USA > Illinois > Kane County > Geneva > Fifty years of Unitarian life : being a record of the proceedings on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the First Unitarian Society of Geneva, Illinois, celebrated June tenth, eleventh and twelth, 1892 > Part 11
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FROM C. A. PHILLIPS.
CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 7, 1892. .
MRS. A. O. HOYT, DEAR MADAM :-
I regret very much indeed that I shall not be able to avail myself of your kind invitation to attend the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the First Unitarian Society of Geneva, Illinois, to be held at that place on the tenth, eleventh and twelfth insts.
I have delayed answering your communication in the hope that matters might so shape themselves as to enable me to be pres- ent and to meet, once more at least, the friends and relatives whose ranks are becoming year by year more thinned as one by one they reach the end of that road "which widens and brightens as it leads to heaven," and are called to face the great mystery whose shad- ow is ever over all the Children of Men. Only the most impera- tive reasons could have kept me from attending the Celebration, but nothing is left me now but to convey to you and through you, my warmest regards to those to whom I am allied by blood or friend- ship and whose kind faces are always fresh in memory when I recall the scenes of the four happy years (from 1849 to 1853) which I spent in Genova.
Hoping the occasion will be one of unalloyed pleasure and de- light to those who are so fortunate as to be able to participate, I re- main,
Yours very sincerely, C. A. PHILLIPS.
FROM HON. J. C. SHERWIN.
DENVER, COLORADO, JUNE 9, 1892.
DEAR MRS. HOYT :-
I have just returned and find your invitation to attend the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the Unitarian Society of Geneva. I am sorry that it is impossible for me to accept that invitation and meet the friends, old and new, of that society.
The sunlight of June does not glorify a more interesting spot to me than that old church. The deep shadows of its surrounding maples are not more grateful to the children who play under them of a summer's day, than are the precious memories that have their origin within the sacred walls of the dear old church.
What blessings have flowed from it, to us all!
The zeal and eloquence of Herbert, the joyous Sunday Schools,
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the kindly social gatherings, the haunting recollections of loved ones never again to enter its precincts in bodily form, all crowd upon me as I write.
I know it will be a time of rare pleasure to all who are so for- tunate as to attend. I will be with them in thought.
May the recollections and achievements of the half-century now closing be a prophecy and sure guarantee that the next fifty years shall even surpass them in all good work for the glory of God and the uplifting of man.
Sincerely yours, J. C. SHERWIN .
FROM COL. JOHN S. WILCOX.
ELGIN, ILL., JUNE 6, 1892.
MRS. A. O. HOYT; DEAR MADAM :--
As I think of your little church, memory recalls so many forms and faces very dear in boyhood and young manhood, thirty-five and forty years ago, Mr. Conant, the pastor, and his always pleas- ant, cheerful wife, with their family, the Clark's-three gener- ations, the Pattens (and how we young people loved Mrs. Charles Patten,) the Wilsons and many others. It is very pleasant to recall the bright memory of those far away days. It is sad to think of so many friends whose greeting shall be heard no more on earth. It is unmistakably delightful to know the eternal day is not far away, when we shall see and know yet more clearly the joys of a still closer friendship.
I sincerely hope the occasion will be helpful and pleasant to every one present.
Very truly yours, JOHN S. WILCOX.
FROM PAUL R. WRIGHT.
SANTA BARBARA, CAL., JUNE 6, 1892.
DEAR BRO. JOE :-
Your letter of May 30 relative to the proposed Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of the Geneva Unita- rian Church was duly received. We had previously received cir- culars and letters of similar import from Mr. Eddowes and Miss Fanny LeBaron.
I regret that we cannot be present on that occasion and that we can furnish nothing that will contribute materially to the in- terest. Of course, as you suggest, the interest of the Celebration will mostly center around the memory of Mr. Conant. Kind and heartfelt words of eulogy will be spoken, because they are deserv-
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Congratulatory Letters.
ed. I am glad to believe that there will be present at the Celebra- tion many of the old time friends of Mr. Conant who can use more fitting language to express the sentiments which all his friends cherish for his memory, than I am able to command. My acquaint- ance with Mr. Conant commenced about the time when he was do- ing some missionary work and endeavoring to establish a liberal Church in the very orthodox town of Elgin, but I did not, as you seem to suppose, have. any active part in the movement. I was then a member in "good' and regular standing" of the orthodox Congregational Church, although, even then, I had drifted a long way from the Calvinistic creed of my church, and attended Mr. Co- nant's meetings as often as circumstances permitted. I enjoyed his preaching greatly. The substance of his discourses was far in advance of the average sermon I had listened to up to that time.
A more intimate acquaintance with him helped me at a time when I needed help. Doubtless many persons can bear the same testimony. What higher tribute can we pay to the memory of any . man, than to say that he helped those with whom he came in con- tact-helped them to clearer thoughts and better lives! Probably Mr. Conant never knew the extent of the help he conferred upon the world, but if he should be present at the coming Celebration, (and who knows that he will not be?) I can imagine that he will hear much that will be gratifying to him.
I have a warm regard for other members of this little Church with whom I was acquainted, but most of them have long since de- parted this life.
I am sure you will have an enjoyable time at the coming gath- ering, and I hope it will be a successful one and the coming of the Year of Jubilee for the Geneva Church.
Much love to you all,
PAUL R. WRIGHT.
To Mr. J. D. Harvey, Geneva, Ill.
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Sunday School Session.
N Sunday, June 12, the last day of the cele- bration, teachers and pupils, old and new, gathered in the church to listen to words from those who associated the early days of the School witlı their own youth and from those whose later memorie's are connected with the school's progress.
Besides the papers which are published, remarks were made by Mrs. Mary P. Jarvis and Miss Jarvis of Cobden; by Miss Francis LeBaron of Elgin who strove to impress the children with the significance of the occasion; by Rev. Thos. P. Byrnes of Humboldt, Iowa and by Mrs. H. A. Gould of Geneva. Two papers are here presented in full as follows:
Historical Chapter,
Rev. T. H. Eddowes Sunday School Memories, Mrs. Ellen E. L. Woodward
Distorical Chapter.
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BY REV. T. H. EDDOWES.
he says:
ULY 20, 1851, Mr. Conant preached his tenthi anniversary sermon. Referring to the state of affairs at the time of his coming in 1841
"Elder John Walworth had been preaching a part of the time the preceding year; the Methodist minister in the circuit had sometimes preached here, but for want of encouragement had abandoned the place; there had been also Episcopal and Presbyterian and Baptist preaching, and I was informed that there had been as many as ten unsuccessful attempts made by ministers of one re- ligious denomination or another to sustain worship or establish a society in the place. The moral and religious reputation of the village was low; intemperance, profanity and disregard for the Sabbath were characteristic of Ge- neva in 1841. There was one star of hope in this night of moral darkness; it was the Geneva Sunday School.
A young man from Cambridge (Harvard) University had settled in the place and engaged in the legal profes- sion. Seeing the exposed moral condition of the children of the village, he engaged the assistance of a few friends
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Historical Chapter.
and opened a Sunday School. Fearless of the ridicule that might be cast upon his enterprise, and faithful to his high convictions of duty, from Sabbath to Sabbath, while no society existed and no other worship was held, he gathered his little company of children together to impart to them ideas of God and Christ and eternal life, and to endeavor to lead them into the paths of virtue and relig- ion. On my first visit to Geneva in 1840 I found him thus employed, but before iny return from Cambridge and the commencement of my ministry here he had been called by the providence of God to a higher sphere, and his Sunday School was left to be sustained by other hearts and hands. His dust hallows our burial ground, and the name of Caleb A. Buckingham is and will be hallowed in the hearts of that band of teachers who were connected with him. * * The Sunday School and the efforts put forth in establishing and sustaining it were the most hopeful appearances of moral and religious life and progress in the place. * * For my own encouragement, and as an indication that it might be my appropriate sphere of labor, the Sunday School had been started and was sustained chiefly by those of the same denominational faith."
This extarct with one reference in Mr. Conant's jour- nal under date of Sept. 1, 1846, where he says: "Our Sunday School is in a flourishing condition-seventy or eighty connected with it," makes all the history of the Sunday School we have previous to 1868.
No better place will occur in these memoirs to charge the present and coming generation in the Church with the importance of preserving every item of history connected with the School. I find that it would be of much interest to note who among the carlier settlers were pupils or officers. It would also have been quite wortlı
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Historical Chapter.
the time and effort to have had a catalogue of the first library and copies of every manual used in the school as well as of the periodicals taken and distributed by it.
It could easily be shown how important a place the School has filled in the history of the Church if we only had the records to show how faithfully its work has been carried on through all the various ups and downs of the Society. I think it can be said truthfully that it has never stopped though there liave been periods of suspen- sion of its activity for sufficient reason. We should have the records that would show how when there was an in- terval between the pastorates the School has been the outlet for the zeal of the society which kept the church open for supplies, (it is on record that in one instance the School paid for preaching out of its treasury) and how when it seemed that the school must be given up if we did not liave a minister, that consideration has been suffi- cient to rouse the resolutions that we would have a minister.
A complete record would also have shown us that the zeal which supports the School is uo fitful matter. Al- lusion has been made to the services of Miss Carr. Other names could be given of those who have given their en- thusiasm, their culture, their wisdom, their time and their strength, in that long, steady way that counts up into decades and scores of years of service, but all the records stand below that of Harriet Patten who in this school and others was a teacher for fifty years. Mrs. Mary P. Jarvis, Mrs Robt. Long, Sr., Dr. LeBaron and Mrs. A. H. Conant are nanies that stand well up in the list. Of the present teachers and officers, ten in number, six have served the School over ten years, three of them over twenty years. Another name to be gratefully recorded is that of Mrs. Mary J. Whiting. Mr. Conant makes mention in one of his anniversary sermons of the great interest she had in
Historical Chapter. 137
it, the work she did in it, and how after her active work was ended by removal, through many years of invalid- ism, her efforts made from the sick room resulted in pro- curing one hundred dollars worth of books for the library.
In 1868, a Sunday School Society was formed the object of which was to provide a more intimate connec- tion between the Sunday School and the Church; the officers of the society being elected from the Church by the School. The object has not been fully attained as but few of these officers have appreciated the field for useful- ness offered them. We still keep up the annual election however in the hope that some one will some day show what an honor it is to be president of the Sunday School Society. Ours was the first School to introduce the observance of Children's Day or, as it- is less happily though more popularly styled, Flower Sunday.
My chief concern on taking charge of the School as Superintendent in 1865 was the library. It has been an object of special care ever since that time. In the ab- sence of any public library I am confident that it has been the means of establishing a taste for first-class fiction in a large number who would not otherwise have come in contact with any but the lower grade; not that our library is confined to fiction but it necssarily predominates in providing reading for as young a class as attend our Sunday Scliool.
Somewhere in the seventies during the prosperity of Mr. Herbert's pastorate we reached the dignity of a printed catalogue of the library. The attendance in that day was so large that it was a necessity in facilitating the distribution of the books. It showed that we had be- tween five and six hundred volumes. We have kept the number about the same since that time by the removal of worn out or uncalled for books, as we have replenished
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Historical Chapter.
from time to time. One of these replenishments, it is pleasant to note, came in the form of a donation from Unity Church of Chicago, as an acknowledgement of the services of the School in responding to the calls of that Church for flowers at various times for their special ser- vices. It is equally pleasant to record that one of our visitors at the semi-centennial celebration left us a dona- tion of ten dollars for the library, five dollars of which was given in memory of Mrs. Patten's work.
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Sunday School Memories.
BY MRS. ELLEN E. L. WOODWARD OF CHICAGO.
I DO not remember ever to have heard of Rip Van Winkle appearing in a bonnet and gown, rubbing the mists of years out of dim and faded eyes and endeavoring to understand and reconcile past memories with present conditions; how it is that faces that were young and joyous thirty years a-gone have ha- loes of white hair about them. Other faces which looked up with the sweet, trusting eyes of childhood, stand bow- ed with my own, and more than this, they say: "This is my daughter, " or "This is my boy," and behold, comely maidens and manly youths are standing beside them eagerly waiting to take up and carry on the work of life. Other faces come and go, flitting in and out among you all, and one close at hand is a fair young daughter of New England. Full of the enthusiasm of her years she . goes about the Master's business. A little while and the dear eyes will be closed and the pale hands rested from their labor. The first young teacher had been promoted to the highest place-there to dwell in the light of the great white throne forever and forever. One after anoth -
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Sunday School Memories.
er have followed until the number in the yon quiet haven out-numbers those who wait a little longer.
It is a bewildering thing to do, to wake and find one's self here, for the place is haunted, is full, is crowded with the unseen, subtle yet still vivifying presence of those whose hearts were wrought into the very stones and mortar of the building. We heard yesterday much of their patient, earnest work through times of sunshine and of shadow, but the chief glory of the Church has not been reached, has been saved as. we save choice bits for the last-the Sunday School! The Sunday School which, no matter what the vicissitudes of the Church, has gone stead- ily on with the most important aim in life accomplished- the religious education of the young. It has had faith in itself, in its members, and to-day, after half a century las passed, it can look upon garnered sheaves, and say with reighteous pride, "Of all who have entered here scarce none but have illustrated in most honorable upright lives the teachings received in this venerable building." Per- haps the storms and strife of the world may have been more than some could stand against; they are rare who at some point on the weary way do not stumble, perhaps fall, and are bruised with cruel hurts, and sorrowful suffering comes to all; but at eve the Father leads his tired chil- dren home, and tenderly shields them in his fold.
In the main the beautiful faith we profess has demon- strated its truth in the lives of its children as the years go on and on.
I think I am not mistaken when I say as a "substance of doctrine" taught by this Sunday School, that we be- lieve that as the majestic oak is contained in embryo in the tiny acorn, so the powers of an angel are wrapped up in the little child. His mind says one "not you, nor I nor all angel can comprehend. " We have aimed to do this child's
Sunday School Memories. 141
mind simple justice, having faith in it, and most especial- ly as fitted for religion, not that we consider it virtuous and holy at birth, for these qualities cannot be born witli us, they are the free, voluntary effort of a being who knows the distinction between right and wrong and who, when tempted, adheres to the right. We have faith in the child as capable of knowing and loving the good and the true; as having a conscience to take the side of duty; as open to motives for welldoing; as formed for knowledge, wisdom, piety and heavenly love.
Believing thus, and knowing the world will do its duty by the little one, knowing it will teach it all evil pas- sions without check or guide, passions given for good and wise ends when rightly guided and disciplined-necessary ingredients of character-, but it is no part of the world's duty to furnish the needed counterpoise, balance wheels that will keep all these passions under proper subjection; to furnishi the bridle which will guide them in the right course and restrain them when of undue speed. Neither is it any part of its duty to still further develop, nourish and strengthen those higher moral and religious feelings and obligations which should sit on the throne of man's mind and preside over the whole character, the whole man. The great end of this life is the foundation of character which shall be fitted for the life that is to come. To ać- complish this has been the . aim and object of this School; to do what it could to render justice to the powers and faculties of the child's mind and, so far as may be, to . supply defects in the education the world gives it, in a word, to awaken moral and spiritual life in the child, and great moral and religious truths are nearer to a child than the principles of natural science. The germs are in his soul. All the elementary ideas of God and duty and love come to him from his own spiritual powers and affections. Moral
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Sunday School Memories.
good and evil, virtue and vice are revealed to him in his own motives of action and in the motives of those around him. Religion carries its own evidence with it, more than history or science and it should rest more on the soul's own consciousness, experience and observation.
That this school has been potential in awakening clear, affectionate perception of the reality, truth and greatness of religion is amply illustrated in the lives of its children now to the fore, and who to-day with loving tenderness commemorate with grateful hearts the close of its first half-century and with brightest hope look forward at the beginning of the second.
The Parsonage.
S the time drew near for the semi-centennial exercises it seemed to some of the oldest members of the society and some who had grown up within the walls of the church that, as golden weddings are usually the occasion for the present- ing of valuable gifts to the bride and groom from the younger members of the family, so it was right and prop- er that some substantial gift from the children of the society, now scattered over the land, should be presented to the Church at this time, and a parsonage was pre- eminently the most desirable gift.
Accordingly Messrs. B. W. Dodson, T. H. Ed- dowes and Miss Frances LeBaron constituted themselves a committee to look the field over, correspond with the children of the Church and ascertain their wishes. The results were most encouraging and cheering words and generous donations came from many friends.
The next appeal was made to friends of the Church who had never been members and to the Chicago and other societies. Here again most encouraging sympathy
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The Parsonage.
and generosity was found and strong expressions of ap- preciation of the bravery and faithfulness of the little Geneva band were received.
The home society has done well and old and young are giving of their small store. With the amount in hand, Robert Long, Architect and Builder and a member of the society, under guidance of the building committee appointed by the society and the original committee, is erecting on the lot south of the church, between two rows of beautiful maples, a tasteful, convenient, eight-room cottage, in modern style.
One item of unusual expense in this particular cot- tage is the room to be used as a library and pastor's study and which will be fitted up accordingly. Here will be collected valuable books from the libraries of the early pastors, and modern books from various sources for a per- manent, minister's library. This convenient home and valuable library will ever be attractive to the future min- isters and go far towards making them contented with the small salary the present society is able to pay.
The key that has unlocked the purses of tlie donors to this parsonage fund is "In Memoriam." All liave given gladly in loving remembrance of their parents, of the pastors of their youth, of the friends who had lived liere and borne this Church upon their shoulders and of happy days spent here with this pioneer band in the olden time. The society may well feel that the spirits of those who have gone, though silent, are still present with living influence.
298. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 977.323G28F C001 FIFTY YEARS OF UNITARIAN LIFE
3 0112 025387348
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