The Pewee
Valley Presbyterian Church – or as Annie Fellows Johnston frequently
describes it, “the little stone church with its ivy-covered belfry” --
appears many times throughout the “Little Colonel” stories. Sometimes,
she merely refers to it as a landmark, such as in this passage from
Chapter V of “The
Little Colonel at Boarding School”:
…From the
post-office door, looking across the road to a grassy ridge beyond,
one could see the big inn that the year before had been turned into a
home for old Confederate soldiers.
Farther on was the wide green slope of the churchyard, and the little
stone church with its ivy-covered belfry. The manse stood just behind
it. Next to that was the cottage with
the high green gables and diamond-shaped window-panes, where the
Waltons had lived one summer while
their new house was being built. And next to the cottage was the new
house itself, set away back in the great grove of trees which gave to
the place the name of "The
Beeches."
Other
times, she uses it as the setting for events in the stories, such as
this scene from
Chapter XV of “The Little
Colonel at Boarding School”:
…In the hard work
that followed after their return to school, time slipped by so fast
that Thanksgiving Day came surprisingly soon. Nearly all the pupils
and teachers went home for the short vacation, or visited friends in
Louisville. Even the president and his wife went away. Only six girls
besides Lloyd and
Betty were left to follow the matron to
church on Thanksgiving morning.
It was a lonesome
walk. A Sabbath-like stillness pervaded the quiet Valley, and the
ringing of the bell in the ivy-grown belfry of the little stone
church, and the closed doors at the
post-office, gave the girls the feeling that Sunday had somehow
come in the middle of the week. As they crossed the road toward the
iron gate leading into the churchyard, Lloyd looked up past the manse
toward The Beeches, hoping for a glimpse of the Walton girls. Then she
remembered that Allison had told her that they were all going to town
to celebrate the day with her Aunt
Elise, and the feeling of being left out of everybody's good times
began to weigh heavily upon her.
No smoke was
coming out of any of the chimneys, either at
The Beeches or
Edgewood. When she thought of Locust,
also cold and empty, with no fire on its hospitable hearths, no feast
on its ample table, no cheer anywhere within its walls, and her family
far away, a wave of homesickness swept ever her that brought a mist
over her eyes. She could scarcely see as they went up the steps.
Mrs. Bond, with
her usual dread of being late, had hurried them away from the
seminary much too soon. Not
more than half a dozen carriages had driven into the grove around the
little country church when they reached the door, and only a few
people were waiting inside. As Lloyd sat in the solemn silence that
was broken only now and then by a stifled cough or the rustle of a
turning leaf, she had hard work to battle back the tears. But with a
sudden determination to overcome such a feeling, she sat up very
straight in the end of the pew, and pressed her lips together hard.
"It's almost
wicked of me," she thought, "to feel so bad about the one thing I
can't have when there are a thousand other things that ought to make
me happy. It's only a pah't of my bo'ding school experiences, and will
be ovah in a little while. I don't suppose anybody in church has moah
to be thankful for than I have."
She glanced
furtively across the aisle. "I'm thankful that I'm not that old Mistah
Saxon with his wooden leg, or that poah little Mrs. Crisp in the
cawnah, with five children to suppo't, and one of them a baby that has
fits."
Her gaze wandered
down the opposite aisle. "And I'm suah it's something to be thankful
for not to have a nose like Libbie Simms, or such a fussy old fathah
as Sue Bell Wade has to put up with. And I'm glad I haven't such pooh
taste as to make a rainbow out of myself, wearing so many different
colahs at once as Miss McGill does. Five different shades of red on
the same hat are enough to set one's teeth on edge. I believe I could
go on all day, counting the things I'm glad I haven't got; and as for
the things I have ---" She began checking them off on her fingertips.
There was a handful before she had fairly begun to count; home,
family, perfect health, the love of many friends, the opportunities
that filled every day to the brim.
The organist
pulled out the stops and began playing an old familiar chant as a
voluntary. As the full, sweet chords filled the church Lloyd could
almost hear the words rising with the music:
"My cup runneth
over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life."
As the music
swelled louder, her counting was interrupted by the opening of the
door and the entrance of several generations of the
Moore family, who had come back to
Oaklea for a Thanksgiving reunion. It
seemed good to Lloyd to see the old
judge's white head gleaming like silver in its accustomed pew.
His benign face fairly radiated cheerfulness and good-will as he took
his place once more among his old neighbours.
Rob walked just behind him, so tall
and erect, it seemed to Lloyd that he must have grown several inches
in the three short months since they had cut the last notches in the
measuring-tree. As he turned to throw his overcoat across the back of
the seat, his quick glance spied Lloyd and Betty several pews in the
rear, and he flashed them a smile of greeting. At the same time, so
quickly and deftly that Mrs. Bond did not see the motion, he held up a
package that be had carried in under his overcoat, and instantly
dropped it out of sight again on the seat. Then he straightened
himself up beside his grandfather, as if he were a model of decorum.
Lloyd and Betty
exchanged a meaning glance which seemed to say, "That five-pound box
of Huyler's best he promised us;" and Lloyd found herself wondering
several times during the long service how he would manage to present
it. That problem did not worry Rob, however. As the congregation
slowly moved down the aisles and out into the vestibule, he elbowed
his way to Mrs. Bond, standing beside her eight charges like a
motherly old hen.
"Good morning,
Mrs. Bond," he exclaimed, in his straightforward, boyish way. "You're
going to take me under your wing and let me walk to the gate with
Betty and Lloyd, aren't you! I'll be as good as grandfather if you
will, and I'll even take him along if it's necessary to have anybody
to vouch for me."
His mischievous
smile was so irresistible that she gave him a motherly pat on the
shoulder. "Run along," she exclaimed laughingly. "I'll follow
presently. There are several people I want to speak to first."
Of course,
true “Little Colonel” fans know that the little stone church was where
the Little Colonel married Rob Moore in
Chapter XV of
“The Little Colonel’s Knight
Comes Riding”:
…It was just a
quiet church wedding, as simple as it could possibly be made, in the
late afternoon of one of the sweetest, goldenest October days that
ever shone on the Valley. Only her most intimate friends were invited
to the ceremony, because the little stone church is so small, but the
doors were thrown open to everybody at the reception that followed at
The Locusts.
Since the church
has been frescoed inside and done over in soft cool greens, it makes
me think of the heart of a deep beech woods. The light slips in
through its narrow deep-set windows just as it does between the trees
in the dim forest aisles. Lloyd wouldn't have it filled with hothouse
roses. She said nothing could be as appropriate as the wild flowers
growing all around it in the country lanes and meadows. So there was
nothing but tall plumes of goldenrod nodding in every open window,
while the altar was a bank of snowy asters. She wanted them she said
because aster means star, and it was at the altar her happiness would
be written for her in the stars.
She said, too,
that as long as it was in the country and she needn't think of the
conventions and could have things just as she pleased, she wanted it
to be a white wedding --- everybody in the bridal party to wear white.
She said the old Colonel wouldn't
look natural to her in anything else that time of year and all the
others would appear to better advantage. Every one said afterward what
a beautiful picture it made. Rob and
Malcolm and Keith and
Ranald and Alex
are all handsome young fellows anyhow, and they looked bigger and
handsomer than ever in their immaculate white suits. Malcolm was best
man and I was maid of honour. Kitty and Joyce and Katie Mallard were
the bridesmaids. We girls carried armfuls of the starry asters and the
men wore them as boutonnieres.
As for Lloyd, when
she came out of her room, her dress trailing behind her like a soft,
pure-white cloud, so light and airy it seemed as if it must have been
woven on some fairy loom, and with a great cluster of
lilies-of-the-valley in her hands, she looked to me just like one of
her own lilies. Poor old Mom Beck, who
had dressed her, stood behind her with the tears streaming down her
black face, saying, "Honey, you sho'ly nevah will look moah like a
blessed angel when you git through the pearly gates than you do this
minute!"
From the look on
Rob's face as he met her at the white starry-crowned altar, I am sure
he felt that he had already gone through "the pearly gates." It was
all so sweet and solemn, and as we listened to the words, "Whom God
hath joined together," I think we all felt that heaven's own
benediction rested on them, and would follow them all their way to the
"Land o' the Leal."
Just as
the Pewee Valley Presbyterian Church played an important role in the
“Little Colonel” series, so did many of its members, who included
Kate Matthews, or “Katherine Marks”
in the stories; Judge Peter Brown Muir
or “Judge Moore”;
Annie Craig or “Grandmother
McIntyre; and her daughter Fannie Craig
or “Miss Allison.” Annie Fellows Johnston
herself was also a member, according to "The United Presbyterian Church
in Pewee Valley 1866-1966 100th Anniversary" booklet, portions of which
are reprinted below:
History of the
Pewee Valley Church
Pewee Valley is a
suburban village eighteen miles from Louisville. The streets of the
village, extending north and south along the LaGrange Road, are lined
with tall trees forming Gothic Arches as they meet in the center. There
is peach and serenity about the village which, in the latter part of the
(20th) century, drew people away from the city to spend summers in the
country. Other people had permanent residences nestled among the trees
back from the street. There was a white wooden fence in front of each
place, and stone gate posts marked the entrance.
To this charming
spot in November of 1886 came a committee from the Presbytery of
Louisville to consider organizing a church there. The committee
consisted of the Rev. J. L. McKee, the Rev. James Lapley, and Elder J.
B. Kinkade. A congregation was organized and officers were elected. On
November 17, 1866, the Session met in the
Methodist Church in Rollington, a
small village north of Pewee Valley, and formally organized the
Presbyterian Church of Pewee Valley. Among the organizing members were
Alexander Craig,
Annie Craig, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Rohrer (who owned
The Locust), Miss Sarah McKee, Mr. Charles B. Cotton (who
was the son-in-law of poet W. D.
Gallagher
and
owned the land where the
Villa Ridge Inn and Confederate home later stood) , Miss Jennie
Cotton, Mr. Thomas Barclay and Miss Jennie Mitchell.
While the church was
being built, services were held in what in now the Parish House. It was
built for a school where Mrs. Magruder, a sister of
Judge Peter B. Muir, taught. Later it
was used as a manse from the time of Dr. Cleland, 1884, until Dr. Hoge
came in 1907....
Many laymen have
contributed to the life of the Pewee Valley Presbyterian Church as
Sunday School teachers, officers in the church or workers in the Women's
Organization, but few have contributed as much as
Miss Mary T. Cleland. A
history of the church would not be complete without mentioning the work
and influence of "Miss Mamie." She came to the church when her father
came as pastor in 1884. From then until her death in 1856 she exerted an
influence for good in the church and community. It was through her
benevolence and generosity that the Manse
on Maple Avenue came to the church. She gave encouragement and
support to the young ministers who served the church. She kept a kindly
eye on the young people of the church and was an influence for good in
them. Her life has had a lasting effect on the life of her beloved
church....
The records show
that enrollment of the Sunday School varied from 115 to 145...The Sunday
School Staff for many years consisted of Superintendent, Secretary,
Librarian and Teachers. The Superintendents have been men who have been
active in all phases of work in the church.
Mr. H. M. Woodruff was
superintendent in 1888, Mr. E. H.
Matthews and Mr. F. E. Gatchel
served as superintendents alternately from 1917 until Mr. Matthews'
death in 1933. Mr. Gatchel continued as superintendent until his death
in 1947. Mr. Gatchel was also Sunday School teacher for the young
people...
There have been many
Sunday School teachers who have given years of dedicated and devoted
service in teaching both children and adults;
Miss Fannie Craig, Judge P. B. Muir, J. H. Rohrer, Mrs. J. M.
Armstrong, T. H. Cleland and C. B. Cotton were some of the teachers in
the years 1868 through 1894. In the early years of the nineteen
hundreds: Cary Hoge,
Mrs. Annie Fellows Johnston,
Miss Kate Matthews, and E. H. Matthews were teachers, with
Mrs. Cleland still teaching
the Primary Class.
Until about 1929 all
the Sunday School classes were held in the various corners of the
sanctuary. Mrs. Cleland's Primary Class met to the right of the organ
and Mrs. Grundy's
(Mrs. Grundy was Louise Cleland's
stepdaughter)
class met to the
left of the organ. In 1927 when Mrs. Cleland became ill, she had been
teaching the Primary Class in the Pewee Valley Church for forty-two
years....
It is interesting to
note that there has always been a Church Library.
Miss Fannie Craig served as librarian in her lifetime....
The Women of the
Church
The Women of the
Church have manifested their faith through the stewardship of their time
and money. An earlier history of the church written by
Miss Kate Matthews and Mrs. Bessie Wood contains some items which
bear out this statement:
"The young people
workers in the Pewee Valley Church in 1888 were known as the Busy Bees,
comprising about fifteen in number. The older people were known as the
Missionary Society, about 12 in number."
"In 1894 the Busy
Bees merged into the King's Daughters; then the King's Daughters became
the Ladies Aid Society in 1909, doing local benevolences, etc."
"Money was raised by
the sale of the Little Colonel post cards, suppers, food sales, bazaars,
movies, rummage sales, ice cream fetes, valentine parties, Easter
festivals, Dr. Cotton's annual suppers for his students, white elephant
sales, cafeteria suppers, colonial teas, silver teas, traveling baskets,
and sums made individually by the turn-over of a fifty cent piece and
later on a quarter."
"All the prominent
members of the Presbyterian Church were always willing to work. The
names of all the presidents are as follows (through 1939): Mrs. J.
M. Armstrong, Mrs. Blanch Smith,
Mrs. Reynard, Mrs. H. W. Woodruff, Mrs. T. H. Cleland, Miss Fanny Craig,
Mrs. Thomas Floyd Smith, Mrs. Morris Gifford, Mrs. W. K. Allen,
Mrs. Jacob Herdt, Mrs. C.
M. Osborn, Miss Lillian Fletcher,
Miss Mary T. Cleland, Mrs. William Herdt, Mrs. O. M. Tomlinson (first
auxiliary president)."
Miss Kate Matthews
was treasurer for sixty years. When she retired, a gift in her honor was
given to the Seminary for the student loan fund to help individual
students when times of financial crisis arose.
Music of the
Church
There are many who
must be remembered for their ministry to the church through music. One
of the first organists was Russell Armstrong. In the late eighteen
hundreds and early nineteen hundreds,
Miss Fannie Craig was the organist. In 1908 an Aeolian organ
was given to the church by
Mr. and Mrs. S .A. Culbertson in memory of Alice Craig Gatchel
(her
photo with Annie and Fannie Craig)
and more about her
tragic
death at age 28.
Miss Fannie Craig played it until the new electric organ was bought in
1925. A tribute to her is found on the plaque on the organ with the
inscription, "Her whole life was a service of love."
Biographies of
the Pastors and Stated Supplies of the Church during the Little Colonel
and Annie Fellows Johnston years:
1885-1892
Dr. Thomas Horace Cleland
Dr. Thomas Horace
Cleland was born Dec. 19, 1816 in Mercer County, Kentucky. When he was
sixteen, he joined the Presbyterian Church of New Providence, Kentucky.
He was graduated from Centre College in 1838. After spending two years
in Lane Theological Seminary, he entered Princeton in 1840 for his third
year. He was ordained at Grier's Creek, Kentucky, on November 12, 1841.
He taught in the high school in Lebanon, Kentucky and was stated supply
at Bethel and Lebanon, Kentucky. During the years 1884 and 1885 he did
work as an evangelist in Kansas and Kentucky. he was pastor of the Pewee
Valley Presbyterian Church from 1885 until his death in 1892. He
received an honorary degree of D.D. from Hanover College, Indiana.
1892-1899
The Rev. James Curry Randolph
The Rev. J.C.
Randolph was born in Mercer County, Kentucky in 1830. He was graduated
from Centre College in 1852 as valedictorian of his class. He taught at
Stanford and Nicholasville, Kentucky. He was the first student to
matriculate in the Danville Theological Seminary, where he was graduated
in 1856. After the war (Civil), he was elected to chair of mathematics
in Centre, which he held for nearly twenty years. At the same time, he
was pastor of the church at Lancaster, Kentucky. He served the
Presbyterian Church in Shelbyville, Kentucky, for a short time before he
was called to the Pewee Valley Church in 1892. He preached there until
failing health compelled him to give up his work in 1899. He died in
1902.
1900-1907
The Rev. Cyrus Murry Creighton
The Rev. Cyrus Murry
Creighton was born in 1873, was graduated from Park College in 1897 and
the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1900. Park College
gave him an honorary D.D. degree, and after his ordination in 1900, he
held pastorates in Pewee Valley, Kentucky (1900-1907) Ypsilanti,
Michigan (1907-1911) and Newark, New York (1913-1926). He died in 1926.
1907-1929
Dr. Peyton Harrison Hoge, D.D.
Dr.
Peyton H. Hoge, Pastor and Pastor Emeritus of Pewee Valley Church
from 1907-1929, was born on January 6, 1854 at Hampden Sidney,
Virginia. He worked his way through Hamden Sidney College and the
Theological Seminary at Richmond Virginia. He was ordained and installed
as pastor of Grace Mission, which is now the Grace Covenant Presbyterian
Church of Richmond, Virginia. In 1884 he was called to succeed Dr.
Joseph R. Wilson, father of Woodrow Wilson, as pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church at Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1899 he was called
to the
Warren Memorial Presbyterian Church, (formerly at Fourth and
Broadway, Louisville Kentucky.) (webmaster's
note:
The Culbertson's/Two
Little Knights of Kentucky family were members of The Warren Memorial,
and one would suppose many of the Little Colonel folks attended there if
they were in Louisville on a Sunday Morning)
As a member of the
Board of Trustees of the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, he was
chairman of the building and fund raising committee and was responsible
for planning and building of the Quadrangle at First and Broadway. A
Homiletics class room in the Caldwell Chapel of the new Seminary is
dedicated to his memory.
In his retirement
sermon, Dr. Hoge claimed one virtue, "I have preached Christ." His
scholarly sermons were characterized by the depth of his understanding
of what it meant to preach Christ. During his ministry to the Pewee
Valley Church, he made significant contributions to the music program by
both directing the choir, his own singing, and setting certain parts of
the Psalms to music.
Recent view
of the church. The manse still stands to the rear, and further
back is "The
Gables."
Today, the
little stone church that so captured Annie Fellows Johnston’s
imagination is well on its way to reaching its sesquicentennial. Sunday
school and worship services continue each week and fish fries are still
held on the occasional Friday night. At midnight on Christmas Eve, the
usually silent ivy-covered belfry awakens and the bell peals “glad
tidings of great joy” which can be heard throughout the Valley.
Twice
every Sunday, the ivy-covered belfry calls the congregation to worship,
and at midnight on Christmas Eve, the bell peals “glad tidings of
great joy” which can be heard throughout the Valley.
For more
information on the church today, visit their website at
http://www.peweevalleypresbyterian.org/about.asp.
Page by Donna Russell
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