EDWIN RUTHVEN SHAPARD (Chapter 15) 1882-1883, New Hope

CHAPTER 15

NEW HOPE: 1882-1883

The 37^th Annual Indian Mission Conference was held at Muskogee, in the Creek Nation, on September 20-25, 1882. E.R. Shapard was appointed as the Presiding Elder of Choctaw District and as the Superintendent of New Hope Seminary. This year Rev. J. F. Thompson was elected Conference Recording Secretary. This was the first year, since 1873, that Rev. Shapard had not been elected as Conference Recording Secretary. It is interesting to note that the Minute Book, which logged the records of the of the Annual Indian Mission Conference for the years of 1882 – 1886, was destroyed in a fire at the Asbury Manuel Labor School on November 26, 1886, while in the possession of the Conference Secretary Rev. E.R. Shapard.  Though the records were re-entered in a new Minute Book, it is only a partial recording of the actual events, lacking many details of the daily proceedings. Because the records for the year 1882 were destroyed, it is unknown if Rev. Shapard attended the Conference or not, or if he declined to be Secretary due to health issues, or was not elected. Impressively, Rev. Shapard would go on to be elected as Conference Recording Secretary 15 times in his 17 years of service in the Indian Mission Conference. 

In September of 1882, Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen Brewer started a monthly newspaper chronicling the events of the Indian Mission Conference, entitled, Our Brother in Red. Rev. T. F. Brewer was born in Gibson, Tennessee, in 1845. He served in the Confederacy under General Nathan Bedford Forrest and was involved in 29 engagements. In 1866, he was licensed to preach and joined the Memphis Conference. In 1878, he was transferred to the Indian Mission Conference. He founded the Harrell Institute School for Girls at Muskogee in 1883, of which he served as Superintendent for over 20 years. He married Miss Mary Dyer. He was a Mason and a member of the Oklahoma State Board of Education. Rev. Brewer died on April 6, 1928, and is buried in the Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee, Oklahoma. In September of 1887, the newspaper, Our Brother in Red, changed from a monthly to a weekly publication, and ran until it was merged with the Arkansas Methodist in 1900. Rev. E.R. Shapard frequently submitted articles for publication in which he gave advice and discussed his observations and experiences in Indian Territory. He and Rev. Brewer developed a strong friendship over the years and respected one another immensely. 

On February 14, 1883, Edwin purchased four adjoining lots of land on Lexington Avenue in Fort Smith, Arkansas, from Edward Fitzgerald, who was the Catholic Bishop of Arkansas and Indian Territory, for the sum of $340. Edwin purchased, on March 26, 1883, an additional half-lot of land from F.A. Jeffett for the sum of $75, which adjoined the original four lots he had previously purchased. Rev. F.A. Jeffett, was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and was appointed to Fort Smith. Edwin would eventually build four wood-framed houses on this property, the northern-most house was used as their family’s home, when they lived in Fort Smith, and the other three were used as rent houses. 

After the school year ended on June 22, 1883, Rev. Shapard resigned as the Superintendent of New Hope Seminary due to the ill health of his wife, and moved his family to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Despite the move, he continued his obligations as Presiding Elder of the Choctaw District. It is unknown from what illness Mrs. Shapard suffered, however severe illness in the Choctaw Nation ranged from malarial fever, typhus fever, whooping cough and pneumonia. Regardless, Jennie would fully recover from her infirmity and the Shapard family would eventually reside in one of the homes built on the land purchased in February of 1883.

Rev. Edward A. Gray became the succeeding Superintendent of New Hope Seminary, which was the first change in the superintendancy for the seminary in 11 years. This was an extraordinary degree of continuity for Rev. Shapard and a credit to his management of the school, considering most pastoral terms made by the church were limited to no more than four years in succession. The church had a policy, however, of retaining efficient men in charge of schools beyond the normal term limits. Thus, Rev. Shapard had proved himself to be “the man for the work.”  Due to his dedication and labor over the last decade, New Hope Seminary was able to construct a new dormitory and school house in 1884, that was able to board 100 students; twice as many as in the past. Ironically, Rev. E.A. Gray

would have his name chiseled on the cornerstone of the new building, which was ceremonially placed on April 13, 1884, though he had only been there less than a year. In 1885, Rev. J.J. Methvin succeeded Rev. Gray as head of the school. During this year the authorities of the Choctaw Nation thought it proper to rescind the contract with the Mission Board, and proposed to conduct the institution without the assistance of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. On this account, a final settlement was made with the Choctaw authorities in 1886, and the school ceased to be controlled by the church. The Nation operated the school independently until the night of December 30, 1896, when the school burned to the ground and was not rebuilt. When the Choctaw authorities abandoned prospects for rebuilding the school, the remaining stones and bricks were gradually hauled away from the school ruins by the local population. The school grounds were finally sold off in 1899.