USA > Virginia > City of Staunton > City of Staunton > The First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia > Part 24
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and successful labors of our zealous women who here, as always, are conspicuous in faithful work. The Ladies' Aid Society has done a fine work in all the past, but during the past three years, in connection with the building of the new Church, has quite surpassed itself, having contributed nearly $2,500 towards fitting and furnishing of the Church. The "Church Workers," the Junior Organization, during the same time undertook and has about paid for the new organ in the Church. The Maria Pratt Missionary Society, the Westminster League of C. E., and the Junior League, are all doing excellent work and the last named society, the "Juniors," is supporting a girl in the Synod's Orphanage, at Lynchburg, Virginia. With gratitude to God for His great favor and blessing, and with the most cordial affection for the old mother Church as she now completes a century of useful labors in the Master's service, we lay this small contribution on the altar, and pray for grace to attempt to achieve yet larger things for Him to whom all praise is due.
SKETCH OF OLIVET CHURCH, BY REV. E. B. DRUEN.
In the spring of 1872, some children from the East End of Staun- ton, near the National Cemetery, strayed into the First Presbyterian Church. Their coming led eventually to the starting, by some of the ladies of that Church, of a mission Sunday School in the house of Mrs. Burford, some two miles below the city. Mr. T. B. Coleman, an elder of the First Church, held meetings for prayer and instruction in the Word of God. Mrs. D. A. Kayser was prime mover in this work, and with the aid of teachers from the Church, a regular Sunday School was soon organized.
These faithful workers labored, under trials and discouragements, until March, 1875, at which time arrangements were made between Mrs. Kayser and others interested, and the trustees of Bolivar School District, for the building of a school house, it being agreed between them that the friends of the mission should contribute $150.00 towards the cost of the building, and that, in consideration of this contribution, they should be allowed to use the building on Sundays for Sabbath School and religious services.
Sunday School was first held in this building in April, 1875. It was called Bolivar Sunday School, and continued to be known by that name until June, 1881. Religious services were held regularly by Rev. Wm. E. Baker and Rev. J. E. Booker. From the first, the attendance was both large and regular. The records show that from August 18 to December 18, 1878, the average attendance was eight teachers and fifty-eight scholars.
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In 1880 the sum of $350.00 was contributed by members of the First Presbyterian Church, by persons in the neighborhood and others, and this sum, together with $100.00 returned by the trustees of Bolivar School District, was used in building the present Church. The land for the site was donated by Messrs. John and David Doom. The organ and the bell were given by Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Kayser. Ser- vices were held in the Church for the first time on June 5, 1881, and the name "Olivet Chapel," selected by Mrs. Kayser, was given to it.
Rev. J. E. Booker ministered to this congregation, during the winter, until 1896, the work being done during the summer months by theological students. Through the blessing of God, upon the faithful Sunday School teaching, and the preaching of the Word, some seventy-five persons were led to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, most of them uniting with the First Church, in Staunton.
In 1897, " Olivet Chapel" was organized as a Church, under the name of "Olivet Church," with three ruling elders and six deacons. The first pastor was Rev. R. C. Gilmore, who preached his first ser- mon on February, 6, 1898. He continued in the pastorate until August, 1902. During his ministry the Church grew and prospered encouragingly.
From August, 1902, when Rev. R. C. Gilmore resigned as pastor, until May, 1904, the Church had no pastor, though repeated and earnest efforts were made to secure one. But during this period of nearly two years the Church had a supply for most of the time, first in the Rev. W. L. Bailey and then in the Rev. W. A. Black, of the United Brethren Church, who ministered very acceptably to this Church.
In May, 1904, the Rev. E. B. Druen, was installed as the second pastor of this Church. The membership numbers sixty-five and the proportion of earnest, faithful church workers is unusually large. The Sunday School now numbers 150, with four officers and twelve teachers, with an average attendance of 100.
Only last night we closed a very pleasant and successful meeting in this Church conducted by Rev. J. Spencer Smith. God owned and blessed the preaching of His word and as a result seventeen have ex- pressed their intention to unite with this church on next Sabbath.
The First Presbyterian Church feels the deepest interest in the work of this, its daughter Church, and contributes liberally to its support.
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During the Centennial Celebration of the First Pres- byterian Church of Staunton, a meeting was held in the Chapel of Mary Baldwin Seminary, Thursday Evening, October 27, 1904, and the following program was rendered:
AN EVENING IN THE OLD CHURCH
1 Ballade A Flat . Chopin
Miss Topping
2 Abide With Me Liddle
Miss Parsons
3 Centennial Hymn Whittier
L'Envoi . Kipling
Miss Frost
4 Heard Ye His Voice Rubinstein
Miss Elsie Hamilton
5 Rhapsodie G Minor Brahms
Nocturn B Major Chopin
Meditation . Tschaikowsky
Miss Topping
6 Rest in the Lord Mendelssohn (Elijah)
Miss Parsons
7 God of the Open Air Van Dyke
Miss Frost
8 Hungarian Fantasie . Liszt
Misses Topping and Rosa Munger
After the program was concluded Hon. Joseph A. Wad- dell was called upon to make an address. The following is about what he said or what he should have said:
I think I am a very accommodating man to rise before this audience to speak without any preparation. Dr. Fraser wants me to say something. I wish I knew what he wants me to say, I would gladly say it. Of course he wants something about old times. It seems to me that I am considered the Methuselah of this community, and when- ever any information is desired about old times, I am called upon, but there is a lady in this assembly, who has a good memory and could tell much more than I can, if she would only mount the platform and speak out. Having no speech prepared, I must think of something to say as I go along and perhaps I shall ramble a good deal.
The first thing that struck my attention when I came into this hall to-night, was that the hall was much narrower than the old Church. Yet I know that the hall was built on the foundation of the
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Church, and must be the exact width of the Church. So we find gen- erally as we grow older, distances appear shorter, hills lower and houses smaller.
My memory goes back to the last year or two of the pastorate of the Rev. Joseph Smith. I will not say how long ago that is-it would make me appear very old. Strange to say I do not remember Mr. Smith as he appeared in the pulpit, from which I infer that he was not a tedious preacher, and had nothing odd or eccentric in his ap- pearance or manners. Another preacher of that time I remember most distinctly. He was the Rev. Mr. Thatcher, principal of a school for girls, or "young ladies " perhaps I should say, and he frequently took Mr. Smith's place in the pulpit at night service. He was a tall, gaunt man, and his sermons were very long and tedious. One Sunday night, I was in the family pew as usual, and while Mr. Thatcher was preaching, I went to sleep. When I woke up he was preaching still. I went to sleep again-even the snuffing of the candles by the sexton every twenty or thirty minutes, which I always enjoyed, could not keep me awake-and when I awoke Mr. Thatcher was still preaching. So it went on until my patience was exhausted. Then I stretched my arms and cried aloud to my mother: "Let's go home, Mr. Thatcher is going to preach all night !"
Speaking of sextons, the official at that time was a free black man called Bob Campbell. He was the town barber as well as sexton, and also dealt in horses, making frequent trips to Richmond to sell his stock. He was very pompous, and I stood in much awe of him. His knowledge of figures was somewhat defective, however. On one occasion, after his returning from a trip, being asked how many horses he took to market, replied: "Between eleven and ten." The sexton was often too important a person about the church in old times to be omitted.
I was made to go to church night and day, awake or asleep. Be- ing too young to attend to the preaching, my eyes, when awake, roamed around the house in search of entertainment, and I remember every person who attended church at that time, and would recognize them if they rose from the dead and appeared before me. I partic- ularly remember Katy and Harriet Woolwine, mother and daughter, who sat in the eastern "amen corner" in full view of me. A good old lady sat in a pew immediately before me. She sang very loud, and she sang through her nose. There were no Italian trills or high art or melody in her singing, but she sang with the spirit and understand- ing. Dear old lady! I wish I could hear her now. She seemed to enjoy it so. Her heart was in it.
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You must allow me to wander around as I remember things, or I shall have to quit speaking. That word "wander" reminds me of two old negro men with whom I was personally acquainted in my early boyhood. They did not patronize the Church much, being preachers themselves. One of them was named Louey and the other Abram. There was some rivalry between them, and Uncle Louey was accus- tomed to say, "Brother Abram is a very good preacher, but he can't take a text and wander from it as I can."
As I am wandering like "Uncle Louey," I will state another anec- dote, suggested by the fact that I was compelled by my parents to go to Church as soon as I could walk there. I am inclined to think that way. Christian parents make a mistake just there. They seem to think that if they take their children to Church against their will it will give them a distaste to the Church and religion. That was not my experience. A father makes his boy go to school whether he wishes to go or not, and if he allows the boy to stay away from Church, he is apt to think that the Church and religion, itself, are of little or no importance. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the celebrated English poet and philosopher, related an anecdote about himself which illustrates the benefit of wholesome discipline in connection with religion. When he was a school boy, there was a Bible lesson all the pupils were re- quired to attend. On one occasion he stayed away, and when he was called up about the matter, he boldly planted himself on his right to "religious liberty." He said he did not believe the Bible-he was an infidel. If the teacher had undertaken to correct him, it would only have confirmed him in his self-conceit; but he was too wise a man to do that. He gave him the worst whipping he ever had in his life, and from that time he never had a doubt about the truth of the Bible.
Years passed away. Another Smith was at the forge-in other words, the Rev. B. M. Smith was pastor of this Church. And now I have come to the only suggestion Dr. Fraser made to me. He said he wanted me to tell about Miss Baldwin as a Sunday School teacher. But first I must allude to the sexton of this period. His name was Martin Weigand, a native of Bavaria, Germany. He had gone to Greece with King Oscar, when the latter became King of that country, and finally found his way to Staunton, when he could speak scarcely a word of English. He obtained employment, and soon proved himself a thrifty and well-behaved man. He became sexton of the Church, having previously married Harriet Woolwine, whom I have mentioned.
For a time he prospered, but his wife died, and he afterwards be- came distrusted. He abandoned the property he had acquired and wan- dered off -- as I am doing-and nobody, hereabouts, knows what became of him.
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But to return-I had become a young man, and Miss Baldwin a young woman. I had known her all her life after a way-seeing her at preaching and Sunday School, and meeting her now and then in the streets. Until I got married, she seemed to have no use for me whatever, and once declined some attention I offered her. That settled me once for all. She was not a "society woman" and I never attempted to play the beau with her again. She was a highly cultured woman.
Having been a Sunday School scholar all my boyhood days, I thought I ought to try my hand now as teacher. I had a class of small boys in the eastern gallery of the old Church. Did any of you ever have such a class? If so, you know what I suffered. The boys were not bad nor rude, but inattentive, and I failed utterly to interest them. One of them I induced to commit the Shorter Catechism, and he rattled it off very glibly. Alas! as far as I know, it did him no good. Another is now called Colonel, not that he ever commanded a regiment, but he is so big, that he is entitled to high military rank. I was in a state of chronic discouragement. After getting through with the lesson, I could only sit there, trying to keep the boys quiet and waiting for the school to close.
Here I must tell about the music we had at Sunday School at that time. One day, the Rev. Mr. Bailey, founder of this Seminary, conducted the public exercises of the school. He gave out a hymn, but the usual leader was absent, and it was intimated to me that I must start the tune. I declined, but the request was repeated. Hymn books were scarce, and Mr. Bailey began to "parcel out the lines." He read the first two lines, and I determined to try my skill as precentor. I started, and other teachers striking in prompty, we got through the two lines successfully. Mr. Bailey read two more lines, but by that time I had forgotten the tune-it was impossible for me to remember words and tune both. There was a dead silence, and we had no more singing that day. A friend of mine made a similar attempt once, and failed as I did. His sister rebuked him when he returned home, saying "You knew you couldn't do it." He replied, "No, I didn't know it. I had never tried, but I know it now."
I am wandering again, and must come back to the Sunday School. While I was waiting for the school to close, I could not help observing a class in the western gallery. The class, composed of girls, was full to overflowing, and the teacher was Miss Baldwin. Teacher and' scholars were busy every minute-all were alive to what was going on in the class. Some of the scholars had been attending there from
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childhood to womanhood. I could not hear a word that was spoken, and could only gaze and wonder, and perhaps envy the skill evidently displayed by the teacher.
Other years passed. Being now a married man, and no longer a beau, Miss Baldwin began to recognize me as an old acquaintance. She had some little business matters she got me to attend to. She was living with her maternal grandmother, and paid no board, but did not have means for entire self-support. She told me if she survived her grandmother, she would endeavor to obtain a school of girls; that she desired, above all other things, to teach young girls. She had taught, with some assistance, a charity school for several years, there being no public free schools here at the time; and after her grand- mother's death, she opened a regular school in the town.
By that time the second year of the late war had arrived, and it was evident to me that the gentleman who was then principal of the Seminary, then known as Augusta Female Seminary, would soon resign. I suggested to Miss Baldwin that she and Miss Agnes McClung should take charge of the Seminary as joint principals. They both ridiculed the idea. Miss Baldwin said she did not have the scholarship fitting her for the position. I replied that she could get other teachers as she required them. I persisted, telling her what I had observed of her skill in teaching and managing a Sunday School, and insisted that she had a peculiar talent for the position. She and Miss McClung became accustomed to the suggestion, and finally, when the resignation referred to took place, they submitted to their fate and were ushered in. That's the way the famous Mary Baldwin Seminary began, the name of the institution having been changed by Act of the State Legislature.
And now, young ladies of the Seminary, if any of you are ambi- tious to be principal of such an institution, I exhort you to give your- selves to teaching a class, it may be in the gallery of an old church, and it may be you will attain to the same distinction.
But seriously, young ladies, I commend to you the example of the two ladies of whom I have just spoken. The mind of the one was highly cultivated ; the other did not pretend to scholarship, but she possessed a natural good sense which made her judgment almost unerring, and a kindliness of heart that won the love of all who knew her. The former, accomplished as she was, leaned upon the latter, and after her death declared that she had never failed to follow her advice without regretting it -that her death was the greatest affliction she had ever experiened. She was eminent for goodness, coupled with good sense. The homesick girls nestled around her as if she had been their mother. While tenderly caring for them, she sternly in-
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sisted upon perfect rectitude of conduct, never tolerating the least tendency to deception. Of both ladies, it may be said they "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." I never heard either of them complain of want or personal discomfort. Neither was wealthy, and one was poor at the beginning of their career, but they sought not riches. Each sought to promote the welfare of others. Thus they led useful and happy lives. If you wish to be useful and happy, seek, by Divine help the same characteristics, and do likewise.
SERMON PREACHED BY REV. J. W. ROSEBRO, D. D.
Romans XII: 1. I count it a great privilege to take part in this Centennial Celebration. One who has ever lived in "The Valley" is always glad to return and meet the noble people of this favored region. I am glad to be a part of what your honored elder in his address of welcome has so happily called, "the family gathering"; especially now that you know that your loved pastor is to remain with you.
These Centennial Celebrations are not merely to gratify our sentiments, though that is well. They make us look back over all the way the Lord our God has led us these hundred years and count their many mercies. They bring back the remembrance of what our fathers and mothers did for Christ and the Church. Our hearts were tender as your venerable historian whom you all hold in such affec- tionate honor, brought before us the vivid picture of the congregation which worshipped in the old Church in the days of his youth. They make us love the Church and "prize her heavenly ways"; they make us sing with deeper tone-"Our God, our help in ages past"; "Thus far the Lord has led me on," and as we think on these mercies be led to a truer, more loving service.
It is this service I wish to press on our hearts to-day, and to raise the question whether it is a
"REASONABLE SERVICE." The service demanded of us is not a light one. We must accept God as our Sovereign who has the right to rule our whole life. We must accept Jesus as our Master who has the right to say to us "go," and we must go where he bids; "come" and we must obey. We must love Him more than husband or wife or child; more than houses or lands. He demands that whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we must do all in His glory. He tells us we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him; that we must bear suffering or pain or loss without murmuring; yea even to die if need be at His will.
Is it reasonable that we should render such a service?
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In answer to this question, see, First: Who claims this of us? It is our God. The corner stone on which rests our obligation to serve is to be found in the being and character of God.
One of the primal facts of man's nature is that he must have some god. This is proved by the testimony of all peoples in all ages. The most enlightened nations as well as those sunk in the most degraded ignorance and sin worship some god. It is true their gods were "like to corruptible man and birds and beasts and creeping things." It is true that their worship often led to cruelty, uncleanness and lusts. Still it shows that man feels the need of a god. Man is a dependent creature. He was not made to stand alone like the oak. He is like the vine. The vine must cling to and depend on something. Its tendrils are its hands with which it clasps and clings. If it has no support it will fall prone, but it will still cling to something; to a broken stick, to a clod, or even to itself. Give it a support and it will climb as high as its support and bring forth fruit. God made it so.
So is man. He must have some god to cling to. Our God is high and lifted up; glorious in His being and character; infinitely above man's highest conception are His majesty and glory; "infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being and wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." He is our Creator, Preserver, constant and kind Benefactor, who is blessed forever. He is worthy to receive the worship, praise and love of all His creatures.
Not only is He thus lifted up infinitely above us, but He has stooped in compassion to be our Father, that He might make us His dear children. Yea, He stooped to clothe Himself in human form and nature that He might come still nearer to us. Thus in His human nature Jesus is by our side, so near that our faith can cling to Him; yet is He God over all so that clinging to Him and striving to be like Him, we climb higher and higher, till we shall be "like Him." Is it not reasonable that we should serve a God so infinitely worthy of the deepest love and worship and who has so graciously provided for the utmost need of our soul?
SECOND: The second proof of the reasonableness of this service is found in the "mercies of God." We take as the example of these mercies the justification of the ungodly. Here again we face one of the primal needs of man's soul. The oldest book of the world gives us this cry of the heart, "How shall man be just with God?" The ages give no answer that satisfies. Men have said, I will offer thousands of sacrifices on the altar of my god. But thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of oil have not brought peace. Men have said I will afflict my body with fastings and scourgings; I will shut myself from the comforts and joys of home and love that I may give days
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and nights to prayer and afflicting my soul; but still the answer of peace came not. They have even said I will give "the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul." Mothers brought their little babes and laid this costliest of sacrifices in the red hot hands of Moloch to be con- sumed for their sin. The cry for pardon and peace was not answered, there was added to that cry, the dying wail of the babe to linger in the mother's heart as a torturing memory! The "multitudinous seas" could not wash the stain of blood from the soul of Macbeth; nor could the little hand of his guilty wife e'er be clean or her sorely charged heart ever cease to cry out its agony of anguish, "Oh! Oh! Oh!"
God answers this great cry of the world by saying, "I even I am He who blotteth out thy transgressions," though your sins "be red like crimson" "they shall be as white as snow." How does He accomplish this? Recall Paul's masterly argument to which our text is the con- clusion. Black is the picture he gives of man's sin; Jew and Gentile are alike under condemnation, yet, by the mercy of God all may be justified by faith and thus have peace with God. Thus, by faith in Christ who died for us, each may have, his heart cry answered. Countless thousands have come like burdened Christian in Pilgrim's Progress and stood beneath the cross, as they looked with penitence and faith on Him who was bearing their sins and dying for their guilt, somehow the burden rolled away and they found rest unto their souls.
Never was answer found to this question of the ages, "How shall man be just with God?" till the gospel of God's love and grace pro- claimed that Jesus should save His people from their sins. The ocean can not wash the blood stain from guilty Macbeth, but
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