This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.
Woven like a thread through the tapestry of early Mississippi Valley history is the figure of Peter Cartwright, the Methodist circuit rider whose territory ranged from Galena all the way south to Shawnee town. Cartwright had come to Illinois in 1818 not only to save souls, but to argue for the abolition of slavery.
His stance on slavery made him many enemies, including a ferryman Cartwright met crossing the Sangamon River near Springfield. The burly ferryman, who did not recognize the circuit rider, was taking Cartwright's name in vain with some fairly strong adjectives, declaring that if he ever met him, he would drown him in the river.
The ferryboat was halfway across the Sangamon when the preacher identified himself, invited the ferryman to carry out his threat, and rolled up his sleeves. Cartwright was not above a little physical oratory.
The ferryman threw down his pole and went at the preacher. It took less than a minute for Cartwright to grab the ferryman by his neck and the seat of his pants and throw him overboard.
Cartwright held the ferryman under water for a few moments, raised him up, and asked "Did you ever pray?"
"No," replied the sputtering ferryman.
"I'll teach you," said Cartwright. "Say 'Our father who art in heaven.'"
"I won't," said the ferryman.
This time the ferryman found himself under water a longer time. "Now will you pray?" asked Cartwright.
"I'll think about it." After another dunking and some thinking, the ferryman repeated the entire Lord's Prayer.
Before letting the new convert back into the boat, Peter Cartwright made him promise to repeat the prayer twice a day, to take all Methodist preachers across the river free of charge, and to attend every Methodist tent meeting within five miles.
Barely alive, the ferryman crawled back into the boat. He subsequently joined the Methodist church, and even became an eminent and useful member, a lesson apparently lost on today's Methodists, who haven't dunked anyone for years.
Rock Island Lines with Roald Tweet is underwritten by the Scott County Regional Authority, with additional funding from the Illinois Arts Council and Augustana College, Rock Island.
