ISAAC NEWTON
WALTER
PIONEER PREACHER OF
OHIO.
BYRON R. LONG.
The writer while yet a small boy,
rummaging among the
books in an old library came across a
volume of thrilling interest.
The title of the book was "The
Pioneer Preacher," written
by a blind man who served his country in
conspicuous places,
first as a pastor and then over a period
of about twenty
years as chaplain of the Senate and
House of Representatives
in the Congress of the United States.
This versatile man's name was William H.
Milburn. The
book consisted of lectures that were
delivered before the Lowell
Institute. Because of their historical
character, and the fact
that they were in a style simple and
graphic, they grasped the
attention of an eager boy and held it
through to the end.
On account of the nature of the task I
have set for myself in
writing this sketch, my mind reverts to
this book and to one of
the lectures with the title "Rifle,
Ax and Saddle-Bags"; par-
ticularly to the last portion of it. The
author used these terms
as symbolical of phases in the pioneer
life of America. The
ax representing heroic effort of men who
went forth to subdue
the forests and to clear them away that
states and cities might
grow and fields spread to receive the
seed of future harvests.
The rifle to represent the phase of
early life in the western
world which meant defense against savage
life that should
attempt to prey upon homes and fields.
The saddle-bags sym-
bolized another phase which was
important beyond measure
to that period and to all periods of the
movement of man through
this world.
Let me quote the language of the book
here: "I see
approaching another class with many
traits common with the
men of the ax and rifle, yet many
different. They, too, are
of large build and robust strength;
they, too, have nerves that
(187)
188 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
never thrill with fear. Sun and storm
have bronzed them; hun-
ger, frost and loneliness are to them
familiar acquaintances.
Gaunt poverty keeps even pace with them
as they ride, and
shall accompany them until they reach
the last stage of their
journey, -the house appointed to all
living. -Wherefore are
they in the wilderness- for they have
neither rifle nor ax?"
The answer to the last question is
written in the fruits of
lives given unselfishly and that tell
the story of an American
civilization more glorious than any
other that has had place on
the face of the earth.
Mr. Milburn in 1855 delivered an address
before a company
of writers and publishers in the Crystal
Palace, New York City,
in response to the toast "The
Clergy" in which he pays his
respects to the class that braved the
forest wilderness in procla-
mation of the everlasting gospel. He
said in the course of this
address: "They were the first to
penetrate the wilds of the
new countries, carrying those precious
commodities, -books.
Their training, as itinerate ministers,
began in the saddle, and
in lieu of holsters they carried
saddle-bags crammed with books
for study and for sale; for the church
economy held it a duty
of the minister to circulate good books
as well as to preach
the word.
"Let me change the figure. Although
they were graduates
of Brush College and Swamp University
they were always the
friends of a wholesome literature.
Picture then, a young itin-
erant, clad in blue jeans or copperas
homespun; his nether ex-
tremities adorned with leggings; his
head surmounted with a
straw hat in summer, a skin cap in
winter; dismounting from
the finest horse in the settlement, at
the door of a log-cabin,
which may serve as a school-house or a
squatter's home, carefully
adjusting on his arm the well-worn
leather bookcase. See him
as he enters the house of one room,
where is assembled the
little congregation of half a dozen
hearers,- backwoods farmers
and hunters, bringing with them their
wives and little ones,
their dogs and rifles. The religious
service is gone through
with as strict regularity as if it were
in a cathedral. At its
close our young friend opens the
capacious pockets of his
saddle-bags displaying on the
split-bottom chair, which has
Isaac Newton Walter. 189
served him as a pulpit, his little stock
of books, to the eager
gaze of the foresters. * * *
"Thus day after day did the
circuit-rider perform his double
duty of preacher and book seller. This
plan was designed to
work as a two-edged sword, cutting both
ways; to place a
sound religious literature in the homes
of the people, and (as
the books were bought at a considerable
discount) to enable
men whose salaries were a hundred
dollars a year (and who
rejoiced greatly if they received half
that amount) to provide
themselves with libraries."
William Cullen Bryant was in the company
that listened to
this address and to him a fine
compliment was paid.
In the body of the book after giving a
glowing description
of Henry Bidleman Bascom, one of these
forest graduates
who became a Chaplain of Congress, a
Doctor of Divinity,
the President of a University and an
honored Bishop in the
church of God; he goes on to say:
"These men had the wilder-
ness for a college; their theological
seminary was a circuit; and
lessons enough in pastoral theology did
they get. Their text
book was the Bible for, more than any
others I have known, they
were men of one book. Their commentaries
and works of exe-
gesis were their own hearts, and the
hearts of their fellow
men which they prayerfully and devoutly
studied. They were
'workmen who needed not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the
word of truth!'
They went their way singing the old
hymn, familiar to their
time:
'No foot of land do I possess,
No cottage in the wilderness;
A poor wayfaring man,
I lodge awhile in tents below,
And gladly wander to and fro,
Till I my Canaan gain;
There is my house and portion fair,
My treasure and my heart are there,
And my abiding home'."
President William Henry Harrison said of
these men:
"Who and what are they? I answer
they are ministers who are
technically denominated 'Circuit
Riders,' a body of men who,
190 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
for zeal and fidelity in the discharge
of the duties they undertake,
are not exceeded by any others in the
world. I have been a
witness of their conduct in the western
country for nearly
forty years. They are men whom no amount
of labor tires, no
scenes disgust, no dangers frighten when
in the discharge of
duty. To gain recruits for their
Master's service they sedulously
seek out the victims of vice in the
abodes of misery and
wretchedness. The vow of poverty is not
taken by these men,
but their conduct is precisely the same
it would have been
had they done so. Their stipulated pay
is barely sufficient to
enable them to perform the duties
assigned them. With much
the larger proportion of these men, the
horse that carries them
is the only animated thing which they
can call their own,
and the contents of their saddle-bags,
the sum total of their
earthly possessions.
"If, within the period I have
mentioned, a traveler on the
western frontier, had met a stranger in
some obscure way,
urging his course through the
intricacies of a tangled forest,
his appearance staid and sober, and his
countenance indicating
he was in search of some object in which
his feelings were
deeply interested, his apparel plain but
entirely neat, and his
little baggage adjusted with peculiar
compactness, he might be
almost certain that the stranger was a
preacher, hurrying on to
perform his daily task of preaching to
separate and distant
congregations, and should the same
traveler, upon approaching
some solitary, unfinished, scarcely
habitable cabin, hear the praises
of the Creator chanted with peculiar
melody, or the doctrines of
the Savior urged upon the attention of
some six or eight indi-
viduals with the same.energy and zeal
displayed as in an address
before a crowded audience of a populous
city, he might be
certain without enquiry, that it was the
voice of one of these
ambassadors of Christ."
How much our country owes to the work
done by these
brave men has not been estimated neither
indeed can it be.
The matter used in the foregoing has
merely served as pre-
liminary to the subject matter which is
to be used for the his-
torical sketch here recorded.
The character to be described herein was
one of the circuit-
Isaac Newton Walter. 191
riders to which reference has been made and, although his name is unfamiliar to this generation, the period from 1825 to 1850 in the state of Ohio, especially throughout the central portion of the state, held no name in greater reverence. The writer became familiar with the name of the man early in life, by hearing the |
|
story of his singular power and beautiful character told by a grandmother who sat under his eloquent preaching on many occasions during the period above mentioned. He had been dead but three years when the writer was born and having died in the zenith of his fame the story of his career was fresh in |
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publication.
the minds of those who related the
incidents of his remarkable
life in my childhood ears. Afterward I
read the story of his
life written by a longtime friend. That
book is out of print and
it is doubtful if a half-dozen copies
can be found. The copy
which has furnished much of the data for
this sketch belongs
to a grandson now living in Columbus and
who is one of the
city's well-known business men and a
member of one of Frank-
lin County's most highly respected
families.1
This sketch will be interwoven with the
story of the religious
denomination to which he adhered and
which during the period
covered by his brilliant ministry gained
a strong hold on the peo-
ple over large areas both in the eastern
and western part of our
country; but which, through misdirected
zeal coupled with the
zeal of another denomination differing
but little in its doctrinal
tenets, has never grown to any very
noticeable dimensions;
1Six children were born to Rev. Walter
and wife, four of whom
lived to maturity. Their names were
Isaac N. Jr., John P., Mary and
Sarah A.
Mary and Sarah both lived to great age
and reared larged families.
The two boys grew to manhood but died
young.
Mary was married to Mr. F. A. Sells of
Dublin, Ohio, and became
the mother of three sons and five
daughters, most of whom lived their
lives in Columbus. One of these sons and
two of the daughters together
with the widows of Walter and Francis
A., still reside here. J. H. at
91 Winner Ave. and with him his sister
Lydia. Mrs. Charles M. Wam-
baugh resides at the Lincoln. Mr. Howard
Park married a sister.
Sarah, the second child, married Joseph
Cathcart and was the
mother of five children, one son and
four daughters. The four daughters
are still living. Elisabeth married a
Mr. Phillips and resides on East
High street in Springfield, Ohio, in the
property which was the home of
her grandfather Walter. The other three
daughters live at the Locusts,
Fairview Road, Cleveland, where their
mother died in 1913 at the age
of eighty-three years, retaining her
faculties perfectly till the end.
In this quaint old home are kept the
precious heirlooms of the
family. Here are many volumes of their
grandfather's library. The
saddle-bags used by him in his long
journeys across the mountains,
many articles of furniture, the record
which he kept of marriages,
funerals, sermons preached, conversions,
baptisms and miles traveled.
Beautiful life-sized oil paintings of
the great preacher and his wife
painted by a noted artist while Rev.
Walter was pastor of the church
in New York city. Most of the library
has been given to Antioch
College.
Isaac Newton Walter. 193
numbering at this time about 100,000 members in both Northern and Southern conventions, whereas the Disciples of Christ who are like them in points of doctrine and practice save in a few- non-essential particulars have grown to number 1,400,000.2 Isaac N. Walter was the son of John and Mary Moore |
|
Walter, and was born on Lee's Creek, Highland County, Ohio, January 27, 1805. His ancestry is but meagerly chronicled but enough is known to establish the fact that they were English-
2 The last census given out by Mr. Carroll of the census bureau gives the Christians a membership in the United States of 113,000, and a commendable percent of gain within the last twelve months. Vol. XXIV - 13. |
194 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
born. As runs the usual story, his
paternal great-grandfather
with two brothers, settled in
Philadelphia at an early period in
the history of America, and here his
grandfather was born Feb-
ruary, 1727. Having reached mature years
this grandsire re-
moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Here John Walter,
Jr., the father of Isaac N. was born in
1758, and lived there
until 1784 when he removed to Grayson
County, Virginia.
Three brothers of this family
participated in the war of the
Revolution. Joseph, the youngest of the
three, losing his life
while serving with a baggage train.
In 1790 John Walter, Jr., was married to
Mary Moore
Alsop at that time a widow, who became
the mother of the
subject of this sketch after their
removal from Virginia to
Ohio which occurred in the year 1797.
Their life in Ohio began
in an Indian camp the year following the
establishment of
Wayne County, out of the then Northwest
Territory.
"Wayne County was established in
the year 1796. It in-
cluded all the North Western Part of
Ohio, a large tract in the
Northeastern part of Indiana, and the
whole territory of Michi-
gan. Also a part of Illinois and
Wisconsin, bringing within its
border Ohio City, Sault St. Marie,
Mackinaw, etc. In the year
1798 the Northwest Territory had a
population of five thousand
free male inhabitants of full age."
This was a very small planting of human
life for so large
an acreage. Life in the new land was a
lonely experience
for the young couple; but they, like
others, lived in the spirit
of prophesy that saw a blossoming
wilderness.
Chillicothe was thirty-three miles to
the east of them and the
village of Cincinnati sixty-seven miles
to the west which, three
years after this in 1800 had a
population of 700. John Walter,
the father, was a self controlled,
courageous man, and though
overtaken with misfortune just before
removing to Ohio by
which he was bereft of nearly all his
belongings, he is said
to have borne it with utmost confidence
that he would reestablish
himself once more. The mother of Isaac
was a woman of
peculiarly strong and beautiful
character. Her son recalls her
motherly care and never fails to credit
her with laying the
Isaac Newton Walter. 195
foundation of whatever his own life revealed of
power and
influence.
"I remember full well," these
are his words, "her mild and
expressive countenance, her speaking
eye, her gentle yet firm
words of instruction, * * * and in later
years she released not a
mite of her watchful care, but threw
around me the shield of
good counsel and encouraged me in the
hour of severe trial and
discouragement. I shall never forget
her, nor cease to feel her
influence urging me on in the holy
duties of life. Other objects
may fade from my memory but my mother,
never."
The father and mother were Quakers, the
mother a full
member of the sect, the father a member
only in the respect
that he was brought up in the tenets and
practices of that faith.
Long after the father's death and when
the son had become a
minister and came to Dublin, Ohio, to
serve the church in that
village, the mother became a member of
the church there and
when the summons came to her late in
life she was buried
from the Dublin Church and her body lies
at rest in the village
cemetery.
The attractive character of Isaac N.
Walter which marked
his manhood years and which begot in him
almost mesmeric
power was manifest in his childhood as
well. An impressive in-
cident is related which occurred while
his father was yet inn-
keeper on one of the traces leading from
Chillicothe to Cincinnati
and other points to the west. Isaac was
only about a half
year old when one day a Scotchman of
dignified bearing, haling
from Edinburgh, came to the Ohio Country
and passing this way
stopped for refreshment. Just as he was
about to leave, he
took the babe in his arms and asked the
mother what she
would call him. She replied
"Isaac" for my oldest brother.
The traveller took from his pocket a
French coin and placed it
in his hand and said, "I christen
him Isaac Newton Walter," and
then handing him back to his mother
said, "Madam, take special
care of this boy; rear him in the
nurture and admonition of the
Lord, for he is to be a preacher of the
everlasting Gospel,
and thousands will rejoice in the
judgment day in the fact that
he was ever born." Whatever may be our thought concerning
prediction of this kind, this one was
blessed with fulfillment.
196 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
As the boy grew he began to show very
early the traits that
were to have marked development in the
future of his career.
His life in the wildwood among Indians,
and with impending
dangers on every hand begot in him a
fearlessness that stood for
much in the days when he became a
defender of the weak and
a pronounced enemy of superstition and
oppression.
He early developed leadership, both
physical and intel-
lectual. His father died when he was
eleven years of age and
left him in the care of his loving
mother and dependent to no
little degree upon his own personal
resources. For the strenuous
battles he had to fight he marshalled
all of his inheritance of
brawn and brain supplementing them with
determined effort to
make them mean all they might for human
helpfulness.
No man in all this western world, of the
kind of graduation
that Mr. Milburn mentions in forewords,
did more with his
opportunities than did Isaac N. Walter.
His talent and love for
public speaking found early expression.
With no more than
two years of schooling under a trained
teacher he went forth
to make his "merit known;"
"To mould a state's decrees
And shape the whisper of the
throne."
He was in the best sense a self-educated
man. While he
knew no university as do the youth of
our time, nor libraries
like the ones that wealth builds for
ornamentation of cities,
still he was not bereft of sources of
information for the world
of nature and of man were open to him
and these attracted him
mightily.
He heard the songs of birds, the music
of waters, and the
murmurings of the forest. Fields, lakes
and rivers, the moun-
tains and valleys between, were to him
great spokesmen of the
divine mysteries which he knew would
more and more unfold
even to the limit of his capacity to
drink in their meaning and to
translate this meaning to an eager,
waiting world.
I have spoken of his attractiveness.
This, undoubtedly
accounted for his great influence over
vast audiences that he
addressed from time to time in country
places and before
cultured audiences in large cities. This
was a quality of youth
Isaac Newton Walter. 197
which developed and as he grew older
became the touch-stone
of his success.
His biographer relates that "his
young friends would gather
about him with all the confidence of
brothers and sisters and
acquiesce in his plans for their
youthful amusements. Indeed, he
appears to have been an umpire among
them. His ardent
affection and lively imagination gave a
warmth and life to the
social party that no other one could
supply. The secret of all
this was his quick intuitive intellect;
his manly frankness, and
his warm, lively flow of spirit."
In 1823 he became interested in religion
in a way he had
not known up to that date. A revival was
on in a Methodist
church near his home. His heart
responded to the appeals
made, and he took a step that proved the
initial one in the
direction of a purpose and mission that
was to control his
life. From that time he began to ponder
over the teachings
of Scriptures and the various
differences existing among churches
and denominations that professed to be
followers of the same
great teacher.
He had at this time reached the age of
eighteen and as yet
the dogmas of churches had received but
little consideration.
The divided state of the church,
however, could not escape his
notice and he began to wonder why it
was. He was soon to
discover that these denominations or
separate parties each had
certain beliefs that were different from
the others, very slight
to be sure, but sufficient to cause them
to worship in different
churches, to employ different ministers
and to carry on propa-
ganda from wholly separate camps. It was
the same question
that has proposed itself to the simple
minded people in heathen
lands, when missionaries with different
names and methods
have gone to win men to Christianity.
They have asked, "What
is Christianity? Is it what one teaches
as a Presbyterian, or
another teaches as a Baptist or
Congregationalist." The result
of all this in heathen lands has been to
change the whole program
of missionary labors.
This man at the beginning of the 19th
century was asking
these questions here in Ohio.
In the year following his conversion and
while these ques-
198
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
tionings were giving him no little
concern, he came in contact
with a body of men whose distinct
purpose was the promulgation
of the idea that denominational names
are the cause of division
among Christians and that no creed is
legitimate other than the
Bible. Living in a family of Quaker
antecedents, and being
converted in a Methodist revival, and
realizing that there were
a great number of other sects with
various names, made him
ponder as aforesaid, so, that when he
met the man with the new
light representing the new movement
which would countenance
no name but Christian for the followers
of Jesus and no creed
but the Bible, he was ready to listen to
what he had to say.
The new light appealed to him and after
careful meditation he
decided to give himself to the new
propaganda.
Here we may well pause to give a little
attention to this
movement which at that time was gaining
much headway, East,
West and South.
The year 1793 is memorable in the
world's history. All
Europe was in the throes of revolution.
The year opened with
the execution of Louis Sixteenth in
France and the Reign of
Terror spread to many cities and
provinces. An old order was
dying, giving place to a new one, but
the journey to the new
was through rivers of blood. New forms
of thought in politics
and religion were gaining sway in the
minds of men everywhere.
America had just emerged from a mighty
conflict and was ex-
perimenting with a form of government
the varied character
of which men had never before dared more
than dream about.
A few great men with the modest
Washington at their head
were bearing the responsibility of this
experiment. While
changes of political character were
making, the religious life
of Europe and America was also feeling
the effects of the tide-
waves of thought that were bearing men
to higher standing
ground of freedom.
Methodism which, through John and
Charles Wesley,
Fletcher and Whitefield, had challenged
the English Church in
the matter of its exclusive right in
distributing ministerial
orders, had been a growing power since
Wesley had withdrawn
from the Moravians in 1740. It was not
until the year 1793,
however, that the Methodist ministers
were allowed to administer
Isaac Newton Walter. 199
the Sacrament on English soil, although
that privilege had been
granted in America from the time that
Asbury was made the
first Bishop in 1784.
At the time of Asbury's ordination there
was another
pioneer preacher who was his rival for
the Bishopric. His
name was James O'Kelley. O'Kelley was
the leader of a
movement opposing the authority and life
tenure of the bishops.
Disappointed, as has been claimed, in
losing the appointment
of bishop and failure in winning success
in his opposition he
withdrew from the general Methodist
Conference and in 1793
formed an organization known as the
Republican Methodist.
This body afterward took the name
Christian and led away
from the Methodist denomination a
company to the number
of about 6,500.
A little later than this a similar
movement was led by Abner
Jones, a Baptist, of Lyndon, Vermont.
About the same time, Barton W. Stone,
David Purviance,
William Kincaid and others, Presbyterians
in Kentucky, formed
the center of schism in the Springfield
Presbytery which re-
sulted in a separation. These three
movements became known
to one another and a convention was
called which resulted
in the organization known as the
Christian Church - advocating
liberty in matters of religious thought
and practice, with no
name but Christian, no creed but the
Bible, and with character
the only test of fellowship.
This group of people claim to have
established the first
religious newspaper in the United
States, if not in the world,
and the first college in America
(Antioch) to graduate a woman
on the same platform with a man. The
paper is still published in
Dayton, Ohio, under the caption
"Herald of Gospel Liberty."3
And Antioch College, whose first
president was Horace Mann,
is still in operation at Yellow Springs,
Ohio, with Honorable
Simeon D. Fess, a member of Congress,
its President-Rev.
George D. Black its Acting President.
3The Herald of Gospel Liberty, now
printed at Dayton, Ohio, is
the successor of the Gospel Herald of
Walter's time, and is in the line
of succession to the original paper
first published very early in the
century in New England.
200 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. The Christians were called "Christians," the word being pronounced by giving the long sound to the first i in the word. They were nicknamed "New Lights," as were the Presbyterians in an early day in New England. The Disciples of Christ, a body of people organized nearly a quarter of a century later, were also called Christians in many sections and were nicknamed Campbellites after Alexander Campbell, their founder, to dis- tinguish them from the first named. During the early part of the 19th century this movement gave promise of remarkable |
|
spread through the country; its largest growth in any one state, however, being in Ohio, where almost every movement was being experimented with. The men who were associated in this free and independent religious undertaking were men of exceptional intellectual and spiritual vitality. Their platform was such that the utmost freedom was felt in their declaration of the truth as they gath- ered it from the Holy Book. They recognized no over-lords in religion; they hated intolerance and bigotry, and oppression |
Isaac Newton Walter. 201
of every sort. They stood for the free
course of the word.
As before said they would accept no
creed. The Bible was
their rule of faith and practice. Every
man had freedom to
read and interpret as his mind could
grasp the meaning. As a
result of this liberal attitude they
became the object of attack
and persecution. The doors of other
churches were closed
against them. They preached in dwellings
and barns and in the
mild seasons of the year sought the
groves, "God's first temples,"
and there the people heard them gladly
and heeded in large num-
bers the calls that were marked with
deep fervor and strange,
remarkable eloquence. They were of the
Wesley and Whitefield
type, and stirred the multitudes in ways
that produced peculiar
results among the listeners. People were
prostrate before them.
That strange phenomenon known as the
"jerks" was of frequent
occurrence. Withal, the simplicity of
their social and religious
life would brook no irreverence and at
no time did the people
make light of these, at that time,
unexplainable happenings.
Into the midst of conditions like this
young Walter came
with keen discernment and spiritual
simplicity to perform his
work of a Christian minister. The new
movement caught him
up and transplanted him into the soil of
freedom of religious
thought and expression. From that time
he knew the liberty
with which the Spirit makes free.
In 1824, when he was nineteen years of
age, he was married
to a most excellent woman, Lydia
Anderson by name, and in 1825
at Charleston, Clark County, not far
from the present city of
Springfield, he was ordained to the
Christian ministry by the lay-
ing on of hands of those who had
preceded him in the priestly
office. At this service Benjamin
Brittain, Daniel Long, Abraham
Aldrich, and George Zimmerman
officiated. He had preached
many times before this, but now began a
ministry which was to
continue twenty-five years, full of
marvelous power. In 1826 he
located in Dublin, Franklin County, and
organized the Christian
church of that village. Here also he
taught school for a period,
but soon relinquished that work to give
his whole time to preach-
ing; traveling on foot and horse-back
over the counties of Clark,
Champaign, Union, Delaware, Licking,
Franklin, Ross and
Fayette.
202 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. In June of 1827 he started on his first extended journey from home which was to be repeated many times in the next quarter of a century. On this journey he traveled through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, preaching continu- ously all along the way. He was absent three months, taking no rest, riding the distance of more than 1,000 miles on horse- back. On the 26th of November of this year he started on the second Eastern trip and traveled as far as Newark when his horse gave out and he had to return home. Early in December he once more left his home. In his account of this trip he speaks of passing through Columbus just as the Legislature was assembling. He mentions the splendor in which the members of the Legislature were living and how in contrast it seemed to the |
|
simple life of the circuit riders and yet, he says further: "I would not exchange station with any of them, nor even with a king on his throne". He returned from this second visit to the East in March, 1828, and proceeded immediately to meet his appointments in the counties of Franklin, Clark, Licking and others. In this year he writes: "We, as a body of people, are despised at the present time, in this priest ridden part of the world, nevertheless, I anticipate the day * * * when malice, superstition and deceit shall be purged from the professed fol- lowers of the Lord Jesus, and love without dissimulation reign predominant. * * * In many places in the West, bigotry and prejudice are exerting their unhallowed influence in pro- moting discord in the religious community; and in their train of |
Isaac Newton Walter. 203
wickedness, they are fostered by those
who cease not daily to
declare that the Holy Scriptures are not
sufficient to govern
the people of God
harmoniously." At the close of
this
writing he says: "I faintly see in
the coming future, the banner
of peace waving high in the air; its
gentle vibration fan my
soul; before and behind I see crowds of
wearied pilgrims march-
ing gently along; their countenances
shining like the mild sun-
beams of the vernal morn". How
strange it seems that just 85
years after these words were uttered, in
the same month of the
year and almost on the very spot and in
a building erected by
the people who are the lineal
descendants in flesh and religious
faith of those who set forth the new
idea, these Christians were
joining themselves with the people of
two other denominations
in the village to form one church.
It will be interesting to again pause in
the narrative to
describe this event which shows the
progress made in the church
life of America in this period a little
short of a century.
Through all of these years three
denominations had carried on
their work in the village of Dublin,
Ohio, and maintained three
respectable church buildings. Three
ministers served the people
most of the time; three Sunday Schools
were kept in motion, a
small proportion of the people attending
one or another, but
most of the population indifferent to
what was doing in any of
them except to ridicule or condemn their
unseemly rivalries and
bickerings. Of course, there were times
when the people would
have refreshings and talk over the folly
of the waste of it all
and speak of a time when they might work
together. One day in
June, 1912, a cyclone visited the village
and wrecked two of
the church buildings, leaving the
Christian, the most substantial
of the three, standing. For a few months
the people worshipped
together in this church and as they sang
together and prayed
together and studied the Bible together
the spirit of unity and
friendliness grew apace, till one day
they said we will be one. A
great leader of men -Dr. Washington
Gladden -was invited
to tell them about the faith and
practices of the Congregational
Churches and they were convinced that it
presented a basis on
which they could unite. This they
decided to do, and on March
4, 1913, the day Woodrow Wilson was
inaugurated President of
204 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. the United States, these three churches, the Christian, the Methodist, and the Presbyterian, became one with a declaration of faith that would have entirely satisfied Isaac N. Walter could he have been on the scene to witness the happy union. Within six months the one united church had twice as many members as all three brought to it. And the spirit of good-will was in con- trol. The prophecy of Walter had been fulfilled. The period in which Rev. Walter was active was one in which it was thought theological ideas should be vigorously de- fended in the pulpit and elsewhere. There was scarcely a com- munity that was not familiar with the debates carried on between |
|
the champions of the various camps of believers. Doctrines such as the Trinity, Atonement, Baptism and others received attention in undue measure and controversy was the stock in trade of the ministry. While Rev. Walter was of gentle, courteous disposition, indisposed to quarrel, he nevertheless felt it incumbent upon him to defend the faith, as he entertained it, against any and all who made light of it or were disposed to discount its reasonableness and truth. One of these occasions may be alluded to as repre- senting the character of proceedings and typical of the numerous happenings that kept whole communities constantly on tiptoe |
Isaac Newton Walter. 205
In June of the year 1833 a Christian
church was dedicated in
Rockingham County, Virginia, and Walter
preached the dedi-
catory sermon. In this sermon he
touched upon the leading
views of these "New Lights"
as they were denominated. The
Unity of God, Sonship of Jesus, the
name Christian for his
followers, the Bible as the one and
only rule of faith and practice,
and Christian character the test of
fellowship. The sermon was
strong and convincing, but as usual,
excited criticism in the people
who had been trained to see these
matters in another light and
so a Rev. Lyon, minister in the M. E.
Church of Virginia, chal-
lenged Rev. Walter to debate. Lyon was
a much older man
and of wider experience, but he proved
no match for the younger
man, and as a result the community was
influenced in the direc-
tion of the new enterprise.
As we look back to-day and try to
discover any justification
for such proceedings we are nonplussed.
While the same differ-
ences exist, and perhaps always will,
we find it impossible to
quarrel very much about them. It may
have been a part of the
cycle of religious and social
experience which is necessary to the
larger and more permanent fellowship of
life. Who knows?
Whatever may have been its purpose and
utility at that time
we are satisfied that for our time it
would be the climax of
absurdity. A tolerant mood is the mood
of our age and men
find very little time to engage in
splitting hairs over questions
of casuistry.
This man, in the main, was bent upon a
loftier task than
that of merely defeating another man in
argument. He took
his mission more seriously.
In the year 1833 he received a call to
become the pastor of
the First Christian Church of New York
City. Previous engage-
ments extending to February, 1834,
prevented his going to the
new field until that time. During the
intervening months he
visited and held meetings in
Philadelphia, Washington City,
Baltimore, and many small places; some
of them in country
districts.
He took up the work of a pastor in the
metropolis with
much trepidation and many forebodings,
but within three months
he had imparted new hopes to his people
so that a member of his
206 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
congregation writing to a friend in the
West could say; "His
success in so short a time has surpassed
all our expectations. The
congregations are increasing and will
soon overrun the capacity
of the church". In the following
summer on a vacation trip
he returned to his beloved Ohio and
filled in his time visiting
churches in Chatham, Utica, Hebron,
Newark, Mt. Vernon, and
Pleasant Grove. Returning to New York he
was invited to
preach in Philadelphia and in Wheeling,
West Virginia. In the
latter he spoke from the Court House
steps to a multitude of
people.
At the end of his first year's pastorate
in New York a very
glowing account of his success is given
by the Public Press.
Attention is called to one of his
services on a Sunday evening
when he spoke on "The Unity of God,
the Sonship of Christ and
the Holy Spirit" in opposition to
the doctrine of the Trinity. The
report says; "He began at 7 o'clock
and closed his discourse at
ten minutes past ten. One hour before
the time the seats were
filled and when he began preaching every
aisle and every part
of the house was densely crowded and
hundreds had to go away,
not being able to find standing
room".
His sermons aroused the giants of
orthodoxy all over the
city and many replied and then came to
hear what Walter would
say subsequently. The excitement grew
until the church in which
he spoke was entirely insufficient to
house the audiences. All of
this time he kept up his pastoral duties,
attended social meetings,
gave weekly lectures in the vestry, kept
in close touch with the
Sunday School.
The nervous strain was great. Relief was
secured by fre-
quent trips out of the city. Journeys to
Ohio were numerous.
In April, 1835, he traveled from New
York to Central Ohio to
preach the funeral of Rev. Joseph
Thomas, a minister who was
known as the White Pilgrim because of
his custom of wearing
white garments the year round. At this
time he visited Dublin
where he had lived for six years and
where he was to spend
some of the last years of his life. He
says of this visit: "I
visited every house in the village and
then repaired to the bury-
ing ground attached to the chapel to
visit my mother's grave.
When I entered the gate many sensations
moved me. I walked
Isaac Newton Walter. 207
silently and softly along over the
graves of others till I found
the place that contained her body. I
stopped and gazed on the
sacred spot while nothing broke the
silence of the hour save the
sighing of the evening zephyr. And while
standing there I called
to mind the many times she had wept over
the follies of my
youth; the many godly admonitions I had
received from her, as
the spiritual fruits of a heart that
prays to God for the salva-
tion of a child, and in the midst of my
thoughts, I kneeled by
the head of the tomb, wet the cold earth
with my tears, and
prayed that 'my life might be as
righteous; that my last days
might be as his' ".
After spending many days among the
churches of Ohio,
preaching and baptizing converts, he
returned again to New
York. Thus the years were spent, doing
the work of a shepherd
over a growing parish in the city and
traveling to and fro among
smaller churches in villages and country
places wherever he was
invited; occasionally being called to
preach in Boston, Portland,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wheeling and
other cities. His life
was one full of work, and hundreds of
people were led to accept
Christ under his eloquent and earnest
efforts.
In February and March of 1839 a series
of meetings in New
York resulted in a great revival.
Tammany Hall in that day had
a bad reputation and it is not yet
entirely free from such. It
was a meeting place not only for
scheming politicians, but also
for those who scoffed at religion and
made bitter attacks upon
the Church and the Bible. One of the
frequenters of the place
addressed a letter to Walter during
these meetings in which he
said, among other things: "I have
listened with intense interest
to your preaching of the Gospel, which
has produced in my mind
pleasing and sublime contemplations. I
have looked with admira-
tion and surprise upon your respectable
and attentive hearers
and I feel constrained to say that I
never witnessed before in
any church such profound solemnity, such
reverential awe, as was
manifested by the people during the late
session of your meet-
ings." This Tammany letter-writer
subscribed himself, "Moral
Philanthropist".
The strain of the work began to tell on
him and in May,
1840, he was compelled to relinquish it.
His first thought was of
208 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. his home and friends in Ohio, and so toward the West he set his face but at Buffalo, in the home of Israel C. Ely, he was taken with chills and fever. It was not until mid-summer that he was able to leave Buffalo. In August he met with the Central Ohio Conference of Christian Churches and helped to plan for future activity, but it was painfully evident that he must desist from strenuous effort and take an extended rest. During some of this time he had his residence in Dublin where occasionally |
|
he would talk to the people without any attempt to give himself to vigorous pulpit effort. Kind friends ministered to him and his health began to return and with it an anxiety to be active in the field again. He had become interested in the cause of education and tem- perance and the remaning fifteen years of his life were to find him writing and speaking as his health would allow in advancing these interests. On the 7th of March, 1841, he preached a ser- |
Isaac Newton Walter. 209
mon in the Church of Dublin in which he
gave an example of
his thought and feeling touching the
temperance reform. His
words are strong, forceful and
unmistakable. He says: "It is a
cold time in religion here and no doubt
one cause of so much
indifference among the people is the
establishment of a death
office in our village, generally known as a groggery. Here the
intoxicating poison is sold, and drunk
by the poor unfortunates
of our population. In this office men
are prepared to fight, swear,
gamble and abuse their families in the
most shameful manner.
I pray God the time will soon come when
the public will frown
these places of wretchedness and
abomination from the land; for
of all places they are to be dreaded
most. If I were to attempt
a description of them, I would say they
are the grand mints in
which the stamp and superscription of
the old dragon are made
in letters of burning fire on the heads
and hearts of lost men
and women. They are the forts of the
devil; the mustering
places of Satan's armies; the campaign
country of Lucifer's
allies; the pest-house of earth; the
abode of blood. Over them
the fallen angels flap their wings of
death ! Through them shrink
the souls of the pit, whose grating
teeth and glowing eyes hor-
rify the virtuous spectator! The
bursting fires of the nethermost
hell light up the features of those
unfortunate victims who in-
habit these regions of despair! May the
Lord enable his ministers
to set their faces against the vice of
intemperance. I have
waged an eternal warfare with all makers
and venders of ardent
spirits and everything that can
intoxicate. I am determined to
have no compromise with ministers or
laymen who use it un-
righteously, till the demon is
exterminated from the earth. This
course, I know, will cause me to meet
with opposition, but I do
not care. I desire the world should know
my views on this sub-
ject. And I am determined by the grace
of God, that the
broken hearted wife shall never hear
from the drunken husband
that, 'When your ministers leave off
drinking then will I become
a sober man'. I speak unto wise men;
judge ye what I say".
On the evening of the 15th of that month
he addressed the
people of Hebron, twenty miles east of
Columbus, on the sudden
and unexpected death of William Henry
Harrison, whose words
are quoted at the beginning of this
article. His health improv-
Vol. XXIV - 14.
210 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
ing, he continued his journey into the
East again, beginning
formally his campaign in the causes
above named, education and
temperance.
It was apparent to him, as it is to all
men at any time,
that education is elementary in any
movement that considers the
welfare of mankind. He felt that any
good cause must have
wise, efficient advocacy and the more it
had to do with liberating
the mind and souls of men from fear and
superstition, the
greater the need of trained minds and
hearts in the apostleship
of that movement.
Some of the ministry were with him as he
plead for a school
of learning for the training of young
men. Others were luke-
warm and still others stood in forcible
opposition. Obstacles
like these must be thrust aside or
trodden over. In all of this
effort Walter stood foremost and
advocated the forward step and
formulated resolutions that were adopted
in most of the Con-
ferences over the country. This work
brought feebleness again
and the part he took in pushing the
cause was taken from a sick
bed and with the use of the pen writing
letters and inditing
arguments and resolutions. Arising from
his bed he again pushes
the conquests and visits churches both
East and West. At this
time the fame of the man had grown and
multitudes gathered to
hear his addresses on temperance and to
give encouragement to
the task of educational reform he had
espoused. Neither was
he neglecting the evangelistic note for
which his preaching was
marked and hundreds were brought to
espouse the faith as he
went from place to place.
Along with all this enthusiasm the
matter of a religious
newspaper was talked of and a project
was set on foot for
starting such an enterprise in the
West. The outcome of
this agitation resulted finally, in the
establishment of a publish-
ing house and the publishing of a paper
known as the Gospel
Herald. It was printed bi-weekly at New
Carlisle, Ohio, Rev.
Walter being its first editor. This was
in 1843. In 1845 the
place of publication was changed to
Springfield, Ohio4 and Isaac
4Mr. Walter removed from New Carlisle to
Springfield when the
office of the paper was taken there; and
that became his permanent home.
The property is still occupied by a
grand-daughter.
Isaac Newton Walter. 211
N. Walter was still retained as editor.
The paper became a
means by which he could convey his
message to thousands where
only a comparative few could get it from
his eloquent lips. A
few of the themes treated by the editor
follow: "Prophetic
Style", "The Misionary
Cause", "Temperance", "Trials of the
Ministry", "The Christian
Martyrs of the First Century", "The
Importance of an Educated
Ministry", "War", "Slavery". Some
of these utterances rank with the best
things that were being
said in that day and will stand the test
of our own time as to
matter and style of writing. He took
advantage of his oppor-
tunity and privilege to make the
editorial page speak clearly
also on theological questions that were
being debated by the
clergy of the time and especially in
defending the body of people,
whose servant he was as editorial writer
for their medium of
church news and propaganda of doctrine.
In answer to an attack made by Rev.
Cole, Editor of "Cross
and Journal", a Baptist periodical
in which the charge was made
that the Christians were joined with the
Unitarians in denying the
divinity of Christ; he writes,
"Brother Cole speaks as if it were
an established fact that the Unitarians
and Christians agree in
denying the divinity of Christ. But it
is for my brother to prove
that either denomination denies that
proposition. This he can not
do. We probably deny his notion of
Christ's divinity, but,
should it appear that his idea is
founded in an ignorance of the
Messiah's true nature, which is
altogether possible, then what
does our difference from him import?
Why, simply that we have
been more fortunate in finding the truth
than he. The Christians,
as a people, admit the divinity of the
nature, character, office,
doctrine and fullness of Jesus Christ.
They only deny that he is
the supreme and unoriginated being
called God. * * * We
deny the self-existent creator died on
the cross. Surely no man can
believe the ever-living and unchangeable
Father died". In speak-
ing of a charge brought against the
Theological School conducted
by the Unitarians at Meadville,
Pennsylvania, he continues:
"The brother does not seem to know
that in this school there
are no test questions of opinion.
Freedom of thought is not
crushed by authority. To send out slaves
to a sect is not its
purpose but rather to send out a class
of men so enlightened as
212
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
to look through the narrowness of
sectarianism and to preach
and practice that universal truth which,
to all men is the power
of God unto salvation. Accordingly, the
library of this institu-
tion is composed of the best works, not
of one but of all denom-
inations, among whom superior minds have
grown up. Thus
it has the gleamings of many
constellations while the sunlight of
revelation is first of all".
During his occupancy of the editorial sanctum
he was on the
road a great deal in response to calls
to fill pulpits and make
addresses in near and distant places,
and when we think of the
absence of convenient ways of travel
that we enjoy now, we
may imagine what it meant to move from
one place to a distant
place in the country.
The journeying to and fro that he
accomplished seems
astounding. On his fiftieth birthday,
the year before he died,
recalling the events of his thirty
years' ministry he related that
he had traveled a sufficient number of
miles to girdle the earth
a little over six times; he had crossed
the Allegheny Mountains
fifty times; preached eight thousand,
two hundred and forty-three
sermons; attended one thousand, eight
hundred and twenty-nine
funerals; baptized three thousand, three
hundred and ninety-two
converts; received eight thousand, nine
hundred and seventy-
one into church membership; prayed with
one thousand, nine
hundred and seven sick persons and
married one thousand and
fifty-two couples.5
He was truly a circuit rider with a
record. He felt that the
call to preach was louder than any other
and so when these
calls came, he was ready to heed them,
nursing his strength
all the time that he might be able to
endure the demands on
his already worn and tired body. In
these journeys he would
go to New York and Boston in attendance
upon conventions
and conferences and in these places he
came in contact with
men of great eminence; men who are known
to this generation
as lights in the sky of literature and
of religious and scientific
scholarship. He knew William E.
Channing, James Freeman
5The statement given above is taken from
the carefully kept record
mentioned in another note. It is in most
beautiful handwriting, such as
is rarely seen in our time.
Isaac Newton Walter. 213
Clark, Ezra Stiles Gannett and many
others famous at that time
and they all knew him to honor him.
In a notable address in which Thomas
Chalmers of England
and William E. Channing of New England
are compared and
contrasted he says of Channing: "To
quicken frigid indifference
into healthy life Channing nobly appeals
to the consciousness
possessed by every man of a capacity for
high moral culture
and for lofty spiritual progress."
"Peruse his piercing scrutiny of the
character and conduct of
Napoleon, the self-styled child of
destiny. See how calmly the
Christian philosopher divests the
warrior genius of the false
glitter which had dazzled the vision of
infatuated multitudes,
and presents the self-made monarch in
his blood-red garments
at the bar of outraged, insulted,
suffering humanity, and bids
him listen, with trembling awe, to the
echoes of the voice of
conscience; vindicating the violated law
of love * * *. On
every page of Channing breathes the
spirit of an earnest seeker
after truth. Exploring the depths of the
human soul, in quest
of the pearl of virtue, and calmly
removing the rubbish that ob-
structs his way until his eyes are
greeted by the precious treasure
which never fails to reward his search *
* *. He is a gentle
poet, with classic grace and loving
songs, winning men to wor-
ship at the shrine of virtue and of
beauty; winning even the
warrior himself from the love of contest
to the love of truth."
Reading such utterances at this time
when three quarters
of a century have passed since they fell
from the lips of the
orator makes us pause and wonder whether
these times in which
we live are succeeding as well in
producing the kind of men the
world must have if she is to be redeemed
from sordid ma-
terialism and ghoulish greed.
Isaac N. Walter had some of the vision
of a seer and an
imagination which could color
thought-expression in such a
way as to charm and captivate the
auditor, while along with it
all went such an Apollo like
handsomeness of figure and such
purity of character as to make of him a
veritable human magnet.
His appreciation of great men reacted
and imprinted great-
ness on his own character. This he
reflected wherever he went
so that men could say of him as truly as
he said of Channing
214
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
that he "allures by the infinite
beauty of divine love causing
the dark continents of vice to quail
before what he styles the
unspeakable grandeur of a human
soul."
In the summer of 1847 he was constrained
to relinquish
the position of editor, although he
continued to the time of his
death to contribute liberally the
products of his pen. He de-
voted himself from this time as his
strength permitted to the
work he loved above all other, that of a
preacher and lecturer.
Disease preyed upon him and made it
impossible for him to heed
but a small proportion of the calls that
came. The character
of the work done, however, lifted the
standard of thought and
conduct in the churches and communities
throughout Ohio and
surrounding states. The crowds who
listened to him came to fix
their attention upon the questions of
missions, education, tem-
perance and universal social welfare.
On the 27th of August, 1848, he preached
to the prisoners
in the Ohio Penitentiary. At that time
there were four hundred
and thirty-four confined within its
walls, of whom eight were
women. Four hundred were present to hear
him together with
the prison officers and a large number
of visitors. He relates of
this occasion, "Among the prisoners
were gray haired fathers,
middle-aged men and youth. During my
discourse many appeared
to be deeply affected. No doubt they
thought of home, the
associations of former days and the
loved ones they had left
behind; others appeared hardened and
lost to all the feelings of
humanity. As their hope of regaining
character was gone they
were indifferent to the subject of
religion; although I have no
doubt in many bosoms deep feelings of
guilt were felt when they
looked back upon the scenes of the past.
I think upon the whole,
that my visit to the penitentiary in
Columbus will be attended with
good."
In October of this same year he was
present at a conference
of churches in Raleigh, North Carolina,
and delivered an address
on temperance of which an editor of the
city paper wrote: "It
was our privilege last evening to listen
to the Rev. Isaac N.
Walter of Ohio deliver one of the rarest
and at the same time
most effective temperance addresses we
have ever heard. The
reverend gentleman was a perfect master
of his subject and held
Isaac Newton Walter. 215
the large audience enchained for nearly
two hours-at times
melted to tears by the pathos with which
he described human
depravity and human misery; and then
borne onward by his
resistless eloquence and stirring
appeals to their sympathy and
their judgment, and anon entertained by
his rich fund of anec-
dotes and naive and happy illustrations.
Such a practical and
matter-of-fact address so illustrated
and enriched must tell,
we think, with effective benefit
wherever delivered when aided
by the pleasing manner and graceful
oratory of the author."
The address here described was delivered
before the Grand
Division of the Sons of Temperance. On
the following after-
noon he delivered another address on the
same subject standing
at the corner of what was called Grog
Alley and Market Street,
known to be one of the worst locations
of the city. His friends
feared for his safety but he was
fearless. A large audience as-
sembled composed of the principal
business men of the city to
which were added all the grog sellers
and their patrons. He
mounted a store box and poured forth a
torrent of argument
that held the people in awe and sent
them away thinking in a
way they had never been used to.
His tour through the southland was full
of this kind of
activity and resulted in good to the
people and to himself,
although it drew upon his vital force
and warned him that
he must have a care.
In Raleigh he met Dorothy Dix, reformer,
philanthropist
and writer of juvenile books. Miss Dix
was born in the same
year as Walter but lived on thirty years
after he had ended his
work. He writes in his journal about
her, "She appears before
the legislative assembly with memorial
in hand, praying for an
appropriation of one hundred thousand
dollars to erect an
asylum for the insane * * *. In the providence of God she
is the voice of the maniac; the poor,
crazed beings confined
in cells and stalls, cages and waste
rooms, in the poor houses
of the state. She is the voice of
revelation of hundreds of
wailing, suffering creatures who are
shut out from all healing
influences and from all mind-restoring
cures."
On his return from the South in 1849 he
filled appointments
in Virginia and Maryland, stoping awhile
in Baltimore, preach-
216 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
ing in the Unitarian church, presided
over by Rev.
Burnap, a noted preacher of his time. He
arrived home again
on the 22nd of January, having been
absent nearly a half year.
He had scarcely arrived home till calls
began to reach him from
all directions. The people of the South
began to urge him to
come that way again and after spending a
few weeks in Ohio he
determines on another journey to the
East and the South.
In the meantime the year 1850 arrives,
which proved to be the
opening of the last six years of his
useful and eventful life.
On the first day of January, 1850, he
writes in his journal
as follows: "This day I enter upon
another year. How rapidly
time flies. It waits for no man and yet
how thoughtless, how
careless earth's thousands are with
reference to its improve-
ment. It will end the existence of many
who count much on
living long and accomplishing much
appertaining to this life
and this, perhaps, is my last year. I
may not see it close. I
trust that while I am permitted to stay
I shall be of more
service to my fellowmen than I have been
heretofore."
In April he was at his home in
Springfield but making
ready for the more extended campaign. He
visited the places
over the central portion of Ohio where
little groups of people
had become associated in the propagation
of the new doctrine.
Mechanicsburg, Woodstock, Milford, West
Jefferson, Granville,
Hebron, Nelsonville. In the last named
place he was very
courteously treated by the Methodist
minister and expresses his
very cordial appreciation of the same,
since it was a very unusual
thing to extend courtesies of church
fellowship at that time.
In all these towns mentioned and many
others, he was
encouraged to express himself as very
strong in the belief that
flourishing churches would grow up in
these settlements. They
began, but did not thrive and to-day not
one of them has a
Christian church. The failure of the
Christians to become
one of the strongest bodies in Ohio is
doubtless the result
of bad management. Larger towns, with
the exception of a
very few were neglected entirely and
when a church came
to be erected in a village it was usualy
placed on the outskirts
or a half-mile in the country. Then
there was no efficient
pastorating. It was not an unusual thing
for a church to have
Isaac Newton Walter. 217
two preachers at the same time,
alternating their services two
weeks or a month apart, neither
remaining on the ground
except over Sunday or, when a special
revival was on, they
would both be present. Sometimes these
meetings would con-
tinue over a period of two or three or,
at the greatest, four
weeks; one would preach and the other
would exhort. But such
work can never build up a strong, virile
organization of any
kind and so the denomination failed to
grow strong in point
of membership and was never stronger
than it was at the first
blush of the new flower of religious
liberty. The people heard
great preaching but few of these
preachers were wise and
proficient leaders and organizers of
men.
On this trip East and South he visited
the city of Wash-
ington and spent awhile in the Houses of
Congress and speaks
in his Journal of the absence of
senatorial dignity with the
men who had been sent there to make laws
and to represent
the various sections of a great country.
He says: "The House
was a scene of confusion and disorder
and but little more than
one-third of the members were present.
It is painful to witness
how the glory has departed from our
National Legislature."
How much these words sound like
strictures that are made even
at the present. During this sojourn the
interest in education
was growing among the people whom he
addressed from day
to day.
Graham Institute had been established in
the South and all
that it needed, as he said, was the
loyal support of the people
whose children were to make the
citizenship of the future. The
school is still in existence but with
little more strength than
marked it in the beginning.
This sojourn was also distinguished by
the great assemblies
of people who came to hear him as he
passed from place to place.
These assemblies were reckoned up in the
thousands. The story
of his pilgrimage is not unlike the
narrative of the journeys
of St. Paul and the early Apostles. His
absence from home
on this itinerary covered a period of
more than a year. He
speaks of it as one of the most
interesting campaigns of his
life.
218 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
In 1851 the church in New York
invited him to take pastoral
charge once more and after earnest
solicitation he yielded and
left Ohio to take up the work in October
of that year, leaving
his family in the Ohio home for the
time. The church had
gone through many and varied experiences
since he had served
them before. Some of these were
beneficial and some were not.
A new and more commodious structure had
been erected for
carrying on the work of the church. For
the short time that
he remained as shepherd of the flock, he
gave himself as a
true pastor and in letters to his wife
speaks of the poor and
wretched that he ministers to and how he
suffers with them
as he goes in and out among them. He
also mentions other and
contrasting phases of life found in the
parish. Referring to the
customs of the so-called refined or
fashionable society, he says:
"Things, with reference to custom
in the social circle, are differ-
ent in some respects to what they were
during my former
residence here. Then it was customary to
spend the after-
noon with a friend, take tea at the
usual hour and return home
at nine o'clock. But now the custom is,
when we are invited
to a social party, to go at eight or
nine o'clock and remain until
two or three in the morning. Now to all
this, with all the non-
sense connected, I enter my solemn
protest. I will not submit
to it, for I must consult my health and
the laws of nature which
are the laws of God and are never to be
infracted by the customs
of society. This way of visiting and
eating late suppers is
directly opposed to the laws of
physical, mental and moral health
and therefore opposed to the best
interest of community life."
He inveighs further against these
extravagances but the words
quoted are sufficient to show the
attitude of his mind to such
things.
In this sojourn with the people of New
York he again
breaks out in his characteristic way in
bitter hostility to the rum
traffic. He made himself familiar with
the justice courts, or
Tombs. Here he possessed himself of
facts that filled him with
indignation. The year's record showed
commitments to the num-
ber of 21,747, of which 19,700
had been the result of intemperance
and the remaining 2,000 were children of
drunken parents who,
thrown upon the world without guardian
or protector, had com-
Isaac Newton Walter. 219
mitted depredations for which they had
been arrested and put in
prison. In an address given at this time
he says: "The halls
of justice are in sight of the City Hall
where the Board of
Aldermen meet to counsel and to attend
to the municipal regu-
lation of the city and to grant licenses
to men to keep drinking
slaughter-houses which are the means of
sending 19,000 drunk-
ards to the Tombs in a single year and
the whole cost of crime
growing directly or indirectly from the
traffic is $750,000 per
annum; while the revenue brought into
the municipal treasury
from these houses of death is about
$45,000." He proceeds
with an unanswerable argument in support
of the law then, and
still, in operation in the state of
Maine. "I hope every state in
the nation will agitate this question
until the legislators will
have to pass similar laws putting down
the rum power all over
the country. There is a fearful
responsibility somewhere. Who
are responsible and to what extent? We
admit that the inebriate,
who brings disaster upon himself by his
own voluntary act is
deeply responsible, but are there no
others to be held accountable?
In every case, where effects are not
half so direful, the civil
law and the moral law also, holds those
responsible who in any
way are aiders or abettors and punishes
them as particeps
criminis. * * *
"If you place poison in a spring,
where persons are accus-
tomed to drink and drinking thereof they
die, you are held
guilty of murder by law. If a man by
deception, induces
another to take arsenic or prussic acid
by which death results,
he is just as responsible as though he
had secretely mixed
the deadly draught. What difference is
there in the sight of
all righteous principles, between
poisoning by prussic acid and by
alcohol? Yet in one case the law
condemns and punishes while
in the other it legalizes and sanctions.
The liquor dealer claims
to act under license granted by the City
Council. But who made
the City Council? The people-yes, the people.
There is where
the chief responsibility lies. The
people must be burdened with
the responsibility of electing the right
kind of men to office.
The sentiments of the masses must be
cast in the right mould;
the standard of feeling and action on
this, as on all other ques-
tions of moral reform, must be elevated
in the public mind, and
220 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
there is where the true reformer and
philanthropist must direct
his labors."
I mentioned before that the last fifteen
years of his life,
though given to the church as editor and
evangelist, were given
also to his country and the world in
strong and efficient service
in advocacy of temperance and
educational constructiveness.
During that period the Christians were
planning for an institu-
tion of learning in the west that would
be to the western country
what Harvard and Yale had been to the
east. It was an am-
bitious undertaking and was begun with
sun-lit vision and most
commendable zeal. Isaac N. Walter was
one of the factors in
that movement and lived to see it
gloriously launched and watched
it through four years of brilliant
promise. But fate was to
declare against it in time and while the
piles of brick stand in
mute architectural splendor, its glory
is but a memory.
When Antioch College was founded at
Yellow Springs,
Ohio, in 1850 and opened its doors to
students in 1853, there
was no institution of learning in Ohio,
save Ohio University
at Athens and Miami at Oxford, that gave
better promise
of success and both of these were state
institutions. Ohio was
nearly fifty years old; Miami as a
university, was about twenty-
five; Western Reserve, then located at
Hudson, Ohio, about
twenty-five; Marietta fifteen; Oberlin
Institute, seventeen, be-
coming a college in 1850. Ohio Wesleyan,
sixteen, the Female
Institute was inaugurated 1853,
Granville Literary and Theo-
logical Institute had been in existence
nineteen years, becoming
a college in 1856, the year of Walter's
death, Hiram, the school
of the Disciples, starting the same year
as Antioch as an academy
and becoming a college twenty years
later, in 1870, the same
year that the Ohio State University at
Columbus had its be-
ginning.
The loftiest ideals were entertained by
the founders of Anti-
och. No finer or brainier company of men
could be found
anywhere than were back of the launching
of this "Harvard of
the West." So bright did the future
appear that the Hon-
orable Horace Mann, successor of John
Quincy Adams in the
Lower House of Congress at Washington
and nominee of the
Free Soil Party for Governor of
Massachusetts, by far the fore-
Isaac Newton Walter. 221 most educator of his time and the peer of the greatest in any time, was drawn from a career that promised everything po- litically, to become the first president and to give the last seven years of his precious life in service to the institution. Here for the first time in history, no limitations were placed upon students. Color, sex, nor previous condition of servitude created any bar to entrance or graduation on the same platform. The curriculum was as exacting as in any institution east or west. |
|
Walter had helped to fight the battles that ended in the establishment of this institution and on the day of Horace Mann's induction into the office of president, October 5, 1853, he made the address for the board of trustees and placed the keys of the college in the hands of the great educator, to be held by him until, exhausted in the summer of 1859, he passed from earth, Walter having preceded him to the grave three years. The words quoted below are probably a part of the address that he gave at that time: |
222 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
"Education,--few words are of
greater import, for, in
the broadest sense all men, under all
skies, are fashioned by
education. It embraces the entire system
of influences which
accounts for the various forms of
opinion, sentiment and char-
acter which, in great variety, are
spread on the canvas of his-
tory and on the face of society. It is
not merely that education
shapes the common mind, but it gives
form and activity to every
mind whether common or extraordinary. To
us education stands
on the universal ground of human
development. * * * Man
is greater than any public calling or
mere worldly interest for
which reason he should be educated
beyond the bounds of his
vocation. The fact that he is a man, a
citizen, and we might
add, an immortal intelligence, is ample
reason for this. * * *
We would that every person were rightly
and nobly educated;
then would every one be knowing,
virtuous, and religious.
"The fact that our Republic has no
pillars but the popular
will; that all the governmental
influences of the nation are
from the nation's mind; and the fact
that ignorance, and con-
sequently crime, is imported en masse
to our shores, must render
this subject peculiarly important to the
American people." These
words show the trend of his thought on
this important subject.
Among papers discovered there are
journal entries and let-
ters referring to Antioch College,
sufficient to fill a long chapter.
It is to be regretted that the people
among whom he and other
men of great intellectual mould spent
their lives, and for whose
prosperity they gave their fine talents,
should have been so
unmindful of the laws that govern in all
departments of social
existence. Antioch College is a mournful
example of what has
taken place all over the land with the
denomination that launched
her. The Christians faced a marvelous
opportunity but let it
slip. The world in which they sprang up
as in a day, moved
too rapidly for them and before they
were aware the tidal wave
of progress had gone out to sea and left
them stranded on a
barren shore. Walter's work was done
while the tide was in.
He died before the wave receded. But
while he lived he wrought
a valiant task and it is due to the fact
of the unbusiness like
methods and illogical position taken
religiously, on the part of
Isaac Newton Walter. 223
the people he tried to lead into higher
paths, that his name is
not known over a wide area.
He was far in advance of the people
whose cause he
expoused as was true of Horace Mann.
Words that he spoke
then are replete with significance in
our own time, and will have
to be heeded before right relations
shall prevail among the
nations of the world or among the people
of any single nation.
His words on slavery were not harsh
words as against the people
who suffered it and prospered by it in
the South, nevertheless
he abhorred it and opposed it with
might. But he appreciated
the side of the South-land as well as
that of the North. Could he
have foreseen the war that was to break
over his beloved country
within four years after his death, his
words would have been
stronger than they were.
His horror of war found utterance many
times. Among
these utterances is the following
extract from an address de-
livered doubtless at the time of the
Mexican War:
"War is foolish. It settles no
difficulties; it determines but
little except the comparative brute
force of the parties. It costs
by far more than it comes to, in
treasure, life, character and
everything. When all the slaughter is
finished, the parties are in
statu quo, excepting the waste of men, money and morals, and
the questions in dispute have to be
settled by negotiations.
*
* * War is cruel. It is
wholesale butchery. One battle-
field calmly surveyed with its severed
limbs, its streaming blood,
parching thirst and dying agonies, were
enough one would think,
to wake the voice of the civilized world
against it. But go from
the scene of strife to the thousand
anxious homes of the men
who are dying on the field. See the
widowed mother, orphan
children, wretched friends, then tell us
if war is not cruel as the
pit. War is wicked. It engenders and
fosters all the baser
passions of the soul. It shuts up the
channels of kindly feelings
for our fellowmen. It blunts every
sensibility and weakens every
virtuous principle. It involves
wrong-doing toward men and
rebellion toward God." How
sensitive we of to-day are to the
deep truth of the foregoing!
As the last lines of this sketch are
being written in the month
224 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
of March, 1915, the writer is reminded
that just sixty years have
passed since Isaac N. Walter started
from his Ohio home to Terre
Haute and Sullivan, Indiana. The
distance from Terre Haute
to Sullivan is ten miles. The roads were
well-nigh impassable
and the weather was extremely
disagreeable. The journey was
made on horseback. A chilling March
northwester, pierced to
the very bone and blew steadily in the
face of the traveller.
The already worn and enfeebled
constitution could not endure
the exposure. Here the seeds were sown
that culminated in his
death. He lingered on through the year
and till July of the next
year but never was well again. During
the year he would attempt
to preach but it was painful.
He took up his residence at the
Sanitarium in Yellow
Springs where he received treatment,
visiting Cincinnati to consult
with leading physicians there and to
enjoy the gentle compan-
ionship of Rev. A. A. Livermore, D. D.,
a great Unitarian divine,
author of a commentary and afterward
President of the Theo-
logical Seminary at Meadville,
Pennsylvania.
During the months of 1856 he seemed to
improve some and
preached twice in Cincinnati but that
was his last effort of that
kind. On June 30th, of this year he
started for New York,
saying to his family that he felt better
than he had for many
weeks. There was no thought but that he
would return in due
time but it was not to be so. He arrived
in Columbus at 1O
A. M. and spent the day assisting his
oldest son in his plans for
engaging in business in the city. At
eight o'clock he retired to his
room to write to his wife. While at his
task he felt a tickling
sensation in his throat causing him to
cough. Immediately his
mouth filled with blood and he barely
had time and strength
to call a boy who hurried for a
physician. Dr. Robert Thomp-
son was at his side during the night. In
the morning two severe
hemorrhages in quick succession brought
to a close this great
and good career. He was a member of the
Masonic fraternity
and this order assisted in the burial in
Green Lawn Cemetery,
at that time miles from the city. There
the body of this brave
pioneer preacher has been lying for
sixty years and the stone
obelisk that marks his grave has been
passed by thousands,
Isaac Newton Walter. 225
unmindful that the dust of a real hero
and prophet of God
lies so near the beaten path.
Since he was buried Columbus has grown
from a population
of twenty thousand to one of more than
ten times that number
and Green Lawn, the city of the dead,
has spread to a vast area
compared with what it was then, so that
instead of being far in
the country, the city of the dead and
the city of the living touch
each other:
At his going a loving friend wrote:
"Ah! Well may Zion's Watchmen weep,
The tower he kept who now may keep,
So faithfully, so well?
With zealous eye and ready tongue,
He saw and warned of coming wrong,
And sought all foes to quell.
Teacher alike of age and youth,
Firm champion in the cause of truth,
Lover of all his race;
How many hearts will throb with pain
When his death knell and funeral strain
Shall reach their dwelling place.
'Known by the noblest and the best,
From North to South, in East and West,
And loved wherever known.
Grief like the ocean's heaving surge
Shall sway the soul, as swells the
dirge,
That speaks the loved one gone.
For northern hills have given him fame,
And southern groves have blessed his
name,
An instrument of good.
He made the eastern shores rejoice,
And western wilds have hailed the voice
That waked the solitude.
"He lives, as live the truths he
taught,
Not yet their full fruition wrought;
Eternity alone.
Life's varied page shall all unroll,
Revealing many a ransomed soul,
Bright stars in Walter's crown."
Vol. XXIV -15.
ISAAC NEWTON
WALTER
PIONEER PREACHER OF
OHIO.
BYRON R. LONG.
The writer while yet a small boy,
rummaging among the
books in an old library came across a
volume of thrilling interest.
The title of the book was "The
Pioneer Preacher," written
by a blind man who served his country in
conspicuous places,
first as a pastor and then over a period
of about twenty
years as chaplain of the Senate and
House of Representatives
in the Congress of the United States.
This versatile man's name was William H.
Milburn. The
book consisted of lectures that were
delivered before the Lowell
Institute. Because of their historical
character, and the fact
that they were in a style simple and
graphic, they grasped the
attention of an eager boy and held it
through to the end.
On account of the nature of the task I
have set for myself in
writing this sketch, my mind reverts to
this book and to one of
the lectures with the title "Rifle,
Ax and Saddle-Bags"; par-
ticularly to the last portion of it. The
author used these terms
as symbolical of phases in the pioneer
life of America. The
ax representing heroic effort of men who
went forth to subdue
the forests and to clear them away that
states and cities might
grow and fields spread to receive the
seed of future harvests.
The rifle to represent the phase of
early life in the western
world which meant defense against savage
life that should
attempt to prey upon homes and fields.
The saddle-bags sym-
bolized another phase which was
important beyond measure
to that period and to all periods of the
movement of man through
this world.
Let me quote the language of the book
here: "I see
approaching another class with many
traits common with the
men of the ax and rifle, yet many
different. They, too, are
of large build and robust strength;
they, too, have nerves that
(187)