This book recounts the life and times of an early pioneer to the Western Reserve of Ohio. Alfred H. Betts was born in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1786, where he became a licensed medical doctor. Yet, in 1816, he answered the call to Ohio's wilderness where he also gained a license to preach the Word of God. He became the minister of the Brownhelm Congregational Church as well as a missionary for the Connecticut Missionary Society. His missionary work included organizing new churches, many of which are still in existence today, nearly 200 years later.
In the beginning, he traveled from settlement to settlement on horseback, but health problems eventually forced him to use a horse and buggy to complete his rounds. At times, he suffered from "paroxysms of fever and ague," which we associate today with malaria. He persisted in his mission for over three decades, continually looking for opportunities to "do some good."
Living between the presidencies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln allowed him to see many changes and experience many challenges: the Second Great Awakening, the Temperance Movement, the evils of Slavery and the struggles of the Abolitionists. His father, Hezekiah Betts, was a Revolutionary War soldier and a pious churchman. His mother, Grace, was a member of the Hanford family of Norwalk, who marked their heritage to Rev. Thomas Hanford, Norwalk's first minister, who, like his descendent, Alfred, went into the wilderness to spread the Word of God.
Dr. and Rev. Alfred Hanford Betts and his wife, Sally, lived in Brownhelm from 1820 until the end of their lives. They had thirteen children, ten of whom lived into adulthood.
This book uses a wide variety of primary source documents including over 100 of Dr. Betts's letters that detail his missionary work.
One of his contemporaries, Rev. Dr. Alfred Newton, described Father Betts as "a man of an uncommon class." Oberlin President, James H. Fairchild who was a neighbor and a young parishioner in the Brownhelm church, knew Dr. Betts well. Fairchild once referred to him as a "Bishop of sorts," stating that every church, school, and community in the entire area was influenced by the works of Dr. Betts.
Dr. Betts was a lifelong learner and a kind and generous human being. While he may not have accomplished "grand things," his legacy lives on in Ohio's Western Reserve.