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*Autobiography, p. 159-160: "This was December, A. D. 1811. The next Sunday night occurred those notable earthquakes that produced such eruptions on the Mississippi River, about New Madrid, and which rent the earth with deep chasms in many parts of Southern Missouri. Even where I lived large trees were broken down, fences and brick buildings were prostrated or much injured. My door-hinges were loosened, and the back wall which I had just put up was shaken down; and, for three days »nd nights, the sun, moon, and stars were concealed by a mist and fog which dropped like a heavy dew, while ever and anon, a hard shock would seem to threaten the world with destruction. All this commotion seemed to have no effect on me, nor gave me any alarm whatever. I calmly viewed the phenomena as a matter of God's wise arrangement, and I pursued my daily business with a composed and contented mind. The next day after the first shock, I was building up my chimney of sticks and clay, and sometimes I would be upon it when a heavy shock would come, and, to keep from being shaken down, I would have to throw my arms around a log of the house until the violence of the shock was over. All these things never moved me nor caused me to doubt for one moment, but that the Lord would speedily make bare his arm and almighty power, revive his saints, and gather in his redeemed children."
Ibid., p. 180-181: "Leaving the bank of the Mississippi, we had three or four miles to travel before we got to the hill. This was on the 8th of January. When about half-way, a severe shock of an earthquake came on; we sought as open a place as possible in the timber, and dismounted from our staggering horses, who could scarcely stand up, and we, ourselves, found it difficult to stand. We could hear the screams of the people near the river, and the falling of houses; large trees were snapped off, and the boughs of others were lashing each other with fury, and old mossy logs were rolled out of their beds. All this was from the great agitation of the earth, for not a breeze of wind could be perceived. These heavy shocks were often introduced by a sound like distant thunder, and then a roaring, like heavy wind, would come through the air, and, with this sound, would come the shaking and convulsive surges of the earth. After the earthquake had ceased we traveled on; the temperature was a little moderated, but still it was very cold. We had much trouble in picking our way through the ice, but at last—cold and fatigued—we reached our homes that evening, and found our families well."
-Elder Wilson Thompson
And anyway, as the saying goes, "you can see it from here." Almost.
From where I preach, you can also "almost" see the Des Moines River. Whether you see it or not, it is never far from mind. Ever a force to be reckoned with, rivers actually flowed backward (retrograde, as did the Missouri and Mississippi) in the great 1811-12 earthquake noted by Elder Thompson in his Autobiography*. What stories the Des Moines river could tell, of when in course of time came native peoples, Europeans, traders, settlers, confederates and yankees off to war, and then corn and then railroads and then more wars and rumors thereof. Yet still "we read, we sing, we preach and pray And find the Lord most precious."
It is a good place for a little old country church.
Ever,
Elder Stephen Conte
The Primitive Baptist Des Moines River Church in Iowa
Elder Wilson Thompson's Autobiography:
Frontier Church
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