USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > East Liberty Presbyterian Church : with historical setting & a narrative of the centennial celebration, April 12-20, 1919 > Part 4
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After scanning the records of the century, with such wealth of material, it is indeed difficult to make selection, and such selection, however conscientiously made, is sure to bear the marks of human limitation, for which your clemency is craved.
As in fancy, blending into memory, we look down the vista of the years, it is a matter of regret that the limitations of space forbid the relation of so much of interest, and especially detailed reference to the personnel which passes in review.
So many noble characters among officers and members have blessed this church in their lives and service for the Master, their record would surely prove a stimulus to us of the present day, but we must forbear to treat of the personnel except where historic accuracy seems to impel.
Let us rejoice in the happy realization that the record on high is faultless and complete, and that their victory is won through the Master whom they so faithfully served, and with the dross of earth all washed away, the pure gold shines re- splendent in His presence where is fulness of joy, at His right hand, where there are pleasures forevermore.
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Sermons and Addresses
THE REV. JOHN GILLESPIE, D.D. Second Pastor.
HISTORICAL SERMON
DELIVERED SEPTEMBER 28, 1873, ON THE OCCASION OF THE FORTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION By THE REV. JOHN GILLESPIE, D. D.
"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilder- ness, to humble thee, and to prove thee."-Deuter- onomy viii :2.
HIS was among the last charges of "Moses, the man of God," to the chosen people. It was issued just before he surrendered his commission as leader of the host of Israel. The wilderness march was completed. Its vicissitudes and conflicts, its perplexities and discouragements, its discipline and pupilage were ended. The people stood now on the threshold of Canaan. But into that land the faithful, heroic, yet erring leader was not to enter. The time of his departure was at hand. At the Divine sum- mons he was soon to lay aside his robes of office, resign his commission to the man who was to muster the forces for the conquest, and ascend Mount Nebo to die. These impressive circumstances, whether known to Moses at the time of its ut- terance or no, invest the charge of the text with all the solemn- ity of a dying injunction.
The wilderness experience had been a checkered experience. It was rich in its tokens of God's power, God's wisdom, God's goodness ; but it abounded scarcely less with evidence of hu- man weakness, human folly, human guilt. But such as it was, it was to be remembered, not forgotten-and remembered to the praise of God's glorious grace. Such a hallowed remem- brance of God's dealings with the chosen people would tend to subdue their pride, to excite their gratitude, to inspire them with confidence, to stimulate their energy-in a word, to lead them to humble, unreserved consecration to the worship and service of Jehovah.
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With the text as our warrant and aim, it is proposed to pause today to trace the history of East Liberty Presbyterian Church-to remember all the way which the Lord our God has led us these five and forty years.
A church, like a mountain stream, may be said to have a visible and an invisible source; a source which is readily dis- covered, and one which lies mainly hidden from human sight. The visible source of the stream, is the place where it first bursts into view gushing from the mountain side. Its invisible source is the thousand subterranean springs, whose trickling rivulets combine to form the stream, but which lie far removed from human sight. The visible source, or starting point of a church, is the date of its organization, when, under the seal of ecclesiastical authority, it is moulded into form and equipped for work. That source it is not difficult to find. The date of a church's organization is usually engrossed upon ecclesiasti- cal records and incorporated with written history. But lying back of this there is properly another source or starting point, springs of interest, and influence, and prayerful effort, which combine to form the church or lead to its organization. Many such springs, starting at various intervals in the decade imme- diately preceding the organization of this church, springs withal somewhat difficult to find, combined to form the visible source of this church of Jesus Christ.
EARLY RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGES OF EAST LIBERTY VALLEY
The handsome enclosure within which the present edifice stands is pre-eminently the sacred spot of East Liberty valley. The successive structures which rose upon it afforded for a time almost the only religious privileges enjoyed by the early settlers. These privileges, prior to A. D. 1819, however, were sufficiently meagre. They consisted chiefly in religious services held at irregular intervals, by ministers of various evangelical denominations, in a frame school house, erected by Mr. Jacob Negley, Sr., near the site of our present house of worship.
FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP
In A. D. 1819 this unpretending structure was supplanted by an edifice by no means imposing, and yet sufficiently unique to entitle it to special mention. It was built upon a lot of ground
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said to comprise an acre and a half, extending from a line a few feet east of the present building to the boundary line of the church lot on the west. The lot was the gift of Mrs. Bar- bara A. Negley, and its estimated value was $750. The deed, which was executed April 12, 1819, conveyed the property to certain persons to be held in trust for the "East Liberty Pres- byterian Congregation." The lot being secured, a subscription, amounting to $1,561.621/2, was immediately raised for the purpose, as the old record specifies, of building "a school and meeting house ; said meeting house to be for the use of the Pres- byterian congregation, called the East Liberty Congregation."
In carrying out the plan of combining the school and the church, a subsequent record mentions the appointment of T. H. Finley as schoolmaster, with direction to ring the bell at 9 A. M. and 1 P. M. The trustees also resolved to visit the school at least twice each quarter, for the purpose of examining the pupils in their studies.
The building just referred to was of brick, and stood partly on the site occupied by the present edifice. It was forty-four feet square, and was built with one corner towards the Greens- burg turnpike (now Penn avenue), thus presenting a double front. The roof was supported by a pillar in the center, which projected some distance above, and was finished so as to har- monize with the other parts of the building. By the time the shell was built, however, the roof put on, and the floor laid, the treasury was exhausted, and the trustees were heavily in- debted to Mr. Jacob Negley, Sr. To finish the structure was impossible. A pulpit was erected in one corner, benches, with- out supports for the back, answered the purpose of pews, and there the people enjoyed such religious services as were within their reach.
EAST LIBERTY IN 1819
Such a modest temple for God's worship may strike us strangely. But let it be remembered that when erected, it stood second to few, if any, of the improvements that then dotted the valley. To realize this, blot from the mental canvas the East Liberty of to-day, with its palatial residences, its substantial business structures, its splendid educational edifices,
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its well-paved streets, and its magnificent projected improve- ments. With the church as a center, let the imagination repro- duce the East Liberty of 1819. On the north side of what is now Penn avenue, and a little east of the church, fix a plain dwelling house, partly log and partly frame-just demolished to make way for modern structures. Upon the site of the City Deposit Bank and adjacent business houses, plant a frame steam mill. Where the Denison block now stands, imagine a dilapi- dated old tavern, with extensive stabling. Immediately in the rear of this, place a little frame house of two or three rooms. A little to the east, on the site of the Union Hotel, add to that little group, a frame house, comparatively new. Crossing what is now the Pennsylvania Railroad, plant another frame house where the American House now stands. Returning to the south of the avenue ard west of the railroad, immediately in the rear of Liberty Hall, imagine an old log tavern, originally Thompson's Tavern, subsequently Beitler's. Fix the Black Horse Tavern on the present site of Mr. Frank Ardary's resi- dence, and the old Negley mansion at the corner of Negley and Stanton avenues, then dot the valley here and there with small log and frame houses, mostly tenements, and you have the East Liberty of 1819. Nor does the picture present a strange contrast with the Pittsburgh of that day. The city was in its infancy, having been chartered but three years before. It is stated, on reliable authority, that at that time its houses num- bered but a little over 1,400 all told, and that its population scarcely exceeded 7,000 souls.
From this brief survey, it will be seen that the first house erected on this lot for the worship of God, sustained quite as high a ratio to the improvements of half a century ago, as our more imposing structure sustains to the East Liberty of to-day.
Although the lot was given, and the house erected, for a Pres- byterian congregation, there was no stated worship held in it, according to the Presbyterian form, till February, 1828. Mean- while occasional service had been held in the unfinished struc- ture, by ministers of various evangelical denominations, mostly German Reformed, Methodist and Presbyterian. In addition to this, a Sabbath school had been organized, numbering, at its first session, eleven persons in all: Messrs. Luke Loomis and
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Isaac Harris, with nine children as their pupils. This Sab- bath school, it is believed, has been continued almost without interruption till the present, so that our school may be regarded as having attained and passed the venerable age of half a century.
THE CHURCH A MISSION ENTERPRISE
This church, like thousands more in this broad land, is in a sense the child of the "Board of Missions," now the Board of Home Missions. On the eighth of February, 1828, the Board commissioned Rev. John Joyce to "publish the Gospel, and administer its ordinances, in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at discretion." Mr. Joyce was a native of Ire- land, and originally a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in his native country. Emigrating to the United States A. D. 1809, he connected himself with one of our East- ern Presbyteries, and labored in the city of Philadelphia for several years. Subsequently he spent ten years in the South, preaching the Gospel, returning North A. D. 1827. From some of his private and public letters, which, through the kindness of a surviving sister, have been submitted to my in- spection, and from the uniform testimony of living witnesses, it is evident that Mr. Joyce was just the man for the work to which he was appointed. To a good measure of intellectual ability and culture, he added eminent piety, untiring energy, marked sweetness and tenderness of disposition, a thorough knowledge of human nature, and withal burning love for souls. In the exercise of the discretionary power given him by the Board of Missions, he selected East Liberty as a field of labor "in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh." The field ripened much within the few years preceding, and was whiter than ever for the harvest. The population had largely increased, and em- braced a few families, at least, who were anxious for the Word of Life, while the drinking and other vicious habits of the com- munity, plainly marked it as a mission field.
The missionary found in Mr. Francis G. Bailey, who had recently moved to East Liberty, a zealous supporter and earnest coworker in his new field. Fresh from the power of a precious revival that had quickened the Pittsburgh churches, that man
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of God addressed himself at once to the work of planting the Church in East Liberty. Immediately after stated public wor- ship was begun by Mr. Joyce, Mr. Bailey canvassed the com- munity with a petition to the Presbytery of Redstone, within whose territory this region then lay, praying for a church or- ganization in East Liberty. The families immediately inter- ested appointed Messrs. John Roup and Francis G. Bailey a committee to present their petition to the Presbytery April 1, 1828. Fidelity to history requires it to be stated that the ap- plication met with spirited opposition, chiefly from the repre- sentatives of Beulah Church, some five miles distant, who re- garded the proposed enterprise as a serious infringement upon their congregational boundaries. As illustrative of the esti- mate then put upon East Liberty, it was soberly affirmed dur- ing the discussion, "There is nobody in East Liberty to make a church-there are no Presbyterians there to form the organiza- tion." To this Mr. Bailey, as chief spokesman for the peti- tioners, modestly replied: "There are plenty of people there, and we expect to have them converted, and they will make the church." The prayer of the petitioners was finally granted, and a committee appointed to organize a church.
THE CHURCH ORGANIZED
On Sabbath, September 21, 1828, notice was given, after public worship by the Rev. Mr. Joyce, that on Thursday, Sep- tember 25th, a meeting would be held at the house of Mr. F. G. Bailey, in order to receive the certificates of those who wished to be organized into a church. In accordance with this notice the following persons presented certificates of dismission from the respective churches with which they had been con- nected, to-wit: Robert Bailey, Sr., Hannah Bailey, Isabella Bailey, Francis G. Bailey, Mary Ann Bailey, Wm. M. Miller, Robert Barr, Mary Whitesides, Catharine Brown, James Back- house and Jane Backhouse, from the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh; William Semple, Ann Semple, William N. Burchfield, William Joyce, Elizabeth Joyce and Ann Boner, from the Second Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh; Andrew Mitchell and Susan Mitchell, from Bethany Presbyterian Church; Mary Burchfield, from the Presbyterian Church of Mckeesport, and John and Mary Barr, from the Associate Re-
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formed Church of Pittsburgh-in all twenty-two. The fol- lowing extract from the Minutes of the Session is the official record of the organization: "On Sabbath, September 28, 1828" -precisely forty-five years from this day-"after a public dis- course, from Matthew, sixteenth chapter, eighteenth verse, showing the character of the Church, and the grounds of her security, the persons named were duly organized as a church of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the constitution and discipline of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, and on the same day the following persons were nominated for office of ruling elder in the church of East Liberty, to-wit: Robert Bailey, James Backhouse and Francis G. Bailey." The persons nominated were subsequently elected and duly ordained and installed.
TRUSTEES ELECTED AND HOUSE FINISHED
Meanwhile, pending the actual organization, at a meeting of the congregation, held April 7, 1828, it was resolved to vest the management of the temporal affairs of the church in a Board of twelve Trustees, being twice the number of the Board that had held the property up to this date-said Trustees to "be chosen annually from the pewholders on the day com- monly called Easter Monday." An election was immediately held, resulting in the choice of the following persons, to-wit: Francis G. Bailey, John Roup, James Backhouse, Robert Bailey, Sr., Solomon Berlin, Casper Negley, Abraham Reimer, A. F. Grove, John Patterson, John McClintock, Nicholas Dahlem and Jacob Negley, Jr. These gentlemen were the legal suc- cessors of the trustees who had held the property from the date of the original gift, and properly constituted the first Board of Trustees of this church.
The new Board found the property encumbered, and about to be sold under the hammer of the Sheriff. The sale was advertised to take place June 11. The Secretary of the Board was authorized to attend the sale and bid in the property for the congregation, at a price not to exceed $380. The property was secured, however, for the nominal sum of $50, the pur- chase money being given jointly by Jacob Negley, Jr., and Francis G. Bailey.
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The property being secured, measures were immediately taken to finish the house. The pulpit, hitherto occupying one corner of the building, and facing the angle which fronted the turnpike, was placed on the southeast wall. The benches were replaced by pews, which were furnished with doors and finished with panel work along the aisles. The pews were elevated as they retired from the pulpit, the rear pew rising some two feet above the level of the floor. In addition to this, a gallery, stretching along three sides of the square structure, was erected.
Altogether the house was commodious and comfortable, and a decided advance on anything which had preceded it. It is worthy of note that when the work was completed, the con- gregation, by a unanimous vote, tendered Mrs. Barbara A. Negley her choice of the pews, "as a mark of gratitude to the family for their liberality to the congregation."
The church thus equipped addressed itself vigorously to the great work which lay before it. God set the seal of the Holy Spirit upon the labors of the missionary and his co-workers. Christians were edified, and, "walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." Numbers were added to the church, both on confession and certificate, so that within little more than six months from the date of the organization, the membership had almost trebled.
Having now planted the church, Mr. Joyce left the training of it to other hands. He withdrew from the field in April, 1829. In accordance with the letter and spirit of his commis- sion from the Board of Missions, to "publish the Gospel in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh," he preached for some time at Lawrenceville and adjacent points, and subsequently in Allegheny. Still later, he engaged as financial agent of the Western Theological Seminary, to collect funds for that infant institution. Having prosecuted the work for some time in our own country, he embarked for England, to appeal in behalf of the same cause to British beneficence. His labors there were brief, for on December 29, 1833, he fell asleep in Jesus.
THE GRAVE YARD
In early days, when cemeteries were unknown, it usually devolved upon the Church to furnish a resting place for the
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dead. It was but a step from the church to the church yard, where the remains of loved ones lay moldering in the dust. In accordance with that time-honored custom, measures were taken, as early as May 7th, 1829, for laying the grave yard off in lots, the special provision being made that strangers and non-lotholders were to be charged two dollars for each inter- ment. The dilapidated remains of that once beautiful and sacred spot are still to be seen, but, alas no longer an ornament to the church.
FIRST PASTOR CALLED
The last Sabbath of June, 1829, marks a new epoch in the history of this church. On that day Mr. Wm. B. McIlvaine, a native of Pennsylvania, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, and a licentiate of the Presbytery of New Castle, commenced his labors as supply. On August 10th, of the same year, a call for his pastoral labors was made out and presented to Presbytery at its meeting in the following October. Hav- ing signified his acceptance of the call, and passed the usual trials for ordination, Mr. McIlvaine was, on April 20th, 1830, ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry, and installed pastor of this church. In these services, Rev. Francis Herron, D. D., preached the sermon, and Rev. Matthew Brown, D. D., delivered the charges to the pastor and people.
The history of this first and extended pastorate is substan- tially the history of the church for almost twoscore years. It is the testimony of living witnesses that the young pastor, well equipped with intellectual furniture, and filled with mission- ary zeal, threw himself with his whole energy into the work. The field was difficult of cultivation, and demanded great diligence, prudence and perseverance. The community at that time is said to have comprised but two classes of people-the orderly, well-behaved class, who, for the most part, waited on the means of grace; and the vicious and profane, who "cared for none of these things." By a happy combination of wisdom and prudence the young pastor, while not shrinking from declaring the whole counsel of God and rebuking iniquity; secured for himself the attachment of the one class and the profound respect of the other.
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To estimate the results of a pastorate, and throw them into tangible form, is simply impossible. Of necessity many of them elude our grasp and lie far beyond the reach of human investigation. Material forces may be weighed, moral forces never. The causes that are set in motion today will produce effects which eternity alone will reveal. The influence of a church or pastor in a community is not to be measured by the length of the church roll. A moulding power may be exerted- is exerted-which elevates, ennobles, directs, and yet it is a power that cannot be measured or expressed in a scientific formula. But with the church roll as a basis, and the testi- mony of surviving witnesses as corroborative and explanatory -the only sources of information of which I have been able to avail myself-it is possible to approximate the tangible results of the church's work during the period covered by the first pastorate.
That pastorate in its outline is substantially the history of every pastorate. It is the history of alternate light and shade. It comprises times of rich refreshing from the presence of the Lord, when Zion rejoiced and many were gathered into the kingdom, and times of marked spiritual declension, when few came to the solemn feasts. Mr. McIlvaine's opening ministry was signalized by a precious work of grace, in which God's people were greatly strengthened and upwards of twenty were led to confess Christ. Similar seasons were several times enjoyed, especially during the early history of the church, seasons in which the pastor would preach for weeks consecu- tively, and in which he was assisted by many able and godly men, most of whom have entered into their rest. From Octo- ber 5th, 1828, i. e., from the first communion after the or- ganization, to April, 1865, six hundred and eighty-eight per- sons were received into full communion with the church. Of these three hundred and thirty-two were received on certifi- cate, and three hundred and fifty-six on confession of faith.
SECOND CHURCH EDIFICE
Evidence of the growth of the community and of the pros- perity of the church is found in the fact that in 1847 it became necessary for the church to enlarge its borders and erect a new
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PEOPLES.
Architect
The Second Church. First service held June 12, 1848.
We are greatly indebted to Mr. U. J. L. Peoples for this masterly sketch.
SERMONS AND ADDRESSES
house of worship. Prior to this-as far back as 1835-a small brick building had been erected for a lecture room and Sabbath School room. Both, however, were unequal to the increasing demands of a growing community, and it was resolved to pro- ceed at once to build a more commodious structure. Linked with the idea of increased church accommodation in the enter- prise, there was the additional idea of facilities for higher edu- cation. It was proposed, on the occupancy of the new build- ing, to convert the old house into an academy to afford instruc- tion in the higher branches of education. Like similar projects of a more recent date, however, this part of the enterprise proved a failure so far as permanency was concerned.
As a preliminary step toward the erection of the new edifice, a committee, consisting of the pastor, George G. Negley and James Mitchell, was appointed to wait upon Mrs. Barbara A. Negley, with reference to an additional lot upon which to build the structure. Mrs. Negley responded by adding to. her former gift that portion of the present lot lying between the row of trees which skirts the present building on the east and the line of the church lot prior to the extension of Hiland Avenue. A committee, consisting of Daniel Negley, Thomas Aiken, Thomas Davison, Jonas R. McClintock and George McCombs, was appointed to procure subscriptions for the building. By means of the subscriptions thus secured, and upon the lot just specified, the second house of worship was erected. It was a plain, substantial, one-story brick structure, some 50x70 feet, and capable of seating about three hundred persons. It was dedicated to the worship of God, June 12th, 1848. It stood till 1864, when it was sold to the German Lutheran Church of East Liberty, and removed by them to aid in the erection of their present house of worship on Collins Avenue.
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