The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-08-16
Trinity churchl: h lust i; below The Exchange

Y EDNlss D:lssl ESRlsA4Y IS Rlls4 J! a.a MI M14llllRNlNe;
Trinity chuIt.ch hI. Just below 1; Tie Exchange
Hotel.dtt 7ei ,s'.'lsI J. s1!f-fiafs =
~ OTHER INTERESTING FACTS.
Benedict, in his history Of the Baptists,
vol. II, 1913, p. 81, has the following con-
.cerning. the First Baptist church when the
white and colored members worshipped to-
tTe etty t 81 Richmond dtsIrenm ts resnmmarkable for
containing respectable church Of between
five and six hundred memfsers, : most OF
whom are blacks, for having neat ana
commodious brick meeting-hoIlse, and for
being statedly supplied Try the 1abors Of
their working pastor, Rev. JOHN Courtney,
to whom they grant Q moderate, support.
Besides Mr.. Courtney there are in the city
OF Richmond number Of Baptist minis
,ters who preach occasionally in the city an q
lin the country around, among whom is the
/ Rev. Jacob Griggs, anatiVe of Ens gland, who
was educated. in the Baptist Academy at
Bristol, and was one OF the missionaries
sent out by the Baptist Missionary So
ciety I'll England to the colony OF Sierra
Leone, in Africa =. 1t.,.l, Z
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. -
The First Baptist church in Richmond was
constituted in 1850. Tradition affirms that
+ 1t was an unpretendiHg wooden structure,
and that it was located near the Virginia
penitentiary, and that pond occupying the
low fiat, now used by John Mesler as a boat
yard, was the common .baptismal pool. Rev.
John Courtney was the brother Of the Rev.
Philip Courtney, OF the Methodist Episco-
! pal Church, who is said in his day to- have
| Inn io6 bp off ~ IN.
mond than the remaining representatives of
his cloth-then resident in Richmond or its
vicinity-put together. He was the father
Of Major Alfred r. Courtney, OF this city.
Rev. John Courtney was man OF meagre
education, but of deep and sincere piety,
and was irreproachable in all the walks Of
4 life. ri .-.r' .'.s. '' ;.
- ....., AS A PLACE OF AMUSEMENT. r.-
As place OF entertainment and interest t
we may say that the old African church
had no equal. Every nertherner who came
to see Richmond and its many features Of
interest and historic note, as matter Of
course visited the old church which is now
being pulled down. Before the war the
singing there was remarkably fine, and SUN
day was generally selected for the visit
AS place OF amusement, too, it has some
notoriety. Years ago Jenney Lind sang to
an overtlowing audience in the church.. 1t
was. there, too, that. Ole Bull charmed hun
dreds Of Richmond people in days gone by,
and it was there that Tom Thumb was
greeted when he first commenced coming to
Richmond. Blind Tom, too, we believe,
gave some OF his performances in the same
building both during and after the war.
Our citizens will also remember with de-
light that they heard Patti, Sontag, and Pa
rodi> here, and it was with no delight that
the writer heard Paul Julien play the Car
nival CT Eenince" on one string few
years after the signing OF the Declaration
within these classic walls.
AN ANNECDoTE ABOUT MR.. RIyES.
A funny anecdote is told on the late Hon.
William c.. Riyes in connection with grand
political gathering at the old church many
years ago. 1t is related of this distinguished
Virginian that he was to deliver an adj
dress, and vast audience gathered to
hear him. The church, in fact, was
throngcd with an eager crowd OF the
good people of this city. Some
time previous tG the meeting one of the
newspaper .reporters-a representative OF
the IYhiI we believe-called upon Mr..
Rives, and he kindly loaned him his manu-.
script in order that the address might be set
up in advance of its delivery. The manu-.
script was not returned to Mr.. Rives before
the meeting, and he undertook. to &C
on with his speech without it. Unfortu'
nately for him, it had not been committed
to memory, and he broke down. The re-
suit was that he was compelled to make ar
apology to-tfle audience and to explain the
cause of his failure. Such incidents might
be multiplied; but il is unnecessary.
NOTABLE MEN WHO HAVE SPOKEN IN TIE
~ .' CHURCH. -., ,....... 49,.
| Under this heading long list OF names
might be recorded. But for the purposes
of this notice it is only necessary to men'
tion 4 few such men as Daniel Webster,
Henry Clay, Governor William Smith, Ben
iamin Watkins Leigh, John Minor Bolts,
Henry A. Wise, Tim. Rives, John Letcher,
Roger A. Pryor, William c. Rives, r. NJ. Il, =,
Hunter, George W. Randolph, Judah P.
Benjamin, Jefferson Davis, Patrick Henry
Aylett, John Tyler, Briscoe G. Baldwin,
and John b. Baldwin, will be remembered
by many citizens OF Virginia as having adj
dressed vast audiences from the platform OF
this historic old building. a..'-.<
POLITICAL. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
1t would take volume OF no .inconsider-
able size to record the many interesting
facts concerning the political history OF the
old church. 1t covers the different phases
that are included in the history Of our coun-
try and State; it gives many incidents that
are unknown, and it is as intimately asso-
ciated with the history Of our city as any
building could be, not excepting Washing
toms headquarters on Main street. Web
ster spoke here during the most nota-
Bile campaign OF his dav; Henry Clay
was also heard there during the
same period; William /. GoSgln
was nominated rs Governor within its walls
in 1859. In February, 1861, convention
was held by the mechanics OF our city,
which was presided over by the Late Thomas
Fl. Wynne. It was composed OF all ele-
ments, and the discofd that prevailed
showed the bitter spirit that prevailed. A
motion was made that q committee be ap-
pointed to wait upon Hon. John Minor
Bolts to ask him to appear before the Con-
yention and quell all disturbances. Mr.
Bolts appeared before the Convention, and
was cheered upon the one. side and
jeered upon the other. Finally he
exclaimed: eFellow-citizens Of the city Of
Richmond, I am sorry that my friends have
called upon me to speak to such a damned
mob as this appears to be. told your COM
mittee that wished to retire from politics,
and now reiterate the statement. II I can
not meet better-behaved crowd than this
on the stump will bid you hearty good
evening"" With this he retired from the
stage. ,-,-ra aets, ~. .sr.ss.- -...-. = ''..
.3 VERY REMARKABLE SCENE.
During the Douglass and Breckenridge
campaign Governor Foote was announced
to speak in favor of Douglass ut one Of the
largest meetings ever held in the African
church, or in fact in the city. The late O..