History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 75

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 75

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Rev. Philip H. Thompson began his labors the first Sabbath in January, 1868.

June 7, 1868, according to a previous recom- mendation by the session, the congregation elected additional elders and deacons as follows: William Halliday, W. H. Troxell, elders; Simon Cage, Jr., Joseph Irwin, Jr., David Duckwall, deacons.

With gradual but constant growth, leaving the church with an efficient board of elders, consist- ing then of Joseph Irwin, D. McCulloch, H. Roberts, W. H. Halliday, and W. H. Troxell ; and as deacons David Duckwall, Simon Cage, Jr., Joseph Irwin, Jr. Mr. Thompson accepted the call to Mulberry church, Shelby county, June 1, 1870.

November 25, 1870, Rev. John D. Matthews, D. D., was installed pastor. Rev. Stuart Rob- inson, D. D., preached the installation sermon. Rev. S. R. Wilson, D. D., gave the charge to the pastor, and Rev. Mr. Thornton to the congrega- tion, according to appointment of Presbytery.

In the year 1871 the congregation built a comfortable nine-room parsonage on the corner of Thirty-first and Bank streets, at a cost of about $3,000.

At the close of his ministry with this church there was on the roll a membership of eighty. Dr. Matthews served the church ably and faith- fully from 1870 to 1877, when the congregation united with him in asking of the Presbytery the dissolution of the pastoral relation. He was succeeded by J. H. Moore, of Washington, Kentucky, who acted in the capacity of stated supply from 1877-in November, to April, 1879 -the church growing in all its branches-mem- bership in number 73, elders 3, deacons 3. Mr. Moore was succeeded by Rev. J. H. Morrison in March, 1879. He acted as stated supply from March to October, when he was installed as pastor. Rev. Stuart Robinson, D. D., preached the installation sermon. Rev. J. H. Moore, of the Third Presbyterian, gave charge

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to the pastor; and Rev. E. O. Guerrant, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, gave charge to the people.

The membership has continued to grow, and the church to increase gradually. Thus we have a brief outline of this vine, planted by God amid the tears and prayers of his believing people. Planted in the soil of a few loyal, lov- * ing hearts, it has deepened and grown until now it embraces over one hundred believing souls.

The Associate Reformed Presbyterian church is of Scotch and Irish descent. As organized in the United States, it is the result of a union be- tween the Associate Presbyterians and Reformed Presbyterians near the close of the last century. The conditions and standards were adopted at a meeting of the united church May 31, 1799, at Greencastle, Pennsylvania. Their confession of faith, form of discipline, and church government, and directory for public worship is that drawn up by the commission appointed by the English Parliament, assisted by commissioners from the Church of Scotland, in 1643, and known as the Westminster Confession of Faith. It differs from the form and practice of some of the larger Presbyterian churches in holding to the exclusive use of the Bible Psalms in public worship, as set forth in the Westminster Directory. The con- gregation in Louisville known as the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church, at the corner of Seventh and Chestnut streets, was organized January 6, 1854, as a mission under the direc- tion and control of the Associate Reformed Synod of the South. The organization was effected by Rev. N. M. Gordon, with eighteen members. The whole number received up to 1876 was two hundred and thirty-one. Rev. G. Gordon was the first pastor and continued about twenty years, during which time the growth of the church was slow but sure.

The first house of worship was on the corner of Eighth and Magazine streets. After four years this house and lot were sold and another lot purchased on the corner of Seventh and Chestnut streets, a chapel erected on the back part of the lot fronting on Seventh street, leaving the front and corner for a more commodious and costly building in the future. The expense of the lot and building was borne almost entirely by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Synod,

under whose direction the work had been under- taken and carried forward. About the year 1866 the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Kentucky began to agitate the question of union with the German Associate Presbyterian church South.

In October, 1870, at a called meeting of the Presbytery, at Paris, Kentucky, a majority of the members voted to unite with said Presbyterian church, by which body they were accepted at its meeting of Synod then in session at Paris. The Associate Reformed Presbytery was immediately reorganized by the election of Rev. J. G. Miller, Moderator, and W. A. Anderson, Clerk. Diffi- culties about the church property quickly fol- lowed. Having resorted to more pacific measures with no success, suit was instituted in the civil courts in 1872 by the Associate Reformed Pres- bytery to recover possession of the Louisville church. The case was continued in court until 1875 or 1876, when it was decided against the Associate Reformed Presbytery. The case was compromised in February, 1880, and the Asso- ciate Reformed Presbyterians got possession of the property by paying in cash one-half of its esti- mated value.

In 1874 the Seventh and Chestnut church had united with a part of the First Presbyterian church, Sixth and Green streets, and they had in turn become involved in lawsuits with the Wilson party, in addition to the suit pending with the Associate Reformed Presbyterians.

On October 18, 1876, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregation was reorganized. For a period of four years they used such houses of worship as could be rented. March 22, 1880, they recovered possession and removed to the chapel on Seventh near Chestnut, where they still prosecute their work, in their own house, free from debt.

The organization was effected by Rev. J. G. Miller, and the congregation was afterwards served by Rev. J. C. Golloway, F. Y. Pressly, and J. M. Todd, each for a short period. At present Rev. C. S. Young is the minister in charge. Regular Sunday-school and preaching and weekly prayer-meetings are kept up. There is also a mission Sunday-school in connection with this work, in the hall corner of Eleventh and Market streets. The indications for future growth are more favorable now than at any period since the reorganization.

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Under this head a brief notice of the Presby- terian Mutual Assurance Fund may properly be included. This is a distinctively Louisville de- nominational enterprise, but is not confined to the city or State in its operations. It was organ- ized February 20, 1878, to do a life insurance and sick benefit business among Presbyterians. By the close of 1880 it had reached a very satis- factory financial status. From its first division of members (2,000 in each division) a perma- nent fund of $9,940.87 was set apart in 1880, and $7,796.98 from the second division. In 1881 the corresponding sums were $11,979.50 and $2,716.86. Insurances were paid to Janu- ary 1, 1882, to the amount of $63, 157.22 in the first division, $37,587 in the second, and $4,575 in the third; total, $105,319.22. The first two divisions had each 2,000 members ; the third 1,360. The Fund had then agencies in twelve States, and is extending its business. Colonel Bennett H. Young is President, and W. J. Wilson Secretary.

The Rev. Daniel Smith, who was installed pastor of the Presbyterian church in Louisville, which he had served since his arrival with his family June 17, 1821, was a remarkable man. A graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont, he was licensed to preach April 21, 1813, and the next year began an important missionary work in the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, in the distribution of the Scriptures in the English, French, and Spanish tongues, the formation of Bible and missionary societies, and the preach- ing of the gospel in destitute places. This was more than a year before the American Bible Society was formed. He was early here, with a large cargo of Bibles and Testaments, and a de- voted young companion, Samuel J. Mills, and traveled hence to Vincennes and on to St. Louis, being the first missionaries, it is believed, to visit that city. After many adventures in the wilder- ness West, he returned here with his family, as before noted, and after a short pastorate, died here February 22, 1823. It is recorded that he had already done much good in Louisville, if in nothing else than restoring harmony and unity to a church which he found distracted.

Rev. William Louis Breckinridge, D. D., for twenty-three years pastor in Louisville, was born July, 1803, at Cabell's Dale, Fayette county,

Kentucky. His education was largely gained at Transylvania University. Entering the Presby- terian ministry, his first pastorate was at Mays- ville, Kentucky, and he was for a time Professor in Center College, but with his charge in Louisville he remained the longest time, being pastor of the First Presbyterian church of that city twenty-three years. At one time he ac- cepted the presidency of Oakland College, Mis- sissippi, but resigned to become president of Center College. His later years were passed, however, on his farm in Missouri, where he had no regular charge, but preached almost con- stantly. In 1859 he was Moderator of the Gen- eral Assembly. He died December 26, 1876, at his home in Missouri, which he had named "Cabell's Dale," for his old Kentucky home. Dr. Breckinridge was first married to Miss Frances Provost, granddaughter of Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith. She died after their removal to Missouri, and not long before his death he was married the second time to the widowed daughter of Judge Christopher Tompkins. Their family consisted of eight children. The second son was Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, a talented young professor of the Medical College at Louis- ville, and surgeon in the Confederate army dur- ing the war of 1861-65.

Rev. E. P. Humphrey, D. D., was born Jan- uary 8, 1809, at Fairfield, Connecticut. His father was a Presbyterian clergyman, and Presi- dent of Amherst College, Massachusetts. Here Dr. Humphrey gained his collegiate education and graduated at the age of nineteen. His pro- fessional studies were pursued at Andover Theo- logical Seminary. In 1833 he entered the min- istry, his first charge being the Presbyterian church of Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he re- ceived ordination. In November of 1835 he became pastor of the Second Presbyterian church in Louisville, where he remained eighteen years. His next position was that of Professor of Church History in the Danville Theological Seminary, in Danville, Kentucky. Returning to Louisville in 1866, he began the organization of what is now the College street Presbyterian church. The church was organized that year and numbered ninety, its first meetings being held in a small frame house known as "The Little Pine Cathe- dral." February, 1867, the church began wor- ship in the brick building fronting on College

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street. The membership now exceeds three hundred, and the prosperity and spiritual growth of the church has been due largely to the effec- tive labors of this faithful pastor. In 1847 Dr. Humphrey was married to Miss Martha Pope. Their two sons are Edward W. C. and Alexander P. The former completed his literary studies at Center College, Danville, Kentucky, attended law lectures at the Harvard Law School, and, in 1868, began in Louisville the practice of law.

Rev. John Jones, D. D., was born April 18, 1830, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were of Welsh extraction. The family had long been celebrated for industry and piety. His grandfather was prominent in the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, and it is probable that the first Welsh church of that faith in Manchester, England, was begun in his house. Dr. Jones received his early education in the public schools of Philadelphia, and after finish- ing in the High school there, and studying for a time in a private school of the same city, he graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1851. Three years later, he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary. Following this date, we hear of him as pastor of the Old School Presbyterian church of Scottsville, New York, and of the Wyoming Presbyterian church of the same city, when he became Principal of the Genesee Synodical Academy, at Genesee, New York, and while serving there he received the degree of D. D. from Hamilton College, of that State. During the war, he served in the army under the Christian Commission a short time. In 1874, he was called to be pastor of the Wal- nut-street Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where he still remains. Recently, he has been appointed Regent for the Kentucky In- firmary for Women and Children, and elected Secretary and Treasurer. He has been sent three times to represent his Presbytery in the General Assembly of the church ; has been Moderator of the Synod and Presbytery, and filled other highly honorary positions among the leaders of his church. He was married to Miss Minerva A. Chatham, of Seneca Falls, New York, March 1, 1855.

Rev. William J. Lowry, D. D., formerly pastor of the First and Seventh street Presbyterian churches in Louisville, was born January 7, 1838, in Greensboro, Georgia, though his parents had

their home in Louisville at that time. He was reared in this city, but received his classical edu- cation in Erskine college, South Carolina, where his father has long been a professor. It was also a theological school of the Associate Reformed Church; and he took his professional course there, and his license to preach in 1850. He began as an Associate Reformed minister, in missionary work ; but presently became a South- ern Presbyterian, and pastor of the Lebanon church of Wilcox county, Alabama. His only remaining pastorate before coming to Louisville was at Selma, in the same State, where he re- mained about ten years. In 1873 the University of Alabama gave him the degree of D. D., and the next year he came to this city as pastor of the First and Seventh street churches. He was an able and very popular preacher, and his brief ministry formed an interesting epoch in the annals of Presbyterianism in Louisville. He died here of cancer November 10, 1877.

THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.

The following history of the First church of this denomination in Louisville is abridged from an elaborate and very interesting history, still in manuscript, by Mr. Joseph P. Torbitt, of the society :

In the winter of 1821-22 Elder P. S. Fall, a Baptist clergyman, visited Louisville, and there- after for a year filled monthly preaching appoint- ments with the few Baptists here, who met for worship in the old Court-house. He removed to this place early in 1823, and opened a school, also continuing to preach. Late this year the church was reconstructed, with a covenant patterned from that of the Enon Baptist Church, Cincinnati, and a formal creed. About this time, however, the good Elder read attentively the famous sermon of Elder Alexander Camp- bell, who was still also a Baptist, on the Law, and was much impressed by it, as also by the perusal of several numbers of The Christian Baptist. He was moved to a closer study of the New Testament; and others of his brethren and sisters also coming to similar investigations, it was finally resolved unanimously that the creed and covenant already adopted should be cast out, and the church based simply upon " the law of the Lord." A formal declaration to that effect was made in the latter part of 1824, and the

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society was thenceforth, to all intents and pur- poses, a "Campbellite," Christian, or Disciple Church; and it is one of the very oldest churches, if not the oldest church, of this re- form in the United States. The congregation began to receive the communion every Lord's Day, and give regularly the contribution to the poor, as is the custom of their people to this day. All this time they were nominally Baptists, and in the fall of 1825 the usual arrangements were made for attending the Long Run Associa- tion, of which Elder Fall was Clerk the year be- fore, and to which he was now to preach the in- troductory sermon, and also present the annual circular letter to the churches. In this he brought forward his views, declaring in substance that "the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- ments are the only infallible and sufficient rule of faith and practice." The letter was rejected, by the casting vote of the Moderator; but it re- sulted in dividing the association equally between advocates of the old and new views.

At the close of 1825 Elder Fall left Louisville He is still living near Frankfort, but at a great age-eighty-four years old. He was succeeded by Elder Benjamin Allan, and the church con- tinued to increase. Some became alarmed, however, at the prospect of being cut off from the association ; and about thirty members went back to the abandoned creed and covenant. But several years more they maintained worship together. The rupture came near the close of 1829, when the minority (the whole now number- ing nearly three hundred) seceded and formed a separate Baptist body under Elder George Waller. Much irritation followed, and a suit for the church property, which was decided for the majority or New Testament party. Still for four years the connection was held with the Long Run Association as "the First Baptist Church of Jesus Christ, of Louisville, Kentucky;" and it was not until 1833 that the new name, "Dis- ciples of Christ," was assumed. The society had now for some time occupied the well-remembered old Baptist meeting-house, which they erected, on the southwest corner of Filth and Green streets. Their entire interest in this was sold to the Baptist minority March 14, 1835, for $2,550, and a small church building, standing on leased ground on Second, between Market and Jeffer- son, was bought from the Primitive Methodists.

When the new name was assumed in April, 1833, Boards of Bishops or Elders and Deacons were elected for the first time. The first Board of Elders consisted of Jesse Swindler, John Bledsoe, and Bartlett Hardy; and the Board of Deacons of Dr. T. S. Bell, David Gordon, and Peter Priest. Of all these only Dr. Bell survives. The society was now fully launched as a Disciple church.

In July, 1836, Gordon Gates was "called to teach the congregation and act as its President." The same year the erection of a new house of worship was begun on Fifth street, between Wal- nut and Chestnut; it was finished iu 1837, with a debt of about $2,000.

In April of this year Elder George W. Elley was called as preacher, and remained till May, 1840. Elder B. F. Hall succeeded him, serving from July, 1840, to November, 1842. Then came, in rather rapid succession, Elders D. S. Burnet, Allen Kendrick, and Carroll Kendrick.

June 30, 1845, the Fifth-street church edifice was sold to the Colored Baptist church for $5,000. The congregation worshipped in a school-house on Grayson street till the new build- ing on the northeast corner of Fourth and Wal- nut streets was ready for partial occupation the next year. The lot for it, 60 x 160 feet, was bought of the Bank of Kentucky for $4,500. A charter was then obtained from the State Legis- lature for the " Walnut Street Christian Church of Louisville, Kentucky." The nucleus of the Floyd and Chestnut Church of Christ was formed soon after.

In November, 1847, Elder Henry T. Ander- son began service for the Walnut Street church, and remained till October, 1853, having an ac- ceptable and notable ministry. He was followed by Elders Curtis J. Smith (1854-55), and D. P. Henderson (1855-56).

The house now occupied had become too strait for the congregation, and on the ist of April, 1860, the last sermon was preached in it before its demolition. The corner-stone of the present superb edifice was laid May 18th, same year; and the basement was occupied for wor- ship March 17, 1861. The society had met meanwhile in the Masonic Temple. The entire building was not finished until the spring of 1870, when, April 24th, the auditorium was formally opened.

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Elders Henry T. Anderson and George G. Mallins filled the pulpit temporarily after Elder Henderson's departure. Then came, more per- manently, Elders Thomas N. Arnold (1867-68), W. H. Hopson (1868-74), Samuel Kelly (tem- porary, 1874-75), J. S. Lamar (1875-76), and B. B. Tyler (1876-82).

In 1876 the charter-name of the Society was changed from "Walnut Street," etc., to "First Christian Church of Louisville, Kentucky." It has now a membership of about six hundred and fifty, to which nearly fifteen hundred more may be added as members of churches which may be said to have grown out of this pioneer of the faith in this city.

The Second Christian church was organized in October, 1846, constituted of twenty-nine mem- bers-sixteen males, thirteen females-who with- drew from the First Christian church for that purpose. John Baker was chosen elder and Jonathan F. Tibbetts and Aaron Thompson, deacons. They met at first in a rented room on Preston street, between Market and Jefferson streets. In 1848 they moved to their own build- ing on east side of Hancock, between Jefferson and Green. In 1864 they moved to their pres- ent place of worship on the southwest corner of Floyd and Chestnut streets. This church has had as pastors and ministers, regular and irreg- ular: John Baker, Allen Kendrick, William Begg, E. Y. Pinkerton, J. R. Hulett, H. T. An- derson, M. B. Hopkins, C. W. Sewell, J. C. Walden, Louis Jansen, John Noyes, T. P. Ha- ley, W. C. Dawson, I. B. Grubbs, G. W. Yancey, P. Galt Miller, and W. H. Bartholomew. Pres- ent elders are R. H. Snyder, Dr. S. B. Mills, P. Galt Miller, and W. H. Bartholomew. Present deacens are Fendell A. Crump, Benjamin S. Weller, D. E. Starke, J. M. Lemons, and J. A. Blakemore. Former elders were: John G. Lyon (now dead), John W. Craig (now dead), Jesse D). Seaton, and C. H. Barkley, the last named being a licensed minister of the gospel. Mrs. Thysa C. Lyon and Mrs. Martha Owen have been deaconesses. W. Talbot Owen, M. D., has been clerk of the church ever since in April, 1852. The present number of members is six hundred and twenty-five.

Rev. Thomas N. Arnold was both a lawyer and clergyman. He was born February 10, 1828,

in Covington, Kentucky. His grandfather and other members of the family were Baptist minis- ters of considerable note in Virginia. His father, James G. Arnold, was a successful business man and one of the founders of the city of Covington. A very benevolent man, he built the first Chris- tian church ever built in that location, and made large donations to Kentucky University and many other public institutions. The son, Thomas N. Ar old, was a graduate from Bethany College in 1847; afterwards he attended law lec- tures at Lexington, and graduated from the law school in Louisville in 1852. Previous to 1856, he pursued the practice of his profession in Cov- ington. This year he entered the ministry of the Christian or Disciple church, and has subsequently been connected with churches in Covington, Frankfort, Lexington, Louisville, and Richmond, Virginia. The church over which he has been pastor in Louisville is said to be the largest of that denomination in the world. He ranks as an able and successful minister. Mr. Arnold was mar- ried, in 1853, to Miss M. Frances Pugh, of Bour- bon county. They have a family of seven chil dren.

Rev. Benjamin B. Tyler, late Pastor of the First Christian Church, was born in Macon county, Illinois, April 9, 1842, son of a Baptist clergyman and native of Kentucky, who became a preacher of the new faith in his later years. Into this the son was baptized August 1, 1859, entered Eureka College, near Peoria, and began preaching in an evangelistic way in Macoupin and Montgomery counties, and elsewhere in his native State. For a year in 1864-65 he was located with the Charleston and Kansas churches, Illinois, and then, until 1868, with the former alone. He then made an extensive preaching tour through the East and Northeast ; and in 1869 took charge of the Christian Church at Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1873 he went to serve the society at Frankfort, Kentucky; and in May, 1867, came to Louisville as the pastor of the church at Fourth and Walnut. Here he suc- ceeded, after years of effort, in lifting the debt that had long borne its heavy weight upon the society ; and there, in February, 1882, feeling that his work with it had been done, he resigned, to re-enter the work of an evangelist.

THE EPISCOPALIANS.

The year of fever and death, 1822, when the

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

389

thoughts of so large a share of the community were fixed upon the unknown future life, was a fit period for the formation of new religious so- cieties. On the 31st of May of that year, a meeting was held at Washington Hall, with Mr. John Bustard as Chairman and Samuel Dickin- son Secretary, at which it was resolved to open subscription books for building a Protestant Episcopal Church in Louisville. At another meeting, July Ist, the name "Christ Church " was adopted, and a committee to execute the resolve of the previous meeting was full-formed, consisting of Messrs. Peter B. Ormsby, Dennis Fitzhugh, Samuel Churchill, James Hughes, William L. Thompson, Richard Barnes, William H. Atkinson, Richard Ferguson, Hancock Tay- lor, James S. Bate, James C. Johnston, and Wil- liam Croghan. The Rev. Dr. Craik, for now nearly forty years Rector of the church, in his valuable Historical Sketches of Christ Church, gives the following interesting account of its genesis:

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History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 75

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814