USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Manual of the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, together with a history of the same, from its organization in July, 1823, to November 12, 1876 > Part 2
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Theological Seminary at Princeton, at the age of 18; but ill health, growing out of injudicious medical treat- ment during a severe illness while at school, compelled him to withdraw after an attendance of eighteen months. He pursued his studies however in private. as his health permitted, and in 1828, was licensed by the Pre-bytery of Ebenezer. He at once took high rank a- a preacher, and the strongest hopes were en- tertained of his usefulness and success. But these hopes were soon blighted. In his extensive reading he included some infidel works, and finding himself un- able to answer some of Gibbon's arguments, and not taking into account his own youthfulness, and com. paratively small mental discipline, he imbibed doubts of the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures. With his characteristic candor. he laid the matter be- fore the Presbytery, and asked leave to surrender his license. The Presbytery could not refuse the request. but treated the case with all possible gentleness, espe- cially under the advice of a venerable member, who declared his conviction that Mr. McClung would yet see hi- error, and return. He now directed his atten- tion to the study of law, and in due time entered upon the practice of that profession, in the city of Maysville, Kentucky, where he pursued it for fifteen years. During that period he attained a prominent rank among the ablest advocates in the State, and also ren- dered valuable service in the Legislature. filling the Speaker's chair during four several terms.
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But during this period of mental activity and grow- ing reputation, his mind was not at ease as to the claims of christianity upon him. He had never been an infidel in the broad sense. He had never wholly ceased enquiry as to the divine origin of christianity, and finding nothing in the works of infidels conelusive against it, he was through all the years of his legal practice, the prey of a harrowing anxiety and doubt. But he never lost his respect for religion, nor failed to treat and speak of it with reverence. Finally, in 1848, Rev. Dr. Grundy, pastor of the church in Maysville, while preaching upon one of the points that had for- merly disturbed Mr. McClung's faith, was led to draw the bow at a venture, and send an arrow that wounded this strong man between the joints of the harness. Not so, however, as to bring him at once a willing cap- tive to the feet of Jesus, but to induce him once more to review the grounds upon which he had, long years before, surrendered his faith in the scriptures. He felt that the habits of investigation he had acquired at the bar, with his enlarged resources and increased mental discipline, would enable him to pursue such an in- vestigation, at least with more satisfaction to himself than he had done in earlier life. Ile also became ac- quainted for the first time with a work by an eminent Scotch jurist, in which Gibbon's arguments were an- swered, and his mis-quotations and sophisms exposed. Under these circumstances he addressed himself again to the great problem before him with all the power of his rapid, comprehensive and disciplined mind. The
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labors of his profession compelled him to pursue these exhausting studies, for the most part, in the hours when nature demanded repose. The "midnight oil " illumined them, and not seldom burned on until ex- tinguished by the dawn. The struggle was long and the conflict terrible. But the result was the inevitable one, when a candid and earnest seeker after truth ap- plies himself in humility and sincerity, to learn the mind of God from his revealed will. His skepticism vanished ; a light beyond the brightness of the sun shone round about him ; the scales fell from his eyes, and his prostrated soul put forth the agonizing cry, " Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" With the re- turn of his early faith, his early convictions of duty also returned, although it was a pecuniary sacrifice of no small extent to relinquish the income his profession was yielding. But he was not one to count the cost, where convictions of duty were concerned. He ap- plied to Presbytery for license to preach the gospel. He was licensed accordingly, and returned to the work of the ministry, with more than his old-time zeal and earnestness, first as a temporary supply of one of the churches of the city of Louisville. His ministrations took strong hold of the public mind at once, and at the close of that temporary engagement, he accepted the Call of this church.
To those of you who were privileged to enjoy his ministry, the characteristics of it are freshly borne in mind. You remember his plain, direct, colloquial style, never obscuring the simplicity of the gospel in the
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vanity of a showy rhetoric, but always presenting the thought, with clearness and force. As he had him- self passed through a terrible spiritual conflict, his discourses, to a great degree, took their complexion from it. They were, perhaps imperceptibly on his part, largely addressed to the skeptical mind, and often em- bodied an affluence of scripture knowledge of massive logie, and fervent appeal that could not fail to shake the citadel of unbelief. He also delighted in the dis covery of correlations between the Old Testament and the New, and some of his expositions of that kind were striking and attractive in the extreme. In the winter of 1854-5, he devoted the Sabbath evening ser- vices for several weeks to a course of lectures on the prophecy of Daniel, which filled the old church to re- pletion. and elicited profound interest in the commu- nity.
But failing health compelled him in 1855, to resign his charge, to which, after long hesitation, the church gave a reluctant assent. A winter in the South, be- fore resigning his charge, failed to benefit him. and on withdrawing from this church, he resolved to try the cold dry and bracing air of Minnesota. That climate so far restored him that he felt able after a respite of a year or two, to resume the ministry, and was unani- mously invited to the pastoral charge of the church of May-ville, Kentucky, and was installed in June, 1857. His labors were largely blessed in an increase both of the membership and the spirituality of the church ; and the singular compliment was frequently paid him
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by the ministers of other denominations, of dispensing with their own Sabbath evening services, that they and their congregations might enjoy the privilege of hear- ing him.
But after an earnest and faithful ministry of two years there, his health again became precarious, and a period of rest and recreation indispensible. He ac- cordingly left home on the 3d of August, 1859, and on Friday the 5th, arrived at Tonawanda, a village on the Niagara River, about nine miles above the Falls, intend. ing to spend the Sabbath there. But learning there was no Presbyterian church in that village, he started on Saturday afternoon, the 6th, to walk to the town of Niagara, as is supposed, with a view of spending the Sabbath there. Being an expert swimmer, and much addicted to bathing in cold water, the clear broad stream beside his path. hell out an invitation he could not resist. He was a stranger in that locality, and no friendly voice was at hand to warn him that those still waters flowed with invincible power, as if gathering strength for their final plunge. He entered the stream. What followed then-whether some physical debility paralyzed him, or whether after a vigorous and manly struggle with the mighty current he was finally over- come, or what thoughts coursed through his brain when a sense of his awful situation flashed upon him- can never be known. This only is known. He was swept on and over that fearful cataract, and his bruised and larcerated body was, some days after, rescued from the whirling eddies miles below, and committed
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to the grave by stranger hands. Not there to rest, however ; loving friends of his congregation traced out his obscure grave, and bore his honored remains to their final rest, amid the scenes of his youth, and of the labors of his latest years.
Dr. McClung's connection with this church ceased in October, 1855, and it was without a pastor, though not without almost regular supplies for the pulpit, until December, 1856. In the meantime, Calls had been given to two ministers; one to Rev. Alexander R. Thompson, of Staten Island, New York, who intimated his acceptance, but felt constrained to withdraw it on account of the destruction by fire of his library, manu- scripts and most of his personal property. The other to Rev. Robert S. Hitchcock, of Baltimore, who filled the pulpit several Sabbaths, but declined the Call.
In November, 1856, Rev. (now Dr.) Thomas M. Cun- ningham, of Carrondolet, Missouri, a minister of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, having re- solved to change his relation, visited us by invitation, and spent several Sabbaths. On the 12th of December, a unanimous Call was made for his pastoral services, which, after some delay, owing to other Calls made to him, he accepted, and was installed on the 7th of May, 1857. He was in the vigor of his manhood, fervid and impassioned in his style of preaching, and at times profoundly impressive. His ministry was owned of God, and large accessions were made to the member- ship, especially from among the young, and for the first time the need of a larger house of worship began to
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be perceived and discussed. Dr. Cunningham with- drew in May, 1860, after a service of three years, hav- ing accepted a call to the South Church of Chicago. Subsequently, he was settled for several years over the Alexander Church of Philadelphia, where his labors were also greatly blest. He is now the useful and ef- ficient pastor of the Central Church of San Francisco.
During Dr. Cunningham's pastorate, (in 1859,) it was deemed expedient to establish a German Presby- terian Church. By the aid of a legacy left for benevo- lent purposes by Mr. Benjamin J. Blythe, a former deacon of the church, a lot was purchased on South New Jersey Street, and a neat brick building erected. The legacy of Mr. Blythe was supplemented by dona- tions from this church, and the enterprise was set on foot even to the installation of a German pastor, with in- dications of permanence and usefulness. It was styled the " Fifth Presbyterian Church, German." From causes not necessary to specify here, the hopes that were formed of the success and usefulness of this enterprise, were not realized, and after a trial of about two years, it was abandoned, the property sold, and the proceeds converted to other benevolent and religious uses.
Dr. Cunningham's pastorate closed as already stated, in May, 1860, and the church remained vacant until the following January, when Rev. J. Howard Nixon, of the Presbytery of Newcastle, responded to a Call addressed to him in the previous December, and entered upon his labors. Owing, however, to precarious health, he did not fully accept the Call until after three
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months' service, and his installation took place on the 17th of April, 1861. As a very considerable number of you enjoyed the privilege of sitting under his ministry, it is not necessary to speak of it at length. You re- member that his sermons were rich in evangelical truth, sound and instructive in their bearing on christian doctrine, in their practical relations always fresh and appropriate, and the thoughts clothed in eloquent and impressive language. God's truth as dispensed from the lips of this able preacher did not return unto him void. The average annual increase of mem- bership during his pastorate, was greater than in that of any former one; and as the population of the city experienced a very rapid increase also dur- ing that period, it is almost certain the membership of the church would have been still more enlarged, if more sitting room had been available. It was com- mon in those days to decline applications for sittings because there were none to grant. This state of things could not be allowed to continue. Accordingly, meas- ures that had to some extent been discussed during Dr. Cunningham's pastorate, looking to an enlarge- ment of the building in front, were again brought up and after full examination, with plans and estimates were decided to be inexpedient. At a congregational meeting held on the 16th of March, 1863, it was ac- cordingly resolved to erect a new house of worship upon the same site, enlarging it by purchase of two lots adjoining on the north. The plan thus formed was, perhaps providentially, delayed in the execution,
1
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by the disturbed state of the community, growing out of the war, and by the rapid increase in the price of building material and labor. After the lapse of one year. it was thought practicable to commence active operations, and in the meantime it had become appar- ent that business was encroaching upon the "Circle," that the current of population was setting northward, and that the old site was no longer desirable for the same purposes. At a congregational meeting held on the 8th of March, 1864, the subject was fully discussed, the present site was recommended. and information given that it could be purchased for 822,500. The
meeting approved the site, and ordered the purchase.
In the following year the church property was sold to the printing and publishing firm of Holloway, Doug- lass & Co., for $Is,000, with reservation of the bell, pews and furniture, and the privilege of continuing occupancy until the first of April, 1866. On that day, being the Sabbath, Mr. Nixon preached a discourse embracing the history of the church from its organiza- tion to that time. The afternoon was devoted to a Sabbath School commemoration. Mr. James M. Ray presented a written narrative of that branch of the church work from the beginning; the School of the Third Church, with its teachers and officers uniting in the exercises. In the evening a re-union of this and the Third Church was held; the services were of an informal character, and several of the older members of churches of other denominations took part in them.
These were the last religious services in the old
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church, and celebrated the exodus of the congregation from its walls, after an occupancy of twenty-three years. The work of demolition was begun on the fol- lowing day, and in a very short time not one stone was left upon another, of what was, in its day, the largest and finest house of worship in the State.
In the meantime, the new chapel, or Lecture Room, had been begun and carried forward almost to comple- tion. For two Sabbaths the congregation were like sheep without a fold, having no place of assemblage, but on April 22d, 1866,* that building was so far com- pleted as to admit of occupancy, and on that day the congregation assembled within its walls for the first time, the Sabbath School, according to the original · plan of the building, meeting in the second story. The corner-stone of the main edifice, was laid on July 23d of the same year, with appropriate ceremonies, in which the other Presbyterian pastors took part, and also several ministers of the Baptist, Methodist, and Lutheran denominations. From that time the build- ers' task was carried forward as rapidly as possible, and
the sacred edifice was formally opened for public wor- ship by a sermon from the pastor, on December 29th, 1867 .* For financial reasons, the dedication was de- ferred until April 24th, 1870, when another pastor was occupying the pulpit; the dedication sermon being preached by Rev. Dr. Davidson, of Hamilton, Ohio.
The building committee to whom this enterprise
"This date was given incorrectly in the MANUAL of 1870, and also in that of 1874.
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was entrusted were, Thomas H. Sharpe, Robert Brown- ing, Jeremiah MeLene, Addison L. Roache, William Sheets, James W. Brown, John M. Lord, James M. Ray, Thomas MacIntire and James Greene. Mr Thos. V. Wadskeir, of Chicago, was the Architect, and the whole cost of building and ground, $104,117.74.
While the erection of this noble house was in progress, it was deemed expedient to establish a Sab- bath School in a very needy locality, in the South- eastern part of the city. Mr. William E. Craig, a mem- ber of the Session, took charge of the enterprise, and so great was the success attending it, that very soon the way was open for the organization of a church. Mr. Calvin Fletcher and his associates in the ownership of lots in that part of the town, presented two for the. site of a building; the estate of Dr. Coe presented $500, and the congregation subscribed $2,800, for the erection of it, and before our old house was vacated, a neat, substantial frame church had been erected, and which it has since been found necessary to enlarge. The organization is now known as the Seventh Presby- terian Church, with a membership of 300, and a Sab- bath school of 493, under the efficient pastoral charge of Rev. Charles H. Raymond. When statistics were gathered for our Semi-centennial Sabbath School cele- bration in 1873, the school of the Seventh Church was found to number 324 scholars, being much the largest Presbyterian School in the city, and the largest but one of any denomination.
The health of the pastor, Rev. Mr. Nixon, had be-
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come so much impaired that soon after the completion of this house, he asked leave of absence for six months for the purpose of a sea-voyage, and a visit to Europe. Consent was given, and the pastor left in February, 1868, the pulpit being ably filled in his absence, by Rev. J. F. Dripps, a licentiate. Mr. Nixon returned and resumed his duties on the 11th of October, but without the full benefit to his health he had hoped to derive from rest and travel. lle toiled on however, with the " thorn" of ill health rankling in his flesh, until February, 1869, when he felt constrained to cease pastoral work, and request a dissolution of the relation. The church, with great regret, yielded to the necessity, and the pastoral relation was dissolved on the 14th of . April, 1869, having been as already stated, the longest of any in the history of this church, except that of Dr. Gurley. It is gratifying to be able to state that change of climate and several years' cessation for the most part from ministerial work have wrought so great an improvement in Dr. Nixon's health, (that degree having been conferred upon him since leaving here,) that he has recently taken the pastoral charge of the Central Church, of Wilmington, Delaware.
During Dr. Nixon's ministry, in 1866, Messrs. Ben- jamin Harrison, Myron A. Stowell and William E. Craig, were added to the Session ; the last, a native of Scotland, has returned, in impaired health, to his native land.
Our next pastor, was Rev. Robert D. Harper, D. D., previously of the United Presbyterian Church, of
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Xenia, Ohio. He was called on the 22d of April, 1869, entered upon his labors here on the loth of May, and was installed on the 19th of October following; so that the pulpit was vacant only about one month. Dr. Harper's ministry is so recent, and so many of the pres- ent members of the congregation were among his ap- preciative hearers and warm personal friends, that it is not necessary to speak of it at length. It is sufficient to say that he was sound and evangelical in his exposi- tions of truth, warmly interested in his work, possessed of many of the graces and charms of pulpit oratory. and of marked courtesy and affability of demeanor. Although no special revival occurred under his ministry it was not barren of results, nor without the visible seal of the divine favor. He tendered his resignation on February 23d. 1871, after a ministry of less than two years-the shortest thus far in the history of the church-and accepted a Call to the North Broad Street Church, of Philadelphia.
During Dr. Harper's pastorate, a corps of teachers from this church assumed the care of a missionary field in the North-east part of the city, where the Metho- dists had planted a Sabbath School, which they called the "Saw Mill Mission," but had abandoned it. Under the diligent culture of that band of workers, and with generous pecuniary aid afforded by one of the elders of this church. the humble Missionary School has grown into the Ninth Presbyterian Church, with a membership of 131, and Sabbath School of 387, now under the pastoral charge of Rev. L. Faye Walker-
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being the fourth healthful and promising daughter of this venerable mother.
During the same ministry, in the year 1870, the congregation purchased this noble organ, not only as an aid to the songs of the sanctuary, but also as their grateful " Memorial" testimony to the favor of God be- stowed upon the church at large in the re-union of the branches known as the Old and the New School.
The vacancy left by Dr. Harper's withdrawal in February, 1871, continued until June of the same year. During that time, the Session was again enlarged by the election of Messrs. James W. Brown, Jeremiah Mc Lene, Isaac C. Hays, L. B. Walker and Asahel D. Benham. These brethren, together with Mr. Robert Browning, who was elected to the same office in No- vember previous, were ordained on the 9th of April, 1871, by Rev. L. G. Hay. Mr. Hays subsequently with- drew to the Memorial Church, and Messrs. Walker and Benham have removed from the city.
Rev. Jeremiah P. E. Kumler, of Evansville, Indiana, was called to the pastoral charge in June, 1871. He accepted the Call, and entered upon his work on the second Sabbath of July ; with the consent of the con- gregation, however, that he should carry out the ar- rangements he had made for a summer vacation. He returned and resumed his labors on the 12th of August, and was formally installed on the first of October fol- lowing. Although the time seems long since his de- parture, as it has been for the most part a period of silent Sabbaths, it has not been long enough to efface
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from your minds, remembrance of his earnest, devoted ministry. He continued with us a few months less than four years, but the results of that brief ministry are not below the average of his predecessors. In the proceedings had when the question of assent to his withdrawal came up, the congregation resolved, that the contemplated movement on his part was regarded with regret and heart-felt sorrow; that he had en- deared himself to the community as well as to the church, as a christain teacher, adviser and friend, and had, in a pre-eminent degree, illustrated the beauty, the power, and the usefulness of an earnest and rug- ged christian character ; that as a preacher of evangel- ical truth, he had proven himself not only rich in Biblical learning, but fruitful in thought and suggestion. and above all, most eloquently earnest. It is, there- fore, not singular that the congregation declined assent to Mr. Kumler's request for a dissolution of the pas- toral relation, and took measures to have that dissent most ably and eloquently advocated before the Presby- tery. Mr. Kumler's convictions, however, pointed in another direction, and the church finally, at a subsequent meeting of the Presbytery, on the 14th of September, 1875, signified their assent, perforce, and the relation was dissolved accordingly. Mr. Kumler accepted a Call from the Third Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, in which he is still laboring with his accustomed zeal and energy.
A Committee of Supply, as usual, was appointed after Mr. Kumler's withdrawal, to search out and re-
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commend a pastor. Their first measure was to hear Rev. James H. Brookes, D. D., of St. Louis, and the result of their visit was, that in October. 1875, the con- gregation gave him a unanimous Call. Circumstances in his own charge prevented him from giving a prompt and decisive reply, but in December he visited us and spent one week of active and appreciated labor, preaching or conducting informal services every day and evening, in this and other churches. After his return home, the congregation voted a renewal of the Call, which was subsequently enforced by visits from some members of the Committee, and extended cor- respondence. But the result of the whole was that in February of the present year, the Call was answered with a final negative. Since that time the Committee has diligently discharged its office, but with the sad- dening result thus far of not finding a pastor accepta- ble to the entire congregation.
What nowªremains to be said is chiefly in the way of summary ; and first of all, mention should be made of the fact that this church, in its very early infancy, adopted a plan of systematic contribution to the Boards and benevolent operations of the church at large. And though it is not pretended that it has, through all the half century of its existence, done its whole duty in that regard, or always given as the Lord has prospered it, it may be truthfully asserted that it has never lost sight of that duty, nor entirely failed in the performance of it, despite the repeated "panics," the distractions wrought by war, and the oft recurring
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