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VOL. LXXXVn. RICHMO]
Tabb Street'
? Rev
"Call to remembrance the former days."?Heb.10: 32. a
t
One of the greatest addresses that was ever de- c
llvered and one of the most powerful sermons that ^
was ever preached was the first and last address of
tho Phnrnh'o fl rat m a rtvr That a^nrooa f
moulded the life of Saul of Tarsus if It did not convert a
him to Christ. Stephen's address was the history of s
God's dealings with his own people?history that was a
God's call to new service, larger faith and better en- 1
deavor. f
May the Spirit of God abide with us today so that \
the voice of history may be the voice of God. t
Before I call from the past the men who figured ]
bo prominently and clothe them in flesh and
blood once more, let me attempt to recall to
your mind the conditions in our city and
country in the year 1813. 2*% .L*},
A war with England was raging. Peters- /
burg had contributed liberally of its best men 'j
and citizens to maintain the rights and liberties
of an Infant republic.
Only a few months before your fathers be- -V
came an organized Presbyterian Church, a y
great Indian massacre had taken place in /
Alabama and 400 men, women and children i&->?<?-?
had been butchered by the wily savage.
Just prior to this by only a few years John '
D. Burke, historian and poet (1808), one of
the most celebrated of the many scholars and
writers of our city, fell in a duel with a n&V Frenchman
named Cobert. The duel was
fought on Campbell's hill, hardly half a mile j* ^ ^ \
from here.
When our Church was organized the people
were just recovering from the awful shock f^1* #' T
of the burning of the theatre in Richmond,
where seventy-two lost their lives.
That disaster was blessed of God to the re
formation. If not the conversion, of many.
Gambling, horse-racing, drinking were the
amusements of polite society. "The favorite
amusement of Richmond in early republican
days was loo, and it is sad to add that the |Bj
Richmond ladies played it to excess. They
would meet at each others' houses of an after- IVrJNfl
noon and enjoy tea and gossip, and then play
loo for stakes, which often grew quite heavy pg
as the afternoon waned. For, although the ; i
sums ventured at first were always small,
the amounts in the pool were allowed to accumulate
until, with forfeits, they often totalled
seventy-five or a hundred dollars.
The practice of playing this became at last
a social evil; domestic duties were neglected, ppjpKJIi
mothers forgot their children, wives rifled
*r"
the pocketbooks of their husbands; gentle- gfcatfc*
man J KmUa..
*?v?u 50U1U1CU ana/ tucil 5U1U VCBb'UUUUUD
and ladies their earrings and bracelets, car- Waal^E
ried away by the mad spirit of loo." (Romantic
Days in the Early Republic.) And
yet up to the time of the fire there was but
one church in Richmond?St. Johns?and that was
inconveniently situated. For lack of a church Parson 1
Buchanan, an Episcopal clergyman, and Parson Blair, 1
a Presbyterian, preached on alternate Sabbaths in the ?
hall of the House of Delegates?the pulpit, a movable 1
one, brought in for each service. 1
That the situation was not much different in Peters- ^
burg we are compelled to infer from the following
statement published in the Almanac for 1799. c
After speaking of religion and comparing ft in 1
importance with education, the writer says:
"There is a church on the hill above Blandford, t
L .
^ TBT7Z.
STD, NEW ORLEANS, ATU '
qri ?l?)g B;
s Centennial
. Chas. R. Stribling, Petersbi
vhich is occupied not above a half-dozen Sundays in
he year, and then is but thinly attended; it has no
>rgan, the walls are damp for want of care, and the
vhole has evident appearance of neglect and decay.
"In the opulent and populous town of Petersburg
here is a playhouse, but there is no church, unless
l small wooden house where the Methodists occalionally
meet deserves that name. The inhabitants
ir? cnnlpnt tn nnv thalr nrmo tin* *,?? *? numn?ni.?i..
.. w WW ??UUV T Vi J UU111CI UUOIJ I
n the courthouse, which is not very well calculated
or the purpose. Although the people of this place
vere originally of different denominations, here they
ill pray, when they happen to meet, after the Episcopalian
form."
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STREET CHURCH, PETERSBURG, VA.
?Courtesy Times-D
This picture of the religious life of Petersburg
vaa drawn fifty years after Samuel Dayles had visted
Petersburg and fourteen years before Tabb
Street church was organised. It was not culled
rom tne pages or some denominational history, but
rom an almanac?a publication that usually deals
vith facts.
So, whether a Presbyterian church was wanted is
piestionable?as the sequel will prove?but God
mows It was needed!
When I think of the beginning of the Presbyerian
Church here In Tidewater Virginia, I am re
'AL PRESBYTEf?/AN ,4
PfiESBYTeJHAh
No.^fy
Retrospect
irg =
minded ot what the town clerk at Ephesus said about
the image of the Goddess Diana?he believed, as his
people did, that it fell from Jupiter. Acts 19: 35.
Eager to know and anxious to serve God, some
men near the site where Richmond now stands
had built a large house where they might read together
the Scriptures, and such book as came to
their hand that threw light upon its sacred pages.
When arrested for failure to attend the established
church and asked to what they belonged, they said
"they were Lutherans."
But e'er the trial had concluded one of the defendants
had found a Confession of Faith of the
Presbyterian Church. After a conference and a close
reading of this book, they readily agreed
vf.<m that t contained the orderly and explicit
statement of their form of belief.
In a very few months (July 6, 1743) the
: J Rev. William Robinson, an evangelist sent
out by the Presbytery of New Castle, on their
invitation preached four days at Morris's
Reading House. When they insisted on his
&>* > <{ ? !??<="? tui mo oerviro, ue
j declined most positively. They hid it away
in his saddle-bags, and with that money he
t helped Samuel Davles complete his educai
lion, a fact which drew him to Virginia and
prepared the way for the great pioneer of
; the Church.
His health was poor when he came to Virginia
in 1747 (April). Tall, and spare and
courtly?with a gracious address and the
courage of a martyr?he was one of Ood's
J greatest and best gifts to Virginia.
IT Of his visit to Petersburg, in 1750, I can
"tj find no account. He blazed the way and
prepared the field; others were to follow!
Almost a nan-century passed, then, In
I 1792, Archibald Alexander and Berry Grlgs*
ft by, two young ministers just licensed, rode
I into the home of Mr. Dodson, of Petersi
burg. They applied for permission to use
| the Episcopal church in Blandford, but
f were refused. A request for the use of the
K Methodist church (referred to in the almanac)
met with the same response.
In this emergency an arrangement was
made to preach at John Baptist's Spring,
in the open air, and a little colored boy
with a notice and a bell was employed to
advertise the meeting.
TKfAKnU A?- 1*- T* -il
| xmuufeu tuu &1UUUC99 Ul tt iVII. JT I Clill&By
a printer, a large unfurnished house was
obtained, situated on Bollingbrook street.
The services were held there. The next
day they adjourned to the Mason's Hall, In
Blandford, and there the remaining services
were held, In spite of the protest of
an old lady who taught dancing in that hall
and feared that the preaching would break
up her class.
So favorable was the impression made
that these young men were urged to stay, but their
commission from the Presbytery would not permit.
Now the scene changes. Imagine an old-fashioned
stage, and In It aa a passenger a young man just
graduated from Hampden-Sidney College, having completed
his theological studies under Dr. Moses Hoge
and Dr. John H. Rice. While he rides, Qod makes
Benj. H. Rice feel that He needs him in Petersburg.
That call was from God, for he knew nothing
of Petersburg, having never, perhaps, visited here.
In 1812 he began his ministry and in 1813 the church
was organized. (Continued on Page 6.)