BREAKING NEWS
Just discovered a handwritten manuscript shedding new light on the founding of CHBC, including:
- Names of those present at the 1st prayer meeting in 1867
- The original name they intended for the church
- How the Sunday School ended up at 7th and A St.
And more!
Just discovered a handwritten manuscript shedding new light on the founding of CHBC, including:
- Names of those present at the 1st prayer meeting in 1867
- The original name they intended for the church
- How the Sunday School ended up at 7th and A St.
And more!
What can you make out from these documents? What do you learn?
At the initial prayer meeting were “Mr. and Mrs. Bentley Murray, Mr. and Mrs. Skirving and their two daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Spofford, Mr. and Mrs. Ferris, Mrs. Ferris’ mother and sister.”
“The main object of the prayer meeting was to pray that a Baptist Church be erected on Capitol Hill which should be called ‘The Church of Prayer.’”
The initial location at 7th and A St. was provided by a Mr. Tulick, a member of Second Baptist Church who had attended some of the meetings, offered the use of a wooden structure which he owned. The building was used as a public school during the week.
My favorite story from this manuscript is the account of how bricks were collected to build the first building:
Mrs. Ferris suggested to the children that each child bring to the lot any bricks that they could find on the street or some vacant lot. 1/5
Mrs. Ferris suggested to the children that each child bring to the lot any bricks that they could find on the street or some vacant lot. 1/5
Two of Mrs. Ferris’s little girls visited a brickyard in the southeast section of the city, carrying their baskets, and asking for a few bricks, which were given. When they later paid the yard another visit, the owner of the brickyard asked “What do you want with the bricks?” 2/5
They answered that they were helping to build a church. At that, he told them that they had been so noble that he was going to really help them and would send them a load of bricks. 3/5
When he had done this, the girls were so encouraged that they visited two other brick yards and told what this first man had done. As a result, there was delivered at the corner of Sixth and A Street NE two more loads of bricks, one from each of the brickyard owners. 4/5
As a result of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the children, the only bricks purchased for the erection of the building was the pressed brick used on the front. All of the rest were collected by kids. 5/5
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