The Painting of the "Old Hundred at the St. James Church

This is a story about a smile in the form of a mural painted on a wall in a local church, sunshine left by a Scotsman who meandered through the upper Fishingcreek valley back in 1905, paused at St. James Church in Fishingcreek Township, painted the Hundredth Psalm on the wall, and then went his mysterious way. The story is part of the charm that is St. James Church, perched high on a ridge overlooking Bendertown, Jonestown Mountain and the Huntington Creek valley.

Nathan Beishline, the Church caretaker and a member of its governing body, was closing the Church with his son after Sunday services in 1905 when they saw an unusual sight. Trudging up the hill from the direction of Zaner's Bridge was a man and a youth dressed in Scottish attire from the kilts to the sandals. A bag was slung over the man's shoulder. The man had a Vandyke goatee and a full moustache.

The man asked to see the interior of the Church, struck by the beautiful setting for the Church and cemetery and of the contour of the local hills. He asked permission to paint a mural behind the Church pulpit. Beishline declined the offer, but later invited the two to come to his farm house for lunch. Later, the man offered to paint the twenty-third psalm on the vestibule wall where people entering the Church could see it. He explained that if people did not like it, it could easily be painted over. As dinner progressed, talk turned to painting the "old hundred," as many called the Hundredth Psalm, at no cost.

After dinner, the small band of men hurriedly returned to the Church, and threw together a small scaffold on which the artist could work. With quick, sure strokes of the brush, the artist completed his calligraphy in a few hours using paints and brushes contained in the small bag he carried over his shoulder. He then embellished the work with three small color scenes. Lettering was finalized in Old English printing. The words were in the Scottish translation of the psalm of praise and assurance, and do not exactly match translations of the verse available today.

During this time, the twelve-year old sat on the Church steps and read from the Bible while his older partner painted. Attempts at conversation failed. As the scene unfolded on the wall of the Church, the artist concentrated completely on the work.

Red, blue and yellow letters marked the start of each line, with several miniature paintings of rural scenes thrown in for good measure.

When the work was complete, the Scotsman finally revealed that his name was Gypsy Smith and the boy was his son. The artist said no more explanation was necessary, and the pair walked to the road and continued their journey going in the direction from which they had come.

The wall painting came as a surprise to the congregation but it was very much appreciated and became a revered part of the sanctuary.

Nothing more was heard from the pair until about ten years later when a postcard arrived from New York, saying simply that "We are sailing today for Scotland. Caught the man I was looking for and am taking him back." It was signed "Gypsy Smith," the name given by the man who painted the Hundredth Psalm on the wall in St. James Church. From these words, some felt the artist was a representative of Scotland Yard.

In 1935, the Church was redecorated and modernized. Paperhangers covered over the mural and it became essentially forgotten until 1950 when another redecoration took place. Clayton Beishline remembered the painting of the Hundredth Psalm and asked James Snyder who was doing the redecorating to carefully remove the wallpaper. Snyder did such a good job removing the wallpaper that only a few spots of black lifted in the process; otherwise, the lettering and the four scenes were intact and still beautiful. Ralph Doty touched up the damaged letters and restored the wall to its former glory. The Morning Press reported that in the Spring of 1967 the mural was "admired by the church members and guests."

Wonderful stories always come to an end, however, and this is no exception. A few years ago, during another redecorating at the Church, a contactor inadvertently plastered over the 92-year old mural. Artist Dorothy Wilson, a member of the congregation, sought pictures of the mural so that she could do a reproduction. All that could be found was a Christmas card with a picture taken and sent by Mary Hartman with the mural visible in the background. With photo enlargement, Dorothy was able to see enough detail to allow her to paint her interpretation of the mural on a canvas the approximate size of the original painting. This painting now hangs on a side wall of the sanctuary.

The version of the Old Hundred as painted by Artist Dorothy Wilson.       Photo courtesy of Lance Wolfe

Who was the man known as Gypsy Smith? The Christian Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio, suggests it could have been Rodney (Gipsy) Smith (1860-1947). He was born in England and joined General William Booth's Salvation Army and began preaching to crowds that numbered from one hundred to fifteen hundred people. He conducted evangelistic campaigns in the United States and Scotland for over seventy years. He came to America thirty times and preached around the world twice. A description of "Gipsy Smith" from an English newspaper of the times reads:

"A short, wiry, thick-set gentleman, with an elastic, springy step, dressed in common every-day suiting, sans style, sans shimmer, sans everything, save the stamp of store trade goods; a head well rounded and finely formed; a face of fair finish and clear countenance, brown as the berries of the autumn bush; a heavy, dark moustache, backed by half-cut, well-trimmed English whiskers; dark eyes that glisten like diamonds with the zeal of religious enthusiasm; a magnificent head of hair, black as the raven's wing, and strikingly suggestive of the nomadic race that gave him birth - all this paints a fair pen-picture of the man who, for over two hours a half hours, riveted the attention of 1,500 people in the Lynn Common Church on Thursday evening."

Could this "Gipsy" Smith have been the same Gypsy Smith who enriched the St. James Church, or was it a different Gypsy Smith, or was the whole episode just a legend? You can answer the question as you see fit, but remember that legends do not paint murals on Church walls.

If you would like to read more about Gipsy Smith in order to determine if he had anything to do with the painting on the walls of St. James Church, please start here, with his own writings.