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HISTORY
POUCATION
OF THE
HALF CENTURY CELEBRATION
OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
first Presbyterian Church
OF
29494
Samuel
FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
BY
alex
E. WISHARD, Pastor.
CINCINNATI : Elm Street Printing Company, 176 and 178 Elm St. 1874.
BX9211 F&F6
BY TRANSFER 1908
PREFATORY.
AT a meeting of the Board of Elders and Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, Indiana, held immediately after public worship, on Sabbath morning, December 13, 1874, it was
"Resolved, First, That the entire proceedings of the Semi-centen- nial meeting be prepared for publication.
"Second, That the pastor of the church be requested to gather and arrange the material, and prepare it for the press."
In accordance with the above resolutions, the work has been carried forward. The design has been to give a complete history of all the proceedings connected with the half-century meeting; there. fore the steps which led to the meeting, the committees arranging for the same, the hymns, and substantially all that was said or done, find an appropriate place in the volume. Without these matters of less seeming importance, the history would not be complete; hence their appearance in the volume.
FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
S. E. WISHARD, Pastor.
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CONTENTS.
PAGE.
I. History of the Preparation for the Observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Franklin, Indiana. 5
II. Committees, etc. 7
III. Sermon by Rev. J. G. Monfort, D. D., Saturday Morn- ing, 10} A. M. 15
IV. Sermon in the Evening by Rev. A. B. Morey 33
V. Sermon Sabbath Morning by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, D. D., President of Wabash College 57
VI. Sabbath-school Meeting in the Afternoon 87
VII. Communion Service Sabbath Evening 100
VIII. Memorial Day, November 30, viz:
1. A. M. History of the Presbyterian Church of Franklin, Indiana, by Judge D. D. Banta.
2. Statement Concerning Rev. David Monfort, D. D., First Pastor of the Church, by Rev. Joseph G. Monfort, D. D.
3. History of the Sabbath-school by the Pastor, Rev. S. E. Wishard.
P. M. Devotional Meeting. Reminiscence Meet- ing. Short Addresses by I. P. Monfort, Mrs. Lydia Herriott, Mrs. Nancy E. Rutherford, Col. Covert, John Herriott, Judge Finch, and Dr. Ritchey. Letters from Rev. Jas. McKee and Rev. P. S. Cleland. . 115
IX. Evening Entertainment : Collation given by the Ladies of the Church. Hymn. Prayer. Benediction. 210
X. Presbyterian Doctrine and Life. Sermon, Preached the Following Sabbath by S. E. Wishard, Pastor. 213
XI. Appendix. Containing a List of the Names of all Persons Received to the Church Since it was Or- ganized, with Tabulated Statistics. 231
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A JUBILEE SHALL THAT FIFTIETH YEAR BE NTO YOU.
LEV. XXV. 11.
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH of Franklin, Indiana, was organized on the 30th day of Novem- ber, 1824. As the fiftieth anniversary of the organi- zation approached, it was deemed suitable that some special commemoration of the event should be had. After a history of fifty years of toil, passing through the experiences incident to the beginning of pioneer church work, and reaching up to matured strength, we were impelled to the delightful work of reviewing the past. The faith and deeds of our fathers were. deserving of honorable recognition and permanent preservation.
Hence, at a regular monthly meeting of the Ses- sion held at the residence of Elder Allen McCaslin, a mile and a half south and west of the city, on the 3Ist of July, 1874, the Session resolved to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the
2 (5)
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
church. It was also resolved that the anniversary services, which would occur on Monday, November 30th, be preceded by religious services on Saturday and Sabbath, immediately preceding the anniversary.
The Moderator, and Clerk of Session (Dr. J. O. Martin) were requested to prepare a programme for the occasion. At a subsequent meeting the Commit- tee presented a programme which was adopted. The pastor was requested to bring the subject before the congregation. He did so by reading the following statement, which was also published in the city pa- pers, viz :
"Half Century Celebration of the Organization of the First Presbyterian Church of this City.
"The members of the Presbyterian Church of this city are preparing to celebrate, on the 30th day of November next, the fiftieth anniversary of the or- ganization of the church. The arrangements which are being made indicate that the commemoration of the event will be in every way worthy of the occasion.
"It is proposed to invite all the living pastors and members of the church, who have removed from our city, to return and enjoy the hospitalities of the peo- ple, and the services of the occasion.
"As the 30th of November comes on Monday, it has been determined to occupy the preceding Satur- day and Sunday with religious services, and devote Monday to the commemoration services proper.
"The following Committees and Programme of Ex- ercises have been appointed by the Session, and ar- ranged for :
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
COMMITTEES :
I. On Correspondence-
Wm. McCaslin, Dr. J. O. Martin, John Clarke.
2. On Entertainment --
A. Bergen, George Herriott, Junius Bice, Geo. W. Voris.
3. On Decoration-
Baxter McCollough, Harvey Voris,
Elmer Taylor,
Miss Nannie Herriott,
Mrs. Dr. Vannuys, ;.
Miss Ella Clarke, Mrs. Maggie McCaslin.
4. On Refreshments (for evening of 30th Nov.)- Mr. and Mrs. R. V. Ditmars,
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Voris, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Taylor. Mr. and Mrs. Perry Smiley.
PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES :
I. Saturday Morning, 10} A. M., November 28th, Sermon by Rev. Jas. A. McKee; or, Rev. J. G. Monfort, D. D.
2. Saturday Evening, 7 P. M., Sermon by Rev. A. B. Morey.
3. Sabbath Morning, 10} A. M., Sermon by Rev. J. F. Tuttle, D. D., President Wabash College.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
4. Sabbath Evening, Communion Services, with short addresses by clergymen present.
5. Commemoration Day, Monday, November 30th. 92 A. M., Historical Paper, by Judge Banta. II2, History of the Sabbath School, by S. E. Wishard.
22 to 42 P. M., Reminiscence Meeting. 7 P. M., Social and Collation.
S. E. WISHARD."
The immediate work of the Committee was com- menced in October. The Committee on Correspond- ence issued the following circular, to be sent to all persons at a distance who had at any time been con- nected with the church :
" FRANKLIN, INDIANA, Oct. 26, 1874.
DEAR SIR :- Inclosed you will find programme of the Half Century Celebration of the Organization of the Presbyterian Church of Franklin, Indiana.
The indications are that this occasion will be one of much interest, and you are respectfully solicited to be in attendance.
Very truly yours, WM. McCASLIN. J. O. MARTIN. JOHN CLARKE."
The Committee on Entertainment secured ample accommodations for those who might be in attend- ance. The neighboring pastors from Columbus, Edinburg (Hopewell was without a pastor at the time), Whiteland, Greenwood, Southport and Indian-
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
apolis were invited to be present. A few gentlemen from other parts of the State and from Michigan were included among the invited guests.
The Committee on Decoration, from the nature of their work, could not undertake much of their labor until the Monday preceding the services. But the interest in the occasion had grown to such propor- tions that almost the entire congregation of young people contributed their skill and helpfulness to this work.
It would be interesting to those who shall celebrate the next half century of the life of this church, to put on record all the names of the young gentlemen and ladies who took part in the work of decoration. To do so, however, would be only to insert at this point a roll of the young people of the congregation. In addition, however, to the Committee whose names have already appeared in these pages, special mention should be made of the valuable assistance rendered by Oren C. Dunn, whose skill gave us the ornamental letters for decoration; also of the important services of the artist, Mr. Samuel Richards, who reproduced, in pencil, accurate sketches of the old log court- house in which the church was organized, the first house of worship the church ever built, and the house occupied at the Memorial Meeting.
With such valuable assistance the work of decora- tion occupied the time from Monday morning until the ringing of the bell on Saturday morning, for the first service of the occasion.
As no photograph of the internal decorations has
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
been preserved, a brief pen sketch of the same will be in place here.
On entering the room in the vestibule below, the word
GREETING,
beautifully wrought in evergreen, lay upon the wall. Passing up the stairway to the upper vestibule, and entering the audience room above, your eye rested first upon the motto: "A JUBILEE SHALL THAT FIF- TIETH YEAR BE UNTO YOU"-a motto that gave signifi- cance to the occasion. This motto was in very large letters, occupying a considerable portion of the space on the north wall over the pulpit. The letters were beautifully cut from card-board, handsomely covered with evergreen, so as to present definitely marked proportions, and the richest ornamentation.
Immediately under the center of this motto, and lying on an arch which had been thrown over the pulpit, were the words in smaller characters : " Great is our Lord." At the left side of the pulpit, and in position as if supporting the arch, was the date 1824, and in the same position at the right of the pulpit was the date 1874. Also on the right side of the pulpit, as you enter the room, was erected a beautiful monument in imitation of marble. The monument was crowned with an evergreen crown, and upon the south face of the monument, in full view of the con- gregation, were inscribed the names* of Monfort, de-
*As the work of inscribing these names on the monument was not completed until the ringing of the bell for Saturday morning service, and as the list had been made from memory, and not from accurate examin- ation of the records, five of the above names were, by mistake, omitted at the time. But the complete list of deceased elders is here inserted as it should have been placed on the monument.
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
ceased pastor, and deceased Elders McCaslin, Graham, Demaree, McCaslin, Shellady, Covert, Mckinney, Vannuys, Terrell, King, Banta, and Sloan.
Immediately back of the pulpit, and under the cen- ter of the arch, the cross and anchor, beautifully or- namented, rested upon the wall. Pictures of the de- ceased Pastor Monfort, and Elders King, Terrell, and Sloan, also of Rev. Jas. A. McKee, now residing at Thomasville, Georgia, were assigned appropriate places on either side of the pulpit. On the west wall were the pencil sketches of the old log court-house and the old frame church, by Samuel Richards, or- namented with evergreen borders and appropriate Scripture mottoes. On the east wall was a pencil sketch, by the same gentleman, of the house in which the services of the half-century meeting were to be held. The windows, chandelier and gallery were hung with festoons. Encircling the clock on the east wall were the words : "THE TIME IS SHORT." On the op- posite wall, corresponding in ornamentation, were the words : "THE LORD GIVE THEE PEACE." Beneath the festooning of the gallery were the words : "THE LORD BLESS THEE AND KEEP THEE."
The effect of these decorations upon the audience room was exceedingly happy. The last touches were given to the room as the audience began to assemble. On the preceding day and night had fallen the first and severest snow-storm of the season. But on Sat- urday morning the clouds were lifted, and the earth, mantled with snow, was flooded with sunlight, and swept by the crisp winds of the last days of Novem- ber. As the audience quietly assembled many were
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
melted to tears by the recall of other days and other scenes. The beautiful Scripture mottoes, the inscribed names of a departed pastor and elders, the almost speaking faces of some who had more recently gone to their reward, with the living presence of others who had come from abroad to renew old memories and enkindle old loves, conspired to make the scene touching and impressive.
At half past ten o'clock the services were intro- duced by the choir singing the anthem, "O, sing unto the Lord !"
The Scriptures were read by Rev. A. B. Morey, when the pastor read the following hymn, which was sung :
How pleased and blessed was I, To hear the people cry ; "Come, let us seek our God to-day !" Yes, with a cheerful zeal, We haste to Zion's hill, And there our vows and honors pay.
Zion-thrice happy place- Adorned with wondrous grace;
While walls of strength embrace thee round, In thee our tribes appear
To pray, and praise, and hear
The sacred gospel's joyful sound.
May peace attend thy gate, And joy within thee wait,
To bless the soul of every guest. The man who seeks thy peace, And wishes thine increase, A thousand blessings on him rest.
My tongue repeats her vows,
"Peace to this sacred house !"
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
For here my friends and kindred dwell. And since my glorious God- Makes thee his blest abode, My soul shall ever love thee well.
Rev. J. G. Monfort, D. D., led the congregation in prayer, after which the pastor announced, and the en- tire congregation sang the following hymn :
JOYFUL be the hours to-day; Joyful let the seasons be; Let us sing, for well we may, Jesus ! we will sing of thee.
Should thy people silent be, Then the very stones would sing;
What a debt we owe to thee, Thee our Savior, thee our King.
Joyful are we now to own, Rapture thrills us as we trace ;
All the deeds thy love hath done, All the riches of thy grace.
'Tis thy grace alone can save, Every blessing comes from thee-
All we have, and hope to have, All we are, and hope to be.
Thine the Name to sinners dear, Thine the Name all names before; Blessed here and everywhere, Blessed now and evermore.
After the singing of the hymn the audience listened to the opening sermon of the occasion, by Dr. Mon- fort.
A VISION
OF THE
KINGDOM OFGOD
A DISCOURSE
BY
REV. J. G. MONFORT, D. D.
DELIVERED IN THE
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT FRANKLIN, IND.,
NOVEMEBER 28, 1874.
A VISION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
TEXT .- Luke ix. 27: "But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."
THE promise of the text is an utterance of Jesus to his disciples upon their return from a missionary tour. They "told him all that they had done." He undertook to have a private interview, "in a desert place," "but the people followed him." He spake to them, and healed them, and fed them by a miracle, and then was able to have a season of conference and prayer with his disciples alone. His object seems to have been to give them a lesson on the spirituality of his kingdom. Even his own disciples seemed to cling to the idea, that he came to be a temporal sov- ereign, to sit on David's throne, and restore the king- dom to Israel, now in bondage to Rome. He begins by asking the question : " Whom say the people that I am?" When you cast out devils and do other miracles in my name, the people must know that I have endued you with power from on high. "Whom say the people that I am?" The disciples testify that the people regard Jesus as one sent of God- John the Baptist, Elias, or some other old prophet risen from the dead. Jesus then asks: "But whom say ye that I am ?" Peter promptly answers: "The
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Christ of God." He answers correctly, but do he and the other disciples understand the mission of Christ ? Or do they expect only the restoration of their country and people to former power and glory in the sight of the nations? Jesus then shows that his mission is not to be a temporal ruler, but to die and rise and reign over a kingdom that is spiritual, including all worlds. Peter replies: "Be it far from thee, Lord : this shall not be done unto thee." Jesus reproves him, and warns him that his followers were not to expect earthly good, but must bear the cross and be partners in his sufferings, if they expect to share in the glory of his kingdom. Then, to assure them of the spirituality of his kingdom, he promises them a vision of it. "There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the king- dom of God."
Eight days after the promise the fulfillment of it came on the mount of transfiguration. Peter and James and John are with him, and while he is pray- ing they see the kingdom of God. Jesus is transfig- ured before them, and they see his beauty and glory. Moses and Elias appear in glorious form, and speak with him of the decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. The disciples gaze upon the scene of glory. The promise is fulfilled. The King and the kingdom are more glorious than they had compre- hended. They rejoice. "Master, it is good for us to be here." Here fix thy throne and reign over all in heaven and earth.
That the miracle of the transfiguration is the ful- fillment of the promise of the text is verified by a
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
reference to it afterward by Peter, when he declares that in preaching the kingdom and coming of Christ, " We have not followed cunningly devised fables, * * but were eye-witnesses of his majesty ; for he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, and this voice, which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the holy mount."
Let us to-day gaze upon this miraculous view of the kingdom of God. We may see the King in his beauty and glory, as he is now in heaven, and as he shall appear at his second coming; and we may see representative subjects of his invisible kingdom, who are samples of the work of his grace and power, in the world beyond, and with them face to face some who had been brought into the earthly kingdom ; and we may understand, as we catch the theme of their conference, how the glory of Christ and the salvation of his people are connected with the decease accom- plished at Jerusalem.
As I have been asked to open the services of the Semi-centenary of this church by an appropriate dis- course, it seemed to me that, as a proper observance of the occasion must bring us into communion with the many loved ones, once of your membership, but now of the Church on high, I could do no better than go with you to the holy mount, and point you to the transfigured King in his beauty, and to the saints from heaven in their glory, and to the chosen disciples of earth, grouped in one picture, in fellow- ship with each other concerning the death of Christ,
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
which binds the Church on earth and in heaven in holy love and fellowship.
1. In the study of this picture our hearts are first drawn to the central figure, which is Jesus Christ, the King all glorious. Did human language ever rise so high as in the description of his appearance ? Luke says : "As he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glister- ing." Matthew says he " was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his rai- ment was white as the light." The language of Mark is, if possible, more remarkable: "He was transfig- ured before them, and his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." After Jesus had accomplished his decease, had risen from the dead, and had ascended on high, the beloved disciple John, when in the spirit, on the Lord's day, in the isle of Patmos, had another vision of him, and in describing his appearance he uses some of the same terms employed by the evan- gelists in their account of the transfiguration: "His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow "-" and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." Surely such a vision of his glory might well drive from the minds and hearts of the disciples all thoughts of a temporal sovereignty, and stimulate them to go forth as the eye-witnesses of his majesty, and proclaim the coming of his kingdom.
2. In exhibiting to these disciples the kingdom of God, it was not more important that the King should be seen in all his glory, than that the subjects of his rule and favor should be revealed. It was a most im-
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OF FRANKLIN, INDIANA.
portant part of the miracle that Moses and Elias ap- peared also in glory. They belonged to a part of the kingdom invisible to mortal eyes. They, or others of the classes to which they belonged, must be revealed to the disciples, to whom Jesus referred when he said: "There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God."
Of Moses and Elias it may be said, each is a rep- resentative of a class in the kingdom of God, beyond the vail that separates the Church on earth from the glorified on high. They may be supposed to repre- sent the " law and the prophets ; " but let it rather be said that they exhibit to Peter, James and John the two degrees of glory in the kingdom of God, to which saints attain, after their release from earth, either at once or at the resurrection of the just.
(1.) Of these two degrees of glory Moses had passed into the first, and Elijah had attained to both. Moses was exhibited to the disciples, in the miracle upon the holy mount, in his glory, as a spirit of the just made perfect. He died a natural death. His body returned to dust, and his soul to God, a glorified spirit. He was an eminent, honored and useful serv- ant of God in the kingdom on earth. He served his day and generation well. He was born while the bloody decree of Pharaoh prevailed, ordering every male child born to the enslaved Israelites to be put to death. His mother, because she was a mother, and because she had faith in the God of Israel, and be- cause "he was a goodly child, hid him for three months, and when she could no longer hide him she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and put the child
3
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
therein ; and she laid it by the flags by the river's brink." God sent the daughter of the king to the river to bathe, and she saw and rescued the child, and he became her adopted son, with his own mother as his nurse. He was reared in the king's palace, and taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He be- came the lawgiver of the Commonwealth of Israel, a type of the kingdom of God, and gave them a code which is the fountain of all good legislation. He was their deliverer from the bondage of Egypt, the type of the slavery of sin ; their leader through the wilder- ness, the type of the pilgrimage of the saints, to the borders of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey, the type of the kingdom on high, the rest that remains for the people of God, and on the top of Pisgah, with the goodly land in view, he gave up the ghost. God performed his funeral ceremonies, and no man know- eth his sepulcher to this day.
No other man than Moses could have been chosen to give more interest to a vision of what the saints are in the kingdom of God, in the separate state, be- tween death and the resurrection. No one could have appeared to exemplify the glory of the spirits of the just made perfect, not even Adam, or Noah, or Abraham, with greater impression upon the minds and hearts of Peter, James and John, who were soon to be separated from Jesus, by the accomplishment of his decease at Jerusalem, and who were to be charged with the work of preaching the kingdom of God in the world.
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