USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 107
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CHRISTY.
Kansas City and Independence, was a stock- holder in other banks, aside from the one in which he was most directly interested, and had large affairs which made him a power in the business world. He was one of the or- ganizers of the Ladies' College at Independ- ence. Born in a Baptist family, he held to the principles of religion throughout his useful life; was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and an elder in that denomination for thirty years. Mr. Chrisman did not seek political preferment, and the only part he played in public affairs, except his connection with professional and business interests, was as a member of the Constitutional Conven- tion.
Christy, Andrew, pioneer, was born in Warren County, Ohio, in 1799, and died in St. Louis, Angust 11, 1869. At an early age he removed with his parents to Illinois, and in 1826 he was engaged in lead-mining at Galena. Subsequently he removed to St. Clair County and engaged in business with his brother, Samuel C. Christy, opposite St. Louis. In 1832 the Christy brothers, in part- nership with Bernard Pratte, John O'Fallon, John H. Gay, Charles Mulliken, Adam L. Mills and William C. Wiggins, bought the ferry franchises of Samuel Wiggins, and a few years afterward Andrew Christy and his sister-in-law, Mrs. McLane Christy, became owners of the majority of the stock, and the ferry passed under his control. He was noted for his public spirit and liberal ideas, and the conduct of the ferry by him was eminently satisfactory to the community and advanta- geous to St. Louis. In the period between 1835 and 1840, when the harbor of St. Louis was threatened with a diversion of the chan- nel of the Mississippi, he took an active part in the meetings and measures which resulted in the work for preventing the diversion. He was a man of popular manners, and was chosen to the Missouri Legislature in 1851. He was never married, and at his death he left his large fortune to his brothers and sis . ters and their children.
Christy, John Macmillan, physician and one of the most successful homeopathic practitioners in southwest Missouri, was born in Hillsboro, Kentucky, August 8, 1851. son of Ambrose Barnett and Eliza Jane (Logan) Christy, both of whom were natives of Ken-
tucky. His father was a son of Robert Christy, whose home was for many years in Albemarle County, Virginia, and who emi- grated from that State into Kentucky, where he reared his family. His mother was a daughter of William Logan, a native of Ken- tucky, whose boyhood was spent among the pioneers of that State. William Logan's father was a native of Virginia, one of the earliest permanent settlers of Kentucky, and a man possessed of great hardihood and strength of character. He and his family lived among the Indians for many years, en- during hardships such as are utterly unknown by the present generation. His son, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, served as a soldier in the War of 1812. When Dr. Christy was a youth of nineteen years his parents, with their family, left Kentucky and removed to Missouri, locating at Fayette- ville, in Johnson County, where the father en- gaged in farming and mercantile pursuits. This was in 1870, and he continued in busi- ness at that point until his death, which oc- curred in 1876. His mother is still living at Fayetteville. The early education of John M. Christy was received in the common schools of his native State, and at the Samuel's Sem- inary, at Poplar Plains, where the family re- sided for several years. After leaving the seminary he pursued a course of study in the Kentucky State University at Lexington. While a student in this institution his par- ents removed to Missouri, and for the first four years of his residence in this State he was engaged in teaching in the public schools. In the meantime he had begun the study of medicine, and at the conclusion of his experience as a teacher, in 1874, he en- tered the office of Dr. W. L. Hedges, at War- rensburg. Missouri, as a student. In 1882 he graduated from the New York Home- opathic Medical College, immediately after which he located in Butler, Missouri, where he has since been engaged in an extensive and Incrative practice. He has for years been examining physician for several leading in- surance companies and fraternal organiza- tions. Dr. Christy is an active member of the Missouri Institute of Medicine, a director and stockholler in the Missouri State Bank of Butler, and a member of the Christian Church, in which he has served as deacon. Ile and his family occupy a handsome resi- dence about a block from the public square
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CHRISTADELPHIANS-CHRISTIAN BROTHERS COLLEGE:
in Butler. Ile has at various times owned several fine farms in Bates County, and is now the possessor of one of the best farms in the county. This property is being greatly improved by him, and contains, among other picturesque features, a lake, surrounded by a beautiful park, with attractive driveways. Through the assistance of Congressman De Armond, the lake has been stocked with fish from the hatcheries at Manhattan, Iowa. One characteristic which is well known of Dr. Christy is his indefatigable determina- tion to accomplish what he undertakes- which he performs largely through his diplo- macy-being easy and graceful in manner in his intercourse with his neighbors and friends. Dr. Christy was married, at War- rensburg, Missouri, September 3, 1873. 10 Telitha Frances Ellis, daughter of James Ellis, a prominent farmer residing near War- rensburg. They are the parents of a daugh- ter. Stella A., now a student at Christian Col- lege, at Columbia, Missouri. She is a very talented young lady, being a natural elocu- tionist, in which art she has attained quite an extended reputation for one so young. having been awarded several medals. She is also very proficient in music, and plays with admirable skill on piano, mandolin and gui- tar, and is now a member of the Christian College Orchestra and Mandolin Clubs. In addition to her music, she ranks high in her classes. Dr. Christy is a man of influence in the community in which he has resided for nearly a score of years. In public matters he takes a deep interest. Ile is a staunch Dem- ocrat, but has never consented to fill public office, preferring to devote himself exclui- sively to the practice of his profession, in which he maintains an enviable reputation.
Christadelphians .- Or "Brothers of Christ," a small sect of Christians, recogniz- ing the Old and New Testament as of equal authority ; believing that God will call to eter- nal life all who love Him in this life, and that they shall repeople the earth, while all who have not caught the immortal principle will perish ; rejecting a personal devil: recogniz- ing Christ as prophet, priest and king, the first fulfilled when He came to the world, the second being now fulfilled in His interces- sion for believers, and the third to be fulfilled when He shall come again to reign on the
earth in person. In 18go there were two or- ganizations of Christadelphians in Missouri.
Christian Alliance .- A religious so- ciety which is of New York origin, and is de- signed to bring together members of all reli- gious bodies in an effort to promote the moral and spiritual betterment of mankind. Rev. A. B. Simpson organized a church bear- ing this name at Nineteenth and Morgan Streets, in St. Louis, in 1805. The work lan- quished after a time and the society was prac- tically disbanded, but at a meeting held in the old Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Seventeenth and Locust Streets, May 29, 1808. it was reorganized under the name of "Christian and Missionary Alliance." The Young Women's Christian Training Home, at the corner of Eighteenth and Locust Streets, is conducted under the auspices of the new organization.
Christian Brothers' College .-- In 1849 Archbishop Kenrick sent an invitation to the Order of Christian Brothers, founded in the latter part of the seventeenth century. in France, to send representatives to St. Louis to establish there a Catholic educational institution for young men. In response to this invitation three members of that brother- hood, which now numbers over sixteen thou- sand, and has under its tuition in different parts of the world more than five hundred thousand pupils, came to St. Louis and laid the foundation of an institution, which is now widely known. The Christian Brothers' Col- lege of that city was the second institution of its kind founded in the United States, and was first conducted in what was known as "Bishop Rosati's Old Palace." near the Ca- thedral. The year following their coming to St. Louis the Brothers took charge of the parochial school of the Jesuit Church, at the corner of Eighth and Walnut Streets. From there they removed to the corner of Eighth and Cerre Streets, where they opened a school in 1850. In 1851 they removed to the corner of Sixteenth and Chestnut Streets. In 1853 Brother Patrick became director of the school, and in 1855 it was incorporated as the "Academy of Christian Brothers." In 1871 the property now occupied by the col- lege, on Easton Avenue, near King's High- way, was purchased, and in 1882 the institu-
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tion was removed to handsome buildings erected on this valuable property. The tract of land owned by the Brothers contains about thirty-five acres, and is a beautiful and pictur- esque site for an institution of this character. The average annual attendance of the college is now about three hundred and fifty, and among its graduates are numbered many prominent men residing in St. Louis and elsewhere.
Christian Church .- No one can un- derstand the history nor appreciate the reli- gious movement known as the "Current Reformation," who is not familiar with the conditions of religious society at the begin- ning of the nineteenth century. The popula- tion of the country was comparatively sparse. Cities were not large, and villages were small and far apart. The great body of the people lived on farms in the country. The Roman Catholic Churches, and all the Protestant parties that had their origin in the old world, were represented here. The Protestant churches were divided and warring with each other, to say nothing of the relentless war that still rages in many parts of the country between Roman Catholic and Protestant bodies. Party spirit ran high, and discus- sions on doctrinal differences were rife. The creeds were a source of perpetual contro- versy, often degenerating into angry and bitter quarrels. There was not a sufficient supply of ministers for even. the small popu- lation then in the country, and the divisions, alienations and estrangements made it im- possible to care for the churches or evange- lize the people. Thomas Campbell, a Presby- terian minister from the north of Ireland, who was providentially (and, as he thought, temporarily) in this country, was moved by the sad spectacle which he everywhere beheld, to seek for a basis of union and co-operation among all the followers of our dear Lord. He was a man of fine education and rare cul- ture, an able minister of the word, a man of profound reverence for sacred things, and one of acknowledged piety and godliness. After much reflection and earnest prayer, and thoroughly familiar with existing conditions, he wrote and published the following "Dec- laration and Address":
Proposition I. That the Church of Christ upon earth is essentially, intentionally and constitutionally one ; consisting of all those
in every place that profess their faith in Christ and obedience to him in all things according to the Scriptures, and that mani- fest the same by their tempers and conduct, and of none else, as none else can be truly and properly called Christians.
2. That although the Church of Christ upon earth must necessarily exist in particu- lar and distinct societies, locally separate one from another, yet there ought to be no. schisms, no uncharitable divisions among them. They ought to receive each other as Christ Jesus hath also received them, to the glory of God. And for this purpose they ought all to walk by the same rule ; to mind and speak the same thing, and to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
3. That in order to do this, nothing ought to be inculcated upon Christians as articles of faith, nor required of them as terms of com- munion, but what is expressly taught and enjoined upon them in the word of God. Nor ought anything to be admitted, as of divine obligation, in their church constitution and managements, but what is expressly enjoined by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles upon the New Testament Church, either in express terms or by ap- proved precedent.
4. That, although the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inseparably con- nected, making together but one perfect and entire revelation of the divine will, for the edification and salvation of the church, and, therefore, in that respect, can not be sepa- rated; yet, as to what directly and properly belongs to their immediate object, the New Testament is as perfect a constitution for the worship, discipline and government of the New Testament Church, and as perfect a rule for the particular duties of its members, as the Old Testament was for the worship, dis- cipline and government of the Old Testament Church, and the particular duties of its mem- bers.
5. That with respect to the commands and ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ, where the Scriptures are silent as to the express time or manner of performance, if any such there be, no human authority has power to interfere, in order to supply the supposed de- ficiency, by making. laws for the church ; nor can anything more be required of Christians in such cases, but only that they so observe
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these commands and ordinances as will evi- dently answer the declared and obvious end of their institution. Much less has any hu- man authority power to impose new com- mands or ordinances upon the church which our Lord Jesus Christ has not enjoined. Nothing ought to be received into the faith or worship of the church, or be made a term of communion among Christians, that is not as old as the New Testament.
6. That although inferences and deduc- tions from Scripture premises, when fairly inferred, may be truly called the doctrine of God's holy word, yet are they not formally binding upon the consciences of Christians farther than they perceive the connection, and evidently see that they are so ; for their faith must not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power and veracity of God. There- fore, no such deductions can be made terms of communion, but do properly belong to the after and progressive cdification of the church. Hence, it is evident that no such de- ductions or inferential truths ought to have any place in the church's confession.
7. That although doctrinal exhibitions of the great system of divine truths, and defen- sive testimonies in opposition to prevailing errors, be highly expedient, and the more full and explicit they be for those purposes, the better ; yet, as these must be in a great meas- ure the effect of human reasoning, and, of course, must contain many inferential truths, they ought not to be made terms of Christian communion, unless we suppose, what is con- trary to fact, that none have a right to the communion of the church but such as possess a very clear and decisive judgment, or are come to a very high degree of doctrinal in- formation ; whereas, the church from the be- ginning did, and ever will, consist of little children and young men, as well as fathers.
8. That, as it is not necessary that persons should have a particular knowledge or dis- tinct apprehension of all divinely-revealed truths in order to entitle them to a place in the church, neither should they, for this pur- pose, be required to make a profession more extensive than their knowledge ; but that. on the contrary, their having a due measure of scriptural self-knowledge respecting their lost and perishing condition by nature and practice, and of the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, accompanied with a profession of their faith in and obedience to Him, in all
things, according to Ilis word, is all that is absolutely necessary to qualify them for ad- mission into Ilis church.
9. That all that are enabled through grace to make such a profession, and to manifest the reality of it in their tempers and conduct, should consider each other as the precious saints of God: should love each other as brethren, children of the same family and Father, temples of the same Spirit, members of the same body, subjects of the same grace, objects of the same divine love, bought with the same price, and joint heirs of the same inheritance. Whom God hath thus joined to- gether, no man should dare to put asunder.
10. That division among the Christians is a horrid evil, fraught with many evils. It is anti-Christian, as it destroys the visible unity of the body of Christ ; as if He were divided against himself, excluding and excommuni- cating a part of himself. It is anti-scriptural, as being strictly prohibited by His sovereign authority ; a direct violation of His express command. It is anti-natural, as it excites Christians to condemn, to hate and to oppose one another, who are bound by the highest and most endearing obligations to love each other as brethren, even as Christ has loved them. In a word, it is productive of con- fusion and of every evil work.
11. That (in some instances) a partial neg- lect of the expressly revealed will of God, and (in others) an assumed authority for making the approbation of human opinions and hu- man inventions a term of communion, by in- troducing them into the constitution, faith or worship of the church, are, and have been, the immediate, obvious and universally ac- knowledged causes of all the corruptions and divisions that ever have taken place in the Church of God.
12. That all that is necessary in the high- est state of perfection and purity of the church upon earth is, first, that none be re- ceived as members but such as, having that due measure of scriptural self-knowledge de- scribed above, do profess their faith in Christ and obedience to Him in all things, accord- ing to the Scriptures ; nor, secondly, that any be retained in her communion longer than they continue to manifest the reality of their profession by their temper and conduct ; thirdly. that her ministers, duly and scriptur- ally qualified, inculcate none other things than those very articles of faith and holiness
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expressly revealed and enjoined in the word of God. Lastly, that in all their administra- tions they keep close by the observance of all divine ordinances, after the example of tlie primitive church, exhibited in the New Tes- tament, without any additions whatsoever of human opinions or inventions of men.
13. Lastly, that if any circumstantials in- dispensably necessary to the observance of divine ordinances be not found upon the page of express revelation, such, and such only, as are absolutely necessary for this purpose should be adopted under the title of human expedience, without any pretense to a more sacred origin, so that any subsequent altera- tion or difference in the observance of these things might produce no contention nor di- vision in the church.
While considering and discussing with his brethren this remarkable document, his son, Alexander, who had been left behind in the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a theolog- ical student, and now a young Presbyterian clergyman, arrived on the scene. Father and son together, both unusually gifted men, ex- amined the "Declaration and Address" in all its bearings, not only on the existing condi- tions in the churches, but on its necessary effect on the orthodoxy and usages of the Protestant Evangelical Churches. The result of these deliberations was the launching of a new movement to unite the warring factions, by what was, in fact, an effort to restore so much as had been lost of the New Testament Church in doctrine, faith and manners. In this effort, restoration, rather than reforma- tion, became the battle-cry, and the end pro- posed, the union in one body, as at the begin- ning of all the children of God. Whether the movement was wise, and whether the basis presented in this address was broad enough and scriptural, may be questioned, but the motive that prompted must forever be com- mended, and especially now, in the closing hours of the century which has made such marvelous strides toward the unity of the race, the fatherhood of God, and the brother- hood of man. The churches to which the elder Campbell ministered, in some good part at least, became the nucleus for the organiza- tion which has come to be known as the Christian Church, or the Church of the Dis- ciples. They themselves prefer to be called Churches of Christ, or Christian Churches, without prefix or suffix.
After the inauguration of this new move- ment in western Pennsylvania, it was found that able ministers in the denominations in various parts of the country had themselves felt the need of some movement that would heal division, banish unprofitable contro- versy, and answer the prayer of our Lord "that these may be one, as Thou, Father, and I are one, that the world may believe that Thou hast sent me." Chief among those who championed the cause of the restoration, and who came to the aid of Thomas Camp- bell, was his son, Alexander, than whom the century has produced no more eminent preacher, editor or polemic. In the develop- ment of the plan for a united Christendom, the discussions took a wide range and excited great interest throughout both continents. These included the place of the current creeds of the churches ; the place of the current or- thodox theology and its relations to the con- version of the world and the edification of the body of Christ ; the questions of regen- eration, or the new birth ; of conversion, and of sanctification : the office and work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion of the world and the sanctification of the church; ordi- nances, their place, purpose and value ; and, incidentally, church organization and disci- pline, name of the church, and co-operation for missionary work. Alexander Campbell soon discovered that in the advocacy of this plan the supreme need of the people was a wider and more thorough acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures. He, therefore, was the founder of the first American college in which the Bible was a text-book, and in which a part of every day was devoted to teaching it to all the college classes. He was not the first to found a theological seminary ; in fact, in the current meaning, he was opposed to such a seminary, but he held that no college education was complete without a thorough and systematic study of the Bible. With the ongoing of the movement, many uneducated and some illiterate men became ministers. But Campbell stood for the best education, the highest culture, and consecration in the ministry. He devoted his great head and heart, and his wonderful vitality, to this plea. He departed this life at a ripe old age, having lived to see more than half a million of men and women, true and brave for the right. as- sociated with him.
In the South Atlantic States, early in the
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century, about the time of the movement in- augurated by the Campbells, if not before, among the Methodists had arisen a move- ment for Christian union, headed by one O'Kelly, whose associates were known as O'Kellyite Christians: these emphasized chiefly the name, and a simpler ecclesiastical machinery than that used by the Methodists. Out of this movement, or influenced by it, came an eloquent and powerful young preacher, the Rev. Joel H. Iladen, who stood not only for a scriptural name, but for a united church, on the one foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. Mr. Haden, in the discharge of his duties as an itinerant Methodist preacher. found himself in south- ern Kentucky, when he heard of the Rev. Barton W. Stone, of central Kentucky, a dis- tinguished Presbyterian preacher, who was also dissatisfied with the existing order of things, and was feeling after some plan for the unity of the church by a return to New Testament doctrine and the ancient order of things. These two young men were made acquainted with the "Declaration and Ad- dress," embraced the views of the Campbells, and became tremendous factors in creating a sentiment among the people, which made the way of the movement comparatively easy in that hospitable old commonwealth. About the same time, influenced largely by the Christian system, and by the "Millennial Harbinger," published by Mr. Campbell, while he was for a time associated with the Baptists, a widespread sentiment favorable to the restoration movement prevailed among the Baptist Churches in Kentucky. Such distinguished Baptist ministers as Jere- miah Varden (for a time), Jacob Creath, Sr., Jacob Creath, Jr., John Smith (known as "Raccoon" John Smith), Samuel Rogers and John Rogers, the Mortons, John T. John- son, and a host of others who wrought vali- antly, came out boldly and took their place by the side of Mr. Campbell in advocacy of New Testament Christianity. These men thus banded together soon made the new or- ganization one of the mightiest forces in the State. and it continues among the first, if it is not the first, to-day. From Kentucky many of these pioneer preachers, with many of their members. emigrated to Ohio and In- diana, and farther west. In Ohio they found a considerable religious element ready for the
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