USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The New church and Chicago; a history > Part 11
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August 2nd the subject discussed was a balance of three hundred dollars to complete the payment for a cabinet organ being used by the South mission. It was decided to raise the amount by subscription in the congregation of the mission.
On the 30th the subject of entertainment of, and care for the Illinois Association to meet in Chicago, October 20th, was considered and passed to a committee to have charge.
September 13th, conference was held between the exec-
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utive committee and some German members of the New Church, in which it was decided that Sunday service by the Germans should be held in the lecture-room of the Adams street temple at two-thirty in the afternoon, and the subject of supplying the pulpit was left with the church committee of the general Society.
It is presumed that these are some of the Germans referred to in Mr. Scammon's letter to the Messenger, August, 1869, as holding service in Dyhrenfurth's schoolroom, in the central part of the city.
[From the Messenger, in March.]
New Church reading-room and rendezvous in the tem- ple on Adams street. Open at all times, under charge of Mr. Charles E. Tuerk. Room comfortable and attractive for all who may wish to read and write or meet New Church friends for conversation.
Mr. Orlando Blackman has been reelected superinten- dent of the Adams Street Sunday-school, Mr. Sanford E. Loring for the North mission, and Mr. Joseph R. Putnam for the South mission, in place of Mr. Tuerk.
From the report of the Society to the Illinois Associa- tion for the year October, 1870, to October, 1871, the following information is obtained:
Rev. C. Day Noble filled the pulpit in the South mission after the departure of Rev. Mr. Hibbard for Europe, also that of the Adams street temple. Occasional service was held in the North mission in English and German. The purchase of land for the North and South missions, as voted by the executive committee February 25th, was con- summated, at the stated price, fifteen thousand dollars, cash in hand. The Rev. C. Day Noble was engaged in September to continue his service until Oct. 1, 1872. The closing paragraphs of the report are quoted as follows:
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October 8th the temple on Adams street was used for the last time; on the 9th our beautiful temple was totally destroyed by the great fire, as also the contents of the bookstore.
Our Society contributes two hundred dollars for the use of the Association, and the following delegates are appointed: J. Young Scammon, Dyer N. Burnham, James M. Hill, Alexander Officer, Alvan E. Small, and Truman H. Safford.
Respectfully submitted, CARL F. W. JUNGE, Secretary.
[Signed]
Besides the Adams street temple, the chapel of the North mission, at the junction of La Salle avenue and North Clark street, also went down in the fire .*
The fourth session of the Convention held in Chicago convened in the temple June 9, 1871, exactly four months before its destruction. A picture of the front of the build- ing, with attendants at the Convention, is given.
*NOTE .- Reference to the report of the treasurer for 1870-the report immediately preceding the fire-shows the receipts for the year were $5,813.86, and the expense $5,747.46, leaving a balance of $66.40. Assets of the Society amounted to $58,391.66, and the amount of indebtedness is shown to have been $1,255.88.
THE CHICAGO FIRE.
To aid in thoroughly appreciating what really befell the Church in Chicago, the following brief story of the fire of 1871 is given:
The Indian summer of 1871 was extraordinary in its intensity. Composed, as Indian summer must be, of abnormal heat and abnormal drought, for the time of year, those elements were intense beyond abnormal. The state- ment of one of the historians is that, "no rain fell for months." The great heat and drought of the Northwest covered the surface of earth with tinder. Fire could not be prevented or controlled. It swept farm and forest. Homes, hamlets, and towns went down before it or were saved by superhuman effort. The air became smoke; the sun could be looked at with the naked eye, and appeared as a spot of fire in a dark setting. As the weeks went by the conditions intensified. As phenomena generally presage great calamity, calamity was feared by many, and it came-extraordinary for its kind, and possibly unprecedented in the enormous percentage of the great community affected.
Chicago had four hundred thousand people; one fourth of them were rendered homeless. Eighteen thousand buildings disappeared; more than twenty-one hundred acres were cleared; one third in value of all the property in the city assessed and not assessed was wiped from the earth, amounting to nearly two hundred millions of dol- lars. More than seventy miles of streets were brushed away. Thousands of fortunes were destroyed; no choice was made among kinds of people; all kinds suffered; rich, poor, high, and low were without fortune, business, homes, or employment.
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"When the blessed rain came and stayed the raging hell of fire,"-making use of the expression of a telegram published at the time,-there was nothing left intact in Chicago but one of its three divisions and the people. A wilderness of smoking ruins filled the place where the wealth and greatness had stood.
The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem was bereft of its lovely home, and many of the members were home- less. The old church family was dismembered. The organization was maintained, but the old conditions of complete unity in church purposes, church life and socia- bility were gone forever. Ten years after, the Society, with some of the old and many new members, worshiped under one roof again in a beautiful temple, but the con- ditions were different, and have so remained.
Consternation and awe at the enormous calamity first possessed the world. They soon passed, followed by sym- pathy, charity, and universal action.
Immediately, money, aggregating large sums, and mer- chandise directly applicable to the many needs came pour- ing in by every means of carriage and transportation.
The New Church, as all others, had many friends generous and full handed. They supplied nearly seven thousand dollars in money, and necessaries of life in vast unrecorded amounts.
A few of the very many letters and resolutions of sym- pathy and assurance are here quoted:
Milwaukee, Oct. 9, 1871.
Hon. J. Y. Scammon,
Dear Sir and Brother :- If any of our New Church families are homeless from the conflagration which is now raging in your city, my house is open. I have three rooms and a table of any length, entirely at their service, as long as their necessities require.
THE ADAMS STREET TEMPLE. Oct. 9, 1871.
By Permission of the Chicago Historical Society.
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Please mention this to any family that will be benefited by it; or if money will do more good, let me know.
The few New Church brethren here will be glad to do all in their power to relieve their brethren who may suffer from the fire.
Most sincerely yours, E. R. PERSONS.
[Signed]
Cincinnati, Oct. 11, 1871.
Hon. J. Young Scammon :- At a meeting of the New Church Society held this evening it was unanimously re- solved that the people of the Cincinnati Society invite all of the Chicago New Church Society who find it necessary to leave home on account of the destitution caused by the fire, to make their homes with them until they can make arrangements for the future.
In accordance with this resolution the undersigned committee most heartily invites all who can come, and requests that they report on arriving, at the church, or at the residences of the committeemen.
[Signed]
JOHN GODDARD, WILLIAM N. HOBART, Committee.
Pittsburg, Oct. 12, 1871.
Rev. C. D. Noble, 592 Wabash avenue :- Draw at sight on R. Patrick & Co., bankers, Pittsburg, for two hundred and thirty dollars for the use of our New Church brethren. [Signed] W. H. BENADE.
[By the Massachusetts Association.]
Yarmouth, Oct. 12, 1871.
Resolved, that the presiding officer be requested to express to our brethren in Chicago our heartfelt sympathy with them in their sorrow, and our purpose to assist them so far as is in our power; and that it be recommended to the several Societies comprising this body to take such action in furtherance of this purpose as will insure sub- stantial evidence of our sympathy.
[Signed] THEODORE F. WRIGHT, Secretary. To the Rev. J. Pettie.
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Cincinnati, Oct. 19, 1871.
Mr. J. Y. Scammon,
Dear Sir :- The two letters of acknowledgment from your wife are received, and in accordance with her request I inclose with this, a draft on New York for four hundred and seventy-five dollars, the amount of the subscriptions thus far handed me for the New Church people in Chicago. * * * I do not much believe that the boxes we sent will be delivered to you, as the relief committee will likely claim them for general use. We have one large dry-goods box of the best clothing reserved, which we will send direct to you.
[Signed]
WILLIAM N. HOBART.
[Articles from the New Church Messenger, October 18th.]
Chicago :- We had hoped to have some word from our friends in Chicago, before going to press, as to how church matters are affected by the fire. The temple on Adams street is burned; the South mission stood far beyond the limits of the fire and is saved; but the North mission stood so near to the north limit of the fire as to leave its fate in question. The Illinois Association is advertised to meet in Chicago this week, but other arrangements will probably have to be made. The fol- lowing reference to Mr. Scammon we find in the New York Tribune of October 14th:
"I walked down the avenue with Robert T. Lincoln, son of the late President. He entered his law office about daylight on Monday morning, after the flames had attacked the building, opened the vault and piled upon a table-cloth the most valuable papers, then slung the pack over his shoulder, and escaped amid a shower of falling firebrands. He walked up Michigan avenue with his load on his back, and stopped at the mansion of John Young Scammon, where they breakfasted with a feeling of perfect security. Lincoln went home with his papers, and before noon the house of Scammon was in ruins, being among the last sacrificed by the lake side. It was only yesterday that I spoke of the desolation of that beau- tiful line of palaces called Michigan terrace; to-day the garden and residence site is covered with a crowd of
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mechanics, and the air is filled with the sound of hammers and chisels. The indefatigable owner is everywhere present, ordering and directing everything, and shedding about him a fresh and breezy atmosphere of hope and energy. His losses, of course, are enormous; but he owes nobody, and everybody owes him, so that there will still remain a large balance of this world's goods to one of the men who best knows how to use them. He is building three houses for business purposes on his vacated lots, and has contracted to have them ready for their occupants in a week."
October 25th. - Chicago: We have heard nothing from our friends in Chicago in regard to the effects of the fire upon the New Church interests. We judge from the gen- eral accounts that the North mission was burned. We have been informed that Mr. Scammon saved his valuable library and most of his furniture. Mr. Hibbard's house was burned, but most of his property, we believe, is sit- uated toward the south, and so outside the limits of the fire. His library and papers were probably destroyed.
November 8th .- Having just returned from a visit to our friends in Chicago, it will, no doubt, interest the readers of the Messenger to hear some particulars con- cerning their condition, and to learn how they can most effectually assist them.
Our New Church friends have shared with others in the terrible calamity which has fallen upon their city.
They lost two church edifices, one upon the north side of the river, which was a comfortable frame building, and the one which was erected a few years ago upon Adams street. This was their principal place of worship. The Convention met in it last summer, and it was generally known in Chicago as the New Church temple. They have still a small temple on the west side of the river, which has been used by the Germans, and their South mission chapel on Thirty-third street and South Park avenue, where the Society now meets for worship. As the whole North side is burned, and the northern part of the South side, the population is tending in the direction
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of the chapel, which will afford them a very comfortable place of worship until they can make other provisions.
The leading men in the Society were in active business, and, of course, lost largely by the fire; many of them losing everything they had-their houses, furniture, clothing, business, and means of carrying it on. In proportion to their numbers, their loss was as large and probably greater than that of any other religious society in the city. Mr. Hibbard's house was burned, and the most of his furniture and some of his books which were in his dwelling. But his library and all his manuscripts were in the Church, and were burned. This must be a great and irreparable loss to him.
Our friends are hopeful and courageous. They accept the situation, and have gone manfully to work to retrieve their losses, and to reinstate themselves as far as possible in their employments and uses.
As a Society of the Church, and for church purposes, they do not ask any assistance. But as brethren who, in many cases, have been stripped of all the means of sup- plying their natural wants, they will need and will thank- fully receive such aid as can be sent to them. A long winter is before them, and it is impossible for them to provide themselves with the comforts or even the absolute necessities of living.
No language can adequately describe the desolation of the city, and the destitution of multitudes who were liv- ing in comfort and even in affluence before the fire. Let those who have pleasant homes filled with the comforts and conveniences, which have accumulated for years, think what their condition would be if they were com- pelled to leave them at a moment's notice, with only the clothes they had on at the time, and they can form some idea of the condition of many of their friends in the New Church, and of multitudes in the city.
What they now need more than anything else is chil- dren's clothing, stockings, and shoes, and material for clothing, Canton flannel, and muslin for sheets and pil- low-cases, blankets and comforts, or any articles of bed- ding. If any of our friends have a superfluous quantity of blankets, they could not put them to a better use than
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to send them to 281 Cottage Grove avenue. If they are not convinced of the fact, let them shiver one night under insufficient covering and they will need no further argu- ment.
Those who feel disposed to send relief need have no fear that it will not be wanted and that it will not be judiciously distributed. A long winter is approaching. Our friends are now stimulated and sustained by the excitement of their terrible calamity. They will feel it more as the cold and dreary days come on, and they will need the sympathy and help of their brethren then, more, if pos- sible, than they do now. Let us show them that our sympathy is not a sudden and fitful flame, but is as con- stant as their needs and as enduring as the principles we profess.
HOW THE RECORDS OF THE CHURCH WERE. PRESERVED.
At the time of the fire, and for many years following, the secretary of the Society was Mr. Carl F. W. Junge.
Mr. Junge was treasurer of the Chicago Savings insti- tution, which he organized in 1870 and which, until the conflagration, occupied offices in the basement of the building of the First National bank, southwest corner of State and Washington streets.
The records of the Society were in Mr. Junge's cus- tody, being kept by him in the safety vault of his business establishment as above.
By an error, by whom committed still unexplained, the record book then in use, being the second in the series which contain the records of the Church in Chicago, was, during the frightful hours of that historical Saturday night, Sunday, and Monday, Oct. 7, 8, and 9, 1871, left laying open on a table in the office.
The basement offices of that building were not destroyed, consequently when it became possible to enter them, the book was found uninjured, as were, of course, the contents of the vault.
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Severe and fierce as the blow was to the Church in Chi- cago, there was not any intermission in duty. The fol- lowing Sunday, when ruins were still ·smoking, service was held in the Thirty-third street temple, and by the friends in the West division at the home of Mr. Junge.
The Monday following that of the fire, October 16th, there occurred at the home of Mr. George F. Root, a meeting of the executive committee.
Letters of sympathy were read, among them one from Mr. David L. Webster, of Boston, in which he stated that two thousand dollars had been raised among New Church friends there, which amount would be added to.
Mr. Scammon was made trustee of the money and goods intended for the relief of sufferers, and 281 Cottage Grove avenue was appointed as the location for the New Church bookstore and place for the storage and distribu- tion of relief supplies.
The committee for the relief of sufferers, as shown by the record, consisted of Mr. Scammon, Miss Hattie Small, Mrs. Dyer Burnham, Mrs. Alexander Officer, Mrs. Joseph B. Doggett, Mrs. George F. Root, and Mrs. Sarah Jane Sanford, with Mr. Frederick W. Root as clerk; and Mr. John J. Geiger was placed in charge of the store.
The following is a list of places from which sums of money amounting to $25 and more were received:
Boston New Church Society $3,105
New York City New Church People 489
Cincinnati New Church Society 475
Rhienfelden, Switzerland, New Church People 438
Glasgow and Paisley, Scotland, New Church People 356
London, England, New Church People 273
Pittsburg, Pa., New Church People. 230
Wilmington, Del., New Church People 212
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St. Louis, Mo., New Church People 140
Berlin, Canada, New Church People 140
Washington, D. C., New Church People 131
Preston, England, New Church People. 122
North Bridgewater, Mass., New Church People 104
Abington, Va., New Church People. 78
Yarmouth, Mass., New Church People.
Baltimore, Md., New Church People. 73
58
Pawtucket, R. I., New Church People
55
Florence, Iowa, New Church People
54
Bedford, Pa., New Church People
50
Carrolton, La., New Church People. 32
Philadelphia, Pa., New Church People
Salem, Mass., New Church People. 32
Napoleon, Ohio, New Church People. 25
25
and enough from sympathetic and charitable individuals in many states and lands to raise the amount to nearly $7,000.
Urbana University Students. 45
November 22nd a special meeting of the Society occurred at the home of Mr. Scammon, 13 Eighteenth street, at which the executive committee was authorized to exchange the Adams street lot for one at the southeast corner of Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue, belong- ing to Mr. Scammon.
A PROPOSED GRAND EDIFICE.
Mr. Scammon, and possibly others, were desirous of a grand temple or cathedral being constructed in the South division, which desire did much to influence him to buy land at Eighteenth street and Prairie avenue, having in mind that the location would be a good one for that pur- pose. This proposition, however, was not universally popular, as will be seen from the following letter:
Chicago, Dec. 2, 1871.
To the Executive Committee of The Chicago Society of the New Jerusalem.
Dear Brethren :- Your proposed exchange of the Adams street property for that on the corner of Eight- eenth street and Prairie avenue, concerning which you invite a general expression of opinion has, with good reason, found considerable favor in the eyes of our people, Many of the advantages of the proposition, as announced in the first circular, we heartily appreciate.
We wish, however, in this communication to suggest whether it may not be possible that a modification of the terms of that proposition is possible.
We are offered lots having a frontage on Prairie ave- nue of 140 feet and a depth of 150 feet, at an approxi- mate valuation of $500 per foot which, we are told, is a fair offset to the Adams street land at $1,500 per foot. We should then receive for the Adams street land the Eighteenth street lot, value $70,000, and $44,000 in cash. This latter sum, with what may be realized from insur- ance, will constitute the entire available means of the Society with which to build a temple and to assist our West side brethren to obtain a place in which to worship, to say nothing of the structures contemplated for the back corner of the Eighteenth street lot to cost $8,000 or $10,000.
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We are informed that the proposed temple will cost not less than $50,000. The conclusion is that we will not afford any assistance to our West side friends, or become heavily burdened with debt.
We think there is no necessity for so sad a result. Our much-loved Adams street temple, 50x70 feet, was of sufficient capacity, generally, for all who wished to worship there from all parts of the city,
If we build for the South side a temple 75x100 feet, it is likely to be ample for all our needs for many years to come.
Ninety feet on Prairie avenue by 100 feet deep is all we need for a church, placed on the line of Eighteenth street, fronting west, and having 15 feet open 'on the south for light and air. If the original proposition be amended to this extent, it will be relieved of what con- stitutes, in our opinion, a fatal objection.
If it is urged that we need a parsonage or ground for a parsonage, we reply that a Society which, before the fire, had difficulty to pay the pastor $2,000 per year, will now with its reduced membership and attendance hardly be guilty of the imprudence of paying $500 per foot for ground for a parsonage. Will we not act much more wisely by increasing his salary, and allowing him to select a residence suitable for his need, as our custom has been? If it be said that the Eighteenth street prop- erty will be a good investment, it may be answered that all our funds are needed for other purposes. We have none to invest in speculation, and desire to have as little as possible absorbed in real estate.
If the original proposition cannot be modified so as to sell us less ground, we respectfully suggest that a cheaper lot be looked for. We are confident one entirely respectable and desirable for our temple, and much more accessible, being within one block of most of the lines of public conveyance on the South side, as well as being conveniently reached from the railway station on Twenty- second street, can be obtained on such terms of credit as we desire, and ample for all purposes, for from $25,000 to $35,000, leaving the Adams street land to be sold or utilized as may be most advantageous hereafter.
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Those of the signers who are not members of the Society are members of the New Church, and desirous of attending, and of helping to support the worship.
[Signed] THOMAS L. FORREST, SAMUEL HOLBROOK,
ARTHUR D. RICH, FREDERICK GODDARD,
DYER N. BURNHAM,
JOSEPH R. PUTNAM,
GEORGE BARRY. and others.
CALVIN DAY NOBLE.
[From the Messenger; first published in the Chicago Pulpit.]
A visit to the New Jerusalem Church, corner of Thirty- third street and South Park avenue, last Sunday morn- ing, impressed our reporter with the quiet, homelike feel- ing that seems characteristic of the Swedenborgians and Quakers. The plain neatness of the room, its small dimensions, the flowers upon the altar, the expression of the faces of the auditors, and the earnestness of their singing, all contributed to this effect.
The pastor, Rev. C. Day Noble, is a slight man, of medium height, with a pale, intellectual face, which con- trasts with his black eyes, beard, and hair. You know him to be a student and a man of culture from his manner and appearance before you have heard him speak. His voice is full and rich and, like face and ges- ture, offers no hint of harshness or angularity. His ser- mons are written, and he reads them with the careful inflection and emphasis of an elocutionist, and with a sub- dued reverence that never rises to theatrical declamation or frenzied appeal. His congregation is intent upon the matter of his sermon, from which his manner does not distract their attention. His power is one of insight, delicate appreciation, and nice distinction. In his choice of words and arrangement of sentences, he shows the marks of the same culture and polish that his appearance suggests.
Mr. Noble was born the 13th day of August, 1840, in Rochester, Vt., where his father. Rev. C. D, Noble, resided. He was left an orphan when six years old,
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