Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-03-10

The Pioneer sunday-schoOIs I'm Amer

The First Bunday-schOOE I'm Nashville
Its Struggle for Existeuce-Its III
nal Triumph Some Of fits First
Fruits.
A writer in the New York Evangelist
some time since, claimed that Rev. Burr
Baldwin, of Montrose, Pa, established the
first Sunday-school in America. 1t was
| commenced the first Sabbath In May, 1916,
| In the old Newark Academy, New Jersey.
| Mr.. Baldwin is still living, hale old man
of eighty years Of age.
A CANADIAN CLAIM.
/ 1t is claimed, however, that the honor be-
longs to even an earlier pioneer. Rev. Will
liam Smart has published letter in the
Brockville Recorder, In which he claims
that he established a Sunday-sehool in the
old Courthouse at Erockville, Ont, the
last Sabbath in October, Of 1911. The
school continues to this day, and is now
under the Superintendency Of Mr.. D.
Wylie, the veteran editor of the Brockville
Recorder. Rev. Mr.. Smart was sent to
Canada by the London Missionary Society,
in 1911. He is now in the SD year of his
age, and resides at Brockville, where he was
for 81 years pastor of the first Presbyterian
Church. He has been 63 years engaged in
the work of the ministry. Mr.. Adriel
Sherwood, the first teacher of the Sunday
school, is still alive, and is now upwards Of
80 years Of age.
A BETTER CLAIM.
Plttsburg, Pa, claims to have established
the first Sunday-school in connection with
a church in America, in the year 1909.
| Previous to that time, so far back as 1871,
a Sunday-school society had been organ
lied in Philadelphia. Its object, however,
was to impart secular instruction only, and
1t cannot, therefore, be called regular Sab
bath-sehool Society as the term is now IN
dersto0d. The claim of Pittsburg appears
! TO te the most valid that has yet been pre-
| scented.
! The FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL IN NASHVILLE
was established in July, 1920, by Mrs. Felix
| Grundy. She was assisted by Nathan Ew-
! ing, then Clerk Of the County Court, Mrs.
Mittie Moore and Samuel p. Ament. 1t
was sort Of non-sectarian Sabbath-school,
or rrther a school in which all the Protes-
! tant denominations could unite. The
building occupied by those devoted pioneers,
II not pretentious, was airy, and located
n retired position. 1t was
! RUDE HUT,
ituated on the bank of a pond below the
lace where the McKendree Church now
stands. The walls were of rough unhewn
logs, covered with a roof suited to the gen.
eral appearance of the building. No win
dOws or door excluded the music of the
birds and katydids that filed the surround
ing woods with melody, and the chorus OF
myriads of frogs floated up from the neigh
boring pond harmOnizing with the Sabbath
songs of the children. The school com
menced with fifteen scholars, and continued
during the summer and autumn. When
the cold weather commenced it was aban.
doned for the winter. But the school had
to contend against
GREATER DIFFICULTIES.
1t was denounced from the pulpits of the
various churches, and combined effort on
the part of all the sectarian bigots IN Nash.
vile was made to break it down. They &C
cused the founders of the schOo
of being violators of The Sabbath
The opposition was so great that one
pharisaical person fastened large placarC
on the Methodist church door, on which
was printed in large characters: "No desc.
l Grafton Of the holy Sabbath by teaching
( Sundayschool here" When Mrs. Grundy
reopened her school in the spring Of 1921
she wrote to the different ministers asking
} them to announce the fact from their pull
pits. Only one, the Rev. W. Campbell
pastor Of the Presbyterian church, took an
notice Of her request. On the followin.
Sunday, after receiving her note, he referred
to it at the close Of his sermon and remark
ed that he would ''give publicity to no sncl
devilment as learning children to becom,
Sabbath breakers, and thereby send
ing their souls to the Devils hell. After thi
unique announcement, delivered with al
the unctiOns which marked the pulpit ora
= tory Of the day, no further attempt wa
made for some time to unite the church
: and its nursery" In the spring Of 1872
the school received the
: ACTIVE ASSISTANCE
, of Nathaniel McNairy, William Berryhill
Matthew II. Quinn, Capt. Alpha Kingsley
, and Mr.. Smiley. Soon afterwards, Rev
: Thomas Madden, pastor of the Methods
! Church, joined the movement, and from
= that day forward the prejudice against /
, lesSened till it finally disappeared com
: pletely. In the winter Of 1929 tn,
churches opened their doors to the Sabbath
schools.
4 LESS SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE.
A Sabbath-school for colored people wa:
2 Ewing and Samuel P. Arnent. In 49,;
u | "
0 the old barracks, which were con
structed in 18l1-12. In the yea
: 1924, when Rev. Robt. Paine, nov
e Bishop Paine, was connected will
:, the school, 1t was attended by 125 coloret
s people. 1t was finally broken up, an abol
o itiOnist from Massachusetts named Dresser
: having distributed in1ammatory tract
b among the olOred population. The N
e groes who were taught to read at the Sun
q day-school read them to their illlterat,
friends, and at one time an uprising of tn
| blacks was feared. The Sabbath-schoo
g once broken up was not afterwards revivet
0 for number Of years.
g FRIENDS OF THE sABRATH-sCHoOI..
Many of the scholars who attended tn
' first Sabbath-school IN Nashville are still
D living and can remember its early struggl
: for existence. Among these are Mr.. VIM
= Trice, an eminent jurist, and Rev. Thos
t Moore, a minister OF great ability
t The history Of their introduction into thu
school is unusually interesting
4 One Sunday morning as Mr.
e Ament was on his way 20 the school, he
met two boys lightning on the street oppo
site where the Maxwell House now stands
They were covered with blood and thei
clothes were torn to rags. Mr.. Ament re-
proved them for their conduct and persua
ded them to accompany him to the Sunday
school. They were received with the ut
most kindness by Mrs. Grundy, who bounC
up their wounds and implanted in iheil
hearts the first seeds that subsequently,
7 ripened into such abundant fruitiOn. She
offered them inducements to return on tbs
following Sabbath. They were orphan boy:
who had been bound out by the County
Court to learn the boot and shoe business
d Without home, without friends or ever
companions, they were glad to accept bel
| offer. They attended the school,
, punctually, aud each was present
ed with a new suit of clothes by
their kind benefactress. They soon after
wards became acquainted with students
who were attending the Nashville College
and from them leaned Greek and Latin
For three years the boys continued in Mr.
Ament's class, where the foundation of their
after eminence was laid. The clothes which
Mrs. Grundy gave them were made by
her seamstress, old Fanny, who still lives
and often refers with pride to the fact that
she 'made dem clos"
Mr.. Ament has written complete history
of the first Sunday school in Nashville, fl l