USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Luzerne > History of the Presbytery of Luzerne, state of Pennsylvania > Part 20
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 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
This was, up to this time, the largest single gift the college had ever received. Yet it proved to be only a kind of first fruit, for it was followed ere long by about a half million from the same generous giver, whose name is now inseparably connected with Lafayette College.
Mr. Armstrong retained his pastorate at Muscatine ten years, in which God blessed his work.
About the time Mr. Armstrong resigned his church at Muscatine, the Synod of Iowa South resolved to establish within its bounds a Christian school of a high order, and elected Mr. Armstrong its financial agent. This movement of the Synod resulted in the founding of Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa. As it began to
288
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
assume tangibility, the trustees of a fund devised by Mr. Lewis Parsons offered said fund to the Synod, on conditions which were subsequently met. The Synod had elected a Board of Trustees, the President of which has been, from the beginning, the Rev. Dr. Willis Green Craig, who has been a most efficient officer.
Dr. Armstrong, as the financial agent and member of the executive committee, devoted his whole time and much of his means to furthering this worthy enterprise. His services were so efficient that the trustees soon elected him President of the new college. Parsons College has prospered from the beginning. Many of its graduates have entered the gospel ministry, and are doing good service in the home and foreign field.
Dr. Armstrong, as the President, served the institu- tion faithfully at his own charges four years. At the end of that time, he was released at the call of the Master. He calmly and hopefully passed away, August 13, 1879. Before his death he gave all necessary directions with reference to his business and his funeral, requesting his old co-presbyter to conduct the religious services of the occasion. His mortal remains were, by the urgent request of the trustees of the college, laid to rest in a shady corner of the beautiful college campus. To this his faithful wife had consented on condition that her resting-place should be there also; and thither, a few months ago, her inanimate form was borne. Mrs. Margaret (Rowland) Armstrong was born near Port Deposit, Md .; and in the neighborhood of her birth- place she passed to the better land, to join her beloved husband. She loved the institution which he had done so much to establish, and provided liberally towards sustaining it after her demise.
289
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
Mr. Armstrong's most intimate friends, the writer and his brother, the Rev. S. M. Osmond, D. D., a college and seminary classmate of President Armstrong, were associated with him and others in the management of Parsons College in its earlier career.
As a preacher Dr. Armstrong had a strong, somewhat brusque style, often very forcible. His choice of words in which to clothe his thoughts was generally those in most common use; he was, therefore always understood. He was a diligent student all his life, and had a fondness for science rather than classical learning. Centre College, Ky., conferred upon him the degree of D. D. in 1879. His was an earnest, useful life. Its early termination was greatly deplored by all who knew his worth.
He was a true, warm-hearted man, and a devout Christian.
The Hazleton church was vacant for some time after Dr. Armstrong left for the West. The Rev. Ellis J. Newlin, D. D., from the Presbytery of Newark, N. J., finally became pastor, and was installed Nov. 2, 1865; but the exact condition of the church is not fully indicated in the minutes of the Assembly till 1868, when we find some growth had taken place. During Dr. Ellis J. Newlin's pastorate, a new, large and elegant sanctuary was erected, equalling, if not surpassing, any house of worship in that part of Pennsylvania. Here again there stands another monument to Mr. Pardee's liberal patronage of the Presbyterian church. "He loved our nation and hath built us a Synagogue." Notwith- standing Mr. Pardee's liberality to the Presbyterian church he did not dictate its internal management.
19
290
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
In 1871, Dr. Newlin resigned, and returned to the Presbytery of Newark. He does not seem after this to have taken charge of another church. He died Dec. 6, 1885, at Perth Amboy, N. J. When Luzerne was merged into the Presbytery of Lehigh, Hazleton was well equipped for aggressive work among all classes, especially in its Sabbath School, which had been ably maintained through the entire history of the church.
XXVIII.
THE MAUCH CHUNK CHURCH AND ITS LATER PASTORS.
T HE Rev. John Aspinwall Hodge, D. D., second pas- tor of this church, is the eldest son of the late Dr. Hugh L. Hodge, long and very honorably connected with the medical department of the University of Penn- sylvania. He was born in Philadelphia, August 12, 1831, was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, 1851, and from Princeton Theological Seminary, 1856, entering upon his work at Mauch Chunk in the fall of the same year, not very long after the death of Mr. Webster. His ordination and installation took place April 22nd, 1857. He brought the prestige of a name honored through- out the land in two of the learned professions. He soon made an alliance-mainly matrimonial-with a family also honored in journalism and scientific invention. The alliance was Hodge and Morse-Philadelphia and New York. Doubtless all this helped to win, but this was not all. The young pastor brought intelligence of a high order, enthusiasm, and the pastoral spirit. He had at his side a sprightly, interested and intelligent ally in his excellent wife, and, with these superior advantages, he found at Mauch Chunk, a good foundation already laid deep and broad, a people who had learned to appreciate gospel privileges, and to co-operate with their pastor in commending that gospel which they loved to those who
292
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
had not yet learned its value. Then, too, he was privi- leged to occupy the more commodious and attractive sanctuary, which had been in the mind of the late pastor as a fact to be accomplished, but which Mr. Webster only enjoyed in anticipation, for ere it was opened for worship, he was worshiping " in the temple not made with hands."
In the judgment of Dr. J. A. Hodge's people, and in that of his successor, his work was successful. Miss Elizabeth Webster, in her history of the Mauch Chunk church, says of her pastor, speaking of his honored lineage : "Our Mr. Hodge has, by a long and faithful ministry, by unswerving devotion to the purity of our beloved church in doctrine and government, added new lustre to that honored name. Our written records, as well as those who loved him, attest to his faithfulness and care as pastor ; " and quoting from Dr. Ferrier's historical sermon, she further says : " Under the ministry of Mr. Hodge, the church made good progress, the house of wor- ship was completed, congregations increased in numbers, and, though there was no extensive revival, many, from time to time, were added to the church. During the eight years of his ministry, one hundred were added to the communion of the church." The next paragraph of the history from which we are quoting, shows the secret of the then fruitful ministry : " The session resolved to hold a prayer-meeting in the lecture room every Sabbath morning at 10 a. m., to beseech God to bless His word in the conversion of those who were out of Christ. The pastor also held a prayer-meeting for young men."
The session was enlarged, January, 1856, by the election of four new elders, viz : Charles G. Rockwood,
293
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
Nathan Fegley, Robert Porter and Joseph Forrest. This was before Mr. Webster's death. George W. Smith had, from the organization of the church, been a faithful mem- ber of the session, as we have seen. Mr. Hodge testifies to the efficiency and harmonious co-operation of all the members of the Mauch Chunk session.
They received the new pastor with great cordiality, although it is understood that one of the new members wished to be thoroughly satisfied that the young minister would teach a sound gospel, and, from a deep sense of duty, timidly visited him for that purpose, notwithstanding the fact that he was a Hodge, just from Princeton Semi- nary, and had been licensed by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Mr. Hodge was delighted with the con- scientious interest of the elder, and gladly invited his visitor to examine him fully, which, with some little em- barrassment at first, he proceeded to do, in an examination of more thoroughness than that to which a candidate for licensure is usually subjected by his presbytery. The interview terminated to the satisfaction of both parties.
Much to the regret of the pastor and the congrega- tion, Elder Rockwood, who, as the efficient Sabbath School superintendent, had, to the very last, stood so closely to the beloved Webster, removed from Mauch Chunk, in 1857. No increase of the session was imme- diately made, but, in March, 1861, two new members were elected, ordained and installed, amid the gathering storms and political convulsions which indicated the coming trials through which the nation was about to pass, effecting every community in our land.
These brethren had been chosen as strong, repre- sentative men. In many respects they were dissimilar.
294
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
They, however, both loved the church and enjoyed its confidence as well as that of the general community. They did good service in their respective spheres. They were the Hon. A. G. Broadhead and Fisher Hagard. They greatly helped the pastor, and their mutual efforts carried the church safely through the troublous times of the civil war.
Before Dr. Hodge's retirement, the session was again strengthened by the election and induction into the eldership, Feb. Ist, 1865, of Robert S. Cook, William Patterson and Charles E. Webster, son of the first pastor. Thus the second generation is coming to the front in at least two of this class. The elders had, early in Dr. Hodge's ministry, been divided into classes, each class having its specific work, and with an assigned number of families and individual members who were especially under its watchful care. This greatly increased the ef- ciency of the session, as a whole.
Dr. Hodge resigned April, 1865, with a good record. The new church building, in use but not finished when he came, had been completed and paid for. A house for the pastor had been erected by the congregation and was nearly ready for occupancy. The membership of the church had nearly doubled, and commendable liberality toward the Boards of the church was exhibited. The congregation reluctantly concurred with the request of the pastor to the Presbytery for a dissolution of the pastoral relation, passing and recording the following resolution :
RESOLVED, That by his urbanity and gentlemanly deportment, by his Christian zeal and faithfulness as a pastor, and his untiring devotion to the spiritual, as well
295
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
as the temporal interests of this church, Mr. Hodge has greatly endeared himself to his people, and will always be remembered by them with grateful affection.
Dr. Hodge's next charge was that of the First Pres- byterian church of Hartford, Connecticut, in which he had an active and successful pastorate for twenty-six years. He still sustains the relation of Pastor Emeritus to that church. He is now filling an important position as Pro- fessor in Lincoln University, Oxford, Pa. He has always been a good presbyter as well as pastor. He has published several valuable books. His work on " What is Presby- terian Law? " has had a wide circulation and has been exceedingly useful. In 1873, Princeton College conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
After Dr. Hodge's resignation in 1865 the Mauch Chunk church was acceptably supplied for nearly a year by the Rev. Charles Jewitt Collins, a son of Judge Col- lins, with whom we have become acquainted as one of the first elders of the Wilkes-Barre church. Mr. Collins might be regarded as a son of the Luzerne Presbytery. He was a graduate of Williams College, in which he was afterwards a tutor. He began his theological course in Union Seminary, New York City, but afterwards spent three years in Princeton Seminary. After leaving the seminary he became principal of the Female Institute at Wilkes-Barre. He was subsequently ordained by the Presbytery of Northumberland and installed pastor of the Danville Presbyterian church, which position he occupied from 1856 to 1865. It was, therefore, after this pastorate he supplied the church in Mauch Chunk. He seems to have devoted his time after this to teaching, and has occupied several important places in that employment.
296
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
He is now a resident of the city of New York. He was well furnished for his work and an acceptable preacher.
The third pastor of the Mauch Chunk church was the Rev. Jacob Belville, D. D., who was installed Novem- ber 1, 1866. Unlike his predecessors, he brought to this field professional experience and reputation acquired elsewhere. He was born in Hartville, Pa., December 12, 1820, is a graduate of Princeton College in 1839, and of the Seminary in 1843. He was ordained and installed pastor of the churches of Taneytown and New Windsor, Md., November 22, 1844. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1848, and was, for a time, stated supply of the Phoenixville church. He became pastor of the Neshaminy church in 1849, and principal of the academy in the same place, in connection with his pastoral work, in 1851. He seems to have resigned his church in '57, and retained the academy till 1863. He was then pastor of the church at Holmesburg for two years, when he was unanimously called to Mauch Chunk. He entered on this new pastorate under very favorable circumstances. The results expected were realized. " Our church," writes Miss Webster, "was richly blessed, temporally and spiritually. A decided advance in every respect was made. The congregation, perfectly united and harmon- ious, was enlarged and able to undertake more aggressive work. The burden of debt which had rested on the church was removed."
Soon after Dr. Belville came, a family, which had in former years gone out of the Mauch Chunk church, returned to its original church home, and again nobly fostered the church work in Mauch Chunk, and thus stimulated and encouraged others in sustaining their church and preparing the way for extending its influence.
297
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
Of these friends and others, Dr. Belville writes : cannot forbear to speak of two persons who were eminent for their usefulness in the church during my pastorate- Mrs. Andrew Douglas and her brother, John Leisenring, who was received by certificate from Eckley at our first communion. There seemed to be nothing needed by the church or its pastor, that money would buy, that they were not ready at once to guarantee." Nor were they alone in this respect. Others followed in the same direc- tion. Dr. Belville adds an illustration : " When, in 1870, an effort was made to pay off the debt, then having reached the sum of $6,500.00, as part of the memorial fund of that year, Mr. Leisenring led with an offer of one- fourth, and Mr. Douglas, though not a member of the church but ardently devoted to its interests, followed with the eighth, Fisher Hagard, a similar sum, and before we left the house $4,000.00 was subscribed. Mr. Leisenring was appointed chairman of a committee to secure the remainder, and before I returned that night they reported that the whole amount was subscribed."
During Dr. B.'s pastorate his health became so far impaired that he could not keep up the measure of pas- toral service that he had long maintained. He had con- ducted three prayer-meetings every week besides other pastoral duties. Till the end of his time in Mauch Chunk he enjoyed the cordial regard and co-operation of his entire charge; and it was with great regret that his people consented to his removal to Pottsville, where an important work awaited him, for which, in view of all the circumstances, he was perhaps better qualified than any other man that might have entered that field.
His ministry in Mauch Chunk had been harmonious
298
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
and fruitful, so also were the twenty-one years of pastoral work which he subsequently performed at Pottsville. He now enjoys immunity from the active duties of the pastor- ate, but if his health would enable him to work he would still delight in preaching "the glorious gospel of the blessed God," which for half a century he has so ably proclaimed to his fellow men.
The Mauch Chunk church, although greatly changed in its constituency, maintains, under faithful ministers, its mission in another Presbytery, into which it was trans- ferred with a membership of 202, and a Sabbath School of 600 members. Its annual contributions for the year in which the transference took place were, in the aggregate, $4,221.00, in addition to the amount of the memorial fund raised of $6,500.00. At the same time it was well furnished with all requisite appliances for prosecuting its work.
XXIX.
THE CHURCH OF SUMMIT HILL
AND
PASTORATE OF THE REV. JOHN WHITE.
A FTER the Rev. A. G. Harned resigned the pastorate of the Summit Hill church in 1856, it was without a regular pastor for some months. The Rev. John White took charge in the fall of 1857 and was regularly installed, May 19th, 1858. He came into this Presbytery from that of Susquehanna, having been stated supply of the 2nd church of Wyalusing. He was a man of very retiring habits, but by no means wanting in preparation for his work, or the most conscientious devotion to it. His ser- mons showed learning and depth of piety, and that they had been prepared with great care. His people were fed with a pure gospel. His pastoral diligence in his own parish was great. Therefore he was highly esteemed by his people, and upon them he spent his time and strength, not without evidence of success, although there was a falling off in the aggregate membership of the church dur- ing and shortly after the civil war. Every year, however, additions were reported, in 1867 a large addition, so that the previous loss was more than overtaken. The church also exhibited, through its entire career, loyalty to the general schemes of benevolence.
Mr. White did not, however, take a very active part €
300
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
in the proceedings of Presbytery and Synod. He was extremely sensitive and not disposed to put himself for- ward. For this reason he was not properly known by the members of the Presbytery or the churches outside of his own. By these, however, he was so well known and respected, that his peculiarities of manner and adminis- tration were either not noticed or overlooked. He was among them a useful and edifying minister of the gospel. His nearest ministerial neighbor, Dr. J. A. Hodge, says of him : " He was a learned man, wholly devoted to his Master's work, much esteemed by his own people, and an excellent preacher and very faithful pastor. We under- stood each other and remained warm friends." He was pastor in Summit Hill about seventeen years. He re- signed his charge in 1872, and subsequently made his home at Tamaqua, Pa., where he died April 21st, 1880, aged 75 years.
His daughter, Miss Mary G. White, of Audenried, Pa., has kindly furnished additional information con- cerning her father's life and labors, a condensation of which is made necessary by our limited space :
" He was born at Rutherglen, near Glasgow, Scot- land, and pursued his classical and theological studies at the University of Glasgow. Not long after the com- pletion of the latter course, he was ordained and came to the United States.
" His first charge was at Poundridge, in Westchester County, N. Y. Afterwards, he was called to the church of White Plains in the same county, at which time he married Miss Eliza Grace of New York City, a lady of great beauty and force of character, whose companionship cheered and supported him through his whole ministry.
301
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
" Three children were born to them. A daughter, Mary G., and two sons, the Rev. Dr. J. C. White of Pittsburg, Pa., and Dr. W. H. White, a prominent physician of Bloomfield, N. J. Mrs. White survived her husband twelve years, and died at Hazleton, Pa., in 1892.
" After leaving White Plains, Mr. W. held charges at Seneca and Oxbow, N. Y., and at Newburg, Spruce Creek and Martinsburg, Pa. He removed to German- town, Pa., in 1848, for the purpose of educating his children, and while there acted for some time as an agent for the American Tract Society. After three years of this work, he took charge of the church in Churchhill, Md., and in .1855, of the Second church of Wyalusing, Pa. His subsequent pastorate at Summit Hill was brought to a close in 1872 on account of his failing health.
" He was a fervent and affectionate preacher of the gospel. This he made his main work and he never stinted time or effort in preparation. His early studies in logic and philosophy always afterward colored both his thought and style. He was an enthusiastic student of the classic authors, and gave help and stimulus to many of his younger friends in their classical studies. Twice in the course of his ministry he accepted opportunities of Academical teaching, once at Williamsport and once at Williamsburg, both in Pennsylvania.
" His life was one of continuous labor. His character was simple, sincere and independent. When his health, which had been exceptionally good so many years, at last broke down, he bore his sickness patiently. His retirement from the activity of the ministry he loved so well, he accepted with resignation. He died in the confidence of a certain faith."
XXX.
THE WYOMING CHURCH AND PRESBY-
TERIAL INSTITUTE.
W HEN the Rev. J. D. Mitchell finally accepted the call of the Scranton church, the Wyoming church secured the services of the Rev. Paul Eugene Stevenson, as pastor. He was born in New Brunswick, N. J., Oct. 14th, 1809, was graduated from Union College, N. Y., and studied theology in Princeton Theological Seminary. He had spent his early ministry in Virginia, having been ordained by the Presbytery of Lexington, and was pastor at Staunton, Va., from 1838 to 1844; then four years at Williamsburg, N. Y., before being invited to Wyoming, Pa. Entering on his pastoral work in March, 1850, he became, in 1852, Principal of the Presbyterial Institute, as the successor of the Rev. Reuben Post Lowrie and Rev. C. R. Lane, who had followed Dr. Mitchell from '49 to '51, and Dr. Lane, from '51 to '52. The Wyoming church prospered greatly under Mr. Stevenson's ministry. He was a man of ability and well furnished for his work, to which he was thoroughly devoted. This church never, through the existence of Luzerne Presbytery, enrolled a greater number of members than during that period.
There was also awakened a desire for a more suitable house of worship, and aid was secured towards its erection. When the actual work of construction was undertaken, the Rev. U. S. Prime, of Brooklyn, father-in-law of Mr.
303
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
S., contributed $600 toward the enterprise. While Mr. Stevenson had charge of the Institute, from '52 to '55, Mrs. Cornelia Prime Stevenson, wife of the Principal, assisted her husband in the Institute, where she exhibited rare qualities as a teacher, and secured the undying esteem of her pupils. She was sister of the Rev. Dr. S. I. and E. D. G. Prime, late of the New York Observer. This family brought to Wyoming help and stimulation. Their departure was greatly regretted. Mr. Stevenson was afterward engaged in important educational work in Bridgeton, Madison and Patterson, N. J. In the latter place he died March 17, 1870.
Mr. Stevenson's removal left the Wyoming church without a regular pastor, but the Rev. L. P. Hunt, who had been from the beginning a deeply interested patron, friend and guardian of both institutions, and who always maintained the services of the church during every hiatus, gave it necessary pastoral care and service, until he was relieved by the return of Dr. Mitchell, who entered upon a second term of service in the church in 1855. He had taken the supervision of the Institute before he had re- sumed the care of the church the second time, and when obliged to give up the church on account of failing health, Mr. Hunt again supplied it for six months.
In the spring of 1857, a young man, born in New York, March 10, 1833, William L. Moore, a graduate of Rutgers College, N. J., in 1854, and of the Seminary at Princeton in 1857, was called to the pastorate of the Wyoming church, and ordained and installed July 21st, '57. He, however, only continued in charge of the church till February, 1858. In the mean time a new, beautiful and commodious house of worship, near the
304
PRESBYTERY OF LUZERNE.
Institute, was dedicated. The sermon on the occasion was by the Rev. Dr. Nicholas Murray.
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.