292 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
FRANCIS CHARLES SESSIONS.*
BY WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D. D., LL. D.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house;
They will be still praising thee.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Passing through the Valley of Weeping they make
it a place of springs;
Yea the early rain covereth it with blessings;
They go from strength to strength;
Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.
- Ps. lxxxiv, 4 -7.
This poet has found a happy man. Such men are not rare;
even in these unquiet times it is not needful to search for them
by day with lanterns. Yet it may well be questioned whether in
the days when cares were fewer and life was simpler, there were
not more who took time to be happy--more who found out,
before it was too late, that it was worth while to be happy.
This poet's happy man was one who spent his life in the
Lord's house. Possibly the poet was some dweller on the slopes
of distant Hermon, or among the vales of rugged Gilead, who
only two or three times a year was permitted to stand in the
portals of the Lord's house. From the time of the establish-
ment of the one central sanctuary at Jerusalem, the hearts of the
people turned with increasing attachment to its stately courts
* Mr. Sessions was elected First Vice President of Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Society at its annual meeting February 18, 1886. At its
annual meeting February 24, 1887, he was chosen President, succeeding
the Hon. Allen G. Thurman, the society's distinguished first president.
Mr. Sessions held the office of president continuously till his death March
25, 1892. He discharged the duties of his position with great zeal and
ability. He was ever ready, by his counsel, his means and his influence,
to advance the interests of the society and to his generous and enthusiastic
efforts are largely due the growth and prosperity of the organization. The
memorial address herewith published was delivered by Dr. Gladden in the
First Congregational Church of which Mr. Sessions was a most active
member. E. 0. R.
Francis Charles Sessions. 293
and its solemn services; the temple held
within itself the con-
summation of their hopes, and the
expression of their highest
thoughts; it was the memorial of their
life in the desert, and of
their deliverance from Egypt; it was the
symbol of all that made
their national life memorable and
sublime; it was the place
where was manifested to them with
peculiar power the presence
and the glory of the God of their
fathers. All the religious
enthusiasm of this deeply religious
people was focussed upon
these hills of Zion. This was the only
place where sacrifices
could be offered; the only place where
the solemn ritual of their
worship could be performed. It was a
thrilling moment when
the boy, coming up to one of the feasts,
first set his foot within
these sacred enclosures; and the time
never came in the life of
the loyal Hebrew when his heart did not
turn with longing to
the house of the Lord. Going to church
is a very commonplace
matter with us who have from one to a
dozen church spires
almost always in sight. It was a very
different thing to the
Hebrew who dwelt in some remote town of
Palestine, and to
whom the one Holy City with its one
temple was only now and
then the goal of a long pilgrimage. Such
an one might natur-
ally think the man to be happy who could
spend his life within
sight of its pillared porches and its
golden pinnacle. And this
poet seems also to have learned that
there was something in the
influences of that house which gave to
life added cheerfulness
and benignity. The men who found their
inspiration in its wor-
ship were men who made the world in
which they lived a happier
world. " Passing through the valley
of weeping," he cries, "they
make it a place of springs." The
meaning is somewhat obscure,
but he seems to say that the good man,
whose delight is in
the service of the house of God, is one
who helps turn the vale
of tears into a place of fountains-into
a genial region where
joy springs forth unstinted and
perennial. That, surely, is the
scriptural conception of the man whose
life is fed from the
eternal hills. The Old Testament saints
and prophets never lose
their hold upon this thought. The notion
of some modern
religionists that the godly man is one
who makes himself and
his neighbors as doleful as he can while
he lives-who goes
about singing,
294 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
"I'm but a stranger here,
Heaven is my home;
Earth is a desert drear,
Heaven is my home"-
and spends all his energies in getting
people ready for life in
some other world-never entered the heads
of the men who
wrote the Psalms and Prophecies. To them
the chief function
of the godly man was to make a better
world of this. They
tested his piety by proofs of his power
to brighten the acres that
surrounded his dwelling, and to send
forth the streams of his
bounty "to fatten lower
lands;" it was a sign that he was a
saint, if the wilderness and the
solitary place were glad for him
and the desert, where the feet touched
its arid waste, rejoiced
and blossomed as the rose.
If all the people who think that the Old
Testament is obso-
lete would get some of these ruling
ideas of the Old Testament
revelation into their heads, this would
soon be a better world for
all of us.
It has been my duty to-night to speak of
a happy life which
has just ended. It is not an easy task
to speak fittingly and
adequately of any man's life. There are
very few people whom
we know well enough to be able to judge
them justly. We are
not omniscient, and our reading of other
men's motives is often
at fault. Most of us are swift enough to
form and utter our
estimates of other men's characters;
very often in doing so, we
only reveal our own. "Judge not
that ye be not judged," is a
maxim of tremendous import. How often a
man, in pronoun-
cing judgment upon his neighbor, lays
bare his own narrowness,
meanness, jealousy, pusillanimity. What
he has said about his
neighbor does his neighbor no harm at
all, for nobody heeds it;
but it does him far more damage than any
slander that other lips
could utter about him. Wise men are
therefore slow to judge
their fellows. Yet, since the life is
always the light of men, the
study of human lives is always the most
inspiring of studies,
and our study must involve some estimate
of the qualities
revealed in the lives that we are
studying. that I must attempt
tonight. I would fain speak truthfully
and temperately. I de-
sire to avoid over-praise. I would
rather that my words should
Francis Charles Sessions. 295
seem to you an under-statement than an
over-statement. It
is true that I cannot pretend to be a
cool, impartial critic. The
man of whom I speak was my friend-one of
the best friends I
ever had. I cannot promise that the
pulsations of my heart will
not be audible in these words.
Nevertheless, because I loved
him, I will try to avoid doing him the
injustice of exaggerating
his virtues. He was not a perfect man. I
know no such man.
He had his faults and weaknesses. To
these we who loved and
honored him were not blind. But I am not
here to exhibit the
defects in his character. I shall try to
keep within the truth in
what I say, but I am not going to try to
tell the whole truth.
Some things can be taken for granted by
all judicious listeners.
To tell the whole truth you know about
any man whom you
know well, living or dead, would be an
outrage. I think my
friend could bear the exposure better
than most men; but no
interest, whether of art or history,
makes any such demand.
Mr. Sessions was a New Englander of
purest stock. There
was not, so far as I can trace his
lineage, a drop of blood in his
veins that came across the ocean later
than 1700. There are
indications that his race was a sturdy
race. A great great uncle
of Mr. Sessions was Governor of Rhode
Island; in all parts of
the country we find them men of
substance and character. Of
one of them, John by name, who was a
deacon in the Congre-
gational Church in Westminster, Vermont,
and a man of some
eminence in the neighborhood, the
following incident is related:
"In a time when provision was very
scarce in that section of
the country, when they had little to eat
but potatoes and salt,
the good deacon saw a deer come out of
the woods near his
house, late one Sunday afternoon; he
seized his gun and shot
the deer. For this the church brought
him up for discipline.
He pleaded that it was a work of
necessity and of mercy, and
that he was justified in killing this
game, so providentially
brought within reach of his trusty gun,
even if it was before
sunset on Sunday. The church, however,
instructed the pastor
to read the sentence of excommunication
on the following Sab-
bath. The deacon was asked to rise in
his pew while the sen-
tence was read, severing his relation to
the church for Sabbath
breaking. He arose, and as the pastor
was about to read, reach-
296 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
ing behind him he took his gun which he
had carried to the
meeting-house, leveled it at the
minister's head, and in the most
determined tone said, .' I forbid that
paper being read from the
pulpit.' The pastor quietly remarked:
'All things are lawful for
me, but all things are not expedient,
and I do not think it expe-
dient to read this paper.' The deacon
not only lived but died a
member and deacon of the church."*
The first American ancestor of this
family, Samuel Sessions,
came with Governor Winthrop and Deputy
Governor Dudley to
Massachusetts Bay in 1630, ten years
after the landing of the
Pilgrims. It would appear that a son of
this Samuel, by name
Alexander, was born in the ancient town of
Andover, Mass.,
about 1645; his name frequently appeared
upon the records of
Andover church and Andover town. In
April 24, 1672, an entry
is made of the marriage of Alexander
Sessions and Elizabeth
Spofford. To this pair were born seven
sons, the fifth of whom
was Nathaniel. His birth year was 1681,
and in 1704 he removed
to Pomfret, Connecticut, where he lived
to a great age, a thrifty
and highly respectable Yankee farmer.
The second or third
child of Nathaniel was Amasa, born in
1720; and the fifth child
of Amasa was Robert, born in 1752. In
1773, therefore, Robert
became, as the New Englanders say, his
own man, and found
his way to Boston where he was employed
as a common laborer
by a lumber merchant whose name was
Davis. This was the
summer of the famous "High
Tea" in Boston Harbor, a festivity
in which young Robert Sessions
participated. A town meeting
had been deliberating all day upon the
question of evading the
tea tax-and just at evening the citizens
came forth from their
fruitless debate to behold a procession
of what seemed to be
Mohawk Indians marching toward the wharf
where the tea-laden
vessel was moored. The rest of the story
may well be told in
the graphic words of Mr. Robert
Sessions, contributed years
after to a little volume entitled
"Tea Leaves."
"On that eventful evening when Mr.
Davis came in from
the town meeting I asked him what was to
be done with the tea.
They are now throwing it overboard,' he
replied. Receiving
*" Sessions Family in
America," p. 241.
Francis Charles Sessions. 297
permission, I went immediately to the
spot. Everything was as
light as day by the means of lamps and
torches; a pin might
have been seen lying on the wharf.
"I went on board where they were at
work and took hold
with my own hands. I was not one of
those appointed to
destroy the tea, and who disguised
themselves as Indians, but
was a volunteer, the disguised men being
largely men of family
and position in Boston, while I was a
young man whose home
and relations were in Connecticut. The
appointed and disguised
party proving too small for the quick
work necessary, other
young men, similarly circumstanced with
myself, joined them in
their labors.
"The chests were drawn up by a
tackle, one man bringing
them forward, another putting a rope
around them, and others
hoisting them to the deck and carrying
them to the vessel's side.
The chests were then opened, the tea
emptied over the side, and
the chests thrown overboard. Perfect
regularity prevailed during
the whole transaction. Although there
were many people on
the wharf, entire silence prevailed--no
clamor, no talking.
Nothing was meddled with but the teas on
board. After having
emptied the whole the deck was swept
clean, and everything put
in its proper place. An officer on board
was requested to come
up from the cabin and see that no damage
was done, except to
the tea.
"At about the close of the scene a
man was discovered
making his way through the crowd with
his pockets filled with
tea. He was immedately laid hold of and
his coat skirts torn
off with their pockets and thrown into
the dock with the rest of
the tea.
"I was obliged to leave the town at
once as it was of course
known that I was concerned in the
affair."
We have in these unstudied sentences a
very neat bit of
historical description. How perfectly
the moral perspective is
drawn.
These counterfeit Mohawks-how
far were they
removed from savagery! What a touch is
that which shows
them sweeping up the deck, putting
things to right, and calling
the officer to bear witness that no
injury had been done to vessel
or cargo! And what swift retribution for
the man making off
298 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
with his pockets full of tea! No Achans
in the camp of these
true Israelites! We must thank Mr.
Robert Sessions for a
realistic sketch which reveals to us
most strikingly the spirit of
the American revolution.
It is a modest testimony. We can easily
understand why
the young lumberman's intimacy with the
best society of Boston
was so very brief. Boston was not any
longer a healthy place
for him. He seems to have made his way
back to Connecticut,
and to have found a musket to shoulder
soon after the fight at
Lexington; he came out of the war with
the rank of Lieutenant,
found his home after his marriage in
1788, in South Wilbraham,
Mass., and there as Justice of the
Peace, Treasurer and Clerk of
the town, Representative for five years
in the Legislature at
Boston (where it had finally become safe
for him to reside), and
as the frequently chosen moderator of
the town meeting, he
enjoyed and justified the respect and
confidence of his townsmen
to the ripe old age of eighty-four.
Robert was the grandfather of our friend
and neighbor. The
grandfather lived until the grandson was
sixteen years of age;
the story of the war must have been
often rehearsed before the
open fire on winter evenings, and the
full tide of patriotic senti-
ment thus flowed steadily into the heart
of the boy in his most
impressible years.
The seventh son of Robert was Francis,
born in 1792. In
1818, he was married to Sophronia
Metcalf, a descendant of one
of the stanchest Connecticut families,
and Francis Charles Ses-
sions, born in South Wilbraham, February
27, 1820, was their
only child. The father died when the boy
was only two years
old, when a home was found for him in
the family of his uncle
Robert, a farmer near South Wilbraham.
The district school gave him the
rudiments of an education;
there was a plan of fitting him for the
ministry, but it was believed
that his health was hardly firm enough
to endure a full college
course, so he was sent to Monson
Academy, one of those excel-
lent secondary schools which once
abounded in New England,
where youth obtained an education not
inferior to that given in
many of our so-called universities of
the present day. It was a
school in which Richard S. Storrs became
a teacher immediately
Francis Charles Sessions. 299
after his graduation from college. I
think that Mr. Sessions was
a pupil of Dr. Storrs; at any rate their
acquaintance began at the
time when the latter was connected with
the institution. Mr.
Sessions graduated from the Academy at
the age of eighteen; for
the next two years he lived in the
neighborhood of his old home;
for a short time he was in business in
Springfield, the county-
seat; then the star of empire cast its
spell upon him, and in
1840, in the very heat of the Tippecanoe
campaign, by stage-
coach and canal-boat, he made the
tedious journey to the Buck-
eye State and landed here in Columbus,
in the month of October.
"At this date Columbus was a
straggling, bustling town of
about six thousand inhabitants. The town
centered about a
large central square, in the southwest
corner of which stood the
capitol buildings and the State offices.
North of what is now
Spring street, east of Fourth street,
south of the county build-
ings, could hardly be found a business
house; while dwellings
were far apart and in many places not to
be seen. On the west
was the Scioto river, on whose banks in
the southwestern part
of town were many warehouses and docks,
for at that time her
shipping trade was a considerable factor
in her growth. Up the
river, on its opposite bank, about a
mile to the northwest, lay
the village of Franklinton, now a part
of the city. Its age dates
back to 1797, and in its day it was the
county town, and the
chief place of importance in the Scioto
valley north of Circle-
ville." *
The directory for 1843 credits Columbus
with thirteen con-
gregations of worshippers, two of which
were of blacks; with
six small subscription schools, fifteen
free schools, enrolling
seven hundred scholars, one respectable
academy for males and
females, and a German Theological
Seminary-probably the
seed from which our Capital University
has grown. It reckons
up twenty-four dry goods stores, eight
groceries, forty provision
stores, two hardware stores, two drug
stores, two book stores,
two shoe stores, two iron stores,
"seventeen licensed taverns
where a little wet can be
had," twenty lawyers and twenty-one
doctors, including three or four
dentists.
* From a sketch by Mr. A. A. Graham in
the Magazine of Western
History, Vol. 4, p. 105.
300 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
Such were the dimensions and the
pretentious of the capital
of Ohio, when this Yankee boy of twenty
first set his feet upon
its soil. Doubtless it was a crude,
unshapely western town, with
very little style about it, and giving
small promise of the stately
city of to-day. There was no railroad
here-the Mad River
Railroad, the first in the state, from
Dayton to Sandusky, work
upon which was actively begun in 1835,
must have been com-
pleted about this time. The changes
which have taken place in
this municipality in the course of the
active life of this one cit-
izen, while not so startling as those
which have been witnessed
in many American cities, have been quite
notable. In the course
of the fifty-two years, Mr. Sessions saw
Columbus double its
population four times; it was sixteen
times as large when he saw
it last as when he saw it first; all the
great public buildings
which are now its decoration, have been
erected since he came;
the sprawling town which hugged the bank
of the Scioto has
stretched its trim pavements east and
west and north and south,
covering thousands of acres of this
fertile valley with the
symbols of thrift and enterprise; the
two turnpikes which were
then the arteries of traffic, by which
it communicated with the
west and the north-the National Road to
Wheeling and the
road to Sandusky-have given place to
thirteen railways; and
the volume of its business has
increased, I suppose, in a far
more rapid rate than the growth of its
population.
An uncle of Mr. Sessions, Mr. Rodney
Comstock, was re-
siding in Worthington; this was the
attraction by which his
steps were turned to this valley; he
came first upon a visit, but
was persuaded by his relatives to remain
and cast in his lot with
the fortunes of this young city.
Doubtless he had faith in its
future, and saw that here was a town of
which something could
be made. I shall not be disputed if I
say that he has had an im-
portant part in the development of our
municipal life. I do not
claim that Columbus is the handsomest or
the most virtuous city
in the country; "let another praise
thee, and not thine own
mouth;" but it is safe to say that
for whatever of comeliness or
of character it possesses, not a little
is due to the taste and enter-
prise and public spirit of our friend.
This much I will venture
to claim for him, that very few of our
citizens have been more
Francis Charles Sessions. 301
amply endowed with municipal pride and
patriotism. There
was not a man among us to whom the honor
and the welfare of
Columbus were more dear. You never saw
him walking along
the streets without feeling that he was
taking in all the beauty
of it with his quick comprehensive
glance; every improvement,
every adornment, every sign of the
prosperity of his neighbors
gave him unmixed satisfaction. Mr. Sessions had traveled
widely-more widely than most of us; he
had seen the best part
of the world-not the largest part--and
he always came home
from his wanderings with new love for
this city and a deeper
interest in its welfare. He was ready, I
believe, to do what he
could to make it a safer, a better and a
brighter place to live in.
This has always been his spirit during
the fifty-two years of his
residence. Some good portion of his
thought and life has been
given for more than half a century to
the upbuilding of this city
in all things pure and fair.
On his arrival he soon found employment
in one of the
leading dry goods stores, and within
three years had a store of
his own-under the firm name of Ellis,
Sessions & Co., upon
the ground where Mr. Westwater's
crockery store now stands.
Four years afterward, in August, 1847,
the young dry goods
merchant made for himself a home in the
city, bringing from
Worthington, Mary, daughter of Orange
Johnson, to share with
him its joys. Very desolate is that home
to-day, but the sorrow
that has turned its joy into mourning,
is one with which in this
public place we have no right to
intermeddle.
Nine years after his marriage, in 1856,
the year of the
Fremont campaign, Mr. Sessions disposed
of his interest in the
dry goods store and began trading in
wool. This was his occu-
pation until 1869, when the Commercial
National bank was
organized, and he was placed in the
responsible position which he
occupied until his death.
The career of Mr. Sessions as a business
man has been
honorable and successful. He was not a
daring operator, by
temperament he was cautious, and his
gains have been moderate;
but I hear no skepticism as to the
legitimacy of his methods
or the cleanness of his accumulations. I
believe that he has
striven to be just and honest in all his
dealings. More than this,
302 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
if I may credit the many testimonies
that have been uttered in
my hearing within the last week by
reputable persons, he has
made his business tributary to the
prosperity of many others, ex-
hibiting a large and generous trust in
young men; giving finan-
cial aid to many who had not much
security to offer except their
character; thinking, very often, in his
business transactions, not
only of the gains that he could make for
himself, but of the
service that he could render to others.
The testimony that has
come to me from business men whom he
aided in this way, when
they were first setting out in business
is abundant and gratifying.
I believe that Mr. Sessions found
pleasure in rendering services
of this kind; and the success of those
whom he helped to set
upon their feet was a constant
gratification to him.
I do not find that he ever held a
political office. He was a
trustee of the Institution for the Blind
and of the Institution
for the Deaf and Dumb; on both these
boards he rendered the
state gratuitous and efficient service.
Officers connected with
these institutions bear cordial
testimony to his painstaking
labors.
When the war broke out, the grandson of
Robert Sessions
found a patriotic opportunity. The
pulpit of the Congregational
church was very bold, about that time,
in its utterances. It was
not then considered good form,
hereabouts, for ministers to
speak strongly on public questions;
indeed it was not at all
prudent to do so; this pulpit has never
been a very prudent one,
I fear. The man who occupied it then,
Edward P. Goodwin,
was not a coward, and the trumpet that
he put to his lips gave
no uncertain sound. Mr. Sessions has
often spoken to me with
pride of the position which the church
took in those days; the
closer it kept to the front in every
patriotic movement the better
he liked it. When the Sanitary
Commission was organized,
he became the secretary of the Columbus
branch, and his serv-
ice in that arduous position is
remembered by those who were
living at that day. Dr. J. S. Newberry;
who had the charge of
the western branch, in his report, at
the close of the war, upon
the work of the Commission, makes
frequent and grateful
reference to the work of Mr. Sessions.
Says Dr. Newberry: "Mr. Sessions
was one of the earliest
Francis Charles Sessions. 303
volunteers who took the field to
minister to the wants of the
sick and suffering in the army. He
accompanied us on the
Allen Collier in our memorable trip to Fort Donelson, and went
to Pittsburgh Landing immediately after
the battle, where he
was connected with the great work
accomplished in the care of
the sick and wounded during the spring
and early summer of
1862. He also went with Dr. Smith to
Murfreesboro upon the
occasion of the battle of Stone River,
visited Virginia during the
second campaign in that State, as well
as most other important
points in our field of operation, always
as an earnest, hard-
working Good Samaritan."
A Soldiers' Home was established in this
city, during the
early days of the war, in which during
its existence no less than
25,649 different soldiers were
entertained-to whom were fur-
nished 34,982 lodgings and 99,863 meals.
Of this Dr. Newberry
testifies: "The establishment and
success of the Columbus
home was in a large degree due to the
efforts of Mr. F. C.
Sessions, a member of the Columbus
branch of the Sanitary
Commission, a gentleman who was one of
the earliest volunteers
in the cause of humanity called out by
the war, and who, during
its entire continuance, by his labors on
battlefields, in camps and
hospitals, while he sacrificed his
personal interests and his health,
won for himself the respect and
admiration of all who knew him.
"His name frequently appears on the
records of the work
of the Sanitary Commission at the West,
in which, though an
unpaid member, he was a most earnest and
faithful worker, and
it is probable there are few to whom
this imperfect tribute will
convey any new impression in regard to
the value of the services
which he rendered to the cause of the
country and humanity
during the war.
"Throughout the existence of the
home at Columbus, Mr.
Sessions gave it his constant
supervision, and he was, in fact, its
outside superintendent and
manager."
Such service as this, rendered to the
country at great sacri-
fice, often with great peril, but
without bounty and without
remuneration of any kind, was not rare
in those days; but it is
probable that few men in this community
gave a larger measure
of it than Francis C. Sessions. I never
heard him boast of it; I
304 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
am sure that he gave it heartily, with
no thought that he
deserved any praise; with the feeling
that he was simply paying
in part that debt of love which every
patriot owes to his native
land.
Mr. Sessions has been a constant helper
in our local philan-
thropies. He was President for a time of
our Humane Society;
he was a trustee of the Home for the
Friendless; he has always
been one of those to whom every
charitable enterprise made its
first and most confident appeal.
As a lover of sweetness and light we owe
much to him.
Fair culture, sound learning found in
him a friend. He was a
trustee, at the time of his death, of
Marietta College and of
Oberlin College; he had been, I believe,
a trustee of Wilberforce
University, the institution at Xenia,
for the education of colored
students. In all these institutions he
was a wise counselor; he
gave much time and thought very freely
to their interests.
Although his early associations had
afforded him few oppor-
tunities of cultivating his tastes for
literature and art, these
humanities took a strong hold upon his
mind, and every year
revealed an increasing interest in them.
He was a lover of good
books, and he read many of them. Few
active business men
give so much time to this elevating and
refining occupation.
Reading was something more than pastime
with him; he read
for the knowledge that gives power; for
truth that should guide
his judgment and ripen his intellect.
And by his reading he
gained for himself some good facility in
expression, and came to
cherish a laudable ambition to make
books as well as to read
them. Those which he has left us-the
records of his travel-
show us the keen observer and the
interested student of men and
things. The critic of Harper's
Monthly says of the first of these
volumes, that "it is such as we
might expect from almost any
of our clear-headed and sensible men of
business, writing for
the entertainment of friends at home.
Lively, concise, straight-
forward, touching lightly but
intelligently upon a multiplicity
of topics, without falling into
sentimentality on the one hand or
lapsing into prosaic literature on the
other; it is an unaffected,
agreeable record of travel." Mr.
Sessions found great pleasure
in these literary diversions; I am sure
that they were much less
Francis Charles Sessions. 305
questionable amusements than those upon
which hard working
men sometimes employ their leisure.
To art as well as to letters, this
business man paid graceful
homage. He was a constant patron of the
Art Association of
this city; to his active interest and
substantial aid it has been
largely indebted. His home bears
testimony to his enthusiastic
love of good art. I suppose that no
other house in the city con-
tains so large and valuable a collection
of pictures. Any artist
or critic, knowing the environment of
our friend during all his
early years, and realizing that he had
never had any artistic
training, would think it remarkable that
a man with money, let
loose in the galleries and studios of
two continents, should have
made so choice a selection, It will be
freely acknowledged that
Mr. Sessions has helped to cultivate in
Columbus a taste for
refined pleasures, a love of the
beautiful.
I have no time this evening to tell the
story of the services
of Mr. Sessions to this church, and to
the cause of religion in
this city. I risk nothing in saying that this was the deepest
interest of his life. In nothing else
was his heart and mind and
soul and strength so thoroughly enlisted
as in the work of build-
ing here in the world the kingdom of
heaven.
Mr. Sessions became a member of the
church in his Massa-
chusetts home, before he came to
Columbus. Here he first con-
nected himself with the Second
Presbyterian Church, then under
the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock;
from that church he
came forth, with a colony of forty-two,
to form the Third Pres-
byterian Church, whose local habitation
was a small building on
Third street, near Gay. That church in a
very short time deter-
mined to change its organization, and in
1852 became the First
Congregational Church, at the same time
securing the ground on
Broad street where this church now
stands, and beginning imme-
diately to gather the necessary funds
for the erection of this
building; for the ample walls, within
which we are now assem-
bled, are the walls of the building
erected in 1856 by this young
church. It was a bold undertaking; faith
and courage and self-
denial were in the hearts of the men and
women who conceived
it. Mr. Sessions would not wish me to
give him all the credit
of it; others stood with him who are
just as worthy of praise;
Vol. IV-20
306 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
most of them, alas! are now fallen
asleep; but none of them,
if they were here, would permit me to
withhold from him a.
liberal share of the honor that belongs
to this heroic enterprise.
From that hour his devotion to this
church has been steady and
unfaltering. In bright days his face has
reflected the gladness
of its assemblies; in dark days its
burdens have lain heavily
upon his heart. At the beginning there
were some who stood
shoulder to shoulder with him, bearing
an equal part in its labors
and responsibilities; but as the days
passed by, and the strongest
of these helpers were called away, the
load rested more and more
upon him and he never sought to be
relieved of it; indeed, he
seemed to carry it a little more lightly
year by year. He has
held nearly all the positions of
responsibility in the organization;
he has contributed of his substance for
its support with an
almost unexampled liberality. But he has
given something far
better than that-he has given
himself-time, care, thought,
labor, love-freely, constantly,
joyfully.
The social life of the church owes
everything to him. I am
keeping far within the truth when I say
that he has done more
than anyone else to make it a real
brotherhood. I dare say that
half of the members of this church would
testify that he was
the first one who greeted them, when
they came into the congre-
gation-that he and his good wife were
the first persons from
the church who called upon them in their
home. He was always
seeking the things that make for peace;
explaining little mis-
understandings, quieting little
disturbances, pouring oil on the
troubled waters. The almost absolute
freedom of this church
from dissensions is due very largely,
under God, to the tact and
good nature of Francis Sessions.
All the other Congregational Churches of
this city have the
same testimony to bear. Every one of
them was a child of his.
love and his care; they have all shared
his bounty; the knowl-
edge of his friendship has been a
support and an inspiration to
them all Nor was his sympathy limited to the churches of his
own denomination. I doubt whether any
churches have been
built in this city during the last
twenty-five years to whose erec-
tion he has not contributed. He was, no
doubt, a pretty loyal
Congregationalist; but it was not the
peculiarities of Congrega-
Francis Charles Sessions. 307
tionalism that he cared for most; it was
rather its freedom from
peculiararities, its breadth and liberty
and catholicity. It was
because he thought it the nearest of the
sects to a simple Chris-
tianity-a Christianity with no
improvements or attachments,
ancient or modern -that he rejoiced in
it and wanted to do what
he could to plant it and scatter it.
Mr. Sessions was reared among the
straitest of the New
England Calvinists, and the rigidity and
severity of that old
creed were a burden to his youthful
soul. He often told us, in
later years, how his heart rebelled
against that hard doctrine.
And when more light broke out of God's
holy Word -when
under the courageous testimony of men
like Lyman Beecher and
Albert Barnes and Edwards Park and
Horace Bushnell and
Thomas T. Munger and James A. Briggs and
Lyman Abbott,
one stronghold after another of the
ancient fatalism was razed
and abandoned and the church was
steadily led out and on to a
simpler faith and a broader love and a
larger hope, Mr. Sessions
was always ready for new light and brave
leading; he was at the
front with the foremost Christian
thinkers; he saw in the move-
ments that have terrified many the signs
of the increasing pres-
ence of the kingdom for whose coming we
daily pray. Yet he
never relaxed his hold-rather was it
daily strengthened-upon
the great realities of the gospel of
Christ; his loyalty to the
Master and his trust in His leadership
were steadfast to the end.
I have one word more to say respecting
Mr. Sessions, but it is
the best word of all. As a business man,
a patriot, a philanthro-
pist, a lover of sweetness and light,
and a loyal helper of Christ's
church, he has earned the respect of
all, and the gratitude of
many; but we shall think of him most
often and most tenderly
in the character of friend. Whatever
else he failed in, he did
not fail in friendship. In some arts he
may have lacked skill,
but he knew how to be a friend. I doubt
whether any other
man in Columbus knew as many people as
he did, or cared for as
many. In this he was eminent above all
the men I have known;
he entered by a genuine sympathy into
more lives; he made
himself at home in more hearts; he drew
to himself the confi-
fidence and gratitude of more people
than any other person
whom it has been my fortune to know
intimately. If that is
308 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 4
eulogy make the most of it, for it is
the truth. People of all
ranks and grades and colors-most of
them, however, the un-
fortunate and the lowly, knew him for
their friend, came to him
for counsel, felt free to tell him their
joys as well as their sor-
rows. There were many who sought
material assistance from
him, and sought it not in vain. Many a
self-respecting family,
in the pinch of want, has found him
compassionate. The num-
ber and extent of such secret
benefactions, as I am told by those
who have been his confidential
assistants, have been very large.
Of course many have gone to him upon
such errands and have
failed to obtain what they sought-that
might go without saying.
To the doors of a man with his
reputation of charity the pro-
cession of solicitors is perennial. It
was physically impossible
for him to relieve all who came. It was
probably impossible for
him to grant relief to half of the
worthy persons who appealed
to him. And it is very likely that some
who were turned away
went with very cynical remarks about
this man's benevolence.
Nevertheless, the books at the great
accounting will show these
cynics that their judgment was unjust.
It was not, however, by his almsdeeds
alone or mainly that
he made friends. Scores and hundreds of
those who loved him
best never sought a favor of this kind
at his hands, or dreamed
of seeking. He was their friend by a
better title than this; he
had given them, not money, but his thought,
his care, his
sympathy, himself-he had shown a
friendly interest in their
concerns; he knew about them, and he did
not forget them,
when they met him in the street his
greetings and his inquiries
showed that they really had a place in
his life.
This was no affectation or pretense, it
was a genuine human
interest. Good will and kindness toward
all these people were
in his heart, and it was out of the
abundance of his heart that
his mouth spoke. And the tone of his
speech was full of cheer.
The voice rang out heartily-no whine, no
drawl, no solemn
monotone; its clear tenor accents
vibrated with warmth and
sometimes quivered with suppressed
intensity. It carried its
message straight home to your heart; you
could not miss its
meaning. Instances of his hearty
cordiality and of its lasting
fruits have come to me within the last
few days. I will mention
Francis Charles Sessions. 309
but one of them. Thirty years ago,
perhaps, one who was then
a mere lad but is now a leading man of
business in this city,
stood weeping outside the door of the
house which until
that day had been his home, but which
had just been sold at
sheriff's sale. Mr. Sessions was there
and he made his way
to the lad and spoke to him. "I
shall never forget it," is his
testimony, "I shall never forget
how kind he was; he helped
the boy to bear his burden."
"Speak kindly ! 'tis a little thing
Dropped in the heart's deep well;
The good, the joy that it may bring
Eternity can tell."
I dare say that there are some to whom
all this seems very
commonplace. I am quite content that
they should think so.
I told you that I should not make any
extravagant claims for
my friend; surely this is a homely
wreath that I have woven for
him out of the grateful memories of very
common people; no
one will grudge it to him. All is summed
up in saying that he
entered, as a friend; into the
confidence and affection of more
men and women and children than any
other man whom I have
known. And I think, after all, that
because I love him, I would
rather be able to say just that about
him than to utter any other
tribute that my thought can frame.
Is there not a close similarity between
this life that we have
been studying and the life of that man
of whom the Hebrew
poet was singing? This, too, was a happy
man. I have known
few who were happier. The good cheer,
the exuberance of
spirit, the breezy heartiness, were
contagious. I have gone to
him sometimes rather worn and
dispirited; I always came away
refreshed and hopeful.
And this happy man of ours; like the
psalmist's happy man,
was surely one to whom the house of the
Lord was the dearest
place in the world. In his heart were
the highways to Zion.
And not less surely was he one of those
who make this a
brighter world by their presence in it;
the vale of tears becomes,
as they tread its lonely paths, a place
of sparkling waters-a
valley of pure delight.
310 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
And thus, with kindly souls that pass
Through Baca's vale of weeping,-
Beside whose way the fountains play,
Joy bringing, verdure keeping,-
From strength to strength this pilgrim
went
With grace that ne'er forsook him,
Till suddenly, at break of day,
He was not, for God took him.
We tell our loss, we bear our pain,
Still thankful hearts upraising;
For life so large and fruit so fair
Our God, the giver, praising;
The heart must bleed, the tears must
fall,
But smiles through tear-drops glitter;
We drink the cup and grateful find
The sweet within the bitter.
Brethren of this church, of these
churches, friends and
neighbors all, it is no extravagance to
say that not only our
churches, but many of our homes, all our
good causes, this
whole city, indeed, is made distinctly
poorer by the departure
of our friend. All things pure and
honorable and of good report
have lost a true lover, a strong helper.
From that fund of act
ive friendliness and sympathy which
makes social life possible,
some serious deduction has been made. Is
there not need that
we, that all of us, should charge
ourselves with the duty of
repairing what we can of this loss-so
that the ranks of those
who care for the good fame of this city
shall stand firmly and
move forward; so that the standards of
honorable business shall
not be lowered, and they who give their
lives to the services of
charity shall not lose heart, and the
heralds of sweetness and
light shall speak not to heedless ears;
so that the heavy laden
may be cheered and comforted, and the
lonely may not lack a
friend, and the way be kept open for the
beautiful feet of those
who come proclaiming peace on earth and
good will to men.
292 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4
FRANCIS CHARLES SESSIONS.*
BY WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D. D., LL. D.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house;
They will be still praising thee.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Passing through the Valley of Weeping they make
it a place of springs;
Yea the early rain covereth it with blessings;
They go from strength to strength;
Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.
- Ps. lxxxiv, 4 -7.
This poet has found a happy man. Such men are not rare;
even in these unquiet times it is not needful to search for them
by day with lanterns. Yet it may well be questioned whether in
the days when cares were fewer and life was simpler, there were
not more who took time to be happy--more who found out,
before it was too late, that it was worth while to be happy.
This poet's happy man was one who spent his life in the
Lord's house. Possibly the poet was some dweller on the slopes
of distant Hermon, or among the vales of rugged Gilead, who
only two or three times a year was permitted to stand in the
portals of the Lord's house. From the time of the establish-
ment of the one central sanctuary at Jerusalem, the hearts of the
people turned with increasing attachment to its stately courts
* Mr. Sessions was elected First Vice President of Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Society at its annual meeting February 18, 1886. At its
annual meeting February 24, 1887, he was chosen President, succeeding
the Hon. Allen G. Thurman, the society's distinguished first president.
Mr. Sessions held the office of president continuously till his death March
25, 1892. He discharged the duties of his position with great zeal and
ability. He was ever ready, by his counsel, his means and his influence,
to advance the interests of the society and to his generous and enthusiastic
efforts are largely due the growth and prosperity of the organization. The
memorial address herewith published was delivered by Dr. Gladden in the
First Congregational Church of which Mr. Sessions was a most active
member. E. 0. R.