Decatur Democrat, Volume 1, Number 4, Decatur, Adams County, 7 April 1899 — Page 1

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SALVATION still free. Xn Uneventful But Pleasant Ses= sion Heid Yesterday. Interest Increases in the Daily Sessions of This Grand Band of Laborers for the Lord. Dr. Quayle Tonight. TODAY’S PROGRAM. ■. 30 a. m. Devotional Service, conducted by Rev. D. H. Guild. Q ooa. m. Conference Business. lo jo a. m- Bishop’s Address to the Class for Admission. 'Zoo m. -Adjournment. m —Anniversary of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society. Ad2:00 P ’ dress by Rev. C. C. Lasby, D. 1). ■3op. m. Pentecostal Service, conducted by Miss Downey. -jo p. m. Lecture by Rev. W. A. Quayle, “Jean Valjean, the New Hero.”

■ Her J M. Stewart, conference evan--9 conducted the morning devo- ■ ?: 01b Hvmns, earnest prayer and fl reading of a lesson from the Scriptures ■ enened another day’s work. Bishop 9 Andrews onened the business of the 9 conference.' It is the decision of the 9 conference that in the roll call only 9 those who were absent at previous roll 9 call will be called. Many who were 9 absent on the previous morning re--9 -ponded. On motion the full roll call 9 w dispensed with. The secretary. 9 L J. Naftzger read the journal of the 9 previous day’s proceedings. No cor--9 factious being necessary, the journal U was approved. Rev. Harbour offered 9 a resolution regarding Congressman--9 elect Robert- of Utah, which declares 9 that it is a disgrace to the nation to 9 seat this man in the national House 9 of Reprentatives, he being a polyga--9 The resolution was referred to 9 the committee on moral questions. ■ Pr.-idmg Elder Simpson asked the ■ conference to excuse Rev. N. I’. Bar 9 ton and lUv. Geo. Cocking to conduct funerals, which was done. Dr. Reade of Tayl>r University offered a n- >luregarding the I niversity and Bd-kingtlu North Indiana <•< nference . to incorporate full text of the resohitionin their minutes. A lively dis . 9H cttssion of the subject followed, in 9 which Rev. G. 11. Myers. Rev. Browne. 1 19 ® r ' Reade. Rev. Preston. Rev. A. E. Mahin. Rev. F. M’ Stone and Rev. 9 Parr participated. The resolution wa> 9 referred to committee on education , 9 with instructions to carefully invest!-' ■ gate the trerkingsof Taylor (mver-ity I and report at ten o’clock on Saturday 9 morning. Presiding Elder Simpson 9 ’ton made the report of his. the Fort 9 Wavin' district. There were no deaths 9 among the pastors. All pastorsdoing fl good work and a grand work has lieen ' fl done this yearin thedistrict. Annual fl convention of the Epworth League fl was held in the Berry street church 9 and was a grand success. The annual 9 of the ministerial lyceum was 9 told at Monroeville with good attend 9 t®*- Nine thousand and seventeen 9 dollars paid on church debt. Jones, 9 riass on Fremont charge built a new 9 church. Geneva completed a splen 9 did new church. A new church was | 9 ’is® built at Boston Corners and is I 9 toown as the Woodland church. A 9 has been built at An--9 Bluffton has made a special 9 of two hundred dollars to De9™w f niversity. The Elder said 9 “ e wished to speak of the very pros--9 P® ollß year Decatur has had and of 9 ’to excellent manner in which pastor 9 aa| l people had worked together in 9 Paring for and taking care of the 9 w nferenct‘. The charges were then'

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w. E. MCCARTY, PASTOR THIS CITY 75- 77.

Pn? “v* J le Pastors macle their reritUita • McClintock was left Th. Riu, PPomtment to attend school. [C.O. " as requested to appoint 'dustrial o „k* a !°, a Position in the InR±’'?.' ,kwha - Wis ' The fe v . , | llt society s annual meet d 3 n eW at ten o’clock. Rev. C.

THE DECATUR DEMOCRAT.

U. Wade read the report for the society, which was adopted. Rev. Hasty, one of the managers of the society, 1 had the meeting in charge. He says 1 the society is in good condition. Our > laymen are interested but thepreach- > ers ought to do more than they are ■ doing. The same conference commitI tee that served last year was put in ■ nomination and were confirmer!. Rev. Herrick offered a resolution expressI ing the appreciation of the conference , of the work done by the board. The conference business was then resumed and M. S. Marble reported Kokomo I district. There are 73 churches, valued at $231,270, and 24 parsotiages, valued at $35,675. Insurance $79,000. 1 Old debts have l>een discharged to 1 the amount of $6,200. Swayzee and 1 Arcadia will build new churches next year. There have lieen 761 conver--1 sions reported. Death entered parsonage homes and took the child of T. 1 A. Graham; Mary A. Newton was followed five months later by her beloved husband. R. A. Newton: the wife of a ■ member of one of the southern conferences also died within the district. The pastors were then called with the following special notation: J. W. Pas chall and G. W. Green were referred to the committee on conference relations; S. H. Stokes grained leave to ■ withdraw from ministry and member ship of the church, parchments to be ' retained by the conference; the parch--1 ment of S. W. Baer, a local elder, was , presented by his presiding elder and ' the proper notation made, he having withdrawn from the church. Richmond district was then called and Presiding Elder A. E. Mahin reported. $524 was reported on the missionary debt. The churches in Rieh- ' tnond have provided for First church 1 a new parsonage,s4,7oo; Third church ’ debt paid in full, $920; Fifth street church on old debt, S2OO. Charlottsville raised for church property about SI,OOO. The new church at Portland is under roof with subscriptions to the amount of $13,000. The character of the elders in the district were passed , and they reported. M. A. Harlan of | Portland bid for the conference of j 1901. J. A. Lewellen then reported I for Warsaw district. One minister, I A. G. McCarter, died during the year. Two churches were dedicated and one is in course of construction. Paid on indebtedness $6,000, for new churches $14,000, for parsonages $525. DePauw received a gift of S3OO and the missionary society $6,000. The missionary society owns $106,000 worth of property in thedistrict. Theelders in charge were then called and they made their reports. The following committee on temperance was appoint

Jed- W. D. Parr. E. E. Neal. J. 1 • Radcliff J. B. Cook. R. F. Brewington. -1. E. Ervin. The following introductions were then made: Presiding El der Pope of the Central Oliio conference, W. D. Oldheim. D. D.. of Columbus. 0.. and W t • " alker of the Central China conference, lhe

SPECIAL CONFERENCE EDITION.

DECATUR, INDIANA, FRIDAY MORNING, APRIL I, IS'HI.

conference then went into executive session. The report of the committee of thirteen in the case of A. A. Pittenger was received. He was continued in his present relation to the conference. I. H. Slack was made a supernumerary. After the taking of a collection and announcements the conference adjourned. AFTERNOON SESSION. At the opening of the afternoon services Bishop Bowman, Mrs. Hartman of Fort Wayne, Mrs. W. M. Nelson and Mrs. j. K. Walts occupied the rostrum. The anniversary of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society was opened at two o’clock and was favored by a selection of music by Miss Dessie Moore. The meeting was conducted by Mrs. Hartman of Fort Wayne. For a scripture lesson Mrs. Nelson read some selections from Isiah. Mrs. J. K. Walts invoked the blessing of God upon the society and tenderly referred to Mrs. C. G. Hudson’s late misfortune. A selection of music by.the conference quartette was a real pleasure. In opening Mrs. Hartman explained that the secretary, Mrs. Hudson, and treasurer, Miss Laura Beers, were unable to be present and she read their reports. During the year sixteen new societies were formed, two of which died. The financial report for the year in districts was. Fort Wayne $ 1,058 Goshen 1,085 Kokomo 730 Muncie 1,610 Richmond 694 Warsaw 751 Total $6,948.60 Thanks offering 765.79 A resolution of sympathy for Mrs. Hudson in the loss of her right arm was passed. Rev. W. F. Oldham of Columbus, Ohio, who for a number of years a missionary in India and Malaysia was introduced and delivered a very fine missionary sermon. He said in part, “I am to bring before you this afternoon the reasons why

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every man and woman should be a member of a foreign missionary society. Every Christian wants to do what is right, and wotdd help foreign missions more if they understood the real situation. They wish to help those who need help. The woman of heathendom is poor from a poverty that is physical. There is a poverty in heathendom that is a birth right. Little children cry in the morning for rice and in the evening go to sleep without having had enough rice to satisfy hunger. Children in India never refuse anything to eat. I was once a surveyor in British India and I determined ’to find out how much it' cost to dress a woman in the middle [ class, not the most poverty stricken, for a year. She dresses just as her | grand-mother did and just as her grand-daughter will, It costs in • American money seventv two cents.' But there is worse poverty than this.! The farther you get from Christ the ’ wider the chasm between man and ! woman. I know of no country in heathendom where it is not looked ’ upon as a curse to have born into the J family a girl baby. Hindoo boys are ! married before fourteen years and' girls much younger. A woman is an i object of suspicion and distrust in all, heathendom. They live in back 1 rooms and wear thick veils. But the woman without religious resources is in a more poverty stricken condition still. lam not talking to you of feeding people’s bodies. We want to send) them the message of God. The most highly privileged women on earth live j in°America. She rules the home and society. American men sometimes express opinions, but they do so cautiously. Women are held in the high-, est esteem. This great good came from the pierced hand of the >. azarene. What does this privileged woman owe to that other woman in the depths of heathendom’ She should ■ stretch the fair hand to the dusky > one." A collection was taken for a fund with which to fit up a room in a ’; hospital in C hina for women w hich is < to be known as the ••Harriet B. Hud- i<

RESIDENCE OF J. S. BOWERS, NORTH FIRST STREET.

son room.” A large collection was taken. At three thirty, the time set for the Pentacostal service, theehurch was filled with people who were eager to hear Ibis grand woman. Rev. Ralph C. Jones of Hoagland conducted the opening service. Rev. Murray offered prayer. Some of the sweet old hymns of Zion were sung, and other fervent prayers offered by Rev. Ford and Rev. Herron. Miss Downey had a diagram arranged on a black board which illustrated the beautiful plea for humanity through Christ. She has great power and enthused the great audience with her earnest exhortation for more Christlikeness. After the closing hymn Bishop Bowman dismissed the congregation. EVENING SERVICE was the anniversary of the Freedmen’s Aid Society. Rev. M. C. B. Mason, secretary of that society, and Miss Jennie E. Scott, solicitor for the society, were in the pulpit. “America” ' was the rousing opening hymn. Rev. Mahin offered prayer, after which Dr. Mason conducted a responsive reading from pamphlets which had been distributed. Rev. Davisof Marion then introduced Miss Scott. She caught the attention of the great audience by a few very bright remarks as follows: “What a wonderful audience, and 1 how I'd like to make a speech, and how many people there are here who would like to make a speech. (Applause.) I feel like a small boy - I think he may have been a Methodist | boy, and not a very good one for he j had to be spanked and forced to go to scho"' One Stv' r,n ’’ morning he sur- » ‘ " •’J -• • • * prised his mother by appearing all dressed, washed and ready to go to 1 church. His mother asked an explanation of such a remarkable occurrence. He replied that he had concluded to be a preacher for he could see nothing before him but to go to church and Sunday school, and it Is easier to walk aiound and •holler' than it is to listen.” The condition of the people of the South was set forth by her in a short, terse address, as fol-

| lows: “Providence has given every i nation a problem to deal with, but i ‘ there is no greater problem than the I problem of the South. There is only ■ i one way to settle all disturbance among blacks and whites of the South. | There are thirteen million whites, onefifth being illiterate, and 7,800,000 | colored, more than one-half being ili literate. Give them the Bible, the privilege of citizens, and let them alone.” The Fort Wayne district double quartette rendered a selection which was heartily encored. Dr. Mason was then introduced and spoke in substance as follows: “The religious spirit of the churches of the North after the emancipation marks an epoch in the history of the race. War j clouds had not cleared before you of ■ the North came with the spelling book •and the Bible in the name of Jesus Christ. You could not expect much ! of us then, but after twenty-five years i our schools are dotted all over the ! South. Where blue and grey met, monuments of philanthropy now exist. ! God forbid that anyone should bring J one note of discord to break the har- ' mony of the present. But never be--1 fore in history was there a people in i such condition as our emancipated at , the close of the late war (thelast fight ' with Spain was only a skirmish?) \\ hen Russia freed her serfs she gave them threeaeres. When Brazil turned her slaves loose she gave each of them , something. But Christian America, after two hundred and fifty years of successful slavery gave them nothing. Though negro blood has done much ; for the nation, yet freedom found him without a name or home. Then the work of the church begun. Patriotic ■ Christians began to study him. For twenty nine years we have been working for his elevation. What has been accomplished? As measured by ethics and morals it is a thousand years I since the (iO's. People said, "You ‘can’t do anything with the negro they are too thick-headed.” But we are doing better. Not many today would say that God would send out one of his creatures without at least

latent powers. The time will be when , character will take its place in church and state. There will be a time when it is neither asked as to the color of the eye. or face, or hair, but “Get on the scales and see how character weighs.” Wendell Phillips spoke of the solidity of the human race. Recently we heard the cries of the people of Cuba, whose faces are more like mine than yours, and the boys who wore the blue and those who wore the grey both put on the white and gave Spain such a spanking that we will never hear from her in the western hemisphere world without end. (Many “aniens.”) We are getting better. The work of the church has gone from soul >o soul until America has become the van courier for the conversion of the world. We have been leading men up until men discover themselves. We have made the Bible a text book in our schools and, whatever of other learning they receive, they become Christian men. Slavery hurt every man who touched it. There were nine million white people who became almost as degraded as the black. The Freedman's Aid Society has been born of God, for the uplifting not only of the slave in America but also the redemption of Africa. Back over the path of the innocent will go the free with the branch of healing in his hand. Until .we shall leave, in the name of Jesus, they shall stand all over Africa, by your aid through the Freedman’s Aid. After taking up a collection Rev. C. H. Murray, professor in Gammon school or i neoiog v npuko brief I .’’ in behalf of the society. The services closed with the doxology and benediction by Bishop Bowman. kfcV. Milton Mahin. ‘‘Slowly through all the universe 1 that temple of God is being built. 1 Wherever in any world a soul by free willed obedience catches the fire of > God’s likeness, it is set into the growing walls a living stone.” The above quotation from Bishop Brook’s presents itself when contemplating th noble Christian character of Rev. Milton Mahin, one of the pioneers of Indiana Methodism. He has been an arduous worker for sixty years. He was born near Jamestown. Greene county, Ohio, October 22. 1824. Four years later his parents moved to what is now the northern part of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, where with the exception of one year they resided until his seventeenth year. He united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his parents were members, on December 24. 1839. In June following. though not yet sixteen years of age, he received license to exhort. In August of the year following he was licensed to preach and was recommended to the Indiana conference as a suitable person to be admitted to the traveling connection. On the 12th day of October following he was received on trial and was appointed to Paoli circuit. Only seventeen years of age he launched into the itineracy on a circuit which required two hundred miles of horseback riding to make one round. The circuit embraced Orange county with part of Washington, Lawrence, Martin and Dußois counties. After this he filled twenty-nine appointments, among them Berry street, Fort Wayne, Peru. New Castle, Logansport, Huntington, Bluffton. Richmond and one year in Atchison, Kansas. In 1876 the degree of Doctor of Divinity wa.i conferred upon him from Indiana Asbury, now DePauw University. Four years ago he asked and received a superannuated relation to the conference. This did not, however, close his remarkable career as a preacher, he is still carrying the message of the Lamb of God to saints and sinners. Some statician has found that the average number of years for active work by ministers is fourteen, this gives some idea of his remarkable vitality. Few indeed are spared to work for sixty years and few consecrate their lives to the Master so early in life, devoting the span of a life time to His service. Dr. Mahin's residence is now in New Castle, Ind, Rev. W. E. HcCarty. “To relieve the wretched was his pride, and ev’n his failings lean’d to virtues side; but in his duty prompt at every call. He watched and wept, he paid and felt for all; and as a bird each fond endearment tries, to tempt its new fledged of spring to the skies. He tried each art. reporov’d each dull delay, allured to brighter worlds and led the way.” The beautiful sentiment so deary portrayed by Goldsmith in the foregoing stanza is particularv appropriate to the subject of this sketch. Rev. McCarty was born September 28.1838 in Madison county Indiana, and is of Scoth-Irish decent and nearly his entire life has been spent in earnest work for the Master in his nation and state through the M. E. church. He served Decatur station from 1875 to 1877 and his pastorate here is held in loving remembrance by all who knew him. After serving Decatur he was transfeared to Austin. Texas, bnt returned to Indiana the following year. As a | preacher he is a forceful speaker, per suasion and of deep thought. He began preaching before he reached his majority and his excellent work soon made his services in great demand. He has served niauv of the most im 1

portant charges in the conference and the vastness of the harvest from the seed he has sown will be known at that last Great Day. Rev. McCarty has, after many years of earnest study written a book entitled '■lllustrated Methodism or Biographical Sketches.”

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E. T, GREGG, P.ASTOB GRACE M. E. CHURCH KOKOMO. Official action was taken by conference and the same ordered published, at once.

Rev. L. M. Knder. Rev. L. M. Krider, born of Methodist parents in Cuss county, Indiana, April 5, 1855. Converted” in childhood and given the best advantages sot an education that the country schools afforded. Taught some tin;* in the country schools and licensed to preacL bv Warsaw district, 1880; J. W. Welch P. E. He took acal’ nUc * course in Old Fort Wayde college and classic course in DePauw University, receiving the A. B. degree in 1885. A. M. degree in 1888. Was received on probation in North Indi ana conference April 1885 and appointed to Wabash Circuit where his labors were attended with grand success, 125 being converted the first year. Since then many have been converted in all his charges, the largest number being saved at Portland. February 1896. when in four weeks 275 were converted to God. In the conference he holds a place on several important committees, being secretary of the conference board of Stewards, Secretary of Edu cation fcr Kokomo district and a member of the Conference Board of Examination. He has had two excellent years at Elwood and his return is asked for. Memories Os Epworth. Nothing could be more appropriate than that the name of one of the foremost societies of the Methodist church for fostering and training Methodist childhood, should be known as the Epworth League. The old parish of Epworth in Lincoln shire, England where two centuries ago Samuel Wesley, father of John and Charles Wesley, ministered to a people who for the most part were ignorant, poor, coarse and cruel. In the times of political strife when missiles and firebrands were used as arguments the remarkable family of Wesley’s was maturing for their noble work. For the good of his mieducat ed flock Samuel Wesley introduced the ‘novel way of parochial singing.” It was at Epworth that Mrs. Wesley conceived the idea of devoting the Sabbath afternoon to giving in her own family, religious discourse and counsel. Others hearing of this plan asked to attend these meetings until her congregation numbered two hundred when the curate left in charge by her husband wrote to Wesley at Lon don speaking of the meetings in that odious term conventicles. Wesley wrote to his wife suggesting that some other person not a woman oflici ate at these meetings. She replied that not one man in the congregation could read witfiPUt spelling' a good

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L. M. KREIDER. ELWOOD. part of it and she would stop such gatherings for no man's grumbling, but would obey righful authority, ‘‘Command me to desist.” He saw however that her ministration were saving the people from immorEONTINIED ON PAGE FOVR.

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