USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The Old stone church; the story of a hundred years, 1820-1920 > Part 21
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Almost every Sunday a theological theme was dis- cussed apart from the regular lesson, such as:
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Do the Scriptures teach that Christ is equal with the Father? Is a change of heart necessary to fit us for heaven? Are the Scriptures the Word of God? Is God eternal? How great is the power of God? Is God change- able?
That the missionary spirit was diligently cultivated these records show:
January 6, 1839 - Missionary subject, Ceylon. School examined on this station and very satisfactory answers given. Collection taken for the purpose of educating a heathen boy in Ceylon, to bear the name of the super- intendent [Mr. Handy].
The amount of the offering was ten dollars and seventy cents. Ceylon and the Sandwich Islands were frequently considered for the reason that former members of the school had gone as missionaries to those fields. Doubtless in later years this was true of South Africa, to which Dr. and Mrs. Adams went.
Each Sunday the names of the teachers were re- corded in parallel columns, one containing those of the male and the other those of the female teachers. Thus one Sunday the lists were:
Males - Andrews 1, Andrews 2, Younglove, Hewitt, Foot, Welles, Delamater, Penfield, Lathrop. Females - Day, Ford, Lathrop, Andrews, Hewitt, Hitchcock, Butler, Burritt.
The lists changed frequently, but these are noble examples of the generations of lay helpers who have served in succession the Bible school work of the Stone Church. After the seventy-fifth anniversary celebration of 1895, the book published under the
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title of Stone Church Annals contained the photo- graphs and names of fourteen superintendents who had served to that date, namely Elisha Taylor, T. P. Handy, John A. Foot, George Mygatt, F. C. Keith, R. F. Smith, George H. Ely, F. M. Backus, H. M. Flagler, H. N. Raymond, Reverend H. C. Haydn, Dr. C. F. Dutton, E. C. Higbee, and C. L. Kimball. A few others had served, such as William Slade, Jr., and Thomas Maynard. Mr. C. L. Kimball went to Chi- cago in 1899 and was succeeded by Elder C. Stewart Wanamaker, who was superintendent until 1905, when Elder S. P. Fenn, long connected with the North Presbyterian Sunday School, assumed the home school's superintendency, which has continued until this centennial year. Yes, "helpers all" were the Sun- day School officers and teachers whose names cannot be tabulated, as well as the names of elders, deacons, trustees and of the officers of the many organizations that have assisted in making the Stone Church the power for good that it has been.
A young peoples' society existed at least as early as the beginning of the pastorate of Dr. Goodrich, and the vigorous Christian Endeavor Society has flourished for twenty-eight years. Would that there were time to gather and space to record the names of the officers of the Ladies' Society, the Sisters in Charge, the Woman's Missionary Societies, the Church of the Covenant, the Goodrich Society, the Student Volunteer Fund, the Mothers' Club, the Boy Scouts, the Intermediate Christian Endeavor So- ciety, the Westminster Guild, the Auxiliary to the
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Woman's Societies, the Syrian Mission, and of all the Stone Church clubs and societies that have existed for the wholesome recreation and spiritual instruction of youth. What a host of lay workers, who, without compensation other than that of the joy of Christian service, have led the activities of the Stone Church! If the centennial historian could not find time to record their names and to extol their deeds, perhaps someone coming after him will be able to accomplish this.
One branch of the Stone Church Sunday School, however, should be described, namely the Chinese Department, sustained mainly in behalf of a class of men isolated not only from their country, but also from those among whom their lot has been cast. The first effort to reach the Chinese of Cleveland was from 1877 to 1880, when Mr. B. F. Shuart gathered a group of them in his home for instruction. A Mr. Stewart from Oberlin also gave assistance in this work. It was not brought directly under church con- trol until the pastorate of the Reverend Henry W. Hulbert, D.D., but the Stone Church had been freely used for the school prior to that time.
Even in the case of Chinese born on the Pacific coast, so repressive had been their "Chinatown" seg- regation that they were often no better versed in English than their fellows from China; consequently the first thing essential in helping all of them was the teaching of English. The Stone Church Chinese Bible School has usually been held on Sunday after- noons from two until four o'clock, and for many years
1
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the main text-book has been an English-Chinese reader published by the American Tract Society, with English and Chinese reading in parallel columns. Effi- cient work necessitates a teacher for each pupil, and the task is very difficult, as it demands much self- sacrifice and patience on the part of the teachers. Little progress can be made without persevering effort and uniform attendance on the part of both pupils and instructors. The Misses Marion McD. and Mary F. Trapp have been for over thirty years devoted to the success of this Chinese work. During their long term of service the local Chinese popula- tion has increased from one hundred fifty to over six hundred. In earlier years the "boys" as the pupils are familiarly termed were for the most part indus- trious laundrymen. They and their later countrymen are warm-hearted and generous to a fault, and need very little instruction as to the meaning of the fifth commandment. Care for parents in China is never neglected. Sons do not wish their parents to labor after fifty-five and sixty years of age, and they send financial aid not only to parents, but also to poor relatives. The Chinese pupils are very fond of sing- ing in connection with the Sunday afternoon meet- ing, although it is difficult for them to master our melodies. This hard-working class of men depend upon their teachers for advice in many matters of business, and look to them especially when they are overtaken by any kind of trouble, such as illness or petty persecutions to which they are often subjected. Frequently the vigilance of government officials re-
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garding passports and the general provisions of the exclusion act cause trouble, to the hindering of the work of the Chinese Bible School. This happened in 1907, when a boy was deported, and again in 1916, but when such agitations have come, the school, although smaller in numbers, has often been char- acterized by more steady attendance.
Naturally there was a great awakening among the Cleveland Chinese when China in 1912 became a re- public. The fact that Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the first president of the republic, had spoken the year pre- vious in the Stone Church, gave added interest to his countrymen in Cleveland.
In 1913 Chinese children began to become a factor in the life of the Stone Church, and one baby was baptized "Samuel Harvey Meldrum Shum." China's policy of sending a more educated class of her youth to attend American colleges and universities brought a number of these to Case School and Western Re- serve University. They began early to evince interest in the welfare of their less favored countrymen. At first the latter were not inclined to mingle with the better educated, but since the war the social chasm seems to have been bridged and at present there is a spirit of mutual helpfulness.
Dr. Samuel Chiu, a practicing physician of eight years' standing in China, came to Cleveland to pur- sue a postgraduate course in medicine. He formed a club of his people and having been supported by the Episcopal Church, of which he is a member, his club naturally met in Trinity Church for the Sunday
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afternoon instruction, thus diminishing somewhat the attendance at the Stone Church. This proved, however, that in respect to the Chinese, as well as to all other classes, the Stone Church has sent out colonies, for this Chinese club was the third organi- zation of the kind to start from the Stone Church Chinese Bible School.
Some years ago a group of Chinese went to the Central Young Men's Christian Association building and to Plymouth Congregational Church. After that congregation had disbanded the pupils gathered for instruction in the Sarah Andrews School. A Chinese class had also been formed in the Franklin Circle Disciple Church, but the Chinese Bible School of the Stone Church is the oldest and in a sense the parent of the other schools.
Recently a number of Chinese funerals have been held in the Stone Church, the Reverend Andrew B. Meldrum, D.D., conducting a Christian service. At times there has been the additional observance of some Chinese ancient burial rites, but generally the Christian service has sufficed. Some of the members of the Chinese Bible School have united with the Stone Church; a few have returned to China, where they have been useful in Christian service, even to the extent of building churches. With the majority of the "Chinese boys" the task of the teachers is that of helping them without immediate enrollment in the Christian church, but the patient continuance of the tireless instructors of these strangers within our gates
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must ultimately be crowned with success in God's good time.
Not only has generous assistance been given to home missionary work throughout the land, but the Stone Church has also had its special represen- tatives in many foreign countries. Eighty-seven years ago the first missionary society was organized in the Stone Church. The Reverend and Mrs. Samuel Hutchings went to Ceylon; Dr. and Mrs. Adams to Natal, Africa; Mr. Samuel W. Castle to the Sand- wich Islands; Mrs. Parsons and her husband to Ar- menia, where the latter was murdered, and the two daughters continued the life purpose of their parents at Harpoot, Turkey, and in China. More than sixty- five years ago Mrs. Birrill went to India from the home of Mr. Henry Harvey as a bride equipped by the Stone Church Missionary Society. Her two daughters continued the work in India. Miss Sellers was given a farewell reception and outfit in 1874 as she was leaving for China. Miss Dascomb and Miss Kuhl represented for twenty years the Stone Church in Brazil. Miss Fullerton of India and Miss Belle Marsh of Japan were for some time especially re- garded by the Stone Church ladies. Mrs. Bessie Nelson Eddy and Mrs. Mary Schauffler Labaree rep- resented the Stone Church respectively in Syria and Persia, where the husband of the latter became a martyr. Miss Hattie Noyes Kerr, once a member of the Stone Church, labored long with a brother and sister in China. Mrs. Annie Johnson Laughlin spent three years in China before she passed away. The
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work of Miss Fannie Goodrich, daughter of the Rev- erend William H. Goodrich, D.D., in behalf of the Mountain Whites near Asheville, N. C., has always enlisted the warm interest of the Stone Church in which her early years were spent.
About 1897 "The Student Volunteer Fund" was inaugurated for the purpose of supporting a repre- sentative upon a foreign field. The Reverend Howard Fisher, who went as a minister and physician to Ambilla City, northern India, first received the sup- port of this fund. Then successively the Reverend Walter J. Clark, of Umballa, India; J. Rutter Wil- liamson, M.D., and Mrs. Williamson, of Miraji, West India Mission, were sustained, until about 1909, when Dr. Robert H. H. Goheen, Vengurla, West India Mis- sion, became a more stated representative. The salary of Dr. Goheen is met by the Stone Church and that of Mrs. Goheen, the daughter of Dr. Ewing, the late veteran missionary to India, is paid by the Lacka- wanna Presbytery. The Vengurla mission is in a purely Indian community of seventeen thousand in- habitants, whose deep prejudice against all Christians has waned before this medical service in their behalf. The other representative of the Stone Church in a foreign field is Mrs. Eli Mowry, of Pyeng Yang, Korea.
Among the many Stone Church helpers those who have led the musical part of divine worship should not be ignored. There is historical loss in the omission of the names of organist and choir members from the annual manual and directory. These names are given
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in the Weekly Bulletins which have not been pre- served as carefully as the series of year-books.
From the days when Mr. Tuttle led the singing, assisted by Mr. and Mrs. T. P. Handy, at the dedi- cation of the first building; and from the time that Deacon Hamlen and Mr. DeWitt "pitched the tunes" and Mr. Benjamin Rouse gave inspiration to the service of song, down to the present time, the Stone Church has been spiritually blessed through its musi- cal services.
Perhaps the first reference to church music on the trustees' records was that of April 7, 1841:
Mr. Knowlton was appointed to take care of the singing, $200 per annum; Edwin Cowles to blow the organ at $12 per year.
The trustees set aside annually a maximum sum for music and appointed a small committee to engage "an Organist, Chorister and blower," within the fixed allowance. The organist and chorister were of suffi- cient importance to have their titles capitalized, but the office of "blower" was always spelled with a small "b." Usually he was a lad willing to earn a quarter once a week and perhaps anxious to have a seat in the choir gallery. Edwin Cowles, the "blower of 1841," became the founder and editor of the Cleve- land Leader. In 1855 Samuel Gardner was the pipe- organ's motive power; while the last-named manipu- lator of the bellows was Julius Zipp, whose recom- pense had risen in 1876 to fifty-two dollars per annum.
Mr. S. L. Bingham led the choir from 1841 to 1845, and he was succeeded by Mr. H. S. Slossen, Mr.
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Novell, and Mr. George Dunham, all having served prior to 1860. Then appear in the records the names of individual choir members, such as Miss Segur, who commenced to serve in 1859. Mr. D. B. Chambers led the choir in 1872 and Mr. Frank B. Stedman took charge in 1875. The distinct quartet choir appears in the minutes of the trustees in 1876, with the em- ployment of Miss Suggett, afterwards Mrs. John H. Ranney, Mrs. M. E. Rawson, and Mr. Spindler, "All to supply their places when absent, including the blower." Miss Dora Henninges succeeded Miss Sug- gett in 1880, and at the same time Mr. Joseph F. Isham and Mr. George Duckett were secured. These three, with Mrs. Rawson, formed a quartet, the cost of which to the congregation was over two thousand dollars, and this quartet did not change its personnel for nine years. Mr. Isham and Mr. Duckett were tenor and second bass of the famous Arion Quartet, whose other two members were Messrs. Lang and Jaster. Miss Rouse took the place of Miss Henninges for a year, when the latter returned in 1884. Later soprano singers were Mrs. Seabury C. Ford, Miss Carrie Louise Beltz, Miss Agnes Grant, Miss Sarah Lavin, Miss Blanche Armstrong, Miss Anna New- comb, afterwards Mrs. Wanamaker, who served for twenty-one years. Mrs. Estelle Chapin Thomson is the present soprano.
Among the alto singers have been Mrs. O. A. Trei- ber, Miss Lenora Martin, Miss Jessie Smith, Miss Grace Upham, Miss Sarah Layton Walker, after-
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wards Mrs. Black, and Miss Lila Robeson, the pres- ent member of the choir.
The more recent tenors have been Mr. Henry A. Preston, Mr. Newcomb Cole, Mr. Samuel Beddoe, and Mr. Edwin Douglass, who retired this year after a service of twenty-one years. Mr. J. A. Myers is his successor. Some of the bass singers since the day of Mr. George Duckett have been Mr. William Dut- ton, Mr. Walter Howell, who died toward the close of thirteen years of service, Mr. Gustave Bernike, Mr. Arthur Hudson, Mr. Alfred Burr, and Mr. Fred S. True, the present choir member.
The first organist named in the records was a Mr. Voss, employed in 1849. Miss Rockwell presided at the organ in 1852. Mrs. D. B. Wick was organist in 1872, when Mr. D. B. Chambers led the choir, and the trustees gave a vote of thanks to both for their gratuitous services. In 1873 Mrs. A. Hills presided at the organ, and after her Mrs. S. R. Isaacs, Mr. George Brainard, Mr. F. C. Wade, and Mr. Whitely served until the commencement of the remarkable leadership of Professor W. B. Colson, who for thirty years has been the efficient organist and choirmaster. Much credit belongs to the present choir leader for the excellence of the Stone Church music, and many have been delighted with his annual twilight organ recitals, during the month of October.
At the construction of the church edifice in 1856 an organ costing three thousand three hundred dol- lars was installed by Jardine and Sons, of New York City. This instrument destroyed by fire was re-
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placed by one that was removed in 1877 from the rear of the auditorium to the northwest corner of the room. The present magnificent organ was the gift of Mrs. S. V. Harkness, and a gold plate upon it bears this inscription :
In Memory of her beloved daughter Florence Sept. 20, 1863 - July 29, 1895. The gift of Mrs. Anna M. Harkness to the church of her love. "Blest be the tie that binds."
At the time of the ninetieth anniversary celebration in 1910 a set of organ chimes was presented to the church by Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Tyler and Mr. and Mrs. S. P. Fenn. Later, in 1917, through the gener- osity of Elder S. P. Fenn, a beautiful harp attach- ment was added to the organ; while in memory of Mrs. Fenn the tower chimes were installed.
Very few know of two series of lettering on the bell that hangs in the tower. On one side there are these lines:
Cast for the First Presbyterian Church, Cleveland, Ohio. In the Year of Peace, 1865.
On the opposite side of the bell are the lines: Samuel C. Aiken, Pastor Emeritus. William H. Goodrich, Pastor.
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One more line of helpers must not be forgotten. Although mentioned last the custodians or care- takers of God's house are not the least of His faithful servants. Reference has been made to Deacon Ham- len trimming the candles on the walls of the sanctuary and relighting those that might have been snuffed out, by the touch of the candle from the lantern on his arm. Mr. J. E. James was appointed sexton in 1841 and was paid one hundred dollars a year with the use of a lot. This custodian evidently owned a house that stood upon church property. He served until 1845, when having passed away he was suc- ceeded by Mr. Chidgey. From the James estate the trustees purchased the house and the new janitor was granted the use of house and lot in addition to a monetary consideration.
Then commenced in 1847 a custodianship which continued thirty-five years, or until 1882, through fourteen years of Dr. Aiken's pastorate, all of Dr. Goodrich's term of service and through the first settlement of Dr. Haydn into one-half of Dr. Mitch- ell's pastorate. Of the fidelity of Mr. John Heard, Mrs. H. K. Cushing, in her paper on "The Ladies' Society," read at the seventy-fifth anniversary, said:
In these days of modern improvements, in churches as in homes, it is not easy to recall the emptiness and cheer- lessness of church rooms, or the disadvantage at which much of our work was formerly done. In this connection we are reminded of the sexton, who for more than thirty years served this church and its societies with a fidelity to its ministers and its members that made him the per-
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sonal friend of all. The great doors which for so many Sabbath mornings he swung back were to him the very gateway to heaven, and the church was to him a temple and its humblest duties honored him. Faithful John Heard! We write your name within our book as one worthy to be remembered.
Mr. John Heard and his sons cared not only for the Stone Church property but also for the old Central High School and the Walnut Street Home. The candles of Sexton Hamlen had given way to artificial gas, whose jets were set ablaze by a gasoline torch at the end of a long bamboo pole. In the coldest spells of winter, in order that the sanctuary might be comfortable by the time for Sunday morning wor- ship, Mr. Heard slept Saturday nights either in the pastor's study or the vestibule of the church, where there was a stove. Mrs. Mary A. Cole, a daughter of faithful John Heard, for fifty-eight years a member of the Stone Church, passed away September 10, 1920.
With steam-heating plants and up-to-date equip- ment of various kinds a large city church can no longer be left to any part-time caretaker. Fortu- nately the Stone Church secured, a third of a cen- tury ago, Mr. George F. Henderson, then in the very prime of life. Born in Cleveland a little over sixty years ago he has given the best part of his days to the care of the Stone Church property. A "gilder" by trade in early manhood, he has gone deeper than mere surface brightening of the things committed to his trust. The thirty-three years of service have been characterized by marked fidelity. The late Elder Livingston Fewsmith, who was in a position to see
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the daily toil of Mr. Henderson, did not neglect to bear testimony in annual reports to the faithfulness of this church custodian. Thus in the 1912 year-book he wrote:
Mr. Henderson will have been with us twenty-five years next month, and deserves mention for his faithful and efficient services during all these years.
Again in another report he recorded:
Our janitor has done more work last year than ever be- fore, for although it may not be generally known the work of the janitor of this church is constantly increas- ing. I have known a good many churches and the kind of janitors they have, and I think I can say we have the best.
Yes, helpers all have been the doorkeepers of God's house, as well as those who have ministered more directly to the life within the sanctuary.
A servant with this clause Makes drudgery divine; Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws Makes that and th' action fine.
XII. PASTORATE OF THE REVEREND ANDREW BARCLAY MELDRUM
The first installed pastor of the Old Stone Church. the Reverend Samuel C. Aiken, D.D., was a Scotch- Irish-American whose line of ancestry, extending from Scotland to North Ireland, finally reached New England. The present pastor, the Reverend Andrew Barclay Meldrum, D.D., was born in Scotland and came to the United States by way of Canada, where his family had settled when he was about fifteen years of age.
The author waited long for facts concerning Dr. Meldrum's life previous to his Cleveland pastorate, but the bringing of such historical items to light must be the task of another historian. The Stone Church pastor may have been apprehensive lest the reader think that the historical material of this last chapter had been supplied by the one whose pas- torate is here delineated, but it can be positively asserted that the skeleton and data of the closing period of the existence of the Stone Church were discovered by the author alone during the last few days of grace allowed by the publisher.
It is fairly certain, however, that young Meldrum while pursuing studies at Knox College in Canada
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was invited about 1884 to spend a summer's vacation supplying a church in San Francisco, Cal.
This led to his remaining on the Pacific coast as an assistant pastor. After having supplied in 1885 the St. John's Presbyterian Church of San Francisco he became its pastor and continued in that capacity until 1887. The second field of service at Rock Island, Ill., extended from 1888 to 1890. From 1890 to 1896 he served the Grace Presbyterian Church of Evans- ville, Ind., and then went to the Central Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minn., where he remained until called in 1902 to the First Presbyterian Church of Cleveland.
The transition from St. Paul to Cleveland was courteously handled by the officials of the respective congregations, the one losing and the other gaining a highly valued pastor. The session of the Central Church of St. Paul wrote to their Cleveland brethren:
Owing to the positive and irrevocable tone of Dr. Mel- drum's letter to the session, and believing that he has thoroughly, conscientiously, and finally decided what was his duty in the matter, the session felt constrained to concur in the request. We would, therefore, submit the following resolutions, which but faintly express what is in our hearts to say:
"Resolved, that we, the congregation of the Central Presbyterian Church, of the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, in consenting to the dissolution of the pastoral relation of our church with the Reverend Andrew B. Meldrum, D.D., who has been our pastor since December, 1895, do so with the deepest regret and sorrow, and only because he has been called to a field that he conscientiously feels needs his services more than we do. His relations have been and now are the most cordial with every member of the
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