USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > First Church chronicles, 1815-1915 : centennial history of the First Presbyterian Church, Rochester, New York > Part 8
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"whose ministrations," it is noted, "were greatly to the edifying of the church." Sig- nificant notes in the Record book read, “ Dr. Condit preached an excellent sermon to-day. Everybody likes him." " Prayer meeting was as usual during the week, being crowded at nine every morning."
Other striking evidences of faithfulness and loyalty were offered in these days in the Sunday School. William B. Burke, made Secretary in 1862, served with great devotion for ten years. George C. Buell, elected Super- intendent in 1868, to succeed O. M. Benedict, held the position for thirteen years; and steadily during that long period made it his practice to devote his Saturday evenings to the preparation of the lesson. Mrs. Arink started on June 14, 1868, her Women's Bible Class, of which she was to be the head until her death, thirty-six years later, in 1904. Under the dominance of her strong person- ality this became one of the most important features of the church life.
Notwithstanding a loyalty of which such statistics give only the crudest outline, and putting that loyalty to the test, the church had to contend at this time, it has been said, with various discouragements besides the lack
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of a regular pastor. As if the falling of the church ceiling in 1868 had not been bad enough, a fire later in the same year destroyed the care- fully kept records of the Trustees, these being then at the banking house of the Secretary, George E. Jennings. Furthermore, an exam- ination of the church edifice, following the accident of January, had resulted in the discovery that the building was absolutely unsafe.
Services were immediately transferred to the Lecture Room, and on March 12th a meet- ing was held, at which the ladies provided refreshments, for the renting of pews in the Lecture Room and the consideration of the course of action to be followed. A committee was appointed, consisting of Messrs. Hayden, Benedict, Morgan, Burke and Munger, “ to procure and submit to the Society for adop- tion, plans and estimates for a new church edifice, and to execute such plans as shall be adopted." It was further resolved "that an effort be made at once to secure by sub- scription, as a free donation for that purpose, the sum of $30,000, and that such subscrip- tions be obligatory when the sum of $25,000 is subscribed; and that Messrs. G. C. Buell, Jennings, [Ross Lewin, Munger, Walbridge,
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Brown, Hayden, H. Gould, C. B. Hill and C. F. Pond be appointed a Finance Com- mittee to procure said subscriptions and to supervise the expenditure of the same."
At a Sunday service a few days later, the following notice was read from the pulpit: " It is well known by this Church and Society that a most important crisis has arrived in its history. The falling of the ceiling of the church edifice necessitates a very thorough renovation and repair, or the erection of a new edifice; what shall be done, is a question for the Society to answer, and one we cannot avoid if we would. Therefore, the Church and Society are requested to meet in this room Friday evening (March 27) to act upon this matter. The Trustees will then be pre- pared to report upon the present condition of the old edifice, and what can and cannot be done with that."
The church continued to worship in the Lecture Room, and while at service there, on the evening of Sunday, May 7, 1869, the church building caught fire-so settling, once for all, the question of possible repairs. Pass- ersby discovered a bright light in a window of the second story of the tower. They thrust open the door of the Lecture Room,
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where Dr. Condit was preaching, and shouted, " You are on fire!" Dr. Condit, raising his hand, pronounced the benediction, and the congregation passed quietly out, taking their Bibles and hymn books with them. Mean- while, others had sounded a public alarm on the City Hall bell, and the firemen quickly arrived. A line of hose was laid and water drawn from the race was poured into the reservoir in front of the Court House, thence to be drawn again and thrown upon the fire in three streams. The flames soon reached the belfry and then mounted to the steeple, which stood like a pillar of fire. It was not long, however, before only the frame work of the spire remained and that finally fell, crash- ing on the roof of the Chapel. Tradition says the gilt star and iron weather vane went completely through the roof, carrying with them a large amount of the plastered ceiling.
The fire occurred at a time when incendiarism was very prevalent and the tower in which the fire first appeared was easy of access when the Chapel was open. As the loss was for- tunately covered by insurance, the fire only hastened the proposed demolition of the old church building. Nevertheless, deprived now of church as well as pastor, it was a discouraging
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period for the congregation. This is well indicated by the following note, recorded under date of September 5, 1869,-so dif- ferent from most First Church records: "Dr. Condit met with a welcome from the small body of persons who will constitute the con- gregation of this church. He will preach for us all winter. With no place but our Lecture Room to meet in, and even that in a dilapi- dated condition, never having been repaired since the fire; with no pastor, or any settled plans for a new edifice, our membership and congregation are fast diminishing."
XXV
Planning for a New Building
Though these were the darkest days in First Church history, they were bravely met. A considerable portion of the congregation favored the sale of the property-seeing in the city a probable buyer-and then the purchase of a site in a quieter neighborhood. Others, to whom the central location had grown dear, opposed a sale, desiring to rebuild on the old site. On December 19, 1869, there was a meeting of the Society, at which, after protracted discussion and argument, it was voted that the property should be sold
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to the city for not less than $25,000, and to this end the Trustees were empowered to take the necessary steps. But a Court de- cision, handed down in the following April, required the Trustees before giving deed for the existing property to select a new site, which the Church should by vote approve. In June a meeting of the Church and Society was held to take action on that point. Every person entitled to a vote was present and was given opportunity to express his choice. Fi- nally it was agreed by all that a lot at the corner of Plymouth Avenue and Spring Street, 85 feet on Plymouth Avenue and 100 feet on Spring Street, should be purchased.
Judge E. Darwin Smith, of the Supreme Court, then gave permission for the sale of the old lot and the Common Council adopted a resolution for its purchase at $25,000. The deed was passed on June 30, 1870. The very next day deeds from J. Mogridge and wife, Whiting Wadsworth and wife, and Sarah S. Lewis for the aggregate amount of $21,600 to the First Presbyterian Society, were passed, conveying the site of the present church. All these deeds were drawn by Oscar Craig.
A location having been thus at last secured, plans for the new building were made by A.
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J. Warner & Company. These provided for an auditorium 62 by 89 feet and a chapel 68 by 31 feet. The architecture was Gothic, and the proposed building material Albion red sandstone with white Medina stone trim- mings. The interior woodwork was to be of black walnut and in the windows there was to be the best quality of stained glass. It was planned that the church should have a tower which, with a spire, would reach 160 feet in height.
The structure actually erected sufficiently indicates the extent to which these plans were subsequently modified, to the greater beauty of the building .* The original contract, ex- clusive of spire, windows and furnishings, and of repairs to a house which, standing at the south side of the lot, was to be used as a parsonage, was $60,000. The stone spire cost an additional $10,000; organ, pews, furni- ture and carpets, $15,000; and the parson- age repairs, $3000, making the total cost, including the lot, $110,000. To meet this expenditure, there was, as early as April I, 1871, $7000, " over all encumbrances "; sub- scriptions to the amount of $42,000; and a promise by the ladies to raise $1000 for * Vd. the Frontispiece.
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carpets, etc. During the next year there were additions to the building fund to the amount of nearly $9000, and in the year of the building's dedication there were general sub- scriptions of about $28,000, an organ fund of $1000, interest accumulations of $2000, and the gift of a bell, valued at $2000, from George S. Riley-so that at the dedication, Mr. Robertson, who was then pastor, was able to announce: "We can say that the church is dedicated to the Lord to-night virtually free from debt."
XXVI
The Coming of Mr. Robertson
Meanwhile, the attention of the church had not been wholly focused upon material mat- ters. Exceeding care was given to the selec- tion of a new pastor, the unanimous choice falling at last upon Rev. James L. Robertson, who, though still a young man, had had, as one of the newspapers said, "ten years of rich and valuable experience," and was then pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati. Mr. Robertson had received his theological education in Allegheny, Pa., and had had a pastorate in Geneva, N. Y., before going to Cincinnati. In view of the sad
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experience of the church with Drs. Pease and Beadle, it is interesting to note that the new pastor-elect was described as of " vigorous, robust health." It is significant of the chang- ing times that the salary now proffered was $3000, and in addition there was to be the use of the house. Whatever the vicissitudes of the church, it was not poor.
At a meeting of the Society held October 2, 1870, formal announcement was made of Mr. Robertson's acceptance of the call. He began his duties with the church on Novem- ber 13th, and on the evening of December 7, 1870, he was installed. The exercises were necessarily held in the Chapel, or Lecture Room, which was filled, the congregation including not only First Church members, but many from other churches. The sermon, which is described as " able, eloquent, and of great power," was preached by Rev. Walter Clark, D.D., of Buffalo, who took a “ good conscience " as his subject. The installa- tion prayer was made by Rev. Levi Parsons of Mt. Morris; Rev. J. R. Page of Avon propounded the constitutional questions and declared the pastoral relations consummated; and Rev. Dr. Shaw gave the charge to the pastor, Rev. Mr. Campbell of Central Church
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delivered the charge to the people, and Dr. Cromwell of St. Peter's made the concluding prayer.
XXVII
Cornerstone Laying and Dedication
of New Church
Work was now proceeding on the new church. The Common Council of the city was asked to allow the removal of the cornerstone of the old building, so that its contents might be added to the fresh material which should go into the new cornerstone, and for the collection of the latter material a committee was appointed. The cornerstone of the old church was sub- sequently laid in the center of the new spire, only a few feet from the top. This is stated by Mr. Robertson in his address at the dedi- cation.
The ceremony of laying the new cornerstone took place at 3 P.M., May 17, 1871, " beneath a large canvas erected for the occasion." The program was as follows: Rev. H. M. Morey of Westminster Church read the Scrip- ture and offered prayer; the choir sang, " Glorious things of thee are spoken "; Dr. Campbell of Central Church followed, with remarks; and then Dr. McLaren, the pastor
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of 1845-47, who had come over from Geneva, made a long address. Next there were brief remarks by A. W. Riley, the only person present who had witnessed the laying of the cornerstone of the old church. The box was then placed within the stone. Upon its cover was the inscription :
ISAIAH LXI, 4 FIRST CHURCH SOCIETY DOCUMENTS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
The pastor, on behalf of the Society, pre- sented to William H. Gorsline, the contractor, a " magnificent silver trowel," engraved with his name and the occasion. The trowel was bought at the jewelry store of John T. Fox.
Unfortunately, many of the papers in the old cornerstone had been found so far de- stroyed by moisture and decay as to be illeg- ible. The following, however, are some of the numerous articles which went into the new stone on the Plymouth Avenue side of the tower:
Twenty-five cent piece of 1805. Penny of 1811. Printed matter from the old cornerstone. Piece of the old pulpit. Piece of the old bell.
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Sunday School Record book containing:
Views of the old Church and old Lecture Room.
Views of the new Church and new Lecture Room.
List of all officers and teachers, 1871.
Each class, its name, teacher, etc.
Full record of Infant Department.
Autographs of officers and teachers.
Autographs of pastors and their wives.
Autographs of Sunday School Superintendents.
Notes of the first and last meetings in the old Lecture Room. Description of the fall of the ceiling, the de- cision to buy the present lot, and the burning of the tower.
Subscribers and amounts given for building of the new Church.
Newspapers giving account of the burning of the old Church.
Photographs of individuals.
History of the Church and Society from 1813 to 1871.
List of pastors and members of the Church-City Directory, 1870.
Directory of Powers Commercial Building.
Report of Managers of House of Refuge.
Report of Rochester Athenæum.
Alumni Proceedings of University of Rochester, and Seminary, 1867.
Rules and Regulations, Home for Idle and Truant Children.
Presbyterian Report of Home Missions.
Home Missionary Magazine for 1871.
Christian Almanac, 1863, '65, '69, '70.
Temperance Almanac, 1870.
" The Well at Bethlehem's Gate." Poem, Rev. J. A. Ely before Rochester Alumni.
" Half Century of Rochester Presbytery."
Address before Monroe County Teachers' Association
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on work of past two years, Fiftieth Annual Report of New York Sunday School Teachers' Association.
Third National Sunday School Convention of U. S. A. Report, Rochester Female Charitable Society.
" Hospital Review " and " Industrial School Advo- cate."
Various Church and Sunday School magazines and papers.
Obituaries of Professor Dewey, Dr. Levi Ward, Mrs. Maria W. Smith, Jacob Gould, Moses Chapin, Calvin Pease, W. C. Bloss.
Manuals of Brick, Central and Plymouth Churches. Churches in New York City.
St. Luke's Church History.
Collection of views of great flood.
Dr. Campbell of Central Church said, in his remarks at the laying of the cornerstone, that the old First was not merely the " mother " of a half dozen Presbyterian churches, but was the " grandmother " of all the others in the city. Referring then to the various churches, he ingeniously elaborated the idea in this way: "The eldest is here to- day to rejoice with her mother. The second daughter will be present-she is yet hale and hearty and will be here from Temple Street. Another sister is here who occupies a Central position; another sister, with her book upon her arm, and her robe, is here to-day to give you a right-hand greeting. There is a grand- daughter from Jefferson Street; another from
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Grand Street, one from Hudson Street, and one from Allen, and the one from St. Paul Street, who faces the Jews and is ready to defend those who trust in the God of their fathers."
It may be well also to quote the following verses, written by Mrs. S. J. Nichols on the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone. It is believed that they were read by Mr. Robertson, but whether they were or not they are interesting for their own merit, for the affection so widely felt for the gentle lady who wrote them, and for their illustra- tion of the spirit with which members of the church regarded this occasion :
Thou Stone; by prophet long foretold, Cut, without hands, from mountain side- Thou precious Stone; firm laid of old, Foundation sure, elect and tried.
Thou Chief, Thou Cornerstone; the tower Of Zion's strength; her mighty Rock; Thou Living Stone; whose vital power Thy life doth pour, through each new block;
On Thee we build; on Thee, alone, A living church; nor hosts of hell, Nor power of man, our Cornerstone To shake or crush, shall e'er prevail.
Be Thou our Master Builder, too! With skillful hand and loving eye Choose Thou the stones; in order due Their courses fair, lay strong and high.
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With chisel, square, and hammer stroke Perfect each stone; assign its place, Nor cease, till topmost sound evoke
The hallowed shout of Grace, free Grace!
The dedication of the new church took place on the evening of June 23, 1872, Dr. Mc- Ilvaine returning to preach the sermon and Mr. Robertson making the actual dedication. Long before the hour appointed for the exer- cises, the church was crowded, so that many had to turn away. The music was rendered by a double quartette, the members of which had been selected from the various choirs of the city.
The program consisted of an invocation by Rev. D. K. Bartlett; the hymn, " Before Jehovah's Awful Throne "; Scripture reading by Rev. James B. Shaw, D.D .; the hymn, " Arise, Oh King of Grace, Arise "; sermon by Dr. McIlvaine; the hymn, " All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"; remarks and dedicatory prayer by Mr. Robertson, and then the following hymn :
O, Thou whose own vast temple stands, Built over earth and sea, Accept the walls, that human hands Have raised to worship Thee.
Lord, from Thine inmost glory send, Within these courts to bide, The peace that dwelleth without end, Serenely by Thy side. ·
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May faith grow firm and love grow warm, And pure devotion rise,
While 'round these hallowed walls, the storm Of earth-born passion dies.
Dr. McIlvaine pronounced the benediction.
In his dedicatory address, Mr. Robertson expressed the special gratitude of the church to the chairman of the building committee, C. J. Hayden. For his sermon, Dr. McIlvaine took as his text the words (I Peter, II, 5), " Ye, also, as living stones, are building up a spiritual house." Urging that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former," he exclaimed :
How full, dear brethren, is the past history of this church, of solemn and tender memories. The first to raise the standard of the cross in this then wilderness, she has continued to hold up this glorious banner before the incoming population until the present hour. And what shall be said of the men who rallied around the flag in moulding the character, the institutions, the des- tinies, of this beautiful city? Such men as Oliver Gibbs, Daniel West, Elisha and Hervey Ely, Asa Ainsworth, Levi A. Ward, Jacob Gould, Everard Peck, M. Green, Frederick Starr, Moses Chapin, and a host of others, our patriarchs and our peers.
He spoke of the number of churches which had sprung from the First, and of the influence for good which she had exerted upon the sur- rounding country and upon the world
Through her members and the twenty-five or thirty ministers and missionaries which have been raised up and
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gone forth from her bosom. By such tokens of God's grace and mercy, He has made the history of this church a glori- ous one. Such is the glory of the former house. Why do I mention these things? Is it to awaken your pride? God forbid! ... I mention these things not to awaken your pride, but for your spiritual encouragement and for the strengthening of your faith, that God, who has done so much for you in the past, will not forsake the work of his own hand, but will do, if you are faithful to His cause, still greater things for you in the future."
With great earnestness, then, he urged loyalty, faithful attendance at all the services, and toleration.
It is only proper to add that accompanying the happiness and pride which was felt in the beauty of the new church, there was in many hearts a pang of regret at the final severance from the old. "Never," wrote Elder Terry, " will that spot be forgotten by the many who there made for the first time public pro- fession of their faith in Jesus; there received their first Communion; there brought their children to the baptismal font. .. The ' Old First' has a history of rare interest. Sermons of great power have been preached, and scenes of surpassing importance have been witnessed, within its walls."
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XXVIII
The Pastorate of Mr. Robertson
For all the distractions of the new building, the inner life of the church proceeded vigor- ously. A month after the installation of Mr. Robertson-on January 8, 1871-these four Elders were ordained: William Burke, Seth H. Terry, Charles J. Hayden, and Oscar Craig. In the same month, E. W. Armstrong, who had served for over twenty years, pre- sented his resignation, giving as his principal reason age and infirmity.
His letter, which is very long, is extremely interesting because of its chronicling of a changing spirit in the church, of the passing of the old straitness, and the dawning of what -without recording judgment on its relative quality from the religious standpoint-might be called the modern spirit. He notes the rising of "a new generation," with "new ideas, new opinions and new usages." In illustration, he cites the recent election of Elders, "when the principle of rotation in office for a term of years-in imitation of our political elections-was introduced and adopted by a vote of the church members present, in opposition to the remonstrances, the en- treaties and the protestations of the older
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members of the Session." Moreover, he ob- serves, there was " unseemly and inexcusable levity " by "some of the advocates of the innovation "-an innovation "without war- rant from the Scriptures." It is the strong letter of a God-fearing gentleman of the old school, who sees evil days for church and state in the growing frivolity and careless- ness of the community life. As such it has the significance of marking clearly the dividing line between the old and the modern period in the history of the church.
Yet it must not be supposed that the tran- sition was abrupt. A Session minute of 1871, expressing the judgment that Elders may not " legislate against specific things not forbidden in the Scriptures," records also the unanimous opinion that their duty was, clearly, to warn the members of the church against " love of the world "; and for several years thereafter remissness in attending services on the part of members of the church is noted in the records as individually reproved.
On the same day that the newly elected Elders were ordained, two Deacons were con- ducted into office-James F. Baker and John T. Fox. In that month also the pastor was authorized by the Session to make further modifications in the phraseology of the stern
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Covenant which intending members were ex- pected to adopt; and on Dec. 6, 1871, the first Wednesday evening meeting was held in the new chapel. A few months later, an article in "The Union and Advertiser," de- scribing the "new vigor " which the church was showing, attributed it to " the sincerity and unaffectedness " of Mr. Robertson's preach- ing, saying that " his Christian graces of char- acter and earnestness of purpose have had the best influence on the congregation. Its membership has increased in the face of all the discomforts incident to the changes which the burning of the old church made necessary-a strong proof of the pastor's successful ministry."
There are other evidences, however, of this progress, than newspaper report. The Clerk of the Session notes that the new pastor, in his first four months, " visited all the resident members of the church, and many of them, especially in cases of sickness or other afflic- tions, repeatedly," that, in addition, he had secured " thorough and complete visitation by the Elders "; and that " the monthly con- cert of prayer for missions," suspended for about two years, had been "revived with even more than former interest."
A notable action of 1873 was the change
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of the time of Preparatory Lecture, from the afternoon to the evening of the Friday pre- ceding Communion; and it was during Mr. Robertson's pastorate that there was inaug- urated the custom, still observed, of holding a New Year Prayer Meeting on January Ist.
In the church year of 1874-5, Emmanuel Mission was started, the First Church raising in that year $4095 for the Mission building, and thereafter assuming for many years sub- stantial payments for maintenance and for interest on the mortgage, though so little time had passed since its own costly structure had been erected. In 1875 also there was organized the Woman's Missionary Society, which on March 30th began a series of monthly meetings that have suffered no interruption in the ensuing forty years. The first officers were Mrs. S. J. Nichols, President; Mrs. W. H. Perkins, Vice-President; and Miss Louise J. Alling, Secretary and Treasurer. In the following year Messrs. George Breck, James F. Baker and A. G. Bassett were or- dained Elders. Oscar Craig resigned in De- cember of 1875.
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