The Conference of 1852 was held at Fond du Lac, Sepst, and was presided over by Bishop Ames. This was the first Conference held by the good Bishop after his election to his high office. The visit was also the first the good people of Northern Wisconsin had enjoyed from a Bishop of the Church. Both parties appeared delighted with the acquaintance.

On the Sabbath preceding the session of the Conference, the new Church in the upper town was dedicated by the Bishop, the preachers of the Conference generally being in attendance.

At this Conference I performed my first labor in the Cabinet. I felt the responsibility to be one of great gravity, but sought to bear it in the fear of God. In fact, the adjustment of the appointments had been the subject of careful thought and earnest prayer during the last three months of the year. From the first I felt that the adjustment of the Ministers and their work required the nicest discrimination and the most absolute self-abnegation. Resolving to discharge my duty fearlessly, and yet fully in the spirit of the Golden Rule, I entered upon the responsibility. Whether I succeeded or not, is a matter I have referred to the day when “The Books” shall be opened.

There were but few changes made in the appointments in the District, as I then cherished, as I have since, the conviction that changes, other than by limitation, should only be made for grave reasons.

Fond du Lac was divided into two charges, Rev. M. Himebaugh, of whom a record has been made, being sent to the North Ward, and Rev. Ezra Tucker to the South Ward. The year in both charges was generally prosperous.

Brother Tucker was a new man in the work, and entered upon his labors with great zeal. Having the new Church, and the inspiration usually experienced in such cases, he was encouraged with an extraordinary promise of success, but before the expiration of the year he fell sick, and was compelled to suspend his labors. After resting two years he was again able to resume work. He filled several appointments thereafter in the Wisconsin Conference, and then removed to Minnesota, where, on both stations and Districts, he has rendered effective service.

Rev. Jabez Brooks was appointed to Oshkosh, but as he was still needed in the Professorship he had formerly held in the Lawrence University, I changed his appointment. Brother Brooks subsequently filled out the balance of Brother Tucker’s year at Fond du Lac, and was then stationed at Jackson Street, Milwaukee. He was subsequently made President of the Hamline University, and at the present writing is Professor in the State University of Minnesota. Dr. Brooks, for such is his present title, is a prime man in every respect. Scholarly, logical, clear-headed, kind-hearted and diligent, he is a general favorite, wherever known.

During this year a Camp-Meeting was held on the District. The ground selected was Father Bower’s Grove, on the east shore of Lake Butte des Morts, six miles above Oshkosh. The meeting was held June 8th, 1853. The attendance was good, there being ten tents on the ground, and there were fifty conversions.

The year closed pleasantly, and on my way to the Conference, to be held at Baraboo, Aust, I attended a Camp-Meeting at Lodi. The meeting had been appointed with a view to intercept the Bishop and the Preachers on their way to the Conference. The attendance was large and the meeting spirited. Bishop Scott came early in the week, and before Friday night there were not less than sixty-five Preachers in attendance. After preaching twice, the Bishop left on Saturday, as he was to dedicate the new Church in Baraboo on the Sabbath. As it was desirable also for the Presiding Elder to go forward with the Bishop, I was requested to remain and take charge of the Camp-Meeting until Monday. I consented on condition that the Bishop would take the clergy with him to the dedication. I selected a few men from the Fond du Lac District, and a few others from the vicinity of the meeting to remain with me, and the balance mostly went with the Bishop.

The change in the state of affairs, as I anticipated, was felt immediately. The Laity, who must always form the basis of a successful meeting, now came forward and took hold of the work. On Saturday night the Spirit fell on the people in great power. Before the conclusion of the sermon it was manifest that there would be, to change the reference, an abundance of rain. In the Prayer Meeting which followed, not less than thirty souls were converted. On Sabbath the meeting went forward with great spirit. But the climax was not reached until Sabbath evening, when, at the close of a sermon by Brother Himebaugh, the whole audience seemed to respond to the invitations of the Gospel. The Altar was thronged and the adjacent seats were filled far back into the congregation. It was impossible to tell how many were forward as seekers, or how many were converted, but those immediately engaged in the work, expressed the belief that not less than one hundred persons passed into the Kingdom of Grace.

The meeting had now received such momentum that it was impossible to close it on Monday. It was put in charge of brethren who were not immediately needed at the Conference, and was continued nearly the entire week.

On this trip to the Conference, I was permitted to enjoy the companionship of Rev. N.J. Aplin, who rendered signal service in the meeting on the Sabbath.

The Conference at Baraboo was one of unusual interest. The greetings of the Preachers were cordial, as they always are where persons make sacrifices and put forth labor in a common cause. It was the first visit of Bishop Scott to the Conference, and his urbanity and self-sacrificing labors endeared him to all. The business of the Conference was done in the spirit of the Master, but an unhappy trial made the session a very protracted one. This being the second year of my Presiding Eldership, the Disciplinary limit required several removals, but I need not give them in detail, as they can be ascertained, if desirable, by consulting the Minutes.

On our return from the Conference we reached Fall River on Saturday evening, and remained there over the Sabbath. On arriving at the forks of the roads on the crown of the prairie, the several Preachers who were in company halted for a proper distribution among the good people. Rev. A.P. Allen, the inimitable joker, who had served as Pastor on the charge, installed himself master of ceremonies, and proceeded to divide up the company. After assigning the balance to their respective quarters, he said, “Now, I guess the young Presiding Elder and the old Pastor had better go to Aunt Martha’s, as that is the place where they do up the chicken-fixings scientifically.” We were delightfully entertained by Rev. E.J. Smith and family, with whom, it will be remembered, I became acquainted in 1845. On Sabbath morning, accompanied by Brother and Sister Smith and their daughters, now Mrs. Pedrick and Mrs. Coe, of Ripon, we attended religious services at the school house in Fall River, where the serving fell to the lot of the writer.

At the beginning of the new year, special attention was given to the finances in the several charges. And during the first round the work was planned for the winter campaign. Fixing on the localities where I could render special assistance to the Pastors, it was arranged to commence the services with the Quarterly Meetings, and if the work should require more than the following week, I could return after the succeeding Quarterly Meeting had been held.

The first meeting was held at Appleton, Rev. Elmore Yocum being the Pastor. This noble man, one of the excellent of the earth, came to the Conference in 1849 by transfer from the North Ohio Conference, and was appointed Presiding Elder of the Platteville District. At the close of his term, he was stationed at Appleton, where his family could enjoy special educational advantages. At the end of two years he was made Presiding Elder of the Appleton District, and at the close of his term went to the West Wisconsin Conference, as he had become identified with the Educational Institution at Point Bluff. Both as Pastor and Presiding Elder Brother Yocum was deservedly popular.

The meeting at Appleton awakened intense interest. The good work grew upon our hands from day to day, until the business of the village was largely suspended during the hours of religious service. All classes fell under the good influence, and both students and citizens shared in the result. One hundred and thirty souls were converted.

The next meeting was held at Sheboygan Falls. As I drove into the village, the severest storm of the winter was raging, and by Sabbath morning the snow was two feet in depth. During the following night the winds piled it into drifts that made the roads nearly impassable. What was to be done? The prospect certainly looked dubious. But it occurred to me that a little preparation for the meeting would be of service, and this could now be done before the crowd should rush in upon us. We decided to go on. Illustrating the saying, “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” the good people opened the streets in the village, and a small congregation was brought together. The Spirit of God came down in sweet, melting influences, and, under the Divine inspiration, the faith of the Church grew strong. Before the end of the week the place was filled, and souls were being converted.

The Pastor was Rev. R.W. Barnes. And as soon as the meeting was well established, the Pastors of the other Churches, Rev. Mr. Marsh, of the Congregational, and Rev. Mr. Lull, of the Baptist, came in with their people. They were received cordially, and set at work as opportunity offered. Besides these, several of our own Laymen gave themselves almost wholly to the work. Among these, Rev. L. Cheeseman, a Local Preacher, and E.T. Bond, Esq., a merchant, deserve special mention. Too much cannot be said in praise of these lay workers and the Church generally. With their Pastor, they were instant in season and out of season. After the regular labor of the evening was concluded, it was no uncommon thing for them to organize a second meeting for such of the seekers as had not obtained a satisfactory evidence of conversion. Here, in prayer and Christian Conference, they would labor until midnight, and in some instances until the dawn of day. The shout of victory usually signalled the close of the meeting. A more thorough work than this I never witnessed. I left the meeting twice before its close to attend to my work elsewhere, and was brought back by a messenger. During the meeting one hundred and fifty souls professed conversion, and among them were both men and women, who have since shown themselves to be valiant soldiers for Prince Immanuel.

The next meeting was held in the South Ward charge, Fond du Lac. The Pastor, Rev. E.S. Grumley, who had been appointed to the charge at the recent Conference, entered the North Ohio Conference in 1842. He had been stationed at Lower Sandusky, Bucyrus, Ashland, Shanesville, Ohio City, Tiffin, Sandusky City and Norwalk. Since his transfer to the Conference in 1851, he had been two years at Council Hill. After filling his term in Fond du Lac he was, for a full term, Presiding Elder on Racine District. After leaving the District he continued to hold respectable appointments until 1871, when his health failed and he was compelled to take a superannuated relation.

Brother Grumley was a man of small frame and apparently of feeble health, yet he was able to do effective work to the last. He had a sound head, and a heart equally sound. He was a good Preacher, and a superior Pastor. Revivals usually attended his labors, and he was always highly esteemed by the people.

The meeting at Fond du Lac immediately followed the one at Sheboygan Falls. With my family I left the latter place in time to reach Fond du Lac at noon on Saturday. But through detention I was just driving into the city as the bell was ringing for the service. Hastily caring for my horse, I went immediately to the Church. Before the services were concluded, I saw evident assurances that the Pastor had been making careful preparation for the work before us. The opening sermon was addressed to the Church, and found a ready and hearty response. Before the Quarterly Meeting had passed, it was manifest that a glorious revival was impending. Seekers of religion came to the Altar and found a prepared Church to lead them to Christ. The meeting went on from night to night, and before the end of the week, each night brought scores of seekers. The good Pastor was now at home. In prayer, in exhortation, and in labor at the side of the seeker, he was a tower of strength. Among the laity there were also several excellent laborers, who rendered valuable services in the meeting. The revival reached all classes, from youth to old age, and gave to the Church many reliable accessions.

At the beginning, sister Churches joined largely in the meeting, but as the work extended among their people, they opened meetings at their own places of worship. The change, however, did not check the revival. It swept on through the community, and all the Churches shared in the harvest of souls.

During this year Sheboygan was also favored with a revival. Rev. N.J. Aplin, the Pastor, came to Wisconsin during the previous year. He came from Western New York, where he had been engaged in business, bringing a note of introduction from Rev. Moses Miller, my uncle, who had been for several years his neighbor. I employed him at once, for the balance of the year, at Charlestown, a new charge that I had just formed. He was admitted on trial at the ensuing Conference, and appointed to Sheboygan.

After leaving Sheboygan, Brother Aplin’s appointments have been: Manitowoc, Waukesha, Brookfield, Watertown, Beaver Dam, Oconomowoc, Berlin, Geneva, Sun Prairie, Sharon, and Clemensville. At the last named place, he is still rendering the cause effective service. Brother Aplin has been a successful man, and has seen, at various times, extensive revivals under his labors. He is a man who “seeks not his own but the things of Christ.”

At Sheboygan he was assisted in his meeting by Fay H. Purdy, Esq., of Palmyra, N.Y., with whom he had enjoyed an acquaintance in the East. Brother Purdy had already become distinguished as the “Lawyer Evangelist.” Under the united labors of these devoted and earnest men, there was a great quickening in the Church, and though the population of the town was largely German, there was an accession to the Church of forty members.

It was during this Conference year the celebrated Greenbush Camp Meeting was held. The meeting was held in June, 1854. The people came in great numbers, and many of them were fresh from their revivals at home. On invitation, Brother Purdy came to the meeting and brought with him, from Western New York, Rev. Amos Hard, Seth H. Woodruff, Esq., and several others. The meeting was one of great power. Large numbers of professing Christians entered into a new consecration to God, and many souls professed conversion. Throughout the week, the meetings continued to increase in spiritual interest, but culminated in the services of Sunday night. After the close of the sermon, seekers were invited to the Altar. Then followed prayers, singing, and Christian testimony without intermission, until the morning light broke upon the encampment. The prayers of the penitent and the shouts of the saved greeted every hour of the night. The voices of prayer and song did not cease until the meeting was closed on Monday.

Nor did the formal closing of the services in the grove close the meeting. It was now adjourned to the school house in the village, where the services were continued with unflagging interest. But there now came an interchange of labor. Whenever it was necessary to look after domestic affairs, the meeting was left in the hands of others, and on returning its duties were again resumed. Thus by these changes there was no cessation of the meeting throughout Monday, Monday night, and a portion of the following day. This meeting is still referred to with great interest by those who were permitted to participate in its thrilling exercises.

The Pastor of Greenbush at this time was Rev. A.M. Hulce. He was a young man in the work, having been received into the Conference at its last session. Both himself and good lady were fully engaged in the work, and greatly assisted in perfecting the arrangements for the meeting. Brother Hulce was a well-read man, a good thinker, and earnestly devoted to his work, but his health was not equal to the toil and exposures of the Itinerancy. After laboring a few years he was compelled to retire to the local ranks, in which position he still holds an honorable place.

Other charges than those mentioned also shared in the revivals of the year, giving a net result for the District of nearly one thousand conversions. My labors throughout the year were severe, making an average of nearly seven sermons per week.

The Conference for 1854 was held at Janesville, and I was returned to the District for a fourth year. Several changes of Ministers were made, several new fields were opened, and six new men were brought into the District.

Omro was one of the charges to claim my attention at the beginning of this year. It had now assumed considerable importance, it being the home of the Brother Cowhams. James M., the elder, was the Recording Steward, ranking among the most efficient I have ever known, and John M., the younger, was a leading spirit in all Church work, becoming subsequently a Local Preacher of most excellent standing.

The Pastor of the charge was Rev. T.C. Golden, who entered the Conference in 1850, and had been stationed at Cascade and Sheboygan Falls. He was a man of mark. Of a vigorous mental development and logical cast, he early became an able Preacher and commanded a leading place in the Conference. After leaving Omro, he was stationed in Fond du Lac. He was then transferred to the West Wisconsin Conference, and stationed at La Crosse, after which he served several years as Presiding Elder with great acceptability. At the present writing he is a Presiding Elder in the Upper Iowa Conference. Dr. Golden, for such is his present title, has made a most gratifying record.

A Quarterly Meeting held at Brother John M. Cowham’s during this year, is remembered with great pleasure. This dear Brother had built both a house and a barn of large dimensions, and the meeting, to be held in the latter, awakened general interest throughout the circuit, bringing together a multitude of people. Every house in the neighborhood was filled with guests, and the balance, not less than fifty in number, were entertained at what was called the Cowham Mansion. But great as was the outpouring of the people, the manifestations of the Spirit were still more extraordinary. Under the preaching of the Word, the Holy Ghost fell on the people. The shout of redeemed souls and the cry of penitents, “What shall I do to be saved?” commingled strangely together. And yet, out of the apparent discord, there came the sweetest harmony. The minor strains were lost in the rapturous pæans of the major movement, as each seeking soul received “the new song.” The days of the Fathers seemed to have returned to the Church, when, under the Pentecostal baptism, believers fell to the floor, and multitudes were saved in a day.

It was during this year that I was called to experience a severe trial in the death of my dear father, which occurred on the 30th day of May, 1855. After remaining at Waupun six years, he removed, in 1850, to Waupaca, where he purchased the lands comprising the site of the present village, laid out the town and erected a lumber mill. Soon after his arrival he opened religious services, preaching the first sermon and organizing the first class. In due time, others came to his assistance, and a small Church was built. Waupaca having been taken into the regular work, my father now visited the adjacent neighborhoods and established religious meetings, preaching usually two or three times on the Sabbath. Not a few of these early appointments ultimately became the nucleus of independent charges.

My father’s illness was brief. In the latter part of the winter he met me at my Quarterly Meeting at Oshkosh, but, to the regret of the people, he was unable to preach. He felt that his work was nearly done, and in referring to the matter, said: “I have no occasion to feel anxious about it, since, through Divine help, I have been permitted to preach, on an average, about two sermons a week for thirty years.” I visited him two weeks before his death, and found his mind tranquil and his Faith unwavering. When I enquired as to his state of mind, he said, “It is like a sunbeam of glory.” He continued in the same satisfactory frame, until he passed over the river to join the white-robed throng in the Heavenly realm. The multitudes who gathered with tearful eyes around his grave, gave but a fitting expression of their high appreciation of a noble life.

The labors of my first term as Presiding Elder were now drawing to a close. Though my labors had been arduous, yet such had been the kindness and co-operation of both Preachers and people, I felt an interest in them. During the four years the District had nearly doubled its strength, and was now ready for a division.

Feeling that it was due to myself, being so young a man, and due to the Church also, that I should now go back to station work, I favored at the Conference a resolution asking the Bishop to appoint no man to a District for a second term until there had been an intervening service of two years on circuits or stations. The action of the Conference doubtless, sent me to a station instead of a District.