History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 100

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 100

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

Columbus, and by courtesy of the legislature - a testimonial of regard for Doctor Hoge - its sessions were held in the Hall of Representatives in the Statehouse. Doctor Hoge's influence was felt as a leader in all measures for the reformation of morals, the advancement of education and the promotion of charity. He taught in his own house the first Sabbathschool in this part of Ohio. He was a pioneer in the cause of temperance. In connection with Governor Trimble, at that time a member of the legislature, he drew up a series of resolutions on the subject and secured, in addition to their own, the names of seventeen of the most respectable citizens of the town. This was among the first, if not the very first, of the move- ments in the direction of associated effort for temperance reform in the state. He was for many years a trustee of the University of Ohio and of the Miami Univer- sity. He ardently supported the common school system which was first intro- duced in 1825.

Doctor Hoge was the real founder of the institution for the education of deaf mutes. He had learned of the success of the school at Hartford, Connecticut, in teaching these unfortunates to read, and was anxious that the State of Ohio should establish a similar institution. He appealed to prominent members of the legisla- ture, but the most he could secure was permission to experiment as to the feasi- bility of such education. Doctor Hoge selected the late Horatio N. Hubbell, a member of the First Church, as instructor. The result was an entire success. The first report was made to the legislature, December 8, 1827, and the Ohio Institu- tion for the Deaf and Dumb was organized in 1829. Doctor Hoge was a trustee and was Secretary of the Board from the beginning until 1848, when he was suc- ceeded by Rev. Henry L. Hitchcock. The blind also excited his sympathies and he made an appeal to the legislature for educational facilities for them. On March 10, 1836, Doctor Hoge, Judge N. H. Swayne and Doctor William M. Awl, a member and afterwards an elder of the First Church, were appointed by the legislature a committee to report on the possibility of ameliorating the condition of the blind. Their report was made in December of the same year and resulted in the establishment of the institution for the blind, of which Doctor Hoge was one of the first trustees. The school was opened in the First Church July 4, 1837, with five pupils. In November it had eleven pupils - four girls and seven boys. Doctor Hoge was also largely instrumental in the organization of the first hospital for the insane, of which Doctor William M. Awl was the first superintendent. No man of any profession in the city of Columbus was more instrumental than he in shaping the charitable and educational policy of the state. His home was always open to the members of the legislature during its sessions, and his church was frequented by them in large numbers. The influence of his church was a power for good throughout the state.

As we have spoken of the efficiency of Doctor Hoge and leading men of the First Church in the works of charity and reform in the city and state, it is but just to the women of this church to say that among them was found a large pro- portion of those who organized the Columbus Female Benevolent Society, which for more than half a century has been a blessing to the poor of the city. Mrs. Dr.

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Hoge was its first President, and among its officers have always been found many of the members of the First, Second and Westminster Churches,

After the resignation of Doctor Hoge in 1857, the First Church called the Rev. Edgar Woods, of Wheeling, Virginia, who was installed June 30, 1857, and resigned February 27, 1862. Mr. Woods was succeeded by the Rev. William C. Roberts, of Wilmington, Delaware, who was installed November 11, 1862, and resigned December 20, 1864. Mr. Roberts, afterwards honored with the titles of D. D. and LL. D., was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1889. He was succeeded by Rev. William Marshall, who was installed in March, 1865, and resigned in December, 1869. The church was without a settled pastor from the resignation of Mr. Marshall until the summer of 1871.

PRESENT FIRST CHURCH, BEFORE ALTERATION. By Permission of Rev. F. E. Marsten.

Meanwhile it was supplied, Sabbath by Sabbath, by eminent preachers from abroad. Mr. Robert J. Laidlaw was called to the vacant pulpit and was ordained and installed September 12, 1871 During his pastorate the chapel and Sunday- school rooms of the First Church were built. The cornerstone was laid October 2, 1873. The credit of the enterprise is rightly given chiefly to the ladies of the church.

Mr. Laidlaw resigned in April, 1875, to accept a call to the Jefferson Avenue Church at Detroit, Michigan. During the interval between the resignation of Mr. Marshall and for some time after the departure of Mr. Laidlaw, the choir of the First Church was one of its principal attractions. Mr. Laidlaw was succeeded by Rev. E. P. Heberton, who was installed September 5, 1875, and

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resigned February 21, 1877. Rev. Willis Lord, D. D., who had recently resigned the presidency of Wooster University, served the church as stated supply for two years and a half, having declined installation on account of his age. Doctor Lord was succeeded December 21, 1880, by Rev. John W. Bailey, D. D., recently the President of Blackburn University, Illinois. Doctor Bailey resigned in April, 1883. After a brief interval Rev. Francis E. Marsten was called and was installed as pastor October 4, 1883.

The growth of the city eastward and the removal of many families of the congregation in that direction led to missionary efforts in that quarter, and the question of the removal of the First Church to a new location was agitated. The proposition to remove found many advocates in the congregation, especially among those who had settled beyond Washington Avenue. But old associations and attachments are not easily broken. The edifice and the location were alike dear to many. A numerical majority favored or would have acquiesced in the removal, but the weight of the congregation was opposed to it although favoring the establishment of a new church. A colony therefore went out with the bene- diction of the church. Mr. Marsten resigned the pastorate of the First Church in September, 1887, for the purpose of taking charge of the new enterprise, and was dismissed by the Presbytery October 17, 1887. The Rev. John C. Watt was installed April 16, 1889. When called to Columbus he was pastor of the Fifth Church, in Cincinnati. The present officers (1892) of the First Church are : Pastor, Rev. John C. Watt; Elders, James S. Abbott, Alfred Thomas, George Morton, William Price, B. F. Milligan and Foster Copeland ; Trustees, James S. Abbott, George M. Parsons, Alfred Thomas, P. W. Huntington and Foster Copeland.

Second Church. - The organization of the Second Presbyterian Church was the natural outcome of the growth of the city. By the beginning of 1839 the First Church had a membership of 333 in full communion and its stated congrega- tion quite filled its house of worship. Many of its members were newcomers from the East and had been subjects of the great revivals which had prevailed there from 1830 onward. So far as they were of Presbyterian or Congregational antece- dents, they united with the First Church and were active in its Sundayschool and prayer meetings. The need of another church organization soon became apparent, all the more so from the feeling of the newcomers that the First Church and its pastor were not in full sympathy with the revival methods and measures in which they had been trained and under which many of them had been con- verted. An association which had been formed for the purpose of weekly prayer and conference meetings from house to house soon took the form of a society for church extension. Its members, some twentyeight or thirty in number, were for the most part members of the First Church. They were mainly young heads of families, and were naturally drawn to each other. The idea of a new church gradually took shape. Before, however, any steps for organization were taken, the chief movers in the matter addressed a letter to the session of the First Church through Doctor Hoge. A copy of this letter is given here as throwing light upon the origin of the Second Church and the spirit of its founder.

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Reverend and Dear Sir,-The undersigned members of your church, having prayerfully considered the subject have been led to the conclusion that the cause of Christ and of vital piety would be best promoted by the establishment in this city of either a second Presbyterian or a Congregational Church, and that it is our duty to inform you, and through you the Session, of our intention at some future and not distant day to apply for letters of dismission with a view of becoming members of such new church when regularly organized.

In making this communication to you we should be doing injustice to our own feelings if we did not avail ourselves of the opportunity to express in the warmest terms onr affection for you as our pastor, and our undiminished regard for your character as a Christian instructor and a faithful minister of the Word of God. We will also say, that we cherish none but the kindest feelings for you and for the members of our church, both individually and collec- tively.

But. as from the nature of things it cannot be expected that one church can much longer accommodate all our citizens of like faith, scattered as they are and will be over the city and the adjacent country ; and as it is not expected that many members will withdraw from your church, and in consequence there can be no probability of the contemplated movement deranging your operations or hindering your usefulness ; and, as hundreds, if not thousands of our citizens at present attend upon no religious instruction, and there is great reason to hope that if a new church were now formed, a large portion of this class would by this means be favorably reached and operated upon ; and especially, as we hope and believe, it would be the means of disseminating wider and farther the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and stir up to greater activity many Christians now comparatively inactive and be the means of doing much good ; we have come to the conclusion that it is our duty and privilege to take now the necessary steps to consummate so desirable an object.

We hope and believe that our course in this matter will give no offense to any brother in Christ, or be the occasion of disturbing in any degree the harmony which has hitherto prevailed in our church. In point of doctrine we are not conscious of differing with you in any particular, and as regards the questions which so unhappily divide some branches of the Presbyterian Church we earnestly desire to avoid all controversy. For this reason, as well as on account of our former predilections, the majority of us would prefer a Congregational Church and we desire to organize in that form. With sincere and affectionate regards, yours in Christ.

To Rev. James Hoge, D. D.

On January 29, 1839, a certificate of dismission was given in the follow- ing form :

At a meeting of the Session of the Presbyterian Church, held January 25, 1839, the fol- lowing persons having expressed their intention to withdraw from this church and form a Congregational Society, were, at their own request, released from their relation to us, and it is certified that at the time of making this request they were in good standing as members: Alexander H. Warner, Warren Jenkins, Thomas B. Culter, E. N. Slocum, D. Tuttle and wife, I. G. Dryer, Andrew Lee, T. C. Bulter, Junior, John Jones, Samuel Cutler, William Burdell, H. N. Hubbell, Mrs. H. N. Hubbell, Miss M. J Foster, Mrs. H. N. Cutler, Mrs. Eliza Dryer, Miss A. C. Foster, Mrs. Marion Jenkins.

At a meeting of the Session held February 9, 1839, the following persons were in like manner added to the above: Abiel Foster, Junior, Abiel Foster, Senior, Susannah Foster, Pamelia J. Foster, Catharine Foster, Melissa Cook, Mary A. Robinson, Sarah Foster.

By order of Session, James Hoge, Moderator.

Prior to this, on January 22, at a meeting of those interested it was resolved " to proceed to take the necessary steps to organize in the city of Columbus a Congregational church and as soon as possible to procure stated preaching."

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It was further resolved " that we are unanimous in the belief of the doctrines as set forth in the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, and more particularly in the Shorter Catechism, and that when we form a church these standards shall form the basis or foundation of our organization." In pursuance of this intent a meeting was held in the Baptist Church January 29, and it was resolved " that we now organize ourselves into a society to be called the First Congregational Society of the City of Columbus." Horatio N. Hubbell, Abiel Foster, Junior, and Warren Jenkins, were chosen trustees and were instructed to procure an act of incorpora- tion and to secure a room for public worship. By the next Sabbath a room 18 x 36 feet was secured in a onestory frame building fronting on Rich Street, back of the northeast corner of Rich and High. Seats were secured, a pulpit extem- porized, and there, on the first Sabbath in February, they met for worship. Mr. Stephen Topliff, a licentiate, condneted the services. On the following Sab- bath the Sundayschool was opened with sixteen teachers and sixty scholars. Abiel Foster, Junior, was its superintendent.

The original intent, as seen above, was to organize as a Congregational Church, but on the advice of Doctors Hoge and Lyman Beecher this purpose was abandoned and it was decided to change the name of the society and organize under that of Second Presbyterian Society of the City of Columbus, and that the church when formed should be called the Second Presbyterian Church of the City of Columbus. The church was organized March 3, 1839, by Rev. Lyman Beecher, D. D, Rev. Charles M. Putnam, of Jersey, Ohio, and Rev. William Beecher, of Putnam, Ohio. In addition to those dismissed from the First Church, Alexander A. Stewart, Horace Lord, Jonathan L. Preston and Sarah Maria Cook were received on profession of their faith, making thirtyone in all. Four elders were chosen : Abiel Foster and T. C. Butler, Junior, to serve two years, and Horatio N. Hubbell and Warren Jenkins to serve one year. The church at the beginning adopted the principle of " term service," electing its elders and deacons for the term of three years. In all cases they have been reelected if willing to serve.

Owing to the recent division, in May, 1838, of the Presbyterian Church into two assemblies known respectively as Old School aud New School, the church assumed an independent position. In its internal organization it was thoroughly Presbyterian but owned no subjection to Presbytery, Synod or General Assembly. Its affinities, were, however, avowedly with the New School. Its pastors were members of Presbytery and were installed or dismissed by it. It contributed to all the schemes of benevolence of the New School Assembly. This disposition as an independent Presbyterian Church it maintained until April, 1863, when, at its own request, it was received under the care of the Franklin Presbytery. On March 18, 1839, a charter was procured from the legislature by an act which passed that body " to incorporate the Second Presbyterian Society of Columbus," as fol- lows :

SECTION 1. That Abiel Foster, H. N. Hubbell, Alexander H. Warner, Thomas D. Cut- ler, Samuel Cutler Edward N. Slocum, Daniel Tuttle, Isban G. Dryer, Alexander A. Stew- wart, T. C. Butler, Junior, Andrew Lee, John Jones, William Burdell, A. Curtis and R. White and their associates and successors be and they are hereby incorporated into a body

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corporate and politic, under the name and style of "The Second Presbyterian Society of the City of Columbus," and as such shall enjoy and be subject to all and singular the pro- visions of an aet entitled an act in relation to incorporated religious societies passed March 5, 1836.

SECTION 2. Ten days notice shall be given by the abovenamed individuals or a majority of them, of their intention to hold their first meeting under the provisions of this act.

Under this charter the society was organized April 24, 1839. Horatio N. Hubbell, Warren Jenkins and Alexander H. Warner were elected trustees and directed to secure a lot and take measures for the erection of a church as soon as practicable. The lot selected was on the west side of Third Street, between Rich and Friend, now Main. Ground was broken on September 29, 1839, and on Christmas day the lecture room in the basement was dedicated to the worship of God. The building, afterwards enlarged, is that now occupied by the Third Street Methodist Church. Ils cost, including the lot, was 814,000. A little more than onethird of the cost was raised at the outset. The final payment was not reached until the tenth anniversary of the organization of the church, in March, 1849. The original subscription list, dated September 10, 1839, is here appended as containing the names of many of our citizens, most of whom have passed away :

We, whose names are bereunto subscribed, agree to pay the sum set opposite our names to the Trustees of the Second Presbyterian Society of Columbus, onefourth in sixty days, onefourth in ninety days and the remaining half on demand after the first day of April next; this subscription being designed to aid the society in paying for a lot and erect- ing a house for public worship thereon, and it being one of the conditions thereof that all sums subscribed and paid shall entitle the person paying to a receipt, which receipt shall entitle the holder to a credit for the amount in payment of any pew or pews he may pur- chase in such house.

The names attached to this pledge were as follows, the figures accompanying each one signifying the number of dollars subscribed :

H. N. Hubbell 1,000, Warren Jenkins 300, Alexander H. Warner 300, E. N. Slocum 250, Abiel Foster, Junior 100, Thomas B. Cutler 150, T. C. Butler, Junior 150, John Jones 50, I. G. Dryer 150, J. S. Hall 100, J. L. Preston 50, J. R. Swan 50, B. Latham 25, Jolin Greenwood 20, C. Fay 25, A. P. Stone 30, C. Heyl 20, Jobn French 20, Asa Gregory 50, H. Baldwin 30, John C. Wirt 20, J. Ridgway 25, William Miner 50, T. H. Miner 10, P. B. Wilcox 250, Isaac Dalton 100, C. Runyon 50, E. Case 150, D. C Judd 50, William Burdell 100, Samuel Crosby 150, Wil- liam Long 25, E. Trescott Junior 50, James Cherry 25, A. Buttles 25, George Elphinstone 10, O A. Statis 10, H. F. Huntington 10, 1. Graham 20, H. Brown 50, L. J. Burr 20, Jacob Boswell 20, J. Turney 20, Frederick Bentz 20, William Amos 10, S. MeElvain 5, George Krauss 10, John Funston 10, John MeElvain 25, Amos S. Ramsey 100, Charles S. Decker 10, Robert Mil- ton 20, Thomas Wood 5, George W. Slocum 5, Joseph P. Brooks 5, L. Mccullough 20, William L. Casey 20, M. W. Hopkins 75, J. C. Achison 20, Mr. Kelsey 10, Samuel Pike 10, J. Hunter 25, cash 5, Henry Glover 5, P. Hayden 20, Samuel Black 2, Horace Lord 150, II. Wood 50; total subscribed $4,747.

Less than three weeks after the organization of the church it gave a call to Rev. Henry L. Hitchcock, which he declined. Rev. George S. Boardman, of Rochester, New York, baving leave of absence from his church, devoted six months, from November to May, to the work of building up the infant church. In that time fifty additions were made to its membership which was more than

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doubled. Meanwhile the church building had been completed, and on April 10, 1840, it was dedicated. A pressing call to its pastorate was declined by Doctor Boardman, whereupon the church at once renewed its call to Mr. Hitchcock, who, on May 10, began his ministry in the Second Church. He was installed as pastor by the Presbytery of Marion, afterwards Franklin, November 21, 1841.

Henry L. Hitchcock, the first settled pastor of the Second Church, was a son of Hon. Peter Hitchcock, long a distinguished Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He was a graduate (1832) of Yale College and of Lane Theological Sem- inary. He was a preacher of great ability and a most efficient pastor. Through his personal influence many additions to the congregation were made. In 1850 the church was enlarged at a cost of $2,500. By this time the population of the city was 17,882. The effect of the railways then just being opened, in drawing the population northward, was obvious to Mr. Hitchcock. He therefore urged the building of a new church for a new congregation north of Broad Street. The soci- ety accordingly, in the summer of 1852, built a frame church on the east side of Third Street, between Broad and Gay, on the lot now occupied by the residence of Robert Smith. It was agreed that the congregation should be divided geo- graphically by Broad Street.

On September 25, 1853, fortytwo members of the Second Church were dismiss- ed to form the Third Presbyterian Church. Among those set off were two elders of the Second Church and others who have long been recognized as leaders in the Congregational Church. This movement was purely in the interests of church extension in the city -" to create a new center of influence from which other parts of the city might be reached and by which the increased Christian activity of a large number both in the old church and the new, might be secured." The colony thus sent forth with the benediction of the Church " was organized in the house erected for its use by the Second Presbyterian Society, on Sunday even- ing, September 26, 1852; a constitution, confession of faith and form of covenant having been adopted varying unessentially from those of the Second Church." Warren Jenkins, M. B. Bateham and John W. Hamilton, M. D., were installed as ruling elders. Rev. William H. Marble took charge of the new congregation and was installed by the Presbytery of Marion, in 1853. In the fall of 1856 this church changed its form of government and became the First Congregational Church of Columbus. At the time of the sending forth of this colony the mem- bership of the Second Church numbered 245. The growth of the city was rapid and the church shared in that growth. By 1853, after all deductions of those dis- missed to form the Third Church, and of those stricken from the roll as unknown, etc., the number on the roll was 225. The year 1853 was marked by great ingath- ering. Sixtyone were added to the Second Church, and sixtyfive to the Third. Large additions were made also to the First Church.

Early in 1855 Mr. Hitchcock, on whom the honorary degree of D. D. was con- ferred that year by Williams College, was elected to the Presidency of the College of the Western Reserve. This call he accepted ; he was therefore dismissed Sep- tember 4, 1855, after a pastorate of fifteen years. Doctor Hitchcock exerted during his ministry here an influence upon the community second only to that of

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Doctor Hoge. He was greatly blessed in the number of influential men who gath- ered around him as elders and trustees. He died at Hudson, Ohio, July 6, 1873, in the sixtieth year of his age.

In September, 1855, the church gave a unanimous eall to the Rev. Edward D. Morris, then pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Anburn, New York. The call was accepted and he began his work on the last Sabbath in September, 1855. He was installed by the Presbytery of Franklin January 2, 1856. Mr. Morris graduated at Yale in 1849 and pursued his theological studies in Auburn, New York. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Hamilton College in 1863.

The church, already onee enlarged and depleted by the formation of the Third Church, was found to be too small. The location also began to be unfavorable. The growth of the city was increasing northward and not southward. It was deemed best to build anew and in another location. Daniel T. Woodbury, a mem- ber of the church, offered as a free gift, conditioned only on the building of a new church, the lot on South Third Street on which the church now stands. The lot was valued at $4,000. It was resolved to build. A. P. Stone, John S. Hall, Charles Baker, Benjamin S. Brown, C. P. L. Butler, J. M. McCune, Daniel T. Woodbury and Henry D. Carrington were appointed members of the building committee. The plans of the architect, Sydney M. Stone, were approved. The estimated cost of the building was $35,000. A subscription of $20, 000 was seeured. This, with the sale of the old church, it was estimated would be sufficient. The work was begun April 27, 1857, but many delays occurred through such contingen- cies as the breaking of the canals, hindering the supply of stone, and the failure of the contractors making it necessary that the building committee should assume their responsibilities. The chapel was dedicated April 15, 1859, and the church July 1, 1860. The building thus erected was, in all, 145 feet in length by 62} in width and 76 in height to the gables. The height of the northwest tower, includ- ing the steeple, was 188 feet; that of the southwest tower 109 feet. The audience room was 97 x 60, and was fortyeight feet high. The chapel for Sundayschool and conference purposes, was 60 x 48 and two stories in height. The building had cost nearly twice the original estimate, owing in part to the change of material from briek to stone, and in part to the causes named above. The debt at the close of 1860 was $35,000. In 1861, 820,000 of this was paid ; by 1864, the quarter- centennial of the church, the debt and interest amounted still to 818,000, which was then pledged and paid.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 100

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202