USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > A history of the Harriet Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pa. > Part 4
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
It was a long step nearer Hollond when the session of the Tenth Church, in the autumn of 1874, extended to me an invitation to be- come the associate and assistant of Dr. Board- man, after the retirement of Mr. Fox from that position. In the meanwhile, the Hollond Chapel had been reared, and under the able leadership of Mr. Morris, sustained by the hearty co-operation of both the pastors of the parent church, and under the immediate minis- try successively of Mr. Duval and Mr. Garrett, who had charge of the chapel services of wor- ship, a large and growing school and also a large and growing congregation were estab- lished. The prosperity of the mission pres- ently became a source of embarrassment, as it brought to consideration the propriety of sepa- rate and independent organization as a church.
62
A PASTOR'S RECOLLECTIONS
It was natural that there should be honest and earnest differences of opinion on this subject. In his impassioned advocacy of what manifestly was premature as to time, ways, and means, Mr. Garrett withdrew from the mission and many of his sympathizers were ready to do the same. It was at this critical juncture of the history of Hollond that my own relations with it became most intimate.
I had been associate pastor with Dr. Board- man for nearly two years, when he felt con- strained to resign his pastorate of more than forty years of continuous service. I presented my own resignation at the same time, and shortly afterwards accepted charge of the Gethsemane Mission of the Bethany Church at Point Breeze. Rev. Dr. John DeWitt be- came the successor of Dr. Boardman, and, like him, took a deep interest in the welfare of the Hollond Chapel.
When the vexed problem of independent organization at Hollond arose, as it did a year or so later, and Mr. Garrett had withdrawn, it was thought by Mr. Morris and his fellow teachers that one who understood the situation so thoroughly as I did might be helpful; ac- cordingly the Tenth Church session, on peti- tion of Mr. Morris and his corps of helpers, extended a call to me to come to the chapel as minister in charge.
63
A PASTOR'S RECOLLECTIONS
My acceptance and installation (the latter taking place March 24th, 1878-Drs. DeWitt, Dulles and Crowell participating) brought me once more into fellowship with the Tenth Church flock, and especially with its earnest and enthusiastic group of workers at the Hollond Chapel. My providential relations were such as permitted and enabled me to do something in promoting mutual good under- standing between the mother church and the mission. The question of organization was kept in abeyance, and the wisdom of this was seen in the rapid subsequent growth of both the school and the congregation worshipping in the chapel.
It was during this period that I was thrown into intimate association with Mr. Morris, the soul of the new Harriet Hollond Chapel. He had a large and thoroughly devoted company of co-laborers, and with their help he laid broad and deep foundations for the future. He builded better than he knew, for even he in those days had no vision of the great and grand church which was so soon to rise upon them. At the head of the whole enterprise, gathering about him kindred enthusiastic help- ers, proposing and promoting every means to develop the usefulness of the mission, devising and co-operating with the establishment of Faith Mission, to the southward, for the over-
64
A PASTOR'S RECOLLECTIONS
flow of the surplus energy and enterprise of the prosperous Hollond school and congrega- tion, he made full proof of his calling and lifted the Hollond Memorial from obscurity to be one of the foremost as well as most promis- ing fields in the southern section of the city.
As I review the past, it seems almost incredi- ble that so much was accomplished under his brief administration. He was not spared to build on his own foundation or to reap where he had sowed, but the success of his labors was such that even he could not resist the lesson of expansion and manifest destiny. What he might have done had he lived out "the residue of his years," we shall never know. His work was limited to foundation laying, but therein he proved himself a master- builder. Before his seemingly untimely death he foresaw that Hollond could not remain a mission and must become a church. Had he lived he would doubtless have become a fore- most spirit in converting the noble chapel into the nobler church and in consecrating it to the beneficent future, on which already it has so largely entered.
God called him away to an early reward, and those of us who were then identified with the mission were left broken-hearted, leader- less and almost hopeless. But God never calls away one workman before he has another
65
A PASTOR'S RECOLLECTIONS
ready to take up his work. Mr. Morris was followed by Mr. Robert C. Ogden, who, though a recent resident of the city, had been trained in similar work in Brooklyn and brought the best methods of enlarged business and philan- thropic experience to the wide and promising field of the Hollond Memorial Mission. The result was inevitable, if not immediately mani- fest. The prosperity of the enterprise ren- dered it impossible that it should remain a mission, and in due season the parent church not only acquiesced in the separate organiza- tion of the Hollond Memorial Church, but be- stowed on the daughter her hearty benediction in her independent establishment.
But before this was accomplished, the prob- lems of the early transition period were too various and trying for a pastor who was bound by his office to be a mediator rather than an advocate for either side. In withdrawing from the Hollond Mission (Dec. 5th, 1880), I ex- changed fields with another worker who was destined to remain with the Hollond Memorial for nearly a score of years thereafter. Rev. Dr. J. R. Miller, who had long been the hon- ored pastor of Bethany, was then the tempor- ary supply of the West Park Church, which called me to its pastorate. Beginning each his new work within a few days of the other, it has been my privilege to look on and witness
-
66
A PASTOR'S RECOLLECTIONS
the wondrous growth of Hollond under the pastorate of Drs. Paden and Miller, and the superintendency of Messrs. Ogden and Cooke, and to rejoice in the ever-increasing prosperity of her whose praise is in all the churches. Though Morris and Ogden, and Paden and Miller are withdrawn, Martin and Overman, Cooke and Walker, and a goodly host of others, both men and women, remain-some of them unfaltering supporters of the work since the old Moyamensing days, their youth renewed with the immortal vigor of the new Hollond. It is the prayer alike of the old friends of Hollond and of the new, that "the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former!"
The session of the Tenth Church took the following action on Mr. Sharpe's resignation: " (1). In accepting with great regret the resignation of Mr. Sharpe we desire to give expression to our sense of the great loss which the work at the Harriet Hollond Chapel will sustain in his removal. (2). We note also the great ability and fidelity with which Mr. Sharpe has carried forward his labors, and record our gratitude to God for the success which has followed them."
H. P. F.
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
We now enter upon the more modern era of our history-the era of church organization and of church building. Our foundations had been carefully and securely laid along broad and far-extending lines. The old Tenth had faithfully and lovingly nurtured her child, and now that child, in the full bloom of youthful vigor, was herself to assume churchly dignity and to launch forth as an independent organ- ization-independent, yet clinging with never- ceasing trust and affection to the dear old mother church through which she had had her being, and from which, to the very last, she continued to receive direct and practical evi- dences of love and confidence.
As has already been shown, earnest men and women had made many personal sacrifices in order that the work might go on, and in its ever-increasing prosperity they had found much of encouragement and cheer. Now new leaders were to come to the front and to see to it that there should be no backward steps taken, no falling away from the high standards
68
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
which had been so long maintained. Under the inspiration of a Miller, a Paden, an Ogden and a Cooke, the youthful church organization was to get the mighty impulse which was to sweep it from the newest and lowliest to the very front ranks of our city churches, and which was to raise it from an almost unknown mission station to an enviable position of far-reaching spiritual power and usefulness. Loyal men and women, many of them already long and faithful workers in the field, were to rally with renewed zeal about these leaders and to give to them the help and encouragement without which the ablest must fail. Moses had Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands when the battle was going against his people, and successful men from that day to this have not gained their victories by fighting alone, for somewhere faithful hearts have struggled for them and with them and helped them to the winning. Our beloved church has been no exception. Our leaders have been successful largely be- cause of the brave-hearted workers they have had to cheer and to support them.
Dr. J. R. Miller succeeded Dr. Sharpe. He preached his first sermon in the chapel on the 2d day of January, 1881. His first letter to his new charge contained suggestions which were faithfully followed, and which not only gave to the work many of its distinctive feat-
REV. J. R. MILLER, D. D.
69
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
ures, but were also largely instrumental in giving the right impulse to much of its subse- quent development. He wrote, in part :
"You can help to make this chapel a warm, loving place, into which the weary, the sor- rowing, the poor, the friendless and the stran- ger will love to come. It costs but little to be kind, to reach out a cordial hand, to speak a few welcoming words ; and yet whole families have been won by just such simple courtesies in church aisles. Do not wait for introduc- tions. Those who enter our church doors are our guests, and we must make them feel at home.
" I desire to have a place in your confidence, and in your affections. The work of a true pastor is more, far more, than the faithful preaching of the Word. He is a physician of souls, and his work must be largely personal. I desire, therefore, to become the close, per- sonal friend of every one. I invite you to come to me freely for counsel and prayer in every matter that may concern your spiritual welfare. In sickness I want you to send for me. If you are in trouble, I claim the privilege of sharing it with you. I shall ever have a warm, ready sympathy, and a brother's helping hand for each of you when any burden presses, or any sorrow tries you. And in turn, I ask from you continual prayer, large patience, the firm-
70
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
est, truest friendship, a place in each home and heart, and ready co-operation in all the Master's work.
" Shall we not, one and all, sink every per- sonal consideration and consecrate ourselves to a service for Christ and for souls, which shall only cease when we are called home to our rest and reward ? "
This letter, as will be seen, would serve quite as fully to sum up Dr. Miller's work at the close of his long and helpful connection with our church as it did to outline it at the begin- ning.
The deep, spiritual current which was to flow so long and so prosperously now set in. "The people had a mind to work." It soon became evident that the time had come to or- ganize the mission into an independent church. This action was determined upon at a congre- gational meeting held in the chapel on Friday evening, February 24th, 1882, when, on motion of Mr. Charles Hunter, it was
"Resolved, That a petition be signed by the members of the congregation, requesting the Presbytery of Philadelphia to grant the request for our organization into the Harriet Hollond Memorial Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia; and that the application be made through the session of the Tenth Presbyterian Church."
The following communication, received
71
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
through Mr. William L. DuBois from Dr. John DeWitt, pastor of the Tenth Church, was read. It is preserved here to show the feeling of the mother church in relation to the pro- posed action :
"It is not impossible that I shall be unable to attend the meeting of the Hollond Memorial congregation on February 24th. If I am not there, and it should seem to you to be well to say so, please state that I shall bid the new church God-speed most heartily ; and that I cannot believe that the Tenth Church's inter- est in the Hollond Memorial will be diminished in the slightest degree by the organization ; on the other hand, I believe that that interest will be increased."
A committee, consisting of Messrs. Robert C. Ogden, Theodore H. Loder, Charles Hunter, and William L. Cooke, was appointed to rep- resent the congregation at the next meeting of Presbytery.
One month later, March 24th, 1882, the church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery, which consisted of Rev. Willard M. Rice, D.D., William L. DuBois and John Wanamaker, with General Stewart, John K. Findlay and Dr. J. R. Miller as corresponding members. The meeting was held in the chapel, Dr. Rice presiding. After brief devotional exercises, Dr. Miller read the names of the
72
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
228 members received from the Tenth Church, and of the one (Bates J. Griswold) received on profession of faith,-a total of 229 members for the new Hollond organization.
The following officers were elected by a ris- ing vote : Elders-Robert C. Ogden, William L. Cooke, Samuel M. Kennedy, and Theodore H. Loder. Deacons-Charles Hunter, Alfred Adams, Charles A. Oliver, and Walter W. Rey- nolds. Dr. J. R. Miller 'received the unani- mous call of the congregation to the pastorate. Addresses were made by Dr. Rice, Dr. DeWitt, Mr. W. L. DuBois, General Stewart, Judge Findlay, and Mr. John Wanamaker.
The church had no trustees until January 5th, 1883, when the following were elected : Robert C. Ogden, Theodore H. Loder, David Orr, James C. Taylor, Amos Dotterer, Henry A. Walker, John K. Findlay, William L. Cooke and James M. Leo.
The following list contains the names of the 229 persons who joined the church at its organization :
Alfred Adams, Mrs. Martha Adams, Miss Millie Allen, Mrs. Anna Auld.
Mrs. Eliza Bell, Miss Ella E. Biddle, Mrs. Louisa Bishop, Henry Bowman, Miss Agnes Boyd, Mrs. Elizabeth Boyer, Miss Mamie E. Brinton, Miss Mattie S. Brinton, H. Ernest Brown, Mrs. Lavinia Brown, Miss Mary Bru-
73
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
lard, Mrs. Martha Bryant, Mrs. Hannah Bry- ant, Miss Emma Bryant.
Miss Mary J. Calder, William F. Campbell, Mrs. Anna Campbell, Miss Sadie Campbell, Mrs. Eliza Campbell, Miss Jennie Campbell, James Carnes, Mrs. Eliza Carnes, John Carson, Mrs. Jane Carson, Miss Florence A. Chalker, Mrs. M. Chestnut, Charles A. Chew, Miss Selena Chew, Miss Nellie Christie, Mrs. Susan Coates, Robert H. Cochran, Mrs. M. Cochran, Miss Mary J. Colwell, Miss Emma Coogan, Miss Mary Coogan, William L. Cooke, Miss Bessie Cooke, Miss Josie Cooke, Miss Carrie M. Craig, John Crosgrave, Mrs. John Cros- grave, Miss Sarah Crosgrave, Miss Jennie Cros- grave, Mrs. A. E. Cunningham, Mrs. W. S. Cunningham.
Miss Anna Louise Daly, Miss Priscilla Daly, Miss Katie Davis, Mrs. Lizzie Dos Passos, George Douglass.
Frederick Edwards, Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards, Mrs. Louisa Edwards, Mrs. Mary Elliott, Mrs. Mary Ellis.
Mrs. A. H. Fillott, Miss Fannie B. Fithian, Mrs. Anna Fleming, Miss Mary Fleming, Miss Sadie Fleming, Samuel Frame, Mrs. Mary Frame.
Mrs. Annie Gallagher, Mrs. Elizabeth Gam- ble, Miss Lizzie Gamble, Mrs. Laura Gardner, Mrs. Virginia Gardner, Mrs. Emma Gensel,
74
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
Mrs. Annie Glanding, Mrs. Maria Goodall, Miss Mary Gowen, Miss Ida B. Graham, Bates J. Griswold.
Miss Fannie Habich, Mrs. Jane Haff, Miss Ella Hall, Mrs. Phoebe Hamilton, Thomas Harkness, Mrs. S. Harper, William B. Hens, Miss Ella Hook, Miss Lizzie Hulse, Charles Hunter, Mrs. Kate Hunter.
Miss Lulu Jardine, Miss Mary Jones, Miss Annie Keller, Samuel M. Kennedy, Mrs. Jane Kennedy, Miss Mary Kennedy, Miss Annie Kennedy, Mrs. Jennie Kennedy, William P. Kirby, Christian Kleinhenn, Miss Martha Klenneck, Charles Kruse, John Kugler, Mrs. C. Kugler, Mrs. Kate Kugler.
Mrs. C. Langman, Mrs. R. Leighton, James Leo, Charles Lesley, Mrs. K. E. Lesley, Frank Lesley, Miss Kate Linsenmeyer, Thomas Little, Mrs. Lizzie Little, Theodore H. Loder, Mrs. E. H. Loder.
Miss Jennie Magee, Andrew Martin, Mrs. Ida Martin, John Martin, Mrs. Sallie Martin, William Matlack, Mrs. Mary E. McAninch, Ira B. McCormick, Mrs. Maggie McCormick, Mrs. Elizabeth McCoy, Mrs. Susan McFarland, Miss Bella McIntire, Miss Bella Mckeever, Miss Agnes McNevin, Mrs. Margaret Meares, Miss Priscilla Meloy, Miss Lottie Milden, Mrs. Louise E. Miller, Mrs. Mary V. Mitchell, Fred Mohr, Miss Martha Morrow, Miss Lizzie A. Murray.
75
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
Miss Cora Narrigan, Mrs. Adele Nifenecker, Miss Camille Nifenecker, Alexander Nixon, Mrs. Eliza Nixon, Miss Mary Nixon, Miss Martha Nixon.
William W. O'Brien, Robert C. Ogden, Mrs. Ellen Ogden, Miss Julia T. Ogden, Charles A. Oliver, Miss Katie O'Neil, Miss Lizzie Orr, Mr. and Mrs. David Orr.
Miss Mary Parvin, Miss Ridie L. Parvin, Miss Kate Parvin, Mrs. Lizzie Pessano, Miss E. L. Pinkerton, Miss Lillie Poole, Mrs. Beulah Powell, Victor Powers.
James Radcliffe, Mrs. Charlotte Ramsay, Mrs. A. Randolph, William P. Rawlings, James Reid, Mrs. Rebecca Reid, Mrs. Margaret Reilly, D. R. Reynolds, W. R. Reynolds, W. W. Reynolds, D. C. Reynolds, M.D., Mrs. D. C. Reynolds, George C. Reynolds, Miss Laura Rhoades, Mrs. Margaret Rhoades, Mrs. R. Richards, Mrs. Kate Robinson, Mrs. Jane Russell, Robert Russell.
Mrs. S. A. Scofield, Mrs. Elizabeth Semple, Mrs. Sadie Siemen, Miss Sallie Shingle, Miss Nellie R. Smith, Mrs. Mary Smith, Mrs. Clara Smith, Daniel R. Smith, Mrs. A. Steele, George W. Steinbach, Mrs. Margaret Stein- bach, Joseph Sterrett, Mrs. Mary Sterrett, A. A. Stevenson, John W. Stewart, Mrs. Jane S. Stewart, Mrs. Margaret Stewart, Miss Mary C. Stewart, Miss Martha B. Stewart.
76
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
Mrs. Mary Tafford, Benjamin Tafford, James C. Taylor, Mrs. Ķate Taylor, Miss Jeannie L. Thompson, Miss W. Trautvetter, Miss Annie Trautvetter.
Miss Katie Vance, Mrs. Mary Voudersmith, Miss Mary B. Vondersmith.
Miss Minnie Wagner, Samuel Walker, Mrs. S. J. Walker, Samuel O. Walker, Miss Lucy Walker, Mrs. Anna Ware, Mrs Emma War- ren, Mrs. Ann J. Waters, Miss Mary Waters, Mrs. H. H. Watt, Mrs. H. Webb, J. M. Weiss, Mrs. Anna Weiss, Mrs. Eliza White, Miss Stella White, Mrs. Sarah Wiley, Robert Williamson, Mrs. Sarah Williamson, Miss Della Wilson.
Mrs. Sophie Young, Mrs. Fanny Young.
Dr. Miller was installed as the first pastor on the 23rd of April, 1882. At the May meet- ing of the General Assembly of that year, the church reported a membership of 259, and a Sunday-school membership of 1024.
The Hollond Monthly, of February, 1883, had this to say of Dr. Miller's second anni- versary : "It was a time of thanksgiving, for his work has been signally blessed of God. Not only are we organized into a church, bound more closely together by the bands of love and sympathy, and to the Saviour by in- creased devotion, but also our number has been augmented by the addition of 169 prec- ious souls won for Jesus."
77
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
On the 3rd of September, 1883, the pastoral relation existing between Dr. Miller and the church was dissolved, Dr. Miller resigning in order that he might give his time more fully to the duties connected with his position in the editorial department of the Board of Pub- lication and Sabbath-school Work, a position he had held before and during his pastoral care over Hollond. His resignation was regretfully accepted.
The Rev. William M. Paden, who had grad- uated from the Princeton Theological Seminary in the spring, accepted the call extended to him by the church to become its pastor, and with consecrated enthusiasm entered upon the work October 7th, 1883. He was ordained and installed on the 20th of the following No- vember. The sermon was delivered by the Rev. John S. MacIntosh, D.D., the charge to the pastor by the Rev. William Brenton Greene, D.D., and the charge to the people by the Rev. Dr. Miller.
When Mr. Paden was away the next year, on his first vacation, Dr. Miller wrote the fol- lowing words of commendation in the Hollond Monthly : "Mr. Paden has won the love of all hearts. He has become a welcome visitor in all the people's homes. His words in the pul- pit are listened to with eagerness, and many are helped and strengthened by them. His
78
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
ministrations in the households where sickness and sorrow have called him, have been tender and consoling. His words spoken by the way, have been wise and faithful. It would be hard to find a church anywhere more proud of its pastor than Hollond."
Mr. Paden continued to work with marked ability and success, but as the field enlarged and the outlook grew more and more encour- aging, it was felt that no one man could hope to meet successfully the demands which such a task would impose upon his time and strength, so Dr. Miller was cordially invited to assist Mr. Paden in the work. Under the title, "A Happy Combination," the Hollond Monthly, of January, 1886, thus speaks of this forward movement :
" The heavy pressure of parish work, added to the preparations for pulpit duties, have laid a heavy burden upon Mr. Paden. Not but that he could and would carry it, but the cares have become so exacting as to keep him almost entirely from that quiet and deliberate study which, as a young minister, he deems essential to proper growth. This has been a matter of conference between him and friends, both within and without our church.
" It is but natural that under these circum- stances, the plan of inviting Rev. Dr. Miller to associate himself in the pastoral office with
REV. WILLIAM M. PADEN, D. D.
கீ
79
HOLLOND CHURCH ORGANIZED
Mr. Paden should suggest itself to several minds simultaneously. The peculiarly happy relations existing between the church and both its pastors, and the continuance of Dr. Miller in the active work of the church and school since he retired from the pastorate, added to the close personal relations existing between the two men, give testimony at once to the propriety and success of such a plan, could it be adopted.
"Upon investigation, it has been found in every way feasible, and, by the action of the session and trustees upon the one part, and Dr. Miller upon the other, an arrangement has been made whereby he will become immedi- ately Mr. Paden's associate in the pastorate of the church. The whole arrangement is per- vaded by so deep a cordiality, and is evidently so much in harmony with a spirit of earnest Christian work, that it promises great things for the work in Hollond."
And so, indeed, it proved. Through the consecrated and untiring efforts of these de- voted men, blessed by God, an era of pros- perity was entered upon which soon made the work an important centre of Christian use- fulness.
THE BUILDING FUND
The church, after its organization in 1882, held its services, thanks to the Tenth Church, in the chapel, which, however well adapted to Sunday-school work, was unsuited to the needs of a growing congregation. It soon became evident that a new church building was neces- sary, and plans were at once instituted to raise money for that purpose. As early as Novem- ber of the same year, the following announce- ment appeared in the Hollond Monthly: "Our 'Brick Fund,' which is the Sunday-school work for the future church building, now amounts to $898.76."
The next month a "Children's Parlor Fair" was held by Miss Helen Ogden, and in April, 1883, a "Japanese Tea Party " was given. At the business meeting of the con- gregation on the 21st of January, 1884, Mr. William L. Cooke, the treasurer, announced "a balance on haud of above $1,200 belonging to the Church Building Fund, the result of the 'Brick Books,' the 'Children's Parlor Fair,' held by one of the scholars at her
81
THE BUILDING FUND
home, and the 'Japanese Tea Party.' Little Margaretta Morris' two dollars, given at Christmas, has been made a nest egg for ' The Hollond,' as that was the object to which she in love gave it."
Miss Ogden afterwards became one of our most efficient teachers. As the wife of Mr. Alexander Purves, also a former Hollond teacher and now treasurer of the Hampton Institute, Virginia, she is in a position to render much valuable service to the great educational institution of which her father, Mr. Robert C. Ogden, is the president. The "little Margaretta Morris" referred to is now a beloved teacher in our school. She was the only child of Mr. Charles E. Morris, and it is with special pride and pleasure that we find her giving much of her time to the work to which her father was so devotedly attached, and in which her mother has been so long and so helpfully engaged as a teacher.
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.