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 2
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"While the new church, as we have seen, was composed of a few large families living around the village and gradually spreading out on adjoining farms, the members of the older church lived mainly on the borders of the community. Gradually it suffered the fate of many country churches. Some of its wealthy members connected with the Greensburg church. Some died, inany removed to other places. Early in the sixties it had become so weak- ened that services were practically discontinued. In matters of doctrine and politics the two churches were now one, and its remaining members were about this time gradually absorbed into the sister church. To go back to the history of the seceding church, finding itself outside the Presbyterian
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fold, it sought a temporary shelter in the Congregational church. Its first minister after the division was Rev. M. H. Wilder, a Congregational minister living in Franklin county, who was engaged for one-fourth of his time, and remained a year. In 1840 the little frame church, which afterward served the community as a school-house, was built.
"Rev. Benjamin Nyce, afterward destined to fill a larger space in the church and neighborhood, was then principal of the Greensburg Seminary, and for two years supplied the church on Sundays.
" Rev. Charles Chamberlain, a young man from the East, succeeded Mr. Nyce, remaining about a year. He was popular with the congregation, and much deplored when he returned to the East, married a wife and therefore could not come back.
"The New School church had in 1838 broken off from the old, and the fathers, probably never much at home in Congregationalism, gladly united with it. Rev. Mr. Boram, formerly of the Episcopal church, and living in Greensburg, about this time supplied the church for a few months, and is only vaguely remembered. He was succeeded in 1842 by Rev. Mr. Camp- bell, who remained about a year. He was a preacher of ability, though of somewhat eccentric disposition.
"From about 1844 to 1847 Rev. Jonathan Cable supplied the church, and his wife kept a private school at their home. Mr. Cable was an energetic farmer as well as minister, and an earnest anti-slavery worker.
"Rev Benjamin Franklin, who came to the church in 1847, was an Englishman, fresh from missionary life in the West Indies. The church was now firmly established, and the community had become prosperous, and even wealthy. Nevertheless, the crude Western ways of living made a great im- pression on Mr. Franklin, especially the tobacco chewing, and he could give in after years some amusing reminiscences of those early days. He was a genial, cultivated gentleman, and with his excellent wife, was a great favorite with young and old. During his pastorate a separate church was organized at Clarksburg for the convenience of a number of members living near there. Luther Donnell was prominent in its organization, and was its first elder. In 1850 Rev. Benj. M. Nyce, who had become a son-in-law of the church by his marriage with Melissa Hamilton, again became its minister. Mr Nyce was a preacher of great originality and force. Both as a minister and principal of the school for a number of years, he left a lasting mark on the rising generation. During his ministry, in 1850 or 1851, the most radical element of the New School body seceded from it and formed the Free Pres- byterian church, which excluded from its membership all slave-holders and made war on all secret societies. With this body, which of course repre- sented the most extreme anti-slavery element, this church gladly united.
" We cannot resist the conviction that this worthy body of reformers con ained a good many cranks, and Kingston probably had its full share, both of preachers and members. But our fathers were happily unconscious of the word. They went on their way quite regardless of the ridicule or the prejudice of the outside world, with temperance and abolition written on their door-posts, reading and circulating abolition books and papers, attend- ing distant anti-slavery conventions in their old-fashioned carriages, running with great success their branch of the underground railroad, voting the most extreme reform tickets and doing their humble best to turn the world up-side-
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down. Like all reformers, their zeal was not always according to discre- tion, but they left hehind them a glorious record, the precious heritage of their children's children, down to the present generation.
"About 1854 Mr. Nyce resigned the church, and Rev. Daniel Gilmer be- came its preacher for the next three years. Mr. Gilmer was an able preacher and a forcible debater, and his interesting family of young people were a great social addition to the church. In 1857 the synod of the Free Church was held at Kingston, an occasion always much referred to. Among the more fervid orators was Rev. William Perkins, of Cincinnati. On the retirement of Mr. Gilmer, he was called to the church. He retained his home in the city, boarding round among the people a part of each week. He was a con- troversialist, a brilliant talker and a tnost persuasive borrower. No minister has preached to the church of whom so many good stories are told.
"In December, 1860, the church being once more vacant, Rev. A T. Rankin, son of Rev. John Rankin, of Ripley, entered upon his thirty years' pastorate. His ancestry, his early training, as well as his own personality, made him peculiarly acceptable to the Kingston people. Early in his min- istry the church, as we have seen, became the one united church of the neighborhood, and entered on a career of growth and prosperity before un- known. It was during this period the parsonage was built, land was added to it, large bequests were received by the church from some of the noble pioneers who had done so much to build it up, a cemetery fund was raised, and finally the present modern building replaced the old frame church. In 1870 Dr. Rankin held the most successful revival meetings in the history of the church, out of which grew in the following year the organization of the Memorial church. It was during his pastorate that a large and successful Woman's Missionary Society was organized. It is this period over which the historian of the hundredth anniversary will linger with pride, where he will vainly explore for facts and figures the failing memories of the survivors of this occasion. It will be his province, not mine, to speak of the eminent services Dr Rankin has rendered this church and community, and to pic- ture the respect and affection in which he was held during that long period by all the country around. During this period, also, the church has suffered its severest bereavements. All the pioneer fathers and mothers, save two, who had borne the burden and heat of the day for more than a half century, 'fell on sleep,' and were carried one after another from the old frame church and laid to rest in the cemetery across the road. They were a noble ancestry, of sterling intelligence, frugal in their lives, devoted to every reform, always rich toward God and the church. With all due respect for the present and all due hope for the future, we say, Kingston church will never look upon their like again.
From 1890 to 1892 Rev. J. A. Liggitt was pastor of this church. From August, 1892, to January, 1894, all too brief a time, Rev. Harry Nyce, son of Rev. Benjamin Nyce, was with us, and in October, 1894, Rev. R. A. Bartlett became our minister, and long may he go in and out before us. The events of these years are too recent to need recalling here. These brethren are all young men, and can well afford to wait until the hundredth anniversary to hear their eulogies from some more gifted pen. We trust they may come back to us from places of honor and influence to grace the occasion with their eloquence and their gray hairs and exchange reminiscences of this day
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with the well-preserved old gentlemen and old ladies who will still survive it. It will be for the chidren and young people of to-day to see that that anniversary finds here still strong and vigorous the church which their great grandfathers planted seventy-five years ago, amid so many hardships, and which their grandfathers and fathers have loved and tended till to-day.
"CAMILLA DONNELL."
Through mistake this well prepared paper of Mr. Everett Hamilton was not read until Sabbath.
OUR CHURCH EDIFICES-THE FINANCIAL RECORD.
"On anniversary occasions the one who indulges in anecdote and re- miniscence may be allowed some latitude for the play of his fancy, and of incidents grown dimmer and dimmer by passing years, this latitude may widen and widen until it knows no bounds, but the one who writes history, if nothing else, must be truthful, and the story of transactions that have occurred and events that have happened beyond the memory of the living, should be verified by records that have been made and preserved.
"At the outset of this undertaking we are met with a difficulty in the scanty records to be found, for while those who have gone before us builded wisely and well, they kept no formal record of preliminary proceedings or financial outlays. The story then of the financial achievements of this church must consist of a simple narrative of its journey from the old log meeting house to the present edifice, as gleaned from the recollections of the living.
"There is, however, in an old session book, some records of church ex- penses and contributions to benevolence, which on account of their age may be interesting, and may also serve as a further introduction to this story.
"We copy from the old book:
" 'The following is here transcribed for the sake of preservation: On settlement with Robert B. Donnell and James Thomson, collectors for the Sand Creek congregation, the sum of $572.9334 has been received in dis- charge of the pecuniary obligation of the call which I hold from said con- gregation up to the beginning of the year, January, 1829. The deficit of $27.0614 is hereby relinquished to the credit of said congregration, so that this instrument shall be considered a clear receipt for three years up to January 1, 1829.
" 'Witness my hand this 9th day of January, 1830.
" 'SAMUEL G. LOWRY.'
"It is not an uncharitable reflection on the benevolence of the Rev. Samuel G. Lowry, considering the meagerness of his salary, to credit the belief that probably the reason he relinquished the deficit was because the resources of the collectors were exhausted.
"This entry also appears:
" 'The following is transcribed for the same reason as above: Agree- able to the settlement this day made with the collectors of the Sand Creek church, I hereby acknowledge the receipt of $632.50 for the years 1829-1830. 1831 and half of the year 1832.
" 'Signed August 25th, 1832.
" 'SAMUEL G. LOWRY.'
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"It will be seen from this that Mr. Lowry received for the years men- tioned $180.87 per anumn, and that the services of a pastor, like other com- modities of that period, were obtained at very reasonable rates.
"The entries in the old session book of the benevolent contributions for the inspection of Presbytery are also interesting. From October, 1827, to October, 1828, seventy-five cents were contributed to Presbytery; in 1828, $3.00 for commissioners' fund; in 1830, $3.00 for commissioners' fund and $10.00 for theological seminary; in 1831, $3.00 for commissioners' fund and $40.00 for education.
"Having exhausted the old session book, let us consider for a little while the log meeting house, which we are told was erected in 1826, and probably stood on the highest point of ground directly west of the present edifice, in the cemetery inclosure. We would very naturally picture this structure as very crude, and to harmonize it with the cabins of the pioneers, would have it built of round logs with a clap-board roof held fast by ridge poles, and so generally finished as to let the weather in and keep the sunshine out, but we are told by one who remembers it well, that in appearance it was respectable, being built of poplar logs, nicely hewn with chinks well and neatly pointed. We are also told that when it was no longer needed as a house of worship, it was sold to John Hopkins, who it seems had a propensity for buying old buildings and moving them on his farm. The transaction caused one of his neighbors to remark that 'Uncle Jack's punishment in the next world would be in seeing old buildings scattered around and that he would not be pre- mitted to move them '
"The second edifice, erected in 1836, was a brick and stood to the north in the same inclosure. The brick work was let William Walters, who lived on a farm now owned by Henry Metz. The brick were made on his place and hauled to the building site. The carpenter work went to a man named Gerhart, and the two largest subscriptions for its construction were $50 00 each, given by Samuel and Jas. E. Hamilton. We are told by one who was present, the way in which the contracts for this building were let, and it seems so novel that it is worth recording. A day was appointed and the trus- tees and bidders were present, one of the trustees mounted a block and in auc- tion fashion cried the bids, the rival bidders bidding back and forth, but of course bidding down instead of up, finally the brick work was knocked down at something like $500.00. In like manner the carpenter work was let, but going at a smaller sum. Recollections of this edifice are vivid in the minds of many. A long, low, roomy building with two entrance doors and a high boxed pulpit between them; long narrow aisles and a low ceiling sup- ported by many wooden posts, it also had many windows, but the brethren who worshiped there did not all receive the same light, for we are told dis -. sensions arose and peace and brotherly love departed for a season.
"The third edifice, erected in 1840, was a frame and stood in the front of what is now the schoolyard. This was not so large as the brick, but the ceiling was higher and the windows larger, the entrance doors were double -a middle aisle with the pulpit in the rear The failure to obtain any in- formation as to the financial outlay incurred in the erection of this building is complete. After twelve or more years of service as a house of worship, it passed to the civil township and was used by the district school. The lum- ber for this edifice was sawed at a mill, whose power was furnished by a
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large tread wheel on which cattle were worked, owned and operated by Cyrus Hamilton. An incident is related in connection with this lumber that caused great worry to two of the worthies of the church, namely, Uncle John McCoy and Samuel Donnell. It seems that they had especial charge of drying the lumber and by some accident or neglect the kiln was consumed by fire. Their distress at this disaster was very great and was only removed when new logs were cut and sawed to replace the kiln that was destroyed.
"Coming on to 1854, we find the fourth edifice in process of erection. During the raising of the frame of this edifice there was a crash of falling timber, caused by the carelessness of the builder, which seriously injured five or six persons, one or two of whom were maimed for life. We are told that the funds for this were raised by an assessment, and that the basis of the assessment was the taxable property listed to each member as found in the county records. We are also told that but very few objected or refused to pay the full amount of the assessment. With such a record as this, the spirit of justice and fairness that abided with that body of worshipers cannot be doubted. It is here we find a scrap of paper, headed "Church Money " This paper has two columns of figures, one of "Receipts" and one "Ex- pended." The receipts show collections of assessments from fifteen members of the congregation living south of the church, and make a total of $1,028.34. The expended column shows payments during the year to D. Welsh of $803 24, and for bible and "trimings" $5.25. The acknowledgments of these payments are from David Welsh to R. A. Hamilton, trustee of the Free Presbyterian church. We can reasonably conclude that this repre- sents only the settlement of one of the trustees, and as the territory men- tioned would only cover about one-half of the taxable property which formed the basis of the assessment, by doubling these collections we come very near the cost of the edifice, which was something over $2,000.
"About this time the parsonage lot must have been acquired, although we have been unable to find any record of date or purchase price. The writer remembers it as the old Parvin residence, the house was a cheap frame, and Parvin had a little shop on the corner where he and his boys made boots and shoes during the week, and Parvin led the singing in the old brick church on Sundays. The shop served at one time as the village postoffice, and Parvin as postmaster. Later on the brick building which now stands was erected in front, with material from the old brick church, the old frame serving as rear apartments to the new building. We are told the cost of this was about $2,000.
"Coming on this way we find no records of expenses or improvements. They kept no books in those days, but in the times before the civil war the writer remembers some munificent offerings from the congregation wor- shiping in that Free Presbyterian church, when the cause was the advance- ment of human freedom. On December 25, 1869, seventeen acres of land adjoining the parsonage were conveyed to the trustees, at a cost of $1,300. "A financial record of a church that does not show that at some time it found itself in debt, would hardly be credited; so to maintain our standing in this respect, we mention a note which was dated February 7, 1870, for $544 payable one day after date, to the pastor then in charge, bearing ten per cent. interest and duly stamped and signed by S. A. Donnell and Jesse G. Donnell, trustees. This note bears some credits of interests and some
REV. JOHN KING.
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payments on the principal and a statement that on January 1, 1872, it was cancelled by a new note. The new note besides credits of interest is re- ceipted in full December 25, 1875, from proceeds of a subscription paper. " It was probably in the year 1875 that Mr. Jan es E. Hamilton, with that far-seeing wisdom that was characteristic of the man, and with a desire to do something that would be of permanent benefit to the church he loved so well, gave the sum of $2,000 as an endowment, the income from which should go to the regular expenses of the church. This was followed later by gifts of $1,000 each for the same purpose from Miss Mary E. Hamilton, R. M. Hamilton and Mrs. Sally Donnell, swelling the sum to $5,000, which has since been increased $200 by added income while the church had no pas- tor. For these generous gifts the church will ever hold those who gave them in grateful remembrance.
" The time is nearing when we must part from this old edifice as a house of worship, which is so well remembered by everyone, for in 1882 it was de- termined to build a new one, and the present edifice is the result. The digression will be pardoned if we here follow it to the end, and to most of us who have passed the noon hour of the day of life, it will be with feelings like those we would have in parting for the last time with a very near and dear old friend. After twenty-nine years of service as a house of worship, this edifice whose walls had echoed the voices of so many reformers and noted revivalists, was used as a hall for debating clubs, political harangues and entertainments of all sorts, until in the spring of 1892 it was destroyed by fire.
"Returning, we have left us a certified copy of a subscription dated May 12, 1882. Its conditions bind the subscribers when $8,000 are subscribed. It contains 102 signatures, three of which are for $1,000 each, one for $600, two for $500 each, and others from $400 down. The footings show $9,006 sub- scribed. There is also a copy of a supplemental subscription containing twelve names, subscribing $543. A study of the names appended to these subscription confirms the suspicion already aroused, that besides the mem- bership, old acquaintances, sons-in-law and wards of the church were visited and that but few escaped. With this total of $9,549, preparations were be- gun for the new edifice. In February, 1883, the title of the ground on which it stands was conveyed to the trustees at a cost of $500, and during the year the building was completed and dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. The completed building, with its furnishings, cost probably $2,000 more than the funds that were provided in the record we have shown ; but, with the help of the young people and the ladies of the church, who have always been faithful and helpful, and further aid from friends who had already given generously, the bills were all provided for.
"In a book that is filled to its last page, on the fly leaf we find the follow- ing : 'I, R B. Whiteman, assumed the duties of treasurer of Kingston Presbyterian church February 5, 1882, by order of the acting Board of Deacons, at which time there was no money in the treasury, but a debt of $25.03 due to the following named parties and amounts.' Mr. Whiteman has left us very complete records of the regular expenses of the church, in- cluding contributions to the church boards and offerings in great variety which occurred during his ten years of service. Occasionally, faithful to its old habits, we find the church coming up with a deficit, but invariably a
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foot note follows with a statement that the debt is discharged by a special sub-cription.
"In 1890 a barn was built for the parsonage at a cost of $300, and in 1892 improvements were made to the parsonage at a cost of $700. Later on, re- pairs and improvements have been made to the present edifice, inc uding those of the present year, costing $600, and since 1892 the treasurers' an- nual statements have shown a balance remaining in the treasury.
" This, imperfectly sketched, is the financial record of the church. The complete record of its contributions for houses of worship, works of charity and benevolence, and aid extended in response to almost every conceivable call, can never be shown; aud, although its financial strength has been weakened by the changes of ownership in the community and the centraliz- ing tendencies of the age, forces which are affecting and changing the life of society and menacing the existence of the country church in parts of our land to-day, it stands with its old garments thrown off and adorned with its new, in strength and in beauty, and the day of its passing does not yet appear."
Mrs. W. K. Stewart gave an interesting and spicy account of "Our Preachers and Missionaries."
OUR PREACHERS AND MISSIONARIES.
" A short account of the ministers aud missionaries who have gone out from the old Sand Creek church during the past seventy-five years will show that the influence of this church has reached almost around the globe. Her representatives have been at work in Korea, Egypt and Liberia ; from Cali- fornia to New York, and in nearly every State in the Union.
"The first ministers from this church were Harrison and Wallace Thom- son, who attended Hanover College soon after its organization in the thirties Harrison was for many years a professor at Hanover, but afterward removed to California, where he died ab out ten years ago.
"A colored man named Thomas Ware was brought here by William Henry, educated and sent out by the Colonization Society to Liberia. He was not a minister, but some years ago a Rev. Ware, presumably a son of his, attended the Methodist General Conference as a delegate from Liberia ; so that Thomas Ware may be called the first missionary of the church.
" However, the first real missionary connected with this church was An- drew Jack. He was baptized, according to the record, in 1832. He was one of the early missionaries to Africa, going out some time in the fifties. He was obliged to return on account of ill health, but took up the work at home, and was engaged in mission work in Indian Territory at the time of his death. "John Harney was another minister, a professor at Bloomington, Ind., and the noted editor of the Louisville Courier when it opposed George D. Prentice. Samuel Hicks Parvin was connected with this church from 1846 to 1856, and is now located at Muscatine, Iowa. Other ministers are Austin Thomson, deceased, and Eberle Thomson, now at Ripley, O. They were both graduates of Hanover College. Theophilus Lowry is a son of the first pastor of this church. George D. Parker was an elder in this church and Sunday-school superintendent, and is now preaching at Converse, Ind., while his son is pastor of the Greensburg church. Thomas D. Bartholomew gradu-
REV. H. M. SHOCKLEY.
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ated from Lane Seminary in 1869, and after a pastorate of more than twenty years in northern Ohio, Michigan and Lawrenceburg, Ind., died at his home on White Lake, Mich., March 11, 1897.
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