Coles County IL Archives History - Books .....Early Religious History 1879
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Book Title: History Of Coles County

EARLY RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

   The sound of the Gospel in Coles County is coeval with the first settlement
made in its limits. John Parker, the old patriarch of the Parker family was a
Baptist preacher of the "hard-shell" or "ironside" persuasion, and used to
proclaim the word of God to the pioneers on the Sabbath-when it was not a good
day to hunt bees. Daniel Parker was also a preacher of the same denomination,
and, as the Parkers were the first settlers in the county, so were they the
first preachers. "High" Johnny Parker, as the old man was familiarly called,
preached the first sermon in Coles County in 1824, the year the first settlement
was made. He was a plain, old-fashioned man, hewn out of rough timber, and
"preached salvation by election, without money and without price." This sermon
(the first in the county) was preached in a small log cabin in the Parker
settlement, and it is said that every inhabitant of the county was there, and
had abundant room, for eleven souls constituted the entire adult population.
Father Parker closed this original religious service of the county in these
words: "Brethren, we have wandered far into the wilderness, but even here death
will find us." The Rev. Mr. Newport was another of the "hard-shell" divines who
figured prominently in the early religious history of the county. The early
settlers were a conscientiously religious people. Even prior to the era of
schoolhouses and churches, they had meetings under the shade-trees on the
river-banks, and in private houses, dedicated by common usage to religious
services. Says Capt. Adams in his Centennial Address: "We have seen one of these
private houses, not exceeding twenty feet square, containing three or four beds
and all the household and kitchen furniture of a large family, hold a big
congregation of zealous worshipers. In the early days, the old, young and even
small children went to church. During the services it sometimes occurred that a
half-dozen of these little ones, all with one accord, would raise their
plaintive cries; nevertheless, the services proceeded without any apparent
disturbance. The occasional manifestations of some of these people were
strikingly singular. Some would shout and some would pray and others scream at
the top of the voice. Some would clap their hands until blistered, and others
faint away, but all seemed happy, recognizing it as the Lord's doings."

   An early minister of the Presbyterian Church was Rev. Isaac Bennett. "He
dropped down among us," says one, "as softly as the morning light, and could not
brook any religious excitement, or even the music of a child during his
discourse." Rev. Mr. Martin was another of the early preachers of Coles County.
But we have not space to particularize each of these pioneer soldiers of the
cross. Without the hope of earthly reward, they preached the glad tidings to
perishing sinners, and sought to gather them into the fold of Christ. Reverently
asking the blessing of God upon all they did, their lives were simple; their
wants few and easily satisfied; their teachings plain and unvarnished, touched
with no eloquence save that of their daily living, which was seen and known of
all men.

   In what year the first church-building was erected in the county is not
known, but subsequently to 1830, as at that date, we are informed, there was not
an edifice which had been erected purposely for a temple of worship. Before the
building of schoolhouses, the cabin of the settler was used in winter, and in
summer, "the groves, God's first temples," served their humble wishes. But now,
some sixty-five church-buildings may be enumerated in the county. Not only in
the towns and cities, but in every village and hamlet, their lofty spires
"pierce the clouds." Even in many neighborhoods in the country are neat and
commodious church-houses.

   In connection with the church history, it may not be out of place to say a
few words of the benevolent institutions existing in the county. Freemasonry and
Odd Fellowship follow close in the wake of the Christian church, and, in their
way, exert almost as great an influence for good as the church itself. They
teach a belief in God, the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the
body. Gathered around their altars, their votaries can subscribe to their simple
articles of faith, and join in one united prayer and praise to the great
Architect of the universe. These institutions have organized bodies in
Charleston, Mattoon, Etna, Ashmore, Muddy Point, Oakland, Paradise, Hutton and
Milton. In the city of Charleston are Charleston Lodge, No. 35, A., F. & A. M.;
Keystone Chapter, No. 54, Royal Arch Masons; Charleston Lodge, No. 609, I. O. O.
F.; Kickapoo Lodge, No. 90, I. O. O. F.; and Coles Encampment, No. 94, I. O. O.
F.; in Mattoon-Mattoon Lodge, No. 260, A., F. & A. M.; Circle Lodge, No. 707,
A., F. & A. M.; Mattoon Chapter, No. 85, Royal Arch Masons; Godfrey de Bouillon
Commandery, No. 44, Knights Templar; Harmony Lodge, No. 551, I. O. O. F.; Coles
County Lodge, No. 260, I. O. O. F.; Mattoon Encampment, No.___, I. O. O. F.;
also, Mattoon German Lodge, No. 414, I. O. O. F., and Eureka Lodge, No. 13,
Colored Masons; in the village of Etna, Wabash Lodge, No. 179, A., F. & A. M.,
and Etna Lodge, No. 519, I. O. O. F.; in Oakland-Oakland Lodge, No. 219, A., F &
A. M., and Oakland Lodge, No. 545, I. O. O. F.; in Milton-Milton Lodge, No. 275,
A., F. & A. M., and Humboldt Lodge, No. 630, I. O. O. F.; in Ashmore-Ashmore
Lodge, No. 390, A., F. & A. M.; in Muddy Point-Etna Lodge, No. 396, A., F. & A.
M.; in Milton Station -Elwood Lodge, No. 589, A., F. & A. M.; in Paradise-Miles
Hart Lodge, No. 595, A., F. & A. M., and in Hutton -Hutton Lodge, No. 698, A.,
F. & A. M.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

THE HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY. ILLINOIS,

CONTAINING

A History of the County—its Cities, Towns, &c; a Directory of its Tax-Payers;
Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map
of Coles County; History of Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest,
Illustrated; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c, &c.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO:
WM. LE BARON, JR., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET.
1879.


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