History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 77

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 77

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During his ministry at Frankfort Dr. Norton baptized 2,152 infants and adults ; presented for confirmation, 908 candidates; married 108 couples; and buried 432 persons. These are only journal records. The record that is on high entitles him to a rank among the working clergy, which few since the Apostles' days have gained.

In 1871, after twenty-three years of labor in the capital of Kentucky, Dr. Norton entered up- on his career as Associate Rector of Christ church, Louisville. Here he found a much wider field, but not too wide for his incessant and unwearied diligence.

Through his co-operation the communicants in Christ church constantly increased in number ; the confirmations became a wonder for their size ;

and the spacious church edifice presented a vast sea of heads, composed of rich and poor, of young men and maidens, old men and children, on every Sunday service.

To him is justly due the honor of making a worthy and efficient effort for the religious in- struction of the colored people of Louisville. He built for them entirely at his own cost a com- modious brick church and a large school-house, and maintained the regular church services, be- sides a day school.

He gave his fostering care to different mission churches in Louisville, and when need came his generous helping hand.

He had the happy faculty of bringing out the good in every one and of causing it to be exer- cised for some useful and profitable end. In his way through life he encountered many persons whom everybody else regarded as mere "cum- berers of the ground,"-waifs and strays that so- ciety had no place for ; yet in these very persons he would discover some aptitude for worthy em- ployment, and put them to work for the general good. His sympathies responded to all human suffering, and no unworthiness in the individual could dampen or check them. It really seemed that to do him an injury was the best way for making him your friend for life.

He was no preacher for any particular class, but, like the most popular preacher of the Refor- mation, who was the delight of two kings, the favorite of the nobility as well as the common- alty, his illustrations were as nails in a sure place, enforcing his lesson with weighty and con- vincing power upon the consciences of his hear- ers. Having always clear ideas of what he was going to say, he said it so that all could under- stand. His grand object was to carry the story of the Cross to the hearts of them that heard him, and persuade them to live accordingly.

His reading was varied and extensive. There was little in the whole circle of literature which he had not mastered and could not produce, when useful for his purposes.

It may truly be said of Dr. Norton that he had received from nature a strong and sharp under- standing, and a rare firmness of temper and in- tegrity of will. When these powers became baptized with the Holy Ghost, there was no office in the ministry he was not fitted to fill and adorn. His Church principles were those which the

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

sainted Bishops Hobart and Ravenscroft illus- trated in their writings and conduct, to the great good of the Church. He was neutral in nothing; but controversy he abhorred, and no man was ever traduced by him. If he had any enemies, he might well have taken comfort from what is written over the door of a town house in Ger- many: "To do good and have evil said of you is a kingly thing."

Dr. Norton fell asleep on the 18th day of Jan- uary, 1881, in the sixty-first year of his age. His death was mourned as a great loss, not only by the city of Louisville, irrespective of creed, but was seriously felt by the whole State of Kentucky.

The Rev. James Craik, D. D., Nestor of the pulpit in Louisville, was born in Alexandria, Vir- ginia, in 1806, son of George Washington Craik, and grandson of that Dr. James Ciaik who was Washington's intimate friend and physician, and is named in his will. Young Craik was liberally educated ; married Miss Juliet Shrewsbury, who has been a most capable aid to him in his do- mestic and public life ; practiced law for ten years after marriage ; was ordained to the Epis- copal ministry by Bishop Meade in 1839 : preached in Charleston, South Carolina, five years, and then, in 1844, came to Christ Church, Louisville, where his ministrations have since been continuous, during now the long period of nearly forty years. He is the writer of the valu- able little book of local history entitled Histori- cal Sketches of Christ Church, and of other works upon the Search of Truth, the Divine Life and the New Truth, Old and New, etc.

The Rev. Benjamin Orr Peers, first Rector of St. Paul's church, died here August 20, 1842. Although but forty-two years old, he had become one of the most eminent Episcopal clergymen in the State. A Virginian born of Scotch-Irish and Revolutionary stock, he came with his father to this State in 1803, was educated at the Bour- bon Academy and Transylvania University, and served as a professor in the latter ; was educated at Princeton for the Presbyterian ministry, but became an Episcopalian; became a prominent educator while still young, and editor, as we have seen, of The Western Journal of Edcation ; wrs made President of Transylvania University in 1833, but resigned in two years, opened a select school for boys in Louisville, and when St. Paul's church was organized, was elected its

Rector. Afterwards he was in charge of the educational interests of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and editor of the Journal of Christian Education and of the Sunday-school publications of the church. He broke down under his labors, and died in what should have been his prime.

The Rev. Edmund Taylor Perkins, D. D., was a native of Richmond, Virginia, born Oc- tober 5, 1823, son of George Perkins, a Virginia planter. He was educated in private and board- ing-schools, at the Episcopal High School near Alexandria, where he was a teacher in 1843-44, and at the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained Deacon in June, 1847 ; became Rector of Trinity Parish, Parkersburg, six years ; was ordained to the priesthood in 1848, and held a pastorate at Wheeling eight years; during the war was Missionary-at large, and then Chap- lain-at-large with the Confederate army ; in 1865 became pastor of a small church at Smithfield, Virginia ; went the next year to a parish at Lees- burg, where he staid about two years, and then received a call to St. Paul's parish, Louisville, where he succeeded the Rev. F. M. Whittle, who had become Assistant Bishop of Virginia. In this position Dr. Perkins has since served most acceptably, taking high rank in the Episcopal clergy of Kentucky. He is accounted a low- churchman. In 1871 the honorary degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Gambier Col- lege, Ohio.

UNITARIANISM.

The first Unitarian Society of Louisville, now occupying the Church of the Messiah, on Fourth street, was organized on the 3d of July, 1830, the committee of organization being George W. Mer- riwether, Simeon S. Goodwin, Edmund H. Lewis, Perley Chamberlin, Archibald Allan, Elisha Applegate, and Fred A. Kaye. On the 19th of the same month they bought of Mr. S. S. Nicholas the lot of ground on the southeast cor- ner of Walnut and Fifth streets. The erection of their church was begun in the spring of 1831, and on Sunday, May 27, 1832, it was dedicated, the services being conducted by Revs. Francis Parkman and James Walker, of Massachusetts. In the following September Rev. George Chap- man was invited to occupy the pulpit for one year at a salary of $600. In June, 1833, he re- signed, and was succeeded by Rev. James Free-

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

man Clarke, who preached his first sermon on the 11th of August. In October, 1835, Mr. Clarke was invited to continue his services, the society agreeing to raise his salary to $800, "pro- vided that much is subscribed and paid."

In 1840 Mr. Clarke resigned, and on the 23d of August of that year Rev. John H. Heywood entered upon his ministry, and his services being most acceptable, he was re-elected from year to year. The church grew in strength of numbers, until in 1868 it became necessary to provide larger accommodations. At this time it was pro- posed by the Universalist Society that the two societies should unite in the erection of a new church, towards which they could contribute about $15,000. After several interviews, their proposition was accepted, and it was determined to purchase the lot on the southeast corner of Fourth avenue and York street, and to erect thereon a building, to be known as the Church of the Messiah. Work was begun during the summer of 1869, and was completed in Decem- ber, 1870, at a cost of about $75,000.

On Sunday, January 15, 1871, the new church was dedicated, the pastor having the assistance of W. G. Eliot, of St. Louis, and Robert Laird Collier, of Chicago, in the services of the occa- sion. On the morning of Sunday, the last day of the same year, at about 3 o'clock, the church was discovered to be on fire. In a few hours the interior of the main building was entirely de- stroyed and the walls greatly damaged. The Sunday-school building in rear of the church was not injured, and services were held therein on the morning of the same day. Steps were promptly taken to rebuild the church, and with the insurance money and generous aid of friends here and elsewhere, it was reconstructed during the year 1872, and rededicated on Sunday, De- cember 15th, the pastor being assisted by Rev. H. W. Bellows, of New York.

Mr. Heywood continued his ministry until the summer of 1879, when for health and other rea- sons he decided to go to Europe with his wife and daughter for a year's visit. In his absence the Rev. C. J. K. Jones, of Brooklyn, New York, was invited to occupy the pulpit for one year from September 21, 1879. In April, 1880, Mr. Heywood having returned from Europe (where he had been sorely afflicted in the death of his only child) visited the city and tendered to the

congregation his resignation as pastor, to take effect on the 23d of August following, that day being the fortieth anniversary of his ministry in Louisville. Did space allow, much could be told of the loyal service of Mr. Heywood during these forty years, not only to the church but to the city at large. He gave freely of his thought, time, and influence to every good work. His name will long be a household word in hundreds of families, and their children's children will bless his memory.

Subsequent to the resignation of Mr. Heywood the Rev. Mr. Jones, who had filled the pulpit for nearly a year, was elected pastor of the church, and still holds the position. J. L. D.

The Rev. John H. Heywood is one of the most venerable names in the ecclesiastical annals of Louisville, where he was a beloved and most useful pastor for about forty years. He was born at Worcester, Massachusetts, March 30, 1818, graduated at Harvard in 1834, taught a school in Boston for a year, graduated from the Harvard Di- vinity School in 1840, and was promptly called to the First Unitarian Society of Louisville (now the Church of the Messiah on Fourth street), to suc- ceed the Rev. James Freeman Clarke. He be- gan his labors in the old church at Fifth and Walnut, which was vacated in July, 1870, and the new edifice dedicated January 15, 1871. He not only served the church ably and faithfully, but was active in promoting educational and literary interests, serving upon the Board of Education, and being for fourteen years its president. During the war he did eminently useful service with the Kentucky branch of the Sanitary Commission, of which he finally wrote a brief history. In 1864 he was mainly instrumental in forming the Old Ladies' Home, of which he remains presi- dent, although residing of late in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He was for more than two years an editorial writer on the Louisville Examiner, and contributed much to other periodicals.

JUDAISM.

Under this head we regret to have been able to secure only the following biographical note:

Rabbi Levi Kleeberg was born in Hofgersmar, Prussia, July 14, 1832. His father was a man of no special importance in a public way, but a man who looked diligently to the proper educa- tion of his children. Levi was a pupil in the best schools of his own city until in his fifteenth

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

year, when he began studying under the learned Dr. Heldesheimer, with whom he completed his Hebrew and Talmudical studies in the Rab- binical College. In 1859 he graduated from the University of Gottingen, in Hanover, as Doctor of Philosophy, and was appointed the same year Rabbi of Elberfield, Germany, where he ministered till 1866, when he received a call from Louisville, and remained here some years. As a benevolent inan he has been identified with all movements for the benefit of his people. He is also considered one of the leading Rabbis of the country. In 1860 he was married to Minna, daughter of the late Marcus Cohen, M.D, of Elmshorn, Germany. She is an ac- complished lady, many of her poems having re- ceived favorable notice by some of the leading writers of the present time.

CLERICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL NOTES IN 1847.

The Catholic clergy at this time in and near Louisville were Bishop Flaget, Bishop Guy I. Chabrat, and the Rev. Fathers M. J. Spalding, John M'Gill, John Quinn, P. Lavialle, and Charles Boeswald. The Rev. J. J. Vital was at Portland.

The annual meeting of the Convention of the Protestent Episcopal Church, for the Diocese of Kentucky, was held here during the second weck in May. There were now about six hundred and fifty members of this faith in the State. The clergy resident in Louisville were Bishop B. B. Smith and the Rev. Messrs. John B. Gallagher, Rector of St. Paul's; James Craik, Rector of Christ Church; R. M. Chapman, Rector of St. Matthew's; and C. H. Page.

The ministers of the Presbyterian Church res- ident here were the Rev. Messrs. W. L. Breckin- ridge, E. P. Humphrey, Francis Norton, John Kennedy, David S. Tod, and W. W. Hill, the last named being editor of the denominational organ.

The Baptist ministers here (in the Long Run Association) were Rev. Messrs. W. C. Buck, A. D. Sears, G. Gates, F. A. Willard, P. M. Cary, and W. R. Combs.

The Methodist Episcopal Church South had as ministers here: Thomas Bottomly, Presiding Elder; Samuel D. Baldwin, Pastor of Wesley Chapel; James M. Temple, of the Brook Street Church; George W. Merritt, Fourth street; Wil- liam Holman, Eighth street.

The Universalists had one minister here, the Rev. E. M. Pingree.

RELIGION HERE IN 1852.

Mr. Casseday, in his History of Louisville, published this year, presents, with the succeed- ing remarks, the following table of churches :

CHURCHES.

Congregations

Communicants

Number in

Congregation.

(Attendance.)

Church Accom-

modations for

Value of

Property.

Baptist

3 1,729

2,500

2 650 $80,000

Episcopal.

431

1,425

2,150 76,000

Methodist

3,036

5.900

8,250 169.000

Presbyterian.

913

2,225

3,300 128.000

German Evangelical.

1,200

2,150

21,700

German Lutheran.

100

German Reformed .

200

2,250

Disciple ..

410

520

950

18,000

Unitarian .

240

320

12,000

Universalist

200

500

8,000

Roman Catholic.

5.000

5,000

3.540 125,000

Jews.

400

11,000

Total

46 1 1, 727| 19, 610,24, 510 590,900

The tasteful and elegant structures which many of these churches have erected are great additions to the beauty of the city. Those most worthy of note are the Walnut street Baptist, First Presbyterian, Catholic Cathedral, St. Paul's (Episcopal), and the synagogue; the last mentioned of which is the most elegant building in the city, although it is prob- ably less expensive than either of the others. The pulpit of Louisville is eminently well supplied. Some of the most dis- tinguished divines of the country are among its members, and few, if any, of the clergy are men whose talents do not rank above mediocrity.

WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.

The Women's Christian Association of Louis- ville was organized in the month of February, 1870, under the supervision of H. Thane Miller, of Cincinnati, he having been called to our city to address the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion. The Christian women of Louisville had long felt the want of organized effort for their own sex, and gladly availed themselves of the as- sistance of Mr. Miller in arranging their plans. In a clause of the charter its object is clearly set forth: "The object of the Association shall be to establish Homes for women, especially young women, where provision shall be made for their physical, mental, and spiritual welfare."

The second meeting of the Association resulted in the election of a permanent board of managers, with the following officers: Mrs. M. E. Crutcher, President; Mrs. A. E. Tryon and Mrs. R. D.

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

Anderson, Vice-Presidents; Miss Maggie Mer- ker, Recording Secretary; Mrs. Drake, Corres- ponding Secretary; Miss Belle Quigley and Mrs. Dr. Speed, Treasurers.

A constitution was framed and accepted, re- quiring thirty ladies as a board of managers, who would represent equally all the Protestant denom- inations of the city. They also elected a board of trustees, to assist and advise us; their names were Z. M. Sherley, A. D. Hunt, W. F. Barret, John M. Harlan, Robert Snyder, and G. W. Bur- ton. These gentlemen made application and secured us a charter from the Legislature in a short time, and, meeting with the managers for conference, it was decided to establish, first, a home for respectable girls and women who were dependent upon their own exertions for a living, requiring small rates of board, according to their several abilities to earn money, and it was to be called "The Working Women's Home."

The trustees required the managers to raise the sum of $5,000 as a safeguard before they should open the Home, and after earnest and vigorous efforts on their part, and the help of outside parties, in thirteen months they had suc- ceeded in securing $4,000, the trustees then con- senting for the Home to be opened.

The first annual meeting of the Women's Chris- tian Association was held in the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church on the evening of Decem- ber 5, 1870, at 7 o'clock. The large attendance of both ladies and gentlemen was a convincing proof that the proposed work was in favor and would meet with a ready response. The churches were called upon to pledge themselves to furnish the rooms, which they readily consented to do. The clergy, the lawyers, the doctors, and the press have aided us greatly in their professions and with money.

The coming March we rented a house on First street, between Green and Walnut, at a cost of $1,000 per year, with a capacity of fifteen inmates, and on the 4th of May following gave a public opening, the house being furnished, an efficient matron and competent servants secured .. All things were ready for duty, affording a real home for girls and women, in whom self-helpful- ness should be encouraged, who should be watched over and advised, should be assisted when in need, and nursed tenderly when sick.

At the close of the first year the house proved

entirely too small, and we rented and removed to a building on Walnut street, between Sixth and Seventh, which was occupied four years. The increased number of applications and the growing importance of the work suggested the idea of permanent location to the trustees as well as to the board of managers, and we are indebted to a generous public for the firm foothold we have secured. Mrs. J. Lawrence Smith gave the association a valuable lot on First street, for which we have received ground rent ever since. Mrs. Arthur Peter remembered us in a gift of $1, 100 at one time, and Rev. Stuart Robinson (of blessed memory), assisted by the trustees, raised the generous amount of $8,ooo towards a building fund, besides a great many smaller do- nations of money and household articles and provisions, for all of which we were sincerely thankful. Before the close of the first year's work, we found our mistake in the selection of a name, as it invited constantly to the Home the laboring class, washerwomen, etc., who were not the real suffering portion of the females, depend- ent upon their own exertions for a living, but came rather to avoid work; and after considera- tion it was voted to change the name from the "Working Women's Home" to the "Young Women's Boarding Home," and the difficulty soon ceased.

The trustees in the spring of 1876 purchased the property on First street that had been for- merly occupied by the Home, at a cost of $8,750 cash, and our honored friend Captain Z. M. Sherley devoted the summer to the remodelling and enlarging the building. It was our misfor- tune about that time to lose $4,500-the first money raised by the managers-in the failure of a business firm of our city, but we are glad to remember that when Captain Sherley loaned this money, the house was considered safe and the action was approved by the board; so that when our building was complete it left us over $3,000 in debt to Captain Sherley, which sum he never collected, but after his death, which occurred February 18, 1879, his heirs generously forgave half of the debt, and the trustees collected the deficit, therehy relieving us of the burden.

As a board of managers we have ever avoided debt; in fact, we have never owed a dollar. The house has a capacity for thirty-five, and the aver- age number is about twenty-eight.

399

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

One thing we endeavor to remember is that ours is a Christian institution, with good influence, with an acknowledged dependence upon God always, with a family altar every evening, and monthly religious services following each board meeting ; and we feel it to be a wonderful provi- dence that in all the changes of eleven years we have not had a death in the family.

The removal to the new permanent home took place on Monday, December 14, 1876.

In 1875 the necessity of a reformatory was constantly urged upon the Women's Christian Association ; indeed, it was the outgrowth of the work already established, and the need of it was so pressing that the association determined to consider the subject at once. That movement, however, made it necessary to revise the consti- tution and to have the charter amended. Both of the changes being effected, the general asso- ciation was provided with separate boards of managers for all enterprises undertaken in the future, and making regular meetings (semi-annual and annual) of the association to which the dit- ferent boards would report, all of whom would be elected at the annual meeting held each year in December. In October, 1875, at a meeting of the association a board of eighteen managers was elected to raise funds to establish a reform- atory for women. In one year the amount was considered sufficiently large to justify them in taking a house, and they rented one on West Jefferson street, No. 1,117, which they still oc- cupy. The churches responded kindly to their call for furniture and other help, and on the 19th day of May, 1876, the reformatory, with a capac- ity for twenty inmates, was opened, under the name of "The Home of the Friendless for Fallen Women." The managers have done a noble, Christ-like work, and most blessed in its results.

The Women's Christian Association does not propose to limit the number of its enterprises, and hopes in the future to undertake other much needed charities of our city. We cannot close this outline of our history without rendering a tribute of praise to some of our efficient and beloved workers who have gone home to their reward-Mr. and Mrs. Alexander K. Booth, Captain Z. M. Sherley, and Mrs. William H. Dil- lingham. The two gentlemen were trustees, Mrs. Booth was the secretary for six years, and Mrs. Dillingham was untiring in her activities as

a manager. They all died while their hearts were warm and their hands busy in the interest of the Women's Christian Association. On Tuesday, December 6, 1881, the twelfth annual meeting of the association was held in the hall on Fourth avenue, where the officers of the general association, the trustees, and the boards of mana- gets for the Young Women's Boarding Home and the Home of the Friendless were elected for the year. Officers of the association : Presi- dent, Mrs. M. E. Crutcher; Vice-President, Mrs. R. A. Watts; Secretary, Miss Florence Y. Love ; Treasurer, Mrs. Dr. Bailey. Board of Trustees : Mr. William H. Dillingham, J. K. Goodlove, W. F. Barret, Robert Snyder, Arthur Peter, A. G. Munn, and Philip Speed.

The reports were considered highly creditable, the Secretary of the Young Woman's Boarding Home disclosing the liberality of the managers in giving in the past year forty-one nights' lodg- ings and one hundred and thirty-one meals to strangers, and one hundred and twenty weeks' board to girls living in the Home, who were in- capacitated for work by sickness and loss of wages, while the whole expense of the Home reached the amount of $2,815.70. The mana- gers of the Home of the Friendless have used every available plan to secure money for their work, yet they have often been very much straitened and cramped to conduct it without in- curring debt, and the association has sincerely and ardently desired to be remembered by the generous publie, hoping to have their institution helped to a safe and firm basis. Their expense in money during the year just closed, besides contributions of provisions and clothing, was $1,900.50 .*

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History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 77

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