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 4
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In those days a collector of salary was regularly appointed, and was al- lowed 5% as compensation, but he was also required to give a bond, usually for $500. In the Trustees' record, December 31, 1828, a statement is made that the Board voted $25 to William R. Collins for his services as clerk ; which amount he at once made a donation for the building of a Session House, to be put at interest under the direction of the Trustees until wanted for that purpose. This, like his initiative in the matter of the "public square," was another evidence of his wise and generous forethought. This " nest egg " bore good interest, as other gifts were stimulated ; Deacon James Nichols and two others furnished the funds for the proposed building. In July 20, 1832, it is first recorded that "Session met pursuant to public notice at the Session House."
April 11th, 1829, at a meeting of the congregation it was resolved that they should purchase for the Rev. Gerrit Mandeville, the former Pastor, "a convenient carriage or wagon, and that pew No. 57 be sold to defray the ex- pense." Messrs. J. S. Lee and Wm. R. Collins were appointed a committee to carry this resolution into effect. Ten days later Mr. Mandeville receipted for the wagon in full for the arrearages due him as foriner Pastor. This was nearly fifteen years after the service rendered, but "it is better late than never " to pay debts.
December 24th, 1830, a new statement of the Articles of Faith was adopted, with proof texts ; at the same time this new form of Covenant was adopted :-
" We do now, in the presence of the Eternal God and these witnesses, covenant to be the Lord's. We promise to renounce all the ways of sin, and to make it the business of our life to do good and promote the declarative glory of our Heavenly Father. We promise steadily and devoutly to attend upon the institutions and ordinances of Christ as administered in this Church, and to submit ourselves to its direction and discipline until our present relation shall be regu- larly dissolved. We promise to be kind and affectionate to all the members of this Church, to be tender of their character, and to endeavor, according to the utmost of our ability to promote their growth in grace."
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In 1831 the Church numbered over 800 members. Dr. Wisner, feeling the strain of the work entailed, asked to be released from his pastoral charge ; he was so released, not without many expressions of sorrow, and accepted a call to the Brick Presbyterian Church of Rochester, then a small and struggling congregation ; he remained with that Church four years, building it up in numbers and influence. He then went to St. Louis. After Dr. Wisner's re- moval from Ithaca, a call was extended to Rev. Wm. Page who preached for several months. Upon moving here with his family Mr. Page felt there was some opposition to his settlement, and refused to be installed. He addressed a letter to the Church which shows a fine Christian spirit, and an earnest wish that no disaffection toward him might cripple the work the Church ought to do, and he therefore requested them to release him ; which they did, testifying to their appreciation of his character and high-minded purpose.
The Church soon after called as the next Pastor, Rev. Alfred E. Campbell, of Palmyra. He was born at Cherry Valley, N. Y., June 5, 1802 ; was gradu- ated from Union College in 1820; commenced the study of law, but soon changed his studies and entered the Seminary at Princeton, where he finished his theological course. He was ordained at the early age of twenty-two ; he first preached at Worcester, Otsego County, N. Y .; then at Newark and Pal- myra, N. Y .; then at Ithaca, where he was installed Pastor of this Church, August, 1832. A month after the coming of this new Pastor and his wife, and on their initiative, there was organized a mothers' club (how many sup- posedly new things they had long ago !), called the Maternal Association; it continued and was a most useful agency for a number of years. Its purpose was "the devising and adopting of such measures as may seem best calcu- lated to assist us in the right performance of the duty of bringing our chil- dren up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," " especially that God would qualify our children for future usefulness in His Church." This pur- pose had large fulfillment, many of the children of these consecrated mothers becoming leaders in Christian service here and elsewhere ; as far as known, three went into the ministry and one other into Home Missionary service.
Rev. Mr. Campbell removed to Cooperstown in July, 1834, where he con- tinued as Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church until April, 1848, when he removed to New York City to become Pastor of the Spring Street Presby- byterian Church ; he enjoyed there a successful ministry for nine years, and then for nearly twenty years he was Secretary of the American and Foreign Christian Union. He died at Castleton, N. Y., in December, 1874. A few months before the close of his Ithaca pastorate, there occurred here one of the most interesting and important events in the history of this
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Church,-interesting at the time, and destined to be of vital, national, im- portance later. In the New York Observer of May 17th, 1834, there ap- peared the following account :-
MISSION TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.
1
We have received from Rev. Alfred E. Campbell, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Ithaca, the following account of the mission to the Indians west of the Rocky Montains, to- gether with the ordination of Mr. Dunbar one of the Missionaries. "On Thursday, the Ist inst., Mr. John Dunbar, of the Theological Seminary at Auburn, was ordained at Ithaca by the Pres- bytery of Cayuga, as Missionary to the Indians of the Oregon Territory, west of the Rocky Mountains. The Rev. Mr. Spaulding of Bainbridge, made the introductory prayer ; Rev. Mr. Judson of Cortland, preached the sermon ; Rev. Mr. Campbell of Ithaca, presided, proposed the constitutional questions to the candidate, and made the consecrating prayer ; Rev. Mr. Cook of Aurora, delivered the charge to the candidate ; Rev. Mr. Parker, one of the Missionaries, made the concluding prayer. It may be cheering to the friends of Zion, to learn the history and pro- gress of this mission to the Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. On the first Monday in January, the day recommended by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church as a day of fasting and prayer, the Church in this place were convinced that while they confessed their past delinquencies, they were called upon to increase their efforts for the extension of the Re- deemer's Kingdom. It was accordingly proposed that the Church should send three Mission- aries to the Oregon Territory, and raise the funds for their support. The proposition received the cordial approbation of the Church, and a committee was appointed to carry the resolution into effect. The committee entered upon the work with great zeal, and their efforts were crowned with success. The men and means were secured. The Rev. Samuel Parker, formerly settled at Danby, Mr. John Dunbar from the Seminary at Auburn, and Mr. Samuel Allis, a layman from this Church, offered their services and were recommended as suitable persons for Missionaries to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. After having been received by the Board as Missionaries, the committee of the Church prosecuted their work with untiring assiduity, and succeeded in having everything ready for the departure of the Mission- aries from this place on Monday the 5th inst. The particular tribe among whom they will lo- cate is yet undecided. The Missionaries will in all probability spend one year in exploring the territory. The day of ordination was one of peculiar interest ; and its influence in exciting a spirit of benevolence will, I trust, long be felt. The Sabbath after the ordination the Mission- aries sat down with us for the last time to commemorate the love of the Saviour ; after which the instructions of the Board to them were read. On Monday morning the Church assembled at five o'clock to spend a short season of prayer, to conimend the dear brethren to our covenant- keeping God. This was one of the most solemn and interesting scenes I ever witnessed. After singing a parting hymn and giving the right hand of fellowship, they took their departure, and are now on their way to proclaim soon to the Flatheads or the Shawnees, or some other tribe, the unsearchable riches of Christ. This mission the Presbyterian Church of this place have re- solved to sustain under the direction of the American Board. We have made up our minds on the subject deliberately, and unless the expense far exceed our calculations, we shall redeem our pledge to the Missionaries and to the American Board."
The writer of this article was the Rev. Alfred E. Campbell, the third Pastor of this Church. These very interesting occurrences took place in the old Session House, then but recently erected on this site and long since removed to South Cayuga street, where for many years it has been used as a blacksmith shop. The sunrise prayer meeting and farewell service took
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place here in the Park before our door. Mr. Allis, the lay member of the mission, was a native of Ithaca and a member of this Church and Sunday School. He lived in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy on East Hill, and married their niece, Miss Palmer. Mr. Dunbar was a graduate of Wil- liams College and of our Theological Seminary at Auburn. The other member of the trio, Rev. Samuel Parker, was a native of Ashfield, Mass., a graduate of Williams College and of Andover Theological Seminary. By the Massachusetts Society of "Domestic Missions" he had been com- missioned as one of its early Missionaries to the then wilderness of Western New York. He had been Pastor in the neighboring village of Danby,* whence he had removed to Ithaca, where some of his descendants still re- side, and which, excepting a short interim spent in New England, was thereafter his home.
In 1832 four Nez Percés Indian chiefs had gone from their Oregon home to St. Louis for the white man's bible. After a winter spent there without suc- cess, during which the two older chiefs died, the two young braves had bade farewell to the Commandant of the post, General Clark (formerly one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and at this time Superin- tendent of Indian affairs for the whole Northwest), in these pathetic words :
" I came to you over a trail of many moons from the setting sun. You were the friend of my fathers, who have all gone the long way. I came with one eye partly opened, for more light for my people who sit in darkness. I go back with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind to my blind people? I made my way to you with strong arms, through many enemies and strange lands, that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms broken and empty. The two fathers who came with me-the braves of many winters and wars-we leave asleep here by your great water. They were tired in many moons and their moccasins wore out. My people sent me to get the white man's Book from Heaven. You took me where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the Book was not there. You took me where they worship the Great Spirit with candles, and the Book was not there. You showed me the images of good spirits and pictures of the good land beyond, but the Book was not among them. I am going back the long, sad trail to my people of the dark land. You make my feet heavy with burdens of gifts, and my moccasins will grow old in carrying them, but the Book is not among them. When I tell my poor, blind people after one more snow, in the big council, that I did not bring the Book, no word will be spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and they will go on the long path to the other hunting grounds. No white man will go with them and no white man's Book, to make the way plain. I have no more words."
Mr. George Catlin, the famous painter of Indian portraits, went west that spring of 1833. These two Indian chiefs travelled in the same caravan, and he painted their portraits which now hang in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington (nos. 207 and 209.) Mr. Catlin did not then know why they
*There he married Jerusha Lord, a niece of Noah Webster, of dictionary fame, and sister to Harley Lord, an Elder in this Church for many years.
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had been to St. Louis. The naturally reticent Indians were too sore of heart to tell their story. But on his return, while at Pittsburg, Pa., he heard this parting address which a clerk in Gen. Clark's office had copied down. Cat- lin doubted its truth, and said : "I am well acquainted with Gen. Clark, and if this had been true he would have told me." He at once wrote to Gen. Clark who replied: "The story is true; that was the only object of their visit." Then Catlin said : "Publish it to the world !" It was widely published. Stirred by this account, Mr. Parker had offered himself to the American Board repeatedly. When he came to Ithaca he stimulated the interest of this his new Church home in the needs of the Indian; with the result already stated in the then Pastor's words. Great was the liber- ality of many of our Church people of that day. "The amounts given in 1834-36 to this object averaged about $700 a year, increased after the Church assumed the Pawnee mission." Several are known who regularly gave $100 each yearly to the foreign mission cause,-a large sum for those days; and probably even larger amounts were given on this occasion; for this Church resolved to send and support this Oregon Mission, under the authority of the Board, secured after considerable delay. The procrastina- tion and timorousness of the Board were natural under the circumstances. Oregon was a far country, little known; and funds, then as always, not abundant for new ventures. As Mr. Parker himself states in the printed record of his journey, " this was appointed an exploring mission to ascertain by personal observation the condition of the country, and the character of the Indian nations and tribes, and the facilities for introducing the gospel and civilization among them." He prepared the way for younger laborers ; within three years there were thirty or more Missionaries and assistants in this field. Mr. Parker had carried on most of the correspondence with the Board, and had also gone about in neighboring counties speaking on the subject. While so engaged he was heard by several upon whom his plea made a great impression. He writes to his family :- "I have found some missionaries. Dr. Whitman, of Wheeler, Steuben Co., has agreed to offer himself to the Board to go beyond the mountains. He has no family. Two ladies offer themselves, one a daughter of Judge Prentiss, of Amity, Alle- ghany County." Doctor Marcus Whitman was a native of Rushville, N. Y., educated in the common school and by the village Pastors, and a graduate of the Berkshire Medical School at Pittsfield, Mass. Dr. Whit- man was at this time thirty-three years of age and Mr. Parker fifty-six. Messrs. Dunbar and Allis had pushed on ahead and, reaching the Missouri River near Bellevue, had begun work among the Pawnees. Messrs. Parker and Whitman came up with them there, rejoiced in their good beginning,
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and passed on. In order more fully to explore the region, Mr. Parker not only went a considerable way up the Willamette River, but far up the great Columbia into the country of the Spokanes. That he was far-seeing, these extracts from his journal show :-
(On the continental divide)-" There would be no difficulty in the way of constructing a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean . . . . probably the time may not be far distant when trips will be made across the continent as they have been made to the Niagara Falls to see nature's wonders."
(At the falls of the Willamette, 1835) :- " Can the period be far distant when there will be here a busy population ? "
A year later, Dr. Whitman returned east and was married to Miss Narcissa Prentiss at Angelica, N. Y. Accompanied by Rev. H. H. Spalding and his newly-married bride, they took a transcontinental wedding trip, going over the mountains in a wagon ; thereafter when the need came, as it soon did, to convince the authorities at Washington of the practicability of reaching the Pacific coast in comfort and finding it worth while on arrival, Whitman could triumphantly say, "I have done it."
Having ascertained to his entire satisfaction two most prominent facts, namely, the entire practicability of penetrating with safety to any and every portion of the vast interior, and the disposition of the natives in regard to his mission among them, Mr. Parker returned home by way of the Sandwich Islands. He soon after published his journal, under the title : Parker's Ex- ploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains. It was the first book that gave full information of the country, people, productions, animal life, and climate; also a vocabulary of several Indian languages, and minute circumstantial evidence of the readiness of these tribes for the Gospel. It went through five editions and was republished in England.
Upon the wall of the vestibule of our chapel a white marble tablet has been erected ; it bears this inscription :
THIS TABLET MARKS THE SITE OF THE FIRST SESSION HOUSE WHERE ON JANUARY 6, 1834 THIS CHURCH RESOLVED TO SEND AND SUPPORT THE OREGON MISSION OF REV. SAMUEL PARKER. HE ENLISTED AS HIS LATER ASSOCIATE MARCUS WHITMAN, M.D.
THE HERO-MARTYR OF OREGON.
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Another associate of Dr. Whitman and Rev. Mr. Spaulding, one Gray, a layman, was sent east in 1837 for reinforcements. He was frequently shot at by the Indians, two bullets passing through his soft felt hat. When the mother of his betrothed saw these and knew the reason, she declined to let her daughter go on such a perilous mission. Young Gray must needs find another helpmeet. Coming to Ithaca to see Mr. Parker, he was introduced to a young lady who impressed him favorably as he did her; a very short acquaintance and courtship followed. They became engaged one Saturday evening and were to start westward a week from the following Monday. Professor Mowry, in his book on Marcus Whitman and Oregon, writes :
"Sunday, February 25th, 1838, came all too soon for their preparations. The wedding was to be in the evening, at the Presbyterian Church in Ithaca, N. Y. The bride usually sang in the choir (All her family were famous singers and led in the service of praise), but on this occa- sion she sat in the front pew with Mr. Gray. The house was filled to overflowing. At the close of the service the minister came down from the pulpit, the couple arose, and the marriage ceremony proceeded, by which Mr. William H. Gray and Miss Mary Augusta Dix, daughter of John Dix, Esq., were made husband and wife."
Ladies still residing here relate what a busy and interesting time their mothers and others had, helping prepare a suitable trousseau for this mis- sionary bride, on such short notice and with few resources except their needles.
Meanwhile, the Church was supporting the Pawnee Mission of Messrs. Allis and Dunbar. As they were sent out and supported by this Church, the hopeful beginning and sad ending of their work is of interest to us ; a son of one of the Missionaries sends an account from which we make these excerpts :
" After the departure of Mr. Parker, Messrs. Allis and Dunbar, learning in conference from Gen. Clark that the Pawnees on the Platte River were uniformly friendly to the whites and had already solicited that a Missionary might be sent to live in their villages, obtained passage upon a steamboat, June 7th, and a week later reached Liberty, at that time the frontier settlement on the Missouri River, four hundred miles above St. Louis. A few days later they proceeded to Cantonment Leavenworth, now Fort Leavenworth. The authorities in the Fort assured them that it would not be safe to attempt to proceed further before September. The interval was accordingly spent in visiting neighboring Indian tribes . . The managers and em- ployees of a trading post in the vicinity persistently threw every obstacle in the way of any attempt to ameliorate the condition of the neighboring Indians. By exaggerating the supposed dangers they also tried to dissuade any further advance into the Indian country. Meantime, Mr. Allis was prostrated by a lingering fever, and for several weeks his recovery seemed im- probable. Sept. 22, they were able to start on horseback up the river, and, after a tedious ride of two weeks through a wild, unsettled country, they reached Bellevue, ten miles below the present site of Omaha. At Bellevue was the remotest government agency, established for maintaining official intercourse with the Pawnees, Omahas, Otoes, Poncas, and other of the adjacent tribes . ... Upon learning of the presence and purpose of Messrs. Allis and Dunbar, the Pawnees at once expressed a desire that these gentlemen might accompany them upon their return to their villages, distant about one hundred miles. This tribe had ever been friendly to the whites, and the occasion was especially opportune for the Missionaries to meet them. It was the only season, other than two months and a half in the spring, when the tribe was not absent from the villages upon their two yearly buffalo hunts. As soon as the distribution of
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the annuities was completed, Maj. Daugherty called a general council of the four bands and explained to them the desire of the Missionaries to live with them, instruct them, assist them in acquiring some of the advantages of a more civilized life, (as the Indians expressed it, 'to learn to walk in the white man's road'), and especially to teach them of the only true God. In response, the head chief of the Grand Pawnees rose and assured the gentlemen that his people would be glad to know of the true God ; they desired that the darkness of life might be cleared away, and to this end would gladly receive any instruction that might be given. He closed with the earnest assurance that the teachers should be treated with entire kindness and aided with cordial good will. This promise he faithfully kept personally till hisdeath, ten years later. . . In all these employments (their corn planting and buffalo hunting) the Missionaries accompanied them, sharing their labors and hardships, for two years. During that time, every endeavor had been made to gain the good will and confidence of the Indians, to learn their language, and assist them in every possible manner, and thus prepare the way for the opening of a fixed Mission among them. So far as then appeared, it seemed that the time had come for this step. During the last summer of their travels with the tribe, Messrs. Allis and Dunbar had been materially aided by the arrival of a medical co-worker, in the person of Dr. Benedict Satterlee, of Elmira, N. Y., who early that year, 1836, with his wife, had been sent out by one of the Churches of Ithaca, as a reinforcement to the Pawnee Mission. With them came also Miss Emiline Palmer, of Ithaca, the betrothed of Mr. Allis. He engaged earnestly in the work of a physician for the tribe and by his engaging manner and skill early acquired great influence with them. His presence was esteemed alike by his associates and by the Indians as a great and opportune blessing . . . . . In the autumn of 1836, it was decided that Mr. Dunbar should return to the east and lay before the Churches interested the condition and needs of the Mission, and invite their co-operation in the contemplated change and enlargement of its use- fulness. Mr. Dunbar reached the east in November. The nature of the work contemplated among the Pawnees was made known, and a gratifying response was received from certain Churches, chief among them the Church in Ithaca. A primer in the Pawnee tongue was pre- pared and printed for use in the proposed school for instruction of the Indian children, and two of the gospels were translated for publication. After the commission immediately in hand was thus discharged, on the 12th of January, 1837, Mr. Dunbar was united in marriage with Miss Esther Smith, of Hadley, Mass., and soon thereafter started upon his return. On the way they visited the Church at Ithaca, where three years before Mr. Dunbar had been ordained and appointed to this work. After a brief stay there, they resumed the journey much encouraged by the generous assistance extended and the cordial good will expressed in their undertaking.
"On reaching Bellevue, May 6th, the first discouragement was experienced. Rumor was rife that the Sioux, now known as the Dakotas, a powerful combination of kindred tribes, were showing more marked hostilities against the Pawnees, their hereditary enemies, because of the presence of the Missionaries among them Word was soon after received that they intended more serious hostilities, unless the whites withdrew from the tribe. It was thought best that Mr. Allis and Mr. Dunbar, leaving their families for a season at Bellevue, should themselves try to continue their work by remaining with the tribe in their villages and
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