Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 89

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I > Part 89

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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Many other ministers came to Kentucky about the close of the last century, among them the Rev. WILLIAM ROBINSON, who, in 1804, was dismissed to Wash .. ington Presbytery ; Rev. SAMUEL FINLEY, from South Carolina ; Rev. JAMES VANCE, from Virginia ; Rev. JAMES KEMPER, and Rev. SAMUEL B. ROBERTSON, and Rev. JOHN BOWMAN, and Rev. JOHN THOMPSON, from North Carolina.

Rev. JAMES BLYTHE, D. D., was among the early and distinguished preachers in the field. He was born in North Carolina in 1765, and came to Kentucky, as a licentiate, in 1791. In July, 1793, he was ordained pastor of Pisgah and Clear creek churches. To these churches he ministered, as pastor or stated supply, for upwards of forty years. Dr. Blythe took an active part in the establishment of the Kentucky academy. When that institution, in 1798, was merged in the Uni- versity of Transylvania, he was appointed professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, and Geography ; and, subsequently, on the resignation of Mr. Moore, fulfilled for twelve or fifteen years the duties of acting president.

On the election of . Dr. Holly, as president, in 1818, Dr. Blythe was trans- ferred to the chair of Chemistry in the medical department, which situation he retained till 1831, when he resigned.

As a preacher, Dr. Blythe was full of energy and animation, in his earlier career ; in his latter years, he yielded more to the softer emotions. His native strength of character, prompt decision, and practical turn, enabled him to acquit himself creditably in every situation ; while, in deliberative bodies, and the courts of the church, these qualities gave him a marked ascendency, to which his portiy figure and commanding appearance contributed not a little. He died in 1842, aged seventy-seven years.

Rev. JOSEPH P. HoWE came from North Carolina in 1794, and was ordained in July, 1795, over Little Mountain (Mount Sterling) and Springfield. He was a good man-prayed and sang well-and took a conspicuous part in the Great Re- vival. He died in 1830.

Rev. JAMES WELCH, from Virginia, was ordained pastor of the Lexington and Georgetown churches, in 1796, in which charge he continued till 1804. He was obliged to practice medicine for the support of his family. In 1799, he was ap- pointed professor of ancient languages in the Transylvania University, which station he filled for several years.

The Rev. ARCHIBALD CAMERON, a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian church, was a native of Scotland, but was brought to America by his parents when very young. He was of good parentage, his father, John Cameron, of the "clan Cameron," being a man of sound understanding, correct principles and decided integrity of character. His mother, whose maiden name was Janet McDonald, of the " McDonald clan," was a lady of superior capacity, and dis- tinguished for extensive and general information, sterling integrity, exemplary piety, and great force of character. She was a "Scotch Presbyterian" of the genuine stamp.

Archibald, the youngest of six children, was born in the Highlands, in the vicinity of Fort William, about the year 1770 or 1771. The family soon after his birth removed to America, and settled on the Monongahela river ; where they resided till April, 1781, when they removed to Kentucky, and settled on a farm at the foot of " Cameron's Knob," about six miles from Bardstown.

Little is known of Mr. Cameron's early history ; but as his father was a farmer, and in moderate circumstances, he was probably employed in agricultural pur- suits. His education, however, was not neglected ; and he commenced the study of the Latin and Greek languages with his eldest brother, Angus Cameron, who had received a thorough education before he left Scotland. At about the age of fifteen, he was sent to a school then kept in Bardstown by Dr. Priestly. His companions at this school were John Rowan, Felix Grundy, John Pope, Col. John Allen, John Simpson, and others, all of whom became distinguished in after life. Mr. Cameron took a high stand, and was considered the best scholar in the school. Upon leaving this school, he spent about one year at the " 'Transylvania Seminary," then under the charge of Mr. James Moore. At the age of nineteen he professed religion, and connected himself with the Presbyterian church at Bardstown. His religious experience, written about this time, and preserved «mong his papers, agrees most strikingly with those evangelical doctrines for

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which his preaching was afterwards distinguished. He studied theology unde. the Rev. David Rice, and was licensed by Transylvania Presbytery, February 14, 1795.

He preached at many points in the counties of Nelson, Shelby and Jefferson where he laid the foundations of Presbyterianism, and at most of which he af- terwards organized churches. Having received a call from Simpson's creek church, in Nelson county, and from Ackron and Fox run, new churches in Shelby county, he was ordained and installed over them, June 2, 1796. 'The first admin- istration of the Lord's supper in Shelby county, was in the fall of 1796, when the number of members had increased to thirty-five, mostly received on examina- tion. His labors were spread over a wide region, now occupied by the congrega- tions of Shelbyville, Mulberry, Six Mile, Shiloh, Olivet, and Big Spring, and em- bracing a circuit of from thirty to forty miles.

All these churches were planted and built up by him; but the field being too extensive, in 1803 he relinquished Simpson's creek, and devoted his whole time to the churches in Shelby county. In these he labored with great self-denial and success, till 1818, when the churches now called Shiloh and Olivet secured the services of Rev. Dr. Crow. In this extended field his labors were much blessed, constant accessions being received to his churches ; but these accessions did not increase their members in proportion, which were constantly reduced by removals. He spent a long, eventful, a happy and useful life, among the people of these counties-having been their pastor for more than forty years; and long will his name be borne in memory by them.

In intellect Mr. Cameron had few equals. His mind was cast in the finest mould, and cultivated to a high degree. The distinctive characteristics of his mind were strength, originality and discrimination. He was a man of great shrewdness, and gifted with keen powers of satire. His discourses were always systematic, instructive and practical. As a doctrinal and experimental preacher, he was excelled by none ; and his appeals were often most eloquent and impres- sive. As a pastor, he was highly esteemed and much beloved by the people of his charge; as a friend, he was frank, generous, and confiding ; as a divine, he ranked in the very first class, and was regarded by all who knew him as the ablest man in the synod. He was the author of many published writings of high re- pute, and extensively known. Among these may be mentioned-

1. The Faithful Steward : against baptizing adults who do not give evidence of faith and repentance, or the children of such adults. 1806-pp. 53.

2. The Monitor : on Religious Liberty, Church Government, Discipline, &c. 1806-pp. 109.

3. An Appeal to the Scriptures, on the Design, Extent, and Effect of the Pro- pitiation made by Christ. 1811-pp. 79.

4. A Discourse between the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church, and a Preacher in that Society who holds the Doctrine of Indefinite, Universal Atonement. 1814-pp. 24.

5. A Defence of the Doctrines of Grace: A Series of Letters in Reply to Judge Davidge's publication addressed to the " Advocates of a Partial Gospel." 1816-pp. 49.

6. A Reply to some Arminian Questions on Divine Predestination, and to a doggerel poem, " The Trial of Cain." 1822-pp. 36.

7. An Anonymous Letter on Fore-ordination; pp. 22.

8. Two pamphlets, addressed to the Rev. George Light, a Methodist preacher

9. A Sketch of the Transylvania Presbytery, for the General Assembly's com- mittee appointed to write a History of the Presbyterian Church.

During his last illness, which was protracted, his mind was sustained by the spirit of that gospel which, with so much faithfulness and success, he had preach- ed to his fellow men. The exercises of his mind were in unison with the gene- ral tenor of his religious sentiments. The prevailing feeling of his heart was submission to God, and reliance on Christ. His brethren of the Presbytery can never forget, that at their meeting the .spring before his death, when he was sup- posed, by himself and others, to be on the very borders of the grave, he sent them a message full of tenderness, saying, that the nearer he approached to the eter- nal world, the more precious did the doctrines of the Bible, as held in our stand- ards, become. He died in 1836.

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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Revs. MATTHEW HOUSTON, JOHN DUNLAVY, and RICHARD MONEMAR, who came to Kentucky about the close of the last century, became Shakers-the latter and former taking up their residence at Union, a Shaker village near Lebanon, Ohio. Dunlavy published, in 1813, an exposition and defense of Shakerism, entitled "The Manifesto, or a Declaration of the Doctrines and Practice of the Church of Christ," a dull 8vo., 520 pp., printed at the Shaker village of Pleasant Hill, in Mercer county, Kentucky.

The Rev. JOHN BRECKINRIDGE, D. D., was the sixth of nine children of the Hon. John: Breckinridge, (of whose life a sketch will be found under the head of Breckinridge county). He was born at Cabell's-Dale, on North Elkhorn, on the 4th day of July, 1797; and died at the same place on the 4th day of August, 1841, having just completed his 44th year. Some account has been given of his paternal ancestors, in the notice of his father ; and of his maternal, in that of his elder brother, Joseph Cabell Breckinridge. His father died when he was nine years old ; and from that time, he was reared under the care of his widowed mother, and brother Cabell, who was his guardian. His education was conduct- ed at the best schools which Kentucky afforded, and completed at Princeton college, N. J., where he spent about three years as a pupil, and graduated with great distinction in the autumn of 1818, having just completed his 21st year. He was destined by his family for the profession of the law. During his residence in Princeton college, he became a subject of divine grace, and united himself with the Presbyterian church, to which his paternal ancestors had been attached from the period of the reformation of the sixteenth century, in Scotland ; and determined, against the earnest wishes of all his immediate family-not one of whom was at that time a professor of religion-to devote himself to the gospel ministry, and, as it is believed, to the work of foreign missions. The providen- tial dealings of God constantly frustrated this latter intention, but the former was carried into effect; and after spending several years more in Princeton, as a student of the theological seminary there, and part of the time as a tutor in the college, he was licensed and ordained a minister of Jesus Christ, in the Presby- terian church of the United States.

In 1822, he was chaplain of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States. In 1823, he settled in Lexington, Ky., as pastor of the Mc- Chord church of that place. In 1826, he removed to the city of Baltimore, as co-pastor of the late Rev. Dr. Glendy ; and afterwards, as sole pastor of the sec- ond Presbyterian church in that city. In 1831, he removed to the city of Phila- delphia, as secretary and general agent of the board of education of the Pres- byterian church. In 1836, the general assembly of that church elected him a professor in the theological seminary at Princeton, New Jersey, to which place he then removed. Upon the organization of the board of foreign missions by the Presbyterian church, he was elected its secretary and general agent, and contin- ued at the head of the operations of that board from about 1838 to 1840. At the period of his death, he was the pastor elect of the Presbyterian church in the city of New Orleans, and president elect of the university of Oglethorpe, in Georgia.

He was a man of extraordinary gifts. To great gentleness and refinement of manners and feelings, he added remarkable correctness and vigor of purpose and force of will. Ardent and intrepid, as ever man was. he was also patient of labor, calm and wary in the formation of his designs, and indomitable in the resolution with which he pursued his objects. His success in life was, of necessity, striking and universal ; and at the period of his death, though he had scarcely attained the meridian of life, he was probably as universally known, and as universally admired and loved, as any minister of the gospel in America had ever been. A more generous, disinterested and benevolent man, never lived. His talents were of a high order ; and in the midst of a life of incessant activity, he acquired very extensive learning in his immediate profession. and was justly and highly dis- tinguished for the compass and elegance of his general attainments. As a pub- lic speaker, and especially as a pulpit orator, few of his generation equalled him-and taken for all in all, hardly one excelled him. So greatly was he ad- mired and loved, and so high was the public confidence in him, that calis and in- vitations to churches, colleges, and every sort of public employment, suitable to

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his calling as a christian minister, were continually pressed upon him from every section of the United States. His connection with the great movements and controversies of his age, so far as they bore a moral or religious aspect, was close and constant. A few hours before his death, and almost as his last words, he uttered these sublime words : "I am a poor sinner, who have worked hard, and had constantly before my mind one great object- THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD." It was a true and an honest synopsis of his life and labors.

One of the most extraordinary and scandalous events that ever occurred, was the attempt made five years after the death of this good and great man, by cer- tain Roman Catholics of St. Louis and elsewhere, to prove that he had died a convert to their religion-a religion which he spent many years of his life in the most ardent efforts to confute and expose-and in regard to which, the evidence - was perfectly conclusive that, to the end of his life, he thought the worse of it, as he more and more examined it.

In personal appearance, he was a man of the middle stature-lightly, but finely and elegantly made-and possessed of great strength and activity. His features wore an habitual aspect of mingled gentleness, sadness, and almost severity. His eyes and hair were light hazle. He was twice married-the first time, to a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Miller, of New Jersey ; the second time, to a daughter of Colonel Babcock, of Connecticut. His second wife, and three children by the first, and one by the second marriage, survived.

"A notice of Centre College, which was organized by and has been under the control of the Presbyterian church in Kentucky, will be found under the head of Boyle county.

DANVILLE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY .- The synod of Kentucky in 1847 adopted a plan of cooperation in the management of the New Albany Theo- logical Seminary, and raised a theological fund of $20,000, of which the annual interest at six per cent was for a number of years appropriated to the support of a professor; full control of this fund, however, was retained by the synod. At the meeting of the Presbyterian General Assembly (Old School) in Phil- adelphia, in May, 1853, seven western synods concurred in asking that body to establish in the West, a theological seminary of the first class. Twelve members, commissioners from presbyteries in Kentucky, invited the General Assembly to locate the proposed seminary at Danville-promising, in that event, $60,000 towards the endowment of three chairs, ten acres of land as a site, and proper charters by means of which the seminary might be estab- lished and its funds held. Another offer was previously made-to appropriate the $20,000 theological fund to endow a professorship in the new seminary, no matter where established. The larger offer was accepted, and the seminary located at Danville, by a vote of 33 for New Albany, 78 for St. Louis, and 122 for Danville. The Assembly elected as professors Rev. Drs. Robert J. Breck- inridge, Edward P. Humphrey, Benjamin M. Palmer, and Phineas D. Gurley- of whom only the first two accepted. The first annual report showed the total funds of the new seminary to be $76,868; of which $5,500 had been raised by the synod, under an amendment to the charter of Centre College passed in 1824, for the purposes of theological education, and $21,694 under a charter granted in 1850 to the trustees of the theological fund of the synod.

In 1854 Rev. John N. Waddell, D.D., was elected a professor, but declined. Rev. Stuart Robinson was chosen professor of pastoral theology and church government in 1856; he accepted, but resigned in 1858. Rev. Stephen Yerkes was elected, in 1857, professor of oriental and Biblical literature, and ac- cepted. In 1859, at the close of its sixth year, the funds of the seminary had accumulated to $131,749. The same year Rev. Wm. L. Breckinridge, D.D., was chosen professor of church government and pastoral theology, but declined; and in 1860 Rev. Joseph T. Smith, D.D., of Baltimore, was elected and accepted, but held the position only a few months. During the next eleven years frequent changes in the professors occurred, only one incumbent continuing unchanged to the year 1872.

The number of students in the seminary, as officially reported, since its organization, has been: 24 in 1853-4; 37 in 1854-5; 45 in 1855-6; 36 in 1856-7; 40 in 1857-8; 47 in 1858-9; 53 in 1859-60; 42 in 1860-1; 11 in 1861-2; 8 in 1862-3; 14 in 1863-4: 15 in 1864-5. Total number of students to September, 1865, twelve years, 372-of which 81 completed the course of study and received the certificate of the seminary, i. e., graduated, as the

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word is generally understood. In May, 1867, the seminary was reported to the General Assembly as "in a state of suspension, and three of its chairs vacated by resignation of professors." The experiment was tried of a short summer term in 1868, and also in 1869, instead of from September to May ; 8 students (of whom 2 completed the course) attended regularly in 1868, and 4 others for a short time; in 1869, 10 students were in attendance, but none completed the course. The regular session of 1870-1 had 6 students, "with a full faculty (four) on the ground." Neither faculty nor students, 1871-74.

In May, 1867, the directors. in their annual report, gave a list of " the per- sons who then constituted the board of trustees," and "ventured to express their mind to the General Assembly in these words, to wit:

" Resolved, That the General Assembly, in its sederunt in the state of Ken- tucky, which it is pledged to hold, while exercising its power in the election of trustees, be asked to relieve this board of any Kentucky members who may not be in connection with the synod of Kentucky adhering to the General Assembly; and that it will be pleased to purge this board of all such existing trustees as have taken part against the General Assembly."

Accordingly the General Assembly, which was then in session in Cincinnati, by resolution, held its session for one day, Saturday, May 25, 1867, in the First Presbyterian Church in Covington, Kentucky. In the election of trustees several who had served the seminary faithfully for years were left out, and their places filled by others. A report, signed " R. J. Breckinridge, Professor of Theology," states that "upon the request and by the appointment of the General Assembly of 1866, he had remained in the care and charge of the Danville theological seminary. Litigation of the widest extent, and in the ag gregate of immense importance, has already commenced concerning ecclesi- astical property in which the congregations and institutions of the Presbyte- rian church in the United States are interested in Kentucky. The General Assembly has it in its power, by the faithful discharge of its duties, at this time, to secure to its faithful people all this property, and these franchises and institutions, erected at the cost and by the zeal of the true children of the church, since its planting in Kentucky. Not until the leaven of the present sinful agitations in that portion of the church is cast out, can the question of the permanent location of the seminary be advantageously re- vived. If the town of Danville is lost to the Presbyterian influence so long predominant there, it can be no longer a fit place for a seminary of this As- sembly to be located."

In 1870 the trustees reported the total funds of the seminary $211,010-of which $176,885 invested in bonds, stocks, etc., and $34,125 in real estate. The board of directors reported "the endowment as totally inadequate to the maintenance of a theological seminary of the first class. The trustees have recently purchased one house for the use of a professor; but funds do not suffice to purchase or erect others. The accommodations for students are in- ferior to those of the other seminaries of the church; and, such as they are, will prove insufficient, should God grant even a moderate degree of prosperity to the institution. The simple truth is, $100,000-a part expended in perma- nent improvements, and a part judiciously invested -are imperatively needed to give this seminary a fair prospect of success at this day. With such an amount at its command, it would be in a condition to do its work for this generation, unless it should be necessary to increase the number of pro- fessors. In view of these facts we think it will be conceded that this seminary has a just claim upon the liberality of the church at large." In 1871 the trustees reported the total funds of the seminary $202,528-of which $163,257 in bonds, stocks, etc., and $39,270 in real estate, including $13,870 for three professors' houses; they also report $8,333 paid for pro- fessors' salaries, and $1,326 for general fund expenditures.

The directors say that the entire amount of $211,185, reported by the trus- tees as the total endowment in 1870, "has been-with the exception of about $20,000-contributed by the people of Kentucky, or acquired by savings and by judicious changes of investments."

It is proper to state here that, since about 1862, the entire seminary in terests-directors, trustees, faculty, funds, and buildings-have been under

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the exclusive control of ministers and elders in connection with the (Northern) General Assembly of the Presbyterian church.

The eventful history of the synod during the period of six years, beginning with the meeting at Harrodsburg, in October, 1861, must be briefly stated.

The General Assembly of that year, meeting a few weeks after the opening of the civil war, had initiated the practice of adopting "resolutions upon the state of the country," which from that time annually converted the highest court of the church into a propagandist of political dogmas and a subsidiary of the War-Department. It was still the Assembly of the whole church, for the synod of the South had not yet withdrawn to organize a separate Assem- bly. So that the action taken was directed as well to those living under the de facto Confederate government, as to those living under the government of the United States. A large minority of that Assembly, headed by the venera- ble Dr. Charles Hodge, protested against the action, on the ground that the Assembly was "deciding a political question," "the political question which agitates the country," and was "making that decision practically a condition of membership to the church," and in thus doing "violated the constitution of the church, and usurped the prerogative of its Divine Master." This protest summarily expresses the position assumed and maintained by the synod, as to the strictly spiritual function of the church, and the separation from its juris- diction of the things which concern the civil commonwealth. The doctrines of ecclesiology which emanated from the Seminary at Danville, prevailed to a large extent in the synod of Kentucky, the alumni of that institution compos- ing about one-third of the ministry in its connection.

The Kentucky synod of 1861 expressed its "grave disapprobation" of the action of the Assembly, and pronounced it "to be repugnant to the word of God, as that word is interpreted in our Confession of Faith." The Assembly of each succeeding year put forth its deliverances upon the civil and military affairs of the country-in each utterance growing more violent and secular in the spirit of its "testimony on doctrine, loyalty, and freedom." The synod hay- ing expressed its emphatic judgment of the incompetency of political action to a spiritual court, was content to abide quietly in this posture during the violent agitation of the commonwealth, as a border state, in time of war. Once her repeated testimony is given; in the minute disapproving the action of the General Assembly of 1864, on the subject of slavery, this expression is made : "The mission of the church of Christ is spiritual, and any interference with mat- ters purely political is a departure from her duty, and without the pale of her au- thority, as conferred upon her by her Divine Head." The Assembly of 1865 met, a few weeks after the surrender of the Southern armies, and the dutiful acquiescence of the people of the South in their relations determined by the war. But while those who had been engaged in the strife of the field between contending armies were conspiring for the reestablishment of peace an implac- able spirit possessed the Assembly. There being now no national exigency to furnish a pretext to political fanaticism, the insatiate spirit must feed upon the prospect of the country's peace. While previous Assemblies had tran- scended the bounds of a competent jurisdiction in enunciating political dog- mas and intermeddling with the conduct of war, this Assembly undertook to force the conscience of the church into a submission to the political record which had been made by the four Assemblies which preceded it. This etfort assumed the form of ordinances requiring :

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 89

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452