USA > Ohio > Washington County > Marietta > The history of Saint Luke's Church, Marietta, Ohio > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
The present number of Communicants, (reduced, from former re- ports, principally by removals, and by other casualties, ) is 43. One Fu- neral, of an adult, has occurred in the parish, within the year; and re- cently, three Baptisms, of infants.
The clergyman reporting regrets to add, that the parish is yet much embarrassed with pecuniary responsibilities incurred in the erection of their church and providing the means of religious and parochial in- struction.
The Sunday School formerly reported from this parish, is continued by 6 teachers under the superintendence of the elergyman, and num- bers 28 scholars.
St. Luke's was assessed $8 for Convention expenses.
In the statement of M. T. C. Wing, Treasurer, in account with Episcopate fund, are these items :
Dr. to 2d instalment of J. Delafield & J. E. Jeffords, ......... $40. " D. H. Buell, $7, A. Nye, $10, D. Greene and J. E. Hall, each $10, Marietta, $37.
St. Luke's Church, Marietta, Easter Monday, April 16, 1838.
At a meeting of members of the parish of St. Luke's Church, Ma- rietta, on this day, at the Lecture room, pursuant to previous public notice, present, the Rev. C. L. F. Haensel, minister of the parish presi- ding-Arius Nye, Senr. Warden, Danl. Greene & Jos. E. Hall.
The meeting was opened by prayers, by the Revd. chairman.
On motion, by Mr. Nye, resolved, that this meeting (on account of the inclemency of the weather & the thin attendance) be adjourned to this day week at the same time & place; and that notice thereof be given in the mean time.
Attest, ARIUS NYE, Sen: Warden.
116
THE VESTRY TO THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
The following is the only record of the adjourned meeting.
Marietta, April 27th, 1838.
To the Revd. C. L. F. Haensel, Dear Sir,
At a meeting on Monday, 23rd inst. of the vestry of St. Luke's Church, in anticipation of the expira- tion, in a few weeks, of your present engagement with the Parish as its minister, the following resolution was, on motion of. Mr. Buell, unanimously passed :
Resolved, that a committee of three be appointed to wait on the Rev. Mr. Haensel, (at present the minister in charge of the Parish,) and to express to him the wishes of the vestry that he continue his clerical services in the parish.
The undersigned were appointed that committee, (the Senior Warden having been, by the vestry, added thereto, ) and have now the pleasure to communicate it to you ; with the request & solici- tation that you will consent to accede to the wishes of the vestry and of the parish, represented by them; and to take the clerical charge of the Parish, (as now, canonically, a clergyman of the Diocese,) for another year, after the expiration of your present clerical engagement: (which commenced with the last Sunday of May). You are now so well acquainted with the members & cir- cumstances of the Parish,-its wants, its necessities and its position, -that the committee deem it unnecessary to urge upon you, in this form, the considerations, which they must presume to be present to your mind, and which render it important that clerical minis- trations shall be continued and maintained for the promotion of the spiritual interests of the parish, and for the extension of the Gospel in the Church.
The committee, acting in the name & by the authority of the vestry, are not able, (for reasons of which you are aware) to speak definitely of the pecuniary provision which may be raised for your support; but they hope that it may be made equal, or nearly so, to the voluntary subscriptions of last year.
Most respectfully,
Your parishioners & brethern in the Gospel,
J. E. HALL, A. L. GUITTEAU, ARIU'S NYE,
D. H. BUELL, - Committee.
In accordance with the wish of the Vestry as above expressed, Mr. Haensel continued his ministrations, as Rector of the Parish.
At the Convention of 1838, which met October 4th, 5th and 6th, in St. James' Church, Zanesville, St. Luke's was represented by the Rev. Mr. Haensel and D. H. Buell, who was one of the committee on the support of the Episcopate. The parish was assessed $6.
PAROCHIAL REPORT, 1838.
The Minister of St. Luke's Church, Marietta, reports to the Bishop that divine service has been regularly performed in his parish twice every Lord's day during the period since the last Convention. He has been absent from the parish on one Lord's day, when he administered the Communion in a neighboring parish in Virginia. A week day evening lecture has been kept up, and a Sunday school which numbers
117
THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL RESIGNS.
43 scholars with 8 teachers. superintended by the minister himself. He has baptized 2 infants, buried 1 child on this side and 4 on the Virginia shore of the river, and married 1 couple.
In stating the present number of communicants at 39, it is needful to mention that the minister found on the list, when he assumed the charge of the parish, several Germans who, it appears from the in- formation he has rec ived. used to take the communion in this Church formerly, when no person was in the County who preached in their own language. These two years there has been a German ministry on the congregational model in this town and county ; 5 of the communicants reported last year had, it is under-tood, become attendants upon that, before the present minister enter d upon his duties in the parish and are consequently not counted any longer. 1 has been suspended, 2 have been added to the number of communicants, making the whole as above stated.
The parish has made very creditable, and not unsuccessful, exer- tions towards paying off the remaining church debt, besides supporting a minister ; it remains, however, embarras-ed, and has been unable as yet to contribute to missionary and other general objects, except to the Episcopal Fund.
The present minister, being about to retire from the charge of this parish, earnestly prays that the Lord, whom he has imperfectly en- deavored to serve in ministering to it, may send a prayerful, simple hearted and soul-loving laborer to enter into this field, and cheerfully would he hope that, to such a pastor, it would be given to gather into the fold some of the lambs and the sheep of Christ now straying in the wilderness.
At the close of the Convention Mr. Haensel offered a resolution of thanks to the people of Zane-ville and Putnam for their kindness and hospitality to the members of the Convention.
In January, IS38, the Treasurer of the Episcopate fund received from J. Delafield, $20, and in September he eredited on his books:
By cash collected at Marietta, $74.00.
In his address to the Convention of September, 1839, at St. Paul's, Steubenville, in which St. Luke's was not represented, the Bishop says:
Immediately after the Convention of last year, I visited St. Luke's Church, Marietta, then in charge of a faithful and much beloved brother, who I regret to say has recently left the diocese and the United States, the Rev. C. L. F. Haonsel. I preached thrice at Marietta and adminis- tered confirmation to two persons, the parish has been vacant for nearly that period.
Mr. Haensel left Marietta not long after the Bishop's visit, in Octo- ber, 1838, and St. Luke's was again without a priest to minister at her Altar. Her need was several times supplied by visiting clergymen, though at long intervals.
Mr. Haensel was a very lovable man, kind and gentle in his dispo- sition, whom Bishop Mellvaine chose to call an affectionate Church- man. Like Mr. Wheat, he was much beloved by the children in the Parish school ; and being a German, he was attractive to the German element in the town and congregation. His Sunday evening lectures were thought a great deal of.
118
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
He indulged but little in the luxuries of life, and with the idea of toughening himself, he slept on a board in the Parish building, until some of his friends pursuaded him to let them make up a comfortable bed for him on a bedstead. At that time the Sullivan family occupied the rectory, the building next door, with the large Gothic window, and Mr. Haensel took his meals with them. Two of his letters, printed on subsequent pages, will give some idea of his character and principles. He never married.
The portrait is made from the photograph mentioned by the Rev. Mr. Armstrong on a subsequent page.
In 1827 Mr. Haensel went to Fourah Bay, Sierra Leone, under the Church Missionary Society of England to open a college for the training of native teachers. Six of the most promising students were received ; one of whom was Samuel Adjao Crowther, who afterwards became Bishop of the Niger Region, the most remarkable of African Mission- aries, the first native African clergyman ordained by the Church of England.
Mr. Haensel brought with him to America a negro boy, and was much disappointed that he could not take him into society with himself. He remained in Canada while Mr. Haensel was in the United States.
During the first year of his stay in Africa, Mr. Haensel wrote long letters giving very full accounts of the natives and his labor among them, with which the Society was much pleased. The next year he wrote less frequently, feeling that he did not understand the people as well as he thought he did the year before.
The third year the Society received very few letters from him and he told them that before he wrote further, he must have time to give the character of the people and the effect of his labor among them more study and proof. The Society were displeased and he was obliged to give up the work.
From Sierra Leone he went to the West Indies, thence to Ohio, and afterwards to Canada, where he died at Carleton on the 13th of January, . 1876. The following appeared in a Church paper at that time:
THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
Died, at Carleton, Canada, on the 13th of January, the Rev. C. L. F. HAENSEL, in his SOth year. This worthy Christian gentleman was born at Ratisbon, Germany, in 1796, and went to England to engage in mer- cantile affairs : but, from a motive of higher duty, forsook business with its flattering prospects, and entered the Church Missionary Institution at Islington, to prepare himself to be a missionary to the heathen. Having finished his studies he was sent by the Church Missionary So- ciety, to Sierra Leone, where he remained for some years, engaged in arduous labors that told upon his health ; he was afterwards stationed in one of the West India islands, and then came to this country, and for a short time had ecclesiastical connection with the Diocese of Ohio, ro- ceiving from the late Bishop Mellvaine the appellation of an "affection- ate Churchman." About the year 1840, Mr. Haensel established him-
C. L. F. Haenel
LETTER OF THE REV. MR. ARMSTRONG. 121
sejf in the Diocese of Quebec, whence, some fifteen years later, he re- moved to Hamilton, in the present Diocese of Niagara, where for nine years, he officiatedl as assi-tant minister of the church of the Ascension in that city. Shortly afterwards he removed to New Brunswick, B. A., where he remained until his death. Although almost constantiy engaged in preaching in the different places where his lot was cast, Mr. Haensel considered teaching to be his principal occupation and chief means of doing good, and was remarkably well adapted for interesting the minds of his scholars and securing their warm and sincere regards. Nor did his exertions cease here. While in Quebec, he gave the labors of many years, without fee or reward. to the editing of a weekly religions paper called The Berean, where strong attachment to Church principles and doctrines was combined with a most catholic spirit to those who differed from him, and a cordial cooperation in every effort for the im- provement of humanity and the salvation of souls. Nor did any one ever go to him for counsel, or encouragement, or sympathy, that did not come away with the highest respect for his sound judgement and Christian experience, and the warmest appreciation of his devotedness to his Master's service. He was indeed ever active in doing good, and that he persevered to the last is evident by the statement that he preached in St. Jude's church, just one week before the day of his death. Of him it may be truly said that he has entered into the rest which "remaineth for the people of God. G."
In reply to enquiries concerning the Rev. Mr. Haensel the author received this letter :
30 Wellington Row. St. John, 17 February 1881.
Dear Sir.
The Rev. Canon Brigstocke has just handed to me your letter to him of the 9th inst, re-pecting the Rev. C. L. F. Haens 4, with whom I was most intimately connected during his residence in Canada after. he came from the Stat.s. I enclose you an extract from the Report of the Colonial and Continental Church Society, London, England, for 1876. in which you will find some account of him. Had I time I could readily write more of him who might well be designated the Saintly Haensel. I was instrum nt- al in bringing him to this city from Galt, where he Had charge of the English Home Pupils of the Galt school who presented him with a silver mounted el ony walking stick when he left there in March, 1869. He was asso iat d in Galt with the Rev. Mr. Boomer. now Dean of Huron and Pres dent of the Huron College in London. Ont. Mr. Haensel by his will left him $300, for the promotion of religion in Huron, in acknowledging the receipt of which the Dean says of him. "The dear old gentleman was with me in Galt for some time, during which I be ame truly attached to him for his sterling Christian character, for I may say I never met mare and sel lom as much downright honesty of purpose and real un- pretending simple pity as he ever exhibited in all our intercourse, and in the retrospect of this interesurse I can say without any . exaggeration it apr ears to me that "to him to live was ( hrist, and to die was gain." The bequest. or it - interest, has been applied to supplying an annual Premium denominated "the Haensel Prize" to be awarded to the best reader of the Scriptures and the Liturgy amongst the Divinity students in Huron College.
.
122
EXTRACTS FROM REPORT OF C. AND C. C. SOCIETY.
The sum of $350, which was also left by Mr. Haensel to a friend in Quebec, for the promotion of piety in the Diocese of Quebec has been applied in a similar way to Lennoxville College there, this being thought a more fitting memorial of him than allowing the amounts to be absorbed in the Mission Boards of the dioceses, while at the same time the disposal will be for the promotion of religion in the respective dioceses in serving as a perpetual stim- ulus to the coming clergy to seek to excel in a most desirable ac- quisition.
With the extraets I send you a photo of the departed one, who when the doctor accompanied him from the church where his last illness came on, said to him, "Dr., I have a complaint you cannot cure." Upon asking hini what it was, he said, "Why, I am a very old man." He was always cheerful, and just waiting to go home. He spent little upon himself, but was always ready to help others, and husbanded his means evidently with the view of making the best use of them. Hoping that what I have thus hurriedly writ- ten and sent may serve your purpose,
I remain, Yours faithfully, G. M. ARMSTRONG.
EXTRACTS.
The Rev. Mr. G. M. Armstrong thus writes :
"An old clergyman, the Rev. C. L. F. Haensel, who has for a few years been residing in Carleton and who attended Mr. Parnther's Church, and often assisted him in the services, has at length, at the ad- vanced age of eighty years, been called to his rest. He was a nice old man, 'and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his God.' His illness, as he besought the Lord, if possible it might be, was very brief, he having been seized with a slight fit while in Church on Sunday morning, recovering from which he was taken home, feeling great weakness, and on the following Thursday another came, from which he did not recover, but quietly passed away. The Sunday before the last he had preached in St. Jude's Church, as I am informed, a striking sermon, on the text 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, &c.,' and during the first week of the year he attended and took part in the noonday prayer-meetings, and the evening of the very day he died, on the 13th inst., he had purposed attending the an- nual meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Ready to do, or to suffer, or to be called away, he was girding himself daily with the blessed girdle of truth, and waiting to go home. His remains were fol- lowed to the grave by almost all the clergymen of the city and many other members and friends. He had here no kindred after the flesh. but many brothers and sisters in the Lord, who loved and respected him, and after making suitable provision for a niece who resides in Ger- many, he left 500 dollars to the Church Missionary Society and a similar sum to the British and Foreign Bible Society : he also left 400 dollars for religious purposes in connexion with St. James' and St. Mary's Churhes in this city, and a lesser sum for St. Jude's Church, and like sums for other Churches and friends in different parts of Canada where he had formerly resided. He first went forth to labour in the Lord's vine-yard in connexion with the Church Missionary Society in the Mission of Sierra Leone, where he took charge of Adjao, a little rescued slave, the future Bishop Crowther, who wrote but recently a letter of kind rement-
-
123
LETTER OF THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
brance to his old master. Driven from Sierra Leone by ill health, he went to one of the Society's Missions, at that time in the West In- dies, where he laboured for some time, and afterwards went to Cana- da, where he resumed his vocation as a teacher of youth, residing in Quebec and other places, and always being ready to preach the Gospel wherever and whenever he could publicly, in the Church, and private- ly, by means of Bible-classes and other instrumentalities, in strict ac- cordance with the principles of the Church of England, to which he most conscientiously adhered, though oftentimes deeply grieved at the errors in doctrine and practice which prevailed among many of its min- isters and rulers. During many years, while in the Diocese of Quebec, he edited, with good success, a Church paper, which he called the 'Be- rean,' and more recently he took charge of another which had been established here called the 'Church Witness,' which he carried on during the last two or three years of its existence, and at that time kindly took charge of St. Mary's Church while it was left for several months with- out a minister, and was always interested in the work of your mission- aries in this diocese and elsewhere. I have been led to send you these notes of our departed friend because, as you see, he was in some meas- ure connected with your Society, and heartily loved the principles upon which it is founded."
The Rev. D. B. Parnther of St. Jude's Church writes :
"At the beginning of the year we lost an old and highly-valued friend, the Rev. Mr. Haensel, who for some years has been a mission- ary of the Church Missionary Society in Africa and Jamaica."
"He was always ready to give me any assistance I might require either in the Church or Sunday-school. He was generally much re- spected, I may say honoured. He left a legacy of 250.00 dollars, about 50l. sterling, to St. Jude's Church. Having invested it, the interest only will be used, so that we may consider it as his annual subscription to the Church in perpetuity."
Mrs. C. B. Hall has preserved this letter, written by Mr. Haensel "to a couple of his former scholars," as he afterwards expresses it :
Gambier, February 25th 1839.
Dear young friends,
I received your letter in due time, and was very glad to hear some news from Marietta, particularly that dear Mama was re- covering, though slowly. I hope she has had the comfort of af- fectionate attention from all her children during the trying time of disease she has had to go through. Dear Caroline and Daniel, may you always remember how much you owe of gratitude and love to those who tenderly watch over your youthful years, and bear with your faults, and give you kind advice; and therefore do you watch over your own conduct, that it may be an occasion of joy to them, and not of sorrow. But above all, think of the love which God has shown to you who are sinful by nature like all men, in that he has sent his Son into the world to save you and all that believe; and of the love of that Saviour who suffered the bitter pains of crucifixion for our sins : and for such love, give your hearts to that dear Saviour ; that he may be your Shepherd, keep you as his lambs, and bring you through life's trials and imperfec- tions to a state of endless joy in heaven.
.
124
LETTER OF THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
If Daniel had not mentioned Papa's being at New Orleans, I should not have known that he was from home at all. I hope he has returned before this, and has had a pleasant tour. That was great news, that you have lost your teacher, Miss Clark ; and that so the Sunday School has lost one of the dear friends who gave their time to that good work. I wish you had mentioned, who has taken her class. Mr. Barker has written a very nice letter to me in the name of all the Teachers, and he must have received a letter from me about the time that I received his; that is the rea- son I did not write an answer immediately. I have also thought, I would send my next to you, because I have one from you to re- ply to, and you will give my kind st remembrance to him, and ask him to give the same to all the Teachers, and much love to the scholars. You can remember me to Theodosia, because she lives with you. The Bishop was very glad to hear that Mama was better: I shall not see him before I send this off; else I know he would send his regards.
Now I must tell you how I have spent my time here. Just at the time I arrived, three of the Students, who are to become min- isters, commenced to learn Hebrew, which is the language in which Mose- and the prophets wrote their books, as the Spirit of God taught them ; some letters of that language you can see over. the pulpit in the church, and they represent the name of God. Now I have long had a desire to learn Hebrew, but had no time nor opportunity at my missionary stations; here at last I resolved to take time for it, and therefore got a Grammar and Dictionary and Reading-Book, and set to like a good old boy ; and, only think, I have got along about as well as the younger men. But it was a pretty difficult business, I tell you, because when people get old, they can not commit things near so well as they can while young. Many a time I thought I should have to give it up, but I said nothing to anyboly about it, and always tried again ; and you will hardly conceive how glad I am now that I can read some parts of the Old Testament just in the words in which Moses and the prophets wrote them. And as I write to you about this, I wish you to remember there is nothing like determining upon a good thing and then persevering in it, though it seems very difli- cult at times. Observe, you must make sure, first of all, that the thing is really good, but then you may go on, asking God to help you that you may ace omplish it, and then strength will come to you, according to your day. And another thing I beg of you to bear in mind : learn as much as you can now, for it is easier for you to do -o while young ; and you can not calculate the comfort . it will be to you. when you get old, that you have acquired much knowledge by which you can make yourseives useful in the world, serve your neighbors with advice and kind service, and be a credit to your parents and friends.
I have had some scholars also to learn German, and have done a great deal of writing for various purposes. Nearly every Sun- day, I have had to preach, once or twice; sometimes here at Gambier, then again at Mount Vernon in this County, at Gran- ville in Lieking County, at East Union in Coshocton County, where the people have very good churches; but I have also . preached in school-houses, where people have been willing to hear the word of G.d. Perhaps you remember that. twelve months ago about this time I was much troubled with frosted
.
125
LETTERS OF THE REV. C. L. F. HAENSEL.
feet ; now you will be glad to hear that I have not suffered at all this winter; I began to wear thick shoes in good time, and the warm socks which dear friends in Marietta gave me the winter before, and so I have been very comfortable.
The weather is now getting mild, and it is time for me to leave this place and look for another, where I can teach. The Trustees of the Female Seminary at Granville are anxious I should travel as agent to raise funds for that Institution and I have agreed to try what I can do.
Next week I shall set out. if the Lord permit, for the north of this State, and expect to spend a month travelling ; at the same time I shall make inquiry where it may be well for me to settle, and I shall be glad when I know where I am at home.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.