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 9
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The following is the form of deed, or certificate, used on this occasion :
The undersigned, trustees of the Presbyterian Church in the city of Nashville, hereby certify that at a sale of the pews in said church, which took place on the - - day of month, agreeable to notice, became the purchaser of pew No. - for the sum of dollars, the reecipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. In consideration whereof the said - - is entitled to the sole use and occupation of said pew, to have and to hold the same to himself, his heirs, executors or assigns forever, for the purpose of public worship, according to the rules and under the discipline of the Presbyterian Church, and subject also to the annual rent of - dollars, and conditions of forfeiture set forth in an ordinance3 of said congrega- tion bearing date the 20th of August, 1833.
Given under our hand and executed this - day of -, 1833.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Trustees.
"Note-Stated Clery Cowan says that the "ordinance" referred to in the deeds given to pew purchasers in 1833 has been misplaced. but that he has often heard from older officers and members of the Church, now dead, that its purport was: "If the pewholder failed to pay the annual rent as assessed against a given pew for a time, and which in amount would equal the sum paid by the original purchaser, then the pew becomes forfeited to the Church."
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The "conditions of forfeiture" referred to in the clos- ing clause of the above-quoted bill of sale for the pews sold in 1833 (and there was never another such sale before, nor has there been one since that date) loom up large just here in solving the troublesome question of having free pews for the congregation. As a matter of fact, not one of the one hundred and sixty-eight pewholders through the eighty-one years intervening since the sale occurred, has strictly complied with the conditions of forfeiture, which were stated at the time of purchase, and which were fully understood by each original buyer and seller, and which to make doubly sure were explicitly referred to in the face of the deed issued at the time of purchase.
If, therefore, upon careful investigation, this is found to be substantially true, the way becomes clear for the church at any time to adopt the free-pew system. In addi- tion to the above mode provided by the church for repos- sessing itself, under special conditions, of the pews sold in 1833, and which are located in the main auditorium, some have adopted the plan of voluntarily donating back to the church all their vested or supposed interest in any given pew, and thereby effectually surrendering all claim they may have had to such.
In the fall of 1803 that high type of a Christian gen- tleman, Judge John McCormick Lea, did this when he wrote the Bench of Elders that, "being admonished by in- creasing infirmities of advancing years that my earthly pil- grimage is nearing the end, . . I give and surrender to the officers of the church pew No. 83." For a number of years, we will add, Judge Lea served the church as one of its trustees.
The church now entered upon an era of rapid growth and prosperity the like of which it had not known before. In the summer of 1833 a new pastor had been secured- Rev. John Todd Edgar, D.D .- and in the following spring,
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1834, to supply a growing need, they elected to the Bench of Elders the following : Samuel Seay, William Armstrong1 and James Nichol. Ruling Elder James Trimble,1 after serving three years, had died in 1824. They also now (1834), for the first time, and twenty years after the organization of the church, created for it a Board of Deacons. The following were elected to the diaconate: James P. Clark, John M. Hill, Alexander M. Cassiday and William Berryhill. Joseph C. Brown at this time is reported as having been also made a deacon, but, for some reason, he never Samuel Seay. Elder 1834-1843. became active in the work.
Two years subsequently, in 1836, it was deemed advisa- ble to still further increase the number of office-bearers in the church, Dr. William McNeil being elected a ruling elder and Dr. A. G. Goodlett1 and S. V. D. Stout being elected deacons. The membership continuing to increase rapidly and there being an occasional removal from the city or death of an office-bearer, thus making a vacancy, it was thought advisable to in- crease the number of church officers more frequently than had been the practice up to now. Consequently, in 1838, Benjamin McCulloch1 and William M. Brown1 were added to the Bench of Elders. Elder W. M. Brown, the last named, died after serving only one year. In 1839 there James Nichol. Elder 1834-1878. were two additions to the Bench of Elders: William Hadley and A. W. Put- nam. It is worthy of note that Elder Putnam was the Com- missioner from the First Church to the first Southern Gen-
'No picture of him obtainable.
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JOSEPH B. O'BRYAN,
Deacon 1867-1870. Elder 1870-1900. In Charge of the Work at the Edgar Church.
eral Assembly (1861), which met in Augusta, Ga., and that he also served as Stated Clerk of the session for two years. For twenty-five years up to now (1839) the music in the church had consisted wholly of con- gregational singing, the record being sim- ply that "the clerk, old man Mr. Cardwell, stood in front of the pulpit to read out the lines of the hymn and lead the sing- ing." The officers of the church, how- - ever, at this time feeling the need of bet- ter and more up-to-date church music, decided to and did install in the church Wm. McNeil, M.D. Elder 1836-1844. a suitable sized pipe organ, locating it in the north gallery over the main Church Street entrance to the building. The instrument was for a time placed under Professor Nash as organist, but later was under Prof. Francis Neville Boensch, father to the present Elder Boensch and grandfather of the present Deacon Boensch. It was, indeed, not only the largest, but also the sweetest-toned instrument of the kind in the city. The addition was very popular, both with the membership and the outside public.
Henry E. Thomas1 was made an elder in 1840; after serving two years, he re- moved from the city. In 1844 the in- crease in the membership had been so great that the congregation elected the following as ruling elders: William Wil- liams,1 John M. Hill, Alexander M. Cas- siday1 (later he was elected by the ses- William Hadley Elder 1839-1842. sion Superintendent of the Sunday school), and Nathaniel Cross. At the same time the follow- ing were made deacons: Alfred Hume, William Eakin and
'No picture of him obtainable.
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Benjamin E. Shepherd. After a term of office, the exact length of which we are unable to state, Ruling Elder Cassiday was succeeded by Deacon Hume, he being elected by the ses- sion Superintendent of the Sunday school.
In 1846 Dr. Richard O. Currey was elected ruling elder. In the following year, however, he moved from the city; but in 1850 he returned, when the congre- gation formally recognized him again as elder, and he at once reassumed the duties of the office. The congregation did likewise with Michael C. Dunn,1 who had left the town after serving as elder for seven years, from 1821 to 1828, but who in 1846 again took up his residence in Nashville.
Nathaniel Cross. Elder 1844-1858. Elder 1862-1866.
In the spring of 1848, W. B. A. Ramsey was by the congregation elected to the office of ruling elder, and upon the day of his election was duly ordained and installed.
SECOND FIRE.
An uneventful summer had rapidly passed by and the church work for the fall and winter was taking definite form in the minds of the more active church leaders, when, on Thursday, September 14, 1848, the universally admired church edifice, with all its contents, was burned to the ground. The "Society House," be fore referred to, and which had escaped R. O. Curry, M.D. Elder 1846-1847. Elder 1850-1854. the fire of 1832, was destroyed by this second fire. Thus the congregtaion of the Nashville Presbyterian Church was for the second time made homeless, and, as before, the fire was due essentially to the same cause, inexcusable careless- ness-in the first instance, that of the sexton; in the last,
'No picture of him obtainable.
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that of workmen engaged in repairing the building. Without delay the Bench of Elders called a congrega- tional meeting for Saturday, the 16th, two days after the fire occurred. This meeting was held, according to ap- pointment, in the First Baptist Church, then on Summer Street, near Deaderick Street, and which had been kindly tendered to the congregation for its uses, to consider ways and means for erecting another church edifice. Ruling Elder William Williams was made Chairman and Ruling Elder . Nathaniel Cross was elected Secretary. In a series of resolutions offered and adopted at the meeting, we find "No. 4" to be as follows: "Resolved, That immediately measures be taken to secure the rebuilding of the church edifice at the earliest practicable period." A committee to solicit subscriptions-which was also to act as building committee -- was appointed, consisting of Ruling Elders A. W. Put- nam and John M. Hill, Deacon William Eakin and the following leading men of the congregation: Alexander Allison (then Mayor), John M. Bass, Samuel D. Morgan, William Nichol and O. B. Hayes. Rev. Dr. John Todd Edgar was added ex officio. The committee elected John M. Bass, Chairman, and Ruling Elder Nathaniel Cross, Secretary.
Architectural design of the building and plans in detail for construction were promptly obtained and adopted and the work of rebuilding went rapidly and smoothly forward. All the debris had been cleared away, the stone foundation for the new edifice had been rebuilt in great measure, and on April 28, 1849, seven months from the date of the fire, and in the presence of a large assemblage of the best people of the church and the city, the corner stone was laid with a not very elaborate but exceedingly impressive ceremony. The officers of the church had carried upon the main build- ing a fire insurance policy for $8,000.1 This was promptly
1Nashville Whig, September 14, 1848.
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collected, and subscriptions for the remainder required to carry out the architectural plans as adopted were liberally made, and in due time paid.
Concurrent with the events above recited the steamer "Caroline Watkins," from New Orleans, arrived at the city wharf, and in coming up the river there had developed on board some eight or ten cases of cholera. Through "Black Bottom" the disease soon got a foothold upon the town, and Nashville again had an epidemic of Asiatic cholera to deal with. Most of those who were able left the city. Thus panic and general demoralization along all branches of human effort for the time being prevailed in the town. Work upon the church building was suspended. Through the succeeding eight or ten weeks Nashville lost from fifty to seventy-five of her people from cholera, the disease being virtually restricted to the lowest and most indigent class of the community.
This second visitation was much milder than that of sixteen years before, and the disturbance to the trade and traffic of the city was not so prolonged nor damaging in the aggregate as in the first instance.
Work was resumed upon the church building as soon as it was possible to secure workmen, and among the first days of the new year, 1850, the edifice was sufficiently near completion to warrant the congregation in moving from the Masonic Hall, where they had held their religious services, into the lecture room of the new church.
In the spring of the following year, 1851, the entire edifice was completed and furnished at an outlay of forty- eight thousand dollars. As yet the organ had not been negotiated for. Congregational singing was again resumed and continued for the succeeding ten years. Mr. G. Addi- ton is referred to in the record as being "the church chorister" who led the singing. After a time a correspond- ence was begun by Mr. Charles F. Thurston, a member of the music committee, with the several leading organ build-
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ers in the country, looking to obtaining for the church a suitable sized pipe organ. This resulted finally in securing a much larger instrument than it had had before and one of greatly increased musical power and expression. This organ was installed during July, 1858, at a cost of $3,000, and was located back of the pulpit, in the south end of the church, as now, and was placed under the con- trol of Prof. Henri Weber as organist. In 1912 the im- provement of the instrumental music of the church was again urged, the old organ, from fifty-six years' use, having become much worn and out of repair, besides being out of date in many of its music-producing features. A change was finally determined upon and a magnificent, up-to-date pipe organ was secured at a cost of $10,000. This organ was installed on September 1, 1913.
The church building was dedicated to God with much "pomp and circumstance" on Easter Sunday of 1851, and for sixty-three years it has been occupied as a church home of an active, aggressive, prosperous Christian people. (A minute description of this edifice having already been printed in the Bunting Church Manual of 1868, it is thought unnecessary to describe it here.)
In the Manual of 1868 it is stated that "the front (Church Street front) never having been completed, pre- sents an unfinished appearance. This was carefully com- pleted in conformity with the original design in 1880, and now the church edifice stands out before the public in a strong, distinctive, striking individuality among all the churches of the city. The suggestion has been made, and indeed urged, by some short-lived iconoclasts that this feature or that be changed, but it is quite gratifying to note the fact that, up to now, after half a century and more of use, barring the work done upon the front alluded to above, it is unaltered and unchanged in any essential feature from what it was when it came from the hands of its build-
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ers. May every succeeding centennial through the coming ages find it as now!
Since 1833 the number of the church's communicants had decidedly increased, and now they numbered three hundred and fifty-seven -an increase of 208 per cent. Nash- ville also had grown from a small town to the dimensions of a prosperous, thriv- ing city, with a population of approxi- mately twenty-five thousand, and many believed from the indications then exist- ing that in the near future it would be- come one of the important nerve centers of the country.
Wm. B. A. Ramsey. Elder 1848-1858.
FIRE AND PESTILENCE.
A congregation having to face the dire destruction of its church building by fire, as this one did, and at the same time having to contend with an epidemic of Asiatic cholera -and this, too, to be gone through with on two different occasions, with an interval of near twenty years between the two-is certainly a most interesting and striking coin- cidence, if no more.
From a religious point of view, it is believed, it demands serious and prayer- ful study, that its lessons may be fully recognized and heeded, not passed over lightly and forgotten. That the officers of the church and the members of the congregation generally recognize the un- usual significance in this special provi- dence is quite clear, as at one of the ear- John Thompson. Elder 1853-1860. liest meetings had after the second fire the following resolution was unanimously adopted: "That, rec- ognizing the hand of God in all that befalls us, and acknowl- edging as a church and as individuals we merited his Father-
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ly chastisements, it becomes us to make a wise improvement of the dispensation that has convened us together, to give more diligent heed in the future to the public and private means of grace, and thus to humble our- selves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time." The sub- sequent history of these good people gives ample evidence that a profound in- fluence for good was the looked-for effect of this second visitation of fire and pes- tilence. The horizon of the congregation was broadened and otherwise enlarged and a more active and enlighteend zeal Wm. O'N. Perkins. Elder 1858-1864. was aroused for the Master's work.
In due course of time several missions were considered and planned for different localities of the city and other laudable work for those on the outside of the congregation was carefully thought out, and, where found feasible, was carried out. The women of the church organized several new societies, with the object and purpose of helping the poor and needy; and, in addition, in a number of instances, they detailed one or more of their number as representatives to other church and union organizations in the city that through a united effort the greatest good could be brought to the greatest number. Like the phoenix, the sacred bird of old which came periodically out of ancient Arabia to Heliopolis, and William S. Eakin. Deacon 1858-1860. Elder 1860-1872. there burned itself upon the altar, the congregation speedily rose from its ashes, even younger and more beautiful than before, more consecrated, more active and more potential in all church activities than at any time in its previous history.
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The Bench of Elders determined to recommend to the congregation the enlarging of the diaconate of the church by the addition of at least five. This recommendation re- ceived the concurrence of the congrega- tion, the following being elected deacons in 1850: Daniel F. Carter, G. M. D. Cantrell, James Gould, William K. Hunt- er and Robert Lusk, Sr. In 1852, James Anderson,1 who had been a ruling elder in the Hermitage Church, removed to the city, was recognized by the congregation as a ruling elder, and at once entered Rev. Wm. Bryce Thompson. Deacon 1860-1865. Elder 1867-1876. upon the duties of the office. In the fol- lowing year, 1853, John Thompson, of Ellicott's Mills, Md., came to Nashville to live, and, having been a ruling elder in the church at that place, he, too, was recognized by the congregation
and took his place upon the Bench of Elders. In the fall of the same year he was elected by the session Su- perintendent of the Sunday school, and continued as such for the succeeding seven years, until the spring of 1860, when he returned to Maryland. In 1854 William Stewart was elected to the diaconate. William O'Neil Perkins had been an elder in the Presby- terian Church at Franklin, Tenn., and now, having removed to Nashville, was recognized as an elder and became active as such in 1858. At the same time Wil- liam S. Eakin was made a deacon. Two William B. Shapard. Elder 1867-1870. years later, in 1860, the following were elected elders: Dr. Paul F. Eve, Sr., Donald Cameron,1
'No picture of him obtainable.
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BRADFORD NICHOL,
Deacon 1867-1914. Elder 1914. Leader in the Work Resulting in the Cottage Church.
Daniel F. Carter and William S. Eakin, the last two being raised from the Board of Deacons.
N. Davidson Cross was made a deacon in 1861. In 1862, Prof. Nathaniel Cross, W. Bryce Thompson and H. Hill McAlister were elected deacons. Andrew J. Smith was made a deacon in 1865. In 1867, W. B. Shapard, A. G. Adams and J. M. Hamil- ton, who had been ruling elders in the Second Presbyterian Church, but had withdrawn from that church and had been readmitted to membership in this church, were by the congregation recognized as C. A. R. Thompson. Deacon 1867-1870. Elder 1870-1873. elders and at once entered upon their duties as such. At the same time Dr. Joseph Jones,1 C. N. Ordway,1 H. Hill McAlister, W. Bryce Thompson and E. B. Mcclanahan1 were elected elders, and the following were made deacons: C. A. R. Thompson, William Henry Smith, R. G. Throne, Bradford Nichol, Sr., Joseph B. O'Bryan and J. Douglas Cross. In 1868 death removed from the Bench of Elders one of its oldest and most efficient members, Col. Robert H. Mc- Ewen, who for nearly forty years had actively served the church as ruling elder, having been elected in 1829, in the second election held by the congregation after its organization, in 1814. He was a na- tive Tennessean, having been born in John C. Gordon. Elder 1873-1898. Jonesboro in 1790, and he came to Nash- ville from Fayetteville in 1828. He was a pronounced Presbyterian, and his distinguishing character- istic was promptness and punctuality in the observance of all the ordinances of the house of God. Though a man of
1No picture of him obtainable.
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decided convictions, he was never intolerant. Possessing great energy and force of character, he was public-spirited and a wise and prudent counselor. He was a business man, attorney, soldier. In the Creek War he volunteered, at 22 years of age, under Gen. Andrew Jackson, and was in com- mand of a regiment in the battles of Horseshoe Bend and Talladega. He was the Stated Clerk of the session for thirty- five years. After a lingering illness, he died on January 12, 1868, at the ripe old age of 78.
J. M. Safford, Ph.D. Elder 1875-1901.
In 1870 four elders and five deacons were elected as follows: William Henry Smith,1 Charles A. R. Thompson and Joseph B. O'Bryan were elevated from the diaconate to the Bench of Elders; Dr. Paul F. Eve, Sr., who had removed from the city the year before, but had now returned, was reinstated in the eldership; William C. Collier, William D. Kline. George G. O'Bryan, Edgar Jones and Frank Porterfield were added to the Board of Deacons. In 1873, Dr. John R. Buist1 was elected elder, as were also A. W. Perine,1 who removed from the city within the next year ; Robert S. Cowan, who is still acting, having been one of the three trus- tees of the John M. Hill Fund since 1895, and continuously Stated Clerk of the ses- sion since 1876; John C. Gordon, who left the city in 1898, and Robert G. Throne and J. Douglas Cross, who were elevated Baxter Smith. Elder 1881-1890. from the diaconate. The following were made deacons: John Hill Eakin, John Thompson Plunket, Wilbur F. Foster, Henry Sperry, Byrd Douglas, Thomas H. Maney and A. Hume Lusk. In 1875,
1No picture of him obtainable.
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James M. Safford, Ph.D., James M. Sinclair1 and Henry C. Shapard were made ruling elders. In 1876, J. McGavock Dickinson, James H. Wilks, H. Bruce Cochran and L. T. Webb were made deacons. In 1881, Bax- ter Smith was added to the Bench of Elders, and Joseph H. Thompson was elected deacon. Five were elected dea- cons in 1886: Dr. Paul F. Eve, Jr., A. Gillespie Adams, Jr., Harry A. Myers, Robert Rodes and William M. Magill. In 1892, W. H. Raymond, Sr., and W. O. Eastin were elected ruling elders; C. B. J. Douglas Cross. Deacon 1867-1873. Elder 1873-1876. Glenn, who had been an elder in the First Cumberland Church of this city, was rec- ognized as elder by the congregation, and Dr. Paul F. Eve, Jr., was raised from the diaconate to the office of elder. In 1896, John D. Blanton, LL.D., and W. Gales Adams were elected ruling elders ; Joseph H. Thompson, A. G. Adams and Wilbur F. Foster were ele- vated from the diaconate to the Bench of Elders, and Clarence B. Wallace, Frank N. Boensch, Sr., Wyatt T. Abernathy (who died August 27, 1914), and E. P. Bronson were made deacons.
SPIRIT-TWINS.
For the Bench of Elders to lose within a period of twenty-eight days two of its most zealous and active members, Adam Gillespie Adams and James Mc- Henry C. Shapard. Elder 1875-1877. Clung Hamilton, was a decided shock to the members of the church. That providence had had the planning of these two lives, and in a special sense, is mani- festly true. Both of them were of Scotch ancestry. The
'No picture of him obtainable.
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one came here from County Tyrone, Ireland ; the other from Logan County, Kentucky. At the age of 15 the one joined the Burney Presbyterian Church, a little coun- tryside chapel near Strabane, where he was born on July 12, 1820; at the age of 12 the other joined the Pres- byterian Church at Russellville, at which village he was born on September 5, 1821. Together they joined the First Presbyterian Church here on October 24, 1840; as yoke-fel- lows they organized the Sunday school, which later, in 1842. evolved into the Second Presbyterian Church of Nashville; together they were made ruling elders in that church and for twenty-five years they together largely shaped its work; together, for cause, they returned to the mother church on May 5, 1867, as before stated, and together they were recog- nized as elders by the congregation, and together they at once took places upon the Bench of Elders.
The one was elected by the session Superintendent of the Sunday school, which position he was annually reelected to and which he held continuously for twenty-nine years, up to his death; while the other became an efficient teacher in the same Sunday school, continuing in that capacity to the end of his days. The one died, at the age of 75, on March 31, 1895; the other, at the age of 74, on April 27, 1895 Even in death they scarcely were separated, for, while the one suddenly passed to his reward on the last day of the month, the other lingered a few days into the succeeding month, and then-who will doubt it ?- together they passed through the pearly gate, and today together, as spirit-twins, they are walking the golden streets of the Celestial City, conscious of having each given gladly fifty-five years of loyal, active service to the Master while upon earth. As exhaustive biographies of these two eminently religious and unusual men are now in print, it is thought that this resume will be sufficient here.
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