Newspaper Page Text
VOL.
LXXXVI1. RICH
The College
The church known as "The College Church,"
at Ilampdeu-Sidney College, has been a regulailv
l?Xtjlhlishfr?il in/liviHiial nliiivnli oin?" 1 42/1A Km.fr
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its origin is rather ancient. 1 Da vies 'a great
work lay in organizing Presbyterian communities
among the people of middle Virginia?putting
life into them and giving them courage.
Locally his work was both antedated and furthered
hy that of the Scotch (settlement lin
Charlotte and Prince Edward counties. The
congregations due to the two influences were,
Cumberland, Cub Creek, Briery, and Buffalo.
Cut) Creek and Buffalo wejre almost wlijolly
Scotch (the Irish Pennsylvania Scotch) ; Cumberland
and Briery were directly due to the
efforts of Davies. Of the emim flnmWlnnH
- - D-"-r
Cub Creek, Briery, and Buffalo, Buffalo had
its own minister for many years (Riehard Sankey,
who lived to be a very old man, and was the
Moderator designated for the first meeting of the
Synod of Virginia); after the establishment of
Hampden-Sidney, its presidents were for a good
many years the ministers of Cumberland,
Cub Creek, and Briery, and after
Sankey's death in 1789, Buffalo
was added to the euphonious group.
This was the status in 1793, Drury
Lacy, acting president of the college,
being the minister. In that year Archibald
Alexander (later president of
the eollege, etc.) was called to be col
?UU *1- T rr%\ -9
icgian: piusiur wiLii ivir. uacy. ine arrangement
was continued until 1806, mSE
during which time and until his death
in 1815, Mr. Lacy was the minister
of Cumberland. In 1809 lit- was 8HB1
Moderator of the General Assembly.
Cumberland congregation extended
north and south of the Appoinat- HHj
tox river, including in its territory
Farmville (after 1798) and Hamp
den-Sidney College. There was no
Jni*i or* nVm--I11 .x.l x
. tvaujvMiou uuui^ii at caiiuYUie until uuuui
1328; the old Cumberland church was some
three miles northeast of Farmville; and serviecs
at the college were held in the College Hall, a
large frame building put up about 1789 and
demolished about 1821.
In 1816 subscriptions were taken upto build
a church at the eullesre. and the bfrfiMBt-was
~ ' Z ^m'w
erected shortly after 1820. Cumberland cotl
gregation, in the circumstances, drifted again
into a collegiate pastorate. By 1835, Presbytery
finding an irregular state of affairs, one congregation,
but two churegies, and two sessions, advised
a formal-division. This was at once ef-.
fected, the Appomattox river being the line,
that part to the north still to be called Cumfberiand,
and thait to the south, Hanover. In 1844
there was a further division, Hanover church
separating,into "Farmville" and "Hanover"?
the town of Farmville, and the village of Hamp-^
den-Shftiey. In 1846 the name "Hanovctr"
church was changed to " Hampden-Sidney"
MOND. N?W ORLEANS, ATLANTA. I
Church, Hampder
church, which in 1848 became "College church."
Among the subscribers to the church built
about 1820, were Major James Morton, Thomas
Tredway, Richard N. Veuable, Dr. Goodrigo
Wilson, William L. Venable, Samuel W. Ven;)])lp
HpTIVV P, Wuflrino Jomno T\ WT r\r\A M
m. J II uvnuia, KJ UlUUO X-J. !f UUU, lUUWJfl
T red way, Dr. Moses Hoge (president of the
college), and John Peter Mett&uer, the famous
surgeon. This building stood until shortly before
the war, when the present building was
begun, on a plan furnished by Dr. Dabncy.
The building was completed soon after the war,
thanks to the energy of the venerable Miss Cornelia
Berkeley. Refurnished very recently, the
building makes an excellent appearance, both
inside and out. hffigjflWgWj
Not speaking in a strictly nisfco?oaL.'vyjpiyV fh?
pastors of the College church hive bt??h: The
presidents of the college until 1820; the Rev.
James Wharey (an alumnus of the college) dur
^ng 1822: from 1825 to 1329, the Rev. John DTI
Paxton (Washington College. Va., 1810), later
'
' college church.
r
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a missionary in Syria; from 1829 to 1839, the
Rev. B. Z. Stanton (Union College, 1811); the
Rev. P. J. Sparrow (president of the college
for part of the time) from 1841 to 1847; from
1847 to 1856 the Rev. B. H. Rice, D. D. (brother
of John Holt Rice, and from 1832 to 1847 pastor
of the church at Princeton, New Jersey) ;
? the Rev. J>abney Carr Harrison (killed in the
war) stated supply during 1857; the Rev. Drs.
R. L. and B. M. Smith, collegiate pastors
fiwmT.858 to 1875; the Rev. Dr. Charles
5Vhjtr' (Princeton. 1848), from 1875 to 1891;
? i. J Af-n ? tx -
mtiiiiHi .>iunwHine, it. u., stated sup'
pmstor several years; the Rev. Dr. James Murray
(M. A., University of Virginia, 1855), from
1895 to 1907: the Rev. W. J. King, locum tencnx,
most acceptable and efficient.
me late .juuge A. I). Dickinson was for more
than thirty years an elder in the College church
and clerk of session. Judge Dickinson eompiled
a brief history of the church, from which many
of the above facts are drawn. It is stated in
westernpf?esbytef?/am
?al presbyter/an <
thern pffesbyterjak
V1AY 28. 1913. NO. r*>lX
i-Sidney, Va.
/
his manuscript that the church had no deacons
before 18-18. Following is the list of elders:
Major James Morton, Dr. Goodridge Wilson.
Moses Tredway, Col. Armistead Burwell, Col.
.James Madison, Col. John Price, Silas Bigelow,
C. C. Head, Samuel Lyle, Samuel C. Anderson.
Henry E. Watkins, Nat E. Venable, Dr. Peyton
B. Berkeley, Judge A. D. Dickinson, John
Hughes, Dr. B. Z. Berry, Abram C. Carrington
(killed at Chiekahominy, 1862), Edwin Edmunds,
H. S. Guthrey, Henry Stokes, Professor
li. L. Holladay, Major A. R. Venable, C. C.
11 T _ 1 \ r ir ? i ^ ' ?
.>&iss, iuuii m. venaoie, sanrnei d. Allen, Professor
James B. Thornton. T. H. Dickinson, Professor
Ashton W. McWhorter, Robert E. Stokes.
The ecclesiastical year just ended is considered
the most prosperous in the church's history.
A PROGRESSIVE CHURCH.
Every true Christian church should be progressive
in the very best sense. The spirit <*?
pure Christianity is an eminently
progressive one. The New Testament
^,1 puts a great deal of emphasis upon
I the progressive nature of the kingdom
of (iod. Christ, by parable and by
C explicit speech, assured the worldwide
advancement of his heavenly
kingdom. All thi being true, it follows
that the progress of Christ's
kingdom. All this being true, it folH
the progress of single Christian
I tdiurches, and these in unison with
all true cliurches. Every such church
is under obligation to do what it can
to enlarge its borders and increase its
siwritual power. A fine example appears
m a Baptist eihurch at Dallas,
Texas. It was organized in 1908 on
strictly spiritual lines. It has had
only two pastors. The following is
an account, given by a minister of that city:
"From the beginning, this church, as a whole,
has had tithing as the system of finance. A certain
percentage of all moneys is used in takng
care of he sick, afflicted, and so forth, thus not
leaving this work to be taken care of by labor
visions, lodges, and similar organizations. At
.me year old the ehureh had erected and paid
for an equpment costing over $18,000. During
Ihe four years of its existence, it has given $38,J'fil,
an average annual gift of $9,565. Begin- .
ning with sixty-two members, the church now
has a membership of two hundred, with a per
capita gift last year of $64.44. Remember that
no subscriptions or pledges are taken- from tihe
members?each member giving as the Lord has
prospered him or her. The membership does
not represent a wealthy class. Tt is not money
that is lacking to carry on the Lord's work, but
method."
This example is a model one. It would be very
(Continued on page 10.)