Assigned to Service: Goes West

Prepared the trumpet’s call to greet.
Soldier of Jesus, stand;
Pilgrim of Christ, with ready feet
Await thy Lord’s command.”

Home relationships and responsibilities are sometimes influential in keeping men in places and at occupations for which they feel a growing disrelish or dislike. It was so with Uncle John. He had been for many years employed in the malthouse and brewery of M. Vassar and Company,” when the light of God dawned on his soul. Soon afterward he began to feel uncomfortable about his position — began to question whether the work he was doing was consistent with the hope he cherished, and the profession he had made. The Washingtonian Reformation, which a little later swept over many portions of our land, deepened the impression that as a child of God he ought to be otherwise engaged. Duty, however, did not at once grow clear. With the members of the firm, who were his cousins, his relations had been intimate and kind. The temperance sentiment, though it was growing rapidly, was not then as high, either in the church or out, as it is to-day. Then while the subject was being pondered, the repeated household afflictions

44 UNCLE JOHN VASSAJi.

already noted fell, and they diverted attention from this subject for a time. Soon as he found himself alone in the world, however, the old queries returned. What had been only impressions heretofore deepened into convictions soon, and conviction made obligation plain. He left the place he so long had filled, whose emoluments, present and prospective, were far greater than he could hope elsewhere to gain, and in the spring of 1850 found himself, for the first time in more than a dozen years, unemployed.

How God could be glorified and his generation served was now the question of the hour. The answer quickly came. The American Tract Society of New York was pushing vigorously the system of colportage in the West. The labors of plain, humble, but godly and earnest men, several hundred of whom were on the field, were being greatly blest — how greatly the revealings of the eternal day alone will tell.

The committee of the Society recognized in Uncle John one suited to their kind of work. They commissioned him on the 15th day of May, 1850. He was not promised anything like ease. “Roughing it” was the order of that day, and the demand. He was not promised very heavy pay in the currency of earth “— a hundred and sixty dollars a year and travelling expenses; but he went joyfully to a work that to the last was his delight. For if ever mortal truthfully could say what Christ did, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me,” he was that man.

One writins: of this time savs:

*’ This was a season of severe trial and hardship to him in some respects. He was an exile from his home, a stranger in a rude country; he often passed his nights in his wagon or on the ground under it.

“God went with him over those grassy solitudes, and blessed his labors, and filled him with joy and praise.” At times his joy was so great that, as he said, * as the thought of his high calling took possession of him, he could hardly retain his seat in his wagon.’ “xls he urged his way over the vWde prairies, he felt that he was the most unworthy and the most favored man on the face of the earth. His heart was filled with Jesus.

“No portion of his life was more fruitful. It was then and there that he acquired that well-nigh infallible skill in approaching men, that was a perpetual marvel to all who observed it. He learned hov, to tell by a m n’2 lock, or by his first words, just what Vvas his state of mind toward religion, and how to address him.

“Every man he met, he sought opportunity to inquire of as to his spiritual state, and if he was not a Christian he warned him, in the name of Christ, and often with tears, of the deceit and danger of sin, and entreated him to forsake it and turn to God, assuring him of the blessedness of so doing, as he, out of his own experience could testify. He went after men, and kept after them with a long perseverance, holding them in his heart and m.aking mention of them unceasingly before God in his prayers, and appearing to them at intervals, till at last he won them to repentance.”

Up to this date we have had little but scattered recollections to put together. Henceforth we have items in his own letters and reports on which to draw, and so can let the laborer himself tell something about his toil.

His field of operations for a year or more was the northern, or north-eastern, portions of Illinois; more particularly the counties of Kane, Kendall, De Kalb, and Boone. Stopping in Chicago long enough to meet some old friends, and get a supply of the Society’s publications for distribution, he struck out for the new settlements a hundred miles beyond. He was now thirty-seven years old, had an almost iron constitution, spirits buoyant as a child’s, an all-conquering faith, and a large amount of good sturdy common sense. Add to all this a zeal that never flagged, and it will be seen that he went forth well equipped.

The summer was one of burning drought. The prairies, which on his arrival looked so fresh and green, by July lay scorched and blasted, and men’s hearts were failing them for fear. As a consequence, the books he carried sold slowly, and the sultry days and short nights of harvest-time were not favorable for getting hold of the people, either in their homes or through such evening meetings as were tried. He says, however: “I expected difficulties, and am not disappointed in the least. The Lord is a present help. I pass along the highways contented with any fare, and stop where the night overtakes me, witnessing all the time to small and great that Christ has power to save.”

With the autumn and early winter tokens of good appear. The more driving labor of the farm is done, and in spite of frets and fears crops are fair. He writes, “I had a most precious season yesterday. I find the people prepared by God to hear even me, and have been astonished to witness the effect produced by a mere exhortation. Truly our Lord does work by simple means.” As spring comes on the snow-covered prairies that he has been tramping over glow religiously, as they do literally with returning summer. Nor is it the country neighborhoods alone that feel the tinglings of a new spiritual life. Belvidere, St. Charles, Elgin, and other towns in his district feel the kindlings of a sacred fire. Along the Wisconsin border are extensive ingatherings of souls. “I have no rest,” says the toiler, “night nor day.”

And yet he does not forget home and friends amid these joys and cares, for in the letter quoted from above he says: “Oh, Sister H., I never felt so much for our own church before. Do all you can to stir up the brethren. Warn them not to sleep while the world is going so swiftly to ruin. Do all you can for our dear W. and H. We shall meet them in eternity so soon.”

While on this field he makes a brief visit to a family previously known in the Eastern States. The home was a Christian one, and the first evening passed rapidly and pleasantly in calling up old times and places. The host spoke hopefully of his prospects and talked over his plans, but made little reference to the subject uppermost in the mind of Uncle John.

Presently a good opportunity was given to introduce the matter, and he turned to it by asking these old acquaintances what kind of neighbors they had found. “Really,” said the lady, “I scarcely know. I am intimate with almost none of them; and if the truth must be told, I have not souq-ht to be.”

“How long did you say you had been living here?”

“Five years next spring,” was the reply.

“Five years next spring! Oh, my dear brother and sister, both of you professors of religion and yet living here so long without even informing yourselves about the condition of those nearest to your doors! What a pity! what a pity! What will the Lord say to you?”

The man and his wife looked at him., looked at one another, and then looked down. Then as he went on to speak of Christian obligation both asked, “What ought we to have done? What could we have done?” As past opportunities were clearly pointed out, the more pertinent query came to their lips, “Well, how can we best take up our neglected duties now?” Definitely he mapped out a plan of labor, and before leaving besought them to put it in operation without delay.

Weeks afterward he was at their door again. Before he entered, the woman of the house greeted him with the exclamation, “I am so glad you have come! You are just in the right time.”

He entered and found several of the neighbors who had come together to talk over measures eyeing the religious welfare of the community. These old friends of his had not been so plainly and lovingly dealt with in vain. They had shown how sincerely they deplored past unfaithfulness by vigorously taking hold of responsibilities which selfishly or indolently had been shirked. They had scoured the region round about. They had ascertained by going from house to house how many had once named the name of Christ. These had been brought together. Mutual confessions had been made. Old covenants had been renewed. Regular meetings during the week had been established. Occasional preaching for the Sabbath had been secured. A Sunday-school had been organized, and it was but a little time before the habits of the neighborhood were revolutionized.

How many times he set such a train of influences working only God knows. This incident had altogether dropped from his mind till some unknown friend put it into a tract for circulation and accidentally the tract fell under his eye only three or four years before he died.

In the summer of 185 1 he comes East again, to visit his aged mother, and in the autumn he is sent to Cleveland, Ohio, a city in which some of his most effective work was done. This arrangement was effected through his old pastor. Rev. J. Hyatt Smxith, at this date prosecuting a most successful ministry in Cleveland. Inclined always to self-depreciation, Uncle John seems apprehensive that his style of labor will not be liked among city circles and cultivated folks.

He imagines the backwoods his sphere. He regrets that he was not left there, and makes the new departure with earnest prayers for help. Soon, however, his letters undergo a change. They take on a more cheerful tone. He finds that human nature is much the same, whether in a log-cabin of one room or a brownstone front on the avenue. Everywhere he is given the most cordial welcome. His books sell as he has never seen them sell before. The churches make most generous collections for the Society, the Rev. Mr. Smith’s contributing six hundred dollars in two days. Nor do they in giving to the service overlook the servant’s wants. Thus modestly he mentions a timely gift: “While writing the other evening a gentleman called with a bundle, containing a note from some unknown friend, a very handsome overcoat, and a pair of gloves. The coat is much too fine and fashionable for me, but the note says that I must wear it, so what else can I do?” We shall not misjudge the good man if we suppose that in the new garment he felt more comfortable in going from house to house than in the old one, which had done prairie service. While his tastes were plain, and fashions of little consequence, he liked to be respectably attired, especially where a rusty garb might excite prejudice and impair his usefulness. More gratifying to him, however, than personal attentions and generous collections, or large sales, was the spiritual quickening which was enjoyed. The details are but meagrely given, the most that he records being in these lines: “I visit frequently forty families a day, have a meeting somewhere every night, and speak to three Sunday-schools where practicable every Lord’s day. I have conversed with over three thousand people during the last three months on the subject of personal religion, and feel that for this city a. wonderful blessing is in store.”

Happily the facts and incidents of that memorable winter can, in part at least, be furnished by those who moved amid them, some of whom during it felt the Spirit’s touch unto eternal life. What one man did — rather what God through him did — let these in their own way tell.

Rev. George M. Stone, D.D., of Tarrytown, N.Y., thus writes:” My first acquaintance with Uncle John was in Cleveland, Ohio, in the year 1852. He was visiting from house to house, and in that portion of the city a remarkable religious interest was soon manifest. I was then an unconverted young man about eighteen years of age, and engaged in a printing office. A companion in the office, who had heard of the eloquence of Rev. J. Hyatt Smith, invited me to accompany him one evening to the lecture-room of his church, where meetings were being held. I went, and was interested in the preaching. As I arose to pass out, after the service, I was approached by a person, then a stranger, who asked with mingled earnestness and kindness if I loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He took my hand at the same time, and held it firmly. I can never forget the intense sincerity of that first inter- ’ view. I felt in a moment that I had never before met a man who possessed such a transcendent conscious, ness of divine things. That stranger was John E. Vassar, and from that hour convictions began to stir my heart which in time the Holy Spirit used to lead me to Christ.

“He assisted me in religious meetings subsequently at Danbury, Conn., and in visitations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this association with him his experience seemed to be a perpetual summer of Christian love.”

Hear again his friend Rev. J. Hyatt Smith:” On his way to Illinois as a colporteur of the American Tract Society, he surprised me by calling at my house one day. I urged him to remain a while. He refused, and left that same night on a steamer for Detroit. The boat was so crowded that I was afraid to have him go on board. I remember his look as he replied, * I rejoice that so many are going. I shall have a blessed time working for souls.’ Away he went on an overloaded steamer in a stormy night, and I went to my home praying for him.

“Through my letters to the Society he was afterward transferred to Cleveland, and remained there six months. The work that he wrought for the Master in my church, to say nothing of the abundant and effective labors outside of m.y parish, God alone may estimate. I could fill pages with incidents, if the limits of this volume would permit.

“One day Brother Vassar came to me and said, * To-morrow I am going through Dives Street (Euclid Street), and I want you to pray for me.’ I promised him I would, and requested him to report to me the results of his first day’s visit to the houses of wealth on that beautiful avenue. I give a report of his visit to the iirst house on his journey. At the door of the stately dwelling he met the lady of the house. * What do you want, sir?’ she asked, as he approached her. He replied, * I am a colporteur for the Tract Society, and ’ — pointing to his basket of books — ‘I am selling these.’ * We have a library,’ was her reply. * I don’t doubt it,’ said Brother Vassar, glancing at the building; ‘but,’ he continued, nothing daunted by the rather sharp response of the lady, ’ the truth is I am legs for Bunyan, Baxter, Flavel, and others. They are all in the basket there.’ The lady, evidently struck with the appearance of the man and the quaintness of his address, asked him into the parlor. Having stormed and carried the house, he began an assault upon the castle of the heart. ‘I am not only a seller of books, but I am anxious to know if you love Jesus,’ said John. * I am a member of the church,’ the woman replied. * So am I,’ said Brother Vassar, * but I fear that God will not take our church records. He counts the names recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.’ The attack was fairly commenced, and the arrows of love flew thick and fast. Heart Castle surrendered; the lady with tears exclaimed, ‘I know it is not enough to belong to a church. You talk like my dear mother. Yes, I trust I do love Jesus.’ ‘Bless the Lord,’ said John, ’ that makes us brother and sister. If you love the Saviour, and I see you do, would you not like a season of prayer? ‘She replied, * I would be glad to have you pray.’ They knelt side by side, and John poured out his soul in supplication. At the close of the prayer the lady asked, ‘What is the price of your books?’ * Which one?’ said Brother Vassar. * All of them,’ was her answer. The calculation was made; then calling a servant she bade him carry them to the library, paid Brother Vassar for them, gave him something for himself, and with tears in her eyes begged him to forgive her manner at the door. * Don’t mention it, my sister, ’ said Brother Vassar, ’ you know what our blessed Master had to bear.’

“His manner in the prayer-meeting, as I remember it in those distant days, and that which I have seen in his later life, was in my judgment much the same. I do not think his character had those stages of growth which mark most Christian men. In Christ Jesus he seemed to have been born a man of full stature. It is said of the river Jordan that, unlike most streams, it does not start with small springs and receive the contributions of rivulets by the way, so attaining fulness, but bursts forth from one vast source, a river rolling to the sea.

“I never met his like in all the varied labors of a saint. He was a master in all the sword exercise of God’s Word.”

With this Cleveland campaign, service in what might be called the Department of the West for a season ended. Years afterward he was again on some of these old camp-grounds.