535-03 Page 10 (1)'While here, the Indians were
„+called together for worship, which
iwas performed in a very simple,,
manner, by reading a short disc
course in their own language, and
singing a few verses of a hymn,
.The missionaries and Indians.
treated us with great respect, and.
seemed to rejoice .n the prospect
of having the Gospel preached to
the white settlers on the banks
of the river below."
Refreshed by their stay at Old
bloraviantown the circuit -rider and
his companion went on their way
Ito a white settlement. At the first
house they saw, Nathan Bangs
rode towards the door and saw
settler working in the yard on .the
other side of the fence. He greeted
him and asked, "Do you want the
Gospel preached here?" Bangs
says that the stranger looked at
him "with curious, earnestness and
replied 'Yes, that we do; do you
preach the Gospel?"' The mission-
ary eagerly said that he did and
.that he was ready to do it the next
T 'ay if he could have a meeting
Ouse. The settler promised Bangs
no use of his house for a church,:
victuals and lodging for the
preacher and provender for his
horse. With the assurance given
that Bangs' companion would be
welcomed also, the .preacher re-
joiced to himself: "This first in.
terview in my new sphere of labor
pleased me much."
Well Received
At once his host saddled his
horse and rode throughout the set-
tlement to summon all the neigh-
bors to a service next day at 10
o'clock. When the hour came the
house was crowded with curious
settlers and Bangs first told his
name, whence he came, whither
he was going and what his errand
was. Also the new minister felt
that he Should Initiate the listen-
ing strangers into the mystery o
the service:
"I am a Methodist preacher;
and my manner of worship is, to
stand while singing, kneel while
praying, and then I stand while I
preach, the people meanwhile sitt-
ing. As many of you as see fit to
join me In this way can do so, and
others may choose their own
method."
After singing led by his com-
panion, Bangs preached.a sermon
in the crowded log house.
"At the end," he says, "when I
kneeled in prayer, they all kneeled
down; such a sight I never saw be-
fore." With a few words _tilling
them how circuit -riders were sup-
ported and their meagre salaries
of 120 'Halifax a year, collected
eery three months, he asked: "All
,£ you who wish to hear any more
ache preaching, rise up." Every
maniwoman and child stood up and
"Bangs; made an appointment for
two weeks later. "Thus," he says,
was my circuit begun."
In Thamesville
The house In which the scat-
tered inhabitants had gathered f
the service was on the large home-
stead of Lemuel Sherman. Part of
the farm is today in the Village
of Thamesville.
When the young preacher had sat
down many of the audience came
up to welcome ,him. Among them
was an Immigrant, a Mr. Everett,
who had known the famous Metho-
dist leader, Bishop Ashbury, seven
years before .when he ,had lived in
New Jersey. He invited Bangs to
visit his clearing 10 miles down the
river at Louisville and to preach
there. So, one of the Everett boys
was sent post-haste on a horse
to notify the families in the lower,
region to come to another service
on. the same day at three o'clock, l;'
met Messmore, ,his German cor-
respondent who had sent the letter
of invitation two years before.
Next day at Messmore's cabin, 21
miles farther west, he preached
gain, and guided by the German
ettler he 'rode another 10 miles
own the river and preached in the
Ouse of an Indian woman, the
widow of a French-Canadian who
had left her considerable .property..
Nathan Bangs described her and
his life in her house:
Then to Sandwich
"She was good, simple -hearted,
earnest creature, and reminded me
of the Shunamite, for she pre-
pared for me in an upper room, a
bed, a table, a chair, and a candle-
stick. In this room, I preached,
and ate, and slept, and no one was
allowed to enter It in my absence,
except to keep it in order. She
never asked me to sit at the table
with her, deeming herself un-
worthy, but prepared the food and
put it on the table in my room. She
considered herself highly honored
by having the Gospel preached In
her house, and she treated me in
this way during all my stay In this
country, When I:' parted with her
the nextday after my first visit,
in shaking hands with me, she left
a dollar in my palm. It was much
neded, for. I was nearly out of
money.
"The next day we traveled, partly
through a scattered French settle-
ment and Partly through a prairie,
50 miles, to Sandwich, a small vil-
lage opopsite Detroit, where I
preached in the evening."
At Sandwich he preached to the
prisoners in the jail: Most of nis
audience were French-Canadians
Bnd were unable to understand him.
ut there was one among them who
understood him; he had been con-
victed of horse -stealing and for that
crime was sentenced to be hanged.
Bangs brought "hope and com-
fort to him in his extremity," al-
though the consolation was not so
great m to prevent the young.
penitent from clinging to the
Preacher with a breaking heart as
his last and only friend. When the
minister sadly went away from the
gallows he says that he "could not
but reflect upon.. the severity of that
criminal code which condemned
a man to death for stealing a
horse. Such undue severity, in my
opinion, instead of preventing
crime, tends to harden the heart
and promote crime."
From other sources than Bangs'
diary the writer has learned that
the minister gave his sermon in
the court room of the Old Court
House and Jail is Sandwich. The
date was August 15, 1804. The con
demned prisoner was lodged in the
same building. However, execution
of the sentence of hanging for the
crime of stealing the horse did not
take place in the jail but on the
brow of a hill. at Sandwich, at one
time near Mill street, and later at
Russell street.
The record of an early punitive
instruction stated:
"Murderers, horse and sheep.
thieves shall be hung in some pub-
lic thoroughfare in full view of
passersby until the flesh rot from
their bones."
A special iron framework to
make possible the entire fulfillment
of this gruesome sentence was in
the possession of the sheriff of the
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school teacher. In September
1800, he commenced preaching as
a traveling Methodist minister:
While preaching on the Niag.
ara circuit, from the Grand Riven
to Long Point, he received. a let- extending from Mesa Township tario now lies a cemetery. And
ter from a German Anabaptist in Middlesex County, on the east,la memorial to David Sherman
named Messer near -Chatham, to Detroit in the west. He marks the exact site.
asking him to bring .his preach- preached in all the settlements - In Same Region
ing to settlers in that area. It was throughout this region. The barn, too, .which was used
1804 before the minister found His journal records that, on: in 1813 as a military hospital,. was
an opportunity to do so. August 15, he preached in the -also located where the cemetery
Arriving at a settler's cabin on court room in Sandwich where now lies. It was moved from this
the bank of the Thames, he
leaned over the fence and asked thief about to be hanged.- Thamesville where it burned in
the settler: "Do you want thel Unveil Cairn 1929.
Gospel preached here?" In addition to 'tNe special The barn'9 timbers bore the
Cabin Filled church service. tomorrow, a me- carved names and initials of men
"That we do," answered the morial cairn will beunveiled inlof the Kentucky Rifles who were
settler, Lemuel Sherman. And the afternoon at Nathan Bangs treated there for their injuries
the next day, August 12,. the Memorial Park on Highway 21 following the battle with the
house was filled for the servicelat the bridge over the Thames. forces of Proctor and Tecumseh
Hof worship.. Where the old Sherman cabin gat Moraviantown. The Americans
Nathan Bangs remained in the, stood on that day when Method-i also wintered in the barn during_
crew for some tame, his circuit'. sm got its start in Western On -'the following winter. --.+
A great-greatniece of Mrs. Nathan Bangs attended the service at Thamesville
yesterday which honored her great -great -granduncle, the first Methodist minister
to preach in this area. From left to right, the Rev. Levi Hussey, chairman of Kent
Presbytery; the Rev. R. P. Bates, pastor of Thamesville United Church; Mrs, Harry
S. Johnston, the great-greatniece; and the Rt. Rev. Dr. A. A. Scott, moderator of
the United Church, look over papers telling of the arrival of Nathan Bangs at
Thamesville. (Free Press Staff Photo.
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Nathan Bangs, Methodist saddle -bag preacher, held
his first service in the Thamesville area-150 years
ago. The coming of Nathan Bangs will be com-
memorated at Thamesville tomorrow.
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