The Conference for 1854 was held at Janesville, and I was returned to the District for a fourth year. Several changes of Ministers were made, several new fields were opened, and six new men were brought into the District.
Omro was one of the charges to claim my attention at the beginning of this year. It had now assumed considerable importance, it being the home of the Brother Cowhams. James M., the elder, was the Recording Steward, ranking among the most efficient I have ever known, and John M., the younger, was a leading spirit in all Church work, becoming subsequently a Local Preacher of most excellent standing.
The Pastor of the charge was Rev. T.C. Golden, who entered the Conference in 1850, and had been stationed at Cascade and Sheboygan Falls. He was a man of mark. Of a vigorous mental development and logical cast, he early became an able Preacher and commanded a leading place in the Conference. After leaving Omro, he was stationed in Fond du Lac. He was then transferred to the West Wisconsin Conference, and stationed at La Crosse, after which he served several years as Presiding Elder with great acceptability. At the present writing he is a Presiding Elder in the Upper Iowa Conference. Dr. Golden, for such is his present title, has made a most gratifying record.
A Quarterly Meeting held at Brother John M. Cowham's during this year, is remembered with great pleasure. This dear Brother had built both a house and a barn of large dimensions, and the meeting, to be held in the latter, awakened general interest throughout the circuit, bringing together a multitude of people. Every house in the neighborhood was filled with guests, and the balance, not less than fifty in number, were entertained at what was called the Cowham Mansion. But great as was the outpouring of the people, the manifestations of the Spirit were still more extraordinary. Under the preaching of the Word, the Holy Ghost fell on the people. The shout of redeemed souls and the cry of penitents, "What shall I do to be saved?" commingled strangely together. And yet, out of the apparent discord, there came the sweetest harmony. The minor strains were lost in the rapturous paeans of the major movement, as each seeking soul received "the new song." The days of the Fathers seemed to have returned to the Church, when, under the Pentecostal baptism, believers fell to the floor, and multitudes were saved in a day.
It was during this year that I was called to experience a severe trial in the death of my dear father, which occurred on the 30th day of May, 1855. After remaining at Waupun six years, he removed, in 1850, to Waupaca, where he purchased the lands comprising the site of the present village, laid out the town and erected a lumber mill. Soon after his arrival he opened religious services, preaching the first sermon and organizing the first class. In due time, others came to his assistance, and a small Church was built. Waupaca having been taken into the regular work, my father now visited the adjacent neighborhoods and established religious meetings, preaching usually two or three times on the Sabbath. Not a few of these early appointments ultimately became the nucleus of independent charges.
My father's illness was brief. In the latter part of the winter he met me at my Quarterly Meeting at Oshkosh, but, to the regret of the people, he was unable to preach. He felt that his work was nearly done, and in referring to the matter, said: "I have no occasion to feel anxious about it, since, through Divine help, I have been permitted to preach, on an average, about two sermons a week for thirty years." I visited him two weeks before his death, and found his mind tranquil and his Faith unwavering. When I enquired as to his state of mind, he said, "It is like a sunbeam of glory." He continued in the same satisfactory frame, until he passed over the river to join the white-robed throng in the Heavenly realm. The multitudes who gathered with tearful eyes around his grave, gave but a fitting expression of their high appreciation of a noble life.
The labors of my first term as Presiding Elder were now drawing to a close. Though my labors had been arduous, yet such had been the kindness and co-operation of both Preachers and people, I felt an interest in them. During the four years the District had nearly doubled its strength, and was now ready for a division.
Feeling that it was due to myself, being so young a man, and due to the Church also, that I should now go back to station work, I favored at the Conference a resolution asking the Bishop to appoint no man to a District for a second term until there had been an intervening service of two years on circuits or stations. The action of the Conference doubtless, sent me to a station instead of a District.