USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > Steubenville > The church in eastern Ohio; a history with special reference to the parishes of St. Paul's, Steubenville, St. James's, Cross Creek and St. Stephen's, Steubenville > Part 8
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
portion of it now does service as a credence table in the present church.
The last parish meeting in the Academy was held on April 21, 1833, at which time Dr. John Andrews and Nathaniel Dike were added to the Vestry, and Henry itoldship the following year, who was succeeded in 1834 by J. C. Hoghland, and Benjamin Browning in 1835. Dr. Jolin Andrews was then treasurer. Comunicants numbered 65 in 1833, and 70 in 1834, Sunday School scholars 70 and 80. St. James's reported 94 and 55 con- municants, Sunday School, 30 and 35, the diminution be- ing due to the separation of St. John's, East Springfield. The usual plea was made for a missionary. B. M. Ath- erton represented St. James's at the convention of 1833. Neither parish was again represented until 1837, when John H. Veirs represented St. Paul's. On September 20, 1835, sixteen were confirmed at St. Paul's and ten at St. James's on the next day. On May 21, 1837, two were confirmed at St. Paul's, and three at St. James's on the 19th, in two years. Whether there was any connection between the infrequency of episcopal visitations and the shrinkage of confirmation classes is impossible to say, but it is apparent that the leadership in diocesan affairs had drifted into other sections. A gradual increase in communicants as well as Sunday School scholars is re- ported from St. Paul's, with the rural parishes about stationary.
John Boyer was appointed sexton of St. Paul's on January 1, 1834, at a salary of $40 per year. On No- vember 30 of that year the Vestry authorized the plaster- ing of the west end of the basement, and that it be rented to Mr. Powell for school purposes at $30, it having al- ready been occupied by Mr. Dempster for that purpose since March 20 preceding, but objected to for want of plastering. Mrs. Sheldon was given the privilege of
ST. JAMES'S CHURCH, CROSS CREEK, BUILT 1861.
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ST.JOHN'S HEROI EAST SPRINGFIELD, BUILT IN.
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occupying the east half for a school, in common with the Sunday School. December 4 the organ gallery was or- dered to be projected forward five feet and extended laterally the width of the central body of pews to accom- modate additional singers. On December 3, 1834, an auxiliary educational and missionary society was formed with the rector as president; Dr. Andrews, treasurer and secretary ; Messrs. Wells, Browning and Veirs, collect- ors. There is no subsequent report.
During the early part of 1835 a single story brick house, 18x38 feet, for the sexton was erected on the west end of the parish lot, and on June 1 Mr. Branson was chosen, he agreeing to give his services for the use of the house. The cost was $374.84. This with other extra expenses brought the parish debt up to $633, which was extinguished during the following year. William Gold- rich succeeded Mr. Boyer as sexton, and occupied a room in the basement. B. Tappan and Mr. Allen also had an office there.
On April 7, 1836, the Vestry pledged the parish to pay the rector $300 per annum for three-fourths of his time, and decided that his whole time should be secured as soon as possible. A resolution was adopted to con- sider the propriety of declaring all the pews in the church free and open, which was quite a forward step for that day. A subscription was started for this purpose, which met with fair success, but the movement was evidently in advance of the times, and was not completed.
At the parish meeting of St. James's Church on April 3, 1837, it was reported that subscriptions of about $1,500 had been obtained towards the erection of a new church, and it was resolved to build a brick structure 33x55 feet. The Vestry and Building Committee having this work in charge were composed of John Henderson, John Elliott, James Cunningham, James Dugan, Lewis
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
Detur, William Cunningham, Daniel Dunlevy, George Henderson and George Mccullough. Rev. Dr. Morse resigned the rectorship on October 10, and was succeeded by Rev. Richard Gray here and at St. John's.
Mr. Morse was now able to devote his whole time to St. Paul's, in recognition of which his salary was in- creased to $400 per annum, not a very princely sum if paid regularly, as it was not. At this point it may be well to note that one of the strongest foes of intemper- ance at a time when there was practically no restraint, was Dr. Morse. In a book of notes by Robert A. Sher- rard, a leading pioneer and member of the Presbyterian Communion, we find the following: "It was during the time while Rev. Mr. Morse was pastor of St. James's Church that he formed the first temperance society in it that was to be found anywhere in Jefferson County ex- cept in Steubenville, which last mentioned society was the first in Steubenville or the county, and was gotten up under the vigilance of Rev. Dr. C. C. Beatty, Rev. Mr. Morse and others. I, R. A. Sherrard, signed the pledge of both societies the fall of 1830."
Following the example and training of their prede- cessors beyonds the seas, educational matters have always occupied a leading place in the minds of American Churchmen. The Jamestown pioneers, having opened the first free school on this continent followed by its out- growth in the form of higher education, wherever any of their offshoots rooted the same policy was followed. We have already seen how the Worthington Churchmen as one of their first acts laid off a portion of their land for educational purposes, and how the inspiration which imparted life to the Kenyon College project came from Steubenville as well as an active part in its organization. So it was in direct line with the teaching of the Church that Mr. Wells should erect the first building in Steuben-
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ville devoted exclusively to school purposes. It was a one-story structure on the site of the present electric light plant, painted red, from which it took the name of "The Little Red Schoolhouse," a title which has passed into a proverb as indicating the first public school build- ing in Ohio. W. C. Howells, father of the novelist, who attended this school, has left us a description of it, with mention of his companions, the Wells children, and oth- ers, among them Edwin M. Stanton, a delicate, studious child. Another step was taken when Mr. Wells, in 1818, inaugurated the Academy project, whose building was to be the home of the infant congregation for eleven years. As previously indicated, one of the first uses of the new church basement was for school purposes, and by 1838 the town was pretty well supplied with private schools. The time had now come, however, when the matter of elementary education could no longer be left solely to private enterprise, and here again the members of the Church came to the front. Necessary legislation had already been provided, and the first Board of Edu- cation appointed, consisting of Dr. John Andrews, presi- dent, James Means and Dr. C. C. Beatty, who had been conducting a flourishing female seminary. A meeting was held at Dr. Andrews's office on October 1, when a resolution was adopted submitting to the people the ques- tion of a tax for the erection of two suitable school build- ings, one in the north, and the other in the south end of town. Details of these proceedings will be found in the author's history of Jefferson County. Suffice it to say that the buildings were erected and opened for use the following year. At the outset a difficulty was met, which required some tact and a broad-minded spirit to over- come, but Messrs. Andrews and Means were equal to the emergency, as the following extracts from a report pre-
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sented by them at a school meeting held in September, 1840, will indicate :
We presume it is not too much to say that whatsoever may be the present public opinion on this subject until recently free schools have proved, among us, to be almost useless so far as any permanent useful result is concerned. In investigating the cause of this important fact the circumstance which, among many others of minor importance, presents itself to our minds as the most operative, is the fact that every free school had carried with it the belief or apprehension that it was regarded as a "poor school," a circumstance which, in a free country like ours, where all stand upon a just equality, and where wealth gives to its possessors no precedence in public estimation, strikes at the root of any institution designed for the moral and intellectual improvement of the community. Our first object. therefore, and, as we deemed it our first duty, was to remove this unfounded and injurious view of the intention of free schools. We resolved, if the public would sustain us in the at- tempt, to make the free schools of Steubenville equal to any other schools of similar design in the place; to place them on such a footing of character, respectability and usefulness that anyone desirous of giving his children a common English edu- cation would be anxious to have thein educated in these schools. * * The branches taught in the various schools embrace the letters, spelling, reading, writing, grammar, arithmetic and geography. The Bible is used as a reading book, as well from its conviction of its value as perhaps the purest specimen of the Anglo-Saxon tongue, as also with a view to impress the minds of our youth with the only moral and religious principles which can make them useful citizens of an enlightened republic. No one can enter the rooms without being sensible of the order and quiet that are preserved. and that our free schools are no longer regarded as scenes of confusion, idleness and insubordi- nation. It is not to be supposed that the schools are the best the district can have, but that they are as good as can be ex- pected under the circumstances in which the district is placed. and that they may be regarded as the commencement of a new era in our free schools.
With this as their magna charta the progress made by Steubenville public schools is not surprising. While the public schools at first were only intended to teach the elementary branches, yet it was natural that there should arise a demand that some, at least, of the higher forms should be added. On August 4, 1853, Hon. Thomas Means addressed a public meeting on Ohio schools,
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which was followed by a resolution recommending the erection of a new schoolhouse and the organization of a high school. The latter project was carried out, and the purchase of the "Grove Academy" on North Seventh street a few years later furnished for a while a home for the same, instead of rented rooms. It was very appro- priate that the new high school building was named Wells, built on the former home of John B. Doyle, a Churchman of the next generation.
Early in 1839 steps were taken towards purchasing a bell for the church, and also to have the outside of the building painted. On August 12 it was reported that a bell weighing 837 pounds had been procured at a cost of about $500. This bell, of excellent tone on treble G, is still in use. Bishop McIlvaine visited the parish on May 12, and confirmed fourteen. The rector was absent in the East two months during the past year, while Rev. Mr. Horrell officiated.
The diocesan convention met at Steubenville for the first time on September 12, 1839. The local representa- tion was naturally quite full, being Messrs. Wells, An- drews and J. H. Veirs from St. Paul's; Robert Hender- son, Alexander Elliott and John Cunningham from St. James's, and George Hammond and James Patten from St. John's. St. Paul's reported 100 communicants, 21 baptisms, and 22 funerals during the year; 100 Sunday School scholars and 16 . teachers. St. James's had 71 communicants with 6 baptisms, 1 marriage and 3 funer- als ; St. John's, 36 communicants, 9 baptisms, 1 marriage, and 4 funerals; the new church edifice enclosed. The wood from old St. James's was used in building a rectory on an adjoining tract. John Elliott was Junior Warden, 1837-9, afterwards a Vestryman.
St. Stephen's Church, East Liverpool, a neat frame building, was reported consecrated the previous year
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with four persons confirmed. It was supplied every third Sunday by Rev. Mr. Laird, who also officiated at Wells- ville.
Messrs. Wells and John Veirs represented St. Paul's in the convention of 1840, which was chiefly noticeable for the Bishop's address against the so-called Oxford movement, which had begun to have some effect in America, although it could hardly be said that it was observable in Ohio. Mr. Wells and Dr. Andrews were elected trustees of the theological seminary, and Rev. Dr. Morse chosen deputy to the General Convention. Mr. Gray reported the new church at Cross Creek ready for consecration, in which services had been held since the beginning of the year. Communicants reported were: St. Paul's, 110, with Sunday School of 100 schol- ars and 15 teachers; St. James's, 77; St. John's, 37. Services were also held during the year at Amsterdam, Carrollton and St. Clairsville,
John H. Veirs and John Bayless represented St. Paul's and St. James's in the convention of 1841, where the Bishop delivered another broadside against the Ox- ford movement, predicting the direst results should it ever obtain a serious footing in the American Church. Mr. Gray reported having built a comfortable residence at St. James's, where he hoped to spend the remainder of his days as a father surrounded by his children. He also officiated at various adjacent missions. Mr. Bayless was elected General Convention Deputy, and St. Paul's reported 108 communicants.
In 1842 Mr. Lewis declined re-election as Junior Warden, and Edward Wood was chosen in his place. Alexander H. Andrews was added to the Vestry, suc- ceeding Dr. J. Andrews as treasurer the following De- cember ; B. M. Browning, collector. On Saturday even- ing, March 26, after an interval of nearly three years,
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Bishop McIlvaine visited St. Paul's and confirmed a class of sixteen. The following Monday he confirmed six at East Springfield, the next day fourteen at St. James's, after an interval of five years. Here he consecrated the new brick edifice erected the previous year.
James Means, Sr., was added to the Vestry in 1843, and Messrs. Veirs and Wells attended the convention. Bexley Hall at Gambier was completed that winter. St. James's churchyard was enclosed by a board fence. Al- though suffering from removals, the parish reported 85 communicants, and St. Paul's, 102. The latter church was repainted through the efforts of the women. On October 23 the Vestry resolved to raise $400 by sub- scription to pay off indebtedness of various kinds which had accumulated.
In 1844 Andrew Bustard succeeded Alexander Andrews, deceased, and Nathaniel Dike as Vestryman, and Messrs. Wells and John Andrews attended conven- tion with John McCullough and George Hammond from St. James's. John White was made Vestryman at the latter. Fourteen were confirmed at St. Paul's on March 24, there now being 115 communicants, 100 Sunday School scholars and 12 teachers. The $400 debt above mentioned was cleared off. Mr. Gray reported St. Al- ban's mission at Deersville, Harrison County, and 78 communicants at St. James's. Nine were confirmed on November 10 at St. James's, and two at St. John's.
David Foster succeeded Mr. Browning as Vestry- man in 1845, and Mr. Bayless represented St. James's at the convention. St. Alban's reported promising work. Communicants were about the same, but St. Paul's Sun- day School, for some unexplained cause, showed a drop to 60 scholars and 10 teachers.
On April 22, 1846, the Bishop visited St. Paul's, confirming five persons, also one at St. John's, East
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
Springfield; four at St. James's, on the 24th, and eleven at St. Alban's, Deersville. Charles Moorehead and An- drew Underwood were made Vestryman at St. James's. On August 14 Mr. Wells, who had been Senior Warden of St. Paul's since 1820, entered into Paradise. The convention met on August 6 at Delaware with no dele- gates present from this section. St. Paul's reported 116 communicants, with 65 Sunday School scholars; St. James's, 71; St. John's, 29, with 40 scholars; St. Thomas's, St. Clairsville, 23; St. Alban's, 16.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.
Opposition of Bishop McIlvaine-Enlargement of Church Fabric-New Organ Installed-Changes in Choir -- Parish Burial . Grounds - Infrequent Confirmations - Assistant Bishop Chosen-Chancel and Other Improvements-Assist- ant Rectors-First Ordination in St. Paul's-Early Christ- mas Festivities and Decorations.
It would be foreign to the purpose of this work to discuss at length what is commonly known as the Ox- ford or Tractarian movement, yet the great hostility ex- hibited against every phase of it by Bishop McIlvaine, and his eagerness to extend his episcopal authority to its utmost limit (and beyond) for the suppression of every symptom of inclination towards that heresy ( ?) make a reference to it unavoidable. Even a cursory reading of history shows that the Church of England during the latter part of what is known as the Georgian period, including the reign of William IV., had reached the lowest point spiritually in its history, not excepting the Cromwell rebellion. The chief offices were regarded as perquisites of the ruling political party, the minor ones a refuge for friends of patrons, while the people at large were indifferent, and, if not relapsing into infidelity, were at least becoming neglectful of all the offices of re- ligion. Here and there a saintly priest or thoroughly consecrated bishop preserved the salt which was to re- vivify the Church, but it is undeniable that, taken as a whole, the Proudies, the Slopes, and often worse, were in the ascendency. The Wesleyan movement of the eigh- teenth century having failed to affect the corporate life of the Church, had developed into an emotional religion,
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and now was separated from her communion. One out- ward and visible sign of this spiritual deadness was the slovenly conducted services, decaying churches and meagre congregations, which vied with the priest in carelessness and irreverence. In some respect the situa- tion in America was better. The Church here was free from party politics and party patronage, and its emolu- ments were not sufficient to attract parasites, whose mo- tive was only to secure a comfortable living. The moral standard of the clergy as a whole was high, and although in 1840 there was only one communicant to every three hundred population, yet some advance had been made. But the American Church was a feeble body, among other religious organizations numerically stronger, and its own members were too often inclined to apologize for being "like the Catholics," rather than staunchly assert the claims of their branch of the One Catholic and Apos- tolic Church in the United States. As an illustration of the feeling of those times, Bishop Meade, of Virginia, in his entertaining history of the old churches and families in that state, gives devout thanks that Tractarianism never obtained a lodgment within his jurisdiction. Deserted and tumbling churches, vice and immorality were ram- pant, but the dreadful baccilli from Oxford University halls were non-existent so far as the sacred soil of the Old Dominion was concerned. To meet the statements and arguments of the Tractarians was confessedly diffi- cult, but there were two remedies which were promptly
brought into requisition. The time had passed when those of opposite views could be burned at the stake by the party in power, but other forms of persecution were at hand. The offenders could be deprived of their liv- ings, or, if they could not be ousted, the bishops could refuse to visit their churches for consecration or con- firmation, thus practically placing an episcopal interdict
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THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.
upon the offending parish. In England there were even instances of imprisonment where the rector had ven- tured to follow not only the ancient practices, but the example of Cranmer and the great divines of the post reformation. In America a priest could not be sent to prison for preaching the doctrine of the Real Presence, conducting a choral service, or having a surpliced choir (the two latter being general, however, in English cath- edrals), but there were other methods of coercion nearly if not quite as efficacious. It should be remembered that in its inception the so-called Oxford movement was mainly doctrinal, and Dr. Pusey, its ablest leader, was anything but a "ritualist." But it naturally followed that higher ideals of doctrine and manner of living should lead to higher ideals of worship, deeper reverence for holy things, and a desire for better surroundings. Hence the earlier addresses of Bishop Mellvaine were directed again the promulgation of those doctrines which, in the minds of their opponents, could only end by their advo- cates falling "into the cesspool of Rome." But the con- flict soon reached the second stage. In his convention address of 1846 the Bishop delivered the longest disser- tation yet promulgated against the new movement whose effect even yet had scarcely become noticeable in Ohio, announcing that he had refused to consecrate a church where there was an altar, and would observe this rule in the future. By an altar he meant any apparently solid struc- ture whereon was celebrated the Holy Communion. The only piece of furniture in this line which would pass mus- ter must be a table in the ordinary use of that term, made of wood, with visible legs, and unattached to the church. The marble mensa of St. Paul's had apparently escaped his attention. Possibly the legs saved it, although they were fastened to the floor.
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THE CHURCH IN EASTERN OHIO.
The Vestry chosen at the Easter election, 1847, was composed of Edward Wood and John H. Veirs, War- dens; Dr. John Andrews, James Means, Andrew Bus- tard, David Foster (treasurer), Abner L. Frazer (clerk). The same were chosen the two following years. During 1847 the Bishop moved his residence from Gambier to Cincinnati, where he resided until his death. St. Stephen's Church, East Liverpool, was supplied at this time by Rev. J. B. Goodwin of Virginia, and there was no material change in the other parishes. Fourteen persons were confirmed in St. Paul's on April 2, 1848, and three at St. John's. The former reported 122 communicants and 95 Sunday School scholars, with 15 teachers. St.
John's, 24.
There were no lay delegates from here in the con- ventions of 1848, 1849 and 1850, and no marked change in the number of communicants. David Foster, Abner L. Frazer and John B. Doyle were appointed a building committee in 1849 to take charge of a contemplated ex- tension of the church edifice. On March 31, 1850, the Bishop visited St. Paul's and confirmed 17 persons, 7 at St. James's, and 4 at St. John's. Francis A. Wells suc- ceeded Mr. Foster on the Vestry in 1850. Robert Hen- derson was requested to form a choir by the St. James's Vestry on November 10, 1848.
B. M. Browning was added to the Vestry in 1851; John H. Veirs and George Beatty were convention dele- gates, with J. Detur and A. Underwood from St. James's. Mr. Gray, on February 7, had resigned the lat- ter parish and removed to Cincinnati, Dr. Morse taking temporary charge until October 25, when he was suc- ceeded by Rev. Humphrey Hollis, who added East Liv- erpool to his other charges. During this year was built an extension of fifteen feet to the west end of St. Paul's, giving an inside length of about 74 feet. The city gas
OLD ST PAULIS.
1
4
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THE OXFORD MOVEMENT.
works having been completed about this time, upright standards of two lights each were distributed at inter- vals along the pews, the whole costing $600. The im- provement was continued the following year by the ar- rangement and fitting up of a Vestry and robing room about fifteen feet square, which, with painting the entire exterior, cost $410.52. At the same time the Sunday School room in the basement was improved by the young men. Of course, the chancel was moved back with the extension, and widened to the block of three pews on either side. The three-decker arrangement of pulpit, reading or prayer desk and altar in front was retained, but the first was now against the west wall and entered by a flight of steps and door directly from the vestry. Other parts of the chancel were reached through a door south of the pulpit, and after the reading of the service the minister would retire to the vestry room, doff his surplice and reappear in the pulpit in his academic gown of black silk and white throat bands.
The death of Edward Wood the preceding Septem- ber vacated the Senior Wardenship, and at the election in 1852 John H. Veirs was made Senior Warden, Andrew Bustard, Junior Warden, and Dr. Joseph Mitchell added to the Vestry. On Tuesday evening, April 13, twenty- three were confirmed, and four the following evening. Communicants reported, 147; Sunday School scholars, 112, with 15 teachers, everything indicating that the par- ish was in a prosperous condition.
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