USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The Old stone church; the story of a hundred years, 1820-1920 > Part 14
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At the beginning of Dr. Mitchell's Cleveland pas- torate the Ontario Street Tabernacle, the gift of Mr. William Doan, having been destroyed by fire, was superseded by the Music Hall and Tabernacle, erected by the same generous citizen on Vincent Street near Erie, now East Ninth Street. The structure, accom- modating four thousand three hundred people, was used for religious, educational, and musical purposes, and became a great central place for many inspiring gatherings.
Cleveland was called upon a second time to pre- pare in 1881 a temporary resting-place in the Public
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Square for a martyred president of the United States. James A. Garfield, although representing a neighbor- ing congressional district, had become the special pride of Cleveland. Nowhere in the land had the news of Garfield's nomination for the presidency at Chicago in 1880 been hailed with greater rejoicing than in Cleveland, and the real Garfield headquarters during the subsequent campaign were there, although the candidate remained for the greater part of the poli- tical battle at his home in Mentor, Ohio.
When the shocking news of the attempted assassin- ation of President Garfield reached Cleveland July 2, 1881, the city was plunged into the deepest grief. After President Garfield had passed away the closing funeral ceremonies were planned for Cleveland. In the Public Square a pavilion for the reception of the remains was constructed, and there for two days the body lay in state. Over one hundred thousand people from all parts of the nation came to witness the pro- cession to the tomb.
On Monday, September 26, 1881, the funeral cor- tege, five miles in length, wended its way to beautiful Lake View Cemetery, where afterwards the nation erected the mausoleum to which multitudes have made pilgrimages.
The decade from 1880 to 1890 was one of marked development. The annexation of East Cleveland and Newburgh in the early part of the previous decade had brought within the city's limits many acres which were not allotted until years later, and these now came into use.
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Andrew J. Rickoff, who served as superintendent of the public schools from 1867 to 1882, had just com- pleted his great work of fundamental organization, and the policies and impress of that constructive edu- cator continued long after his term of office.
Early in 1883 a second temperance campaign was waged, whose vigor depended largely upon the earlier Woman's Crusade. An amendment had been pro- posed to the Constitution of Ohio, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drink. The con- test was popularly known as the "Second Amend- ment Campaign." With neither of the leading polit- ical parties positively committed to the moral issue, the final vote in favor of the measure was far from being disappointing. Out of seven hundred twenty- one thousand three hundred ten votes cast, three hun- dred twenty-three thousand three hundred ten were in favor of the amendment. Considering the fact that the machinery at the polls by which the votes were counted was not favorable to the amendment's passage, the prohibition vote was surprisingly large.
One of the leading liquor dealers in Cleveland issued a characteristic "wet" warning."
If prohibition wins the farmers will be unable to sell sur- plus grain, and pork and beef will come down to such an extent that farmers will not be able to clothe their chil- dren in silks and satins, and to give them pianos. School- houses will disappear, because there will be no money to pay teachers. Thousands of houses will be tenantless. We have raised $75,000 to spend principally in Cincinnati and Cleveland, and we are going to teach prohibitionists to let our business alone. We try to live respectably and
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to lay up a competence for our children, but those blankety-blank old temperance women seem determined to ruin our business and families. We are just as respect- able as those who hold prayer-meetings, but we will show them that the liquor business is greater than their prayers and speeches. They say we make drunkards. A man don't have to buy liquor, if he don't want it. If he is fool enough to make himself drunk, that's not my fault. We intend to teach political parties that it is a dangerous thing to meddle with us. This is a free country and women have no right to loaf around election places.
Joseph Cook, of Boston, just prior to this election lectured in Cleveland upon "Alcohol and the Human Brain." At the time of the Second Amendment's defeat, the Honorable George Hoadley, a prominent lawyer of Cincinnati, but in earlier years a Stone Church youth and a graduate of Western Reserve College, defeated General Foraker for the governor- ship. Two Stone Church men ran for state senator on the Republican ticket. Elder George H. Ely was elected, but Dr. G. C. E. Weber, who made no effort to secure success at the polls, was defeated. Early in February of 1883 the Cuyahoga Valley was flooded; bridges were destroyed, oil tanks burned, and lumber- yards seriously damaged. The valley lighted by burn- ing oil spread upon the waters furnished a scene not soon forgotten. Later in 1884 lumber-yards and planing-mills on the flats suffered great losses through fires. The total losses through fires rose that year to one million five hundred twenty-two thousand eight hundred sixty-one dollars, a sum three times greater than the recorded losses of any previous year.
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It was at the opening of this year of disastrous fires that the edifice of the Stone Church was burned a second time. Messrs. Myron and Dudley Wick had erected during 1883 just west of the Stone Church a combination structure. The front part, known as the Wick Block, was an office building; while in the rear the Park Theater had been located. At a quarter after eight on Saturday morning, January 5, 1884, smoke was seen pouring from the windows of the theater. A general alarm summoned every fire company in the city to the scene of conflagration. For over an hour the fire raged without advancing beyond the ill- fated playhouse, and it seemed as though the Stone Church might after all escape a second baptism of fire, notwithstanding its proximity to the doomed building.
The heavy stone walls backed with brick lining, which had withstood utter destruction in 1857, again warded off the devouring flames. The slate roof and iron trimmings added to the non-inflammable nature of the church exterior, so that for a long time only the wooden window-frames had given way. Finally, however, the intense heat ignited the timbers of the arched and grained ceiling of the auditorium, and before anyone was aware the interior of the church had become a mass of flames. Previous to this a few provident spectators had removed the pulpit, cush- ions, carpets, and Sunday School furniture and books, so that the church society's loss was in a small degree lightened.
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By eleven o'clock nothing was left of the Wick Block and Park Theater except the bare walls; while the church was now a sheet of flames. As the smoke poured out of every crevice, a rumor spread that the towering spire might fall at any moment, as had been the case at the time of the former fire in 1857. The crowd of spectators hastily moved back into the Pub- lic Square, while many houses in the vicinity were vacated. These fears, however, proved to have been groundless, for the tall steeple continued to retain its upright position, as though fire had not twice de- stroyed the sacred edifice. At six o'clock the morning of the day of this disastrous fire the thermometer had registered ten degrees below zero, so that the firemen had been compelled to fight the devouring flames under great difficulties and intense suffering.
By one o'clock in the afternoon the grim walls of the Wick properties and of the Stone Church were covered with ice like a frosted cake, and the boughs of the large shade tree in front of the church bowed beneath the weight of ice that sparkled in the sun. The interiors of the ruined structures presented an appalling sight. Within the theater there was a deso- late scene, the charred debris first piled in vast heaps had then been frozen into a solid mass. The interior of the church resembled its old self in the general disposition of the pews and dim gallery outlines. The Christmas decorations had not been removed, and the thick clusters of evergreens suspended over the chandeliers and gas jets still hung thickly coated with ice.
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The total loss was estimated at one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars, much the smaller por- tion falling upon the Stone Church Society, which carried twenty-seven thousand dollars insurance upon the church and chapel, five thousand dollars upon the organ and fifteen hundred dollars on the furniture. The chapel had escaped the ravages of the flames to a greater degree than had the main auditorium. The fire in 1857 came upon a Saturday morning about eleven o'clock; that of 1884 was also upon a Saturday morning, but at an earlier hour; consequently in each instance hurried preparations had to be made for Sabbath services.
On Sunday morning following the second fire, Dr. Mitchell and his homeless flock were given welcome by the Plymouth Congregational congregation, which was in deep sorrow over the sudden death of its bril- liant pastor, the Reverend Charles Terry Collins, D.D. He had just completed the new church edifice, and had won a place in the affection of all denomi- nations, on account of his marked ability, extensive scholarship, and admirable social qualities. Dr. Mitchell's text was, "Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
At the close of this union service the officers of the Stone Church met and appointed Messrs. Reuben F. Smith, G. E. Herrick, and Edwin C. Higbee, a com- mittee to obtain a temporary place for stated serv- ices. Case Hall was secured by this committee, and it was used until the renovated chapel had been made ready for occupancy.
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The Stone Church was now confronted with the most momentous crisis in its history. The old down- town site must either be abandoned, or maintained in the face of almost insuperable difficulties. Strong temptation to leave the historic site assailed many of the leading members, and outside pressure was also applied by various capitalists anxious to obtain the land for hotel and theater purposes.
The temptation to sell the site was intensified by the probable resignation of Dr. Arthur Mitchell, who had been proffered a secretaryship by the Presby- terian Board of Foreign Missions. A greater ground for discouragement, regarding the possible holding of the down-town location, was the fact that four of the six trustees who had served many years had either passed away prior to or very soon after the fire. The first of these four officials to die was Mr. Geo. F. Burt. The second great loss was that of Mr. Amasa Stone. With all of his weighty business cares he had found time to give twenty-two years' service as a trustee. During the rebuilding of the edifice after the fire of 1857 this business man of large affairs had given his time without recompense to the supervision of the work of reconstruction. At a meeting held in May, 1883, to consider the advisability of enlarging the chapel, at the time of the construction of the Wick Block, the news of Mr. Amasa Stone's sudden death had come to the officers of the church. If such a busi- ness leader were ever needed it was after the second disastrous fire, but this strong supporter had passed away.
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The third trustee to pass away soon after the fire of 1884 was the Honorable Samuel Williamson, who was two years of age when his father came to Cleve- land. The son had resided seventy-four years in the city, from the time that it had fifty-seven inhabitants until in 1884 Cleveland claimed two hundred thou- sand people. He had been a practicing lawyer, a legislator, a county officer, and the president of the Society for Savings. For over half a century he had been officially connected with the Stone Church, and had served from 1860 until the time of his death as president of the Church Society. He passed away January 14, 1884, only nine days after the fire.
The fourth official of towering strength to fall was Mr. James F. Clark, a man of rare business ability who had devoted much time to the welfare of the Stone Church. He died January 21, 1884, seventeen days after the fire.
The parents of Mr. James F. Clark resided at Cooperstown, N. Y., but the son early became inter- ested in the engraving business at Albany. When only twenty-four years of age, however, he came to Cleveland and engaged in the hardware business under the name of Potter and Clark. After selling his hardware interests he became closely identified with the railroads that made Cleveland a terminus, and also engaged in the banking and real estate busi- ness. In 1834 he married Miss Eliza A. Murphey, of Colchester, Conn., and they made their first home on the Public Square, after which they built a home on Euclid Avenue. When twenty-seven years of age Mr.
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Clark became an elder in the Stone Church, and in the later years of life he served as a trustee. Mr. Clark was a man of refinement and his face was more that of a scholar than a merchant. During the last years of his life he spent much time in his library in the companionship of his books.
Thus it happened that a congregation, weakened by the deaths of officers of rare executive ability and liberality, worshiping in Case Hall, within sight of the blackened ruins of the old church home, and led by a pastor already committed to a new field of service, was subjected to outside pressure that might have prompted almost any church to sell what was then considered a valuable site, and to use the pro- ceeds for the construction of a church home elsewhere.
The Cleveland daily papers began to speculate over the possible and even probable uses to which the church site might be put. "Messrs. Wick," asserted the Cleveland Leader four days after the fire, "are still considering the hotel and theater scheme, and will probably carry it out if the site of the Stone Church can be purchased for a reasonable sum." The site, which was then eighty-eight by one hundred eighty-eight feet, was reputed to be worth eighty thousand dollars.
It was also declared that the Wick Brothers con- templated purchasing, in addition to the church site, a narrow strip of land owned by William Bingham, and running from Ontario Street to the alley separat- ing the theater from the old Court House, for the pur- pose of erecting upon the combined properties a hotel
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and theater. Rumor likewise had it that Mr. J. B. Perkins intended, if possible, to purchase the Stone Church property in order to construct a hotel.
The perplexed trustees showed wisdom in having discouraged any immediate agitation, on part of the members, relative to change of location.
Notwithstanding this attitude of the official boards Dr. Mitchell preached on January 14, 1884, a sermon reviewing the history of the church, at the same time setting forth possible plans for her future. He in- clined to take the position that the congregation would be benefited by a change of location, at the same time favoring the maintenance of a down-town mis- sion. Almost all who favored change of location sug- gested that a mission be supported in the heart of the city. There was likewise the assertion that few wished to worship under the shadow of a theater and in the midst of saloons.
Before this agitation over removal, however, had stirred the whole congregation, an important joint meeting of the members of the session and of the board of trustees was held January 26, 1884, in the office of Colonel John Hay in the Cushing Block. Plans were there discussed for the immediate placing of the chapel in order for Sunday use, as soon as the walls of the wrecked theater had become safe for workmen to be employed in their vicinity. It was estimated that by removing all class-room partitions the chapel would furnish a seating capacity of six hundred.
At this meeting, however, Colonel R. C. Parsons
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broached the subject of selling the property, and of going eastward to some point on Euclid Avenue. In- asmuch as the site of the Stone Church had been the gift of ten pioneer members of the Church Society, the question was raised as to the possibility of giving a clear title to any purchaser. Judge Samuel E. Wil- liamson was of the opinion that a clear title could be given, although he was opposed to the removal of the church. Colonel John Hay argued strongly for the retention of the old site; while others favored a change of location. The promise that Calvary Mis- sion then gave of becoming a strong Presbyterian Church, on account of the constant removal of Stone Church families to that locality, proved an addi- tional argument for selling the down'-town site, and using the proceeds in the construction of Calvary's sanctuary.
Trustee G. E. Herrick introduced for the considera- tion of the joint meeting of officers a resolution order- ing the sale of the old site, and the purchase of a new one on Euclid Avenue, "between Blair Lane and Willson Avenue." Today that tentative site would be between Fern Court and East Fifty-fifth Street. The resolution, however, was withdrawn.
Perhaps the immediate renovation of the chapel for worship was the most practical driving of stakes, whereby the church was held upon its original site. At the decisive meeting of the congregation held in the First Baptist Church February 2, 1884, the aged Elder John A. Foot wielded considerable influence in settling the whole matter, according to the account
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given by the late Judge Samuel E. Williamson in his paper, "Men of Mark in the Church and Society," read at the seventy-fifth anniversary. Having con- cluded very reluctantly that the church could not be supported financially, if it remained on the Public Square, he had struggled to convince himself that it would be wise to remove to the present site of Calvary Church, a plan practically adopted by a majority of officers; but the moment he saw the way open even for temporary support in the heart of the city, he seized the opportune moment; asked some one to take his place as chairman of the meeting, and made a clear, ringing speech in favor of rebuilding the old church, and captured his audience so completely that longer discussion was useless.
In the characteristic modesty of his nature it was like the late Judge Samuel E. Williamson to credit Elder John A. Foot with having swayed the congre- gational meeting at which the decision was taken to rebuild on the historic site. Without what Judge Williamson had accomplished, however, behind the scenes such a decision would probably never have been taken. The afternoon prior to the congrega- tional meeting the pastor and others had tried to per- suade him to favor the removal eastward, with the maintenance of a mission in the down-town district, but all of their pleas were in vain. At the evening meeting he took the ground that a mission chapel would answer no high purpose; that the church edifice could be rebuilt, not depressingly (the old audi- torium having been somewhat gloomy), but attract-
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ively, and that the whole church service could be conducted upon a high level. To the argument in favor of removal that deficits would increase on ac- count of the eastward trend of families, Judge Wil- liamson made a most practical reply in the form of a guarantee given by Mrs. Samuel Mather and other members, as well as himself, that deficits at least to the extent of ten thousand dollars would be met. With such an argument in favor of rebuilding upon the historic site, it is not surprising that good Elder John A. Foot was inspired to a climax of persuasive oratory.
During the week following the first Sabbath wor- ship of the homeless congregation in Case Hall, the famous Matthew Arnold of England lectured in that place upon "Numbers." He was introduced to his Cleveland audience by Colonel John Hay.
Three months prior to the burning of the Stone Church edifice, a new stone chapel had been dedi- cated at Calvary Mission. The primitive wooden chapel faced Euclid Avenue, at what is now the cor- ner of East Seventy-ninth Street. Back of the wooden chapel and facing what was then known as East Madison Avenue, now East Seventy-ninth Street, the present stone chapel had been constructed at a cost of nineteen thousand dollars. The Reverend John W. Simpson was in charge of the growing work, and the dedicatory services were held September 30, 1883, the Reverend Dr. Hiram C. Haydn having been invited to come from New York City to deliver the sermon. Dr. Arthur Mitchell presided and in the pulpit with
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him were the following clergymen: the Reverend John W. Simpson, the Reverend Charles S. Pomeroy, D.D., of the Second Church; the Reverend Rollo Ogden, who having returned from Mexico on account of the serious illness of Mrs. Ogden, had become pastor of the Case Avenue Church; the Reverend William Gaston, D.D., of the North Church; and President Carroll Cutler, D.D., of Western Reserve University. The text of Dr. Haydn's sermon was:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. With the completion of this permanent stone chapel came the real beginning of the collegiate form of church life embracing at the outset the Old Stone and Calvary congregations.
It had long been the conviction in the Presbyterian church at large that Dr. Arthur Mitchell was specially fitted for a secretaryship in connection with the Board of Foreign Missions. As early as 1870 he had been offered that position, but he could not then see his way clear to accept. The Interior of Chicago had advocated his selection, before he left that city for the Cleveland pastorate. When in the closing days of 1883 he was again proffered the position, he had practically decided to resign, in order to give himself wholly to the cause that he so dearly loved.
At a meeting of the Stone Church Session held March 29, 1884, Dr. Mitchell announced his inten- tion of closing his pastorate by June at the latest. Shortly after this announcement the Reverend John W. Simpson, assistant pastor in charge of Calvary
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Mission, presented his resignation, to take effect im- mediately. It was not until June 13, 1884, that Dr. Mitchell's resignation was formally presented and reluctantly accepted by the congregation, and three days later a meeting was held to select a successor.
In the midst of so many perplexities in which the congregation had become involved through the fire, the deaths of strong and tried leaders in the church, the resignations of two pastors, and the unsettling agitation over the change of church location, the offi- cers and leading members turned instinctively to the possibility of recalling the Reverend Hiram C. Haydn, D.D., as an assured solution of the complex situation.
Elder George H. Ely stated at the congregational meeting that he felt that a unanimous call might re- ceive Dr. Haydn's consideration. Certainly no min- ister could be found who could assume in all its details the difficult task confronting the Stone Church as could one who had already been eight years on the field. The four elders representing Calvary Mission asserted that its members would be unanimous in seeking to secure Dr. Haydn. The Honorable Rich- ard C. Parsons then presented this resolution, "That it is the sense of this meeting that Dr. Haydn be called to the pastorate of this church." A committee consisting of Elders Reuben F. Smith, Edwin C. Higbee and Francis C. Keith, and Trustees J. H. McBride and Samuel E. Williamson was appointed to prepare a call.
Dr. Haydn's acceptance of the call was received July 9, 1884, and thus encouraged by the prospect of
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the return of a tried leader the Stone Church did not hesitate to take advance steps to strengthen the col- legiate type of religious work. A special meeting of the elders representing both the Stone Church and Calvary Mission was held September 1, 1884, at which it was recommended that the Reverend Wilton Merle Smith, of Cazenovia, N. Y., be called as assist- ant pastor, at an annual salary of two thousand five hundred dollars, and at a later joint meeting of the congregations held September 12, 1884, the call was e xtended.
Cleveland Presbytery held a meeting on Sunday evening October 19, 1884, prior to the evening serv- ice. Dr. Haydn was received from the Fairfield Con- gregational Association of Connecticut, and the Rev- erend Wilton Merle Smith from the Presbytery of Syracuse. The evening service was devoted to the following order of double installation: To preside, the Reverend E. Bushnell, D.D .; prayer and reading of scriptures, President Carroll Cutler, D.D .; prayer before sermon, the Reverend Edward W. Hitchcock, of the Presbytery of New York; sermon by President S. F. Scovel, D.D., of Wooster University; prayer of installation, the Reverend Anson Smyth, D.D .; charge to the pastors, the Reverend Eleroy Curtis, D.D .; charge to the congregation, the Reverend W. V. W. Davis, D.D .; right hand of fellowship, the Reverend Rollo Ogden; benediction by the Reverend Hiram C. Haydn, D.D.
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