The First Baptist Church The First Baptist Church was organized October 19, 1833, with nineteen members, by Rev. Allen B. Freeman. With the exception of Mrs. Rebecca Heald, wife of Captain Nathan Heald, and Rev. Isaac McCoy, Dr. John T. Temple was the first Baptist to arrive in Chicago. Dr. Temple, with his wife and four children, reached Chicago about the 4th of July, 1833. For some time after his arrival, he and his family attended the Presbyterian services in Fort Dearborn, but having, through correspondence with the American Baptist Home Mission Society, secured the appointment of a missionary for Chicago, and thinking best that the two denominations should at the first begin with separate churches, started a subscription for a building, heading it with one hundred dollars. In a few weeks the building was erected near the corner of Franklin and South Water streets. It was a two-story frame structure, the upper story for school, the lower for religious purposes, and cost about nine hundred dollars. With the exception of Rev. Jesse Walker's log house at the Point, this was the first house built for religious worship in Chicago. It was designated as the "Temple Building," and was used by the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists alike until the Presbyterian church was ready for occupancy.
A. B. Freeman's SignatureWhen Rev. Allen B. Freeman, with his wife, arrived on the 16th of August, he found the church building ready for use. On the first Sunday after his arrival he preached to the Rev. Jeremiah Porter's congregation, in that minister's absence, at Blackstone's Grove, twenty-eight miles south of Chicago, and from this time until Mr. Freeman's death these two ministers preached once each month to congregations in some distant village; on such occasions the two congregations uniting to hear the one remaining at home, until the Presbyterian church was dedicated January 4. 1834. At the time of the organization of the Baptist Church, October 19, 1833, there were about twenty-five Baptists in Chicago, fourteen of whom were present at the church and gave in their names as follows: Rev. Allen B. Freeman and Hannah C., his wife; S. T. Jackson, Martin D. Harmon, Peter Moore, Nathaniel Carpenter, John K. Sargents, Peter Warden, Willard Jones, Ebenezer and Betsey Crane, Susannah Rice, Samantha Harmon and Lucinda Jackson.
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One of the other five members was Samuel S. Lathrop.Rev. Mr. Freeman was a graduate of Hamilton Theological Seminary. During his brief pastorate he was an earnest and efficient laborer, organizing besides the Church in Chicago, four others in as many neighboring districts. It was in returning from one of these services at Long Grove, fifty miles south of Chicago, early in December, 1834, where he had preached and administered the rite of baptism, that his horse was taken sick eighteen miles from home. For two nights and one day Mr. Freeman watched with the suffering animal, when it died, and he made the rest of the way home on foot. Overcome by exposure and exertion, he was himself taken sick of typhoid fever and in ten days thereafter, on December 15, 1834, died. Rev. Jeremiah Porter preached the funeral sermon in the Presbyterian church, and was assisted in the services by Rev. Isaac W. Hallam, of the Episcopal Church; Rev. John Mitchell, of the Methodist, and Rev. J. E. Ambrose, of one of the country Baptist churches organized by Mr. Freeman. The Chicago Tribune of a not very remote date, contained a communication mentioning - "a little burial ground near the North Branch on the West Side." * * * That little burial ground, as I remember, was about where Indiana Street crosses the river. The little inclosure was a prominent object, on the otherwise unoccupied and open prairie, up to 1840 or later. An inscription on one head-stone, or rather head-board, as I well remember it, was that of the Rev. A. B. Freeman, who was the first Baptist minister of Chicago." A picket fence was built around this grave by Samuel S. Lathrop.
At the time of his death the membership of the Church had increased to forty; but by a year from that time, by death and by removals to other churches, it was reduced to twenty.
Isaac T. HintonDuring the year 1835, Rev. Isaac T. Hinton became the successor of Rev. A. B. Freeman. Mr. Hinton was by birth an Englishman, but came to Chicago from Richmond, Va. He was a very able and highly esteemed preacher, and a very warm-hearted and genial man. Under his ministrations the membership of the Church and the attendance upon religious services considerably increased, so much so that they began to need a larger building. Rev. Mr. Hinton was sent East to solicit aid for the erection of a suitable house of worship, and returned with the small sum of $846.48. This disappointment moved the members to active effort for themselves, and soon the foundations of a new house were laid, and much of the woodwork prepared; but on account of the financial crisis of 1837, the building was never completed. Instead, a frame building, which was being used as a temporary workshop, was converted into a church, and with occasional enlargements, served the purposes of the congregation until 1844, during which year a larger edifice was erected.
It was a brick building and stood at the southeast corner of Washington and LaSalle streets, where the Chamber of Commerce afterward stood. It was fifty-five by eighty feet in size; there was a basement eight feet high, divided into two rooms, for lecture and school purposes; it had an Ionic portico of six columns; the apex of the spire was one hundred and twelve feet from the ground; in the spire were a bell and clock, the clock having five dials, one on each side of the spire, and one inside the church; the total cost of this church edifice was $4,500.
First Baptist Church
Rev. Isaac T. Hinton remained with the Church until 1842. He was a remarkable man in many ways; exceedingly happy in disposition, of a genial temper, an excellent pastor, and an able preacher. Large congregations attended his services. His great forte was preaching on prophecy. In the year 1836, he delivered a series of Sunday-evening sermons in the Presbyterian church, on this great subject. The church although the largest in Chicago, was usually filled to its utmost capacity; everybody was desirous of hearing "Hinton on Prophecy." He taught that the then present order of things would come to an end in 1873, but did not live to see the non-fulfillment of his interpretation of the prophecies. The following extract is from a lecture delivered by Hon. John Wentworth, May 7, 1876:
"At the close of service one day, Parson Hinton said he thought Chicago people ought to know more about the Devil than
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Second Edifice Erected by the First Baptist Church
(From the City Hall Tower, looking Southwest.)
[p. 318]they did. Therefore he would take up his history in four lectures; first, he would give the origin of the Devil; second, state what the Devil had done; third, state what the Devil is now doing; and fourth, prescribe how to destroy the Devil. These lectures were the sensation for the next four weeks. The house could not contain the mass that flocked to hear him; and it is a wonder to me that those four lectures have not been preserved. Chicago newspaper enterprise had not then reached here. The third evening was one never to be forgotten in this city; if one of our most eminent clergymen, with the effective manner of preaching that Mr. Hinton had, should undertake to tell us what the Devil is doing in our city to-day. The drift of his discourse was to prove that everybody had a Devil; that the Devil was in every store, and in every bank, and he did not even except the Church. He had the Devil down outside and up the middle of every dance; in the ladies' curls and the gentlemen's whiskers. In fact, before he finished he proved conclusively that there were just as many devils in every pew as there were persons in it; and if it were in this our day, there would not have been swine enough in the stock yards to cast them into. When the people came out of church they would ask each other, 'What is your devil?' And they would stop one another in the streets during the week, and ask, 'What does Parson Hinton say your Devil is?' The fourth lecture contained his prescription for destroying the Devil. I remember his closing: ' Pray on, brethren and friends; pray ever. Fight as well as pray. Pray and fight until the Devil is dead!
"The world, the flesh, the devil,
Will prove a fatal snare,
Unless we do resist him.
By faith and humble prayer."And quoting from another portion of the same lecture:
"He was a man who never seemed so happy as when immersing converted sinners in our frozen river or lake. It was said of his converts that no one of them was ever known to be a backslider. * * * Immersions were no uncommon thing in those days. * * * But recently our Baptist friends have made up their minds that our lake had enough to do to carry all the sewerage of the city, without washing off the sins of the people. It is also claimed for Mr. Hinton that no couple he married was ever divorced. He was just as careful in marrying as he was in baptizing; he wanted nobody to fall from grace."But notwithstanding Rev. Mr. Hinton's ability and the high estimation placed upon his services, his Church was unable to pay him a salary sufficient to support his large family, not even when he aided them by his own efforts in teaching. So he accepted a call to St. Louis, and preached his farewell sermon in Chicago September 26, 1841. The successive pastors of the Church subsequent to Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, have been the following: Revs. C. B. Smith, 1842-43; E. H. Hamlin, 1843-45- Miles Sanford, 1845-47- Luther Stone, 184748; Elisha Tucker, D. D, 1848-51; John C. Burroughs, D. D., January, 1853-56; W. G. Howard, D. D., 1856-59. During the vacancy in the pulpit caused by the resignation of Rev. C. B. Smith, thirty-two of the members withdrew and formed the Second, or Tabernacle, Baptist Church. This was in 1843. Of the Rev. Elisha Tucker, who was pastor from 1848 to 1851, George S. Phillips, in his book, "Chicago and her Churches," published in 1868, by E. B. Myers and Chandler, said:"The next pastor was a man of great mental and moral endowments, who, as Byron said of Henry Kirke White, adorned even the sacred functions he was called upon to assume.* * A man of great energy and ceaseless devotion to the work of the ministry, he won many souls to Christ and the love of all good hearts to himself. He was a handsome, well-formed man, with a large and lofty forehead, an eye full of sunshine and his whole face beaming with heavenly radiations. The Baptists had never before associated with their Church a man of such strong personal attractions, eminent talents, and unobstrusive learning and piety. His eloquence in the pulpit was the theme of every tongue, while his social bearing and conduct were in the highest degree refined and conciliatory. He was not destined, however, to a long course of usefulness in this new and wide field of labor. He worked faithfully and successfully for two and a half years, when he was seized with paralysis, and cut off in the prime of his life, and the glory of his days. During his connection with the Church as many had been added to the membership as in the eighteen years of her previous history."On October 20, 1852, the church building caught fire from sparks falling from the tobacco-pipe of a workman, who with others was engaged in re-shingling it, and it was totally destroyed. The next day a meeting was held, and a committee appointed to build anew church. The corner-stone was laid July 4, 1853, and the building was dedicated November 12, of the same year. The cost of this building was $30,000. It was also during Rev. Mr. Burroughs's pastorate that the Wabash Avenue Baptist Church was organized, mainly by members of this Church. Dr. W. G. Howard, formerly of the Second Baptist Church of Rochester, was chosen pastor in May, 1856. In the following September Union Park Baptist Church was organized, and in November the North Baptist Church, mainly from members of the First Baptist Church. Dr. Howard resigned his pastorate in 1859, and removed to New Orleans, having added two hundred and twenty new members to the Church.
Rev. Isaac T. Hinton Rev. Isaac T. Hinton was born at Oxford, England, July 4, 1799. His father was the Rev. James Hinton, of Oxford, a Baptist minister. Isaac T. Hinton was apprenticed to the printing business and served at this trade the regular term of seven years, paying for the privilege one hundred pounds. He then started a publishing house at Warwick Square, London, where he also resided. While in this business he wrote, in conjunction with his brother, Rev. John Howard Hinton, of London, a history of the United States, which was published by a Boston firm. He failed in 1831 and came to America in 1832, landing in Philadelphia in June. During his residence in England he preached occasionally but was not pastor there of any Church, nor in the United States until after moving from Philadelphia to Richmond, Va., which event occurred in September, 1833. At Richmond he was pastor of the First Baptist Church, having a membership of fourteen hundred. He remained in Richmond something over two years when he removed to Chicago, where he became pastor of the First Baptist Church, as the successor of the Rev. Allen B.
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Freeman. During his pastorate, which is quite fully treated of in the history of that Church, he was appointed by the General Convention of the Baptists of the United States to write a history of Baptism, which he wrote and took to Philadelphia to be published. This was the first book written in Chicago. From Chicago he moved to St. Louis in 1843, where he had charge of the Baptist Church between three and four years. From St. Louis he removed to New Orleans, in which city he had charge of the only Baptist Church in the city until his death which occurred August 28. 1847, of yellow fever. He was urged by his friends to leave the city, but preferred to share the danger with his Church. No other member of the family died. Mr. Hinton was married in 1822, to Sarah Mursell, of Leamington, England. They had a large family of children, those now living being the following: Sarah, who at the age of sixty and a widow, recently married a Mr. Condon of San Francisco, where she now resides; Isaac T. Hinton, of New Orleans, who furnished these items for this History; Victoria, married and living near Liberty, Mississippi; William Mursell Hinton, a printer, in San Francisco; Fanny, a widow, and Albert, both of whom are living in New Orleans.
The Tabernacle Baptist Church The Tabernacle Baptist Church was organized August 14, 1843, by members dismissed for that purpose from the First Baptist Church. The causes which culminated in this organization were somewhat remote. As early as 1839, while the Rev. Isaac T. Hinton was pastor of the First Baptist Church, a union prayer meeting was established, composed of Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists. Meetings were held in various places, and among those prayed for were the slaves in the Southern States. Some of the pro-slavery members considered these prayer meetings abolition meetings in disguise, and opposed all recognition of them in the Church. On one occasion, besides the regular Sunday notices, Rev. Mr. Hinton read one that a prayer meetiug for the oppressed would be held at a certain place. It was afterward discovered that the notice, was written and handed to Mr. Hinton, read, "A prayer meeting for the slaves," etc. A resolution was adopted by the Church at a subsequent meeting that "Notices of political meetings should not be read from the pulpit, under any name or guise whatever." The adoption of this resolution created a great sensation in the Church, and caused a sharp division of its members into a pro-slavery and anti-slavery party. The latter had a majority of the members, the former the most of this world's goods. At the next business meeting the question of the reconsideration of this resolution came up, but before final action was taken, a protest previously prepared was presented by the pro-slavery party in opposition to the reconsideration, and letters of dismissal were demanded for the purpose of forming a new Church. The motion to reconsider was thereupon withdrawn, and a compromise effected, Mr. Hinton agreeing not again to present the slavery question in the pulpit. This compromise was not long satisfactory to the abolition members of the Church. Their consciences could not be silenced, nor their sympathies for the slaves suppressed. Neither were they pleased with the delivery by Dr. L. D. Boone of a series of lectures to prove that slavery was in accordance with the Scriptures, nor were the pro-slavery members satisfied with the anti-slavery utterances of the Rev. C. B. Smith, who succeeded Mr. Hinton in this pulpit in September, 1842. Mr. Smith was never installed pastor. Finding that a strong minority of the members were opposed to him, he gave notice that he could not accept the call extended to him, but that at the end of his official year, during which he had agreed to supply the pulpit, he should leave the city. A Church meeting was called to make choice of a pastor, at which Mr. Smith received a majority of the votes cast and was declared elected. When officially informed of this action, he promptly declined the call and advised union and consolidation. Another meeting was held the next week for the same purpose, and he was again elected by a still larger majority. Being present, Mr. Smith again declined, and stated positively that under no circumstances would he accept the pastorate of the Church. A portion of those present at the meeting left the church, but when less than a block away they received word that those remaining had reorganized and were voting for a pastor. All within hearing returned and voted with those who had remained. The result was that Mr. Hamlin received forty-two votes and Mr. Smith forty. Mr. Hamlin was declared duly elected. It was therefore determined by the friends of Mr. Smith to withdraw and form a new Church. The Tabernacle Baptist Church was organized with thirty-four members who, at a regular meeting of the First Baptist Church, held August 8, 1843, and who were, at their own request, dismissed from the said Church for the purpose, organized the second Baptist Church in the city. These members were John L. Slayton, James Knox, S. H. Knox, S. Dodson, Joseph Hogan, W. H. Sadler, John Flynn, Reuben Tuttle, Vincent H. Freeman, James Launder, William David, William Lawrence, Benjamin Briggs, Edwin Clark, J. M. Hannah, T. B. Bridges, John A. Field, Maria Slayton, Elizabeth Williams, Frances Miles, Roxana Spaulding, Maria Tuttle, Mary David, C. Gould, Catherine Woodbury, Eliza Launder, Betsey Ann Briggs, Sarah L. Freeman, Jane Mclntosh, Amelia A. Clark and Charlotte Mizener. The dismission of these members was approved August 10, and on the 13th letters were granted to the following persons for the same purpose: Samuel T. Jackson, Ezra Jackson, Darius H. Paul, John Bell, Lucinda Jackson, Abigail Jackson, Ann Jackson, Grace Flint, Hepsy Ann Flint, Susan Eliza Flint, Mary Merriam, Sarah Reid, Mary S. Merriam, Mrs. Stoughton, Louisa M. Durant, Boletta Hanson, Ann Dorothy Hanson, Crecy Woodbury, Fanny Holden, Sarah Crocker, Elizabeth Johnson, Mary Ann Porter, Jeannette Burgess, Margaret Burgess, Ann Shapley, Emily Bridges and Elizabeth Slocum. On Monday, the I4th of August, at a meeting held in the First Baptist Church, the following resolution was adopted:
"That in view of the state of this community, and the growing importance of this location and the rapid increase of its population, we fully believe that the time has come when a second Baptist Church should be organized."
The Church was thereupon organized on that day by adopting articles of faith and covenant. Immediately afterward rules and regulations were also adopted. The following officers were also chosen on the same day: Trustees, Samuel Jackson, Vincent H. Freeman, B. Briggs, H. G. Wells, and William David; clerk, pro-tem., Charles B. Smith. A building committee was chosen, consisting of Samuel Jackson, Vincent H. Freeman and Benjamin Briggs, with Charles B. Smith, as special agent. A special meeting was held on Wednesday
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the 16th, at Samuel Jackson's house, at which the name "Tabernacle Baptist Church" was adopted. On the 20th of Agugust, 1843, there were received by letter: Charles Charleston, Christian R. Oliver, Angelina Waggener, and Ellen S. Mizener. H. G. Wells was received by baptism, and on the 14th of August, Mr. wells was chosen clerk of the Church. On the 31st of August the following persons were elected deacons: Vincent H. Freeman, Benjamin Briggs, Samuel Jackson and Benjamin F. Hays, and at the same meeting Rev. Charles B. Smith was unanimously elected pastor of the Church. Measures were taken by the building committee, immediately after its appointment, looking to the erection of a house of worship. A lot was selected on the west side of LaSalle Street, between Randolph and Washington, where now (1883) stands the Merchants' National Bank, upon which was built a plain frame edifice, forty by seventy-two feet in size, at a cost of $2,200.On Tuesday, October 3, 1843, a council of ministers and delegates from the churches of the Northern Illinois Association, convened in this place in response to an invitation of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, for the purpose of recognizing and fellowshiping it as a regularly constituted branch of the Baptist denomination. The services were held in the evening, and consisted of an admirable discourse upon the "Union of the Church," by Rev. Thomas Powell; the extension of the hand of fellowship by Elder Blake, and an address to the Church by Rev. A. J. Joslyn. The building was dedicated October 13, within eight weeks of the commencement of work upon it, Rev. Charles B. Smith preaching the dedicatory sermon. On the i8th of October, C. N. Holden was received to membership; on the 26th he was appointed treasurer, and on the same day was chosen clerk, to succeed H. G. Wells, resigned. Rev. C. B. Smith, having given notice in March, 1844, of his intention to do so, resigned his pastorate on the 6th of April. During the interim between Mr. Smith's resignation and the procuring of a second regular pastor in August following, the pulpit was occupied the greater portion of the time by Rev. Mr. Ambrose. It was during this interim, on the i7th of May, 1844, that this Church made application to the Northern Illinois Association to be admitted as a sister Church. In order that the Association might understand their sentiments in full upon the great question then agitating the Church, the following resolution was made part of their application:
"Resolved, That slavery is a great sin in the sight of God, and while we view it as such, we will not invite to our communion or pulpit those who advocate or justify from civil policy or the Bible the principles or practice of slavery."
They also submitted the following paragraph as a summary of the history of their Church up to that time:
"The Tabernacle Baptist Church was organized August 14, 1843. with sixty-two members, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. C. B. Smith. We have since received forty-two members by letter and fourteen by baptism. Eight have taken letters to other sister churches, one has been taken from us by death and one has been excommunicated, leaving our number one hundred and eight."
In the early days of this Church, it was as much opposed to secret societies as it was to slavery. On the 3oth of May, 1844, a committee appointed to investigate the subject of Odd-Fellowship reported as follows:
"Your committee having carefully and prayerfully examined into the principles and practices of secret societies as far as they have been able to do so, have come to the following conclusions:
1. "That secret societies are calculated to retard the best interests of humanity, and do conflict with the civil and moral laws.The report of the committee was accepted and adopted, and on the 29th of August one of the members was excluded from Church membership for holding connection to the society of Odd-Fellows in preference to the Church.
2. " That their rites and ceremonies are solemn mockeries.
3. "We believe they are hindrances to growth in grace to such Christians as may be united with them."On the 26th of August, Rev. Caleb Blood was unanimously called to the pastorate, and during the same month assumed its charge. On March 24, 1845, he tendered his resignation, which was accepted. On the 3d of April, Rev. C. B. Smith, then at Medina, N. Y., was called to the pastorate, and proffered a salary of $500, and expenses to Chicago. This call was accepted conditionally, and the conditions accepted by the Church. Mr. Smith began his second pastorate in July, 1845, and in the succeeding October it was terminated. On the 23d of November, 1845, Rev. William H. Rice was unanimously invited to become pastor, and began his labors in July, 1846. In the meantime the pulpit was filled by Elder Edson. In April, 1846, the hand of fellowship was withdrawn from Mr. Gushing and his wife for having adopted and adhering to doctrines of the New Jerusalem as taught by Emanuel Swedenborg. On the 6th of May, 1849, Rev. W. H. Rice tendered his resignation, which on Tuesday the 15th was accepted. On the 2d of August of the same year he died of cholera, which also carried away several prominent and valuable members of the Church. On Sunday, July i, 1849, Rev. Lewis Raymond, of Milwaukee, was unanimously elected pastor to succeed Mr. Rice. Mr. Raymond accepted the call and commenced his labors September 1. In February, March, and April, 1850, during a special revival, large numbers were added to the Church. Revivals were also experienced the two following seasons and many were brought within the fold. On the 1st of October, 1850, this Church, being unanimously of the opinion that the dictates of wisdom and duty pointed to the western division of the city as their future field of labor, appointed a committee of three to make inquiry as to the location and price of a lot and as to the terms upon which it could be purchased. The church building was destroyed by fire, June 26, 1851, and on the same day an extra meeting was held at which it was resolved to build a suitable house of worship on Desplaines Street, between Washington and Madison. In the meantime, by invitation of the First Baptist Church, received through Dr. L. D. Boone, this Church worshiped with the First Church. They also worshiped by invitation in the Third Presbyterian, and also in the Canal-street
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Methodist Church. The new church building fronted the west, was forty-four by seventy-two feet in size, of the Gothic style of architecture, two stories high surmounted by a short square steeple, and cost, with the lots, $5,840. The corner-stone was laid August 14, 1851. On the 16th of November the Church commenced worshiping in the basement, and the church building was dedicated February 3, 1853. Rev. Lewis Raymond resigned his pastorate July 6, 1852, at which time the membership of the Church had increased to three hundred and thirty-nine. He was succeeded, November i, of the same year, by Rev. A. Kenyon, of Kirtland, Ohio, who preached the dedicatory sermon of the new church building. Rev. Mr. Kenyon remained until August 5, 1856, when he resigned. His resignation was accepted. Rev. H. Harvey declined an invitation to become pastor, and Rev. I. E. Kenney, on February 24, 1857, was unanimously invited to become pastor, with a salary of $1,500 per year. On the 20th of April he began his labors, and remained until December 7, 1858, when he resigned. The resignation was accepted, and on January 30, 1859, Rev. H. K. Green, of Danbury, Conn., was invited to become pastor, and pledged a salary of $1,800 per year. Rev. Mr. Green was installed as pastor on Friday, March 25, 1859. On the 5th of June, 1859, this Church wrote, in their letter to the Baptist association, which met at Bloomingdale: "Our congregations are large and increasing. Unity and harmony mark our efforts. We sustain, besides the Sabbath-school connected with the Church, a mission school in a destitute part of the city. Both are enjoying a high degree of prosperity, and around them our fondest hopes center." On November 1, 1859, there were found to be one hundred and seventy-five members in good standing. Rev. H. K. Green resigned his pastorate April 30, 1861, on account of ill health, and was succeeded September 1, of the same year, by Rev. Nathaniel Colver, D.D., who remained until December 1, 1864, when he resigned. It was during this year, 1864, that the Tabernacle Baptist Church united with about fifty members of the First Baptist Church to form the Second Baptist Church, which accepted from the First society, as a free gift, its church edifice standing at the corner of Washington and LaSalle streets, and moved it and re-erected it at the southwest corner of Monroe and Morgan streets, in which they still worship. During the existence of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, as such, there were received into its membership a total of nine hundred and eighty persons.
Rev. C. B. Smith, D.D. Rev. C. B. Smith, D.D., the first pastor of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, was born October 29, 1814. He graduated at Yale College in the class of 1837, a class distinguished as containing such men as William M. [W.] Evarts, Edwards Pierrepont, Samuel J. Tilden, and Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. He was baptised in August, 1842, and removed to Chicago and took charge of the First Baptist Church the following month. He returned to the East in 1845. During the years 1846 to 1849 he published works entitled "The Philosophy of Reform," "A Lie in Earnest," and "Scenes in Luther's Life." Subsequently he was settled in New Haven, Conn., in Maiden, Mass., in New York City, and in Dubuque. He has been in Grand Rapids for twenty years, and purposes to make that city his home during the remainder of his life. He was pastor of
the[sic] Baptist churches for a number of years, but is now (1883) without a charge. He preaches nearly every Sunday, without compensation, to destitute churches, and to churches of every denomination as he is requested. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1850 from Wabash College, Indiana.
The Edina Place Baptist Church The Edina Place Baptist Church. - On the 8th of April, 1856, the first meeting of Baptists looking to the organization of this Church, was held at the house of J. S. Buchanan. The moderator of the meeting was Rev. J. A. Smith, and the clerk J. Woodworth. Rev. Robert Boyd opened the meeting with prayer. A preamble and a series of three resolutions were adopted, the first and third resolutions being as follows:
"1. That we agree to work together as a Church of our Lord Jesus, under the designation of the Third Baptist Church of Chicago, and that the articles of faith and church covenant found in page 191, of the 'Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,' be adopted.At a meeting held April 15, at the same place, the following resolution was unanimously adopted:"3. That we give the Rev. Robert Boyd a call to become our pastor, and that we give him one thousand ($1,000) dollars, and furnish him a parsonage as compensation in part for services, each year."
"That a committee of five be appointed to take a deed of trust of the lot now purchased, situated on the corner of Harrison Street and Edina Place, and hold the same for the Third Baptist Church, and that brethern [sic] Edwards, Buchanan, Gassett, Babcock and Woodworth be said committee."
At this meeting L. A. Willard and J. Woodworth were elected treasurer and clerk of the Church, respectively. At the next meeting, held April 22, 1856, at the house of J. T. Edwards, resolutions were passed to build a church edifice on the lot at the corner of Harrison Street and Edina Place, to change the name of the Church from the Third Baptist Church, to the Edina Place Baptist Church, and to appoint a building committee consisting of "brethern Buchanan, Boggs, Babcock and Gassett." A committee on religious worship was also appointed, consisting of "brethern Buchanan, Willard and Woodworth," and a committee on singing consisting of "brethren Edwards, McCall and Raymond." From this time until the completion of the new church edifice in October, meetings were held in the lecture-room of Plymouth Church. The new church was dedicated on Sunday, October 5, Rev. Robert Boyd preaching in the morning. Rev. Dr. Howard in the afternoon, and Rev. A. J. Joslyn in the evening. A council called for the purpose of publicly recognizing this Church, convened October 30. This council on motion of Rev. J. Young, recognized the Edina Place Church as a Baptist Church in Gospel order. The members at the time of its formal organization and recognition, by the Council, October 30, 1856, were: Rev. Robert and Mrs. Christina Boyd, Justin A. Smith, Mrs. Jane A. Smith, John S. Buchanan, Mabel A. Buchanan, Lucius A. Willard, Mary Ann F. Willard, John T. Edwards, Sarah Edwards, John B. George, Elizabeth Johnston, Cyril Babcock, Lydia F. Babcock, Silas B. Gassett, Susannah Gassett, Charles T. Boggs, Virginia A. Boggs, Charles Larminie, Jacob Woodworth, John M. Woodworth, E. D. Woodworth, Amelia Boggs, Ann E. Moore, Maggy Whitelaw, Murdock Morrison, Elizabeth Morrison, Samuel McCall, George Hines, Ira Reynolds, John S. Lawrence, Emma R. Lawrence and Agnes Wanless.
At a meeting of the Church, held December 5, 1856, J. T. Edwards, J. S. Buchanan, L. A. Willard and J. Woodworth, were elected deacons, and on the 31st of December, upon the resignation of J. Woodworth as clerk of the Church, J. S. Lawrence was chosen to fill the vacancy. The Sth of April, 1857, was observed as the anniversary of the organization of the Church. Justin A. Smith recounted its early history, its weakness, trials and discouragements. The society had passed through a season of almost unparalleled financial embarrassment, but in every emergency had been successful, and had not only erected and finished but had paid for its church edifice, which, according to its report to the Fox River Association, in June, 1857, cost $15,500. On January 28, 1858, a protracted meeting of three
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weeks' duration closed. The pastor conducted the meetings almost entirely without assistance, and as a result twenty persons were added to the Church. In March, 1859, another series of revival meetings was held, which added about twenty members to the Church. Early in the year 1860 the question of the removal of the Church became a subject of discussion. On the 11th of April it was decided: "That it is expedient for this Church to remove from its present location to the vicinity of Wabash Avenue and Old Street, when a suitable lot can be obtained." This resolution was re-adopted on the l0th of October, 1860, and a committee was appointed to secure a lot. But little was done until in March, 1862. At a meeting, held on the 21st of that month, the pastor urged as reasons for change of location, that on Sundays there were not regularly over twenty unconverted persons in the congregation, and that during the year last past, they had been losing some of the most active and influential members of the Church by removal. It was also stated at this meeting that a way for the completion of this long-cherished object seemed to have been opened in a providential manner, as they could then exchange their present lots for one on the northwest corner of Wabash Avenue and Old Street. A committee of three was therefore appointed to effect the exchange of property with Dr. L. D. Boone, the owner of the Wabash Avenue lot; and a building committee of four was appointed to let contracts and to make arrangements necessary to effect the removal. May 11, 1862, was the last Sunday spent in the old location. Resolutions appropriate to the occasion were passed, one of them expressing thankfulness for the continued success of the Church for so many years; for the uninterrupted peace, harmony and union which had continuously prevailed, and for the constant affection that had existed between Church and pastor. Preparations for a change were commenced on the 19th of May. The house was removed, and re-opened for worship on the 31st of August, 1862, the members in the meantime worshiping in the Plymouth Congregational Church. On the 22d of August a meeting was held at the pastor's house, at which by resolution the name of the church was changed from the Edina Place Baptist Church to the Wabash Avenue Baptist Church. The cost of the removal, including an enlargement of fourteen feet in length, a new front and other necessary repairs, was $2,200. At the re-dedication of this church the pastor preached in the morning from the first verse of the twelfth Psalm, and Rev. Dr. Everts preached in the evening. The Sunday school was re-opened on the same day. Up to January 1, 1862, there had been received into the Church three hundred and eleven members; by baptism one hundred and twenty, by letter one hundred and eighty-three, and by experience eight. The dismissions amounted to eighty-eight, leaving the net membership at this time two hundred and twenty-three.
Union Park Baptist Church Union Park Baptist Church. - Early in the year 1855, a mission chapel was established on the West Side, the location being West Lake Street, between Sheldon Street and Bryan Place. This chapel was erected with funds contributed by citizens living in the vicinity, and by Baptists of the city at large. The leaders in the enterprise were mainly those who afterward became constituent members of the Union Park Baptist Church. The exercises at the chapel were continued until the Church was organized, November 12, 1856. The original members of this Church, who were dismissed for the purpose of organizing it from various other churches in this city and elsewhere, were as follows: From the First Baptist Church, Chicago, David L. Jacobus, Mrs. Eliza Jacobus, Oscar J. Jacobus, Mrs. Lydia Moody, Mrs. Sophia Bretschneider, Edward Zimmerman, Mrs. Harriet Zimmerman and Mrs. Mary Wayman; from the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Chicago, Mrs. Prudence Creole, Mrs. Helen Hays, Mrs. Luranda Hopkins, Miss Eliza Knott, Mrs. Almeda McKay, Miss Adeline Miller, Miss Emma Price and Mrs. Henrietta Sutherland; from the First Baptist Church, Aurora, Ill., Asahel Lockwood and Mrs. Mary Lockwood; from the First Baptist Church, Lowell, Mass., Daniel Hurd, Mrs. Rosetta Hurd and Miss Betsy Hill; from the First Baptist Church, Piscataqua, N. J., Mrs. Hannah Randolph and Miss Mary Randolph. The first trustees of the Church were David L. Jacobus, Daniel Hurd, C. A. Reno, and L. H. Smith. The first deacons were, David L. Jacobus and Daniel Hurd. The first treasurer was James P. Jacobus, and the first clerk Edwin Zimmerman. The first pastor was the Rev. A. J. Joslyn, who commenced his labors one week after the organization of the Church. During his pastorate the chapel was enlarged by the addition of two wings, one on each side, by reason of which its seating capacity was increased to about three hundred. The total cost of the building up to this time was about $2,000. During the first few years of its existence the Church encountered numerous difficulties, and was too feeble to well withstand them; but it courageously and patiently labored for success, and at length triumphed and received large accessions to its membership. There were revivals in the fall of 1857 and in the winters of 1858-59, during which especially considerable numbers were added to the rolls. Rev. Mr. Joslyn remained pastor of the Church until November i, 1860, when he resigned, leaving it in a comparatively strong and healthy condition. During his pastorate there had been received in the aggregate two hundred and five members; one hundred and fifteen by letter, eighty by baptism and ten by experience. Rev. Mr. Joslyn was succeeded by Rev. James Dixon, who commenced his ministry January 1, 1861, and soon afterward the chapel was removed to the northeast corner of Lake and Sheldon streets, and again enlarged. It has been moved from time to time, and now stands at the corner of Noble and Superior streets. The subsequent history of this Church, which possesses far more than a common interest, will be detailed in the subsequent volumes of this History.
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The Salem Baptist Church The Salem Baptist Church had its origin in the winter of 1852-53. Its projector was the Rev. J. R. Balme, who had recently come from England. On the 27th of February, 1853, Mr. Balme preached at the opening of the Church at 170 South Clark Street, and notice was given that religious services would be regularly held at the same place thereafter by him. This Church was organized Monday, April 25, 1853, in Mrs. Balme's school-room, on South Clark Street, at which time the Rev. A. Kenyon delivered an excellent and impressive address. On May 1, Elder Balme administered the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, in the district schoolhouse which stood at the corner of Clark and Harrison streets. A lot was leased in the early part of the month, on Clark Street, between Jackson and VanBuren, and it was the design to erect upon this lot, as soon as the subscription could be completed, a new church edifice. The subscription, however, was never completed, the church building never erected, and as a sufficient number of members did not rally to the standard of Mr. Balme, he surrendered the project and left the city. The few members that had joined distributed themselves among other churches.
The Berean Baptist Church The Berean Baptist Church was started in 1855, by members of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, who sympathized with the Rev. A. Kenyon, on account of what they felt to be unjust treatment of him by that Church. Temporarily they worshiped in a schoolhouse at 109 South Jefferson Street. The organization was effected December 14, 1856, and the Berean Baptist Church was recognized by a council of the Baptist churches of the city February 8, 1857. During this year they erected a frame church building on Jackson Street, between Desplaines and Halsted, which cost $1,700. In 1859, under the pastorate of the Rev. Isaiah Rider, who was ordained November 7, 1858, this church building was removed to DeKoven Street, between Desplaines and Halsted. Here the society remained and prospered until 1867, under the pastoral ministrations of Mr. Rider and Dr. Nathaniel Colver, when, becoming ambitious and looking upon their modest edifice as quite too small for so large and prosperous a city as Chicago; and feeling, as a certain minister expressed it, that "the day of small churches in Chicago had passed," they determined to erect a large and magnificent building in order to satisfy their personal and religious pride, and to provide an elegant religious home for a large, wealthy and prosperous organization. In 1867 the Church called the Rev. N. F. Ravlin to the pulpit. He remained until 1870, and succeeded in erecting and inclosing, on the corner of Harrison and Sangamon streets, where five twenty-five-foot lots had been purchased, a fine brick building, the main body of which was sixty-five by one hundred and twenty-five feet in size, the extreme width, including the towers, one on each front corner, being seventy-five feet. When the basement of this building was completed the Church sold to a business firm their property on DeKoven Street, and moved into the basement of the building, which they hoped would soon be completed and be their permanent home, and changed the name of their society from the "Berean Baptist Church" to the "Fifth Baptist Church." Had the church been finished according to the original design it would have cost $100,000. Including $20,ooo borrowed of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company, the society expended on the structure about $45,000. In 1868 the property was estimated to be worth $55,000; the congregation was three hundred, and the scholars in the Sunday school four hundred. It became evident about this time that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to complete the audience room of the church and towers, which would cost an additional $25,000 or $30,000. Members were tired of giving and were opposed to an increase of the debt. The Second Baptist Church was near, was large and wealthy and with but a small debt, and as the Fifth Church was mainly composed of people in moderate circumstances, men of means preferred to unite themselves with a Church in which the drain upon their purses would not be so constant nor so large. Still, although the members of this Church had much to discourage them, they labored on as best they could. When Mr. Ravlin retired from the pulpit in 1870, he was succeeded by Rev. J. T. Westover, who remained only six months. He was succeeded by Rev. W. J. Kermott, who came in 1870, and remained until 1872. He was succeeded in 1872 by Rev. N. F. Ravlin. During 1873, Mr. Ravlin, thinking it possible that the Church would be more prosperous under another name, proposed to the members that the title "Temple Baptist Church " be adopted in place of the "Fifth Baptist Church." The change was effected August 11, 1873. A Church paper, under the name "The Temple Call," was issued monthly, by John L. Manning, and Pliny P. Ravlin, a son of the pastor, the first number of which appeared in January, 1874. This name was retained as long as the Church existed. During his second pastorate Mr. Ravlin had as associate pastor, Rev. A. G. Eberhart, who received the whole of Mr. Ravlin's salary. In 1875 the Church was disbanded, in part on account of the debt, and in part because of the desire of most of the members to re-organize upon a different basis. On the 25th of April, 1875, a series of preambles and resolutions were presented for consideration, and on the 7th of June, adopted. The principal preamble was as follows:
"WHEREAS, It is desirable that an opportunity should be given all true followers of Jesus who may so desire, to unite with us in an effort to have the Gospel unshackeled by stated creeds, sectarian prejudice, or denominational bands, preached and sustained, but who are now prevented from so doing by reason of the present Church organization; therefore,The necessary resolutions were passed, the trustees instructed to convey any property belonging to the Temple Baptist Church to any new organization that may be formed according to the statutes of the State of Illinois. A few of the members who did not approve of the disorganization of the Church, adhered to each other, and under the pastorate of the Rev. W. S. Hamlin, continued religious services for a few months in the brick building. About twenty-five of those who had favored disbandment, formed an independent organization or mission, and under Mr. Ravlin's ministrations worshiped for six months at the northeast corner of Clinton and Twelfth streets. At the expiration of this period Mr. Ravlin accepted a call to the First Free-Will Baptist Church, located at the corner of Jackson and Loomis streets, where he remained nearly three years. He then started an effort in the West End Opera House, which was carried on about six months, when he removed to the Swedenborgian Temple, at the corner of Washington Street and Ogden Avenue, and finally to 431 Ogden Avenue, where he remained several months. He then accepted a call to a Baptist Church in San Jose, California, where he now resides, pastor of a large and flourishing congregation. The Temple Baptist Church building, after falling into the hands of the insurance company, was taken down and dwelling houses erected in its place."Resolved, That the present organization, known as the Temple Baptist Church, be and the same is hereby disbanded and disorganized immediately upon the passage of the necessary resolutions following herein."
The Olivet Baptist Church The Olivet Baptist Church had its origin, in 1853, in the "Zoar Baptist Church," which was organized that year by Rev. R. J. Robinson, who came from Alton for that purpose, remaining with the Church about a month. He was succeeded by Rev. H. H. Hawkins, who was the first permanent pastor. The church building originally stood at the corner of Buffalo and Taylor streets. In 1856 the Zoar Church had one hundred and twenty members, and for a year or two the membership was considerably increased by the influx of numerous refugees from the Southern States, and with increased numbers came trouble in reference to the government of the Church. In consequence of this difficulty about fifty or sixty of the members in 1858 seceded from the Zoar Church and formed the Mount Zion Church, being organized by Rev. Wallace Shelton, during the pastorate of Rev. D. G. Lett, who had been pastor of Zoar Church about three years. The Mount Zion Church leased, and worshiped during their separate existence, in a frame store building standing on Clark Street, near Harrison. Rev. H. H. White, who was the first pastor of the Zion Church, was succeeded
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by Rev. Jesse Bolden. The Zoar Church, after the secession, had for its pastor Rev. Mr. Tansbury, who, after remaining a short time, went back to Canada. After this, through the influence of Rev. Jesse Bolden, the two separate bodies were re-united, but as neither Church would unite under the name of the other, both names, Zoar and Zion, were discarded and the name "Olivet Baptist Church" adopted by mutual consent in its stead. This re-union occurred in December, 1862, in the Edina Place Baptist Church. The Olivet Society went into a building at the corner of Harrison and Griswold streets, formerly owned by the Zoar Church, at that time having about one hundred and twenty members. Rev. Jesse Bolden remained after the reunion about three months, when he was succeeded by Rev. Richard de Baptiste, in June, 1863, who remained pastor of the Church nineteen years, retiring from the pulpit February 1, 1882. He was succeeded by Rev. James Podd, who remained until January 10, 1883, and was succeeded by Rev. H. H. White. The church building mentioned above as standing at the corner of Harrison and Griswold streets, continued to be occupied until 1865, when this society, having purchased a lot on the east side of Fourth Avenue, between Taylor and Polk streets, erected a church thereon costing $18,000, worshiping for a few months in Witkoskey Hall, on the northwest corner of Monroe and Clark streets. This building escaped destruction by the fire of 1871, but was destroyed by that of 1874, at which time the society was in debt only $2,500. After this fire the city passed an ordinance opening Dearborn Street to Fourteenth Street, which cut off twenty-seven feet from their fifty-foot lot, and rendered it necessary for them to purchase an adjoining lot in order to have room to re-erect their church building. This lot cost $4,500; and the new church building, which was completed in 1875, cost $20,000. It is a three-story brick building, with two fronts - one of stone on Dearborn Street, the other on Fourth Avenue, and was erected without any assistance from insurance on the building destroyed in 1874, only $2,500 having been received from that source, all of which was used in payment of debts. This building was occupied until October, 1883, the property having been sold some time previous to the Western Indiana Railroad Company, for $32,500. With this money the debts were paid, and the balance used in purchasing a lot on Harmon Court, between State Street and Wabash Avenue, for which $13,500 was paid. At the time of selling their property to the Western Indiana Railroad Company, there were about five hundred members in the Church. It is their design to erect a new church edifice in the spring of 1884, a description of which will be inserted in the third volume of this History. At the time of the Rev. Mr. Podd's resignation, forty-six members were regularly dismissed from this Church to form the Bethesda Baptist Church under his pastorate, a sketch of which will be found in its proper place in this History.
First Swedish Baptist Church First Swedish Baptist Church, was organized in 1853, in part by Swedes, who had up to that time been members of the First (American) Baptist Church. This Church purchased for their Swedish offspring a school-house standing at the corner of LaSalle and Erie streets. Among those who united in organizing this Church were Ira J. Collings, Peter Peterson, Peter Modine, Andrew Anderson, F. M. Wimmerset, John Uberg, Matthew Matson, Frederick Blonquist, William Wigland, Mr. Mullen, and their wives. Rev. L. L. Frisk was the first pastor. For about a year after thus organizing themselves into a Church society they worshiped at the house of their pastor, and at the houses of various members of the Church. In 1854 they took possession of the school-house purchased for and presented to them. This they moved to Bremer Street, in 1858, and continued to occupy it until 1860 or 1861, when it was destroyed by fire. They then rented a schoolhouse, which they occupied for some years. Mr. Frisk remained pastor of the Church until 1857, when he was succeeded by the Rev. G. Palmquist, who remained about six months. After him there was no regular pastor in this Church before its disorganization, which occurred in 1864, but the members themselves conducted religous services as well as they could with an occasional sermon from a missionary. But at length a portion of the members becoming scattered, the rest became discouraged and abandoned the organization of the Church.
Rev. Luther Stone Rev. Luther Stone was born in the northeast corner of the town of Oxford, Worcester Co., Mass., September 26, 1815. He and his brother Lewis, who is still living on the old homestead, are twins, and the youngest of a family of six children. Mr. Stone is a descendant in the sixth generation of Gregory Stone, who came from Cousinston, Somersetshire, England, in the ship "Increase," to Boston, in 1634, and made his homestead in Cambridge, on what is now Mt. Auburn Cemetery. He brought with him his son John, then sixteen years old, and settled him in that part of Sudbury, which is now Karmingham, on land purchased of the Indians. Here was born Hezekiah Stone, the great-grandfather of Rev. Luther Stone, who in company with seven others purchased the town of Oxford, fourteen miles long by about five miles wide, of the Huguenots, to whom it had been given by Massachusetts after their expulsion from France. John Stone, the son of Gregory, had two sons, Daniel and Nathaniel. Lois, a grand-daughter of Nathaniel, married Uriah Stone, Jr., a great-grandson of Daniel. Luther, a son of Uriah, Jr., and Lois, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He married Miss Abigail Bemis, who was born in Spencer, Mass., lost her parents when very young, and was reared and educated by her uncle, Captain Jesse Smith, of Charlton, Mass. Luther had the advantages of a common-school education, and was prepared for college at Leicester Academy, which he entered in 1833, where he was under the tutorship of Rev. Luther Wright, formerly tutor in Yale College. He entered Brown University in 1835, graduating in 1839. lie then went to Newton Theological Institution, from which he graduated in 1842. He now spent his time for a year in preaching, and was ordained at Oxford, October 3, 1843, as an evangelist, designing to make the Mississippi Valley his field of labor. In the winter of 1843-44, he preached temporarily at Ellsworth, Me., and in the spring of 1844 returned to Boston and made preparations to go West, leaving Oxford on Wednesday the 8th of May. He traveled by railroad to Schenectady, N. Y., thence by canal packet to Buffalo, by steamer to Cleveland, by canal packet to Portsmouth, Ohio, spending a week between these two points at Granville College with Rev. Dr. Jonathan Going, its president. Reaching Portsmouth on Saturday, he preached on Sunday, taking a steamer on Monday down the Ohio for Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, in which latter place he visited the Rev. Isaac T. Hinton, who had been one of Chicago's early ministers. From St. Louis he went up the Mississippi River to Rock Island and Davenport, reaching the latter place on Thursday, the 6th of June. On the following Sunday he preached for the First Baptist Church in Davenport, which extended to him a call to become its pastor. Declining the call, he made Rock Island his home until March, 1845, spending the eight months in preaching in numerous towns and pioneer settlements in the Mississippi Valley, and traveling in the meantime thirty-four hundred miles. During this time the Rock Island Baptist Association was formed, Mr. Stone being present and one of its original members. About the first of March he went to Burlington, Iowa, and preached there on Sunday, the 9th, the first Baptist sermon in the place. He preached there four months, having as large a congregation as there was in the town. He then went back from the river about eight miles to a town named Pisgah, where there was a Baptist Church, and preached there several Sundays. He then came up Rock River to Sharon, four miles from Geneseo, in Henry County, Ill., and there bought two hundred and fourteen acres of land, upon which he erected what he designed as a part of a larger building, the
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whole to be used for an academy; but after remaining there several months, having chills and fever every day for four and a half weeks, he concluded the climate was not a healthy one, so bought a two-year old horse and saddle and rode to Rockford, preaching at different places on the way and reaching there in March, 1846. The Baptist Church at Rockford gave him a unanimous invitation to become its pastor, which he accepted and remained there until July, 1847. He then, on account of the differences of opinion and sentiment in the Baptist denomination at large respecting the subject of slavery, came to Chicago to establish the "Watchman of the Prairies," the first number of which he issued on the l0th of August of the same year. The majority of the Baptists were averse to the attitude of the general organizations of the denomination on this subject, and the Watchman was established in their defense. Mr. Stone continued the publication of the paper, as sole proprietor and editor, until June 18, 1853, when he sold it to John C. Burroughs, Levi D. Boone and A. D. Titsworth. From July, 1847, to September, 1848, Mr. Stone discharged the duties as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Chicago. After disposing of his paper, Mr. Stone continued to preach in Chicago in the various institutions of the city, and to supply vacant pulpits until i862, from which time to the close of the war he preached at the Soldier's Rest, at Camp Douglas, at the Marine Hospital and other places, continuing throughout this period his work at the jail and at mission schools. In 1863 he was made secretary, being one of the original fifteen trustees, of the Baptist Theological Union, which founded the Baptist Theological Seminary, now (1883) located at Morgan Park. This office he held until 1866. In September, 1864, he received an invitation to become the president of Central University, located at Pella, Iowa, but declined the honor. In November of the same year, at the request of friends of education in Iowa, he purchased college premises in the city of Des Moines, consisting of five acres of ground, beautifully situated upon which was a brick building. In order to do this he sold twenty acres of land south of and near to the city of Chicago, running from State Street to the present Grand Boulevard between Forty-eight and Fiftieth streets. Mr. Stone paid $8,000 for the college premises at Des Moines. The twenty acres above mentioned he sold for $6,000, and in 1868, only four years afterward, it had a market value of $200,000. In May, 1866, he went to Europe, accompanied by his wife and daughter, and spent over two years in travel. He visited Scotland, England, and all the principal countries and cities in continental Europe, crossed the Mediterranean and entered Egypt at Alexandria, and ascended the Nile eight hundred miles to Nubia, and, returning, visited Jerusalem, the Jordan, the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Hebron, Damascus, Beyrout, Smyrna, Constantinople, and also through the countries and principal cities of southern Europe to Hamburg, whence he embarked for home, reaching there July 3, 1868. Since this time Mr. Stone has lived the life of a retired minister, spending his days in that pleasantest of ways, perusing and studying the writings of the master minds of the past. He has read all the works of all the great Greek philosophers and historians - Aristotle, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Demosthenes and AEschylus, the principal Roman writers from the earliest to the latest, and has made a special study of American history and politics, so that there are probably few American statesmen better read in the politics and history of their country than he. Mr. Stone was married January 26, 1854, to Mrs. Anna M. Jacobus, a widow lady who had two children by her former marriage. Her maiden name was Speer. Her mother was of Holland descent and one of the descendants of Anneke Jans, who for many years has been contesting the title to the Trinity Church property, New York, which, previous to the conquest of the Hollanders by the English, was her homestead. He has raised and educated, and assisted in raising and educating, several children not his own.======= [From Alfred T. Andreas, History of Chicago, Volume 1, 1884, pp. 315-325. Document from Google Books On-line. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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