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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECOND PERIOD—1774-1800 Ch.4—Mr. Otterbein called to Baltimore Ch.5—The Otterbein Church in Baltimore Ch.6—The Movement Toward a Separate Church Organization Ch.7—The First and Second Conferences THIRD PERIOD—1800-1815 Ch.10—The Conferences of 1801-1814 Ch.12—The Departure of the Leaders FOURTH PERIOD—1815-1837 Ch.13—The First General Conference—1815 Ch.14—The General Conferences of 1817-1833 FIFTH PERIOD—1837-1885 Ch.15—The General Conferences of 1837 and 1841 Ch.16—The General Conferences of 1845 and 1849 Ch.17—The General Conferences of 1853-1861 Ch.18—The General Conferences of 1865-1881 SIXTH PERIOD—1885-1897 Ch.19—The Nineteenth General Conference—1885 Ch.21—The Twentieth General Conference—1889 Ch.23—The Twenty-First General Conference—1893
PART II DEPARTMENTS OF CHURCH WORK Ch.1—The United Brethren Publishing House Ch.2—The Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society and Its Work Ch.3—The Church-Erection Society Ch.4—The Woman's Missionary Association Ch.9—The Young People's Christian Union Ch.10—The Board of Trustees of the Church
PART III THE ANNUAL CONFERENCES Ch.1—A Group of Early Conferences Ch.2—Other Conferences Organized from 1835 to 1853 Ch.3—Conferences Organized Since 1853
PART IV HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL TABLES Appendices Index
NOTICE OF ATTRIBUTION Work originally published in 1897. Scanned, proofed and minor spelling corrections by the United Brethren Historical Center. Electronic edition ©2006 United Brethren Historical Center Suggested Citation:
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History of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ by Daniel Berger |
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CHAPTER XIV THE GENERAL CONFERENCES OF 1817-1833 I. THE SECOND GENERAL CONFERENCE—1817. p.244The General Conference of 1815, while making distinct provision for quadrennial assemblies, deemed it wise, as has been seen, that the next succeeding session be held in two instead of four years. This was done apparently on account of some measure of uncertainty as to how the things done at the first session would be received by the Church. The second conference may therefore be regarded as in some sense an adjourned session of the first, while in fact it was a distinct conference, composed of delegates chosen by another election. The second General Conference, when it convened, happily found an entirely clear sky. The proceedings of the first conference had received the most cordial approval, first at the Miami Conference, which convened on June 27, 1815, only a few weeks after the General Conference, and soon afterward at the conference of the East. This conference, therefore, had before it no embarrassing task of revising the acts of the first, but, on the other hand, addressed itself to the more pleasant labor of providing some valuable additional features to the Rules of Discipline. These related in part to visitations from house to house and the enforcement of a practical Christianity, and to the instruction of youth in the gospel of Christ, They provided also a completed form for the ordination of ministers, another for the ordination of bishops, and an excellent marriage ceremony. p.245 The place of meeting of the General Conference was again at Mount Pleasant, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania; the time June 2, 1817. Of the delegates elected only twelve assembled, namely, Christian Newcomer and Andrew Zeller, bishops; Abraham Mayer, Joseph Hoffman, John Snyder, Henry Kumler, Sen., Jacob Dehoff, L. Kramer, Dewalt Mechlin, Henry G. Spayth, L. Roth, and H. Ow. Mr. Spayth was again secretary, and Bishops Newcomer and Zeller were reelected for the succeeding term of four years. A new conference was formed, the Muskingum, including that portion of Ohio which lies east and north of the Muskingum River, with Washington and Westmoreland counties in Pennsylvania. One cannot help a feeling of regret that in the processes of rearrangement of territorial boundaries this historic conference, the third in the order of organization, and which gave to the Church some of its foremost men, has disappeared from the list of conference organizations. The business of this General Conference, as of its predecessor, and of a number of those coming after, was transacted in the German language. The minutes were recorded in German, but the conference directed that a translation of the revised Discipline should be made into English, and a hundred copies be printed in that tongue. So modest were the proportions of the English part of the Church at that time that one hundred copies were deemed sufficient to meet every requirement. The spirit in which the action of the General Conference relative to the ordination of ministers was received by the Church was well illustrated in the Miami Conference at the session next succeeding. By a unanimous vote of the conference the following names were presented as candidates for ordination by the laying on of hands: Christian p.246 Crum, A. Hiestand, George Benedum, Andrew Zeller, Daniel Troyer, II. Miller, W. P. Smith, and J. G. Pfrimmer. That nothing might he wanting in the observance of form as set forth in the New Testament, and now recognized by the highest authority in the Church, these men were, on the last day of the session, solemnly ordained to the office of elders in the Church, according to the formulas prescribed in the Discipline. First in the order, Bishop Newcomer, who himself had been ordained by Bishop Otterbein, laid his hands on the head of Christian Crum, and afterward proceeded, with the aid of Mr. Crum, to ordain the rest in like manner. Among them were men who had grown venerable in the office of the ministry, and one bishop. Mr. Newcomer himself had filled the office of bishop before his ordination by Bishop Otterbein. II. THE THIRD GENERAL CONFERENCE—1821. The General Conference of 1821, the third in the series, was held in Fairfield County, Ohio, at the home of Dewalt Mechlin, a local preacher of the Miami Conference. The time of assembling was May 15. The territory of the Church had again been divided into districts, as at the first, this time eight in number. Twenty-two delegates were elected, and seventeen were in attendance, as follows :
p.247 Rule on Slavery Adopted. The conference, during the several days of its continuance, considered a variety of subjects, but no other action was taken which had so decided an influence upon the future character of the Church as that referring to slavery and the liquor traffic. On the subject of slavery strong resolutions were adopted and incorporated in the Discipline as a part of the law of the Church. The resolutions, translated from the German for the English edition of the Discipline, are as follows : Resolved, That all slavery, in every sense of the word, be totally prohibited and in no way tolerated in our community. Should some be found therein, or others apply to be admitted as members, who hold slaves, they can neither remain to be members nor be admitted as such, provided they do not personally manumit or set free such slave, wherever the laws of the State shall permit it, or submit the case to the quarterly conference, to be by them specified what length of time such slave shall serve his master or other person, until the amount given for him, or for raising him, be compensated to his master. But in no case shall a member of our society be permitted to sell a slave. Resolved, That if any member of this society shall publicly transgress as aforesaid, such member shall likewise be publicly reprimanded, and in case such member shall not humble [himself], the same shall be publicly excluded from the congregation. The translation may not be said to be expressed in the best English, the German idiom being chiefly preserved, but there is nothing lacking in perspicuity or energy, and no opportunity was left, on account of indefiniteness, for any evasion of its provisions. The reader who is acquainted with the German language may be pleased to see this interesting law in its clear and strong expression as it was framed by the fathers of that day. The following is the original form:1
p.248
Thus at this early day, forty years before the breaking out of the great war for the perpetuation of slavery, these fathers of the Church raised this firm protest against the great iniquity. The institution was at that time rapidly rising toward that ascendancy by which it afterward exerted so vast a power in corrupting the political and religious conscience, and dominating the legislation of the country. The rule thus adopted, while working seeming hardship in many cases, was rigidly adhered to by the Church. But a necessary result was, that while the Church was already well established in Maryland and Virginia, its growth in other States of the South was either greatly retarded or wholly prevented. But the rule gave the Church a high moral vantage ground in maintaining an attitude of protest against the great national sin, and when the final struggle came its people on both sides of the line were found solid in the cause of freedom and the support of the Government. Legislation on Temperance. On another subject of great national concern the voice of this General Conference was heard, namely, that of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. The time p.249 dates back to a period when the drink habit was almost universal, and when honored members of churches not only personally used intoxicating liquors freely, but also manufactured them or sold them to others. The earliest expression of the Church on this subject was made by the Eastern Conference, as found in the Discipline of 1814 : Article 11. Every member shall abstain from strong drink, and use it only on necessity as medicine. Familiar as we are at the present time with temperance legislation of the most decided character, this utterance, dating back to as early a time as 1814, with the social conditions then prevailing inside as well as outside of the churches, must be regarded as quite extraordinary. The provision is not repeated in the Disciplines for some years afterward, but the end aimed at reappears in the resolution of 1821 and in subsequent legislation. In 1833 the legislation took a strong prohibitive form, applying, however, at first only to the ministerial class. In 1841 it took a broader form. The resolution adopted by the General Conference of 1821, which, however, was not then embodied in the Discipline, reads as follows: Resolved, That neither preacher nor lay member shall be allowed to carry on a distillery; and that distillers be requested to willingly cease the business; that the members of the General Conference be requested to lay this resolution before the several annual conferences; that it shall then be the duty of the preachers to labor against tbe evils of intemperance during the interval between this and the next General Conference, when the subject shall again be taken up for further consideration. On this action Mr. Lawrence, in his History of the United Brethren Church, remarks: "If we may make a single exception, this is the earliest ecclesiastical action on record which was aimed at the suppression of the p.250 liquor traffic.2 The earliest action which has come under our notice was taken by the General Association of Massachusetts Proper, in 1811, at which time a committee, of which Bev. Dr. Worcester was chairman, was appointed to draft the constitution of a society whose object should be to check the progress of intemperance, viewed by the association as a growing evil. It was not, however, until 1813 that the contemplated society was organized and held a meeting. Associated with this movement were some of the most eminent men of New England, such as Hon. Samuel Dexter and Hon. Nathan Dane. ... It exerted no considerable influence outside of the New England States, and it was not until after the organization of the American Temperance Society, in 1826, that the evangelical Christian denominations entered into the movement. This was five years after the United Brethren General Conference, composed mainly of German preachers, had committed the United Brethren ministry in particular, and the United Brethren Church in general, to a decisively aggressive movement against intemperance."3 Thus this early action by the General Conference gave to the United Brethren Church, with reference to the temperance movement, a most honorable position, which in all its later legislation and history it has worthily maintained. Many interesting instances occurred in which men, in view of the action of the General Conference on this subject, put away their distilleries or ceased to handle the forbidden beverage. Ex-Bishop Hanby, in Spayth's history of the Church, relates that in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, about the year 1835, a man named Abraham Herr was converted during a revival in his neighborhood. He was a man of wealth, owning several farms and a p.251 large distillery. Becoming awakened to the sin and evil of the manufacture of and traffic in intoxicating liquors, he removed the machinery from his distillery, remodeled it, and converted it into a house of worship. On the very spot where the kettles stood he erected a pulpit, so that thenceforth, instead of the fiery liquids for the destruction of men's bodies and souls, there issued forth the fountains of life.4 In the subsequent legislation of the Church the rule was made equally prohibitive as to the use of ardent spirits as a beverage, so that the denomination became in effect a total abstinence society. Christian Newcomer and Joseph Hoffman were elected bishops by this conference, Bishop Newcomer having served from his first election in 1813. III. THE FOURTH GENERAL CONFERENCE----1825. The General Conference of 1825 convened at Jacob Shaup's, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, on May 7. Bishops Newcomer and Hoffman presided. There were in attendance twenty-four members. Among these were six who had sat in the General Conference of 1815, namely, Christian Newcomer, Henry Kumler, Sen., Henry G. Spayth, Abraham Mayer, Christian Berger, and Andrew Zeller. John Hildt, a close associate of Bishop Otterbein, and the translator of Newcomer's Journal, occupied a seat in this conference. Ex-Bishop Andrew Zeller was a member. Others who were soon to fill a large place in the active service of the Church, as Samuel Hiestand, Jacob Antrim, Nathaniel Havens, and William Stewart, were also members. At this conference action was taken improving the questions for examination of candidates for the ministry, providing for compensation for bishops, and annulling the p.252 ritual for the ordination of bishops at induction into office. The bishops hitherto had performed all their service without pecuniary consideration. As long journeys between the eastern and western portions of the Church were required in attending the conferences, besides a great amount "of travel in visiting local neighborhoods and churches, the labor was often very burdensome. The rules required that a bishop from the East sit with a bishop of the West in holding a conference, and that a bishop residing in the West assist a bishop residing in the East in like manner. In these travels, as we have seen, Bishop Newcomer spent the larger part of his life in the saddle. Horseback travel was the only method then available to the itinerant. But now that compensation was provided for, there was no danger that any would covet the office for the sake of the gains in prospect. The salary of a bishop was fixed, if married, at one hundred and sixty dollars a year, if single, at eighty, the same as that of the itinerant preacher. Christian Newcomer and Henry Kumler, Sen., were elected bishops. The following action was then taken touching the ordination of bishops: Resolved, That as the newly elected bishop has already been ordained by the imposition of hands as an elder in the Church, a second ordination is not deemed essential to the duties of a bishop; nor do we find a Scripture precedent for a second or third ordination. This abrogation of a measure adopted by the General Conference of 1815 for the ordination of bishops was timely, and in harmony with the simple ecclesiastical system of the Church, as well as with the New Testament, or apostolic, practice. The United Brethren Church thus recognized but a single order in its ministry, its bishops, though honored with high responsibility, being of the same class as their brethren in the ranks. p.253 Bishop Kumler, who served so long and honorably in the bishop's office, a period of twenty-four years, has already been spoken of at some length in these pages. The separate organization of the Scioto Annual Conference was authorized by this General Conference, making the fourth annual conference. IV. THE FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE----1829. The fifth General Conference, that of 1829, was held at Dewalt Mechlin's, in Fairfield County, Ohio, commencing on May 15. Twenty-eight delegates, with two bishops, thirty members in all, were in attendance. The conferences represented were the Hagerstown, or Eastern, Miami, Muskingum, and Scioto. The bishops were Christian Newcomer and Henry Kumler, Sen. A special interest attaches to this conference from the fact that it was the last which the venerable Bishop Newcomer attended. He was now in his eighty-first year, but such was the stalwart character of the man that he once more undertook the long horseback journey from his home in the East to meet his official obligations as a bishop over the Lord's house. On April 10 he closed the session of the Eastern Conference; on the 11th he bade farewell to his son Andrew's family, with whom he had resided since the death of his wife; on the 28th lie met the Muskingum Conference, presiding over its annual session; on May 11 he met the Scioto Conference, presiding over that body, and on the 15th was ready for duty at the session of the General Conference. With Bishop Kumler he was again elected superintendent, but before quite another year had passed the Lord of the harvest, who calls the laborers to receive their dues, had called him to the eternal reward. Among the names appearing here for the first time in p.254 the General Conference annals are those of John Russel, William Brown, John Coons, and Jacob Erb, all of whom were at subsequent sessions chosen to the office of bishop. The division of the original conference of the East was authorized by this General Conference, the northern portion being called the Harrisburg Conference, afterward the Pennsylvania, and the southern portion the Hagerstown Conference, afterward the Virginia. The Miami Conference was to yield again a portion of her territory, and the Indiana Conference was formed. V. THE SIXTH GENERAL CONFERENCE----1833. The General Conference of 1833 proved to be a session of great importance to the Church on account of several measures adopted by it. The conference was held at George Dresbach's, in Pickaway County, Ohio, commencing on May 14. Bishop Henry Kumler, Sen., presided, and thirty-three delegates, representing six conferences, were present. The conferences were the Pennsylvania, the Virginia, the Muskingum, the Scioto, the Miami, and the Indiana. Henry G. Spayth, of the Muskingum, and William R. Rhinehart, then of the Virginia Conference, were elected secretaries. At this session the powers and limitations of the General Conference were discussed and more clearly defined. The subject of representation was considered, much interest being elicited in the discussion. The old plan of representation by districts was discontinued, and it was decided that each annual conference should be entitled to two delegates. The change effected by this arrangement was quite considerable. In this conference, for example, the Pennsylvania Conference had six delegates on the floor, the Scioto eight, the Miami seven, and the Indiana six. Under the new arrangement each of these conferences p.255 would be entitled to but two. This question of representation became one of quite serious moment in subsequent years. Henry Kumler, Sen., was reelected, and Samuel Hiestand and William Brown were elected, to the office of bishop. The formation of the Sandusky Conference was authorized by this conference. The term of appointment to the presiding-eldership was reduced from four years to one year. The bishops, however, still retained the appointing power, as arranged by the General Conference of 1815, the annual conference consenting to the appointment. This appointing power remained with the bishops until 1841, when by act of the General Conference it was made the duty of the annual conferences to elect the presiding elders. This General Conference, as previously referred to, took important action relating to the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. The reader will notice that this legislation was not then made to apply to all the membership of the Church, the immediate purpose being "to purify the house of Levi." The following is the action: Should any exhorter, preacher, or elder, from and after the next annual conferences in 1834, be engaged in the distillation or vending of ardent spirits, he shall for the first and second offense be accountable to the quarterly or yearly conferences of which he is a member; said conferences will in meekness admonish the offending brother to desist from the distillation or vending of ardent spirits, as the case may be; should these friendly admonitions fail, and the party continue to act in the same, and it be proven to the satisfaction of the yearly conference if a preacher or elder, or before the quarterly conference if an exhorter, such preacher, elder, or exhorter will for the time not be considered a member of this Church. A Publishing House Founded. But by far the most important action taken by this conference, the most far-reaching in its effects upon all the future of the Church, was that relating to the p.256 organization of a Church printing establishment. It was an early day for the publication of denominational periodicals. Nearly all the great religious and church weeklies, which now fill so large a place in the literature of the world, are of later date. But the men who gathered in this conference foresaw the value of a paper in the progressive development and life of the Church, and they accordingly resolved to begin the publication of such a periodical. A board of trustees was elected, consisting of John Russel, Jonathan Dresbach, and George Dresbach, who were charged with the duty of carrying the will of the General Conference into effect. By resolution the establishment was to be located at Circleville, Ohio. In 1834, in accordance with this action of the General Conference, the trustees secured real estate in Circleville, purchased a press, type, and other necessary material, and established the Publishing House of the Church. The first periodical publication issued from the establishment, and for some years the only one, was the Religious Telescope. It appeared December 31,1834, as a semimonthly, at $1.50 a year, with William R. Rhinehart as editor. Of this and the subsequent growth of the publishing department of the Church more is to be said in these pages. VI. PERSONAL NOTES. 1. Joseph Hoffman. Bishop Hoffman was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on March 19, 1780. He was of German parentage, was converted at the age of twenty-one, entered the ministry at twenty-two, and the itinerant ranks the year following. In 1814, after the death of Otterbein, he was appointed to the pulpit of the Otterbein Church, remaining for three years. In 1818 he removed to Fairfield p.257 County, Ohio, and later to Montgomery County, settling on a farm overlooking Dayton, now included in the city. Bishop Hoffman, though filling that office for but a single quadrennium, was a man of rare power in the pulpit. In person he was tall and straight, with an impressive face and commanding appearance. His voice possessed unusual power—deep-toned, mellow, and rich, with extraordinary strength when occasion called it forth. As an expounder of the Scriptures he held high rank, and his gifts of speech were such as to lay claim to high oratorical power. Mr. Spayth, writing of his earlier itinerant years, says that in him "the itinerant preacher was fully exemplified in labors abundant, even to excess. An originality and inspired power characterized his preaching." His last visit to a session of the Miami Conference, with which he was connected, is remembered by some of the older members of that body. An address made by him to the ministers, exhorting them to fidelity in the Master's service, made a profound impression. He was then seventy-five years old, and when he expressed his belief that he was in their presence as a conference for the last time many hearts were touched. His premonitions proved to be correct. Before the conference assembled again, he had joined the hosts triumphant. His death occurred at Euphemia, Ohio, where the closing years of his life were spent. Bishop Hoffman preached with equal fluency in the English and German languages. 2. Samuel Hiestand. The death of Christian Newcomer, in 1830, left Henry Kumler, Sen., to bear the responsibilities of the bishop's office alone. In 1833 the General Conference reelected him, and associated with him Samuel Hiestand and William Brown. p.258 Bishop Hiestand was born in Page County, Virginia, March 3, 1781, his parents being members of the Moravian Church. They brought up their children in the fear of God, and three of their sons became ministers, all in the United Brethren Church. Samuel came west at the age of about twenty-three, finding a home in Fairfield County, Ohio. At the age of about thirty-nine, in 1820, he became a member of the Miami Conference, and entered upon the work of the ministry. When the conference was divided and the Scioto was formed, his residence in the Scioto district gave him membership in that conference. He was in attendance at the General Conference of 1821, and was chosen its secretary. He was a member of the General Conferences of 1825 and 1833, and at the latter was chosen one of the bishops of the Church. He was reelected in 1837, but died on October 9 in the following year, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. As a member of the General Conference of 1837 he had a hand in framing the constitution which was approved by that conference. Bishop Hiestand was a preacher of fair abilities, sometimes rising to great power. He was regarded as a safe counselor, and enjoyed in the highest degree the confidence and esteem of his brethren. His early death was much lamented. 3. William Brown. "William Brown, also of German descent, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on July 7, 1796. He was converted at the age of sixteen at a "big meeting" held on Abraham Mayer's farm, near Carlisle, and at. the age of twenty was granted license to preach. He entered the itinerant ranks, and gave many years of effective service to the Church. He was much associated with Bishop Newcomer, Guething, Russel, and others of the most active men of that early period. He attained p.259 to much power as a preacher of the word, and at "big meetings" and camp-meetings proved himself one of the most effective of evangelists. He was a delegate from the Pennsylvania Conference to the General Conference of 1833, and was by that conference chosen to the office of bishop, serving in that capacity four years. In 1838 he left his home in the East to establish himself in a new home in Benton County, Indiana. He continued in the itinerant work up to within a year of the close of his life, dying on May 11, 1868, at nearly seventy-two years of age. His early preaching was in the German language, and he continued to make visits to German neighborhoods and to preach to the people in their own language up to a late period in his life. His record is that of a faithful and devoted servant of the Master.to much power as a preacher of the word, and at "big meetings" and camp-meetings proved himself one of the most effective of evangelists. He was a delegate from the Pennsylvania Conference to the General Conference of 1833, and was by that conference chosen to the office of bishop, serving in that capacity four years. In 1838 he left his home in the East to establish himself in a new home in Benton County, Indiana. He continued in the itinerant work up to within a year of the close of his life, dying on May 11, 1868, at nearly seventy-two years of age. His early preaching was in the German language, and he continued to make visits to German neighborhoods and to preach to the people in their own language up to a late period in his life. His record is that of a faithful and devoted servant of the Master.
1 For another version of this law, both in German and English, see Lawrence's History, Vol. II., pp. 143-145. The form there given is from a transcript made by J. G. Pfrimmer, who was a member of the General Conference of 1821, and transcribed by Bishop Hiestand into the Journal of the Miami Conference. See pp. 96-103, Miami Conference Journal. 2 Mr, Lawrence apparently was unacquainted with the provision in the Discipline of 1814. 3 Lawrence's History, Vol. II., pp. 148,149. 4 Spayth's History, p. 242. |
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