tvas from Irel and
but always i ns i sted that he was a Scotchman-- on · the p rinc i pl e that being born in a stab l e doesn
makea man a hor se. Jno 111as a gr ea tpr ea che r, l::ut could not b e trusted for a great occasion,
as he would " soar and s oa a to sane unkn vm p l anet " if he at tempted too much. Onee -at Fli nt,
when there for an occa sional vi s it, he preached en ab le di s crur se in the morni ng , arr:iwas announc
~d to pr ffi ch aganin int the evening .
The audience t·Ias small at the secmd s ervice and Bro .
Leving ton t old t hemt h:l t he had desi gned t o preach ~ ser mon t hat co st him much labor in pr eparation and WJuld r equir~:: close though in hearin :- but upon seeing tre congr ega tim he had decided
to gi ve thema plain li t t l e s er mm . He t hen pro ceeded t o pra:;h !from the f ir st Psal m a sermon
which 1:.0 u l d have 1-een very acceptable, b ut fo r trn apology.
..
Once uhen stat i ored at Bri ghton he !"E d an appointment at a place called Pleas ant Valley.
T e Christians came trnre and prached much to his annoyance am John saddled his horse and
started to look« after hiss heep . 1 t t~ s in l at e au t umn af t er a hard rai n arrltrn road Has fi ll ed
wit h shale ic e from-wh i ch the t-Idt er had been absorbed. "1-Jhen his hor se struck the i c e . he fell
and threw Jno over his h m d, up en the ice. He arose howeve1,mp:k put his ham to his h ead and sai
11 Ble ss the Lord I'll have an otm r crack at the Christians yet."
0 e of the mini sters having
heard the story asked him if it Ha s tnue.Let me s ee, says Jno, whont-Ias with me? I r emember, he
a sked me, had i t killed me an d I waited to be sure befor I ansHer ed him."
Rev . Robert Bird· one of his cmtemporarie s u~d to tell SellE si de splitti~ stories of his additi es w en he fir s t c ame to r1ichi gan. On ce h e s at dc:Mn to t he t ab l e uhere for tte first ti~
he saw hor se r addish. Seeing the r es t take it he hel ped hims ,lf t o a libera l s upp ly, and took
a spoonful. Nearly strang ! d he made an unmusical explosion .• and bur y ing his face i n l::o th harri s
he at-ra i t ed the effe ct apparently not sure Hhat t he out eome vx:>uldbe. h'h en h e rnd recovered h i mself he asked wi th the curiosity of a ret-J beginner, 11 And t·That i s it we call it?" On b e i n
to ld i t wa hor s e Faddish h e expr essed gr ea t delight repea tin g the nCI!l e several times •
.J.no had a s gr eat en tipa thy t o swi n es fle s h· as Br. ki am ~..,lark. On tm Circuit south of
Dexter there lived a family of ampl e means and it was t he stopp ing place of tm prea cher s for al J
that · r eg i on . On one o ccasion ken the Qua rt erl y me eting wa he ld nea r taa preacher s and s everal
othe r s W2nt the r e todinner. It was l ate i n tm daywhen i t -vras ready arrl among oth er good thi ngs
was a ro ast pi g . 'lhe c onpany_were invited tos it down, but as Jno looked into the di n ing room
he dr~-vr ba ck mdr eturned . The otrnr prea cher ca~ to see what was the ma tter and J ohn, after
the do on.Ja s closed , be gan t o express hi s d is gust arrl horror at the s i ght which h e said t-ra s a disgrace toan yChr i st ian, at-~ho le h, on he table. J ust t i nk he says He is stewi ng there his
head and ear s and even his t ail.
'11 no t go the re at a ll i ts a downrig t i nsult t o a christ i a n
min i ster , i t i s . They had t..ra i ted a llthis ti e fo r th em i nisters to say grace, and no t.rt he si ster
came in hersMf a1d tried to }M'Suadehi m to rome to dinner but he said it wa_ ofno use vTith the
·· sight of that hog set his bot-I~ll s t otumbli ng s o tha t he could ea~ no thing.
But poor Jno ran off t 'te tra ck and lost his s t arrl m g i n thel:onf. Little b~ 1i ttle he
becane an antimason and at last he worll2d up, such an animos ity a gai n s t them ins~ itution tmtil
he coul d think am speak of noth ing e l se. ie spent mor e of his time travelin g and lecturih .9
- on the subject and i nt·Tri tin £b ooks ard pap ers. <Dn these as in his l ec tu4es he e:xpr. ss ed the
most undes ir abl e(?) views of h i s bre thren. He s tirr ed a ll the el ements- of strife in t e - COmmuni.
ties in which he r ~sided. · Al l e fforts to counsel on control h im were unava iling andthe Conferen
finally voted h i m insane. He EIIKZt r aved andt or e like a bull in a ne t,but a 11 in vain the
stigma was upon him. He was afterwards restor ed but in 1881 he loc ated and took a relation to
the Amer ic a n \ol~s leyan Church.
John Russell. Thename of J~ Russe ll is ore tha t r epresents as much n a tive ability am genuine
· manlin ess as almost any otrer. Jno lva s born of paor parents and had very little educati on He co:
menced to p!!each when a mer e boy and surprised eve ry one by his success. He was ne~r eloquent
but he wa a correct cl e:q r cp forcible speaker 111hoseldomfailed t oimpr ess his hearers. He Has
unusually successful in r eviva l effotsa nd ro s to a pos it ion of infl t.e nee in t h Conference.
The secre t of his success wa mainl y his studious habits. These he mainta ined at a great disadva
vantage as he was sor e affli ect ed with weak eyes ard one eye became almost us el ess,for a lon gti
vlhen in 1850-55 bhe prohibi ti en cbctrine b egan tobe advocated J No espoused tha t and ma:ie a
complete sur render of his devotion, time and vrorldly prospects toi t. He l ec tur ed a grea deal
and s tood for temperance eveysh.ere. Bye and bye he star t ed a temperance paper which he
John Arnold
-3-
published unti l hi-:.. mean swere exhausted and afterwards Hhen he secured mor e means he repeated
the exreriment. Hevras for many years tte presiding offic er in the Good T mplar s and repres.. ented that Body in En gland a t an I nternat ional ~..,onvention where he rece ivea the gift of
1000 dollcrs in goldas a tribute to his se l f sacrificing devotion to the cause. But he coul d
not not with this attention to t empesance maintain his p ositi on in the L-onf. or rise to the r a
rank he was pred esti ned to hav e held. He vJa s t wice cho sen to represent h is body in the Genera:
Conf. the l a s t ti me or both t h5o ug h t emper arc e ·infl ue nce. Had h e d evoted his t.rhole li f e to
t he church with the zec:l devotedness a nd studiousness of hi searly ye ars he -vrru l d have taken
first rank in her councils an aco p lished more fo r h i ~elf but cannot say tha t any great good
would have resulted.
Hiram~ was one of the geni us sons of na tur e \vho Hith lit t l e educa t i on an::l no special gift:
t.Jon an inf luential place in the Chur ch. He used a greet many qua int comparisons, spoke ei th
great earnes tness, with a gr ea t d ea l of t enderness, and pushe d his work with gr ea t assidu ity,
and persevera ce. t e had uhat is expre ssingl y termed good h ear t edness and made t.Jar m friends
t.rhere ver she went. I n r evival work he ha d a r ecord equal t o alma> t a ny other. I used tosit
under his ministryt.rith p rof it a rrl de li ght and I supposed him one of the great men of the ages.
But this t..ras only the fond estimat e. of ooe who was fa s c ina ted. But my estimate of his genuine
good nes s n ev er .• declined . fJiany of th e mor successful of hhe early pr eachers he had little
literary taste or abilty. I t used to be almost the only literary effor t of the mi nister s to WJ
write a peice for th e Mi nis terial .Asso ci at i ons. The se wer ehe ld semiannually or quarterly and
drew toe ther almos all the pre achers in the lar ge dis t ricts ofthe period. i>Jhen almost every
preacher wrote a n essay upon some assi gned topi c.
.
Once at an Associ ati on held at Part Huron in 1851 Br . Law was a ssi gned to t·rrite on
"Pres iding Eld ers." The Essay tv-a lon gand so eulogi.stic that it provoked merrimen t & severe
criticism. ~e introduced a number of confusions br aoadly ridiculous saying that Pres iding Elders t-Jer eforts frcmthehe a vy a rtill ery of the. 4lur ch, was fried(?) a ga ins t h eresy. Theywere
Scre-vJs. They scretv up our hop es and screw dmm o ur fears. In a .s i milar -vmy h e compared them t o
leve rs, i n clined planes, wedges, &c. The criticism went on •• for a ti me .k One brother suggested tra tt te t-Jml e thing t-~a s d es igned a s a satire which interpretadlion he gravely accepted
and so ended t h: mat eer .
I once hear d him in an exhortati on in a rev i val service com~e the Church to one of the
breaking · tp teams of the period vihich cons i sted of s everal y oke of lliXen am a span of hor ses &
he made i t bri ef by the- time he g ot them all to. pull it ooce . I heard him one e at a
Ouar terly l'leet.ing on a at uqfay ni ght when af te r he had pr eoched .. p ray~ 11 li e t hank The e 0 Lord
t ha t the Ga spe lha s been~ d i spensed -vri th once more here tonight . 11
The first e tln di st prea cher I heard in Mich was R es i n ~ It wa i n a s.chool. house half
a mil e from my r esidence . His t ext Ha the ci evil. I do not recollect_the passas e but i t seeme
a stran re discourse t o me. It wa s ome ti Ee before I heard another R sin Sapp 1-1as one of the
-controlling spirits •of the period(l841). He l-Tas to~ell r ead, log ical buE was voted rather a dry
pr eacher . In l>ter ye ars he deve l o --ed consider a15 l e ambition forrank and place and wars sonsider ...
ed and expe rienced "wir e worker." rte used to pray wit h his eyes open and to~i th great eccentric ity. His l as t y ears were f u 1 of affliction a s h e died by inc he s of canc er of the stomach.
B. F : Cocker. An .Australi an. NcClure had absconded t-ri th Masqni c money to Aus tralia;
when he becsme p oor and help &ess, Cocker h elp ed him t o accumulate means. fJJcClure came back,
settBd in A,ri a n, and became an Episcop al mi nister. When Cocker suff er ed los ses he came to
.Americ a , ru t McC l r e rentisgd to hetp him. Cocker af t erwa r ds became Pr ofe ssor in Mien. U iver~
wor l d renot-me d author, and ethodis t p racher in Mi c:U gan. He l.-1a a Local pr e acher in Austral:..
.
.....
"I can recolle ct the first repr . of trn t I ever had for my vulgarity. Itt.Jas when I h :d r e ..
turn ed t¥i th a Plini s t er a 1i ttl e older than mys elf Samuel Cl ements an::l had l aunched off into a
smutty s tory . e di d not l au gh gr. bu t peproved me strongl y and proceed to discour ~ e upn the
sin an d anger o f the practice all edg in g that mi s ter s ho indul . ed it were a l most sure to fall
by li centi ousne s s a s t a t ement whichl have s ince es t ab li shed by several i nstanc es . I lis t ened
pa tientl y, ~ nfessed my f ault~ bu t habit •• woul d s t i ll oc cas i onally ge t t he be tter of me .
Arnol d
-4-
Jud ge Dexter.
At Dexter t-There I Has stat i oned in 1859-60, I made t he acquaintance of Juci geDexter. He
was then a man of abrut sixty ~ar s oldarrl a man o f leisure. In his early life had had be En
urrl er the influene of N. E. Unitarian ism which left its i mpr ess i en u pon him, but he was nott·rithstanding a devout Christian . He toms of old Puritan stock liberally edu cated, and possessed
of ample means. \'ihe n he came to Hich at en early period and took up a lar ge tract of land
but he never moo e a sue cess of f arming . He Has xery bene¥olent searching for the poor am relic
,- ing t~ em and doing gooo in every way . ne wasa et hodis t local preacher and used t o embra c e
every opportunity to engage in the work of God . But then came an evil day for the ~exter family. A " r ca:;her by the name of Jud d, an
i gnorant hot-heade fe llm-T_,t-Jho was stationed at Dexter arrai gned J u:lge Dexter for heresy and
expelled him fromtheM.c . Church . This was in 1852 and he thereafter continued out of the
Church but constantly disgui e t an::l unhappy . Heattended the Cong. Church tho ugh he had special
affinity tori th th em .
l
When! wen t there
called pon him and was cord i a lly received and he reciproca ted by coming
to hear me preach. In a short time I became warml y at t t ached to him. He wa c very intelligent
arrla man of noble spirit. He spent a gr za t many pleasant hours to~ ether but I t-ras the pup il am
he th e tea:her . Solll2 times hmvever I became fulfilld in his campany . I;Je loved to talk, and \·lOuld ~
sometimes comet o my house on Saty as early as 9 A.fii. and talk right on till noon while I sat
nervously turningand Hond eringt·Jhat 1-1ou ld become of my sabba t h s ;::rmon I fina lly found ou t a
method of reli ef. As he did t he talk ing it was my bus ines s to listen. But after h e ha::i rtm.
upm one track for some ti me I would ask .a questi on a t an angl e from his line. He toJOu l d start
off on the new. track. an 1-1hen he £Ot under toJay I t-roul d throH another rail a cross in the
formof a quest i m. A-" t er doi ng this a few he wou l d ris e put his ha t and ·~ id me good day.
The next day I preached t.o him the b est I could andhe l:Ias a good hearer too. F t..r man hav e
impr essed me more than Judge Dexter. He t;as a remarkable good man and a true fttaM. He had a
consi derabl e family Hhom I app reciated very much.
.
.
(Letter put in the record by Julia D. S annard , daughter of Jud ge Dext er(520 Hose ~t.,
Petoskey, April 18 , 190$) ~ "Allot-r me to say a\rord- - 1. found, upon coming lfiome from Yps ilanti,
-vrhere I was at t.enq ingthe :::,t a te !llorma l :::,chool--that 1·l.y F;iher had just sent a l et ter to the
0fficers of t~ M .~. Church of Dexter of their--his arrl my f1oth er s t.rithdrawal fran the Church-A mi nority of th eBoard H q very indignant Ett the thought ofcall i~g the theolo gy(or dlr thodoxy)
of mf.: Fathe r in q.1 tStion .
r. 1~ orman Phelps and a Nr. Vandecooper were bro of theboa rd tvh.o talked to me about it, bit.
terly r egretting the acti on of the board. It was an 11 evil da y" for the l-hurch, not 11 for the
Dexter family"--.We -allwere invited rep eat edl , to go back into the Church.
Hy lfatber b uil t h, Ch.urch and the pa rsonage and cave thelots-- of course, h e t.vas hurt and
ilndi gnan t abrut sue h t reat ment--but was not " unhapp/ about it--A good man, happ y i:1 doing
good . Rev. Samuel l-l Ements s aid, 11 The J ud ge vias crowded out of the Church, it was a shame .n Dr.
Arno ld via s a val 1.ed f riend oftheD exter fanily, I say this 11 Hord 11• to he lp Jjri m out of a mistake.u
Speak ing o f Judge Dexter recalls an incident which impressed me. I was at hi s tab l e and
conversins upon sane topic when I sat.r fit to refer to the old philosopher i n Johnson 1 s
Raselus as an illustration of the principle we wer e discussing. 1 said, "Jud ge I ruppos e you h·
have r ead Raselus? 11 He replied veryshort and curtly, ''Everybody has read Raselus . u I was
'
dumfounded am I think IIBd e no pesponse but I rave sin:; e since reenforced my qt.e stion by the
discovery that there are a good many persons who h ave never r ead "Raselus." BUt I learned
not to ask questions which r equired thct a p er son should cxnf ess their i gnoran ce. 1'1aybe I
via s at that time gre at l y inf erior to Jud ge Dex ter in my acquisiti ns. I enjoyed a t ol erabl e
equity with him and I have the pleasant assurance that he r espected me and I ha ve since
had the most kind regards of ~he whole famil y . It was my privilege to meet d~ing t~
~ICL Or Temperance Convention in oetroi t in l Bc J a daughter of his, Mrs .J ulia ~tanard o.f
Dexter wi try whom I sp:?nt. s veral hours in pleasant reminiscences of her fath er and i.
generally Judge Dexter t.Ja a pure-minded, benevolent, and-v1ell read man, of wrose acquaintanc
I h ad occa sL•n to be proud, but which I should nev er have gained if .J.. had listened to the
couns e l of my friends of the Methodist Church. In fact I had to disregard th2ir counsel
in many particulars. On the first Sabba t ",, l went at 2 P M to the Cong Church and l-Jas told
by the most influential of t h2 ste t·Ja~ds that s uch a course Hould ruin me ! But I continued
to go, and went a1 soto the Episcopal Church at 5 P M when I could and went some time s to the
sacrament as admi nist e red by them aad 1as not ruined either. I was never b e tter supported
e ither by the Church or the l-ommunity , and my congrega ti :..n s became lar ge and inte lli gent a
it wa s no disadvantage to have J udge Dexter ther e t osay ~as he sanetime did v ery h ~ ti~
. ...
Arnc.ld Recolle c ti o ns
-5-
J
J udge Burt
. .
I n this Ci t y upcn oodwa rd A,,e .live tvn Broth..rs of the n~ ?f Bur t . and anot~: .ll es
I think upon J eff Ave. They are alhJeal thy , havinQ been enga~ ed 1n t~ 1ron trade 1n the
Lake Supericr cruntrya d in this City tmmx father of t hefamily I krnw well. He ovmed a
farm in Oakland Co. near ·!m. Vernon but hlll spent a cons iderable of his early life in N S
Service as a ~QI'veyor. He '(,!as the inventor ·o ftheS olar Compass an insti'UI1lent mich r evolutionised Ehe b usiness ofsurvey i ng. He wa s a veryldnd old entleman of l a r ge information and
devotedly reli gi us. I recollect once that I tad oc casion t o pass his place upon a rainy day
a nd calle d to sta y a 1i ttle while. He received me cordially and wa s disposed tocn svrer my
questions cheerfully. I had nev er l:leen a microscope, andHas very anxious to studythe _erz .
of a fly. He took off the ey e pi ece of a his telescope fo r m ~ e and1:1ith that I had a f1ne v1 ~
not only of theeye of a f ly but o f seve ral other objects. It was indeed a memorable day to me
and I always recollecte d J udg e Burt with pleasure. The possession ofl.Jealth has separa t ed
between me andtheBurt family. Strange! their vrives \orere on::e my familiar acquaintances and ~
fJif s. Wells Burt wa s my school mate arrl a familiar as my own sister but Temp ore mutant1ilr
e t v os mutatur in eum.
J A}ffiS BURNS was one of the older and more conspicuous laymen in one Church in Detroit.
He unitedwith the Church in 1835 and as he soon acquired a comp~eence and was withal a man
of excellent judgment in alhci temp ral affa irs am fairly liberal he became prominent in
th e affairs of the ~hurch. But so far as I can learn he was never remarkable for spiruality
or religious activity though for a lcng period he t-ras a class leader. I first became
acquainted liith Nr. Burns when I wa3 appo nted as pastor of \iood Ave. I1. E. Church in 1861
He was then still a lea der and used oc casionally to a tten:i the prayer meeting & take part.
I often met in his class and recollect well the len confession which he used almost invariably to make and l.Jhi ch at first led me to feel that my effort to arouse th<E Church had not
been in vain. I thought a reival ·wa immiment 8 ut after a few ti mes 1 found that it meant
nothin s er i us. He invaria bly fell back into the set Q worldliness a ga in. But it served
to show ·me that he had a strong apprehsnion o the claims ofthe Gospel,and a conviction of
his own unfaithfulness though h e had evidently lo s t all po wer to r eform. He .needed as
all men need to go on to perfecti on, but in default of that, they fall back to the
0
very lowest form of " sinning · 6 repenting." I had my worst exper ience with Br urns vJhen
I called up in th e0fficial meeting the quattion of commencin£ a protracted Meeting. I
de sired to secure ~e cooperation of the Official Board whose influence se emed to me quite
indispensabl e to g eneral success. A longpaus e had exist ed when Bro Burns said,"Fathe r Hart
what have got to say about it?" It was a clellE evansion o f the quest i on, as much a s to
say I shall not commit mys elf •• advising others not to do it.
But as usual Br. OrTen came to the rescue andtold me that it vJas the habit of that
church to manage its temp~al matters and l et the pns tor ·manage its spiritual matters as he
saw fit! Br Burns was account ed a succes . ful man. e accumulated a property estimated
b ef ore h is death at three quart ers of a million. He had about five years ago a severe
paralytic stroke. But when he recovered he was as worldly as ever and at thetime of his
death Dec. 7th 1883 he was at the a ge of 74 as i ntensely occupi ed in buildingand bargaining ~
as eve r. ~ is lif e afhords a sad co ·mentary upon human frailty ••• For year s he has resisted
almost every appeal. e has ordered given abou t 1,200.00 t oward t he Cen tral parsonage ,
but this ha s furni shed an apology ~or withholding from every othe r object, all except the
mer e st pittance. For year s it has been necessary to h ar all his obj ections and gr~w ous
ances before t he confused applicant could get a dollar for any benevolen obj ect. He is
said by thos e who knew h im .intimatel y to have f ea red tha he should come- to poverty •• -For two
gre at enl argements of our Church accommodations in the city in the )ear s 1867-70, he gave
5,000 d ollar s, atd re had al:Dut· 1·200 in t hepcr sonage erected in 1883. But his lat e r g ifts
seemed r el uc tant, md me ag r e for one sow eal thy •• A1 ter :khe had paraly sis up n t~ advice of
Dr Brown he took al coholic stimulants and tmy wrough t t he fata l d eceit under vThich so
many g:>odmen have fallen late in life , aine d ctonrol of him so that he becane t he slave of
appe tite and to the shame and humi 1i at i on of hi sfr iends app? ared in public so un:ier the
influance of 1 i quor, that he was not of a soun:i mind •• Br Burns 1 oed too Church andhad done
muchfor it rut his l ast days were spent ltl'rl er a cloud and i s last end \VBS n ot the setting
of the sun vrith its uolden Twili ght a s i t mou ld ha '\e b een.
Arnold .Kemin s.
-6-
iRev. F'. A. Blades
11 Amm g the more promi nent ard i nfluential min is ter s wit h whom I have been asso ciated the
hmored name of Blad es holds a h i gh r ank . He Ha s born i n r1ary lan d in 1821 and c~ in earl y life
wi th hi s p crents to I4ich a nd settled at Grcn d Bl anc near r lint. Hi s ea rly opportuniti es \-re e ver:
moderate being li mi t ed t o t he common school. tie united VJith the Mich. ~onf. on trial in 1842 ,
and di d ill ust ri ous ~ rvice in pioneer work risjng s t~~dily i n inf luence and •• till in 1857
he f i ll ed the fi r st pu l p it in the stat e in Wood Ave ctiurch for many yea r s he o scilated bet1..reen
Detroit, l~ rian, & Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor be ins rome ti~s in t he pastor a ge and so !lEt i rr:es P . E.
Hi s las t min is terial s r v ic e i n connection wi t h Conf. was lfipon the De tr oi t Di str ict in 1872 .
He than settled in tm city and e nga £,e d i n busine s s became l argel y inters ted in real esta te and
f i nally 111as 2P,,Pointed assessd>r ~n the customs hruse, an o ffice vJhi ch he creditab l y f illed for
1
rna~ years .
h i s also gave him an ad ded interest in p olit ic s , a fi el d in -vhic h he had alvrays
f i gured t..rith muc h succes s. But for 9:llle Je ar sh e vas really prom i nent in par ty cir cl es end vias
r egarded as a s ort of power -, ehind th ethr one,by f{le po liti cal aspirants of the period.
Br dl ades t·ras alsoa c onspicuous Free Mason. ehad reached the hi gh t rank in the Ord er both
as r spects the order and i tsoff i ces an::l was r gard ed as a sage crunselor and tvi se l egi s l at or •
•In t he order of Knights Templ ar in t !1e Sove r e i gn Consi story, end in Gr and Lodges o f t endiffer ent
bodi es he t..ras fr euqnet honofed t·Ii th t ffi office of Chaplai n . He took an inter est in the fourd ing
and gr ot..rth of tre N ichi~ qn A_.vcca t e and Ha: for many year sane of ~t sdirectors;1
As a preacher Br Bla:les t-J'as a p ~ cull arly feeling and to~ch1ng s}I!Bker. e dwelt most u pon
expe ri enc e and prac ti cal fruit an::l vra s all-rays heard with i nter e st. rieHas in r eques t for
specia l oc casions such as church openings , in t·h ich he wa s a suc ce s sful solicitor.
But like man y o trnrs Br Bl ad es di d n t hol ·' t h e full meas ur e of hi s r eli gi rus fervor and us ef ulnes s nor the full orbed character he had mce possess~doc after re retired fran the itinerancy
~e wa not as pro pt and r eliabl e in tre soc i al meetings of hi s church as m i ght have b ee n e xpecte
,_,e did no t r et ain his Chr ist i an f ruits ard forbearance . The polit i cal and busines s X»~
colli ss i on s h e~ encounter ed l ed him to cheri s h a sharp :mtnt:lt ago11ism tGI ar d many pc:r son s
and nany v1ere st.rmel y pr~ udiced ag a inst him. But the pab:ticuman event that ••• was his conne ct
wit h t~ N. Y. Book oncern. Imbroglio that culminated :in 1872. Heha::l lon g been a memb Er o~ th e 1
Commit tee o tre Gen Cmf. an::l i n tha t capacity lBX: had naturally become an apo l og i st f or the
a dm i n i strati on. But. l-rhen the sever i est t es t. ca!lE in tre Gen. Cof. of 1872 somrof his
theo~ies were dis s ipated andh e h i msel f incur red severe cri tic i sm. This si saffect him cnd th e
fact tha he was n ever again suggested as a cand idate for Gen . Coni. l ed him t o fe el that the
Chur ch ha d fro'lomed uro n h i m. He l os t Church prestige in pr opo rtion as he g ain edpolitical promin • nce,an::l this grieved h i m. He came to r egard the wo rld a s col d and un gr ateful. He fe lt that
the Church had for gotten the ardient toil a ndc hEerful sacrif i ce of hi s earl y mini stry . Towqd
scm e of his br ethren -vrho rnd expressed di sapp rob a tion o f hi s course since l eaving t~ i tinerancy
he cherished a r eal bi tterne ss . But hi s di saff e cti on a m d i spl easur \vere a n almos t n ecessary
result of tha decline of r eputati on which cane f r om r et iring from the ministry.
Such men mus t expec t to l ose the i n t e rest they rnv e enkindl ed i n the '"'hurch in their mere
devot ed ministeria l li fe. As my personal f rie nd I h av nothin g ill tosay of Br Bl ades except
that in his busine s s re l a t i cns h e has been the occas i on o f some \vretched bar ga i,ns to me. Scxne
y ears ago he wor k ed me up t o buy ape ice of l and in t he suburbs of t he city on vr!J.ich 1 d oubt net
he ma:le a good c ommiss i on end b y ~h ich-'- lost more t hen one t housan ~'doll ars and too e nd i s not
y et , al t ho ugh I sold one ha l f of it to Br. Arms trcn g for 1_500.00 whi ch wa s about _500 l es s then
it ad co st me.
Rev. W~llington H. Collins.
Earl y in my minis try I f crmed the acquaintance of Rev. W. H. Co llins. He was then stationed in
Detroit -vi here to~as two ye ar s a pas to ran::l four y.::ars a P .E. Hehad rise n stead i 1y fran an ordinary
preacher tolbe the stronge!.· t man in t he Cqnf erence. He 1..a s not specia ll y br illi an t in the p u l pit
but as a deba t er h e was invinc i b l e . He be[ an very moderately, had a firm grasp of h is themes
and ffiver l e t f O till san e thi ng gave way . It is said that in the pulpit t;re W<.l!S usaii!bly a little
heavy, but at t imes · e warroo d up t0\-1a d t he e nd and carried all before. In Church admi ni strati ~
he wcs i nte lli gent, fearle s s and j,udicious. He \-I a el e cted to t heGene ral L,onference a nd upon i t :
floor re me t th emen who office it seemed tobe to apolog is e for s lavery and he \oras really a match
f or any of the m in d eba te. At home ho\-Tever he gradwlly grew to be more con-servative until he be
came the le oo er o l the prosl avery vr ing in his Cm ference.
Collins was a ma n of gr ea humour and gr ea tly enjoyed all sort sof ~ rriment. ~Jhe never 02 me t
me he seemed to gi ve himself up to sip andr e lish whatever nonsense I cou ld recall or origim te
-"
Arn~ ld R~ini s cenc es.
-7-
-
7"-T .,_...--
and this for h curs to ge the r . He inv ited m to his house a nd se em? d to tr eat me as an e Ci-1*- ~
once pr ~=. cm ed in his pr es ence a t the Trenton Canp 1'leeting & at the conclusion he handed me a1
outline ofhis discourse on a better soule than I had deliver el!l it. But I lost his frierrl ship
by a trifling ma ter. It \<las at a sessi oo of t he ~_.onf. i n Flint vJher e h e \·las pitted(?) with
J L Davidscn, Geor ge ~ ith,and a f eH other a gainst the Antislavery a gita t im. He hai spoken
for sane ti me andi guess would hav e spoken for ten h ou rs rather than y ield when some one applied the ga~ rule as it \vas termed and moved the previ ous qu estion. He dropped terrilbly
under thisacti cn but it v.ra s sustained arrl he ha1 toyie ld. I met him a few minut e s afterwaatd._
and in a sort of provoking gestur e told him that he cruld not s peak. He looked very indigrnntmd was nver af.ten.rards cordial to me. But I loved him as a man an dl-rren te died , I lvept
as neve r \ve pt for any othe r mm sin e I entered the ministry . He died young o f fever I thinkl
arrl in his death the De-troit Ccnf lost,in ~ jud gment, the strooge st, b ee t balanced and can.
did man of i t s ranks, am who had .l.ived wou l d have acquired a great nepne in its couhcils.
Br Bollins was of me dium height, stout and with heavy should er s ard a 1a rge head . His'-'
personelle was imprssive and his voice rather full and qui
p l eas ant. He i mpressed all as a
of extreme candor md so lid piety and he wa v e r y tenancious ofhis friendships. Few ministers
i n the s t~:t ge had more soci yate in business and p olitcla circle.s ~t h e ~ras neither a man
of means or af political aspi raticns.
Bev. M. Hickey.
Rev. L'lanasseh Hickeyw a. born near Royal Oak, Pakland Co or aat 1 east s pe nt his early ;year~
there. His father via a pious but ignorant l ocal Preacher very demonstra t i ve,marcurcial &
eccentric. I recollect hearing him tell at. a camp Meeting that 1.-rhen onet.ras groHing hap py -in
God " they vJru l d !aught i f the wings fell dom. 11 He g rew •• at the advance of bible inter pr etati
in the 1 ight o f science andstoutl y asserted that according tothe word of God thewo r 1d did not
xurn but" that the sun went round the earth daily and that the earth wa f l at & had corners &c.
r e collect that he came to 1'1 t. Clemens i n 1848 to lectUJ upon this subject . Rev Jn0 Russell
who Has then stct.i med ther e cou l d not of cours e encoura ge himand he broug h t his Ol.-ll. cand l es
and li fh ted tre Court Hou se . Very few however at tended his lecture andhe was disgusted at th
r esu).ts.
anas seh w<E converted young and vras a very devoted Christian·. There wer e t wo oftrn
boys and lbo t h were veryenthusias tic andnoi sy i'lethodi sts for a ti~ but the elde·r whose nam e w
Dow apostatised and .went >vith the Mormons. Manasseh t·ras sen t. to Albion Semincry and made
sam p:'ogr ess in e ducatim but was al~ys noticably irx:orr ect i n his handling of the King 1 s
English. At school he t·ras ax tarjet(?) on account cf his stentorian prog r ess and his
demcnstrati rn utteran ce in llene ral. I have hea rd General Clin'ton B Fiske sa y tm t t-rhen he wa
at Albion at school with him Br Hick.ey used to go a mil e up the rai lro d t o secret pr~r and
when engaed he could be distinctly h eard at t ae I ns titution. But Br. Hickey prof i ted grectly
in his ministry and went tp from one poi nt to mot her till1 he fi lled appts in Detroit City an
was for fotr yars P. t. . of Detroit Dist rict. I myself r e c d nw appt. to Wooo .Ave when he 't-.JaS
the P . E. I had done him a marked f av or a short time before and it was perhaps fran a sense of
obli gatim tha he favored me . Hov1ever that may be it 'haS the b.lrnin g point in my life • .Afte
t he c1 OS ~ o f his term he to ok an app t to walnut St. a smalland incmspicuous chaage cnds oon
aftermrrds went to Flin District. He· e his labors wer e g reatly bl essed b ut in the midst
of h iswork re t..ras injured in the head by the upsettin g o f his sleigh and lay for some time
spe echle.ss. It may be doubt ed whetter h e ever recovered fr an th.is injury . He tock a s uperannu:t.ed rela i oo and s et tled ~on a lot whlch he ha:l in the city and wa s thereafte r chi efly
conspicuous as a democrat.
e received through dema::ra tic auspices an app lt as city libraria
an d office for which he as signally unqualified and 'Which he gave up .in a little more than a
year. His chief occtpati m was tm t of a lif e Insurance agt. In his supaannuated r elati ons
h e pre a:::hed for soe time at the nl"lorning ?4 is s ion 11 building. He was n ot however specially act
in the devoti onal services of his church •. But Br Hickey has dcn e good lrlork for the Church.
For many years he wa s a mi s si omr y amond the lndiansand wi t hru t dout his stentor ian voice
and earnest manner was c a lcul at ed to render . him useful. In the Ind i an t-rork h~ devellop ed .
good degree of busines s capacity. ~Jhe n in the prime of l ife h is mos t striking quality wa s
povrer in prayer. I have he ard with perfect astoni shment and with r apture his canp hfeeti g
prayer s. The volume Has amazing but t he l o ic •• and apparen t faith \vas more than equaL
I am ccnfident t~t I never heard a not her pray as I have heard him. But liie most of
the old pi oneers his i a y is ov er and h e can n e it he r p r each or p: ay to much purpose not-1 •
i'Hi s ne rvous sys tern is shattered , he ha s little self control and is evidentl y failing
year by year .
Arnold Rem inisc ences
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T.
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~ . Gardner D. D.
T' _ The- f i r st recollect i on of Br o Garner t-Ia at t he Cmf in l4onroe in 1850 . Br . Smith
had made a Sn ech(Geo ) and tol d in apa t ronizing \vay hoH he had held a certain minister
i n hi s lap vhen he lvas a child. Br Gardener gathe red a companh of theyoang men on the
turf at the r e8f_ of t h e Chur- ch and desented upon th is and other !Jla tters cla iming t hat the
old men of the onf :-.~er e sapercil ious, arro gan t and i ntol erant and propo?ed that vre or ganize
a " young men ;::a r t y. 11 I \·Jas ca pt i vated VIi th the schem e ard at once j oined the young men ' s
party . But I nevec made much head1>1ay under the l ea dership o f r-.C.GArdner. He sean ed to
me to l ack loyalty to the Church, to be a mbit i ous and t o b e d est itu t e of fi delity. He Ha s
s mitten 1:1 ith disa.ff ecti n ands eemed all-By s •• The d za th of hi ·s Hife turned the soul e and
-l eft hi m so querulous that nothing coul d thencefar t h s at i sfy h im. rte used all effort t o
s ec ure the best Appts but. ent i re l y failed. The De troit people seemed to dread hi m and l>JOul d
not h ea r tothe pr oposal that h e. shruld be bro l)d ht tot he City. But a s a writ er and as a
preacher he p:oba b l y had no s.tpe rio r in the Conf. •• he v1on theadm..irat i on of a 11 good· j udges,
by h i sd i s c· u rses. But h ere the a dm i rat i on of the me n ended . 1 do not recoll ect ever
hex have heard .one who had inti mat el y knO\·n him tbenqu'ir e after· hi m 1.orith 1-1arm personal inter (i; es t •• When he and RCv . J . S . Smart v1ere de l egates to
n Conf. t he s ame into Colli sion
i n r e gard tot h2 appts. c:£ !.Yi ch . Commit tes, ea ch one cl afming theH office. The mat t er Hent
so far as to become a neHspa per cont rovers y and f-lr. Gardner 1..rrote a s _v ere l etter far p ublication in the W. C.Advoc ate . Dr. Hertshcocklvas then Ag t aft he Book Concern at Chi cag o
and lilis advi ce was a sked in regar d t o its publi cat i m . Ye s s a id he .cur tly , pub,l i sh i t and
then goes another h<?a d i nto the baket. The pred i cti o n proved too true. Any man Hho 1..rri tes
a bitter., ung enerous things af a fe llm-1 worker for public per usal i s sure t of eel the r eacti on
and to be Horse injured t hen his apponent. Dr Gar .:.lner 1<1as appointed to V8 s.sar end bolted
and thi s ended his minister ia.l career • .
He secured a n Appt in thecustom h ouse at Port Huron, a mere cl er kshi p and vir tually
ceased t o preach t hereafter an:l at once ' l ost all interest in the soc i al mee ting s of the churc
rte i.l.as married a s·econd time and came near a · s eparat i on but hi s wi f e who l<Ja S a ma i den l ady
held br'a vel y on till h i s paroxysm 1-ras over when they se emed to co me to a matua l urx:lers tandin£
ard rive pleasan tly togethe r. For a man of his tal ent he. 1..ras siooalarl y la cking in good
ju::l gment. •
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u nee Hhen Detro.it h ad exerted i tsel f to an ext raordinary degree to g et up a ~rarrl demonstrati on and had hi r ed a p.1blic ha11 for a platform· me eting expec tin g ore ofthe is hops, a
di sappoi n'tme nt occurred . A s ever e sno1-r storm del aying the train. .l:::lut a dispatch tol d us
thatkbck he· might b e expected abE abrut 8:15 and after prayer T C Gardner who 1-as present, was
c'alled p on to sp:: ak in t he i nterval. rtewent i n far a bi g s peech and exerted himsel f t othe
utmos t . The bishqJ arr ived but s ti ll he wen t on til l af t er nine when the b ishop declined to
deta in t he ald i~ e a nd only spoke a f etor minut es . The peep l e Here indignat at Dr. Gardner 's
t emerity in holding t h? p.latform. Over a t the 1'1ichi gan Confe r ence whi ch he attended i h
t he effor·t to secure abe tter appointment than had been . iven h i m at the •• s ession oihis oan
the t'r e $iding Bi shop called up on him to l e.ad in prayer ct. th e clos .e andbefore r ead i ng out th~
~o£6tmnt . 1 t vras past mi dni ght, allwer e i mpatient to close, h e t-ras m a c.om.J)arativ e
stran ger or a t l east had no inter est i n the Appts but i.t was hi s opportunity or h e forgot
himself fer he prayed ha lf an hour. or more . Hav e -vrritten these thin gs from no dislike to
Br Gardner rut t o shot-1 hol-1 a man ofsu:: h talent and devoteness to· his ~10rk as a mini s ter co ul d
fa ll in t he r ace an d becan e unacceptable in the best appointment hut i n som e form it is
the history. of many • • If T C GR.rdner hadbeen placed in thepcs ti on of Edit.or •• he liauld
have mde a grand i mpr ess i on opon the Hor l d ••
Bro. D B T''acy . Br Tracy did not t ravel rrany years. An affl ic ti n of the throat which he
contracted in prea ching rendered i t dub i ous wheth2 r he could ho l d out in protra c ted use of
his voca l organs . I have seen him suddenly overcane H'ith h oarseness 1r1hm in the midst of
so~ ptbli ceffort •.
Sep t. 4, 1884. On Pastoral Vi s itation • • "Does h e v isit from h s e t o house? ~oJhile i t must
be conce ived that t~e popular demand i n this directi n is often unreasonable and beyond tt£
ability of any mini s ter to s atisfy without n egl e cti ng pul t preparat i on, it i s still true
tha ' this i s en indispensible el eme nt to mini sterial success .• vJe can f ind ins tcnc ... s in sane
towns lvin which chrches of othe r denominati ms have great l y e xceeded us in gra..rth 1..hile
the ir P'tors were men of infe ri or pul p it ab ility • . lhe secr e t •• can be r eadily traced .to
devoted p toral l abor ..
Arnold, John M.