HOW LINCOLN BECAME
A BELIEVER
By William J. Skinner
Most
people have not given much thought to whether or not Abraham Lincoln, 16th
President of the United States, was a believer in God or a member of a
particular faith group. On February 14,
2019, the Wall Street Journal newspaper
printed an article about how Lincoln, when he was a circuit-riding railroad
lawyer in Illinois in 1852, came across a vest pocket book of Scripture
containing snippets for 366 days in the year.
The WSJ article by John J.
Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College speculates
about how Lincoln obtained the “The Believer’s Daily Treasure” that was sold by
the Religious Tract Society in London.
Lincoln was a believer and I think this can be established.
Miller’s article quotes Carl
Sandburg, an author and poet, who compiled Lincoln’s papers in an eight volume
set with a separate 378 page index that was published in the 1950s by The
Abraham Lincoln Society with the Rutgers University Press, as saying “How
Abraham Lincoln acquired his copy is the devotional, we do not know.” Miller suggested Mary Todd Lincoln may have
bought it for him. Sandburg’s (1878-1967) comments, perhaps from his research
papers for his Pulitzer award winning Lincoln biography, about the
circumstances of Lincoln’s receipt of the booklet in an introduction in the
front of the Lincoln’s Devotional
that was recently reprinted in 1995.
Miller also says a copy of the
devotional book was found, with the “A. Lincoln” signature in the front, by a
Lincoln memorabilia collector, Carl Haverlin. The signature was authenticated
by experts at the Library of Congress and at the Chicago Abraham Lincoln Book
Shop, whose manuscript expert found the booklet of interest and “a possible
clue to the source of some of his references to religion.” Miller further uncovered a reference to “John
Jay, an antislavery activist who shared his name with his Founding-era
grandfather who once recalled seeing Lincoln read a pocket edition of the New
Testament.” (Grandfather John Jay was
the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who also helped write the treaty
to settle the Revolutionary War. Jay, a
member of the Church of England, was also the first vice president (1816-1821)
and later second president (1821-1827) of the American Bible Society founded by
Elias Boudinot, a New Jersey lawyer and a local Presbyterian Church trustee.)
Miller has more to say about Lincoln
and the devotional booklet, but I will leave you to get the full article from
the newspaper account or from Miller.
What I want to add to this quest about Lincoln’s religion are some
details I began to learn a few years ago from reading the History of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington,
D.C. by Frank E. Edgington published in 1962. Library of Congress Card Catalog
Number 61-11471. 369 pp. I purchased a
copy from a bookseller on Amazon and when it arrived, I noticed it was signed
by Edgington.
During the period from 1970 to 2003
I was an attorney in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. I started practicing law in the D.C. area as
General Counsel and Assistant Executive Director to the American Association of
Colleges of Pharmacy in late 1970. Three years later I joined Raymond McMurray
and William Pendergast in their boutique Food and Drug law firm on 18th
Street, where I practiced for three years. During this time, I continued to
represent the AACP for another five years.
I was chosen by the U.S. Pharmacopeia Board as its outside counsel
during my move to the five-member law firm. The USP was my client for about 25
years. After three more years with
McMurray & Pendergast, I established my own office in D.C at 515 15th
Street, N.W. across the street from the VA offices and McPherson Park, just a
block and a half from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Thus, I could from time to time stop in the
church to see what was happening and as our young family of four children grew
older, we visited the church with the Cub Scouts a few times on hiking trails
in downtown D.C.
You can learn more about the Church’s
history from its current (2019) website at http://www.nyapc.org/history/, but this source will
not be as complete as the Edgington book or other information I will share in
this article. But first, let me set the stage by bringing you up to date on how
this website connects Lincoln to this church in its brief discussion of the
connections between President Lincoln, the church, and President Eisenhower,
who was baptized as an adult, with the following section of the web NYAPC
history:
Lincoln
and “Under God”
To
commemorate the 60th Anniversary of “Under God” sermon by Dr. George M.
Docherty on February 7, 1954, the Presbyterian Historical Society will place
the article, “Lincoln and Under God,” on its blog and in their electronic
newsletter.
“Under
God” was first added by Lincoln to his Gettysburg Address while at Gettysburg.
All of Lincoln’s preliminary drafts of the Gettysburg Address contained no
mention of “under God,” while all newspaper reports and copies of the address
thereafter included the words “under God.”
Why did
Lincoln add “under God” at Gettysburg? Perhaps his reason might be best
understood through the words of his minister, Dr. Phineas D. Gurley of the New
York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Dr. Gurley noted that “…in the latter days of
his chastened and weary life, after the death of his son Willie and his visit
to the battlefield at Gettysburg, he said to me with tears in his eyes, that he
had lost confidence in everything but God….”
Years
later, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address inspired the historic “Under God” sermon
that was preached on Lincoln Sunday, February 7, 1954, by Dr. George M.
Docherty at Lincoln’s Church, The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Dr.
Docherty noted “there was something missing” in our Pledge of Allegiance, and
that was “under G.” President Eisenhower was in attendance. The President
immediately prompted Congress to pass legislation adding the wording “under
God” to our Pledge of Allegiance.
So Lincoln’s
need for God at Gettysburg led to the addition of “under God” to his Gettysburg
Address and, later, to our Pledge.
You may be aware in current times (2019)
groups raise money for and against the attack of the “Under God” reference in
the Pledge. In this battle over the
meaning of the First Amendment provisions of the Freedom of Religion other
groups claim they are responsible for adding “Under God” to the Pledge. I am not denying that many groups did work
very hard to persuade the Congress to enact legislation to add “under God” to
the Pledge. No one worked with more
powerful persuasion than President Dwight Eisenhower who heard about Lincoln’s
reasons in a sermon at this church that he occasionally attended.
Eisenhower was the only President who
had also made a decision to become baptized as an adult. “On February 1, 1953,
just 10 days after his inauguration, Eisenhower was baptized and welcomed into
the National Presbyterian Church by the Rev. Edward Elson. Eisenhower remains
the only president ever to have been baptized while in office, and his work to
link faith and American identity has influenced political debate in the country
for half a century since.” See https://www.history.com/news/eisenhower-billy-graham-religion-in-god-we-trust.
I first learned about Lincoln’s
faith journey from a recorded TV sermon by Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy, Pastor of
the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This was not
taught in my Sunday School, high school or college American history classes. Later
my interest was roused again and I contacted the Coral Ridge Ministries, which
was no longer directly a part of the Ft. Lauderdale church after Dr. Kennedy
died for more information. Among staff
suggestions was to check the history of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
and the Lincoln Museum across from Ford’s Theatre in D.C. Since then I have read several books about
Lincoln, but none flat out state he became a Christian.
In 2000, Professor Allen C. Guelzo
of Gettysburg College won the Lincoln prize for his book, Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President, 1999, William Erdmans publishing
Co. I wrote to Guelzo in 2007 to ask if he had ever seen the Edgington book and
whether he considered the possibility that Lincoln was about to join the NYAPC on
Easter Sunday, but was assassinated three days before on Good Friday. Guelzo replied that he did not mention the
history of this church accept in passing and categorically denied that Lincoln
had ever been baptized, took communion, made a verbal confession of faith, and
had made no written record that he had ever done these things. Guelzo said that Rev. Gurley’s diary has
disappeared and there are no church records indicating Lincoln wanted to or had
arranged to join the church.
Since the early 2000s the Internet
has added many more resources from libraries and museums and it has become much
easier to research parts of the story. Perhaps
we will never know if Lincoln wanted to become a Presbyterian. But let us take a closer look at Lincoln’s
life in Washington, D.C. The facts seem to indicate Lincoln found his “Kingdom”
again in the NYAPC.
In the Edgington book there is a
chapter titled, The
Lincoln Family and the New York Avenue Church at pages 231 to 253. The next chapter is titled, The Lincoln Pew, from 254 to 256,
followed by a chapter, A Symbol of
Freedom, from page 258 to 265, about
the presentation of the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to the
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church on December 20, 1951, by Barney Balaban,
President of Paramount Pictures Corporation.
The next chapter is Dr. Sizoo and
the Lincoln Family, from page 266 to 274.
These 40 pages are the main pages of
the book that I want interested readers to have an understanding about to make
their own interpretations of what these chapters say or mean. Below is a summary
the content of the 40 pages. The
remainder of the book contains much information about people and programs over
the years. The 1962 book was copyrighted by Edgington and when he died a member
of the church, he left money to the church in a trust fund to support poor
people in D.C.
The Lincoln Family
and the New York Avenue Church at pages 234 to 253.
Abraham Lincoln and his oldest son,
Robert, then a student at Harvard, left Springfield, Illinois, in February,
1861, on the Great Western Railroad and said farewell to friends and the town’s
people. Abraham would not return until
his burial. Lincoln said good bye to
Rev. James Smith, D.D. of the First Presbyterian Church who had comforted him
when young Eddie passed away. The family
reunited at the Willard Hotel in a short time
After the Inauguration, Mrs. Mary
Lincoln sent for the plan of seating arrangements at the New York Avenue
Presbyterian Church. The first Sunday after moving into the White House, the
family was in their pew. During their
first year, Willie and Tad often attended the Fourth Presbyterian Church with
their friends, the Taft boys. There is a
story about Lincoln taking the boys to task for attending there and the two
replied it was more fun there. Lincoln
told them, “But I didn’t know that you went to church for fun.” The boys replied, Oh, yes, papa! You just ought to see those old rebels slam
their pew doors and stamp out when the minister prays for the President of the
United States.”
Abraham and Dr. Gurley were friends
and Gurley was frequently at the White House.
Dr. Gurley’s daughter was nice about greeting the Lincoln’s at church
after the services. Mr. Lincoln was quick to notice a love affair beginning to
flourish between Miss Fannie and William Anthony Elderkin, a West Point
cadet. Their war-time romance was later
published in the New York Times, but
the Times mistakenly printed that
Fannie was the daughter of a different pastor who was claimed to be at the New
York Avenue Presbyterian Church (NYAPC). (This is what President Donald Trump
would call “fake news” today.)
The Elderkin’s grandson, William
Elderkin Huntington, presented the New
York Times with a corrected story about the wedding at NYAPC that is four
pages in the Edgington book. This story
is reproduced here for easy reference.
Lincoln’s Part In
A Wartime Romance
A Hitherto
Unpublished Story of
A Young Soldier
Who Obeyed
His Summons
“The following story
of Abraham Lincoln has never, I think, appeared in print before. It illustrates a side of his life with which
we are least familiar – his intimate personal life with his friends. It was told me by Mrs. Elderkin herself about
four years ago, and at her request I wrote it out for publication.”
“Abraham Lincoln’s life was a
troubled one all the days of his Presidency.
It is perhaps not widely known whence he drew the source of his
unfailing trust in the ultimate good which the war must bring about. He sustained his courage and buoyed up his
hopes with the simple remedy of prayer.
Whenever a great battle was about to be fought, whenever he received
news of some terrible disaster, whatever the time, day or night, it was the
President’s custom to send hos carriage for his pastor, Dr. Gurley, to come to
the White House to pray. Many a night
have these devoted friends spent upon their knees in the capital, while the
soldiers and the Union were matching their last sleep before battle.
“This
is the story of the marriage of Dr. Gurley’s daughter, a young girl in whom the
President felt a deep interest, since her father was one of his closest friends,
the man for whom he sent in time of doubt or trouble.
“As
soon as the news of the fall of Fort Sumter reached Lincoln, he sent for Dr.
Gurley to come to the White House that they might pray together. After a few hours spent in seeking comfort
and advice from God, the devine started to leave for his home, when the
President delayed him.
“’What
of your daughter?’” he asked. ‘She is
engaged to young Elderkin, is she not?
And he is a member of the graduating class at West Point, and must be
called to the front at once. It will be
hard for that girl.’ He talked for some time with the father, and asked him to
send his daughter to the White House. ‘I must talk with her,’ he said. ‘If there is a war, Elderkin must take part
in it.’ He has seen at once that if war
must come, Elderkin be an even better soldier with a wife and home of his own
to fight for.
“The
President had seen the young lady and talked with her **** his wonderful powers
of persuasion, assisted in this case, beyond doubt, by the girls own
heart. Miss Gurley has but one doubt in
her mind, and this she felt that even the wonderful President could not
remove. She had no clothes in which to
be married. There could be no wedding in
Washington; her father’s daughter could not be married in any unsuitable
garments. The President smiled his
happy, one-sided, and wholly beautiful smile. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he
said.
“Dr.
Gurley was the pastor of a large church, his daughter was known and loved by
the congregation, her engagement to the West Point Cadet and his summons to the
front had awakened much sympathy for her.
They were ready to answer Abraham Lincoln’s call.
“The
President’s carriage went about the city bent upon a strange errand – he was
borrowing a trousseau. The quest was a
very successful one. Lincoln had seen
Miss Gurley in the morning. He has sent
the dispatch to Elderkin immediately afterward.
“That evening the bride’s outfit was ready. The wife of one of the President’s
Secretaries lent a veil, a historic bit of lace that had been in the family
many years; another lady sent a fan, a present of an honored Ambassador to the
United States; a third friend produced white satin slippers that had adorned
the feet that danced with Lafayette.
Seldom has one small bride worn so many historic and valuable things.
“A
leave of absence signed by the President of the United States could not be
disregarded even in the face of war. So,
on the next morning after the eventful conversation between the President and
Miss Gurley, young Elderkin arrived in Washington to attend his own wedding.
“Dr.
Gurley performed the ceremony, after which President Lincoln stood by the side
of the bride and received with her.
“That
the Gurley family at the manse was held in affectionate remembrance by Mrs.
Lincoln is evidenced by the gift of a Thanksgiving turkey from the Eastern
Shore, accompanied by this note:
Executive Mansion
My Dear Mrs.
Gurley:
It affords me much pleasure to
hear that your family are recovering. We
have had so serious a time with our little Taddy, but we can deeply sympathize
with you in any such trouble.
We have received from Baltimore
a small supply of poultry, am I taking too great a liberty with you, to ask
your acceptance of a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner? Hoping to soon have the pleasure of seeing
yourself and the Dr. remain.
Very
truly,
Mary
Lincoln
November 24, 1864
The remaining pages of this chapter
tell of stories of the Lincoln family interactions with events of the war in
Washington. At one point the church was
told it would be transformed into a hospital and Dr. Gurley announced that
services would be suspended. Lincoln
stood up in the service and told those present that this action was being taken
without his consent and he countermanded the order saying, “The churches are
needed as never before for devine services.”
In early 1862 Willie Lincoln caught
a cold that took a serious turn so that Willie died on February 20. Dr. Gurley visited Willie while he was sick
and Willie gave him his little bank containing some money Willie had collected for
the Sunday School mission work. This is
recorded in the minutes of the annual meeting of the church in March 1862 as
being announced by Dr. Gurley when the treasurer of the Sunday School gave his
report. Dr. Gurley gave the funeral sermon
for Willie at the White House on February 24, 1862.
Filling out this chapter there are several
remembrances by church members who had connections with the Lincoln family
members. One of these is about when a
shabbily dressed man, bewildered and ill at ease, wonder down the aisle without
any usher assisting him, when Lincoln put out his long arm and hauled him into
the Lincoln pew and made him welcome.
Another instance of Lincoln’s
feelings about the church was a statement given to the Chronicle of Arlington,
Virginia, attributed to School Superintendent Dr. Newton D. Bateman that was
quoted in its editorial as follows:
“One Bateman who was Superintendent
of Schools of the State of Illinois relates that Lincoln said to him – ‘I am
not a Christian and I know that I am right.’ and again, ‘It is claimed that
Lincoln worshipped there and as receding years make safe any sort of claim, it
is now said that Lincoln rented a pew
there.’”
However, the above statement was not
taken down properly or was transmitted incomplete. Edgington says the real statement Mr. Lincoln
made was indicated as follows:
“The statement Dr. Newton D. Bateman really
made was quite contrary to the one given to the Chronicle. Mr. Lincoln often went to Dr. Bateman’s
office for a quiet talk. What he did say was, ‘Just before the election of 1860
a careful canvass of the City of Springfield had been taken and Mr. Lincoln was
anxious to know how the ministers were going to vote. The list was before Mr. Lincoln and with me
he carefully examined it. Nearly all of
the ministers were against him. Drawing
from his pocket a small copy of the new Testament Mr. Lincoln said, ‘I am not a
Christian. God knows I would be
one. I have carefully read the Bible and
I do not understand this Book. I know
there is a God and he hates injustice and slavery and I see the storm coming,
and I know that He has – I think I am ready.
I am nothing but truth is everything and I know that I am right because
I know that liberty is right for Christ teaches it and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided
against itself cannot stand and Christ and reason say the same and they will
find it so. If I am elected with God’s
help I shall not fail. I may not see the
end, but it will come and I shall be vindicated and these men will find they
have not read their Bibles aright.’”
Lincoln also frequently attended the
mid-week prayer meeting by slipping into the side door of the church and by
agreement with Dr. Gurley who would leave the paneled door leading to the
lecture room left ajar so that he could share the inspiration of the meeting a
pray with the members of the church for the things nearest to his heart without
being a focus of attention.
Another story angle on Lincoln’s
participation in the NYAPC was found in a letter from Dr. William Henry
Roberts, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1907,
commenting to a friend that when he attended services there in 1863 for about a
year and a half while in Washington, D.C., he saw Lincoln stand up for prayer,
and commented on the mid-week prayer meeting arrangement with the door ajar
that was started to avoid the members of the church petitioning Lincoln about
personal requests.
Quotations from Dr. Gurley are
included, but the printed source of this information is not mentioned. The point made by these quotations was that
Lincoln was trying to make up his mind whether to join the church and Dr.
Gurley said that he thought it was Lincoln’s intention to make a profession of
religion.
The chapter contains a reproduced
affidavit-type document signed by a member of the church with a document in affidavit
form, signed by an attorney attesting to the matters stated therein. The document’s content speaks for itself
below. The whereabouts of the affidavit
now is not described. In the Edgington
book, the document is at pp. 244-245.
STATE OF NEW JERSEY, }
} SS:
COUNTY OFF ESSEX. }
Mrs. Sidney I. Lauck, of full age, being duly
sworn upon her oath, according to law, deposes and says that: --
I am a resident of East Orange,
New Jersey, living at 16 South Walnut Street, in the said city. I was born in Washington, D.C. on the 29th
day of March, 1834, and resided in that city all my life, until a few years ago
I moved to the City of East Orange and have lived in East Orange up until this
time.
During the period when Abraham
Lincoln was President of the United States of America, I was a member of the
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Abraham Lincoln was a regular attendant at
the church, not only at Sunday services, also at Mid-week Prayer Meetings, for
he was most unostentatious. He would
take his place in a room, adjoining the main room where the people were
assembled and would leave the door ajar, so he might hear the services. His reasons for wishing to remain in this
adjoining room were that his modesty constrained him to avoid publicity, which
could have come from his mingling with the small group at these Mid-week Prayer
Meetings. It was at his request that he
sat in the adjoining room and with the door open about six inches. He wanted to attend the Mid-week Prayer
meetings, but he felt that he only wanted to attend them in the manner
aforesaid. It was common knowledge among
the people of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church that Mr. Lincoln attended
regularly these Mid-week Prayer Meetings.
I can see him still, as he would
come up swinging up the aisle on Sunday morning, with his boys following him
and then he would stand at his pew until they filed in; he would then take his
seat at the end next to the aisle.
The pastor of the New York
Avenue Presbyterian Church aforesaid, at the time Mr. Lincoln attended said
Church, was the Reverend * Melville D. Gurley.
I was a friend of Frances Gurley, the daughter of the aforesaid pastor,
* Melville D. Gurley. I attended the
home of the said * Melville D. Gurley so often, that I was considered almost
one of the family.
I knew Mr. Lincoln; I was introduced
by * Melville D. Gurley aforesaid whom we knew as Dr. Gurley. On numerous occasions Dr. Gurley and I talked
particularly about Mr. Lincoln.
After Mr. Lincoln’s death, Dr.
Gurley told me that Mr. Lincoln had made all of the necessary arrangements with
him and the SESSION of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church to be received
into the membership of said church, by confession of his faith in Christ, on
the Easter Sunday following the Friday night when Mr. Lincoln was assassinated.
At the time of the experience
herein stated, I was about 30 years of age and remember clearly and distinctly
the facts herein stated.
Sworn and
Subscribed to,
before me this 15th
,
day of February,
1928.
(Signed) (Signed)
GEORGE W. PERRY SIDNEY
I. LAUCK
Atty. at law of New Jersey.
* For Melville D.
Gurley the name should read Phineas D. Gurley.
Mrs. Lauck subsequently made the correction at one of the Lincoln Day
Dinners. Melville D. Gurley was the son
of Dr. Phineas D. Gurley.
The asterisk was apparently used
by Edgington to point out that Mrs. Lauck was remembering the name Melville,
the son of Dr. Phineas Gurley, when she gave and signed her statement for
Attorney Perry. The Edgington book does
not list any repository for the affidavit.
New Jersey case law would have to be researched for the time of the
signing and changing to determine any legal effects the change made. For this and Dr. Phineas D. Gurley’s diaries
and sermons, one might look at the Peterson House where Lincoln was laid to
wait on death. There is a museum there
that contains more than 3,000 items.
From the Peterson House Museum website,
the following paragraph explains what happened to many Lincoln papers from
Springfield and Washington, D.C.:
The
May 2, 1926 Washington Post announced the purchase with a banner headline
reading, “Gets Storehouse of Lincoln Relics: Government Action Assures
Preservation of Oldroyd Collection Here.” The newspaper column reported,
“Captain Oldroyd has been gathering the collection for 63 years, having started
on this patriotic work of love for his chieftain soon after he was released
from service in the internecine strife (Civil War). Mr. Oldroyd is now 80 years
old. Having for years been a student of Lincoln, acting as guide for his
collection all through its formation, Capt. Oldroyd has become a rich source of
Lincoln traditions. Passage by Congress of the measure authorizing the purchase
of the Oldroyd collection, 3,000 authentic Lincoln mementos now on display in
the historic Petersen House where the martyred president died, will preserve
for future generations making pilgrimages to Washington a great store house of
materials identified with Lincoln tradition.”
See http://weeklyview.net/2017/07/20/osborn-oldroyd-keeper-of-the-lincoln-flame-part-2/
The NYAPC chapter in Edgington’s
book continues with the text of a sermon by Rev. Dr. Phineas D. Gurley given in
the East Room of the White House for Lincoln’s funeral service on April
19,1865. The title of the sermon, which
covers six and a half pages, single spaced, in type font between 4 and 5, was
“Have Faith in God.”
We include the verbatim version of
the sermon to make this readily available and an effort to convey as much
information as we can to spread the word about what may be available for future
researchers with the interest to uncover more interesting facts about Lincoln. Here
is the sermon.
His sermon on that occasion directs
our thoughts to Lincoln's deep-seated faith and is of
national significance.
It was as follows:
1
"HAVE FAITH IN GOD"
- MARK 11:22
A Sermon1
Delivered in the East Room
of the Executive Mansion
Wednesday, April 19th, 1865
At
The Funeral of Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States
By
Rev. P. D. Gurley, D. D.
Pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
Washington, D. C.
AS WE STAND HERE TODAY, MOURNERS AROUND THIS COFFIN AND AROUND THE LIFELESS REMAINS OF OUR BELOVED CHIEF MAGISTRATE, WE RECOGNIZE AND WE ADORE THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
His throne is in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth over all. He hath done, and He hath permitted
to be done, whatsoever He pleased. "Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and judgment
are the habitation of His throne." His way is in the sea, and His path in the great waters, and His footsteps are not known. "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is as high as
heaven; whatcanst thou do? Deeper than hell;
what canst thou know? The
measure thereof is longer
than the earth,
and broader than the sea. If He cut off and shut up, or gather together,
then who can hinder Him? For He knoweth vain man; He seeth wickedness also; Will He not
then consider it?" We bow before His infinite majesty.
We bow, we weep, we worship.
"Where reason
fails, with all her powers, there faith prevails, and love adores."
It was a cruel, cruel hand, that dark hand of the assassin, which smote our honored, wise, and noble President, and filled the land with sorrow. But above and beyond that hand
there is another which we must see and acknowledge. It is the chastening hand of a wise
and a faithful Father. He gives us this bitter cup. And the cup that our
Father hath given us, shall we not drink it?
"God of
the just, Thou gives! us the cup: We yield to thy behest, and drink it up.''
"Whom the Lord loveth
He chasteneth." 0 how these blessed
words have cheered and strengthened and sustained us through all these long and weary years of civil strife, while our friends and brothers on so many ensanguined fields were falling
and dying for the cause of Liberty and Union!
Let them cheer,
and strengthen, and sustain us today. True, this new sorrow and chastening has come in such an hour and in such a way as we thought not, and it bears the impress
of a rod that is very heavy, and of a mystery that is very deep. That such a life should be sacrificed, at such a time, by such a foul and diabolical
agency;
that the man at the head of the nation, whom the people
had learned to trust with a confiding and loving confidence, and upon whom more than upon any other were centered,
under God, our best hopes for the true and speedy pacification of the country,
the
restoration
of
the
Union,
and the return
of harmony and love; that he should be taken
from
us, and taken
just as the prospect of peace was brightly opening upon
our
torn and bleeding
country, and just as he was beginning to be animated
and gladdened with the hope of ere long enjoying
with the people
the blessed fruit and reward
of his and their toil, and care, and patience,
and self
sacrificing devotion to the interests
of
Liberty
and
the
Union. O it is a mysterious and a most afflicting visitation! But it is our Father
in heaven, the God of our fathers, and our God, who permits
us to be so suddenly
""and sorely smitten;
and we know that His judgments are right, and that in faithfulness He has afflicted us. In the
midst of our rejoicings we needed this stroke,
this dealing, this discipline; and therefore He sent it. Let us remember, our affliction has not
come
forth
out of the dust, and our trouble
has not sprung out of
the ground. Through and beyond all second
causes let us look; and see the sovereign permissive agency of the great First Cause. It is His
prerogative to bring light out of darkness
and good out of evil. Surely the wrath of man shall praise Him, and the remainder
of wrath He will restrain. In the light of a clearer day we may yet see that the wrath which planned
and perpetrated the death
of the President, was overruled
by Him whose judgments
are unsearchable, and His
ways past finding out, for the highest
welfare
of all those interests which are so dear to the Christian
patriot and philanthropist, and for which a loyal people have made such an unexampled sacrifice of treasure and of blood. Let us not be faithless but believing.
"Blind unbelief is prone to err, And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.''
We will wait for His interpretation, and we will wait in faith, nothing doubting.
He who has led us so well, and defended
and prospered us so wonderfully, during the last four years of· toil, and struggle,
and sorrow, will not forsake us now. He may chasten,
but He will not destroy.
He may purify us more and more in the furnace of trial, but He will not consume us. No, no! He has chosen us as He did his people of old in the furnace of affliction, and He has said of us as He said of them, "This people have I formed for myself;
they shall show forth My praise." Let our principal anxiety now
be that this new sorrow may be sanctified sorrow; that it may lead us to a deeper repentance, to a more humbling sense of our dependence upon God, and to the more unreserved consecration of ourselves and all that we have to the cause of truth and justice, of law and order,
of Liberty and good government, of pure and undefiled religion. Then, though weeping
may endure for a night,
joy will come in the morning. Blessed
be God! despite
of this great and sudden
and temporary darkness, the morning has begun to dawn-the morning of a bright and glorious day, such as our country
has never seen. That day will come and not tarry, and the death of
an hundred Presidents and their Cabinets can never, never prevent it. While we are thus hopeful, however, let us also be humble. The occasion calls us to prayerful and tearful humiliation. It demands of us that we lie low, very low, before Him who has smitten us for our sins. 0 that all our rulers and all our people may bow in the dust today beneath
the chastening hand of God! and may their
voices go up to Him as one voice, and their hearts
go up to Him as one heart, pleading
with Him for mercy, for grace to sanctify
our great and sore bereavement, and for wisdom to guide us in this our time of need.
Such a united cry and pleading will not be in vain. It will enter into the ear and heart of Him who sits upon the throne,
and He will say to us, as to His ancient Israel,
"In a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment: but with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy upon thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."
have said that the people
confided in the late lamented
President with a full and loving
confidence. Probably no man since the days of Washington was ever so deeply and firmly embedded
and enshrined in the very hearts of the people as Abraham
Lincoln. Nor was it a mistaken confidence and love. He deserved it - deserved it well - deserved it all. He merited it by his character, by his acts, and by the whole tenor, and tone, and spirit of his life. He was simple and sincere, plain and honest, truthful and just, benevolent and kind. His perceptions were quick and clear, his judgments were calm and accurate, and his purposes
were good and pure beyond question.
Always and everywhere he aimed and endeavored to be
right and to do right. His integrity was thorough, all pervading, all-controlling, and incorruptible. It was the same in every place and relation, in the consideration and the control
of matters great and small, the same firm and steady principle
of power and beauty that shed a clear and crowning lustre upon all his other excellencies of mind and heart, and recommended him to his fellow citizens
as the man who, in a time of unexampled peril,
when the very life of the nation
was at stake, should be chosen to occupy,
in the country and for the country, its highest post of power and responsibility. How wisely and well, how purely and faithfully, how firmly and steadily, how justly and successfully he did occupy that post and meet its grave demands
in circumstances of surpassing trial and difficulty, is known to you all, known to the country
and the world. He comprehended from the first the perils
to which treason had exposed the freest and best Government on earth, the vast interests of Liberty
and humanity that were to be saved or lost forever in the urgent impending conflict;
he
rose
to
the
dignity
and
momentousness of the occasion,
saw his duty as the Chief Magistrate of a great and imperilled people,
and he determined to do his duty, and his whole duty, seeking the guidance and leaning upon the arm of Him of whom it is written,
"He giveth power to the faint,
and
to
them
that have no might He increaseth strength." Yes, he leaned upon His arm. He recognized and received
the truth that the "kingdom is the Lord's, and He is the governor
among the nations.'' He remembered that "God is in
history," and he felt that nowhere
had His hand and His mercy
been so marvelously conspicuous as in the history of this nation. He hoped and he prayed that that same hand would continue to guide us, and that same mercy continue to abound to us
in the time of our
greatest need. I speak what I know, and testify what I have often heard him say, when I affirm that that guidance and mercy were the props on which he humbly and habitually leaned;
they were the best hope he had for him self
and for his country. Hence,
when he was leaving his home in Illinois, and coming to this city to take his seat in the executive chair of a disturbed
and troubled nation,
he said to the old and tried friends who gathered tearfully around him and bade him farewell,
"I leave you with this request:
pray for me." They did pray for him; and millions
of other people prayed
for him; nor did they pray in vain.
Their
prayer was heard, and the answer appears in all his subsequent history; it shines forth with a heavenly radiance
in the whole course and tenor of his administration, from its commencement to its close.
God raised him up for a great and glorious mission,
furnished him for his work, and
aided him in its accomplishment. Nor was it merely by strength of mind,
and honesty of heart,
and purity and pertinacity of purpose,
that He furnished him; in addition
to these things,
He gave him a calm and abiding confidence in the overruling providence of God and in the ultimate triumph of truth and righteousness through
the power and the blessing of God. This confidence strengthened him in all his hours of anxiety
and toil, and inspired
him with calm and
cheering hope when others were inclining to despondency and gloom. Never shall I forget the emphasis and the deep emotion
with which he said in this very room, to a company of clergymen and others, who called to pay him their respects in the darkest days of our civil conflict: "Gentlemen, my hope of success
in this great and terrible struggle
rests on that immutable foundation, the justice and goodness
of God. And when events are threatening, and prospects very dark, I still hope that in some way w·hich man cannot see all will be well in the end, because our cause is just, and God is on our side." Such was his sublime and holy faith, and it was an anchor to his soul, both sure and steadfast. It made him firm and strong.
It emboldened him in the pathway of duty, however
rugged and perilous
it might be. It made him valiant
for the right; for the cause of God and humanity, and it held him in a steady, patient,
and unswerving adherence
to a policy of ad ministration which he thought,
and which we all now think, both God and humanity required
him to adopt. We admired
and loved him on many accounts - for strong and various reasons;
we admired his childlike simplicity, his freedom from guile and deceit, his
staunch and sterling
integrity, his kind and forgiving temper, his industry
and patience, his persistent, self-sacrificing devotion to all the duties of his eminent position, from the least to the greatest;
his readiness to hear and consider the cause of the poor and humble, the suffering and the oppressed; his charity toward those who questioned the correctness of his opinions
and the wisdom of his policy;
his wonderful skill in reconciling differences among the friends of the Union,
leading them away
from
abstractions,
and
inducing them to work together
and
harmoniously
for
the
common
weal;
his
true and enlarged philanthropy, that knew no distinction of
color or race, but regarded all men as brethren,
and endowed alike
by
their
Creator
"with certain inalienable rights, among
which
are
life,
Liberty,
and
the
pursuit of happiness;" his inflexible purpose
that what freedom
had gained in our terrible civil strife should
never be lost, and that the end of the war should be the end of slavery,
and as a consequence, of rebellion;
his readiness
to spend and be spent for the attainment of such a triumph
-- a triumph, the blessed fruits of which shall
be as wide
spreading as the
earth and as enduring as the sun:-all these things commanded and fixed our admiration, and
the
admiration
of the world, and stamped
upon
his character
and life the unmistakable
impress
of
greatness. But more sub lime than any
or
all
of
these,
more
holy
and
influential,
more
beautiful and strong, and sustaining, was his abiding
confidence in God and in the final triumph of truth and righteousness through
Him and for His sake. This was his noblest virtue,
his grandest principle, the secret alike of
his strength, his patience, and his success. And this,
it seems
to me,
after being near him steadily,
and with him of ten,
for more
than four years, is the principle
by which, more than any other,
“he, being
dead, yet speaketh." Yes; by his steady enduring confidence in God, and in
the
complete ultimate success
of the cause of God, which is the
cause of humanity, more than by any other way, does he now
speak to us and the nation he
loved and served so well. By this he
speaks to his successor in office, and charges
him to "have faith in God." By this he speaks
to the members of his. cabinet, the men with whom
he counselled
so often and was associated so long, and he
charges them to “have faith
in God."
By this he speaks to the
officers and men of our
noble army and navy, and, as they stand at their posts
of duty
and peril,
he charges
them to “have faith in God." By this he speaks to all who occupy positions
of influence and authority
in these
sad and troublous times, and
he charges
them all to "have
faith in God." By this he
speaks to this great people
as they sit in sackcloth today, and weep for
him with
a bitter
wailing, and refuse to be comforted, and he charges them
to
"have faith in God."
And
by this he will speak
through the ages and to all rulers and peoples in
every land, and his message to them will be
“Cling to Liberty and right;
battle for them; bleed
for them; die for them, if
need be; and have confidence
in God." O that the voice of this
testimony
may
sink
down
into
our
hearts today and every day, and into the heart of the
nation,
and exert its appropriate influence
upon our feelings, our faith, our patience, and
our devotion to the
cause
of
freedom
and
humanity-a
cause
dearer
to
us now than ever before,
because consecrated by the blood of its most conspicuous defender, its
wisest and most
fondly-trusted friend.
He is dead; but the God in whom he trusted lives, and He can guide and strengthen
his successor, as He guided
and strengthened him. He is dead; but the memory of his virtues, and of his wise and patriotic counsels and labors, of his calm and steady
faith in God lives, is precious, and will be a power for good in the country quite down to the end of time. He is dead; but the cause he so ardently loved,
so ably, patiently, faith fully represented and defended-- not for himself only, not for us only, but for all people in all their
coming generations, till time shall be no more-that cause survives his fall, and will
survive it. The light of its rightening prospects flashes
cheeringly today athwart
the gloom occasioned by his death,
and the language of God's united providences is telling us that, though the friends
of Liberty die, Liberty itself is immortal. There is no assassin
strong enough and no weapon deadly enough
to quench its
inextinguishable life, or arrest its onward march to the conquest and empire of the world. This is our confidence, and this is our consolation, as we weep and mourn today.
Though our beloved President is slain, our beloved country
is saved. And so we sing of mercy as well as of judgment. Tears of gratitude
mingle with those of sorrow.
While
there is darkness, there is also the dawning
of a brighter, happier day upon our stricken and weary land. God
be praised that our fallen Chief lived long enough to see the day dawn and the daystar of joy and peace arise upon the nation.
He saw it, and he was glad. Alas! alas! He only saw the dawn. When the sun has risen, full-orbed and glorious, and a happy reunited
people are rejoicing in its light, alas! alas! it will shine upon his grave. But that grave will be a precious and a consecrated spot. The friends
of Liberty and of the Union
will
repair
to
it
in
years
and ages to come, to pronounce the memory of its occupant
blessed, and, gathering from his very ashes, and from ,the rehearsal of his deeds and virtues, fresh incentives
to patriotism, they will there renew their vows of fidelity to their country and their God. And
now I know not that I can more appropriately conclude this discourse, which
is but a sincere and simple utterance of the
heart, than by addressing to our departed
President,
with
some
slight
modification,
the language which Tacitus, in his life of Agricola,
addresses to his venerable and departed father-in-law: "With you we may now congratulate, you are
blessed, not only because your life was a career
of glory, but because
you were released,
when, your country
safe, it was happiness to die. We have lost a parent, and, in our distress, it is now an addition
to our heart felt sorrow that we had it not in our power to commune with you on the bed of languishing, and receive your last embrace.
Your dying words would have been ever dear to us; your command we should have treasured up, and graved them on our hearts. This sad
comfort we
have lost, and the wound,
for that reason,
pierces deeper. From the world of spirits behold your disconsolate family and people;
exalt our minds from
fond regret and unavailing
grief to contemplation of your virtues.
These we
must
not lament; it were impiety to sully them with a tear. To cherish their memory,
to embalm them with
our praises, and, so far
as we can, to emulate your bright
example, will be the truest
mark of our respect, the best tribute we can offer. Your wife will thus preserve
the memory of the best of husbands, and thus your children will prove their filial piety. By dwelling constantly
on your words and actions,
they will have an illustrious
character before their eyes,
and, not content with the
bare
image of your mortal frame, they
will
have
what
is
more
valuable-the
form and features of your mind. Busts and statues, like their original,
are frail and perishable. The soul is formed of finer elements,
and its inward form is not to be expressed by the hand of an artist with unconscious matter - our manners and our morals
may in some degree trace the resemblance. All of you that gained our love and raised our admiration still subsists, and will ever subsist,
preserved in the minds of men, the register of ages, and the records of fame.
Others,
who
had ,figured on the stage
of life and were the worthies
of a former day, will sink, for want of a faithful historian, into the common lot of oblivion, inglorious and unremembered; but you, our lamented
friend and head, delineated with truth, and fairly consigned to posterity, will survive yourself
, and triumph over the injuries
of time.
Edgington’s
book continues describing that on the funeral train which bore Lincoln's body home to Springfield, along with the casket of Willie Lincoln
which was to rest finally
beside that of his father,
Dr. Gurley composed
the following hymn to be sung at the service at the grave in Springfield:
Rest, noble Martyr! rest in peace; Rest with the true and brave,
Who, like thee, fell in Freedom's cause, The nation's life to save.
Thy
name shall live while
time endures, And men shall
say of thee,
"He saved his country from its foes, And bade the slave be free."
These deeds shall be thy monument, Better than brass or stone;
They leave thy fame in glory's
light, Unrival'd and alone.
. This
consecrated
spot
shall
be
To
Freedom
ever
dear;
And
Freedom's son of every race
Shall
weep
and
worship
here.
0 God! before whom we, in tears, Our fallen
Chief deplore
Grant that the cause, for which he died, May live forever more
Doxology.
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost, The God whom we adore,
Be glory as it was, is now, And shall be evermore.
Mrs. Lincoln in her deep gratitude for the friendship and sympathy of her pastor
wanted him to have some personal belonging of her husband's as a keepsake. She sent the
following letter with her gif
t:
Executive
Mansion
May
22nd, 1865
Rev. Dr. Gurley
My Dear Sir:
Please accept as a memento, of the
very kind regard entertained for you by my beloved Husband, the hat worn by
him, for the first and only time, at his Second Inauguration. While its intrinsic value is trifling. You
will prize it, for the associations that cluster around it. If anything can
cast a ray of light across my dreary and blighted pathway, the recollection of
your Christian kindness, extended to myself and family in our heavy
bereavements will ever be most gratefully cherish. With love to Mrs. Gurley, I remain.
Your heart broken friend
The Lincoln Pew, at pages 254 to
256
In this chapter it is mentioned that
during renovations in 1886 the Lincoln Pew was discovered and saved by John D.
McChesney, who as a boy with a friend had tracked Lincoln to the White House
from church one night in the snow. The story was that Lincoln did not let the
boys know that he had discovered them until he arrived at the White House and
turned around the thank the boys for the escort. McChesney and the sexton sat
on the pew until they were assured the pew would be saved.
Mrs. Lincoln had chosen pew no. 14
when they first arrived in Washington, D.C.
It now occupies the relatively same position in the church which it did
then. The minutes of the Session for
March 8, 1893 state, “Decided to submit to the Congregational meeting tomorrow
evening the propriety of restoring to its former place the pew occupied by
President Lincoln, which was removed when new pews were put into the church.”
People have come to see the pew and
paused to hear the story about the man who prayed in the pew, who said he came
there because he got not partisan politics but something to feed his soul at
the church. When told how Lincoln
carried a small Bible he called “The Rock,” visitors would accept similar Testaments
offered to them. Visitors were told how
Dr. Gurley would pray with Lincoln for the troops kneeling beside him in prayer
for the Army.
On the 100th Anniversary
of the NYAPC, President Theodore Roosevelt occupied the pew with the Secretary
of State, Honorable John Hay.
Roosevelt’s remarks on that day are partially quoted in the book. Secretary Hay also spoke. The chapter mentions other Presidents and
notables who have visited the pew at NYAPC. It ends with a poem about Lincoln’s
pew by Lyman Whitney Allen who was inspired by pastor Dr. Radcliff’s comments about
Lincoln.
A Symbol of
Freedom,
at pages 258 to 265
This 7-page chapter discusses the
presentation of the original draft of the Emancipation proclamation to the
NYAPC during the dedication of the new church building on December 20, 1951. The NYAPC had a long relationship with the
Washington Hebrew Congregation whose Rabbi Norman Gersenstein suggested that
the NYAPC should be where the documents should be given by the then owner,
Barney Balaban.
Balaban was present and there were
several speakers. Rev. George M.
Docherty, D.D., had been the pastor of the church for about two years, is
quoted in his remarks about the documents and their donor. Balaban’s response to the comments are
quoted, including his intentions about setting up a Trust Fund to support
events concerning the Emancipation Proclamation to be sponsored by the NYAPC on
the occasion of Lincoln’s birthday. There were comments and prayers completing
the event.
Dr. Sizoo and the
Lincoln Family, at
pages 266 to 274.
Joseph Richard Sizoo was born in
Antwerp, Belgium in 1884 and served as pastor of NYAPC from 1924 – 1936. It happened that William Jennings Bryan, a
three-time Democratic candidate for President, unexpectedly died in 1925 and
the NYAPC offered the use of the church for his funeral. Sizoo became important to the life in
Washington, D.C. and the church facilities did too. There is more about this in the early
chapters of this book about NYAPC.
Dr.
Sizoo came to know the Robert Lincoln family at NYAPC. But Sizoo had heard of the Lincoln family
from his own father who was greeted by Robert during an inspection tour of the
factory where Sizoo’s father worked some years earlier. Sizoo’s father was quoted as saying, “What a
wonderful country this is that the son of a President will stop to talk to a
working man.”
Dr. Sizoo later thanked Mrs. Robert
Lincoln for the kindness Robert had done for his father by speaking to him. This Mrs. Lincoln was instrumental in
restoring the steeple that had been blown down by a storm, and the daughter of
this Lincoln family, then named Mrs. Mamie Isham, contributed to restoring the
clock and chimes.
The incident of burying Robert
Lincoln is reported in this chapter.
When Robert Todd Lincoln died in 1926, his wife, Mary Eunice Harlan, had not decided where to bury him and
placed him in a vault. The daughter of
Robert and Mary, Mamie, was the wife of Charles Isham, a historian. One day Mamie came to Dr. Sizoo to tell him
she and her mother were sending a car for him at a certain time and day to pick
him up. When he was delivered to the
home in Georgetown, a little old lady came to greet him, saying, “Today I am
your mother and you are my son. We shall
go out and bury father.” With that they
got into the car and were delivered to Arlington and the car stopped at a
little knoll which the Congress had set aside for the Lincoln family. Mrs. Lincoln did not even permit her
daughters to attend the funeral. Sizoo
cited the 23rd Psalm, said a prayer, and benediction and the casket
was lowered into the ground.
This chapter ends with three pages about the Dedication
Service of the Lincoln Memorial Tower at the NYAPC, including statements about
what the memorial meant to the people in the church and community.
I would encourage those interested
to find the Edgington book and read the other interesting stories that are
told.
Another Book –
Capital Witness
In 2019 I discovered another book has
been written about the history of this church by a group of people in 2011. Capital
Witness: A History of The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington,
D.C., Plumbline Media, LLC, 2011, ISBN: 978-1-937824-00-6, 436 pp. I was able to purchase a very good copy from
an Internet book seller with a price tag inside the front cover marked
“8—", way below the price it was originally. This copy was dedicated in a book plate to
thank Cynthia J. Bolbach.
This book is a heavy coffee table
book made of slick glossy paper, hard covers, lots of photos and art, plus
three editors, namely Dewey D. Wallace, Jr., Wilson Golden, and Edith Holmes
Snyder are listed on the cover. There are fourteen chapters by the editors
and other authors. Chapter 5 is in two
parts, the first by Robert C. White, Jr. is titled, Abraham Lincoln’s Minister at pages 112 to 126, and part II by
Frank van der Linden, is titled, Stories
of a President and His Pastor at pages 127 to 132. What follows are a few facts and quotes from
this chapter.
The remainder of the book covers
more interesting church history including the pastorate of Dr. Peter Marshall
and others, the civil rights movement, and Washington, D.C. activities of the
church. This could be a model for other churches looking to preserve the
history of their organizational efforts.
Abraham
Lincoln’s Minister
Phineas Densmore Gurley graduated
at the top of his class at the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1840. He served churches in Indianapolis and Dayton
before being called to the F Street Church in 1844. Gurley was an Old School Presbyterian
preacher, not a New School preacher.
Gurley was asked by Princeton Theological Seminary to take over the
“preaching and pastoral” department in May of 1860. The Republican Party met in Chicago the same
month to nominate Lincoln to run for President.
Gurley’s answer to the Seminary is not known, but he started preaching
to President Lincoln from March 1861 to April 1865.
“Gurley stood squarely in the
American Presbyterian understanding of Reformed theology. The basic themes of Reformed or Calvinist
theology were shaped by John Calvin in Geneva and handed down through
Calvinists in England, Scotland, and Holland.
God was understood not as the first principle in philosophy, but as the
primary actor in history. Persecuted in
old Europe and old England, in the New World American Calvinists (as Pilgrims,
Puritans, and Presbyterians) sought to live under the kingly rule of God. They wanted to balance their high view of God
with a low or realistic view of humanity.
The Presbyterian paradox was that belief in the sinfulness of human
beings did not lead to passivity; rather, Presbyterians were confident that in
God’s sovereignty, human beings were called to be instruments of devine
purpose.” Capital Witness, 113-114
The
Old School and New School division was made in 1837 over a number of
theological and organizational issues.
Both traditions were grounded in the Bible, but the Old School remained
rooted in a doctrinal tradition and the New School was expressed in revivalism
of the Second Great Awakening. The New
Schoolers believed in anti-slavery advocacy whereas the Old Schoolers believed
that the church, as a spiritual institution, should not involve itself in
political questions. Gurley graduated in 1840, so he must have heard the
discussions about the Old School and New School situation.
Lincoln may have looked for a pastor
who did not dwell on politics and he found Gurley. Once Lincoln was asked about Gurley and
Lincoln replied, “I like Gurley. He doesn’t
preach politics. I get enough of that
through the week.” id. p 114. There
is more about these hard to understand theological differences in this chapter.
Lincoln’s faith journey began
growing up Baptist with his father in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, but
Lincoln reacted against this tradition which left little toleration for
questions and doubt. Between 1831 and
1837 Lincoln is reported to have written an essay on the Bible and revealed
religion. He moved to Springfield in
1837 and began to speak on a “doctrine of necessity” which he incorporated into
a handbill in 1846 when he ran for Congress.
His opponent was a Methodist minister, Peter Cartwright, who accused him
of being a “scoffer of Christianity.”
Lincoln offered this definition of
the Doctrine of Necessity: “The human mind is compelled to action, or held in
rest by some power, over which the mind has no control.” Lincoln told the voters, “That I am not a
member of any Christian Church, is true, but I have never denied the truth of
the Scriptures, and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion
in general, or any denomination in particular.”
Id. at 115.
In 1850 when their second son,
Eddie, died the Lincolns were drawn to the Rev. James Smith, the pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church in Springfield. Mary was worshipping at the St.
Paul’s Episcopal Church, where Rev. Charles Dresser was pastor, and he had
married Abe and Mary in 1842. In 1852,
Mary joined the First Presbyterian Church and the Lincolns rented pew no. 20 in
the fifth row. Tad, their fourth son,
was baptized there in 1856.
Lincoln attended First Presbyterian
Church infrequently. John Todd Stuart, a
law partner of Lincoln’s, and a member of First Presbyterian, remembered
Lincoln began to attend more regularly in the late 1850s when the new railroad
made it easier to travel to the 8th Circuit Courts for law business
and Lincoln was able to spend more weekends in Springfield. The First Presbyterian Church used Lincoln as
one of three lawyers in a case against the Sangamon Presbytery, which chapter
author Robert C. Wright, Jr. cites as an entry in the First Presbyterian
Church’s Trustee records now held by the Illinois State Historical Library.
Wright says, “Since it is contrary to Presbyterian order to allow outside
counsel in such suits, it would have been understood that Lincoln was related
to First Presbyterian.” Id. at 116.
Rev.
Smith gained a reputation for learned preaching, but as a young man, like
Lincoln, Smith was a skeptic who was intrigued with ideas of Constantin Volney (French
philosopher) and Thomas Paine. But Smith later turned to rest more comfortably
with the Old School in the 1840s. In
1842, Smith wrote a 650-page book, The
Christian’s Defense, that grew out of the debates in 1841 with a popular
“free thinker,” Charles G. Olmstead, for 18 successive evenings at Columbus,
Mississippi. Lincoln may have read this
book while staying with Mary’s family in Lexington, Kentucky, after the death
of Eddie.
Wright makes reasonable assumptions
about what Lincoln gained from being acquainted with Rev. Smith. Readers will need to read this if you want to
inquire about how Rev. Smith and Abraham Lincoln may both have benefited from
knowing each other.
Wright says when Lincoln heard Rev.
Gurley in Washington, he liked him for the same reasons he liked Rev. Smith in
Springfield. Gurley was different in
that he punctuated his sermons with questions.
Leonard Swett, a friend of Lincoln in Illinois, said, “The whole world
to him was a question of cause and effect.”
Wright says Lincoln’s participation in the NYAPC “coincided with his
deepening effort to understand the meaning of God’s activity, the cause and
effect, in the war.
Lincoln was present for worship at
NYAPC on April 15, 1861. The Thursday
before, April 21, Confederate troops opened fire on Fort Sumter and after 33
hours of fighting, the American flag was
lowered on April 14. Some say Lincoln and Gurley were on their knees
together praying for the troops.
In February 1862, Rev. Gurley
presided at Willie’s funeral in the White House. Gurley told the Lincolns that the meaning of
devine providence was that “His kingdom ruleth overall.” Gurley’s words would later be used by
Lincoln. Wright explains several other of
Rev. Gurley’s sermons during these times that would have made impressions on
Lincoln. Gurley called attention to the
logical contradiction of free agency and God’s governance. “Man devises; the Lord directs.” Or “man
proposes; God disposes.” “Gurley chose
this theme of human agency and God’s sovereignty, he said, as the best way to
understand ‘the probable fruits and consequences of the terrible struggle’ in
which the nation had been engaged.”
Wright points out that Lincoln’s
Second Inaugural Address of 701 words mentions God fourteen times, quoted the
Bible four times, and invoked prayer three times. And it is the second shortest inaugural ever
offered. Wright says that Lincoln’s “religious words are actually technical
theological language that reflects directly on the influence of Gurley and Old
School Presbyterian theology.” Id. at
121.
Wright ends this chapter with some
discussion of the theological basis of Lincoln’s address as being based on
hearing Old School sermons from Reverends Smith and Gurley for about twenty
years. The Second Inaugural Address was
delivered 41 days before Lincoln’s death is a “most compelling public
declaration of politics and religion in American history,” Wright says. Lincoln was teaching what Gurley had been
sermonizing for the previous four years.
Robert C. White, Jr. earned a Ph.D.
at Princeton University and is the author of Abraham Lincoln: A Biography (2009) and other Lincoln books. He formerly served as dean and professor of
American religious history at San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Stories of a President and His Pastor
This Part II is only five pages
including a couple pages of pictures.
Pastor Phineas D. Gurley was the Lincoln’s family pastor from their
arrival to the White House. Although
Lincoln never became a formal member of NYAPC or any other church, “Lincoln
often expressed his belief in the power of an Almighty God, and he sought
devine guidance as carried the increasing burden of responsibility for the
Civil War with its terrible toll of blood and suffering.”
Gurley was called by the F Street
Presbyterian Church in the District of Columbia when Rev. James Lurie died
after fifty years of service to the church.
Gurley played a major role in the union of F Street Church and Second
Presbyterian Church in 1859, the new church being named the NYAPC. The F Street Church building was sold to the
Willard Hotel and became the Willard’s Hall as part of the hotel and a
political nerve center of wartime Washington.
Rev. Gurley became a licensed
preacher in 1840 and married Emma E. Brooks of Parishville, New York. Their eldest daughter, Frances Mary, or
“Fannie,” married William Anthony Elderkin in 1861. The bridegroom wrote his parents in Potsdam,
New York, “We had neither bridesmaids or groomsmen, nor did we make the matter
public, yet, it became known by some unaccountable means and to our surprise
more than 1,100 persons witnessed our marriage. We were heartily congratulated
by many. President Lincoln shook us both
by the hands and wished us much happiness.” Id.
at 127. He and Fannie had six children.
Van der Linden recounts that a White
House nurse, Mrs. Rebecca Pomeroy of Chelsea, Massachusetts, for Willie and his
brother Tad, assured Lincoln that many Christians were praying for him. “With
tears in his eyes, Lincoln replied, ‘I need their prayers.’ As they were going
out to the burial, the president told Mrs. Pomeroy, ‘I will try not to go to
God with my sorrows… I wish I had that childlike faith you speak of and I trust
He will give it to me. I had a good
Christian mother, and her prayers have followed me thus far through life.” Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1940, vol.
5, 378.
Sandburg also references a story of
portrait painter Francis B. Carpenter who described in his memoirs a visit by
Rev. Francis Vinton, rector of Trinity Church in New York, to the White House
while Carpenter was painting Lincoln’s portrait. Vinton warned Lincoln not to surrender to his
grief. “Your son is alive in paradise,” Vinton said. Lincoln cried, “Alive, alive!” and threw his
arms around Vinton and sobbed, “Alive, alive!” Carpenter said Lincoln’s views
about spiritual matters seemed to change from that hour. Lincoln began to see new hope of reuniting
with his two deceased sons. Id. at
379.
Lincoln was aided by Rev. Gurley to
invoke the help of God more to understand why the war dragged on and on. On October 24, 1863, Gurley presented to
Lincoln at the White House leaders of the Baltimore Presbyterian Synod (Old
School). Gurley introduced Rev. Septimus
Tustin who declared to Lincoln that every member of the Synod “belongs to the
Kingdom of God and is loyal to the government.”
Lincoln responded, “I have often wished that I was a more devout man
than I am. Nevertheless, amid the
greatest difficulties in my administration, when I could not see any other
resort, I would place my whole reliance
upon God, know that all would go well, and that He would decide for the
right.” (Emphasis added.) Id. at Vol
3, 370.
Various letters between Gurley and
Lincoln supported the idea to van der Linden there was a “hot line” between the
two men. Lincoln intervened at the
request of several Presbyterian clergy to request that the arrest of clergy and
others be suspended for various reasons.
Gurley once got Lincoln to suspend the execution of a son of a member of
the NYAPC. For the latter story, see Albert Ebenezer Gurley, Charles
Rogers, and Henry Porter Andrews, The
History and Genealogy of the Gurley Family, Press of the Case, Lockwood
& Brainard Co., 1897, 124)
Van der Linden tells of an NBC radio
program on February 14, 1943. wherein Robert St. John welcomed Emma Gurley
Adams, then 84 years old, a small, hard-of-hearing lady who remembered Lincoln
spent a lot of time in her father’s church ‘‘listening to the plain,
unvarnished Gospel truth.” She recalled
one night when her father and Lincoln were out walking in the city and came
home late, carrying the President’s walking stick. Lincoln had given him the
stick saying he would probably need it to protect himself.
Emma was only six years old when
Lincoln was shot. The Gurleys were all
in bed when the White House carriage came to their door on Friday night. “Tom Cross, the president’s body servant
jumped out of the carriage and shouted, ‘Mrs. Lincoln says for Doctor Gurley to
come quick. The President has been
shot!’” (NBC Radio Interview by Robert St. John of Emma Gurley Adams, February
14, 2943.)
Sandburg detailed the scene that
Gurley found at the William Petersen’s brick house on 10th Street,
where Lincoln had been carried from the theatre across the street. Lincoln was still breathing when Gurley
arrived and the President died at 7:22 AM when his heart stopped. Gurley led
the group in prayer on his knees asking that the President’s family and the
country be comforted.
On April 19,1865, Gurley led the
funeral service at the White House East Room.
Van der Linden quoted the scene that was recorded in Illustrated Life, Services, Martyrdom of
Abraham President, Sixteenth President of the United States by David
Brainerd Williamson, ed., T. B. Peterson & Brothers, 224.
Six weeks later in the NYAPC, Rev.
Gurley looked down at Pew No. 14 and revealed an emotion shared by many
Christians, but repressed immediately after the assassination that he regretted
that John Wilkes Booth had found the beloved president at the theatre. This was not the place his friends would have
wanted him to die. “For my own part, I have always regarded the theatre as in
the main a school of vice and corruption – the illumined and decorated gateway
through which thousands are constantly passing into the embrace of gaiety and
folly, intemperance and lewdness, infamy and ruin… I lift my voice against it,
and exhort you to number it among the polluting, perilous and prohibited places
where you and your children must never be found.” (Sandburg, vol. 6, 359).
Frank van der Linden was a Civil War
historian after nearing a half century as a Washington newspaper correspondent
covering the Congress and the White House. He first interviewed Harry S. Truman
at a poker party for congressional Democrats in 1945 and closed his career with
an interview of George H.W. Bush. He
wrote a nationally syndicated column and appeared frequently on NBC’s Meet the Press. He was one of Ronald Reagan’s favorite
correspondents and profiled Reagan in his book: Ronald Reagan: What He Believes, What He has Accomplished, What We Can
Expect from Him (1981). He authored
several other books, including Lincoln:
The Road to War (1998)
Lincoln’s Faith
For those like Professor C. Guelzo
who want to find an engraved membership card or something similar to prove
Lincoln was a Christian, I would recommend they lighten up and recognize that
God may not have such a requirement in place.
The Old Testament goes back thousands of years and the New Testament
starts around 50 years after the crucifixion which marks our calendars
today. These Old and New groups of
writings are not the same as the Old School and New School definitions used by
the Presbyterians who came to the New World from Europe.
John Calvin came along about the
time of Martin Luther about five hundred years ago and wrote a multi-volume set
of books titled, The Institutes of the
Christian Religion. In this
treatise, he covers things like what “faith” means in some detail. From these writings other theologians have
defined and split concepts and tried to make it all understandable to the
common man and woman, almost never succeeding in making it 100 percent
understandable to all, including Lincoln and this writer.
Calvin describes multiple
definitions of “faith” in Section 3.2.13-16 of the Institutes. Presbyterians
today are several groups, each with slightly separate understandings of what it
means to be a member or Christian. If
one reads the New Testament, you will see that Jesus recognized when individuals
accepted the truth about their faith in God.
Jesus did not issue membership certificates or ask people to make an
oath. In Jesus time there were no
Presbyterians of any kind. Nor were
their Popes or other church-wide leaders.
The Old and New Schools of
Presbyterian attracted different kinds of people and some clergy have accepted
one or the other part of the time or changed during their careers from one to
the other. Even today, change is
occurring in the Presbyterian Church as it is in other churches around the
world.
Lincoln learned about the Bible first
from his mother, and over his lifetime he joined the Kingdom in Springfield,
Illinois, and again in Washington, D.C., even if he was not a card-carrying
member of a denomination. Sandburg
quotes Lincoln who says he placed his trust in God. Why do I say “Kingdom?”
After being baptized by John, Jesus
became filled with the Holy Spirit and went to Galilee to begin preaching. Archeologists have uncovered exactly where
some of the Bible events like John’s baptism of Jesus happened. A short time later, when Jesus was asked how
to pray, he gave an answer quoted in Luke’s (Luke 11: 1-4) and in
Matthew's (Matthew 6:9-13) versions. The King James version of this prayer from
Matthew is:
Our Father, which art in
heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against
us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen.
Read more: https://www.lords-prayer-words.com/lord_traditional_king_james.html#ixzz5o0VqhSIe
When
Jesus says, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven," he is saying there are two Kingdoms. Luke's version is communicating the same
thing just in a shorter form. In other words, Jesus was saying there are
two Kingdoms – one in heaven and one in your heart. Matthew
6:9-13
My
contention is that Lincoln and Mary joined their hearts with the Kingdom in
Springfield after their son, Eddie, died at a young age, and Lincoln and Mary
joined the Kingdom in D.C. especially after Willie died, and when the Civil War
started their hearts were filled with needs that God provide because their
relied on God to do so. In both cities this family had a place in their heart
for the Kingdom where they lived.
In
the introduction to the Devotional book, Carl Sandburg describes Lincoln’s
relationship with his pastor in Springfield.
Edgington’s book describes the various rolls Lincoln played at the
church, how he participated in prayer at the White House with Rev. Dr. Gurley,
how Lincoln helped Gurley’s daughter get married to a West Point soldier by
going out one day in his one horse shay borrowing a wedding dress and other
parts of the outfit for the wedding, and many other evidences of the D.C.
Kingdom. In the 2011 book, you learn
more about the place that the Lincolns participated in for over four years.
You
need to first get the Devotional reproduction to see what Lincoln carried on horseback,
stage coaches, and railroad cars for years riding between Illinois county
courthouses. You will begin to see
Lincoln was a believer. You will better
understand the Gettysburg Address, the Second Inaugural Speech, and the Pledge
of Allegiance to the flag. Reading a
daily Bible verse is one way to start building your faith.
Living the life Jesus talked about is getting you
closer to the Kingdom in your heart.
If
you pause long enough on the Friday before Easter, remember that it was that
Friday that Lincoln was assassinated. Lincoln’s Devotional would be good to
have in times like these.
Lincoln’s
Devotional, Henry Holt and Co., LLC, 1856, New York,
NY, originally published in London: The Believer’s Daily Treasure, Text of
Scripture Arranged for Every Day in the Year, Religious Tract Society, 1852,
ISBN:0-8050-5832-5.
