The Methodist Western Conference comprised in 1802, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and missionary fields in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. The ministry traveled on horseback, and after conference each member would have his field of labor designated on a map or drawing. On arrival at point of duty the minister arranged his own circuit and engaged his own preaching places, so he might travel and preach each day in the week.
Bishop Asbury devoted all his time and talents to this large field of religious instruction; traveled and preached, and was so devoted to the religious or spiritual welfare of the people that he often remarked to Mr. Kendree that his work was so arduous that he “never had time to marry a wife, buy a farm or build a house.” And it can not be said that he or those in his charge had either an easy or lucrative calling—the bishop’s salary being sixteen dollars per quarter, or sixty-four dollars per annum. But he lived to see that for which he and other Christian denominations labored—ten years of the most remarkable revivals of religion that ever occurred in the United States, and of which Ohio and the North-west received a full share of the good and lasting results.
In the period from 1800 to 1810, or during the height of the great religious revival that swept over the western and southern states, there existed a singular manifestation, called the “jerks.” It appeared to follow and to be in some way related to religious excitement; to be no respecter of persons, and made victims of all classes and conditions of society. A noted divine in his autobiography says: “I have often seen the ladies take it at the breakfast table, as they were pouring out tea or coffee. They would throw the whole up toward the ceiling, and sometimes break both cup and saucer. They would then leave the table in great haste, their long suits of braided hair hanging down their backs, at times cracking like a whip. For a time it was the topic of conversation, public and private, both in and out of the church. Various opinions prevailed. Some said it was the work of the devil, and strove against it. Sometimes it almost took their lives.”[13]
The Methodist and Presbyterian ministers were working together in the revival very harmoniously. But in due time it became whispered around that the Methodists were making more noise than necessary; that shouting was a matter under the control of the will, and should be moderated. All this reached the ears of a young minister, who, at a camp-meeting in 1804, and before an audience of more than ten thousand people, concluded it a fitting moment to set matters right and explain or give the philosophy of the “jerks,” and that of shouting, and of which he says:
“On Monday morning I preached. I was preceded by the venerable Van Pelt, who, having preached a short and pithy sermon, sat down, with the congregation bathed in tears. There was no appearance of jerks. I took the stand like most of men who know but little and fear nothing, and undertook to account for the jerks. The preachers behind me looked as if they were alarmed, the audience seemed astonished at the young man. I viewed it as a judgment on that wicked community. This led me to take a compendious view of nations, to show that God’s providence was just, as well as merciful. Though He bore long, His judgments were sure to come.... I took occasion to dwell on the rise and progress of Methodism in this country, and the cruel persecutions its professors had met from their neighbors. I quoted their taunting language: ‘How, the Methodists are a pack of hypocrites, and could refrain from shouting if they would.’ I made a pause, then exclaimed, at the top of my voice: ‘Do you leave off jerking if you can?’ It was thought more than five hundred commenced jumping, shouting, and jerking. There was no more preaching that day. One good old mother in Israel admonished me, and said I had just done it in order to set them to jerking.”
The “jerks” have never been satisfactorily accounted for. Some persons have attributed the manifestations to the influence of witchcraft. But this superstition failed to fasten itself upon Western civilization as it unfortunately did on the Eastern States; and the witches imported into the North-west were so few and insignificant in character that none of the tribe ever reached recognition to an extent sufficient to obtain more than a mere mention in the statute books of Ohio. They made but little public history.
In 1828, there was a court case in Lawrence county, involving the individuality of those operating the “black art,” growing out of an action to recover on a warranty given in a bill of sale of a horse. The horse proved unsatisfactory, if not unsound. And it was claimed the horse was docile and all right, excepting for frequent periodical “spells,” in which he would stop in the midst of routine work, and, after a short pause, would rear, kick, plunge, and strike out right and left, uttering unearthly cries, foaming at the mouth, and trembling, showing great fatigue and fear. All these alarming symptoms would pass off in a short time, and the animal would again resume its normal condition and in all respects a docile and well educated beast.
It was during one of the animal’s normal periods that the defendant sold it to the plaintiff, making the usual warranty. Soon after, while the animal was quietly drawing the family to a country church, he commenced kicking and screaming, until he demolished a new wagon and tore down the “worm fences” in the vicinity of the transaction, and suit was brought upon the warranty to recover the money.