The early settlers of Indiana, mostly from the back-country South, regarded the first Presbyterian missionaries in the state as outlanders and agents of eastern culture. Suffering under this handicap as well as from bitter strife within the denomination, the ministers showed remarkable zeal in working toward their goal of upgrading the settler’s material life, improving morals, and establishing responsible community leadership. Their most notable contribution during this period was the maintenance of a highly developed Christian theology in the midst of a folk Christianity and faced with the fierce independence of the Indiana woodsmen.
Mr. Rudolph, exploiting the many facets of the Presbyterian story in Indiana, deals in detail with the life and character of both the settlers and the missionaries, and with the schism that divided the Church from 1830 to 1870, concluding with a comprehensive discussion of early Presbyterian standards, doctrines, and educational teachings.
