KteoH 
 
 
 : ^ 
 
 
 
 -FIVE 
 
 2$ 
 
 EGATIOMJSM IN 
 
 dM 
 
 <tf 
 
 *0 
 
 
 
 ■m 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 v 
 
 
 
 'N: .• 4 
 

 
 ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY LIBRARY 
 
 285.8 
 L32s 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 

 Seventy-five Years of t 
 
 Congregationalism in ■$■','<■ 
 Champaign and Urhana, 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF THE' 
 YMSiTY OF ItUKOSS 
 
 1853-1928 
 
ITS,? 
 
 Seventy-five Years of 
 
 Congregationalism in 
 
 Champaign and Urbana 
 
 Bv Laurence M. Larson 
 
 t THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MONG those who P reac h e d||j^ffiei4yiih£^f4%j^nois 
 
 in the earlier fifties was a ^ongregauoua.i missionary," 
 W. W. Blanchard, who was at work in Urbana at least 
 as early as June, 1853. Mr. Blanchard was evidently of 
 New England origin and apparently came west by the 
 Oberlin route. It seems probable that he came to Urbana as the agent 
 of the Home Missionary Society, for his professed mission was to 
 find the settlers who might be of his own household of faith and to 
 gather them together into a Congregational church. 
 
 It is quite evident that Mr. Blanchard found the Urbana settle- 
 ment a rather barren field. The little village on the edge of the Big 
 Woods is described as a collection of. about seventy-five buildings of 
 all kinds : shops, homes, stores, and other business houses, grouped 
 around the court house site. The buildings were all quite small, a 
 four room house being regarded as a large structure. At most the 
 number of families in Urbana in 1853 can scarcely have exceeded fifty. 
 
 Mr. Blanchard found the two great churches of the frontier, the 
 Methodist and the Baptist, already firmly established at the county 
 seat. Moreover, he could note signs of active life among the men 
 and women of the Presbyterian fold, though they had as yet no well- 
 knit organization. Furthermore, he found very few settlers in Urbana 
 who had come from New England, or could claim New England an- 
 cestry. There seemed to be no future for Congregationalism in the 
 county of Champaign. 
 
 But Mr. Blanchard finally found a kindred spirit in John F. Rankin, 
 who had come to Illinois from Ripley, Ohio. There is a tradition that 
 Eliza, whose dramatic crossing of the Ohio River is told by Harriet 
 Beecher Stowe, actually did escape in this way, and that she was 
 sheltered in the Rankin homestead. The abolitionist from the Ohio 
 valley must have taken a certain interest in the preacher from Lane 
 Seminary where Professor Stowe the husband of the novelist, once 
 taught religion. For there is a further tradition that the church which 
 Mr. Blanchard finally succeeded in organizing was less a Congre- 
 gational church than a society pledged to oppose the extension of 
 slavery. 
 
 ? 
 
 58326 
 
In the earlier fifties there was almost no interest in free-soil 
 
 principles in eastern Illinois. For that matter, during the year 1853 a 
 decided political calm ruled throughout the nation. In a few months 
 Stephen A. Douglas was to kindle the fires of controversy once more 
 by his advocacy of "squatter sovereignty;" but that was in the future. 
 
 Air. Blanchard's work bore fruit on Sunday, November I, 1853. 
 when two men and five women assembled with him to form an or- 
 ganization which made human freedom a part of its creed. The meet- 
 ing was held at the home of A^oses P. Snelling, which Mr. F. L. Graff 
 tells us was located south of the old court house site and not very far 
 away. The charter members of the new church were John F. Rankin 
 and Mary Rankin, Moses P. Snelling and Caroline Snelling, Tamar 
 Campbell, Jane Higgins, and Alsethea Snyder. There is reason to be- 
 lieve that Air. Rankin was the leader in the little group. Mr. Snelling 
 was probably too young to lead a movement of this sort; his wife, 
 Caroline Snelling, was still living in January, 1915, when the church 
 sent her a letter of greeting. It was then sixty-one years since she 
 had signed the covenant of 1853. 
 
 A few days after the event of November 1, there came to Urbana 
 a man whose influence in the new association was to become quite 
 decisive and also somewhat disturbing. Mr. A. O. Howell arrived in 
 the village on November 6. Later in the year he returned to Ohio to 
 bring his family and in February, 1854, the Howells became permanent 
 residents of Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Howell soon found a spiritual kinsman in Marcus A. Barnes, 
 who had come with his family from Plattsburg, New York, a little 
 earlier in the winter. The two families promptly joined the new 
 church. On April 9 Mr. Howell began his career as an active religious 
 worker by organizing a Sunday school, the earliest Sunday school in 
 Urbana. It was a union school and was well attended. For four years 
 Mr. Howell superintended the undertaking, while Mr. Barnes acted 
 as secretary. At the end of this period Mr. Barnes took over the 
 duties of superintendent, which office he held for four years, or until 
 he was called to the battlefront, where he yielded his life. 
 
 In the meantime the young church had passed through a crisis, the 
 outcome of which determined its character and its policy for more 
 than thirty years. When Mr. Howell and Mr. Barnes had come into 
 the fellowship they found that their beliefs were largely shared by 
 Mr. Rankin: "we were all most thorough abolitionists, prohibitionists, 
 and anti-Masons." And to these "thorough principles" the church 
 was now to be committed. 
 
 Under the guidance of these men the church proceeded to con- 
 sider a revision of its platform. It is quite clear that some of the 
 members were not ready to accept the radical doctrines of Howell and 
 
 2 
 
his friends ; but in the end they were all won over. "After very many 
 days and weeks of most unusual prayer and consecration," writes Mr. 
 Howell, "we unanimously revised and unanimously adopted this our 
 present .... articles of faith, standing rules, and covenant." This was 
 November n, 1854. 
 
 In their revised form the creed, rules, and covenant of the church 
 still contained much that was common to all Congregational bodies of 
 the time ; but they were also made the expression of what the radical 
 following called the "thorough principles." Of such the leaders recog- 
 nized five. 
 
 1. The church was committed unequivocally to the cause of aboli- 
 tion. "We .... cannot receive to our communion any individual who 
 by example or precept, perpetuates or sustains the system of American 
 slavery." 
 
 2. The organization was further committed to the cause of com- 
 plete prohibition of the traffic in intoxicating liquor. "This church 
 . . . . cannot receive into its communion any one who manufactures, 
 buys, sells, or uses, as a beverage, intoxicating drinks, whether they be 
 distilled or fermented liquors." Membership was also refused to all 
 who derived profit from this business in the form of rent, or who sold 
 "corn or other grain to a distiller or his known agent (and brethren 
 are expected to make suitable inquiry respecting that matter)." 
 
 3. Again, the church seems to have been committed to the policy 
 of opposition to secret societies of every type. Apparently this did not 
 take the form of a standing rule ; but there can be little doubt that for 
 many years no member of a secret society was regarded as eligible to 
 church membership. 
 
 4. The church was declared to be a benevolent society both in a 
 general and in a more special sense. The membership pledged itself to 
 "supply the necessities of the poor and destitute" within its fold, and 
 even agreed to allow, in extreme cases, the imposition of a property 
 tax to be used to relieve distress. 
 
 5. The church was to be a communion of saints. On admission to 
 the fellowship every candidate pledged himself "to walk in all the 
 statutes and ordinances of the Lord, to assemble .... with His people 
 for His worship, to keep holy the Sabbath day" and to practice all the 
 virtues that are associated with the Christian name. 
 
 In order that these principles should not be set aside by less 
 energetic Congregationalists in the future, the standing rules provided 
 that no change might "be made in the polity but by a vote of two- 
 thirds of the entire membership." 
 
 A strong position against human slavery was not popular in 1854, 
 and the new organization was occasionally known as "the nigger 
 church." But the doctrine of human freedom was held quite generally 
 
in Congregational circles, and within a decade it had gone forward to 
 victory. 
 
 Tn its declaration against the liquor traffic the church was in line 
 with the hest thought of the time. A powerful anti-liquor movement 
 was sweeping across Illinois in the fifties and it looked as if the saloon 
 was doomed. In 1858 a no-license proposition won in Urbana by a 
 good vote. In West Urbana, which the editor of the Gazette described 
 as "the worst rum-hole in the county," the movement was less suc- 
 cessful. But in such local victories as were achieved, the Congre- 
 gational church had a share ; and in the war upon the licensed saloon 
 it has the distinction of never having laid down its arms. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the leaders of this church in early 
 days regarded Masonry with unfeigned horror. However, the feeling 
 may not have been general ; for after a time efforts were made to 
 change the policy on this point. These were without success till 1876, 
 when, on the motion of the Reverend Mr. Pierce, it was resolved, 
 "that this church is not an anti-secret society but a Church of Christ" 
 which knows no test of membership but Christian character. 
 
 It must not be thought that the covenant of church was of the sort 
 that is honored chiefly in the breach ; on the contrary, it was enforced 
 in letter and spirit. In the words of Mr. Howell, "we were abolition- 
 ists and disfellowshipped all who were not .... We disfellowshipped 
 all known Masons with their horrid and profane oaths and barbarous 
 penalties." Care was taken that no candidate whose character or opin- 
 ions were in any way doubtful was admitted to membership. In 1869 
 the church resolved that all who requested admission on profession of 
 faith should be examined one week before the quarterly meeting by 
 the pastor and a committee chosen for that purpose. The practice of 
 examination seems to have been kept up for a number of years ; traces 
 of it are found as late as 1890. 
 
 On rare occasions the church has found it necessary to cancel the 
 membership of persons who have ignored the promises made in the 
 covenant. On January 6, 1869, two men were "excommunicated," one 
 for gross immorality and another for gambling and other evil practices. 
 On a later occasion (November 12, 1895) it became necessary to act 
 ence more in this way ; but the term "excommunication" was no longer 
 in the vocabulary of Congregationalism, and the church simply re- 
 solved to "withdraw the hand of fellowship" and to drop the name of 
 the accused from the roll. 
 
 II 
 
 Late in July, 1855,. the first passenger train on the Illinois 'Central 
 Railway steamed into the new Urbana station which, because of the 
 perversity of circumstance, had been located, not at the old village, but 
 
 4 
 
two miles farther west on the edge of a miry swamp where the busi- 
 ness district of Champaign has since grown up. This purely secular 
 enterprise profoundly affected the growth and the history of the new 
 church. Settlers were now coming to the county by hundreds ; many 
 of these were of New England stock and helped to recruit the strength 
 of Congregationalism in its new field. 
 
 The coming of the railway also led to an important exodus from 
 the old village to the neighborhood of "the Depot," as the new site 
 was called in Urbana. Among those who moved was the greater part 
 of the Congregational membership. This fact made it necessary to 
 find a new place of worship (thus far the meetings had generally been 
 held in the court house). This was found in the new village, and the 
 church ceased to be identified with Urbana. 
 
 Exactly when the sanctuary was moved to "the Depot" cannot be 
 known ; but it can scarcely have been later than the spring of 1855. 
 On March 4 of that year, the union Sunday school, which had also 
 had a home in the court house, was moved to West Urbana, where it 
 found temporary quarters in an unfinished house belonging to Mr. 
 Snelling, who had located on what has since come to be University 
 Avenue* The school now shed its former title and character and 
 became the Sunday school of the First Congregational Church. 
 
 Meanwhile the church was building a new house of worship, the 
 historic Goose Pond church. Not far from the railway station there 
 was, in prairie days, a pond where geese and other water fowl found 
 such enjoyment as a pool provides. The railway company proceeded 
 to drain and fill in this pond ; and when the Congregational brethren 
 came looking about for a building site, the company donated a lot of 
 this filled-in land for church building purposes. The lot was located 
 at the northwest corner of First Street and University Avenue, and 
 here the little congregation erected its first house of worship. 
 
 The new building was neither large nor imposing : it was forty 
 feet long by twenty-five wide with a little belfry in addition. The 
 church had no bell for several years, however, but sometime later Mr. 
 Howell was able to report that a bell had been secured at a cost of 
 two hundred dollars. The cost of the building was about one thousand 
 dollars, of which the Church Building Society contributed two hundred. 
 The furnishings of the auditorium were anything but elegant; the 
 seats were rough planks and for a time a large dry goods box had to 
 do service as pulpit. 
 
 The Goose Pond church was taken into use in 1855, when the 
 village of West Urbana was scarcely a year old. It was the first 
 church building erected within the limits of modern Champaign. Even 
 in those early days when denominationalism was not entirely unknown, 
 the Congregationalists showed a marked willingness to share their 
 
 5 
 
superior accommodations with others. In 1855 the Baptists had the 
 use of the building in the afternoons. When the Reverend Mr. Van 
 Dyke conducted revival services in the Goose Pond auditorium the 
 Methodists and the Baptists were in the habit of joining in the work. 
 
 But the Goose Pond church was something more than a house of 
 worship ; it was the home and center of such intellectual activities 
 as the young community could support. Lyceums, literary clubs, tern-' 
 perance societies ,teachers' institutes, and similar organizations regu- 
 larly held their sessions in the Congregational church. School meet 7, 
 ings, mass meetings, and even political conventions were frequently 
 called to meet in this auditorium. The first public school in the village 
 also found an abiding-place in the Congregational church. 
 
 One of the red letter days in the history of the old building was 
 June 17, 1856. Court was in session in Urbana and among the lawyers 
 present was Abraham Lincoln. On that day came the news that John 
 C. Fremont had been nominated for the presidency by the Republican 
 convention. A meeting was immediately arranged for and in the 
 evening a considerable crowd started for the Depot and the Goose 
 Pond church. Here the enthusiastic citizens organized themselves into 
 a ratification meeting and heard an address by Abraham Lincoln. And 
 so it came to pass, and very properly so, that Lincoln made his first 
 speech in support of the first Republican candidate for the presidency 
 in a Congregational church. 
 
 One wonders if there were not larger and more convenient audi- 
 toriums nearer the court house. But it is possible that, if such there 
 were, they were not open for a political discussion on the evils of 
 slavery, — even by Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Another splendid occasion was the memorial service for John 
 Brown held in old Goose Pond on December n, 1859. John Brown 
 was executed on December 2. The following Wednesday the local 
 newspaper announced that Mr. Van Dyke would preach the next Sun- 
 day morning on the following highly significant and even prophetic 
 text: 
 
 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord; shall 
 
 not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? — Jeremiah 
 
 5:29. 
 
 At 6 : 30 in the evening the Reverend I. P. Stryker, the Presby- 
 terian pastor in Urbana, preached in the same place what was an- 
 nounced to be "the funeral sermon of Old Ossawatomie Brown." The 
 press reported that "the house was crowded to overflowing (at both 
 services) by an attentive and respectable audience. The discourses 
 preached were charitable and reasonable as well as pointed and able." 
 
 A year and a half passed, and the war with the South was on. In 
 May. i860, the church reported a membership of seventy-two, of whom 
 
twenty-seven were men. The statistics for 1861 have not been found; 
 but there can scarcely have been more than thirty men on the member- 
 ship roll when the war broke out. 
 
 When the call came for soldiers the First Congregational Church 
 of West Urbana responded bravely, even heroically. Eleven of its 
 membership took their places in the ranks. They were Lewis Allen, 
 M. A. Barnes, Henry Dyson, Frank Fillmore, A. O. Howell, Peter 
 Peters, John Rankin, James Smith, Jesse Steel, William Stewart, and 
 Gilbert Taylor. Of these eleven four gave their lives for the cause of 
 the Union : Barnes, Peters, Stewart, and Steel. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Blanchard, through whose efforts the church 
 was organized, became its first pastor and served as such for a period 
 of fourteen months (till January 3, 1855). After his withdrawal the 
 congregation was without regular preaching for another period of 
 fourteen months. Services were conducted most of the time, however, 
 by William Munhall, a clergyman of the Protestant Methodist per- 
 suasion, who had come from Ohio a few months earlier. Mr. Mun- 
 hall was scarcely eligible for a regular pastorate, for we read that 
 three years later he offered prayer at a Masonic celebration in Urbana. 
 
 Meanwhile the church had been looking about for a pastor and on 
 March 16, 1856, a call was sent to W. H. Halliwell to serve for one 
 year. Mr. Halliwell accepted the call, but resigned after eleven months. 
 The resignation was evidently demanded, for we read in Howell's 
 True History that "we of this (then Chicago) Association, with the 
 help of Rev. J. E. Roy, suppressed and silenced him from preaching 
 for grossly immoral conduct." 
 
 The church was more fortunate in its next pastor, the Reverend 
 Samuel A. Van Dyke, who came to West Urbana in 1857. Mr. Van 
 Dyke was probably a young man, for he was ordained in June of the 
 same year. Though chosen to serve for one year only, he remained 
 with the church for eleven years, or till May, 1868. Mr. Van Dyke 
 seems loyally to have accepted the official policy of the church; he 
 was evidently a faithful pastor and a successful preacher; when his 
 term of service closed it was clear to all that his labors had brought 
 strength and confidence to the struggling congregation. 
 
 It fell to this pastor's lot to pilot his congregation through the 
 perilous passages of a great war. During the period of the Civil War 
 the church suffered important losses by removal as well as by death. 
 The organization was, however, constantly renewing its fellowship and 
 some of the newer members were men of energy, force, and sterling 
 character, whose influence ran deep in the affairs of the community 
 as well as of the church. 
 
 7 
 
A notable accession was the Stewart family, eight in number, who 
 came into the church in 1856. Colonel Stewart was a free-soil leader 
 of more than local fame and influence. He lived only four years 
 longer but his sons continued to give the church a loyal support. 
 Daniel Rugg came to West Urbana in 1858, and soon thereafter became 
 a member of the church. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Bacon and John 
 Bragg came into the fellowship in i860. Four years later Mr. and Mrs. 
 C. C. Harris were admitted to membership ; with them came their 
 daughter, Mary Harris (better known as Mrs. Bragg), who thus en- 
 tered upon a career of service which was to continue for sixty-four 
 years. In 1865 Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Bardwell and Mr. and Mrs. James 
 Craig came into the fellowship. The following year Mr. and Mrs. B. C. 
 Beach presented letters, and in 1868 the names of Mr. and Mrs. George 
 F. Beardsley were added to the roll. 
 
 If space permitted, one should like to discuss the great debt that 
 the church owes to these men and women ; for such names as Harris, 
 Rugg, Stewart, Bragg, Beach, and Beardsley have each its own sig- 
 nificance in the annals of local Congregationalism. They have all gone 
 to their reward; the last to pass away was Airs. Mary Bragg, who took 
 leave of earth only a few months ago. 
 
 On the whole the growth of -the church during the sixties seems 
 to have been quite satisfactory. The little group of seven charter 
 members had become a respectable body of 138 in 1867. In addition 
 the roll contained the names of twenty-one absent members. During 
 the eleven years of Mr. Van Dyke's pastorate about 200 persons were 
 admitted to membership. 
 
 The church has never been wealthy and the problem of finance has 
 always been of great interest. It is told that in 1856, while Mr. Halli- 
 well was still in good standing, an emergency meeting was called to 
 provide the pastor's salary, and that this meeting succeeded in raising 
 "$350 and a yoke of oxen." What purpose the oxen were to serve is 
 not related. 
 
 A favorite expedient of those days was the donation party, to which 
 friends who were not of the fellowship were sure to be invited. In 
 January, i860, and again in March, 1861, such parties were held for 
 Mr. and Mrs. Van Dyke; on the latter occasion the pastor's household 
 was enriched by the very respectable sum of $135. 
 
 The resources of the congregation suffered a severe strain imme- 
 diately after the war. when it became evident that the accommodations 
 of the Goose Pond church had become inadequate. The outcome was 
 the building of a new sanctuary on Park Street, a little distance west 
 of Neil Street. The Park Street church was built at a cost of about 
 $15,000 and was the largest church in the city. It was dedicated on 
 September 16, 1866. 
 
Less than two years later Mr. Van Dyke surrendered his charge ; 
 he preached his last sermon on April 20, 1868. During the next twelve 
 months the Congregational pulpit was occupied occasionally by Dr. 
 J. M. Gregory, regent of the new University in Urbana, but more fre- 
 quently by Professor W. M. Baker, who was professor of English at 
 the University. Professor Baker had at one time been a student of 
 theology but was probably not ordained. 
 
 Meantime the church after considering the merits of a dozen candi- 
 dates and failing to get satisfactory replies in two instances, sent a call 
 (March 21, 1869) to E. N. Andrews of St. Louis. In this election the 
 church was all but unanimous ; only Mr. Howell protested that Mr. 
 Andrews was "not radical enough on the subject of secret societies 
 [and] would rebuke intemperance and covenant breaking only in a 
 general way." 
 
 The new pastor remained with the church only six months. It 
 seems that his service had been satisfactory at least to a majority, 
 since his resignation was accepted only after a long debate. The 
 church raised his salary for the six months from $850 agreed upon 
 to $1000. 
 
 The pastorate now continued vacant for nearly eight months. 
 During these months Professor Baker was once more called into 
 service as preacher. Finally, in March, 1870, Mr. F. J. Volentine was 
 called for a trial period of three months at a stipend of $375. The 
 pastor-elect was a young man, just out of the seminary and not yet 
 ordained. But on June 18 he was regularly chosen pastor and was 
 formally installed in October. There was some opposition at the June 
 election but in the end the vote was unanimous. 
 
 By this time a group had formed within the membership, which 
 was sharply critical of the policy adopted in 1854; especially was its 
 criticism leveled against the practice of refusing admission to members 
 of secret societies. There was also a feeling that the covenant was 
 too rigid in its requirements. Moreover, with the passing of the re- 
 form wave of the fifties, the interest in prohibition was no longer so 
 keen as earlier. The leader of this more liberal wing seems to have 
 been Deacon Beardsley, who had risen rapidly to a high position in 
 the councils of the church. The pastor seems also to have entertained 
 liberal views. 
 
 On December 31, 1870, the church resolved to appoint a committee 
 to revise the. standing rules. Some changes appear to have been sug- 
 gested the following November ; but in the end the effort to rebuild 
 the foundations of the church failed. At a meeting called by the 
 pastor for this purpose, the creed, rules, and covenant were "rescinded" 
 by a vote of fourteen to eight. The minority had no difficulty in 
 
 9 
 
showing, however, that fourteen could not be two-thirds of the entire 
 membership, and the old system remained in force. 
 
 On June 9, 1872. Mr. Vblentine presented his resignation to be- 
 come effective at the close of the month. It seems likely that this step 
 was taken because the pastor felt that he stood in opposition to an 
 important group in the church. It is also possible that his decision was 
 hastened by the cleat! 1 of his wife who seems to have been a woman 
 of rare excellence. 
 
 The church now resolved to ask the advice of the neighboring 
 churches and requested the pastors at Rantoul, Paxton, Loda, and 
 Onarga with a layman chosen from each of these churches to form an 
 advisory committee. While this group was deliberating the church was 
 listening to the sermons of Professor Don Carlos Taft, who was a 
 preacher as well as a scientist. 
 
 The outcome of the deliberations of church and committee was 
 that a call was sent to the Reverend William Gifrord Pierce who was 
 then in charge of the Congregational church at Elmwood. The call 
 was dated August 5, 1872, and Mr. Pierce preached his first sermon 
 in the Park Street church on September 22. 
 
 Father Pierce had begun his career as a lawyer and was also for 
 a number of years in the employ of an important manufacturing con- 
 cern. In i860 when he was already in his forty-fourth year, he turned 
 to the ministry. When he came to Champaign he was approaching 
 his fifty-sixth birthday. His pastorate proved to be very significant, 
 the most significant up to that time in the history of the church. 
 
 Less than a year after his arrival, the congregation suffered a 
 staggering blow : the Park Street church, dedicated only six years be- 
 fore, was burned to the ground (September 14, 1873). Only three years 
 earlier a committee had made the cheering report that the debt on the 
 building had been provided for ; now the work of providing a home 
 for the church had to be taken up anew. 
 
 The year 1873 is known in history as the year of the great financial 
 panic, and times were hard in Champaign as elsewhere. The church 
 carried some insurance but the loss w^as covered only in part. Still, 
 the records show that only ten days after the catastrophe the officials 
 of the church were already planning to remedy the situation. A lot was 
 secured at the southeast corner of State and Church Streets, and the 
 work of construction was begun. The congregation had determined 
 to limit the cost of the new building to $15,000, but, as usual, the esti- 
 mates proved to be faulty, and the figures finally mounted to $23,000. 
 
 Meanwhile the congregation had found an auditorium in Eich- 
 berg's hall, where services were held for about a year. Late in 1874 
 the basement of the new building was taken into use ; the church was 
 ready for dedication the following June. In this building the Congre- 
 
 10 
 
gational church of Champaign worshipped for nearly forty-four years. 
 
 The most important fact relating to the pastorate of Father Pierce 
 was that he gave his church a definite trend in the direction of a more 
 liberal faith and policy. He was not a revolutionist; he had not lost 
 all sympathy with the standards of the past ; he even believed in the 
 efficacy of evangelistic servic its not of the emotional 
 
 type. Essentially Father Pierce was an educator. By skillful and 
 persistent preaching he gradually brought his congregation to the con- 
 viction that the "thorough principles" of the official manual were not 
 proper tests for membership in a Congregational church. In 1876 he 
 was able to convince the church that the older policy with respect to 
 membership in secret societies should be repudiated, as noted above. 
 But it was apparently impossible to revise the language of the funda- 
 mental rules and articles ; though thoroughly discredited, technically 
 they remained valid as before. 
 
 Father Pierce continued in charge of the parish for fifteen years. 
 During the closing years of his pastorate his strength was visibly de- 
 clining and when his wife died (early in 1887) the stricken husband 
 found it difficult to rally from the blow. On September 19, 1887, he 
 informed the congregation that he wished his term of service to close 
 by October 1 ; on September 30, the last day of his pastorate, he took 
 leave of earthly things. 
 
 During the years of Father Pierce's leadership the church was 
 steadily, though rather slowly, growing in strength and resources. 
 Among the new members one notes the names of S. P. Atkinson, the 
 Wallace family, and Mrs. C. B. Hatch. The influence of the University 
 of Illinois, which runs like an ever- widening stream through the later 
 history of the church, begins to appear in the years of this pastorate. 
 Air. and Airs. Don Carlos Taft and Air. and Mrs. N. C. Ricker became 
 members in 1873 and 1876 respectively. Ira O. Baker professed the 
 faith in 1875. A little later his name begins to appear prominently in 
 the records ; and from that time on for nearly fifty years Professor 
 Baker was intimately connected with the affairs and activities of his 
 chosen church. 
 
 IV 
 
 To succeed Father Pierce the church selected the Reverend John 
 Allender, who entered upon his new duties on April 4, r888. The choice 
 was not fortunate, as Mr. Allender seems to have lacked somewhat 
 in the virtues of leadership. He was at one, however, with the majority 
 in the congregation which was still demanding a revision of the rules 
 and the creed. In September of his first year he proposed the adop- 
 tion of a manual prepared by a committee of the National Council. 
 This was agreed to on the motion of Messrs. Beardsley and Beach by 
 a vote of twenty-seven to one. 
 
 11 
 
The negative vote was evidently cast by Mr. Howell who still 
 stood four-square on the old platform. Howell now published his 
 views in a pamphlet entitled A True History of the first Congregational 
 Church and what Its Thorough Principles Arc and Mean, etc. The 
 pamphlet is bitterly controversial ; nevertheless, it is an important docu- 
 ment for the history of the church in Champaign. 
 
 Air. Howell complains that the new manual omits "our prohibitory 
 rules, on slavery and secret clans and temperance, and our sacred 
 covenant." He urges that the action was not taken according to the 
 rules and that it was therefore of no force. Technically he seems to 
 have been right in this ; but the church apparently overruled Lhe ob- 
 jection. 
 
 As the months passed Mr. Allender's position was becoming some- 
 what difficult and he was privately advised to surrender the charge. 
 He did so in October, 1891 ; but when the matter came up for action 
 the church refused to accept the resignation. It came up a second time 
 on December 7, and again a motion to accept was lost, the vote being 
 twenty-two to thirty-one. Air. Allender then recalled his resignation, 
 but the following June he renewed his request to be relieved. After 
 considering the matter for nearly two months, the church finally ac- 
 cepted the resignation. Air. Allender closed his work on August 1, 
 after having served as pastor a little more than four years. 
 
 A call was now sent to the Reverend Franklin L. Graff of Breck- 
 ville, Ohio, who accepted and began his pastorate on October 15, 1892. 
 He remained at the post of leadership for more than fifteen years. In 
 the early nineties the church did not yet provide a parsonage but there 
 was a feeling that the pastor ought not to pay house rent. With char- 
 acteristic decision and energy, Deacon Beardsley secured the necessary 
 funds and proceeded to build a suitable house. The parsonage, located 
 en West University Avenue, was built in the summer of 1894 ; the 
 church took it over the following year. The total cost of house and 
 lot is given as $4,745.88. 
 
 On Sunday, November 1, 1903, the First Congregational Church 
 celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its organization. At the morning 
 service Mr. Graff reviewed the history of the church in a sermon en- 
 titled "the record of fifty years." The occasion naturally led the lead- 
 ers of the church to look backward in an effort to trace and measure 
 the course of progress. Mr. Graff reported that in the fifty years 852 
 persons had entered the Congregational fellowship. The growth had, 
 however,, been slow and sometimes halting, but there had been growth. 
 In 1890 there were 208 names on the roll. In 1897 the clerk reported 
 a membership of 277. In 1907 the count showed a total of 324. In 
 every case, however, a certain number of absent members were in- 
 cluded in the reckoning, usually about thirty, so that the actual resi- 
 
 12 
 
dent membership was never quite so large as the figures would indi- 
 cate. 
 
 In 1904 the church took one more step in the direction of individual 
 freedom in matters of belief by adopting a new formula to be used 
 111 admitting members on profession of faith. Up to that time all candi- 
 dates for membership had been required to subscribe to the Apostles' 
 Creed. Now, on the recommendation of a committee composed of 
 Mr. Beach, Air. Graff, and Professor Baker, this requirement was 
 dropped. 
 
 In the autumn of 1907 Mr. Graff received and accepted a call from 
 a church in Port Huron and on November 15 he closed his work in 
 Champaign. Mr. Sidney Strong of Chicago was secured as pulpit 
 supply for five weeks while a committee was weighing the qualifications 
 of the men who had been recommended for the vacant position. Pro- 
 fessor Baker reported that the committee had canvassed a list of 
 fifty names. The church finally selected John Andrew Holmes who was 
 temporarily located in Oak Park. He was chosen as acting pastor for 
 one year, and on February 11, 1908, he assumed his new duties. The 
 following June his appointment was changed to a permanent tenure. 
 
 Mr. Holmes was a young man, thirty-three years of age, with 
 seven years' experience in the ministry. He brought to his work an 
 irenic disposition, a cheerful outlook, a delicate sense of humor, and 
 a remarkable insight into the dramatic possibilities of a text. There 
 were no controversies during his pastorate, and its annals are, there- 
 fore, not extensive. 
 
 During these years there was a growing interest in a project to 
 extend the limits of local Congregationalism into the northern part of 
 Champaign. In 1903 a Sunday school had been established in that 
 area, chiefly through the efforts of the Christian Endeavor Society. It 
 was known as the Sunshine School and was for some time located on 
 Tremont Street. Professor J. W. Lloyd served as its superintendent 
 for several years. Much effective work was also done in this section 
 by Miss Anna Beardsley. The undertaking seemed very much worth 
 while; in January, 1907, the school reported an enrollment of 132. 
 
 Out of this Sunday school grew an organization that came to be 
 known as the Plymouth Branch. In 1910 this new congregation, with 
 assistance from church sources, built itself a house of worship and 
 secured the services of a preacher. The venture was, however, not 
 entirely successful. After a dozen years the congregation at Plymouth 
 decided to establish a community church, wholly free from denomi- 
 national connections, and its association with the local church came to 
 a close. 
 
 When Mr. Holmes came to Champaign it looked very much as if 
 the church had reached its growth. Members were admitted from 
 
 13 
 
time to time, but the losses came as regularly, so that the net gain was 
 very small. But Mr. Holmes understood quite well that the congre- 
 n was larger than the church and sought to bring his auditors into 
 closer touch with the organization. To this end he established an 
 affiliate membership for such worshippers as wished to retain their 
 connection with some church elsewhere. He further admitted students 
 to a temporary affiliation called University membership. 
 
 On January I, 1917, the clerk reported that the church had 296 
 resident members, 12 affiliated members, and 118 University members. 
 Plymouth Branch was credited with 89. In addition the roll carried 
 the names of 44 absent members. The total membership in these 
 various classes was 559. 
 
 V 
 
 In 1917 Mr. Holmes accepted a call from the First Congregational 
 Church of Lincoln, Nebraska, and once more the congregation at 
 Champaign had to look about for a leader. On September 26 it was 
 decided to send a call to the Reverend H. F. Burns who was stationed 
 at the time at Camp Sherman. Mr. Burns was a man of fine presence 
 and evident abilities as a preacher; but he was unable to think his 
 way through the peculiar problem of the local church and he remained 
 in the pastorate for a few weeks only. 
 
 The war was upon the land and the thoughts and energies of men 
 were centered in and about the huge effort that was to lead to victory. 
 At the same time the church had committed itself to a new line of 
 policy. It seemed advisable under the circumstances to proceed slowly 
 in the choice of a new leader. For a time the duty of holding the 
 congregation to its normal functions was largely in the hand of Miss 
 Helen E. Richards, who had for some years held the office of assistant 
 to the pastor. But, discouraging as the situation was, it was not with- 
 out a real compensation ; for it gave the church the rare privilege of 
 listening to a wonderful preacher in the Reverend J. B. Silcox of 
 Montreal and Winnipeg, who served as pulpit supply during the winter 
 of 1917-1918. 
 
 In the following summer the Reverend Robert J. Locke of Wis- 
 consin Rapids accepted a call from the church and began his pastorate 
 in October, 1918.. In Mr. Locke the church found a vigorous person- 
 ality, a man of energy, enthusiasm, and strong purposes. He seemed 
 to be by nature a builder and the church had much building that needed 
 to be done. 
 
 Mr. Locke's first task was to build a new church. Ten years earlier 
 certain members of the church who lived near the University campus 
 had begun to .discuss the advisability of establishing a Congregational 
 church in that neighborhood. It was argued that the Congregational 
 constituency in the student body was rapidly growing and that it 
 
 14 
 
seemed impossible to bring these students into a satisfactory relation 
 with a church a mile and a half away. 
 
 The movement for a new church was led by Professor W. A. 
 Noyes, but Dean Eugene Davenport was also much interested. At the 
 time there were about twenty-five families with University connection 
 holding membership in the church. Almost as many more had Congre- 
 gational ancestry but were not identified with the local organization. 
 It was believed, therefore, that the new congregation would count 
 about a hundred members to begin with. Some support was also ex- 
 pected from the student body. 
 
 It was only natural that the church should accept a proposition 
 of this sort with great reluctance, as it meant a serious weakening of 
 the parent stem. But the situation was one that had to be dealt with 
 and the membership finally agreed to promote such a plan, if the state 
 conference would help to finance it. On the promise of such support, men 
 were secured to canvas the Congregational churches for funds. The 
 venture did not appeal strongly to the people of the state in its earlier 
 stage. Not till 191 7 were the promoters able to announce that the 
 campaign had been brought to a successful close. 
 
 In the meantime the officials of the conference had been examining 
 the problem anew; and early in 1917 a committee of that body came 
 to the conclusion that the best interests of Congregationalism in the 
 University cities could "be best conserved, if the First Church would 
 undertake the work from a location near the University campus." 
 
 This would mean that the old building at Church and State would 
 have to be abandoned and a new building erected in the University 
 area. The church received the proposition with little enthusiasm; 
 to the older members the old site was holy ground ; but arguments 
 prevailed and the proposal of the conference was accepted by a vote 
 of 113 to 40. 
 
 The old building was now sold and the congregation was once 
 more without a home. Temporary quarters were found, first in the 
 Rialto Theater and later in Morrow Hall at the University. Immediate 
 steps were taken, however, to secure a new house of worship. Land 
 was purchased at the corner of Sixth and Daniel Streets, Champaign, 
 and the work of building was begun. The cornerstone was laid in 
 1919 and the church was dedicated February 20-27, 1921. 
 
 The cost of the new structure was about $123,000. A venture so 
 large as this could, of course, not be financed by the local congrega- 
 tion. Pledges to the amount of $50,000 had been secured elsewhere in 
 the state; in addition the state conference contributed $10,000; from the 
 Church Building Society $25,000 was secured, $10,000 as a gift and 
 $15,000 as a loan. 
 
 The new situation demanded that the pastor should reside in the 
 
 15 
 
University district, and it therefore became necessary to purchase a 
 new parsonage. In 1923 several members, headed by Dean K. C. Bab- 
 cock, joined in buying a house on California Street near the campus, 
 where the pastor has since resided. Eventually this became the prop- 
 erty of the church. 
 
 Mr. Locke now turned his attention to the problem of how to 
 bring the Congregational students within the pale of the church. In 
 19 ro he organized a Students' Association which has proved able to 
 render effective service and which continues to function. In 1922 it 
 reported a membership of 464. But Air. Locke soon came to believe 
 that the problem of church and student could be dealt with satisfac- 
 torily only through a religious foundation. After much preliminary 
 discussion a meeting was held at Jhe church on January 5, 1922, to 
 consider the advisability of organizing such a corporation. At this 
 meeting fourteen persons were present from the church and four from 
 the conference. A motion- to establish a foundation was unanimously 
 adopted. The necessary legal and formal steps were taken during the 
 following twelve-month, and on May 11, 1923, the board of trustees 
 of the Pilgrim Foundation met to organize its work. Mr. Locke was 
 chosen director. 
 
 In his report to the annual meeting of the church in January, 1926, 
 the pastor called attention to the fact that between the church, the con- 
 ference, and the foundation there was a twilight zone which ought to be 
 brought into the light or cleared away. This twilight zone is still a 
 disturbing fact and the most serious task before the church at this 
 writing is to reach an amicable agreement with the other bodies as to 
 areas and limits of functions and authority. 
 
 In addition to the building of a new church and the establishing 
 of a religious foundation one notes much activity during Mr. Locke's 
 administration, especially in organizing the forces and normal ac- 
 tivities of the church. The decision to move from the old site caused 
 a certain loss in the membership; but since January 1, 1924, there has 
 been a fairly satisfactory increase in the numbers enrolled. On Janu- 
 ary 21, 1928, after the names of a considerable number of inactive or ab- 
 sent members had been dropped from the roll, the clerk reported 208 
 resident members and 108 absent members ; he also reported that about 
 250 students were holding affiliate membership. In all about 650 persons 
 were in organic relations with the church. 
 
 The figures of the budget as they come from year to year also 
 tell, the story of expansion. In 1895 the expenditures of the church 
 were about $2,600. all of which was raised within the congregation. 
 Since then the totals have risen to more than double. At present the 
 congregation is expected to contribute to its own local expenses about 
 $S,50O, of which $1,000 will come in the form of collections. The 
 
 16 
 
women's organization and the Students' Association also have their 
 budgetary arrangements and contribute to the expenses of the church. 
 In 1924 the Students' Association was able to raise more than $900, 
 all from its own membership. 
 
 It was believed that by rebuilding the church on a new site the 
 Sunday morning attendance would be increased and this belief has been 
 justified. Twenty years ago the church attendance rarely exceeded 
 150, though occasionally it would go up to 200. Since the new church 
 was built the count has frequently shown 400 present and at times the 
 figures have been nearer 500. 
 
 In January, 1927, Mr. Locke resigned to accept the office of super- 
 intendent of the Congregational churches of the state. The church 
 proceeded at once to look for a suitable man to fill the vacant pastor- 
 ate, but the earlier efforts led to nothing. A large majority favored 
 the election of Mr. Melville T. Kennedy, who, however, refused to be 
 regarded as a candidate. It was decided next to ask John Andrew 
 Holmes to return to his old parish as acting pastor till the end of the 
 year. Air. Holmes was later chosen acting director of the student work 
 by the trustees of the Pilgrim Foundation. 
 
 Once more the church turned its attention to the problem of the 
 vacant pastorate and once more the choice fell upon Mr. Kennedy. 
 As the church seemed to speak with one voice in the matter, Mr. Ken- 
 nedy accepted the call and on January 1, 1928, he entered upon his 
 new duties as the eleventh regular pastor of the First Congregational 
 Church of Champaign. 
 
Marriott & Miles, Printers 
 
: 
 

•' ':■ ,' 
 
 r' 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 SEVENTY-HVE YEARS OFMNGREGATIONALISM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 me 
 
 : 
 
 
 ?\ 
 
 > ~V 
 
 ■S> 
 
 
 <f. - 
 
 m