RELIGION IN THE WESTERN RESERVE,
1800-1825
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTER OF WESTERN
RESERVE
RELIGION
BY HAROLD E. DAVIS
In the years following the Revolution,
the frontiers-
man, fighting with Nature for the
first-fruits of the vir-
gin soil, was not primarily religious.
That this is so,
students of the American frontier are
constantly as-
serting. Only when Nature and the
Indian gave sur-
cease from terror and labor did the
frontiersman find
need for the milder
excitement-religion. Religion came
to fill what had become an emotional
vacuum in the life
and minds of the frontier community
enjoying its first
hard-earned prosperity, secure at last
from the redskin
and saved from his revenge by grace and
the power the
white man wields.1
The Great Revival came during such an
era in Ken-
tucky. Indian troubles were at an end
and prosperity
was at hand. Religion alone seemed
capable of giving
the adventure and thrill which a life
of daily danger had
made customary. In the presence of
divine revelation
and under the spell of religious fervor
a man might ex-
perience again that seething of the
emotions which physi-
cal combat, the sound of battle and the
sight of blood had
given him.
The Great Revival began among the
Presbyterians
Cf. Paxson, History of the American
Frontier, 115-117.
(475)
476 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
but in later years the movement found
its best expression
among the Methodists. If we look for a
man to stand as
the representative of this rising
emotionalism, we must
look for a Lorenzo Dow, or a Peter
Cartwright. The
Methodist camp-meeting we may call its
climax and its
symbol. The logical culmination of
frontier religion, it
speaks in a word its brute
emotionalism. No amount of
theological apology can effectively
disguise the down-
right physical basis of the religion of
the camp-meeting.2
From Kentucky the movement spread in
every di-
rection. Into Ohio it advanced.
There Christians,
Shakers and Cumberland Presbyterians
eventually found
their way.3 Methodist and
Baptist preachers already
there were fired with new zeal. The
rude folk they min-
istered to, found new spiritual
interests. Into the Wes-
tern Reserve these influences
penetrated slowly.
The unique character of Western Reserve
religion,
as it will appear in this paper,
illustrates the dan-
ger in too wide generalization of the
effect of the fron-
tier upon society. Cultural groups do
have considerable
significance, and the frontier of the
Western Reserve
was not the frontier of Kentucky or
even of southern
Ohio. The influence of the Great
Revival on Kentucky
and southern Ohio religion is certainly
similar to its ef-
fect upon Western Reserve religion. But
there are im-
portant, distinguishing
differences-differences suffi-
ciently great to postpone the period of
genuine radical-
See Frances Trollope's description of a
Methodist camp-meeting in
Ohio in Nevins, American Social
History as Recorded by British Travellers,
164-168.
3 Mitchell, "Religion in Early
Ohio," M. V. H. A. Proceedings, IX,
86-87. John P. McLean, "Kentucky
Revival and Its Influence on the Miami
Valley", Ohio Arch. and Hist. Soc. Publications,
XII, 242-286.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 477
ism and emotionalism to a considerably
later period and
then to alter this emotionalism into
something else again
-the radical reform movements-fitter
outlet for Puri-
tanic zeal!
Two important elements-and the relative
lack of
another-give to the Western Reserve
religion its dis-
tinctive character. The element lacking
is emotionalism.
The two present are conservatism and
rationalism. The
age which gave rise to Unitarianism and
Jeffersonian
democracy, might be expected to project
both conserva-
tism and rationalism into some parts of
its frontier.
Particularly in those parts closely
related generically to
New England we might expect a blending
of the conser-
vatism and rationalism characteristic
of New England
religion at the end of the eighteenth
century. Add to
this the fact that the Western Reserve
is found to be
almost entirely Jeffersonian from the
beginning, and the
elements of rationalism are perhaps
well accounted for.4
Symbolical of these tendencies is the
church architecture
of the end of the period. Greek Revival
churches add
the touch of pagan reason distinctly
Jeffersonian. Like-
wise the press. Religious influence
over the press, com-
mon in early days in other parts of the
state, was com-
pletely lacking in the Western Reserve.
Examination of
the files of the Trump of Fame and
the Western Courier
reveal no religious influence, though
much political in-
fluence.5
4 When Portage County was organized in
1808, including about half the
Western Reserve, all its first officers
were Jeffersonian Democrats. See
History of Portage County, p. 322.
5 See files of Trump of Fame and Western
Courier; Venable, Begin-
nings of Literary Culture in the Ohio
Valley; "Religion in Early
Ohio"
M. V. H. A. Proceedings IX,
82-83.
478
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
It is true there were reflections of
the Revival in the
Western Reserve at this time. So
powerful a movement
could not be restrained completely,
even in the frigid air
of New Connecticut. Methodists and
Baptists were
present from the beginning, though in
comparatively
small numbers. The first Congregational
missionary to
the Western Reserve stayed at the home
of a Baptist
preacher in Youngstown.6 Thomas
Robbins, another
early missionary, found several
communities of Meth-
odists in Portage County. In 1804, he
reported a Meth-
odist church at Deerfield that
"has been formed here for
some time."7
Robbins reported as early as 1803,
"the religious re-
vival in these parts (Warren and
Youngstown), a sub-
ject of general conversation."8
That camp-meetings were
held occasionally is shown by
advertisements in the
Trump of Fame.9 The famous Lorenzo Dow is known
to have visited the region at the end
of our period
(1827), and to have preached in Akron
and Cleveland.10
Taking the region as a whole, however,
the Congre-
gationalists and Presbyterians,
operating under a Plan
of Union, had things pretty much their
own way for
the first quarter-century. There were occasional
Meth-
odist and Baptist churches, as
mentioned above, but they
were exceptions. The reason for this is
apparent if one
stops to consider that the early
migration into the Re-
serve was very largely from New
England, or Western
New York, regions at that time very
little affected by
6 Badger, Memoirs, chap. iii.
7 Diary of Thomas Robbins, I, 233, 257.
8 Op. cit. p. 218.
9 Trump of Fame, July 15, 1812, contains such an advertisement.
10 See Western Courier, June
16, 1827.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 479
the incursions of Methodists and
Baptists. Not until
the second quarter of the century, when
immigration
into the Reserve sets in more strongly
from the middle
states and from Europe, do the
Methodists and Baptists
become assertive.11
PLAN OF UNION
The earliest religious efforts in the
Western Reserve
as on the frontier generally during the
nineteenth cen-
tury, were missionary efforts. The
traveling missionary
was as characteristic of the
Congregational and Pres-
byterian churches as of the Methodist
and Baptist, at
least in the very early years.
Religious interest was not
great in the first few years after the
settlement of the
Western Reserve. Churches were either
totally lacking
or barely existing. Maintaining a
regular resident pas-
tor was impossible, if for no other
reason than the im-
possibility of securing the very meagre
salary which
would be necessary. And preachers were
scarce.12
There were occasional cases of a
community estab-
lishing and maintaining from the outset
a regular
church, with one of their members as
minister. These
were in the stronger communities. There
was, too, an
occasional case of the wholesale
transplanting of a
church formed in New England, into the
Reserve. This
was the case in Charlestown, in Portage
County. The
church was formed in Middle Granville,
Massachusetts,
in 1811, by Reverend Joel Baker. Soon
after, the entire
church moved to Charlestown.13
11 Sweet, Rise of Methodism in the
West, 10-17; Mitchell, Op. cit. loc.,
cit.
12 See Sweet, Rise of Methodism, 46-48.
Cites MS. Journal of Meth-
odists Conference, 1805; and Cartwright, Autobiography, III.
13 Kennedy, Plan of Union, 118-119;
see also Mitchell, Op. cit.
480 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
The more frequent situation, however,
was religious
apathy. To meet this situation, general
in the West at
this time, measures had been taken as
early as 1788, be-
fore any settlements were made in the
Western Reserve.
Beginning with that year occasional
missionaries were
sent out by the General Association of
Connecticut for
a few months at a time. In 1792, this
work was put on a
regular financial basis. In 1798, the
General Associa-
tion organized itself as a missionary
society. This or-
ganization continued to operate during
the whole period
we are studying and was responsible for
sending out the
greater proportion of the missionaries
to the Western
Reserve.13a
It must be remembered that
Presbyterians and Con-
gregationalists found a considerable
community of in-
terest at this time. National
organizations were not yet
strong. Theological differences were
relatively unim-
portant. The spirit which had given
rise to the Solemn
League and Covenant was not entirely
dead in the new
world. Differences were largely
geographical and on
questions of government. Close
relations had always
existed between the Congregational
General Association
of Connecticut and the General Assembly
of the Presby-
terian Church.14
13a Crocker,
Catastrophe of the Presbyterian Church, 9.
14 Zebulon Crocker, Catastrophe of
the Presbyterian Church is an
interesting and valuable volume by a New
England Congregationalist,
written at the time of the abrogation of
the Plan of Union. It throws light
on the intimate relations between
Congregationalists and Presbyterians prior
to this time. The first presbytery
formed in the United States, that of
Philadelphia, in 1704, was composed of
both Presbyterian and Congrega-
tional churches. The Presbyterians were
largely from Scotland and Ireland
and the Congregationalists chiefly from
New England (p. 47, p. 40ff.) Not
until 1729 was there any attempt to legislate
on questions of government
Religion in the Western Reserve, 1800-1825 481
It was this situation which gave rise
to the Plan of
Union. In its essence the Plan of Union
was an agree-
ment between the Congregational and
Presbyterian
churches to cooperate in missionary
activities in the
West. Its purpose was to avoid
duplication of effort
and consequent waste. Highly idealistic
in its intention
to forget denominational lines in the
greater service of
the church, it attempted to provide
that neither denomi-
nation should profit, through
competition, at the expense
of the other. "With a view to
prevent alienations and
promote union and harmony in those new
settlements-
composed of inhabitants from"
Presbyterian and Con-
gregational bodies, the document ran.15
Its result was
just the opposite of "preventing
alienations". As might
have been anticipated, it meant the
evangelizing of the
Western Reserve by the Congregational
missionary-
and doctrine. Then gradually the government
of ruling elders, presby-
teries, synods and at last a General
Assembly grew up. Resolutions were
enacted dealing with creeds and
doctrines. (p. 40 ff.) Says the author,
"On all the great doctrines of the
gospel, such as are essential to salvation,
Congregationalists and Presbyterians
held a common faith-partialities and
prejudices in regard to questions merely
of order and discipline." (p. 7.)
The General Association of Connecticut
and the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church "were on
terms of friendly intercourse with each
other." (p. 10.) In 1792, the two
bodies agreed to a standing committee
of correspondence and an interchange of
delegates. In 1794, they agreed that
these delegates should vote as other
members of the respective bodies. The
latter provision was continued only a
few years. (pp. 35-36.) See also
Thompson, A History of the
Presbyterian Churches in the United States,
pp. 15-21, 68-78.
Congregational churches in Connecticut
freely used the name Presby-
terian. "Nothing, indeed, could be
more friendly than the relation of the
Presbytery to the New England
churches" (p. 20.) Cotton Mather was a
great friend and adviser of the
Presbytery. Thompson generally agrees
with Crocker in stressing the near
identity of Congregationalists and Pres-
byterians during the period before 1837.
15 Kennedy, Plan of Union, 148-155.
Vol. XXXVIII--31.
482
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
preachers, and the establishment of
Presbyterian
churches. The Presbyterian church with
its stronger
national organization easily captured
the ground opened
up for them by the Congregationalists.
Article I, of the Plan of Union,
enjoined upon mis-
sionaries "to promote mutual
forbearance and accom-
modation" between Presbyterians
and Congregational-
ists. Articles 2, 3, and 4, laid down
principles to be fol-
lowed when Congregational churches
settled Presby-
terian ministers, when Presbyterian
churches settled
Congregational ministers and when
congregations were
made up of adherents to both orders. In
no case was
either the church or pastor to be
required to change al-
legiance, nor were minister and
congregation to be
separated because of differing
loyalties.16
As a matter of fact, while
Congregational and Pres-
byterian members and ministers were
somewhere near
equal in number, most churches
associated with Pres-
byteries and with the Presbyterian
Synod of Pittsburgh.
As late as 1852, after numerous
schisms, approximately
two-thirds of all
"Congregational" churches in Portage
County were members of the Presbyterian
Synod.17
The best evidence of the character of
the frontier
religion of the early period is to be
found in the diaries
of the traveling preachers working
under the Plan of
Union. Joseph Badger and Thomas
Robbins, both of
whom have been referred to, left very
illuminating ac-
counts of their work and travels. A
little volume by
William S. Kennedy, entitled The
Plan of Union, pub-
16 Ibid; text of Plan of Union also
given in Crocker, Op. cit., 11-14.
17 Kennedy, Op. cit., 136-137.
Statistics and data from Western Reserve
Register. (1852.)
Religion in the Western Reserve, 1800-1825 483 lished in 1856, furnishes almost contemporaneous sketches of others. Joseph Badger is a fair example of the missionaries sent out under the Plan of the Union. He was born at Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1757.18 After a varied |
|
experience of study, school teaching and three and a half years' service in the Revolutionary army, he entered Yale College in 1781. Graduating in 1785, he taught school and studied theology with the Reverend Mr. Leavenworth in Waterbury. In 1786, he was licensed to preach. Four years later he was appointed the first mis- 18 Copy of inscription of tombstone on file in Library of Western Re- serve Historical Society. |
484 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
sionary to the Western Reserve by the
Connecticut Mis-
sionary Society.
He undertook at once, the long journey
to his distant
charge. Through New York, New Jersey
and Pennsyl-
vania he traveled, chiefly on
horseback, to Pittsburgh, in
the late fall. There he inquired about
roads to the
Western Reserve. The account in his
diary is illuminat-
ing:
There was only one road leading from
Beaver to the Reserve
and that almost impassable. I was
directed to take a blazed
path which led to the Mahoning River a
mile or two east of
Poland. When I came to the river the
water was high, the cur-
rent strong, and how deep I could not
tell. * * * I ven-
tured in, the water came over the top of
my boots and my horse
beat down stream fast toward swimming
water; but happily
reached the shore in time to avoid deep
water * * * arrived
at cabin of Rev. Mr. Wick
(Youngstown).19
Badger began at once his preaching and
his travels
which eventually led him over most of
the Western Re-
serve. Late in 1801, he returned to New
England and
the following February set out with his
family for Ohio.
This time he followed the route through
western New
York--Albany, Troy, Mohawk,
Buffalo,--driving a
wagon with a two-span team. Providence
smiled upon
him this time.
Providential ordering of the season was
peculiarly favorable
for our journey. There had been no heavy
rains to raise the
streams, and the lake (Erie) was
remarkably still. * * *
From Buffalo to the Pennsylvania line,
seventy miles, there being
no cabin on the route, we cut our path
by day, pitched our tent
by night, and slept safely in the woods.
The total journey was some six hundred
miles and
Badger arrived in Ohio in April. He
became a resident
Badger, Memoir of Rev. Joseph Badger,
chap. i, ii, iii.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 485
pastor at Austinburg, but spent much
time in what he
called "missionary tours."20
In the course of these "missionary
tours" which took
him sometimes outside the Reserve and
even south of
the Ohio, he had much opportunity to
observe the status
of religion. He encountered both
disbelief and rank
emotionalism, and his New England soul
was much dis-
turbed over both. In the course of the
journey to Three
Springs, Wheeling County, Virginia, he records
the fol-
lowing:
Excitement in this place was
considerable * * *
Preached to crowded attentive
audiences. Several became unable
to support themselves. * * * A scene
began to be exhibited
indescribable. * * * Several fell
helpless. One person lay
like one in the arms of death until
after daybreak. * * * The
assembly continued in prayer and
exhortation until after day-
break.21
The stern man of God might and did
occasionally
participate in such proceedings, as his
Memoir shows.
And he must continually tolerate what
to him appeared
to be emotional vagaries. Laconic
statements such as
the following are not infrequent:
Thursday (Dec. 13) preached on a fast
observed by the
Church at this place (Youngstown); rode
after sermon to Hub-
bard, and preached in the evening. One
young person brought
under great distress.22
With more righteous indignation he
records the fol-
lowing incident connected with Benjamin
Tappan (later
United States Senator from Ohio):
Invitation had been given to the few
scattering inhabitants
to assemble at the cabin of Esquire
Hudson, in the town of Hud-
20 Badger, Op. cit., p.
38ff.
21 Badger, Op. cit., p.
44ff.
22 p. 88 and passim.
486
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
son, and celebrate the fourth of July. I
went in company with
Esquire Sheldon and wife. About thirty
were assembled. Mr.
Benjamin Tappan, of Ravenna, had been
invited to give an ora-
tion. After an appropriate prayer, the
oration was delivered in-
terlaced with many grossly illiberal
remarks about Christians and
Christianity. Preached here the next
Sabbath.23
This was Joseph Badger, man of God and
missionary
to the Western Reserve. Stern,
unyielding, puritanical,
shrewd and practical. Well-educated,
his mind trained
to the ways of a cultured New England
community, he
brought to the rude frontier a
balanced, conservative, if
opportunistic, view of religion.
Thomas Robbins, another missionary to
the "lost"
West has been mentioned. In May, 1803,
he was ap-
pointed a missionary to New
Connecticut. He went
West at once, preaching along the way,
and joined
Joseph Badger.24
Two things apparently impressed Robbins
as they
had impressed Badger. The first was the
general re-
ligious apathy. Place after place he
visits which has had
no religious service for months past.
Perhaps there is
a slight awakening of religious
interest. He comments
on it occasionally. But the general tone
is one of in-
difference.
The second thing is the
"dangerous" character of the
few scattered Methodists in the region.
Bostwick, the
Methodist preacher at Deerfield,
"is a dangerous char-
acter."25 "The
Methodists appear endeavoring to obtain
an influence here, but I think there is
but little prospect
of their succeeding." Comments on
the "ignorance" of
23 p. 26-27.
24 Kennedy, Plan of Union, p. 24.
25 Diary of Thomas Robbins, 1, 233, 257 and passim.
Religion in the Western Reserve, 1800-1825 487 Methodist preachers are frequent and apparently not motivated by sectarian bias.26 The Methodists were ignorant. One has only to read Lorenzo Dow and Peter Cartwright to realize that. Robbins was a Congregational missionary. He ap- |
|
parently worked with Congregationalists and Presby- terians indiscriminately. He was loyal to the Plan of Union.27 Well-trained for his day, conservative in re- ligion, he was interested in schools almost as much as churches. As early as 1804, an entry in his Diary re- 26 Op. cit., 257 and passim. 27 Kennedy, Op. cit., 24ff. |
488 ??hio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
veals his interest in the talk about
founding a college in
Trumbull County.28 He made
it a point to visit the
school, when there was one, in almost
every community
in which he preached. References to
these visits are fre-
quent in his Diary. Like the New
England ministers,
he regarded it as his privilege and
duty to visit the
schools at will and catechise the
children. Needless to
say, the catechism formed an important
part of the cur-
riculum of these primitive schools.29
Two other examples will serve to fix
the type of
these early missionaries, working under
the Plan of
Union: Caleb Pitkin and John Seward.
Born in New
Hartford, Connecticut, Caleb Pitkin
attended Yale Col-
lege, graduating in 1806. He studied
theology with
Asahel Hooker of Goshen. In 1816, he
was sent to the
Western Reserve. From 1818 to 1826, he
was pastor of
the church at Charlestown. When Western Reserve
College was founded he became a member
of its faculty.
He was a Congregationalist but a strong
advocate of the
Plan of Union, and a member of the
Western Reserve
Synod of the Presbyterian church when
it was estab-
lished.30
Trumbull County then included all the
Western Reserve. The first
college in the Western Reserve was
Western Reserve College, 1826, at Hud-
son, then Portage County. See Diary
of Thomas Robbins, I, 224-258, and
Western Courier, April 29, 1826, Aug. 28, 1829. It is an interesting
fact
that Western Reserve College, founded by
New England (Congregational)
missionary-prachers, remained loyal to
the Plan of Union and the Western
Reserve Synod, and Oberlin College was
later founded to be the represen-
tative of Congregationalism in the
Western Reserve. Kennedy, Plan of
Union, passim.
29 Op. cit. I, passim; see also Mitchell, "Religion in Early Ohio", M. V.
H. A. Proceedings, IX, 81.
"The curricula of the elementary schools . . .
included the New Testament, Bunyan, and
the American Preceptor, a Con-
gregational magazine."
30 Kennedy, Op. cit., 79-81.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 489
John Seward was born in Granville,
Massachusetts,
in 1784. He attended Williams College,
graduating in
1810. A year studying theology with
Rev. Ebenezer
Porter, D. D., at Washington,
Connecticut, prepared
him for the ministry. In 1811, he was
sent to Ohio by
the Connecticut Missionary Society. At
the time of his
arrival, there were only eight
ministers in the Western
Reserve. He served first as an
itinerant preacher, but
within a year was settled at Aurora, as
the first resident
pastor of the church organized three
years earlier. He
became a trustee of Western Reserve
College, remained
a Congregationalist, but also remained
loyal to the Plan
of Union and to the Western Reserve
Synod of the
Presbyterian Church.31
Certainly about these four men there is
nothing of
an appeal to ignorant prejudice or
emotionalism. Nor is
there anything of a radical reforming
character. True,
they were zealous evangelists. So far
as the diaries of
the first two reveal their inner
character, and there is
probably no better evidence anywhere,
they regarded
intelligence and morality as the main
components of
religion. They were rather amazed than
otherwise at
the emotional states sometimes
engendered in their con-
gregations. Their own education and
their interest in
public schools and colleges furnishes
indubitable proof
of their intellectual calibre, and of
the intellectual qual-
ity of their religious lives. A vastly
different picture
from that of Lorenzo Dow, Peter
Cartwright and the
itinerant Methodists!
Some statistics may help to show the
character and
training of these early
missionary-preachers. There
31 Kennedy, Op. cit., 60-63.
490 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
were 159 Presbyterian and
Congregational churches in
the Western Reserve in 1835, served by
160 ministers.
Forty-eight of these were born in
Connecticut and forty-
one in Massachusetts. The education and
training of all
the men is not known, but it is known
that 31 received
their education at Yale, 19 at
Williams, 11 at Dart-
mouth, 9 at Middlebury, 5 at Brown, 3
at Amherst, 8
at Hamilton, 3 at the College of New
Jersey, and 42
were not college graduates.
The nature of the theological training
of this same
group is also interesting and
significant. Seventy-three
had their theological education with
private tutors,
twenty-nine at Andover, seventeen at
Auburn Theologi-
cal Seminary and fifteen at Princeton
Theological Semi-
nary.32
A different picture is presented from
the Western
Reserve in the years following 1825
when Methodists,
Baptists, Mormons, and Campbellites,
not to mention
the radical evangelists of the Oberlin
Congregational-
ists, become dominant.
SYNOD OF THE WESTERN RESERVE
In 1814, the Presbytery of Hartford
asked the Synod
of Pittsburgh to divide the Presbytery.
The Presby-
tery of Grand River was established
including all of the
Western Reserve except some six
townships in the south-
east corner. In May, 1825, the Synod of
the Western
Reserve was formed, consisting of the
Presbyteries of
Grand River, Portage and Huron.33
32 Kennedy, Plan of Union, 129-131.
33 Kennedy, Op. cit., 160-185.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 491
This Synod was organized on the basis
of the Plan
of Union and the leading ministers and
churches were
still Congregational. In fact most of
the churches of
the Western Reserve Synod were
originally Congrega-
tional. A survey in 1845 showed that
there were 172
Presbyterian and Congregational
churches in the Wes-
tern Reserve. Of these 123 were
associated in the Sy-
nod. But 98 out of the 123 were
Congregational. Out
of the 49 churches not associated in
the Synod 22 Con-
gregational churches
("orthodox") remained "inde-
pendent," and 27 belonged to the
Western Reserve As-
sociation (Oberlin Congregational).34
The first indication of lack of harmony
within the
Synod and lack of agreement under the
Plan of Union,
came in 1835, when a small organization
of Congrega-
tional churches called the
"Independent Congregational
Union of the Western Reserve," was
formed. The fol-
lowing year came a more serious breach
through the
formation of the General
(Congregational) Association
of the Western Reserve ("Oberlin
Association") un-
der the influence and leadership of J.
B. Finney and
President Mahan of Oberlin College.
This association
later became the Huron Congregational
Conference. It
gathered up the radical, or
"Arminian" element. Other
small Congregational groups, such as
the Puritan Asso-
ciation, (1852) the Medina Association
and the North-
eastern Association of Ohio were formed
from time to
time.35
In 1837, the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian
church repudiated the Plan of Union and
"excised" the
34 Kennedy, Op. cit., 129-131.
35 Kennedy, Op. cit., 186-219.
492 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Synod of the Western Reserve. With the
outcome of
this controversy we have no concern
save to note that
the schism was healed eventually. A
consideration of
the causes which led to the excision of
the Western
Reserve Synod should, however, throw
some light upon
the religious conditions of the times,
particularly in the
Reserve.36
What, then, were the reasons for the
expulsion of
the Synod of the Western Reserve? Three
reason were
assigned by the Assembly.
1. The Plan of Union had not been constitutionally adopted.
2. The
General Association of Connecticut had no power to
make such a contract.
3. "Much confusion and irregularity
have arisen from this
unnatural and unconstitutional system of
union.37
Crocker insists that the slavery
question was a
secondary but very important cause of
the expulsion.
He shows that the Synod of the Western
Reserve had
adopted a resolution "that slavery
as it exists in the
United States is a sin against God; a
high-handed tres-
pass on the rights of man; a great
physical, political
and social evil, which ought to be
immediately and un-
iversally abandoned." The policy
of the Presbyterian
church was, of course, to avoid dissension
on this sub-
36 This schism, with its causes and
outcome is treated very adequately
in Thompson, History of the
Presbyterian Churches in the United States,
chap. X and XI. Zebulon Crocker's Catastrophe
of the Presbyterian
Church, referred to above, is an interesting and valuable
contemporaneous
document.
37 Crocker, Op. cit., 21-46. The
author wrote with the use of the
Minutes of the Assembly of 1837, which
he cites, p. 421 and p. 471ff., and
the "Testimony and Memorial of the
Convention of 1837" in which the
details of the grievances are set forth.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 493
ject.
They could have little patience with these ill-
mannered westerners.38
Other historians have not supported
Crocker in at-
taching so much importance to the
slavery question as a
cause of the quarrel.39 The
abolition controversy, more-
over, comes later than the period
(1800-1825) that we
are considering. It is significant only
in that it illus-
trates the centrifugal tendency of
these western
churches.
The primary object in expelling the
western synods
in 1837, according to Crocker, and also
Thompson,40 was
"the removal of New England
opinions and influence
from the Presbyterian church."
Here, then, is the key
to the controversy, and the answer to
our question. The
Western Reserve churches, after all, were
more Con-
gregational than Presbyterian. Their
ideas, naturally,
both of doctrine and of church
government, were those
of New England. Their insistence upon
radical ideas,
distasteful to their more
conservative Presbyterian
brethren in the General Assembly,
ultimately brought
about their expulsion from that body.
METHODISTS, BAPTISTS, SHAKERS, MORMONS
AND
CAMPBELLITES
Already in 1825, forces were making to
undermine
the favored position held by
Congregationalists and
38
Crocker, Op. cit., 66-70.
39 See
Thompson, Op. cit., 115-128; Dodd, Expansion and Conflict, 143-
146; Fish, Development of American
Nationality, 298. The latter differs
slightly in his view of the slavery
question in the Presbyterian church.
40
Crocker, Op. cit., 46; Thompson, Op. cit., 88ff. 105-128. The
synods
of Genesee and Utica were excised at the
same time.
494 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Presbyterians. Methodists had been
present in small
numbers from the earliest days in the
Reserve. The
rapid growth of the Methodist Church,
its effective use
of the circuit-riding evangelist and of
the camp-meeting,
were spreading its power rapidly over
the whole West.
In 1784, when Francis Asbury became the
first Super-
intendent by appointment of John Wesley
and selection
of the preachers, there were not over
14,000 Methodists
in all the United States. These were
mostly in the
southern states. There were none in New
England. In
1800, there were 3,701 Methodists in
all the west, in
nine circuits. By 1811, there were
30,741 members in 69
circuits.41
The initial zeal of the first wave of
Congregational
and Presbyterian missionary activity
was dissipated and
displaced by factional quarrels.
Methodism gained
apace after 1810. Its doctrines of free
grace, free will
and individual responsibility appealed
to the frontier,
but hitherto their activities in Ohio
had been limited
largely to Southern Ohio. The two
districts appointed
in Ohio were Miami and Muskingum. In
neither of
these was a circuit-rider definitely
assigned to the region
of the Western Reserve in 1811.42 Yet by
1830-1840,
the Methodist church-building was
taking its place
alongside the Congregational or
Presbyterian church in
almost every village or township center
in the Reserve
and frequently displacing it.43
41 Sweet, Rise of Methodism in the
West, 10-17, 29-35.
42 Journal
for 1811," in Sweet, Rise of Methodism, 190-207.
Buckley, History of Methodists in the
United States, chap. x??
Stevens, History of Methodism, III,
chap. ix; see also county histories for
dates of founding of Methodist churches,
etc., and King, "Introduction of
Methodism in Ohio", Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Soc. Publications, X, 165-219.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 495
Baptists, lacking somewhat in central
organization
were pushing on rapidly all through the
West. The
chief centers of Baptist activity in
Ohio were the Miami
and Scioto Valleys. In 1790, Ohio had
two Baptist
churches and 64 members. In 1812, there
were 60
churches and 2400 members.44
The Baptists were kept from making as
rapid gains
as might normally have been expected
after 1825,
through the heavy drain made upon their
constituency
by the followers of Alexander Campbell.
Campbellism
traces its origin to the founding of
the Christian Asso-
ciation of Washington (Pennsylvania),
in 1809, and in
many ways is a schism in the
Presbyterian church. In
the Western Reserve, however, where the
movement at-
tained great strength, it took the form
of a movement
from within the Baptist church. When
the Mahoning
Baptist Association dissolved in 1830,
to follow Alexan-
der Campbell into the new denomination,
the movement
was really born, though its beginning
goes back several
years further.45
The Campbellites in their appeal to the
intense indi-
vidualism of the frontier, through
disposing of all
creeds and practically all church
government, had a
direct connection with another
religious sect, in many
ways a product of the Western Reserve
and of great im-
portance there in the years after 1830.
The first group
of followers of the Mormons of any
considerable conse-
quence was a church at Kirtland which
had been a
Campbellite church. Its minister,
Sidney Rigdon, was
44 Newman, History of Baptist
Churches in the United States, 338-40.
45 Campbell, Declaration and Address,
"Centennial Introduction"; New-
man, History of Baptist Churches in
United States, 494 (where date 1829 is
given); Hayden, History of the
Disciples in the Western Reserve, 295ff.
496 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
one of Joseph Smith's most important
colleagues, and
may have exercised great influence over
him. Another
center of Mormon influence was Hiram,
where the in-
cident of tarring and feathering Joseph
Smith oc-
curred. The Mormons gained many other
adherents
from among the Campbellites, though
strangely enough,
their most effective appeal was
communism of goods-
the direct opposite of the
individualism to which the
Campbellites appealed. Another instance
of the danger
of too ready generalization concerning
the nature of the
frontiersman. Apparently he was either
intensely in-
dividualistic or communistic as the
occasion required.46
This last movement, requiring as it did
belief in the
divine revelation of the Book of Mormon
to Joseph
Smith, may be taken as the height of
radicalism in re-
ligion in the Western Reserve.47 That
it was too radical
for the community is evidenced by the
fact that the lead-
ers of the movement were soon forced to
leave.
Into the new picture came also the
Shakers, preach-
ing the approach of the second coming
of Christ, the
advent of the Millenium. Like the
Mormons, they failed
to gain any very considerable or
universal position and
like the Mormons, they appealed largely
to the illiterate
and undiscriminating.48
46 Hayden, Op. cit., 298-300,
209-222; see also Jules Remy and Julius
Brenchley, A Journal to Great Salt
Lake City, passim. (deals with history
of the Mormons), cited in Hayden, Op.
cit.
47 For description of this revelation,
occurring in 1823, see Book of Mor-
mon, "Origin of Book of Mormon", and
"Testimony of Three Witnesses,"
etc.
48 McLean,
"The Shaker Community of Warren County," Ohio Arch.
and Hist. Soc. Publications, X,
262; "Kentucky Revival and Its Influence
on the Miami Valley," Ohio Arch.
and Hist. Soc. Publications, XII,
242-286; United Society called Shakers, Christ's
First and Second Appear-
ing, see especially Prefaces to first and fourth editions.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 497
CONCLUSIONS
The Western Reserve was evangelized by
many
Congregational missionary-preachers and
a few Pres-
byterians. The churches established
affiliated generally
with the Presbyterians, under the
arrangements in the
Plan of Union, but continued to
resemble more the New
England Congregationalists in matters
of theology and
church government. The conservative
character or bet-
ter, the unemotional character of
religion in this region
was due to the missionary activities of
conservative Con-
gregationalists and Presbyterians of
the East and to the
firm hold maintained by them during the
first two and
a half decades of the nineteenth
century. This mission-
ary policy had much to do with
preventing a split in
Presbyterianism, such as occurred in
Kentucky. The
rigid requirement of an educated
ministry proved a fatal
embarrassment to the Presbyterians in
Kentucky. In
the Western Reserve, a well-educated
ministry was pro-
vided in fairly ample numbers from the
beginning, due
to the generosity of Connecticut
Congregationalists.49
When we speak of the Western Reserve as
conserva-
tive, it is well to remember that what
is meant is lack of
emotionalism, such as that characterizing
the camp-
meeting. For the Western Reserve
Congregational and
Presbyterian churches were very
radical, at least in the
opinion of the leaders of the
Presbyterian church, who
accused them of accepting all the
radical theological
ideas current in New England at this
time-a reputation
probably deserved. This was an
intellectual and not an
emotional radicalism.
49 Cf.
Thompson, Op. cit., 70-71, 74.
Vol. XXXVIII-32.
498
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Even Baptists and Methodists felt the
chilling atmos-
phere of this transplanted New England
religion. Their
activities took on a more sober aspect,
or at any rate, a
less exuberant one, under the cloud of
social disap-
proval. Their comparative unimportance
before 1825
and rapid emergence after that date are
to be explained
partly by their own growth in general
importance, partly
by the change in immigration taking place
about this
time, and partly by the decline in
evangelical zeal in the
Congregational and Presbyterian
churches.
But toward the end of our period some
notable
changes are under way. Baptists and
Methodists gain
strength. Campbellites, appealing to
the individualism of
the frontier, promise salvation to all
who go through a
very simple and chaste form of
conversion and are mak-
ing rapid inroads on the Baptists. Mormons come
promising the New Jerusalem with
Scriptural com-
munism. Shakers stir up men's
apprehensions of the
second coming of Christ and begin to
gain a foothold.
Oberlin College is about to be born and
out of that
travail is to come a new
emotionalism-abolition, tem-
perance and other reforms. A zeal for
reform is agitat-
ing Congregational and Presbyterian
Churches within
the Synod of the Western Reserve-which
will soon
(1837) cause them to be cast out of the
Presbyterian
fold, apparently, and branded as
heretics, certainly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary
Asbury, Francis, Journals of the Rev.
Francis Asbury, New
York:
1821, 1856.
3 v.
Badger, Joseph, Memoir of Rev. Joseph
Badger, Hudson:
1851.
Religion in the Western Reserve,
1800-1825 499
Campbell, Thomas, Declaration and
Address, Centennial Edi-
tion, Pittsburgh: 1909.
Cartwright, Peter, Autobiography of
Peter Cartwright, New
York: 1856; Fifty years as Presiding Elder, New
York: 1871.
Crocker, Zebulon, The Catastrophe of
the Presbyterian
Church, New Haven: 1838.
Howe, Henry, Annals of Early Ohio, Cincinnati:
1846; His-
torical Collections of Ohio, Cincinnati: 1888.
Mitchell, Joseph, The Missionary
Pioneer, a Brief Memoir
of the Life, Labours and Death of
John Stewart, (Man of
Colour), Founder, Under God, of the
Mission Among the Wy-
andotts at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Originally published New
York: 1827. Reprinted by Joint Centenary
Committee, Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, New York: 1918.
The Book of Mormon, an Account
Written by the Hand of
Mormon Upon Plates, Salt Lake City: 1920.
Nevins, Allan, American Social
History as Recorded by Brit-
ish Travelers, New York: 1923.
Robbins, Thomas, Diary of Thomas
Robbins, D.D., 1796-
1854. Increase N. Tarbox (ed.): :2 v.,
1886.
Sweet, William W., The Rise of
Methodism in the West,
being the Journal of the Western
Conference, 1800-1811, New
York:
1920.
Trump of Fame, (1812-1816). Published weekly at War-
ren, Ohio, by David Fleming and Thomas
Webb.
United Society Called Shakers, Christ's
First and Second
Appearing, Albany, 1856.
Secondary
Adams, Henry, History of the United
States, New York:
1898. Vol. I, chap. iii, "Intellect
of New England".
Barker, John M., History of Ohio
Methodism, New York:
1898.
Brown, R. C. (ed.). History of
Portage County (O.), Chi-
cago: 1885.
Buck, S. J., "Materials for the
Social History of the Missis-
sippi Valley," Mississippi Valley
Hist. Assoc. Proceedings,
IV, 139.
Buckley, James M., A History of
Methodists in the United
States, (American Church History Series). New York: 1896.
Burnet, Jacob, Notes on the Early
Settlement of the North-
western Territory, Cincinnati: 1847.
Cowles, Henry, A Defence of Ohio
Congregationalism and
of Oberlin College. Oberlin: 1857.
Dodd, William E., Expansion and
Conflict, Boston: 1915.
500 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
Dunning, A. E., Congregationalism in
America, New York:
[c. 1894].
Fairchild, James H., Oberlin, the
Colony and the College,
Oberlin: 1883.
Fish, Carl R., The Development of
American National-
ity, New York:
1919.
Hayden, Amos S., History of the
Disciples in the Western
Reserve, Cincinnati: 1875.
Hinsdale, Burke A., "The History of
Popular Education on
the Western Reserve", Ohio Arch.
and Hist. Soc. Publications,
VI, 16ff.
Hunter, Presbyterianism in Ohio.
Kennedy, William S., The Plan of
Union, or a History of
the Presbyterian and Congregational
Churches of the Western
Reserve; with Biographical Sketches
of the Early Missionaries,
Hudson (O.): 1856.
King, I. F., "Introduction of
Methodism in Ohio", Ohio
Arch. and Hist. Soc. Publications, X,
165-219.
McLean, John P., "Kentucky Revival
and Its Influence on
the Miami Valley," Ohio Arch. and
Hist. Soc. Publications, XII,
242-286.
McNemar, Richard, The Kentucky
Revival, New York:
1846.
Mathews, Lois K., Expansion of New
England, Boston:
1909.
Mitchell, Margaret J., "Religion as
a Factor in the Early
Development of Ohio," Mississippi Valley Hist.
Assoc. Proceed-
ings, IX,
75-90.
Morrow, Josiah, "Tours into Kentucky
and the Northwest
Territory-Sketch of Rev. James
Smith," Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Soc. Publications, XVI, 348-420.
Newman, A. H., A History of the
Baptist Churches in the
United States (American Church History Series), New York:
1894.
Parrington, Vernon L., Main Currents
in American Thought,
New York: 1927. Vol. II, 271ff.
Paxton, Frederick L., History of the
American Frontier,
1763-1893, New York: 1924. Chap. xiii.
Purcell, Richard J., Connecticut in
Transition, Washington:
1928.
Rice, Harvey. Pioneers of the Western
Reserve, Boston:
1887.
Riley, Woodbridge, American Thought
from Puritanism to
Pragmatism, New York: 1915.
Religion in the Western Reserve, 1800-1825 501 , "The Shaker Community of Warren County," Ohio Arch. and Hist. Soc. Publications, X, 251-304. Stevens, Abel, The History of the Religious Movement of the Eighteenth Century, called Methodism, New York: 1861. Talbot, Benjamin, "History of Congregationalism in Central Ohio," Ohio Church History Society Papers, Oberlin 1890- 1894, v. XXX. Thompson, Robert E., A History of the Presbyterian Churches in the United States (American Church History Series), New York: 1895. Upton, Harriet T., History of the Western Reserve, New York: 1910. Vol. I. Venable, William H., Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Valley, Cincinnati: 1891. Walker, Williston, History of the Congregational Church in the United States (American Church History Series) New York: 1894. Wilcox, Alanson, A History of the Disciples of Christ in Ohio, Cincinnati: 1918. |
|