The First Funeral at the New Presbyterian Church
Reverend Richard J. Evans, who labored to build the new church in Olympia, passed away before he could occupy its pulpit.
At his residence in Olympia, on Monday, June 15th, at 4 o'clock A.M., of consumption, the Reverend Richard J. Evans, minister of the Olympia Presbyterian Church, passed away at age 28. A native of Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, he arrived in Olympia in March 1860 as a missionary. His funeral was attended on Tuesday afternoon from the new church, which was then nearly completed through his own efforts. He was not spared to witness its completion, and the first discourse ever preached in the new building was his own funeral.
“He was not spared to witness its completion, and the first discourse preached therein was his funeral.”
The Presbyterian church he helped build was a cornerstone of early Olympia's civic life. This story offers a poignant look at the personal toll of frontier mission work, where building a community often meant giving one's life to the task.
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