USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Lebanon > A history of Lebanon : prepared on the occasion of its two hundredth anniversary > Part 2
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New Session members during Mr. Miller's pastorate were Henry Large, Thomas Scott and James Means.
Another significant event in 1849 was the organization of the first choir. Martha Hull Hatfield, a member of the original choir wrote this recollection some years later:
In the summer of 1849, after the morning sermon, and after refreshing themselves with a lunch and a drink at the spring, a number of the singers came together and determined to or- ganize a choir, The pastor had previously given his consent and at the call to afternoon service, they marched in and took their places in the middle block, occupying four pews -- two on each side of the partition. This action seems to have called down considerable criticism from the "cedars of Lebanon," but the singers felt they could do more efficient work by being together and as they were persistent in their attempt to sing in a body, the choir came to be taken as a matter of course and opposition gave place to encouragement.
Previous to this, the singing had been led by a clerk, or clerks, who faced the congregation from before the pulpit. In the earliest day the hymns were "lined out" as not every one possessed a hymn book. This position certainly required more courage and self-confidence than is required or possessed by the average choir singer of the present day.
Johnston Glass was leader of that first choir. A list of members reveals that ten women were included, the first specific reference to women in any leadership role.
Another long pastorate began on October 1, 1858 when the Reverend A. O. Rockwell began his ministry. His stay covered the tumultuous period of the Civil War in our
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nation's history. Although no direct reference is made to this event in the histories which have been written previously, in a sermon preached on October 4, 1863 on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his ministry in that church he writes the following: Nor would this dark picture be complete were we not to allude here to other kindred scenes, and where it has been our sad duty to minister consolation to mourning and bleeding hearts. Of the numer- ous young and valiant men, from different families in the congrega- tion -- men of virtue, and of patriotism, and of noble daring -- who, at their country's call, when the arm of rebellion was reared against it, went forth to meet the traitorous boe, while nearly all have had sad experience of sickness, or wounds, or of prison life in the enemy's hands, one, far spent by disease, was brought home, to breathe his last sigh in loved ones' arms; and five others, far away from friends and the endearments of home, and where no last look of tender and longing affection could be cast upon them, have fallen upon the battle field, and been laid aside in their lonely graves to await the trump of God.
In a listing of funds contributed by the congregation in this same sermon, a sum of $166.00 to the Board of Publication includes an amount contributed for soldiers' reading matter.
The Reverend Samuel S. Shriver, in the Centennial address on the History of
Lebanon Church, delivered September 24, 1876 refers to the historical setting in this way:
Brother Rockwell, it seems from his record, not only labored assiduously for his own charge, but for others of the community. Much pastoral work was done by him for the neighboring congrega- tions, deprived of settled pastors. Things were much unsettled in the country at this time, the Civil War raging, and this, and other things, entering as a divisive element, militated, for the time being, against the harmony previously existing in the church, which induced a request for a dissolution of the pastoral relation, which took effect July 1, 1869.
During his pastorate Reverend Rockwell received into membership 205 members in all, and after deducting deaths and dismissions, there remained 175, a number unequalled by any previous record.
Added to the Session during these years were Abdiel Mcclure, William Elliott, and D. H. Walker.
The 1926 history makes note of the following item of business conducted by the Trustees dated January 11, 1864:
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I. It is unanimously resolved that the yard connected with this congregation is not a public burying ground.
II That those not in connection with either Lebanon or Mifflin congregation or not contributing to the original fencing of the ground are reasonably expected and required to pay the sum of two dollars for the privilege of each burial for the use of this congregation to be paid to the pastor on the treasurer before the ground is broken.
A rotary system for trustees was adopted at a meeting on November 20, 1865, the term of office to be three years with one elected, and one going out of office each year.
The Reverend Samuel S. Shriver came to Lebanon in October 1869 and was installed as pastor in June 1870. His relationship with Lebanon ended, because of poor health, with the observance of the Centennial of Lebanon Church in 1876. During his six-year pastorate several events occurred which indicate a vigorous ministry.
The first brick church was taken down and the building presently standing next to the cemetery was erected. The Session book records the occasion:
On June 11, 1871, service was held for the last time in the church built by our Fathers. Notwithstanding the pleasant anticipations for the future, it was a day of sadness to many. How many seasons of joy and sorrow had been spent within those sacred walls. How many dear friends and kindred we would call to mind who now sleep in the church yard nearby. They rest from their labors and their works do follow them.
Session records indicate that services were held in the Mifflin United Presbyterian Church during the construction of the new building.
The corner stone of the new church was laid July 24, 1871, and the main address was given by the Reverend George Marshall, D.D., for more than forty years pastor at Bethel. A box containing items of interest -- an ancient silver coin of 1657 donated by Mrs. James Blair, a copper coin dated 1781 and several other articles -- were placed in the corner stone by Mr. Shriver. June 27, 1872 the new structure was dedicated on a day in which two services were held and six ministers took part.
It is recorded that the cost of the building and furnishing of same, was generously subscribed for and paid by the members, so that at the time of the dedication of the house to the service of God claims were provided for. The pulpit is a fine piece of
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work made by hand and hauled from Pittsburgh to Lebanon by David Walker in a wagon in time for the dedication. In 1872 as the new church was completed an organ was used for the first time in the church services. Miss Sadie Blair was organist until 1888.
In 1871 the property across from the church was purchased. It was during this period also, at the close of the first 100 years of service, that the Trustees obtained the charter for the church and on March 25, 1872 the Decree of Incorporation was received officially changing the name from Lebanon Meeting House to Lebanon Presbyterian Church.
While strengthening the temporal interests of the local church, at the same time Mr. Shriver was calling attention to the wider mission of the church. March 25, 1870 found a number of women gathered at the manse with tools and supplies needed to prepare the house for the Shriver family. As they worked and while they refreshed themselves around the dining room table they agreed to form an organization. It is generally agreed that Mr. Shriver and Miss Sadie Blair urged the founding of such a
group. The object at first was to promote the sociability of the church and the
neighborhood. Mrs. D. H. (Annie Blair) Walker was elected President and Mrs. R. (Sarah B. Scott) McGarvey, Secretary. The little band decided to get the views of other women in the church and meet again on April 9, 1870 at the church. Three were present, Mrs. D. W. Walker, Mrs. William Elliott, and Miss Sadie Blair, a discouraging number but they determined to meet again. Miss Sadie Blair became the Secretary and served as such for 20 years. Miss Mary Irwin served as Treasurer of the Ladies' Aid Society.
Their work seems to have centered on sewing. On October 6, 1870 their first box was sent to a needy minister, the Reverend Mr. Saul. Its value was $100.35 and we read that it was with "great satisfaction that the garments were laid in the box." This was the line of work followed for a number of years.
At the end of that first year the membership of the society was 49. It has been said that the society was a great help in putting on the finishing touches to the
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new church. Such activity marked a change in the role of the women in the church. Not being satisfied with the work they were doing, early in 1874 the Society secretary wrote the Foreign Secretary of the Pittsburgh Presbyterial to see if there was some sewing they might do for the Foreign Field. She was informed that the cost of sending goods was too great. Not to be outdone in their desire to help foreign mission, they raised $50 to support a Bible reader in India. Women's work at Lebanon was firmly established by the end of its first one hundred years.
Mr. Shriver included in his Centennial address the Sabbath School which had been nurtured with much interest, and had been growing in the affection of the people, He named James Mean, superintendent; D. H. Walker, assistant; James Roth and J.T.P. Wilson, librarians and treasurers. Teachers of Bible classes, Richard McGarvie, female; William Wilson, male; of infant school department, Mary J. Shriver and Mary E. Irwin; other teachers, A. M. Scott, Sarah M. Blair, Jennie Elliott, Sarah McGarvie and Mary Hull.
While strengthening the local church, Lebanon was at the same time reaching out to communities growing up nearby and lending strong support to efforts in these communities to establish new congregations. Mr. Rockwell had preached at services in Dravosburg and Mr. Shriver continued this practice preaching each Sunday for five years. In 1871 a house of worship was dedicated but there was no independent organiza- tion. The congregation was considered a branch of Lebanon. Presbytery was petitioned for a separate church and this was granted in 1874. Also in 1874 five members of Lebanon became charter members of Homestead Presbyterian Church. Abdiel Mcclure had been ordained as an elder at Lebanon and was certified a ruling elder in the new congregation.
A letter from Mr. Shriver's son, William P. Shriver, to the Daily Messenger in Homestead, dated November 27, 1949 refers to his father's efforts in supplying the pulpit in Dravosburg and Homestead.
Such pastoral work even in those days was a rigorous affair. These appointments for the most part were kept by horse back. In winter with his return from keeping these preaching appointments, it was frequently necessary to lift him from his saddle.
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Referring again to Mr. Shriver's Centennial sermon regarding these new
congregations we read the following:
In this way the good work has been extended within the bounds of the field, and while the depletion by dismissions is a serious matter to Lebanon, it is to the praise of all concerned that nothing has occurred to impair the friendly relations which should ever exist between the mother church and her natural offspring.
Mr. Shriver records 182 members in 1876. He concluded his sermon with these
remarks:
Think not, then, that because a century has marked the way of your history hitherto, that the life of the church must neces- sarily decay. Men may pass away -- this is the way of the world -- the grass withereth; the flower fadeth; but the word and the church of God endureth forever! Only stand by your colors; only be faithful to your Lord and Master, the Blessed Jesus, and you shall never fail of a place to enter in to serve Him; you will never fail of a man after God's own heart to go in and out amongst you, and break unto you the bread of life.
Thus when the men of another passing century come to review the history of the church, it will appear that you have fulfilled your part to this and the generations following; that you have not lived non labored for God in vain. And may God thus ordain, and make you and yours a perpetual blessing.
PERIOD III 1876 - 1926
Lebanon began her second 100 years as a strong body, active and contributing to needs locally and abroad. They were in a fine new brick structure but without a pastor until March 1877 when a unanimous call was made out for the pastoral services of R. H. Fulton, a member of the Senior Class of the Western Theological Seminary. The call was accepted and at a meeting of Presbytery at Lebanon June 7, 1877 he was ordained and installed. "The service was solemn and especially interesting to the people of Lebanon, as this was the first young man ever ordained and installed pastor of Lebanon during its existence." Mr. Fulton continued until May, 1880 at a time when the church members numbered 166.
For almost four years, the pulpit was vacant but late in 1883 a call was extended to the Reverend G. N. Johnston. He accepted the call and was installed June 1884.
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This was a period of considerable activity in the life of the congregation. During the fall of 1883 the stone walk was laid around the church and a heater placed in the basement. In 1884 the old parsonage was repapered, repainted and the fence painted. The parsonage was destroyed by fire January 31, 1885 but was immediately replaced by August of the same year. 1
At a meeting June 6, 1885 the board adopted a seal for the corporation which consists of an oblong square with the words "Lebanon Church" written within. In March 1882 the enlargement of the cemetery was considered and steps taken toward that end, but the work was not actually accomplished until the summer of 1886.
The Ladies Aid Society continued to flourish during Mr. Johnston's pastorate due in part to the influence of Mrs. Johnston. Having ample means of her own she gave liberally and through her generosity and the persistent effort of the first President, two rooms at Scotia Seminary (later Barber-Scotia College in Concord, North Carolina) were supplied in part by this society. The rooms were named "The Lida Johnston Room, and the Lebanon Church Room."
In April 1886 the name of the society was changed to "Lebanon Home Missionary Society" and became an auxiliary of the Pittsburgh Presbyterial Society. The women continued to work for the local church and for the mission needs of the larger church. June 17, 1886 marked the occasion of the first choir reunion during which Mrs. Martha Hull Hatfield, a member of the original choir, read a paper from which we have gained much valuable information already referred to about the founding of the choir. The fellowship among former and present choir members was strong and accurate lists were printed of all former members.
When Miss Blair married and moved from the bounds of Lebanon in 1888, Miss Lida Johnston, daughter of the pastor, was her successor as organist until failing health rendered it necessary to find a substitute. After a tedious illness, Lida died November 1889. Miss Elliott filled the position for a time and was followed by Miss Mattie and Miss Margaret Means.
The sexton's house, first proposed as early as 1842 was begun in 1890. It was
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located within the cemetery grounds and stood for 70 years. The Sexton cared for the church building as well as the cemetery including the preparation of graves. A Mr. Battles occupied the house followed by Mr. Renzie Coates in the years before 1924. At that time John Smith assumed the duties of the Sexton and served faith- fully until his death in 1954.
Christian Endeavor had its beginning at Lebanon in 1892.
Mr. Johnston received a call from the Central Church of Pittsburgh which he accepted, leaving Lebanon January 1, 1893. For a second time Lebanon called a young man from Seminary who was ordained and installed by Presbytery meeting at Lebanon June 13, 1893. The Reverend H. A. Grubbs occupied the pulpit until 1895.
It was Mr. Grubbs who became interested in the group meeting in Wilson as the Mendelssohn Sunday School and he offered to preach to them on Sunday afternoons. Thus began an association that continued until 1903 when the Mendelssohn Church was strong enough to become a separate institution, the Wilson Presbyterian Church.
The Reverend J. T. Munford was installed in June 1889 after the pulpit was vacant over two years. Lebanon continued to reach out to communities growing up nearby and in 1901 the Session appointed three elders, John S. Scott, J. V. Blair, and W. K. Irwin, to look into conditions at Lincoln Place with a view of starting a mission there. Mr. Munford served as Moderator of the fledgling church and started a regular preaching service there. In January 1903 Presbytery granted permission for this congregation to select their own pastor.
When the Wilson Church became independent of Lebanon in 1902, 48 members became a part of that new congregation. The History of Lebanon written in 1901 gives an insight to the difficulties of those years.
One of our friends has said that Lebanon is as unfortunate as it is beautiful for situation. We seem to be on the dividing line between the village and the country church, and each new village or town that springs up near us, draws from us some of our members. The last decade has been a particularly disastrous one in this respect, and people have gone from us whose families have had Lebanon for a church home for three or more generations. We still have some of the "Cedars of Lebanon" who are not only doing their
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former share of the work, but who are also trying to do enough more to fill up the gap made by diminished members.
There are those who compare Lebanon of the present with Lebanon of a few years ago, and sigh over what seems to be a dying ember. We know that there is inspiration in numbers, but we also know that there is not necessarily strength. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong: a few united in earnest effort accomplish more than a large number of contentious, unsystematic workers, so instead of bewailing the thinning of our ranks, let us take fresh courage and remember that what has been done, God willing, can be done again. Let us bear in mind that we are a regiment in comparison with the small company of those who formed an organization here. Let us individually and as a congregation strive to be more closely united in our efforts for Christ and the church in the full assurance that "there is no earnest effort thrown away. For if God be for us, who can be against us ?"
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees in October 1902 the Lebanon Church Cemetery Fund was established to insure the proper maintenance and repair of the cemetery. Reverend Munford resigned in June 1905. It was one year before the pulpit was occupied by the Reverend J. I. Axtell but he remained with Lebanon for 13 years. The choir held its second reunion in September 1906. "Lebanon Song" was first sung at this meeting and plans were formulated which led ultimately to the Lebanon Choir Association. It was decided to hold the first official meeting in October 1910 and thereafter every five years on the last Saturday of September. From that time until 1959 the Choir Association had charge of the Lebanon Day program every fifth year.
Lebanon Day itself had its first gathering in October 1907. Through the years the date changed from time to time as did the business of the day but the annual homecoming day on the last Saturday in September became a joyous occasion until the last regular gathering in 1959. Picnic lunches, worship, entertainment and inspiration were the business of the day.
Through these years of declining membership the women continued to meet the requirements of Presbyterial and the requests of the Boards of the local church. In 1919 they organized as a Foreign and Home Missionary Society and revised their con- stitution to suit the new situation. They continued to contribute money and clothing,
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new and second-hand, to mission stations and places of need.
Dr. Axtell asked to be released from his pastorate in September 1919 and though the pulpit was supplied through the next year it was not until January 1921 that the Reverend H. E. Snyder was regularly installed. He remained until October 1925.
The close of the third 50-year portion of our church found the congregation struggling with problems of declining membership and only occasional periods of professional leadership. But the congregation did not lack strong commitment. Let us see how this combination brought Lebanon to the conclusion of its second century of service.
PERIOD IV 1926 - 1976
The Sesquicentennial of Lebanon Church was observed on the traditional Lebanon Day dates, September 25-26 in 1926. A history compiled at that time by Miss Zella H. Payne has given a most complete picture of Lebanon up to that date.
From 1926 to 1928 Dr. Isaac Boyce was Stated Supply at Lebanon. Little is known of this period but the small congregation was alive and the area was in the first stages of change from the rural community it had been to the industrial community it was to become.
It was in 1927 that Miss Zella Payne invited a small group of young women to her home for the purpose of organizing a Sunday School Class. The Class met for Bible Study each Sunday morning with business meetings to be held monthly. Miss Payne was elected teacher and the first officers elected were: President, Mildred Watkins; Vice-President, Gladys Wise; Secretary, Margaret Watkins; Treasurer, Mildred Mowry. The Class selected as its name "Win One Soul" and has been known as the "W.O.S." Class through the years. For the almost fifty years of its existence the women in this organization have pro- vided leadership, education and fellowship as well as giving service to Lebanon Church. Miss Payne served as teacher until her death in 1942 and was followed as teacher by Miss Frances Neel until her health failed. Mrs. Charles Schaffer (Margaret) assumed
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teaching duties and continued until the Church School program was reorganized. W.O.S. members still meet for special occasions at the call of their officers, Mrs. Theodore Guenther (Grace) , President; Mrs. Charles Metzler, (Mae), Vice-President; Miss Jessie McKee, Secretary; Mrs. William Wise, (Gladys), Treasurer.
The minutes for Lebanon Day 1928, recorded by Mr. W. K. Irwin since 1901, list the topic for consideration as, "The Lebanon Airport - What of it?" It was later re- corded that "as usual, there were those who approved the new development and others who felt it would be a disaster to the church and community. However, a committee was appointed to join a similar committee from Mifflin Church to represent the churches in any necessary action required during the development of the airport project. " In 1929 the airport was still under discussion, but they had the assurance of the County that they did not contemplate encroaching upon church property.
The Reverend William A. Ashley served Lebanon as Stated Supply from 1928 to 1930 while serving the Lincoln Place Church in the same capacity. Early in 1932 the Reverend K. Logan Barnes was installed as joint pastor with Lincoln Place and Lebanon. By this time the airport - "what of it?" - had become a reality and was officially opened in 1932. At its opening it was the largest paved airport in the world. It covers 370 acres.
During Reverend Barnes pastorate regular monthly meetings of Session were scheduled. Despite a severe nation-wide Depression the church was in stable financial condition. Weekly church envelopes were distributed to members. The practice of preparing bulletins for the weekly Sunday service was begun. Reverend Barnes final. service at Lebanon marked the first observance of World-Wide Communion on the first Sunday in October, 1937.
Another major change in the atmosphere of this once rural community came with the opening of the Irvin Plant of United States Steel in 1938. Known as the "Mill on the Hill" it necessitated the removal of homes, a school and the Alliquippa Sabbath School. The Irvin plant takes great pride in its production of finished steel and tin plate for the modern design of automobile, trains, home appliances, containers and many more products. The plant covers 507 acres, 91 of which are under roof.
In January 1939 the Reverend Arthur R. Kaufman was installed as joint pastor of
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the churches at Lincoln Place and Lebanon. His pastorate continued until 1946 when it was felt Lincoln Place was capable of supporting him as a full-time minister.
A vote of confidence in the future of the south end of West Mifflin Borough came in 1939 with the building of Lebanon School on Camp Hollow Road. With additions and improvements in 1948 the building presently serves as a Junior High School for grades seven, eight, and nine.
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