in shoes (having no boots), I had wet feet, of course. Thus I traveled on until I came to St. Albans, where I found my horse, and so traveled on until the beginning of summer, when my horse died at brother Craig's, in Waterbury."

The same year. Brandon circuit, which had previously constituted a part of the Vergennes charge, was formed. That year also, "Pittsfield circuit felt a shock of the divine power," which exerted its purifying influence on the place. In 1800, Abner Chase, another well known veteran itinerant, was converted to God, somewhere in the region of Johnstown or Northampton, within the bounds of what was then the Saratoga circuit. A pious female, the wife of a class-leader, he writes, "used to talk to me when I was but a lad so sweetly about Jesus, that my young heart many times melted, and I wished I was a Christian. She used generally to close the interview by laying her hands upon my head and offering up a fervent prayer, that God would make me a Christ ian. On one occasion, she not only prayed that God would make me a Christian, but a minister also. I seem to feel at this very moment something of that unearthly influence which sometimes rested upon me on these occasions."

In a little work, entitled Recollections of the Past, Mr. Chase introduces us to a quarterly meeting held in in the summer of 1801, at Kingsborough, Fulton county, another of the early posts gained by our army. He was one of thirty or forty who on that occasion lodged at the house of Mr. William Bentley, sleeping on the floor in rows as is now done at camp-meetings. Soon after, a quarterly meeting was held in the town of Northampton abont seven miles north of the Fish-house, at which the following singular and somewhat ludicrous scene occurred:

"The meeting was held in a large barn, the female part of the congregation occupying the floor, while the men occupied the hay-mow. While the prayer-meeting on Saturday afternoon was progressing in a good spirit, a wagon was driven up, in which was a number of young persons of both sexes. They came in high glee, alighted from the wagon, and after standing awhile at the door, and listening to several prayers from some of the females, one of the young women from the wagon pressed through the crowd, declaring she would pull down the next female that attempted to pray. Accordingly, as one commenced praying, she laid hold of her hair and drew her backwards, and when another commenced she treated her in like manner. This produced a great excitement throughout the congregation, and yet no forcible means were used to compel the young woman to cease from her rudeness, but several of the females commenced praying that God would lay his hand upon. her, and show her and her companions that he could vindicate his own cause and protect his people. The spirit of these praying females seemed to be instantly diffused through the praying part of the assembly, as by a flash of electricity; and I have often thought that if I ever saw a company of praying people agreed, as touching one thing, it was on that occasion. While lips and heart were thus employed, this rude young woman seemed at once paralyzed, and stood like a statue; a death-like paleness came over her countenance, she trembled and fell to the floor as one dead. A loud shriek was uttered by her companions at the door; and after a short pause two young men, who had accompanied her to the place, pressed through the crowd-though with as much apparent alarm as though they had been approaching a loaded cannon, ready to be discharged-laid hold of her clothing and drew her through the congregation,

and through the yard, which had recently been wet by a shower; with her garments torn and besmeared with mud and manure, they threw her into the wagon, which the rest of the company entered with all possible haste, and drove away with speed. What became of her afterwards, I never learned."

It was not until 1801 that presiding elders' districts received a distinct name. The region now included in Troy Conference, and an extensive country west of us, was then all included in the Albany and Pittsfield districts, and there were then about sixteen traveling preachers within our limits. In 1802 the work was first divided into Annual Conferences, and that part of our territory lying west of the Hudson river was included in the Philadelphia, while the eastern part was embraced in the New York Conference, until two years later, when it was all attached to the latter. The ecclesiastical year 1801-2 was one of general prosperity.

In June, 1801, Elijah Hedding was received on trial by the New York Conference, and appointed to Plattsburgh circuit as an assistant to Elijah Chichester. God was with these modern Elijahs. Plattsburgh circuit then extended from Ticonderoga into Canada. There the youthful Hedding and his colleague forded streams, traversed forests, faced the pelting storms of that severe climate, slept in log cabins, and kindled a flame that after the lapse of half a century is not extinguished. Multitudes, through their instrumentality, were brought to God and into the bosom of the church. The next year, Hedding was on the Fletcher circuit, which took in an extensive range of country in Vermont, between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, where, amid persecutions and privations, he assisted in planting that vine that now grows so luxuriantly and beautifies the Green Mountain state.

In 1804, what had been called the Pittsfield district, which included the whole of our ground east of the Hudson river and Lake Champlain, and Plattsburgh circuit on the west, took the name of Ashgrove district. In 1811 it was divided, and the northern part took the name of Champlain district. The southern part retained the name of Ashgrove until 1821, when the Saratoga district was formed, and the Ashgrove district was divided between it and some others.

A connected outline of the history of Methodism in Troy may be as much in place here as elsewhere. About the year 1801, a class, of which Mr. Stephen Andress was a prominent member, was formed in that city. This class was subsequently scattered, and one of its number for some misdemeanor was sent to the state prison. Hence, in 1804, when Mr. John Wright, a member of our church, moved to that city and inquired whether there were any Methodists in the place, the reply was: "No; there were some, but I believe they have all been sent to the state prison." He, however, found a small company worshiping in a private house. Precisely when the class was reorganized is not known; but it is known that Mr. Benjamin Betts, who died in 1804 or 1805, was a member after its reorganization, as was also Mr. Caleb Curtis. Messrs. Andress, Betts and Curtiss were among the first Methodists in Troy, and were substantial supporters of the infant church. About the year 1807 to 1809, a small church was erected in State street, which accommodated all our people in that city for twenty years. Troy first appears in the list of appointments in the minutes of 1810, when Dr. Phoebus was appointed to that charge. In the following year it does not appear on the minutes, and the presumption is that it was again connected with an adjoining circuit. In 1813 it again appears, Laban Clark being

appointed there that year. T. Spicer succeeded Mr. Clark in 1815. The charge then included Troy, Albia, West Troy, Lansingburgh and Brunswick, the entire membership of which amounted to one hundred and

seven.

In the winter of 1815 and '16, under the labors of Mr. Spicer, a far more extensive revival than anything they had previously known in that city, took place. Elijah Chichester, who had located, greatly assisted in this work. At that time Noah Levings, began to exercise his gifts in public. After working at the anvil all

day, be would throw off his apron and paper cap, wash

and change his dress, and walk with Mr. Spicer to Albia, where he exhorted at the close of the sermons. At the end of his term of service, Mr. Spicer had the pleasure of reporting two hundred and fifty members; more than double the number that were there at its commencement. He was succeeded in 1817 by Rev. S. Luckey, under whose ministrations another outpouring of the Spirit brought about one hundred and fifty more into the church. Thus our cause began to gain strength in that city, and ever since its course has been onward. In 1827, when our membership there amounted to four hundred and thirty-seven, the old church gave place to the commodious house of worship now occupied in State street. In 1835 the North Second Street Church was erected, which has been prospered until it has become one of our strongest stations. Subsequently a small church was erected in South Troy, and in 1848 the one in Congress street was built. Our present membership in that city amounts to over one thousand, exclusive of West Troy, where we have two churches with a membership of three hundred and fifty. Rev. T. Spicer has expressed the full conviction that not less than five thousand sinners have been converted