The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-03-10
MARYLAND BIBLE SOCIETY
"The Word of Our God Shall Stand
Forever"

DR.. Bernard C. Steiner begins his
brochure entitled "The Maryland BIZ
BILE Society,"" with this striking sem
tence: "The triumphs of the 10Th
Century were many, and among the
greatest of them was the wide distri.
button of the Holy Scriptures"
In 1904 the British and Foreign
Bible Society was organized. 1t is a
remarkable coincidence that in the
very same year, at Williamstown,
Massachusetts, Samuel ]. Mills and
four of his fellow college students
brought into being the modern mis-
sionary movement as one of the re-
suits of the famous Haystack prayer
meeting. Out of this meeting de-
veloped the movement which ulti.
mately led to the formation of the
American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions.
In 1903, the first Bible Society in
the United States was instituted in
Philadelphia, to be followed two years
later by the organization in Baltimore
of the Maryland Bible Society.
This society was inter-denomina'
! tional from it's inception. One of its
brightest glories is reflected from the
fact that in those days of sharp and
clear cut divisions between the
Protestant groups, the Bible Society
offered a common ground where all
could meet together and feel as David
so truly expressed it, behold, how
beautiful it is for brethren to dwell
together in unity"
Unfortunately, the original records
concerning the foundation of the
Baltimore Bible Society, as it was
then called, have not been found, and
the newspapers seem to have taken no
notice of the event. A pamphlet pre-
served by DR.. John Franklin Goucher
gives the names of the Board of
Managers in 1912, and shows that the
most prominent citizens of the city
were patrons of the Society, and de-
voted workers in the cause represen-
ted by it. The list of names found in
this pamphlet is as follows: George
Dashiell, John Hagerty, James 1nglis,
John Daniel Kurtz, Joseph G. j. Bend,
Robert Amman, John Glendy, Alexan-
der McCaine, Frederick Beasley, John
Healy, John Hargrove, George Rob-
ert, Lewis Richards, Adam Vonerden,
Baltzer Schaeffer, James H. McCul-
loch, Isaac Burnston, William, H. Dor
sey, James McHenry, John Livings-
ton, John Crawford, Andrew Ellicott,
James Campbell, John Kelso.
I quote again from DR.. Steiner:
"Rev. George Dashiell was Rector of
St. Peters Protestant Episcopal
Church; Rev. J. Daniel Kurtz was
pastor of the Lutheran Church; Rev.
Joseph G.. J. Bend was rector of ST.
Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church,
and Rev. Frederick Beasley was the
assistant rector; Rev. John Glendy
was pastor of the Second Presbyter-
ian Church: Rev. John Hargrove was
the pastor of the Swedenborgain or
New Jerusalem Church; Rev. Alexan-
der McCaine and Rev. George Roberts
were Methodist clergymen and Rev.
Lewis Richardson was Baptist. The
following occupations were represen-
ted among the lay members of the
society at this early date; physician,
Collector of the Port of Baltimore, a
teacher, a surveyor, a stationer,
silk dyer, a butcher, dealer in fancy
goods and millinery, dry goods mer-
chant, and a wharf manager.
Altogether it was a cosmopolitan
group, and represented the best types
of the city's life.
How we should like to know just
who developed the initiative in this
beautiful missionary work. That, like
most beginnings, is shrouded in the
mists of the past. Men have labored,
as st. Paul says, and other men have
entered into their labors. Rudyard
Kipling puts these words into the
mouth of King Solomon, when at the
end of his career he is called upon to
lay aside the building of the Temple.
They apply equally to all builders in
the Temple of Truth.
81 called my men from my quarries,
My forests, my wharves, and my
| sheers.
All 1 had wrought abandoned
To the fate of the faithless years.
Yet l carved in the timber
Yet 1 cut on the stone,
After me cometh builder,
Tell him, l, too, have known"