CHAPTER XXXII
PLANTING THE CHURCH IN THE NORTH-WEST.
IOWA AND OTHER FIELDS.
[pg 336] The beginnings of the work of Cumberland
Presbyterians in Iowa before the close of the third
period (1842) were so small that it has seemed best to
reserve the history of the origin of the church in that
State for this chapter.
When David Lowry, in 1834, planted his mission in Iowa,
the whole of that country except some small settlements
was occupied by Indians, though treaties for its cession
had been agreed upon. There were no Protestant churches
on Iowa soil. At the points where Indian agents were
stationed there were United States troops and some French
families.
Mr. Lowry organized the first church of our people, and
the first Protestant church in Iowa, in 1834. It was
composed of soldiers, officers of the United States army,
government employees, and a few Indians. When the Indians
and soldiers were removed that was the end of the
organization.
Iowa was organized as a separate Territory with its own
Territorial government in 1838. Three years before this a
Cumberland Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Joseph Howard,
settled among the emigrants in Iowa. The next year, May,
1836, the Rev. Cyrus Haynes traveled in this country and
organized a church in Mr. Howard's house. Counting Mr.
Lowry's organization at the mission, this church in Mr.
Howard's house was the second Cumberland Presbyterian
congregation in Iowa. At the organization of
[pg 337] this church Mr. Haynes baptized Mr. Howard's
infant son. That son is now the Rev. J.S. Howard, of
Oxford, Mississippi.
In 1853 the Rev. J.G. White was laboring in Iowa as an
independent evangelist, that is independent of any salary
from church boards. The first camp-meeting of which
mention is made was held by him and B.B. Bonham, August
1843, at Mount Pleasant. Thirteen professions were
reported.
Like all the pioneer congregations in the new
Territories, each of these Iowa Cumberland Presbyterian
Churches embraced a large area, requiring several
preaching places. In 1844 the Sangamon Synod ordered J.G.
White, B.B. Bonham, Joseph Howard, and J.M. Stockton to
constitute the Iowa Presbytery. In 1846 there were nine
congregations represented in this presbytery.
In 1848 the Rev. Neil Johnson rode the circuit in Iowa,
and received from the settlers two hundred and fifteen
dollars for his services. There were then six ordained
ministers (one had been deposed), and twelve
congregations in Iowa Presbytery.
All through this early period there were in Iowa many
Mormons and Catholics. Ruffianism was everywhere. Whisky
and pistols, outlaws and murderers, mingled with the
heterogeneous mass of emigrants. It required preachers
with sterling courage to make their way in the midst of
such a population. Men like J.G. White seemed to enjoy
such hardships and perils. The Rev. John Cameron and the
Rev. Wm. Lynn are also mentioned among the pioneers of
Iowa,(7) but no facts or incidents
connected with their work have been secured. The Rev
Benjamin Hall was among the successful laborers in that
field.
It was a favorite scheme of David Lowry to concentrate in
Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota a strong home missionary
force. One of the warmest debates ever heard in the rooms
of the Missionary Board at Lebanon, Tennessee, was on
that question. That debate is mentioned in Dr. Richard
Beard's diary, and he speaks in terms of the. deepest
mortification and regret about the failure of Mr. Lowry's
plans. Several of his letters, written to Lowry, on this
subject are preserved.
[pg 338] In 1856 the board commissioned the Rev. J.C.
Armstrong to go as missionary to the North-west. It was
Mr. Lowry's wish that the missionary should begin his
work at Prairie du Chien. Taking letters of Introduction,
this young man, just out of the theological school, set
out for his first field of labor. The Rev. J.M.B. Roach,
who was appointed to accompany him, failed in health, and
Armstrong went alone. On his arrival at Prairie du Chien,
he found little but ruins. The town and Fort Crawford
were gone. The church where General Zachary Taylor had
regularly attended Mr. Lowry's preaching was gone. Only a
few settlers remained.
A citizen of Iowa, named P.C. Balsinger, was a sporting
gentleman, who kept race-horses, and who was wealthy.
Armstrong had a letter of introduction to C.C. Balsinger,
and, supposing this person to be the one intended, he
presented his letter. Mr. Balsinger read it with a look
of scorn and wrath, then tossed it back to Armstrong,
saying: "Sir, I am not the man; this man lives away
down on Turkey River." Armstrong, after some further
conversation with him, set out for Turkey River. He found
the right Balsinger this time, and met a most cordial
welcome. This man was the father of the horse-racer, and
was a Pennsylvanian who had been converted at one of John
Morgan's meetings.
The missionary appointed a camp-meeting at Mr.
Balsinger's. When this meeting began the races at
Colesburg were going on. Great crowds of people passed
the encampment, going to the races. Armstrong, though
without ministerial assistance, went bravely on with the
daily services. Monday, the fourth day of the meeting, a
strange scene was witnessed. Loaded wagons began coming
in from Colesburg, and kept coming. All these wagons
brought tents, provisions, and families, coming to attend
the camp-meeting. Among others who came was the sporting
gentleman, P.C. Balsinger, with his family. When the call
for mourners was made, Mr. Balsinger, the horse-racer,
rose and made a talk. He said he had been under
conviction ever since he read Armstrong's letter of
introduction, and was now determined to seek his soul's
salvation. Then, turning to his seven sons who had come
with him to the camp-meeting, he asked the people to pray
for him and his boys. He found the Savior that day, and
his conversion gave new life to [pg 339] the meetings. A
great revival followed. The converted horse-racer was a
man of great liberality. Each day he would mount the
pulpit and invite everybody to come and eat with him at
his tent.
Out of this meeting grew the Hopewell church, which
Armstrong organized, making P.C. Balsinger an elder
therein. This elder made a large-hearted and faithful
worker for Jesus. At this meeting the wife, daughter, and
two sons of a Roman Catholic were converted. Almost at
the risk of their lives by the enraged drunken husband
and father, they joined the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church.
On an Indian pathway, at some springs in the prairie,
there had grown up a little village called Waukon.
Thither Armstrong next directed his steps. His work there
was owned of Heaven, and many souls were converted. In
September, 1856, he organized the Waukon church with
thirty-one members. When the missionary left this field
in 1859, Waukon congregation had built a house of
worship, and paid for it.
In July, 1857, through Armstrong's importunities, the
Rev. P.H. Crider was sent by the Missionary Board to his
assistance, Armstrong guaranteeing missionary money
enough from Iowa to meet the salary. In this arrangement
his trust in the pioneers was not disappointed. The
following letter gives a glimpse of Mr. Armstrong's
labors in this field:
Waukon, Iowa, September, 15th, 1856.
The prospects are still bright here. My strength failed
after I wrote last, and I closed the meetings. But as the
interest was still great in the town, I afterward resumed
the work, and we had meetings four nights, resulting in
five conversions, making in all twenty-nine. Our little
band, organized the 21st of August, now numbers
forty-four members. Owing to the want of a house, we have
not had our meetings regularly, but will resume them
again tonight.
On Thursday next I will start again for Colesburg, sixty
miles distant, and will hold a meeting in that
town. ... Waukon is improving very rapidly. Our Sabbath
School is ably conducted. The number in attendance
yesterday was 114, with increasing interest. The Maine
Law is enforced to the letter in town. The Temperance
Association has 200 members. We have a joint stock of
seven thousand dollars to enforce the Liquor Law. Nearly
sixty houses were built in all in 1856. [pg 340]
Colesburg is a larger town than Waukon, and much older,
but Satan has had almost supreme dominion in that
community. The Protestant churches there are not much
mole than a name. They have been daubed with untempered
mortar. The truth startles them, enraging some, and
breaking down many. Members of the different churches
were seen crowding to the anxious seat, and crying for
mercy at our late revival. Pray for us, for we are a
needy few, often assailed and persecuted.
J.C. ARMSTRONG.
In 1857, Armstrong and Crider, and the Rev. Joshua
Loughran, of Wisconsin, organized the Colesburg
Presbytery, extending from forty degrees north latitude
to the North Pole. In 1858 the Rev. D.A. Houghton came
into the Cumberland Presbyterian Church from the
Congregationalists, and took charge of the upper Iowa
mission.
In these missions the pioneer preachers suffered many
privations, and were often exposed to danger. Once
Armstrong was shot at while in the pulpit preaching. At a
camp-meeting a mob came to kill him, but others gathered
to his defense and he was unhurt. He says he often went
where there was danger of being killed, but God took care
of him. He was never harmed. The pioneers contributed
liberally to his support.
In Iowa at this time (1886) there is one small Cumberland
Presbyterian synod composed of three small Presbyteries,
with an aggregate of seventeen ordained ministers and six
licentiates, but no candidates. In that field, and
everywhere, the perpetuation and growth of the church
demand that the money and the prayers of our people be
devoted to raising up a home supply of preachers.
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