The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-14
THE OLD-TIME PREACHERS.
Ready Wit, Rare Eloquence and Jealous
Labors fthe Early Men Of God.
Raper's Escape in Answer to Prayer-Bigelow
Better than All the Bishops-How Whit
ten Settled Church Difficulty.


They passed through dangers and tolls that few
of the present day know anything of, and the
story Of their lives. and of their devotion to the
cause of humanity and of God, would
be of thrilling interest They were quick of wit,
and always ready to expose sham, no matter
where found.
William Cravens was one of these early apos-
ties. He was the first circuit preacher Indianapo-
lis had He was man of great power. and was
possessed Of a keen irony that cut like knife.
The power of granting divorces was then con-
fined to the Legislature, and almost any one who
applied was certain of getting divorce The
preachers were discussing the facility with
which divorces were obtained, and severely de-
nouncing the Legislature, when a member of
that body undertook to defendit. He proceeded
at some length to enumerate causes for divorce
other than are given in the New Testament,
and to show why they were sufficient. After
listening quite while, Mr. Cravens broke in
with, "Aint it wonderful Christ did not think
of thatl' The tone and manner were too much
for the legislator, and he subsidized.
The preaching had strange effects sometimes
upon temporal as well as spiritual affairs Rev.
this kind. When he was boy living near
Bloomington. the preacher one day took for his
text passage from the Song of Solomon,
which reads 'As the apple-tree among the
trees of the wood, so is my beloved among
the sons" With eloquent language. he pct
ured out the apple-tree, with its beautiful
blossoms and luscious fruit, until the mouths Of
his hearers began to water for the Old orchards
of the homes they had left in the East, and to
long for them once again, as there were no
apple trees in this section. So strong was this
feeling upon the part of the senior Harrington,
that the next morning he started Joseph on
horseback to Vincennes, seventy-fve miles
away, to buy some young apple-trees and bring
them back.
The country was new, and the travelling had to
be done with private conveyances and often
times amid great dangers William Wilson was
known as the ''bind preacher He belonged to
the Christian, or Campbellite faith Those who
heard him remember him as man of rare elo
quence. Once he was travelling with his wife
over lonely road in the southern part of the
State. Just as night falling, they heard
q noise at the side of the road, and
his wife discovered Misunderstanding man
with gun pointed at them. In whisper, she
informed her husband, when Mr. Wilson spoke
up in the sad voice for which he was noted:
Friend. can you tell us the way to the next
town. l am blind, and stranger, and fear we
have lost the way The highwayman muttered
out some sort of an answer, and skunk away into
the woods.
William II. Raper was one of the most famous
of those early preachers. While travelling his
circuit, which included all the southeastern part
of Indiana, he got lost in the woods one dark
night, and wandered about for several hours.
AT last he came to a creek. The rain had been
falling for several days, and he knew the waters
must be very high Dismounting, he cropped
along as best he could until he came to what he
supposed was a bridge. He carefully led his
horse onto it. AS he proceeded he felt it
giving under him.. step by step, but he
kept on until he reached the other
bank. A short distance from there he discov-
cred house, and after arousing the inmates OBJ
tanned permission to stay all night. They asked
him how ne had been able to cross the creek,
and when he told them by the bridge, they were
amazed, as he was when they informed him there
was no bridge there nor never had been. In the
morning they went out and found that in the
darkness he had crossed on floating drlftwood
that had become damned. At another time he
had an experience that will furnish nut for
psychologists to crack. While crossing a very
full stream at an early hour morning, his
horse threw him into the water. He was
swiftly being borne out into the rapid current
of the river when he was enabled TO catch an
overhanging limb To that he chung until his
strength was almost exhausted. He was about to
give up in despair, no help was near, when lie
seemed TO hear voice saying: Mother is pray
ing for you, and you Will be saved This gave
him new courage, and making final effort he
reached the bank in safety. On reaching his
mothers house, some days afterward, she told
him she mad had a terrible dream about him.
She said that one morning she was awakened in
a terrible fright. and heard some one saying:
William is in great danger She sprang from
her bed and, throwing herself upon her knees,
began praying for him. This she kept up until
last peace fell upon her spirit, and she
satisfied that her son had escaped from his dan
ger. On comparing the time. it was found to
have been at exactly the time he struggling
with the raging waters hundred miles distant.
The memory of Henry B. Bascom is yet dear
to the Methodists of Indiana He had many
narrow escapes while preaching in thenew coun
try. He was an indefatigable student, and oc-
cupied every moment possible in his
studies. He loved to lie on the ground
beneath the shade Of some giant of
the forest, and, with his book in his hand, study
and mediate. As he was thus lying one day,
he heard voice crying, Lie still. Do not
the point from whence the voice proceeded he
saw friend with his rife pointed at the tree
above him. CHANGING quickly up lie saw huge
panther in the very act of springing upon him.
His friend fired, and the panther fell dead at his
side. AT another time, he stopped at a log
cabin for dinner. While they were eating the
meal little child of his host was playing in
front of the door. Suddenly the mother scream
ed, "Oh, my child" They rushed to the door
just in time TO see a panther bearing the child
into tree, Mr.. Bascom seized a rifle that was
hanging over the door, and, quick as thought,
fired The bullet sped true to the mark, and
the panther fell to the ground dead. The teeth
OF the animal had done their fatal work on the
child, however.
Bascom's eloquence was of peculiar kind. It
was the eloquence of strength. 1t was an ire
sistible power, carrying everything before it,
There was something grand, something wonder
full about it, He was to theology what Webster
WAC to constitutional law. He was the st. Paul
of America Once, while lecturing in Boston,
on infidelity, he had among his auditors old
Father Taylor, who was famous for his eloquence
in the pulpit During the delivery of the lecture
Father Taylor stood by one of the pillars that
supported the roof. He became so absorbed that
ing it gradually as the speaker rose in his elo.
quence, until at last he got it up at arms length.