CHAPTER FIVE          [history table of contents]

"Until the year 1820, the church in Lexington had been small and feeble and services were held in a little dilapidated building at the corner of Deweese and Short Streets, where a negro church now stands. In that year a great revival was begun, following one held in Clark County, which aroused much enthusiasm among Lexington Methodists who attended the meetings. The revival in Lexington lasted through the years 1820 and 1821, during which time many persons, both young and old, were added to its membership. It is a peculiar fact that previous to this time there had been no young persons in the society.... The revivals of 1820 and 1821 did much to overcome the minor troubles that had divided the congregation a few years before, and with a new life born into them were able to abandon their old quarters and erect a new and commodious meeting house." Lexington Herald, 1915.

This newspaper report, written almost a century later and eight years after the present limestone sanctuary had been erected, presents an interesting view of the Lexington church of 1820. Certainly, the meeting house at Short and Deweese would have suffered in comparison. Still, it was becoming small for the congregation, now numbering 183 members of both races. The issue of slavery was a major concern for both the Methodist Church and the country. In Lexington, center of the slave-holding Bluegrass, more than a third of the total members were black, probably due to the opposition of the Methodist Church to slavery. The circuit, itself, claimed 1128 members. Lexington, then, would account for more than sixteen percent of the total. Kentucky as a whole contained some 16,000 Methodists.

Revivals were a continuing occurrence. Reference has been made to a successful revival conducted by Rev. McDaniel in Georgetown the previous year. In 1820, McDaniel was assigned to both the Lexington and Georgetown churches, and he traveled between them. Harris was given charge of circuit with two assistants. The Georgetown revival was not the only one which increased the number of Lexington Methodists. Rev. B. T. Kavanaugh, one of several preachers to come from that family, described another revival held at Ebenezer, a small community six miles from Winchester on the road to Lexington. Kavanaugh's family had been among the founders of the Ebenezer Society in 1797. His account is a first person view and was given in a letter to Dr. Albert H. Redford, author of the history of Kentucky Methodism:

"The church at Lexington received great aid from the camp meetings held at or near Ebenezer. In 1819, the church at Lexington was very small, and worshiped in a little illshaped house, far out in the east end of town, which was afterwards sold as a cabinet shop. In the fall 1819 and 1820, the revival influence was carried from the camp-meetings at Ebenezer into Lexington, by those who attended it; and the society there thus received its first religious impulse toward a large and healthy growth. Previous to that time, there was not a young person in the society - none when I joined there. Old fathers Chipley, Chatton, Bryan, Gibbon, and a few others, were the fathers of the church. In 1820 and 1821, the revival continued, and a great many young people were brought into the Church."

In fairness to both Kavanaugh and the Lexington church, it should be noted that the theme of his letter to Redford was the usually high number of ministers who came from the Ebenezer society and its effect on other societies. Lexington would not have been designated a station three times if it was awaiting these revivals to gain strength. With that one note, however, the rest of Kavanaugh's observations appear valid. Active young members are necessary to a strong church, and if their absence had been a weakness in Lexington, the problem was now corrected.

At this same time, and perhaps as an outgrowth of the revivals, the church members helped to start and support a black mission which still survives today as St. Paul A.M.E. Church on North Upper Street.

For the preceding eight years, Kentucky had been divided by the national church between the Ohio and Tennessee Conferences. The General Conference of 1820, taking notice of the great growth in the West, created the Kentucky Conference, encompassing the entire state and adding thereto about half of what is now West Virginia and a portion of middle Tennessee. The first session of the new Kentucky Conference, fittingly, was held in Lexington in 1821.

The "small and feeble" meeting house in Lexington was thought by some to be too small for such a momentous event and the Masons offered their large lodge room for the meetings. The Methodists, however, maintained that the small church was adequate for the Conference and declined the offer

The Conference convened on September 18th, and fifty-nine full members and thirty-seven ministers on trial attended. All three Methodist Bishops, McKendree, Roberts and George, attended, and Bishop George opened the first meeting. Some idea of the effective size of the meeting house is given by the thought that it would be too small to hold one hundred people.

During Conference week, among other business, Nathanial Harris was admitted to full connection, and the Conference agreed to join forces with the Ohio Conference to start Augusta College on the Ohio River, and Burwell Spurlock was appointed to the Lexington church.

Perhaps in response to the cramped conditions during the Conference, the Lexington church purchased a lot on Church Street between Upper and Mulberry (Limestone) streets in 1822. Reporting on the new church built there and dedicated by Bishop Enoch George, the Lexington Morning Transcript-Herald noted that the cost of construction was $5,000. It described the new building as "a plain, well finished brick edifice, measuring fifty by sixty feet. It held seventy-five pews on the ground floor, and was provided with a gallery above" The size and configuration of the pews is not known, but assuming an average of four people per pew, the new church would accommodate at least three hundred worshipers.

The facade of the two storied structure was five bayed and crowned by a parapet which projected on either side, supported by stone brackets. The pulpit stood at the rear of the auditorium. The gallery was nine feet deep along both the front and sides of the church and was supported by nine square, reeded posts.

The congregation petitioned the Conference to return to Lexington again, and it did in 1822, now housed in the larger church.

George C. Light was appointed to the Lexington pulpit. A Virginia native, his family moved to Maysville while he was young, then to Ohio, where Light was converted. He entered the ministry at age twenty, but preached for only three years before locating in Ohio. Before returning to the active ministry, Light farmed, taught school, acted as a surveyor, and even served in the Ohio state legislature. Readmitted the year before his appointment to Lexington, Light would serve the church for another forty years. Bishop Redford knew Light personally, and praised him highly, describing him as a much sought after preacher. "By nature an orator, and brought up under the rugged scenes of western life, there was a boldness amid his strokes of eloquence that invested his sermons with a beauty and power that has seldom been equaled."

Light served Lexington at least one year. The records consulted do not indicate how long his service here lasted, although Arnold notes that about this time preachers began serving two years in one place. The next reference found to a Lexington appointment is 1825, when Edward Stevenson is sent to the brick building on Church Street.

Stevenson is an interesting touch of history. Born in Mason County, Ky. in 1797, his father's cabin had been the site, in 1786, of what Arnold describes as "the first prayer ever offered by a Methodist itinerant at a family altar in Kentucky," by Benjamin Ogden. Converted at age fifteen, Stevenson soon had occasion to deliver his first sermon at a service in his father's cabin, and seven people were converted. His first appointment as a traveling minister was to the Lexington circuit in 1820, assisting Nathaniel Harris. After serving Lexington's pulpit, Stevenson would continue to occupy the pulpits of most of the major towns and cities in Kentucky, serving as book agent, head of the Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, and finally president of Logan College.

In 1826, another Mason County native was appointed to Lexington, Richard Corwine. Thirty-seven when he came to Lexington and only nine years a preacher, Corwine appears to have been a dedicated but average minister. In a classic example of loving but faint praise, Redford Demoralized Corwine thusly:

"While he did not take rank in the pulpit as one of the first preachers of the Conference, yet his talents were above mediocrity, and he was always acceptable to the Church as a minister of the gospel. He never preached what the world styles great sermons, but he never failed to interest and instruct. His was not the flood of impassioned eloquence that overlaps its banks and cares everything before it; but it was the gentle stream that rolled smoothly within the limits assigned it, . . ."

However uninspired his preaching, Corwine must have had other merits, for he appears to have stayed at Lexington for a second year; either that or appeals to the Bishop for a change were unsuccessful. Lewis reports that he led a notable revival at the church in 1827.

1828 saw the Methodist General Conference remove the remnant of Tennessee from the Kentucky Conference, having removed the Virginia portion four years earlier. The Kentucky Conference now contained just the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The state conference this year approved the publication of The Gospel Herald, which issued its first sixteen page issue in August of 1829, from its offices in Lexington. The Conference also appointed Richard Tydings to Lexington.

Tydings published a book in 1844 on apostolic succession, to which he appended a sketch of his life. He introduced the sketch by saying it was in compliance with the request of the Kentucky Conference that each preacher prepare such a sketch to aid the Conference in memorializations. This history is indebted to Bishop Roy Short for providing a copy of Tydings' sketch. Tydings devoted almost five pages to his Lexington experience, mostly describing experiences with certain individuals or families in the congregation. However, he does provide interesting information about the church and Lexington.

Born in Maryland on June 16, 1783, Tydings' parents joined the Methodist Church while he was still a child. His family was deeply religious and he received strong early training. However, his mother died, apparently while he was in his early teens, and Tydings began to travel down what he called "the broad beaten road that leads to everlasting ruin." Fortuitously, when Tydings was about twenty, he found himself sharing a room in Annapolis with a new convert. This other young man was dedicated in his devotions, and soon Tydings rediscovered his earlier religious feelings.

He served several churches in Maryland and Pennsylvania before determining, in 1824, that he should move West. After consulting with Bishops McKendree and Soul, he was transferred to the Kentucky Conference. Tydings was apparently successful financially, although a thread of concern over neglecting his family in favor of the church appears now and then. He had purchased a parsonage in Maryland in 1814, and now on his arrival in Kentucky in 1826, he mentions his farm in Bath County on which he built "houses" for his wife and family, and servants. Tydings does say his father was a slaveholder, but does not say whether his servants were slaves; they probably were. Although the Methodist Church had not yet prohibited preachers to own slaves, the question was a troubling one and was raised at each General Conference. Tydings notes in reference to the 1828 General Conference that it was not very pleasant and perhaps his feeling was due to the conflict slavery presented.

His first appointment was to Maysville, about forty miles from his farm. Although it was a large and promising congregation, at the end of a year he had attracted few new members and, discouraged, requested a new appointment. Whether he truly had grounds for discouragement, or had arrived in the west with too high expectations, cannot be evinced from his narrative.

Tydings relates that he took over Lexington from Stephenson "who immediately preceded me." Lewis does not indicate a change in ministers in 1827, nor does Arnold mention a new Lexington appointment for that year. However, in view of Tydings' first person account, either Stephenson was reappointed to Lexington after Corwine in 1827, or Corwine's performance was so lackluster that Tydings mistakenly overlooked him.

In any event, Tydings says that Stephenson had begun a great revival which Tydings had the privilege to continue until he left for the General Conference on May 1, 1828. On his return, despite good efforts from local preachers Chipley and Cooper, he found the spirit had slackened. Tydings attributes this not to his absence, but to the length of the effort which wore out people and preachers alike. Soon after his return, the Lexington church was "refreshed again with manifestations of divine goodness."

Tydings also notes that through the elderly preacher's own request, Leroy Cole had been appointed to Lexington with Tydings for the first year. Cole was born in 1749, and at this time was almost eighty years old. When Cole was admitted into the traveling ministry in 1777, one year after the Revolution began, there were only thirty-six itinerants in the country and less than seven thousand Methodists. He preached in North Carolina during the War, and was one of the first twelve elders, elected and ordained at the Christmas Conference in 1784. He located several years later, came to Kentucky in 1808, and settled with his wife in Clark County. From 1814 to 1816, Cole again traveled circuit, before retiring once more. Now in 1828 he requested an appointment for a year.

Cole explained his desire for another church, as old and worn out as he was, by telling a story of a pair of oxen. Both worked under the same yoke for many years until one died. The other continued to go stand by the cart each day. "Brethren, said he, I am now old, and cannot work much; but still, I want to stand by the cart." Lexington's church undoubtedly benefited greatly by this one year's exposure to a man whose life reads like that of the early church, writ small.

"In beloved, and beautiful Lexington," Tydings wrote, "we found many kind and hearty friends, as well in the Methodist Episcopal Church as out of it." Among the individuals and their families he describes are: Robert Wickliffe, "the widow Morrison . . . whose kind husband left a large sum of money to Transylvania University," John L. Martin, and Dr. Saterwhite. One episode is interesting for its commentary on Lexington at this time:

"Lexington station contains many worthy members of the church of Christ; one among them that now occurs to my mind I will now mention, because of her undeniable, and useful Christian course. When she came to reside in that city, she was young, handsome, and wealthy; and might have turned to the gay world, and enjoyed all the earth could give. But, instead of doing so, although the Methodists were few, poor and despised, she cast in her lot with them, and has continued faithful until this day, . . ."

Tydings' ministry was apparently more successful in Lexington than in Maysville for he reports he had the good fortune "to receive a large number of souls, coloured as well as white into the bosom of the church of God during my two year's labor in Lexington." He was also a well read man, for he concludes this section of his autobiography by paraphrasing the poet William Cowper: "Oh, Lexington, beautiful Lexington, with all your faults we love you still"

The Kentucky Conference met at Lexington again in 1829, and William Holman stayed in town as the new minister. A Shelby County, Ky. native, Holman had established the first society in Frankfort and helped built a church there in 1822. He had joined the Conference in 1816, and was an active minister for fifty-one years. He spent the majority of his service in Louisville where he organized the Broadway Church and Seaman's Bethel and occupied the pulpit of every church in that city. His later accomplishments show the strong energy and ability which he brought to Lexington during his year here. The following year, Lexington would report at Conference that Holman's annual salary of $200 had been paid in full.

The eloquent Rev. Light was reappointed to Lexington in 1830, followed in 1831 by William Adams. Adams traveled several circuits during the eight years after his admission, including the Lexington circuit in 1821. He was appointed Presiding Elder in 1822 and served in that office until his death in 1835, with the exception of this one year in the Lexington pulpit. He is described as having a very strong mind, and as being highly educated, especially in English literature.

Nothing has been found to indicate the Lexington congregation had a particular problem at this time which required the intimate attention of a presiding elder. Adams may simply have requested the appointment to experience again the direct involvement of a stationed minister after nine years as elder. If the Lexington church did have a problem, it would once again have been the result of events in the national church.

For many years the power of the presiding elders had been growing and a reform element among Methodist preachers nationally was pushing for a change in the process of selecting the elders - from bishopric appointment to election by the preachers. The 1820 General Conference voted to require the bishops to nominate three times the number of elders needed, and the preachers would then elect from among that pool of choices. However, when a popular and newly elected bishop resigned over the change, enforcement of the rule was suspended until the next General Conference.

At that meeting in 1824, the motion for enforcement failed to pass. The reformers immediately sought to rally support for their position. They began publishing a periodical called "Mutual Rights" and organized twenty-four support societies in twelve states in three years. The reaction of the church was to expel many of the reform ministers and their followers. These people then formed the Associate Methodist Reformers and put their grievances before the 1828 General Conference.

That Conference responded by agreeing to permit the reformers to return on the condition that they abandon their position and disband the societies. That was unacceptable. The reformers and their supports formally left the church and formed the Methodist Protestant Church, rejecting both concepts of presiding elders and the episcopacy. Whole congregations switched churches and nationally over 100,000 Methodists joined the splinter church.

This dramatic series of events would have been a topic of much discussion when the Kentucky Conference met at Hill Street the following year. Inevitably members of the congregation would have participated in some of those discussions, especially as the visiting ministers were usually housed with members. Even if the congregation harbored no support for the reformers, they would have been curious about the controversy.

Again, there is no apparent evidence of any problems with the Lexington church in connection with the reforms, the new denomination, or otherwise, although the congregation had experienced two schisms in the past. It just seems unusual that an elder of nine year's tenure would have been assigned to a local church for a year in the midst of a denominational crisis over the post of presiding elder, and then reappointed as elder for three more years.

1831 was also the year Lexington was officially incorporated as a city by act of the Kentucky General Assembly. The legislation replaced the trustees with a mayor and twelve councilmen, granted immunity from county taxes, and established a city court with the mayor as judge. The same year, the first tie was laid for the Lexington & Ohio Railroad. The goal was the Ohio River, not the state, and Louisville was to be the terminus. Over $900,000 of company stock was sold in just five days. By the first of 1834, the railbed had reached Frankfort and carried horse drawn carriages holding forty passengers. The next year, steam powered engines would reduce the travel time to two hours.

In the process of construction, the railroad company built a fill in front of Col. John Francisco's farm and house in Woodford County. The good colonel was so enraged at his blocked view, he sold his entire farm to the railroad. Located about half way between Lexington and Frankfort, the farm was a convenient stopping point. The directors build a small town Midway - and named its streets after themselves.

John James, described by Short as a strong leader in the Conference, was appointed to Lexington in the midst of the hotly contested presidential election between Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay. Thirteen years later, James would be a member of the Kentucky delegation to the meeting in Louisville which organized the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

1833 was the year of the cholera epidemic in Lexington, when over 600 citizens died, more than ten percent of the total population. That year, Hubbard Hinde Kavanaugh was given a two year appointment to the Lexington church. Kavanaugh would later be elected bishop and play a major role in the history of Kentucky Methodism.

Born in Clark County to Rev. and Mrs. Williams Kavanaugh, H. H. Kavanaugh was one of four sons to become Methodist ministers. At thirteen he was apprenticed to a printer in Paris, Kentucky. Two years later, Kavanaugh was converted and soon desired to become a Methodist preacher. His master, who was also a Presbyterian minister, generously released him from the final two years of apprenticeship. Thirty-one years old when he came to Lexington, almost half of his life to date as a preacher, Kavanaugh would serve the church until his death in 1884. An adequate summary of his life and church leadership is impossible in the confines of this history. It is sufficient to say that the Lexington church was fortunate to have Kavanaugh in its pulpit for two years.

In 1834, John Newland Maffit came to Lexington to conduct a revival with Kavanaugh. Maffit was an extraordinary man, perhaps the first of that breed of minister known as the professional evangelist.

He arrived in Kentucky the preceding year, and began a series of almost continual revivals across the state. Arnold describes him as ". . . an enigma. That he was a very eloquent preacher, with a very magnetic personality, and an unusual power over a congregation, cannot for a moment be questioned. But these qualities were mixed with weaknesses and glaring inconsistencies that greatly detracted from his ministry, and constantly placed the man under suspicion and criticism."

While in Louisville, Maffit demanded total control over a revival there. It shortly developed that he had persuaded the church members to contract with him directly to preach two sermons per Sunday over a six month period for the sum of $1,500! This, it should be remembered, at a time when the Lexington church was paying its minister an annual salary of $200. When the regularly appointed ministers attempted to reenter the pulpit, some of the congregation actually hissed. The minister who had to reaffirm control over his own church called Maffit ". . .a mystery I never could solve. He certainly possessed rare talents as a speaker, and held his audiences under more perfect control than any one I ever heard." Maffit soon left Louisville for Lexington, and the congregation admitted that they had been led astray.

One can imagine, then, both the great zeal and spirit of the revival in Lexington and the tension and struggle for control between Kavanaugh and Maffit. The Lexington paper noted that "the eloquent Maffit conducted a revival here.... Immense audiences were entranced by his glowing words, and many connected themselves with the Church." Maffit presented certain dangers and temptations along with evangelical zeal. The Lexington church benefitted from the latter, while avoiding, no doubt due to Kavanaugh, the former.

The death of Benjamin Odgen was reported at the 1835 Kentucky Conference, meeting in Shelbyville. The issue of slavery, and where the church stood, continued to grow in importance. The Conference reaffirmed its opposition to slavery and its approval of gradual emancipation and recolonization in Africa. No doubt the Lexington church, situate in a strong slaveholding region and perhaps counting slave owners in its congregation, was suffering over the issue as well.

Edward Stevenson returned for a third time to Lexington in 1837, establishing a record for separate appointments to the church. While here, Stevenson staged a great revival which lasted over two months and featured a return appearance by Maffit. Again, despite what Short called a tendency to be too commercial and to manipulate situations and people to his personal advantage, Maffit served the Lexington church well, bringing to the altar one hundred and thirty converts as new members. Stevenson continued in Lexington for the following year, the usual period of an appointment now being two years.

Arnold makes the bold assertion that "perhaps no more useful man even belonged to the Kentucky Conference than George W. Brush," and this man was appointed to Lexington in 1839. Physically, Brush "was of medium height, well-knit frame, fine open face, lighted up by dark, fine eyes, above which rose the dome-like forehead, crowned with steel-gray hair." Although only thirty-four when he came to Lexington and therefore probably yet to obtain steel-gray hair, Brush already had a reputation as a pastor/evangelist, one who could conduct great revivals and win converts, then organize and train them in the church. It appears that his preaching style, in contrast to the great pulpit eloquence of the day, was more conversational and laced with humor, a style more modern. Its effect was no less, however, and the Lexington church continued to grow during his pastorate. Brush would be an active minister until his death in 1870. He was a member of the delegation to the conference establishing the Methodist Church, South.

Nineteen years before, the Lexington church was accounted to consist of a small, and it would seem, aging group of believers, meeting in an undersized and "ill shaped" house at the edge of town. From that rude beginning, however, the congregation grew rapidly, building a new brick church which, by 1839, they were outgrowing under the influx of new members. It was time for another move, time for a bigger church perched on a hill overlooking Lexington.

CHAPTER SIX          [history table of contents]

Forty-one years previously, when the top of South Hill was as remote from the center of activity in Lexington as the corner of Short and Deweese, the German Lutheran Communion purchased a sixty-four foot by two hundred and forty-four foot lot on Hill Street, located roughly halfway between what are now Upper and Mill Streets. They raised the funds to purchase the land and erect a story and one-half frame church by means of a lottery. The building was used both as a church and as a schoolhouse for children of the members, who were almost entirely German immigrants. Sometime during the years they began using the rear portion of the lot for a graveyard. The site looked down the hill over the tops of commercial buildings and across the waters of Town Branch.

In about 1815, the building was destroyed by fire and no replacement was ever built, although, evidently, the graveyard continued to receive deceased members. The membership continued to dwindle over the years, and by 1840, only one of the trustees was still alive. By 1883, the German Lutheran Church in Lexington, established in 1795, was described as "long since extinct."

The German Lutheran denomination had great difficulty in graduating enough ministers from its German seminaries to supply the new congregations being established in the United States by German immigrants. Not infrequently, due to doctrinal similarities, German Lutherans joined Methodist churches. It would appeal that in 1840 the few remaining members of the Lexington German Lutheran Communion decided to join the Lexington Methodist church and contribute their lot. Whether this admitted speculation is correct, or the Methodist purchased this large lot overlooking the town, the Methodists determined to erect a new church on the site. This lot is now under the eastern portion of the main church building, and has been hallowed ground since 1799.

Under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Brush, and without question active leadership and work from members of the congregation, the Lexington Methodists purchased this ground, and during 1840 and 1841, built their new church. From this time, the congregation became known as the Hill Street Methodist Church. (The appellation "First" would not come for many years, requiring, of course, at least one other Methodist church to be established and survive and, as history would have it, at least one other Southern Methodist Church.)

According to Clay Lancaster, the new church "seems to have been quite plain, with a three bay facade having a screen that rose above the front gable. It was given 'overbuilding and redecorating' in 1874, and was 'handsomely improved' in 1883, the latter changes leaving its entrance almost identical to that of the Second Christian Church on Constitution Street."

As this new construction was being completed, the Kentucky Conference took a major step which no doubt affected Hill Street Church. The Board of Trustees of Transylvania University offered to turn over to the Conference control and administration of the Academic and Preparatory Departments, while retaining the Schools of Law and Medicine. The plan was that the Kentucky Conference would assume initial responsibility then the national Methodist Episcopal Church would adopt it as its university. The Kentucky Conference unanimously accepted the offer. The General Conference, although it endorsed the idea, never completed its share of the arrangements. Ultimately, when the national church divided North and South in 1844, this Southern institution was left for the new Southern General Conference to adopt. That was done in 1846. Unfortunately, internal dissensions, denominational jealousies, and the failure of the other Conferences to contribute sufficiently to its support, led the Southern Methodists to give back control of Transylvania in 1848.

Transylvania, the first college west of the mountains, had a troubled beginning. Prior to the Methodists, the Presbyterians, Baptists, Episcopalians and Unitarians had all tried their l hands. Under the Methodist administration of Dr. Henry B. l Bascom, Arnold reports, Transylvania had one of its greatest 9 periods of prosperity. After Bascom took over, enrollment increased by a factor of ten. Had the national church not divided l and the resources of all Methodists been available, Transylvania might be a Methodist university today.

During the eight years of Methodist control, however, the University and Hill Street Church, situate on the two hills overlooking Lexington and in sight of each other over the tops of trees and downtown buildings, would work closely together. Bascom was a close friend of Henry Clay, whose law office sat between the two on Mill Street, and one can imagine Dr. Bascom walking down to Clay's office and the two men discussing the University or Hill Street Church on their way to lunch.

In 1842, the Kentucky Conference returned to Lexington, holding its meetings in the Old Medical Hall at Transylvania. No doubt the Conference was interested in inspecting first hand this institution they had taken under their care. During Conference, Dr. Bascom dedicated the new Hill Street Church building.

Richard Deering was appointed to Hill Street for a two year pastorate. Born in Greenup County, Ky., he was admitted as a minister in 1832, traveling that year as an assistant to Richard Corwine on the Fleming circuit. The two men conducted extended revivals that year, converting hundreds. During his sixty years as a Methodist preacher, Deering would serve as presiding elder of New Orleans and Louisville, as well as serving many churches and circuits. In 1843, Deering conducted a revival in Lexington which added 195 new members to the roll of Hill Street Church.

The following year, 1844, stands as a monumental year in American Methodist history. The long standing issue of slavery, which was affecting almost every aspect of American life, produced in its religious life a division of the Methodist Church. The northern church retained the name "Methodist Episcopal Church," while the new division took the name "Methodist Episcopal Church, South."

Kentucky fell within the borders of the southern jurisdiction, and Hill Street followed the Kentucky Conference south. Kentucky's delegates to General Conference which approved the division were: H. B. Bascom, William Gunn, H. H. Kavanaugh, Edward Stevenson, B. T. Crouch and George W. Brush. Kavanaugh and Stevenson had served the Hill Street church; Brush occupied its pulpit in this year, and Bascom was presiding over Transylvania. Kavanaugh was presiding elder of the Lexington District. Few congregations in the country would have had as many delegates in so close proximity to them to answer questions and concerns about the action of the General Conference. Many Kentucky churches promptly mirrored the national actions and divided into two churches, North and South. The presence of so many southern church leaders in Lexington must have helped prevent a northern split from Hill Street.

In this midst of these national events, Hill Street Methodist Church sold its former location on Church Street for the sum of $3,500. The early 1840's were economically difficult in Lexington, with an increase in the number of bankruptcies and lawsuits. Many owners had to sell their property at substantial losses. There is no direct evidence that Hill Street Church had to sell its property; nor is there any evidence that they had a use for it. However, a depression is not the ideal time to sell real estate, and it may be presumed that the church had a greater need for the proceeds from the sale then they did for the property.

Brush continued at Hill Street for 1845, the year Cassius M. Clay began publication of his abolitionist newspaper, The True American, in Lexington. The Kentucky Conference, South, met and divided the state into two conferences: Kentucky and Louisville. The northern Kentucky Conference continued as one region until the two groups merged back together almost a century later.

William A. Hibbon was named to Hill Street for 1846, followed by the return of H. H. Kavanaugh in 1847. In what appears to be the first instance of an assistant pastor for the church, William H. Anderson was sent to Lexington as well.

Anderson is described by Arnold, who knew him in his later years, as scholarly, polished in manner, a thorough gentleman and an excellent preacher. Admitted on trial in 1838 at the age of twenty-one, Anderson served several churches including Frankfort, before coming to Transylvania as professor of English in 1842. He worked there under Bascom until his appointment to Hill Street. Later he would serve as president of no less than four Methodist colleges, including Kentucky Wesleyan, as well as pastor to many congregations during his fifty-five year ministry.

Kavanaugh held a revival in December of that year which attracted the notice of the Lexington Observer. The newspaper reported that there was "a gracious revival going on in the Methodist Church in this city, and what adds no little interest, that it originated and is principally confined to the students of our University." For the students of Transylvania to generate revival services at Hill Street in this the next to last year of Methodist administration of the school indicates better than anything else the close relationship with the Hill Street Church.

John Miller came to Hill Street in 1848 for two years. Most of the appointments in this period were for two years. Miller is reported to have been an excellent physician before being called to the pulpit in 1840. After service at Lexington and Louisville Fourth Street (the two strongest churches in the state at this time), among other charges, Miller was sent to Paris and Millersburg in 1852. There, to augment his income and better care for his family, he began the Millersburg Male and Female Academy, a Methodist school. At the end of his two year appointment, he was moved, but the institution continued and evolved into both Kentucky Wesleyan College and the Millersburg College for Women.

Bishop Short notes in his history that a northern church had been organized in Lexington by 1848, but gives no more information. It is unlikely that the northern Methodist Church would have ignored a city as important as Lexington, and would have tried to organize a church here. The name of that church has been lost as it apparently did not last long. The 1849 state elections produced a strong victory for pro-slavery forces, and the general attitude would not have favored a northern church.

One Methodist preacher who may have been associated with this northern Methodist church was Calvin Fairbank, one of the most famous of the local leaders of the "Underground Railroad."

In 1843, Fairbank outbid a New Orleans man for a slave woman being auctioned at the market on Cheapside, next to the courthouse. He set her free immediately after the sale. In 1844, Fairbank and some others took an enslaved waiter at the Phoenix Hotel, together with his wife and son, to Maysville and ferried them across the river to freedom. On the way back to Lexington, Fairbank and his accomplices were arrested at Paris and jailed at Megowan's Jail on South Upper Street.

Sentenced to fifteen years in the state penitentiary, Fairbank was pardoned in 1848, only to be arrested again in 1851 for helping slaves escape. This time, he served eleven years of a like term, being released only after the Federal forces occupied Kentucky in 1862.

Rev. Fairbank obviously lived in the Lexington area, if not in the city, and it may be that he was pastor of the northern church. However, his overt activities and imprisonments would have made it very difficult for any northern church to continue in the face of growing pro-Southern public opinion.

The year 1850 saw the election of Bascom as bishop and the appointment of Lorenzo D. Huston to Lexington. Transferring to the Kentucky Conference in 1843 from Ohio, Huston was a man of literary abilities. After serving Hill Street, and Southern churches in Covington and Cincinnati, he became editor of two Methodist publications in 1854 and moved to Nashville. There he remained until U. S. Army troops invaded Nashville during the Civil War and took possession of the Southern Methodist Publishing House. Huston then became chaplain of the 18th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry in the Confederate army. After the war, he returned to the Kentucky Conference.

The owners of a three story building at the southwest corner of Main and Upper remodeled it extensively in 1850. An ornamental, cast-iron facade was added, and the top two stories were converted into a concert gallery called Melodeon Hall, with auditorium seating for up to four hundred people in front on the stage and in the balcony. Operas, concerts, and shows, including an appearance by the famous Gen. Tom Thumb, were held here for about thirty years. This building is now known as the McAdams and Morford building and its facade is one of the more famous elements of historic downtown Lexington.

William C. Danley (Lewis erroneously spells his surname "Dandy"), admitted to preach in 1842, came to Hill Street in 1852. Arnold reports that little information is available about him, other than that he was retiring, little given to speaking from the floor during Conference, and having an effeminate voice. Although a minister of the Church, South, Danley was strongly pro-Union during the Civil War. When the war ended, several pro-Union leaders of Southern Kentucky Conference were rejected as delegates to the 1866 General Conference, South. Danley and others, who became known in Methodist history as the "Loyal Eighteen," left to join the northern Kentucky Conference.

Rev. Samuel Adams, perhaps named for the Revolutionary patriot from Boston, was named to Lexington in 1854, and quickly caused a revolution of his own at Hill Street.

During the ministry of Adams, a disagreement arose between Adams and the Hill Street church officers over the authority of those officers. Adams, long-time church trustee Nicholas Headington, and fifty-seven other members of the congregation left Hill Street to start their own Methodist church. A fire that year destroyed Transylvania's old Medical Hall, which it shared with the Lexington Library, at the corner of Market and Church Streets. Adams' group purchased the damage structure for $300 and repaired it, using it as their chapel. The Kentucky Statesman, a Lexington newspaper, reported on January 16, 1857, that the new Methodist Church, located opposite the Episcopal Church, would be dedicated on Sunday the 18th. Unfortunately, the newspaper did not report on the dedication itself, and it is not known whether the Bishop was present or represented (thus showing Church approval of the local division), or whether Adams performed the service himself.

This new congregation took the name "Second Methodist Episcopal Church, South." Had this church survived, it could have led to an earlier renaming of Hill Street Church; but it was not to be. Adams must have had an adamant view of who should have authority in a local church. The Lexington Morning Transcript-Herald reports that a "disagreement between the congregation and the officers of the new church resulted in the resignation of Mr. Adams and the calling of C. B. Parsons, who failed to give satisfaction, and at last, after existing independently for eight or nine years, most of the members returned to the old church, and deeded their property to the Church South"

Adams named his church building " Morris Chapel," after Bishop Thomas A. Morris. Born in 1794, Morris was licensed to preach in the Ohio Conference in 1816, and came to Kentucky in 1821, where he served several charges until 1828, when he returned to Ohio. In 1834, Morris became editor of The Western Christian Advocate, and in 1836 was elected bishop. Neither Arnold nor Short give any hint why Adams would have named the new building after Bishop Morris. It can only be concluded that Adams had conceived a great affection for Morris, who may well have guided Adams early in the latter's ministry.

If Charles Booth Parsons gave "no satisfaction" to the Morris Chapel congregation, it must have been in the area of local church policy and authority. It certainly could not have been in the pulpit.

Parsons had chosen to be an actor early in life and earned a great reputation as a Shakespearean player. He was converted by the infamous John Newland Maffitt in Louisville and felt called to preach. So great were his talents as a preacher that his presiding elder gave special permission for Parsons to begin before the end of his six month probationary period. His early ministry was interrupted by a prior commitment on stage before he could devote his full time to the church. Redford described Parsons in this way: "In him were combined all the requisites of the true orator - great emotion, passion, a correct judgment of human nature, genius, fancy, imagination, gesture, attitude, intonation, and countenance, with a commanding presence, all united in blended strength to accomplish the mighty purpose which moved his heart." Parsons left the disappointed dissident Methodists for other charges. Eventually he would align with the northern church in the year before his death in 1866.

Arnold notes that Parsons served churches in Frankfort, St. Louis (two churches), Cincinnati and Louisville (four), and a year as presiding elder of the Louisville District. Arnold does not mention Lexington in the list, although it is unlikely that there were two Methodist preachers named C. B. Parsons at this time in Kentucky.

The exact year Morris Chapel reunited with Hill Street is not known, but it occurred during or toward the end of the Civil War. The reunion was not occasioned by any failure of Morris Chapel to thrive; they had grown by a factor of four, to over two hundred members, when they returned. Nor does it appear that the Church, South made any particular policy changes regarding local authority in this period, so the cause of the dispute is supposed to have still existed.

Wright reports that anti-slavery unionists dominated Hill Street during the Civil War. It may be that the group which left under Adams was a pro-slavery faction of the congregation. Their return, after the question had been mooted by the War, or at least after Federal occupation of Lexington, together with their allegiance to the Southern Methodist Church, supports the idea.

Admittedly, it is at variance with the statement that this schism was over the power and authority of church officers; but when dealing with a topic as sensitive as slavery, a gloss was often applied in contemporary accounts. If there were truly a dispute over authority, it is unlikely that this group would have continued its alignment with the Church, South.

T. P. C. Shelman was appointed to Hill Street Church in 1855, in the wake of Adams' departure, and served for two years before being replaced by John H. Lirin. During Lirin's ministry, the church reported a membership of 219 white and 570 black churchgoers. Kentucky as a whole for the same year, 1858, was about twenty-eight percent black. The reasons for the high black membership at Hill Street is not known. As a Southern Methodist church, it may be presumed that slaveholders were members, and consequently, many of the black members may have belonged to white members. At the same time, Methodism never excluded free blacks and nationally, over the years, had assisted in the establishment of black congregations. The popular perception of a family owning great numbers of slaves is just that, and when true, only applicable to large farm operations. Families living in towns rarely owned more than one or two slaves, and even the wealthy in Lexington (few of whom were Methodists) did not keep many more. However, if it is correct that Hill Street's members were predominantly anti-slavery, the high number of black members is easily understood and a fair proportion of them would have been freedmen, probably independent tradesmen.

Edmund P. Buckner, described by Arnold as perhaps the strongest member of the class of new preachers admitted in 1843, was appointed to Hill Street at the age of thirty-seven. It would appear that Buckner was very intelligent, with a highly trained mind. He is described as a voracious reader, a laborious and accurate student, and as having amassed". . .a large store of literary, scientific and theological wealth" Buckner also studied medicine, a healthy side-line for a minister.

Unfortunately, Lexington benefited from Buckner's presence only one year, as he was replaced by Robert Hiner in 1860. Twelve years in the ministry when he arrived, Hiner was reportedly a strong preacher, "a particularly strong pulpit man" He guided Hill Street through the first two years of the Civil War.

In one of those touches of irony frequent in history, the hometown of Abraham Lincoln's wife saw the performance at Melodeon Hall of what Wright described as ". . .a memorable rendition of Shakespeare's Richard 111, staring a promising, darkly handsome young actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth" during the winter of 1861 - 1862.

William C. Danley returned to Hill Street's pulpit in 1862, and served two years, followed by W. T. Spruill in 1864. These two men led Hill Street Church during the majority of the Civil War. Little is known of them, but something is known of the church while they were there.

In 1894, Rev. H. P. Walker, then at Hill Street, wrote a short historical sketch for the (Lexington) Church Record, published in 1897. He reports that the church ". . .had a great struggle for existence. Two sets of people were within her pale, the Northern and Southern, and their opposite sympathies and prejudices kept the church in a state of turmoil and confusion. The Unionists, however, held sway over the church in such a way as to cause many Southern sympathizers to go into the fellowship of other churches. Quite a number, from time to time, made their way into the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, in order to avoid discord and enjoy a season of peace. A church convulsed by the violent prejudices and passion, springing up on both sides during a desperate civil strife like ours, could not possibly, experience much numerical increase ."

Walker confirms (if he was not the source of) Wright's observation of northern dominance in the church. Interestingly, although he mentions other denominations as the recipients of member transfers, he does not mention Adams' schism. His final emphasis on numerical increase is the result of years of required reports as a Methodist minister, both quarterly and annually, on the numbers of members in his churches.

By 1865, the War was over, but Lexington was still "occupied" by northern troops. The Lexington Observer reported on September 16th, that mounted military police were patrolling the streets, although all federal troops around the town had been moved back a distance of four miles into the country. Six companies of the 185th Ohio Infantry Volunteers were encamped and six more companies were en route.

The newspaper column next to the report of the annual conference contained newly promulgated General Orders from U. S. Brigadier General James S. Brisbin, the new commander of the 1st Division (Military) Department of Kentucky. These orders announced Gen. Brisbin's assumption of command and further ordered that the "dangerous and unnecessary practice of allowing enlisted men to carry pistols and concealed weapons must at once be discontinued;" and that "officers and soldiers are reminded that we are now no longer at war, and the license granted in time of war will not be permitted."

Repercussions were still being felt as the country worked to reorganize after the conflict. The social, and religious, reorganization included the public realignment of many people who had either secretly sided with the North or felt that unity was now more important.

The Kentucky Conference, South, met in Covington in September, voting thirty-seven to twenty-three not to seek any union with the Northern church. At this conference, a group of ministers who came to be known as the "Loyal Eighteen" left the Southern connection to rejoin the Northern Methodist Church. This group included the pastor at Hill Street. In December, following the example and lead of the pastor, 133 members of Hill Street left to start Lexington's first permanent northern Methodist congregation, to become known as Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church.

It is reasonable to ask why, if Hill Street Methodist Church had been primarily anti-slavery, there was even a need for a group to leave and form Centenary as a member of the Methodist Church. Why didn't the congregation simply switch conferences?

The answer may lie in the distinction between anti-slavery and pro-Southern feelings, coupled with a sense of loyalty to the Southern Conference. Wright notes that the sympathies of Lexington's citizens were generally pro-Union during the war (a reasonable stand in view of the northern armies encamped in and around town), but that they switched after the war ended. He illustrates his point with the fact that the only two statues on the courthouse lawn honor men Breckinridge and Morgan - who fought in the Confederate Army.

When the issue was raised before the congregation, there can be no doubt that the members heatedly debated their feelings and loyalties, the minister and others arguing for reunion with what they would have characterized as the original and "true" national church. Other leaders would have responded, as in fact the courts had ruled in suits over control of church property, that the division years before had been the agreed creation of two churches, each equally the successor to the original body. There was another reason why a Southern Methodist would oppose reunion.

During the war, northern Methodist bishops sent "missionaries" south with the Union Armies to "retake," in an almost military sense, the pulpits of Methodist churches. Some Southern Methodist preachers were actually evicted from their churches by force by the northern preachers with the aid of the military.

The arrangements had been made through Secretary of War Stanton, whose mother was Methodist. Stanton ordered all Union generals commanding conquered areas to place at the disposal of Bishop Edward Raymond Ames of the northern Methodist church "all houses of worship belonging to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which a loyal minister, who has been appointed by a loyal Bishop of said Church does not officiate." If that were not enough, he also ordered the army to provide supplies and transportation.

When the protests of Southern Methodists finally made it through the lines and reached President Lincoln, he promptly directed Stanton to change his orders. Even so, the damage had been done and relations between the two branches of Methodism were at their lowest ebb. And as Ferguson notes, the "invasion was all the more painful because it was a peculiarly Methodist phenomenon." Despite Bishop Ames' appeals, no other denomination joined him.

Although no Kentucky churches were thus reclaimed, Hill Street was of the Church, South and Lexingtonians were in frequent communication with friends in the Confederacy. The memory of this action coupled with public criticisms of the Southern churches would have affected the debate. Unable to reach a compromise, the Hill Street congregation split.

The Kentucky statutes on church schisms directed that, when a congregation divided, for whatever reason, each group had the right to reasonable use and occupancy of church property. This was not a violation of the separation of church and state, for the laws made no distinctions regarding faith or doctrine. Rather, they acted to secure that over which the state has a right legislate: the property rights of its citizens.

Hill Street still owned Morris Chapel, as well as the main church property. It appears that the property issues were resolved and the statutes complied with by the departing members moving to Morris Chapel. This also leads to the conclusion that, while sizable, the northern group comprised a minority of the total membership as the chapel was the smaller of the two properties.

After meeting for a short time in Morris Chapel, they bought a lot at the corner of Broadway and Church streets and erected their own church. They named it, as appears to have been the custom, Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. The name change to Centenary would come in later years. It may be presumed that many of the black members also left to join other black congregations.

This left Hill Street in weakened condition. The Conference appointed Joseph Rand to the church, and together with Presiding Elder H. P. Walker, he set about rebuilding the congregation. In an historical article in 1915, the Lexington Herald reported that Walker "moved at once to consolidate the remaining members of the church, and by his industry and untiring efforts succeeded in paying off a debt that was then resting against the church for repairs, leaving a small balance also in the treasury." A part of this debt reduction effort included the sale of the Morris Chapel lot and building in 1866. It had been used for overflow meetings and was not now needed after the departure of the northern members. It may also be surmised that a portion of the sale proceeds may have been paid to the Centenary congregation in satisfaction of their legal rights to church property.

The Lexington Library Association purchased the chapel property and converted to their use. The library remained there until the generous gift of Andrew Carnegie and the assistance of Transylvania University enabled the construction of a new library in Gratz Park.

With the establishment of Centenary, Hill Street now began to be referred to occasionally as the First Methodist Church, South. The last involuntary division of the church had occurred. The long period of struggle, of coping with the problems of growth, schism and civil strife was over and the financial reports were positive.

CHAPTER SEVEN          [history table of contents]

As much as the Civil War in Kentucky was brother against brother, the years following the war saw a battle between the Northern and Southern Methodist churches which Bishop Short in his history of Kentucky Methodism characterizes as "altar against altar" The northern church came back into Kentucky and former Confederate states with a zeal to reclaim members. While Short notes the battle was particularly strong in Eastern Kentucky, he does not comment on whether Lexington's two Methodist churches joined the fray.

In all likelihood, they did. Then as now, many of Lexington's residents came from Eastern Kentucky, and would have brought their feelings about one church or the other with them. Hill Street and Centenary, both strong but both desirous of increasing their congregations, would have competed for new members. If any conflict existed between the two churches, however, it was not so great as to leave any mark in the newspapers of the time and both grew during this period.

In 1866, Brinkley M. Messick, a Lexington native, was appointed to the Hill Street pulpit. After attending Centre College, Messick transferred to Transylvania where he was class valedictorian. In 1858, he joined the Southern Conference, preaching in several central Kentucky churches before his appointment to his hometown. Later moved to the Louisville Conference, Messick was a national church leader and once came within a few votes of election as a bishop. He was also an early and strong supporter of the Methodist Home.

The following year, Messick and the church served as hosts to the Annual Conference. The newspaper reported that "for the first time in Kentucky there will be lay members of the Conference. We trust that the Rev. B. M. Messick, under whose ministry the church here has prospered exceedingly, will be returned to this charge."

He was not, however, and in his place was sent Robert Kennon Hargrove, a transfer from the Tennessee Conference who would be elected bishop in 1882. During Hargrove's pastorate, the first public school for black children in Lexington, sponsored by the Freedman's Bureau, was opened in Hill Street's former building on Church Street.

S. X. Hall followed him, serving Hill Street from 1868 to 1870. The Lexington Observer reported in July, 1869: "The residents on Mill Street, in the vicinity of the new gas lamps, are rejoicing over the fact that they can now go to church at night without breaking their necks in the darkness. A number of citizens on Broadway have petitioned the (City) Council to enable them to rejoice in a like manner. They claim that gas posts on their street are like angel's visits, decidedly few and far between, but that they are taxed enough to have a few more."

The newspaper didn't say which part of Mill Street had been illuminated, the short blocks north of Main Street to Transylvania, or south across Town Branch and up the hill past Hill Street and into which is now called South Hill. The church referred to in the article could have been either Hill Street Methodist, or any of the churches located on or near Church Street. Whichever congregation it was which benefited, the reminder is that Methodists and other congregations frequently attended night services by traveling in a darkness relieved only by whatever moon there might be and the light from an occasional house window. As few houses boasted gas, the light from candles near windows would not have helped much.

Gaslights were not the only changes in Lexington. The Lexington Daily Press began in 1870 as the city's first daily paper. It would later merge with the Transcript in 1895, and be renamed successively the Morning Herald and the Lexington Herald. Old Back Street, site of the Lexington Society's log cabin, had been extended to Third Street, and renamed Deweese in 1867. The population had grown, too; but the black populace had increased since 1860 at a rate six times that of the white. The two races were now almost equal in numbers, and in the post war period race relations were a problem for both groups.

H. A. M. Henderson was appointed to Hill Street in 1870 for a year, followed by Joseph Rand who served until 1873. During the last part of Rand's ministry, the summer of 1873, the church was substantially remodeled although the nature of the work is not known. The newspaper on July 18th, carried the announcement that: "On account of the improvements now progressing on the Methodist Church, South, on High Street, there will be no preaching there until further notice."

No doubt the preaching did continue elsewhere, but the work must have been extensive to warrant a complete cessation of services. The newspaper, in January of the next year, would comment in passing that anyone "who has not seen the Hill Street Methodist Church since it has been repaired will be surprised at the changes...." Interestingly, the name of Hill/ High Street must have been changing about this time, as these two articles exchange the names. The church, apparently, was still referred to by the old name.

The expense of remodeling the church was probably harder to bear for the members than they originally anticipated when they approved the project. Interest rates had climbed over the preceding three years to ten percent, very high for the period, and Lexington was in a mild economic depression.

In that same year, the city passed an ordinance prohibiting prostitutes from riding in open carriages, which must have afforded some small comfort to visiting preachers as, on September 3, 1873, the Annual Conference again met at Hill Street. The press reported that "the newly fitted-up church on Hill Street furnished a very pleasant and comfortable place of meeting" for the seventy-five to one hundred delegates. Lexington's lay delegation (being Hill Street members) was comprised of J. M. Tipton, J. W. O'Rear, R. B. George and E. W. Hardy. One of the first reports made to the Conference was on the state of the Church, South, described as prosperous and growing, with a new church having been built for each day of the year. The Church, South, had over 600,000 members. The Conference met for six days and considered several important matters. Among these was a resolution that "the character of any preacher who reported his own salary received in full, and other claims behind hand" not be approved. The resolution lost; but it reveals that the churches of the Conference were having occasional financial problems, and that the preachers were frequently faced with the choice of taking their pay in order to live or allocating the limited funds to other church debts. Resolutions directing annual inspections of church registers and quarterly conference records were passed, as well as one adding a layman from each district to a committee on changing the Conference boundary lines.

This Conference was also notable for the semi-centennial sermon of Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh (twice a pastor at Hill Street), commemorating his fifty years in the Kentucky Conference.

The Conference elected its ministerial, reserve and lay delegates to the coming General Conference, including Hill Street member J. M. Tipton in the latter category, and R. H. Read was appointed to Hill Street. (Lewis uses this spelling of his name, although a contemporary reference in the newspaper spells it "Reid.")

On March 4, 1874, the Lexington Daily Press reported that a revival had been in progress at Hill Street for several days and was continuing without any abatement of interest. One hundred and six new members had united with the church during the revival. "This is said to be the largest increase ever known in the same length of time in this church," according to the article, "and it is of special comfort to the older members that the new additions are largely heads of families, grown young men and young women." This is one of several references in the historical record to the welcome addition of new, young members to Hill Street and seems to indicate that the church experienced periodic "graying" of its membership.

In 1876, the same year the Red Mile race track opened, H. Pierce Walker, a Fleming County native who had joined the Conference in 1856, was appointed to Hill Street. In 1865, just after the end of the War, he was one of thirteen members of a Conference committee on the State of the Church. The committee majority approved the recommendation that the Kentucky Conference reunite with the (northern) Methodist Episcopal Church. Walker presented the minority committee view to the contrary, and his report was adopted by the Conference on a vote of thirty-five to twenty-four.

While at Hill Street, Walker conducted an eight week revival which gained over 160 new members. Lewis reports in her 1939 history of the church that, at that time, there were still members in the congregation who remembered and spoke with enthusiasm of this revival.

Walker was obviously a great preacher and worker who lost no time in performing his duties. In May, 1878, the General Conference authorized creation of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, which the Kentucky Annual Conference in September adopted. In October, newly home from Conference, Walker organized the Hill Street Auxiliary of the Society, beginning with sixty-three women and thirteen men as members. The following year, the first Annual Session of the Kentucky Conference Society was held at Hill Street.

Bishop Short tells us that in this era the prevailing limit on service at one church was four years, and Rev. Walker reached that limit in 1880. The newspaper reported on September ll th that "by the request of many friends," (no doubt from the desire to hear favorite sermons once more), Rev. Walker "has consented to preach his sermon on 'The Ark' Sunday at 11, and his sermon on 'The Flood' Sunday night at 7 ½ o'clock." The Annual Conference began at Hill Street on the fifteenth, and Walker was appointed presiding elder. "No better promotion could have been made," the press noted. "Mr. Walker has proven a faithful and efficient pastor and will carry both wisdom and fidelity to the discharge of his new duties."

The earlier recession was followed by a boom period in Lexington. By 1880, Lexington was served by four railroads extending north, west and south; and a fifth, to Eastern Kentucky, would follow in a few years. The first telephone company was established, having offices on the third floor of a building on Cheapside. Its equipment was primitive, however, and a tangled mass of individual wires streamed from its third floor window down to the poles on Main Street.

Lexington had also outbid Bowling Green as the site for the state's new Agricultural & Mechanical College, which would grow into the University of Kentucky. The city gave $50,000 in bonds and its city park, formerly the fairgrounds, as a campus. In 1881, the first college football game in the region was played in Lexington. Kentucky University, as Transylvania was then known, beat Centre College by the improbable score of 13 3/4 to zero.

C. W. Miller followed Walker in the Hill Street pulpit and was no less well thought of by his contemporaries. In 1881, Miller, while at Hill Street, was appointed by the Conference as a delegate to the Ecumenical Council of the Methodist Church, South, to be held that August in London, England. As a further honor, he would be one of five delegates to speak before the Council. Before he left for this journey, however, Miller continued well the work begun by Walker; for example, the Foreign Missions Society reported on June 26, 1881, that it had collected $235 that Sunday. To give some idea of that sum, membership dues to the Conference Society are reported by Bishop Short to have been ten cents per month in 1880.

F. W. Noland (or Nolan) was appointed to Hill Street in 1882, for four years. Lewis reports that the church grew steadily in numbers during his pastorate.

The year 1882 began with a strong religious call for Lexingtonians, one which some preachers felt was not answered adequately. The preachers of several local churches met to plan Union Services for the first week of the year, and individually made special references to "Renewed Consecration" in their sermons on January second. The Daily Press presented the schedule of services for the public, to be held each night, as follows:

Monday: "Thanksgiving" First Baptist Church
Tuesday: "Humiliation and Confession" Second Presbyterian
Wednesday: "Blessing of God" Broadway Methodist Church (i.e., Centenary)
Thursday: "Young" Hill Street Methodist Church, South
Friday: "Universal Peace" Upper Street Baptist Church
Saturday: "Church Missions" First Presbyterian.

The paper reported that the Union Meetings were in accordance with the design of the Evangelical Alliance for the Week of Prayer in 1882, and it appears that this alliance had been at least a Lexington practice for several years. Rev. George Wilson of Second Presbyterian, preaching at First Baptist, set the tone for the meetings, as reported by the Daily Transcript:

"He was glad that Christianity could forget sects and get down to where it was in the first century, to the missionary effort, which from a small beginning had filed the whole world; that for one week the different bodies of Christians could meet on common ground. Here was a reason for thankfulness." Viewing the pews before him, however, Rev. Wilson also regretted that, while the surrounding areas were well represented that night, Lexington was not.

The meetings continued during the week but bad weather kept attendance low. The preacher at the third meeting was reported to have said that "the Christians in Lexington are an unpraying people." Whether that was a comment on low turnout for the meetings or the state of religious feeling in the city, the paper did not report.

The newspaper's report on the fourth session, held at Hill Street on the topic of the "Young," is interesting. First, the reporter notes that although "the walking was very bad, the streets being very sloppy, yet a good audience attended,' including, appropriately, more young people than at the previous sessions. Then, commenting on the evening's address, the reporter said:

"(The) greatest question, perhaps that troubled the minister, was how to reach, what to do with, the brilliant young man the open, frank, honest, manly boy - the toast of the club, the pet of society? Then the question presents itself, where is there any place in the Church for the Christian young man? He either becomes a teacher in the Sabbath school, an usher in church, or does nothing, . . ."

The article goes on in this same vein for more than half of its length, straying in an almost personal way from mere reporting of events. Even with due consideration for the form of the article and the general newspaper style of the day, it must be wondered whether the now unknown reporter so plaintively presenting these questions didn't see himself as one of those "manly boys," the toast of his club, but unable to find a comfortable place in his church.

That article, as well as all the reports, was not attributed; so it is not known whether the final report on Union Week in any way reflects whether the "manly boy" found his answer. The 7hanscript concluded its series of reports thus: "The series of union meetings last week, in the different churches, was one of the most remarkable held in the city for many years. . . In the spirit of union and brotherhood which prevailed; the pertinency and excellence of the addresses; the fullness and power of the prayers, the city has had no such meetings since the winter of 1875."

In addition to his work in these annual Union Meetings, Rev. Nolan led Hill Street in the last of the major renovations to its 1840 building. Once again, extensive work was done, and among the new was the purchase of new pulpit chairs of turned wood with cushioned seats and backs. These were used until the new building was erected in 1907. Current members of the church will immediately recognize these chairs as being two of the four present chairs on the platform. For the 19671968 renovation to the sanctuary, a third chair, matching but slightly taller, was copied and donated by a church member. Later another church member made and donated the fourth chair, matching the third in height.

Additional work included the purchase and installation of a new pulpit and altar rail, conversion of the old balcony (built during the Civil War, according to Lewis, for black members, since decreased in number) into a Sunday School room, and installation of a new furnace to replace the old series of drum shaped stoves which heated the church. However, as Lewis reports, the arrival of the furnace was delayed. The church women had undertaken the task of raising the funds to purchase the furnace through church sociables, oyster and ice cream suppers, County Fair dinners and court day dinners down on Cheapside. Twice, however, another pressing need was found and the money diverted to those uses. Finally, after the third drive by these hard-working church women, the money was raised to buy and install the furnace. The first pipe organ for the church would be installed several years later, in 1892.

The decade of the 1880's saw several developments in Lexington, some significant in history and some incidental. In 1882, the Woodland Park Association purchased 110 acres from the heirs of Henry Clay and developed both the present fifteen acre park and a residential subdivision with 480 lots. The Lexington Railway Company was chartered the same year and in seven months laid nine miles of track along Main, Broadway, Limestone, Third and other streets. It began operation the following year with wooden cars and thirty miles. By the end of the decade, the first electric street car was operating out of a "car barn" on Louden Avenue. The street cars and residential expansion created an increase in land values as more people could live in the new "suburbs" and commute to town. This would later create a problem for Hill Street Methodist church.

City sponsored improvements were not lacking, either, as the council approved purchase of a giant steam roller to be used to level the many brick, wooden block and macadam streets. In 1884, the fourth courthouse was erected, and the city policemen discarded their old "uniform" of a hat with a black band proclaiming their job for a true uniform. In 1883, the federal government began free city mail delivery.

Finally, in 1889, Transylvania University began admitting women students, two years after the new Opera House opened on Broadway. Although coincidental, the two events no doubt combined to provide increased patronage for the Opera House and increased concern for University officials.

John R. Deering was appointed to Hill Street in 1886, following the end of Nolan's four years. The newspaper for September 5th, reported that Rev. Nolan was to preach his farewell sermon that day, and noted that he "has done more for Hill Street church" than any other pastor. The press, not given to speaking ill of ministers, frequently bestowed these accolades on departing pastors, but Nolan deserved the praise. Lexington at the time of Deering's departure boasted a population of 26,000, and its real property was assessed for tax purposes at a total of $7.6 million.

Union Services were held again in 1887, and this time it was remodeling at Second Presbyterian which caused a relocation of services from that church to Hill Street, the Presbyterians having removed their old pews but not yet installed the new. On December 27, 1889, the Lexington Press reported on a Christmas celebration for the children in Hill Street's Sunday School. The event featured a poem by Longfellow, missionary offerings by the students, hymns, an appearance by Santa Claus, and the award by Rev. Deering of two prizes to the children answering the greatest number of Bible questions during the year. Lewis also reports that Deering conducted a great revival during his pastorate.

The Annual Conference returned again to Hill Street in 1890, with former Hill Street pastor Bishop Hargrove presiding. E. L. Southgate was appointed to the church, replacing Deering, and H. P. Walker, another former pastor, was named presiding elder. According to the Lexington Press, the "weather, always on the lookout for conventions and the like, was promptly on hand" for the first session of the Conference "with a steady downpour, not a storm, nor a gentle shower, but a rain that meant business" to greet the arriving ministers.

The evening sermon on September 11th was delivered by Dr. Morrison of Frankfort. He took the story of Jonah as his text, and delivered himself of "a torrent of plain English and unvarnished common sense." In the process, he "hurled at Lexington the damnation for drink and gambling and horse racing that Jonah hurled at Nineveh for her sins." This was not the first time nor the last, as will be seen in the next chapter, that Lexington's social pursuits were at variance with the opinions of visiting preachers.

The full name of the new preacher at Hill Street was Edward Lush Southgate, Jr. He intensely disliked his middle name, as might be expected of a minister whose church was so vehemently opposed to drinking, even though it was a family name. The fourth son of a Methodist minister and a first cousin of Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh, Southgate had been a minister for twenty-four years when he came to Lexington; but before he armed himself with a bible, he had been armed with a gun.

Intending on a legal career, Southgate was enrolled at Miami of Ohio when the Civil War began. A Northern Kentucky native, he enlisted in a Boone County Confederate regiment on July 22, 1862. Just one week later he was captured by Union forces at Mt. Sterling and spent the next six months in prison, until he was exchanged with other prisoners of war at Vicksburg. He promptly, and against the usual conditions of exchange, enlisted in the Kentucky Mounted Rifles (CSA), trading foot soldiering for horse and a better chance to escape recapture.

Whether he completed the war in the saddle in not known; but on New Year's Eve, 1865, he was converted. A year later he felt the call to the ministry and was licensed to preach in Newport in April, 1866. The same month, he was also admitted to the Kentucky Bar, although he never practiced law. His father was also a preacher/lawyer, but his grandfather appears to have been just a lawyer.

At the Kentucky Conference of 1867 he was the youngest preacher present, and was assigned to room with the oldest, "Father Collard." Interestingly, Rev. Collard had received Southgate's father into the church forty years earlier and had, as a young preacher, administered communion to Southgate's great-grandfather at that gentleman's deathbed.

"The Rev. E. L. Southgate was pastor of First Church," the Lexington Herald noted in an article twenty-five years later, "when because of the wondrous revival held under his administration and the subsequent condition of prosperity, the idea was conceived by the Rev. Walker, who was presiding elder of the district, to found a new church in Lexington"

The Conference Journals show appointments and appropriations for 1890 and 1891 to a mission of the Hill Street Church. This was an effort, led by Southgate, to reach the many families, including some from Hill Street church, who were moving to the newly developed sections of the north end of Lexington. A Sunday School was organized, which met for a time in a private home. Attempts were made to start a church, but the committee in charge could not generate enough interest. Then, the Herald reported, "During one year that was filled with revival meetings about 125 persons were added to the First M. E. Church by the Rev. Southgate and $3,000 had been raised by subscriptions to pay off a debt on the church. With this new era of prosperity,. . ." the momentum was there to proceed.

A meeting was held at the church on a Sunday afternoon in August, 1894, and those present voted to ask the Conference to create Epworth charge. The Conference affirmed the request the following month and Rev. Southgate, for over four years a leader in the movement, was made Epworth's first pastor. About a hundred members of Hill Street transferred to the new church. It is also worthy of note that Southgate was so devoted to the establishment of a new church that he donated the land for the building. It is also significant that, for the first time, a new church was created involving some of Hill Street members through orderly expansion and not schism.

W. T. Bolling was appointed to succeed Southgate for two years, followed by C. F. Evans in 1896, the year of the first motion pictures in Lexington. These films were shown as short subjects between vaudeville acts at the Opera House. Evans, a native of Louisiana, was converted to Methodism in New Orleans in 1853. After the Civil War, he became a minister, serving in Mississippi, New Orleans, Arkansas and Tennessee before coming to Kentucky. During his pastorate, the Hill Street congregation was very active, supporting a Junior League, Epworth League, Ladies Aid Society, and both the Women's Foreign Mission and Home Missionary Societies.

Two years later the Lexington Brewery Company erected its new brewery on Main Street, opposite Deweese. It was the largest structure on Main Street and would stand for forty-three years. J. S. Simms was appointed to Hill Street. Lewis reports that " splendid spiritual advance was made" under these men, "but no interest could be roused in the need for a new church building." The existing church structure had been erected in 1840, and remodeled at least twice, the latest almost twenty years before.

On Sunday morning, March 6, 1898, a unique and unusual event occurred on the steps of Hill Street Methodist Church: a fight broke out between two members!

It seems, according to the front page report in the Morning Herald, that objections had continued for six years to a certain member of the congregation singing in the choir because his "voice was not suited to choir singing" He, however, stoutly maintained that it was the right of every church member to sing in the choir if he wished. The issue was the subject of discussion in several church board meetings over the years. Ultimately, a two man committee was appointed by the church board to inform the objectionable chorister that it was preferred he remain with the congregation. The man's voice must have been truly remarkable to be the subject of official board action. One can't help wondering whether the object of the action was to restore harmony to the choir or the board meetings.

After the service that morning, while the errant singer was standing on the church steps, the committee approached him to do their duty. On being informed, the member emphasized his restatement of his rights with a rhetorical shake of his fist. One member of the committee misconstrued the gesture and, fearing an attack on his person, promptly administered several blows with his cane to the other man. Other members of the congregation rushed to separate the men, and any further incident was avoided. The Herald reported that all concerned regretted the event; it does not report whether this eager singer was permitted back into the choir.

Doubtless, the choir's problems were resolved by the time a man with an unusual name for a Southern Methodist minister, Ulysses Grant Foote, was appointed to Hill Street in 1902. His arrival was preceded, however, by a rare gap in the pulpit. The Morning Herald reported on September 10th, from Louisville, that "it is understood here that the Rev. Dr. U. G. Foote, pastor of the largest Methodist Church (South) in Louisville, will be the next pastor of the Hill Street Methodist Church of Lexington to succeed Rev. Dr. Sims."

The recently held Kentucky Conference "failed to appoint a preacher to Lexington, at the suggestion of the presiding bishop," who desired to transfer Foote to the post from the Louisville Conference. This created a brief vacancy at Hill Street, because the Kentucky Conference met in September, and the Louisville Conference would not meet until October. Dr. J. L. Wever, president of Kentucky Wesleyan College was sent to occupy Hill Street's pulpit until the new appointment would be made.

The newspaper asked members of the Board of Stewarts of Hill Street for comment as they left a special meeting of the board. The members, however, while acknowledging that they had some indication from the bishop of his intent, did not feel at liberty to make their information public until after the Louisville Conference had acted on the new appointment. The 82nd Session of the Kentucky Annual Conference concluded in London, Ky., with the official notation that the Hill Street appointment was "to be supplied."

Foote was described by the Lexington Herald as an eloquent speaker, and "a man of large and liberal views." He had been a member of the Louisville Conference for thirteen years before his appointment to Lexington, and each of his appointments was to "a bigger and better field," capped with Louisville Chestnut Street church before his transfer. Short describes him as an orator of the old school, "an unusually handsome man, tall, erect in carriage, with an expressive face and a mass of white hair even when young."

Foote's tenure saw the elevation of the Park Avenue mission to church status. Park had been a mission of Hill Street for several years, meeting in a cottage on the south side of High Street when Foote came to Lexington. Under his pasturage, it prospered and was able to petition to be a charge, which was granted during the 1907 Conference. In just eleven years, Hill Street had been the sponsor of two new Methodist churches in Lexington. As with the founding of Epworth, it lost a number of its members to the new church; but unlike the schisms of the past, the community of Methodists in Lexington grew stronger. The new Park congregation, named for its proximity to Woodland Park, erected their church on the corner of High Street and Clay Avenue, near the cottage where they had been meeting. Later, under the pastorate of Dr. R. F. Ockerman, their facilities were increased by construction of an educational building on the west side of the church.

The Annual Conference was in Lexington again in 1904, and the press praised the efforts of Foote and the church members in preparing for the sessions to be held at Hill Street. Notably, "the quartette of the Hill Street Methodist Church will furnish music" for the Conference. The ministry of Rev. Foote in Lexington concluded with a report by the board of Hill Street Church that the year had been the most successful in its history.

An interesting aspect of this Conference was that it received requests from other city churches for guest ministers during the Conference. Methodist ministers were sent during the meetings to preach at Epworth and Centenary Methodist; First, Second and Maxwell Presbyterian; Chestnut Street and South Side Christian; First Congregational and St. Paul's A. M. E. churches.

The 1905 Annual Conference included in its agenda the election of the Conference delegation to the General Conference. Among those elected were clerical delegate E. G. B. Mann (one of three), clerical alternate J. R. Deering (one of two), and lay delegate Col. George W. Bain (one of three), all of Lexington. For the first time in Conference history, according to the press report, it took two ballots to determine the clerical delegates and five to elect the lay members. It does not say whether Lexington's representatives were among the contested spots or easily chosen. The newspaper also reported that W. J. Morphis was appointed to Hill Street, just a few months after the first looseleaf burley tobacco sales in the "Burley Belt" were held in Lexington.

By 1906, when J. R. Savage was appointed to succeed Morphis, Hill Street owned a church building and parsonage valued at $26,000, against which there was no debt, and served 692 members. As a consequence of this large membership, however, the need for a new and larger church was even greater. Crowding had been a part of Hill Street life dating from the period of 1894 to 1895, when Rev. Bolling's sermons would draw "a packed house for nearly every service." Although efforts toward a new building were made from time to time, nothing resulted.

Then, in 1906, Mrs. Scota Inskeep Chenoweth, daughter and wife of church officials, died leaving a bequest of $10,000 in her will toward erecting a new church. She also left a set of requirements: "The church was to raise $25,000; the new building was to be completed in two years and it was to be without debt when dedicated."

As Rev. Savage admonished in his report to the December Quarterly Conference: "This is the opportunity of a lifetime and if we fail to build under the inspiration of this bequest we may as well abandon the enterprise altogether. We can and must succeed and if the Official Board will lead the people they will follow us to victory."

The generous bequest was accepted unanimously, and a committee was created and empowered, in no small under statement, "to carry forward of Building a New Church and arranging all details necessary in carrying out the conditions of Mrs. Chenoweth's will." Lewis states what happened next:

"Instantly the church was as if under marching orders. A common purpose unified all forces. Mrs. Chenoweth's will was probated November, 1906. In March, 1907, the trustees of Hill Street Church bought from Mrs. Mamie T. Lyle and husband a thirty-seven foot lot joining the church property on the west, the first pipe organ was sold to Asbury Methodist Church, the old building was razed and the corner stone of the new building laid in October, 1907. The new church was dedicated Sunday, January 10, 1909."

The two year deadline was just barely exceeded, but the bequest was given. Mrs. Chenoweth contemplated that her $10,000, plus the $25,000 the church would raise to match it, would be enough. It was not. The new lot cost $4,500; the new building cost $79,000; and a new organ was another $10,000. To that total of $93,500, was added the cost of completely new furnishings. However, the last of the conditions was also met. The 1909 Conference Journal reported a church property value of $100,000, without debt.

CHAPTER EIGHT          [history table of contents]

The church might be under marching orders, but it would be a two year march to completion of the new building. Many details needed to be addressed, decisions made and goals set and accomplished.

Rev. Savage made the following report to the Quarterly Conference of the church on February 7, 1907:

"There is considerable interest among our people on the subject of the new church and there is no doubt now as to the final success of the movement. It means of course a great deal of hard work but the people have a mind to work and the prospect is very encouraging. We have been delayed somewhat on the question of location but hope to settle that very soon."

The doubt removed was the willingness of the congregation to raise the $25,000 required by the Chenoweth gift. The building committee reported to the Conference that about $17,300 had been subscribed already. A motion carried to borrow the remaining $5,000. Before the new doors opened, this sum would not be nearly enough; but no one knew it at that meeting.

The question of location was greater. At the same meeting, the report was made that the "large number of Mission Churches in the suburbs of the city draw considerably from our pupils" in Sunday School. Lexington was expanding in all directions and the beginning of what would be a continual challenge for the church - maintaining a strong church "downtown" with so many members living "further out" and nearer other churches - was felt even more than when Park and Epworth Methodist Churches were started. The establishment by Hill Street of both Park and Epworth in the "suburbs" and the attendant transfer of some members to those congregations had been a mixed blessing. The Hill Street congregation considered whether they, too, should move into one of the newer neighborhoods. During that year, twenty-five members transferred to Park Methodist, a number equaling the net loss in membership for the year. Nevertheless, a commitment was made to stay in the heart of Lexington. The lot next to the existing church, to the west, was purchased in March.

One final issue remained before plans could be concluded: some descendants of the members of the former German Lutheran Community claimed that the Methodists only had a lease for their property, not a deed. One of the purported conditions of this lease was that the Methodists were to care for a graveyard at the rear of the property in which over fifty German Lutherans were buried.

The controversy made the front page of the Lexington Herald on Sunday, March 24, 1907. The Hill Street board conceded that it could not produce a deed. As one prominent member was quoted as saying: "There must be a deed somewhere but we have not been able to locate it. Our records are not complete and it may be hidden among the old papers of some former bishop." The Methodists noted that they had a legal claim to the property based on over seventy years of uninterrupted possession.

The Lutheran descendants appeared more concerned with care of the graveyard than property rights. One woman told the Herald's reporter: "From a property standpoint the heirs would get but little in the long division, but some action will probably be taken either to recover the property as a pioneer graveyard or arrange to have proper attention shown it." Not mentioned in the article but clearly a legal problem for the Lutherans was that their original deed had been to the trustees of the German Lutheran Community, and not to individuals. Further, just as the Methodists could not produce a deed, the Lutherans could not produce a lease. The issue appears to have been resolved by the transfer and reinterment of the graves in the Lexington Cemetery. A more likely scenario, however, is not that a deed was missing, but that the German congregation merged into the Methodist congregation and contributed the property. In 1840, there was no provision for a public recording of "articles of merger" between religious associations.