Thirty Years in the Itinerancy

by W. G. Miller

In 1841, Rev. L.F. Moulthrop was appointed to Troy circuit. He remained the second year and had as a colleague the excellent Rev. Henry Whitehead, so long and well known by the Preachers of the Northwest in connection with the Chicago Book Depository. The circuit at this time included Troy, Eagle, Hart Prairie, Round Prairie, Turtle Prairie, Delavan and Elkhorn.

At Eagle a class was formed consisting of Rev. William Cross, Local Preacher, Mrs. William Cross, and her sister, now Mrs. James Parsons, Mr. and Mrs. A. Hinkley, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, Mr. and Mrs. Atwater, Mr. and Mrs. Long.

At Round Prairie a class was also formed. The members as far as ascertained were Rev. James Flanders, Local Preacher, Mr. and Mrs. Houghton, Mrs. Norcross, Father Cornice, and Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Cornice.

At Hart Prairie, the services were held in Father Worthington's log house, where a class was also organized. Father Worthington, his wife, and two sons, Elijah and Theodore, and Mrs. Lewis, were the first members.

At Delavan the meetings were held alternately in Mr. Bradway's log house in the village, and at the residence of Mr. Phoenix, on the prairie. The class at this place was small, and I am unable to insert in the record more than the names of Mr. and Mrs. Bradway. Delavan has since grown to the position of an influential charge, with an attractive Church and enterprising membership.

Elkhorn at this early day had no class, but, as the County Seat, the village commanded an appointment. For several years the cause moved slowly, but finally won its way to a position. At the present writing, the charge holds a respectable rank in the Conference.

Having thus briefly examined the early history of Racine and the other charges that constituted her immediate surroundings, it is now proper that we should return to the record of the writer's Pastorate.

Finding that there was no Parsonage, I proceeded to rent a respectable house in a pleasant part of the city, paying for the same an additional one hundred dollars out of my salary. Having settled my family, I adopted my usual method of devoting my mornings to my study, and afternoons to pastoral visiting. I soon passed over the entire membership of the station, making it a special point to secure, as far as possible, a faithful attendance upon the means of grace. The effort was successful beyond my expectations.

The congregation soon filled the Church. And as the interest continued to increase, the aisles and doors were thronged, while large numbers were utterly unable to obtain admission. With this manifestation of interest, it was deemed advisable to enter upon a protracted meeting without delay. We did so, and I preached every night for two weeks. But the result was not satisfactory. We found the spiritual condition was not on a plane with the demands of the work. The vast throng of people had brought upon us a tide of worldly influence that we were unable to withstand. Additional moral force was necessary, and, to secure it, we deemed it better to go into the lecture-room and rely upon the social meetings to develop the requisite spiritual power. With this change there came to the membership the spirit of consecration and a remarkable baptism of the Holy Ghost. Before the end of two weeks we were compelled to return to the audience room. The place was again thronged with people, but the good work went forward. I continued to preach nightly for four weeks. One hundred persons were converted and added to the Church.

With this large increase of members and a corresponding increase of attendants, it was necessary to enlarge the Church edifice for their accommodation. Accordingly the work was undertaken. The rear end of the building was opened, and the edifice was lengthened so as to accommodate nearly one-third more people. In doing this, it was thought advisable to still increase the length by adding twelve feet more for an orchestra, thereby providing for the removal of the organ from the gallery to the rear of the pulpit.