He commenced preaching in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Spring of 1840, and soon gave promise of the distinguished position which he has since held as a preacher of the Gospel.
He enjoyed the advantages of frequent and intimate association with Walter Scott, Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and most of the early advocates of primitive Christianity in the West; and his association with these men was of incalculable advantage to him, for they not only gave him valuable instruction in the principles of the Reformation, but he was enabled, by coming in frequent contact with them, to draw inspiration from their lives and characters for the great work upon which he had entered.
His ministerial labors have been divided between the work of an evangelist and pastor. He was pastor of a church in Pittsburgh three years; New Lisbon, Ohio, five years; North Bloomfield, Ohio, two years; Warren, Ohio, five years; Muir and Ionia, Michigan, eight years; and Detroit, Michigan, two years. At all these points he was eminently successful, and, besides his regular pastoral labors, did considerable work in the general field.
He removed to Warren, Ohio, in 1851, and while there, was corresponding secretary of the Ohio Missionary Society three years; and it was he who first put that society into systematic and active operation.
In 1856, he removed his family to Ionia county, Michigan, and while laboring to build up a congregation at that point, he was prevailed upon to take the corresponding secretaryship of the American Christian Missionary Society, which position he held three years, and succeeded in bringing the society to a degree of prosperity which it had never before reached. When heresigned the Secretaryship he was appointed first vice-president, and afterwards presided at the annual meetings of the society until 1866, when he was elected president. This, however, he at once declined. In the Spring of 1856, he removed to Cleveland, Ohio.
In April, 1866, he established the Christian Standard in Cleveland, which has become a leading and influential religions journal. In August, 1868, having been elected first president of Alliance College, he removed to Alliance, Ohio, and at once gave to the new college a successful position among our literary institutions. In May, 1869, he was elected president of the Ohio Christian Missionary Society. In August, 1869, he was elected, by a unanimous vote of the Board of Curators of Kentucky University, to the presidency of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of that University. Also, about the same time, Bethany College tendered him the Biblical Department of that institution. We have not learned whether he has yet accepted either of these positions.
Mr. Errett's personal appearance is striking and prepossessing. He is about six feet one inch high, has dark auburn hair, light grey eyes, and a well developed muscular organization. As a public speaker he has few, if any, superiors. His language is chaste and copious, containing an unusually large per cent, of Saxon words; his gesticulation is easy and natural, but his voice, though well under control, has not volume enough to give full force to his beautiful and stirring thoughts. His writings, like his sermons, are full of strong and rugged points, and are frequently interspersed with brilliant passages of exquisite beauty that will compare favorably with many of the finest word-paintings in the English language.
In the social circle he is companionable, but not a very good conversationalist. He needs the inspiration of an audience, or the quiet solitude of the study, to bring out his full strength; hence, while he is pleasant in company--full of wit and humor--he does not appear there to the best advantage.
Benjamin Rouse
Benjamin Rouse was born in Boston, March 23d, 1795, and was brought up as a builder, working at the trade at first in Massachusetts, and subsequently removing to New York, where he carried on his business extensively for about six years. From an early age he had taken great interest in religions matters, and especially in the establishment of Sunday schools. In 1830, he accepted the appointment of agent of the American Sunday School Union for the purpose of going to the West and establishing Sunday schools and book depositories. For this purpose he gave up his business and turned his face westward, prepared to endure hardships and encounter difficulties for the cause in which he was so deeply interested.