from Sheboygan on the east to Portage City on the west, and
included eight charges. To encompass the labor of a single year required
the travel of four thousand miles. The roads were almost impassable,
especially in the northern and eastern portions of the District. During
certain seasons of the year, the buggy and sleigh could be used, but, in
the main, these extended journeys were performed on horseback. A wagon
road had been cut through the timber from Fond du Lac to Lake Michigan,
but only one family, as yet, had found a home between the former place
and Sheboygan Falls.

Between Sheboygan and Manitowoc, a distance of twenty-five miles, there
was no house. The road, if such it might be called, was an unbroken line
of mud of uncertain depth, and any amount of logs, stumps, roots and
stones, to give it variety. The northern portion of the district was a
wilderness, and the few points that had been invaded by settlements,
were almost wholly inaccessable. In the southern portion the roads were
better, but even here, and especially through the Rock River woods, they
were not inviting.

The position of Presiding Elder on the Green Bay District at this time
was no sinecure. The long journeys, the great exposure and the meager
accommodations among the people, were trying in the extreme. But it was
found that Brother Sampson was equal to every emergency.

At this time there were only three churches on the District, and these
were located at Green Bay, Oneida and Brothertown. Brother Sampson
remained a full term on the District, and at its close became connected
with the Lawrence University, in connection with which a record of his
labors will appear. In this work he was engaged until 1851, when his
health failed, and he was stationed at Kenosha. He was recalled the year
following, and until the year 1856 performed such services as his broken
health would permit. He was now made effective and appointed Professor,
but in 1861 he again entered the regular work, being stationed at
Whitewater. His subsequent appointments have been, Presiding Elder of
Milwaukee District, Pastor of Racine, Janesville, Evansville, Sharon,
Milton and Waukau, where he is, at the present writing, doing efficient
work. Brother Sampson has given to the cause long service, a noble life;
and is an honor to the Conference.

The Fourth Quarterly Conference of the year was held at Fond du Lac. It
was at this meeting that I was granted license to preach and