The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Salem, Oregon

THOMAS STARR KING, PATRIOT

The Reverend Richard R. Davis

May 30, 2010 

            In 1860 the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco was in dire straights.  During the past eight years they had had six different ministers attempt to lead the congregation, they were $20,000 in debt (considerably more in today’s dollars) and now they were in search yet again for their religious leader.  Many feared the congregation would go bankrupt and be forever ruined if they did not find dynamic leadership.  To insure a successful search they commissioned the Rev. Dr. Henry Whitney Bellows in New York – one of the ablest of Unitarian leaders -  to help them find the right person to fill their pulpit and lead the congregation to a promised land.

            The minister that Bellows selected for the San Franciscans was the young Unitarian minister, Thomas Starr King.  King was not your typical New England Unitarian minister.  For one thing, he began his ministry as a Universalist and still had standing in that religious movement, which many Unitarians regarded with a measure of social condescension.  Unitarians tended to be well educated, socially connected, and yes, they could be snobs.  Universalists tended to be common folk, and some Unitarians regarded King as not quite up to snuff because of his lack of breeding and education.  In fact King had a superb education, it’s just that due to his family’s financial straits (at 15 he became his family’s sole breadwinner), he was more self taught than the typical Harvard educated Unitarian minister.   No matter how talented he might be, he would always be stigmatized in New England as second class clergy and never find full acceptance in elite Unitarian circles.

            Nevertheless, King’s considerable intellectual and spiritual gifts were recognized by many, and he could have enjoyed a comfortable ministry in Boston , a city he loved.   And California ?  It was a raw, uncivilized frontier where the lust for gold reigned supreme as this telling incident revealed:  A minister was conducting a memorial service in the golden state.   All the mourners drowned their sorrows in liquor before coming and arrived “drunk all around.”  While the body was being lowered into the grave and the minister prayed, a mourner kneeling by the grave began to finger the soil which appeared to be rich with gold.  A commotion swept through the assembled mourners and the preacher abruptly ended his prayer saying “Gold! Gold! The richest kind of diggings!  The congregation is dismissed!”  The corpse was hauled out of the grave while the mourners and the minister frantically set about staking out their claims.”

            How could such an impious, unpromising place make a claim on the heart of Rev. King?   Well, unlike many Unitarian clergy, King felt a call to go not so much where he wanted to go but where he was most needed.  As he confided in a letter to Dr. Bellows:  “I do think we are unfaithful huddling so close to the stove of civilization in this blessed Boston, and I for one, am ready to go into the cold and see if I am good for anything.”  So he accepted the call to San Francisco .

            A member of the search committee was at the wharf to greet the illustrious Rev. King, on whom so many hopes were pinned.  And when he saw the man, his heart sank.  Here was this diminutive, youthful looking wisp of a man – barely five feet tall, not much over one hundred pounds.   His fellow congregants felt the same initial shock and dismay upon meeting their new minister. 

            Many assembled in church out of curiosity to hear the pipsqueak preacher, more than a few  anticipating they would leave before the little guy got through his first sermon.  Once he opened his mouth and held forth, however, his listeners perceived how false first impressions can prove to be, proving yet again that there is absolutely no correlation between physical stature and spiritual or intellectual stature.  In fact, Thomas Starr King was a tad bigger than Mozart or Franz Schubert, so who can doubt that great things can come in small packages?  King was a compelling, eloquent speaker and a surge of excitement soon spread not just through the congregation but also the city and throughout the region – people regularly came from Sacramento and elsewhere just to hear him speak.  

            This was good news, not just for the Unitarians of San Francisco, but for the entire state of California because there was a dire need for an eloquent and compelling voice to meet a desperate need.  This was the eve of the civil war, and California ’s loyalty to the union was not assured – almost half of the people in California had southern roots, and a majority of the political leaders had southern leanings.  Furthermore, unconscionable racism prevailed - there were state laws that denied blacks any legal recourse to justice for crimes committed against them unless there were white witnesses – blacks were banned from testifying in court.  Many voices were urging California to remain neutral in this conflict or placate southern slaveholders. 

            King was a true American patriot – not a jingoist (a pseudo patriot) who obediently marches to the banner of “my country right or wrong” but a wise patriot who, as he put it, “will tell a land of its faults, as a friend will counsel a companion…and if the occasion requires, an indignation will flame out of its love.”  Above all, King cherished the vision of what America could become – a land of the free with equality for all.  For a person of his time he was remarkably free of racial prejudice and clearly recognized how evil slavery was and what a tragic betrayal of the American dream that it was.

            And rightfully, he regarded southern threats of secession as treasonous.  “Rebellions sins against the ballot box; it sins against the oath of allegiance, against public and beneficent peace.. and worst of all it sins against the cornerstone of American hope and progress – the worth and the laborer and the rights of humankind.  It strikes for barbarism against civilization.”  The secessionist betrayal filled him with righteous indignation, and he was determined to do anything and everything he could to insure that California remained loyal to the American dream.  And once war began, he did more than any Californian to raise funds to support efforts to preserve the union and care for the wounded.  The man had found his true calling and was utterly transformed. 

            As one observer noted “we who heard him only in New England have not the faintest idea of what King became after he had passed through the Golden Gate … His personality certainly became stronger, more confident, more energetic, and on proper occasions, more resolute and defiant.  He took his place in the new community as a self reliant, individual power, determined to impress his thoughts and sentiments on all who listened to him.” 

            Having found his highest calling, it took him to places few other public speakers supporting the union cause dared to go – the interior mining regions of California where pro-Southern sentiments were strong – places like “Poker Flat,” “Rattlesnake Bar,” “Hell’s Delight,” “Murderer’s Bar,” “Deadman’s Gulch.”  In San Francisco King was accustomed to receiving anonymous letters threatening violence and assassination, but in these regions he spoke before people who appeared quite willing to make good on such threats.  As he noted:  “I never knew the exhilaration of public speaking until I faced a front row of revolvers and bowie knives.”    To rattle the little preacher some of his listeners would cock their unloaded guns, point them at him and pull the trigger.   They soon learned that it would require an actual bullet to stop him – he was relentless and persevering, would stand before any crowd to make his patriotic appeal and verbally assault the secessionists.  

            King was actually a very kindhearted and gentle man – even with his political adversaries, but at this critical juncture in American history he wasn’t afraid to ruffle feathers, and he certainly did.  One offended California newspaper editor accused him of being one of the “rabid, fanatical, godless Boston school of political preachers.  Their cry is now nigger, nigger, blood, blood!  The peace doctrine of the meek and lowly Jesus, who taught peace on earth is scouted as treasonable by these fanatical mountebanks of the clerical school.”

            Which goes to show that tensions were running very high and the conflict, as we know today, became very brutal.   At the outset of the conflict most everyone, north or south had expected it to be brief and bloodless.  One politician from South Carolina famously boasted that the cowardly northerners would tuck tail and run as soon as actual hostilities ensued – he personally promised to drink every drop of blood spilled in this conflict, if any actually came to be spilled.  As we know, the Civil War turned out to be the bloodiest in U.S. history – the casualties in this war exceeded the casualties of all other wars for the United States . 

            Once the war began and California did remain loyal to the union – thanks in no small part to the efforts of this indomitable Unitarian preacher – the crying need was for medical assistance for the wounded.  The government was woefully ill prepared to deal with such tragic, unprecedented carnage.  Henry Whitney Bellows, King’s colleague and mentor, who had recommended him to the San Francisco Unitarians, was an astonishingly gifted administrator and stepped forward to become the planner and president of the United States Sanitary Commission – the primary source of medical aid for wounded Union soldiers.   The commission was reliant upon voluntary donations and raised nearly five million to support their work. (in today’s dollars that would be at least a couple of hundred million).   Fully a quarter of these funds came from faraway California (whose population was half that of New York City ’s at that time), and one man was largely responsible for this outpouring of Western generosity – Thomas Starr King.  Back east the U.S. Sanitary commission was often at the end of its financial rope when word would come that King had raised yet another large sum.  His successful fundraising efforts across the state astonished Bellows and brought tears to his eyes - he was profoundly aware of how much good these funds would do in alleviating suffering and saving the lives of wounded soldiers. 

            There was one life that Thomas Starr King had too little concern for saving – his own.  He was physically frail, yet he pushed himself far too hard.  “Leisure and rest, I fear (said King), will not come to me this side of the grave.”  He believed he had no choice but to give his utmost, noting “I have only one life to live and now is my time to spend it.”  He burned with such passion that he burned himself completely out.  On March 4, 1864 he said, “Today sad news will go over the wires today.”  He died from diphtheria and pure exhaustion at the age of 39.   Before he died he noted that he instead of putting a tombstone on his grave the money could be put to better use in retiring all church debt.  Thanks to his able leadership a grand new Unitarian Church had just been built and the congregation was financially stable and thriving.  King’s body was laid to rest in a sarcophagus there.  There was and is a law in San Francisco prohibiting burial within the city limits – the city decided to make this one exception, which stands to this day. 

            The nation was stunned and saddened by this untimely loss.  The state legislature resolved that King “had been a tower of strength to the cause of his country” and adjourned for three days so that members could attend his funeral.  Likewise, state and municipal courts went into recess during this time of mourning. 

            As mourners filed past his casket a friend of King’s noted “Never shall I forget the two Negro women who came forth with streaming eyes from the throng and, kneeling by the inanimate form of this friend of their race, with passionate sobs kissed the folds of the United States flag which formed his burial shroud.  It was by the sacrifices of such heroes of the spirit that the Stars and Stripes had become to them also the emblem of liberty, the flag of their country.” 

            Meanwhile, in San Francisco ’s harbor the flags of ships from European nations flew at half mast.  Back east, the New York Times noted “it is universally conceded that no man had ever done so much as he toward making California loyal; while his untiring zeal in forwarding every benevolent enterprise made him universally beloved.”

            Some years later in the early days of the next century Californians had to choose which two figures would represent their state in statuary hall in the capital in Washington D.C.    Even though he only lived in that state for three years, his contributions were so notable and lasting that King was one of two who were chosen and a statue of Thomas Starr King was placed in the capital.  It was placed there in 1931. 

            In 2009 the state of California decided to remove King’s stature and replace it with one of Ronald Reagan.  King was regarded as a dated figure whom few remembered or revered.

Yet this is Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our country.  It is fitting to remember all those who have protected and preserved our liberty, who served to advance the highest ideals upon which our nation was founded.

            Today, we are once again living in an era when vicious discord threatens national unity.  There are many who are motivated by fear and intolerance, who seek to enhance their power by sowing discord, who champion narrow and sectarian interests and yet dare to call themselves true patriots.   Would that Thomas Starr King were here to challenge their divisive rhetoric.  But he is not.  Yet we are here and the best way we can honor him and all those who have fallen in service to our nation is to continue to help our nation, nay our world, fulfill its highest potential wherein all know freedom and plenty.