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 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
94
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
all who knew them. Of the five children born to them, only one daughter, Frances Ann, afterwards Mrs. Clifton S. Gray, survives.
THE FIRST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
A. D. 1843-1873. The building was a simple parallelo- gram, built in brick, without transepts or vestry. There were two aisles and two entrances from the west. The win- dows were made with the pointed arch, pertaining to the . gothic style of architecture. In the eastern part was the chancel, as is customary with all Episcopal Churches. This was enclosed with a circular railing, where a pulpit, placed within it, was reached by a short flight of steps. A reredos, carved in walnut, also of gothic design, was placed against the eastern wall, with the creed and commandments inscribed on a blue ground. On December, 1843, Rev. Mr. Paradise, of Philadelphia, presented the silver communion service. On either side of the chancel were two wide pews. Those on the south side were occupied by the treasurer and secretary of State, Mr. J. H. Crease and Mr. S. M. Weaver, with their families. Hon. Samnel M. Weaver, of New Orleans, La., came to Little Rock in 1840 and was Secretary of the State of Arkansas in 1860. He was not a Church official, but his family attended the services regularly in the first Church. He married Mary Eliza Rose, of Roseville, Ark. They had five children : (1) Omer R. Weaver, who lost his life at the battle of Springfield, Mo., August 10, 1861. The Confed- crate Camp of United Veterans perpetuates his name. (2) Horace Boardman, deceased. (3) George Vance. married Alice Compton, now deceased. Their son, George, married Mand Samstag. (4) Samuel Montgomery, married Effie
95
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
Coleman, deceased. (5) Mary, married Benjamin Johnson
Field, deceased. Two of their children, Mary and Mildred, died in infancy. Four survive their father : Benjamin Johnson, Omer Weaver, Leila, and Samuel Weaver Field. As the Rector was compelled to robe in the presence of the congregation, after about eight years passed, there was built, during the incumbency of Rev. Andrew F. Free- man, a wooden tower on the western front. A Vestry room was arranged on the first floor, where the Rector robed and entered the Church from the outside, from which a nar- row staircase led up to the second floor. This opened on the organ loft, which was sustained by two large columns rising from the nave, and from it the staircase led up higher to the belfry in the tower, from which a fine view of the city was had. An organ and bell were placed in the loft and tower later. This Church was located in the center of three lots, which were enclosed with a wooden fence. One magnificent oak of indigenous growth stood on the west, in company with the tower, which it overlooked as a loving guardian. In the heart of the tree about six feet from the ground was a small natural hollow, which served as a depository for the Church keys. As none but habitues and the sexton were in possession of the secret a bank could not have been safer. One of the succeeding rectors, Dr. J. T. Wheat, conceived and perfected a plan of supplying the Churchyard with shade, which was that the head of each family should plant an ever- green for each child in the family within the enclosure and an elm or maple on the outside as a border for the pavement. All these trees which had grown into the affections of the Church people, including the tower oak, were burned along with the Church on Sunday night, September 28, 1873. Not until 1893 were these trees replaced by Rev. Wallace
96
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
Carnahan. Later Dr. Cantrell, Senior Warden, had them boxed for preservation and iron hitching posts established. But this is anticipating.
REV. WILLIAM T. SAUNDERS.
A. D. 1824-1857. Rev. William T. Saunders succeeded the Rev. James Young as missionary minister at Christ Church, which office he filled not longer than two years. He is described by those who remember him as a grave, taciturn, shy man, though an interesting talker and intelligent preacher when the barrier of his constitutional diffidence was overcome. He went from here to Apalachicola, Fla., where he was Rec- tor of Trinity Church for seventeen. years. He married while there Eliza Morton, who was born January 24, 1824, in New York City. In the year 1867 he published a small volume called "The Pastor's Wife," or "Memoirs of E. M. S.," whom he had the misfortune to lose after prolonged suf- fering, borne with the heroism of a Christian martyr. Their children were John Morton, William Lawrence, Walter Burns, Robert Duncan, and Jane Morton. The last was named for his deceased wife's devoted sister, whom he after- wards married.
At that time the family of Judge William Hume Field was conspicuous in the early Church here. Judge Field was a native of Brunswick County, Va., and came from Tennessee to Arkansas in April of 1843. His wife was Mary Amanda Flournoy, of Giles County, Tenn. He was twenty years judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which ineluded Pulaski County, Ark. Mary Eliza Field was their second child and eldest daughter. On February 3, 1846, she was mar- ried to Wm. P. Officer, by Bishop Freeman, at the family
97
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
residence, on the corner of Holly (Eighth street) and Scott streets, where the eldest son, Wm. Hume Field (2d), with his family, still resides.
One son, Eustis Field Officer, was the only child of this marriage. Mr. Officer died about five years afterwards. In 1857 Mrs. Officer was married to Mr. Gilbert Knapp, in Christ Church, by Rev. Andrew F. Freeman. This worthy and highly esteemed pair has for years resided at their com- modious home, built in colonial style, on corner of Rector avenue and Chestnut (Seventh) street, where the prophet's chamber was usually occupied. Bishop Lay, Bishop Pierce, with their families, and the Rev. T. B. Lee, all knew Mr. and Mrs. Knapp as the incomparable host and hostess. They now reside at their farm, Toltec station, a place celebrated for the Indian antiquities that have been obtained from the In- dian mounds on the place. A lovely little daughter, Myra Flournoy, was born to them, who became a feature of interest to the town with her quaint sayings and earnest questions, and was lamented by all when the angel of death came to take her from the life she adorned. There was always a dainti- ness of fancy and speech, an exquisite delicacy of thought, that caused Mrs. Knapp to be called aesthetic and this was her patronymie for the first ladies' literary club of this city, of which she was the sponsor, so to speak, and Mrs. Rufus J. Polk, the founder. This mantle of refinement that was better proof against assault than a coat of mail, Mrs. Knapp has transferred to the club she named, which is acknowledged to be the most refined in the city, during the seventeen years of its existence. Her sisters, Mrs. Caldwell and Mrs. Lennox, both dead, and her nieces, Mrs. Crockett, Mrs. Andrew Hunter, Misses Nannie, Jenny, Zaida, and Ernest, Miss Adelina Lennox and brother have all been devoted members of Christ Church from infancy.
98
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
A. D. 1900. On May 29, 1900, the death of Mrs. Knapp's son, Mr. Eustis Field Officer, was announced as the result of injuries received May 14, by falling from the Choctaw bridge in East Little Rock. From the Arkansas Democrat of 30th, is transferred the following notice :
INTELLECTUALLY STRONG.
TRIBUTE TO EUSTIS F. OFFICER, WHOSE FUNERAL OCCURS TO-DAY.
The funeral of the late Eustis F. Officer will occur at 4 o'clock this afternoon from Christ Church, Rev. G. Gordon Smeade officiating.
Mr. Officer was born in Little Rock April 6, 1849. He was a man of high intellectual attainments, a graduate of the Washington and Lee University of Virginia, where he gradu- ated with the highest honors, receiving the Robertson prize medal. He was particularly proficient in mathematics and attained a high rank in civil engineering. He was employed in this capacity with the Iron Mountain and Cotton Belt roads, and in the river works of the United States govern- ment in the Arkansas and White rivers, and was in charge of the government works in Pine Bluff. He also taught in the public schools of this city and was at one time principal of the Peabody High School. Of late he has been associated with his stepfather, Gilbert Knapp, in cotton planting and merchandising at Toltec. His death was a particularly sad one, and is a great blow to his bereaved parents, to whom he was most affectionately devoted. Mr. Officer was a man of many noble qualities, a kind and affectionate son, and a gen- erous and faithful friend. The members of his family have the sincere sympathy of a large circle of friends in their sad bereavement.
.
RT. REV. GEORGE WASHINGTON FREEMAN, D. D.
99
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
RT. REV. GEORGE WASHINGTON FREEMAN, D. D.
A. D. 1635-1789. Rt. Rev. George Washington Free- man. D. D., Second Missionary Bishop of Texas, Arkansas and the Indian Territory of the Southwest, was a descendant of Edmond Freeman, who arrived in the ship "Abigail" from London in 1635, and located at Sandwich, Mass. In 1729 he removed to the State of Connecticut and settled in Mansfield. George Washington Freeman was born in Sandwich, Mass., on the 13th of June, 1789. He was the twelfth child of Dr. Nathaniel Freeman and Tryphosa Cotton, of Killingly, Conn., who were married May 5, 1763. The wife died July 11, 1796, aged 53. Dr. Freeman was twice married, and the subject of this memoir was the youngest ehild of his first wife. From "The Life of Bishop Freeman, of Arkansas," by the Rev. John N. Norton, D. D., is quoted the following record found in his father's commonplace book : "George had read the Bible through, when between six and seven years of age." * * Dr. Freeman had a very large family and he had little to bequeath his children beyond the' precious example of his own useful, honored, patriotie, Chris- tian life. Our little hero was remarkable from his earliest years, for his amiable disposition, obedience to his parents, respect for the aged, a generous heart and a serupulous regard for the truth and right. During one of the Bishop's latest visits to his native place, he expressed a desire to eall upon some of the elders of the place, and among them was an excel- lent Quaker lady, whose memory was now most active, as is often the case with the aged, in recalling the scenes and ineidents of early life. On entering the room where she sat, the Bishop approached and gave her his hand. She not
100
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
appearing to recollect him, he said : "Don't you know me ?" She looked intently for a moment, when, her face brighten- ing, she replied: "Canst thou be he-he, that good little George ?" The Bishop was evidently both amused and'
gratified. She recollected him from a natural mark of a
raspberry upon one of his eyelids. She remembered very well that, whilst other boys of his age visited her father's cele- ยท brated orchard uninvited, "George was a good boy, and always asked permission."
"It was not Bishop Freeman's privilege to be trained up in the bosom of the Church at whose altars he so faithfully ministered, his parents being rigid Congregationalists. His Puritan descent will account for some of his peculiarities of opinion, especially his very strict notions in regard to worldly amusements. It seems, however, that although George was thus breathing an atmosphere most unfriendly to the growth of Episcopacy, he early formed an acquaintance with the Prayer Book, and learned to love it."
This Prayer Book and Bishop Ravenscroft, of North Carolina, converted him from Calvinism to Episcopacy. He became a most zealous and devoted Churchman, although he was associated in teaching in North Carolina with his brother, a Presbyterian minister, during his early manhood.
A. D. 1818. In 1818 he married, while yet a layman, a most excellent and accomplished woman-Mrs. Ann Yates Gholson, of Virginia.
A. D. 1826-1827. On the 8th of October, 1826, Mr. Freeman was ordained Deacon by Bishop Ravenscroft, in the Episcopal Chapel, at Raleigh, in the thirty-seventh vear of his age, and about eight months afterward was admitted to the Priesthood by Bishop Ravenscroft, on the 20th of May, 1827. The service was held in Christ Church, Newbern,
101
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
N. C. When Bishop Ravenscroft died at Raleigh, N. C., "Dr. Freeman ministered at his bedside and, by the Bishop's special request, read the burial service over his remains." Dr. Freeman's first field of labor embraced Washington, Dur- ham's Creek, and Zion Chapel, North Carolina. At the time of his marriage, before he became a member of any Christian body, his wife was a pious and consistent member of the Methodist communion, to which she adhered, "after he obtained Baptism, Confirmation and Communion in the Church." But in a year or two, of her own accord, after a diligent examination of the claims of the Church, she was confirmed by Bishop Moore, of Virginia, and was thence- forward a devoted Churchwoman.
A. D. 1839-1841. Dr. Freeman labored eleven years at Christ Church, Raleigh, N. C., where he left a host of loving and appreciative friends .* From there he removed to Colum- bia, Tenn., where he officiated more than a year, when the feeble health of his wife obliged him to make a change. He next labored at Trinity Church, Swedesborough, N. J., which place he held from April to November, 1841. He then accepted a call to Immannel Church, New Castle, Del. "At the General Convention of 1844 it was determined that a Bishop should be appointed for the Southwest, and Dr. Freeman having been nominated, he was chosen, almost by acclamation. A delegate to that convention who sat in the same seat with him, thus graphically describes the effect pro- duced upon the good man when his name was announced by the secretary as having been sent down from the House of Bishops for the action of the Lower House:
" 'Dr. Freeman, whose hearing was a little impaired,
*He received the honorary degree of D. D. from Chapel Hill, the Uni- versity of North Carolina, in 1839.
-8-
102
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
leaned forward, with his hand behind his ear. His head began to sink as his Christian name was uttered; and by the time that the secretary had spoken his surname, it had drooped below the top of the pew, and when the message was fully concluded, he had grasped his hat and was passing out of the Church. On reaching his boarding house, he was seized with a chill, which was succeeded by high fever, and he was not able to leave his room for several days.'
Here the exalted piety of his wife took effect, as the fol- lowing incident, related by Rev. Dr. Norton, illustrates :
"Mrs. Freeman's claim to distinction among the many excellent clergymen's wives in the Church rests mainly upon her missionary zeal. She was not only ready to give, ac- cording to her ability, to the support of missions, but was will- ing to sacrifice (and she did actually sacrifice) her health, and the most of her worldly comforts for the supposed good of the cause. When her husband was called to the Mission- ary Episcopate of the Southwest, they were delightfully and most happily situated in a parish that perhaps both would have preferred to almost any other in the Church, and they had just completed their arrangements for, as they fondly hoped, a lifelong residence among agreeable and most affec- tionate parishioners. The call came upon him like a clap of thunder, and he felt that he could not accept it; and, after twenty-four hours' deliberation with prayer, he had made up his mind that he must decline it. The distressed look with which the announcement of his purpose was received by her, and the alarming inquiry which she made, 'Are you sure you will not be found fighting against God if you decline ?' brought him to a pause ; and, aided by the remonstrance and persuasion of others, led him ultimately to suffer himself to put on the mitre, although he knew it to be crowned with thorns."
A. D. 1844. He was consecrated as the Missionary Bishop of Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory of the Southwest in St. Peter's Church, Philadelphia, on Saturday,
103
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
October 26, 1844. The venerable Bishop Chase acted as consecrator, being assisted by Bishops Doane, Otey, Hen- shaw, Kemper, Polk, Lee, Whittingham, Elliott and Johns. "An able and appropriate sermon was preached by the Bishop of Georgia, from Isaiah liv. 2, 3."
A. D. 1875. "It may be remarked that during the four- teen years of his Episcopate, his duties caused him to traverse a territorial region that is now (1875) served by five bishops, who, all, no doubt with good cause, complain of the vast extent of their several Dioceses. Bishop Freeman traveled on horseback, over the territorial extent of all these five Dio- ceses, after he was three score years old, the hearty and robust young clergymen who attempted to travel with him, breaking down by their efforts. Thus much may be said for Bishop Freeman's sturdy New England stock, and it may be added for his old England stock."
The best account of his Episcopal labors is given by the Bishop himself, a portion of which is here appended :
"Having yielded to the solicitation of Bishop Otey, that I would undertake a visitation to the Churches in Mississippi, on my way from Texas to Arkansas, I was obliged to confine my labors in Arkansas to those portions of the State in which our missionary operations have hitherto been conducted. This, however, was nearly all that I expected, from the late- ness of the season when I set out, to be able to accomplish on my first visitation. The points visited were Little Rock, Van Buren, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Cane Hill, and the headwaters of White River. At Little Rock I found our missionary laboring under a slight and temporary discour- agement, owing to the late strenuous, and but too successful efforts of one of the many modern sects. And, regarding this as the most important station in the State, Little Rock being, as yet, the largest town, and, at the same time, the seat of government, I vielded to the entreaties of the Rev. Mr. Young, the missionary, and many of the principal members
104
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
of the congregation, and remained with them ten or twelve days, preaching ten times, and confirming, on two separate occasions, nine persons.
Notwithstanding the discouraging circumstances just alluded to, however, the Church is growing here steadily, and in a highly satisfactory ratio of progression. The services are well attended; the congregation, embracing a fair pro- portion of the principal citizens, is large for the place, and increasing, and the missionary commands the respect and esteem of his parishioners; and were the worldly circum- stances of the community at all prosperous, we might expect this soon to be stricken from the list of missionary stations. But, unfortunately, the people are poor and unable to do much for the support of a minister, and the probability is that for some time to come a full missionary appropriation will be necessary. From Little Rock I was compelled, from the low stage of water in the river, to make the journey to Van Buren and the other points visited, on horseback, a dis- tance, going and returning, of 450 miles ; so that much time was necessarily occupied in traveling. To Van Buren I was accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Young, and was there met by the Rev. Mr. Scull, from Fayetteville. I found here no communicants, no candidates for confirmation, and, I may add, no congregation propcr. The missionary has officiated at this point, on alternate Sundays, in a house of worship common to all religious bodies, but to a mixed assemblage, of whom it is difficult to say what number, if any, consider themselves as Episcopalians. We held services here five times. I preached thrice, and, at the request of the mission- ary, baptized one adult and six children. At Fort Smith, where the missionary also officiates, as I understand, on alternate Sundays, I found the same state of things existing as at Van Buren. To that place I was accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. Young, McManus, and Scull, and we held two ser- vices, which were well attended, particularly by the officers of the United States army, many of whom were present in attendance upon a court-martial. I preached on both occa- sions, and have reason to believe that our services left a good
105
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
impression. From Van Buren I proceeded, attended by the Rev. Mr. Scull, to Fayetteville, Washington County. At this place I remained, with the exception of two days at Cane Hill, enjoying the hospitality of Mr. Scull ten days, including two Sundays, having been prevented by high waters from getting to the headwaters of White River (as I intended) to pass the latter of them. I preached in Fayetteville, in a schoolroom, six times, and administered the Holy Eucharist to ten persons, of whom only six or seven belong to our com- munion. At Cane Hill, in a small storeroom, hastily fitted up for the occasion by the personal labor of General Campbell and Captain Chew, I preached twice and confirmed three persons, viz: Captain Chew, his wife, and their oldest son (originally from Fredericksburg, Va.). The Church at this point consists at present of but two families, General Camp- bell's and Captain Chew's; but more devoted, warmhearted Church people I have seldom met with. The services here were well attended, and it was evident that a good, I hope, a lasting, impression was made upon the plain people, of whom the congregation was composed, and I felt encouraged to believe that the regular ministrations of one who could give himself to the work would be eminently fruitful in this inter- esting neighborhood. To insure the keeping alive, in some measure, of the flame which has been here enkindled by the occasional visits of the Rev. Mr. Scull, I licensed Captain Chew as Lay Reader, who has promised to officiate every Sun- day in their little hired room until their log Church, which they are about to commence, is finished. There are now in this neighborhood five communicants.
"At the headwaters of White River ( Madison County, thirty-five miles southeast of Fayetteville), where I only spent the night, I confirmed, in his own house, at the family altar, William McElroy. He and his wife are both communicants, and I was pleased to observe, are scrupulous in the daily per- formance of family devotion. In this neighborhood there are three or four communicants. Among them is Colonel Sumner, a patriarch of more than four score years, an emi- grant from Vermont. The prospects for the establishment
106
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
and spread of the Church in this Northwestern and moun- tainous region of Arkansas appear, confessedly, not to be flattering. Yet, it would, I think, scarcely become us to abandon the field, and give up those few sheep in the wilder- ness which have heretofore been folded, with so much care, to the mercy of the wolves of the mountain, scattered though they be. Though the progress of the Church in that region must, from the nature of things, be very slow for some time to come, yet I doubt not that the labors of an able and prudent missionary, self-denying and capable of enduring hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, would in a few years be found productive of much fruit to the honor and praise of God's holy name, and the edification of His Church. I have, as yet, visited no part of the Indian Territory, but pur- pose visiting some portions of it in the fall."
A. D. 1847. At the General Convention of 1847 the Bishop's first triennial report shows how he had improved the three years that had elapsed since his consecration. "Besides visiting all the Churches and missionary stations within his jurisdiction thrice, he has visited Columbia and Brazoria, in Brazoria County, Texas, twice; Richmond and Velasco, in the same State, once; Cane Hill, Fayetteville, and Batesville, in Arkansas, twice; Washington, Spring Hill, Louisville, Helena, Columbia, and Napoleon, in the same State, once ; and Fort Gibson, in the Indian Territory, twice. That in ine st of these places he has held confirmation, and in all of them performed divine service, and preached at each visita- tion ; that he has confirmed 166 persons, baptized seventy- eight children and ten adults, consecrated one Church, and preached more than 200 sermons. To this, he would add that in the performance of this amount of duty, he has been compelled to travel more than 18,000 miles. The number of communieants within his jurisdiction he reports to be, as
107
THE ANNALS OF CHRIST CHURCH PARISH.
nearly as he has been able to ascertain, 200 in Texas, and seventy in Arkansas; whole number 270."
There is another incident related by Rev. Dr. Norton, which reveals one striking characteristic of this upright man. At the General Convention of 1856, a meeting of the Sunday School Union and Church Book Society was held in St. Andrew's Church, Philadelphia, during which matters of vital importance to the interests of the Sunday School Union were discussed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.