USA > Indiana > Decatur County > Kingston > Seventy five years : anniversary proceedings of the founding of the Presbyterian Church, Kingston, Indiana, held in the church edifice, December 17th and 18th, 1898 > Part 1
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th Anniversary
Souvenir
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01814 9622
GENEALOGY 977.202 K61SE
SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS.
ANNIVERSARY PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
FOUNDING
OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
KINGSTON, INDIANA
HELD IN THE CHURCH EDIFICE
DECEMBER 17TH AND 18TH, 1898
ALSO PORTRAITS OF FORMER AND PRESENT PASTORS; EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR VIEWS OF THE CHURCH EDIFICE, ETC.
INDIANAPOLIS INDIANAPOLIS PRINTING CO.
I899
INTRODUCTION.
Jubilee exercises commemorative of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of Kingston Church were held in the Kingston Presbyterian Church December 17th and 18th, 1898
Rev. Bartlett, pastor of the church, presiding, ex-ministers of the church present, Rev. Dr. Rankin, of Brigham, Utah, and Rev. Harry Nyce, of Peru, Ind. Exercises were opened by the singing of Coronation by the audience, followed by prayer by Dr. Rankin. After a short introductory talk by the Rev. Bartlett, the roll of the original members of the church was read from the old session book by J B. Hopkins, present clerk of the session ; Mr. J. B. Robinson then spoke upon "The Fathers of the Church," and was fol- lowed by J. G. Donnell, whose subject was "The Early History of the Sabbath School." Mrs. M. C. Jensen then sang an alto solo, entitled "The New Kingdom," after which Dr. Rankin addressed the audience from the subject "My Thirty Years' Pastorate." Letters were then read by Rev. Bartlett from Rev. John C. King and Rev. H. M. Schockley, former pastors of the church ; also from Rev. G. D. Parker, Rev. Ben. Nyce, Mrs. N. H. Adams, Mrs. M. A. Hamilton and Mrs. Zerelda Lawson, after which an adjournment was taken and dinner served in the basement by the ladies of the church.
Promptly at 2:00 P. M the audience was called to order by Rev. Bartlett, and after a musical selection by the Clarksburg Presbyterian choir, extempore addresses were given by Revs. Van Buskirk, Parker and Murphy, of Greens- burg, Rev. Stewart, of Spring Hill, and Rev. Adams, of St. Paul, Minn. This was followed by the history of the church by Miss Camilla Donnell. Mrs. Ada Stewart read a paper entitled "Our Preachers and Missionaries " After another selection by the Clarksburg choir, Rev. Bartlett read a paper en- titled "The Church of To-day," and was followed by Rev. Harry Nyce, who delivered the concluding address, from the text "Thou Hast Kept the Good Wine Until Now."
The following pages record for the most part such exercises. With this brief introduction the Committee submits the work voluntarily assumed by it.
R. A. BARTLETT, MISS CAMILLA DONNELL, J. Q. DONNELL, ORLANDO HAMILTON.
REV. S. G. LOWRY.
ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1898.
At the opening of the exercises, 10:30 A. M., the auditorium was well filled. The interior of the church had been beautifully decorated by the Committee. An arch of holly and mistletoe, containing the words "Seventy-fifth Anniversary," was placed on the platform. Festoons of rare beauty were suspended. Pictures of two of the honored ancestors were placed on easels near the pulpit. Rev. R. A. Bartlett, pastor, conducted the opening exercises. After the opening song, the pastor spoke as follows :
" I wish to extend to all of you a very cordial welcome. While it is cold without, we trust you will not find our hearts cold. There is no ice in our greeting. Most gladly do we welcome you to this quiet country side, where for seventy-five years this church has stood, leading to Christ and blessing those who have passed through her doors. We are here to celebrate our seventy-fifth anniversary, and we ask you with heart and soul to do all you can to make the exercises helpful to all.
" We are honored in having with us two of the former pastors of this church, who, by their presence and voice will do much to make this occasion enjoyable and uplifting.
" We cordially greet the former members of this church, and friends from neighboring churches. It is our desire not only to make this diamond jubilee a season of joy and feasting, but also a time of instruction and spirit- ual good to every one present. We want everyone to feel perfectly at home, and not be embarrassed because of the clergymen present. They are fallible creatures. I have some good jokes on all of them, but I haven't time to tell them. I will give this one on Brother Nyce. I heard he was persuaded once to buy some hogs. Preachers are sometimes led astray in this direction. As soon as they were driven into the barn yard he climbed up into the mow and threw down a lot of hay for them. The hogs simply smelled it 'Pshaw,' said the disgusted parson, 'these hogs won't eat anything ! '
"It is my desire that this shall be the time when we shall become more earnest in the cause of the Master. Perils surround us-drink, Mormonism, greed, the disturbed relations of capital and labor, and other things sug- gestive of dynamite and bombs. There has never been a louder call for a consecrated church than to-day. I want to greet the boys and girls, and tell them how glad I am to see them here. The hope of this church is in you. You are to take the places of your fathers and mothers soon. We want you to enjoy yourselves and feel this is your church. As we all rejoice to-day, let us thank God, and take new courage for the future."
The roll-call of the original members of the church was read by J. B. Hopkins, clerk of session, and elicited great interest.
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Mr. J. B. Robison then spoke on " Fathers of the Church." From Mr. Robison's extended knowledge of the original supporters of the church, he was able to make an interesting and forcible presentation of the subject. The people were led to see, perhaps as never before, how much they were indebted to the noble men of the past.
Then followed J. G. Donnell's address on " The Early History of the Sabbath School." His talk was well received and highly appreciated by the audience.
Mrs. Jensen sang very sweetly the solo, " The New Kingdom."
Dr. Rankin's address on "Thirty Years' Pastorate " followed. He said in part :
"From a thirty years' pastorate, I have learned to value the individual church. It would be difficult to put too high an estimate upon the worth of this church in the community in which it has grown ; to the county ; to the State of Indiana ; to our country, and to the world.
" Few communities, if any, surpass this in those things that a Christian civilization and gospel thrift bring to men. 'Not slothful in business' has been emphasized, with the fervent spirit, in serving the Lord. The vices of irreligion robbed other people of far more than the support of the church here has cost. And the contrast between this and many other places may be ac- counted for by the difference in the influence of the local church.
" The churches, as centers of influence promoting religion, morality and good citizenship, in Greensburg, Forest Hill, Union and Sardinia, reaching to the soutwestern corner of the county, and Clarksburg and Memorial to the northeastern corner, are the children and grandchildren of this organization. Granting all that other denominations have done, and thankful therefor, it still would be grand larceny to rob Decatur county of this chain of frugal thrift and Christian living that might well be portrayed upon the map by a band of light. It would be hard to conceive what would have been the con- dition of this county had the early settlers here not 'associated themselves together as a church.'
" They had learned to value the influence of the local church, and when the log meeting house was raised to the square with the canopy of heaven for the roof, the black earth for the floor and the sleepers for pews, they sent Elder John McCoy to New Richmond, Ohio, to bring a pastor, Rev. Samuel G. Lowry, and his family. They arrived Saturday night, having made the journey in a two-horse farm wagon. Nevertheless, on Sunday he preached from the text 'Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for. I ask, therefore, for what intent ye have sent for me?' The history of the church answers the question. They sent for him for the good of the community, the country, the State, the county, and the world.
" I have spoken of the good to the community and county. But now, see the blessings that came to the State. In that log meeting-house Hanover College was organized, and the pastor of this church was a trustee ; from here they got Harrison Thomson, who filled a chair so many years in the faculty ; a daughter of this one whose picture is upon my left endowed a professorship to commemorate the name of her mother. The same, being a daughter-in- law to him whose picture is upon my right, finished and furnished Donnell chapel in memory of her husband. Your pastor was one of the trio that
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dedicated it, and this aged gentleman before me was present and gave them $1,000 in memory of the time when he and Harrison Thomson hoed corn together - barefoot boys.
" What would Indiana, or the United States, or the world have been without Hanover? And what would Hanover have been without Kingston ?
"The most vivid imagination could not pictur- the condition of things to-day with these factors left out. Kingston furnished Bloomington a pro- fessor, and the Louisville Courier Journal its greatest editor. Your first pastor held the stake Carnahan drove to mark the place where Wabash Col- lege was built, and that Thomson who managed its finances so admirably for many years professed faith in Christ here. Rev. B. M. Nyce, another of your pastors, a born educator, laid the foundation for Professor Campbell's success. Campbell was father of the centennial at Philadelphia in 1876, which was the forerunner of the great Chicago exposition and the lesser one at Omaha. How far-reaching the influence and how great the value of the church organized in a log cabin home seventy-five years ago ! Can you think of Indiana without Wabash College as a factor in achieving her greatness, or our public schools without the formative work of Professor Mills ?
"To measure the worth of this church, there must be a recalling of the Christian families gone to other parts of our land. You could start at Greater New York and travel to San Francisco and stop every night with one such.
" Her membership has gone beyond the oceans to the dark continent of Africa ; to Asia and to the islands of the sea. The joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion, and in entailing this church upon you younger people a goodly heritage is left for you to develop ; and as this beautiful building which is to be rededicated to-morrow surpasses any of the five churches built here before it, so it should be your Christian ambition to make the church worshiping within these walls surpass in beauty of holiness that which has preceded it. The church of seventy-five years to come should do more th .n the church of seventy-five years gone."
After reading of some letters, extracts from which are given in this pamphlet, adjournment was made to the basement of the church, where dinner was served. Over 300 people sat down to the tables. Mrs. Chester Hamilton was chairman of the Entertainment Committee. The dinner was a bountiful one, tastefully served from prettily decorated tables. All the ladies doing their utmost to aid, made it a "royal feast" indeed.
At 2:00 o'clock the audience was called to order by the pastor. The Clarksburg Presbyterian choir sang a very beautiful selection. The pastor, in introducing the singers, stated they had never been known to quarrel. Rev. Van Buskirk, pastor of the Christian Church in Greensburg, arose to his feet and remarked that a picture of that choir ought to be made and placed in the souvenir pamphlet.
Extemporaneous addresses were then made by Revs. Van Buskirk, Parker and Murphy, of Greensburg ; Rev. Stewart, of Spring Hill, and Rev. Adams, of St. Paul, Minn. The spicy remarks of these brethren called forth rounds of applause.
REV. JOHN WEAVER.
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Miss Camilla Donnell read an excellent paper,
HISTORY OF THE KINGSTON CHURCH.
" It was the wise and witty Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes who said that ' To treat a disease in time, you must often go as far back as a man's grand- father.' So, to fully understand this church, we must trace it back to its origin in the old Concord church in Bourbon county, Kentucky. The an- cestry of all the pioneer fathers of the church was practically the same. Of Scotch Irish descent, and therefore, as one of them quaintly says, 'Presby- terian as far back as we have any record.' They emigrated from western Pennsylvania to Kentucky with their parents from 1784 to 1790, where in 1792 they founded Concord Presbyterian church.
"In 1817 Rev. John Rankin, the noted divine and abolition leader, be- came their minister. He records that in this church of over 200 members, in a slave State, there was but one slave-holder. He found in it an active society for the abolition of slavery. Some of its more prominent members held meetings, circulated books and tracts against slavery, and so far as they had means, carried on suits in behalf of such slaves as were held contrary to law. Such a community could have no true home in a slave State. From 1821 to 1823 a number of families emigrated to the then new State of Indiana, and located in the bounds of what is now the Kings'on neighborhood. Our ancestors have left us few written memorials of those days. The little old session book, yellow with age, yet well preserved, and written for the most part in the clear, old-fashioned handwriting of Samuel Donnell, the first clerk of sesson, and kept with a methodical accuracy that might have served as a model for later generations, is the most interesting relic of that early period. The first record is dated simply December, 1823, leaving blank the name of the day of the week and month. The day we celebrate, December 18th, appears to have been fixed upon at the fiftieth anniversary, by the rather uncertain recollection of survivors. The place of meeting was near Carmel church, on a farm forming part of that now owned by Mrs. Wesley Throp. In the session book, the only contemporaneous record, it is described as the house of Samuel D. Henry, but was better remembered afterward as the home of his father, William Henry, one of the most honored elders of the old Concord church, but never a member of this church, he having died before its complete organization. The record proceeds, 'This day, agreeable to previous notice, a number of persons, who had formerly been members of the Presbyterian church, came forward after sermon by the Rev. John Moreland and associated themselves together as a Presbyterian church, to be denominated Sand Creek church, and proceeded to choose Samuel Donnell, John Hopkins, John C. McCoy and William O Ross to the office of ruling elder.' Rev. John Moreland, who organized the church, was a well known minister in Kentucky, and is still dimly remembered by some of the older people as afterward visiting and preaching to the church.
"Samuel Donnell and John Hopkins were both past middle life. Both had been leaders and ruling elders in the church in Kentucky. Both were for that time well educated and thoroughly versed. in the doctrines of the church, and were able theologians. Both were men of unusual ability and force of character, and differing as they did on public questions, they after- ward became leaders in opposite factions in the church. William O. Ross lived near Greensburg, and united with the church of that place on its
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organization. Uncle John McCoy survived all his first colleagues many years, and is still affectionately remembered by the present generation. No other minister seems to have visited the infant church until September 4th and 5th of the following year, 1824. Rev. John Dickey, an able pioneer preacher well remembered and greatly beloved by all the older people, held a two-days' meeting at the home of Cyrus Hamilton. He ordained John McCoy and William O. Ross to the office of ruling elder, and installed Sam- uel Donnell and John Hopkins, who had been previously ordained. The session then held its first regular meeting, and the fifty persons whose names were read this morning, having, as the record says, ' presented letters or other satisfactory evidence of membership in other churches, were received as members of the Sand Creek church.' It is now seventeen years since the last survivor of these charter members, Mrs. Cyrus Hamilton, was laid to rest in the Kingston cemetery. Only two persons are living who were present and were old enough to have remembered this meeting, Mr. Marshall Hamilton, now eighty-seven, and Mrs. Minerva Donnell, nearly eighty-two. Of the young children who were carried there in the arms of their parents, six still survive - Robert A. Hamilton, William M. Hamilton, Orville Thomson, Mrs. Polly Ann Jones, Mrs. Margaret Miller and Mrs. Warder Hamilton. Of these eight survivors, five are descendants of Mrs. Mary Edward Hamil- ton. All of the eight are residents of this county, and all save Mrs Miller and Mrs Hamilton are present at this meeting. Of the eleven children pre- sented for baptism at this time, the following are familiar names : John Hopkins Donnell, Margaret Jane Donnell, Orion Wallace Donnell, Katy Jane Hopkins, Margaret Mitchell Hamilton, Harriet Newel Hamilton and Angelina Antrobus. On August 27th and 28th, 1825, nearly a year later, Father Dickey again visited the church, and again held a two-days' meeting at the home of Cyrus Hamilton.
"It is surely not amiss to offer a tribute to the early mothers of the church, who joyfully entertained the home missionary in their one and two- roomed cabins, cooked on their open fireplaces the best they could set before him, and opened their doors to the entire congregation for meeting. At this time the session received the first members on profession of their faith. They were Cyrus Hamilton, Samuel Hamilton, Benjamin Antrobus and Mrs. Mar- tha Mars. Although preaching services were held but once a year, as we have Seen, from 1823 to 1826, prayer-meeting and Bible examination by the elders was kept up on Sundays. On June 3d, 1826, Rev. S. G. Lowry visited and preached to the church, and at this meeting an order from Presbytery was read granting leave to a number of members, twelve in all, to be stricken off and organized into a church at Greensburg. August following the congre- gation met to choose a minister, and Rev. S. G. Lowry, who was already supplying the church, was duly chosen by unanimous vote, and was installed November 8th by Madison Presbytery.
"Rev. Mr. Lowry and his wife, Almira Lowry, who was a member of the Thomson family, were greatly beloved by the congregation, as the frequent recurrence of both their names on the baptismal register shows. It also sug- gests, taken with the meager salary he received, the explanation offered by one of these witty namesakes, that the people of those early days paid their preacher by naming their children after him. Mrs. Lowry died in 1828, and her grave was the first in the unfenced, new graveyard. In the summer and
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fall of 1828 Mr. Lowry had very successful revival meetings, and gathered into the church, besides the older persons received by letter, about thirty-five young people, who for many years were the pillars of the church. These are some of the familiar names : James Hamilton, Luther Donnell, John Thom- son, John R. Donnell, Angus C. McCoy, Sally Hamilton, Alexander Thom- son, Harvey Antrobus, Thomas Hamilton Antrobus, Marshall Hamilton, Jam s Ardery, Jane Braden, Samuel Addison Donnell, Polly Robison, John C. Donnell, Elisa Jane Hopkins, Elenor Hamilton, Olesa Donnell.
"John Hopkins and William O. Ross, having become members of the Greensburg church, an election was held September 26, 1829, to fill their places in the session. Thomas Hamilton, John Kirkpatrick and James A. Thomson were duly elected. Thomas Hamilton was at this time just thirty- one years old. He served the church as an elder fifty years, the longest service in the history of the church and one of rare benignity and honor. August 26, 1832, we find this record : 'On this day Rev. Samuel G. Lowry delivered his farewell address to this church and congregation.' Mr. Lowry lived to a green old age, and was present as the central and honored figure at the fiftieth and sixtieth anniversaries of the church, whose first pastor he had been.
"In April, 1833, Rev. John Weaver began his ministry in the church, and was installed the following year by the Presbytery of Indianapolis. Our fathers were more formal in this matter than their descendants, Messrs. Lowry and Weaver being the only ministers in the history of the church who were installed.
" Rev. Weaver seems to have been a man of considerable force of char- acter, and if we may judge from the records, of a somewhat aggressive temper and a strict disciplinarian. During the first twelve years of its his- tory, the records of the little church do not show a single case of discipline or of any charge preferred by brother against brother. But, about 1835 it entered upon a new and troubled page of its history. Session frequently ad- monished refractory members. Charges were often brought for trivial offenses, and frequent complaints of slander show that a great deal of heated and angry controversy was being indulged in. The student of these records soon be- comes convinced that the church and even the session itself were being divided into two hostile and apparently irreconcilable parties. This was not the fault of any one man or set of men. It was simply that ' the irrepressible conflict,' afterward to convulse the whole nation, had at the little Sand Creek church already begun.
"September 24, 1836, Samuel Donnell laid before the session a paper ably reviewing and severely condemning the course of the General Assembly on the subject of slavery, concluding with the declaration that so long as the church continues to give her countenance and support to the crying sin of oppression, she must expect the displeasure of God and the scorn of infidels to rest upon her, and resolving that the foregoing paper be sent up to Presbytery as an overture from this session, asking the opinion of Presbytery on the subjects therein contained. Whether this paper ever reached Presby- tery or not does not appear ; but in November Presbytery held a two-days' session at Sand Creek, and directed that in view of the difficulties existing in the church a vote be taken by the congregation on the acceptability of the several members of session. December 22d this meeting was held at Thomas
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Hamilton's house, the meeting-house we are told being uncomfortable, and Samuel Donnell and John C. McCoy were voted unacceptable and Thomas Hamilton, James Thomson and John Kirkpatrick were voted acceptable. Thomas Hamilton immediately resigned, and his resignation was accepted. At a subsequent meeting Joseph Graham, Sr., Robert Hamilton and James Ardery were elected to fill the vacancies thus occaisioned. The crisis had now been reached. On March 13, 1837, Thomas Hamilton laid before session a paper giving notice that the undersigned members of the Sand Creek church wish to withdraw and do withdraw their membership from said church. This paper was dated March 4, 1837, and was signed by thirty-seven members. All of these persons, with two exceptions, belonged to the three families of McCoy, Hamilton and Donnell and those connected with them by marriage, including in the family of Samuel Donnell, Andrew Robison, Jr., and Pres- ton E. Hopkins.
" The seceding church, which grew into what is now the Kingston Pres- byterian Church, was in a decided minority, the whole number of members before the division being given three years before, in 1834, at 167. All its records up to 1863, when a new session book was begun, have unfortunately been lost, so that for facts and dates up to that time the historian has had to depend upon a careful comparison of the recollections of the older members. The records of the older church have apparently suffered the same fate.
"The following dates in its history have been as carefully verified as possible under the circumstances. Rev. Joseph Monfort, so long the senior editor of the Herald and Presbyter, then a young man just beginning his career, succeeded Mr. Weaver in 1839. He was not only a minister of ability, but a man of great tact and good judgment. His influence doubtless did much to lessen the antagonisms caused by the division. It is a proof of the strong common sense and good feeling of both churches that no feuds grew out of the separation, and from this time until they were once more one church, with the exception of some natural jealousies, mutual respect and good feeling existed between them. Rev. Monfort was succeeded in 1841 by Rev. Adams, and he in turn by Rev. David Monfort, an uncle of Joseph Monfort. Mr. Monfort gave place to his son-in-law, Rev. John King, in 1844, who has perpetuated his memory among us by laying out and giving his uame to the village of Kingston, and ultimately to the church. Mr. King still lives, at an advanced age, in Arkansas. Rev. William Stryker supplied the church from about 1852 to 1856. Rev. H. M. Shockley, who became minister about 1857, is remembered as an agreeable young man, of excellent social qualities and a favorite with young people Rev. Van Nuys was the last pastor, supplying the church during the first years of the war.
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