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BALTIMORE : 
 STANLEY STIRLING & CO., 
 
 1895. 
 
An Historical Discourse on the First Presbyterian Church, 
 delivered on the last Sabbath of September. 1859, by the Rev. 
 John C. Backus, D. D., fourth Pastor, havin.vf long been out 
 of print, The Session and The Committee have reprinted it 
 for the information of the present members of the Congrega- 
 tion — and have prefixed thereto an original sketch of the Rise 
 and Progress of the Church up to 1793, as prepared by the 
 Rev. Patrick Allison, D. D., first Pastor. The last named 
 Paper is in the archives of the Presbyterian Historical Society 
 of Philadelphia, and is now published for the first tuut^. 
 
 Baltimore, December i. 1895. 
 
AN 
 
 HISTORICAL DISCOURSE; 
 
 ox TAKINCt leave ok the old CHIKCH EDIFICE OF THE 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATION IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN C. BACKUS, 
 
 PAST<1K OF THE CHIRCII. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 PSALM LXXVIII, 2—4. 
 
 " I WILI. UTTER DARK SAYINGS OF OLD : WHICH WE HAVE 
 HEARD AND KNOWN, AND OUR FATHERS HAVE TOI.D US. WE 
 
 wili. not hide them from their children. shewing to 
 the generations to come the praises of the lord and 
 His strength, and His wonderful works that Hk 
 
 HATH done." 
 
 To-day we assemble for the last time in this our 
 long accustomed place of worship. There are few pro- 
 bably belonging to this congregation, who are wholly 
 unaffected by the thought, that a spot so long the 
 scene of our religious solemnities, hallowed by the 
 prayers of so many among the venerated dead, and 
 rendered sacred by associations so solemn and tender 
 in the experience of many still among the living, is 
 about to be resigned into other hands, to be employed 
 for valuable but very difrerent purposes. Voluntarily 
 
14 
 
 indeed, at what seems a call of Providence, but with 
 no feelings of indifference, do we leave these vener- 
 able walls, these familiar pews, this endeared place 
 of our sacramental observances, this sacred desk. 
 Here many of you have been dedicated to God in 
 baptism, first listened to the public proclamations of 
 the gospel, became enlightened in the saving know- 
 ledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and openly espoused 
 his cause and professed his name. What wrestlings 
 in prayer have been here witnessed, what effusions 
 of the spirit received, what seasons of communion 
 enjoyed ? You have worshiped here with pastors, 
 parents, husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, 
 companions, friends, who were very lovely and pleas- 
 ant in their lives, but are now no more, having been 
 removed to the upper sanctuary. To some of ardent 
 sensibilities and fervid imaginations, "the very 
 stones seem to cry out of the wall, and the beam out 
 of the timber." These ceilings might seem to some 
 frescoed all over like the ceilings of the Vatican, only 
 here invisible to the eye of sense, with what has 
 been heard, felt, resolved, done within these courts. 
 The power of association ministers the warmth and 
 light, which bring out into distinct view the unper- 
 ceived writing of the memory. It is not surprising 
 that many of 3^ou take leave with solemn and tender 
 
If) 
 
 regret of a place rendered sacred by so many associa- 
 tions. It must be remembered however that these 
 are valuable, not on their own account, but because 
 of their relation to the end with reference to which 
 this principle has been implanted in the human con- 
 stitution. This power of association is a part of that 
 delicate mechanism, by which a wise Providence is 
 pleased to keep alive healthful impressions, for the 
 sake of their influence upon the character and destinv 
 of men. And the moment they are so cherished as 
 to interfere with their legitimate ends, an important 
 principle of our nature is perverted, and becomes a 
 savor of death unto death, instead of life unto life. 
 As long as this building is suited to promote the 
 ends for which it was erected, these associations tend 
 to further its design, and may render it more pleasant 
 and profitable to those who assemble here. But 
 when, for any reasons, it ceases to be suitable for this, 
 our still clinging to it merely because of such a.sso- 
 ciations, would become rather hurtful than profitable, 
 and convert our Bethel or House of God into a 
 Bethhaven or House of Vanity. Bowing therefore 
 to what seems a plain intimation of God's providence, 
 we have come this day to take our final leave. And 
 in .so doing, desiring to direct your meditations in 
 some congenial channel, I have thought tliat it might 
 
16 
 
 be both interesting and profitable, to spend these last 
 moments in reviewing the history of God's dealings 
 with the congregation, during its occupancy of this 
 sacred edifice. 
 
 It may be well however briefly to premise, that the 
 origin of this church, like that of most of the 
 churches, which came into existence in the earlier 
 periods of the history of this country, is involved in 
 some obscurit3\ Composed at first of very few 
 families, imperfectly organized, and worshiping, like 
 the primitive christians, in private houses and upper 
 rooms, they came very gradually into the form of 
 regularly constituted bodies. There seems to have 
 been quite earl}' a small band of Presbyterians, 
 sparsely scattered over this region. In the minutes 
 of the mother Presbytery in this country, there is a 
 record, under the date of September 21st, 17 15, to 
 this effect ; Mr. James Gordon having presented a 
 call from the people of Baltimore county in Maryland 
 to Mr. Hugh Conn, the Presbytery called for, con- 
 sidered and approved the said Mr. Conn's credentials, 
 and made arrangements for his ordination among the 
 abovesaid people. In 1740 Mr. Whitfield, after his 
 first visit through this region, says that he found a 
 close opposition from the Presbyterians in Baltimore. 
 In 1 75 1 Mr. (afterwards President) Davies sent Dr. 
 
17 
 
 Bellamy of New England, an account of an extraor- 
 dinary revival of religion about here, and says that 
 he learned that Mr. Whittlesey, a Presbyterian min- 
 ister, was about to settle in this region. Dr. William 
 L^'on, and at least some others who originally formed 
 this church, had then resided here some years. In 
 1760, as we learn from a manascript'*' in the posses- 
 sion of the Presbj^terian Historical Society, Donegal 
 Presb3'tery appointed Mr. John Steele to preach one 
 Sabbath in Baltimore. In 1761 Mr. Hector Alison 
 preached here several Sabbaths ; and application was 
 made by the Presbyterians of Baltimore town to the 
 Presbytery of New Castle on his behalf. But on 
 their sending a commission here in November, 1761, 
 it was judged that the proposals were so unsatis- 
 factory, that it was inexpedient to suifer such a call 
 to be placed in his hands. The congregation was 
 small, without a house of worship, and unable to 
 support a minister. Mr. Alison removed soon after 
 to Williamsburg, South Carolina, where he died. 
 As he had been ordained in 1746, he in all probability 
 had a family, which would render it more dithcult to 
 sustain him. 
 
 These facts make it evident, that previous to 1761 
 
 *This is one of the papers placed in the hands of Dr. Green by the C.ciuTal 
 Assembly for the purpose of preparing a history of the Presbyterian churcli. 
 
18 
 
 there was a small congregation ot Presb3^terians in 
 Baltimore, meeting together for public worship, 
 seeking and receiving supplies from the nearest 
 Presbyteries, and earnestly desiring a settled min- 
 istry'. Dr. Patrick Allison however, the first stated 
 minister of the church, considered the year 1761 as 
 the date of its more formal commencement. In a 
 brief history- of the congregation, which he prepared 
 by direction of the General Assembl)- and of the 
 Presbytery near the close of his ministr}^ — which has 
 been preserved and is in the possession of the Presby- 
 terian Historical Society — he sa3'S : "In 1 761 the 
 advantageous situation of the town of Baltimore, in- 
 duced a few Presbyterian families to remove here 
 from Pennsylvania, and these, with two or three 
 others of the same persuasion, who had emigrated 
 directly from Europe, formed themselves into a 
 religious societ3^ and had occasional supplies, assem- 
 bling in private houses, though liable to prosecution 
 on this account, as the province groaned under a 
 religious establishment." Among the original ones 
 was Dr. William Lyon, from the north of Ireland. 
 Among those said to have come from Pennsylvania, 
 were Messrs. John Smith and William Buchanan, 
 who removed here from Carlisle in 1761 ; and were 
 followed the next year by Messrs. William Smith 
 
39 
 
 and James Sterret, from Lancaster county ; and soon 
 after by Messrs. Mark Alexander, John Brown, Ben- 
 jamin Griffith, Robert Purviance, and Wm. Spear, 
 from different parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland ; 
 Drs. John and Henry Stephenson, from Ireland : and 
 Mr. Jonathan Plowman, from England. 
 
 In May, 1763, and again in August following, they 
 requested the Presbytery of Philadelphia to send Mr. 
 Patrick Allison to preach to them — their attention 
 having been directed to him, as I learned from the 
 late Robert Purviance, Esq., by some youth from 
 Baltimore, who were pursuing their studies in New- 
 ark Academy, where Mr. Allison was acting as tutor. 
 Although invited at the same time to become the 
 pastor of what was then a much larger church in 
 New Castle, Delaware, his prudent foresight led him 
 to express his preference to accept the call from this 
 church, to which accordingly the Presbytery sent 
 him, and in which he continued till his death in 1802. 
 Very soon after he came here, the congregation 
 leased (December 5th, 1763) two lots on Fayette 
 (then called East) street, in the rear of the edifice at 
 present occupied by Christ Church, on the corner of 
 Gay street. There they erected a small log church, 
 which in about two years was sold to Mr. Charles 
 Ridgely. About the time that I came to Baltimore 
 
20 
 
 (twenty-three years ago) it was used as a carpenter's 
 shop, which some now present no doubt remember — 
 one having himself worked in it. In March, 1765, 
 feeling the disadvantages of worshiping in so poor 
 and incommodious a building, they purchased a part 
 (eighty feet) of the present sight from Alexander 
 Lawson. In 1772 this was added to, the remaining 
 portion of the lot being leased from Andrew Buchanan 
 and afterwards purchased in fee. Here they erected 
 a plain brick church, forty-five feet long b}^ thirty- 
 five feet wide, containing thirty-six pews. The 
 building was completed in November, 1766, and all 
 the pews rented except two. In 1771 that building 
 was enlarged one-third, so as to contain more than 
 fifty pews. About eighteen years after this enlarge- 
 ment, (1789,) the congregation finding the house still 
 too strait for them, met together, and after some 
 deliberation resolved to erect the present edifice. It 
 was made ready for occupancy in 1791 ; and after 
 some time the portico and towers were added, and 
 the building was completed, then one of the largest 
 and finest church edifices in the country — an orna- 
 ment to the city, and a credit to the congregation. 
 
 The period from that date to the present time, em- 
 braces the history that I desire briefly to review, in 
 the hope of awakening our gratitude, deepening our 
 
21 
 
 sense of obligation, and constraining our more de- 
 voted consecration to the great purposes, for which 
 this building was erected, and in which it has been 
 so long, and we may hope not unprofitabh-. em- 
 ployed. With this view permit mc to direct your 
 attention to the period of the world in which it has 
 existed, the human instrumentalities with which it 
 has been favored, the divine blessings it has enjoyed, 
 and the services it has been enabled, under God, to 
 render to this communit}', to the country and to the 
 world. The theme is one of wide extent, and the 
 time, which it is proper to devote to this exercise, 
 will onh' permit me to glance cursorily at the topics, 
 \vhich have been suggested for your consideration. 
 
 I. Let us then first take a brief view of the period, 
 which had just dawned when this edifice was being 
 reared, with special reference to its bearing upon the 
 objects to which christian churches are devoted. 
 
 1. Then, if I mistake not, had the rights of man 
 come to be recognized, in the establishment of this 
 free government, with more distinctness than ever 
 before. The great struggle for civil and religious 
 liberty, which had been going on for ages, then 
 achieved a most remarkable success. The federal 
 
22 
 
 constitution had just been adopted and this new born 
 republic had commenced its career of unexampled 
 prosperity, affording the widest field for the great 
 mission of the christian church. 
 
 It has been said that winter, which seems so like 
 the death of nature, is in reality its birth — the 
 season when its buds and germs are insensibly and 
 mysteriously maturing for their bloom and fragrance 
 in the spring. So the period, which preceded the 
 colonization of this country, was the winter and 
 seemed to be the death of human liberties. But in 
 it were conceived those principles to which civiliza- 
 tion and freedom owe more than to any other. At 
 no previous time, in no other country, had the great 
 principles of civil and religious liberty been more 
 clearly developed, than in Great Britain during the 
 time of the Puritans. Those great events, which 
 marked the preceding century as one of the most 
 glorious in the history of the world, and which 
 roused christians from the long sleep of the middle 
 ages, had begun to work out their beneficent results 
 and to put a new aspect on society. The revival of 
 letters through the influence of Grecian scholars, who 
 were dispersed over Europe on the fall of the Eastern 
 Empire — the introduction of that new and better 
 method of investigation, whose exposition has made 
 
Bacon's name so illustrious — the perfection of the 
 compass, opening new fields of discovery, and in- 
 creasing the facilities of intercourse between dis- 
 tant nations — the invention of gunpowder, which has 
 changed the whole art of war by putting into the 
 hands of genius and skill a power to resist brute 
 force, thus affording right a protection against mere 
 might — the invention of printing, by which know- 
 ledge was diffused and made common property — the 
 reformation of the sixteenth century, in which indi- 
 vidual responsibility, the right and dut}^ of private 
 judgment, were asserted and established, involving 
 the germ of equal rights, and the true foundation of 
 self government — these great events, to which human 
 civilization owes so much, had not only taken place, 
 but had brought forth their first fruits. 
 
 The Presbyterian body, with which we are con- 
 nected was among the last of the religious denomina- 
 tions, that obtained a distinct and permanent settle- 
 ment in the countr3\ The persecutions which drove 
 so many of the earlier colonists to these shores, fell 
 first upon the Independents, the Quakers and the 
 Catholics. The Presbj'terian, being the established 
 Church of Scotland, was not directly molested by 
 James after he ascended the English throne. And 
 w^hen, in the reign of his infatuated son. the attempt 
 
24 
 
 to accomplish its overthrow was made, it led to a 
 protracted struggle, which continually encouraged 
 hopes of the success, with which it was eventually 
 crowned. When the earlier colonists emigrated, the 
 agitations out of which came those principles that 
 received so glorious a development in the time of the 
 commonwealth, had but just commenced. The later 
 colonists were retained in a school, in which these 
 great principles of civil and religious liberty, although 
 by dear bought lessons, were more effectual!}^ taught. 
 And thus was there a more complete preparation for 
 asserting them in our Declaration of Independence. 
 I need not dwell upon the progress and glorious 
 issue of that revolutionar}^ struggle. When this 
 church was erected, that w^ar had closed, the inde- 
 pendence of the countr}^ was acknowledged, the Fed- 
 eral constitution was adopted, and the freest people 
 on the face of the earth were launched on a career of 
 prosperity and glory, of which the world has wit- 
 nessed no equal example. " The political system of 
 Europe was indeed, as has been said, just plunging 
 into a state of frightful disintegration. The reigns 
 of the olde'st monarchies were slipping, besmeared 
 with blood, from the hands of the descendant of 
 thirty generations of kings. But although the United 
 States were drawn at first, to some extent, into the 
 
outer circles of the terrific maelstrom, they soon 
 escaped and continued safely on their course."* And 
 from this time has the country afforded one the most 
 favored fields for the enjoyment and promotion of 
 religion, to be found on the earth. 
 
 2. Then too had just commenced the age of the 
 greatest improvements in everything pertaining to the 
 material interests of societ}'. In no similar period 
 have science and art made such advances, more 
 especially in the direction of human comfort and 
 well being. Almost ceasing to be pursued as mere 
 matters of speculation, curiosity, or intellectual grat- 
 ification, they had begun to be studied and practiced 
 with more indefatigable assiduit}^ with reference to 
 the great practical purposes of life — relieving human 
 drudgery and multiplying human comforts. So that 
 it has come to pass that no investigation in science is 
 so recondite, no speculation in philosophy is so dar- 
 ing, that we do not expect from it some useful prac- 
 tical result, some new power over matter, some valu- 
 able accession to human welfare. Every natural law 
 and agency has been put into .requisition ; the wind, 
 the waves, steam, electricity, magnetism, have all 
 been harnessed to the car of improvement and made to 
 
 * Edward Everett. 
 
26 
 
 work for man, propelling his machines, manufactur- 
 ing his food and fabrics, transporting his merchan- 
 dise, transmitting his messages, and diffusing know- 
 ledge. The productions of human industry, the 
 achievements of human enterprise have thus been 
 increased ten thousand fold ; the necessaries, the 
 comforts, and the luxuries of life have been greatly 
 cheapened. So that the laborer can now live, eat, 
 dress and move about, better than princes of former 
 centuries, and at the same time redeem leisure for 
 mental and moral improvement. The average dura- 
 tion of human life too has been not inconsiderably 
 lengthened by the advancements that have been made 
 in the science of medicine, the improvements that 
 have been brought about in political economy, and 
 the increase that has taken place in the comforts of 
 living. And while man has been relieved from so 
 much of the drudgery of toil, knowledge has been 
 increased, not only by the discoveries of science, but 
 also by multiplying the means of education in com- 
 mon schools, by cheapening books and newspapers, 
 awakening inquiry and diffusing intelligence. At 
 the same time remote Continents and separated people 
 have been brought into closer proximity. For, 
 while the distances on the globe are the same at this 
 day as at the creation of the world, the facilities of 
 
27 
 
 communication have brought Europe, Asia and 
 Africa virtually as near to this country now, as its 
 present extremities were to each other two centuries 
 ago. When then we consider that it is the great 
 object of the church to raise man to his true dignity, 
 happiness and glory, through the gospel of Christ, 
 and to extend the Redeemer's kingdom throughout 
 the world, is it not a privilege to have existed, as a 
 congregation, during a period in which such material 
 facilities have been afforded for its proper work. 
 
 3. To this we may add that the period, when this 
 church was erected, introduced an era, especially in 
 this countr}', of very gracious revivals of religion. 
 " In the year 1792," says Dr. Griffin, "commenced 
 that series of general revivals, which has greatly dis- 
 tinguished the American churches and has never 
 been entirely interrupted, and may we not hope from 
 present indications, never will be till the whole earth 
 is filled with the glory of the Lord." Seasons of 
 special religious awakening date indeed as far back 
 as the days of Seth, and may be traced through those 
 of Joshua, Josiah, Ezra, John the Baptist, Pentecost, 
 the Reformation, and the revival in the first half of 
 the last century in connection with the labors of the 
 Wesleys and Whitfield. The}- seem to have consti- 
 
28 
 
 tuted the divine method of promoting religion under 
 different dispensations in all ages. These however 
 were widely separated eras. 
 
 After the last of these great awakenings, which 
 proved so great a blessing to this country as well as 
 to Great Britain, an unusual decline in religion had 
 manifestly taken place. From the year 1745 to that 
 of 1792, the Hol}^ Spirit withheld, in a great measure, 
 his general copious influences. The fifty years, that 
 followed that season of refreshing, were 5^ears of war 
 and civil commotion in this land ; first, by reason of 
 the conflict of twenty years between France and 
 England for the ascendancy on this continent ; then, 
 of the struggle of the colonies for independence ; and 
 lastly, of the unsettled state of the public mind, 
 which preceded the adoption of the federal constitu- 
 tion. 
 
 These causes, in connection with the constant 
 anxiety produced b}' the incursions of hostile In- 
 dians, and the toils and hardships incident to the 
 settlement of a new country, kept the minds of the 
 great mass of this people so agitated, that religion 
 was almost overlooked and forgotten, and Zion lan- 
 guished. The crimes and vices, which everywhere 
 prevailed, the dissipation, profaneness. Sabbath dese- 
 cration and infidelity, which camp-life, in connection 
 
29 
 
 with French influence, engendered, together with the 
 destitutions and wants of the new settlements, in- 
 duced however the deepest solicitude and a spirit of 
 fervent pra5^er among christians. Like Israel, at the 
 Red Sea, the}' were driven to cry mightily unto God. 
 And the fruit of all this was soon seen in extensive 
 revivals of religion, which have continued to charac- 
 terize the country and to be known, as American 
 revivals, throughout the christian world. Their his- 
 tor}' \ye have not time now to trace : and it is suffi- 
 cient for our present purpose to note the interesting 
 fact, that just when God in his gracious providence 
 was introducing this new era, the edifice in which 
 we now worship for the last time, was erected. It 
 has therefore existed through a period more distin- 
 guished in this respect than any other of equal extent 
 in the whole history- of the world. 
 
 ■4. Lastly, and most intimately connected with 
 this feature of the period we have just considered, 
 we may notice that the time, when this church was 
 built, w^as also the introduction of an era of active 
 christian benevolence. While the committee of this 
 congregation were planning with anxious solicitude 
 this then expensive edifice, Carey, Fuller, and others 
 in England were conferring, in the face of ignorance, 
 
30 
 
 prejudice, bigotry and mammon, about the formation 
 of one of the earliest of those benevolent institutions 
 which have distinguished modern christian charity, 
 and now cover the whole face of Protestant Christen- 
 dom. Previous to that time, missionar}^ bible, tract 
 Sunday school and other kindred institutions, were 
 comparativel}^ unknown ; the aggressive character of 
 Christianity had been almost entirely undeveloped ; 
 the church seemed to have sunk into the profoundest 
 slumber in regard to the extent of her great commis- 
 sion. In the year 1793, commenced that severe 
 struggle in the British Parliament, in which the 
 practical wisdom of Grant and Fuller, the burning 
 eloquence of Wilberforce, and the indefatigable per- 
 severance of Carey and others contended for the right 
 to seek the christianizing of India, and which tri- 
 umphed so gloriousl}^ in the year 18 13. Since then 
 these enterprizes have multiplied so greatly, that 
 every christian country and every christian sect, has 
 its various organizations in active operation for the 
 conversion of the world to Christ. A lively christian 
 interest has been awakened — christian liberalit}' has 
 been developed — an extensive acquaintance with 
 heathen nations has been acquired — prejudices against 
 this christian work have been removed — partition 
 walls have been broken down — sealed empires have 
 
31 
 
 been opened to the gospel — access to the remotest 
 tribes has been gained — the bible has been translated 
 into numerous languages — missionaries of the cross 
 have been sent to various countries — and facilities for 
 fulfilling the Saviour's last command, such as had 
 hardly been conceived of since the days of the 
 Apostles, have been improved. 
 
 Such are some of the features of the era that was 
 introduced when this church was erected. May we 
 not see in them cause for profound gratitude on the 
 part of this congregation ? 
 
 II. Let us then turn in the next place to contem- 
 plate the human instruments with which, in the 
 providence of God, the church has been favored for 
 meeting the emergencies of its destined mission 
 during this period. 
 
 They may be viewed in connection with the several 
 pastorates in which were developed successively, in 
 this particular congregation, the several character- 
 istics of the age to which we have been adverting. 
 
 1. The first was in connection with the ministry 
 of Dr. Allison. When he came to this church, Bal- 
 timore contained not more than thirty houses. From 
 the time when Mr. Fleming's farm of sixty acres was 
 laid out by legislative grant as a town, till the adop- 
 
32 
 
 tion of the federal constitution, it did not seem to 
 flourish; and that notwithstanding Braddock's defeat, 
 rendering the Indians more lawless, had driven many 
 of the scattered population of the interior into the 
 towns for protection, and a considerable body of 
 French neutrals had sought refuge here from Nova 
 Scotia, when it was taken by the British. At the 
 commencement of the revolution it was still a village 
 of not more than five thousand inhabitants. And 
 even at the close of that struggle, notwithstanding a 
 spirit of considerable enterprise, it contained only 
 about eight thousand. When Dr. Allison died, it 
 had become the third city of the union in magnitude; 
 and this church, which arose from five or six families, 
 one of the most flourishing congregations in the land. 
 Of this gratifying growth Dr. Allison and his 
 respected associates were permitted to be the hon- 
 ored agents. It affords me great pleasure, after 
 having carefully reviewed their public spirited, self- 
 denying, efficient and judicious labors, to hold them 
 up to your veneration and gratitudes as the founders 
 of this church — the instruments by whom it was 
 brought to its highest outward prosperity.* 
 
 * The members of the Committee during this period were Messrs. John 
 Stevenson, John Smith, William Lyon, Wm. Buchanan, William Smith, 
 James Sterret, William Spear, Jonathan Plowman, Dr. Alexander Stenhouse, 
 
33 
 
 The character of the men, and the spirit that actu- 
 ated them may be seen in the report made by the 
 committee to the congregation, on becoming settled 
 in this building in which they give a detailed history 
 of the administration of its secular affairs, during the 
 time it had been managed by them. From this it 
 appears that, during this period of a little more than 
 twenty-eight years, two church edifices, besides the 
 original log building, had been erected, one of them 
 had been enlarged, a parsonage had been built, the 
 lots for these buildings and one for a burial ground 
 had been purchased, the annual salaries had been 
 collected with unusual accuracy, inferior expenses 
 had been defraj^ed without applying to the congrega- 
 tion or to the public fund, and the temporalities of 
 the congregation brought into the most flourishing 
 state. For this they disclaimed any personal credit, 
 ascribing it all to the great body of the people. And 
 then, after stating that onl}'^ one of their number 
 had remained a member of the committee from first 
 to last, they add, " should it be now alleged that the 
 
 John Boyd, Samuel Purviaiice, John Little. Samuel Brown, James Callioun, 
 Robert Purviance, William Neill, Hugh Young, John Sterrot, David Stewart. 
 Nathaniel Smith, Joseph Donaldson, Robert Gilmor, William Patterson, 
 Christopher Johnson, Stephen Wilson, John Swan, Col. Samuel Smith and 
 Dr. Brown. 
 
 * This was Mr. William Smith, who served on the committee from 17G4 
 to 1814. 
 
34 
 
 individuals of our body have acted improperly, and 
 might have their places better supplied; should it be 
 feared, in these days of commendable jealousj^ for the 
 rights of man, that the institution itself is defective 
 and ought to be altered; * * should the society, for 
 these or other reasons, desire to introduce a new 
 system and to employ other agents, they have an 
 unquestionable authority. As members of the 
 church, a connection we value more than being mem- 
 bers of the committee, we declare our readiness to 
 consult, advise and act with our brethren in a con- 
 gregational capacity on whatever plan may be pro- 
 posed for accomplishing the great design for which 
 we have voluntarily joined ourselves together in a 
 christian assembl}', not questioning but the harmony, 
 candor and mutual forbearance we have heretofore 
 enjoyed will continue, and prove no less honorable 
 to our reputation than auspicious to our affairs." 
 These were pre-eminently the men for the times. 
 Nor should it ever be forgotten, that all that we have 
 since enjoyed as a congregation, we owe under God 
 to their noble, self-sacrificing, successful labors. 
 May this people never prove recreant to their princi- 
 ples, nor unworth}^ of their fame. 
 
 Dr. Allison was a pastor worthy of such a congre- 
 gation and committee. Coming here in early j^outh. 
 
35 
 
 with distinguished talents, accurate and extensive 
 culture, a firm friend of learning and order, zealous 
 for civil and religious libert}', but eminentl}^ conserv- 
 ative, he acquired, during a period of nearl}- forty 
 years, a reputation and influence second to no other 
 in the community. As a preacher, he was rather 
 didactic and argumentative than rhetorical. His 
 sermons were addressed to the understanding more 
 than to the passions. Although he read closely, 
 and his manner was not animated, his style was 3'et 
 so chaste, lucid and nervous, that his discourses 
 always awakened attention and interest. It was 
 however in his aptness for public business that he 
 stood especially pre-eminent. From the origin of 
 the Presb3^tery of Baltimore he was a leading member 
 of that body, being its moderator during the first 
 seven years, and taking a prominent part in every 
 important measure. In the higher judicatories of 
 the church he exerted no less commanding influence. 
 Coming upon the stage with the most distinguished 
 lights that have adorned the annals of our church — 
 the Tenants, Gillespie, Bostwick, Davies, Blair, Rog- 
 ers, Ewing, Witherspoon, Nisbet and others — men re- 
 nowned for learning, piety and influence, he undoubt- 
 edly, sa3^s Dr. Miller, held the first rank of American 
 clergy. For the perspicuity, correctness, sound reas- 
 
36 
 
 oning and masculine eloquence of his speeches in 
 ecclesiastical assemblies, he was long admired and 
 had scarcely an equal. Dr. Stanhope Smith, presi- 
 dent of Princeton College, pronounced him the ablest 
 statesman in our General Assembly. And the gen- 
 eral estimate in which he was held by the church at 
 large, is clearly evinced by the important duties that 
 were assigned to him. When after the revolution 
 measures were taken for establishing the Presbyterian 
 church in this country on its present basis, he was 
 made a member of almost every committee appointed 
 to conduct the business, viz. that to arrange the sev- 
 eral judicatories — that to revise our public stan- 
 dards — that to mature a system of discipline and 
 government — and that on psalmody. The same 
 talent for managing affairs that he displayed in the 
 church, was also manifested in his relations as a 
 public spirited citizen. He was one of the original 
 founders of the Baltimore College and the Baltimore 
 Library, and united in the earliest efforts here made 
 to establish schools. Trained too in revolutionary 
 times, he was an ardent friend of civil and religious 
 liberty. The only writings that he ever printed, 
 were a funeral discourse on Washington, and some 
 able newspaper articles published over the signature, 
 "Vindex," (which were subsequently printed in a 
 
37 
 
 pamphlet,) against what he regarded as an attempt 
 of a sister denomination to be recognized as having 
 a legal relation to the state.* 
 
 Earh- in 1800, Dr. Allison's health began to fail. 
 He became much depressed in spirits ; so much so that 
 he was induced to appl}' to Presbytery for permission 
 to resign his charge and demit his office. To this 
 the congregation was opposed, and urging him to 
 suspend his labors and seek a restoration of his 
 ^health, offered to secure for him an assistant. The 
 Presbytery therefore recommended him to withdraw 
 his resignation. But although his health was tem- 
 porarily recruited, he soon relapsed into a deeper 
 depression, and died August 21st, 1802. t 
 
 In the previous month of February, Dr. Inglis 
 was elected as assistant pastor, by a small majority 
 
 * Governor Paca had recommended to the Lejjislature, to make some 
 provision for the support of religion, and an application to that body was 
 regarded by Dr. Allison, as an attempt to have the Episcopal, which had 
 been the established church, still recognized as holding a special relation to 
 the state. 
 
 t The committee met as soon as the melancholy event was made known, 
 and adopted measures suited to the occasion. It was arranged that he 
 should be interred in the Western burial ground, at the expense of the con- 
 gregation, at 4 o'clock on the next afternoon, which was the Sabbath ; and 
 the clergy of the city were invited to attend as pall bearers. The churches 
 generally were closed, and the ministers of the various denominations were 
 present. It was also resolved to erect a suitable monument in the church as 
 a memorial of the veneration and esteem in which this its first pastor was 
 held. Dr. Inglis preached a funeral sermon on the next Sabbath. 
 
38 
 
 over Dr. Glendy, who was then settled in or near 
 Staunton, Va.* 
 
 2. The second period in the history of the church, 
 which was principally in connection with the pastor- 
 ate of Dr. Inglis, was that after it had attained its 
 maturity and was firmly established as an able and 
 influential congregation. It was a period of great 
 outward prosperity. We have traced the slow and 
 gradual growth of the cit}^ and congregation, through 
 many difficulties and discouragements, to the time 
 when this edifice was erected. After the revolution, 
 the Federal Constitution being adopted, and the 
 national debt funded, public and private confidence 
 was restored, and commerce revived. Commercial 
 houses from Holland, Hamburg and Bremen were 
 soon established here, and rapidly drew nearly all 
 the tobacco trade of the state, which had been pre- 
 
 * At a previous election, in December, 1801, Dr. Archibald Alexander, sub- 
 sequently professor of didactic theology in the Theological Seminary at 
 Princeton, N. J., was chosen. He had been on a tour through New England, 
 and on his return to Virginia, passed a Sabbath in Baltimore, with his friend, 
 Mr. Priestly, and preached in the pulpit. It being understood however that 
 a considerable minority was opposed to him, under the impression that his 
 views on the subject of discipline were stricter and more rigid than those 
 to which they had been accustomed, he declined. 
 
 Dr. Inglis graduated at Columbia College, New York, and entered the 
 office of Alexander Hamilton, as a student of law. At the close of the three 
 years term of study he was admitted to the bar. But in the course of a year 
 he abandoned that profession, and commenced the study of theology, under 
 Dr. Rodgers, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New York, in 1801. 
 
:30 
 
 viously carried on, to a great extent, by wealthy 
 planters from their own landings, like Elk Ridge 
 Landing. Flour too was so largely exported to the 
 West Indies, that Baltimore became one of the 
 largest flour markets in the world, as it is now one 
 of the most important. 
 
 The location was peculiarly favorable to com- 
 merce, presenting the nearest market to the western 
 country, which was then gradually filling up, and 
 concentrating a great proportion of the trade of the 
 Chesapeake. The geological features of the coun- 
 try around these head waters of the bay were found, 
 moreover, most admirably adapted to the employ- 
 ment of water power. The streams running into the 
 Chesapeake at this point are numerous, and as the 
 country gradually rises in successive ridges, the 
 waters fall rapidly in their progress to the bay. So 
 remarkably is this the case in this neighborhood, 
 that several of the principal streams were denom- 
 inated b}^ the fx ■ t settlers Falls; as Jones' Falls, 
 Gw^ynn's Falls, 6 c. It has been asserted that there 
 is no equal space of ground in the United States that 
 has more natural water power, united with so many 
 local facilities, as the circle of thirt\' miles radius 
 about Baltimore. From the Potomac to the Gulf of 
 Mexico there are very few in comparison ; and this 
 
40 
 
 is true, to a great extent, throughout the West.* 
 
 In connection with this advantage of location, we 
 ma}' notice that in 1793, when the revolution in St. 
 Domingo took place, many of the inhabitants fled 
 from the Island, and fifty-three vessels arrived in 
 Baltimore, on the 9th of July, with one thousand 
 white, and five hundred colored inhabitants; and in 
 the next three months nearly as many more. This 
 proved highly advantageous, not only by the acces- 
 sion of such a number of active, industrious people, 
 but by opening up an almost exclusive trade with 
 that island when its commerce was very profitable. 
 It led also to a very important carrying trade with 
 the other West India islands. Europe being involved 
 in a protracted war, this whole country, freed from 
 entangling alliances, enjoyed very great prosperity. 
 The southern situation of Baltimore, and its possess- 
 ing an abundance of the staple commodities for the 
 West India market, gave it uncommon facilities for 
 this trade. Ship building, in which the Baltimore 
 artisans had become peculiarly adept — constructing 
 a class of fast sailing clipper vessels — attained great 
 importance, and with this all the common branches 
 
 * (jeneral Harper stated that a semi-circle of twenty miles radius, of which 
 Baltimore is the centre, contains suflicient water power to employ a million of 
 looms. — N. A. Review, 1825 ; from which some of these statements have been 
 taken. 
 
41 
 
 of business flourished, adding very much to the 
 growth and wealth of the city. And even when, 
 after the peace of Amiens, in 1801, the commerce of 
 the country was very fluctuating — the continental 
 system putting a severe check upon neutral trade — 
 her fast sailing vessels afforded peculiar advantages 
 to this port for a traffic w^hich, from its very difficulty, 
 was exceedingly lucrative. This state of things 
 continued, with the exception of the time of the 
 blockade of the Chesapeake, till near the year 181 8. 
 During this period the city grew with a rapidity 
 almost unequalled. Inhabitants came in from Eng- 
 land, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Holland, New Eng- 
 land, the Middle and Southern States with a spirit of 
 enterprise, which gave the greatest impulse to every 
 branch of business. The population increased from 
 1790 to 1800, from thirteen to thirty-six thousand; 
 and in 181 8 to sixty thousand. Real estate advanced, 
 turnpikes were built, banking was expanded, and a 
 spirit of reckless excess was engendered, which 
 resulted in one of those wide spread revulsions, 
 which have, on various occasions since, so desolated 
 the country. Previous to this however the church 
 had become thoroughly consolidated and enjoyed 
 most remarkable outward prosperity. The colony, 
 which went out on the election of Dr. Inglis and, 
 
42 
 
 erecting the Second Church, called Dr. Glendy, was 
 large and respectable. But the vacancies thus made 
 were soon filled, and the congregation continued 
 eminently prosperous. In 1811 an organ was intro- 
 duced into the church, which at first gave some dis- 
 satisfaction, but it soon passed away, although one 
 or two valuable families left the church. 
 
 The old parsonage which stood on Fayette street, 
 east of the church, was removed for the opening of 
 North street, which was previously an alley, and a 
 new one was erected on North street, in the rear of 
 the church. Dr. Inglis however did not live to 
 occupy it. 
 
 During this season of remarkable outward pros- 
 perity the spiritual interests were not overlooked, 
 although the church enjoyed no such revivals as dis- 
 tinguished the succeeding pastorate. "Measures how- 
 ever were adopted that helped much, under God, to 
 prepare the way for these favored seasons. 
 
 In 1804 the church was for the first time regularly 
 organized, according to the provisions of the Form 
 of Government of the Presbyterian Church in the 
 United States, by the election of Messrs. Robert 
 Purviance, David Stewart, Christopher Johnston, 
 George Salmon and Ebenezer Finley, as ruling 
 
43 
 
 elders.* From this time the spiritual interests of 
 the church seem to have gradually improved. There 
 were indeed many causes operating powerfully to 
 interfere with the progress of vital piet}'. Never 
 was the tendency to infidelity stronger in our coun- 
 
 * In 1781 the following entry is found in the Records of the Committee: 
 " The peculiar circumstances of our Society, at its first formation, especially 
 the small number able and willing to discharge public trusts therein, obliged 
 some persons to fill different employments, in the capacity of both what 
 are called elders and deacons or committee men. But our respectable estab- 
 lishment and happy increase now furnish means of removing this inconven- 
 ience. Be it therefore remembered that the following gentlemen, Dr. Wil- 
 liam Lyon, John Smith, William Buchanan, and James Sterret, who, origi- 
 nally acted in both these characters, being previously chosen by the congre- 
 gation, agree to serve under the former (that of elders) alone. And it is 
 agreed that persons be introduced into the committee after notice and by 
 election. 
 
 In 1804 we find another volume of records, (that of the session,) opening as 
 follows: "Be it known, that Messrs. Robert Purviance, David Stewart, 
 Christopher Johnston, and George Salmon, having been previously elected 
 to the office of the Eldership in the First Presbyterian Congregation in the 
 City of Baltimore, were, on the first day of April, 1804, solemnly ordained 
 and set apart to said office according to the provisions of Chapter xii, ' Form 
 of Government of the Presbyterian Church." And at the same time, Eben- 
 ezer Finley (previously an elder in Pennsylvania^ was also elected." Rec- 
 ords of Session. 
 
 In 1802 the subject of the full organization of the churches under its care 
 had been introduced into Presbytery, and a pastoral letter adopted urging 
 upon the churches the election and ordination of elders. Previous to this 
 but few of the churches in this region seem to have had regularly ordained 
 ruling elders, or to have kept any sessional lecords. The delegates that had 
 been sent from this church to Presbytery and Synod, were simply trustees, 
 unordained representatives of the congregation ; nor were any sessional 
 records kept previous to 1804. ".About this time," says Dr. Muir \u his 
 brief account of the Presbytery, "we have at last fallen into a degree of 
 order, and our churches are organized according to the directions of our 
 Form of Government. None of late have been ordained by us who have not 
 at the same time been installed, and steps have been taken to instruct our 
 people in forms of discipline and government, as practiced by our church." 
 
44 
 
 try, than when Dr. Inglis entered upon his ministry 
 in this church. The public morals had been very 
 much unsettled by the revolutionar}^ war; French 
 writings had become very popular; and infidelity 
 was considered fashionable. In 1799 the General 
 Assembly uttered its testimony against the prevailing 
 coldness and irreligion in a pastoral letter. Chris- 
 tians were constrained to renewed exertions for the 
 preservation and promotion of vital religion. The 
 result was seen in extensive revivals, which were 
 extending throughout the Presbj^terian church dur- 
 ing the whole of Dr. Inglis' ministry. And 
 although this congregation was not then visited by 
 an3^ season of special awakening, the preparations 
 for such a blessing may be clearly traced. 
 
 In 1809 we find the first account, in the Presbyter- 
 ial minutes, of a free conversation on the state of 
 religion. The subject of pastoral visitation and the 
 religious instruction of the young began to engage 
 more serious consideration. A growing attention to 
 spiritual religion is clearly perceptible. In 18 14 
 Messrs. James Mosher, Thomas Finley, David Bois- 
 seau and Dr. Maxwell McDowell were ordained 
 elders. The session, agreeably to a recommendation 
 of Presbytery, resolved to commence a Register of 
 Baptisms. And in this year, for the first time, appli- 
 
45 
 
 cants for admission to the church appeared before 
 the session, and on being received had their names 
 recorded. From this time too the Lord's Supper 
 was administered four times a year instead of twice, 
 as had been the case previously. The Presbyterial 
 report of the state of religion within its bounds 
 states that public worship is better attended in all 
 the churches, a greater sense of religion prevails, 
 family worship is more generally practiced, infidelity 
 is less openly avowed, the catechism is universally 
 taught and meetings for social prayer have been 
 established. We also find the following minute in 
 our sessional records : " The session having frequent 
 occasion to remark the auspicious bearing of meetings 
 for social prayer upon the religious state of Presby- 
 terian, as well as other congregations, deem it exped- 
 ient to attempt the institution and maintenance of 
 such associations, and also that the pastor be author- 
 ized to express the sense of the session on this and 
 similar means of quickening the people in religion." 
 In 1815 a weekly lecture was instituted, being conduct- 
 ed by the pastor on every Wednesday evening, in the 
 church, there being then no lecture or session room. 
 About the same time Mrs. Stephen Williams, then a 
 member of St. Peter's church, having during a visit 
 to Philadelphia witnessed the happy effects of Sab- 
 
46 
 
 bath Schools, was the means of introducing them 
 into Baltimore. The first was commenced by the 
 ladies of St. Peter's church, which was soon followed 
 by one under the care of the ladies of this church, 
 which was held for some time in a room over the 
 engine house in McClellan's alley, and with it was 
 connected a weekly meeting for social prayer. 
 
 In December, 1817, when the spiritual prospects 
 of the church were becoming increasingly promising, 
 Dr. Inglis solicited the Presbytery to dissolve his 
 pastoral relation to the First Presbyterian. Church in 
 Baltimore, for reasons which he assigned. The 
 Presbytery resolved that, if the congregation con- 
 sented, the request should be granted, but if they 
 refused, the congregation should be cited to appear 
 by commissioners and show cause why they would 
 not consent. In consequence of this resolution. Dr. 
 Inglis called a meeting of the congregation, Dec. 
 12th, 1 81 7, to take his request and the resolution of 
 Presbytery into consideration. At this meeting a 
 committee was appointed to wait upon the pastor, to 
 ascertain his reasons for the request. This commit- 
 tee reported, as the result of an interview, that Dr. 
 Inglis had consented to continue their pastor, if the 
 congregation so desired, which desire was at once 
 expressed by an almost unanimous vote. 
 
47 
 
 At the same meeting it was determined to elect a 
 new bench of elders, and to make the election of 
 these officers annual, as in some of the Reformed 
 churches. The adoption of this plan, which, al- 
 though not necessaril}^ a departure from sound Pres- 
 byterianism, is nevertheless contrary to the constitu- 
 tion of our branch of the Presbyterian body, caused 
 a w^arm discussion in Presbyter}-. That bod}' passed 
 over the irregularity, but the Synod centured the 
 Presb3'ter3' for so doing. And the congregation never 
 carried out the resolution to elect annually. 
 
 Dr. Inglis died suddenly on Sabbath morning, 
 August 15th, 1819. He was one of the most distin- 
 guished popular preachers of his day. "He was 
 largely gifted," says Mr. Jonathan Meredith, "with 
 many of the essential elements of oratorical power. 
 His voice was full, clear, and capable of great varie- 
 ties of modulation. His enunciation was deliberate 
 and distinct, his action subdued but graceful, always 
 appropriate and seemingly unstudied. His whole 
 manner was eminently dignified and impressive. 
 He was accounted a sound theologian, a good classi- 
 cal scholar, and familiar with the best English liter- 
 ature. "^ * He usually preached with his sermon 
 before him, but did not confine himself to it, the 
 most striking and eloquent passages being evidently 
 
48 
 
 extemporaneous." His style was exceedingly con- 
 cise, but clear and elegant. Dr. Dwight spoke of 
 him to his class in rhetoric, as the most signal 
 instance of precision in style that he had ever 
 met. He possessed in a pre-eminent degree the 
 talent of so managing his voice and action, as to pro- 
 duce the most profound impressions with the sim- 
 plest sentence. Those who were accustomed to 
 hear him testify that no adequate conception can be 
 formed of the effect of his preaching from his pub- 
 lished discourses. Dr. Sprague represents him as one 
 of the most eloquent preachers to whom he had ever 
 listened. Anecdotes are related of his eloquence 
 which seem almost incredible. In private intercourse 
 he was cheerful, affable, and eminently agreeable. 
 He shone in conversation, and was full of amusing 
 anecdotes. In the sick room he was extremelj^ ten- 
 der and faithful, and peculiarly appropriate and 
 happy in devotional exercises. Such indeed was his 
 general character, such his power of attracting and 
 influencing others, that the devotion of his people 
 amounted almost to idolatry. The application to 
 Presbytery to dissolve his pastoral relation, which 
 cast a shade over the last days of his ministry, never 
 interrupted for a moment the affection of the congre- 
 gation. 
 
49 
 
 The temporal affairs of the church during Dr. 
 Inglis' ministry were eminentl}' prosperous. In 
 addition to those members of the committee who 
 survived Dr. Allison, Col. Strieker, Messrs. Geo. 
 Salmon, James McHenry, Amos Williams, and others 
 who will come under subsequent notice, took an 
 active part in their management. The social posi- 
 tion, the political influence, and the commercial 
 standing of these gentlemen gave to the congregation 
 under their administration the greatest weight in the 
 community. 
 
 3. The third period of the church, which was dur- 
 ing the ministr}- of Dr. Nevins, may be character- 
 ized as that of gracious revival. 
 
 The rapid growth, the unexampled prosperit}^ of 
 Baltimore during the period we have just reviewed, 
 led, as has often been the case, to that excessive 
 banking and over-trading, which soon involved the 
 community in one of those great commercial revul- 
 sions which spread devastation and distress so widely 
 over the land. This happened in 1818, not long 
 before the death of Dr. Inglis. The value of real 
 estate was greatly reduced, and the aspect of the 
 city is said to have given evident marks of decline. 
 This no doubt had its influence in the wise overrul- 
 
50 
 
 ing of divine providence, as we have seen a similar 
 state of things recently, in impressing the minds of 
 men with a sense of the vanity of the world, and the 
 importance of eternal interests, and thus in prepar- 
 ing the way for those gracious visitations, that dis- 
 tinguished the period we are now considering. 
 
 Before the consequences of that commercial revul- 
 sion had entirely passed away, Dr. Nevins was elected 
 the third pastor of this congregation.* During the first 
 years of his ministry here there was nothing remark- 
 able in the results of his labors. Possessing a bril- 
 
 =^= The church continued vacant for about one year after Dr. Inglis' death. 
 During that time the attention of the congregation was directed to several 
 promising preachers, who had just entered the ministry. Among these were 
 the Rev. Sylvester Larned, Rev. Matthew Bruen and Rev. William Nevins. 
 The predilections of the respective friends of these gentlemen were very 
 strong, and the first election lasted two days. At length the choice fell upon 
 Mr. Larned, then recently settled in New Orleans. Mr. Larned was highly 
 gratified with the call, but promptly yielded to what he regarded the claims 
 of duty, and signified his refusal. He had been stationed in New Orleans by 
 the voice of the church. A large and promising congregation had been gath- 
 ered there by his eloquence, faithfulness and piety. And his brethren and 
 fathers in the ministry felt, that his abandoning the enterprize at that 
 critical juncture, would peril its success. He, therefore, stood firmly to his 
 post and became a martyr to duty, falling a victim to the climate, universally 
 lamented as one of the most promising and eloquent ministers ever raised up 
 in the Presbyterian church. On the second election, Mr. Nevins was chosen 
 pastor of the congregation by a large majority, and became the instrument 
 of the most important spiritual blessing to the church. He was born in 
 Norwich, Ct., October 17th, 1797. At an early age he applied himself to 
 commercial pursuits, but soon abandoned them for a liberal education, and 
 entered Yale College, where he became hopefully converted. On leaving 
 college he entered the Theological Seminary, at Princeton, N. J., and after 
 the regular course of study, was licensed to preach the gospel by the Asso- 
 ciation of New London, Ct., September, 1819. He labored a short time in 
 Richmond, Va., and settled in Baltimore, October, 1820. 
 
51 
 
 liant imagination, a sound judgment, a refined taste, 
 warm affections and an ardent temperament, his 
 pulpit performances attracted general admiration and 
 proved highl}' gratifying to an intelligent congrega- 
 tion. In his social jntercourse there was a frankness 
 and guilelessness, a read}- sympathy with others, 
 that rapidl}^ endeared him to all classes of his flock. 
 A somewhat variable temperament, and a manner 
 marked by great simplicit}', pla3^fulness and wit, led 
 some, who met him only casually at this time, and 
 became subsequently better acquainted with him, to 
 suppose that his religious character underwent a very 
 important change after the first few 3'ears of his min- 
 istry. And, unquestionabl}^ his settlement in life, 
 increasing years, the responsibilities of so important 
 a charge, and, above all, divine grace gradually 
 sobered his feelings and led to a more rapid develop- 
 ment of his religious character. But those who 
 knew him most intimate!}' at an earlier period, had 
 perceived from the first, evidence of the same views 
 and experiences that characterized him at this late 
 period. No one, says Dr. Sprague, could hear him 
 pray in the seminary, without being convinced that 
 his utterances were from a heart accustomed alike to 
 self-communion and godly sorrow. 
 
 There were various circumstances which tended to 
 
52 
 
 prepare the way for these gracious seasons of refresh- 
 ing, which rendered this the most important period 
 in the history of this church. The weekly lecture 
 and prayer meeting, which seem to have been dis- 
 continued about the time of Dr. Inglis' death. Dr. 
 Nevins early revived, and also secured the formation 
 of more private meetings for special prayer. The 
 present lecture room, (although at first only half of its 
 present size,) was erected, and the sabbath school 
 removed to it. About this time, too, most remark- 
 able revivals were enjoyed in various parts of the 
 country. In the District of Columbia, which was 
 embraced within the bounds of the Presbytery of 
 Baltimore, the churches seem to have greatly awak- 
 ened. In 1 8 19 the Third Presbyterian Church in 
 this city was organized, and enjoyed the ministra- 
 tions of pastors, who, if not always judicious in the 
 measures they employed, had yet conceived a strong 
 desire to promote a true revival of religion. This 
 general subject was discussed with increasing inter- 
 est at the meetings of Presbytery. In the spring of 
 1825 Dr. John Breckinridge became the pastor of the 
 Second Presbyterian Church in this city. He after 
 a short time united with Dr. Nevins in establishing 
 a Bible Class, embracing a large number of young 
 men of both congregations, most of whom subse- 
 
53 
 
 qiiently became subjects of the revival in 1827. 
 Having recently reviewed that season of refreshing 
 in a discourse on " Revivals in Baltimore," I take 
 the liberty to quote one or two paragraphs : 
 
 " In March, 1824, the Rev. Mr. Summerfield, 
 whose brief ministerial career produced so happy an 
 impression upon Christians of all evangelical denom- 
 inations in this country- , on his second visit to the 
 United States, was appointed, b}' the General Confer- 
 ence of the Methodist Church, Missionary in Balti- 
 more, where he labored with the greatest acceptance 
 during the winter of 1 824-' 25, and produced the pro- 
 foundest sensation. With this remarkable man Dr. 
 Nevins formed a ver}' close intimac}', which he ever 
 afterwards spoke of as one of the most precious 
 blessings of his life. About the same time his mind 
 became deeply exercised on the subject of baptizing 
 the children of parents who did not profess saving 
 faith in Christ. After careful examination and 
 prayer, he became persuaded that such administra- 
 tion of the ordinance was unmeaning and unauthor- 
 ized. And he at once determined to decline practic- 
 ing any longer upon what has been styled the lax 
 plan. In coming to this conclusion, he clearly fore- 
 saw that it would produce no little agitation in such 
 a congregation ; and he even apprehended that it 
 
might lead to a dissolution of the pastoral relation. 
 But having made up his mind, he fearlessly announced 
 his intentions. It was soon apparent, however, that 
 he was sustained by a large majority of the congre- 
 gation, although some few left the church on this 
 account. This is worthy of more particular notice, 
 not only because it is natural that such a stand would 
 lead those, thus deprived of what they had been 
 accustomed to regard as an invaluable right, to seri- 
 ous reflection, but also because it has been ascer- 
 tained that it did actually produce the first serious 
 impressions upon some, w^ho afterwards became sub- 
 jects of the revival. From this time, too, one who 
 has carefully examined Dr. Nevins' manuscripts, 
 testifies that there may be discovered a decided 
 increase of solemnity, directness, pungency, and 
 unction in his sermons. And no one, who peruses 
 the touching entries in his diary, can fail to observe 
 striking evidences of this change. 
 
 " Such was the state of things on Sunday, March 
 7th, 1827. There was no expectation beyond what 
 is implied in an ardent longing for the blessing. 
 There had been no attempt to get up a revival, but a 
 simple waiting upon God — upon him only. That 
 morning Mr. Nevins preached from the text, ' Now 
 is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.' 
 
55 
 
 The sermon, which is still preserved, is plain, prac- 
 tical and pungent ; but not at all remarkable. It is 
 not, indeed, equal in power and directness to many 
 of his other discourses. He was not himself con- 
 scious of an\'thing special in its delivery. He did 
 not even discover anything unusual in the appear- 
 ance of the congregation. But it was accompanied 
 with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. 
 In the interval between the morning and afternoon 
 services, the older and more experienced teachers in 
 the sabbath school were surprised to find a number of 
 the 3^ounger teachers and of the more advanced 
 scholars, who were not professors of religion, in the 
 deepest anxiety respecting their salvation ; so much 
 so, that it entirely interrupted the regular proceed- 
 ings of the school. At the same time several mem- 
 bers of the congregation visited Mr. Nevins at his 
 house, in a similar state of feeling. The next day 
 and throughout the week, wherever he went, he 
 found the deepest tenderness and anxiety. Whole 
 families were impressed by they knew not what. He 
 at once invited all such to meet him at his own. resi- 
 dence on Monda}' evenings. And in the course of a 
 a few^ weeks, the spirit of inquiry had so spread, that 
 as many as sevent}^ or eighty were found in attend- 
 ance upon these meetings for counsel and instruction; 
 some in overwhelming distress. 
 
56 
 
 " As the immediate result of this gracious outpour- 
 ing, more than two hundred persons united with the 
 two churches. Quite a number became most useful — 
 some of them distinguished ministers of the Gospel. 
 A large portion of the young men have subsequently 
 become officers in the various churches now existing. 
 And others have ever since been among the most ac- 
 tive, zealous, and useful of our church members. 
 Nor was the influence of this revival limited to these 
 more palpable and recorded manifestations. It in- 
 fused fresh life into the churches, animated and en- 
 couraged the ministers, and gave a new impulse to 
 the cause, such as it never before received. Sunday 
 Schools, Prayer Meetings, and Tract Visitation, were 
 established in various parts of the city. The Fourth 
 Presbyterian Church was the result of one of these 
 enterprises. Another was established at Crook's fac- 
 tory, to which Mr. Musgrave received a call that 
 resulted in his useful settlement in the Third Church. 
 And altogether an amount of good was accomplished, 
 that will never be fully estimated this side of eter- 
 nity. Dr. Nevins testified on his dying bed, six 
 years afterwards, that he had seen no reason to be 
 ashamed of any who had come into the Church at 
 that time. From that period, as his diary shows, his 
 constant anxiety was to labor — agoyiize, as he says — 
 
57 
 
 for a renewal of the work. It manifestly produced 
 in him a deeper sense of dependence upon the Holy 
 Spirit, confidence in the Divine power and grace, and 
 desire to be taught and guided in his ministry from 
 above. When preaching his tenth anniversary ser- 
 mon, he mentioned that two hundred and sixty had 
 joined the church under his ministry, chiefly, as he 
 thought, through this revival. In 1831, the First 
 Church enjoyed a similar season, though neither so 
 marked nor extensive." 
 
 I need not now dwell further upon the character of 
 that devoted servant of Christ, who was taken away 
 from the most promising prospects of usefulness in 
 the very dew of his youth. His memory is so fresh 
 in the recollection of this congregation and com- 
 munit}', even after nearh' a quarter of a century, 
 that his name needs only to be mentioned, to awaken 
 the most tender and grateful associations. 
 
 Early in 1835 he was constrained to leave his charge, 
 broken in health and spirits, in the hope that a sea 
 voyage and a temporary cessation from his arduous 
 duties, would recruit his exhausted strength. "^^ These 
 
 * In 1832 Dr. Nevins had an attack of bilious fever, which laid him aside 
 for more than two months, but which he felt had been greatly sanctified to 
 him. In 1834 he was again arrested by disease. Incessant labor produced 
 symptoms of bronchitis ; he lost his voice, and was disabled during the whole 
 summer. Relaxation and travel however had apparently recruited his wasted 
 
58 
 
 means however proved entirely ineffectual . And early 
 in the autumn of that year he returned to his deso- 
 lated home, soon to find a resting place by the side 
 of his beloved companion and child, who had recently 
 preceded him to the grave. On the 14th of Septem- 
 ber the " session " and " the committee " were sum- 
 moned to record his death with heartfelt expressions 
 of respect and sorrow, and to make arraijgements for 
 his last obsequies. 
 
 Mr. William Taylor and Col. Mosher were the only 
 members of Session when Dr. Nevins was installed. 
 In 1829 Dr. Maxwell McDowell was re-elected* to 
 the office, in connection with Mr. George Morris, 
 previously an elder in one of the Presbyterian 
 churches in Philadelphia. Mr. Taylor resigned the 
 
 strength, when the sudden death of an almost idolized wife by cholera again 
 prostrated him in sickness, and prepared him for a premature grave. His 
 feelings have been so touchingly portrayed by his own pen in his " Practical 
 Thoughts" and "Diary," that no other need attempt to describe them. He 
 employed his time during this sickness in writing the articles for the N. Y. 
 Observer over the finals M. S. and several tracts, which have had an exten- 
 sive circulation. He preached but once after this time, on the first day of the 
 year 1835. Some of his most beautiful and effective discourses were deliv- 
 ered on New Year days. The winter and spring of this year he spent in the 
 West Indies, without however the benefit anticipated by his friends. He re- 
 turned only to struggle patiently through the summer, and early in the au- 
 tumn breathed out his soul in the midst of a most affectiona'e and devoted 
 people. 
 
 * Dr. McDowell, Messrs. Mosher, Finley, and Boisseau, then comprising the 
 whole Session, retired in 1817. In 1818 Messrs. William Taylor and Col. 
 Mosher were elected. 
 
59 
 
 next year, and died shorth' after. Col. Mosher con- 
 tinued to serve as the oldest member of Session until 
 about 1846, when at an advanced age he felt con- 
 strained, on account of increasing infirmities, to 
 withdraw from the active duties of the office. In 1834 
 Messrs. David Courtnay, John N. Brown, and Wil- 
 liam Iv. Gill were added to the Session. Mr. Gill 
 alone remains wuth us at this time, although the other 
 two serve different Presbyterian churches in this 
 city. Those last elected however belong more prop- 
 erly to the succeeding period, as they came into 
 office only a short time before Dr. Nevins' decease. 
 
 Of Mr. Morris and Dr. McDowell, I may say with 
 that filial affection and respect that I ever entertained 
 for them, that few more valuable ruling elders ever 
 served an}' church. When I first came here, young 
 and inexperienced, it was my happiness to find them 
 the oldest, but still active, members of the session of 
 this church. Mr. Morris, owing to a natural reserve 
 of disposition and manner, was never as well known 
 by the congregation generall}^ as it was desirable 
 that he should have been. For sound judgment, 
 practical wisdom, scrupulous integrity, unbending 
 firmness in his principles, in connection with the 
 humblest modesty, the most ardent philanthropy, 
 and the most devoted piety, I have never known his 
 
60 
 
 superior in the office. He had an accurate and com- 
 prehensive acquaintance with our system of doctrine 
 and polit}^ both in theory and practice, and ever 
 proved a judicious and prudent counsellor. Dr. 
 McDowell was a worthy associate. Differing in 
 man}^ traits of character and manner, the}^ were 
 united in views and affection ; and ever exerted the 
 most happy influence in our sessional meetings. It 
 is a source of unfeigned gratitude to me, that my 
 early ministry was exercised, and my pastoral char- 
 acter formed, in connection with two such men. 
 
 4. This brings us to the period of the last pastor- 
 ate, which has been more particularly characterised 
 b}^ the development of those activities of the con- 
 gregation in the departments of church extension 
 and general christian benevolence, for which the 
 previous periods had so remarkably prepared the 
 way. During the preceding ministries the church 
 had attained a position of great influence in the 
 denomination and community to which it belongs. 
 Since, it has had but little else to do than to set in 
 order and employ the materials of usefulness, with 
 which it has been so liberally provided. As the 
 business of acquiring wealth is not always most fav- 
 orable to its expenditure, (the habits of mind being 
 
61 
 
 for the most part opposite,) so that of establishing 
 and consolidating such a congregation does not 
 always allow of the most efficient efforts abroad. 
 The present generation however became the heirs of 
 no small measure of material and spiritual wealth, 
 for the employment of which the providence of God 
 soon afforded the most abundant opportunities and 
 calls. Hence is that saying true, one soweth, an- 
 other reapeth. I^sent 3^ou, said the Savior to his 
 disciples, to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor : 
 other men labored and ye are entered into their 
 labors. 
 
 When the present pastor* entered upon the duties 
 of this charge, he found here General Samuel Smith, 
 
 * In December, 1835, he passed through Baltimore on his way to New Or- 
 leans, in the service of our Board of Domestic Missions, and preached in the 
 church without the slightest expectation of ever seeing the place again. In 
 the February following the Session, having received a request from a suffi- 
 cient number of the congregation, convened a meeting for the purpose of go- 
 ing into an election of pastor, if the way should be clear. That meeting was 
 adjourned to the 11th of April, when the present incumbent was chosen, and 
 having, after no little deliberation, and with great misgiving accepted the 
 call, was installed September 15th, 1836, the Rev. Dr. Miller of Princeton, 
 preaching the sermon. On looking back, I am amazed at the temerity of the 
 step. Young, inexperienced, and with no capital, men of far higher gifts 
 might have shrunk from following such pastors as had previously served the 
 congregation — one of the most intelligent, influential, and responsible in the 
 denomination. But all who had preceded me had come as young men to this 
 as their first charge, and (through that delicate consideration and generous 
 forbearance which so often distinguish intelligent and refined congregations) 
 had remained through their entire ministry— a fact nearly unparalleled in our 
 country. And I cannot but hope that, notwithstanding my fear and trem- 
 bling in accepting the call, I was guided by a kind and wise Providence, who 
 
62 
 
 Messrs. Robert Smith, Robert Gilnior, James Bu- 
 chanan, Alexander Fridge, Alexander McDonald, 
 Judges Nisbetand Purviance, Messrs. George Brown, 
 James Swan, James Cox, James Armstrong, James 
 Campbell, and Robert Purviance, who were, or had 
 been, members of " the committee" — all now among 
 the dead. Barel}^ to mention their names is a suffi- 
 cient indication of the character and position of the 
 church in the community, as they w^re distinguished 
 in the highest walks of civil, political, commercial 
 and social life, with a reputation in these various 
 departments that gave lustre, not only to the congre- 
 gation, but to this city and country. The}' were the 
 connecting links between the earliest and the latest 
 periods of the congregation — its feeble infanc}' and 
 its matured manhood. Most, if not all of them, had 
 listened to everj^ pastor the church has had during 
 the first century of its existence. They had borne 
 with the fathers the heat and burden of its struggling 
 into existence. They had ministered b}^ their wealth 
 and social position to its highest outward prosperity. 
 They had witnessed its doubtful- beginnings, its full- 
 
 makes use of earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God 
 and not of us. By divine grace I have continued to this day, having been 
 spared in the office for nearly a quarter of a century— a longer period than 
 any of the pastors of the church, with the exception of the first, and being 
 now among the oldest pastors in the city. 
 
63 
 
 est strength, and its widest influence. It would 
 afford me the greatest satisfaction to be able to dwell 
 more minutely upon their invaluable services. As 
 however this is impracticable on the present occasion, 
 I ma}' be permitted to single out two or three as 
 specimens, not indeed to claim for them any pre-emi- 
 nence in such a galaxy, but because of their peculiar 
 relations to the history of the church. 
 
 General Samuel Smith was then the oldest living 
 "committee man" or trustee of the congregation, 
 having been elected in 1782, before the erection of 
 the edifice we are just leaving. He was a true rep- 
 resentative of the old school of soldiers, politicians, 
 and merchants. Having during the revolution fought 
 bravely the battles of his country, and, during the 
 most remarkable period of the rise and progress of 
 our city, attained the first rank among her merchant 
 princes, and then filled the highest political positions 
 in the city, state and general governments, he brought 
 to the committee an intelligence, energy, resolution 
 and executive talent, which, while they rendered him 
 the man for emergencies, gave him the most com- 
 manding influence and control. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Fridge was elected in 18 14, in the 
 place of Mr. William Smith, who had held the office 
 since the organization of the congregation in 1761 — 
 
64 
 
 a period of more than fifty years — connecting the 
 present ministry directly by a single link with the 
 very founders of the church. Mr. Fridge came here 
 in time to be identified with the most rapid growth 
 of the city and congregation. lyiberally educated in 
 a university of the Old World, (in the class with Sir 
 James Mcintosh and Robert Hall,) with sound judg- 
 ment and unsullied integrity, he became a most suc- 
 cessful merchant. I found him just recently retired 
 from active business. A kinder, more unselfish, 
 philanthropic heart never beat. The unfortunate 
 poor, the forlorn stranger, the mechanic out of em- 
 ployment, the young man starting in life without 
 friends or patrons, always found in him an active, 
 liberal, kind friend, counsellor, and helper. It was 
 however in relation to the benevolent operations of 
 the church, that his influence at that particular time 
 was most important. He always manifested the 
 warmest and most efficient interest in every secular 
 and religious charity, and never held back from any 
 good work. His character, position, and influence 
 rendered one having such views and feelings a most 
 important instrument in forming and establishing 
 that benevolent character, for which the congrega- 
 tion has been somewhat distinguished. 
 
 One other name must be mentioned, and it is with 
 
a tenderness of regret, in which all who hear me will 
 sympathise, as under a recent affliction. To Mr. 
 George Brown this congregation owes, under God, 
 more perhaps than to any other person for its present 
 position in this community. With his name its rep- 
 utation, influence, and usefulness are most intimate- 
 ly identified. Elected a member of "the committee" 
 in 1825, he served the congregation in this capacit}^ 
 with an assiduity and faithfulness second to no other, 
 for nearly thirt3'-five years. During this last period 
 of the histor}- of the church now under review, he 
 withdrew gradually from the pressure of active busi- 
 ness, and gave himself increasingly to the promotion 
 of those various benevolent enterprises demanded by 
 our age, tillhe came to be almost universally looked 
 to in all such undertakings. He not only contribu- 
 ted liberally of his large wealth, but also b}^ his coun- 
 sels and active services. The contributions of this 
 church to our Boards of Missions, Education, «S:c., as 
 well as to the other benevolent objects of the da}^ were 
 largely made up of his gifts. And in the work of ex- 
 tending the church in this city and vicinity, as well 
 as in more remote parts of our country, to no other 
 person have we been more indebted. The new church 
 edifice especially will be always identified with his 
 name. Onlv those however who were associated with 
 
66 
 
 him in carr34ng it on, will ever know how much it 
 owes under God to his wisdom and prudence, his un- 
 tiring vigilance, his important encouragement and 
 timely assistance. Present circumstances forbid me 
 to say more, less could not be said in faithfulness to 
 this review. 
 
 Such are specimens of the men, who composed and 
 ofave character to "the committee" at the commence- 
 ment of the present pastorate. General Smith was 
 the venerable representative of the old era ; Mr. 
 Fridge of the transition period ; and Mr. Brown of 
 that in which we are now living. Each had its spe- 
 cial characteristics and mission, not exclusively, but 
 predominantly. And each in succession constituted 
 the preparation for what was to come after. 
 
 The first duty to which the church seemed espe- 
 cially called in this last period, after having become 
 so firmly established, so greatly prospered in outward 
 respects, and so graciously revived as to its spiritual 
 life, was its own enlargement and extension in this 
 communit}" and vicinit}', and the further development 
 of its practical benevolence through the various 
 agencies for advancing the Redeemer's kingdom that 
 distinguish our day. Not, b}^ any means, that it had 
 heretofore ignored these duties. The obligation was 
 recognized from the beginning. Dr. Allison, the 
 
G7 
 
 first pastor, preached in the country one-fourth of his 
 time for some years ; and relinquished that service 
 only to meet the growing wants in old town, where 
 he subsequently held frequent services, before there 
 was any Presbyterian Church there. When the 
 election of Dr. Inglis, as the assistant and successor 
 of Dr. Allison, gave rise to some dissatisfaction on 
 the part of Dr. Glendy's friends, the going out of 
 that large and influential minority, to form the Sec- 
 ond Church, was greatly facilitated by the previous 
 labors of Dr. Allison in that part of the city. And 
 as that was the period of Baltimore's most rapid 
 growth, both churches were soon most respectablv 
 filled. An enterprise partaking more entirely of a 
 church extension, and even missionary character, 
 was some years after attempted in the western part 
 of the city. This, (the Third Church,^ in Eutaw 
 street,) was however so feebly undertaken and so 
 imprudently managed in its earlier years, that 
 although begun in 1819, it amounted to very little 
 till after Dr. Musgrave took charge of it in 1830. 
 About the year 1831 Mr. Alexander Fridge, Mr. 
 James Campbell and others made an effort to form a 
 new congregation and called the Rev. John Harris, 
 
 *See a brief account of this church in the discourse on "Revivals in 
 Baltimore," before referred to. 
 
68 
 
 then a young minister, of very distinguished talents, 
 eloquence and popularity, as a preacher. He had 
 been raised in the congregation, and was recently 
 from the seminary. The First Baptist Church, in 
 Sharp street, then heavily in debt, was about to be 
 sold, and these gentlemen proposed to purchase it. 
 But before the arrangement was completed, the 
 friends of the Baptist church relieved it from the 
 embarrassments on account of which it was to have 
 been sold, and Mr. Harris having accepted an invita- 
 tion to New Orleans, the project was abandoned. It 
 seems that some cf the congregation thought that 
 the church was not prepared to send off such a colony. 
 Dr. Musgrave had recently undertaken to resuscitate 
 the Third Church, which it was supposed would 
 require all the aid that could be afforded ; especially 
 as many of the most active members had but recently 
 come into the church in the late revivals, and needed 
 to be kept together for some time. 
 
 In a year or two after this, it was determined to 
 erect a Sabbath School in what was then the extreme 
 western part of Baltimore. In 1833, Messrs. Alex- 
 ander Brown, George Brown, and Alexander Fridge 
 gave the lots on which the Fourth Church now 
 stands. It was proposed to erect a small building for 
 a Sabbath School on the rear of the lot, with the 
 
69 
 
 intention of erecting a church edifice on the front at 
 some subsequent day. The enterprise however was 
 in some waj^ mismanaged. Dr. Nevins, having been 
 taken sick, could not give to it his personal over- 
 sight, and those to whom it had been entrusted in 
 his absence from the city, commenced a far more 
 expensive building than had been contemplated, and 
 the funds, which had been collected for the purpose, 
 were exhausted before the walls were up. Messrs. 
 Alexander and George Brown had to advance about 
 two thousand dollars ; and a ground rent of a thous- 
 and dollars had also to be created, before the roof 
 could be put on and the floors laid. It remained for 
 some 3^ears in this unfinished condition. In the 
 meantime the Rev. S. Guiteau gathered a small con- 
 gregation and promising Sabbath School. But some 
 months after he became persuaded that in the unfin- 
 ished state of the building there w^as very little pros- 
 pect of forming a good church, and he relinquished 
 the enterprise. 
 
 Such was the state of our churches in Baltimore at 
 the commencement of the period now under review. 
 About this time (1837) the Presbyterian denomina- 
 tion, after a protracted controversy between what 
 were styled the Old and New Schools, was divided 
 into two bodies. And when the attention of the 
 
70 
 
 churches was diverted from the strife with which 
 they had been agitated for ten or more years, and 
 which terminated in this disruption, they began to 
 engage in more agreeable, if not more appropriate 
 work. A spirit of church extension was waked up 
 throughout the entire Presbytery. Committees were 
 appointed to visit various portions of the Presbyter- 
 ial bounds, for the purpose of strengthening feeble 
 churches, organizing congregations in destitute 
 places, and seeking in other ways the promotion of 
 religion. In a few 3^ears, old and extinct churches 
 had been resuscitated, new ones organized, and 
 houses of worship erected in fifteen or twenty differ- 
 ent places within the territorial limits of the Presb}^- 
 tery. In this useful work, this congregation was 
 permitted to take an important part. 
 
 It was soon felt however that the most strenuous 
 exertions were necessary, to keep pace with the 
 rapid increase of population in the city itself. In 
 1837 the Rev. George D. Purviance took charge of 
 the Fourth Church, which had remained in an 
 entirely unfinished state. Through the influence of 
 his personal friends in this congregation, it was com- 
 pleted and furnished in a neat and tasteful manner, 
 at an expense of between one and two thousand dol- 
 lars. A congregation was gathered, to which he 
 
71 
 
 ministered gratuitously with great kindness and 
 assiduity, until the failure of his health compelled 
 him to desist from preaching. As that congregation 
 had never been incorporated, the property continued 
 in " the committee" of this church. On their pur- 
 chasing out the ground rent, Mr. Brown very gener- 
 ously and unsolicited relinquished his claim, amount- 
 ing to about twenty-seven hundred dollars. Within 
 the last few years this Fourth Church has been again 
 greath' revived under the efficient ministr}' of the 
 Rev. Mr. Lefevre. 
 
 In the autumn of 1840, Messrs. John Rodgers, 
 David Stewart, and John Falconer were elected 
 elders : and Messrs. Henry C. Turnbull, John Has- 
 kell, Moses Hyde, and Lancaster Ould, deacons. 
 Early in the next year they were ordained ; and in 
 the sessional conferences, in which the deacons took 
 part, a new impulse was given to the activities of 
 the church. The subject of colonizing formed a 
 prominent topic of discussion. And it was soon 
 determined to make an effort to build a new church 
 somewhere near the Cathedral. 
 
 Before however an}- plans were matured, it was 
 understood that the Second Church also contemplated 
 colonizing. Apprehending that the attempt to carry 
 on two such enterprises at the same time would 
 
72 
 
 endanger the success of both, a proposition was 
 made to unite on one at a time ; and as the enterprise 
 in old town was the smallest, and therefore most 
 easily managed, it was deemed best to commence with 
 that — especially as the population in that part of the 
 city was large and increasing, and we had but one 
 Presbyterian church on the east side of the Falls. 
 Accordingly, in November, 1842, a meeting of the 
 pastors, elders, and deacons of the First and Second 
 Presbyterian Churches was convened in our Parson- 
 age, on North street ; and after mutual conference, 
 the measure was determined upon, a subscription 
 was opened, committees were appointed, and all the 
 requisite preliminar)^ steps taken for erecting the 
 Aisquith Street Presbyterian Church. It was com- 
 pleted in 1844.''' And although it had for a few 3^ears 
 to struggle with some difficulties, it is now in a 
 most flourishing condition, and accomplishing a most 
 important work. The colony was principally from 
 the Second Church ; but, one of the elders, one of 
 the deacons, and some twenty or thirty members of 
 this church, formed a ver}' important part of that 
 interesting enterprise. 
 
 * Subsequently this congregation united in a successful effort to purchase 
 a most desirable parsonage for that church, and also aided in building a new 
 lecture room for the congregation in the rear of the church. 
 
73 
 
 Before however that church was completed, some 
 few members of this congregation began to consult 
 about erecting what afterwards became the Franklin 
 Street Church. The improvements in that part of 
 the city were going on very rapidly. At first, Mr. 
 William F. Murdoch, Dr. George Gibson, and Mr. 
 C. A. Schaeffer, were the onl}^ ones who took an 
 active part in the enterprise. These gentlemen met 
 from time to time in the old parsonage, to confer 
 upon the subject. One evening the}^ were joined by 
 Mr. Robert Campbell, when having learned that the 
 lot on which that church now stands, was offered for 
 sale by Mr. Robert Gilmor, although onl}^ about ten 
 or twelve thousand dollars had been collected for the 
 purpose, it was determined to accept the offer. Some 
 objections were at first made to this by persons, who 
 having selected the lot for another church, had sub- 
 sequentl}' relinquished it, but Mr. Gilmor disregarded 
 them, and adhered to his agreement. After the pur-, 
 chase of the lot, Messrs. Joseph Taylor, Francis 
 Foreman, James George, William Beatty, John Big- 
 ham, Samuel Mactier, and Alexander Brown, were 
 added to the committee. Plans were obtained from 
 Carey Long, Esq., and the building was commenced, 
 and after two years brought to a completion in 1846. 
 Although the cost was somewhat greater than had 
 
74 
 
 been expected, yet the location was found to be most 
 eligible, and on the church being open for divine 
 service, a large sale of pews was made and a numer- 
 ous and influential congregation gathered. A colony, 
 consisting of two elders, two deacons, seventy 
 church members, and the families connected with 
 them, went out from this congregation to form that 
 church. Seldom has a more promising colony gone 
 forth. It was composed, not of the aged, the weak, 
 the lame, the halt, but, as all genuine sacrifices 
 should be, of the firstlings of the flock, of the very 
 flower of the congregation. They went, not because 
 of any dissatisfaction with the old church, (some of 
 the most efficient members of the building committee, 
 as my venerable friend Joseph Taylor and others 
 expected to remain behind,) but gave their time, 
 money, and labors to the enterprise, with a simple 
 desire to extend Presbyterianism in our city. 
 
 It was however a disruption of very tender ties, 
 and much more painful than those who have not gone 
 through a similar operation would be likely to sup- 
 pose. Indeed, when it was realized how large and 
 valuable the colony was, we were not unfrequently 
 sympathized with and even pitied, as if the glory 
 had departed from the old First Church ; and I 
 acknowledge I sometimetimes felt that, considering 
 
75 
 
 the weakness of poor human nature, those who had 
 promoted the enterprise, against all private interests 
 and feelings, for the general good, had behaved with 
 considerable magnanimity. And I have reason to 
 know that few took greater satisfaction in the pros- 
 perity of the new enterprise. The}^ would not have 
 changed an^'thing, they would not, if they could, 
 have recalled a single member, however sad it was to 
 part with valued helpers. And we may be permitted 
 to testify, as the result of this and other similar 
 movements, that God may be safely trusted to take 
 care of the interests of those, who with generous 
 self-sacrifice engage in his service and seek to pro- 
 mote his cause. This church is a standing monu- 
 ment and proof, that public spirit is not only the 
 diity of individuals and congregations, but their 
 wisest policy, under God's government. 
 
 After the colon}' had gone out to form the Franklin 
 Street Church,'^' this congregation resolved to remodel 
 their own church edifice ; removing the pulpit to the 
 opposite end, and turning round the pews. The 
 floor, which used to be of brick, and which had to 
 me when I first came here an appearance of the most 
 
 * While that enterprise was goiiiK on, this congreKation was called upon 
 to assist the Second Church, from which some of the Franklin Street Church 
 had come, in erecting the Broadway Church. This being a smaller under- 
 taking was completed first. 
 
76 
 
 primitive simplicity, so much so that I gave the com- 
 mittee no rest till they consented to hide it by a car- 
 pet, was removed and a new floor of wood, raised 
 some eighteen inches on sleepers, was substituted. 
 The four wood stoves that Mr. John Spence the 
 sexton used always to stir up so vigorously before 
 sermon, were removed, together with their unsightly 
 pipes, and a furnace was placed in the cellar. A new 
 and valuable organ was procured, principally through 
 the instrumentality of the ladies. Mr. Spence's 
 green arm chair was no more to be seen. That fea- 
 ture of the old regime I greatl}^ missed. When I 
 first came here, a young man, the sexton in that arm 
 chair, with his hymn book and rattan, directly in 
 front of the pulpit, inspired me with an awful rever- 
 ence. I am not sure that I did not sometimes look 
 around, when I made an}^ slip, to see if he was not 
 after me. These changes gave a new spring to the 
 congregation. While the young colonies prospered, 
 our own church gradually resumed its wonted 
 appearance. And although in a part of the cit}^ that 
 was being rapidly occupied b}" places of business in 
 the stead of dwellings, we had in three years not 
 only paid for our improvements, amounting to ten 
 thousand dollars, paid off a long standing debt of 
 five thousand, but our income, according to the 
 
report of the treasurer, was greater than it had ever 
 been before. So much for colonizing. 
 
 At this time, Mr. George Morris and Dr. Maxwell 
 McDowell having deceased, and Mr. John Falconer 
 and Dr. David Stewart having gone with the Frank- 
 lin street colony, Mr. William W. Spence and Mr. 
 William B. Canfield were elected elders. The next 
 measure to which attention was turned, was the pur- 
 chase of a ver}^ neat and substantial church, (^recentl}^ 
 erected by a Baptist congregation, in the most desir- 
 able part of the cit}^) for our colored people — as 
 handsome a structure, I venture to assert, as is occu- 
 pied by an}' colored congregation in the land ; fres- 
 coed after the Egyptian order, in the highest style of 
 art, and furnished with damask cushions and every 
 comfort. In this enterprise we had the co-operation 
 of some of the other churches. That congregation, 
 after some hard struggles, is now in a most flourish- 
 ing condition, under a talented, educated colored 
 preacher, and with a most efficient Sabbath School, 
 in which a number of our church members are 
 engaged as teachers.* 
 
 * We have recently undertaken to pay off a ground rent of twelve hundred 
 dollars on that church, and to purchase for it a suitable parsonage, which 
 have been nearly effected. In few measures do I more rejoice than in this 
 discharge of a most important obligation to this dependent class of our 
 population. 
 
78 
 
 In the autumn of 1850, the need of a church in 
 the western part of our cit}^ was beginning to be 
 deeply felt. And when the friends of the movement 
 w^ere looking for a suitable lot, it w^as suggested that 
 a church might be erected on the grave yard of this 
 congregation, on the corner of Greene and Fayette 
 streets, without interfering with the sacred pur- 
 poses to which that hallowed spot had been con- 
 secrated, and so as to prevent the ground from ever 
 being diverted to other uses. This was felt to be 
 the more desirable, as the remains of the founders of 
 Presbyterianism in this city, of all the previous pas- 
 tors, and of many of the most valuable members of 
 this congregation there repose. Accordingly Messrs. 
 Joseph Taylor, Alexander Murdoch, Archibald Stir- 
 ling, Dan. Holt, William W. Spence, William B. 
 Canfield, and the pastor of this church, with Messrs. 
 M. B. Clarke, John Falconer, E. H. Perkins, and 
 John Bigham, of the Franklin Street Church, and 
 Mr. A. Fenton, associated themselves together for 
 this purpose. The ground was broken July, 1851, 
 and the building completed in one year, being opened 
 for divine service July 4th, 1852.* This church has 
 
 * A more particular account of this enterprise is given in the discourse 
 delivered at the dedication of the church, and wliich was published soon 
 after. 
 
79 
 
 proved one of the most efficient and useful in our 
 body. Under its two most able and accomplished 
 pastors it has enjoyed a degree of prosperity second 
 to no other in our city ; and now constitutes a most 
 important element of our denominational strength 
 here. 
 
 The success of these various undertakings greatly 
 encouraged our people in this good work of church 
 extension. The teachers of our Sabbath School hav- 
 ing collected a large number of scholars from Federal 
 Hill, found that to be a most destitute part of our 
 city. This led to their securing, through the Ladies' 
 Missionary Sewing Society, the services of the Rev. 
 Mr. Kaufman, just from the seminary, who soon gath- 
 ered there one of the largest Sabbath Schools in our 
 city, and the nucleus of a congregation. Just how- 
 ever as they were preparing to undertake the erection 
 of a church edifice, it was urged that there was in 
 the north-western part of the town a large number of 
 Irish Presbyterians, who attended no church, and 
 would be soon lost to us if some effort was not made 
 in their behalf. Accordingly a room was rented in 
 that neighborhood, and after a short time a commit- 
 tee was formed of three members from each of the 
 three nearest churches — the First Church, the Frank- 
 lin Street Church, and the Westminster Church, to 
 
80 
 
 erect the present Twelfth Church, in west Franklin 
 street. This has grown to be a most important mis- 
 sionary enterprise, and promises to become very 
 soon, under its present efficient pastor, the Rev. Mr. 
 Marshall, a self sustaining church. 
 
 As soon as the Twelfth Church was completed, the 
 South Church on Federal Hill was commenced, in 
 1854. That congregation had been holding their 
 Sabbath School and worshiping in an inconvenient 
 hall. The interest felt by the congregation in a mis- 
 sion under the care of our own ladies, rendered it 
 comparatively an easy matter to secure this most 
 attractive of our mission church edifices. From this 
 brief account it will be seen that our denomination 
 has, during this last period of our congregational his- 
 tory, increased from three to twelve churches, in 
 which increase this church — the mother of them all 
 — has been permitted to be the most prominent instru- 
 ment. 
 
 During all this time our city has been rapidly ex- 
 tending in every direction — and that central portion 
 of it, in which our own church was located, was be- 
 coming fast converted into a mere place of business. 
 As early as 1852, at asocial gathering at Mr. Stirling's, 
 the necessity of an eventual removal of the church 
 was discussed. And subsequently a number of per- 
 
81 
 
 sons belonging to the congregation convened at the 
 parsonage several times, and at length determined to 
 purchase the lot on which the new edifice has been 
 erected. In October, 1853, the congregation was con- 
 vened to consider the question of removal, and after 
 full discussion resolved to accept the offer of the lot 
 b}' those who had purchased it, and to go forward 
 with the erection, as soon as the old church could be 
 disposed of, or other arrangements be made. The 
 next autumn plans were submitted by the Hon. J. 
 Morrison Harris, the chairman of that committee, and 
 the ground was broken July, 1854. This is not the 
 occasion for tracing the history of the new structure. 
 At the time of its commencement, Messrs. George 
 Brown, A. Stirling, A. Murdoch, Joseph Taylor. Wil- 
 liam Buckler, S. Collins, William Harrison, J. Mor- 
 rison Harris, A. Turnbull, J. Armstrong, J. I. Fisher, 
 and A. Winchester, constituted the committee. Dr. 
 Collins and Mr. Fisher resigned during the progress 
 of the building, and Messrs. H. Easter and C. Findley 
 were elected in their places. " If you seek their 
 monument, look around you." 
 
 But it w^as not merely in the work of church ex- 
 tension that the activities of the congregation were 
 especially called out during this last period of its 
 histor}'. The age is emphatically- one of active 
 
82 
 
 christian benevolence. And within the last twenty- 
 five years our own denomination* has become more 
 completely equipped for the work of preaching the 
 gospel to every creature. 
 
 It was my privilege to enter the ministry, and to 
 come to this charge, at a most favorable period in 
 this respect. Previously the contributions of the 
 churches had been often large, but they were occa- 
 sional and irregular. The material prosperity of the 
 country however, and the revivals that had prevailed 
 more or less generally for nearly one-third of a cen- 
 
 * In the early history of the Presbyterian church in this country, as of all 
 sister denominations, missions were impracticable. The churches had the 
 greatest difficulty in supporting the gospel at home. The ministers were do- 
 ing real missionary work in their own congregations. And although sur- 
 rounded with the aborigines of the country, these led so roving, unsettled a 
 life, and the facilities for reaching them were so few, that there was but little 
 encouragement to undertake much, even if the church had possessed the 
 means. Still like the Macedonians, in the great trial of their affliction, their 
 deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. The Presbyterian 
 church, from its commencement in this country, counseled, prayed, and la- 
 bored in this behalf. Its first efforts were to extend the gospel in the desti- 
 tute portions of our own land, the greater part of which was missionary 
 ground. These were prosecuted with as much earnestness as limited means 
 would allow, till the war of Independence, which greatly interrupted every- 
 thing of this kind. When however the General Assembly was formed in 
 1789, the state of the country was such as to afford increasing encouragement 
 in this work. It was made, at the very first meeting, a prominent subject of 
 consideration, and has never been lost sight of since. Nor was the subject 
 of Foreign Missions entirely overlooked. As early as 1741, application was 
 made to the society for propagating the gospel among the heathen, which 
 had been established in Scotland, in 1709, and this institution appointed a 
 
83 
 
 tury, in which this congregation had very graciously 
 shared, prepared the way for the development of a 
 more S3'stematic benevolence. A brief connection of 
 a few months with one of our Boards had impressed 
 me with a sense of the importance of having the con- 
 tributions of the churches more regular. The Session 
 was entirel}^ prepared to resolve, at one of its first 
 meetings, that an opportunity should be afforded to 
 the members of the congregation to contribute to 
 each of the leading religious charities of the day, viz. 
 Foreign and Domestic Missions, Education for the 
 Ministry, the Bible, Tract and Sunday School Socie- 
 ties, and the Poor, once every 3^ear. And so far as I 
 am aware, this has been regularly done ever since, 
 
 a Board of Correspondence in New Vork, which commissioned first Mr. 
 Horton, and then David Brainerd, and subsequently his brother, John 
 Brainerd, under the direction of the Presbytery of Xew Vork. In 18()2 the 
 work of missions had become so extensive that the General Assembly found 
 it impracticable to give that attention to the business, during the brief season 
 uf its annual sessions, its importance demanded ; and appointed a standing 
 committee on missions to act throughout the year. This was the origin of 
 our various Boards under which this ge-ieral cause of benevolence has been 
 developed in our denomination to its present proportions. This committee 
 was reorganized as a Board of Missions in 181*i. In If^ll) the Board of Edu- 
 cation was formed. In 1837 that of Foreign Missions— the organization tak- 
 ing place in the lecture room of this church. In 1838 the Board of Publica- 
 tion. And in 18.55 the Committee of Church Extension, the duties of which 
 had been previously discharged for several years by the Board of Domestic 
 Missions. These constitute the special agencies of the Presbyterian church, 
 which co-operates with the American Bible Society, the American Tract Soci- 
 ety, and the American Sunday School Union, in the remaining religious 
 objects of benevolence that distinguish our age. 
 
84 
 
 without a single omission, certainly without any ex- 
 ception in the case of our own Boards. And to this 
 simple principle ma}' be attributed a great measure 
 of our usefulness in this depatment of christian duty. 
 
 For the first ten or twelve years these objects were 
 presented principally by agents visiting the congre- 
 gation for the purpose, and annual collections were 
 made. These amounted to an average of three thou- 
 sand dollars a year ; besides, during that time, about 
 ten thousand dollars contributed to special objects, 
 including the Free Church of Scotland at the time 
 of the disruption, the special effort for the endow- 
 ment of the Seminary at Princeton, and the semi- 
 centenary fund for the Board of Publication ; and also 
 about ten thousand for mission churches in this city 
 — in all about sixty thousand dollars. 
 
 In 1846, when on a visit to Scotland, Dr. Chalmers 
 handed me a copy of his "Christian Economies*," 
 in which he developed the plan of supporting and 
 extending the gospel, which has proved so successful 
 in the " Free Church," rendering it one of the most 
 liberal and efficient churches in Christendom. He 
 
 *This pamphlet was subsequently published, with an introduction by Dr. 
 Hodge, through the liberality of a distinguished layman in New York, by 
 our Board of Publication., 
 
85 
 
 warmly urged the adoption of something of the kind 
 by the churches of this country. On my return occa- 
 sion was soon found for testing its applicabilit}- to our 
 circumstances. Within a few months the Franklin 
 Street Church colony went out from us, taking a 
 large amount of material and spiritual strength. The 
 old plan of making contributions had previously lost 
 something of its efficiency. And, this with the decrease 
 of our numbers, threatened a very serious diminution 
 of our collections ; so that the necessity of some 
 mode of awakening additional interest in this object 
 was deeply felt. The " Free Church" plan was sub- 
 mitted to the Session, and after some deliberation 
 was adopted b}- them, although not without some 
 misgiving lest the want of familiarity with such a 
 mode of contributing, and the difficult}' of collecting 
 their contributions from so large a number might 
 prevent its success. Soon after its adoption, it was 
 tormall}' explained in a discourse delivered Septem- 
 ber, 1848. As we have now made trial of it during 
 the space of ten or twelve 3'ears, it may be said that 
 while it is not claimed to have accomplished all that 
 could have been desired, it has nevertheless exceeded 
 our most sanguine anticipations ; requiring less toil, 
 producing less friction, and 3'ielding far greater re- 
 sults than the former plan. 
 
86 
 
 The first year of its adoption, notwithstanding the 
 congregation had been diminished b}^ the outgoing 
 colonies to form the Franklin Street and Westminster 
 Churches, its contributions increased from three thou- 
 sand dollars, (the previous average,) to more than four 
 thousand ; the second year to five thousand, four hun- 
 dred ; the third 5'ear to over six thousand, and so on, 
 gradually increasing till they amounted to more than 
 ten thousand dollars a year, notwithstanding that dur- 
 ing this period we lost by death and removals contribu- 
 tors who had given twelve hundred dollars annually. 
 In addition moreover to these regular stated contri- 
 butions, the congregation has given an average of 
 four thousand dollars annuall}^ to special religious 
 objects, making its religious benefactions during the 
 last eleven 3^ears double the amount of those of the 
 previous twelve years. This has been of course 
 independent of the ordinary expenses of the church — 
 amounting to about forty thousand dollars, and the 
 cost of the new building, (over and above the pro- 
 ceeds of the sale of the old church,) about eighty 
 thousand more. To some this may seem a large 
 sum for a single congregation to contribute to relig- 
 ious purposes — an amount that, with the divine 
 blessing, might accomplish a vast extent of good. 
 And yet how little inconvenience has it occasioned 
 to even the most liberal contributors. 
 
87 
 
 Such then is a cursory review of the history of 
 this congregation during its occupancy of this build- 
 ing that we are now about to leave, resigning it to 
 other hands, and for different uses. It is with feel- 
 ings of no feigned sadness, that we go out to even a 
 more imposing structure, in a more convenient loca- 
 tion. But have we not the most abundant reason to 
 thank God that we have enjoyed its privileges and 
 opportunities for good, that the lines have fallen to 
 us in so pleasant places, and that we have had so 
 goodly a heritage so long, where we might look back 
 upon such predecessors, into whose labors we were 
 allowed to enter in this favored age. We must 
 acknowledge indeed that our praises need to be tem- 
 pered with the profoundest humility, in view of the 
 fact that with so much better opportunities and 
 greater facilities as the result of the labors of those 
 who have preceded us, we have accomplished so 
 much less than we might have accomplished. 
 
 But now that, through the good hand of our God 
 upon us, we have been permitted to see our new enter- 
 prise brought to so desirable a completion, and are 
 just about to enter upon a new era with so encourag- 
 ing a past to look back upon, and so promising a 
 future to look forward to, shall we not this day 
 renewedly consecrate our service unto the Lord. 
 
What may we not accomplish, if with cheerful 
 hearts, and willing minds, with prayerful spirits, 
 and devoted lives, we heed the call of God's provi- 
 ' dence and grace, and present ourselves a living sac- 
 rifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our 
 reasonable service. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 PASTORS 
 
 Rev. Patrick Ai^lison, D. D., From 1763, till 1802. 
 
 Rev. James Ingws D. D., From 1802, till 1819. 
 
 Rev. William Nevins, D. D., From 1820, till 1835. 
 
 Rev. John C. Backus, D. D., From 1830. 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE C O M INI I T T E E . 
 
 Names. 
 
 John Stevenson, . 
 John Smith, 
 William Lyon, 
 William Buchanan, 
 William Smith, 
 William Spear, 
 James Sterret, 
 Jonathan Plowman, 
 Alexander Stenhouse, 
 John Boyd, 
 Samuel Purviance, 
 John Little, 
 Samuel Brown, 
 
 When Elected. 
 
 Ceased 
 TO Serve. 
 
 1764 
 
 1765 
 
 . 1764 . 
 
 . 1780 
 
 1764 
 
 1788 
 
 . 1764 . 
 
 . 1781 
 
 1764 
 
 1814 
 
 . 1764 . 
 
 . 1790 
 
 1764 
 
 1782 
 
 . 1764 . 
 
 . 1773 
 
 1765 
 
 1775 
 
 . 1765 . 
 
 . 1789 
 
 1770 
 
 1787 
 
 . 1770 . 
 
 . 1773 
 
 1771 
 
 1771 
 
90 
 
 Names. 
 
 When Elected. 
 
 Ceased 
 TO Serve 
 
 James Calhoun, 
 
 . 1771 . 
 
 . 1820 
 
 Robert Purviance, 
 
 1771 
 
 1806 
 
 W1I.I.IAM Neill, 
 
 . 1773 . 
 
 . 1785 
 
 Hugh Young, 
 
 1779 
 
 1784 
 
 John Sterret, . 
 
 . 1779 . 
 
 . 1785 
 
 David Stewart, 
 
 1779 
 
 1818 
 
 Nathaniei. Smith, . 
 
 . 1779 . 
 
 . 1787 
 
 Joseph Donai^dson, 
 
 1781 
 
 1783 
 
 Robert Gii^mor, 
 
 . 1781 . 
 
 . 1822 
 
 Samuei. Smith, 
 
 1782 
 
 1832 
 
 Wii.i,iAM Patterson, 
 
 . 1785 . 
 
 . 1811 
 
 Christopher Johnston, 
 
 1787 
 
 1819 
 
 Doctor G. Brown, . 
 
 . 1787 . 
 
 . 1807 
 
 Stephen Wii^son, . 
 
 1789 
 
 1821 
 
 John Swan, 
 
 . 1790 . 
 
 . 1818 
 
 WlIvWAM ROBB, 
 
 1792 
 
 1804 
 
 J. A. Buchanan, 
 
 . 1796 . 
 
 . 1810 
 
 George Sai^mon, . 
 
 1804 
 
 1807 
 
 Coiv. Stricker, . 
 
 . 1807 . 
 
 . 1822 
 
 James McHenry, . 
 
 1810 
 
 1822 
 
 Amos Wii,i,iams, 
 
 . 1813 . 
 
 . 1822 
 
 Alexander Fridge, 
 
 1814 
 
 1839 
 
 Alexander McDonald, . 
 
 . 1816 . 
 
 . 1836 
 
 James Cox, 
 
 1817 
 
 1841 
 
 Alexander Nisbet, 
 
 . 1819 . 
 
 . 1854 
 
 Robert Smith, 
 
 1821 
 
 1828 
 
 Robert Gilmor, Jr., 
 
 . 1822 . 
 
 . 1848 
 
 John Purviance, . 
 
 1822 
 
 1854 
 
 Jonathan Meredith, 
 
 . 1822 . 
 
 . 1828 
 
91 
 
 Namks. 
 
 George Brown, 
 RoswELL L. Colt, 
 John T. Barr, 
 Henry Bird, 
 James Armstrong, 
 James Swan, 
 Alexander Murdoch. 
 James Campbell, 
 Francis Hyde, 
 Francis Foreman, . 
 Thomas Finley, 
 A. Stirling, 
 c. a. schaeffer, . 
 Joseph Taylor, . 
 J. Spear Smith, 
 Stephen Collins, 
 William Harrison. 
 John Armstrong, 
 William Buckler, 
 Alexander Turnbull 
 J. Morrison Harris, 
 Alexander Wincheste 
 James I. Fisher, 
 Charles Findlay, 
 Hamilton Easter, 
 George S. Brown, 
 Samuel Mactier, 
 Andrew Reid, . 
 
 
 When Elkcted. 
 
 Ceased 
 TO Serve 
 
 
 1825 
 
 1859 
 
 
 . 1828 . 
 
 . 1835 
 
 
 1829 
 
 1835 
 
 
 . 1831 . 
 
 . 1835 
 
 
 1832 
 
 1839 
 
 . 
 
 . 1832 . 
 
 . 1854 
 
 
 1834? 
 
 
 
 . 1835 . 
 
 . 1838 
 
 
 1836 
 
 1852 
 
 
 . 1836 . 
 
 . 1854 
 
 
 1838 
 
 1846 
 
 
 . 1830* 
 
 
 
 1839 
 
 1847 
 
 . 
 
 . 1843* 
 
 
 
 1844 
 
 1849 
 
 
 . 1846 . 
 
 . 1859 
 
 
 1849* 
 
 
 
 . 1849* 
 
 
 
 1854* 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 1854 . 
 
 . 1859 
 
 
 1854* 
 
 
 ER, 
 
 . 1854 . 
 
 . 1859 
 
 
 1855 
 
 1859 
 
 
 . 1858* 
 
 
 . 
 
 1858* 
 
 
 
 . 1859* 
 
 
 . 
 
 1859* 
 
 
 
 . 1860* 
 
 
 Those marked * comprise the present Committee. 
 
92 
 
 RUIvING ELDERS. 
 
 In 1781, the following entry is found in the Records of the 
 Committee : "The peculiar circumstances of our Society at 
 its first formation, especially the small number able and 
 willing to discharge public trusts therein, obliged some per- 
 sons to fill different employments in the capacity of both 
 what are called elders and deacons, or committee men. But 
 our respectable establishment, and happy increase now fur- 
 nish the means of removing this inconvenience. Be it there- 
 fore remembered that the following gentlemen, Dr. William 
 Lyon, Messrs. John Smith, William Buchanan and James 
 Sterret, who originally acted in these two characters, being 
 previously chosen by the congregation, agree to serve under 
 the former (that of elders) alone." Those elected under this 
 resolution were not ordained. 
 
 In 1804 we find another volume of Records opening as 
 follows: "Be it known that Messrs. Robert Purviance, 
 David Stewart, Christopher Johnston and George Salmon, 
 having been previously elected to the office of the eldership, 
 in the First Presbyterian congregation in the city of Balti- 
 more, were on the 1st day of April, 1804, solemnly ordained 
 and set apart to said office, according to the provisions in 
 chapter xii, Form of Government of the Presbyterian Church, 
 U. S. A. At the same time, Mr. Ebenezer Finley (previously 
 an elder in Pennsylvania) was also elected. 
 
 In 1817 the congregation resolved to elect elders annually. 
 This however was continued only one or two years, the 
 Synod having censured it as a departure from the Constitu- 
 tion of the Presbvterian Church in the United States. 
 
93 
 
 Namhs. 
 
 When Elkcted. 
 
 Ceased 
 TO Serve 
 
 William Lyon, 
 
 1781 
 
 
 John Smith, 
 
 . 1781 
 
 
 William Buchanan, 
 
 1781 
 
 
 James Sterret, 
 
 . 1781 
 
 
 William vSmith, ' . 
 
 1781 
 
 
 William Buchanan, 
 
 . 1781 
 
 
 Robert Gilmor, 
 
 1781 
 
 
 David Stewart, 
 
 . 1781 
 
 
 Christopher Johnston, 
 
 1781 
 
 
 Robert Purviance, 
 
 . 1804 . 
 
 . 1806 
 
 David Stewart, 
 
 1804 
 
 1818 
 
 Christopher Johnston, . 
 
 . 1804 . 
 
 . 1819 
 
 George Salmon, . 
 
 1804 
 
 1807 
 
 Ebenezer Finley, . 
 
 . 1804 
 
 
 John McKean, : 
 
 1809 
 
 
 Stewart Brown, 
 
 . 1809 
 
 
 Maxwell McDowell, . 
 
 1814 
 
 1817 
 
 James Mosher, . 
 
 . 1814 . 
 
 . 1817 
 
 Thomas Finley, 
 
 1814 
 
 1817 
 
 David Boisseau, 
 
 . 1814 . 
 
 . 1817 
 
 James Mosher, 
 
 1818* 
 
 1846 
 
 William Taylor, 
 
 . 1818 . 
 
 . 1830 
 
 James Delacour, . 
 
 1819 
 
 1820 
 
 Maxwell McDowell, 
 
 . 1829* . 
 
 . 1848 
 
 George Morris, 
 
 1829 
 
 1846 
 
 David S. Courtnay, . 
 
 . 1834f . 
 
 . 1840 
 
 John N. Brown, 
 
 1834t. • 
 
 1852 
 
 William L. Gill, 
 
 . 1834 
 
 
 =5^ Re-elected. t Resigned. 
 
 I Removed to Westminster. 
 
94 
 
 Names. 
 
 Whiln Elected. 
 
 Ceased 
 TO Serve. 
 
 John Rodgers, 
 
 1840 
 
 
 David Stewart, 
 
 . 1840* . 
 
 . 1847 
 
 John Fai^coner, . • . 
 
 1840* . 
 
 1847 
 
 W11.1.IAM W. Spence, 
 
 . 1848 
 
 
 W1LI.IAM B. CanfieIvD, 
 
 1848 
 
 
 In 1840 Messrs. Henry C. Turnbull, John Haskell, Moses 
 Hyde and Ivancaster Ould were elected deacons and served 
 till they removed from the church. 
 
 The following Minutes from the Session Book record the 
 death of two of the first regularly ordained Elders of the 
 church. 
 
 ROBERT PURVIANCE. 
 
 On the evening of October 9th, 1806, departed this life, in 
 the seventy-second year of his age, Robert Purviance, one of 
 the Elders of this congregation, and for many years one of 
 the Committee entrusted with its temporal concerns. Steady 
 and regular in all his habits — firm, resolute, resigned and 
 unrepining amidst his trials — punctual in his dealings — faith- 
 ful in his duties — assiduous in his attendance on public 
 worship and the various institutions of religion — equally 
 respectable and amiable in social intercourse — as a father 
 kind and provident — as a husband generous, constant and 
 invariably affectionate and uniform ; consistent, respectable 
 through life, and also through the hasty stages of a painful 
 malady which led him to his grave. He has left an example 
 ornamental to the religion he professed, and worthy of gen- 
 eral imitation. 
 
 * Removed to Franklin street. 
 
95 
 
 GEORGE SALMON, 
 
 On the morning of September 18th, 1807, being the Lord's 
 day, while the congregation were assembled for public wor- 
 ship, departed this life, after a few days of severe illness, 
 George Salmon, one of the Elders of this congregation, 
 and one of the Committee entrusted with its temporal 
 concerns. 
 
 Seldom is it that society, civil or religious, sustains so 
 heavy a loss, or the domestic circle so painful a bereavement, 
 as occurred in the decease of this most estimable man. The 
 felicities of this life, of which he had an ample share, instead 
 of interfering with the claims of Heaven, as they too often 
 do, exalted his soul in pure and unaffected devotion to the 
 Father of Lights, the giver of every good and every perfect 
 gift. His religion was of the modest and unobtrusive kind, al- 
 though he never shrank from the acknowledgement of its 
 obligations. His attainments in this respect were great, yet 
 were they ever accompanied by an exemplary humility. His 
 dependence was on the grace of God, and the merits of the 
 Redeemer. His morality was at once invigorated and charac- 
 terized by his religion. The same singleness of heart, the 
 same meekness of temper — were conspicuous in both. Walk- 
 ing humbly with his God, he did justly and loved mercy in 
 his relations with mankind. Righteousness predominated in 
 his pecuniary transactions, and yet left room for a generosity 
 as diffuse as ever opened the heart or hand of man. In his 
 charities he was indefatigable, and the distinguishing features 
 of his mind was eminently visible in them, his left hand not 
 knowing the bountj- which his right hand dispensed. This 
 church will long have reason to deplore the privation of his 
 
9G 
 
 faithful services — his zealous exertions and his unremitted 
 devotion to its interests. 
 
 " His witness is in heaven and his record is on high." 
 
 He died in the sixtieth year of his age. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 The following items have been noted in reading the min- 
 utes of the " Committee," and of the " Session," and are here 
 inserted, with the page where the action on them may be 
 found, as a matter of curiosity and interest. 
 
 Mr. Lee was chosen the first precentor, 1765, at £ 10 per 
 annum. In January, 1765, Mr. Smith, having reported, that 
 Mr. Lawson was willing to dispose of a lot of ground fit for 
 our purpose, eighty feet front, and extending from the alley 
 on which it is situated to Jones' Falls, for sixty pounds 
 Pennsylvania currency. Mr. Lawson was invited to meet the 
 committee at its next meeting, and the offer was accepted. 
 The deed from Alexander Lawson to William Smith and 
 others, is dated October 21st, 1765. In March, 1765, Mr. 
 Buchanan acquainted the committee that Captain Charles 
 Ridgely offered for the i^log) meeting house and lot one 
 hundred pounds, and all the ground rent due on said lot from 
 the date of the lease, allowing the congregation the free use 
 of the house till May 1766. The committee accepted this 
 proposal. 
 
 In May, 1765, the committee agreed to purchase from Mr. 
 Lawson forty feet additional ground adjoining the church 
 lot, for a parsonage. 
 
97 
 
 In 1770, a storm of wind carried away a part of the roof. 
 In 1771 it was agreed to enlarge the church and build a par- 
 sonage. In February, 1772, forty feet more ground was 
 leased from Mr. Andrew Buchanan ; and in March, 1778, the 
 committee obtained a release of the reversion. A parsonage 
 was erected on what is now the bed o'f North street, in 1781. 
 In 1784 it was found necessary to secure the ground in front 
 of the church with a brick wall. It was at first sloped and 
 graded, and enclosed with a wood pailing — and then the 
 brick wall w^as erected, and the steps and paved walks were 
 made, pp. 48, 75. 
 
 In 1785 the first steps were taken for procuring the Burial 
 ground on the corner of Greene and Fayette streets, p. 50. 
 
 In 1789 the congregation met, after notice from the pulpit, 
 to confer and determine on the subject of a new church. 
 Sixteen hundred pounds had been subscribed, and a com- 
 mittee w^as appointed to carry out the project, viz. Messrs. 
 James Calhoun, George Salmon and David Williamson. The 
 church was to be eighty feet by sixty : two stories high, with 
 a belfry, and galleries ten feet from the floor. Messrs. Gil- 
 mor and Patterson were appointed to get plans and estimates 
 for the new church, pp. 78, 79. 
 
 In 1790 the congregation applied for use of the Court 
 House as a place of worship while the church was building, 
 p. 81. This application was granted. 
 
 In 1792 Dr. Allison prepared an abridgement of the Cate- 
 chism, and the committee recommended its use, p. 90. 
 
 In 1791 the new church was sufficiently completed for use. 
 In May, after notice on three successive Sabbaths, the con- 
 gregation met to inspect the accounts, and adopt a plan for 
 disposing the pews, p. 86. In 1792 the committee made a 
 
98 
 
 full report of their proceedings from the beginning — a very 
 interesting document, pp. 91-3. 
 
 The towers were ordered to be completed 1795 ; Messrs. 
 Salmon, Swan and McKean, committee, p. 103. 
 
 In 1797 the committee applied for an act of incorporation, 
 p. 111. In 1798 it was declared to be expedient to reduce the 
 ground around the church, p. 117. In 1800 an agreement 
 was made with reference to opening North lane and reducing 
 the ground p. 121. This ground had been used for a number 
 of years for burial purposes. The congregation reserved the 
 right to continue the parsonage on part of the street as long 
 as it suited them, not exceeding ten years. They retained it 
 till 1805, p. 153. 
 
 In 1821 Col. Mosher and Mr. William Taylor were appointed 
 a committee to superintend the building of a session room, 
 p. 184. 
 
 In 1835 the church was thoroughly repaired and the ceiling 
 lowered three feet. In 1837 gas was introduced. 
 
 October, 1853, the congregational meeting was held on the 
 subject of removing the church, p. 247. November, 1854, the 
 plans of the new church were adopted. 
 
 THE IvAST SABBATH IN THE OLD CHURCH. 
 
 On the last Sabbath in September, 1859, the First Presby- 
 terian Church in Baltimore, in accordance with a previous 
 notice, assembled to worship for the last time in that vener- 
 able building. It having become known that this would be 
 the last opportunity to engage in the sacred services of that 
 
99 
 
 House of God, many who had formerly attended there, and 
 some whose ancestors had there worshiped, met on this occa- 
 sion with the present members of the congregation, filling 
 the church to overflowing. At the morning service, in con- 
 nection with the usual exercises, the preceding discourse, 
 giving a brief history of the congregation, was delivered. 
 At the afternoon service, the Lord's Supper was administered 
 for the last time in that edifice. The pastor was assisted by 
 the Rev. Dr. Smith of the Second Presbyterian Church ; the 
 Rev. Dr. Dickson of the Westminster Presbyterian Church ; 
 the Rev. G. D. Purviance, recently the pastor of the Fourth 
 Presbyterian Church, himself born and brought up in this 
 church, and descended from ancestors who were among the 
 leading founders of the church, and who had, during the 
 whole of its past history, afforded in successive generations 
 some of its most valuable officers ; and the Rev. Stephen 
 Williams the oldest Presbyterian preacher in Baltimore, who 
 could almost look back to the opening of the building. 
 :\Iany former members, who had removed to form other 
 churches, but desired here, amid the solemn and tender 
 associations of the past, once more to commemorate the 
 d3ing love of their Redeemer, met with us. 
 
 There were also present, with the single exception of Mr. 
 Henry C. Turnbull, elder in the Govanstown Presbyterian 
 Chapel, who was detained by sickness, all the surviving 
 elders and deacons who hadservedin this church ; viz. Messrs. 
 John X. Brown and John Falconer, elders in the Westminster 
 church ; Messrs. David Courtenay and Lancaster Quid, elders 
 in the Franklin street church ; Mr. Moses Hyde, elder in the 
 Aisquith street church ; Dr. David Stewart, elder in the 
 Annapolis Presbyterian church ; and Mr. John H. Haskell, 
 
100 
 
 recently an elder in the Franklin street church, now a mem- 
 ber of this. These assisted the present elders of the church 
 in distributing the elements. 
 
 The service was opened with singing and prayer by Mr. 
 Purviance. Then followed the reading of the words of insti- 
 tution, and an address by the pastor. The bread was dis- 
 pensed by Dr. Dickson, and the cup by Dr. Smith. The ser- 
 vices throughout, at this famil}^ re-union of the oldest Pres- 
 byterian church in Baltimore, were most tender and solemn. 
 None who were present will soon forget them, but it has 
 been thought desirable to preserve this brief memorial. 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
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