USA > Indiana > Ohio County > Rising Sun > Historical sketch of Rising Sun, Indiana, and the Presbyterian church : A fortieth anniversary discourse, delivered Sept. 15, 1856 > Part 3
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This view was in harmony with the convictions of a large and influen- tial portion of the citizens of Rising Sun; and, in 1828, they projected and executed a plan for an institution of learning of a high order. In the spring of 1828, Rev. Lucius Alden, a Missionary from Massachusetts, came West. He located first in Aurora, years before a Presbyterian Church was organized in that flourishing town, and preached regularly in Aurora, in Randolph Township, and Ceaser Creek Township. Mr. Alden was urged to remove to Rising Sun, and take charge of the Church and the contemplated seminary. He consented, and entered upon his joint duties as pastor and teacher in the autumn of 1828; the seminary, in the meantime, having been erected by the enterprise of the citizens. In his first report to the American Home Missionary Society, he says : "A num- ber of the members of our congregation have recently united in erect- ing a commodious edifice of brick, forty by twenty, and two stories high, to be occupied as a seminary of learning. It is situated in Rising Sun, a village in Randolph Township, on the Ohio river, containing between 300 and 400 inhabitants."
This seminary has been a fountain of intelligence and good influences to this and other places. Many of the most useful and active young men and ladies of this place were here educated and fitted for the duties of life. It has been under the administration of some of the most success- ful educators and ministers of the age and country. Rev. L. Alden, Ebenezer N. Elliott, Thomas E. Thomas, D. D., Rev. B. F. Clark, Rev. Joseph Porter, missionary to India, Rev. Colin Mckinney, Daniel D. Pratt, a distinguished lawyer of Logansport, who married the eldest daugh- ter of Col. Pinckney James, William P. White, from Massachusetts, now one of the principal merchants of this place, Rev. Mr. Barwick, of the · Methodist Church, Rev. William H. Moore, a son of a pioneer and former
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pastor, of the other Presbyterian Church and others, were Principals of the Seminary, and shared in the work of educating the youth of this city. This seminary was a school for both sexes from 1828 till 1854, when it was purchased by the Trustees of the Presbyterian Church, and refitted and furnished for a female seminary of the highest grade. Under the able superintendence of Miss Anna R. Fitch (now Mrs. David G. Rabb), the school became prosperous, and its character established at home and abroad. The good accomplished by that Seminary, during nearly thirty years of existence, is incalculable.
Mr. Alden continued to labor as pastor and teacher until the beginning of the year 1832. He preached every alternate Sabbath to this and the Hopewell congregation in Ripley County, a distance of fifteen miles, which he generally walked. He was a 'laborious and a successful work- man. In 1829, he reported 25 Sabbath-schools, 2,000 scholars; 18 Sab- bath-school libraries in Dearborn and parts of Switzerland and Ripley Counties ; also Bible classes, two Bible societies, and a county temperance society. In 1830, he reported 30 added to the Hopewell Church; a Bible and Tract Society organized, 18 Sabbath-schools, with 1,068 scholars, and 2,500 volumes in libraries. As a faithful minister and a Christian educator his labors and influence have been effective in extensive good to all the highest interests of Rising Sun and vicinity. He still lives in Massachusetts, and is engaged in the noble work of Chris- tian education and the ministry.
In October, 1831, Rev. William Lewis became the pastor of Rising Sun and Hopewell churches. An event of great importance took place during his pastorate. Hitherto the congregation had no house in which to worship. The Ark of God, as of old, was moved from place to place, this little tribe of Israel following it whithersoever it was carried,-into school-houses, shops, private houses, in the woods, and sometimes into the Methodist chapel. It needed a resting-place. Rev. Mr. Lewis and a few faithful co- laborers said, "We will arise and build." God blessed their efforts, and, in 1832, this plain and comfortable structure, sixty by forty, was erected, made ready for the public worship of God, and on the 22d of February, 1834, it was formally and solemnly dedicated to God, and here the Ark of the Covenant has rested ever since.
His pastorate was blessed and eminently useful. Bible classes, Sabbath- schools, Temperance, Educational, Bible and Tract societies were vigorously prosecuted, and a large number added to the churches. On the 13th of June, 1832, he ordained John Lareu and Philemon P. Baldwin, ruling Elders, and on the 27th of October, 1833, David Fisher and John Mc- Knight to the same office, John H. Scott and William H. McGuffey, Pro- fessors in Miami University, assisting in the service. In 1834, February 22d, the session passed the following resolution : "That we will hereafter receive no person to our communion who will not agree to abstain from the use of ardent spirits, except as a medicine."
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In the autumn of 1834, Mr. Lewis removed to Dartown, Butler county, Ohio, and took charge of a small Presbyterian Church, formed from the fruits of a gracious revival that followed from a Sabbath-school and a prayer-meeting sustained in a school-house, in a dense forest, between Dartown and Oxfor :, by the author of this discourse and a fellow-student from Alabama, while pursuing our collegiate studies at Oxford, in 1831 and 1832. How striking and instructive are the Providences of God. Mr. Lewis leaves the Rising Sun Church to watch over the tender vine at Dartown, and after the lapse of 10 years, that then young disciple becomes the pastor of the flock left by Mr. Lewis. On the 15th April, 1834, he put this record on the session book : " The relation sustained by the Rev. Wm. Lewis, to this Church, as stated supply, is this day dissolved, after a pleasant, and we trust, profitable existence of two and a half years. May the blessings of heaven rest on this precious flock." After a short sojourn with the Church at Dartown, he returned to Rising Sun, where he remained till 1836, engaged in laboring for the Teachers' Seminary.
He left this place in 1836, with consumption upon him, and reached the parental home, at Throopville, New York, where he died. His monument bears this inscription :
" Rev. William Lewis, jr.,-after his course of preparatory studies in Williams' College and Auburn Theological Seminary, and successfully devoting himself to the cause of Education, Temperance and Piety, in Canada, New York, Indiana and Ohio,-went home to God, 4th of April, 1838, aged 36 years. From the Bible Class his interest in religion began ; his faith and character were formed on the Bible, and he went down into the dark valley, saying, ' All is light.' He toiled here in faith and tears, but he heard the ' Well done, good and faithful servant,' and entered into the joy of his Lord."
His wife was a sister of Dr. Elias Cornelius, whose praise is in all the churches. She died in this city on the 13th of July, 1835, and her grave is in the city cemetery. "Mary Lewis," says her most intimate friend Mrs. Dr. Haines, " was ardently pious, zealous for the advancement of the cause of her Redeemer, and untiring in her efforts to assist her husband in his arduous duties. She possessed in a remarkable degrec the faculty of prompting and leading others to exert themselves in acts of systematic benevolence. She was in every respect a Christian lady."
In 1836 an effort was made to establish in this place an institution of learning, called the Indiana Teachers' Seminary. The Rev. William Twining, a gentleman of means and of enlarged benevolence, from the East, began the enterprise, first at Madison ; but in March, 1836, the Seminary was re-located at Rising Sun. The library, apparatus, and other property belonging to the institution were removed, and the school ordered to be opened on the second Monday of April, 1836. Rev. William Lewis, as agent of the trustees, visited the East, and collected $500 in cash, and some 200 volumes of miscellaneous books. The trustees were Mathias
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Haines, Basil James, Pinckney James, William Lannius, Abel C. Pepper, and Shadrach Hathaway. On the 13th of September, 1837, the Teachers' Seminary was indefinately suspended, and on the 4th of December, 1838, the property was ordered to be donated to the Rising Sun Seminary, except that part of the library which was strictly theological, which was donated to the Presbyterian Church, for a Church library.
On the 18th of July, 1835, Rev. Charles L. Bartlett was called to the charge of the congregation. Two important events occurred during his administration; the first was a colony from the Church, to form the Pres- byterian Pleasant Ridge Church. " According to the wish of those mem- bers of Rising Sun Presbyterian Church living in the country, and the instructions of Oxford Presbytery, a new Presbyterian Church was organ- ized, April 23, 1836, by Rev. William Lewis and Charles L. Bartlett." It was organized in Isaac Clark's barn, near where the brick Presbyterian Church now stands.
The second event was one of tender interest and importance. Harriet Athearn, daughter of the venerable Christian parents who are here to-day, was married to Joseph Porter, in this church, on Sabbath evening the 24th of September, 1835. They became Missionaries to Northern India, under the patronage of the Assembly's Board of Missions, and sailed from Philadelphia on the 25th of November, 1835, in the ship Charles Whar- ton, bound for Calcutta. During the voyage, of eight months, a remark - able revival occurred, in which the captain and some twenty sailors were converted. February 9th, 1836, Mrs. Porter makes this record in her journal : " Latitude 38º 39' South, Longitude 66° 56' West. The good work is progressing! O that the Lord would carry it on until every soul on board this ship shall be engaged in His service ! It is quite calm, but we have no wish to go forward while the gales of the Spirit are blowing. O that I could have such good news from my beloved Rising Sun, that there was a revival of religion there !"
They arrived in Calcutta in June, 1836, and from that city she writes to her parents : "I do not regret leaving my home and friends, for I left them to do my Master's service. We are sojourning in the house in which good old Dr. Cary lived and died, and in the room in which he used to study. We visited his tomb, and also his garden. There he spent his hours of meditation. It is a beautiful place. The garden and the grounds around the cottage and house of Dr. Cary are kept in repair out of respect to his memory." Mr. and Mrs. Porter were stationed in Lodi- ana, Northern India, where they passed from missionary labors to their reward in heaven. Mrs. Porter died on the 10th of March, 1842, and Mr. Porter on the 21st of November, 1853. They left two sons, one of whom is an active. young member of this church and Sabbath-school.
During Mr. Bartlett's pastorate, the record of the Church has the follow- ing resolutions : " At a meeting of the members of the Presbyterian Church of this place, Jan. 13, 1837, it was unanimously resolved, That it is mor-
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rally wrong for any member of the Church to allow their children to attend a dancing-school." And on the 26th of January, 1837, the Session ; resolved, " That in the opinion of this Session, no person ought to be here- after admitted as a teacher in the Sabbath-school connected with this Church who is a member of a dancing-school."
In August, 1838, James F. Clark became the pastor. It was during his connection with the congregation that the division in the Presbyterian Church, in the United States, transpired. The Session of this Church, on the 8th of July, 1839, recorded the following preamble and resolution : " Whereas, it is desirable that this Church, under present circumstances, belong to one or the other divisions, permanently ; and as the Church has ever been, and still is (as is believed) by sentiment and interest attached to that division called the Constitutional division ; therefore,
" Resolved, That we recognize the Presbytery of Cincinnati as the Judi- catory to which we belong, and in which we will act, according to the act of the Synod of Cincinnati, which united Oxford and Cincinnati Presby- teries under the name of Cincinnati Presbytery." David Fisher, an Elder, dissented from this resolution.
On the 22nd of April, 1840, the wife of Rev. Mr. Clarke died, and was buried in the city cemetery. She was a lady of a highly cultivated mind, gentle in her deportment, and beloved by all who knew her.
From September, 1840, till July, 1841, the Church had no regular preaching. Rev. D. Howe Allen, D. D., now president of Lane Theologi- cal Seminary, and whose influence and labors have exerted a permanent and extensive good throughout our Western churches, and on Christian education, preached in Rising Sun, in March, 1841, and ordained John T. Whitlock and Robt. G. Yonge as ruling Elders in the Church.
On the 27th of July, 1841, the Church elected Rev. James Adger pas- tor. Madison Presbytery met in the Presbyterian church of Rising Sun on the 15th of September, 1841, and on the evening of the next day James Adger was ordained and installed. Rev. James M. Dickey preached the sermon ; Rev. James E. Johnson gave the charge to the pastor ; Rev. James Morrison the charge to people. On the 11th of November, 1842, one year and two months after Mr. Adger's installation, the pastoral rela- tion was dissolved. Mr. Adger is the only installed Pastor the Church has had during its forty years existence.
Rev. James Brownlee labored as stated supply from January, 1843, till January, 1844. Two other ministers deserve a record in this historical sketch ; James M. Dickey was a veteran pioneer minister and missionary in Indiana. For nearly fo ty years he labored in the work of the minis- try, preaching to scattered sheep in the wilderness, 'and organizing. Churches. He was an eminently useful and holy man, and the Presby- terian Church, and our common Christianity in Indiana, are greatly indebted to him for their enlargement and influence. He was a sound Biblical scholar and preacher, a safe counselor and guide in all ecclesias-
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tical matters, and a holy, devoted man of God. He was venerated and beloved by his co-presbyters, among whom he always sat at every Pres- bytery and Synod, and by his congregation at New Washington, over which he was the faithful pastor for 28 years. Father Dickey often visited this Church, to bless and encourage it by his prayers and preaching. He died at New Washington, Clark county, Indiana, in 1850.
Another still living can, from twenty-five years of ministerial labor in the West, claim to be a pioneer and a father in the churches of Indiana. His labors in this and the State of Ohio have been greatly blessed, and " his praise is in all the churches." He has watched over this church with prayerful solicitude, and in its destitution has labored perseveringly to obtain it good pastors. Rev. Henry Little, for twenty-five years Agent of the American Home Missionary Society, we welcome you, honored brother, to this Fortieth Anniversary Jubilee. May you witness many such scenes in churches planted and watered by your care ; and when you go to Heaven, you will wear a bright crown, and meet multitudes from these Western Churches who shall be your joy and crown of rejoicing.
The first Sabbath of April, 1844, B. F. Morris occupied the pulpit ; He came to supply the Church for a single Sabbath, without any expecta- tion of becoming its pastor. An entire stranger to all, he preached to a small congregation, and after service, an Elder was asked who sent that man here-God, was the answer, to be our minister. That interview re- sulted in Mr. Morris being called to the pastorate of the Church, which continued twelve years and six months, when, on the second Sabbath of October, 1856, he voluntarily resigned, and removed to Connersville, Indiana.
During his pastorate, much was done to give extension and permaneney to the influence and usefulness of the Church. The house of worship was refitted ; the brick parsonage (the lot having been given by Rev. William Twining), was completed ; a seminary was established, and an increase of a more liberal consecration of means to carry forward the in- stitutions of the Church and of Christianity. Better than all, God was with the Church by his Spirit, and several revivals were enjoyed.
In February, 1845, for twenty-five consecutive days, a series of meetings were held, two each day, which resulted in the hopeful conversion of some twenty souls, and in greatly quickening the Church. Rev. Richard De Forest, an Evangelist from Rochester, New York, aided the pastor in this important work. In February, 1846, a series of meetings, continuing ten days, resulted in the conversion of some fifteen souls, among whom were some prominent citizens of the place. In 1846, Mathias Haines and George Beatty were ordained Eiders. In December, 1855, a series of meet- ings continued all that month, and over the first Sabbath of January, which were greatly blessed of God, in the conversion of more than twenty souls. Rev. W. W. Atterbury, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Madison, by his labors and faithful preaching gave essential aid in securing the import-
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ant results of this revival. Its scenes will be remembered by all who mingled in them.
During the pastorate of Mr. Morris, eighty-one were received on a pub- lic profession of their faith, and twenty-one by letter. Some are here to-day, giving the key note to this Jubilee; others have entered into the rest of Heaven. The influence of the Church has extended on different and distant parts of the country. Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, California and India, have received Christian families and laborers from this Church, to enrich and bless them. A handful of corn has shaken with the fruits of Lebanon.
Since the organization of the Church, there have been received 276 members ; 111 by letter, and 165 by examination ; the present number is ninety-two.
The officers of the Church have been as follows :
TRUSTEES.
Mathias Haines,
Samuel Jelly,
John McKnight,
William Lanius,
George Beatty,
Henry James,
Robert G. Yonge,
John T. Whitlock,
Israel Loring,
Israel Evans,
D. G. Rabb,
William T. Pepper,
Hugh Espey.
ELDERS.
Names.
When Elected.
Names. · When Elected.
James Stewart,
1816
Joseph Warnock,
1817
William McCord,
1816
John Lareu, 1832
Hugh Espey, Jr.,
1816
Philemon P. Baldwin, 1832
David Fisher,
1833
Robert G. Yonge, 1841
John McKnight,
1833
John T. Whitlock, 1841
Mathias Haines,
1846
George Beatty,
1846
The Synod of Indiana, numbering about sixty ministers and seventy Churches, held its annual session with this Church in October, 1854. It was a season of profitable interest to the congregation and the citizens.
The Christian history of Rising Sun marks some special days of un- usual religious interest. The annual Thanksgiving Festival has been, for the past thirteen years, generally observed by a union meeting among the churches for worship, and by family and social reunions. During the visitation of the Cholera, in 1849, President Taylor recommended Friday, the 3d of August, as a day of fasting and prayer. It was universally ob- served by the Churches and citizens of this place. All business houses were closed, and a union service held in the Methodist Church. The religious. feeling was deep and fervent; and while adjacent towns were severely scourged, the pestilence passed entirely over this place.
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THE CHRISTIAN JUBILEE,
Commemorative of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Church, took place on Monday, the 15th of September, 1856. It was a scene of great interest and enjoyment. The pioneers of the city and vicinity and the Presby- terian congregation, in reunion with former members, and many from the different congregations, united in the festivities. A number of ministers were also present, to add interest to the Jubilee : Henry Little, Agent of the A. H. M. S .; H. A. Tracy, District Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M .; W. W. Atterbury, of Madison ; H. Wason, of Vevay; John C. Bonham, of Allensville ; F. E. Sheldon, of Zoar ; A. W. Freeman, of Aurora; Father Collard and John Lewis, local ministers of the Methodist Church. The Church edifice was handsomely decorated with evergreens and appropriate mottoes, and filled with a crowded audience to listen to this Historical Discourse. A Pioneer, Mr. Basil James, in giving a description of the Jubilee, in the city paper, says : " It will be remembered with joy and un- speakable satisfaction by all who had the pleasure of participating in that happy event. It was the happiest assemblage that was ever congregated upon the ground. It was not a sectional gathering, for many of our friends were with us from abroad. It was not a sectarian meeting, for various religious denominations and all political parties were represented. It was, indeed, a Reunion Meeting, where every heart leaped with joy, and every bosom swelled with emotion. The number present at the Parsonage, in the afternoon and evening, must have reached into hundreds. And then the interchange of sentiment, not only in social chit-chat, but as expressed in peals of varied eloquence that fell upon the assemblage with electric power, the sweet music supplied by a group of blushing young ladies in the open air, the social mingling of the aged with the young, and the merry laugh, indicative of the forgetfulness of worldly cares, all combined to sweeten the hours, and to heighten the enjoyment of every soul present." Around the festive board, addresses were made by Dr. Jeremiah Brower, of Lawrenceburgh, Rev. Henry Little, of Madison, Col. A. C. Pepper, Dr. Mathias Haines, Dr. Basil James, and others, which, in their historical reminiscences and incidents were thrillingly interesting and instructive.
In the church, at the close of the Discourse, the congregation, led by the choir, rose and sang the following appropriate Ode, composed by Miss Caroline Campbell, a member of the Church, which a committee solicited for publication with the Discourse :
AN ODE
For the Fortieth Anniversary of the Presbyterian Church, Rising Sun, Ind., September 15th, 1856.
As travelers on the hill-top pause, The winding path review,
We progress note in Zion's cause, And then our way pursue.
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Two scores of years have passed since first God's people here were met ; And joined in mutual covenant, His church's altars set.
The vine was planted by God's hand, And watered by His grace, And by His power and love sustained, Hath blossomed to His praise.
Many have come within this fold, Of such as shall be saved, And now are tasting joys untold, In realms beyond the grave.
Alone of all that early band, One aged, pious pair, To-day around these altars stand, To join with us in prayer.
How swift have fled the passing years ! And as we scan them o'er, God's crowning grace round each appears, Increasing every hour.
With thankful hearts to-day we meet; Friends happy reunite; Fit types of that communion sweet, In realms of endless light.
Kind Shepherd, cherish still thy flock, To each thy grace impart; More zealously to do thy work, Encourage every heart.
When earthly unions have an end, Pastor and people all Shall meet where joys forever blend, And sorrows never fall.
In reaching the results which this Fortieth Anniversary commemorates, three agencies deserve an honorable and special record.
FEMALE INFLUENCE,
Faith, and piety are the creative agencies in all that gives grace and beauty to social life, or progress and strength to Christian churches. The history of this Church bears noble testimony to the fidelity of female piety, in clinging with unfaltering faith to its interests, and laboring for its enlargement. In the female prayer-meetings continued for twenty-five years ; in the varied forms of benevolent organizations and efforts, and in the constant encouragement given to the pastors, this Church and place are largely indebted to female piety. The church edifice and the parson-
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age were liberally aided in their completion by means furnished by special efforts of the ladies of the congregation. Without their co-operation, these material structures, nor this spiritual Zion, would not have risen to the glory and praise of God, nor for good to all the various interests of the Church at large.
The literature of the country and of Christian benevolence has also been enriched by the genius and writings of some of the ladies of the town. Their high intelligence and sanctified influence have imparted an elevated tone to society, and exerted a genial and molding power on all the interests of the place.
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