Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Hewes, Rev Samuel ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 7, 2007, 11:54 pm Author: Genealogical & Biographical Record REV. SAMUEL HEWES. Far and near this gentleman is known for his successful and self-sacrificing labors in the cause of Christ. Early entering the ministry, his entire active life was devoted to the winning of souls for Christ and the uplifting of humanity. Under his labors, both in regular pastorates and in evangelistic meetings, thousands have been converted, and these sixty years have been very fruitful of results. Even now, though with him life's brief day has reached its serene twilight, he still labors as his strength permits, preaching occasionally and in other ways promoting the welfare of the church. The record of the Hewes family is presented in the sketch of our subject's brother, Daniel S., also of Crete. Samuel was born in Shaftsbury, Vt., August 18, 1814, and was the eldest son of twelve children. When he was quite young the family removed to Chittenden County, Vt. He was a mere boy when he began to work, giving his wages to his father to assist in the support of the family. When the family started west in 1835 he had just been converted, and, feeling a call to the ministry, he desired a better education than he could secure in Illinois. Hence he resolved to remain in Vermont. Working during vacations he obtained the means to pursue academic studies in Bennington. Later he studied and also was a teacher for two years in West Poultney Seminary. While teaching in Chittenden County in 1839 he received a license to preach and filled the pulpit on the night the license was given him. For two years he taught week days and preached on Sundays. During that time he held a very successful revival. After his marriage he joined the conference. In 1857 he moved to Troy, N. Y., which at that time was noted for its wickedness. During the two years he remained in that city he had more than three hundred converts. Before this he made two hundred conversions in the suburbs and preached at three different places each Sunday. In spite of the fact that he was offered the leading church in Troy if he would remain there, Mr. Hewes determined to come to Illinois, where he had purchased one hundred acres of government land in 1846 and where his relatives resided. In 1859 he settled in Will County. Immediately joining the western conference, he was appointed pastor of the Crete congregation. Besides preaching here, on alternate Sundays he preached at Monee, seven miles from Crete, and Thornton, ten miles distant,where he held Sunday afternoon services and also had three appointments during the week. For two years he continued in that manner, after which he was stationed at Arlington Heights, Palatine and other places for two years, at Wheaton for a year and at Frankfort Station for two years, at the same time supplying other pulpits. Failing health then obliged him to temporarily give up his ministerial work. He bought the old homestead from his mother, and this, with his own land, made him owner of three hundred and sixty acres in Crete Township. Six years of outdoor exercise and farm work restored his health and he resumed his ministerial work. His next appointments were as follows: McHenry, Ill., two years; Crystal Lake Crossing one year; Downer's Grove, two years; Courtland, two years; Kaneville, three years; and Erie, one year. On reaching the age of seventy years he retired from regular pastoral work, although he was offered by the Erie congregation a large salary if he would remain. On retiring he established his home in Crete Village, where he has since resided. It would be impossible to estimate the good accomplished by such a life as that of Mr. Hewes, for kind deeds and Christian service cannot be tabulated in statistics. But, though unchronicled on earth, He who said, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye did it unto me," will not pass them by unrewarded. Now as he looks back over his eighty-six years he can do so without regret or remorse, and can look forward to the future with the Christian's bright hope of eternal happiness. At Grand Island, Vt., December 24, 1840, Mr. Hewes married Miss Phoebe Phelps, who was born in Vermont and is still living, at eighty-two years. She has been an active worker in the church and a faithful, efficient helpmate to her husband, whose devoted wife she has been for sixty years. Of their nine children two daughters alone survive. The eldest of these is a noted evangelist, having inherited her father's gift of preaching. She has been in evangelistic work for twenty years, mainly in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana, and also spent four years in Ireland, where she gained more converts to the church than any evangelist had secured for years. Besides this, she is an excellent writer on religious subjects. She is the wife of Rev. Joseph Caldwell, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Frankfort, this county. The second daughter, Mary H., deceased, married Rev. Samuel Earngey, who has held pastorates at Dixon, Plainfield, Elgin, Morris, Aurora and other places, and is now one of the well-known Methodist Episcopal ministers of Chicago. The third daughter, Helen H., is the wife of G. W. Willard, M. D., of Chicago; and the youngest daughter, Franc, now deceased, married Charles Blim, M. D., of Crete. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/hewes1672nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb