History of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown, New York : 1827-1915 : organized as a branch church December 25th 1827 : organized as an independent body May 24th, 1832, Part 5

Author: Butts, George R
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Jamestown, N.Y. : Journal Press
Number of Pages: 272

USA > New York > Chautauqua County > Jamestown > History of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown, New York : 1827-1915 : organized as a branch church December 25th 1827 : organized as an independent body May 24th, 1832 > Part 5

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Dr. Adams was in the prime of life when pastor of the Jamestown church. He was a very pleasing man socially, an eloquent preacher, widely read, and an apt student. His command of language was wonderful, and it led him into the habit of very rapid speaking. His memory was also quite re- markable and he used it to memorize Scripture, whole chapters of which he could repeat, and also large sections of Shakespeare, whose plays he de- lighted to study. His short pastorate was wholly inadequate to secure to the church that usefulness of which he gave great promise.

CHAPTER VI.

Dr. Hellings' Pastorate .- The Church Debt .- D. C. Breed .- Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Clark .- Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Preston .- Mrs. Sarah Coates .- Dr. Ford's Pastorate .- Ostrom & El- liott Revival .- The 75th Anniversary .- Dr. A. B. Rice .- Dr. Moor's Pastorate .- The Church Burned .- Mrs. Shaver .- Rev. A. Dickson (1895-1914).

A S soon as it was known that Dr. Adams was to close his pastorate the committee imme- diately opened correspondence with Dr. W. P. Hellings of Omaha, Neb., with whom they had corresponded the year before asking him to allow his name to be considered then for the pastorate, but who had declined to be so considered as the conditions at Omaha were such that he would not leave his church there. On re-opening the corres- pondence the committee found him receptive, and he came to Jamestown, looked over the field, con- sidered the immense debt of about $28,000 hanging over the church, and although well along in years, expressed a desire to attack that debt. The church was more than willing that he should and so an agreement was quickly reached, and Dr. Hellings assumed the pastorate October 1, 1896, without any vacancy whatever between pastorates. His was the seventeenth pastorate and an important one for the welfare and prosperity of the church. True to his past record, he did attack the debt, and after much hard persevering labor, in which the church joined and to whose appeals the members responded, the debt was reduced one-half, and from that time forward, little by little, it continued to shrink away. After such a large reduction, the

WILLIAM P. HELLINGS Seventeenth Pastor "A good Samaritan"

MARY R. HELLINGS

Erie County Savings Bank of Buffalo, the owner of the mortgage, consented to reduce the interest charge from 5% to 4%, an additional relief in cur- rent expenses. Although the business interests of the church absorbed much attention, there was no letting down of aggressive evangelistic work dur- ing Dr. Hellings' ministry. An examination of the records shows such numerous additions to the membership and such gifts for benevolence that no one would suspect that the church had been severe- ly taxed to reduce the debt. During the five and one-half years of his pastorate, two hundred fifty- four were added to the church, and the total mem- bership carried beyond the five hundred mark.

Dr. Hellings was always willing to accept diffi- cult assignments. Conscious of the bettered con- dition of the Jamestown church, both materially and spiritually, he was ready to heed the cry of an- other church in trouble, and he resigned the pas- torate and took up that of the First Baptist Church of Buffalo, February 1, 1902.

William P. Hellings was born May 13, 1837, near the City of Philadelphia, Pa. When a boy he was apprenticed to a carpenter and his early life was one of hardship. He was baptized April 9, 1854. His Sunday School teacher there took a Christian interest in him and lent him the money with which to acquire a college education, and in due time he graduated from Rochester University and Theolo- gical Seminary. His first pastorate was the Sec- ond Germantown Church in his native city of Phila-

delphia and continued about two years. He was then called to the Pennsylvania Avenue Church of Scranton, Pa., where he remained several years. His subsequent pastorates were at Lockport, N. Y., Milwaukee, Wis., where he built a fine new church ; Omaha, Neb., where the hard times of 1893 and fol- lowing years affected the church so severely that he voluntarily reduced his salary a thousand dol- lars; then Jamestown, and Buffalo where he re- mained eight and one-half years; and at Peru, Ind. Dr. Hellings' strong characteristic as a minister was his sympathy. The unfortunate called from him a ready response, and warm were the friend- ships he left behind him.

The companion of his youth and through all his pastorates was Miss Mary Rowley, a woman of rare personal worth, an earnest and energetic Christian worker, a worthy helpmate for such a minister. She has always taught in the Sunday School, and taken a leading part in missionary and other church enterprises with marked ability and faithfulness. Two children were born to them, Mrs. Johnson the eldest, and Dana Boardman, now a lawyer of Buffalo, N. Y. Dr. Hellings died Au- gust 20, 19II, at White Pigeon, Mich., where he had gone for a vacation. He is buried at Rochester, N. Y.

The church lost by death some of its most promi- nent and useful members during Dr. Hellings' pas- torate. One of the first duties he performed on en-

tering upon the pastorate was to conduct the funer- al of Deacon De Witt C. Breed.

The Breed family furnished the first Baptist to settle in the place, and was for most of the time from 1821 to 1895, the most prominent and influ- ential Baptist family in the city. Deacon John C. Breed, an uncle of De Witt has already been men- tioned in this history. William Breed, the brother of John and father of De Witt, was the first to set- tle in the Village, but did not become a church member until the Baptist Church was organized in 1832, when he was one of the first two to be bap- tized into its membership. He was a faithful and useful member to the time of his death at eighty years of age, except a short time when he joined the "Millerites," after which he returned to the church. DeWitt was born in the Village and was baptized into the church soon after its organization and ever after took a prominent part in its work. In business he early became a partner of his father and uncle in the manufacture of furniture and eventually with his cousin took over the whole busi- ness. After the death of his uncle, he was elected a deacon of the church. All four of his children were members of the church as long as they lived in the city. De Witt frequently served as trustee of the church, and was one of the building committee charged with the building of the stone church. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Houghwout, widow of the former pastor, P. B. Houghwout, who survived him many years.

About a year before the close of Dr. Hellings' pastorate, Mrs. Jane E. (Marsh) Clark, wife of Jo- sephus H. Clark, passed away. Born in Sutton, Mass., March 10, 1821, she soon after came with her parents to Panama, Chautauqua County, where she lived until 1837. Then at the age of sixteen, Jane returned to Massachusetts and procured a good education after which she again came to Chautauqua County and engaged in teaching, mak- ing her home in Jamestown, N. Y. In 1839 she united with the First Baptist Church and soon was a teacher in the Sabbath School where she taught different classes, usually young men, for forty years. July 13, 1851, she was married to Josephus H. Clark and entered upon an earnest, active work of a mis- sionary, charitable and benevolent character, in which she was supported and encouraged by her husband. During their married life they received into their home some twenty-five young men, of whom the writer was one, who were thus enabled to procure an education, and some of them learned a trade in Mr. Clark's machine shop. Mrs. Clark was an active member of several societies, such as the "Baptist Foreign Missionary Society," "Bap- tist Home Missionary Society," "City Missions," "Woman's Christian Temperance Union," "Politi- cal Equality Club," and "Chautauqua Society of History and Natural Science," many of which she served as president. In 1884 she was chiefly instru- mental in organizing the "Women's Christian As- sociation" of Jamestown and was its president and

JOSEPHUS H. CLARK

JANE E. CLARK Founder W. C. A. Hospital

as such achieved the final triumph of her life in the founding of the W. C. A. Hospital under the aus- pices of the association. She died beloved by a wide circle of friends, in January, 1901.

Mr. Clark was a member of the church corpora- tion, but never of the church spiritual, though for sixty years he attended its services as regularly as a chronometer ticks time, and gave as regularly, and also liberally to its support. He served it as trustee for forty-two years until his death in June, 1902, and was one of the building committee to erect the stone church. Though not a confessed Christian, he lived more nearly the Christian life than many professors.

The last act of Dr. Hellings' pastorate was to of- ficiate at the funeral of Jerome Preston who died suddenly January 27, 1902. He was born about the year 1834 and reared in the town of Busti, Chau- tauqua County, and first entered upon a mercantile career in that village. In 1859 he sought a larger field for his activities at Jamestown, where he con- tinued for some time a merchant but finally became a part owner in the Jamestown Woolen Mills and the manager of the business. About 1896 he dis- posed of his interest in the Woolen Mills and lived a short time in retirement when he again became a manufacturer as a part owner of the Chautauqua Towel Mills where he continued until his death.

Mr. Preston always took a deep interest in the affairs of the town and served officially as a mem- ber of the Board of Education, and also as a Mem-

ber of Assembly in the New York Legislature where he rendered conspicuous service, especially to the cause of temperance.

He and his future wife, Hannah Broadhead, were converted and united with the Baptist Church at Busti in 1855, having been baptized by the Rev. David Bernard. They were married in 1856, and removed to Jamestown in 1859, and became mem- bers of the First Baptist Church, and from that time forward they seem to have given their best energies and services to the church which they loved and which loved them. Mr. Preston was elected Superintendent of the Sabbath School in 1860, and with the exception of two years, con- tinued in office until 1896, thirty-three years, and during nearly all of that time he served the church as Clerk and Treasurer. He was an ideal Superin- tendent, earnest and resourceful and possessed the rare trait of keeping himself young and in touch and in sympathy with all his pupils of whatever age, in spite of his advancing years. He had the fore-sight to discover the needs of the society and whatever he advocated was usually acquiesced in.

Mrs. Preston was the daughter of Rev. John Broadhead, a Methodist minister, but she made an admirable Baptist. She served faithfully as Super- intendent of the Primary Department of the Sun- day School for twenty-five years, and she was the most vigorous and effective worker in the Dorcas Society, of which she was a member, until age and disease sapped her strength. Her flower garden

HON. JEROME PRESTON "With malice toward none, with charity for all"

HANNAH BROADHEAD PRESTON

which she made so beautiful by her own labor, was often transferred in large part to the church to beautify the sanctuary for a Sabbath.

But the official record does not reveal the best of these people. Mr. Preston was loved as few men are, for his kind, generous, sympathetic heart, a heart that went out to all and drew all to it. His exemplary life, his gentle, but robust nature and Christian faith have left a lasting impression upon the hearts of those who grew up under his tutilage, or who were long his associates. His death was a great shock to the community. Returning to his business after lunch on Monday of a cold winter day the last of January, 1902, he entered his office, made a pleasant, jocular remark to his associate, sank into his chair, gasped and was gone.

It seems fitting to speak of Mrs. Sarah Coates (formerly Sarah Bush) in this connection, for she was instrumental in bringing about Mr. Preston's conversion. The Bush family of Busti was influ- ential in the community and especially in the church there, having produced several Baptist min- isters. Mrs. Coates' mother was a constituent member of the Busti church and of such Christian potentiality that she was often called the "nest egg"

of the church. She prayed her own family and a large part of her husband's family into the church and that habit of prayer descended to her daughter. On the day that Mr. Preston came out as a profes- sing Christian, Mrs. Coates carried the burden of his case on her heart, and to her "bower of prayer"

and the same evening she had the satisfaction of the realization of her requests. Many cases she carried to that bower, and so precious became its memory that in old age she wrote of it:

"In my youthful, happy sunny days, I learned to prize the secret place Where the heart in private deeply prays. I found it a means of special grace, For God our Father there would meet His simplest child in communion sweet.

"Within a sylvan moss grown nook Of verdant boughs, and glossy leaves, Beside a softly murmuring brook, Where silent nature fondly leaves Her mysteries, the strong, frail and fair, I chose my transient bower of prayer.

"Oh, it was there I so often found, The Spirit's chalice pure and sweet. Hope and joy with us oft abound, If we keep meek and low at Jesus feet. He can turn our sorrow into joy, Solvent of God's love holds no alloy.

"Other's burdens did I try to bear. I took them as my own of right, To my consecrated bower of prayer, And asked our burden bearer if I might, To take the heavy laden to His care, And help me the burden there to share.

"If living faith in God I humbly sought, That I might win one soul in Jesus Name, To my bower in anxious hopeful thought, I went, and in spirit the Master came. Through Him I made my heart felt plea, And God was often gracious unto me.

"Bower of my youth, I left thee long ago, Not so my constant loving guest. Age has crowned me with its snows, Still my friend divine and ever blest, Has journeyed with me all the way, To that other bower of eternal day.

SARAH BUSH COATES

"Not one fading, nor one falling leaf, No autumn sear, no winter frost or snow, No day of withered age, or night of grief, The seasons will not come and go. Oh bower of hallowed, sacred rest, With sin and sorrow, pain and death represt.

"I could not find my bower today. Times' relentless, ever busy hands, Have swept it ruthlessly away. Yet in my memory still there stands The altar with its offerings small, Which my Father accepted as my all."

Mrs. Coates became a member of the Jamestown Church early in life, and was one of the first two Deaconesses elected by the body, Mrs. Eliza Wind- sor being the other. She also taught a Sunday School class for many years and usually succeeded in bringing all her pupils into the church. She died June 13, 1914, and left to the church she loved, practically all of her property, out of which the cost of publishing this history has been paid.

It was also during Dr. Hellings' pastorate, that Grace Galloway, beloved by all who knew her, pas- sed away in the bloom of her young womanhood. Possessed of a fine voice, she was trained in the Boston Conservatory of Music, and gave back to the church that which she had received from it,- the gospel of salvation in its most attractive form. She might well have said :

"I breathed a song into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong, That it can follow the flight of song? * long after, * '* from beginning to end,

I found again in the heart of a friend."

After Dr. Hellings' resignation, the Advisory Committee immediately organized by electing Je- rome Preston chairman, and then proceeded to look for a new pastor. They first turned toward Rev. David L. Jamison, pastor at Fredonia, N. Y., and he was induced to come to Jamestown and meet the committee and look over the field. He left such a favorable impression that he was recommended to the church by the committee, and an invitation was subsequently extended to him to become pastor. His church, however, made such a vigorous protest that he decided to remain in Fredonia.

The Committees' attention was next directed to Rev. W. J. Ford of the Green Ridge Church at Scranton, Pa. Dr. Ford was secured for the last Sunday in January, and so impressed the people that a call was extended to him, and he entered up- on the pastorate March 1, 1902, becoming the eighteenth pastor of the church. Dr. Ford proved to be a strong preacher and excellent pastor, always proclaiming the gospel and laying the foundation for a strong Christian faith. Baptisms were fre- quent and the church was greatly prospered. He immediately began to hunt up every member of the church and for the first time prepared a reliable church directory with every address at all pro- curable correctly recorded, and he made it his aim to call at every house semi-annually. In 1904 Dr. Ford was given leave of absence to attend the World's Sunday School Convention at Jerusalem which he did, traveling through the Holy Lands

and Egypt, and visiting Damascus, Jerusalem, Con- stantinople, Athens, Cairo, ancient Thebes, and Rome. During his absence the church secured the services of Rev. W. N. Thomas as permanent sup- ply. It so happened during Dr. Ford's absence, that evangelistic meetings were inaugurated rather unexpectedly, in the M. E. Church, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Gale, and in which the First Baptist and other churches united, and with good results. In the early part of 1906, practically all of the Eng- lish speaking evangelical churches in the city joined in a series of meetings conducted by Reverends Ostrom and Elliott. The meetings were held in the Methodist and the Presbyterian churches and Dr. Ford was chosen chairman of the executive committee of all the churches to conduct the busi- ness part of those meetings. They were very suc- cessful. Many converts were secured, and the First Church that year reported to the Association one hundred additions, bringing the total member- ship up to more than six hundred members. Sixty- five of the hundred were received by baptism. In that year the church gave $1,557.09 for missionary and benevolent purposes, which was nearly double the amount ever given by it before in any one year.

The church debt continued to dwindle from the time of the great reduction in Dr. Hellings' pas- torate. One after an other of the members made special gifts for that purpose, which were usually duplicated by the church. Mrs. Cynthia Crissey was the first to remember the church in her will

with a generous gift of $1,000. Andrew J. Bowen, a Civil War veteran, followed with a gift of $250 to the First Church and the same amount to the Calvary Church. Sarah A. Dunn left the church $500, and Edward Shaver made a verbal promise to give $500, whenever the church should duplicate it, just as he was starting for the South for the winter, never to return alive, for he was stricken down on the train just before he reached his destination. His family, however, loyally respected his wishes, and that pledge duplicated by the church, reduced the debt another thousand dollars. And lastly, Mary A. VanGaasbeck, widow of VanLuvan Van- Gaasbeck, gave all of her property, save a thousand dollars, for the extinguishment of the debt and for an endowment fund. It was then determined to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary in May, 1907, by liquidating the whole debt. Something over $6,000 remained and before the date for the Jubilee arrived the whole sum was raised and paid to the treasurer, and during the celebration the great mortgage of $20,000 was burned.

The 75th anniversary was celebrated with a four day's program, beginning Sunday, May 26, 1907. Four former pastors and their wives were in attend- ance, to wit : Dr. and Mrs. King, Dr. and Mrs. Har- vey, Dr. and Mrs. Waffle, and Dr. and Mrs. Hel- lings. Mrs. Mary Breed, formerly Mrs. P. B. Houghwout, and Bessie Harvey, the missionary, were also present. The programme was substan- tially as follows :

-- 4

Miss Harvey Dr. Hellings Mrs. Hellings Mrs. Houghwout Mrs.Ford Dr. Ford Dr. Harvey Mrs. Harvey Dr. King Mrs. King Dr. Waffle Mrs. Waffle

Sunday morning Dr. Waffle preached the anniversary ser- mon on the Intellectual Greatness of Jesus.

The Sunday School session was devoted to a History of the Sunday School, by Elsie Leet and Louise Geer, and reminiscences by former pastors and superintendents.

The evening session was presided over by Rev. Mr. King, who spoke reminiscently, after which the Church His- tory was read by George R. Butts, and Deacon Harris gave reminiscences of former pastors and their wives. Pastor Ford had prepared a prophecy but owing to lack of time it was not read until a week later when it formed a part of his sermon.

Monday afternoon was Woman's Session, presided over by Mrs. Ford, at which Mrs. Martha Mead told the story of the Woman's Missionary work of the church. Mrs. A. A. Walker read the history of the Dorcas So- ciety, after which all the former pastors' wives, Mrs. King, Mrs. Harvey, Mrs. Waffle, Mrs. Hellings and Mrs. Breed spoke reminiscently, and Bessie Harvey spoke on Foreign Missions.

Monday evening was Memorial Session, conducted by Dr. Hellings.

Tuesday evening was Inter-denominational Session, pre- sided over by Dr. Ford, at which words of greeting were spoken by Dr. Kerrin, rector of the Episcopal Church; Dr. Smith, pastor of the Presbyterian Church; Rev. Seaburg, of the Swedish M. E. Church; Rev. Hor- ton of the M. E. Church, and Dr. Hickman, of the Con- gregational Church, followed by the ceremony of burn- ing the mortgage, after which a reception was held in the church parlors.

Wednesday evening was Denominational Session, pre- sided over by Dr. Harvey, who spoke appropriately to the occasion, followed by "The Lord's Supper," par- ticipated in by the three Baptist churches of the city.

The most conspicuous result of the anniversary celebration was the enthusiasm created for Bessie Harvey, then under appointment as missionary to India. The following Sunday Dr. Ford gave the substance of the prophecy he had prepared from which we quote : " * * * I am to tell you what will occur during the next twenty-five years, not be- cause there has been unrolled before me by some

divine power, a panorama of the future so that all the details of the picture can be clearly seen, but because I know that certain things have occurred in the past, the forces which produced these results are still in operation and the sequence between cause and effect is not likely to be broken in the future.

"There are four factors which must always be re- garded as contributing to the success of any church. These are (I) the power of God, (2) the material equipment, (3) the field in which the church is lo- cated, and (4) the membership of which it is com- posed.

"The first element is constant and the degree of its manifestation is conditioned only by the medium through which it finds expression. Without the power there is no true and permanent success. * * * And during the coming quarter century this church will have just as much of the power of God as it will use for the glory of God. * *

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History of the First Baptist Church of Jamestown, New York : 1827-1915 : organized as a branch church December 25th 1827 : organized as an independent body May 24th, 1832, Part 5

Author: Butts, George R Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Jamestown, N.Y. : Journal Press Number of Pages: 272

Author: Butts, George R
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Jamestown, N.Y. : Journal Press
Number of Pages: 272