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Name: |
Jim Cook |
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E-mail: |
diandjim@worldnet.att.net |
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Comments: |
Hi, Paul:
Great website! I am very glad to see that you have maintained your eclectic tastes and creative wit--great stuff. You may have to jog your memory a bit: I'm the Jim Cook from Poynette and First Presbyterian days. . . I came across your website in searching for your dad online. I'd like to try to get ahold of him, if possible, about an historical topic/event (from First Presbyterian's history) that I've sort of been working on, part-time, for about a year, now. (I'm a member of the Poynette historical society.) Perhaps you might even have heard mention of it, in younger days. Since it was such a controversial event, however, I doubt that any of the older, stalwart members at Poynette would have breathed a word about it to us youngsters--they likely thought it best to leave it in the past.
In October 1924, the pastor at Poynette, Robert J. Aitcheson, (along with one of the elders there, as well as a pastor at Belleville) brought heresy charges (unsuccessfully) against a very popular pastor in Madison, George Hunt. It was part of the larger fundamentalist-modernist debate going on within the Presby (and other mainline Protestant churches) at the time, and it created a bit of a stir within the Madison press. Hunt was vindicated and even gained stature from the episode, while the "conservatives/reactionaries" went down in ignominious defeat and humiliation. Or, so at least, that is how the story has been portrayed in the popular press and a few academic treatments.
Were you, or your parents, ever familiar with this event in the First Presbyterian church's history? If so, do you think your dad would be willing to meet with me (or call me) on what he knows? I remember your dad being very much into history--did he ever delve into, discuss, or even collect First Presby history (that occurred prior to his pastorate there)? I would be forever indebted to you for any information you might be able to share with me.
BTW, I live in Mt. Horeb and now attend an ELCA Lutheran Church--too many damned Scandanavians out here on the prairie and not enough dour Anglo-Scots! The nearest Presbyterian church is in Madison, and forty miles round trip is too far for me to drag our girls (six and eight y.o.) every Sunday. I'm still adjusting. . .
best regards,
Jim C. |
Thursday, April 15th 2004 - 10:24:33 AM
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