USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A history of the Harriet Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa. > Part 2
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resign his charge and seek another field of labor.
" These events could not fail to operate dis- astrously upon a church situated like this one, the more so as circumstances occurred which augmented their untoward influence. These circumstances, it could do no good to relate. Enough that the misfortunes that have over- taken that promising mission, are attributable in no form or degree to us as a session, or to the church we represent, for even the falling off in the annual subscriptions of our congre- gation to this mission was only an effect result- ing from causes beyond their control.
" We are aware that harsh judgments have been pronounced upon the session of the Tenth Church for their supposed delinquencies in this matter. We are not careful to repel these censures ; they spring more from ignorance than malice. They will find slight countenance among the excellent people of the Moyamen- sing Church. They know that the Tenth Church has testified its concern for their wel- fare by tokens of regard not to be mistaken. They must be assured that they have our hearty sympathy in their present trials, and that we would do anything in our power which a wise and prudent policy would dictate, to succor them.
" To build them a new church edifice is not,
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THE MOYAMENSING CHURCH
and never has been, in our power. We have always hoped that they might grow into a self- sustaining church, and that through a general effort on the part of the churches of our Pres- bytery, they might one day be put in posses- sion of a suitable house of worship. It would appear from the report referred to us, that the Presbytery regard this time as having come, and that all that is necessary to accomplish the object is a transfer to the Moyamensing Church of the lot and building they now occupy (free of rent), and the title to which is in the Board of Trustees of the Tenth Church.
" Assuredly our church is the last one in the Presbytery which would in any way hinder the attainment of so desirable an end-it is what we have been longing for these twenty- two years. During this entire period, the en- terprise, first as a Sunday-school, then as a church, has derived its chief pecuniary sup- port from our congregation. We claim no merit for what we have done. It was not less our pleasure than our duty. Nor do we speak of it in this place willingly, but the occasion seems to require of us the simple statement that eighteen or twenty thousand dollars would, in our judgment, be a fair estimate of the amount contributed by the Tenth Church for the culture of this mission-field. We wish the sum had been still larger. We are con-
21
THE MOYAMENSING CHURCH
vinced that the seed thus sown has, by God's blessing, yielded a harvest which is above all price, and we think the fact ought to satisfy all parties, that we cannot be indifferent to the future fortunes of this mission.
" The Presbytery, of course, would not wish us to imperil the Moyamensing property. Its financial value is not great, for it is incum- bered with a mortgage of $1,coo. But such as it is, we have no moral right to expose it to those hazards which have proven fatal to the property of so many of our feeble churches. Should the building cease to be required for worship by the Moyamensing Church, that is, should this church be forced by uncontrollable circumstances to relinquish its organization, the Tenth Church would still be bound to use the property, or its avails, for the objects con- templated in the original subscription. But if the Moyamensing Church shall, within two years from this time, secure funds suffi- cient to pay for a lot, and erect, free of debt, a suitable church edifice-sufficient, i. e., when supplemented by the avails of the property they now occupy-we agree on behalf of the trustees and session of the Tenth Church, that the property in question, or the proceeds thereof, shall be made over to them.
"We suppose that this offer covers the ground contemplated in the report referred to
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THE MOYAMENSING CHURCH
us. We think it is every thing which the struggling Moyamensing Church or the Pres- bytery could ask of us. And we trust that both the church and the Presbytery will see in it another evidence of our deep and abiding interest in the well-being of that congregation and the prosperity of our cause in the southern part of the city."
The Presbytery on October 3d, 1864, took the following action :
" Resolved, That the report submitted by the session of the Tenth Church in the matter of the Moyamensing Church, is highly satis- factory to this Presbytery and the proposition contained in the report is one honorable to that church, and entirely acceptable to this body."
The plan to continue the church was found impracticable, however, and on October 13th, Presbytery took the following action :
"Resolved, That the Moyamensing Church be, and it is hereby dissolved, and the members thereof be recommended to connect themselves with neighboring churches."
The Rev. Dr. Matthew B. Grier was ap- pointed to announce this action to the members of the Moyamensing Church ; he was also appointed by Presbytery to give, in conjunction with the session of the church, certificates of dismission to the members. The school, how- ever, was continued.
A CRITICAL PERIOD
The following paper, written in January, 1899, by Dr. S. T. Lowrie, gives an interesting glimpse of the field in 1864-5:
" I visited Philadelphia in August, 1864, to learn whether I could be employed here in some work of church extension. The Presby- tery of Philadelphia had a committee to look after such enterprises. It consisted of the Rev. Dr. M. B. Grier, (who died Jan. 23d, 1899), the Rev. F. Reck Harbaugh and Mr. John Harper, and my inquiries brought me into communication with them. This, be it re- membered, was before the Reunion. It was not plain to the committee that Presbytery could accept my offer of service, but they thought my services would be acceptable in the Carpenter Street Mission of the Tenth Church-also called the Moyamensing Mission -and undertook to arrange that. As the Presbytery would not meet before October, the committee could not earlier present this matter for its action.
"Thus it came to pass that in October, 1864,
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A CRITICAL PERIOD
I returned to Philadelphia and began work in the Moyamensing quarter as a missionary of the Presbytery, with the Moyamensing Sab- bath-school of the Tenth Church as the basis of operation. After a little acquaintance with the region, I found a lodging on Ninth street, not far from the school, and lived in the field I was to cultivate.
" The church that had existed under Dr. W. M. Rice, having been dissolved, and the greater part of the members having been enrolled in the Tenth Church that fostered the mission Sabbath-school, there could be no meetings there on Sunday mornings, for the people who could make a congregation owed attend- ance at the Tenth Church. But there was the Sabbath-school in the afternoon; and Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services were instituted there, and other house meetings held during the week. It was a hearty and happy work for all who were actually engaged in it. But the meetings continued small, and under any adversity were likely to fail alto- gether. One of the few notes I still have of that period records that I preached on Feb. 12, 1865, Sunday evening, to six adults and three children. The text was: Zech. 3: 2, 'Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire ?'
" The chief interest was in the Sabbath- school. Mr. H. W. Pitkin was superintendent
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A CRITICAL PERIOD
and conducted the school, and Miss E. N. Brown was assistant superintendent. But after a few months Mr. Pitkin was able to be there only occasionally, so that I had often to con- duct the school; and I was always teaching classes for which no regular teachers could be found. The teachers who were regular and reliable were few; but they were very admir- able for ability and devotion to their work, and taught large classes. With such good work- ers and faithful work, it seemed that, sooner or later, there must come enlargement in every respect, and with it the revival of a church.
" It was not the discouragements of the field that led to my removal from it, but the very hopeful character of another field. In the spring of the year 1865 the Bethany Mission applied to Presbytery to be taken under its care, with the request that I should be trans- ferred to that field. The circumstances of the two fields led Presbytery to make the change, in which I very heartily acquiesced. It was not to take effect until I had fulfilled the year for which, as it was understood, I had been appointed to labor in Moyamensing. The year practically ended when the Carpenter Street Sabbath-school reduced work for the summer, as was necessitated by reason of the teachers there being, nearly all of them, per- sons who lived out of the city in summer.
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A CRITICAL PERIOD
" But more than reduction of the school took place; for, in view of the discouragements attending the work, the session of the Tenth Church judged it expedient to discontinue the mission Sabbath-school. I was invited by Dr. H. A. Boardman, the pastor, to participate in the mournful transaction that was intended to conclude the efforts to plant a church by that mission. It took place, I think, in the afternoon of the last Sunday of June, (25th) 1865, with appropriate worship of God, re- counting the blessings of the past and acqui- escing in what seemed to be His present will.
" It was, however, not so to be. There were murmurs against the action of the session. Before the summer dispersion of the teachers of the school took place, consent was got by some of them to make a further trial. The prime movers in this were Miss Estabrook and Miss Penrose, and word was spread among the Sabbath-school scholars that the school would be opened again in October. What happened then and thereafter belongs to the first chapter of the inspiring story of the rise and progress of the Hollond Memorial Church."
MISS ELLEN A. ESTABROOK
THE NEW LIFE
The Rev. Heber H. Beadle, now, and for the past thirty-three years, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Bridgeton, N. J., has prepared the following paper on a very interesting and important period in the history of the school-the period immediately following that described by Dr. Lowrie in the preced- ing chapter:
"It was my good fortune to be connected with the Hollond Memorial field in days long past; it was my misfortune that it was only for a very short service. After a lapse of more than thirty years my recollections of it are somewhat indefinite and unsatisfactory.
"In the fall of 1865, after the church had been for some time disbanded and the school had been abandoned, when the work in that field seemed almost hopeless to all except a faithful few-like Miss Estabrook and Miss Lydia S. Penrose-I was asked by them to look over the field and see whether, in my opinion, something could not yet be done to restore life to what seemed to be most utterly dead.
"They talked the matter over with Mr. H. W. Pitkin, the former superintendent, and my-
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THE NEW LIFE
self, and with such persistence and enthusiasm that we were made to believe that it was worth while, at least, to try to see what could be done-there might be a spark of life some- where, which, by judicious nursing, would come to something.
" Being for the moment an idler in the market place, I was glad of an opportunity to work for Christ, even in so unpromising a field.
"One Sabbath in October we met in the school room with a few of the teachers of the old school and the matter was again talked over most earnestly and most prayerfully. It was finally determined that, if we could gain permission from the proper authorities in the mother church, we would re-open the school and see if a determined purpose, along with the help of God, would not bring the success which we coveted; and that the dead should be made to rise and walk.
" We did not wish to make an experiment- that had been done already-we wanted to do the thing. Notice was given at once, through the teachers and a few scholars who had come in to see what was to be done, that there would be school in that place the next Sunday and every Sunday thereafter; and that every- body was invited to come, and to bring others with them. In the meanwhile, Miss Estabrook, Miss Penrose and myself were to see the au-
4
MISS LYDIA S. PENROSE
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THE NEW LIFE
thorities and win them over to let us have the building. Knowing well the good men who had the matter in charge, we did not antici- pate any real difficulty.
" With two such brave, faithful, self-forget- ting souls as these back of the enterprise, to suggest, to insist, to have heart and courage enough for all that had little or none, diffi- culties vanished and hope was born where there had been only despair before.
" We were allowed to try the 'experiment,' as it was called, but those who gave the per- mission gave it without the least faith in the world that any more would come of it than had already come-that is, absolute and piti- able failure. But we had other ideas, and were the more determined to make not failure but success of the trial, if God would help, and of that we had not the least doubt.
"The place was not a pleasant and cheerful one to which to invite children. An abandoned room is rarely a bright one. The benches were old, cut, and carved, broken and repaired by home talent; the walls were not very clean; the windows were almost as useful for ventila- tion as for light, and for the first we had no need whatever-the cracked and shrunken doors gave enough of that. During the week we went to a tailor's and bought a basket of list, and a large and heavy basket it was to
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THE NEW LIFE
carry, I remember. Borrowing a hammer and buying tacks, we went out to the school and spent the day in caulking up the rents and holes that let in too much of the winter air; and doing this and many other like things that much needed to be done, we succeeded in making the place warmer and more present- able for the children.
"Some of the teachers who had been faithful in the old school in spite of many discourage- ments, who stood ready again for still harder work, and who lived near by, agreed to have the room washed and cleaned for the next Sabbath. So much was done to the building.
"The neighborhood was visited, every child seen upon the street was smiled upon and asked to come to the school, and from the out- set it was work, work, work, and pray, pray, pray, until to the amazement of all-save those whose hearts had been in the service-the school was set upon its feet, and began to grow strong in a way to delight those of us who had undertaken the work against the judgment of many much wiser than ourselves, and almost against our own most cherished hopes at the beginning.
"In the spring of 1866 I was called to take charge of the church where I am at present, and very reluctantly was compelled to give up the superintendency of the school that was
REV HEBER H. BEADLE
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THE NEW LIFE
now growing so prosperous, into better hands to carry on to new successes.
"Miss Estabrook and Miss Penrose were still, as at first, the moving spirits that, under God, furthered the work to its wonderful ultimate growth. In the present unbarring of the doors of the past to let in light by which to see the faces of those who toiled so patiently, so faithfully, and did so much, when there was no promise for reward save in the promises of God, and it was hoping against hope to remain in that field, the names of these two faith- ful servants of God should not be overlooked; for they were the very life of the effort. Others took hold and toiled too, and with all their hearts-most noble helpers they were, and without them success would have been impossible or much delayed-but about the earnest, insistent, unwearying efforts of these two did everything turn at the beginning, and their names ought to be written upon a tablet of bronze and set upon the walls of the church -for without them it would not have been, humanly speaking."
[Miss Estabrook is now (1899) living in Barre, Mass. The devotion of Miss Penrose to the work has continued through the years and she is still one of the most valued teachers of the school.]
INSPIRATION
"They helped every one his neighbor ; and every- one said to his brother, Be of good courage." Isaiah 41 : 6.
The efforts of Mr. Beadle, Miss Penrose, Miss Estabrook, and others were crowned with almost unlooked-for blessings. Miss Harriet Hollond, a prominent teacher in the Tenth Church, expressed her great joy, and promised finan- cial assistance. She had the walls whitewashed, and the heater, which could only be relied on to fill the room with smoke, put in good order. Former teachers, catching the enthusiasm, re- turned to the work, and gathered in their scat- tered scholars. Hope was in every face, faith
and courage in every heart. There was a swing and go about everything, and a mighty, heaven-born impulse that was full of cheer and inspiration for all. Three months later, Christ- mas was joyfully celebrated with two hundred scholars.
Mr. A. B. Shearer was made superintendent, and he was succeeded by the Hon. J. K. Find- lay. In the early part of 1870, Judge Findlay
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INSPIRATION
resigned, and the teachers unanimously elected Mr. Charles E. Morris, a promising young lawyer, and at that time a teacher in Bethany, to fill the vacancy. He declined to accept, but consented to become associate superintendent, provided Mr. Julian Cary would act as su- perintendent at the regular session of the school on Sunday afternoons, thus allowing Mr. Morris to meet his class in Bethany. This arrangement continued until the spring of 1871, when Mr. Cary removed to New York. Mr. Morris was again elected superintendent, and, to the great joy of the officers and teachers, accepted.
He held the important position with marked ability and success until his untimely death on the 10th of February, 1879. Under his mag- netic leadership the school made great pro- gress. The seats in the old Moyamensing building were replaced by better ones; the floor, which had given way during one of the sessions, was relaid; the house was repainted; the division wall between the main room and the infant school was removed, and new life and energy took the place of old and worn-out. methods.
THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
A few days before the death of Harriet Hol- lond, which occurred on the 9th of August, 1870, she added a codicil to her will, in which she bequeathed $10,000 to the Tenth Church, provided it would undertake, within five years, to place the Moyamensing school in a more desirable neighborhood.
The Tenth Church accepted the terms of Miss Hollond's legacy, and contributed an equal amount. On the 16th of June, 1873, it entered into a contract with Charles D. Supplee, architect, to erect a handsome memorial chapel.
The site finally selected was at the southwest corner of Federal and Clarion streets, the lot originally chosen, at Twelfth and Wharton streets, being relinquished.
Ground was broken June 17th, and the cor- ner-stone laid July 31, 1873. The exercises were participated in by the Rev. Willard M. Rice, D. D., of the Fourth Presbyterian Church; the Rev. J. R. Miller, D. D., of the Bethany Presbyterian Church ; and the Rev. J. Henry Sharpe, D. D., of the Wharton Street Presby-
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THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
terian Church. Mr. Charles E. Morris, super- intendent, also took part.
The dedicatory services commenced on Sun- day morning, February 15, 1874, the day being an unusually beautiful one. The Rev. Henry A. Boardman, D. D., preached the opening ser- mon from the texts "O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own." I Chron. : 29-16.
"This also that she hath done, shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Mark 14 : 9.
Among other things, he said :
"This commodious and beautiful structure, whose walls to-day resound for the first time with the praises of Almighty God, is not pri- marily designed as a church, but as a Sunday- school mission chapel. The predominant serv- ice is to be the careful religious training of the young ; to be blended, however, with the preaching of the Gospel, and its kindred exer- cises.
"You bring the Gospel to the very door of the people. You bring it to them without money and without price, under circumstances which leave no possible room for them to distrust the purity of your motives. You address your- selves to the young who are accessible to the approaches of kindness, and who are the particular objects of the Divine regard. Your
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THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
whole aim concerning them is to rescue them from evil courses, to throw around them the only adequate safeguard against temptation, to make them wiser and better and happier, to fit them for the duties of this life, and the enjoyments of the life to come. The whole- some agency thus brought to bear upon the young, they carry into their homes. Children become missionaries to their parents ; all the more efficient, because neither party recognizes the relation, and the healthful influence distills around silently like the dew. Intemperance, profaneness, and crime, will be checked ; order, industry, and frugality will prevail, and you will have done more for the peace and thrift of the neighborhood, than the police could have accomplished in a score of years."
" But your aim is higher than personal ref- ormation, or domestic comfort, or social order, or all of these combined. You come hither as to the lost, to make known to them a Saviour; you come to snatch deathless souls from endless ruin; you come to train perishing sinners for Heaven."
Of Miss Hollond, he said, in part : "With a humility never exceeded in any Christian of whom I have known or read, she shrank from hearing her name used in connection with any of her daily benefactions. Her ambition never rose beyond the privilege of ministering to the
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THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
relief, temporal and spiritual, of God's suffer- ing poor, and for these ever-repeated offices of kindness she would not hear without protest a word of commendation even from her dearest friends."
At 2 P. M., the Sunday-school assembled for the last time in the old brick school-house on Carpenter street. After a parting hymn and prayer, they filed out by classes and marched to the new chapel, singing "Our Sabbath Home." The boys entered by the east door, the girls by the west, and took their ap- pointed class forms. "The little people of the Infant and Primary rooms came last, and when all were in place, Mr. Morris tapped his bell, the singing ceased, all were simultaneous- ly seated, and the exercises of the school went on just as in the old hall." Mr. W. L. Cooke made the opening prayer.
In the evening, the co-pastor of the Tenth Church, the Rev. Louis R. Fox, preached. The Rev. Willard M. Rice, D. D., also spoke.
On Monday, the 16th, the Rev. Dr. S. T. Lowrie, read the Scriptures and made the open- ing prayer. Addresses to the children were delivered by the Rev. James M. Crowell, D. D., and J. Bennet Tyler, Esq. The following original dedication hymn was sung:
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THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
Father, enthroned above, Hear us in gracious love ; Accept our vows : Holy and Sovereign Lord,
Keep Thou the watch and ward, Be the perpetual Guard Of this Thy House.
Thou, the Anointed One, God's own eternal Son, Grant us Thine aid : Here let Thy favor dwell, Here may Thy praises swell ; Saviour, Immanuel, Be Thou our Head.
Oh, Holy Comforter, Thy people, prone to err, Thy help implore : Presence Divine, unseen, Breathe every heart within, Cleanse from all taint of sin, Forevermore.
Jehovah ! Lord and King, Angels Thy glory sing Through endless days : World without end, to Thee, To Thy great Majesty, Father, Son, Spirit, be Eternal praise !
A report was read by Mr. Charles E. Morris, showing that there had been a total expendi- ture of $30,000, all but $3,400 of which had been paid. $20,000 of the amount had come through the Tenth Church and Miss Hollond,
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THE HOLLOND CHAPEL
$4,000 from the sale of the old Carpenter street building, and about $1,000 from the mite boxes used by the children of the school. $70.00 of this was raised by Miss Elizabeth Rivell's class. In less than two weeks after the report was made, the building, through the liberality of two good friends of the school, was free from debt.
On Tuesday, the 17th, the Rev. Henry C. McCook, D. D., Hon. W. S. Peirce, Rev. E. R. Beadle, D. D., of the Second Presbyterian Church, and the Hon. John Wanamaker, took part.
On Wednesday evening, the Rev. H. V. S. Meyers, of New York, the Rev. W. W. Hallo- way, of Jersey City, and the Rev. Wm. P. Breed, D. D., of the West Spruce Street Pres- byterian Church, were the speakers.
Thursday evening, the Rev. H. J. Van Dyke, D. D., of Brooklyn, and the Rev. J. F. Dripps, of Germantown, preached. On Friday even- ing, the sermon was delivered by the Rev. W. W. Ormiston, D. D., of New York city. Sat- urday evening was observed as a praise and thanksgiving service, in which the Rev. Dr. Z. M. Humphrey, the Rev. Dr. J. R. Miller, and Messrs. Maurice A. Wurts and James O. McHenry participated.
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