History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 162

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 162

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1739

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

ing was consecrated on the 17th of June, 1859, Rev. Dr. Raphael, of New York, officiating. It was a sub- stantial and elegant structure of brick with cut-stone foundations, and school-rooms in the basement, stained windows, a gallery around the whole audience-room, and seats for about nine hundred persons. It was in the Romanesque style of architecture, forty-two feet front and eighty feet two inches in depth, and cost twenty-one thousand dollars. Its erection was specially due to the energetic labors of A. J. Latz, aided by other members of the congregation.

The Sixth Street property was sold in 1879. The synagogue now occupied by the congregation (at the corner of Olive and Twenty-first Streets) was com- pleted in 1880, and is a lofty and handsome structure of brick, its dimensions being sixty by ninety-six feet.

In 1844, A. J. Latz purchased a lot on Pratte Avenue for a Hebrew cemetery, which was deeded to the trustees of the society by John Farrell, and was used for burial purposes until 1856, when Mount Olive Cemetery, in Central township, was given to the society by the B'nai Jeshurem congregation, which liad purchased it in 1854. The present owners have erected on it a building costing five thousand dollars, and have greatly improved and beautified it. A. Ger- shon has been its superintendent for many years. The society now numbers one hundred and thirty members, and its officers are P. F. Myers, president ; Abraham Spiro, vice-president ; Falk Levi, treasurer ; M. P. Silverstone, secretary ; H. Rosinski, M. Kempf, Joseph Davis, Simon Zork, Joseph Rheinholdt, A. B. Jach, and Hermann Levi, trustees.

B'nai El Congregation, northeast corner of Chou- teau Avenue and Eleventh Strect, Rev. M. Spitz, D.D., rabbi, was established about 1839 or 1840. It wor- shiped subsequently in a building at Sixth and Cerré Streets, which was finished in 1855, and consecrated on the 7th of September of that year. It formed an octagon of about seventy-five feet in diameter, and terminated in a cupola. The seating capacity was about three hundred persons. In 1875 the present building (at Chouteau Avenue and Eleventh Street) was pur- chased from the Chouteau Avenue Presbyterian Church for fourteen thousand dollars, and was re- fitted so as to be adapted to Hebrew forms of wor- ship. About the same time the Sixth Street prop- erty was sold to the Episcopalians for the Good Samaritan Church (colored).

Temple of the Gates of Truth .- In 1866 an as- sociation of some seventy wealthy Israelites of St. Louis was chartered under the name of the St. Louis Temple Association. The first president was Alex-

ander Suss, and the other officers were Isaac Hoff- heimer, vice-president ; T. Rosenfield, secretary ; Joseph Weil, corresponding secretary ; and Bernard Singer, S. Schiele, T. L. Bothahn, Isaac Hellman, M. Lansdorf, L. R. Strauss, Leopold Steinberger, M. L. Winter, P. Seligmann, S. Marx, and Levi Stern, directors. They were all laymen, and in the forma- tion of their association were guided by the desire to " escape dogmatic discussions and dissensions," and to " bring the Israelitish form of worship into harmony with the views and principles of modern society." With this object in view they introduced the organ and choral singing into their services, and ordered that " the old oriental habit of entering the audience- room with covered heads be abandoned."

T. W. Brady was selected as the architect for the house of worship, which it was decided to build at the northeast corner of Seventeenth and Pine Streets, and on the 24th of June, 1867, the corner-stone of the structure was laid with Masonic ceremonies by the Grand Lodge of Missouri. Dr. Wise, of Cincinnati, was the orator of the occasion. The building, which is still used by the congregation, has a frontage of seventy-one feet on Seventeenth Street and a depth of one hundred feet on Pine Street, the dimensions of the lot being one hundred and ten by one hundred feet. The temple is a handsome edifice, its architec- ture being modeled after the Moorish style, and the façade is flanked by two towers, each fifteen feet six inches square. The building was dedicated in August, 1869. At that time the trustees of the congregation were Isaac Hoffheimer, president ; M. Lansdorf, vice-president; Levi Stern, treasurer ; Joseph Ros- enfield, secretary ; and A. Kramer, . B. Hysinger, A. Wise, Joseph Weil, H. S. Winter, L. M. Hellman, S. Sandfelder, B. Singer, M. Friede, L. Steinberger, and A. Suss. Six months previously the old society had been organized into a congregation under the name of the " Gates of Truth congregation," and the follow- ing trustees elected : B. Hysinger, president; A. Kramer, vice-president ; A. Frank, treasurer; and Messrs. Hoff heimer, Steinberger, Rosenfield, Wise, D. Dillenberg, S. Schiele, and M. Lansdorf.

While adhering to the essentials of the Jewish faith, the congregation, as indicated above, has dis- carded many of the ancient forms and ceremonies of the Jewish ritual. Rev. S. H. Sonneschein, the present rabbi, is a man of wide and liberal culture, and has been a frequent lecturer on historical and other topics. He has repeatedly tendered the use of his temple to Christian congregations, and is emi- nently popular among Christian ministers, as well as foremost in all public charities and reformatory move-

1740

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

ments. The society is a large one, and connected with it is a well-attended Sabbath-school.

Congregation "Scheerish" Israel, 926 North Sixth Street, is a religious association of Hebrews who occupy a rented room and worship according to the most ancient forms. The present officers are M. Harris, president ; H. Abrahams, vice-president; L. Lipman, secretary; J. H. Abrahams, treasurer ; D. Priver, L. Michael, H. Rosenberg, A. Cohen, M. Schuchat, and P. Whol, trustees.

Chebra Kadish Congregation meets for worship on Seventh Street, between Franklin Avenue and Wash Street. Rev. M. Leberstin is rabbi.

BETHEL ASSOCIATION.

The St. Louis Bethel Association, located at 300 and 302 North Commercial Strect, Rev. Peter Kitwood, chaplain, is an auxiliary of the Western Seamen's Friend Society. The headquarters of this society are at Cleveland, Ohio, and its ramifications extend throughout the West. The work in St. Louis was commenced in 1841, a meeting having been held on the 16th of June of that year for the purpose of de- vising measures for the establishment of " a Bethel Church for the use of the boatmen and watermen of the Mississippi." Rev. Wesley Browning presided, and resolutions were adopted to the effect that the work be undertaken without delay, and that two com- mittees be appointed, one to procure a room and en- gage a minister, and the other to prepare a constitu- tion for an association to be called " The St. Louis Port Society," under whose control the proposed Bethel Church should be placed. The committee ap- pointed to secure the minister and a room was com- posed of F. W. Southack, Dr. Knox, John H. Gay, John Thompson, Samuel C. Davis, J. P. Sarpy, and L. Farwell. The committee chosen to draft the con- stitution consisted of George K. Budd, George Kings- land, Edward Tracy, Theodore Labeaume, Joseph Tabor, M. De Lange, A. Hamilton, Edward Dobyns, J. G. Dinnies, and C. D. Drake.

The mission does not appear to have been perma- nently successful, for in December, 1848, a meeting was held at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, of which Rev. W. S. Potts, D.D., was chairman, for the purpose of forming an association for the promotion of the moral and physical interests of the Western boatmen. The meeting resulted in the formation of the " Western Boatmen's Union of St. Louis," to the chaplaincy of which the Rev. Charles S. Jones was unanimously elected. Mr. Jones entered upon the discharge of his duties on the 22d of April, 1849. His first sermon to boatmen was preached to a con-

gregation of some eight or nine persons in a Metho- dist Church. Subsequently the use of Westminster Church was procured for afternoon service, in which building he continued to preach until the great fire of May 17, 1849. He then departed for the East, and commenced a vigorous canvass of the Eastern churches for funds to aid in the building of a Boatmen's Church. In this mission he was so far successful as to collect some fifteen hundred dollars. On his return he com- menced divine services in the " Odd-Fellows' Hall." Subsequently a lot of ground was leased, on which an edifice was erected at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, capable of accommodating between six and seven hun- dred persons, and fitted up, embellished, and arranged so as to be ostensibly and peculiarly a " Boatmen's Church." This building was located on Green Street, between Second and Third, near the river, and was said to be the first organized church of the kind west of the lakes. It was dedicated on.the 21st of March, 1852. The officiating ministers were the pastor, Rev. Charles J. Jones, Rev. J. C. Abbott, Rev. Dr. Ka- vanaugh, and Rev. J. A. Lyon.

The mission proved successful during the time it was under the direction of Mr. Jones, but the church became involved, Mr. Jones was called to New York, and the institution practically collapsed, the building being appropriated to other purposes. It was also too remote from the Levee. for convenience of the class in- tended to be benefited by it. Matters thus remained until 1868, but in that year the enterprise was revived, and a room in the Boatmen's Building, on the north- west corner of Vine Street and the Levee, was rented for the purpose of establishing regular religious ser- vices and a Sunday-school for boatmen and their families and others near the Levee not provided for by the city churches. The hall was dedicated March 14, 1869, the exercises being under the management of Gen. C. B. Fisk, president of the association, assisted by the directors, a number of clergymen, and boatmen from St. Louis and other cities. The following were the officers of the institution at that time: Managers, E. D. Jones, William C. Wilson, George Partridge, John G. Copelin, E. O. Stanard, Nathan Ranney, Clinton B. Fisk, Samuel Cupples, Austin R. Moore, Thomas Morrison, Joseph Brown, James Richardson, Isaac M. Mason, Thomas Rutherford, Nathan Cole. Officers, C. B. Fisk, president; Samuel Cupples, vice- president; Austin R. Moore, secretary ; William C. Wilson, treasurer ; Executive Committee, Joseph Brown, William G. Wilson, Samuel Cupples, C. B. Fisk, I. M. Mason; Chaplain and District Superin- tendent, Rev. M. Himebaugh ; Corresponding Secre- tary, Rev. A. Wheeler, D.D., of Cleveland ; President

1741

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

and General Superintendent Western Seamen's Friend Society, Rev. B. Frankland, of Cincinnati.

In 1875 the mission was removed to 300 North Commercial Street, and in the spring of 1882 the ad- joining building was added, doubling its capacity. The buildings are in the centre of the wholesale busi- ness portion of the city and of the steamboat traffic. They were erected and had been used for stores, and front both on Commercial Street and the Levee, four stories on the former and five on the latter. The two stores on the first floor (Commercial Street) have been thrown into one and constitute the chapel, in which a congregation of one thousand people have assembled. The floor beneath (entered from the Levee) is used as a restaurant, where poor working- men may obtain bread and a bowl of coffee for five cents, or a meal for ten. The upper stories are used as class-rooms, sewing-rooms, etc., and (the highest floor of all) as a dormitory, where over one hundred men find nightly lodgings at a cost of ten cents. The work of the Bethel is divided into two classes, religious and secular. The religious work comprises a Sunday- school, held in the afternoon (no services are held on Sunday mornings), attended during the winter months by forty to fifty teachers and over eight hun- dred scholars; a regular church service on Sunday evenings, attended by an average congregation of from two hundred to three hundred, of whom about one hundred are communicants ; separate classes for relig- ious and secular instruction, on Sundays and week- days, for white mothers, colored mothers, colored boys, and colored girls, and several weekly prayer- meetings. The secular work is under the superin- tendence of David Crofton, and embraces the man- agement of the restaurant and dormitory above mentioned, where deserving objects of charity are fed and lodged gratuitously ; maintenance of outside charities among the worthy poor, for whom rent is paid, and to whom food and clothing are supplied, and of a sort of savings institution, consisting only of an iron safe, in which poor roustabouts and others are induced to deposit their earnings for safe-keeping in- stead of squandering them, and the deposits in which now amount to about two thousand two hundred dol- lars; and finally the work of the Ladies' Bethel Association, who conduct sewing-classes for girls and for mothers, teaching them to sew, and rewarding them with the fruits of their industry, the ladies themselves devoting one day of the week (Friday) to making garments and distributing them among the poor. Over one thousand children were clothed in 1882, and the Saturday sewing-school is attended during the winter by fully three hundred girls.'

The officers of the Ladies' Bethel Association are Mrs. J. A. Allen, president ; Miss Ellen Budd, vice- president ; Mrs. George S. Edgell, secretary ; Mrs. Chapman, treasurer. Two lady city missionaries are employed, Mrs. Margaret Skinner and Miss R. A. Manning, whose chief work is among the poor. The managers of the Bethel are Nathan Cole, president ; G. S. Paddock, vice-president ; J. C. Hall, secretary ; George A. Baker, treasurer ; Isaac M. Mason, J. H. Wear, John W. Larimore, H. N. Spencer, E. E. Souther, George S. Edgell, W. W. Carpenter, D. R. Wolfe, Leonard Matthews, D. Crawford, Jos. Specht, and P. Kitwood, directors. The Bethel is supported by voluntary contributions, and extends its benefits to all the poor, regardless of creed or color, the white and colored people having separate rooms for classes and lodging. It is affiliated with no religious denomina- tion, but is aided by all. Its chaplain, Mr. Kitwood, is a man of untiring energy, and devotes his efforts specially to elevating the morals of the people in his field of labor.

SWEDENBORGIANS.

The First New Jerusalem Society of St. Louis, Lucas Avenue near Ewing Avenue, was organized by Rev. T. O. Prescott, of the Cincinnati New Church, at the house of Charles Barnard, druggist, on Morgan Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Streets, on Sun- day, Nov. 20, 1842, with the following constituent members : Joseph Barnard, Francis B. Murdock, Charles R. Anderson, Eliza B. Anderson, Susan Bar- nard, Margaret Barnard, John H. Barnard, and Tim- othy Keith. On the following evening, at the house of John H. Barnard, on Morgan, between Ninth and Tenth Streets, a constitution was adopted, and Joseph Barnard was elected reader and F. B. Murdock secre- tary. It was decided that. the congregation should meet for worship alternately at the houses of Charles and John H. Barnard and F. B. Murdock, the latter being at the southeast corner of Fifth and Elm Streets. From a paper bearing date March 27, 1843, it ap- pears that a number of persons subscribed the sum of sixty-three dollars, in amounts ranging from one dol- lar to five dollars, for the purchase of New Church books, and on the 11th of May, 1843, a "society for the examination of the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg" was established, with Elijah C. Eads, J. H. Barnard, C. R. Anderson, Charles Barnard, Timothy Keith, and Joseph C. Edgar as constituent members. To these were subsequently added twenty- two others, among whom were Thomas H. Perry, B. G. Child, George F. Lewis, J. H. Brotherton, Rich- ard Rushton, George I. Barnett, John Warden, and Charles Gleim. The society continued to meet in

1742

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

private, and rented rooms for reading and discussion, and assembled for the last time "at the school-rooms of the late Professor T. H. Perry, former secretary of the society," May 17, 1849, and " was adjourned in- definitely." The New Jerusalem Society, however, continued to exist, and in October, 1847, reported twelve members, one of the original number having died, and a Sunday-school, organized Sept. 19, 1847, with fifteen scholars. On the 5th of December, 1847, a room was rented for meetings at the corner of Wash- ington Avenue and Fifth Street, and Professor T. H. Perry, licentiate, preached every Sunday. On the 20th of August, 1848, Thomas H. Perry was ordained to the ministry in Peoria, Ill., by Rev. J. R. Hibbard, and was installed pastor of the St. Louis Society, but died in May, 1849. In the winter of 1849-50, Rev. George Field delivered a course of lectures in St. Louis, and on the 20th of April, 1850, he was elected pastor of the society, the election to date from Octo- ber 1st following. He was installed Oct. 27, 1850, and resigned October, 1852. Soon after his installa- tion he insisted on a change in the constitution which should make baptism by a New Church minister es- sential to membership or admission to the Lord's Sup- per. On this question the society divided, the major- ity, seventeen in number, indorsing the pastor. They seceded with him, and formed, April 17, 1851, the St. Louis New Church Society. The minority (of twelve members) met once, May 9, 1851, after the division, but there is no record of their existence since that time. On the 20th of May, 1850, a stock company was formed for the purpose of building a church, and on the 10th of October, 1850, the society met in its own hall, at the southeast corner of Sixth and St. Charles Streets. This property passed into the hands of the seceding society, of which Dr. C. W. Spalding was the leading member, being chosen at the first election president, superintendent of Sunday-school, and leader of the choir.

On the 1st of June, 1852, a lease for the lot at Sixth and St. Charles Streets was executed to the society by George F. Lewis, and on the 14th of June a building committee was appointed for the erection of a two-story building, the lower part to be rented as a store, and the second story to be used as a hall for worship. After the resignation of Mr. Field, the meetings were for the most part suspended until Aug. 30, 1856, when nineteen persons appeared at a called meeting, abolished the obnoxious baptismal require- ment, and reorganized the society on a basis of first principles. Late in 1857 the society fell into pecu- niary embarrassments, and the hall was rented to other parties. On the 26th of January, 1858, nine mem-

bers withdrew, and but a precarious existence was maintained, with occasional visits from Revs. George Field, Chauncey Giles, C. A. Dunham, and others, until January, 1864, when regular meetings were resumed and conducted by John Jay Bailey as reader, to which office he was elected July 7, 1864. He was licensed to preach by the General Convention, Oct. 19, 1864, and resigned the leadership of the so- ciety Jan. 11, 1866, at which time it had increased to forty active members. Rev. Charles Hardon was elected pastor March 14, 1866, and resigned June 24, 1867. Rev. Mr. Brickman supplied the pulpit during the fall of 1867, and Rev. J. B. Stuart was elected pastor Jan. 9, 1868, and resigned June 1, 1871. He reorganized the society and gave it the name of " The First Parish of the New Church in St. Louis," by which title it was incorporated March 28, 1868, with forty-six members. Its government was vested in a board of wardens, the first elected mem- bers of which were William Chauvenet, John H. Barnard, George W. Simpkins, John Warden, E. C. Sterling, George F. Lewis, G. B. Stone, R. L. Tafel, John Jay Bailey, C. S. Kauffman, David R. Powell, and Charles R. Anderson. In May, 1868, Mr. Stuart called a convention of New Church Societies in Missouri, and organized them into the diocese of Missouri, of whichi he was made bishop. After his departure a return to first principles was inaugurated, and on the 6th of May, 1874, the " Missouri Associ- ation" (as the " diocese" had come to be called) was finally dissolved. On the 21st of October, 1877, the " parish" was reorganized as the original First Society of the New Jerusalem in St. Louis, and was chartered March 8, 1878. On the 16th of March following the " parish" transferred to the society all its possessions and became extinct. The lease of the church lot ex- pired June 1, 1872, and the building was sold for two thousand dollars, a lot forty feet front (the present site) purchased for four thousand dollars, and a chapel capable of seating one hundred persons erected on it at a cost of nine thousand and fifty dollars. The building was first occupied Sept. 29, 1878. During 1873-74, Rev. James E. Mills officiated as leader of the society, and services were subsequently conducted by a reader. On the 3d of December, 1878, Rev. E. A. Beaman was employed to preach two Sundays in the month, and on the 1st of October, 1882, Rev. A. F. Frost commenced an engagement as preacher, but no regular pastor was chosen. The constitution of the parish received, all told, one hundred and six signa- tures. The present society has had, in all, thirty-eight active members, now reduced by deaths to thirty-four, and the congregation numbers about seventy persons.

1743

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

The Sunday-school has five teachers and about forty pupils.

The German New Jerusalem Society, corner of Twelfth and Webster Streets, was organized in 1854, and at one time worshiped at the corner of Howard and Fourteenth Streets. Its congregation numbers about two hundred, and about one hundred children attend the Sunday-school.

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

The Christians, or Disciples of Christ, more popularly known as " Campbellites," from Alexander Campbell, their foremost leader, who professed to re- storc the simple faith and worship of the primitive Christians, and discarding all creeds, to take the Bible for the sole guide in life and doctrine, have now three organizations in St. Louis, viz. :

First Church, southwest corner of Olive and Sev- enteenth Streets, Elder W. T. Tibbs, pastor.

Central Church, northeast corner of Washington Avenue and Twenty-third Street, Rev. J. H. Foy, D.D., pastor.

North St. Louis Church, southwest corner of Eiglith and Mound Streets, Elders George Anderson and G. Jackman, pastors.

These three congregations sprang successively from a small gathering of Campbellites, originally only scven members, which met on Sundays at a private residence, and which in 1842 had increased in num- ber to twenty-seven persons, with Elder Robert H. Fife as leader. They next rented a small school-room on Morgan Street, and a year lated rented Lyceum Hall, and called to the pastorate Dr. W. H. Hopson, then a young man, who afterwards became one of the most prominent ministers in the denomination. Owing to his energy and activity the congregation increased so rapidly that in 1845 it removed to a more com mo- dious building on Sixth Street and Franklin Avenue. Elder Jacob Creath was the next pastor for two years, and was succeeded by Elder Joseph Patton, who died in 1850. The church next purchased a lot on Fifth Street, between Franklin Avenue and Wash Street, and erccted a building at a cost of twenty-five thou- sand dollars, which was dedicated Aug. 15, 1852, by the pastor, Elder Samuel S. Church. The structure was of the early English Gothic style of architecture, and its dimensions were sixty by one hundred and seven feet six inches, the seating capacity being about eight hundred persons. Mr. Church died some years later, and was followed by Elder Proctor, whom ill health caused to resign in 1861. In June, 1863, the church purchased from D. A. January the building now occupied, at the southwest corner of Olive and

Seventeenth Streets. It had been St. Paul's Prot- estant Episcopal Church, but was closed and sold for debt in 1861. It was dedicated in July, 1863, by the pastor, Elder Benjamin H. Smith, whose suc- cessors in the pastorate have been Elders Henry H. Haley, Henry Clark, John A. Brooks, O. A. Carr, Dr. W. H. Hopson, their first minister, who returned in 1874 and remained one year; T. P. Haley, who took charge in 1875 and resigned in November, 1881, leaving the church without a pastor until the appointment of Elder W. T. Tibbs, of Kentucky, early in 1882. In 1870 the question as to whether an organ should be placed in the church caused dissen- sions in the congregation, and in June, 1871, a large number who favored instrumental music withdrew and formed a new congregation, now called Central Church. They met in a hall at Fourteenth and St. Charles Streets, and in 1875 purchased the lot on which they erected their present house of worship, which they supplied with an organ and an efficient choir. Their first pastor, Elder Enos Campbell, was called to the charge at the time of the secession from the First Church and remained until 1879, when the present pastor was called. The congregation at Eighth and Mound Streets has long been a small and strug- gling one, but now, under its two able leaders, is be- ginning to increase and flourislı. The First Church reports a membership of one hundred families and three hundred communicants, and twelve teachers and seventy-five pupils in the Sunday-school ; the Cen- tral has two hundred members, and fifteen teachers and one hundred scholars in the Sunday-school ; and the North St. Louis comprises about sixty families and one hundred members, with nine teachers and one hundred children in the Sunday-school.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 162

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