The colorful anecdotes in this early history of Missouri by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose document the furthest western spread of the jerks during the decade following the Great Revival. Jonathan Bryan, whose daughter contracted the jerks, was the nephew of famed frontiersman Daniel Book. Click here for the complete text of A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri (1876).
RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
But little attention was given to religious matters in the new settlements until after the first ten or twelve years of the present century.
The Spanish government, it is true, required all who received grants of land from the crown, to be good Catholics, but as this requirement was never enforced, the people gave it little or no attention. Protestant ministers occasionally visited the settlements and held services in the log cabins of the pioneers, but no churches or classes were regularly organized until after the territory was purchased by the United States in 1803.
The first of the pioneer preachers were Old Baptists, or what are popularly known as Ironsides, or Hardshell Baptists, and there were some very original characters among them, as we shall endeavor to show in future pages. Very few of the pioneers made any pretensions to religion, but when one of those Old Ironside preachers came into the neighborhood and preached in some good brother’s cabin, they all attended, with their guns on their shoulders, and their dogs at their heels. The guns were stacked in one corner of the cabin, while the dogs remained outside and fought, or went on hunting expeditions on their own account. At the close of the services, the brother in whose house they were held would pass the whisky around, and all would take a drink, the preacher included, so that, in this respect, it was hard to tell saint from sinner. Then they would call the dogs and take a hunt, or get up a shooting match and try their skill with their rifles.
As the settlements became thicker, and the population increased, churches of different denominations were organized, and a religious fervor began to prevail. Camp-meetings became popular, and were largely attended by all classes of people. By this time, also, the rough frontier dress had, in a measure, been discarded, and in place of buckskin hunting shirt and leggins, there appeared home-made jeans pants and coats, with now and then a ‘‘round-about,” while the feet were clad in home-made leather shoes instead of buckskin moccasins. The good old sisters would take their babies in their arms and their shoes and stockings in their hands, and walk barefooted to the camp-ground, to save their shoes. They would sometimes walk twenty or thirty miles to a camp-meeting, and upon arriving near the camp-ground, would stop at some spring or water course, and wash their feet and put on their shoes and stockings. They were generally accompanied on these occasions by their husbands, who also carried their shoes in their hands, and their rifles on their shoulders, while the older children, clad in the most primitive style, and the dogs, brought up the rear.
It was about the year 1814, as near as we can ascertain—for there was no record kept of the matter—that the singular religious phenomenon called the “jerks” began to make its appearance at the camp-meetings. It was first developed at a camp-meeting in Tennessee, and threw all the surrounding country into a state of the wildest excitement. From Tennessee it spread to other parts of the country, and soon became prevalent all over the West. It was a nervous affection, and persons under its influence lost all control over their movements, though they rarely became insensible. They would jerk violently from side to side, and backward and forward, sometimes shouting” Glory to God,” and at others cursing and swearing in the most awful manner. Sometimes their heads and necks and bodies would be jerked and twisted and distorted until it would seem that every joint and bone in them must be dislocated or broken; but no physical harm ever resulted from these attacks. Some attributed the phenomenon to the agency of the devil, others imagined that the preachers understood some sort of black art which they practiced upon those who came near them or shook hands with them; but the greater portion of the people, led by the ministers themselves, considered it to be the manifestation of the Spirit of God, and gave Him praise accordingly. A few incidents, illustrative of this subject, will give a better understanding of its characteristics.
In a certain community, there lived a young man and his sister, in an elegant mansion, left them by their parents. They were aristocratic and proud, and associated only with their own class of people. They rarely attended religious services, except when they could visit some fashionable church; and the Methodists, Baptists, and other primitive religious people, were regarded by them with a certain degree of contempt. On one occasion, prompted by curiosity, they visited a Methodist camp-meeting near their residence; and during the day the young lady began to feel the influence of the religious atmosphere by which she was surrounded. The young man, alarmed lest she should join the despised Methodists, threatened if she went to the altar he would carry her away by force. Finally, being deeply impressed, she did go to the altar, and requested the prayers of the members of the church. Her brother, who was at the time in a distant part of the congregation, was soon informed of his sister’s action, and immediately started forward to carry out his threat. Under the arbor, where services were held, rough board seats had been erected for the accommodation of the people, and the young man had to cross these in going to the altar. He had proceeded about half way when he was suddenly attacked by the jerks, and could not advance another step. Unwilling to submit to the power that restrained him, he made desperate efforts to go forward, but every time he advanced a step he would be jerked violently back over the seats, and thrown from side to side, as helpless as an infant, but raving and swearing like a madman. He tore his hair with his hands, and frothed at the mouth, and his limbs were jerked about and distorted in a most horrible manner. When he stood still, or retreated, the influence deserted him, and he became quiet and assumed his normal condition; but the moment he attempted to advance he would be seized with renewed power and hurled back with increased violence. He wore a suit of fine black broadcloth, and a large spur on the heel of each boot, and the prongs of the spurs, catching in his clothes, tore them into shreds, until, when he finally submitted to the invisible power and left the ground, he was almost naked. His sister remained at the altar, and experienced what is known among Methodists as a change of heart; and the young man was also converted at a subsequent period. This was one of the most singular incidents that occurred during the prevalence of the jerks, but its truth is fully vouched for by several persons who witnessed it.
A young girl, a daughter of Mr. Jonathan Bryan, who lived on Femme Osage creek, having visited several camp-meetings and witnessed a number of cases of the jerks, learned to imitate them, and was rather fond of exhibiting her proficiency in that line. But one day, while sitting on the stiles in front of her father’s house, she was attacked by the genuine jerks, and thrown to the ground. Her head and body were thrown backward and forward with great force, and her long hair, coming loose from its fastenings, cracked like a whip. She was jerked and thrown around for a considerable length of time, and then left in an almost exhausted condition. After that she never imitated the jerks again—one genuine experience satisfied her.
Rev. Jesse Walker, a Methodist minister, and Rev. David Clark, an Ironside Baptist preacher, once conducted a camp-meeting together, on Peruque creek, in St. Charles county. During the meeting the jerks made their appearance, and a number of persons were brought under their influence. One day a man named Leonard Harrow was looking on and laughing at some of the penitents who were jerking, when he was suddenly attacked himself, and, throwing his arras around a sapling near him, he began to butt his head violently against it, and would have knocked his brains out if he had not been restrained by several persons who stood near him.
Sometimes, after the jerks deserted them, they would fall into a trance or stupor, and remain unconscious, and often apparently dead, for hours and even days at a time. A few incidents are mentioned where persons were actually laid out and prepared for burial, their friends supposing them to be dead; but eventually they would recover their consciousness as suddenly as they had lost it, and astonish the watchers by rising up in their grave clothes. A colored woman, who belonged to Mr. Burrell Adams, of Montgomery county, was subject to attacks of this kind, and would remain unconscious and motionless for a day or two at a time.
Occasionally the jerks would assume a ludicrous aspect, and cause their victims to perform such ridiculous actions that the most sedate could hardly restrain their laughter. On one occasion, at a camp-meeting near Flint Hill, in St. Charles county a man who had been standing for sometime as if in a profound study, suddenly commenced jumping up and down, snapping his thumbs and fingers, and shouting at the top of his voice, “Slick as a peeled onion! Slick as a peeled onion!” His emotion lasted only a few minutes, and upon being questioned by his friends as to its cause, he replied that he had just received the Holy Ghost, and it came so easily that he could compare it with nothing more appropriate than the slickness of a peeled onion.
Mrs. Williamson, who lived near Loutre, in Montgomery county, often had the jerks; and so did her daughter. Miss Katy. At a camp-meeting held by the Cumberland Presbyterians, a short distance southeast of Danville, many years ago. Miss Katy was attacked by the jerks, and some men who were standing near began to laugh at her. Directly she started toward them, in a jumping, unearthly fashion, when the men became frightened and ran away. About the same time several large dogs attacked the girl and tore her dress into shreds, leaving her almost naked, when some of the preachers came down from the pulpit and drove the dogs away.
Subsequently, at a camp-meeting in Warren county, Miss Katy had an attack of the jerks, and getting down on her hands and feet, she began to crawl about like a measuring worm, when some of her friends carried her away and secured her in a tent.
Rev. James E. Welch, whose history is given elsewhere, relates the following incidents that occurred under his own observation: When a mere boy, he attended a camp-meeting held by a body of religious enthusiasts who had seceded from the Presbyterian church, and who called themselves New Lights. This meeting was held near the line between Kentucky and Tennessee, in the region of country where the New Lights, as well as the jerks, originated. One day during the meeting, the boy’s attention was directed to four women, who, though in the midst of the congregation, were carefully binding up and securing their long hair. Having completed their arrangements, they all took the jerks, and commenced dancing backward and forward, over a space of about ten feet, giving a slight but very peculiar jerk of the body and head at each turn. During the performance the hair of one of the women came down, when she very deliberately stopped and re-arranged it, and then proceeded with her dancing as though nothing had occurred to interrupt her. When the horn blew for dinner, they all quieted down, and went to the table and ate as heartily as any one.
Young Welch afterward became a minister in the Missionary Baptist Church, and in 1814 came to Cape Girardeau, Mo., on some private business. He remained several months, and during his stay was invited to go to a place about twenty-five miles west of Cape Girardeau, on the waters of the St. Francois river, and hold religious services. He did so, and organized a Baptist church at that place. One day, just after he had announced his text and commenced his discourse, a young woman immediately in front of him, took the jerks. This was his first experience with that phenomenon since he had commenced preaching, and it startled him. The girl’s body, as she sat on the bench, was jerked violently backward and forward, until her head almost touched the benches in front of and behind her, and the minister expected every moment to see her back break; but she was not injured in the least. In the midst of her contortions her hair came loose, and the rapid motions of her head caused it to hiss and whiz so loud that it could be heard at a distance of thirty or forty yards; and at every jerk she gave a peculiar shriek or yelp that almost made the blood curdle. It cannot be exactly represented in print, but sounded very much like “yeouk.” Mr. Welch was so overcome by his emotions at witnessing the strange exhibition, that he could not proceed with his sermon, but stopped and gazed in wonder at the girl. As soon as he ceased preaching, she sank back exhausted upon the ground, and remained apparently unconscious. He thereupon resumed his discourse, when she again began to jerk, and this was repeated three times before he closed his sermon.
Mr. Welch was accompanied on his return to Kentucky by a young man, whom he found to be a very pleasant traveling companion, and whose society was none the less appreciated on account of the loneliness of the road. The settlements at that time were very scattering, and they often traveled fifty to seventy-five miles without seeing a house. One evening they stopped at a cabin, in the midst of a dense wilderness, fifty miles from any other human habitation, and inquired if they could obtain lodging for the night. The man, who was a genuine specimen of the backwoods hunter, answered them that they were welcome, if they could put up with his fare; and being thankful to obtain any kind of a shelter, they gladly availed themselves of his hospitality, and alighting from their horses, they entered the cabin, which contained but one room, furnished in the usual frontier style. The family consisted of the man, his wife, and a grown daughter, and, notwithstanding their lonely surroundings, they seemed contented with their lot and happy in each other’s society. After a substantial supper of venison, corn bread, and milk and butter, they seated themselves at the door of the cabin, where they could enjoy the cool breeze, and spent several hours in pleasant conversation. The cabin contained two beds, one on either side of the room, and when it was time to retire, one of these was given to Mr. Welch and his companion, while the man and his wife occupied the other, the girl sleeping on a pallet between them. The light had scarcely been extinguished when the girl began to pound the floor in a very demonstrative manner, with her elbows and feet, and upon inquiry as to what was the matter with her, the man replied that she had the jerks. “Caught ‘em,” said he, “from one of the preachers, at a Methodist camp-meeting.” “For God’s sake,” exclaimed Mr. Welch, “light the candle and let us see what is the matter with her.” The man complied, and as soon as the light was struck the girl sprang to her feet, and, ducking her head like a sheep, she ran to the door and butted it with great violence, taking care, however, not to strike her head against any portion of it that was solid enough to knock her brains out. She kept this up for some time, running wildly back and forth across the room, until Mr. Welch, becoming alarmed for her safety, asked the man to catch and hold her. “I cant’t do it,” he replied; “I have tried it often, but there is no power on earth that can hold her. You may try, if you want to.” Availing himself of the privilege thus granted, Mr. Welch awaited his opportunity, and suddenly tripping her feet from under her, he laid her gently on the pallet. But immediately she began to whirl over and over, and rolling herself in the pallet, seemed as if she would tear it into shreds. Seeing that nothing could be done with her in her wild condition, Mr. Welch requested the man to blow out the light, and they all retired to bed again. In a few minutes the girl became quiet and fell asleep, and they heard nothing more from her during the remainder of the night. But the incident made so deep an impression on the minds of the travelers that they never forgot it.
Source
William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with Numerous Sketches, Anecdotes, Adventures, etc., Relating to Early Days in Missouri (St. Louis, Mo.: Bryan, Brand and Co., 1876), 81–88.
