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Bennett, Isaac
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REV . I SAAC BE!•l!IJETT.
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B. hpr. 22, _1810, el dest s on of ames & L di a , on B con Ri dge , Ro s twp ., J Affer s on Co., (\,io .
Di e d Quincy, M.ich . $ at. }",.b. 20 , 1 890 .
Earl y ed. advanta ges fevr ; at the age of 8 he could read
the N, T. f l uentl y, i t eing about t he only s chool r eader available . "About 12 months 1 schooling,
a pourse of l ecturAs of young men , sunnl emente d b a few months trainint: after the a ge of 20 ..
Ble ssed vrith par ents who h ad r,r eat r espect for theChristian religion . Y.lh en h e v~a s 8 his par ents
wer e converted. In his 20thY,ear h was converted at a. camp m'· ~"ting in 1 830 : 11We rejoiced; we
wept ; we prayed; we praised Uod t ogP the r even untilthe break of day . A ~ t he clos of the camp
meeting I united with the M. E . Cpurch on trail, anti a ! the clo r. of my probatio n I •·•as r e ce ived ••
and licens ed toexhort apout thesame tine . In ~uly 1 83 2--lic. t o preach, R~v. Rus s ell Bigelow,P . E .
1834--employe d as sup ly on 111t . Gilead Ct., Ohio. A.!. the organiza tion of . th,e Mi chi gan
Conference in 1 836 e was admit t ed on trial an d ordained a Deacon by Bishop Soule, and in 1 838
was ordained an Elder by Bishop W;~ u gh .
1
His first coni' . appointment was St, . 1•lary s Mi ssion, .waumee di ri ct, Ohio. In this S+ate
hi s f i l ds of l aborwere as f ollows : "Shiawassee Circuit, Ingham 111ission, Baton Mission, Al bion
Circu it, Litchfi e ld(two p a torates), Coldv~ater, Ma nchester, Burlington, Albion, .t>;}rma and E ton
Rapids , Fla Riv , Iunia, Qrang P.apids( S con St . ), Lamont, Ectwar dsburgh, Pa w ~P , Ca ssonolis,
Allen Circuit, Girard , Quincy, R a ding, Kinder b'1ok and Butl er. Superan . at Jackson Conf . 1 872 .
"At thi s death he wa tbe oibdest member of the Conferenc e , an ct was wh -- might be regarded as t h
conne cting 1 ink betweenthe old and the new of .Methodis m in the we st . n e was a v e ri tabl e pioneer.
We r ead of artright and Ft nley and rtussell ~ eigelow who put the br~aking plough of Methodism
t hru thlilsweste rn t erritory, by: which t is moral vril ern ·ss ws to become a f ruitf Ul field;but
I s aac ~~nnett wa sco~ e rted ,at their alta r, p r aye d i n their revivals , shouted at the ir cam
meeting, s prea che d in their p nl -.its, s tood by them as i tiner andts , an::l. discusse d t he que st i ons
o 't he day in the officia l orga ns o~the church, back in t he 30th year, of t hi s century.
--One of his Bjiilcu its con~ nimg 2000 miles mile s of territory, 35 apo ointments , pr ea ching P,
times a nd t r a' eli ng 1 00 mile s pe r week on the aver age , with a no shelter for t he hors ard but
l ittle for himf' l f , often hungry and cold, exno r ed to st orms and fevers a nd othe r pe rils o f' the
wild<>rnes s .
.
~8 Lwas a pnointed to Sbi awa ssee, a thr ee-41tee-k~cir.c.ui.t , moved t he far.1ily f rom Ohio,
a distance of 300 mil , in private conveyance ; :B weeks on the road; s ettled in ~ff~on township
in a log hous in an open .field , surrou nded~Y woods ,no neigh 1ors near; wife an ct t hree little
ones , often aloneweek8 at a t ime , not a face to be s e n ex cept the of a stra ggl ing Indian, o f ten
wit hout. sufficie nt f ood . I brought no furniture with me a nd h ad nothing to buy with . I borrov.ed
tools and made a t able, .chair s and bedwteads out of boxes an y oungsap lings. " 82
I twoul d b.e difficult to find in the hi story of our Metodism in8tances of gr eater heroism,
f'e l f - sacrifice and devotion, than i n the li~e of t hesubject of our sket ch .•
At l east 2000 were won from the ways of s in thru his l ~b or. In 1842 he was senior p rea cher
at South Al b ion, and during the yea - not l ess tha.n 700 profe ssed conversi on and 425 we re r e c eived
on ti:al. He has l eft .• an exa ple worthy of emul ati on .. 11
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I t would b.:: ctilfi c t t o f ino in tue :.i.,t ..H'.Y of our ·· t..uo d i .s_ in .:;~.;e:.nc es of ·
g,r'"'a _ ~t-:r ois m , _, . lf s o. cri_ i c_ -.. nct u ._ voti o n ,
11an i n· u0 l. i _ of t11e s u b je ct o f rur
sk.ctca . .....e \'I .. s one of t he nt :: u ho ma ::. ~11....- t o r y pu t b 1.ossol.!.. :... .• d re j oic in g on t ue
des - t ~nawa e t h g l o r i o us he . i t ~ee Ac pJ sses s ~ ~oss ibi 1. it y .
~ ~ri nh t~ese y e ars h
ci~emed La ? PP ~~ ci ~ te the si~ni f i c a nc ~ ~ f w e~ l e y ' 5 charge
to tl..:i p .cc c er s,nY o u have n .... t · ~ n 5 to u o u ul t. v s:.v e s ouls ." At l ~ as t 2 , 1.~.., 0 WtH·e
w- n fr om h e wpys o f s in tn~o u gh h i s la bor .
I n L842 h~ was seni or pr e her ~ t South A1.bi o n, ~nd d u ring t he y~ r n o t l e ~ s
tt.a n 71 0 p ro f e ssed c on:V0 r s i o 1 c. n d '+c.::;> \'l~ rc: recdleJ un trL.. l .
r'ol. i ti c a ~-Y , l•': t her Be n n .. tt w ~s c... t·\:: public u n fror Lhe p_rty , s fo:crr.a i _, n a nd w"' s
pr-.:sen - at its orLc n i :...ati o n .
ln his pv c k e t ~.i... ry v;c .c...ve t he foll O'.'J i ng : ' T urs~. c... y ,
Ju y , l o54 . ~o d-Y at tena ea a pJ litic a l ru~-tinb at ~ a c ks on t 0 c~nso ~ i u~t= p liti cal
pc. r ti:::s e:,_ains~. incroachm.::nt.:; of sLv ~ ry ; Ul-.:-tin!:. l. c.-.c .... o ni _ u~; c ~r1<-~ i~a t~s f _r ~L ate
v ffi -._..; no .. in._teu ." 'l 'iL , b uvc was t1: . c .... l<;:b_ .... ~...: c u uv e .• ti u n ne l....l u n ....... r tn..: 11 0 c. s ' '
at. 4 ~c,;..:oo n wni:?J.e they bLave thE: n ~we to n...: n ~\'1 p !' t y <.o t;! - co._ ...l i t ·-t·lUbl..i. C<.tn .
H ~ ga v _ " ::;on ,
,, v s ~ life .. c.s s a cri1ic ..: ... in c.i... co:.tnt ry :; ..J·-1s ns e .
} o r 6l yJ ... r .:. he b ore tn~ name o f 0 r•:... dl...>d it pr...: e- c n:;. c~nu itu til;,: n ... nt~ tu~
int ~(;l'i ty til_
u .. u r c~l d i i d~l ity, Lu c ~..: v uL..~. , c vt.s~ c .. ·"'tL .-n , c:. nd sacri1 ic ~ . n _ !l;;, S
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Bennett, Isaac