Steve P. Holcombe, the Converted Gambler: His Life and Work

THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AND THE KINDERGARTEN

In order to enlarge the mission work and better reach the homes of the needy, both spiritually and temporally, the Union Gospel Industrial School was opened in April, 1884, with six little girls and three teachers in attendance. In May following it was formally organized as The Union Gospel Mission Industrial School with

Mrs. J. R. Clark, Superintendent;

Mrs. L. G. Herndon, Assistant Superintendent;

Miss Ella Downing, Secretary;

Miss Ella Harding, Treasurer.

In June, 1884, it closed for the summer with twenty-two pupils and five teachers. In September following it opened for the fall and winter term with the same teachers and a small increase in the number of pupils, all from the neglected classes. The school was organized in the old mission room, at No. 436 Jefferson street, between Fourth and Fifth, and continued there for three winters. The children came, however, from all parts of the city, some of them from garrets and cellars. Their ages ranged from five to eighteen years.

In May, 1886, the school was removed to its present spacious rooms in the Union Gospel Mission building on Jefferson street, above First. The work has steadily increased, each year bringing in a larger number of the neglected children. Those who come are so interested and benefited, they become missionaries, so to speak, to other poor and neglected children. There is one class of girls, however, who are not charity-scholars, but come for the purpose of learning to sew. Their work is done, not for themselves, but for the younger children of the poorer class who are not yet old enough to sew. For this reason, the class just mentioned is called The Missionary Class, and it is one of which the school is justly proud. They not only do their work for others, they do good in other ways and in general exert a good influence over the other children who are less fortunate.

The children are first taught all the different stitches that are used in sewing. Then work is cut out for them by a committee of ladies who attend for that purpose, and the children are taught to make all kinds of garments. When the garment is completed and passes examination, it is given to the child who made it.

There is a class of boys, sixty in number, ranging from five to twelve years of age. These are first taught to sew on buttons and to mend rents in their own clothes and then other things follow. They are at present engaged in making a carpet for Mr. Holcombe's office. The teachers in charge of them endeavor to train them to habits of industry, self-reliance, cleanliness, truthfulness, etc. Some of the boys are very bright and promising and some of them seem hopelessly cowed and broken. Their histories would, doubtless, be full of pathos and of pain, if they were known.

The school meets every Saturday morning at 9:15. The opening services consist of —

1. Singing (Gospel Hymns).

2. Responsive recitation of a Psalm, or the Beatitudes or the Ten Commandments.

3. Prayer.

4. Distribution of work-baskets.

The sewing continues for one hour and a half, then, at the tap of the bell, the work is folded nicely, replaced in the basket and taken to another room. The children then return to the large room and join in the closing exercises, which consist of —

5. Singing.

6. Repeating of Scripture texts, each teacher and child repeating a verse; or this is sometimes replaced with a chalk-talk, sometimes with a short address on the Sunday-school lesson for the following Sunday, sometimes with a short earnest appeal to the children by some visitor who is known to be an effective speaker for such occasions.

7. The Lord's Prayer is recited in concert.

8. Dismissal.

The teachers, besides instructing the children in the art of sewing, converse with them on pleasant and profitable topics and upon the subject of religion in seasonable times and ways.

Quite a number of families have been brought under Christian influence through the pupils of the Industrial School. Several parents as well as children have been converted. Mr. Robert Denny, the account of whose conversion is given by himself in another part of this volume, was induced to attend the meetings of the Holcombe Mission by what his children told him of the things they learned at the Industrial School. One of the members of the first class of six and her mother are now acceptable members of the First Presbyterian church. The daughter has become an artist and is employed in retouching pictures in one of the city photograph galleries. Three or four of the girls connected with the school have died. Two of them, one aged twelve and the other fourteen, gave every evidence of being Christians. One of these when asked when she learned to love God and to pray, answered, "At the sewing school; Jesus is always there."

Many when they began to attend did not even know the little prayer beginning:

"Now I lay me down to sleep."

The ignorance of these poor children led the superintendent to open a "Mothers' Meeting," for the mothers of these children and any others who might wish to attend. The results have been wonderful. So many homes have become changed, and are now neat, clean, orderly and happy. In the rounds of the superintendent's visits she found a very sick woman who said to her:

"Oh, I'm so glad you have come, Mrs. Clark. I want you to pray with me."

Mrs. Clark said, "Can't you pray yourself?"

She replied, "I don't know what to say. I did not know 'Now I lay me down to sleep,' till my little Jennie learned it at the sewing school, and I learned it from her."

"But can't you say 'Our Father who art in heaven?'" asked Mrs. Clark.

"No; not all of it, I know only a little of it."

Mrs. Clark was much moved at the ignorance, helplessness and need of the poor woman, and was praying with her when the husband came in. She talked with him and he was deeply impressed, and before she left promised he would try to live a better life. A position as street car driver was gotten for him, and for a while he did well, but after a time he fell into his old ways and was dismissed. But, through the intervention of the friends who had helped him before, he was restored to his place, and to-day he is a sober industrious man and a member of the First Christian church in the city.

Perhaps a score of similar instances could be cited.

The sewing school closed May 12, 1888, with the annual picnic. The following is the report for the year just past:

Average weekly attendance of girls, 162; average weekly attendance of boys, 21; total average attendance of pupils, 183; average attendance of officers and teachers, 32; average attendance of visitors, 4; total average attendance, 219; total number of garments made by, and given to, the children, 848.

The officers for the past year were as follows: Mrs. J. R. Clark, superintendent; Miss Mary L. Graham, assistant superintendent; Mrs. L. G. Herndon, superintendent of work; Miss Lithgow, treasurer; Miss Ella Gardiner, secretary.

THE KINDERGARTEN

In January, 1885, there were so many little boys and girls between the ages of three and five years that the teachers did not know what to do with them. The superintendent, who had some knowledge of the kindergarten system, believed that its introduction here was what was needed. She could not see her way clear, however, to incur any more expense. But in answer to prayer the way was opened. Money was given for the appliances and Miss Graham, an excellent teacher, offered her services freely. The class at first averaged twenty-four pupils, met each Saturday morning in connection with the sewing school, and was called the Kindergarten class.

The interest increased till February, 1886, when the board of directors of the Holcombe Mission consented that the superintendent should open a regular kindergarten for every day in the week except Saturday. More money was raised and a trained kindergarten teacher from Cincinnati was employed. In June, 1886, the school closed with sixty little children in attendance and four young ladies training for kindergarten teachers. Arrangements were made for the following year and several hundred dollars pledged. In September, 1887, the kindergarten was re-opened with Miss Bryan, of Chicago, as teacher of training class and superintendent of the school. In the following October a large and enthusiastic meeting was held in the Warren Memorial church and the Free Kindergarten Association was formally organized. In February, 1888, a second free kindergarten was opened in another part of the city. The year's work closed in June, 1888, five young ladies graduating as kindergarten teachers. The number of children enrolled for the year was one hundred. The kindergarten, it will be noticed, is thus distinct from the industrial school.

In 1885, another department still was added to meet a want which had been developed in the progress of the work. The great number of broken-down men and tramps that came to Mr. Holcombe for food and help of one sort or another made it impossible for him to give them lodging in the mission rooms or board in his own family. And it encouraged indolence in unworthy men to feed and lodge them as a mere charity. And yet, if anything was to be done for their souls, they had for a time to be cared for. Mr. Holcombe conceived the idea, therefore, of establishing some sort of a place in connection with his work, where these men might earn their food and lodging by the sweat of their brows and at the same time be brought under the powerful religious influences of the Mission.

The result was the establishment of the "Wayfarers' Rest." Mayor Reed and Chief of Police Whallen gave Mr. Holcombe a police station building free of rent and Mr. J. T. Burghard gave the money to furnish it with bunks, stove, cooking utensils, facilities for bathing, etc., and it became at once an established feature, and a very admirable one, of the Union Gospel Mission.

When Mayor Jacob came into office he gladly continued the use of the building free of rent, and the institution has continued in successful operation up to the present time – a space of three years.

The rooms are arranged for the accommodation of sixty men. All who come are required to do some sort of work for whatever they receive, whether it be food or lodging. The men do various kinds of work, according to their several ability, but the chief employment is sawing kindling wood out of material provided by the superintendent. Each man is required to work an hour for one night's lodging or for a meal. The kindling wood is sold all over the city, and under the excellent management of Mr. W. H. Black, the present superintendent, the enterprise has become more than self-supporting, bringing in enough to pay the salary of the superintendent and the book-keeper, and leaving a surplus. It should, perhaps, in justice be added, that donations of food are made daily and have been from the beginning, by the Alexander Hotel Company.

During the winter of 1887 Mr. Black fed and lodged an average of fifty men a day. He has never turned one away. The average income per day from the sale of kindling wood is, in winter, ten dollars. The rules for the government of the inmates requiring registration, cleanliness, bathing, etc., are wisely conceived and strictly carried out.

This institution has proved in Louisville the solution of the vexed question as to the proper treatment of tramps and beggars. The citizens, instead of encouraging indolence and pauperism by feeding tramps at their houses, some of whom are burglars in disguise, can now send them to the Wayfarers' Rest, where they are always sure of finding food and lodging, and, what is better, the opportunity of earning what they get by honest work. And Mr. Holcombe's experience as a tramp in Colorado leads him to take a brotherly interest in all these unfortunate men.

In 1886, the work had expanded beyond its quarters and beyond all expectations. It was predicted that Steve Holcombe would hold out three months. He had now held out three times three years, and that through unprecedented trials and discouragements. During these nine years he had helped many and many a man, almost as bad as he, into the blessed life that he was living. He had established a unique institution in the city of Louisville which had been the means of helping and uplifting and blessing men and women and whole families. But the end was not yet. The man and his work had so won the confidence of the people of the city that in 1886, a formal request was made by the Evangelical churches of the city that they be allowed to share with the Walnut-street Methodist church in the expense and the care and the usefulness of the Mission. It was changed then into a Union Mission, and representatives from the Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal, Christian and Lutheran churches were added to the board of directors.

In the same year, when Mr. Holcombe was feeling the need of more spacious quarters for his expanding work, the large and elegant house on Jefferson street above First, known as the "Smith Property," was advertised for sale. Mr. Holcombe saw it and liked it. It was the very sort of a building he needed for his work and all its various departments.

He procured the keys and went through the building alone, from cellar to garret, stopping in every room to pray that, in some way, God would put it into his hands, with a firm persuasion, moreover, that his prayer would be answered. An interesting letter written by Mr. Holcombe in February, 1886, contains a reference to the project of purchasing the new house. It is addressed to one of the converts of the Mission, Mr. S. P. Dalton, of Cleveland, Ohio, and, as it shows also Mr. Holcombe's interest in his spiritual children, it is given entire:

"Louisville, Ky., February 3, 1886.

"Dear Brother Dalton:

"Your welcome and encouraging letter is just received. I acknowledge your claim, so gently urged, to something better than a hasty postal in reply. When I write you briefly, it is because my work compels it. My soul delights to commune with spirits like yours, consecrated to God, and with brothers who live in my memory as associates in our humble work here. Our mission is being abundantly blessed of God, although meeting, from time to time, with those drawbacks which remind us of our dependence and the need of constant prayer. We are having good meetings and conversions are numerous, and, as a rule, of such a character as to make us believe they are genuine and permanent. As I write, our friends are canvassing the city for the collection of means to purchase the old Smith mansion on Jefferson street, for our use, and believing all our work to be of God I have no doubt that it will be ours within a week. Then shall we do a great work for Louisville and for souls. Our sewing-school and our Sunday-school, having outgrown our present quarters, will be greatly enlarged, and every department of our work also.

"I am truly glad you are having such opportunities of doing good in Cleveland. May God bless you and your dear wife, my dear brother, and in His own time bring you back to us and to the work which always needs such help, is the prayer of

"Your brother,"S. P. Holcombe."

An incident that occurred in connection with the purchase of this elegant property will show how Mr. Holcombe and his work were looked upon in Louisville even by those who were not Christians.

A German singing society was negotiating for the building at the same time, and had offered a higher price than the friends of the Mission thought they could give. Mr. Holcombe went to the leader of the society and told him he desired the building for the Mission, and, though the man was an unbeliever, he said: "Mr. Holcombe, though I am not a Christian and do not believe in Christianity, I do believe in the work you are doing. I will not be in the way of your getting that building." He withdrew his bid at once, and the Directors of the Holcombe Mission purchased it for $12,500.

Mr. Holcombe at once took possession. He fitted up the rooms of the lower floor for the various departments of the mission work. The large and elegant double-parlors were thrown into one and arranged for the audience-room. This has a seating capacity of two hundred or more. The other rooms of the lower floor are used, one for Mr. Holcombe's office, two others for the Kindergarten, another for a cloak-room, and so on. The second floor, with its seven large, bright, airy rooms, is occupied by Mr. Holcombe's family, and, for the first time since his conversion, they are in comfortable quarters.

CHAPTER V

At last after years of love and faith and faithfulness Mrs. Holcombe has her full reward and joy. The long twenty-five years of sorrow and suspense passed by and her husband is what she unconsciously believed her love had the power of waiting for him to become – a good man. And more than a good man. He is consumed with the desire and somehow clothed with the power of making other men good, of making bad men good, of making the worst of bad men good. This he has now been doing, by God's grace, for seven faithful years and more – and continues to do. Her husband is honored and beloved for his character, his work and his usefulness – no man, no minister in Louisville more so.

All her children are members of the church even down to little Pearl, the latest-born. Her oldest son, her Willie, is happily married, occupies the position of book-keeper with the Sievers Hardware Company on Main street, and is an efficient officer of the church of God. Her second daughter is happily married to a Christian man, "one of the best of husbands," who is book-keeper in the old Kentucky Woolen Mills, of Louisville. Her oldest daughter is a devoted Christian and serves with equal efficiency as organist of the Mission and teacher in the Kindergarten. Her baby-boy now eighteen years old and the rise of six feet in height is a member of the church and a good boy. He also is in business with the Sievers Hardware Company on Main street. And Pearl, the blue-eyed, golden-haired, eight-year-old girl baby is, nobody dare question, the flower of the flock. Her dead children are in heaven all, for they died before they knew sin, and her living children are on the way to heaven, all, for they trust in and serve Him who was manifested to take away sin.

Mrs. Holcombe helps her husband in his noble work and the "converts" look on her as their spiritual mother as they regard him as their spiritual father. She might say with Simeon, the Nunc dimittis, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation;" but instead of that she says with St. Paul, "Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful" for my husband, my children and the work of Christ.

Mrs. Holcombe still has trials, but they are few and small, while her blessings are many and great. She still has faults, perhaps, as most of mortals have; but they are few and small, while her virtues are very many and very great. Many daughters have done virtuously but few have excelled this one in those qualities which constitute a noble womanly character.

The following letter, written to her by her husband during a short visit in the country, will show how that after so long a time of waiting, the hope of her earliest love is realized at last.

"LOUISVILLE, KY., May 29, 1888.

"My Dear Wife:

"Your letter to hand. I am so happy to know that you are having a good time. Isn't God good to us? When we look back over our past lives and see how good God has been to us, how thankful we should be. Very little sickness in our immediate family and no death in thirty years. The two babes that we lost thirty years ago are safe in the arms of Jesus, and all the living ones are sweetly trusting in Him. Let us from this hour be more earnest and untiring in our efforts to save the children of others. Kiss Mamie for me and then look in the glass and kiss yourself a thousand times for him who loves you with a true, deep love.

Yours in life, yours in death,"Steve P. Holcombe."

Those who are familiar with Mr. Holcombe's career as a Christian worker would regard any sketch of his life incomplete which did not contain some account of the assault made upon him by three strange men in the winter of 1887. A few months after his removal to the new quarters that had been purchased by the Mission, he was attacked by three men in his own house and severely injured. On a Sunday afternoon in January, 1887, he heard some one walking in the hall on the second floor of the building, and went out to see who it was. He found a man there whom he had never seen before, and asked him who he was and what he wanted. The man replied in an insolent, manner that he had come to visit a servant girl who was at the time working in Mr. Holcombe's family. When Mr. Holcombe asked him why he came into his private family apartments, the man became more impudent and defiant, and gave utterance to some abusive language. Already provoked at the man's audacity and alarmed at the thought of what such a ruffian might have done to some one of his family if he had been absent, Mr. Holcombe's quick nature now became so exasperated that he forgot himself for a moment and thrust the man violently down the stairway and out of the house. The man left the place and Mr. Holcombe thought that was the end of it. But an hour or two later some one knocked at his room door on the same floor, and as he opened it, he saw himself confronted by three men, one of whom he recognized as the man he had put out of the house. The two others professed to be policemen who had come to arrest Mr. Holcombe, but when he asked to see their badges of authority they seized him. One against three, he resisted them with all his might, uttering no cry of distress or call for help. In the struggle Mr. Holcombe's leg was broken, both bones of it, and as he fell, with all his weight, the men thought he was badly hurt and fled, leaving him lying helpless on the floor. He was taken up by those whom he called and laid on his bed. Physicians were sent for. The news spread in a few minutes all over the neighborhood, and before night, all over the city. The Chief of Police, Colonel Whallen, set his detectives to work looking for the men, and many citizens, self-constituted detectives, inquired concerning the appearance of the men and kept a sharp lookout for them. But they succeeded in escaping, and it was, perhaps, well for them they did. Before night Mr. Holcombe's room was crowded with friends filled with sympathy and indignation. Drs. Kelly and Alexander set the broken limb and gave Mr. Holcombe the unwelcome bit of information that he would have to lie in his bed for some five or six weeks, a sore trial to his restless spirit; but by the help of God he accepted it and settled down to endure it, not knowing, however, what good he was to get out of it. It was an opportunity for the people of Louisville to show their estimation and appreciation of him, and it is safe to say that no man in Louisville would have received the attentions and favors which this poor converted gambler, Steve Holcombe, did receive. It reminds one of a passage in Dr. Prime's account of the funeral of Jerry McAuley in the Broadway Tabernacle in New York. Dr. Prime himself was to conduct the funeral service, and this is what he says:

"We are going to-day to the tabernacle to talk of what Jerry McAuley was and what he has done, to the little congregation that will gather there. If it were Dr. Taylor, the beloved and honored pastor, the house would be crowded and the streets full of mourners, but poor Jerry, he is dead and who will be there to weep with us over his remains? Ah, how little did I know the place poor Jerry held in the hearts of the people of this vast city! I was to conduct the funeral and went early to complete all arrangements. As I turned down from Fifth avenue through Thirty-fourth street, I saw a vast multitude standing in the sunshine, filling the streets and the square in front of the tabernacle. Astonished at the spectacle and wondering why they did not go and take seats in the church, I soon found that the house was packed with people so that it was impossible for me to get within the door. Proclamation was made that the clergy who were to officiate were on the outside, and a passage was made for us to enter. What could be more impressive and what more expressive of the estimate set upon the man and his work? There is no other Christian worker in the city who would have called out these uncounted thousands in a last tribute of love and in honor of his memory."