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History of the Upper Iowa conference of the Methodist Episcopal church,
1856-1906 A-Z For fifteen years Dr. Brush was a leading spirit in the Conference. For nine years he was president of the Upper Iowa University and for four years presiding elder of Charles City District. He was a member of five sessions of the General Conference, namely, 1868, 1872, 1876, 1880 and 1888. Of the forty-four years of his ministry, thirteen were spent in the pastorate, eleven as presiding elder, eighteen as college president, one as United States Consul at Messina, Italy, and one year with broken health waiting his discharge. Dr. Brush was a man of great power. He was quick and clear in his intellectual perceptions, accurate in his statements and logical in his conclusions, broad and generous in his sympathies, magnetic in temperament, his language simple yet cultured and elegant, his appeals intensely earnest and spiritual; he was indeed a power in the pulpit, his eloquence at times rising to heights that seemed to sweep everything before it. As a debater, he was clear, forceful and courageous, fearing not to face any antagonist. His magnificent voice and splendid physique secured complete attention in any assembly however large or excited. As a pastor he was faithful and industrious, his friendships were sincere and unvarying and the humblest man could approach him as readily as the most distinguished. He died April 29, 1895. J. B. Casebeer was received on trial into the Iowa Conference in 1859 and was transferred to the Upper Iowa Conference in 1864. He was Captain of Company D, Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry during the years 1862 to 1864, and shared in the hardships and privations of that heroic band until, wounded by the explosion of a shell, he was compelled to resign. From 1864 to 1888 he served some of the leading charges of the Conference. He was a faithful soldier of the cross, as he had been a faithful soldier in the service of his country. As a minister he excelled in revival work, and great numbers were converted and brought into the church through his efficient labors. As a preacher he was sound in doctrine, persuasive in manner, earnest in spirit, delivering his message from a warm heart of deep sympathy and Christian love. He possessed rare genius in conducting the social services of the church, and manifested great power in the field of evangelistic effort. As a platform speaker he was bright and entertaining, and in demand for public addresses in the temperance reform and at the gatherings of grand army men. His continued years of labor in the ministry in connection with the wounds received while in the army, finally shattered his once vigorous and strong constitution. Though unable to converse during his last illness, his friends have the assurance that the Savior whom he had so long and so often recommended to others was with him to the end, and in the triumph of faith he went to the great company "who stand without fault before the throne." He died December 18, 1889, at Cedar Rapids. Andrew
Coleman submitted
by Richard Barton
In
the list of appointments of the Upper Iowa Conference in 1856, appears,
"Andrew Coleman, Presiding Elder of Iowa City District." He
was born in West Virginia, April 5, 1799, and died in Oskaloosa, Iowa, May 4,
1881. He entered the ministry of the Pittsburg Conference in 1825. After
seventeen years of successful labor in that conference, he was in 1842
transferred to the Rock River Conference, which then included Iowa as a mission
field, and stationed in Dubuque. After that time his interests and labors were
constantly identified with this state. He was an original member both of the
Iowa Conference in 1844, and of the Upper Iowa Conference in 1856. He continued
in the active work of the ministry until 1871, filling some of the most
responsible positions in the Conference and served eleven years as presiding
elder, always with fidelity and success. He
was a devoted minister of Christ and preached with great fervor and effect. He
communed much with God in secret prayer, and was very conscientious in reading
and treasuring up the Word of Life. His sermons and prayers all gave evidence
that he had been with Jesus on the mount of blessing and learned of Him. On
the occasion of his superannuation, the Conference adopted the following: "WHEREAS,
Our revered and greatly beloved brother, Andrew Coleman, who has labored in the
itinerancy for fifty-six years, with great usefulness, cheerfulness and
self-sacrifice, is about to retire from the active work, therefore "RESOLVED,
That we view his retirement in tenderness and in tears, and while he may not
share the toils of our heads and hands he shall ever hold a dear place in our
hearts. "RESOLVED,
That while we revere the hoary head as a crown of glory, even more do we
appreciate the sweetness of feeling with which in his advanced year he has ever
encouraged the younger members of the Conference, and though his voice calls for
further toils and conflicts, that voice is drowned by our unanimous acclaim:
'Well done, good and faithful servant.' Soon the Master will add, 'Enter into
the joy of thy Lord.'" For
ten years Father Coleman resided in Oskaloosa, Iowa, loved and honored by a
large circle of friends. He was one of the fathers who "grew old
gracefully, gratefully and lovingly." His words of flame and tears of joy
at the sessions of our Conference were long remembered. Of him, his last pastor,
Reverend Dr. Coxe, of Iowa Conference, writes: "His piety was sincere and unaffected, his Christian sympathies were broad and active, his zeal ardent to the very last. Cherishing a warm love for the Church of his life-long service, his catholicity of spirit yet made him eagerly interested in every movement and enterprise of the church at large. He was in labors abundant, visiting from house to house, and occasionally preaching as opportunity offered, and carried 'a sweet attractive kind of grace' into every circle he entered. He was eminently a godly man, of prayerful spirit, a devoted student of God's word, and a constant and interested attendant upon the public services of the church. He died a he had lived, 'in the lord.' and his works follow him." JACOB G. DIMMITT, D.D. submitted by Richard Barton Jacob G. Dimmitt was born at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, March 1, 1806. He went when a child with his parents to Ohio. He was converted when fourteen. In 1839 he was admitted to the Ohio Conference, and traveled Georgetown circuit. One of his first and most pleasant resting places was the home of Jesse R. Grant, the father of Ulysses S. Grant, afterwards President of the United states. Ulysses, then a boy, was always delighted to see him. In 1850 Brother Dimmitt came to Iowa. From 1852 to 1855 he was presiding elder of th Bubuque District, which then included Davenport and Muscatine and intervening territory. From 1862 to 1864 he was presiding elder of the Iowa City District. In 1852 and in 1856 he was a delegate to the General Conference. In 1869 he was transferred to the Des Moines Conference and appointed presiding elder of the Des Moines District. Brother Dimmitt was a man of commanding presence and of unusual natural endowments. To these were added the culture and courtesies of the Christian gentleman. His nervous organism was of the finest texture, well suited to his soul. He excelled as a pulpit orator and his quarterly meetings were of unusual interest. When serving as presiding elder, he was always remarkably considerate of young men. His wise counsels and steadfast support in their peculiar difficulties never failed. In later years, one of his favorite texts was: "Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Visions of the heavenly city rose before him and his hearers as he preached from these words, and then with tremulous voice he would sing, "How can it be, thou Heavenly King, His favorite hymn was: "There is a fountain filled with blood," and in singing it his soul would exult. His faith and experience shone forth most brightly in the closing hours of his life. He died in the city of Des Moines, November 20, 1872. James Gilruth submitted by Richard Barton. James Gilruth was one of the most remarkable characters in early Methodism. He was a son of Scotch parents and was born on the Virginia side of the Ohio River in 1793, and was taken with his father's family to Scioto County, Ohio, in 1797. There he was trained in all the experience of backwoods life. For years their meal came from the hominy block or handmill, the forest affording an abundance of meat. and the river a never failing supply of fish. For music, they were often serenaded by the hooting of owls and the howling of wolves through the night and the gobbling of turkeys in the morning. For years they had no schools, no preaching, no religious meeting of any kind; and James was ten years old before he heard a sermon or saw an ear of growing wheat. In 1819 he was converted and received into the Ohio Conference and for thirty years he traveled in that conference, sometimes on circuits or stations, then on extensive districts as presiding elder. He faithfully served the church through storms, mud and ice, swimming streams, often preaching in dripping clothes, never missing an appointment in fourteen years. He had a most powerful physical frame, and in his prime he hardly knew what sickness was. As to his strength, during many years it was doubted whether his equal could be found in Ohio, and woe be to that intruder at camp meeting who was fastened within his clutches. Repentance or submission was the only remedy and the poor victim knew it, for Gilruth's courage was equal to his strength. As a Bible student he had few equals, as indicated by the character of his sermons and by the correctness of his quotations. For many years in his old age he was a member of the Upper Iowa Conference, but lived on his farm near Davenport. He was a man of rough exterior, but possessed of a manly, honest heart. It can be truthfully said of him that in early life he chose God as his portion, devoted the best part of that life to His service, received His approval in death, and went to his home and reward in heaven. He died June 2, 1873. |
