Evening star., 1951-08-12
Wit and Humor
Georgetown Church History Full of Tales
About EorIy Preacher, DR.. BoIch
By John CIoeett Proctor

The two Jacksons of Georgetown:
Richard P, the father, and Willie S.,
the son, have left behind valuable
writings regarding the Georgetown
Presbyterian Church and its noted
preacher, the Rev. DR.. Balch. The
subject is we'll treated in The Chron-
icles of Georgetown, D. c." by the
former, and in The Star of April /,
1898, there appears an article signed
by the latter who writes:
THE church which he (Dr. BalchD
had erected in 1882 at the corner of
Thirtieth and M streets NV, after
10 years had elapsed would not seat
all who desired to attend divine
worship. and it became necessary to
enlarge the building by extending the
north front in 1893, and with charac-
teristic enterprise he had steeple
erected and bell placed in it.
Soon after the removal of the
seat of Government to Washington
City, considerable acceSsions were
made to the congregation and it
was necessary to enlarge still further
the church ediflce, which was done
under the immediate superintendent
of DR.. Balch. All Protestant denomi-
nations worshipped here and received
the word of God at the mouth of DR..
Balch, and communed together at the
same altar, such was the liberality
that prevailed in those days. In 1921,
the building being insufficient to &C
commodate all who desired to attend,
it was determined to pull down the
old building and erect much larger
edifice, which remained standing un-
til the spring of 1873. when it was
demolished and the material used IN
construction a new church on P. near
Thirty-f1rst street"
The Bridge Street Church
Another statement, perhaps little
clearer, was made by Rev. Benjamin
F. Bittinger, D. D., in 1910. in outlin-
ing the history of the Bridge Street
Presbyterian Church. later the West
Street Presbyterian Church, and now
known as the Georgetown Presbyteri-
an Church, as follows:
"At first the infant church. organ
lied in 1880, worshipped in the woods
skirting the settlement, then from
house to house, subsequently in log
building at the corner of Wisconsin
avenue and Volta place.
Later the congregation worshiped
in a rented room on Thirty-third
street, and finally in a permanent
location at the corner of Bridge and
Washington streets (now M and
Thirtieth)."
His House Fell In
Rev. Thomas Bloomer Balch. the
son, records in his "reminiscences
an unfortunate event as having taken
place in 1905. and not 1899, as given
by Jackson. His account of the Incl
dent follows:
I'VE are not afraid of DR.. Balch's
being forgotten in these diggings; for
in 1905 he saw his house. which
stood on a hill below Scotch row,
digged down by the corporation. for
Just one-half of the domicile went
off with laundering crash into the
newly excavated street. Oh. what a
fall was there, my countrymen!
1T was the depth of severe win
ter at the time of the occurrence.
Being in the house at the time. my
remembrance is quite clear that the
Potomac was frozen to a density of
10 inches, and wagons and horses
were galloping over the ice. Happy
boys were skating on the river, just
as if it had been a canal in Holland.
They were regardless of the catastro-
phe, as if nothing at all had hap
pened. When its owner came home
he rejoiced that not one of his little
children was buried in the ruins"
A Memorable Sermon
1t was around this period that
Mrs. Thornton records in her diary
reference to the sermon DR.. Balch
preached on the first Washington's
Birthday after the generals death.
Her record says:
About noon we returned home to
after to George Town, where DR.. T.
stopped at the bridge and we pro-
ceeded to the church, where, after a
prayer and hymn. Mr.. Balch deliv-
cred a funeral sermon. The people
of the city and George Town joined,
to show their respect to the late Gen.
Washington-the society is too small
for them to edual in pomp the other
cities, but they did their best-there
were about 1000 people assembled at
the church"
DR.. Balch had humor as we'll as
religion in his soul, and it is we'll
that he did, for in his early days in
the ministry in Georgetown it re-
quired cheerful disposition to over
come the hardships of hunger and
desperation in which he probably
more than once had to endure.
w. S. Jackson is responsible for
several stories on the old doctor; one