“THE BOND OF UNION”:

 

THE OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

 

AND THE AMERICAN NATION, 1837-1861

 

 

Abstract

 

by

 

Peter J. Wallace

 

 

This dissertation argues that the Old School Presbyterian Church was a significant “bond of union” to the American nation during the antebellum era. How did a phrase from the Presbyterian constitution, describing the relationship of the Presbyterian General Assembly to its congregations come to play such a central role in how Old School Presbyterians thought of their role in the civil Union?

            There are several interwoven questions that this dissertation will seek to answer. One set of questions involves the problem of disestablishment: given that the United States rejected the concept of an established church, what would church/state relations look like? The transformation in identity from “church” to “denomination” took time. The older understanding of the unity–or catholicity–of the visible church could not help but be eroded as “liberty of conscience” began to trump catholicity.

            A second constellation of questions revolves around ethnicity and culture. An overwhelming proportion of Old School Presbyterians were of Scottish and Ulster d

escent. Virtually every debate spawned numerous appeals to Scottish Presbyterian beliefs and practices. Even non-Scottish Presbyterians seem to have adopted the Scottish heritage of their co-religionists. While considered theologically antiquated by many for their confessional Calvinism, Old School Presbyterians also lived in the mainstream of social, economic, and political power.

            A third array of issues probes the intellectual milieu. The constitutional issues underlying the ecclesiological disputes of the Old School are central for understanding why they took the positions that they did with respect to slavery, education and other social issues. Commonsense moral reasoning, with its emphasis on universally accessible moral intuitions, produced an emphasis on persuasion, both in written and oral debate. This dissertation relies upon records of oral debates more than many previous works.

            With Methodists and Baptists divided north and south, and the less numerous Episcopalians largely residing in urban areas, Old School Presbyterians were the only Protestant denomination with significant representation in every region of the nation. This dissertation explains how the imagined self-concept of “the bond of union” influenced the Old School’s decision-making process in debates over education, slavery, temperance, marriage, and church order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

FIGURES        vii

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS     ix

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS       x

 

 

INTRODUCTION      1

            1. Thesis           2

            2. The Geography of Old School Presbyterianism          11

                        A. The Presbyterian Location in the American Mainstream        12

                        B. Presbyterian Ethnicity: From Scots to Americans (and back again)    16

                        C. Presbyterian Conservatism   21

                        D. Institutional Geography         22

                        E. Regional Geography 28

                        F. The General Assembly          31

                        G. Intellectual Geography          41

            Conclusion       46

 

 

CHAPTER ONE. CATHOLICITY AND CONSCIENCE:

            THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF 1837 AND THE FRAGMENTATION

            OF BRITISH-AMERICAN PROTESTANTISM        48

            1. The New “Catholicity”          52

            2. The New “Conscience”        55

            3. Catholicity, Conscience, and the Division of 1837      61

                        A. Catholicity and the Plan of Union      62

                        B. Orthodoxy and Catholicity    65

                        C. The Role of Slavery in 1836 85

                        D. The General Assembly of 1837 and the Question of Division 90

                        E. The Role of Slavery in the General Assembly of 1837           99

            4. The Response to the 1837 General Assembly            106

            5. The General Assembly of 1838         111

            Conclusion       113

CHAPTER TWO. FEMINIZATION, THE MARKET, AND PRESBYTERIAN

            ECCLESIOLOGY: THE RULING ELDER     115

            1. Background  116

                        A. The Feminization Thesis       116

                        B. The “Tranquilizing the Laity” Thesis

                                    and the Declining Status of the Minister 122

                        C. Presbyterians and the Market           129

                        D. Providentialism and Its Critics           138

            2. The Rejection of Reaction: R. J. Breckinridge and the Elder Question            146

                        A. The Response to Breckinridge          152

                        B. The General Assembly of 1843        163

                        C. The Quorum Question          167

                        D. Thornwell Picks Up the Gauntlet      176

            Conclusion       187

 

 

CHAPTER THREE. ANTI-CATHOLICISM, BAPTISM AND THE LIMITS OF

            CATHOLICITY          189

            1. The Underlying Issue: Where Was the Church?         193

            2. Catholicity vs. Rome: the Re-emergence of Anti-Catholicism, 1835-1845      199

                        A. The Pulpit and the Press       201

                        B. The Debates            205

                        C. Milly McPherson and Mr. Maguire:

                                    the Trials of N. L. Rice and R. J. Breckinridge   209

                        D. The Rise of the Protestant Associations        213

                        E. The Explosion of Anti-Catholic Periodicals, 1844-45            216

                        F. Religious Riots and the Rise of the Know-Nothings   221

            3. The General Assembly Debate          228

                        A. Debate at the Assembly       229

                        B. Hodge Versus the Assembly 236

                        C. The Response to Hodge       244

                        D. Thornwell’s Reply to Hodge 247

                        E. Hodge’s Manifesto   252

            Conclusion       255

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR. WINE, WOMEN AND THE LIMITS OF CONSCIENCE         259

            1. Temperance 260

                        A. Temperance and the Question of Wine in the Lord’s Supper 262

                        B. The General Assembly of 1843        282

                        C. The Political Turn     288

            2. A Brief Excursus on Tobacco           295

            3. The Marriage Question         296

                        A. The General Assembly of 1842        297

                        B. The General Assembly of 1843        303

                        C. The General Assembly of 1845        311

                        D. The General Assembly of 1847        313

            Conclusion       317

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE. PAROCHIAL OR SECTARIAN?

            THE OLD SCHOOL ALTERNATIVE TO SECULARIZED EDUCATION   318

            1. Background  322

                        A. The Role of Rome    322

                        B. The Example of Scotland      329

                        C. Regional Discussions before 1846    332

            2. The General Assembly of 1846         336

            3. From Theory to Practice: Hodge’s Sermon on Education       339

            4. The Rise of Opposition to Parochial Schools 346

                        A. The Education Debate of 1854         359

                        B. Educational Debates in the mid-1850s          365

                        C. Virginia Again          369

                        D. The California Radical          385

            Conclusion       387

 

 

CHAPTER SIX. WHEN SCHISM IS NOT AN OPTION:

            THE PROBLEM OF SLAVERY, 1818-1849 390

            1. The Old School Center: Breckinridge and Hodge      400

            2. South Carolina and the Charleston Union Presbytery 410

            3. The Northwestern Debates, 1841-1845        415

            4. The General Assembly of 1845         423

            5. The Brief Comment of 1846 433

            6. 1849: The Last Gasp in Kentucky     439

            Conclusion       446

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRO-SLAVERY CONSENSUS

            IN THE SOUTH          448

            1. The Growth of Sectionalism  449

            2. The Defense of Slavery         463

                        A. The Mission to the Slaves     473

                        B. The Reform of Slavery         478

                        C. The Problem of Race           484

            3. Slavery and the Breakdown of Ecclesiastical Relations

                        with other Denominations          491

            4. Van Rensselaer, Armstrong and the Deepening Chasm          500

            Conclusion       516

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT. “CONFIDENCE IN HIS BRETHREN”:

            THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION

            IN THE NORTHWEST, 1848-1859   517

            1. A Feud Begins (New Albany Seminary, 1848-1849)            521

            2. The Establishment of the Cincinnati Theological Seminary (1849-1853)         526

            3. A New Seminary for the West?

                        (Danville Theological Seminary, 1853-1856)     531

            4. J. G. Monfort, the Presbyterian of the West

                        and the Rise of a Vocal Anti-Slavery Movement in the Northwest          543

            5. The Synodical Northwestern Theological Seminary (1856-1859)       552

            6. The Theological Seminary of the Northwest

                        and the General Assembly of 1859        570

            Conclusion       589

 

 

CHAPTER NINE. COVENANT AND CONVERSION:

            THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE CONTROVERSY      593

            1. The Status of Baptized Children        600

                        A. Profession and Discipline: the Edwardsean Background        604

                        B. The Creation of a New Ritual: Public Profession       614

                        C. The Decline of Infant Baptism?         617

                        D. The Debate  620

            2. “But What If I’m Not Converted?”   624

            3. “Caesar Is No Model for Christ”      633

            4. Later Developments  636

                        A. Northern Discussions           636

                        B. Southern Presbyterian Canons of Discipline (1866)   639

            Conclusion       641

 

 

CHAPTER TEN. CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND PRESBYTERIAN

            BOARDS: LAW, EQUITY, AND THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE CHURCH            642

            1. Strict Construction and the Spirituality of the Church  647

            2. The Boards Controversy       657

                        A. Thornwell and Smyth           661

                        B. Missions and Slavery in South Carolina         669

                        C. The Response of the Boards            674

            3. Variations on the Spirituality of the Church    676

                        A. Stuart Robinson and the Presbyterial Critic   680

                        B. William A. Scott in San Francisco     685

                        C. The Spirituality of the Church and Constitutional Construction           691

            4. The Spirituality of the Church and the General Assembly        694

            5. The General Assembly of 1860         701

            Conclusion       712

 

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE COLLAPSE OF THE CENTER

            AND THE END OF OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANISM  714

            1. The Political Climate of 1860            714

            2. The Election of 1860 and Its Aftermath         719

            3. Hodge on the State of the Country    728

            4. Fort Sumter and the General Assembly of 1861        739

            5. The Spring Resolutions         743

            6. The Southern General Assembly of 1861      765

            Conclusion       767

 

 

CONCLUSION. THE REALIGNMENT OF AMERICAN PRESBYTERIANISM    774

 

 

APPENDIX 1: OLD SCHOOL PERIODICALS         780

 

 

APPENDIX 2: OLD SCHOOL RULING ELDERS    812

 

 

APPENDIX 3: SEMINARIES AND THEIR STUDENTS       825

 

 

APPENDIX 4: ACADEMIES AND COLLEGES       828

            Part 1. Old School Presbyterian Colleges          834

            Part 2. Academies of the Presbyterian Church   837

            Part 3. Other Academies          844

 

 

APPENDIX 5: ETHNIC CHURCHES IN 1860          859

 

 

APPENDIX 6: CHURCH FINANCE  865

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY        871

 

 

 

 

 

FIGURES

 

 

1. Growth of American Churches, 1740-1860  13

2. Value of Church Property, 1850       14

3. Leading Old School Weeklies, 1840-1870   26

4. Definitions of Old School Regions     29

5. Proposal for Synodical Representation to General Assembly, 1847    31

6. Location of Old School General Assemblies, 1838-1869      33

7. Scottish and American Presbyterian Churches, 1851 39

8. Old School and New School Membership, 1840-1859         45

 

1.1. Presbyterian Periodicals in 1835    69

1.2. Heresy Trials of the 1830s 73

1.3. Signers of the Act and Testimony by Synod, 1835  77

1.4. Map of Synods supporting the “Act and Testimony,” 1835 78

1.5. Southern Votes in the 1836 General Assembly       87

1.6. Comparison of 1836 and 1837 General Assembly Voting Patterns 100

1.7. Old School Votes on the Slavery Question, 1836-1837     104

 

2.1. Giving for Congregational Purposes, 1860  125

2.2. Breckinridge’s Supporters in the Synod of Philadelphia, 1842         153

2.3. The Kentucky Vote on the Elder Question, 1842   160

 

3.1. Anti-Catholic Newspapers Started by Old School Editors in 1844-1845    217

3.2. Receipts for the True Catholic, 1845-1846           218

 

4.1. The Failure of the Maine Laws, 1851-1854           293

4.2. “Smoking Spiritualized” by Ralph Erskine   295

 

5.1. Ratio of whites over age 20 that could not read or write, 1840        320

5.2. Old School Ministers who served as Superintendents of Public Education   348

 

6.1. Old School Officers in Abolitionist Organizations    399

6.2. Ministers of the Charleston Union Presbytery, 1837           415

6.3. Attendance at the Presbyterian Anti-Slavery Convention in Cincinnati, 1845           424

6.4. The 1845 Statement on Slavery     428

6.5. Protesters of the 1845 Decision on Slavery            430

6.6. Votes on the “No Further Action” Resolution of 1846        437

 

7.1. Old School Missionaries to the Slaves        476

 

8.1. Spheres of Influence of Old School Seminaries, 1858-1859           571

 

9.1. Hodge’s Statistics on Baptism        618

10.1. Regional Identification of the Protesters of 1846   645

10.2. Leading Southerners Who Did Not Protest          646

10.3. Breckinridge’s Elite Eight 659

 

11.1. The Spring Resolutions    744

11.2. Votes on the Spring Resolutions, 1861     755

11.3. Speakers on the Spring Resolutions          757

11.4. Southern Presbyterian Dissenters 770

 

A1.1. Paid Subscriptions, Philadelphia Presbyterian, 1835-1836         785

A1.2. Circulation of Northern Methodist Periodicals, 1856        786

A1.3. Cost of Production of a Weekly Newspaper, 1851         787

A1.4. Old School Editors         789

A1.5. Agents of the Watchman of the South, 1837-1840        792

A1.6. Subscriptions to the True Witness and Presbyterian Sentinel, 1859-1860          796

A1.7. Subscriptions to Kentucky Newspapers, 1838 vs. 1849  799

 

A3.1. First Seminary Attended by Old School Ministers, 1838-1869    826

A3.2. Annual Old School Seminary Attendance, 1836-1870     827

 

A4.1. Southern Support for Presbyterial Academies in 1860     829

 

A6.1. Giving to the Boards of the Church by Region, 1836-1869          870

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS

 

 

Educational Institutions:

CNJ–College of New Jersey

CTS–Columbia Theological Seminary

DTS–Danville Theological Seminary

NWTS–Northwest Theological Seminary (Chicago, IL)

PTS–Princeton Theological Seminary

WTS–Western Theological Seminary (Allegheny, PA)

UTS–Union Theological Seminary (Hampden-Sydney, VA)

 

Periodicals:

AHR--American Historical Review

BLRM--Baltimore Literary and Religious Magazine      

BRPR--Biblical Repertory and Princeton Review         

BRTR--Biblical Repertory and Theological Review      

CA--Christian Advocate                                              

CH--Church History

CMM--Christian Monthly Magazine                

CO--Charleston Observer                                           

CP--Central Presbyterian                                            

DQR--Danville Quarterly Review                                

JAH--Journal of American History

JPH--Journal of Presbyterian History

NYO--New York Observer                                        

P&H--Protestant and Herald                           

PA--Presbyterian Advocate                             

PB--Presbyterian Banner                                 

PH--Presbyterian Herald                                 

PM--Presbyterian Magazine                            

PW--Presbyterian of the West             

SCH--Southern Christian Herald                                 

SPR--Southern Presbyterian Review                

SRT--Southern Religious Telegraph                 

SXC--Spirit of the XIXth Century                   

W&O--Watchman and Observer                    

WS--Watchman of the South

 

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

 

            My interest in Old School Presbyterianism began while an undergraduate at Wheaton College, serving as a research assistant to Mark Noll and D. G. Hart. Through researching Civil War era attitudes toward slavery in various religious periodicals and doing background research and writing for the Dictionary of the Presbyterian and Reformed Tradition in America, I became fascinated–and somewhat perplexed–with the Old School.

            I am grateful to James Turner, my advisor, for overseeing this project and providing incisive criticism, both of content and style. My dissertation committee has been a great encouragement in the process. David Waldstreicher offered helpful comments on an earlier draft of the dissertation. Rounds of golf with George Marsden often included useful discussions of academic matters as well. Mark Noll graciously took time from his busy schedule to serve as my outside reader. I would also like to thank Gail Bederman, Thomas Blantz, Brian Daley, Nathan Hatch, and Robert Kerby for their participation in my professional formation.

            The archival research for this dissertation was delightful. Dr. Mark Valeri of Union-PSCE in Richmond, Virginia, opened doors and facilitated our year-long stay in Richmond. The stimulating interaction with the members of the Institute for Reformed Theology’s Colloquium on the Reformed Tradition and Public Ethics provided a useful intellectual context for thinking about the moral reasoning of Old School Presbyterians. Lois Bedel in the housing office, and Roger Pittard, Tiffin Cooper, and Paula Skreslet in the library were of invaluable assistance. Thanks also are due to Kenneth Ross and the rest of the staff at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia for their patient and friendly labors during my three month sojourn in their archives.

            William Harris, the former archivist at Princeton Theological Seminary, and his staff were of immense service at an earlier juncture in my research. The library staffs at Centre College, Princeton, Louisville, McCormick, and Pittsburgh Theological Seminaries, the Special Collections Library at Duke University and the Presbyterian Historical Society in Montreat, North Carolina provided cordial assistance during research trips. The interlibrary loan office at Notre Dame gave prompt attention to my requests.

            The Intellectual History Seminar and the Colloquium on Religion and History at Notre Dame read and listened to various portions of this dissertation as it took shape. Their comments have been invaluable. Questions and comments from the floor at the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic and at the American Society of Church History also proved useful, especially the responses from James D. Bratt and James O. Farmer, Jr. I am grateful for the regular conversations with R. Bryan Bademan, Thomas Kidd, Kurt Petersen, and several other members of the Notre Dame History Department’s informal golf association.

            Thanks are also due to those who provided the financial support to make a project of this magnitude possible. A Presidential Fellowship from the University of Notre Dame and a fellowship from the Pew Younger Scholars’ Program enabled me to devote my energies to research and writing, while a Zahm Travel Grant in the Winter of 2003 provided for my expenses in finishing the primary source research in Pittsburgh and North Carolina.

            It was largely due to this generosity that I had the time to put together a database of Old School ministers and congregations. After spending over a thousand hours in data entry, I discovered that my initial structure was fatally flawed. Leonard Dalenberg cheerfully provided technical expertise in re-engineering my database, at a very generous discount from his regular rate. I hope to be able to make this information more widely available to researchers shortly.

            Grace Reformed Church in Walkerton, Indiana, my first pastorate, deserves credit for reminding me of those things that are truly important–and also for surprising me with an invaluable set of research tools, the complete Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church from 1836-1916. By asking me to preach as their stated supply since the fall of 2001, Michiana Covenant Church in South Bend initially helped make me more productive by putting me a regular schedule, but as one might expect, the duties of pastoral ministry also slowed me down. In particular, I must express my deepest thanks for the friendship and encouragement of the Rev. Glenn Jerrell of Walkerton and Dr. Andrew Deliyannides of South Bend.

            The Rev. Howard Griffith and the congregation of All Saints Reformed Presbyterian Church in Richmond made us feel welcome during our sojourn in Virginia, as did the congregation of Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, where I preached for three months. The Rev. Michael and Mary Obel of Gwynedd Valley Orthodox Presbyterian Church graciously offered us hospitality for the entire three months of our stay in Philadelphia. The scotch, cigars, and delightful conversations on the back porch helped keep me from living entirely in the nineteenth century that summer (whisky had largely vanished from the Presbyterian church by 1837).

            My parents, William K. Wallace and Lorna A. Loram, as well as my in-laws, David and Lois Shank, have encouraged my historical curiosity. Since the latter reside in Virginia, they have frequently borne the imposition of my family while I made forays into the eastern libraries listed above.

            Anna Yelena, Robert Connall and William Andrew have each joined the dissertation team at a different stage. Lena arrived in time to witness the birth of the project, Robert emerged during the research year in Virginia, and William popped out as the first draft was finally taking a clear shape. Few joys compare with those of fatherhood.

            But one that surpasses them is the joy of being married to Virginia Lee Wallace. Martin Luther once called Katherine von Bora, “my epistle to the Galatians.” I think I now understand what he meant.