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 4
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human family, and as Christians all who manifest the spirit of Christ."
There is no other religious society in the place, and Episcopal- ians, Presbyterians and Baptists have united with our society and meet with us for worship. Though embracing sneh a variety in doctrinal opinions, our number is small; less than forty names are attached to our Declaration, and the number of efficient members is less than thirty. None of us are rich in the the things of this world, but I trust some are rich in faith and good purpose.
Feeble as we are, we are ready to put forth what strength we have, and we believe that the principles we have adopted are mighty, and need only a fair opportunity to secure a glorious triumph.
We are at present suffering great inconvenienee for want of a suitable place in which to hold meetings. The Court House, in which we have held meetings in summer, is out of repair and with- out a stove. During the present winter we have sometimes held our meetings on the Sabbath in a private house, and at other times in a small room erected for a grocery or store-room for ardent spirits, but now occupied during the week as a school-room. The room, though so dark as to be very inconvenient, is very open, the walls plastered only in part, loose boards overhead and wide eracks in the floor admitting the strong and abominable odor of aleohol from the cellar, and the eold air from every side without. In ad- dition to other discomforts, the smoke has forced tears other than those of emotion from our eyes, and I have sometimes shivered with the cold to such a degree that distinet artieulation was almost impossible. Notwithstanding these inconvenienees some of our society eome four or five miles and attend meeting regularly. But those who have not firm nerve and constitution dare not expose themselves, and remain at home, and those who are not interested in religion feel little disposition to endure the ineonvenience.
Unless we ean have a more suitable place in which to hold meetings, our society, if it does not utterly perish, will fail to ac- complish the design of its formation. A congregation cannot be kept together under the circumstances in which we are placed.
If the inconvenienees we suffer were eondueive to the interests of religion, we would seorn to mention them. It is not for these inconveniences that we care, or of these that we would complain; but it is that they stand in the way of our doing that for which we would willingly endure much more. They weaken our efforts, frus- trate our plans, and prevent the opportunity of exerting the little influence we may possess.
This is the evil we feel most deeply, and it is this which has compelled us to speak of our condition. If the remedy were in our own power, we should never have troubled others with an account of these eireumstanees or asked for aid. But it is not, and we be-
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lieve fidelity to the cause of our Master requires that we make this statement.
We do not wish for a splendid church with a lofty spire, a cushioned pulpit and carpeted aisles, but we wish for a place where we may have space and light and comfort; where the sufferings of the outward shall not take our attention from the wants of the in- ward life. A place consecrated to religion and to the worship of God. We do not ask others to make sacrifice for us equal to what we are willing to make for ourselves. Those who do not see and experience, cannot be expected to have the knowledge and feel- ings of those who do. All we would ask is, that those who cherish the same principles and feel an interest in their maintenance and spread in the world, would contribute of "their abundance" to the supply of "our want."
We think that five hundred dollars, with what we can do our- selves, will enable us to erect such a building as we need, and for this sum we appeal to the religious sympathies of our brethren in New England.
We do not expect large contributions from individuals, but we hope many will be disposed in this case to test from experience the truth of the saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." "If there be a willing mind it will be accepted according to what a man hath and not according to what he hath not." The moun- tain is composed of grains, and we hope none will feel that the offering of "two mites" will be of no importance. Contributions will be received by Rev. Charles Briggs, General Secretary, A. U. A., and Mr. David Page, Boston. Individuals and societies from a distance may perhaps in some cases forward their contributions to Boston by clergymen who attend the May meetings.
Yours in the faith and love of Christ, A. H. C.
(From the Christian Register of April 1, 1843.)
Extract from a letter from a gentleman in Geneva, Kane county, Illinois, to his friend in Boston:
I have heard to-day two most excellent discourses from the Rev. Mr. Conant. Knowing the great interest you feel in the Unitarian cause, I will endeavor to give you some idea of the trials of a Western preacher-as I am sure you will appreciate the en- ergy and indefatigable zeal of this true disciple of our great Mas- ter. Mr. Conant is settled at -Geneva, where he preaches every other Sunday, and devotes the alternate Sabbaths to the neighbor- ing towns. Neither the most tempestuous weather nor intense cold prevents his being punctual to his engagements. He frequent- ly has appointments for one day at places six, eight and ten miles apart, and although sometimes he finds only three or four hearers he is never disheartened, but renews his appointments with per-
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fect faith that the great truths he preaches need only to be known to conquer existing prejudices. He meets sometimes with much opposition, but still he finds in many places persons who, although members of other churches, exclaim with surprise on hearing the Unitarian doctrine, "That is what I have always belicved." One old man was so much pleased with Mr. Conant the other evening, that when the services were ended he came forward and presented him with a shilling. This is a fair sample of Mr. Conant's compen- sation. All he receives is from his people in Geneva, and he asks of them merely a support, which is generally given in the produce of the country, after the fashion of our Puritan ancestors. Fortu- nately Mr. Conant has some kind friends at the East. The duties of his profession appear with him a perfect labor of love. You who enjoy such privileges with regard to Unitarian preaching can scarcely realize its value to those who, having emigrated to the West in its wildest state, have been deprived for years of all preaching save that to be heard at a camp-meeting or from some traveling preacher The Unitarians have no regular place of wor- ship at Geneva. The building they now occupy is unfinished, and so cold that many of Mr. C.'s most zealous friends are deterred from attendance. You may hope that I am not amongst the miss- ing, but I must plead guilty when the thermometer is much below zero. This morning's discourse, which was a clear statement of the Unitarian doctrine, and which would have done credit to any Eastern preacher, was delivered to an audience of twenty in a log building, witn only one room about eighteen by twenty, and occupied by two families. This evening Mr. C. preached to quite a large audience at the town of Batavia, in the Episcopal church which building is very liberally opened to his use. The Unitarian doctrine, though slowly, is very perceptibly spreading in this vi- cinity, but the greatest fault of our good pastor is, that he blames himself for the want of zeal in others, not considering that one may plant and water, but cannot regulate the size of the tree or the rapidity of its growth.
(No signature.)
The same issue of the Register (April 1) contained also a letter from "a young man" of Batavia, in behalf of the church for Mr. Conant. But it contains nothing not included (substantially) in the previous quotations.
In the Register for May 13, 1843, is the following:
UNITARIAN SOCIETY AT GENEVA.
Our readers will be pleased to hear that the Rev. Mr. Conant, who has labored long and faithfully in Geneva and its neighbor-
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hood in the cause of Christian truth and holiness, is about to ex- perience a very gratifying reward of his labors in the erection of a commodious place of worship.
On the first of the month the ladies of Roxbury held a fair, at the Hall of the Norfolk House, with the express purpose of aiding in the erection of the Geneva church. There was evidence of a prevalent desire to aid in the promotion of a purpose so benevolent and praiseworthy. A large company assembled and gave substan- tial testimony of their interest in the cause. The company assem- bled was addressed by Rev. Messrs. Putnam and Clarke, and by Hon. J. Chapman, J. C. Park, Esq., and Mr. Huidekoper, who urged the importance of seconding and encouraging the efforts of our Western brethren for the erection of a suitable place of worship.
In the Register of August 19 are printed the "Reso- lutions" of the Geneva Society, acknowledging the re- ceipt of $800.00, and signed by A. H. Conant, S. N. Clark, and S. K. Whiting.
May 20, 1843, Scotto Clark, Leonard J. Carr, Amasa White, Chas. Patten and Samuel K. Whiting were appoint- ed a building committee; C. B. Dodson and Peter Sears, committee to solicit contributions from Geneva and vicin- ity. There is no record of the laying of the corner stone, but I have often heard Mrs. Harriet Patten refer to the people who attended the ceremony and incidents connected with it. Mrs. Augustus Conant informs us that there is deposited in the stone a sealed box containing church pa- pers to date, a fact which should be borne in mind if this building is ever removed. There are some faint recollect- ions of how the church was built by contributed labor as well as money; the Carr brothers leaving their farm work to haul stone and Mr. Conant working with his hands as well as with his head and heart. The commun- ion table he made is still preserved in a private house.
Under date of April 9, 1854, is a record covering the time from January, 1843, to July, 1845, which sums up the account for the building which cost $954. The
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$154 over the $800 sent from Boston being credited to subscriptions; the amount raised by Messrs. Dodson and Sears, it is to be inferred. Under date of December 30, 1843, it is recorded that Wednesday, January 24, 1844, was fixed upon as the day for dedicating the church. It does not appear whether it was occupied then for the first time.
It is gratifying to note that at this meeting it was voted "that the Rev. Mr. Alanson (Episcopal Clergyman) may occupy the church every alternate Sunday in the ab- sence of the pastor." The dedication took place as ar- ranged. According to the record the Revs. Walworth, Nicholsen and Harrington, the last of Chicago, and Mr. Arthur B. Fuller of Belvidere took part in the exercises. The sermon was preached by Mr. Conant from the text "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men." A singularly appropriate text, when we remember the discomforts of previous meeting places, and the earnest devotedness of some of the people which must have made them feel that "Glory to God!" was the truest expression of their feelings of triumph and joy in their own consecrated house of worship. .The vote be- fore its dedication to offer the use of the house to anoth- er denomination gave ample proof that it was indeed goód will toward men that should be preached within its walls in deeds as well as words. Original hymns were contri- buted for the occasion by Isaac Mclellan (a minor poet of the day) and Eben Conant, father of the pastor.
No record regarding the building occurs for seven years, when there is a call for an estimate for painting and other repairs. In October, 1851, is the first entry of funds furnished by the ladies for the above purpose.
In May, 1855 a meeting is called to consider the propriety of enlarging the church. It is noted that "if
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Historical Sketch.
the amount of $600 is subscribed we shall proceed to the enlargement of the church at once." Luther Dearborn, Chas. Patten, Wm. LeBaron and C. B. Wells are committee on soliciting subscriptions. In one week the committee reported $565 raised with enough in prospect to make the $600. Wm. LeBaron, Jarvis Danford, Jos. Williams, and Eben Conant comprised the building com- mittee. In 1856 the account for building purposes is re- corded as $644.22.
After a break of eighteen years a meeting was called January 17, 1874, at which a committee (S. W. Curtis, W. W. Ormsbee and W. O. Clark) is appointed to es- timate on repairs to "make the church comfortable." On the 25th at another meeting the committee is not ready to report and Miss Rebecca Eddowes and Miss Esther M. Orton are added to the committee; being the second entry of the appointment of women' on church business. On the 26th the work was begun which resulted in replaster- ing as well as furring the walls which had before been plastered on the stone; wainscoting, new floor, new en- trance, new book cases, new carpet, new platform and new chandeliers were put in and the Sunday School met on April 19. The cost was $1054.02, to which the Unity church of Chicago gave $100 and Mrs. Eben Conent $100. A two days meeting was held April 21 and 22 to cele- brate the reopening at which the Revs. Balch of Elgin, Gorton of Aurora, Hunting of Davenport, Iowa, G. W. Patten, G. W. Cooke and Hewitt of Oak Park and Steb. bins of Ithaca, N. Y., were present. In August, 1879, a meeting was called to consider the matter of reseating the church which resulted in securing $459 for that purpose. October 5, 1879, a vote of thanks is recorded to Walter D. and Maria C. (LeBaron) Turner for the gift of windows. In 1891 the platform was altered, the church recarpeted
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and papered, and a chimney added to the west end, at a cost of $255. 1
Dastoratea.
Up to the present time seven ministers have been regularly employed as pastors, their combined time of service amounting to thirty-six years. Of these Mr. Con- ant occupied sixteen, Mr. Woodward three and one-third, your historian four, Mr. Herbert six, Mr. West three and one-half, Mr. Byrnes three. One term of regu- lar lay service for six months and another of a year have been maintained. These with the two periods of six months each of regular supply by Mr. Hibbard of the Universalist church of Aurora, with the other occasional supplies make it safe to say that services have been kept up forty years of the fifty. There are two breaks in the record, one of six years from 1856 to 1862, and one of two years from 1880 to 1882, in which no record is kept; though in 1862 Dr. LeBaron sums up the pulpit record for the time. -
The principal events of Mr. Conant's time are so fully treated in the paper of Miss LeBaron that but little is left to mention here. I note that fifty-eight names were signed during his pastorate.
Of Mr. Woodward's pastorate the records show that he came to Geneva in connection with other business. After Mr. Conant removed to Rockford in July, 1857, Mr. Woodward volunteered to supply the pulpit during the autumn and a part of the winter. In march, 1858 he was invited to take the office of pastor, which he retained till January 1, 1862. As there are no records made dur- ing this time, I have tried to get some idea of the nature of the work done in the church, and find that Mr. Wood- ward's work seems to have been largely in a social way
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among the younger people.
The society held lay services till June, 1862, when they listened to Rev. A. H. Hibbard of the Universalist church of Aurora and made an engagement with him to supply the pulpit on alternate Sundays. This engage- ment could only be fulfilled during the summer, as the distance and the state of the roads prevented its being carried on in winter.
During the winter of 1862 and 1863 the pulpit was supplied by Rev. J. B. C. Beaubien, a Presbyterian clergyman who had been born in the Catholic church.
Soon after Scotto Clark's family swarmed from the West church of Boston to found this tabernacle in north- eastern Illinois, another family, whose , connection had been with the First Unitarian church of Philadelphia, was settling over in the northwestern corner of the state at Ga- lena. On one of his missionary trips Mr. Conant went as far as Galena and made the acquaintance of this family. He held a service in their parlorto which were summoned all such as were supposed or known to be interested in such preaching. The youngest member of the family stood at his mother's knee through the service, and has to-day a recollection of the little, ruddy faced man, stand- ing behind a light stand with a bible and two tallow can- dles, in brass candle sticks, upon it, and wondering what it all meant. It was through the endeavors of this family to start a Unitarian church in Galena, that Mr. Woodward was induced to come to Illinois. It was a hard struggle which ended in failure to accomplish that object. It was largely through the good offices of Mr. Woodward's family, though they were not residing here at the time, that the boy who stood at his mother's knee through that missionary service, was installed as the successor of Mr. Conant and Mr. Woodward in 1865. His life since
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that time has been so intimately connected with the society that the office of historian on this occasion falls naturally to him.
I found the church blooming in a new coat of paint on the inside, the ground newly enclosed on the outside and a warm welcome awaiting me. In some ways, Sep- tember, 1865 was an interesting time to take up church work. The date amply indicates the political situation, while in denominational circles the smoke of the great battle between radical and conservative Unitarians had hardly cleared away. My ordination was the first in the history of the society. Robert Collyer and C. A. Staples . with D. M. Reed a Universalist from Rockford, took all the parts between them, Mr. Staples preaching the ser -- mon, Mr. Collyer giving the ordaining prayer and right hand, Mr. Reed the charge to the candidate. The engage- ment was renewed for three years successively; then there was a year's absence and another year's engagement.
As the summing up of my work, I think I may say that the society was guided into the ranks of the progress- ive Unitarianism, and that the Sunday School library was made an efficient arm of the services. My last sermon as pastor was given in November, 1870.
In June, 1874, Mr. Herbert first came among us. He came to the newly renovated church and by his inspiring pulpit ministrations held the best audience since Mr. Co- nant's time and commanded a larger salary than was paid before or since liis day. He had a great hold on the floating element with the peculiarties of liis manner, the quaintness of his style, his deep religious fervor, and the practical value of his thoughit. The social life of tlie so- ciety received an impetus. from the increase in numbers which it has not maintained since his day. In 1879 be- gan one of those periodic times that have come too often,
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when death and removals from town made a diminution in our ranks, which was greater than the accessions, and in 1880 it was found that the society must give Mr. Her- bert up to a louder call and a wider field at Denver .- His six years stay and growing reputation brought us attend- ants from Batavia and St. Charles and the country around which his successors have not been able to retain.
After an interval of three years and seven months from the time of Mr. Herbert's departure, Mr. West came to us full of life and energy, in February, 1884. The de- pression which had followed Mr. Herbert's going, had given place to a conviction that it was necessary to hold on to what we had if we were to keep from complete dis- integration, and a period of church life began which was a turning over of a new leaf. We made a more system- atic effort to live up to our ethical standards and denomin- ational convictions. Under the stimulus of Mr. West's preaching we were unanimous in our desire to revise the declaration and constitution which resulted in the present form of those documents. The old style of annu- al meetings, a fifteen or thirty minutes' session after the inorning session, at which officers were elected, was changed for the parish reunion with an early tea and a bus- iness meeting, where we not only elected officers and at- tended to the finances, but appointed committees for ethi- cal work and heard reports from such as well as from the pastor, Sunday School Superintendent, chairmen of com- mittees, etc. We had also the first of the study classes under the minister's leadership. Altogether, though the work done at the time seemed small as compared with that done by more flourishing churches, it had a respecta- ble result in proportion that was a satisfaction to recall in the days wlien less was accomplished. Forty names were added to the church roll during Mr. West's administra-
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tion. It is but just, however, to state that more than half were names that ought to have been subscribed years be- fore. Another marked feature of Mr. West's ministry was the interest he awakened in our neighboring village of La Fox. For two seasons of good roads and weather he held afternoon service there, which resulted in devel- oping an interest that was shown in the generous, finan- cial aid they gave to his support for two years. His let- ter of resignation, dated June 19, 1887, was accepted on the 26th of that month.
The most remarkable item in connection with the en- gagement of Mr. Byrnes is, that, instead of waiting three years, more or less, the society engaged him in three months after Mr. West left. He began his work in October, 1887, and finished it in June, 1890. He was ordained in February, 1888, being the second occasion of that kind in the history of the society. The participants were Revs. Geo. Batchelor, Chester Covell, J. Ll. Jones, James Vila Blake and J. R. Effinger. The methods adopted under Mr. West were kept up. The circumstan- ces of the society as to attendance and finances remained very much the same, so that I find nothing special to note of these three ministerial years.
In January, 1892, the present incumbent came to us, and the results of his work must be summed up by your centennial historian, or better still, at the seventy- fifth anniversary.
By The Way.
It is to be noted that the peculiarity in our history as compared with that of the Unitarian churches of similar age is, that those at Chicago, Quincy, St. Louis, Cincin- nati and Louisville struck what proved to be metropolitan points. Whether the pioneers ever expected Geneva to
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equal them in its development we cannot tell, but certain- ly they must have had hope of a greater growth than that which amounts to a place of less than two thousand souls more than fifty years after its founding.
When we look for the results of early missionary work in the other small places in this state, and adjoining ones, we find now mostly "burnt over" spots. Dixon, Como, Sterling, Lockport, Elgin, Joliet, Belvidere, Ga- lena, Hillsboro and Tremont are places in Illinois where attempts were made to start Unitarian churches. With the exception of Tremont there is nothing left I think in any of those organizations to-day. Elgin, Joliet and Dixon have Universalist churches to represent the liberal element. In all of them, unless it were Como and Tre- mont, Unitarians had to contend with other denomina- tions that were already organized. Our peculiarity is, ·that we were the first on the ground and it is largely owing to that fact I think, that we are in existence to-day.
Another circumstance which I think has helped to keep us alive is the smallness of our population. We
'were undoubtedly the leading church for the first ten or fifteen years of the town's existence, and through the ex- ceptional qualities of the founders, achieved and kept a respect for and sympathy with the society, which might have been lost in a larger influx of orthodox people. To- day we are so much of an influence in the thought of the community that it is a mitigated, if not a progressive, Or- thodoxy that flourishes best in our atmosphere.
In studying the society's record for materials for this paper, one is disappointed to find that the earlier secreta- ries found so little worth recording beside the election of officers and the financial standing at the end of each year. The absence of those items that would show the history of the society's work in various ways is particularly mark-
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ed in the intervals between the pastorates. Yet there were no more active periods on the part of the earnest members, than these times.
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