USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Historical review of Chicago and Cook county and selected biography, Volume I > Part 20
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
Rev. Edward Charles Cheney, who had been rector of Christ church, corner of Michigan avenue and Twenty-fourth street, since 1860, was placed on trial at the cathedral for a violation of the prescribed Episcopalian ritual in omitting certain words which pro- claimed the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. His case, which was carried through various ecclesiastical and civil courts, covering the period from July 21, 1869, to February 1, 1871, resulted in his formal pleading to the formulated charges, and his suspension from the church by Bishop Whitehouse on the 18th of that month. At the urgent request of Christ church he nevertheless continued as its rector, and was several months later convicted by the ecclesiastical court of contumacy. Subsequently Dr. Cheney's parishioners re- fused to recognize Bishop Whitehouse's authority, upon the occasion of his visitation to Christ church, and, as a congregation, followed their beloved pastor into the Reformed Episcopal denomination, of ivhich he was one of the founders. In December, 1873, he was con- secrated missionary bishop of the northwest, and in 1878 was made bishop of the synod of Illinois. Dr. Samuel Fallows, who had
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been called to the pulpit of St. Paul's Reformed Episcopal church upon its organization in 1875, became missionary bishop of the north- west to succeed Bishop Cheney, and the two have since maintained their places as the leaders of their church in the west. Bishop Fal- lows' career as an ecclesiastic has teemed with variety. Before en- tering the Reformed church he had made a splendid reputation as a Methodist divine, as a Civil war officer and a Wisconsin educator, and since occupying the pulpit of St. Paul's church he has become identified with community work, civic reforms, city and state chari- ties, and everything which stirs the blood of the citizen in times of peace, who is alive to the necessity of countless social and industrial reforms. Charitable and kindly in spirit, action and word, Bishop Fallows has always exhibited a brave aggressiveness against evil and evil-doers.
Of the Protestant Episcopal churches in Chicago, there is none more beautiful and few more elegant in the west, than the Church of the Epiphany, corner of Ashland avenue and Adams street. The society was organized in 1868, and its splendid Norman-Gothic edifice of stone was completed in 1885. It has enjoyed a continuous history of prosperity, and there are few church goers of the west side who have not charming and elevating recollections of its flowers and music.
St. Ansgarius church has a special historic claim to distinction. Organized in 1849 by the north side Swedes and Norwegians, in 1851, while still endeavoring to complete its little building on Franklin and Indiana streets, the society was rejoiced at a gift of $1,000 from Jenny Lind, who also presented it with a silver communion set. As the church grew and its members agitated a split on the line of nationalities, the question arose as to the future ownership of the silver cup and paten, which brought a letter from the great singer declaring that in the event of a dissolution the communion set should be the property of her countrymen. The natural division occurred in after years, and the Swedish church, which was moved far north of its first location, retained the name of the original society. As late as 1885 it was the only Swedish Episcopal church in the United States.
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The members of the Lutheran church in Chicago are virtually confined to the German and Scandinavian elements, although there are two churches on the west side patronized by LUTHERAN. the Slavs. The organization, or denomination, is divided into various synods, grouped according to nationality and by states. There is also a strictly local, or Chicago, synod. St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran church, organized in 1846, by the Rev. Augustus Selle, was the first Lutheran-society in Chicago, but two years later it joined the United Evangelical de- nomination-that is, a majority of the members seceded, the minority remaining with their old pastor. The first church of the original society was at the corner of Ohio and La Salle streets, but after the division, St. Paul's church moved further and further north until now it occupies a magnificent structure at the corner of Franklin and Superior, its pastor, Rev. Henry Wunder, being one of the oldest clergymen in continuous service in Chicago. From St. Paul's have sprung Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran in 1854, whose house of worship originally stood on Twelfth street, upon the site now cov- ered by the Church of the Holy Family; St. John's Evangelical Lutheran, organized in 1867, with a church on West Superior street, and St. James Evangelical Lutheran (1870), which occupied premises on the corner of Fremont and Sophia streets. From Immanuel society have been formed four churches, and from St. John's, two; so that nine church organizations can trace their direct ancestry to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church. In February, 1848, the Norwegians of the city organized an Evangelical Lutheran church under Rev. Paul Anderson, their first building being on Superior street between Franklin and Kingsbury. The Swedish Lutherans organized their first church in 1848, under Rev. Paul Anderson, and in 1856 erected a brick house of worship, corner of Franklin and Erie streets. The church known as Our Saviour's Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran, organized in 1858, has now one of the finest buildings of the denomination in the United States, at the corner of North May and West Erie, in the northwestern part of the city. Reference has been made to the split in the old St. Paul's church in 1848, by which most of its members followed Rev. Augustus Selle into the Evangeli- cal United denomination. A society had been formed in 1843, com- posed of prominent Germans of the north side, and in after year.
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it erected a church and orphan asylum (Uhlick German Orphan .Asylum) on La Salle street. Besides the Evangelical United church, the Evangelical Association of North America has considerable strength among Chicago Lutherans.
The Hebrew element in the city is also strong, and several of its congregations (notably the Sinai, with Dr. Emil G. Hirsch as pastor )
JEWISH are quite liberal in their tendencies. In 1843 mem- CONGREGATIONS. bers of the Jewish race and faith commenced to reach Chicago in considerable numbers un- der the auspices of the Jewish Colonization Society, whose head- quarters were in New York City. Soon they organized a cemetery association, with grounds in the present Lincoln Park, and a church society, which was chartered in 1848 as Kehilath Anshe Mayriv, or "congregation of the men of the west." The years brought several changes of location and finally, in 1890, a veritable temple was erect- ed on the southeast corner of Indiana avenue and Thirty-third street. The building is the largest Jewish place of worship in the city and is one of the handsomest structures for religious purposes in Chicago. Sinai congregation worship in a stately temple on Indiana avenue and Twenty-first street, and the strongest Jewish society on the west side is the Zion congregation, located on Washington boulevard and Ogden avenue. These congregations are affiliated with the Reformed, or liberal branch of the faith, and are representative of the best thought of the fifty or more Jewish organizations in Chicago. Perhaps the most noteworthy feature in the general policy of these reformed con- gregations is that of holding services both Saturday and Sunday. Dr. Hirsch is the ablest exponent of Jewish liberal thought in Chicago, and, while a stanch defender of his people against any form of op- pression or discrimination, at the same time he is a co-worker with denominational leaders and independent thinkers in all works of pub- lic charity and sociological and religious advancement.
The origin of the Sinai congregation is suggestive of its present advanced position. In 1860 about twenty young men, who had con- stituted a reform association within the Kehilath Anshe Mayriv, se- ceded from the parent body for the purpose of expunging from the liturgy that portion of it which expressed the hope that the Jews would eventually return to Jerusalem, and making other changes in the services and doctrines of the congregation which they considered
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in accord with the spirit of the times and the progress of history. They desired, especially, that the Jews should abandon their claim to be representatives of a nation and take their stand as religious people. Although these young men were a small minority, they were much in earnest, and their formation of the Sinai congregation, under Rev. Bernhard Felsenthal, was the commencement of a great liberal move- ment among the Hebrews of Chicago and the west. Dr. Hirsch has been pastor of Sinai congregation since 1880.
Of the liberal denominations in Chicago, the Unitarians were the pioneers, their first meeting being held in June, 1836, at the Lake UNITAR- IANS. House, then being erected at the corner of Rush and Michigan streets, north side. Rev. Dr. Follen was the preacher and Harriet Martineau, the fa- mous English woman of letters, who was then traveling through the west, thus describes the meeting : "We were unexpectedly detained over Sunday in Chicago and Dr. F. was requested to preach. Though only two hours' notice were given, a respectable congregation was assembled in the large room of the Lake House. Our seats were a few chairs and benches and planks laid on trestles. The preacher stood behind a rough pine table, on which a large Bible was placed. I was never present at a more interesting service, and I know that there were others who felt with me." During this same month of June, the First Unitarian Society of Chicago was incorporated un- der state laws, and in October, 1839, Rev. Joseph Harrington en- tered upon his duties as its regular pastor. In 1840 a church was erected on Washington street, between Clark and Dearborn, and its chief claim to distinction was its possession of the largest bell in the city. This was used for giving fire alarms until 1855. when the First Baptist church installed a larger bell and took away the honor.
Rev. George F. Noyes, who assumed the pastorate of the First Unitarian church in 1857, was chiefly instrumental in organizing
ROBERT what is known as the "Ministry at Large," of which
Rev. Robert Collyer (who had recently been de- COLLYER. posed from the Methodist ministry ) became super- intendent. In this year, also, Unity church was organized from the First Unitarian, to accommodate the members living on the north side, and in May, 1859, Mr. Collyer became its pastor. For three
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years he carried along the duties of the two positions, but finally re- signed the ministry-at-large. Mr. Collyer became a national char- acter, and as he left the Methodist church because of his dissatis- faction over its conservatism on the slavery question, so, during the Civil war, the Blacksmith Preacher stood forth as one of the great patriots of the north. The young men of his church entered the army, at his earnest solicitation, and early in the conflict he threw the Amer- ican flag over the pulpit and, announcing to his congregation that the church was closed, he first joined the Union army on the Potomac, and afterward at Fort-Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, to minister to the wounded, sick and dying. Many of the women of his church became members of the Sanitary Commission and performed noble service both at home and at the front. Unity church was only one of many in these works, but, in proportion to its numbers and means, none can show a brighter record. Mr. Collyer remained pastor of Unity church until 1879, and since then has been pastor of the Church of the Messiah, New York City. Now in his eighty-fifth year, as pastor emeritus of that organization, he is one of the vener- able and picturesque fathers of the faith. Unitarianism has never had a large following in Chicago, as its membership has always been largely decimated by other liberal movements.
There were enough Universalists in. Chicago to organize a small congregation as early as 1836, but no regular minister was engaged until 1843, and their first church, on Washington street, near the Clark Street Methodist church, was built in the following year. Dr. William E. Manley was the first pastor. By 1857 the society had developed into the leading church of the denomination in the north- west, and in 1857 a large stone church was erected on Wabash ave- nue and Van Buren street. It was dedicated by Dr. E. H. Chapin, of New York City, one of the founders of the faith in the United States, and the old building was sold to the Olivet Presbyterian church. After several changes in the pastorate, the late Dr. Wil- liam H. Ryder commenced his long and beneficent ministry January I, 1860. He came from the famous Hosea Ballou church of Rox- DR. W. H. bury, Massachusetts, and his pastorate at St. Paul's
RYDER. did not terminate until April 16, 1882, a period of twenty-two years and three months. The first years of his ministry, which covered the Civil war, were trying, but proved
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the metal of both pastor and congregation. Dr. Ryder himself was sent to Richmond in aid of the Chicago Sanitary Fair and while there discovered the famous letter used by the government in the assassination trial. St. Paul's church was destroyed by the fire, but a more substantial building was erected and the society is still a sub- stantial organization. At Dr. Ryder's resignation, in 1882, his con- gregation invited him to accept the relation of pastor emeritus to them, but he declined the honor with the belief that it might em barrass his successor. This rugged and beloved man died in 1888 The Second Universalist church, or Church of the Redeemer, was organized on the west side in 1854.
The half a dozen Swedenborgian societies in Chicago have sprung from the religious loyalty of J. Young Scammon, who, soon after his coming to Chicago in 1835, commenced to hold services alone in his dingy little law office. In 1836 he was joined by a second con- vert, but the Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem was not founded until 1843. The Christian Scientists, although of comparatively re- cent founding, have now eight well attended churches in Chicago.
Outside of all religious organizations and justly classed as inde- pendent, there are a number of churches in Chicago which are doing a vast work in charity, reform and general thought-elevation. The Central Church and the Chicago Avenue Church have already been noted. The Independent Religious Society of Chicago, with M. M. Mangasarian as lecturer, has for years maintained a substantial or- ganization, and the People's Liberal church, on Stewart avenue ( for- merly Englewood), of which the Rev. Rufus A. White has long been pastor, is one of the liberalizing and elevating forces of the city. . \ll JENKIN L. JONES. Souls' church, corner of Oakwood boulevard and Langley avenue, was organized by Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones as a Unitarian society, more than twenty-six years ago. The society occupies a massive structure at that location and its work embraces countless religious, moral, in- tellectual and social settlement features. Dr. Jones is a Welshman. with all the straightforwardness, fervor and eloquence of his race. He was secretary of the Western Unitarian conference for nine years ! was secretary of the World's Parliament of Religions in 1892-93: has served as first president of the Illinois State Conference of Chari-
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ties, and is a lecturer in English for the extension department of the University of Chicago. He is also a director of the Abraham Lin- coln Center, which is the nucleus of the charitable and sociological work of the church, and for years has been a leader of high thought and good works in countless ways.
In this, and all else which has been said, it has been possible to touch only the salient points concerning the growth of the churches and religious movements in Chicago. Much attention has been given to the parents of religious bodies ; but, as a rule, it has been the plan to deal more with personalities than organizations. In making these latter selections it has been the earnest desire to be strictly impartial and deal with those who are fairly illustrative of the best thought and life of the prominent sects and independent developments.
The modern minister of the gospel is no longer a closet man in the essentials of his life. It is true, he must devote some time to EMIL G. meditation, but his reflections are chiefly applied to the work of laying out his course of action in the
HIRSCH. great and pressing movements of the world: Of the Chicago clergymen who are active in the promotion of charitable and reformatory movements, none are more revered than Rabbi Emil Gustav Hirsch, for twenty-seven years the guiding spirit of Sinai Congregation, one of the most liberal Jewish societies of the coun- try. The doctor is not only foremost in educational and reformatory work, and a leader in the higher movements of religion, but is a pro- found scholar, both biblical and philological. Although in the strict letter of the word he may not be a minister of the gospel, considered from the standpoint of "good tidings," he is emphatically in that class, as all his sermons and addresses breathe a spirit of optimism, charity and good fellowship.
Dr. Hirsch was born at Luxembourg, Grand Duchy, Germany, on the 22nd of May, 1852, the son of Samuel and Louisa (Mickolls) Hirsch. His father was German and his mother English. The boy received an education in the gymnasium of his native town before the family settled in Philadelphia (1866), and after completing his classical course at the University of Pennsylvania, returned to the Fatherland to study philosophy in the universities of Berlin and Leipsic. He received the degree of A. M. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1875, after he had been studying abroad for three
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years. In Berlin he was also a student at the High School for Jew- ish Science. In 1876 he returned to the United States, and was or- dained a rabbi in the following year, his first charge being as minis- ter of the Har Sinai congregation, Baltimore. In 1878 he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, to assume the pastorate of Arnath-Israel congregation, and in 1880 received the call to the Sinai congrega- tion of Chicago, which brought him to his broad and productive field of labors in this city.
Besides the original degree of A. M. conferred upon him in 1875 by the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hirsch has been honored with the following : LL. D., Austin College, Illinois, 1896; L. HI. D., Western University of Pennsylvania, 1900; D. D., Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1901. Since 1892 he has served in the University of Chicago as professor of rabbinical literature and philos- ophy. He has also achieved a national name as an original contribu- tor to religious literature, having been editor of the "Zeitgeist," Milwaukee ( Wis.), in 1880-7; and of the New York Reformer, in 1886; is now editor of the Reform Advocate, Chicago; was the editor of the biblical department of the Jewish Encyclopedia. and is the author of various papers on biblical and religious subjects. One of his works, "The Crucifixion from a Jewish Point of View," attracted widespread attention from scholars and original investigators, what- ever their creeds or beliefs.
From 1888 to 1897 Dr. Hirsch was a member of the Chicago public library board, and was at one time president of the board of examiners of the civil service commission. In 1901 he was appointed by Governor Yates a member of the state board of charities, but re- signed the office rather than have it hampered by politics and poli - ticians. In 1896 he was elected an elector-at-large on the Mckinley ticket, running 1,700 votes ahead of his nearest associate. Although generally a supporter of the Republican party, Dr. Hirsch's views, especially upon local affairs, are never guided by partisan considera- tions, but are determined by considerations of the public welfare. It is a matter of certainty that wherever there is a wrong to be correct- ed-social, political or religious-he will be found, out in the open. battling bravely for what he believes to be the right.
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The Most Reverend James Edward Quigley, D. D., was appointed Archbishop of Chicago on the 8th of January, 1903, being formally
installed in his high position on the tenth of the fol-
ARCHBISHOP
lowing March. He succeeded the universally be-
QUIGLEY. loved and admired Archbishop Feehan, the hero and the ministering spirit of two awful cholera epidemics, and for twenty- eight years a faithful and effective worker for his church before he came to Chicago as the archbishop of the recently created see. On September 10, 1880, his appointment was given to the world, and his departure from Nashville was considered a public calamity. At the time of his arrival the archdiocese comprised eighteen counties in northern Illinois and about one hundred and sixty churches, and at the time of his death, more than twenty years later, it contained over six hundred priests, a Catholic population of over a million people, and churches, colleges and religious institutions in proportion. This was the magnificent and honorable responsibility assumed by Arch- bishop Quigley in 1903, and which he has borne so nobly and so cheerfully. For more than twenty years the archdiocese has been second in ecclesiastic importance to that of New York, and Arch- bishop Quigley is more than ever a national figure in the councils of the Roman Catholic church. Since his graduation from the College of the Propaganda, Rome, nearly thirty years ago he has steadily progressed in the good graces of his church, his courtesy, dignity and ability making him especially acceptable to the large and important territory, the main guidance of whose spiritual affairs has been en- trusted to him.
James Edward Quigley is a Canadian by birth, his native town being Oshawa, and his birthday, October 15, 1854. When he was two years of age he was brought by his parents to Lima, New York, and received his preliminary ecclesiastical education in the Empire state. He first graduated from St. Joseph's College, a well known institution conducted by the Christian Brothers at Buffalo, New York, and afterward studied in the Seminary of Our Lady of the Angels, now known as the Niagara University. Desiring, however, to imbibe the calmer and more historic atmosphere of the old world, he went abroad and became a student at the University of Innsbruck, planted among the picturesque and inspiring country of the Austrian Tyrol. After graduating therefrom he passed on to the famous College of
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the Propaganda, Rome, where he completed his training for the priesthood in 1879.
Dr. Quigley's first charge, after being ordained to the priesthood in 1879, was as pastor of St. Vincent's church, Attica, New York, and for five years he remained thus happily and profitably employed. In 1884 he received the appointment of pastor of St. Joseph's cathe- dral, Buffalo, New York, and after thirteen years of faithful, able and broadening service in that capacity was advanced to the bishopric of Buffalo. From the signal performance of these duties he was called to assume the archbishopric of Chicago in 1903.
Rt. Rev. Peter J. Muldoon was auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Chicago from the 25th of July, 1901, until his appointment to the Rockford diocese in September,
BISHOP MULDOON. 1908. A revered figure in the councils of the church, Bishop Muldoon's departure from Chicago was at- tended with general regret. He had gained the esteem of the general citizenship of Chicago, and, irrespective of religious opinion, he was regarded as a strong influence for the highest ideals of civic and per- sonal righteousness. He is still comparatively a young man in years, having been born in Columbia, California, in the year 1863. He is of Irish parentage and received his early education in the public schools of Stockton, California. Subsequently he became a student at St. Mary's College, Kentucky, and St. Mary's, of Baltimore, Mary- land, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1886.
Bishop Muldoon commenced his pastorate in the service of his church as assistant pastor of St. Pius' church, Chicago, and in 1888 was appointed chancellor of the diocese of Chicago and secretary to the archbishop. He held this dual position for seven years, and in 1895 was placed in charge of St. Charles Borromeo church, of this city, discharging the duties of that pastorate with credit to himself and advantage to the church. As stated, in July, 1901. he began service as auxiliary bishop of the Chicago diocese, being also vicar general of the diocese and titular Bishop of Tamassus.
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