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| from a student of Jesse Halsey's at McCormick |
FOREWARD
It may be a presumptuous for a student to undertake the task
of writing a biography of his professor, but the joy that the writer has
gleaned from making new and rich discoveries of insights into the character of
his “Ideal” has and will out-weigh any possible misunderstandings relative to
gathering and interpreting the facts.
The writer wishes to thank all who have asked him in
obtaining information about Dr. Halsey: Dr. John Frederick Lyons for assisting in
finding some of the articles that Dr. Halsey wrote and The Reverend L.W.
Harvison a personal friend and admirer of Dr. Halsey who gave many interesting
facts about him as a pastor in the Seventh Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati,
Ohio.
The “biographer” wishes to beg pardon from Dr. Halsey for
the poor attempt at writing his biography. The writer will be very happy to
have corrections made where needed.
“My Ideal”
Dr. Jesse Halsey was born in Southampton, Long Island, New
York. “Go where you will through these United States, when you find certain
names you know their forbears came sometime or other from Southampton—such
names as these: Howell, Sayre, HALSEY, Pierson, Cooper, Herrick, Fordham, and
Topping.[1]
Along with his big wrists and heavy hands go his covetous
ability of doing a thousand-and-one things properly and well. The present
writer, observing that these characteristics are generally those of men who
have spent many of the formative years on a farm, was not surprised to learn
that his “Biographee” was once a farm boy. Could any but a farmer’s heart “see”
“farm houses low and sturdy with grey weathered shingles punctuate the flat
countryside. Shingles three feet long, rived from red cedar that grew in the
swamps, worn thin now where they have defied the east-wind-driven storms of two
hundred winters and the bristling heat of as many summers, but with butts still
thick enough to cast healthy shadows in endless parallel windows where the long
sweeping roofs on the north side slope almost to the ground . . .
“Leaning barns and wood sheds where eel-spears and clam
rakes and harpoons prod the latest agricultural machinery. A discarded seine is
sometimes seen, used now as a net for tennis or volleyball, but a swift
reminder of days when corn was grown with fish for fertilizer—‘two bunkers to a
hill.’”[2]
After having done countless chores on the farm and having
laid an academic foundation he went to Princeton where he sat at the feet of
the famous teacher who conceived the idea for the League of Nations, Woodrow Wilson.
A little insight into a teacher-student relationship is suggested by the two
swapping dictionaries. After Princeton, Dr. Halsey went to Union Seminary.
Dr. Halsey served with Dr. Wilfred Thomas Grenfell in
Labrador, doing countless and diverse duties from fixing plumbing to assisting
at the operating table. With Dr. Grenfell, Dr. Halsey shared the rewards of
skillful service joyfully rendered. “Dr. Grenfell always had a high regard for
him. The same is true of men like Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin and Dr. Robert E.
Speer,” writes the Reverend L.W. Harvison.
During the First World War, Dr. Halsey served abroad as
chaplain, ministering to our men “whatever, whenever, and wherever.” At the
close of the war he “returned from Russia and spoke at the synod of Ohio
concerning the fame of Wilson and America in Russia at that time.”[3]
Accepting a pastorate in Cincinnati, Dr. Halsey soon became
a “leader of a small growing group of ‘liberal’ ministers at a time when it was
dangerous to be known in that Presbytery as a liberal. Largely under his
influence, the spirit of that Presbytery was changed from one of belligerent
fundamentalism to one of a harmonious fellowship of men of divergent
theological beliefs.[4]
While pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian Church there in
Cincinnati, Dr. Halsey organized what is now known as the “Presbyterian
Ministers’ Breakfast Club.” It meets the first Monday in each month in the
dining room of that church. This club grew out of a need for ministers to “get
together” in attempting to solve problems and to lay plans. Thanks to the
resourcefulness of Dr. Halsey the club was organized and given such a start as
to be still a high-light of the month for the ministers.
He is the type of man to whom men instinctively turn for
help in time of trouble. He has gone beyond the bounds of organized religion to
be friendly to men of other faiths and cults. To other ministers he has been a
kind of “pastor’s pastor” or a bishop without Episcopal authority because he
has cared nothing for authority over others. “He has unstintedly given of his
time to help others and has always been interested in the pastors of the small
churches who have been in need.”[5]
Not only is he an outstanding churchman, but a citizen. At
Cincinnati he was a positive force for civic righteousness. “There are things
to see in Cincinnati—as in any other big city. I am not thinking of them except
as they help one to feel the pulse of the municipality and gauge its inner
spirit. The Chamber of Commerce will direct you to the sights of the town. I
would guide you to its heart.”[6]
“His church was always interested in missions and gave
generously. He was interested in improving conditions of church life in the
deteriorated West End of Cincinnati. I have known him to drive thirty miles to
take food and money to an old man and his wife who were strangers but appealed
to him in need. I do not suppose that even he knows how much of his money he
has given away to those in need. But these things were never done with an eye
to publicity . . . He is a man of humility and utterly devoid of pretension. He
has taken criticism humbly where many of us might have been disposed to defend
ourselves against it.[7]
Even his best friends do not consider him as a great
preacher, yet he is a great preacher from the standpoint that when he preaches
it is truth coming out of his big heart and personality. “He is a man who, as
much or perhaps more than any other I know, incarnates his gospel.”[8]
He has given many the impression of being blessed with a
strong physical constitution, by maintaining a physical pace that is beyond the
energy and inclination of most men. He did much of his reading late at night
after his family retired and while most of his fellow ministers were asleep.
He breaks the ‘Bread of Life’ with clean hands. “I think he
has never said anything ‘off-color’ or smutty.”[9]
“He is a man with a variety of interests: music, art glass,
poetry, short stories, cooking, painting, and whatnot . . . He is at much at
home in a pair of overalls with a rake or shovel in his hands as in a pulpit robe
. . . In Cincinnati, he organized a group of ministers to paint the interior of
my church. It would be interesting to know just how many churches he has helped
to decorate on the inside and outside.”[10]
During the fall and winter of 1945, he was not only instrumental in getting the
chapel organ put in, but he did some of the work. During the Christmas holidays
he and a few students painted the interior of the chapel.
Dr. Halsey has always been a man of open-mindedness, but he
has been unfailing in loyalty to Christ. As a professor of Pastoral Theology he
attempts to see (and does see) both sides of the question. He can see with the
eyes of the so-called “liberals,” “conservatives,” “radicals,” and whatnot. He
sees through the eyes of pupil as well as teacher. He is a friend to everyone.
The “biographer” has made reasonable effort to find and read
as much of his writings as possible. Again the old saying, “Great teachers do
little writing” is illustrated. The most widely known of his work as a
composter and compiler I believe, is his most helpful suggestions for funerals:
LIVING HOPE.
The article on the newly revised Book of Common Worship, “A
Sense of Direction”[11] gives
insight into the Pastor as a lover of good form in worship. (Dr. Halsey served
on the revision committee.) The article on “Books of Common Worship” that
appeared in the winter number of “Religion in Life” (1933) gives a rather
complete list and helpful comments on the various books. Dr. Halsey’s rich,
suggestive and helpful prayers, responses, and litanies often have some
quotation or paraphrase from works of such great men as Dr. W.E. Orchard and
Dr. John Hunter.
Dr. Halsey generously gives much credit to many great men as
having exerted influence upon him. It was Dr. Richard S. Campbell, says Dr.
Halsey, who influenced him to enter the ministry. About a dozen great men who
influenced Dr. Halsey had as their model Maltie Babcock. “Behind him (Dr.
Halsey) have been certain persons of Christian influence: his father, his
sister, Dr. Grenfell, Dr. Coffin, and others I may not know.”[12]
Dr. Halsey has been shepherding the “budding undershepherds”
here at the seminary since 1939. He was not here long before the students found
in him a confidential and able counselor. One student remarked, “Dr. Halsey has
more ‘horse-sense’ than all of the other professors put together.’”
Dr. Halsey’s office is the most popular office for students
seeking sound advice, or coming with sorrows or joys. He gives the student the
impression that he has all the time needed to listen to some problem.
It is unfortunate (for the students) that Dr. Halsey’s many
duties require his presence off the campus. [Amen is written in the margin by JH.]
In class he is careful to give the student a wholesome
combination of the scholarly with the practical. He also sees that every
student who takes his courses shall at least know something about weddings and
funerals.
The present writer has heard him called or referred to as
“Skipper” and “Uncle Jesse.” Perhaps his “nick-names” will suggest a much
better biography than a hurried student can possibly write.
[handwritten at bottom]
Humbly I say “thank you.” I’ll try to live up to the implications. JH
[1] “The East
riding of Yorkshire,” Jesse Halsey, The Presby. Tribune, July 1940, p. 12.
[2] IBID, p. 11.
[3] From a
personal letter from L.W. Harvison, Harvey, Ill. Oct. 24, ’46.
[4] IBID.
[5] IBID.
[6] “The Spirit
of Cincinnati,” Jesse Halsey, The Presbyterian Tribune, May 16, 1935.
[7] From a
personal letter from L.W. Harvision.
[8] IBID.
[9] IBID.
[10] IBID
[11] Jesse
Halsey, The Presbyterian Tribune, July 1944, p. 17.
[12] From a
personal letter from L.W. Harvison.
The Jesse Halsey Manuscript Collection. Special Collections, Princeton Theological Seminary Library.
