A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 58

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184

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of the work and were paid a real (twelve and a half cents) a day each, the missions getting the money. José Antonio Ramerez was the architect. Wlien the colonists' means were ex- hausted the missions were appealed to for aid. They responded to the appeal. The contribu- tions to the building fund were various in kind and somewhat incongruous in character. The Missions San Miguel contributed 500 cattle, San Luis Obispo 200, Santa Barbara one barrel of brandy, San Diego two barrels of white wine, Purisima six mules and 200 cattle, San Gabriel two barrels of brandy and San Fernando one. Work was begun again on the church and pushed to completion. A house for the curate was also built. It was an adobe structure and stood near the northwest corner of the church. The church was completed and formally dedicated December 8, 1822-eight years after the laying of the first corner stone.

Captain de La Guerra was chosen by the ayun- tamiento, padrino or godfather. San Gabriel Mission loaned a bell for the occasion. The fiesta of Our Lady of the Angels had been postponed so that the dedication and the celebration could be held at the same time. Cannon boomed on the Plaza and salvos of musketry intoned the services.

The present building and its surroundings bear but little resemblance to the Nueva Iglesia (new church) that Padre Payeras labored so earnest- ly to complete eighty-five years ago. It then had no floor but the beaten earth and no seats. The worshipers sat or knelt on the bare ground or on cushions they brought with them. There was no distinction between the poor and the rich at first, but as time passed and the Indians degenerated or the citizens became more aristocratic, a petition was presented to the ayuntamiento to provide a separate place of worship for the Indians. If the Indian's presence in church was undesirable on account of his filthy habits, still he was useful

*Bancroft's History of California, Vol. I.

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HISTORICAL. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

as a church builder. At the session of the ayun- tamiento June 19, 1839, the president stated, "that he had been informed by José M. Navarro, who serves as sexton, that the baptistery of the church is almost in ruins on account of a leaking roof. It was ordered that Sunday next the al- caldes of the Indians shall meet and bring to- gether the Indians without a boss, so that no one will be inconvenienced by the loss of labor of his Indians and place them to work thereon, using some posts and brea now at the guardhouse, the regidor (or councilman) on weekly duty to have charge of the work." Extensive repairs were made on the church in 1841-42. In the sindico's account book is this entry: "Guillermo (Will- iam) Money owes the city funds out of the labor of the prisoners, loaned him for the church, $126." As the prisoners' labor was valued at a real (twelve and a half cents) a day it must have re- quired considerable repairing to amount to $126.

In 1861 the church building was remodeled, the "faithful of the parish" bearing the expense. The front wall, which had been damaged by. the rains, was taken down and rebuilt of brick in- stead of adobe. The flat brea-covered roof was changed to a shingled one and the tower altered. The grounds were inclosed and planted with trees and flowers. The old adobe parish house built in 1822, with the additions made to it, later was torn down and the present brick structure erected. The church has a seating capacity of 500. It is the oldest parish church on the Pacific coast of the United States ; and is the only build- ing now in use that was built in the Spanish era of our city's history.

THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. VIBIANA.

The cornerstone of the Cathedral of St. Vibiana was laid by the Right Rev. Bishop Amat, Oc- tober 3, 1869. "There was," says the Star, "an immense concourse of citizens present, both ladies and gentlemen, all desirous to witness the inter- esting ceremonies. It was the largest assemblage drawn together here and must have amounted to nearly 3,000 persons." The cathedral is to be cruciform, 116 feet wide, 266 feet long, the tran- sept or cross 168 feet. The estimated cost $100,- 000."

The first site chosen for the cathedral and the place where the cornerstone was laid October 3, 1869, was on the west side of Main street be- tween Fifth and Sixth, extending through to Spring street. This location was well out of town then. In 1871 the site was changed to the pres- ent location of the cathedral, east side of Main, just south of Second street. The edifice was opened for service Palm Sunday, April 9, 1876, but the formal dedication took place April 30, and was conducted by Bishop Alemany.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

The first Protestant sermon ever preached in Los Angeles was delivered by a Methodist min- ister, Rev. J. W. Brier. The place of service was the adobe residence of J. G. Nichols, which stood on the present site of the Bullard block, and the time a Sunday in June, 1850. Mr. Brier was one of the belated immigrants of 1849, who reached Salt Lake City too late in the season to cross the Sierra Nevadas before the snowfall. A party of these numbering 500 under the leadership of Jef- ferson Hunt, a Mormon, started by the then al- most unknown southern route to Los Angeles. After traveling together for several weeks, a number of the immigrants became dissatisfied, and leaving the main body undertook to reach the settlements on the sea coast by crossing the desert in the neighborhood of Death Valley. Mr. Brier was of this party. Many of these unfor- tunates perished on the desert. After almost in- credible hardships and suffering Mr. Brier, with his wife and three children, reached Los Angeles in February, 1850, by way of the Soledad canon. He remained here for several months and then went north.

Early in 1853 Rev. Adam Bland was sent by the California Conference to Los Angeles as a missionary. His field was Southern California. He rented or leased for a church a frame build- ing which had formerly been used for a saloon. This building stood on the present site of the Merced theatre or Abbot block. Here he held regular services twice every Sunday from 1853 to 1855, when he was made presiding elder. Mrs. Bland taught a girls' school in the building in 1853, which was known as the Methodist Chapel.

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

The other pastors who either assisted him while in charge of the church or succeeded him were Revs. J. Dunlap, J. McHenry Colwell and W. R. Peck. In October, 1857. Elijah Mearchant took charge, succeeding Rev. A. L. S. Bateman.

In the Weekly Star of March 1. 1855. I find this item: "Rev. Mr. Colwell informs us that a contract has been made with Messrs. Loyd & Sons to build a brick church in this city next summer. The size is to be 40x24 feet. The ma- terials are to be of the best and the style the most modern. The property is to belong to the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. The entire cost is pro- vided for except $500." The church was not built. After 1858 the field seems to have been abandoned. There is no record of any other Methodist minister being stationed here until 1866, when Rev. C. Gillet came as a missionary. He was succeeded by A. P. Hernden in 1867. Rev. A. P. Coplin had charge in 1868 and Rev. A. M. Hough in 1869-70.

The first church built by the Methodist denom- ination in Los Angeles was on the west side of Broadway, between Third and Fourth streets. It was dedicated November 15, 1868. The follow- ing extract from the Weekly Star gives an ac- count of the dedication and cost of the building. "The services of dedication of the new Methodist Church in this city took place on Sunday morn- ing last, November 15. Rev. Dr. Thomas of San Francisco preached the dedicating sermon. Rev. A. Bland assisted on the occasion. There was a large attendance and a subscription of $750 was taken up. leaving as a debt on the congregation $1.000. The lot and building cost $3.150, of which $1.400 have been paid." In 1875 a second church edifice was erected on the south 70 feet of the lot on which the first building was built. The second building cost $18.000. In 1887 it was enlarged and improved at an expense of $14.000. The conversion of Fort street, now changed to Broadway, to a business street necessitated the change of the church's location. The lot was sold in July, 1899, for $68,000. The last sermon was preached in it August 20, 1899. The con- gregation of the First Methodist Church, for- merly the Fort street, completed in 1900 a hand- some building on the northeast corner of Hill and Sixth streets.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES (SOUTH ). .

The first permanent organization of this de- nomination was effected in 1873. A lot was pur- chased on the east side of Spring street, between First and Second streets, where the Corfu block now stands. On this was erected the original Trinity Church, under the pastorate of the Rev. A. M. Campbell. This church was sold in 1884 and a larger lot purchased on Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth streets. On this, in 1885, a building costing about $40,000 was erected. This lot was sold in 1894 at a handsome profit and the present building on Grand avenue near Eighth street built.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES.

As pioneers in the missionary field of Los Angeles, the Methodists came first and the Presbyterians second. The Rev. James Woods held the first Presbyterian service in November, 1854, in a little carpenter shop that stood on part of the site now occupied by the Pico house. The first organization of a Presbyterian church was effected in March, 1855, with twelve members. The Rev. Woods held regular Sunday services in the old Court House, northwest corner of North Spring and Franklin streets, during the fall of 1854 and part of the year 1855. He organized a church and also a Sunday school. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. T. N. Davis, who continued regular services until August, 1856, when he abandoned the field in disgust and returned to his home in the east.

The editor of the Los Angeles Star, comment- ing on his departure and on the moral destitution of the city says: "The Protestant portion of the American population are now without the privi- lege of assembling together to worship God under direction of one of his ministers."

"The state of society here is truly deplorable." * * "To preach week after week to empty benches is certainly not encouraging, but if in addition to that a minister has to contend against a torrent of vice and immorality which ohliterates all traces of the Christian Sabbath -- to be compelle:1 to endure blasphemous denuncia- tions of his Divine Master : to live where society is disorganized, religion scoffed at, where violence runs riot, and even life itself is unsafe-such a

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condition of affairs may suit some men, but it is not calculated for the peaceful labors of one who follows unobtrusively the footsteps of the meek and lowly Savior."

After the departure of the Rev. Davis in 1856, and the discontinuance of Methodist and Epis- copal services in the latter part of 1857 a season of spiritual darkness seems to have enshrouded Los Angeles. There was, as far as I can learn, no Protestant service in Los Angeles during the year 1858.

The next Presbyterian minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. William E. Board- man. He and his wife arrived February 6, 1859. He preached his first sermon February 26, in School House No. 2, located on Bath street north of the Plaza. He reorganized the Sunday school.

It had become clearly evident to the few. church-going people resident in the city that dif- ferent denominational church services could not be maintained in it. The question of uniting the representatives of the different Protestant churches into one organization was agitated. A call for all such was made. The Los Angeles Star of May 7, 1859, contains the following re- port of that meeting.

FIRST PROTESTANT SOCIETY.

At a meeting held for the purpose of organiz- ing an Association for maintaining Protestant worship in the City of Los Angeles, the Rev. W. E. Boardman was called to the chair, and Will- iam H. Shore appointed Secretary-and the fol- lowing preamble and Constitution were unani- mously adopted :

First Protestant Society of the City of Los An- geles, California.

Desirous of securing for ourselves and others in our city, the privileges of Divine Worship ac- cording to the Protestant order; and in the ab- sence of a regularly organized Protestant Church, seeing the necessity for some other as- sociation which can authorize the collection and disbursement of money and the transaction of such other business as will necessarily arise, we, who hereunto affix our names, have agreed to unite in a society for the purpose of supporting Protestant Worship here, and do adopt for our organization and government the following :

CONSTITUTION.

Article I. Our style and title shall be "The First Protestant Society of the City of Los An- geles."

2nd. Our officers shall be, a Board of Trus- tees, five in number, three of whom shall con- stitute a quorum, to be elected annually, and re- port at the end of each year. One of their own number shall be selected by themselves to be the President of the society, and another as Secre- tary and Treasurer.

3rd. An annual meeting duly called and pub- licly notified by the Board, shall be held on the first Wednesday of May in each year, or if that day shall be allowed to pass without a meeting, then, as soon after as notice can be duly given, for the purpose of hearing the annual report of the Board and holding the annual election. Any vacancy occurring in the Board during the year may be filled ad interim by the selection of some one by the Board itself.

4th. Money may be collected for the society by such persons only as the Board shall appoint. And the Treasurer may pay out money for the society only upon the written order of the Board, signed by the President.

5th. The condition of membership in the so- ciety is simply the signing of this constitution. And the duty of each member shall be, to aid in all suitable ways in securing the present maintenance and permanent establishment and successful progress of Protestant Worship in this city.

Adopted this fourth day of May, A. D. 1859. ISAAC S. K. OGIER, D. McLAREN,

WM. MCKEE, THOS. FOSTER,

A. J. KING, WM. H. SHORE,

C. SIMS, N. A. POTTER,

CHARLES S. ADAMS,

J. R. GITCHELL.

WM. S. MORROW,

The constitution having been signed by those present, the Society proceeded to nominate and elect their officers for the ensuing year, where- upon the Hon. I. S. K. Ogier, Hon. B. D. Wil- son, J. R. Gitchell, N. A. Potter and Wm. Mc- Kee, were unanimously chosen trustees. motion it was On

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the newspapers of this city.

On motion, the Society adjourned.

W. E. BOARDMAN, Chairman. WM. H. SHORE, Secretary.

J. R. Gitchell, William McKee and H. D. Bar- rows were appointed collectors to obtain funds for the benefit of the society. The organization was composed of members of different Protestant

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

denominations and of those who did not belong to any. The Rev. Boardman continued to preach for the society up to the time of his departure, April, 1862. The services were held at first in the school house and later in the court house.

A lot was secured at the southwest corner of Temple and New High streets, where the stone steps lead up to the court house, and the erection of a brick church begun. The work progressed slowly. When Mr. Boardman left, early in 1862, the walls were up and the roof on, but the build- ing was not fit for occupancy. After the de- parture of Mr. Boardman another season of "spiritual darkness" settled down on the city. The Civil war was in progress and sectional hatreds were bitter. During 1863 and 1864 there was no regular Protestant service.

In 1864 the unfinished church was advertised for sale on account of delinquent taxes. Nobody wanted a half built church when the sheriff was offering a rancho of 1,200 acres for $4 unpaid taxes.

The next Presbyterian minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. W. C. Harding, who came in 1869. He abandoned the field in 1871. The Rev. F. A. White, LL. D., came in 1875. He was succeeded by the Rev. F. M. Cunningham, and he by the Rev. J. W. Ellis. Under the min- istry of Mr. Ellis in 1882-83 a church was erected on the southeast corner of Broadway and Second streets. The building and lot cost about $20,000. Services were held in it until March, 1895, when it was sold for $55,000. The congregation di- vided into two organizations. The First Presby- terian and the Central Presbyterian. The First Presbyterian built a church on Figueroa and Twentieth streets. The Central Presbyterian se- cured a site on the east side of Hill street be- tween Second and Third street with a dwelling house upon it which they have enlarged and re- modeled and use for a church.

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

The first Protestant Episcopal Church service held in Los Angeles was conducted by Dr. Mathew Carter. An item in the Weekly Star of May 9, 1857, states that "Dr. Carter announces that he has been licensed and authorized by the Right Rev. W. Ingraham Kip, Bishop of Cali-

fornia, to act as lay reader for the Southern Dis- trict." He held regular service for a time in Mechanics' Institute hall, which was in a sheet- iron building near the corner of Court and North Spring streets. In October, 1857, St. Luke's parish was organized, and the following named gentlemen elected a board of trustees : Dr. T. J. White, Dr. Mathew Carter and William Shore. A building was rented on Main street, near Sec- ond, where services were held every Sunday, Dr. Carter officiating. Services seem to have been discontinued about the close of the year 1857, and the church was dissolved. On January I, 1865, the Rev. Elias Birdsall, a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, preached his first sermon in Odd Fellows' hall, Downey block. The Protestant society which had begun the erection of a church building in 1859 under the ministra- tion of Rev. William E. Boardman, a Presby- terian minister, as has been previously stated, offered the unfinished building to the Rev. Bird- sall for services. He assented to this on con- dition that it be transferred to the Episcopalians. Those who had contributed toward its erection consented, and the transfer was made. The edifice was completed and named St. Athanasius Church, and the Episcopalians continued to wor- ship in this building until Christmas, 1883; in the meantime the property was sold to the county for a court house site. A site for a new church was purchased on Olive street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, where a handsome building was erected. In 1884 the name of the organiza- tion was changed to St. Paul's Church, the name it still bears.

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES.

The first Congregational minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. Alexander Parker, a Scotchman by birth and a graduate of Oberlin College and Theological Seminary. He had served in the Union army as a member of the famous student company of Oberlin College-a company whose membership was largely made up of theological students.

He preached his first sermon here July 7, 1866, in the court house. A church was organized July 21, 1867, with six members. A lot was purchased on New High street, north of Tem-

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

ple, where the Beaudry stone wall now stands and a movement begun to raise funds to build a church. The effort was successful. The fol- lowing extract from the Los Angeles Star gives an account of the dedication of the church :

"On Sunday morning last (June 28, 1868), the new Congregational Church was opened for di- vine service at II A. M.

"The Rev. E. C. Bissell, pastor of Green Street Church, San Francisco, delivered the dedicatory sermon. At the close of the sermon the Rev. Alexander Parker came forward and gave an account of his stewardship in his exer- tions to raise this house for the worship of God. The total cost was about $3,000, of which $1,000 was obtained from San Francisco; $1,000 partly as a loan and partly as a gift from churches in the Atlantic states, and collections of small amounts at home, leaving at present a debt of about $400 on the building, which, though com- plete, is not yet quite furnished. The house is small, but very neatly arranged; the pews are ample and confortable, and the building is lofty and well ventilated. Its dimensions are 30x50 feet ; it will seat 175 to 200 persons."

Rev. Parker resigned in August, 1868. He was succeeded by the Rev. Isaac W. Atherton, who reorganized the church November 29, 1868. Services were held in the little church on New High street until 1883, when, on May 3d of that year, the church on the corner of Hill and Third streets was completed and dedicated. The building lot and organ cost about $25,000. In May, 1888, this building was sold to the Cen- tral Baptist Church, and a lot purchased on the southwest corner of Hill and Sixth street. On this a building was erected in 1889. The cost of the lot. church building and furnishing amounted to about $72,000, to which was added a fine organ, at a cost of about $5,000. This church property was sold in 1902 for $77,000, and a new site purchased on Hope street near the corner of Ninth, where a beautiful brick and stone church costing $100,000 was completed in July, 1903.

BAPTIST CHURCHES.

The first sermon preached by a Baptist min-

ister in Los Angeles was delivered by Rev. Free- inan in 1853.

The first regular church services held in this city by a Baptist minister were conducted by the Rev. Fryer in school house No. I, which stood on the northwest corner of Spring and Second street. The Rev. Fryer held services ev- ery Sunday during the year 1860. He seems to have abandoned the field in the early part of 1861. I find no record of any services by a min- ister of that church between 1861 and 1874.

The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles was organized September 6, 1874, by Rev. William Hobbs. There were but eight members in the organization. The services were held in the old court house. Dr. Hobbs severed his connection with the church in June, 1857. For fifteen months the church was without a pastor. In September, 1876, Rev. Winfield Scott took charge of it. He was succeeded in 1878 by the Rev. I. N. Parker, and he by Rev. Henry Angel, who died in 1879.

The church meetings were transferred from the court house to a hall owned by Dr. Zahn, on Spring street between Fourth and Fifth streets. From there it moved to Good Templars' hall on North Main street. The ordinance of baptism was administered either in the river or in the baptistery of the Christian Church on Temple street.

For two years after the death of Dr. Angel the church remained without a regular minister. In 1881 Rev. P. W. Dorsey took charge of it. A lot was secured on the northeast corner of Broadway and Sixth streets, and in March, 1884, a church building was completed and dedicated. The building and lots cost ahout $25,000. In the summer of 1897 the lot and building were sold for $45,000, and with the addition of $5,000 raised by subscription a larger and more com- modious building was erected on Flower street, between Seventh and Eighth streets.

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

The first sermon preached by a member of the Christian denomination was delivered by Rev. G. W. Linton in August, 1874, in the court room of the old court house. In October and Novem- ber of that year inquiries were made in the city

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HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

for persons who had been connected with the church in other places. Twenty-three were found. Of these fifteen signified their willing- ness to unite in forming a church. On the 26th of February, 1875, the first church was organ- ized. Rev. W. I. A. Smith was the first preach- er. He conducted church services from 1875 to 1877. He was succeeded by Rev. John C. Hay, who served as pastor from 1877 to 1881. The Rev. B. F. Coulter filled the pulpit from 1881 tq 1884. During his ministry, and largely through his contributions, the First Church was built on Temple street near Broadway, where the Aber- deen lodging house now stands. Services were held in this building until 1894. when it was sold and a church edifice erected on the corner of Hope and Eleventh streets at a cost of $25,000. with Rev. A. C. Smithers, as pastor. In 1895 the Rev. B. F. Coulter erected the Broadway Church of Christ on Broadway near Temple, at a cost of about $20,000. He conducts the serv- ice in this church, which is free from debt.

UNITARIAN CHURCHES.

The first religious services held by the Uni- tarians were at the residence of T. E. Severance in March, 1877. In May of that year an or- ganization was perfected and regular services were conducted by the Rev. John D. Wells.

In 1885 the Rev. Eli Fay located in Los An- geles and conducted services for a time in the Masonic hall, No. 135 South Spring street. The church was reorganized and the services were held in Child's opera house on Main street. A lot secured on Seventh street near Broadway, and largely through the liberality of Dr. Fay a church building, 45×100 feet in area, was erected at a cost of $25,000. The church was dedicated June 16, 1889. It was destroyed by fire in 1892. The congregation then purchased from the Baptists the church building on the

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A history of California and an extended history of its southern coast counties, also containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present, Volume I, Part 58

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company Number of Pages: 1184

Author: Guinn, James Miller, 1834-1918
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Los Angeles, Cal., Historic record company
Number of Pages: 1184