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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01998 6758 Gc 974.702 W26h
History of the centennial celebration
HISTORY OF THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Warsaw, Wyoming County New York June 28 - July 2. 1903
1803 - 1903
LAURA BRISTOL ROBINSON Editor
Published by authority of the Warsaw Centennial Association by The Western New-Yorker Warsaw, New York
Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana
FUIZUR WEBSTER
F 12% RG
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART ONE
HISTORICAL DISCOURSES
Presbyterian Church, Rev. L. M. Sweet Methodist Church, John B. Smallwood Congregational Church, Rev. H. E. Gurney Baptist Church, Rev. A., S. Cole Episcopal Church, Rev. H. S. Gatley Evangelical Association, Rev. I. K. Devitt Roman Catholic Church, Sketeh by the Editor
PART TWO
ADDRESS OF WELCOME, Hon. E. E. Farman, LL. D. ADDRESS, Hon. William Henry Merrill ADDRESS, Merrill Edwards Gates, LL. D., L. HI. D. ADDRESS, Harwood A. Dudley CENTENNIAL HYMN, Mrs. Merrill E. Gates RESOLUTIONS
PART THREE
SYMPOSIUM
Rev. George D. Miller, D. D., Miss Elizabeth Young, Mr. William E. Webster, Miss Elizabeth Bishop, Mr. Palmer C. Fargo, Miss Emma R. Munger, Mr. Lewis E. Walker, Mrs. Belle Bristol Kurtz, Miss Blanche L. Thayer, Commander Zera L. Tanner, Miss Mabel E. Smallwood, Prof. Horace Briggs, Mr. J. Edwin Dann, Harrison Darling Jenks, M. D., Mrs. Eliza Gates Milne, Mrs. Ella Hawley Crossett, Prof. Irving B. Smith. Sketch of Hon. Augustus Frank
Sketeh of Hon. Woleott J. Humphrey
Sketeh of Hon. Lester Hayden Humphrey
PART FOUR
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS, Col. A. B. Lawrence
LETTERS, Hon. William P. Letehworth
ADDRESS, Hon. William Bristol
DEDICATORY ADDRESS, Gen. E. S. Otis, U. S. A.
ADDRESS, Commander Zera L. Tanner, U. S. N.
ADDRESS, Gen. Jolin S. Koster, G. A. R. REMARKS, Frank Coffee, Jr.
POEM, Mrs. Bessie Chandler Parker
ADDRESS, Gen. S. F. McAuliff
REMARKS, Col. Charles A. Orr
HIGH SCHOOL BANQUET
POEM, Miss Mary E. Dam
PART FIVE
ADDRESS, Governor B. B. Odell, Jr.
AFTER DINNER TALKS
Governor Odell, Justice Albert Ilaight, Hon.
James W. Wadsworth, Hon. James II. Loomis PARADE PROGRAM
1
INTRODUCTION
The idea of celebrating in some appropriate man- ner the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of Warsaw originated with Major Harwood A. Dud- ley, and to him, primarily, belongs the eredit of our beautiful "Centennial". At his eall and under his direction and inspiration, public meetings were held during June and July of 1902 which resulted in the organization of the Warsaw Centennial As- sociation, with Hon. Elbert E. Farman, LL. D. as president; Mrs. Laura Bristol Robinson, secretary and Wolcott J. Humphrey, treasurer. Subsequently a number of vice-presidents and committees were chosen.
Meetings of the Association were held at frequent intervals for many months and reports received from the various committees which were, meanwhile, doing a large amount of work in preparation for the great event looked forward to with so mueh interest and pleasure.
It was deeidcd that the centennial celebration should begin on Sunday, June 28, 1903, with his- torical sermons in the loeal churches, and end with a grand parade on Thursday afternoon, July 2nd,
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HISTORY OF THE
and every interest in the town gradually became centered on these dates.
The finance committee did its work so energetic- ally and met with such cheerful and generous response to appeals for money that the sum of $2,720 was soon at its disposal. This was appor- tioned according to an estimate made by the differ- ent committees of their probable needs and expen- ses in carrying out plans for the centennial obser- t vances. Everything was done on a broad and gen- erous scale yet such good judgment was shown in all expenditures that instead of a deficit, as might have been expected, a balance remained in the treas- ury after all bills had been paid.
At last, after much care and thought and hard work, the programs were made out and all arrange- ments for the celebration completed, including the erection of a large tent on Mrs. Frank's lawn, south-east corner of Main and East Court streets, in which to hold the meetings.
When the sun had dispelled the mist and clouds hovering over the sleeping Wyoming valley on Sun- day morning, June 28, 1903, its rays fell upon a scene of wondrous beauty. It was the beginning of Warsaw's Centennial Celebration. Willing hands of men and women, boys and girls, whose hearts were filled with civic pride and a glad welcome for the home-comers, had joined in this labor of love, and the whole town was decked in gayest color. The thousands of visitors who came to
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Warsaw during centennial week, marvelled at the beauty and splendor of its decorations.
The reception in the Town Hall on Monday evening was one of the happiest thoughts of the entire program, the hostesses being representatives of many of the oldest families in town. At least eight hundred people were in attendance and there was a cordiality and heartiness of greeting, a kind- liness of spirit, a sineerity of manner which one never finds at any merely formal affair. It was a meeting of old friends after long separation, a revival of names familiar in the old days; all were "boys" and "girls" again, forgetting for an hour the changes which time had wrought. All plans and arrangements for this social event, as well as for the Governor's banquet, were in charge of the hospitality eommittec, and under direction of the committee on decorations the hall had been trans- formed into a place of beauty worthy of the occa- sion.
The whole celebration was a most successful and happy affair in every detail, a fine exemplification of what ean be accomplished by systematie, well- directed, harmonious effort. Warsaw was ready with a warm greeting for her returning sons and daughters, her grandsons and grand-daughters, worthy descendants of worthy ancestors who founded this town in the early years of the nineteenth century; aneestors who stamped upon the town those eharae- teristies which make men and women proud of
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HISTORY OF THE
their birth-place. The week was rich in the glories of noble ancestry, heroic history and happy reminis- censes. It revealed Warsaw's title to honor and her strength to maintain the nobility of her heri- tage. There were many tender memories of days that are past and friends that are gone, which brought now and then a tinge of sadness into the festivities; but all in all Warsaw's "Centennial week" was a happy and glorious one, to be hallow- ed forever in the hearts of her people.
Officers and Committees
President, Hon. Elbert E. Farman, LL. D .; Secre- tary, Mrs. Laura Bristol Robinson; Treasurer, Wolcott J. Humphrey.
Vice-Presidents-Hon. William Bristol, Hon. Myron E. Bartlett, Hon. George M. Palmer, M. D., Hon. Byron Healy, Simeon D. Lewis, Hon. I. Sam Johnson, Hon. James E. Norton, Prof. Irving B. Smith, Nathan S. Beardslee, Eben O. McNair, John B. Smallwood, Frank W. Brown, Dr. Zera J. Lusk, Dr. William C. Gouinlock, Palmer C. Fargo, George C. Otis, C. Talleyrand Bartlett, Noble Morris, Col. Abram B. Lawrence, Edward M. Jen- nings, Lewis E. Walker, Romaine Warner, Albert Lyon, S, Mills Fisher, William D. Martin, James A. Main, Silas F. Mann, William J. Ballintine, Daniel E. Keeney, Samuel B. Humphrey, Asa A. Luther, Sylvanus E. Brady, William W. Smallwood, John Brown, Samuel D. Purdy, Marshall A. Richards, Niles Keeney, James E. Bishop, William W. Prentice, Dr. Romanzo Perkins, Duane Chase, Charles T. Watkins, James R. Smith, John W. Montgomery, Joseph Cheney, Martin Stortz, Alfred Wadsworth, Palmer Kimball, John Kohler, W. W. Fluker, Henry Ryan, Fred H. Pierce, Edwin C. Stearns, Rollin R. Buck, Charles L. Steward, Ami H. Carpenter, John Truesdell, Benjamin F. Fargo, Samuel J. Munger, Allen D. Fargo, Frank C. Gould, Aurora S. Perkins, Loman Whitlock, Hezekiah Fargo,
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Walter Hatch, Charles II. Gardner, Frank D. Hurd, Henry Handyside, William D. Miner, Robert Barnett, Elizur Marchant, John B. Crossett, William E. Webster, Cornelius H. Bradley, Harwood A. Dudley, J. C. Buxton.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE-H. A. Dudley, John Underhill, Thomas S. Glover, S. B. Whitlock, John Hanigan, Nathan S. Beardslee, James E. Slaught, William Watson, Dr. M. J. Wilson, Alfred Wadsworth, Warren W. Hawley, William P. Rumbold, Edward II. Morris, Marshall W. Campbell, William H. Cheney, E. B. Everingham, Frank Roberts, James O. McClure, William C. Gouinlock, George C. Otis, John Brown.
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE-Onias S. Humphrey, Warren W. Hawley, S. B. Whitlock, W. J. Humphrey.
COMMITTEE ON INVITATIONS-Simeon D. Lewis, Newton S. Wells, James O. McClure, Henry R. Bristol, George W. Lemon, Mrs. William Bristol, Mrs. George A. Lewis, Mrs. William W. Smallwood, Miss Elizabeth Young,
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICITY-N S. Wells, John Under- hill, Mrs. L. B. Robinson, Col. J. O. McClure, H. L. Burr, Levi A. Cass.
COMMITTEE ON HOSPITALITY-Mrs. S. B. Whitlock, Mrs. William Bristol, Mrs. George C. Otis, Mrs. Joseph C. Bux- ton, Mrs. E. E. Farman, Mrs. Augustus Frank, Mrs. Byron Healy, Mrs. J. B. Crossett. Mrs. C. T. Bartlett, Mrs. James E. Bishop, Mrs. Charles G. Purdy, Mrs. W. D. Martin, Mrs. L. E. Walker, Mrs. J. E. Slaught, Mrs. Mar- garet Allendorph, Mrs. L. HI. Humphrey. Mrs. D. M. Cauff- man, Mrs. Kate Emery, Mrs. A. C. Manson, Mrs. N. S. Beardslee, Mrs. Z. J. Lusk, Mrs. E. H. Morris, },Mrs. W. D. Mckinley, Mrs. B. B. Conable, Mrs. F. E. Bliss, Mrs, M. W. Campbell, Mrs. W. W. Smallwood, Mrs. D. M. Mills, Mrs. Loman Whitlock, Mrs. 1. Sam Johnson, Mrs. W. J. Humphrey, Mrs. Albert P. Gage.
COMMITTEE ON SPEAKERS-Irving B. Smith, I. Sam Johnson, Addison W. Fisher, M. L. Coleman, George W. Botsford, John L. Woodworth, James E. Norton, Rev. L. M. Sweet, Rev. F. W. Berlin, Rev. J. J. Rogers, Rev, W. D. Mckinley, Rev. H. S. Gatley, Rev. H. E. Gurney.
COMMITTEE ON MUSIC .- William E. Webster, Charles E.
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HISTORY OF THE
Ketchum. J. W. Bolton, W. II. Eberle, E. E. Baker, W. H. Conner, John W. Sparrow, Mrs. George Luce, George M. Lawrence.
COMMITTEE ON PARADE .- Edward T. Montgomery, W. J. Ballintine, Elmer E. Charles, David M. Cauffman, Charles G. Purdy, Patrick Higgins, Onias S. Humphrey, Charles II. Fargo, J. Wesley Wiggins, Robert D. Miller, Fred HIer- ington, Edward D. Burghart, Walter Gay, Robert Brewer, Fred Lester, Harold Hovey, George A. Martin, Henry R. Bristol, Harry Vosburgh, Bert P. Gage, John R. Miner, Mrs. W. E. Webster, Mrs. E. E. Rowe, Mrs. Onias S. Hum- phrey, Mrs. Frank C. Gould, Mrs. J. C. Hofstetter, C. Will Benson, L. L. Thayer.
COMMITTEE ON DECORATIONS .- Joseph C. Buxton, Wm. P. Rumbold, John W. Sparrow, H. de B. Justison, Robert C. Mann, George M. Lawrence, Harvey Cornell, Dr. W. H. Prentice, Mrs. Frank Montgomery, Miss Virginia Law- rence, Miss Ida McClure, Mrs. Fred Rice, Mrs. Frank Salisbury.
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION .- Wm. Bristol, Elbert E. Farman, George E. Jennings, H. J. Ward, Joseph C. Buxton, W. C. Gouinlock.
G. A. R. COMMITTEE .- J. W. Hatch, 1. Sam Johnson, J. M. Smith, Homer O. Holly, W. H. Cornell, Maj. H. A. Dudley, Col. A. B. Lawrence.
MONUMENT EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE .- Hon. William P. Letchworth, Maj. H. A. Dudley, John W. Hatch, Col. A. B. Lawrence, Capt. Francis Murphy.
GOVERNOR'S RECEPTION COMMITTEE .- Hon. Wm. Bris- tol, Hon. M. E. Bartlett, Hon. 1. Sam Johnson, Nathan S- Beardslee, Judge James E. Norton, William E. Webster.
RECEPTION HOSTESSES .- Mrs. Samuel Fisher, Mrs. Eliza- beth Garretsee, Mrs. J. E. Ketchum, Mrs. S. D. Purdy, Mrs. Augustus Frank, Miss Lucy Bishop, Miss Etta Bishop, Mrs. Wallace Sherwin, Mrs. Elizabeth Frank Nassau, Mrs. Adelia Miller Mckinley, Mrs. Mary Buxton Healy, Miss Franc O. Benedict, Mrs. James A. Webster, Mrs. James O. McClure, Mrs. Mettie Bingham Older, Miss Caroline Knapp, Mrs. Harriet Knapp, Mrs. Richard Taylor, Miss Ellen Bassett, Mrs. Emma Hurlburt Thayer, Mrs. John W. Mont, gomery, Miss Aphia A. Bartlett, Miss Linnie Bartlett.
T.
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Mrs. James E. Bishop, Mrs. James Wilkin, Mrs. Laura Hovey Mapes, Mrs. Julia Gates Humphrey, Mrs. Margaret McCagg Allendorph, Mrs. Ella Hawley Crossett, Mrs. Wm. Bristol, Mrs. Milton Brown, Mrs. Harwood A. Dudley, Mrs. B. F. Fargo, Miss Helen Fargo, Miss Lona VanLiew, Mrs. Kitty Hayward Bartlett, Miss Eunice Conable, Mrs. Helen Peck, Mrs. Louise Thayer Cauffman, Miss Adelia Walker, Miss Elizabeth Young, Mrs. Lucy Young Purdy, Miss Martha Young, Miss Mary Young, Mrs. Mary Darling Jenks, Miss Laura Jenks, Mrs. George C. Otis, Mrs. Joseph C. Buxton, Mrs. Louise Lamberson Sturdevant, Mrs. Mary Cole Johnson, Miss Emily Peck, Miss Flora Peck, Mrs. Mary Frank Miller, Mrs. Alta Thorpe Vincent, Mrs. Wol- cott J. Humphrey, Miss Eliza Foster, Miss Mary Foster, Miss Hettie Foster, Mrs. Homer O. Holly, Mrs. D. M. Mills, Mrs. Walter Fargo, Mrs. Eliza Gates Milne, Mrs. Frances Judd Babbitt, Mrs. Eva Knapp Manson, Mrs. D. W. Martin, Miss Emaret Martin, Miss Helen Carpenter, Mrs. Abram B. Lawrence, Miss Mary Silliman, Mrs. William E. Webster, Mrs. Daniel E. Keeney, Mrs. Albert A. Andrews, Mrs. Blanche Webster Gardner, Mrs. Mary Young Waterbury.
PROGRAMS
SUNDAY, JUNE 28th
At 10:30 A. M., appropriate religious services and historical sermons in the local churches.
Centennial Union Choral Service in the tent at 4 P. M., John W. Sparrow director, and the chorus made up of choirs of the different churches, accom- 1 panied by the Warsaw Concert Band, John W. Bolton, leader.
Opening Chorus
Old Hundred
Prayer
Rev. E. G. Gilbert
Chorus When Shall the Voice of Singing
Address-Childhood
Rev. H. S. Gatley
Male Quartette Heaven is My Home Messrs. Montgomery, Webster, Ketchum, Conner
Address-Youth Prof. I. B. Smith
Chorus Onward Christian Soldiers
Address-Manhood
Rev. L. M, Sweet Chorus Oh, Could I Speak the Matchless Worth
Address-Old Age
Rev. H. E. Gurney
Chorus Nearer, My God, to Thee
Closing Chorus America
Benediction
Rev. F. W. Berlin
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 30th
OLD HOME DAY --- Exercises in Tent at 2 p. m.
Music, Warsaw Concert Band
Invocation, Rev. W. D. MeKinley
Address of Welcome, Judge E. E. Farman, President
Music-"Great God of Nations," from Tannhauser Wagner Congregational Church Choir, directed by Mrs. George Luce
Address, IIon. W. H. Merrill, of New York
Music, Warsaw Concert Band
Address, Dr. Merrill E. Gates, of Washington Music-"God of Our Fathers, Known of Old,"
Address Benediction Music
Congregational Church Choir Major Harwood A. Dudley Rev. Henry S. Gatley Warsaw Concert Band
TUESDAY EVENING. JUNE 30th
AT 8 O'CLOCK SYMPOSIUM
Introductory address by Rev. George D. Miller, D. D., of Rochester.
SHORT TALKS
Miss Elizabeth Young, Mr. W. E. Webster, Miss Eliza- beth Bishop, Mr. Noble Morris, Mr. Palmer C. Fargo, Miss Emma Munger, Mr. Lewis E. Walker, Hon. William Bristol, Miss Blanche Thayer, Capt. Zera L. Tanner, Miss Mabel Smallwood.
Address-Warsaw Academy Fifty Years Ago,
Prof. Horace Briggs, of Buffalo. Mrs. Nellie Webster Knapp, of Boston Solo,
SHORT TALKS.
Mr. J. Edwin Dann, Dr. Harrison Jenks, Mrs. Eliza Gates Milne, Mrs. Ella Hawley Crossett, Prof. Floyd J. Bartlett, Prof. Irving B. Smith.
Mr. Albert T. Brown, off Buffalo Solo,
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 1st MONUMENT DEDICATION DAY
Morning-Artillery, National Salute
11 to 12 A. M .- G. A. R. Dinner 1 P. M .- G. A. R. Parade 2 P. M .- Assemble at Monument Reveille
Music-Overture
Warsaw Concert Band
President's Introduction
Invocation
Address
Rev. George D. Miller Hon. William Bristol
Only surviving member of War Committee of this district Presentation-Tributes to Veterans, 1861-1865
Music
Oration
President Letchworth Warsaw Concert Band General E. S. Otis, U. S. Army
Music, Presbyterian Church Quartet
Address, Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. Navy
Response, Department Commander Koster, G. A. R. Music-" Rally 'Round The Flag Boys."
Address, Frank Coffee, Jr.
Poem, Mrs. Bessie Chandler Parker
Music-" Red, White and Blue."
Reading,
Mrs. Ellen B. Day
Music-" We've Been Tenting Tonight."
RESPONSES-Gen. John A. Reynolds, Gen. Crawford, Hon. James W. Wadsworth, Hon. F. C. Stevens, Hon. H. J. McNair, President J. C. Buxton.
Music-"America," Band and Assemblage
Benediction Rev. W. D. Mckinley "Taps."
THURSDAY, JULY 2d GOVERNOR'S DAY
Morning-Sunrise Salute of 100 guns.
11:30 A. M .- Address by Governor B. B. Odell, Jr. 12:30 P. M .- Banquet in honor of Governor Odell at Town Hall, Judge Farman pre- siding.
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4
Part one HISTORICAL DISCOURSES Sunday, June 28, 1903
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READY FOR GUESTS
NINETY-FIVE YEARS OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY
Historical Sermon. Presbyterian Church, Warsaw, N. Y., June 28, 1903 By the Pastor, Rev. Louis M. Sweet
TEXT: Psalms 87: 5. And of Zion it shall be said: This and that man was born in her; and the Highest him- self shall establish her.
There is a point where the road from Bethany winds about the brow of the Mount of Olives that the traveller gains suddenly and unexpectedly a full view of the Holy City. In the days of its glory it rose fair and beautiful sheer out of its deep-cut surrounding valleys, as if soar- ing on wings of white and gold, to meet the New Jerusa- lem that John saw in his vision.
And one can imagine the emotions with which a de- vout Hebrew, coming perhaps from a distance and after years of exile, would gaze upon the City that he so fondly loved. With tear dimmed eyes and voice choking with the stress of feeling unfeigned, he might well say :
"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem to my chicf joy."
And then, mindful of history, with the vision of Prophet and Law-giver, King and Poet crowding the heroie past-he might naturally speak the words of the text: "And of Zion it shall be said: This and that man was born in her, and the Highest himself shall establish her."
With feelings akin to those of the ancient Hebrew, my people, we gaze this morning upon this Zion, beloved of man and honored of God, from the height of nearly one hundred years.
It sounds a very simple thing when you tell it in so many words, that on the 14th day of July, 1808, a com- pany of pioneers gathered in the house of one of them to
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HISTORY OF THE
form a Christian Church. It was a primitive group meet- ing under primitive conditions.
The settlement had been made but five years; the lit- tle community of perhaps a hundred rather widely scat- tered families was surrounded by a vast and almost un- broken wilderness. The surroundings were bald and erude and the conditions of life were hard. But the word "pioncers" implies that there were others to come. These men held the great future in their grasp.
It is never the part of wisdom to despise the acorn, the small boy or the new community.
Besides, though the community was new, it struck its roots deep into the past. In order to understand the religious history of Warsaw, you must go back to Pil- grim New England, Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower; to Leyden and John Robinson; to the historic origin of our branch of Protestantism in the reforming zeal, the doctrinal clearness and creative statesmanship of John Calvin and his associates. It was a strong ancestry that went to the making of these new American com- munities. The germ that was planted here in the wilderness had a wonderful history.
It was characteristic of the stock from which these men came that at the earliest possible moment in the growth of the settlement, the church and the school house were established. Religion and education are the pillars of the arch upon which the temple of American Liberty stands. Right here the strength of our pioneer stock was exhibited and the drama of American history enacted. A number of years ago a distinguished Ameri- can orator in the course of an address on the English- speaking race said: "That it is the founder of Common- wealths, let the miracle of Empire which it has wrought upon this western continent attest. It has advanced from the sea-board with the rifle and the axe, the plow and the shuttle, the teapot and the Bible, a rocking chair and a spelling book, a bath-tub and a free constitution, sweeping across the Alleghanies, overspreading the prairies and pushing on until the dash of the Atlantic in its ears dies in the murmur of the Pacific; and as, whenever the goddess of the old mythology touched the
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
earth, flowers and fruits answered her footfall, so in the long trail of this advancing race it has left clusters of happy states, teeming with a population, man by man, more intelligent and prosperous than ever before the sun shone upon, and each remoter camp of that triumphal march is but a farther outpost of English-speaking civil- ization. "
Of this creative colonizing type were the founders of this community and this church.
Scant justice, however, would be done to the vigor and devotion of the founders of the church, if we should forget that they had other difficulties to face and over- come than the crudities of nature and the severities of climate.
From enthusiastic writers on the subject one might draw the very erroneous impression that all colonists, who entered these wilds, were religious pilgrims, and that every new settlement was a little Bethel in the forests. On the contrary many of the settlements were notori- ously wicked and irreligious-and if the truth. must be told, Western New York was rather conspicuous in this respect. We have abundant contemporary testimony to the existence of wide-spread irreligion and immorality in this region. It was even a proverb that there was "no religion west of the Genesee River."
There was a club of missionary atheists in the neigh- borhood of Batavia, who with a zeal worthy of a much nobler cause, filled the whole region with anti-christian literature. A document of the time, describes this coun- try as "among the most destitute in the United States."
All the greater honor, therefore, to the men and women, who rose above their surroundings, and, resisting the drift, anchored their little community to the Rock of Ages.
Let us listen again to their names: Edward Good- speed, Eliphalet Parker, Luther Parker, Ezra Walker, Abraham Reed, Israel Branch, Polly Day, Prudence Walker, Martha Parker, Rhoda Parker.
As might be expected from their New England an- cestry, and from their circumstances, the form of gov- erment was independent, but the first minister was
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HISTORY OF THE
Presbyterian. Throughout this region the majority of church members, early in the century, were New England Independents, but the ministers were nearly all Presby- terians.
Of the personality of the Rev. John Lindsley, who met with our pioneer band on that eventful day in July, we know almost nothing.
In 1800 the Presbyterian General Assembly meeting at Philadelphia, appointed Jedediah Chapman and John Lindsley missionaries to the "Northwestern frontier." Mr. Chapman was settled at Geneva, where he was to spend one half of his time-the other half was to be spent in itinerant missionary work. Lindsley was settled at what is now the town of Covert in Seneca County, in the same way. In the course of a missionary journey eight years later, he performed the important service of presiding at our first church meeting.
The church was formed upon two documents: A Con- fession of Faith and a Covenant.
The first of these is a remarkably clear, comprehen- sive and simple paper, of most tremendous and thorough- going Calvinism.
The 9th, 10th and 11th articles read thus:
"That man in his fallen state is totally depraved and performs no act acceptable to God before he is regene- rated by the Holy Spirit.
"That holiness is disinterested love, so that all saints love God for what he is in himself and are benevolent towards all his intelligent creatures.
"That all who truly love Christ will persevere in holi- ness, being kept by the power of God through faith un- to salvation."
The Covenant is a most beautiful utterance of con- secrated devotion : "You do now in the presence of God, Angels, and men avouch the great Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to be your God. You receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your all sufficient Savior and only Redeemer. Renouncing every sinful way. you devote your all unre- servedly to God and engage to obey all Ilis commands and ordinances in Ilis word."
I wonder whether you catch the significance of those
1.
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WARSAW CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
two documents ? Here was a handful of men and women, surrounded by wild beasts and wilder men, girt about by the illimitable forests, yet consciously in the presence of God, the angels and the assembled Universe, affirming con- victions that reach out into the unseen, range the two eternities past and to come and bind the humble group to the very throne of the Infinite.
You may agree with their statements of truth, or you may not, but it is a fact, that great men and great states have been formed by just such ideas.
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