This Week in Texas Methodist History   March 29

Martin Ruter Inventories  Basic Methodist Library  March  30, 1838

Suppose you were given the task of bringing Methodism to a foreign country.  You would certainly want doctrinal tracts, Bibles, hymnals, Bible commentaries, expositions, Christian history, etc.  How would one choose what to bring?

We are fortunate that Martin Ruter’s list of books he had shipped to Texas from the United States survives.  It provides a wonderful insight into what constituted a basic Methodist library in the 1830’s.  One should remember that Ruter was Book Agent at Cincinnati from 1820 to 1828,  college president, and a prolific author.  With the possible exception of Nathan Bangs no one was more qualified than Ruter to draw up such a list.  

In the era before modern freight services how did one get boxes of books from the Ohio Valley to Texas?  The answer is through the services of consignment agents.  Such brokers existed in all the important ports of the era.  One would send a shipment to one of the agents who would hold it until the owner or owner's representative picked it up.  It was that system that produced the list from March 30, 1838 because Martin Ruter gave David Ayres authority to receive the book shipment at Columbia “or any other port.”  

Ruter wrote the list from Centre Hill, where David Ayres lived.  Here is the list

1 set Fletcher’s works

10 Ruter’s Gregory

1 set Wesley’s Works

2 Watson’s Institutes (in one vol.)

1 Watson’s Institutes (in two vol.)

10 Life of Wesley

20 Nelson’s Journal

100 Disciplines

100 Hymnbooks  24 mo

100 Hymnbooks 48 mo

100 Hymnbooks 72 mo

10 Polyglott Bibles

500 Scriptural Catechisms

100 Sabbath School Hymnbooks

100 Testaments

1 Set Clark’e Commentary

6 Hymbooks 24 mo

12 Christian Pattern

12 Mrs. Rowe

50 Common Bibles

100 Testaments

To give to Schools.