USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > Centennial volume of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, PA., 1784-1884 > Part 5
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tributed in obedience to that decision, which are blessing the church and the world of to-day with their product.
Simultaneously came the similar decision concerning church work in Missions. Had this region done nothing else for our denomination as a whole, its early and firm enunciation of this principle (now universally adopted, but then controverted) would entitle it to everlasting remembrance. The principle was asserted in this same Synod of 1828-carried further in 1829, and in 1830 ; and finally reached organization in 1831. How full, and large, and clear the utterance was! The swing of the diction marks it, I think, as Dr. Swift's.
At that same Synod, (1828, convened in this church, ) a new hold was taken on the press. "The Spectator" was to receive the Rev. H. Jennings as editor. Drs. Swift and Hoge were a com- mittee to plead for it by an address to the public.
Presbyterianism in its citadel, viz .: its eldership, was guarded by resolutions denying the privilege of voting in ecclesiastical bodies to mere " committee men," from congregational churches. It was, in many regards, the greatest deliberative meeting ever held in this church. Temperance was commended and organiza- tion counseled. Sabbath Union and Sunday School Union were endorsed. Revivals were prayed for and expected, and special Christian work of all kinds commended. The enthusiasm of the West began to tell upon the East, and became visible in the General Assembly. It was in answer to a call in the latter body, that a group of young and earnest ministers, among whom were Dr. Cowan's father and my father, came West in 1829. Ah! when the church arises she shines. It is inaction she has to fear far more than any external foes.
In 1831 the church numbered 389. Now was felt the stir which increased to separation of the denomination. Subscription er onimo had been required in 1826, by action of Synod. A book was ordered to be subscribed. "I, A. B., do receive," etc. Iu 1831 the beginnings of the conflict became visible, both as to subscription and the eldership versus committee men. Suffice it to say that the prevision of the leaders here has been justified by the adoption of their principles by the entire denomination. Immediate church work went on. Help was appealed for in behalf of the Theological Seminary furnishment ; and it was stated that "considerable additions were probable, and their board
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would be reduced to seventy-five cents a week, provided a suffi- eient number of rooms in the Seminary building were furnished for their reception." " Pious music teachers" were sought, and the growth of Sabbath Schools noticed.
Larger feelings about the great Western Valley began now to show themselves. Pittsburgh is pronounced the " commercial centre of more than 8,000 miles of steamboat navigation. God, in His providence, seems almost to have annihilated distance." "Gigantic influence " of this point seems sure to them. There was an amazing increase of population, and more thousands were expected. The Synod says : "The member of this Synod is still living, who first sounded the silver trumpet of the gospel, and broke the first loaf of the bread of life (to a handful convened in a log barn) west of the Ohio! Population has more than doubled every ten years. At this rate there will be a population west of the Allegheny Mountains, in twenty-five years, of 20,000,000 !! Can we close our eyes ? Brethren, keep the sacred fire ever burning upon our own altars, and send down this immense valley one thou- sand torch bearers." Besides this, the African Missionaries were " about to embark," in 1832, and were commended to the prayers of the church. The zeal and faith of our forefathers attacked the foreign missionary world at its darkest point. They were of heroic faith. The greater the difficulties the more the enterprise appeared to be of God.
This large-hearted general condition of things was necessarily accompanied with growth in this individual church. In 1832 the church numbered 429. Then it was crowned with revival, (see Dr. Paxton's Memorial, pp. 64-8,) and that was crowned again by planting a new centre of light and power-the Third Church. Then followed closely again the revival of 1834, in which the number of conversions from the Sabbath Schools was larger than ever before. But it was time for trouble again. This time it came in connection with the denominational history. Of the whole epoch of division, 1835,'6, '7, nothing need here be said beyond the record of the fact that pleasant personal relations seem to have been maintained, even though the Third and Minersville Churches became attached to the New School. The whole discussion may have been fruitful of knowledge as to some disputed doctrines, and certainly was fruitful in exhibiting the principle of church work in education and evangelization ; but it
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seems to have been an era unfruitful of large growth. It was an evidence of good, sterling Christian character, and of the presence of the grace of God, that such discussions could go forward through many years and leave no deeper marks.
In 1839 the Session appointed Elder JJ. M. Snowden to prepare a history of the church, which is recorded in the minute book of the Session begun at that time. It is invaluable now. There was the same early deficiency to complain of then as now, and it is strange to us that the Session should have kept no records before 1818. Thirty-four years of the church lost, so far as the inner record of its spiritual life is concerned. There was never kept a record of marriages and baptisms ; but we may repeat with emphasis now, (forty-five years later, ) what Judge Snowden then wrote : " Much ground is afforded for confidence, gratitude and praise ; for goodness and merey have followed the congrega- tion through many difficulties."
During the " forties" little seems to have occurred which de- mands special notice. In 1847 resolutions were passed and the Session asked to call the congregation to provide a co-pastor for Dr. Herron, but the movement failed.
In 1850, the burden, both of the church and of years, seemed too much to be borne by the now venerable pastor. That meeting must have been a solemn and tender one, in which the attached friend and faithful elder, Harmar Denny, read his resolutions touching his pastor's resignation. " Resolved, in testimony of our affectionate regard for our beloved pastor, who has spent an almost unprecedented period of labor and use- fulness in our midst, characterized by uniform harmony, and with manifold tokens of divine favor ; we tender him a sense of our profound gratitude, and assurance of our cordial esteem for his ministerial and personal worth, with the cherished hope and desire that in his retirement he may realize the full consolations of the gospel and ultimately the reward of a zealous and faith- ful ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ."
A noble tribute ! Most affectionate and most sincere. It was accompanied with promise of provision for his comfort. Heaven and the best of earth seem to blend in that scene. It is an ideal spectacle, assuring us that there is nothing in this whole world so holy, and tender, and deep, as " fellowship in the gospel." It was the reward of faithfulness here and the pledge of
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approval above. The First Church is an exceptionally noble people to serve in the gospel, to live among and to die among.
And how richly fulfilled was this benediction upon the closing days of this grand life. They were serene and calm in experi- ence, and most useful in preaching, and prayer, and counsel. I have related to you formerly the history of the revival of 1851, (as given me by Dr. Paxton) when Dr. Herron's counsel to " call an inquiry-meeting" seemed to be the turning point to a wonderful ingathering. His soulful words of final confession of the sufficiency and power of the gospel of Christ, and final ap- peal to "fellow sinners " to be saved by this only way of salva- tion, delivered as the last sermon in the old house, lingers in many a heart and deserves to be hung in illuminated type some- where on these walls. [See Appendix.]
What a blessing was that noble presence with the silver hair and the treasured memories which wove him into the heart of every household, as Sabbath by Sabbath he occupied the great chair beneath the pulpit ! It was a life-evening so calm, so bright, so typically perfect that it seemed, like a far northern sky, rather to melt into heaven's morning than to die into any darkness. Taken as a whole it was a marked life throughout for its power of personal influence. It was Dr. Herron's character (like Washington's in the Revolution ) more than his genius, to which the people came as to a refuge and strength. Mrs. General Butler (a bright and accomplished woman, but of skeptical mind ) would invite Mrs. Herron to her parties, but not the Doctor, say- ing that he was a " Methodist " and an " enthusiast." But when a great thunder storm arose she would come over to Dr. Herron's house. He asked, "Do you think yourself safer here ?" She answered, "Oh, you are a Methodist, but you are a good man, and if there is any place safe it will be this." [Mrs. Smith's reminiscences.]
Thus let him remain forever in the minds of men. When the community first knew his supreme earnestness and steadfast op- position to every form of evil, it called him an " enthusiast," but as they saw the gospel he loved and preached bringing order out of confusion, and joy amid sorrow, they began to feel that it was safe to be where the good man was. Dr. Herron's personal influence was illustrated by his remarkable power of enlisting help in any work which engaged him, and in setting men to 5
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work on lines suited to their special endowments, as in Dr. Nevin's Sabbath afternoon lectures on "The Analogies of Religion." The Session of the church recorded their gratitude for "the trials he endured, the difficulties he surmounted, the in- fluences for good he put into operation, the controlling influence he exerted in this whole community, and the moral and spiritual reformation which he effected in this church." [Memorial, p. 136.]
The dates of his life are these. Born June 28th, 1774, near Shippensburg, Pa., of Scotch-Irish and pious parents, and trained by them and the times to faith and manliness. Dickin- son graduate, May, 1794; theology with Cooper ; licensed 4th October, 1797 ; toughened by 'severe journey West, 1798-9 ; kindled by great revivals in progress there ; settled at Rocky Springs, Pa., in April, 1800, and after eleven years of successful pastoral life translated to Pittsburgh, First Church, thence to heaven, on December 6th, 1860. As preacher, careful in prepa- ration, biblical, experimental, and always impressive. As pastor, affectionate, accessible, persuasive and progressive in methods. As presbyter, a born leader in Presbytery and Synod, and Moderator of the General Assembly in 1827. As president, directing the Board of Directors of the Western Theological Seminary from its first meeting until his death. As citizen, de- voted to the city's interests, jealous of its morals, helpful in extending its churches, founding the first " Moral Association," and holding the first Temperance meetings.
Dr. Herron's piety was marked. It was early, tender, strong, equable yet stimulated by revivals, characterized. no less by prayer than by active zeal. He was pre-eminently a man to mold the times. "There are but two things in Pittsburgh," was once said, "Dr. Herron and the Devil, and the Doctor seems to be getting the advantage." In personal majesty of presence unequaled, in influence commanding and magnetic. Equal to emergencies in church or city, with pronounced convictions and well matured opinions, sound judgment and warm sympathies, of remarkable courage and great practical wisdom. When he died all mourned a father. Business and even the Courts were sus- pended in his honor. Tributes of every description were paid to his worth. The tablet erected by a grateful people, in 1874,
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the centennial of his birth, bears these closing words : " Revered by the church he served and the city he adorned."
Dr. Herron was a true Moses to this people. During his forty years pastorate they were led from an Egypt of bondage to debt, and out of the murmurings of the desert for some forbidden grati- fications, to the promised land of abundance, to become a strong and settled generation of devoted servants to God.
Let his noble face and stature be perpetuated in picture and description, let his fame be preserved in anecdote and history and storied tablet, for all these things bring to mind is the product of that gospel he held up to man with the firm accents of youth and the tremulous hands of age, which he illustrated by his life as he proclaimed it with his lips, and which is OUR only hope of salvation.
More and more should be done to keep the rising generations of this church and-of this community thoroughly familiar with this nobly complete type of Christian manliness, unreserved per- sonal consecration, indomitable will and unflinching perseverance and undaunted faith, so that they may bravely pioneer in the paths of moral struggles as he did, and loyally live for and peace- fully die in the Christ he loved. So it should be that not only those of our past who lie around him in the cemetery now, but the hundreds of others who will be buried there, should be thought of as one family, and that when the resurrection morning comes, he should rise with them to commend them (mayhap, also, the pastors who have followed him and have sought to drink into his spirit) to Christ the Lord, saying, "Here am I and the children whom thou hast given me."
When the change became necessary in 1850, one was soon found and called with perfect unanimity, whom the ex-pastor re- ceived with as much esteem and trust as the congregation exhib- ited of enthusiasm and admiration. As he "received him with open arms," so for the remaining ten years of his life Dr. Her- ron " cherished" his successor "with the magnanimity of his great Christian heart and the tenderness of a parental affection." [Me- morial, p. 72.] The training and impulses of Dr. William M. Paxton when he came hither after two years pastorate at Green- castle, Pa., were such as to make all his abilities tributary to carrying the church forward in the direction now at last so firmly taken. It was but a short interval until the new pastor
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was on the field (early in 1851,) and but another short interval until the evident blessing of God in the edification of the older and the attraction of the younger began to be visible, and-but another short interval until the crowning blessing came in a gra- cious, protracted and productive revival. The crisis of this fourth pastorate of our century was passed when this revival came, as that of the third was when the revival of 1827 came. There are those, and many of them, still living among us, who can bear witness to the deep and tender solemnity of that refreshing season. Some date the beginning of their spiritual life from that Sunday afternoon inquiry-meeting out of which most of the sev- enty-five present went savingly impressed. It was a time of power when Dr. Herron was here to counsel, and Dr. Paxton to preach, and such men as Beer and Bailey and Lorenz and Laugh- lin and Spencer and McCord and others to pray, to plan, and to work.
The rapidly increasing congregations, combined with the con- dition of city prosperity and the recognized pecuniary ability of the church, together with the condition of the 1804 building, pointed to a new church edifice. It was undertaken in 1852, and finished in 1853, was one of the handsomest of its time, and has stimulated many others of like grade. From '53 to '57 there was steady growth, and then came another wave of spiritual interest. Like '27, '32 and '51, it was deep and strong in its influence. The revival immediately preceding had originated, none knew how, within the congregation itself ; this one grew out of the Syn- odical Convention of December, 1857, [see Dr. Paxton's address,] and grew in common with the remarkable work of '57 and '58, the marks of which are yet visible on the whole Christian surface of the world. This church was thoroughly aroused. Young men's activities began then as union meetings began. Mission schools were now also more largely developed. The communions and confession scenes of that period were marked seasons of solemnity and consecration.
Scarcely had the enlarged work consequent upon this "time of harvest" been well compassed when the pastor was called to a work requiring much labor and study on his part, and some sacri- fice on the part of the congregation, but one to which he was so plainly designated by special gifts that all acquiesced in his de- cision to undertake it. Here began his teaching the Science of
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Homiletics in the Western Theological Seminary, which was con- tinued until the termination of his pastorate and for several years afterwards. It is needless to say that what he could do so sig- nally well he could teach with equal success, and especially as the church has just called him from the New York pastorate of multiplied years and affections and its accompanying responsibili- ties in denominational work ; to exercise the same office again in her most venerable school for the ministry.
Scarcely had this work been well begun when the hot breath of war was felt in the air, and the duties and anxieties of that period came alike upon pastor and people. And how admirably both did the duties and bore the anxieties ! The pulpit gave no uncertain sound, and its prayers were incessant, while the whole church was ever ready with moral influence, with money, with men at the front and with faithful women, not a few, in all the varied labors by which they sustained the army in the field. The great "Sanitary Association " meeting held in this church will never be forgotten.
During this whole term the unity of feeling between pastor and people was never for a moment impaired. The one was sympathetic in affliction, clear in counseling inquirers, efficient in discipline, unrivaled in the pulpit; the other satisfied, united, hearty and active. There was great development in the useful- ness of the Session during this period, and many of the names which will be longest remembered for faithfulness and devotion, were identified with it. The old choral choir, under the spirited and spiritual guidance of Mr. Wright, continued throughout, and many of its voices are gratefully remembered. The church, throughout this period, at least after 1860, maintained so strong a protest against sinful amusements that a pledge to abstain from opera, theatre, cireus and cards, was made a terni of con- munion for all who made confession of their faith. The be- nevolence of the church made rapid increase, and its whole life was strong, glowing, and often intense. The years of this pas- torate were years of the "right hand of the Most High." They were enviable years of prosperity in external and internal things. Even the city extension and prosperity seemed to increase the time of favor. The church life deepened as it strengthened, and one must go far to find a record in which there is so much cause for rejoicing, and so little left to desire, as in the history '
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of the First Church from 1850 to 1865. In June of that year (just after an important meeting of the General Assembly in this building) the pastor was constrained to bring these pleasant and fruitful relations to an end, on account of considerations of health, (his own and that of his son.) Reluctantly the con- gregation acquiesced in what the pastor deemed imperative, and you have appeared to be receiving something of compensation for this painful separation, in the continued life and usefulness elsewhere of the pastor to whom you were devoted, in his pres- ence and words of instruction and cheer on this occasion and in having been permitted recently to hear, from this pulpit, (before which he was baptized) the son for whose health's sake, in part, the ties of the past were sundered, and through whose life there is such good hope of continuing the father's usefulness. It has been your frequent privilege since 1865 to welcome with most attentive hearing, the ministrations of Dr. Herron's successor and friend, as it has mine to know and acknowledge his constant kindness and support, so that in a way rather unusual there has been a continuance of the influences, feelings and traditions which have permeated the church life, from 1811 onward.
When your late pastor was called, in December, 1865, and he- gan his work with January, 1866, there was little to do but build on foundations already firmly laid. However, with the ever increasing volume of the city population, and the change in the character of that part of it surrounding the church, (now distinctly considered as located in the "okl" part of the city,) came the evident demand for additional aggressive work for different classes. Attractive suburbs were calling away many who had been active and faithful in their church relations, and those moving to the city from elsewhere did not choose to reside near the old centre. The indication of Providence was plain, and the church addressed itself by degrees to this work (at once a new and an old one.) Development in this direction was aided by the reinstallation of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, which took place in this church in December, 1866, by the Christian Conventions and the inspiring zeal of Mr. Moody, and by the re-formation of the Young Men's Union in our own church. The grand impulse of lay-evangelization was felt among us, and has been responded to in various directions ever since. The work of City Missions began in 1867, with the
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labors of the Rev. S. C. Faris, a faithful and devoted man. Support was arranged by the gift of one thousand dollars per annum by Mrs. E. F. Denny, and a contribution of $300 for house rent from several gentlemen. Miss Ellen McNutt was employed about the same time for a portion of each day, and supported by private subscription. Others have aided in the work from time to time. Mr. E. McGinnis, Deacon Newell, Miss Mary Smith, Mrs. Anna Logan, and now Mr. John Thomp- son have carried it forward with mingled zeal and discretion. Each has contributed something of peculiar influence and wisdom, and spiritual power, to this quiet but noble and successful work. There was also co-operation, at one time, with the Woman's Christian Association of the city, a distriet being assigned us, and much faithful volunteer work being done in it. The result has fully justified all the expenditure. of time and means. There are some in the church to-day, as in the Sabbath School, and some in other churches, and some in the church above, who would never have been drawn within the power of the gospel by any other means.
In close connection with this going out to "compel them to come in," has progressed the work of enlarging our Sabbath School. The church discovered that a small home school was discouraging even the attendance of church families, and that mission schools stitched to the church by the slender thread of pecuniary support, failed to gather into any fold even those who were led into the " way of life" by the few persevering workers in them. Enlargement being determined upon, the recruiting by diligent visiting was begun, the consolidation of mission schools followed, the senior department was organized and after- noon sessions became the rule. The need of a new building was felt, but the building was postponed. The church wrought earn- estly to regain the position of 1832, in which year there had been more than 1,200 scholars under her care in Sabbath Schools.
The same missionary spirit led to perfecting the inner organi- zation of the church. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society was formed in 1871, and $500 collected by it the first year. Other agencies were instituted in their turn, chief among them the Board of Deacons, (the first in the history of the church,) which has proven every way helpful and efficient. Indeed, there seems little to desire as to methods of Christian work. The church is
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prepared for them all, and if every member were as thoroughly vitalized as the church is organized, success would be assured in a larger measure than ever yet attained. The work of the Ses- sion has continued unremitting and fruitful throughout. The pecuniary obligations of the church have been fully met and its benevolence has increased. In 1866-67, a debt of $5,000 was paid, and expensive repairs to the church property, without and within, (especially in 1868 and 1871) have been promptly pro- vided for. The new organ came in 1869, and has been since improved at considerable outlay. A handsome parsonage was purchased in 1876-9, at the cost of $18,000, and in 1880-81, the long desired Sabbath School and Lecture Rooms, with facilities for Christian work of every description, were erected at a cost of $24,000.
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