The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-05-29

| State
The player at once began the same mel
ody. All through his playing he had kept
up running comment. When initiating
| the birds and wild animals, he talked of
| them; when he changed TO the wild and
| weird strains he spoke of war and battle,
| but now it was of the home and the fire
side. AS he played in response to the re-
quest he began singing the very cradle song
the mother of the York State man had sung
to him in his boyhood days.
| Then he changed once more, and this time
| TO some of the tunes of the church, and
| these he played with such depth of ex-
| preston that they touched all those hard
! hearts. When al last he let the instrument
| fall from his shoulder the owner of the
| cabin who was the leader of this band of
| outlaws, for that is what they were in real
| ity, spoke up and said: stranger, / sed
| awhile ago that you could not preach here,
but If you want to preach, all here shall
| stay and listen to yer and if airy one of
| them says a disrespectful word he will hev
| to settle with Jake Killian, and they knows
| At this the preacher began singing the
| song, then new, but that will never grow
| DID, Jesus Lover of My Soul" AT its
| conclusion he said that his text consisted
| of five words only, and they were words
they could all easily remember, and If they
| would remember them, and get them fast
| ened in their hearts all their lives would
be frightened by them. The words were
God So Loved the World" He began his
| sermon by telling of the warnings he had
| received when he announced his inten-
| tions of coming into that neighborhood to
| preach, and that ne mad Deen tOlQ MS lie
| would be sacrificed, but he had not feared
| to come among them, for they were Ameri-
| cans, and although their lives may have
been rough, and they may have committed
| crimes, il was not his business to inquire
| anything as to their past; il was their fu-
| ture he was interested in. He preached and
they listened, and at the end he was IN
| vited to remain all night, and the leader
| of the band said that If ne would remain
| the next day and preach again he would
send word and have a larger number to
1 haar i'm He n al not
day, but for several days, the result being
the breaking up of a gang that had long
terrorized large part of Indiana and
part of Kentucky.
Many other similar stories can be related
| of him. At that time there were few, IL
| any, in Indiana who had been accustomed
to instrumental music in the churches, and
| to very many the violin, or fiddle, as it was
universally called, was looked upon as
being an agent of the devil. Especially was
this the case among the Methodists and
| QuakerS. Rolfe had added a violin to the
meager luggage he carried with him, but
did not use it only on rare occasions.
AT one time he was to preach in what is
now Wayne county. Nearly all the set
tiers of that section of the Territory were
either Methodists or Quakers. During the
afternoon a conversation arose on the sub
/ ject of music. All present joined in the
most vehement denunciation of the fiddle
as a device of Satan to win away unwary
souls Mr.. Rolfe was present, but did not
join in the conversation. The preaching
was to be at .early candle lighting in a
II.
The only light to be had on such occasions
was from lantern or two. Mr.. Rolfe had
his fiddle with him, and during the day
managed to conceal it in the barn.
The congregation began to gather but
Mr.. Rofe could not be found. AS was then
usual, as soon as two or three were gath
cred together at Methodist meeting some
one started to sing one of the familiar
hymns while others of the congregation
were coming in. During one of the pauses
in the singing from somewhere in the dark
L 90 N
plaintive, so full of expression that none
who heard could tell from what instru-
they had ever heard before. The tune was
one familiar to all Methodists; it was one
used in their worship, and so sweet was it
that ii won its way to the hearts of the
entranced listeners.
With hardly pause the music changed to
another of the favorite hymn tunes and
this time 1T seemed the instrument was
actually sounding the words. Again it
changed, and this time it was the music of
hymn that was an especial favorite in
those days, although now lost from the
hymnals:
80. Heavenly King look down from above
Assist us to sing thy mercy and love-;
Thou still art bestowing, and giving us more
The early Methodists were an emotional
people. and before the first stanza was
through audible shouts of praise were going
up from various parts of the building and
as the music proceeded, first one voice and
then another took up the words until the
whole congregation was singing with a
feeling and JUNCTION hitherto unknown to
them. The music passed rapidly from one
hymn to another, the congregation taking
| it up and singing the words Presently
there was a pause, and then when the
music began once more it assumed a strain
of plaintive and earnest pleading, and all
recognized the hymn
Come ye disconsolate. wher'er We languish.
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel.''
BY this time sobs mingled with the
shouts of praise and the voices of the sing
ers as they took up the strain When the
music reached the stanza-
Here speaks the Bread of Life; see waters
| flowing
Forth from the throne of God. pure from
Come to the feast of love; come. ever knowing
Earth hath no sorrow but heaven can remove -
it changed its character from plaintive
| pleading to earnest exhortation and So al
controlling were the strains of the jnstru-
ment that the voices of the singers changed
in harmony. The music died away the
congregation was in tears. and Mr.. Rolfe
| came forward from the darkness and pro-
nounced the benediction, saying that he ha d
preached his Sermon. He had indeed, for
no sermon in mere words no matter how
eloquent, could have produced an impress
| sion so profound.
In 1913 Mr.. Rolfe disappeared from Indi-
ana lie started out one morning to go
never heard of afterward. A few wears
later a party of pioneers were forcing their
way through the forests into what is now
Fayette county, when, lying at the foo,
OF a giant elm, they found the skeleton
! they recognized to be that of a white man
The cleft in the skull made by the toma-
hawk was plainly discernible Not far
| away was found pieces OF a broken violin.
They had never heard of Mr. Rolfe but
they gathered up the bones and gave them
decent burial. About 1870 when the las
OF the Indians were about to be removed
from the State, under the direction of Gen
| John Upton, in one of the wigwams he
found an old copy of Wesley hymnal. On
making inquiry he found that ii had been
| taken from a white man that had been
| killed many years before on the White
water. 1t had in II the name of John Rolfe
Thus the mystery Of the disappearance OF
| the "Fiddling Parson' was solved.