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 GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER 
 
 DR.JOHNR. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD 
 
 JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORI 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
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 history of First 
 Unitarian ohuroh^ — 
 
 of Portia n ■'": , r e g or, 
 
 ^^^h^^T ' ^^^^^^'p^^ 
 
 louthern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
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 Form L 1 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 
 /

 
 A HISTOHV 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH, 
 
 OF 
 
 PORTLAND, OREGON. 
 
 1867-1892. 
 
 TOGKTUKFi WITH A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OK 
 
 f^EV. THOMAS LiRjVlB EblOT, 
 
 ITS FIHST PASTOK. 
 
 And an Account of the Exercises of the 
 Twenty-fifth Anniversarj-- 
 
 BY 
 
 EARL MORSE WILBUR. 
 
 PORTLAND: 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CnURCH 
 
 1893. 
 
 860 (1 7
 
 PRINTED BY 
 C. A. EOHKABACHEii.
 
 3X 
 
 This history Avas lirst undertaken with the pur- 
 pose of preparing a historical discourse for the twen- 
 tj'-fifth anniversary of the dedication of the ciiapel. 
 But it grew beyond the proper limits of a sermon, 
 and the historical discourse had to be an abridge- 
 ment of what is here given. It has been prepared 
 with care from the records of the church and its va- 
 rious organizations, from the newspapers of the time, 
 and from personal recollections of early members; 
 and it is published in order permanently to preserve 
 a record which might otherwise easily become forgot- 
 ten or destroyed. Special thanks are due, for aid 
 given in its preparation, to Rev. T. L. Eliot, Mrs. 
 Rosa F. Burrell, and Mrs. C. W. Burrage. Appen- 
 dixes are added which give material that could not 
 be suitably given in the course of the narrative.
 
 A HISTORY OF THE FIRST UNITARIAN 
 CHURCH. 
 
 THE Portland of tlie sixties was a (luiet frontier 
 town of between tive and ten thonsand people, in the 
 third decade of its history, reached Ijy stage overland 
 from California, and l>y twoor three steamei's monthly. 
 It had then, as it has always had, in spite of the law- 
 lessness and vice that so ofteji characterize frontier 
 towns, more than the nsnal jirojiortion of Christian 
 people, whether n)easured by their numbers, or by 
 their influence in the connnunity. It was. for its 
 size, well supplied with ciiurches. In ]86o there 
 were already a Methodist, a Presltyteiian, a Congrega- 
 tionaiist. a Haiitist. an Ki)isc()pal. and a Catholic 
 chuich. 
 
 Among the residents of tliat early day there was, 
 however, a considerable number of persons, includ- 
 ing some of wealth and influence, who had l)een reared 
 in the Liberal Christian faith, in New England and 
 elsewhere in the East, both Unitarians and Univer-
 
 THE HISTORY OF 1 HE 
 
 salists. Among the move i)romineiit of these were 
 Tliomas Frazar and his wife, who had arrived as 
 early as 1853; Mrs. Anna Cootceand her children, who 
 came soon after; Mr. and Mrp. tra Goodnough, Mrs. 
 Abhy W. Atwood, and Mr. and Mrs. Ciiarles W. Bur- 
 rage. There was no organization among ihern as 
 Liberal Christians. Many of them were not aware 
 that the religious beliefs which they held were shared 
 by others in the community. They therefore wor- 
 shipped in the churches already established, coTitribu- 
 ted to the support of them according to their means, 
 taught classes in the Sunday-schools, to which they 
 also sent their children, and did their full share of 
 general church work. At various times they were 
 urged to join the churches with which they were asso- 
 ciated. But they held firmly to their inheritance in 
 Liberal Christianity, and waited for a time when they 
 should have a church of their own. One family at 
 least, that of Mr. Frazar, during the six years in which 
 they lived on what is now the "Ladd Farm'' in East 
 Portland, were accustomed to hold home services on 
 Sundays, at which neighbors and visitors were often 
 present. Hymns were sung, prayers were offered, 
 and a sermon was read, usually of Channing, Pea- 
 body, Chapin, or other Liberal Christian leaders of 
 the time. These are believed to have been the first 
 Unitarian services ever held in Portland. 
 
 It is impossible to say how long things might 
 have continued thus, had not the loyalty of the few 
 Liberal Christians to their religious convictions been
 
 FIRST UNITAKIAN CHURCH. 
 
 suddenly and deeply aroused. One Sunday ujoinin^ 
 in 1865, one of the ministers of the city, for lack of a 
 better theme, made a violent attack upon the Unita- 
 rian faith, which he continued for several Sundays. 
 It wr.is Uiit witliout its effect. Several lil)Hrally minded 
 members of his conpjregation met ar tlie door, as they 
 went out after one of tliese sermons, and at once 
 formed the resolve to take steps toward a Liberal or- 
 ganization of their own. No immediate organized re- 
 sult followed; but the Liberal Christians were from 
 now on drawn more closely to each other. 
 
 At the same time other forces had been moving 
 toward the same end. Mrs. Thomas Frazar had from 
 the first longed earnestly for a churcli of her own faith. 
 For this she prayed and planned for years; and it was 
 in her heart, and by her faith, more than that of any 
 other one person, that the church was founded. She 
 was ever hoping to find material enough to form a 
 Unitarian organization. In 1863, in the work of the 
 Sanitary Commission, she became acquainted with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Charles W. Burrage, devoted Unitarians who 
 had come to Portland a few months previously from 
 Leominster, Mass., and who were the first iiersonsshe 
 had found who seemed to l)e in full sympathy with 
 her religious beliefs. Their common faith drew them 
 more and more together. They added to each oth- 
 er's zeal; and the result at length was that, with a few 
 kindred spirits, the first step in organization was 
 taken in December, 1865, in the forming of the La- 
 dies' Sewing Society.
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Tliere had Hlready been Unitarian preacliing in 
 Poithuul as early as 1862. In July of that year, liev. 
 ThoiHJis StaiT Kiiiy- of San Francisco, while on a lec- 
 turing tour, preaclied in tiie Methodist church on 
 Taylor street on a Sunday afternoon, and lectured 
 there tln-ee ilays later. ].,etters are still extant, 
 written by him to Mr. Frazar, arranging for ti)e 
 visit. But Mr. King's ol)ject was not a missionary 
 one; and tliougli even then earnestly longed for, an 
 organization was not yet thought possible. 
 
 But on December 13, 1865, a few of the women in- 
 terested in the cause of Liberal Christianity met .at 
 the house of Mr. Ira Goodnough, on Yamhill street, be- 
 low Fifth, on the spot where the Goodnough building 
 now stands, opposite the Post-office. These were Mrs. 
 Mary E. Frazar, Mrs. Sarah J. Burrage, Airs. Nancy 
 E. Goodnough, Mrs. Anna Cooke, Mrs. Lydia M. 
 Wright, Mrs. M. A. Abbott. Mrs. Rosa F. Burrell. 
 They had come togetiier "for the purpose of organiz- 
 ing a Society for the promotion of the Cause."' Mrs. 
 P'razar was chosen Chairman, and Mrs. Abbott Sec- 
 retary; and the first business done was the adoption 
 of the following preamble, which had been previously 
 prepared by Mrs. Frazar: 
 
 "We, The friends of Liberal Ciiristianity, pioneers of that 
 Christian Faith in tliis new land, do here unite for the purpose 
 of streng'thening each other in the same, and pledg'e ourselves, 
 God helping, that by prayer and earnest effort we will use every 
 endeavor to promote and advance the Cause." 
 
 At a meeting held at the house of Mrs. Burrage 
 two weeks later, a constitution was adopted, and a
 
 FIRST UNITAKIAN CHURCH. 
 
 permanent organization effected, under the name ot 
 "The Ladies' Sewing Society," to which were after- 
 wards added tlie woids, -'of the First Unitarian Soci- 
 ety, Portland, Oregon." Mrs. Frazar was the tirst 
 President. Tiie Society held weekly meetings for 
 worli at the houses of the members on Thursday aft- 
 ernoons, at which they usually earned money by tak- 
 ing in sewing. Meetings have been held on Wednes- 
 day afternoons since 1872, and in the cliurch parh)r 
 since 1880, and Jiave been nninterrui)ted during all 
 the twenty-seven years since the forming of the Soci- 
 ety. Besides their weekly meetings, the ladies held 
 monthly socials, arranged occasional entertainments 
 and festivals, and were in every way the center of or- 
 ganized life among the Liberal Christians until the 
 forming of the First Unitarian Society. 
 
 Indeed it is doubtful whether any dehnite move- 
 ment would have taken shape for a long time, had it 
 not been for the devoted and unflagging work of the 
 Ladies' Sewing Society. With an average weekly 
 attendance of but seven, the earnings of their first 
 year were almost $400. 00; while the deeper results of 
 nourishing faith and arousing zeal, were greater than 
 can be estimated. They testified their faith in the 
 future of their cause by sending the thirty dollars first 
 earned to Rev. Horatio Stebbins of San Francisco, 
 then the only Unitarian minister on the Pacific Coast, to 
 buy a communion service — the same that is still used 
 by the church. During the following year, too, they 
 again anticipated the future by purchasing the begin-
 
 10 THE IIISTOKV OF THE 
 
 tiiiiss of a parish lil)rary, and a Suiulay-scliool libi-ary 
 for a Siinday-Hcliiiol which as yet existed only in their 
 am icipations; and it was tiie fact tliat they had 
 $•5(10.00 to he^in witii that determined tlie trustees to 
 build a chapel even before a minister was obtained. 
 
 The next step forward, after formintj the Ladies' 
 Sewing' Society, was taken in January. 1806, when 
 the friends of Ijiberai Christianity in Portland, desir- 
 ing? to establisli a church as soon as iwssible, wrote to 
 Rev. Mr. Stebbins, inviting him to come and preach a 
 few Sundays, that he might call together the friends 
 of the cause, and judge whether there were sufflcieut 
 strength to warrant the organization of a church. 
 Ilis church in San Francisco kindly gave him leave; 
 and he came in April of that year, and stayed three 
 weeks. lie preached with great acceptance on three 
 successive Sundays in the basement of the Baptist 
 church; and on intervening days awakened interest 
 among the people. During his visit he also held a 
 communion service at the house of Mr. Ira Good- 
 nougii, and at tlie same time baptised seven children 
 of Unitarian parents.* In those various ways fresh 
 zeal was aroused among the old friends of the cause; 
 and many nsw sym]nithizers were called forth, who 
 had never before heard Liberal Christianity preached, 
 but who now found that it harmonized with their own 
 
 * The service was arranged at the Instance of Mrs. W. W. 
 Spfliildiiia-, and tlie children iiapti/ed were Clia'-les Franci'* Huv- 
 ratic. Iviward Hills Huri'ape. William Henry Rurrairo. Ed^ar 
 Aion/.o(;()()dn(ui^fh. Mary (ierlru<le (ioodnoiigh, Rena Bliss Good- 
 nousfli, and William Wallace Spauldinjf.
 
 FIRST UNI'JAUI AN CHUKCH. 11 
 
 couvictidiis of God, Tnill: ;iii(l Duty, jiihI snii>li((l :i 
 Avuit in their religious iialures wliicli oi In r cliurc lies 
 had not met, and could not meet. 
 
 Ai'tei- Mr. Steliliin.s' liist Snndjiy in Porthind. a 
 social meeting was lieid at the house of Mrs. Anna 
 Cooke, known as the "Rohliins House. " on tlie west 
 side of First stieet. between what are now Everett 
 and Fhuiders streets. At this meeting Mi-. Stel)hins 
 spoke on the importance of tiie movement, and called 
 on the men i)resent to put their action into definit*' 
 form. A subscription paper was at once diawn up to 
 see liow mui-h (;ould be I'aised to purchase a lot. and 
 to pay a minister's salaiy. The sums of $l,17')(io. 
 and $800.00 were immediately subscribed for the^e 
 j)urposes res|;ectively, and the subsciiptions weje in- 
 creased, before Mr. SteV)bins' return, to $1,700.00 and 
 $1.()00.00. Mr. Stebbins advised that a Society be 
 formed and a minister called, and returned home 
 highly gratilied with the |)i'ospect8. 
 
 .After the services of the second Sunday, Messrs. 
 Thomas Frazar, Charles W. Huirage. Erasmus 1). 
 Shattuck, James W. Cook, and Robert H. Tliomi>son 
 were constituted an executive committee to transact 
 business until a permanent organization should be ef- 
 fected. This committee called the lirst meeting of 
 the subscribers at the Council Chamber. May 1, l}-6(i, 
 at which a committee was chosen to collect subscrip- 
 tion-^. and to negotiate for the purciiase of a lot suit- 
 alile for a building. \{ a meeting held on .June 20, 
 18(56, at the otllce of Mr. Thomas Fraz ir. on the soul h-
 
 12 Tllli IIISTOKV OV THE 
 
 east corner of Front and Alder streets, a constitution 
 (closely modeled upon tliat of the San Francisco So- 
 ciety) was adopted, and received twenty-four signers 
 at once;* and the organization of tlicFirst Unitarian 
 Society of Portland, Oregon," w;is completed four 
 days later, by the election of the following gentlemen 
 as trnstees: Thomas Frazar, Erasmus U. Sliattuck, 
 Robert H. Thompson, James W. Cook, "Richard A. 
 White, James M. Gilman, William F. Wilcox, Ira 
 Goodnough, and Charles W. Barrage. The Society 
 was incorporated July 9, 1866, with the trustees as 
 incorporators.! 
 
 Soon after his visit to Portland, Mr. Stebbins had 
 opened a correspondence with Rev. Eli Fay, then at 
 Woburn, Mass., with regard to his becoming pastor 
 of the new church; but the call was not accepted. A 
 Rev. Mr. Young was next negotiated with, and ac- 
 cepted; but he afterwards withdrew his acceptance. 
 The matter seems then to have been dropped for a 
 time; but at a meeting of the trustees held on Jauu- 
 ury 29. 1867, the Clerk was '-insti acted to inform 
 Rev. Horatio Stebbins of San Fratici.sco that this So- 
 ciety desires him to use every means to procure us a 
 minister as speedily as possible; and if communica- 
 tion with the ministers at the East can beexi»eilited by 
 telegrapliing, to draw on us for the necessary funds.'' 
 While correspondence on this subject was progressing, 
 
 * Spo Appendix A for the Constitution and tlie names of the 
 original signers. 
 
 + See Appendix B for the Articles of Incorporation.
 
 X 
 
 \ 
 
 Thk Chapel (Interior) 
 
 As DECORATICI) FOR THK FIRST HARVEST CONCKRT.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 13 
 
 Steps were also taken loward procuring a lot and 
 building, against tlie time of the minister's coming. 
 After the usual preliminaries, t\>o lots at the south- 
 west corner of Yamhill and Seventh streets were 
 purchased of Mr. H. W. Corbett for the sum of $2,000. 
 The site was then at the extreme outskirts of the 
 city. In August of the same year, construction was 
 commenced on a chai)el -50x60 feet, the same room 
 being still occupied by the Sunday-school. The build- 
 ing was completed, free from debt, at a cost of about 
 $2,200.00, and was furnished, ready for occupancy, 
 before the end of the year, or the arrival of a minis- 
 ter. The cliapel was a cozy little building, seating 
 about 200 people, uncarpeted, and furnished with 
 plain wooden benches. The Ladies' Sewing Society, 
 besides giving $800.00 or $900.00 toward the lot and 
 building, gave the furnishings; while one of its mem- 
 bers provided the organ. The hymn-books and pulpit 
 Bible were presented by the San Francisco Society; 
 and the Bible, which is still in use, was the one for- 
 mei'ly used h\ Starr King in his pulpit in San Fran- 
 cisco. 
 
 In Octolier, ISOT. word was received through llev. 
 Charles Lowe, the Secretary of the American I'nita- 
 rian .\ssociation, s;iying that llev. Thomas L. Eliot 
 of St. Louis had accepted a call to be the minister of 
 the young Society.* He had come to San Francisco 
 
 ■* Tlmchnrfre of obtaininp a minister for ilie Society had been 
 left K) Rev. >lr. Lowe For iiis letter calling- Mr. Eliot, see Ap- 
 pendix C.
 
 14 THE lIIfeTOIlY OF THE 
 
 several years before, on rt voyage for his health, and 
 i:a(l then leceived that impression of tlie opportuni- 
 ties wliich the Pacific Coast offered a minister for in- 
 fluence and usefulness, which now led him to accept 
 tlie call. He came from St. Louis by the way of New 
 York and tlie Isthmus, and reached Portland on 
 Tuesday, December 24, 1867. From the day of his 
 arrival, the young Society began a career of growth 
 and prosperity which has continued without hindrance 
 to the present day. The history of llnitarianism in 
 Portlanii from that date, is one with the history of 
 the Society's first pastor. 
 
 The chapel was dedicated on the afternoon of the 
 next Sunday, December 29 (a service had also Iteen 
 held in the forenoon), and was crowded to its full ca- 
 {)acity. The sermon was preached by Mr. Eliot, 
 while the ministers of several of the other churches 
 in the city expressed their good-will by assisting in 
 the services.! 
 
 Oii the next Sunday a Sunday-school was formed, 
 twenty-five persons being present. It was organized 
 two weeks later with seven classes, about fifty mem- 
 bers, and Mr. Eliot as its first Superintendent. 
 
 The ''First Unitarian Society" had been formed 
 chiefly as a business organization, existing for the 
 purpose of supporting public worship and holding the 
 property devoted to that end. In the spring of 1868, 
 soon after the pastor's arrival, there was formed 
 
 + For the order of tte services of dedication, see Appendix 
 D.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. '15 
 
 the "Body of Con)iiiniiicHJits of the First 
 Unitarian Society,'' a body existing under articles and 
 a Covenant, on the basis of religious fellowsliip. The 
 original members of ''the Churcli," as this body has 
 come to be known in distinction from "the Society,'' 
 woe tliirty-one.J This double organization of Society 
 and Church was made after the excellent custom of 
 all the older New England parishes; and the Coveu- 
 aiit adoi)ted by the Church was tlie san)e that had 
 been in use in the Second Church in Boston for two 
 hundred yenrs. As the Society came together at its 
 annual business meeting, so the Church met at the 
 observance of the Lord's Supper, which rite it ob- 
 serves together with that of Baptism. The commun- 
 ion service was at first held monthly at the time of 
 Sunday evening service, but is now held on stated days 
 five times yearly. 
 
 The young pastor soon began to reach out be- 
 yond the narrow limits of his own parish. After the 
 change of the second of the Sunday services from the 
 afternoon, when it was at first held, to the evening, 
 he used for years to go frequently to liold services at 
 the County Farm, at the Insane Asylum in East Port- 
 land, or at the County Jail. Early in 1869 a still 
 more radical move was made in order to reach the 
 unchurched. There were large nun bers of men in 
 the city who never went to church; and, had they 
 cared to go, the Unitarian chapel was then thought, 
 
 * r<ir the articles and Covenant, and the names of the oriiari- 
 nal members, SCO Appendix E.
 
 16 THE IIISTOIIY OF THE 
 
 especially on stoiniy iiiid niiuldy nights of winter, too 
 far out of town. It was deteiniioed if possible to 
 reach these niid others by a seiies of i)<)|)idar services. 
 The Oro Fitio Theatre, which stood on the west side 
 of First street, between Staik and Oak streets, 
 where the Union Block now is, was hired for a series 
 of Sunday evening services, which were continued from 
 January 10 to April 8. The seruu)ns preached were 
 principally piactical ones, but in some of them there 
 were given clear stateuients of the position of Liberal 
 Christianity. Their success w'as great. The theater 
 was crowded. Men who had not been inside a church 
 for years came constantly, and testified with tears to 
 the benefit they had received. But at the same time 
 interest of a different sort was being aroused. A 
 sermon on "Retribution," i)reached by Mr. Eliot in 
 the theatre on -lanuary 31, called forth earnest pro- 
 test from those who disagreed with its doctrine. The 
 other ministers of the city felt that its dangerous in- 
 fluence must be counteracted by a reply from one of 
 their own nimiber. Tlie theatre was offered them 
 for the purpose; and the lot fell upon Rev. E. C. .An- 
 derson of tlie Baptist church, who replied in a sermon 
 of great ability preached before one of the largest au- 
 diences that had ever assembled in the city for re- 
 ligious purposes. To this Mr. Eliot replied the fol- 
 lowing Sunday evening; ana there the public debate, 
 which had been conducted with entire courtesy and 
 fairness, ended. 
 
 But there were those who not only believed the
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 17 
 
 doctrines of the Unitarians to be (laiigeioii.s, but felt 
 that out of a theatre no good thing could proceed. A 
 number of communications appealed in both the re- 
 ligions and seculnr pajieis of tlie city, direct eil <igaii:st 
 the new cliurcJi and its minister; and some of them, in 
 the heat of the moment, were not altogetlier free from 
 l)ersonal abuse. It was more tlian hinted that one 
 who would preach such doctrines in such a phice must, 
 (though perliaps without deliberately intending it) be 
 lending himself to the sujjport of loose morals; and it 
 was even intimated that there had been a collusion 
 between the Uintarian Society and the owneis 
 of the theatre for the jiuii)ose of making the- 
 atre-going reputable! 
 
 With the close of the theatre sermons in tJie 
 spring, however, the storm subsided. Its effect had 
 been to detine more clearly the difference between the 
 new church and its elder sisters, and to bind its own 
 members more devotedly to one another, and to their 
 common cause; while tlie popular services, and the 
 o|)p()sition which accompanied them, gained for the 
 new church an influence over the unchurched which 
 has not been lost to this day. One of these theatre 
 sermons, on '-Liberal Christianity: what it is and 
 what it is not," the tirst of Mr. Eliot's to appear in 
 print, made a profound impression, and was spoken 
 of for many years afterwards. A series of six ser- 
 mons was again preached in the theatre the next 
 winter, on practical religious and moral themes; but 
 the hostilitv of the vear before was not renewed.
 
 18 'llIK lllcTOKY OF TIIK 
 
 Early in tlie secdiKl .ycjir (if the pastorate, tlie 
 coiigrt'<iutioiis liad so increased that it became neces- 
 sary tu |>nt in a gallery at the end of the chapel. The 
 Sunday-school had now grown to 125, and the infant 
 class, under the charge of Mrs. Iknrage, occupied the 
 gallery until the new church \va.s built. 
 
 The church early began to give its attention to 
 philanthropy. During its first yeai% upon a suggestion 
 made by Mr. R. R. Thompson, monthly collections for 
 the i)oor were instituted. The first year's collections 
 for this purpose amounted to nearly $300.00, and the 
 first expenditures from the fund were for a Thanks- 
 giving dinner for the inmates of the County Jail, who 
 were then far more wretr-hed than now. The pastor 
 and many of the members were active in the move- 
 ments for Temperance and Woman's Suffrage, in hu- 
 mane work, in the establishment of the Ladies' Re- 
 lief Society and of the Children's Home; and have had 
 an influential part in almost every movement for 
 moral or social reform in Portland during the last 
 twenty-five years. In the first five years of the church 
 about $1,400.00 were expended through the pastor for 
 charities. 
 
 By the summer of 1870 the pastor's health had 
 become so much impaired by the severe work of build- 
 ing up a new church in a new town, almost a thous- 
 and miles from the sympathy and support of another 
 body of tho same faith, and in the face of opposition 
 which was none the less bitter for being deeply sin- 
 cere, that he was compelled to ask a leave of absence.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 19 
 
 and spent several months in llie East. The pnlpit 
 was most acceptably snpplied dining this time by Rev. 
 John William Hudson of PealKxly, Mass. While in 
 the East, Mr. Eliol still rememt)ere<l his woik on the 
 Pacific Coast; and as the result of iiis efforts, tlie 
 American Unitarian Association sent out, etiily in 
 the following year, Kev. John C. Kimball of Beverly, 
 Mass. Dnring the winter and spring of 1871, he did 
 missionary preaching in n)any towns in the Willam- 
 ette and Columbia valleys, and was heaid seveial 
 times in Portland. lie went at length to Olymjiia, 
 W. T., then the most important town on Puget Sound, 
 and there established a Unitarian cl)urch. 
 
 The next few years were a time of quiet inward 
 growtii, marked by little variety. CoJitroveisy witli 
 other churches had nearly died out; and thongli little 
 hospitality was yet shown to the Unitarian chnrch. 
 Still it and its pastor h.ad won a position in tiie com- 
 munity which brought hearty respect, if not brotiierly 
 love. During these yeais the church and congrega- 
 tion giew slowly but steadily. The number of eain- 
 est workers increased. Devotion to the cause of Lib- 
 eral Christiaiuty grew deeper. The preaching mag- 
 nilied the positive virtues of Christian character, and 
 left controversy for the most part aside. AVork out- 
 side the pirish, since the work of construction was 
 now well established, was largely increaseil. On al- 
 most every Si.nday afternoon for several years, the 
 pastor used to pi each at the Insane Asylum, or at 
 the County Jail, or at the County Farm, until such
 
 20 'IIIE HISTORY OF TIIK 
 
 work was regulaily iiiKleital<en by »»tlier ministers of 
 the city; and he also held services now and then in 
 school-houses in Albina, 8t. Jolms and Oswe^jfo. 
 
 The work of cluirlty widened and took more def- 
 inite siiape. In 1871 over $7(10.00 were raised for 
 cliarital>le purposes. Libraries were placed in the 
 County Jail and in tlie Insane Asylum; and the regu- 
 lar distribution of lapers to the inmates of these in- 
 stitutions was begun, which has been continued ever 
 since. In the same year the Sunday-school had reached 
 a mend)ership of 150, had 500 volumes in its library, 
 and raised (jver $2.50.00 for its work. 
 
 The Ladies' Sewing Society, too, flourished as 
 never before. Its membership and attendance in- 
 creased. The entertainments it gave became famous 
 for their miiqueness and excellence. Tlie amount of 
 money it earned was large. It provided the music for 
 the church; anil at one time, from its accumulated 
 funds, paid off a debt of several hundred dollars, 
 which had accrued against the Society and caused 
 the trustees no little uneasiness. In 1S71 it also 
 raised $165.00 for the svifferers by forest flres in Mich- 
 igan and Wisconsin, and sent them two large boxes 
 of clothing— the first instance of its working for gen- 
 eral charitable objects outside the church. At this 
 time it had about tifty members. 
 
 Ill 1874 aji episode occi.rred wliich left a deep im- 
 pression upon the church, and i)artiy revived an old 
 unfriendliness that had slumbered for some years. 
 The constitution of the Young Men's Christian Asso-
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 21 
 
 elation then, as now, admitted as active members only 
 those who belonged to Evangelical churches. But 
 Mr. Eliot had been for some years an "associate 
 member." and had to some extent united in its 
 work. It was now proposed by several intluential act- 
 ive members of the Association, that the word -'Evan- 
 gelical" be dropped from the constitution, so that 
 Unitarians and otner Liberal Christians who wished 
 to do so might be admitted to membership with full 
 privileges. Mr. Eliot was invited to attend the meet- 
 ing at wliich the vote was to be taken upon the 
 change. Being urged, he did so, though with much 
 hesitation; wlien, to the great surprise of those wiio 
 had invited him, the motion was earnestly opposed 
 and lost. The word "Evangelicar- was retained, and 
 by so decisive a vote that the Unitarians who were 
 ujembers of the Association, or contributors to its 
 funds, felt that they could not, with self-respect, con- 
 tinue to join in its work. The vote expressed no 
 feeling of unkindness, for those that appreciated its 
 deeper cause and meaning, but simply the earnest 
 conviction that the welfare and usefulness of the 
 Young Men's Christian Association demanded that 
 its standard be still kept uncompromisingly orthodox. 
 And it was undoubtedly best, both for the Associa- 
 tion and those who were thus excluded from full mem- 
 bership in it, that the distinction between two radic- 
 ally different forms of faith should be kept clear. 
 
 A .Sunday or two later (December 20) the pastor 
 preached a sermon, occasioned by this circum.stance,
 
 22 THE lliSTOUY OF THE 
 
 wliicli marked an epoch in the internal liistory of tlie 
 church, and was widely noticed east and west. Jts 
 subject was "•Evangelical dliristianity,''' and it clearly 
 defined the fundamental difference between Liberal 
 Christianity and Orthodoxy.* From that day the 
 ciiurch begun to realize as never before that its mis- 
 sion was distinct from that of the other churches in 
 the city; and that while their broad aims were the 
 same, yet the principles upcn which they iirocceded, 
 and the standpoint from which they looked atmatters 
 of religion, were so radically opposed to each other, 
 that any close union between them was impossible 
 except by a sacrifice of principle, and tlierefore ought 
 not to be expected. The episode naturally aroused 
 some feeling among those that saw only its surface, 
 and did not appreciate the principles it involved. 
 Some harsh words were spoken, and some unkind 
 things written in the papers, both against the pastor 
 and by his friends; and the memory of it all still re- 
 mains with not a few. But the important effect of 
 the whole was a clearer understanding by the church 
 of differences which had sooner or later to be defined, 
 before it could see its own work distinctly, or do it 
 well. 
 
 In l!374 Mr. Eliot, while on a vacation trip to 
 the East, was permitted to extend his time so as to 
 attend the National Conference of Unitarian Churches. 
 
 *T!iis sermon -n-as re-written in 1892, and published as a tr.'ict, 
 with the title, "The Radical Difference between Liberal Chris- 
 tianity and Orthodoxy."
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 23 
 
 His pulpit was kindly supplied during Lis absence by 
 Rev. Chauncy Park (Presbyteiian); and as the lesult 
 of his visit, Rev. iJavid N. Utter, of Belfast, Me., was 
 induced to come out the next year and take char<:e of 
 the church in Olytnpia, which had been left vacant 
 by the return east of Rev. Mr. Kimball. 
 
 Early in the seventies the congregation hnd 
 grown so much that the need of a new church build- 
 ing began to be felt. This thought filled the minds 
 of the Ladies' Sewing Society, and for seven jears 
 continually inspired their effort. As ten years pre- 
 viously they had never fo)g()tten for a day that thfv 
 must have a church and minister of their own. so 
 now they remembered almost weekly (as their records 
 of the time show) what was the object of their pres- 
 ent work; and toward this they labored for several 
 years before any definite move was made by others. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the First Unitarian So- 
 ciety held January 12, 1875, a day and evening mem- 
 orable for the severest snow storm of twenty- five 
 years, with the temperature below zero, the first for- 
 mal steps were taken toward a new building; and a 
 resolution was unanimously adopted: ''That steps be 
 taken to build a church edifice, to cost completed not 
 less than $20,()oO.OO.'' Messrs, Charles Hodge and 
 John L. Barnard, and Rev. T. L. Eliot were ap- 
 pointed a committee to solicit subscriptions for the 
 building fund. It was determined at the start that 
 the new church should not be built until sutlicient 
 funds should be raised to complete it free from debt;
 
 Ii4 THE IIISTOKY OP^ TIIK 
 
 and lliis ivsolutioti was steatl lastly adhered to. It 
 was more tliaii four years before the church was com- 
 pleted; and meanwhile failing- health conipelled the 
 pastor again to leave his parish. 
 
 Mr. Eliot lesigned his office as i)astorsooii after the 
 annual meeting in 1876, in order to take an indefinite 
 period of rest from his labors. The Society unani- 
 mously voted not to ao(!ept tlie resignation, but in- 
 stead granted a twelve months' leave of absence. 
 He left Portland immediately after Easter, and 
 spent a long vacation in Europe, returning, after a 
 fourteen months' absence, in July, 1877, with health 
 much improved. The pulpit was supplied during the 
 interval by different persons, chiefly by Kev. David N. 
 Utter, of Ohmpia, until a regular supply wasobtained 
 in the person of Rev. Eldward I. Galvin* of German- 
 town, Penn., who ministered with great acceptance 
 until Mr. Eliot's retin-n. He then took charge of tlie 
 church at Walla Walla, W. T.. which had sprung up 
 from seed sown by Rev. Mr. Kimball six years before. 
 It was felt by the church, during Mr. Eliot's ab- 
 sence from it, that the distributing of the charitable 
 funds contributed in the monthly collections, which 
 had hitherto l)een left to the pastor, should still go on; 
 and an organization was therefore formed to carry 
 
 * During- hirt ministry in Portland, Mr. Galvin was the chief 
 instrumentality in starting- the Open Temperance Meetinfr, whicli 
 met Saturday eveninjis I'or some years after in Culumbia Hall, 
 OH First street, near Alder, and which did a representative work 
 in theconuiuniity. Tr was one of the best forms of temperance 
 work ever done iti the city.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 25 
 
 on 1 lie work efficiently. It was called the Christian 
 Union, and was organized May 4. 1876. t This soci- 
 ety has ever since administered the charitrible funds 
 of the church, and conducted its jjliilanlhroiiic woiK. 
 The attendance at its monthly meetings h;is never 
 been large; but it has had a quiet infiueiice which hfis 
 in many cases been used with great effect. One of 
 its liist acts was to ])romote temjjerance by the erec- 
 tion of several public drinking fountains. Its com- 
 mittees have for years made regular visits to the 
 County Jail, the County Farm, the Insane Asylum, 
 and other institutions of charity and correction, dis- 
 tributing reading matter, sometimes funiisljing small 
 libraries, and adding in any way possible to the Mel- 
 fare of the inmates. It early presented a memorial 
 to the Grand Jury on the disgraceful sanitary condi- 
 tion of the County Jail, as Mr. Eliot had previously 
 done to the County Cnui't, and suggested plans for 
 improvements which may be supposed to have had 
 some influence in bringing about the partial leforms 
 afterwards made. It inaugurated in 1880 a course of 
 lectures on tSocial Science which were given in the 
 chapel during eight successive years, on practical sub- 
 jects described by the title of the course. The pro- 
 ceeds of these lectures were used in the purchase of 
 books for a Social Science library. 
 
 The tenth anniversary of the dedication of the 
 
 + 1'ho tli'st oftit-ers of tho Clirisliim I'liioii were Mr .lolm L. 
 Barnard, I'rosificiil ; Miss Helen F. Spaliiiiijr. Vice-President; Mr. 
 Cornelius K. Stevonp, [Secretary; Mr. Charles W. Uurrage, Trtasi- 
 urer.
 
 26 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 chapel was observed on Sunday, December 30, 
 1877, by special services and u historical discourse. * 
 A few (lays before, at a special meeting^ of the Society 
 held December 3. 1877, the proposed cost of the new 
 chxirch building was reduced from $20,000.00 to $15,- 
 000.00; and it was voted that immediate steps be 
 taken towards building by raising the required amount. 
 During the next few months the necessary amount 
 was subscribed, and at 6:00 P. M., on July 21, 1878, 
 the corner stone of the new edifice was laid with Ma- 
 sonic rites in the presence of a large number of peo- 
 ple. Rev. Mr. Utter offered the nrayer and made a 
 brief address, and the building committee and finance 
 committee made reports. Following these, Mr. Eliot 
 made an address, in the course of w^hich he said: 
 
 "•Were I to suggest a name for this edifice, as 
 names are sometimes given, it would be 'Church of 
 Our Father." In these words I find, by direct impli- 
 cation, all this building stands for, conceived as it 
 has been iu faith, sustained by hope, purchased by 
 love and sacrifice of its people. He who devoutly 
 says -Our Father' has not only a religion and a creed, 
 but he has religion itself, that is to say, the essential 
 motive of religion; and it is living religion, as it be- 
 comes a life habit of the spirit, bearing fruit in active 
 righteousness and character. 'Church of Our Fa- 
 ther' may we spiritually baptize and name it today 
 May he accept it — ratiier may he give it to us — as 
 covenant witness of a conscious presence and indwell- 
 ing lifel" 
 
 * The extent of the Church's work during- its first ten years is 
 shown by the statistics g-iven on this occasion: 810 sermons; 130 
 funerals ; 112 weddings ; 185 baptisms (4C adults) ; 152 members of
 
 The Church of Our Father.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 27 
 
 It was thus that the edifice received the Hume 
 whicli it has since borne. 
 
 The church, the plans for wliicii, in the ''Victoria 
 Gothic"' style, had been drawn by the well known 
 architects, Peabody and Stearns of Boston, was liuilt 
 on the vacant lot at the side of the chapel, to which 
 was added, at the same time, the part since used as the 
 cliurch parlor and infant classroom. The building was 
 completed early in the summer of 1879; and throujili 
 gieat sacrifices, was dedicated free from debt.f The 
 total cost was about $18,470.00, of which the Ladies' 
 Sewing Society contributed $:i,000.00; and friends in 
 St. Louis and San Francisco, as well as outside the 
 parish in Portland, about an equal sumi. The contri- 
 butions were further increased by the proceeds of lec- 
 tures given by the pastor, materials for which he had 
 brought home from his Euiopean journey. The furn- 
 ishings cost about $1,500.00 in addition. j After a 
 thorough discussion of the question of renting the 
 seats in the new church, it was decided by a large ma- 
 jority at the annual meeting of the Society in 1 880, that 
 they should be free; and they have always remained 
 
 the Church; over 60 services at the Countv Jail, County Farm. 
 Insane Asylum, etc •?24.H66.uO spent by the Society; $2,223.00 
 spent for charities; $.500 t.i) for missionary purposes. 
 
 •'Tlio finance committee was Kev T. L. Elior. Col P R. Skin- 
 ner. .]. I.. Biirnard. The liuildinR committee consisted of Charles 
 Ho<i>re. S. fi.lieed, M. S. Hnrreil.E. St .Jolin. an<i Ira Goodnoug-h. 
 Mr. (io^xinouKh was chosen siiperinttMident of the work. 
 
 J The chandeliers were <iiveri by M r-s. Ebza Francis, the pul- 
 pit cbair by Mr. Ira F I'owers, tlu' i)ul|)it upholstery by the Ore- 
 g-on Purnit.tre Manufacturing' Co., ami the communion table 
 and chairs by a society of g:irls in theSunday-scliool. The church 
 was not carpeted at first.
 
 28 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 SO, Tiecessary funds heiiiif raised liy volimtaiy coiitrilm- 
 tioiis. 
 
 Tlie dedication services were lield on Sunday. 
 June 8, 1879, at 2:30 P. M. Rev. W. W. McKaig of 
 San Jose, Cal., read the scripture lesson; Rev. David 
 N. Utter of Olympia, offered the prayer of dedication; 
 and Rev. Dr. Horatio Stebbins of San Francisco 
 preached a memorable sermon from the text, '■'Things 
 pertaining to the kingdom of God," Acts i. 3. A 
 service had been held in the forenoon, at which a 
 large number of children received baptism, also a 
 communion service, at which a goodly number were 
 received into the Church. 
 
 Immediately after the dedication, a two days' 
 Conference was held in the new church, at which all 
 the Unitarian ministers at that time on the Pacitic 
 Coast were present. This was the first Unitarian 
 Conference ever held west of the Missouri River. 
 Congregations from this time rapidly increased, anci 
 greater interest was manifested in the work of the 
 church. During the early months of 1880, a series cf 
 week-day meetings was held in the chapel; and the 
 custom of holding religious meetings on week-day ev- 
 enings during the season preceding Easter has been 
 continued ever snice. 
 
 On Sunday, September 5, 1880, a mission Sunday- 
 school was established by the church in Caruthers 
 Addition. South Portland. It met at first in the house 
 of Mr. Edward E. McClure, and soon had an enroll- 
 ment of nearly 100. That part of the city was then
 
 FIRST UNITAKIAN CHURCH. 29 
 
 neglected, thei'e being no church or Sunday-s<'hool, 
 and no convenient nieuns of reaching those situated 
 ill tiie central part of the city. Tlie Sunday-school 
 thus establislied was removed tiie next year to tlie 
 chapel built by its friends on Porter street, costing 
 $500.00, and dedicated on Easter, April 17, 18SI. It 
 was maintained there through ten years, and had a 
 wide-spread local intluence. Among its Suierintenu- 
 ents were Mr. E. E. McClure, Mr. Arthur E. Davis, 
 and Mr. C. W. Burrage. During this time evening 
 services were often held in the Porter stieet chaiiel, 
 by Mr. Eliot or lay leaders; and it was for a time 
 hoped that the movement begun there might ^row 
 into a second church. But in the fall of 1S90, on ac- 
 count of the removal from South Portland of most of 
 the Unitarian families,!: and because other churches, 
 witli better equipment for doing mission woik, had 
 now been established in the vicinity, the school was 
 given up. ;ind its members joined the parent school. 
 
 Tlie more cordial rehitions sustained with other 
 churches of the city were illustrated in 1881 by an 
 
 :f Among' these rennovals was Ihatof the Burrsige fumily, an 
 irrcpiirablc loss to tlio South Portland wwrk and to the church. 
 'J'Ik'.n' rcniovi'il to Spokaiic, WasliiiifiToii, in the spring- of ]f-S7, 
 and altorward to Canon I'ity, Colorado, I'l'oin motives of hfaltli. 
 Two of ilicir sons, Eilwaiil Hills, and Charles Fi'anc's, both de- 
 voted tnenil)ers of tlieChni'cli. have since died, and their graves 
 are ill Uiverview Cemetery Mr. and Mrs. Riirrage came from 
 Leominster, Mass. Their pastor there had been Rev. Hnfiis F. 
 Sttibbins. D. b. Tliey brought Im the I'nrtland church all the 
 zeal, con.seienee and self-sacritice. for which that gooil minister 
 was celebrated. At several iniportaiu crises of the church's lii.s- 
 t)r.v, thectuirch may l)e said almost to have owed itssnivival, 
 ami certainly always owed a great part ot its character and use- 
 fulness to these devoted friends.
 
 so THE IIISTOllY OK TllE 
 
 exchange of pulpits with i\\i' ('oiigiegatioiiul church, 
 at the request of tlie i)aKtor of tlie latter. The cour- 
 tesy has been repeated several times since'; and nit-m- 
 l)ers are now dismissed and received byjetter l)otli 
 with that church and with several others. 
 
 In 1882 ill health compelled Mr. Eliot for the 
 third time to seek relief from his labors for an indefi- 
 nite period, lie went away in September of that 
 year, and returned before the following Easter, his 
 pla(!e being supplied by Rev. Charles Noyes, now of 
 North Andover, Mass., still warmly remembered by 
 many in Portland. 
 
 The yeais beginning with 1885 may w^ell be called 
 the period of organization in the activities of the 
 church, as tiie seventeen years before had been the 
 era of building up and knitting together. The churcli 
 had now gained a solid growth; and it had made a rec- 
 ognized place for itself in the community, and had be- 
 come fully conscious of its own strength and mission. 
 This is not saying that a diversified work had not been 
 undertaken before; but that it was not thoroughly or- 
 ganized, and that the burden of it was not so widely 
 distributed as to employ the largest number of work- 
 ers. 
 
 On June 29, 1886, a Post-office Mission was or- 
 ganized.* The Christian Union had, as early as 1883, 
 
 * The first officers ot the Post-oflBce Mission were Mr. A. f. 
 Sears. Jr., President; Mrs. Caroline Dunlap. V.ee-President: Mr. 
 James L Dunlap, Secretary; Mr. Samuel Collyer. Treasurer. 
 The most of its real worli during- the past five yenrs has been 
 done by Miss Emily F. Davison as Corresponding Secretary.
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 31 
 
 done work in distributin.u: Lilieral relifiious literature, 
 Hiul printing sermons for distribution, before tlie tiist 
 Fost-offlce Mission in the counti y liad been formed. 
 Tlie Mission was formed during a visit of Rev. diaries 
 W. Wendte, tlien Su[>erintendent of the American I'ni- 
 tarian Association on tlie Pacitic Coast, in vihose Cin- 
 cinnati church the original Post ( (lice Mission had 
 been formed. Since its formation the Mission has 
 held monthly meetings, and has distributed through 
 the mails and otherwise, thousands of tracts, papers, 
 and books, every year; and has done a great, though 
 quiet, work in making Liberal Christianity known 
 to many seekers for the light throughout the North- 
 west. 
 
 On October 17 of the same year, a branch of the 
 Unitarian Church Temperance Society was formed, 
 It held monthly meetings for study and discussion, 
 and promoted temperance work in various ways until 
 June, 1888, but since that time has held no meetings. 
 Parallel with this there was organized a "True Help- 
 ers"' society, among the children of the Sunday- 
 school, which held monthly meetings for the cultiva- 
 tion of temperance princi|)!es. This has also ceased 
 to exist; but the work it did is continued through tem- 
 perance lessons in the Sunday-school. 
 
 The Cliristian Union, which liad at lirst aimed at 
 scarcely more than the relief of the poor, continued to 
 hold its monthly meetings, and to do its efficient work 
 on ever broader lines. Ilscourses of Social Science lect- 
 ures, given dining eight years, were a pul)lic benefit.
 
 32 TIIK in STORY OF THK 
 
 It purcliased M libriuy for t lie St:ile Penitentiary in 
 1885, iiiul originated tiie law establishing one at the 
 expense of the State in 1891. It v as the means of 
 causing needed refoims to be made at the County 
 Faim. It oi)posed, and helped to prevent the estab- 
 lishing of a State Keform Sc];ool, on what seemed to 
 be an unwise plan. It did much towaid the estab- 
 lishing of Free Kindergartens in Portland, and tow- 
 ard the forming of the lioys' and Girls' Aid Society of 
 Oregon. In short, its recoids show that theie has 
 hardly been a reform or philanthroi»ic enterprise of 
 public interest undertaken in the (dty or county since 
 its organization, which has not been discussed in its 
 meetings, and diiectly or indirectly received its sup- 
 port; while there have been not a few which it alone 
 has originated and carried out. Its members still 
 make their monthly visits to the County Jail, and at 
 longer intervals to other institutions of charity and 
 correction, always leady either to give help, or to 
 point out abuses and suggest needed reforms. Its 
 transactions amount to several hundred dollars yearly, 
 and all missionary and charitable collections taken in 
 the church pass through its hands. 
 
 The work of the young people was another of the 
 things to be oiganized during this period. On Janu- 
 ary 7, 1882, the young people of the church fojmed 
 the "Sans Souci Club,"* with the original purpose of 
 
 *Tlie first officers of the Sans Souci Club were Mr. George G. 
 Gaminans. President; Miss Aphia L. Dimiclc, Vice-President : Mr. 
 C. E. Staatland, Secretary; Mr. L. F. Henderson, Treasurer.
 
 FIRST UNITAIUAX CHURCH. 83 
 
 doing religious and literary as well as social woric. 
 For various reasons the original intention was not 
 carried out; but tlie club existed for three j'ears, hold- 
 ing fortnightly meetings for literary and musical im- 
 j)rovement and social pleasure. The club at one time 
 had over eighty members, and drew in many from 
 outside the church; and, beside its regular meetings, 
 held entertainments and gave aid to various branches 
 of the church woik. It was noted for its large num- 
 ber of active workers. Its meetings ceased in 1885. 
 In the fall of 1887 the young people again organ- 
 ized, forming what was at first called simply '-the 
 Fraternity,'"* but later "the William G. Eliot Frater- 
 nity,"' in honor of the pastor's father, the pastor of 
 the Unitarian church in St. Louis. Its objects are "to 
 cultivate an earnest Christian endeavor among its mem 
 bers, to provide for tlieir entertainment and improve- 
 ment by meetings religious, literary and social, and to 
 promote charitable work." From the first it has lield 
 weekly religious meetings on Sunday evenings, and 
 for a time it also had charge of the Sunday evening 
 meetings in the church once each month. It also holds 
 monthly socials; and, since the fall of 1890, it has 
 lield Tuesday evening classes for the study of subjects 
 in literature, history or science, which have been 
 largely attended. It has done much at dilferent 
 times for charitable objects, and altogether has been 
 
 *The flr.'St officers of i1k' l''r;itoinity woro ^'r. Oscnr K. ITciTilz 
 President: Miss lorif Duiilnp. Vic'c-rrf^idont: Mi.-s Eiiiiheiinii 
 Ainslie. Pecretmy; Miss IJllic Wtcd. Tri-iisincr. Mr. Siiinuel 
 Collyer, now of Taconm, took iin iictivo part in the early history 
 of the Fraternity.
 
 34 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 one of the most efficient and helpful of tlie various or- 
 ganizations connected with the church. 
 
 Tlie Sunday-school during all this time, under 
 Mr. John L. Barnard, its Superintendent for seven- 
 teen j'ears until his removal from the city in 1887, 
 enjoyed continual prosperity. Its memljership ranged, 
 during most of this period, from 200 to lioO. 
 
 The Ladies' Sewing Society during this time giew 
 with the rest of the church, and constantly extended the 
 reach of its Mork. It has at different times given its 
 meetings up to the studyof religious or literary topics, 
 instead of to the sewing that occupied the meetings 
 of its earlier years. In September, 1892, it dropped 
 its old name and was re-christened the Women's Aux- 
 iliary, thus becoming a branch of the Women's Uni- 
 tarian Conference of the Pacific Coast. The list of 
 its benefactions during its twenty-seven years' history 
 would be a long one; but, besides those already re- 
 ferred to, there may be mentioned its continuous re- 
 sponsibility for the music of the church, its purchase 
 of a piano for the Sunday-school, and its large gifts 
 toward a pipe organ for the church, which was bought 
 in 1876 at a cost of about $2, -100. 00, one half of which 
 was given by Mr. and Mrs. Simon G. Reed. 
 
 The church has been called from time to time to 
 mourn the loss of various ones out of the number who 
 helped to found it or to carry on its work. Among so 
 many worthies, particular mention might seem invid- 
 ious, did not a faithful history require mention of 
 those whose names have been brought into permanent
 
 FIRST UXITARIAX CHURCH. 35 
 
 association with the Society througli generous gifts to 
 
 it. 
 
 Mrs. Mary E. Frazar, who, more truly than any 
 other one person, may be called the founder of the 
 church, died April 21, TS84, aged 67 years, 4 months. 
 In memory of her, her daughter, Mrs. Rosa F. Burrell, 
 gave the Society in April 1886 the sum of $1,000.00, to 
 l)e called the '"Frazar Fund," the income to be used in 
 the dissemination of Unitarian literature. This income 
 has been principally expended through the Post-office 
 Mission in establishing and maintaining the ''Frazar 
 Loan Library" of Liberal religious literature. 
 
 Thomas Frazar, her husband, died June 23, 1890, 
 aged 77 years, 5 months. He was always one of the 
 most earnest supporters of the work of the church, 
 and was a member of the board of trustees of the 
 Society for most of the time during fifteen years. 
 In memory of these two founders of the church, a 
 bronze tablet was placed on the church walls in 1891.* 
 
 *The tablet bears the following inscription : 
 
 In memory of 
 
 Thomas Frazar 
 
 1813-1890 
 
 and his beloved wife 
 
 Mary Ei.lks Frazar 
 
 IS 17 1884. 
 
 Natives of New Enjrlrtnd. Pioneers of Oregon of l!-5l. 
 
 Devoted patriots. 
 
 Members of the sacred band to whose prayers and sacrifices 
 
 the founding of this 
 
 Church of Ol'r Father 
 
 is due. 
 
 Tills tablet is crocted by their daughters and grandoliildren, 
 
 1891.
 
 S6 THE niSTOIlY OF 'JHE 
 
 Mrs. Anna Cooke, another of the original mem- 
 bers of the Cliurcli, died January 4, 188(i, at tlie ad- 
 vanced age of 84 years. It whs in her house that the 
 First Unitarian Society was organized. Tier memory 
 is visibly preserved, and her love for the Church repre- 
 sented, by a beautiful baptismal font in the church, 
 given in 1881 by lier son, Mr. James W. Cook.* 
 
 Charles Hodge, one of the original members of 
 the First Fnitaiian Society, a member of theboaidof 
 trustees and its clerk for over fourteen years, died 
 Mai eh 30, 1883, beloved and mourned by the whole 
 city. He had been one of the church's stanchest 
 friends and most active workers since its foundation; 
 and few men, diu'ing the history of the church, have 
 done more than he, by character and word, to give it 
 standing and influence in the community. His pic- 
 ture hangs on the wall of the chapel to recall his 
 nuiny years of service as a teacher in the Sunday- 
 school. In memory of him and his wife, their daugh- 
 ter, Mrs. Hannah Hodge Robertson, gave in October, 
 1890, the sum of $1,000.00, to be finally used for a fit- 
 ting memorial at some time to be erected in the 
 church. 
 
 Mrs. Lurena A. Spaulding, another early member 
 of the Church, died Xovember 2, 1887. aged 72 years.! 
 
 * The font was first used on Sunday, June 5. 18?1. when ten 
 children were bapti/ed frum it. 
 
 + Mrs. Spaulding-, with her family of tliree sons and two 
 rtaugrhters, came from Chelmsford, Massachusetts They 
 have been among- the most earnest and influential members of 
 the Church and Society.
 
 FIRST UXITARIAX CHURCH. 37 
 
 In her memory her dangliter. Mrs. Lefie W. Sittoii, 
 and her husband, Mr. Cliarles E. Siiton, gave the So- 
 ciety m January, 1888, tlie sum of §oCO.GO, of whicli 
 the income is to be used as a general cliaritable fund, 
 but especially for the relief of needy working women. 
 
 Edward Hills Burrage, son of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles W. Burrage, original members of the Church 
 and Society, died January 7, 1887, aged 30 years, 7 
 months. He was for years the faithful librarian of 
 the Sunday-school, and in his memory his parents 
 gave in January, 1887, the carpet, chairs and curtains 
 for the chapel, and in January, 1891, a fund of $800.00, 
 the income to be expended on the library witli which 
 lie had been so long connected. 
 
 Miss Ella M. Smith, for many years an attendant 
 of the church, died October 1, 1889, aged 51 years. In 
 her last will she left the sum of $5,000.00 to the Soci- 
 ety, for use in its general wori<.t 
 
 Mrs. Betty Farmer, one of the original members 
 of the Church, died September 29, 1891, aged 52 years. 
 In her last will she left for the use of the Society sums 
 uhich will probably amount in all to $4,000.00 or 
 moie.t 
 
 f Miss Smith was a woman of retiring' nature, but wiili a 
 character of niarkert earnestiiess. consoie"cr, and New EnKliin<l 
 simplicity. Slie was warmly ijttat'hcd to the church and its peo- 
 p'e. At iier death nearly all her projierty, about ■'t2JO.OlO.00, was 
 left for charitiible purposes. 
 
 * Mrs. Farmer's lile was one of liard work, throuph which, 
 In her later years, she liail iic(iuM'('(l a nutdest eomiietence. She 
 was widely known and esteeiiicii in t liecoiiniiunity, and had at- 
 tached lierself to the chnreh throujihout her life bj' her cheei- 
 f ul Christian si)irit and seryice. 
 
 86007
 
 38 THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 All these sums have, by resolution of the trustees 
 of the Society, been made permanent and irreducible 
 funds, of which the income only may be used. 
 
 The history of the church during the past few 
 years is so familiar as hardly to need relating. In 
 September, 1889, the church received a fresh impulse 
 from the visit of the Pacific Unitarian Conference. 
 A five days' session was held; and among the minis- 
 ters from a distance were llev. Thomas Yan Ness, 
 the newly appointed Superintendent of the American 
 Unitarian Association on the Pacific Coast, Rev. C. 
 W. Wendte of Oakland, Cal., Rev. N. A. Haskell of 
 San Jose, Cal., and Rev. John Fretwell of England. 
 Especial interest was added to the meetings of the 
 Conference by the presence and participation of sev- 
 eral delegates returning from the National Confer- 
 erce of Charities and Correction, which had just been 
 held in San Francisco. Among these were Mr. Alex- 
 ander Johnson of Indianopolis, lud.. Gen. and Mrs. 
 F. B. Marshall and Mrs. Isabel C. Barrows of Boston, 
 Mass. The venerable Thomas Frazar, who died only 
 a few months later, delighted the conference by giv- 
 ing his personal reminiscences of Channing. 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Society in 1890, Dr. 
 Eliot felt obliged, on account of the increasing work 
 of the parish, and iiis own uncertain health, to ask 
 for an assistant. The request was at once granted; 
 and as a result of the negotiations that followed, Mr^ 
 Earl Morse Wilbur of Burlington, Vermont, who had 
 just graduated from the Harvard Divinity School,
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH. 39 
 
 came, in the autumn of that year, as associate pastor. 
 On tlie afternoon of Saturday, January 24, 1891, 
 the church suffered its first and almost only material 
 misfortune, in the partial destruction of its building 
 by lire. The tower was destroyed, and the interior 
 was stained with smoke and drenched with water. 
 Tae caute of the (ire has never been satisfactorily 
 learned, but it is supposed to have been accidental. 
 T.ie loss was about $o,0()().00, and was fully covered 
 l)y insurance. Kei)airs were at once made, the tower 
 baing rebuilt after new plans; and the whole edifice was 
 thoroughly renovated and occupied again at Easter. 
 The fire caused the kindly disposition of other churches 
 immediately to be manifested. Several of tLe minis- 
 ters of the city expressed their warm sympathy; and 
 the use of the Baptist, Congregational and First Pres- 
 byterian churches were offered for services. The 
 Marquam Grand Opera House and the Temple Beth- 
 Israel was also offered; and the latter was accepted, 
 and tiie Temple occui)ied for two Sundays. As soon 
 as the chapel could be lenovated, worship was resumed 
 in that, thechurcirs original place of worship; and it 
 was occupied until the restoration of the church. 
 
 In October, 1891, under the auspices of the 
 church, a Scandinavian Unitarian church was formed, 
 and flourished for eight months, when it disbanded, 
 and many of its members joined the First Unitiirian 
 Church. 
 
 A generous friend having supplied the funds nec- 
 essary to the undertaking, a free public reading room
 
 40 TflK IirSTORV OF 'J HE 
 
 was opened in the clinrcli parlor in November, 1891, 
 This was done as one beginning of a policy which 
 linds more and more favor, and which it is ho] ed to 
 carry out moie fully in future, to keep the cliuix'h 
 building open as much of the time as possible, that it 
 may serve the community in the broadeft and com- 
 pletest way. The reading room was at first opened 
 otdy evenings; but after a very successful year of ex- 
 periment, it was ojiened afternoons as well, including 
 Sundays. Thus the church is becoming more and 
 more a "house of life,'' as well as a place of worship. 
 
 No account of the work which the church has ac- 
 complished during its first twenty-five years would be 
 Complete which did not make particular mention of 
 that whicli has been its continual example and inspi- 
 ration: the lunvearied faitlifulness in season and out 
 of season, the patient faith, and the quiet persistence, 
 of the pastor and his devoted wife. If those qualities 
 have also marked the career of the whole church, it is 
 because they have been the reflection of what has 
 never ceased to shine forth from its leaders. 
 
 This may be said to complete the record of tlie 
 church's life during its first quarter century. It was 
 sent on a mission all its own. It has risen through 
 self-sacrifice and patient labor, and in the face of op- 
 position and misunderstanding, until it now occupies 
 as it has for years, a position of influence and hearty 
 respect in the community in which it is set. Besides 
 the mariy-sided work which has been mentioned in the 
 preceding pages, its most telling influence has per-
 
 FIRST uxiTAKixVX cnrKCii. 41 
 
 haps been in the softening of religions prejudice, and in 
 the gradual leavening of its neighbors, and the whole 
 community, with at least the germs of Liberal re- 
 ligious tliought. *The time once was when the church 
 stood solitary, and was regarded with suspicion or 
 misgiving; when it was considered hardly admissi- 
 ble for members of other cliurches to unite witli Uni- 
 tarians even in charitable work; and -when the highest 
 praise that could be given to the church's saints was 
 that they were ''too good to be Unitarians."' But 
 that time is long past. The old-time hostility has 
 largely given way to good-will; and it is recognized by 
 nearly all, that whatever may be thought of the be- 
 liefs the church represents, its earnest purpose is to 
 build up the kingdom of heaven according to tlie best 
 of its knowledge and jiower. It is now understood, 
 by tliose who understand anytl)ing at all about it, 
 tliat it has come not to destroy, but to fulfil; not so 
 much to oppose the cliurches from which it differs, as 
 to perform a work which they do not and can not per- 
 form, to otfer its own form of religious faith to those 
 who eitlier luive never been able to accei)t that of 
 other cluuxlies, or who do not feel at rest in them. 
 And, tinally, it is now cordially recognized that, in- 
 stead of being, as some thought during its early years, 
 "an encourager of loose morals," it is an earnest 
 worker for every cause tliat can nuike men better, 
 physically, mentally and morally, no less than spirit- 
 ually. 
 
 * A little idea of tho cxtPiit of Ihe church's work Hnd influ- 
 ence may be Kiiincd from the fact that fiurijifr the fl«st twenty- 
 five yenrs of the pMstorate the pastor officiated at .n74 baptisms, 
 .5.')3 weddings, and 590 funerals; 4'ti persons joined theCliurcli 
 during this time.
 
 Thomas Lamb Eliot, D. D.
 
 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THOMAS LAMB 
 ELIOT, D. D. 
 
 THOMAS LAMB ELIOT, pastor of tlie First 
 Unitarian CImrcli of Portland for tlie tweiity-fi\e 
 years from its organization, was born in St. Louis, 
 Missouri. October 13, 1841. He is tlie eldest son of Eev. 
 William Greeideaf Eliot. 1). I)., LL. D.. and Abigail 
 Adams Eliot, and comes fiom a f.imily in the varioi s 
 brandies of which there have been many ministers. 
 His father was the pastor of the Chxuch of the Mes- 
 siah (Unitarian) in St. Louis, from whidi he resigned 
 in 1871, after a pastorate of nearly forty years, that he 
 migiit devote his whole time to the duties which lie 
 liad already long i)erformed as Chancellor of Wash- 
 ington University, in St. Louis, of which he had been 
 one of the founders. He was not only one of the lead- 
 eis in the Unitarian denomination, but a man of great 
 intluence in the development of the city of St. Louis, 
 an inspirer of its educational and philanthropic inter- 
 ests no less than pastor of one of its oldest and larg(st 
 churches.
 
 44 SKlCTCri OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 Mr. Eliot received liis preparatory aixl collejiiate 
 ediuralion at Wasliinifloii University, from wiiieii lie 
 graduated in its first class in 18G2. and from wliicli lie 
 also received tlie degree of Master of Arts in 1865. 
 His studies were interrn]»te(l midway of tlie conrte by 
 failing eyesight; and in the hope of receiving benefit 
 he undertook, in 18(50, a voyage in ;i sailing vessel 
 around Cape Horn to China. lie experienced no im- 
 provement from the trip, liowever, and after a few 
 weeks in California returned home from there, to con- 
 tinue his studies with eyesiglit so inipaiied tliat for 
 montlis, while in college and Divinity School, he had 
 to have his books read to him. After graduating 
 from college, he was engaged for twoyeais in the min- 
 istry-at-large in St. Louis, in charge of the mission 
 liouse connected with his father's churcli, doing much 
 work in its large Sunday-school, and among the poor. 
 During the same ])eriod he spent a i)art of his time as 
 tutor in Latin and Greek in Washington University. 
 In the early part of this i)eriod. also, he enlisted in 
 tiie First Missouri Volunteers, was mustered in, and 
 was in active service for some months, though never 
 called out of the State. 
 
 Even before entering college he had resolved to 
 enter the Christian ministry, and though, on account 
 of his weakened eyesight, lie was discouraged from 
 this puri)ose by all except Dr. Eliot, his father, he ad- 
 liered to it, and after graduating from college studied 
 more or less under his father's direction. In fur- 
 ther pursuance of his purpose he went, in tlie fall of
 
 Mrs. Henrietta R. Eijot.
 
 REV, TH0;MAS LA:NrB ELIOT. 45 
 
 1864, to the Harvard Divinity IScliool, where he com- 
 pleted the course the next year, having done two years' 
 work in one. Among his fellow-students there were 
 Joseph May, now of Philadelphia; S. C. Beach, of 
 Bangor, Maine; James Vila Blake, of Chicago; W. E. 
 Copeland, of Salem, Oregon; II. G. Spaulding, of New- 
 ton, Mass.; and Charles C. Salter, since deceased. 
 Having left the Divinity School in the summer of 1865, 
 he supplied the pulpit of Eev. John H. Heywood, in 
 Louisville, Ky., for several weeks, and then returned 
 to St. Louis, where he was elected associate pastor of 
 his father's church. He was ordained there Novem- 
 ber 19, 1865. Eev. C. A. Staples, of Milwaukee, Wis., 
 preached the sermon from the text, ''Who is sufficient 
 for these things?'' Rev. Dr. Eliot offered the ordain- 
 ing prayer and gave the charge; and Rev. A. D. Mayo 
 ot Cincinnati, Ohio, gave the right hand of fellowship. 
 He was married November 28, 1865, to Henrietta 
 Robins Mack, who has ever since shared with him the 
 labors and honors of his work, and the love of the 
 people to whom he hns ministered. Soon after his 
 marriage he spent several weeks in New^ Orleans, 
 where he supplied the pulpit of the Unitarian church, 
 as also again for two months in the spring of 1867. 
 He retained his connection as associate pastor of the 
 St. Louis church, however, until November, 1867, 
 .when he resigned to accept a call to the church then 
 just organized in Portland, Oregon, witli which he has 
 ever since been connected. At about the same time 
 •he had received a formal call from the New Orleans
 
 46 SKETCH OF THE LiFE OF 
 
 church, and the very mail wliich brought liim the call 
 to the church in Portland, Oregon, also brought him 
 a letter (practically equivalent to a call) inviting hinn 
 to preach for six months in Portland, Maine, in the 
 jiulpit left vacant by the coming of Kev. Horatio Steb- 
 bius to San Prancisso. It was not difficult for liim to 
 make the choice. Ever since his visit to the Pacific 
 Coast, he had hoped that Portland, Oregon, might be 
 tlie field of his life work. Starr King haa said to him 
 then, '-The Pacific Coast claims every man who luis 
 ever seen it," and had pointed to Oregon and Wash- 
 ington Territory as the "coming country" of North- 
 west America. The impression which he then 
 received of the great opportunities for work which the 
 Pacific Coast offered, he had never lost, and this de- 
 termined him to accept the call to the western Port- 
 land. Theie would seem to have been almost a spec- 
 iat providence in the events which tlnally led, though 
 through devious ways, to the coming together of the 
 ]ievvly formed church and its pastor, as there has surely 
 been a continuous providence in the twenty-five years 
 of uninterrupted harmony which has m.irked their re- 
 lations with each other. 
 
 Mr. Eliot, with his wife and infant son, left St. 
 Louis in November, 1867, and came to Portland by 
 way of New York and Panama. They arrived at their 
 destination early on Tuesday morning, December 24. 
 after a journey of forty days and forty nights, having 
 rested for a few days with Kev. Mr. Stebbins in San 
 Francisco. Mr. Eliot was at that time quite youth-
 
 REV. THOMAS LAMB ELIOT. 47 
 
 ful ill appearance, and was known for some years as 
 "the boy preacher.'' But in the severe labor and bit- 
 ter opposition tliat he and liis church liad to encounter 
 during tlie next few years, lie showed tluit he possessed 
 the full powers of a man. 
 
 His life, since the dciy ol liis jniival, is viiltdi on 
 the history of the Poi tland church, which has con- 
 stantly prospered and grown under his ministry. To 
 his own character and influence is due very much of 
 tlie influence and standing that his church has gained 
 in tiie community. His work has never been narrowly 
 confined to his particular parish or to liis denomina- 
 tion, lie has done more or less missionary preaching 
 at various places in the Pacific Northwest, in which 
 his church'was for the most of the time during twenty 
 years the solitary pioneer of Liberal Christianity. 
 
 Besides strictly religious interests, he inherited 
 from his father, and has bequeatlieo to his cliurch. an 
 earnest devotion to philanthropic and educational 
 work of every kind. He has been the inspirer of sev- 
 eral of Portland's most prominent institutions of phi- 
 lanthropy, and an earnest worker in behalf of almost 
 all of them. His connection with the Children"s 
 Home, the Boys' and Girls' Aid Society of Oregon, 
 and the Oregon Humane Society of which lie has been 
 President for ten years, deserves es])ecial mention. 
 He rendered important service in securing for Oregon 
 legislation establishing a State Board of Charities ai d 
 Corrections, the first of its kind on the Pacific Coast. 
 He seemed for many years almost the only person in
 
 48 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF 
 
 OrejToii enough interested in tlie reform of its disgrace- 
 ful jails to do any active work for them. lie lias al- 
 ways been an earnest supporter of the temperance 
 movement, and of Woman's 8uffrage. After the great 
 fire in Portland, on August 2, 1873, he was appointed 
 one of the committee of five to distribute the citizens" 
 fund of relief, and served in that capacity for several 
 months. Being put forward by lioth [)olitical parties, 
 he lield tlieofHce of Superintendent of Schools in Mult- 
 nomah County for two terms, from 1872 to 1875, and 
 did much to bring order out of chaos in the public 
 school system. For one who has never enjoyed robust 
 health, the amount of work he has performed in his 
 church, and outside of it, is remarkable. Ill health has 
 thrice compelled him to leave his parish, once for more 
 than a year, but the resignations which lie tendered 
 were not accepted. 
 
 Dr. Eliot is an easy and polished s]ieaker. He 
 has little liking for religious controversy, but rather 
 has a strong feeling of the essential unity of the 
 Church Universal. He has been accustomed in his 
 preaching to dwell most upon the positive virtues of 
 Christian character, and has striven to develop the 
 deepest religious life in his hearers. Churches and 
 ministers who are farthest removed from his theology, 
 respect and love him as a man. He has several times 
 been invited to preach baccalaureate or other sermons 
 in colleges under the control of Evangelical churches, 
 and has been frequently offered exchanges by minis- 
 ters of other denominations.
 
 REV. THOMAS LAMB ELIOT. 49 
 
 Personally, he is scholarly in his tastes, and of a 
 poetic temperament. He is uniformly courteous and 
 kind to both friends and strangers, and though of a 
 somewhat modest and retiring disposition, he never 
 hesitates to assert his convictions when there is occa- 
 sion to do so in any cause of humanity, good murals, 
 or pure government. During his long residence in 
 Portland he has won the love of all peoi)le. and to no 
 minister in the city are the poor, the outcast or the 
 unchurched so likely to go for the offices of a minister, 
 or for comfort or personal counsel, as to him. He 
 has a wide reputation and influence throughout the 
 Pacific Xorthwest among men or all ranks and class- 
 es, the weight of which has more than once been felt 
 in legislative halls, in behalf of philanthropy and good 
 government. 
 
 In 1889, Harvard University, recognizing Mr. El- 
 iofs long and valuable work in the Xorthwest, hon- 
 ored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity, which 
 was conferred (an unusual distinction) in his absence. 
 
 Dr. Eliot's family life hasbeen singularly blessed. 
 Of eiglit children, seven are living. The eldest is Eev. 
 William G. Eliot, Jr., pastor of tin; Unitaiian Churcli 
 in Seattle, Washington. 
 
 Having completed the honoralile term of twenty- 
 five years as pastor of one chnrcli. Dr. Eliot resigned 
 his pastorate in January, 1898, desiring, on account of 
 uncertain health, to be free from theheavy obligations 
 it imposed.* He has been elected Pastor Emeritus, 
 
 * For tlie rf'solutions adopted upon Dr. Eiioi's rosignatioii, 
 see Appendix F.
 
 50 SKETCH OF THK T.IFK OF 
 
 however, and purposes still to remain with the church, 
 devoting to it as much of his time and strength as 
 may seem desirable, while he will also feel more free 
 to engage in philanthropic work, of which so much 
 still remains to be done, and in which he feels so deep 
 an interes.t. 
 
 ♦-3*i^*^**f-*
 
 THE TWP^NTY-FIFTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH OF 
 
 PORTLA^^^D, OREGON. 
 
 DECE3IBER 29, 1892. 
 
 The last days of 1892 were memorable ones for 
 the Unitarian Church of Portland, for they marked 
 the completion of its first quarter century, and also 
 marked for its pastor, Dr. Eliot, anti for his wife, who 
 has done hardly less than he in the building up and 
 sustaining of the church, the rounding out of an equal 
 term, a pastorate with few parallels on the Pacific 
 Coast, either for its length or for its unbroken pleas- 
 antness and usefulness. 
 
 Invitations had i)reviously been sent far and near 
 to the many friends of the church and its pastor; too 
 many of Avhom, however, were prevented from com- 
 ing, either by distance or the by snow blockades of the 
 week before. The formal exercises of the anniversary 
 were held in the church at halfpast seven o'clock on 
 the evening of December 29, the exact anniversary 
 of the dedication of the little chapel, wliich was the
 
 EXERCISES OF THE 
 
 cluux'li's first place of \vors1ni). and wliicli is still usetl 
 as its Suiiday-scliool room. Besides the Christmas 
 decorations, which were iiiuisxially elaborate and Leavi- 
 tiful, special decorations for the occasion had been 
 provided. The Jewish Congregation Eeth-Israel, 
 through their rabbi, sent with their kind wishes a 
 beautiful palm to add to the tloral decorations. The 
 church was tilled with members of the parish and 
 many friends from outside it. In the pulpit, besides 
 the pastors, sat Rev. William G. Eliot, Jr., of the 
 Unitarian Church in Seattle; Rev. Dr. C. C. Stratton, 
 who had offered the invocation at the dedication 
 tvveuty-flvo years before, when pastor of the Meth- 
 odist Church; Rev. T. E. Clapp, of the Congregational 
 Church; Rev, Dr. Arthur J. Brown, of the Presbyte- 
 rian Church; Rev. Dr. Jacob Bloch, of the Jewish Con- 
 gregation; Rev. John Gantenbein, of the Lutheran 
 Church; and Rev. Tilgham Brown, of the African 
 Methodist Church. Several other ministers of the 
 city sent notes regretting their inability to be present. 
 The services of the evening were opened by an in- 
 vocation, by Rev. William G. Eliot, Jr. After an ap- 
 propriate anthem by the choir, Rev. Dr. Bloch read 
 responsive selections from the Psalms. Emerson's 
 beautiful hymn, beginning, ''We love the venerable 
 house,'' was then sung by the congregation, after 
 which Dr. Eliot spoke as fullows:* 
 
 *The following: addresses are somewhat abridp-ed from a 
 stenographic report made by Mii-ses A. B. and F. G. Crocker and 
 Miss Jennie Van Wyck, to whom special thanks are due.
 
 TWENTY- FIFTH AXN 1 VE^J^ ARY. 
 
 DR. ELIOT S ADDRESS. 
 
 Dear frievcls, fellcic-citizcvs ar,cl honored guests of tins 
 i'rcnviy: 
 
 It is mj' pleasant task to welconip yon to 
 the twenty-fifth anniversary of tlie dedication of tills 
 cliurch — of tlie spiritual cliiircli. I mean — for it wns 
 the building that stands just l)ack of us that was the 
 actual house of worship dedicated, and wliich we then 
 for the first time entered as a religious body. To our 
 own household of faith this may well be an interest- 
 ing occasion. All day long, as I have thought of the 
 duty and privilege of this hour. I have found it more 
 and more impossible for me to frame to myself words 
 about it. There are times when we feel too deeiily to 
 speak adequately; and there are some of lis who have 
 stood shoulder to shoulder, and heart to heart, throuoli 
 these twenty-five years, an important fraction in the 
 time that our own country has lived, aufl. of course, 
 of our own lives. I say these things can not frame 
 themselves very readil\ into language; but there is an 
 impressiveness that comes from the simple air thi'.t 
 we breathe, tlie divine atmosphere that runs into mr- 
 sic, likj an ^Eolian harp, over all the days and years, 
 and seems to speak in sympathy Avith our minds. I 
 think we all fe*l, we older members of this cliun,-h 
 and those of you who sympathize with us. as if silence 
 said more for us than any speech. One of our gie;it- 
 est poets has spoken of times in which what we open
 
 54 EXERC'Is?ES OF THE 
 
 our hearts to receive is far more iuiportaiit than wiiat 
 we try to give out. He says: 
 
 "'I'liiiik y )ii, of h11 till' iiiitflity sum 
 
 Of tliinsfs forever speakiiitr, 
 Tliat iiutliiiifr of itself will coiiie, 
 
 lUit wo iiiiist still 1)6 steiiinfrV" 
 
 That is really our attitude to-uiglit. and yet some 
 few touches we must make, some few little notes as 
 we carry our thoughts forward; the dignity of the oc- 
 casion demands it. We feel our isolation this even- 
 ing, as a church and as a community, in the fact tiiat 
 of our invited guests from the South and elsewhere, 
 the honorable representatives of our own cluiich and 
 brotherhood, we have not one here to-night. You v.ill 
 listen later in the evening, through my colleague's 
 offices, to some of their letters and kind expressiors. 
 
 Now let me take up a little of the record of the 
 past. It will sound somewhat quaint to you younger 
 friends, and, I am sure, will be interesting to the 
 older ones. I find in the "Oregonian" of the morning 
 of December 30, 1867, a. kindly notice of the dedica- 
 tion of the Unitarian caapel, of whicli these are the 
 opening words: 
 
 "The new church building erected by the Tnita- 
 rian Society of Portland was dedicated Sunday after- 
 noon,* the services being conducted by the pastor. Rev. 
 T. L. Eliot, assisted by Itev. C. C Stratton, of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. E. C. Anderson, of 
 the Baptist Church and Rev. O. G. Ilarpending. of 
 the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Eliot, the new pastor. 
 a'Tived but a few days since from St. Louis, Mo. [It 
 
 * See Appendix D for the order of tlie services.
 
 TWKXIY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 55 
 
 took liim forty days and forty iiirjlits to get here. He 
 ]eiiienil)ers tliati] He is quite a young man [Tliat 
 was very evident.] luit [Tiiis tlie ■•Oiegonian" seems to 
 lia\e stated on failii] lias the reputation of having 
 a good deal of talent and tine scholarly attainments." 
 And so it goes on nntil, towards the end. it says: 
 •■The l)uilding dedicated stands on the corner of Sev- 
 enth and Yandiill streets, is n neat and comfortrihle 
 structure, of capacity to seat from 25(1 to 80U people, 
 und cost the Society about .i<4,L'0U, including the lot 
 on which it stands, all of which is p;iid for. The La- 
 dies" Sewing Society of the Unitarian Chnrch raised 
 between $800 and S^OO of the amount. Considering 
 the brief time the Society has been organ- 
 ized, and the limited number of members, the prog- 
 ress made is somewhat remaikable. The organi/a- 
 tion of the Society was effected in Aj)ril, ]8()(5, during 
 the visit here of. Kev. ^Ir. Stebbins, with only a hand- 
 ful of mpml)ers. The membership is now compara- 
 tively numeions. and the worshiping congregation 
 will take fair rank among the churches of much older 
 growth."" So said our kind friend, the ••Oregonian."" 
 
 A special correspondent of one of our own de- 
 nominational i)ai)ers thus describes in part the ilay 
 upon which we dedicated, and a portion of the ser- 
 vices: 
 
 ''Sunday, the 20th of Decemljer. the ground was 
 quite frozen, and the air clear and frosty, such a day ;.!s 
 they do not often have in winteitime to break the nic- 
 notony of the Oregon rain. We had a mornincr ser 
 vice, just Ho try it on', and (b'dicated the church in the 
 afternoon. We had the generous aid of liiree niinis- 
 ters, from the Methodist, IJaptist and Presbyterian 
 churches in the city, warm-heai ted. earnest men, who 
 do not seem at all inclined to dispute (piestions of ter-
 
 56 EXERCISES OF THE 
 
 ritorial right, granting ns freely the name of Christian. 
 In the sermon of tiie lionr, tlie preacher undertook 
 t > s'low the origin and method of tlie Christian 
 Church; and the dream of Jacob and his wrestling with 
 tlie angel, were made symbols of the wandering 
 heart and troubled mind which seek and obtain re^-t 
 throufjh a covenant with God, that covenant being 
 sustained and sanctilied by the word, 'Where two or 
 three are gathered togetlier in my name, there am I 
 in the midst of them.' The true church, therefore, is 
 a covenant witii God among brethren in Clnist. 
 
 The prayer of dedication, beginning, 'To the kind 
 rather, of whom we are told, that he acceptetli in ev- 
 ery nation him that feareth him and worketh right- 
 eousness,' ended asking that tliis church might be 
 like leaven in the community, and grow mightily in 
 the spirit of Christ. And so it will, if any assurance 
 can be gathered from its faith in the past. 
 
 The words of the Articles of Incorporat ion* are 
 I suppose, commonplace, which say, 'its duration is 
 to be perpetual'; and that may be only a cold form 
 of law which bars soi'ever the uses of ])roperty for 
 a.'iy other purposes than those specitied in the 
 Preamble, viz: 'To i)romote the objects of public wor- 
 ship, the Ciiristian faith, the ordinances of the sospel, 
 leligious education, general benevolence, charity and 
 Christian toleration'; but they contain to us an inner 
 jirophecyof the ])erpetual kindling of the divine fiieto 
 light these western shores, like that vestal lamp whose 
 ilame could only be fed by the hand of the beautiful 
 and pure." 
 
 Do you remember, friends, how far out of town 
 the corner of Yamhill and Seventh streets w^as twen- 
 ty-five years agoV How far out of town — I say it ad- 
 
 *See Appendix B.
 
 T WE N^TY- FIFTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 visedly — no street lamps, no street improvements, 
 hardly a trace of a sidewalk; so that in our first years 
 we did not dare to think of such a thing as evening 
 services; and our receptions, whenever we liad them, 
 we were obliged to come to with lanterns, picking our 
 way much as the people at the ends of our suburban 
 lines now do. Any distant suburb is really about as 
 accessible now as, m our imagination, the lot upon 
 tills corner seemed to tlie people of our city then 
 
 On the block where we are, our next door neigl;- 
 bor was Gov. Gibbs. His house was the only one 
 standing on this block, and the block to the east had 
 nothing upon it. The one to the north had nothing 
 upon it except the debris of an iron foundry which 
 had been burned and had moved its plant later down 
 into the old Penitentiary building on the White House 
 Koad. The block north-east of us had simply the old 
 Central School House in the middle. The block where 
 the Post-office is had nothing upon it. And so I might 
 go on in every direction; out this way, stumps; out 
 that way, stumps, stumps; no streets; and the hills 
 seemed almost as far away as Forest Grove does to vs 
 DOW. I think there was no church farther west than 
 the Baptist, and the center of the city was down some- 
 where about where China-town now is. 
 
 Dear, familiar faces that were with us then, but 
 have now gone! I need not name them to you here, 
 the names of Thomas Frazar, Charles Hodge and 
 others, and their wives; if I tried to remember them, 
 it would take me quite a number of moments, and I
 
 58 EXERCISES OF THE 
 
 should omit, perhaps, the most loved in trying to do 
 so. One venerable form, always heie at that time. 
 Avas that of Mrs. Anna Cooke, whom so many of yon 
 knew; Mrs. Nancy Goodnough, Mrs. I^anra GilmaT), 
 John r. Farmer, and so it goes on — one dear face 
 and form after another comes up. I made no list of 
 them, and I name them now only as I happen to think 
 of them. There is a church in heaven as well ws a 
 church on earth, and to me one of the dearest thoughts 
 of this hour is that of associations with the members 
 over there; and in God's providence, and in his great 
 mystery of the power of the luiman heart, greater 
 than time and space, I think they are with us to-night. 
 We have their benediction, and they have ours, and 
 both of us share a common place in the mansions 
 of God. 
 
 Friends, I think I have had my say; again I wel- 
 come you to all the thoughts that naturally come and 
 go with this hour. I have spoken of trifles because 
 the deeper things could not be brought into this in- 
 formal speech; all the sanctiiies of our work, 
 all the conviction, even in our loneliness, that 
 we were sharing part of the great work of the divine 
 order in this community. Our church's candle was 
 set on a candlestick, and all the workers were ministers, 
 not simply one. I go through year after year of our 
 experience, our sanguine aspirations, our illusions and 
 disillusions, our failures and humble success; and 
 within our dreams always a deeper dream and a surer 
 faith and hope and foundation.
 
 TWENTY- Fl FTII A X N 1 V EHS A U Y. 
 
 I voice tlip testimony iiere of all of you who have 
 loved this church, that if God has not always given us 
 just what we asketl and worked for. if the temple of 
 oui" hope has not risen before our eyes, or the ideals 
 we have sought have not always been realized, yet to 
 our sincere efforts and hopes and prayers there has 
 always come some deep blessing that n.ow, wlien we 
 look back at it. we understand has litted the work 
 into a greater work than ours, and made it a part of 
 the diviner temple which includes the whole family of 
 man, the brotherhood of our race. I am suie of one 
 thing, and let me give this testimony at the risk of 
 seeming personal or somewhat to savor of pride: it is 
 that the purpose of this church through all these 
 years, has been a sincere one. It may have failed, it 
 no doubt has failed, in many directions, to do wliat it 
 might have been expected to do, and certainly in wluit 
 we expected of ourselves; but there has been at its 
 heart's core the sincerest desire to serve the kingdom 
 of God in this community; and I mean no less by such 
 a pluase as the "kingdom of God" than the kingdom 
 of peace and order and self-sacrifice, and of true man- 
 h(xj:l a?id brotheriiood in every dei)artment of the life 
 of this city and this State. 
 
 What we do, dear friends, in this world, after a'l 
 does not amount to much; one of the things we have 
 to get over thinking, is that we are here chiefly to do 
 something. In (Jod's i)rovidence. we are all here to 
 be something, and what we are speaks and iloes more 
 than the things we call actions. The "reatest lives
 
 60 EXliRCIbES OF THE 
 
 on earth liave been those in which tlie fewest specific 
 actions could be spoken of or described; not the men 
 who led armies or founded states, so much as the 
 thinkers and believers who brought themseh-cs to the 
 world, and left themselves like a transubstantiation, 
 like an incarnate Word that is spoken on and on, and 
 is complete and fitted for the builders and architects 
 of our earth. We have had just that sincere purpose, 
 and in God's providence if this church spiritual is to 
 stand — and I believe it will stand, ten times twenty- 
 five years longer — if it is to stand here with all the 
 ministrations of a true service of God in tliis city 
 and state, it will be from what the chui'ch is rather 
 than from what it does, and from what the members 
 and friends of this church are in the great realm of 
 being, and not simply from their actions. May our 
 church indeed be a syllable — I say it reverently— in 
 that eternal Word of God, which began with '-Let 
 there be light," uttered as a symbol of cieation. and 
 which shall never end so long as God is God, and man 
 is God's child. 
 
 We shall now have the great honor and privilege 
 of listening to Dr. Stratton, President of Portland 
 University of tliis city, whom a kind Providence, after 
 twenty-four years' absence, has brought back to this 
 the community of his early life. We can never for- 
 get his hospitable aid at our dedication; and I think 
 our work took part of its complexion from the atti- 
 tude of the other churches of the city toward it. It 
 is a happy event that Dr. Stratton is with us this ev-
 
 TAVEN^TY-FJFTH AXNIVERSARY. 61 
 
 ening, and I trust tlie word he says will seem to reacli 
 away back to that distant hour, and bring again to us 
 the blessing that he then so generously gave us. 
 
 Dll. STHATTO>r''ti ADDRESS. 
 
 Dr. Stratton spoke substantially as follows: 
 Ladies and qentlemen, and dear hrother ministers: 
 
 The frost of twenty-five years has silvered our 
 heads and wrinkled our brows, as well as matured our 
 characters, and I trust, in some measure, added to our 
 wisdom. Twenty-five years have gone by and have 
 made great changes in the outward appearance of the 
 city, and I have no doubt tlie congregations which 
 looked into the face of the pastor from the pews of 
 that early day have changed as much. 
 
 Portland was fortunate in attracting to itself at 
 an early day men who laid well its foundations, and 
 have since been able to carry on its great commercial 
 and financial enterprises. It was not an ordinary 
 population which gathered at that time on the banks 
 of the Willamette; and when we think of Portland 
 with 7,000 or 8,000 inhabitants, and compare it with 
 cities of the same size elsewhere now, we are doing 
 injustice to the early settlers of Portland at that 
 time, a peculiar class of men, men of vigor, grasp and 
 purpose, who were capable of managing its future af- 
 fairs, and who showed tliat capacity by their success 
 later in life. Therefore, when we think of Portland 
 then, we are to think of it as having in it all the suc- 
 cess and promise which have since come to the front 
 in its material prosperity.
 
 62 EXERCISES OF THE 
 
 Now, I am not alliuliiif^ to that without a pur- 
 pose. Jt was not an easy tiling to be a minister of 
 liiat time; it is mueli easier to minister to a (luiet, 
 commonplace population than to a population sucli as 
 those who laid the foundation of our vigorous eity of 
 to-day. These men were a part of the congregation of 
 this church, and as they gathered here to listen to tlie 
 ministrations of this young pastor from Sabbath to 
 Sabbath, of course they did not listen asordinary men 
 listen; and the ability to hold a congregation of that 
 kind for twenty-tive years involved a degree of tact, 
 of intellectual vigor, and a well stored mind; all of 
 these qualities are implied in an extended pastorate 
 such as we come together to commemorate. 
 
 Dr. Eliot, I congratulate you on havingcompleted 
 a i)astorate of twenty-tive years over such a congrega- 
 tion as that which you have had to serve. It was not 
 a little thing to undertake; it has not been a little 
 thing to accomjilish, to minister to a congregation for 
 that length of time: it has implied a great deal more 
 than the mere statement that twenty-tive years have 
 ])een completed. That a man can pass a pastorate of 
 twenty-tive years, can stand before his congregation 
 of so many, can minister to so great a variety, and at 
 the end of twenty-five years can look into the faces 
 of a congregation, every one of whom is his frieiid. 
 and feel lie has won the hearts of his people, and pos- 
 sesses them in his hand. imi)lies a gift which an angel 
 might covet, and which. I am sure, I congratulate the 
 pastor of this congregation on having possessed and 
 evinced during this extended term.
 
 TWENlY-FIFTir ANNIVERSARY. 63 
 
 Well, it is not merely a Avord of congratulation to 
 the pastor. It seems to me that a word of congratu- 
 lation to the congregation also is in order. There are 
 congregations and congregations. Tliere are tliose 
 wiio come to listen, to be benefited and protited; oth- 
 ers who come to carp and criticise, and tear to pieces 
 their pastor when they depart from tlie cliurcli. You 
 are not such a congregation as this. Tlie fact that 
 you have received the ministries of this servant of God 
 during all these years, liave extended over every im- 
 perfection the mantleof charity (and wliile we are hu- 
 man we shall have imi)erfections), and have received 
 his ministrations in a kindly spirit, and have sustained 
 them loyally and untiringly; all of that implies a de- 
 gree of common-sense, a degree of wise consideration 
 for the wants of the entire body, and for tlie demands 
 of a congregation united together by such bonds as 
 tliose whicli unite worshiping congregations, which 
 does not belong to many societies. I congratulate 
 you on possessing those qualities which have made it 
 possible for this pastorate to extend as long as it has. 
 
 And now, bretliren and sisteis in tlie gosi>el of 
 Jesus Christ. I congratuhite you on tliis gathering; 
 and that your pastor should be permitted to meet you 
 hereon tliis delightful occasion. 
 
 KEV. MR. (Lapp's address. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Clapp, of tlie (Congregational (niurcli, 
 then spoke in substance as follows: 
 Ladies and (jnitkmen: 
 
 1 have regarded my invitation to \n' 
 present at this gathering to-niglit witii mucli esteem.
 
 04 EXKRCIlbES OF THE 
 
 for I have felt tliat the event which we are celebrat- 
 ing casts a dignity upon all who have anytiiing to do 
 with it, and as I have reflected upon it, it seemed to 
 me that it deserved to be called the celebration of a 
 noble achievement. It is so unusual and so notable 
 that I thought our commemoration to-night might Ije 
 compared with the driving of the last spike in the 
 Northern Pacific Railroad — the completion and crown 
 of a notable and eminent undertaking. 
 
 I want to say to my dear brother Eliot that we 
 stand here to-night as friends wlio would greet him 
 as he completes a notable and splendid voyage; as he 
 returns from a carter so long, so successful, so stain- 
 less — a voyage of twenty-five years. And whatever 
 there may be that is noble and inspiring about the 
 whole of this twenty-five years' enterprise, we never 
 think of our brother as being alone in it, but always 
 by his side there has been onewlio has given to the 
 whole stretch of the years a ceaseless inspiration wiiich 
 has cast luster upon every event connected witli it: and 
 so our vision of this past is a double vision, and I sup- 
 pose it always will be. When we think of one of them wc 
 shall always see Dr. and Mrs. Eliot standing side by 
 side. I am sure you will all approve of my declaration 
 in this respect; but I am well aware, dear friends, that 
 the scope of the celebration to-night is much wider 
 than on a personal or household ground. "We are 
 commemorating not simply a household pilgrinu^ge, 
 but the march of a host, the embarkation of a whole 
 ship's company, like that of the Mayflower starting
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH AN'MVERSAKY. 65 
 
 out. In otlier words, it would be a very i)oor interpre- 
 tation of the event we are celebratiuf; tonight if we 
 did not think of it as the completed routul of botli 
 pastor and people, of a minister and his ciiurcli; and 
 it is all the more notable and conspicuous because it 
 is a union, as has already been said, tiiat has histed 
 tinougli twenty-tive years. 
 
 To tiie words of tribute alrt^ady paid by Dr. Strat- 
 ton I may add just one more. Some of us may I'e- 
 member the coin tliat was pUiced in the hands of Jesus 
 Christ with the view of tempting him. and he re- 
 marked upon tlie image and su()erscriplion which 
 were Caesar's. I have thouglit of that often in my 
 reflections— upon Dr. Eliot "s life as i>astor of this people 
 during these twenty-hve years. I think I may safely 
 say, ray friends, that in these twenty-live years there 
 is nothing connected with the higher life of this city 
 that does not in a measure bear the stamp and super- 
 scription of the pastor of the First Unitarian Church 
 of Portland. 
 
 May I be pardoned now if 1 say just a word per- 
 sonally. My brother is not only my fellow-pastor in 
 the good works of this city, but he is my neighbor. It 
 has been one of the felicities of my life that we have 
 had only a doctor between us for the past tive years. 
 We have lived side by side as neigiibors, and in all his 
 relations to nie, and the relations of his family to 
 mine, there has never been anything but got)dness and 
 kindness, and good-cheer, and a great measure of 
 friendship. So to-night my heart is stirred by the re-
 
 ()() EXERCIfcES OF THE 
 
 latioiisliip lliat \v« Hie eoiisideiing lieie at this time — 
 so much so tlmt [ speiik out of tlie dei)ths of my iieart. 
 I am reminded of a little thinji; I lead in the reader 
 when I was a child, like so many otiiers that come to 
 me. A mother's birthday was to be celebrated, and 
 the three boys were plaunin<f for tiieir gifts. The two 
 older had their selection, and the younger liad uotli- 
 ing to give; but the little l:id stepped in front of liis 
 mother, stretched out his hand, and saiii: 
 
 "Take, mother ilear. Ilii-; hanfi 
 
 Which now T jiive to you; 
 Aiui hiilst ihoii not for many a year 
 
 My hcai-t. I'd f^ive that too " 
 
 DK. TJUOWN's address. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Brown of the First Presbyterian Cluncli 
 spoke as follows: 
 
 I hardly realized when I promised to speak a few 
 words this evening that I shoidd be expected to make 
 a formal address, and tlie only thing that saves me 
 now is that you will not expect me to spenk long at 
 this late lu)ur. 
 
 I know very little about Dr. Eliot as a minister, 
 for being a minister myself, and being engaged at the 
 same lime tliat he has been engaged, I do not have 
 opportunity of hearing him. Indeed, if my memory 
 serves me, I have never heard him but once, and then 
 at the funeral of my i)iedecessor, the much loved Dr. 
 Aaron L. I.,in(lsley; and then Dr. Eliot spoke such 
 kind and tender words that he quite won my heart. 
 I do not know very much about him as a theologian; 
 except that he belongs to that body at the farthest
 
 T WENT Y-F 1 FXn A N N I V E IIS A U Y. 
 
 possible remove from Piesliyteiiaiii^ni. Aud ;is I 
 do not suspect his (leiiomiiuitional loyalty, and as I 
 trust he does not suspect mine, and as I do not 
 suspect his tenacity, and I sui>p(>se lie does not suspect 
 mine, we just avoid theologiCHl questions when we 
 meet, and so we <j;et along f.imously. 
 
 Nevertheless, I am very ghid indeed to l;e pres- 
 ent this evening, and to add my humble congratula- 
 tions to the congregation and pastor. I liave met Dr. 
 Eliot as a man, and have learned to love him as a 
 man; and after all. that is the real thing. Xo man 
 has any more influence in any ]>rofessional jiosition 
 than he has as a m;in. It is the character that gives 
 weight and dignity to the profession, and as such we 
 have learned to love Dr. Eliot: and on this occasion, 
 when we are all speaking quite frankly and quite ten- 
 derly, I may be permitted to speak of those things in 
 him which have greatly impressed me. We are at- 
 tracted by the beauty of his character, by the sweet- 
 ness of his disposition, by the symmetry of his devel- 
 opment, by the kindliness of his heart, by the evident 
 loftiness of his aspirations. His type of character has 
 impressed me as more like the apostle John's charac- 
 ter than that of almost any other minister of this city; 
 and I have admired him all the more because I am 
 particularly wanting in some of these elements myself. 
 I have beeu impiTssed, as doubtless you all have, by 
 his philanthropic spirit. I flunk he has well exempli- 
 fied in this city the dehuition of philanthropy, philos, 
 loving, and anthropos, man. Dr. Eliot has been iu
 
 68 KXEKCISES OK I UK 
 
 this CDintuiiiiity ;is a iiuiii wlio loves ami serves his fel- 
 low-niaii, even the weakest and most ()!>i)ressed. And 
 I do not need to stand in this piesenfe and speak of 
 his interest in hninanilaii;in woik in this city. 
 
 It seems to me that his twenty-live years in this 
 city have meant a {^reat deal. We are very proud of 
 the material lesourecs of the Faeitic Northwest. We 
 always s|»eak of these r« sources with i)ride. God has 
 placed us in the midst of a reo^ion of unexampled 
 wealth; and wlicn we think of oui' magnificent scenery, 
 and our mild and ecpialile climate, and the ricliness 
 and variety of our resources, it does not require any 
 prophetic vision lo see a great future before this peo- 
 ple. And now the danger is. men and brethren, that 
 our people will become i)reoecui)ied with material 
 things; that there will be such an enormous material 
 development that men will forego the developmerit of 
 the higher life. 
 
 I believe it has been a great thing that a man of 
 Dr. Eliofs character, interests and position has simply 
 lived in this community for twenty-live years; for yoxi 
 have been able to see in him a man who has had some 
 other purpose than tlie acquisition of wealth, and 
 whose object has been the cultivation of righteous- 
 ness and temperance and philanthropy and all of those 
 things which go to the development of individuality 
 and character. In this respect Dr. Eliot has certainly 
 accomplished a great deal. 
 
 I rejoice, therefore, in this celebration to-night, 
 and wisli to add my humble and hearty congratula-
 
 TWENTY-KIFTH AXNIVEUSAUY. 69 
 
 tions tc Dr. Eliot for his success in holding this pul- 
 pit for twenty-five years, and my congratulatiim to 
 the congregation which has stood by liim so faithfully 
 for twenty-five years. The only element of regret 
 that I have is that Dr. Eliot's heallli has been .some- 
 what imi)aired. And I most hearlily unite in the 
 prayers of this congregation, which 1 know many of 
 you offer, that God will restore iiim to his customary 
 liealth and strength, and that he may have many, 
 many years of usefulness and power in this commu- 
 nity. 
 
 LETTERS OF CONOH ATULATION A.ND GOOD-WILL. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Wilbur, the associate pastor, then read 
 a considerable number of letters and telegrams from 
 friends far and near. The foUawiiig especially de- 
 serve to be given here: 
 
 Sa.n Fra.n(;is(jo. Dec. 26, 1892. 
 Tlie First Unitarian Church, I'ortland, (Jr.: 
 
 The Directors of the Pacific Unitarian Confei- 
 ence, in the name of all the (churches in the region of 
 the Western Coast, send sincere regards and Christian 
 salutations to the First Unitarian Church of Portland, 
 Oregon, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the dedi- 
 cation of its first phice of worsliip, and the completion 
 of the twenty-fifth year of the ministry of the honored, ' 
 revered and beloved Thomas Lamb Eliot. 
 
 The Directors, with true feeling and sympathy 
 with the sentiments of the hour, congratidate the 
 church on the past; though the thought that the act- 
 ive ministry that has made the past under God so full 
 of good is to be withdrawn, gives a momentaiy pain.
 
 70 EXKRCI&ES OF THE 
 
 But fjratitude for what we liave known and fell and 
 received assuages regret, and we liail willi joy the 
 servant of God who rests awhile. 
 
 Horatio Steijbins, 
 Horace Davis, 
 Charles W. Wendte, 
 
 ClIAKLES A. MURDOCK, 
 
 Thomas V'an Ness. 
 
 San Fran'cisco, Dec. 126, 185)2. 
 
 The People and Minister of thf Fimt UnHarian Church, 
 Portland, Or.: 
 
 Dear Friends: While I submit to tlie necessity 
 of time and events that deprives me so keeidy, I be- 
 seech you to allow me to address you as if I were in 
 your presence. Some of you will remember me as I 
 was twenty-six years ago, when, at your lequest, I 
 went to Portland, and in the few weeks that I re- 
 mained there, by your earnest and faithful co-opera- 
 tion, the moral and spiritual foundations of tlie church 
 were laid. The town was small — a village of ti.OOO 
 people, with a near-by background of wilderness, 
 smoking with frontiersman's fires. Access was by 
 ocean and river, or by slow and heavy mail coach 
 through mountain gorges. 
 
 We received much kindness from Christians of 
 different names; Methodists and Baptists invited us 
 to worshij) in their i)Iaces, and on the last Sunday 
 that I preached the elder of the church was with me 
 in the pulpit, and he told me how lie had pulled his 
 skiff from headland to headland, on Puget Souiul, and 
 drawn it ashore for shelter through the night. 
 
 We went from house to house of evenings, had 
 pleasant talks and social cheer, and took account of 
 probabilities and possibilities concerning the founding 
 of a church. Some of the houses I remember now
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVEKSARY. 71 
 
 were ihe Frazars. the Thompsons, the Bmiages, the 
 Cookes. At lengtli a body was orj>ai)ized, and in an 
 hour two thousand doUais were subscribed to j)urchase 
 ground aud build. Ou the very next day the lot was 
 selected where you now are. There were burnt logs 
 of the forest lying there. Tliis was in May. 1866. 
 You went on, built a little cha])el for a few hundred 
 dollars, sustained yourselves in loneliness until Decem- 
 ber, 1867, when Mr. and Mrs. Eliot, with the young 
 minister of ."^eattle, not then ordained, cjime by way of 
 Panama and San Francisco, stopping with me a few 
 days. I went with them to the steamer on a dark, 
 drizzly day and bade them adieu, and yet not adieu, 
 for they were ever with me. and their hearts were 
 strong. I felt that never did ship carry more precious 
 freight! The future of the church was assured. Such 
 lirmness of purpose, such quiet, silent fortitude, such 
 clear vision of truth and duty, were a pledge of the 
 truest success; for had thev not succeeded they would 
 have done better, even, deserved it. 
 
 For the rest, time and events tell. The church 
 has been a strong center of moral and religious influ- 
 ence. It has been the conservator of the highest hu- 
 man interests. It has shed light and truth and jjeace 
 upon many lives, and sent genial beams of human and 
 divine sympathy upon every good enterprise. It has 
 not been cornered in sectarian zeal, nor has it loved 
 itself better than it loved the truth. It could not 
 have been thus, unless it had been inspired and guided 
 by a manly spirit. 
 
 And you. Dr. Eliot, my dear sir, your preseuce 
 shall not prevent me. What wisdom, wliat discretion, 
 what sagacity! What teiujcity of purpose, what wil- 
 ful righteousness, what genial charity! What exam- 
 ])le of independence, with sweet acknowledgment of 
 debt to all excellence! What dignity and refinement
 
 72 KXEKUISES OF TIIK 
 
 of domestic life! What lioly lives upon tlie lieartii, 
 and what lif^lit st reaiiiiiiy,' atar from the wiiidowsl 
 Wliat moilest leaniiiijr. what commiiiiion with noblest 
 minds! Wliat manners of wit and satire, and laugh- 
 ter and story! What awe, what reverence, wiiat 
 faith, what love! 
 
 Whatever your atllictions. I call you hapjiy! 
 Whatever your trials. I call you victorious! For he 
 indeed is blessed wiio has learned what life is for. and 
 has solved in his own being his own destiny. 
 
 Horatio Steubins. 
 
 (3ther letters and telegrams of congratulation 
 were read from Rev. Thomas L. (^ole, rector of Trin- 
 ity Church, Portland; the First Unitarian Church of 
 Oakland, Cal., through Rev. Charles W. Wendte;Rev. 
 Grindall Reynolds, Secretary of the American Ihiita- 
 rian Association; Rev. John C Kimball, Hartford, 
 Conn.; Rev. Charles Noyes, North Andover, Mass.; 
 and Rev. Edward I. Galvin, Chicago, 111. 
 
 The choir then rendered another approi)riate 
 number, and the benediction was pronounced by Rev. 
 Tilgham Brown, after which the congregation were 
 invited into tlie cliapel to an informal reception given 
 to D)'. and Mrs. Eliot in celebration of the completion 
 of the twenty-fiftli year of the pastorate, which liad 
 been accomplished five days before. The reception 
 was under the auspices of the Women's Auxiliary. 
 The chapel was crowded until a late hour with friends 
 from the home church, from other churches, and from 
 none, desiring to congratulate the pastor and his wife, 
 and to wish them yet many happy years with the
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANN1VEK8ARY. 73 
 
 church and community which their life has served so 
 fully. 
 
 Tlie anniversary sermon was preached on Sunday 
 morning, January 1, by Rev. Mr. Wilbur. The text 
 was Deuteronomy vii. 7, 8, 9. It presented a full 
 Jiistory of the church and its work from its foundation 
 down to the present day. The church was again 
 crowded to its full capacity. The substance of the 
 sermon is contained in the history of the church printed 
 elsewhere in this book. 
 
 The twenty- fifth anniversary of the founding of 
 the Sunday-school was observed with appropriate ex- 
 ercises on Sunday, January 8.
 
 APPENDIXES.
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 OK THE 
 
 FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY OF PORTLAND, OREGON, 
 
 ADOPTED JUNE 26, 1866. 
 
 F» i« e; A.:viis r^ IS : 
 
 I)e.sii"iM<i' to proinote the objects of Piililic Wor- 
 sliip; tlie Cliiistian FMith; the OrdiiiHnces ol tlie Gos- 
 pel; Heligious iMlncatioii; Geneial ISeiievoleiice; Cliar- 
 ily, 1111(1 Christian Toh'iatioii, the uiHlersigiied hereby 
 adopt ilie followiiiy- 
 
 c:>o::vs"ri'jruTi<:>>r, 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 NAMK. 
 
 Tills Society shall be called the Fikst Unitarian 
 
 S;JCIETY OF POUTLAND. Ol'.EOON.
 
 78' KXEltCISES OF THE 
 
 articlp: II. 
 
 MEMllEHSIIIl'. 
 
 All persons owning orleusiiig pt-vvsor se;its in the 
 (thurcli belonging to this Sofiety, and statedly wor- 
 shippinu' therein, or contiibnting annually to the funds 
 of tiie Society, sliall be entitled to rnen)beiship on sub- 
 scribing their ninnes to tliis Constitutioti. 
 
 AllTICLE HI. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 Section 1. — Officers of this Society must be 
 members thereof, and shall consist of nine Trustees 
 elected by the members of the Society; a Moderator, 
 a Clerk, and a Treasurer, which last tiiree named sliall 
 be chosen by tlie lioard of Trustees from their own 
 number. 
 
 TERMS OF office — MODE OF DETERMINING, AND VA- 
 CANCIES. 
 
 Sec. 2. — The nine Trustees elected at the first 
 annual meeting in the year IHtiT, shall at their first 
 meeting after election, determine by lot the terms of 
 ofHce, so that three shall continue in office one yeai-, 
 three for two years and three for three years: and 
 thereafter the term of office shall be three years or un- 
 til their successors are elected and qualified. Pro- 
 vided, if a vacancy shall occur in the office of any 
 Trustee, the vacancy shall be filled by the Board of 
 Trustees, and the person appointed or elected to fill 
 the same shall hold office only during the unexpired 
 term of his jn'edecessor, so that there shall be elected 
 annually three Trustees to hold their office three 
 years. 
 
 OFFICERS. — nOAV ('HOSEN. 
 
 Sec. 3.— The Moderator, Clerk and Treasurer
 
 T WENT Y- Fl FTH A X N 1 VEIISA R Y. 
 
 sliall be chosen by the Board of Trustees from tlieir 
 own number, and shall continue in office lespectively 
 one year, oi' until their successors are chosen and 
 qualified. 
 
 POWERS AND Dl'TIES OK TRUSTEES. 
 
 Sec. 4. — The Trustees shall, until in('ori)oralioii 
 under the laws of Oregon, hold and exercise control 
 over the property of the Society, and niarage all its 
 business affairs accordintito the regulations prescribed 
 by tlie Society for the best inteiest of the same, and 
 aftei' incorporation shall assume and exercise tlie 
 rights and i)owers conferred by the laws of Oregon in 
 such cases made aiid provided, and such as may be 
 granted by this Constitution and defined in any by- 
 laws which from time to time may be enactKl by tlie 
 Society: Provided, nothing shall be construed as giv- 
 ing them i)ower to alienate the propeitv of the Society 
 without a vote of the Society therefor, duly given at a 
 l>ublic meeting thereof as hereinafter i)rovided. They 
 shall adopt means to sustain the preaching of the 
 Gospel and the administration of theordinancesof the 
 fliurch. according to the usages tliereof, fiu'nish the 
 house of worship with all tiecessary fixtures, furni- 
 ture, fuel and lights, institute and carry into effect 
 measures for raising the necessary funds to defray the 
 expenses of tlieir trust, and shall draw the same from 
 the treasury by vote of the Board of Trustees: Pr-o- 
 vidcd. that no nproi)rialion shall he made exceeding 
 five hundred dollars ($500. (iO), without a vote of the 
 Society. 
 
 MEETINGS OK THE I!OA RP. 
 
 Sec. 5. — The Board of Trustees shall meet on ti;e 
 last Tuesday of July. October. January and Atnil, 
 and special meetings may bewailed by the Moderator, 
 at the request of any two members of the same, upon 
 not less than two davs' notice to the other Trustees.
 
 80 EXhlfCl.-KS OF TIIK 
 
 QUOHl'M AND 1!K(()I:D. 
 
 Se(;. (5. — Five niembeis shall constitiitc a (Hioninj 
 to do l)nsiiiess, and a recoid sliall be kept of all tlieir 
 jJioceediiiKs. 
 
 clerk's Dl'TlKS. 
 
 Sec. 7. — The Clerk sliall keep a recoid of the 
 names of the members of this Society: shall have 
 cliarj>e of its archives and be i ('sponsible for their safe 
 keeiiiii^'; shall lecord correct!) all proceedin<is of meet- 
 ings of the Society and of the Board of Trustees; shall 
 see that due notice is given of all such meetings; and 
 in the absence of the Moderator shall call meetings to 
 order; and shall draw warrants on the Treasurer for 
 all sums of money api)ropriated l)y the Board of Trus- 
 tees or the Society, which orders shall be counter- 
 signed by the Moderator. 
 
 TKEASUREK"s DCTIES. 
 
 Sec. 8. — The Treasure!" shall receive all funds 
 belonging to the Society, giving his receipt therefor, 
 hold the same as a special deposit, keep a regular ac- 
 count thereof, noting the object for which sums are 
 received, and paying the same upon the Avarrants of 
 the Clerk, countersigned as required in the preceding 
 section. He shall report to the annual meeting of 
 the Society in January of each year the state of the 
 treasury, and to the Board of Trustees every quarter, 
 and whenever specially required by them. At the 
 close of his term of office he shall submit a detailed 
 account of his official acts, with proper vouchers, to 
 the Board of Trustees for ai)proval. and shall deliver 
 to his successor all books and i)apers of the Society in 
 his possession, with whatever money may remain in 
 the treasury, taking a receipt therefor.
 
 TWEN'TY-FirTII AXN IVEllSAHY. 81 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 ELECTIONS. HOW HELD, AND WHEN ONE IS ELECTED 
 TO OFFICE. 
 
 All elections shall be lield by ballot. Eveiy iiiem- 
 ber of the Society present in person shall be eniilleci 
 to vote, ana the person or persons receiving the high- 
 est number of votes shall be declared duly elected. 
 
 AXNX'AL MKETI.VGS, WHEN AND HOW HELD. 
 
 The annual election of officers sluill take i)hi('e on 
 the second Tuesday of January, under the supervision 
 of three judges chosen by the Trustees from the Soci- 
 ety. Provlikd, if, at any election, it shall happen 
 that any one or more of the judges appointed by the 
 Board shall be absent, or unable foi- Muy cause to 
 serve; a majority of the members may apiutint rira 
 voce any member present to fill the vacancy. 
 
 HOW OFFICERS QUALIFY. 
 
 The officers elected shall qualify by signing, with- 
 in ten days after their election, a pai)er signifying an 
 acceptance of the trust, and a promise to discharge 
 the duties thereof to the best of their ability, which 
 paper shall be tiled with the Clerk and i)reserved as a 
 a part of the records of the Society. Provided, that 
 the officers first electeil after the adoption of this Con- 
 stitution, shall qualify as afoiesaid within three days 
 after their election, and shall hold their otliceoiily till 
 the tenth day after the annual meeting in January, 
 1S67. 
 
 FAILING OF ELECTION. 
 
 Should there fail to be any election at tlie regu- 
 lar meeting, it shall adjourn from time to time for 
 that purpose.
 
 82 EXERC1:?ES OF THE 
 
 KEMOVAL FROM PARISH. 
 
 Permanent removal from the Parish shall be held 
 equivalent to a resignation of otlice. 
 
 SPECIAL ELECTION. 
 
 There shall be a special election on the 30th day 
 of June, 1866, for the election of officers to hold their 
 office as above provided till the tenth day after the 
 first regular annual election. 
 
 ARTICLE y. 
 
 ANNUAL 3IEETING?. 
 
 The annual meeting of the Society shall be held 
 on the second Tuesday of January, of wiiich due no- 
 tice shall be given from the pulpit (in case there be 
 ])reaching) on the .Sunday previous, and by notice 
 posted at the churcli door five days previous to such 
 meeting; and at such meeting the Treasurer shall pje- 
 sent his annual report, and theelection of officers take 
 place. 
 
 QUORUM. 
 
 Twelve members shall constitute a quorum of the 
 Society. 
 
 SPECIAL MEETJNCiS. 
 
 Special meetings may be called by the Trustees 
 upon like notice as an annual meeting. 
 
 ARTICLE Yl. 
 
 DUTIES AND POWERS OF TRUSIEES OVER PROPERTY. 
 
 The property of the Society shall be held in trust 
 by the Trustees and their successors duly elected, for 
 the exclusive use and benefit of the Sf)ciety, and shall 
 never be alienated from the purposes of Liberal
 
 TWENlY-KlFTn ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 Chiislian worsbip, or in any way pledged, mortgaged 
 or disposed of for any purpose whatever. Provided, 
 llmt upon a vote of two thirds of the members of the 
 Society present at any meeting didy called, authoriz- 
 ing it. the Trustees may sell or otiierwise dispose of, 
 or lease any property real or personal of the Society 
 for the purpose of securing a better location, or mak- 
 ing improvements and repairs, the vote authorizing 
 such sale or other disposal, to specify the object fur 
 whicli tlie proceeds shall be ap}>]ied. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 RENTING OF PEWS. 
 
 Pews, or seats, in the church sliall be renled or be 
 free, according as the Trustees may from tinie to 
 time order. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 
 CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 This Constitution may be altered in any particu- 
 lar by a vote of two thirds of the Board of Trustees, 
 and two thirds of the members of the Society present 
 at any meeting of the Society duly called, due noti* e 
 of the proposed alteration being specially given with 
 the notice of the meeting, excepting find leserving 
 from the power of amendment hereby granted the 
 provisions relating to alienation or disposal of church 
 property. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL SIGNERS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 E. D. Shattuck, W. W. Spauldiug, 
 
 Thomas Frazar. J. M. Gilman, 
 
 Wm. E. Cooper, R. A. White,
 
 84 ICXKUCISKS OK THE 
 
 Charles W. Hmra^fe. Martin S. I'.iiircll. 
 
 Will. F. Wilcox, Alex. I'. .Viii<eiiy. 
 
 11. R. Tliompsori, E. M. Burton, 
 
 -James VV. Cook, I). II. Ilendee, 
 
 A. J. Dufur, 11. S. McLeran, 
 
 E. B. Dulur. C. P. Ferry, 
 
 Andrew Dufur. F. M. Ariioki. 
 
 II. ('. Coulsou. II. B. Hastings, 
 
 Ira Goodnonnli. Charles Hodge. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Arlioles of Iiicorixtratioii of the First Utiit.irian Society 
 of Portland, Orearoii. 
 
 WiiKKEAs. the persons hereinafter named have 
 been duly elected as Trustees of the religious society 
 hereinafter named, and said society desire to incorpo- 
 rate for llie ])urpose of carrying out the objects of said 
 society. Now Kxf)w all Mkn by tukse Pkeskn'js. 
 That we. Thomas Fra/.ar, R. R. Tliompson. James W. 
 Cook, R. A. White. J. M. Gihuaii. Ira Goodnougli, 
 Chas W. Buna-re, AVm. F. Wilcox and E. D. Shat- 
 tuck. the Trustees of the Fii'st rnitarian Society of 
 Portland, Oregon, do make and sulisciibe in triplicate 
 these articles of incorporation: 
 
 1. The name by whicli this corporation is called 
 and shall be known is. The Fihst I'nitakian Soci- 
 ety OF Portland, Ohegon, and its duration is to be 
 perpetual.
 
 TWEXTY-FJFTII AXNIVEUSAUY. 85 
 
 2. The objects, business and pursuits of said coi-- 
 poration shall be to promote the ol)jeets of Public 
 Worship, the Christian Faith, the Ordinances of the 
 Gospel, Religious Education. General Benevolence, 
 Charity and Christian Toleration. 
 
 3. The estimated value of the property and 
 money possessed by said religious society at the date 
 hereof is Two Thousand Dollars, and the prospective 
 increase not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dol- 
 lars. The sources of revenue and income are the do- 
 nations and contributions of tliose interested in the 
 objects of the society and incorporating witli it for the 
 promotion of those objects, and the rents and profits 
 of pews and seats in any church edifice of the Society 
 and of other property which it may lawfully hold. 
 
 4. The officers of said society are nine Trustees, 
 of whom one is Moderator, a second is Clerk and a 
 third is Treasurer. The said Trustees are elected by 
 the members of the Society, voting by ballot, in classes 
 of three each, at a regular annual meeting to be held 
 on the second Tuesday of January; and hold their of- 
 fices three years. Vacancies in the Board of Trustees 
 to be filled by the Board. The persons so chosen to 
 liold office during the unexpired term of their prede- 
 cessors. The Moderator, Clerk, and Treasurer are 
 chosen by the Board from their own number. 
 
 5. The location of said society is Portland, 
 Multnomah County, Oregon. 
 
 In testimony whereof. We, the said Trustees and 
 corporators, being all residents of Multnomah County
 
 86 EXEUCISES OF THE 
 
 ()rf'<T()ii, do resi)f'('tively sign our niunes hereto and 
 fiffix our seals tliis Ittli day of July, A. I). ISGfi, in 
 triplicate. 
 
 Thomas Fuazau, 
 E. i). Shattuck, 
 E. R. Thompson, 
 Charles W. Burhaok. 
 Ira Goodnough, 
 
 J. M. GiLMAN, 
 
 Wm. F. Wilcox, 
 James W. Cook, 
 R. A. White. 
 State of Oregon, / 
 
 County of Multnomah. \ 
 
 On this 9tli day of July, A. D. 1866, personally 
 appeared before nie the inidersigned, Thomas Frazar, 
 E. D. Shattuck, K. R. Thompson. Charles W. Eurrage, 
 Ira Goodnougli. J. M. Gilman, Wm. F. Wilcox, and 
 J. W. Cook, to me known to be the identical persons 
 <lescribed in and who executed the within instrument 
 of writing, and severally acknowledged before me 
 that they executed the same for the purpose therein 
 set forth. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I hereto set my hand and of- 
 ficial seal; the day and year above written. 
 
 E. D. BACKENSTOS, 
 Notary Public, Multnomah Co.. Oregon. 
 
 State of Oregon, } 
 
 County of Multnomoh. \ 
 On this 16th day of July, A. D. 1866. personally 
 appeared before me the undersigned, R. A. White, to 
 me known to be the identical person described in and
 
 TWEN'l Y-KlFJII ANNIVKllSAKY, 
 
 who executed the \\itliin insliunient '>i' writing, and 
 acknowledged that he executed the .same for the luir- 
 l>oees therein set forth. 
 
 In tefitimony whereof, I have hereunto set my Ijand 
 and official, seal the day and year above written. 
 E. D. BACKENSTOS, 
 Notary Public, Multnomah Co., Ongon. 
 
 One copy of the foregoing Articles of Incorpoia- 
 tion has been filed in the office of the Secretaiy of 
 State, one in the office of the Clerk of Multnoniali 
 County; and one retained by the Society. 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Rooms OF the American UNiTAitiAN Association, 
 
 26, Chauncy Street, 
 
 Boston. Mass., Sept. 2, 1867. 
 
 My dear Mr. Eliot: 
 
 A letter from your father to- 
 day emboldens me to repeat a suggestion already 
 made to you in regard to Portland, Oregon. The facts 
 are simply these: Portland has now a iiopulation of 
 7.000, and is the centre of intluence for the 70.000 of 
 Oiegon. The community and the peculiar advanta- 
 ges of the place Hre so well set forth in Bowles" book 
 and others that you liave seen, that I will not repeat 
 them. When Mr. Stebbins jireached there he had 
 magnificent response, and enough were found ready 
 to act. to go forward at once with the erection of a 
 chapel, which was to have been dedicated last month
 
 88 EXERCISES OK THE 
 
 (Aug.). I suppose it was dehiyed because they had 
 leasou to expect Mr. Young to go out as their pastor, 
 and they may liave waited for his coming. Tiiey 
 wrote to me that they "are willing to pay liberally for 
 the right man." Tliey have started a sewing circle 
 and seem truly in earnest, and are waiting for a min- 
 ister. 
 
 All pecuniary arrangements can be arranged by 
 telegraph if you should think favorably of gt)ing. The 
 climate and beauty of situation, etc., and general 
 surroundings make it very attractive; but it is chiefly 
 the opportunity for useful labor that I had in mind 
 wiien I proposed it to you. I see no reason why a so- 
 ciety there should not be, in point of influence, for 
 Oregon (which is larger than X. E., and is rapidly 
 filling up) what San Francisco is for California, or St. 
 Louis for the valley of the Mississippi. * * * * 
 I think the Portland people propose to pay ^2,000. 00 
 a year in gold to begin with. I don't like to write or 
 telegraph to them about you going, till you have pretty 
 well made up your mind; lest it should encourage 
 them by uncertain hopes. ***** 
 Most truly yours 
 
 Ohakles Lowe.
 
 APPEISDIX D. 
 
 Order of Exercises of the Dedlcatioii of the First Uiii- 
 riaii Church of Portland, Oregon, Decem- 
 ber 29, 18G7. 
 
 I. 
 
 Voluntary aud Anthem. 
 
 II. 
 
 Invocation — Rev. C. C. Strattou. 
 Reading of tlie Scriptures — Rev. E. C. Anderson. 
 
 III. 
 Hymn. 
 
 IV. 
 
 History of the Society — Judge E. 1>. Shattuck. 
 
 V. 
 
 Prayer of Dedication. 
 Hymn. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Sermon — Rev. T. L. Eliot. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Closing Prayer — Rev. O. G. Ilarpending. 
 Antliem. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Benediction.
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 Articles of Agreement and Church Covensint, 
 For the Body of Commuiiicants. 
 
 WiiiiKEAs, The great opportunities and demand 
 for Christian iaboi' and consecration at tliis time 
 increase our sense of the obligations of all disciples of 
 the Jiord Jesus Christ to prove their faith by self-de- 
 nial, and by the devotion of their lives and jiossessions 
 to the service of Cxod, and the Viuilding up of the king- 
 dom of his Son, therefore: 
 
 We, who have here subscribed our names, do 
 unite ourselves together as the Body of Communi- 
 cants in the First Unitarian Society of Portland, Or- 
 ei>()n. In so doing, we express our resolve to be seif- 
 Ci)nsecrated in this work, to the end that we may ol»- 
 tain strength for its performance, and labor faithfully 
 for it in every direction, as we may be guided by the 
 spirit of God. By thus uniting ourselves together «y 
 7n(tkc no profession of hohness, but ratlwr a co)iff-ssio)i of 
 icenkness: and we further claim no right to exclude any 
 one from this Communion, on account of difference in 
 doctrinal opinions, nor for any other reason, except 
 foi undoubted immorality of conduct. 
 
 We also adopt for our use in the admission of 
 members the following 
 
 '•You do. in this solemn i)resence. give up yoiu"- 
 self to the true (rod in .Jesus Christ, and to his people
 
 TWENTY- FJFTII AXNIVEUSAKY 
 
 91 
 
 also, according to the will of God, iJiomising to walk 
 with God, and with this Church of his, in all his lioly 
 ordinances, and to yield obedience to every truth of 
 his, which has been or shall be made known to you as 
 your duty, the Lord assisting you by his Spirit and 
 grace."' 
 
 "We, then, the Church of Christ in tiiis place, do 
 receive you into the fellowship, and promise to walk 
 toward you, and to watcli over you, as a member of 
 this Church, endeavoring your spiritual edification in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord." 
 
 THE OIIIGINAL SIGNEKS TO THE CHURCH COVENANT. 
 
 T. L. Eliot, 
 Henrietta R. Eliot, 
 Thos. Frazar, 
 Mary E. Frazar, 
 C. W. Burrage, 
 Sarah J. Burrage, 
 Abby W. Atwood, 
 Ira Goodnough. 
 N. E. Goodnough, 
 Rosa F. Burrell, 
 W. W. Spaulding, 
 H. L. Spaulding, 
 Margaret L. Stevens, 
 Sue Stevens, 
 Kate Stevens, 
 Maude Stevens, 
 
 Hazard Stevens, 
 Lydia M. Wright, 
 C. Robie, 
 W. E. Cooper, 
 Mary E. Cooper, 
 Bettie Farmer, 
 Anna Cooke, 
 A. J. Dufur, 
 Louis Dufur, 
 11. W. Davis, 
 Annie M. Ilurd, 
 IL B. Hastings, 
 Louisa A. Hastings, 
 Lvicia A. Led yard, 
 Fred. A. Crawford.
 
 92 EXliRCI^ES or THE 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 The lollowing correspondence relative to Dr. El- 
 iot's resignation will need no explaiuition: 
 
 Portland, Oregon, November 22, 1892. 
 To the Trustees of the First Unitarian Society: 
 
 Honored Friends: 
 
 I herewith tender to yon my resignation as pastor 
 of tlie church After twenty-five years of almost con- 
 tinuous service I find that the state of my health ne- 
 cessitates an entire change and relief fiom responsi- 
 ble work. I will not burden you at this time with ex- 
 pressions of my affection, nor of gratitude to the 
 church and peojtle for their kindness and co-operation 
 throughout my ministry. I am happy to think that 
 my home is probably to continue with you, and that 
 when I am in the city I may be a sharer in the gen- 
 eral work of our church and cause, with perhaps occa- 
 sional service in the pulpit when I can so aid the pas- 
 tor in charge. 
 
 My desire and decision to be retired from the 
 active pastorate are the result of mature deliberation, 
 and as such I beg the Trustees and the Society to con- 
 sider my resignation as unalterable. I address you 
 in advance of the annual meeting that you may kindly 
 allow my term of service to close with that date — Jan- 
 uary 10, 1893. 
 
 I am with esteem and love, yours, 
 
 T. L. Eliot. 
 
 Portland, Oregon, Nov. 25, 1892. 
 
 Key. T. L. Eltot, D. D., 
 
 Pastor First Unitarian Socnty: 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I am directed by the Board of Trustees of 
 the First Unitarian Society to acknowledge )-eceipt of
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNI VEKfSARY. 93 
 
 your communication of date 22d inst., and iiifoini you 
 of their action. In accordance witli tlie wishes you 
 so tenderly and feelingly express in tendering your 
 resignation as Pastor of the Society, the Hoard of 
 Trustees havetliisday reluctantly, and with heart-felt 
 regret, accepted your resignation, which will take ef- 
 fect, as you desire, January 10, 1898. 
 
 Knowing your earnest desire in the matter, and 
 realizing your physical disability, there is no other 
 course left for the Trustees but to accept your resig- 
 nation as Pastor, with an earnest hope that you will 
 remain with us as Pastor Emeritus, and wiienever 
 time and strength may permit, you will fill our pidjjit, 
 and give counsel, and forward the inteiests of the 
 church, and the great work which you have so nobly 
 ostablislied. Your resignation, and the action and 
 reconuuendations of the Hoard in the matter, will be 
 submitted to the .Vnnual Meeting of the Society in 
 JatHiary next. Your life of self-sacrilice. devotion to 
 dnty. and untiring labor in religious, educational, aiul 
 l)hilauthropic work, not only in Portland, but through- 
 out this great Xorth-wTst, has set in motion potent 
 iiitluences tor ti.e amelioration of mankind, and for 
 the building up of a broader and grander civilization. 
 
 May you and your dear wife and family live long 
 in our midst, continuing in the service of humanity, 
 and enjoying the fruition of youi' labois. 
 AlTectionately yours, 
 
 TlIKODOItE WygANT. 
 
 Acting Secretary of the Boftrd of Trustees. 
 
 .\t the annual meeting of the First rnitarian So- 
 ciety, held on January 10, 1898, Rev. Dr. p]liofs res- 
 igiuition as jiastor of the Society having been offered 
 and accepted, the following i-esoiutions were presented 
 and unanimously adopted by the Society:
 
 EXERCISES OF THE 
 
 Whereas, After a period of 25 years of failliful 
 
 service, our loverl, esteemed and wortliy pastor of the 
 Fi)-st Unitarian Churcli of Portland, Oregon. Rev. T. 
 1j Elior, lias tendt'ied iiis resignation to this Cliurcli 
 and Society; and 
 
 Whereas, In conseqnence of his liealth and 
 strengtli not permitting him to continue liis hibors 
 longer, his lesignation has been accepted as the regu- 
 lar pastor of tills Cliun-h; and 
 
 Whereas, This long service has been charactei- 
 ized by self-forget fulness, self-sacrifice and devotion to 
 duty; by substantial help by word and deed in poverty, 
 sickness and distress, by his earnest and intelligent 
 support in all benevolent, philanthropic, educational 
 and religious work in this city and State, he has 
 builded iiu)nnments that will be an inspiration to all 
 in coming time, and in every way worthy of the efforts 
 of the ablest and best; and 
 
 Whereas. He has i)laced himself in the front 
 ranks of Christian leaders and educators in encourag- 
 ing all moral reforms and in ably discussing the great 
 questions of the day; therefore, be it 
 
 Rescjlved. That it is the earnest wish and desire of 
 this Church and Society that whenever health and 
 strength will permit, he will supplement the regular 
 l)astor"s work in every way that will give him plea.s- 
 ure; that he and his estimable wife may live long in 
 our midst, surrounded by their happy family, to wit- 
 ness the growth and development of the great work 
 they have so nobly a<lvanced in our city and State 
 and the potential iiitliiences they have set in motion 
 for the amelioration of this community 
 
 licsolvcd. That a copy of this preamble and reso- 
 lution be spread upon the records of this Church, and 
 a copy be furnished our retiring and much-loved pas- 
 tor.
 
 TWENTY-FJFTII AXMVERSARY 95 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Important Dates in the History of the Church. 
 
 December 13, 1853. — Arrival of the Frazar Family. 
 
 December 13, 1865. — Organization of tiie Ladies' 
 Sewing Society. 
 
 April, 1866. — Visit of Rev. Horatio Stebbins. 
 
 June 26, 1866. — Organization of the First Unitarian 
 Society. 
 
 July 9, 1866. — Incori)oration of the First Unitarian 
 Society. 
 
 December 24, 1867.— Arrival of Rev Mr. Eliot. 
 
 December 29, 1867. — Dedication of the Chapel. 
 
 January 5, 1868- Organization of the Sunday- 
 school. 
 
 June 7, 1868. — Forming of the Church. 
 
 May 4, 1876. — Organization of the Christian Union. 
 
 July 21, 1878. — Laying corner-stone of the Church. 
 
 June 8, 1879. — Dedication of the Chui'ch. 
 
 September 5, 1880. — South Portland Sunday-school 
 organized. 
 
 April 17, 1881. — South Portland Chapel dedicated. 
 
 January 7, 1882. — Sans Souci Club organized. 
 
 June 29, 1886. — Post-office Mission organized. 
 
 October 17, 1886. — Branch of Unitarian Church 
 Temperance Society organized. 
 
 November 6, 1887. -Young People's Fraternity or- 
 ganized. 
 
 January 24, 1891. — Church partially destroyed by 
 tire. 
 
 December 29, 1892. — Twenty-fifth Anniversary. 
 
 January 10, 1893. ^Resignation of ReV. T. L. Eliot.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 r. 8ii, note, for Slantlaiid ie;i(l Wanthoid. 
 P. 84, liwe 24. for Simon read Shiieon. 
 r. 88. line 2(1, for F. B. Marshull read J. F. B. 
 31a r fill all.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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