History of the Restoration Movement

          The reader will, doubtless, recall a favorite pupil of Mr. Scott's, while engaged in teaching in Pittsburg many years before, named Richardson, under the roof of whose father the teacher found a home. This pupil had now become a man, and was fulfilling the promise of his early youth; in addition to fine literary training, he added a course of medical study, and was now engaged in the practice of medicine near Pittsburg. He was, moreover, a deeply religious man, a member of the Episcopal church, and was confirmed by the Rev. William White, the venerable Bishop of Pennsylvania; his pastor was the Rev. J. H. Hopkins, afterward Bishop of Vermont; and such were his attainments and piety that he was urged to enter the ministry of the church of which he was a member. It was a pleasant surprise to him when his old teacher, then living at Canfield, Ohio, who had never ceased to feel a deep interest in him, most unexpectedly paid him a visit. Mr. Scott, full of the theme which had for the last year or two fully occupied his mind, gave the doctor an account his labors on the Western Reserve, and the excitement which had been aroused and the success which had attended them; the doctor felt that he was a pupil still, and, with the deepest interest, listened to what he considered one of the most important matters that had ever engaged his attention. The following is a full account of the interview and its results, from the Memoirs of Alexander Campbell: "During the interview he related many interesting incidents connected with his labors on the Reserve, which excited much surprise on the part of the doctor, who had as yet remained quite uninformed in respect to the character of the religious movement in which Mr. Scott was now engaged, and was still a member of the Episcopal church, though at the time in communion with the Presbyterian church in his immediate neighborhood. The statement that the Christian institution was quite distinct from the Jewish, and had a definite origin on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii.), and that penitent believers were their commanded to be baptized for the remission of sins: seemed to him as a new revelation, accustomed as he had been to the confused ideas of the different parties on these subjects.

          "About this time Walter Scott, being on a short visit to Pittsburg, rode out to see his former pupil, young Mr. Richardson, who was now engaged in the practice of medicine, some thirteen miles from the city. During the interview he related many interesting incidents connected with his labors on the Reserve, which excited much surprise on the part of the doctor, who had as yet remained quite uninformed in respect to the character of the religious movement in which Mr. Scott was now engaged, and was still a member of the Episcopal Church, though at the time in communion with the Presbyterian Church in his immediate neighborhood.

          The statement that the Christian institution was quite distinct from the Jewish, and had a definite origin on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii.), and that penitent believers were then commanded to be baptized for the remission of sins, seemed to him as a new revelation, accustomed as he had been to the confused ideas of the different parties on these subjects. Upon searching out the import of the word baptism after Mr. Scott's departure, he soon found it to be immersion, and perceived that from trusting to human teachers he had been previously deceived in regard to it. Resolving, therefore, from thenceforth to be directed by the Bible alone, he began a careful re-examination of it. Reflecting that whatever might he urged about "apostolic succession," there could be no flaw in the credentials of the apostles themselves, and that they at least knew how to preach the gospel, he was convinced that had he and the whole world been present when Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins," all would have been equally bound to obey, and that the case was in nowise different now with those to whom this word of salvation came. There could be no danger of deception or mistake in trusting to the words of one who "spake as the Holy Spirit gave him utterance," and he therefore felt it to be his duty to submit to the divine requirements. Setting out accordingly, he, after a three days' journey, found Mr. Scott holding a meeting at a barn in Shalersville, on the Reserve, which he reached about two o'clock on the Lord's day, just after the audience had been dismissed. Six persons had come forward and were preparing for baptism at the farm-house, and the doctor, pressing through the crowd, greatly surprised and delighted Mr. Scott by informing him that he had come to be baptized. After the immersion the meeting was resumed, and William Hayden addressed the people, his discourse being the first the doctor heard from any preacher in the Reformation; nor had he, before going down that day to the banks of the softly-flowing Cuyahoga, ever witnessed an immersion, having been led by the word of God alone to take a solitary journey of one hundred and twenty miles in order to render the obedience which it demanded, and to find in that obedience the fulfillment of the Divine promises, and a happy relief from the illusive hopes and fears, based on frames and feelings, which for several years had constituted his religious experience." (Robert Richardson, Memoirs of Alexander Campbell, Vol. 2., Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott, 1869, pgs. 296-297.)

          The adoption of his views by one so capable of judging of their truth, and so able to defend them was, of course, highly gratifying to Mr. Scott, and the zeal and ability of the new convert soon showed that he was a more valuable accession than even his partial friend and tutor had supposed.

          Soon after his baptism, his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Hopkins, addressed him a letter of remonstrance and regret at the course he had taken, which called forth a reply, which, in a striking manner, set forth the weakness of a religion with much of a human admixture, and the power of the simple and unadulterated truth; or the weakness of a creed in comparison with the plain teachings of the Word of God.

          It was a happy circumstance that Mr. Richardson was so soon called upon to defend his faith, as it opened the way to a career of great usefulness; for, since that time his pen has been almost constantly engaged upon many of the most important religious questions of the day; and among all the writers who have used their pens in the advocacy of the "Reformation" he is not only the most voluminous, but the most polished and graceful. He has been more closely identified with the movement set on foot by the joint labors of Campbell and Scott than any other man in our ranks, and will go down to posterity as the historian of one of the greatest religious movements of modern times. His whole life has been spent in literary, religious, and scientific research. For eighteen years he was Professor of Chemistry in Bethany College, and at the same time co-editor of the "Millennial Harbinger," one of the ablest exponents of modern religious thought. The doctor also aided in the organization of the University of Kentucky from 1859 to 1863, and now, in the retirement of Bethphage, over-looking Bethany, he is still actively and usefully employed, ever and anon giving to the religious world, through the press, his best thoughts on the best of themes. May he be spared yet many years, and may his sun come to a golden setting.

Greene Lawrence
Wharton
July 17, 1847
November 4, 1906
Whose Body Is Buried
In Calcutta, India
He was the first
Missionary of the
Church of Christ
To India, Where
He Served From
1892-1906

Rebecca Richardson
Born At
Pittsburgh, PA.
September 11, 1816
Died At Bethphage
December 17, 1881
_________
Anne C. Dunning

Robert Richardson
Born At
Pittsburgh, PA.
September 26, 1806
Died At Bethphage
October 22, 1876

Note: Bethphage is the name of the hills surrounding Bethany