River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1901-09-05
CHARITY WINS LOVE.
Valuable Lesson to Be Drawn from
the Lives of Two Men.
Or. Sunderland. POor Preacher,
MOrrned by a Multitude; shyIoek,
Rich as CrOesus, Despised by
His FeIIow-Men.
Especial Washington letter.

"a hICH man and poor man, both
IN well known in this city, recent
ly died; and the death of the
poor man was nourned by many
thousands of our people.
The poor man was Rev. Byron Sun
derland, for 40 years the active pastor
of the First Presbyterian church, and
for the past ten years pastor emeritus
of that congregation. He was visit
ing his daughter, at Catskill, n. Y,
when death came suddenly, although
not Unexpectedly. The eminent min
lister was in the eighty-second year of
his age and had been looking for the
summons for several years, because
of the fact that he had long since
passed the three score years and zen,
and he realized that his sojourn here
might not last much longer.
Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, Lin
coin, Johnson, Hayes, Cleveland and
Harrison were often in his congrega-
tion. 1t was he who officiated at the
marriage of President Cleveland, the
ceremony being performed in the
white house. During his two terms in
thC pa IIGSluGHb AlGNelaHu
and his wife were regular members
of his church. In those days he side
walks and streets were thronged
every Sunday morning by citizens and
strangers who took that occasion to
see the president and his popular
wife as they stepped from their car
riage across the sidewalk and entered
the portals.
Midway between the capitol and
treasury, in the very heart of the
city, is Four-and-a-half street, q
beautiful thoroughfare extending
from the arsenal to the city hall; a
street once the most popular in the
national capital because it was the
residence street of the richest and
greatest men, the senator's, repre-
sentatives and members of the cab
ihet. There the First Presbyterian
church was built more than half a
century ago. But when President
Cleveland became a member of the
congregation the church was sur
rounded by the offices of lawyers and
claim agents while the fashionable
people had moved far to the north
western part of the city. 1t was the
personality and popularity of DIR.
Sunderland which kept the old church
in the forefront of religious denomi-
nations here.
DIR, Sunderland was lifelong re-
publican, an abolltionist and an
ardent union man, lifting his voice in
season and out of season in behalf
of the then oppressed race. Despite
this well-known fact, and the further
fact that the preacher was still
ardently "a partisan outside of his
pulpit, President Cleveland became a
regular member of the church, and
often said concerning his church GO
ing that ii was not alone the infiu-
ence of his wife but the eloquence of
the preacher that kept him in the
congregation so regularly. He said
that he never listened to DIR. Sunder-
land without learning some impor-
tant substantive facts, while at the
same time every sermon was elevat-
ing and encouraging in its tone, and
full of the inspiration of the orators
own pure and lovely life.
The positive character of DR. Sun
derland often caused dissatisfaction,
and occasionally dsaffection in his
church, and yet so gentle and sympa-
thetic was his nature, so impulsive
and warm, that the large majority of
his church always stood with him. On
one occasion, during the civil war,