Macalester College - Quid Nunc Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

Page 15 text:

,,,-...jnm . .- .. .F ,..q L 9 , - 1 Qf-ff!! I 5: ,f -L.-if f L. 'flT 7 N -1 li not a prospect that in a half-century the In- dian lodges that now surround us will be far removed, that the steam-engine will move from Montreal to the Rapids of St. Mary, and stop at the roaring waters of St. Anthony, that the gates of the Rocky Mountains will be thrown open, and the locomotive, groaning and rumbling from Oregon, will stop here with its heavy train of Asiatic produceg that the mission stations of Remnica and Lac Qui Parle will be supplanted by the white school- house, the church-spire, and the higher semi- nary of learning? Do we not '. . . hear the tread of pioneers Of nations yet to be, The first low Wash of waves Where soon Shall roll a human sea? ' On the fourth of March, 1854, an act of the Legislature was approved incorporating the City of St. Paul, and one month later the Hrst election for city oflicers was held. St. Paul had entered upon a new era. The little village was beginning to assume the proportion of a city as Well as the title. Hotels and 'Ibid. boarding-houses were crowded and frequently people camped in the streets. Carpenters and mechanics could not half keep up with their work, all business houses made large profits, a great deal of building was done, and Third, Fourth, and jackson streets were graded, and other prominent streets Were improved . . . In the fall the Presbyterian society known as the House of Hope was organized by Rev. E. D. Neill. :f THE FIRST House OF HOPE When the congregation of the First Presby- terian Church had increased to such an extent that forty pews were added to the church, and the members were financially able to support a minister, Dr. Neill, feeling the urge for new frontiers, resigned as pastor of the First Pres- byterian Church and became minister-at-large to the entire city. Soon, however, he began the policy of preaching every Sunday in the upper part of St. Paul, where there were no churches. This led to the building some years later, on Walnut street near Oak, of the House

Page 14 text:

Neill had been in St. Paul only a few weeks when he was delegated by the Presbytery of Galena to attend the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia in May. The trip was productive of good things for the little parish in St. Paul, for friends and relatives who saw Neill gave him considerable financial aid towards the erection of the First Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, which was also the first Presbyterian Church in Min- nesota. While the little building was being built, services were held in the old Central House, which then served as both hotel and temporary territorial capitol. On November 29,1849, the First Presbyterian Church was opened for worship, although the installation of elders did not take place until the, first Sunday of January, 1850. The Pioneer, in referring to the latter service, mentions the fact that J. W. Selby and W. H. Tinker were officially recognized as elders, and that com- munion was administered. It says further that the Reverend Dr. Williamson of Little Crow Mission was present with several of his native Sioux, who are communicants of his church. The doctor made some very affecting remarks both in English and Sioux, alluding to the union of communicants of different colors and races, and believers present were invited to unite. A CHURCH is BUILT Four months later, before its newness had worn off, the little church was destroyed by fire-the first conflagration since the organiza- tion of the Territory. The congregation, led by their undaunted pastor, immediately set to work securing funds for a new building, .and purchased a lot on the corner of Third and St. Peter streets. This undertaking was far more ambitious than the first, for the new 'church was to be of brick and to have a 'bell in its steeple. The bell, the largest in the Territory, arrived by steamboat one Saturday in Sep- tember, 1850, and with the efforts of car- penters and blacksmiths was hoisted into the belfry of the new church. That night at nine o'clock its first tones sounded over the hushed i-A . 7 In 7 IK. I Y W mf I Tin WWQIM I T555 156: rfc new If' on rcs cu .ef.-.'I Ax... Y.. ,. AY,,, ,If.,.,. ,, V ,,,w,,A,,,,,,,W,-3 frontier town, causing consternation among the Indians in the village below . . . but awakening pleasant memories among the white settlersfhi The next two years were busy ones for Reverend Neill, on alternate Sundays he preached to settlers at St. Anthony and Fort Snelling, besides doing regular work within his own parish. In 1850 he was instrumental in forming the Presbytery of Minnesota, and was also active in organizing the first Presbyterian Sunday school. Meanwhile he had built a home on Fourth street near Washington. It was the first brick residence north of Prairie du Chien. In Andrews' History of St. Paul there is a passage telling of the erection of this house and how the Indians watched . . . with wonder, as they had not before seen bricks. They seemed to them to be as well adapted for pipes as the sacred red pipe-stone, and coveted them. Some even took a few without leave, and as they wore no capacious hats, hid them under their blankets, and carried them to their village, but when they began to scrape them were disappointed in finding that like 'Apples of Sodom' they turned to dust. THE TE1uuToRY's FIRST THANKSGIVING The first proclamation for a Thanksgiving day was issued by Governor Ramsey in 1850, and in accordance with its suggestion the twen- ty-sixth of December was set aside. On this day the congregations of the Baptist, Presby- terian, and Methodist churches gathered at the Methodist church, where Reverend Neill preached a Thanksgiving sermon with the text, The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. The sermon, which was later published in one of the papers, spoke of what a change has taken place in the town since the meeting of the first legislature last year. Then only the log chapel of the pioneer and a small house of worship were to be seen from this plain, now, 'behold, crowning the bluffs, four church edifices of various styles of architecture which would not discredit an eastern village. Speaking with all the enthusiasm of eager youth, Reverend Neill concluded, Is there 'C. C. Andrews-History af St. Paul.

Page 16 text:

of Hope Church. This was a dignified little frame chapel with tall, narrow windows and an unassuming entrance, quite different from the impressive brick church in the heart of the city. But it brought religion closer to the people living on the outskirts of the new city, and for years it served as a place of worship. Strangely enough, it survived the First Pres- byterian Church, which was torn down to make way for a row of store-buildings. The Hrst House of Hope is still standing, its walls a weatherbeaten gray, its narrow windows con- verted into doors which open upon four small flats. Tucked away in a side street where few notice it, it is a quiet reminder of a man who spent his life building in the service of others. So actively was Dr. Neill interested in the struggling little congregation of the House of Hope that he decided to give up his fine brick house on Fourth street and move out l D 0 9 9 0 M'r-f'ei'ff55i'ff5Ci'17'56 into the district where his duties called him each Sunday. Presently a frame house began to go up on the hill above the House of Hope chapelg there was a road along the summit of the hill, a road which, years later, was flanked by huge residences and Wide lawns. But in those days there was only the one lonely house, the first ever built on Summit Avenue, set in a grove of trees where the James J. Hill man- sion stands today. At the rear of the house a long flight of stairs led down to the modest little building at the foot of the hill. It was here that Dr. Neill spent one of the most useful portions of his life, devoting himself to the service of a town which was to become a city and a Territory which was to become a state. 6 15 113: -q u N, ,,