hundred square miles. His visits to his family were
few, and the year was one of most severe labor. His receipts were only
one hundred and forty dollars, showing that pioneer work had not at that
period wholly ceased in the older States. Luzerne, his next field, gave
him one hundred and twenty dollars. The next year he traveled
Bridgeport, a large, four weeks circuit, and had for colleague Rev. J.G.
Whitford. On this charge the receipts for the first two quarters were
not equal to his moving expenses. He was next stationed at Ticonderoga,
Westport and Essex, and Berne, successively, when he was invited by Rev.
John Clark, who was east attending the General Conference of 1840, to
come west and take charge of the Oneida Indian Mission. He consented,
and at the following session of the Troy Conference he was transferred
to the Rock River and assigned to that field, where he arrived September
19th, 1840.
He remained on this Mission five years and was then appointed to
Brothertown as my successor. At the expiration of two years he was
appointed to Fond du Lac, as above stated, where he contracted a severe
cold, but thinking to remove it without difficulty, continued his
labors. It was a fatal step. Bronchitis set in and he lost his voice.
He was granted a superannuated relation at the session of the Wisconsin
Conference, held at Beloit, July 27, 1849. From this attack he has never
sufficiently recovered to resume his labors.
The loss of Brother Colman from the work in the Conference was severely
felt. Of solid endowments, respectable attainments, large practicable
knowledge and excellent administrative abilities, his services seemed
almost necessary to the success of the work. We can only refer such
difficult problems to the Great Head of the church for solution.
During the nine years of Brother Colman's service in Wisconsin, he was
abundant in labor. He was emphatically a man of one work. His salary,
like that of his co-laborers, was small, making an average of only two
hundred and fifty dollars a year. Certainly this was a small provision
for himself, wife and five children. By a judicious investment at an
early day, however, he is placed beyond the reach of want. He still
lives in the affections of his brethren, and, after a superannuation of
twenty-five years, his visits to the sessions of the Conference always
assure him a hearty greeting from his old friends.
CHAPTER V.
Green Lake Mission.--Waupun.--Firs
|