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Title
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Casler, David
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David Casrer, Obituary
George B. Marsh
ESS than four weeks away from hi~
e ighty-ni nth birthday was David Casles, when he \'Cry quietly ceased to breathe
in th e arms of his be loved daughter. ~fiss
Mary, who had so tenderly and devotedly
cared for him through his declining years.
Accustomed to spend the winter mon ths
with his son, Doctor Wilbur L. Casler and
Mrs. Casler, in :'o.farquctte, he ha'd been
for several weeks in that city wh en the
end came, very early Thursday morning,
J a n. 17, 1929.
David Gaster was born Feb. •13. 1840, at
Minden, New York. Speaking of his early
hom e life, at a reception tendered him by
the people of First church, :Marquette, in
1927, Brother Casler said: " I was converted in 1857 when I was seven teen years
old. For years before that, I longed to
be a Christian. My father was converted
when I was about five years old, or a little
more. I sha ll never forget the impression of that first morning when h e knelt
at the family altar, the fami ly a ltar that
was maintained all through his life.
"Father died at the age of ninety. That
famil y altar was a blessing that came to
me and stayed with me all my li fe. 1[y
mother went home when I was thirteen
years old, but there came another mother
into our home, who proved a mother indeed, whose Chris tian counsel and godly
life led me to desire to be all that I could
for God.
"My oldest brother was converted at
seventeen. I didn't realize that a boy
could be a Ch risti an until he had g rown
nearly to manh ood, but when I came to
the age of seventeen I thought it was
time for me to give my heart to God.
That winter I went home from a meeting
and I knelt in prayer and promised the
Lord that i £ th er e was any special r eligious interest at that church during the
winter I would give my heart to God. In
a few weeks, four young ladies remained
in a class meeting and determined to be
Christians. At th e same time I decided
to keep my promise. That was in 1857,
that wonderful year of r evivals, the 'ear
when the results of t he noon-da• 1>• tyer
meetings were announced from J\ c.· · ·ork
throughout the country from q ; , I•> day.
That has gone down in hist• ·. as. the
g r eat revival year."
Receiving his secondary education at
CazCJ'wvia Seminary. New York. Brother
Casler was lice nsed to preach a nd began
his ministry. F eeli ng the need of further
preparation, at the age of twenty-five he
proceeded to Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. He graduated and late r
receiving his post graduate degree, he was
asked by Doctor Edwa rd G. Andrews,
later the Bishop, to stay in New York
East Conferen ce and go to Stamford and
become assistant to Doctor Buckley. He
acknowledged th e honor but replied that
he had decided to go to 1f ich igan with his
intimate friend, the late Rev. I saac N. E lwood, whom he had been in strumental in
leading to Chri s-t. They had resolved to
spend their mini ste rial life in th e same
Conference.
Accordingly in 1869, just after Bro. Casler's marriage to :Miss Caroli ne Maria
Lincoln, with hi s bride, the two fr iends
came to M ichigan a nd were r eceived into
Detroit Annual Conference. Bro. Casler
was appointed to the church in Chelsea.
In orde r he served the churches in East
L
.
,
Sag inaw, Monroe. Detroit, Ox ford. Flushing. H olly and Vernon. I n 1883, he received appointm en t to the church in Norway. T hen followed pastorates in Sault
Ste. Uarie, Donaldson. ~[ani s tiqu e, I shpeming, Osceola and Calumet. He also
served four years as di strict supcrintcndl
cnt, during wh ich time he mddc his nome
in Marquette and traveled thi s ,·ast Northland when the stage and horseback were
the principal mod es of conveyance.
Bro. Casler's preaching was characterized by an evangelistic fervency which reflected the glowin ~ experic_nce of his
youth. To the Rev. Ernest . Brown, of
Iron Mountain, together with others at
that t:mc resident in Ishpeming, there remains the memory of a great day w hen
Bro. Casler, preaching fr0m the text, "He
saved others, Himself he cannot save," his
h earers, in the intenseness of their response, broke out w ith shou ts of praise,
whi le some rose and left the church to
appeal to passer sby to come ir1 and be
saved.
senior membe r in the p res~nta tion of the
"Coafcr ence can<'.'.
:1\Ionday, Jan. 21. following a bri ef service a t the home of Dr. Casler. the casket
was conveyed to First Methodist church,
:Marquette, borne by ministers and laymen. T en of his Conference brothers
participated in the service, his pastor g iving the funera l address. Th ose present
were the Revs. Paul Barnhart of Iron
River, Ernest Brown of Iron Mountain,
Ralph Vv. Brown of :'o.farquette, A. T. F.
Butt of L'Anse, A lvin Doten of 1Iarquettc, vVm. Hughes of Norway, S. S.
Oosson of Crystal Falls, P ercy L. Lomas
of IshJ,Jellling, ]. ]. <-Pacey of Negaunee
and George• B. ~[arsh of Sault Ste. Marie.
Bro. Casler is survived by four children,
three sons and one daughter : Howard of
F lint, lVl iss Mary of Sault Ste. Marie,
Wilbur L. of Marquette and Walter of
Duluth, together with the children of
Howard and of Dr. Casler. In the springtime when the fl owers bloom again in this
J:\o~thland. Bro. Casler 's body will be interred in beautiful Park Cemetery, Marquette.-G. B. M.
Minister, Aged 89,
Dies at Marquette
--
( CJy 'I hf .l .!.sot•atctl Prt:.!.!)
Lh'
s,\l;L'i' STB. ;\1.\r:JI-.;. Jan. l i Tho l1c\·. Dn\'ld Ca:;lcr, S!l, died this
mol'll in;; nt til e home or his son in
.\lurqucttc. it has hcen lea t·oed
hnrc. .\[r. Cn~<lcr harl made his homo
hrrc sinet- hit< retirement from the
ministry in 1006.
'rho "conference cane" fot· the
oldest li ving tllhlstt-r In the Delt·olt
conference of tho :'lfethodi~:t Episcopal church 1\'ns awarded to theRe\',
.\fr. Casler at the conference meetIns- here last S~ptember.
REV. DAVrD COSLER
In the old frame ch urch. the predecessor
of th e present edifice in Sault Ste. Marie,
Mr. Casle~ preached to audiences which,
fi lling all the pews, crowded within the
chancel and surrounded him on the platform. He was glad his ministry began at
the time it did. It included not only the
revival period following the year 1857, but
that a lso of the g reat Dwight L. Moody
awaken ing. These times were intensely
interesting, he said, because of the concen tration upon real spiritual life and the
eagerness of men to be all that th e Lord
want ed th em to be.
Retirement for this vete ran mini ste r,
whose stalwart, rugged body had withstood the shock of many years of service,
came in 1906. He ca me to ~a ult Ste.
Marie. Here in 1908, Mrs. Casler passed
away. His daughter, Li zzie, followed in
1916. His last yc:1rs were blessed a bundantly with the unremitting att::ntions of
Mary. In the churclt they 'loved they
were constantly presen t and nctive in its
service. Brother Casler's fellowship with
his pastor was an a biding benediction. In
his growing fc e blcn es ~ he longed to meet
his Confer ence once more. He ha d his
wish when it assembled in his h ome
church last September. Here he ma de his
last public appearance and his last address when he was r ecogni zed as the
;:e.h.
,:1/1
17/).1
Salisbury Churcli and
Rev. David Casler
Charles Nicholas
HILE reading the Michigan Christian Ad vocate this week, 1i was
Yery deeply impressed when I saw the
portrait of that wonderful man of God,
.the late Rev. David Casler. As I read
the obituary, so beautifully arranged by
Reverend Mars h, which gave such a wonderful account of his life in a· general
way, I thought of some remarkable ins tances in his ministet~al career.
1
It was in the Salisb ury Church, where
he succeeded the Rev. M. ]. Stevens, and
whil e we do not remember just the number of years he served this charge, we
find a great joy in remembering the nature of the services he gave us. One of
the many remarkable qualities he possessed was that wonderful depth of rich
spiritual experience. In his opinion the
work of the Ch urch was , to Sa\·e the
people.
He preached that when the
Church ceased to be an evangelizing force
it has failed. He was extremclv evangelistic, preaching Christ that s;ved to
the uttermost, all who came to Him. H e
was very careful to put the cross first.
"Hide Me, oh my Saviour, hide me" was
his constant praye r. He worked the work
of Him that sent him while it was day. In
the most untiring way h e wen t about
sowing the seed of the kingdom. Sowing in the morn!ng and in the evening,
withholding pot hi s hand. He had met
the risen Christ, and He told him to go
and preach salvation to a lost ·.vorld.
Constrained by the love of the Saviour,
he went forth and told the wonderful
story of Calvary. So fou g ht he, nN as
one that beateth the air, but as a champion fo r what he knew by personal experien ce: On he went and thus he toiled,
but not to weary, for well he knew that
he would reap if he did not faint. We
remember with what care he prepared the
soi l for the sowing. H ow simple he
made the plan of salvation, but not easy.
He would tell us how g lad he would be
to be able to make it q~ore easy for us if
h e could, but he could 1 not. The salvation he preached could be obtained only
on the conditions laid down by Christ.
He could not compromise, nor did he.
In due time God honored' his faithf ul
efforts by s uch a wonderful ingathering
into the church.
How well I remember sitting under his
preaching one evening when the H oly
Spirit moved on the people. The church
had been tuned up under his fa ithful work
and they, being all of one mind, believed
they had a rig ht to look for results. On
this particular evening, God saw fit to
open the flood gates of His wonderfu l
ower and Love, and I think I am true in
;aying that the place was in very deed
For at the eveni ng se rvice,
shaken.
nearly 40 soul~•eame ~<> Christ by the way
of repentance, an d that down at the
church al tar. You wi ll appreciate jus t
how the wriler feels when writing this,
wh en you know that he was th e first
on e that found his way to the altar that
even ing . That resulted in a won derful
ingathering into the church. I say wonderful because they came in to the chu rch
through a new birth experience. T hey
W
found salvation that they wanted to tell
others about. How oft en following that
evangelistic campaign would we have
from thirty-fiye to forty in each of two
class meetings, the pastor's sons included.
E very one would testify; and how he
would talk to us ; and how his talks would
warm our h earts.
He lived in the consciousness of a day
coming in wh ich he would have to give
an account of this life's work. How often
he would sing with that mighty voice of
his-"Thcrc's a Great Day Coming." But
out of that church went many to preach
the word.
Salisb ury Church at that time and af;er
was often called the Amen Ch urch of
thi s part of the cotmtry. Rev. F. Spence,
now of Jackson, prcachin'g th ere, said,
"The Amcns of Salisbury Church are
more than half of my sermon." Rc\·c;end
Casler was such a brother among us that
members of the church felt free in his
company. 'V</c have seen times when
there wou ld be such rejoicing that he
would s top preaching, join the res t in
their rapture, and afterwards, ::;o on with
his sermon. There was added to the
church s uch as were saved. He was cons tan tly preaching the importance of attaining to that vi tal experience in Christian living that would produce in us the
testimony that Christ Jesus gave life and
ligh t to them that come to him in fa ith.
Under his pas torate our church experienced many times of refreshing from
the prese nce of the Lord. How sweet
are the memories of the days so long ago,
and how I try to thank God today for
being brought under the influence of such
an holy life.
H e went frorrv us, succeeded by no
less a man than the late Rev. James h ·ey,
under whose conscientious ministry of the
word, the church reaped a wonderful harvest. So evangelis tic was he that under
the power of the H oly Spirit he used his
church in some w<?nderful revivals. One
year we held special meetings for thirteen
weeks, with remarkable results.
Should we look for s uch days again?
Or arc they outlived and forever becom~
things of the past ? If space could be
grant~d, and th ese few remarks find their
way mto the colum ns of the Advocate
we would appreciate it very much, 0 ~
acc~unt of ou r love fo1• the bereaved
family of Dear Brother Casler and those
few surviving m embers of Sali sbur
Church.
Y
f'cJ 6 ~
~IISS MARY CASLER, 91, a long-tim~
Obituaries
resid~nt of S_ault Ste. Marie, died in St.
Mary s Hospit~l at Marquette, May 14.
She had been m failing health the last
fAew months · Born in East Sagmaw,
·
ugust 24, 1~74, the daughter of Rev.
a~d Mrs. DavJd Casler, she attended AlbiOn College and the f ormer Ypsilanti
Normal College and taught school at
Donaldson, Pine Res t and the Sault
where .her father was a former pastor of
what IS now Central Church. He also
served as. superintendent of Methodist
churches m the Upper Peninsula from
1883 to 1887. A member of Central
Church, Miss Casler taught Sunday school
there for 56 years, serving as superintendent. of the primary department for
~ long time. She held a variety of offices
m church organizations and in June
1949, the church honored h er with ~
"Mary Casler Day." She had donated
many furnishings to the Henry Schoolcraft Museum and was a member of the
Eastern Star, Northern Shrine of the
White Shrine of Jerusalem the DAR
~nd the Historical Society.' Survivor~
mclude two ·brothers, Dr. Wilbur Casler
~f. Marquette, with whom s he had been
hvmg smce last December; a nd Walter
Casl~r of St. Petersburg, Fla. Funeral
serviCes were held in the Swanson Funeral Home, May 16, with Rev. Norbert
W. Smith, pastor of Marquette First
Church, officiating. Burial was in the
Park Cemetery, Marquette.
·1G
Det roit Annua l Conference ,
1908,
minghnm on l•'chru ary 2·1, 1!103. Hh e waH ma rri l'cl to hc:r loc r(':tVI'd
Novembl•r 7 , ltl72, 1111(1 ati!!IICII ecl t he re s pnn ~ ib ilitit•s of
m ntherhoncl to his thrt•e c hilclr<! n of a form e r w ife. Two C'lci lcl r e ic
wc•rc) ho rn to bee·, bot h of thc•nc li v in ;.: l.o m o unc their ;.: reaL loss. This
eh·et lacly hac! li ved all he r lire w ith in t his tilcttc or tel iclcig-a n, a nd
practically all h e r dnys within t111: tel. K {)h urc·h. :-lhe c:l 11•c; r full y
:u:c:eptecl nil t h at us ua lly falls tu t h e lot nfan il ine l'lln t preach<H''s wife,
an cl grent ly e nd carccl lo c roc lf tn t h e p eopl e nuwng whcu n her lot was
c:a~l. 'l'he qunlities of h c~ r mine! nnd lwart were suc; h as macl e for
gn ne r a l hc lpfulnetls, whi le! t h e quic•t gnwc of lwr daily Jifp maclo her
holllfl peace ful :111cl hnpp_v. Sloe wns a lp\• ing clit;c: iplc• o f Ghl'ist, nncl
nclorn ecl the: clm:t l'icw Hh o be lic:vl'cl by a l~e• a utiful c:corr HiHI.nnc·y o f tl' nl per ancl c:conclriC't. A bunt 1wo Y":trtl ag-o s l11• rc•ll whi le• clc·sc:P rrclin .!.( t.lrc!
ec llnr s lctirtl in hl'r h o rr w, ctrrcl fro m the irrjury lh!'n rc•c·.. h·c•cl s ir<' ncwc•r
wholly rCCIIVC: rc•cJ. J)nubtii'SS tht• C'IICl Of her Clll'lh ly c·an• er WllH th Utl
hnste rrccl, Rhc was prcpnrecl hy godly li dn:.: for g n inful clying, nnd is
u ow w it h tl11: hlcst in II is prcscuec whoso kincl ha r11l w ipe,; away t h e
tPars of th e r!'cll'emecl.
T he f un eral Hcrvices were hdc l on l•'chr uary 2fi, a t tlw IH>ncc• in
B irrninghnm, in c harge o r l'resiclin g- Elder .lolccc 1-;w,•et, aucl w e rt: pur ·
tic:ipatcd in by Hevs. W. A . Kis hpuug h, .John Wi lson, Attrec :-lrnitlc,
and E. A. 0ross. Gocl watches ove r her slel'p in g du s t in t hc village
re m etery.
.I uu N Rw J<:J·;·a·.
hu ~ luuul
I
MHS. DAV LD CA.S LlW.
Mrs. Caroline Maria Casle r, clnughte r of E mo ry a n cl J•: li'l.ahet.h
Frnnces Lincoln, was born iu Oaldaam, 1\[nss., Decc anhr!r 27th , 1845,
aucl clied in Sault Ste. ]\[uric, M ida., F ebrunry 7th, I !JOS. ln early
childhood h er parent s movect fro m Oakham to Long ~ leaclow, Mass.
II e r e s h e wats t:onverted w h e n hut a yo nn g gi rl and · rcocei vecl in to the
m embe rship of the Congrc:gntiorml el111rch . W l\c n lih o was 17 years
of age h er father dierl, nncl a few m onths later, h e r yo ungest s ister.
After this tir e fa rni!y rc movecl to \V in rl~ur, {)ou u. 'l'h is was t h e ir
h o m o uut il A ug ust, lOth , HHi!l, when s h e hccamc t h e! w ifB of Hev.
David Casle r, w h o fo r two years, whi le pursuiug hiti studi cs in t ill'
\\'esleyun Uui vcrdity, o f Miclcll etow u, Co111r., was paRlor of t h e ~ l e thu
ditit t•:piHcn pal C hurch of WindKor. After thc•ir cnarringn they c·a 1111,
to Dc t roit, w h e re tho C:orrfo renr:e lrclcl i ts Ht!I!Hion th at y ..ar, ancl Bro.
Casle r un itetl with t11e De troit Con fe rc uco ancl walS appo inted to
C he lsea. For thirty-seve n years S iBte r Cnslcr was th e fttithfu l com pnuiou o f nn itine rant Methodist minister, s h ari ng his labors , hi ~:~ joys
und sorrows. While serving t ho c hurc h ut Opeehen, a s uhu rh or Ca lume t, o n Decem ber 2:1, HlO:!, Mrs. Cas ler was stric:lw n w ith paralyMis.
l•'or weeks h er li fe ht11cg in t h e bal ru cec, but aftl' l' scvPml mou ths
there camc so m e im p roveau e ut so thnt s h e was ahl e to rec:ogui zc a ncl
eonverse with h e r fr ie uclt;. F or 11101'1: t han four yen rs s ire• Willi a lr e lpless invalicl. S h e bore her afli iction w ith grent eq u aui mi ty acre! h e r
spirit was never bitter or impatient . 'l'ho u g h a ll h e r li fe hnviug u
drentl o f the •·t nst e n e my," yet s h e t.ri umphec l thro u g h g raee, nml lrl'r
last utte rance 11' 118 1 " It i t~ a ll rig ht.. "
Methodist Episcopal Church.
·17
SisLc•r <'aster was not cmoticmal in lrc·r n·lig-ious c xperiencc•, yc:t
(lOSlii'SSo•d a c·alrn and UIHliB! nrhcd trllllf in {;od. Sire• lovNI to utl'SS
oth o·r~ , aucl ill rPtu rn ga in t~c l tlw aroleut alfc•etin u of rt long list of cl('votecl fr il'ttcls. llc·r lroncn li fo wns locmutifui. ~Ire was an iclc•a l
urot lrc•r. 'l'o h c•r c·lri ltlren, whom sire rnacle cor n pa n ions, shl' wns all
Ileal a nwthc•t·c·mJlclbP. I! Pr Ion• ancl loyalty to tht• C'lrnrc·h was 1111·
cpw~tionC'd ancl hc t· lr nsb:urd could a l ways clcp('tHI upon her for sy m ·
pnllry neal help i n t ire !S pi ri t ual wcork or t h e chnr<'h.
'l'o llwtlrl'r nucl S ister Casler wc• re born s ix c:hilclrPu, fonr sons
:lllcl two cla ng-lr tcrs. Tir e: o ldc>st, Emnr.v Lincol n , clied when three
y c•ars colcl. Bc·sicl e the imtnc·clinte fan cily, there rPHillin s to lllCHtrrr I h e
loss o r ~ Irs. ('a~lc•r a lorot.lr c•r, Hnv. t :Porgn E. Licrc:ol n, l'nstcll' o f !.Icc•
( :ongmgal.iounl Ch u rch of t•:ast tl ran hy, Cnun.; a s ist1•r, ~ I rs. Jo:ll zahPII r
B. Loorni ~, of \\' incisor, Conn., nucl a la r;;r. lisl of rc•lath·,•s aud clt: vutcd fri c ucls.
Tir e l'uawral srn•iccs wore h l'lcl ut t h e Cen l ral M. E. Chnrc· lr ,
Hault. ..i-;tc. ,\ l a rie , Mitdt., o n 'L'uesclay moming , fi'ebnutry l l t lr, l!IOH,
ltPv. 1-;uup~on W. I Corner o fli cinti ng, nucl th e earth ly tabc rnaele was
lnicl to rc•st in th e Doualol snn cemetery tu await th c resurrectiou ur
tire just.
Casler, David