5. General Outline of Progress

     That in the Genesee Conference was called the Eastern Convention. This met at Rushford, New York, with fourteen ministers and fourteen lay delegates. There were more places calling for preachers than could be supplied. Loren Stiles, a man of scholarship and probably the most eloquent preacher of the infant church, was appointed pastor at Albion, New York. M. N. Downing went to Kendall, Daniel M. Sinclair was appointed to Rochester and Chili. Also in the appointments appear such well-known names as J. B. Freeland, Otis O. Bacon, and J. W. Reddy. And appointments were made besides the above to Buffalo, Gowanda, Tonawanda, Pekin, and more than a dozen other places.

     At this conference consideration was given to the launching of a weekly paper. But of this B. T. Roberts said, “A weekly paper at this time would almost unavoidably involve us in controversy. Those who are leaving no means untried to destroy us have put so many weapons into our hands that might be employed to our advantage and their discomfiture that the temptation to use them would be a great calamity. What we most need is a general deep and thorough revival of religion. A rehearsal of the wrongs we have suffered, and of the misdeeds of others, will not be very likely to save souls.” It is not strange that God could bless such an attitude and leadership.

     The Eastern Convention soon became the Genesee Conference of the Free Methodist Church. As might be expected, no conference in the church has been so productive of many able men, some of whom have filled the highest offices of the general church. Among these were B. T. Roberts, founder and until his death general superintendent of the church, and for a time editor of the Free Methodist; George W. Coleman, a general superintendent; Wilson T. Hogue, bishop and at other times editor of the Free Methodist, president of Greenville College, and probably the greatest author of the church; Levi Wood, editor of the Free Methodist. Then there were S. K. J. Chesbrough, publishing agent and general treasurer, and Thomas Sully, church treasurer. Also the following persons were members of that conference during a part of their ministry: Walter A. Sellew, bishop; William Pearce, bishop; D. S. Warner, bishop; Robert H. Warren, bishop; J. S. MacGeary, missionary bishop; and J. G. Terrill and Benjamin Winget, both missionary secretaries. This review of great names has to do, of course, with the history of that conference from its beginning to the present. And be it known that here is but a partial list of the able men who in that region did the work of God.

     “Bands” sprang up in northern Illinois, composed of persons who were at heart Free Methodists. The summer following the formation of the church in New York a remarkable camp meeting was held in a grove near St. Charles, Illinois (June, 1861). Of the results J. G. Terrill wrote, “Many at this meeting entered into the experience of perfect love.” At that camp meeting the Illinois Conference of the Free Methodist Church was formed. B. T. Roberts presided. Twenty preachers and an equal number of laymen were in attendance.

     There were two districts, St. Louis and St. Charles. Of the men of this conference several were afterward well-known. E. P. Hart became general superintendent; Joseph Travis, editor of the Free Methodist; and J. G. Terrill was for a time missionary secretary. Others of wide influence were J. W. Redfield, a mighty evangelist, and Thomas LaDue, able preacher and father of Professor John LaDue.

     Great sacrifices are recorded of the early preachers of this conference. Of one it was said that “he traveled 1,600 miles on foot, visited and prayed with one thousand families, and received thirty dollars.”

     At the time of the stirring events in western New York there were also in the central part of that state certain persons who were dissatisfied with the growing worldliness in the Methodist Church. Some of these sent for B. T. Roberts, who preached to them in several communities. It was natural, therefore, that, after the Genesee and Illinois conferences had been formed, he should visit again the regions about Binghamton, Syracuse, Utica and Rome. Some persons had been brought together in societies. At Union, New York, April 10, 1862, he organized the Susquehanna Convention (or conference).

     At a little later date Dr. Elias Bowen, D.D., came into the Free Methodist Church and into this conference. He was a scholar and author; especially set against slavery. He wrote “History of the Origin of the Free Methodist Church,” setting forth the reasons for Free Methodism. In the Methodist Church he held prominent appointments as a young man and was for twenty-four years a presiding elder. He was not expelled from the mother church as were some of his brethren, but his sympathy was with the new movement, of which he finally became a part and to which he made a great contribution. Also in this conference in the early days was another able preacher and writer, Rev. Epenetus Owen. At the General Conference of 1882 he was elected editor of the Free Methodist but immediately resigned from that office. The name Benjamin Winget, afterward general missionary secretary, appears early in the conference list of preachers. Also Bishop William H. Clark, one of the ablest preachers of Free Methodism, did most of his ministerial work in this conference.

     Through the work of Rev. L. Stiles, Jr., and others the movement spread from the Susquehanna Conference region to Pennsylvania and toward New York City. At a much later date than the foregoing organization, but as a child of those, came the formation of the New York Conference, at Brooklyn, September 2, 1874.

     Among the well-known men who labored in that conference were M. N. Downing, Joseph Travis, T. S. LaDue, and others. Also Rev. J. T. Logan joined this conference in 1885. Everywhere he has served successfully in the ministry as pastor and district elder, and was for twenty years editor of the Free Methodist. And from this conference came Rev. W. B. Rose, who was publishing agent for nineteen years. Several prominent laymen contributed greatly to the growth of the New York Conference. Among them W. B. Bartels, manufacturer; C. O. Schantz, banker; Joseph Mackey, editor and publisher (also for a short time owner and editor of the Free Methodist).

     The first appointments in Wisconsin were made in 1864. A Wisconsin District of the Illinois Conference was organized in 1869, and the organization of the conference took place in 1875, with General Superintendent E. P. Hart presiding. Among the early, well-known names of this region were Rev. Thomas LaDue and Rev. C. E. Harroun, Sr. Later, partly because of the establishment of the Evansville (Wis.) Seminary, there came Professor J. E. Coleman, and Rev. A. L. Whit-comb, a man of extraordinary preaching ability, who was later president of the Seminary, president of Greenville College, and General Conference evangelist.

     From Illinois and Wisconsin the work spread into Iowa. The Iowa Conference was formed in 1875 by E. P. Hart. Among the early preachers were Joseph Travis, Thomas Vipond, C. E. Harroun, Sr., and C. E. Harroun, Jr. The West Iowa Conference was formed out of the Iowa in 1885. J. W. Dake and J. N. Boyce were among the early conference leaders.

     So far as we know, the first Free Methodist preacher to try to open work in Michigan was T. S. LaDue. This was in 1861. But he found the people in the part he visited apparently not ready for him. In 1864 E. P. Hart, having been appointed to Marengo, Illinois, by the encouragement of B. T. Roberts took a journey into Michigan to see what might be done. Meeting some opposition at the first preaching place, Ida, Monroe County, and enduring hardships, Brother Hart and his wife were the agents in promoting a most gracious revival at what was called the Plues Schoolhouse. Here he organized a church of fifty members. Upon the advice of the general superintendent, B. T. Roberts, E. P. Hart and wife resigned their pleasant pastorate at Marengo, turned their backs upon good friends, and continued their pioneering in Michigan.

     In Monroe County, Michigan, in June, i866, a camp meeting was held and the Michigan Conference was organized. The Lord signally blessed His work in that state. The growth and spread were such that the North Michigan Conference was formed in 1876 and the East Michigan in 1884. Among the “men of renown” of these conferences, at least giving part of their ministry here, besides E. P. Hart, were B. R. Jones, editor of the Free Methodist, and bishop; David S. Warner, principal of Spring Arbor Seminary, editor of Sunday-school literature, and bishop; B. J. Vincent, school executive, editor of the Sunday-school literature, bishop; W. B. Olmstead, editor of the Sunday-school literature, and missionary secretary. Also the two junior bishops of the Free Methodist Church are Leslie R. Marston, formerly president of Greenville College, and Mark D. Ormston, the first from the territory of the North Michigan and the latter from the East Michigan Conference.

     There lived in southeastern Minnesota a Mr. E. N. Sumner, a layman. He was a substantial Methodist, a strong character, and enjoyed the experience of holiness. Hearing of the Free Methodists, he corresponded with them, received and answered the disciplinary questions by letter, and presented his church letter from the Methodist Church. He became the substantial support of the new work which grew up about him. One or two circuits were formed. Here again we find the name of T. S. LaDue, and here we find Rev. C. M. Damon, for long years well-known in the midwest. A Minnesota District was organized in 1868. Then in 1872, with B. T. Roberts presiding, the Minnesota and Northern Iowa Conference was formed near Plymouth, Iowa.

     Norman D. Baldwin of Olivet, Dakota, visited in Michigan in 1877. While there he joined the Free Methodist Church and returned to his home. Rev. J. W. Sharpe, because of failing health and believing that a move from Michigan would be good for him, went west, united with the Minnesota and Northern Iowa Conference, and was appointed to Olivet, Dakota. This was in 1878. A great revival came under his ministry there, and despite intense opposition a society was organized. A sod church was built, and some forty-five members were reported. Revivals were held in neighboring communities. In 1879 five preachers were appointed to charges in Dakota. Much hardship was endured by the pioneer preachers. In those days there were floods in that region, and at such time travel must sometimes be on foot along the railroad tracks. The Dakota Conference was organized in 1883.

     From this conference the work was extended to the north first by the migration of laymen into that region. The North Minnesota Conference was organized in 1887. Finally the appointments in North Dakota were formed into a conference in 1897.

     The state in which Free Methodism has done its greatest work with one exception (Michigan) has been Pennsylvania. A layman by the name of H. A. Crouch and his extraordinary wife were brought into the experience of “perfect love” under the teachings of B. T. Roberts and his associates. This was about the time of the organization of the Free Methodist Church. In 1863 they joined this church at Rochester, New York, and later moved to northwestern Pennsylvania. Both were extraordinary pilgrims in piety and intelligence. An elder in the Erie Conference of the Methodist Church, Rev. R. W. Hawkins, was bookkeeper for an oil company at this time. He was a man of scholarship, eloquence and of general extraordinary ability. Under the influence of the Crouch family he was led into the experience of entire sanctification and finally into the Free Methodist Church. He became a preacher of unusual power, and later was a district elder in western Pennsylvania and New York.

     By the Susquehanna Conference Mr. Hawkins was assigned to the Oil Creek Mission, six miles from Oil City. Here he raised up a Free Methodist society. At Oil City in 1871 a camp meeting was held. Of this H. A. Crouch wrote, “The sound thereof went abroad. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dover, New Jersey, and other places felt its influence, for it was ‘born of God.’ Heaven and earth felt its power.” The Oil City society was formed following this meeting. Mr. Hawkins, who had transferred his membership to the Genesee Conference, was now made chairman (or district elder) of the Allegany District, which included a part of Pennsylvania. A camp meeting was held in Franklin. E. P. Hart was there, and by invitation went from there to Braddock, where he and Mrs. Hart were successful in promoting a great revival, with many conversions and many entering the experience of holiness. These were brought together in a society.

     Other points were opened and societies organized. Out of these the Pittsburgh Conference was formed in October, 1885. One society of this conference, Stewart’s Run Post Office, made an extraordinary contribution to the conference and general church. From here came Rev. J. S. MacGeary and the five Zahniser brothers, A. D., J. J., E. S., R. A., and A. H. M. All six were men of much more than average ability, all holding at some time the office of district elder, and two of them serving the general church in General Conference office. This conference gave Bishop Walter A. Sellew to the general church. Also among the older men of that conference and serving with wide influence were Rev. D. B. Tobey, Rev. M. B. Miller, the latter serving several times as a secretary of the General Conference, and A. J. Hill, who has borne heavy responsibilities in his conference for many years and has been for several quadrenniums a member of the Missionary Board, and later of the Commission on Missions. And many more deserve mention if space would permit.

     There was great spiritual prosperity. The camp meetings were much blessed and used of the Lord. The holy fire would break out in new places. Pentecostal scenes were repeated.

     At the 1898 session of the Pittsburgh Conference, held at New Castle, a resolution was adopted dividing the field into two conferences, the Oil City and the Pittsburgh, the one to take the northwestern and the other the southwestern section of the state.

     The first session of the Oil City Conference was held at Oil City, in October, 1899. Of the extraordinary men mentioned as belonging to the Pittsburgh Conference, some became the leaders of the new ecclesiastical unit, and their labors, with that of the scores of their brethren, have resulted in one of the strongest conferences of the church.

     The Illinois Conference extended into the southern part of the state and into eastern Missouri. In 1867 there appeared the Missouri and Kansas Districts of that conference. These were organized into the Kansas and Missouri Conference in 1869. Among the early preachers we find the name of Joseph McCreery, who had been associated with B. T. Roberts in the struggles in the Methodist Church.

     The work continuing to spread to the west and north, because so much travel was involved it was determined to divide the conference into three conferences—Kansas, West Kansas, and Missouri. This was done in 1883. This division gave to the Missouri Conference fifteen ministers, to the Kansas twenty-nine, and to West Kansas ten. Among the men in these conferences we find Ellsworth Leonardson, who was prominently associated with several conferences, and conspicuous in prohibition work, and there were W. M. Adams and C. E. Harroun, Sr., both of faithful and effective service.

     As early as 1869 there was a Colorado District in the Illinois Conference. Little was done in that region until nine years later. The Colorado Conference was formed in November, 1886. Among the well-known names we find C. W. Stamp, a man of fine preaching ability; T. H., better known as “Father,” Vipond; and C. I. Council.

     From the Kansas Conference the work extended northward into Nebraska, and from the West Iowa Conference westward into that state. The Nebraska Conference was finally formed in August, 1890, at Yutan, Nebraska. From the West Kansas and Nebraska Conferences the work extended northwest into western Nebraska, which was formed into the Platte River Conference in August, 1896. These two conferences are now reunited into the Nebraska Conference. C. M. Damon, John Edwards and T. H. Allen were among the early preachers.

     Work in Oklahoma was begun in 1887. The Oklahoma Conference was organized in October 1899. C. E. Harroun, Sr., and C. E. Harroun, Jr., were among the early preachers. The latter served for long years as district elder, and was for several quadrenniums a member of the general boards of the church. Also J. L. Brown was an early elder in that conference. The Arkansas and Southern Missouri Conference was organized at Fair Play, Missouri, in 1895. The name was changed to Ozark Conference in 1937.

     As early as 1878 a Methodist Protestant minister in Texas received some persecution for his position concerning worldliness and his insistence upon entire sanctification. He wrote B. T. Roberts, joined the Free Methodist Church, and received an appointment in Texas. However, it was from a work started a little later, in Ellis, that Free Methodism in Texas really begins. The Texas and Louisiana Conference was organized in July, 1881, at Corsicana, Texas. This work was divided later, forming out of it the Louisiana Conference in November, 1884. Among the leading men of these conferences were W. Parker, J. A. McKinney, H. A. Hanson, and later R. A. Thompson.

     The beginnings of the Free Methodist work in central and southern Illinois and Indiana were through the “Western Holiness Association.” Laymen and ministers of various denominations were associated in this movement. Discontent with the lack of interest in this great theme led to their coming into the Indiana and Central Illinois Conference of the Free Methodist Church when it was formed in 1879. Among the leaders were W. B. Colt (called the father of that conference), H. F. Ashcraft and F. H. Ashcraft.

     The Wabash Conference was formed out of the territory of the Indiana and Central Illinois Conference and some additional, in October, 1885. The work in northern Indiana was begun, as one would imagine, from the Michigan Conference. In fact, the Michigan Conference appointed B. R. Jones, afterward Bishop Jones, to Evansville, in the extreme southern end of the state, in 1873. The North Indiana Conference was formed at Knox, Indiana, in October, 1887, but was of territory formerly belonging to other conferences.

     The Ohio Conference was finally organized in October, 1879, as a result of work done in that state, especially by Michigan preachers, among whom were B. R. Jones, S. K. Wheatlake, J. Cripps, and others, and out of territory formerly belonging to other conferences.

     The Kentucky and Tennessee Conference was formed in 1896. This was out of territory which had belonged to the Central Illinois Conference. J. W. W. Kelley was an early elder over both districts. Also Walker Mayfield and J. A. Manning were among the early preachers.

     The Georgia and Florida Conference in its origin is largely credited to E. E. Sheihamer, then of the Pittsburgh Conference. This was done at great sacrifice. The conference was organized by Bishop William Pearce at Atlanta, Georgia, in November, 1913. T. B. Adams and J. B. Cunningham were among the early preachers.

     One of the advantages of religious literature over even the spoken word is that a writer may, through the printed page, present the truth to persons whom he has never seen, and do this to many far-separated communities at the same time. Rev. B. T. Roberts was the editor and owner of the Earnest Christian, a monthly religious magazine devoted to holiness and published at North Chili, New York. Copies of this periodical found their way into Canada. A Primitive Methodist layman by the name of Robert Loveless, living at Ellesmere, near Toronto, became a subscriber. He prevailed upon Mr. Roberts to visit him and preach in his city.

     Again he went to Paris, Ontario, to preach, at the invitation of Gilbert Showers, who became a member of the Free Methodist Church. In 1876 the North Michigan Conference made an appointment which read, “Canada, C. H. Sage.” The field was wide enough. He went to Gait, Ontario, where a small society had been formed.

     In the History of the Free Methodist Church is found the statement: “In 1879 Rev. Albert Sims, an elder from the Primitive Methodist Church in Canada, connected himself with the Free Methodist Church, joined the North Michigan Conference, and was sent to Woodstock, Ontario. He was a strong man, of good administrative ability, and had recently been brought into the experience of entire sanctification, of which he was a shining example. From the beginning of his labors in the Free Methodist Church he was a powerful factor in the development of the work in Canada.” Also Mr. Sims was an author of several books, a publisher, and for a time an editor.

     In 1880 the North Michigan Conference showed thirteen appointments in the Canada District. A Mr. James Craig was among the pioneers who built well for the future. The Canadian Conference was organized in October, 1880, by B. T. Roberts. There were thirteen appointments. The membership was 374.

     It has been said that one of the characteristics of the work in Canada was the number of able women who labored in the ministry there, some of whom were successful in opening new fields. These often went two by two. James Craig in a published work named twelve Canadian appointments which were raised up by women preachers. However, it could be said that Canada is not the only field where these self-sacrificing women have built well the work of the Lord. Many a conference would be poorer without them.

     Because the work was so scattered, the conference was divided in 1896, forming the East Ontario and West Ontario Conferences. J. M. Eagle and W. C. Walls were early district elders in the West Ontario Conference. Albert Sims and James Craig appear as the first elders of the East Ontario Conference.

     Canadians migrated from Ontario to the western provinces. Thereby Free Methodism had its beginnings in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The West Ontario Conference appointed W. H. Wilson a missionary to the northwest. He found Sunday schools, prayer meetings and some preaching services already being held. A Free Methodist society was organized at Moose Jaw. In 1900 J. W. Haley went west to assist in the work. Also from the West Ontario Conference went Rev, and Mrs. F. M. Wees. Later ministerial re-enforcements came from Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. The Western Canada Conference was organized at Moose Jaw, July, 1906, with Bishop B. R. Jones presiding.

     Great distances made necessary a division of this conference into the Saskatchewan Conference and the Alberta Conference. This in September, 1914. Rev. R. H. Hamilton was the first district elder of the former, while W. H. Haight was the elder of thirteen appointments comprising the latter conference.

     It is supposed that Free Methodism was first introduced into the northwestern part of the United States by George Edwards, who came to the “Washington and Oregon Territory” in 1876 as a missionary from the New York Conference. In 1880 John Glen was appointed to Seattle. Then we find appointments in Oregon under T. S. LaDue “chairman,” or district elder.

     F. H. Ashcraft and H. F. Ashcraft, nephew and uncle, who had come into the Free Methodist Church in the East, preached in interdenominational holiness work in the northwest. They opened the way for the enlargement of the work. T. S. LaDue did what he could to bring into Free Methodism those fitted for such association. There was much opposition from secret societies and from those associated with worldly churches. However, a class of sixty was organized a few miles east of Portland.

     Several appointments being organized, the General Conference of 1882 authorized the formation of the “Oregon and Washington Territory Conference.” This was done in June, 1885. Among the well-known names we find T. S. LaDue, a great preacher; his son, John LaDue, who for thirty years did invaluable work as head of the Bible department of Greenville College; Frank Cathey, and Alexander Beers.

     Because of the immense territory involved, it was deemed advisable to divide this conference into three conferences. This was done in 1896, in the following manner:

     The Columbia River Conference was formed at Spokane in April of that year. There were seventeen preachers, and J. C. Scott was made chairman. Also in that month the Washington Conference was organized in the chapel of “Seattle Seminary.” There were eleven preachers. C. E. McReynolds was made district chairman. The Oregon Conference was also formed in April, at Gresham. There were fourteen preachers. The Oregon Conference was later divided into two conferences, which after a few years reunited. Two of the conspicuous men of the northwest were W. N. Coffee, who was a member of several General Conferences and a member of the general boards and committees of the church, and John Glen, a useful pioneer in Washington, Oregon and California.

     As the New York Conference showed an interest in distant parts by sending a missionary to Oregon and Washington in 1876, so we find the Michigan Conference sending a missionary, W. D. Bishop, to California in 1873. And again the Genesee Conference sent a missionary, G. W. Humphrey, to California in 1875. It is supposed that in that year Mr. Humphrey organized the first Free Methodist society in that state. This was at San Francisco.

     In 1879 B. T. Roberts and wife, with other workers, went to California to promote the work. Mr. Roberts spoke discouragingly of the possibilities during his first few weeks’ stay, but later the Lord granted him a gracious revival. Then he had great hope, as preachers always do when the revival is in progress. In 1881 General Superintendent E. P. Hart and his wife settled in Alameda. At great sacrifice they held a tent meeting and promoted salvation and Free Methodism. In 1880 H. F. Ashcraft as an undenominational holiness evangelist reported a great meeting in Los Angeles.

     By authorization of the General Conference the California Conference was organized by General Superintendent E. P. Hart in December, 1883, at San Jose, California. Among the well-known preachers who became members of the conference were E. P. Hart, F. H. Ashcraft, F. H. Horton. Later William Pearce, afterward Bishop Pearce, was a member and labored in this conference, as also did J. S. MacGeary, missionary secretary and missionary bishop.

     A layman, E. C. Shipley, moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. He persuaded Rev. C. B. Ebey to move to that city in 1887. Also Rev. C. E. McReynolds moved to southern California about that time. These preachers labored together in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Compton. Churches were established. Out of the territory of the California Conference the Southern California Conference was organized in May, 1891, by General Superintendent B. T. Roberts. Among the charter members of the conference were C. B. Ebey and David McLeod. C. B. Ebey was made district elder of the two districts.

     The foregoing, with the greatest possible brevity, gives an outline of the progress and spread of Free Methodism in the United States and Canada. This in order that we may be reminded of how the torch was carried from community to community, and how some carried the knowledge of these things. to even distant parts. No words can properly tell the story of sacrifices, prayers, labors, vision, faith and victories of the men and women who have gone before us in the establishment of Free Methodism in these fields.

     Most of those whose names have been mentioned have gone to their reward. A few remain, still carrying on, and a few are on the retired list. The responsibilities now rest upon successors. With such antecedents it ought to be a joy to continue the great work so well begun. Ours is a goodly heritage.