The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-04-28
THEY KILLED THE CHURCH.
Sunbonncts and Secession Too Niue b
For . Missouri Congrsgatiou.

4 cnurcu trOubloo IN Wnicn ne WAS IhcxoT IN
St. Joseph st the beginning of the war.
| ~ wAs . member OF tho church." he said.
land IL DR.. Halls session thinks 10 has any
trouble on its hands IL doesn't know Whit
| the word means.
| "Our church was poor. That OF itself was
enough to mike trouble. We had built our
| edifco and raid for IL. IL had no cupols.
We hung ths bell ON post near by. and gave
the town permission 10 use.it In case OF hre.
ie,ple In the vicinity complained that boys
rsag q at night and that WAS our first trou'
bic. We got a taller pole.
'"Thc first pastor OF the church was rs good
| as = man can be. Considering verything, he
was better than we had any right TO expect.
| He looaed ei ough like josh Whitcomb - 20
| on without making mp. He was married to
| No. 2. She had three children when ne mar
ried her. Fie had three by No. l. There
| were two sets Of boys in the family. The
| spiritual success of the church was handi-
capped by two of the boys They were OF the
| bo. tom OF all the deyilment of the town.
When it ran out they made things ut homo
lively. and we heard Of all the trouble there,
because so many excuses were made for non-
| performance OF ~ soral dutis.
'The co ily old man finally resigned, and
began, that Of securing another pastor. The
membership was composed of souihern
people. The eve blasting nigI question was
| growing at tho time, and our first decision
| was to get n preacher from The South, and
| one who WINS loyal to southern Institutions
'sThe session was funny compound COM
munity. II consisted of former Kentucky
| politician who had been in the Legislature Of
that state, He was owner Of sawmill in ST.
Joseph He was elected member Of the ses-
sion because no had money and seven chill
dren. II was quite an addition to the church.
The other mem bors OF the session were the
| county jaller. En undei taker. famer, who
| was leader OF the choir and two ms rchants.
"Several preachers visited us on trial. We
| called one, and he died on bis way TO fhe
post. He had been dead two weeks when We
heard of IL. After other trials we called a
man from Tennessee. He was about the sizc
OF DIR. Hall. ply ysically and above the average
preacher OF those days In all respects. He
WAS fearless His wife was beautiful and ac-
| complished. The combination was fatal to
Hier In our church. The wives of the members
of the session, rs well rs most Of the wives of
those who were not members, were elderly,
/ well meaning mothers in Israel, who thought
il was a sin for woman to wear anything
to church, in the line Of headgear, except
| sunbonnet The new preachers wife was n
/ woman of common sense, tactful md pi tlent.
/ She was quick TO s.e that sle was looked
| uron critically. She tried TO conform 10 tho
surroundings, but II was the kind OF
woman that looks well sin anything. The
| verdict OF the sisters OF the session was
againstsher. They cut her socially. They
hurried away from church in order to evade
her. They made IL pleasant for their hus-
bands. The meetings Of the session came to
be dreaded. The pastor tried to warm up
| the church with revival, but in the words
of his favorite hymn. slightly changed,
| Hosannas languished on our tongues
And our devotion died.
burning. do not know what the result Of
this condition .would have been IL the war had
not broken over the land. People always
| refer to that war as a calamity. 1t was a
blessing. as we'll, 20 some. 1t was blessing
to.ths church Of which am speaking. 1t was
blessing to the new reacher. who was a
worthy man, good preacher, and one Of the
most compsnionable men ever knew.
churches OF the town had union service.
Our preacher delivered the discourse. He
made strong plea for the preservation of the
Union. and said it would be the duty of Chris
tians to Aght for its perretuity.
''St. Joseph was full Of disloyalty. 1t was
the first town In the West 20 fly the rebel
colors and recruit rebel volunteers. Such n
sermon as have mentioned, from n man who
had come from the South. crowded out every
thing else for week. The supbonnet sisters
Of the weak kneed session of our church did
not whit TO call on one another in the usual
conventional manner. They climbed the
fences, and sometimes they talked from the
windows Of their homes. They refused to go
TO meetin'. They refused to send their chill
dren 10 the Sunday school, and .he session
met around In the homes where the wives
could hear what was shid
lone day the preacfe. was in tfs store OF
ono OF the session. The war wns the topic.
The mem her Of the session. an insignifcant
chap who afterward deserted his family and
elopcd with his wife's niece. assailed the
preachers Thanksgiving sermon. The debate
was hot, and tho preacher, who had been
goadsd long enough, as you may know from
all I have said, knocked the commsr rial
member OF his session fiat.
"Thst was tho climax. The papers had
colored accounts of the affair. IL was town
talk. OF course. the sisters OF the session
were happy. They piled on the fagots. OF
course, tho preacher resigned. Tho church
organization fell to pieces. II never had a
pasttr afterward.
ss.Just then the war cloud broke, and the
la.e pastor was one OF the first chaplains in
the Union army in the West. They say he
could fight as well ne pray, and that he
served through the war. left the denomins-
ton In which he had done such faithful ser.
vice, Joined another and went TO California.
"Fvery member of TINT session was unfor-
tunate I'm business an 4 ether affairs until the
end. Not one IL alive. some died in disgrace
$50 much for the prejudice OF ignorance
against fashion: so much for Tho sunbonnct
league Of the church. These. no doubt
embittered this man toward the people Of
this section. These had much 20 do with
giving many Union soldiers friend. was
never q Union man myself until since the