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Title
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York, Lodowick C.
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extracted text
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Rev . Lodowick Cl ark York
Havi ng attain ed the ag e of al most nine t y years ,
I
t h is gr and man and devoted minister of Je sus Chr i st,
who was the elde st i n yea r s of all the memb ers of t he
De t ro it Conferen ce, passed to h is heavenl y reward on
Fr i day of l as t week, hlay 3 1, from his home in this
city .
Brother York v;as bor n i n Brookfie l d , IAadi s on Co .
N. Y. De c. 22, 1 8 17.
Hi s parents wer e early settler.·
i n \/estern J:reVJ York , wh ither they h a d come from
Conne cti cut .
Hi s f at her was a Baptist and his mothe ·
a Quaker , and both were devoted and uprigh t peopl e
and took t h eir ch ildren to re ligious services and
tr aine d them in the things of t h e lcingdom.
From
his early y ears Brot her York was affe cti onate ,
s i ncere, pure-minde d, consci entious and, i n his way ,
relig ious.
He v1ould da te h i s conversion with an
experienc e occurring i n his t wentieth y ear a t a
Heth odist camp-mee ting h eld some t hree miles from
his h ome , a t wh ich he freely and distinctively
consecrated himself to God and fu lly trusted in
I
Jesus as h is Saviour.
joy fil l ed his soul,
A gre at p eace and a wa r m
~hich
at times bec ame r ap turous
and a t t he s ame time t here dawned upon h is conscious ness t he t hought t ha t h e would bec ome a minister of
t he gosp el.
I t di d no t be come a clear expe ct a tion
Rev . Lodowick Cl ark York
Page 2
\"'J ith h i m at once , nor did he find h i mse l f r eady to
recognize it as a posit ive call of God.
He di strus t-
ed h i s own abilit ies and qualific ations , and was
I
absorbed a t the time in t he work of tea ch ing , and
was cherishing ambitions in t hat sphere of u sefulness .
He was an apt student of b ooks, an d had a genius
for i mparting i nst ructi on i n t he t h ing s he l earn ed ,
an d so a t the ear l y age of fifteen
~as
elected
teache r of a neighboring school wi thout seeking the
p osition or knm? i ng he was being cons idered.
He vJas
succes s ful to a remarkable degree , and his servic es
were sought by s ch ool tr us tees in the whole se ction.
For some t wenty years he pursu ed t he voca tion of
t eaching , t aking brief periods for a t ten ding advanced
schools himself.
To an unusual degree he possess ed
the power of waking up young peopl e and bring ing to
th e front their bes t desires and ambitions .
He had
no difficul ty in governing and was as skilled in
administration as in t ea ch ing .
I n h is native village
a fine bui l ding was erected with a vi ew to secure him
as princ i pa l of an a cademy to be founded and managed
by h i m.
I
He Tias in this position when in August
1845 , he was married to Miss Frances D. Collester,
the
daug~ter
of a physician in a nearby town.
His marriage was indirectly the means of fixing on
~ichigan
as the place of his great life work and of
his entering the ministry o
Ers . Yorlc' s father had
Rev . Lodowick Cl ar k York
Page 3
become t he own er of 320 a cr es of wild lan d i n
livingston county , this sta te, and t h i s l and fe ll - to
her, on her f a t h er 1 s death, as h er portion of h i s
I
estate.
.A fe w years l a t er because of somewh at
i mpaired hea lth , consequent of indoor work , Broth er
York came to t h is sta t e , and he and ntrs . York s ettled
i n Howell, wh ich was not far fro m t he l and be l ong ing
to J,iJ:'s . Yorlc.
They had some t hought of set tli ng
upon it and of maki ng it a far m and a h ome , but
refr ained fro m so doing bec ause conditions were s o
new i n t ha t s ection .
He open an ad va nced school
i n Ho\Je ll, wh ich v1as s oon throng ed by eager y oung
people seeking it s advantages .
Dur i ng t h i s time the
chur ch at Howell l ost i t s pastor, and Brother Yorlc
was solicit ed to pr ea ch and to fill out the year a s
pastor.
This re quest brought to a cris i s t he
struggl e t ha t had been g oing on with in hi m for t vJenty
y ears or so, whe t her he would pr each or not .
His
con clus i on was t o y ield to t he i nward pr essure of t he
Spirit and the au t ward summons of t he chur ch . and he
consented to act as pr eacher for t he Howell church
for t he rest of t hat year, and decided to appl y for
I
admiss ion to the De troit conf erence in t he fall.
Th i s he did and at t he first session at wh ich t he
con ferenc e was organi zed at Adri an he was received
on t rial , and his min i stry has been coi nciden t with
the h istory of that body up to t he present.
Rev. Lodowick Clark York
Pa.oe 4
Brother York 1 s ap) ointment s were Br i ghton, Cor unna ,
Ontonagon , Eonroe, Holly, J:nush ing , ass i stant pastor
I
Flint, i ..edina , Clay to n, Br i ght on ( se c ond time) , 1.layne ,
Dent on , ,/illiams ton , Dearborn, Denton (second t i l!le )
Be lleville .
I n a l l t hese charg es he served with
succes s , edifying t he church , wi tnessing conversions
and i mproving t he church prop ert y .
I n every case
he left a charge stronger than he found it, and i n
some cases had reviva ls of great sweep and re markable
power.
;ih ile pas tor at inushing he '.Jas appointed county
super i ntendent of pub lic schools, and f i ndi ng that
th i s office r equired most of his time, h e received
for t he
ensuin~
t n o year s a nominal
ap~ointment
in
Flint, where he lived, and gave h i mse lf during those
years to educational i nterests .
Brother Yorl;: vJas a man of accurate scholarship and
gre at prec ision of thought .
In mathema tics he was
an adept and even a marvel , and in h is teaching he
made a specialty of t ha t science , in 1·Jh ich he signa lly
excelled .
I
He poscesse d great sweetness of disposit ion and
was free fro m unholy as pirations in the ministry ,
aski ng no favoritis m in his aptl Ointments and malcing
no exa ctions .
All he wanted nas a plac e to preach
where he could do t he most g ood.
He excelled as
a pas tor . and h i s visits among l1 i s neon le we.r..e.
Rev . Lodow ick Clark York .
v eriti ab l e bened ict ions .
P a q P.
n
He nas equa lly sk illed
as an admini str ator of the affa ir s of t he church and
I
brought t h i ngs to pass of a u seful and diff icult natur •
:fuil e the mildest of men , h e a t t he s ame time
pos sess ed a fearles s courage and f a ced dangers that
woul d make timid men qua il.
He posse s s ed i n the
f ull est degre e t he confi dence and love of h i s br et hern
In 1886 he b ecame a s uper annuate a fter thirty
succe ss ive and succe ssful year s of l ab or in the
itiner ancy , and since t hat time made h i s home with his
son , Bertrand D. , living four years in Uilliamston,
t vo in Gr and Rap ids and fourteen in Detro i t .
Hi s time dur ing these
t~en ty
year s was pretty
even l y divided between t hree t hings : first , devotiona l
se rvic es and r e lig i ous meditat ion; second , re ading
and s tudy ; t h ird, gardening , a l abor in wh ich he
delighted and exce ll ed .
\'lhil e h is s trengt h had be en sloVJly declining in
l ater years , he remai ned quite well i n general, s av e
t ha t h is limbs were \'Jeak and unreliab l e t h e l as t year.
or t wo , and he could wallc ab out only with consider ab l e
I
difficulty .
Hi s r elig ious exper i ences brightened
during h i s l a ter year s , and they were if pos s ible ,
the happiest years of hi s li fe .
Hi s e l dest son died of t y pho id fe ver in Holl y,
and his eldest daughter was marr i ed i n that tovm to
Rev . J.
~.
Joslin of the Detro it conference.
T~o
Rev . Lodowick Cl a rk York .
Page 6
sons, B. D. York , attorney at l a1·1 i n this c i t y , and
Francis York , organist of the Centra l Chur ch and
I
Di re c to r of the Detroit conservatory of mus ic, and
Y!l's . Jos lin are the survi vi ng ch il dren .
!.Irs . York
has been sorely affl icted with rheumat i s m, and has
been unable t o leave her room for the past year or
mor ~
The interment v1as i n the f amil;y l ot at Hol ly l ast
l1ionday , and t he funera l servi ces he l d at t he home ,
23 1 Hancock Ave . Wes t, l ast sunday, were ideal in
form and sp i r it.
They were i n charge of h i s pastor ,
Rev . E . P . Bennet t, of Cass Ave . Chur ch .
Rev. J . 11 .
Gor don offered prayer and 1t!rs . Charl es Cl ement s sang
"Le adkindly light" and
Rev . J.
~.
11
Jesus, l over of my soul."
J a ckl in read a biograph i cal sket ch , Rev .
John Sweet, presidi ng elder , spoke of the life and
qualities of Bro ther York, emphasiz ing the
thou~1 t
that the death of s uch a man was a triumph and not a
tragedy .
Rev.
~.'! .
\1 .
·:rashburn spoke of his pe rsonal
observations when presiding el der of Brother York ' s
mi ni stry , and said tha t such a man and l ife had it s
treasures laid up in heaven, and that death would
I
bring him to them .
Rev.
~.
P . Bennett narrated the
exper iences of Br othe r York during his closing days
and did so in such helpful words t hat we g ive them
elsewhere.
Rev. ,"/ . '' · Ramsay offered prayer and
Rev. F . D. Let te pronoun ced t he benediction.
•
Rev o Lodowi ck Cl ark York
A
Pa~e
7.
TR i illllPHANT EHD .
(Addr es s of Rev . E. P . Bennett , pas tor , at the
I
f uneral of Rev . L.
c. Yor k .)
J ohn \7esl ey on ce rJrot e , " The vJorld may not l ilce
our Uethodi sts , but the norl d cannot deny that they
di e well."
The r e ligion wh ich teaches men to die
we ll has pr oved i ts ri ghtto be .
At the pr esent time
t he use of qui eting dr ugs and t he se clus ion of the
sick work together with the ut ilitar i an and ma t e riali s tic n ot i ons of t he peopl e t o prevent th ose tr i umphan
dea t h- be d s cenes 11hi ch f ormer l y wer e perhaps given
undue pr omi nence in the thought of t he church .
wo ul d be well if
~e
It
coul d strike that happy mean i n
wh ich , whil e min i stering to the bodily comfort of the
dy i ng we mi ght still be refreshed i n the kno·wl edge
of t h eir spi ritual triumphs .
Father York was never more exultant in h i s Oh ristiai
exper i ence than during the l ast days of his l ong life ,
and the te s timony given during t h ose day s ought to be
recorded to t he gl ory of our Lord and Sav i our.
For a man approach ing his ni netieth mil e- s t one
I
his facul t ies were remarkably well pre served.
mind was alert, clear and keen .
Hi s
Hi s time in recent
years had been divided betwee n his garden and the
room where he held sweet communion with t he beloved
compan ion of more t han s i xt y -one yea rs of h is trials
and triumphs .
He read. meditated and prayed much
Rev o Lodow ick Clarlc York-Page 8
and felt h i mse l f to be growing in the knowledge of
God day by day o
I
\The n he wen t to h i s bed f or t he
l ast time i t was in t he cl ear r ealization t ha t he was
a t t he end of h i s long earthly pilgrimage .
His
house was in order, and he a\-Ja i ted the comi ng of his
Lor d with joy ful expectancy .
He had r e cently be en
t racing t hrough his Test amen t the expressi ons
" eternal life" and l ife " eterna l.
He de cl ared that
he was findin g ne\"7 me anings in t he Word a ll t h e time;
that during t h e l ast few weeks i t had opened to h i m
more wonderfully t han in all his previous l ife .
said: " The chil dhood of
my
He
ol d age i s pleasanter and
bett er t han the ch ilill1ood of my y outh .
lJy faith in
t h i s ''lord i s so much brighter t han it was when I was
y ounger.
It grows brigh ter as I grow ol de r."
His son-inOlaw , Rev . John
~.
J oslin, asked h i m if
t he hope he had so long cherished was with h i m st ill.
"Yes " h e replied and t han quoted four lines of Thomas
Campbell' s ap os trophe to h ope :
" Unfading hope ! ·when 1 if e 1 s l ast embers burn ,
1fuen s oul to soul, and dust to dust return ~
Heaven to t by char ge r es i gns t h e awful hourl
Ch ! then , thy k i ngdom comes. immorta l powe r l"
I
On Londay ev en ing he said to those about him:
"In my Fat he r 1 s house are many mansions.
prepnring the m for me .
He i s
'J.lhogh I \7a l lc through the
valley of t h e s hadow- t he shadow- of death, I will
fear no evil.
He that believeth in me shall never
Rev. Lodowiclc 0 . Yorlc-page 9
die • 11
And t h en he aslce d the m to sing wh at he called
h i s "song in the nigh t, 11 and they s a ng :
I
" 0 Thou, in -r1hose presence D'\V sould t alced de light,
On whom i n affliction I call ,
I.T,y confort by day , and my song i n the night ,
nv hope , my s a lvation, my all, 11
He went on :
" I see it cl earer t h an I used to-the
ma nsions a nd t h e joy i n h e aven . 11
On Tue s day evening h e exc l aimed :
name ~
Eterni t y !
11
Praise His hoj:
s hall se e a s ne are seen .
~e
I
iiJan t y ou to take g ood care of moth er 1i7hen I die . "
His wife sa id to him, " Pap a . a1·e y ou g oing to l eave
us? "
He an s we red,
11
Ye s, for a little wh ile ,"
Then
sh e said, " Pap a, YJhat sha ll I do wh en y ou g o away ?"
I n s tantly h e re p lie d , "Cas t t hy bur den on t he Lord ,
and h e will sus t a in t h ee, 11
Aga i n he c a lled for
his "song i n t h e night, 11 which rJi t h
my sou l, 11 and
11
11
Jesus , lover of
From ever y stormy wind t h at blows , 11
was s ung v1h il e he lcep t time with h i s h and, a tte r:.1p ted
to sing , a n d e j a cul a ted rep e a tedly a t a ppropriate
pl a ces ,
11
.Amen !"
in heaven.
t he re."
I
He s poke of t he g lorious reunion
Hi e daught er sa id
11
Papa , ·v1e ' 11 all be
" Pr a i s e t l1e Lord, " he r esponded , and t h en
con tinued :
"I ' ll pr a i se my l ~alc e r VJh ile i've br ea t h ,
.An d when nw v o ic e i s lo s t i n de at h ,
Pra i se s h all employ my n obler p O\'?er s , 11
Tha t' s n ot t he 'tJh ole of t ha t hynm, bu t we kn 0\'7 t 'h e
r est."
Rev.
Lodo~ick
c. York - Page
10
l.ll's . York aslced him if he had ailY mes s age for his
brethern i n t he conference .
I
Hi s re pl y v1as , "Victory .'
He pl edged t hose about h i m to re ad the Bi bl e , an d
expressed h i s prayer t hat all mi ght be bl essed to the
salvat ion of some souls.
On 'i'hursday afterno on vJh il e h i s f avorite "song i n
t he night . 11 "Jesus , Lover. 11 and "How firm a foundation
were be i ng sung, he
follo~ ed
by moti ons of t he hand,
by amens , and exclaiming "Hallelujan."
Then af t er
a lit t l e he s a id "I see it so pl a in- the mans ions.
0 , dea t h , 'tJhere is thy s ting !
t hy victory . 11
0 gr ave, where i s
Hi s wife aslce d h im, "Papa. are you
He responded ,
11
Yes , so ha ppy ."
Fr om t h i s time on little t hat he said could be
un de r s t ood, but like one ab oard a rec ed i ng vessel
he s i gna lled h i s faith and triumphant joy until h is
ship passed fro m mortal sight e
And we ll mi ght he ,
for he could sing :
"I.:W bark i s wafted to the str and
By breat h divine ;
And on it s helm there rests a hand
Cther t han mine.
I
"One nho has lcnown i n storms to sa il,
I have on b oar d :
Above t he roaring of t he gale
I hear my Lord .
"Safe to the l and, safe to the land ,
The end i s thi s
And then with Him go han d in hand
Far into bliss. "
V . LO DO!·HC X CLARK YtlnK ( l Rl
7!;H 907)
Pict u r e f ro m my li b r ::>.ry( RAB) , ori g i nally f ro m Fo t-rl e rv ill e .
Hi s Memoir i n 1907 De t roit Co nf ' ·re nce
.i nutes , pp . 455-457.
Autobi ogr phic a l f ragme n t by h i m, " f'iy Fi rs t Co n f e rence
Appo intme nt " t.. ras pub li s hed i n the Det r o it Co n f ere n ce
Hi st orica l Ve s seng er fo r Jan uary 1978 , pp. 1-3.
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MY FI RST CONFERENCE APPOINT :ENT
(Br i . hton Ci r c uit )
REV . L. C. YORK
One beautiful swnmer evening in 1B5-6, while t.aa..c).Ung in .tlo.well, 1dich., I went to the Metho cli.st
church to atten~ a praye r-meeting. I had thought for some time t hat I ought to join a church,
as I had been a professor of religi on for nearly t wenty years. Being pretty well acquainted with
the pastor (having given him private l essons in Latin and Greek for nearly t wo yea rs), I asked
him, as he was a bout to disniss, if he would a ccept me as a probationer in the church . The
following Saturday morning he asked me to p_reach the next day, and at a quarterly conf.erence held
soon afterward s I was voted a li-cense to preach, and wa s recommended t9 the anrmal conf.er.ence.
W. E. Bi.g eloN, then presiding elder of Ann Arbor district, signed my license, and presented my
recomme nd at t he first session of the detroit annual conference, held in Adrian. There I received my first appo intment.
It wa s .a t wo ~ 1 circuit, with fonr s mall villages, where I wa s expected j;p pr.each ev.e:ry
alternate Sabbath, and twQ country schoolhouse appointments, making three .se.M..ces each Sabbath,
and a :cide -Of o:v:er tJ:ri.I:ty .miles. The Saturday following my appointment I went upon the charge,
visited a number of my stewards, and without any of their assistance, tented a house, into which
I moved my f amil y . At my second round I called a meeting at my residence, of the officia r y of
the church, which wa s pretty well attended, but as ooon as it was fomnally opened one of the
brethren asked for a privat e room, whe re they might consult together. In a short time they returned , saying they had decided not to accept me as their pasta r, and that I ¥B s at liberty to
go whe n and where I pleased. To this I replied: 11 I am here by the authority of the Methodist
Episco p3l church, and, the Lord willing , sha ll stay and preach at least in these bro cbnrches ,
and I naN notify y ou they must not be closed against me . The schoolhouses I cannot control;
neither can you. Do as you pl ease a bout my salary. My Credit is good, and I shall remain till
the first quarterly conference a t lea st. 11 Whereupon one of t he stev1a rds said he thought they
would better hold another prig~te interview, and after a few moments they returned, fixed my clai m
and a pportioned it to my six appointments.
The re was me ither prayer-meetings nor Sunday school within the bounds of my cha r ge. After a
little I 15~ gave notice that on the next Thursday evening there \\OUld be a prayer-meeting at
the church. The janitor wa s or de red to ring the bell and light the c hurch and my wife, with myself a nd t he Lord ( praise him!), we re all taht were t he re. Within a few months, however, the room
became pret ty well filled on prayer-meeting evenings. At the second qua rterly conference it was
decided to hold a c am~eeting, commencing on the third day of June. It proved to b e a ve~ late
spring, and when we went into t he woods on the t hird day of June, there wa s not a l eaf on a tree
there a s l a rge as a mouse 1 s ear. But we held the meeting, and two boys were conve rted. One of
t hem died on the battlefield in our civil wa r, and the other is now a superannuated member of the
Detroit annual conference. We held a continuous meeting from the t hird of June till the first
of September, at different points on the cha r ge, and during toat time I was, in addi tion t o my
Sunday l abor, engaged every e vening of the week save one. Ove r t wo hundred joined our church as
the result. I se rved this cha r ge the full disciplinary tenn, and wa s frequen tly asked to return
again, which I didi aft er about fourt een years. By way of explanation: My first offical boa rd
wa s composed of g ood reliable ehristian Men, all of them now in the spirit wollrld; but t hey had
been prej udiced agains t me unse en end unhea rd, and t heij first impulse wa s to a ct on that ~~e
prejudice. I now r ejoice in saying they became my wannest, kindest friends, and ever so remained. In le s s t han one yea r we had four weekly prayer- meetings and four Sunday schools, all wel
equipped .
.,.,
Late in the fall of the firs6 yea r my wife accompained me to a village eveing appointment.
The house wa s '~11 fille d, alt hough .J.. had but one member at taat pla ce. During servioo we had
a h ard rain storm, which did not close with t he meeting. Ten miles from home, dark night, roads
rough, and still raining . My thought was, What shall I do? This was ooon settled by my wife
telling me that we were invited t o stop over night at the cbctor 1 s, whose wife and sane d)f the
childreti were there with a l antern. On reaching the house the boys assisted roe in caring fo r my
horse and wa ited on me into the house, where I \'B.S introduced to the doctor, who very i~fjepeat
indifferently shook hands with me, wit hout so much as saying, "Good evening . 11 (I lea rned aft e rwards that he had said that he v.ould not pay one cent to·wa rd the support of any Methodist preacher
or go to hea r me preach. ) Thinging that I must be social whether others were or not, I opened
on the doctor, saying to him : "Well, doctor, this is a dark, stormy ni ght. 11 "Yes, 11 was the brief
answer. 11 Have you much sicknes about here this fall? 11 "No." ttHope you will not have a professiona
ca ll to go out in such a storm as this. You have a beautiful Wome here. n "Good enoughu was his
,...--,.~ --. ~·
-2-
reply. "How long have you lived here?" 11 0ver thirty years, 11 and, rising, l eft th e room unceremoniously . In due time, after a few \'Drds of prayer, we were shown to our room, when my
wife with some earnestness s aid 11Mr. York, if this was my case, I should hitch up the horse and
go home to-night." To which I replied: 11My dear, this is not your case. It 1 s mine . That docto r
is an intelligent man, and I'm going to have a visit with him 1:efore I go home ." She replied:
"I don't see how you ron, when he son't talk." I said: 11 He will talk in the morning. Gue s s
he's tired tomight." Aft e r a g ood hight 1 s sl e ep, I awoke in the morning , .f:iea~ifig hearing saneone ki ndling a fire. Quickly dressing my self, l. went into the room with "Good morning, doctor, 11
to 'Which he responded, without looking at me . The rain stonn was over, which I t alked about
agaeiH again, and his nice home; then asked him vhich wa s his native sta te. "Well, cbcto r, I
find a good many he re in Ui chigan from New York sta te. I am from central New York. Who did you
read medicine with? 11 He replied: "Dr. Y/hite , of Cherry Va ll ey. 11 In a moment my wife rushed
into the room vri.th a "Good morning , doctor. I understood you to say that yo u rea d medicine with
111/That was your fataer~s n ame? " he asked.
Docto r White. He was my f ather 1 s preceptor."
On
being told, he ruse d towa rd her with hand eti4;ffi;~ outstretched, saying "Lets us sha ke hands.
Your fathe r vas my chtnn. 11 The doctor's tongue was unloosed, and my wife monopolized the conv ersation till lat e in the forenoon, when, as we were leaving for home, he s aid to me: "Whenever you can conveniently do so, come end stop ove r ~ night with us. If I am not here, you
know the way to the barn. There 's plenty of room and plenty of feed. He]p yourself. 11 More
than once after t his he l oaded my b uggy with bags of \mea"¥, keeping his v.ro:nl!: by having his
wife pay the money.
In the fall of the recond yea r I held a two days ' meeting in a grove nea r t his village,
using the village school house for the evening service. At the closing service the doctor ca me
in, a lit tle l a te. All seats were occupied. I said: "Doctor, come and sit with me in the desk.
There is plenty of r oom for bw ." To the surprise of all the congregation he came and attentively listened t hrough the service . ne was considered an unbeliever by all who '-ere acquaihted
with him. Although in this paper I ha ve not given them credit for it, yet I vas assisted cyfo ur l ocal preachers who resided within the bound s of my charge, and by pa stors from surrounding
/ cha rg es.
York, Lodowick C.