USA > Kentucky > Franklin County > Frankfort > A history of the First Presbyterian Church, Frankfort, Kentucky, together with the churches in Franklin County, in connection with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America > Part 5
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ness of our church work as a whole. The pastor and session have a duty to each member, so equally has each member a duty to pastor and session, and every member to every other member. Let every one, then, be true to all, as a service and worship to God, and in obedience to the law of Christ, thus showing forth the power and beauty of his gospel.
" Among other ways in which we may glorify him and help each other, the following leading duties and privileges are ours : -
" First - Regular and faithful attendance upon all the public services of the church, including especially both services of the Sabbath and the weekly prayer meeting, and if providentially absent in person, by remembering the service at the throne of grace.
"Second - Daily family worship and communion with the Holy Spirit in prayer and reading of the Holy Scriptures, prayer for the pastor and office-bearers of the church, as well as for Sabbath-school teachers and other Christian workers, the labors of all of whom may be unfruitful if we fail to do our part.
" Third - Cheerful contributions, as God gives us the ability, to our church, where our allegiance is first due, and by assisting by our active co-operation the different societies of Christian work in our congrega- tion, and by contributing of our means to the benevolent work of our Church at large.
" Fourth - The cultivation of ' fervent charity to all men, and especially to those of the household of faith,' by friendliness and sociability, one with another, and with strangers coming to our midst.
" May you be led by the Holy Spirit, in considering
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these suggestions, to the practical determination that will bring help to the church and glory to the Master.
" The past year has been replete with blessings to all of us. Withi good gifts and tokens of his love, God has visited us as individuals, as families and as a church. If, in his wisdom, he has been pleased to come and take one and another of our loved ones, 'to be with him where he is,' he has also given us the grace of submis- sion, and enabled us to say, ' Thy will be done.'
" With his spiritual blessings, he has also loaded us with the multiplied gifts of his providence, and given us a good degree of bodily health wherewith to enjoy them. In the closing days he has given us a liberal spirit, by which we have been enabled to free his church from debt and enter upon the new century better equipped for his service.
" To us now, one and all, comes the question, How shall it be with us this year and in the years to come ? If each one, in humble dependence upon the leadings of the Holy Spirit, will resolve and say, I will do what becomes me to do for the Master, then indeed will we come to the end with songs of thanksgiving and anthems of praise.
" And now let us engage heartily and with a thankful spirit in the Week of Prayer, uniting our petitions with those of the Church in all lands for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, in the salvation of souls and for the coming of Christ's kingdom in the conversion of the world.
" Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
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make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen !
" S. C. BULL. " E. L. SAMUEL. " R. K. MCCLURE. " F. CHINN. " W. T. READING. "J. MCCLUSKY BLAYNEY, Moderator. "W. H. AVERILL, Clerk."
CENTENNIAL SERVICES.
Sabbath day, March 31st, 1901, which closed the nineteenth century work of our General Assembly, was observed by the First Presbyterian Church of Frank- fort in an appropriate and suitable manner by special services, morning and evening, signalizing the event. A special discourse was delivered at one of these cen- tennial services by the pastor, in which he outlined the growth, development and work of our branch of the great Presbyterian Church during the century just closing.
At the other service a paper was read by the clerk of the session of the church, which had been prepared by him at the request of the session, in which was given a brief account of the century's work of this particular church. Allusion was made to the noble and conse- crated line of godly men and women who, in the church, the Sabbath-school and the various depart- ments of Christian activity, aided in this congregation's
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HISTORY OF FIRST CHURCH, FRANKFORT.
share of the work of the century. The concluding par- agraphs of the above sketch may be of interest to some who were not present at the centennial services, which will account for their insertion in this place :
" In conclusion, we have endeavored in this brief paper to give something of the history of this, our Frankfort Church, since its formation. Many items and incidents of perhaps equal interest have been necessarily omitted. Some of these, however, may be included in a future sketch, in a more permanent form than this specially prepared paper.
" The Presbyterian Church, of which we are a part, enters to-day the threshold of the twentieth century far better equipped for the Master's service than ever before, and from indications it looks as if it is enter- ing upon one of the most active periods of its history. The Church at large, and especially in the great cen- ters of influence, is in an attitude of expectancy and prayer, waiting for the 'Forward Movement' confi- dently expected at this time. As a Church it has the best theology, and at the same time, in its attitude to other religious bodies, it is the broadest and most catholic of all Churches. It has the best form of gov- ernment, and in its membership it has had in the past, and has to-day, a large proportion of the most able, consecrated and influential ministers and laymen of the Protestant Church. It is a mighty element in the Christian forces of the world, standing everywhere for righteousness and evangelical truth, and as long as it continues to so witness, having the living Christ within the hearts of its adherents, giving life and power to its activities, so long will God acknowledge and honor it as one of his chosen representatives upon the earth.
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To be a Presbyterian is, and always has been, a good reason for gratulation. Let us now and henceforth, as Presbyterians and members of Christ's body, yield ourselves to the leadings of the Divine Spirit, and each one, in our own sphere of labor and influence, endeavor to do our whole duty to God and to his Church, in which he has highly honored us to be co-laborers together with him. And have we not an inspiration, as it were, in the examples of those who have preceded us in this church? It is needless to call their names. We remember them well. Not a family in this church but has a priceless heritage in the godly, consecrated and beautiful lives of loved ones gone before - grand- parents, father, mother, husband, wife, beloved child, brother, sister, friend. Let us follow in their footsteps, in so far as they were enabled to follow Christ, and in humble gratitude for what our beloved church has been enabled and permitted to do for the Master in the past, we would devoutly say, ' Not unto us, O Lord, not unto 11s, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and thy truth's sake.' "
BUILDINGS.
Well founded tradition states that the first sermon preached within the precincts of this settlement was in 1787. The preacher, whose identity is unknown, was an itinerant Baptist minister, who, passing by, gathered the scattered settlers together for a religious service. There being no suitable room, and the weather being propitious, the meeting was held in the open air. The ' canopy was formed by the wide-spreading branches of an immense gum tree, which stood near where Wapping
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now joins Wilkinson Street, and whose ample foliage sheltered the little congregation from the sun's rays. The good man went on his way, and the effect of his service here is unknown. The auditors have all passed away generations ago, and the noble tree itself finally succumbed to the ravages of time and went down in a storm in the year 1858.
As stated elsewhere, our church for several years after its organization had no building of its own. " The Publick Meeting-House," which had been erected on the Capitol grounds by the citizens of the town, by very questionable means, was neither a pleasant nor profitable place in which to worship, and some years before its destruction by fire, the Presbyterians, who had been occupying it one Sabbath each month, ceased using it altogether, and thenceforth conducted all their public worship in the Love House, which had been their principal meeting place. This place they continued to occupy until the First Church building on Wapping Street was erected.
In 1823 a lot of ground, 100 x 200 feet, on Wapping Street, was bought, and the congregation began at once the building of a house of worship of their own. It was completed during the following year. The material was brick, laid in the beautiful Flemish bond, of close joints and superior mortar, in vogue at that period. Two doors were provided for entrance, one for each sex, which were scrupulously kept apart, the men entering the right door and the women the left. Upon entering the worshipers faced the high boxed pulpit at the rear, and the seats were placed on a level floor, with a gallery across the room just above the doors.
At a congregational meeting five years later, in April,
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THE FIRST CHURCH BUILDING. Wapping Street, 1824.
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1829, the church having been greatly strengthened by the accession of members, extensive alterations and improvements were determined upon, including the removal of the gallery from the front to the rear end of the church, also placing the pulpit between the front doors, and inclining the floor upward from front to rear " in convenient theatrical form." The improvements also included the introduction of new and more com- fortable seats, and the erection of a cupola in the middle of the front wall, which was to be carried up and strengthened in order to sustain the additional weight of a bell, which was to be procured as soon as practicable. A committee of solicitors, consisting of an equal number of ladies and gentlemen, headed by Mr. Alexander Robertson, was appointed to raise the funds by subscription, and a commission was named, composed of Judge B. Mills, John J. Vest and Jarvis Russell, " to execute, superintend and direct the work, with full power to perform the same, to be governed by their discretion and the amount of funds raised."
From subsequent records we learn that the improve- ments were completed, but no funds remained over for the purchase of the bell. The congregation. however, went energetically to work collecting bell metal, which, after much delay, was at last secured, and shipped by river to Pittsburg, and in due course of time, 1832, the bell arrived and was put in place, as we note in a financial report made by the deacons in January, 1833 .*
Wood-burning stoves were used for heating and candles for lighting, but lamps consuming sperm oil were introduced later on, as shown by accounts on file.
* See Appendix.
.
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HISTORY OF FIRST CHURCH, FRANKFORT.
This building served the requirements of the congre- gation for about twenty-five years, until under the min- istrations of Dr. Bullock and his successor, Dr. Stuart Robinson, it had so increased that a larger and better appointed building was considered necessary. In 1849 the church property, with the adjacent parsonage, was sold to Rev. J. M. Lancaster for the Roman Catholic Church. That congregation then proceeded to erect their new church building around and over the old church, which it continued to use until the new building was roofed in, and then it was taken out.
Our congregation moved into their new church in the latter part of March, 1849, using the lower or Sab- bath-school room until the main anditorium was com- pleted. The pastor, Dr. Stuart Robinson, was very active in promoting this move of the congregation, and to his energy and directing care the success of the undertaking was largely due. The location was well chosen, although the " lay of the land " was not at the time altogether favorable. It required, in addition to that obtained from the excavation, a large amount of earth to level up the site, one bill alone being for one hundred loads. While yet in an unfinished condition the ladies of the congregation conducted a "fair" in the main auditorium, lasting three days, for raising funds for the furnishing of the church. On at least one of the evenings there was a very large attendance of citizens, for by special invitation the guest of the occasion was General Zachary Taylor, then President- elect of the United States, on his way to his inaugura- tion. He was met at the wharf by a large concourse of citizens, with a military escort composed of soldiers
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who fought under him in Mexico, and thence conducted to the church, where he held his reception.
The building was erected by Mr. Beaverson, a local architect and contractor, at a cost to the congregation of about fourteen thousand dollars. Although there were errors in the plans, as well as in the construction, yet for comfort, and for acoustic properties, the main auditorium is unexcelled by the more modern churches. As at first constructed there were galleries on the sides of the upper room, but after about twenty years these were removed. At the same time the present stained- glass windows were added. The next change made was the removal of the old-style high pulpit and the substi- tution of the platform and reading desk now in use. An entire new seating, of modern, curved and most approved pews, was also introduced, together with the " sunlight apparatus" for illuminating the main auditorium.
It needs no apology for a brief allusion in this place to a line of useful and important men in church affairs, much discussed and written about wherever churches abound. It has been asserted by some perhaps super- sensitive and nervous people, that "the sexton (or jani- tor) was a more important factor in the public worship of the congregation than the man in the pulpit." With- out going as far as this contention, it may be safely said that the health, comfort and enjoyment of the congre- gation frequently depend upon the wisdom, common sense and efficiency of that official, to say nothing of the composed frame of mind and spirit, so necessary to the devout worshiper, which is sometimes indirectly in his keeping.
The sextons who have served in this church have
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in the main given satisfaction, judging from the length of their terms of service :
William Miles 1826-1840
Henry Clarke 1840-1856
Thomas Lee. . 1856-1876
Clifford Vane.
1876-1882
Henry Weisiger
1882-1896
James Woolfolk. 1896 to date.
MINISTERS.
REV. ELI SMITH.
Rev. Eli Smith, the first minister who served our Frankfort Church, was a New England man. Reared in Massachusetts, he enjoyed the best educational advantages, and after completing his theological train- ing, he came West. His first settled work was at Frankfort, where in 1817 he took charge of the Pres- byterian Church about a year after its organization, and served it with zeal and ability until the latter part of 1827. In 1829 he removed to Bourbon. County, where he spent the remainder of his days as pastor of the churches of Greer's Creek and Paris, departing this life in the year 1839.
While in charge of the Frankfort Church he fre- quently ministered to the country churches, Upper and Lower Benson, and for some time supplied them regu- larly. He was largely instrumental in holding these churches together when, owing to various causes, they were almost in a state of suspended animation. Mr. Smith was an earnest and very acceptable preacher, especially to Christian people. He was gifted with a most remarkable memory, being able to retain and make
John J. Edgar
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available for use anything he had ever read or heard. He never wrote his sermons, and destroyed the brief notes used in the pulpit. Soon after locating in Frank- fort he returned to Massachusetts and married Miss Mary Brown, of Newburyport, who survived him about fifty years. She is very pleasantly remembered by our older members, as she made visits at stated intervals to her old friends of Frankfort up to the time of her death, in 1889. The remains of this worthy pair rest side by side in our cemetery. To them were born sev- eral children. One daughter married Rev. Ben Mills, of this city, and the only son, Eli Smith, Jr., was a minister of our Church, and labored in the Synods of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.
REV. JOHN TODD EDGAR. D.D.
Rev. John Todd. Edgar, D.D., was born in Lexing- ton, Kentucky, in 1793. His name first appears on the roll of the Synod in 1817. He came to Frankfort in December, 1827, and took charge of this church as stated supply. He found it in a confused and disor- ganized condition, without officers, save one elder, and he a non-resident. Shortly after his coming the church was greatly strengthened by accessions, which gave material for office-bearers, and it was at once reorgan- ized by the election of a full bench of ruling elders and a board of deacons. In March, 1829, Mr. Edgar accepted a call to the pastor's office, which he held until July, 1833, when he removed to Nashville, Tennessee. He took charge as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of that city, and in it he ended his labors in the year 1860. Dr. Edgar was greatly beloved by this con- gregation, and very highly esteemed by the whole com-
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munity. He was a man of very popular manners and address, and an eloquent and successful preacher. He was the acknowledged pulpit orator of the Svnod, and his services were constantly in demand elsewhere while pastor here.
The following tribute is from a Nashville paper, November 14th, 1860:
" Rev. John T. Edgar, pastor of the First Presby- terian Church, died of apoplexy at 8 A.M. yesterday. He conducted services as usual in his church on the previous evening, afterward attended a business meet- ing of the church officers, and entertained company at his house until ten o'clock, and then retired. At one o'clock he was stricken, and did not regain conscious- ness. His long residence in our city, his eminent and distinguished services in the pulpit, his identification for so many years with every work of charity and benev- olence, caused him to be regarded as belonging to no class or limited circle, but to the whole community. His death will be universally mourned as a public calam- ity. His great goodness of heart, his gentle and win- ning manners, his readiness and alacrity in responding at all times to demands made upon him, which were frequent and continuous, will be remembered with gratitude for many, many years."
REV. DANIEL BAKER, D.D.
Rev. Daniel Baker, D.D., was pastor of this church from July, 1835, to November, 1836. He was one of the most noted and successful evangelists and home missionaries of his time, laboring in Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas previous to his work in Kentucky, and afterward in Alabama and other Southern States,
Dan Baker.
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and more especially in Texas. In this latter State he did a great work in bringing the Gospel to that section, then almost entirely destitute of religious influences, and was the founder and principal promoter of Austin College, in the interest of which he made several tours through the Eastern States.
Dr. Baker was descended from Puritan stock; was born in Midway, Georgia, August, 1791, to which sec- tion his parents had removed from Dorchester, Mas- sachusetts, members of a colony which had been formed into a church in their New England home, "for the purpose of removing to the Carolinas and promoting the cause of religion in the Southern plantations." After many hardships and reverses the colony finally located in Liberty County, Georgia, in 1754. At the age of nineteen Daniel Baker entered Hampden Sidney College, Virginia, then under the charge of Dr. Moses Hoge, where he spent two years in study. He then took the course at Princeton College, where he gradu- ated with high honors. He was licensed by the Pres- bytery of Winchester October, 1816. His first charge was in Harrisonburg, Virginia, where he was ordained and installed March, 1818. He afterward served as pastor of churches in Washington City and Savannah, and then, declining calls to various other churches, he took up the work of an evangelist, for which he had special gifts and a great love. He continued in this congenial labor for two years in the Southern Atlantic States and at several points in the State of Ohio. Vis- iting Kentucky in 1834, he was present at the meeting of Synod at Danville, and was invited to labor as evan- gelist in the Kentucky churches. Among other places in which he preached was Frankfort, and at the close
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of the protracted meeting he received a call by unani- mous vote to the pastorate of the church recently vacated by Dr. Edgar. He accepted the call, and served the church with great acceptance for about three years. While here he served as chaplain to the State Penitentiary, holding a service at nine A.M. He also supplied the pulpit, once or twice a month, of the Lower Benson Church, often preaching four times on Sabbath. A very strong attachment existed between Dr. Baker and the people of this charge, in which his labors were greatly blessed. In 1837 he removed to Alabama, accepting a call to the church at Tuscaloosa, where he was pastor until 1840, when he accepted an appointment by the General Assembly's Board of Mis- sions to labor as missionary in Texas. After some months of evangelistic work, he was compelled, on account of ill health, to return to his home, and later served the church at Holly Springs, Mississippi, as pastor until 1848. Returning to Texas, he resumed the work there, first as evangelist, and then as agent of Austin Presbyterian College, in which he took a great interest, giving it the best service of his latter days. Dr. Baker died in Austin in December, 1857, at the age of sixty-seven, universally lamented by all classes of people, and especially by the church and the college which he had so faithfully served.
REV. JOSEPH JAMES BULLOCK, D.D.
Rev. Joseph James Bullock, D.D., who was pastor of this church from October, 1837, to August, 1846, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, December 23d, 1812. He was the son of Waller Bullock, who was a man widely known and esteemed for his wisdom and
1. A. Bullock
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integrity, and for many years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church.
Joseph, the eldest son, received his primary educa- tion at the school near by the family home, at Walnut Hills, and while still quite young was sent to Transyl- vania University. Later he attended Centre College, where he graduated in 1832. He read law for a short time, and was tutor in Centre College, and afterward studied theology with Dr. John C. Young, President of Centre College. In 1835 he went to Princeton Theological Seminary, entering the Middle class, and after finishing the course returned to Kentucky, and was licensed by West Lexington Presbytery in Sep- tember, 1836. In the following December he was invited by the church at Frankfort to supply the pulpit for a period of twelve months, and entered at once upon the work, but before the end of this term he received a unanimous call to the pastorate, and was ordained and installed October 7th, 1837. While in Frankfort he served the State as the first Superintendent of Public Instruction, having been appointed to that office by Gov- ernor Clarke. Owing to impaired health, he resigned the Frankfort pastorate in August, 1846, and for two years served as Corresponding Secretary and General Agent of the Board of Domestic Missions for the West and Southwest. In 1848 he became pastor of the church at Walnut Hills, and Principal of the noted Female Seminary there, and at the same time supplied the pulpit of Salem Church, in the adjoining county of Clark. In 1850 he received the degree of D.D., which was conferred by Centre College. After serving the Second Church, Louisville, as pastor from 1853 to 1855, he returned to Walnut Hills, and resumed charge of the
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Female Seminary, in which he continued until the year 1860. During a part of this period, in 1857 and 1858, he supplied the pulpit of his first charge, the church of Frankfort, which was then without a pastor. During 1860 and a portion of 1861 he acted as Financial Agent of Danville Theological Seminary, and in 1861 became pastor of the Franklin Street Presbyterian Church, of Baltimore. This church he served until 1870, when he resigned to accept a call to the Second Church of Alexandria, Virginia. In 1874 he became pastor of the First Church, Alexandria, remaining in charge until 1880. From 1879 to 1884 he was chaplain of the Senate of the United States. During the last eight years of his life he resided in Washington City without any regular charge, but as his health permit- ted he diligently preached whenever opportunity was afforded. For twelve years he served as member of the Committee of Home and Foreign Missions of the Southern General Assembly, and for more than twenty years was on the Board of Directors of Union Theo- logical Seminary, Hampden Sidney. The Church hon- ored him with the Moderatorship of the Centennial General Assembly, which met in his old church in the city of Baltimore in May, 1888.
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