Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-04

eminent in ability the men may be who uu-
dertake il or how large may be their zeal
and energy The period from 1860 TO 1866
which measured Bishop Talbot's career in
this western country, wac one Of these. The
financial depression which followed the
panic OF 1857 almost depoDulated Nebraska.
and the infant church was nearly strangled
In its "borning ! believe that Bishop Tai
bot accomplished everything that anyone
else could have done and that this energy
and zeal perhaps preserved what little Of the
church there was in this trying time. His
jurisdiction embraced also an immense area,
sf which Nebraska was a small part. He
may therefore be called a preserver, rather
than a pioneer. What was done during his
FIRST two yeare is shown in the paper TO
which ! have already referred. published in
1862. ! will quote the salient features
Bishop Talbot reached his jurisdiction
April "a, 1860, landing FIST at Nebraska
City. He found here st. Mary's parish
organized with the Rev. Eli Adams for its
rector. and a beautiful church nearly com
pleted. Thence he proceeded to Omaha
where was Trinity parish with its neat, sub
stantial brick church, the Rev. George w.
Watson being its rector Q Journeylng
through the length OF the inhabited part
Of his Jurisdiction, the bishop found in
many settlements lubSt WIZ CIV 80
TO the church by former ties, particularly at
Plattsmouth. Bellevue and DeSoto, and
cheered their hearts by assurances that he
would care for them. He proceeded as far
north as Fort Randall, 400 miles above
Omaha " " " AT AraEn in the extreme
southern part Of Nebraska the Rev, DR..
Massock wac laboring among the Germans.
g p 6 The Rev. J. II. Keller was just
commencing his labors at Denver, Colo. Such
was the force which the church two years
ago had in the wide field of the northwest
"a diocese extending over one million square
miles. Nothing at all commensurate with
the Importance Of the work could in two
years be accomplished. The great energy
and wise zeal of the bishop and his clergy
have done something. St. Mary's at Nebraska
City has been completed > . Trinity
in Omaha has in spite Of many difficulties
on the whole prospered. DR.. Massock has
at Arago built a church which is
well filled. At Bellevue St. James
has been organized > = %emaha
and Plattsmouth have been made
missionary stations " " . At Decatur the
Church of the Incarnation has been organized
$ . " At Vermilion, in Dakota,a church
has been built 8 " > Mr.. Kehler's work
in Denver has developed into st. Johns in
the Wilderness $ = . The bishop has
bought a valuable estate near Omaha for q
church school. A large building is on II
well fitted to that purpose. 1t will probably
be opened in the fall. The bishop has a
occasional services held by him in almost
all the towns in Nebraska, reclaimed to the
! church many who had wandered from the
fold . " The seed has been widely
sown and the Father will surely gather it.
cishop ClarksOn.
There was little change in the above rec
ord down to the period when Bishop Talbo
preached his farewell sermons and intro
duced his successor TO the few devoted souls
which then constituted the church in Ne
braska. The limits assigned this paper have
been now so nearly reached that only th'
briefest reference may be made to the wori
and services of Bishop Clarkson. But it il
not required. Ample records of his career
are preserved, and the evidences OF hi
achievements exist on every hand.
The general convention of 1865 divided tn
jurisdiction Of the northwest and DR.. Clark
son was elected missionary bishop of Ne
braska and Dakota. He commenced his worl
ia the spring of 1866, taking up his resi-
dence in Nebraska City. He early realized
however. that Omaha should be the .cente
of church work ana removed 10 that city a
the end of the year. The church increased
wonderfully under his influence and care
and reached proportions in the short spac
of two years to justify the creation OF a sep
arate diocese fer Nebraska, which was au
2 thorized by the general convention of 1861
The primary council was held IN Omaha j
September, 1868.
] We have seen with what small force blsho
| Clarkson took up his work. At this priGnar
b council it had grown into fifteen parishes an
e seventeen missions. Al the council held !
= May. 1883. the last at which Bishop Clarkso
4 presided. the numbers had grown to thirty
n six parishes and forty-six missions
n This is the brief and terse record OF HI
achievements as given in Bishop Perry's his
d tory OF the church.
e 1.-The creation Of an fer tn
episcopate, the erection OF a noble cathedra
the establishment of the diocesan school
y and the rapid development OF missions mi
= parishes make the episcopate OF Blsho
- Garrison q noble memorial of a goodly' en-
b. erpetic and beloved father in Cod A sti
d nobler memorial Is that established by hi
h in the hearts of his people, evidenced /
= every old church family by the familia
s portrait of him which hangs on the wal
= of their homes.
e Chancellor Woolworth. writing in Is!
r with a clear insight into and intimate az
Is ouaintance with the character OF blsho
g Clarkson, said of him:
II T him the diocese was a splendid &c
main full of great possibilities. So far Wa
i he from making little of his field that
p magnihed it greatly. His buoyant splr
carried him always beyond the measure
means and gains which commonplace me
count trivial. He ~rejoiced in what he ha
TO do as if it were the largest and most cor
spicuous work the greatest bishop under
took. II you think this strange of him an
wonder at his overestimate of some thint
and despite OF others, remember that IL NJ
always been so with the great missionarle
Their work has always been a beginning AZ
most Of them have seen generation aft'
generation pass away before men would CIV
them credit for any gains. So it was VIII
ST. Paul and all the other apostles OF who
1t is not irreverent to say our bishop was
successor in spirit as well as in orders
CONNUnIALITIEs.
IL, Ar,hgball I{pnal LINDSAY who