USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > After eighty years of the organization of the First Presbyterian Church > Part 2
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During the years of 1850-51 the subject of an- other colony was frequently talked of and urged by the aged pastor. This agitation resulted in the pre- sentation to Presbytery of a memorial by fifty-nine members of the First Church to be organized as a
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"Old First Church" in Columbus.
separate church. The request was granted April 19, 1854, and the Westminster Church of Columbus, the third daughter, began a life which, under God, is destined to years of vigor and usefulness.
Sixteen years ago the attention of Presbyterians was turned to the needs of the northern part of the city, and Hoge Chapel was built, and a church or- ganized which has been carrying on, with the help of the mother church, a successful work for the Master ever since. The location of the building was unfor- tunate; but the time is now ripe for this church to move into a better neighborhood, and one in which the proclamation of the gospel can be made under more auspicious circumstances.
Again the spirit of growth has possessed the suc- cessors of the former generation, and the present and future outlook for our denominational work is most promising. Let us lift high the standard, and go for- ward to possess the fullness of our heritage. The north and the east are alike uttering the Macedonian cry. We, as Presbyterians, will be false to our trusts unless the next decade beholds a great work for church extension within the limits of our city. It is hoped that the Collegiate Presbyterian Church, another planting of the First Church, will soon grow from a colleague into an independent stronghold of the faith.
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REVIYALS.
The old church was repeatedly visited with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. These revival seasons were deep, quiet movements. The stately nature of the pastor naturally gave direction to them. The great spiritual awakening of 1857-'58 was shared in by this church, in common with the churches of God all over the land.
It was during this time that the daily prayer meet- ing, held in the basement of the old church, was com- menced.
It was a union meeting of all the churches around the square. When started, the purpose of the leaders was to continue a special service for spiritual quick- ening for a few weeks only. But the Spirit of God came down with power, and the effort of a day merged into a service that continued without inter- mission from the 13th of March, 1858, for about seventeen years. It opened at half-past eight in the morning and lasted for half an hour.
The leader of one day secured a leader for the next. Many now living can remember the power for good which flowed out from these services. The at- tendance for a long time taxed the utmost capacity of the upper sanctuary.
The spiritual quickening received from these daily gatherings the records of eternity will alone reveal.
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" Old First Church" in Columbus.
A number of pleasing incidents are handed down, some of which are not unworthy of a place in a col- lection that is in a sense a mirror of the past.
Hon. Chauncey N. Olds and Judge J. W. Baldwin were among the constant attendants at these morn- ing meetings. One morning, as they were coming out, one said to the other: "We were at the com- mencement of these prayer meetings ; let us be the two who will hold out the longest," and they mutually agreed to this proposition. And these two brethren had the honor to be the last attendants. They met and with the most tender services brought the long series to its close. No wonder that life-long friendships were cemented by such holy ties as these.
One morning the Rev. Mr. Gowdy, pastor of the U. P. Church in Columbus, was called upon to lead the brethren. He modestly arose and apologized for being compelled to decline, as he could not sing hymns. On account of his conscientious scruples in this regard, the venerable Dr. Hoge immediately re- lieved him of his embarrassment by avowing that the brethren would all join in singing Rousses' version of the psalms for that day. And psalms they sang.
Again, one morning no male was present to lead the devotions, and Miss Clark, well known in the community in those days, went up to the desk and
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read the 12th psalm, beginning, "Help Lord, for the Godly man ceaseth."
THE RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO THE GROWTH OF THE CITY.
The founders of this church were men and women of the most sterling piety. They believed in the Bible, they held with firm tenacity the faith once de- livered to the saints.
So the First Church has played no unimportant part through many of its leading members in shaping the educational and charitable institutions of the city. Those in its connection were the leading business men of the old city, and their successors are still in the van of progress in commercial, social, charitable and religious improvement.
The grand State philanthropies, whose buildings adorn our streets and suburbs, attest the great and statesman-like qualities of the mind of the first pastor of this church. The impression that this man made on a journalist of thirty years ago is well voiced in the report of the proceedings, at the festival of the semi- centennial, in a newspaper of the period: "The reverened and beloved teacher who first ministered at the humble altars in the wilderness, still lives to consecrate the occasion with his presence, and to receive the salutations of the second and third gen-
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"Old First Church" in Columbus.
erations of those whom he has gathered into the fold of the Divine Master."
And the estimation in which he was held by the brethren of the ministry is fully exemplified by the following minute, culled from the records of the Pres- bytery. In dissolving this relation the Presbytery made this record: "In terminating this pastoral connection of nearly half a century's standing, Pres- bytery would, with sincere gratitude to the Head of the church, recognize the goodness and mercy shown, in sparing the life and health of this revered father in the ministry for so many years; in granting him so much success in the immediate sphere of his labors, and in raising him to a position of influence, which has been so widely and beneficently felt, and by which his name has obtained a distinguished place among the ministers of our country."
In 1856 the oldest living member of the church was Robert W. McCoy, whose upright character, and straight-forward business activity had impressed itself upon this community for a period of forty-five years. Another man to whom this city owes a debt of gratitude is Dr. William Maclay Awl, who for fifty-six years was connected with this church. His life seems to have been devoted to religion and works of charity. His biographer says of him, that "his care and self- denying labor assisted at the birth and early struggles
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of nearly all of the magnificent charities of which the commonwealth of Ohio is so justly proud. Every- where and always his Christian integrity, wisdom and moderation made him a valued counsellor."
Still another, whose life in a quieter sphere did not a little to impress the business world with value of Christian integrity, was Isaac Dalton, who for fifty years was a member of this household of faith, forty-five of which he was a beloved and revered elder.
As a sketch of his life and work is to be given at another service during these anniversary meetings, I forbear to speak further of him now. It is such men who honor the Gospel, and being dead, yet speak in the conscious and unconscious influence they have exerted on succeding life.
Many from the church, from time to time, have thus impressed themselves upon nearly every depart- ment of our city's life. Scarcely an institution that has been an honor or a blessing to Central Ohio that has not felt the moulding hand of one or more mem- bers of the old First Church. And as I, well nigh a stranger to our institutions and history, have delved in the musty records of the past, my admiration for the qualities of brain and heart of the founders of this church, and their immediate successors, has grown with every fresh revelation of the grand and inspiring
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"Old First Church" in Columbus.
way they sought to shape the destinies of this city and commonwealth. More and more have I been impressed with the fact that our devotion to religion should broaden all our perceptions and consecrate all our faculties to the social, political and moral improvement of our fellow men.
CHURCH MUSIC.
About 1839 the congregation began to be agitated about church music. In the old days in Franklinton, and when the people worshipped in "Trinity in Unity," the church singing was performed with the aid of no more formidable instrument than a tuning fork.
The pious elder who led the singing stood up be- fore the audience and lined off the hymn, and then, with nasal twang to the voice and a see-saw motion to the arm, helped the congregation sing the praises of the Lord. But some of the people felt that the praises of God could be the better rendered by the assistance of some kind of musical instrument. But the opposition was strong, and the frowns on such ungodly measures were deep and ominous. Yet there was one man who was equal to the emergency. He was none other than the saintly Elder Dalton. Tradition says that he caused a base viol to be con- structed in the secret of his own workshop, and at
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the appointed time had it conveyed to the organ gal- lery, where the choir were wont to dispense sweet har- mony. Hidden from the view of the congregation it was played very softly. Such a voice, as helped in the worship that morning, the old people had never heard. " Why don't you give us such singing every Sabbath ?" queried the old folks of the opposition. Being thus captured with guile the objectors gave in, and instrumental music became a factor in the routine of divine service in the Old First.
Mr. Joseph Sullivant, as he reviewed the history of the period, says: "About this time, also, occurred one of those simple events which show that even a church must keep pace with the times; it was the introduction of an organ into public worship. Grave doubts and fears were expressed by some of the older members as to its effects upon the congregation. But the ladies were unanimous for it, and while the men doubted and discussed, they carried the day, and decided the matter by declaring that they would get it themselves and pay for it. They diligently labored for the purpose, and brought in the congregation to help them at last."
Mr. Sullivant says he well recollects when he heard the organ for the first time pealing forth its solemn notes in what was then thought to be the "lofty nave" of the church; and how his thoughts trav-
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" Old First Church" in Columbus.
eled back to his boyhood, when he sat in the old Franklinton church, and a venerable elder stepped forth with solemn and measured tread to take his place in front of the pulpit, " and with a few sonorous efforts to clear his throat, with uplifted hand and sawing motion, pitched the tune for the congregation."
The extreme of modern progress in this direction is, when an artistic latter-day choir tickle the æsthetic ear of the listless and fashionable congregation with soft operatic airs at an expense of thousands per annum.
THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH.
From the very beginning the women have been a strong factor in the prosperity of the church. Form- ing a large proportion of its membership, the enter- prises in which the church has engaged have always proved successful when the brethren have called the charmed presence of the sisters to their side. When the worthies of the past wanted to build a new church, they sought the assistance of the ladies. If an organ was needed the good sisters were left to raise the funds with which to pay for it. The marvelous poverty in money and resource of the male portion of the church is speedily discovered when one looks over the records of the session and trustees. Even so late as the time when the chapel which covers the rear
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Eight Decades in the Life of the
of the church lot was built, the gentlemen of the Board of Trustees could discover no way under the sun that so costly and arduous an undertaking as building a chapel could be wrestled with, until one magnanimous soul suggested, "We might call on the ladies." The alacrity with which it was done and the ready response that the ladies gaveis witnessed by our commodious chapel, which is conceded to be a more cheerful place of worship than the dingy basement in which the fathers studied the Westminster catechism and wrestled with the angel of prayer.
It is fitting the fact be recalled just here, that it was owing to the efficient leadership of Mrs. Mary E. Campbell that our chapel was ever erected. She, as President of the Ladies' Aid Society, in every way manifested her ability to direct in church affairs. When her pastor went to her in his despondency, after being repulsed by the brethren on account of of what appeared to them the colossal eminence of the task, and opened to her his plans and and hopes, her liberal soul exclaimed, "It shall be done at once." It was done. May her devout and unselfish spirit possess the child of her love! When she moved in an enterprise, as if by magic her magnetic soul saw and led the way to victory. May our present president, her sucessor, go on as she has begun in the heroic pathway of this sainted daughter of the church.
FIRST REGULAR CHURCH IN FRANKLINTON, 1811. Gift of Mr. Lucas Sullivant.
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"Old First Church" in Columbus.
The way to victory is to lead in the path of self- denial and danger.
All honor to the women of the old First Church; may they continue in the future, as they have done in the past, to direct its progress and inspire its activi- ties.
To the ladies is due the reputation that the church has so long and justly sustained of being the mission- ary church of the denomination in central Ohio. Their zeal and activity in the home and foreign work has cheered many a laborer on the desolate frontier, and carried many a page of the Gospel to heathen shores. When the fiftieth anniversary came 'round, it was the ladies whose energy and zeal seconded the enthusiasm of that rare scholar and antiquarian, Mr. Sullivant, and made the occasion an imposing success. Again I say all honor to our ladies. I will not stop here to mention the names of those who have been leaders in every good work; they will receive recogni- tion later in these services.
THE EDIFICES IN WHICH THE CHURCH HAS WORSHIPED.
The church which was organized in a private house in Franklinton was the first church of any de- nomination in the limits of central Ohio. The con- gregation continued for some little time to worship here. The call of that First Church to its first pastor
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Rev. James Hoge, is before you all to-day. [The ancient call, neatly framed, occupied a niche in front of the pulpit]. In 1812 a brick house was erected for the accomodation of the congregation. This was built mainly through the instrumentality of Lucas · Sullivant. The war being then in its height, the government took possession of this frontier church for a store-house. In March, 1813, a violent storm blew in the gable end of the building; a large quantity of grain stored within was wet, and as a result its swelling burst the walls asunder, and the building was destroyed. The government, however, paid for it. In 1815 a new house of worship was erected. It was located on the edge of the village on the western bank of the Scioto river. It had a fine situation, commanding a beautiful view of the stream, and near to the wooded island, known as the "British island," from the fact that some war prisoners were confined there a short time. Like nearly all the old churches, it was in cheerful proximity to a beautiful burying ground. In the meantime, while the congregation was worshiping in Franklinton, the east side of the town was growing rapidly. Columbus began to at- tract settlers. The pastor of the church found a pleasant home on the east side. About 1814 he began to hold services in a log cabin on the corner of Spring and Third streets. Whereas the majority of the
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" Old First Church" in Columbus.
congregation had now taken up their residences at the east side of the Scioto, it was deemed expedient for the accomodation of the congregation that ground should be purchased and a suitable house of worship erected at the east end of the settlement. The pastor was most enthusiastic in his advocacy of this measure, although as we may suppose it was opposed by those who had determined for one reason or the other not to move to the east side. For the accomplishment of this purpose an agreement was entered into and money subscribed. Among the progressive men of that period I find the names of Barr, Osborn, Miller, Brown, Hoge, Culbertson, Loughrey, Sullivant, Mc- Coy and Kerr. Each of these gave $100 for the new project. At the corner of Front and Town streets a lot was secured. Here a frame house, costing $1,050, was built. Its modest dimensions were forty by sixty feet. It long held the name of "Trinity in Unity," on account of its peculiar construction, which is well represented in the accompanying cut.
In the old records is an account of the incorpora- tion of the First Presbyterian Society of Columbus, June 20, 1821. . The incorporators were N. W. Smith, James Taylor, John Hunter, David Taylor, William Leathem, John Long, William McIlvaine, William Patterson, Thomas Adams, Dan Ross, Andrew Cul- bertson, Robert Lisle, W. W. Shannon, John Thomp-
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Eight Decades in the Life of the
.
son, J. M. Strain, Sam King, John Kerr, Robert Nel- son, Gustavus Swan, Lincoln Goodale, Henry Brown, John E. Baker, Samuel Parsons, James Dean, Joseph Miller, James Cherry, Samuel G. Fleniken, William Long, John Loughry, James O'Harra, Robert W. McCoy, James Shannon, Jacob Overdier, James Lindsay, William Stewart, John Barr, Michael Fisher, John Starr and James Hoge.
In 1827, the congregation having become convinced that the meeting house in which they worshiped was quite dilapitated, unfit for divine service, and uncom- fortable, a committee of five was appointed to de- vise plans and adopt measures for building a new house of worship. Messrs. Gustavus Swan, Dr. L. Goodale, R. W. McCoy, Otis Crosby, and Dr. Sam- uel Parsons, were appointed said committee. But the characteristic feeling of poverty abroad in our congregation prevented any good results.
In 1828, we find the Trustees gravely ordering that Mr. Brown purchase one half dozen sconces or candle- sticks for the meeting house. These sconces were little pieces of tin suspended on the wall by a nail through the upper end, the lower end being turned at right angles, and formed for the reception of a tallow candle. When these were all lighted, the place was filled with a dim religious gloom, for their feeble rays only served to make darkness visible.
MAUGHLIN
PRESENT CHURCH BEFORE ALTERATION.
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" Old First Church" in Columbus.
Again on January 18, 1830, it was resolved, that it was expedient for this Society to build a meeting- house. They arose and built, but again the star of empire went toward the east, and an edifice quite imposing in those days graced the public square. It could be said of it then that it was the largest and handsomest building in the city, and Trinity in Unity became a thing of the past.
On March 8, 1830, it appears that Lyne Starling, Gustavus Swan and Robert W. McCoy were instru- mental in building this meeting-house for the congre- gation, upon certain conditions.
The present edifice was remodeled in 1859. Since then, the congregation has continued to worship in this structure. Now, as we come to the 80th anniver- sary of the church, the existing building is occupied very much under the same conditions as prevailed in the old Franklinton church sixty-seven years ago.
Not until May 18, 1852, were the Trustees re- quested to take measures for lighting the church with gas. To-day the electric light is agitated by not a few.
In 1856, the present edifice was a regarded as a spacious and elegant temple, but now, in the rapid march of modern improvement, the times demand changes equal to the requirements of the rapidly growing population of a great city.
Said the venerable pastor in his address on the fiftieth anniversary: "There has never been any
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Eight Decades in the Life of the
serious dissension in the congregation ; peace and harmony have generally prevailed, and the cases of discipline have been few, and have produced no serious injury.
"There have been several seasons of peculiar religi- ous interest in the congregation. The first, perhaps the most remarkable instance of this kind, began in 1807, and continued during the greater part of two years. In this season there were fifty or sixty con- verts that united with the church, increasing the num- ber four-fold. Taking into consideration the number who were in the congregation as hearers of the Gospel, this increase is seldom witnessed in our day.
"Perhaps twice as many persons have united with us from other denominations as have gone from this church to others."
In closing this sketch, I feel that I cannot do bet- ter than to quote one of the concluding paragraphs of Mr. Joseph Sullivant's "History of the First Presby- terian Church." "The future of this congregation," says the historian, "is in the hands of God, who has promised to be ever present with His church. The members may find that the best way to secure future progress and continuance is to be faithful in the dis- charge of present duty. And when the sons and daughters of this church shall come from afar, from the North and the South, from the East and the West,
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"Old First Church" in Columbus.
when our with their children shall gather themselves together to celebrate the hundreth anniversary of the organization of this church; may they have the same cause for thankfulness for past mercies, and a de- termination to make better efforts for the future. May they be able to report greater progress and the accomplishment of greater good, but the same peace and harmony which up to this time has characterized the church founded by their fathers."
MEMORIAL SERMON, Preached by REV. ROBERT J. LAIDLAW, Pastor from September, 1871, to April, 1875.
"And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone: In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple to the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit."-[Ephesians ii, 20-22.
The word temple is applied in Scripture to an indi- vidual Christian, to a particular church, and to the redeemed church as a whole. From its use in this text I invite you to consider with me a few features of the life of the church that is organized and built up after the Apostolic type. I will have no reference to the peculiar kind of edifice known as a church, but
-
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to the men, women and children who associate for worship in connection with such an edifice. The church the Bible is most concerned with is not a building composed of various kinds of inert matter, reared into form and sightliness by human hands. It is a spiritual structure, a building of God, an house not made with hands.
The first thing to be noted of it is that it is not in man's power to build it. Man may attend to all the forms connected with gathering human beings to- gether, and organizing and edifying them, but when he has done all, and has called his organization by the Scripture name, he has no power to breathe into it the breath of life, so that it will become a living church. My text says, "Ye are built," and it is implied that the work has been done, not by any human artisan, but by a Higher Hand. ." Ye are God's husbandry : ye are God's building." The Al- mighty is both the architect of the edifice and the foreman of the work. He attends to the choosing of the rough material, to the hewing of it out of the rugged rock, and to the drawing of it from the hole of the pit whence it is digged. The stones are all chosen of God, and precious. As workers together with God we are only humble laborers by the day. .
If we do faithfully and well the work the Master as- signs us, our responsibility ends.
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" Old First Church" in Columbus.
The second thing to be noted of a church of the Apostolic kind is its foundation-the Holy Scriptures -called in the text " the foundation of the Apostles and prophets." In this age of wondrous diversity people sometimes band together for purposes of wor- ship and religious culture, without having any refer- ence to the teaching of Scripture in framing their ar- ticles of agreement. Some go further, and have no regard for the authority of Scripture in the doctrines taught. We are sometimes told that the creed of the church of the future will be based upon the re- searches of science. I am not unfriendly to science, nor in the slightest degree opposed to accepting all the light it can furnish. But if you insist upon making the results of its discoveries the substance of all I shall teach to perishing men, I must be allowed to thrust in at least this objection, that the whole framework and constitution of nature, with which science deals, belongs to an earlier period than the fall of man, and it is, therefore, not to be expected that we will find anywhere in that generation a rem- edy for a disease which not only belongs to a later formation, but was imported from a clime to which the researches of science have no access. It was the entrance of sin that made an after revelation a neces- sity. This revelation, therefore, is the Gilead in which alone we can find the needed balm, and it is
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