USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Rockford > Golden anniversary exercises, historical record and manual of the Second Congregational church, Rockford, Illinois. November 7, 1849. November 7, 1899 > Part 7
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
For the preaching of the word (pastor's salary and pulpit supply), $29,965.50 Music, - 14,128.99
Lighting and heating, 6,888.19
Janitor, 5,097.09
Taxes,
1,367.00
When we take into account the fact that this represents the expendi- tures of but a single decade, and includes only those of the " Society " and not of the " Church," it seems safe to estimate that under the blessing of God this organization has been enabled to raise and expend not far from a half million of dollars in carrying on the work of Christ's kingdom at home and abroad.
Such is a hasty (if not brief) sketch of our fifty years' history. Let us view it not with egotism or a spirit of self-congratulation, but with a spirit of reverent thanksgiving that God has made it possible for us to do so much. What contrasts the fifty years history presents ! What a transi- tion from the crooked, winding paths along rail fences or through the brush and across the river on a ferry boat, to the beautiful carriages and the elec- tric cars in which we go to church to-day ; from Mr. Haight's barn to this magnificent sanctuary ; from a flask of wine pulled out of the pocket of the minister at the time of communion to the beautiful silver service now in use with a set of " individual cups " coming nearer every year.
70
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
I am not unmindful that it is mine to gather and present facts, not to moralize ; to write history, not preach a sermon, but when I think of the conditions which surrounded the charter members of the First Church in Rockford and the conditions which surround us and then open the sacred word and read " to whom much is given, of him shall much be required,", I can but stand in silence before God and ask myself, " are we doing our full duty ?" That to-day we have better, truer conceptions of the religion of Jesus Christ than our fathers had, I fully believe, but that we are living up to all the light and privilege we have with the same unflinching devotion and self-sacrifice which they did, I do not believe. If they could accom- plish all they did with their meager equipment, what might we not accom- plish ? And if with the nearest post office at Chicago, with oats and corn 10 cts. per bushel and flour $20.00 per barrel they could be contented and happy, and the testimony is unimpeachable that they were, then surely " A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he pos- sesseth."
THE FIRST EDIFICE. 1849.
1
THE SECOND EDIFICE. 1857.
OUR CHURCH BUILDINGS.
WRITTEN FOR THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION BY DEACON BENJAMIN BLAKEMAN.
T HE original First Congregational Church was organized in 1837, and occupied a lot on the southwest corner of South Church and Green streets. The lot was furnished by Messrs. Kent & Brink- erhoff, they retaining the title to the same. At this time land was of little value. There was a bell in the tower of this first church building, but it belonged to the pastor, Rev. Cyrus Watson, and he took it away with him at the close of his pastorate.
The Second Congregational Church was organized October 30, 1849. The lot and church building formerly used by the First Church was pur- chased of J. W. Taylor, assignee of Kent & Brinkerhoff, it having stood vacant for some time. This building was occupied by the Second Church until 1855, having been added to, however, in the meantime to accommo- date the growing congregation.
August 16, 1855, an action was taken to purchase a new site, and re- sulted in the purchasing from H. L Rood of the lot on which the old stone church was built. Three thousand dollars was the price to be paid, and the conveyance was made with the agreement that the time of payment should extend over three years, one thousand dollars to be paid each year. At this time the society was in debt, and the trustees named a committee to take up a subscription to cancel the same.
In January, 1856, subscriptions were taken for the erection of the church to cost not less than twenty thousand dollars. The largest subscrip- tions were twenty-five hundred dollars each, there were others of fifteen hundred, some of five hundred and others of two hundred, one hundred, &c.
The pews were to be sold and located by those subscribing, scrip being used in the transfer. Those owning seats were to have the advantage of a - less assessment on them to meet current expenses of the church than those coming later and simply renting. The church was completed in 1858.
71
-
74
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
The most trying period in the history of the fifty years was during the early times of the first stone church. The trustees were carrying for their assets the unsold pews as against the indebtedness of some hundreds of dollars and striving to meet the current expenses of the church. It was a struggle only those know who had to face it. The growing unpopularity of the location was hampering the success of its every interest as the different pastors who carried their burdens will agree.
The trustees to-day should not feel that they have an ungrateful con- stituency. The flame of the torch which was kept alive at the altar through the past decades, will certainly be kept alive. Our burdens are light, our zeal for the Master will stay up your hands. As in the days that are past, we will come to your help. Convert the unused edifice into available funds and we will free your hands of your present obligation.
This beautiful structure we hand down to posterity. We hope that multitudes may inscribe their names on the sacred rolls that will be a tes- timony of their consecration to Him whose life was the temple not made with hands, but of the living God.
JOSEPH EMERSON, PASTOR 1854 TO 1859.
PASTORS AND PASTORATES.
WRITTEN FOR THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION BY WILLIAM C. TAFT
HIS day is the Fiftieth Anniversay of our Church. It is dedicated to the past and to the future. It is rescued from the grasp of common life and set apart for serener contemplations and finer
T visions. The importunate and clamorous present is laid asleep; our thoughts are disengaged from the splendid results of cultivation and refine- ment which are about us ; we look through these stained glass windows, unmindful of their beauty, and with straining vision we see a little band of men and women worshipping in a rude hut ; it is chiefly to commemorate the heroism of those men and women that these exercises are held.
Mr. Lansing Porter had been pastor of the Congregational Church in Rockford before the separation occurred, when as yet there was but one Congregational Church. He came to Rockford in 1843, making the pass- age from Buffalo, with his bride, on the same boat that carried Mr. W. A. Dickerman. The friendship formed upon that memorable trip lasted over half a century. Mr. Porter left the old church and removed from Rock- ford, but returned to nourish the infant West side organization when it was deemed that better work could be done by two Congregational Churches, one on each side of the river.
Mr. Porter took two years of his college course at Hamilton and two at Wesleyan, graduating from the latter in the class of '39. He took the full three year course at Yale Theological Seminary, and after another year of study in a post graduate course at Auburn Theological Seminary, came to Chicago, seeking service. Hearing about Rockford, he made his way hither, and was called to the old church, which was his first charge, in 1843.
Mr. Porter, at this time, was under thirty, pleasant and genial in man- ner but stern and uncompromising in his attitude toward wrong-doing.
75
76
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
His training, like all New England men who were born in the teens of the nineteenth century, had been tinctured by the sternness of Puritanism.
Mr. Porter tells of a very graceful act of the charter members of the new church at the time of their separation. It was well understood that the withdrawal of so large a number would seriously cripple the parent church. In view of this threatened misfortune, some of the leaders in the new movement renewed their subscriptions to the old church, for the-full amount, for another year ; thus early in the career of the Second Congrega- tional Church was its course marked by generosity.
In an article by Mr. Porter in the "Chicago Herald," the first relig -. ious paper ever published in Chicago, he rehearsed with pardonable pride what the new church had done the first year of its existence along the line of general benevolence, notwithstanding their parting gifts to the parent church, the purchase of a place of worship and its speedy enlargement, and their liberal provision for the support of the minister, their annual donations to the great benevolent societies exceeded in amount what had ever been given by the old church even before the separation occurred.
Mr. Porter assumed the relation of pastor on November 7, 1849, and severed the same in January, 1853.
He was a man of an inventive turn of mind with some mechanical ingenuity. His pastorate was the period of formation and organization. The following is an extract from a letter I recently received from him.
" You mention incidentally the affecting fact that all of those charter members have passed away with the exception of only five. ' They rest from the labors and their works do follow them.' In the very act of quoting this passage a new meaning to it enters my mind. Their works follow them in what seems to me in this instance a new sense, that you of to-day who are their worthy successors are following in their steps; that you have inherited their liberal spirit, and have bravely met, as they did, every emergency. Who but yourselves, with such notable unanimity and liberality, would have erected such a complete and costly edifice for the second time on the smoking foundations of the first.
" I am pardonably proud of the Second Congregational Church of Rockford from the first to the last. Fifty years ago, in the enthusiasm of early manhood, with uplifted hands and with unfaltering faith, I invoked the blessing of the Great Head of the church upon the united and consecrated little band that brought it into being. And now after all these years of grace and growth on your part, and with failing faculties and feeble utter-
77
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
ance on mine, I give you my final benediction, in the added sense of its being also, my parting prayer. ' The Lord bless thee and keep thee ; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee ; the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.'
" Your former pastor and your friend forever,
" LANSING PORTER."
" In January, 1853, Mr. Porter announced his resignation, and for the balance of the year the church was without a pastor. December 2, 1853, the following memorandum appears in the church record : " At a meet- ing of the church it was voted that December 16 be set apart as a day of fasting and prayer for this church, that the Divine guidance may be given in any steps that may be taken in relation to the calling of a pastor."
This method of meeting that constantly recurring and vexatious ques- tion savors more of the early fathers than of our latter day efforts with cum- bersome committees of supply and demand-pulpit supply and worldly demands.
The day of fasting and prayer was effective, for within two weeks a call issued to Rev. Joseph Emerson to be the settled pastor of the church. He belonged to the distinguished Emerson family, a family that has given to the country soldiers and scholars, preachers and business men. He was a son of Rev. Daniel Emerson, and consequently a cousin of Mr. Ralph Emerson of Rockford, and a second cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Joseph Emerson was born in Dartmouth, Mass., in 1806, and died in Andover, Mass., in 1885. He took two years of his course in Dartmouth in the class of '26, graduating from Yale in the class of '30. He graduated from the Andover Theological Seminary in 1835, and was ordained a preacher in 1836. For thirteen years he was connected with the Ameri- can Educational Society, a society organized to prepare young men for the ministry. In 1849 he became identified with the Western College Society, an association for promoting the growth of educational institutions in the west. He became celebrated in Boston and throughout New England for his vigorous presentation of the truth. He was called to Rockford by the Second Congregational Church in 1854. He remained here five years. From here he was called to be Secretary of the American and Foreign Christian Union. In 1871 he became one of the Secretaries of the Amer- ican Board, remaining there until 1875, when his health failed, and he lived quietly in Andover until his death in 1885.
78
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
Mr. Emerson ably seconded the impetus for charity given to the church by Mr. Porter. One controlling motive of Mr. Emerson's mind was that all held their property as stewards of the Lord and were accountable to Him. He urged at all times liberality towards religious objects ; he was untiring, persevering and fearless. Before coming to Rockford he traveled through New England, soliciting money for church purposes. At one town, where he preached Sunday and began on Monday morning to solicit, he was met by several persons who said they would give if he would get a subscription from a certain noted infidel-a wealthy man but who held in contempt all things pertaining to religion. Mr. Emerson made his plea and the man sneeringly said, pointing out to his pasture, " I'll give you that red colt," a sorry, scrubby little creature of no value. However Mr. Emerson promptly entered in his note book " Nathan Simons, one red colt," caught the colt, tied him behind his gig and succeeded in landing his other provisional sub- scribers.
Mr. Joseph Emerson built the house where Mr. Ralph Emerson now resides on Church street. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Emerson boarded with him for the first year of their married life. At the time he built many people thought the minister was getting too far out of town, " way up there in Has- kell's orchard," Mr. Emerson's pastorate was the ministry of benevolence. He tendered his resignation August 3, 1859, to re-enter the field of gen- eral benevolence. The Council that deliberated upon the dissolution of the pastoral relation " bore testimony to the fidelity and success of Mr. Emer- son's efforts."
December 7, 1859, a call was issued to Rev. Joseph E. Walton to · become the settled pastor of the church. Mr. Walton graduated from Wil- liams College in the class of '53, and from Hartford Seminary in '56. He came to Rockford from Troy in 1859-a young man, full of hope and en- thusiasm. Warm hearted and liberal minded, he leaned towards the views of the celebrated Dr. Horace Bushnell, of Hartford, in matters of theology, especially on the subject of Christian Nurture, and here he was in advance of his time. His definitions of doctrinal points were not guarded enough to save him from adverse criticism.
His theology was one of the heart, rather than the dry teachings of the theological schools. Mr. Walton's pastorate covered the first three years of the war of the rebellion-the church was then the rallying point- when the first company was mustered into the service. They marched into the church to the sound of the drum, under the leadership of the
-
L
J. E. WALTON, PASTOR 1859 TO 1863.
79
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
lamented Colonel, then Captain Nevius, to listen to the stirring words of Dr. Ralph Emerson, living here at that time. Of this company of men, some never returned. "They sleep the sleep that knows no waking, under the solemn pines ; the sad hemlocks; the tearful willows and the embracing vines, each in his windowless palace of rest, careless alike of sunshine or of storm. Earth may run red with other wars-they are at peace." On December 2nd, 1863, Mr. Walton tendered his resignation, which the church at first refused to accept but finally acceded to Mr. Walton's earnest request. Mr. Walton was called to Portland, Maine, where his views ex- cited more or less discussion in theological circles and at times was carried on with some warmth. Mr. Walton's ability attracted the attention of one of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church, who sought him out and urged him so strongly to enter the Episcopal Church, as affording a much broader field of usefulness, that he was induced to take orders as a priest in the Episcopal Church. The transcendent love of Christ was the main spring of the man in his ministry here.
August 3rd it was voted io call the Rev. M. P. Kinney, of Janes- ville, and on November 29th, following, he was formally installed. At the fortieth anniversary of the church, one of the speakers referred to Mr. Kinney, " that heart-warm, earnest, honest man," no words of mine can more fittingly describe his character. His ministry was distinguished by the most aggressive evangelical work, he was essentially a revivalist; dur- ing his pastorate people were brought into the church in large numbers. The popular method of the time was to seek large admissions to the church under the nervous excitement of the moment ; this high-pressure method was not without its effect on the mind and brain of Mr. Kinney. Several months before he had decided to leave Rockford he had occasion to con- sult Dr. Taggart, who made a careful examination and discovered some unmistakable symptoms which indicated, with absolute certainty, his ap- proaching death within a given number of months. Dr. Taggart came to a few prominent men in the church and made them aware of his discovery, insisting that neither Mr. Kinney, his family or his friends should be made aware of the true state of the case. The professional skill and sound judg- ment of Dr. Taggart, whom many of the older members of the church used to call the " Beloved Physician," was illustrated by the fact that Mr. Kin- noy's death occurred within a month of the time Dr. Taggart had predicted. It is the belief of those among the church people who knew and loved Mr.
80
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
Kinney most, that his life was prolonged by the tonic of change with a new sphere of work and the assumption of unusual responsibilities.
By the munificence of Mrs. Adaline Emerson, a house was built on Park street, and the use of it freely given to Mr. Kinney as a parsonage. It is now the home of Mr. Daniel Goodlander.
On June 26, 1870, the resignation of Mr. Kinney was presented and accepted at the following mid-week meeting. He died like a true soldler of the cross, a valiant knight, with all his armor on, in the pulpit of the Con- gregational Church in Kenosha, Wis. He was a man of uniformly pleas- ant demeanor, that rare combination of courtesy and dignity, a gentleman of the old school.
In 1870 the Rev. Frank Woodbury was called to the pastorate of the church. Dr. Woodbury was born in Beverly, Mass., graduated from Williams College in 1861. He took two years at Union Theological Sem- inary, New York City, and two years in Andover Theological Seminary.
Since this subject was assigned to me I have gone about with pad and pencil persistently interviewing the older members of the church. I have found Dr. Woodbury the hardest man of all to write up. In dealing with him I am like the boy in the candy store, the subject of my sketch pre- sents such an embarrassment of riches. I encountered one man who re- membered a little of Mr. Walton, he knew something more of Mr. Kinney, then he came to Dr. Woodbury, with the air of a man who knows he can't do the subject justice, he said : "Well, sir, Frank Woodbury was the best all-round man that ever. stood in the pulpit, an attractive speaker, a charm- ing personality, a public spirited citizen." He entered heartily into the joys of life, ever ready to rejoice with those who did rejoice, and to weep with · those who wept; he was so tenderly sympathetic with any who were in trouble and affliction ; he was the window through which the light streamed from beyond the tomb and illumined the black darkness of grief ; he was, more than anything else, tactful. Once in prayer meeting, when the ques- tion arose as to whether the whale swallowed Jonah or Jonah swallowed the whale (this may not have been just the question but it was a doctrinal point of equal importance), a somewhat acrimonious debate ensued. Dr. Woodbury summed up the matter at the end, and both parties went out in the greatest good humor with themselves, each thinking their position had been sustained by the minister.
Dr. Woodbury was for some years a member of the City Board of Education, and resigned that appointment to engage himself more closely
.
M. P. KINNEY, PASTOR 1864 TO 1870.
81
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
in the work for Rockford College. He was Secretary of the Executive Committee of the College or Seminary as it was then called, during his entire residence in Rockford. He was also actively concerned in organ- izing the Public Library, and was also a member of its first Board of Direc- tors. His pulpit work was always carefully planned and skillfully executed. He inaugurated the system which has been generally followed ever since, devoting the Sunday morning service to the settled congregation and to the edification of the church ; the evening service was given a wider range, it was more in the nature of a recruiting effort, intended to interest those not in the habit of attending church, and to bring them forward into more active connection with it.
Dr. Woodbury was the first minister in the United States to observe Children's Day. He regularly attended the Sunday School services, a part of the time he was superintendent, afterwards he usually spent the hour with various teachers and classes and kept in touch with the ever changing conditions of Sunday School work. The close of Doctor Woodbury's pas- torate was entirely unexpected by the congregation. He had received an urgent invitation to take hold of a new church enterprise in Minneapolis, and after careful consideration made up his mind that it would be much easier for a large and successful church in Rockford to secure a pastor than for the enterprise in Minneapolis which had the building of its church edifice before it. He accordingly announced his decision on Sunday, and made an earnest request that the church and society would unanimously vote to accept his resignation. There was a storm of regrets and remon- strances, but on his renewing the request the votes were taken. The peo- ple made a farewell gift to him of one thousand dollars in testimony of their regret and affection. He is now and has been for the past nine years Cor- responding Secretary of the American Missionary Association, having his office in New York City. We may well believe he brings to this work the same energy and zeal, the same loving sympathy he manifested so con- stantly while he was among us.
The next pastor following Dr. Woodbury was the Rev. Walter Man- ning Barrows. The memory of this man is too green and fresh in your minds to need aught from me. It would be presumptuous to add anything of an historical character to the eloquent address of his gifted brother last Sunday evening, when the largest audience ever assembled within these walls listened to the story of Dr. Walter Barrows' life from the lips of him who is best qualified to tell it. That immense audience was a tribute alike Hist. Reç, 11,
82
HISTORICAL RECORD AND MANUAL
to the memory of Dr. Walter Barrows and the talents of Dr. John Bar- rows. The dominant quality of Dr. Walter Barrows was strength and courage, mental strength and moral courage. I saw him with perhaps a score of other men on that bleak afternoon in February, after we had wit- nessed the destruction of our beautiful church; of all that company of men gathered at the house of Mr. John Barnes, Dr. Barrows was the least per- turbed, other men blanched and stood aghast, he remained calm, his voice rang out clear and unfaltering in counsel. On the Sabbath following the great Chicago fire we read with admiration of this and that minister who preached that day over the ashes of his church. Our Dr. Barrows not only stood among the ashes of a magnificent church, the building of which he had inspired and secured, but he said, "Brethren, let us arise and build on this spot a yet more beautiful temple to our Lord," and what is more he did it. He was a man after Joshua's own heart. "Be ye strong and of a good courage." Another point was his absolute honesty and sincerity in all things great and small. Whenever he had occasion to use some bit of word painting or thought crystalizing in his sermon, whenever he would imake use of some other man's beautifully clothed idea he would carefully, almost ostentatiously give him credit, reading the matter from a clipping or slip. These little excerpts are often incorporated into the sermon or address, if the hearer happens to be familiar with them, he knows they are quota- tions, if he doesn't, he credits the speaker with greater gifts than belong to him. Dr. Barrows' strongest mental faculty was his wonderful memory, this joined to his keen perception, gave him superb equipment for his work. He was never at a loss for a name or a date, a text or a fact. You all re- member how he would go down the long line of newly admitted members of the church on Communion Sunday with his " Remember this Word of our Lord ;" or " Take this Word of Scripture," an appropriate text ever ready on his lips.
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.