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S4
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
IN THE
NATIONAL CAPITAL
Drawing of the First Unitarian Church in Washington
Charles Bulfmch, Architect
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
IN THE
NATIONAL CAPITAL
1821—1921
BY/
JENNIE W. SCUDDER
ISSUED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WASHINGTON
CHAPTER, UNITARIAN LAYMEN'S LEAGUE
THE BEACON PRESS
BOSTON MASS.
1922
Copyright, 1922,
BY JENNIE W. SCUDDER
^11 Rights Reserved
FEINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON CHAPTER
UNITARIAN LAYMEN'S LEAGUE
OFFICERS
1920-1921
J. C. Robertson, President
T. M. Roberts, Vice-President
George Livingston, Secretary
J. J. LiGHTFOOT, Treasurer
1921-1922
J. E. Jones, President
A. M. Holcombe, Vice-President
Laurence C. Staples, Secretary-Treasurer
1922-1923
A. M. Holcombe, President
George A. Ricker, Vice-President
Laurence C. Staples, Treasurer
Remick S. Ferguson, Secretary
PREFACE
Permission to use in this work any part of
the Historical Sketch of the Unitarian Church
of Washington, D. C, written in 1909 by me,
and copyrighted by the Columbia Historical
Society, District of Columbia, was granted
May 16, 1921, by Mr. Allen C. Clark, presi-
dent of the Historical Society.
In the preparation of the history I have
been helped, in the matter of arrangement,
by the criticisms and suggestions of Mr. H.
Barrett Learned, sometime a member of the
Department of History of Stanford Univer-
sity. For this help I am very thankful.
Mr. William L. Brown of the Library of
Congress gave me the benefit of thoughtful
criticism worthy the gratitude I here express.
I have to thank the Rev. F. C. Southworth,
President of Meadville Theological School,
for information concerning several of the early
ministers of the Unitarian church of Wash-
ington.
To Harold H. Scudder, Associate Professor
[vii]
PREFACE
of English in the New Hampshire State Col-
lege, I am gratefully indebted for revision of
English and style.
In the publication of the history I have been
guided and assisted in the various essentials
by Mr. John E. Jones, President (1921) of the
Washington Chapter of the Unitarian Lay-
men's League. He has spared no pains in
aiding the author and in helping her to see
the volume through the press.
Other indebtedness I have acknowledged in
the course of narration.
Jennie W. Scudder.
Washington, May 11, 1922.
[viii]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER TASa
I The First Church Founded .... 1
II Prominent Members 10
III The Struggle for Life 25
IV Ministers of the First Church ... 36
V The Shadow of Slavery 49
VI The Church in the Civil War ... 63
VII Reconstruction Period 72
VIII All Souls Church 78
IX Civic and Denominational Activities . 90
X Heirlooms 105
XI National Adherents 112
XII The New All Souls 122
XIII Ministers of All Souls Church . . .135
Appendix 145
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Architect's Drawing of the First Unitarian
Church Frontispiece
The First Unitarian Church, 1822 9
Excerpt from Report of the Reverend Robert Little 27
The Reverend Rush R. Shippen 43
The Reverend E. Bradford Leavitt 59
All Souls Church, 1877 79
The Reverend Clay MacCauley 91
Facsimile of Title Page of Mr. Little's Hymn
Book 107
Architects' Drawing of All Souls Church and
Edward Everett Hale Memorial Parish House,
1922 129
The Reverend Ulysses G. B. Pierce 139
A Century of Unitarianism
in the National Capital
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST CHURCH FOUNDED
On November 11, 1921, the Unitarian
Church of Washington, D. C, became one
hundred years old. It was organized on No-
vember 11, 1821, as the "First Unitarian
Church," and retained that designation fifty-
six years. This organization was effected by
a small congregation, which began to meet in
1820 in a room over some pubhc baths on C
Street, between Four and One Half and Sixth
Streets N. W., to listen to the preaching of
Robert Little. This congregation consisted
of some of the most intelligent and cultivated
families of the young capital. Several had
been drawn to Unitarianism by the preaching
of Edward Everett in the hall of the House
of Representatives ; some were associated with
the government of the new republic, while
[1]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
others were English people who had been Uni-
tarians in their native land and friends, there
as here, of Dr. Joseph Priestley.
Mr. Little, himself, was one of these. He
had experienced the injustice, both social and
political, which England then inflicted upon
dissenters. To escape this he had come to
America and had become, according to some
accounts, a merchant in Washington and, ac-
cording to others, a clerk in governmental em-
ployment. His preaching had attracted some
notice in England, especially a sermon deliv-
ered in Birmingham entitled The Decline and
Fall of Spiritual Babylon, which dealt with
the unjust treatment of dissenters.
Knowing these things of him, it was natural
that the little company who wished to exercise
their privilege of freedom in religious worship
should think of him, and thus began the meet-
ings on C Street. Opposed to any connection
between church and state, they yet wanted a
faith that should express the democratic idea
in religion as the new government expressed
it in politics. This they found in Unitarian-
ism. The desire and need for a more positive
assertion of the new religious idea grew, and a
meeting was called for July 31, 1820, to con-
sider the matter. Notice of the calling of the
[2]
THE FIRST CHURCH FOUNDED
meeting, and of its proceedings, was made in
the local papers, which reported that on mo-
tion of William Eliot it was
"RESOLVED, That it is expedient that
measures be taken for erecting a church upon
Unitarian principles in the city of Wash-
ington ; and also that a meeting be held August
6th, to concert measures for carrying into ef-
fect the above resolution."
Several months passed before a working
plan was developed by which to try to attain
their common desire. Mr. Little wrote to
Jared Sparks, then the Unitarian minister in
Baltimore: "I am going on in much weak-
ness, fear, and trembling, preaching to our fel-
low citizens and others, and the numbers of
respectable hearers increase." Some of the
congregation thought that Mr. Little ought to
withdraw from business so as to give more
time to the church-building project. This he
did not feel financially able to do, and he
doubted the wisdom of such action until the
congregation became larger and more zealous.
Finally it was decided, as he again wrote to
Sparks: "to form a Society on Unitarian
principles and to maintain regular worship an-
tecedently to the building of a church. Ac-
cordingly a subscription has been offered of
[3]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
from ten to twenty dollars each per annum for
this purpose, and one or two families have with-
drawn from the Presbyterian Church to join
us. Last Sunday we had several members of
Congress and several fresh faces from the
stated residents of our city."
Probably because of this subscription, Mr.
Little was able to give more attention to the
affair in hand, as he went to New England in
May, 1821, to solicit money therefor. In this
instance, a task unpleasant by its very nature
was made more so by intimation that his com-
ing on such an errand would be displeasing to
congregations and embarrassing to ministers.
Discouraging as the prospect was, he suc-
ceeded in a measure and was able to write to
Mr. Sparks in October, 1821: "I now enter-
tain no doubt of ultimate success, and the
sister churches of Baltimore and Washington
may hereafter be mutually useful to each other
as well as to the Southern States generally.
We received three hundred dollars more from
Boston a few weeks since and I believe they
have a little more in reserve there."
In Providence, R. I., Mr. Little preached
three times on one Sunday and was given one
hundred dollars toward the building fund.
The letter already quoted expressed his satis-
[41
THE FIRST CHURCH FOUNDED
faction at the increase of numbers in atten-
dance at the meetings, and the "distinguished
respectabihty" of the individuals. It enu-
merated the difficulties under which he had
labored in the way of personal matters — his
change of employment and lack of books — and
expressed his gratitude at having been able to
accomplish so much in spite of all.
On November 11, 1821, the first step was
taken toward the goal when the congregation
organized as a church, adopted a constitution
and made Mr. Little minister. The number
of members is variously given, the maximum
being twenty-seven. All accounts include the
names of John Quincy Adams, John C. Cal-
houn, William Winston Seaton, Joseph Gales,
Sr., and Joseph Gales, Jr., William G. Ehot,
Charles Bulfinch, John F. Webb, C. S.
Fowler and Judge William Cranch, all now
well known in denominational, local and na-
tional history.
The church records give also the names of
JNIoses Poor, D. F. May, N. P. Poor, Noah
Fletcher, Richard Wallach, Robert Little,
Seth Hyatt, C. Andrews, S. Robinson, Pishey
Thompson, Thomas Bates, A. B. Waller,
Thomas C. Wright, M. Claxton, S. Franklin,
William Cooper and P. Mauro.
[5]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
The church was not established without
some excitement in orthodox circles which
found expression in magazine and newspaper
articles. These were answered and the cause
defended by Jared Sparks. Lately ordained by
Channing, in Baltimore, whose sermon on the
occasion of May 5, 1819, had cleared the the-
ological atmosphere and made plain the schism
in the Congregational body, Sparks was a fit-
ting herald of Unitarianism in the South.
With the enthusiasm of youth but the
judgment of maturity, he asserted its
principles with vigor and defended them with
ability. The magazine. Unitarian Miscel-
lany, which he edited, supplemented his pulpit.
In it he often had an explanatory or an en-
couraging or a complimentary word for the
struggling Unitarian congregation and its
minister in the neighboring city. When finan-
cial help was asked for the new venture.
Sparks preached a suitable sermon from the
text, Isaiah xli. 6: "They helped every one
his brother and every one said to his brother 'Be
of good cheer,' " with the result of a collec-
tion of one hundred and fifty-one dollars and
eighty-one cents.
After coming to Washington as Chaplain
of the House of Representatives, in 1821, Mr.
[6]
THE FIRST CHURCH FOUNDED
Sparks, during an illness of Mr. Little,
preached every other Sunday to the congre-
gation in the "upper room." His kindness to
^Ir. Little was the beautiful tribute of youth
to age, for Mr. Little was no longer young.
It later appeared that Sparks more clearly
than any one else outside Washington realized
the need and the possible value to denomin-
ation and to country of a Unitarian church at
the seat of government.
On June 9, 1822, a church building for use
by the new society was dedicated. On this oc-
casion, the sermon by Mr. Little ended thus:
"These walls I trust will bear witness that our
lives have not been altogether useless to man-
kind. Some, I hope, may be better and wiser
for our exertions in the cause of truth. If
not in an obvious and direct manner, yet in
some effectual way, may we have served our
generation, and promoted the knowledge, the
service and the will of the one true God." Of
this event Mrs. Seaton wrote to her father,
Joseph Gales, Sr. : "The Unitarian Church
has been dedicated with all the solemnity and
simplicity characterizing the profession of its
members. Mr. Little's discourse was irresis-
tibly forcible and pathetic, his impressive man-
ner adding to its exceeding interest. There
[7]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
were upwards of four hundred persons pres-
ent."
The building stood on the corner of Sixth
and D Streets, then considered a convenient
and suitable location. It was designed by
the famous architect, Charles Bulfinch, and
marked, at the time of its completion, a de-
cided advance in architectural excellence in
this city. It served its purpose as a Unitarian
church for fifty-five years. The original Bul-
finch drawings of the First Church are in the
possession of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. A picture of the church has
lately been supplied to that institution.
An item in the Washington News of Au-
gust 10, 1850, referred to the Unitarian
Church, then twenty-eight years old and un-
dergoing repairs, as follows:
"They are giving this edifice a new dress.
The old was full of rents and patches. We
think there is no better site for a church in the
city than this; nor indeed is there a prettier
church. Its architecture is so simple, its di-
mensions not large and yet we always like to
see it. So calmly it stands there on its bright
elevation looking over a great part of the city
and then surrounded by the old sentinel pop-
lars— we love it dearly. Part of this love may
[8]
THE FIRST CHURCH FOUNDED
be due to the recollection of our boyhood when
the Unitarian Church was indeed an important
edifice, for we had but two or three other places
of worship in those days, and that bell used to
tell the service hour to all in the neighborhood,
being the only bell within a mile or so. The
stuccoing of the walls and pillars wanted re-
pair badly and so did the steeple. This is now
being done by our townsman, Mr. C. Gill.
The building is very conspicuous and will,
when restored, be a pleasant and picturesque
object."
[9]
CHAPTER II
PROMINENT MEMBERS
The First Church was distinctive in that it
was from the beginning Unitarian and not an
orthodox society hberalized. It ranks among
the earhest churches with this distinction;
those of Baltimore, Maryland, and Charleston,
South Carolina, having been founded in 1817,
while the first Unitarian church in New York
City was dedicated only six months before
that of Washington. To Philadelphia belongs
the honor of having built and dedicated the
first church in America for Unitarian wor-
ship. Among the workers toward that end
was Joseph Gales, Sr., whose name is found
among the original members of the First
Church of Washington.
Mr. Gales had been obliged to leave Eng-
land because of his liberal political ideas, sac-
rificing thereby his well established business
of publisher, bookseller and editor of the Shef-
field Register in the city of that name. His
[10]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
religious ideas were no less liberal and unpop-
ular.
Possessed of a discretion which might have
averted such a crisis, Mr. Gales became the
victim of the indiscretion of an employe who
wrote seditious letters from his publishing
house. JNIoreover the attention of the govern-
ment became fixed upon the establishment be-
cause of its suspicion that Thomas Paine's
works were published and sold there. This
suspicion was not groundless. Fortunately
for Mr. Gales, the King's Messengers called
to investigate while he was away from home,
with no worse result than the suggestion to
ISIrs. Gales, who had received them with great
tact, that it would be well if her husband were
to remain away until the times were more set-
tled. This leniency was avowedly shown be-
cause of the high opinion in which even his po-
litical enemies held Mr. Gales. Seeing the
ruin of his business and probable imprison-
ment in the near future if he returned to Shef-
field, he left England for Germany, where he
awaited the arrival of his family and whence
they sailed for Philadelphia in 1795. In that
city he was met by Dr. Priestley, his personal
friend and fellow exile, and later they worked
[11]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
together in bringing Unitarianism before the
pubhe. Congress was then in session there
and, as Mr. Gales had found employment in
a newspaper office, he was asked to make a re-
port of a day's proceedings of that body.
This he was able to do verbatim by means of
stenography, greatly to the surprise of his
employer and of members of Congress. This
event was the beginning of a successful career
in America. He bought a newspaper in
Philadelphia, but later disposed of it and
went, at the solicitation of members from
North Carolina, to Raleigh in that state.
There he established the Raleigh Register, be-
came printer for the state, and trained in
journalism the two men who were to become
moulders of public opinion in the capital of
the new nation — Joseph Gales, Jr., and Wil-
liam Winston Seaton.
The elder Gales, in his last years retiring
from business one of the most honored citizens
of his state, came to Washington and was in-
terested in the management of the African
Colonization Society. He died in Raleigh,
North Carolina. He was born in Eckington,
England.
While his father is counted as a member of
the First Church of Washington, Joseph
[12]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
Gales, Jr., was more closely identified with
that organization. He was the worthy son
of a noble father, whose principles and ex-
ample he made his own with the result of a
life equally rich in "true things truly done."
He came to Washington as assistant to the
editor and proprietor of the paper which later
became his own, and began daily reporting of
Congi-essional debates, which was a feature
of the paper for many years. Such was the
vigor and inspiration which he gave to the pa-
per that within two years he was a partner in
its management, and in another j^ear its sole
editor and owner.
The cumbrous title of National Intelligencer
and Washington Advertiser was curtailed, be-
coming the National Intelligencer. From the
first, INIr. Gales asserted his purpose of main-
taining and preserving inviolate the independ-
ence of the paper and the right of following the
unbiased convictions of his own judgment.
With him was soon associated his brother-
in-law, William Winston Seaton, who, no
more nor less firmly based upon right princi-
ples than Gales, was perhaps more brilliant in
word and deed and more of a politician. This
association was closer than that of most broth-
ers. They had "no bickerings, no misunder-
[13J
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
standings nor differences of view that a con-
sultation did not at once reconcile; they knew
no division of interests ; from a common coffer
each drew what he chose."
Mr. Seaton was a Virginian of Scotch de-
scent. He was educated by tutors, and in the^
schools of Richmond, especially at the cele-
brated Ogilvie Academy there. After editor-
ial experience in several southern towns, he
had gone to Raleigh to take a place on the
Register and there began his relation to the
Gales family when he married Sarah Gales.
He became a Unitarian, though he always re-
tained a love of the forms of the Episcopal
service, and with his wife was a member of the
First Church in Washington. JNIr. Seaton was
for twelve successive years Mayor of Washing-
ton. He was the intimate friend of Daniel
Webster and knew well most of the celebrated
men of his time. He was not only the friend
of those in high position, but of the poor and
unfortunate as well.
The opinion in which contemporaries held
Messrs. Gales and Seaton is shown in an ar-
ticle in the Atlantic Monthly of December,
1860, shortly before death severed their part-
nership. It says of the paper which was their
mouthpiece: "There has in all our times
[14]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
shone no such continual hght on pubhc affairs;
there has stood no such sure defense of what-
ever was needful to be upheld; tempering the
heats of both sides, renationalizing all spirit of
section; combating our propensity to lawless-
ness at home and aggression abroad ; spreading
constantly on each question of the day a mass
of sound information the venerable editors
have been all the while a power of safety in
the land, no matter who were the rulers."
Of these great citizens of the District of
Columbia, there remains there today no sug-
gestion except in the name of "Eckington"
given to a suburb grown up about the Gales
estate and in the designation of two school
buildings and that of two minor streets.
That the association of these high-minded
men with the cause of liberal religion in its
early days in the National Capital may be a
little better known to local and national Uni-
tarians, is one reason for its extended mention.
Joseph Gales, Sr., is represented today by de-
scendants in All Souls Church.
As given in the list of original members of
the First Church, the names of John Quincy
Adams and John C. Calhoun speak for them-
selves as to character and social position, both
at that time officials in the cabinet of Presi-
[15]
A CENTURY OF UNITAMANISM
dent Monroe. Mr. Calhoun is said to have
remarked, when making his contribution to-
ward the building of the First Church, that
"Unitarianism is the true faith and must
ultimately prevail over the world."
One of the most illustrious names on the
register of the First Unitarian Church is that
of Judge William Cranch. He had come to
Washington a young lawyer in 1794 before
the city could furnish homes for all who wanted
them. Therefore he made Alexandria, then
a part of the District of Columbia, his dwell-
ing place for several years. He was fifty-
two years old when the church was organized.
He did not come into it through conversion
but through inheritance. He was simply
making public profession of the faith which
had thus far inspired his well ordered life and
with him antedated Channing and his famous
pronunciamento.
Judge Cranch was a relative and had been
a playmate of John Quincy Adams. To-
gether they had heard the Declaration of Inde-
pendence read in Boston by Sheriff William
Greenleaf, interrupting their boyish play for
that purpose. To Adams came the brilhant
career of diplomat, cabinet officer and Presi-
dent of the United States; to Cranch the se-
[16]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
date practice of the law, culminating in 1805
in his appointment by President Jefferson as
Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the Dis-
trict of Columbia. It was an interesting coin-
cidence in his life that when twenty-six years
old he should marry the daughter of Sheriff
Greenleaf, the man whom he had heard read
the Declaration of Independence, and when
thirty-six should be made Judge by the author
of that Declaration.
Judge Cranch suffers not at all in compar-
ison with the notable men who were associated
with him in the new religious enterprise of
1821. It has been said of him that nature
must have intended him for a judge, so per-
fectly had she endowed him for that calling.
He had great love of order and of clearness;
he delighted in straightening out puzzling con-
ditions. His perception in matters of the
law was keen and certain. He was by nature
serious. Pie read the English classics and was
fond of poetry. He was a hard worker and
gave ten hours a day for sixty years to the
requirements of his position. His recreations
were walking, playing chess and music. He
delighted in nature and in sculpture and paint-
ing. It is significant that three of his sons
were artists and all were men of fine tastes.
[17]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
His clear mind no doubt helped solve many of
the problems that continually puzzled the
First Church, and perhaps sometimes antici-
pated its proper course. It is known that he
wrote Dr. Channing of the financial condition
of the church after Mr. Little's death, and it
was he who arranged for a fitting funeral ser-
mon in Washington in memory of the first
minister. His love of sacred music led him
to take an active part in the musical service of
the church for many years. It is related that
on one occasion when the organist failed to at-
tend the service. Judge Cranch — then with
flowing white hair — rose from his pew, went
into the choir and played all the music. At
the organization of the American Unitarian
Association in 1825, Judge Cranch was made
a Vice-President, and he was one of the board
of trustees of the first public school in the Dis-
trict of Columbia.
William G. Eliot was a merchant and ship-
owner of New Bedford, Mass., whom the em-
bargo previous to the war of 1812 forced out
of business into a government position in
Washington. Here for thirty-five years he
was chief examiner in the auditing office of
the Post Office Department. He resigned
that office in 1853 and died in Washington the
[18]
pro:mixent members
next year. He was a man of culture and re-
finement and at some sacrifice gave to his
children the best education attainable. To
this end, he bought a certificate of scholarship
in Columbian College for which he paid
$134.16. This certificate entitled its owner
to twenty years' school tuition. Columbian
College has developed into the George Wash-
ington Universit}^ but the change in name is
not more marked probably than that in its
schedule of prices.
Of Mr. Eliot's part in the hfe of the First
Church, the records have this to say at the time
when he thought best to resign the position in
its management which he had held for many
years. Just what that position was, is not
stated.
"His colleagues desire in his absence to ex-
press their deepest thankfulness and gratitude
on their own part and that of the church for
the untiring interest, the most open-hearted
liberality which he has always manifested; and
to express their sincere conviction that the
prosperity of the church has been greatly in-
debted to him not only for the wise counsels he
has given, the energy he has inspired, the
cheerfulness he has imparted in its darkest
hours, but more especially for the pure and
unswerving rectitude of his private life."
[19]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
Mr. Eliot is of interest to all Unitarians as
the father of William G. Eliot, Jr. This son,
though born in New England, lived in Wash-
ington from his eleventh to his twenty-first
year and was one of the youthful members of
the congregation of the First Church. He
graduated from Columbian College in 1830,
and after a year as government employe went
to the Harvard Divinity School for three years.
He was ordained as an Evangelist and went
to St. Louis as a pioneer preacher, there to
enter upon a career which brought him en-
during local and national fame. Mr. Eliot,
during the Civil War, was the organizer and
active supporter of the Western Sanitary
Commission, was founder of Washington Uni-
versity in St. Louis, and deserves more than
any one else to be called the father of the pub-
lic school system of Missouri.
Charles Bulfinch came to Washington as
architect of the Capitol in 1818, two years be-
fore the little band of liberals began their Sun-
day meetings in the "long room" over the
public baths. At that time several families of
Unitarians attended St. John's Church, to
whose building some of them had contributed.
There the Bulfinches went for a while and of
their first Sunday Mr. Bulfinch wrote:
[20]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
*'We have attended once at the new church
near the President's house, a very beautiful
building. This church is frequented by the
genteelest society of the place. It is furnished
with an organ, the only one here, but the
preacher is so violent in expressing his condem-
nation of all of different tenets from his own
that our townsman, John JNIason, Esq., re-
quested one of the Wardens to endeavor to
control his zeal or at least the harshness of his
expressions."
Later, when Mr. and Mrs. Bulfinch had be-
come known in the community and were still
attendants at that church, the rector made
Unitarians the special object of his attack,
much to the dismay of some of the communi-
cants who expected, as they said, to see the
Bulfinches leave the church. His animosity
toward Unitarians did not prevent this
doughty theologian from consulting Bulfinch
in regard to plans for enlarging St. John's.
Soon after coming to Washington Mr. Bul-
finch, in a letter to a Boston friend, mentioned
under the head of the inconveniences of life
in Washington that there were "a number of
places of public worship of various denomin-
ations, but all agreeing in circulating the most
trinitarian and Calvinistic opinions." It was
quite natural that he should desire a more con-
[21]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
genial religious environment and he was soon
actively interested in the organization of a Uni-
tarian Society and the building of a church.
That Bulfinch drev7 the plans of the First
Church is well known, but his part in rousing
public opinion in its favor in the north is not
so well known. This active interest is shown
in a letter to his brother-in-law, Joseph Cool-
idge, wherein he said:
"I have lately written to P. O. Thacher
chiefly on the subject of a church commencing
here on liberal principles. We look for as-
sistance from your quarter and shall soon
make our appeal to Boston generosity and
have no fear that it will be in vain."
It is pleasing to know that Mr. Coolidge re-
sponded as desired. In January, 1820, he
wrote again :
"Last evening the committee on the new
church met and requested me to write to
Boston for advice as to the best methods of ob-
taining assistance. I shall address a letter in
a few days to Rev. F. Parkman on the subject.
He knows our circumstances here better than
any other of our clergy."
In the Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch
there are given no details of the building of
[22]
PROMINENT MEMBERS
the church under his guidance, but that the
welfare of the Society was always of impor-
tance to hini is shown. Mrs. Bulfinch, in writ-
ing to her son Stephen, then at the Harvard
Divinity School, gave this intimate picture:
*'Dec. 16, 1827. We have witnessed today
the first baptismal ceremony ever performed
in our church. Mrs. Poor with her two chil-
dren and her daughter, Mrs. Webb, with two
infants came forward to the table and a short
ceremony and prayer followed."
Miss Charlotte EHzabeth Webb, who died
in Washington in 1921, aged ninety-four years,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Webb,
was doubtless one of the children here men-
tioned. The ceremony was performed by Mr.
Mott, who supplied the pulpit for a time after
Mr. Little's death.
In a letter to another son, just before their
removal from Washington to Boston in 1829,
Mrs. Bulfinch wrote:
"The church is one of those concerns we
wish to leave settled and prosperous whenever
we take our departure."
They left Washington in 1829, to return in
1838 to spend two years with their youngest
[23]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIAN ISM
son, Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, who was then
minister of the church in which they had been
so interested.
[24]
CHAPTER III
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
Mr. Little's pastorate lasted about six years.
He died at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whither
he had gone for a visit and where he was bur-
ied, in 1827. Mr. Little had a reputation for
eloquence which attracted many outside the
congregation, even those of high degree. Mrs.
Seaton in a letter to her parents in 1824, said:
"Lafaj^ette goes with us next Sunday to the
Unitarian Church, being desirous of hearing
Mr. Little of whose fervid eloquence he has
heard so much."
He was several times asked by the Speaker
of the House to preach in the hall of the House
of Representatives. On one of these occasions
he spoke on "Religious Liberty and Unita-
rianism Vindicated," and at another time on
"The Duty of Public Usefulness." A copy
of this latter sermon may be read at the Li-
brary of Congress, and the former may be
[25]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
found in the library of All Souls Church. He
was not averse to the discussion of current top-
ics in his pulpit, and once delivered a sermon
which was spoken of thirty-eight years after-
ward, by Mr. Seaton, as "a grand sermon, de-
picting with prophetic force the evils of Gen-
eral Jackson's election." He evidently had
a diversity of gifts, being devoted to literature
and natural science. He was editor during its
brief existence of the Washington Quarterly
Magazine, which was devoted apparently to
whatever promoted the agricultural, commer-
cial and manufacturing interests of the coun-
try. It was earnest in advocating the cutting
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and it an-
nounced in each number the issue of patents
for the preceding quarter. In it were also pub-
lished monthly meteorological records made
by its editor. Mr. Little is said to have been
instrumental in the creation of the Botanical
Garden. He made a collection of hymns
for the use of his congregation, which was
printed by William Cooper, a member of
that body. Jared Sparks noticed this col-
lection in his magazine, saying that it was
made with good taste. A letter by Mrs. Sea-
ton describes him as "patriarchal in appear-
ance, mild and truthful yet so energetic in
[26]
/--> s
cc;
cr;
cri
W
■f^ ^
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
his appeals to the reason and the heart, that
the most indifferent auditor finds himself
imperceptibly engaged in self-examination."
Mr. Little had hesitated to take the leadership
in the church enterprise for various reasons.
In his report to the church at its annual meet-
ing in 1823 he said: "I have never pretended
to those talents either natural or acquired
which the distinguished situation of your min-
ister renders desirable. But all that I have
has been, and will be, cheerfully devoted to this
service so long as my ability and your appro-
bation coincide." At his death, very kindly
things were said of him by people of other re-
ligious denominations who seemed to value
him for his sincerity of life. A funeral sermon
for Mr. Little was preached in the First
Church August 12, 1827, by the Rev. Fred-
eric Farley, who was temporarily occupying
the pulpit in Baltimore.
For the remainder of the year 1827 and until
some time in 1828 the pulpit was supplied by
ministers from the north, several of whom were
asked as candidates for the pastorate. The
choice of a new minister was a matter of inter-
est not without difficulty. In a letter to a
northern friend, written from Washington in
1827, Associate Justice Joseph Story of the
[27]
A CENTURY OF UNITAMANISM
Supreme Court of the United States said;
"There is no spot in the Union where a very
able Unitarian minister is more wanted than
here. I think such a man would soon gather
an excellent congregation. But the position
requires tact as well as talent and elevated
and fervid piety. It is of very great con-
sequence to bring such a man here with a view
to large operations, and our Cambridge
friends ought to consider that it is not suffi-
cient to fill the office but to fill it so well as to
command reverence and attract the busy and
the gay; the contemplative and the learned.
I repeat it, a young man of suitable ambition
and talents ought not to desire a fairer or a
freer field."
This was apropos of a sermon by a supply,
or possible candidate. It may have occurred to
Justice Story also because of another sermon,
by an unknown preacher, of which he wrote
to the same friend:
"His manner of treating the subject — Rea-
son and Revelation — was striking and stirring
and somewhat startling to timid minds, and
though he dealt with powerful truths, the man-
ner, to weak brethren, would seem somewhat
uncompromising and harsh. I was mj^self
much pleased, though a little more suavity
would have made it more generally engag-
ing."
[28]
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
The Society was small, poor and in debt and
remained so for many years. Then as now
there was a transient population in the Capital
which might help fill a church but not its treas-
ury. Many members were dependent upon the
administration for their positions and were li-
able to be thrown out of them when a political
change should occur. It is gratifying to re-
cord that, fifty years later, the correction of
this evil by Civil Service Reform was largely
due to the efforts of a member of All Souls
Church, Dorman B. Eaton. Though poor
in purse, the people were rich in ideals and
sought a minister equally endowed. The Rev.
John Pierpont bluntly stated the situation
when he replied to a correspondent here:
"There is difficulty in meeting your wishes
. . . for the simple reason that the gentle-
man who would fill your pulpit as you wish,
and as it ought to be filled, is not to be had.
Your beau-ideal exists only in idea."
^Massachusetts was the source of supply and,
in the light of the after careers of many whom
she sent here, would seem to have done very
well by the poor but ambitious church.
Perhaps one cause of the church's slow
[29]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
growth was its geographical location. The
place was not suited to the social ideas which
were the mainspring of Unitarianism. The-
ologically Unitarianism attracted many by its
common-sense explanation or setting aside of
long accepted dogmas, but when it insisted on
doing as one would be done by, and on loving
one's neighbor as one's self, the matter was dif-
ficult by either precept or example in the midst
of slavery. Candidates came, took in the sit-
uation, thought it an impossible one, and went
away. Edward Everett Hale has said of his
impression in 1844<:
"I knew perfectly well that there was to be
a gulf of 'fire between the North and the South
before things went much further and I really
distrusted my own capacity at the age of
twenty-three to build a bridge which should
take us over."
Mr. Little had been obliged to eke out his
salary by clerical work for the government.
In this he was not alone, as Charles Bulfinch,
writing to his wife, said :
"No parish is large enough to give a living
to or tempt any man of superior talents to fix
with: indeed they are all obliged to follow
some other calling to enable them to gain a
[30]
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
support. Most of them keep private schools,
but several are writers in the public offices
during the week."
Some years later, when Mr. Bulfinch's son,
Stephen, was minister of the Unitarian parish,
this obligation still existed, and the Committee
of ^lanagement applied to the War Depart-
ment for some position which would add to the
income of the j'oung pastor. After enumer-
ating the qualities he possessed that would
make him an efficient clerk, they said that be-
cause he spoke ex tempore he would be able to
give the requisite time to clerical duties with-
out inconvenience to himself. John Quincy
Adams mentions with some show of annoy-
ance the fact of Mr. Little's having asked his
help in securing more pay from the govern-
ment. Later, when the Rev. Mr. Palfrey
asked his influence in obtaining the position of
assistant doorkeeper of the House of Repre-
sentatives for one of his parishioners, he re-
plied that the applicant should have the influ-
ence but that he had disqualifications for the
place which would defeat him, viz. : that he was
a Yankee and a Unitarian.
It is greatly to the credit of both ministers
and laity that they persisted in spite of pov-
erty and unpopularity, in keeping alive the
[31]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
flickering flame on the altar of their faith.
In 1829, when the church felt obliged to ask
help from the denomination in order to pre-
vent the loss of their building, even Dr. Chan-
ning wrote Judge Cranch a very discouraging
letter in which, after enumerating reasons why-
it would be difficult to raise money for the pur-
pose, he said:
"I found, too, what I confess surprised me,
that the importance of Washington as a reli-
gious station, though generally acknowledged,
was not felt by some very judicious persons."
This was in reference to that part of the pe-
tition sent Dr. Channing, which stated:
"We wish to exhibit here in the centre of
the Union, at the seat of the National Govern-
ment, not only the simple doctrines of pure
Christianity but an example of religious re-
publicanism, a model of an independent
church, unfettered by human creeds and un-
awed by the mandates of Popes and Bishops,
Presbyters and Councils, Synods and Sessions,
and all the contrivances by which spiritual
pride seeks to control the consciences of men —
manfully to assert that liberty with which
Christ has made us free."
In that spirit they went bravely on in their
[32]
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
efforts to save the church in spite of discour-
agement from the High Priest of their faith.
Of their struggles then and later Mr. Francis
Ormond French said, when presenting a win-
dow to All Souls in memory of his mother,
Elizabeth Richardson French:
"The period was one of feebleness for the
society. It was misunderstood and misrepre-
sented in the community and at times politi-
cal dissensions threatened its existence. But
the families of Seaton, both Taylors, Purdy,
Brown, Adams, Webb, the venerable John
Quincy Adams, Judge Cranch and Mr. Fill-
more during his presidency, stood together in
the old church edifice as in a strong fortress."
Adverse conditions did not change for many
years and the records of the First Church are
pathetic reading. Danger that 'its building
might be sold was probably averted by renewal
of the mortgage on it. This relief was tem-
porary and in a few years another appeal was
necessary. In 1823 the trustees said, after ex-
plaining the financial difficulties of the church :
"Under these circumstances, the proprietors
of the church feel themselves compelled to ap-
peal to the sympathy and enlightened charity
of those Christians out of their immediate
neighborhood who take an interest in the prog-
[33]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
ress of rational religion, and especially of
those views of Christianity which the wisest
and best men in the community have regarded
as most salutary to society, most sustaining to
human hope, and most honorable to the gov-
ernment and character of God. The pro-
prietors of this church are persuaded that
gentlemen in this vicinity will feel, that the cir-
cumstances of their case are peculiarly inter-
esting. They can not reproach themselves
with extravagance, or with having made any
other than the best possible use of their means.
They are willing to ask those gentlemen who
have visited Washington and seen their church,
whether, at the same expense, more has been
done in any part of the country. They con-
sider, too, that it is not only important to them
as a rehgious society, that they should be able
to worship God together in spirit and in peace;
but it is also of importance to the general in-
terests of rational Christianity that at the seat
of the National Government, there should be a
place where Unitarians, from different sections
of the country, may meet in social worship;
and where the most eminent men in the nation
may have an opportunity of hearing the reli-
gion of the New Testament represented as
something that shall command their respect,
[34]
THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE
and lead them back, from the skepticism into
which the finest minds are too often driven by-
irrational views of religion, to the hopes and
the peace which flow from enlightened faith.
They ask reluctantly but earnestly. They ask
of those whose liberal hearts are not unused
to the devising of liberal things, and who do
what their hearts devise, with a deep convic-
tion that God is not unrighteous to forget the
offices of benevolence which they shall have
shewed in his name." This was a circular let-
ter to be distributed or presented in the north
by Mr. Philip INIauro.
In 1835 the same danger moved the trus-
tees to ask the church members and the people
of Washington for help. This troublesome
spectre of debt was not banished until the time
of the reorganization of the Society and the
new start in 1877.
[35]
CHAPTER IV
MINISTERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH
From 1821 to 1921, the Unitarian pulpit
has been occupied for longer or shorter periods
by nineteen ministers. Not all were settled as
pastors, but all contributed toward the estab-
lisliment in the National Capital of the "sweet
reasonableness" of a liberal faith.
The first successor to Mr. Little who served
long enough continuously to be designated as
a pastor was Andrew Bigelow. His stay was
of one year's duration, from some date in 1828
to 1829. He was a young man just entering
upon the profession which later he signally
honored. After leaving Washington, Mr.
Bigelow was for some years minister at Taun-
ton, Massachusetts. In 1845 he began the
work as minister at large among the poor in
Boston, which ennobled his life. There for
thirty-two years he served those in his charge
as friend and adviser in temporal needs and as
instructor in moral and spiritual matters.
[36]
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
There he was entitled to be called a pastor.
He died in 1877.
The short ministry of Andrew Bigelow was
followed by that of Cazneau Palfrey, which
lasted nearly six years. Very little can be
learned from the church records in regard to
the period from 1830 to 183G. It is known
that at ]\Ir. Palfrey's ordination in Washing-
ton, the officiating clergymen were Dr. Bur-
nap of Baltimore, the Rev. Francis Parkman
of Boston, and the Rev. Hersey B. Goodwin
of Concord, Massachusetts. For this occa-
sion Stephen G. Bulfinch wrote a hymn, which
dealt especially with Mr. Little's death and
Mr. Palfrey's coming to take the place thus
made vacant. It is interesting because of the
fact that its author grew up in iNIr. Little's
church and was destined to be INIr. Palfrey's
successor in the same church. The records of
the Harvard Divinit}' School show that after
leaving Washington Mr. Palfrey was minister
at Grafton and Barnstable, Massachusetts,
until 1847, and at Belfast, Maine, for twenty-
three years from 1848 to 1871. He died at
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1888. Among
the church papers is a little slip, brown with
age, on which is written a resolution offered
by Joseph Gales, Jr., and adopted by the Com-
[37]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
mittee of Management, December 10, 1834.
It reads: "Resolved, that in order to keep
up a spirit of inquiry on the subject of Reli-
gion, the Rev. Mr. Palfrey, our much esteemed
pastor, be requested to deliver on Sunday eve-
nings during the present session of Congress,
a popular Discourse on some leading doctrine
of the Unitarian System and cause the same to
be announced in the City Papers on the pre-
ceding Saturday, and that the Pews of the
Church will be open as heretofore to all who
desire to attend."
Mr. Conway, in his sermon "The Old and
the New" delivered December 31, 1854, said
of Mr. Palfrey : "His ministry was attended
with success. He presented in a series of Lec-
tures the reasons which his congregation had
for separation from other churches, in a forc-
ible manner. In the year named (1836) he
left for private reasons, to the sorrow of the
church and himself."
The interim of seven months between Mr.
Palfrey and Stephen G. Bulfinch was filled
by the Rev. Frederic A. Farley. Like several
other pastorates, as given in Dr. Shippen's
calendar, its length hardly justifies such des-
ignation. But it shows, as do the others, that
it was the intention of the church and the de-
[38]
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
nomination to bring to the Capital, even for
short stays only, men of marked mental cali-
ber and merit.
Mr. Farley had prepared himself for the
practice of the law, which he relinquished to
enter the Harvard Divinity School in prepar-
ation for the ministry. His first important
settlement was at Providence, Rhode Island.
Afterward he was for some j^ears in Brooklyn,
New York. It was he who came to Washing-
ton at Judge Cranch's request to preach a fu-
neral sermon for Robert Little, the first minis-
ter.
The name of Bulfinch occurs not only in the
history of the laity of the church, but in that
of the ministry as well. Stephen G. Bulfinch,
tenth and youngest son of the celebrated ar-
chitect, was the fourth settled minister of the
First Church. He succeeded the Rev. Caz-
neau Palfrey in 1838, and retained the pulpit
until 1844. His boyhood was spent in Wash-
ington, from his ninth year, where he gradu-
ated from Columbian College in 1827. After
three years at the Harvard Divinity School,
he was ordained as an Evangehst and went to
Augusta, Georgia, there to enter upon an
Evangelist's duties. He edited there for a
year or more a quarterly called The Unitar-
[39]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
ian Christian. He came as minister to Wash-
ington from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
records of his pastorate in Washington are
very meager. Several of the sermons he
preached here may be found in the Library of
Congress as also copies of his poems and other
writings. He was an earnest student, and a
writer of hymns and books for use of Sunday
Schools. Some of his hymns are still in use.
He substituted for Dr. George R. Noyes, pro-
fessor of Greek and Latin in the Harvard Di-
vinity School, during an illness of Dr. Noyes.
One of his sermons, published by request by
Gales and Seaton, was suggested by Weare's
picture in the Capitol of the "Embarkation
of the Pilgrims." It has a more modern tone
than much of the writing of the time and is
very readable. In it he spoke of the Pilgrims
as the "trebty refined gold of the English dis-
senting body," and foreshadowing national
events he said "God gi-ant that without civil
dissension or individual injustice the cause of
freedom may yet have entire and triumphant
success in our land." Mr. Bulfinch was very
hospitable to other sects and welcomed the
Lutherans when they established their church
at the Capital. He was opposed to persecu-
tion of any sect, and was long gratefully re-
[40]
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
membered by some Catholics in Washington
because of his attitude at a time when the tide
of religious and political feeling set strongly
against them.
Here Edward Everett Hale, in October,
184'!, began the career which took him into na-
tional and universal rank as preacher, au-
thor and philanthropist. The letter in which
he gave his reasons for declining the position
offered him by the First Church is interesting
as an evidence that in a literary sense the boy
was father to the man, and as an hitherto un-
published document by a famous author. It
was addressed to the Standing Committee of
the Unitarian Society, Washington. It was
dated, Washington, Saturday, Nov. 23, 1844,
and said:
"Gentlemen: Since our conversation of
IMonday evening I have given the most care-
ful consideration to the invitation you extended
to me in behalf of the Unitarian Society.
"On full reflection I can not feel that I
ought to undertake the duties of your minister.
For it is but a short time since I entered on
the labors of my profession. I have therefore
neither such professional resources nor exper-
ience as would justify me in proposing to my-
self the responsible duties of an isolated posi-
[41]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
tion of such importance, which would separate
me so far from all my early associations. I
say this in full recollection of the thoughtful
consideration of the Society, for I am very
grateful to all its members for the kind atten-
tion with which they have received my efforts
in its service; and for the cordial hospitality
which has made my residence in Washington
so agreeable to me.
"I shall be glad to supply the pulpit as at
present until the first of February or perhaps
the first of March, unless at any tipie the Com-
mittee should prefer some other arrangement.
"With great respect, Gentlemen,
"I am Truly Yours,
"Edward E. Hale."
From this pulpit also spoke Samuel Long-
fellow, for a s^hort time only, but long enough
to deliver his soul of its burden on the subject
of slavery. When he came to Washington
for the month of April in 1847, Mr. Long-
fellow had just finished his preparation for the
ministry and had not yet settled with any
church. He was probably a candidate for the
pulpit of the First Church. This may be in-
ferred from his writing to his friend, Samuel
Johnson, that he thought they would never set-
tle any man who was an abolitionist. The let-
ter was written soon after Mr. Longfellow had
said his word to the church as to slavery. He
[42]
The Reverend Rush R. Shippen (1881-1895)
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
had hoped to be able to get through the month
with no very positive expression of opinion in
regard to that institution, but the final Sunday
found him convinced that he must not leave it
unmentioned. He had discovered in the
church a degree of indifference toward the
great evil which he thought merited reproof,
and this he determined to give. He said after-
ward that he did this, mildly but plainly; that
"they took it beautifully, no one went out, and
some came to say good-bye." Through the
long years since that Sunday, darkened by fu-
rious agitations and political actions, which
culminated in war, this earnest effort of a
young preacher shines with the light of a "good
deed in a naughty world." Samuel Long-
fellow became one of the denomination's best
known ministers. He held long pastorates in
Brooklyn and Philadelphia. He was one of
America's best hymn writers, a man of fine
soul and beautiful life.
Here at different periods preached Orville
Dewey to large congregations who listened to
his eloquent presentation of a practical rather
than a dogmatic Christianity. Of Dr. Dewey,
his intimate friend, Dr. Henry W. Bellows,
said : "Dewey is undoubtedly the founder and
most conspicuous example of what is best in
[431
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
the modern school of preaching. Like Frank-
lin, who trained the lightning of the sky to
respect the safety and finally to run the er-
rands of men on earth, Dewey brought rehgion
from its remote home and domesticated it in
the immediate present. He first successfully
taught its application to the business of the
market and the street, to the offices of the
home and the pleasures of society. We are
so familiar with this method now prevalent in
the best pulpits of all Christian bodies that we
forget the originality and boldness of the hand
that first turned the current of religion into
the ordinary channel of life and upon the work-
ing wheels of daily business."
Dr. Dewey spent three winters in Wash-
ington as Minister of the First Unitarian
Church. Educated and ordained in orthodoxy,
he had remained but one year in her service.
In 1821 he was appointed assistant to Dr. Wil-
liam E. Channing, and a few years afterward
was called to the Unitarian Church in New
Bedford. In that city he remained eleven
years and gave up the charge only because of
a condition of health which forbade contin-
uous application. After a long rest he ac-
cepted the invitation which came to him from
the Second Congregational Society of New
[44]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
York. This Society was long known as the
Church of the ^lessiah. In New York he re-
mained until 1849. Dr. Dewey's first winter
in Washington, that of 1846-47, was by way of
relief from the onerous duties of the New York
charge. The second and third winters fol-
lowed soon after his resignation of the New
York pulpit. The demands here were not
greater than he could meet physically, and his
coming brought to the Unitarian Church and
to the Capital one of the finest minds in the
denomination and the country.
Of his second winter in Washington, that
of 1851-52, Dr. Dewey said : "Life in Wash-
ington was not agreeable to me and yet I felt
a singular attachment to the people there.
This mixture of repulsion and attraction I
could not understand at the time, but walking
these streets two or three years later when
experience had become history I could read
it. In London or Paris, the presence of the
government is hardly felt; the action of pub-
lic affairs is merged and lost in the life of a
great city, but in Washington it is the all-
absorbing business of the place. Now,
whether it be pride or sympathy, one does not
enjoy a great movement of things going on
around him in which he has no part, and the
[45]
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
thoughts and aims of a retired and studious
man especially sever him from the views and
interests of public men. But on the other
hand this very pressure of an all-surrounding
public life brings private men closer together.
There they stand while the tides of successive
administrations sweep by them and their re-
lation becomes constantly more interesting
from the fluctuation of everything else."
Dr. Dewey's explanation reveals vividly the
change which the succeeding years have
wrought in the life of the Capital. Where
once government affairs were first in the minds
of all, and even churches were regulated by
the coming and going of the Congress, they
are now as completely merged in the interests
of a great city as were those of France and
England in the Paris and London of which he
thought in 1851. Washington has attained
identity since that date.
In a letter to Dr. Ware, and excusing an
ebullition of nonsense with which he had be-
gun, Dr. Dewey wrote: "Life is such a sol-
emn abstraction to a clergyman in Washing-
ton! What has he to do but what is solemn?
The gayety passes him by; the politics pass
him by ; nobody wants him ; nobody holds him
[46]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
b}^ the buttonhole but some desperate, dilapi-
dated philanthropist."
The shadow of slavery darkened life in
Washington for Dr. Dewey and was the sub-
ject of very serious thinking by him. He was
not in accord with the extreme ideas of north-
ern abolitionists. He differed with them as to
ways of removing the evil. He abhorred it
as much as they did. He was misrepresented
and misunderstood by many. He believed
that emancipation should be gradual, and in
this opinion he was not alone. In Washing-
ton he met statesmen from both North and
South with whom he discussed the subject of
slavery. The opinions thus gathered indi-
cated, to his mind, disunion of the states. Of
this he said: "I fear disunion and no mortal
line can sound the depth of that calamity."
When issues between the two sections were
more clearly drawn, his judgment was cer-
tain and unerring. His only son served in the
Union army when the condition he had fore-
seen came to pass.
From 1847 to 1850 Joseph Henry Allen was
minister, during a season of more or less anx-
iety because of the narrow means of the so-
ciety. After leaving Washington Mr. Allen
[47]
MINISTERS OF FIRST CHURCH
became distinguished as author, editor and
lecturer on history in the Divinity School of
Harvard University. College students of a
generation or two ago may discover in him
the joint author of many of the Latin text-
books used in their classical course, but this
authorship was a minor incident in a life rich
in scholarly and literary attainment.
[48]
CHAPTER V
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
On February 28, 1855, was installed Mon-
cure D. Conway, who alone has represented
the South in the Unitarian pulpit of Washing-
ton. Probably no greater enthusiasm ever in-
spired a minister there than that of the young
Virginian, born in 1832, who, having overcome
tradition by reason, in both religion and pol-
itics, was fired by such a zeal for absolute right
as to make him intolerant of compromise and
possibly impolitic in method. His utterances
on the slavery question brought about his dis-
missal as minister. Throughout a long, wan-
dering, intensely interesting life, the bond of
friendship between himself and some of his
former parishioners remained unbroken. To
them he was the lovable friend, to the world
he was the radical and somewhat eccentric
thinker, the impulsive actor, the interesting
writer, who must in fairness be set down as
"one who loved his fellow men."
[49]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
Mr. Conway's pastorate proved to be a spec-
tacular as well as a serious period, in the life
of the church. It may be doubted whether
the most discreet and non-committal minister
could have further delayed the bursting into
flame of the fire that had been smouldering so
long. It would seem certain that with the
accession to the pulpit of an ardently sincere
young man, filled with the zeal of the convert
and the reformer, and quite self-confident, no
other result could have been expected than that
which followed. Mr. Conway was twenty-
two years old when he took charge of the
Washington church. His lineage was that of
education, culture and prominence in public
affairs. On the plantations of his father and
his uncles, young Conway saw slavery at its
best. His maturing mind soon began to dis-
cover the moral and economic evils of the sj^s-
tem. Later with broader vision in all things,
its absolute wrong was very plain to him. In
his autobiography, Mr. Conway said that he
came by his anti-slavery notions honestly, as
one of his ancestors had been one of the early
emancipationists of Virginia. His father be-
lieved that slavery was doomed and often made
this assertion to his son.
Mr. Conway's parents were Methodists who
[50]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
had broken the regular family order in reh-
gious matters, which was EpiscopaHan. Their
Methodism was of a strict nature, wherein the
day of judgment loomed large, as every action
was considered in relation to that dread day.
Yet the geniality of JNIethodism was not
wholly lacking in the family circle, and life
was very happy there.
At fifteen years of age, Mr. Conway was a
sophomore at Dickinson College, Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, whence he graduated in 1849.
He had before this time passed through the
religious experience of conversion and it was
the hope of his father that the ministry might
be his choice of profession. The fascination
of writing had taken possession of his mind
and for some time delayed this choice. When
made, it was that of the law. His study, though
diligent, left time for other reading and for
writing. Thinking that Virginia was losing
her status as leader in intelligence in the re-
public, he began to search for the reason. He
believed it was found in her lack of a public
school system. He wrote a pamphlet on the
subject of public schools, which he published
and distributed among the prominent men of
his State. Nothing came from it and its au-
thor began to consider carefully Horace Gree-
[31]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
ley*s statement that Virginia's white children
would not be educated until her colored chil-
dren were free.
Mr. Conway was convinced by this expe-
rience that writing did not appeal to the pub-
lic, and that the spoken word was necessary to
carry to the people the message he was sure
he had for them. Then suddenly he saw the
power which a Methodist minister might exert,
if he cared to do so, and declared his intention
of becoming one. In a short time he was ap-
pointed to the Rockville, Maryland, circuit.
He had lately begun reading Emerson and
Carlyle, and their writings with a book by
Coleridge jostled the Methodist discipline,
Taylor's Holy Living and Dying and Wat-
son's Theology, in the circuit rider's saddle
bags. No disastrous results of this conflict of
opinions were apparent, but it chanced that
his circuit took in a community of Hicksite
Quakers, and some other liberal-minded peo-
ple, with whom in the course of time Mr.
Conway became acquainted. Through his
reading of Emerson, and through his observa-
tion of the fact that people, living the finest
of lives, cared nothing for the dogmas which
he thought necessary, the leaven of liberalism
entered his mind and began to work. Very
[52]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
soon his conscience forbade him longer to ride
the circuit. He took a week's vacation and
went to visit relatives in Baltimore, where he
consulted Dr. Burnap, Unitarian minister.
He was advised and helped financially to en-
ter the Harvard Divinity School. His
father, grieved and disappointed, refused him
any aid. The fact that his course was a cause
of sorrow to those dearest to him was the only
shadow upon the new, active, congenial life
which opened before him. During the three
years at the Divinitj^ School, Mr. Conway was
in daily contact with anti-slavery agitators as
well as with the leaders of liberal religious
ideas. His mind furnished fertile soil for the
seed of extreme opinions and he left there a
radical in politics and religion. He had neg-
lected no opportunity for culture during his
Cambridge sojourn. Art, music and the
drama contributed materially to the develop-
ment of his liberalism, opening avenues which
he never ceased to explore. Not long after
his graduation, he was asked to supply the
Washington pulpit temporarily, and on Oc-
tober 29, 1854, was elected minister by the
church.
His installation was made an event by the
congregation. John Weiss preached the ser-
[53]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
mon and Dr. Burnap gave the ministerial
charge. These men were Mr. Conway's
choice. In his autobiography, Mr. Conway
said that in his first sermon before his election
he mentioned slavery and that on the day of
his appointment he said, "The Church must
hold itself ready to pass free judgments on all
custom, ideas and facts; on trade and politics
— and in this country more especially hold
itself ready to give free utterance in relation
to our special sin — the greatest of all sins —
human slaverj^" It is but fair to say that
every minister before him had put himself on
record in some way in regard to slavery, and
none had favored it.
His first published sermon to which refer-
ence has heretofore been made in these pages
was entitled "The Old and The New" and
contained a history of the church up to that
date, December 31, 1854. His unorthodox
views as to dispensations of Providence were
shown in a sermon preached when a plague
was prevalent in Norfolk, Virginia. He said
that while he could not see God in the pesti-
lence he could see a Satan, "namely, the evil
institution that degrades labor and herds fam-
ilies into squalid quarters where disease and
crime find their nests." The city authorities
[54]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
had asked churches "to unite in petitions to
Almighty God in behalf of those whom He
has seen fit to visit so sorely and that He will
be pleased to avert from us such terrible ca-
lamity." The Unitarian church was not
opened for such service, but the sermon quoted
was printed — with a preface more sarcastic
than discreet — and distributed instead. Mr.
Conway would seem to have had the support
of his congregation in such action. It brought
forth much criticism from orthodox pulpits.
This was answered in a sermon on "Pharisaism
and Fasting." This incident was probably
more remarkable in its religious than in its
political sense ; but it was like the sermon that
followed it, a ripple on the surface of the
strong current which was carrying the country
forward to the great event.
On January 26, 1856, a sermon by the min-
ister on "The One Path or the Duties of the
North and South," called forth a report from
the Committee of INlanagement to the congre-
gation in which they expressed their regret at
the course of the minister and their disapproval
of the use of the pulpit for political discussion.
They regretted also the fact that notices by
the press of the country made the church re-
sponsible for its minister's utterances. There-
[55]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
fore they wished the church to disavow such
responsibihty. The congregation, voted that
Mr. Conway should be informed of the Com-
mittee's report.
In reply Mr. Conway made plain the fact
that he would not submit to any restriction in
the pulpit, and that if moved to speak again
as he had spoken he would not be checked by
the action of the church. He spoke, again
and again, with the result that some members
left the church while others remained at home,
and the congregation was made up largely of
strangers.
The situation was a serious one for the Com-
mittee of Management. The affairs of the
church were becoming involved and necessary
repairs to the building were to be provided for.
The climax was reached on July 6, 1856, when
Mr. Conway preached a sermon on "War and
its Present Threatenings" which caused the
church to refer the matter of the independent
course of the minister to a special committee
of investigation with instructions to report.
The church was closed until the following Oc-
tober, and the minister spent his vacation in
the North where he solicited aid toward the
repairs of the building. Of this tragic July
Sunday, Mr. Conway has said: "When my
[56]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
discourse had ended that morning, I gave out
the liymn as usual and the organist played the
tune, but the choir did not sing. It was a
quartet of church members and they were so
troubled by my discourse that they could not
sing. Harmony had left the old church for-
ever. The assembly sat for some moments in
weird silence. I uttered a benediction from
my heart, after wliich most of them slowly
moved out while others pressed up to grasp
my hand." Early in October, an adjourned
meeting of July 13th was held. The special
investigation committee made no report. The
subject was generally discussed and a resolu-
tion passed dissolving the relation which ex-
isted between JMr. Conway and the First Uni-
tarian Church. When informed of this action,
]Mr. Conway claimed that the meeting had
been "illegally conducted and was violative of
the constitution." He said he asked only "a
full, fair and legal expression" of the church.
He gave several reasons for his belief. This
attempt to reverse the decision of the church
was not successful and in a few weeks Mr.
Conway received a call to the Unitarian
Church of Cincinnati. He preached accept-
ably there for some time.
The church's unpleasant relation to Mr.
[57]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
Conway had been made worse by the fact that
money had been given to him by northern
Unitarians on condition that the pulpit should
be free for discussion of slavery. After the
dismissal of Mr. Conway, several of the con-
tributors wrote very positive letters as to the
conditions on which they had given money and
as to the action of the church in severing its re-
lation with Mr. Conway. In some instances
these were not such as to promote harmony
between northern and southern Unitarians.
On the other hand, the church, through its
Committee on Repairs, declared: "The
church never has and never will pledge itself
to the anti-slavery or the pro-slavery cause.
In its extremest need it will with the blessings
of God preserve its independence. . . . The
First Unitarian Society of Washington never
gave nor authorized the promises and pledges
upon which those funds were given, and never
have and never will receive one farthing of
them coupled with any such condition."
Some of the church members who con-
demned Mr. Conway's action were anti-slavery
men, while some of his best personal friends
were politically opposed to him. During the
Civil War, Mr. Conway was neither idle nor
silent. Voice and pen gave utterance to con-
[58]
The Reverend E. Bradford Leavitt (1897-1900)
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
victions and schemes — the convictions sincere,
the schemes not always practical and occasion-
ally indiscreet. Early in the conflict he dis-
covered that his father's slaves were refugees
in Georgetown. He got them together and
with the aid of military officials succeeded in
taking them to southern Ohio, where he set-
tled them in homes of their own. Mr. Con-
way's ministry in Cincinnati was his last in
America. Before the war ended, he went to
London, England, as a minister for The Free
Religious Society there, and the remainder of
his life was mostly spent abroad. He died in
Paris, France, November 15, 1907.
The ministry of the Rev. W. D. Haley is
noticeable now chiefly because of its setting
between that of Conway and Channing. Mr.
Haley was apparently a young minister of
promise when he came to Washington. He
had graduated from Meadville in 1853, had
helped to organize the church at Alton, Illi-
nois, and had been its minister from 1853 to
1856. He had won recognition from the
leaders of the denomination as a capable pion-
eer of liberalism in the Middle West. The
city of Alton proved to be a storm center of
pro-slavery activity, and because of Mr.
Haley's opposition his church was broken into
[59]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
and its windows demolished. For this opposi-
tion he was censured and naturally the result
was his resignation as minister. An item in
the Christian Register in 1855 speaks of a tour
that Mr. Haley had lately made among the
Chippewa Indians, which had resulted in his
obtaining much valuable scientific and liter-
ary information.
In 1858, Mr. Haley was called to the Wash-
ington church. Why the church should have
chosen a minister who was in a way a martyr
for his reproof of pro-slavery methods, after
having itself dismissed Mr. Conway for a very
similar reason, is hard to understand. But
thus it was. Mr. Haley retained the pulpit
until his enlistment in the Civil War in 1861.
Concerning his last Sunday in Washington,
the Christian Register in February of that
year quoted the Christian Inquirer as saying:
"Rev. W. D. Haley closed his ministry of
three years and more in the Unitarian Church.
Hon. Edward Everett, Thomas D. Eliot and
other distinguished gentlemen were present.
A discourse was preached by the editor of the
Christian Inquirer on Hope in God, after
which communion was administered. Not
having seen this church since its renovation, we
[60]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIAN ISM
were impressed by its elegance and conven-
ience." This item further stated that "in
establishing a mission school for poor chil-
dren INIr. Haley had made a movement in
Washington of a useful and an important
kind, which we trust will be revived and con-
tinued."
To Mr. Frank J. JNIetcalf, of Washington,
the church is indebted for information regard-
ing Mr. Haley. As a hymnologist he has dis-
covered that this minister published a church
service together with a compilation of hymns.
Following the hymns, in this very uncommon
book there is an "Order for Evening Prayer
compiled for the use of the First Church of
Washington," in 1858, and "Dedicated to the
church by its affectionate pastor, W. D.
Haley." Mr. Metcalf's researches have re-
vealed the fact that Mr. Haley was of English
birth, and a student at Harvard before going
to jNIeadville. He left the Washington pul-
pit to enter the army as Chaplain of the 17th
JNIassachusetts Volunteers. He was after-
ward a Lieutenant in the army, and another
enlistment as Captain completed his military
record. After the Civil War, Mr. Haley
would seem not to have resumed the ministry
[61]
THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY
but to have chosen the life of a wandering
printer and newspaper correspondent, which
led him finally to California where he died in
San Jose in 1890.
[62]
CHAPTER VI
THE CHURCH IN THE CIVIL WAE
The name of Channing, synonymous in the
Unitarian mind with hberal-mindedness and
philanthropy, was worthily borne by the min-
ister of the First Church in 1861. This man
was William Hemy Channing, nephew of
William Ellery Channing. The annals of
Unitarianism are rich in idealists, but few have
had the all-embracing vision that distinguished
William Henry Channing. Universal broth-
erhood was the only satisfying answer to the
questionings of his exacting mind. Every re-
form that might help toward this end found an
ardent advocate in him — whether it was social,
political or religious. To the anti-slavery
question, to woman's rights, to socialism and
transcendentalism, he gave himself with a zeal
not exceeded by that of the leaders in these
matters. His was not the mind to offer prac-
tical methods of accomplishment, but his the
impassioned word to envisage wrong and move
the hearts of men to pity and to justice. It is
[63]
CHURCH IN THE CIVIL WAR
useless to try to give any adequate idea of this
great-souled man in a few words. As he gave
distinction to the Unitarian pulpit in Washing-
ton in a great national crisis, more than casual
mention should be made of him.
First of all he was eminently a preacher.
Christopher P. Cranch has said of him:
"He seemed to me then the most eloquent
and fervid of preachers — all other preaching
was tame in comparison. I have never seen
such purely intense aspiration in any speaker.
It is hard to describe a man who seemed so per-
fect. He would have appeared like one of the
saints of the old time had not his keen, culti-
vated but restless intellect and his broad, lib-
eral tendencies allied him to all the nearest and
most practical interests of life."
Mr. Channing's interest in reforms had
brought him occasionally to Washington and
he had hoped that his ministerial fortunes
might fix him here, but friends had dissuaded
him from such thought. In 1854 he went to
Liverpool, England, as minister at Renshaw
Chapel. Of his first sermon there, Mrs.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote to Channing's
mother :
"I have never heard a sermon, not even
from Dr. Channing (W. E.), so grand in its
[64]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
scope, so complete in symmetry and propor-
tion, so perfect a unit as a work of art, and at
the same time so rich and tender in spirit."
His biographer, O. B. Frothingham, said
that "the churches where he preached became
resorts of the most spiritual people and Uni-
tarianism a name for the loftiest aspirations."
The politics of his native country still en-
gaged JMr. Channing's mind and he watched
events, there most carefully. In 1861 he
came home to visit his mother and take a
closer look at national affairs, and now there
was none so bold as to advise against his
taking the Washington pulpit when the chance
came. The hour called for a leader of highest
rank in ability, loyalty and faith, and such was
Channing. Temporizing, if that had been the
policy in regard to the Washington church,
could be indulged in no longer. He was in-
stalled as minister on December 9, 1861. Of
him then, John W. Chadwick said:
"There for once was complete adjustment
between the man and his environment — as
minister of the Unitarian church converting
its building into a hospital; as a worker in the
sanitary commission, as chaplain of the House
of Representatives his heart was wholly in his
work."
[65]
CHURCH IN THE CIVIL WAR
His first Sunday in the church was thus re-
ported by the correspondent of The New York
Evening Post: "Rev. Mr. Channing, of Liv-
erpool, on Sunday preached his first ser-
mon in the Unitarian Church here as regular
pastor. The church is not in a very healthy
pecuniary condition, but there are so many
northerners here now that it is expected they
will come in and sustain a clergyman who is
alive to the issues of the hour. Every time he
has preached here the house has been crowded
to inconvenient fullness, and there is little
doubt that his acceptance of a call to the Soci-
ety will prove a success in every meaning of the
word. Times have changed since Mr. Con-
way was forced to leave the same church for
the expression of anti-slavery sentiment. Mr.
Channing does not hesitate boldly to support
the war from his pulpit nor to dwell at length
on the causes of the war."
It was his inspiration to suggest offering the
church building as a hospital. In return for
the gift, promptly accepted by Secretary Stan-
ton, the congregation was invited to meet in
the Senate chamber. Mr. Channing was made
chaplain of the House of Representatives in
the winter of 1863-64.
[66]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
He had resigned his position in England,
but his family remained there.
For the time, the duty of both minister and
congregation was largely the expression of loy-
alty as shown in the care of wounded and sick
soldiers. It may be assumed that the minis-
ter let no occasion pass when the utterance of
positive words might hold all to the task which
was great, or help toward what he felt to be
the only possible consunmiation of the war —
the abolition of slavery.
As chaplain of the House of Representa-
tives, JNIr. Channing considered himself leader
in the People's Church with no hint of sec-
tarianism. Noted men of various denomina-
tions were asked to officiate there, and true to
his convictions he made the daring innovation
of asking a colored minister to speak on one
occasion, and a woman on another. The lat-
ter was Rachel Howland, "the beautiful
Quaker."
His ministrations to the soldiers were not in
hospitals only. He was present at the battle
of Fredericksburg, and there after a day of
carnage baptized a dying boy who wished the
rite, and performed the last service for num-
bers of hurriedly buried dead.
[67]
CHURCH IN THE CIVIL WAR
At the end of the war and after the deatli
of Lincoln, worn in mind and body Mr. Chan-
ning decided to return to England. Great
preacher that he was, he was not suited to par-
ish routine nor the work of gathering together
a scattered charge. His family was com-
pletely anglicized and held a place deserv-
edly in the ranks of the most cultivated. His
son, Francis Allston Channing, graduated
from Oxford with honors. He was a member
of the House of Commons from 1885 to 1910.
In 1912 he was made first Baron Channing of
Wellingborough, and is known according
to the English custom as Francis Allston,
Lord Channing. One of the daughters of the
Rev. William H. Channing married Edwin
Arnold, author of The Light of Asia. The re-
mainder of Mr. Channing's life was passed
most congenially in England. He never lost
interest in new phases of religious experience,
and his religious affinities were bounded on one
side by Martineau and on the other by Car-
dinal Manning. He made frequent visits to
America, but he died in England in October,
1884.
The First Church building was in the pos-
session of the government for six months, as
is shown in a circular issued by the Commit-
[68]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
tee of Management for the year 1863, which
said: "The Unitarian Church will be re-
opened for religious service next Sunday, Feb-
ruary 1st," and also, "Earnestly as we shall
always rejoice to remember that in a time of
national calamity our House of Worship was
offered and accepted as a home for sick and
wounded soldiers, yet it will be with the deep-
est gratification that we shall return after six
months' exile to a sanctuary made dearer than
ever by deeds of charity in which it has been the
privilege of many of our friends and members
to participate." While as a body the congre-
gation gave their church to the government,
as individuals in several instances they made
their own houses into hospitals and convales-
cent homes, or entered upon the work of nurs-
ing under the Sanitary Commission.
The Johnson-Donaldson home at 506
Twelfth Street N. W. and the hospital at
Twelfth and E Streets fitted up and managed
by these ladies were long held in grateful re-
membrance by men who had there experienced
the kindly ministrations of the patriotic own-
ers.
One church member was left in charge of the
savings of a soldier when he returned to the
front after a time of convalescence in her home.
[69]
CHURCH IN THE CIVIL WAR
At the close of the war, every effort was made
to find the man or to learn his fate, but with
no success. In the course of time, the money
was made the nucleus of a Unitarian mission
fund by the lady with whom it had been left.
With additions secured by her untiring devo-
tion during life, and by her will at death,
it now constitutes the Rebecca Wallace
Unity Mission Fund.
Mr. and Mrs. George A. Bacon were co-
workers with their friend, Walt Whitman, in
the hospitals.
Mrs. Lucy A. Doolittle was a hospital visi-
tor under the Sanitary Commission during the
war. Later, when the retreating tide of war
left Washington strewn with the human flot-
sam and jetsam of two armies, she rendered
an equally valuable service. It was largely
due to her exposition of conditions which her
work among these unfortunates revealed to her
that a police court was established whereby
they might obtain prompt and just treatment.
It is a rather significant coincidence that the
church in which she worshipped should later
be the place of its dispensation.
One of the most efficient nurses and man-
agers during the Civil War was Miss Amy
Bradley. Her work is comparable to that of
[70]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
Dorothea Dix, being on a large scale. She
was stationed on the transport boats which
brought the wounded from the battlefields in
the Peninsular campaign. From 1862 until
the end of the war she was in charge of. a con-
valescent camp at Alexandria, Virginia. In
her last years IMiss Bradley made her home in
Washington, where she had many friends, and
was one of the congregation of All Souls.
Captain Frank E. Brownell, who in the
very first days of the war of secession avenged
the murder of his Colonel, Elmer Ellsworth,
in Alexandria, was in after years a member
of the congregation of All Souls. At his
death he made the church a bequest for char-
ities.
[71]
CHAPTER VII
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD
At the close of the four years of civil war,
the Unitarian Society was exhausted, divided
and scattered. Yet the new life which began
soon thereafter to invigorate the nation was
not without effect upon it, and after a while
the society also began to respond to the time-
spirit. The ministries of Sharman and Hinck-
ley, with many temporary supplies, filled the
years from 1867 to 1877.
For six months of the year 1865, the Rev.
Rufus P. Stebbins was associated with the
First Church as its minister. He was a man
of decided personality and it may be assumed
that the time of his service was not a dull one
for those who listened to his preaching or met
him in society. Of himself in his first settle-
ment, he once said: "I was fresh from the
seclusion of student life, ablaze with enthu-
siasm, flaming with zeal to correct all evils. I
was restless, aggressive, belligerent." Time
and experience may have tempered these char-
[72]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
acteristics but did not obliterate them. At the
time he preached in Washington, he was fifty-
seven years old. Harvard had lately given
him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He
had been President of ^Nleadville Theological
School twelve years. After his short service
here, he was made President of the American
Unitarian Association. He was six years at
Ithaca, New York, and at a time when most
men wish to retire from active life he reorgan-
ized the church of Xewton Center, Massachu-
setts. He died in Cambridge in 1885. His
cousin, Horatio Stebbins, wrote of him: "He
delighted in the Commandments and his hon-
est, indignant soul would have liked it better
if there had been three or four more." Dr.
Shippen said of him: "God was to him no vi-
sionary abstraction but a living presence clearly
seen in human history and life; his law run-
ning its line through earth and eternity. His
religion was no mere theory of the pulpit but
a vital experience — a principle of duty solid
as the granite."
The Rev. William Sharman was an English-
man, educated at Sheffield for the ^Methodist
ministry. After becoming a Unitarian, and
before he came to America, he was located at
Aberdeen, Scotland. He was with the Wash-
[73]
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD
ington church during the years from 1868 to
1870. As in other instances, the records of
the First Church afford very Kttle information
as to the minister at this time. Mr. Sharman
held other short pastorates in America, and
was for a time engaged in business in Texas.
He returned to England in the seventies and
preached at Plymouth and at Preston. He
died at the latter place in 1889. While in
Washington, Mr. Sharman was unmarried.
In 1873 he married, in New York City, the
lady — Miss Sophia Jackson Russell — who sur-
vived him until the spring of 1921. Of them
both, the London Inquirer of May 7, 1921,
said: "Mr. Sharman will be remembered by
our older readers as keenly interested in social
reform and a powerful preacher, while tender
memories gather about the name of her who
has now joined him after her long widowhood."
Mr. W. C. Russell, of the Philadelphia Re-
cord, whose brother-in-law he was, writes of
Mr. Sharman: "He was a friend and fol-
lower of William JMorris, the poet. He took
active part in campaigns directed against
social and religious evils and he had many
friends in the English Labor party."
In 1870, the Rev. Frederic Hinckley was
chosen as minister. He had held pastorates in
[74]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
various places in New England and in the
State of New York. He was an able man and
made many friends in Washington. Soon
after Mr. Hinckley's settlement with the First
Church, the matter of a better building began
to be seriously considered by both the Wash-
ington organization and the American Uni-
tarian Association. There was some discus-
sion of the question in the Christian Register.
At the Conference of 1872, Mr. Hinckley
made a proposition to the denomination, which
was presumably the expression of the will of
the Washington congregation. He said that
the people would sell the old church, and raise
what they could besides what the building
would bring, if the Association would contrib-
ute $50,000. With the money thus obtained,
they would build a church which the Associa-
tion should hold in its own right, giving Wash-
ington people its use under such regulations
and conditions as might be adopted. As usual,
the point was made that Washington was
a missionary field. It was a place not for
gathering but for scattering; not for accumu-
lation but for diffusion. The motion by means
of which the matter was presented called forth
many remarks. The report of the day's pro-
ceedings is interesting and enlightening.
[751
RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD
Every one acknowledged the need of a larger
and better building. Very plain statements
were made as to the unattractiveness, not to
say positive meanness, of the little church
which in 1822 had seemed so suitable. Thus
has church history repeated itself to the third
generation in Washington. One speaker
spurned any idea of a fine national church, as
it would probably be a stone elephant on the
hands of the denomination. Others would
consent to no help for a church to be managed
by local Unitarians. A weighty consideration
in the mind of one speaker was the possible
early removal of the Capital to a more nearly
central part of the country. In such event, a
fine church would be sacrificed. Among them'
all, one had the discernment which led him
to say that what was needed was a good church
building and continuous pastoral supervision
of the Society. Nothing resulted from this
discussion and the Washington church settled
down to make the best of what it had and to
try to become self-sustaining. The united ef-
forts of the congregation toward this end
would seem to have developed a strong social
bond which made the time memorable. Such
is the verdict of some of those yet remaining
from those days. But in these years occurred
[76]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
a schism in the church, which resulted for a
time in two congregations. What its cause or
nature was is now hard to determine, if indeed
it be worth while to try to do so. In spite of the
fact that mistakes probably were made and in-
justice possibly was done, it is for the church
of today to be grateful that out of disunion has
come union. Whatever the differences were,
whether of belief or administration, they were
overcome by the permanent withdrawal of some
members and the return of others after the re-
organization of the church in 1877.
[77]
CHAPTER VIII
ALL SOULS CHURCH
By the early seventies, the growth of the
capital city had rendered the location as well
as the building of the First Church undesir-
able, and the possibility of removal to a spot
farther from the center of the city's activities
began to be considered. With the help of the
denomination at large and of the American
Unitarian Association, such removal was
brought about and on June 27, 1877, the cor-
ner stone of a new church building was laid
at the southeast corner of Fourteenth and L
Streets, eight squares west and seven north of
the first location. There was objection on the
part of some members because of the remote-
ness of this location. The estimated cost of
the church and lot was sixty thousand dollars,
of which one-half was to be furnished by the
Washington Society and one-half by the
American Unitarian Association. The denom-
ination was appealed to for money for the pur-
pose and nearly twenty-five thousand dollars
[78]
All Souls Church, 1877
Fourteenth and L Streets, N. W.
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
was pledged by church delegates present at the
Unitarian Conference at Saratoga, New York,
in September, 1876. From its treasury the
American Unitarian Association completed the
$25,000 and from the Winn Bequest, made to
the denomination about that time, its trustees
allowed ten thousand dollars to the Washing-
ton project. The amount to be raised by the
church was thus reduced to twenty-five thou-
sand dollars, but the mortgage given to the
American Unitarian Association was for $35,-
000 instead of $30,000. This mortgage was
to prevent possible alienation of the church
from its purpose and to secure it to the Uni-
tarian denomination. It was unlimited in
time, drew no interest and was to be held in
perpetual trust by the Association. It was
not until July 1, 1880, that the old church was
sold and the new organization became free
from debt.
On June 4, 1877, the First Church reorgan-
ized under the name of All Souls Church and
as such it has been known since the dedication
of the new building on January 29, 1878.
The sermon on that occasion was delivered by
Rev. Henry W. Bellows, minister of All Souls'
Church of New York City, a man of national
fame as president of the United States Sani-
[79]
ALL SOULS CHURCH
tary Commission during the Civil War. The
opening of that sermon proved that Dr. Bel-
lows, at least, believed that the First Church
had lived up to Mr. Little's hope for it half a
century before, since he said:
"If the shining record of the men of influ-
ence, culture and character ; women of dignity,
purity, and saintliness, who have witnessed
their faith in its truth and power, and borne
the cross of its reputed heresy — if this record
could be properly read here and now, it would
prove how great and good is the company al-
ready translated to which you belong."
The sermon ended with this petition :
*'May this church stand openly, and while
its walls shall endure, the church of those who
honor and practice the widest and most search-
ing use of God's greatest gift — Reason."
The installation of the Rev. Clay Mac-
Cauley as minister took place on January 30,
1878. After the reorganization of the So-
ciety, the First Church Building was rented,
and finally sold to the District Government
which used it as a police court until it was torn
down in 1906.
The last sermon in the First Church was
preached by Dr. MacCauley on May 27, 1877.
[80]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
The text was Genesis xii, 7, 8: The Lord
appeared unto Abraham and said, 'Unto thy
seed will I give this land' : and there builded he
an altar unto the Lord. And he removed from
thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel
and there he builded an altar unto the Lord."
Its theme was life's progress from form to
form. Lentil the completion of All Souls
Church, the congregation met in Willard Hall,
a small building on F Street back of the old
Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr.
Seth Hyatt was the only original member of
the First Church who was living when All
Souls was built.
The character of the membership or laity of
the Unitarian Church did not change when the
name of All Souls was adopted. The two
Piresidents who attended the First Church,
John Quincy Adams and INIillard Fillmore,
were succeeded in All Souls Church by Wil-
liam Howard Taft.
Cabinet Secretaries Webster, Nathan K.
Hall and Calhoun have been followed by
George S. Boutwell, William E. Chandler,
John D. Long and John W. Weeks.
In the Senate the First Church was repre-
sented by Webster, Sumner, Edward Everett
Hale of New Hampshire, Howe of Wiscon-
[81]
ALL SOULS CHURCH
sin and Fairfield of Maine, while members
there from All Souls have been Morrill of
Vermont, George F. Hoar, George C. Moody,
Anthony, Allison, Pike, William E. Mason,
Thomas W. Palmer, Burnside, Burrows,
Fletcher and Townsend.
In the House of Representatives the two
churches have had Upham, J. G. Palfrey,
Davis, Stone, Banks, Ketcham, Baker, Bar-
rows, Stevens, William Everett, Thomas D.
Eliot, Hoar, Horr, Hazleton, Roberts, Kent
and Luce.
In the judiciary, Associate Justice Joseph
Story has been followed by Associate Justice
Samuel F. Miller, while Judge William
Cranch has had a successor in Judge William
A. Richardson. The later years of All Souls
have been honored by the membership of Judge
Martin A. Knapp. Judicial honor for the
Unitarian Church culminated in the appoint-
ment of Chief Justice William Howard
Taft.
The historian, George Bancroft, was an at-
tendant at both churches.
Dorman B. Eaton, civil service reformer;
Carroll D. Wright, authority in economics, and
Lester F. Ward, celebrated in sociology, have
been more or less active members of All Souls.
L82.1
A CEXTURY OF UNITARIANISM
Mr. Wright served as Chairman of the Board
of Trustees. Among educators have been
George J. Abbott, principal of a private
school, member of the board of trustees of pub-
lic schools in their earliest days; W. B. Powell,
Superintendent of Schools, whose name
appears in the list of church members from
188G to 1900, inclusive; and Mrs. Frederic A.
Holton. ]\Ir. Abbott was confidential secre-
tary to Daniel Webster when Secretary of
State in Fillmore's cabinet. Of him his friend,
Edward Everett Hale, has said: "He was
one of the men who was ready to help the
world forward in anj^ way he could, and was
a distinguished agent in helping it forward
though his name scarcely ever appears in
print." Mr. George J. Abbott is commemo-
rated in the city of Washington by a public
school building which bears his name. Dr.
Percival Hall, president of Gallaudet College,
and Prof. Edward A. Fay, and Prof. C. R.
Ely of its faculty have been numbered for
many years among the active members of All
Souls Church.
Ainsworth R. Spofford and Bernard R.
Green have represented the Library of Con-
gress.
The scientific world has had most able rep-
[83]
ALL SOULS CHURCH
resentation in both churches by William Fer-
rel, noted in meteorology; Asaph Hall, well
known in astronomy; Spencer F. Baird, and
Charles V. Riley. Living representatives are
Henry S. Pritchett, Dr. Robert S. Woodward,
Dr. Wm. H. Dall, P^rof. F. W. Clarke and
Dr. Louis A. Bauer. The list of scientific
names worthy of mention is too long to be
given in its entirety.
From the Navy have come Woodhull,
Walker, Evans, Schroeder, Wainwright,
Clark, Taussig (father and son), Deering,
Hanscom, Cutter, Canaga, Pook, Bright and
Flint; from the Army, Saxton, Batchelder,
Smith, Greely, Wood, Baxter, Pelouze, Tan-
ner, Woodruff and Newcomer.
Sumner I. Kimball, long prominent in the
organization and management of the Life Sav-
ing Service, has been quite as long a member of
All Souls.
The Rev. Moncure D. Conway has men-
tioned as one of his hearers Helen Hunt, wife
of Captain Edward Hunt, and has spoken of
her as a bright, vivacious woman, inclined to
ridicule any one with a mission. Being led by
great sorrow to a more serious view of life, she
became the apostle of justice to the American
Indian. Later she married Mr. W. S. Jack-
[84]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
son of Colorado Springs, and was well known
under the nom de plume of "H. H."
The congregation of All Souls includes
Miss Alice C. Fletcher, ethnologist, versed in
Indian lore, whose life has been largely devoted
to research in the traditions, customs, religions,
ceremonies and music of the Indian, and to
practical means of promoting his civilization
and education. Her worth has been recog-
nized by the government, which has made her a
special agent in Indian affairs in several im-
portant instances.
For many years the Unitarian congregation
of Washington contained two men of great
distinction in national affairs. They were the
Honorable Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, and
the Honorable George F. Hoar, of Massa-
chusetts. Neither of them took active part
in the management of the church, but their reg-
ular attendance at the Sunday services was
proof of interest and sympathy. Members of
their families were identified with the affairs
of the church.
JNIr. jNIorrill came to Washington as member
of the House of Representatives in 1855. He
may have been one of the congregation of the
First Church. He is known as a member of
All Souls from its earliest days. He died in
[85]
ALL SOULS CHURCH
Washington in 1898. It may well be a mat-
ter of pride to future members of All Souls,
as it is to many of its present members, that
a man whose name is held in especial honor in
every State of the Union was so long one of
the church's devoted adherents. It was ow-
ing to Mr. Morrill's persistent efforts for sev-
eral years that the act bearing his name was
passed by Congress in 1862. That act made
possible the establishment of State colleges
which should receive federal aid. Besides the
Morrill Act which is considered one of the
epoch-making acts of the American nation.
Senator Morrill was the author of statutes
which resulted in the extension of the Capitol
grounds; the erection of the State, War and
Navy Building and the Library of Congress.
Mr. JNIorrill was a leader in the financial policy
of the government during the Civil War.
The dignified presence of this noted man at
the services of All Souls is a beautiful as well
as a proud memory for many of her members.
The genial face of Senator Hoar, as seen
at the Sunday service of the church, is another
pleasant memory for many of the people of All
Souls. Senator Hoar came to Washington in
1868 and may have been an attendant of the
First Church. His name is connected with the
[86]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
history of All Souls from 1877. At the meet-
ing of the Unitarian Conference in Washing-
ton in October, 1899, Senator Hoar gave the
address of welcome. This was a notable event
for the church and the denomination. He
said then: "I think there can be found in the
country no sectarianism so narrow, so hide-
bound, so dogma-clad, that it would like to
blot out from the history of our country what
the people of our faith have contributed to it.
On the first roll of this Washington parish
will be found close together the names of John
Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun. John
Quincy Adams learned from his father and
mother the liberal Christian faith which he in
turn transmitted to his illustrious son. If we
would blot out Unitarianism from the history
of the country, we must erase the names of
many famous statesmen, many famous phi-
lanthropists, many great reformers, many
great orators, many famous soldiers from its
annals, and nearly all of our great poets from
its literature."
The Honorable Samuel F. Miller, Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court from July, 1862,
until October, 1890, was a gentleman of high
position who was willing to serve All Souls
in the capacity of trustee. Justice Miller was
[87]
ALL SOULS CHURCH
a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln and a
fine example of the typical citizen of that time.
He was of immense physical stature. He was
born in Kentucky, but entered the Supreme
Court from Iowa. He was appointed to the
bench by President Lincoln. It has been said
of him that "from the time of taking his seat
until his death Justice Miller was regarded not
perhaps as the most enlightened, certainly not
the most learned, but it is believed as the
strongest man on the bench and as one who
united integrity with conviction." Justice
Miller was three years President of the Amer-
ican Unitarian Association. He was one of
the founders of the Unitarian Church of Keo-
kuk, Iowa.
The Honorable William E. Chandler was a
faithful member of the Unitarian Church dur-
ing his public and private life in Washington.
In the midst of the affairs that pertain to a
cabinet Secretary and a Senator, he found
time to lend his aid in the management of the
church.
A coincidence worthy of record in the an-
nals of All Souls is that the Honorable Wil-
liam E. Chandler and General A. W. Greely
have been members of her Board of Trustees.
In 1884, while Secretary of the Navy, Mr.
[88]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
Chandler was responsible for the rescue of
Lieutenant Greely from the perilous Arctic ex-
pedition he had undertaken two years before.
Another member of the United States Sen-
ate wlio has honored All Souls by his presence
and his counsel is the Honorable Duncan U.
Fletcher, of Florida.
[89]
CHAPTER IX
CIVIC AND DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Not all the members of the Unitarian
Church in Washington have been celebrities.
There has been as well a sturdy rank and file
who have given time and work and thought
without stint, and money as they were able,
to its proper maintenance and develop-
ment.
The church has been fortunate in selecting
as trustees men and women of executive abil-
ity, versed in the traditions of Unitarianism,
and imbued with faith in its future. It has
been their policy to regulate the financial af-
fairs of the Society by the rules that govern
those of secular or commercial institutions.
With good preaching and sound financing a
church is well equipped, but it is still necessary
that the members be ready and quick to follow
their leaders, or to suggest means and methods
for efficient promulgation and practice of the
principles professed. In short, a Unitarian
church must show by its life in a community
[90]
The Reverend Clay MacCauley (1877-1880)
from painting by Hazard, presented by Dr. MacCauley
to be hung in the Edward Everett Hale Parish House
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
that its professions are not vain. Therefore
this Unitarian church has tried always to be
engaged in some work for humanity.
Of systematic charity and philanthropy
there is a clear record since the beginning of
All Souls Church. In the partition of duties
at that time, "benevolent work" was assigned
to the Ladies' Sewing Society, but would seem
to have been a little later assumed by the In-
dustrial School Committee whose reports for
several years reveal what was done in that line
by the women of the church. The Industrial
School had been carried on by the First Church
for some time as a mission school in George-
town. On the completion of the new church
in 1878, it was brought there and re-named
"The Industrial School." It was really a sew-
ing school for girls, and some pupils were en-
abled to gain a living because of the instruc-
tion received there. The school was given up
when in 1887 a greater opportunity offered in
the establishment of a Day Nursery, a Kin-
dergarten and later a sewing class, at the
Miner Building in South Washington.
Members of the First Church had been ac-
tively interested in ^lyrtilla Miner and her
heroic efforts before the Civil War in start-
ing in Washington a school for colored youth.
[91]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
When the trustees of the Miner Fund, among
whom were the minister and several members
of All Souls, bought in South Washington a
large building with the intention of establish-
ing there "an educational and industrial insti-
tution for the colored race," it seemed almost
imperative that All Souls should help in the
undertaking. In this they were aided by
many outside the Unitarian Church. These
new activities were directed by the Charity
Committee of the Parish Union rather than
by the Industrial School Committee. The
Charity Committee of the Parish Union after-
ward became the Charity Committee of the
Church, for several years a standing commit-
tee.
In 1891 the Committee extended its work
by instituting a kindergarten in the Potomac
School building, also in South Washington.
This was done with the avowed hope that it
might furnish an example which the District
Government would follow in the addition of
kindergartens to the public school system —
and the hope was not a vain one. W. B.
Powell, at that time Superintendent of Schools
in Washington, was a member of All Souls
Church who expressed his gratification at this
[92]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
deed and helped the committee always by
counsel and encouragement. The entire main-
tenance of the various enterprises at the jNIiner
Building was assumed by the trustees of the
Fund in 1894, leaving the people of All Souls
free to work elsewhere.
The next opportunity that offered to the
Charity Committee was that of supporting one
of the nurses employed by the Instructive Vis-
iting Nurse Society, which began operating in
the District of Columbia in 1900. The
amount of money necessary was $700 a year
and the equipment of a "Loan Closet" for use
of the nurse. After some consideration it was
decided to make this the future work of the
committee, as it was felt that in no better way
could the church become a living presence in
the community. The funds were soon raised
and for twenty years the account with the In-
structive Visiting Nurse Association has been
an important item in the report of the Treas-
urer of All Souls. Here again the way of
duty seemed plain to the committee. The In-
structive Visiting Nurse Association owed its
existence largely to the generosity of a mem-
ber of All Souls and it was fitting that the
church should be the first to pay an entire sal-
[93]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
ary of a nurse and thus help to secure success
for a philanthropy whose need and worth were
most apparent.
By means of funds coming into its treasury
from bequests left it for philanthropic pur-
poses, the church has lately begun the support
of a Visiting Housekeeper who, under the di-
rection of the Associated Charities, tries to
teach better methods of domestic economy to
those who from lack of such knowledge are
liable to and often do become dependent upon
public charity.
Philanthropy in All Souls has not been lim-
ited to what may be called these official in-
stances. Every organization of the church has
had its own adventures in philanthropy, no-
tably the Lend-a-Hand Society, which since
its formation in 1890 has been true to its name
in all sorts of humanitarian offices.
Social settlements in Washington have en-
gaged the active attention of the Women's Al-
liance more or less for several years. After
experimenting with one under its own manage-
ment, it was decided to be better to help a set-
tlement already established and needing aid
than to form another.
Another experiment in social work was a
mission for boys, located on Fourteenth Street
[94]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
near Boundary Street. For some time a kin-
dergarten for colored children was maintained
in a Lutheran church on Eighth Street. The
mission received help from different organiza-
tions of the church, particularly the Twentieth
Century Club. The kindergarten was under
the management of the Charity Committee.
The trustees have contributed to the in-
dustrial schools at Calhoun, Alabama, and Ma-
nassas, Virginia. Ministers and members of
the church have held important positions in the
management of the latter school.
The record given would seem to indicate that
the Unitarian Church has been a not incon-
siderable asset to the District of Columbia
since 1877. Its ministers and its members
have served on the governing boards of many
of the most important educational, social and
philanthropic enterprises of the Capital.
More than this, they have been pioneers in ad-
vanced methods in all these lines. They were
leaders in the formation of the Associated
Charities; the Board of Guardians for De-
pendent Children; the Reform School for girls;
the introduction of kindergartens; the Hu-
mane Society; the Diet Kitchen; the Juvenile
Protective Association ; as well as the two phi-
lanthropies specially mentioned. At the pres-
[95]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
ent time the minister is a trustee of Howard
University and Secretary of the Board of Gal-
laudet College. One church member serves
on the Board of Education; another on the
Board of Management of Columbia Hospital;
one is President of the Instructive Visiting
Nurse Association, as well as of the Juvenile
Protective Association, and member of the
Board of Charities of the District of Columbia.
The church is also represented on the Board of
the Florence Crittenton Mission and on that of
Friendship House.
By way of social and intellectual develop-
ment, there have been established various clubs
and societies, not all of which have survived.
One of the first of these was the Unity Club,
organized in the First Church but for many
years dissociated from the Unitarian Church.
Among the later records of the First Church
are those of the Washington Unitarian Asso-
ciation, which would seem to have been devoted
to the promotion of Unitarianism at home
and abroad. It distributed Unitarian liter-
ature, arranged lecture courses and sent dele-
gates to the May meetings. It established,
and supported for a while, schools for adult
colored people who had just then come out of
slavery into citizenship. This Association in
[96]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
1867 became the Washington Christian Union
of whose career tliere is no record.
As early as 1840 there was a Washington
Unitarian Tract Association in behalf of whose
mission Rev. Stephen G. Bulfinch preached a
sermon.
The Parish Union was organized in 1877
to take charge of social and literary enter-
tainment. The Channing Club was a short-
lived experiment.
In 1902 the men of All Souls organized the
Unitarian Club of Washington. This Club,
which was local in character, was transformed
in 1920 into the Washington Chapter of the
Unitarian Laymen's League w^hich is a Na-
tional organization. The formation of the
League Chapter is one of the most important
events in the history of All Souls Church.
The stimulus of association with Unitarian lay-
men throughout the country has created
greater interest in local and general church
growth. This has led the chapter to present
Unitarianism to the Washington public in a
series of evening meetings addressed by offi-
cials of the League, by prominent ministers
and by men of national repute. The Chap-
ter has a membership of one hundred and
thirty.
[97]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Another local branch of a national organiza-
tion is the Women's Alliance. Organized in
1892, it has had for its objects the quickening
of the religious life of the church ; the bringing
of its women into closer acquaintance, co-op-
eration and fellowship and the promotion of
missionary and denominational work. Its
degree of success in the attainment of these ob-
jects is indicated by a membership of nearly
three hundred ; its substantial support of most
of the enterprises of the national body, as well
as its unwearied devotion for several years to
the building of a new Church and Parish
House and the furnishing of the latter. To-
ward this it has contributed more than $15,000
and has pledged $10,000 to the campaign fund
of 19S0. Through its Post Office Mission,
its lines have gone out literally to the ends of
the earth, but this is a distinction common to
other Alliances.
The Liberal Religious Union is also a
branch of a national body. For many years
the only expression of Unitarianism in Wash-
ington during the summer months was through
this Union.
To the proper conduct of a Sunday School
the church has given considerable attention,
which has resulted in the adoption of a graded
[98]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
course of study from kindergarten up to ma-
ture years.
The social needs of younger members have
not been overlooked and L'Allegro Club takes
care of these. A Boy Scout Troop, Number
42, under the Washington Council, is regis-
tered as connected with All Souls Church.
In 1890 a group of women belonging to
All Souls Church organized a Club. They
named it the Twentieth Century Club, and
as such it was incoi*porated on June 5, 1890.
Its object, as stated in the articles of incor-
poration, was "to promote benevolence," which
was quite broad enough to include that given
in the preamble to its constitution, viz. : "The
promotion of liberal thought and philanthropic
work in its broad sense." For a few years
such work was done in connection with the
Charity Committee of the church. Post Office
INIission work in Washington originated in this
Club, but upon the formation of the Women's
Alliance in 1892 it was given over to that so-
ciety. From the year 1896, the Twentieth
Century Club has pursued its own course,
which has been a very successful one. Mem-
bership in the Club was never limited to Uni-
tarians. For that reason, and because there
was no other organization of the sort in Wash-
[99]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
ington, the Club has attracted many of the
most intelligent women of the city, besides
those found in All Souls Church, with the re-
sult that it has developed into a well organized
body of women, alive to the higher interests
of humanity, actively promoting those inter-
ests in the Capital of the Nation.
Until the year 1911, the Plresident of the
Twentieth Century Club was a member of All
Souls Church, as were most of the other offi-
cers. In the election of that year this prece-
dent was not followed, nor has it been since.
So great has been the Club's attraction, and
so generous has been its management in
admission to membership, that the anomalous
condition has arisen — of a church auxihary
with a majority of its members entirely unre-
lated to that church. This fact renders the
connection between the Twentieth Century
Club and All Souls Church a purely nominal
one at present. Yet the fact remains that but
for the Church the Club would not have ex-
isted and therefore its history may rightfully
be related in that of the first hundred years of
the Unitarian Church, and its formation may
be proudly noted as an important event in
that history. To have been the means of es-
tablishing here a club which in the year 1922
[100]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
has an enrollment of nearly four hundred
women of varied interests, yet all tending to
the increase of the knowledge and culture of
individuals, and to the benefit of society, is not
the least of the ways in which the Unitarian
Church has contributed to the welfare of the
community.^
The esthetic sense of the church has always
demanded good music as essential in the sat-
isfactory conduct of religious services. It is
said that on the dedication day of the First
Church the music was a great surprise to the
audience because of its excellence. It was
conducted by Philip Mauro, who is mentioned
as one of the members of the First Church,
and the singers were mostly from the congre-
gation. Of this voluntary choir the records
say:
"The choir has been sustained most success-
fully not only in our opinion but also in that
of numerous visitors to our metropolis through
a long course of years by the free, hearty and
efficient services of a few devoted persons."
Judge Cranch and Miss Seaton are es-
pecially mentioned. Even the critical John
lOn January 5, 1922, the Club in revising its constitution
voted to omit the clause which stated its relation to All Souls
Unitarian Church.
[101]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Quincy Adams had a good word to say for
the music on the occasion of "the funeral of
John Law when 'Pope's Dying Christian to
his Soul' was given with organ accompaniment
with much effect." The standard then set has
been well maintained and the choir of All
Souls has always comprised some of the best
musical talent of the city. The voluntary
choir was given up with the old church. Mr.
Hitz, a member of the First Church, left a
bequest of $1000 for providing suitable music.
This was used toward paying for the organ
of All Souls.
The organ in the new All Souls Church will
be a gift in memory of Bernard Richardson
Green, from Mrs. Green and family. For
many years an active member of the church,
Mr. Green served it as Secretary, Superinten-
dent of Sunday School, and as Trustee. He
was many times Chairman of the Board of
Trustees. Mr. Green believed that the stand-
ard of All Souls should be of the highest in
every respect and to this end he gave it the
benefit of a practical mind and correct taste
whenever called to any of its offices. He was a
lover of fine music and always wished that of
All Souls to be the best obtainable. The or-
[102]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
gan will be a fitting memorial to him from
those who loved him best, and a beautiful gift
to the church which was honored by his faitliful
care for many years. IMr. Green was a civil
engineer by profession. He superintended
the construction of several of the notable
buildings of the Capital. Among these were
the State, War and Navy Building, the Li-
brary of Congress, the Washington Public
Library and the National Museum. The Li-
brary of Congress was at first under the direc-
tion of General Thomas L. Casey, with whom
Mr. Green had been associated in operations
by the government in the harbors 'of Portland,
Maine, and Boston, Massachusetts. At the
time of General Casey's death, while the Li-
brary of Congress was building, ]Mr. Green
was given entire charge of its construction by-
Act of Congress. His name is closely con-
nected with the history of the Washington
JNIonument. He was the originator of the
method used in strengthening the foundations
of the Monument when its erection was re-
sumed after the Civil War. He also designed
the marble pyramidion which caps the summit
of the great shaft. Mr. Green was a member
of All Souls from the time of his coming to
[103]
DENOMINATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Washington in the spring of 1877 until his
death in 1914. He was a masterful man and
left an indelible impression upon the minds of
those who were associated with him.
[104]
CHAPTER X
HEIRLOOMS
An historic church needs some relics or heir-
looms to complete its interest. The Unitar-
ian Church is not lacking in this respect. The
best known of these is the church bell. It was
cast by Joseph W. Revere, son of Paul Revere.
In a letter to Charles Bulfinch, written from
Boston in September, 1821, ]Mr. Revere said:
"A bell suitable for the church in Washington
ought to weigh one thousand or twelve hun-
dred pounds. If you shall employ me to
make a bell for your church, I will cast as good
an one as possible. It shall be subject to the
examination of such persons as you shall see
fit to appoint here. If it should not please
them, another shall be cast without any ex-
pense to you whatever. The price will be .40
p. lb. and it will be warranted with suitable
usage, for one year." This letter was in reply
to one from Charles Bulfinch dated August
17, 1821. That was a very early date in the
[105]
HEIRLOOMS
history of the church and shows Mr. Bulfinch's
foresight as to the .details of the building then
hardly on paper. The early purchase of the
bell was probably brought about by an acci-
dent. What the architect had considered an
accessory to the new building, needful for reli-
gious purposes, a destructive fire in the neigh-
borhood revealed as a valuable public utility.
A report made by George S. Bulfinch and
George W. May to the Committee on Man-
agement on Sunday, July 7, 1822 — one
month after the dedication of the church —
stated that "immediately after the late destruc-
tive fire had occurred, they in consequence of
the obvious necessity of procuring a bell of
sufficient size and power to alarm the citizens
on similar occasions, voluntarily undertook to
collect subscriptions from their fellow citizens
generally for the purpose of purchasing such
bell to be hung in the new Unitarian Church at
the corner of D and Sixth Streets. They feel
much pleasure in being able to announce to
the Committee that the object has been favored
by their fellow citizens and that it has received
the liberal aid of the President of the United
States. They would observe, however, that
the aid last mentioned has been given condi-
tionally, viz. : 'provided a bell of about 900 lbs.
[106]
HYMNS,
SELECTED FROM VJiRlOVS dUTHOES,
rOB, THE LSn OF THE
UNITARIAN CHURCH
WASHINGTON.
" Giving thanks vmto the Father." Paul.
»' This is life eternal; that they might know tfief.
THE ONLY TRLE GOD, and Jcsus' Christ, whom then
hast sent." John 17, a.
WASHINGTON:
Ptinled by ]V. Cooper.
1821.
Facsimile of title page of Mr. Little's Hymn Book
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
in weight should not be procured previous to
the 1st of January, 1823, then that the under-
signed shall refund the sum so advanced, to
wit, $100,' — and that the undersigned have be-
come bound to the government to that effect.
They further report that the amount of their
subscription list, including the contribution of
the President, is $4^19 and they now offer said
funds to the Committee to be applied to said
jDurpose under the limitations and conditions
herein mentioned." At that time the Presi-
dent of the United States was James JNIonroe.
Dr. Shippen has said of the bell:
"Down to 1861 it was rung for public pur-
poses. I am informed that it tolled a requiem
for John Brown on the day of his death
[Dec. 2, 1859]. Thenceforward it was de-
nounced by some as an abolition bell and in the
exciting time of 1861 its use by the city au-
thorities was discontinued."
In 1909 it was found necessary to change the
action of the hammer, as the side of the bell
upon which it had struck for ninety years had
grown dangerously thin. Mr. Revere had
warranted it for one year, with suitable usage.
The communion service is also of interest
and value. The flagon, which bears the name
of Revere as maker, is thus inscribed:
[107]
HEIRLOOMS
"Presented by the Society in Hollis Street,
Boston, to Charles Bulfinch as a testimony of
their grateful acknowledgment for the elegant
plans fm-nished them for their Meeting House
and for the unwearied care in the execution."
Reverse :
"1787. Presented to the First Unitarian
Church,
Washington,
By
Charles and Hannah Bulfinch
June 1830."
The plates of the service were given by ^Irs.
W. D. Stroud, and are made from silver used
in the family of her aunts, Mrs. Nancy M.
Johnson and Miss Mary Donaldson, "as a
memorial of their faithful devotion to the lib-
eral faith and of their interest and share in
promoting its growth in this community."
Upon the occasion of their first use, Easter
Sunday, April 17, 1892, after some commem-
orative remarks, Dr. Shippen read letters re-
ceived from former pastors from which ex-
tracts are made.
Rev. Joseph H. Allen said:
"I am glad that the memory of our dear,
kind old friends, Mrs. Johnson and Miss Don-
aldson, is to be so fitly and pleasantly pre-
[108]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
served. A church is greatly privileged which
has such lives to record among its many and
rich memories of the just made perfect."
Of them Moncure D. Conway wrote:
"Since the beloved Teacher, many good
women have given their bread to flesh and
blood for the higher humanity, but I have
known none more faithful and large hearted in
such service than Mrs. Johnson and ^liss Don-
aldson."
Frederick Douglass said:
"None better knew than they, that justice
and mercy to the oppressed is the true cross
of Christ of the present day — and this cross
they nobly bore through a long life. Let them
be remembered in the Church of All Souls —
with Him who took His place among the lowly
and went about doing good."
Dr. Shippen said:
"Loyal supporters of the Unitarian Church
and faith through life, their house was the
hospitable home for all workers for freedom
and humanity. Widely known, respected and
beloved, their table has often been one of high
spiritual communion and their names and
memory are fragrant and precious."
The individual cups were the gift in 1916
of the organist of the church, Mr. Lewis Corn-
[109]
HEIRLOOMS
ing Atwater, in memory of his mother, Ada
Corning Atwater.
The pulpit of the First Church was placed
in the chapel of All Souls.
The baptismal font in All Souls was given
by Miss Ahce Adams, and the pulpit Bible by
Mrs. George Deering.
Memorial windows were presented by de-
scendants of early families. Others placed
memorial tablets on the walls. Mrs. Emma
W. Fuller of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a
grand-daughter of Robert Little, presented to
the church in 1911 a manuscript book of serv-
ices and prayers written by him. Some time
afterward she sent to the church an account
book which was owned and used by Mr. Little.
This book contains a list of the contributors to
the building fund of the First Church.
The church also possesses through the kind-
ness of Mr. James F. Hood, many years a
trustee, an original of its own first hymn-book,
herein before mentioned; bearing the title:
"hymns, Selected from Various Authors,
for the Use of the unitarian church in
WASHINGTON. Printed by W. Cooper, 1821."
The little volume is 5I/2 ^ 3l/4 inches, and con-
tains one hundred and one hymns. It is
[110]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
in excellent preservation and is of such ex-
cessive rarity that it may be unique. Other
gifts from INIr. Hood are "A sermon preached
before the Unitarian Society in the City of
Wasliington on Sunday, July 15, 1821, by
Robert Little"; a bound volume of eight
discourses dehvered to the Society by ^Ir.
Little on various dates from October 7, 1821,
to July 4, 1824, two of them spoken in the
hall of the House of Representatives; "A
sermon on Making Good Resolutions, deliv-
ered in the Unitarian Church, Washington
City, January 1, 1832, by the Pastor" (Rev.
Cazneau Palfrey) ; a small framed engraving,
from copper, of the "Unitarian Church, Wash-
ington, published by Sherwood, Neely and
Jones, London, January 1, 1823," and another
engraving somewhat larger, also from copper,
"View in Washington City, first unitarian
CHURCH, City Hall in the distance," undated,
but printed about the year 1825.
The silver trowel, suitably inscribed, used by
President Taft at the laying of the corner
stone of the Church designed to be built on
Sixteenth Street, was furnished for the oc-
casion by Mr. Hood and has been added to
the heirlooms of the Society.
[Ill]
CHAPTER XI
NATIONAL ADHERENTS
The Unitarian Church of Washington has
been proud and rightly so, of the fact that
three such celebrated men as John Quincy
Adams, Millard Fillmore and John C. Cal-
houn have been her adherents. To find these
names counted among those of the regular at-
tendants of an orthodox church of the Capital
is somewhat disconcerting to the enthusiastic
but not well-informed devotee, while to the
impartial seeker for information it is mislead-
ing if stated without explanation. During the
presidential campaign of 1908, wherein the
successful candidate was a Unitarian, the as-
sertion was made in a local paper and prob-
ably in others, that "while there have been
Unitarian presidents there is no record of any
president's having attended the Unitarian
Church," and that "there is no assertion that
the later Adams and Millard Fillmore at-
[112]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
tended the church after its establishment in
1821."
Concerning JNIr. Adams, this statement
would seem to be refuted by the following pas-
sage from the Diary of that gentleman. Not-
ing therein the death of Rev. Robert Little in
1827, Mr. Adams said:
"This is a fact greatly to be lamented by his
congregation of whom I was one. I had con-
stantly attended on his ministrations for the
last seven years."
Associate Justice Joseph Storj^ writing of
a special occasion at the First Church, refer-
ring to President J. Q. Adams, said:
"The President attended and indeed he gen-
erally attends this church."
That John Quincy Adams was a regular at-
tendant at the church from its beginning to
the end of his life is without doubt. When
Mr. Little visited JNIassachusetts on his trip
soliciting funds for building the church, he
wrote home:
"I had a very pleasant interv^iew with Presi-
dent Adams [Ex-president John Adams] at
Quincy last week and he seems much pleased
with his son's attachment to our Society."
[113]
NATIONAL ADHERENTS
The Rev. Joseph Henry Allen, minister of
the First Unitarian Church at the time of Mr.
Adams' death, in a memorial sermon to him on
February 27, 1848, said:
"We fondly remember how but a few weeks
since neither age nor feebleness, nor storm, nor
darkness, detained him from his accustomed
place on the Lord's day."
From his Diary, one learns that Mr. Adams
often attended the afternoon service at St.
John's, and that he also attended the Presby-
terian Church. Mr. Adams was essentially
devout, but a lover of argument as well, and
frequent churchgoing may have been neces-
sary to him for mental stimulus as well as for
spiritual comfort. He was a daily reader of
the Bible and confessed that he had tried hard
to believe the doctrine of the trinity, because
certain passages in the New Testament
seemed to countenance it. But his caustic
comments on a sermon on that subject which
he heard at St. John's in 1839, indicate very
clearly the conclusion at which he had arrived
in regard to the matter. The peculiar tenets
of Calvinism were no less mercilessly criticised
by him in writing of a sermon he heard in the
Presbyterian Church, December 3, 1837 — both
[114]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
dates later than his presidency. ]Mr. Adams
was also critical of sermons he heard from Mr.
Little and charged him on one occasion with
not having respect enough for his text. The
sermon was on miracles and was delivered
Xovember 12, 1826. He speaks in his auto-
biography also of the fact of ]Mr. Little's ob-
jection to the baptism of children as "one of
Mr. Little's great errors." This was apropos
of his having attended the First Church when
JNIr. JNIott baptized several children.
Mr. Adams resented unjust or flippant crit-
icism of Unitarians, as is amusingly shown in
his treatment of Mr. Tazewell of Virginia.
That gentleman, when dining with Mr.
Adams, remarked that Tokay and Rhenish
wine tasted exactly alike; whereupon his host
asserted that he did not believe that Mr. Taze-
well had ever tasted a drop of genuine Tokay
wine. But INIr. Adams was so troubled over
his rudeness to a guest, that he sent Mr. Taze-
well a note of apology. Recording the inci-
dent in his journal he said:
"I was moved to speak as I did because Mr.
Tazewell had said that he never knew a Uni-
tarian who did not believe in the Sea Serpent."
When in Congress and while Vice-Presi-
[115]
NATIONAL ADHERENTS
dent, Millard Fillniore retained and paid for
a pew in the First Church. Upon his succes-
sion to the presidency, and after the settle-
ment of his invalid wife and family in the
White House, he accepted the oif er made him
by St. John's Church of a pew there, as he
said, because of its nearness to his home and
greater convenience for his family. Whether
this action was the courtesy to fashion that is
sometimes made by those in high places, or was
the result of political wounds received in the
house of his friends, cannot here be stated,
but it probably was taken as he said for the
convenience of his family. Mr. Fillmore's
Unitarianism was of too long standing to be
impeached by, nor did his attendance at the
First Church cease with, his acceptance else-
where, as is indicated in a letter written by
him.
The fact that John C. Calhoun was also an
attendant at St. John's might seem to nullify
the claim which the Unitarian Church makes
upon him. His biographer, Mr. Gaillard
Hunt, saj^s:
"Unitarianism attracted him as it did many
of the public men of his day; he contributed
to the erection of the First Unitarian Church
in Washington and had a pew there. Not-
[116]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
withstanding this, he commonly attended the
Episcopal Church of which his wife was a
member. He was raised in the Presbyterian
Church."
The Seaton biographical sketch speaks of
him as "a warm friend and consistent adherent
of Unitarianism."
Chief Justice John Marshall is sometimes
included in the number of celebrated men who
were connected with the First Unitarian
Church of Washington. He is generally
claimed as a Unitarian by the denomination.
His biographer, Mr. Albert J. Beveridge,
says: "The evidence as to his own views and
feelings on the subject of religion, although
scanty, is definite. He was a Unitarian in
belief and therefore never became a member of
the Episcopal Church, to which his parents,
wife, children, and all other relatives be-
longed." Associate Justice Story, who was a
Unitarian and an interested attendant of the
First Church, said in his eulogy of the great
jurist: "Among Christian sects, he person-
ally attached himself to the Episcopal Church.
It was the religion of his early education and
became afterwards that of his choice. But he
was without the slightest touch of bigotry or
intolerance."
[117]
NATIONAL ADHERENTS
The founders of the First Unitarian Church
were very careful to make known the fact that
the organization was to be congregational.
In an account book kept by Mr. Little, the
list of contributors is headed by the statement
that the money is given for "the establishment
of a church on the principles of a resolution
taken from the minutes of the Society, viz.:
'Sep. 1820. Resolved that it is the intention
of this meeting that in the church proposed to
be erected for Unitarian worship in this city
the government and order of the Society shall
be strictly congregational, the Pastor and
officers chosen by the people and all commit-
tees of management elected only for limited
periods and for specific purposes.' "
This list of subscribers carries first the name
of Thomas Law, who gave the largest amount
noted, viz.: one hundred and fifty dollars.
Mr. Law was an eccentric Englishman of very
broad religious ideas who, with his brother
John, had become a citizen of the new republic.
John Law was also a generous contributor.
His name occurs again among the first pew
owners.
A name not heretofore mentioned as a con-
tributor is that of William H. Crawford, fol-
lowing those of John Quincy Adams and John
[118]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
C. Calhoun, with which it makes a trio distin-
guished in national history. JNIr. Crawford had
served as both Secretary of the Treasury and
of War in the cabinet of President Madison.
In 1824 he was a republican candidate for the
presidency, as were John Quincy Adams and
Henry Clay with Andrew Jackson in opposi-
tion. Calhoun was candidate for the vice-
presidency and was elected, but the presiden-
tial election was thrown into the House of
Representatives and Adams was chosen.
Among the contributors from abroad was
Anios Lawrence of Boston, whose widely
known philanthropy did not protect him from
theological attacks by the orthodox. On one
such occasion Father Taylor, in reply to the
statement that a Unitarian could not go to
heaven, told this story of Amos Lawrence's
pocketbook. One fold of the book was in-
scribed, "What shall it profit a man if he gain
the whole world and lose .his own soul?"; an-
other, "The gold is mine, said the Lord of
Hosts," and another, "He that giveth to the
poor, lendeth to the Lord." Father Taylor
had asked the reason for these inscriptions and
Mr. Lawrence had said that as men grow old
they afe apt to grow selfish and he wished to
be reminded of the great principles of the gos-
[119]
NATIONAL ADHERENTS
pel by which he ought to hold and to use his
worldly goods. Therefore he kept money in
these folds for all the good purposes that
Providence might suggest.
The names of two other subscribers suggest
the now and the then of Unitarianism. They
are Samuel A. Eliot and William Ellery
Channing. The latter was the first great
apostle of Unitarianism; the former was the
grandfather of the present President of the
American Unitarian Association who bears the
same name.
In this list are found the names of Thomas
and George Bulfinch, as well as that of their
father, Charles Bulfinch. They were young
men in business when the family left Boston
for Washington. Their business was that of
building materials, which was quite in line with
their father's profession. Their subscriptions
were partly if not wholly paid in materials for
the church building. George Bulfinch inher-
ited something of his father's talent, but
Thomas found business irksome and gave it up
to become a bank clerk in Boston. He was
able then to devote himself to the things he
liked best and made himself known as the au-
thor of "The Age of Fable." This work has
been the basis of several modern works on
[120]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
mythology. He was appointed secretary of
the first meeting called to consider the forma-
tion of a Unitarian society and his signature
is on the copy of the resolution offered by
Wilham Eliot on the 31st of July, 1820.
Mr. Little was very methodical in his ac-
counts and in his reports to the church. The
last entry in the little book is not without a
hint of sentiment. It is:
"July 12, 1821. The workmen commenced
digging the foundation for the church.
August 12th. All the window frames in.
September 12th. Roof putting on.
October 23rd. Covered in.
June 9, 1822. Opened for worship."
Mr. Little would seem to have had the whole
affair well in hand and if his plans had met with
the response which he expected from the church
and the public much financial trouble would
have been avoided. As it was, only one-half
of the subscriptions in Washington were ever
paid in, and the sale of pews was not so gen-
eral as he hoped and as was necessary finan-
cially.
ri2i]
CHAPTER XII
THE NEW ALL SOULS
By the year 1909 Unitarian Church history
began to repeat itself. The congregation was
aware that in the near future another removal
to a location more secure from the merciless en-
croachment of commercialism would be neces-
sary together with a building larger and bet-
ter suited to the needs of the organization.
At the annual meeting of the year, Mr. Ber-
nard R. Green, Chairman of the Board of
Trustees, said of the development of the church
and the limiitations of- its building: "This
it has in turn outgrown in the short period
of about thirty years, keeping pace with the
modern growth of the city itself and now it
must burst its bonds and be more adequately
housed for its third period of advancing
life."
It was voted at this time that a committee
of ten associated with the trustees be appointed
to consider the question of increased accom-
modations for the church. On June 2nd this
[122]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
committee reported that "All Souls Church re-
quires a new edifice and accessories which make
a new site necessary." The report was
adopted. The committee of ten was enlarged
to thirty to take in charge the matter of a new
church, the enlarged committee to consist of
the nine trustees, the ten who had served on the
committee which had just reported and eleven
additional members.
As in 1877, so in 1909, no effective action
could be taken without the aid and consent of
the American Unitarian Association. Con-
sultation with that body resulted in an arrange-
ment whereby the property at Fourteenth and
L Streets might be sold and a site elsewhere
selected and bought. Committees were ap-
pointed for these purposes and for the collec-
tion of necessary funds. After consideration
of several sites, and the selection of one, the
title of which proved faulty causing its rejec-
tion, the committee of Thirty secured an op-
tion of lots 74 to 85 in square 192 on Sixteenth
Street near R. The American Unitarian As-
sociation approved the site and the church
authorized its purchase together with as much
of lot 73 as might be necessary. This land was
afterward referred to as lot 104 in square 192.
There on February 13, 1913 — ominous fig-
[123]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
ures — the cornerstone taken from All Souls
was relaid by Ptresident William Howard
Taft, as the beginning of a new All Souls
Church and Edward Everett Hale Parish
House. Funds in cash and subscriptions to
the amount of $90,000 were raised. A satis-
factory plan for the edifice was selected from a
competition. The lot was paid for, leaving a
small cash balance, but nothing more was pos-
sible until the sale of the property at Four-
teenth and L Streets. Three years of discus-
sion and effort had passed before this partial
Success was achieved. They had been years of
special interest otherwise to the people of All
Souls, as they were included in the presidency
of Mr. Taft, whose presence at the church serv-
ices had been very regular. The fact of his
Unitarianism and his attendance at All Souls
had been a source of publicity for the church,
not always exact in statement, but al-
ways gratifying in the opportunity given
for making better known to many per-
sons the faith held in common with this dis-
tinguished citizen.
Of the last day of President Taft's atten-
dance at the church, the minister, the Rev. U.
G. B. Pierce, said in his annual report of 1913:
"And Sunday, March 2nd. On that day we
[124]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
bade sincere and affectionate good-bye to the
President of the United States who for four
years had worshipped with us. The service
was simple and severe — that is our way. An
address by the President of the Board of Trus-
tees, the Honorable Duncan U. Fletcher; the
presentation of the portrait of INIr. Taft by
Prof. A. W. Spanhoofd on behalf of the Uni-
tarian Club ; the touching farewell of the Presi-
dent himself; the singing of Blest be the Tie
That Binds; the reception by the President
to the members of All Souls; the last good-bye
and salute by the Boy Scouts, our boys, as the
White House automobile sped away ; it is easy
to recite all this but it is not easy to say what
it meant to us and how we remember the occa-
sion as one about which to tell our children.
And now we return to normal church life.
We are thankful that during all these years
there was no accident or disturbance; and we
trust that to our honored fellow-worshippers,
as to us, the memory of those years may be
without spot or blemish."
Within a year and a half thereafter, the
World War made life abnormal for all man-
kind. Upon the entrance into the war by our
own government all the interest, energy and
money of the congregation of All Souls were
[125]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
diverted into patriotic channels and church
building was necessarily postponed.
It happened in the course of time that. the
desirability of the site on Sixteenth Street was
greatly lessened by the erection next it of a
large apartment house. When an offer of
$105,000 cash was made for the lots by the
company building there, it was deemed best to
accept it and buy elsewhere, always with the
ratification of the American Unitarian Asso-
ciation. The corner stone, which was fast be-
coming a veritable Ark of the Covenant to the
Unitarian people, was removed from Sixteenth
Street and returned to Fourteenth and L
Streets to await developments, the first of
which was the recommendation in January,
1920, by the Board of Trustees, that a site for
the church be bought at Sixteenth and Har-
vard Streets, consisting of lots 20 to 22 and
807 to 818 in square 2577. Those members of
the church present at the special meeting of
January 2, 1920, voted that this site be pur-
chased at a price not exceeding $90,000. The
vote was sixty in the affirmative to eight in the
negative. At the same meeting the Trustees
announced a proposal lately made to them by
the Buick Motor Company that that company
would rent the property at Fourteenth and L
[126]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
Streets for ten years at an annual rental of
$30,000, provided the church would erect
thereon a building of design approved by the
company. It was moved that this be done.
The motion gave rise to serious discussion.
The desirability of creating from this property
a source of future revenue for the church was
set forth, while in opposition was shown the
great risk of building in such uncertain and
abnormal times. The motion was carried by
a vote of 32 to 27. A committee of three to be
selected from the Board of Trustees and mem-
bership at large with the Chairman of the
Board, INIr. George A. Bicker, as advisory
member and the Secretary of the Chm'ch, JNIr.
Elmer Stewart, as secretary, to consummate
the proposition, was also authorized.
Thus in a few moments were the affairs of
All Souls changed from a state of stagnation
to one of liveliest activity. The church was to
be abandoned and torn down. A temporary
place of worship was to be found. A large
business building was to be put up at once, and
a church as soon as possible. Necessary ar-
rangements between tlie three parties con-
cerned, viz.: the Church, the Association and
the Motor Company, consumed several weeks,
but by the middle of June, 1920, All Souls
[127]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
Church had become a memory only for those
who had loved it for years, and in its place
foundations were laid for an industrial build-
ing six stories in height.
The first step toward the building of a new
church was the selection of an architect. After
consultation with the American Unitarian
Association, it was decided that the rules of
the American Institute of Architects should
be followed in this selection. The competition
was limited to six firms or individuals. Prof.
Warren P. Laird, Head of the Department
of Architecture of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, acted as architectural adviser for the
church. It was his duty to prepare the pro-
gram for the competition. This he did from
data furnished by the Trustees and the Com-
mittee, setting forth the needs, the wishes and
the ideals of the church in regard to its pros-
pective home. The plan was to include a Par-
ish House. One stipulation was "That the de-
sign typify Unitarian ideas and ideals and at
the same time harmonize with the architecture
of Washington and fit into the surroundings
of the chosen site." The completed drawings
were to be judged by a jury elected by the
competing architects. The jury elected was
Cass Gilbert, Henry Bacon and John Wyn-
[128]
All Souls Church and Edward Everett Hale Memorial Parish House, 1922.
(Architects' drawing)
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
koop, all of New York, three of the most dis-
tinguished architects of the country.
By decision of the jury, the architect whose
plans should best meet the given conditions
would become automatically as it were the ar-
chitect of the new Unitarian Church of Wash-
ington. The jury agreed that design No. 5
best met the conditions stated. This proved to
be that submitted by the firm of Coolidge and
Shattuck, of Boston. This design, with some
modifications, is the plan from which the new
All Souls Church and Parish House is being
built.
In an article published in the Christian Reg-
ister of September 29, 1921, Mr. George A.
Ricker, Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
said:
"The practical details of the plan have many
features of interest. The approach to the
church proper is by a monumental terrace up
broad flights of steps and through a portico
with tall Corinthian columns surmounted by a
pediment, above which rises the graceful spire.
The auditorium is in the typical Colonial style
with a barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by col-
umns. The organ and choir gallery are over
the entrance vestibule. There are also side
galleries. The maximum seating capacity
will be nine hundred and thirty-four, of which
[129]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
number six hundred and sixty-six will be on
the floor and two hundred and sixty-eight in
the galleries.
"Flanking and connecting with the far end
of the church are wing buildings of two stories
and basements housing the social and educa-
tional facilities; the right wing containing an
assembly-room, with dining-room in the base-
ment; the left wing, class-rooms and club-
rooms for men and women, with the boiler and
storage-rooms in the basement. These two
wings extend a considerable distance to the
street back of the church proper, and are
united by a narrow one-story connecting build-
ing on the street side, enclosing an open court
which will have a cloister and garden. This
cloister and its garden, corresponding to the
cloister garth of the old churches, will be a
most charming place for rest as well as a
centre of interest for social functions whether
in the afternoon or evening. The basement of
the main building is planned to house the rec-
reational activities of the institution, the gym-
nasium and swimming-pool. A decorative
fence around the group will enclose other
spaces on either side of the church proper
which may be laid out with lawns and plant-
ing. The group of buildings will be con-
structed in the Colonial materials, dark red
brick and light stone."
On Thursday, September 8, 1921, ground
[130]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
was broken for this building and a little later
the work of laying its foundation was begun.
The last service held in All Souls Church at
Fourteenth and L Streets was on March 14,
1920. The text of the sermon delivered by
Dr. Pierce was the same as that chosen by Dr.
MacCauley when his congregation bade fare-
well to the First Church: Genesis xii, 7-8.
He said:
"Built into the very structure of this church,
pervading its history, animating our very
spirits, urging on our spiritual life, the great
stream of hfe of our fathers still persists; and
it is not for our righteousness or for any sense
of power in ourselves, primarily, that we are
enabled to take up in our day and in our gen-
eration the work that they did so nobly in
theirs. And in a peculiar sense we are chil-
dren of our spiritual parents.
"What we want is what our fathers wanted
— a place of worship adequate, not simply to
some of our needs, but adequate for all our
growing needs whereby we may serve our com-
munity and our generation. That is the ideal
as I understand it — the only ideal that is worth
while. We would like such a place of worship,
with its parish house, that those who come to
Washington and honor us by worshipping
with us shall not necessarily say it was the big-
gest tiling that ever was, the most gorgeous, or
the most costly, but that they may feel that
[131]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
here is a sanctuary which, with its emphasis on
the human end of rehgion, typifies the simple,
the straightforward, the practical gospel of the
Unitarian Church."
After this sermon, two communications were
read by the Minister, one expressing the wish,
if agreeable to the church and congregation,
"to present to it a communion table as one more
link between the old church and the new, in
memoiy of all those whose lives have been built
into this church and into whose labors we have
entered." The other said: "Wlien the new
church building is erected on the site recently
purchased at Sixteenth and Harvard Streets,
I desire the privilege of donating a full and
complete set of chimes for the belfry as a mem-
orial to my father." The names of the
donors were withheld. These offers were ac-
cepted by a rising vote of the congregation.
It was also voted, upon motion of the Minis-
ter, that "the affectionate salutations of this
church be sent to Dr. MacCauley," sole sur-
viving Minister of the old church, at Tokyo,
Japan.
The sermon was followed by a particularly
solemn and impressive communion service,
with which ended the life of the church in its
home of forty-two years.
[132]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
On ^larch 21, 1920, the congregation met in
the Knickerbocker Theater, at Eighteenth
Street and Columbia Road, which had been
generously offered it as a meeting place in-
definitely by the managers of the theater. ^
An apartment in the immediate vicinity was
secured by the trustees for use of the various
organizations of the church and, thus accom-
modated, the members have patiently, cheer-
fully and hopefully waited for the dawn of bet-
ter times when building operations might be
begun. That nothing might be lacking on
their part, they contributed $100,000 to the
Unitarian Campaign Fund of 1920.
The one hundredth anniversary of the or-
ganization of the Unitarian Church of Wash-
ington, D. C, was celebrated on Sunday,
November G, 1921. This anticipated the cen-
tenary by five days. Sunday was chosen,
so that all interested might be present. More-
over, the 11th of November, the exact centen-
1 On the night of Saturday, January 28, 1922, the roof of
the Knickerbocker Theater collapsed, causing death or injury
to many persons. Within a few days thereafter the Manager
of B. F. Keith's Theater, Mr. Roland S. Bobbins, extended to
the congregation of All Souls an invitation to hold its Sun-
day services there until the new church should be completed.
This invitation was accepted and the first service there was
held on February 5, 1922.
[133]
THE NEW ALL SOULS
nial, was to be the day of the ceremonies at-
tending the burial of the Unknown Soldier at
Arlington. The service held at the theater
was largely attended. Addresses were made
by the Minister, the Rev U. G. B. Pierce; by
the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr.
George A. Ricker; by the Rev. Samuel A.
Eliot, President of the American Unitarian
Association, and by Chief Justice William
Howard Taft, President of the Unitarian Con-
ference.
[134]
CHAPTER XIII
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS CHURCH
The ministers of All Souls Church have
been but four in number: Clay MacCauley,
Rush R. Shippen, E. Bradford Leavitt and
Ulysses G. B. Pierce.
In February, 1877, the Rev. Clay Mac-
Cauley was asked to serve temporarily as pas-
tor for the First Church, and in July of that
year was elected to the position permanently.
His service dated from September, 1877, to
September, 1880. The three years included
between these dates were important ones in
the history of the church. Mr. JNIacCauley
Jias said that he found in his "new field a de-
voted but small band of regular attendants at
the church. In the community, however, a
considerable number of persons, who had once
been either active members of the Society or
its friends, were then holding themselves
aloof." It seemed to Dr. MacCauley that a
reorganization of the church with a new sys-
[135]
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS
tematization of its departments might help in
the reconciliation of differences and in infus-
ing new life. This with the sanction of the
trustees he proceeded to effect.
He wrote a new constitution, associating
with it a Bond of Union for church member-
ship, and made a new grouping of the various
organizations within the church, "And that the
mission of the Church might be strongly and
accurately signalized" he proposed for it the
name of All Souls Church.
It was fortunate that such a leader answered
the call of the church at that time. He
brought to its service a well-trained mind. He
had torn away the husks of orthodox dogma
from the kernel of truth which they conceal,
and had resolved thereafter to interpret that
truth after the liberal manner. He was a
graduate of Princeton, where his course had
been interrupted by a year of service in the
Civil War when he suffered wounds and im-
prisonment. He had spent three years of
study in Germany. He was born in Cham-
bersburg, Pennsylvania, and there when a boy
he heard Frederick Douglass speak, spell-
bound by that masterful orator. Years after-
ward Frederick Douglass, in the audience of
All Souls, often listened to Dr. MacCauley.
[136]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
The reorganization of the church proved its
efficiency in enlarged congregations and in-
creased interest. In May, 1880, Dr. INIac-
Cauley resigned his position and most of his
life since then has been spent in Japan, where
he has served in the Unitarian INIission in To-
kyo. Of him and his work in Japan, the
Secretary of the American Unitarian Asso-
ciation, the Rev. Louis C. Cornish, has said:
"By his knowledge of Japanese, by his
Japanese text-books, long and widely used, by
his position as a broad-minded and public-
spirited servant of the two countries. Dr. Mac-
Cauley has slowly gained in Japan a position
which is unique both for the affection in which
he is held and the influence he has been able
to exert. In a recent letter from Ambassa-
dor Morris, the representative of the United
States in Japan, to the Governor of the Phil-
ippines, commenting upon Dr. INIacCauley's
approaching visit to the Islands, he described
Dr. MacCauley as follows: —
" 'Dr. ^lacCauley, of Tokyo, has been for
many years one of the most loyal and effec-
tive Americans in Japan. He is a member of
the American Unitarian Association, and his
services have been chiefly engaged in the
spread of liberal Christianity in Japan; but his
influence has gone far beyond any limit of
church or creed, and today he is our most dis-
[137]
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS
tinguished as well as most liberal fellow-coun-
tryman here/ "
Dr. JNIacCauley has lately returned to
America after resigning his position in Tokyo.
The Rev. Rush R. Shippen succeeded Dr.
MacCauley as minister of All Souls. He had
been prominent in the affairs of the denomin-
ation for many years, having served as Secre-
tary of the American Unitarian Association.
In that position he had been in close touch with
the rejuvenation and rehabilitation of the
Washington church. He had officiated at the
dedication of All Souls in 1878 and must have
been welcomed as an old friend when he came
as minister in 1881. With his pastorate the
church entered upon a more active life than
had yet been hers.
During these years, by arrangement between
the church and the American Unitarian As-
sociation, prominent Unitarian ministers were
heard here in the winter months.
Dr. Shippen was a man of fine presence,
and, when called upon for public speaking
outside the church, always rose to the emer-
gency and gave distinction to the day. Little
children loved him. He is vividly and kindly
remembered by his Washington parishioners
[138]
The Reverend Ulysses G. B. Pierce, Minister since 1901.
Underwood & Underwood, Washington
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
and as a citizen of the District of Columbia
was known and appreciated. Dr. Shippen
resigned the pastorate in 1895.
After a pastorless interval of fourteen
months, during which the pulpit was supplied
by ministers from different parts of the coun-
try, the church called the Rev. E. Bradford
Leavitt, who was installed January 13, 1897.
In 1900 ]Mr. Leavitt resigned his position and
went to San Francisco, California, as pastor
of the First Unitarian Church of that city.
His stay in Washington, though short, left the
impression of a man of earnest convictions
which he expressed ably.
The requirements necessary for a minister
suitable for the Washington church set forth
by Associate Justice Story in his letter of the
early days may never be completely met, but
they found a very satisfactory fulfillment in
1901, when the Rev. Ulysses G. B. Pierce
entered its pulpit. He met a congregation
ready to help in making the church what its
founders so earnestly wished it might be, a
national center from which should radiate the
truth, the goodness and the beauty of a liberal
faith. As a guide to this end he has not hesi-
tated, nor has he cliosen a circuitous route.
Preaching the plain truth, he has avoided ex-
[139]
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS
travagance of statement or of style. Sensa-
tionalism has not weakened the force of its
presentation, and asking the bread of life the
people have not been given the stone of eco-
nomic, socialistic or political theory. The
need of a pure and an applied Christianity
has been made plain to them and their respon-
sibility as individuals, and as a church, in help-
ing to supply this need. The function of re-
ligion in every possible phase of human life
has been preached with persistency, in a man-
ner vigorous and impressive enough to gratify
a modern audience, and yet not lacking in the
"engaging suavity" which Associate Justice
Story thought desirable.
The pulpit of All Souls during the World
War was a source of loyalty, of comfort, of
strength and faith that right would prevail,
while the daily life of its minister was a suc-
cession of deeds, private and public, helping to-
ward the, great consummation. Dr. Pierce is
another of the Unitarian ministers whom
the legislative department of the government
has been pleased to call into its service. He
served the United States Senate as Chaplain
from 1909 to 1913. In the history of the
Unitarian Church of Washington, the names
of William Henry Channing and Ulysses G.
[140]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
B. Pierce will be associated as preachers and as
leaders in two great national epochs. Of New
England birth, Dr. Pierce's ministry has led
him to the Middle West and the Pacific Coast.
He has been located at Decorah, Iowa, and
Pomona, California. When called to Wash-
ington, he was in charge of the church at
Ithaca, New York.
The ministry of Dr. Pierce in Washington
is the longest in the annals of the parish. It
embraces a little more than one-fifth of the
century ending November 11, 1921 — twenty
years and more of hearty co-operation between
minister and people in the work begun by the
little band of 1821. The ideal of the early
days was not lost during the growth of the
struggling First Church into the well-organ-
ized All Souls and in its preservation there
has developed a sense of spiritual kinship
among its followers.
An examination of this period reveals the
gradual disappearance from church meetings
and councils of many who were prominent
there at its beginning, but it also shows, in
many instances, their places held by sons and
daughters of the same willingness and devo-
tion. Together with these are increasing
numbers, drawn by the minister's presentation
[141]
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS
of a gospel so attractive and convincing as to
enlist their enthusiastic aid in its wider dis-
semination. Examination also shows the de-
votion, sedulously cultivated in the interests of
its faith, to have been equally strong for the
preservation of the state as expressed in loy-
alty of word and thought and deed in the nu-
merous ways which offered during the World
War. Numbers of its youth answered the
call to arms, and three of these did not return ;
Jesse M. Robinson, Fred E. Smith and
Earnest E. Weibel. The contributions of
money by the congregation to the Young
Men's Christian Association and to the Red
Cross were not inconsiderable. The women
were active in the local service of the latter
organization. It was the happy thought of
Miss Helen Nicolay of All Souls that the Uni-
tarian women of the Middle States should
raise sufficient funds for the restoration of the
village of Fleville in France. Under her su-
pervision, this was successfully accomplished.
All Souls was fortunate in having in her mem-
bership scientific men whose specialties were
such as to prove invaluable to the government
when offered for its service in its time of need.
An incident of the World War in which All
Souls was entitled to take pride was the fa-
[142]
A CENTURY OF UNITARIANISM
mous Tep\y of Capt. Joseph Taussig to Ad-
miral Bayly of the British Navy. Capt.
Taussig commanded the first division of the
fleet of torpedo-boat destroyers sent by the
United States to the rehef of England and
France. Immediately after the fleet's arrival
at Queenstown, Taussig called upon the Ad-
miral in command there, who asked "When
will you be ready to go to sea?" Capt.
Taussig answered, "We are ready now, sir."
All Souls knew Taussig as one of her own in
Sunday School and congregation during boy-
hood and early manhood.
Several years of this period of the church's
history were enriched by the companionship of
Edward Everett Hale, who, after the time of
storm and stress which he had foreseen in his
early days, found in Washington a resting
place before taking leave of earthly things.
His memory will be perpetuated in the Parish
House which will bear his name.
That this pastorate may reach well into the
church's second century is the hope of all who
have thus far shared its duties, its pleasures
and its anxieties.
At present, and may it long be so. All Souls
Unitarian Church stands four-square to the
world with "all the windows of her soul wide-
[143]
MINISTERS OF ALL SOULS
open to the day"; which is to say that she is
ever ready to lend a hand in the world's work,
and that she is on the watch for new truth,
whose coming she will welcome with hospital-
ity. Conscious of the changing order in the
thoughts of men, she will strive more earnestly
to justify her existence by "translating into
life" the two commandments which may be
called the canons of her faith, viz.: "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul and with all thy mind
and with all thy strength"; and the no less
important one: "Thou shalt love thy neigh-
bor as thyself," for she believes that "upon
these hang all the law and the prophets."
[144]
APPENDIX
Original JVIembers of
The First Unitarian Church
OF Washington, D. C.
William Winston Seaton
Joseph Gales, Sr.
Joseph Gales, Jr.
John Quincy Adams
John C. Calhoun
William G. Eliot
Charles Bulfinch
John F. Webb
C. S. Fowler
William Cranch
Moses Poor
N. P. Poor
G. F. May
P.
Noah Fletcher
Richard Wallach
Robert Little
Seth Hyatt
C. Andrews
C. Robinson
Pishey Thompson
Thos. Bates
A. B. Waller
Thos. C. Wright
M. Claxton
S. Franklin
Wm. Cooper
Mauro
[145]
APPENDIX
Ministers of the Unitarian Church.
Washington^ D. C.
Robert Little
1821
-
1827
Andrew Bigelow
1828
-
1829
Cazneau Palfrey-
1830
-
1836
Frederic A. Farley
1836
7
months
Stephen G. Bulfinch
1838
-
1844
Edward Everett Hale
Oct.,
1844
-
March,
1845
Orville Dewey
Nov.,
1846
-
April,
1847
Samuel Longfellow
April,
1847
Joseph Henry Allen
1847
-
1850
Orville Dewey
Dec,
1851
-
June,
1852
Orville Dewey
Dec,
1852
-
July,
1853
Moncure D. Conway
1854
-
1856
Wm. D. Haley
1858
-
1861
William H. Channing
1861
-
1865
Rufus P. Stebbins
1865
6
months
William Sharman
1868
-
1870
Frederic Hinckley
1870
-
1875
Clay MacCauley
1877
-
1880
Rush R. Shippen
1881
-
1895
E. Bradford Leavitt
1897
-
1900
Ulysses G. B. Pierce
1901
-
[146]
APPENDIX
Trustef-s of First Church
1823.
W. W. Seaton Richard Wallach
Charles Bulfinch John Bailey
Committee of Management.
Charles Bulfinch W. W. Seaton
Benjamin Thomas Pishey Thompson
P. Mauro Moses Poor
George W. May
1826.
Trustees.
Charles Bulfinch W. W. Seaton
Joseph Gales^ Jr.
1829.
Trustees.
Charles Bulfinch W. W. Seaton
Joseph Gales, Jr.
Committee of Management.
T. B. Barrel Charles S. Fowler
William Cranch
1835.
Committee of Management.
William Cranch William G. Eliot
Joseph Gales
1838.
Committee of Management.
William Cranch Pishey Thompson
Joseph Gales W. G. Eliot
[147]
APPENDIX
Trustees of All Souls Church
. 1877-78.
Henry A. Willard Gen. L. H. Pelouze
Dr. J. H. Baxter Dr. W. F. Wallace
Dr. R. A. Bacon George B. Clark
W. P. Dunwoody I. P- Libby
W. C. Murdock
1878-79.
Wm. C, Murdock Reuben A. Bacon
Col. Jedediah H. Baxter Henry A. Willard
George B. Clark Wm. P. Dunwoody
Justice Samuel F. Miller Gen. Geo. F. Cutter
Com. Isaiah Hanscom
W. P. Dunwoody, Secretary
Dr. W. F. Wallace, Treasurer
1879-80.
Henry A. Willard George B. Clark
Wm. P. Dunwoody Justice Samuel F. Miller
Paymaster Gen. Geo. F. Cutter
Com, Isaiah Hanscom W. Scott Smith
Col. John Cassels Dr. W. F. Wallace
1880-81.
Justice Samuel F. Miller Gen. Geo. F. Cutter
Hon. Wm. E. Chandler Col. John Cassels
W. Scott Smith Dr. W. F. Wallace
Henry A. Willard Col. J. H. Baxter
W. C. Murdock
[148]
APPENDIX
1881-82.
W. Scott Smith, Chairman
John Cassels Dr. W. F. Wallace
Col. J. H. Baxter H. A. Willard
W. C. Murdock Hon, W. A. Richardson
Geo. E. Baker W. P. Dunwoody
J. B. T. Tupper, Secretary
H. B. Bennett, Treasurer
1882-83.
W. P. Dunwoody, Chairman
Col. J. H. Baxter H. A. Willard
W. C. Murdock Hon. W. A. Richardson
Geo. E. Baker Hon. Wm. E. Chandler
Dr. Geo. N. French O. R. Merrill
B. R. Green, Secretary
Geo. A. King, Treasurer
1883-84.
Geo. E. Baker, Chairman
Hon. W. A. Richardson W. P. Dunwoody
Hon. W. E. Chandler Dr. Geo. N. French
O. R. Merrill Justice S. F. Miller
S. R. Bond Bernard R. Green
Wm. J. Canby, Secretary
Geo. A. King, Treasurer
1884-85.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Hon. Wm. E. Chandler Dr. Geo. N. French
O. R. Merrill Justice S. F. Miller
S. R. Bond Hon. Dorman B. Eaton
Dr. John Edwin Mason H. B. Bennett
[149]
APPENDIX
1885-86.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Justice S. F. Miller S. R. Bond
Hon. Dorman B. Eaton Dr. John Edwin Mason
H. B. Bennett Wm. P. Dunwoody
Maj. S. Willard Saxton Prof. Edward A. Fay
1886-87.
Geo. A. King, Chairman
Dr. T. H. Sherwood Dr. John Edwin Mason
H. B. Bennett Wm. P. Dunwoody
Maj. S. Willard Saxton Prof. Edward A. Fay
John R. Gisburne Wm. A. Richardson
Wm. J. Canby, Secretary
Chas. W. Hills, Treasurer
1887-88.
Geo. A. King, Chairman
Prof. Edward A. Fay Robt. S. Fletcher
William Hutchinson Wm. A. Richardson
John R. Gisburne James B. T. Tupper
William Brough Harvey Spalding
Wm. J. Canby, Secretary
Dr. Geo. N. French, Treasurer
1888-89.
Geo. A. King, Chairman
James B. T. Tupper Wm. A. Richardson
William Brough John R. Gisburne
Edward C. Seward Harvey Spalding
Samuel R. Bond Bernard R. Green
1889-90.
Samuel R. Bond, Chairman
James B. T. Tupper William Brough
[150]
APPENDIX
Harvey Spalding Edward C. Seward
Bernard R. Green Charles W. Hills
Gen. A. W. Greely Prof. Edward A. Fay
1890-91.
Samuel R. Bond, Chairman
Bernard R. Green Maj. S. Willard Saxton
Charles W. Hills Gen. A. W. Greely
Prof. Edward A. Fay Myron M. Parker
William Hutchinson Hon. Carroll D. Wright
Dr. Thos. H. Sherwood, Secretary
Dr. Geo. N. French, Treasurer
1891-92.
Henry F. Blount, Chairman
Geo. A. King Hon. Wm. A. Richardson
Myron M. Parker Wm. Hutchinson
Hon. Carroll D. Wright Charles W. HiUs
Prof. Edward A. Fay Gen. A. W. Greely
1892-93.
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Chairman
W^illiam Hutchinson Myron M. Parker
Henry F. Blount Geo. A. King
Samuel R. Bond Wm. A. Richardson
Dr. A. B. Jameson Bernard R. Green
1893-94.
Samuel R. Bond. Chairman
Henry F. Blount Geo. A. King
Wm. A. Richardson Bernard R. Green
Dr. A. B. Jameson George A. Bacon
Nathan Bickford Gen. C. H. Smith
[151]
APPENDIX
1894-95.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Samuel R. Bond Dr. A, B. Jameson
J. B. T. Tupper Prof. Wm. B. Powell
George A. Bacon Gen. C. H. Smith
Gren. Rufus Saxton George Doolittle
Wm. Cyril Keech. Secretary
Dr. Geo. N. French, Treasurer
1895-96.
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Chairman
Mrs. M. H. Doolittle Henry F. Blount
Prof. Edward A. Fay Mrs. Blanche Woodward
George Doolittle George A. Bacon
Gen. C. H. Smith Gen. Rufus Saxton
1896-97.
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Chairman
Mrs. M. H. Doolittle Henry F. Blount
Prof. Edward A. Fay Mrs. Thomas M. Gale
George Doolittle James F. Hood
Henry K. Willard Bernard R. Green >
1897-98.
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Chairman
Mrs. M. H. Doolittle Henry F. Blount
James F. Hood Henry K. Willard
Bernard R. Green Geo. A. King
Mrs. J. G. Walker Mrs. Thos. E. Hatch
1898-99.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
James F. Hood Henry K. Willard
[152]
APPENDIX
Geo. A. King
Mrs. Thos. E. Hatch
Gen. Chas. H. Smith
Mrs. J. G. Walker
Mrs. Lucia E. Blount
James A. Sample
Geo.
Mrs. J. G. Walker
Wm. P. Robinson
Jas. A. Sample
Prof. Wm. H. Ball
1899-1900.
A. King, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. E. Hatch
Mrs. Lucia E. Blount
Prof. Edward A. Fay
Prof. F. W. Clarke
1900-01.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Gale Mrs. Mary H. White
Prof. Edward A. Fay Prof. F. W. Clarke
Prof. Wm. H. Dall Wm. P. Robinson
Mrs. Lucia E. Blount James A. Sample
1901-02".
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Gale Mrs. Mary H. "White
Prof. Edward A. Fay Prof. F. W. Clarke
Prof. Wm. H. Dall Mrs. Jennie W. Scudder
Dt. Henry A. Stokes Geo. A. King
1902-03.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Gale Mrs. Mary H. "White
Mrs. Jennie W. Scudder Dr. Henry A. Stokes
Geo. A. King Henry F. Blount
J. B. T. Tupper E. B. Eynon, Sr.
[153]
APPENDIX
1903-04.
Geo. A. King, Chairman
Mrs. Jennie W. Scudder Dr. Henry A. Stokes
James A. Sample Henry F. Blount
J. B. T. Tupper E. B. Eynon, Sr.
Charles W. Hills Mrs. John G. Walker
George A. Bacon, Secretary
Dr. Geo. N. French, Treasurer
1904-05.
James A. Sample, Chairman
Henry F. Blount J. B. T. Tupper
Edward B. Eynon, Sr. Charles W. Hills
Mrs. John G. Walker James F. Hood
Chauncey C. Williams Dr. Isaac S. Stone
William H. Lemon, Secretary
Dr. Geo. N. French, Treasurer
1905-06.
James A. Sample, Chairman,
Charles W. Hills Mrs. John G. Walker
James F. Hood Chauncey C. Williams
Dr. Isaac S. Stone Mrs. Thos. M. Gale
William B. Todd Maxwell V. WoodhuU
1906-07.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
James F. Hood Chauncey C. Williams
Dr. Isaac S. Stone Mrs. Thos. M. Gale
William B. Todd Maxwell V. WoodhuU
Robert S. Woodward Dr. Truman Abbe
1907-08.
Gen. Maxwell V. WoodhuU, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Gale William B. Todd
[154]
APPENDIX
Bernard R. Green Dr. Robert S. Woodward
Dr. Truman Abbe Mrs. Thos. M. WoodrufF
George N. Brown Delbert H. Decker
Archibald King, Secretary
Charles E. Hood, Treasurer
1908-09.
Bernard R. Green, Chairman
Dr. Robert S. Woodward Dr. Truman Abbe
Mrs, Thos. M. WoodrufF George N. Brown
Delbert H. Decker Mrs. Henry F. Blount
William H. Lemon John Mason Boutwell
1909-10.
James A. Sample, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Woodruff George N. Brown
Delbert H. Decker Mrs. Henry F. Blount
William H. Lemon John Mason Boutwell
James F. Hood Louis A. Simon
1910-11.
James A. Sample, Chairman
Mrs. Henry F. Blount William H. Lemon
John Mason Boutwell James F. Hood
Louis A. Simon Mrs. Thos. M. Gale
Hon. Duncan U. Fletcher William J. Eynon
1911-12.
James A. Sample, Chairman
James F. Hood Louis A. Simon
Mrs. Thos. ^L Gale Hon. Duncan U. Fletcher
Mrs. Whitman Cross Mrs. Thos. M. Woodruff
Louis H. Stabler Gen. Maxwell V. WoodhuU
[155]
APPENDIX
1912-13.
Hon. Duncan U. Fletcher, Chairman
Mrs. Thos. M. Gale Mrs. Whitman Cross
Mrs. Thos. M. WoodrufF Louis H. Stabler
Gen. Maxwell V. WoodhuU Hon. Martin A. Knapp
Daniel Douty Dr. James M. Flint
1913-14.
Hon. Martin A. Knapp, Chairman
Gen. Maxwell V. WoodhuU Louis H. Stabler
Dr. James M. Flint Miss Edith Totten
Mrs. Frederic A. Holton Hon. Myron M. Parker
Louis A. Simon Mrs. F. W. Clarke
1914-15.
Hon. Martin A. Knapp, Chairman
Dr. James M. Flint Hon. Myron M. Parker
Mrs. Frederic A. Holton Louis A. Simon
Mrs. Frank W. Clarke Herndon Morsell
Edward B. Eynon, Sr. Archibald King
S. Jay Teller. Secretary
Charles E, Hood, Treasurer
1915-16.
Louis A. Simon, Chairman
Mrs. Frederic A. Holton Mrs. Frank W. Clarke
Herndon Morsell Edward B. Eynon, Sr.
Archibald King Mrs. Whitman Cross
H. Barrett Learned John C. Scofield
1916-17.
H. Barrett Learned, Chairman
Edward B. Eynon, Sr. Archibald King
Herndon Morsell Mrs. Whitman Cross
[156]
APPENDIX
John C. Scofield Julius Garfinkle
Frank S. Hight Mrs. Caleb S. Miller
1917-18.
H. Barrett Learned, Chairman
Mrs. Whitman Cross John C. Scofield
Julius Garfinkle Frank S. Hight
Mrs. Caleb S. Miller Nathaniel Hersbler
William F. Roberts Mrs. Thos. M. Woodruff
1918-19.
William F. Roberts, Chairman
Mrs. Caleb S. Miller Nathaniel Hersbler
F. S. Hight Julius Garfinkle
Mrs, Joseph Stewart William L. Brown
Mrs. Thos. M. Woodruff James C. Robertson
Louis A. Simon, vice W. F. Roberts, resigned
1919-20.
Louis A. Simon, Chairman
Mrs. Joseph Stewart William L. Brown
Julius Garfinkle Geo. A. Ricker
Mrs. Duncan U. Fletcher Mrs. Thos. M. Woodruff
James C. Robertson Charles E. Hood
Mrs. C. C. Williams, vice Mrs. Woodruff, resigned.
Major Leonard S. Doten, vice Mrs. Williams, resigned.
Martin M. Kallman, vice Mrs. Fletcher, resigned.
Major Archibald King, vice James C. Robertson, re-
signed.
1920-21.
George A. Ricker, Chairman
William L. Brown Dr. Julia M. Green
Charles E. Hood Hon. Martin A. Knapp
[157]
APPENDIX
Jessie B. Stewart Col. M. M. Parker
M. M. Kallman Capt. Leonard S. Doten,
Archibald King, vice M. M. Kallman
1921-22.
George A. Ricker, Chairman
Capt. Leonard S. Doten Dr. Julia M. Green
Charles E. Hood Dr. Percival Hall
J. E. Jones Martin A. Knapp
Miss Helen Nicolay Col. M. M. Parker
1922-23.
Dr. Percival Hall, Chairman
Julius Garfinkle Herndon Morsell
Dr. Julia M. Green Miss Catherine A. Newton
J. E. Jones Miss Helen Nicolay
Martin A. Knapp Laurence C. Staples
Elmer Stewart, Treasurer
Charles B. Bryant, Secretary
[158]
APPENDIX
Building Notes
The trustees of the church when All Souls was built
at Fourteenth and L Streets, in 1877, were:
Henry A. Willard, Chairman
Gen. L. H. Pelouze Dr. J. H. Baxter
Dr. W. F. Wallace Dr. R. A. Bacon
George B. Clark W. P. Dunwoody
W. C. Murdock I. P. Libby
The Building Committee consisted of Henry A. Wil-
lard, George B. Clark and Isaiah Hanscom. The archi-
tect was R. G. Russell, of New Haven, Connecticut.
The church was built on the model of a church in New
Haven, designed by Mr. Russell. The builder of All
Souls Church was Col. Robert I. Fleming, of Washing-
ton, D. C.
The committee from the church in charge of erection
of the industrial building at 14th and L Streets in 1920
consisted of George A. Ricker, Chairman of the Board
of Trustees, John C. Scofield and Charles E. Hood.
The contractors were the Boyle-Robertson Construc-
tion Company of Washington, D. C. The building was
completed and formally opened on January 18, 1921,
and in July, 1922, it was sold for $350,000.
Ground was broken for the new All Souls Church and
Edward Everett Hale Memorial Parish House at Six-
teenth and Harvard Streets, September 8, 1921. The
Br.ilding Committee at that time consisted of George A.
Flicker, Chairman; Dr. Percival Hall and Captain Leon-
rad S. Doten, members of the Board of Trustees; and
[159]
APPENDIX
Advisory Members from the congregation as follows:
William L. Brown, Julius Garfinkle, Mrs.F. A. Holton,
Mrs. Richard Fay Jackson, Mrs. H. Barrett Learned,
John C. Scofield, W. B. Todd, Dr. U. G. B. Pierce, ex-
officio. This Committee adopted the plan of a limited
competition for the selection of the architects.
The Building Committee, named in the spring of
1922, consisted of Dr. Percival Hall, Chairman; Julius
Garfinkle and Dr. Julia Green, members of the Board
of Trustees; George A. Ricker and Captain Leonard
S. Doten.
Architects :
Coolidge & Shattuck, Ames Building, Boston
Frederick E. Marcus, Clerk of Work
Builders :
The Boyle-Robertson Construction Co., Washing-
ton, D. C.
W. S. Morgan, Superintendent.
[160]
APPENDIX
Bequests
Several bequests have been made to the church. The
first noted is that of $1,000 by Mr. John Hitz for the
provision of suitable music.
In 1892, Dr. Jayne left his library to All Souls.
Some of it was absorbed in the church library, and the
remainder otherwise disposed of.
In 1893, the sum of $500 was received from the
estate of Dr. J. Edwin Mason.
In 1897, a bequest of $174'2 was received from James
Brackett through the American Unitarian Association.
By his will dated in 1892, Capt. Frank E. Brownell
made All Souls Church residuary legatee. In 1916, the
sum of $4,897.97 was received from this source, its in-
come to be used for the charities of the church, and in
May, 1922, an additional sum of $4,800.72 became avail-
able.
In 1915, Mrs. Fannie S. Reynolds bequeathed to the
church $864.42. This was made up to $1,000 by the
trustees and invested as The Fannie S. Reynolds Fund.
In 1918, Mr. Zebina Moses left to the church $5,000,
the income of which was to be used "to aid the Church
in maintaining a high grade of music."
Mrs. Florence Tryon Baxter, who died in 1914, made
All Souls Church residuary legatee. After a few years,
the sum of $40,183 came into the possession of the trus-
tees, "to be invested and re-invested in perpetuity" by
them, the income to constitute a fund to be devoted an-
nually to charitable work connected with All Souls
Church.
[161]
APPENDIX
In 1920, Miss Ellen Marian Elizabeth WoodhuU left
$4,000 to All Souls as an Endowment Fund for the pur-
pose of the upkeep of the church.
In addition to the "WoodhuU Fund" indicated above,
All Souls Church is to receive the income from an ad-
ditional Fund provided in the will of Miss E. M. E.
WoodhuU, and when this is available it will furnish
approximately $5,000 a year revenue to the Church,
a considerable portion of which may be used for general
purposes when the new Church building is occupied.
In October, 1921, the church received a bequest of
$800 for charities, from Mrs. Sarah E. Stevens. In
addition, Mrs. Stevens left a sum now amounting to
$175 for "some separate picture or equipment for the
new Church."
[162]
APPENDIX
Memorial Windows
1881
Window presented to All Souls Church by Hon. W. A.
Richardson in memory of his wife, Anna M. Rich-
ardson.
1882
Window presented by Francis Ormond French in
memory of his mother, Elizabeth Richardson
French.
1883
Window presented by Mrs. John Cassels in memory of
her father and mother. Arthur W. Fletcher and
Elizabeth J. Fletcher.
1886
Window presented by Hon. Wm. B. Webb and Miss
Charlotte E. Webb, in memory of their parents,
John F. Webb and Charlotte Ann Webb.
1887
Window presented by George P. Baker in memory of
his father, George E, Baker.
1893
Window presented by Mary Bellows Gardner in mem-
ory of her brother, Dr. Augustus Kinsley Gardner.
[163]
APPENDIX
1897
Window presented by Arthur Fletcher, Margaret Gib-
son, Elsie and James Donald Cassels, in memory of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Fowler.
1897
Window given by Albertine L. Houston in memory of
her husband, James D. Houston.
1900
Window presented by Maxwell Van Zandt WoodhuU,
Miss Ellen M. Woodhull and Charles Woodhull in
memory of their mother, Mrs. Helen Frances Wood-
hull.
1910
Two windows presented by Henry K. Willard in
memory of parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry A.
Willard.
Tablets
John Purdy
General L. H. Pelouze
Commander Isaiah Hanscom
William C. Murdock
Reuben Bacon
Susan Dorr Willard
Zoe Rodman Shippen
William A. Widney
[164]
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