The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-09-27
A BUSH MEETING.
How the Mountaineers Go to Church In
West Virginia.


West Virginia.
There are church buildings in the viii
lagos, but the villages are few and far
apart, and in this particular place the
custom was for some preacher to spring
as 1t were out of nowhere and to an
nounce bush meeting by means of a
written placard nailed to tree by the
spring. 1t was to be held at o'clock
In certain patch of woods, so com
monty and frequently the sc enc of
made of planls nailed to tree stumps
We're always there, and kept in good
order, apparently by a devout noun
taineer who lived in the nearest cabin.
The meeting lasted less than an hour.
but the people made it the affair of
day. They came from as far as the
news of the meeting had been carried
by the equestrians and wagoners who
had refined up at sight of the placard
and halted ito see what's a-goin' on"
Some, therefore, had been obliged to
set out soon after breakfast-and that
would not make long journey where
six miles of road may loop over the top
of tremendous mountain, up which
the horses crawl and the more humane
men lead instead of riding the IN. Be
fore noon the wagons began to come
in. Bars were let down at various
points near the camp ground, and the
SreeInS We're tethered to the trees in
half a dozen scattered parts of the
woods. The wagons We're such as one
sees all over the land, made in Racine,
Wis, or South Bend. Ind, or Gorilla nd,
n. y. Out of them came men and wo-
men, girls and boys. and even babies.
BY noon nearly all the worShipers
were on Misunderstanding from hitching
place to hitching-place TO see who had
come, and to gossip with friends and
acquaintance. 1t is wonderful how far
and wide men are known to one an
other in these mountains
The interchange of visits was FOL
lowed by return of each party to its
wagon for picnic dinner upon what
ever had been brought along-cold corn
pone principally. When all the wor-
shippers gathered at the buSh-meeting
it was seen not to be very different
from a northern camp meeting, such
as one sees in New Jersey particularly.
The men wore soft felt hats and Ion g
boards, and seemed never to have
con- bed their hair. The women had
on broad-brimmed black straw hats,
such as was told a mountain woman
is able to keep and use for Sunday
best for quarter of a century The
boys looked boldly at the girls, and the
girls looked slyly at the boys out of
the tails of their eyes. The sudden
rafting of a wagon among the trees,
followed by a loud whoa there oc-
casionally sounded above the prayer
and song. Some of the men who came
without women stood away from the
worshipers, smoking and talking as
countrymen converse, in broken sem
fences wide apart, with the fractures
filled up by vigorous tobacco-chewing
The preacher was woman-a Mrs.
Lawson. of kentucky, the celebrated
evangelist" She brought young man
with her to open with prayer" and
to pass around his hat, and after his
prayer she delivered an address, which.
if it We're right to pass judgment upon
it, | should declare to be the most
noisy and the least thoughtful sermon
or talk that ever heard, There was
singing before and after her address,
and it was noticeable that though the
young man had to sing nearly the
whole first verse entirely alone, the
people afterwards sang the remaining
verses, though there was not book or
printed copy of the hymn in the forest
In the eastern part of the state,
nearer to Virginia, | found that the
circuit-riderS still ministers to the re-
ligious welfare of the mountain folks.
There are neat little white and gree n
church buildings in the valleys, but
they are opened only once a month.
About as often as that. and in some
cases regularly, the oircuit-rider sends
word of his coming to the elders or
deacons, or puts the notice in the
country paper if one is published near
the Westinghouse, and on the given
day he appears on horseback, with a
few extra belongings and his Bible
and song book rolled up behind him on
his saddle. Wherever he breaches he
has large meeting, and he boards
round" with the religious families in
the old time honored way.-Julian
Ralph, in Harper's Magazine.