Chapter 7

Despite the unhappiness created by the departure of the Reverend
MoGreaham, the work of the church went forward with little interuotion.
Indeed, a children's campaign to add menbers to the Sunday School resulted
in the largest attendances in recent years. ‘The Session and the trustees
foresaw the needs of the congregation and provided weekly for full worship
Programs. Each Sabbath found a pastoral candidate in the pulpit. Some
were from the East, sone from Ohio, and some from cities or toms in
southern Michigan. On a Sunday early in August, the Reverend William H.
Long of Ludington, Michigan, preached at both services. “There is prospect
Of his being called to this pulpit,” said a church reporter, "his sermons. . .
having pleased the congregations very much." Two weeks later Long accepted
a call to First Presbyterian.

‘The Reverend Long began his three~year pastorate on Septenber 5, 1909.
Ten days later a large proportion of the menbership attended a reception
for the new pastor and his wife in the newly-finished church social hall.
“Bveryone," the Presbyterian correspondent dutifully reported, "was impressed
by the cordiality and the friendly spirit which pervaded the entire evening.”
After four months without a spiritual leader, the congregation could now
look confidently to the approaching fall and winter when opportunities for
religious expression were at their fullest.

During the Reverend Long's ministry, the First Presbyterian Church
made steady if not spectacular progress. Reports submitted at the annual
meeting in 1910 revealed a church membership of 116 and a Sunday School
enrollment of 129. A dedicated croup of fifty-five women comprised the
Ladies" Aid Society which had now set higher goals than ever before. The
Presbyterian choir contributed mich to the effectivness of religious
observance. Early in 1911, "assisted by ten of the best soloists in the
city and a picked chorus," it presented the cantata, "The Coming of Ruth.”
In that year, too, the church experimented and discovered that stuients
preferred to meet for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. rather than 12:00 noon.
Although it mmbered no more than eighteen members, the Women's Home and
Foreign Missionary Society, organized in 1906, planned in advance and
carried out a full year's program of aid to those less fortunate.

In the spring of 1912, the First Presbyterians for a time refused the
use of their church for a series of evangelistic meetings, but at length
consented. For two weeks thereafter, revival services were held nightly
in the sanctuary. "Mr. Barnes," said the church reporter, speaking of
the meetings and the evangelist who conducted them,

has laid a strong hold upon his hearers at every service.

He has shown hinself to be a preacher of unusual ability. . .
No clap-trap methods have been employed. They have not drawn
a crowd of curious people simply seeking entertainment.

‘They have however been well attended and universally people
have gone away saying that the service was helpful.

Though sincere, the First Presbyterian approach to evangelism was less
emotional ‘than that of soe denominations. In a published statement descript-
ive of its aims and beliefs, it exoressed the hope that by cooperating with
other faiths and competing with none, all who lived in the commity might
"be given privileges of Christian worship.and work." ‘The message of
Christianity was of such "real and practical helpfulness" that proclaiming
the gospel must ever be the "principal work" of First Presbyterian. It

n44-

 

undertook to "assist its om poor and to help all its menbers at times
need." In addition to its local mission the church also contributed to
“preaching, teaching, and healing in other lands." Any in the community
who had not affiliated with another church organization, it cordially
invited to became “one of this company of Presbyterians."

Many students and faculty menbers of Central Michican Nommal School
accepted the invitation to worship at First Presbyterian. As the years
Passed, these newcomers to Mt. Pleasant became ever more involved in church
activities and programs. Charles 7. Grawn, the president of Central, had
long served First Presbyterian as an elder and a trustee. At the Grawn home
in Mt, Pleasant in June, 1912, the Reverend Long officiated at the wedding
Of the president's daughter, Hildegarde, to Jamas T. Milliken, a Traverse
City merchant. Fifty-nine years later when the First Presbyterian Church
celebrated its centennial, @ son of this union, William G. Milliken, would
be governor of the state of Michigan.

 

After the usual late sumer lull, church activities resumed in Septenber,
1912, at a time of mounting excitement over approaching state and national
elections. The Progressive Party and its reform platform found staunch
Supporters among the Presbyterians—especially the women. Largely through
the efforts of Governor Chase Osborn of Michigan a referendum granting
women the right to vote was to appear on the state ballot in Novenber.
Mt. Pleasant ‘the Presbyterian women spearheaded a drive to win support f
the proposed amendment to the state constitution. Equal Suffrage clubs
Soon sprang up in town and throughout Isabella County. Reverend Long and
other local pastors supported the referendum from their pulpits and from
Jess elaborate rostrims in outlying schoolhouses and rural centers. When
the results of the balloting were tabulated, the Progressives among the
Presbyterians may have felt chagrin that their candidate, Theodore Roosevelt,
had lost the presidency to Woodrow Wilson, but they were overjoyed with the
news that voters of Michigan had approved the equal suffrage referendum.

To celebrate, the Equal Suffrage clubs of Isabella County scheduled a victory
banquet at the Presbyterian Church. "Come," said the announcenent of the
affair,

 

no matter whether you worked for equal suffrage or voted
for it or only prayed or wished for it. The only quali-

 

A party enjoyed by Mrs. Kendall P. Brocks' Sunday School class, 1913.

~45-

fication for attending this jollification is that you are
Glad that Michigan men did the handsome, gallant thing in
promoting their women from the minor ani idiot class... «
Come anyway, even if you have a grouch and expect the
state to go plumb to the deminition bomwwws. . .

On the 18th of Novenber, 1912, jubilant supporters of equal suffrage
packed the Presbyterian social hall to partake of a twenty-five cent oyster
supper and to toast the great victory. At this "intellectual as well as
instructive feast" leaders of church and commity delivered prepared
addresses regarding the social significance of equal suffrage:

‘The Reverend B, A. Hills "The woman voter and her relation
to the social evil.”

Susie L. Chatterton "Joint citizenship and its effect on
domestic life.”

Anna Hawkins "Bqual pay for equal work,"

Dr. E. C. Rowe "The wonan citizen and her response
to the burden of war."

Dr. Amanda Holootb "the wonan citizen's opportunity in
relation to child labor.”

Reverend W. H. Long "yeman citizenship and the liquor
traffic.”

Lacy A. Sloan “The new citizen and the men who made
her 50."

When all had spoken and the joyful diners had returned to their hanes, the
women could look with anticipation to the spring election in 1913 when they
could cast their first ballots. But it was not to be! A few weeks later,
as a result of a recount initiated by opponents of equal suffrage, came the
sad news that the referendum had lost by the slim margin of 760 votes out
of a total cast of almost 500,000. At the election the next spring, the

male voters of Michigan decisively rejected a similar referendum.

until November, 1918, would the women of Michigan win the franchise and no
longer be classed with minors, idiots, and prison imates.

At a meeting on the Sabbath evening preceding the equal suffrage
"victory" jubilee, the congregation regretfully accepted the Reverend Long's
unexpected resignation as pastor of First Presbyterian. The minister's
action, apparently, was forthcoming—not because of dissatisfaction with
his pastorate, but for personal reasons. He did not again ocouwy the
Presbyterian,pulpit. In a week's tine he had moved his family to his
brother's farm in Gratiot County, and had exchanged the pulpit for the plow.
With Long operating the farm, the brother and his wife would be free to take
their sick child to the west coast to escape a Michigan winter.

‘The First Presbyterian Church was extrenely fortunate in its next
choice of a pastor. For several months after the departure of the Reverend
Tong, faculty menbers of Alma College served the church, but only at morning
service. During this time a pulpit supply comittee carried on its search
for a new pastor. Instead of inviting candidates to Mt. Pleasant to preach
‘to the congregation, the committee delegated menbers to attend worship
services at churches in nearby toms and cities. At a Session meeting on
March 2, 1913, the committee recomended that the congregation call the
Reverend Joseph H. Green, pastor of a church in St. Charles, Michigan. A
week later, after Ralph 0. Doughty, chairman of the committee, had made
"some explanatory statenents" regarding its choice for the pulpit, the
congregation voted "unanimously" to issue a call to the Reverend Green. He
accepted the First Presbyterian pulpit and in April arrived in Mt. Pleasant
to begin his duties.

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‘The Reverend Joseph H. Green in uniform as chaplain of the Student Amy
Training Corps of Central Michigan Normal School 1918. The manse on Main
Street is in the background.

Green, who would serve longer at First Presbyterian than any of his
Bredecessors, had been born and reared in England and educated in English
Schools. Before coming to America in 1909, he had preached for five years
in his native land. He cane "from a stock of preachers." His father had
been forty years in the pulpit and three of his father's brothers also had
jong careers as ministers. After coming to America the younger Green had
Served the church at St. Charles for four years before receiving the call
to First Presbyterian.

Within weeks of his arrival, the new pastor had won a host of friends
and admirers, not only in the church but in the commity as well, "His
Gevotion to the cause he serves," said a newspaper account some months after

arrival, "his sincere and earnest speech conbined with his oratorical
lity have filled his church to the doors at every service." He had been
in Mt. Pleasant only a month when he was asked to deliver the principal
address at Memorial Day exercises in the courthouse square. A few weeks
later, at Central Michigan Normal School, he "lectured before Miss Tate's
Glass in English literature . . . on the subject of Dickens." The denand
for his services as a speaker or preacher soon reached far beyond Mt. Pleasant.

~47-

 

Although the Reyerend Green had received theological training and had
preached for a nunber of years, he had yet to be ordained by the Presbytery
and installed as pastor of Fixst Presbyterian. ‘This impressive ceremony
took place on a Monday evening before a congregation of church menbers and
well-wishers who occupied every seat in the sanctuary. At the close of the
ceremony, the Reverend Green stepped to the front of the chancel and
pronounced the benediction.

‘The Presbyterians ani the conmmity, too, expressed mich interest in a
second cerenony soon to take place in which the Reverend Green would again
be a participant. Sone tine before his arrival in Mt. Pleasant, the parents
of Miss Adeline H, Thurston had announced the engagement of their daughter
and the Reverend Green. Miss Thurston, a Chesaning school teacher, had
attended Central Michigan Nomal School for four years and had many friends
in Mt. Pleasant. The marriage tock place in the First Presbyterian Church
at noon on Monday, Novenber 24, 1913. "The church," stated the newspaper
account of the wedding, “was beautifully decorated, the rostrum being heavily
banked with potted flowers, ferns and greens, the organ and piano being
almost hidden from view. From the ceiling were suspended two large bells
encircled by wreaths . . . ." Before the wedding took place, a representative
of the congregation presented the pastor with a purse containing nine
‘twenty-dollar gold pieces. Dr. H. R. Stark of Saginaw, who two months before
had presided at the ordination and installation of the Reverend Green,
performed the cerenony. After a brief honeymoon Green and his wife retumed
to Mt. Pleasant to a church reception in their honor. ‘The new Mrs. Green,
comented the local press, "is possessed of a delightful personality, is a
Shoroughily educated lady, and will be of great assistance to her husband in

With the Reverend Green providing dynamic leadership, the First Presby-
terian Church continued to grow and prosper. For some tine past, however,
menbers of the congregation had expressed concern with the financial affairs
of the church, Despite the "good times" of recent years and a substantial
increase in membership, First Presbyterian had taken no action to retire or

‘to reduce the $3000 mortgage that had "burdened" its real estate since
1909. Many in the congregation fretted, too, that during these years

been done to provide the church with a mer pipe organ. The
sign of the new church called for the installation of the instrument,
‘time of construction, money for such a lwary was unavailable. At
dedication of the new church in 1907, a piano alone had provided msic

ing to the new church the old hand-
which Mrs. Dwight May had long ago given to First Presby-
ince that time it had cocupied a portion of the space reserved

instrument.

i

neyeeeEty
ia
hl
i
z

‘The Reverend Green was mich impressed with the Ladies’ Aid Society and
its many contributions to the church. Apparently, at his urging the Men's
Goodfellowship Club sought to render similar service. At a church dinner
soon after Green's arrival, a humorous feature of the evening's program
consisted of brief talks by men and women of the congregation. Each woman
related what she would do for the church if she were president of the
Goodfellowship Club. In tum, each man told what his program would be if he
were president of the Ladies' Aid Society. As the months passed, Green did
all he could to nurture a friendly rivalry between the two organizations.

‘At a meeting of the Ladies' Aid Society in Jamary, 1914, the secretary
read the tems of a challenge issued by the men's organization, If, within
three years, the wonen of the church would purchase and install a
organ at a cost of not more than $2,500, the men of the church

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next
pipe

would raise the $3000 needed to retire the mortgage. The women agreed to
the challenge and prepared a formal acceptance to be read from the pulpit
on the fo! ‘Sunday. Before adjourning, the Society started an organ
fund with $60.50 in pledges.

At a subsequent meeting, the Ladies' Aid Society appointed an organ
committee consisting of Mrs. Daugherty, Mrs. John Kelly, and Mrs. Ralph 0.
Doughty. Mrs. Doughty inmediately called upon her husband to assist the
committee in the difficult task of selecting an organ that would meet the

Rach 0. Doughty was a son of forner elder Wilkinson Doughty and Mary
P. Doughty, one of the twelve original menbers of First Presbyterian. He
was born in July, 1871, only a few weeks before the founding of the church;
he had grown to manhood in it, and had long served it as a trustee. AS
treasurer of the building comnittee of the Board of Trustees, he had faith-
fully attended to the bulk of the detail associated with the construction of
‘the new church and its subsequent completion. To his mind the church would
never be complete, however, until a great organ occupied the space in the
chancel provided for it. For the next eighteen months, Doughty, who apprecia-
ted music but was not a musician, devoted every spare moment to a study of
organs and to a survey of organ manufacturers. Untiring in his efforts, he
was determined that First Presbyterian should have the best organ that
available money could buy. To this end, he corresponded not only with organ
manufacturers, but also with such outstanding masters of the organ as Earl V.
Moore of the University of Michigan. Late in April, 1915, the A. B. Felgemaker
Organ Comany of Erie, Pennsylvania submitted a proposed contract and a bid
of $2,560 for an instrument meeting Doughty's specifications. After more
investigation and additional ids, Doughty advised the pipe organ comittee
to accept the Felgemaker offer. Cn June 2, 1915, the Ladies' Aid Society
met to consider the committee's recommendation. ‘After hearing Doughty and
Moore testify to the hich quality of the Felgemaker instrument, the Society
agreed to the company's offer and immediately signed and forwarded a contract
calling for the manufacture, delivery, and installation of the organ before
October 1, 1915.

To introduce their most recent gift to the church, the Ladies' Aid
Society invited the congregation, and the public as well, to attend an
"Inaugural Recital on the Pipe Organ" on the evening of Septenber 30, 1915,
with the aforementioned Earl V. Moore at the console. On a program already
printed for the occasion was a description of the organ which as late as
Septenber 24 had not yet arrived in Mt. Pleasant. such to the relief of the
the disassenbled instrument arrived the next morning. Within a day or tio
the Felgemaker technicians had installed the orgen and prepared it for use.

On Septenber 30, a large and appreciative audience filled the Presby-
terian Church for the inaugural recital. ‘Wo days later in a letter to the
Felgemaker Company, Dobghty expressed "delight with the organ" and declared
that he and the Ladies' Aid Society wished to acknowledge their complete
satisfaction "in " with the transaction. The Society made a
down payment of $700 on the organ and tendered in payment of the balance a
note and a two-year note, each for $930. On the next day, Sunday,
October 3, 1915, the Reverend Green and a grateful congregation dedicated
the new instrument. ‘The pastor said:
‘Nearly half a century ago this organization came into
. During those years God has sustained and added
to its membership. Ten [sic] years ago this beautiful
church was erected. To perfect its equipment and add to
its efficiency in ministering to the best life in this
~49-

 

 

city, this splendid pipe organ has been installed. Last
‘Thursday evening Professor Noore of Ann Arbor demonstrated
its power and sweet tonal quality. That it may best ful-
fill its mission, we now proceed to dedicate it to the
worship of God and the service of man.

‘The Presbyterians could indeed be proud of their new organ and thankful
to the Ladies’ Aid Society for the gift of it. A year later Professor Moore
expressed his pleasure in returning to Mt. Pleasant to present a second
recital. In his opinion the First Presbyterian organ was "the finest of
its size in the state." On March 6, 1919, less than three and one-half
years after its installation,’ the Ladies’ Aid Society made the final payment
on the instrument. ‘The wonen of the church had completed their commitment.

For their part of the bargain with the Ladies’ Aid Society, the men of
the church conducted a special pledge campaign in Noverber, 1914, to raise
the funds needed to retire the mortgage. By the spring of 1915, pledges had
been received amounting to more than $3,500. According to the terms of the
mortgage, payments on the principal could be made only at half-year intervals.
Payments during 1915 reduced the mortgage to $2,000 and in another eighteen
months it had been further reduced to $1,100. A little more than a year
after the Ladies’ Aid Society completed payments on the organ, the men of
the church retired the mortgage.

Meanwhile, the outbreak of war in 1917 provided the pastor and the men
and women of the church with new avenues for service, During the war years,

at rallies honoring departing volunteers and draftees. ‘The women of the
church frequently gathered in the social hall to do Red Cross work. In
company with Christians everywhere, all prayed for peace. When the armistice
came in 1918, Presbyterians helped swell the ranks of the 15,000 citizens
who marched in a long victory parade, but many in the great assenblage soon
afterwards found their way to their churches to give thanks that the bloodshed
had ended.

During the war years the men of the church seemed to take special
Pleasure in doing honor to their pastor. In 1917, they celebrated the
conmencenent of his fifth year at First Presbyterian; in 1918, they feted
him on the ninth anniversary of his arrival in America. All church organ-
izations had prospered during Green's ministry, but none more strikingly
than the Men's Goodfellowship Club. In 1919, the citizens of Isabella
County also honored Green by presenting him a medal "similar to those given
the soldiers" in recognition of his many contributions to the county war
effort.

‘The continued prosperity of the First Presbyterian Church was further
revealed at the annual meeting in April, 1919. At this meeting the congre-
gation received with pleasure the news that the Reverend Green would remain
as pastor. Perhaps in appreciation of his decision, the congregation
authorized the purchase of a manse on the southwest comer of Normal
(Wniversity) and Wisconsin Streets.

Later in the year, to demonstrate its regard for two long-time elders
and their wives, the congregation scheduled a special "Appreciation Service"
for the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Charles Slater and George W. Snyder had
served as elders for forty-eight and thirty-eight years respectively, and
their wives had demonstrated equal loyalty and devotion to the church.
Unfortunately, Henry Bouton, a founder of the church and its first elder,
had died three years before.

-50-

 

Early in 1920, the congregation heard with pleasure that the Reverend
Green's elderly father planned to visit Anerica and spend a year with his
son in Mt. Pleasant. When the Reverend John Green arrived in the city in
the spring, he quickly won the love and respect of the congregation. During
his year in Mt. Pleasant he preached frequently to appreciative
audiences in the First Presbyterian Church and became a highly essential
tember-of the Men's Sunday School Class. A year later on the eve of his
departure for England, the church honored the venerable clergyman with a
testimonial dinner and many gifts.

During the time of the Reverend John Green's visit to Mt. Pleasant,
Joy and good fellowship in all church activities semed to prevail as
ever before. But the church was to know sorrow, too. In September, 1920,
at the very camencenent of First Presbyterian's fiftieth year, and his,
‘too, death took Ralph 0. Doughty, the "beloved trustee" who had labored so
Jong and so ardently for the church.

‘The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the First Presbyterian
church was celebrated over a three-day period beginning on Sunday, Noverber
20, 1921. At the morning service on that Sebbath, the Reverend Green
preached a semmon, "Building for God." ‘The choir sang a special anthem,
“How Lovely are Thy Dwellings." At this service, too, in the early months
of its fifty-first year, the church received into menbership a class of
fifty-one "splendid people." ‘That evening the pastor spoke on "the Program

semi-centennial programs. On Wednesday evening, Novenber 21, the

H. W, Fisher of Saginaw preached a sermon, "We Have Lived,” to an overflow

audience. ‘The celebration culminated at a potluck dinner on Tuesday

qvening, Novenber 22. nt this affair, Charles Slater, the dean of the
Session, recalled in his talk, “The Church Yesterday," the trials of the

sacrificed to keep the church alive. Mrs. Eva Doughty, who had been a
menber of the Ladies' Aid Society since its fomding in 1869, told with
humor and pathos the story of that organization's faithful service to the
congregation. After representatives of other church groups had given brief
talks on "the Church Today," the pastor responded to the toast, “The Church
In his remarks he painted out that the church was presently in
Splendid condition” and that £¢ could look to a future with Limitless
possibilities for service to God and man. At the conclusion of his remarks,
he announced that all church indebtedness had been paid in full. Those in
attendance at this last evening of the seni-centennial celebration were
especially pleased to receive congratulatory messages fron former pastors
‘friends. When the program ended, the large audience was dismissed with
. ‘Thus ended the fiftieth year celebration which, said the local press,
“will be long remembered by all who were privileged to attend."

‘The first years of First Presbyterian's second half-century seemed to
bear out the pastor's prediction regarding the future of the church. During
Green's ministry membership had doubled and benevolence contributions had
gusirwpled. The Sunday School now coula clain the largest. veraye atterience

its history. During the year just past, the Young People's Society
expected as nany as one hundred of the tom's youth to be present at each
of its programs. ‘Total yearly receipts of the church now averaged $8,000.
‘At the conclusion of a joyful weeknight service during the Christmas séason
in 1921, B. L. Parkhill, treasurer of the Board of Trustees, read a
financial statement which formally reported a fact already knowm—the First
Presbyterian Church was free of indebtedness. Thereupon, “while the audience

 

a

 

No longer in debt for the building and its fine oryan, both the Board
of Trustees and the Ladies' Aid Society could now give attention to improving
‘the church and supplying long delayed needs. In March, 1922, as men of the
congregation made the rounds of the city for First Presbyterian's every
member canvass, they could obserye men at work installing in front of the
church “a first class bulletin, with interchangeable steel letters under
glass." A few weeks later, the Ladies' Aid Society, which could now realize
as mich as $200 in receipts from a one-day fair, provided "a beautiful
Wilton carpet" for the church auditorium and classroons. Indeed, significant
changes had taken place and continued to take place at First Presbyterian
during the ministry of their beloved pastor.

During his years at First Presbyterian, the Reverend Green had traveled
extensively in central Michigan. Enthusiastic audiences greeted him whenever
and wherever he spoke——from other pulpits, at commencement exercises, at
service club meetings, and even before chambers of commerce. In November,
1921, an Adrian newspaper commented on Green's appearance before the local
Totary Club. “There have been few speakers in Adrian," it said,

who have won such universal praise and a feeling of good
fellowship with a single talk as did Mr. Green. All who
heard him are either quoting fram his speech ‘or singing
his praise. If Mt. Pleasant people don't want to lose
Mr. Green they had better keep him at home...

Unfortunately for Mt. Pleasant and for the First Presbyterian Church, the
demand for Green's services as a preacher or speaker continued to mount.
Late in October, 1922, came the sad but not unexpected news——the Reverend
Green after "careful and prayerful thought" had suimitted his resignation
as pastor of First Presbyterian to accept a call to the Presbyterian church
in Tonia, Michigan. He preached his farewell sermon on the morning of
Novenber 9, 1922, attended a reception honoring him and Mrs. Green in the
afternoon, and a week later began his new pastorate.

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