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Home : Quarterly Archives : Volume 12 |
Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society |
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Source: October 1963 Volume 12 Number 4, Pages 68–76 History of Trinity Presbyterian Church : 1938-1963 It has been said that history is, after all, only the opinion of the person writing, at the time of writing. This seems like a careless and unfounded statement, but when one considers the new source material that comes to light after something has been written, what seemed to be factual knowledge is sometimes shown to be wrong. Political history is often written by a member of the party in power, while a quite different version might be written by the enemies, or the party not in power. So the following is our opinion now, but it may be that later research may prove us wrong. We know that by the original charter this was Trinity Presbyterian Church of Reeseville, and it was not until March 23, 1901, that action of the Chester County Court changed the name to Trinity Presbyterian Church of Berwyn. This paper is to supplement the article on Trinity Church written by Ruth J. Moore for the July 1938 Quarterly. The Elders and Trustees at this time are named in the above article. The membership of the Church was 221 and the Sunday School enrollment 218. There was at this time one building, our present Sanctuary, which was then both the Sanctuary and Sunday School room.
Present church At the Congregational meeting last January 21, 1963, it was decided to repaint the interior of the Sanctuary. This developed into a redecorating job, and by judicious use of lighter-colored paint the interior of the church was greatly improved. The previous painting of the interior was done following a fire which occurred in May, 1951. This fire was caused by lightning which struck in the old Sunday School room. The actual fire did not spread very far, but the smoke did cause extensive damage, estimated by a local paper as between $17,500 and $20,000. The painters removed the pews to facilitate their work, and when it was time to put the pews back there was some difficulty in arranging them, as no one had made a plan of their previous location. After the pews were placed there were a few left over and these are now along the rear wall of the Sanctuary. The paint job preceding this one was done in 1942, and at this time new carpet was laid. By the late nineteen fifties the organ which had been given by William E. Fritz in 1916 was showing signs of wear so that the practical thing to do was to rebuild it. This was done by Jacob Gerber and Son at a cost of $20,000, and the church now has an exceptionally fine organ, which was rededicated June 19, 1960. In 1950, the Sunday School room, of which the church was so justly proud when it was built in 1891, had become much too small. Classes were held in the kitchen, in the basement, in the choir loft, and several classes were held in the Sanctuary. Charles E. Gibb was elected Superintendent in 1935 and served in this position until the late fifties. He was the coach of a baseball team organized in 1935, and also of a basketball team organized later. The Upper Main Line News for Friday, October 2, 1953, showed a picture of our present Education Building and Sanctuary and, under the title "Ground-breaking Ceremony for Berwyn Trinity Presbyterian Will Take Place This Sunday," carried the following article; "After many years of planning and working, initiated prior to World War II, members and friends of Trinity Presbyterian Church are to see the fulfillment of their dream of adequate teaching and recreational facilities realized. Following the successful Building Fund Drive last February, $46,000 having been raised in cash and pledges over a three-year period, a Building Plans Committee was reactivated and additional members appointed. The committee is composed of Charles E. Gibb, Chairman, Mrs. Eric A. Corkhill, Mrs. Francis McAdoo, Mr. Melvin C. Long, Mr. Charles H. Wadsworth, Mr. Monte Kroppe, Mr, Stewart Mc Caughey, and Mr. Eugene C. Lang. The Committee made its report at a corporation meeting which took place on Monday night September 21, 1953. The recommendations of the Committee which included the awarding of the contract, were unanimously adopted. "The new addition to Trinity Presbyterian Church will be built on the west side of the existing structure and will include an auditorium, which will seat over 250 persons, and be subdivided by folding partitions; separate-class rooms, nursery, beginners and primary departments, a modern kitchen and a pastor's study. The new structure will be grey stone, complementing the present edifice. It is to be a one-story structure throughout. The ground-breaking ceremony will be held on Sunday, October 4, immediately following the World Wide Communion Service at 11 o'clock."
Education building The building has lived up to the expectation of the planners. The Sunday School has flourished, having increased in the last ten years, from an average attendance of 91 to 185. In 1956 the Session established the Christian Faith in Life Curriculum as a means of unifying our teaching program. This curriculum was approved by the General Assembly in 1948 as a program for use in church and home. In 1963 Miss Joan Hoyer was engaged to be Director of Christian Education. Miss Hoyer has had experience in this field and will direct a program of Christian Education from nursery through adult life. The present officers of the Sunday School are Robert M. Lanison, Superintendent, Howard W. Anderson, Assistant Superintendent, and Mildred Huber Secretary. In 1960 the Old Hall was re-purchased. This Hall has had an interesting history which was written up by Sara Nuzum in our Quarterly, Volume X, Number 3, April, 1961. In 1912 Trinity Church sold the Hall to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Treen who made it into two apartments. It was in the Treen family until Trinity bought it back as the Church needed more parking space and more room for the Sunday School classes. One apartment was rented and one used for Sunday School classes, but this did not work out as a satisfactory arrangement. In 1961 the Methodist Church property, including the dwelling house that had been their manse was offered for sale.
Methodist Church As this property adjoined ours it was essential for any possible future expansion. Accordingly the property was purchased. The old manse is rented as a dwelling. The two apartments in the Hall are rented and after some remodeling, the church is being used for Junior and Senior High School Sunday School classes. During the week, the Boy Scouts and two Brownie troops have been meeting there. In June and July the Y.M.C.A. will hold some evening activities there. In the entire history of Trinity Church three houses have been owned that were used as the manse. In 1871 the Aiken family gave ground on Waterloo Road for the Church to build a manse. This house, No. 54 on Waterloo road, still in use today, was built by Henry Fritz, a trustee. The Reverend Algernon Marcellus and the Reverend Thomas Aiken lived in this manse. In 1891 the Reverend Mr. Aiken built a house for himself on Lancaster Pike where the Atlantic Gas Station is now located, and moved his family there. The manse was sold and the money put in the building fund for the present Sanctuary which was completed in 1892. The Church did not own another manse until the house on Howellville Road was purchased in 1944. The Rev. Messers. Russ, Gibson, and Scott occupied this manse. In 1956 Mr. Melvin Long offered the Church a house on Beechwood Road in Daylesford Village for whatever proceeds could be realized from the sale of the Howellville Road manse. A fairly large minority group of the congregation did not favor the Daylesford location, partly because it was too far away from the church. However Mr. Long's offer was accepted and this has been the manse since then. About a year ago some remodeling was done, adding a bedroom and some other improvements. Ruth Moore's article of 1938 was just three years before the Rev. Dr. Charles Levengood's retirement. He was pastor of Trinity for twenty-nine years, the longest term by far of any man to occupy the pulpit. He was universally liked by the congregation and the people of the community, and his retirement marked the end of an eminently successful term as leader of the Trinity congregation. He was followed in 1941 by the Rev. Elbert H. Ross. The membership was about 250. Rev. Mr. Ross was a recent graduate of Princeton Seminary and had the enthusiasm of youth and a willingness to go forward with new ideas. He was very well liked by the congregation, and many current members have fond memories of him. He was a sincere worker but unfortunately failing health caused him to resign in 1948, and he died a short time later. The Rev. Arthur A. Gibson was installed in 1948. He was a very promising young man; however in 1949 he chose to follow ministerial work in a field other than holding a pastorate. He was followed in 1949 by the Rev. John H. Scott, also a recent graduate of Princeton Seminary. During the ten-year pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Scott the membership increased from 263 to 421. In 1950 a baptismal font was placed in the front of the Sanctuary. In 1956 the office of Deacon was established and a board of nine members were elected. In 1959 the number of Deacons was increased to twelve. The present Deacons are:
Mrs. Marion Dean In January 1959 the Rev. Mr. Scott accepted a call to be assistant pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Michigan. In October 1959 Trinity called the present pastor, the Rev. George V. Gardner. Between these latter two ministers Dr. Ralph Deibert was the interim pastor, and this was a very interesting time for Trinity as Dr. Deibert is an exceptional man. He aroused the interest of the congregation and preached excellent sermons. The congregation remembers him with great affection and considers him one of their former pastors. The Rev. Mr. Gardner is a graduate of Princeton Seminary and was pastor of New London, assistant pastor of Westfield, New Jersey, and pastor of Lewisburg Presbyterian Churches before coming here. The Church is moving forward with renewed vigor under his leadership. The members now number 562. There are two services on Sunday at 9.30 A.M. and at 11 A.M. There are three choirs under the direction of the organist and choir director Mrs. Alberta Meadowcroft. The Adult or Chancel Choir, the Chapel Choir for children from third to seventh grades, and the Triniteen Choir, with a total membership of about seventy-five persons. The Ruling Elders and Trustees are elected for a three year term, and after a one-year interval may be reelected for another three-year term. The present Elders are:
Charles B. Neal
The present Trustees are: Members of the Williams, Aiken,and Burns families have been active in Trinity since its earliest days. These families are represented today by Mrs. Clarence Reifsneider (Edith Williams), Mrs. William VanTries (Daisy Aiken),and the Wadsworths. The oldest living member of the Church is the Rev. Dr. Carroll Yerkes. Martin V. Yerkes, his father, was an Elder at Trinity and a harnessmaker by trade. Dr Yerkes joined Trinity Church on March 4, 1888, at the age of 12. He is a graduate of Princeton Seminary and was granted a Doctor's degree by Lafayette College, 1921. He and his wife spent twenty-one years as missionaries in China. After their return, Dr. Yerkes held several pastorates in Pennsylvania and one for eighteen years in New Providence, New Jersey. As a young man Dr. Yerkes recalls services in the old original church which was torn down in 1892. Today at 86 years of age he is active and much in demand as a pulpit supply. The records of some interesting events were found in old copies of local newspapers on file at the West Chester Historical Society. Some of these events were earlier than 1938 but are included as they are not in the early history in the July 1938 Quarterly. "July 9, 1880 Members of the Church and others voted to build a new boardwalk from the church to the turnpike." "Revival meetings held in the Hall." "February 13, 1880. Young people entertained and began with Overture by Berwyn Orchestra." "October 4, 1880. Missionary Work; Miss Loring, a retired missionary from Syria, addressed the ladies of Berwyn Presbyterian Church on Saturday afternoon. A society numbering eight members was formed after the meeting." "Donation Party, October 28, 1880. On Thursday evening the Rev. A. Marcelles, Pastor, was surprised with a large donation party. Among the gifts, lamps, dishes, barrel of cider, apples and potatoes, also $100.00." "December 22, 1880. The 18th anniversary of the Presbyterian Sabbath School of Berwyn will be held Christmas Eve, at which time the sacred cantata, "The Three Graces" will be given. There will be no charge of admission. This will be a rare treat"(There seems to be a slip in the dates here, as the Sunday School was organized in 1866 rather than 1862). "January 15, 1881. Mite Society of Berwyn's Presbyterian has been reorganized under the name of "Sociable." "October 25, 1886. Missionary Society gave an entertainment; admission 15 cents." "Fair held July 21, 1888, made $180.00." "June 12, 1895. Wednesday evening at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Berwyn, the first wedding was held in the new Sanctuary, when Dr. Elbert W. Lapp, a graduate of the Veterinary Department of the University of Pennsylvania, was married to Miss Margaret Beaumont of Devon. The bride is a charming young lady and a former student of West Chester State Normal School." (The wedding gown that Miss Beaumont wore was on exhibition at the recent 100th Anniversary.) Societies who made reports: Ladies Aid, by Mrs. A. Burns; Ladies Missionary, by Miss F. Nixon; Sunday School, Charles Wadsworth; Men's Bible Class, Ora I. Huber; Ladies Bible Class, Mrs. E. Corkhill; Young Ladies' Bible Class, Miss Bertha Christie; Young People's Society, Miss Christie; International Christian Endeavor, Miss Sadie Griffith." "1951. Women's Association was formed." "1952. Women's Association recovered pew cushions, pulpit chairs, and choir curtains, needed after the fire." This year, 1963, Trinity celebrated its 100th Anniversary, from Sunday April 28 through Sunday May 5. Like the celebration of the birthdays of the English Royal Family this date will stand some explaining. Meetings of the founders were held as early as 1849. In 1861 Dr. John McLeod was engaged as pastor. October 22, 1861, cornerstone of original church was laid. December 1862, building was completed and dedicated. It was not until January 4, 1863, that Trinity Presbyterian Church of Reeseville was officially organized by the Third Presbytery Of Philadelphia. The population of Easttown Township in 1861 was 728. As the weather in January is likely to be bad for anniversaries, it was decided to celebrate as soon after Easter as practical - hence the April 28th date. In connection with this anniversary a photograph of the bell presently in the bell tower was taken, and it shows an inscription stating that the members of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Gulph, Ontario, presented the bell to Trinity Church of Reeseville in honor of their former pastor, Dr. McLeod. The anniversary celebration included the following events: Sunday, April 28. Regular services 9.30 and 11 A.M., the Rev. Paul Machemer and the Rev. Carroll Yerkes, assisting. 7.30 P. M. Hymn-song service. Tuesday, April 30, 6.30 P.M. Anniversary dinner. Dr. Ralph Deibert, Speaker. A portrait in oil of Charles Gibb was presented to him as a token of appreciation for his long service and devotion to Trinity Church. Thursday, May 2. Historical Pageant "Looking Forward," assisted by the three Choirs. This Pageant was written and directed by a committee whose members were Katharine Stroh, Mildred Fisher, Sara Nuzum, and Henry J. Weller. All the research for this paper was done by this committee in connection with this pageant and it is a committee project. Saturday, May 4, Meeting of the Married Couples group. Sunday, May 5. Former ministers the Rev. Arthur Gibson preached at 9.30 A. M. and the Rev. John Scott at 11.00 A. M. Special Evening Service, 8.00 P.M. Speaker, Dr. Elmer G. Homrighusen, Dean of the Princeton Theological Seminary. April 30 through May 5. Historical Exhibit arranged by Historical Pageant Committee. The membership of Trinity Presbyterian Church is now 562 and the Church is "looking forward" to even greater progress in the next hundred years.
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