Fifty Notable Years

"I well remember the joy we all experienced when we entered the Orchard Street Church. The transition from the little Grand Street chapel which we had previously occupied was striking enough. The church was large, very large, to my unpractised eyes. True, it had no side galleries, as it had afterwards, and was in every respect inferior to what it became, but I doubt if Solomon, when he first entered his majestic temple, felt more deeply impressed with its greatness or its awful sanctity than I did on the day when we first occupied this church. It seemed to me a goodly place, where, as I hoped, Universalism was to be revived and restored in that great city."

There were prophecies of failure on the part of some friends, but the persistence and faithfulness of the young pastor (encouraged by his companion, whose whole heart was in her husband's work) and his brave adherents, by God's blessing, wrought success.

In 1832 the city of New York was visited fearfully with the cholera. It was suggested by some that the church should be closed during the epidemic, and the members of the congregation were one day desired to remain after service to express their opinions on the subject. Many were about to leave the city, and thought the church might be closed for two or three months and the pastor dismissed to the country. At last Captain Packard, a somewhat eccentric but warm-hearted and worthy man, rose and said that he should remain in the city, and if ever he needed the support and consolations of religion, it was during such seasons as they had already entered. If the pastor felt alarmed and desired to leave, he of course would not complain, yet he should greatly desire to come up to the house of his heavenly Father to listen to his word and worship at his altar. This settled the question, and the Orchard Street Church was open regularly, morning and afternoon, through the whole of that gloomy and trying season. And in this case, as always, the path of duty proved in the end the path of greatest advantage. Many – perhaps a large part – of the churches in the city were closed, and the pastors gone. The minds of the people were seriously impressed, and the Gospel of infinite grace proved itself well fitted for such an emergency. The Universalist church was uniformly well attended, and great good was accomplished by its ministrations. The society continued to increase. Old friends, whom circumstances had alienated or caused to stand aloof from the movement, returned one after another and forgot their former difficulties and discontent. The best of feeling existed among the members and greatly encouraged all hearts.

Though the Reformed Dutch Church gave up their new house on Orchard Street, yet no sooner had it come into the possession of Universalists than the members of that communion began to express a most lively concern for the interests of religion. Dr. Sawyer writes: —

"The 'Christian Intelligencer,' their religious journal, soon began to pay some attention to Universalism; and Dr. Brownlee, one of the boldest, if not one of their ablest, men and ministers, commenced a course of lectures against the doctrine. The lectures were repeated in the Dutch churches in the city, and briefly reported in the 'Intelligencer.' An attempt was made to get them repeated in the Orchard Street Church, but failed. The Doctor was quite too busy to permit it. His lectures were regarded by his friends as exceedingly able and altogether irrefutable. He possessed a great deal of assurance, and made assertions with vast boldness and emphasis. As a reasoner he was but a third or fourth rate man. The ad captandum was his forte, and among those who knew nothing of Universalism, and undoubtingly believed in endless misery, his reasons were satisfactory if not convincing."

The lectures were closely examined by Mr. Sawyer before large congregations. It was a grand opportunity, and he improved it. This review was afterwards given to the public through the press. The attack intended to check the spread of Universalism served to increase and strengthen it. During Mr. Sawyer's subsequent pastorate of thirteen and a half years, other controversies followed. With Rev. Mr. Slocum, a Presbyterian clergyman, he held a discussion that occupied fourteen evenings, and added twenty families to the Universalist congregation. He answered Rev. Mr. Remington, a Methodist clergyman, and reviewed Rev. Dr. Parker's lectures on Universalism. These lectures of Mr. Parker had been preached and published in Rochester some years before, and were, without essential alteration, repeated in several churches in New York. Mr. Sawyer happened to possess the Rochester copy of the production, and very much to the astonishment of many he replied to the learned Doctor's lecture on the very evening after he had delivered it in the immediate neighborhood in the morning. Another debate was also held by Mr. Sawyer with Rev. Mr. Hatfield, the substance of which was published in a small volume entitled "Universalism as it is." It was a rule with this sentinel on the Universalist watch-tower in that city never to allow any antagonist of "the faith," whose position and character deserved attention, to pass unnoticed or unanswered.

The Orchard Street Church was emphatically a success. After Mr. Sawyer left it in 1845, it enjoyed the effective pastorates of Rev. Otis A. Skinner, since deceased, and Cyrus H. Fay (still useful and honored among our older ministers), and others. It has probably done more for the diffusion of Universalism than any other single society in the State. All the societies in its immediate neighborhood, Bleecker Street, Murray Street, Fourth Street, Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, were first formed by members of Orchard Street, and may be regarded as offshoots from that parent stock. It labored not merely for itself, its own ease or aggrandizement, but for the good of the cause, a veritable missionary institution.

In the autumn of 1845 Mr. Sawyer removed with his family to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y., and took charge of the Clinton Liberal Institute. He succeeded in converting it into a Universalist school, and opened in connection with it a primitive theological school from which he sent out about twenty-five students, more than twenty of whom are still in the ministry well and successfully employed. At the close of 1852 he returned to New York, and, having preached for what was formerly called the Dry Dock Society a year, he returned to his old parish and continued with it until the spring of 1861, when, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, and the volunteering of his oldest son on his farm at Clinton, and on account of parish affairs in that distracted time, he resigned and went to Clinton, where he remained, preaching for the parish there until January, 1863, when he again returned to New York, and took the editorial charge of the "Christian Ambassador." This paper was founded by Philo Price in 1831, under the name of "The Christian Messenger," of which Mr. Sawyer was the theological editor for several years. It passed under several names, and is now published at Boston as the "Christian Leader," united with the Universalist weekly formerly issued in this city.

In the autumn of 1865 he removed his family from Clinton to Star Landing, N. J., and took possession of a farm he had just purchased there. Here he remained, managing the farm and preaching occasionally, until the autumn of 1869, when he came to College Hill, Mass., and assumed the duties of Professor of Systematic Theology in the Divinity School, to which he had some time before been elected. He was one of the original trustees of Tufts College, having called the educational convention held in New York in 1847, which resulted in the establishment of the college. He was also chiefly instrumental in calling the first meeting in New York city to consider the necessity of establishing a theological school, which resulted in the founding of the Canton Theological School and the St. Lawrence University, of which he was also one of the original trustees, and for several years President of the Board. He received the honorary degree of S. T. D. at Cambridge, in 1850.

Among the published works of Dr. Sawyer are his Letters to Dr. W. C. Brownlee and to Rev. Stephen Remington in review of their Lectures against Universalism; the Occasional Sermon delivered before the United States Convention of Universalists in New York, September, 1841; "Endless Punishment, its Origin and Grounds Examined, with other discourses," 1845; Review of Rev. E. F. Hatfield's "Universalism as it is," 1841; Two Discussions with Rev. Isaac Wescott on Universal Salvation; "Who is Our God? The Son or the Father?" a Review of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, 1859; a preface to the Philadelphia edition of Petitpierre on "Divine Goodness," in 1843; "Endless Punishment in the Very Words of Its Advocates," Boston, 1879; an article in the North American Review, one of a series on the subject of Endless Punishment, in the March and April numbers of 1878. Besides the Occasional Sermon already noted, he has preached two others before the United States Convention, one in Middletown, Conn., and the other at Rochester, N. Y., in 1876. From the beginning Dr. Sawyer has taken a deep interest in the literature of Universalism. He has written much for the "Quarterly" and for the other church periodicals. He was instrumental in originating the Universalist Historical Society, which has now a very valuable library at Tufts College.

Dr. Sawyer has been an incessant and faithful toiler; and in all his work, whether as preacher or teacher, has sought the promotion of the Gospel of Universal Grace. His adherence to the work and advancement of the Universalist Church has been steady and unfaltering, and his defence of the Christian Revelation as an authoritative dispensation from Heaven through Jesus Christ, clear and unequivocal, in admirable contrast with the flippant rationalism and scepticism which have in too many instances found expression under the names of "Liberal Christianity" and "Free Religion."

There is a church edifice in New York city in 127th Street, near Lexington Avenue, which represents the Second Universalist Society of New York, organized in 1828. It was completed two years ago, and is called the "Sawyer Memorial Church."

Among the older living ministers who have made themselves specially and constantly useful in the Universalist Church during the last half-century, no one is deserving of more grateful notice than Rev. Thomas Baldwin Thayer, D. D. He was born in Boston, Sept. 10, 1812. Having received the usual rudimentary training and experience of boyhood, he successively passed through the grammar schools of his native city, and at an early period in youth he entered the Latin school under the direction of Mr. B. A. Gould. The young student had testimonials that his diligence was observed with marked approval. He entered college at Cambridge, where by permission he was to pursue his studies for the first year, without college rooms, under the tutorship of Mr. F. P. Leverett, the distinguished author of the Latin lexicon. For certain reasons he was induced at the end of his first year to abandon a collegiate course, and from the duties of a college student he very soon entered the Hawes Grammar-school in the capacity of an assistant. Soon after this, Mr. Leverett, resigning his position as principal of the Latin School in Boston, opened a private institution, mainly with a view to prepare students for college, and invited his former pupil to become his assistant, which invitation Mr. Thayer accepted. It was while connected with this school that his purpose to devote himself to the work of the ministry was formed.

His first engagement to preach was with the Universalist Society in South Dedham (now Norwood), where he supplied the pulpit for several months. This made his work quite arduous. His duties in his school and those in the growing parish kept him constantly and closely employed. In June, 1832, Mr. Thayer received Letters of Fellowship from the Boston Association, and was ordained by the same body in the following December. In April, 1833, he accepted an invitation from the First Universalist Society in Lowell, and entered upon a pastorate there, which he kept for twelve years. While in this city, as another has written: —

"Encouraged by the large congregations which regularly attended on his preaching, he was moved to consider whether it were not possible to meet the inquiring spirit of the people by a course of sermons under circumstances which would give opportunity to present the leading doctrines of Universalism to a larger number of persons than could be accommodated in a church. This thought was communicated to some of the leading members of the society, and after due consultation, followed by prompt action, it led to the experiment of a series of sermons in the capacious City Hall. The immense room was filled with attentive hearers throughout the entire course. He then proposed that, in conjunction with his own labors in the church, regular preaching should be held four or five Sundays in the City Hall, and that a subscription of fifty cents from each person friendly to the project should defray the expenses incident thereto. Rev. J. G. Adams was engaged to supply the specified time. The result was that to this day the meetings have never been discontinued. The germ was originated, which, under the ministry of Rev. Zenas Thompson, developed into the Second Society, now worshipping in the beautiful edifice on Lowell Street."53

From Lowell Mr. Thayer removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1845. His six years in this city were years of great usefulness to his church and beyond its limits. He connected himself with the Odd Fellows, and became editor of the "Golden Rule," a paper published in the interest of the fraternity. In 1847 he gave a series of lectures on "Social Progress," which were reported in part for the N. Y. "Tribune," as also a series of lectures on the "Dangers of City Life," especially in reference to young men. He was active in advocating social reform, the efforts for juvenile vagrants, and for the moral elevation of the poor.

Dr. Thayer has remarkable qualifications for a Christian minister, teacher, pastor, and writer. His sermons are always alive with thought, easily and earnestly delivered, doctrinally strong and clear, practically pointed, and plain; a mixture often of forcible preaching (not reading) from manuscript, and freest extemporaneous outpouring, sweet and fresh with the heavenly fragrance of the Gospel. In his Scripture readings at the opening of the church service, he is usually very acceptable to the hearers, interspersing the reading with explanatory words and brief practical inferences.

Dr. Thayer is well known as an author. In the early days of his ministry he published a volume entitled "Christianity against Infidelity," an able and a timely offering to the public, – a strong and candid appeal to the reader in behalf of the Christian Gospel from the Universalist standpoint. The work was some years afterwards enlarged, embracing the objections to historical Christianity by Strauss and Renan, and replies to them. A republication of this work would be timely now, in this season of theological thought, of religious drifting and doubt, of indifference and scepticism. His "Theology of Universalism" is a work of great merit, as also his admirable volume "Over the River." They deserve a place in the library of every minister, and should find a home in every Universalist family.

His most valuable work, however, has been done as editor of the "Universalist Quarterly." His qualifications for this service are striking. In addition to the able discussions in the publications from the pens of other authors, the department containing the editor's outlook into the religious world, his notes and comments on the times, and his discriminating notices of new publications, is of itself a rich and welcome entertainment to all who are familiar with the pages of the Quarterly, a review reflecting great honor upon the Universalist Church, and which the Universalist fraternity cannot afford to lose or neglect.

After closing his ministry in Brooklyn, Dr. Thayer had a second pastorate in Lowell with his old society, during which a severe calamity came to him. He was thrown from a carriage by a frightened horse, and so badly injured that for some time his survival seemed very doubtful. His many friends were deeply anxious, and the strain upon his physical system was intense. But through all this terrible sorrow his faith and hope sustained and inspired him, and the lessons of his sickness and Christian endurance were to many souls more impressive than any they had ever received from his pulpit ministrations. It was a cheering event to hosts of friends that he was gradually restored to the calling he so much loved, though with the effects of the accident upon him which must go with him through life. He afterwards removed to Boston, and was for a few years the much-esteemed pastor of the Shawmut Universalist Church in this city. Since his resignation there he has frequently supplied pulpits in the vicinity of Boston, always to great acceptance. At the present time he is engaged principally in his work with the pen.

Notwithstanding the unquestionable qualifications of Dr. Thayer as a public speaker, he is usually inclined to distrust himself, but no one of our ministers, when called upon to present any question of importance at the public assemblings of the church, is more acceptable than he. His lively musical notes of Christian truth and earnestness are sure to awaken a response in the souls of the listeners.

Rev. William Stevens Balch, of Elgin, Ill., is one of the oldest of the Universalist ministers now in active service. He was born in Andover, Vt., April 13, 1806. He received fellowship as a minister, of the General Convention at Saratoga, N. Y., in September, 1827, and ordination in Claremont, N. H., in June, 1828. His first location was in Windham County, Vt., boarding in Dummerston, preaching in neighboring towns one Sunday in each month, travelling on foot to the several stations, and receiving the payment of five dollars per Sunday. He remained there preaching in nearly every town in that region, until invited to his first settlement in Albany, N. Y., January, 1831. Being after a time worn down with over-exertion, he felt obliged to leave, and was settled next in Watertown, Mass., to which place he had been invited before going to Albany. His health soon improved, and he found himself in the receipt of a salary of $450. But again his health failed, and he was induced to remove to Claremont, N. H., in April, 1832. He preached there half the time, and supplied in Hartland and Springfield, Vt., and Newport, N. H., until a new church in Claremont was finished. Here he was very actively employed, not only as a pastor, but in doing missionary work in every direction.

In September, 1835, at the General Convention held in Hartford, Conn., he was recommended by Rev. Dolphus Skinner to a committee of the society in Providence, R. I., which was there to find a preacher "not committed to Restorationism or Ultra-Universalism," in reference to which isms the parish was quite divided. Mr. Balch consented to supply three Sundays, not as a candidate, for he desired to live in the country. He was, however, invited and urged to settle there, which he did, after some hesitancy, in March, 1836. His ministry proved a successful one. In two years the large church was crowded, and a second society was formed in the city. In 1842 he was invited to go as a candidate to the church in Bleecker St., N. Y. He declined, but soon after received a call to become the pastor there. Having become interested in what was known as the "Dorr" movement, and freely expressing his wish to have a "Republican form of government" by a Constitution, and seeing a political storm brewing, he accepted the call from New York, and settled there in November, 1842.

In 1848 he visited Europe, intending to go to Palestine. The troubles of that year made it difficult to go further than Rome. In 1852 he was asked by two men, not of his church, with whom a third joined, to go abroad if he wished, with full permission and means to journey as far and stay as long as he pleased. He was wise enough to accept the generous offer, and travelled extensively in Europe, extending his journey to Palestine, across the Desert, and through Egypt to Nubia.

After seventeen years' hard work in preaching, lecturing, and writing on religious and moral reform topics, he became quite worn down, and resolved to take life a little more leisurely for his body's sake, an exceedingly difficult course for him. He went to Ludlow, Vt., in 1859, preaching there half the time, and supplying other places, lecturing, and really working as hard as when in New York city. He then had another removal, to Galesburg, Ill., where he preached five years, and again resolved to retire, and removed to Hinsdale in 1870. But he still preached. In 1871 he was urged to come to Elgin, Ill., where the minister's work was still before him. In 1877 he entered the plea of old age and resigned, purposing a visit to California. Meantime he was invited to preach a Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa. The result was another pastorate. He refused to "settle," but consented to supply a few Sundays until the society could obtain a pastor. He continued three years and three months, not removing his family, but staying there. His ministry gave great encouragement to the church in Dubuque.

In 1880 Mr. Balch visited California; in 1882 the City of Mexico; and last winter Florida. At the present time his health is quite firm. As he writes of himself, "I am comfortably situated, use no glasses except in dim light; and am fairly content in contemplating the past, still busy with the present, and hopeful of a happy and immortal future."

When in Providence, R. I., Mr. Balch gave a course of "Lectures on Language," which were published in 1838. He also wrote a "Grammar of the English Language, explained according to the Principles of Truth and Common Sense," published by B. B. Mussey, Boston, and passing through four editions. In 1849 his volume "Ireland as I saw it" was issued, and in 1881 "A Peculiar People," the first edition of which sold in eight weeks. He is the author of a "Sunday-School Manual," published in 1837.

The business capacity of Mr. Balch was evinced in his raising funds for the Theological School at Canton, N. Y., taking charge of the location, plan, and rearing of the buildings, and selection of a principal. He afterwards completed the raising of a large fund for the institution, obtaining also $10,000 for the library, and securing the valuable libraries of Dr. Credner, and Rev. S. C. Loveland. He devoted much time to the business of making the "Christian Ambassador" of New York a denominational paper, and placing it on a sound financial basis. His work in these particulars was well and faithfully done.

Mr. Balch has always been a very ready and popular speaker with the masses. The graces of oratory he has not sought, but his talking power seems inexhaustible. Although in favor of fraternal organization for the good of the cause, yet his ideas in reference to creeds and to centralized authority are not accordant with those of many others of his brethren, who hold in high estimation the work he has done in the spirit and in the truth of the Gospel.

Among the long and successful pastorates in the great city of the West, – Chicago, – we may note that of Rev. William Henry Ryder. He is a New England man, having been born in Provincetown, Mass. (the son of Capt. Godfrey Ryder), July 18, 1822. During the early life of the son it was supposed that he would become one of the fraternity of seamen, as his worthy father had been. But this seems not to have been the Providential intent. The parent did his part in sending the lad to sea in a vessel bearing his own name, "William Henry," but the experience of a shipwreck cured the young sailor of what nautical tastes he might have possessed, and turned his attention in another direction. He became anxious for the life of a student, and in his eighteenth year entered Pembroke, N. H., Academy. He was a diligent and progressive scholar, and while at this institution decided as to the profession upon which he afterwards entered. At the age of nineteen he preached his first sermon in Manchester, N. H., and during the year following he preached frequently in Concord, in the same State.

Leaving the school in Pembroke, he entered Clinton Liberal Institute (Clinton, N. Y.), then in care of a learned and efficient teacher, Dr. Clowes. He preached frequently during his stay there. In the autumn of 1843, soon after he was twenty-one, he was invited to take charge of the Universalist Society in Concord, N. H., to which place he removed, and in November of that year was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Frances Adams, who has proved a worthy and faithful helper to him in all the experiences connected with his profession. His ordination took place in December, 1843. His ministry here was successful. The society had been formed under the ministry of Rev. J. G. Adams while doing missionary work in New Hampshire, in 1834. Faithful men and women had kept it alive through changes and vicissitudes until it realized a new prosperity under Mr. Ryder, which has continued to the present time.