History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 148

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 148

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In November, 1817, the Missouri (now St. Louis) Baptist Association was formed, with the following as constituent churches : Fee-Fee, Cold Water, Bœuf, and Negro Fork, in St. Louis County, and Femme Osage, St. Charles Co., and Upper Cuiver, in Lincoln County, with an aggregate membership of one hun- dred and forty-two persons.

In 1811, Stephen Hempstead, one of the pioneers of Presbyterianism in Missouri, heard a sermon preached by a Baptist minister, the occasion being the funeral of a child. From these facts it is evi- dent that the Baptist denomination was established in St. Louis at a very early day, and that its organiza- tion there was perfected prior to that of any other Protestant congregation. Its growth appears to have been slow at first, for when in the fall of 1817 the Rev. John M. Peck and James E. Welch, missionaries sent out by the Baptist General Convention, arrived in St. Louis, they found only seven Baptists in the vil- lage. They at once began holding services in the stone house of Joseph Robidoaux, on the east side of Main, north of Myrtle Street. In a year their congregation had increased to thirteen, just one-half of all the professed Protestants in the village. On the 18th of February, 1818, they organized the First Baptist Church, with eleven members. In 1818 the church began the building of the first Protestant house of worship erected in St. Louis, which was situated at the southwest corner of Market and Third Streets. It was never fully completed, but was occupied for worship and was also used for a time as a court-house. On the 10th of November, 1819, the Rev. Mr. Ward, an Episcopalian minister, was announced to preach the annual sermon of the Mis- souri Bible Society, "in the Baptist meeting-house this evening at early candle-light."

The building was forty by sixty feet, and three stories in height. It was entered in the second story from Market Street, and was the only building on the south side of Market Street from the river to Fourth Street. It cost six thousand dollars, of which sum Mr. Welch advanced twelve hundred dollars, and John Jacoby, the treasurer, six hundred dollars. In 1821 the city decided to widen Market Street, a measure which would cut off twelve by eighty feet of the church lot. The congregation endeavored to have the portion condemned assessed at a fair valuation, but did not succeed in doing so. Soon afterwards a furious hail-storm broke all the windows on the Market Street side, and the mayor would not permit the glass to bc put in, because that portion of the church had been condemned as public property. The building was thereupon abandoned and sold for twelve hundred dollars, of which Mr. Jacoby's widow received six hundred dollars, and Mr. Welch six hundred dollars, half the amount loaned by him.

At a meeting held Aug. 29, 1830, Rev. J. M. Peck reported that in consequence of the death of Mr. Jacoby, one of the trustees of the church, the title had become involved, and that the city had taken to widen the streets twelve feet off the building, and, as the church was not known in law, the trustees could not recover damages. Consequently they had been left without funds to repair the building, and under these circumstances had sold the property to pay the debts. A part of the debt, however, appears to have remained, and to have assisted in the rapid decline of the society, which in 1832 was reduced to seventeen members, and in 1833 becane extinct, trans- ferring all but its debts to the Second Church, then newly organized. There are now seven white and eight colored Baptist Churches in the city, with a total membership of nearly five thousand.

In 1831 a three days' mecting was held by the Baptist Church, commencing on Friday, April 1st, aided by the Rev. J. E. Welch. Rev. John Mason Peck, D.D., who did so much to build up the Baptist Church in St. Louis, spent nearly forty years of his life in missionary work in the West, and was one of the most prominent citizens of St. Louis. He was born in the parish of Litchfield, South Farms, Conn., Oct. 31, 1789. He first united with the Congrega- tional Church in Litchfield. In 1811 he removed to Windham, Greene Co., N. Y., and becaine acquainted with the Baptists through the church at that place, and Rev. H. Harvey in the adjoining town of New Durham. He united with the Baptist Church in New Durham on Sept. 14, 1811, and preached his first sermon, and was immediately licensed. In 1813

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he was ordained as pastor of the Baptist Church in Catskill, but after a brief pastorate there and another at Amenia, in Dutchess County, N. Y., he accepted an agency in behalf of foreign missions, laboring under the guidance of Rev. Luther Rice. He then, 1816- 17, had a year of study under Dr. Staughton, of Philadelphia. He was then appointed a missionary of the board of the Triennial Convention to labor in St. Louis and vicinity. On July 25, 1817, he set out with his wife and three children, in a covered wagon, upon the long western journey of twelve hun- dred miles to his field of labor, and on the 1st of December reached St. Louis. His associate, Rev. James E. Welch, had reached the field before him. In 1822, Rev. Mr. Peck became a resident of Rock Spring, Ill., and this remained his home until his death.

At Rock Spring, Dr. Peck, in connection with his missionary labors, now under the appointment of the Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Society, established a seminary for general and theological education, being aided in his enterprise to some extent by East- ern friends. The seminary was a success, and at one time contained over one hundred students. In due time the seminary became united with the one at Upper Alton, now known as Shurtleff College. In addition to his ministerial labors, Dr. Peck contributed frequently to newspapers and other periodicals, and published several works on the West.

On April 25, 1828, he began the publication of a newspaper called the Western Pioneer and Baptist. Aside from other labors, he also wrote " A Biography of Father Clark," "Emigrant's Guide," " Gazetteer of Illinois," " Annals of the West," and other works. He frequently visited the Eastern States in the inter- est of his church, and was throughout his ministerial career one of the most active and energetic of the ministers of the Baptist denomination. His publica- tions in the East concerning the resources of the Western country attracted many persons thither, and materially aided its development. He was a recog- nized authority as to the local history of the Western communities, and collected a great mass of material, much of which was subsequently destroyed by fire. Some of it was left at his death in such a fragmentary condition that it could not be utilized. He died at Rock Spring, Ill., March 24, 1857, in the sixty- eighth year of his age.

The Rev. James Eley Welch, Dr. Peck's colleague, was born near Lexington, Ky., Feb. 28, 1789. In October, 1810, he was baptized by Rev. Jeremiah Vardeman, and taken into the fellowship of the Bap- tist Church at Davis' Fork. In 1815 he entered the

ministry, and in the following year studied theology with Rev. Dr. William Staughton, of Philadelphia, and acted as pastor of the church in Burlington, N. J., where he was eminently successful. In 1817 he tendered his services to the Board of Missions at Philadelphia, and in May of that year they were accepted as a missionary to St. Louis, Mo. He reached his destination after more than two months' travel. St. Louis then contained about fifteen hun- dred inhabitants. The only paved sidewalk at that time was on Main, between Chestnut and Market Streets. The pavement was of brick. The only house west of Fifth Street was Judge Lucas', on the spot where the First Presbyterian Church on Four- teenth Street now stands. The old First Presby- terian Church then stood on the ground where Phil- harmonic Hall was afterwards situated, on the corner of Washington Avenue and Fourth Strect. The whole square was offered in 1818 to Mr. Welch by the owner, Mr. Conner, for one hundred dollars. On the southeast corner of Chestnut and Fourth Streets a small frame building was standing, which, with the lot, was offered for two hundred dollars. Mr. Welch commenced his missionary work by erccting, in 1818, a brick meeting-house at the corner of Third and Market Streets, on the site of the St. Clair Hotel, which was opened for service in July, 1819, but after three years of laborious struggles and varied success the board discontinued the mission, and Mr. Welch returned to Burlington, N. J. For more than twenty years he was agent for the American Sunday-School Union. He removed from Burlington in September, 1848, to Warren County, Mo., where he labored constantly for the promotion of the interests of the Baptist Church until 1875, when he settled at Warrensburg, Mo. In 1876 he revisited his old home in Burlington, N. J., and on the 18th of July, while with an ex- cursion party of Baptists at the sea-shore, he was seized with apoplexy, which ended a long and useful life.

The Baptist Headquarters, St. Louis Branch House and General Depository of the American Baptist Publication Society, 1109 Olive Street, Lewis E. Kline, manager, is one of the most flourish- ing institutions of its type in the country. The St. Louis Baptists having paid to the General Publication Society $5000 towards the purpose, the St. Louis Branch was opened about Nov. 1, 1868, with Rev. G. J. Johnson, D.D. (for five years previously West- ern agent of the society), as manager. It was located at 209 North Sixth Street, and proved successful from the start. During the first four months the sales amounted to $2356.38, and in the following year to $24,373 .-

LIr AhY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

Servis & Kling.

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75; in 1870-71 to $32,562.83 ; 1871-72, $32,920 .- 96; 1872-73, $30,851.53. In 1873-74 (being the jubilee, or fiftieth year of the society) the sales were the largest ever known, aggregating $36,140.72. In ten years the sales have amounted to over $300,000, and the grants for publications alone that have passed through this branch amount to over $25,000. This branch is the centre and headquarters of a district, and the district, churches and individuals, have con- tributed over $50,000 (to which the parent society has added $50,000) towards the benevolent and mis- sionary work of the association, colportage, and Sun- day-schools. The branch has supported as many as twenty-five colporteurs and Sunday-school missionaries at one time. Dr. Johnson resigned Jan. 1, 1876, and

AM BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

MANABER

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICA- TION SOCIETY.

unpainted Arkansas yellow-pine, highly polished, the carvings being inlaid with blue. On the second floor are the offices of The Central Baptist newspaper, Ford's Christian Repository, and Rev. S. W. Mar- ston, secretary of the Home Missionary Society for the West. The rooms on the third floor are occupied by the Baptist Ministers' Conference, which meets every Monday morning at eleven o'clock, the Ladies' Missionary Society, etc.

Lewis E. Kline is known in St. Louis and through-

was succeeded as manager of the branch by Lewis E. Kline, a son of Rev. Peter Kline, who had been for seven years his chief clerk and book-keeper.1 On the 1st of May, 1882, the branch was removed to its present location, in what was formerly known as “ Dor- ris Row," having leased the entire three-story build- ing. The ground- floor is occupied by the branch and de- pository, and is ele- gantly furnished in

out the Southwest as the manager and district sec- retary of the American Baptist Publication Society.2 He was born in Washington, Ill., March 18, 1843, and is of German descent, his parents having been born in Wiesbaden, Prussia. They arrived in St. Louis about 1833. The residence in Washington was only temporary, and three weeks after his birth his parents returned to St. Louis, so that Mr. Kline has practically been a lifelong resident of the city. At the age of seventeen, being of a delicate constitu- tion, he was sent in company with an older brother to the country, and placed upon a farm, in the liope that his health might be improved. To the two brothers was committed the sole management of the property; and the novelty of the life, the laborious occupation, and the invigorating air transformed the puny stripling into the strong and hardy man. He was nineteen years of age when the civil war began, and becoming restless amid the excitements of the day, he returned to St. Louis, and during that year (1862) enlisted in the Merchants' Regiment, the Thirty-third Missouri Volunteer Infantry, Col. Clin- ton B. Fisk commanding, with which he served two years. On June 6, 1864, he was severely wounded in the right arm and shoulder, in an ambush at Fish Lake Bayou, near Lake Village, Ark.

Amputation of the arm was regarded as necessary by the surgeons, but he refused to submit to the operation, and after a long period of suffering he at last grew strong enough to be moved from the hos- pital at Memphis, Tenn., to Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. Here he received treatment for a little over a year, and while at the Barracks, in order to occupy his mind, he served as librarian and supervising sexton of the chapel. In December, 1865, at his urgent re- quest, he received an honorable discharge, and Drs. Pope, McDowell, and Hodgen, the best surgeons in the West, took his case in charge. They frankly told him that he was a badly-mutilated man, almost be- yond the help of medical skill, and that his only hope lay in his own force of will. Without giving up hope, he submitted for two years more, twice each day, to surgical treatment, and finally saved both his life and his arm.

On his discharge from the United States service, he went with his arm in a sling from store to store and from street to street in search of employment. But no

1 We are indebted to Mr. Kline for much valuable material in the preparation of this sketch of the Baptist denomination in St. Louis. In his "History of Missouri Baptists," R. S. Duncan accords to Mr. Kline the credit for the erection of the present headquarters, and also speaks in warm terms of his suc- cessful administration of the affairs of the depository.

2 This sketch and the portrait which accompanies it are a tribute of love and esteem from the personal friends of Mr. Kline, who have known him for years, who have watched his ever-growing influence with pride, and who sympathized with him in his manly efforts to overcome well-nigh insurmountable obstacles.

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one seemed desirous of having a man without the use of his right arm. He thereupon entered a commercial college, and studied telegraphy and book-keeping, at the same time seeking work.

At length, in 1866, his perseverance was rewarded with a position as cashier and book-keeper in the then largest religious publishing house and book- store in the city. For three years he performed the various duties of his place with his left hand, with which he had learned to write, working hard by day and studying at night. He succcedcd beyond his most sanguine expectations ; but it was at the ex- pense of his general health. A brief vacation in the East became a necessity, and on his return, with im- proved health, two places were open to him,-one a position in the Treasury Department at Washington, D. C., the other as chief clerk and book-keeper of the American Baptist Publication Society. He accepted the latter place in 1869, and was appointed manager Jan. 1, 1876. He still retains this position, and during the past six years has performed in addition the duties of district secretary of the society. His position during the last fourteen years has been one requiring unusual tact, good judgment, perseverance, and close application. Under his management the business of the house has increased with great regu- larity and steadiness. Although he has had the hardest field to cultivate in the interests of the Pub- lication Society, owing to the fact that both the Northern and Southern elements of the Baptist de- nomination come into contact in St. Louis, and must be harmonized and conciliated, he has succeeded, with- out loss of principle or self-respect, in winning the confidence and esteem of all classes of his patrons.

Although the youngest manager in the service of the society, he has developed a business equaled by no other depository, and now superintends the finest building and equipments, as well as the largest trade, to be found in any of the branch establishments. His store, No. 1109 Olive Street, is the " Baptist Headquarters" not only for St. Louis, but the entire Southwest. In the management of his business his distinguishing characteristics are promptness, punctu- ality, systematic attention to details, scrupulous hon- esty, and generous treatment of all his patrons alike. In religion, Mr. Kline is a strict Baptist, having united with the Second Baptist Church in 1866, and has filled in different churches the various offices in the Sunday-school, in the church, and in the local and State boards of denominational work. He is an active member of the board of trustees of Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, Ill., in whose prosperity he is greatly interested, and whose museum he has enriched

with a most valuable collection of ancient coins and curios, gathered in his tours in this country and through Europe in 1871. In the local affairs of St. Louis he is deeply interested, and has filled with honor to himself and profit to those whom he has served the offices of secretary of various institutions and orders, and of Generalissimo in the commandery of Knights Templar.

The estimation in which he is held by his fellow Knights Templar is shown by the fact that he was presented by them with an engrossed and illuminated testimonial of rare design and great beauty, a compli- ment seldom bestowed upon a member of that order. Mr. Kline has also been president in the Temple of Honor, Good Templars, and Band of Hope. Benev- olent institutions and enterprises have been aided by him with a liberal hand.

On his return from a vacation in Europe in 1871, Mr. Kline was married to Miss Sallic E. Mason. In domestic as in public life, he is true and upright, and his career throughout has been singularly pure and simple. Deprived in youth by ill health of the advantages of early education, he has by close study of men and books acquired a thorough training and exceptional readiness in the application of his knowl- edge. Mr. Kline is in the best sense of the term a self-made man, and one who, having risen from the lowest round of the ladder by his own rare deter- mination, is both sympathetic in helping those who are working their own way up in life, and worthy of the highest confidence and regard of all who rever- ence honest merit and genuine success.

Fee-Fee Baptist Church is situated on the St. Charles Rock road, fourteen miles west of St. Louis, in St. Louis County. Rev. Luther Green is the pas- tor. Of this, the oldest Protestant organization west of the Mississippi River, the early records down to 1834 were unfortunately burned while in the posses- sion of Rev. John M. Peck. What follows, to that date, has been mainly gathered from the memories of the original members and from Mrs. Catharine Martin, who joined the society in 1815 and is still living. The church, as heretofore stated, was organized in 1807 at the residence of one of its members, near where the first meeting-house was built, by Rev. Thomas R. Musick, with the following members: Adam and Mary Martin, Abraham, Terrell, and Prudence Mu- sick, John, Jane, Richard, and Susan Sullens, John and Joyce Howdershell. The first house built for worship was a log cabin, situated on a lot of three acres deeded by James Richardson for church and cemetery purposes, on the old St. Charles road. It was replaced by a brick house built on the same lot

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in 1828, which still stands in the midst of the old Fee- Fee Cemetery, which has been much enlarged, and which, in 1876, was conveyed to a board of trustees composed of four members of the Mizpah Presbyterian Church, four from the Bridgeton Methodist Church, and four from the Fee-Fee. The first grave was dug in 1822. The cemetery has recently been greatly im- proved and adorned. In 1870 the third and present house of worship was built, under the ministry of Rev. John Hickman, on a lot of five acres, situated on the St. Charles Rock road, one quarter of a mile north of the old church, and given to the congregation by Erastus Post. It is a brick structure, forty by sixty feet, with a seating capacity of three hundred and sixty, and a basement for the Sunday-school. It cost thirteen thousand dollars, and was dedicated July 24, 1870, Dr. W. Pope Yeaman preaching the ser- mon. The succession of pastors cannot be accurately given, but among them are named Rev. John Clark, the pioneer of Protestantism in Missouri, and Rev. John M. Peck, the first Baptist missionary to Mis- souri. The membership of Fee-Fee Church now numbers seventy-two, and its Sunday-school is attended by forty children.

Second Baptist Church .- This church, the parent of the Baptist congregations in St. Louis, is situated at the northwest corner of Locust and Beaumont Strects. Rev. W. W. Boyd, D.D., is the pastor. In September, 1832, the American Baptist Home Mission Society sent to St. Louis Rev. Archer B. Smith, of the Dis- trict of Columbia, who obtained a room on Market Street below Second and began holding meetings. He found the society of the First Church utterly dis- organized, only seventeen members remaining, six of whom obtained letters of dismissal, and, joining with six others, met Jan. 6, 1833, in the school-house of Elihu H. Shepard, on Fourth Street, opposite the court-house, and organized " The Second Baptist Church of St. Louis," so styling the new society, in order not to be saddled with the debts of the First. Among the original members were H. Budlony, C. W. Cozzens, Moscs Stout, Archer B. Smith, Sarah Orme, E. Williams, Edith Kerr, M. A. Francis, Emily W. Cozzens, and others. Their number were soon after augmented by the remaining members of the First Church, who on the 10th of February, 1833, voted themselves letters of dismissal and disbanded, trans- ferring to the new society the money and subscrip- tions that had been obtained for erecting a new church. Rev. William Hurley had conducted the organiza- tion of the new congregation, but Rev. Archer B. Smith was chosen pastor. He resigned and returned East in September, 1833, and Rev. W. Hurley sup-

plicd the pulpit until, in March, 1835, an application was made to the Home Missionary Society for a pastor, and for aid to sustain him. In June, 1835, the society sent Rev. Thomas P. Greene, of North Carolina, who remained one year. During his pastor- ate a lot at the northwest corner of Morgan and Sixth Streets was purchased, on which a foundation was laid before the winter rendered further work impossible; but in the spring of 1836 the lot was sold, and in June, 1836, the society purchased the Episcopalian Church building, situated at the northwest corner of Third and Chestnut Streets, for twelve thousand dol- lars, the understanding being that possession was to be given within one ycar from the date of sale. During this interval the congregation worshiped at Shepard's school-house, but in May, 1837, it took possession of the building, which it had purchased from the Episcopalians. While services were being held in the school-house sermons were preached occa- sionally by the Rev. Dr. Baker.

On the 6th of August, 1839, the public were no- tified that the choir of the Baptist Church would give a grand sacred concert at the First Presbyterian Church on the evening of the 7th of August, the proceeds to be applied to the purchase of an organ. Rev. B. A. Brabrook, of Newton Theological Semi- nary, served as pastor from May, 1837, to August, 1839, resigning on account of ill heath, and the pulpit was supplied by different preachers until February, 1840, when Rev. R. E. Pattison, D.D., of Providence, R. I., became pastor. At the end of the year he was recalled to his former charge, and Rev. John M. Peck, D.D., of Rock Spring, Ill., and Rev. E. Rogers, of Up- per Alton, Ill., alternately supplied the pulpit. Rev. Isaac Taylor Hinton, of Chicago, Ill., was pastor from July, 1841, to December, 1844. Under his minis- trations the church grew so rapidly that in 1842 the seating capacity of the building was nearly doubled by throwing a portion of the vestibule into the audi- ence-room and erecting galleries. During Mr. Hin- ton's pastorate one hundred persons were added to the membership by baptism, and nearly two hun- dred by letter. Mr. Hinton died of yellow fever in New Orleans in 1847, and his remains were removed to Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis. He was suc- ceeded by the Rev. Dr. Peck (supply) for one year. Rev. S. W. Lynd, D.D., of Cincinnati, Ohio, as- sumed the pastorate in December, 1845, and re- signed December, 1848, to take charge of the Bap- tist Theological Institution at Covington, Ky. Rev. Dr. Peck again took charge of the church as sup- ply, and continued to officiate until the Rev. J. B. Jeter, D.D., of Richmond, Va., assumed the pas-

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 148

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358