Evening Star Newspaper, November 30, 1930, Page 96

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, NOVEMBER 30, 1930. Georgetown Church Has Anniversary, Founder and First Pastor of Presbyterian Congregation Had Interesting Career as Pioncer in That Section of District—Revo- lutionary War Service and Tomb in Oak Hill Cemetery—One Burial Area Became Mural tablet placed in the Swiss- Chapel in Oak Hill Cemetery, in memory of Rev. Stephen Bloomer Balch, D.D., by William W. Corcoran. BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. ODAY, one of the oldest religious de- nominations in the District of Co- lumbia is celebrating its one hundred and fiftieth anniversary; and the oc- - . casion is a notable one, particularly in local church history. Of courss, a hundred and fifty years ago there was no city of Washington, nor a District " of Columbia; in fact there was no certainty of a United States, because it was not until 1781 - that Cornwallis made this possible by surren- dering his forces at Yorktown. However, there was a Bladensburg, as well as an Alexandria and a Georgetown, and other places as well in wht we might now call Washington's metro- _ politan district, but of these only Alexandria and Georgetown, the two really important " places, were included in the Ten-mile Square when the District was formed in 1790-91. Alexandria, as is well known, was retroceded to Virginia in 1846, leaving only to us, in the remaining part of the District, the City of Georgetown, which at the time of the laying out of Washington was a flourishing place of considerable industry and commerce, and to " this old place we must often look for many of our earliest institutions and landmarks, as hap- pens to bz the case with the Georgetown Pres- " byterian Church on P street, near Thirty-first street, which had its beginning when the cele- brated divine. Rev. Stephen Bloomer Balch, D. D, in 1780, rented a little frame build- ing which was used as a school house during the week and as a church on the Sabbath. . This modest structure, we are told, was on the north side of M street, near Thirty-third, where later stood the carriage factory of Cook & Jarboe. True, Dr. Balch did not do his first preaching there, for, during the preceding year, when he was passing through Georgetown, he was invited to preach, which he did several times, in the German Lutheran Church, a log building on the corner of Wisconsin avenue and Q street, then in the charge of Rev. Clement Brooke, an Episcopal minister. R. BALCH was not only a pioneer preacher in Georgetown, but he was one of the earliest educators as well, and no man did more for the advancement of religion, for the enlight- enment of the people, or for the uplift of the . citizen than did this worthy man during the _many years he filled the pulpit in Georgetown. M’ would not be fair to some of the other religious denominations, long established in West Washington, to say that Dr. Balch was the first clergyman to serve his Master there, nor would it be correct to say that there was no religion or house of worship there prior to his coming. But it can be said, with perfect fairness to all pthers, that no Georgetown pas- tor of his day or since was more highly es- teemed, vencrated or beloved than was this wonderful man who labored untiringly for nearly 54 years in the vineyard of the Lord, and who left behind him a character well worthy of emulation by the members of the cloth who have, during their many years, filled the various pulpits in this quaint town, and especially those of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church, of which it has been truthfully said he was the “father and founder.” When Dr. Balch came to Georgetown, there scems to have been no regularly established preacher in that community. That other de- nominations had preceded him to this place, there can bes no doubt. But he came and stayed, and built up an everlasting reputation and a congregation that started at first with less than a dozen members. He did even more than this; for he not only filled his own pulpit, but he frequently served other churches as well, and upon special occasions even turned his house of worship over to other congregations. He ministered to the sick, irrespective of creed, and he performed the last rites for all when- ‘ever called upon to do so. He was, indeed, an ideal Christian, whose apostolic mission on this ‘earth could not have been better filled by any one. Playground. Bridge Street Presbyterian Church which stood at Thirtieth and M streets northwest until 1873.” TWO Jacksons of Georgetown—Richard P., the father, and Willie S., the son—have left behind valuablz writings regarding this noted preacher and the Georgetown Presbyterian Church. The subject is well treated in “The Chronicles of Georgetown, D. C.” by the former, and in The Star of April 1, 1893, is an extensive and exclusive article signed by the latter, who in speaking of the early Presbyte- * rian Church says: “The church which he had erected in 1782 at the corner of Thirtieth and M streets north- west, 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 1793, and with characteristic enterprise he had a steeple erected and a bell placed in it. “Soon after the removal of the seat of gov- ernment to Washington City, considerable ac- cessions were made to the congregation and it was necessary to enlarge still further the church edifice, which was done under the immediate superintendence of Dr. Balch. All Protestant denominations worshiped 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 1821, the building being insufficien to accommodate all who desired to was determined to pull down the old buildi . and erect & much larger edifice, whi standing until the Spring of 1873, demolished and the material used in construet- .ing & new church on P, near Thirty-first street”” ANOTHIR statement, perhaps a little clearer, was made by Rev. Benjamin F. Bittinger, D. D, in 1910, in outlining the history of the Bridge Street Presbyterian Church, later the ' West Street Presbyterian Church, and now, the same church, known as the Georgetown Pres- byterian . Church, in which he speaks as fol- lows: “At first the infant church, organized in 1780, worshiped in the woods skirting the settle- ment, then from house to house, subsequently in ‘'a_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). This temporary building was displaced in 1821 by a large and commodious structure, which remained standing until 1873. To- ward the erection of the Bridge street church President Jefferson contributed, while he and Presidents Washington and Jackson were occasional hearers of Dr. Balch. At the first communion observed, there were only seven persons present, including the ruling elder, a Mr. Orme, the first and for many years the only elder. “Such was the growing popularity of Dr. Balch that it was not long before it became necessary to enlarge the building; so that in 1821 a larger building was erected on the corner of now M and Thirtieth streets, which remained until 1873, when it was demolished and a part of its material used in the construction of this edifice (P, near Thirty-first street), in which we are now assembled. It is of this building, the old Bridge street church, of which, from personal knowledge, I speak—which, as some of you can remember—while not pretentious in its architecture, was yet commodious and well adapted for worship. Its appearance is plainly daguerreotyped on my mind at the present time, being constructed of brick, having at its rear a steeple in which was placed a bell. “It had a gallery on three sides, one gallery (the one opposite to the pulpit) being used for the choir, which, in my day, was without an organ, the only instrument being a formidable bass viol, whose strings were manipulated by a Mr. Marden, Capt. Noyes being the leader of the choir, assisted by Mr. Richard Cruikshanks. “The gallery on the west side of the church was occupied by the colored contingent present at times of public worship. The pews were un- varnished, rather old fashioned, yet not uncom- fortable. The floors were innocent of carpets, being laid with squares of brick, while large stoves, located at the entrance, furnished the heat, instead of furnaces, as at the present day. “At that time the Lord’s Supper was ob- served, not to communicants sitting in their pews, but around & table set in front ¢f the pulpit, all of whom must have been immune to { Grave of Rev. Stephen Bloomer Balch, D.D., in Oak Hill Cemetery. The marker, covering the grave is the same one placed in front of the Bridge Street Church by the family in 1835." The . headstone is the regulation War Depart- - ment marker. To the rear of the tree can be seen a part of the monument to John Howard Payne, author of “Home Sweet Home.” $ microbes, as they received the wine from the same cup instead of, as at present, v cups.” N a talk with Isaac Birch the other day, tha$ veteran undertaker and well known George= town citizen said that he remembered well the Bridge Street Church that stood for so many years on the southeast corner of Thirtieth and M streets northwest, exactly opposite the old Union Hotel, to which President John Adams was escorted on June 3, 1800, when he made his first visit to the Federal City. This old building was destroyed by fire in 1832, and re- built in 1836, and stands today remodeled into stores and apartments. g 2 Mr. Birch also said that during the Civil W: the church was used as a hospital for wounded soldiers, and that he remembered at the close of the war some boys getting into a part of the steeple and throwing out some military equip- ment, mainly clothing, that had been removed from the wounded men and stored there. He said, when the fact leaked out, that it created much resentment and excitement in George- town. He said he further recalled the placing in the church of the maimed soldiers, returned, no doubt, from the Szcond Battle of Manassas., In a check-up, the writer found that this old church was used as a hospital from Septem= ber, 1862, to December 29 of the same year, and for this purpose a flooring was laid above the pews to obviate their removal, as was done with a number of churches around Washing- ton at Lhe time. It was Joseph F. Birch, father of Isaac, who temoved the remains of Dr. Balch from the wall of the Bridge Street Church to the Pres- byterian Cemetery in May, 1873, an event well recalled now by the son, Isaac Birch, who says that the thing that particularly impressed him at the time was the pulling down of the steeple, for much of the material was wanted for use in building the West, or P Street Church. The seeds of religion sown by Dr. Balch, and which proved so fruitful in Georgetown, did not come without effort and hardships upon his part. Indeed, many a man less resolute would have quailed under the burden. In 1799 he was even made homeless by the grading of & street through the hill on which his dwelling stood. This home, which he called I4eence, and which he built in 1783, stood on a round, green -hill near the river, on the east side of Duck lane, now Thirty-third street, south of what was then known as Scotch row, where the canal crosses that street. It was surrounded by a few cottages, we are told, and close by was & run- ning brook that made its way to the river. Perhaps there are a very few people in George- town today who ever heard of Duck lane or Scotch row, and many other places which were familiar to the early inhabitants. TOBAOOO then was an important part of the commerce of Georgetown, and the grading of the street through the doctor’s prop- erty was done in order to connect the tobacco warehouse with the wharves and shipping. “The house,” it is said, “divided itself into halves and bricks and mortar fell into the street. In other homes fires were sparkling on the hearths, but in the old pastor’s house was the scene of desolation and despair, and to add to their misery the larder was empty—a typle cal home of a pioneer pastor. The old pastor, in his distress, gathered his family .in prayer and supplication to Him who never deserts in time of need, when kind friends came to his relief, and his Wife was domiciled for the re= mainder of the Winter with one of his parishe ioners.” The son, Rev. Thomas Bloomer Balch, re- cords in his “Reminiscences” this unfortunate event as having taken place in 1805, and not 1799, as given by Jackson. His account of the incident follows: “We are not afraid of Dr. Balch's being for- gotten in these diggings; for in 1805 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 a thundering crash into the newly excavated street. Obh, what a fall was there, my countrymen! _ - “It was the depth of a severe Winter at the