Evening star., 1934-02-11
BY MARGARET NORRIS,

n custom, President Roosevelt
II has been invited to attend the
4 a special Lincoln memorial serv-
ices today in the New York
Avenue Presbyterian Church in WASH
ington and occupy the pew which Lin
coin occupied during his presidency.
President Hoover attended similar
service a year ago today. Coolidge did
so during his term;So did Taft; so did
Theodore Roosevelt; so did President
Mckinley Many administrations
have observed the tradition dear to
the religious life of our national cap
ital-namely, that on the Sunday
nearest Lincolns birthday the Presi-
dent of the United States should wor-
ship in the church where Lincoln
worshiped and sit in the Lincoln pew.
This pew, roped off from the rest
of the aisle, shrine within a shrine,
thin. worn, silver plate. Here the sad,
patient Lincoln could be found on
many a Sunday during those trying
years Of his term, sitting near the pew
door sideways, to accommodate his
| long legs, which otherwise would have
been cramped in the narrow space.
Some say he came swathed in his
great old shawl. Others, who profess
to know, say he never wore the shawl
to church, but came Immediately
dressed in a we'll brushed top coat and
sat at ease, but with great dignity
beside Mrs. Lincoln and their sons.
Soldiers Visited Pew.
Lincoln made every one welcome in
his pew. Once his long arm shot out
to draw in a forlorn looking, poorly
clad man aWkwardly seeking seat.
Since his death the pew has become
a mecca for patriotic pilgrims. Dur
ing the World War many Of our
| soldiers, passing through the Capital
to embarkation, marched down the
| aisle to the dark pew with the flag
and sometimes paused to hear the
story of the man who prayed there in
the dark Sos He came regularly
because he found here mot partisan
politics, but something to feed the
soul"
Thus Lincoln. who--unlike most of
our Presidents-never joined church,
was so closely identified with this
one that Washington residents to this
day fondly call it the Lincoln church.
| Its chimes, among the finest in
Washington, and its tower, in the Sir
| Christopher Wren design, were the
| gift in 1928 of Mrs. Robert Lincoln
and her family-a memorial to Father
Abraham. 1t is interesting that the
chimes were made by firm in Massa-
chusetts which claims that its enter
prise dates back to the family of
Nancy Hanks, Abraham Lincoln's
mother, whose people were among the
first makers of bells in America.
Designed as Beacon Lights.
The tower was originally designed
| as beacon light for airplanes. Ro-
nance lies in this simple fact Each
night the spire is illuminated, so that
| from far and wide men may see this
pinnacle of light shining in the dark
ness above the city skyline, symbolic
of the spirit of Lincoln, who led the
Nation from darkness to light.
Washington Is dotted with churches
which have claimed for term or two
the honor of presidential attendance
an honor which of recent years has
become-well "a bit diSrupting," to
quote one minister who knows. In
the olden days the President used to
come and 60 to church as incon-
spicuously as any private citizen. In
modern administrations, however, idle
curiosity seekers, who come not to
worship but to stare. neceSSitate
/ special police patrol near the church
which he attends. PeWholders are ad-
mitted by ticket, as though to the
ater or lecture. Crowds armed with
opera glasses rather than prayer
| books fill even the galleries. To
/ preach in church while the Presi-
dent is there is like talking to the
wind. Many devout church men,
bers who prefer sober contemplation
have been driven elsewhere in despair.
until a change of administration
brings shift in the Sabbath tide and
| leaves their own church to them
selves.
Crowd Followed T. r.
1t was not until Theodore Roose-
velt's time that the President became
/ an object Of curiosity, his presence
! the occasion for traffic jam, his very
| orisons front page news. The elder
| Roosevelt was our first Chief Execu-
! tive to become a national hero in his
own term. The little inconspicuous
Dutch Reformed Church which he
joined as Vice President was the first
serene, Uncovered chapel stampeded
by the sightseeing mob.
T. R., who always walked to church,
would come marching down Sixteenth
street, while two Secret Service men
followed along behind. The crowd
which trailed him was held back, not
SO much by suasion as by force.
The crowd followed Taft to the
Unitarian Church. almost tore down
/ the church of which Wilson was a
member, turned Congregationalist with
/ Coolidge and followed Hoover to the
| Quaker Meeting House. Today it is
st. Thomas Episcopal Church, on
Eighteenth street near Connecticut
avenue. where traffic piles up on SUM-
day morning and the staff of ushers
has been increased. trained to be
lynx-eyed and cautious as Secret
Service men.
VilIified During Lifetime.
But the Lincoln church never at
tracted the crowd 1t was only by
dying that its most distinguished at
| tendant became national hero. In
his lifetime Lincoln was called, among
other things, mountebank, an in
fidel an apeman, coward, tyrant.
He had rebellious cabinet, hostile
Congress and disloyal Copperheads to
face. Often the press was hostile and
many pulpits were pacifist. Not until
many years after his death was his
pew made shrine within shrine.
Today stories of Lincoln associa-
tions here are the most precious lore
of the church, handed down by the
congregation from one generation to
the next like precious family tradi-
tions, and from pastor to pastor. We
give them here as they were told to
us by the present pastor, Rev. Joseph
R. Sizoo, a great student and admirer
OF Lincoln. Many of them are the
personal experiences of Rev. Phineas
D. Gurley, who was the pastor in Lin
coins time and became Lincolns inti-
mate friend. Church records often
pnfn ~ ~ 49, D,-