His Spirit Was Willing

His Spirit Was WillingAuthor(s): Newton TownsendSource: Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 3 (SEPTEMBER, 1962), pp. 275-286Published by: Tennessee Historical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/42621765 .

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His Spirit Was Willing By Newton Townsend

The Methodist circuit rider had been a familiar figure in Middle Tennessee for more than a half-century when Jesse J. Ellis left his father's house on October 28, 1842, to become a traveling preacher.

Yet during the next seven years while he traveled six circuits in Tennessee and Alabama as one of those "young, unmarried zealots who rode with their saddle-bags through the devious ways of the forest and labored for the Lord at eighty dollars a year, if they could get it,"1 Ellis was to encounter many of the problems peculiar to frontier religion.

While doing so he was to prove himself a dedicated member of that band of itinerant evangelists who had become active in the United States since 1769 when John Wesley sent two lay preachers from England to New York to assist the local preachers.

Jesse J. Elhs was licensed to preach on October 3, 1841.a He spent most of the next year "going to school" and so preached only occasionally during that period. He was 23 years old and in- experienced when he first met a small congregation on November 2, 1842, at Shanes, his initial appointment on the Duck River Circuit. The embarrassment which made it necessary for him to ask his first audience to bear with him as he had "just commenced" seems to have been much less troublesome by the time Ellis had completed his second round of the circuit.

His continuing concern with effective presentation is evident however, in self -evaluations made in his journals, particularly during his first two years of preaching. The improvement which came with experience is reflected in statements with which he usually ended journal entries during this period: "Did not have free access to my subject." "Had moderate access to my subject." "Had good liberty of address." The latter estimate of his ability was most common by the end of his work in 1844 on the Bedford Circuit.

1 Thomas Perkins Abernethy, From Frontier to Plantation in Tennessee ( Mem- phis, 1955), 211. 2 This article is based on journals kept by Jesse J. Ellis intermittently between October, 1842 and June, 1850. Three journals and three books of sermons and miscellaneous notes by Ellis were found by the author of this paper in an abandoned house at Bell Springs, Tenn. about 1930.

275



276 Tennessee Historical Quarterly

Rhetorical skill was a necessity for the mid-nineteenth century Methodist minister in rural America. The rapid growth of Method- ism in the western settlements had depended greatly on a simple, strong emotional appeal since the historic camp meeting exhorta- tions of John McGee at Red River, Kentucky, in 1799.a

A description by Ellis of the effects of his sermon during a camp meeting at Mt. Joseph (Bedford Circuit) in September, 1844, and several similar journal accounts indicate the evangelistic tradition was still strong.

. . . Near the close of the discourse the presence of the Lord was more fully manifested in shouts of praise by the worshiping assembly. There was a man present afflicted with a sore foot who came into the pulpit for its protection. The first I knew he had clasped me around the neck being in ecstacy. Presently I cried aloud to clear the altar and let the mourners come forward. But for the moment they appeared not to regard anything I said there being such an excitement in the congregation. So Bro. Williams concluded he would go down into the altar and get the people to retire. But no sooner had he reached the altar when the happy Christians gathered around with a saluta- tion of joy. Hence it was a little difficult for him to prepare the way for the mourners after which several presented themselves at the altar of prayer. The meeting then continued with interest for sometime. . . .

"Some twenty-nine or thirty conversions and twenty-one acces- sions to the church" resulted from this meeting.

Such zeal was much less evident in regular church services, both in attendance and emotional response. Between camp meetings and "protracted meetings" held in established assembly houses, Ellis found what he considered a general lack of religious fervor in the rural settlements.

His frequent notations of small congregations during his first years of circuit riding are generally non-critical and often accom- panied by remarks about harsh weather. The entry for November 24, 1843, is typical:

Last night there fell a mighty rain. In consequence of which I found the steam intervening my next appointment past fording. ... I left my horse and went over in a small raft and reached Vernon in good time packing my saddle bags on my shoulder. A small congregation having convened I addressed them in the fear of the Lord with good liberty of speech.

But Elbs steadily grew less tolerant of the lack of interest and attendance at scheduled church meetings. He also became more realistic. Several times he decided not to ride through the rain

8 Alice Felt Tyler, Freedoms Ferment (Minneapolis, 1944) 36.



His Spirit Was Willing 277

and snow to keep appointments, "judging there would be no one present because of the inclement weather." Subsequent entries indicate he usually judged correctly. This change in attitude is shown in the entry for January 8, 1847:

Went to my appointment at Polk's Chapel [Red River Circuit] . It is a very cold day as I was riding I heard the timber cracking I suppose under the influence of the freeze. Found no person at the meeting house and don't suppose any person had been there- it being the hour of the appointment. I left immediately. Were we to maintain as lively sense of the obligations we are under to Almighty God as we should it would often prompt us to duties we otherwise neglect. But it is more often easy to make an excuse than perform a duty.

The journals leave little doubt Ellis became a sterner disciplinar- ian as he gained experience and self-assurance. He prided himself on reading in full the Methodist General Orders to all congregations at least once each quarter, saying: "We should not be Methodists by name only but by practice likewise. There are a good many persons who are called Methodist but by discipline would be recognized non-conformist."

The lack of discipline he encountered was not confined to matters of procedure and doctrine. Ellis often was moved to express strong disapproval of the behavior of his listeners. Once at Ebenezer he cut short his "work in righteousness" to give "what some wished to hear- the benediction."

Several disturbances among his audiences were the result of drunkenness. Intoxication invariably was met by intolerance from Ellis. He mentions expelling several members from various churches because of intoxication. Services at Meadows (Fountain Head Circuit) were interrupted by a man "under an influence it is true but it was the influence of ardent spirits as I learned when I caught the evanescance of his breath." After an appointment at Baldridge Chapel (Chickasaw Circuit), Ellis wrote: "The fond hope of a Parent must be nearly blasted when a stripling boy is found intoxicated in the church of God. But as the father so is the son frequently."

Undisciplined conduct was not confined to church grounds, and incidents elsewhere did not escape the young minister's censure. The journal entry for July 4, 1848, states the day was "Shamefully celebrated" by some who "press this day to obey Satan instead of God [Else] they would not fiddle and dance its moments away.




Christmas also was celebrated in the small settlements in ways Ellis found unreasonable. He preached on December 25, 1846, at Polk's Chapel (Red River Circuit) to a "moderate size congregation notwithstanding I learned that Satan had an appointment at the same time in the neighborhood. . . ." The entry for the next day triumphantly reported: "A brother told me this evening from the best he could learn there were more persons at church last night than at the party." His comment on Christmas, 1848, was less

joyful.

... Of course it is good news and glad tidings of great joy to us that the Saviour has come who should be worshiped and adored by all. Still he did not make his advent in a magazine neither did he establish his kingdom by firearms. I do not know that I was ever more annoyed any Christmas since I have been in the itinerant field than on last night or rather the next morning before daylight. There were a parcel of young men or more appropriately boys I reckon at the same house I was and about half past 3 o'clock in the morning they commenced firing what they called their Christmas guns I suppose and kept up almost a constant fire until it was day consequently there was scarcely any rest for man or beast during that time. I slept none and I was informed the next morning that scarcely anybody else had about the house also that my beast had broken out of doors.

Jealousy among appointed officers in various churches also caused trouble for Ellis. He replaced some leaders whom he considered ineffective, but not without arousing ill will. After making such a change at Bethel (Red River Circuit), Elbs noted: "Here I found a leader much displeased because I had put another in his place- as good as charged me with maladministration saying I had formed an entering wedge that would brake up the Society. Poor Preach-

» ers. Lack of interest by some church leaders was a problem. After his

sermon at Ebenezer in May, 1847, his comment was:

The Sabbath School is still in progress here. But I fear a declension will ensue unless the managers manifest a greater interest in its advancement. I can give no just reason why it is generally much more difficult to procure constant teachers than students in a Sabbath School. Why children should be more solicitous for divine instruction than parents to promote it is a problem I am unable to solve, yet it seems to be the case. . . .

Fine dress was another favorite subject for criticism by Ellis. Dur- ing a camp meeting at Clarksville in 1845, he commented: "Here if not mistaken I saw the finest dressed audience I have ever seen anywhere. O God save me from pride and its curse."



His Spieit Was Willing 279

His prayer apparently was not answered. He records purchase of a panama hat for $6.00 in 1847 (a pair of shoes cost him only $1.25), noting that "a preacher's money is hard to get but easy to let go." Later while making visits with a local church leader, he learned others also disapproved of fine dress.

. . . Visited three families. I hope it will result well yet we found one very stubborn case- backslidden I fear. He was opposed to class meetings also stated that some Circuit Riders as he called them, were guilty of reproving others for things which they were guilty of themselves. For instance- such as dressing fine primping and such like. I remarked Preachers were not infallible any more than other people yet his discipline forbade the speaking evil of Magistrates or Ministers. For I soon ascertained what kind of spirit he possessed.

Two groups seem to have escaped Ellis' censure almost entirely: women and Negroes. Women, apparently, were less inclined to drunkenness and firearms and were more faithful about church attendance. Ellis commented several times after meeting appointments on his circuits that he had "found a tolerable good congregation of ladies but few men." He also had more success in getting the women to form classes or societies. For example, the society he formed in 1846 at Persimmon Grove ( "a hard place to do much good") consisted of "about 10 females." The women also were more likely to demonstrate appreciation of the minister's efforts. Several times Ellis mentioned being presented with socks knitted by the women in his congregations.

The quiet demeanor and attentiveness of the Negro groups to whom he occasionally preached seems to have impressed Ellis. The services for slaves usually were held in the evenings at the same place as morning services for the whites. Interestingly, many of Ellis' journal entries comment on the emotional excitement or lack of it among his regular congregations, but only the April 7, 1847, account mentions emotional behavior by Negroes.

... At night I preached in the basement story of Bro. Robt. Carr's house (at Millers Creek) to the Blacks. The first time I ever preached exclusively in the family circle. We had a good meeting. Bro. Petway sung and called for mourners. There were 3 or 4 designated themselves and some of them seemed to be very much engaged. Such a scene as this affords me a proof that God sanctions the missionary cause in the Southern portion of our church. To hear the prayers, the songs and shouts of the Sons of Ham often inspires my heart with holy zeal.

There apparently were few churches exclusively for Negroes, but Ellis in 1849 noted that he preached in the African Church at Pleas-




ant Grove where he administered "the sacrament of the Lords Supper to the coloured people."

Places to preach were one of the chief problems Ellis had during the entire period covered by his diaries. He often was forced to preach in school buildings, courthouses, camp grounds, and in private homes. Such buildings as some of the Methodist congregations did own were barely usable. He complained once of being forced to omit part of the service at Mt. Zion (Fountain Head Cir- cuit) in 1847 because "of the smoke which nearly filled the house and rendered the hour very unfavourable both in respect to speaking and hearing. . . ."

At Goosepond during the same year he was forced to shorten services because he and his listeners "were very uncomfortably situated it being a cold day and no fire in the house. So I made but a short meter of it I assure you this day." He must have encountered a similar situation at Pleasant Hill in 1848, for he writes of having "raised a subscription for a stove amounting to $15.50." Ellis described the meeting house at Meadows as considerably on the decline in 1848: "There was a window open in which the wind from the North was admitted freely upon me while speaking. And the chimney is only a half chimney at the best which occasioned the house to be filled [with] smoke some of the time. . . ."

Almost as undesirable as these conditions, in his opinion, were the "union meeting houses" which were open to all denominations. Two journal entries a few months apart in 1847 and 1848 concerning a meeting place at Owen's School House make clear his attitude:

Here is one of your everybody houses I suppose that is it is not owned by any but all denominations are privileged to hold meetings in it. As such I consider it of very little profit to any so long as it remains in that condition. Therefore I advised our people to procure land and build them a house of their own. I always feel most at liberty when I am in my own house. I have known of this union business being tried frequently but it does not result well. . . .

The minister's remarks on divided houses apparently served mainly to divide the congregation at Owen's School House. How- ever, a later journal entry shows Ellis had not changed his opinion.

... I am fearful all things will not work together for the best here. I find the community somewhat divided in respect to the building of a Meeting House. Some are for building a union meeting house while others are in favour of a denominational house or houses. I consider a union Meeting house nothing more or less than laying the foundation for contention. And as such I cannot




I will not support any such proceedings. There is too much competition to prevent strife.

Ellis partly explained his attitude toward common meeting houses in other journal entries, once commenting "it is not so difficult to obtain preaching places as it is to have the privilege of forming societies at them. But what signifies the number of preaching places unless we can gather the fruit of our labour." Once after he was forced to move his congregation because of a conflict with the meet-

ing scheduled by the Sons of Temperance, he wrote ". . . no one has full authority of any house but their own. And this affords one reason among many why we should have houses set apart exclusively for the worship of God. . .

Competition between representatives of the various denominations was not confined merely to buildings in which to hold services. When Ellis arrived in Springfield on November 22, 1846, to keep his regular appointment, he learned there was to be a funeral service at the Presbyterian Church at noon. He decided to delay his sermon until 3:00 p.m. The Presbyterian minister then said he was "indisposed and preferred the hour of 3 o'clock." Ellis recorded similar incidents at Springfield on several other occasions.

Such occurrences did not prevent ministers from exhibiting a

lively curiosity about their competitors. The evening after the incident described above, Ellis attended a meeting in the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church. He seems to have missed few opportunities to attend meetings held by other ministers, and many notations in his journals mention preachers of other denominations

-usually Baptist or Cumberland Presbyterian- being in the audience when Ellis preached.

Sometimes he asked the visiting ministers to "conclude the meet-

ing." The invitation occasionally was refused, but the visiting clergymen usually did participate in the services. This sometimes

produced unpleasant results. Once at Millers Creek Ellis found a Baptist minister and three other Methodist ministers present at the time of regular service. Upon invitation, the Baptist minister

preached, taking his text "from St. Peter's declaration." During the administrative session which followed, Ellis received "five proba- tioners into full connection and dismissed one member by letter I suppose to join the Baptist. So the Baptist preacher may judge himself compensated for aught I know for attending of a Methodist meeting at this time."




Criticism of the doctrines and procedures of other denominations

appears several times in the journals. Ellis commented once of the denomination founded by Thomas and Alexander Campbell: . .

Campbellism and Methodism are not twin sisters nay verily they are entirely destitute of the same origin. A mere form of religion destitute of the power of Godliness is like a body without a soul- dead."

Two entries concern a Universalist minister who, after Ellis had finished his sermon at Chickasaw, "gave out an appointment to

preach the next Sabbath at the same place." Ellis stated his dis-

approval in plain terms.

... If his doctrine be true why preach at all it being wholesale business altogether but if false what is to become of the preacher and his deluded followers. I often think of the dutchman's address to one of this order "Be sure if your doctrine does be true I does see no need of preaching at all and if it does be false we has got enough of it."

After his next appointment at Chickasaw, Ellis noted that the Universalist preacher again had been present.

... I was informed he preached three different times the other Sabbath so we may judge that he was pretty full of preach. However one might infer the fountain somewhat exhausted as I have not heard of his preaching since or at least that his doctrine does not gain much notoriety with the people at this place. May this therefore be considered a fulfillment of tie prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah "Yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the Lord."

Such sentiments seem to have been confided to his journal only. Once after a sermon he was told that "several of the Baptist brethren" had been present. He replied that he was "wholly unaware of that fact for I had pruned the vine pretty close. . . ."

Competition for members and money in the small rural settlements by local preachers and circuit riders probably was a principal reason Ellis found financial support a continuing problem. His

journals contain little mention of church finances, but the few entries dealing with the subject indicate poor financial support. One entry notes that he had presented the "claims of the Conference Collection" at Burns but had "received nothing as yet perhaps I

may before my time closes here." In June, 1848, he wrote: "This round I have been engaged in taking up our missionary collection. Our collections have been nothing extraordinary. A great many persons seem to think charity should begin at home. Yes and I




often entertain fears that it remains there/' The situation on his next circuit proved little better. At the

time of the quarterly meeting at Pleasant Grove in December, 1848, he complains that "the financial interest of the circuit [was] but sparsely met."

At the end of his assignment to the Fountain Head Circuit in the sixth year of his ministry, he made a detailed analysis of financial matters:

1. Money advanced for Maysville church lawsuit $2.00 paid over 2. Missionary collection $10.00 paid over at the annual conference 3. No collection for the Bible Tract or Sabbath School Societies 4. Conference collection $8.60 paid over at the annual conference 5. Money collected for the Nashville C[hristian] Advocate and remitted by

me as agent $10.00 6. For the Lady's Companion collected and remitted $2.00 7. My claim $1.00 received and $72. and some cents

Part of the little he earned he gave back to the local churches. A brief, poignant entry on Monday, January 4, 1847, suggests several things about Ellis the man:

This is the only rest day I have now. Received a letter from my sister Mary Ann the first she ever wrote me. I gave today one dollar to a friend to purchase some window glass for the new meeting house at Ebenezer.

The few letters he received were cherished by Ellis and he ex- pressed his pleasure in the journals.

He rarely saw his family and old friends, usually only for a few days before the annual Methodist conference.

Opportunities for rest and recreation were few and ordinary. One Monday, he noted, was spent "pretty much in recreation. My employment innocent I reckon, fishing, etc."

He rode 40 miles on March 26, 1847, to buy books in Nashville and returned to his circuit the same day. He arranged for the Rev. Thomas Martin to substitute for him at Mt. Zion while he was away.

Other than details of his work he found only a few events or persons interesting enough to mention in his journals. "The minds of the people are somewhat agitated here," he noted in December, 1848, at Chickasaw, Alabama, "in reference to the chlorea which is now said to be at Memphis and Paducah." After a familiar com-

plaint about the small congregation, he wrote on August 3, 1849:

. . . This is a day set apart by the President of these United States as a day of fasting humiliation and prayer the design of which is to implore the Al-




mighty God if consistent with his holy will to remove from our midst as a nation that dreadful scourge the cholera which has proven so fatal the present year to the American people. . . .

Politics seems to have interested him little, but he did complain: "Political strife is now raging very high even prejudicial to the cause of God. What a pity that human intelligence would suffer itself to be so far duped/'

The longest entry in the three compact journals repeats an old

pioneer s account of "the perilous times they had with the aborigines in the first settling of this country." Ellis recounts in detail the old man's stories of three narrow escapes from death at the hands of Indians. He also describes how the old settler "in some sort obtained redress in the battle at Nickajack" where, according to the

story, "some 250 soldiers swam the Tennessee river . . . and killed as was supposed about 150 Indians and burned their towns besides

taking several women and children prisoner." Another long entry tells of a conversation with an old woman who

had heard John Wesley, "a small man in stature with a very pleasant countenance," preach at her father's house in England.

But Jesse Ellis' work as a minister was his chief, almost his only, interest. He reported in 1843 at the end of his circuit year that he had preached about 180 times, attended all quarterly meetings, several protracted meetings, and five camp meetings.

A similar report in October, 1848 was more detailed:

1. I have preached 150 times besides sundry appointments 2. About 79 have joined the church on probation and otherwise that is

by letter 3. About 49 have been received into full connection 4. About 38 have been dismissed by and without letter 5. About 28 have been dropped and fourteen expelled from the church 6. Baptised about 43 adults by pouring one by immersion also about

25 children in the ordinary way 7. Organized 12 Sabbath Schools 8. About 65 have been converted under Methodist influence in the

bounds of my work 9. Married two couples

10. Attended three camp meetings, two of these in the bounds of my own work

11. Preached the funeral sermon of 13 adults and four children 12. Read our general rules quarterly

Lesser devotion to religion by others irked him and caused him to doubt his own effectiveness as a minister. During the last two




years of the period covered by the journals he came to feel in-

creasingly unappreciated and discouraged. A few journal entries from the period make clear his emotions:

[January, 1847; Goosepond] How few persons comparatively seem to ap- preciate the responsibility toil and anxiety of those who wish to promote the well being of their souls and thereby the glory of God. [July, 1847; Springfield] It does seem to me I might be induced to seriously doubt my call to the ministry were I witness no more fruit of my labour elsewhere than here. . . . [September, 1847; Spring Creek] I have long since been convinced that this is a hard place to effect much good. I now resign them all to the judge of all the earth who will do precisely right. We preached the best we could I reckon. [September, 1848; Cross Plains] The cause of God suffers here. There is one good man lives in this place were he removed Methodist preachers and Methodism would fare but badly I do expect. There is a Cumberland Presby- terian preacher living here but I have had no acquaintance with him during the year. He may have concluded the jews and samaritans should have no dealings for aught I know yet I will meet him at the bar of God. [December, 1848; Pleasant Grove] O Lord grant that through thy grace I may be more efficient in doing good the present than the past year. Religion is at a very low ebb in this country and Methodism is suffering to a greater or less extent. The Spirit of the world has too much influence. Wealth and aristocracy have taken place of republicanism and magnaminity parties and fiddling and dancing have become the rivals of prayer and true devotion avarice and other henious sins have abolished the sense of moral obligation and importance of religion.

This gradual disillusionment probably was caused by physical factors as well as psychological. As early as February, 1843, Ellis had been seriously ill "of the fever and ague" for about ten days. "I have been afflicted with a cough this camp meeting season," he wrote in October, 1844, "which caused me to labor less than I should have done. My health is still impaired yet I wait patiently for the better. . . . Returned to my fathers and remained about two weeks the most of the time confined to my room. . . ."

Journal entries during the next three years or so make brief references to ailments of the throat and lungs. But such attacks did not cause Ellis to decrease his labors. He noted on October 1, 1847, that after preaching at Providence he went in the evening to Mt. Zion where a meeting was in session. "All the preachers having left but those of the class I had to preach again at night. Notwithstand- ing I have preached once today and had to travel about 15 miles since 3 O'clock in order to reach this place I addressed them the best I could. . . ."




By March, 1849, he could no longer ignore his physical condition: ... As respects my health I entertain some fear this will be the last year I shall be able to do effective work as a traveling preacher if I am able to continue the present year. My health has been gradually on the decline for several years yet not so far as to affect me seriously. But now its declension has assumed a more formidable character. . . .

He suffered another attack of chills and fever with "frenzy some of the time" in September. The illness lasted almost two weeks. It apparently confirmed Jesse Ellis' earlier fears.

He attended the annual conference at Columbia in October and asked for a "supernumerary relation" for the next year. The request was granted and he was assigned as supernumerary on the Union Circuit, thus ending seven years of active service as a circuit rider.

He ended the account of his transfer to limited service with a

prayer: "O Lord grant that under thy kind protection my health

may be restored otherwise I submit to thy will. . . "

Jesse Elhs in seven years as an itinerant preacher proved himself a worthy follower of Peter Cartwright, who had preached on circuits in the same area some forty years earlier. Cartwright, probably the most famous of Methodist Circuit riders, in his Autobiography damned the permissiveness, the lack of fervor, and the unwillingness to endure hardships he found in the circuit riders who came after him.4 But in young Ellis surely Cartwright would have found a kindred spirit.

4 Peter Cartwright, Autobiography (New York, 1941).



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His Spirit Was Willing