? ' r. T • ' BX 8937 .17 1923 Irvine, Mary D. Pioneer women of tlie Presbyterian Church, United Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/pioneerwomenofprOOirvi The Winsborough Building at Monlreat and the Woman’s Advisory Committee of 1922. PIONEER Of T Presbyterian Church, United States ♦ By y MARY D. IRVINE And ALICE L. EASTWOOD WOMEN HE H OF PRI NCtl ■■ APR 22 1983 Geological se#' v PUBLISHED BY PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION, RICHMOND, VA. Copyright, 1923 by Presbyterian Committee of Publication, Richmond, Va. Printed in United States of America. DEDICATION To the memory of the Holy Women of the past genera¬ tions, whose labors and sacrifices in the pioneer days of our country, laid the foundations of the Church’s growth and prosperity, this volume, which records, in part, the noble work of the Christian Women of the present day, is, with gratitude and reverence, affectionately dedicated. Mary D. Irvine. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page* Foreword _ 9 (Mrs. W. C. Winsborough) Introdutory_ 11 PART I. THE OPENING OF THE DOOR TO SERVICE. Chapter I. The Call to Service_ 13 Chapter II. Beginnings of Woman’s Service_ 15 In the Home—Church Erection— Church Furnishings—Miscellaneous Ser¬ vice—Church Membership. Chapter III. Early Church Policy and Woman’s Response _ 18 Service to the Indian—to the Negro. Chapter IV. Early Church Policy (Continued)_23 Service through Bible Societies—to Education. Chapter A 7 . Foreign Missions and the Woman’s Move¬ ment _26 Chapter VI. The Women of the Guerrant Inland Mis¬ sion _ 39 Chapter VII. The Building of the Auxiliary_43 Chapter VIII. The Builders of the Auxiliary_64 Chapter IX. The Results of the Auxiliary_ 75 Chapter X. Missionary Literature_79 FART II. THE HISTORY OF WOMAN’S WORK BY SYNODS Chapter I. Alabama _ 85 (Historian, Mrs. Alethea T. Cobb) Chapter II. Appalachia _103 (Historian, Mrs. Gale Armstrong) Page Chapter III. Arkansas _121 (Historian, Mrs. J. B. Nunn) Chapter IV. Florida _131 (Historian,, Mrs. O. Z. Olin, Miss Agnes Davidson) Chapter V. Georgia _143 (Historian, Mrs. Wm. Rowland) Chapter VI. Kentucky _163 (Historian, Mrs. M. D. Irvine, Miss Alice Eastwood) Chapter VII. Louisiana ___191 (Historian, Mrs. W. B. Sommerville) Chapter VIII. Mississippi_203 (Historian, Mrs. C. G. Everts) Chapter IX. Missouri _223 (Historian, Mrs. H. N. McCain, Mrs. J. R. Miller) Chapter X. North Carolina_243 (Historian, Mrs. R. D. Blacknall) Chapter XI. Oklahoma _273 (Historian, Mrs. H. B. Sears) Chapter XII. .South Carolina_283 (Historian, Miss Margaret Gist) Chapter XIII. Tennessee _319 (Historian, Miss Mary Isabelle Saunders) Chapter XIV. Texas _337 (Historian, Mrs. S. R. Ludlow) Chapter XV. Virginia _359 (Historian, Mrs. J. C. Stuart) Chapter XVI. West Virginia_383 (Historian, Mrs. Lewis Stuart) Chapter XVII. Retrospect_395 Chapter XVIII. Appreciation _398 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Woman’s Advisory Committee, Montreat, 1922-Frontispiece The Montreat Gate_54 Mrs. W. C. Winsborough_65 Mrs. D. A. McMillan_67 Mrs. A. M. Howison_69 Mrs. Sarah Pratt Lapsley _ 84 Mrs T. H. McCallie_ 102 Mrs. J. B. Nunn _120 Mrs. W. IT Dodge_ , _130 Mrs. Josiah Sibley _142 Mrs. M. D. Irvine_162 Miss Sophie B. Wright_190 Mrs. Alma Willis Sydenstricker_202 Miss Jennie Hanna_222 Mrs. Elizabeth McRae _242 Mrs. B. F. Hall_260 Mrs. W. J. B. Lloyd_272 Mrs. F. Louise Mayes _i_282 Communion Tokens, First Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C._288 Mrs. Felix Grundy _318 Mrs. J. C. Terrell_336 Mrs. Barbara Dulnig _349 Mrs. J. W. Skinner_353 Mrs. Sarah M. Price_358 Mrs. J. Calvin Stewart_360 Mrs. B. F. Mann _:_382 Old Stone Church, Lewisburg, W. Va_384 Inscription Over Doorway, Old Stone Church, Lewis¬ burg, W. Va. _. _________,385 FOREWORD Rich indeed is the heritage of devotion and achievement handed down to the Southern Presbyterian woman of today from the pioneer women of the Church. The tiny seed planted in 1817, the Rockfish Missionary Society, has in the century succeeding matured into the sturdy Woman’s Auxiliary with its spreading branches reaching into every department of the Church work and bearing rich blossom and fruit. An appreciation of our inheritance has led us to seek to record the early history of the women of the Church. The one to whom this difficult and important work was to be entrusted has especial fitness for the arduous task which she was officially asked to undertake in a request from the Woman’s Advisory Committee in July, 1920. Mrs. Mary D. Irvine has been personally associated with every advance step of the work of the women of the Church. When the movement for Presbyterial organization was started in the 80’s she was a co-worker With those pioneers, and for fifteen years was President of Transylvania Presbyterial. Many years later she was the moving spirit in the organization of the Kentucky Synodical and its first presiding officer. She was among the first to rally to the forces attempting to establish the Woman’s Auxiliary and brought the Kentucky Synodical to the support of the other four Synodicals at that time. A woman of keen insight, consecrated tact, wide vision and gifted pen, she has wrought in these pages a labor of love rendered all the more precious because of great physical handi¬ caps which would have made the work impossible to a less courageous and persevering soul. We would also record the invaluable help given to our His¬ torian. by Miss Alice Eastwood, who hase served as compiler and editor. The women of the Church are profoundly grateful to these and to the many others who have made this volume possible. (Mrs. W. C.) Hallie P. Winsborough. —.— —= = INTRODUCTORY To the Women of the Southern Presbyterian Church, we bring Greetings. To our co-workers, through whom the chief merits of this work is due, we extend thanks. If to you, dear readers, its contents fail to measure up to your expectations, be it remembered, we cannot make bricks without straw, neither can we achieve the impossible, that^ of compressing many volumes into one. Want of early data is the missing straw, and overmuch of later data has, to our great regret, had to yield to certain rules of elimination, con¬ trolled by the scope of the work. Misconceptions, misunderstandings, lost records or no records, difficulty in finding legitimate avenues of access—all of this has caused an unavoidable delay. After exhaustive efforts on the part of many, we, at last, present to you our labor of love. Every narrative has led us along the upward path of progress, but this has not been our highest joy. As has been said: “It’s not in the fruits of progress we find the soul of history” but, to have been brought face to face with the men and women who have carved its path, to have walked with them along its upward steeps, catching, as we marched, the soul sparks from their sacrificial service, means a baptism of fire, a higher incentive to obedience and a deeper humiliation of spirit. Should it mean as much to our readers, then have our efforts wrought their legitimate purpose and love’s labor has not been in vain. CHAPTER I. The Call to Service History, in the making, is unconscious of itself. While the issue is on, the chief concern is with its outcome, leaving the future to reveal, in proportionate outline, its true perspective and color, which ofttimes looms up dim and unreal because of its remoteness. Such was our fear, when first we began the search to discover, if we might, the early traditions and musty records of the early movements of the Presbyterian women o± the Southland. But, in the spirit of the old Galloway stone¬ cutter of the Kirk of Scotland, in behalf of the martyred Came- ronians, we went promptly to work to restore lost land-marks, to lift fallen stones and deepen time-worn epitaphs. In this quest, we have encountered various experiences which have either chilled or thrilled at unexpected finds. Wherein we have failed to find gives us no brief against the Southern woman. The age of materialism had not released its hold upon our young Republic, when came the iron days of the sixties, with their grim struggle, followed by the period of reconstruc¬ tion, which so engulfed us, that only the voice of the burning bush could have rescued us from blank despair and filled us with the hope of readjustment. So, while our New England sisters* were marking historic spots and casting into literary mold, their deeds of the past, we were in a struggle for existence and for rehabilitation, thus re¬ making instead of marking history. Well nigh six decades have passed since then, and time was ripe indeed, when our General Superintendent summoned us back into the hinterland to gather up the broken fragments of a priceless past. The scope of our story is coincident with our country’s history, and covers the most transitional period of world history. Nowhere is this more strikingly shown than in the changed position of woman, standing as she does today, with the 14 PIONEER WOMEN shackles of prejudice lying broken at her feet, and clothed with all the prerogatives that go to dignify her sex. To her present position in the Kingdom, the truth of his¬ tory must place upon her brow the glory of self-achievement and that, not by militant force, but by the magic of a super¬ intending Providence. The Church of the Twentieth Century, with its new accessions of strength, through the unbound hand of woman, and its new opportunity of service, through the unlocked door of the Orient, offers monumental proof that God’s purpose can neither be defeated nor deflected by human agency. Men had battered long at the iron bars of harem and zenana doors, when lo! they yielded at the touch of a cambric needle in the hands of a woman.* Thence came the divine urge of a great call from the Ori¬ ental to the Occidental, which in its efforts to liberate the Oriental woman, proved the unbinding of the strong left arm of the church at home. It was the call of woman to woman. The history of the Presbyterian woman in America has an international background and a world-wide vision. When, in 1749, Jonathan Edwards, because of the awful spiritual corruption of the times, issued his clarion call for a visible union of prayer, it was not only heard at home, but it was our own kindred blood in England, Scotland, Wales, North Ireland and Southern Europe, who knelt with us in intercessory bands pleading for a lost world. Out of this grew the “Monthly Concert of Prayer”J which, in 1784, became an established in¬ stitution of the church, lighting with its pentecostal fires, the highway of the King of Kings, in His onward march for the conquest of the world, f *It is a well known, story how the trivial wish of a heathen woman to learn how to embroider a pair of slippers for her Hindoo lord, was used as the opening wedge of entrance to zenanas. (See Life of Mrs. Hannah Mullins.) tAssembly’s Digest, Baird’s Collection, page 206, 1815. JMonthly Concerts. “The King and the Head of the Church has during the last year, poured out His Spirit in a remarkable and glorious manner. . . Whereas, many Christians in Asia, Africa and Europe have agreed to set apart the first Monday evening in every month, that they may meet together and say, with the heart, ‘Thy kingdom come’—. . . be it resolved that the monthly concert be observe-d hereafter and that collections be taken up at the close of every concert in aid of the foreign operations of our Church.” BEGINNINGS OF WOMAN’S SERVICE 15 CHAPTER II. Beginnings of Woman’s Service In the Christian Home . The Presbyterian home of primitive days, in this new country, safely entrenched as it may have been by fort or stockade, had for its strongest bulwark of defense and its greatest source of influence, the Bible and Catechism in the hands of the mother. Significant was the fire-side scene of children gathered at her knee in Scriptural drill, and prophetic beyond the ken of man to conceive, was the spiritual impress thus made upon coming generations who were either to bear aloft the banner of the King or to trail it in the dust. Outside the Home—Church Erection. We next enroll her with our brawny muscled forefathers, as they plan for the erection of the first shelter for public worship in the primeval forest. We find her with them, helping to choose the spot, and when comes that notable “log¬ raising day” she is there again, as Indian sentinel, or possibly as “hewer of wood and drawer of water,” but surely there, as high priestess at the noon-day hour, stimulating the inner and outer man as he lends himself to the worthy task. It is an interesting story that, of how women and boys carried on horseback, bags of sand for chinking the old his¬ toric church at Lewisburg, West Virginia.* (See West Vir¬ ginia Synodical Sketch). *From Davidson’s History of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky, page 35. It is interesting to trace the steps of these hardy pioneers in their zeal to secure the decent maintenance of religious ordinances. . . .They distributed themselves into companies, one to quarry and haul the stone, another to furnish the lime and sand, which had to be conveyed in sacks from a distance, over bad roads and this duty was undertaken by the women. . . . Money was then a scarce article, and deerskins, furs and butter were used for barter. From a description of First Church in Lebanon, Kentucky, 1789, we get a general picture of those early “meeting houses.” It was a log building, made of unhewed logs and was sixteen feet square and five longs high, covered with rough board. It was not chinked nor daubed, and had no windows except the cracks between the logs—no floor, but the earth which was car- 16 PIONEER WOMEN It seems that church sessions did not concern themselves with deeds of women save when she needed discipline and some very laughable records of this occur. Recently, we have seen, in an old Kentucky Session book, where in 1823 a wife was tried for “harsh and imprudent conduct” towards her husband! Another woman for intoxication. In 1832 another claimed to have spun six cuts of thread and afterwards ad¬ mitted it was only five and a half. Suspension or expulsion was the common penalty and both black and white were pun¬ ished. (See New Providence and Paris churches. Kentucky Sketch). Church Furnishings. Whether the heating, lighting and minor furnishings of the church is our heritage, because of our fitness in device and resource, or whether we have been forced thus to meet such necessities, truth to say, the Brethren have always generously allowed us full part as our Aid Society records show. So from land grant on which to build, to the song book in the pew, women claim now, as ever in the past, full repre¬ sentation in church erection and furnishings. Miscellaneous Services. Individually and collectively, we read of mortgages lifted, mission points established through Sunday School Extension work by women; yea, Sunday Schools maintained, churches built, old debts resolutely met, rather than church doors be closed; women on Diaconate boards; literature sent over the Presbytery (Practical Presbyterial Union, 100 years ago), and—as runs the record—“Aid Society doing whatever is left undone.” For fin exaggerated instance of this, we cite from Texas Synodical peted with leaves. A few stumps and logs served for seats. It was warmed by a huge log fire, heaped at the front of the door. In 1795 this first building was replaced by another of much the same type, but larger, to accommodate its growing congregation. This was twenty-eight feet long and twenty feet wide, was partly chinked but not daubed; had a loose plank floor, some rough frame benches and one small window oveb the pulpit that the preacher might see to read the Scriptures. BEGINNINGS OE WOMAN’S SERVICE 17 Sketch, where five women gave land, built a house of worship, organized a Sunday-school, and then surrendered all to the ecclesiastical control of an organized church, free of charge. Church Membership. Old minutes startle us with the preponderance of women’s names enrolled as charter members. Augusta, Ga., 1807, thir¬ teen members, ten of them women. First .Church, Louisville. 1816, seventeen members, eleven of them women; Richmond. Ky., sixteen members, twelve women; Fulton, Mo., 1836, sev¬ enteen women, five men; Little Rock, Ark., 1828, five women, two men; Greensboro, N. C., 1824, sixteen members, three men, nine women, six white, three black; Nashville, First Church, 1824, seven members, one man, six women. Like records can be cited from every State showing the same old story of women first proclaiming the messoge of the Risen Saviour. 18 PIONEER WOMEN CHAPTER III. Early Church Policy and Woman's Response. On page 312, Assembly’s Digest, is outlined for us in the year 1800, the four objectives of the Presbyterian Church: “A. Gospelizing of the Indians. B. Instruction of the Negroes and the poor. C. Purchasing and disposing of Bibles and also books. D. Provision of funds for the more complete instruc¬ tion of the candidates for the Gospel ministry.” From the same source, page 319, is shown the recognition of woman as an integral part in this church scheme. “It is among the dis¬ tinguished glories of the commencement of the Nineteenth Century, that pious females are more extensively associated and more actively useful in promoting evangelical and benevolent objects than in any former period of the world.” Again, from page 206, Assembly’s Digest: “1816. Female Fraying Societies. Several conversions to God in individual cases and several revivals of religion in societies may be traced to these seasons of social prayer.” . . . “In many places, devout and pious females have formed themselves into praying societies . . . May their number increase.” Here we find the church invoking the help of “those women who publish good tidings” and we also find those women in¬ voking the power of the Holy Spirit. Section I—Service to the Indians. From the days of Azariah Horton, 1841, of Daniel Brain- ard, and Jonathan Edwards, until the present, we find the Pres¬ byterian Church bearing a noble part in the salvation of the Indian. It is the oldest mission work of our church. In 1801, the General x4ssembly was lamenting because of “no one to send” yet in their hands reposed “a sum contributed by many” to the Indian fund. EARLY CHURCH POLICY 19 In 1803 we find the Blackburns in Tennessee among the Cherokees, succeeded by the Kingsburys among the Choctaws. Hotchkins, Byingtons, the Wrights and Samuel Worcester, whose wife and children suffered untold hardships while he languished in the Milledgeville penitentiary sentenced for four years by a Georgia judge (released in eighteen months). The wives of all these pioneer missionaries, ’mid the savage wilds of our country, were heroines of the truest courage. Of the ‘‘Trail of Tears” in that migration of 1832-1836. from East of the Mississippi to Indian territory, in all of its sickening details of horror, women bore their part. With only a shadowy gleam of the sufferings they endured, we stand with uncovered heads in the presence of the blood which laid the foundations of our church in the far West. (See Mission to the Indians, in the Oklahoma Sketch.) Section II—Service to the Negro. Quoting from Assembly’s Digest, page 107: “Case of Conscience. Synod of New York. 1786. Whether Christian masters or mistresses ought, in duty, to have such children bap¬ tized as are under their care, though born of parents not in the communion of any Christian church. “Synod is of opinion that such masters and mistresses whose religious professions and conduct are such as give them a Gght to the ordinance of- baptism for their own children, may and ought to dedicate the children of their own household to God in that ordinance.” The above is quoted to show the attitude of the Christian slaveholder. Since this is history and not theory, we are re¬ cording, we assert, on the truth of God’s promise, the fact that a spiritual heritage from pious slaveholders, blessed many negro families. Maria Fearing, Lillian Thomas, Lucy Shep¬ pard and many others of the race are heirs of a religious in¬ fluence of a former generation of whites. But because God 20 PIONEER WOMEN used the system for the salvation of souls, this is not meant as its vindication. The Southern woman felt deeply her obligation to the negro in her home. How this obligation was met can best be told by one of his own race, thirty-five years after freedom. The place was Carnegie Hall, in New York City, in 1900; the occasion, the great Ecumenical Council, where were met missionaries from all over the world; the speaker was George S. Norris, a returned Baptist Missionary, who stirred the house from base to dome with words like these: “Of all the mis¬ sionary work ever done in this old world, the greatest, most rapid, effective and economic was that accomplished by the masters and mistresses of the .South in behalf of the negro.” And all through the South did he proclaim this message to his own people the following summer, meeting with applause everywhere. Akin to Norris’ statement was that made to the writer, years ago, by our own Wm. .Sheppard, colored, whose wish was that he might visit all the churches of his race with the message that their best friend was the Christian white man. That the attitude of owner and bondsmen brought out the best and worst in human nature is well understood by those who knew slavery. We believe that the generalship of the Southern woman of ante-bellum days, as was shown throughout our Civil War, was largely due to the demands which had been made upon her as manager and mobilizer of the negro fami¬ lies for whom she had been responsible. It was she, who had first to assume the reins of govern¬ ment, being their guardian, guide and counselor from birth. Such responsibility put a fibre into her nature, which, as a Christian mistress, enabled her by practice to preach such ser¬ mons as they seldom get today. On the other hand, we must pay tribute where tribute is due, to the “Ole Black Mammy” who sometimes supplemented the neglect of the white mother, by being the first to teach the EARLY CHURCH POLICY 21 little lips to lisp a prayer or to tell of how Jesus took the little children in His arms and blessed them. The real relationship of the two races is only understood by those who lived under the system and not even can this generation of the Southland fully understand. Lest the situation be relegated to a maudlin sympathy, oft- times told in fiction, without foundation and since these pages are supposed to portray the slave-holding Christian mistress as she was, we can best narrate some very real facts pertaining to that day, and which obtained, more or less, in every South¬ ern State. It was at a Southern Synod, about 1900, when a jeport was offered by the Assembly’s Secretary of colored work, a young man, in which he referred to the upward progress of the negro from his former condition, which was that of “goods and chattels.” -After motion for its adoption, one of the older ministers rose to protest against this phrase in a Southern Church body. “Goods and chattels?” Yes: in a legal sense they were, but his mind went back to his early childhood on a Southern plantation, on Sabbath afternoons, when, as a child. he was wont to accompany his parents or, as he grew older, had sometimes to go alone, but somebody had to go across the fields to the chapel built for negro worship, where they met the negroes from three plantations and led them in a service of song and prayer; either leading off in scripture reading and exposition thereof, or reading to them out of a book well known as “Plantation Sermons” and then teaching catechism questions known as “Jones’ Catechism,” especially prepared for their use. (Chapels for the negro were scattered all over the South). With a memory like this embalmed in his heart of hearts, this son of the South could not consent to see the phrase “goods and chattels” incorporated in a report in our Southern Presby¬ terian Church records. Needless to say, these words were ex¬ punged from the report. That the negroes were never generally 22 PIONEER WOMEN regarded as such, we cite the old Southern churches with their spacious galleries provided for negro worship, and be it known that at the time of freedom, one-half of them were church com¬ municants, thirty-five thousand of them Presbyterian. EARLY CHURCH POLICY 23 CHAPTER IV. Early Church and Woman’s Response Section III—Service in Bible Societies. The importation of the Bible into the country has an in teresting civic background. England had retained the right of Bible publication within her own borders. Calvinists had renounced all other authority save the Word of God, and Bibles they must have in America. Twenty thousand copies were ordered by Congress in 1777. But five years later we find the following record: In 1782 the first English Bible ever printed, in the United States, that printed by Robert Aitken, of Philadelphia, was put out under the auspices of Congress by the passage of the follow¬ ing resolution: ‘‘Resolved, that the United States in Congress assembled . . . recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States. (Signed) Charles Thomson. Secretary.” What I would call attention to is the fact that the founders of our Republic took this step twenty-two years before the first Bible Society in all the world was organized. Out of the first Society, British and Foreign, 1804, sprang all Bible societies, including the first American in Philadelphia, in 1808, quickly followed by other States, culminating in our national chartered society in 1816, with thirty-one affiliating institutions. Female Bible Societies were contemporary with the move¬ ments of the church itself, and their rapid rise and spread are obvious from dates we have found within and without our Church history. Sources of appeal for Bibles were manv, “in view of vast multitudes of families in our own country desti¬ tute of the Book, the vast number of immigrants, laborers, boat¬ men, seamen and the wide opening fields of Pagan, Mohamme¬ dan and Papal lands.” (Assembly’s Digest, page 416.) 24 PIONEER WOMEN Then upon the ears of the women fell stories like these. Samuel J. Mills, after extensive journeys in 1812 and 1813, had to report that among early settlers and pioneers, he had found wide-spread Bible destitution. The British and Foreign Society had made a grant of $1,000.00 to our American Society for the printing and distribution of Bibles. Soldiers of 1812 were in need. The Governor of Louisiana, in 1812, had no Bible on which to take oath of office until, after a long hunt, a Latin Vulgate was furnished by a priest. Seventy-eight thousand families were destitute, and Mills found one man in Illinois who had been trying for ten years to buy a copy of the Scriptures. Contemporary with the Domestic need came that of Carey. Morrison, Judson, Gutzlaaf and others, that we “hold the ropes” whilst they go down into heathen depths, where Bible transla¬ tion must precede missions. So, while Boards were financing Bible translation which was the only gateway through which the throbbing spirit of “Modern Missions” could find release, there we find women standing ready to “carry on” as these early Bible Societies attest. The demand grew from within and without. After all, it was not a far cry from that of the Welsh lassie, Mary Jones, whose heart-hunger for a Bible of her very own in 1804, origi¬ nated the first Bible Society in England, to the “Mary Jones of America,” whose heart-hungering doubtless prompted those “Earley Female Bible Societies.” Section IV—Service to Education. Assembly’s Digest, Baird’s Collections. Revised, page 183. “Female Benevolent Societies, 1815. Resolved: That the As¬ sembly have heard with lively pleasure of the exertions of pious and benevolent females in some portions of our Church, to raise funds for the indigent students in our Theological Semi¬ nary. By these seasonable exertions, many promising youths EARLY CHURCH POLICY 25 have been supported who, otherwise, could not have had access to this institution. . . . more needed . . . Assembly hopes that this fact will increase the number of female asso¬ ciations . . . money so raised to be applied by the asso¬ ciations themselves to such students as they may think proper; or it may, which has usually been done, be transmitted to the Professors, to be appropriated at their discretion.” (Note the distinction between Female Bible and Female Benevolent Societies). It is with dignified pride that we submit this record which shows the ready response of our pioneer grandmothers to the call of the Church. * Our readers will see in the Synodical Sketches, how ancient precedent has been followed by succeeding generations, and it comes as blood calling to blood—the pledge across a century, of fealty to a common cause, none nobler than that of life en¬ listment. “Support of Candidates” holds a much broader sig¬ nificance today in the term “Christian Education.” Early records show, however, that women of that day focussed their efforts in behalf of struggling youth of the Church. Our Synodical Sketches, as also the biographies of ministers and missionaries, testify to the continuous ministry of women in behalf of their equipment for life service. See one inter¬ esting case, that of Joseph Neesima, as found in Kentucky’s Sketch. 26 PIONEER WOMEN CHAPTER V. Foreign Missions and the Woman’s Movement. Until little more than a century ago, missionary vision was confined to the Home fields. The signal calls were heard only by individuals and sublime was the faith of those who answered—the faith of a Mary Lyons to “Go where no one else would go and do what no once else would do,” of a Fidelia Fiske, of the Judsons, the Marsdens, the Agnews, the Kings- burys, the Wrights and of a Malinda Rankin, who said, “If no one else will go, I will.” Such was the faith of those who went down when there were few to hold the ropes. As we have been searching for traditions and records of the history of Presbyterian women, we have learned that her response was coincident with the call abroad. For proof of this, watch for the lights as they glint through the pioneer history of the different States. The writer, having long known that her paternal grand¬ mother of Big Spring Church, Kentucky (who died in 1846) was, by payment of twenty dollars, a “Life Member” of some Foreign Board, instituted search to ascertain and to incorporate in this history the extent of this plan of giving. After ex¬ haustive efforts, the inquiry seemed hopeless, when recently a letter from the Missionary Research Bureau of New York brought much valuable information. From it was learned that a long list of Presbyterian women were life members of either Home or Foreign Missionary Societies or of both in the second quarter of the Nineteenth Century. The names were pub¬ lished in the Foreign Missionary Chronicle, which was the organ of the Western Foreign Missionary Society and this in turn was the forerunner of the Foreign Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church, organized in 1832. At this time, there were five large Societies in existence, all with many women members. FOREIGN MISSIONS 27 1837. Thirteenth Annual Report of Sunday School Union showed women life members, 167. 1838. Twenty-second report of American Bible Society, showed women life members, 513. 1845. Seventeenth Annual Report of American Seamen Friends Society, women life members, 288. 1845. Eighth Annual Report American and Foreign Bi¬ ble Society, women life members, 250. In one place, the heading runs that life membership was obtained “by the contribution of $30.00 and upwards; for females, $20.00 and upwards.” (See Kentucky History.) From this record is gathered that Presbyterian women have kept pace with every current missionary enterprise, and the above information supplies the missing link between the “Female Bible Society” of the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century and the Woman’s Missionary Society of the third quarter. The history of the Woman’s Movement and of Foreign Missions is so interdependent that they must be considered to¬ gether. Because of ignorance of geographical and living con¬ ditions in heathen lands, because of poor transportation facili¬ ties, and the lack of funds, women were slow to enter the foreign field.* But as world conditions unfolded a restlessness ensued, because of the handicaps of a false sentiment, universally pre¬ vailing regarding woman’s position. It was in the seventies the awakening came to wider opportunities abroad, and by the early eighties, two corresponding movements were distinctly felt, viz.: the groundswell of the foreign appeal, and the quick¬ ening of women’s missionary activities in the church at home. *It is not generally known that Mrs. Inslee, wife of our pioneer mis¬ sionary to China, 1S67, died of the effects of the rough sailing voyage. Ignorance of living conditions was shown in the following Kentucky incident. When the Barnes-Forman party were sailing for India, in 1847, they were presented with silver and linen as farewell gifts. These were returned unboxed. This is to us, as it was to them a grim joke, when we know that these brave people passed through the Sepoy Rebellion, enduring its horrors and often having to flee from their homes. 28 PIONEER WOMEN In “Gospel In All Lands,” by Rev. Clark, D. D., (1880), after enumerating the outlines of missionary progress, such as geography, literature and language, he states: “It re¬ mains to notice one other remarkable characteristic of mis¬ sionary work of our times which was needed to complete the victory — Woman’s Work for Woman. . . Something has been done by individual missionary ladies but Women’s Boards and Organizations, whose sudden rise and growth and suc¬ cess are in singular correspondence to the calls abroad, con¬ stitute one of the characteristic features of the Church history of our time.” What an anachronism! That Woman’s Work for Woman should have been reserved as among God’s last agencies. “One of the characteristic features ... of our times ” —1880) ! And it was a woman who had been commissioned and had fled with such willing feet from the Garden on the Resurrection morn, to bear glad tidings of a Risen Saviour! Prejudice against woman’s organized work came first from the great primal causes, the virus of whose poison coming down from pagan, papal and Mohammedan systems, had not only held her in a subordinate position, but had, unconsciously, warped Scriptural interpretations regarding heiv In all churches “unscriptural” had been written over the door which barred not only the liberities of women, but of the laity the youth and the children of the church. The attitude of our own church toward the youth as late as 1892 is shown by the following: “In activities which are constituted of both young men and young women care is to be taken that the limitations laid down in Scriptures be not transgressed . . . it is not proper for girls and young women to preside over a meeting of a society, or to make an address or to lead in prayer.” (See Alexander’s Digest, 1892, page 108). In regard to children Christ’s own words, “Suffer little FOREIGN MISSIONS 29 children to come unto Me and forbid them not,” failed of their real import until a half century ago, because they were not coupled with that other Scripture—“With the heart man be- lieveth unto righteousness” and “There is none that under- standeth” (Romans 10:10), which, being at last rightly in¬ terpreted opened the door of the Church to our children. Today three-fifths of our church membership is composed of those received under fifteen years of age—a sweeping vindi¬ cation of the propriety of receiving children into the Com¬ munion. The old interpretation of “Eateth and drinketh un¬ worthily” limited the Communion table to the exclusion of the young and timid, said Dr. T. R. Cleland, of Kentucky who in 1823 abandoned the use of tokens.* Changing interpretations have been a matter of slow growth and go to show that any belief or system of doctrine must have for fundation not a part but the whole Word of God. Take for instance John 3:36. “He that hath the Son hath life,” our precious doctrine of Christian Assurance today, the claim of which even fifty years ago, was counted as “unholy presumption.” But there were some strange inconsistencies in those former days. By some quirk of the brain, we have known Church Ses¬ sions to employ women as Sunday-school teachers for Men’s Bible Classes, and even to send them out on Sunday afternoon as part of Extension Work, where the lesson was taught to mixed assemblies by the women. And yet hands went up in holy horror at bare mention of a woman delegate to a Sunday- school Convention, and to speak on the floor was to be classed with the suffragette. A prominent woman missionary back on furlough was refused the privilege of addressing a Presbyterial Union, yet, was sent to a large College to tell the young men about China. *For Tokens, see South Carolina’s History. A perplexing problem often confronted the Presbyterial 30 PIONEER WOMEN President, viz.: How to place on her program for the popular address, her foreign missionary woman speaker, lest she be exposed to the ears of the men. It went without saving: “Open meeting—man speaker.” As a result of this attitude women were peculiarly un¬ developed. At the close of a talk by Mrs. J. L. Stuart to the women of a large city church on her first furlough, Mrs. Stuart asked for a prayer for her safe return to China and for a blessing upon the work there. Silence ensued. No woman present would pray audibly. Many of us recall Montreat Summer Conference of 1913, where the improvised pulpit was always set aside when the women were to hold session and a small table substituted; “Why shock our conservatives” was the policy of our tactful Superintendent. That the general attitude towards woman was a direct heritage of prejudice we insert here a quaint old English, clipping, which we pass along, that it may provoke a smile, if not a tear, for pity’s sake. “It was from Leyden that the leaders of the Pilgrim Fa¬ thers set out for America. While of course the great motive of this perilous adventure was the desire for complete religious liberty, there were minor reasons why these English Separatists were not quite content in Holland. One may seem amusing to American readers. ‘The Dutch girls and women were en¬ tirely too independent to suit these Englishmen!’ One of them wrote. ‘As the women in these Provinces overtop the men in number, so they commonly rule theire famylyes. And nothing is more frequent, than to see the girles to insult and domineere (with reproofes and nicknames), over theire broth¬ ers and this they do from the first use of speech, as if thev were born to rule over the malles.’ ” They say these Pilgrims brought some Dutch customs with them to America! FOREIGN MISSIONS 31 Another issue was the mid-century movement of Woman m Medical Missions. Within this period rests the historical setting of the most far reaching agency, fraught with the greatest benediction ever conferred upon humanity, and yet, the most bitterly con¬ tested. The scope of our work forbids any detailed account of this new movement, born as late as the middle of last century and fought out within the confines of our cultured East, but that we may stimulate the appetite of our readers, not familiar with this story, let them read further.* “Mentally, morally and physically unfit” was the dictum of the medical fraternity, the church and the world, concern¬ ing women medical missionaries. Young students on entering public places were encountered with vile epithets, and even missiles thrown and at church were met in the aisles with drawn skirts and averted faces, which but proved what has been so truly said, “Men who were martyrs to the hatred and violence of one age are the canonized saints of another.” Nothing so emphasizes this as the history of woman’s share in Medical Missions. That “she never turned her back, but marched breast forward” marks but another turn in the wheel of progress whose dial has been controlled by Almighty God in all ages. After the prayers and efforts of nearly three decades, and even then, under protest and suspicion of the clergy, women succeeded in forming their first Interdenominational Union in 1861, in New York City, with the objective of sending woman to woman with the Gospel. Yet, at the return of those first missionaries of that Board from Indian Zenanas, with heart and tongue fired with burning messages, brave was the Church which ventured to open its doors to a woman speaker: “An innovation altogether too questionable.” “Propriety and good *£ee “Western Women in Eastern Lands,” “The Crusade of Com¬ passion,” etc. 32 PIONEER WOMEN taste” relegated woman to the private drawing room and to her own sex. A tour among the churches of Miss H. G. Brittain, the first Zenana missionary to return to this country was the entering wedge. (She was sent out by the Interdenominational Union). This was the late seventies and she was the first woman we ever heard speak on a church rostrum to a mixed audience, f As she lifted the veil upon oriental conditions of woman¬ hood, it was by the thrill of her burning eloquence in the por¬ trayal of facts the world had never known, that truly the messenger was lost in the message, and prejudice vanished like mist before the sun, only that mists have a way of linger¬ ing here and there in spots, which they did, over all the churches but longer over the Southern Prebyterian Church. Yet the tide had turned, and within the next decade Women’s Denominational boards were taking shape, although the church was trembling from center to circumference for fear of encroachment upon the powers that be; for fear of a lowered female standard, and other ghouls that haunted the imagination and disturbed the souls of men. Onward came the tide of ap¬ peal, until when, as stories multiplied of Zenana needs and medical possibilities, the crest of the wave overflowed into a flood of sympathy, out of which were formed, all over the country, missionary groups, chiefly in the form of Pledge Bands, which stood only for gifts at first but which soon developed into Foreign Mission Societies, where the soul could find expression in timidly attempted programs, with or without the devotional feature. Then in the early eighties began the all-round de¬ velopment of woman. Devotionals led by the women were at first the exception, and when the pastor led, he considerately retired before the women spoke. As has been cleverly said: “The new woman was now standing on the banks, like Eliza IThis was in the town of Danville, Ky., Miss Brittain was introduced to her audience by Dr. Lapsley McKee, Vice-President of Center College, % man ahead of his time. FOREIGN MISSIONS 33 in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, not daring to cross the river on the floating ice.” Led by women of vision, who had the courage of convic¬ tion (and backed by far-seeing men), with breast bared to the shafts of cruel criticism, she hesitatingly took the plunge. Then followed a period of strong agitation. Woman’s position and missionary zeal seemed as things apart in the minds of some of our Presbyterian men, while into the heart of no church did the appeal come closer, than to our Southern Presbyterian body. From the famous resolution of John Holt Rice, in 1831, that “A member of the Presbyterian Church is a member for life of a Missionary Society” down through the separation of the Church in 1861, the Southern Presbyterian Assembly ever unfurled, as the first inscription upon its banner; “Go ye into all the world.” Yet, under the mist of what we call “Conser¬ vatism,” long after women of all other churches had organized, we find our Southern women sitting apart in local bands with¬ out even a system of reports. See 1889, Committee’s Report to General Assembly on Women’s Societies. (This report came at a period of very great agitation on the subject of Presbyterial Unions.) “Report from 68 Presbyteries; 18 forming Unions; 39 opposed to anything beyond the local society. One arguing in detail against any further organization.” ( Alexander’s Digest). We fancy a vision of the short haired woman in trousers with militant tread, had struck terror to that Presbytery’s heart! An overture that blanks be furnished for society reports was refused on the ground that “ Church Sessions can report what is necessary.” It was not until sixteen years later, 1905, that our Assembly granted blanks for society reports. These were only for foreign missions and were sent out by that office. 34 PIONEER WOMEN But as early as 1873, women and children had a financial standing. Page 981: ‘‘The Assembly calls attention to the remarkable fact that the gifts of our Sunday Schools and the Women’s Missionary Associations during the past year amount to one-third of the entire contributions of the Church.” In 1897, page 31: “In reply to an overture from the West Lexington Presbytery for a Presbyterial Woman’s Union, ^having been refused in 1892), the Assembly refers the Pres¬ bytery to the clear deliverances of former Assemblies which settle the principles involved in its overture, and should guide all our Church sessions in their procedure.” Thus, the Old School Assembly of 1832 and the General Assembly U. S. A., of 1872 iterated, “Meetings of pious women by themselves for conversation and prayer wherever they can be conveniently held are approved—but let not the inspired prohibition . . .be forgotten.” “To teach and exhort or lead in prayer in pro¬ miscuous assemblies is clearly forbidden by the Holy Oracles.” This deliverance Assembly reaffirmed in 1910. Old files of newspapers of the era of the seventies and eighties, would provide some mighty interesting reading today. Many of us would fail to recognize ourselves in some of our effusions about “Sheltered womanhood,” “losing the fragrance of her influence,” “Must ever remain queen of her own home,” and other sentimentalities which even today are ingrained with enough truth to require wise distinction, yet, then constituted an awful handicap to the honest demands of imperative need. Many causes were conspiring year by year, to fill women with a longing for the efficiency that comes through unity of purpose, of ideals and sympathy. “For, groping day by day, Along the stony way, We need the comrade heart That understands, And the warmth—the living warmth Of human hands.” FOREIGN MISSIONS 35 That Presbyterian women were always loyal to church tenets goes without saying: that our church had ultra con¬ servative men history has proven, but there came inevitably the testing time, in which we were subjected to the stinging truth that while the “Pioneer must pay the price,” yet the divine urge of a “Thou Shalt” and of “I cannot do otherwise,” kept thundering in our ears until, like Jeremiah of old, a large host of women were ready to say, “Thy word shut up in my bones was like a fire” and that fire burned itself through the mass of opposition that was laid upon it and ate it’s way victoriously through the whole. Praise God, that in those days of new visions and of tribu¬ lation, there were men stalwart and true standing by us: men, who clinging ever to fundamentals, yet wisely chose to follow the current of progress, refusing to take cover under old con¬ ditions which barnacle-like clogged the way to larger things, the rather, preferring to become a part of this current that they might guide and direct it, and wisely it was done. TRIBUTE. These are the men whom we have asked the Synodical historians to remember in their narratives and to whom we now pause to pay tribute. Brethren, we are aware we could have done nothing without your influence. High upon the honor roll of ecclesiastical statesmen do we place you, because of your insight into what constituted the sound constructive policy of the church, the only policy which could develop the normal growth of its entire membership, the outcome of which has fully justified every effort which has been put forth. We honor you, collectively, as the Moses who led us out of the wilderness of confusion, and we congratulate you on having been the true interpreters of the law, the prophets and the new dispensation, all of which you conceded as pointing to God’s purpose of making woman coexistent with man in 36 PIONEER WOMEN service. We believe that history in the making today, fully demonstrates this. The women of the Southern Presbyterian Church had (under great handicap because of no organization), taken the initiative in many important movements before 1912, notably that of Miss Jennie Hanna and Mrs. Sibley, beginning in 1886 or 1887, in the interest of foreign missions, later in regard to the Foreign Mission Debt Fund, by which women raised $20,000, also the Durant College Fund. In 1907 there came to our church a crisis; a vision and a call. The challenge of the foreign field had plunged us into a hopeless debt and we were being driven to retreat or to take a deeper plunge; this was the crisis. Then came the vision —enlistment by education, of every man, woman and child into a Forward Movement in behalf of Foreign Missions. Such a campaign of Education meant a call for intensive organization. Some Synodical and Presby- terial Unions existed, but they were hanging out in space like so many lost planets, unrelated to each other, each circling in its own orbit, with no common center of gravity. Such was the situation when, by trick of fate unless God was disposing, there came the Jubilee Movement of 1910, turning its great search light every where for reports of woman’s work. Sharply was revealed by contrast, our helplessness and our isolation. We, alone, were without any reports and without any system of collecting them. This situation, stirred like a cyclone uprooting and dis¬ lodging mossgrown impedimenta which had choked the cur¬ rent, destined now to sweep us into one common organization, the culmination of which was reached by formation of the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Southern Presbyterian Church, in 1912, at request of the Bristol Assembly. Surely, God is ever disposing. FOREIGN MISSIONS 37 The history of the movements of the Church at large would, in their outcome, prove unaccountable, save for that divine leadership which disposes while man is proposing. Sup¬ pose the Church had carried out its own purpose in regard tc missions: “When the Lord wants the world converted, He will do it Himself.” Regarding Sabbath Schools: “A vio¬ lation of the fourth commandment.”* Regarding the rights of laymen: “Not fit to handle the holy oracles.”f Regarding women: Who, like William Carey, “refused to sit down while heathen sisters perished.” Our Southern Presbyterian Church has been blessed by the service of the very finest type of womanhood, whose names are lovingly embalmed in the Synodical sketches. Two of‘these may be singled out as representatives of a goodly company, one Mrs. J. L. Stuart, a pioneer to China in 1874, and the other, Mrs. Rockwell Smith, a pioneer to Brazil in 1872. Both endured the trying conditions of those early years, and both after long years of strenuous labor, sounded notes of triumph Mrs. Stuart wrote “were it to be done over, I would not choose otherwise.” Mrs. Smith rejoiced that her lines had fallen *From Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Sunday- Schools in England were, at first, sporadic; there was need for a general movement, bringing them into affiliation with each other, if not into an organ¬ ized system. Robert Raikes was justly the founder of Sunday-Schools in Gloucester, England. The scheme commended itself to popular esteem. It, however, met with vituminous opposition from professors ©f religion who questioned its usefulness. The Bishop of Rochester violently attacked the movement and the Archbishop of Canterbury called the bishops to see what could be done to stop it. In Scotland, Sabbath-school teaching by laymen was declared to be an innovation and a violation of the fourth command¬ ment.” That the old British prejudice against Sunday-schools obtained in this country in very early days is known by tradition and record. (See Tennessee’s Synodical History.) fThat the Church was slow in committing the holy oracles into the hands of laymen, is gathered from the records of the first conference held by the Kentucky Churches in March 1785, as given in Davidson’s History of the Presbyterian Church, page 74 : “The propriety of elders conducting religious services in the absence of a minister, came under discussion, but was referred for further consideration.” At the July conference, four months later, it was decided that elders might hold religious services and also catechize the young people and children, in absence of the Pastor, but these catechists must be nominated by* the Pastor and approved by the Presbytery, 38 PIONEER WOMEN in a pleasant place. “Thank God! I have given my life to the land of the Southern Cross.” Upon these two, as upon others, rests the same crown of glory. Already their sons are heads of great educational in¬ stitutions and children of the second and third generations are rising in those countries to call them blessed. Such is the reward of a life hid with Christ in the foreign field. GUERRANT INLAND MISSION .39 CHAPTER VI. The Women of the Guerrant Inland Mission. Although the story of the Appalachias belongs to the third period of Missions in our country, yet it is as thrilling as that of the first, since the work is among a primitive people. While some attention had been given in a desultory way to this field, nothing definite nor systematic was planned until Dr. Edward O. Guerrant really discovered the mountains, at the time of our Civil War. After its close, as he said, his heart naturally turned to the pathetic need of this great body of people, so utterly destitute of the Gospel and as a J^rave soldier in civil service, he answered a call which challenged all of the faith, and physical courage of the soldier of the Cross. If ever there was a man of vision it was Edward O. Guer¬ rant. If ever a man of prayer it was he. He literally prayed into being the Guerrant Mission. Through his spiritual power, financial aid came flowing in from every source. He says: ‘Tt came even from China and the Sandwich Islands.” Men and women from North, South, East and West responded by offer of life service. From the first, a goodly proportion of women offered themselves and have continued to offer. COMMITTED TO HIS CHURCH. After twenty-five years of work among these people, broken health compelled him to cease his arduous campaign and in 1911, after choosing his own Elisha upon whom to rest his burden, he committed to the General Assembly the sacred trust of his Mountain Mission with its fifty missionaries, and the man of his choice, Rev. James W. Tyler, was named as his successor. Through Dr. Tyler’s personal testimony, we are warranted in saying that this is a class of service unexcelled in the 40 PIONEER WOMEN annals of Missions, in moral and physical heroism, in the sacrifice of isolation and deprivation of things dear to human comfort. The casual reader can form no conception of what it means to our women, to adapt themselves to mountain con¬ ditions. Yet, Dr. Tyler is impressed with how they are prov¬ ing the mettle of their race, “mild as game and game as mild.” The worth-whileness of this work is in the fact that the potter is molding out of the same Anglo-Saxon clay as our¬ selves, vessels fit for the Master’s use—the same clay but stranded in the tide of immigration. Dr. Guerrant reminded us, that after a century and a half of isolation, the Highlander is not a degenerate, but ds of a race virile and susceptible of strong development, in that he is already filling the ranks of our depleted ministry and broken lines of foreign service. While we would give generous accord to the men of this mission, because Dr. Guerrant’s Godly stamp rests upon them, and his mantle fell on worthy shoulders, yet the faithful, daily school grind is largely done by women and is an outstanding fact of their rugged endurance. A personal reminiscence or two will show the type of worker in the mountains. One morning, three years ago, 1920, as I sat at breakfast in the dining room of Lee’s Collegiate Institute, where, at the same table were nine cultured young teachers come over to Jackson Conference from Highland School, I took an appraising glance, and thoughts like these passed through my mind—spiritual warfare surely has a fair chance to win when God is laying His hand on material like this; here are young women inured within these mountain fast¬ nesses, backs turned to everything alluring, for the sake of soul saving, living in an atmosphere so far removed from indi¬ vidual taste. (The salaries are never sufficient to tempt them.) Again, as we sat one night at the close of a wonderful Woman’s Day in this same Conference, the three of us—two from a distant mountain mission point, and the only two at GUERRANT INLAND MISSION 41 that point—and as I listened to their heart stories of the work out there, I saw’ revealed in them such a passion for souls as opened anew 7 my understanding of the joy of service; and the light came clearer, when, there under the moonlight, we learned that in one of these young women flowed the blood of Eliza¬ beth McRae, of pioneer fame, in North Carolina. The other, w 7 as a shining example of a faith and love for the Master that led her away from wealth, social position and all of life’s endearments, into a sacrificial service, the world understands not. A wave of self-depreciation flooded my own soul and I sat rebuked. A name which should be enrolled high upon the flag of service is that of Mrs. Fannie Smith Escott. She relinquished all the privileges of city life, to which she was born, to join her husband as a home missionary in the mountains. The telling of one of her experiences may strengthen others. The last good-byes had been said to children and friends after a visit home, and the train was pulling out of the Louisville station. Removed from all restraint, she gave vent to a flood of tears, when suddenly she remembered a calendar which had been placed in her hand by a friend on parting. Turning for the message of the day, she read: “He that goeth forth weeping, bearing precious seeds, shall come again rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.” • A tribute of special appreciation is due Mrs. H. L. Cockerham, who is not only Synodical president of Kentucky, but, with her husband, is pioneering in and around the lum¬ ber camp of Quicksand, one of our most remote mountain mis¬ sion stations. She is literally pouring out her life in sacri¬ ficial service. THE CHALLENGE TO BE MET. The territory of this Mission exceeds that of the German Empire; it contains the largest body of white people unevan¬ gelized on our Continent. A mighty challenge this, of home 42 PIONEER WOMEN work, being flung into the face of this Twentieth Century— the great American Woman’s Challenge to her own race. Out of women of the foregoing type the Lord can and will raise up workers “as stones for the building” of the temple of His indwelling Spirit. BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 43 CHAPTER VII. The Building of the Auxiliary. As we begin the story of the building of the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., we find ourselves standing, as it were, under the very shadow of His presence, so clearly do we see how He builded for us. A structure so beautiful in its strength and proportion, so majestic in its out¬ lines, could only have emerged through the touch of the Divine hand. It was the plea from foreign fields which stirred the hearts of the women for ways and means of more effective service and which evoked the first call for a union of forces. Suddenly throughout the South, the conservative silence of the eighties was broken by two clear voices, as they sought to waken echoes all over the church; Miss Jennie Hanna, of Kansas City, Missouri, and Mrs. Josiah Sibley, of Augusta, Georgia, both with the same vision and ideals before them, had found each other through the leadings of Providence. Their meeting was only by letter and the printed page, and though living so far apart and varying in age as mother and daughter, each recognized in the other a zealous and earnest comrade in shaping and launching a movement which they wished to bring before every woman of the church.* “The Great Commission” had always been a guiding star in the life of Mrs. Sibley and her desire for a more effective use of the latent powers of the womanhood of the church in propagating the Gospel of Christ, had, from time to time, been influenced and shaped by such missionary pioneers as Miss Anna Safford, Miss Fleming and. Mrs. J. L. Stuart, as they made her home their home when on furlough. Miss Jennie Hanna had a Sunday-school class of girls, *Mrs. Sibley was born in 1826 and Miss Hanna in 1856. Mrs. Sibley lived to see Presbyterials rapidly multiplying. Miss Hanna, though an in¬ valid, has made the building of the Auxiliary the whole purpose of her life, and to-day is in close touch with every progressive step. 44 PIONEER WOMEN whom she banded into a missionary class at the suggestion of her pastor’s wife, Mrs. H. B. Boude, the first link in a mighty chain of God’s Providence. Of it, she writes: “When my girls and I got into real, earnest work, we felt the need of being attached to some organized body for guid¬ ance and information in all sorts of ways. As there was abso¬ lutely nothing in the Southern Church which we could join, and the Northern Presbyterian women had their whole system in beautiful operation in Missouri, I took my band to the Women’s Board of the Southwest. I was young, enthusiastic, and ignorant, and found exactly the counsel and inspiration which I needed among those devout and able women. It was a revelation to me, and I can never cease to be thankful for the few years of association with such a body of live, intelli¬ gent, business-like, thoroughly consecrated, faithful women. It gave me a practical training and a spiritual vision which I Could ill have spared. I thought seriously of going into the Northern Church just because of their woman’s work. There was no place in our own church where an inexperienced young woman could go for any such advantages. Such an organi¬ zation had apparently never been thought of. But the wise counsels of that rare Christian gentleman, Dr. M. H. Houston, then our Secretary of Foreign Missions, kept me at home. His advice was to try to arouse our own women and see if co-operation could not be attained among them. My wildest dreams would never have led me to plan such a step; I felt too keenly my lack of proper qualifications, but I tried to do faith¬ fully the “next thing.” The time was evidently ripe for just that movement. All over the .South there was a realization of the waste of power and opportunity among our women; a feel¬ ing that we were far, far from coming up to the measure of our duty in missionary work. The same thought was in scores of hearts at the same time. The smoldering fire needed only a spark to make it burst into flame, and surely the Holy Spirit kindled that spark.” BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 45 About the fall of 1886, Miss Hanna and Mrs. Sibley came in contact, just how has been forgotten, but with hearts fired with a kindred zeal, they agreed that they two, without waiting for anyone else, would undertake to reach every one of the over two thousand churches in the Assembly. To do this, Miss Hanna says: “Our first step was to gather the names of the active mis¬ sionary women in every church. We obtained the addresses of the pastors, from the Minutes of the Assembly, in order to ask them for these names, and wrote hundreds of circular letters, copied on the Cyclostyle. No easy typewriter with carbon copies was at our service then. Of course, many of the letters were unanswered; but some pastors responded generously. Then we sent hundreds of other letters, both written and printed, to the women thus located, making the strongest appeal we could foi organization; setting forth its necessity and advantages. Mrs. Sibley helped to raise the funds for printing and postage, so did the woman’s Society of Central Church, Kansas City.” The character of their appeal is shown by an extract from one of their circular letters. “This is pre-eminently the day of opportunity, the day of crises in missionary work. The whole future of the church will probably in a great measure be determined by the work of the American church during the next twenty-five years. Are we making any adequate return for our innumerable blessings? Are we, the women of the Presbyterian Church, South, making any effort commensurate with our ability to preach the Gospel to every creature? In this age of ‘Woman’s Work,’ ours is almost if not the only evangelical church in America without any Woman’s Missionary organization. True, we have many missionary societies doing a noble work, but these only show what we might be doing by united universal effort. They serve to reveal the talent, the energy, the ability, the love, we are wasting, by not having it developed into service. Oh, listen! 46 PIONEER WOMEN dare we withhold from our Master the service He has made us able to render?” Their aim was first, the planting of a Missionary Society in every church in the Assembly then for the speedy uniting of these into Presbyterial and Synodical Unions, culminating in one general organization. So clear was their vision and sc earnest their purpose, that they hoped to carry the whole church along with them, but revolutions are not effected in a night. Miss Hanna writes: “Dr. Houston tried gently to let me down from my high hopes and counseled us to ask only for Presbyterial organiza¬ tion. If I had known the Southern Church as I do now, I should never have gone in with any such assurance of success. I am southern born myself, of Kentucky and Virginia ancestry, and Huguenot back of that, and I thought I was conservative and a loyal Presbyterian, but I found I did not know the alphabet of conservatism! It was also hard to convince many people that I was even remotely Presbyterian! The storm of criticism, misconception and indignation which broke upon our devoted heads was, to put it mildly, a surprise. With vast stores of unused ability latent among our women, of conse¬ crated service and money, withheld from a cause so sorely needing them, we supposed that any plan which could put all this energy to a wide and effective use would be gladly wel¬ comed, if it could be proven right and expedient, and that a simple, straightforward statement would be accepted as such. That policy, conciliation, infinite tact and long suffering, were essential qualifications, in presenting an advance movement in the preaching of the Gospel, was an unexpected lesson. In 1888 we wrote an appeal to the women at large, which was pub¬ lished in the Louisville Christian Observer. It sounds mod¬ erate and temperate as I read it over now, but Dr. T. D. Witherspoon gave us, also in the Observer, a particularly severe reply. He was sure he could see the cloven hoof of woman’s suffrage under our petticoats.” BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 47 In answering the opposition, which, to their innocent sur¬ prise, was aroused, Miss Hanna says: “How much, Oh, how much, I learned in those days, of the grace of gentleness and patient perseverance and Christian courtesy. That the time was the Lord’s and the seed of His own planting was shown by the results.” There were many ministers who regarded the movement as “unscriptural, un-Presbyterian, un-womanly” and some Church Courts began to overture General Assembly against it. On the other hand, letters of approbation and support be¬ gan to pour in, showing that even at that early period there were in every State, men and women of vision longing for the same objective. Letters came from workers abroad, who, Tor years, had been depressed with the want of co-ordination and its resulting loss of power, letters from our godly men who have now passed beyond: Dr. M. H. Houston, Dr. D. C. Rankin, Dr. A. L. Phillips, and Dr. W. H. Marquess, and from those who are still laboring today, Dr. W. R. Dobyns, Dr. Chas. Nesbit, Dr. S. L. Morris, Mr. R. E. Magill and Dr. R. O. Flynn. A few Presbyteries organized almost at once. East Han¬ over, Va., was the first, Wilmington, N. C., the second. Within one year, the women of twenty Presbyteries were working for organization, and five had official support. Mrs. Sibley, who died in 1898, lived to see Presbyterial Unions in half of the Synods. The apostolic work of Mrs. Elizabeth McRae, of Fayetteville Presbytery, N. C., stands out pre-eminently, as does that of Mrs. M. D. Irvine, of Kentucky, and Mrs. Chas. Rowland, of Georgia. The year 1910 found seventy-eight out of eighty-four Pres¬ byteries and five out of fourteen Synods organized, but ap¬ parently no nearer than before to any general organization. r Lhe thought had not been forgotten, however. When the Pres¬ byterial Union of Upper Missouri met in Kansas City in 1909. 48 PIONEER WOMEN and the formation of a Synodical Union was urged, the logical Union of all Synodicals into one body was given as a reason for hastening State organization, but so weak was the faith of some, that it was advised no mention of a general body be made publicly, if success was desired. All over the South there were women of practical ability and faith who recognized the waste of power and opportunity, because there were only scat¬ tered units, not utilizing one particle of the strength and in¬ spiration of concentration of the forces. When the wave of enthusiasm swept over the country, as the Jubilee was cele¬ brated from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1910, the Southern Presbyterian Church was the only evangelical denomination in this whole country which had no central organization of its women, no comprehensive records, no accurate reports of their splendid work. A Leader Called Into Service. Certainly the time was fully ripe for wiser conduct of the work, and God had prepared His leader, as He always does when we are ready to march into the promised land. The granddaughter of one of our ablest pioneer home missionaries, with personal experience in founding missions among Slavs and Italians, Mrs. W. C. Winsborough, of Kansas City, grasped the full significance of the situation. All the spring and early summer of 1911 the necessity of uniform organization under the leadership of one efficient woman, became more impressed upon her heart. Finally, one hot June morning, this busy housewife and mother, when the children were all at school, dropped the breakfast dishes and wrote out “Some Reasons Why a Woman Secretary is Needed,” which afterwards became the first document in this campaign. The paper was sent to Mrs. D. A. McMillan, President of the Missouri Synodical, who at once submitted it to her executive committee, and then to the Synodical Presidents of Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Kentucky, these with BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 49 Missouri being the only Synodicals then organized. The paper received their unanimous approval. She also sent it to some of the officers of the Committee of Systematic Beneficence, thus bringing it to the notice of the men best able to advise and en¬ courage. Mrs. Calvin Stewart, of Richmond, Va., wrote many letters both to pastors and to women, and circulated type-written copies of “Reasons Why,” helping to bring the matter before some of the strongest workers in Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Many representative men and women had the subject before them before any official step was taken. The Executive Committee of Missouri Synodical directed Mrs. McMillan, with Mrs. Winsborough and Miss Hanna, to present the ‘‘Reasons Why” to the Synod of Missouri, which was to meet in Kansas City on November 1st, 1911. Mrs. McMillan was detained by illness, but the day saw two eager women with high hopes and courage, but with absolutely no experience, on hand with their precious missive. Dr. W. R. Dobyns had already agreed to present the matter to Synod, but he told them it must first be put in the form of an overture. Again, Mrs. Winsborough put her skill to work, reshaping the ‘‘Reasons Why” into the following: OVERTURE The Women’s Synodical Union of Missouri. Recognizing with a deep sense of gratitude the work God has permitted our women to do in the cause of Missions, at home and abroad, and earnestly desiring to increase their efficiency in this cause, they wish to call your attention to the following facts: 1. Women constitute fully three-fifths of the membership of the church. 2. A large proportion of the mission money of our Church comes from Women's Societies. 3. The Woman’s Missionary Society is a very active agent 50 PIONEER WOMEN in the education of the Church in missions and in arousing en¬ thusiasm and planning work. 4. Women, as mothers and teachers, are exerting the great¬ est influence on the younger generation. 5. The Presbyterian Church, U. S., is the only orthodox denomination in America which has not its woman’s work uni¬ formly organized. 6. While the affairs of our Church at large are being con¬ ducted along lines of modern methods, the work of the women has been allowed to drag, greatly hampered by inefficient or¬ ganization, or none at all. Twenty-five years ago, the first Presbyterian Union was formed. In this quarter of a century since, only five Synods have taken the next step and formed Synodical organizations, yet the efficiency of the State organi¬ zation is shown by the fact that the women of Virginia in¬ creased their offerings $3,000 in one year as the result of organization. In view of these facts, and believing that our church has failed to develop the possibilities in this part of her member¬ ship, we, the Women’s Synodical Union of Missouri, ask that this Synod approve our intention to unite with other Synodical Unions in an appeal to the General Assembly to appoint a woman General Secretary of Women’s Work in the Presbyterian Church, U. ,S. The duties of this Secretary may be as follows: 1. To co-ordinate Woman’s Missionary Work as now con¬ ducted in Synodical and Presbyterial Unions, Woman’s Socie¬ ties, Young People’s Societies, Junior Missionary Bands, and Missions in the Sunday School. 2. To stimulate interest by personal visitation, and by dis¬ seminating information, and to increase gifts through the regu¬ lar channels of the Church, bringing to us modern methods that have been tested by use. 3. To organize the women into local societies and into BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 51 Presbyterial and Synodical Unions, under Sessional, Presby- terial and Synodical control, and to keep records, and statistics of all women’s work for the purpose of comparison and pub¬ licity. Supervision. We desire this Secretary to work under whatever efficient supervision the General Assembly may direct, through its Execu¬ tive Committees. We earnestly hope this Synod will set its seal of approval upon this attempt of its women to increase their efficiency in the great cause of carrying the gospel to the world. Signed: The Executive Committee of the Woman’s Synod¬ ical Union of Missouri, Mrs. D. A. McMillan, President.' This was unanimously approved by the Synod of Missouri. November 2nd, 1911, and by the Woman’s Synodical Union of Virginia, November 3rd, 1911. Mrs. McMillan appointed Mrs. Winsborough and Miss H anna as official committee on organization, and the campaign began. A first necessity was money, for such a big task could not be handled in a small way. Printing, postage, telegraph and long distance telephone expense had to be met. A large part of the funds necessary for initial expense was contributed by the Missouri women in their loyalty to their leaders, and was all given by individuals, women’s societies, and Presbyterial Unions, never by public appeal. Within ten days after the approval of the overture by the Synod of Missouri, a vigorous educational campaign was launched, and there was put into circulation throughout the church hundreds of copies of the overture, with the “Reasons Why” and “The Nots” which were: We are NOT asking more AUTHORITY. We are NOT asking the HANDLING OF FUNDS. 52 PIONEER WOMEN We are NOT asking the CREATION OF ANY NEW AGENCY. We ARE asking MORE EFFICIENCY through BET¬ TER ORGANIZATION AND CLOSER UNION OF OUR FORCES. At the same time, the committee kept in close touch with Assembly’s Executive Committees, from whom they received much encouragement and help. Never, at any time, was the work done independently of the constituted authorities. A meeting of the representatives of the nine organized Synodicals was called for February 9th, 1912, in Atlanta, at which time and place Assembly’s Systematic Beneficence Com¬ mittee would be in session, and as that body represented all departments of the work of the church, it was felt they could give much valuable advice towards a well-balanced Department of Woman’s work. At this conference there were present, repre¬ sentatives from seven Synodicals: Alabama, Mrs. J. B. Knox, Mrs. J. G. Snedecor; Georgia, Mrs. E. H. Phillips, Mrs. Archi¬ bald Davis, Mrs. J. S. Thompson, Mrs. C. A. Rowland, Mrs. W. M. Everett; Missouri, Mrs. W. C. Winsborough, Mrs. D. A. McMillan; North Carolina, Miss Margaret Rankin; South Carolina, Mrs. W. W. Simpson, Miss Leona Blake; Texas, Mrs. Chris. G. Dullnig; Virginia, Mrs. J. Calvin Stewart, Mrs. A. M. Howison. Mrs. Irvine, of Kentucky, and the Tennessee members were detained by illness, as was also Miss Jennie Hanna. Many of the delegates had attended the Laymen’s Mis¬ sionary Convention in Chattanooga, and went from that to their own Conference, inspired by its Pentecostal power. Mrs. Winsborough explained the history of the movement and its de¬ velopment step by step. Each Synodical gave its formal ap¬ proval to the Overture and the resolution was passed unani¬ mously “That the General Assembly be asked to give us a Secretary of Women’s Work.” Realizing that if the Secretary BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 53 were appointed the Assembly’s Committee would desire the opinion of the leading women, the conference discussed many important points. Again, the influence of the Spirit was shown in the clearness and concentration of thought, the grasp of details to be worked out, making possible the accomplishment of more real business than would ordinarily have resulted from a month of discussion. It was decided that the expense neces¬ sary to the appointment and maintenance of the General Secre¬ tary be assumed by the women’s missionary societies for two years, and that not less than one dollar per year be asked from each society. It was fondly imagined that every society would give, and that the office could be financed on $2,500.00, which * showed ignorance in more respects than one. Mrs. A. M. Rowison was made Chairman of the Committee on Finance. Regarding the method of presenting the Overture to the Assem¬ bly, it was decided again to appeal for aid to the Systematic Beneficence Committee, since the women were working already under all four departments of mission work. A permanent committee to serve for two years, called the Advisory Commit¬ tee, was formed, consisting of the Synodical presidents in order of their organization, with the addition of Mrs. Howison, Treasurer, and the Missouri Committee on organization, Mrs. Winsborough and Miss Hanna, Mrs. Winsborough being made Chairman. Realizing the need of diffusing very general in¬ formation, the Missouri Committee was requested to carry on an educational campaign until the meeting of the Assembly in May, the Advisory Committee pledging themselves to meet the expense. The delegates then presented their request for assistance to the Systematic Beneficence Committee with the following re¬ sult: Copy from minutes of S. B. Committee, Atlanta, Ga. February 10, 1912. 9:00 A. M. “At 10:00 o’clock, the committee heard the representatives 54 PIONEER WOMEN of the women’s organizations. Their plan of procedure was heartily and unanimously approved, and their requests referred to the Committee on Publicity to be reported upon at the meet ing of the committee in May.” r BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 55 Copy from Second Annual Report—Bristol, Va.-Tenn., May, 1912. Under “Miscellaneous Recommendations” to the Assembly: (5) “A committee of ladies representing women’s organi¬ zations appeared before the committee at its meeting in Atlanta, in February, and asked consideration of plans regarding a Sec¬ retary of Women’s Work. The members of the Systematic Beneficence Committee heartily approved of their plans, but understanding that an overture is coming direct to the Assem¬ bly, we make no recommendations.” The education campaign which was pushed with the great¬ est vigor, continued to meet with criticism and severe judgment, much of it due to misapprehension and partial information. This was in spite of the fact that the movement conformed to Assembly’s call in 1909, for a greater perfection in organi¬ zation of the women; that it provided for all possible super¬ vision Sessional, Presbyterial and Synodical; that it represented all the causes of the Church, which was the new plan of the Systematic Beneficence Committee, and that it was the logical development of Presbyterial and Synodical Unions. As the time drew near for the meeting of the Assembly at Bristol it seemed wisest to present the Overture directly to the Assembly, instead of through the Systematic Beneficence Committee. The Overture was sent to the retiring Moderator, Dr. Rus¬ sell Cecil, who would be chairman of committee on bills and overtures, asking him to refer it to an unbiased committee, also to Dr. T. H. Law, stated Clerk of the Assembly. It was hoped it would not be necessary to send Mrs. Winsborough to the Assembly, but some of the ablest counselors advised it. It proved sound wisdom. There was anxiety in many quarters lest there be even the appearance of “lobbying,” but that dread spectre never lifted its head. There was instead, a modest, cultured woman, asking no hearing, but ready to answer ques- 56 PIONEER WOMEN tions and able to correct misunderstandings. The Overture was referred to the Committee on Church Societies, of which Dr. J. M. Grier, that wise, gentle, thoughtful gentleman, was chairman. He requested Mrs. Winsborough to appear before the Committee. Miss Sala Evans, a missionary from Japan, kept her company, while she explained fully and clearly the whole scope and purpose of the women’s appeal. The great and needy field of women’s work, the promise of larger fruit¬ fulness through unity and system, proved its own best argu¬ ment. The committee recommended unanimously that the Sec¬ retary be appointed. The official report is as follows: “In answer to Overtures Nos. 23 and 25, from the Pres¬ byteries of East Hanover and Roanoke, asking that an ad- interim committee be appointed to consider the whole subject of woman’s work in the church, we recommend that the As¬ sembly decline to appoint such a committee and refer the peti¬ tioners to the report of the ad-interim committee appointed by the Assembly in 1910, which was adopted by the Assembly of 1911. (See Minutes, p. 67). “In answer to Overtures Nos. 18, 19 and 24, from the Presbyteries of Lexington, Winchester and Mississippi, asking that a Secretary for Woman’s Work be not appointed and Nos. 16, 17, 20, 21 and 23, from the Synodical Unions of Missouri and Virginia and four other Synodical and forty-one Presbyte- rial Unions, endorsed by the Synod of Missouri and from the Presbyteries of Columbia, Atlanta, Knoxville, and Sewanee. asking that such Secretary be appointed, we recommend the following: “That the four Executive Committees be directed to select a woman possessing suitable gifts who, under their direction, shall give her whole time to the work of organizing our women into Synodical and Presbyterial Unions and Local Societies, under control of Synods, Presbyteries and Sessions, respectively; BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 57 co-ordinating Woman’s and Young People’s Societies now or¬ ganized; stimulating interest by gathering and disseminating needed information in order that this mighty Auxiliary in our Church’s life and growth may become even more fruitful of good than in the past.” J. M. Grier, for Committee. (Assembly’s Min., 1912, p. 23.) On May 20, 1912, without one word of argument, the Overture was unanimously adopted! It was a day of great re¬ joicing and praise to the mighty God who said, “Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” The Bristol Assembly opened wide the door of opportunity and the door of responsibility as well. The work was really but just begun. Organization was yet to be effected. From the beginning of the educational campaign prayer and diligent search was made for the woman equipped with the necessary requirements for the new office. Many names of able and con¬ secrated workers were suggested, but one difficulty or another was in the way with every one. With the entire constituency to be educated along lines of new and untried union, with more than half of the Synods yet unorganized, the work in both field and office seemed too big for any one woman without experi¬ ence to assume. Mrs. Winsborough in her nine months of effort had acquired a more intimate acquaintance with the con¬ ditions, the problems and the working force, both in societies and churches than any other woman in the South. In the first critical months of organization, with the whole policy to be out¬ lined and put into execution, it was evident her experience and ability would be indispensable to the new officer. Miss Hanna wrote in June to the four Executive Secretaries and to the Advisory Committee, suggesting the field work in the early stages be turned over to Mrs. Winsborough, without sal¬ ary, so that she might continue her service till the woman’s 58 PIONEER WOMEN secretary could handle the entire organization. This was open to the serious objection of making two heads, one for office, and one for field work, which was not at all advisable. Just at this crisis, Dr. Chas. R. Nesbit, pastor of Central Church. Kansas City, who had been a valued counselor, brought assist¬ ance and cut the Gordian knot with masculine directness. He urged the Advisory Committee to nominate Mrs. Winsborough herself for the office, when plans were submitted to the Super¬ visory Committee, and organization was completed. He also wired the suggestion to the Executive Secretaries and to every member of the Advisory Committee. The request for her had come in repeatedly from a large number of ministers and women, but nothing was farther from her thoughts. With her family duties, it seemed ' impossible to carry on more work. To keep the office in Kansas City seemed an insuperable obsta¬ cle. But, as Dr. Nesbit said, no one else could do what she could, she would of necessity have to outline and direct the work during the first months, and finally it was not right for her to carry the responsibility in fact and not in name. For nearly three hours that scorching June day, Dr. Nesbit argued with Mrs. Winsborough the wisdom of the step and finally won a reluctant consent from her to let her name be proposed, a result which was joyfully approved by the Advisory Committee. As the Supervisory Committee wished to know the desires and plans of the Woman’s Committee before completing formal organizations, a meeting was called at Montreat, August 9th and 10th. Mrs. Winsborough had already studied out a definite and detailed outline of the essential points, which the able women of the committee took up in two days of earnest consideration. First of all, of course, Mrs. Winsborough was nominated tc fill the office created by the General Assembly. As the title of Secretary had never been satisfactory, at Mrs. McMillan’s suggestion, it was changed to Superintendent. The name Auxiliary was agreed upon, a constitution, a financial plan, and many other perplexing and important questions considered BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 59 carefully. Next day the whole matter was submitted to the secretaries of the four Executive Committees in conference, ap¬ proved by them, and the Department of Woman’s Work, known officially as the “Woman’s Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U. ,S.,” was thus formally organized August 10th, 1912 The much criticized “Woman’s Secretary” disappeared forever. So did the disputed titles of “Union” and “Conference.” At the suggestion of the Supervisory Committee the Advisory Com¬ mittee became the Woman’s Council. The following is taken from The Missionary Survey of September, 1912: “On August 10, 1912, at Montreat, N. C., in accordance with instructions of the General Assembly, the Secretaries of the four Executive Committees met to organize a Department of Woman’s Work. “Their action is embodied in the following signed report: “After conference with official representatives of the Synod¬ ical organizations of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Caro¬ lina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and Vir- % ginia and workers from the other Synods, the Supervisory Com¬ mittee took the following action: “(a) The official designation of the department of Woman’s Work shall be the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. “(b) The title of the salaried official shall be Superin¬ tendent, and her salary shall be $1,200 per year. “(c) There shall be an advisory committee of women known as the Woman’s Council, to be constituted as follows: “One representative from each Synod who shall be the President of the Synodical Organization where such organiza¬ tions exist. Where there is no Synodical Organization, the presidents of the Presbyterial Organizations shall select the representative for the Synod. “(d) Temporary headquarters of the Woman’s Auxiliary shall be in Kansas City, Mo., and Mrs. W. C. Winsborough. 60 PIONEER WOMEN of Missouri, is hereby elected Superintendent for the Church vear. “Note:—Mrs. Winsborough, by reason of her knowledge of the work to be done, was the unanimous choice of the Synodi¬ cal representatives, and at a great personal sacrifice has con¬ sented to undertake the duties of Superintendent during the initial stages of the work). “(e) Mrs. A. M. Howison, of Staunton, Va., is hereby elected Treasurer of the Woman’s Auxiliary and is authorized to collect all outstanding subscriptions and all necessary funds for the current expenses of the work. “No funds for the benevolent causes of the Church shall be sent to the Treasurer of the Woman’s Auxiliary. All such funds should be sent through the treasurer of the local church direct to the treasurer of the Executive Agency for whom the offering is intended. “The following resolutions were adopted by the Supervis¬ ory Committee: “1. The Women’s Organizations of the Church are re¬ quested to make a study of the activities and needs of all the benevolent agencies of the Assembly and to make offerings for the support of each cause, the funds to be divided on the basis suggested by the Assembly, viz.: Foreign Missions, sixty per cent.; Assembly’s Home Missions, twenty-one per cent.; Christian Education and Ministerial Relief, fourteen per cent.; Sabbath School Extension and Publication, five per cent. “2. The members of the Women’s Organizations of the Church are urged to co-operate in the effort to enlist every member of every church in the support of the benevolent work of the Assembly through the “Every Member Canvass,” as recommended by the General Assembly, and their co-operation is asked in the effort to arouse a deeper interest in evangelistic work throughout the Church. “Signed by E. W. Smith, S. L. Morris, H. H. Sweets, R. E. Magill, Assembly’s Supervisory Committee.” BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 61 Mrs. Winsborough was made Chairman of the Council, Mrs. W. C. Fritter secretary, Mrs. Howison, Treasurer. To carry out successfully the high aims of the Council, demanded wisdom to plan and strength to execute, as well as a large « vision and a new T standard of consecration. Especially ardu¬ ous was the work of the Treasurer. To finance the Auxiliary for two years, as proposed by the women themselves, and promised to the Bristol Assembly, was a most difficult task, and one to which Mrs. Howison gave freely ability and ser¬ vice of the highest order. Not quite 800 societies re¬ sponded the first year, and only her untiring efforts and the assistance of the Supervisory Committee made it possible to support the Auxiliary in the most economical manner, the administration costing three-fifths of one per cent. * When the Council met in Atlanta, May, 1913, for its first annual meeting, there was only seven months’ work to report, the try¬ ing work incident to the establishment of a new department, but full of splendid promise and encouragement. Only those who were in “the inner circle” know the agony of heart and spirit which Mrs. Winsborough passed through in accepting the office of Superintendent. The care of her family of five growing children made the proposition seem humanly impossible. Coupled with this was the embarrassing aspect such a situation produced. It was fully realized that those who did not know her, in all of her unselfish devotion, would likely misjudge her if she entertained any idea of the office, even if it were thrust upon her, as it was. Then, too, it was absolutely impossible for her to move away from Kansas City at that time, and no one thought the work could be done from there. The urgency of the call and the agony of her heart were her Gethsemane, which she answered with all submission “Thy will and not mine be done.” The financing of the movement was another grievous proposition, which all but thwarted the work in the very begin¬ ning, and in this both Miss Hanna and Mrs. Howison agon- 62 PIONEER WOMEN ized. To raise money for an absolutely new and untried move¬ ment is always difficult, but for one without a name, or any machinery of organization was well nigh impossible. The ex¬ pense of bringing the issue from its inception to its passage by General Assembly had exhausted all the funds that were in ready sight. With no office equipment to begin with, and no office in which to put the furniture, Mr. Magill, of Richmond, and Dr. Nesbit, of Kansas City, supplied a desk and typewriter and the work was started in the living room of Mrs. Wins- borough’s home. The struggle and the sacrifice of the beginnings cannot be described, yet they were lived through and the probationary term was passed on successfully in two years, that the Auxiliary was accepted by General Assembly as an agency of the Church “in good and regular standing.” All obligations had been met; there were no outstanding debts. Its maintenance was then provided, as is that of other departments of the work of the Church. During the second year of the Auxiliary, Mrs. Archibald Davis, of Atlanta, was made Chairman of the Council, reliev¬ ing Mrs. Winsborough of her double duty. Miss McGowan, of Kentucky, was made Secretary and Mrs. D. A. McMillan, of Kansas City, Treasurer, and when the financial budget was assumed by General Assembly, these officers were left free to use their time and thought in the work of education and in¬ spiration. Within two years, the Executive Secretaries began to speak in no uncertain way of the value of the Auxiliary to every one of their offices. A letter, dated May, 1914, from Dr. A. L. Phillips, General Superintendent of Sabbath School and Young People’s Work, states: “Your cordial reference to the poor, pitiful service that I have rendered the Auxiliary is most thoroughly appreciated. Mr. Magill and I believe in the Auxiliary with all our hearts, and our service to it is limited BUILDING THE AUXILIARY 63 only by the pressure of other matters. I want to give Mr. Magill the palm for consistent and even pushing of the whole work. I think the Church owes him a great debt for this bit of service.” With the work well started, it swept like a whirlwind all over the Southern Church, opposition melted away, and many of those who thought they were opposed in the early days, be¬ came the warmest supporters as the appeal was made to every fwoman in the Church to enlist in every cause of the Church. Its value as a quickening agency was soon demonstrated and the whole Church was lifted forward as on the crest of a mighty wave. In 1914 the Auxiliary office was moved to Atlanta, Ga., where it remained until 1918, when it was installed in St. Louis, Mo. The movement was clearly of God’s own Providence, call¬ ing forth His blessing upon the work and the workers and was sustained by the promise of Jesus, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.”* *This Chapter is an adaptation of several articles written by Miss Jennie Hanna. 64 PIONEER WOMEN CHAPTER VIII. The Builders of the Auxiliary. Those who have entered into the building of the Auxiliary and have brought it to its present state of usefulness and beauty are a mighty host. Consecrated and earnest women all over the South have given freely and lovingly of their time, their talents and their money to promote the organiza¬ tion which promised so much for the development of the Chris¬ tian woman in the service of her Lord. But there are three women who have been the master builders in this great project, planning and directing and bear¬ ing heavy responsibility, these are Miss Jennie Hanna, Mrs. D. A. McMillan and Mrs. W. C. Winsborough. Miss Jennie Hanna. The Southern Presbyterian Church owes much to those Scotch and Huguenot forebears who “for righteousness sake” came to the new world and settled in Virginia and the Caro- linas. Later many of their children moved to Kentucky and their stern allegiance to duty, their unfaltering faith in God form a rich heritage for their descendants today. Strong of mind, stern of will, unswerving in loyalty to the dictates of conscience, their children became bulwarks of righteousness in the new world. Such was the heritage of Jennie Hanna. Her father. Thomas K. Hanna and her mother, Judith Joyce Venable daughter of Dr. Joseph Morton Venable, were related to the large families of those names in Kentucky, and came from Shelby County in that state, to Missouri, where Jennie Hanna was born. Like many of his forebears, Thomas K. Hanna was for many years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, Superin¬ tendent of the Sunday School and his time and the considerable BUILDERS OF THE AUXILIARY 65 fortune which he amassed were always at the service of the Church he loved. Mrs. Hanna, still living at an advanced age is a woman of rare sweetness and charm and their spacious and hospitable dwelling place in Kansas City has been a home in the true meaning of that word. Mrs. W. C. Winsborough, Superintendent Women’s Auxiliary. Inheriting her father’s strong character, clear brain and unselfish devotion, Jennie gave freely of her time and strength to the younger children of the family as well as to the work of the Church in which she had been reared and which she loved with surpassing devotion. She was educated in the best schools of that period and even more largely in the literary atmosphere of her own home. 66 PIONEER WOMEN At nineteen years of age, she became deeply interested in a Sunday-school class of young girls and it was through her efforts to train them in missionary service that the vision was given to her of all the women of the Church united in singleness of purpose to take the gospel to every creature. How this resulted in the organization of the Auxiliary has been told in the pre¬ vious chapter. Miss Hanna possessed a training in system and thorough¬ ness through her association with her father, which proved invaluable in this work. Her mental powers, her gifted pen and her consecrated devotion to her Master’s Cause would have proven invincible but for one sad lack, that of physical strength. From young womanhood she has been a constant sufferej and one less determined and optimistic would have been con¬ quered by the continual suffering she has been called upon to bear. But not in vain was she of sturdy stock and her Huguenot blood has been shown during all the years when in spite of frequent breakdowns, continual suffering and weakness, she has yet labored on in the Master’s Work. She was one of the founders and first Presidents of the Woman’s Missionary Society of Central Church, Kansas City, which, more than any other society in the Southern Presbyterian Church, is responsible directly and indirectly for the Woman’s Auxiliary of today. She introduced Mission Study into this Society with the first interdenominational study book issued by the Central Committee of United Mission Study, and con¬ tinued it for years. She has been called the walking encyclo¬ pedia of Mission facts and few know the literature of Missions as does she. In 1894, she was largely instrumental in organizing the Woman’s Presbyterian Union of Kansas City, composed of all the Presbyterian Churches of Kansas City and vicinity, some thirty in number, and for years was the Secretary of Litera¬ ture of that organization which still holds large semi-annual meetings. BUILDERS OE THE AUXILIARY 67 It seems the irony of fate that only once in all these years has this faithful, far seeing and God-given leader been able to meet with the women of the Church at large, which she has served so faithfully. Her health has never been equal to a visit to Montreat or to the Woman’s Advisory Committee. Al¬ though Mohammet has never been able to go to the Mountain. Mrs. D. A. McMillan, Treasurer Woman’s Auxiliary since 1913. one memorable time the Mountain came to Mohammet! In May, 1914, the Woman’s Advisory Committee, then the Woman’s Council, met in Kansas City and Miss Hanna was the honored guest of those representatives of the organization she had helped to build. At that meeting she read a carefully prepared history of the organization of the Auxiliary, which was afterwards printed 6 $ PIONEER WOMEN and for eight years has been circulated throughout the Church. No one present at that meeting will forget the scene when as she gazed into the faces of the sixteen Synodical Presi¬ dents, representing the efficient organization of the women of the Church, she said: “Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” On the tenth anniversary of the Bristol Assembly, which gave its approval to the erection of the Woman’s Auxiliary, that body was in session at Charleston, W. Va. By a ris¬ ing vote, the Assembly expressed to Miss Jennie Hanna the appreciation of the Southern Presbyterian Assembly for her service in promoting the organization of the women of the Church. Small of frame, yet big of heart, frail of body, yet strong in faith, it may well be said of this handmaiden of the Master— “Many have done well, but thou excellest them all.” Mrs. W. C. Winsborough “Moses was God’s outstanding man for his needy age God always raises up the man (or woman) for the emerg¬ ency.” No words could more fittingly open this sketch. After the Bristol Assembly had granted a Woman Superintendent and the search for her began, every statement of her necessary qualifications brought back the question, “Where will you find such a woman? You have described an ideal—you must use a woman with ordinary limitations.” We forgot, perhaps, “the superintending power of God in missions” and His pleasure in giving big answers to confident askers. While our Church was learning slowly the scope and power of women’s organi¬ zations among world-wide redemptive forces, God was pre¬ paring the first leaders. One of these was Hallie Paxson Winsborough. Her grandfather, Stephen Paxson, was one of the pioneer Sunday School missionaries of the Mississippi Valley in the days when frontier life involved genuine hardship. It re- BUILDERS OF THE AUXILIARY 69 quired heroic service and devotion to encounter wilderness, wild beasts, want, Indians, malaria and moral destitution. The whole Middle West felt his influence through the churches built upon the Sunday Schools which he founded. His resting place in Bellefontaine Cemetery is marked by a beautiful granite monument erected by the Sunday School children of Illinois Mrs. A. M. Howison, First Treasurer Woman’s Auxiliary. and Missouri. He was a man of commanding presence, mag¬ netic speech, force and spiritual power. His dominant qualities of courage, self-sacrifice and hopefulness, combined with the simplicity of a strong character still live in his grand¬ daughter. Of his six children two were writers, one an elder, two were ministers in the Southern Presbyterian Church, one a missionary. The last, Miss Anna L. Paxson, had charge of our Home Mission .School at Chish Ok Tok, Indian Territory. 70 PIONEER WOMEN She was a noble woman whom the Indians both trusted and loved. The Rev. W. P. Paxson, D. D., the father of Mrs. Wins- borough, was born in Alabama, a loyal Southerner and for thirty-five years a member of St. Louis Presbytery. He gave his whole life to Sunday School work as Superintendent of the American Sunday School Union for the Southwestern States. He was notably successful whether planting schools in the Home Mission fields of the West or raising funds for their support in the East. He married Miss Missouri Swing, of Mason City, Ill., who was a woman of strong mentality, deep consecration and fearless courage in' following her convictions. She was one of the early “Crusaders,” the forerunners of the W. C. T. U. She died when her daughter was but fifteen, but not too soon to leave a lasting impress on her character. To a rich inheritance and in a missionary atmosphere, Hallie Paxson was born at the home of her grandfather Swing At the age of six months she came to Missouri and her child¬ hood was spent in Louisiana, St. Charles and St. Louis. It is significant of the home and the child that at ten years old she organized a little missionary band, whose free will offerings in dimes reached a substantial sum. At the same time she con¬ ducted a small Sunday School in her home, furnished with lesson papers and leaflets from her father’s supply, which was very like the real thing, even though they did close the sessions with “Now I lay me down to sleep.” She was educated in the High School of St. Louis and at Synodical College at Fulton, Missouri, where she was valedictorian of her class, afterward teaching in the public schools of Kansas City. In June, 1888, in Springfield, Mo., she was married to Mr. W. C. Wins- borough, who had come to Kansas City from Rockingham County, Virginia. He was educated in the universities both of Virginia and Missouri, finishing with the law course of the University of Virginia. They made their first home in De- BUILDERS OF THE AUXILIARY 71 catur, Alabama, but, driven out by yellow fever, returned to Kansas City and United with Central Presbyterian Church. The years when her hands and heart were full with the care of their six children were, nevertheless, a time of growing intellectual and spiritual life, a time of great enrichment of the ‘‘fallow soil." When she was a little free for other service she made, in 1907, for the Woman’s Missionary 7 Society of which she was an officer, an investigation of conditions among the foreign population of Kansas City, giving it a year of thorough personal study. Out of this grew both the Slavic Mission of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., and our own splendid Italian Mission, founded July, 1908. To Mrs. Winsborough’s timely effort is due the organization of this most successful Italian work in our denomination. She resigned the Chair¬ manship of the Slavic Committee to take the Chairmanship of the Italian Committee, which she held until elected Superin tendent of the Woman's Auxiliary. It was but a step from local to world-wide Missions. In 1910 the Woman's Jubilee made so emphatic the need of gen¬ eral organization among the Southern Presbvterian women that she turned her energies toward attaining that great end. As always, she acted upon her personal convictions. She did not even know until after the first steps toward establishing the Auxiliary had been taken, that the one who was to be her co¬ laborer in the campaign had made the small beginnings of twenty-five years earlier. She acted entirely upon her own initiative. When the Assembly approved the organization of the Auxiliary' and the appointment of the Superintendent, everyone felt that Mrs. Winsborough's experience, her able leadership and her knowledge of all the conditions made it imperative for her to direct the critical formative stages, but only the most earnest urging won her consent to take temporarily the office of Superintendent. At this date, May 7 , 1923, the wisdom of the choice which made the office permanent is past history. It involved sacrifice, moving her home to Atlanta, 72 PIONEER WOMEN changing her whole life, yet she gave generously and went out like Abraham, not knowing whither she went—possibly a happy ignorance! Her habit of thinking and investigating for herself, her capacity for hard work, her courage and hope¬ fulness, her saving sense of humor, her gracious tact and courtesy, her quick intellectual grasp of all sides of a subject, her executive ability, her loyalty to Presbyterial Standards and above all, her emphasis upon the spiritual have combined to produce an unusually successful administration. The visits of Mrs. Winsborough to our Mission Stations in China, Japan, Korea and Mexico, have brought new hope and comfort to our missionaries on the field and a new view of the fields to the women at home. She has been honored—and through her our entire Woman’s Work—by appointment to many interdenominational positions. She has been for years a Vice-President of the Council of Women for Home Missions. She was one of five women ap pointed on the “Commission on Woman’s Work” for the Panama Conference, and is a member of the “Committee on Race Relations” of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America. A quotation from one of the Virginia women rounds out this outline—“Mrs. Winsborough, that woman of dynamic power, who is giving all of her brilliant mentality, her charm¬ ing womanhood, her great devotion to the women of the South¬ ern Presbyterian,Church—pray to God that He will give her long years and great strength as our leader.” Mrs. D. A. McMillan. The Synodical of Missouri was organized with some fear in the minds of even its friends that the time might not be ripe for its auspicious beginning. When, at its first annual meet¬ ing in 1911, the President announced her resignation because of removal from the State, all realized that the very life of the BUILDERS OF THE AUXILIARY 73 organization depended upon the selection of the right woman to succeed her as leader of the State work. After earnest prayer and careful consideration, Mrs. D. A. McMillan was elected to this important and difficult position, and her wise guidance of the Synodical forces and her states¬ manlike leadership later in the formative days of the General Auxiliary proved that prayer had been answered and the right woman chosen as President of the Synodical of Missouri. Elizabeth Talbott McMillan, third daughter of Dr. Rich¬ ard H. Talbot, was born in Lincoln County, Missouri, and from early girlhood was actively interested in Sunday-school and church work. She was educated in St. Louis and Mexico, Missouri, where she graduated with the honors of her class. While a teacher in the public schools of Mexico, she became prominent in civic and club work, continuing her activi¬ ties along these lines, after her marriage to Daniel Addison Mc¬ Millan, Superintendent of the City Public Schools. During her term of office as President of the Federated Clubs of the city, she led a movement resulting in the founding of the Car¬ negie Library of Mexico, and substantially enlarging the Library of the Public Schools of the city and of Hardin College. Her ability as a leader and her intellectual gifts as well as her beautiful sincerity of character caused her to be chosen to fill positions of large trust. She was one of two women on the Board of the Associated Charities of Mexico, which was one of the first of these organizations to employ a salaried worker to look after the charity work of the city. These years of civic leadership proved an invaluable train¬ ing for the work of Synodical President. Feeling keenly in her church work the lack of organization she had found in other fields of service, she was ready to promote the cause of better organization in the Woman’s Work of the Church, and gave herself untiringly to its promotion. Immediately on the receipt of the now historic paper. 74 PIONEER WOMEN ‘ Some Reasons Why a Secretary of Woman’s Work is Needed in the Southern Presbyterian Church,” she set vigorously to work to secure the approval of the paper from the other five . Synodicals then in existence, and from the Synod of Missouri. The story of her success is told in the chapter, “The Building of the Auxiliary.” Mrs. McMillan served two terms as Presi¬ dent of the Synodical of Missouri, refusing re-election the third time, because of the duties which she had assumed as Treas¬ urer of the Woman’s Auxiliary. Mrs. McMillan was elected Treasurer of the Woman’s Auxiliary in May, 1913, and for eleven years has discharged the work of this taxing position in a systematic and thour- oughly business-like way. During the birthday celebra¬ tion of 1922, the Treasurer, in addition to her regular work, handled more than twenty-seven thousand dollars, most of it coming in in small amounts, discharging this arduous task through her own personal efforts without other assistance, and rendering a full account of every penny received, to the donors and to the Committee for whose use it was given. Loyal to the plan of organization given by the General Assembly for the women of our Church, giving freely of her time and ability in service to the organization, the result of Mrs. McMillan’s labors for the advancement of the Master’s Cause through the Woman’s Work of the Church cannot be 'too highly estimated. RESULTS OF THE AUXILIARY 75 CHAPTER IX. The Results of the Auxiliary. The first decade in the history of the Woman's Auxiliary has been passed and in that time the record of its work has proved it to be of increasing value to the women themselves, to the Church in all of its departments and to the advance¬ ment of Christ's Kingdom upon earth. The results of the Auxiliary are especially those of Organi¬ zation, Education and Spiritual Growth. 1. Organization, a. Within the first year of the Auxili¬ ary, societies in every Presbvterv and Svnod were organized into Presbyterial and Synodical Auxiliaries, with the definite aim of implanting in every church within their bounds a local Auxiliary, composed of all the women in the church, study¬ ing and working for all the causes of the Church. The uni- form type of organization called for has everywhere developed order and system and has trained women for leadership and special sendee. After ten years there are still a fe* T reJics of the old time ’’Ladies Aid" and “Missionary Societies," but it is safe to predict that at the close of another decade those terms will have become obsolete. b. Five years ago the Auxiliary-Circle plan of organiza¬ tion was inaugurated and put into successful operation. This has proved to be the most efficient plan ever devised by women of any denomination for enlisting the efforts of the young and the old, the interested and disinterested and of the shut-in. It is capable of adaptation to the city church, the suburban and small town church, and to the struggling country church, and is meeting with pronounced success. As a resuh of the Auxiliary organization, the number of women enlisted m the work of the Church has jumped from sixty thousand to one hundred thousand. 2. Education. Probably there has never been a greater 76 PIONEER WOMEN educational force in the Church than the Auxiliary. This has been brought about: a. By the constant insistance upon Mission Study Classes with valuable information and helps for conducting them. From 15,000 to 20,000 text books are now in use every year, while in former days a circulation of 300 was regarded as encouraging. b. By the use of the Year Book of Programs, presenting uniform monthly study for all departments of the work of the Church. Thirty thousand were circulated during the past year. c. Through the Auxiliary Department in The Missionary Survey and Church papers. d. Through Conferences—Texas on the West, Virginia on the East and Montreat in the heart of the church, maintain Summer Schools of Missions, where women gather to study the Bible, Missions: and Methods, and to hear inspiring addresses. e. Through Conferences for Young People—The women have been largely instrumental in launching these conferences and they are in most cases directed by joint committees ap¬ pointed by Synod and Synodical. Seventeen will be held this year, (1923), one in each state and one at Montreat. This is considered by many to be the most strategic movement of our Church in the last five years. f. Through Conferences for Colored Women—Realizing the responsibility of the white woman for the training of her colored sisters in Christian principles of life and service, the first conference for colored women was inaugurated at Tusca- i_/ loosa, Alabama, in 1916. In 1922, two more were started and in 1923, conferences are to be held in seven states—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. g. Through Parallel Conventions—In connection with the meetings of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, parallel con¬ ventions of the women have been held, the first one in Atlanta, in 1919. Six were held in 1921, and six in 1923, with a total attendance of 1,750 women. RESULTS OF THE AUXILIARY 77 3. Spiritual Growth, a. Of deepest value and significance is the constantly increasing realization of the power of prayer in personal and family life and in promoting the work of the Kingdom. This has been earnestly developed through the forming of Prayer Bands and classes for Bible Study and through emphasis on the Family Altar. b. In order to emphasize and bring into practice the fundamentals of the Progressive Program, a Standard of Ex¬ cellence has been formed and is being striven for, which em¬ bodies the highest Christian ideals. 4. Specials. The purpose of the Auxiliary has always been the uniform and consistent support of all the regularly established activities of the Church. In addition there have been some special objectives. In 1921, a dormitory was built for colored girls, in connection with Stillman Institute. In 1922, as a result of the tenth birthday celebration of the Auxili¬ ary, funds were provided for the rebuilding of Miss Dowd’s school in Japan. For 1923, there is the aim of a school for Mexican girls in Texas, $25,000 to be contributed by the Synodical of Texas, and a like sum by all of the other Synodi- cals combined. 5. Interdenominational —The Auxiliary maintains member¬ ship and participation in the Council of Women for Home Missions and in the Federation of Women’s Boards for Foreign Missions, as well as in the Inter-racial Commission. The most signal testimony of the value of the Auxiliary was given by the General Assembly at Montreat, May, 1923. This was in response to an overture from the Presbytery of St. John’s, Florida, asking that at least one woman be placed on each of the Executive Committees of the General Assembly. Both a majority and a minority report on this overture was presented, the former in opposition and the latter in its favor. After earnest debate the minority report in favor of the over¬ ture was adopted with a vote of 140 to 49. Later a protest 78 PIONEER WOMEN to this action was made by forty-one Commissioners, to which the following reply was made: Response to Protest. “The General Assembly is in entire harmony with the great principles which are expressed in the protest, but there is nothing in the Word of God nor in the government of our Church to prevent the Assembly appointing private members, male and female, upon its Executive Committees, and the action protested against was taken in order to recognize in this way the Woman’s Auxiliary in its loyal and faithful work. Russell Cecil, E. W. McCorkle, S. F. Hobbs/’ “Resolution Adopted Regarding Appointment of Women on Executive Committees. “Resolved, That every Executive Committee of the General Assembly be, and they are hereby instructed to promptly select and add to their membership three women, one of each class, which number shall not be exceeded in any event.” Thus a new door of service has been opened to women. • The results of these years show to a marked degree the power of the Holy Spirit, without which neither administrative ability, nor perfected organization would have availed any¬ thing, and to Him be all the honor, and the praise and the thanksgiving, with a prayer for continued guidance, strength and steadfastness of purpose. MISSIONARY LITERATURE 79 CHAPTER X. Missionary Literature. Its Bearing on Women's Activities. Although we have the same old missionary text book of the early church, the only one they ever had and the best ever written, yet its teachings have been slowly apprehended, else, there would have been, not only more Pauls, but more Try- phenas and Tryphosas for the home field and more Phoebes tor the foreign. (See last chapter of Romans.) So whilst we do not minimize the influence of present day literature, yet we would magnify the power which led out that “great host” of women of whom Paul speaks, and the same which led into the field our own pioneers. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit saith the Lord.” Therefore we do honor to our early missionaries, who literally stepped forward alone on the bridge of faith. It’s not the history of literary progress, but of its bearing upon our progress, these lines must speak. As missionary societies began to make programs the need of information was keenly felt, and this stimulated literary efforts. EARLY EQUIPMENT. The up-to-date president of a missionary society, even of the early eighties could not go beyond her church magazine and the precious leaflets which were emerging from the then brand new Women’s Boards, and that very eye opening, “Gospel In All Lands,” which was, as a well of water to a weary soul thirsting to give her society current events beyond the horizon of her own church. (The first leaflet published by the U. S. A. Presbyterian Board was in 1872.) The women always sought eagerly the woman’s leaflets and magazines be¬ cause they answered women’s needs in the conduct of our work. Method, methods, was the cry, for the pen of a Belle 80 PIONEER WOMEN M. Brain or a Mrs. Cronk had not been unsheathed. Even the pens which were at work were little known for want of systematic channels to reach those in need. MISSION STUDY. Mission Study took wonderful hold upon women after 1900. God had been preparing us again for another advance step. At the Ecumenical Conference, held in New York, in 190Q a plan of uniform Mission Study was proposed by Miss Abbie Childs. It met with ready response and a committee was ap¬ pointed at once to plan for a series of mission text books, be- genning with “Rex. Christus” for the first year. This has been followed by scores of new books, the study of which has developed women until we fear the Pauline injunction. “Ask your husbands at home” would now fall on heedless ears. SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN LITERATURE. Our own Southern Presbvterian women have contributed liberally with their pens. Of these we note the graceful pens of our oldest living missionaries today, Miss Charlotte Kemper, of Brazil and Mrs. J. L. Stuart, of China; the strong pen of one so recently passed away, Mrs. Sydenstricker, of China; the facile pens of Mrs. Swineheart, of Korea, Mrs. Sevier and others. Also our Mission Study book, “Day in and Day Out in Korea,” by Mrs. J. S. Nisbett, who wrote under such fearful physical handicap, yet evolved an inspiring record of Korean faith, ex¬ celled by none. The fifth chapter of that book reminds one of 11th of Hebrews, in its song of triumph. Mrs. Erickson, of Japan, has just written a very delightful study of that country. Not only have our foreign missionaries contributed lib¬ erally, but at home we sit under the spell of many graceful writers. Mrs. Alethea T. Cobb’s versatility shines on various subjects; Mrs. Belle McCallum Gibbons thrills us with stories MISSIONARY LITERATURE 81 of Indian Missions; Miss Eleanora Berry and Miss Nancy White, wield facile pens; Miss Elizabeth Shields and Miss Carrie L. Campbell, Miss Sarah Lee Vinson, Miss Anne H. Rcmkin, Miss Mildred Welch, Miss Anna Binford, Miss Julia Lake .Skinner, Miss Eva M. Cavers, and Miss Mary Wiley, have all made us their debtors through their gifted pens. So we find that missionary effort and literary activity have reacted one upon another, educating and expending the intel¬ lect, enriching and deepening spirituality until we seem to have merited such a tribute as this from “Men and Missions,” page 253. “We will remember in wholesome humility, that what we are now discovering concerning the big world’s call, moth¬ ers and wives and sisters knew long ago. With all their organization the laymen yet lag behind the women in mis¬ sionary knowledge, gifts and devotion.” To this we reply in no exultant mood, but earnestly we beckon you onward, our fellow workers, in the upward climb; we both have a long reach ahead of us before our eyes behold the millennial dawn, but upon us the Kingdom waits and must wait until the missionary spirit becomes universal. And in this day so full of liberal teachings, let us clasp closer to our breasts the Book that crowns all literature, the Supernatural Gospel which, alone, can accomplish the super¬ natural task. The church for nearly a century had no missionary litera¬ ture. Outside of Acts of Apostles it still had none even three centuries after the printing press. “Some who are yet living” (said A. T. Pierson, in 1893) “remember when the Evangelical Magazine promised a page of Missionary intelligence as soon as enough matter could be found to fill it.” Today our hymn books abound in Mission hymns, maga¬ zines and reviews throng our mails and secular, as well as religious, newspapers devote columns to the subject. We have chairs in colleges and seminaries; missionary training schools— 82 PIONEER WOMEN see our own in Richmond, Va.—and lectureships in which women are both teachers and pupils. The busiest officer, next to the President, in a local auxiliary, is the wide awake Secre¬ tary of Literature. And the monthly meeting is without ex¬ cuse that fails to offer us fresh material free of charge, ALABAMA 83 ALABAMA 84 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. Sarah Pratt Lapsley, an ardent mission worker and the Mother of a great Missionary. ALABAMA 85 ALABAMA BEGINNINGS OF MISSIONS IN THE MOBILE DISTRICT. More than two centuries ago, the Jesuit Fathers set up the cross in Old Mobile, and extended their labors throughout the French province of Louisiana. They acquired and maintained undisputed sway over the minds and hearts of the colonists, until 1819, when Mobile District, as it was called, passed under the Stars and Stripes. The first Protestant preacher in Mobile, was one Rev. John Warren, who, with his wife, a sister of the sainted Har¬ riet Newell, was sent out by a Young Men’s Missionary Society of New York City, about 1820. The story of his Herculean labors and their countless sacrifices for the first church of Mobile, belongs to the romance of Missions. ■ On one occasion, when returning from New York, whither he had gone, on horse¬ back, for more money and material for the building, he found his wife sleeping in the little cemetery and scores of his parish¬ ioners either ill or dead from the terrible scourge of Yellow Fever. But he never faltered until his work was successfully completed. Twelve years later, Government Street Church goes on record as having contributed, for the current year, $2,000.00 for Foreign Missions, $800.00 for Home Missions, $925.00 to Education and $900.00 for the work of the American Society. So quickly does a church, born of missions, become a supporter of missions and become a contributor to the benevolences of which, so lately, it had been a sharer. SOME ANTE-BELLUM NAMES. In tracing the beginnings of woman’s work for missions in South Alabama, one finds, on the roll of charter members of Government Street Church, Mobile the name of one Mrs. 86 PIONEER WOMEN Catherine Van Renssalear Schuyler Hale. She was said to have been a cousin of the famous Alexander Hamilton, and to have been reared in his household. She was a highly educated woman, of strong intellect and deep piety. For sixty years she wrought her influence into the fabric of Mobile society, as head of a young ladies’ select school, Bible class teacher, organizer of an industrial school among the poor which was the germ of South Franklin Street church, as the ministering angel among the needy of both races, and as the president of, perhaps, the first adult Foreign Missionary Society in Mobile. Tradition says that it was organized in the sixties and included some of the most notable names in the history of Presbyterianism in South Alabama. JUVENILE SOCIETY OF THE ’40’S. In the ladies’ parlors of Government Street Church, there is a framed list of the members of the Juvenile Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society, of 1848. The name of the president of this early band of boys and girls is not known; but the name of the lad who so carefuly inscribed the names in neat columns, add¬ ing flourishes and scrolls when occasion demanded, was one Gustavus Horton, eldest son of Judge Gustavus Horton, of Puritan blood, whose chief aim was to advance the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Names of other children of his adorn the list: Carrie, Eliza, Harriet, Frank and Mary. We pause for a moment over the name of Mary, for it was she who was destined to grow into beautiful womanhood and to give years of fragrant service to her own City, before she be¬ came the wife of Dr. John Leighton Stuart of Hangchow, China, and entered upon her long and fruitful career as an educational and evangelistic missionary and as the mother of sons who are making history in the Far East. Only yesterday, we were reading the story of the celebration of her eightieth birthday in the home of her son Leighton, who is now the President of Peking University. The honors bestowed upon ALABAMA 87 her by heathen and Christian gave one some idea of what is meant by the Hundredfold in this life. Truly, the unknown leader of the Juvenile Missionary Society of 1848 builded better than she knew. COLORED EVANGELIZATION. Prior to the War, as in other parts of the South, God’s people were concerned in the conversion of the slaves. There were Sunday afternoon schools for the “creoles” and mulattoes and there were a goodly number of dusky worshipers in the slave galleries at the regular hours of morning service. HOME MISSIONS. The needs of the coast country were so great, that the ac¬ tivities of consecrated lives were often absorbed in caring for the sufferers during the ravages of Yellow Fever epedemics, and supporting or engaging in colportage or Bible distribution through the sparsely settled plantation country to the north of the coast. A NEW EPOCH. Then came the Civil War, sweeping the country with its breath of fire and leaving an aftermath of poverty and dis¬ tress, but with it a deepened sense of religious responsibility. Then our Southern Presbyterian Church flung its banner to the breeze and called for recruits for the great world war against idolatry. Dr. J. L. Stuart, of Kentucky, was one of the first to respond and went to China in the late sixties and returned 1 in 1874 for a year of recuperation. When he again set sail for his adopted country, he took with him the beautiful Mary Horton of Mobile. This also marked a new epoch in the growth of missionary interest, in Mobile. Two Mary Stuart Societies were organized —one in the South Franklin Street Church, of which Mrs. Stuart was a member, and one in the Jackson Street Church, where her father was a ruling elder. Of the first named society, 38 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. Thomas McBryde, sister of Mrs. Stuart, and Mrs. M. J. Thompson wife of the Pastor, were the inspiration and leaders, and their influence lives after them, Mrs. McBryde is still letting her light shine in Dalton, Georgia, but Mrs. Thompson was called to her reward many years ago, but not until she saw Miss Fannie Robbins go from their number, to minister in the mountains of Kentucky, and they had had the privilege of paying the traveling expenses of two of our African Mission¬ aries, Maria Fearing and Lillian Thomas, back to their be¬ loved work at Luebo. This wasj done by means, of a $2,000.00 bequest left the society by a friend of the Pastor’s wife, Mrs. Robert Edmunds of Lebanon, in memory of her son, Ray. RETURNING SHIPS The Anna Safford Missionary Society, for boys and girls, was organized in South Franklin Street Church, in 1885, as the result of a visit from Miss Anna C. Safford, of Soochow, China, to her sister, Mrs. Thompson. This society deserves special mention, as it numbered among its members Leighton and David Stuart, who had been left in the home land for educational purposes, on the return of their parents to China, in 1886; Urban Mooney, who is now the Pastor of the Napoleon Ave. Church in New Orleans; Albert French who consecrated his life to Africa, but who was called to higher service before completing his college course; Earl Curtis, who, as a minister of the Gospel, is doing a great work for boys, in Oklahoma; David Burr Gregory, who is the Pastor of the First Church of Durant, Oklahoma; Miss Ophelia Heiter, who is an all-time religious worker in Government Street Church, Mobile; and Miss Florence Dolphy, a Pastor’s assistant in Wheeling, W. Va., besides others who are unofficial workers in the Kingdom. A NEW NOTE. The threads of influence, in our woman’s organized work for missions is most interesting. Miss Safford was a close ALABAMA 89 friend of Mrs. Josiah Sibley of Augusta, Georgia. Together, they had dreamed of arousing the unused forces of our women, for mission service and had seen in a vision, what we see in fact; so in public and private discourses, the women began to hear the word, ORGANIZATION reiterated, for the first time, and so here, and wherever she went, seed were planted that were destined to yield a bountiful harvest when the sowers should have passed on. Mrs. Stuart’s furlough followed that of Miss Safford, and the year spent in her father’s home was rich in blessing to all who came under the influence of her radiant personality. MOBILE HOME AND FOREIGN MISSION UNION. 1895. Early in the nineties, rumors began reaching us of Unions in Virginia, and then letters, followed by other letters, from our more progressive sisters in North Alabama, urging the women of Mobile Presbytery to correlate their societies into a Union as they were doing. But Mobilians are a conser¬ vative folk, and do not hastily run after new schemes; therefore, it was not until January 1895 that the Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Union was fairly launched in Govern¬ ment Street Church, Mobile. Its officers were as follows: President, Mrs. Thomas McMillan; Recording Secretary, Mrs. William Tucker; Treasurer, Mrs. Robert W. Horn. A CLOSE CORPORATION. The initial step was taken, but it was still, as some one wrote, “a close corporation.” To be sure, the invitations were written, nay reiterated, to our sisters in the outside churches to come in to the “feast” but the churches in the Presbytery were small and widely scattered, conservatism was strong and there was no one to go out and compel them to come in. It was the early problem of the Missionary Visitor. ,90 PIONEER WOMEN ENTER MISS DALY. Not until Miss Alice Daly, of the North Alabama Union, invaded the Mobile Union, did the smaller churches begin to realize the duty of co-operation. This visitation was followed later by Mrs. E. L. Russell, who further strengthened the ties of union between the city and country churches and gave the women a vision of higher service for the Kingdom. HOW NORTH ALABAMA CAME INTO LEADERSHIP. 1894. In seeking for the beginnings of a deepened love for missions, in North Alabama, one follows a winding trail of influences that ultimately lead one to a lonely grave, under a hill, on the Congo River, where the body of Samuel Lapsley, of the Southern Presbyterian Church awaits the resurrection. GAIN THROUGH LOSS. The little mother in Anniston meekly bowed her he.ad when the stroke came, then lifted it again as a vision of service filled her heart. Those who tell the story, say that it began first in a revivified missionary society and in the consecration of lives that had been given to aims less worthy. Then came the plan of gathering the local societies of North Alabama into a union, the organization of new societies and the introducing of mission study. MEMORABLE NAMES. Many noble women were concerned in this pioneer work of organization, but those that occur to the historian as being among the leaders, who should have a lasting memorial are: the first honorary life-president of the Synodical, Mrs. James Lapsley, Mrs. John B. Knox of Anniston, Mrs. Flinn, Mrs. Waddell, Mrs. Handley, Mrs. James Bruce, and others of Birmingham. Because of their zeal and consecration, because of the peculiar gifts possessed by some of their number, and also because of the geographical location of the towns in the ALABAMA 91 North Alabama Presbytery, permitting their visitation with a minimum expenditure of time and money, their union grew into a large and well-managed organization in a comparatively short time, and they were stretching out helping hands to others. Mrs. Bruce was the secretary and treasurer in those early days and the writer will never forget the sight of her books; they were a model of clearness and precision and became the ideal for the inexperienced to follow after, even as Mrs. Bruce was destined to become the leader of thd women of Alabama in woman’s organized work. Miss Alice Daly, then a young woman with leisure, strength and ability, was early called into service as the visitor for the Presbytery and it was largely through her indefatigable efforts that the outlying churches were brought into close co-operation with those in the larger towns. MRS. SARAH PRATT LAPSLEY. It is well for us to pause here for a moment to dwell upon the character, personality and influence of one whose memory is sacred and precious, not only to North Alabama Presbyterial and Alabama Synodical, but throughout the Southern Presbyterian Church and wherever the story of Mis¬ sions is told. As the mother of Samuel Norvell Lapsley, her name, along with his service in Africa, will be embalmed in the Church for ages to come. The life of Mrs. Sarah Pratt Lapsley was long and event¬ ful, covering a period of over four score years, with a full and varied experience, embracing all of the purest joys of a happy Christian home, bearing rich fruit in the lives of her children, and grand-children. She was the wife of Judge James W. Lapsley of Selma, Alabama, and the mother of twelve children, nine of whom grew to maturity. Three sons were ministers of the Gospel; Dr. Robert Lapsley is Editor of the Earnest Worker; Rev. James Lapsley is in the Home Mission Field; Samuel Norvell Lapsley was the founder of 92 PIONEER WOMEN our African Mission and laid down his life with the spirit of a true martyr at Matadi in the Belgian Congo, March 26th, 1892. Two of her daughters, Mrs. Robert Liston, and Mrs. Wade Smith, are the wives of ministers. One grandson is a promis¬ ing young minister in North Carolina, three are preparing for the ministry, two have offered their lives for foreign service. One granddaughter is in the Home Mission Field, another granddaughter will go as a foreign missionary. Truly, the promise “to your children’s children” has been fulfilled in her victorious life. Back of all this lies a mother’s influence, and a consecration of purpose and ideals akin to the faith of Monica and the women of the Bible. Mrs. Lapsley’s work' for Missions was the sweet incense of a heart poured out at her Savior’s feet. She could have no peace nor rest save in her zeal, self-sacrifice and prayers for the spread of the Gospel. Naturally timid and shrinking, it was not easy for her to take the initiative in any work of a public nature, but through faith and Christian courage and the vision of what women could do, banded together with the one aim—“Attempt great things for God; expect great things of God,” she undertook a great task. THE FIRST MISSIONARY SENT BY THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. From the Executive Committee’s Report of 1863 (Alexan¬ der’s Digest) is the record that “The missionaries in the Choc¬ taw Country came to the conclusion during that Summer that it would be very disastrous to suspend their schools even for a limited time. There were a number of white women in the country, most of them wives or daughters of missionaries, and educated Choctaw women, whose services were found available as teachers.” A call was issued for more teachers, and the Committee reported “One of these schools is now taught by Miss Augusta Bradford, a member of the Presbyterian Church in Talladega, Alabama, who responded to the call for teachers. ALABAMA 93 She is the first missionary laborer who has left her home tc engage in missionary work among the heathen under the direc¬ tion of the Committee and this fact is recorded here to the honor of the Church of which she is a member.” THE BEGINNINGS IN TUSCALOOSA PRESBYTERY. 1896. Before the war, the churches of Tuscaloosa, Greensboro, Eutaw, Friendship, Valley Creek, Selma and others, some of which were at that time in the Presbytery of South Alabama, had organized woman’s societies, yet, so far as we can get the facts, the objects worked for were ministerial education, church erection, and “Aid Societies.” * The hearts of Godly women were as devoted then as now, but they gave as members of the church body, not as societies; and the mere thought of being called upon to speak before a mixed assembly filled them with horror. RECONSTRUCTION. As the war-cloud slowly dissolved, loyal Presbyterians began to think, first of all, of pulpit supply and readjustment along other lines. Sunday-schools were reorganized and Ladies’ Aids that had been Soldiers’ Aids during the War, now returned to their first loves and devoted themselves to repairing and adorning the houses of worship that had suffered from neglect or the devastation of armies. THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN. The first General Assembly, meeting in Augusta, in 1861, declared for extension in Foreign Missions, yet laid upon the conscience of the Church, the cause of Africa and the South¬ ern Negro and if the sense of this responsibility could have been more deeply felt, if class prejudice had been less, if Northern influence, bringing, as it did, revulsion of feeling in many cases, on the part of the negro for his quondam owner, had been more positively met and overcome, we would have 94 PIONEER WOMEN done a nobler part and a greater good would have resulted to the negro. STILLMAN INSTITUTE. True, an effort was made, in accord with the Assembly’s plans, in the Tuscaloosa Church, of which Dr. C. A. Stillman was pastor. His name was given to the institute, organized by him for the training of colored ministers, and he was also instrumental in reorganization of the Woman’s Society into a Foreign Missionary Society. STREAMS OF INFLUENCE. How shall we count results when we say that Dr. Stillman was largely concerned in the going to Africa of Samuel Laps- ley, our first martyr? Down that same stream of influence came, ultimately, our first organized effort. Through the labors of Miss Annie Stillman, Tuscaloosa was duly organized in the month of October, 1896, preceded by a sermon from Dr. Rus¬ sell Cecil. Mrs. James H. Somerville of Aliceville was made Presi¬ dent and Miss Addie McLemore of Eutaw, Secretary and Treas¬ urer. Then followed the struggle for existence, and largely to Mrs. Somerville is due the survival of the new venture. For eight or nine years she gave freely of her time, energy and means to the new organization, meeting with very] little co¬ operation, either from the ministers or the women who should have been upholding her hands. She often said, but for the faith and encouragement of her Pastor, Rev. Mr. Dean of Aliceville, she would have given up in despair. All honor to her and to Mrs. John McKinnon of Selma, who was her Secre¬ tary most of the time. Selma, Greensboro, Aliceville, York, Marion and Tusca¬ loosa—each in turn opened their hospitable doors to the infant Union; but women were unused to traveling from place to place to attend missionary meetings; domestic duties bound them, sometimes a lack of money prevented and the attendance ALABAMA 95 of out-of-town delegates was pitably small, in comparison with the bountiful preparation that awaited them. Sometimes a line of carriages and a group of eager boys would be rewarded by arrival of one delegate. And if it was so difficult to stimulate attendance, it was well-nigh impossible to get adequate reports of the work actually being done, so that tabulation was out of the question. These conditions prevailed in all of the early Alabama Presbyterials, to a greater or less degree, and doubt¬ less throughout the South; but here or there were trained and gifted leaders who were destined to leave their permanent im¬ press on the plastic form of our new work. GREAT NAMES. During these days of pioneering, it is good to remember a few names which stood for faith, courage, perseverance and clear vision—Mrs. J. H. Somerville of Aliceville, Mrs. V. H. Rodes and Miss Annie Stillman of Tuscaloosa, Mrs. John McKinnon and Mrs. C. W. Hooper of Selma, who was a tower of strength even from her invalid chair, Mrs. J. G. Snedecor of Tuscaloosa, calm, clear-brained and true, a wise counselor in every perplexing circumstance, and Mrs. J. H. West of Uniontown, whose unfailing devotion to the King’s business and patient attention to detail, wrought marvels in un¬ tangling the threads that were to be woven into our new fabric. These last two have each presided over the Presbyterial, as it came to be called, with wonderful success, and at the present writing, Mrs. Snedecor is calmly steering the Synodical with the quiet grace that marks her every action, as well as serving efficiently as Dean of the new School for colored girls estab¬ lished in 1921 in connection with Stillman Institute. MISSIONARIES. An interesting story, for the facts of which we are indebted to Mrs. Snedecor, comes to us from Ante-Bellum days. It happened while Dr. Stillman was Pastor at Eutaw. A certain 96 PIONEER WOMEN negro named Ellis, learned to read from his young master as they rode back and forth to school, on horseback, and later when working as a blacksmith, he would ask help from the men who came into the shop to have their horses shod. In many ways he showed such remarkable traits and so impressed men with his Christian, character, that the session of the church at Eutaw recommended that the Presbytery of Tuscalosa pur¬ chase the slave, his wife and children, and send them as mis¬ sionaries to Liberia. This was done and the man was given a training in Theology, in which he is said, by Dr. Stillman, to have stood a fine examination. The Presbytery heard from him* quite often at first, but finally, perhaps during the War, they lost sight of him. How one would love to know how much was really accomplished by this first lone missionary who carried the light back to his own people. Was the light swallowed up by the dense blackness of heathenism, or does it still burn on? ■Since then, and under happier auspices, seven, colored men and women have gone to Africa from Stillman Institute, not including Lucius DeYampert of Selma. Phillips Verner and wife, nee Miss Hattie Bradshaw, of Tuscaloosa, were among the first white Missionaries to go to Affrica, following Samuel Lapsley who had been reared at Selma but was living in Annis¬ ton when he and Sheppard went as pioneers to the Congo. Greensboro has the honor of having given to China one of our saintliest missionaries—Miss Elmma Boardman of Hangchow, of whom one of her co-workers once said: “She literally pours out her life for the Chinese.” FIFTEEN YEARS OF HISTORY IN EAST ALABAMA. 1897. The call for a federation of the women’s societies of the Presbytery of Ehst Alabama, came not from a leading woman, but from Dr. Neal L. Anderson the pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, and he was acting in response to a re- ALABAMA 97 commendation from Presbytery, which had appointed him chair¬ man of the committee on Foreign Missions. In response to this call, the societies of the First and Cen¬ tral Churches of Montgomery, the churches of Auburn and Tuskegee, sent delegates, and South Franklin Street Church of Mobile asked to be enrolled by letter. This last enrollment calls for an explanation, as the Woman’s Home and Foreign Mis¬ sionary Union had been organized in Mobile in 1895. It had been intended, originally, as a City Union, therefore, when the call came from the Presbytery, which at that time included Mobile, as well as what is now East Alabama, the women of South Franklin Street Church stretched out their hands, by letter, and became a part of the first Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Union of the Presbytery of East Alabama, on Monday, May 29th, 1897. The early history of the Union in East Alabama was a story of struggles, vain appeals to societies outside the Union, rebuffs from some of the prominent churches, unanswered let¬ ters, and hard, unappreciated labors. During these first years, the names of Mrs. Ray Rushton, President, and Mrs. J. G. Cowan, Secretary, shine out in letters of gold, for it was they who toiled with hope when others despaired and later had the joy of seeing the Union grow from four timid societies to a strong organization representing twenty-two churches. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION. 1908. The call for Synodical Organization came from Birming¬ ham, and one recalls with pleasure that bright October day in 1907 when a little group of five women gathered around a table in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church and dis¬ cussed the matter of organization of the Synodical Union of Alabama. There was Mrs. Knox of Anniston, the chief originator and inspiration of the movement; Mrs. Bruce of Birmingham, for many years an officer in the Presbyterial Union of North Ala- 98 PIONEER WOMEN bama and whose clear brain, combined with the faculty for good-comradeship, made her an indispensable factor; Mrs. Mc¬ Kinnon of Selma, true and tried; Mrs. Snedecor of Tuscaloosa, calm, serene and prepared, she without whom the women of our church would not willingly come into conference; and lastly, the historian, representing the Mobile Presbyterial Union and who sat as an humble listener and learner. Perhaps our minds did not fully grasp the meaning and trend of the new step that we were taking, but there was genuine enthusiasm and an earnest desire to be led by the Mas¬ ter into more efficient service in the great causes of our church. In response to an invitation from Mrs. J. Calvin Stewart, President of the Synodical Union of Virginia, Mrs. Bruce was appointed to visit that organization and confer with the leaders before taking more definite steps in Alabama. Mean¬ while, Mrs. Knox was made chairman of an organization com¬ mittee, Mrs. Bruce, Treasurer, and Mrs. Cobbs, Secretary, and it was agreed to meet in the Government Street Church, Mobile, on Thursday, February 28th, 1908, for the purpose of forming a Synodical should it be the desire of those present to do so. We like to remember that Dr. Archibald Carr, Pastor of the Church, was with us in our beginnings, and that his prayers and counsel helped to guide us along this untried path. The officers of the infant organization were as follows: Mrs. James Lapsley, of Anniston and Mrs. Charles Hooper of Selma, Honorary Presidents; Mrs. John B. Knox of Anni¬ ston, President; Mrs. D. B. Cobbs of Mobile, Recording Secre¬ tary and Treasurer. The Union adopted substantially as its own, the Constitu¬ tion and By-laws of the Union of Virginia, which was the mother organization of the South. The Synodical did much to broaden the vision and strengthen the purpose of the women of the Presbyterials. To date, 1922, we have had but four presi¬ dents: Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Fritter of Dothan, Mrs. Bruce and ALABAMA 99 A; Mrs. Snedecor, wlio still is giving her efficient service for the work. Mrs Knox was our first and beloved leader until 1911 when ill health forced her to resign. Later she was made Honorary Life President. Mrs. W. E. Fritter of Dothan was the second president; she likewise served for two years and resigned for health reasons; then came Mrs. James Bruce with her clear judgment, rich experience, deep knowledge of the church’s needs and her rare tact in dealing with others. How joyously she addressed herself to the work and how indefatiga¬ ble was her service! Once, indeed, she was laid low by a ter¬ rible stroke of Providence that took her first-born son without a moment’s warning. Like a noble tree bowed by the storm, her lips touched the dust, and then she rose again and with a calm face took up her work because it was the King’s work. For four years she labored to make Alabama one of the strong Synodicals of the South. As Chairman of the Woman’s Ad¬ visory Committee, she was able to speak from the very heart of the work and her words were the tools that shaped our plans. We love to remember these things now—her patience with those who could not understand—her profound ability, yes, and her whimsical humor that lightened the day’s work—the altogether of her that made her the delightful companion as well as the wise leader. Her departure from this life while her sun was still high in its zenith, is so recent that, we| cannot think of her as dead; she is not dead, but only transferred to a higher field of service. Friends say that when her spirit was slipping away she smiled back, one of her radiant smiles; perhaps she knew then. THE GULF STATES PRESBYTERIAN. The women of Alabama deeply appreciate the generosity of Dr. H. G. Kegley, in giving large space* in the Gulf States Presbyterian for the discussion of plans for organizing the women of our church. This was the more appreciated be- 100 PIONEER WOMEN cause of the cautious attitude or complete silence of the the other organs of our church until the Auxiliary was author¬ ized and endorsed by the General Assembly. Mrs. John B. Knox, and later, Mrs. D. B. Cobbs, were editors of the Woman’s Department during those days of warm discussion and sharp difference of opinion as to woman’s place in the church. ALABAMA WOMEN LOYAL FROM THE FIRST. Alabama women were among the first to go on record as endorsing the “Missouri Plan” and they have never faltered in their loyalty, though, it must be confessed, in individual cases, they little realized how radical was to be the change in their methods of work, and conservatism died hard in the “Old First Churches.” THE BIRTH OF THE WOMAN’S AUXILIARY. While the women of our church are celebrating the tenth birthday of the Auxiliary, with candles and gifts and wondrous cakes, the writer is recalling the day when the infant organiza¬ tion was born, among the rills and trees of Montreat. The event was preceded by a memorable prayer-meeting at the cottage of Mrs. C. E. Graham. The air was chill and misty, so that the blazing fire was a cheerful sight and gave an air of home-likeness. More than twenty-five women, repre¬ senting the different states, were present. Mrs. Fritter, of Dothan, Alabama, the President of our Synodical, was there to pledge Alabama’s loyalty. Mrs. E. L. Russell was there, unofficially, but with an important place on the program. Mrs. D. B. Cobbs, of Mobile, then President of the Mobile Pres- byterial, was representing the Gulf States Presbyterian. Mrs. McCaulie, that mother of missionaries, led the devo¬ tions and practically every woman present voiced a petition for light and guidance in the great work that lay before us. We are glad that Alabama stood with cur Superintendent in the beginning and that its loyalty has never failed. APPALACHIA APPALACHIA 102 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. T. H. McCallie, Chattanooga, Tenn. Endeared to her fellow-workers as “Mother” McCallie. APPALACHIA 103 APPALACHIA In 1915 according to an act of General Assembly, the Mountain Synod of Appalachia was carved out of the connect¬ ing mountain sections of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Georgia, and thus presented to the church its Mountain Mission Problem in a compact form and under unified control. The pioneer history of this Synod belongs to the several states which gave up many of their long established churches in order that this'experiment in Home Mission efficiency might be tried out. So that while the Synod of Appalachia is very young, its Presbyteries are rich in experience. HOLSTON PRESBYTERY. The territory occupied by Holston Presbytery is the earliest settled portion of the State of Tennessee, and the organization of some of its churches antedates the history of the State by many years. One of the oldest, perhaps the very oldest of these churches is New Providence, at Stony Point, Hawkins County, Tennes¬ see, dating back to 1780. Of course, in those early days there was no opportunity for any organization of women. The pioneer woman’s life was so full of the necessary toil incident to the primitive modes of living in this battle with the wilder¬ ness that the careful rearing and training of her children was a tremendous contribution to the religious and social life of our nation; but we know that the women were ready for every good work by the character of the descendants they left. As the years passed the members of this church prospered—were well-to-do farmers, many of them slaveowners—and as one very old lady quaintly expressed it, “The darkeys couldn’t take a dose of medicine by themselves, and the women were so busy in the 104 PIONEER WOMEN large households thus maintained that they had little time for anything outside of home.” With these dependent ones to look after physically and spiritually their responsibility was great, and they had a Home Mission ready to their hands. The women of this church conducted Sunday Schools for the colored peo¬ ple, many of whom became members of the church, where a space was always allotted for their use, and they had the privi¬ lege of all the ordinances of the church. The women also taught faithfully in the Sunday School. In the past fifty years the church building and manse have been twice destroyed by fire, and in the labors and sacrifices of rebuilding, the women have faithfully borne their part. Jonesboro is the oldest town in Tennessee and was the first Capital. Here in 1790 the Presbyterian Church was organized. As far back as 1816 we find them holding regularly a “Woman’s Prayer-meeting.” This custom was suggested and introduced by Dr. Charles Coffin, a distinguished preacher of that day. Of this praver-meeting the Rev. Rufus P. Wells, Pastor about 1845, wrote this beautiful tribute: “While the Wednesday even¬ ing prayer-meeting has often been interrupted, sometimes hav¬ ing no praying member present, often only one, the woman’s meeting has been kept up with little if any interruption, from that day until the present. After the lapse of nearly thirty- five years, it stands as an enduring monument to the piety which has adorned the hearts and lives of our sisters and mothers in Israel. That prayer-meeting, I have reason to be¬ lieve, has proved the salvation of our congregation, and the prayers there offered and not yet answered are a rich treasure to be enjoyed by those who shall come after us.” In 1826 we find this record: “The church is much in¬ terested in missions, especially the women, who are providing clothing and many articles of convenience for the missionaries among the heathen. The Sunday School was organized in that year, and many women were faithful teachers. When the present church building was erected in 1847, the women made APPALACHIA 105 generous contributions toward it, and themselves bought the bell at a cost of $384.00. In 1860, a Juvenile Missionary Society was organized. In 1869 a church was organized at Johnson City (then Johnson’s Depot), with a little handful of members. Only a few years had passed since the fearful ravages of the Civil War had swept over the South, and this section was to a peculiar extent the theatre of some of its direst tragedies. Poverty, dis¬ organization and the need of rehabilitation stared at one from every hand, as this little band faced the necessity of a house of worship. Their case seemed well nigh hopeless, but a leader was all*that was needed, and that one filled with energy, faith and deep consecration appeared in the person of a woman—Mrs. Loretta Lyle Smith, to whose efforts belong the credit of the first church building in Johnson City. She came of a race of church builders in the early history of Virginia; so armed with a subscription paper, drawn up by Col. Robert Love, an able lawyer of his day, mounted on her faithful horse, day after day she carried this paper from house to house until her work was done. Besides this labor of love she gave $500.00, the largest amount given by any mem¬ ber, andi later as more funds were needed she added $300.00 to her first gift. She was not the wealthiest member in dollars and cents, but was rich in the Christian graces. She secured from her father, brothers and immediate relatives, $500.00 more, so that nearly two-thirds of the amount on hand at the beginning was given by her family, “the Lyles.” Before she real¬ ized the fruition of her labors God, in His inscrutable wis¬ dom, called her home to the Church triumphant, and the in¬ fant church felt the blow most keenly. But they had caught the inspiration of her life, and with renewed energy carried on the work. The church thrived and grew, and as the little hamlet of Johnson’s Depot became the bustling town of John¬ son City, it held its place of importance in the community life. In later years when it became necessary to build a larger 106 PIONEER WOMEN and more convenient place of worship, the women with such an example to follow, found it easy to make rich gifts both for the church and manse and also for the organ. KNOXVILLE PRESBYTERY. A woman’s grave at old Lebanon church, in Knoxville Presbytery stands as a memorial for all that pioneer Christian women bequeathed to Tennessee. Precious as this legacy is to Presbyterianism, all who call Jesus Christ Lord, can stand at that lonely grave in awed gratitude, for it marks the sacrifice that brought the first gos¬ pel message to this frontier—when the frontier was a wedge driven into Indian territory. The grave is Mrs. Carrick’s, the wife of the Rev. Samuel Carrick. In 1791, Reverend Carrick appeared with dramatic unexpectedness among the backwoodsmen, a young man of dignity, breeding, and gifts, who could have been a brilliant minister in noted pulpits of his time. But he chose to lose his life—of ease and prominence—and to find it for Christ’s sake, in a ministry to pioneers, who in fighting Indians and wild beasts, and the earth itself for food, were expanding America, but forgetting God. Into this life savage in its roughness and dangers, for Indians were constantly murdering the settlers, came Mrs. Carrick. She must have been gently bred, like her husband, for he belonged to a cultivated Virginia community, where men married their social equals. All accounts lead us to believe there were few, if any women of her kind, when she came into this rough section. Her coming shows the soul stuff she was made of. She made a home for her husband when' Indian peril and pioneer hardships were both at the peak. This is all we know of her—in life. It is her death that cuts her out, an unforgettable figure. An Indian attack threatened Fort White at Knoxville, and the men and all the boys who could bear arms, on the entire APPALACHIA 107 frontier, were rushed by military order to defend the fort. Reverend Garrick went with the troops, leaving his wife and children at home, near Boyd’s Ferry, two miles above Lebanon Church. On the day of the expected attack on Knoxville, Mrs. Carrick died, in her husband’s absence. In the rude community he was doctor as well as minister, and his absence meant she died without any medical help, as well as without his presence and faith. Her body was brought down the river in a canoe, to Lebanon church grave-yard, and buried there, at midnight, by women alone. They used a smothered light, for fear of an at¬ tack from Indians, who were supposed td be near. That canoe, slipping down the black stream, carrying the dead, and those living, lonely women, grip the heart more profoundly than the story of any poetic barge. In a mournful picture, it fixes for us and for those who come after us, the pathetic courage of the pioneer Christian woman, who quietly took the chance of dying alone, as Mrs. Carrick did, in helping her husband to establish a church, or who openly dared death, as those women who buried with their own hands their pastor’s wife. Sickness and death under such conditions, and Indian at¬ tacks upon families in this Presbytery, bring home to us the heroism that was demanded of the women who made homes on the frontier, and who in making homes founded the church. This is strikingly proved in the later settlements of the West, when men pushed out without women. This settlement with¬ out homes, was without churches, without Sunday, and its godless imprint, after decades of Home Mission work, still lingers. The Christian pioneer woman in Tennessee in setting up a home did as much for the church as the modern wom&n could possibly do with her organized work. Lebanon church was organized in 1791 by the Reverend Carrick, and is the historic mother church of Knoxville Presby¬ tery. 108 PIONEER WOMEN In the First Church of Knoxville which dates back to 1796, the women were sufficiently banded together in the early days to give a Communion Service to the church. Then again when Mrs. Samuel A. Ray, a member of old Lebanon Church four miles distant, was about to start out with her husband for Persia as a missionary, the women prepared generous gifts for Mrs. Ray, to assure her comfort in Persia. This was not official equipment, but the spontaneous gifts of love from women to another woman going forth with the gospel to the utter¬ most parts of the earth. Between 1840 and 1855 there was a custom in the families of this church, of encouraging the children to do without butter, for a sum of money, that w r ould be their earned contribution to foreign missions. These contributions were handed in at monthly missionary meetings, held for the whole church, Sun¬ day afternoon. It is obvious that this plan originated with the women and w T as carried out by them, mainly to teach sacrificial missionary giving to the child. ABINGDON PRESBYTERY. In the Virginia section of Appalachia Synod, is New 7 Dublin Church, dating from about 1761. It owes its existence to a woman’s devotion to her faith. Joseph Cloyd, one of the pioneers in that section, wished to marry Mary Gordon, of Rockbridge County, Virginia, but she refused to go to that then “backwoods” country unless her lover promised that as soon as he was settled he would build for her a Presbyterian Church. This promise he fulfilled, and a house of worship being erected, a church was organized, known as the New Dublin Church. The present building is the third erected on that site. When, in 1869, a Foreign and Home Missionary Society was organized at the Presbyterian Manse, near Newberne, it was but natural to find among the charter members a descendant of this “true blue” Presbyterian woman. This society held quarterly all-day meetings at the manse, APALACHIA 109 carrying their dinner with them. The children, too, were members, contributing regularly, and three of those children are active members of the society of today. They had very little missionary literature in those early days, especially for chil¬ dren, but began to take the “Child’s Missionary Magazine,” as soon as it was published, and found it most helpful. One woman, always very active in church work, at her death left a legacy, the interest on which is to bei used to keep up the church property and pretty little cemetery near by. ASHEVILLE PRESBYTERY. A* church was built in Hendersonville, North Carolina, about 1860, and for many years during the Civil War and after it had a hard struggle for existence. There were few men in the church, and women were forced to undertake every re¬ sponsibility if its life was to be maintained. At one time, one of the mothers, Mrs. Valentine Ripley, boarded the minister, when they had one, was superintendent of the Sunday-school, taught a class, played the melodeon, raised the hymns, had the church cleaned and the fires made. Later, for reason of lack of men, the church appointed three women to serve in the office of deacon. These were Mrs. Annie Anderson, Mrs. C. C. Jordon, and Mrs. Lila Ripley Barnwell, who held their appointment until they found a suitable opportunity to resign in favor of men. Today they have a beautiful building and a flourishing organization, in keeping with the growth and prosperity of Hendersonville, which is one of the attractive centres for tour¬ ists both in winter and summer, “in the land of the skies.” 1870-1912. Between the years of 1870 and 1912, nearly every church has something to tell of the devotion and achievement of women organized in Missionary and Ladies’ Aid Societies. It is in¬ teresting to note, however, that in most instances the first or- 110 Pioneer Women ganizations of this period were Missionary and it was in the banding together of women for the study and help of missionary enterprises that they gained their first experience in the value of organization. In the Drapers Valley Church, Virginia, a Missionary Society was organized in 1870, because of the great interest aroused when Rev. G. W. Painter went out from that church as a missionary to China. Many of the women were related to him by ties of blood, and all by the ties of friendship. This was the beginning of a very live missionary spirit in this church. A fact worthy of note is that the first suggestion of forming a Missionary Union for Abingdon Presbytery, came from this society in 1894. The idea was suggested by the pas¬ tor, Rev. George H. Gilmer, who assisted in preparing an over¬ ture to Presbytery, asking permission to form such an organi¬ zation, but it was lost. In Abingdon Church, Virginia, the first attempt at united work by the women was started by Misses Bettie White and Ellen Preston, in the year 1870. Associated with them was a small group of young women whose hearts were filled with an earnest desire for personal service. They solicited from their friends orders for sewing, and met at regular intervals from house to house, for an all day “sewing bee.” The money thus realized was used in making a sidewalk in front of the church, and necessary work on the church lawn. Church work in those early days, like the workers, had to “grow up.” Very early in the ’70’s, Mrs. Sarah E. Meem organized a children’s missionary society, which existed for a brief time; only the name of the treasurer is available—Virgie Gildersleeve. An amusing story is handed down in connection with the dis¬ charge of the duties of her office. A financial report was expected at each meeting, and as the treasurer made use of an antique dresser drawer as a receptacle for her wardrobe and treasury as well, there was always great excitement when the time came to locate the stray pennies scattered loosely through APPALACHIA 111 the clothing. The nervous strain was too much for her, and she had to be relieved from the burden. A new treasurer was appointed, who kept offerings tied up in a corner of her pocket handkerchief, and counted them daily (sometimes oft- ener), occasionally weeping at the thought of being robbed of this great treasure. She, however, was made of “sterner stuff” than Virgie, and held on to her office, even continuing in it to this day, Miss Emma Hagy. In 1875 a second Children’s Band was organized by Miss Margaret Preston. The president was Bessie Gildersleeve, vice- president, Mary Hawes, secretary, Mamie Campbell, treasurer, Emma Hagy. It is interesting to know that the president was five years old, and the monthly dues one penny. It was com¬ posed of eight members and four honorary members, the latter being four fathers! They expressed their deep interest in the work of these babies by paying one dollar each per year, into the treasury. These little ones began their work with one spool of thread and one ball of knitting cotton. The thread was converted into one yard of crochet trimming, the ball of cotton into a table mat. The sale of these articles formed a nucleus for further efforts. After ten years of labor there stood to their credit about $320.00, which was used for two objects which stand today as memorials to the earnestness of these children; $60.00 was used to enlarge the kitchen of the manse, and $260.00 bought the solid brass pulpit which adorns the church today. In 1886 these girls had grown up sufficiently to be or¬ ganized into the Young Ladies’ Missionary Society. Still keep¬ ing their treasurer, Miss Emma Hagy, they contributed regu¬ larly to the support of the Abingdon Church Missionary, Mrs. James Woods of China. During these years the women of Abingdon Church main¬ tained their own special interests through a Ladies’ Aid Society, and also a Missionary Society, and for a number of years were able to support a Missionary of their own, Mrs. Cowan of 112 PIONEER WOMEN Brazil. When they were caught in the grip of “increased cost,” they were compelled to abandon this endeavor and direct their funds to helping with the support of their church Missionary. Their efforts are all united today in the Abingdon Woman’s Auxiliary. Two of the Tennessee churches tell of interesting memorials for leaders in missionary effort. In the Jonesboro church, Miss Sue Deaderick had been an inspiring leader for many years. On her death, her sister, Mrs. Robert B. Glenn, gave as a memorial to her, a missionary boat, bearing the name of “The Susan Deaderick,” which sails on a river near Hangchow, China, and has carried the name of Jesus to thousands. In the Rogersville church three memorials were estab¬ lished, “The Helen Pierce Cot” in the Tsing-Kiang-Pu Hos¬ pital, “The Margaret Armstrong” scholarship in the Hashing High School, China, and the “Margaret Virginia Powel Scholarship,” in Lavras, Brazil. The Rogersville church, which is one of the old pioneer churches of that section, has passed through stormy times. There have been divisions in their midst, owing first to “Old School” and “New School” con- -a troversies, and then to Union and Confederate sentiments; but the breaches were finally all healed, and their differences over¬ come by missionary zeal. This spirit has been carefully fos¬ tered among the young people also. The First Church of Knoxville has a proud history of missionary service, their organization dating back to 1870. They were one of the first churches to adopt the Auxiliary Circle Plan, and have developed it to such a point of efficiency and breadth of service as to be one of the models for others to study. MRS. T. H. McCALLIE The First Church of Chattanooga and the Knoxville Pres- byterial, honor the name and memory of Mrs. T. H. McCallie, or “Mother McCallie,” as she is affectionately called. She APPALACHIA 113 was born in Athens, Tenn., in 1841, Ellen Douglas Jarnagin, the daughter of Hon. Spencer Jarnagin. When but twenty years old, while teaching school in Cleveland, Tenn., she met and married the Rev. Thomas Hooker McCallie, then pastor of the Cleveland church. Soon after Mr. McCallie was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga. He says in his diary: “If ever two young people were married in times of distress, it was these two.” Soon Chattanooga be¬ came a veritable storm centre. The McCallie home was not only a refuge for friends and fellow ministers, but for wounded soldiers of both sides. The young bride was tireless in her efforts to help her husband care for his large household of both white and black. Oftentimes starvation was staring them in the face. Through it all Mrs. McCallie kept the buoyant spirits that characterized her all through her life. During the years of Dr. McCallie’s pastorate, she was active in all church work and interested in all philanthropic work of the city. ,She organized the first Missionary Society in Chattanooga. She became interested in the need of orphans, and as a result the Vine Street Orphans’ Home was organized and has continued in operation for more than forty years. She was one of the original proposers for a home for working girls, and worked constantly until the Willard Home was built. She was also intensely interested in the Young Woman’s Chris¬ tian Association, and was instrumental in bringing a branch to Chattanooga. For many years she was president of the local W. C. T. U. She has a son, Rev. H. P. McCallie, who is a missionary in Mokpo, Korea. After she had passed her seventieth birth¬ day, she with her son Dr. J. P. McCallie, visited the various mission fields of China, Japan and Korea. On her return she reached Moscow, on the day war was declared between Russia and Germany, and only after hardships and trying adventures did she finally reach home. She died shortly after her return in the Fall of 1915. 114 PIONEER WOMEN PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. Knoxville Presbyterial. 1899. In April 1899, by order of the Knoxville Presbytery, the Women’s Missionary Societies within its bounds, were asked to send delegates to a meeting of Presbytery April 19, at Cleve¬ land, Tenn., to organize a Presbyterial Union. Delegates were sent from Missionary Ridge; First Church, Chattanooga; First Church, Knoxville; Third Church Knoxville; Oliver Springs; Sweetwater and Cleveland. The women were ably assisted in their organization by Miss Davidson, Missionary on furlough from Hangchow, China. Mrs. T. H. McCallie was chairman of the committee to prepare a constitution. Mrs. R. A. Mc- Ferrin of Oliver Springs was elected the first president. Holston Presbyterial. 1904. The Missionary Union of Holston Presbytery was or¬ ganized in Johnson City, Tenn., November 16, 1904, by the pastor of the church, Rev. J. Edmunds Brown. There were present sixteen delegates from ten societies. Mrs. W. L. Mc¬ Farland of Windsor Aye. Church, Bristol, was elected the first president. The organization of societies in churches where none existed, was made the special object of the Union, and at that meeting each society represented was assigned one or more churches in which to labor to that end during the ensuing year. The history of this Presbyterial has been closely linked up with the general mission work of this mountain section within which there are a number of mission schools. Abingdon Presbyterial. 1904. An effort was made to organize this Presbyterial in the early ’90’s, when a committee in Abingdon Presbytery, with Rev. George H. Gilmer chairman, overtured Presbytery. This committee had been appointed at the request of the Ladies’ Missionary Society of Drapers Valley Church. There was much opposition to the movement in Presbytery and the report APPALACHIA 115 of the committee was rejected by a tie vote which killed the Union for that time. Later it was reconsidered and permission granted. Organization took place in 1904 in Glade Spring Church. Asheville Preshyterial. 1906. At the 1906 Spring meeting of Asheville Presbytery it was recommended that “the women’s missionary societies with¬ in its bounds be federated as a means of uniting the forces in a more systematic and effective home and foreign work.” Ac¬ cordingly representative women from the twelve societies of the Presbytery assembled in the First Presbyterian Church of Asheville, August 30, 1906, for the purpose of organization. Mrs. Charity Rush Craig of Asheville was temporary chairman, and Dr. R. P. Smith and Dr. R. T. Campbell lent them valu¬ able assistance. A Constitution was adopted and the chairman instructed to have it submitted to Asheville Presbytery for ap¬ proval. Mrs. C. M. Gibbon of Asheville was elected the first president. From its very beginning the Union has been ably assisted by Dr. R. P. Smith, Superintendent of Home Missions in the Presbytery. Special mention should be made of the three women who have had much to do with the growth of the Presbyterial—Mrs. W. H. Davis, President; Mrs. R. P. Smith, Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. Kate Pegues, Recording Secretary. Imbued with the same deep purpose, laboring together as warm friends, they have left a splendid impress. Knowing the mountain people, going in and out of their homes, touching lives with them in joy and sorrow—this is one explanation of the hold and influence of these good women throughout the bounds of this mountain Presbyterial. Mrs. Pegues had a knowledge of the churches and people of the Presbytery which was re¬ markable. With her own hands she prepared a large wall map of the Presbytery, locating all of the churches, schools, or- 116 PIONEER WOMEN phanges, Mission Sunday-schools, preaching points, etc. It is a complete chart of the work of Asheville Presbytery, contain¬ ing on its margin much valuable historical data. It is care¬ fully preserved by the Home Mission Committee as an im¬ portant historical record and as a priceless memorial of one who loved the work with greatest devotion. THE SYNODICAL AUXILIARY OF APPALACHIA. 1916 The organization meeting of the Synodical of Appalachia was held in the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, Tenn., on the evening of November 18, 1915. It was the pleasure of the meeting to have Mrs. Winsborough present to guide and direct the organization. Mrs. Winsborough was elected chairman of the meeting and Mrs. Gale Armstrong, Secretary pro tern. There were fourteen delegates present: Knoxville Presby- terial had four; Holston, six; Abingdon, three; Asheville, one. It was decided to hold election by nominating Committee, . and the chair appointed the Presbyterial Presidents in this capacity. After careful deliberation the committee submitted names for all offices, Mrs. Walter McCoy, of Knoxville, head¬ ing the list for President. These were duly elected. The newly elected officers who were present were loath to accept the honors and responsibilities thus thrust upon them, realizing their unfamiliarity with the new work and having a due sense of its importance; and many were the protestations, silenced at last by the solemn words of the Superintendent of Woman’s Work, Mrs. Winsborough, on Facing our Responsi¬ bilities. The time of meeting was fixed for the early part of October. A constitution was adopted and all routine business dispatched in good order. One interesting feature of the sessions was a “Question Box,” opened and answered by Mrs. Winsborough. Two ques¬ tions especially gave her opportunity for very interesting and APPALACHIA 117 helpful talks, viz.: “The Problem of the Indifferent Woman,” and “Why Should the Society Join the Presbyterial?” Addresses were made by Rev. Adolphus Kistler of Abing¬ don Presbytery on the needs of the great new Synod, and by Rev. Cary Blain of Pineville, Ky., on the special need for women workers in the mission fields of the Synod. ARKANSAS 119 ARKANSAS 120 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. J. B. Nunn, First President of Arkansas Synodical. ARKANSAS 121 ARKANSAS In the year, 1827, a young student was about to be grad¬ uated from Princton Theological Seminary, by the name of James W. Moore, who was born and raised in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. He had decided that the territory of Arkansas should be the field of his labors, and on announc¬ ing his decision to Dr. Ely, the Secretary of the General .Assembly’s Board of Missions, he was told; “We know but little about Arkansas. According to the best of my information, its inhabitants are chiefly composed of Spaniards and horse thieves, but” he continued, “they have the more need of a good minister, and if you desire it, we will give you a commission.” In no way discouraged in his purpose by such a presenta¬ tion of conditions, he set forth in the fall of 1827, traveling westward by stage coach and by boat on the Ohio, Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, arriving several months later at Little Rock, the tiny metropolis of a wild, unsettled region. Here he found a village of only nineteen families, fifteen of which were white. There were only six professing Chris¬ tians in the place and three of these were negro slaves. Evi¬ dences of lawlessness abounded, and he soon learned that little value was placed on human life. Immediately, the hospitality of a Mrs. Watkins was ex¬ tended to him, and three nights after his arrival, her home was opened for a prayer meeting with which his mission started. He received a warm welcome from the leading people of the town including Mr. Robert Crittenden, the Secretary of the Territory, and Mrs. Crittenden. In Mr. Moore’s diary, was the following entry: “I found them a most interesting and amiable couple. They both welcomed me with expressions of friendship They appear very desirous of regular preaching, convinced that the 122 PIONEER WOMEN Gospel will prove the speediest and most efficient means of restraining vice and introducing correct morals.” After about six months of evangelistic services, in which due interest was manifested on the part of all classes of people, Mr. Moore decided the time was ripe for the organization of a church, which took place on July 27th, 1828, and was followed by a Communion Service. There were seven persons ready to unite, five of them women—Mrs. Priscilla Smith, Mrs. Matilda Hall, Mrs. Catherine Eller, Mrs. Elizabeth Martin and Mrs. Christiana Mason. Of the two men, Mr. Dudley Mason was made an Elder, and Mr. Jesse Brown a Deacon. Mr. Moore wrote in his diary: “To see' these persons of excellent character and of unquestionable piety seated around the Table of the ■Lord, commemorating a Crucified Redeemer’s death, while a vast number of spectators were looking on with intense interest and so far as I could discover, with deep respect and solemnity, was a sight which in any part of the world would have been interesting, but in this distant region of religious dearth, it was immeasurably so.” Thus began the First Church of Little Rock, which probably was the first organization of any denomination in the territory. Mr. Moore was a most zealous worker, and in addition to the services in the First Church, he preached regularly to the slaves, several of whom he mentions in his diary, as among the most earnest and devoted Christians he had ever known. With the coming of Rev. Daniel Gray and Rev. A. R. Banks to the Territory, Mr. Moore petitioned the Synod of Mississippi, of which Arkansas was a part, for the erection of the Presbytery of Arkansas, which was to include the work among the Choctaw Indians in Indian Territory. This was granted in 1835, and the stated meetings of this court were held annually, although it meant long distances to travel with no roads, no bridges, no means of transportation, excepting horseback, and no hotel accommodations on the way. For three years, this continued, the Arkansas ministers meeting ARKANSAS 123 with Rev. Alfred Wright, Rev. Cyrus Byington, Rev. Loring Williams and Rev. Ebenezer Hotchkins, all of them heroes in the early missionary service to the Choctaw Indians. With each year, new evangelists and home mission workers were welcomed and new preaching points were reported, and tiny churches organized. But distances proved too great for this combination of territory, and Arkansas was established as a Presbytery to itself. The work developed rapidly, as the country was opened up for settlement by those who were home seekers, rather than searchers for rich mineral deposits, and the acquisition of sudden wealth. In 1852, Arkansas was made a Synod of the church and the work grew rapidly, until the Civil War was upon the country. The territory elected to cast in its lot with the South¬ ern States and the Synod of Arkansas then became a part cf the new Southern Assembly. The First Church of Little Rock maintained a steady growth and it is to be regretted that there is no recorded his¬ tory of the earnest work of those five pioneer women, whose characters were builded into this splendid church on the frontier. After outgrowing two buildings, a third was erected in 1869, and the women, with the help of Senator McDonald, provided a sweet-toned bell as a call to worship, which was the only church bell in Little Rock. Lately it has been rehung in the beautiful modern structure of the First Church of today.* That this is a missionary church, there is no doubt, for Rev. Wm. Morrison, D. D., our illustrious missionary to Luebo, Africa, was its co-pastor in foreign lands. The story of the beginning of the Presbyterian Church in Eashville, Arkansas, is typical of that of many of the small town churches of the State. In the year 1900, this town num¬ bered about 1800 inhabitants, with only one Presbyterian. Mrs. W. C. Rodgers. In writing of the circumstances there. *The above information was gathered from the historical studies of General Ben Green of Little Rock, Ark. 124 PIONEER WOMEN she said: “After some work among women of the Episcopal Church, I grew restive. My old Scotch, Blue-Stocking Pres byterianism of the Eighteenth Century, began to assert itself, and I yearned for a church of my own with an ‘aid’ of my own.” Accordingly, she awakened interest among some friends and with no beacon light to guide, save service and desire tc help, she and her co-workers took the initial steps which have led into an organized strong church, with an auxiliary of which they are duly proud, contributing to all the causes of the church. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. * Arkansas, 1907. In the spring of 1898, a group of ladies met in the Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Mrs. W. ,S. McCain pre¬ siding, and organized the Arkansas Presbyterial. This move¬ ment, however, was premature, and lapsed after the second meeting. In 1907, the Presbyterial was reorganized, with Mrs J. E. Williams President. Ouachita, 1905. Ouachita Presbyterial was organized at Camden, Octo¬ ber, 1905, seventeen societies being represented. Pine Bluff, 1908. Representatives from four societies met in Fordyce, Octo¬ ber, 1908, and organized the Pine Bluff Presbyterial. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION, 1912. On the 16th of April, 1912, ten ladies met in the Firsl Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, and organized the Woman’s Synodical Auxiliary of Arkansas. Officers, Mrs. J. B. Nunn President; Mrs. M. J. Henderson, Recording Secretary; Mrs A. L. Cheatham, Treasurer. A tentative Constitution was presented by Mrs. H. N. Street. In order to align itself more closely with the Assembly’s work, a second meeting was held in Little Rock, October 12th, ARKANSAS 125 1912. The newly elected Superintendent of the Department of Woman’s Work, Mrs. W. C. Winsborough, was present, and the meeting was devoted to the study of the proposed consti¬ tution, to outlining the purpose and scope of the Synodical, and the duties of the several officers. Washburn, 1913. That the organization of the state might be complete, Mrs. Winsborough was invited to visit, and if the way be clear, assist in organizing the Washburn Presbyterial. This was done at Fort Smith, January 14th, 1913. The second annual meeting of Synodical was held in Hope, April, 1913. Nine delegates were present, all Pres- byterials being represented. A Constitution and By-Laws were adopted. Some practical suggestions were sent down to the Presbyterials and local societies in regard to methods of work and some recommendations were made to the Woman’s Ad¬ visory Council. It was characteristic and promising that both were largely concerned with the subject of prayer and greater spirituality. The third annual meeting was held in Warren in the Spring of 1914, and the fourth in Argenta, November, 1915. Since that date, for convenience, to promote attendance and to arouse enthusiasm, the Synodical has met in one or the other (if the Little Rock churches. For the first few years, the Synodical devoted itself almost entirely to study, prayer, information and inspiration. It was finding its place in the work of the church and fitting itself for that work. Its members had to be trained in parliamentary tactics, and business practices. It was seeking to draw the various woman’s societies together and to increase the numbei and membership of these. Indifference had to be overcome, the fears of a suspicious conservatism allayed, old lines had to be broken through, and new channels of service opened. Those were formative, determinative and critical years. 126 PIONEER WOMEN The meeting of 1916 was well attended, and enthusiastic. The Synodical had increased eighty-five per cent. Since that date, a committee on advancement has been a permanent fea¬ ture and there has been no lack of definiteness in the work. It has lent a willing ear to every cause, religious or phil¬ anthropic, multiplied prayer-bands and study clubs, borne its share in equipping a home for the Woman’s Advisory Council in Montreat, given a scholarship to a Mexican theological stu¬ dent, assisted in holding Summer Conferences in Womble, Hot Springs and Batesville, contributed towards building homes for missionaries in Africa, and towards a chapel in Japan, be¬ sides each year steadily increasing its contributions to the As¬ sembly’s causes. The steadfastness of its loyalty to the Synod and Assembly is equal to the courage of its initiative. The largest pieces of consrtuctive work undertaken by the Synodical has been in connection with the Mountain Crest School, founded by Rev. and Mrs. J. E. Jeter, under the care of Washburn Presbytery. Under the enthusiastic leadership and splendid business ability of Mrs. J. E. Williams, as treas¬ urer, the school was adopted as a special charge in 1918, and with the assistance of the Assembly’s Home Mission Commit¬ tee, the running expenses have been met, buildings erected and furnished and a Board of Managers, fifteen in number, have been appointed. At its meeting in 1921, the Synod recogniz¬ ing this splendid and successful work, set aside for the support of the school two per cent of its benevolences. The committee on Woman’s Work, through the chairman, Dr. W. K. Johnson, reported to the Synod in session at Blythe- ville: “The wonderful success of the Synodical Auxiliary ot Arkansas for. the past year is cause for deep gratitude to God for His guidance and answered prayer. The prayer life of the Auxiliary has been emphasized this year as never before. “We recommend: That the Synod express its most hearty appreciation and approval of the splendid work of the Woman’s Synodical Auxiliary during the year, their consecrated zeal ARKANSAS 12 ? their aggressive methods, their enthusiastic support of the Mountain Crest School, and their splendid gifts to all the Assembly’s causes during the year.” Mrs. H. N. Street. Arkansas is proud of her daughters as leaders in many lines of Christian work. Among them we would not fail to enroll the name of Mrs. H. N. Street as teacher of Bible Classes. Mrs. Street’s personal magnetism, added to her spiritual power has made of her a source of Godly influence not only in her own home but beyond its borders. CRZDA 130 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. W. H. Dodge, First President of Florida Synodical Auxiliary. FLORIDA 131 FLORIDA EARLY HISTORY. .Seeking adventure, gold, and a treasure even more precious than gold—the fabled fountain whose waters would make young forever all mortals who should drink of it, that brave soldier and Spanish gentleman, Juan Ponce de Leon, re¬ turned to the shores of the new world in 1513. On that Easter Sunday, de Leon gave the name of Florida to the country and planted in her sands a cross, thus giving the peninsula the enviable record of being the first section of our land to be explored. The year 1521 found him again upon Florida soil with .settlers to colonize this land of promise. In his party he brought priests to teach the Indians, who violently attacked the colonists and forced them to abandon all idea of settling Florida. For three hundred years the history of Florida was in- /deed checkered. Indians, French, English and Spanish con* ttended for her beautiful and fertile acres. , First to her shores had come the Spanish Roman Cath¬ olics, bringing with them an earnest desire to give the Indians their faith. .. Also did the Protestants seek this fair land as a refuge. Ribault and his brave band of Huguenots, driven from France by persecution, sought freedom here. Had not this colony 'of Protestants been so totally destroyed by the Roman Catholic Spaniards, we know not what would have been the history of the development and advancement of Protestantism in this country. For these staunch Calvanists had come to this sec¬ tion of the new world fifty-odd years in advance of the Pilgrims fi) Plymouth. 132 PIONEER WOMEN With East Florida settled chiefly by the Spaniard, and West Florida by the Spanish and French Roman Catholics > Protestantism made slow progress in the early days. British occupation in the eighteenth century brought Protestant settlers, but when in 1783 England ceded Florida back to Spain, with very few exceptions, those colonists withdrew. Presbyterians began to flow into this wild and unde¬ veloped country early in the nineteenth century, chiefly from the Carolinas and Georgia. With the annexation of Florida to the United States, July, 1821, when General Jackson received it from Spain at St. Augustine and Pensacola, the United States flags replaced those of .Spain. Some adventurous Americans had made homes for them¬ selves in the territory without waiting for the exchange of flags. Among these was Neil M. McLendon, a hardy pioneer, who, in the spring of 1820, made his way into what is now Walton County. He was the first white man who had entered that region for the purpose of making a home. His parents had come from Scotland to Wilmington, North Carolina, but McLendon liked the pioneer life and when North Carolina became more thickly settled, said he must go to a new country for “elbow-room.” There was “elbow-room” in Florida, so with his wife and children he set out on his journey along the Indian trail leading from the Atlantic Coast to the Spanish settlements on the Gulf Coast. They were often hungry, and suffered many hardships on their way through the forest. He remained several months in what is now Santa Rosa County, then leaving his family there, continued his journey on loot into the Euchee Valley. On the way he found a tribe of Euchee Indians, and met their Chief. McLendon and the Chief trusted and liked each other from the very beginning. In proof of this feeling the Chief presented McLendon with FLORIDA 133 his tomahawk, and invited him to live with him and to take for his own as much land as he chose to “blaze around.” This country seemed just what McLendon had been look¬ ing for; so he willingly accepted the offer and set off, to re¬ turn soon with his wife and children. Before long he was joined by his brothers and their families and other friends from North Carolina, who had been attracted and interested by McLendon’s letters. THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES. « West Florida. And so began the white settlement of Walton County and the stronghold of Presbyterianism in West Florida. Some of these friends settled on Bruce’s Creek, near what is now the town of Eucheanna. The town built several years later, was named for McLendon’s friends, the Euchee Indians, and Mrs Anna McLendon, the first white woman to live there. For eight or ten years, settlers of Scotch descent continued to come to this part of Florida from North Carolina. Some came here directly from .Scotland. Brave, honest, and indus¬ trious, they were the very people to build up a new country. The ring of the busy axe was a familiar sound. Farms were cleared, and herds of cattle and sheep roamed over the graz¬ ing lands. They were a religious people, and before they had been long in the country, cut and sawed timber, which they carried on their shoulders for the building of a church in the Euchee Valley—The Euchee Valley Presbyterian Church, beloved and cherished to this day by all Florida Presbyterians. Ministers would come sometimes from Mobile and Montgomery to preach to the congregation in the wilderness. When they had no preacher, they still met together for Bible reading and prayer. Through all adventures and enterprises, Neil McLendon was the guiding spirit, “Simple, gentle, kind, by the spell 134 PIONEER WOMEN of earnest sincerity, he met the savage enemies of his race in the depths of the wild woods alone, commanding their con¬ fidence, respect and attachment. He beckoned his clansmen hither, who, relying on the guidance of this serpent-wise, dove- tempered pathfinder, unhesitatingly abandoned secure homes and followed his lead into the unknown.” Middle Florida —1822. Presbyterians began coming into Middle Florida in 1822, and soon after they were settled, they organized a church about four miles north of where Quincy now is, and called it Phila¬ delphia, and in 1828, they erected a church building there, tfot until 1832, was there a regular minister for this flock, yet they were already reaching out, for in 1834 the first daugh¬ ter of old Philadelphia church was organized, Quincy Presby¬ terian church. East Florida — Jacksonville —1840. In East Florida, at Jacksonville, we find the first Presby¬ terian church organized in 1840, while not until 1854 was the church building erected. The little band used for their place of meeting a small school house, situated on the lot where now stands the First Presbyterian Church. Southern Florida —1870. While the western, middle and eastern sections of the state were being more and more built up and settled, the southern part of the peninsula was occupied by the Indians prior to the later Seminole wars, except for a few settlers along the coast. In that section, now St. John’s Presbytery, the first church was organized in 1870, the Silver Lake Presbyterian Church at Fort Reed, near Sanford. Woman's Work. In the early years organized woman’s work in the churches as we know it today was undreamed of. Yet how well do we FLORIDA 135 realize that the consecrated work of the earnest Scotch and Scotch-Irish Presbyterian women made possible the results at¬ tained by the pioneers of our faith in Florida. Only at the family altars and mothers’ knees could strong ideals, standards, self-control, etc., be taught that developed characters such as Neil McLendon. From their firesides, the hearts of such women naturally turned, in the Master’s name, to their neighbors in need of a Saviour, friendship or material aid. Each church had its Aid or Missionary Society, or both, under varied and some¬ times iparvelous names. Inaccurate records, in fact, in the case of many, no records whatsoever of the early years, are available. However, we are assured that the foundation laid by the grandmothers and great grandmothers in Israel, was well laid. These faithful pioneer women prepared the way and we who come after them, reap the benefit of their prayers and work. In the records of one church, we find the names of the five who secured the funds for the first church building, two of whom were women. In many instances the women’s societies ante-dated the church organizations by several years. While many churches had their foundations laid in Sunday-schools be¬ gun and conducted by the women. Typical of the experience of many of the churches of the earlier days in Florida, is the history of the Silver Lake Church, of Fort Reed. As has often happened, a band of devoted women, prayed for their community for several years before the church was organized. Twelve women, with Jacintha Marks as organizing president, made up this consecrated band that met every .Sunday for Divine worship in the Orange House, a small hotel. .Soon after the Civil War, finances were at a low ebb, and all had recently come as pioneers into this country, then a wilderness. Their post-office town had but one building, a country store of varied stock. These women did not stop with 136 PIONEER WOMEN the tithe. There were Presbyterian orange trees; Presbyterian hens, consecrated needles and Palmetto hat-making—all tc make possible the building of the Lord’s house. Some pledged themselves to purchase no dress more expensive than calico, till the church was paid for. After the freeze, Fort Reed was abandoned. Most of these women moved to Sanford, where a mission had been organized and here we find them assisting and holding office. It is interesting to note that even seventy-five years ago, the need for adopting a budget was felt. The records of a Ladies’ Aid Association gives us this, “One time of stress is remembered when seventeen, dollars were in the treasury for the Foreign Mission Fund, but as the pastor was returning from a visit to his mother, some members insisted on using the seventeen dollars to stock his pantry; after a heated discussion, the money was sent to its original destination.” As the years advanced it is noted how coming events seem to cast their shadows before them. Societies which had been called Foreign Missionary Societies dropped the word foreign, and began to think of and work for missions as a whole, while Ladies’ Aid Societies and Missionary Societies in many cases were merged into one organization. Thus the way was being paved for the Auxiliary. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. The Woman’s Home and Foreign Mission Union of St. John’s Presbytery —1893. In the old minute book we read, “November 7th, 1893, a meeting was held in Sanford for the purpose of uniting the woman’s missionary societies into a Union. Mrs. Story, of Orlando, was Chairman and Mrs. Dunn, of Sanford, Secretary. Mrs. Keigwin was the moving spirit. Societies joining the Union at this time were Sanford, Silver Lake, Orlando, Clear¬ water, Tampa and Maitland.” FLORIDA 137 The first convention of the Union was held in Plant City, April 5-6, 1895. The very encouraging feature was that the six societies composing the Union were represented by one or two delegates each. The Union reported to Presbytery and held their meetings at the same time with Presbytery, until 1901, when it was voted to meet separately. The first President was Mrs. F. E. Story, of Orlando, who served until 1896. During the twenty-nine years of this Pres- byterial there have been seventeen Presidents. The Florida Missionary Union —1901. The*Florida Missionary Union was organized in the spring of 1907, changing its name in 1913 to Florida Presbyterial Auxiliary. One of the leading spirits in the organization of this Presbyterial Auxiliary was Miss Elizabeth Denham, of Monti- cello, now Mrs. R. T. Wallace of Dothan, Alabama. The Presidents of Florida Presbyterial Auxiliary have been Mrs. A. E. Lewis, of Pensacola, 1907-10; Mrs. F. P. May, of Quincy, 1910-13; Miss Eliza H. Denham, of Monti- cello, 1913-15; Mrs. R. E. McCaskill, of DeFuniak Springs, 1915-18; Mrs. D. J. Blackwell, of Quincy, 1918-19; Mrs. H. A. Love, of Quincy, 1919-21; Miss Wilhelmina Whitted, cf Chipley, 1921. Suwanee Presbyterial Auxiliary —1907. Suwanee Presbyterial Auxiliary was formed in Jackson¬ ville in the fall of 1907. Mrs. Charles Marvin was the moving spirit in the or¬ ganization of the then called Suwanee Missionary Union, Miss Eliza Denham having interested her to undertake the organi¬ zation. Mrs. W. H. Dodge was elected president, serving till her election as Synodical president in 1914. She was followed by Mrs. R. B. Harkness, 1914-15; Mrs. Arthur S. Harris, 1915- 138 PIONEER WOMEN 18; Mrs. J. W. Pope, 1918-20; Mrs. N. Barco, 1920-22; Mrs. Arthur S. Harris, 1922-. THE FLORIDA SYNODICAL AUXILIARY—1914. When the Bristol Assembly in 1912 authorized the Execu¬ tive Secretaries to systematize Woman’s Work, Florida was among those Synods which had no Synodical organization. It is with just pride, however, Florida could realize that one of her own Presbyteries, Suwanee, had approved the over¬ ture to the Bristol Assembly, asking that a Secretary of Woman’s Work be appointed. There was a growing feeling among our women that Florida should fall in line with the central plan. In the spring of 1913, an active correspondence was be¬ gun, and a conference or two held between Mrs. Winsborough and Miss Eliza H. Denham, of Monticello. This led to a meeting of the presidents of the Presbvterial Auxiliaries at Montreat, North Carolina, the following summer, for confer¬ ence with Mrs. Winsborough. It was here that Florida Synodi¬ cal Auxiliary, in reality, had its birth. Mrs. W. H. Dodge was unable to attend this meeting, but Suwanee Presbyterial Auxiliary was represented by two of its officers, Mrs. A. E. Spencer and Mrs. R. B. Harkness, of Lake City. Those ladies invited a conference for the purpose of effecting a state organization, to meet in Lake City, in Novem¬ ber. The invitation was accepted, but the date was postponed to February 5th, 1914, in order to secure Mrs. Winsborough’s presence. A petition signed by representatives of three Pres¬ byterial Auxiliaries, asking Synod to ratify this plan, was sent to the Executive Committees of the Presbyteries, approved by them, and then presented to Synod, which met in Pensacola, November, 1913. This body approved the proposed organiza¬ tion and expressed appreciation of the assistance rendered the causes of missions through the devotion and loyalty of the women of the Church. FLORIDA 139 Therefore, on February 5th, 1914, representatives from three Presbyterial Auxiliaries met in Lake City. St. John’s was represented by Mrs. C. R. Knight, and Mrs. A. A. McLeon; Florida by Miss Eliza H. Denham; Suwanee, by Mrs. W. H. Dodge, Mrs. R. B. Harkness and Mrs. F. E. Lautz. Mrs. Winsborough presided during the election of officers. Mrs. W. H. Dodge, of Ocala, was elected president and presided during the remainder of the conference. The achievements of the women of Florida have not been spectacular nor unusual, but show a splendid and steady ad¬ vance. From the organization of the Synodical Auxiliary, con- secrated united effort and thoroughness in every detail of the work have been stressed under the leadership of her presidents: Mrs. W. H. Dodge, 1914-15; Miss Eliza Hood Denham, 1915- 16; Miss Agnes Davidson, 1916-22. .Since its organization, there have been two specials. In 1917, it made a gift of $300, to complete the building of Ybor City Cuban Mission in Tampa, Florida, and in 1919, it financed a Field Secretary in a three months’ visitation through¬ out the Synod. One of the outstanding results of this visitation is the Group Conferences held annually throughout the bounds of the Synod. In 1920, Florida Synodical Auxiliary received special recognition, when her president, Miss Agnes Davidson, was made Chairman of the Woman’s Advisory Committee, holding that position for two years, during which time much construc¬ tive work was accomplished, due to her splendid leadership and winning for herself the title, “The Chairman of the Lov¬ ing Heart.” The recent action of General Assembly (1923) by which women were given the privilege of serving on the Executive Boards of Assembly’s Committees, came as the result of the efforts of the Florida Synodicals. # GEORGIA 141 GEORGIA 142 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. Josiah Sibley, Georgia. A pioneer worker obedient to Heavenly Visions. GEORGIA 14.3 GEORGIA PIONEER HISTORY. We should be grateful that with the early settlers of Georgia, religion was given first place; that we can say, “Thou hast given me the heritage of them that fear Thy name.” Each colony was accompanied by a minister, who not only was their leader in spiritual things, but helped to mould the social and political life as time went on—becoming a leader in every 4 sense of the word. In Georgia as in other parts of the South, the Scotch-Irish and the Scotch-Highlander contributed much to the character of our citizens by their sturdy faith and heroic lives. In 1735 these Scotch Presbyterians settled in Darien with their Pastor, Reverend John McLeod, and here were the seeds of Presbyterianism first planted in Georgia. The second Presbyterian centre, Medway Church (later called Midway), in Liberty County was established by a colony that came from Dorchester, S. C., in 1753-54, bringing with them their Pastor, Reverend John Osgood. The old Midway Church became the stronghold of Presbyterianism in the State and has the honor and distinction in the brief history of 111 years, of sending out 86 ministers of the Gospel, and nine mis¬ sionaries, five men and four women. LIBERTY COUNTY FEMALE CENT SOCIETY. 1817. We are not surprised to find connected with this remark¬ able old Church the first organization of women in Georgia of which any record can be found. “Liberty County Female Cent Society,” was organized April, 1817 and held annual meetings at Medway Meeting House. At this meeting there was elected a Directress, a Vice-Directress, a Secretary and a Treasurer; also a committee of three to solicit subscriptions and donations. 144 PIONEER WOMEN Their object as stated in the Constitution was “To educate pious youth for the gospel ministry.” The wording of the Constitution which embraces seven articles is very clear, brief and to the point. It is preceded by quite a long preamble which says in part: “Seeing the times in which we live are pregnant with great events, and believing the day to be indeed auspicious for Chris¬ tians everywhere to put forth their exertions for the building up of the Cause and Kingdom of the Redeemer throughout the earth, and of diffusing the light and knowledge of the Gos¬ pel of the grace of God to heathen countries: “We cordially form ourselves into an association as the best means of rendering our exertions more efficient for this impor¬ tant purpose. “We the subscribers do acknowledge it to be our duty to bear a part in extensively diffusing the light of the glorious gospel of God our Saviour, and knowing there is a lamentable deficiency of competently qualified ministers of the Gospel for this purpose, believe that a suitable and proper education of pious youth for the gospel ministry would be one of the best means to effect this object, do agree to the following articles.” The record of their organization is as follows: Minutes, 1 April, 1817. “At a meeting of the Ladies of Liberty County at Midway Meeting House! this day for the purpose of forming a Society— Mrs. McWhir was called to the chair and Mrs. Dunwody to act as secretary for the day. A Constitution was presented and ;read and after some alteration was unanimously adopted. The following officers agreeable to the Constitution were elected: Mrs. Mary McWhir, 1st Directress. Mrs. Ann Winn, 2nd Directress. GEORGIA 145 Mrs. Anna Fleming, Secretary. Mrs. Louisa Cuthbert, Treasurer. Mrs. Mary Howell, Mrs. Sarah Stewart, Mrs. Ann Powell, (Committee to collect dues and funds.) “The Society then adjourned. Mary Me Whir, Anna Winn. Anna Fleming/' Tire Secretary's Book of Minutes and the Board of Mana¬ gers’ Book are still in existence. Their pages, yellow with age, are covered with the exquisite chirography of that day and the minutes and constitution are phrased in the quaint, formal style of the eighteenth century. These valuable books are in the hands of Mrs. W. K. Seago of New Orleans, a descendant of Dr. C. C. Jones and Reverend Mr. Mallard of Liberty County. It is interesting to note that these meetings were con¬ ducted in the most formal way and according to parliamentary usage. There was always present a minister who was called upon to lead in prayer, but otherwise took no active part. There is nothing in the Constitution or Minutes to explain the name “Cent Society.” It did not relate to their gifts which are recorded in the Board of Managers’ Book and vary from $1.50 to $10.00. The Treasurer’s records are most accurate, specifying an extra gift one time, “From a little miss,—-6^4 cents.” In 1829 this society declared itself solely Presbyterian and that it should be called “The Liberty County Female Education Society” auxiliary to the Georgia Presbyterian Edu¬ cation Society. It seems that in 1848 this old organization was merged into the “Liberty County Female Missionary Society,” holding annual meetings and appropriating its first 146 PIONEER WOMEN funds to the support of “Reverend R. Way and Lady” mis¬ sionaries to China who had gone out from their midst. In 1854 one item in their minutes reads: “By vote of the Society funds amounting to $53.50 were appropriated towards printing Dr. Jones’ Catechism in Chinese as translated by Reverend John Quarterman.” Reverend Mr. Quarterman also went from Medway to China. It is from this family that Mrs. Whitman comes, who has been the greater part of her life identified with woman’s work in Georgia, being President of Savannah Presbyterial ten years and President of the Georgia Synodical two years. Not only was the Midway Missionary Society interested in Foreign Missions, but it did pioneer work in Home Mis¬ sions. They engaged Dr., C. C. Jones to preach two Sabbaths in the month to white people in the destitute portions of the county, and the other two Sabbaths and the intervening days to the negroes. Dr. Jones’ District covered one hundred square miles which he divided into six stations where he, preached regularly in rotation every Sabbath with meetings at night dur¬ ing the week. He established eight Sabbath Schools for negroes, where the instructions were oral as it was against the State law to teach negroes to read. Dr. Jones was paid a very small salary, but “Being blessed with means he entered the field at his own charge.” It is interesting to note that the “Liberty County Female Education Society” gave direction to all the early women’s societies in Georgia who gave their funds to education, as we find the case in the First Church, Savannah, when the minutes of session state that a Reverend Mr. Ladson was educated by the Ladies’ Society in 1854 to 1858. Another interesting in¬ cident in connection with the Midway Church and Society oc¬ curred after the War with the Confederacy. The Pastor, Dr. David Porter served as chaplain during the war. On his return the church was so disrupted it was unable to pay him any salary the first year. The ladies made and presented to him GEORGIA 147 a dozen shirts—his remuneration for a year’s labor. This organization developed into a Ladies* Aid and Missionary Society in 1867, and now has dowered out into the Auxiliary, adopting the Circle Plan. IXDEPEXDEXT CHURCH—SAYAXXAH. Another point occupied by Presbyterians at an early date, was the city of Savannah, and the oldest regularly organized Presbyterian Church is the Independent Church in Savannah. To lovers of the grand old missionary hymn "From Green¬ land’s Icy Mountains." it is interesting to know that Lowell Mason then organist in this church, composed the music for Bishop Heber’s hymn, and had it sung for the nrst time in this church. LADIES’ FOREIGX MISSIOXARY SOCIETY OF FIRST CHURCH. AUGUSTA, 1828. The First Church of Augusta is of historic importance as the birthplace of the Southern Presbyterian Church since the nrst General Assembly met here December 4th, 1861, for or- eanization. This beloved church is one of the oldest in the Synod, being organized in 1S04. The present building was completed and dedicated in 1812. In this church there existed a Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society as early as 1828, whose contributions were recorded in The Missionary Herald of the Presbyterian Church of that and succeeding years, but the minutes of those meetings were not preserved. However, we know that, like the Liberty County Society, their meetings were held not monthly, but annually, and they seem to have been supplemented by a missionary sermon preached on the following Sunday, and that the minister was always present to lead in prayer, and close with the benediction. The first President of the Society was Mrs. Benjamin Sims, a lady of eminent piety and much dignity of manner and appearance. She was succeeded by Mrs. Anne McKinne, 148 PIONEER WOMEN the grandmother of Mrs. C. A. Rowland, who was identified with the organization of the Woman’s Auxiliary in later years. The mission work in Bogota, the Armenian missionaries, and later Mr. Le Conte in Brazil, were all assisted by this society. After Mr. Le Conte’s death in 1876, their money was sent to China and in the meanwhile the society began to have Monthly Concerts of prayer for all missions. With few lapses this society has continued its existence up to re¬ cent years when it united with other organizations in the Church and formed the Woman’s Auxiliary. After the Battle of Chickamauga, the Augusta Church was used as a hospital and in that period these missionary women ministered to the wounded soldiers giving freely of their services and supplying as best they could their needs for food and medicine. Co-existent with the Missionary Society was a Ladies’ Sewing Society which is said to have furnished the money for the education of the late Alexander Stephens when he was in training for the Church, and when he chose law for his pro¬ fession, he refunded every dollar that had been advanced him by the Georgia Education Society. It appears that the Sewing Society contributed to the Education Society, and they in turn applied these funds to the education of Mr. Stephens. Mrs Josiah Sibley was a member of these societies for many years, until 1879 when she went with her husband to become a charter member of what is now the Greene Street Church, in Augusta. It is always interesting to dwell upon the beginnings of great undertakings and to know something about the brave spirits who sought to bring others the vision that had come to them. Mrs. Josiah Sibley was one of the pioneers in woman’s organized work. Mrs. Sibley, whose memory we delight to honor, was born August 18th, 1826 and died in February 1898. Her mother was the daughter of Oswell Eve, an elder in the First Church, Augusta and a member of the building com¬ mittee in 1809. Her father, Gilbert Longstreet, was the son of GEORGIA 149 William Longstreet. Her grand-daughter and namesake, Emma Eve Garner is a missionary now in the Language School in Tokyo, Japan. While always interested in all phases of Church work, Foreign Missions became the absorbing passion of Mrs. Sib¬ ley’s life after a visit from Miss Anna Safford, pioneer mis¬ sionary from Georgia to Soochow, China. Miss Safford’s earn¬ est desire was to establish a “Homel for Single Women” in Soochow and Mrs. Sibley espoused this cause with all the ardor of her nature, worked indefatigably, and gave most generously until this home wast built and most appropriately named “The Sibley Home.” It was during this period that to Mrs. Sibley came the vision of an organization among women of our church and she went to work with characteristic energy to bring this about. She and Miss Jennie Hanna, of Missouri, through correspondence, put the plan before the whole church; and all honor should be given to these two women who planted the seed from which has flowered forth our Woman’s Auxiliary of the Southern Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Sibley’s summer home was in Marietta, Georgia, and that society claimed her as their President while there. From this society comes the only existing copy of the letter that was sent out by Miss Hanna and Mrs. Sibley from Virginia to Texas. The interesting life of the church at La Grange, which was organized March 21st, 1829, is told almost in its entirety in the history of the “Ladies’ Aid Society,” which is certainly over seventy years old; This society held regular meetings, always opened with prayer by one of their own number. They raised their money by doing the most exquisite handwork which found ready sale. With the exception of the pastor’s salary, this society met nearly every expense of the church, buy¬ ing the organ, carpets, lights, etc. During the Civil War their church was used for a hospital for sick and disabled soldiers, nevertheless through all those years of struggle this society never failed to hold its meetings. As time went on its activities and 150 PIONEER WOMEN usefulness broadened, doing outstanding service in the church and community. Its “Crown of rejoicing” is that from the homes of the Auxiliary members, six have entered; the ministry, and our Secretary of Life Enlistment, Mrs. Hazen Smith, is a great, great grand-daughter of the “Cameron Clan” who were among the charter members of this church and society, and original settlers of La Grange. Another descendant of the Clan, Miss Laura Loyd, oc¬ cupied the old family home on Broad Street, the most desir¬ able site in the city for public buildings. She refused fre¬ quent and alluring offers for the lot, but recently when she saw it was the strategic place for the new church, she quietly and humbly gave to her Lord what money had failed to buy, “And this also that she hath done shall be spoken of as a memorial unto her.” And here through the coming years, the disciples of her Lord shall proclaim and strive to keep pure “That faith once delivered to the Saints.” One of the charter members of the Cedartown Auxiliary writes of their organization, which though not actually pioneer work, is interesting in showing the development from a “Sew¬ ing Society,” into our present perfect organization. Mrs ILouseal says: “In the spring of 1882, my five year old daughter brought me a message from her teacher, Miss Abbie Baker, a native of Massachusetts, who had come South in search of health, for me to meet with the ladies of our church that afternoon. So that afternoon marked the beginning of our Ladies’ Aid with a membership of ten. The influence of Miss Baker’s consecrated life was a great blessing to us. “If we could change the stage setting of today back to that time, it would give much to smile over. We had no form whatever. The time of the meeting was spent in piecing quilts and sewing. We gave dinners and oyster suppers to raise money to help out our struggling church. At one of our meet- ings a thing occurred that made upon my mind a lasting im- GEORGIA 151 pression. An appeal was made by Miss Charlotte Stores that we begin our meetings with a hymn and prayer. We younger members nudged each other and giggled a little at what we considered a preposterous suggestion. But in the years that have followed we have come to know that this was a power that has banded us together in love for each other and for our Saviour. Today, thanks to her efforts and to prayer, and ser¬ vice of the members of those days, we have an efficient Auxil¬ iary, and more important than all, a praying Auxiliary, one that we feel has been used of God in helping advance His work.” There were many variations in these early Benevolent and Aid Societies, but so far as can be learned the First Church, Athens, is the only one that included men in its membership, as well as women. In an old record book under date, March 21st, 1852, we find that the annual meeting was held after the morn¬ ing service with the minister presiding. Annual reports were read and officers elected. It seems that this organization was for the purpose of collecting funds for both Home and Foreign Mission work, and did little else. The Auxiliary of Newnan Presbyterian Church is directly descended from the Ladies’ Benevolent Society which was or¬ ganized with eleven charter members in October 1851. Its meetings have been continuous since its organization seventy- cne years ago, except for part of one year during the war when most of its members were refugees; and still more remarkable is the fact that the minutes of every meeting held are in the pos¬ session of this Auxiliary. Another striking fact is that the Society of Newnan foreshadowed our present Auxiliary, for Newnan Church has had from the beginning only this one organization of women, studying all phases of church work, and contributing to all causes of the church. Minutes of meet¬ ings of the first year record gifts to Domestic Missions, Foreign Missions, Board of Publication, Board of Education, destitute Sabbath Schools in Georgia, as well as the purchase of a 152 PIONEER WOMEN Bible and hymn books for the local church. However, they did not believe in “rotation in office.” The first president served 42 years, the first vice-president for 48 years, and one Secretary remained in service 33 years. Their first officers were: Mrs. William Alexander, President; Mrs. Ellen Welch, Vice-President; Mrs. H. S. Smith, Secretary. It is interesting to note! that the last Thursday of February in 1852 was observed by this Society as a day of prayer for the youth of our church. The gifts of this organization have always been free will offerings. There is no mention of any money being “raised.” As was customary, the pastor always opened the meeting with Scripture reading and prayer. Noth¬ ing is said of any women leading in prayer at their meetings until 1890/ and then the explanation is made that the pastor was prevented from being present by sickness. It is quite fitting that the first annual meeting of the Woman’s Presbyterial Union of Atlanta Presbytery was held in Newnan, which is the oldest church in the Presbytery, and in which church the Presbytery was organized. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION Savannah. 1898. The first Union of the Missionary Societies in the Savan¬ nah Presbytery was formed in the summer of 1898, with Miss Georgia May as President. After six years of existence it died out in 1904. In the spring of 1908 it was revived by representation from the three churches of Waycross, Bruns¬ wick and Valdosta. Elders Varnedoe and Dimmock of Val¬ dosta, with Rev. R. A. Brown of Waycross, met with the dele¬ gates, Mrs. Rowe and Mrs. Louisa Stacy of Brunswick, and Mesdames J. R. Whitman, C. A. Sheldon, Letford, Moore and Brown, of Waycross, and reorganized the Missionary Soci¬ ety of the Savannah Presbytery. Mrs. J. R. Whitman was elected president. The first meeting of the reorganization was held in Bruns- GEORGIA 153 wick, Ga., in November, 1908, with Elder Habersham Clay, of Bryan Neck Church giving his support and encouragement Mr. Clay several years later presented to the Society, a gavel made from a limb of an oak in the historic Midway Cemetery. This gavel was received by the Rev. John W. Quarterman, a descendant of one of the Pastors of this remarkable Midway Church. Augusta. 1900. In 1893 the Missionary Society of the First Church, Augusta, appealed to Presbytery for the privilege of organiz¬ ing a Presbyterial Union. This overture was denied; and the A second time it was rejected. Finally, through the friendly of¬ fices of Dr. T. J. Plunkett, Presbytery requested the women of the Presbytery to organize; and a few earnest women met together at the time and place of Spring Presbytery. This was at Eatonton, April 1900 and those present were: Mrs. B. F. Brown, First Church Augusta; Mrs. H. K. Lowrey and Miss Sallie Fleming, Second Church (Now Greene Street); Miss Belle McMillan, Milledgeville; Mrs. Ellington, Wash¬ ington; Mrs. Harley, Greensboro; Mrs. Supple, Eatonton. Thus the Woman’s Presbyterial Foreign Missionary Union of Augusta Presbytery, came into existence, adopting the same Constitution, with a few minor changes, that had been sub¬ mitted to Presbytery and rejected seven years before. Mrs. B. F. Brown had been the leading spirit in organizing the Union and she was unanimously elected as President, and wise- 13 and safely directed its work during her term of two years. At its second annual meeting the Union asked the privilege of omitting the word “Foreign” from the name, but Presbytery deemed it inadvisable. This change was granted six years later and the name became “The Woman’s Missionary Union of the Presbytery of Augusta.” In 1903 the decision was made to hold the Union meetings at a separate time and place from 154 PIONEER WOMEN Presbytery. Mrs. C. P. Crawford of Milledgeville was second President, followed by Mrs. C. A. Rowland of Augusta. Under their guidance wise policies were adopted and the organization was put upon a firm foundation. From the beginning stress was put upon work among the young people and this has always flourished. Macon Presbyterial. 1900. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Union of Macon Pres¬ bytery was organized in Americus in 1900 at the meeting of Presbytery. Much writing had been done by the women of the Americus Church, assisted by their pastor, Rev. L. G. Henderson, in preparation for this. Mrs. E. P. Morgan, of Americus, was the leading spirit in this movement. She writes that a woman’s Union seemed a terrible innovation to some— one elder going so far as to forbid 1 his wife and daughter going near a meeting! Mrs. H. G. Darnall was the first President. The Macon Presbyterial has always stood for deep con¬ secration and emphasized the prayer life of its members. It has always been ready to advance and support any forward movement of the Church. When the Synodical Cbnference was organized in Atlanta, the Macon Union gave a most hearty endorsement of it and sent delegates to the organization meeting. While Macon Presbytery was large, and Presbyterianism weak, yet great stress was laid on the supreme things, life ser¬ vice from our young people, and study, prayer and giving to Missions. The work prospered, and from Macon Presbytery, the following young people volunteered for service on Foreign fields: Mrs. Munroe, Miss Ida Albaugh, Miss Elda Fair, Mr. Schlotter, Mr. William Linton, Miss Sara Hansell, Mrs. J. E. Consar, Miss Georgia McKay, Rev. and Mrs. I. S. McElroy, Jr., besides a number of others who went into the home field and into the ministry. GEORGIA 155 Atlanta Presbyterial. 1907. On November 6, 1907, a meeting of representative women from various churches in Atlanta Presbytery, was held in North Avenue at the call of Rev. R. O. Flinn, Chairman of Church Societies of Atlanta Presbytery. There were present fifty-eight delegates and the Woman’s Missionary Union of Atlanta Pres¬ bytery was thus organized with Mrs. J. S. Thompson of Cen¬ tral Church, as President. The time for the yearly meeting was set for the week before the spring meeting of Presbytery, and Newnan was chosen the place of first meeting as the cor¬ dial invitation of the ladies of that church stated that theirs was the oldest society in the Presbytery and Atlanta Presbytery was organized in the Newnan Church. Two of Atlanta’s Presidents, Mrs. J. S. Thompson, and Mrs. Archibald H. Davis, have served as Presidents of the Synodical of Georgia. Mrs. A. H. Davis was the second Chairman of the Woman’s Advisory Committee and rendered valuable services in the first years of our organized work. For four years the office of the Woman’s Auxiliary was in Atlanta. Athens Presbyterial. 1908. At its spring meeting in 1907, Athens Presbytery author¬ ized the women of their churches to form a Missionary Union, and this was organized m 1908, at Commerce. Mrs. W. L. Skelton, of Elberton, wa B chosen as President and she was suc¬ ceeded by Mrs. George D. Thomas of Athens, during whose term of office the Union became a Presbyterial, and with Augusta, Savannah, Atlanta, and Macon, formed the Georgia Synodical. Cherokee. 1908. “The Woman’s Missionary Union of Cherokee Presbytery,” was the maiden name of the organization formed in C'arters- ville, Georgia, June 24, 1908. Being something new, the steps were taken slowly and 156 PIONEER WOMEN cautiously, with many a question as to what was best and many a prayer for guidance. There were with the women, to direct their first steps, Rev. W. L. Lingle, then of Atlanta; Rev. J. H. Patton, of Marietta, and Rev. U. B. Mathews of Euharlee—the latter acting as secre¬ tary to enroll names. j A committee, consisting of one woman from each society, viz., Mesdames John Miller, Albert Gardner, M. E. Patton, Julian McKamy and Misses Louise Milam and Lula Harris, was appointed to draft a Constitution and also serve as a nominating committee. Rev. J. H. Patton, as chairman, as¬ sisted them. Mrs. R. T. Nesbitt, of Rome, was nominated and elected President. The Constitution was adopted and the Woman’s Mission¬ ary Union of Cherokee began to write history. Cherokee’s name was changed to that of “Presbyterial Auxiliary” in 1913, and was formally received into the Synod¬ ical Auxiliary in 1915 by Mrs. A. H. Davis, then President of that body. GEORGIA SYNODICAL AUXILIARY. 1910. We who know only our perfected organization and its complete acceptance and approval of our leading men, cannot realize the courage of our pioneer workers, nor the trepidation they felt in their first undertakings though they had the con¬ viction that they were in the right. Among these pioneer women of vision and consecration is the gifted Mrs. Crawford of Milledgeville. Not only did she contribute to the work of her own Presbyterial, but she aided in organizing Athens and Atlanta. As early as 1908, Mrs. Crawford began to agitate the question of organiz¬ ing a Synodical Union. After much writing and visiting among the five Unions, they all united in a request to Synod that a Synodical Union should be formed—before this each one had asked the permission of its Presbytery to join such a Union. GEORGIA 157 Finally, representatives from the five Unions then existing, Savannah, Macon, Athens, Atlanta, and Augusta, met June 24th, 1910, in North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, and there the “Georgia Synodical Conference” was organized, with the following officers: President, Mrs. C. P. Crawford, Milledgeville, Secretary, Miss Kate Roberts, Atlanta. Treasurer, Mrs. George D. Thomas, Athens, And five Vice Presidents. A Constitution was adopted and for three years the annual meetings were strictly for conference and held at the con¬ clusion of the last meeting of the Presbyterial Unions, which were held in succession, as now. Georgia’s Constitution be¬ came the model for the other Synodicals that were organized later. In the church papers of that time were found many articles discussing the merits of “the Georgia Plan.” Mrs. Crawford was ably assisted in this work by Dr. R. O. Flinn who was then Synod’s Chairman of Church Soci¬ eties, and in whose church the Synodical Conference was or¬ ganized. Dr. klinn has ever been a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of woman’s organized work and was of great as¬ sistance to the women in those days, when some of our minis¬ ters were unfriendly to the movement. The saintly Mrs. J. S. Thompson, of Atlanta, succeeded Mrs. Crawford, serving an unexpired term of six months. She then became a valued member of the Executive Committee as Secretary of Foreign Missions, and her missionary fervor has reached every part of the State. Her greatest contribution to the missionary cause was the gift of her two daughters, Airs. Mary Thompson Stevens and Mrs. Charlotte Thompson Brown, to the work in China. But Airs. Ihompson had a taste of real Foreign Alission service herself, when she went to visit her daughters in China. While there she taught Bible Classes for the Alissionaries and for their children, and with the help of an interpreter, taught classes tor the ( hinese also. 158 PIONEER WOMEN The third President was Mrs. Archibald H. Davis of Atlanta, who developed and completed the Synodical organiza¬ tion, it becoming the Synodical Auxiliary according to As¬ sembly’s plan. The work grew wonderfully under Mrs. Davis’ energetic and able leadership. Cherokee Presbyterial was or¬ ganized and came into the Synodical during her administra¬ tion. It was also during her term of office that Nacoochee In¬ stitute was chosen as a “Synodical Special,” and the request made and granted that two women be given place on its Board of Trustees. Mrs. Davis was a member of the preliminary conference held February 1912, in Atlanta when the present Woman’s Ad¬ visory Committee was outlined and when the Systematic Bene¬ ficence Committee then in session, agreed to present to General Assembly their petition for a Woman Secretary. At the Meet¬ ing held in May, 1913 in Atlanta, Mrs. ; Davis was elected to succeed Mrs. Winsborough as Chairman of the Woman’s Coun¬ cil as then called, in which position she rendered invaluabe service during those early years because of her constructive ability and her splendid capacity for organization. Following Mrs. Davis was Mrs. J. R. Whitman of Way- cross, who served two years and was succeeded by Mrs. Wm. M. Rowland of Augusta. Mrs. W. M. Turner was elected in 1922. In these last years definite progress has been made es¬ pecially in the Young People’s Work which is now thoroughly organized throughout the Synodical. The Auxiliary also took the initiative in starting the Synodical Conference for Young People which has become a great power in the State. Another forward work is the setting up and directing the Annual Con¬ ference for Colored Women, held in Atlanta. In 1921 Southwest Georgia Presbyterial was organized and received into the Synodical by Mrs. W. M. Rowland, then Presi¬ dent, making the seven Presbyterials now constituting the Synodical Auxiliary of Georgia. GEORGIA 159 Under Mrs. Rowland, Synodical introduced and promoted the Religious Summer Conferences. Those held at Nacoochee and Riverside were of remarkable success and of lasting spiritual effect. Georgia was one of the first Synodicals organized and has been characterized by efficient organization, constructive leader- ship and loyal, consecrated membership. GEORGIA WOMEN WRITERS. Among the company of women in Georgia who have for¬ warded the work of the Kingdom, special place should be given Mrs. S. H. Askew, of Atlanta, Bible teacher and writer. Not only. has she used her pen to the glory of God, but also while teaching Bible in the North Avenue Presbyterian School, she has given her talents, time and strength unreservedly in teaching the Word with power to gatherings of women or young people. Her counsel and presence were invaluable at Georgia’s first Conference for Young People. While she has unusual gifts as a teacher, she is best known for her illuminating studies on the Sunday-school Les¬ sons, which have for years appeared in publications of our own Executive Committee, the Primary Quarterly, Departmental Junior Quarterly and Teachers’ Helps in the Earnest Worker. In 1917 a larger field was opened to her through the Sun¬ day School Times. For five years she has been writing the lessons for the teacher of girls’ classes, with occasional con¬ tributed articles and editorials. She has also written a number of leaflets for devotional use for our Auxiliaries; and at request of Assembly's Steward¬ ship Committee, prepared a series of studies entitled Christian Stewardship for Women which has been widely used thorough- out the church. Other gifted women who have used their pens in the Mas¬ ter's service are Mrs. Lee McWilliams of Dalton, who writes 160 PIONEER WOMEN delightful short stories and playlets for the church papers; Miss Julia Lake Skinner and Miss Sarah Lee Vinson, both of whom contribute to the Earnest Worker. Miss Vinson is also the able editor of the Missionary Survey. KENTUCKY KENTUCKY 162 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. M. D. Irvine, First presiding officer of the Kentucky Synodical Auxiliary. KENTUCKY 163 KENTUCKY It was not until after the middle of the Eighteenth Cen¬ tury that Kentucky began to be explored, but so wonderful were the stories told of her soil and climate, and abounding game, that the fortune hunter and the sportsman alike, were lured from other States to this Eden of the West. It was in the early eighties that the influx began. They came in droves from Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Caro¬ lina, but the body of them came from Virginia. They came by pack saddle, and by boat; later, by wagons, in clans and colonies, with their belongings, including in their caravans their cabinet makers, their wheelwrights and blacksmiths, with their families and their negro servants. In this tide of immigration, were the Covenanters and the Huguenots, scions of a noble stock, trained through stress of storm and peril, to a hardy self-reliance. Peculiarly was this true of her Presbyterian women, who had been strength¬ ened in soul fibre, by memory of persecution across the seas. Many of these families, in their westward march, had not forgotten to pitch their altars beside their tents, as we find them ready to register membership in the infant churches, as soon as they were organized. Life in Kentucky was perilous in those days, due to In¬ dian warfare, but the spirit of the women within the stockades, who moulded bullets while men fired them, was the same which put the iron of self-sacrifice into the next generation, out of which our early churches were developed. These people were lovers of education and of the refine¬ ments that go with it. Could we but have had a peep within the stockade called Harrod’s Eort, where Harrodsburg now stands, in that first 164 PIONEER WOMEN winter spent in Kentucky, 1775, we would have found a school, the first school in Kentucky, taught by Mrs. Jane Coomes, wife of William Coomes, who was prominently identified with these settlers. Very early, we find women opening their homes to worshiping congregations, and church courts before “Meeting Houses”* were built. The story of planting of Presbyterianism in Kentucky links up with the McAfee settlement, in 1775, which was headed by three McAfee brothers, with Samuel Adams and James Mc- Coun, near where now stands the pioneer church of New Provi¬ dence, sixteen miles north of Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The Rev. David Rice, who came to our State from Vir¬ ginia, in 1783, was called the Father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky. Being a personal friend of the McAfee settlers, he was induced by them to return to Virginia, and to bring back his family with him to Kentucky, which he did in the fall of that same year. Owing to the impassible roads, his minis¬ try during that fall and winter was confined to Danville and vicinity, where he preached in the homes of the people. David Rice’s monument now stands in McDowell Park, beside the old Presbyterian Church in Danville, this church being one of three organized by “Father Rice” about the same time. From page 65, Davidson’s History of Presbyterianism in Kentucky, we quote the following: “On the opening of Spring of 1784, Mr. Rice extended the sphere of his labors, and gathered three large congregations near Harrod’s Station, as a central point: Danville (Concord), Cane Run and the Salt River Settlement.” Houses were put up without delay, and the year follow¬ ing, 1785, churches were regularly organized in them all. Here, as in Virginia, women bore their share of support, by barter of deer skins, furs, butter, to which we must add *Davidson’s History, page 35. The Church of England monopolized the term Church, and dissenters must needs call Temples of worship “Meet¬ ing Houses.” KENTUCKY 165 the product of distaff and loom, to say nothing of that part always assigned her, the furnishing of sand and lime for “filling in the chinks,” a duty from which she has never been released to this good day. Kentuckians delight in deducing their history from the Kirk of Scotland, says Davidson, and why not, when so vitally connected? For while we find our forebears leaving Ulster in clans of kith and kin, the spirit of clanship followed them across the seas and across the Alleghanies, and still exists right here in Kentucky, cherishing the same ideals and traditions. A story of this period seems worth the telling, since it touches the blood of thousands all over this country today, and also gives to us a glimpse of the invincible spirit of our Protestant forebears. It dates back to the religious wars between England and Scotland, and the seige of Londonderry, 1689, and clusters around the name of Jane McAlister. (See Eng¬ lish History). When, on the morning the beleaguered city was, by starvation, doomed to surrender, behold—the enemy had abandoned the gates! At dawn of day, they had spied through the barracks what seemed to be a line of barrels of flour, and believing the siege in vain, they had departed. In the darkness, before the dawn, the last dust of flour within the city, had been sprinkled over empty flour barrels and this ruse saved the city. Jane McAlister had sprinkled the flour. In an old burying-ground five miles from Danville, lies the grave of Mary McAlister, granddaughter of Jane, and wife of Abram Irvine, who lies by her side. Mary has left a lively record of generalship and resourcefulness, proving her¬ self as true to type, since, by ruse or persuasion, she rescued her little daughter stolen by the Indians. She and her hus¬ band, Abram Irvine, were charter members of the old Danville (Concord) church, and he was a first elder. From these have come a long line of staunch Presbyterians, scattered through¬ out the country. One of their daughters, Margaret Irvine, be¬ came the wife of the noted evangelist, Rev. John Lyle. In 166 PIONEER WOMEN her husband’s absence from their home in Lexington, while he was making preaching tours through the wilderness of Ken¬ tucky, she often prepared his sermons for him. The two edu¬ cated a number of young men for the ministry. Among their beneficiaries were James Barnes, Robert Lapsley, John Dickey and Bishop Kavanaugh. Transylvania Presbytery, a part of East Hanover, Vir¬ ginia, was organized in the Danville Court House in 1786. and then included the entire State and portions of others. It is interesting to note that Transylvania took her first home missionary collection in 1790, by order of Synod of Virginia, to which we belonged, until Kentucky Synod was organized, in 1802. Owing to a very low spiritual condition about that time eight young men were sent to Kentucky as missionaries from the Synod of Virginia. Some of these, with their wives and families, like Father Rice, suffered privations and one of these women, the wife of the brilliant Dr. Campbell, who was in delicate health, was found subsisting on pumpkins, having for weeks, been “hewer of wood and drawer of water” for her family, too proud to let her wants be known. Does Kentucky owe anything to Home Missions? There are many records of heroic self-sacrifice, of our pioneer women, among them that of Margaret Armstrong Cle- land. She was the daughter of Captain John Armstrong, who, with his brother William, joined fortunes with the McAfee brothers in 1784. She married Rev. Thos. R. Cleland, a famous evangelist of mid-pioneer days who, in 1813, became pastor of the new Providence Church. Their home was known as “The School of the Prophets.” Within a few years, fifteen candidates for the ministry were educated under their roof. There were no seminaries in the West, no access to books, save those owned by the ministers. With a family of ten children, in those primitive times, when all the clothing was spun and woven at home, this noble KENTUCKY 167 woman shared her home with those young men, receiving from them little or no recompense. “Never, within the two years in which I lived in this home, did I see Mrs. Cleland impatient, or show an unkind spirit,” was the tribute paid by one of the beneficiaries. The daughters of Captain John Armstrong were members of the New Providence Church and were the mothers of a race of preachers under the names of Cleland, Lapsley and Irvine. Belonging to the same clan, but to a later generation, was Dr. Wiley Forsythe, the founder of the Kashing Leper Hospital, and his sister, Jean Forsythe; also Mrs. Bessie Mc¬ Afee Mitchell, now under the U. S. A. Board in China. From 1784 to 1804 was a busy period of church organiza- tion in Kentucky, beginning in the center of the State. Churches were ministered to in groups, and in the intervals, were im¬ posed a task of memorizing Scripture and Catechism, to be re¬ cited to the minister at his stated returns. Often, all of Sat¬ urday was thus spent, the preacher going from house to house. It was the Bible in homes like these which helped to keep the faith in our State during that period of spiritual declension, which began in the last decade of the Eighteenth and extended far into the Nineteenth Century. New Providence Church, which was-organized in 1785 and is so rich in the service of its sons and daughters, pos¬ sesses some wonderful old records of church discipline among men and women, white and negroes, in its maintenance of a high spiritual standard. The same is true of the Church in Paris (Ebenezer Presbytery), which was organized in 1787. Offenses such as Sunday travel and twelve months’ absence from Church were occasions for discipline. From the Paris congregation have gone out twenty-seven men into the min¬ istry, showing clearly the influence and work of the women of this Church and likewise, the spiritual tone within it. 168 PIONEER WOMEN EARLY INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS, 1822-1880. Bible Societies. Kentucky has a gratifying record in regard to Bible Societies. According to Collins’ History of Kentucky, Volume 1, page 492, “The Kentucky Society was organized in 1811, about the fourth in order.” It adopted the policy of forming County Auxiliary Societies, and the one in Springfield, Wash¬ ington County, was formed in 1817, having both men and women members. The Female Bible Society of Lexington was organized in 1822, and was still in existence in 1871, when Mrs. Thomas Skillman, at the ripe age of eighty-five, was directing operations after years of activity in it. She and her husband, Dr. T. T. ' Skillman, were prominent Presby¬ terians. Miss Sue Scott, of Lexington, a kinswoman of Mrs. Skillman, in a recent letter, says: “I can remember a number of women annually meeting from house to house, asking for money for this Society, to send Bibles to the needy, and I helped in the work myself.” This statement from living lips, links up directly woman’s pioneer organized work with today and also gives true light on the method of work in these Societies. life Membership in Western Missionary Society —1838-1845. Because it was found that large districts of the Presby¬ terian Church were slumbering in inaction and taking little interest in the American Board of Foreign Missions, by reason of its remoteness, the Western Missionary Society was organ¬ ized in 1831, according to the approval of General Assembly. This society was supported by the churches of the Synods of Pittsburgh and Kentucky, which represented the middle West— Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. It was the custom to solicit Life Membership subscriptions, $30.00 for male and $20.00 for female membership. The publication of the Society was the Foreign Missionary Chronicle, and KENTUCKY 169 between the years 1838 and 1845, the names of a number of Kentucky women were recorded. Miss Anna Allen, of Shel- byville, was enrolled through the contribution of the Shelbyville Sunday-school. Probably she had been zealous in her teach¬ ing of missions in the school and was thus honored by it. In 1839, Miss Rebecca Patterson became a member and in 1845 Miss Eliza Kinnaird was honored by the Ladies’ Sewing Society of Lancaster Church (Transylvania), the President, perhaps, but certainly a zealous worker for the cause. Mrs. Vincent Davis, of Big Spring Church, was another member. Big Spring Church, was one of the oldest in Louisville Presbytery (1804) and was frequently noted in the Foreign Missionary Chronicle, for its liberal contributions, both from the Congre¬ gation and the Sunday-school. In 1838 they enrolled their first elder and itinerant pastor, Dr. Bemiss, as a life member.* Bethel Woman’s Auxiliary —1825. The first Presbyterian Woman’s organization recorded in Kentucky is that of Bethel Church, Transylvania Presbytery, known as the Woman’s Auxiliary to the American Board. In 1835 it was reorganized as Auxiliary to the American Tract Society. Very early in the settlement of Kentucky, groups of hardy- pioneers found their way into the rich sections of Shelby County, and as early as 1796, Rev. Archibald Cameron, of Scotland and Virginia, was called to minister to a number of these groups, worshiping in each others homes or in school buildings at Teck Creek and Bullskin. About 1810 these groups became the Shelbyville and Mulberry churches, two of the oldest in Louisville Presbytery. The early rolls of these congregations are most interesting, bearing names which still endure in this section, of families which. have become leaders, intellectually and socially, and * r I%ie above information was furnished by Miss Hollis Hering of the Missionary Research Library of New York, 170 PIONEER WOMEN are closely associated with the life of the Presbyterian Church in Kentucky. Ladies’ Working Society of Shelbyville —1833. The first woman’s society of which there is record in the Louisville Presbytery, and the second in the State, is the “Ladies’ Working Society” of the Shelbyville Church, send¬ ing, in the year 1833, through the pastor, $180.00 to “educa¬ tion.” In 1837, the name of the society appears on the record as the “Female Circle of Benevolent Industry.” From this date to the year 1850, this society contributed annually, vary¬ ing sums in the neighborhood of one hundred dollars for the Education of Students for the Ministry, a part of this sent to a student at Princeton. From 1844, the “Domestic' Mission Fund” received con¬ tributions of a sum of money and a “box of dry goods.” In 1850, a Foreign Mission Society was at work in this church and along with it a circle of little girls was organized, making nine patch quilt squares for missions and being taught by one of the good women of the congregation. Three of the original “little girl” members have labored in this church continuously for the last seventy years, guiding and directing the organized work of the women—Mrs. Annie B. Harbison, Mrs. Sallv Offutt Moxley and Mrs. Jane Logan Bell, descendants of original pioneers in this section. From the Shelbyville Church have gone out four mis¬ sionaries of the Cross to foreign lands, five ministers of the Gospel, and a Professor at Centre College, also one candidate for the ministry, while the family of Harbison has fifteen de¬ scendants bearing that name, who have been or are church officers; a record in which the mothers should have due credit for the training of the Christian character of their sons. As early as 1839, monthly Concerts of Prayer for Foreign Missions were observed in the Shelbyville Church, at which time contributions were also made. In the years 1837 and KENTUCKY 171 1838, the same institution was observed in the Old Pisgah Church (West Lexington). These are precious remnants of an institution more than a century old, in answer to the famous appeal of Jonathan Edwards. One of the names on the first roll of the Mulberry Church (.Shelby County, 1810), is Betsy Venable, the wife of one of the first elders. She and her husband were the progenitors of fourteen ministers of the Gospel from Kentucky, with four granddaughters the wives of ministers. Her daughter, Mary Venable Logan, was left a widow with seven small children and a farm, which she managed herself. In 1863, the Mul¬ berry Church, in need of a pastor to maintain its life, found itself in hard straits, because the men felt the salary could not possibly be raised in the dire times of war. At this, Mary Venable Logan rose and headed the subscription with one hun¬ dred dollars. The record is that the remaining sum was quickly subscribed and a minister called. It is not strange that later, a son of this fearless widow, Rev. J. V. Logan, D. D., became the President of Central University, in Rich¬ mond, Kentucky, and that three of her grandsons are now ministers of the Gospel. A Foreign Missionary Society was organized in this church in 1837 by Mrs. Abram Irvine, and for years much of the strong missionary atmosphere was due to Mrs. Irvine and to the conscientious teachings of her son, Rev. William Irvine, and his gifted wife, Mrs. Lacy Hoge Irvine. Another group of pioneers had settled in a beautiful and fertile spot on the Ohio River, calling their section “The Land of Goshen,” and such it has proved to be in point of beauty and fertility. In 1825, a church was organized by Rev. Gideon Blackburn, the Presbyterian Circuit Rider of the Ohio Valley. Most of the settlers were old Scotch-Irish families, and this church, together with a school, conducted by its ministers, was the center of community life for many years. The name of Lavina Winchester Snowden is closely associated with that of 172 PIONEER WOMEN her husband, Elder Francis Snowden, in the upbuilding of the religious and intellectual life of this whole district, where she lived and worked until she was ninety-eight years of age. She came from Maryland, through Virginia, to Kentucky, on horse¬ back, with the pioneers when she was ten years old. At sixteen, she was married to Francis Snowden, and soon after, passed through a harrowing Indian Massacre. She and her husband were charter members of the Goshen Church and their home was the home of the local Presbyterian pastors for a generation. Elder Snowden gave the minister his board, a suit of clothes and a horse, while the congregation made up the salary, but he ex¬ pected all the young pastors to cut their own wood and wait on themselves. The Mother Church of the city of Louisville was the First Presbyterian Church, organized in 1816, by a group of seven¬ teen pioneers, eleven of whom were women. In the very early days, when there were only fifty-five members, Miss Mary Ann McNutt and Miss Polly Logan raised the money to buy a solid silver communion service and baptismal bowl. Miss Eliza Graham was another of the striking personalities and devoted workers in the early days. When the church burned, in 1838. she, at the risk of her life, rushed into the burning building and rescued the Bible from the pulpit. It is now one of the prized possessions of the Sunday-school. At a very early period, 1850, the interest of the women was enlisted in pro¬ viding a home for orphans of the Presbytery and .Synod, and one of the members, Mrs. Samuel Casseday, gave the lot on Preston Street where the first building was erected. This was the beginning of a very large interest which the women of the First Church have ever since taken in orphanage work. Miss Jennie Casseday. From the First Church has gone one of the most fragrant lives ever known in Louisville, that of Jennie Casseday. Born June 9th ; 1840 ; in Louisville, she was the daughter of Mr. KENTUCKY 1 * 1 / J and Mrs. Samuel Casseday, coming of a strong Scotch-Irish Presbyterian family. In young womanhood, she was thrown from a horse in a runaway accident, and was hopelessly crip¬ pled so that for thirty years she lay upon her back, helpless and in almost constant pain. During the war, sorrow and lost fortunes overtook the family, and life seemed hopeless, as she fought the battle of doubt, despair and black unbelief. But her faith triumphed, and she came out of her travail a new¬ born being, destined to perform a service of great reach and value. Through her idea of the ministry of flowers in brighten¬ ing the lives of the poor, the sick and forsaken, grew up the “Flower Mission,” at first a local benevolence and the fore¬ runner ofithe Associated Charities of Louisville. Each bouquet was accompanied with a verse of Scripture. This was taken up by the W. C. T. U. and became a national service, with Miss Casseday as its Superintendent. The brightness it brought to the lives of prisoners, and their testimony to Miss Casseday. is a story in itself. She instituted the order of King’s Daugh¬ ters in Louisville and in Kentucky. Then, mindful of the hard grinding lives of so many working girls, she started a vaca¬ tion home, known today as the Jennie Casseday Rest Cottage where, for a very small sum, a girl can have a few weeks in the country, of real rest and recreation. These ministries she accomplished through the help of many friends who were con¬ stantly drawn to her, men and women, rich and poor, Christian and unbeliever, but none ever left her presence without realiz¬ ing the source of her strength and beauty of life. It is not until quite a late period that there is any record of organized work among the women of the First Church, but in the Second Church, which was an offshoot of the First Church, there existed as early as 1850, “The Ladies’ Benevo¬ lent Society,” which held meetings in the homes of the mem¬ bers, where they did sewing for the orphans and poor in the congregation. During the Civil War, the meetings were dis- 174 PIONEER WOMEN continued, but in 1866, they were taken up and the activities extended to “Foreign Missions, Entertainment, Visitation and Comfort and Relief.” The comfort and relief work was prin¬ cipally for destitute Confederate soldiers. The call of country churches for help was always responded to, for in those days there was no systematic home mission department. As a means of filling their exchequer, they were allowed to put a show case on one of the large river packets that plied between Cin¬ cinnati and New Orleans, having on sale fine and dainty sew¬ ing and dressed dolls. For years they did a big business. Mrs. E. B. Owsley and Mrs. Stuart Robinson were two of the strong moving spirits of the society. The two mission¬ aries representing the Second Church in China today are Mrs Lettie Taylor Grafton and Mrs. Martha Cecil Wilson, grand¬ daughters of the Benevolent Society. The work of Mrs. Stuart Robinson did not stop in her own church, which she served so faithfully during the long pastorate of her husband. Their home was a large country tract south of Louisville, which is now called Central Park. It was then real country, surrounded by farms. Mrs. Robin¬ son and her mother, Mrs. Alethia Brigham, seeing so many boys and girls outside of church influence, gathered them intc their sitting-room each Sunday afternoon, beginning with the year 1857, for Sunday-school service. Some of the children walked miles to attend. During the Civil War, encampments of soldiers all about the Robinson home, which was under the surveillance of the Northern Army, interfered with but did not stop the school. At the close of the war, attendance so increased that a little chapel was built on the place. Mrs. Robinson, with her mother and the young Robinson children. continued to direct the work. She lived to see this pioneer effort of hers grow into the organization and building of the Stuart Robinson Memorial Church. KENTUCKY 175 Danville —1840. In the Danville First Church, which was founded in 1783. there is the record of a Ladies’ Aid Society, in the early forties, •contributing annually to missions. This was followed by Foreign Mission Pledge Bands in 1878, which developed into a Foreign Mission Society in 1884. Long before the women really began to study missions, the children of the Church, led by Mrs. Emily Howe Green, wife of the pastor, who came in 1876, were meeting monthly and supporting Chinese girls. Mrs. Eliza Talbott Venable and her sister, Miss Elizabeth Talbott, were members of the band of “Willing Workers” when they were children. They went to China as missionaries from the Versailles church. - Doremus Circle —1850. The Springfield Church had a Doremus Circle in 1850, due to the pioneer activities of Mrs. Harriet McElroy Brown, widely known as “Cousin Haggie.” She was a woman of consecrated wealth and wide sympathies. As 1850 is an early date for a Doremus Circle, especially in the South, it is supposed that Mrs. Brown, in her frequent trips East, came in contact with Mrs. Doremus, and co-operated with her in her efforts to bring light to the women of the Orient. Perhaps the most notable service of Mrs. Brown was in behalf of the Japanese youth, Joseph Neesima, to whose sup¬ port she became the largest contributor while he was in Amer¬ ica, not only through her purse, but also through the moral strength of her personal friendship which followed him through correspondence, back to his native home. Between herself and the boy, Neesima, existed a strong bond of affection, he al¬ ways referring to her as his “American Mother.” On his re¬ turn to Japan, he became the founder of Doshisha University,* *The Doshisha University was founded by the help of the American Board of Foreign Missions, through the efforts of Joseph Niijuma, or Neesima, a Japanese who, in 1864, fled from his country, taking his life in his hands, for at that time, to be caught leaving the shores of Japan meant decapitation. When he returned, he was prepared to tell his people something of American Christian civilization. 176 PIONEER WOMEN and a man so beloved by his countrymen that when he died, it is said a procession a mile and a half long followed him to his grave. Buddhists and Christians, side by side, vied to do him honor. After Neesima’s education had been completed, Mrs. Brown adopted another Japanese youth, and was never without a protege for Christian Education in home and foreign fields. The Richmond Church was organized in 1827, with six¬ teen members, twelve of whom were women. Their first annual report records a gift to missions and Christian Education. (Three-fourths of the membership were women). Their sev¬ enteenth member, Mrs. Betsy Dean, was noted as a Deaconess and Home Missionary extraordinary. According to an old pastor, the women of Richmond held the Church together and saved it from destruction during the Civil War, which was true of many churches in Kentucky and elsewhere. The Moffett Family. In both Lebanon and .Stanford Churches, the saintly in¬ fluence of Mrs. Lena Crawford Moffett is still felt. It had been her earnest prayer that she and her husband, Rev. A. S. Moffett, might be sent to China. This prayer is now being answered by the service of six of her children in that field: Rev. Lacy Moffett, Miss Carrie L. Moffett, Mrs. F. R. Craw¬ ford, Mrs. Robert McMullen, Mrs. J. C. Crenshaw and Miss Natalie Moffett. Paducah —1843. Owensboro, Henderson, Paducah and Hopkinsville, are cities in the western section of Kentucky, which had Presby¬ terian Churches early in the Nineteenth Century. Paducah had a Ladies’ Benevolent Society in 1843, enrolling forty names between the years 1843 and 1859. They relieved the needy in their community and supported a Mission School. In Owens¬ boro, in 1850, women were banded together both for the needs of their own church and to promote Foreign Missions. They Kentucky 177 kept no records. Hopkinsville also had a Missionary Society in 1850. India was a mission field which very early attracted at¬ tention and interest in Kentucky. In 1847, Rev. Charles W. Foreman went to India from the Washington Church (Ebene- zer), with Geo. O. Barnes (Transylvania) and as a result, nearly every member of his family has given service in this field. In a little paper published in 1858, by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, New York, a report is made of Sunday-school contributions of the children from the Southern States by Presbyteries. Ebenezer is represented by Covington and Sharpsburg; Louisville by Hawesville, U A New Year Gift from Jane Bell Hanna,” and Transylvania by Springfield. In 1862, Mts. Emma Railey Henry went from the Versailles Church to India, leaving with her mother a baby girl of eleven months, who, when grown, was also a missionary to India. Two societies organized in the seventies, which have had large results during the years are the Woman’s Foreign Mis¬ sionary Society of Nicholasville, organized by Mrs. Josephine Young, in 1870, and doing its work through five pledge bands; and the Foreign Missionary Society of the First Church, Lex¬ ington, which Society has the unique record that the pastor of the Church was its President from 1875 to 1882. The Church at Paris gave a rich contribution to our pioneer work in Hangchow, China, in the person of Mrs. Annie E. Randolph. She carried on a school for girls which, at the time, was a wonderful innovation in China, laying down three conditions for entrance which appeared staggering. The girls must come with unbound feet, unbetrothed, and must study the Bible. The conditions were accepted by many and the school grew. Her wisdom and foresight are appreciated today throughout the country, by hundreds who were spared the pains of foot-binding. In the Bayless Memorial Church at Grayson, which owes its beginning, in 1875, to the Extension Work of the Augusta 178 PIONEER WOMEN Sunday-school, Mrs. Martha Jones was the moving spirit for a generation, inviting people to attend services, entertaining ministers, often furnishing light and fuel for the church and acting as sexton; teaching in the Sunday-school and standing at the door to welcome children. She had the joy of seeing all of her children and many of her relatives join the church she so loved. Two of the leading churches of Louisville were the direct result of the zealous, prayerful efforts of women to have a church home for the children of new communities, as yet with¬ out church influence. The Highland Church took its incep¬ tion from a little Sunday-school in which Mrs. Harriet Lar- rabee and Mrs. A. A. Wheeler labored untiringly, and the Crescent Hill Church loves to revere the name of Mrs. Cor- * delia Russell Gaines, as its “Mother.” Both of these churches are strong missionary churches, largely through the zeal of their women’s organizations, which have given many leaders to the Louisville Presbyterial. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. Ebenezer Union —1894. The Augusta Church bears the honor of being the hostess to the First Presbyterian Union in Kentucky. There had long been the desire, deep in the heart of one woman, Mrs. Bell R. Cleveland, of Augusta, to organize Women’s Missionary Socie¬ ties throughout her section and to bring them together for more effective work through Presbyterial Organization. This was at a time when such a movement in this State was re¬ garded with suspicion by the brethren and largely opposed by both men and women who did not understand. Mrs. Cleveland presented her plan to a number of conse¬ crated women who were convinced of its value, and they decided tentatively to undertake the work. But first, they had to get the permission of Presbytery. Mrs. Cleveland was chosen tc KENTUCKY 179 do this, and went before the body with much anxiety, as she feared opposition. Her fears, however, and those of her asso¬ ciates, proved groundless, as she was received most graciously and those from whom opposition was expected were the staunch supporters from the beginning. In Augusta, on September 13th 1894, the Missionary Union was formed, and Mrs. Cleveland was elected President. The growth of the organization has been continuous, during the succeeding years. Drs. Rutherford and Scudder strongly supported her. Louisville Union —1899. In the spring of 1899, the Rev. Calvin Caldwell, at home from China, on furlough, had been addressing the Missionary Society* of the Second Church, Louisville. Some invited guests from other churches were present. During his address, he sug¬ gested that the members of the various societies in and adjacent to the city might find mutual help if organized into a Union. Two or three ladies, lingering after the meeting, stopped to consider the suggestion, and one of these, Mrs. Charlton Rogers, asked: “When could we start such an organization?” To which, Mrs. R. C. Davis, President of the Second Church Society, responded enthusiastically, “Now!” Then and there, with the help of Rev. Calvin Caldwell, the first steps of organization were outlined. A Constitution, previously prepared by Rev. E. M. Greene, of Danville, was secured and adapted to needs and in the fall a call was sent out to all of the churches in the Presbytery, to come together to organize at the First Church, Louisville. There was an enthusiastic response. Several of the ministers of the city were present and gave their approval to the movement, the organization taking the name of the Woman’s Missionary Union of the Louisville Presbytery. Mrs. Charlton Rogers was elected President. It was recognized by Presbytery, but left very much to itself. However, one of the staunchest champions of the movement, both before Presbytery and Synod, was Dr. Wil- 180 PIONEER WOMEN liam Hoge Marquess, who was one of the first men to catch the vision of what the complete organization of the women in Presbyteries and Synods, and then in the Church at large, would mean for the Church. The names of Mrs. Charlton Rogers, Mrs. R. C. Davis, Mrs. Mary H. Tarry, Miss Louise Speed, Miss Lucy McGowan and Miss Mary Blain, are hon¬ ored as pioneers. The work grew rapidly as it ministered to needs that were long felt. Mrs. John Little. It meant much to the Louisville Presbyterial to have Mrs. John Little for its President during the last two years of her life. Although the greater part of her work was done in Louisville, it was of such a far-reaching character, that its in¬ fluence was felt in many parts of the country and especially in the South. She was a woman of splendid education and training, and a gifted speaker. But her greatest gift was a rich human sympathy for all who were afflicted and oppressed, especially for little children who needed a friend. She gave herself un- stintingly to alleviate conditions, working for the establish¬ ment of the Juvenile Court, for city play grounds and for a better school system. After her marriage to Mr. John Little, she became his co- laborer in the Presbvterian Colored Mission, of Louisville, building it up to an institution of national prominence in the character of its uplift work for the Negro. “She was a rare and understanding friend of the colored people, a Missionary of Jesus to them.” She was asked to speak throughout the South in their behalf, urging a wider educational opportunity and a more enlightened treatment of them by their communi- ities. This was work preliminary to the organization of the Inter-Racial Commission. With Mrs. Winsborough, she had a large part in estab- KENTUCKY 181 lishing the Conference for Colored Women at Tuscaloosa, Ala . and the second conference was the last piece of work she did before her death. Here she spoke two or three times each day and on a new subject each time. At the time of her death. October 31st, 1917, she had been President of the Louisville Presbyterial nearly two years, and had done much to increase its efficiency and breadth of work. As a memorial to Mrs. Little, the Presbyterial contributed five thousand dollars towards the building of a ward for Col¬ ored Children, in the Red Cross Colored Hospital of Louis¬ ville, to be known as the Eleanor Tarrant Little Memorial. Nearly a quarter of the sum of money needed was given by colored people as a testimonial of their love and gratitude. As a further token of love to Mrs. Little, the Presbyterial has had a special interest in the Colored Women’s Confer¬ ences, sending Mrs. Lucy Sheppard as an instructor wherever she is needed. West Lexington —1905. In the Spring of 1890,, a meeting was called by the Mis¬ sionary Society of the First Church, Lexington, for the pur¬ pose of considering a Presbyterial Organization. Representa¬ tives were present from the Societies of the Versailles, Midway Pisgah, Bethel, Horeb, Walnut Hill, Pine Grove and Mt. Sterling Churches. An interesting program was carried out the matter of forming a Presbyterial Organization was fully discussed and those present agreed that many benefits would result from such an organization, but desired to give the matter fuller consideration. They adjourned, to meet the following April in Versailles. This meeting, however, was not held, and according to the minutes of the Society, “the thought of any further action was given up, for fear of offending the breth¬ ren.” Could this plan have been put through West Lexington would not only have been the first Union in Kentucky, but one of the first in the Southern Church. 182 PIONEER WOMEN Dr. McCorkle, then pastor of the Church at Nicholasville. was one of the staunchest friends of the movement and began in 1904 to urge the organization of a Presbyterial Union, lend¬ ing his aid and advice. In May, 1905, the organization was effected, Dr. Green, of Danville, also proving himself a good friend and supporter. At the first meeting, in 1890, Mrs E. S. DeLong served as Chairman, and at the meeting of 1905 she was made President and served with great efficiency for many years. There has always been much harmony and enthusiasm in this Presbyterial. Practically all of the Societies entered intc the work from the very first. West Lexington is fortunate in having its churches in a compact group with admirable roads and transportation facilities between the various flourishing towns of the Blue Grass Section. T ransylvania —1907. In recording the very modern date of Transylvania Union 1907, the pen stands still while memory sweeps back to two significant occasions. One, the Ecumenical Council, N. Y. City, 1900, where, without let or hindrance, were assembled the united forces of Protestant womanhood, including the Oriental woman, joined in the one common effort to proclaim Iiis Kingdom. In this common voice was one missing note. The Pres¬ byterian woman of the South was present with zeal and en¬ thusiasm, but in so far as any official report of Woman’s Work was made, her’s was the missing note. Antedating this occasion by only a few months, in the little town of Lawrenceburg, Ky., was assembled Transylvania Presbytery, U. S. To it was presented a paper from a Woman’s Union, which had been tentatively formed at Danville, ten days previous. Officers had been chosen and a Constitution adopted, under the supervision of Dr. E. M. Green, from whose judgment in matters ecclesiastical and orthodox, there was no KENTUCKY 183 need of appeal. Into his hands was placed the paper, together with a letter prepared by the women, addressed to Presbytery begging approval of their action. It was soon found, that while approval might be given by the majority, yet from cer¬ tain sources would come violent opposition. Very discreetly Dr. Green withdrew the paper, notifying the brethren that il would not be offered again until called for. This sketch from Transylvania explains in a most con¬ crete way, the why of the missing note at the Ecumenical Con¬ ference. This same experience was repeated in many Presby¬ teries. This seemed, for the Southern Presbyterian Church, a situation to evoke pity, but there were, at that time, women and men with a vision who felt themselves already a part of a great movement which of its own momentum would sweep aside all barriers. However, the little Presbyterial drama of 1899 did not reopen for several years. Seeds of discord had been sown and it required far more courage to take the initiative then than now. But presto! The Church itself was about to solve the problem through the launching of the Forward Movement. In the fall of 1907, in the same First Church, Danville, at the request of Presbytery, the Transylvania Union was revived aftei its suspension of eight years, adopting the same Constitution and supported largely by the same constituency. Mrs. Mary D. Irvine was re-elected President, which office she held for fifteen years, calling forth the love and admira¬ tion of her constituency.* It was with deep regret that Transylvania transferred the mountain churches of Corbin, Jellico, Pineville, and Middles- boro, to Appalachia Synod in 1915. The women of these socie- *From Transylvania report of Auxiliary meeting, 1923. Mrs. H. P. Cooper, President, Transylvania pledged $150.00 to furnish a room in the General Assembly Training School, Richmond, Va., to be marked. “An appreciation in honor of Mrs. Mary D. Irvine, founder and first president of Transylvania Presbyterial.” 184 PIONEER WOMEN ties had proved valuable members of the Presbyterial and had manifested their appreciation of Union privileges. Paducah Presbyterial —1907. Through the instrumentality of Miss Lucy McGowan Synodical visitor, the societies of Paducah Presbytery were called together, in Morganfield, in the Spring of 1907, to organize a Union. Mrs. Laura V. Shaw was elected President. Muhlenberg —1908. On January 30th, 1908, eighteen delegates from the Churches of Muhlenberg met at Greenville for organization, which was effected with Mrs. George Lowell, as President. Paducah-Muhlenberg —1911. * At a joint meeting of these two Presbyterials in Green¬ ville, 1911, they decided to combine, hoping to strengthen their organization. This made a very large district, with widely separated cities and towns, not readily in touch with each other. The wisdom of the combination has been questioned for a long time. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION—1911. As has been stated in the foregoing, the problem of the Woman’s movement not only in Kentucky, but all over the Church, was being solved by the Church itself. The impact of the foreign appeal was pressing hard and it was necessary to arouse the church to its responsibility. A statesmanlike view of the situation suggested a Forward Movement towards in¬ tensive education and organization. At a meeting of Assem¬ bly’s Foreign Mission Committee, in 1907, the plan was pro¬ posed to reach the women and children by women. The fol¬ lowing is a part of their resolution, March, 1907: “Resolved, that the Secretaries be requested to express to the Presbyterial Unions, the Committee’s grateful appreciation of the work they are doing, and suggest to them at their spring meeting, an KENTUCKY 185 effort be made to secure the services of one or more ladv * visitors in each Union, to go among the churches where the work has not been organized, to establish societies, and to help introduce Missions in the Sunday .School.” In accordance with this request, the Kentucky Synod appointed Miss Lucy Mc¬ Gowan, of Louisville, as Synodical visitor. Of the need of such an agency Miss McGowan’s first report testifies: “We are stronger by fifty-seven organizations today than we were one year ago.” It was the educational side to which Miss McGowan measured up so splendidly, and through her, the women of the Paducah and Muhlenberg Presbyteries were brought into Union. To Transylvania, and especially to Mrs. Mary D. Irvine belongs ^the honor of the first active step towards Synodical co¬ operation. In Jellico, in 1910, at the annual Presbyterial meet¬ ing, representatives were appointed to meet with those from other Presbyteries, with this in view. Not until the Fall of 1911, at the Bardstown Road Church, Louisville, did the representatives of Transylvania, West Lexington, Ebenezer and Louisville get together for a short time at the close of the meeting of the Louisville Presbyterial. All brought the endorsement of their organizations for Synodical co-operation. Mrs. Irvine was elected Chairman and Miss Ruth Crow, of Richmond, Secre¬ tary. (Miss Crow was unable to serve and Mrs. Irvine acted as Secretary as well as Chairman). No provisional constitu¬ tion was ready for consideration, but the Georgia plan was endorsed and Mrs. Irvine was instructed to attempt to fill the offices suggested by that Constitution, and also to make further Synodical investigation, and to call the Kentucky body together again as soon as practical. The very first piece of work accomplished by this tenta¬ tive Synodical was the endorsement of the Missouri movement to petition General Assembly for a Secretary of Woman’s Work. Kentucky was the sixth State to take this action. On October 16th, 1912, the Synodical Conference of Ken- 186 PIONEER WOMEN tucky met at the Second Church, Louisville, to complete its organization. Transylvania, West Lexington, Louisville and Paducah-Muhlenberg, were represented. Synod had sent Dr. McCaslin, of Bowling Green, to give such counsel and advice as was necessary. It was a great privilege to have present Mrs. Winsborough. the newly appointed Superintendent of Woman’s Work, and. through her clear presentation, to begin work with a thorough understanding of the meaning of the Woman’s Auxiliary, synodical, presbyterial, and local. During the year that had passed, Mrs. Irvine had encountered much opposition and mis¬ understanding, because of the revolutionary nature of the plan and she had had to feel her way practically unaided and unsupported. Mrs. Winsborough presented a Constitution, which was adapted to Kentucky’s needs. Miss Lucy McGowan, of Louis¬ ville, who had special knowledge of the churches in the Synod, through her office as visitor, was elected President, and Miss Alice Eastwood, of Louisville, who had served for nine years as Secretary of Louisville Presbyterial, was elected Secretary of Synodical. Thus the movement was launched in Kentucky under most auspicious circumstances, without the inconvenience of changing name or plan and with a desire to enter into the new movement with much enthusiasm. During the succeeding years, Synodical has prospered under the devoted leadership of Miss McGowan, Mrs. W. M. Charlton, and Mrs. H. P. Cockerham, one of our beloved mis¬ sionaries in the mountains. All of these Presidents have had the honor of serving as Secretary of the Woman’s Advisory Committee during their terms of office. For the last four years, Synodical has made marked strides forward, instituting and conducting most successfully the State Young People’s Conference at Danville, a Woman’s Conference at the Jackson Institute and in the Summer of 1923, its first Colored Woman’s Conference. KENTUCKY 187 No fitter close to Kentucky’s sketch can be given than the following testimony to Mrs. Mary D. Irvine, from Dr. E. M. Green, her pastor for forty-six years, and himself a constant champion of the Christian woman: “Among those who have had a vision of the work which the Christian women of the present day have been called to do, and which has been largely realized in the Woman’s Aux¬ iliary Movement in our Church, a prominent place must be given to Mrs. Mary Davis Irvine, of Danville, Kentucky. With the strong blood of the Scotch-Irish in her veins, mingled with a strain of the Welch and the Huguenot, derived from her sterling Presbyterian parents, Jonathan Davis and Susan Speed Thornberry, of Spencer County, Kentucky, she was en¬ dowed by nature with a vigorous mind, and by grace with a positive Christian character, developed under the training of the Rev. David T. Stuart, in the Shelbyville Female College and was well prepared for effective service in the Church, and for personal influence in society at large. Her enthusiasm for Missions has been contagious, and has made her a leader among her sex; while her large and accurate information of the Church's work, at home and abroad, has fitted her for in¬ telligent leadership. Her zeal and devotion have been inspir¬ ing and stimulating to those associated with her in the study of the world’s needs; while her patience, wisdom, and tact are unfailing in developing the interest, service and consecra¬ tion of her fellow-workers.” LOUISIANA 189 LOUISIANA PIONEER WOMEN Miss Sophie B. Wright, Louisiana. Beloved as a Christian Philanthropist. LOUISIANA 191 LOUISIANA The early history of Presbyterianism in Louisiana runs parallel with the history of the First Presbyterian Church in New Orleans, organized in 1823, the first of that denomination in the State; and the history of the organized work of the Pres¬ byterian women of Louisiana dates back to the first society in this church. Prior to the Civil War there were few women’s organiza¬ tions and consequently little to report. But we may be reas¬ onably certain that there was much fine and noble and beautiful unrecorded service rendered by these women of the olden days, and that their hearts and their interests were in all the church’s work and that in their more quiet way they helped it on. The Ladies’ Benevolent Society of the Prytania Street Church was organized in 1852. During these early days, there were undoubtedly occa¬ sional visits from missionaries returning from their labors near¬ by or in distant lands. Such a visit is remembered by one who was a child at the time. It was made by Mrs. Harriet Wright, wife of Rev. Allen Wright, both of whom were early missionaries to the Choctaw Indians. Mrs. Wright, then a widow, was returning to her field of service and her brief visit left in its trail information about the Indians and created interest in them which still endures. After the Civil War and the terrible days of readjustment which followed, in March, 1869, encouraged by their pastor, Dr. B. M. Palmer, the women of the first Presbyterian Church “banded themselves together into an Association for Christian and Benevolent work.” As the historian writes: “They just entered in with no parliamentary knowledge—no charter—no constitution and by-laws, and elected their officers, who were: President, Mrs. B. M. Palmer; Vice President, Mrs. W. A. 192 PIONEER WOMEN Bartlett; Secretary, Mrs. J. W. Caldwell; Treasurer, Mrs W. C. Black.” The scope of their work was broad, the first undertaking being the outfitting of Rev. Mr. Converse for service in China, For years they supported a City Missionary and maintained the struggling church in Carrollton, now a flourishing organi¬ zation in New Orleans, which owes its life to this timely as¬ sistance. From this church Mr. Andrew Allison went out as a missionary to Kiangyin, China. They employed a Bible woman, established mission Sun¬ day-schools in various parts of the city, contributed to both home and foreign missions and were, as their purpose stated, a most valuable “auxiliary to our church and that of Christ all over the lands.” In other churches of our faith in New Orleans and other parts of Louisiana during succeeding years, their example of good works was followed, but this organization, with its early undertakings is especially mentioned as one of the first of its kind in New Orleans, and therefore in Louisiana. The Foreign Missionary Society of First Church built the B. M. Palmer Memorial Hospital for women in Hashing, China, Memorial Church—New Orleans. Memorial Church is the gift of Mrs. Henry W. Bartlet by whom it was erected in 1874 in memory of her husband. Mrs. Bartlet originated the New Orleans Christian Woman’s Exchange which for more than forty years has extended a help¬ ing hand to the woman in need. Miss Sophie B. Wright. Louisiana is proud to record that Miss Sophie B. Wright, well known philanthropist, was an earnest member of the Pres¬ byterian Church. She was born in 1866 and died in 1912. The forty-six years of her noble life were given to outstanding work for her Master. LOUISIANA 193 When two or three years old she had a fall which resulted in making her a cripple for life. Though seldom free from pain she was a tireless worker. At fourteen years she hung out a sign “Day School for Girls, 50 cents per month” and so began her career as an educator in her city, New Orleans. At eighteen a young acrobat came to her asking her to help him prepare for a civil service examination and stating that he had no money to pay for her services. Although al¬ ready teaching in two schools and studying in a third, she gave him her evenings. And so began her free night school for the youth of the city. This work so grew that her pupils numbered 1,000 and many earnest women came to her assist¬ ance, as teachers. As the years went by and her many heavy duties made too great a drain on her frail strength the city took over the night school and it became a part of the public school system. Miss Wright was made the State President of the King’s Daughters of the Louisiana branch and under her leadership the organization was largely instrumental in putting up an annex to the Home for Incurables to be used for crippled chil dren. The influence of this remarkable woman still holds swav over the King’s Daughters of Louisiana, and at each annual convention her picture is brought to the church and rests on an easel at the right of the platform. The women look upon a beautiful face crowned with snowy hair made so by pain, not age. In her lap, rests an open Bible. By this book she patterned her life and demon¬ strated the power that may be wielded by the Christian woman in the broader fields of charity beyond the bounds of the church. Miss Sophie Wright has written two devotional book¬ lets called Heart to Heart Talks. 194 PIONEER WOMEN WOMAN’S FOREIGN MISSIONARY UNION OF NEW ORLEANS—1896. It was not until 1896 that anything like united organiza¬ tion was thought of. Each church society was a law unto it¬ self, working in its own sphere, independent of every other. The disadvantage of this was keenly felt, when in the winter of that year, Mrs. J. L. Stuart, Sr., came to New Orleans to interest the women of all the churches in the work in China, and found great difficulty in getting groups of women together for meetings with her; misunderstandings as to dates occurred, and once she was at one society without an audience. At an¬ other time the women came and there was no speaker. The necessity for closer co-operation among the women of the churches was so evidenced on that occasion, that im¬ mediate steps were taken to bring this about, and under the advice of Dr. J. H. Hall, pastor of the Canal Street Church, a letter was sent to all Presbyterian Missionary Societies, asking how it might be possible for missionaries to visit the city and deliver their stirring messages without becoming ex¬ hausted trying to get the women together. Several conferences followed, resulting in the organization, under the guidance of Rev. Dr. B. M. Palmer,, and Rev. Dr. J. H. Hall, of “The Women’s Foreign Missionary Union of New Orleans,” April 27, 1896. Some criticism of this movement was encountered in the early days. It was said they were^ trying to “show off,” were “breaking down the traditions of our church,” etc. The daily press, although under protest on the part of the organization, reported the meetings very fully and accurately, and it was de¬ cided that Providence meant in this way to disseminate foreign missionary knowledge, and the clippings were preserved to vindicate the motives which inspired the organization of the Union. , The first officers were: Mrs. John L. Many, President; Mrs. W. M. Baker, Vice-President; Mrs. J. H. Franklin, Sec- LOUISIANA 195 retary; Mrs. A. M. Packard, P'reasurer. In the preamble of the Constitution it was stated that the purpose of this organization was: “to gather and disseminate knowledge, and to increase interest in the great work of Foreign Missions;” and the first united effort in this direction was an invitation to Dr. J. H. Snyder, of the Congo Mission, to visit New Or¬ leans. His two lectures brought forth most favorable com¬ ments from the secular press and interested large audiences, encouraging the Union in its first undertaking. During that first year the epidemic of yellow fever in New Orleans made it impossible to hold the semi-annual meeting in November; but a Thanksgiving and Praise meet¬ ing took its place in January of the next year, to which help A and. inspiration were brought by the presence of Miss Helen Richardson, of the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church, sent as was felt in answer to prayer. Mrs. W. M. Baker succeeded to the Presidency in March, 1898, and began at once to work up the children’s bands, and arranged for annual meetings of these Junior organizations. It was during that year also that the Union was received by the Presbytery, its work and its purpose endorsed, and its name changed to the Foreign Missionary Union of the Presby¬ tery of New Orleans. Mr. Louis Voss, Pastor of the First Street German Church, especially urged this. The special purpose of the Union was to welcome all missionaries coming to the city, and whenever possible to invite them as guests of the Union, which paid part of their expenses. In this way there came to the women of the churches more frequent opportunities of coming into close touch with the work in the foreign fields, and of knowing the workers, for during the years many missionaries, both men and women, have brought their messages, quickening the interest in the work, bringing its needs home to the heart. In June, 1905, the Union sent two delegates, Miss Cora Pattison and Miss Duncan, to the “Young People’s Mission- 196 PIONEER WOMEN ,ary Movement,” of all denominations, which was held at Kenilworth Inn, Asheville, N. C. From this conference and from messages brought back to the women of New Orleans from Rev. H. F. Williams, of Nashville, there developed the thought of a Home Mission Union. Again a meeting of all Presbyterian women was called, and after several conferences on the subject, it was decided to organize a separate Union composed of the Home Missionary Societies in the several churches. The Constitution and By-Laws were along the same lines as the Foreign Missionary Union—the work to be entirely Home Missions. The first President was Mrs. J. C. Barr, of the Lafayette Church, who held the office for the ensuing eight years. Meet¬ ings were held twice a year, as in the Foreign Missionary Union, and the programs were often made very interesting by addresses from ministers of the smaller and weaker churches, telling of their problems and encouragements. Most of the women belonged to both Unions. Mission work is divided into Home and Foreign simply for convenience, and after eight years of separate organiza¬ tions, the wisdom of uniting into one body these two Unions that had been working side by side for different branches of the same cause, was forcibly felt in New Orleans, as in other parts of the Southern Presbyterian Church, and it was decided to merge the two into one, forming the Presbyterial Auxiliary along the lines suggested by Mrs. Winsborough, recently ap¬ pointed Superintendent of Woman’s Work. Dr. George H. Cornelson and Dr. W. McF. Alexander were the Synodical and Presbyterial advisers in the matter. On May 6, 1913, Mrs. J. Rollo Knapp was elected the first President of the Presbyterial, and a Constitution and By- Laws were adopted in accordance with the plans proposed for all Presbyterials throughout the church. So has the organized work of the New Orleans Presby¬ terial developed until it stands at this time a strong body of LOUISIANA 197 women united in purpose, one in heart and interest. The work of the individual church societies has not been touched upon, for want of space, but their activities have reached far and wide. In this state where there is so large a percentage of foreign speaking peoples, where ignorance and supersti¬ tion abound, the field is large for the Master’s work; here Home Missions become Foreign Missions at home; and in all the Presbytery’s work among the French, the Italians, the Hungarians, the Syrians, the Chinese, the Negroes, the women’s societies had a full share. In the New Orleans Presbyterial especially, located as it is in the Southern part of the state, there are large opportunities for this kind of service. In 1914-1915, Mrs. John L. Many, planned and carried out an itinerary through the New Orleans Presbytery, cover- mg 1,894 miles, Presbyterial visitors were appointed: Mrs. B. B. Purser, of Amite, on the Illinois Central Railroad, and Mrs. M, L. Paradis, of New Iberia, in Southern Louisiana, have done fine work in their sections. Two years later Mrs. E. L. Powell, at that time Presi¬ dent of the Presbyterial, with Miss Charlotte Thompson, of the Golden Gate School of Japan, made another round of the outlying churches. The results proved that both trips were greatly blessed. The Presbyterial has in mind at this time sectional con¬ ferences throughout its territory, whenever it is possible to arrange for them. One of these was held in the Spring of 1921, and proved very helpful to the churches visited. Louisiana Union —1896. The Louisiana Presbyterial was organized in 1896, at Jackson, La., with Mrs. Sallie Pipes as President. Two years later Mrs. Inslee, wife of our first Missionary to China, became its President, but failing health forced her early resig¬ nation. It was during the term of the third President, Mrs. Bertha R. Street, that Miss Tate, of Korea, visited the socie- 198 PIONEER WOMEN ties, stressing the great need of a doctor for Korea. At her suggestion the Presbyterial prayed earnestly and faithfully— and then Dr. Forsythe volunteered. Again they pledged them¬ selves to pray for three young people from their own Presby¬ tery to volunteer for definite life service—and within the next two or three years Bessie Sentell (Mrs. Motte Martin), vol¬ unteered for the Foreign field, and Alwin Stokes, Will Merrin. Allen Duch, George Smiley, Richard Bolling, Harris Bates, Bob Tombs, Robert McGehee for the ministry. These young people came from seven different churches in the Louisiana Presbytery, entering the work at different periods because of difference in educational qualifications; but all made their decisions within the two years in which the women were pray¬ ing, and all are preaching today. How gloriously and won¬ derfully does God answer prayer, giving more abundantly than we can ask or think! Red River Presbyterial —1911. Red River Presbyterial was organized much later than the other two, in the Spring of 1911, in Ruston, Louisiana, with seven churches represented. Presbytery sent a commis¬ sion of three to assist in the organization; Rev. Carpenter. Rev. McLain, and Rev. O’Nelley. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION—1913. When on May 12, 1913, in the lecture room of the First Presbyterian Church, New Orleans, delegates from these three Presbyterials came together to organize the Louisiana Synodi¬ cal Auxiliary, it was from the Red River Presbyterial that the first President, Miss Jordena Flournoy, was chosen. Red River Presbyterial was the pioneer in the work, of trying to reach the young people within her borders by assisting in paying the salary of a Sunday-school Missionary. It was in the heart of the second Synodical president, Mrs. W. S. Payne, to still further reach the youth of the LOUISIANA 199 State by placing a second missionary in middle and south Louisiana, At the last meeting over which she presided, the following resolution was passed: “That we pledge $1,200.00 toward the support of a Sunday-school Missionary—$600 to be given by Louisiana Presbyterial and $600 by New Orleans Presbyterial.” It remained for the third Synodical president, Mrs. W. K. Seago, to see this resolution more than carried out, for, instead of one man in the field, there are now three Sunday- sjchool Missionaries—one in each Presbyterial. This has come about because of the enthusiasm and earnestness, and above all through the prayers of the women for the little chil¬ dren and youth of the State. So greatly does God bless and prosper and enlarge work undertaken for Him! We cannot close this sketch of woman’s work in Louisiana, without mentioning the fact that from Prytania Street Church six missionaries have gone out to the foreign field: Miss Lottie Sterling, who taught in Miss Dowd’s school in Japan. . > . j Mrs. J. V. N. Talmadge, Kwanju, Korea. Miss Urilda Rodd (Mrs. John McQueen), Africa. Miss Kate Rodd (Mrs. Lacy I. Moffett), China. Miss Eline Rodd (Mrs. Leighton Stuart), China. Miss Florence Rodd, who afterwards married an Epis¬ copal Minister in China, and labored in his field until she was called to her heavenly home. From Napolean Ave. Church, New Orleans, Miss Har¬ riet Pearce (Mrs. Roy Leadingham) went out to Mokpo, Korea. MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI MISSISSIPPI 203 MISSISSIPPI EARLY HISTORY. Mississippi has the honor of having given to the church the first Foreign Missionaries sent out by the newly organized Presbyterian Church, U. S. They were Rev. E. B. Inslee and his wife Mrs. Eugenia Sherburne Inslee. They went to Hang¬ chow, China where our first Mission Station was opened in 1867. It is possible that a very few Presbyterian churches in what is now the Synod of Mississippi may have been organized for one hundred years prior to the year 1912. But the earliest record found of woman’s organized work is in 1829. This v_y was the Ladies’ Benevolent Society of the Port Gibson Church, Mississippi Presbytery. For a number of years it dropped out of existence, but was reorganized in 1871. At a meeting on February 8th, 1878 a letter was read and ordered recorded in which one of the members stated “It is forty-nine years since I first became a member of the Ladies’ Benevolent Society.” This would place its beginning as early as 1829. In the history of Shongolo Church, organized in 1835, Mrs. Mary McDougald McEachern has a significant place. Rev. C. W. Grafton, D. D., pastor of Union Church (Mis¬ sissippi Presbytery) writes: “Mary McDougald came of a Christian home, and her profession of faith, when she united with this church at the age of fifteen was what would be expected. Three years later she married and went with her husband to Carroll County, Missis¬ sippi (Central Mississippi Presbytery), carrying her church letter and her religion with her. She and her loyal husband established another Christian home. The Bible, catechism, sab¬ bath worship, God in all His ordinances were recognized. She was unswerving in her loyalty to the doctrines she imbibed in 204 PIONEER WOMEN her childhood days, and when she died in 1903, ninety-two years of age, nearly every one of the one hundred' and twenty- one children, grand-children and great-grand' children who had reached accountability were the subjects of renewing grace.” It is said that soon after her removal to Carroll County she was urged to join a Methodist Church being organized and to “be¬ come a log in building the Methodist Church.” To which she replied: “No. Soon Presbyterian preachers will come, looking for Presbyterians, and they might not find me if I was a mem¬ ber of a Methodist church. I will be a log in helping to build the first Presbyterian church.” In 1835 she became one of the twelve charter members of the Shongolo Presbyterian church of Vaiden, Carroll County, Mississippi. She lived to see seven other Presbyterian churches grow up around her, all of which are said to be traceable through the old Shongolo church to her influence. Another woman deserving special mention is Mrs. H. J. Smith, one of the early members of Madison church which was organized in 1845. It is said of Mrs. Smith that in that neighborhood “ten miles long and eight miles wide with no one but Presbyterians in it,” she was the moving spirit in Sunday- school, church and every neighborhood interest. It is written: “I never saw one person so mould a neighborhood as she did. She had the ‘growing in grace’ of every young person and child on her heart. A woman of wealth, she organized a ‘calico club’ to wear calico dresses to church to keep the members from thinking too much about dress.” The year 1848 began organized work in the Natchez First Presbyterian Church. The Ladies’ Benevolent Society and a girls’ society called “The Hive” were started that year to help build a “Sunday-school House” in the Manse yard. A few years later a Ladies’ Aid was organized. The members made fancy work for sale,—not by bazaars, as now, but by trusty “black mammies” who carried the work from house to house. In 1863 this society was re-organized as “Willing MISSISSIPPI 205 Workers” and divided into four groups—a fore-runner of the modern Circle plan. As one way to secure funds, the members pledged twenty-five cents a month. Those who think “the good old days” were ideal, may be interested to know people were as sensitive then as now. One pastor of the long ago had to rebuke the women, reminding them that the collector, when making her monthly round was not asking for herself but for the pledge to the Lord’s work. In this congregation, as in almost every church everywhere, the women were banded together to care for the interior of the church. Incidentally it may be noted that while modern Sun¬ day-school rooms and splendid eqiupment have been added, the main ^auditorium has been preserved almost as in ante¬ bellum days, with its high pulpit, comfortable family pews, and in the rear the gallery used by the slaves, making this one of the most interesting churches—in point of sentiment—in the Synod. The women of this church were among the first to adopt the auxiliary circle plan. Mrs. (W. M.) Bertha Stebbins Mor¬ rison, of sainted memory, a missionary to Africa, was at one time a member. Mrs. Florence Henderson Kelley was with her husband, a Home missionary in Oklahoma, from 1907 to 1911. The Ladies’ Benevolent Society of Port Gibson Church which was re-organized in 1871 with a well thought-out Con¬ stitution, has handed down some amusing and interesting re¬ cords. This organization met weekly. The minutes of June 1st, 1873 read: “Meeting with Mrs. Sevier. Very few present. We had a nice chat, however. Mrs. McGinnis and Mrs. Sevier went out and gathered some plums of which we all partook—cholera pains notwithstanding, though Mrs. Sevier promised the ladies some apple brandy after the plums, which she entirely forgot and has been on the stool of repentance ever since.” But it was not all fun. Their busy fingers not only aided their pastor’s wife by sewing for her children, but earned much 206 PIONEER WOMEN money which helped purchase the manse and repair the church. Another quotation shows the first interest in general work, and the influence that other societies were beginning to have. “February 4, 1878. The cause of Sustentation was brought up, and as a very urgent appeal has been made to the ladies in particular, we thought it our duty to give something to this worthy object, as we see by reports that a great deal is accom¬ plished by the ladies’ societies scattered throughout the country. It was agreed to send $10.00.” On September 14, 1883 it was decided to open the meet¬ ings with the reading of a prayer, which is the first mention of any religious exercises. From the Oxford Church comes the claim that prior to 1860 they were organized in a Missionary Society. During the war the energies of the women were absorbed in caring for the sick and wounded soldiers and the society though nor formally disbanded, no longer held its meetings. In 1868 it was re-organized as an Aid Society with a clearly defined con¬ stitution. It is only rarely that records reveal any marked interest being taken by men in the women’s societies. The Kosciusko Christian Aid Society which was started in the Kosciusko Church on November 28th, 1870, admitted men to honorary membership on a yearly pledge of five dollars. Children were also admitted who helped in various ways. This society, which numbered a half hundred members gave material aid to eight of the young men of their church who studied for the ministry, all of whom became men of great usefulness. It was also deeply interested in the French Camp School for boys where it be¬ came responsible for two rooms in the dormitory. The Industrial Society of Hernando Church, August 16th, 1869, had for its object “the prosperity of the church,” and the following is the result of their zeal. “When the Industrial Soci¬ ety was organized we had no church, but used the Cumber¬ land church. In 1872 we started a fund for building a church of MISSISSIPPI 207 our own. In 1878 a neat, frame building was dedicated, free from debt. Nearly all this was the work of the Industrial Society. In September 1878 the Yellow Fever carried away so many of our workers that we were almost paralyzed, and had no organization for years. When it was re-organized it was as a Missionary Society.” In Durant a little church came into being on January 4th, 1869 with only ten members, seven of whom were women. Dur¬ ing the organization a little bird flew into and around in the building, and Mrs. Hibernia Cason, “the mother of the church,” declared it to be a good omen. The little congregation began to grow. Following a protracted meeting, it was resolved to build a Presbyterian church in Durant. It seems that these seven women—charter members though without formal organi¬ zation, became truly an Aid Society to secure the building. In March 1871 it was completed and the spring meeting of Presby¬ tery held in it. It is said Mrs. Cason entertained fully one-half the members, but did not miss a single service. Later the Aid helped in securing a manse, and continued splendid work until re-organized as a Missionary society in 1910. At about this same period when the Civil War had made desolate so many communities in Mississippi, the church at Corinth all but died. But there were nine faithful and devoted women who met regularly “to make shirts to help the one elder pay the pastor’s salary and pay off the church’s indebtedness.” As time went on and fortune changed, the church grew and prospered and in it was a flourishing Ladies’ Missionary and Aid Society, building on the foundations of these nine splendid women. Service to one’s own church and community is inherent in the heart of the women, but it is interesting to see when sym¬ pathy “for others” arises. In 1871 the women of Grenada church organized a “Mite Society” to raise funds to buy a manse, but while that need was great, one-fifth of the dues 208 PIONEER WOMEN were given to Foreign Missions. This was an early date for a Foreign Missionary Society. The Ladies’ Aid of the First Presbyterian Church of Hattiesburg (1886) had a special mission from its very be¬ ginning. The little village had sprung up mushroom-like with the coming of many saw-mills. It was in the heart of pine forests, with endless swamps; rivers that met, their united waters flowing to the Gulf of Mexico; a lazy, indolent creek, winding its zig-zag way through the midst of the little new village, mosquitoes and flies and fever in their wake. High water in season bore on its bosom huge rafts of logs; and often inundated the little town sprawling in the midst of the swamp. To this “Village of Swamps,” there came from New Orleans in 1886 a fair young music teacher, Miss Myra Mc¬ Nair (later Mrs. Myra C. Eaton) through whose influence The Ladies’ Aid was organized. It immediately vitalized the little new church. For many years, until the organization of the City Charities, this Aid led the welfare work of the town. In those early days trained nurses were not available. When malaria and typhoid laid heavy hands on the com¬ munity, these “Aiders” at their weekly meetings made their plans and armed with physicians’ instructions, worked lovingly and systematically nursing the sick, burying the dead and com¬ forting the sorrowing, winning the love and esteem of all. As opportunity offered they accumulated a fund for a church and soon a commodius frame building—the best church in the rap¬ idly growing town—replaced the board “shack“ in which they had worshiped. They installed electric lights the first in any church in Hattiesburg. Again a fund was started for a good brick building to accommodate the rapidly growing member¬ ship. But the spiritual life and church benevolences were not forgotten. They contributed to every Cause of the Church, and at each meeting took an offering for the Orphanage. Their membership and zeal grew with the years, and they have been MISSISSIPPI 209 a power in their own church and have wielded a potent in¬ fluence in the town. The war work done by the women of this First Church and also by the Auxiliary of the Bay Street Church, Hattiesburg, in the hospital at Camp Shelby, deserves special mention and is in keeping with their history. These patriotic, Christian women made and gave thousands of cakes, thousands of gallons of ice cream, tens of thousands of sandwiches, beside soups, custards and other dainties. They did regular systematic visit¬ ing. Regularly on week days, but especially on Sundays they invited “The Boys” to their homes and also rendered loving services to parents visiting the cantonment. All this labor of love was done in His name without interfering with their regular »church work and benevolences. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. THE WOMAN’S MISSIONARY UNION OF EAST MISSISSIPPI PRESBYTERY, 1901. What is now East Mississippi Presbytery was formed by uniting Chickasaw and Tombeckbee Presbyteries in 1907. As early as 1901 the Chickasaw Presbytery at its spring meeting in Booneville, authorized the organization of the Woman’s Mis¬ sionary Union. The moving spirit in this effort was Miss Laura .Stout who was elected the first President. She had had as her heart’s dream to be a Foreign Missionary, but was pre¬ vented through ill health. She had, however, caught the vision of increased missionary interest through the organization of the scattered women’s societies. The high plane of this first Union in Mississippi is shown by the program of their second annual meeting. “What are the Signs of Promise in the Mission World? Our Hospitals. The Direct and Reflex Influence of Prayer in the Local Society. A Model Missionary Society. How to Create and Maintain Interest in the Missionary Society. 210 PIONEER WOMEN The Personnel of Our Missionaries in China. Children’s Bands. The Country Church and the Missionary Society.” In addi¬ tion to these there was a Missionary sermon, and an address by Miss Annie Dowd, a returned Missionary from Japan. There seems to have been no place on the program for reports, business or conference work, but some of the papers read indicate that they had problems and interests similar to those facing more recent organizations. The woman of the Tombeckbee Presbytery were organized into a Union by Mrs. H. M. Sydenstricker at West Point, on July 12th, 1907. She was elected President. After the Presbyteries of Chickasaw and Tombeckbee united, the two Missionary Unions met together, united and re-organized as East Mississippi Missionary Union, April 1908. Missionaries. One woman went from the Presbytery as a Foreign Mis¬ sionary prior to 1912, Miss Annie Dowd to Kochi, Japan, in 1887, whom the entire church delights to honor for the very remarkable work she has done. THE WOMAN’S MISSIONARY UNION OF MISSISSIPPI PRESBYTERY. 1907. At the spring meeting of Mississippi Presbytery, 1907, a resolution was passed inviting women’s societies to send dele¬ gates to the fall meeting of Presbytery, in Brook Haven, to organize a Missionary Union. Dr. J. J. Chisholm of sainted memory, and Dr. S. C. Caldwell, were the warm friends of the organization. About a dozen women met with the women of the Brook Haven church. Mrs. H. N. Street of Centerville (then in New Orleans Presbytery) and Miss Ethel McKowan of Jackson, La., were present, and assisted Dr. Chisholm in the organization. Mrs. C. W. Grafton was elected president, and Miss Josie Houck, secretary. The first annual meeting was in Port Gibson, with the meeting of Presbytery in April MISSISSIPPI 211 1908. At the second annual meeting in 1909, “the attention of the Union was called to our obligation to evangelize the Jews, an obligation which our Church has not acknowledged by any concerted effort.” At the meeting in 1910 the Union arranged to employ Dr. Louis Meyer of the Chicago Hebrew Mission to travel throughout the Synod, making addresses on Jewish Evangelism, and to become responsible for his expenses. At the fourth annual meeting, 1911, an overture was sent to the General Assembly, asking that the Home Missions Com¬ mittee be instructed to open their books for funds for a Jewish Mission. Through the influence of Mississippi Missionary Union, the Presbyteries of North Mississippi, Memphis and Cherokee and the Mississippi Synod all sent similar overtures. These ,were granted, and thus through the efforts of the women of this Union was begun what finally resulted in a new mis¬ sion work for our church, rounding out the command: “Go ye into all the world and make disciples of every nation.” Missionaries. Four women have gone from this Presbytery to the Foreign Field, prior to 1912. Mrs. E. B. Inslee, to China in 1867, Miss Jane Moseley, Mrs. Charlotte E. Stirling to Japan in 1887. Mrs. Lucile Bankston Baird to Brazil in 1895. THE WOMAN’S MISSIONARY UNION OF CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI PRESBYTERY. 1908. The women of the Kosciusko Missionary Society, believ¬ ing the work could be advanced more rapidly by a general organization, undertook to interest other women. Mrs. F. Z. Jackson, the President, and Mrs. M. E. C. Leonard, wrote to the women’s organizations of the different churches, urging the organization of Missionary Societies, and the importance of the Missionary Union. Some replied: “We have a Ladies’ Aid and give to Missions through it, and feel satisfied without the additional organization.” But often discouraging silence 212 PIONEER WOMEN was the only response. But when Rev C. T. Thomson, D. D. became pastor of the church in 1908, he and his wife encouraged them to resume their efforts. In October 1908, Dr. Thomson presented a petition to Presbytery for permission to organize a Woman’s Missionary Union in Central Mississippi Presby¬ tery. Some prominent members raised strenuous objections, but in his interest and zeal Dr. Thomson was able to answer them, and the petition was granted. Mrs. M. E. C. Leonard again wrote to every woman’s organization in the churches of the Presbytery, calling a meet¬ ing in the Kosciusko church January 21-22, 1909. Eighteen women, representing seventeen societies in fourteen churches, attended. The Foreign Missions Committee sent Mrs. A. T. o Graybill, formerly of our Mexico Mission, and she and Dr. Thomson were very helpful. The organization was effected Friday, January 22nd, 1909. Only eight societies, represent¬ ing five churches (Kosciusko, Greenville, Forest, Learned and Ridgeland) joined at that time. Mrs. W. B. Gidden of Green¬ ville was elected the first President. By the time of the first annual meeting October 1909, six more societies were ready to join. At the second meeting, October 1910 the Union had grown to twenty societies and its value had been so clearly demonstrated that the advisability of a Synodical Union was discussed. The third annual meeting held at Forest, October 1911, was an eventful meeting, plans were started and recommenda¬ tions made which have proved of such value that they later became part of the accepted policy of the whole Auxiliary organization. As far back as 1911 a Standard of Excellence was adopted which was the fore-runner of the Standard given to the Auxil¬ iary by the Woman’s Advisory Committee at Montreat in 1921 It was as follows: MISSISSIPPI 213 Standard of Excellence. 1. At least one meeting a month with devotional exer¬ cises, and a definite missionary program. 2. And increase in membership during the year of at least twenty-five per cent (25%) of the present membership, until all the women of the church are members of the society. 3. An increase in gifts of not less than ten per cent (10%) of the previous year’s contributions. 4. Regular reports to the Union, whenever required. 5. One of the religious papers, or missionary magazines, or Calendar of Prayer subscribed for in every home represented in the Society. 6. Observance of seasons of special prayer for Home and Foreign Missions. 7. At least one Mission Study Class a year. 8. An average attendance at regular meetings of two- thirds of membership enrolled as active members. 9. At least one delegate sent to the meeting of the Union. Societies reaching all nine of these requirements to be placed on “The Roll of Honor” at a meeting of Union. Those reaching six of these requirements to be graded “Class A.” Those reaching three of the requirements to be graded “Class B.” This .Standard was published in all of the church papers as were also some resolutions in regard to the Foreign Mis¬ sion debt which was filling the Foreign Mission Committee with alarm. These resolutions were said to have been in¬ strumental in awakening the women all over the church to the payment of the debt. The following important subjects were considered in con¬ ference: The importance of holding Missionary Institutes; Teaching Missions in the Sunday School; Forming Prayer Circles; Importance of Deeper Spirituality in the Local Society; 214 PIONEER WOMEN Importance of Observing the Week of Prayer for Foreign Mis¬ sions; and the Importance of Accurate Reports. A Prayer-circle composed of all the officers pledged to pray for each other daily by name and for the work, was formed. At this same, 1911 meeting, definite plans were made, look¬ ing forward to the organization of a Synodical Conference in the immediate future. Mrs. William Irvine was President that year and was succeeded by Mrs. W. Bristow Gray. Mrs. C. S. Evarts was Secretary. The record of this Presbyterial has been one of progress and spiritual vision during the years of its organization. Missionaries. The women who went from Central Mississippi Presbytery as Foreign Missionaries were: Althea Brown Edmiston (colored) who sold property to provide her own outfit and expense to Africa in 1902. The lamented (Mrs. W. M.) Bertha Stebbins Morrison, to Africa in 1906, and (Mrs. S. C.) Ivittie McMullen Farrier, to China in 1910, and Miss Nettie McMullen to China. Miss Carrie Primrose (prior to 1912) was for three years a Home Missionary in the Kentucky moun¬ tains. THE MISSIONARY UNION OF NORTH MISSISSIPPI PRESBYTERY. 1909. The women of the Presbyterian church in Senatobia had a Ladies’ Aid for years previous to 1908, doing local work and something for the orphanage. Mrs. Laura Patton Seaton visited friends in this church, and through her influence about twelve or fifteen women with Mrs. J. H. Bernard as one of the leaders organized a Missionary Society. In the meantime the Metho¬ dist women held one of their conferences in the town. Some of the Presbyterian women attended, among them Mrs. J. W. Caldwell, who said: “Their interchange of ideas and their team MISSISSIPPI 215 work seemed quite inspiring.” A few months later the women of the Christian Church held a convention. “The five Pres¬ byterian women who attended, repaired immediately to their church to hold their little monthly meeting, which seemed lone¬ some and discouraging because so few came, and the gifts were so small. Mrs. Caldwell asked: ‘Why cannot we have an asso¬ ciation of Church societies and learn what to do and how to do it?’ After earnest discussion, Mrs. Caldwell was asked to write to the other women’s societies, to learn if they would enter an organization.” She did so, receiving favorable answers from Sardis, Grenada, Water Valley, Oxford, Holly Springs and Hernando. During the spring meeting of Presbytery, in Sena- tobia 1909, Rev. C. Z. Berryhill secured the permission of Presbytery for an organization. So far as is now known there seemed to be but one objection. One pastor seemed to think such an organization would weaken the authority of the Presbytery. An attempt was made to organize a Missionary Union at that time, but no one knew just how to proceed. Some one suggested that they write to the Foreign Missions Committee, which was done. On the invitation of Mrs. W. H. Whitaker for the ladies to meet in the Grenada church, May 12-13, 1909, Mrs J. W. Caldwell again took up the correspondence. The following societies were represented, Oxford, Water Valley, Holly Springs, Tutwiler, Senatobia and Grenada. The Foreign Missions Committee sent Mrs. A. T. Graybill to help in the organization, and on May 13, 1909, the Mission¬ ary Union of North Mississippi Presbytery was organized, with Mrs. J. W. Caldwell elected president, and Mrs. W. H. Whitaker, visitor. Mrs. Whitaker searched out and. got in touch through visiting and correspondence with every society possible. At their meeting in 1912 there was a heated discussion over the question of having a General Secretary of Women’s Work. There was considerable opposition to the plan, but 216 PIONEER WOMEN when it came to the test, North Mississippi Union fell in line and voted in favor of such a Secretary. Missionaries. Mrs. (L. J.) Coralie Lobdell Coppedge went to Africa in 1912. MERIDIAN MISSIONARY UNION. 1913. Through the efforts of Miss Kate Armistead, who had been one of the seven charter members of the Newton church in this Presbytery, the Missionary Union of Meridian Presbytery was organized in 1901, only the women of the Newton church, Meridian First, and Meridan Second churches joining. Miss Julia Smith was elected president, and Mrs. Kate Foster secre¬ tary. Two annual meetings were held. But the women of the other churches were indifferent, and some of the ministers openly opposed it. On the resignation of the President in 1904 the Union was disbanded. But the work of the few faithful women was not lost. In the fall of 1911, Presbytery began to be solicitous about the better organization of its women. In November 1912 it appointed Rev. John Goff to organize a Presbyterial. In the meantime the Mississippi Synodical had been organized and the Woman’s Auxiliary of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., had come into existence. Mr. Goff promptly wrote to all societies in the Presbytery, but no organization was effected until the following spring. Mrs. J. W. Allen took up the matter. The societies of four churches, Biloxi, Magee, Meridian First, and Hattiesburg Bay Street, sent representatives to Collins. Mrs. H. M. Syden- stricker, Synodical President and Mrs. W. H. Whitaker, Synod¬ ical Secretary of Foreign Missions, met with them, and in April 1913 organized Meridian Presbyterial—completing the Presbyterial organizations in the Synod. Mrs. J. W. Allen was elected president, Mrs. William Megginson, secretary. Mrs. Allen had much hard pioneer work to do, but she did it sq MISSISSIPPI 217 well that she soon had the Presbyterial thoroughly organized. Mrs. (Andrew) Ella Warde Allison, went to China in 1910 from this Presbytery. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION. The Missionary Conference of Mississippi Synod. 1912. Following the action taken by the Missionary Union of Central Mississippi Presbytery at its meeting in Forest, October 26, 1911, toward organizing a Missionary Conference in the Synod, Dr. C. T. Thomson presented a request at the fall meeting of Presbytery in Greenville 1911 from the Central Mississippi Missionary Union for permission to enter a Synod¬ ical Conference, if one were formed. This was granted without much opposition. He further secured an overture from the Central Mississippi Presbytery to Synod in regard to the organization of a Synodical Conference. The women had already prepared a request to Synod for permission to organize, basing their plea on the action taken by General Assembly at its meeting in Lewisburg 1911. “This Assembly approves of the organization of Women's Synodical Missionary Conferences, whose constitutions accord with the established principles and methods of work of our Church, as it has approved of similar Presbyterial organiza¬ tions. In accordance with these principles and methods, all such Synodical Unions will be under the supervision and con¬ trol of the Synods, make annual reports to them, and send their contributions to the various causes through the regular channels of the Church.” This request, together with the overture from Central Mississippi Presbytery was presented to Synod in the fall of 1911 and was granted. The following committee on Woman’s Work in the Synod was appointed, Rev. C. T. Thomson, D. D., Rev. C. W. Grafton, D. D. and Rev. W. Bristow Gray, D. D. The organization meeting was held at Belhaven College, 218 PIONEER WOMEN Jackson, June 20, 1912, with the following delegates present: From Central Mississippi Union, Mrs. W. Bristow Gray, Mrs. C. S. Evarts, Mrs. William Irvine; Mississippi Union, Miss Lee Crutcher, Mrs. H. B. Myers, (Mrs. C. W. Grafton was unavoidably detained); North Mississippi Union, Mrs. W. H. Whitaker, Mrs. J. W. Caldwell. (Mrs. H. M. Sydenstricker, and Mrs. J. K. Kaye, delegates for East Mississippi Union detained because of illness.) A Constitution was adopted and Mrs. H. M. Sydenstricker was elected President andj Mrs. C. S. Evarts, Secretary. Prayer was the key-note of the meeting. At its close, the officers formed a prayer-band pledged to pray daily for each other by name, and for the work. Whatever success has at¬ tended Synodical is due to this spirit of prayer. SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL WORK. Assemblys Training School Scholarship : An annual schol¬ arship was established in Assembly’s Training School, February 1916. Support i of French Camp School :* At the fourth annual meeting, June 1916, Synod asked Synodical to raise $2,500 annually toward support of Synod’s school at French Camp, Mississippi. With a membership of about 2,200 this labor of love was undertaken in addition to regular benevolences. In 1918 when Synod considered closing the school the women asked for its continuance, as it had been instrumental in in¬ fluencing many young men and women for the ministry and special service. “There are today fifty-nine students training for service, as ministers, missionaries, Sunday-school workers, nurses, etc. This comes as a result of prayer ascending from all over Mississippi. Does the church need the French Camp Schools?” Henry Wheeler Memorial Scholarship : This was estab- *French Camp is the name of a town in Central Mississippi. This school does not represent work among French youth. (Editors.) MISSISSIPPI 219 lished in the Student Loan Fund at the annual meeting June 1920, in honor of Henry Wheeler, a French Camp Student and candidate for the ministry, who gave his life during the World War. Southwestern Presbyterian University Fund : In addition to gifts from individuals to the fund raised in 1921-22, to re¬ move Southwestern Presbyterian University from Clarksville, to Memphis, Tennessee, many auxiliaries made handsome sub¬ scriptions, the auxiliary of First Church, Meredian, leading all other auxiliaries in the four Synods’ interested. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WOMAN’S AUXILIARY. Auxiliary Day was inaugurated in 1916 by Mrs. Hugh Barr Miller, Synodical secretary of S. P. C. Missions and has ever since been observed in Mississippi. It was first called “Rally Day;” later Auxiliary Day; its purpose: “To awaken interest in indifferent churches; bring new recruits into the service of the King, and educate our women in Missions.” Mrs. Miller selected and supplied suitable literature and made valuable suggestions for carrying out the program. Prayer Band Covenant : Mrs. W. H. Whitaker while Presi¬ dent of North Mississippi Presbyterial, prepared and printed in 1916, a Prayer-band Covenant for use in her own Presby- tcrial. It was later used for two years by the Auxiliary. Questionnaire For Annual Narrative Report of Local Auxiliaries was prepared by Mrs. W. H. Whitaker in 1916 to secure, in concise form, desired information of the work of local societies. It was adopted by Synodical in 1917 and is regularly used, being annually revised to suit the expanding work. Since 1915 Synodical has maintained a Woman’s Auxil¬ iary department in The Mississippi Visitor, the official organ of the Synod. The department editors have been: Mrs. Hugh Barr Miller, five years; Miss Adelaide Hainan, one year; 220 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. D. G. McLaurin, one year; and Mrs. W. H. Whitaker appointed editor in 1922. Mrs. C. S. Evarts, who has served the Synodical as Secre¬ tary from its beginning, never missing an annual meeting nor an executive meeting in the ten years of its history, was ap¬ pointed Auxiliary Visitor in 1919. For more than a year she went about the State organizing new auxiliaries, re-organizing Aid and Missionary Societies into Auxiliaries, interesting un¬ affiliated societies to come into their Presbyterial, etc. In every society she organized a Prayer-band, in many she or¬ ganized Bible and Mission Study classes, everywhere striving to deepen the spiritual life. The membership increased eight hundred (800) that year. TJnrfie Missionaries. Among the Home Missionaries laboring with their hus¬ bands in the Southwest are: Mesdames Alvin Stokes, Robert Hodson and J. W. Mosely. Miss Hattie Belle Davis is doing Plome Mission work in Mississippi Synod. In the Mountains are: Misses Kittie Kimmons, Edith Evarts, Osma Newton, Estelle Rawls, Florence Dolphy, Vivian Johnson, Mary, Pattie and Lula Ward, Minnie Bols, Mary McCain, Sue Davidson, Ruth McPherson and Mrs. Gladys Bridges. MISSOURI 221 MISSOURI 222 PIONEER WOMEN MISSOURI 223 MISSOURI History tells us that the march of civilization has been Westward in the past centuries, but more correctly might it be said that the flaming torch lighted at the foot of the Cross, carried, under the guidance of the Spirit, by Paul and all the other missionary heroes of the Church, brightened and sancti¬ fied by persecution and martyrdom, has ever traveled West¬ ward. Animated by this same Spirit, and upheld by unfaltering trust in^God, Rev. Salmon Giddings, commissioned by the Con¬ necticut Home Mission Society, left Hartford in December. 1815, and made, on horseback, the journey of twelve hundred miles, in mid-winter, reaching St. Louis, April 6th, 1816—in which town there was no Protestant Church. Not being re¬ ceived kindly, he visited other settlements Southward, and God was plainly opening up the way for this valiant soldier of the Cross to organize the First Presbyterian Church west of the great “Father of Waters.” In beautiful Bellevue Valley, ex¬ tending from Big River on the North to Arcadia on the South surrounded by the lovely foothills of the Ozark Mountains he found a little colony of sturdy North Carolinians, who had journeyed Westward and settled in the wilds of this new country about fifty miles West of the Mississippi River. Tra¬ dition says that three of their men had been ordained Elders before leaving their Eastern home, looking to the early found¬ ing of a church. Here, in Bellevue Valley, he organized, on August 3rd, 1816, this little colony, into the Concord Presby¬ terian Church (Now Bellevue Church of Caledonia, Mo.) with twenty members, who, amidst the hardships and struggles of pioneer life, felt it was intrusted to them to hold aloft the torch of life in this new and untried country. 224 PIONEER WOMEN Reverend Mr. Giddings pushed on and organized the Bon- homme Church, October 16th, 1816, and the “Church of St. Louis,” November 15th, 1817. Of this last, he was pastor until his death, in July, 1827. The Presbytery of Missouri was organized December 18th. 1817, and embraced all the territory then within the bounds of Missouri and Illinois, and was connected with the Synod of Tennessee. At this organization, only three ministers were present: Reverends John Matthews, Thomas Donnell and Salmon Giddings, and one ruling Elder, Mr. Stephen Hemstead from the “Church of St. Louis.” The three churches organized by Mr. Giddings were the only ones to report and enroll. Though the name of this brave Ambassador of the Cross has not been heralded abroad, yet to him and his co-labourers, Presbyterianism owes a debt in its onward march across the great West and Southwest. In 1817, Rev. Thomas Donnell came out from North Caro¬ lina and assumed the pastorate of Concord Church, being in¬ stalled in April, 1818, at the residence of Mr. Wm. Sloan, an Elder. Mr. and Mrs. .Sloan seem to have been the Priscilla and Aquilla of this church. This little band of pioneers ral¬ lied nobly to the assistance of their pastor. As in all of these early churches, the women were active in heroic efforts and sacrificial giving, that they might have, first of all, a building in which to worship. Around their first log church was ar¬ ranged a “camp-ground” with a number of log cabins to ac¬ commodate those who came from a long distance. The women took their very best carpets, bedding and household accessories for the entertainment of the ministry, and gave themselves un¬ sparingly in preparing and serving at tables, many families leaving their homes for weeks and giving willing service to the church. These camp meetings were held three or four times a year, prior to the Communion Season, and were times of great refreshing when many were claimed for Christ. These elect ladies, by their cheery welcome, attracted many to the church MISSOURI 225 and little dreamed thev were doing anything but common, every- dav tasks, when in realitv, thev were establishing true worship W ‘ 9 t J O X amidst a people, many of whom were French and Catholic making possible an entering wedge of Protestantism into this vast region. BRAZEAU CHURCH—1819. The dame spread, and Rev. Thomas Donnell formed an¬ other church at Brazeau in 1819. Mrs. Margaret Huey, a notable lady of this congregation, was born in North Caro¬ lina in 1 75 7 and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six years She did wonderful constructive work in teaching the Bible and Catechism to all the children around her—black as well as white. Anpther remarkable woman who was called a “veritable mother in Israel" was Mrs. Sarah Milster. A long line of her descendants held the ofdce of Elder in Brazeau Church— sons, grandsons, nephews, brother and cousin—all of whom doubtless came under the induence of her Godly life and practical piety. BOONYILLE CHURCH—1821. This is the oldest Presbyterian Church organized in Cen¬ tral Missouri. It was founded by men sent out bv the Gen- eral Assembly the same year Missouri was admitted as a State into the Union. The faithful few men and women, in patient self-denial and endurance, laid broad and deep the founda¬ tion, and the missionary spirit was strong and active from the very beginning. As early as 1840, the education of a native boy in India was undertaken; then the Sunday-school took up the support of a girl. The most active worker for missions was Miss Sue Williams, later Mrs. Lamkin, the in¬ duence of her noble life being unbounded. In 1853, two young lives in this church, Mr. and Mrs. C. Loomis, became so im¬ bued with the spirit of their Master, that they gave themselves to labor in dark Africa, where Mrs. Loomis and her little child 226 PIONEER WOMEN gave their lives for those benighted people. Those links with other lands so stirred a few godly women that they organized a weekly prayer-meeting to intercede “for the speedy evangeli¬ zation of the world.” Offerings for missions were taken at the meetings, which thus possessed two important factors of a missionary society—prayer and gfts. This little prayer band of nine women was simply called “Mrs. Smith’s Prayer-Meeting” and it is needless to say it was Mrs. Smith’s gracious, sweet- spirited personality that held them together. The next pioneer church to be organized was Auxvasse (in 1831, changed to Palmyra), near Fulton, in 1823, and in July, 1832, Rev. Thomas Donnell pushed farther into the wil¬ derness and organized a church of six members—two men and four women—in the picturesque little hamlet of Potosi, the second oldest town in the State. The Fulton Church was organized in 1835 with twelve members and Lexington Church in 1839, “with five male and seventeen female members.” It is most interesting to read the records of these pioneer churches—how the sessions, moderated bv their fearless min- isters, called before their courts for trials, those who had ab¬ sented themselves continuously from the services of the House cf the Lord; those who had become intoxicated, danced or given dances at their homes, and those who spoke ill of theii neighbors. If there was not satisfactory evidence of sorrow and repentance for sins, they were suspended from the fel¬ lowship of the Church. In the earliest history of these pioneer churches, it is evi¬ dent that the women were very important factors in their de¬ velopment and growth, but, if any societies of any kind were organized, no record can be found. But a little later, there is here a “Prayer Band,” there “Faithful Workers’ Society,” “Bands of Seven,” or Aid Societies for concerted action in building up their own mission fields. (A foreshadowing of our Circle plan.) The records are meagre but it is the story of their banding themselves together to raise money to help MISSOURI 227 build churches, erect manses, buy organs, communion sets, belfries, hymn-books, and the essential things for worshiping God. A brief recital, but the discerning mind and sympathetic heart can read between the lines a story of heroic self-sacrifice ; ceaseless toil and a quenchless faith in the righteousness of their cause. In 1850, at Cape Girardeau, under the leadership of Dr. O. E. Y. Rice and his efficient wife, the women banded them¬ selves together “to support the church and erect a substantial brick building.” There were so few men in the membership that the women had to collect the preacher’s salary, so one is not surprised to find that this is one of the bands “most active in organizing the missionary movement in Potosi Presbytery” some years later. They felt the importance of linking up evangelism with education and Mrs. Rice gave herself un¬ tiringly to the raising of money for a Young Ladies’ Semi¬ nary, even making the hazardous trip to New Orleans to se¬ cure funds for the school. Their efforts were crowned with success and Washington Seminary for Young Ladies was estab¬ lished with two of Mrs. Rice’s sisters, Mrs. Andrews, and Mrs. Gardner, in charge. FOREIGN MISSION WORK. As late as 1837, not only Missouri, but States in the Far East were looking with indifference and suspicion on the great Foreign Missionary work. Mrs. B. R. Ireland, of Lexington. Mo., has a letter received by her mother, when the great mis¬ sionary to Africa, Robert Moffat, visited the United States, in which are these words: “1 know you will think I rave, if I dare write half I feel about Moffat, and truly I have not lan¬ guage to express myself. You, like others, are perhaps preju¬ diced. He was received very cooly and regarded with sus picion. But a transformation has taken place; all the churches are closed and ministers are sending their congregations to hear him. However, I am afraid part of the change is due to 228 PIONEER WOMEN Henry Clay’s declaration that Moffat was the greatest orator of the day—nevertheless, deep impressions are being made.” In the settling up of a new country, in erecting churches and manses, one readily sees the predominating need of the “Pastor’s Aid.” So many had grave problems of their own and their neighbors’ to solve, that naturally, these claimed their prayers and labors and their horizon was limited. But earnest missionary pastors and a few noble women, who had caught the meaning of “Go ye into all the world,” by the power of their zeal, and by constant importunity, became a moving force, barely perceptible at first, but which bore fruit in the gradual organizing of societies for “cultivating piety amongst its mem¬ bers, and for studying about and giving to both Foreign and Home Missions.” With the forming of .these societies for enlarged work, there crept into the hearts of the leading women the convic¬ tion that something else was needed to make these organiza¬ tions permanent and more efficient. In the words of our gifted Superintendent, Mrs. Winsborough, “After much thought and prayer, a small group of women, scattered throughout the church, undertook to bring order out of chaos, and began, by correspondence, the agitation that finally led to the organiza¬ tion of the First Missionary Union in the Southern Assembly. The moving spirit of this courageous band of pioneer women was Miss Jennie Hanna, of Central Presbyterian Church, Kan¬ sas City—a young girl still in her teens, with the divine optism- ism of youth inspiring her service.” Miss Hanna’s first effort in missionary organization was in 1878, when, at the sugges¬ tion of her pastor’s wife, Mrs. H. B. Boude, she formed her .Sunday-school class of young girls into a Missionary Band. She felt the need of guidance, and looking about her for help, she found no organization of women in her own beloved South¬ ern Church to assist her. This great need gripped her heart, and, though only a young tender girl, she threw herself into the breach. She found kindred spirits all over the church, MISSOURI 229 grappling with the same great problem; and, coming in contact by correspondence with that noble woman, Mrs. Josiah Sibley, of Augusta, Ga., these two agreed, in 1886 or 1887, without waiting for anyone else, to “undertake to reach everyone of the two thousand churches in our Assembly.” (See Chapter on Building of the Auxiliary.) In 1888, Miss Hanna was asked by the Presbytery of Upper Missouri, to organize the Woman’s Societies of their Presbytery into a Union, but her body, frail at best, was at¬ tacked by a long illness and this work, so dear to her heart, failed of fruition, until the Spring of 1893. No human pen can do justice to the toil, the giving of strength of body and soul, the incense of importunate prayer, the offering of her best afid all on this Altar of Service for her Lord and Church. ORGANIZATION OF PRESBYTERIAL UNIONS. Lafayette, 1892. Mrs. L. P. Bowen, of Marshall, Mo., to whom “Foreign Missions was an inspiration and almost an idol,” eagerly re¬ sponded to the call for the organization of Woman’s Societies into closer bonds of comradeship; and encouraged and assisted by Dr. W. R. Dobyns, she wrote to all the societies of Lafay¬ ette Presbytery, inviting them to send delegates to Marshall to assist in organizing a Union. Seven societies responded, and on May 24th, 1892, was organized the “Woman’s Mis¬ sionary Union of Lafayette Presbytery,” the first organization of the kind in the Synod of Missouri. Mrs. Bowen, who, from this time, was lovingly called the “Mother of Lafayette Union,” refused the presidency, and Mrs. H. B. Boude, of Pleasant Hill, was elected President, and Miss Sadie Buckland, of Marshall, Secretary and Treas¬ urer. A constitution was drawn up and adopted and one of the aims stated was to secure the organization of missionary societies in every church in the Presbytery, which it accom- 230 PIONEER WOMEN plished very, rapidly. The speedy attainment of this aim is due especially to the splendid personnel of the women who were at the helm—to Mrs. L. P. Bowen and Mrs. H. B. Boude. who had had special training as the wives of pastors, and to Mrs. B. R. Ireland, wfio still abides (1923) in freshness and vigor of heart and mind in her eighty-sixth year! She was the second President of the Union, and brought to her task a thoroughly trained intellect, a graceful and pleasing personality, consecrated tact and a beautiful spirit-filled life. By her pa¬ tient, constant endeavor, she made possible, in the Providence of God, perhaps, more than any one person, the splendid his¬ tory of Lafayette Pinion. By pen, as teacher in Elizabeth Aull Seminary, as President for eighteen years of the Missionary Society of Lexington Church, as Sunday-school worker, for more than twenty-five years, her life has wielded a powerful influence all over the State. The value of the work increased, by stressing activites among children and young people, by appointing field secre¬ taries to organize and stimulate mission study classes, by linking up societies with the Foreign Field, through the support of repre¬ sentatives from their own midst, by the consecrated conservatism of their leaders, who never forced any issue upon the societies or the Union; and last, but not least, the unfailing support, sympathy and advice of those splendid missionary pastors who filled the pulpits of Lafayette Presbytery in those early days— Rev. J. W. Wallace, Drs. L. P. Bowen, H. B. Boude, J. M. Cheney, George L. Leyburn, A. S. Moffett, E. C. Gordon— all of sainted memory—W. R. Dobyns and many other young pastors who not only gave their consent, but enthusiastic sup¬ port. The Union is justly proud of those who have gone from the Presbytery to carry the glad tidings to distant lands: Mrs Kate Boude Moore, Mrs. Grace Fields Myers, Miss Eliza Reed, Mrs. Lida Montgomery Hall, Mrs. Sallie Chambers Cooper, Miss Elinora Lynch, Rev. and Mrs. J. W. Allen, Miss MISSOURI 231 Nora Dawson, to Alaska, under U. S. A. Board, and Miss Cornelia Morgan, to China, under the China Inland Mission. Upper Missouri —1893. In May, 1893, a preliminary meeting was called to con¬ vene in Central Church, Kansas City, to make plans, draw up a constitution and elect officers for a permanent organiza¬ tion. This meeting adjourned to meet October 19th, 1893, in Central Church, when Upper Missouri Union was organized with five societies as charter members. .Since that time the Union has increased to nineteen societies. Within the bounds of this Presbytery are two cities with large churches, containing many women of culture and initia¬ tion, which has strengthened greatly this splendid work for the Master. With such women in Central Church, Kansas City, as Miss Jennie Hanna, Mrs. S. M. Neel, Mrs. Wins- borough, Mrs. Geo. English and other choice spirits, potent work has been accomplished. Mrs. S. M. Neel, the wife of the pastor of Central Church, was the daughter of a missionary, Dr. John B. Adger, and brought rare gifts of character and training to the missionary work of that Church. To her be¬ longs the honor or discerning the capability and undeveloped talents of our efficient Superintendent, Mrs. Winsborough, and of having given her the first active work, that of Secretary of Literature, which was to develop it to such great significance. Mrs. Winsborough, the granddaughter of a pioneer Home Mis¬ sionary of the West, and a daughter of the Manse, was one of the leaders in the organization of the work among the Italians in Kansas City, Missouri, undertaken by Central Church which today is bearing such rich fruits, and also of the Mission to Slavs in Kansas City, Kansas, now under the Woman’s Board of the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A. The First Church, St. Joseph, has the oldest Missionary Society in the Presbytery, organized in 1868, and from this Church has gone out to distant lands, four ambassadors of 232 PIONEER WOMEN the cross—Miss Annie Dysart, to Mexico; Miss Sadie Buck- land, Miss Julia Martin, and Mrs. Julia Dysart Bell to Korea. It was a day never to be forgotten when the King’s Daugh¬ ters of this church, of whom the last three young ladies were members, entertained that Godly missionary physician, Dr. Wylie Forsythe, at luncheon. After a simple prayer of thanks, he put before them with burning eagerness the contrast between their condition and that of their sisters in Korea, and, glancing around upon their bright eager faces, he asked, “Who is willing to go to Korea in loving service for the Lord?” A moment of tense silence, and one young lady said: “I will go.” Another said: “I can’t go, but will give to her support.” Another! and another! until three choice young women, coming under the influence of Dr. Forsythe’s consuming passion for souls, had given themselves, and others in the Church had pledged their support. One of the outstanding Congregational Home Mission Endeavors of First Church was the “Mothers’ Meetings,” at Riverside. Every week, some of the elect women went out tc this little mission church among the poor, and taught the women how to sew and care for their children, giving them also instruction in the Bible. Mrs. Bettie Pindell, for years a member of First Church and also one of the charter members of Second Church, St. Joseph, was a woman of varied gifts, of wealth, culture, deep piety, but pre-eminently a woman of prayer. She was closely identified with the work of Upper Missouri Union, and was chairman of the first committee appointed to draw up resolu¬ tions looking to the organization of Missouri Synodical. The women of this Union gave liberally to the support of the School of the Ozarks, which was established by the Synod of Missouri, for the mountain youths in the southwestern part of the State. Besides the young women who went out to foreign fields from First Church, St. Joseph, Miss Meta Biggar went from MISSOURI 233 Central Church, Kansas City, Mrs. Emily Cordell McCallie, from Eastminster, Kansas City, and Miss Lulu Frances, from Hyde Park, St. Joseph, under the U. ,S. A. Board. St. Louis Union, 1893. At the same time the organization of Upper Missouri Union was taking place in May, 1893, some Godly women of St. Louis Presbytery, with the endorsement of their pastors and Presbytery, met at Grand Ave., Presbyterian Church (West¬ minster), St. Louis, and brought into existence “The Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Union of St. Louis Presbytery.” Mrs. M. G. Gorin, of St. Louis, was elected first President, and this Union has been unique in that it has always held two meetings each year: its annual business meeting in April, when reports are read, business transacted, and plans laid out for the next year’s work; and in October, a praise, or entirely in¬ spirational meeting. Mr. Thomas McPheeters had, for a long time, been Super¬ intendent of a Sunday-school for colored people in Bethany Church, St. Louis, which resulted in an Industrial School be¬ ing started by Central and Grand Ave. Churches. The women from the two churches took charge of the work. Classes were taught, including religious instruction, and sewing lessons. The Bible and Shorter Catechism were the main text-books. In 1898 a Missionary Society was organized among them and admitted into Llnion. This is the only record of such work in the Synod of Missouri. Palmyra Union —1893. Rev. J. E. Latham, Pastor of South Fork Church, Santa Fe, took the initiative, and asked that representatives be sent from all the Woman’s Societies to meet in conjunction with Presbytery, September, 1893, in order to organize these socie¬ ties into a missionary Union. There was ready response and the “Woman’s Foreign Missionary Union of Palmyra Presbytery” 234 PIONEER WOMEN was organized, with Mrs. L. O. Thompson, of Monroe Citv, as first President. They adopted the Constitution and By- Laws of Lafayette Union, and it worked for years for Foreign Missions alone; seeing that a “certain per cent of the gifts of each Society was given to Foreign Missions.” Rev. Mr. Latham was called the “Father of the Union” and Mrs. Latham was a valued assistant. Mrs. West was the “Leading woman of the Union” and when she moved out of the Presbytery, she “cast her mantle” upon the shoulders of Mrs. F. W. Lane, of Palmyra, who served most capably and untiringly for three years as Vice-president, and twenty-two years as Secretary, without being absent, tardy, or leaving before the close of any session! The growth of the Union was discouraging, and in 1902 they felt they were losing ground—the “ubiquitous aid society” clogged their progress. They appealed to Presbytery for help, urging the ministers to uphold them by preaching Foreign Mission sermons. After uniting with Presbytery in the support of two foreign workers, their interest and gifts more than dou¬ bled in three years and a systematic study of missions began. A new era dawned in 1906, when Rev. J. O. Reavis, a son of the Presbytery, and Dr. Wylie Forsythe, brought to them burn¬ ing messages of the needs of the “Regions Beyond,” and soon they were uniting themselves in a stronger bond to these lands vdien Miss Mada McCutchan and her brothers, Mr. Hugh Mc- Cutchan and Rev. J. P. McCutchan, and wife, gave themselves for China, and Mrs. Russie Anderson Newton went out under the U. S. A. Board. Palmyra Church is not only the oldest church in this Pres¬ bytery, being organized in 1831, by Dr. David Nelson, but has the oldest missionary society, organized in 1879, with Mrs Fannie Armstrong as President—“A most beautiful, conse crated Christian character.” In the early sixties, an aid societv was formed, composed of Godly women of old Virginia and Kentucky stock—Mrs. Fannie Anderson, Mrs. J. W. Pryor. MISSOURI 235 Mrs. W. J. Jackson, Mrs. W. A. Payne, Mrs. H. H. WinchelF M rs. G. W. Lane, and many others. They gave wonderful fairs and entertainments, contributing beautiful handwork. There has been splendid advance along the lines of Christian giving and stewardship since that day, but what about Christian living? The family altar was the rule in Palmyra homes and Sabbath desecration almost unknown! Missouri Union —1895. It was “after months of discussion, consideration and prayer” that the “Woman's Missionary Union of Missouri Presbytery” was organized. In May, 1895, Mexico Church invited the other societies to meet with them to organize. Four societies .sent delegates, and after a stirring address from Dr. W. R. Dobyns, of Marshall, they effected an organization with the gifted Mrs. Anne Lacy Hoge Marquess, as President. Four other societies were added to this band of workers, but with all their efforts, they felt they accomplished very little in the formative years, their only definite work being the support of a cot in a Korean Flospital. But glance at their service flag and see how many of their fair young women have enlisted as missionaries: Misses Flor¬ ence and Annie Patton, Mattie Tate, Carrie Cunningham. Winona Evans, Lillian Curd, Mrs. Matsie Curd Ostrom, and four men, Rev. Mr. Tate and Prof. C. C. Knight, Rev H. C. Ostrom, Rev. O. F. Yates. No character stands out more vividly in the Union than Mrs. Anne Lacy Hoge Marquess, who “was born in Virginia, in a Godly, cultivated home, reared amidst the vigorous atmos¬ phere of Calvinism, surrounded by brilliant intellectual society” and when married to Prof. W. H. Marquess, was only trans¬ planted into a like atmosphere. ,She was a student of the Bible and as the years went by, became more filled with its knowledge and spirit. “Her prayers and talks on missions were won¬ derful and soul-uplifting.” To the last, she was most heroic 236 PIONEER WOMEN and patient in endurancel. On h|er sick bed her interest in missions did not languish and many were the prayers that went up from her room for that great cause. Her life added lustre to the escutcheon of the noble family to which she belonged. She was a sister of that persuasive pulpit orator, Rev. Moses Drury Hoge, D. D., and mother of the Rev. Wm. II. Marquess, D. D., one of the finest Bible teachers the South¬ ern Church has produced. The Woman’s Missionary Society of Fulton Church has priority in organization, in 1880. It had, in conjunction with the Society, a Prayer Band, some of whom were powerful in prayer—the sainted Mrs. Amanda Patton, Mrs. Philip Buny and Mrs. Guthrie were notable examples. Mrs. Julia McNair Wright, the gifted author, was an able and consecrated mem¬ ber of this society for some years, and Mrs. J. R. Henderson was, for seven years, the efficient President of the Woman’s Union. Potosi Union —1895. The Presbytery of Potosi did not wish their women, de¬ scendants of those noble women who had labored for the first establishment of Presbyterianism West of the Mississippi River, to lag behind the other women of the State in effective work in the Lord’s Kingdom, so they asked the Woman’s Societies to send delegates to Farmington in 1895, to organize the Woman’s Missionary Union of Potosi. Six societies became charter members of this organization, with Mrs. S. A. McElroy, President. Their first resolve “was to contribute to foreign missionaries who may go out from this Presbytery.” At their fourth annual meeting, Mrs. G. W. Harlan was elected Presi¬ dent, which office she held for fourteen years, being “the heart, mind and soul of the Union.” Here began a ministry of lov¬ ing, patient, self-effacing service, in which her husband as¬ sisted hep that cannot be reckoned, The Union bears testi- Missouri 2 31 raony that its history is inseparably bound up with the memory of these two Christian leaders. Those first years were years of struggle, with so few attend¬ ing, lack of helps for programs, with many like trials, but when some of the country societies united, they proved veritable bul¬ warks and through the coming years, the zeal of the country women is one of the outstanding features of this history. They attended regularly, gave most excellent contributions to the pro¬ grams, and were faithful to all duties assigned. From this Presbyterial have gone Misses Addie and Gertrude Sloan, to labor in China, and Miss Sala Evans, to Japan, and Mrs. Plummer Smith, to Africa. ORGANIZATION OF MISSOURI SYNODICAL—1910. The farsighted leaders in the organization of Woman’s Work had not only as their goal the organization of Women’s Societies into Presbyterial Unions, and these unions into Synodi- cals—this was just the foundation for a larger fuller work. At the Presbyterial Union of Upper Missouri in Kansas City, October, 1909, the formation of a Synodical was urged and the reason given for hastening the State Organization was “the larger union of all Synodicals into one body, but so weak was the faith of some, it was advised that no mention of a general body be made publicly if we wished to succeed.” There were, at this time, only three Synodical Unions in the Southern Church. St. Louis Presbyterial Union had suggested a Synodi¬ cal Union in Missouri as early as 1894, and Potosi, in 1905, had taken steps towards generating interest, so when Upper Missouri Presbyterial Union invited the other five Presbyterial Unions to meet with her in Central Church, Kansas City, March 1910, for the organizations of Missouri Synodical, all Unions sent delegates and an organization was effected, with Mrs. Kerr, of Fulton, as President. The first annual meeting after organi¬ zation, was held in St. Louis, in the Spring of 1911, at which time Mrs. Kerr, leaving the State, Mrs. D. A. McMillan was 238 PIONEER WOMEN elected President and into her able and efficient hands fell the real task of systematizing and leading out the Presbyterial Unions into the new and enlarged field of labor. She brought a fine business acumen, gracious tact and able leadership tc her work, and most successfully guided the Synodical through the stages of criticism and opposition, firmly establishing its broader and ever expanding work. Into this service, she threw her whole soul, with her accustomed energy and determination and did a splendid consrtuctive work during her three years as President. Still a larger task was awaiting her, for as President of Missouri Synodical it was her privilege to unite with Miss Hanna and Mrs. Winsborough in pushing to final success the organization of the Woman’s Auxiliary, of which body she has been the most faithful and competent treasurer since 1913. Missouri Synodical has always held inspirational meet¬ ings in connection with its business meetings and conferences and by well arranged home mission and other comparative contests, has done much to inspire righteous rivalry, which has developed the work of the Presbyterials along many lines. It has always been an ardent supporter of plans mapped out by the Woman’s Auxiliary, and has striven nobly to put them into effect throughout the Presbyterials. y-- Organization of the Woman's Auxiliary . The story of the building of the Woman’s Auxiliary, that revolutionary movement which was to completely transform and broaden the vision and service of Southern Presbyterian women, and to quicken and enlarge the missionary aims and activities of the Church, is to a great extent, an integral part of Mis¬ souri’s history. (To the Missouri Synodical and its splendid leadership, is tendered the honor and gratitude of all the Auxili¬ aries—Synodical, Presbyterial, and Local, throughout our As¬ sembly. Editors.) In the calling out into service of Miss Jennie Hanna and MISSOURI 239 Mrs. W. C. Winsborough and Mrs..D. A. McMillan, is demon¬ strated how a holy, discerning mind may, by a word fitly spoken set in motion marvelous powers that will gain momentum and strength as the days go by, to accomplish wonderful results in the King’s business. Mrs. H. B. Boude, whose heart yearned over the salvation of a lost world, when she proposed to a young Sunday-school teacher in her husband’s church, to organize her Sunday- school class of girls into a Mission Band, touched all uncon* sciously, a chord in Miss Jennie Hanna’s heart, which be¬ came vibrant with life and a desire for something worth while to engage the love and energies of the women of her be¬ loved Church, and which was never silenced, until she had the blessed privilege of seeing fulfilled the desire of a life time— the organization of the Woman’s Auxiliary. When Mrs. S. M. Neel discerned in Mrs. Winsborough marvelous possibilities, and insisted that she accept some specific work in the Missionary Society of the Central Church she was used of God to open up the way for preparing this young woman for the great work God, in his plans, had await¬ ing her capable and all comprehensive leadership. When Mrs. McMillan, became the President of the Synodi¬ cal of Missouri and began the visitation of the Presbyterial Unions, she was entertained in the home of a cultured Chris¬ tian woman, where she received a fuller conception of devotion and service for her Master and went forth clothed anew with the Spirit’s power to render a noble service. NORTH CAROLINA 241 NORTH CAROLINA 242 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. Elizabeth McRae, North Carolina. A true pioneer in Woman’s organized work. NORTH CAROLINA 243 NORTH CAROLINA I. THE PIONEERS. The creating of the office of Historian in our Woman’s Auxiliary has promoted research and has brought about a friendly rivalry in claims of ancient church-lineage. The Presbyterial Historians of North Carolina have liked liberty in research as far back as 1770—the year in which the first Presbytery of the Syond of North Carolina was erected. Before that year, the entire territory of the State was embraced in the Presbytery of Hanover, formed in 1755 by the Synod of New York. The first meeting of the Synod of North Carolina was held in 1813.. “It was composed of the three Presbyteries of Orange, Concord and Fayetteville, and its territory embraced all of North Carolina, and small portions of South Carolina, and Virginia. The Presbytery of Concord was largest in membership, Orange the largest in area, stretching from the Yadkin River to the Atlantic Ocean. The three Presbyteries in whole consisted at this time of thirty-one ministers, eighty- five churches and about four thousand communicants. For a long time after the organization of the Synod, the Presbyterian Church in North Carolina seems to have been in large measure at ease in Zion, and yet some noble advances were made.”— (Dr. D. I. Craig.) WILMINGTON. From the records of the Historian of Wilmington Pres¬ byterial, we learn that the earliest Presbyterian colony in the State was composed of Scotch-Irish emigrants from Ulster, who, in 1736, settled upon a grant of land in Duplin County, forming the congregation of Goshen Grove, near the site of the town of Kenansville. 244 PIONEER WOMEN A colony of Welsh emigrants settled about the same time in New Hanover County, and to these colonists the Rev. Hugh McAden began to preach in 1755. His journal, still preserved, tells of his missionary tour in 1756; of his preaching in Wilmington, and to the people of the Welch Tract; of his being installed pastor of the Duplin and New Hanover con¬ gregations in 1759; and of presenting his credentials at a meet¬ ing of New Hanover Presbytery at Rockfish, which would indi¬ cate an organization at this point—organized according to tradition in 1756. Had records been preserved, it would be interesting to tell in a history of woman’s work in this Prsebytery, the number of women who were charter members of these first churches, ministered to by Mr. McAden. We know from given records that there was a “Woman’s Auxiliary” even though it may have counted but one woman on its roll; for we read that Mr. McAden married Miss Scott, of Lunenburg County, Virginia, and that she came with him, making the long journey on horse¬ back, through many miles of wild forest infested with hostile Indians; and for love’s sweet sake took up her abode in a land that she knew not of. And though no record of her life and her deeds has come down to us, save the significant one that she bore and reared a family of seven children, she must have been of heroic soul and missionary heart. So we may justly claim Mrs. Hugh McAden as The Pioneer representative of Woman’s Work in this Presbytery. Rockfish Female Missionary Society. 1817. The earliest attempt to organize Woman’s Work in this Presbytery was in the old Rockfish congregation. Happily the minutes of this organization have been preserved, and show that the “Rockfish Female Missionary Society was in existence as early as 1817, with the names of thirty members on its roll. NORTH CAROLINA 245 They were accustomed to meet in the spring and in the fall. ^ . The contributions for the first year were: “To the North Carolina Missionary Society_$17.50 “To the purchase of religious tracts for society-- 6.50” So we see that this early Society carried the idea of Mis¬ sionary Education along with giving. The following quotations are from the old Record Book of the Rockfish Female Missionary .Society, 1818: Officers of the Rockfish Female Missionary Society, 1818: Mary Boney _ President. Mary Teachey _ Vice-President. Dorothea Boney _ Treasurer. ‘Eliza Tate _ Secretary. “The Treasurer of the Rockfish Female Society reported that the members had paid into the treasury, seventeen dollars and fifty cents, to be sent to the Presbytery of Fayetteville, or to the Treasurer of the North Carolina Missionary Society by me. (Signed) Robt. Tate. This the 23rd dav of March, 1818.” “Fayetteville, October 2, 1818. “Received of the Rev. Robt. Tate the sum of $19.00, a donation from the Rockfish Female Missionary Society. W. McPheeters, Treasurer of North Carolina Missionary Society.” The inference is that since a collection of $17.50 and of $6.50 was reported March 23rd, 1818, and of $19.00 October 2, 1818, the society must have been organized about the middle of the year 1817. Mrs. McDonald, FBstorian of Fayetteville Presbyterial, says: “The minutes of Fayetteville Presbytery from 1816 to 1820, record each year the contribution of certain sums from 246 PIONEER WOMEN the women of the Presbyterian Church. These same records name the Rockfish Female Missionary Society, whch was a part of Fayetteville Presbytery at that time. It is a matter of interest that the Rev. Robert Tate wrote the hymn, “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night,” while pastor at Rockfish. From the present information the Rockfish Female Mis¬ sionary Society is the oldest Woman’s Missionary Society in the Southern Assembly. There were Educational and Bible Societies of about the same date in several other States, but in most instances they were inter-denominational in membership. The Rockfish organization seems to have been Presbyterian from its very beginning and to have always recognized the great missionary object of the Church. * CONCORD. The Female Tract Society of Poplar Tent Church, 1817. The first record of an organization of women for Chris¬ tian work in Concord Presbytery is found in the minutes of “The Ladies’ Benevolent Society,” of Poplar Tent Church, one of the oldest churches in our Synod, founded about 1765. In 1817, Mrs. John Robinson, wife of the pastor of Poplar Tent Church, called the women of her husband’s congrega- tion together and organized “The Female Tract Society” for the distribution of tracts and other Christian literature. Two years later, 1819, hoping to enlarge its sphere of usefulness and influence, Mrs. Robinson re-organized it, calling it “The Female Benevolent Society,” which name it still retains. They met annually, on the Saturday before the Communion in May; and they contributed both to Home and Foreign Missions. There were no records until May, 1859, when reference is made to both the organization and re-organization, forty vears before; and relates that when tracts were received each member had the privilege of disposing of an equal share of one-half the whole quantity, while the remainder was disposed NORTH CAROLINA 247 of by a vote of the Society. The Constitution of this Society is given, and falls little short of our modern documents of the sort. Between the years 1817-1859, these women had con¬ tributed $950.00 to the Church’s work. FAYETTEVILLE. Fayetteville Church, 1816-1820. The minutes of Fayetteville Presbytery for the years 1816- 1820 record ten dollars each year received for Foreign Mis¬ sions from “some females of the Church of Fayetteville.” These “females” must have had an organization of their own, or the money contributed by them would naturally have gone through the regular channels of the church, instead of being ‘reported independently. Also, they would hardly have reported their money in one lump sum each year unless banded together in some organization. That these women were aggressive workers is shown by the fact that in 1824, there was a very live Young Ladies’ Society, and in 1837, an equally live Juvenile Society in this Church. Young ladies and juveniles of that day hardly organ¬ ized themselves for mission work! The Sessional Record Book of the Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville has this record for March 29th, 1828: “A society of young ladies has purchased and presented to our Church for sacramental uses, the following vessels of silver plate,” etc. This silver is still in use in the Fayette¬ ville Church. Three pieces bear this inscription: “Presented by a society of young ladies to the Presbytc rian Church of Fayetteville, September 20th, 1824.” The members of the Young Ladies’ Missionary Societ) who purchased the Communion silver were Misses Eliza Nott, Eliza Potter, Mary Ann Potter, Eliza Hawley, Annie McIntyre and Mary Salmon. That this young ladies’ society was a missionary society is shown by the fact that there is a refer- 248 PIONEER WOMEN ence in the Sessional Record Book of 1831 to “The Young Ladies’ Missionary Society.” The inscription on the monument of their pastor, Rev. James Douglas, in the old Cross Creek cemetery—“Erected by the Female Juvenile Society of Fayetteville Presbyterian Church in 1837” seems to prove that this church had also the first children’s Missionary Society. ORANGE. The Female Benevolent Society of Alamance Church —1823. The Alamance Church dates back one hundred and sixty years, when a gift of land was made to the congregation by William Cusach, one of the first elders, on which to build the church. It was then part of the primeval forest. On an ap¬ pointed day, a company of men gathered with axes to clear a space and to begin the building of their church. With bared heads they knelt under a great tree and prayed the Divine blessing upon their enterprise—then dealt the strokes that fur¬ nished them a church in the wilderness. Under the influence of the two great divines, Dr. David Caldwell and Dr. Eli Caruthers, whose ministry to this church covered a period of a hundred years, “The Female Benevolent Society” was organized. Mrs. William Woodburn, President, and Mrs. Joseph Rankin, Treasurer, were both grandmothers of Dr. D. C. Rankin—that great moving spirit in Foreign Missions in former days. Mrs. Annie Wiley, Secretary, was mother of the beloved Dr. Calvin H. Wiley, well-remembered in both Church and State. “For several years the women met monthly, in connection with a Ladies’ Concert of Prayer, and later, annually. They came great distances over rough roads, some on horseback, bringing their children, and held their meeting in a cold church. They read the Missionary Herald, held a concert of prayer, and discussed such forms of church work as were in order. “This Society lived more than twenty years, made over NORTH CAROLINA 249 five hundred dollars by their own labor (equivalent to many times that sum now); aided the Eliot Mission among the Indians; educated an Indian boy, whom they named David Caldwell; paid for a life-membership in the American Tract Society for Dr. Caruthers; helped to educate candidates for the ministry; bought books for a Sabbath School library.”—- (Taken from “History of Alamance ChurchDr. E. C. Mur¬ ray.) A companion record is that of the First Church of Greens¬ boro, which was organized in 1824, with twelve members— nine of whom were women, six of them white, three negroes. Its first woman’s organization was called “The Woman’s Benevolent Society,” and was formed in 1830, with twenty- two members. The constitution provided for a Directress, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a membership of those subscribing to the constitution, and paying not less than fifty cents an¬ nually. The first officers chosen were: Mrs. Frances Paisley, Directress, Mrs. Letitia Humphreys, Second Directress; Mrs. Eliza Morehead, Treasurer; Mrs. Parthenia Dick, Secretary. The fact that these two oldest societies in the Presby¬ tery, Alamance and Greensboro, are in the same county, only six miles apart, speaks volumes for the spirituality and Pres¬ byterianism of the womanhood of that section. The building of the church in Greensboro was largely due to the zeal of the women. Another noteworthy fact is that many members of this Society of long ago are today represented in the active work of the 'Greensboro church by their descendants—after almost a hundred years. ALBEMARLE. New Bern Church, 1822. Through the hundred years preceding the erection of Albemarle Presbytery, churches were founded here and there in the territory it now covers, whose records, no doubt, were in¬ separably bound up with the hearts and lives of godly women. 250 PIONEER WOMEN During the year 1755, New Bern was visited by the Rev. Hugh McAden, whose influence w’as potent throughout all sections so favored, as historical records show. New Bern, Edenton, and Wilmington w T ere at this time, regular stopping places for ministers sent out by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. It w 7 as not until 1817 that the first record ap¬ pears of the formal organization of the church. This took place in the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Minor, “the Lydia of the New Bern Church,” as she has been called— who, with Mrs. Robert Hunt, had long before dedicated their “grace of hospitality” to the Lord. Of the first ten members, eight were women: Mrs. Eunice Hunt, daughter of President Jonathan Edwards, of Princeton College; Mrs. Lydia Stewart, Mrs. Lucretia Hollister Bell, Mrs. Jane Garney, Mrs. Frances Devereaux, Mrs. Mary Dew^ey, Mrs. Louise Morning and Mrs. John Stanley (colored). It seems that the church of New Bern is indebted to its colored member, Catherine Stanley, for the correct date of the dedication of the church, from her diary, wdiich has been pre¬ served: “Jan. 6, 1822. Sabbath evening. Today the Presby¬ terian church was dedicated to the worship of God. A very interesting discourse, delivered by the Reverend Mr. Hatch. Again I have been blessed with the privilege of hearing the Word of God faithfully preached.” The Centennial celebration of the founding of the New Bern Church was observed January 6, 1922; and in a sketch of this historic church presented at the time, mention is made of the women’s untiring assistance in every w 7 ay, especially in the raising of funds w T hen the church was in building. “In fact, one lady w 7 as so active that Dr. Hawses often spoke of it as ‘Mrs. Minor’s Church.’ ” 2. FROM THE THIRTIES TO THE SIXTIES. One of the earliest organizations of the period following NORTH CAROLINA 251 the pioneering of 1817—1830 was in the church of Concord, in Concord Presbytery. In 1845, the “Benevolent Society” was formed for the help of the church—Mrs. R. M. Allison, President. Its purpose was purely local, and it is still doing its good work. Its deeds of mercy would fill a book. In old age, it is still bearing fruit. To the Sugar Creek Church belongs the honor of having the oldest Missionary Society in Mecklenburg Presbytery. This Society was organized in 1847, by Miss J. G. Chamberlain, a talented and consecrated young woman who taught school in the congregation. The Constitution in her beautiful, legible handwriting is treasured by the Society. She later married the pastor of the church, Rev. R. H. Lafferty. It is recorded of the Asheboro Church (Orange Presby¬ tery), organized in 1850, that in the following year, a “Do¬ mestic Missionary Society” was in existence, whose members were: Mrs. Jonathan Worth, Mrs. Simeon Colton, Miss Louisa Worth and Mrs. George McNeill. No record is available, giving the date when the Society of the First Church of Charlotte (Mecklenburg Presbytery), was formed. But we feel warranted in saying that it began its mission of helpfulness in the early fifties. To verify this statement, an inscription is to be found on the fly-leaf of the pulpit Bible containing these words: “Presented to the Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, by the Female Sewing Society, June, 1853.” This organization was afterward known as the Aid and Orphanage Society. The Salisbury Church Society (Concord Presbytery), was formed in 1859, with Mrs. Elizabeth Beall Davis as President. They did local work, in the jail and among immoral women; distributed tracts and Bibles, and visited and helped the poor in the community. Organization existing prior to the formation of our South¬ ern Church is found in Sardis Church, 1848, and Pittsboro, 252 PIONEER WOMEN 1860 (Fayetteville Presbytery). Doubtless there are many others in all our Presbyteries, if information could be gained by any means. But we may safely assert that Christian ser¬ vice of the heart and hand of our Presbyterian womanhood, unorganized, was going on all through the years, in all con¬ gregations. The church in New Bern is a case in point—no organized woman’s work being recorded there before the eighties. Ox¬ ford, another old church of Orange, nearly a hundred and twenty-five years old, had none until the seventies. Steel Creek, in Mecklenburg, with a history of more than a hundred and sixty years, had no woman’s society prior to 1880, at earliest, nor any account of special work done by women. “All worked together, men and women, under one organization—THE CHURCH!” says the record. 3. FROM THE SIXTIES TO THE NINETIES. The fact that the history of societies organized in this period is similar in general outline, makes details unnecessary even if space allowed. In all instances, probably, women of earnest, pious, prac¬ tical executive types felt the God-given impulse to come to¬ gether in combined effort to help the needs at ’hand and afar off. Some form of organization followed, with a more or less devotional atmosphere to the meetings which were partly in¬ formational, and partly industrial, but which fostered much sacrificial giving of self and time and money. For many years, the Benevolent Societies measured the scope of woman’s work. During the seventies and eighties, in the general struggle for rehabilitation of everything in our South, when old congregations were depleted in numbers and finances, and the organization of a new church meant years of struggle, Aid Societies to promote the material welfare ot the congregations wellnigh bounded the horizon of our women. The systematic administration of the Benevolent Funds of the NORTH CAROLINA 253 . Church had not been developed; the needs were met by monthly contributions from the churches, with statistical notice in the church papers. Up to the nineties, Woman’s Work for Foreign Missions was regarded as a separate phase of Christian effort, requiring a separate society, and ofttimes a different personnel in the same congregation. A certain rivalry of claims existed between the “Ladies Aid” and the “Foreign Missionary” societies. And as the claims of the Home-land began to press upon the con¬ science of the Church, Woman’s Work assumed more complex conditions, as she sought to cope with her duty and her oppor¬ tunity. From the first Society on, however, faith, prayer, sacrifice, energy, enterprise, characterized the majority of Christian women engaged in the work. These not only served their day and generation, but by precept and example raised up the later generation who have brought the Woman’s Auxiliary into exist¬ ence. The above characterization must suffice for a number of organizations reported for this sketch. A few notes on outstanding societies, work, workers, and results must be allowed on these pages, however, as matters of history—not with partiality, nor by way of comparison. Of the Durham Church (Orange), of early days, the only record extant says: “The women of the congregation have done efficient work from the beginning (1871), in many ways, largely through an Aid Association formed during the second year of the church, and has continued thirty-five years.” The splendidly organized Auxiliary of today—studying, praying, giving, living, training, serving, is the logical outcome of the perseverance of those heroines of the faith of fifty years ago. Mention has already been made of the historic Woman’s Society of Alamance Church (Orange), in its pioneer days. The original organization was suspended for a time, dur¬ ing the period of the Civil War, but was re-organized in 1873 254 PIONEER WOMEN by Mrs. Tidball, wife of the pastor of the church. Their daughter, Miss Lily Tidball, went to the foreign field in 1880, and two sons entered the ministry. It is of striking interest that more than thirty ministers of the gospel have gone out from this church, and many statesmen of high honor, a living testimony to the godly women who reared them. The records of several churches note an awakening to the claims of Foreign Missions, due to a visit from Dr. M. H. Houston, home from China, about 1875. At the earnest desire of Dr. Jacob Henry Smith, pastor of the First Church of Greensboro (Orange), the Woman’s Society was re-organized to include and emphasize Foreign Missions, following Dr. Houston’s visit, and was named for his daughter, “Evelyn Houston.” This name gave place a few years later to the “Woman’s Missionary and Aid Society,” which in turn sep¬ arated Foreign and Home interests into two groups in 1897. Through the years, each society greatly enlarged its member¬ ship' and scope, and became the mother of many organizations, senior and junior. This church could say with just pride that she had a missionary society for all ages; and the trained work¬ ers of today in all departments, are largely the product of this wisdom of the earlier generation. In 1875, the first Society of Foreign Missions was organ¬ ized by the women of the First and Second churches of Char¬ lotte (Mecklenburg), jointly, who worked together with great cordiality for twelve years, separating only to secure greater efficiency. When organized, this society enrolled thirty members, with Mrs. Rufus Johnson as President. After the separation, three Foreign Missionary Societies were organized in the First Church for the older and the younger women, and for the young girls,—all now united in the Woman’s Auxiliary, doing a great work. The women of the Second Church, Charlotte, organized after separation from the original Society, in 1887, with one NORTH CAROLINA 255 hundred and twenty-eight members; Mrs. Adelaid Brew, Presi¬ dent. Several years later the Pastor’s Aid and Home Mission¬ ary Society, the Young Woman’s Society, the Business Woman’s Society and an organization for girls, were formed. These are all united today in the Woman’s Auxiliary. The Foreign Missionary Society of Statesville church (Con¬ cord), was organized in 1875, by Dr. M. H. Houston. There were no officers; meetings were informal; members pledged fifty cents a month to Foreign Missions. Some years later, a Home Missionary Society was organized by Mrs. Elizabeth MacRae. • ‘J; |' .1; j An outstanding figure in the early days of the Statesville Foreign Missionary Society was Miss Margaret Mitchell—“the life of this Society until her death in 1905. A woman of master * intellect, withal as simple and gentle as a child. A love for spreading the gospel dominated her life. At her death, she gave most of her worldly goods to the cause, while her influ¬ ence as a teacher and friend will redound through the ages.” The First Church of Raleigh (Albemarle), was organized away back in 1806; but her records show no woman’s organ¬ ized work before 1875, when a Foreign Missionary Society of twenty-five members was formed. An organization for young women, called the Peace Institute Society, and one for chil¬ dren, called “The Busy Bee Band,” were formed in 1877. Old records refer to a certain work done by an Aid Society, but no account of its organization is found. In 1904, when the various organizations in the church had multiplied, all were merged into one general body known as “The Ladies’ Society for Christian Work, of the First Pres¬ byterian Church of Raleigh and divided into three depart merits—Foreign, Home and Local. We would naturally expect to find a record of early or¬ ganization in Rocky River Church (Concord), which was founded in 1755—the earliest church west of the Catawba. But its first society, “Rocky River Ladies’ Christian Associa- 256 PIONEER WOMEN i tion,” was formed in 1878. Its worthy aims are thus set forth: “The objects of this Society shall be: to elicit and promote the interest of the ladies of the congregation in church work: to afford an appropriate channel through which the individual efforts of females may be properly exercised; and to do what we can to promote the spread of the Gospel into all the world. “Any female within the bounds of Rocky River congrega¬ tion may become a member of this society by paying an initia¬ tion fee of twenty-five cents. Gentlemen of said congregation may become honorary members by a unanimous vote of the regular members, and by paying an initiation fee of one dollar.” The earliest record of a woman’s organization in Kings Mountain Presbytery was the Ladies’ Aid and Missionary Society of Long Creek church, formed in 1877, with fifty- eight charter members. About the same year, Mrs. J. J. Ken¬ nedy gathered the women of Olney together and organized them, and after a few years Olney organized Gastonia. To¬ day this daughter of Olney has grown until she numbers two hundred members—the largest Auxiliary in the Presbyterial. Steel Creek (Mecklenburg), first organized a Ladies’ Aid Society in 1880, followed by a Foreign Missionary Society some years later. Through these, the usual Woman’s Work was done, developing into the Woman’s Auxiliary of today. And Steel Creek being the largest church in our Synod, we find here one of the largest and most enthusiastic Auxiliaries. The Young People’s Work is especially noteworthy. The “Ingather¬ ing,” a day when the young people bring in their cotton raised for the service of the Lord, is a red-letter day observed by old and young. The Dorcas Society of Lincolnton (Kings Mountain), formed in 1881, had no regular constitution; but a couple of planks in its platform, as found in certain resolutions in the old Record Book, are well worthy of being builded into sundry platforms of 1922: NORTH CAROLINA 257 “Resolution 1. That members shall pay an extra dime for being absent from meetings, unless excused by request. “Resolution 2. That members shall refrain from any criticism of persons or their dress while at the meetings of the Society.” Concord Church in Iredell County (Concord) : A Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society was organized here by Dr. Du Bose, of China, in 1883. If the output of ministers from this church may be taken as an indication of the godly mothers, sisters and wives of this congregation then we do well in this record of woman’s influence and achievement, to restate from a recent Presbyterian Standard: “Concord Church, during the one hundred and forty-seven years of her life, has given to the world twenty-two ministers and one medical missionary, or approximately one for every six years of her existence.” Shelby Church (Kings Mountain), was founded in 1858, with nine members—three men and six women. For seventeen years they held together—Mrs. E. B. Jennings, a charter mem¬ ber, acting as elder, deacon and Sunday-school superintendent, besides keeping open house for ministers. The first pastor found only five members—all women. To these new members were added in 1877, and officers were elected, greatly helping the ones who had labored so faithfully. Although not an organized society, they were missionaries to those around them, holding Sunday-school in the mill section, and serving wherever needed. The first record of an organized society was in 1886. Pee Dee Church (Mecklenburg), has a record of woman’s work organized twenty-seven years ago, by that indefatigable worker, Mrs. Elizabeth McRae—the Frank Little Foreign Mis¬ sion Society. Rev. Lacy Little went from this church to the foreign field. His mother, Mrs. Frank Little, was the beloved leader of this Society until her death. That wonderful woman whom all our Presbyterials should 258 PIONEER WOMEN delight to honor and to emulate, Mrs. McRae—appears from place to place in these local records of the nineties. She established missionary centers from the mountains to the sea. She is recorded at Asheboro (Orange), as the organizer of a Home Missionary Society in 1897. From that year until 1922, that church was without a pastor, and the continuance of that society through these many years was due to the zeal, courage, and perseverance of the late Mrs. Addie C. McAllister. This organization has developed along modern lines of woman’s work. A record of Winston-Salem Society is purposely placed last, because in connection with it appears an appreciation of two outstanding women, Mrs. Calvin H. Wiley and Miss S. O’H. Dickson. “On March 2nd, 1875, a few ladies of our church met at the home of Rev. ,S. H. Wiley, and were organized as ‘The Female Society of Winston Presbyterian Church’—its object, to raise money for the benefit of the Sabbath School and for Foreign Missions. Mrs. C. H. Wiley was elected President and served seventeen years.” Under her hands, from small beginnings, grew the Senior and Junior Wiley Mission Bands, the D. C. Rankin, the Calvin H. Wiley Missionary Societies. In fact, all the mis- sionary activities which have made the Winston-Salem Church one of the leading missionary churches in the Assembly, are due to the passionate devotion of Mrs. Wiley to this cause. Miss Sallie O’Hara Dickson was closely associated with North Carolina, though she was a native of South Carolina. She was an honored resident of Winston-Salem for many years before her death. The needs and the exceeding promise of the mountain people, among whom she spent the summers of thirty years, made a strong appeal to her, and by her writings she did much to help bring the day of opportunity and gospel privilege to the Highland people. NORTH CAROLINA 259 Being a gentlewoman of the old South, Miss Dickson ever felt a sincere affection and sympathy for the Negro and sought in numberless ways to uplift the race, and to interest others in their behalf. Readers of the Missionary Survey and of our church lit¬ erature miss the familiar “S. O. H.” or simply “O. H.” which this gifted woman modestly signed to her poems, articles, let¬ ters and stories—all written with the one purpose of advancing the kingdom of her Lord. “In the passing from earth to heaven of Miss S. O’H. Dick¬ son . . . the Executive Committee of Home Missions has lost a valued friend and co-laborer. Her sympathy and help were never failing .’’—(Miss Barbara Lambdin, Missionary Survey.) The Church Calendar of Prayer, so familiar and so in¬ valuable now, was Miss Dickson’s idea, the first being merely a card containing subjects of prayer for the week, written and delicately decorated by her artistic hand. She died July 18th, 1916. 4. ORGANIZATION OF PRESBYTERIAL UNIONS. Wilmington. 1888. In the year 1888, Dr. Peyton Hoge, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, and Mrs. B. F. Hall, a member of that church, recognizing with prophetic vision the spirit and latent power for good in the struggling Missionary Societies in the Presbytery, conceived the idea of banding them together in a Union, for mutual inspiration and helpfulness. Pursuant to this vision, a Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society was re-organized in the First Church of Wilmington, in April, 1888, and invitations were issued to all Women’s and Chil¬ dren’s societies in the Presbytery to meet with them to organize a Foreign Missionary Union. Eleven societies from nine churches responded, three of them Children’s Bands. 260 PIONEER WOMEN This organization was effected May 30th, 1888, and Mrs. B. F. Hall was made President. Thus came into being and service, the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Union of Wilming¬ ton—the second Union to be established in our Southern Church. Mrs. B. F. Haig North Carolina. In 1890, the name “Union” was changed to “Presbytery's Committee of Foreign Missionary Societies,” to forestall ad¬ verse action on Unions by opposers; but this proved to be need¬ less. In 1893, Dr. McClure brought official endorsement of the organization from the General Assembly. Among the warm supporters of Woman’s Work through the trying period of uncertainty and criticism during the follow- NORTH CAROLINA 261 ing twelve years, may be mentioned Rev. P. H. Hoge, as a moving spirit; Rev. W. M. Miller, of Wilmington; Rev. Peter McIntyre, Rev. A. D. McClure. The years 1895-1900 were a period of deep discouragement to the faithful President and her co-workers; and one of less faith and courage would doubtless have given up the fight. “The Mother of our Presbyterial,” as Mrs. Hall is still affec¬ tionately called, was much in prayer during those dark days. A certain minister on his way to attend Presbytery, spent the night in Mrs. Hall’s house. Talking over the work with him, Mrs. Hall remarked that there was so little interest on the part of the women, and so much opposition from the men, she was considering the advisability -of disbanding the Union. To this, the minister, being one of those who didn’t favor woman’s work, heartily agreed. Whereupon Mrs. Hall brought a de¬ termined foot down with a resounding thump, and laconicallv exclaimed, “Well, it SHA’N’T!” That “Sha’n’t” made his¬ tory ! The Union meeting of 1900 was a rallying time. At its close Mrs. Hall laid down her office after twelve years of un¬ tiring effort to place the Union on a firm and permanent basis. Mrs. Jackson Johnson, of Winnabow, N. C., was her worthy successor. As early as 1902, the office of Secretary of Young People’s Work was created with Mrs. J. C. Stewart, of Wilmington, in charge. This department of the work has developed steadily until it has become the outstanding contribution of the Union- Presbyterial. In June, 1915, a Young People’s Rally Day was inaugu¬ rated, proving to be so successful that it was adopted through¬ out the Synod of North Carolina, from which the State Con¬ ference for Young People took its origin in 1918. In the year 1902 was also inaugurated the annual Day of Prayer for Missions, Missionaries and Church Work, the Pres- 262 PIONEER WOMEN byterial being divided into districts for this meeting, thus plac¬ ing it within the reach of every church. A MISSIONARY AND A WRITER. Closely associated with her mother, Mrs. Jackson John¬ son, in the formative work of the Wilmington Presbyterial, Miss Lillian Johnson afterwards became the wife of Rev. L. W. Curtis and went with him as a missionary under the Presby¬ terian Board, U. S. A., to Siam. As a result of her life there she wrote “The Laos of North Siam,” which has an introduc¬ tion by Robert E. Speer. The book is descriptive of the coun¬ try and its people and the influence of Christianity. Mrs. Curtis has also contributed freely to the Church papers and to the Missionary Review. Fayetteville. 1889. The minutes of Fayetteville Presbytery in 1880 have this entry: “This report shows that twelve Ladies’ Missionary Societies gave $19.36 more than all the churches in the Pres¬ bytery.” With such a spirit, it is no wonder that the records of Fayetteville Union-Presbyterial show such remarkable de¬ velopment through the years. This was organized in Septem¬ ber, 1889, at the Fayetteville Church, in response to a call for this purpose from two women of the Fayetteville Church, Miss Hannah Chamberlain and Mrs. F. H. Lanneau. The Constitution and By-Laws which were adopted at this meeting, and afterward ratified with some slight changes, were formulated chiefly by Miss Chamberlain. For many years it has been thought that Presbytery refused to sanction the organization or its constitution; but the following extract from the Minutes of Fayetteville Presbytery, prove this to be an error: “Presbytery endorsed the organization of the Ladies’ Mis¬ sionary Union within its bounds, after carefully examining a copy of its Constitution. P. R. Law, Moderator, Sept. 26, 1889.” NORTH CAROLINA 263 This misapprehension arose from the fact that a large minority of the ministers were opposed to the Union. The Con¬ stitution was the one afterwards furnished to Missionary Unions by the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions. This char¬ acteristic request of our lamented Dr. Rankin was made nine years later: “Dear Mrs. McRae: Please send me a copy of your Con¬ stitution. Also, kindly send one to Dr. Green. He is pre¬ paring a report for the Synod of Kentucky in favor of Presby- terial Unions, but there are strong opponents. Can you not write to Dr. Green how harmless, how un-new-woman-like, and how useful your old Scotch Presbyterial Union has been? It will help the cause. I congratulate you on your splendid showing. Cordially, D. C. Rankin.” At the following meeting, Miss Chamberlain was elected Secretary, but before the next, “she was not, for God took her.” The memorial spread on the minutes of that meeting states, “To her consecrated zeal and untiring efforts the Union owes its existence.” MRS. ELIZABETH McRAE. “If Fayetteville Union owes its birth to Miss Chamberlain, it owes its continued existence, its growth and success to the nurture and labors of Mrs. McRae. No history of this Union can be written which is not a history of her toils and achieve¬ ment. “On her election as President she immediately began the systematic visitation of every church and society in the Pres¬ bytery, covering eight counties, nearly all of which were sparsley settled with few railroads. In one period of three years, she made two hundred and eleven visits to congregations. In the year 1895, the year she was seventy years old, she traveled nine hundred miles in private conveyance, visiting fifty-three 264 PIONEER WOMEN churches. By the close of 1896, she had traveled nearly six thousand miles, mostly in an open buggy, through heat and cold, snow and rain. All this in the intervals between teach¬ ing school at home and a mission school in the mountains. .Some years she records having written as many as two hundred and fifty letters. In many of the places visited, she remained several days, making house to house visits ... in some instances, visiting every home in the congregation. She wrestled with conservative preachers and elders, and with women.” Nothing but extracts from Mrs. McRae’s journal can show what her work meant to her—of self-denial, domestic and financial; of weariness and discouragement. We must remem¬ ber that these extracts are from her own private diary, and • that she was sixty-five years old when she began this work: “My words fell on listless ears.” “They seemed sunk in worldliness.” (This church has now several flourishing socie¬ ties, and has furnished many officers.) “Was so completely exhausted by the long ride, I could scarcely stand to speak, but did my best.” “On Wednesday, came to Mr.—’s; a very uncomfortable time until I left.” “Very tired and coughing, and had to walk half a mile to the church in the mud and rain. Met a few ladies and talked to them in great pain and weak¬ ness. Then another half mile in pouring rain, wet clothes and wet feet, but a good night’s rest. A hard run the next day to catch the train, out of breath, heart panting, but the Lord kept me.” “Came with a runaway horse over dreadful roads. Society entirely dead. No hope of revival. Time lost.” “Was twice interrupted in my talk, and had to give it up.” There are records of long journeys, sometimes utterly no result; sometimes no one to meet her; sometimes the meeting not even arranged for; sometimes not a soul present but her¬ self. There are also records of royal welcomes, enthusiastic meetings, consecrated women, and even a “warm fire” and a “nice clean church.” NORTH CAROLINA 265 The hardships have been emphasized in selecting these items, that we may realize what this pioneer work meant to the doer of it. But in truth, there were many more cold shoulders than warm hand-clasps; for this was unconventional work in ultra-conservative churches. Narrow-mindedness had to be overcome among preachers and people, and no woman or man now has to do such work, because she did it so well then that its influence permeated the bounds of the Southern Church. In two years after the organization of the Union, this staid old Scotch Presbytery, whose large minority was opposed to its formation, sent a letter to the Secretary, saying: “The an¬ nual report of your Society was received by the Presbytery with a profound sense of gratitude. The deepening and widening interest awakened by it throughout our bounds was felt to be substantial ground for praise. All hearts were touched by the reported activity of the organization, in having so extended its influence as to put our Presbytery in the lead of all like bodies in the whole Southern Church.” The brethren seem to have grown as fast as the Union! So the victory for the woman’s organized work was won. And the fruit of all this labor was apparent in 1898, when the eight societies of 1888 had increased to sixty-five women’s societies and twenty-nine children’s bands. Besides this work in her own Presbytery she aided in the organization of many Unions in her own and other synods, being sustained . . . by the counsels and prayers of her pastor, Dr. H. G. Hill, and by her wonderful faith in God. She died in Wilmington, April 17th, 1907, in the eighty-third year of her age. Orange. 1898. From Mrs. Elizabeth McRae and Miss S. O’H. Dickson, came the inspiration and perseverance which produced Orange Missionary Union. Mrs. McRae was President of Fayetteville Union, the second to be organized in the Synod; and taking counsel of her, Miss 266 PIONEER WOMEN Dickson, a woman of like spirit, set out as leader of a group of pioneers to get the sanction of Orange Presbytery to their plan and purpose of a Union. Their petition to Presbytery (1898) met much conserva¬ tive opposition. Following a stormy discussion in the morn¬ ing session, three ministers and two elders continued the discus¬ sion at a certain dinner table that day. The leader of the op¬ position was one of the number, and he was a mighty man of valor in Presbytery. As he brought forth his strong arguments the case of the poor women seemed doomed,—to the fears of one of their number who listened in chastened silence. But in the providence of God, Presbytery set aside the opposition that afternoon, and granted permission for the woman’s organi¬ zation to proceed. Five years later, the full-fledged Missionary Union of Orange met in that minister’s own church; and this honored Father in Israel spent hours in a back seat, listening with at¬ tention, if not with enjoyment, to the proceedings—apparently reconciled to the existence, temperament, and growth of the lusty infant he had tried to strangle at birth. On the 28th of April, 1898, representatives of eight of the fifty-six churches of Orange Presbytery met in Winston-Salem at Miss Dickson’s call, to organize a Foreign Missionary Union. Dr. D. C. Rankin, then Secretary of Foreign Missions, presided, and after fervent prayer and an earnest talk on woman’s work in the church, he introduced Mrs. McRae, who proceeded to organize the body, giving wise counsel and encouragement. Of¬ ficers were elected, a Constitution was adopted, and Miss Dickson was made President. From the first, the Union was disparaged and antagonized by the conservative element, both ministers and women. To say that encouragement from pastors in general was feeble, is to state it mildly. In many cases, they were unresponsive be¬ yond belief, and comparatively few co-operated with the Union. Through various means, however, the advantages of con- NORTH CAROLINA 267 ference and co-operation became evident as time went on. Extension was naturally the first work undertaken, and various were the measures used to bring about organization in churches where there was none, and to bring all existing societies into co-operation and fellowship. Recognizing the strategic value of Young People's Work, the Union early placed special em¬ phasis upon it. This was the first department to have a Superintendent—later called Secretary. Through the vears. the Union-Presbyterial has adjusted herself to the systematic promotion of the Causes of the Church, in her constituent societies, keeping pace with the lecommenda- tions of the General Woman's Auxiliary, these later years, as she did with those of the Executive Committees before. Since 1906, she has been "Missionary" instead of "Foreign Mission¬ ary;" and today, truly "auxiliary" to the work of the Church in its entire scope. Albemarle. 1898. On the 23rd of September. 1898, representatives of eight Societies met in Raleigh while Presbytery was in session, and organized the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Union of Albemarle. A strong constitution was adopted. Mrs. \\. S. Primrose was elected President. Mecklenburg. 1904. In 1887 the women of the First and Second Presbyterian Churches of Charlotte, met in the First Church to plan an organization of the societies of Mecklenburg Presbytery, where none existed, and to stimulate those already organized. This was the first step toward a Missionary Union. The next year, all churches in the Presbytery were invited to send delegates to a Woman's Missionary meeting in the Second Church. This meeting was well attended. Many interesting papers were read, important matters were discussed, and plans were made to hold the meeting even* year. But Presbytery did not ap¬ prove of the women's meeting, so these plans failed. 268 PIONEER WOMEN But in 1904, sixteen years afterward, by the persistent efforts of Rev. George Atkinson, Presbytery was persuaded to give its sanction, and the women made another attempt—this time, with fine success, for twenty-seven delegates, representing sixteen churches responded to an invitation sent to all women’s and children’s societies in the Presbytery. Mrs. W. H. Davis was elected President, Mrs. F. D. Osborne, Secretary. Concord. 1906. Concord Missionary Union was organized May 8th, 1906, in Salisbury; representing both Home and Foreign interests in her constituent Societies. Mrs. Minna Penick Reid of Davidson, the first President, served four years. Mrs. W. B. Ramsey succeeded her. The growth and progress of Concord Union-Presbyterial has been in line with that of all our Woman’s Work, through the years. Kings Mountain. 1907. The Woman’s Missionary Union of Kings Mountain en¬ joys the proud distinction of having been organized by a Com¬ mittee appointed by Presbytery for that purpose! “While others (in this Synod, at least) fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas.” Rev. James Thomas, Rev. J. B. Cochran, and Rev. R. C. Anderson, composed this committee. Ten churches and thirteen societies were represented, and entered the Union, and Mrs. D. R. LaFar was elected Presi¬ dent. THE SYNODICAL OF NORTH CAROLINA. The Presbyterials of this Synodical, in order of date of organization, a*re these: Wilmington, 1888. Fayetteville, 1889. Orange, 1898. Albemarle 1898. Mecklenburg, 1904. Con¬ cord, 1906. Kings Mountain, 1907. The plan of an Annual Conference of Union Presidents seemed to spring into being full-fledged, about 1907, being NORTH CAROLINA 269 born of a need. And so well did it serve its purpose for the time being, there is little wonder that those who tried it out controverted the Synodical Union plan at first, feeling that the Conference was sufficient for the need. But it was a formative period, and adventures in Unions had been successful; so by cautious advance, the idea of a Union of all Presbyterial Unions gained favor. One fine after¬ noon at Montreat—August 10th, 1912—a group gathered in the back of the old Auditorium to discuss the advisability of organizing a North Carolina Synodical Union. Representatives were there from all the Presbyterial Unions of the Synod, except Asheville; Mrs. Jackson Johnson and Mrs. W. M. Cumming from Wilmington; Mrs. R. N. Page and Mrs. R. W. Curtis from Fayetteville; Mrs. E. C. Murray from Orange; Mrs. Samuel Watkins from Albemarle; Miss Margaret Rankin from Mecklenburg; Mrs. W. B. Ramsey from Concord; Mrs. L. M. Hull and Mrs. J. C. Thompson from Kings Moun¬ tain. The question of organization was easily disposed of, and favorably; Albemarle, only, asking for time for consideration. The next question was the name. The. issue uppermost at that time was, Svnodical “Union” versus Svnodical “Con- ference,” and this delegation favored the “Conference” idea. At this same hour, in another corner of the Auditorium, the four Executive Secretaries, the Synodical representatives, and Mrs. Winsborough were engaged in another meeting. At this juncture in the North Carolina meeting, a message was sent by this group, imploring the N. C. delegation not to quibble ever “Union” or “Conference,” but to adopt the name “Synod¬ ical.” This was done; though the majority shook their heads over the incompleteness of the term. That evening, in the upper lobby of the Alba Hotel, Dr. Yardell, Synod’s Chairman of Woman’s work, met with this group and gave valuable aid in formulating the Constitution, which was adopted after careful consideration. Wilmington 270 PIONEER WOMEN being the Senior Presbyterial of the Synod, a President was elected from her constituency—Mrs. Jackson Johnson, of Winnabow. A gavel now in use in the Synodical was presented by Mrs. W. B. Ramsey retiring President in 1920, bearing the following Inscription: “Presented to the North Carolina Synodical Auxiliary at Concord, October 14th, 1920. The handle of this gavel is made from wood taken from a bench in the Montreat Audi¬ torium where the Synodical was organized in 1913.” The first Synodical meeting was held at Montreat in 1913, as were those of the two following years. Since then they have been held in the Presbyteries in turn. Mrs. Winsborough attended that first meeting, and her counsel on points of organi¬ zation, efficiency, and service was invaluable, and set the standard for subsequent action. During her seven years in the Office of Synodical Secre¬ tary of Young People’s Work, Miss McElwee, of Statesville, has brought to pass such remarkable and far-reaching develop¬ ment of that work, it should be noted as an outstanding achieve¬ ment of this Synodical. Four Young People’s Conferences have been held, (1922) with incalculable influence upon the hundreds attending in quickened spirit and life-enlistment. The Synod has been aroused and interested in our Young People as never before. Many Synods have followed this pioneer movement, and letters of inquiry concerning both the Conference and the Young People’s League (now in successful operation) have been received from Secretaries of the Cause all over the Church. OKLAHOMA 271 OKLAHOMA 272 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. W. J. B. Lloyd, Oklahoma. A pioneer Missionary to the Indians. OKLAHOMA 273 OKLAHOMA MISSION TO THE INDIANS. Ever since 1806 the Presbyterian Church has given of its means and of its men for the uplift and salvation of the Cherokee and Choctaw tribes. In the early days substantial mission work was done among them at various points east of the Mississippi. When the emigration of the tribes to Indian Territory occurred in 1832—which has been aptly named “The Trail of Tears”—three of our most active missionaries, Cyrus Byington, Alfred Wright and Ebenezer Hotchkin chose to go with them, sharing the hardships and privations with their sad and discouraged friends. Through succeeding years the names of Wright and Hotch¬ kin have endured as a second and third generation have de¬ voted themselves to the Indians. In this work women have played a large part. In 1823 Miss Philena Thatcher left Harford, Penn., and came down the Ohio in a boat into the Mississippi River to Memphis, then across to Eliot, Miss., to become a missionary teacher to the Choctaws. Her entire life was given to the In¬ dians. She sleeps today in an unmarked grave between the murky waters of the Boggy and Red Rivers in Oklahoma. She was married to Ebenezer Hotchkin in 1830, and came with her husband on the memorable “Trail of Tears” to the wilds of Indian Territory. They carried on their work together until 1871 when both were taken Home within a few days of each other. Two sons continued their labors among the Indians, and today there are two grandsons still “carrying on.” In 1857 Mary J. Semple left her home in Steubenville, Ohio and journeyed by boat down the Ohio into the Missis¬ sippi River to Gaines’ landing. From this point the journey was made by wagon 300 miles through the swamps and forest of 274 PIONEER WOMEN Arkansas to Wheelock, I. T. This was one of the first mission stations established, and at the present time one of the best schools among the Indians is located at this point. It is known as the Wheelock Female Academy. Miss Semple taught her first school at this place. The records show that she was of the first families of Steubenville, was educated in the Wheeling Female Seminary, and was only eighteen years old when she left her home for a life work among the Indians. In her diary she says that when she was only twelve years old a Missionary, Dr. Scudder from India, visited the church and spoke upon missions and urged the great need of workers. He said to the children who were present: “Go home and ask your mother to write in the back of your Bible, ‘Dr. Scudder wants me to be a missionary.’ ” She said, “I often looked at this writting in my Bible and wondered if God wanted me to be a missionary.” She wrote again in another place of singing a solo part in the chorus, “The Missionary Call.” She said, “As I sang the chorus, tears were streaming down my cheeks in the presence of a great congregation, I knew that the call had come into my own soul, and I' must go.” Soon after that incident Dr. Kingsbury went into the North hunting for two missionary teachers. The lot fell upon Miss Greenlee and Miss .Semple. Miss Semple speaks of herself as being giddy and gaudily dressed with wide hoops. Miss Green¬ lee was very quiet and reserved and her dress was very plain, altogether in keeping with the missionary spirit. Miss Semple tells of Dr. Kingsbury taking her upon his knee and saying: “Yours is a lovely home, and you have known no hardships, nor have had to do any work. |The journey you are to take is a hard one, and very long and the people to whom you go are a very strange people. You will see very few of your own race, and there is not promise of a return home for years. Now Miss Semple, if you choose to stay it will be all right.” She sprang from his knee and turned and said: “Dr. Kingsbury, OKLAHOMA 275 1 thought you wanted missionaries; if you don’t want me, of course I won’t go.” The old gentleman said: “We do want missionaries, and we want you.” She went, but there were hard lessons ahead of her. Every one at the mission looked upon her with suspicion—the gaudy dress with the wide hoops were out of place. Her guitar and the delicate hands did not seem to match the duties of the mission. There were no calls for her from the various sta¬ tions, but she was allotted to teach at Wheelock. The records show that Miss Semple’s school was the best taught and the best managed in all the field. The next year there were many calls for her, but she was very shortly married to Henry W. Hotchkin, son of Ebenezer Hotchkin. She raised a family of eight children to their major¬ ity, and in addition to this raised eight boys and girls of the Indian tribe, giving them the very best of her home and an edu¬ cation. Her teaching amounted in all to at least fifty years. She came to Durant in 1896 with her son Ebenezer, and began work in the Calvin Institute, which afterwards became Durant College and later Oklahoma Presbyterian College for Girls. In 1870 Rev. W. J. Lloyd heard the call of Rev. Allen Wright for more missionaries and came with his young wife and four little children^ to Bennington, I. T. Conditions were very hard, the winters intensely cold, and there were few com¬ forts in their log house. Often Mr. Lloyd had to leave his family for weeks at a time, while he made trips across country visiting groups of Indians, Writing of these early years, Mr. Lloyd said: “In all these years Mrs. Lloyd met her full share of responsibility. No one can realize the solicitude, even agony, of her soul as she spent her days and nights alone with her helpless babies, often in tears of terror before she learned the Indians. Her only guardian on these occasions was her faith¬ ful dog, Ruler, the gift of an Indian. He would stalk around the premises at night-fall to see if everything was quiet, then would throw himself across the doorway, and the family felt 216 PIONEER WOMEN safe. Grandually she came to know and love the Indian char¬ acter. ” Mrs. William Gardner, familiarly known as Aunt Polly, was her nearest neighbor and soon became an intimate com¬ panion. She showed Mrs. Lloyd that the way to the Indian’s heart and affection was through kindness. How well she learned the lesson is shown by her significant expression: “We fed them when they were well, nursed them when they were sick, and buried them when they died.” The Goodland School and Orphanage holds a wonderful record for Christian service. This was started by Mrs. Eliza- betfy Rood Allison, a cultured, refined Christian! lady who came from St. Charles, Mo., in 1894. She afterwards opened a school, at Cold Spring, and another at Lexington. It is said of her: “Few people who have lived, loved and died in the Indian Missions, have accomplished more good than Mrs. Alli¬ son in her gentle, quiet, consecrated life of love with these people.” Miss Anna L. Paxson also of Missouri, had charge of a school at Chish Ok Tok, Oklahoma, where there is one of the largest Indian churches in the Presbytery. Here for years she conducted a boarding and day school, fitting both boys and girls for a life of usefulness and positions of trust among their own people. For many years hers was the only white face to be seen in the congregation and the Indians loved and trusted her. This is but a brief memorial to the part played by women as missionaries to the Indians, leaving unmentioned many others who have given or are still giving their lives just as heroically to redeem a debt we owe as Christian Americans. Pioneering Days. Pioneering Days of the Presbyterian Church among the white people of Oklahoma, date back only to the beginning of this century. OKLAHOMA 277 Although for half a century work had been going on among the Indians of Indian Territory, which was later to become a part of the State of Oklahoma, there had been no advance of our church among the white people who were coming in ever increasing numbers to carve out their fortunes in this new and wonderful land. Here in this country were to be re-enacted many of the hardships and trying experiences of the pioneers and home-steaders of a century before, who had settled the States East of the Mississippi. But men went into Oklahoma Territory with different ideals and purposes than their fore¬ fathers had carried with them. Frequently men went without their families, seeking a land where they could get rich quick, and then return to their own homes; the population was very shiftirfg. The church and school were not the centres of the com¬ munity life in the rough towns that sprang up mushroom-like over night. Neither did pastors go hand in hand with their little flocks to found new homes among forests primeval. Most frequently vice and evil conditions were rampant before the Missionary arrived, and the Church had literally to thrust its way in. In May 1901, General Assembly directed the Executive Committee of Home Missions to make such investigations as would enable it to undertake the work intelligently in Okla¬ homa Territory. Of the men whom our Committee sent into the field, some stayed; others spent only a few months and were transferred else¬ where. Those who stayed and persevered against almost over¬ whelming obstacles, soon began to reap a rich reward for their labors, as church after church was organized and modern and attractive Houses of Worship supplanted the rude shacks that served the first groups of people. Many of these first mission¬ aries were real heroes and their wives no less heroines. The Woman’s Missionary Society of the Central Presby¬ terian Church of Atlanta, Ga., agreed to pay half the salary 278 PIONEER WOMEN of a missionary to Oklahoma Territory. Rev. H. S. Davidson of Bowie, Texas, took advantage of this offer, was employed for half his time and was assigned to the Southern part of Oklahoma Territory where no Presbyterian was at work. He organized a church at Mangum with seventeen members, which grew rapidly and soon became self-supporting. Within five years Mangum was to give its name to the Presbytery of Mangum, made up of eighteen churches and twelve ministers, the entire Presbytery having grown from the work of Rev. H. S. Davidson and the funds invested by the Missionary Society of the Central Presbyterian Church, Atlanta. To one woman, Miss Annie Shadden, much of the ad¬ vance work in Oklahoma was due. She was the first woman Missionary of the Home Mission Committee, and when she was sent out she was given much freedom and latitude. She went about visiting in the new towns, into the homes of the sick and lonely, organizing Sunday-schools, securing names of Presbyterians for prospective churches, holding mid-week prayer services, encouraging and holding together little groups until a Homd Missionary Pastor could arrive. Out of her work grew such splendid churches as Shawnee, Lawton, People’s Church and Oklahoma City. She also organized Women’s Missionary Societies and did various kinds of personal work. There must be stories of pioneer efforts and sacrifices of godly women in Oklahoma, who were zealous to set their com¬ munities right with God, and to create healthy environments for their children, but everything and everybody is still too new and busy to stop to gather records, or for these records to find their proper importance and significance. PRESBYTERIAL ORGANIZATION. Durant. 1904. That women were banded together for the good of their churches, is attested! to by their very early organization into Presbyterials. In September 1904, Rev. John A. Williams, OKLAHOMA 279 and Mrs. H. B. Sears, were appointed to organize the Ladies’ Aid and Missionary Societies of Durant Presbytery, into a Union. Each society had been requested to send two representa¬ tives, and a program was prepared for the organization meeting held in Durant, September 21, 1904. Delegates were present from nine societies in five churches. A constitution was. adopted and Mrs, W. T. Matthews was elected president. At this time papers were read on “Woman’s Place in the Home Mission Field;” “How Women can Best Assist the Pastor.” “How to Enlist Children in Missions,” and “The Relations between Home and Foreign Missions,” all of them of practical bearing. Durant Presbyterian College, later to become Oklahoma College for Women, was of special interest to the Presbyterial from its very start, and as many of the meetings were held at Durant, the progress of the college could be closely watched. The first years of organization were a hard struggle, dis¬ tance and expense being two large obstacles. A firmer financial basis helped to remove these troubles, enabling larger groups of women to receive the inspiration and practical help of the meetings. Indian Presbyterial. 1910. By order of Indian Presbytery, Rev. C. J. Ralston was directed to organize the various Aid and Missionary Societies in Indian Presbytery into a Presbyterial. This was done at Chish Ok Tok in 1910. Delegates had come from Goodland, Cold Springs, Old Bennington, New Bennington, Wide Spring, Sandy Creek, Standing Rock and Chish Ok Tok. Mrs. Wolf, wife of Rev. Jonas Wolf, an Indian pastor, was elected Presi¬ dent, which office she held for four years. .She was very zeal¬ ous, very faithful in the discharge of her duties, never missing a meeting of either Presbytery or Presbyterial, and was always interested and ready to be instructed in the work of her church. She spoke both English and Choctaw which made her services peculiarly valuable. Other women who have been prominent in the work of the 280 PIONEER WOMEN Presbyterial are Mrs. S. L. Bacon, Mrs. William Le Flore, Mrs. Dwight, Mrs. F. M. Mosely, Mrs. Go Forth, and Mrs H. L. Gooding. Their meetings are held at the same time and place as Presbytery, which means that whole families are in attendance, sharing the privileges and entering reverently into the services of prayer and praise. Mrs. J. R. Pritchard, an Indian of Banty, did much to organize Indian Presbyterial along Auxiliary lines. She read Choctaw and was of great help to the Synodical of Oklahoma, and was its treasurer for a number of years. Man gum Presbyterial. 1912. On November 14, 1912, Rev. J. M. Clark, then Chairman of Home Missions for Oklahoma, called a meeting of the women of Mangum Presbytery at Oklahoma City, and organ¬ ized the Mangum Presbyterial with Mrs. J. M. Clark as the first President. SYNODICAL ORGANIZATION. 1912. At the same time that Mangum Presbyterial was organized, delegates had been asked to come to Oklahoma City from Durant and Indian Presbyterials for the organization of a Synodical Auxiliary of Oklahoma. This followed immediate¬ ly after the organization of Mangum Presbyterial. Mrs. K. H. Warren was elected President. With practically no Synodical funds, and in the face of tremendous discouragements, Mrs. Warren persevered, building foundations strong and sure. During the presidency of Mrs. G. T. Ralls, a contingent fee of fifty cents was adopted, which enabled the organiza¬ tion to develop more rapidly. Through the efforts of Mrs. Ralls and Mrs. Sears the Oklahoma Presbyterian Assembly was instituted, giving to the churches a Summer Conference for Study and social intercourse. Mrs. R. W. Calhoun was elected President in 1920, and the work is advancing rapidly under her efficient leadership. SOUTH CAROLINA 281 SOUTH CAROLINA 282 PIONEER WOMEN Mrs. F. Lcuise Mayes, South Carolina SOUTH CAROLINA 283 SOUTH CAROLINIA (Compiled by Mrs. W. K. Seago.) THE PERIOD OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE HOME. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yet, I have a goodly heritage.—Psalm 16:6. The Presbyterian women of South Carolina have indeed a goodly heritage. They come of heroic blood. Their fore¬ mothers brought to the new home in the Western world the spirit oh the two Margarets of Scotland—Margaret McLauch- lan and Margaret Wilson, who suffered martyrdom by drown¬ ing, because “they would take none of the oaths pressed upon women as well as men, nor desist from hearing Pres¬ byterian ministers, and joining with their friends in prayer, and supplying their relations and acquaintances in their straits.” They inherited the courage and piety of Judith Mani- gault, the Huguenot, who abandoned home and goods in fair France for liberty of conscience in America. Those “who followed in their train” were worthy of their ancestors. They kept alive on the hearth stone the fires of religion and patriotism —twins—as John Knox calls them. They helped literally to build the homes in the wilder¬ ness. They endured all the horrors of Indian warfare, often to the death, as was the case with Catherine Calhoun, grand¬ mother of John C. Calhoun. She, with fifty others, was killed in the Long Cane Massacre, in Abbeville County in 1760. During the War of the Revolution, the women fired the hearts and nerved the arms of their men fighting for freedom. In the Fishing Creek Congregation, Chester County, Mary, Margaret and Ellen Gill, Isabella and Margaret Kelso, 284 PIONEER WOMEN Sarah Knox, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary Mills, Mary Mc¬ Clure and Nancy Brown formed themselves into a company of reapers and went day after day from one farm to the other, and gathered the crops of the absent soldiers. It was within the walls of old Waxhaw Church, Lan¬ caster County, that the mother of President Andrew Jackson, presented him to God in baptism. During the Revolution, Mrs. Jackson made the long and dangerous trip from Waxhaw to Charleston, carrying clothes, provisions and medicine to her son and other American sol¬ diers on a prison ship. She died on the return trip from a fever caught while on her errand of mercy. Look at Mrs. Ogier as she stands on the fortifications of Charleston Harbor, waving her bonnet in the air, and in the face of the infuriated British soldiers, calling to her fel¬ low citizens on the departing prison ship: “Courage, my countrymen, keep up your spirits, better days ahead.” Other names of noted women of that period are Martha Bratton— of Bethesda Church, York County—Jane Thomas, of Fair- forest Church, Union County, and Mary Musgrove. What Green wrote of Puritan England was true of Pres¬ byterian South Carolina; they were “the people of a book, and that book was the Bible.” The Shorter Catechism came next to the Holy Scriptures. The writer remembers that her grandmother, Mrs. Marga¬ ret Adams Crenshaw, could repeat her catechism, forwards and backwards, asking the questions. The women were given to hospitality and the pulpits were filled by the sons of pray¬ ing mothers. To be “a Presbyterian Minister” was regarded by them as the summum bonum to be attained by their boys. The Sabbath was the Lord’s Day. The housewife and her helpers were busy all day Saturday preparing food, that there should be no unnecessary labor on the Sabbath. The writer remembers hearing it related that Mrs. Nanc\ Witherspoon, of Salem Black River Church, Sumter County, SOUTH CAROLINA 285 was in the habit, on Saturday night, of gathering and putting away all secular playthings, books and papers. In the coun¬ try congregations of the early times “the meeting house spring at the foot of the hill was a popular place and presented a lively scene as women and girls found this a convenient place to don their best. Here they pulled on their fine stockings and shawls and shook out the triangular folds of their snowy linen aprons, these articles of apparel having been carried until now.” As the mistresses of the rice and cotton plantations, our Presbyterian women taught to their slaves, the principles of civilization and Christianity which made the fidelity and de¬ motion of the negroes, tried in the crucible of the Civil War, the wonder and admiration of the world. And during the dark days of 1861-1865, when few were the homes in which the supreme sacrifice was not made, their faith in God and their cause never faltered. Of them, it may be said as of Napoleon’s old guard: “They died but never surrendered.” And with what patience and hope they helped to reor¬ ganize and build anew the shattered fabric of church and state! And now “The old order changeth, yielding place to new And God fulfills Himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.” We are entering upon the period of organization in which the individual is not smothered, as so many have feared, but given a larger sphere. “Build thee more stately mansions, O my Soul, As the swift seasons roll.” Miss Margaret Gist, Synodical Historian of South Carolina. EARLY DAYS. Among the churches of South Carolina, we find at least 286 PIONEER WOMEN six whose organizations began before the War of the Revolu¬ tion. Three of these are in Charleston Presbyterial. The oldest church organization in this division is claimed by Edisto, being consummated in 1695. John’s Island and Wardmalaw Church, founded in 1710 claims, on the authority of Dr. R. C. Reid, to be the oldest bona fide Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. The First Presbyterian or Scotch Church of Charleston was founded in 1731. THE LADIES EDUCATION SOCIETY— 1809. In the Second Church of Charleston in the year 1809 was organized the first Woman’s Society of Charleston and the first in the Presbyterian Church, U. S., as far as present records reveal. It was connected with “The Congregational and Presbyterian Association” of the City from, 1815 to 1821. After this period it seemed best for the women to form an organization of their own. This was done, and the name of “'i'he Second Female Education Society” was chosen and Mrs. Plack was made president. The object of this Society was, in 1821, exactly what it is today—to assist in the education of young men for the ministry. In the earlier years of its history, theological students at both Princeton and Columbia were given aid. The Education So< iety lias done a wonderful work for the past century. 'I he roll of 1892 benefit iarios curries the names of many men of mark prominent in church life, mis¬ sionary effort, and in the tollegiale field From aiming these we would mention: Dr. Chas. Stillman loundei oi the Stillman Institute, of Tuscaloosa. Dr. Win, P, fatob I * at i it It i o| Flint nwcll Orphanage. Dr. Hampden < Dnlhmc the gmii miMMiunnn to China. Dr. |, William Minn and Di |eit\ \\ itheispoon, I be intonie ol tin nitjrly m idiliilncd hum animal dues SOUTH CAROLINA of one dollar—from the sales of the “Basket" an institution dating back to 1837), and from the interest of legacies. To this cause, Miss Sarah Arms bequeathed SI.000.00 Miss Annie R. Robinson, S737. and Miss .Agnes K. Irving $ 1 , 000 . 00 . Mrs. Thomas Smythe and her sister. iMiss Susan B. Adger and Mrs. Samuel Robertson each served as officers for fifty years. The money collected by the Education Society* since its beginning, to 1922, amounts to 345,221.50. The old First Presbyterian Church of Charlesrion has many interesting features in its hist or}* which are connected with women. On its walls are many historic and valued chalets. Among them is one in honor of Ladv Anne Murrav. which is surmounted by the coat of arms of the Cromarty family. It is artistic in workmanship, there being no other tablet like it in America. The inscription is neatly executed on wood. and is jrrounded by an elaborately carved oaken frame. It reads as follows: In this Cemetery lie the Remains of The Right Honorable Lady Anne Murray Third Daughter of George, Earle of Cromarty, a young noblewoman as Conspicuous for Piety and irtue as she was for High Birth and Illustrious Descent. She died the 17th of January, 1765. much lamented. A custom in this church which reaches back to the .irk of Scotland was the use of “Tokens ' at the Communion iason. The Session of old had ven* great power over the mscience of the individual communicant and kept strict ever- 288 PIONEER WOMEN Facsimile of Silver Communion Tokens SOUTH CAROLINA 289 sight of his behavior. When the time for the quarterly communion came, only those were permitted to partake, whose conduct had been satisfactory to the session or, in the case of the colored members, to their representatives, the “Class Leaders.” The white communicants received silver Tokens and the negroes, pewter ones. These were as large as a silver dollar, having the design of a table with chalice and paten and the text: “Do this in remembrance of me” on one side and the Burning Bush and the legend “Nec Tamen Con- sumebatur” on the other, with the words, “Presbyterian Church, Charleston, S. C.” on the edge. The negrq communicants did not commune at the same time as the whites, but used the same table. After the white people had finished, the negroes came forward and, as there were as many as four hundred present, the tables were filled and refilled. The beautiful solid silver Communion Service was the gift of Mrs. John Robinson, and Miss Mure; the baptismal bowl was given in 1866 by Mrs. Sarah Forrest, wife of Rev. J. K. Forrest, being made of several silver cups which had belonged to her children who had died in infancy. Ihe records of the First Church of Charleston were burned during Sherman’s raid, but undoubtedly, the women of the congregation formed a part of the “Female Missionary Society” in which Presbyterians and Congregationalists joined and of which the first recorded gift was made, in 1819. No definite work was assumed until 1843, when the Ladies’ Sew¬ ing Society came into existence, with Mrs. John Forrest, the Scottish pastor’s wife, as president. Among the officers, we notice that Miss Spear and Miss A. Knox were appointed “Work Directresses.” Later on, this organization changed its name to Ladies’ Aid Society and the constitution was amended to broaden its activities, especially as concerned Educational and Orphanage work. During the Civil War, the members did relief work and 290 PIONEER WOMEN Inter on we find them repairing the church which had been damaged by earthquake and cyclone. In this society we find such names as Mrs. F. D. Bell, Mrs. G. W. Sprague, Miss Welch and Miss Mure. In its life of seventy-seven years, it has been served by only six presidents, three secretaries and two treasurers, and has cele¬ brated both its golden and diamond anniversaries. The Woman’s Missionary Society was organized in 1847, by Dr. John Forrest, who became its first president, with Mrs. Bennet as Vice-President. The first money collected was sent to the Choctaw Indians and to Canton, China. Of late years, it has contributed to the support of at least seven mis¬ sionaries. In the Third Church of Charleston, there was a Woman’s Sewing Society as early as 1824, which did wonderful work in educating young men for the ministry. In the Globe Street Church, there was a like organization with the same purpose. There were two old Churches in Enoree Presbyterial— Nazareth and Fair forest. Nazareth was organized in 1772, and Fairforest dates its origin to some eight families who emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1751-54, having been driven thither by the fires of persecution in the old world. These churches had no organized woman’s work earlier than the 80’s. According to an old custom of the Scotch Presbyterians at Fairforest, lead letters were handed to the members of the church a day previous to the communion service (each one receiving the initial letter of the surname), and as the sacra¬ ment was administered, the letters were collected by the pastor. For more than half a century, Rev. Albert Allison James had presided over this church and on the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of his pastorate, he displayed some of the old lead letters that had been used in past years. SOUTH CAROLINA 291 Zion Church, Winnsboro, was built in 1809, and with but few changes has been used for 112 years. In 1819 the Fe¬ male Missionary Society of Zion Church was organized as an Auxiliary to the Foreign Missionary Society of the American Board. At this same time, there also existed the Auxiliary Bible Society of Fairfield District. As early as 1817, it is recorded that the women of this church joined with the women of Salem Church, in Fairfield County, in making their pastor, Rev. Anthony W. Ross, a life member of the American Bible Society. One item is found in the Darlington Church book, dated May, 1833, which reads as follows: “At the request of the female members of the church, the funds raised by them for ceiling the church building, were made subject to such dis¬ position as the church might think proper to make of them.” Soon after the war, appears this statement: “Funds were raised and turned over to the Deacons and invested in the first stoves ever bought.” It was not until 1870 that there was any formal organization among the women. In that year, Rev. J. G. Law formed the Ladies’ Aid Society and later the Pauline DuBose Missionary Society came into existence. Miss Janie Williamson was the most enthusiastic missionary worker in the Darlington Church, holding an office continu¬ ously, and doing the work of a secretary of literature long before that office was created. In honor of her faithfulness, a friend has built a chapel in the North Kiangsu Mission, China, and named it the “Janie R. Williamson Chapel.” The earliest account of Women’s Societies in the Inde¬ pendent Presbyterian Church of Stoney Creek, dates back to 1845. The first work undertaken was the support of two children in the Indian Mission. Contributions were also made to the Indian Mission, as carried on by Rev. Mr. Wright and his wife, Harriet. This Society also gave to Foreign Mis¬ sions and was conducted like the modern mission study class 292 PIONEER WOMEN under the leadership of the pastor, Rev. James Dunwoody. We find the women of the congregation, as a matter of course, aiding their pastors in earnest work among the slaves. In 1834, Richland Church (Piedmont Presbytery), was built on two lots of ground, given by Mrs. Elizabeth Dendy for Church-House and Cemetery. It was made of hewn logs fastened together with wooden pegs. The Striblings, in Presbyterial service today, are descendants of Mrs. Dendy. A member of Mt. Zion Church, Mrs. D. M. Craighas, en¬ joys the great honor of having given her two sons, Roy and Augustus, to China’s mission field. THE FIRST CHURCH OF COLUMBIA (CONGAREE PRESBYTERY.) In the year 1794, the Presbyterians of Columbia called their first pastor, Rev. David Dunlap, who served until his death in 1804. Mr. Dunlap and his wife, Susannah, died on the same day and were buried in the same grave. The deaths of these young people, one thirty-three and the other thirty, caused a sorrow which stretched over the century. In viewing the work of the women from the beginning of this church, during a period of seventy years, it is well to contemplate the manner of womanhood of those early days. Woman, of whatsoever class of society, was industrious, capable, modest, one who looked diligently after the ways of her household. Her duties were manifold. Every garment had to be made at home, all food was produced on the place; upon the woman rested the care and education of the children; the responsibility of the servants devolved upon her. The physi¬ cal well-being, industrial training and religious instruction of these servants were looked upon by the Christian woman as obligations from God. They were always interested in good works; the earliest chartered societies of the country bear the names of members of this church. SOUTH CAROLINA . 293 The Ladies’ Orphan Society was founded in 1830 and is still in existence. The Ladies’ Benevolent Association, founded in 1832, was merged into the Associated Charities in 1900, taking into that Association $8,000.00. The Theological Seminary has, from its beginning in 1830, been a special object of work among the women of First Church of Columbia. The Law Building was named in honor of Mrs. Agnes Law, who was the chief contributor to its construction. WOMAN’S WORK DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. In *the early history of Peedee, the Aid Societies were something more than organizations for raising money; they were local missionary agencies, looking after the poor, pro¬ viding social life, and giving to outside calls as presented. The first one of these Aid Societies dating back to the sixties, was in the old Hopewell Church, at Claussen, S. C. When the .South was the scene of bloody war, it was organized to provide clothes and provisions for the men at the front Women of all denominations for miles around composed this Ladies’ Aid Society and the meetings were held in the old Session House. This work for the soldiers laid the founda¬ tion for Aid and Missionary Societies later on. In the First Church of Columbia, the activities of the women were absorbed in “The Wayside Hospital,” where hundreds of wounded soldiers were brought from distant bat¬ tlefields. Two women who will long be remembered, are Mrs. Sarah Howe and Mrs. Sarah Peck. Mrs. Howe was a foremost leader in the hospital work. Her hospitality was unbounded and charming. Her home v/as one of the hallowed spots of the church. It has enter¬ tained (it is hardly an exaggeration to say), every missionary of the Southern Church from 1832 to 1880 and a host of in- 294 PIONEER WOMEN tellectual giants. Among these guests we note Dr. Leighton Wilson, Dr. Thomas Goulding, so dear to the hearts of many generations of children because of his book, “The Young Marooners,” her distinguished son-in-law, Dr. B. M. Palmer, the brilliant scholar, Dr. Joseph P. Wilson, and his son, Woodrow Wilson. The crown of the household was the dis¬ tinguished son, George Howe, D. D. It was a meeting place for loved women; Mittie Bullock, mother of Theodore Roose¬ velt, was a distant relative and often an honored guest. Mrs. Sarah Peck was a most remarkable Christian teacher. It is said of her that she taught three generations of Colum¬ bians to read and write. During the War Between the States three widows met for one hour every Tuesday, when they were in Columbia, and asked God to spare their sons in battle. Each had a son in the army, and two were only sons. The three men, Maj. Wm, D. Peck, James P. Macfie, and Lieut. John T. Rhett, went through the war unscathed. On the northwest corner of Lady and Marion Streets was Ihe home of Mr. Marion Crawford, an elder who became the custodian of the silver communion service of the First Church, Columbia. The night before Sherman entered the city, Mr. Crawford and his wife, Mary, dug up the fireplace in their dining room, which was on the ground floor, and buried the silver. The home was looted and burned. When it was safe to do so, the silver, was salvaged, unhurt, save for a few blisters on the goblets, caused by the heat. The four goblets were used until, in Dr. Blackwood’s pastorate, the individual cups were introduced, but the two bread baskets are still doing duty. The year 1860 marked a change such as few people have ever undergone; an upheaval in home life and a change of inherited customs. It was to the churcn women of the old regime that the State owed its rehabilitation. Through the calmness, courage and faithfulness of the Christian women, the light of faith was kept burning. Years of penury and SOUTH CAROLINA 295 want were at hand. Each divided with the other, and the widows and orphans were cared for. A lady who had been very wealthy, said: “I never doubt God takes care of me. On one occasion, when I lacked, I earnestly prayed, and upon going into a vacant room, I found food: coffee, sugar, flour. An angel brought it.” The writer of this incident says that her father’s comment was: “Yes, and old Mrs. Howe was the angel.” The Communion silver of Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston, the gift of Mrs. John Robinson early in the history of the congregation, was sent to Columbia for safety when Charleston was shelled by the Federal Navy. There it was stored in an outbuilding on the premises of Rev. George Howe, who had not been informed as to its nature. In the excitement of Sherman’s raid, it was forgotten, and the con¬ gregation thought it was gone, but a year after the close of the War, it was found and returned in perfect order. Prior to the Civil War, we have no record of woman’s work in Piedmont Presbyterial, but in the 60’s in the First Presbyterian Church of Anderson, a society was formed to work for the soldiers. Later on, all the churches united in this labor, and the wife of Judge Monroe became president. POST-WAR REORGANIZATION. To the First Church of Columbia there came, in 1868, Mrs. Douglas Plummer, a woman of ten talents. She held Bible Classes, Sewing Societies and Prayer Meetings. She anticipated the twentieth century methods, so aggressive, so business-like, so brilliant was she in her intercourse with the church. Confined to the bed most of the time, yet she instructed and directed. She helped to plan a “George Washington Tea Party,” at which the sum of $999.00 was raised for the building of a chapel. Dr. Pryson, the pastor, added a dollar, making it an even thousand. The next week, a tornado blew down the 296 PIONEER WOMEN steeple of the church and the money had to go to repair this damage and the chapel came later. To Mrs. Plummer is due the inauguration of the social meetings of the Church—the Dime Readings. Do not smile at the name! These were held weekly during the winter months in the homes of the church and furnished wholesome recreation for our young people who were eager to attend them. Mrs. M. M. Flenniken served for many years as Presi¬ dent of the Woman’s Society and was foremost in promoting the building of Smith Memorial Chapel. Due to her courage end conception, many public good works are in our midst; notably, the Columbia Hospital. Mrs. Elie Baker Woodrow deeded the lot on which stands the present Y. M. C. A. building. In olden times, the streets were dark near the church, and when electric lights came into use, Mrs. Woodrow caused a light to be placed at the north¬ west corner of the church yard. Now that she is a shut-in, she smiles and says: “I am so glad my light shines to light other people to prayer meeting, and I have made provision in my will that it shall shine for many years to come.” Mrs. Woodrow is the mother of the missionary to China, Mrs. Jennie Woodrow Woodbridge. CHURCH ORGANIZATION IN WHICH WOMAN WAS THE PRIME FACTOR The first effort to secure Presbyterian preaching in Green¬ ville—Enoree Presbytery, was made by Mrs. Sarah E. Stone, who induced her friend, Dr. Benjamin Palmer to, spend the summer of 1845 in the village and minister to the spiritual needs of the people, for which purpose she raised $68.00. Later, the women sent a request to Presbytery for religious services and this led to the organization of the First Presby¬ terian Church of Greenville. The second Presbyterian Church of Greenville owes its existence by the help of God, to the efforts of nine women, SOUTH CAROLINA 297 who, on August 1st, 1890, met in the home of Mrs. R. E. Allen to engage in some united form of church or benevolent work. The result was the organization of “The Ladies Work¬ ing Society,” the object of which was the building of a house of worship. In three years’ time this dream became a reality; a small church was erected. Edgefield Church, Congaree Presbytery, owes its exist¬ ence to Mrs. Martha Wardlaw Hill, through whose efforts an organization was effected. There were only four members, Mrs. Hill, herself, Mrs. A. E. Anderson, Miss Esther Rains- ford and Mr. S. H. Manget. The latter was immediately elected and installed as elder and Mrs. Hill acted as deacon for some ^ears. Mrs. Hill's wonderful magnetism and beauty of spirit drew many friends to her assistance. She solicited subscriptions far and wide and raised over $3,000.00. She organized a Sunday-school and when no man was available, was her own superintendent, her own organist, her own jani¬ tor, and at the same time served as the whole board of deacons. In May, 1882, through her efforts, the first pastor was called, our own Secretary of Assembly’s Home Missions, Rev. S. L. Morris. As soon as this good woman lifted all debt from the church, she began to dream of a manse. Miss Esther Rains- ford (Mrs. Bunyan Morris), gave the lot for this manse and the communion service as well. Mrs. Hill began teaching music and doing everything she could to create a manse fund. To make a long story short, the manse became an assured fact. At the age of fifty-two, she went Home, and on the walls of the church which stands as a memorial to her, the women placed a tablet, on which she is called “The Mother of Presbyterianism in Edge- field County.” From Edgefield Church comes the writer, Mrs. W. L. Dunovant, the “E. A. D.,” so well known to the readers of the Club Woman’s page in The State (Columbia, $. C.) The Trenton Church, South Carolina, for a long time 298 PIONEER WOMEN had only five members, four of whom were women, Mesdames Esther Rainsford Morris, Emma Brown Horde, Emily Hughes Wise and Callie Mayes Wise. The church was built by con- otributions from Presbyterians throughout the State, which were solicited by these women. The first movement toward the building of St. Mat¬ thew’s Church was the forming of a Ladies’ Aid Society, in 1905. The charter members of this organization were: Miss Ella Salley, Mrs. C. R. James and Mrs. W. W. Oliver. The Society immediately began to raise funds by making and selling aprons and other articles. They determined to form a Presbyterian Sunday-school and later a church. The work soon bore fruit, and in 1906, a Presbyterian Church was or¬ ganized. Faithful service and ten years’ effort were rewarded on July 19th, 1916, by the burning of a mortgage and the dedication of a church building costing $3,800.00, raised al¬ most entirely by women. WORK FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. Although a Sunday-school cannot properly be classed as a woman’s organization, it is only fair to mention the women who have served as “Female Superintendents” in the early work of the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston. The first listed is Mrs. Isaac Johnson, with Miss Anne Caldwell as assistant. After the war between the States, this office was continued, and for many years was held by Miss Anna ,Simon - ton; Miss Sarah A. Smyth also served in this capacity. In 1832, the “Charleston Juvenile Missionary Society” was formed under the leadership of Dr. Smythe; this society was most active—published a little magazine, and voted its first collection for work in China, thus beginning the labors of this church for that country. In connection with this society we find the names of Miss A. N. Allen and Mrs. Stoney. The Threadneedle Society, of the Second Presbyterian SOUTH CAROLINA 299 Church, Charleston, composed of young girls, made garments for distribution among the very poor of the city. The first president was Miss Lida King (Mrs. Tiedman). The Willing Workers was an organization of the young women of the First Presbyterian Church of York (Bethel Pres¬ bytery), and was the thought of Miss Jenny Code, now Mrs. J. H. Timmie. Among the gifts of this society, we notice that a gold watch was presented to Miss Ella Davidson when she started for the foreign field, and on her first furlough, she was given a black silk dress. The society started the plan of taking a Christmas dinner to the Countv Home, which custom has been kept up to the present time. They also bought the town clock and had it placed in the court house. In 1895, when Mrs. H. Stuart was home on furlough, she organized twenty girls in this same church, into the Ella Davidson Missionary Society. Miss Georgia Witherspoon was made president and the first work undertaken was the sup¬ port of a Chinese girl in Miss Davidson's school. EARLY GROWTH OF CHURCH SOCIETIES. Miss Ida Dudley, Historian for woman's work in Ben- nettsville, draws a sketch of the early days of organization in which many a woman will recognize her own portrait. She says: “If this is to be a record of woman's work only, we shall disappoint at the very beginning, for our missionary societv owes its organization to a man—Rev. W. D. Corbett, pastor of Bennettsville Church. It was the first Sunday in March, 1SS8, that he asked from the pulpit that the women of the church remain for a few minutes after the service. A verv creditable number—old and young—responded to the call. As charter members, we recall the solemn, almost terrified feel- in , ' - ' X\ L A D L11 IF YOU ARE INCLINED TO APPLAUD THEIR VIRTUES GIVE GOD THE GLORY This building is made of native lime-stone, gathered from the nearby land, and placed in the walls in their original shape and size. Tradition has given an incident, worthy of note, that when the stones of this building had been collected, the godly women and boys carried the sand in sacks, on horses, from Greenbrier river, a distance of four miles, to make the mortar to build this stone edifice. granddaughter of Col. David Ruffner, Mrs. Frances Putney 386 PIONEER WOMEN This same old building, unique and beautiful inside and out, with but few changes, is the house of worship today, with many of the descendants of the charter members in attendance. Mr. Grigsby went back to Eastern Virginia shortly after the erection of the church and there was a vacancy for ten years. Rev. John McElhenny came in 1808. When he be¬ gan his work, the church was very weak and years after, his granddaughter writes of having heard him refer to his early work at Union and Lewisburg, and says that he would have given up in utter despair but for the sense of the fact that there were a number of good and pious ladies, mothers and wives, in his church, whose daily earnest prayers were for a re¬ vival, and for the conversion of their husbands and sons. This revival came after a slow growth of twenty years, when between ninety and a hundred were added to the church roll, and gave it an impetus forward, which is felt today. In 1872 the “Ladies’ Foreign Missionary Society” of the Old Stone Church, was organized and a daughter of Rev. Mc¬ Elhenny, Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, was the first President and Mrs Susan Estill, Treasurer. UNION CHURCH Union or “Good Hope,” which was one of the three churches organized by Rev. McCue in 1783, was for many years linked with the Mt. Pleasant church under the same pastor. The Union Church was described by Rev. McElhenny who later served as pastor, as being made of unhewn logs, covered with clapboards, and the floor with pieces of unhewn timber, instead of planks. No provision was made for warming these houses, but when the weather was cold, large log fires were built in front of the building, for the comfort of the people In 1834 Rev. Samuel R. Houston, D. D., became the pas¬ tor of this charge. He and his family stand out pre-eminently as teachers of missions. His pastorate continued for forty- four years. Previous to coming to this field, Dr. Houston had WEST VIRGINIA 387 been a missionary in Greece. From the beginning of his pastorate in 1834, “The Monthly Concert,” and subscriptions to the “Missionary Record,” promoted interest in Foreign mis¬ sions. The women of the Union Church made fancy articles and conducted fairs in the interest of this work, until about 1873, when Miss Mary Lewis Hutchinson, a most devoted advocate of missions, brought about the organization of a “Ladies’ Missionary Society.” This society from that time to the present, has been an active organization. Three ladies re¬ ceived their missionary training for the foreign field in this church, namely: Mrs. Anne Randolph, who labored in China, Miss Janet H. Houston, who spent thirty years in Mexico and Cuba, and Miss Edith McClung Flouston, who’ was sent to Mexito and then to Cuba where she is now engaged. In 1879 a branch society was organized for the joung ladies of the Union and Mt. Pleasant churches. They held monthly meetings in a school house, and were known as “The Buds of Promise,” beginning with nine members. Miss Helen Houston was the first president. A worker in the Foreign Field, Miss Mary Williams, an active and faithful missionary now of Yokohama, Japan, was once a member of this societv EARLIEST WOMAN’S ORGANIZATION. 1837. It is not in these very old churches of Greenbrier County, situated in the Eastern section of West Virginia, that we find the first women’s organization, but in the Western part, in Kanawha Presbytery, in the First Church of Charleston. The earliest record we have of woman’s work is of the “Female Benevolent Society,” organized in 1837. Its Constitu¬ tion says: “The Meetings shall be opened with religious exer¬ cises and some book read during the meeting.” Its gifts for benevolences were to be given as decided by the Society. Their records show that the women sewed and made garmnts as Dor¬ cas did of old, and, as women seem always to have done, con - tributed money towards the Manse. Their officers were called 388 PIONEER WOMEN Directors. Mrs. Lucy Rand was a Director in this first society. In later years the organization was called “Mite Society,” and still later, “Aid Society.” Charleston is in the midst of a large Home Mission section, consequently we find that the Home Mission interest both among the women and the young people, was strongly developed from an< early period. Not until 1900 was there a Foreign Missionary Society. But in 1920, when the Auxiliary Circle Plan was installed there were two hundred working members ready to be enrolled. The Westminster Church of Point Pleasant, in Kanawha Presbytery had a Sewing Society that began its work in 1869, meeting in the homes of its members. Garments were cut out by a committee and put together by hand. These were sold and the money used for both Home and Foreign Missions. Miss M. S. McCulloch, one of the first members of the society fulfilled a most praiseworthy service. For many years, until her death in 1920, it was her custom to give a subscription to the Missionary Survey and a Church Calendar of Prayer to each member of the society. Another record of sweet conscientious service comes from Malden Church. P'his church was built by Col. David Ruffner, in 1839, at his own expense and because he gave special at¬ tention to its erection—(we are told he had the walls torn down when first built, and rebuilt, showing determination to have it well constructed), it stands today, a plain, substantial brick building. Colonel Ruffner’s daughter, Anne Ruffner Putney, wife of Dr. James Putney, made the Communion bread for many, many years. After her death, her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Aleathea Todd Putney, supplied the elements for forty-four years, and when her life was ended, her daughter Mrs. Minnie Putney Stanley, walking in the footsteps of these saintly women, continued to furnish the Communion table for fifteen years, until she moved to another towh, thus showing the loyalty and de¬ votion of three generations, in this one act of piety. Another WEST VIRGINIA 389 Norton, had charge of the music in Malden Church. In 1862 she with a small group of friends, bought a melodeon for the Church, organs being unknown in that day, in that section. The story of woman’s work in St. Alban’s Church is one of undaunted faith and courage. In 1874, the wife of the first resident pastor, the Rev. Edward Ells, called the ladies of the church together and organized them into the “Working Band.” This little group of twelve women decided to build a church. Each one contributed a small amount of money and with faith and hope, began to work. Many things dear to a woman’s heart were given up to swell the sum. For three Christ¬ mas seasons, the accustomed home pleasures were sacrificed to devote the time and means to this desire of their hearts—a church home. Four years later, when their dream was real¬ ized, their hearts rejoiced that they had had a part in the building of the Lord’s House. In 1879 a movement was made by Mr. Ells (the pastor) to form a Missionary Society. A spirited opposition was made by one of the elders, on the ground that “All we can give at present is due for the Minister’s salary.” Nevertheless, an organization was perfected, and two years later, it is interest¬ ing to note that the Session of the church made a Minute of the gratifying fact that “By the aid of the Missionary Society, we have collected and paid $33.00 apportioned the church for benevolences.” A young ladies’ society of unusually high ideals and pur¬ poses was organized in 1897 in the Old Stone Church of Lewis- burg, and named the “Anne Montgomery Missionary Society,” in honor of a saintly woman who had been much disturbed because the young women in the church were not being in¬ structed in Missions as they should be. The object of this society was never so much to increase funds, as to study missions and the work of the church. To this end, all members were required to sign the following pledge: “Unless I have some reason that I can give my Master, 390 PIONEER WOMEN I will attend every meeting of the Society, and diligently do my duty. I will read ‘The Missionary’ regularly, and one new missionary book every six months. I will pray for in¬ creasing light as to my own duty and for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom, and will study the Scriptures with reference to this subject.” To further carry out its object, this society collected a splendid library, all of the books being on missionary subjects, or the lives of missionaries. It was their annual custom to pay the expenses of a missionary to come and address the whole church on mission work. Huntington First Church dates back nearly a hundred years, but it was as late as 1895 before its women banded themselves together into any kind of organization, and even then the idea was so unpopular that we are told only about five or six women came together with fear and trembling, and named themselves the “Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Soci¬ ety.” This small beginning seems almost unbelievable in the light of the shining record of this church today as one of the leading missionary churches in the Assembly, with its long list of co-pastors both abroad and in the home fields. The Auxil¬ iary with its many active Circles has grown by leaps and bounds, numbering over five hundred members, and with gifts in keeping with their missionary zeal. It is an Auxiliary thoroughly abreast of the times, grounded on Prayer and Bible Study. ORGANIZATION OF PRESS YTERIAL AUXILIARIES. Kanawha. 1902. The Presbytery of Kanawha was originally a part of Green¬ brier Presbytery, and as the country increased in population, the church work also grew. At a meeting of Synod in Dan¬ ville, Virginia in 1894, an overture was presented from the Presbytery of Greenbrier, requesting that the said Presbytery WEST VIRGINIA 391 be divided, and the part set aside, to be known as Kanawha Presbytery. This request was granted, and Synod appointed the new Presbytery to hold its first session at Malden, Kanawha Salines Church, April 9th, 1895. In 1902 the Woman’s Presbyterial Missionary Union was organized and held in joint session with Presbytery, which was meeting in Charleston, at the First Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Ernest Thompson was elected President, and a full executive board installed. The first annual meeting was held in Hunt¬ ington, First Church the following year. •Since that time yearly meetings have convened and the work has rapidly grown in membership, spirituality, and in benevolent gifts. Some outstanding names of this Presbyterial are Mrs. Ernest Thompson, Mrs. Newton Donaldson, Mrs. William Mohler, Mrs. William McConnell, Mrs. M. B. Lambdin and Mrs. William Pepper. Through their efforts as presiding of¬ ficers, the work has progressed splendidly. Greenbrier Presbyterial. 1906. The real beginning of Greenbrier Presbyterial goes back farther than the actual date of organization. In 1887 Mrs. Anne Randolph returned from China on furlough, her heart overflowing with a message to her sisters in this country. The “Ladies’ Missionary Society” of the Union Presbyterian Church, of Union, West Virginia, seeing a vision for greater work, in¬ vited all of the ladies’ societies of all evangelical churches in the two counties of Monroe and Greenbrier to meet at Hillsdale, Monroe County, in August 1900. This meeting was addressed by Miss Janet H. Houston and Mrs. Anne Randolph, and was attended with such earnest and enthusiastic interest that it was then and there determined to organize an Interdenominational Missionary Union, to meet annually. No President was elected, but a Chairman appointed at each meeting. These meetings 392 PIONEER WOMEN were very helpful to all the societies, as a Foreign Missionary of some denomination was, with but one exception, always present, in the fourteen years of its existence. Synodical and Presbyterial Unions were now being freely organized and our churches wished to co-operate. Hence “The Women’s Foreign Missionary Union” of Greenbrier Presbytery was organized at the Ronceverte Presbyterian Church, August 15, 1906. Representatives from six churches, Alderson, Salem, Union, Frankford, Lewisburg and Ronceverte, in all thirteen delegates, met for organization. The officers elected were Miss Helen Houston, President, Mrs. W. D. Slaven, Recording Secre¬ tary, Miss Margaret Irons, Treasurer. After an all day session, the meeting adjourned to meet annually, and to be held at the time and place of fall meet¬ ing of Presbytery. We think it proper to add, with regret, that there was manifested some opposition to our meeting, from individuals in our churches, and that it was carried into our Presbyteries and Synod. But there was one man who champ¬ ioned the cause, Rev. W. J. Garrison, who never failed in his interest, and secured for the Presbyterial the support of the majority of Greenbrier Presbytery, after two attempts to bring about its organization. Delegates were appointed at this first meeting of Presby¬ terial, to attend the Synodical Union, held at Norfolk, in October 1906, (Greenbrier Presbytery belonging at that time to Vir¬ ginia Synod). For years afterwards this was done, also a representative from the Presbyterial was sent to Montreat. There were thirty-nine churches in Greenbrier Presbytery at the beginning of the Presbyterial work, and the majority had some woman’s organization. Only six joined at the first meet¬ ing of Presbyterial. The reports of 1913 showed 463 members from nineteen societies. Some of the out-standing leaders are Miss Helen Houston, Mrs. B. F. Mann, Mrs. R. B. Hudson, Mrs. J. A. Lacy, Mrs. R. B. Slaven, Mrs. R. F. Dunlap, and some of the mis- WEST VIRGINIA 393 sionaries who have always given their support, are: Rev. J. M. Sloan, Rev. Eugene Daniel, Rev. R. B. Hudson, Rev. J. L. Linew 7 eaver and Rev. F. W. Phillips. Tygarts Valley Presbyterial Auxiliary. 1913. This Presbyterial Auxiliary was organized Nov. 14, 1913, in the Davis Memorial Church, Elkins, West Virginia, the year after the organization of the Presbytery of Tygarts Valley. This territory had formerly belonged to the Lexington Presby¬ tery of the Virginia Synod. Some of the ladies who were outstanding in effecting this organization, are Mrs. T. J. Arnold, Miss Isabel Arnold, Mrs. T. H. Barron, Mrs. J. A. Logan, Mrs. William McGulland, Mrs. Fredlock and Mrs. W. J. Barry. The first president was Miss Emma K. Davis, of Clarks¬ burg, who served until 1918, when Mrs. L. J. Arnold of Elkins was made president. Mrs. Arnold was succeeded by Mrs. L. D. Zinn, who is the present presiding officer. There have been no wonders accomplished in the years that have passed, but there has been a steady growth in spiritual life, and number of members. THE SYNODICAL AUXILIARY OF WEST VIRGINIA. 1914. The Synodical of West Virginia is composed of three Presbyterials Greenbrier, Kanawha and Tygarts Valley. The first annual meeting of the Synodical convened in the Sunday School Building of the Old Stone Church, Lewisburg, West Virginia, at 10 A. M. October 28, 1914. The meeting was opened by Mrs. R. B. Hudson, President of the entertaining Presbyterial. Mrs. Ernest Thompson was elected Temporary Chairman and Mrs. Wilbur Slaven, Temporary Secretary. There were no By-Laws nor Constitution, nor any program for this meeting, but a committee was appointed to bring in 394 PIONEER WOMEN a Constitution at the second meeting, to be held at Charleston West Virginia, October 12-13, 1915. Mrs. B. F. Mann, Fort Spring, was elected President, and Mrs. R. B. Hudson, vice president, Mrs. L. E. Poteet, Charleston, Recording Secretary, and Mrs. S. P. Peck, Hinton, treasurer. The meetings have been held annually, at different places over the Synod, at the same time and place with Synod. Miss Isabel Arnold, of Elkins, West Virginia, has rendered a specially fine service in her management of the Foreign Mis¬ sion Book Room at Montreat, and also with her valuable dis¬ plays of literature and helps for study and programs at the meeting’s of General Assembly, and at the Laymen’s Conven¬ tions. 395 RETROSPECT We have discovered the Presbyterian Woman of the United States standing at the threshold of a new Republic which opened its doors to what she came to find, viz.: Liberty of worship in a free country. We have followed her in her on¬ ward march, showing always a courage equal to her convic¬ tions, and we are now about to leave her, as an organized force, within her Church of ancient heritage. Three epochs of struggle have marked her pathway: First, that of the primitive period in our country’s history when houses of worship still stood in the unhewn timber of the virgin forest; next in the awful days of rehabilitation after a civil war; and again, within that transitional period of struggle for recognition of woman in organized capacity within her church. To reach this third goal meant the wrecking of old ideals and hoary prejudices by the dynamic power of the Unseen Hand. In every church souls with the spirit of martyrs were cast into the melting pot, and under the fires of cruel criticism and false allegations, came out burning with the white heat of a steady purpose which ate its way through opposition fierce and teuse. To many was given the vision of how “Jerusalem lieth waste and is a reproach to her people” and crusaders stood ready when God called, through a leader of his own choosing in the person of Hallie Paxson Winsborough. We have only to point to our chapter of Results as vindi¬ cation of this need of the hour, and as proof of the ability of the leader. Therefore, we cannot close these pages until we have brought to her who literally paid the cost for us, our common tribute of gratitude for all the way in which she has led us. 396 PIONEER WOMEN Only lines like the following can furnish the key to her success, and can yield a hint of what she endured in the initial steps: “He who ascends to mountain tops, shall find The loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds of snow; He who surpasses or subdues mankind, Must look down on the hate of those below. Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow, Contending tempests on his naked head, And thus reward the toils which to these summits lead.” We have shown that the period of our history covers a cycle of progress unparalleled in world movements, and that the Woman’s Movement and that of the Presbyterian Woman were the same in the final outcome. The simultaneous release of physical force through applied chemistry and electricity, and that of the spiritual through the applied teachings of the Messiah, have so transformed the age in which we live as to sometimes set the brain to wondering if these are days of a new incarnation. The same Christ whose genius for friendship took him tc the wedding feast and to the grave of Lazarus, to the home at Bethany and to that other home where was broken the ala¬ baster box of ointment upon his precious body, was also found trampling under foot social traditions. For the sake of a woman he flung to the winds Pharisaical practices when he stooped to write his message in the sand and to hold converse with the woman of Sychar. Teachings so revolutionary were, at once, a shock to the Jewish mind and a challenge to its prescribed ideas of woman’s position. This same Christ who walked on earth has, through suc¬ ceeding generations, continued to walk amid the golden candle¬ sticks, and it would seem with quickened pace during this century of Brotherhood, which has relegated to the past, false 397 ideals and conventionalities and given to the Church, not the New Woman, but the Womanly Woman, “ever altering yet un¬ altered,” whose broadened vision is leading her on to vaster issues. Common gratitude here impels us to pause while we pay tribute to those who blazed our pathway. Every step of progress has been from off the shoulders of our forbears. Generation after generation has had its issues, and sharp has sometimes been the contest. Old land marks were not removed, but de¬ cisive turns have pointed to new out-posts, towards which the Presbyterian woman has kept step in the advancing march. As we drop the curtain upon this momentous hour preg¬ nant with solemn issues, it is with the prayer that Elijah’s mantle may fall from flaming chariots all over our Southland, girding the Presbyterian women for higher and holier service in the Kingdom of our Lord. “He has sounded forth the trumpet, that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His Judgment seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.” 398 PIONEER WOMEN AN APPRECIATION After the persistent efforts of nearly two years we present to you the imperfect results of our labor. It was through Mrs. Winsborough, our leader, that this historic enterprise was launched, and that, without money or without price. Through the strenuous efforts of our Synodical and Pres- byterial Historians, it has returned to us ladened with rich treasures that would otherwise have been hopelessly lost. The search for floating records and traditions has taught us that much yet remains to be rescued. By no means has it been possible to include all the data furnished us within these pages, but it is yours for your Synodi¬ cal Sketches and you are debtors to your State Historians. Most valuable help has been rendered us by Mrs. W. K. Seago, Ex-Synodical President of Louisiana, and popular reporter for Summer Conferences of our Assembly. Fortunately for the work, and for our readers, the burden of Compiler and Assist¬ ant Editor has fallen upon shoulders equal to it, in the person of Miss Alice L. Eastwood, of Louisville, Kentucky, who, at sacrificial cost, because of home duties, has given to us her labor of love. Miss Eastwood has been officially connected with the Woman’s Organized Work from its beginning, and was Kentucky’s Synodical Secretary for nine years. If some of our States seem meager of data it is not be¬ cause we did not exert ourselves to obtain it. Through our zeal in behalf of every State, we prolonged the time and at cost of much personal effort did our best to supplement the results of your historians. For our Auxiliary Chapter we have quoted freely from Miss Hanna, well known as the young woman, who thirty-six 399 years ago, sounded the first call to the women for a forward movement. Through rough seas and fair, Mr. R. E. Magill, our Pub¬ lisher, has always been our trusted pilot in guiding aright the woman’s barque of progress. His sympathetic co-operation has meant much for us in this publication, for which we render grateful acknowledgement. Princeton Theological Seminar v Libraries 1 10 12 01217 5941 4