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Letter from Methodist Reverend Samuel Gillett in Evansville Indiana to his son Simeon, who is an acting midshipman at the Annapolis Navy Academy. Gillett was Presiding Elder over the resolution of a scandal in Bloomington, leading to the dismissal of William Mitchel Daily, President of Indiana University.
Reverend has recently moved from Bloomington to Evansville. He gives his impression of the Methodist community in the town.
Evansville Ind Oct 24 1859
My Dear son,
We received one of two letters from you before leaving Bloomington, but had not time to write to you , in consequence of Conference affairs & moving. I wrote to you at Annapolis just before you returned from sea, & your mother has written to you since.
I have had a very long, tedious, & troublesome affair to attend to, in prosecuting Rev Wm M. Daily L.L.D. before our Conference for immoral conduct. Being the Presiding Elder the prosecution devolved on me. It commended last Sunday & was closed at Bloomington on the 7th of Oct. when he was expelled from the Conference & the Church by a vote of 61 to 14. Of course, the Dr was down on me, as were also his particular friends, but I am conscious of doing right in the matter, & I think I have the approval of the intelligent & virtuous part of the community.
I am not stationed in this city in charge of the target congregation in the place, the church is rather fashionable for a Methodist church, having a choir, Melodion, family sittings &, But they are quiet, social, liberal, & only need a deeper tone of piety to render them such as I desire to see them.
We can not procure a house & are under the necessity of Boarding, which will cost all told about 620. $ a year.
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This is your last year at the Naval School. You must continue to be attentive & studious & above all things be careful of your morals. Remember the instruction we have given on religious subjects & bear in mind that this life is but the preface to our existence beyond the grave.
S.T. Gillett
Addressed to:
Acting Mid. S. P. Gillett
U.S. Naval Academy
Annapolis Maryland
USA 3 cent Washington stamp, postmarked 'Evansville Ind. OCT 26’
3 pages with text, folded into a letter
Rev. Samuel T. Gillett (1809–1890) was a prominent 19th-century Methodist circuit rider, pastor, and presiding elder who played a foundational role in the early history of the Methodist Episcopal Church across Indiana, including appointments in regions tied to Bloomington and Monroe County.
Before dedicating his life to the ministry, Gillett had a highly distinctive early career as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, where he studied navigation. After undergoing a profound religious conversion, he left behind a highly promising naval trajectory to become a frontier preacher.
WIKIMEDIA
William Mitchel Daily (1812–1877) was an American academic, preacher and theologian. He served as the third president of Indiana University from 1853-1859 and resigned under pressure after accusations of plagiarism, not paying debts, and incompetence. He served a one-year term as the chaplain of the US House of Representatives and also served as a hospital chaplain during the US Civil War.
WIKIPEDIA
Simeon Palmer Gillett (1840–1910) was an officer in the United States Navy who attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
In 1859, Gillett was actively attending the Academy as an Acting Midshipman, having been appointed on September 20, 1856. He graduated from Annapolis in June 1860.
