Tnn CnURCH Ix Tnn

CHESTI\UT GnoVE

1.50 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN WITNESS

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY

1842 - 1992

The Church In The Chestnut Grove

150 Yeats 0l Ghristian Witness

An lllustrated History

Prepared for the Sesquicentennial Celebration of:Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church

3701 Sweet Air Road, Phoenix MarylandReverend Carl H. vom Eigen, Pastor

1992

Produced by: The Sesquicentennial Committee; B,L, Cordry, Chairperson

July, 1992

Printed by: The Henschels, Custom Copy Printing Center, Inc.

Acknowledgements

This history of Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church is being written to aid in the celebration of the church'sSesquicentennialanniversary. The SesquicentennialPlanning Committeewas desirous of having acomplete up-to-datechronicle of the life and experiences associated with this church from its inception to the present. A group of interestedresearchers/writers were enlisted to undertake this task. Their work would have been much more handicapped if itweren't for the fact that a number of our forebearers had prepared various brief histories and presentations on the lifeand growthof this congregationandthe outstanding individualswho made ithappen. Any serious students of the historyof this church should likewise include these sources in theirreading. We are indebted to these authors for their invaluablecontributions. Copies of these earlier histories are kept in the church's archives and include:

. Brief Historical Sketch-George Morrison From 1824-1837; Georye Morrison, Jr.

. Origin of the Church-History of the Church, pgs. 1-6, Initial Church Records book; 1842-1871.

. A Brief History of Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church; Joshua Jessop, 1941.

. Brief History of Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church; (a speech presented to Wilson Methodist Church);Lrroy Y. Haile, Sr., 1966.

. Some Historical Information, attributed to Leroy Y. Haile, Sr., 1952.

. History of the Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church,1842-1952; Edmund F. Haile, 1952.

. Histor! of the Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church, and of The Women' s Association; Mrs. Leroy Y. Haile, Sr.

. A Brief Church History; Mrs. Howard Bosley, 1979.The challenge given to the authors of this illustrated 1992 version of the church's history was to extract all the pertinent

information from these previous histories and to fill in some of the gaps which existed. To aid in this task, much use wasmade of all Session records dating back to 1842 and to Board of Trustee meeting minutes. Other information was foundin old county newspaper accounts. Also, the Presbyterian Society of Philadelphia, Pa. maintained some valuable data.

The Sesquicentennial Committee wishes to acknowledge the following persons whose dedication, enthusiasm, long hoursof labor, and diligent efforts have made possible the creation of this document which is a fiibute to this 150th year celebration.

Historical research and writing was done by Lora (Mrs. Howard) Bosley, Leroy Y. Haile, Jr., Donald Smyth, Virginia(Mrs. Maynard) Webster, and Burton Cordry. We wish to accord special appreciation to lvlrs. Lora Bosley whoundertook to write the difficult section on the earliest period of the history, covering the genesis of the church and thebackground out of which it developed. So little was available in written form to work with that she undertook, as a laborof love, to do a most scholarly and detailed study of the subject. The result was a comprehensive history of the period-so much so that it was decided to utilize a modest abridgment of her research in this overall history, in the interest ofbalance. However, hercompleteHistory of the First 50Yearshasbeenprintedandacopyresides in the church's archivesalong with all other historical documents.

Itis understandable that when fivepersons attemptto divide upatask so extensive anddemanding as thatof documenting150 yean of history, problems will exist in achieving a smoothly flowing narrative that is thorough and accurate with noglaring omissions or duplications. This project was quite fo(unate to have received the services of a professional editor inthe person of Mr. Hal Piper who had the unthankful task of taking five distinctly different writings and converging theminto a comprehendible and readable story. His skills at editing this volume are self-evident in the final result.

Finally, when the text is completed and edited, there is still the significant task of formatting a book; laying out thetext, working in the illusfrations and a myriad of smaller details necessary to ready it for the printer. We are indebtedto Mrs. Grace Batton for the very proficient manner in which she took responsibility for this aspect of publication.

The committee expresses its heart-felt thanks for the way all of the persons named above unreservedly offered theirservices to helpcreate ahistory worthy of the occasion. We also thank the many individuals who contributedoldpictures,news clippings and pertinent documents that made possible an "illustrated" history. Our special thanks to Mr. & Mn.Phillip and Mary Carol Davis, Mrs. Margaret Patterson Smith Keigler, Mr. and Mrs. Don Smyth and Mrs. Mary W.Barnes for some of the oldest photographs and documents used in this book. In a number of cases, special photographictreatment was required to prepare these materials for printing. We acknowledge the special skills and efforts by Mr. JimGift as official photographer for the project.

Noacknowledgments wouldbe satisfactory if we did notrecognizethat this church hasbeen heavilyblessedfrom the verybeginning by God and the Holy Spirit working through the many Christians who have sought to follow Christ's teachings intheir personal and corporate lives. It is a real joy to wdte about such a faithful 'tloud of witnesses". Thanks be to God.

The Sesquicentennial CommitteeB. L. Cordrv. Chairman

PrehistoryAny church history is a story of people, pastors and

roots. A church has a founding, just as a child has abirthday. B ut just as the events that bring a child into beingmay develop over many years, so our church, ChestnutGrove Presbyterian Church, began to exist well before thebirthday, 150 years ago, that we celebrate today. Aboutascore of years before Chestnut Grove was bom, a deeplyreligious minister and teacher came to Maryland. This wasthe Rev. George Morrison Sr. An obifiary fromthe Balti-more Literary and Reli gious Magazine of 1837 describes hiseventful life and remarkable faittt. lSee Appendix Al

Descended from Norttrem heland immigrants, GeorgeMorrison was born in Delaware in 1797, studied theologyand was called about 1822 to take charge of the Academyat Bel Air, in Harford County. He was formally frans-ferred from the Presbytery of New Castle to the Presbyteryof Baltimore in 1824, becoming apparently only the thirdPresbyterian minister (with Dr. James Magaw and theRev. William Finney) in the four-county area of Cecil,Harford, Baltimore and Canoll counties. The entirePresbytery of Baltimore then numbered but 5 churchesand 643 communicants. In the fall of 1 824. when Monisonwas27 years old,

he offended avicious youth thathad been sent to hisschool from Baltimore. This youth determined onrevenge, armed himself with a pisiol, and one day asIvft. M. retuming from the school room to his househad passed, he fired upon him, the ball entering theback above the hip joint, passing through the body,lodged on the opposite side within the skin. From thiswound he was confined for a number of months,during part of which time, all hope of his recovery wasgiven up, by himself and his physicians. To thesurprise of all, he recovered, and removed to Balti-more, where he commenced aclassical school; here hecontinued for five years, and at the end of that periodremoved to [.ong Green, where for the last six years hewas engaged in teaching, and at which place he died.

Morrison's home at Long Green was "Quinn," a man-sion built about 1750 on thez20-acre estate "Sweet Air."

Quinn stands to this day off Sweet Air Road east of ManorRoad, about a mile from the present church. In 1830,Morrison opened there a boarding school, the Long GreenAcademy. This was the conception of our church today.

George Morrison taught and preached indefatigably.During his previous residence in Bel Air, he had a half-time call to preach at Bethel Presbyterian Church inHarford County. This appointment he continued tofulfill; it was nine miles by dirt (or more often, mud)roads from Quinn. Preaching on the alternate Sundayselsewhere in Baltimore and Harford counties he "col-lected a congregation and succeeded in erecting a houseof worship atWisesburgh, on the turnpike road to York,"as the obituarv records.

We may judge of his labors as a Minister andTeacher. when we remember that he had to havel toand from them, always between the intermission of hisschool on Saturday and its opening on Monday morn-ing. He usually preached twice on the Sabbath.

He also preached at his residential school at Quinnalmost every Sabbath and often once in the week; thecongregation here increasing, he enlarged and fittedup his School Room, for their accommodation. Theobject which he had chiefly in view at the latter place,was to enable the children boarding with him, regu-larly to hear the gospel preached. In all these attemptshis labours were blessed, not only in the gathering ofa people, but we have cause to believe in the bringingof sinners to the Saviour,

This school-room congregation became the body ofbelievers that now celebrates 150 years of the worship ofGod at Chestnut Grove Presbvterian Church.

0riginsGeorge Morrison did not live to see the church move out

of his home. Eleven years after his shooting by the"vicious boy" in Bel Air, the pistol ball that still lodged inhis abdomen shifted position. By passing his finger overthe surface of his body, Monison had been able to feel thebulletjust beneath. Suddenly it was gone, and coinciden-tally Monison began to suffer violent intestinal pains. Helived another 20 months, in almost constant pain, and diedat Quinn on April 19,1837,aged40 years, 3 months and4 days. His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. SamuelMartin, under whose instruction Morrison earned his rightto be ordained. The text was from Revelation 14 : I 3 : "AndI heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me, write,'blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence-forth,' yea, said the spirit, that they may rest from theirlabors; and their works do follow them."

In a letter to a friend in 1905. Morrison's son Alexanderwrote:

Chestnut Grove Church was organized shortly afterhis [father's] death, from a nucleus which had beengathered together as the fruits of his labours.

These were people in the community and students in hisschool. In 1830, when the Long Green Academy wasopened, there were only St. John's Catholic, St. James onthe ManorandWilson Methodistchurches in the vicinity.Even though the area was sparsely settled, it served thecommunity well to have one more church.

Morrison's family remained active in the new church;George Jr., 6 years old at the time of his father's death,grew up to preach there often. After her husband's death,Mrs. Monison kept the school open by engaging a teacher,Stephen Yerkes, who had just graduated from Yale Col-lege. The next year, Yerkes became the principal of theclassical department at Presbyterian High School in Bal-

timore, and the Rev. Andrew B. Cross, pastor of BethelChurch, was asked topreach onaltemate sabbaths atLongGreen Academy.

"A regular plesbyterian church"The Presbytery of Baltimore met in April, 1842, in

Alexandria, D.C., as it was then known. (Alexandria wasdetached from the District of Columbia and returned toVirginia only later.) The Presbytery

appointed a committee (consisting of Dr. R. J.Breckenridge and Andrew B. Cross, Ministers, andMr. Robert Sterling, elder) to organize a church. Ofthat Committee, Dr. Breckenridge and Mr. Crossattended, August 13th, lVz, and constituted thefollowing present a regular presbyterian church: viz.

Moses RankinFrederick DeetsElisha JacksonCharles T. HaileElisabeth Lovell ) mother-in-lawElizaAnn Monison ) & widowofGeorge MorrisonSarah RankinHannah DeetsSarah HaileSarah HappersettElisabeth JacksonMary Deets

At the same time Moses Rankin and FrederickDeets were elected and ordained elders. Charles T.Haile was received into the Church Universal in themoming before thepublic exercises commenced, bythe ministers present and elder Thomas Hope ofBethel Church. On the Sabbath following, August

l4th, the Lord's Supper was administered to thenewly constituted church, and Mr. John Deets, Mrs.Eliza Deets, and Miss Clementine Green were, afterexamination, admitted to membership on professionof their faith. lExtr acted fr om fir st church record-seeAppendix Bl

Stephen Yerkes, who had taught at the Long GreenAcademy in the year after George Morrison's death, wasnow called as the new church's pastor. An act of thePresbytery in 1843

commission[ed] Rev. Stephen Yerkes as mission-ary of Long Green vicinity for six months with anappropriation of $ 100 for the time November 1 pro-uid"d th" congregation there will raise the additionalsum of $37 for his support.

Yerkes eked out this stipend by purchasing a farm andopening a boarding school for young men. He spentnearly ten years with the growing congregations of LongGreen and Bethel, then accepted a professorship in an-cient languages atTransylvania University, in Lexington,Kentucky. A newspaper notice in the B al timo r e Adv o c at eof New Year's Day, 1853, reads as follows:

The Rev. S. Yerkes about to remove from hispresent residence about one mile from Sweet AirRoad, Baltimore County, to the west, will sell atpublic sale, on Friday, January 7, his personal prop-erty consisting of wagon, plows, cultivator, kitchenfurniture and household - all goods, horses, cowsand sheep. The farm, also. Any information can beobtained of Alexander M. Monison.

The Rev. J. P. Carter succeeded Pastor Yerkes, at thenew Long Green church and at Bethel.

;

Original unadorned front face of Chestnul Grove Church

2

1850's appearance of church.This structure still makes up the main section of the present sanctuary.

The church in the chestnut groveNeither the Session records of the church nor the

minutes of the Presbytery provide information aboutwhen a church building was built. It seems unlikely thata young minister as able and energetic as Stephen Yerkeswould not have built a house of worship for his newlyorganized church. And there are several clues that sug-gest he did so. On the 1850 Baltimore County map, abuilding called "Presbyterian meeting" is located whereChestnut Grove is today. The Baltimare Advocate ofJantary 25,185 1, has an aflicle giving information aboutroad building in the vicinity of Sweet Air "to public roadeast of the new Presbyterian Church under the charge ofRev. Yerkes." The Session records of March 25, 1848,state for the first time that the body met in the church:"The Session met in the church at2.00 p.m." (This wasalso the only time in the tenure of Yerkes that the minutesstated that the meeting had been held in the church.)

Usually, land deeds give some idea of when a buildingwas built. Not so for Long Green Church. The deed,written and recorded the same day ,May I7 ,1859, states,in part:

, . . in consideration of having a Church erectedthereon and the sum of One dollar, the said HenryCanoll doth grant unto Samuel M. Rankin, JohnBooth, William D. Morrison, William Baldwin andCharles T. Haile, hustees, and to their successors who

may be duly appointed, All that lot or parcel of ground. . . Beginning at a Hickory stump on the given line ofQuinn and running reversely of said line north2l 12degrees east 379 feet north 75 314 degrees east23lfeet south 2l ll2 degrees west 501 feet north 73degrees west 200 to the Beginning, Containing twoacres and twenty-nine perches, more or less, in fustfor the Old School Presbiterian Church in fee simple.

Henry Canoll, who gave the land for the church, was aCatholic; some thought he made the gift out of friendshipfor Frederick Deets, a trustee of the Long Green Church,who was employed by Carroll. He seems, at any rate, notto have been afflicted with denominational chauvinism:When the Immanuel-Glencoe Church was under con-struction, Carroll sent his men and teams tohaul stones forthe benefit of Episcopalians.

Canoll had lived at Quinn before the Morrisons pur-chased it from him. He remained in the area on his estate"Clynmalira." The county newspaper, The Union, re-ported that in 1834, three years before his death, GeorgeMorrison proposed that a church building be erected onthe spot where the present building now stands. Since thedeed was dated ten years or more after records suggest theexistence of a building, it seems likely that Carroll gavethe church fustees permission to use the land, and onlylater made everything official with a deed.

This church building, whatever the precise facts of itsorigin, is the same building in which we worship today.

Its foundation and two-foot-thick fieldstone walls, cov-eredwith surcco, are stjll the main partof ornchurchcomplex.

Though the deed refers to the "Old School hesbiterianChurch" the name "Chestnut Grove" was already in use.It appeared for the first time in a Session report of "ameeting of the Presbyterian congregation 'of ChestnutGrove' held at the church on November 4, 1855."Presbytery minutes used the name "Chestnut Grove"when the Rev. L.C. Smith was appointed to succeedPastor Carter in October, 1857.

It was a fashion of the time to name churches for thedominant trees on their grounds; there were also AshGrove and Walnut Grove congregations. What we don'tknow is when the lastchestnut tree vanished from ChestnutGrove. A blight kiUed most of the chestnut trees in NorthAmerica early in this century; most likely the blight tookours with the rest.

The'0ld School 'ChurchIt is fortunate that the land deed used the term "Old

School Presbiterian Church." "Old School" is an expres-sion with a history in Presbyterianism. These two wordsmay give us a clue to the attitudes and beliefs, the style ofworship and the intellectual and even political affiliationsof our Chestnut Grove forebears.

In 1734 Jonathan Edwards, ayoung Puritan clergyman,preached a series of sermons on "Justification by Faith"that touched off a religious revival in colonial Americathat came to be known as the "Great Awakening." It wasgenerally believed at the time that if you ftied to live agood life and called yourself a Christian, God wouldprobably take your word for it at the Last Judgment.Edwards insisted such a view violated God's sovereignty;it amounted to giving man the initiative to choose to besaved. No, said Edwards: either salvation comes fromGod or the sinner is not saved. Edwards's emphasis onintense personal religious experience of the Holy Spiritworking a Christian conversion within the believer ledhim to attempt to exclude some of his parishioners fromthe Lord's Supper. (His congregation eventually dis-missed him, and Edwards spent his last years as a mis-sionary to Indians in Massachusetts.)

Edwards's influence crossed oceans and denomina-tional lines and deeply affected lSth-century theologyand religious practices. Anglican preachers like GeorgeWhitefield and the Wesley brothers toured the colonies,preaching revival messages. The Rev. William TennantSr., a hesbyterian minister, developed a school for pas-tors in a log cabin in Pennsylvania, and "Log College"preachers converted thousands of sinners in the MiddleAtlantic States.

Of course there were reactions against the "GreatAwakening." In the hesbyterian church there was divi-

sion between the "hg College" or "New Side" preachersand the "Old Side," consisting mostly of Scotch-hish min-isten who said that ttre emphasis on the conversion experi-ence distorted ttre Presbyterian doctrine ofthe confession offaith. One synod split over the qualifications for theminisbry. The "Old Side" held that the Presbytery shoulddetermine ttre fitness of a man for the minisry on the basisof his education and docrinal beliefs, and a call from acongregation. The "New Side" argued that the minislry is not(ike law or medicine) a profession that one trains for, butis the result of a call from God to a regenerated and holy life.

The disputes spilled over into other issues. The NewSchool became a center of anti-slavery agitation. For theOld School, slavery wasn't even on the agenda. Slavery,of course, eventually ftove the hesbyterian church intoa schism that lasted more than a century, formally healingonly in the past decade.

The Baltimore Presbytery feltthe tensions, with churcheslining up on both sides, and what evidence there is fromthe vicinity of Long Green seems contradictory. Some-thing that might have been a "New School" revival washeld at the Long Green Academy in 1835, in the time ofGeorge Monison. Years later, The Union recalled

a four-day meeting under a cherry free in the lawnof lvlr, Monison's farm. Mr. Morrison was aided atthis meeting by R, J. Breckenridge, J.G. Hammer,S.M. Martin and G. W. Musgrave. [These were allministers of the Baltimore Presbytery,] An immenseconcourse ofpeople from 20 miles gathered day afterday at that meeting.

Bethel was a "New School" congregation, and duringthese early years it shared a pastor with Chestnut Grove.Yet the land deed identifies Chestnut Grove as an "OldSchool" church. Of course, when the splitcame, ChestnutGrove remained with the "Northern" church, but there isgood reason to suspect that before the Civil War it mighthave harbored some sympathies with the Old School.Slavery was common enough in Baltimore County, andperhaps five members of the church owned slaves. Cen-sus records from 1850 credit Charles T. Haile with nineslaves, and George Morrison's widow, Eliza, with three- one boy 10 years old and two girls, 8 and 11.

Civil War, and afterThe Civil War tore apart families, communities, churches

- especially in border states such as Maryland. ThePresbyterian Church was no exception. No recordcouldbefound of who, or how many from Chestnut Grove served onwhich side of the conflict. Most of the gaves that weredecorated each May 30 in later years were those of theWilson family, Union soldiers. The reception given tothose who served the Confederacy appears to have beenmore cool. Take the experience of Eli Scott Dance

(grandfather of our Laddie Dance, but not a member ofChestnut Grove), as related in 1976 by his son, Willard:

My father didn't talk much about the Civil War.There was much of it he wanted to forget - thehorors of it. He was drafted, but he always s aid he gotconfused and instead of reporting in Washington, hereported in Richmond. I think he served in the cav-alry. So much of ithe would like to forget. He was acourier a good part of the time. He was shot in theheel, but his horse wasn't. His experiences weredangerous and sad.

Still more sad, andperhaps nearly as dangerous, was itto come home. On the corner of Sweet Air and Manorroads stod Morrison's store. Willard Dance continues:

I heard my father say that he had to defend himselfthere after he came back from the war. He wouldback himself up in a corner behind the counter so hecould get his hands on the weights that are used to puton the scales - to be ready. Some of them werepretty bitter about his joining the confederacy.

L. C. Smith, B. F. Myers, J.J. Lane, D. L. Rathbun and W.W. Reeves successively led the Chesfitut Grove congrega-tion in the years from 1857 to 1890. George Morrison Jr.servedasaco-pastorin someoftheseyears. They were yearsof growth. Many members were added to the church rolls,especially in Mr. Rathbun's 15 years (1870 to 1885,during part of which time he also served KingsvillePresbyterian Church). Church facilities expanded. OnOctober 1.1865. the ftustees received a deed from Wil-liam J. JacksonandCharlesT. Jackson foraplotof groundto be used for a graveyard. A plot of ground waspurchased at the corner of Sweet Air and Manor roads,and in I 870 a manse was built there. Some of the church'ssocial events were remarkably well attended, given thepopulation of the time - dwarfing any tumout today'scongegation can muster. In June, 1868, the MarylandJournal reported: 'Fully 300 persons attended a lecture onthe 'Life and Books of Moses.' The singing also wasexcellent. Proceeds will be applied to benefit the SabbatttSchml library." (Sabbath School library? Whata goodidea!)

Mr. Haile's Tuning ForkSo, already at Chestnut Grove, "the singing was excel-

lent." Yet, at that time there was no choir and no organ.The first attempts to provide organized music to enhanceworship came in the early I 870s. A choir of seven voiceswas formed, plus Miss Sallie Rankin as organist, playinga foot-pumped reed instrument. Before that, the Hailefamily led the singing, as described in Joshua Jessop's1942 history of the church:

After the hymn was announced, Mr. Haile wouldget his tuning fork from his pocket to get the properpitch for the tune and then start the singing, when allwould follow.

1870's Choir. Sarah Rankin (Sally), top left, was directorlorganist. Six of the members were Hailes.

An agreeable surpriseon october 5, 1875, the Presbytery of Baltimore held

is fall meeting at Chestnut Grove. In honor of theoccasion, the Ma ry I and J o ur nal offered a brief history ofthe church, along with acontemporary snapshotin words:

The church building is located on the Joppa roadnear Sweet Air, between the Dulaney's Valley and theJarrettsville Turnpikes. It is a counhy church with amembership of 79, Its elders are Chas. T. Haile,Samuel M. Rankin and Mr. Atlee. Its board ofdeacons are Joshua Green, Robert Piper and EdwardJessop. Ithas been about 30years since thehesbyterymet within this church, which then worshipped inwhat was then the long Green Academy Building, onthe farm owned by the Rev. George Morrison, de-ceased" now a tenant house on the same farm belongingto his son George.

In the same year, the same newspaper recorded aWednesday evening gala, in which the congregation

gave to their pastor [D.L. Rathbun] an agreeablesurprise by replenishing his larderand henery withgifs ofeverykind (including chickens, turkeys, ducks,and every variety of eatables).

After eating, a presentation, on behalf of the con-gregation, of a handsome purse to the pastor, wasmade by one of the leading members, Mr. Charles T.Haile, whose remarks were well selected and deliv-ered in his usual earnest manner, which was re-sponded to by the pastor.

After having worship and singing, the companytook to their carriages and drove home in quite animposing procession.

The 1 18-carriage funeralAn eraclosed on the moming of February 26, 1880, with

the death atage67 of Charles T. Haile, one of the original12 members who constituted the "regular presbyterian

church" in 1842. T\e Maryland Journal reported:

He was well and favorably known and greatlyrespected throughout the county. He was a tax collec-tor in the llth District for a number of years. Hisfuneral took place from Chestnut Grove Church andwas the largest that ever took place in the llthDistrict, 118 carriagees being in line, besides a num-ber of people on horseback.

Another era closed in April, 1890, when GeorgeMorrision Jr. sold Quinn and the farm at Sweet Air.

Eras are succeeded by new eras. less than three yea$after the death of Charles T. Haile, his grandson, JoshuaJessop, was recorded as one of the speakers at a Saturdaynight temperance meeting in January, 1883. As thegrandfather had been an emblem and a constant in ourchurch during its first 40 years, so Joshua Jessop was to bein the next 60 years.

The Ladies' MiteThe women of Chestnut Grove, organized under the

name of the Ladies' Mite Society, were impressivelyactive in these post-Civil War years. The countynewspapers of the time are full of notices about fairs,oyster suppers, a strawberry festival, lectures, "a saleof fancy articles" andotheractivities toraise money forthe church. The ladies' monument, Sweet Air Hall,was erected in September, 1889 by the Ladies MiteSociety on the parsonage grounds for "festivals, literaryentertainments, and a singing school under Prof.Singleton." Within a month, the singing school wasreported to have 80 members. Sweet Air Hall servedthe church well up into the 1940s, after which it wassold. It has since been remodeled into a gray residencewith a picket fence, still standing near the northwestcorner of the intersection of Sweet Air and Manorroads. Next to it, right on the corner, are the foundationsof the old manse, which burned in the 1930s.

The Ladies' Mite was mightier than you might sup-pose. A Session minute of November 23, 1900, afterdiscussion ofthe sexton's salary, laconically reported:

The ladies of the church were given permission tocontinue maintaining the horse sheds.

Very decent of the gentlemen elders to let them do that!And the ladies also were expected to raise a portion of thepastor's salary.

Discipl ineOne hundred years ago the Session was muchoccupied

with the betterment of the frail flesh that malies up anychurch body. A minute from July, 1892, notes that:

The Pastor was instructed to visit J. P. and familv

and press home upon them the necessity and duty ofattending upon the ordinances of the church whichhave been neglected by them, with the admonitionthat unless this was done it would be the imperativeduty of the Session to proceed with them in accor-dance with the discipline of the church.

We don't know whether J. P. and family shaped up afterthepastoral visit, andwecan only guess which ordinancesof the church they were allegedly neglecting. Very likely,they simply were not attending Sunday worship, for otherminutes refer to the necessity of visiting stay-aways andexhorting them to come to church. But at least one noterefers to "three" - not even initials were given - whowere to be visited on account of "rumors of conductunbecoming Christians." And at the end of 1900 theSession lowered the boom on one miscreant:

Mrs. A. N,, after being duly exhorted and admon-ished continually neglecting the ordinances of thechurch, was suspended from the communion of thechurch and the pastor was directed to inform her.

Paying the pastorMeanwhile, even the faithful communicants were ne-

glecting their duties. So, at least, thought the pastor, theRev. Thomas L. Springer. In February 1894, he an-nounced his determination to ask the hesbvterv to dissolvehis pastorate,

because the church had been failing to support andencourage the pastor in his work by not meetingpromptly their pecuniary obligations as promised inthe call, by an indifference or unwillingness to keepthe parsonage and grounds in such condition that theymaybe comfortably lived in andby wantof interestinor cooperation with the pastor in advancing thespiritual work of the church.

Ouch! Had we become so mean and stingy a congrega-tion, only 19 years after presenting Pastor Rathbun the"agreeable surprise [ofl replenishing his larder andhenery?" That gesture seems to have been the way pastorswere normally cared for. In 1887, the Maryland Journalreported a Thanksgiving Eve "surprise visit to pastor W.W. Reese," who was given "two barrels flour, poiatoes,lard, many other articles."

But that was Pastor Reese and this was Pastor Springer.He had already raised the matter of his salary at a jointmeeting of the Session and Board of Deacons. Somemonths later Mr. Springer again "called attention to thefact his salary was not being promptly nor regularly paidcausing him serious inconveniences and discomfort." Itwasdecided tocall acongregational meeting, atwhich theDeacons reported that they could collect only $700 to-ward Mr. Springer's salary. The pastor said that "underthe circumstances," he would accept that sum. But threemonths later he resigned.

That did not end theproblem. It was more than a yearlater, in May, 1895, that the Rev. T. C. Easson becamepastor, and by October Session records show that theDeacons were being asked to "collect the subscriptions inzurears toward the pastor's salary."

How much was the pastor paid in those days, and how wasthe money raised? We're not sure. Ten years later, PastorSchmalhorst was hired for a salary of $750 a year; in thosepre-inflation days, ttre Rev. Messrs. Springer and Eassonprobably should have been paid about the same amounl

There seems to have been noregularbudgeting process,but money was raised in several ways. There was, ofcourse, the collection plate, which provided general sup-port for church activities and also financed particularmissions or otherpurposes. In April,l899, apledge-card-and-envelope system for mission giving was introduced.Special collections were taken the last week of eachmonth, to be allocated as follows:

January - PublicationMarch - Sabbath SchoolApril - Synodical SustentationMay - College AidJune - Freedmen (apparently for the support offormer slaves)July - EducationSeptember - Church ErectionOctober - Foreien Missions

November - Home MissionsDecember - Ministerial Relief

The ladies' fund-raising activities were a major source offinancial support; it seems quite clear from the records ofthe time that the ladies were responsible for underwritingat least a portion of the pastor's salary. And individualmembers paid small bills. Session minutes repeatedlymention that one or another elder agreed to supply coal orpay for firewood or some other item.

The nearest thing to the annual pledge that we knowtoday was the institution of "pew rental." A family wouldpay an annual fee for the rental of the pew it sat in eachSunday. About this time, according to receipts thatsurvive, the yearly fee was $10.

Pew rental receipt of 1887

1895 Sunday School picture. Attendance on this day was I 14.

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Chestnut Grove Church as it appeared after the 1900 rernvations.

Faith shaped in stone and mortarA new, dynamic leader, the Rev. James W. Campbell,

accepted the congregation's call in April, 1898. Hetook over a church with 125 communicants. annualmission giving of $144.49 - and145 Sunday schoolmembers. Our Sunday school in 1992 is about thesame, though we have 3 U2 times the communicantmembership. All these Sunday schoolers, young andold, had to crowd into the sanctuary, which then wasthe plain, square building without the half-octagon atthe back. Despite the church's shaky finances, Mr.Campbell found on his arrival that a fund had beenearmarked for "Church Erection." On September 5,1899 , a congregational meeting authorized "improve-ments on our church building." The church now tookthe shape we recognize today. In a brief history of thechurch, Leroy Y. Haile Sr. described this buildingprogram:

They raised the roof, the interior was torn out andredone. The fine scissor arches of the sanctuary wereformed. The steeple, with its bell donated by aretired seaman was constructed. And once lnore aprogressiveideabecame arealif in stone and mortar.The half-octagon addition was created for the solepurpose of religious education! In terms of debt, tothose stalwarts of the past who gave us our [present]

sanctuary and the unique steeple with all its ruralsfength, we are indeed debtors.

Large folding doors crossed the back of the sanctuary toclose off the Sunday school, which was housed in the newaddition, the half-octagon. The new space was a fineadornment to ourchurch, butdid they really thinkitwouldadequately house a Sunday school of 145 members?

A galaProud of its new addition, the church invited the

Presbytery to hold its October, 1901, devotional con-ference at Chestnut Grove fiust as in 1992 we invitedthe Presbytery to come and admire our new additionand toast our sesquicentennial). All was carefullyplanned:

The pastor was to arrange for special music forevening meetings and places for entertainment ofdelegates. The ladies were appointed to a committeearranging for lunch. Men were appointed to anangefor transportation. . . . The pastor was authorized tocall on Mr. Chatman and see if he would entertain thecolored delegates.

In other Octobers, evangelistic meetings were sched-uled "during the moonlight," to tiake advantage of theharvest illumination.

Gousin Joshua's cornetElder Joshua Jessop, a man of many talents, was the

leader of a band in Long Green in which he played thecomet. As Leroy Y. Haile's history recalls:

He volunteered to assist with the music in church.He had one serious affliction - he was deaf. Hiscornet was loud andvery often the organ and the choirfinished somewhbt ahead of Cousin Joshua.

Session minutes in 1901 record:

After a thorough consideration of the whole matter,the pastor was authorized to call the choir togetherand superintend its reorganization, wittr a view tosecuring regular choir practice, and ifpossible, with-out giving offense, securing the discontinuance ofthe use of the cornet. . . .

Diplomacy apparently failed. Some of our older mem-bers report that Mr. Jessop was still tootling away intothe 1940s.

The struggle fot solvencyIn August, 1900, it was discovered - probably in the

course of ananging to borrow money for the buildingprogram -thatthere was norecordof the church's beingincorporated. The next month, a congregational meetingadopted a constitution and elected trustees. Six days laterthe new board met. Dr. John S. Green was electedpresident, and Joshua Jessop secretary-treasurer. Theother trustees were James. B. Jackson, John R. Price andThomas J. Jessop.

The first order of business was to anange a SVomortgage from E. J. Pocock for $500, secured by theparsonage, and additional loans of $500 fromMargaretta Schnurmann and $250 from Mr. Campbell,the pastor! Then the balance due on the new construc-tion waspaid: $1,145,less $200 deductedbecause thecontractor, Phillip E. Frantz, had not posted bond onthe still incomplete work.

Financial management by trustees markedly im-proved the church's financial stewardship. The nextyear the session reported that although the buildingprogram had doubled the church's expenditures, con-tributions to Presbyterian missions had neverthelessincreased, and most remarkably of all, "the pastor'ssalary is now being paid promptly every month."

This optimism was premature. Within a few months,there were more Session notes about delays in payingMr. Campbell. At least twice he had to advance smallloans to the church so that it could cover other expenses.It was resolved to "confer.with the ladies in reference totheir portion of the pastor's salary" - and, indeed, theladies eventually paid off the final $104.50 on the loanthe pastor had given the church. Mr. T. J. Jessop was

designated to organize a "Gramophone entertainment,"which raised $9.50 that was turned over to Mr.Campbell. "Money for repairs to the horse sheds is togo instead to the pastor's salary." (The trustees nowrelieved the ladies of the maintenance of these sheds.)At last, in an annual report written in April, 1904,Pastor Campbell himself was able to report that thevarious notes and mortgages were all paid off, and "thepastor's salary for the first time in six years is paidpromptly and to date."

Six years was, in fact, the length of Mr. Campbell'sservice at the time, and perhaps he decided to quitwhile he was finally at break-even. The next year heaccepted a call from Bethany Presbyterian Church ofFort Wavne. Indiana.

Passing pastors-C0ngregational changesThere followed a succession of short-term ministers:

the Rev. W. G. Schmalhorst in 1905, the Rev. FrederickMcNeal, the Rev. James T. Chase in 1912. When thelatter resigned in 1917, Chestnut Grove entered into anagreement with Ashland Presbyterian church for jointsupport of the next pastor: Ashland would pay $850 ayear, and Chestnut Grove would provide the manse, plus$650. The Rev. S.M. Engle served in 19 1 8 and 1919, andthe Rev. James H. McArthur was permanent supply thenext two years. The Rev. Andrew Allen succeeded aspastorin 1921.

Of course, notable events continued in the life ofChestnut Grove. One spring, "a motion was carried tokeep all livestock off church and hall properties." Inl9 13. for some reason. the church decided to celebrateits "71st anniversary." Perhaps it had overslept the70th; perhaps it was warming up for the 75th. In anyevent, no more is heard of how the odd anniversarywas feted.

In l9l7 , Samuel M. Rankin, aged 94, an elder for morethan 50 years and the first Sunday school superintendent,died. Four years later he was joinedby Dr. John S. Green,elder, trustee and the second Sunday school superinten-dent (for 26 years). Joshua Jessop, who wrote a history ofthe church for our centenary in 1942, singled out thesetwo as giants in our history. A bronze tablet in memoryof Dr. Green was placed in the front of the sanctuary onthe left side. He is the only individual so honored inChestnut Grove's long history. A complementary tableton the right (organ) side, commemorates 20 memberswho served in the two world wars; three of them made thesupreme sacrifice.

As is so often the case, losses are countered with gains.J. Jackson Smith was received into membership in Au-gust, 1905, and Elizabeth Connolly (later Whiteford),who is today our senior member, joined in 1915.

Let there be lightThe Rev. David A. Reed was called to the pastorate in

1926. Before accepting, he set an unusual condition: Allgifts should be voluntary. What a revolutionary notion!Did he regard annual pledges as coercive? More likely thereverend gentleman was troubled by the fund-raisers bywhich the ladies sought support outside the congregation.A second congregational meeting was called to considerhis reservation. Being assured of congregational coop-eration, Pastor Reed came and served us four years.Nothing more is heard of the problem of involuntarygiving, so apparently our gifts were pure.

And we gave enough that the church, the manse andSweet Air Hall all could be wired for electricity for thefirst time in the late 1920s. This was no trifling expense- $ I 55. 53, including wiring, fixtures and bulbs (at six for$1.08). That amounted to nearly 10 percent of thechurch's annual budget in those days.

Still, not all modern conveniences had yet come toChestnut Grove. Mrs. J. Jackson Smith was appointed acommittee of one to approach a neighboring propertyowner, "Mrs. Wm. Burke about privilege of placing toiletin Mrs. Burke's woods." Some present members of thechurch recall that the committee successfully accom-plished its task.

A Sunday school memoirGinny Webster recalls attending Sunday school in the

half-octagon in the 1930s and '40s:

Several rows of wooden chairs were lined up acrossthe front for opening and closing exercises. The firstrow ofvery small chairs was for the youngest children.

Mr. J. Jackson Smith was the S. S. superintendant.It seemed he was related somehow or other to al-most everyone there, so since he was called "UncleJack" by so many, everyone else just called hirn"Uncle Jack," too, He was very friendly and madeeveryone feel very welcome, He stood in front of thechairs and there was a small table with a marble top onwhich sat the Sunday school bell, which he would tapwhen it was time to break up for classes and toreconvene afterward.

An upright piano in the front corner was played formany years by Mrs. Mabry Jackson (the mother ofMrs. Ruth Conway). Singing the old hymns was thebest part of Sunday school, I thought, and we sangthem with enthusiasm and joy! One of Uncle Jack'sfavorites was "I Love to Tell the Story."

There was a long, low table in front where theyoungest children had their class and where theycould color with crayons. There were only aboutthree other classes; they sat in the pews that wentaround the back of the room under the present win-dows. Folding screens were placed around each class.Each Sunday, each child received a pamphlet with acolored illushation on the front depicting the Bible-

story lesson for the week. We read or listened to theslory and read the Bible verses we were to memorizefor that week.

High school youths sat in the back pew of thesanctuary for their class, and an adult class met in thefront where the choir sat. This was taught for manyyears by Mr. Smith.

The highlights of the year were Christmas,Children's Day and the annual Sunday school picnic.

On the Sunday before Christmas "Uncle Jack"always dressed up as Santa Claus. He would burst inwith a great jangling of sleigh bells and a great many"Ho-ho-ho's" and admonishments to be good boysand girls. He gave small boxes ofhard candy to ev-eryone, young and old.

Children's Day was always held the second Sun-day in June. The church was beautifully decoratedwith flowers generously supplied from the lovelygardens of Mrs. Smith and Mrs. H. StreettBaldwin. Alarge white hellis, always himmed with flowers,usually daisies, was set up on the altar as a backdropfor the children !o stand before when they said their"pieces." Mrs. Whiteford still remembers the "piece"her daughter, Jane Foard, then 3, recited on her firstChildren's Day:

"My speech is short,My words are tue:'Tis just to welcomeAll of youl"It was the occasion, too, for all the girls to get new

dresses. I can remember one very hot and humidChildren's Day when my sister and I had lovely newdotted-swiss dresses, and all the dots stuck to the backof the sticky church pews we had in those days.

We would rehearse for Children's Day every Sat-urday afternoon for about a month, and at the lastrehearsal we were all treated to delicious home-madeice cream and cookies under the shade of the largemaple ftees which then grew along the edge of thecemetery.

The Sunday school picnic, usually at the end ofJune, was held for many years at Rocky Point Park onthe Chesapeake Bay. Everyone would bring wonder-ful picnics of fried chicken and potato salad, and thechildren would have a grand time splashing in theshallow bay. In later years, we had equally grandpicnics at "The Wedge," the Baldwins' lovely estate,swimming and splashing in the pool and enjoyingwonderful relay races and games.

The war brought gasoline rationing, and I guessthat's when the picnics ended for a while.

An unimportant conflagrationIn 1931, theRev. L. R. Waddellbecameourpastor. He

served until 1941, when he left to return to his nativeEngland. One of the Session's first acts in his pastoratewas to approve the expenditure of $2.10 for dynamite,but, alas, there is no record of why it was needed orwhether it was used.

The church prospered fairly well during the GreatDepression. Receipts in 1935, including money donated

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for benevolences, were more than $3,400, a significantincrease over the toials of a few years earlier. Member-ship stood at 135, not much more than at the turn of thecentury, and Sunday school membership was 60.

Early in Waddell's pastorate, the manse burned. Onewould think that this would be an important event in thelife of the congregation, but Session minutes do not pindown exactly when the fire occurred, nor when thedecision was taken to build a new manse on Manor Roadsouth of Hydes Road. The worthy elders evidently hadmore important concerns, such as the state of the souls ofthe communicants.

CentenaryIn 1939, the Session began toplan for ChestnutGrove's

centenary, which was still three years away. In Septem-ber World War II began, and though the United States wasnot yet involved, Pastor Waddell's native England was.He asked leave to go home, then asked to extend his leave,and finally resigned in I94t when it appeared the warwould not be short. The Rev. Samuel W. Blizzard wascalled to succeed him.

Meanwhile the 10Oth-anniversary plans were progress-ing. In April, 1941, a new organ was purchased for$ 1,250, and the choir was reorganized under the directionof Estelle Wheeler. The occasion was seized for a finalassault on Joshua Jessop's cornet. Leroy Y. Haile Sr.records that "It was my most embarrassing chore topersuade him [Mr. Jessop] to give up his efforts when webought a modem organ."

At a corporation meeting the next year, the $ 1,000 notewhich had bought the organ was ceremonially burned; thedebt had been paid, and the church had no other debtsoutstanding. On August 13,1942, ow fhst century endedon a high note, with a gala celebration organized by acommittee chaired by Mrs. James G. Kane.

Chestnut Grove at 101As it began its second century in 1943, Chestnut Grove

was not so very different from the church that JoshuaJessop had joined in 1877. Membership had risen fromabout 80 to 139, and most worshipers arrived on Sundaymornings in automobiles, not buggies. The chestnut heeswere gone, and gone with them were circuit-ridingpreachers, but we still had no full-time pastor: PastorBlizzud served the Ashland church as well as ChestnutGrove.

We were still a little country church, far from the bigmetropolis of Baltimore. Our members mostly had deepfamily roots in the area, and most of them were localfarmers or tradespeople. It was customary to close up thechurch for a month, usually in August but sometimes in

January, while the pastor was on vacation. And thechurch still dealtin imaginable amounts of money. Atthecongregational meeting in 1943 Mrs. Whiteford, who hadbeen elected fteasurer in 1939, reported that total receiptsfor the previous year had been$5,272, and that $472 hadbeen spent on benevolences.

There were only three elders: Mr. Jessop along withGeorge Conklin and J. Jackson Smith. (The fourth, DixonConnolly, Mrs. Whiteford's father, had died the yearbefore after many years of faithful service.) Sessionmeetings were rare and informal; the three elders andPastor Blizzard could step into the Sunday School room- the half-octagon at the back of the sanctuary -Sundays after church and ffansact business. Not untilApril, 1941 , was the Session increased to four, and thenext year to six.

It was also in 1943 that the Session decided to reconsti-tute a Board of Deacons. Mr. Blizzard chose six youngmen, ranging from 18 to 35 yean, who were duly electedby the congregation: Perry Carroll, Leo Clark, CharlesNau. Maurice Baldwin. Roscoe Conklin and Dale Gable.JoshuaJessop,83 years old, the only surviving memberofthe earlier Board of Deacons, was named an honorarymember of the new board.

During the World War II years, attendance dwindled,perhaps because of gasoline rationing, and perhaps alsobecause several of Chestnut Grove's young men wereserving in the armed forces. The Session authorizedsupplying testaments to our soldiers and sailors. Familieswithin the congregation also extended hospitality to vis-iting servicemen - often for Sunday dinner. GinnyWebster remembers two British sailors, sent by the USO,who stayed with her family. "We could hardly understandthem, they spoke with such a Cockney accent; but Mothercorresponded with them for several years."

In September,1943, Mr. Blizzard announced to thecongregation that he and Mrs. Blizzard had accepted anappointment from the Board of Foreign Missions to takeup duties in India. He had been popular in the church,especially with the youth; membership, which had fallento 105 by the end of Mr. Waddell's leave of absence, wasrebuilt. The Blizzards never made it to India. Shippassage could not be arranged due to the war and Mr.Blizzard was sent back for graduate studies. He obtainedhis doctorate in Sociology from Cornell and went on toeventually become Dean of Instruction at PrincetonTheological Seminary, from which position he contrib-uted to the training of several subsequent pastors toChestnut Grove.

Dr. Blizzard was succeeded by the Rev. Ben F. Wyland,atfirst for two years as interim minister. Then, in 1945 thepulpit committee asked him to remain as permanentminister, which he did for three years while also servingas supply minister to Ashland Church. During IvIr.

l l

Wyland's ministry, the church was very proud of itscontribution to the "Restoration Fund," sponsored by thePresbytery to help restore churches in war-torn Europe.We raised the highest percentage of our quota in thePresbytery. We also donated money (through theChristmas offering, plus Sunday school and Ladies' Aidcontributions) to feed 20 European children.

PostwarJoshua Jessop - "[J1sls Josh" - died at age 87 in

1947 . Hehadbeen a member for 70 years and an elder for24. He had introduced the envelope collection systemduring his 52 years' service as secretary-treasurer.

At the endof that year, Mr. Wyland askedthathispastoralrelation be dissolved so that he could retire to Florida.

The following spring the congregation called the Rev.Hendrick Van Dyke, of Newark, Delaware. Mr. VanDyke, installed July 15, 1948, was a young man withthree small, lively sons. He was an eloquent speaker, andthe church began to grow and flourish. His wife, Rae,had a lovely singing voice; she became the organist andchoir director.

The war was over. The servicemen had come home,and the Baby Boom had begun. Mr. Van Dyke organizeda men's group, and the Westminster Fellowship for youthburgeoned. Indoor "conveniences" were installed in1948. An every-member canvass was instituted. The oldchurch hall at Manor and Sweet Air Roads had fallen intodisrepair during the war. There was an urgent need for anew hall, both for church suppers and for increasedSunday school space. InJune 1951, the Session voted tobuild a Parish Hall adjacent to the church building, and tostucco the church and tower, which until then had beencovered with pressed steel with a simulated stone design.A parking lot was planned between the main road and thechurch. The entire project was budgeted at $35,000, butcompleted for $52,089.05, saddling the church with a

substantial debt.The new Parish Hall, later known as the Annex, was

built parallel to the church on the side away from the road.It contained a church office, two large multi-purposerooms to provide space for Sunday school classes and forsocial events such as church suppers, and akitchen. Sincethe ladies depended on community-wide church supperl_as their main means of raising money for thechurch, thesefacilities were essential. Today's library, chapel (for-merly the choir room) and kitchenette occupy the oldAnnex space. The Parish Hall was dedicated in 1952;within a decade, it was inadequate.

Boom TimesThe church, as it turned out, had caught the postwar

spirit, but did not yet grasp the postwar realities. Howcould it? Postwar life at first seemed to take up its oldrhythms. Population in the 10th and llth Districts ofBaltimore County actually declined slightly (0.47 Vo) from1940 to 1950, and Chestnut Grove's membership hardlychanged (up l.67%o). In the decade of the '50s, however,population in the two districts soaredby 58.47Vo. Churchmembership doubled in the '50s, then doubled again inthe'60s!

World War II had caused a massive movement ofworkers from rural areas into the greatdefense indus-ries, Iike Bethlehem Steel, the Glenn L. Martin Co.and Bendix, which tended to be concentrated in ornear cities - or into the greatly expandedgovem-ment bureaucracy of wartime. This migration taxedthe existing housing stock, Downtown row houseswere divided into apartments, and hastily tlrrown-together "temporary" developments like Aero Acresor Victory Villa in Middle River were built for thenew workers. After the war, life did not return toprewar norrns: The government did not shrink, andthe defenseplants mobilized for the civilian economy.Retuming sewicemen, eager to get on with theireducations and professional and family lives, addedto the housing demand. Rodgers Forge, Ednor Gar-dens and similar row-house developments were builtfor them, but demand stayed ahead of supply andcosts climbed. Young families began to discover thatrural lands in northern Baltimore County were withinreasorrable commuting distance to work, and wereactually less expensive and considerably more spa-cious than the close-in suburbs. (A one-acre buildinglot might have sold in 1950 for $1,800.)

Life in the country was not for everyone. The newimmigrants were sometimes dismayed by what theold farm families took for granted - the lack ofservices like water mains and sewerage, or the longdriving distances for the simplestpurchases. The newpeople tended to be, or soon became, "do-it-yourselfl'handymen. Many were professional people, ofteneducators or engineers or from other technical fields,and most were young couples with young children.Carroll Manor School (which then served nine grades)The Church in tle 1950's with attached Parish HalL

t2

was an importantdrawing card. So many Martin Co.employees swelied the rolls of Cheshrut Grove thatwhen Martin moved many of its operations to Denverand Orlando in the early 1960s. the church sufferedstaggering blows.

When a church membership quadruples in 20 years(from 129 at the end of the '40s to 498 at the end of the'60s), vast new demands spring up for youth leaders,teachers, deacon services, finance andproperty managersand other volunteers and leaders. The new young familiessupplied energies and talents - and not only to ChestnutGrove. At any PTA meeting, Scout meeting, Littlelcague game or other community activity, ChestnutGrove people were in leadership roles, just as they werein the church.

Young church, young paslorsMr. Van Dyke, under whose pastorate this explosive

growth had begun, resigned May 3, 1953. He moved tothe other end of America in response to a call from theBoard of National Missions; he became program directorfor a missionary and educational radio station attached toa mission high school and junior college in Sitka, Alaska.

The Rev. William P. McGregor came to us in January1954 as the tide of new members surged. He was our firstfull-time pastor; for the first time we were not sharing aminister with Ashland, Bethel or other churches in north-central Maryland. The Session was expanded from six toeight, and another tradition was dropped: The church nolonger closed down for a month when the minister was onvacation.

Church governance got another shake-up in 1956 when

the denomination adopted a compulsory rotation systemfor church officers. No longer could benevolent patri-archs like Joshua Jessop and J. Jackson Smith servecontinuously for life. Officers now were limited to fwothree-year terms, after which they must surrender theirpositions, at least for another three years. The last ofChestnut Grove's patriarchs served two more terms, thenstepped down in 1963. They were J. Jackson Smith, whohad spent 4l years as an active elder, and Leroy Y. HaileSr.,21 years.

Meanwhile a new group of energetic younger men tookthe helm as the church grew. (No women yet; the firstwoman elder, Geraldine Cox, was elected January 29,1967.) A new Sunday School superintendent, MaynardWebster, took over from "Uncle Jack" Smith, who hadserved faithfully for 35 years. The Sunday School hadgrown from 83 members right after the war to 135 by1956. Its program now expanded to two hours, includinga period of Junior Worship during the adult churchservice.

Though we were growing rapidly, Chestnut Grove wasstill a stepping-stone church for a young pastor like Mr.McGregor. In 1959, he resigned to move to a largerchurch in Millville, New Jersey. He had been well likedand was especially suited to a congregation of youngcouples; and he was adept at organizing both social andspiritual activities. An annual Christmas party became apopular event. Christmas Eve services were especiallymemorable, with special music and readings. Extrachairs would be set up in the aisles for the large atten-dance. Wednesday Lenten programs attracted good tum-outs. We began to sponsor Boy Scout Troop #444.

The new pastor was the Rev. Converse P. Hunter,

The Smith Center for Christian Education, completed in March of 1966.

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assistant minister of the Riverside Church in New York.The first of his trials at Chestnut Grove came on themorning that he preached his sermon for the searchcommittee; his wife Dorothea picked that morning todeliver their second child.

Building againIvIr. Hunter was called on September 3, 1959. The new

Parish Hall was seven years old and already hopelesslyovercrowded. A large cradle roll and grades I and 2 werecrammed into the lower hall (the area that later becameknownas theYouth Lounge and Bible StudyLounge,andnow serves as the junior-high classroom). Upstairs in onelarge meeting room (now the library) seven classes -grades 3 through 9 - met simultaneously. High schoolmet in the back of the sanctuary, while adult class wasgoing on in the choir arca at the front. With J. JacksonSmith's approval, a memorial fund was established inhonor of his late wife, Eleanor Green Smith, to receivegifts toward a new Christian-education building.

Sunday worship services, too, had become crowded,but the newly appointed Planning Council decided thatclassroom space was the higher priority, and that twoservices should be held on Sunday mornings.Certainly some of the decision was based on reluctance tojeopardize or detract from the distinctive old sanctuarythat had served the congregation so well from the verybeginning. Finding a location for a new education centerpresented another problem. The church owned land onthe west sideof the sanctuary, butto reach it wouldrequirea footpath through the cemetery - not a practical solu-tion, especially for small children. To build to the east orsouth would require acquiring land and relocating anaccess road to the farm behind the church, which other-wise would bisect any development to the east (towardSweet Air).

Ittook several years to negotiate theseadjustments withadjacent property owners, but by 1964 the planning wasdone for a new building of 10,000 sq. ft. at a cost of$180,000, of which $120,821 had already been raised.The Planning Council, led by Maynard Webster, nowwas transformed into the Building Committee, still ledby Mr. Webster, and the new center, to the east of theoriginal church and Parish Hall, was completed andoccupied in March 1966. It provided classroom spaceand also a large auditorium area with a stage that couldbe usedforcongregational events anddinners, andcouldbe made available to other community organizations,such as Scouts, Alcoholics Anonymous, aerobic danc-ing, and others.

letten over the door identified the new building as the"J. Jackson Smith Center." In fact, this is a misnomer.The proper name, according to Session minutes for May

22, L967 , is "Smith Center for Christian Education, inmemory of Eleanor Green Smith and J. Jackson Smith."Admittedly, that is a mouthful, but itproperly recognizesthe highly effective role played by Mrs. Smith in the lifeof the church.

With the expanded capacity for Christian educationcame recognition of the need for more leadership. Thefirst new paid staff position was instituted - Assislant inChristian Education. It was filled by Carolyn Hookway,who with her husband Ralph had led our youth programsfor a number of years.

The litt le white church on the pikeEven as the new Smith Center was being dedicated,

another unexpected blessing presented itself. The ChurchCouncil of First United Church of Christ of Jacksonville(formerly the German Reformed Church) requested adialogue with Chestnut Grove over a possible merger ofour two congregations. The necessary details wereworked out, with the enlarged Chestnut Grove acceptingfull responsibility for the Janettsville Pike church build-ing and cemetery upkeep. Formal merger occurred onJune 5, 1966, but the real bonding of persons into the life,leadership and service to Godunderthis new arrangementtook place over the weeks and months ahead, and contin-ues to this dav.

The United Church of Christ of Jacksonville at the time of itsmerger with Chestnut Grove in June of 1966.

Uncle JackPerhaps Chestnut Grove had had more than its share of

blessings. Sad times iue a pafi of life, too. In 1966, the

I4

Lord called to Himself two of his faithful servants: onFebruary 7, George R. Conklin Sr., at the age of 77: andon August 25, Arthur H. Conklin at age 83. George hadbeen an elder for 21 years and Arttrur for 9.

Then. on June 1, 1967, our beloved "Uncle Jack," J.Jackson Smith, died after a short illness. Gone foreverwas the "master greeter" who took up his station in thechurch vestibule each Sunday and knew everyone; gonethe friend and full-hearted supporter of every pastor heserved with. A memorial by Elder Webster noted:

Mr. Smith was gripped by a deep and sincere faithwhich controlled his every action. With all its depth,it remained a simple faith. He believed that when aman knows God and recognizes how he has beenblesse{ there is no choice but to Iove and serve Him.The best way to love and serve God is to love andserve His children. This he did with all his heart.

The impactof this one man on ChestnutGrove endurestoday through the generous trust fund he gave for thesupport and upkeep of the church and its work. B ut he hadanother concem. Chestnut Grove had called many min-isters to serve its congregation; but not in living memoryhad it sent any of its young members to be ftained in theminisfy for the benefit of others. In his will he estab-lished a special trust fund to provide financial support toany person willing to undertake training for the hesbyte-rian ministry. Priority in use of the trust was to be givento members of Chestnut Grove who would be ministerialcandidates; next, to members interested in full-timeChristian vocations, and thirdly, to other candidates in thePresbytery.

Two church members have used the funds to completeseminary studies and become ordained as Presbyterianministers: theRev. John CraftJr., now pastorof the HollyPresbyterian Church, Holly, Michigan; and the Rev. FaithJongewaard, of theFirstPresbyterian Church in Ottumwa,Iowa. Members who have been helped toward Christianvocations by IvIr. Smith's generosity includeGay Greiger,of Presbyterian MigrantMissions; DuaneLins, now serv-ing as a Pentecostal missionary in Kenya; and WilliamClisham, who received a graduate degree fromWestminster Choir College.

The Age of Social UnrestThe civil-rights revolution of the 1950s and '60s both

inspired and strained congregations and denominations,as it did society as a whole. Ministers were often in theforefront of sit-ins and demonstrations, and Christiansargued about whether this constituted mixing religionwith politics. Mr. Hunter made clear his stand by partici-pating in some of these activities. With the conculrenceof the Session, he accepted a position on the BaltimoreCounty Commission on Race Relations. Chestnut Grove

spelled out its policy in September 1963, just after Ma$inLuther King's "I Flave a Dream" speech. A Session reso-lution stipulated just one condition forchurch membership:"one's affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ." It said that"color, origin or worldly condition" would not be groundsfor refusing membenhip to anyone, nor for discriminationin facilities or organizations sponsored by the church.

Fine words. But Chestnut Grove also sought throughconcrete actions to help alleviate problems of poverty andracism. Service projects helping to clean up ghettoneighborhoods and youth exchange programs with inner-city churches were tried. These commitments wereseverely strained by the tensions and hostility that grew inthe innercity, especially after the assassinations of MartinLuther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968.

By the late '60s, the churches' response to Americanmilitary involvement in Vietnam led to demands thatChestnut Grove take a stand. Clearly, some of her sonsand daughters could soon become involved. Sessionminutes from 1967 and 1968 reveal that the moratty ofwar, and of opposition to it, became the subject of muchdebate and prayerful entreaty for guidance.

These were also the years of youth rebellion. Manyfamilies were torn by the "tune in-tum on-drop out" ethicassociated with hippie lifestyles and drug experimenca-tion. Chestnut Grove fought to keep its young people inchurch. The tidal wave of "boom babies" whose parentshad joined the church in the 1950s were now teen-agers.Adult supervisors came forth to develop programs whichdrew in not only our own youths, but a number ofyoungsters not formally associated with the church. Be-fore the Smith Center was built, it was difficult to find anyspace that could be dedicated to teen activities. A roughcatacomblike basement under the sanctuary was giventhem. No adult of that day who had the temerity to seekout the subterranean world of "The Cave," as this youthlounge was named, will ever forget the assault ofpsyche-delic purples, yellows and pinks splashed on the walls.When the Smith Center was opened, and Sunday Schoolclasses moved to it, the youth were lured out of "TheCave" to a lounge on the lower level of the Parish Hall.Naturally, they brought along their exuberant colors.

The youth group remained large and included a boardof Junior Deacons. The church added a youth coordina-tor, Sandy Graham, to its staff.

Knox summer campIn April 1968 Pastor Hunter announced his desire to

leave Chestnut Grove to accept a call to SummervillePresbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y. Dr. Harry AllenPrice served as interim pastor until the Rev. Donald F.Shaw was called on December 5, 1968.

Several new programs now began. Miriam MacCallum

15

organized an ecumenical program called FISH to provideemergency relief to persons or families in crisis in northBaltimore County. This program has involved hundredsof volunteers over the years it has been in existence.Originally, is primary focus was to provide a 24-hour-a-day hotline to take calls for emergency help and respondthrough a corps of volunteers. Later, the organization'sactivities included an outlet for used clothing and house-hold items (the Mustard Seed) and a supply of emergencyfood and similar items (the FISH banel).

ln L974, a senior-citizens' program, calling itself theGala Club, began meeting in the Jarrettsville Pike build-ing (the former UCC church that merged with ChestnutGrove). It eventually was supplanted by a program run bythe Baltimore County Council on Aging.

Our church made a major effort to address some of thedistress of children in the inner city. Chestnut Grovebegan a cooperative venture with the Knox CommunityCenter. This Presbyterian-sponsored center operated asummer-long day camp to keep kids off the streets.Chestnut Grove developed a program to bring the chil-dren to the country one day each week. Every Wednesdaymorning, buses provided by the City of Baltimore woulddisgorge 100 to 120 inner-city children onto ChestnutGrove's doorstep, where a full day's program awaitedthem. This might include games, sports, crafts, a trip toa farm or other spot, and lunch. It always included a swimat the Stutevants, Mullers or Harts - three ChestnutGrove members with pools. And it always included ponyriding at Ann Crocker's farm. The children were sup-posed to range in age from 6 to 14, but many of thembrought along their pre-school siblings, whom they wereexpected to care for while their mothers worked. Aspecial program had to be set up for the liltle ones, too.

If the worth of this program could be judged by itspopularity with the children, it was hugelybeneficial. Butmuch benefit was received by Chestnut Grove, as well.The program continued for six years, and in that timecomfortable relationships developed between a numberof the children who returned year after year and ChestnutGrove volunteers who participated year after year. Inorder to staff the six or seven program teams needed toconduct different activities for different age groups, avery large number ofour congregation had to be involved.Each team included an almost equal numberof adults andteen-agers committed to working togetherevery Wednes-day without fail. Thus the program helped the citychildren, helped us forge links with these fellow Chris-tians, andalso servedas an ideal inter-generational activityto bind together our own members.

Nursery school

a one-day-a-week "Playschool" set up in 1968. In theearly '70s this was expanded into a full nursery-schoolprogram under Wren Moessbauer's directorship, andoperated as a non-profit venture under church sponsor-ship. It had its own board and budget and was nationallyaccredited. Its directors have been hained specialists inearly-childhood development. The nursery school hasserved the community and also the vision of the plannerswho created the Smith Center - that the new facilityshould be used throughout the week, notjust on Sundays;by the whole community, not just by ourselves. Its presentdirector is Ann Bishop.

Pipe by pipeChestnut Grove music had progressed significantly

since the days of Charles T. Haile's tuning fork. A foot-pumped organ gave way in I94l to an electrically pow-ered pump organ, and that in turn was succeeded by anelectronic organ in the 1950s.

ln 1974 came an opportunity that set Pastor Shaw andRick Osborne, the organist/choir director, quivering. Ablack Baltimore city church offered us its old pipe organthat was being dismantled. Mr. Shaw and Mr. Osbornewere both pipe organ "buffs." They conceived the idea ofcreating, pipe by plpe and piece by piece, a fine musicalinstrument. A member of the donor church, an underlakerby profession, catalyzed the project by giving $100 tostart Chestnut Grove's "Organ Fund."

An inventory of what had been given revealed thatmore ranks of pipes and other parts would be needed tobuild the organ Mr. Shaw and Mr. Osborne envisioned.They began to scavenge the discardedorganparts ofotherchurches, bringing bits and pieces from as far away asNew York and Chicago. The balcony of the Smith Centerbecame their mad-scientist's laboratory as they began toassemble pipes, air ducts, chests and wiring harness.Contemporaries recall that the project looked as though ademented plumber had run amok.

Nevertheless,by l976,there was an organ in the SmithCenter, and it produced glorious music - so long asnothing broke down. Both pastor and organist left Chest-nut Grove that year, and the task of de-bugging thecontraption fell to the new organist, William Clisham.The Dance family conEibuted a new keyboard consolethat solved most of the remaining problems. The churchnow hada highly creditable organ, but no way to get itintothe sanctuary without major renovations. It would takethree more years to surmount this obstacle.

End ol the boomMembership reached 530 in June1973, a fourfold in-

crease in 20 years. And then the growth stopped. TheThe Chestnut Grove Nurserv School traces its roots to

great population influx to northern Baltimore Countyleveled off as land prices soared. Dissension over theVietnam War and the Angela Davis affair affected mem-bership in many churches. Also, our rolls still carriedmany inactive members whom we now purged. By theend of the year, membership had dropped to 483, and ithas fluctuated near that level ever since.

At the beginning of 1976, the church altered the way itgoverns itself. Since the tum of the century, the Sessionand the Board of Trustees had served as separate bodies.Now it was asked whether returning to a unicameralboard, subsuming all the church's functions, would bemore effective. Such a change was approved and theSession was expanded from 12 to 18 members, the Trust-ees were disbanded and many of the former Fustees wereordained as elders.

Mr. Shaw resigned his pastorate in June 1976. Heaccepted a call to the Shelter Island hesbyterian Churchon Long Island. Dr. John Galloway served as interimminister. until the church called the Rev. David L.Jongewaard, of the Latta Memorial Presbyterian Churchof Christiana, Pennsylvania. By June of L977 , he and hiswife, Faith and their two children, Nathan and Rebekah,had moved into the manse.

Pastor Jongewaard was a personable young man withlots of energy and a sincere zeal to lead his flock inspiritual growth. He was an excellentpreacher and, as onewag put it, was diligent in seeing to it that morningworship never ended till afterl2 noon. He soon had agood portion of the church's membership involved oneway or another in the church's life.

No more sticky pewsThepipeorgan createdby Don Shaw andRickOsborne,

and completed by Bill Clisharn, was a wonderful orna-ment to the Smith Centerbalcony. Now it was time to finda way to move it to the sanctuary. The Planning Commit-tee saw this as the opportunity to make a number of

improvements to the chancel. Its ambitious proposalcalled forremoving the apse behind the pulpit and replac-ing it with a room large enough to house the organ and itspipes; placing the organist's console in the choir enclo-sure; removing the vestiges of the partitions at the rear ofthe sanctuary which once permitted closing off the half-octagonal space for Sunday school; placing risers for thepews in this area; installing a new choir area opposite theorgan console, and replacing the old "sticky" pews withnew pews arranged to increase overall seating capacity.

Sticky pews? After many years and many coats ofvarnish, the pews had the habit of becoming tacky on hot,humid summer days. They bonded to the clothing ofworshipers, sometimes causing un-Christian thoughts.Only the very foolish or very inexperienced wore whitedresses, or white shirts without a jacket.

Other improvements to the sanctuary included newcarpeting and improved electrical and heating systems.Elder David Houck finished the appearance of the frontofthe chancel by hand-making the beautiful walnut crossand wooden arches that frame the organ sound chamber.

To accomplish all these changes required a major fund-raising effort, so the Session decided to raise a little moremoney while they were at it to fund improvements to thelibrary, youth lounge, Smith Center and parking lot.Then, to preserve a balance between giving for others andgiving forourselves, thechurch decided topledge $30,000to the Presbytery's Major Mission fund for the purchaseof land in the Edgewood area for new-church develop-ment. It all added up to a $ 130,000 fund.raising commit-ment. Most of the money had been received before thesanctuary rededication on January 14, 1979.

Two former pastors and two interims - Messrs.Hunter, Shaw, Price and Galloway - returned for therededication ceremony. Pastor Jongewaard's invalidfather pronounced the benediction. Before the service,the congregation was introduced to the beauty andpower of the newly installed organ in a recital given byMr. Clisham.

Tle Clwncel as it qpeoed befoe the rercvaions of 1978-79. The renovated Charcel of 1979.

t7

GivingBy January l, 1980, the number of communicant

members was 446. This was about l5 percent below theall-time high reached in 1973, but congregationalgiving had reached a record annual total of $121,705.Still, the ratio of giving set aside for benevolences haddeclined; it was now about one dollar out of every sevenraised. Our target for many years had been one dollar inthree for mission work, and for some years in the 1960sand '70s we had achieved it - all the more remarkablebecause it occurred while the congregation was inde-pendently paying off pledges for the Smith Centerbuilding fund.

Expansion of church facilities and programs alwaysmeans increased costs, meaning that even the samelevel of support for benevolences will be a lowerfraction of the whole budget. In this case, there was theJarettsville Pike building to care for and the mainte-nance on the improvements in the sanctuary and theSmith Center. We had added to the paid staff: NatalieWieprecht took over the duties of church secretary on anearly full-time basis. Judy Wood became Christian-education coordinator; and shortly afterwardJohn (Jack)Craft Jr. was hired as youth coordinator. When Jacktook up studies for the ministry later, he was succeededby Faith Jongewaard.

All these additions to our ability to serve God had thestatistical effect of reducing the proportion of ourgiving that we spent outside our own church family.Under Pastor Jongewaard, the "one-in-three" goal wasquickly reaffirmed, and mission giving began creepingup as a proportion of our budget. It reached about 28percent in 1990 - and then we took on huge newfinancial commitments again with a new buildingprogram, knocking mission giving back down again -not in actual dollars contributed, but as a proportion ofthe whole.

Fortunately, stewardship is not measured in dollarsonly. Members found ways of giving of their time andtalents. For a number of years, groups of adults, youthsand children have fraveled to the coal-mining area ofWest Virginia in the summer to share with and provide aservice to church families in Coal River valley. Workingunder the sponsorship of the Hinton W. Va. PresbyterianChurch, they have chiefly provided programs for Vaca-tion Bible School for the community. Another group ofmen and youths undertook the renovation of a completehouse in Baltimore under the Habitat for Humanity pro-gram. The spirit was willing -but the house's structurewas weak, precluding completion of this project. Workstill continues on it. however. Each month 25 womenvolunteer to prepare casseroles for the Light Street ChurchSoup Kitchen.

Women's libWell, we're all for it, of course. Nevertheless, the trend

that has seen more and more women holding jobs outsidethe household has profoundly affected churches, whichtraditionally have depended heavily on volunteer labor. Itis not only the women who must ration their time forchurch activities; husbands, too, in two-breadwinnerhouseholds are expected to pitch in with the houseworkand child care, so that their time for voluntary churchservice is more precious than ever.

Chestnut Grove has maintained most of its importantservice and social activities: Sunday School teaching(with a good deal of friendly persuasion), choir singing,the couples club (now called the Mariners). But somehave changed. The Women's Association (earlier knownas the Ladies' Aid Society, and before that as the Ladies'Mite) used to put on spring and fall suppers to raise moneyfor church activities. These impressive affairs drewcrowds from miles around. They are probably not muchmissed by the women who had to make them happen, buta lot of people from north Baltimore County and beyondleamed about Chestnut Grove throush them.

The last patriarchIn October 1981 Leroy Y. Haile Sr. passed away at age

86. A Realtor most of his life, he had been a trustee anda ruling elder longer than most people could remember.He was the grandson of Charles T. Haile, one of thefounding members of 1842, and hewas bom in Quinn, thehouse where George Monison had started the congrega-tion that became Chestnut Grove. Besides Mr. Haile'sconventional service ttrough the various boards andcommittees of the church, he was one of those "anony-mous donors" who often quietly bailed the church out ofsituations of financial disffess. His surviving children donot live in the immediate uea, but they still maintain astrons interest in Chestnut Grove.

Expansion and diversityMr. Jongewaard's lengthening tenure as pastor lent a

sense of stability and sftength to the church's life. At-tendance at worship was good and children's and youth'sprograms particularly were showing gfowth. More andmore thought was being given as to where, and in whatmanner, expansion should occur if membership were tocontinue to grow. The session Long Range Planningcommittee began to develop options dealing with facili-ties expansion and staff additions, including the additionof an associate minister. The most immediate pressurewas coming from the shortage of space for the growingyouth programs and also the cramped office conditions

l8

for the adminishative staff. Therefore, considerations forfacilities expansion received the most attention.

In the mid-1980s, two services were conducted eachSunday. Because the church had attracted many membersftom widely different church backgrounds and denominations, it was natural that preferences in content ofworship would be similarly different. To be as responsiveas possible to the. whole congregation, the minister andSession attempted to tailor the two services to differentstyles. The music and content at 8 : 1 5 were more informal,and more lay leadership was involved. The 11 o'clockservice was more traditional with respect to form andstructure of music and liturgy. Combined attendance atthe two services averaged over 200 weekly. Many mem-bers, while personally prefening one service or the other,felt that Christ's church should be responsive to allbelievers' needs and not raise unnecessary barriers throughforms of worship. Others, equally concemed, feared thatthe two services would in time develop into factionswithin the body of the church.

These differences in perception had not been resolvedwhen Pastor Jongewaard announced in May 1987 that hehad received a call to the First Presbyterian Church ofOttumwa, Iowa. It was a joint call; Faith Jongewaard,who had now been ordained. was called to serve asAssociate Pastor in ministry with David. Thus we lostboth our pastor and our youth coordinator. Ann Martz,who for some time hadbeen a volunteeryouth leader, washired to coordinate the church's ministrv with youth.

Two challengesTwo major issues dominated the year and a half that

the Rev. Donald Grant Huston served as interim pastor:( 1 ) the continuing conceptual development of a buildingproject to gain more classroom and office space; and(2) the continuing friction surrounding the director ofmusic and the content of the two worship services.

With respect to the first, a long-range planning commit-tee under Elder Richard Pulse was drawing a buildingplan. Elder Walter Kunz, an architect by profession,chaired a building committee that saw the project throughto completion in 1991.

The second issue was a source ofconsiderable anguishand division within the congregation; one which led to acase being brought before the Permanent Judicial Com-mittee of the Presbytery of Baltimore. The director ofmusic, William Clisham, an outstanding musician, hadbuilt upon Chestnut Grove's musical traditions. At onetime there were five choirs-adult, youth and children-under his supervision, in addition to a handbell choir. Butstrains had built up among Mr. Clisham, the Session, theinterim pastor, and the music leadership team forthe earlyservice. These iensions resulted in Mr. Clisham's leaving

his position at the close of 1988.Dr. Carl H. vom Eigen was called to be our pastor in

January of 1989 and took up his duties on March 1. He hadlittle time for a leisurely settling-in period or for com-fortable reflection about his new pastorate. Urgent issuesof unresolved conflict, spiritual healing, and congrega-tional direction were immediately thrust upon him. Theprimary task of urgency was for the church to regain itsbalance while attempting to address the hurts and painsbrought about by the divisions and grief endured by thecongregation during the interim period.

Two weeks after Pastor vom Eigen took up his duties,a search committee recommended to the Session a newmusical director in the person of Marjorie Egger, anenthusiastic and energetic young woman with good mu-sical skills and leadership capabilities. It fell upon her tobegin the slow and difficult task of rebuilding the ministryof music-one which she has handled most competently.

The pastor, with his wife, Beth Ann, and their children,Amy and Aaron, moved into the manse on Manor Road,butby mid-1989 the Session agreed to sell the manse andprovide the minister with a housing allowance so that hecould purchase a home in the community.,

During this same period the Session contracted with anarchitectural firm to complete the drawings for the renovation of existing space and a 6,000-square-foot expan-sion to unite the two existing church buildings. A fund-raising committee underElder Art Roberts came forwardwith a proposal to raise one million dollars; $800,000 forthe building and renovations, and $200,000 as ChestnutGrove's contribution to the hesbyterian BicentennialFund. Once again, when we raised money for our ownneeds as a congregation, we also raised money for theneeds of others (i.e. inner-city housing, new church de-velopment). In its first year, the building-fund driveraised nearly half a million dollars. It was decided toborrow the remaining funds through a mortgage andproceed with construction.

The most pressing need, as with most of the church'sbuilding projects in past yea$, was for more Sundayschool space. The plan called for at least six new class-rooms and a number of all-purpose rooms which could bemade into future classrooms. But increases in staff werestraining the availableadministrativeoffice space as well.The architect's plan proposed to connect the sanctuaryand annex with the Smith Center, integrating the entirechurch complex. The two-story addition was dug into theside of the steep slope behind the church buildings; thusfrom the front the completed structure presented a one-story profile, preserving the pre-eminence of the his-toric church structure. All four buildings - sanctuary,old parish hall (annex), Smith Center and new addition- now communicate through a glass-faced mainwalkway, which also provides handicapped access.

L9

The resulting "enclosed mall" effect has proved highlyfunctional, permitting many unrelated activities to go onsimultaneously.

Groundbreaking took place in the fall of 1990. Theprojectwas dedicated September 15, 1991. The ceremonial ribboncutting was performed by four generations of ElizabethWhiteford's family: Mrs. Whiteford herself, a75-yeumember of Chestnut Grove; her daughter Jane Foard,granddaughter Sue Davis and great-grandsonJesse Davis.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony for 1992 addition. Left to right,O liv er Kahler, S ue F oar d D av i s, J e sse D av i s, J ane W hit efordFoard, Elizabeth Whiteford (seated), Art Roberts (FundRaising Chairman), Walter Kunz (Building Contnri t teeChairman), Rev. Carl vom Eigen.

Chestnut Grove at 150As we began 1992, church membership stood at 437.

While the congregation continues to receive new mem-bers, (35 in 1991), the overall number of active membersremains stable. The Session continues to maintain amembership roll of active participants in the worship andwork of the congregation while reaching out to thecommunity to invite others to join in the ministry andmission of Christ's church.

We budgeted $385,250 (including $80,000 in esti-mated building-fund receipts). Mission giving wasbudgeted at $76,550 (including $ 16,000 for the Presbyte-rian Bicentennial fund, in connection with our building-fund drive).

Figures like these are important for measuring ourchurch; so are the chronicles of major events such asbuilding drives and the comings and goings of pastors.But what matters about Chestnut Grove, or any church,are not statistics or events, but the lives of people touchedby Christ through our service and agency. We are gratefulto God that our church-school programs continue toflourish. Werejoice in the presence in ourcongregation ofyoung families and old friends, of generations workingtogether and solitary individuals struggling to know God.We strive to be a congregation ofjoyful givers - givingtime and talents, as well as money.

It is only fitting to honor and give thanks for those greatleaders and dedicated Christians of the past who contrib-uted so much to the life and service of this church. But one

Full Chestnut Grove Church contplex upon complelion of 1992 addition.

20

must marvel at how quickly each generation of newmembers contributes its own cadre of dynamic and com-mitted leaders and doers. As we look back with somepride at the congregation that organized the Knox sum-mer camp, we should be just as thankful that in our midsttoday are those adults and youth who traveled to Sumter'South Carolina, in 1990 to help repair hurricane damage;and another group that joined others the next summer tobuild a Habitat for Humanity house in Morehead City,North Carolina, in just five days.

A visitor to the church on any weekday morning dis-covers a hubbub of activities: nursery school, aerobicdancing, group meetings. Then in the afternoons andevenings come the Scouts, the Alcoholics Anonymousand other community groups, and meetings of the manychurch committees, and Bible-study groups. The churchis nevertheless challenged to improve its outreach to the

Homecoming Banquet. Foregrounrl: clock'wise Dorothea

Hunter, Rev. Hunter, Bob Cox, Gerry Cox, and Dave Houck.To

the right and rear: Leroy Haile, Don and Charlotte Snryth,

Rathbun Haile, and Mary and John Johrnon,

Highlights From The Sesquicentennial Week-end

numbers of people moving into new developments in theJacksonville area. Here as in other communities acrossAmerica, people are on the move, cutting old ties andneeding new church homes, new opportunities to meetand serve God. Chestnut Grove must discern these needsand serve them.

In this year of 1992 we express thanks to God forchoosing to let us prosper through 150 years. Our pro-grams of remembrance and thanksgiving are offered tohonor the many, many sains God has given us, from ourancestor George Monison to the young teenagers declar-ing their faith this spring in cotfirmation class. To namethose we have mentioned in this history is to overlookthousands of others equally precious to God and toChrist's body in this congregation. We now pick up thebaton a-nd carry Chestnut Grove Presbyterian Church intoher next 150 years.

Intergenerational Choir presents: "Celebrale Life", aninspirational Christian Musical, on Sunday ntorning. Directedby Marjorie Egger, Director of Music.

Guests of Honor,following CelebratoryWorship Service and Communion. Bark row: Rev. Carl vom Eigen, Harriet Blizzard (widow

of Dr. Samuel Blizzard), Rev. Wm. McGregor, Marilyn McGregor. Front row: Beth Ann vom Eigen, Revs. David arul Faith

Jongewtuzrd, Dorothea and Rev. Converse Hurter.

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APPENDIX C

Sons and Daughters of Ghestnut GroveWho Became Ministers

In doing research for this history of Chestnut GroveChurch, the authors were quite surprised to uncover thatthere have been seven members of this church who havetaken up the ordained ministry. To ourknowledge, muchof this information had never before been assembled.These seven are briefly profiled below in the chronologi-cal order in which they were ordained.

The Rev. William Biays Brown (1818-1892)Rev. Brown was born November 17, 1818 in Philadel-

phia, son of William Brown, Jr. and Susanna Biays. Hejoined Chestnut Grove on October 6, 1844, just two yearsafter its founding. He graduated from Jefferson College,PA. in L847 , and studied theology at Union Seminary,VA. His firstpastorate was at Hillsboro, N.C. in 1850. Hebecame principal of Augusta Female Seminary from185 1-1855.

He served as professor of Latin and Belles Lettres atTransylvania University, Lexington, KY. for one year.Whileteaching inKentucky, he was engagedin supplyingvarious churches until the close of 1863. He served aspastor of the Second Church of Wabash, IN. until 1869,and suppliedthePresbyterianChurch of Bel Air, MD. (hisonly Maryland pastorate) for two years, 1869-1871. Hedied in Pennsylvania on June 23,1892.Information from Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church,USA; Alfred Nevin, Editor, Philadelphia, PA.

The Rev.William Biays Brown

The Rev. George Morrison, Jr. (183f-f881)Mr. Morrison, third son of George Morrison, minister

of Bethel hesbyterian Church, Harford Co., MD. andfounderof theLong Green, MD. congregation which waslater to become Chestnut Grove. George Morrison, Jr.

grew up at Quinn and became a member of ChestnutGrove in 1848. After graduating from college he firstentered the profession of teaching, establishing his ownclassical school at Sweet Air.

In 1854 he was elected principal of Baltimore CityCollege where he remained until 1857. During thistime he felt compelled to follow in his father's foot-steps and become a minister. He moved to Danville,KY. for his training. In 1860 he was licensed byBaltimore Presbytery to preach and subsequentlyserved churches in Kentucky and Indiana. In 1877 hewas called by Grove Presbyterian Church of Aber-deen, MD. During his ministry he returned manytimes to Chestnut Grove to preach in the churchinitiated by his father. He died in 1881.Some data from Grove Church- 100th Anniversary Brochure

The Rev. George Morrison, Jr.

The Rev. Amasa Lewis Hyde (1856-1937)Mr. Hyde was born on June 5, 1856. He became a

member of Chestnut Grove Church on July 8, 1886. Histraining for the ministry was at Princeton TheologicalSeminary from where he graduated in 1888. Rev. Hydemarried Emma Elizabeth Greene in July of 1891. Hebecame pastor of the hovidence and Jacksonville, N.J.churches from 1888-1890.

Rev. Hyde was called to StateRidgeChurch, Delta,PA.in 1890. He maintained a residence in Cardiff, MD. wherehe died in 1937.From Biographical Catalogue of the Princeton TheologicalSeminary, l8I5-1932.

The Rev. Robert J. Rankin (1866-1894)Robert Rankin was the son of Samuel M. Rankin and

Mary Elizabeth Green Rankin. He was born on May 24,1866 at Long Green, MD. He made public profession ofhis faith in Chestnut Grove Church at the age of I 6. Robertgraduated from Lafayette College in 1887 and from

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Princeton Theological Seminary in 1890. He was or-dained by the Presbytery of Westminster on April 8, 1 890and became pastor of Pine Grove Church, Sunnyburn,PA. on June 12, 1890. From there, he was called to leadthe Lafayette Square Church in Baltimore in 1893.

Rev. Rankin died suddenly in June of 1894 ofappendi-citis, just a few days after his 28th birthday. He is buriedin the cemetery at Chestnut Grove.F r orn T he P re sbyter ian H istor ic al S oci ety, P hilade lp hi a, P a.1895.

The Rev. Dr. William Albert Price (1864-1940)He was born J anuwy 26, 1 864 at Jacksonville, MD., the

youngestof three children of William Price and Ann RuthGreen. He joined Chestnut Grove in 1877 under Rev.Rathbun's guidance. Feeling the call to the ministry, Mr.Price attended Lafayette College, graduating in 1889 andthen attended Princeton Theological Seminary, graduat-ing in 1892. While at Princeton, he organized and taughtan adult Bible Class which soon blossomed into theAtlantic Highlands Presbyterian Church at AtlanticHighlands, N.J.

Dr. Price's first church was BettrelPresbyterian Churchin Madonna, MD. After 13 years at Bethel, he moved toBaltimore City to serve there for nine years. He accepteda call to Grove Presbyterian Church in Aberdeen, MD. in191,4.ltwas during his nine years at Grove Church thatAberdeen proving Grounds was established and Rev.Price assumed the role of "unofficial Chaplain" to fill avoid existing on the post in this area ofreligious supportto service men. In l923,he became pastor of the High-lands Presbyterian Church of Street, MD., his last pastor-ate which ended in 1938. Dr. Price is buried at ChestnutGrove Church.Taken from A Profile of The Reverend William Albert Price,D.D. (a son of the Chestnut Grove Church), author unknown.

The Rev. Faith Dow Jongewaard (1947- )The Rev. Faith Jongewaard was born in Chicago, IL., onOctober 12,1947 and grew up in the Grand Rapids, MI.area. She met David Jongewaard during his preparationsfor the ministry and they were married in June of 1968.Faith graduated from Wheaton College,IL. in 1969. Sheworked in several capacities: case worker for Cook County,IL., high school English teacher on Utt Reservation inCO., and dispatcher for Deerfield Police Dept.

She began her theological studies at Lancaster Semi-nary (PA.) in the fall of 1973. She moved with herhusband and family to Maryland when he accepted a callto be Chestnut Grove's pastor (June, 1977). During thenext nine years she some how juggled being a minister'swife and a mother to three small children (one of themadopted during this period) with completing her studiesfor the ministry at Lancaster Seminary, from which shegraduated in 1986, She served as Coordinator of YouthMinistries at Chestnut Grove during 1986-1987.

Rev. Jonjewaard was called to serve as AssociatePastor of First Church, Ottumwa, IA. in September 1987.She was ordained at Chestnut Grove Church.

The Rev. Faith Dow Jongewaard

The Rev. John Wesley Craft' Jr. (1952' )John (Jack) Craft was born in Montclair, N.J. on June

9,1952. He started attending Chestnut Grove in 1963when his parents, John, Sr. and Nell Craft, transfenedtheir membership, and was later confirmed here. Heattended the University of West Virginia, Webster Col-lege, Towson State College, and graduated from LoyolaCollege (Baltimore) Summa Cum Laude.

Jack was much interested in the theater and participa-tion in some productions, amateur and semi-professionalbefore committing his life to service to Christ. He spentseveral years in the Shiloh Youth Ministry and a year asCoordinator of Youth Ministries at Chestnut Grove be-fore attending Princeton Theological Seminary. He

The Rev. Dr.WilliamAlbert Price

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graduated from Princeton and was ordained on Sunday,April 10, 1988. Rev. Craft is rather unique in that he wasordained in the same church, (Chestnut Grove), in whichhe hadbeen confirmedas a youth. He accepted acall to thePresbyterian Church of Holly, MI. where he has servedfor the past four years.

The Rev. JohnWesley Crafi, Jr.

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