USA > Virginia > Henrico County > Henrico County > The first century of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia. 1780-1880 > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 165
Building Committee for the erection of this Church and of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Seminary.
On the Lord's Day just preceding his death, in April 1861, a collection was expected to be taken in the Church for the Foreign Mission Board. The disturbance in public affairs pre- vented it. That afternoon the Treasurer of the Board, visiting him, received from him a twenty-dollar bill, which he had intended to give at the collection. No man was ever more hospitable. In his pleasant home, many of the most esteemed and eminent members and min- isters of the denomination were courteously entertained. Mr. Thomas was not demonstra- tive. To be appreciated, he had to be known. But when known, he was found to be genial, true, and loving in every relation of life. He attracted by no art of manner, but grew upon his friends, and bound them to him with more than " triple bands of steel." To duty he in- flexibly adhered, and as a church member was a strict disciplinarian. Not that he loved his fellows less, but the purity of Christ's Church more. Though his health was feeble for some months, his death was sudden and unexpected. On the night of the Ist of May, 1861, he
15
166 CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
retired to rest, with no alarming symptoms. The quick ear of his wife caught sounds of labored breathing. The deadly dart defied all remedies, and in a few moments he passed away. For nearly a score of years, the happi- ness of heaven has been his. But a few weeks since, his glorified spirit doubtless derived fresh infusion of joy, by the blissful entrance into rest of the noble wife of his youth and manhood.
James C. Crane was born on the 7th of Sep- tember, 1803, in Newark, New Jersey. Early left fatherless, he was carefully trained by a pious mother and elder sister. The latter taught him such apothegms as the following, on which seemed modeled his character: "Learn to be independent." " Never lean on any- body." "Command the respect of others by de- serving it." " Disdain all subterfuges." "Ad- here conscientiously to truth and right." "Above all, make the Bible your constant study and guide." At the age of sixteen Mr. Crane came to Richmond, entering his elder brother's store as a clerk. He joined the Second Baptist Church, then in charge of Rev. James B. Tay- lor. At the age of nineteen he thus writes to a brother in New Jersey: "The Second Church
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 167
have been building a new meeting-house. We had to pay our money pretty smartly. But what we have is not our own, and we ought to recollect that we are but stewards, and will have to give an account of our stewardship at the last day." What golden words for a youth of nineteen ! How becoming would they be for the youths of to-day! In 1839, business inter- ests took him to Baltimore, where he remained about two years. He then returned to Rich- mond and united with this Church. He was elected Deacon about the year 1842. In busi- ness, as in everything, he was a man of won- drous energy, accuracy, and decision. Dr. Jeter said of him: "His word was accounted his bond, and his bond as the bill of a specie paying bank." His type of manhood was positive, direct. Gentle reproofs of the profane, kindly invitations to young men to enter the Church and Sunday-school, and generous gifts to every good cause, were some of his methods of doing good. As a hearer of the word, he was never listless. He sought " first the king- dom of God," and allowed no secular affairs to detain him from public worship, the prayer- meeting, or the Board Conference. He pos- sessed striking versatility of talent. One seeing
I 68
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
him leading the singing, would say, "he ought to teach music." Superintending the Sunday- school, he was deemed just the man for a Sun- day-school Missionary. Participating in Board deliberations, he seemed admirably adapted to a controlling secretaryship. Expounding the word, and leading the devotional meeting, many declared the gospel ministry his manifest voca- tion. The problem of his devotement to this high calling, he long and anxiously pondered. That his decision was conscientious, none can doubt. The key-note of his life is touched in a letter to his sister: " Oh that my heart and thoughts might be chained to the glory of God ! Shall I, at the last day, behold one on the left hand, whom I might have warned, or been the instrument of saving ?" Oh that such solemn inquiries might be made by all of us ! He was a fast and efficient friend of Foreign Missions. Abundant evidences from his own pen, and from others, might be adduced in proof of his great usefulness and consecration as Deacon and Sunday-school Superintendent. It is no disparagement of others to say, that no man, within any equal period of his connection with this Church, ever exerted an influence so wide, deep, and beneficent. But now that brave and
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 169
buoyant heart is to bow; that agile form is to fail; those large lustrous eyes are to weep. His gifted sons are removed to the Cemetery ; disease smites his own frame. Consumption, that fearful scourge, which bore away his noble boys, stands at his own door. Hear him under these trials : " We can glorify our Lord more by a quiet submissive spirit under suffering than in any other way. 'For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, are, not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.' "
The Red Sulphur Springs, and the milder airs of the southern seaside were sought in vain. At the comparatively early age of fifty- three he came home, and calmly composed him- self to die. A few hours before his death, a friend said to him: "Brother Crane, in looking over your past life, do you see anything in its general course that you would change if you could?" Remaining silent for a few moments, and then raising his head, he replied: "As to its main current, no !" A noble confession in the honest hour of death. Breathing a blessing upon his faithful wife and only child-a lad of twelve years-and whispering after paroxysms of pain, "Kind friends; kind Redeemer, I can
15*
170 CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
trust him; Come, Lord Jesus," he gently passed to the better land, in March, 1856. Never have I seen, on any similar occasion, a larger or more sorrowful assembly than the one gathered within these walls, on that early spring evening, to do honor to the memory of this noble man. Business circles sent their repre- sentatives, and ministers of all persuasions were here to mingle their tears with those of his family and brethren. His pastor, Dr. Burrows, from whose excellent memoir of him much of this sketch is compiled, preached a touching discourse from the fitting words: "Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty," I Samuel 20: 18. Aye, he was missed. "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them."
Rev. Dr. M. D. Hoge, of the Presbyterian Church, an inmate with him of the same house, said: "Seldom have I witnessed such a life, and such a death-bed scene." Yes, dear brother, thou art missed * * but thou art not missed from the ransomed in heaven. Thou holdest a place there which never can be empty.
The late Rev. Dr. George Woodbridge, of the Episcopal Church, said: "Yesterday, when I
I7I
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
heard of his death, I felt much as a soldier feels on the field of battle, who turns to find a be- loved comrade fallen."
Our own lamented and revered Rev. Rich- ard Fuller, D. D., closed a letter of just eulogy of him, with the words: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." Literally, was the petition granted. Both now "walk in white, for they were worthy."
Than Reins, Sizer, Thomas, and Crane, four men can scarcely be found who combined in their characters traits more dissimilar and diver- gent. Reins was more rapid and resolute in will than either of his three compeers. Than either, he was better fitted to be the leader of a forlorn hope, or to brave the perils of an exi- gency. For patient tenderness, prudent pro- cedure, and kind conciliation, Sizer excelled them all. In clear judgment, deep penetration, and inflexible firmness, Thomas surpassed Reins and Sizer, and was the equal of Crane. In Crane was happily embraced, in almost exact equipoise, the rushing energy of Reins, the calm composure of Sizer, and the stern stability of Thomas. The aim and effort of each was the advancement of Christ's Kingdom and the hon-
I72
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
ored growth of the Church of which they were members. Thus does God graciously give to his Church men with "diversities of gifts, but the same spirit."
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
BY
C. WALTHALL.
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL.
T HE time when the Sunday-school of the First Baptist Church began is not definitely known. From the best information ob- tainable, it started in or about 1817. It is said that the school commenced with four teachers and six scholars. This seems probable. The number at first, was certainly very small.
Accepting as true the statement that it com- menced with four teachers, it becomes a matter of interest to learn who they were. The writer thinks the honor of this precedence may be safely given to Mrs. Frances Greenhow, Mrs. Maria O. Marshall, Miss Virginia Ratcliffe and Miss Jane C. Charlton. Who the scholars were he cannot say. Other teachers entered the school soon after. Among these may be named : Miss Rebecca Williams, Miss Mary Nelson, Miss Sarah Ross, and Miss Sarah Hill- yard, Philip Spare, and William Dabney. Of the scholars who were in the school, at an
175
176 CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
early period, may be mentioned: Miss Martha F. Nowell, Misses Elizabeth and Susan Coghill, Miss Jane Daniel, Miss Sarah Grant. Of the four teachers first mentioned, it may be re- marked briefly: Mrs. Greenhow continued, an active member of the Church, till June, 1828, when she transferred her membership to the Second Church; Mrs. Marshall became the wife of Mr. George Roper, and united with others in the formation of the Second Church, in 1820; Miss Virginia Ratcliffe, whose life is fragrant to this day in the memory of the older members, remained single during life, was con- spicuously pious and devoted, and after a long and useful life, in the service of the Master, in connection with this Church, went to her reward in 1852; Miss Charlton, became the wife of Rev. Henry Keeling, and assisted him in the conduct of a school, which he taught for some years in Richmond. Mrs. Keeling was noted for intelligence, piety, gentility of manner, and scrupulous neatness in her person. She was a teacher in the school at a later period than either of the others. She died in 1860.
Herbert C. Thomson, in whose school-room the Sunday-school seems to have started, was the first Superintendent.
CELEBRATION OF TIIE FIRST CENTENARY. 177
In addition to superintending the school, Mr. Thomson led the music of the Church and filled the office of Church Clerk till 1820, when he, with fourteen other members, was dismissed to form the Second Church, of which he was made Clerk. He seems to have been admirably suited for the office-his chirography was uni- form and neat, and his composition was good. After some time of active service.in the Second Church, Mr. Thomson, being impressed that it was his duty to preach the gospel, was, after trial of his gifts, licensed in 1823, and in Febru- ary, 1828, he was regularly ordained. Soon thereafter, he removed from the city and, no- thing is known of his subsequent life.
Who immediately succeeded Mr. Thomson as Superintendent, is not certainly known. The Church Records from the time he left to January, 1825, being lost, no information can be gotten from that source, of what took place in the Sunday-school during the intervening four years. From those preserved, it appears that the Church took action in regard to the Sunday- school at various times down to 1829, as follows:
In May, 1827, Miss Virginia Ratcliffe and Miss Betsey Philips were appointed teachers in the Sunday-school.
16
I78
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
In June, 1827, Mr. Joseph Woodson was appointed Assistant Superintendent, in place of John G. Davis, resigned.
In the same month, Mr. James Sizer was appointed Assistant Superintendent, and three persons, Johnson, Laneve and Frost. were appointed teachers.
In September, 1827, N. H. Davis and James Thomas were appointed teachers.
In June, 1828, the Church appointed a com- mittee to act in concert with the Richmond and Manchester Sunday-School Union in the cele- bration of the day of National Independence.
In May, 1829, the Superintendent was di- rected to report to the Church the condition of the Sunday-school and suggest such improve- ments as he might think necessary for the fur- ther success of the institution.
In June following, 1829, Mr. Joseph Wood- son resigned as Superintendent. He must have at some prior time been promoted from Assistant to Principal. Mr. Sizer, heretofore mentioned as an officer of the school, was also an officer of the Church, and will be noticed as such by another.
The other two, Davis and Woodson, were among the number who went out from the
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 179
Church in 1832 to form what is now known as the Seventh Street Christian Church. To that Church, we leave the duty of finishing their record, when it comes to celebrate its half-cen- tennial, which they propose to do.
On accepting Woodson's resignation, in June, 1829, the Church adopted the following: "Resolved, That we as a Church do now with- draw all connection from the Sabbath-school so as to give place for the formation of a society to which the whole management of the school is referred."
A Committee was appointed to settle the Treasurer's account.
This seems to be an entire abandonment by the Church of the policy which had governed it from its first recognition of the school, which some have said was in 1816. But the old mother seemed to entertain some regard for her cast-off child; for she allowed, on two occa- sions thereafter, collections to be taken in the Church in aid of the school. Let us not harshly judge her, but wait to see if she does not right herself as she pursues her way.
The next known Superintendent was Mr. Archibald Thomas. When and how he was chosen does not appear. In view of the action
ISO CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
of the Church just recited, he must have been appointed by the school, and probably very soon after that action was taken. If so, he was the immediate successor of Woodson, in 1829.
During Mr. Thomas' term of service, two young men, Joseph S. Walthall and John O. Turpin, entered upon a course of study pre- paratory to the gospel ministry. On the resig- nation of Mr. Thomas, in 1832 or 1833, Richard N. Herndon and Joseph S. Walthall, then at the Seminary on the Brook Pike, jointly super- intended the school, during one session of the Seminary, and until they left for other fields of labor.
The school was now left almost entirely in the hands of those who had just before come into the Church. The choice of a Superinten- dent fell on the writer. Being unanimously called, and relying on the hearty co-operation of those around him whom he knew to be zealous and devoted, he ventured, in humble trust in God, to undertake the office. He con- tinued in that service till 1841. The school was held, where it had been for a number of years before, in the basement under the east wing of the old house of worship. Contracted
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 181
and otherwise unsuitable, this place could not well accommodate more than sixty or seventy pupils. The average attendance of scholars, during the whole time the school met in this place, ranged from fifty to sixty. Under very propitious circumstances, eighty to one hundred occasionally attended. A few months before the close of this officer's term, viz., in May, 1841, the school was transferred to the base- ment of the new house of worship. During his term also occurred several interesting events. Miss Henrietta Hall, a teacher, who became the wife of Rev. J. L. Shuck, Robert Daven- port, and Samuel C. Clopton went out from the school, as missionaries to the heathen; and Wm. M. Gaskins, J. G. Councill and A. P. Repiton gave themselves to the work of the ministry.
To one other thing that occurred during this time special attention is called. In April, 1834, the Church adopted the following:
" Resolved, that George W. Atkinson, H. J. Crawford, J. L. Apperson, Elijah Johnson, Robert H. Bosher, W. P. Mann, Geo. L. Wright, L. D. Walker and C. Walthall be appointed a committee to conduct the Sabbath-school con- nected with the Church; that they be em- powered to chose their own officers, to add to
16*
182 CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
their number, from time to time, such others as may be necessary ; and that they make a report of their proceedings and the state of the School annually to the Church."
In 1841, C. Walthall resigned the Superin- tendency, in order that the School might avail itself of the services of Mr. James C. Crane, who was at the time a teacher in the School, and whose superior qualifications were universally recognized. He was elected to the office. Under Mr. Crane's management the School had the advantage of the removal of the Church to its new house. The attendance of scholars averaged about two hundred and fifty during his term of six years.
A. H. Sands, V. A. Gaskill and P. S. Henson became preachers.
In 1847, Mr. Crane resigned, and Mr. James Thomas, Jr., was elected as his successor. Mr. Thomas' term of about nineteen years was an eventful one, embracing as it did the whole period of the late civil war. For several years after Mr. Thomas took charge, there was no very material change in the attendance. After- wards it reached a height of prosperity never before attained by this or any other School of the city. Over five hundred pupils were some-
183
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
times present. J. Hume, Jr., Geo. Wm. Keesee, Wm. H. Williams, W. S. Ryland, Lansing Bur- rows, and the Superintendent's own son, W. D. Thomas, went from the School to preach. When the war came on, or soon after, Mr. Thomas moved from the city and was seldom present during the war.
The school, like other enterprises of the day, felt the withering effects of that exciting period, and became much demoralized. It was kept up as best it could be under such circum- stances. Mr. R. H. Bosher, who was Mr. Thomas' Assistant, had charge during this time and till 1866, when he was elected the succes- sor of Mr. Thomas.
Under Mr. Bosher's superintendency the school regained its former standing and main- tained, through his tenure of office, a steady, healthy condition. During that time two young men, W. O. Thomas and H. A. Tupper, Jr., went out as candidates for the ministry.
Mr. Bosher's official relations to the school terminated, January, 1878, when Mr. Wm. Miles Turpin, the present incumbent, was elected Superintendent. As Mr. Turpin has yet to make, in part at least, his record, we only express our ardent desire that it may be
184 CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
a bright one-exceeding in good fruitage that of his predecessors. In one respect he occu- pies a peculiar position. When the next cen- tennial history of the School is written, his name will stand at the close of the one century and at the beginning of the other.
This suggests that all of us who are en- gaged in this work should remember that we commence to-day to make the second cen- tury's history. Let every one see to it that the foundation is well laid.
JETER MEMORIAL.
PAPER BY J. L. M. CURRY.
ADDRESSES BY J. B. HAWTHORNE AND WM. E. HATCHER.
RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO EDUCATION. By J. L. M. CURRY.
THE undersigned, appointed to collect facts in reference to the connection of the First Church with the cause of education, regrets that all efforts made by him have been nearly fruitless.
The minutes of the General Association show that in 1833 Elder John Kerr, the Pastor of this Church, was the President of the Virginia Bap- tist Education Society, out of which grew the Seminary, and afterwards Richmond College. In 1833, the Treasurer and five of the Man- agers of this Society were members of this Church. Ever since, the Education Board has had representatives from this Church, and has received generous contributions. Richmond College, in its Trustees and Faculty, has de- pended somewhat on the Church. Every effort made to endow the College has received efficient help from our membership, and now this is the
187
.
188
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY.
only Church in the State which has a scholar- ship in the College for the education of the sons of Baptist ministers.
Richmond Female Institute, throughout its entire history, has found in the First Church zealous and liberal friends and patrons, as well as Trustees and Teachers.
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has from its origin been also the constant re- cipient of First Church benefactions in its efforts for endowment, as well as in special efforts for the support of students and Faculty.
This Church has steadily recognized that the gospel was intended to vitalize and mould every energy and form of human activity, so that man's whole being may be brought into thor- ough accord with the will of God. For Chris- tianizing society, a most important place must be assigned to education. The impulse, spon- taneous and general and honorable, to com- memorate in some permanent manner the life and services of Dr. Jeter, took, after earnest consultation, the form of completing the Rich- mond College building and having therein a "Jeter Memorial Hall," in which should be de- posited, along with his bust or picture, the books and manuscripts which Dr. Jeter, in his
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 189
will, bequeathed to the College. The First Church must feel a double interest in such an enterprise. The College has been a special favorite with the Church, and in 1872 she gave up her Pastor to carry on the great memorial enterprise. Dr. Jeter, for many years, was our Pastor, and no Church can cherish a livelier or more grateful recollection of his laborious and holy ministry. The First Church can, there- fore, most feelingly unite with the Baptists of Virginia in doing, in the manner proposed, proper honor to one so closely connected with her history. We can also, in celebrating our centennial, set up our Ebenezer by doing some- thing permanently beneficent in our Master's cause.
The Church can well join sister churches, and thus broaden sympathies and bring the brotherhood into closer fellowship and sym- pathy.
J. L. M. CURRY, Committee.
17
ADDRESS.
BY J. B. HAWTHORNE.
Nothing is more commendable than the re- spect and veneration which mankind have for the old. In the earlier and purer days of the Greek Republic, when an old man entered a crowded assembly, men of every rank and sta- tion rose to do him reverence. The proudest tree that lifts its leafy head above us awakens no such emotions in our breasts as those which we experience in looking upon the ivy-mantled trunk of an old withered and wasted oak.
Looking back, to-day, over the history of a Church festooned with the associations of a hundred years, our hearts throb with feelings far more profound and sacred than those which are excited when we survey the gilded gran- deur of some modern institution.
We are old : but we have not called you toge- ther to tax your sympathy for something that is tottering under the infirmities and burdens of
190
CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST CENTENARY. 191
age. We do not call upon you to help us to conceal the ravages of time-to do for us what the tender ivy does, when she flings a green and glossy mantle over a crumbling ruin.
No. The youngest thing in Richmond to-day is this venerable Mother of Churches. She is surrounded by a family of healthy, vigorous, and accomplished daughters, of whom she is duly proud; but in buoyancy, hopefulness, energy, and enterprise-in everything that constitutes beauty, strength, and progress, she is more than a match for the best of them. She is old only in years. There is not a wrinkle upon her face, nor a silver thread among the gold. In no respect has she declined. I trust that her response, to-night, to the calls of a noble enter- prise, will demonstrate that she retains both the ability and the disposition to do great things for God and the world.
We have had laid before us to-day, in the able papers read by Drs. Burrows and Thomas, the work which our fathers accomplished. We have entered into their labors. We are born to an inheritance bequeathed to us by their toils and tears. We, who now live, are heirs of all the ages that have preceded ours. Nothing shows more clearly man's superiority to the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.