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I. Little
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The West Ohio Eldership and Its Ministers (1876-1877)
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The West Ohio Eldership and Its
Ministers.
Wednesday, the 27th of September,
accompanied by my consort, we
arrived at Findlay, Hancock county,
Ohio, and were met at the train by
Elder S. Kline, pastor of the church
at that place, and in company with
Elders Plowman, Lynn, Long and
others proceeded to the pastor's residence,
became acquainted with his
beloved companion. I was then
taken to the residence of Brother and
Sister Granels, and made that my
home during the sittings of the Eldership.
Truly it was a great comfort
to me that I fell in with this good
family. Being Pennsylvanians by
birth they knew well how to care for
those who were their guests. I feel
truly thankful to them for their
kindness towards me and mine, and
will ever hold them in grateful
memory. Their daughter Lizzie is a
model Christian lady, having given
herself wholly to the Lord in her
youth. So completely is she abstracted
from the world and so effectually
imbued with the Spirit of her Master
as to give up all the enjoyments that
the world can give and press forward
for the imperishable riches at God's
right hand.
Here at this Eldership I found for
the first time and became acquainted
with Brother Thomas Hickernell and
Father Adams, and although they
have become old and bent with
years, yet they find the daily solace
of declining life in the belief and
practice of that religion which they
embraced in their youth. To look
upon these aged brethren in the ministry,
just ready to be gathered home
to the Father, is a sight in which
there is something grand and interesting
beyond description. To see
the religion of Jesus, how gracefully
and advantageously it sets upon their
shoulders under the figure of a burden,
how they have supported it and
been supported by it through all the
paths of youth, under all the cares of
manhood, and into the winter of old
age. And although life to them is
still sweet, yet they are ready to bow
to the decree of nature and await his
changes.
I. LITTLE.
(To be Continued.)
[The Church Advocate 41 (October 25, 1876): 3.]
West Ohio Eldership and Its
Ministers.
In my last I referred to several of
the aged pioneers, Brother Hickernell
and Father Adams. There may
have been others there, but I failed
to see them, but the thought passed
through my mind while gazing intently
upon their countenances, who
shall take their places after they have
lain down the cross and taken up
the crown? But whilst gazing over
the room my heart was cheered by
witnessing the fact that as our venerable
fathers one by one lay off the
armor and exchange the toils and
tempests of earth for the rest and
peace of heaven, hosts of mailed warriors
were before me, erect in mien
and lithe of limb, rising up to take
their places. The most prominent
if these hitherto unnoticed by my
pen, but not by my heart, will be
noted now.
J. W. AUKERMAN
is a stalwart man, in height say five
feet eleven inches, eyes soft and tender
as a woman's, and his face is both
benignant in expression and beautiful
in feature; goodness is legibly
written on every line. He is personally
one of the most popular of men.
None know him but to love him,
none name him but to praise. While
I never heard him preach, yet I am
informed by good judges that he is
one of our best and most useful proclaimers.
In manners he is modest
and retiring as a school girl. We esteem
his friendship more than fine gold.
BROTHER JAMES NEIL
is sleight of figure, and we should
judge not over five feet eight inches
in height. His hair is black and
begins to grow somewhat thin on the
top of his head; his beard is heavy,
and he has a decidedly pleasant and
prepossessing face. As a minister he
is universally beloved for his goodness,
piety and purity of character,
and he has gained an enviable reputation
for learning, logic and devotion
to the Church of God. He has
been a man of indefatigable perseverance
all his life, and still maintains
his power and peculiarities, and
amid all the shocks, vicissitudes and
changes of life he has endeavored to
do the divine will. Continue faithful
to the end, my good brother, and
them falling in death your past earthly
record will be the richest legacy
left to a sinful world--the influence
of a devoted Christian minister living
and dying with unfaltering faith in
the promises of God.
BROTHER T. KOOGLE
In stature I should say he is about
five feet ten inches, stoutly built, his
hair in color is black, his beard is
flowing and full, and would have
been the envy of one of King Arthur's
knights; his eyes are large,
expression benevolent. He is one
of the rising men in the Church of
God, and destined to make a broad,
deep mark upon the age in which
he lives. No one would question
either his piety or his honesty, and
those who know him best love him
most. He is an excellent speaker.
Very pleasant hast thou been to
me, my brother. On earth we toil
together, in heaven will we wear the
victor's crown? Happy is it for the
Church of God that he is yet in the
prime of life.
I. LITTLE.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
[The Church Advocate 41 (December 20, 1876): 3.]
West Ohio Eldership and Its
Ministers.
BRO. J. M. CASSEL
is of medium size, say about five feet
seven inches. His hair is a dark
brown; his eyes, which shine with
a mild, benignant ray, are a beautiful
dark brown; the face is rather
full; is a man who thinks, and who
would therefore come under the ban
of Cæsar as did Cassius. This brother
is in his physique quite a presentable
person. I have never heard
him preach, but from the discussions
that took place on the Eldership
floor, in which he took an active
part, I saw at once candor, liberality,
ingenuous and ennobling sentiment
and lively illustration characterizing
all of his speeches. Were I to write
all I think I might be thought to be
indulging too much the spirit of the
mere laudation. May God prolong
his useful life for many years to
come.
BROTHER S. KLINE.
Here is a character, in the delineation
of which we confess we scarcely
know where or how to begin. It
presents so few sharp, jagged point
or angles, and is withal so round
and smooth as to defy the best efforts
of the pen portrait painter. In
statue he is considerably under the
average height, say five feet seven.
His hair is black as a raven's, and
slightly inclined to be curly.
These things, together with his
youthful, sunny face and lustrous
black eyes make his appearance decidedly
striking and singular. In
his calm, consistent piety, we have
quite as much confidence as in that
of any man we have ever known.
Nor is his piety of the straight-laced,
ostentatious style. Far from it. It
is cheerful, happy, contented and
unobtrusive. He is possessed of a
naturally good mind, to which has
been added careful and thorough
training. Continue, my brother, to
spend your life in unwavering devotion
to God, and when old age has
mantled your temples with silvery
locks and the fire of your youth has
dwindled to a single spark, your immortal
spirit will acquire new powers,
leave its decayed and tottering
palace and mount up to that celestial
city where no rising sun doth
mark the opening day, or sinking
down to rest invites the dusky eve.
BRO. J. V. UPDIKE
is known in the Eldership under
the cognomen of the Boy Preacher.
In height he is about five feet six
inches. Of the time and place of his
birth, or of the circumstances of his
boyhood days I know not one syllable,
but suppose that, like most good
young men, he was born of respectable
parents. Though short of stature,
he makes up in good, plump bulk
what he lacks in longitudinal proportions.
Perhaps I could convey
no better idea of his expression than
by reproducing a remark made to
the writer during his brief sojourn in
Findlay by an intelligent sister.
Brother Updike's face will always
take him through. He is a good
preacher, a bold and energetic man,
grappling with the giant evils of the
day. and fearlessly fighting the good
fight of faith.
BROTHER D. S. WARNER.
is another of the young men of West
Ohio, who has stemmed the tide and
educated himself for the work of the
ministry alone, and now comes up
to the popular standard of a public
speaker. A more popular, laborious,
faithful and successful preacher is
not to be found in this Eldership.
The cause in Ohio owes much to
this good brother. He is none of
your gaseous preachers. He is not
eternally foisting himself upon the
public and telling of the wonderful
works he has done. Nothing of the
kind. When he has something to
say he says it, and a few modest
well written lines tell of glorious
achievements through the efforts of
this valorous disciplined herald of
the cross. In this brother we behold
a marvelous blending of the
dignity of the Christian profession
with the childlike simplicity of the
gospel. In height he is about five
feet six. He is a profound thinker,
and a good proclaimer. Faithful
hero of the Lord of hosts, resplendent
with the light of many virtues, I
hope to hail thee in that land where
all our paths shall meet.
I. LITTLE.
[TO BE CONTINUED.]
[The Church Advocate 41 (February 14, 1877): 5.]
The Ohio Ministers.
ELDER G. W. WILSON,
in height, is about five feet six inches.
His hair is rather of a sandy
color. No man of the present day,
or of any other day, has or ever had
a readier flow of clear and well
selected words with which to clothe
his thoughts. He communicates all
he wishes to not only in the richest
but in the most easy and simple
style, which really is the most elegant.
He appears to rely the most
exclusively upon the sentiment he
advances to produce an impression,
independent of all gestures, of all
worldly considerations, of any show
of knowledge or learning of any man
we ever heard speak. Indeed, he appeared
to speak much of the time in
the discourse we heard him deliver
as if he knew nothing of G. W. Wilson
or any thing else but the subject
before him. This cannot be said of
all great men, or especially of all
those who would be great men. In
many instances it is not enough with
them to set forth the subject upon
which they speak and make it intelligible
to all. This we say is not
enough for them. If they make one
speech for the Lord they must make
two for themselves. If they chance
to present a good sentiment they immediately
make a much greater effort
to show that it originated with them.
If any good work is done, they are
ever on the alert to remind the people
that they originated it, prosecuted
it, and, as a matter of course, should
have all the credit. When you are
in the presence of Brother Wilson you
can but feel that you are in the presence
of a great man. His penetrating
eye, his deep thoughtfulness and
venerable appearance can but impress
the mind of a thinking man with the
idea, that he is one of the
mightiest of human spirits. Yet
there is none of that self-consequential
appearance about him that would
seem to say to the most humble that
they might not approach him. The
work he has done none can do over
again, even if they had the ability,
for it is done, and the materials are
used up. Others must do the work
God has assigned them, and do it
well, too, if they ever would have the
honor that comes down from God.
I hope to meet you, my brother, in
the land of the seal, where, clothed in
our glittering robes and a crown upon
our heads, set with the resplendent
seal of the most high Go, we will
dwell forevermore.
ELDER J. S. M'KEE,
in height, is about five feet, eleven
inches, his head is long in more than
one sense; his forehead is broad,
high and very prominent; his beard,
worn only on the lower part of his
face, is somewhat variegated; his
style in preaching is simple and unassuming,
but significant and impressive;
his arguments are logical and
give evidence of careful analytical
and synthetical thought. He understands
the Scriptures thoroughly, and
is entitled to a foremost rank in the
ministry. He commands respect
as a speaker and leaves
a deep impression on the
minds of all those who hear him.
He is perfectly easy of approach and
equally easy in his manners when
approached. There is nothing distant
and forbidding in his appearance,
and the most humble can converse
with him with great ease and
freedom. He is a man that when
he speaks is willing to let what he
has spoken stand upon its own
merit and go for what it is worth
without manœuvering in some way
to give it prominence and himself
notoriety. There is none of this
vainglorious disposition about him,
which has ruined and is ruining
more men, who would otherwise be
useful, than any weakness of human
nature with which we are acquainted.
Brothers McKee and Wilson labored
in Mansfield for several years to acceptance,
and left a good record behind
them. The church under their
labors was edified and built up, and,
I say to their praise, was in all her
departments and auxiliaries strictly
a Church of God. From the audience
room of the chapel to the basement
no compromise with error or sects on
their part, but their leading idea was
to use all things for the advancement
of the cause of Christ. Continue
faithful, brethren, until at death a
glorious prize awaits your coming.
ELDER DICKERHOOF,
in height, is about five feet ten inches.
Hair a light brown. He has a remarkably
strong constitution. He is
but young as yet in the ministry, but
calculated and qualified to do much
in the way of proselyting. His power
for good consists more, perhaps, in his
singing than any thing else that we
know of, yet from what we learn he
is a fair preacher. His singing is not
like many who join consonant and
vowel sounds indiscriminately together,
making of a line of poetry
one long, wavy string of sound without
sense. There is none of the
undistinguishable jargon of vowels,
consonants and pauses confusedly
thrown into a general hotch-potch, as
you will find the case with our fashionable
singers. You can understand
every word that he sings, and
this is the proper way of singing. It
is just as easy, if not easier, to
pronounce correctly while singing
as reading. Singing is the highest style of
reading. Bro. Dickerhoof complies [2]
strictly with the apostolic injunction.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the
Lord.
I. LITTLE.
(To be Continued.)
[The Church Advocate 41 (May 23, 1877): 2, 3.]
Ohio Ministers.
ELDER S. LILLEY,
in height is about five feet ten. In
weight about two hundred pounds.
His hair is a dark brown, with threads
of silver mixed. Like a sensible man
that he is, his beard is never marred
by a barbarian took yclept a razor.
He is a good preacher. His style is
easy, graceful and attractive, and secures
the admiration of all. His
thoughts are of a high and exalted
character, and prove that he is an accurate
thinker. He is a strong man,
preferring the apostolic paths, affecting
no singularity and coveting not
distinction as the setter forth of
strange things, but a bold advocate of
primitive Christianity. He is always
laboring for the union of brethren,
among whom there should be no
demagogues, no despotic leaders,
nothing but harmony and the order
delivered by the Apostles in full exercise.
My heart was made to rejoice
when last fall, by invitation, I visited
his field of labor and there at a
financial meeting, in which all of the
churches were represented under his
pastoral care, to hear with one united
voice peace and harmony and love
abounding among them. Does not
every Christian desire to see in every
neighborhood such a church, to live
in a period when such conduct would
become general? Then let it be remembered
that such a joyful scene
can never be beheld until the
ministers of the Church of
God vow eternal hostility to human
influence in religion, stop courting
the favor of sectarian Churches, stop
holding with hare and running
with the hounds, stop trying to
please the ear of the groundlings and
shun the Delilahs of the age, and assume
that independency of character
that is made theirs by birthright.
Then they will be released from the
unhappiness attendant on disorder,
and then they would enjoy the felicity
connected with conformity to
Christ. Persecution and calumny will
no doubt follow such a course. These
are the uniform tendencies of reverence
for the gospel of Christ, but no
matter, greater is he that is for us
than all that can be against us. Let
the profane ridicule, the envious persecute,
the bigot stigmatize, the hypocritical
allure, they will have nothing
to fear while encouraged by the smiles
and sheltered by the shield of God's
omnipotence.
ELDER J. A. PLOWMAN,
in height is about five feet six. Hair
is black and somewhat thin. He is an
excellent man and a good preacher.
His language is in good taste and
gives evidence of a high degree of
culture and refinement. He is a
fluent and forcible speaker, a close
and pervasive reasoner. His chief
aim seems to be to incarnate the
truth that he loves. He aims to
make plain and potential in the
world the imitation of Jesus, which
is the professed aim of our lives. His
sermons, like a telegram concerning
life or death, are launched out to
their destination from a nature
electrified with the energy of the
skies, and they always make their
impress on the minds of those who
hear. Slander, grown bold like a
hungry wolf, has upon several
occasions attacked the reputation
of the man of God as Shimei assailed
David in the day of his adversity.
Parties wearing the mask of human
form, whose eyes were pained at the
sight of his excellent qualities, their
hearts corroded with the poison of
envious and malicious thoughts, self-tormented
with the thorns of their
own creation, beings who never smile
but at the tears of others, whose
hellish joy consists in the wreck of a
minister's happiness, beings of a Satanic
inspiration, have laid their plots
with ingenuity and executed them
with cruelty worthy of a devil to
destroy this man of God. But, thank
God, he discomfited them all and
lives to-day in his integrity. God
bless you, my worthy brother. Your
name is enrolled among the obedient
ones, and when earth's
records, doings and opinions shall be
no more, you will receive, if faithful,
amid ten thousand thousand witnesses,
the welcome plaudit. Well
done, good and faithful servant, enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord.
This closes my article on this
theme, which has indeed been a delightful
and loving one, and lovingly
did the writer linger over it. Sorry
am I that my acquaintance with my
ministerial brethren was so limited
that I could not continue, but as I
make their acquaintance and learn
their good qualities I will take up the
theme again. I have desired to
speak of the living as the heathen
poet says we should always
speak of the dead, nothing but
good. In fact the writer sees so
much to admire and love in his
brethren that he has neither the time
nor the disposition to look after their
faults. It would be like a dog growling,
snarling and making himself
unhappy over a bare bone while
tempting viands lay within easy
reach. It is clear that no well
regulated dog would be guilty of
such foolish and unphilosophic conduct.
Shall the dumb ass then
reprove the madness of the prophet?
Nay, verily, but a true to all this.
All causes are at first tried by the
men who represent them, and afterward
by the principles which
those men inculcated. Attention is
first directed to the advocate
then to the thing advocated. In part
this is right and in part it is
wrong. A bad man may herald great
news, and a good man may unwittingly
endorse a bad cause. The
former ought not to be rejected because
a bad man is the proclaimer; the latter
ought not to be blindly espoused
because that to a good man it may
owe to its paternity. Truth, right,
these are the standards by which to
test all questions. In the present
case, thank God, neither the cause
nor the men engaged in it can be
held in the least doubt. The cause
is the best in the world--publishing
the gospel of salvation to the people.
I. LITTLE.
[The Church Advocate 41 (June 27, 1877): 2.]
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION
I. Little's "The West Ohio Eldership and Its Ministers"
was first published in The Church Advocate,
Vol. 41, No. 26 (October 25, 1876), p. 3;
"West Ohio and Its Ministers" in
Vol. 41, No. 34 (December 20, 1876), p. 3;
"West Ohio and Its Ministers" in
Vol. 41, No. 42 (February 14, 1877), p. 5;
"The Ohio Ministers" in
Vol. 41, No. 47 (May 23, 1877), pp. 2, 3;
"Ohio Ministers" in
Vol. 41, No. 52 (June 27, 1877), p. 2.
The electronic version has been transcribed from a copy of the article
printed from a microfilmed edition of the newspaper held by the State
Library of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Adams Memorial Library for arranging
for the interlibrary loan, and to St. Vincent College Library for the
use of its microfilm reader/printer.
Pagination has been represented by placing the page number in brackets
following the last complete word on the printed page.
Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and
typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered
for misspellings and other accidental corruptions.
Emendations are as follows:
Printed Text [ Electronic Text
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2/14/1877
p. 5: down t rest [ down to rest
5/23/1877
p. 2: auxilliaries [ auxiliaries
6/27/1877
p. 2: demogogues, [ demagogues,
Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.
Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA
Created 23 May 1999.
Updated 15 July 2003.
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I. Little
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The West Ohio Eldership and Its Ministers (1876-1877)
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