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 6
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While on a visit to his children in Lexington, Ken- tucky, Dr. Bullock, after a short illness, died November 9th, 1892, in his eightieth year. Dr. Bullock married, in October, 1832, Miss Caroline L. Breckinridge, whose mother, Mary Clay Smith, was a daughter of Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, President of Princeton Col- lege, whose wife, Ann Witherspoon, was a daughter of Dr. John Witherspoon, the most illustrious of the fathers of the Presbyterian Church. By this marriage
Robinson
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Dr. Bullock had eight children, four of whom, two sons and two daughters, survived him. The second wife, whom he married in 1869, was Mrs. Elizabeth T. Lav- ender, who, with one son by this marriage, is now living in Washington City.
For the people of this, his first charge, Dr. Bullock entertained a very tender and lifelong affection, and his visits, at intervals during his latter years, to his old friends here, and his pulpit ministrations, were greatly enjoyed by both himself and this congregation.
In a memorial adopted by the Synod of Virginia at his death it is said:
" Dr. Bullock's work in his many fields of labor was eminently successful. His preaching was in a high degree spiritual, presenting the great doctrines of the grace of God in a form and manner that was impressive, persuasive and eloquent to a degree that was seldom equaled. All his noble qualities as a Christian man passed over into his sermons, and gave them a won- derful power over the hearts of his hearers. He retained his mental and physical vigor with remark- able continuity throughout his long life, extending to the close of his eightieth year, and a few days before his death preached a sermon of exceptional power at Lexington."
REV. STUART ROBINSON, D.D.
Rev. Stuart Robinson. D.D., was born in Strabone, Tyrone County, Ireland, November 14th, 1814. His parents removed to America in 1815, and after a short residence in New York City, settled in Martinsburg, Virginia, where the mother died in 1819. She was the daughter of a Scotch Presbyterian, a most pious woman,
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and endowed with a strong mind, and she transmitted her character to her six sons, especially to Stuart, the fifth born. Soon after her death the father married again, and for some cause the family of sons became scattered. At the early age of six years Stuart was placed with an old German farmer, a Presbyterian, who discovered in the lad a wonderful aptitude for acquiring knowledge, and sent him to school with his own chil- dren. The Rev. J. M. Brown, Presbyterian minister of the neighboring church, being attracted by the remark- able mind of the boy, assumed care of his education, and took him to his own house. Under his care Stuart remained until the age of sixteen, when he was sent to Amherst College. Here he remained three years, graduating with distinction in 1834, in a class which has given to the Church and country a number of eminent ministers and statesmen.
With the assistance of the Board of Education he entered Union Theological Seminary, in which he completed the two years' course of study, at the age of twenty-two. He then took charge of a school in Charleston, West Virginia, which he conducted for two years, saving sufficient funds to repay the Board for the amount advanced for his theological studies and to enable him to spend a year in study at Princeton.
He was licensed to preach in 1841, and was married in September of the same year to Miss Mary E. Brig- ham. He took charge of Malden Church, near Charles- ton, West Virginia, where he remained several years, during which time he did a great deal of missionary work in the destitute regions of the adjacent moun- tains. And it was during this period that he supplied for several months the pulpit of the Second Presbyte-
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rian Church of Louisville, Kentucky, during the absence of the pastor, Rev. E. P. Humphrey, a college inate, who had been compelled to seek renewed health in travel abroad. During this residence in Louisville he became known to the Church in Kentucky, and so favorably in Louisville that when a vacancy occurred in the Second Church some years afterward, he was called to the pas- torate. In September, 1846, he was called to the church at Frankfort, and was duly installed on June 17th, 1847. During his pastorate of six years this church was greatly strengthened. His great ability and power as a preacher attracted to the church large congregations, including the prominent men of the city, State officers, judges of the courts and members of the bar, which at that time contained a number of distinguished men. It was soon evident to all that the church was too small for the increased congregations, and the large and commodious building now occupied by the church was erected. He organized and personally conducted in South Frankfort a Female Seminary of high grade, in which many of the young ladies of Frankfort and adjacent towns received a liberal education. This school was under the care of the session of the church, and had an efficient corps of teachers, under Dr. Robinson's superintending care. He also became a promoter and leader in various enter- prises for the good and the development of the city, but in all these his duties to the church were by no means neglected, for to it and its work and interests he gave his best labors.
In 1854 Dr. Robinson removed to Baltimore, and in 1858 was called, by the General Assembly, from the Central Presbyterian Church of that city to the Chair of Church Government and Pastoral Theology in the
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Theological Seminary at Danville, Kentucky, which position he held for two years. He then became pastor of the Second Church, Louisville, which relation he sus- tained until June, 1881, when on account of enfeebled healthı he resigned the active duties of the office and continued as " pastor emeritus " until his death, which occurred the following October. His death was greatly lamented by all classes of society, and more especially by the Presbyterian Church of the State and country.
Dr. Robinson was a man of great force of character. He had a wonderful intellect, which, strengthened by large research, made him a power both in and out of the pulpit, a great leader in the Church and famous throughout the country.
As an editor and writer he had no superiors in his time, and as a preacher and expounder of the Scriptures he had few equals.
REV. JEFFERSON PRICE SAFFORD, D.D.
Rev. Jefferson Price Safford was born in Zanesville, Ohio, September 22d, 1823. He received his prepara- tory education in the McIntire Academy, of his native town; was graduated from the University of Ohio, at Athens, in 1843. He taught school at Covington, Ken- tucky, from 1843 to 1845; at the Indianapolis Academy from 1845 to 1847, and was Professor of Mathematics from 1847 to 1848 in the Baptist College, Covington, Kentucky. He then entered the Seminary at Prince- ton, New Jersey, where he took a three years' course in theology. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in April, 1851. He taught in Richmond (Virginia) Academy from 1852 to 1854. at the same time
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supplying the church at Bethlehem, Virginia. In Feb- ruary, 1855, he was ordained and installed pastor of the Frankfort Church by the Presbytery of West Lexing- ton, and resigned the charge in September, 1857. His successive fields of labor after Frankfort were: Pastor Piqua, Ohio, First Church, November, 1857, to Decem- ber, 1862; pastor First Church, New Albany, Indiana, December, 1862, to May, 1867; District Secretary of the Board of Home Missions for Ohio and Indiana from May, 1867, to January, 1870. In 1868 he returned to his old home, Zanesville, where he lived until his death. For two years he acted as President of Zanesville Uni- versity. He was the Stated Clerk of Zanesville Pres- bytery from 1873, and of the Synod of Columbus from 1876 until his death, which occurred in January, 1881. While living in Zanesville he supplied in succession the following churches: Brownsville, Fairmount Church, Roseville Church, Uniontown, Hanover, Kirkersville, Claysville and West Carlisle Churches.
Dr. Safford ended his active and useful ministry in his fifty-eighth year. He was a man of vigorous mind, of more than common originality of thought. He was a close student, an accomplished Greek and Hebrew scholar, was possessed of a warm heart and kindly humor, which drew to him many friends in the fields of his labors. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him in 1855 by Washington College, Pennsylvania. Dr. Safford in 1852 was married to Miss Cornelia M. Ray, of Indianapolis, who, with two sons and three daughters, survives him.
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REV. BEVERLY TUCKER LACY, D.D.
Rev. Beverly Tucker Lacy was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, February 21st, 1819. His father, Rev. William Sterling Lacy, removed to Mis- souri in 1821, where he remained a few years, and went to Tennessee, where he reared his family. After receiv- ing his preparatory education from his father, Beverly entered upon the study of law, designing to make that his profession. About this time he united with the church of which his father was pastor, and at once deter- mined to change his profession and study for the Gospel ministry. With this end in view he entered Washington College, Virginia, from which he graduated in the class of 1843. He studied theology at Princeton Seminary under Drs. Archibald Alexander, Charles Hodge and Samuel Miller, graduating in the class of '46. Among his classmen were several who afterward became distin- guished in the Church: Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, Dr. Archibald A. Hodge, Dr. William M. Scott, Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke and Dr. Samuel B. McPheeters.
Mr. Lacy's first charge was Kent Street Church, Winchester, Virginia, where he was ordained pastor in 1847, which he served for five years.
In 1847 Mr. Lacy was married to Miss Agnes Alex- ander, his second cousin, and niece of Dr. Archibald Alexander. She died in 1852, and was a lady remark- able for her loveliness of disposition and lofty Christian character. She left a son, John Alexander Lacy, who was spared to minister to and comfort the father in his declining years, and is yet living, an honored member of the bar in Washington City.
After Winchester, Mr. Lacy's next charge was in
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Salem, Virginia, from 1853 until 1858. In 1858 he came to the Frankfort Church, and was installed pastor in July, and remained until July, 1861, when the happy and very useful relation he sustained was interrupted by the breaking out of the Civil War. Mr. Lacy then returned to Virginia, and shortly afterward entered the Confed- erate army as chaplain at the headquarters of General Stonewall Jackson's Corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia. After the close of the war, Mr. Lacy served the church at Wytheville, Virginia, until 1865, when he removed to St. Louis, to take pastoral charge of the Pine Street Church of that city, which he served four years. In 1871 Dr. Lacy accepted the position of Super- intendent of Missions for the Synod of Missouri, in which work he was eminently successful in building up and strengthening the Church throughout the bounds of the Synod. In 1874 Dr. Lacy took pastoral charge of the church of Mexico, Missouri, where he remained about five years, when on account of impaired health he was led to resign.
His health not permitting regular pastoral work, he took up his residence with his son in Sedalia, Missouri, from which place he supplied with great success a group of smaller churches, building them up into strong and flourishing congregations.
In 1887 Dr. Lacy, having become a confirmed invalid, accompanied his son, who removed to Wash- ington City, where he resided until his death, in Novem- ber, 1900. Although confined to his bed and chair, unable to help himself in any way for these thirteen years, yet in this helpless condition he was wonderfully sustained and comforted by the Master, whom he had served so long and faithfully. His mind and memory
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through all these years of bodily weakness and suffer- ing remained as bright and strong as in his best days, and it was a great privilege to hear from his lips his experiences of the goodness and mercy of God in all His dealings with him. As indicative of his wonderful memory of persons and events, the writer of this sketch, in a conversation with him a short time before his death, was asked many questions concerning the people of the Frankfort pastorate, and although forty years had elapsed, Dr. Lacy called the names of all the members of the families, including the children, large and small, of whose subsequent career he was desirous to know. Many incidents, some of minor importance, connected with the Frankfort pastorate and Dr. Lacy's life here, were vividly recalled by him, although they had long since passed from the memory of his auditor. For the people of this church, in which he had enjoyed such a pleasant and useful pastorate, he entertained to the last a lively interest and affectionate regard.
REV. JOHN SMITH HAYS, D.D.
Rev. John Smith Hays, D.D., the son of John and Orpha Hays, was born in Washington County, Penn- sylvania, August Ist, 1830, four miles from the town of Canonsburg. He was the youngest but one of six children - William, Nancy, Jane E., Isaac N., John S. and George P. The parents were Scotch-Irish, and belonged to a large family noted for piety and Chris- tian zeal. Although no minister, as far as known, was numbered in their ancestry, every one of these children became ministers of the Gospel, either in person or by proxy, and at the time of his death Dr. Hays had no less than five nephews in the ministry of our Church.
Johno el Hargos
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Dr. Hays received his primary education in the crude common school of that date. At the age of sixteen he entered the Freshman class of Jefferson College, Can- onsburg, and graduated in 1850. After a three years' course in the Western Theological Seminary, Alle- gheny, Pennsylvania, he was licensed in the spring of 1853. At this time his entire patrimony consisted of a young horse, which he sold for one hundred dollars, with fifty of which he procured his, ministerial ward- robe, and with the other fifty dollars in his pocket he started out, not knowing whither he went. Stopping at Louisville, he called upon Rev. Dr. W. W. Hill, in charge of a branch office of the Board of Domestic Missions, who directed him to Charleston, Indiana, where the Presbyterian Church was without a pastor. He accepted a call to this church on a salary of four hundred and fifty dollars per annum, on which he and his young wife, whom he married the following year, lived during four successive years, having been ordained and installed by the Presbytery of New Albany in the fall of 1853. While on a visit to relatives in Nashville in 1856, he preached in the vacant pulpit of the Second Church of that city, and received a unanimous call to the pastorate, which he accepted, and held until July, 1861, when on account of the breaking out of the Civil War he returned North. During the fall and winter following he supplied the Central Church of Cincinnati. In April, 1862, he came to our Frankfort Church in response to a unanimous call, and remained pastor until the spring of 1867, when he accepted a call to the Walnut Street Church, of Louisville, Kentucky, adhering to our General Assembly. On the disruption of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky after the war,
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legal proceedings were instituted in different parts of the State involving church property rights. Of these the famous Walnut Street Church case was made the test. The party in that church adhering to the old General Assembly was at the time without a pastor, and at the earnest call of these members and the urgent solicitation of a large number of ministers throughout the State, Dr. Hays left Frankfort to become their pastor during the legal contest. This resulted in a decision by the highest court in favor of the congre- gation, and it is considered a precedent for all church questions involving like issues in the lower courts.
In 1875 Dr. Hays was elected to the Chair of Bib- lical and Ecclesiastical History in Danville Theological Seminary. Owing to the loss of a large part of the endowment fund, the Seminary was temporarily closed in 1883, and. Dr. Hays removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he remained as pastor about two years. At that time he received a call from the church at Mays- ville. Kentucky, which he accepted, and returned to the State in which such a large portion of his minis- terial life had been spent. On entering upon this, his last charge, he organized, with the co-operation of his daughters, " Hays-Wood Female Seminary," in connec- tion with the pastorate of the church, both of which he conducted with great ability and acceptance to the time of his death, which occurred January 7th, 1899.
Some years before his death Dr. Hays received an injury to one of his eyes, resulting in loss of sight, which was speedily followed by loss also of the other eve, thus leaving him in total blindness. Notwithstanding this great calamity, he continued to teach and to discharge the duties of pastor with great energy and cheerfulness,
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preaching with as much and even more power than ever before. In answer to his prayers he was wonderfully sustained and strengthened by divine grace under this mysterious providence, which would have crushed any man of less faith and trust.
Dr. Hays received the degree of D.D. from Centre College in 1873. He was a very earnest and most instructive preacher. While very positive in his con- victions and fearless in their expression, he had a bright, kindly, cheerful spirit, which made him many friends wherever he went, and rendered him a most welcome visitor and desirable companion. While in Frankfort he usually devoted Mondays, when the weather was suitable, to recreation, with fishing rod or gun, accord- ing to the season. He found in this relaxation and exercise, which he enjoyed with keen relish, the great- est benefit physically and mentally, and in after years often referred to the period as one of the happiest of his life. He was usually accompanied by one and sonie- times two of his elders, and on more than one occasion could have held a meeting of session on the banks of the river, as there was more than a quorum present.
Dr. Hays was twice married, first to Miss Frances Dickey, who was the mother of his children, five of whom survived him, Mrs. J. Foster Barbour, Mrs. W. B. Matthews and Misses Florence, Fannie and Carrie Hays. His only son, a young man of great promise, died in 1879, just after completing his theo- logical course. Dr. Hays' second wife was Miss Caro- line Ritchie, who survived him about one year.
In a short poem Dr. Hays gave expression in a most beautiful and touching way to the experiences of his heart in the great affliction he was called upon
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to endure. As comparatively few of his many friends have seen this little poem, its insertion here will be appreciated :
A SOLILOQUY.
The writer of the following stanzas has been so frequently questioned concerning the thoughts, feelings, sorrows and joys of the blind, that he has been tempted to attempt an expression of some of his own in verse. J. S. HAYS.
JUNE 19, 1891.
Enveloped in darkness, imprisoned in night; Shut in from the sunshine, secluded from light; For years I have beat on the bars of the cell Where blindness, alas! has compelled me to dwell.
They tell me the vale in its beauty still lies Where once it incessantly feasted my eyes; They tell me the shadows and sunlight still glide O'er the plain at my feet and along the hillside.
They tell me the stars in their glory still shine, That on the horizon the clouds still recline; They tell me the flowers in beauty still bloom, Exhaling their fragrance from midnight to noon.
But eyes now in ruin refuse me their aid; I'm left to believe what others have said. I longingly look, but 'tis only to find My vision has left me, and now I am blind.
But hush these complainings so bitter, so wild, So little becoming a creature -- a child: How dare I to question the justice, the love Of God my Creator and Father above!
No; thanks to his goodness for giving me sight, "Twas his by creation and his, too, by right; FTe gave it, he took it, and blest be his name For giving so long, and the gifts that remain.
'l'he hand of affection I grasp in the street, The voice of love I continually meet: Sweet childhood and youth swiftly fly to my aid And lovingly beg me to be not afraid.
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yours tily L.J. Nury
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The music of Nature I also can hear, The notes of her songsters so sweet and so clear; The roar of her thunder, the voice of her breeze As it swiftly or slowly creeps through her trees.
And memory, too, like an angel of light, Attends me by day and awaits me by night, To profit my mind and my fancy to please With all it has gathered in childhood and years.
Ah! yes; and from under the darkness about By faith I can calmly, serenely look out; And "just over there" in its glory can see The light of eternity waiting for me.
Then, thanks to God's goodness for giving me sight, 'Twas his by creation and his, too, by right; He gave it, he took it, and blest be his name For giving so long, and the gifts that remain.
REV. LEROY J. HALSEY, D.D., LL.D.
Rev. Leroy J. Halsey, D.D., LL.D., who supplied this church during a part of the year 1870, was born near Richmond, Virginia, in 1812. He was reared in the State of Alabama, whither his parents removed when he was five years of age. In 1834 he graduated from the University of Nashville after a four years' course, and taught for some years afterward in that institution. After three years' study at Princeton Theo- logical Seminary, he graduated in 1840, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, soon after which he was commissioned by the Board of Missions to labor in Alabama. After two years he took charge of the recently organized First Church of Jackson, Mississippi, where he was ordained and installed in March, 1843. In 1846 Mr. Halsey received a cordial invitation to the pastorate of the Frankfort Church, but the status of affairs in the Jackson Church, and the critical nature of
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his work there at that time, constrained him to remain with it for a while longer, and decline any call to labor elsewhere. In 1848 he came to Louisville to take charge of the Chestnut Street Church, which had been organ- ized by a colony from the Second Church, and which is now known as the Warren Memorial.
In 1859 Dr. Halsey was by the General Assembly appointed to the Chair of Ecclesiology, Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology in the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, just established in Chicago. While laboring in the Louisville pastorate he published his first book, " The Literary Attractions of the Bible; or, A Plea for the Word of God, Considered as a Classic." This admirable work was a wellspring of delight and spiritual profit to his congregation and the Church at large, and is to this day one of the brightest gems of the religious literature of the Church.
For thirty-three years Dr. Halsey labored to build up and develop, through many difficulties and discourage- ments, the Theological Seminary of the Northwest, and in this, the great work of his life, his efforts were crowned with abundant success. He also did a great work in developing Presbyterianism in the city of Chi- cago and all that adjacent territory, for at the time of his advent the city contained only about one hundred thousand population, and society and Christian effort were hardly as yet in the formative state. There was only one church of our faith and order on the North Side, but with Dr. Halsey's aid others speedily fol- lowed, and in 1864 the Seminary took up its abode at its present site. Dr. Halsey terminated his active labors in the Seminary in 1892, at the age of eighty, and died June 18th, 1896.
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In 1869 Dr. Halsey for the second time received a call to the pastorate of the Frankfort Church. Pending the consideration of the call, he visited and supplied the congregation during the summer of 1870, and while ministering here he greatly endeared himself to our people. Dr. Halsey had a charming personality, was a most eloquent and instructive preacher, standing in the front rank of the ministry of our Church. He greatly excelled in the exposition of the Scriptures, and his mid- week lectures upon the Psalms of David, which at the time drew many hearers, will never be forgotten by those of us who enjoyed the privilege of hearing them. Dr. Halsey, as an author, took a high place among the writers of our Church. During his latter years he pub- lished a number of works of the highest order of merit and acceptance to Christians of all denominations.
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