The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-23
RELIGION IN EARLY DAYS
The Religious History of Indian
apolis in We Olden Time.
The First Sermon and the First Revival
Recollections of the Ministers of
Fifty Years Ago.

bCCA MIOlly ulldDle W any SNluChOC "
the contrary" remarked a thoughtful old
gentleman to a Journal reporter, that the
social development of city or community
grows from the religious sentiment of the
people. The best social conditions are found
in the most devout races, in the most devout
communities, and nearly all society can be
traced primarily as having developed from
religion, although it may have been pervert-
ed in its growth. 1t was religion that
brought our ancestors together with the feel
ings which made men and women brothers
and sisters, and it was through
the same influence that in every
community social relations found a
beginning and became established,
The effect of the cause can be traced in the
social state of all sections of the country,
from Plymouth Rock to Salt Lake, and every
where it will be found that the social pulse
is quickened by the heart-throbs of religion"
The speaker was one of the pioneer preachers
of Indiana, who had himself lived to see the
social development of two generations in In
dianapolis. The reporter had called to learn
something about the early religious affairs OF
the city, which now has nearly ninety
churches and as many Sunday-schools. The
subject was one which the old gentleman de-
lighted in talking upon, and when asked re-
garding the local application of his philo-
sophie observation, he said: 1.-THE religious
development of indianapolis has been pro-
portionate with its commercial growth. 1t
was not long after the settlement
of the first dozen families on
the banks of White river until a
sermon was preached and religious services
were conducted irregularly by the itinerant
preachers known as circuit-riders for four or
five years before a church was built. Among
the first settlers there were few pious peo-
pie, and from them have descended several of
the first families of the city. indianapolis
soon came to be recognized among the cir
cult riders as religious center, and the circle
of devout worshipers grew with the increas-
ing population, until to-day it embraces a
membership of many thousands, wi III some
of the finest church buildings in the West.
The progress which has been made in a
hurried glance back to the time of a small
beginning seems marvellous, and yet it grew
as the bamboo, from joint to joint" In his
subsequent conversation the speaker related
1.-The small beginning"
The first sermon preached in the Indianap-
oils settlement was sometime about the year
1921 and from it is traced the religious his
tory of the city. Rev. Rein Hammond, a
local preacher from Clarke county, passed
through the settlement on a business tripan
stopped for day or two Before leaving he
announced that he would return on the fol-
lowing Sunday and preach to all who cared
to come and hear him. No house was asked
or offered in which to hold the services, and
the first gospel sermon heard In Indianapolis
was delivered UNDER walnut tree, Just south
of the State Bank square. The pul pit of the
preacher was a stump, and his congregation
was seated about on logs. The news that
there was ito be preachIn' on Sunday" had
spread through the settlement, and quite a
crowd had gathered, from no other mo-
tive than that of curiosity, to
give audience to the sermon.
The preacher announced a text which ex-
planned his mission: And he said unto
them, Go ye into the world and preach the
gospel to every creature"
Hammond was not an eloquent speaker
and ordinarily the repose of his duty-bound
hearers was disturbed very little, but his ser
mon in the forest, from the first word to the
last, was given faultless attention. During
the discourse an Indian and his squaw, on
horseback, with a stock of pelts and furs,
Cdlile dlOHS, anu dll6T lOOkll2 CuTlOuSlN on
the proceedings for few moments, passed
on. Robert Wimot a trader whose money
making proclivities were much stronger
than his devotional inclinations, understood
what the Indian had come for, and followed
him moment afterward.
The early preacher never allowed an oppor-
tunity to escape for rebuking discourteous
or inattentive nearer. He would pause in
the midst of the most impasSionate appeal to
sinners to sharply rebuke the man who dared
to leave the congregation before the close of
the sermon. Rein Hammond could not
forego parting salute to the avaricious
trader and asWilmot moved off, he remarked
that 'the pelts and furs of the Indian had
more attraction for his Kentucky friend than
the word of God"
THE FIRST CHURCHES.
The first regular place of worship in Indi-
annapolis was log house, situated on Mary
land street, between Meridian and Illinois,
which, during the winter months was also
used as a school-house. In 1922 union Sum
day-school was organized, and for some time
its meetings were held IN cabinet-maker's
shop owned by man named Scudder, on
West Washington street, opposite the State
house. In 1926 Wesley Chapel, the first
church building, was erected on the corner of
Meridian street and the Circle, where the
building lately occupied by the Sentinel
now stands. 1t was log structure, and was
a very substantial piece of pioneer architect
ure. In 1915 it was removed, and larger
building was erected which was used until
1870, when Merdisn-street Church, the sue
cessor of Wesley Chapel, was built In 1912
the Methodist conference divided Indianap-
oils into two charges, and new churches were
founded. Asbury Church was built on New
Jersey street, near South street, and Strange
Chapel was erected west of the canal, but it
was afterward moved onto North Tennessee
street. The history of Strange Chapel was
all that its name would literally imply In
1869, the frame structure which had been
moved was superseded by a brick building on
the corner of Tennessee and Michigan
streets, and in 1871 it was burned by an in
cendiary. The church was named after Rev.
John Strange, who was regarded as the most