USA > New York > Tompkins County > Ithaca > History of the First Presbyterian church of Ithaca, New York, during one hundred years : the anniversary exercises, January twenty-first to twenty-fourth, 1904 > Part 13
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In October, 1889, we find in the minutes of the Session that the Pastor was authorized to act in concert with the superintendent to make arrang- ments for holding a "tea", to be attended by the teachers and officers. This was the first that I remember of those occasional gatherings of teachers and officers around the hospitable board of the Church. Another was held March 8th, 1894, and a third on October 15th, 1896. All of them con- tributed much to the enthusiasm and interest of the workers.
At the annual meeting in1 1891, Mr. Williams declined re-election. Appro- priate resolutions in appreciation of the service he had rendered were adopted, and Mr. Brainard G. Smith was elected in his place. He continued to hold the position until June, 1893, when his departure from this city to accept a professorship in Hamilton College made the acceptance of his resig- nation necessary.
Since 1876, when the Session had assumed control of the School and prac- tically annulled its old constitution, there had been no rules for its guidance except those enacted by the Session, found only in its records, and known probably to few members of the School. During the administration of Mr. Williams, no rules had been thought necessary ; nor were they so, in view of his familiarity with former conditions. Neither Mr. Smith, nor his imme-
* The building on South Tioga street at the head of Green Street, erected as a rink for roller skating.
IOI
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
diate successor, had been brought up in the School or imbued with the traditions of the past; so each endeavored in his own way to conduct the School, as he thought it should be carried on, without attaching the same importance to the customs and ideas that had before prevailed, and often in ignorance of them.
At the instance of Superintendent Smith, rules for the guidance of the School were adopted in January, 1892. The School year, which had thereto- fore run from October Ist to October Ist, was made to commence on the first Sunday in each year. Officers and teachers were to meet on the first Wed- nesday of December for the purpose of electing officers, not for nominating merely, as the resolution of the Session had directed. But it was prescribed in the new rules, that the officers so elected were to be subject to confirma- tion by the Session of the Church.
Under Superintendent Smith, the International lessons were for one year set aside, and Blakeslee's lessons on the "Life of Christ " substituted. At the end of the year, the teachers were about evenly divided in regard to the wisdom of the change. Many of them still longed for the helps that accom- panied the International series ; other excellent teachers, fully alive to the advantages of better methods, felt that it was better to keep in touch with Sunday Schools all over the country engaged in the study of the Inter- national lessons. The International lessons were resumed the following year, and have been continued ever since-not, I think, because the School as a whole is satisfied with them ; but because of the reasons stated above.
Mr. Smith discontinued the practice, that had prevailed since the time of Dr. Stryker at least, of reciting each Sunday answers to one or two cate- chism questions. His successor made another change deemed at the time equally radical, in supplying free to every scholar outside of the primary department, quarterlies for the study of the lesson of equal cost and fulness, instead of supplying to those children who did not pay the extra price, a grade of lesson leaves that cost only one-fourth as much.
At the teachers' tea held in March, 1904, Mr. Edwin Gillette, who since 1886 has been the secretary of the School, presented a brief but excellent history of the School from its beginning down to that time.
In the year 1894 the home department was organized by Dr. Fiske, who placed it in charge of Mrs. L. W. Phillips. She resigned in September of the same year, and Mr. J. S. Reid was appointed to take her place, a position which he has held continuously to the present time. Under his manage- ment, aided by a large corps of assistants, this department of the School work, carried on without the stimulus of weekly contact, has been well maintained. It now has a membership of one hundred sixty-three, with sixteen visitors.
7
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
At the end of December, 1895, the writer, who had succeeded Mr. Smith in June, 1893, retired ; and Mr. Robert H. Treman was elected superintend- ent of the School. He continued in office from January, 1896, to September, 1902. It was during this period that the church and chapel were torn down to make way for the new church. So that for two or three years the ses- sions of the Sabbath School were held in the Lyceum. On account of the ill health through overwork of the superintendent at that time, his assistant, Mr. S. E. Banks, shared with Mr. Treman for several months the care and responsibility for the conduct of the School-no easy matter in a place so poorly adapted to the use to which it was put ; and yet it may be, that the work under those discouraging circumstances was just as effective in results. Because of lack of suitable accommodations, the male teachers usually stood. It was an inspiring sight to see them scattered all over the floor of the play house, each in his own earnest way speaking to or leading his class.
Upon Mr. Treman fell chiefly the responsibility of preparing the School to enter upon its work in the new church edifice. He gave much careful thought to the various problems arising. It was his custom to submit important questions to be decided, to a considerable number of those in whom he had confidence, and after listening carefully and patiently to the several views expressed, and after giving to the opinions of all full and fair consideration, then to follow his own deliberate judgment. The Sunday School had been carefully considered by the architect in the planning of the new building ; so that in addition to a large and attractive primary room, to which a small kindergarten room was attached, we were also to have quarters where an intermediate department could be separated and carried on by itself. One important question to be settled was whether there should not be a junior departinent, as well as an intermediate, which might be accommodated in the large room over the primary department. It was, how- ever, finally decided to make the classifications as set forth in the constitu- tion of 1902, in which much of Mr. Treman's thought and plan is embodied.
The principal changes effected by the new constitution, in addition to the grading of the School and the provision made for the large increase in the number of officers and assistants, include a specific plan in regard to promo- tions ; the retention of teachers of each grade in the grade in which they are appointed, thus preventing a teacher from continuing with the same class beyond her grade ; the holding of the annual meeting for the election of superintendent in June, to enable him to prepare for the commencement of his duties in September ; the creation of a Sunday School council, composed of the Pastor, general superintendent and his two assistants, superintendent of each department, and one representative from each department, except the home department, to be chosen by the teachers. The jurisdiction of the
.
103
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
council is limited to matters of advice and suggestion, the general superin- tendent being vested with almost absolute power of control. Article IX provides " The Constitution and all proceedings taken pursuant to its provi- sions shall be subject to the approval of the Session of the Church."
In the administration of Mr. Treman there was a happy combination of the conservative and the progressive. Under his able leadership, combined with the interest which accompanied the first use of the new church, it is safe to say, that the School reached in 1902 the highest degree of prosperity it has yet attained. While the average attendance, either for the year or nine months ending September 1, 1902, was not quite so large as for the year ending September Ist, 1903, yet taking 1902 as a whole, including the months from September to December, when the attendance was the largest in the history of the School,* the average attendance reached the unpre- cedented figure of two hundred ninety-three.
In 1891, on the refusal of Mrs. Finch, who had served the School so well and faithfully as superintendent of the primary department, to continue longer, Mrs. W. F. Major was chosen to fill the position. A teacher of unusual capacity, she knew how to teach others to teach, and conducted the department with great wisdom and tact. It was already the pride of the School when she took charge of it. Under her management, it continued more and more prosperous. Conducted in perfect harmony with the School as a whole, and in accordance with the general plan of the superintendent of the School, the department acquired a quasi independence, which stimu- lated its officers and teachers to do their best. She continued to serve until 1903, when unwilling to remain longer, Mrs. Roger B. Williams, who for a long time had been prominent in the work of this department, was appointed to take her place.
Commencing with Miss Williams in 1851, who is fairly entitled to be called the superintendent during the twenty-eight years that she served, and continuing down to and including the present time, the School has been particularly fortunate in the women who have thus served it in the capacity of primary superintendent. It has for many years had its own separate library, in which since the year 1886, Mr. Roger B. Williams has faithfully served as librarian, contributing by his own personality to the character and
* The attendance during this quarter was increased somewhat by the unusual number attend- ing the students' class, under the very efficient management of Mr. George C. Williams, who assumed charge of the class at the opening of the University year in September.
Early in the following year, the hour of Church service was changed from 10:30 A. M. to II A. M., thus postponing the opening of the School until 12:15. This change, though desired by a considerable majority of the teachers, as well as of the congregation, has had a tendency to lessen the number of those attending the School.
-
104
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
interest of its work. In 1901 when the new church was completed and the new constitution adopted, an infant or kindergarten branch, in a separate room, was provided for. The department also has its own secretary ; so that while keeping in touch with the main School, by common participation in a portion of the opening services and under the general supervision of the superintendent of the School, it carries on its work along such lines of reasonable freedom and independence as to permit the superintendent of the department to work out her own plans and ideals.
The same thing is true of the intermediate department, made possible by the larger accommodations afforded in the new edifice, and established by the constitution of 1901.
The first superintendent of the intermediate department was Mrs. Brainard G. Smith, who, with the aid of Superintendent Treman, and her assistant Miss Sheffer, organized the department, and continued in charge of it until September, 1903, when Prof. Duncan C. Lee was appointed to take her place.
This department had to make its place, and the work of the first super- intendent was by no means an easy task. Her duties were faithfully per- formed ; and the department thus built up, and developed under the efficient management of its present superintendent, has proved its right to be, and is doing a work that is productive of most satisfactory results.
Mr. Frank H. Romer served as secretary of the School, from the retire- ment of Mr. Phillips in 1882, to the election of Mr. Gillette in 1886.
The persons who have held the office of treasurer since 1879 are as follows :
Mynderse Van Cleef
1879-1885 ;
R. H. Treman
1885;
George Humphrey 1886;
Frank H. Romer
1887-1891 ;
S. E. Banks
1891-1897 ;
A. B. Hillick
1897-1900;
w. J. Davis
1901 to date.
In 1891, Mr. Charles E. Treman was chosen librarian, to succeed Mr. Christiance. He was followed in 1892 by Mr. Thomas C. Perry, who con- tinued in charge to the end of 1900, when Prof. John H. Tanner was appointed to take his place.
Miss Jean L. Halsey, by her long and acceptable service as organist, is more closely identified with the musical interests of the Sunday School than any other person now connected with it. Prof. H. E. Dann was for a long time a most efficient leader of the singing, and continued until his larger duties in the church and elsewhere, made it impossible for him to regularly attend.
PRESENT CHAPEL INTERIOR, LOOKING NORTH
- ٠١٠٧٣٣ ٠ ٠٠١١٣٤
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
105
The real strength of the School is, as it must always be, in its teachers. It used to be said by Dr. Fiske, that never in any Church with which he had been connected, was there a corps of teachers comparable in excellence to the men and women who were teaching in our School while he was Pastor.
There are four teachers now in charge of classes in the senior department, who have been in almost continuous service for more than thirty-five years ; Mrs. H. L. Wilgus, Mrs. Ellen Boardman Williams, Mr. George R. Williams and Mr. A. B. Brooks. Everyone of them has been, and still is, a source of great strength. Through their long, faithful and efficient service, they have had a large part in the history of the School.
Mr. John S. Reid deserves special mention for his work in the outlying districts. For the last four years, he has successfully carried on a School at East Lawn. Prior to that time, he had helped to build up Schools at South Hill and at Burt's. In the work at East Lawn, he has been efficiently aided by Miss Harriet B. Sumner, and by others from our Church and Sabbath School.
At the present time the School, exclusive of the Home Department, has on its rolls a total membership of 522, made up as follows :
General officers aud assistants :
I6
Primary Department :
Officers (not including teachers).
5
Teachers and Substitutes
22
Scholars 150 177
Intermediate Department :
Officers
3
Teachers and Substitutes
12
Scholars
71 86
Senior Department :
Officers
Teachers and Substitutes
23
Scholars
220 243
Total number of classes in Primary Department
18
Intermediate Department IO
Senior Department 19
47
-
522
The present order of service is as follows :- At the tap of the bell at 12 : 15 P. M., or as soon thereafter as the members of the School have time to come into their places from the church, the whole School, rising, join in the doxology, followed by the Lord's Prayer ; after which the doors of the primary department are closed.
106
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
General exercises, consisting of singing and responsive reading, in which the senior and intermediate departments join, are continued until 12 : 30 P.M., when the doors of the intermediate department are closed.
After the doors are closed, each department has its own exercises. In the senior department thirty minutes are given to class work, followed by an- nouncements, an occasional brief address or other exercise by some one of the officers or teachers of the School, prayer and song, closing at 1 : 15.
The names of the present officers and teachers, and the dates from which they have served in any capacity, as nearly as can be ascertained, are set forth in Appendix " C", hereto annexed.
We talk of the decadence of the Sunday School. From the careful study which I have given to the history of the School in the preparation of this account, and from my knowledge of conditions here in the last twenty-four years, I do not believe there ever has been a time when the Sunday School commanded the service of a more devoted or efficient corps of teachers. That the teaching is far from ideal must be admitted ; that there are others in the Church, whose services we have been unable to enlist, better fitted for teach- ing than some of those who now are doing the work, is true now as always. Yet with very few exceptions, every class is taught by a teacher who has been selected with reference to that particular class. There is indeed, I think in every department, a waiting list and regular substitutes-some of whom are not inferior to the teachers whom they occasionally replace.
It is difficult to compare the work accomplished with that which was done in former years. The character of the work, and the conditions affect- ing spiritual welfare with which the scholars are surrounded, have changed in accordance with the changes in methods and conditions that the years have brought. I do not believe better work was ever done by the scholars, than wlien they committed to memory the list of Bible verses, as in the olden time. If only that kind of careful preparation, or its equivalent, which we seem to be unable to secure in these times, could be supplemented by our present methods of teaching, then still better results might be expected.
Following the trend of the age, the direct application of the teaching to the character and life of the scholars, has superseded to some extent the teaching of doctrines and biblical facts; though in respect to the latter, I am glad to see evidences of a revival of interest during the present year. The superintendent no longer attempts to direct in detail the work of the School as a whole; but is represented in the primary and intermediate de- partments by appointees of his own selection, better qualified than he him- self would be to conduct and to deal with the questions pertaining to their respective departments.
1
.
107
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
I know it is in the thought of some of those, whose remembrance dates back to the years of Mr. McChain and his predecessors, that the conditions now are less favorable to spiritual growth and advancement ;- that we have lost in efficiency to accomplish that for which the Sunday School primarily exists. God grant, that it be not so. In the very bigness of the School and the increase of its equipment, there is danger that our energies shall be consumed and our ambition satisfied in simply running the machine. But the Sunday School is still, I believe, the nursery of the Church ; and is still the means of affording to the great majority of our children a religious training that is obtained no where else. Religious methods and conditions have changed. We do not now, as in the times when Dr. Wisner preached, attempt to impress upon the minds of the scholars the terrible condemna- tion that probably awaits them if they go out of the door unsaved ; and there is at the present time, it must be confessed, a tendency to regard too lightly the obligations of religion, and a failure to deeply realize for our- selves, and to impress upon the minds of the scholars, the vital importance of seeking first the kingdom of heaven ; and yet notwithstanding all the difficulties, the lack of faithfulness in our work, and the tendency of the times, there has seldom been a year so long as I can remember that there has not been at some time a deep spiritual interest ; and while I am not able to give statistics, the numbers that go up out of our Sunday School to membership in the Church, continue to compare favorably with the per- centage of the earlier years. That the taking of such a stand may come to have a deeper significance, and mean for each scholar who thus presents himself the supreme decision of his life, should be now the object of our greatest endeavor.
In the preparation of this history, I have been indebted to many people ; first of all to the old secretaries, Halsey, Luce and Carpenter, whose full records, unsurpassed by those of any of their successors, have made it easy to trace the early history of the School ; then, to Mr. McChain, for the full reports which he annually made to the Sunday School and transcribed in its permanent records ; to Mr. Gillette, for the history of the Sunday School which he compiled ; to Rev. Mr. Fitschen, for calling my attention to the entries in the records of the Session, and for many helpful suggestions; to Mrs. C. B. Wood, Miss Harriet Williams, Miss Hardy, Mr. Uri Clark, and others not now connected with the School, but whose memories antedate the period of Mr. McChain ; and finally, to the many teachers and officers still connected with the School, from whom I have derived much information as to facts, and a more correct impression of the thought and life of the workers of former times.
JARED T. NEWMAN.
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
APPENDIX A
SUNDAY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS .- 1826-1904.
Horace Hunt
April, 1826-Oct., 1826 | M. C. Riggs
Oct., 1852-Dec., 1852
Ebenezer Jenkins
Oct., 1826-Nov., 1827
Zenas Parker
Dec., 1852-Dec., 1855
Daniel L. Bishop
Nov., 1827-Nov., 1829
Geo. McChain
Dec., 1855-June, 1876
Isaac Carpenter Nov., 1829-Nov., 1830
Henry S. Williams June, 1876-Oct., 1878
H. S. Walbridge Nov., 1830-Nov., 1831
M. W. Stryker, Act. Supt., Oct., 1878-July, 1879
Geo. P. Frost Nov., 1831-Nov., 1832
A. B. Brooks, July, 1879-Oct., 1879
Harley S. Lord
Nov., 1832-Nov., 1841
Charles F. Blood Oct., 1879-Oct., 1882
H. S. Walbridge
Nov., 1841-Nov., 1844
George R. Williams Oct., 1882-Oct., 1891
David D. Spencer Nov., 1844-Nov., 1846
Brainard G. Smith Oct., 1891-June, 1893
Joseph Esty Nov., 1846-Nov., 1847
Jared T. Newman .June, 1893-Dec., 1895
Marcus C. Riggs Nov., 1847-Nov., 1848
Robert H. Treman Jan., 1896-Sept., 1902
Stephen Brewer. Nov., 1848-Oct., 1851
George Bartholomew
Oct., 1851-Oct., 1852
APPENDIX B
SUNDAY SCHOOL, AVERAGE ATTENDANCE.
TOTAL
TOTAL
April 1826 to Nov. 1826
86
Oct.
1854 to Oct. 1855
130
Nov. 1826
1827
100
1855
1856
I37
1827
I828
I24
1856
1857
147
I828
1829
106
1857
1858
164
1829
1830
100
1858
1859
143
1830
183 1
IOI
¥ 1859
1860
153
1831
1832
II2
1860
.€
1861
I55
1832
1833
130
= 1861
1862
.no report
1833
1834
1835
1836
177
1864
1865
no report
1836
¥
1838
142
1866
I867
¥
1839
1840
I28
1868
1869
159
1840
1841
I28
1869
1870
no report
1841
1842
125
1870
1871
1872
I60
1843
1844
125
1872
1873
160
1844
1845
125
1873
1874
155
I845
1846
108
1874
1875
135
1846
J847
II4
1875
1876
I33
¥
1847
1848
I23
1876
1877
130
1848
1849
no report
1877
1878
_no report
1849
1850
IO6
¥ 1879
1880
193
Oct.
1851
1852
no report
1880
I881
no report
1852
1853
108
1881
I882
1853
1854
I19
I882
1883 I84
1837
1838
1839
132
€ 1867
1868
1871
1842
1843
IIO
I862
1863
1835
180
1863
1864
1837
183
I865
1866
¥
I878
1879
"
1850 to Oct. 1851
1834
135
Jared T. Newman Sept., 1902-
109
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
TOTAL
TOTAL
Oct.
1883 to Oct. 1884
I72
Jan.
1894 to Jan. 1895
248
1884
1885
205
1895
1896
220
1885
1886
240
1896
1897
232
1886
1887
224
1897
1898
275
1887
I888
218
1898
1899
263
I888
1889
232
1899
1900
244
-
1889
1890
222
1900
190I
240
1890
I891
223
1901
1902
254
1891 to Jan. 1893
216
1902 to Sept. 1902
274
Jan.
1893
1894
206
Sept. 1902
1903
276
APPENDIX C
OFFICERS AND TEACHERS CONNECTED WITH THE PRESBYTERIAN SUNDAY
SCHOOL JANUARY, 1904, WITH DATE OF FIRST APPOINTMENT TO ANY POSITION EITHER AS OFFICER OR TEACHER IN THE SCHOOL.
The number opposite each name indicates position of photograph in the group picture of the present Sunday School corps. Photographs of Mrs. D. F. Finch, Miss Minnie C. Atwater and Mrs. W. F. Major, appearing elsewhere, are omitted from this group. The maiden names of teachers married since they became connected with the School are given in parentheses.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL COUNCIL.
Rev. J. F. Fitschen, jr. (I)
Pastor
Mr. Jared T. Newman (2) Superintendent
Mr. Robert H. Treman (3) Assistant Superintendent
Mr. Arthur B. Brooks (20). Elected from Senior Department
Mr. Duncan C. Lee (41) Superintendent Intermediate Department
Miss Lou F. Terry (47) Elected from Intermediate Department
Mrs. Roger B. Williams (57) Superintendent Primary Department
Mr. Roger B. Williams (61)
Elected from Primary Department
Mr. John S. Reid (4) Superintendent of Home Department
OFFICERS.
Superintendent Mr. J. T. Newman (2) appointed teacher, 1879
Assistant Superintendent_Mr. Robert H. Treman (3)
assistant secretary, 1880
Secretary Mr. Edwin Gillette (5)
teacher, 1880
Treasurer Mr. William J. Davis (6)
precentor, 1895
Librarian Mr. John H. Tanner (7)
librarian, 1898
Assistant Librarian Mr. David F. Hoy (8).
assistant librarian, 1902
Pianist
Miss Jean L. Halsey (10)
teacher, 1876
Precentor
Mr. F. A. Mills (II)
precentor, 1903
Usher
Mr. Edward S. Preston (12)
usher, 1902
Usher
Mr. Morris T. Banks (13)
usher, 1902
Usher Mr. Henry G. Carpenter (14).
usher, 1902
Usher Mr. S. Edwin Banks (15)
teacher, 1884
Assistant Librarian Mrs. J. H. (Clara Williams ) Tanner (9)
" teacher, 1888
Mr. Charles E. Treman (28) Chairman of Committee on Benevolences Miss Cornelia Burritt (16) Chairman of "Sunshine " Committee
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HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
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