There was considerable excitement in the south of Iowa back in 1882 as Friday, the 24th of November, approached. Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, also known as "the Great Infidel," was the scheduled orator that evening at the Lewis Opera House in Ottumwa and orators were a principal source of entertainment at the time. Col. Ingersoll's topic --- "What shall we do to be saved?" --- was bound to spark interest.
Ingersoll, an attorney, distinguished Civil War veteran and first attorney general of Illinois, has sometimes been described as "the foremost orator and political speechmaker of late 19th century America — perhaps the best-known American of the post-Civil War era. (His portrait, above, is from the Library of Congress collection.)
"It was his private speaking career that made him famous. Tour after tour, he crisscrossed the country and spoke before packed houses on topics ranging from Shakespeare to Reconstruction, from science to religion. In an age when oratory was the dominant form of public entertainment, Ingersoll was the unchallenged king of American orators." Here's a good biography at the site, Free Inquiry.
We would call Col. Ingersoll a "liberal" today --- a champion of science, including Darwinism, free thought, equal rights for women and people of color; scornful of orthodox religion, hence the "Great Infidel" moniker. He had premiered his salvation speech in 1880 and it was guaranteed to draw a crowd --- inspiring some, infuriating others and piquing the curiosity of those between the two extremes.
Here's a sample of his reasoning that gives a good idea of why: “The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous. It is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance, called "faith." What man, who ever thinks, can believe that blood can appease God? And yet, our entire system of religion is based upon that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of animals, and according to the Christian system, the blood of Jesus softened the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the salvation of a fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind can give assent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read the Bible and still believe in the doctrine of inspiration.” ("On the Gods and Other Essays," 1876)
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Quite a number of Charitonians, a majority of them free-thinkers, reserved seats ($1 each) and made plans to be in Ottumwa on the evening of the 24th. L. L. Arnold, then resident C.B.&Q. trainmaster, arranged for a special coach to be attached to eastbound No. 4 late in the afternoon so that the party would arrive in Ottumwa with plenty of time for supper. The car then was detached at the Ottumwa Depot and reattached to westbound No. 1 for the trip home to Chariton early the next morning, estimated time of arrival 2 a.m.
We don't know the names of everyone aboard that car, but The Chariton Democrat-Herald did publish a partial list a few days before: Dr. and Mrs. (William H.) Gibbon, Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Thompson, Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Christian, Mr. and Mrs. M.P. Baker, Mr. and Mrs. Evan Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wormley, Mr. and Mrs. D.J. Ewing, Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Arnold, Mr. and Mrs. J.D. Hull, Miss Annie Gibbon, Miss Thompson, Mr. D.M. Baker, Dr. McKlveen and Olive Hull.
It's not clear how many Lucas Countyans were in Ottumwa that evening, but The Ottumwa Daily Democrat of Nov. 25 reported, "A large number of Chariton and Albia people came down last night to hear the great Ingersoll. Chariton was particularly well represented."
Of Ingersoll's speech, Chariton's Democrat-Leader reported only that "our space is too limited to give even a synopsis of the lecture delivered by Col. Ingersoll at Ottumwa Friday night. But those of our readers who are particularly anxious to know what he said and how he said it can have their curiosity satisfied by calling on Dr. Gibbon. We sat near Doc and if there was a man in the hall who took it all in, he certainly did. He says he would go farther and pay out more money to hear Bob Ingersoll than to hear Dr. Fitch."
The tongue-in-cheek reference here was to Dr. Gibbon's Chariton colleague, Dr. Charles Fitch, something of an outspoken infidel himself.
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The Ottumwa Democrat did carry a complete report on the Ingersoll lecture, but gave equal time --- more than equal time actually, four and a half columns of rather small type --- to the Rev. G.S. Bailey's response, delivered at the Baptist church in Ottumwa on Sunday evening, Nov. 26; headlined, "Ingersollism Exposed." Here's how he began:
"Our city has just been visited by Robert G. Ingersoll, the leading infidel and scorner of Christianity. Multitudes go to hear him, some from curiosity, some from admiration of his coarse wit, some from his bold and reckless abuse of the Bible and religion, ministers and churches. Yet few except the vicious and vulgar desire to hear him a second time. It is no small credit to our city that so many who make no pretentions to personal piety stayed at home last Friday night, not wishing to hear everything sacred and holy treated with contempt and blackguardism."
The editor of The Oskaloosa Standard, also in Ottumwa for Col. Ingersoll's speech, took up far less space as he consigned the Great Infidel to hell. Here is his response: "We heard Pope Bob Ingersoll at Ottumwa last Friday night, on 'Talmagian Theology,' and will only say that for variegated, sumptuous, stilted, stake and ridered blasphemy he is unparalleled. By the time he toasts and bakes and fries in hell a thousand years he will revise his definition of it and conclude that he understands the geography of it. He says now, 'Blasphemy is what a mistake says of a fact.' Then he will swear, 'hell is a fact!' "
"Talmagian Theology" refers to the Rev. Thomas De Witt Talmage, the Billy Graham of his day although Presbyterian and considerably more colorful, who preached in Brooklyn and spread the word across the Americas via newspaper columns. His, too, was a name widely known in Chariton.
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