USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > The First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee : the addresses delivered in connection with the observance of the one hundredth anniversary, November 8-15, l9l4 > Part 4
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Mr. Blackburn was the church's first pastor, though never formally installed. His services continued until some time in the year 1818. Born in Augusta County, Virginia, August 27, 1772, he was licensed to preach by the Pres- bytery of Abingdon in 1792, and taking his Bible and hymn book in one hand and his rifle in the other, set off like some John the Baptist to spread the gospel in the wilderness. It was while living in Franklin, Tenn., where he also founded a church, that he organized this church. When he retired as pastor the congregation boasted forty-five members, though only two or three of them were men.
Among the new members were: Mr. and Mrs. George Martin, Mrs. Joseph Coleman, Mrs. Catherine Stout, Mrs. Martha Childress, Mrs. Catherine Robinson, Mrs. Jesse Wharton, Mrs. Felix Grundy, Mrs. Randal McGavock, Mrs. Alpha Kingsley, Mrs. Robert Armstrong, Mrs. Alex Porter, Mrs. Harriet McLaughlin, Mrs. Mary Ann Richard- son, Mrs. Ellen Kirkman, Mrs. Anna M. Carroll, Mrs John Baird, Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Jackson, Mrs. Michael C. Dunn, Mrs. Margaret Tannehill and Mrs. Sarah Glenn.
"Gen. Carroll's brigade commanders were: First Brigade, Thos. Coulter ; Second, Bird Smith, who died at New Orleans. The colonels were: First Regiment, Wm. Metcalf; Second, John Cocke; Third, James Raulston: Fourth. Samuel Bayless: Fifth, Edwin E. Booth. Lieut. Col. James Henderson, of the First Regiment, was killed in the action of December 28, 1814. He was from Rutherford County.
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MRS. RACHEL JACKSON.
The name of Mrs. Rachel Jackson rightfully belongs to the list brought into the Presbyterian Church by Rev. Gideon Blackburn.1 In her very religious letters written to her friend back home, Mrs. Eliza Kingsley, while she was with her illustrious husband in the Territory of Flor- ida, Mrs. Jackson says: "Say to my father in the gospel- Parson Blackburn-I shall always love him as such. Often I have blessed the Lord that I was permitted to be called under his ministry."
Mrs. Jackson's simple piety could be but a reflection of the profound spirituality with which Parson Blackburn had impressed his flock; a spirituality developed in the years when day in and day out he risked his life to speak the Word, preaching at times with a rifle at his feet, with armed men in a ring round the women and children.
As pastor here his sermons, at least sometimes, were inordinately long. It is related that on one occasion Gov- ernor Carroll met Felix Grundy as the congregation was leaving our first meeting house and asked him how he had stood the long sermon. Mr. Blackburn had preached for three hours and a half on "What Shall It Profit a Man?"
The length of the sermon may sound oppressive now, but Felix Grundy paid this tribute to it: "I could have stood it till 12 o'clock at night if he had continued."
During the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Blackburn the first Presbyterian Church in Nashville was completed sufficiently to occupy. This building was commenced in 1812, and although unfinished, was used by the congregation for services in the fall of 1816. It was erected by a general subscription from citizens, and although under the control of the Presbyterians, when not in use by them it was open
1A tablet to Dr. Blackburn was unveiled at Franklin, Tenn., April 26, 1911, under the auspices of the Old Glory Chapter, D. A. R. Dr. J. H. McNeilly, of Nashville, made a talk on Gideon Blackburn.
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to other denominations. It occupied this same corner, the ground to which was deeded on May 1, 1823, by Randal Mc- Gavock to Robert Smiley, Nathaniel A. McNairy,2 William M. Berryhill, John Wright and David Erwin, Trustees, for and in consideration of the sum of $750 and for "other con- siderations" not mentioned in the deed.
ORIGINAL CHURCH BUILDING.
This church building, described as "a spacious and com- modious edifice," fronted on Summer Street, though the entrance was first on Church Street. It had a bell tower, but no basement. The seating capacity was 400. The pulpit in Dr. Blackburn's time was in the south end, high up on the wall. Early in the pastorate of Dr. Allan Ditchfield Camp- bell, the second pastor, the church house was completed. The entrance was changed to the Summer Street side and the pulpit placed on the east side of the building. On the night of January 29. 1832,3 between II and 12 o'clock, fire broke out in the south end of the building. It was checked for a time, but the city fire engine was not well supplied with water and in the end the meeting house was destroyed. Duncan Robertson+ saved a hymn book and the Bible, which was all that was saved.
Dr. Campbell's pastorate began in 1820, the pulpit in
"On March 1, 1806, N. A. McNairy met Gen. John Coffee on the field of honor. The meeting grew out of the Jackson-Dickinson controversy, which ended in a duel fatal to Dickinson. The writer is of the opinion that this was the same N. A. McNairy who was elected an elder in 1824 and continued as such until his death, September 7, 1851.
3At the time the church burned there was on the ground snow, three or four inches in depth, which protected the adjoining prop- erty.
"Duncan Robertson, known in the annals of Nashville as the best man that ever lived in Nashville, died May 1, 1833. On page 57 of the Bunting history of the church it is suggested that Mrs. Robertson was a Presbyterian. Duncan Robertson's name does not appear on the rolls of this church, however. Among other honors claimed for Duncan Robertson is that of being captain of Nash- ville's first fire-fighting organization.
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the interim between Dr. Blackburn's departure and his com- ing being supplied by Rev. William Hume. Dr. Camp- bell was a native of Lancashire, England, coming to this country early in life. He came here from Pennsylvania, and after nearly seven years' service returned to that State. He died near Pittsburgh, September 20, 1861.
Dr. Campbell's pastorate is notable as marking the be- ginning of the Sunday school as an adjunct to the church's work. Dr. Campbell's part consisted in relaxing the min- isterial frown toward this phase of religious endeavor, which in its infancy here was regarded as an outrageous desecration of the Sabbath.
FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL.
But it was in the great heart of a member of the Pres- byterian Church that the Sunday school of this church- of all the churches in Nashville-had birth. Again the honor goes to the women, for the mother of the Sunday school in Nashville was Mrs. Ann Phillips Grundy, wife of Felix Grundy, a name still a household word in Tennessee. though he has been dead nearly seventy-five years.1
This first Sunday school was held on the first Sunday in July, 1820, the place being a small frame house in the rear of the site of McKendree-windowless and dilapi- dated. The school was undenominational. Present that day were: Mrs. Grundy, who had done the planning; Nathan Ewing, Mildred Moore, Samuel P. Ament and fif- teen little beneficiaries. The books used were the New Testament and the Webster spelling book.
The school had a hard time. The promoters were her- alded as disturbers of the peace, whose activities should not be countenanced. At one time in this period of intolerance
1Before removing to Tennessee, Felix Grundy was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. An advertisement in the Impartial Review of January 7. 1808, announces that Felix Grundy has arrived in Nashville to make his home here.
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at least one house of worship in this city was thus pla- carded :
"No desecration of the holy Sabbath by teaching on the Sabbath in this church."
The institutional waif flourished notwithstanding. By the time spring had come in 1822 it had so far won its way that through the influence of Dr. Campbell and Dr. Thomas Maddin, of the Methodist Church-McKendree-its value as a part of the church organization received recognition. About the first of November the different churches organ- ized schools of their own. At the end of our past church year the First Presbyterian Church Sunday school mus- tered 677 members.
Rev. Obadiah Jennings, of Washington, Pa., who had begun life as a lawyer, but turned to the ministry in 1817, became Dr. Campbell's successor in the pastorate. Before coming to Nashville in 1828 his health had been seriously impaired and frequently during his pastorate he delivered his sermon sitting in the pulpit. On January 12, 1832, his service was terminated by death. There is in existence a quaint resolution adopted at a meeting of "the pew-holders and members of the congregation" on the ensuing January 19, setting out that as a tribute of respect and testimony of love they wear crepe for a space of thirty days. It was while the church building was draped in black for him that the first fire occurred. Dr. Jennings is accredited as pastor with bringing a number of influential men of the city into the church. Shortly after his arrival here his daughter, Ann E. Jennings, was married to Henry A. Wise, a young lawyer from Virginia, then engaged in practice here. Soon after the Wises returned to the Old Dominion, where the husband entered quickly upon a life-long career in public affairs. He was Governor of Virginia when John
'At the congregational meeting referred to Josiah Nichol was chairman and William Berryhill. secretary.
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Brown's attack upon Harper's Ferry heralded the coming of the awful tempest of civil war. Governor Wise's eldest son, Obadiah Jennings Wise, perpetuated his grandfather's name for a season, but survived eight duels engaged in as a result of criticism of his father by opponents, only to fall a victim of the Civil War.3
After the death of Dr. Jennings and the destruction of the church, services were held temporarily in the Masonic Hall, Rev. William Hume preaching for the members, until he went to his well-earned reward, before the pastorate was permanently filled. The congregation then numbered 116 members.
DR. EDGAR'S COMING.
The year 1833 marked the beginning of a great era of development in the church. That was the year the "stars fell," about which time, from all accounts, it must have been a very satisfying doctrine-that what is to be will be. The new church, a $30,000 structure, with a seating capacity of 1,000, and a spire rising 150 feet above the vestibule, was completed. It was dedicated that fall. Of far greater im- portance than the new church was the coming of Dr. John Todd Edgar as pastor. His service as pastor began August 4, 1833, and death ended them on the morning of Novem- ber 13, 1860. He was one of the greatest among the great pastors whose leadership the First Presbyterian Church has followed, and is now following, in its century of existence. During his pastorate 564 members were admitted on exam- ination and 321 by certificate. Only two communion sea- sons passed when there were no additions. It was under his preaching at the little Hermitage church that the ven- erable hero of many hard-fought battlefields, General Jack- son, with tears streaming down his withered cheeks, enrolled
3Obadiah Jennings Wise, during the time he was fighting a duel with every caustic critic of his father, was editor of the Richmond "Enquirer," and, according to his half-brother, John S. Wise, fought the eight duels referred to in less than two years' time.
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himself publicly as a soldier under the banner of the Prince of Peace and took his first communion.1 It was in 1838. and the account from which this is taken was written proba- bly by Dr. Edgar himself :
"A form of no common appearance for inspiring venera- tion was standing before the assembly. It was the form of one who had long been known as amongst the most distin- guished of the country's Generals, who had often periled his life in her defense, and who, under God, had achieved one of the most memorable victories recorded in the annals of modern warfare. Nor is this all. The same venerable form had filled as a statesman the highest seat in the gov- ernment of his country and had been clothed with the high- est civic honors which the country, in all its unequaled free- dom and independence, could bestow. He had passed through a life of most eventful scenes; he had returned to his own Hermitage, to the tomb of his beloved consort, to the few remaining friends of former days, to some of the surviving children of those friends, and in their view was about to pledge himself to become a soldier in a new army and to engage in the performance of duties of higher im- portance than ever commanded the attention of earthly thrones or confederated states. And to add, if possible, to the impressiveness of the scene, the partner of his adopted son, dear to him, indeed, as a daughter, together with a beloved niece, were about to seal with him their covenant for the first time, to be followers of the Prince of Peace.
"The whole of the preparatory service was deeply inter- esting, but when the time arrived for him and his relatives and friends to arise and take their seats at the table of their ascended Redeemer, a scene of weeping gratitude and joy seemed to pervade the whole congregation.
'Some of the circumstances attending Gen. Jackson's uniting with the church are told of in Parton's "Life of Jackson." The account from which the above excerpts are taken appears in The Republican Banner of July 20, 1838.
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JOHN M. HILL, Elder 1844-1857. Founder of the John M. Hill Fund.
"To see this aged veteran, whose head had stood erect in battle and through scenes of fearful bearing, bend that head in humble and adoring reverence at the table of his divine Master, while tears of penitence and joy trickled down his careworn cheeks, was, indeed, a spectacle of most intense moral interest.
"May God bless and uphold him in his last days. And when the time for his departure shall arrive may he come to his grave not only full of years but full of peace and joy and holy triumph."?
JACKSON'S FUNERAL.
When the General did come to his grave a few years later it was Dr. Edgar who officiated at the memorable funeral at the Hermitage, delivering a thoughtful eulogy before an array of 3.000 people, taking as his text that pil- low of cloud for the unhappy, "These are they which came through great tribulation and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb."
From what we know of the effects of his ministry. Dr. Edgar's whole being must have been involved in the work of His Master ;1 such success could not have been otherwise attained. During his pastorate a magnificent organ was installed in the church, one of the first two in Nashville churches. Mr. Nash was organist, and his wife, gifted with a rich mezzo soprano voice, was leader of the choir. Not infrequently Dr. Edgar, after delivering an especially earnest sermon, would seize a hymn book, and without wait-
"Miss Jane Thomas. in her booklet, "Old Days in Nashville." says that Dr. Edgar and Dr. John Newland Maffitt preached their first sermons here on the same day in May, 1833. A Nashville paper of the time says that the latter preached here on May 5. 1833. but no mention is made of Dr. Edgar. Miss Thomas describes Dr. Edgar as a very fine looking man, and very popular.
'The above is from reminiscences of Judge James T. Bell. pub- lished in the American of September 1. 1890. The other organ re- ferred to, according to the same authority, was in Christ Church.
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ing for organist or choir, start some such hymn as "How Firm a Foundation," leaving the organist nonplussed.
This organ was destroyed with the church, which burned on the night of September 14, 1848, the fire starting in the tower, where tinners had been at work making repairs. The firemen. a volunteer brigade then, made a brave fight, but the crowd on the steps interfered with their efforts and the flames consumed not only the church, but the residences of Sandy Carter and Henry Yeatman and damaged that of Andrew Ewing. The fire loss amounted to $30,000 to $40,000.
PRESENT CHURCH.
The corner stone of the new church-the present build- ing-was laid April 28, 1849. The order of exercises was as follows :
Scripture reading and prayer by Rev. Mr. Huntingdon. Music by the choir.
Memorials, selected for the occasion, deposited with the address of John T. Edgar, D.D., in the zinc box.
Music.
Address to the congregation by Robert A. Lapsley, D.D.
Box deposited in the stone, the exercises concluding with prayer by Dr. Edgar.
For the benefit of those of inquiring mind, the parts of the Scripture read at the ceremony included portions of the second chapter of Second Corinthians, the 132d, 133d and the first verse of the 127th Psalms. The hymns used at the service were No. 499 of the Assembly Collection, "And Will the Great Eternal God," and the 502d, "Eternal Source of Every Good." Deposited in the stone were the Bible. Con- fession of Faith, the almanac of 1849 and a silver plate bear- ing on the one side this inscription :
Corner stone. First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tenn., laid April 28, 1849.
John T. Edgar, D.D., pastor.
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Elders2-N. A. McNairy, R. H. McEwen, M. C. Dunn, A. W. Putnam, James Nichol, J. M. Hill, A. A. Casseday, W. Williams, N. Cross and W. B. A. Ramsey.
Deacons-S. V. D. Stout, B. H. Shepherd, W. Eakin and A. Hume.
Communicants, 357.
Building Committee -- J. M. Bass, Chairman ; A. Allison, A. W. Putnam, J. M. Hill, S. D. Morgan, W. Nichol, J. T. Edgar, O. B. Hayes and W. Eakin.
W. Strickland, architect; A. G. Payne and J. C. Mc- Laughlin, masons; J. M. Hughes, carpenter.
A. Allison, Mayor of Nashville.
Population of the city, 20,000.
Population of the United States, 20,000,000.
N. S. Brown, Governor of the State.
Z. Taylor, President of the United States.
On the reverse side of the silver plate was an engraving of the front of the church and underneath the words :
The former pastors:
G. Blackburn, 1813 (organizer).
A. D. Campbell, 1820.
Ob. Jennings, 1828.
Deposited also in the stone was a daguerreotype of Dr. Edgar, sent by Daniel Adams, the engraver, "as a compli- ment to Dr. Edgar and a specimen of the new art."
2Robert H. McEwen was elected an elder June, 1829, and con- tinued as such nearly forty years. He was clerk of the session over thirty years. A. W. Putnam, elected an elder September 6, 1839, succeeded him as clerk. W. B. A. Ramsey was Secretary of State of Tennessee from 1847 to 1855. W. Eakin married the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Felix Grundy, Felicia; she afterwards became Mrs. Porter. S. D. Morgan was not a church- man. He was chairman of the commission which built the Capitol and has a tomb in its walls. O. B. Hayes was a New Englander who settled here in 1808. He was a lawyer with an extensive prac- tice. Having acquired a competency, he retired with the view of entering the ministry. The history of Davidson County says he and Tom Benton were law partners while the latter lived in Ten- nessee. It was his daughter who presented the church its famous bell.
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On Sunday, January 6, 1850, the congregation worshiped in the lecture-room for the first time. The church was completed the following spring, the cost, including the or- gan, being $51,000. The seating capacity, including the gal- lery, is 1,300. The towers are 104 feet in height. The church is finished in Egyptian style.
CHURCH DEDICATION.
The church was dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 20, 1851, at the II o'clock service.
Of that service a quaint account is preserved in the files of one of Nashville's papers, the Gasette:
"A solemn and interesting occasion." "The building is much the largest in the city," are expressions used in the account. Dr. R. J. Breckinridge. of Kentucky, was to have delivered the dedication sermon ; he was detained for some reason, and the duty devolved upon Dr. Edgar, a result for which the Gazette recorder acknowledges gratitude, the ser- mon having been an unusually good one. Of the perform- ances of the choir: "Everybody," the writer continues, "speaks in rapturous adoration." And forthwith he launches into an admission that he was among the multitude that had lately thrown away money to hear the immortal Jenny Lind, and he liked the choir's singing far better.
The narrator, among other things, does not overlook the fact that the interior of the church is Egyptian in decoration, and questions the appropriateness of it.1
"The church manual of I9f1 quoting from an old newspaper account of the interior colors and decorations says: "There is a mystic meaning in the colors used, which originated among the old architects hundreds of years ago. It is as follows: Red represents Divine love; blue, Divine intelligence; golden yellow, the mercy of God: the lilies, innocence and purity; the triangle the Trinity. The cluster of seeds held together with a band of gold, crossed with red, represents the membership held together with the gold band of love. Then, too. the winged globe has its symbol. The globe represents eternity; the serpent, wisdom; and the wings the soul."
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SUFFERS FROM STORMS.
The church since its dedication has suffered from two storms. In 1855 the building was wholly unroofed and partially so in 1859; from December 31, 1862, until June, 1865, it was under the control of the Federal Government and used as a hospital, but it stands today a monument to its builder, William Strickland, the builder of the Capitol, - whose ashes repose in the State House walls.
At a meeting of the congregation held August 9, 1859, it was decided to call an associate pastor to assist Dr. Edgar in his work. A unanimous call was accordingly issued to Rev. Joseph Bardwell, of Aberdeen, Miss. He accepted and commenced his labors on October 1, 1859. Within a little more than a year the angel of death passed over the church manse and summoned the pastor. The end came to him November 13, 1860. The night before he attended and led the prayer-meeting, afterwards attending a church meet- ing. Retiring about 10 o'clock, a few hours later "the mes- senger came." From that time till his death he was speech- less and unconscious. "His death will be universally mourned as a public loss-a public calamity," was the ver- dict of Nashville's best newspaper, chronicling the fact. Mayor R. B. Cheatham ordered all business suspended on November 15 during the hour of Dr. Edgar's funeral.
Mr. Bardwell succeeded him in the pastorate, but it was not for long. After the fall of Fort Donelson and the threatened occupation of Nashville by Federal troops, he, with countless others, went South. He was not allowed to return, the record reads, and on June 30, 1864, the pastoral relation was dissolved. For a few months the pulpit was supplied by Rev. J. T. Hendricks, and from then until after the close of the war "the altar was desolate."
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DAMAGED DURING THE WAR.
A Nashville newspaper of Sunday, July 9, 1865, an- nounces the fact that the Rev. Robert F. Bunting had ar- rived and thereafter religious services might be expected at the church. The church had been seriously damaged during its occupancy as a hospital and the Federal Government allowed the congregation $7.500 for making repairs. There is now pending before Congress a claim for $1,2001 addi- tional, which would have been allowed ere this had the European war not come up.
Dr. Bunting was formally installed as pastor June 10, 1866. The relation was dissolved on July 23, 1868, the pas- tor accepting a call to Galveston, Texas. It was at the close of his administration that a history of the church was prepared.
Dr. Bunting was succeeded in the pastorate by Rev. Thomas Verner Moore, of Richmond, who was elected pas- tor August 30, 1868. The calling of Dr. Moore recalls the last meeting of the General Assembly in this church. It began November 21. 1867. Dr. Moore was present as a commissioner from East Hanover Presbytery and was elected Moderator. So pleasantly did he impress the con- gregation of this church that when the vacancy occurred in the pulpit the call was extended to him.
LEE MEMORIAL SERMON.
Dr. Moore was a personal friend of General Lee and, it is said, of Stonewall Jackson. You can find his name in the official records of the war in connection with efforts to secure the exchange of prisoners. He was then in Rich- mond. One case in which he interested himself involved the private exchange of General Lee's son. However. General Lee would not endorse private exchanges and the effort came to nothing. One of Dr. Moore's notable sermons
'A few months later the appropriation was passed.
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while here was a memorial sermon for General Lee. It was preached in this church on October 23, 1870," the request for it having been made by a public meeting of citizens. Dr. Moore died in the pastorate, August 5, 1871.
Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke, father of the well-known writer, was the next pastor, coming here from Brooklyn, N. Y. Prior to his coming on February 11, 1872, the pulpit was supplied by Rev. J. E. Wheeler, of Vicksburg, Miss. Dr. . Van Dyke's term of service was brief, by reason of the se- vere illness of his wife, whom he found necessary to take to' Europe. He resigned on November 17, 1872.
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