USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 51
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The Edgefield Cumberland Church was the result of the breaking up of a Church organized in South Nashville in 1857, by members of the First Church under the leadership of Rev. A. G. Goodlett. This organ- ization erected a church-building at the corner of Summer and Elm Streets; but, being unable to pay the debt incurred in the erection of the building, made an exchange in 1867 for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, standing at the corner of Mulberry and College Streets, and some other property in addition. On May 2, 1872, Dr. Baird and Rev. A. J. Kirkpatrick met Hugh C. Thompson, John Frizzell, W. R. Cornelius, James L. Scott, O. H. Hight, S. B. Hagan, and John E. Gil- bert, and organized the Church. Soon afterward a lot was sold them on liberal terms, part of the price being donated by Dr. William Morrow, upon which a small but tasteful church-edifice was erected. Rev. Mr. Kirkpatrick preached for a time for $50 per month, with the understand- ing that he might engage in secular pursuits. Finding the arrangement unsatisfactory, he resigned, and Dr. M. B. DeWitt, Book Editor of the Publishing House, was engaged to preach. This arrangement was con- tinued until the fall of 1877, when Rev. R. M. Tinnon assumed charge of the Church at $900 per annum. Dr. DeWitt succeeded Rev. Mr. Tinnon, and filled the pulpit acceptably until 1889, when he was given an editorship in the Publishing House, and was succeeded in the pul- pit of the Church by Dr. E. B. Chrisman, a scholarly gentleman well
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and widely known for his many achievements, who has now a large and prosperous charge.
In December, 1882, there was an organization effected which com- menced to held meetings in a hall at the corner of Clay and Line Streets. A committee appointed by the First Church in 1884 assisted this organi- zation to purchase a lot 50x170 feet in size on Line Street near Watkins Park, and to erect a church-building thereon at a cost of $2,400. , By June, 1885, it was completed, and Rev. J. P. Flaniken, of Jackson, was called at a salary of $1,000 per year. The congregation is now self-sup- porting and in a flourishing condition.
Besides these there is a Church of this denomination in North Edge- field, recently established, but which is on a firm footing.
The Baptists were represented in East Tennessee at the earliest settle- ment of that country, and it is to the lasting credit of that denomination that the first Church organization of any kind in the State of Tennessee with a regular pastor was a Baptist Church. This was in 1778 or 1779, and the Church was at Buffalo Ridge, in Washington County, the Rev. Tidence Lane having pastoral charge. This was in the Watauga settlement. In 1781 the Baptists had in East Tennessee six organized Churches, holding relations with an Association in North Carolina. In 1786 these Churches, with a few others, were formed into the Holston Association-the first body of that kind in the State. Among the pioneer Baptist ministers in East Tennessee were James Keel, Thomas Murrell, Matthew Talbot, Isaac Barton, Tidence Lane, William Murphy, John Christine, and Will- iam Revear. In 1790 the membership of the Holston Association was 889, which in 1800 had grown to twenty-five hundred. In 1802 the Ten- nessee Association was formed in the neighborhood of Knoxville; in 1817 the Powell's Valley Association was organized; then followed the Hiwassee Association, in 1822 ; the Sweet Water, etc. These Associations comprised from ten to twenty-five Churches each; and they are still in active existence, the State numbering in all more than forty, with a total membership of over 90,000.
In Middle Tennessee the Baptists were in the field early. In those days Indians were numerous, the white population was small, and the pioneer ministers labored for the glory of God alone, without hope or ex- pectation of pecuniary reward. There was little money to be had, and every man was obliged by force of circumstances to work hard for a living. The Revolutionary War left the country very poor every way, and Churches and schools came into existence slowly. Education was really unpopular in many places. It was said that the children ought not to be " fooling " away their time in school; the boys ought to be at work
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in the field and the girls spinning, doing house work, etc. Yet the Bap- tist ministers could be found in every settlement; and they preached in the woods, or near the houses, and went from settlement to settlement, in this way doing immense good in the cause of Christ. Their doctrines were Calvinistic, too rigidly so for the good of the people; and yet they were wonderfully successful in bringing men and women to the Saviour. Among the early ministers in Middle Tennessee were such men as Jo- seph Dorris, Daniel Brown, John Wiseman, Joshua Lester, John Bond, Jesse Cox, James Whitsett, John De la Hunté (afterward corrupted to Dillahunty), Garner McConnico, Reuben Ross, Jeremiah Vardeman, Lewis Moore, Elias Fort, Jesse Brooks, Sugg Fort, Isaac Todevine (a corrupted Italian name), and many others. Elder Moore was a wonder- ful man; so were Reuben Ross, Isaac Todevine, and Garner McConni- co. The latter possessed a large frame and a powerful voice, and had received a good education-in fact, many of those preachers were men of learning, having come from North Carolina and Virginia.
One of the early Baptist Churches was the Red River Church, at Ad- ams Station, in Robertson County. It was organized in 1791, and has been in existence ever since, having a large, fine, and commodious house of worship. In 1791 or 1792 the Churches in the neighborhood of Nash- · ville were united in a body known as the Mero District Association, aft- erward changed to Cumberland Association. In 1796 there were around Nashville the following Churches: Mill Creek, four miles from the city, which had for its pastor the beloved Father Whitsett, whose memory is dear to all his brethren in this part of the State; Richland Creek, Rev. John Dil- lahunty, pastor; a little farther west, the Church of Rev. James McConni- co; and a Church six miles east of the city, on the present White's Creek pike. In the city there was no Baptist Church; and indeed there were none in many of the villages or towns in the State, and for this reason: By a sort of tacit agreement the Presbyterians occupied the towns, and the Baptists the country. Presbyterian ministers usually taught school during the week, and preached on Sunday, by the two occupations making a sub- sistence. The Baptists neither received nor expected remuneration for pro- claiming the gospel, and had to make their support by tilling the soil. They preached on Sunday at least once or twice a month. So it came about that Presbyterians did not preach or attempt to organize Churches in the country, and Baptists did not attempt to organize Churches in towns. Of course there were here and there exceptions to the rule, but this was the rule. In 1820, however, the Rev. Jeremiah Vardeman, an educated and eloquent Baptist minister, came to Nashville, and held a protracted meeting for some months. Elder James Whitsett aided him in this
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meeting, and at the close it was decided to establish a Baptist Church in Nashville. Many of the most influential men in the city had previ- ously united with the Mill Creek Church; so on July 22, 1820, Rev. Mr. Vardeman and Father Whitsett organized the Church here, with nine- teen members, and afterward this body joined the Concord Association. A good brick house of worship was soon built on Church Street. An effort was made to induce Rev. Mr. Vardeman to become their pastor ; but he declined, and for more than two years they were without regular pastoral ministrations. During the delay Elders Whitsett, Craig, Atkin- son, McConnico, and others supplied the pulpit. In December, 1822, the Rev. Richard Dabbs, of Virginia, took charge; but death called him away in May, 1825, and then for more than a year the Church was again without a regular pastor. In May, 1826, the Rev. Philip S. Fall, of Kentucky, assumed the care of the Church. Soon afterward Rev. Alexander Campbell began to disseminate his doctrines, and made won- derful inroads into the Baptist Churches of Kentucky and Tennessee. He came to Nashville and preached for some time, carrying with him the entire Baptist Church, with the exception of only five members: Major Henry Cartmell, Mrs. Sarah Cartmell, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith, Lipscomb Norvell, and Mrs. Cecillia Fairfax. These five met in the court-house on the Ioth of October, 1830, and assumed the Charter and Constitution of the old Church, and were henceforth to be known as the First Baptist Church of Nashville. The old "Charter, Constitution, and Rules of Decorum " were continued. They had no house of worship. Mrs. Ce- cilia Fairfax, one of the five above mentioned, was a lineal descendant of the celebrated Fairfax family of England. Father Whitsett gave them all the encouragement possible, and preached to the feeble congrega- tion whenever he could, and administered the ordinances among the flock. Some others of the original Church, who had held back, withdrew, and united with them, and the membership soon grew to the number of fifty. They held services in the Masonic Hall. On the IIth of July, 1831, Rev. Peter S. Gayle was chosen pastor, and entered at once upon the duties of his office. At the end of three years he removed to Browns- ville, Tenn.
The fourth pastor was Rev. R. B. C. Howell, of North Carolina, who had been for more than eight years the pastor of the Cumberland Street Church in Norfolk, Va. He entered upon his pastoral duties in Nash- ville on the 4th of January, 1835. At the same time the first number of The Baptist was issued. This paper, which he originated, and edited for thirteen years, was the only Baptist journal in this section of country. In April, 1835, a Sunday-school was organized, and on the IIth of the
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same month a building committee was appointed to erect a house of wor- ship. At the end of three years the work had been accomplished and the house was ready for occupancy, at a cost of $30,000. It is known now as the Lutheran Church, on North Summer Street. Dr. Howell was a man of great energy and force of character, and was well educat- ed. He was highly esteemed in the community by everybody. He wrote a great deal, and conducted many controversies; for there were at that day a great many Baptists opposed to missionary operations, Sun- day-schools, a paid ministry, etc. Dr. Howell advanced the cause of Foreign and Domestic Missions, Sunday-schools, etc., with great zeal and success, and was a leader of his denomination in every way. He presided over Associations, conventions, and other religious bodies. His sermons were always instructive and captivating, and he was a man of force in the community. The dedication of the new house of worship on Summer Street was of the most impressive character. All the sing- ers of all the choirs in the city, and a number of ministers of all denom- inations, took part in the exercises.
In 1843 about twenty members of the First Baptist Church here, who lived in and around Murfreesboro, took letters of dismission and formed the Baptist Church of Murfreesboro, with Rev. Dr. Joseph H. Eaton as pastor.
The colored people belonging to the First Baptist Church before the war were so numerous that the Church deemed it best to build them a house, which was done on Pearl Street, in the Fourth Ward. The Rev. S. A. Davidson was selected as their pastor. Subsequently one of their own number, Nelson G. Merry, developed so much intelligence and pie- ty that he was licensed to preach, and was afterward ordained to the full work of the ministry. He was a remarkable man in many respects. His Church grew rapidly and was very prosperous. He and his people, aid- ed by his white brethren of the First Church, bought a lot on North Spruce Street, and erected a large brick building. The membership grew finally to twenty-eight hundred. In 1884 Rev. Nelson G. Merry departed this life, and no such demonstration was ever before or since made at a colored man's funeral in Nashville, or perhaps anywhere else. Details would require too much space. The white ministers of the Bap- tist and all other denominations in the city (Roman Catholic only except- ed) met in the lecture-room of the First Baptist Church, and gladly testi- fied to the exalted character, wisdom, and prudence of the deceased. The venerable Dr. McFerrin in his remarks said, "Nelson G. Merry was a born leader among men; " and his piety and zeal in the cause of Christ were worthy of emulation and praise.
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On April 14, 1850, the Rev. Dr. Howell, having resigned the pastorate, preached his farewell sermon, and soon after removed to Richmond, Va., and took charge of the Second Baptist Church of that city. In June of the same year Rev. Dr. Samuel Baker entered upon his duties as the fifth pastor of the First Baptist Church. He was a man of learning and great ability. He resigned the pastorship at the close of 1853, and took charge of a large and influential Church in Kentucky. The sixth pastor was the Rev. William H. Bayless, who was elected October 4, 1854. He had previously filled the pulpit for several months. He resigned the care of the Church August 27, 1856. He had been a judge in Louisiana, was a lawyer, and left the bench to preach the gospel. He was noted for sound sense, legal ability, and excellent powers of oratory. Temporary supplies for the pulpit were obtained for several months, the membership clamoring for the return of Rev. Dr. Howell to his old charge. They finally succeeded, and Dr. Howell again filled his old pulpit on July 13, 1857, as seventh pastor. In 1858 serious troubles sprung up in the Bible Board, which had been established here by the Southern Baptist Conven- tion. The Board was composed mainly of members of the First Baptist Church, who were also largely represented in the Publication and Sunday- school Society. The difficulty mentioned was known as the "Graves trouble," which extended into the Church. Its prosperity, however, was not materially impaired by the conflicts through which it had passed. It was large, united, and actuated by a spirit of Christian activity and liber- ality. The old pastor and his charge were very successful in all their religious labors. The bickering and strife have long since passed away, and are now never alluded to. In August, 1859, the First Church with- drew from the Concord Association because of the unwarrantable inter- ference of that body in its government, this being the third time it had been obliged to withdraw for the same reason. It has for years been a constituent part of the new Cumberland Association, which body it aided in organizing in Springfield, Robertson County, September 13, 1871.
During the civil war the Church encountered many trials. The pastor, Rev. Dr. Howell, as well as all the pastors of every denomination-with one or two exceptions-were put into the penitentiary, to stop them from preaching, and because they refused to take the oath of allegiance pre- scribed. They were not confined with the convicts, but placed in the main building, in rooms above the entrance-hall and offices. This con- tinued a few months; and finally some were released here, and some went north to prison. Dr. Howell, on account of illness, was permitted to go to his home on Summer Street.
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In January, 1863, the house of worship was taken possession of by military order, stripped of its pulpit, pews, and other furniture, and turned into a hospital. On the succeeding Sunday the Church and Sun- day-school assembled in an upper room, over a store on College Street, and continued to meet there for seven months. In August the church was vacated and restored. Worship was resumed there the following Sunday, and as rapidly as possible the interior was refitted.
Two months afterward the house was again seized, dismantled, and occupied as a hospital. On the same day the manager of the new the- ater offered the use of that building "from morning till midnight, every Sunday, so long as the Church should need it." This kind offer was promptly and thankfully accepted. Prayer-meetings during the week were held in the " Christian Church," the pastor, Rev. Mr. Fall, having kindly tendered the use of the house.
The church was given up to its owners on December 23, 1863; but was taken again in less than twenty days, and used as barracks for sol- diers passing through the city. This occupation continued five months. In May, 1854, an order was issued, directing the house to be put in good condition and restored. But on the very next day it was taken for hos- pital purposes, and so occupied for thirteen months, when all that was left of it was finally restored to the owners, June 26, 1865.
During the entire time that the government had possession of the church-building one service on Sunday was uniformly held, and the Sun- day-school was kept up, Anson Nelson, one of the deacons, being the Superintendent during the troublous times.
The military authorities offered in settlement of the claim for damages to the property the sum of $5,000 cash, which proposition it was thought best to accept, in view of the delay and uncertainty attending the prose- cution of the just claim for a much larger amount. The money, howev- er, was not paid until after great trouble and a delay of seven months. The actual cost of the work done in restoring and refitting the house was $12,400.
Through the whole period of the war the Church, though much weak- ened by the absence of many of its most active members, and by pecun- iary losses suffered by those who were left, maintained services without interruption. Though sorely buffeted, and driven from place to place, a spot was always found where the religious worship could be conducted; and around it would rally a faithful band of undismayed followers, ready to press forward to conflict and to victory.
In 1867 the revered pastor of the First Church-Rev. Dr. Howell- who had been for several months in failing health, with little prospect of
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restoration, resigned his charge; and on the first of July the union be- tween pastor and people which had existed so long came to an end.
The eighth pastor was the Rev. Thomas E. Skinner, D.D., of Raleigh, N. C., who entered upon his work in Nashville November 3, 1867. Within a very few months he was called upon to preach the funeral ser- mon of his predecessor-Rev. Dr. Howell-who died on April 5, 1868. His death was greatly deplored by the community generally, and every possible demonstration of respect was paid to his memory. Ministers of all denominations met in the lecture-room of the First Presbyterian Church, and testified by speeches and resolutions to the high character and Christian virtues of this venerable minister of God. All took part in the funeral services at the First Church, which would not hold one-half of the people who desired to attend. A minister of the gospel for forty years, and pastor of the First Baptist Church of Nashville twenty-five of these years, it was no wonder that such demonstrations took place. A magnificent Scotch granite monument stands at the head of his grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Dr. Skinner resigned the pastorship November 1, 1870, and removed to Columbus, Ga., to take charge of the Baptist Church in that city. The membership increased considerably during Dr. Skinner's adminis- tration.
The Church then, with great unanimity, called the Rev. Tiberius Gracchus Jones, D.D., of Norfolk, Va. After much deliberation he felt it his duty to accept, and entered upon his labors as the ninth pastor on April 1, 1871. He served the Church faithfully for twelve years, and re- signed the last of March, 1883. In receiving his resignation, the Church passed highly commendatory resolutions, and presented him with a part- ing gift of $3,000. Dr. Jones's pulpit powers placed him in the front rank of the ministers in Nashville; and his sermons were marked by the simplicity and beauty of chaste, clear, and matured thought, and elevated by sound theology and true spirituality.
After the retirement of Dr. T. G. Jones from the pastorate of the First Church, Rev. C. S. Gardner, of West Tennessee, a student of the Bap- tist Theological Seminary of Louisville, Ky., supplied the pulpit of the First Church for a few months with ability and to the satisfaction of the members and the congregation.
In 1883, by a unanimous vote, Rev. Dr. C. H. Strickland, of Knox- ville, Tenn., was chosen as the tenth pastor. After some delay he final- ly accepted; and on August 31 he was tendered a warm and cordial wel- come. Under his administration the membership increased and the work went forward. The building on Summer Street, which had for some 31
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years been growing unsuitable because of its small size and inconvenient locality, the residence portion of the city having been crowded away by bus- iness houses, a large committee was appointed to select another site. They purchased the lot on the south-east corner of Broad and Vine Streets, where the present large and beautiful house of worship was erected, at a cost of more than $80,000. The old Church was sold to the German Lutheran congregation for $10,000. Dr. Strickland tendered his resig- nation in the spring of 1889, and removed to Sioux City, Ia., where he is the pastor of one of the largest and finest Baptist Churches in the North-west. Then the Rev. E. V. Baldy, a recent graduate of the The- ological Seminary at Louisville, was employed as a temporary pastor. He commenced his labors the last Sunday in July, and continued until the end of the year, when he went to Cuthbert, Ga., as the pastor of the Church at that place. In the summer a call was extended to Rev. Dr. T. T. Eaton, the popular pastor of the Walnut Street Church, Louisville, to become the pastor. After considerable correspondence Dr. Eaton finally decided not to accept, feeling it his duty to remain with his old charge, much to the disappointment of the Nashville Baptists. In No- vember the Church unanimously chose the Rev. Dr. W. R. L. Smith, of Lynchburg, Va. After due deliberation he accepted, and became the eleventh pastor of the Church, and entered upon his duties January I, 1890. He was tendered a very enthusiastic reception by the Church, and also by the other Baptist Churches and their ministers, on the evening of January 2, 1890. The exercises were long and interesting, and the new . pastor started off with the good wishes and prayers of hundreds of Chris- tians for his health, happiness, and success.
Many interesting incidents could be mentioned in connection with the First Baptist Church of Nashville, did space permit. Mr. A. H. Hicks, for many years the largest queen's-ware merchant in Nashville, was a good worker in the Church, and especially in the Sunday-school. He was for more than forty years the Secretary and Treasurer. He died March 5, I876.
In 1845 the Baptist missionary, Rev. J. L. Shuck, brought from China a young convert, Yong-Seen-Sang by name. He was attired in his na- tive garb, of course, and at that early day in our knowledge of the Chinese attracted a great deal of attention. He was highly educated, and conse- quently held a good position in his country, and was richly dressed in silk robes. They were guests of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Howell. After a sermon Sunday morning by Brother Shuck, Yong-Seen-Sang talked in Chinese, each sentence being interpreted by the missionary. He was a consistent member of the Church in Shanghai during the remainder of
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his life; and died there in 1888, the venerable and honored senior deacon of the Church.
The Southern Baptist Convention met in this Church in 1851, and again in 1878. Both were interesting meetings, were largely attended, and awakened much interest throughout the community. Of this large repre- sentative body Rev. Dr. Howell was the presiding officer for many years.
In 1858, by an act of the General Assembly of Tennessee, the Church was incorporated.
The foregoing and following records show this Church to be the mother of seven Churches, and the grandmother of two-to wit, Murfreesboro, Cherry Street (Central), First Colored, Edgefield, North Nashville, Immanuel, and Howell Memorial. As a descendant of the Edgefield Church we have the North Edgefield; and as a descendant of the Cen- tral, we have the Seventh Baptist Church, on Wharf Avenue; to which may be added, as descendants, the several Churches of the colored brethren springing out of Nelson G. Merry's Church.
The Second Baptist Church was organized in 1844, at the house of John Corbitt, by those members of the First Baptist Church living south of Broad Street. Upon their organization they adopted the Articles and Covenant of the First Church. Rev. T. W. Haynes was chosen pastor, and a house of worship was erected soon afterward on Cherry Street, near the university. A second church-edifice was erected in 1858, and known as the Cherry Street Church. This building was first occupied in 1859.
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