Atkinson, John
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112
OBITU .AR IE S.
18S4 lA> the General Conference. One who wns "·ith
him more intimately than any of his brethren
writes : " His communion with God was constJlnt.
Otten, as 1 have walked by his side, bnvc I henrd
him sayin!?, 'A charge to keel? 1 have; n God to
glorify.' '!'hen ngain in the nnd't of convcrl'!ltion
be would stop nnd exclnim, ' Bless the Lord, 0 my
.,oul l 1 Then a"tlin, ' The Lord is my shepherd.' "
t;uch was his communion with hi~ Mnstcr while on
~nrth. Who can doubt thnt on hi!< entrance into t he
p resence of the Kio!r be has benrd him say 1 " Well
-done, thou good ann faithful servnot 1 "
~oa.'f
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ATJa:sso:s, D.D.. 1 was born in Deerfield,
N . J .1 Dcceriilr<!r6;l"S3"5, nod died in Haverstraw1
N. Y. 1 Decemher 8, 1897. He wu.s con\"crtcd when
fifteen yenrs old ut Elmer, N. J. 1 nod entered the
oacadcmy at Brid~eton, N. J . At sixteen nnd n hulf
years of age be yrelded to the urgent request of the
presiding elder nnd was sent to Allowaystown Cir-cuit as junior preacher. Iu 1853 he joined the New
Jen;ey Conference, nnd was nppointcd junior p rc~ch
-er on Freehold Circuit. At tbi, pl~ce there wus a
remnrkuble revi"lll, over oue hundred being converted. His next nppoiutment was Succusunnn
Plain~. i n 1855. On July 18, 1856, he m~ rricd Miss
Kute L. Hanlon, who sun·i,·cs. His appointments
were ns follows: Allownystown, Freehold, Succasurma Pbin~, West St.1nhope. We5t Bloomfield,
P lainfield , Cro~s Street, Paterson; F rnn~>lin Strccl,
N ewark; Union S treet, New~rk; Emory, Jersey
.City ; T rinity, J ersey City ; Groce, Chicago; WtL~h
ington Street, Bny City, Mich.; Adrian. ;\lich. ;
T rinity, Jersey City, ng-..io; Hul<ey Street, Newnrk;
West Side ~venue, Jersey City; nod Havcrstra\\J'
N. Y. .By incessant work he compassed a uron
eour.<e of study. When at Cross Street, Paterson,
h e entered the Medical Department of the University of the City of New York nnd completed his
.course while nt Franklin Street, New::rrk. His ministry wus remnrknbly useful in winning souls to
.Christ. There were revivals nt Paterson and Frank lin Street., Newark, under hi~ ministry, nod in most
<>f the other churches he served. He was pcn nitted
to Witness the conversion of ubont one thousand five
hundred oouls. As n prcnchor he was l ogical o.nd
eonvincing. His style wns orutoricnl both in form
"'od expression. He was deeply e\·:mgclical, t rcnsuring the heart thou!!hts of t he Gospel, the atonement in Christ, nnd the salvation provided through
him. The names of the fathers of :.fcthodism were
as fumilinr t~ h im ns household '1\·ords. He wroto
Tlu .Lioing Way before he was twenty-one. He
wrote the HV:tor.v of Mttlwdill7n in X= Jeruy nt
Bloomfield, Tlu Garden of SorrOUJI nt Union Street.,
Newark, o.nd Tlu Cla&lead<r at Trii!ity, Jersey
.City. While stutiooed the second time nt Trinity
he wrote tbe Centmnial of Jfuhod-inn. His latest
work, Th~ Waleyan Movemen t i n A.rMrica, is of
great original research, throwing light on the enrly
history of Methodism which will be of gre::rt value to
future historians. There were no manuscripts too
<>ld or too insignificant for him to investi,."llte. To
the public, however, he will lon11est be known by
the hymn," We Rhallmcet beyond the river.'' For
some time be wns in poor health. On Fridny, Deeember 3, 1897, he was seized with a severe nttnck of
-eougbing, thought he was dying, and said, "Lord
Jesug, receive my spirit.'' He then begno to fnil
Tnpidly, became unconscious, and passed to the mnnsion prepared for him on D ecember 8. Since h is
-death a beloved son, Thomas Hanlon Atkinson,
.M.D., bas also pas•ed away. H is wife, a daughter,
m1d two sons remain to mourn their great loss.
Is.uc NEWTON VANSANT wns born in Port Republic,
N. J., May 31, 1830. His fnther lived to be O\'er
ninety, and was for more than forty-eight years a
l ocnl preacher. Of his family four brothers entered
the it.memnt ministry and two the local. Two became members of tbe New J ersey Conference and
two of the X e...-:Lrk, the one rem air.
ueiog Nichols.; I :msant. In 1S41
his pnrents to Lower Bank, N. J .
the shipwright tr:lde, which he f
years. When shoot twcnty· ouc
m u rev h·al:~t L<>wer .Bnnk. On::;,
he married .lian?".lTeL B. ~dams ol
with whom be lind in happy wed
thnn fifty years. He been me the as
Tuckertown Circuit. tLou_gh still p·
He nlso sup~l i ed Buss River, L
Green Bank C h:l.T2es, until in 185'
b usiness nod accepted an appointrr.
and HninesbWY. Here he s~rved f
April, 1S59, be- wss nrlmittcd on tri,
Conference, :~nd filled the followinr
Stillwater, W antn!?C, Tra nquility~
Bethel, Sutco blind; Clinton liD{
too nnd Pine Brook, Dads Mcrr
Rentlin!!ton :md ~.llerton, Frcnchto
Staten 'Islnnd; Stony !'oint, Qunke
bury, Rocklnnd l..nke. Rcvi\'uls fol
he wcnL The most oot.qbJc were 3L
Perth Ambo~·. These were spiritu:r:
reaching in their resu l t~. At Sto
church was erected nod~ r his supen
n geninl ~pint, with n nature oubt
good humor. He was a good prcacl
Studious in his habits, h e produced 1
the lust, nnd was one of the few prenc
eros.• t he dead lioc until transferred u
During the ful l of 1597 his hculth g
On <.:liri.•unas morning be uskcd his'
second ch::rptcr of .llntthew, '1\'hich h
tho hnbit of read in~ every Chri~tme
many years. On December 27 he wr.
and mpitlly s.nok till the end came, ab•
r.f the same dny. Lying upon tbc bee
be communintr with God us he r~pca
" I nm thine, 0 Lord ;" "Roc!: of ugE
be the name of the Lord.'' He lca\"es:
dnul!hters, nod ~i.J: •ons. One son, C
anot, is now a mew~ r of T roy Confer
MtcAn Jon~ CF-urt:R, D.D., w::r:
Schnffbnuscn, Switzerland, Fchrunry
died in Curlisle, Pn., January ~s. 1898.
tors, who belonged to the Swedish nobili
the doctrines or the Reformation nt the
the new ern. For this cause t he fum i
confiscated. The fam ily then renounce
tml title and souj!ht a refuge in Switzer!
Micnh wns only fi ,·e yenrs ~f n::e his 1
t:ubsequcntly his father decrded to t ry
in the New World. Afternsbort resider
burg the family remo,·ed to Cincinnati.
Cromer entered the Germnn depnrnn
Methodist Book Concern nod learnecl L
trnJe. While nt work he was constncL
with the purpose of entering collep:e, nod
Felf fo r entering the Ohio Wcsleyno
.Edward T h omson ~iog then president.
his way t hrough colle!?C, and gmdunted
honors in the cla..<S of 1$59. In 1860 be
Cincinnati Conference on trial. He ma
Mary F. Grnnt, sister to the genernl, on (
1863. He was at thtlt time pnstor of P•
Church, Cincinnati. In February, 186~, be
occupy .En ..lish aud Germnn MethodrsL cl
Nashville ~hich bad ~en abandoned al~•
of Vichburg. Here be preached ho~ "
nnd in ~nnan. Subsequently be was rn L
of the ~rovernment as post chnplain nt Ne".
rocks. In .Mny 1867 he wns nppointed.I>Y·
J ohn.•on consul at l;ipsic. He conuuue
post for four yenrs sen·in)1; as consul. on"
and preaching to the resident Amerr~n?s
days. I n 1871 he was appointed mrnrs~
court of Denmark , which position be fillc 1
tire satisfaction.. In the rigors o.f ~~fli~L
Denmark hi!< distres.,ing neurnlgrc 1
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J OP.N ATKI NSON .
~~~~**by
trans f e r f r om Rock Rive r
To 1 , 81 .
1879 & 1880 .
1881- 1884 Adrian .
1884- No t i n Confe r e nc e
ae~ i st e r .
To Newa r k Conferenc e .
Confer ence l·!ar . 25--"l.nt . 1 , 1.)85 .
1
Receive d b;r 1 r a ns f e r? J oh n At k i ns on fr o". Detro i t - - o ne of 11
J ers ey Ci ty--Tr :i ni t y .
S a~ e in 1116
1 88 7-~§:l
Ne -rark : Ha l s ey St .
1888 t h e s ame
N ~ -vrark
Adr ian , ?hch .
Aus . 20 , 1991
J e r sey lii ty : •~ est S i de -lve nue No a pr ine Conf. 1395
at l eas t.
1896
Havers travr , N. Y. , J e r sey Gi ty .Dis t ri ct.
97 t e same
xXl!!Xs.pri~x~~~
1898 . He t·ras ib o f 10 Hho di ed . Co p;y of ob itua ry . ·/ 12. - ~; }h i..t.-..: f'i"u,
1890- 95
r·
Committee on Archives and History
Detmit Conference
United Methodist Church
110 s. Macison
Shipman LibraJy
Adrian, Michigan 49221
&mal:jsi~rian.edu
January 11, 2001
Ann M. Sawusch
24 Boundbrook Ct.
East Amherst, NY 14051
Dear Ann:
In response to your inquiry concerning Reverend John Atkinson, I researched the materials available. I
am sending a copy of his memoir that was in the Methodist Episcopal Church Annual Conferences
Minutes. I, too, have seen his picture at First united Methodist church. I can confirm that in 1878 he
transferred from the Rock River Annual Conference to the Detroit Annual Conference and was
assigned to Bay City, Washington street Methodist Episcopal Church where he served till 1881 when
he was assigned to Adrian First Methodist Episcopal Church.
At the annual conference held
September 17 through 22, 1884 he was transferred to the Newark Conference (page 38). I tried to
confirm that his son John Willard had attended Adrian College, but their date base does not include
1884 and he is not mentioned in 1885. I do not have any idea as to why he came west. Changing
conferences was not uncommon. I hope this information will be helpful
Sincerely,
Reverend James G . Simmons
Archivist