History of the M.E. Church, Vol. IV - Media Sabda Org

He did great services and endured great privations for Methodism. Northern Methodists, however
they may regret his later measures, will ever recall him with gratitude and respect as one of their
veteran pioneers, and a noble son of their soil He died, near Nashville, Tenn. March 6, 1867, in the
full assurance of faith.
The year had been prosperous, though not so generally as the preceding one. The new circuit of
Vergennes, in Vermont, which was projected at the Granville Conference, had been the scene of a
great reformation. It comprehended all the State of Vermont, between the Green Mountains and Lake
Champlain, and required incredible travels and labors. It was a field for an evangelical Hercules, and
such was Joseph Mitchell, its itinerant. His ministrations were in power, his zeal never flagged;
preaching night and day, traveling at the rate of nearly six thousand miles a year, and suffering
extreme privations, to which were superadded not a few instances of violent persecution, he
overcame all obstacles, and "the word ran and was glorified" through that extensive region.
Hundreds of souls were converted, many of whom entered other Churches; but at least eighty-eight
were received into classes, some of which he now formed for the first time. The other circuit in
Vermont, (Vershire,) which included all the state east of the mountains, had shared this prosperity.
Under the labors of Joseph Crawford sixty-five had been received into the societies, besides vast
numbers who were awakened, but had not yet joined the new communion. Three new circuits had
been formed in this single state, namely, Essex, Winsor, and Whitingham. The former returned one
hundred and ten members, the latter fifty-five. Methodism had scattered its germs extensively
through Vermont, and small classes, the nuclei of subsequent Churches, had been formed in all
directions.
Joseph Snelling had labored successfully on Martha's Vineyard. The number of Methodists on that
island, though still small, was nearly doubled since the Granville Conference. He had also visited
Nantucket during the year, and witnessed the conversion of many souls. Great results had been
reaped on Pittsfield Circuit. The eccentric but sincere Lorenzo Dow, who had been admitted to the
ministry at Granville Conference, and appointed to Cambridge Circuit, N. Y., was transferred during
the year to Pittsfield. Notwithstanding his singularities, he was remarkably successful. In many
places he was repulsed by the societies, and denied the hospitalities of the families which usually
entertained the circuit preachers; but his unwearied labors produced in time a profound impression.
He sometimes rode more than fifty miles, and preached five sermons, besides leading several classes,
in a single day. The astonished people, witnessing his earnestness and usefulness, soon treated him
more respectfully, and a general revival ensued. In Pittsfield, where at first he received no invitation
to their homes, he says, "I visited it extensively, and had the satisfaction to see the Methodists and
others stirred up to serve God. Now they offered me presents, which I refused, saying, The next
preachers invite home and treat well, for my sake. In Alford," he says, in his characteristic style, "I
preached Methodism, inside and outside. The brethren here treated me very coldly at first, so I was
necessitated to pay for my horse-keeping for five weeks, and, being confined a few days with the
ague and fever, the man of the house not being a Methodist, I paid him for my accommodation. I had
said in public that God would bless my labors there, which made the people watch me for evil, and
not for good. I visited the whole neighborhood from house to house, which made a great uproar
among the people. However, the fire kindled; the society got enlivened, and several others who were
stumbling at the unexemplary walk of professors, were convinced and brought to find the realities
of religion for themselves When leaving this place I was offered pay for my expenses; but I refused