History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 96

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

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in the fall of 1840, and dedicated May 3, 1841, by Rev. Joseph Harrington. The cost of the church was $3,758.45; cost of the lot, $500; making a total cost of $4,258.45. Of this amount there was collected at the

FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH.

East, chiefly through the efforts of Mr. Harrington, $2,888.46, the balance being collected in Chicago. The church was forty-two by sixty feet, and of the Doric order with the exception of the entabla- ture, which was devoid of a triglyph. The steeple, which was built in 1845, cost $461, making the total cost of the church property $4,719.45. There was also a large bell and an organ. This bell, with the exception of the small bell on St. Mary's church, was the first church bell hung in Chicago. The tower of this church was erected in the latter part of 1844, and the bell was hung in it on the 3ust of December, 1844, and was thereafter ready for ringing on all suitable occasions. It was the first bell in Chicago that could be heard to any considerable distance and was depend- ed upon by other churches to denote the time of Sunday services. It was also used as a fire alarm bell until 1855. when the First Baptist Church was erected at the corner of Clark and Washington streets, and the bell be- longing to it, being a larger and more powerful one, superseded the " little bell " on the Unitarian Church in case of the necessity of sounding a fire alarm. This Baptist bell continued to be used for this purpose until 1856, when the court-house was completed, in the tower of which was hung in that year a heavy bell which from that time gave the alarm of fire. Rev. Mr. Har- rington closed his pastorate in the fall of 1844, and was succeeded in 1845 by Rev. William Lord, who remained only a short time, and the pulpit was supplied tem- porarily by Revs, Henry Giles. William P. Huntington, Mr. Ripley and Mr. Conant, and on November 22, 1846,

Rev. William Adam, who had been for twenty years a missionary in India, preached his first sermon for the Church. Rev. Mr. Adam remained about two years, when he was succeeded by Rev. R. R. Shippen, who commenced to preach for this Church in the fall of 1849, Rev. Mr. Shippen remained until July 1, 1857. Dur- ing his pastorate such was the growth of the society that it was necessary to enlarge the church building at two separate times. Rev. George F. Noyes became pastor of this Church in September, 1857, and continued until the spring of 1859, when he resigned. Under his auspices the "ministry at large " was organized and Rev. William H. Hadley placed at its head. Mr. Hadley was followed by Rev. Robert Collyer as minister at large. When Mr. Collyer was called to the ministry of Unity Church, Miss E. P. Newcomb was called to conduct the business of the ministry at large. This charity was the means of relieving much destitution in Chicago. After the resignation of Mr. Noyes, the First Unitarian Society remained without a pastor until the summer of 1861, but the pulpit was supplied most of the time by various clergymen, among them Revs. A. B. Fuller, E. H. Sears, Horatio Stebbins, Thomas Hill, A. D. Mayo, and Robert Collyer. The history of this church may appropriately close in this volume with a brief sketch of the life of Rev. Joseph Harrington, its first pastor.

REV. JOSEPH HARRINGTON was born February 21, 1813. in Roxbury, Mass. His father was for many years a successful law- yer in Norfolk and Suffolk counties, and occasionally served as Justice of the Peace. At a very early age certain elements of young Joseph's character were remarkably developed. One of these was resoluteness and determination. On one occasion, when his teacher was about to compel obedience by inflicting corporal pun- ishment, he seized the ferrule from her hand and threw it in frag- ments on the floor. The next day in obedience to his parents he came to her with a very humble apology. This was in his sixth year. In after years he was an ardent devotee of the "manly art of self-defense," feared no man, and was equally possessed of morai as of physical courage. From early childhood he possessed a genuine enthusiastic love and reverence for his mother, to whom. after being once, at the age of seven years, conquered by her by the infliction of corporal punishment, he uniformly yielded implicit obedience. "Among the instructors whose influence upon him seems to have been most permanent was Edward Bliss Emerson, a man of great purity and simplicity of character, uniting exquisite delicacy and sensitiveness with an earnest, religious purpose, ster- ling common sense, and a wide and generous sympathy for all." ... " Mr. Harrington often in after years mentioned with rever- ence and gratitude, the name of this faithful instructor, who so early passed away, the first stricken from that brilliant constellation of genius bearing his name.' The first fourteen years of his life

Joseph Harrington

were passed in one of the most joyous and attractive of homes, and in the excellent public schools of his native town. In Septem- ber, 1827, he entered Phillips' Academy at Exeter, N. H., at the time under the charge of Drs. Benjamin Vobott and Gideon Soule. He entered Harvard University in the summer of 1829. having attained sufficient knowledge to pass a critical examination for admission to the Freshman class. Ilis vigorous constitution, love of atheletic exercise, vivacity of temperament, and other pectil- iarities while they prevented him from being a reciuse or book- worm, did not prevent him from being an excellent student. While he was not. at that time. especially inclined to the study of abstract science, and while metaphysics and the more recondite branches of mathematics, were pursued chiefly as a means of mental discipline. yet he was delighted with philology, and with Chaucer. Spenser. Milton and Shakespeare, and other classic poets of England. Ifc was more interested in the study of modern than of ancient languages. The Italian was especially attractive to him because it was the lan- guage of music. fle never abandoned the learning or the literature

* From a memoir of Rev. J.orph Harrington by William Whiting.

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PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS

of Germany, nor did he ever deny himself the pleasures of the studies of music and of elocution. He graduated from llarvard University, receiving the usual degree of Bachelor of Art, in the summer of IS33. Ilenceforth he was to depend upon his own ex- ertions for a livelihood, as he had in part during his college years. After residing a little more than six months at East Greenwood, he took charge of the Hawes School at South Boston, January 14, 1834. This was reputed to be the most difficult of Boston schools to manage. Some of its pupils were turbulent. refractory and profane, but after conducting it for five years, such had been the spirit with which he undertook his work and the powers he brought to bear upon his pupils, that he left it one of the best schools in the city. While engaged as teacher in the Hawes School Mr. Har- rington turned his attention toward the ministry, and he relin- quished charge of the school for the purpose of pursuing his theo- logical studies. His resolution to become a public teacher of morals and religion was formed in November, IS36. Having made his choice, he at once entered upon the study of theology under the direction of Rev. George Putnam, of Roxbury. In the autumn of 1839, he was sent as missionary to Chicago by the American Uni- tarian Association. Here he remained until April, IS40, when he returned to New England to solicit funds for the purpose of building a church. He raised about $2,500, which when added to the $2.000 contributed by the citizens of Chicago made suffi- cient to carry the enterprise forward to a successful issue. In September he was ordained as an evangelist at Federal-street Church, Boston, and in October he returned to Chicago as pastor of the First Unitarian Society. He reached Chicago October 31, and preached his first sermon as settled pastor on Sunday, Novem- ber i. In the summer of I841, he was the first to preach the doctrines of Unitarianism at Milwaukee, Wis. In 1842 he received a call to become the colleague of the Rev. Mr. Eliott, of St. Louis. In 1843 he planted the Unitarian Church at Rockford, Illinois. In the spring of 1$44, accompanied by Mrs. Harrington, he left Chi- cago to visit friends in the East and South, preaching several Sundays at the Unitarian Church in Baltimore, Md. During this year Mr. Harrington decided to retire from the pastorate of the Chicago Unitarian Church, because of the precarious condition of his mother's health, and because of the uncertainty of his connection with the Church. But when he left the Church it was entirely free from debt. After a brief period of repose, he was invited to take measures toward the establishment of a new Unitarian Society at the "South End," Boston. While thus engaged he was invited to supply the pulpit of the Suffolk-street Chapel, which he engaged to do for one year. During this year it was found impracticable to carry forward to a successful issue the "South End" Society pro- ject. During the winter of 1844-45 he was invited to become pas- tor of a Unitarian Society at Hartford, organized less than a year previous, but feeling pledged to stand by the " South End " enter- prise until its fate was decided he declined the invitation. A year later the call was repeated and accepted. On Sunday, January 4. 1846, he preached his first sermon to this congregation as his own people. Here he remained six years, laboring under peculiar difficul- ties in connection with his ministry, Unitarianism being then quite unpopular in Hartford, and his society being small and heavily in debt. In March, 1852, he received a call from a L'nitarian Society in San Francisco, but declined to consider the question until he had finished the work of liquidating the debt of his Hartford Church. This he accomplished in the following May, and on the 20th of July, with his wife and daughter, took passage from New York for Aspinwall. He reached San Francisco on the 27th of August, and on the 30th he preached his first sermon there in the United States District court-room, to a large congregation. The next Sunday the court-room was too small to accommodate the crowd that sought admittance, and a large hall was afterward engaged, which, contrary to expectation, proved too small. Mr. Harring- ton's experience in San Francisco was from the first very different from what it had been in New England. "The cordial hand of brotherhood was extended to him by ministers of different theolog- ical opinions, giving him for the first time since his entrance into the ministry the happiness of unrestrained association with the cler- gy." While laboring in Hartford to free the Church from indebt- edness, he contracted the disease which. complicated with Panama fever and paralysis, resulted in his death, Tuesday, November 2, 1:52. Ilis remains were interred at San Francisco, November 4, 1552. and at Forest Hills Cemetery, Roxbury, Mass., December 13. 635. Mr. Harrington was married April 6. 1540. to Miss Helen E. Griswold. They had three children : Helen Josephine, born in February, 1842, and two sons, buth of whom died in in- fancy.

REV. RUSH RIERS SIPPEN was born at Meadville, Penn., January 18, 1923. His paternal ancestors were of English descent, and his mother was of Welsh extraction. The subject of this sketch received his early education at Mlegheny College, Meud- ville, but his course was interrupted in his senior year by the sus-

pension of the institution, but afterward in recognition of bis attain- ments, it conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. Before he was sixteen years old he taught a district school and " boarded round." In the fall of 1844 the Meadville Theological School was started under the auspices of the Unitarian denomination, Rush R. Shippen being the first student enrolled in the institution. After three years of study in this institution, desiring to extend his observation and experience, he accepted for a year the position as private teacher in the family of a wealthy planter residing near Nashville, Tenn. He then returned to Meadville to complete his theological course, and graduated in June, 1849. After a brief tour through the Eastern States he came to Chicago, and took charge as pastor of the First Unitarian Church, entering upon his duties November 13, IS49. His pastorate here continued eight years. With reference to his characteristics one of his Chicago parishioners writes of him as follows: " He was of tall and powerful frame, commanding presence, with an expression of great gentleness and benignity. His voice was powerful, but of a peculiarly agreeable quality. His musical gifts as a flutist and as a bass singer, his general intelligence and genial manners made him welcome in all companies. He was a clear thinker and vigor- ous writer, and gave to all his utterances the force of personal con- viction. Not greatly eloquent nor strikingly original. vet he rarely failed in the pulpit to interest his audiences, because his words were always well chosen and from the heart." Rev. Mr. Shippen was an able and popular speaker and a constant contributor to denomina- tional and secular papers, and at one time assisted in the editorial charge of the New Covenant, a Universalist paper published in Chicago. He manifested a deep interest in the charitable and educational institutions of this city. In May. 18:2, with other Unitarian clergy of the West, he joined in organizing the Western Unitarian Conference. While encouraged and gratified by the steady growth and prosperity of the society, which required two successive enlargements of the church, seven years of such labor proved a severe tax upon his strength and resources. Oppressed with fatigue and thinking that with a rest and change his life work as a Christian minister would be extended and enhanced, he resigned his charge in Chicago July 1, 1657. In the fall of this year he accepted a call to the Church of the Unity, Worcester. Mass .. as the successor of Edward Everett Hale, D. D. He was also for many years an active member of the School Board and Chaplain at the Worcester County jail. In the spring of 1869, on account of impaired health, he was granted six months' leave of absence to travel in Europe, at the expiration of which period he returned to his duties with the vigor and zest of youth. In 1870, resigning his Worcester charge, he accepted the secretaryship of the American Unitarian Associa- tion at Boston. To the discharge of the duties of this new posi- tion he brought his experience of more than twenty years of an ac- tive ministry, and a wide personal observation of both the East and West. His broad and comprehensive views served to solve wisely the many practical questions arising for decision At all the annual meetings and general conferences the reports of the secretary were cordially received ; and largely through his leadership the denomi- national enterprises were planned and executed. Although Mir. Shippen has never devoted himself to authorship or distinctively literary work, he compiled and edited while in the secretaryship the Service, Hymn and Tune Book published by the Association, which has supplanted most other books, and is growing into general adop- tion by the Unitarian societies. He also compiled a book for do- mestic devotional worship entitled, "Praise and Prayer :" and among other tracts of which he is the author are " Judgment Days." and " The True Liberal." He wrote for Mcclintock and Strong's Encyclopedia the article entitled " U'nitarianism," wherein the his- torical development and present status as a religious body are clearly defined. Mr. Shippen married, in 1855, Zoriah Rodman at Oriskany Falls, N. Y., and their surviving children are Sarah, now wife of Arthur Lord, of Plymouth, Mass., and Eugene R., who is a student at Harvard College. After eleven years spent as secre- tary of this Association, Mr. Shippen accepted a call in 1831 to the pastorate of All Souls Church in Washington. In this Church Rev. Mr. Shippen is now (1853) engaged.

THE NEW JERUSALEM, OR SWEDENBORGIAN, CHURCH .- Previous to 1835 there were probably no Swedenborgians in Chicago, or in northern Illinois. In September of that year J. Young Scammon arrived in the city, and for some time was alone in his belief in the doctrines of the Church of the New Jerusalem. Ac- cording to Swedenborg, the Divine Love and Wisdom constitute the essential Church, and any individual who is receptive of the Divine Love and Wisdom, con- stitutes an external Church in its smallest entity. Upon this principle Mr. Scammon commenced to hold New

346

HISTORY OF CHICAGO.

Church worship on Sundays in his office, almost imme- diately upon his arriving in Chicago. In 1836 he be- came acquainted with Vincent S. Lovell, a young mer- chant in Chicago, and converted him to the doctrines of the New Church. Afterward the two united in Sun- day worship. In 1837 Mr. Scammon was married to Miss Mary Ann H. Dearborn, of Bath, Maine, a re- ceiver of the doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg. L'pon bringing his wife to Chicago, he took up his residence in the City Hotel, and here, in his private parlor, Mir. Scammon, his wife and Mr. Lovell held Sunday morn- ing worship, in company with those invited who chose to attend. In 1838 religious worship was held in Mr. Scammon's house on Clark Street, and until he moved into his residence at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street. Services were next held in his office in the Saloon Building, southeast corner of Lake and Clark streets ; then in the Common Council room ad- joining; afterward in a large room in the next story, and at last, as members increased, in the Saloon Hall itself. Up to this time however, the attendance was never very large. The general body of the Church in Illinois is known as the Illinois Association. It was formed July 6, 1839, at Canton, Fulton County, under the following call issued June 3, 1839 :

To the Receivers of the Ileavenly doctrines of the New Jeru- salem in the State of Illinois

Dear Brethren :- Believing that the time has come for the Re- ceivers of the Heavenly Doctrines in this State to take more decided measures to co-operate with the Divine Providence in dis- seminating the doctrines of the New Dispensation, we respectfully invite you to assemble at Canton, Fulton County, on Saturday and Sunday, the 6th and 7th days of July next, at to o'clock. A. M.

The object of the meeting is to bring our scattered energies together by forming acquaintance with each other, and thereby ex- tending the social sphere of the Church, and to take such steps as may be deemed essential, in our isolated condition, to enable us to come more fully into order.

It is earnestly desired that every receiver who can conveniently attend will not fail to be present, and such as cannot be present will communicate to the meeting by letter, on the following sub- jects :

The residence of the receiver; the number of New Church books in possession; the number of receivers and readers in the vi- cinity; the names of persons to whom communications may be ad- dressed: the disposition to contribute toward obtaining a New Church minister to visit and preach at the various places where there are receivers in this State, and such other information as may be deemed of interest to the Church.

J. YOUNG SCAMMON, JONAS RAWALT, JOHN F. RANDOLPH.

Pursuant to this invitation a meeting of receivers was held in Canton, Saturday, July 6, of which John F. Randolph, of Fulton County, was elected president, and J. Young Scammon secretary. On Sunday morning the meeting was organized by the election of the fol- lowing officers : John F. Randolph, president ; Caleb North, of Feoria County, secretary, and Jonas Rawalt, treasurer. After divine service, and the reading of the articles of faith, an address was delivered by Mr. Scammon, setting forth what is meant by the New Jeru- salem Church. No minister could be obtained in 1840, hence no meeting of the Association was held. In 1841 Rev. Lemuel C. Belding, of Pennsylvania, who was sent by the Central Convention to Illinois as a mis- sionary, visited Canton, and formed there a small so- ciety. In 1842 the Rev. T. O. Prescott, afterward known as O. Prescott Hiller, visited Illinois and preached at the meeting of the Association. In 1843 the Rev. John Randolph Hibbard being invited by the Associa- tion came to Illinois as its general minister and was subsequently made superintendent of the Association, and remained as such until 1879. The New Church in

this State was organized and grew up chiefly under his superintendence. While connected with the Associa- tion, he was successively minister at Canton, Peoria and Chicago. During this same year, 1843, "The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem" was organized, and formed into a legal religious body. Originally the So- ciety consisted of J. Young Scammon, Mrs. Mary Ann H. Scammon, and Vincent S. Lovell. The Society was organized at that particular juncture for the purpose of securing the benefits of a law of the State, providing that each religious society, in any town located on the line of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, on canal lands, might receive as a donation a lot upon which to erect a church building. But the provisions of the act could not be enforced after the end of that year. The Church was incorporated September 7, 1843. Through the ef- forts of Mr. Scammon a lot at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Adams Street, seventy-six by one hundred and seventy-one feet in size, was secured for the use of the Church. On the day of the organization, the So- ciety adopted for its platform, or articles of faith, the three essentials of the Church, as contained in number 259 of Swedenborg's treatise on the Divine Providence, as follows : 1. The acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord : 2. The acknowledgment of the Sanctity of the Word : 3. The life which is called Charity. These articles were signed by J. Young Scammon, Mrs. Mary Ann H. Scammon and Vincent H. Lovell. From the time of the organization until March, 1847, no annual meetings were held, but social and religious meetings were had in the Saloon Building. the numbers in atten- dance gradually increasing. At the first annual meeting held March 25, 1847, the following persons became ad- ditional members of the Society by subscribing to the articles of faith : William E. Jones, Joseph K. C. For- rest, John E. Wheeler, John Sears, Jr., Franklin Scam- mon, Thomas L. Forrest, George R. Bills, and Prof. James V. Z. Blaney, of Rush Medical College. The first trustees of the Society were J. Young Scammon and Vincent S. Lovell. On the 25th of February, 1849, the board of trustees was enlarged to include the fol- lowing members: J. Young Scammon, William E. Jones, George R. Bills, James V. Z. Blaney, John Sears, Jr., John E. Wheeler, and Hugh G. Clark, the first three of whom were made an executive committee. Thomas L. Forrest was appointed secretary, and Franklin Scammon treasurer. Joseph K. C. Forrest was appointed leader. Mr. Forrest conducted religious services in the Saloon Building for several months, and public lectures were given by Rev. George Field. In February, 1849, the Society numbered twenty-one mem- bers, but it had not yet been consecrated as a Church. Desiring to be thus consecrated, they invited the Rev. J. R. Hibbard to visit Chicago for that purpose. The consecration occurred on the 25th of February, 1849, at the residence of J. Young Scammon, at the corner of Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue. At this meeting the executive committee was authorized to invite the Rev. J. R. Hibbard to become pastor of the Society, and to make the neces- sary provision for his support. In accordance with the authority thus conferred, an invitation was extended to the Rev. Mr. Hibbard to assume the pastorate at an annual salary of $500. Mr. Hibbard accepted the in- vitation, and himself and wife united with the Society January 1, 1550. At this time the Society numbered twenty-six members, and its expenses had been met by voluntary contributions. At the meeting of February 25, 1849, the trustees were authorized to lease the lot donated from the canal lands, for a period not exceed-

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PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS.

ing five years. Under this authority the trustees leased the lot to various individuals, who erected build- ings upon it. The Society continued to worship in the Saloon Building until 1851, at which time church rooms were procured in a building at the northeast corner of Dearborn and Randolph streets, erected by Harrison Newhall. In this new and more commodious place of worship a large congregation collected on Sunday mornings, and it soon became evident that the Rev. Mr. Hibbard's efforts were eminently satisfactory and efficient in disseminating the doctrines of the New Jeru- salem, and in awakening an interest therein in the minds of the public. In January, 1852, the treasurer reported that the Society was out of debt and had a small balance in the treasury. The Society continued to worship in Newhall's Hall until 1855, when it re- moved to a school-house which it had purchased on the north side of Adams Street, between Wabash Avenue and State Street 'No. 69 Adams Street', where it re- mained until the building was destroyed by fire in the winter of 1857-58. After the burning of the school- house the Society purchased an old church building which had been erected by the Second Presbyterian Church, which the Society removed to Harrison Street, between Wabash Avenue and State Street. This church it occupied until in 1861-62, when it built its new and commodious stone temple on the lot at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Adams Street. This was a very convenient building, containing, besides the audience room, a basement for social meetings, pastor's study, library room and janitor's residence. It was fifty by seventy feet in size, Norman Gothic, Hebrew in- scription on the front, and cost ȘI8,000. The tower extended to a height of 175 feet. The church stood and was occupied by this Society until the great fire of October, 1871, when it was destroyed, to- gether with a mission church building, which the Society had purchased of the Presbyterians and removed to a lot at the junction of Clark and LaSalle streets, oppo- site Lincoln Park. The total loss to the Society was $15,000. Rev. Mr. Hibbard remained continuously with the Society as pastor until 1871, when, on account of failing health, leave of absence was given him, and he went to Europe for a season of rest and recreation. For some time previous to the beginning of this vacation the Rev. Calvin Day Noble had been his assistant, and now in his absence took charge of the spiritual affairs of the Society. Upon Mr. Hibbard's return a division took place in the Society, and those membees who preferred MIr. Noble to Mr. Hibbard formed themselves into another society, under the pas- toral care of Rev. Mr. Noble. Mr. Noble remained with them as pastor only a few years, when he left, and his Society was soon after dissolved.

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 96

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340