The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-10

me notable address of DR.. John A
rice at the celebration of the centen-
arv of Methodism in Alabama at Court
street Methodist Church. was upon
subject at once picturesque and rich
in possibilities-"The Old Time Circuit
Ridsr."k
out of 1t Or. Rice drew an able and
forcefuI discourse. A large congrega-
tion heard him and hung upon every
word OF the mastery address. DR.. Rice
? said:
rae OLD TIme Circuit Rider.
III we had been In Bethel Church,
Charleston. o. c.. sixty-five miles from
my native home. late Saturday evening,
January 2, 1908, two years before my
father was born, we would have seen
an old bachelor standing before a con-
gregation OF earnestly expectant
preachers and others. reading out a list
OF men and places. When he reached
the Oconee District, we would have
heard among others. "Tombecbee, Mat
thew p. Sturdevant." Bishop Asbury
had called for volunteers to go to this
settlement more than 400 miles. thir-
teen days away. It was a perilous jour-
ney along dim trails. through painless
forests. across swollen creeks and riv-
erB without bridges or ferries, among.
fierce savages and ferocious beasts. 1t
meant sleeping now in the rude hut of
wan Of the friendly Indian, now per-
haps drenched with rain and pinched
with cold. hungry and exhausted. alone
in the woods whose awful silence was
broken only by "the howl Of the wolf.
the thud and growl of the bear. the
scream OF the panther" or the whoop
of the cruel warrior. And yet this
young man, only three years in the
ministry. far from robust stood up by
himself and said he would go.
And what was this Tombigbee? Let
DR.. West answer: 'It was section of
country upon the Tombigbee river,
about seventy or eighty miles long,
the Alabama to Woods Bluff, sparseiy
settled with families of several nation
alities mostly English. There was not
ct this time q road leading to this
wilderness settlement from any direc-
tion. Nothing more than horse-path.
a trail. led to that region from any
quarter. The Indians. savages that they
were, owned and occupied the country
onsaiI sides. The Creek Nation was on
the very border of this settlement, and
owned and hunted on all the land as
far east as the Oconee river, thirteen
days travel, as Lorenzo Dow found It.,
from this settlement. In the very bor-
ders of this settlement west was an
unbrolxeu wilderness to- the Natchez
country, to travel across which re-
ouired seven or eight days, where the
Choctaw Indians roamed in savage life.
Rough huts built of boards, rude cabins
made of logs, with puncheon or dirt
floors. constituted the homes OF most
OF the citizens. The fields in cultiva-
tton were but scanty clearings. The
lands occupied were held in different
sorts of tenure: French reservations,
British claims. Spanish grants. Indian
titles, Deadenings and Settlements con-
stitufed the basis of individual land
claims. How tangled and precarious
were rights and titles. and how con-
ducfve was this tangled and preca-
rfous state to drift and change on the
part Of the settlers. The mills were
rude and few. The articles OF food
were few, simple and coarse. Tools
and utensils were scarce. The house
hold goods in many cases were scanty'
the entire possessions meagre. Some
had come to the country with no more
than one OK could draw in a rolling
hoRehead. All had brought their goods
in rolling hogsheads or on pack -horses.
The settlers themselves were adven-
turers. Many of them were tories and
criminals who had resorted to this sec
zion as a retreat from the penalties OF
their crimes. Many OF them had come
into this region to be free from law and
order"
such were the people, about thou
sand in number, considered by Asbury
important enough, and by Sturdevant
attractive enough. to undertake to
evangelist them at such hazards. And
now see him, this old time eircuit rider.
HIS long journey complete, as he reins
IN at a rude hut door and calls. Hello,
hello. the house" His horse Is a hard
travelled scrub pony. A pair of leather
saddle bags, hang across the back of
nm ordinary saddle, bulging out with a
Bible, hymnal, a few other books and a
scanty wardrobe. A rather feeble
young man. In his twenties, dressed in
hoSasspun, clerical coat and vest but
toned up to the chin, clean shaven.
asks the favor OF food and shelter for
himself and horse. Rested and refresh
ed, he tpquires about the country and
the people. There was not a church Of
any kind in what is now Alabama and
no Protestant preacher had ever been
haen there except the eccentric Lorenzo
1ow. He gets the family to send word
20 all IN reach that he will preach there
that night and the neighbors gather,
some out OF curiosity some to soon,
some to gossip, some for amusement,
game IL may be. to renew the memories
Of Auld Lang Syne when in the old
hoene back in Georgia, the Carolinas or
Virginia, or across the waters, they
had yielded to the gospel call. He
delivers his message, and leaving an
appointment to preach there again he
goes in quest of another preaching
place. He found a few scattered Meth :
odists whose homes became centers OF
work. Ere long q line Of appoint