USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The Old stone church; the story of a hundred years, 1820-1920 > Part 22
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ANDREW B. MELDRUM
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congregation, and in his leaving us everyone feels a per- sonal loss. His courage, ability, tact, and talent as a preacher, pastor and man, need no comments beyond the recital of the facts. He came to us from a prosperous, appreciative church in Evansville, Indiana, when we were in debt over sixty thousand dollars and had a congre- gation that did not half fill our large auditorium. He leaves us with that debt practically paid and with over- flowing audiences attracted by plain, earnest, and elo- quent presentation of the simple gospel truth. Hundreds have united with the church under this preaching, and it is within bounds to say that thousands have been benefited."
The Stone Church Session answered the greetings of the St. Paul brethren:
The session and people of this church most gratefully ac- knowledge the friendship and brotherly love which char- acterize the communication now received from the breth- ren of our sister church. The kind, Christian spirit mani- fested throughout the trying ordeal is highly appreciated. We sought your pastor, brethren, not that we loved you less, or selfishly desired to deprive you of his labors which have so abounded among you to the advancement of the kingdom, but because we loved the kingdom more. God in his providence seemed to us by these very labors to point clearly to him as the choice for the leadership in the peculiar and difficult work of our church in this "down- town" field, and we feel that Dr. Meldrum has been moved by a like spirit in his decision to undertake this arduous work; has heard another call than ours, impelling him and his to sever the ties and to leave the scenes which are dear to his heart, surely, where he has won so great a success in the name of our common Master. Pray for him, brethren, and for us that his success may be even greater here. We invoke the blessing of God upon your church and upon the pastor who may be given to you, that you may prosper in the future as in the past and abound in the work of the Lord more and more.
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This brotherly spirit characterizing the change of Dr. Meldrum's ministerial labors from St. Paul to Cleveland was a splendid harbinger of the successful pastorate that has continued in the latter city for eighteen years. Cleveland in 1900 contained three hundred eighty-four thousand, one hundred eleven inhabitants; in 1910 five hundred sixty thousand, six hundred sixty-three. The 1920 census recently an- nounced a population of seven hundred ninety-six thousand, eight hundred thirty-six citizens. Without including the rapidly growing suburbs of Lakewood, East Cleveland, and the Heights Hamlets, which are extensions of Cleveland, the parent city has more than doubled in population during Dr. Meldrum's pastorate.
The outlook for the Stone Church when he came in 1902 was that of "holding its own." Almost every down-town church had moved eastward or was ap- proaching that inevitable change; the First Baptist to Prospect Avenue and East Forty-sixth Street; Trinity Episcopal to Euclid Avenue and East Twenty-second Street; the First M. E. Church to Euclid Avenue, corner of East Thirtieth Street. Plymouth Congregational Church has disbanded. The Euclid Avenue Presbyterian Church, formerly at the corner of East Fourteenth Street, is now located near the University Circle. The Second Pres- byterian Church on Prospect Avenue and East Thir- tieth Street contemplates removal. This leaves the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, fully a mile away, the only Protestant neighbor of the Stone Church. Even
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the St. John's Cathedral (Roman Catholic) has de- cided to move to University Circle.
Many Stone Church families residing at a distance from the Public Square naturally furnished very few children for the Sunday School, as they usually attend schools near their homes, even when the parents re- tain membership in churches at a distance. Thus the down-town Sunday School was destined to exist mainly for the children of the congested district, the majority of whose parents had no church affiliation; while the church itself must minister in increasing degree to a floating constituency.
The "grim reaper" was also certain to continue his ingathering of the vanguard of the Stone Church membership, splendid men and women who had been for years connected with the church endeared to them by many historic and traditional ties. To be called upon frequently to part with members upon whom the congregation had confidently depended, was not a heartening experience for the new pastor; still the Stone Church lives and works with a vigor productive of far better results than those of a congregation merely "holding its own." Faithful members fore- seeing the inevitable end of their labor of love on earth bequeathed endowment funds through which "their works do follow them." The endowments, now amounting to about two hundred thousand dollars, help to keep the Stone Church upon its original site, but there has been no disposition to lean upon such an assured income without the present generation
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contributing its financial strength to the maintenance of the work.
When death has taken those whose personal service and financial support have alike been extra generous, the question has frequently arisen, "How can we long continue the work with such inroads upon our membership?" Yet from unseen sources has often come assistance equivalent to the losses borne. Won- derful replenishments have succored the church that for one hundred years has existed for others.
At the beginning of Dr. Meldrum's pastorate in 1902 the officers of the Church Society were Judge Samuel E. Williamson, president; trustees: Martyn Bonnell, W. S. Tyler, Joseph Colwell, W. E. Cush- ing, and Peter M. Hitchcock. F. C. Keith was treasurer, and S. A. Raymond secretary. In this cen- tennial year only one of that board of trustees, Mr. Martyn Bonnell, remains, and he has served the church in that capacity over twenty-five years.
The session consisted of Reuben F. Smith, Francis C. Keith, William P. Stanton, T. S. Lindsey, Sereno P. Fenn, Joseph Colwell, Henry N. Raymond, Charles L. Kimball, John A. Foote, Jr., John S. Jennings, Lu- cien B. Hall, Samuel A. Raymond, James N. Fleming, George F. Boehringer, C. Stewart Wanamaker. Of the sixteen elders then in office, but four remain in service, namely Elders Sereno P. Fenn, Lucien B. Hall, George F. Boehringer, and James N. Fleming. Elder Charles L. Kimball resides in Chicago, but death has claimed the rest. The service of Elder Sereno P. Fenn as a member of the Stone Church
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Session has extended over thirty-eight years; while Elder Lucien B. Hall comes next with a service of twenty-six years.
The Board of Deacons consisted of A. B. Marshall, Thomas A. Torrance, Philip A. Ryder, Charles Shackleton, Clifford C. Smith, Edward M. Williams, Dr. H. B. Ormsby, Warner W. Elliott, James H. Burris, Thomas A. Munro, Charles W. Messer, and Tracy C. Williams. Of the above list only Edward M. Williams remains a deacon, but six former dea- cons, namely A. B. Marshall, Thomas A. Munro, Philip A. Ryder, Thomas A. Torrance, James H. Bur- ris, and Dr. H. B. Ormsby have become elders.
The Sisters in Charge were Miss Elizabeth Blair, Mrs. T. H. Cahoon, Mrs. Mary H. Bainbridge, Mrs. L. B. Hall, Miss Cornelia R. Andrews, Mrs. S. S. Gardner, Mrs. R. F. Smith, Mrs. H. N. Raymond, Mrs. F. C. Keith, Mrs. C. A. Nicola, Miss Agnes B. Foote. Of these eleven Sisters in Charge only Mrs. S. S. Gardner and Mrs. C. A. Nicola now serve.
This shows how swift the official changes have been during the last eighteen years. What a noble line of older men and women such as St. Paul would not hesitate to call saints on earth have entered into life eternal during the present pastorate. The great majority of these were descendants of pioneer mem- bers, the type of whose character can never be re- produced.
Perseverance in the heart of a teeming city, in the face of the loss of such tried and true members, many of them elders, trustees, deacons, and officials in
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various organizations, demanded Christian courage and faith. This era of endurance, under the leader- ship of "Scotch Grit," was inaugurated, however, by another church expansion movement which has re- sulted in the establishment of one of the strongest congregations in the Cleveland Presbytery. True, the locality in which the Lakewood Hamlet Mission was planted has become one of the most popular residential suburbs in which large churches have swiftly developed, but when the Stone Church as- sumed control of the mission from which the Lake- wood Presbyterian Church of a thousand members has grown in the last fifteen years, the proposition was very similar to the founding in earlier years of Windermere and Glenville Chapels.
Thus it was that nineteen persons, representing ten families, banded together to form a Presbyterian church. The Stone Church immediately responded to the needs of the new enterprise, as these records show :
January 25, 1905 - Dr. Meldrum and Elders Lucien B. Hall and Samuel A. Raymond appointed to act in the case of a Lakewood Hamlet church. Three hundred dol- lars to be raised to assist in organizing.
February 13, 1905 - Committee of three to attend a special meeting in Lakewood to consider steps to be taken looking to the organization of that body of be- lievers and their desired connection with this church.
March 3, 1905 - Voted that the moderator appoint two or more members of the session to attend with him a meeting of the Lakewood congregation for the purpose of receiving into membership of the Lakewood Branch
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of the First Presbyterian Church, Cleveland, Ohio, a num- ber who have signified their intention to become such.
March 10, 1905 - A preparatory service was held by this committee and sixteen received by the session. The Sunday afternoon following Dr. Meldrum, accompanied by Elders R. F. Smith, L. B. Hall, S. A. Raymond, T. S. Munro, Alfred Eyears, and George Boehringer, conducted a communion service and welcomed nineteen into fellow- ship with the parent church.
Of the persons received only four had been Pres- byterians. Six were Congregationalists, two Meth- odists, three United Presbyterians, and three Dis- ciples, showing the mixed denominational character of city missions. There was appointed at once a
Standing Committee on the Lakewood Branch whose duty shall be to cooperate with that body and perfect such a system as will facilitate our dealings and keep us in har- monious and healthful trust with each other financially and spiritually.
On March 31, 1905, the Reverend Alfred J. Wright was called by the Stone Church as assistant pastor in charge of the Lakewood Branch.
A partially unfinished residence was rented for three years as a meeting-place, but within a year this had been outgrown and the work moved to Miller's Hall, which became at once a beehive of activity, not only developing organizations such as the Sunday School, Christian Endeavor Society, and Woman's Mission- ary Society, but also a Men's Club, Ladies' Guild, Girls' Club, Women's Prayer Meeting, and Boys' Club. The chapel, located on Marlo Avenue, near Detroit Avenue, with its addition, cost about
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twenty thousand dollars. The first part was dedi- cated on January 5, 1903; the addition on April 6, 1913. At the end of the fifth year the mission em- braced two hundred twenty-one members, with one hundred twenty-five families. The Sunday School had gained an average attendance of two hundred nine, and six elders associated with the Stone Church Session cared directly for the Lakewood Branch.
By the year 1912 the Stone Church, including the Lakewood Branch, consisted of eleven hundred eighty-four members, but of this number three hun- dred forty-two were dismissed April 24, 1912, to form the Lakewood Presbyterian Church. Its present site, which cost about three thousand, is now worth ten thousand dollars. The church edifice, dedicated April 28, 1918, and costing eighty-seven thousand dollars, could not be duplicated at present for less than two hundred thousand dollars. The Lakewood Presbyterian Church and Sunday School each num- bers about one thousand members. The Reverend Alfred J. Wright, who assumed charge of the small Sunday School fifteen years ago, has remained in this prosperous pastorate, having been installed May 29, 1912. The Moderator of Presbytery, the Reverend James D. Williamson, D.D., presided; the Reverend Thomas S. McWilliams, D.D., delivered the sermon; the Reverend Andrew B. Meldrum, D.D., charged the pastor; while Elder Livingston Fewsmith gave the charge to the people.
The Lakewood Presbyterian Church proves the remarkable power of the Stone Church to "bear fruit
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in old age," when it might have turned from exten- sion plans to husband all resources wherewith to meet the increasing down-town problems. Already the Lakewood Presbyterian Church is cultivating the spirit of its mother. Grace Chapel, which was con- structed by the Presbyterian Union a few years ago, was given to the fostering care of the Lakewood Presbyterian Church. The work has prospered to such an extent that on Sunday, October 3, 1920, the Grace Presbyterian Church was formed. The Rev- erend Lee H. Richardson has been in charge of this new enterprise.
The growing cosmopolitan character of the Stone Church is emphasized by such names upon its roll as George Assad, Woo Let, Maryem and Farceedy Maalouf, Halvin Najeb, Michael Nassif, Assas Said, Nahli and Naseef Salim, Foo Lock, Wong King, Car- los Gomez, Alfonzo Espinosa, and others who, far from their homelands, have found Christian fellow- ship in this Cleveland congregation.
Mention must be made of a few who have passed away during Dr. Meldrum's pastorate, illustrative of the sterling character of those who form the roll of honor.
In January of 1906 the Stone Church Session passed resolutions relating to the death of Elder Ed- win C. Higbee, although for nine years his member- ship had been in Calvary Presbyterian Church. He had come to the Stone Church from Plymouth Con- gregational Church in 1874; a year later he was elect- ed an elder and remained for twenty-three years a
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most efficient worker. He was one of Cleveland's most prominent merchants, a partner of the Hower and Higbee Company, of lower Superior Avenue, and founder of the present Higbee Company on Euclid Avenue. Mrs. E. C. Higbee, who is living, has been a prominent member of the women's societies and at the seventy-fifth anniversary in 1895 she read a paper dealing with the foreign missionary work of the Stone Church.
In the case of the death of Judge Samuel E. Wil- liamson, on February 21, 1903, the Stone Church suffered a great loss, although professional service as counsel for the New York Central Railroad had already necessitated his residence in New York City. A worthy representative of the third generation of the pioneer Williamson family, a graduate of Western Reserve College in 1864, and of Harvard Law School, he became judge of the Common Pleas Court, but during the greater part of his professional career he was counsel for railway systems. A man of reserved temperament, he was recognized as one of the most eminent lawyers of his time and proved a tower of strength both to Western Reserve University and the Stone Church. He gave valuable assistance in the establishing of his alma mater in Cleveland, and at the time of the second fire in 1884 he was the strongest advocate of rebuilding, upon its historic site, the church in which three generations of his family had worshiped.
In connection with the loss of Judge Williamson one naturally thinks of a legal associate, Mr. William
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E. Cushing, who passed away in 1918. He also had graduated from Western Reserve College and from Harvard Law School, and represented the third generation of a Stone Church family, Dr. H. Kirke Cushing having been his father and Dr. Erastus Cushing his grandfather. In his quiet, unobtrusive manner he served as a trustee the church in which his whole life had been nurtured, and remembered generously the old church home in his will.
The death of Mr. Joseph Colwell on December 7, 1908, was a great loss to the Stone Church, with which he had been connected since 1858, a period of fifty years. Engaged in the banking business, he was held in high esteem in the city, and in the church he had been not only an elder, but at the time of his passing away he was also president of the board of trustees.
The death of Mr. and Mrs. Reuben F. Smith brought to a close lives long associated with the Stone Church. In the Cleveland Presbytery, the Synod of Ohio and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, Elder Reuben F. Smith was also well known. In 1836 his father, Mr. Edwin Smith, left Windham, Conn., for Ohio, and after a brief residence at Newark he came to Cleveland in 1840 and at once united with the Stone Church. The son, Reuben Fairbanks, became a Sunday School pupil at ten years of age. He entered the railroad business and finally became president of the Cleve- land and Pittsburgh Railroad. A trained executive and financier, he sought to develop in the church
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the spirit of systematic financial support and of be- neficence. For forty-three years he served the Stone Church as an elder, and so faithful was he that a meeting of the Cleveland Presbytery or of the Pres- byterian Union did not seem natural without his pres- ence. If there is any place where elders of large business capacity are needed it is in the meetings of the courts of the church, and the records made by such elders as Reuben F. Smith, Edwin R. Perkins, Edwin C. Higbee, Louis H. and Solon L. Severance, John Buchan, F. M. Sanderson, John Grant, S. P. Fenn, Charles W. Chase, W. H. Quinby, and other busy business men in their attendance upon meet- ings of Presbytery, are worthy of emulation today. In later years the older members of Cleveland Presby- tery recall with gratitude the time when such elders mingled with their brethren in the regular courts of the church. It is the personal touch that always carries the most potent influence. The only member of Elder Reuben F. Smith's family still connected with the Stone Church is his daughter, Miss Carrie B. Smith, who is most active in many lines of church work.
The Stone Church was strengthened for many years through the membership of two brothers who have passed away during the present pastorate. Samuel Raymond, born in Bethlehem, Conn., settled in Cleveland in 1835, where he, establishing the firm of Clark, Raymond and Clark, engaged first in the retail and then the wholesale dry-goods business. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Raymond became members of
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the Stone Church. In 1866 they started to visit Havana, Cuba, by way of the Mississippi River to New Orleans, and in a steamboat explosion Mr. Ray- mond lost his life, but the wife was rescued. The two sons, Henry N. and Samuel A. Raymond, were nurtured in the Stone Church and both of them served many years in different capacities. The old Raymond homestead was on Superior Avenue on the site of the Leader-News Building. The brothers served as elders in the church for many years. Henry N. Raymond was in later life connected with the Associated Charities; while Samuel A. Raymond was clerk of the session and secretary of the board of trustees. The latter united with the church in 1864, when nineteen years of age, and thus had been a member fifty years. Elected a deacon in 1886, he became an elder in 1899. For many years he was one of the most faithful teachers in the Sunday School. He is survived by the widow, a member of the Centennial Committee, and by six children.
In the year-book for 1916 there is a picture of the fine memorial window presented to the Stone Church in memory of Elder Samuel A. Raymond. Of this gift Elder Livingston Fewsmith wrote:
The beauty and richness of our church has been enhanced by the new memorial window erected by his family in memory of Elder S. A. Raymond. It is "a thing of beauty" and will be a "joy for ever." As a work of art it is perfect. The theme, "Beside the Still Waters," speaks the inmost thought of our dear friend to whose memory it is dedicated, and calms and quiets our hearts as we gaze upon it. It is a very gracious act thus to embellish
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our church and the three memorial windows we now have will always be an inspiration to us and of those who come after us.
At the same time there was this note:
Another beautiful act has been the presentation of the new Bibles which lie upon the pulpit and desk in memory of Mrs. Lucien B. Hall, so long admired and beloved as our loyal fellow member.
The death of Mrs. Flora Stone Mather, January 19, 1909, came with a peculiar shock and a deep sense of loss to the church in which her whole life had been spent and for which from earliest years she manifested such a wealth of personal devotion as well as financial generosity. At the time of her departure Miss Harriet A. Hurlbut paid this tribute :
Mrs. Mather, it is needless to say, filled a unique place in this church and city. She was fortunate in possessing rare qualities of mind and heart. With her great quiet- ness and gentleness of disposition and a deeply religious nature, was combined a quick, decisive judgment and great practical common sense. Anyone who has ever worked with her could not fail to be impressed with the readiness with which she solved perplexing questions and the wisdom and value of her suggestions. She came into the Stone Church in early girlhood and pursued a steady, consistent course to the end. The keynote of her life and character was that in all her abundant giving she gave herself freely, fully, gladly. In the many branches of the charitable work of this church, she was not only ready but eager to do her part; and none of us will ever forget how her face would light up with the glad smile of ready response to the call for aid and sym- pathy. It was so in our Ladies' Society and in the Mis-
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sionary Society, of which she was the inspiration; indeed, as one expressed it, she was the Missionary Society, and I think in all her varied interest there was no cause dearer to her heart than the great work whose field is the world. Her busy, active life here is ended, but we are sure that somewhere in God's great kingdom she is still doing His work. She has seen the light that never was on land or sea and is satisfied.
The golden evening brightens in the west, Soon, soon to faithful ones there cometh rest; Sweet is the calm of paradise to the blest.
To her if to anyone it belongs to be numbered
With the saints who from their labors rest.
Another member to be greatly missed was Mrs. Sereno P. Fenn, who passed away on January 12, 1917. At the time of her death she was president of the Ladies' Society. Of her the recording secretary of that organization wrote:
Many daughters of the Stone Church have done valiantly, but it seems to be the choice of this gentle little woman to make the Stone Church, after the claims of the home were met, the repository of her interest and help, her strength and time. She did large things, but little deeds that give pleasure to others were never left undone; her capacious motor was always at the service of her friends, and in her long trips of rest or recreation she never forgot to write to her "Dear Ladies' Society" of the sights she was enjoying. Bending over her vacant chair on the morning of January 24, in the room where the Ladies' Society was accustomed to meet, were tall American Beauty roses. They were sent by Mr. S. P. Fenn and Mrs. J. L. Severance, the daughter of Mrs. Fenn. The sight of the roses awoke in us a sense of our loss, but as we sensed their perfume we were greatly reminded of
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the all-pervading loveliness of her Christlike spirit, which had been to us an unfailing inspiration. Mrs. Fenn be- came a member of the Stone Church in 1862. She became active in Sunday School work, not only teaching a class but also playing the piano or singing. She met weekly with the Haydn Circle during its useful term of years; was a supporter of the Missionary Society; one of the Sisters in Charge; treasurer of the Ladies' Society, and for the last six years its president.
Less than two years of Dr. Meldrum's pastorate had passed when, on Christmas Day, 1903, Mrs. Laura R. Meldrum was taken from her family and from the circle of church members to whom she had been quickly bound by the ties of genuine affection. At the time of her departure Mrs. Meldrum was president of the Ladies' Society and as Mrs. Mather then said, "It seemed as if her death had drawn us nearer together." Helen, Andrew Barclay, Douglas and Dorothy Meldrum were the surviving children.
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