History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 24

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948

USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 24
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 24
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 24

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).

The pastors in charge and in the order of their ministering to the congregation in Cairo were as follows: First regular pastor, G. W. Hughey, October 1, 1855; R. H. Manier, 1856; J. A. Scarritt, 1857; Carlyle Babbitt, 1858; G. W. Jenks, 1859; L. Hawkins, 1860; J. W. Lowe, 1861; (one year unknown); G. W. Hughey, 1863, and re-appointed; H. Sears, 1865; A. M. Bryson, 1866; John Van Cleve, 1867; C. Lothrop, 1868; F. M. Van Trees, 1869-70; F. L. Thompson, 1871 -72; J. L. Waller, 1874-75; J. D. Gilham,

1876; A. P. Morrison, 1877; W. F. Whit- taker, 1878-79 and 1880; J. A. Scarritt, 1882, and is the present incumbent.

Mr. Scarritt is a native of Madison County, Ill., born June 23, 1827. His parents, Na- than and Letty (Aulds) Scarritt, both of New England, came to Illinois in 1820, and re- sided in Madison County. There were ten children in the family, Mr. J. A. being the tenth child. He entered the ministry in 1851, and since that time has belonged to the conference he joined. He married Harriet Meldrum; the issue of this marriage was three children, only one now living-Mrs. George Parsons, of Cairo.

The Baptist Church was organized October 26, 1880. Though this church has not yet completed the third year of its existence, the causes that led to and are connected with its institution date back several years. There being no records that are accessible, we can- not speak particularly of the work previous to March, 1877. At the time named above, the remnant of Baptists in the city was re- enforced by a few others who came to make this their home, and after a number of con- sultations to devise ways and means for the establishment of some organization that would be the means, of disseminating Baptist principles, it was finally determined that a Sunday school be organized as a nucleus or rallying point from which to direct other efforts when the time should be ripe for them. February 10, 1878, the first session of the Sunday school was held. Twenty persons were present-including all ages. Mr. George W. Strode was elected Superintendent, which office he has filled to the satisfaction of the school since that time. Mrs. Joseph W. Stewart (since deceased) was chosen Sec- retary and Treasurer. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Strode, Mr. C. B. S. Pennebaker, Mr. James W. Stewart, Mrs. O. N. Brain-

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ard and Miss A. Rogers were appointed teachers. Papers, necessary Sabbath school helps, and an organ were speedily pro- cured, and the growth of the school, though slow at first, was steady and con- stant, both in numbers and interest; dur- ing its second year, it received an important accession to its working force in the persons of Mrs. and Miss W. C. Augur, of Hartford, Conn., whose active labors are still enlisted in the interest of the church and school.

While the Sunday school prospered, hav- ing reached during its third year an atten- dance of seventy-five to one hundred, the question of organizing a Baptist Church was often and anxiously considered, and October 26, 1880, this long desired object was accom- plished. After a sermon by Rev. W. F. Kone, pastor at the First Baptist Church at Huntsville, Ala., a council consisting of Revs. W. F. Kone, of Huntsville, Ala., G. L. Tal- bert and A. J. Hess, of Columbus, Ky., was convened, and the church duly recognized according to the custom in such cases. The charter members comprised the following persons: George W. Strode and wife, Mrs. Mary P. Strode, C. B. S. Pennebaker, Isaac N. Smith and wife, Mrs. Louisa E. Smith, A. J. Alden and wife, Mrs. B. E. Alden, H. Leighton, Mrs. Sarah E. Parks, Mrs. M. J. Dewey, Mrs. Whittaker, Mrs. William Mor- ton, W. C. Augur and wife, Mrs. Julia C. Augur, Mrs. N. E. Coster and Mrs. Sarah S. Stickney-sixteen in all. The new or- ganization assumed the name, Cairo Baptist Church. George W. Strode, who had been or- dained Deacon of the Columbus, Ky., church, was recognized to the same office in the new church. C. B. S. Pennebaker was chosen Clerk, which office he still holds. A call was extended to Rev. A. J. Hess, which he ac- cepted, generously proposing to visit Cairo once each month and minister to the church

without definite promise of compensation un- til arrangements could be made to secure that object. The upper room of "Temper- ance Hall" was rented as the regular place of meeting for the church and Sunday school.

In November following the organization, Rev. W. F. Kone, who had been granted leave of absence by his church for that pur- pose, returned to Cairo and with the assist- ance of Revs. A. J. Hess, pastor, and G. L. Talbert, of Columbus, Ky., held a series of meetings with the church, which resulted in eight additions by letter and fourteen by baptism, a success that gave the new church a very encouraging start on its mission. About this time, the Baptist General Asso- ciation of the State came to the assistance of the church to the extent of securing the serv- ices of its pastor for one Sabbath each month, and a few months later the " Clear Creek Association " of Southern Illinois promised additional aid, which enabled the church to obtain the services of Rev. Mr. Hess for two Sabbaths each month, an ar- rangement which continued until January, 1883.

The greatest need was a house, and many plans were conceived and discussed, looking to the accomplishment of that object. Pend- ing these discussions, the church was visited by Rev. 1. N. Hobart, Superintendent of Missions for the Baptist General Association of Illinois, whose kindly interest was then, and has since been, successfully exerted in behalf of the work in Cairo. Through his recommendation, the church was afterward enabled to secure financial assistance, in the way of a loan-referred to in another part of this sketch-which aided it to place its property in very secure shape. Dr. Hobart's successor, Rev. E. S. Graham, present Sup- erintendent of Missions, has also manifested much interest in the Cairo work, and has.

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done much to enlist the sympathy and assist- ance of the local and general associations in its favor.

Failing to secure desirable lots on which to erect a building, the church, through its Trustees, George W. Strode, Isaac N. Smith and C. B. S. Pennebaker, accepted the propo- sition of the Turner Society to sell their property, three lots, and a neat, well-built hall, comparatively new, 30x65 feet, with audience room 30x50 feet, and smaller rooms at end facing Poplar street. The price agreed upon was $2,500. At the time of the purchase, the church had less than $100 in its treasury, but with the contributions of its members, and the generous assistance of freinds, in the city and abroad, about $1,700 was raised, which, with a loan from "The American Baptist Home Mission Society," enabled the Trustees to pay for the property before the expiration of the thirty days al- lowed them by the Turners. During the first year, including the purchase of property and necessary changes and' repairs, more than $3,000 were expended, leaving an indebted- ness of $1,300, about $300 of which has since been paid off, so that the present in- debtedness is about $1,000.

The church was re-painted, outside and inside, new pews, pulpit, baptistry, dressing- rooms, etc., provided, and other improvements and furniture added, until their church home, though still wanting in some respects, is one of which the members feel justly proud, when they remember that so recently they were homeless. In September, 1881, Rev. W. F. Kone again visited Cairo, and assisted Rev. A. J. Hess, pastor, in a series of meetings, resulting in four additions by letter, and seventeen by baptism-thus in- creasing the membership to sixty-seven, a gain of forty-one during the year. In the following spring, the anxiety and apprehen-

sion on account of the threatened overflow of the city, and the annoyance from the unusual accumulation of "sipe" water, had a depress- ing effect on the church and Sabbath school work, as well as of the material interests of many of those interested in it, several of whom removed from the city, so that until recently the membership of the church had not increased in the aggregate, the acces- sions and losses being about equal. At the close of the second year, the church invited Rev. A. J. Hess, who had faithfully preached for it twice each month since the organiza- tion, to become its pastor for the whole of his time, but as the aid promised by the as- sociation was not sufficient to assure an adequate salary from the church, while the church at Charleston, Mo., the home of Mr. Hess, was prepared to offer him full support, he was compelled to decline the invitation from Cairo. This left the Cairo church without a pastor from January to May, 1883, during which time it suffered the usual de- cline in interest under such circumstances, though all its social and business meetings and the Sunday school were promptly at- tended to by the members. During April, 1883, Rev. A. W. McGaha, of the " Southern Baptist Theological Seminary," Louisville, Ky., was invited to take charge of the church as pastor, and accepted with the understand- ing that his labors should terminate with the commencement of the next session of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in the event that he should decide to return to that institution. Mr. McGaha commenced his labors with the church here the first Sab- bath in May, and in the short time that he has been in Cairo has exhibited a degree of earnestness and zeal that has gained the con- fidence and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact. Since the 16th of May, he has been engaged in a series of meetings with

John Hess AK

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the church, in which he has had the assist- ance of the Purser brothers, Rev. D. J. and John F., evangelists, of Mississippi, the success of whose labors in many other cities gave promise of a good work in Cairo, which has been realized. The meetings were held at the church every afternoon and evening, from the above date until Sunday evening, June 9, 1883-nearly four weeks-resulting in thirty-six additions to the church; five by letter. twenty-seven by baptism, three under watch-care and one awaiting baptism, mak- ing the total membership at this time ninety- nine, and three under watch-care. The Sun- day school has a present average attendance of about one hundred and twenty, under the following officers and teachers:

George W. Strode, Superintendent; C. B. S. Pennebaker, Assistant Superintendent; Arthur Lemen, Secretary; W. C. Augur, Treasurer.

Teachers-George W. Strode, Mrs. Mary P. Strode, Mrs. W. C. Augur, C. B. S. Pen- nebaker, Mrs. Carrie S. Hudson (infant class), Mrs. M. A. Walker, Mrs. Robert Baird, Mrs. Thomas Wilson, and the pastor's class for study of characters in the Old Testament, just organized.

All the expenses of the church, including pastor's salary, are paid from a common fund, raised by subscription and voluntary con- tributions of the members.

Though the membership of the church is, perhaps, weaker, financially, than any of the other leading societies in the city, the special efforts it has put forth to build up and per- manently establish and secure the cause of the denomination in Cairo, have brought it prominently before the public, and done much to acquaint the people with Baptist faith and practices.

Considering its growth in the past few years, its present condition and future pros-

pects, it would seem that the Baptists have at last succeeded in establishing their cause in Cairo, with a reasonable assurance of per- manence and prosperity.

The Schools .- In a preceding chapter, we have told of the incipient efforts in Cairo, commencing with Glass' first pay-school, and briefly traced them along in their suc- cession to the time that the State had pro- vided for free public schools, which auspi- cious event occurred in Cairo in the year 1854.

The throwing open the schoolroom doors, free to all the world of school age, should mark an era and prove an auspicious hour for mankind. The admonition, " put money in thy purse," has out-traveled the electricity, and long enough been the controlling, cen- tral idea of all races of men; and the public free school was the idea, at least, of that on- ward step to put knowledge in the head. The world's gains in wealth, and comforts, and leisure, are necessary first steps to real education, because this alone is that wonder- ful law or force that separates the toiler from the thinker, a line of distinction among most men not pleasant to contemplate, yet it is one of the inscrutable laws of God. Good men dream of that better time coming, of that equality among all, and the obliterating of all lines that may possibly distinguish all idea of classes. The foolish believe this not only possible, but that it is the "open sesame" to complete happiness. Mental and social equality are not desirable things, even were they possible of attainment. Look about you, and see if it is the order of nature to make things alike. You will see that the prefection of the whole is the universal variety, the endless dissimilarity, the infinite differences, the impossibility, in short, of any two things in all nature being exactly similar, that constitutes the oneness and

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grandeur of the infinite universe. But men dream of equality, of a brotherhood of man- kind, when they idealize only a similarity, and this is the perfection for which they yearn.

The children are the child's school teacher; the young people educate each other, and they all have social joys in the communion of thoughts ripened by observation and experi- ments. This is the order of nature, and it never has, nor never will be, changed. For over seventeen hundred years, the pietistic schools have been earnestly engaged in edu- cating the ever-rising generations -- sowing the seeds of knowledge in the young minds that were to blossom and bear fruit for that fabled Golden Age that has never come-a Utopia of which we may dream sweet day- dreams, but never taste. A boy goes to col- lege, or the academy, and through the cur- riculum, graduates with high honors, and sometimes spend the remainder of their lives rendering praise to their Alma Mater, and die in the sincere faith that it was the vener- able President and Professors who educated them. This innocent mistake comes from the oversight that it was his Professor that trained him only, while it was his associates nearly always, good books, outside of his school, text books, sometimes, that had done the real work of education. In other words, the old train the young, while the real edu- cation of the young is in the social life, the intimate and friendly associations of the young with their equals in age-the contact of minds with minds, where a nearly com- plete confidence and congeniality exists. The venerable grandsires, in their great interest and eager love, deliver their maturest thoughts in epigrams, and "wise saws" to the loved human kittens, who are, apparently, all respectful attention, but who are eager for that romp and play with their playmates, and

this again teaches old age a lesson it will not learn, that it is in the merry shout and rip- pling laughter of merry childhood that brings that happy Commission of budding souls of which comes healthy minds and edu- cated intellects.

Among the oldest schools in history was that of Epicurus, in Athens, and that of the sweet and lovely girl of Alexandria, Hypatia. The school of Epicurus was a social club, that wandered, and lounged, and conversed in the winding walks and grateful shades of the gardens: and the gifted and beautiful girl. Hypatia, from the porches of Alexan- dria discussed those great and unanswered questions, "Who am I? Where am I? Whither am I going ?"

This remarkable girl was torn in pieces by a fanatic mob, for discussing these great and, so far, insoluble questions; it is to be hoped that in this nineteenth century blaze of liberty of discussion, we may not be sim- ilarly served for asking similar questions, but concerning the less vital interests of the soul, but the yet greatest of all temporal ones, that of education: Where is it? What is it? Where can it be obtained ?

To answer the first of the above questions intelligently, it is essential first to fully un- derstand the second one-Education, What is it? All talk about it, and it runs glibly over the tongue of the youngest and oldest, the learned and the unlearned, and nine- tenths of all civilized peoples would stare at you, were you in seriousness to ask them the question. The dictionaries all define the word, and everybody fully understands it, yet, What is education ? The writer remem- bers hearing the simple question asked of a Teachers' Institute, and most painfully does he recollect that they did not and could not tell, although there were professors there who were supposed to be eminent in the

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ranks of educators. Educators, and not know what education is! it's something of a travesty. Had this institute been composed of very ignorant men, not only ignorant but uncultured, each member could have an- swered the question in a moment, and showed supreme contempt for the poor fool that would ask such a question. For more than seventeen hundred years, the present systems or ideas have prevailed in the school room. We do not mean that the same things are taught now that were in the olden time, but that the present system, the cardinal ideas all through it, are based upon the first schools founded in Egypt so many centuries ago, and that at their foundation were one of the greatest advances of civilization. The first schools were solely for the purpose of memorizing the 'precepts and philosophies of the fathers, in whose sayings were all wis- dom and all good; in short, it was then a process of committing to memory and it is exactly this now. The manner and forms have all undergone wonderful changes, but the substance, as found in the school room of to-day, and those of the long ages ago, are identical. The earliest educators supposed that training the mind was education. and that, therefore, a training-room was a school; whereas it is a fact you may commit, were this a possibility, every book, manuscript and tradition in the world to memory, and still you may not be at all educated. Could you retain them all after they were memorized, you would have a wonderful storehouse- mostly trash and rubbish-yet what an inex- haustible supply of facts, and many of the greatest thoughts from the busiest and best brains. Could you separate the wheat from the chaff in this storehouse, and make a prac- tical, every-day use of it all, you might be the best informed man in the world, and still not educated. But few men, owing to the

general vagueness of their ideas, can draw any distinction between training and educa- tion, and hence it is that so few in the world ever give a thought to the subject of what real education is. This is an inexhaustible theme, and we do not purpose to do more than to look briefly upon its most outward boundaries, in the hope that a hint may be dropped that will attract the attention of some mind that will push the investigation to its final issue.

What is education ? It is getting knowledge. And what is knowledge? It is the under- standing of the mental and physical laws. To yet broaden, and simplify the detinition -to understand the natural laws. We mean the laws that govern mind and matter.

These terms and definitions must not be confounded in the mind of the reader, or our words will be worse than in vain. To most people it looks like a very simple, if not con- temptible, proposition to talk about under- standing the natural laws-laws that govern mind and matter. Yet this once accom- plished, and you are possessed of the knowl- edge of Omniscience, the wisdom of the true God. Knowledge, therefore, is not the ability to read Latin, Greek and Hebrew, or to solve all the problems in mathematics, or to talk glibly, and give in detail other men's thoughts. In fact, the fundamental idea of the college and university is such, that the most learned man may be truly the most ig- norant. We do not say that of necessity it is so, but that such a case is possible. Learning and knowledge-when learning means memorizing-have so little in com- mon, that it is simply amazing that, for such a long reach of time, they could have been confounded as being synonymous terms. To think intelligently upon this subject, the dis- tinctions between a training-school and a school for educational purposes, it must be

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borne in mind, are vastly different things. And that parent only is competent to super- intend the education of the child, who clear- ly comprehends what education is.

But we are told, from age to age, that the school is not created for the purpose of im- parting knowledge to the child, but to de- velop and strengthen the mind and show it how to grow strong; to put the instruments within its reach, and in after life it may use them at will; to be a mental gymnasium, and to criss-cross the mental limbs, so to speak, with great rolls of muscles of strength. as are the athlete's arms and limbs developed in the physical gymnasium. Well, let us glance at this a moment. Does your child need be shown how to grow into physical strength and beauty? Were not those fathers fools who supposed they could put their children in strait-jackets, to form them on a plan better than the strong im- pulses of their nature? If exercise in the way of tasks-and we know of no system of labor in the world where tasks universal pre- vails as in the school room-if this is the way to develop the physical, why should a child ever be allowed to play, but make it work. The most ignorant "parents well understand that the very young child put to work is de- formed in its growth, and often killed. And yet the healthy young child is a perfect cub- bear. It looks incredible how long their lit- tle bodies can endure the apparently most fatiguing plays. Let the grown man at- tempt, for a few hours, to follow a romping boy, and make as many steps, and subject his body to all the trials of strength and strains the boy does, and he would fall by the way exhausted. Yet reverse it, and let the boy attempt the steady, tiresome labor of the man, and how soon would he fall and expire. Watch a half-dozen children, from the wee toddler to the nearly grown, romping, scream-

ing, shouting their unaccountable delight in their furious plays, and then reflect for but a moment, and you will realize that they are only growing, developing in the natural, only way they can be developed into strong, brave men and queenly, beautiful women. Do you imagine you could build a room, and hire a teacher, and crowd them in there and teach them how to develop their physical systems? True, you know but little about their physical systems, and may well excuse yourself on that ground but then you know absolutely nothing about their mental sys- tem. And yet you proceed about the rigid control, and mastery and direction of the mind, as though you possessed more than Omniscient wisdom on this one point. To look upon the young babe in its mother's arms, is to love at once the blessed little bundle of squirming, idiotic innocence and angelic purity, for " of such is the kingdom of heaven," and yet it is to shudder for the possibilities of broken parental hearts, and the unspeakable woe that may yet come of that innocence and purity, through mistaken ignorance in its training and education. We are not extravagant, then, when we say that the training and education of the coming generations is the one great, transcendent subject of life. To be mistaken here is to risk more than your own life, and the life and happiness of all you hold dear on this earth.

The proposition is to us self-evident that the infant mind can no more be developed into health and strength by work than can the body. Either mental or physical work, to the young and tender, is the highway to imbecility and deformity. Let the child play -- watching over and so directing it, without its knowledge of your doing so, as to protect and keep it from absolutely injur- ing itself by thoughtless exposures and in-

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discreet taxings, and you may laugh at the doctor and his nostrums and his bills to save the lives of your children. And if you have ever spent a day with a child, you will know that it wants to take its exercise in the open air, not in the well-warmed schoolroom or nursery. Every instinct and impulse of the child as naturally leads it to its mental as to its bodily development. But one is as much a play with it as the other. Its ycung mind is as active as its precious little body. It will ask questions until the father or mother will impatiently beg it to stop or it will kill them. Is not this the identical result, when a grown person commences to play with a child ? The adult will tire in a few moments, and beg to be let alone, when the child feels it has hardly commenced. It is ordered by authority, to " be still." Watch the cloud pass over its bright face as it breathes softly and tries to obey, when it can no more con- trol its impulsive yielding to that higher law than it can stop breathing, and then it turns to its real schoolmaster, its equal and play- mate, and, stealing away from the angry face, they resume the work of physical and mental growth.

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 24

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 948

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948