USA > Arkansas > Pulaski County > Little Rock > The annals of Christ church parish of Little Rock, Arkansas, from A. D. 1839 to A. D. 1899 > Part 12
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"Know God, and His Son Christ Jesus"- "This," He says, "is Life Eternal." Cannot we, without presumption, Say we "know" our God and Saviour ? Though it be as little children Really know an earthly parent ? Little do they know about him-
Whence he came, or what his business-
But they know full well his person ; Fearless run each day to meet him ; Climb into his arms exulting; Give and take love's fond caresses ; Tell him all their joys and sorrows;
All their numerous wants and wishes; Oft offending, oft repenting, Living in a state of pardon; Never for a moment doubting That he loves them, and will, always. "Who's your father ?" asks a stranger, "Don't you know him ?" says the children,- Wond'ring much at such a question- "Why, we know him just as easy! "Just as easy," does the Christian Know and love his Heavenly Father. Constant intercourse assures us
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That He is, and the Rewarder Of all those that seek Him, truly, Giving thanks, and praying, always : With all prayer and supplication, In the Spirit, and communing With the ever-present Saviour, A peculiar freshness, vigor, And reality, is given
To the new life we have in Him:
And His face, divinely tender,
Seems, almost, an open vision. Not from overwrought excitement, Or fanatical delusion,-
Always short-lived, and unreal- But in constant, close communion,
In the stillness of the closet ; And, sometimes, beneath the shadow
Of some overwhelming Sorrow,
Which has wrought its special purpose,
Chastened and subdued the spirit, 'Till, not only dwelling with Him, But completely hiding in Him, With a sense, unutterable, Of security forever !-
Faith and Hope and Love made perfect. Multitudes of simple Christians,
Ignorant of Controversy,
Through the witness of God's Spirit,
In their own hearts, have discovered
That, in truth, the Blessed Bible Is the voice of God, there speaking In this Age of Skepticism. Faith grows strong by Contemplation, Not of abstract truth, or dogma, But of Christ, Himself, in Person- All that He has done and suffered ; Death and Hell for us o'ercoming : At His Father's right hand seated,
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In the fulness of His power, "Bringing many souls to Glory." Presently, another Birthday Both of us, dear Wife, will welcome- When we know not, neither which, first, Or, if God please, both together- His good pleasure we're awaiting. The same Wisdom, Power, and Goodness, Which, when we were born, the First time, Made provision for our coming Into a new mode of being,
Will do so, at our next Birthday,
What more absolutely helpless
Than the newborn, human infant ?
Left uncared for, it would perish.
But the Merciful Creator Brings it safely through all dangers. So, dear Wife, when God's good Angels To a higher life transport us, We shall be, again, as helpless, But as absolutely safe, too. He who did so wisely order This life's opening, will as surely To that nobler one exalt us. Nothing shocking, nothing monstrous, Or unnatural, shall happen ; Left alone, for not one moment,
Under convoy of good Angels, (As was Lazarus, Christ tells us,) Into Paradise emerging, We shall not be among strangers : Th' older members of the fam'ly Into loving arms will take us, With unutterable gladness ; Friends and kinsfolk will come, eager To congratulate and welcome.
We can, now, form no conception Of the mode of that existence :
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But both Moses and Elias, Though, then, disembodied spirits, Seen at Christ's transfiguration, Were both recognized by Peter. And those Spirits, "in safe keeping," Whom our Saviour went and "preached to,"
Must have known and understood Him.
If St. Paul thought it "far better," From the body to be "absent," That he might with Christ be "present," Surely, then, he must have thought of
A Communion, far more perfect, Than is possible in this world.
When, at parting, Christ would comfort His disconsolate disciples,
Was it not with the assurance, That He'd come again, in Person,
And unto Himself receive them, When a place was ready for them, In His Father's "many mansions ?" Yes, dear Wife, our "Elder Brother," (Oh, what wondrous condescension ! He, Himself, claims that relation. ) Gone to a far-distant country, To prepare a new home for us- There to dwell with Him forever- Gives this comforting assurance, When we come to the last Station, We shall find Him there to welcome : He the path of life will show us: Fullest joy is in his presence ; At His right hand pleasures endless, Made like Him! To share His glory ! What a destiny awaits us !
Take, dear Wife, love's benediction : May your Birthdays, all, be tending Toward the glorious consummation, Which my poor muse has, so feebly,
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Striven now to set before you. May our loving Heavenly Father Do more for you, and far better, Than your husband can conceive of, Or find words wherewith to utter.
J. T. WHEAT.
Mrs. Churchill, referred to in the letter of Mrs. Selina Wheat, is the wife of ex-Governor Thomas J. Churchill, who was lieutenant in the war with Mexico, and brigadier general in the Civil War; the daughter of Senator Ambrose H. Sevier, and granddaughter of Judge and Mrs. Benjamin Johnson. These grandparents were prominent members of the Christian Church, but their daughter, Mrs. Jordan, and granddaughters, Mrs. Churchill, Mrs. Shelby Williams, and Mrs. J. Cabell Breckinridge, Mrs. L. P. Gibson, Miss Matilda Jordan, Mrs. John McClintock, and great grandson, John C. Breckinridge, Jr., are all baptized Episcopalians. General Churchill was a member of the Vestry during the incumbency of Rev. A. F. Freeman.
The name of R. W. Johnson, United States Senator from Arkansas for six years, and Confederate States Senator for four years, occurs on the list of subscribers to the first Episco- pal Church. He was the eldest son of Judge Benjamin John- son and Matilda Williams, his wife, who were among the founders of the sect called "The Disciples of Christ," in Little Rock. Robert W. Johnson married Sarah Smith, and their children were Ben. S., Robert (deceased), Francis and Sarah.
Benj. S. Johnson was baptized in infancy in the Epis- copal Church. He married Lina Vandergrift. Their children were Adele (deceased) and James Vandergrift, who all became members of the Presbyterian Church.
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Francis Johnson, who married May Fulton Curran. Their children are mentioned in his wife's line, Fulton.
Sarah, daughter of R. W. Johnson, married J. Cabell Breckinridge. Their children were John C., Laura, who married John C. Ten Eyck, and had Breckinridge, Julia, and John, Robert (deceased), and Benjamin .*
Irene, daughter of Judge Benj. Johnson and Matilda Williams, his wife, married, first, Dr. Jolin A. Jordan. Their children were Matilda Johnson, Robert W., who married Effie Williford, one child, Irene Effie; Mary, who married L. P. Gibson; their children are Irene, Louise, and Helen ; and Irene Jordan (deceased). Mrs. Jordan was married a second time to Dr. C. M. Taylor. Their daughter Maude married John McClintock: Children, Alexander, Robert Johnson, Laura Breckinridge, and John.
Annie Sevier, daughter of Juliette Johnson and A. H. Sevier, granddaughter of Judge Benj. Johnson and Matilda Williams, his wife, married T. J. Churchill. Their children were Abby (deceased), Sevier (deceased), Samuel J., who married Katie Hooper; children, Thomas J., Marie, and Hooper; Juliette married R. L. Goodrich; Emily married John Calef; Mattie married Edmund Langhorne; children, Annie Sevier, Churchill, and Agnes.
Mattie Sevier, daughter of Juliette Johnson and Am- brose H. Sevier, married Shelby Williams. Their children
*John C. Breckinridge, here named as a baptized member of Christ Church, was in the skirmish which preceded the taking of Coamo, Porto Rico, August 11, 1898, by the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, General Wilson in command. Ten of the Sixteenth were wounded. Richard Harding Davis, special correspondent of the Herald, made a graphic report of the incident. "General Wilson's two aids, Captain Breckinridge and Lieutenant Titus, with Captain Paget, the British naval attache, and four cor- respondents (one of whom was the narrator) entered the town in full speed amid shouts and white flags, to find it empty of American troops and that unwittingly and unwillingly we had been offered its surrender! Captain Breckinridge and Lieutenant Titus looked at each other's shoulder straps and Lieutenant Titus congratulated his superior officer on having taken a town of five thousand inhabitants with six men. Then they borrowed a flag of truce and wigwagged to the Sixteenth that it was safe to come in."
RT. REV. HENRY CHAMPLIN LAY, D. D., LL. D,
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were Shelby, who married Mrs. Frazee; Maud, who married Robert Bonnie; children, Mattie Sevier, Shelby, Nannie Fassman, married Wentworth Johnston; children, Shelby and Sevier, a minor.
Ambrose Hundley Sevier, who married Imogene Wright, was at one time treasurer of Christ Church. Children already named in his wife's line (Fulton).
RT. REV. HENRY CHAMPLIN LAY, S. T. D., D. D., LL. D.
A. D. 1823-1860. Rt. Rev. Henry Champlin Lay, S. T. D., D. D., LL. D., was born at Richmond, Va., December 6, 1823. He was the second son of John Olmsted Lay and Lucy (May) Lay, his wife. He went to school in Richmond and New York City; entered the University of Virginia Oc- tober, 1839 ; received the degree of Master of Arts July, 1842. While at the university he was confirmed in Christ Church, Charlottesville, Va., by Bishop Moore; studied theology at the Virginia Theological Seminary, near Alexandria. While at the Seminary he taught Greek at the Episcopal High School near by, for some months; was made a Deacon July, 1846, by Bishop Meade and sent to take charge of the Churches in Lynnhaven Parish, Princess Anne County, Va. He remained there for six months. He became greatly attached to some of the people, especially to the family with whom he lodged, and they were much devoted to him, but Bishop Cobbs, whom he had known and loved for seven years, urged him to come to his help. He wanted him to take charge of the congregation in Huntsville, Ala., and said, "Henry, if you could see the field you would not dare to refuse." He was married to Elizabeth Withers Atkinson,
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May 13, 1847, and arrived in Huntsville on June 10. The nearest Church or elergyman southward was 150 miles away ; westward, 70 miles; northward the nearest was about 50 miles in the Diocese of Tennessee. Far away to the east, one might be reached in Georgia. For four or five months he held services in the courthouse, until a very attrac- tive, but small Church-begun before he came-was finished. There was but one male communicant, who had been a fellow- student at the University of Virginia. In this "Church of the Nativity" in Huntsville. Ala., he was ordained Priest, by Bishop Cobbs, July, 1848. In a few years the little Church became far too small and a new and beautiful one was built. Though not entirely complete, the first service was held in it on Easter Sunday, April 24, 1859. This he had to leave, for at the General Convention in Richmond, Va., on October 23 of that year, he was consecrated Missionary Bishop of the Southwest by Bishops Meade, McIlvaine, Otey, Polk, Whit- tingham, Stephen Elliott, Cobbs, and Atkinson. The juris- diction assigned to him consisted of Arkansas, Indian Ter- ritory, New Mexico, and Arizona. He began his first visi- tation in December, 1859. In April, 1860, he set ont with his family for Fort Smith, Ark., but owing to low water in the Arkansas River, did not reach there till June 24.
A. D. 1862-1885. In March, 1862, he set off to take his family to Huntsville, Ala., intending to return to Arkan- sas immediately, but on the third morning after his arrival there, the Federal troops entered the town and for several months he was not permitted to leave. Once, he was a close prisoner for two weeks, guarded day and night by two sol- diers, one on each side. No sort of charge was brought against him, but he was arrested, solely, as being a citizen of influence, in sympathy with the South. It was hoped that
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he might be induced to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and that thereby others might be induced to take it also. He never took it. In the autumn, as soon as he could, he returned to his jurisdiction. Most of that win- ter was spent in Little Rock, holding services and doing all in his power to help and comfort the people. By request of Bishop Polk, who had been made a general in the Confederate army, he made a visitation in Louisiana. Early in 1864, having been asked by Bishop Elliott to hold confirmation service in the Confederate army in Georgia, he was for some months with General Joseph E. Johnston's corps, and after- wards was with it, when it was under General Hood's com- mand. When the war ended he, with Bishop Atkinson, of North Carolina, determined to attend the General Conven- tion of 1865, which met in Philadelphia, Penn. How much inconsiderate action their presence averted, it is needless to inquire; how much good it did, can scarcely be estimated ! He returned to Arkansas as soon thereafter as he could, but it was not till late in October, 1866, that he brought his
family to Little Rock. In the summer of 1867 he attended
the first Lambeth Conference at London .* After his return to the United States, at Cambridge, he received the degree of LL. D. He had previously, while still in Huntsville, re- ceived the degree of S. T. D. from Hobart College, and after- wards that of D. D., from William and Mary College in Vir- ginia. In 1869 he was translated from the Missionary field of the Southwest to the Diocese of Easton, in Maryland. He was one of the committee on the lectionary and spent much time and thought on the work. He also spent much time in the work of the committee on the enrichment of the Prayer Book,
*Lambeth Palace has been the official residence of the archbishops of Canterbury for several centuries.
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but did not live to see the book authorized and printed. He died in' Baltimore on 17th of September, 1885, after an ill- ness of six months, and was buried in Easton on St. Matthew's Day. Among his published writings are "Letters to a Man, Bewildered Among Many Counselors," "Studies in the Church," "Ready and Desirous," "The Mysteries of Provi- dence," "The Church in the Nation," being the Paddock Lec- tures for 1885. It was while delivering these that he was taken ill, and the last lecture had to be read by another. They were his last work. Besides these, there were a good many sermons and articles in "The Churchman" from his pen.
Bishop Lay's wife was Elizabeth Withers Atkinson, daughter of Roger B. Atkinson, who was the brother of Bishop Atkinson, of Virginia, and grandson of Mr. Roger Atkinson, of Mannsfield, near Petersburg. He was the first Atkinson of this family who came to this country, and was an old Vestryman and staunch friend of the Church in that place. In Bishop Meade's book "Old Churches and Families of Virginia," volume 1, article XVII, page 220, there is an extract from a letter of his to his brother-in-law, Mr. Samuel Pleasants, of Philadelphia. In this letter, written before the Revolutionary War, he draws the portraits of the members sent to the first congress from Virginia, before the men he wrote of had made themselves famous.
Of Patrick Henry he says: "He is a real half-Quaker- your brother's man-moderate and mild, and in religious mat- ters a saint ; but the very d-] in politics-a son of thunder. He will shake the Senate. Some years ago he had liked to have talked treason into the House." Of Peyton Randolph he says : "A venerable man, whom I well know and love : an honest man ; has knowledge, temper, experience, judg- ment-above all, integrity; a true Roman spirit. He, I find, is chairman. The choice will do honor to the judges,
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and the chairman will do honor to the choice." Of Richard Henry Lee he says : "I think I know the man, and I like him : need I say more ? He was the second choice, and he was my second choice." Of George Washington he says : "He is a soldier-a warrior; he is a modest man ; sensible ; speaks little; in action, cool, like a Bishop at his prayers." Of Colonel Bland he says: "A wary, old experienced veteran at the bar, and in the Senate; has something of the look of old musty parchments, which he handleth and studieth much. He formerly wrote a treatise against the Quakers on water- baptism." Of Benjamin Harrison he says: "He is your neighbor and brother-in-law to the Speaker (Peyton Ran- dolph) : I need not describe him." Of Mr. Pendleton he says : "The last and best, though all good. The last shall
be first says the Scripture. Ile is an humble and religious man and must be exalted. He is a smooth-tongued speaker, and, though not so old, may be compared to old Nestor --
" 'Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill'd Words sweet as honey from his lips distill'd' "
A. D. 1658. Mrs. Lay is also cighth in direct lineal descent from Richard Bennett, one of the Colonial Commis- sioners, who was elected governor of Virginia, to succeed Sir Wm. Berkeley, and who retired from office March 13, 1658, having been succeeded by Edward Digges. She is also sixth in lineal descent from Richard Bland, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel William Randolph. The Bennetts, Randolphs, and Blands were her paternal ancestors. On her mother's side she ascends through her grandmother, Elizabeth Withers, to Mr. and Mrs. Grammar, whom Bishop Meade describes as "saintly people, on whom, for a consid- crable time, by general consent, the very existence of the Epis- copal Church in Petersburg seemed to hang. I need not speak, or seck for any epitaph. They live in the hearts of children and children's children yet alive, and in the
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memories of many others who revere their characters and en- deavor to follow their example. The social prayer meetings held at their house, when the old lady was unable any longer to go to the House of God, were refreshing seasons to minis- ters and people."-Vol. 1, art. XL., page 447.
Mr. Thomas Withers lived "hard by the Old Saponey Church," and Mrs. Withers "taught a Sunday School there for many years, often entirely unaided." After Henry Champlin Lay, when a youth of eighteen, was graduated at the University of Virginia as master of arts, he taught for two years before he entered the Theological Seminary. "Dur- ing these two years he was a regular teacher in the Sunday School at Old Saponey, and in this way gave help to the old lady, who continued to teach there, furnishing all the books, tickets, prizes, etc., that were needed. She and her husband had the Church cleaned, fires made, etc., for fifty years."
Into this atmosphere of piety and brotherly love came the young university student, and for his reverence and zeal was rewarded by Providence with the blessing of a wife trained under the same spirit and influences, for he after- wards married the granddaughter and namechild of this saintly old lady. That this influence was the predominat- ing one of her life, is shown by her reply to the question, "Why are you not an associate member of the Society of Colonial Dames of America ?" "Because that takes time and money."
The children of Bishop Henry C. Lay and Elizabeth Withers Atkinson, his wife, were nine. Five died young. Of these, Thomas Atkinson died in Fort Smith, Ark., and Elizabeth Withers in Little Rock.
Henry C., the oldest living child, is a civil and mining engineer, and superintendent of public schools in San Miguel
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County, Colo. Resides in Telluride, Colo. un- married.
George is a Priest of the Church and a Master at St. Paul's School, Concord, N. H., of which Rev. Dr. Joseph Coit is Rector. He was married in Baltimore in June, 1894, to Anna Balch, a daughter of Rear Admiral Balch, who was retired and lives there. They have two children, George Balch and Elizabeth Atkinson.
Beirne is a Master at St. Paul's School. Both George and Beirne went to St. Paul's School and afterwards gradu- ated at Yale. Beirne Lay is unmarried.
Louisa Lay was born in Little Rock.
OUR LORD, THE PATTERN TO THE BISHOPS OF HIS CHURCH :-
A sermon preached in Grace Church, in the City of New York, on the occasion of the consecration of the Rev. Charles Franklin Robertson, S. T. D., as Bishop of Missouri, by Henry Champlin Lay, D. D., LL. D., Missionary Bishop of the Southwest :
The consecration of the Rev. Charles Franklin Robert- son, D. D., to the Episcopate of Missouri, took place on the morning of the twentieth Sunday after Trinity, October 25, A. D. 1868, at Grace Church, in the city of New York. Prayers were read by the Rev. Josiah P. Tustin, D. D., of the Diocese of Michigan, assisted by the Rev. Sidney Corbett, of the Diocese of Illinois, and the Rev. John C. Middleton of the Diocese of Connecticut.
The testimonials of the Bishop elect were read by the Rev. William Stevens Perry, Secretary of the House of Cler- ical and Lay Deputies, and the Rev. Henry C. Potter, D. D., Secretary of the House of Bishops. The clergy in attendance
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from the Diocese of Missouri were the Rev. Edward F. Berk- ley, D. D., of St. Louis, and the Rev. William B. Corbyn, D. D., of Palmyra. The presiding Bishop was assisted in the services by the Bishops of Michigan, Virginia, Iowa and New York. The sermon was preached by the Missionary Bishop of Arkansas. A large attendance of the clerical and lay deputies of the General Convention, together with a congre- gation filling every portion of the spacious Church chosen for this interesting ceremony, attested a widespread interest in these services, which were to add another to the number of our Bishops, and give to a bereaved Diocese its chosen head. The Holy Communion was administered to a large num- ber of the clergy and laity.
At the close of services, the presiding Bishop having called the Bishops and clergy together, on motion of the Rev. William Stevens Perry, the thanks of the Bishops and clergy in attendance were unanimously tendered to the Right Rev. Dr. Lay, for the discourse just delivered, and a copy of the same respectfully requested for publication.
SERMON.
"When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."-1 PETER V. 4.
The names and titles of our Blessed Lord have ever furnished to devout minds themes of pleasant meditation. No one epithet can adequately describe Him; and thus prophet and psalmist, apostle and evangelist, and angel of the annunciation and the Exile of Patmos, have united to ransack the stores of language, to draw from them its sublimest words and its most endearing epithets, thus accumulating around the person of our Lord every title of worth and dignity until His name, in itself secret and incommunicable, is poured forth as ointment and diffused throughout His
.
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Church in the hundred varying titles which express His majesty and His mercy.
Seldom, indeed, does the Church make mention of her Lord without adding some words expressive of her reverence and affection. She has no sympathy with the unseeming familiarity which utters commonly the name of Jesus with no added word of honor; she invokes Him ever by some sacred title ; she speaks to us of Him with some reverent description of Ilis person or of His work; she varies that description with the occasion of her speech. At the bedside of the suf- ferer, Christ is "the Saviour of the world, who, by His cross and passion has redeemed us." Beside the open grave, He is "The Resurrection and the Life;" and yet again in the In- stitution office and in the Ordinal, she adopts the language favorite with St. Peter; she pleads "Thy merits, O Blessed Jesus, Thou gracious BISHOP AND SHEPHERD of our souls !" She encourages her newly-consecrated Bishop with the prayer that "When the CHIEF SHEPHERD shall appear," he may receive the never-fading crown of glory.
Times there are, my brethren, in the experience of life, when one or another of our Lord's titles falls upon the ear with singular sweetness. Times there are of new trial and added responsibility, when there flashes upon us the true force and meaning of some word that has been familiar to the car and often upon the lips. Thus is it with the name before us. While every Christian delights to say "The Lord is my Shepherd," who can, as the Shepherd and the Bishop of Christ's flock, realize the comfort and the awfulness of the thought, that there is One who is himself Bishop and Chief Shepherd ; One who has exercised in person the ministry and oversight entrusted to us; One in whose steps we tread, and at whose feet each pastoral staff is presently to be laid. Our Lord's life on earth is the fair pattern, which none of us indeed can equal, but which men in every station must strive to copy and reproduce. Woe is unto us, if we accept as our ideal anything below His sinless example and His finished work ! Our little children find in Him the example of filial duty ; to IFim we are wont to direct the eyes of the worker
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