Page 39 - History of UB Church by A. Funkhouser Ver 1
P. 39
Benjamin Stickley was unique. The Virginia Conference never had but one "Uncle Ben," and will
never have another. Before conversion it was his special delight to annoy the religious gatherings of
Christian people. He would not raise a disturbance himself, but would induce others to do so by
bribing them with plenty of whiskey. The more fuss he could make the greater his fun, although he
would keep himself out of sight. When he was converted at a camp meeting he had two bottles of
whiskey in his pockets. His whiskey was a free treat to his rowdy comrades. He did not sell it to
them as camp meeting roughs have done in later years. When Stickley was converted, he was
converted through and through. All his chums in wickedness were forsaken. His still was at once
given up. Although he could hardly read his text or his Scripture lesson, he began holding meetings
every Sunday, sometimes riding forty miles to reach an appointment and get home. Stickley was
poor, he had a large family to support, and as he received nothing from his preaching he had to
work hard to keep the wolf from the door. He thus worked several years before he was received
into the conference. He was always sent to the mountain circuits, which were large and whose
people were poor. He had to travel and preach nearly every day in the year and got little for his
work in a pecuniary way. Yet singing and praying he would go away from conference and home,
and at the end of the year would report more souls gathered into the church than was true of any
of his co-laborers. He had a powerful voice and Bachtel said of one of his sermons that it could
almost be heard in hell. Stickley was the first missionary sent across the Alleghanies into the
bounds of what is now the Parkersburg Conference. What is now West Virginia was then in great
part an uninhabited wilderness. The mission circuit covered three hundred miles, with preaching
nearly every day in the year. But a good report was always sure to come, even if there were little
money to mention. Stickley was a missionary here at the time the Methodist Episcopal Church split
on the slavery question. Excitement was up to the danger point. One day while he was passing the
office of a leading lawyer of the town of Weston, the lawyer called him in, saying: "I want to talk
with you. Be seated," Stickley asked what was wanted. "There is great excitement on slavery
between the North and the South," was the reply. "The great Methodist Church has split, the nation
is also going to divide, and it is all important that every citizen take his stand and show his colors.
We all want to know which way you are going." Stickley responded with one of his most pleasant
smiles, naming the ends of his mission field: "I go up here north as far as the town of Fetterman,
and south as far as Steer Creek. If you and your niggers don't get religion, you will all go to hell
together." The lawyer had nothing further to say. Stickley was known to be an uncompromising
Union man. When the civil war broke out and the Southern feeling became intensely bitter, Stickley
was thrown as a traitor into a filthy prison. He soon became broken-hearted and his glorious
manhood was squelched. When liberated, he sacrificed his farm and other property, left the home
and friends of a lifetime, and migrated to Iowa, where in no long time he died, never recovering his
former spirit and ambition. After preaching a sermon at Washington, Iowa, and asking the people
to sing a hymn, he died in the pulpit. In 1847 George Hoffman was still a local preacher, though
still an elderly man. He was the senior member and had traveled a circuit before the old conference
was divided. He did not now go home and do nothing, but regularly attended the quarterlies and
the annual conferences, preaching whenever asked. For some years he was the conference book
agent, serving without a salary and getting only a small commission on his sales. He thus made
himself a most useful man and was much a factor in shaping the policies of the church. Hoffman
had little education and was not a great preacher, yet he had great influence, having the faculty of
impressing himself and his opinions most powerfully on both ministers and laity. He had very
decided convictions as to what was right in the affairs of the church, and he had the backbone to
stand up to his convictions. Splendid common sense and a great fund of practical knowledge were
his, both in worldly matters and the affairs of the church. Hoffman was a very helpful associate,
and the ruling authorities of the church called him much into their councils. He was also most
companionable, being a fine talker, full of anecdote and thrilling incident connected with his long
and useful life, and he had the happy faculty of relating these things in an interesting way. Many
was the time, when the writer of these reminiscences would go to Hoffman's house, and work hard
all day, perhaps cutting and hauling in firewood, so that the old gentleman might go with him to his
quarterly meetings in and across the mountains. For Hoffman was acquainted with every path and
every home, and was loved and respected by all the mountain people.
Chapter X 39 Reminiscences of Some Early
Preachers
never have another. Before conversion it was his special delight to annoy the religious gatherings of
Christian people. He would not raise a disturbance himself, but would induce others to do so by
bribing them with plenty of whiskey. The more fuss he could make the greater his fun, although he
would keep himself out of sight. When he was converted at a camp meeting he had two bottles of
whiskey in his pockets. His whiskey was a free treat to his rowdy comrades. He did not sell it to
them as camp meeting roughs have done in later years. When Stickley was converted, he was
converted through and through. All his chums in wickedness were forsaken. His still was at once
given up. Although he could hardly read his text or his Scripture lesson, he began holding meetings
every Sunday, sometimes riding forty miles to reach an appointment and get home. Stickley was
poor, he had a large family to support, and as he received nothing from his preaching he had to
work hard to keep the wolf from the door. He thus worked several years before he was received
into the conference. He was always sent to the mountain circuits, which were large and whose
people were poor. He had to travel and preach nearly every day in the year and got little for his
work in a pecuniary way. Yet singing and praying he would go away from conference and home,
and at the end of the year would report more souls gathered into the church than was true of any
of his co-laborers. He had a powerful voice and Bachtel said of one of his sermons that it could
almost be heard in hell. Stickley was the first missionary sent across the Alleghanies into the
bounds of what is now the Parkersburg Conference. What is now West Virginia was then in great
part an uninhabited wilderness. The mission circuit covered three hundred miles, with preaching
nearly every day in the year. But a good report was always sure to come, even if there were little
money to mention. Stickley was a missionary here at the time the Methodist Episcopal Church split
on the slavery question. Excitement was up to the danger point. One day while he was passing the
office of a leading lawyer of the town of Weston, the lawyer called him in, saying: "I want to talk
with you. Be seated," Stickley asked what was wanted. "There is great excitement on slavery
between the North and the South," was the reply. "The great Methodist Church has split, the nation
is also going to divide, and it is all important that every citizen take his stand and show his colors.
We all want to know which way you are going." Stickley responded with one of his most pleasant
smiles, naming the ends of his mission field: "I go up here north as far as the town of Fetterman,
and south as far as Steer Creek. If you and your niggers don't get religion, you will all go to hell
together." The lawyer had nothing further to say. Stickley was known to be an uncompromising
Union man. When the civil war broke out and the Southern feeling became intensely bitter, Stickley
was thrown as a traitor into a filthy prison. He soon became broken-hearted and his glorious
manhood was squelched. When liberated, he sacrificed his farm and other property, left the home
and friends of a lifetime, and migrated to Iowa, where in no long time he died, never recovering his
former spirit and ambition. After preaching a sermon at Washington, Iowa, and asking the people
to sing a hymn, he died in the pulpit. In 1847 George Hoffman was still a local preacher, though
still an elderly man. He was the senior member and had traveled a circuit before the old conference
was divided. He did not now go home and do nothing, but regularly attended the quarterlies and
the annual conferences, preaching whenever asked. For some years he was the conference book
agent, serving without a salary and getting only a small commission on his sales. He thus made
himself a most useful man and was much a factor in shaping the policies of the church. Hoffman
had little education and was not a great preacher, yet he had great influence, having the faculty of
impressing himself and his opinions most powerfully on both ministers and laity. He had very
decided convictions as to what was right in the affairs of the church, and he had the backbone to
stand up to his convictions. Splendid common sense and a great fund of practical knowledge were
his, both in worldly matters and the affairs of the church. Hoffman was a very helpful associate,
and the ruling authorities of the church called him much into their councils. He was also most
companionable, being a fine talker, full of anecdote and thrilling incident connected with his long
and useful life, and he had the happy faculty of relating these things in an interesting way. Many
was the time, when the writer of these reminiscences would go to Hoffman's house, and work hard
all day, perhaps cutting and hauling in firewood, so that the old gentleman might go with him to his
quarterly meetings in and across the mountains. For Hoffman was acquainted with every path and
every home, and was loved and respected by all the mountain people.
Chapter X 39 Reminiscences of Some Early
Preachers
