USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Centennial history of the city of Washington, D. C. With full outline of the natural advantages, accounts of the Indian tribes, selection of the site, founding of the city to the present time > Part 59
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 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79
ยท
565
CHURCH HISTORY.
The Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church was organized May 14, 1842, as the "First Colored Presbyterian Church of Washington." Forty communicants of this organization worshiped in Cook's school- house, at H and Fourteenth streets, until they were enabled, by the assistance of the First, Second, and Fourth churches, to erect a small frame building on the site of their present church, on Fifteenth Street, between I and K streets, in 1853. Rev. John F. Cook was the pastor. Rev. W. Catto was installed pastor in 1858, and Rev. B. F. Tanner in 1861. In 1864, the pulpit became vacant, and was thereafter sup- plied by Rev. W. B. Evans and others, until the installation of Rev. I. H. Garnett, who remained until October 3, 1866, when he was followed by Rev. J. H. Muse. Rev. Sella Martin was pastor from December 27, 1868, until February 18, 1870. From this time until the settlement of Rev. G. Van Deurs, in 1874, the pulpit was supplied by Rev. Septimus Tustin. Rev. Mr. Van Deurs was succeeded in 1875 by Rev. J. Brown, and he, in 1878, by Rev. F. J. Grimke, who remained until 1885. From this time until 1887, the pulpit was filled by Rev. C. H. A. Buckley, D. D., one of the professors of Howard University. Rev. J. R. Riley was installed pastor January 18, 1887, and is the present pastor. The building is worth $55,000, and was erected and furnished largely by other Presbyterian churches in Wash- ington.
. Assembly's Presbyterian Church was organized March 1, 1853, as the Fifth Presbyterian Church, and was the result of work done by Rev. John C. Smith, D. D., pastor at the time of the Fourth Presby- terian Church, by Rev. A. G. Carothers, and George S. Gideon. The corner stone of the building was laid September 1, 1852, at the corner of Fifth and I streets, and the church edifice was dedicated November 6, 1853. Rev. Mr. Carothers preached January 30, 1853, and accepted the call to the pastorate in March following, being installed on the 20th of that month. After the completion of the dedicatory cere- monies, Rev. John C. Smith gave a short history of the church, and stated that it had received assistance from twenty-three States, and the Choctaw nation of Indians, besides being substantially assisted by the heroine of Tampico. The land was donated by Silas II. Hill and Joseph D. Varnum. The edifice cost $13,000, being turned over to the church free from debt. In 1860 Rev. Mr. Collins became pastor of this church, and in 1861 Rev. T. B. McFalls, remaining until 1868, when he was succeeded by Rev. William Hart.
As a result of the War, and of the withdrawal of members to form a Southern Presbyterian Church ( Central Presbyterian), this church in
566
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
1870 had become greatly reduced in numbers and strength. The Cen- tral Congregational Church, which had been formed from the First Congregational Church by those who had withdrawn therefrom some two years before, together with their pastor, Rev. Dr. Boynton, were without a building. They dissolved their organization, and joined As- sembly's Presbyterian Church by letter in August, 1870. The present pastor, Rev. Mr. Little, was called in 1873. Since the consolidation above mentioned, the church has been most prosperous and united, and has shown a steady and encouraging growth.
The Sixth Presbyterian Church was the result of the labors of Rev. Mason Noble, who, in 1851, held a series of prayer-meetings in private residences in South Washington. The first public services were held August 28, 1852, in "Island HIall." On January 23, 1853, at a meeting presided over by Dr. Noble, thirty-two members were enrolled and John Knight elected ruling elder. Dr. Noble served the church from the date of its organization until 1855, and again from 1858 to 1862, and also from 1870 to the time of his death, October 24, 1881. During his first absence, the pulpit was filled by Rev. B. F. Morris. Rev. George H. Smyth was pastor from 1864 to 1869, and Rev. George P. Noble was stated supply from 1869 to 1870. On September 27, 1882, Rev. Frank H. Burdiek was elected pastor, and served until 1887. Rev. Scott F. Hershey, Ph. D., the present pastor, was installed October 5, 1887. The membership of the church is about one hundred and seventy-five.
The Western Presbyterian Church was organized in 1853, and worshiped temporarily at the corner of E and Twenty-second streets. On July 3, 1854, Rev. C. Smith, the pastor, purchased of Silas B. Hill and Joseph B. Varnum, Jr., a lot on H Street, near Nineteenth Street, and received from them a donation of $600 toward the payment therefor. Rev. T. N. Haskell was the pastor of this church at the time. A church building was erected on this lot which was dedi- cated June 7, 1857, Rev. Mr. Haskell preaching the dedicatory sermon. At night Rev. Byron Sunderland, D. D., preached the clos- ing sermon of the day.
At the time of the dedication of the church there had been expended $16,000, and all debts had been paid but about $2,000. The church was built in the Elizabethan style of architecture.
On May 18, 1858. an important meeting was held in this church, the Presbytery of the District of Columbia convening on that day to pass upon the dissolution of the pastoral relations of Rev. Mr. Ilaskell with the church, and the authorization of his acceptance of the min-
567
CHURCH IHISTORY.
istry of the Congregational Society of Boston, Massachusetts. The presbytery also reported favorably upon the attainments of Dr. James M. Wilson, M. D., of Washington, and declared him qualified to preach. Rev. J. R. Bartlett was installed pastor Angust 31, 1859, but removed to the South at the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. In March, 1862, Rev. J. N. Coombs, formerly a Methodist minister, was received and installed, and remained pastor until Decem- ber 27, 1874. Rev. David Wills became pastor March 1, 1875, and remained until January 28, 1878, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. T. S. Wynkoop, who was installed October 23, 1878. The membership of this church is about three hundred.
Westminster Presbyterian Church was organized June 14, 1853, by the name of the Seventh Street Presbyterian Church of Washing- ton. The site on Seventh Street was donated to the church by Charles Stott. In December, 1873, by a vote of the congregation, the name was changed to "Westminster." Rev. John M. Henry, installed in 1853, remained pastor until 1855, when he was succeeded by Rev. E. B. Cleghorn. Rev. Dr. B. F. Bittinger was installed pastor March 12, 1857, and remained until 1863, when Rev. William Y. Brown became stated supply, followed by Rev. W. W. Campbell, the latter being installed pastor in 1865. Dr. Bittinger succeeded him, being installed January 5, 1868, and remains pastor at the present time.
Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church was, at the time of its organi- zation, the only church of that denomination in its section of the city, including the Capitol and the Navy Yard, the territory under consideration comprising more than a third of the area of the city and a population of more than fifteen thousand. The initial steps toward this organization were taken in the fall of 1863. Rev. John Chester, son of Rev. William Chester, secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Education, by invitation came to Washington to labor in this promising field. In February, 1864, a small number of persons met in a small building known as the mission schoolhouse, in which on the 28th of that month Rev. Mr. Chester preached to them his first sermon. This mission schoolhouse stood on First Street East. The Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church was organized April 11, 1864, under the sanction of the Presbytery of Potomac, with thirty-two members of other churches and two by profession of faith, Rev. Mr. Chester being installed pastor on the same day. A lot was pur- chased and a chapel was completed so as to be dedicated February 12, 1865, the new society having been assisted in its efforts to raise the money by other Presbyterian churches in Washington and by the
568
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Board of Church Extension, which contributed $1,000 toward the result. When the little chapel was dedicated, it was entirely free from debt. It stood on Fourth Street East, near Pennsylvania Avenue.
In February, 1866, the corner stone of the present building was laid, and then the Presbytery of Potomac proposed to the General Assembly to incorporate with the church the proceeds of the property on E Street Northwest, which had been held for a long time with the view of establishing there a Metropolitan church, and the transfer was accordingly ordered by the General Assembly in 1868. After consider- able delay, the property was transferred and the church erected, and the name changed to the Metropolitan Presbyterian Church. The church edifice, which stands at the corner of Fourth and B streets Southeast, was dedicated December 8, 1872, and by the spring of 1878 it was entirely free from debt. Rev. John Chester is still pastor of this church, which, a few years since, spared a colony for the establish- ment of a mission in the eastern part of the city.
The North Presbyterian Church was organized December 10, 1865. Under the care of Rev. L. R. Fox, the church was organized with twenty-three members, and Mr. Fox was installed pastor December 31, 1865. The church edifice had been dedicated on the 3d of the same month. Rev. Mr. Fox was succeeded by Rev. Charles B. Rams- dell, who was installed December 13, 1875. In 1878, the original building was enlarged, and at the present time the estimated value of the church property is about $30,000. The seating capacity of the church is about five hundred, and the membership about two hundred.
The Central Presbyterian Church was organized May 31, 1868, with twenty-nine members. The movement resulting in this organiza- tion began in the preceding Jannary, when twelve individuals favoring it held a meeting in the old Trinity Church, then the Columbia Law building, the rent of which was guaranteed by General Thomas Ewing. The members present at once inaugurated plans for the selection of a site for a church edifice, one of the leading members being Mrs. Ellen Adair, who contributed nearly $2,000 toward the enterprise, and another being Miss Mary E. Coyle. By November, 1871, a lot was selected, and in December, 1871, it was purchased. It has a front of fifty-eight feet on I Street and one hundred and forty feet on Third Street. The chapel erected thereon was completed JJanuary 1, 1873, and dedicated January 19, 1874. The main edifice was completed November 14, 1885, and dedicated December 6, 1885. The seating capacity of the audience room is seven hundred, and with the chapel thrown into it, which can readily be done, it is one. thousand two hundred. The architec-
569
CHURCH HISTORY.
ture of the building is Gothic. Rev. A. . W. Pitzer, D. D., the founder of the church, is still its pastor, and the membership is at the present time about two hundred. This is the only Presbyterian church in Washington connected with the Southern General Assembly.
The Eastern Presbyterian Church was organized May 9, 1875. The lots on Eighth Street, upon which a frame chapel was erected, were donated to the enterprise by Moses Kelly. Rev. J. T. Kelly supplied the pulpit for a time, and then Rev. George B. Patch was installed, November 1, 1875. Rev. Mr. Patch resigned in 1881, and Rev. S. S. Wallen was installed his successor April 10, 1882, and re- mained pastor until the fall of 1883, when he was succeeded by Rev. Eugene Peek, who was installed February 13, 1884. The present pastor, Rev. M. N. Cornelius, D. D., succeeded Rev. Mr. Peck. The present membership is about one hundred.
Unity Presbyterian Church was organized with fifty members, March 15, 1882. Rev. G. B. Patch was the first, and has been so far the only, pastor of the church. The first place of worship was Clabaugh Hall, located on Fourteenth Street, between Corcoran and Riggs streets, which was rented for religious services until such time as a church building could be erected. The second and present place of worship was and is the brick chapel located on the corner of Four- teenth and R streets, which cost $8,000, and was dedicated November 15, 1884.' At this time, the membership was one hundred and ten, and on April 1, 1891, it was two hundred and seventy-four. This church organization is out of debt, and owns the edifice and grounds upon which it stands and the vacant lot on the corner of Fourteenth and R streets.
The origin of the Church of the Covenant was as follows: In the spring of 1883, a meeting was held at the house of Justice Strong, who had interested himself in the apparent necessity for the building of a Presbyterian church in the northwestern portion of the city, for the purpose of discussing the feasibility of organizing such a church. Those present at this meeting were, besides Justice Strong, Justice Matthews, James G. Blaine, Gardiner G. Hubbard, M. W. Galt, Wil- liam M. Galt, Admiral Colhoun, Admiral Carter, Samuel Shellabarger, James Fitch, Otis Bigelow, and William Ballantyne. Soon after this meeting was held, the site now occupied by the church, at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and Eighteenth Street, was selected. At a subsequent meeting, a committee, composed of Justice Strong, James G. Blaine, Gardiner G. Hubbard, William M. Galt, William Ballan- tyne, and James E. Fitch, was appointed to solicit subscriptions and
570
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
secure the lot by making a payment. Among the early subscribers to the fund for the purchase of this lot were Senator Cameron, James G. Blaine, William Walter Phelps, Colonel John Hay, Ex-Senator Yulee, Judge Strong, and Gardiner G. Hubbard.
The Covenant Presbyterian Church was organized October 13, 1885, with fifty-three members. The church building is one of the largest and most unique of the church edifices of Washington. The walls are of stone, but the main feature of the exterior is the tower or campanile, which is twenty feet square and rises to a height of one hundred and forty-eight feet to the top of the finial. The body of the church forms a parallelogram. The front is on Connecticut Avenue. It is flanked on one side by the tower, and on the other by a low projection, forming the vestibule for one of the main entrances, the other entrance being in the tower. The interior of the church is very handsome. Semicircular arches, springing from four large pillars, support the lantern with its domed roof. The walls and ceilings are decorated in plaster in low relief, from cartoon designs, in the Italian style. The pillars are bronzed. The windows are filled with cathedral glass, with the exception of the large double window on the north side, which is filled with stained glass. The design represents the extreme scenes in the life of Christ-the annunciation to the shepherds and the appearance after resurrection. This window was the gift of Mrs. Martha M. Read as a memorial to her father, Admiral Dahlgren.
The organ made for this church is enclosed in an oak case, enriched with carving. It has three manuals and has thirty-nine stops. It is one of the best organs made. The pulpit and com- munion table are of unique design, and were the gift of the pastor, Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin, D. D., the first and only pastor of this church, who had the wood of which they are made imported in the log from the Holy Land. In both pulpit and table there are three varieties of wood -olive, oak, and cedar. The top of each is a solid piece of olive, which is susceptible of a high polish. The chan- delier, which was presented by the children of the Sunday-school, cost $800. It is a copy of the chandelier in the mosque of St. Sophia in Constantinople. The chapel was occupied for public worship October 11, 1885, and the principal edifice about a year afterward, but it has not yet been dedicated. The membership of the church when organized was fifty-three; January, 1892, it was four hundred and thirty-five.
This church supports the Peek Memorial Chapel, located at the corner of Twenty-eighth and M streets, besides Sunday-school, indus-
571
CHURCH HISTORY.
trial school, reading room, etc., Rev. Charles Alvin Smith being in charge.
The First Congregational Church of Washington, corner of Tenth and G streets Northwest, was organized November 12, 1865, and reeog- nized by council November 15. Long before this time, however, there had been made several attempts to establish a church of this denomi- nation. The first of these attempts was on August 3, 1847, when a few gentlemen met in the law office of Bigelow & Peugh, on the corner of E and Seventh streets, and resolved to organize a Congregational church essentially on the plan of the Cambridge platform, whose standard of piety should be high, whose doctrines should be evangelical, and which should favor the leading reforms of the day, including Bible, mission- ary, tract, anti-slavery, Sunday-school, and temperance efforts. It has been stated by some that this was the first religious body in the city, and indeed in the entire South, to insert an anti-slavery plank in its creed, though anti-slavery work had been done by the Methodists in Tennessee at least forty years before.
Meetings were held in many different places, and there was occasional preaching and a Sunday-school. At length, one of their members offered to build a church and rent it to them. This offer of Mr. Cookman was accepted and the first Congregational church build- ing was erected, and afterward twice enlarged. It was on Eighth Street, is still standing, and is now, and for many years has been, used as the Jewish synagogue. The church, however, was not popular in Washington, as it was not always easy to distinguish between anti-slavery principles and abolitionism. Besides this, there was a still greater difficulty in their way -division among themselves on the slavery question; some being extreme in their convictions as to the sin of slavery, and at the same time intolerant of opposite opinion. On account of these internal quarrels, the council refused to constitute them a church, and gradually thinning off in numbers, they quietly dissolved, and as an organization have never been heard of since.
The next attempt to organize a Congregational church was made in 1852. This organization was to be both anti-slavery and Congre- gational. The difficulty still was abolition. Rev. Dr. Charles B. Boyn- ton, of Cincinnati, twice declined to fill the pulpit. J. B. Grinnell, who had just graduated from an orthodox theological school, and who was warranted sound on the slavery question, came and preached a short time, but could not hold the congregation. Then came the Rev. Alex- ander Duncanson, who had just arrived in the United States from Scotland. At this time the old Trinity Church property came into
572
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
market, and Mr. Grinnell went to New York and New England to raise the money with which to buy it, and came back to Washington with money enough to make the first payment, and with this payment secured the possession of the premises. Thus the Congregationalists of Washington again had a building in which to hold religious services. Then upon the invitation of Mr. Grinnell, in behalf of this church, a council of three hundred pastors and delegates came from all parts of the country to visit the church. Of this council Professor Calvin E. Stowe was chosen moderator. Before this large council the young Scotch preacher had to state his theological views, which he succeeded in doing to the satisfaction of the council until he came to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Here, unfortunately for his hope of becoming pastor of this new church, he stated his belief that Christians sometimes fall from grace, which so shocked the learned gentlemen composing the council that he was rejected. The council adjourned on Saturday. It had, during the week, heard one Congregational sermon, from Henry Ward Beecher, one of its mem- bers, but only one of the council was invited to preach in any of the Washington churches on Sunday, this one being the Rev. Dr. Sweetser, of Worcester, Massachusetts, a special friend of Mrs. Presi- dent Pierce, who was invited by Rev. Dr. Gurley, at the request of Mrs. Pierce, to preach in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Scarcely had the council adjourned, when every Department clerk who belonged to this church received a notice that he must choose between his anti-slavery church and his position under the Govern- ment, and every one of them gave up his connection with the church. Rev. Mr. Duncanson having been rejected, the little church began looking round for another pastor. An invitation was extended to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, but he declined. Rev. Horace James, of Worcester, Massachusetts, was then invited to the pulpit, but he also declined. In August, 1856, Rev. E. HI. Nevins, D. D., of Massachu- setts, accepted a call, but remained only a short time, and then Rev. George W. Bassett became the pastor and remained until 1858, when, on account of financial reverses, he could no longer serve without pay, as he had been voluntarily doing, and the church was too feeble to pay him, so he left the pulpit; and after a brave struggle against numerous difficulties, the little church gave up the ghost.
The third attempt to found a Congregational church in Washington was made in 1865, and was this time a success. A society having been formed, a meeting was held, September 17, in the Unitarian church on the corner of D and Sixth streets, Rev. Charles B. Boynton, D. D., for
573
CHURCHI HISTORY.
twenty years previously a popular pastor in Cincinnati, officiating twice that day. After remaining here a short time, Metzerott's Hall, on Pennsylvania Avenue, was secured and occupied for some time. After- ward, finding that old Trinity Church had been purchased by Columbia College, and that its lecture room would be an excellent place for Sunday service, the congregation moved into it, remaining through the summer, and then, by arrangement, into the hall of the House of Representatives, the pastor of the church having been elected chaplain of the House.
At the first informal meeting of the members of this church, October 11, 1865, fifty-six persons agreed to join the proposed new church. At the time of the organization of the church, one hundred and four joined, and two weeks later nineteen more were added. A council was held October 2, 1866, to install the newly elected pastor, Rev. Dr. Boynton. The question of a site for a church building soon began to agitate the membership, and at length a lot on the corner of Tenth and G streets was purchased, and the corner stone of a new church building was laid October 2, 1866, at which time Major-General O. O. Howard was introduced by Dr. Boynton, and Rev. Edwin Johnson, of Baltimore, delivered an address. The building erected on this site had a full seating capacity of two thousand five hundred persons. In the erection of this building, assistance was received from the Church of the Pilgrims, in Brooklyn, which contributed over $7,000 toward the building fund, and suggested that the church be named the "Howard Monumental Church."
November 18, 1868, a council from the different Congregational churches throughout the North and Northwest convened in Washing- ton, in response to an invitation sent out October 24, to consult as to the best method of adjusting difficulties then existing in this church, which had arisen through their pastor's ministrations. This council was called by a minority of the church, and when it met in the church on Tenth and G streets, the proposition was made to the majority that they should consent to consider it a mutual council. To this proposition the majority declined to accede, saying that a mutual council had been called to meet January 13, 1869, and that any mem- ber of the minority of the church would have the same right to be heard in the mutual council as any other member. On the next day, the council listened to the charges against the pastor made by the minority, as likewise to Dr. Boynton's reply; but the charges and the reply would occupy more space than can be granted to them in this work, except to say that Dr. Boynton took exceptions to being
574
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
tried by an ex parte council, especially when a mutual council had been called, and to say, also, that a statement was published, signed by over one hundred members, to the effect that, in their opinion, the difficulties then existing had been caused, not by the course pursned by the pastor, but by the determined efforts of the minority, by whom the ex parte council had been called. One of the principal difficulties seems to have been in reference to what was termed "amalgamation," the pastor having charged that General Howard was an "amalgamationist," meaning by this term the commingling of both white and black people in the same church and the same school. "Some time since, Dr. Boynton preached a sermon on the subject of colored people entering the church, just at a time when colored chil- dren were introduced, a noticeable feature of which was that not one word was in it to encourage the intermingling of colored with white children in the schools."
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.