USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A history of the Harriet Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa. > Part 10
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The present membership is as follows : Dr. George E. Martin, Rev. L. L. Overman, Fur- man Algie, Royal Balch, Samuel H. Barstler, W. C. M. Barstler, Thomas Boyle, Frank R. Buckalew, Carroll H. Burton, W. S. Butler, Robert Carnswarth, J. Milton Carr, G. Rhea Carr, Charles A. Chew, W. L. Cooke, M. G. Crillman, William Cutler, Frank J. Day, War- ren P. Dexter, John Dunn, George Flanagan, H. P. Ford, T. Ellwood Frame, Wm. H. Ful- mer, William K. Gorham, George A. Gow, Chester Griesemer, Frank L. Hansen, Lewis P. Harding, John C. Heil, Wm. B. Hens, Hermann Hillebrand, Frank Hitchens, Chas. A. Hoehling, Charles Hunter, George H. Kelly, Wm. A. Leonard, Harry Light, T. H. Loder, George Loder, Benjamin F. Lutton,
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Joseph MacMorris, Andrew Martin, Huntley R. Murdock, David McAfee, Daniel B. Mc- Allister, William McFarland, George D. Mc- Ilvaine, Thomas L. Niven, Chas. Oelschalger, Hugh O'Neill, George M. Peak, R. H. Pres- ton, Andrew R. Poulson, J. C. Ramsey, J. H. Restine, John Russell, Harry P. Smithson, J. W. Stevenson, Robert J. Sterritt, James H. Taitt, James C.Taylor, Wm. E. Thompson, Wm. J. Tomlinson, Charles Traub, J. S. Tweddle, Henry A. Walker, James Wallace, Daniel J. Weaver, J. E. Williams, David Woods.
For many years this helpful gathering for conference and prayer was held on Friday evenings ; on the 23rd of Novem-
CONGREGA -
TIONAL ber, 1898, the meeting night was
PRAYER changed to Wednesday. While MEETING these services are never so largely attended as they should be, yet those who come find them helpful and stimulating. With but few exceptions, those who are doing the most to advance the interests of the church are to be found at one or both of our week-night prayer meetings, and it is doubtless here that they get much of the spiritual stimulus for continuance in well-doing. The value of these quiet gath- erings to our church, and to those who regu- larly attend them, cannot be overestimated. Miss Katie Linsenmeyer has long been the faithful organist.
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The money devoted to this purpose is eco- nomically administered. Fortunately, there are but few desperately poor peo-
DEACONS' ple connected with our church, FUND and that this is so is doubtless due largely to our policy to give as little financial aid as possible, but rather to encourage and help the needy to be self-sup- porting and self-reliant. In the carrying out of this policy many families to-day are living in comfort who in all probability would other- wise be helpless. We give financial assistance only when it seems to be absolutely necessary ; and those to whom money is given are encour- aged to return it, if possible, in order that it may continue its helpful mission to others. Our aim is to build up character, even in our charities.
This helpful Class was organized by Dr. Martin in January, 1899, and meets on Friday evening. The course of study NORMAL CLASS covers three years-the first, to be devoted to the authorship, main divisions, purpose, and dates of the books of the Old Testament ; the second, to a similar study of the books of the New Testament ; and the third, to teaching in the Sunday-school and pursuing a course of read- ing directed by Dr. Martin. The conditions of membership in this Class are : Ist, a pur-
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pose to complete the course in three years ; and, 2nd, an earnest desire to know more of God's Word. From its very nature the work has promise of much future usefulness and is already very popular with its members.
From the dedication of the chapel down to
the present time a number of papers have been issued to keep the work of the church before the congrega- CHURCH PAPERS tion. The first paper was pub- lished in October, 1874. It was a small four-paged monthly, and was known as Our Leaflet. It printed but little local news. The November Leaflet contained a list of the officers and teachers of the school. Un- fortunately, however, the last names only of the workers were given. Obeying a well- known law of nature, the Leaflet appears to have passed out of existence before the snows of December came.
In January, 1875, Our Sabbath-School Helper, a much larger paper, was issued. Of its twelve columns but one was devoted to the happen- ings of Hollond. Two or three numbers only were published.
The successor of the Helper was The Hollond Quarterly, which appeared in September, 1879. Most of the space was devoted to orders of re- view exercise. The last number appears to have been issued in December, 1880.
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In November, 1882, The Hollond Monthly made its first appearance, with Dr. Miller and Mr. W. L. Cooke as editors, and Mr. H. A. Walker as business manager. It was published under the supervision of the Young People's Pastor's Aid Association. The first page was devoted to stories, the second and third to church and school matters, and the last to advertise- ments. The advertisements were discontinued with the February, 1883, issue. After March, 1883, the paper was not published until Decem- ber of the same year, when it awoke to renewed activity under the editorial management of Dr. Paden and Messrs. R. C. Ogden, W. L. Cooke, Charles A. Oliver, and Samuel M. Kennedy. Mr. H. A. Walker retained his position as business manager, with Mr. Chas. A. Chew as treasurer. In the February num- ber appeared Mr. MacMorris's excellent cut of the chapel, which has become so familiar to us. The paper appeared monthly up to and includ- ing January, 1885, and then in March, June and November, 1885, and in January, Febru- ary, March, May, and June, 1886.
The Hollond Quarterly was issued in Novem- ber, 1886, and was almost the exact counter- part of the Monthly. Drs. Paden and Miller, and Messrs. R. C. Ogden, W. L. Cooke, Samuel Semple, and S. M. Kennedy were the editors. The Hollond Messenger, issued January,
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1888, was the next paper. But three num- bers appear to have been published, the last one being in December, 1888. It was larger and more interesting than any of its predeces- sors. The first three pages were devoted to church news, and the fourth to advertisements.
In the spring of 1892, Mr. Robert C. Ogden, at a teachers' meeting, spoke of the importance of a church paper and suggested that one be published. The outcome of this suggestion was The Hollond Reminder, which made its initial appearance on June 5th of that year. It contained no advertisements and all the expenses of publication were paid by Mr. Ogden. After continuing as a weekly for nine- teen consecutive numbers (the last number bearing date of October 9th, 1892), it was changed to a monthly-the first number of which was published in November, 1892. As a monthly, it was published by the Church Press Association, which allowed the church the first eight pages, free, for local news, the Association having the privilege of using the other eight pages for advertising purposes. This arrangement continued for four years, when the contract was canceled with the Octo- ber, 1896, issue, in order that the church might undertake the publication of the paper on its own responsibility. Under the new arrange- ment, the paper was published by the Christian
.
D. B. MCALLISTER
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Endeavor Society, the first number appearing in December, 1896, with Mr. Chester Griese- mer as the business manager. The paper con- tained sixteen pages in addition to the cover, and presented an attractive appearance, a special cover design having been drawn for it by Miss Caroline A. Douglas.
Owing to Mr. Griesemer's serious illness, the business control of the paper was offered to and accepted by the Ushers' Association, and Mr. Ellwood Frame was appointed business manager. The first number under the new management appeared in April, 1897. After rendering valuable service, Mr. Frame re- signed, and Mr. Daniel B. McAllister suc- ceeded to his position. Although very much engaged with his personal business, Mr. Mc- Allister has given much time to this labor of love ; and it has been largely due to his earnest efforts, ably seconded by Mr. Thomas L. Niven, that The Reminder has been continued to the present time. It is pleasant to state, that since its first appearance in June, 1892, the paper has been published without missing a single issue, save that of November, 1896, which was due to changing publishers.
Bound copies of The Reminder may be found in the church library, and also in the library of the Presbyterian Historical Society. H. P. Ford has edited the paper from its beginning.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
" Our echoes roll from soul to soul, And grow forever and forever."
One cannot make even a general review of the history of Hollond without being impressed with the vigorous and uplifting nature of the - work, and with the singular devotion of the workers-characteristics which have marked the undertaking from the very beginning. In the early years, men and women of culture and refinement, who could lend an added grace to any position, left a pleasant church home, with delightful spiritual and social surroundings, to give themselves with consecrated energy to the cause of the poor and the friendless in a neglected portion of the city ; and not for a brief season only, but for long years of faithful service. Not only were they directly helpful at the time but their influence has continued through the years, and the Hollond life of to- day is cast in a finer mould because of them. To notice with any degree of fullness all who deserve special mention would require volumes; we must be content with brief sketches of a few of the official leaders.
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Henry Augustus Boardman, D. D., was born in Troy, New York, January 9th, 1808, and was graduated from Yale College, HENRY A. in September, 1829, being the BOARDMAN, D. D. valedictorian of his class. He studied law for a year and then determined to devote his life to the work of the gospel ministry. In the fall of 1830 he en- tered Princeton Theological Seminary, from which he was graduated three years later. He preached his first sermons in the Tenth Church July 28th, 1833, from the texts Luke 6: 43-45; Isaiah I: 2, 3. At a congregational meeting held on the 2nd of the following September he received a call to become the pastor. This he accepted and on the 8th day of November he was ordained and installed. This was his first and only charge, and for forty-three years he filled the pulpit " with distinguished ability, learning and fidelity."
In 1853, Dr. Boardman was elected by the General Assembly to the chair of Pastoral Theology in Princeton Seminary, made vacant by the death of Archibald Alexander, which he declined to accept-many of the leading citizens, irrespective of denominational affilia- tion, uniting with the members of his own con- gregation in urging him to remain in Philadel- phia. In 1854, he was elected moderator of the (O. S.) General Assembly.
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On the 5th of May, 1876, Dr. Boardman addressed a tender and affectionate letter to his people, requesting them, in view of his im- paired health, to unite with him in an applica- tion to Presbytery dissolving the pastoral rela- tionship. In this letter he thus generously alludes to his two associates : "Restricted of late years to one sermon a Sabbath, my lack of service has been liberally supplied by my able and excellent associates, the Rev. Louis R. Fox, from January, 1872, to June, 1874, and since November 29th, 1874, by the Rev. J. Henry Sharpe. On the occasion of Mr. Fox's resignation, speaking not less for me than for yourselves, you bore your cordial and united testimony to 'his piety and earnestness, his fidelity and zeal, in the discharge of his co-pas- toral duties.' And you will pay the same tri- bute to his successor, Mr. Sharpe, from whose lips (let me add) I have never heard, in the eighteen months he has been with us, a single common-place sermon. My intercourse with these brethren has been of the most refreshing character. In serving you faithfully, their uniform courtesy and kindness towards myself have converted this very delicate relation into a source of the greatest comfort and encour- agement."
Very reluctantly the congregation determined to acquiesce in Dr. Boardman's request. At a
REV. H. A. BOARDMAN, D. D.
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meeting of Presbytery held in the Tenth Pres- byterian Church an the 25th of May, 1876, the following action was taken on the resignation :
" Resolved, That the Presbytery accede to the united request of Dr. Boardman and the Tenth Church for the dissolution of the pastoral relation."
Resolutions of regret and esteem were adopted by both the Presbytery and the church. By the vote of both bodies Dr. Boardman was made "pastor emeritus," a position he held until his death on the 15th of June, 1880, in his seventy-third year. He had returned the preceding day from Atlantic City, and although he was known to be ill his sickness caused no serious alarm. He grew worse, however, dur- ing the night and quietly passed away the following morning.
Dr. Boardman was an able writer. His printed works embrace above a dozen volumes and some twenty-five or thirty discourses and other pamphlets. Of his ability as a preacher, Dr. Alfred Nevin wrote : " He was evangelical and elevated in his thought, and pure, simple, and direct in his style. He charmed while he instructed his people, and he bound them to him by the ties of reverential love. He was uncom- promi-ingly orthodox in his doctrinal beliefs ; always and everywhere he maintained his Presbyterian opinion." Dr. William P. Breed
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said of him, "For ability and true manly dignity, for fidelity to sound doctrine, for rich- ness of pulpit instruction, for purity and felic- ity of literary style, for persuasive eloquence, and for reach of healthful influence, he left nothing to be desired."
The first sermon preached in the Hollond Chapel was by Dr. Boardman. He was inter- ested in all that pertained to its welfare. Mr. Charles E. Morris bore this generous testimony : "When the books shall be opened, and every secret thing be made known, it will be found that to Dr. Boardman, more than to any other human agency, has the success and present prosperity of our Mission [Hollond] been due."
On one of the visits of Dr. A. P. Happer to this country from China, he and Dr. Rice were dining with Dr. Boardman. The theme of conversation was the subject in which the three were so deeply interested-the Moyamensing Mission. Turning to Dr. Happer, Dr. Board- man said :
"Some day you will come from China on a visit to your native country, as now, and you will find the Tenth Church Mission not in its present cramped quarters on Carpenter street, but in a large, magnificent, well-furnished cathedral church, equal, or even superior, in its equipments for aggressive work, to the mother church."
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This prophecy of Dr. Boardman has had re- markable fulfillment.
Rev. Dr. A. P. Happer, at the age of twenty- four, became the first superintendent of the old Moyamensing Mission school. In
REV. ANDREW 1893, he wrote Dr. Paden as fol-
P. HAPPER,
D.D., M. D. lows : "In November, 1842, at
the request of the teachers, I commenced the duties of superintendent of the Moyamensing Mission." In view of his early association with our work, it has been thought well to give a somewhat extended account of his life. The following abbreviated article, from the pen of William Rankin, Esq., was taken from the January, 1895, Church at Home and Abroad :
Andrew Patton Happer was born in Monon- gahela City, Pa., October 20, 1818, and died in Wooster, Ohio, October 27, 1894.
Dr. Happer, then a graduate of Jefferson College, having completed his theological course at Allegheny, was studying medicine in Philadelphia, where he took the degree of M.D. in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1844, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Ohio, and on the 22d of June, that year, sailed from New York for Canton.
The mission having succeeded in entering and establishing itself in Canton, Dr. Happer, on the IIth of November, 1847, married Eliza-
ยท
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beth, daughter of Rev. Dyer Ball, of the American Board, who became the mother of his four daughters, who, under the appoint- ment of the Presbyterian Board, were at times his co-laborers in the field; also his son, who ministered to him in his last hours.
Mrs. Happer's health gave way in 1854, making a change necessary. Dr. Happer em- barked with his family for the United States in December of that year. He returned to the field in 1859, and in 1862 the first Presby- . terian church was organized, with seven na- tive members. He became its pastor and gathered into that fold some five hundred con- verts. He detached members as colonies to form nine other churches.
In December, 1865, Mrs. Elizabeth Happer departed this life. A suitable provision for his motherless children required that the father should bring them to America. In October, 1869, he returned to China, having on the 6th of that month married Miss A. L. Elliott, who, for twenty years, had been a teacher in West- ern Pennsylvania. She died four years later.
Dr. Happer's third marriage was on March 18, 1875, to Miss Hannah J. Shaw, a member of the mission, who survives him.
It was not until after fourteen years of con- tinuous labor that he consented to another furlough. He came home, but not to rest.
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The project of a Chinese Christian college, permanently endowed, engaged his attention. He came to New York, and for several weeks was engaged in securing the desired funds. Success crowned his efforts, and over $100 000 were placed in the hands of trustees in New York. The Chinese College was inaugurated on paper and he was made the first president. Mrs. Happer went back with her husband to
China. For two years they labored together. Mrs. Happer's health now failed, compelling her return home. Her husband followed a few months later, mainly from the same cause, resigning the presidency of the college to its trustees. They removed to Wooster, whence the great soul of this busy man entered into the joy of his Lord.
Mr. Wurts was born in Louisville, Kentucky, August 31, 1820, and died in Philadelphia De- cember 15, 1881. He removed
MAURICE A. to this city in his youth and at WURTS an early age became a member of the Tenth Presbyterian Church. He took an active interest in many branches of the work of that church but was specially devoted to mission labors in the neglected por- tions of the city.
In 1847, he became the superintendent of the Moyamensing Mission, which then met in the second story of the Native American Hose
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Company house on Carpenter street, below Tenth. The following year he succeeded in having erected a comfortable Sunday-school building and through the impetus thus given to the work, together with his able leadership, the membership of the school grew from fifty to above four hundred. His strong personality, love for children, devotion to the work, and deep spiritual earnestness, admirably fitted him for the responsible position which he con- tinued to fill with ever-increasing usefulness for eleven years.
In 1858, he removed to West Philadelphia and became the superintendent of the Green- way Mission, which has since been organized into the Greenway Presbyterian Church. To this work he gave seven years of faithful and successful service.
Mr. Wurts was twice superintendent of the Sunday-school of the Tenth Church. He was one of the first elders of the Woodland Presby- terian Church.
" His enthusiasm and unselfish devotion to Sunday-school mission work led to his appoint- ment as secretary of Missions of the American Sunday-School Union, and recording secretary of its Board, February 19, 1861," a position he continued to fill with great acceptance until his death in 1881, a period of twenty years. A booklet entitled " An Unselfish Life," set-
MAURICE A. WURTS
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ting forth the value of his work to the Sunday- School Union and other religious enterprises, was published shortly after his death.
Strong leaders have been connected with our work from the beginning and Mr. Wurts was among the foremost of them. He was largely instrumental in laying the firm founda- tion upon which much of the subsequent suc- cess of the Hollond school has been built. A lady who was a teacher during his superin- tendency thus writes of his work and its results:
"I was not with Mr. Wurts in the early years of his work in Moyamensing. but I have often heard him speak of the difficulties en- countered, the rough surroundings, and the unsatisfactory arrangements in the old hose- house, with boards placed on boxes or barrels for seats, and the rough, undisciplined element he had to contend with.
" It was his aim to make this a model school; but with the raw material he had to work with, this involved much patient and persevering work.
" When I entered the school I was given a class of fourteen girls. With the exception of two or three, they were utterly untrained, un- kempt little waifs, picked up from the neigh- borhood. Often bare feet and bare heads pre- sented themselves in the class, heads evidently not under the subduing influences of comb or
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brush; faces and hands free from any sense of the need of soap and water. We began with requiring cleanliness, hoping that the next grace might be induced to follow. After a few years the effect on the school became so manifest that at our regular church anniver- saries, our dear pastor, Dr. Boardman, looking over the two schools brought together in the Tenth Church, would often remark that a stranger would not be able to tell which was the church school and which the mission.
"The change in the neighborhood was also quite as marked. When I first took a class, it was considered unsafe for the lady teachers to go alone, and as Mr. Wurts was very desirous that each family should be visited, it required no little courage to carry out his wishes. Drunken men, most untidy houses, and occa- sional fights with brickbats, etc., were en- countered, but it was not so very long before all this was changed, and a great improvement seen in the character and appearance of the neighborhood."
Dr. Rice was born April 30th, 1817, at Low- ville, New York. He was graduated from Wesleyan University, Middle-
WILLARD town, Connecticut, in 1837. He
MARTIN RICE was tutor in languages in that
D. D. University from the time of his graduation until 1840, when he became the
REV. W. M. RICE, D. D. (1896)
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principal of a classical school in Philadelphia- a position he continued to hold until 1856, when he assumed charge of the Moyamensing Mission of the Tenth Presbyterian Church. Two years later, the Mission developed into the Moyamensing Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Rice became the first pastor. He remained in charge until 1863, when he resigned to be- come the pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, where he stayed until 1874; in that year he received and accepted a call from Trinity Church, Berwyn, Pa., where he re- mained until 1876.
The following action was taken by the congregation of the Moyamensing Church, Oc- tober, 14th, 1863, on the resignation of Dr. Rice :
" Resolved, That in uniting with Mr. Rice in his request, we do so with a deep sense of his faithful labors and patient sacrifices in our behalf.
" Resolved, That in the harmony and love which should ever exist between pastor and people, there is not a single link wanting in this whole church.
" Resolved, That during the five years of his pastorate, his untiring zeal and faithful minis- trations have endeared him to us by con- stantly increasing ties, and bound us together by a love and harmony which we can never cease to remember with gratitude.
"Resolved, That we unite in prayer to the
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Great Head of the Church in behalf of our pastor that his useful life may be spared ; that wherever his lot may be cast he may win the same love which we here desire to express towards him, and that he, who has all his ser- vants in his keeping, would graciously watch over him and his, and make him eminently use- ful in his Church."
Dr. Rice was a member of the Board of Pub- lication from 1860 to 1887. Since 1862 he has been its recording clerk. He has also been engaged in much literary work in connection with the Board.
He has been clerk of the Presbytery of Phila- delphia since 1858, with the exception of the years 1874-1877, during which time he was a member of the Presbytery of Chester. He was clerk of the Synod of Philadelphia from 1868 to 1882, and has frequently been a member of the General Assembly. He received his degree of D. D. from his Alma Mater in 1866.
On the 7th of July, 1840, Dr. Rice married Miss Elizabeth McDowell, daughter of the Rev. John McDowell, D. D., for sixty years one of the most prominent clergymen of the Presby- terian Church.
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