Fire in My Bones: Memoir and Journals of Brother Joseph Hewitt 1811-1888

By Donald Weir

This book is the personal journal of Joseph Hewitt, a profligate and degenerate young Englishman, who was powerfully converted by the power of the Holy Spirit, an experience he describes as a fire in my bones. He joined the Primitive Methodist Church, where he was commissioned a lay preacher and sent to America to preach the gospel to the Cornish miners on the American frontier. Brother Hewitts journal is a day-by-day record of a circuit-riding preacher in the nineteenth century, the era of slavery, the Civil War, and Lincoln. He traveled on foot, on horseback, and by buggy through Wisconsin blizzards and floods, often preaching several times a week. Read his journal; it may kindle a fire in your bones.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490860336

Donald Weir

Donald A. Weir was born on a Minnesota farm in 1928. While growing up in the depths of the Great Depression, he attended public schools, and later earned a BA in English and an MDiv in theology from the University of Dubuque. Commissioned as a chaplain in the US Navy, he served for twenty-two years, which took him to four continents and seven seas. He is retired and living in Maitland, Florida. His memoir, Heretic Son was published in 2013.

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Copyright © 2014 Donald Weir.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-6034-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6035-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6033-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014920777

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/23/2014

Contents

Foreword

Chapter One    My Birth And Boyhood

Chapter Two    To America. To Work.

Chapter Three    Converted By The Holy Spirit

Chapter Four    Beginning The New Life

Chapter Five    Return To England

Chapter Six    Return To America As Missionaries

Chapter Seven    First Assignment: Platteville, Wisconsin

Chapter Eight    Annual Conference 1855

Chapter Nine    The Protracted Meetings

Chapter Ten    Dissent Among The Brethren

Chapter Eleven    The Fourteenth Annual Conference

Chapter Twelve    The Ways Of The Primitive Methodist Conference

Chapter Thirteen    Indians, Slaves, Civil War, Lincoln

Chapter Fourteen    Eighteenth Annual Conference 1862

Chapter Fifteen    Backsliding: The Devil’s Work

Chapter Sixteen    A New Beginning

Chapter Seventeen    Historical Notes

Chapter Eighteen    Gifts From God And Man

Chapter Nineteen    Typical Days In A Preacher’s Life

Chapter Twenty    Ups And Downs In Mazomanie

Chapter Twenty-One    Assignment: Grant Circuit

Chapter Twenty-Two    Travel To The Eastern States

Chapter Twenty-Three    Back To Preaching

Chapter Twenty-Four    The Fire In My Bones Burns On

End Note

"But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word

or speak anymore in his name’,

his word is in my heart like a fire,

a fire shut up in my bones.

I am weary of holding it in;

indeed, I cannot."

Jeremiah 20:19 NIV

"In consequence of reading the Book of Books,

prayerfully reading it upon my knees,

imploring the Holy Spirit to give me the true

meaning, storing its sacred contents in my head,

it became like a fire in my bones."

Brother Hewitt

Foreword

I first saw the Hewitt journals in 1952 or 1953 while I was the student minister of the Congregational Church in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, where Brother Hewitt had preached more than eighty years earlier. Following a dinner at the home of Genevieve King, a member of the church and the great granddaughter of Joseph Hewitt, she brought to the table three 8x5 hardbound, handwritten ledger books, her great-grandfather’s handwritten journals.

The ledgers showed the wear of 100 years. The content was in the handwriting and idiom of nineteenth century England. I was immediately stunned by the content, style and historical significance of Hewitt’s writing and life story. Some of the pages are nearly illegible due to handwriting, archaic syntax and the ravages of the years. See photocopy following this forward.

Ms. King asked if I would be interested in transcribing and publishing this remarkable and historical treasure. As a full time seminary student and weekend pastor, I was not able to read or study this work at any length due to the these demands on my time, however in the ensuing 60 years the memory of the journals remained firmly fixed in my mind.

Now retired, in January 1999, I contacted Ms. Jeanne Mahony, the only person I still knew who resided in Mazomanie, and inquired if she had knowledge of the books. Not only had she heard of them, but also she was Curator of the local historical society, now the custodian of the Hewitt journals.

Ms. Mahony informed me that the latter two of the three journals had been transcribed on a typewriter; however, the first volume existed only in the hand written original. It was also my understanding that the Wisconsin Historical Society had microfilmed the journals. I begged her for the opportunity to transcribe Volume I, and in response to my impassioned plea, she graciously arranged for me to proceed with the task. I received the first volume of the journals on January 30, 1999.

Transcribing Hewitt’s hand was a formidable but exciting task. The covers of the book had been worn through and reattached with masking tape. The first entry in the journal is dated August 11, 1848, now 166 years ago. The paper is yellowed and brittle. The ink is faded badly on some pages. The vocabulary, spelling, syntax and style are all of the mid-nineteenth century, and often required a magnifying glass, and several minutes time to read a single word. Brother Hewitt’s hand is sometimes flourishing, sometimes crabbed. An occasional word is my best guess based on context and my growing familiarity with his vocabulary and style. Specifically, Hewitt did not often capitalize the first word in his sentences, a correction which I took the liberty of making, so subsequent readers will easily note the division of sentences, no small task for the transcriber. The spell-checker on my word processor went wild with the arcane spellings used at that time; e.g. he never capitalized christian; he used single consonants where current usage uses double (surround/suround) and the past tense of verbs is indicated with apostrophe d rather than ed of current usage. On several pages the ink was so badly faded that it was nearly impossible to read, however, a powerful light and glass forced it to give up most of its secrets. The paper is very brittle, and great care was used to avoid damage to the book. The photocopy mentioned above will give the reader an appreciation of the original work.

Slavery, the Civil War, and the assignation of Lincoln were contemporary with the events of recorded herein.

It has been a joy to discover this remarkable servant of God and bring to publication such a vivid record of his life, the times, customs and adventures on the Wisconsin frontier during the middle of the nineteenth century.

BLESSED BE THE MEMORY OF BROTHER JOSEPH HEWITT.

Maitland, Florida

March 2014

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Chapter One

MY BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

B elieving it to be my duty to God, the Church of Jesus Christ and the world at large, I this day commence a sketch of my life, and intend, God being my helper, to record those circumstances and events which have, or may transpire in my history most calculated to awaken sinners, edify believers, and spread the honors of my great Redeemer’s name. May He whose glory I seek bless me in this attempt, and those with whom it may come in contact. Amen.

I was born in Birmingham old England the shortest day of December 1811, and was taken to Liverpool when three years old, where I remained for 14 years. My father was what is called a respectable manufacturer and storekeeper. He had a liberal education, was fond of reading, his mind was of superior order, but he turned it to an unhappy purpose. He read avidly the works of Tom Paine, Voltaire and other infidel writers and drank deeply of their poisonous works. He could talk politics fluently, point out defects, mend old laws and make new ones to govern all but himself. He was rather witty and sarcastic, and generally he brought his artillery of satire to bear pretty heavily against inconsistent preachers. He could look at the faults of others through a magnifying glass, but was not very careful to rectify them in himself. His infidelity led him to dissipation and folly. The town tavern with its sinful attractions, intoxicating liquor and wicked company was the place of his evenings’ resort. I remember the distress it caused Mother, his being away so much and staying out so late. Sometimes she would send me to look for him at ten or eleven o’clock at night and bring him home if possible. On those occasions, I was much pleased with the appearance of the tavern or drinking parlor. The walls hung round with striking pictures a blazing fire in the winter, the table covered with jugs and glasses and pipes and tobacco. The seats occupied with what I then thought jovial fellows, but more properly speaking, idiots. One would take the lead in singing a drunkard’s ditty, and all the rest would join in chorus and when finished, knock it down with their fists and stamp with there feet. At another time, some one would crack a joke and all would shake their sides with laughter. Then somebody else would relate an awful or wonderful story that occurred on land or sea, or had its origin in their own fruitful imagination, and all would be staring with astonishment. I thought if ever I get to be a man, I will enjoy myself just as these are doing. The example of my father and the force of circumstances made a powerful impression on my mind and gave a ruinous bias to my passions. It was the custom of those days to keep a barrel of ale in the cellar. Such was the delusion of those times that people thought it as necessary to do so, as to keep bread and meat and potatoes. Once in while it came to my turn to go and draw some in a pitcher for dinner or supper, and intuitively acting on the principal what was good for the old ones must be for the young, I would drink a considerable draft before I brought it up so that in the process of time I had acquired a habit of drinking and a strong inclination for alcoholic stimulants. Nothing could be more injurious to circumstances and character to body and soul.

When about seven years old, while playing in the street nearly opposite our residence, a large water side or dock cart with three heavy horses came along. The first horse knocked me down; the wheel passed over my ribs and broke some of them on the right side. The cart weighed twenty-five hundred pounds. It was a mercy I was not crushed to death instantly. A God of providence interposed, my life was spared and in a few months I was restored to health and strength. Being of a very buoyant turn of mind and passionately fond of sport or games of any description, it was the hardest task in the world to learn my evening lessons, and most unpleasant, to be obliged to go to school. Many a time I have envied the birds their liberty as they were flying wherever they wished. Many a time I have envied the boys and their employment, driving their dung carts along the street whistling. I thought everything and everybody was happy but me because I was compelled to go to school. How foolish are children in this respect and how blind to their interests in after-life. As a mater of consequence, I made little out in learning, which has been a source of humiliation and regret, and measurably retarded any usefulness. When I was about ten years of age another very serious accident befell me. According to a corporation act, Dole Street in which we lived, had to be widened. The old houses had to be torn down and new ones of a more spacious and beautiful kind built. We were required to move to the opposite side of the street. The house we formerly occupied was a three story brick, and when the other buildings were taken down close to it they were obliged to prop it up to keep it from falling. I went into the old house to play along with several of the boys. Whether the rest saw anything give way or not, I can’t say, but they ran out and before I had time to follow, the whole building came down upon me. In the order of God’s providence, it happened about six o’clock in the evening when laborers were quitting work. They came in droves to see what was the matter and succeeded in rescuing me before life was quite extinct. The first words I uttered when consciousness returned were, Lord have mercy upon me, Lord have mercy upon me. And when my poor mother later related the circumstances to her friends and quoted the above expression, my heart would be powerfully affected and my eyes suffused with tears. Good impressions on me, however sorry I am to say, were like the morning cloud and early dew, soon passed away. At the age of thirteen, according to my own regret, I left school and commenced learning the rule-making business with my father. He said I would soon be tired, but I preferred working with my hands to the cultivation of the mind.

About this time, I went with a companion two miles out of town, along the shore as we used to call it, in order to bathe. Neither of us could swim. The place we had carelessly selected was a very dangerous one. Instead of a sandy bottom it was craggy rock. We were wading along when all on a sudden we got out of our depth. I struck out with my arms and found I could swim. We both succeeded in getting out, and through God’s mercy we were prevented from finding a watery grave.

When I was about fifteen years of age, the family was called to sustain a heavy loss. My father after a short affliction in the forty-fifth year of his life was summoned into the eternal world. Around his setting sun was a dark cloud. I fear he died without making Christ his foundation. He has gone and I must leave him until the general judgment.

Unhappily his death did not affect me as it ought to have done. Instead of feeling distressed at the loss, I consoled myself on the ground that all restraint was thrown off and I was at liberty to do just as I pleased. My father was a very singular man. I never remember him calling mother or any of the children by their proper names. It was to be here, you sir or madam, and he was very severe if we displeased him. He could knock down and beat us in the most unmerciful manner so I considered his dissolution a kind of gain to me and not a loss.

I had a acquired a small insight into our business and by dint of perseverance made myself sufficiently acquainted with it to be able to earn a good living. Had I been steady I might with my brother have been a great help to Mother in assisting her to carry it on, but the bent of my mind was in a different direction.

The youths with whom I associated were as wild and reckless as myself. Birds of a feather generally flock together. Instead of returning home at a proper time in the evening, I would stay out very late, and sometimes all night. What a source of grief it was to poor Mother. It almost broke her heart. None but a parent knows the intense feeling realized for the welfare of a child and none but a parent knows the extreme anguish felt when the offspring is pursuing a ruinous course and seeking death in the error of his ways.

I was of an exceedingly fiery and revengeful disposition of any thing displeased me I was soon in a rage. If any one offended or injured me it was a long time before I could forgive. On one occasion in the work shop Mother was angry with me for something I had said or done wrong. When she made it appear as though she was looking for a weapon to strike me with, my brother who was four years older, handed a drill box to her. This so exasperated me, I wrenched it out of her hand and struck him on the head with it, for which he gave me a dreadful flogging. I resolved I would never speak to him until I was able to mete the same measure to him, and have what they call satisfaction. For two years we ate at the same table and worked in the same shop, and I carried out the shocking resolution. What a dreadful thing is revenge.

I have stated before that example and habit produced in me a strong inclination for intoxicating liquor. I shall never forget the first night I was perfectly drunk. Father had a party of friends, as they are called, come to spend the evening with him. I had done something amiss and was excluded the company. While the folks were enjoying themselves upstairs, I with the journeyman and several girls were downstairs in the kitchen. It sounded very galling to hear their merriment above and cast a kind of gloom on us below. Jack McMan was an old toper, and it was not long at a loss to know what to do. He soon hit upon a scheme to get as high and feel as fine as they. He suggested that I should go to the tavern and fetch a pint of rum in my fathers name. I did so and the rum was obtained. It was very soon mixed with hot water and sugar. It did not take long to pass it into our stomachs, from then it got into our heads producing all manner of pleasing sensations.

From there it got into our tongues and we were drawn out exceedingly in conversation. But one pint was not enough, a second and a third must be obtained in a similar way. When we had finished the second we felt very much disposed to sing and dance and perform all manner of capers. But before we had consumed the third we had become top heavy and losing our equilibrium. What a sight for the head of the house to gaze upon the results of their own example. I shall never forget the strange uneasiness I realized the next morning, being unable to work we took a stroll out in the country. Jack the journeyman felt irritable as the generality of drunkards do after their cups. He quarreled with a man. They fought and poor fellow never fully recovered from an injury he received on that occasion. That drunken frolic ultimately terminated in his untimely end. And this is not an isolated case. They are occurring in all directions daily. When will the human family learn wisdom?

I began to feel very much like roving, so I started on what was called tramp, a distance of one hundred miles alone. When on Huntsford common it commenced a heavy rain. The heavens above and all around looked black and gloomy, a perfect indication of what was passing in my breast. After revolving several unhappy things in my mind, I determined to persevere so I traveled on and reached Birmingham on the third day. After spending 6 weeks there I started home on foot and accomplished the journey in about two and a half days.

Not long after my return I met with a serious accident. One evening after the work shop was locked up I wished to get back in to obtain something I had business with. I therefore procured a ladder and placed it against the window. I told the individual below to move the ladder a little. He said, You will fall if I do. Never mind, said I, make the attempt. He did so and down I came to the ground upon my shoulder. It was a mercy my neck was not broken and my soul condemned from this fall. I soon recovered and rushed into sin as madly as ever.

In consequence of any unsteady habits, Mother embraced what appeared to her then an excellent opportunity of marrying a second husband. My step-father was a member of the Wesleyan Methodists and had been for 20 years. He was steady, industrious and possessed considerable property. A union with such a man appeared a happy circumstance, but O how uncertain and frail are all human judgments. He fell from grace into sin from his position in the church and society. He made the tavern and its company his principal home and has frequently been brought to his residence in a state of intoxication two or three times a day. Underneath a pretense to reform, he persuaded Mother to break up her home, sell her furniture, leave Liverpool and go with him to Dublin and only take along the smallest of the children. By this means the family was scattered, and instead of reforming he became worse. The children were almost starved. In his fury he broke some of Mother’s ribs and when he had reduced them to beggary, he ran away to America. His career of iniquity was short. Soon after his landing he was stricken with cholera and was driven away from earth in his wickedness. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

In the meantime, I with my oldest brother went to Birmingham and obtained employment. Unhappily I continued to live, or rather drag out a life of profligacy and rebellion against God. All the money I could spare was spent in sensual gratification. My time was misspent and my Sabbaths awfully desecrated. One Sabbath morning instead of being at the house of public worship I was with a herd of worse than brutes engaged in the cruel and revolting practice of causing dogs to fight. One of the infuriated creatures, having fought a battle was held by the ears with a chain while another battle was going on. This individual with his dog offered to come behind me. The dog caught hold of the calf of my leg and held on for a considerable time until he was choked off. In a day or two after it became so dreadfully painful that I was taken to the hospital for relief. The doctors examined me and ordered me to bed immediately, and for months suffered excruciating agony. When on the bed of affliction and away from the giddy world and sinful companions, I had some very serious thoughts. They would intrude and frequently produce an overwhelming sense of ingratitude and wickedness toward God. My soul was humble. I saw something of the evil nature of sin. I would resolve if God spared me and allowed me to recover, to amend my ways. But my resolution and my tender feelings were of short duration. All disappeared with returning strength. Fools because of their iniquities are afflicted and they know it. What a strange anomaly is man. The wages of sin is death and yet men will roll it under their tongue as a sweet morsel. The bite of that dog caused me considerable misery and appeared to me then a great evil, but I perceive it now as one of heaven’s choicest blessings, sent to prevent a greater evil. While I was in the hospital my wicked companions rendered still more harm and wicked by he practice the sin of deceitfulness. They broke open a gentleman’s house, succeeded in taking away many valuable articles, spent the money for which they were sold in drunkenness and riotous living. The police got on their track. They were apprehended by the hand of justice, tried, found guilty and sentenced, some for seven years and others for fourteen years to prison. If that accident had not occurred I might have been drawn in with them and ruined both worlds. My soul, forget not all his benefits.

Chapter Two

TO AMERICA. TO WORK.

S oon after my recovery I was walking out one Sabbath morning and made my way to the house of a man who works in the same manufactory. When I arrived there, to my surprise was a house full of men. A man of property had come from New York, America to engage hands in the rule making business. He offered to pay the passage to the above mentioned place and give twelve dollars per week for two years and give twelve dollars to men who understood this trade. I with three others, although I was only 19 years of age, entered into an agreement to go with him. Accordingly in a little while we traveled to the city of London, the great and astonishing metropolis. We remained there three weeks, participating in its sinful pleasures and gazing at its marvels and magnificent scenes. What a contrast of splendor and wretchedness, of virtue and vice, of the beautiful and revolting.

One of our companions was either so powerfully operated on by some magnetic influence he was leaving behind or terrified at the thought of the sea he left us and went back. To him there was no place like sweet home. At length the day arrived for us to sail. The ship was in a state of preparation. The sailors went to work at the capstan and as they ran round, sang one of their merry ditties. The steamboat which was to tow us down the River Thames, was made fast and off we went. The morning was fine and the scenery was enchanting. Ships from distant parts of the world were coming in, others going out richly and heavy laden, boats of all kinds plying on the water. The city was a forest of masts and tall warehouses and towers and spires and domes disappearing. There were lovely gardens and splendid mansions on either side of the ship and cattle grazing on the rich pastures. What a variety of thoughts occupied our minds. What melancholy pervaded our souls. How applicable the plaintive strains of the poet who sang:

Adieu my native land adieu, adieu,

The vessel spreads her swelling sails,

Perhaps I never more may view

Your fertile fields and flowery dales.

Our sails were unfurled, a sweet breeze filled them and we glided along charmingly. The passengers crowded the deck, one group singing, another playing at cards, others deeply engaged in conversation about the present and future and others mournfully reflecting on scenes and friends from which they were being severed forever.

Meanwhile the motion of the ship was producing a strange effect in the stomach. An individual was taken sick and began to vomit. A bystander who was very merry over it was taken in the act of laughter. A stream came out of his mouth. The disorder spread amongst the passengers and there was an end, at least for awhile, to pleasant sights and sounds and smells. After we had been out to sea for a few weeks a squall came on suddenly and before the passengers could get below, a wave broke over us and nearly carried some of the people away. All hands were ordered below deck except the sailors, and the hatchway made secure. I resolved to see the storm at all hazards, and O what a sight it was! From the alarming appearance of things I found it necessary to make myself more secure. Accordingly I lashed myself to the bulwarks with a rope. The wind was very high and roared dreadfully. All above was thick darkness except the occasional flashes of the lurid lightning, and there was nothing to be seen around but the white and sparkling spray of the awful rolling ocean. The elements seemed to be enraged with each other and engaged in dreadful combat. Our ship rode the waves majestically, sometimes on a giddy height, at others down in a frightful abyss. I shall never forget the sensation. When I realized when we were descending from one of those mountain waves into the gaping gulf beneath. I wondered whether we should ever rise again. I strove with physical strength to prevent the terrible catastrophe of sinking. O the horrors of a soul in danger, unprepared to meet God. In the midst of the tempest one of our masts broke and came down with a fearful crash. A chill of dismay ran through every heart and all felt inclined to call upon the Lord in