Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1858-09-18
OPENING DISCOURSE
OF DIR. THOS. 5. WILLIAMSON, o" ~
occasion of the formation Of the N' %
Presbyterian synod Of Minnes"'"' -
81 Raul Sanfeu.ber q. lS5S.

And thou shalt remember all the way WY" no
the Lord thy God led thee. '-pk' rh"'''
MANY have wondered, that SO large part
of the Book which God has gwen Us as ou'
guide to Eternal Life, should oe ms'orlcai
and so little of it preceptive. Inc ie"eo', Vi
this is however easily Seei' IL VIC ieineiiice'
that history and parallels make oeePer I'M
preston on the mind than precePtS, anu 'lia'
i,,o, a,, and lose their souls, not so much
frnn, lack of knowledge, as from failing to
leon that which they know, wildly present
before their MINDS
When we view Gods providence in gov
ernnc the world we are often constrained to
feel the force Of the declaration of Paul. The
weakness of God is stronger than men, and
the foolishneSS of God is wiser than men,
When He would overthrow the kingdoms of
tins world, and establish the kingdom OF His
Son on the ruins thereof. He chose for this
purpose, not kings and generals, with their
soldiers, nor the learned philosophers, and elo
Quent orators of Greece, and Rome, nor
scribeS. doctors of the Law of God, the
priests and PhariSeeS honored for their
piety and knowledge of the Sacred Scripture
but some fisherman of Gallee, a publican
and A physician He would thus manifest
His own wisdom and power, by using the
weak things of this world to overthrow the
mighty and men thought to be foolish, and
unlearned, 10 confound the wise and learned
Some hence infer that learning; the dgent
study of Gods word. and all the helps to right
understanding o. the same are useless. To
show that this is not the case, He chose after
the other apostles one brought up at the
feet of Gamalie, and well instructed in both
Grecian and Jewish literature, and made him
most extensively useful in extending his king
dom among the GentileS, and the author of
4 larger portion of the new testament than
any other man. God, in His providence
about one hundred and eighty years ago, sent
Hennepin. a learned Franciscan Recollec, up
the Mississippi in a canoe from the mouth Of
the Illinois 10 about the lower end of this
city, and made use of him to make known to
the civilized world the existence of the Da
kota Nation, and name the Falls of Saint
Anthony; and within the following CEN
fury. the Sioux were visited not only by
many traders but by priests of the RomiSh
faith. some of them learned Jesuits, who re-
GREETED that they were unable to establish
themselves among them. These men con-
graduated themselves on having baptized
some dying children, but do not profess
to have preached the gospel to adults:
Nearly century and half after the time
of Hennepin Fort Smelling was visited by
a Mr.. Coe. from Northern Ohio 1t is proba-
BILE that he there preached the first sermon
ever preached in Minnesota, and strongly
impressed the minds of those who saw him
that he was good man, but not very wise
in regard TO the things of this world. In
company with some traders, he started up
the Minnesota river, and when Sabbath came
he remained alone in the woods, while his
III.
the Sabbath, he tried in vain to find the boat
or his way to Traverse DIES Sioux, and when
nearly starved to death was found by some
Dakotas whom the traders had sent to look
for him. OF the object or result of his visit
to Minnesota, further than stated above, we
are not informed. AS far as Fort Smelling.
he was accompanied by Mr.. Jedediah Ste
venS, for some years an assistant missionary
among the Ojibways and Stockbridges, and
subsequently licensed to preach and for sew
eral years Missionary among the Dakotas,
and more recently in Southwestern Wiscon-
sin among the whites.
So when He would send His gospel to Min
nesota, and men to tell the Dakotas in their own
tongue of cructied Saviour, He selected for
this purpose first not Doctors Of Divinity,
nor those trained up under these for preach
erS and teachers, but two young men who
had scarcely ever seen the inside of Col
leee, or Academy, educated in common
school of Connecticut while earning their
bread by laborng on a farm, or in factory,
ana whose store Of theological lore was OBJ
tiincl from the instructions of piOus moth
er. raading the bible and attending on the
common preaching of the gospel. They were
sent not by any Church or Missionary So
ciety, but by the Spirit of God, to people,
and place of which when they left home
they had no knowledge. He who sent them
gave them favor i'll the sight of the heather
and officers of the United States and though
they lad experience of fatigue and hunger
and siiffering from cold, he provided for them
often IN such a way as to make it manifest
that it was the God of Elijah that fed them
To alG and encourage them i'm their work He
was pleased to send a pious officer, Captain
Looms, to Fort Smelling, and in answer to
his prayers and theirs, while there was no or
dained ministers nearer than Prairie du Chen,
to pour out His spirit and convert several of
the 'ol,,iers and two of the officers. Officers
OF Ia Roman army on several occasions rem
derel very important service to the apostles
and some of the earlier converts and brightest
examples of faith and holy life were centu-
rions.
SO it has been in Minnesota l shall
not attempt to name all whose sense of JUS
tee and zeal in the service of their country
has lei them to render us important aid but
must not omit the first convert, the faithful
efficient officer, the lovely consistent Christian
Ogden, who, after serving the Saviour for
twenty years, fell victim to his excessive
labors to relieve the sick of his command at
Fort Riley; nor the beloved physician, Dr.
Turner, who also has been called home to his
rest much less the older and Jealous Loomis,
ever ready both by words and actions to show
his love to the Saviour. He still tabernacles
in the flesh, as we see by the monthly ac-
acknowledgement of his contributions to almost
every society for the extension of the Re
deemers Kingdom. At the organization of
the first Christian Church organized in Min
nesota, at Fort Smelling, he was chosen rul-
ing elder in the same, and acted efficiently as
such till hiScountry required his services else
where. This Church was organized in June,
1888.
Previous to this, Missionaries of the A. B.
c. +. NJ. had been laboring among the Ojib-
was, and gathered church at Lapointe, now
Bayfield,, in Wisconsin and as early as 1882,
Mr.. f. +. Ely commenced missionary labors at
Sandy Lake, and the next year the Rev. w.
L. Boutwell, did the same at Leech Lake. but
it does not appear that church was gathered
by them at either of those places, or any con-
verts made among the Ojibwas in Minnesota
TILL about the year 1886, when station was
established by the Rev. F. Aver at Poke
CANA, where church was soon gathered
which f1ourished for time, and was minis.
tered to by each of the brethren mentioned
above, who have subsequently labored among
the whites as well as Indians of Minnesota
Being imperfectly acquainted with them, and
other Missionaries who have labored, and
some of whom are still labOring among the
Ojibwas, shall not speak of them further
lest do them injustice, but speak chiefly, if
not entirely, of. the doings, and sufferings,
and providential deliverances of those sent to
labor among the Sioux OF them can speak