USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > After eighty years of the organization of the First Presbyterian Church > Part 6
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"In this connection it may be pertinent to revive the recollection of the following item in the history of these churches :
" A daily morning prayer meeting was organized in the basement of this church on the 14th of March, 1858. It was a union meeting of several evangelical churches of the city and was kept up for nearly seven- teen years. For a short time it was attended by large crowds of Christian people, but for most of the years of its existence by a small company only. And yet when reduced to the smallest number, there were usually representatives from at least five different de- nominations of Christians. That daily prayer meeting attracted little public attention, and probably is now remembered by very few persons, but its history is written on more than one immortal soul, and will live as long as immortality shall endure. I was a
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constant attendant upon that meeting from the be- ginning to the end, and I have referred to it here and now because it was, in my judgment, so largely in- strumental in cultivating and promoting that kind- ness, harmony, Christian courtesy and Christian fel- lowship of which I have already spoken. To me personally it made the old First Church building a hallowed place, and my affections still cling to it as if I were really a member of this Christian household.
"I may also mention the fact that I knew the venerable Dr. James Hoge (the organizer and for fifty years the pastor of this church) probably longer ago than most of the present members of the church. I met him first in 1831, when I was a young boy at school in the Ohio University at Athens, and when he was one of the prominent trustees of that institu- tion ; and my acquaintance with him continued until his death. One of his nephews, the Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, Va., was for a year one of my room-mates at Athens, and another nephew, the Rev. Dr. William Hoge, now deceased, was my first Sun- day school scholar.
"In looking back over the eighty years of this church, the personal life and labors and character of the venerable and now sainted Dr. Hoge are blended with and inseparably interwoven into the first fifty years of that history. Indeed, it may almost be said
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that they make the history itself; certainly a very large part of it. What an impressive lesson, and how instructive, those early years present, for example, of the scope and value and far-reaching results of the Home Missionary work of the great Presbyterian Church of the United States, in sending the living minister, as she is still doing, to the distant frontiers of our broad land.
In 1805 or 1806, the General Assembly at Phil- adelphia commissioned and sent out Dr. Hoge as a Home Missionary to the frontier northwest of the Ohio river, then on the outer borders of civilized life. He crossed the Alleghanies on horseback, with his worldly possessions in his saddle bags, and came to the little hamlet of Franklinton, then a remote out- post, and began his life work. The primeval forest, then unbroken, covered the ground where the city of Columbus now stands.
"Glance at the familiar history of that life work for a moment only, and behold what grand results. Dr. Hoge labored not only as a Christian minister in founding this first church, and training the early set- tlers and their children in the doctrines and habits of an earnest Christian life. He labored also as a Chris- tian citizen, in laying broad and deep the foundations of a great Christian State, and the impress of his intel- lect and heart and life is stamped upon our State ben-
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evolent institutions, our common school system, and all the best elements of our Christian civilization. It may be safely said, indeed, that the life and labors of Dr. Hoge in this city, as the capital of the State, have been worth more to the State herself, than any ten Governors she ever had.
" But I cannot dwell upon this theme, nor trespass upon your time further, though the theme is so fruit- ful and suggestive of precious lessons.
" May God bless this dear Church, and make the history of the next eighty years even more prosperous and precious than the past has been. We shall not live to see it, Mr. Chairman. Men die, but the Church lives ; and will live so long as she remains in vital union with the Lord Christ, the great and ever living Head of the Church on earth and in heaven."
PROFESSOR JOSIAH R. SMITH,
in behalf of Westminster, spoke as follows:
"The American appetite for a 'speech' is pro- verbially infinite; otherwise one might think that, after three days "reminiscencing," the good people of the First Church would be inclined to spare them- selves the infliction of any more eloquence. But the command has been laid upon me to say something on behalf of Westminster Church-a command which I cheerfully obey.
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" As we gather round the hospitable board of the Mother Church to-night, two notable family re-unions suggest themselves as possible parallels, one scriptural and one secular. The first is the return of the Prod- igal Son to the yearning arms of his father. But the parallel fails us here. For the prodigal came home to confess his sin and folly in leaving the parental roof, and to promise for the future to stay with his father. Westminster has no such confession and no such promise to make to-night. Rather is it a Thanksgiving dinner, where children-grown up chil- dren-gather round their mother and renew the affec- tionate relations of their childhood, and listen to her own stories of 'when she was a girl.' Westminster is now a matron of thirty-two, and as she joins the family circle to-night she could not, if she would, utter any playful sarcasms about the 'silver hairs' and 'declining years' of her venerable parent. For here the parallel again breaks down. Individuals pass away; but the church lives, and grows, and con- tinually renews her youth.
" Two years ago Westminster Presbyterian Church celebrated her thirtieth birthday, and it may not be thought out of place if I reproduce here the opening words of a paper which I had the honor and pleasure to prepare for that occasion :
" Thirty years ago a little band of pilgrims gathered
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themselves together, bade their mother church a filial farewell, and with resolute faith went forth to set up a new altar of worship to the God who had blessed their fathers and them. The parent was the First Presby- terian Church of Columbus; the eager aspiring child was Westminster Church.
"The organization of the new church was no hastily devised or rashly executed scheme; it had been a matter of grave and prayerful deliberation for years. In July, 1851, we find the session of the First Church debating the subject, and unanimously approving a new church enterprise. Then follows a period of three years, during which the project seems to have lain in abeyance, owing to several causes, chief among which was the considerable expense incurred in remodeling the church, and the consequent need of husbanding all resources. But in March, 1854, the session took up the matter again, and forwarded to Presbytery a memorial asking for the establishment of a colony.
" The Presbytery, sitting in April, after considera- tion, granted the prayer of the memorialists, and on the 1st of June, 1854, as the spring deepened and ripened into the fullness of summer, the child was born whose thirtieth birthday we celebrate to-day, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Colum- bus entered upon the career which God had destined for it to accomplish.
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" It was the middle of the 'fifties,' that outwardly lethargic, inwardly fermenting decade, in which great social and political questions were working timidly on to a great and awful solution. But their time had not yet come; the land rested in profound peace. Col- umbus was a rather sleepy, pretty town of some eighteen thousand people, with little beyond its po- litical importance to aid its growth. The Presby- terian camp was as yet divided. Old School and New School, differing in non-essentials, were still agreeing to dwell apart. The First Church felt itself almost alone in the field; the field was slowly but surely widening, and the call for a new station in the harvest field rang imperatively in the ears of the mother church. Its two pastors at the time were the venerable Dr. James Hoge and his younger col- league, Rev. Josiah D. Smith. Thirty communicants composed the young colony; an additional delega- tion, twenty-five strong, was soon after added, and the young church started on its way with a member- ship of about sixty. On the 15th of June the new organization elected the Rev. Josiah D. Smith to be its pastor, and the question of his removal from the First Church was refereed to the Presbytery, con- vened in July. It was decided that he should go ; on the 5th of August he was formally installed as first pastor ; and the separation was now complete.'
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"The retrospective attitude of mind is inevitably a saddening one, for individuals and for churches ; and, mixed with the spirit of thanksgiving for what God hath wrought, comes the melancholy remembrance of those who should be with us to-night but are not, who have fallen by the wayside, who have made the church a sort of spiritual caravanserai, where they might rest for a night and pass on, who have allowed themselves to succumb to the torpor of inactivity, and have in- sensibly become strangers and aliens in the house of God.
" But we are called upon to look forward as well as back, to thank God and take courage, and to resolve, mother and daughters, that the mother's hundredth birthday, when it comes, shall find a happy family, united and enthusiastic in every good word and work.
WILLIAM S. SACKETT,
a grandson of Dr. Hoge, responded for Hoge Church:
Mr. Chairman and Friends : It is with pleasure that Hoge Church sends a representative to lay a gar- land, twined with gratitude and good wishes, at the feet of the mother church on this, her anniversary. Although the passing years have taken from us all the members of the little band sent out by the First Church to establish a memorial organization in what was then one of the missionary districts of the city,
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we still cherish tender recollections of them and of their faithful labor. We hold the First Church in grateful remembrance for the helping hand oftentimes extended to us in our day of need, and as we offer our congratulations on this occasion, we ask the great head of the church to prosper you in every good work, and to make our maternal church in the future, as it has been in the past, a beacon light in this com- munity, guiding many storm-tossed and ship-wrecked souls into the harbor of eternal safety.
MR. C. A. DENTON
responded in fitting terms in behalf of the Collegiate Church, and expressed great hopes for its future. His remarks elicited enthusiastic applause.
THE ELDERSHIP OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO-ELDER JAMES S. ABBOTT, ORDAINED IN 1849.
In referring to the honored men who constituted the session of this the First Presbyterian Church of twenty-five or thirty years ago, it is not expected that they be individually considered. Each one, however, would present an honorable record. Of their char- acter and works, collectively, I very briefly allude. They were men of deep piety, of devotion and earn- estness, and men of prayer; faithful in the discharge of their duties, realizing their responsiblities and
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sought wisdom, grace and direction from Him who had called them to this service. In their councils they were united and harmonious, always looking and acting for the peace and prosperity of the church.
That some, especially the younger members of the congregation, may know the fruit of whose labors they now enjoy, I will read their names: James Cherry, Isaac N. Dalton, Thomas Moodie, James S. Abbott, William M. Awl, and Alfred Thomas. These are the names of the men whose watchful care has largely contributed to our present prosperity and enjoyment. These men have come and gone, all gone, excepting two, brother Thomas, who is still a faithful member as you all this day bear witness, and one other. They have gone and their works do follow them-yes, their good works will follow through time into eternity. Being dead they yet speak ; speak to us to be faithful in the discharge of christian duties, that they who come after us may also call us blessed.
The past is passed and gone, and as we look back is it not a past to thank God for and take courage, for are we not now gathering the rich fruit and sweet and fragrant flowers from these early seed, watched over and cultivated by a faithful pastor and a wise and prudent Sessions.
ELDER JAMES S. ABBOTT.
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THE TRUSTEES OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO-HON. GEORGE M. PARSONS.
Mr. Parsons spoke of the temporalities of the church and drew out round after round of hearty applause, showing how well he carried his audience with him.
BITS OF HISTORY-HON. HORACE WILSON.
Mr. President: I do not feel that I should say anything this evening; first, because I am not well, bcause I see so many here who have been con- nected with the First Church so much longer than myself. But, like most of the others who have spoken, Dr. Hoge comes up before me, and the memory of what I knew of him and saw of his life impels me to say a word, hoarse as I am.
In 1841 I was a student at the Ohio State Uni- versity in Athens, my native place. One evening in May as I, with other students, was going to supper, we saw coming up the walk with President William H. McGuffey a tall, erect gentleman of com- manding presence, and I was immediately impressed with his look and bearing, as were other members of our company, and the inquiry immediately was, made "Who is he?" I think Milton Latham, who was with us, replied that it was the Rev. Dr. James Hoge, of his place (Columbus). Our crowd boarded at
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Brown's Hotel, where all the Trustees of the Uni- versity stopped at their meetings. We soon learned that Dr. Hoge was one of the Trustees, and had been for some years, and that he was one of the men to whom great consideration was given as to the col- lege. I remember often seeing Dr. Hoge with Mr. McGuffey in their morning walks together about the campus. I know that when Dr. Hoge remained over he was accustomed to give us a Sunday evening lec- ture, and sometimes at morning chapel service Dr. Hoge gave us short talks. I was in some way, I do not know why, drawn toward the Doctor, and before I left college had formed some acquaintance with him, so that on several occasions we talked together. I remember in these talks some things that, to me, at my age, seemed wonderful. He said that as a rule he had always rode on horseback from Columbus to Athens, winter and summer. Columbus was at that time much further from Athens in the way of travel than at present-it was two long days' ride. I think Dr. Hoge told me that he had come West on horse- back, and at an early day he had gone over most of the state and into the adjoining states on horseback, on missionary work. Dr. Hoge spoke of many of the old pioneers of Ohio who had been connected with him in the college or in the church, and I learned to love this man with something akin to adoration in
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the after years when I knew him well. His son, Rev. Moses Hoge, was the pastor of our church in Athens, and baptized my two eldest sons.
Dr. Hoge, in 1848, married me in this county, and when afterwards the Trustees of the Ohio University met at Athens, the Doctor most always dined or supped at my house. I then learned that under the seeming cold exterior he had a great deal of tender- ness and warmth of character in his composition. I remember often at the table he entertained us, with other guests, by his experiences in the early history of the state, intermingling with these experiences beautiful lessons of the good and true. His voice in private conversation could always be modulated into soft and tender tones, to suit the subject and the company, and that, too, without losing any of the dig- nity peculiar to him. Not like most men, Dr. Hoge grew greater the nearer you got to him. His life, like a level plain that spreads out beautifully before you, was even; no abrupt ascensions or deep declivities in his character. At the meetings of the College Trus- tees, when other members were noisy and loud-spoken, as the students could hear, Dr. Hoge's sonorous tones were always modulated in about the same key, and seemed to tell in the force peculiar to his character. I have heard it said by more than one student in my
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college days that they meant to be quiet, dignified and good, like Dr. Hoge.
In 1853 Dr. Hoge resigned his office as Trustee of the Ohio University, and in 1853 Governor Medill appointed me to succeed him, and I have been since that time been his humble successor. The Doctor afterwards, on meeting him, gave me kindly words of advice, and I never failed to be entertained and bene- fited by his society.
In February, 1859, I moved to this city, and at once became connected with the " Old First" Pres- byterian Church, and have so remained since that time. As Treasurer and Trustee of the church since a year or so after I came, I have often been impressed with the same quiet dignity of the con- gregation, who seemed to have been educated in that direction by the long, faithful and devoted ser- vices of Dr. Hoge, who not only impressed his own great pure character upon the church, the congrega- tion and the city in which he lived, but in the sphere of his duties and life largely molded many of the great institutions of the State.
MR. ALFRED THOMAS, who has been an Elder of this Church in faithful service since 1857, and to whom so much of its prosperity, both temporal and spiritual, is due, paid a most eloquent tribute to
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Mrs. Campbell, a sainted member of the Church, and read the following letters from former pastors :
PANTOPS ACADEMY, NEAR CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. 2 February 1, 1886. S Mr Dear Mr. Thomas :
Your letter, containing the kind invitation of your Session and yourself, reached me on Friday evening last, and would have been answered sooner but that I have been unwell. I should postpone all writing, were it not that I feel constrained to assure you that your kind remembrance of me is highly appreciated.
I have just sent a dispatch to Mr. Marsten-who courteously telegraphed me on his own account-in forming him that I am unable to go. This arises from my present condition of health, as well as from a number of other considerations: among them one which has just occurred, the death of my brother, in Missouri. You doubtless met with him when he visited us during our residence in Columbus. He died suddenly yesterday morning, as we were ad- vised by telegraph.
Please convey to the Session my grateful thanks for their kind invitation to be present on the interest- ing occasion you are anticipating. It would be ex- ceedingly pleasant on many accounts to avail myself of it. I feel an undying interest in the welfare of the dear Old Church. Often do my thoughts recall
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and dwell on the countless interesting and pleasant scenes that transpired during the period of my con- nection with it. I should be glad to make the ac- quaintance of your present pastor. I should rejoice to meet the remaining members of my old Session. I believe there still live Dalton, Abbott, and your- self. It would give me the sincerest pleasure to shake by the hand all that remains of my old flock. I love them still, and often think of them, and pray for them. But I will be present with you in spirit : and trust that you will all have a most pleasant season of communion as Christian brethren, and the Blessed Lord will be with you to give you a fresh and more complete consecration to His service.
This morning we received a long letter from my son Henry, in China. He and his family are very well. He is much interested in his work, and in every letter is loud in his cry for more laborers in the Chinese field. The sad death of Rev. Mr. Butler and his son from cholera, occurred six miles from his station-Chin Kiang-and they were buried in the same grave in the foreign cemetery of that place.
The Lord richly bless you and yours.
Yours most truly,
E. WOODS.
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280 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, February 5, 1886.
My Dear Bro. Marsten :
I am very sorry that I cannot be with you in per- son to contribute my mite towards making your pro- posed celebration of the 80th anniversary of the organization of the First Presbyterian Church inter- esting and profitable. If time and the press of im- portant duties admitted, I would be glad to visit Co- lumbus for the purpose. The occasion, however, is so full of interest that you will not miss my presence or what I might be able to contribute in the shape of a speech.
I deem it one of the greatest privileges of my life to have been closely associated with the first pastor of your church. My relations to Dr. Hoge were peculiarly pleasant and tender. I looked on him as my counsellor and friend. It fell to my lot to spend weeks with him at Fayette Springs, Pa., when his health was rapidly declining. During that time he admitted me day after day into the inner sanctuary of his noble heart. I saw the man then as I never saw him before. He told me things about his early struggles, as a home missionary in Franklin county, and the growth of your city, that had all the interest of a novel. It devolved upon me to bury him, and
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preach his memorial sermon, which the congrega- tion printed for the use of friends.
My short connection with the First Church of Co- lumbus was pre-eminently delightful. Nothing was said or done to inflict a single wound. I left the pulpit and the circle of friends with great regret. The health of my wife was the sole reason of my leaving Columbus. I have counted ever since the people of that charge among my best friends. When I have returned from time to time to renew the old acquaintance and to talk over the events of the past, I have been received most cordially. I shall never cease to have the warmest affection for the First Church of Columbus and her noble people.
Though I shall not be able to mingle with you in person, I shall be there in spirit. May the Lord bless you and people as you shall recount what God hath wrought there during the last eighty years.
Yours fraternally,
WILLIAM C. ROBERTS.
GREEN COVE SPRING, FLA., February 8, 1886. S
Rev. F. E. Marsten :
MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 26th ult. reached me last evening, via Junction City, Kas., and Chat- field, Minn .; so that while I write you are in the
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midst of the special services to which you and the Session so kindly invited me. I assure you it would have been to me a very great pleasure to be present at such an occasion, and contribute what I might to its interest; or, had this been impossible, to have sent my warmest greetings, and some of my recol- lections and impressions, particularly of the first pas- tor, Dr. Hoge. Clarum et venerabile nomen. My personal connection with the church was utterly un- thought of by me, until, in the providence of God, it became a fact, and, though brief, it was full of pleas- antness. There was the one heart and one mind among the people, from the little children up to the most aged; and my memories of the whole period have no touch of sadness, except in connection with my own so imperfect realization of my own ideal of the pastor and preacher. I still hope that at some some day I may sit again in that sacred place, and hear the present pastor set forth the unsearchable riches of Christ, and, peradventure, in some proper way, add my testimony to his concerning the infinite salvation.
Please express my warmest regards to the Session, and believe me that I am
Yours very truly, WILLIS LORD.
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COLUMBUS, O., Feb. 8, 1886, 11:30 P. M.
My Dear Mr. Marsten :
I regret to have to write you that I have just re- ceived a telegram from my family physician, telling me that my presence is needed at home. What the cause is the dispatch does not state definitely, but it is evidently illness in my family, whether that of Mrs. Laidlaw or one of the children I do not know. But I have decided that I must not delay a moment, so I leave by the midnight train.
Yours very truly, R. J. LAIDLAW.
Mr. S. P. Peabody responded for the Sunday school.
As the present Superintendent he urged all, espe- cially the parents, to take a greater interest in the work. His remarks, though brief, were received with great enthusiasm.
Owing to the lateness of the hour Messrs. Noble and Green declined to speak.
The Church Roll was then called by the pastor.
The interesting exercises closed with singing " The Sweet Bye and Bye." Mr. W. H. Lott, the gifted chorister of the congregation, sang the solo with a feeling and pathos that moved every heart, and the company joined in the chorus.
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So the celebration of the Eightieth Anniversary of the First Church in Columbus ended, and passed down into history as one of the many bright spots that adorn the pages of its life.
THE BEQUEST OF THE EIGHTIETH YEAR TO THE ONE HUNDREDTH.
REV. DR. N. S. SMITH.
He spoke with glowing eloquence of the bequest the Presbyterian Church, at its eightieth year, ought to hand down to the one hundredth.
The need of church extension, and of larger use- fulness, was placed before the minds of the people in such terse and burning words as he knows so well how to use. Carried away by his emotions, he was in perfect rapport with his theme and his audience , and it is impossible for the compiler of this volume, or the eloquent orator himself, to recall what was the crowning effort of the evening.
ADDRESS BY WASHINGTON GLADDEN.
[Owing to the delay in the reception of the following address we are compelled to insert it out of its regular order in Monday's service.]
Rev. Washington Gladden, D. D., brought the greetings of the First Congregational Church, and spoke as follows :
-
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"The Congregational church which I have the honor to represent is not one of the daughters of this church, but one of its grand-daughters, the child of one of its children. It sometimes happens when the tribes come together around the ancestral hearth- stone that there is not room for the grandchildren at the first table, and they must wait 'till the second is spread. That is the reason, I suppose, why we were not invited last evening; but this is a day of thanks- giving in these festivities, and on Thanksgiving Day, in all well-ordered homes, the young folks come to the table with their elders, and are sometimes helped before the rest. That is the reason why I get the privilege of speaking first to-night.
"When we go back on Thanksgiving Day to the old home, we expect to find the grandmother resting in her arm chair by the fireside, with her spectacles lifted to her forehead, her bible in her lap, and her knitting work in her hands, asleep. But this grand- mother is in no such condition. We find her alert, vigorous, with ruddy face and stalwart frame and vigorous step, looking well to the ways of her house- hold, showing no marks of age or decrepitude. She tells us, does she not? that she was never in better health; could never do a better day's work; never felt less like setting down in the chimney corner to doze. And I suppose that what she tells us is per-
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fectly true. Probably this Old Church, on its eightieth birthday, is as strong and vigorous and hopeful as it ever was. It ought to be. A Church of Christ has no right to grow old. Feebleness and decrepitude are no part of its portion.
"To most organisms there is a term. Man's bodily life seems to be limited in its duration. The days of our years are three-score years and ten, and, though we sometimes exceed that limit, we always know when we have reached it that the end is not far off. Some plants are annuals, some bien- nials, some live many years; but to all this life there is a term. There does not, indeed. appear to be any fixed term to the life of a tree; we can see no reason why a tree ought not go on adding a new layer of bark and a new layer of wood year by year, indefinitely. Many trees have lived to a remarkable age; some of those marvellous Sequoias in California have been standing where they are since Julius Caesar was a boy: the whole chronology of the Christian era could be inscribed upon the con- centric rings that mark the years of their growth. Nevertheless, even these trees will wither and perish in time. But the life of a church has no natural term. It has no right to die. While the world stands its life ought to go on without decay or dimi- nution.
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"In the old town in the Connecticut valley that was once my home, stands a church that was planted just two hundred and fifty years ago. Only sixteen years after the Pilgrims landed they had pushed out to this remote wilderness-a hundred miles from the sea cost-and planted several churches. This church has been standing there, on the same ground, ever since. Several edifices in which it has made its home have perished and been replaced by larger and more costly ones, but the church lives on; and there was never a period in its history when it was so strong, so fruitful, so full of life and hope as it is to-day.
"It is almost thirteen hundred years since the good monk Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet, near the mouth of the Thames river, and planted a church, which stands to-day, and was never more likely to live and thrive than it is to-day. It is known now as Canterbury Cathedral, and the chief pastor of this church is the primate of all England.
"Churches ought to live. They live by faith in the Son of God. They are partakers of His life, and His life is the life eternal. So long as they are united with Him they can neither perish nor decay. Therefore, my friends, I bring you to-night greeting and congratulation. This church of Christ, on its eightieth birthday, has a promise of growth and of
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fruitfulness as clear and sure as it ever had. Thanks be to God for the work this church has done in the eighty years now past; for the truth it has cleared and published; for the fidelity of its ministers and its messengers; for the power that it has exerted in behalf of purity and truth and righteousness in the community; for the sorrowing hearts that it has comforted; for the multitude that it has guided into the ways of life. And thanks be to God for all the hopes that belong to this hour; for the promise of better work and larger influence, and more abundant fruit through the centuries to come!"
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