USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 28
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"From that time to the present (March, 1838), schools have continued to exist in connexion with most or all of our congregations-progressing with increasing interest and ef- ficiency to such a degree that it is believed that not less than 8000 children and teachers have been or now are connected with the evangelical schools in our village or city. More than half of these have left the schools-many of them have left the city-carrying with them a Sabbath-school spirit ; the greatest proportion of whom are believed to be still en- gaged, either as teachers or scholars, in spreading the benign influence of Sabbath-schools in different parts of our land and world. A tabular statement of the Rochester Sabbath- schools is elsewhere given, in connexion with a similar table respecting the churches of the city. An
" Association of Sabbath-school Teachers,
Principally of the Presbyterian and Baptist denominations (though frequently attended by many others), and connected with the Monthly Concert of Prayer, was formed in June, 1833, which still continues. Its meetings, held alternately in the different churches, are of the most interesting charac- ter. Reports are presented of the number of teachers and scholars in attendance during the past month in each of the schools, with such incidents as may have transpired affecting any particular school or the cause of Sabbath-schools in general. Interesting facts from home or abroad are men- tioned, and remarks are made by teachers and others calcu- lated to encourage and animate all concerned in the labour
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of love. It may be added that the object now sought is not merely to instruct in reading or the mere learning of Scrip- ture by rote, but to lead by the Scripture to Christ, that the recipients of instruction may be fitted for usefulness here and a blessed immortality hereafter. 'T'he
" Monroe Sabbath-school Union
Was formed in April, 1825. Ashley Samson, President ; the Rev. Orrin Miller, Vice-president ; John Watts, Treasu- rer ; the Rev. George G. Sill, Secretary. It was designed to embrace the Sabbath-schools of all denominations in the county ; but, for some reasons, few except Baptists and Presbyterians have been connected therewith. Its object, to promote the interest of Sabbath-schools in this county, has been steadily pursued by the employment of permanent or temporary agents, and by the voluntary aid of several in- dividuals of our city, who have frequently, from time to time, gone to the different towns for this purpose.
" The Sabbath-school field of Rochester and Monroe coun- ty is supposed to have been, for the last ten years, as highly cultivated as any other similar portion of our land. The op- erations of the Union are still continued, and immense good in various ways has been the result of its labour. By the report presented to the Union from the different towns, it is believed that nearly 700 teachers and scholars in this county were happily converted in a single year.
" The Genesee Sabbath-school Union
Was formed in Rochester in 1827. The first president was Josiah Bissell, Jr., with a vice-president in each of the thirteen western counties of the State of New-York, which formed the field of its operations. There were also two secretaries, a treasurer, and a depository, with a board of managers residing in Rochester. It was auxiliary to the American Sunday-school Union, and designed to promote the cause of Sabbath-schools in this then destitute portion of our state. The operations of this Union have been prin- cipally carried on through the instrumentality of one or more permanent agents, with such occasional and voluntary aid as could be derived from ministers and others in any and every part of the field of operations within the thirteen counties. The number of paid agents for a part of the first year was
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thirteen ; and, during a considerable portion of the time since, there have been two or three. The present general agent (1838) is Loren B. Tousley, of Palmyra, formerly of Buffalo. The labours of the agents have been greatly blessed in awakening and strengthening the Sabbath-school interest. Through their instrumentality, county unions have been formed in all the counties ; and some of these unions have employed agents for themselves. By them, also, many town associations have been organized, and a great number of schools established and kept in operation in places where otherwise they would probably not have existed to this day.
" Sabbath school Depository.
" About the time of the formation of this Union, a fund of nearly $800 was raised, principally in Rochester, for estab- lishing a Depository of Sabbath-school Books; which has been productive of much good. The depository is under the charge of Levi A. Ward, Treasurer of the Union ; and from it books have been constantly sold, in large or small quan- tities, at the same prices as at the depositories in New- York. The sales in some years have numbered 25,000 vol- umes, averaging ten cents each ; and not less than 250,000 have been sold or distributed in all since its establishment. The value of the ordinary stock of books at the depository is from $1200 to $2500.
" The philanthropist, and especially the Christian, will be deeply interested while contemplating the immense moral power thus brought to bear upon the rising generation through the instrumentality of these unpretending efforts- designed, as Sabbath-school efforts doubtless are, to exert a greater influence upon mankind within their sphere than perhaps any other similar enterprise. 'Just as the twig is bent the tree is inclined.' The number and excellence of the books-the talents, character, and zeal of the thousands of teachers-all inculcating the highest principles of moral- ity and religion, and, as we hope, illustrating their instruc- tions by their examples, furnish bright assurances that the Sabbath-school system is proving and will long prove an invaluable auxiliary to our domestic happiness and political institutions-founded, as those institutions are, on the virtue and intelligence of the people at large. When we reflect on the number of youth instructed under this system that
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TRACT OPERATIONS.
are continually journeying onward to organize society in the vast wilderness of the west-building up new cities and states for themselves and their descendants-how must we rejoice that our infant city has so zealously contributed in giving an accelerated impulse to operations whose beneficial influences will be exercised so powerfully, not only in our own neighbourhood, but through all the immense regions which are now rapidly passing under the sway of civiliza- tion. Cheering, indeed, must be the prospect to those who faithfully engage in the self-denying labours of a school sys- tem thus calenlated to influence, not merely the present gen- eration around us, but the happiness of unborn millions !
" TRACT OPERATIONS.
" Tracts were obtained by individuals for gratuitons distri- bution at an early period of the settlement of Rochester ; but how early, or at what period the first tract society was formed, is not ascertained. But in 1826, the friends of this cause, desirous to afford greater facilities for distributing tracts to all this section of country, raised by subscription a fund, and a tract depository was established under the direc- tion of Levi A. Ward. (This is now connected with and forms a part of the Sabbath-school depository in Roches- ter.) All the publications of the American Tract Society, whether bound, or in pamphlets, or sheets, with many oth- ers, are here sold at the same rates as at the depositories in New-York; and there is always a large supply on hand. The yearly sales of tracts are about $400. In addition to the plan of keeping tracts in their offices and dwellings, many friends of the cause carry some in their pockets, to give as occasion may offer, and particularly to distribute them quietly for perusal in steamboats, canal-boats, taverns, and other places on their way in travelling. In this latter plan several of our citizens have been active for many years, and tens of thousands of tracts have thus been dissemi- nated. A monthly tract distribution for the whole city has been attempted from time to time, but never reduced to a perfect system till the year 1837. It appears by the report of the principal agent, T. T. Pond, presented at the recent anniversary of the society, that, during the last year, 108 persons have been engaged in presenting a monthly tract to each family in our city who would receive them ; amounting
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during the year to 25,344, or 150,000 pages ; some of them in French and German. Their distribution has been ac- companied by more than 20,000 personal visits, and but 662 tracts have been rejected. Through this instrumental- ity, 167 persons have been persuaded to attend some one of the churches ; 64 youth have been induced to attend Bible classes ; 563 children have been gathered into the Sabbath- schools ; 483 signers obtained to the temperance pledge ; several drunkards hopefully reclaimed ; 114 district prayer- meetings held in different parts of the city ; 51 Bibles dis- tributed to the destitute ; and 15 persons profess to have found, in believing on Jesus Christ our Saviour, that peace which this world can neither give nor take away. These are but a part of the beneficial results arising from the dis- tribution of these 'leaves from the tree of life.' Their perusal has animated the Christian in his discharge of duty to God and man ; led parents to greater faithfulness towards their children and domestics ; caused children to consider their obligation to obey and love God and their parents, and to do good to all. The wayward, the vicious, the profligate, the abandoned of every description, have been admonished and warned that every secret thing shall be brought into judgment ; and the different tendencies of virtue and vice, for this life and the life to come, brought to bear upon the conscience of many a sinner who would read nothing else calculated to awaken his attention or aronse 'him to a sense that he is immortal and yet must die. The friends of this cause are greatly encouraged ; are resolved to prosecute with greater efficiency for the future this delightful work ; and to make still more energetic and liberal exertions for sustaining tract operations, both at home and abroad ; be- lieving that there is in the hands of the Christian church or of individuals no way in which more good can be accom- plished with such little effort or expense as in the distribu- tion of tracts and the benevolent efforts with which that measure is accompanied.
" THE MISSIONARY CAUSE.
" 'The spirit of missions among us was first manifested in January, 1818, when a Female Missionary Society was form- ed, Mrs. Elizabeth Backus being its first president. This was the first of the benevolent institutions of Rochester ; and,
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THE MISSIONARY CAUSE.
during the first eight years of its existence, it raised and distributed about $500, chiefly in aid of destitute congrega- tions around.
" The Young Men's Domestic Missionary Society
Was formed in the winter of 1821-22; by whom, and the ladies' society aforesaid, missionaries were sent to portions of Niagara county, then almost a wilderness. The churches of Porter and Wilson, organized (and for a time aided) by these societies, furnish evidence of the value of a helping hand extended in time of need to unorganized societies and feeble churches in the west. And their contributions in aid of others similarly situated have long since proved the sin- cerity of their gratitude ; have given a striking illustration of the results of home missionary efforts ; and that labour and money thus bestowed are like the ball of snow, accumu- lating as they roll, or like seed that produces a hundred-fold, to bless not only him who sowed, but thousands destitute of the bread of life. And the many hundreds of missionaries spread over our land, with all the good they have accom- plished, are but the results of combined efforts (individ- ually as feeble as these) now exerted through the American Home Missionary Society and other kindred institutions, in which these local societies have been merged or through which they now act, and in aid of one of which (the A. H. M. S.) the contributions of our citizens have been $1250 in a year.
" Foreign Missions.
"It is not ascertained that any regular society existed among us in aid of foreign missions till 1827, when a coun- ty organization was formed. The collections for this object have been usually taken at the Monthly Concert of Prayer for the Conversion of the World, on the first Monday even- ing of each month. The first time this concert is known to have been observed in Rochester was in 1818, by two per- sons, who contributed at the time fifty cents. One of these has been for several years a missionary to the Sandwich Islands, and the other proclaiming the Gospel in our own land. From about that time to the present, this concert has been constantly observed in most of our churches, and col- lections have been taken from month to month in aid of the
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object. The contributions of large sums have been few in number : none are known to have exceeded $1000 at one time by one person, and of these but four or five ; most of them are very small, and repeated from month to month. About $100 were raised by subscription in April, 1821, by Josiah Bissell ; and in November of the same year, the Rev. Mr. Goodell (agent) obtained about $40, which are sup- posed to have been the first sums of any importance raised in Rochester for the object of foreign missions. From an examination of the Missionary Herald, it would appear that in the five years then next ensuing, or till 1826, there were given from this city about $453, and in the last five years about $10,425, to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ; and in all nearly $20,000, mostly by Presbyterians. If to this be added the contributions of our Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal brethren, and others, in aid of those organizations which they prefer should be the almoners of their missionary contributions, the sum would be increased many thousands of dollars, perhaps doubled.
" Rochester has also furnished a representation of eleven persons as missionaries to the heathen world.
" We admit that these are but feeble returns of men and means when contrasted with the manifold blessings which God has conferred on us-and little to what we hope has been done for this object in other places, whose age and re- sources, if not population, are greater than ours. But we hope and expect that, from among the children of our fami- lies and Sabbath-schools, a far greater number will go forth, and that pecuniary aid, increasing with our ability, will be continually poured into these treasuries of the Lord for the conversion of the world.
" THE TEMPERANCE REFORMATION.
" 'The first public resolutions ever adopted on the principle of total abstinence were passed by the Ontario Presbytery in August, 1827-but not without opposition, or without "some claiming the liberty to ' treat their friends politely.' In October or November of that year, 5000 copies of Kit- tredge's First Temperance Address were printed (by the procurement of Samuel Chipman, afterward editor of the Rochester Observer) at Canandaigua, about 1000 copies of which were distributed by two or three persons in and around Rochester. This was followed by a reprint of two
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TEMPERANCE REFORMATION.
editions of 10,000 copies each in the spring of 1828 from the Observer office in Rochester, the expense of which was mostly defrayed by a very few individuals ; and these were sent by dozens and hundreds in every direction. Great numbers were sent by mail to governors, legislators, magis- trates, and public institutions, and to distinguished persons in all parts of the land. 'These efforts are supposed to have been among the very earliest and most powerful causes in waking up the attention of this nation to the horrid evils of intemperance.
" The first public temperance meeting in Rochester was held and a society formed on the 21st of July, 1828. From this time the cause rapidly progressed till our place became noted for its temperance, and public sentiment became strongly turned against that practice which makes beasts of men and taxes their fellow-citizens for their support-seeing that our prisons and poorhouses are chiefly tenanted through the agency of grogshops.
" It might also be noticed as an incident worthy of record that Dr. Joseph Penney, for eleven years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Rochester, when called by ill health and family affairs to Europe, was the first to proclaim the true temperance principle in Ireland ; and through his in- strumentality the first efforts of a public nature then were commenced in that kingdom.
" The statistics relating to the proportion of crime and pau- perism produced by intemperance were procured by a per- sonal examination made through the prisons of this state and part of New-England. These statistics threw a flood of light upon the evils of intemperance, and copies were circulated in immense numbers by the New-York State Temperance Society. They were obtained through the pa- tient investigations of several months by one of our citizens (Samuel Chipman, formerly editor of the Rochester Ob- server), the expense being defrayed by a single individual of our city.
" For a while the practice of licensing grocers to sell spir- ituous liquors was much restricted, and seemed on the point of being wholly abolished in our city ; but licenses have since been freely granted by the corporation. This is not the place to discuss the merits of such movements ; and it may be only necessary to add that the friends of temperance are by no means discouraged. Petitions are even now pouring
26
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upon the Legislature from this and other quarters to allow the people of the several cities and' towns to determine by vote whether they will consent that the present system of licensing shall continue any longer-pregnant as it is with destruction to the souls and bodies of multitudes, and increas- ing crime and pauperism fourfold, if not fortyfold. (Some remarks on this temperance question, showing the conflict- ing views entertained respecting the power of the corpora- tion in the matter of licensing to sell liquors, may be found under the head of the ' Mayors of Rochester.')
" Observance of the Sabbath.
[Although the compiler of this volume was among those who doubted the expediency of the " Pioneer Line," &c., he cannot refrain from in- serting readily the account of that and other similar enterprises-some errors in the management of which enterprises are frankly admitted by the writer of the following statement, who was himself among the fore- most in those projects and in the other efforts which he describes. These Sabbath operations form an important feature in the religious and moral history of Rochester ; and a brief narrative of them will doubt- less prove acceptable even to many who concurred not in all the means employed to promote the projects described in the following portion of the communication from the friend who has here furnished us with so many interesting facts concerning the religious and benevolent opera- tions of Rochester. ]
" Efforts to promote the better observance of the Sabbath in general, but especially upon the Erie Canal and on the stage-routes, originated and were first made in Rochester in 1827. They immediately resulted in the establishment of a Sabbath-keeping line of boats, the "Hudson and Erie." These efforts, after several years of considerable loss and great opposition, were discontinued for a time, but have since been resumed under more favourable auspices. The operations have now for several years, as is believed, given such demonstration that nothing is lost by observing this sacred day, that many are now favourably disposed who were formerly otherwise ; and the hope is strongly indulged that the business of the canal may soon be managed gener- ally so as to afford to those employed upon it the enjoyment of the blessed privileges of the Sabbath. At least two for- warding lines have been successfully prosecuting their busi- ness upon this plan during the past year.
" Propositions were made to some of the principal stage proprietors to discontinue running their stages on the Sab-
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OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.
bath ; which being rejected, some friends of the cause met in convention at Auburn on the 30th of February, 1828, when it was resolved to establish lines of Sabbath-keeping stages from Albany through Utica and Canandaigua to Buffalo, Rochester, Lockport, and Lewiston. Josiah Bis- sell and others were appointed commissioners to carry the resolutions into effect. The Pioneer line of stages was put in operation forthwith, at an expense of about $60,000, mostly contributed as stock-$10,000 each by two individ- uals of Rochester, and the remainder by sundry friends of the cause in this and other parts of the country. Multi- tudes of petitions were, the following winter, sent to Con- gress to abolish Sabbath mails-thus drawing forth the cel- ebrated report of the then Senator (now Vice-president) Johnson-chairman of the committee to whom the petitions were referred-a document so much lauded by some, and yet so unsatisfactory to others. This line was one of the most perfect stage establishments ever seen in this country- everything being new and of the best kind. It encountered great opposition from persons whose views or interests were adverse or affected by it. But it was of great benefit to the public while it continued-not only in the comfort and facil- ities which itself afforded, but in the accommodating spirit with which other lines were induced, through competition, to treat those who were travelling. It was, however, discon- tinued after several years, during which it sunk its entire capital, and was the principal cause of the insolvency of the estate of the late Josiah Bissell, who is supposed to have lost $30,000 by the operation, and other gentlemen of our city as much more. For a more particular account of those Sabbath measures and their results, see the files of the Rochester Observer of 1828, and other religious journals of that time.
" I have adverted thus particularly to these operations for the purpose of correcting an error which extensively pre- vails. Some imagine these were foolish measures, that have not only failed, but resulted most disastrously ; and that those engaged in them now regret it. But this is not so. Notwithstanding the heavy pecuniary losses of some who were deeply interested, I believe most or all of them feel abundantly compensated by the beneficial results al- ready realized, and which are daily extending their influence in various ways, The efforts have aroused public attention
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to the Sabbath as a Divine institution-the merits of which have been more extensively discussed than perhaps ever be- fore. . The influence exerted upon society by its observance or profanation-its connexion with human happiness-with the physical and pecuniary results accruing from its obser- vance or violation-have been ably discussed by various writers, and particularly by Doctor Beecher, whose Review of Senator Johnson's Report on Sabbath Mails was repub- lished in Rochester in 1829, and thence sent gratuitously to all parts of the land. Feeling the importance and beneficial tendencies of its observance, multitudes in various parts of the Union are anxiously exerting themselves to extend, wide as the world, the blessings of the Sabbath. And though some may consider as failures the first efforts made at Rochester, and others may imagine that no great good has resulted in any way from those early efforts, yet the friends of the Sabbath doubt not that an influence has here been brought to bear upon the public mind which will cease but with time.
" It may be proper here to point out the error of some of the early friends of these measures, and the supposed cause of their apparent failure, or of the pecuniary loss sustained. The error consisted in claiming patronage for them as Chris- tian efforts, which, as such, the church was bound to coun- tenance and sustain. To this claim or demand, in this as- pect of it, many Christians did not respond, and the patron- age received was not sufficient for sustaining the first line against the combined opposition of those whose practice was different on the Sabbath question. The true ground for all such efforts is doubtless this : ' We pursue this busi- ness as we would any other to obtain a living, feeling bound to observe the Sabbath, with all those in our employment. If you feel that this is a course worthy of your countenance or patronage, we shall be glad to receive it : if not, we have nothing to say. We cannot change our course. If we can- not obtain a living by this business in this way, we will re- sort to something else-to transgress we dare not,' &c. Nor do the friends of the Sabbath yet see why canalboats, stages, steamboats, railroads, and all other business, may not and will not be successfully prosecuted on this principle. It is believed that the public mind is sufficiently enlightened to see both the propriety and utility of such a course, and even now to sustain it.
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