USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > Dubuque > Semi-centennial celebration of the First Congregational Church, of Dubuque, Iowa, May 12th and 13th, 1889 > Part 8
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buque in 1836. In after years I had the pleasure of forming an acquaintance with the Rev. C. L. Watson. He made a visit to some friends in this city. He was a man of fine spir- it, as is shown in his report of his labors at Dubuque, given in the Home Missionary for May, 1836, page 7. That report is worthy of being reprinted, as showing the spirit of Chris- tian magnanimity which has marked our home missionary work in Iowa from the first.
Rev. James A. Clark, who organized the Church at Dubuque (as stated in Rev. A. Kent's report in H. M., July, 1839, p. 59), also organized the Church in Burlington, Nov. 25, 1838.
Perhaps you may not be aware that he was of the class of 1834 in Yale college, a classmate of Reuben Gaylord, and a member of the first Iowa Band, which was organized at New Haven with reference to home missionary work in Iowa about the time the name "Iowa" in connection with the "District of Iowa" began to be pronounced. William H. Starr, one of the original members of the church in Burlington, and one of the original trustees of Iowa college, was a member of the same class.
Mr. Clark was a member of the ecclesiastical council that installed me in the pastoral office here. His wife was a sister of Rev. William A. Thompson, who was drowned in the Mis- sissippi in May, 1852, and whose body was taken from the river at Muscatine while the General Association was in ses- sion there. You may remember the affecting circumstance.
Mr. Clark returned to New England and labored there and in New York state. He died, I think, in 1881. There is a reference to him in my sermon on the fiftieth anniversary of the original foundation of the church in Burlington, page 6, of which I send a copy to the Invitation Committee.
I have thus jotted down at your request a few things I can recall from those former days. I congratulate you, my dear brother, on the benignant Providence that has been over your life, and that now permits you to revisit the scene of
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your early labors and sacrifices, and behold the fruits of your seed-sowing. Please present my grateful acknowledgments to the Committee of the Church for their invitation to the Semi-Centennial anniversary, with my regrets that my own parochial work will forbid my attendance. I am sure you will have a feast of delightful and inspiring memories, and I pray God that the good seed of the Kingdom sown in "the Old Stone Church" may in the coming half century grow like Lebanon, and bless more and more the whole Commonwealth of Iowa. Mrs. Salter joins me in love to Mrs. Holbrook, and in the hope that you will come and see us.
Very Affectionately,
WM. SALTER.
PRES. G. F. MAGOUN, D. D.
IOWA COLLEGE, GRINNELL, May 10, 1889. Rev. John C. Holbrook, D. D.,
DEAR BROTHER :- Yours of the 20th and 27th of April awaited my return from Chicago. I went there sick, April 23rd, and returned sick this week after two weeks in bed, and cannot yet write much.
If I had been home the arrangement of your visit would have been easy and pleasant. The C., M. & St. P. crosses our Iowa Central at Pickering, fifteen miles north, and you could have left it there, run down here on the Central, and re- turned to the C., M. & St. P. this week. But this was one of those "good things of this life," which Providence did not intend we should enjoy, for it was beyond our control. We can be sorry for it, that's all. Of course it is impossible for me to go to Dubuque-please convey to the Committee my sense of the kinkness and honor of the invitation-or to write such reminiscences as I would be glad to send. I remember nothing in life more distinctly than my first landing at Du- buque in October, 1849, having just come from the East with you-five weeks on the way from New York city-making
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the fastest time we possibly could, and not always patient with the speed of Eastern canal boats or Ohio and Mississippi river steamers. I didn't wonder that the man who had $800 raised "by the hardest" at the East to lift a mortgage on the Old Stone Church-how natural its picture looks !- wanted to "go West" faster ! This was the first Church west of the Mississippi where I ever preached-the "sanctuary " at Madison, where you, Prof. Ripley and I preached the previous Sabbath, being the court house.
I remember the infirm buggy you secured from a Baptist preacher named Byron for my trip to Clayton County. It was not known that the preacher was a poet, and it was known that his steed was not a Bucephalus. A long day and a half brought me to Jacksonville, now Garnavillo, and to the home of friends from Maine who were beginning Home Mis- sionary work there. I remember how east of the river where I began to teach, as well as on the Iowa side, Christians were all aglow with the fervor of your revival work and success among pioneer people of all sorts. I remember how those labors were said to have endeared the Home Missionary at Dubuque to Christians of various names in those new settle- ments all about. I remember some joint labors with you in after years, and the impression made on me of the urgent, indispensable necessity of bringing men at once to decide for Christ. But I am too unwell to write further.
What a delightful Providence it is that brings this Semi- Centennial when the religious life of the people is warm and fresh again with triumphs of truth and grace that renew the memories of the '40's and the '50's. I congratulate our earnest Brother, Dr. Brown, and his people on this coinci- dence, and I congratulate you and Mrs. Holbrook, and the old friends that "still live," in being brought together by the special kindness of our Father in Heaven at such a time.
I wish I could have had the print of the Stone Church for my "Life of Father Turner."* That must have been the
*The Cut was sent to Boston in time for Dr. Magoun's book .- ED.
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second Congregational edifice in Iowa-the old wooden house at Demmark, built for the Church organization in 1838, being the first. t
The book is in the type setters' hands. The publishers, Congregational Sunday School and Publishing Society, promise its issue in about two months.
Ever yours in the Gospel,
GEO. F. MAGOUN.
FROM REV. E. B. TURNER,
OSWEGO, Tioga Co., N. Y., May 4, 1889. Rev. F. C. Holbrook, D. D.,
MY DEAR BROTHER :- We were very glad to receive the letters of yourself and wife of the 18th ult., and especially to learn that you were both coming East once more. We wish we might see you in our home.
Your request to send you some reminiscences of our early missionary life in Iowa, for the Semi-Centennial occasion at Dubuque I cheerfully comply with, though I fear I cannot remember enough to make them very complete.
I remember gratefully how much I enjoyed, and was bene- fitted by, your help and counsel in that early day. A young man just out of the seminary, with no experience, thrust into a field where there were no church organizations, or church buildings, or even a Sunday school, with nothing scarcely to build on, or with, was prepared to appreciate such help as you rendered. In my log school-house ministry there was sometimes much interest, but how to make the most of it I did not always know. It was very natural, therefore, to run down to Dubuque for help. On several occasions you came to my relief. The first year (1843) I was at Cascade, you as- sisted me in a protracted meeting, when there were several conversions, the Church was greatly strengthened, and a new
+ It will be seen by reading the history of the Old Stone Church that it was built in 1836, but not at the outset for Congregationalists. [See page 60.]-ED.
.
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impulse was given to the whole work in that region. At an- other time, at Colesburg, you aided me, and the Church was more than doubled in number. On one occasion at Coles- burg the whole congregation, except one individual, rose for prayers, and among the converts at that meeting three gen- erations were represented, a grandfather, a son and grandson. My people soon learned the value of your labors, and were always glad of your visits.
The contrast between your preaching and that of some oth- er ministers of another denomination, whom my people occa- sionally heard, was very great. The writer was with one of them in the pulpit when he broke out in the middle of his discourse as follows : "I thank God I am not one of those learned preachers, and that I never rubbed the back of my coat against a college wall !" The same man had a small Sunday school out a few miles where I happened to be one Sabbath. At the close he asked the children some very pro- found questions. One was, "How long did it take the Cre- ator to make Adam?" The children seemed utterly con- founded by such a poser, and shook their heads. Finally, he said, "I will tell you. It took just six days. Do you know why it took so long? It was because in the climate where the Lord made him it took so big a lump of clay all that time to dry through." I heard another labor very hard in a dis course to show his hearers what King Samuel said and did. Another of them, after hearing Brother Salter preach in the log court-house at Maquoketa, took him by the hand and said, "We receive all ministers with open arms in this new country, no matter what their tenements are."
You can imagine how much the young ministers were aid- ed by such helpers. Still, notwithstanding their frequent vi- olations of the rules of Murray, and their crude interpreta- tions of Scripture, these pioneers did much to plant the Gos- pel on the frontier.
Some of your early efforts in Dubuque I partially recall. It was in March, 1845, I think, that you thought the interest
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in the Church and city justified a series of meetings. Rev. Warner, of Potosi, Wis., and Rev. Z. Eddy, of Mineral Point, were with you, also myself. I remember calling with you on families two or three days, and with Brother W. I visited the groceries and mechanics' shops, and invited those we saw to the meetings, in which invitation we were insulted but once, that was by a Papist who asked me to take a dram. If I re- member right, there was great interest, and a large addition to your Church. In the meantime, I was impressed with the kindness of your people to their minister and family. It seemed to me, though small in number, and not forehanded, they, like Mary, did what they could in those early times. Even so early as 1843 I attended a donation at your house, but it was stormy and but few out, and at another time in 1845, I think, there were about $50 brought in, $25 of it in cash. These were the beginnings of what has become a pros- perous and benevolent Church.
Nor have I entirely forgotten the perils of those early days.
On our way to a meeting of an Association, Mr. Salter and myself were on horseback, and you and Mrs. Holbrook in a buggy. Arriving at the Maquoketa river we found its waters very high. Your horse took a notion to have a bath, and laid flat down in the stream. The gallant young men on horseback went to the rescue of Mrs. H., and placing her on my horse took her safely to the opposite bank.
At the same place the writer, in. 1844, on returning home from an appointment, was obliged to swim his horse, and cross in a canoe, and with him there were four representa- tives going from Iowa City to Dubuque in a lumber wagon, which they had to take apart and carry over, a piece at a time, in a canoe, and swim their horses. In the absence of roads and bridges traveling was often at the peril of life. The writer and his wife, on their way to Garnavillo, at one time, were swamped in the middle of the Little Turkey, and, to save the life of his wife, he was obliged to leap out into the stream and cut the harness. It was not uncommon for mis-
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sionaries to lose their way by attempting to follow roads that could only be traced by blazed trees. I have thus given you but a sketch of a very few items.
In regard to your work in northern Iowa, much more can justly be said. Your influence did much for the cause in that part of the State. Your labors in the many meetings you held with the churches were invaluable. In their weakness it was just what they needed, and if you had done no other work than was bestowed upon these infant organizations, it would be praise enough for one life. Indeed, you was the man to whom we looked for advice and help in organizing Churches, or Associations, or at the dedication of houses of worship. With much esteem, .
Your Brother,
E. B. TURNER.
FROM REV. J. H. WARREN, Superintendent of A. H. M. S.
SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 1889. S. P. Adams, H. B. Baker, Invitation Committee,
DEAR BRETHREN :- Your card of invitation to the 50th Anniversary of the First Congregational Church of Dubuque is received. Please accept my thanks for remembering me as one of you. My regret that I will not be able to be with you on the 12th and 13th cannot be expressed. It has been a dream of two-score years and more that I might once more see Dubuque where, in 1841, I think, I first cast my lot with the people of God and entered into holy covenant with them to live and work for Christ. But I fear that this is about as near as I shall ever get to Dubuque; however, please take notice, should I ever set foot on that holy soil, some latch- string will be mercilessly pulled and a breeze from the wild West will storm your doors.
Looking at the picture of the Old Stone Church, mortgage and all, on your card of invitation, what memories are re-
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vived; what sacred associations bind me closer to the little company, I then knew, as well as to the larger number now assembled whom I have not seen, to celebrate with praise and story, with joy for the past and larger expectations of the future, the 50th year of a Church which in its beginning was insignificant, but born, as we trust, to abide as long as time shall last.
That Old Stone Church picture interests me. I have never seen the present Church or the one on Main street. That side door where we entered, each with a lighted candle, to light up the basement for the prayer meetings! It is in that basement, and I remember it well, that being unexpectedly called upon by the Superintendent of the Sunday School, I made my first prayer in public, with perspiration bursting from every pore. I don't know how long I prayed; I seemed not to know when I came to the right stopping place. The Superintendent must have thought I was a long time finding it. At all events somebody hinted to me that three minutes was better than twenty for a Sunday School prayer !
There was another thing also that took place in that base- ment, which the longer I live, the more it makes me wonder at the wisdom and goodness of God who overrules the fool- ishness of the simple to advance His kingdom.
My uncle, Judge Ezekiel Lockwood, was one of the Ruling Elders. With all his virtues and excellencies as a Christian, he was a "square man in a round hole" as a functionary of the Church. The poor little Church had a hard row, at the best; its building was mortgaged clear to the basement; its mem- bership weak financially, and below par, if anything, socially. It was unpopular, and most of its unpopularity was traced to the Ruling Elder. Now and then he received a quiet or even broader hint to resign; but he had convictions and one of them was, he must stand by his Eldership "if the heavens fall." He could not desert his post of duty. My dear aunt told him so, too! (Mrs.Nancy Lockwood .- ED.)
My first college vacation found me at home and in the
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prayer meeting. Our new minister, Rev. John C. Holbrook, led the meeting that evening. Some of the members spoke freely about the hindrances in the way of the Church. It never would grow unless they were removed, &c. I could stand it no longer. I arose with the fussy dignity of a fresh- man, and sending a withering look over in the corner where the tallow candle made the darkness visible, I said: It had come to such a pass that the words, trouble and Lockwood, were synonymous terms, and if it would be any relief to any- body, I would move " that we resolve ourselves into a Congre- gational Church for six months." Pastor Holbrook has told me that my motion also included the astounding proposition "that we all make ourselves Ruling Elders." It does not seem possible that I could have done that. But the greatest surprise of all was that the motion was seconded, and the presiding minister, Holbrook, perhaps the only person pres- ent who took in the supreme absurdity of the performance, without a twinge of nerve or muscle, without a change of ex- pression or look, put it to vote and it passed unani- mously, making a Presbyterian Church a Congregational Church for six months. Shades of Cambridge Platform ! or Westminister Confession of Law and Order! Was ever such a miracle of evolution known? Church history in its breadth and length has nothing to match it. I can account for it on the ground that it must have been fore-ordained that the foolishness of man should be overruled to work into the "common sense sanctified " of Congregationalism.
I see, looking at the cut of the Old Stone Church, two men standing with clasped hands. It has just occurred to me who they are. It must be Pastor Holbrook giving solid advice to his young parishoner, that as he had made such a notable beginning in starting a Congregational Church, to go on and make that his life work, which self-same thing the young parishoner has done and is doing still. Although the one hundred and forty or more Congregational churches it has been my privilege to assist into life and growth in California,
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were not organized just the same way as yours was. I hope, nevertheless, they are established on as good a foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the corner-stone, as the dearly beloved Church whose Semi-Centennial lights up to-day with the record of such a memorable past in the re- demption of the West, and in the prophecy of greater achieve- ments and wonders of grace in the millenniums to come.
Very sincerely and fraternally yours,
J. H. WARREN.
FROM HON. WILLIAM GRAHAM,
Assistant United States Attorney.
DUBUQUE, Iowa, May 8, 1889. Rev. C. O. Brown, D. D.,
DEAR SIR :- I enclose you a copy of the law incorporating "The Presbyterian Church of Dubuque."* It is Chapter 74, of the Territory of Iowa, enacted at the session of the Legisla- ture which commenced at Burlington on the first Monday of November, 1840, and was approved January 15, 1841, by Robert Lucas, Governor of the Territory.
If I am not mistaken, two of the incorporators, Henry L. Stout and Lewis L. Wood, are still living and residents of Dubuque. Dr. Finley died a few years ago in full member- ship of the First Presbyterian church, of this city. Of Messrs. Norris and Warren I never knew anything. The other in- corporator, E. Lockwood, died at Washington, D. C., a dozen years ago, and his widow, Mrs. Belva Lockwood, en- joys the distinction, or at least notoriety, of being the only woman who was ever a candidate for the office of President of the United States.
Thinking the document might be of interest to you at this time, I send it to you with these accompanying facts.
Yours Truly,
WILLIAM GRAHAM.
*The organization of 1839 which became Congregational in 1844.
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FROM REV. J. L. WITHROW, D. D.
CHICAGO, Ill., April, 1889.
Rev. C. O. Brown,
MY DEAR DOCTOR :- I want to come, and I will come if the trains will work. But so far as I can trace the guide, I find none starting after midnight on Sunday. Except for works of necessity, I never railroad on Sunday. This could scarcely be construed that way. There seems to be a train on Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, at 12:30 p. m., that would be Monday at noon, reaching Dubuque 7:45 p. m. But that would be too late. If I were rich enough to order a special train, you could count upon me, for I do desire to be there. The Lord be praised for your great harvest and ingathering. Fraternally,
J. L. WITHROW.
FROM REV. LEMUEL JONES.
GREENPORT, Long Island, N. Y., May 9, 1889. Rev. C. O. Brown, D. D.,
MY DEAR BROTHER :- I learn in a letter from my home in Syracuse, N. Y., that an invitation has been received from Dubuque to attend a Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Con- gregational Church, which takes place in a few days.
It would be indeed a great pleasure to me to be present with you, but pressing and important engagements make it impossible.
Let me thank your Committee very cordially for the invita- tion. It brings to my mind several facts which I am glad to remember. My father and mother have been for many years members of the Church. When I myself withdrew from its membership, it was at the call of the Lord to enter the Gos- pel ministry. In 1858 my wife was converted and united with the Church. My eldest son was in it consecrated to the Lord in Baptism, who is now pastor of a Reformed church in
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New York city. Also, two of my brothers and four of my sisters were brought to Christ in the Church, and for a time were members in it.
These, and other facts which I have in mind and at heart, still bind me tenderly to the Church.
I rejoice in your present prosperity. It is my prayer that He whose is the Church and whose presence in His Church is its glory, may be with you more and more.
With kind regards to your Committee, and love to yourself, I am truly your brother, LEMUEL JONES,
State Evangelist for New York.
FROM PROFESSOR J. M. CHAMBERLAIN.
GRINNELL, Iowa, May 11, 1889.
Rev. C. O. Brown,
DEAR BROTHER :- I am in receipt of your invitation to be present at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the First Congregational Church of Dubuque. It was so small a part that I had in its history that it seems not worth mention- ing at a Semi-Centennial. The first Sabbath in February, 1859, I began my six months' engagement at Dubuque, fresh from the seminary, and perhaps no man was ever more sur- prised when entering an Iowa pulpit than I was to find a New England congregation before me. I had heard of Du- buque as having the double hardness of a Mississippi river town, and a mining town, and my suspicions, not to say fears, were greatly aroused, and prepared for the worst. It is suf- ficient to say that I was happy in the facts and persons who met me in the Congregational Church, which worshipped in the basement of your present edifice. My whole stay was full of happy surprises and the warmest and most considerate friend- ship. It was my purpose to return and remain in New Eng- land at the expiration of the engagement, but those six months rooted me to Iowa soil and interests, which have re-
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ceived the work of thirty years, and my grateful acknowl- edgements of what God hath wrought for and in Iowa. I shall not be able to be with you, but shall be in full sympathy with you all and the occasion which brings you a precious re- union of Pastors and people.
I am Sincerely Yours, J. M. CHAMBERLAIN.
FROM REV. JOSEPH E. ROY, D. D. Western Secretary, A. M. A.
CHICAGO, May 11, 1889.
Rev. C. O. Brown, D. D.,
DEAR BROTHER :- It would give me great delight to ac- cept your invitation to be present to-morrow at the Semi-Cen- tennial of your Church. I find that I have been acquainted with the apostolic succession of Pastors there. I am glad to learn that a venerable young man; Dr. Holbrook, is to be with you. I wish you and the Church much joy. I am de- lighted with the poetical ascription of praise .* How rapidly our dear West has been making history.
Truly Yours, J. E. Rov.
FROM REV. A. L. FRISBIE, D. D.
DES MOINES, April 24, 1889.
MY DEAR DR. BROWN :- I am delighted to hear of the pros- pect that you and your good people are soon to participate in a service of commemoration of the fact of fifty completed years of Church life. They have been years of honorable and use- ful service in the Gospel. The fire has burned steadily on the altar of your Church and its light has not been flickering nor uncertain. Beginning with the first things of Congregation- alism in Iowa, you have grown out of feebleness into strength.
*The "Jubilee Hymn " printed on program.
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The little one has become a thousand ! You have reached a hand of help, the expression of a heartfelt sympathy, to the many interests of our order in the new West. We rejocie with you and give thanks with you, over what you have been per- mitted to do and become in the eventful half century. We wish you joy and blessing; yes for the centuries to come.
It would give me great pleasure to be with you on that day, but I have just promised President Chamberlain, of the Agricultural College at Ames, that I would spend the 12th of May at the College. I wish I could be there to see and enjoy with you all. Fraternally yours,
A. L. FRISBIE.
FROM REV. A. J. VAN WAGNER.
CRESTON, Iowa, May 7, 1889.
Rev. Dr. Brown,
MY DRAR BROTHER :- I congratulate you on being the pastor of so noble and important a church ; and that it is your privilege of being its pastor at its fiftieth anniversary. Great has been the history of your church ! Gifted and con- secrated have been the men who have been its pastors. May 12th and 13th should be red-letter days for the church, your- self and former pastors. Sorry I cannot be present. Accept our heartiest congratulations.
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