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Dirck. C. Lansing, after his coal black hair turned white with age. Source: Adams, John Quincy, A History of Auburn Theological Seminary, 1818-1918, Auburn Seminary Press, Auburn, 1918
Why are people so mean? What prompts them to violate the rules of decorum just to get a dig in? How many good men do we lose because of this?
It turns out the Era of Good Feelings was less universal than we think. Or, rather, within those good feelings lay dormant seeds of discord that only needed time, and a good trigger, to flower into tension and, unfortunately, eventually into conflict.
But let’s not go there yet. Let’s harken back to the source of the unity that the Era of Good Feelings recalled.
While the Revolutionary War can be aptly described as a civil war, its aftermath brought harmony through the commonality of men who served in its victory. Not only did they share the wounds of war, but they also shared within the fellowship of it.
No better manifestation of the fraternity of commonness was the proliferation of Freemasonry both during and after the war. Some postulate that George Washington encouraged his officers to become Masons because “the Lodge was a school of honor.” Indeed, one out of seven officers, including 100 generals, belonged to at least one of the 218 Lodges that existed during the Revolutionary War.1
But lodges weren’t just for officers, they were for everyone. That’s apparent by the popularity of Freemasonry among all classes following the end of the Revolutionary War. Even on the frontier, it didn’t take long before Masons established lodges in new settlements.
One of those settlements was Aurelius. Captain John L. Hardenburgh first settled in the woods there in 1793. He took the Genesee Road, which was nothing more than a “rude wagon track or trail” hewn by “a party of wood-choppers and emigrants” a couple years earlier.2
By 1794, Aurelius had enough people to formally organize as a town.3 By 1800, it had enough people to establish its first Masonic Lodge, Hiram Lodge No. 88.4 The Episcopalians began building the first church in 1811 but didn’t finish it until several years later.5
Located on the primary route of emigration, the Town of Aurelius continued to grow. On April 18th, 1815, the Village of Auburn was legally incorporated by the New York State Legislature. Joseph Colt was named its first president.6 On June 10, 1816, a second Masonic Lodge was formed when a charter was issued to St. Paul’s Lodge No. 265. Joseph Colt was named its first Master.7
On March 12, 1817, the Presbyterians finished their church. “It was a model of taste, and cost nearly seventeen thousand dollars. About sixteen thousand dollars was realized by the first sale of pews.”8
Enter the Reverend Dirck Cornelius Lansing in November 1816.9
Dirck C. Lansing was born in Lansingburg, NY in 1785. That the name of his birthplace rings as his own suggests the status of his family at that time. He graduated from Yale College in 1804. He’s been described as “a man after nature’s best model. In symmetry of physical frame, in eloquence of speech, in balance of the intellectual and emotional, in generous and noble purpose, in zeal, energy, and perseverance in execution, and in effectiveness as a preacher of the gospel, he had scarcely an equal among his brethren. His own rhetorical powers were eminently fitted to illustrate the importance and value of the department of instruction which he held.”10
A “tall, slender, erect figure” with a “swarthy complexion and coal black hair,” he possessed “the keen glance of the dark eye.” In Auburn, he stood out as a man in his prime “inspired with an air of lofty courage and self-confidence, that made him dominate every congregation like a king of men.”11
How effective a preacher was Rev. Lansing? In his first four years as pastor, he brought in 475 new members. He had a way about him. He had a heart felt personality that saw the good—or the potential of good—in all. He also had something more than faith. He had an intellectual approach that appealed to many and influenced all.12
Samuel Miles Hopkins, Professor of Church History at the Auburn Theological Seminary, said of Lansing, “Men shrunk before the glance of that eye as if it were the lightning—before the pointing of his finger as if it were a bare sword.”13
Now, about that seminary… Lansing was one of its founders as well as one of its professors.14 As chairman of the Prudential Committee, he had the responsibility to draft the charter as well as pick the location of the buildings which he was tasked to see built. He also had a hand in funding the school and, for five years, he taught Sacred Rhetoric.15
As befitted a man of his position, he became a Mason. In that capacity, he was asked to offer the keynote speech during Lafayette’s visit in 1825. That would be Dirck C. Lansing’s high point in Auburn.
Things began to change in 1826. Always at the vanguard, Rev. Lansing invited Charles G. Finney to help in his ministry in the summer and fall of that year.16 Finney was a bit of a lightning rod. He referred to Western New York as “a burnt district;” thus, coining the term “burnt-over district.”17
His revivalist approach during the Second Great Awakening didn’t always engender gratitude. He said, “until I arrived at Auburn, I was not fully aware of the amount of opposition I was destined to meet from the ministry.”18
Ironically, Finney’s spartan approach to spiritualism conflicted with Lansing’s more eloquent style. Of Lansing’s congregation, Finney noted, “The church were (sic) much conformed to the world, and were accused by the unconverted of being leaders in dress, and fashion, and worldliness.” It’s no wonder then, after Finney presented his fire and brimstone sermon before them, he looked nervously at Lansing to see how the venerable pastor would respond. Much to Finney’s delight, Lansing offered a favorable comment.19
The moment of relief was short-lived, however. That’s when decorum left the building.
A man rose and said to Reverend Lansing in no uncertain terms, “Mr. Lansing, I do not believe that such remarks from you can do any good, while you wear a ruffled shirt and a gold ring, and while your wife and the ladies of your family sit, as they do, before the congregation, dressed as leaders in the fashions of the day.20
Crestfallen, Lansing had no response. He fell to his seat and wept visibly. Finney had to close the service.21
What happened next tells you everything Reverend Lansing. Here’s how Finney told the story:
“I went home with the dear, wounded pastor, and when all the family were returned from church, he took the ring from his finger—it was a slender gold ring that could hardly attract notice—and said his first wife, when upon her dying bed, took it from her finger and placed it upon his with a request that he should wear it for her sake. He had done so, without a thought of its being a stumbling block. Ruffles he said, he had worn them from his childhood, and did not think of them as anything improper. Indeed, he could not remember when he began to wear them, and of course thought nothing about them. ‘But,’ said he ‘if these things are an occasion of offense to any, I will not wear them.’ He was a precious Christian man, and an excellent pastor.”22
What would possess a man to make such a vindictive comment targeting an acknowledged pillar of the community?
It may have its roots in the Abolitionist movement. We know Lansing would later become a member of the American Anti-Slavery Society.23 We also know there were slaveholders among the early settlers of Auburn, and that, by the spring of 1844, disagreements on the subject at the Seminary would lead to an “alarming falling off in the classes.”24
It may have been religious bigotry. After all Finney says, “There were several wealthy men in the town who took offence at Dr. Lansing and myself, and the laborers in that revival; and after I left, they got together and formed a new congregation.”25
Perhaps it was more. Even before the Morgan Affair of September 1826, there was a virulent anti-Masonry strain within at least one community in Auburn. On the other hand, given Dirck Lansing’s involvement with the local Masonic Lodge, this might simply reflect a highly competitive environment between different protestant churches.
On February 21st, 1820, the Church of Christ voted “not to fellowship such brethren as do visit the Lodges, or any other of the Masonic meetings.” This ban was rescinded later that year on November 4th.26
Still, the June 15, 1825, edition of the Auburn Republican, while meticulously reporting all other proceedings in great detail, failed to reproduce Lansing’s speech to Lafayette.27 One is left to wonder if this reflects some sort of prejudice against Masonry.
More likely if there was a partiality against Lansing because of Masonry, the Morgan Affair would have exasperated it. This event occurred at the same time as Finney’s stay with Lansing.
Within three years, Reverend Lansing would leave Auburn.28 St. James Lodge No. 265 would close on June 8, 1832, and Hiram Lodge No. 88 would go dark in 1835.29
Dirck Cornelius Lansing would die in Cincinnati on March 19, 1857. At a memorial given in his honor by his daughter at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Auburn on September 23, 1883, Professor Hopkins summed up a life well served in this manner:
“A faithful minister of Christ, an able and zealous preacher of His word, should not be quickly forgotten in the community where he labored. Such a man leaves a legacy of precious memories and precious influences behind him, of which the local church and congregation, at least, should recognize themselves as in some sort the heirs, and claim their share in the bequest.”30
Next Week: A Final Adieu Through Seneca Falls, East Cayuga Then A Masonic Welcome In Auburn
1 Brown, William Mosely, George Washington Freemason, Garrett & Massie, Inc., Richmond, 1952, p. 169-170
2 Hall, Henry, The History of Auburn, Dennis Bro’s & Co., Auburn, NY, 1869, p. 42
3 Ibid., p. 58
4 Auburn Masonic Lodge #124 History, https://sites.google.com/site/auburnmasoniclodge124/history [retrieved July 20, 2024]
5 Hall, p. 100
6 Ibid., p. 126
7 Auburn Masonic Lodge #124 History, https://sites.google.com/site/auburnmasoniclodge124/history [retrieved July 20, 2024]
8 Hall, p. 143
9 Ibid., p. 144
10 Auburn Theological Seminary 1820-1870, Dennis Bro’s & Thorne, Auburn, 1870, p.13-15
11 In Memoriam Dirck C. Lansing, D.D., Knapp, Peck, & Thomson, Auburn, 1883, p. 7
12 Storke, Elliot G., History of Cayuga County, D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, NY, 1879, p.198
13 In Memoriam Dirck C. Lansing, p. 7
14 Auburn Theological Seminary 1820-1870, p.13
15 Ibid., p.14
16 Finney, Charles G., Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney, Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, 1876, p. 192
17 Ibid., p. 78
18 Ibid., p.192
19 Ibid., p. 199
20 Ibid., p. 200
21 Ibid., p.200
22 Ibid., p. 200
23 American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS), http://www.americanabolitionists.com/american-anti-slavery-society.html [retrieved July 21, 2024]
24 Hall, p. 391
25 Ibid., p. 199
26 Storke, p. 306
27 Brandon, Edgar Ewing, A Pilgrimage of Liberty, The Lawhead Press, Athens, Ohio, 1944, pp. 413
28 Hall, p. 144
29 Auburn Masonic Lodge #124 History, https://sites.google.com/site/auburnmasoniclodge124/history [retrieved July 20, 2024]
30 In Memoriam Dirck C. Lansing, p. 6
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