Santa
Clara County
Biographies
MRS.
MARY HAYES-CHYNOWETH
The
interest awakened by a visit to the beautiful estate of Edenvale,
with its sixty acres of well-kept grounds, is heightened by a
knowledge of the personality of its owner, Mrs. Mary Hayes-Chynoweth,
who at an advanced age is continuing with undiminished enthusiasm and power the
remarkable manifestations of spiritual life evidenced even in the years of her
childhood. The deep religious fervor that has been one of her predominant
characteristics comes as an inheritance from her father, Rev. Abraham Folsom,
who was a minister of the Free Will Baptist faith. Supplementing this
inheritance there early came into her aspiring soul a power which she accepted
as a gift from God and which has shaped the course of her useful existence,
resulting in her present efficient service as pastor of the True Life Church.
In an early day Rev. Abraham Folsom left
New Hampshire, where he was born and where his parents, Daniel and Mary (Moody)
Folsom had lived and labored. With a pioneer instinct and an earnest desire to
preach the Gospel in regions then just opened to the civilizing influences of
American settlement, he settled in Holland, Erie county, N. Y., and there his
daughter Mary was born October 2, 1825. Later he moved to Cuba, same state, and
finally, when his daughter was twenty-three years of age, he identified himself
with the then sparsely settled state of Wisconsin. While still a mere child the
daughter had given evidence of the possession of peculiar qualities. When she
was five, two years after the family had settled in Cuba, her little sister was
accidentally and seriously burned on the head. Her frantic cries were continued
in spite of every effort to relieve her. About 1:30 in the morning the older
sister was awakened, dressed and came into the room where the little sufferer
lay in extreme pain. As she took the child into her arms, her cries stopped and
soon she was sleeping comfortably. As she grew older neighbors began to come to
her for help in cases of sickness. Many a page might be filled with accounts of
her successful labors in relieving the sick. One instance of the kind,
occurring when she was ten, may be mentioned among the many of a similar
nature. A neighbor hurried to their home one day, saying that he feared his
wife was dead. Hastening to their house, the child found the woman with jaws
set, apparently in the embrace of death. After rubbing the body for a time she
asked for angelica, with which she made a tea. The absence of a tooth in the
woman’s mouth enabled her to force a small amount of the tea into the throat.
In a very short time the sufferer returned to consciouness
(sic) and to health. The cure was remarkable when it is considered that the
child knew nothing of medicine nor of the effects of
angelica. The idea had come to her as an inspiration and the physician on his
arrival praised her timely action, adding that the lady would have been dead
had it not been for her help.
The environment of pioneer life and the
limited means of the family prevented Miss Folsom from attending school. Her
entire schooling did not cover a period of one year. Notwithstanding this
deprivation, by research and reading she acquired such a thorough education
that her labors as a teacher were successful to a gratifying degree. When only
twelve years of age, feeling that she should not be a burden to her father, she
desired to support herself by knitting, in which work she was already very
skillful, but her father persuaded her that she was too small for self-support.
A few years later she was called to the home of Mrs. Webster, a neighbor, who
was ill with inflammatory rheumatism. The remedies she suggested were so prompt
in action that the woman was able to take up her weaving within two days. In
this home she remained for a year as an assistant and afterward she made her
own way in the world. When in her eighteenth year she took up a summer school
that her brother, William A. Folsom, had taught the previous winter, and her
success in the work led her to follow the profession for seven years. After
settling with her parents in Waterloo, Wis., she engaged in teaching there.
During the last two years of her work as an instructor her leisure hours were
largely devoted to prayer. Six months before the close of her last term the Fox
sisters had begun their promulgation of spiritism
(sic). In alarm lest relatives or friends might be led into their doctrines,
she prayed even more earnestly than before asking God to show her the truth and
to reveal to her the immortality of the soul. The answer to her petition was
long delayed, but still she continued in prayer, determining that naught but
death should seal her lips until God revealed to her the evidence she desired. With
the close of her school on Friday she returned home. The following Sunday
morning services were held in the church near by and she prevailed on the other
members of the family to attend while she remained at home with her father. The
homely task of dishwashing was engaging her attention when she fell to the
floor, crushed by what seemed to her a hundred-pound weight. At the same
time she began to pray in an unknown tongue, as impelled by the power of God.
Her father questioned this unseen power through his daughter and was there told
of the work before her for which she was to prepare herself and in doing so do
the will of God. By a careful study of the miracles related in the Bible and
comparing them with her work, all became convinced that the divine spirit had
blessed her in answer to her prayers. For two years she was under the divine
influence, praying unceasingly and deprived herself at the request of the
controlling power of all substantial food except bread. With the indwelling of
the holy spirit there came wonderful power in healing
the sick and alleviating pain. From the regions round about came the sick and
suffering in such numbers that she had not time for all. Calls came to her from
Whitewater, East Troy, Waukesha and other Wisconsin towns, where she was
invited to preach in churches and school-houses. Contrary to her wishes in the
matter of remuneration she was finally prevailed upon to accept all gifts
voluntarily offered, as by doing so it would confer a benefit upon those whom
she helped. The money thus received and her salary as teacher
were given toward paying the interest on the mortgage on her father’s
farm. Indeed, in all the years of the continuance of the family circle, she
contributed to its maintenance, proving herself a devoted daughter.
At the age of twenty-eight years Miss
Folsom became the wife of A.E. Hayes. In addition to taking charge of their
home at Waterloo, Wis., and rearing their three children, E. A., Jay O., and
May Hayes, she preached as the spirit guided her. Often a large number of
people would come to her home for religious instruction, and invariably she
ministered to their bodily needs as well as their spiritual necessities. About
1872 she made her first visit to California. After the death of Mr. Hayes she
accompanied her sons to Santa Clara county and purchased the place that is now
beautiful “Edenvale,” situated on the Monterey road,
about seven miles south of San Jose. The grounds are open to the public and
many people flock hither from all parts of the state; not so much, however, to
enjoy the beauty of the landscape and the attractions of the Hayes-Chynoweth
mansion, as to seek the counsel of its owner, who through all these years has
continued her ministrations to body and soul. Her second husband, T. B. Chynoweth,
an attorney of San Jose, died about one year after their marriage, since which
time her attention has been almost wholly given to religious labors. Her sons
have become prominent men in Santa Clara valley and as the owners of the San Jose Mercury and Herald wield a large influence in the
permanent upbuilding (sic) of this portion of the
state. The family have (sic) become wealthy, prosperous and honored, and much
of their riches have been devoted to the spreading of the primitive Gospel
before the world. This wealth has come direct to Mary Hayes-Chynoweth as a
reward of her unselfish Christian labors. Her life record has no duplicate in
America, and notwithstanding her great wealth, is the most humble being living,
and is constantly doing good among the people who know her for her example and
noble work.
The True Life Church, founded in 1903, has
in its membership an earnest body of cultured people, who like Mrs.
Hayes-Chynoweth, have been seeking the true light. The ceremony of
organization, November 22, was simple yet exceedingly impressive and brought to
the thoughts of the on-lookers memories of the New Testament narrative of the
founding of the first Christian church. The declarations of principles were
read and subscribed to, after which a board of trustees was elected to serve
one year. The following articles of organization were adopted:
“Know All Men By These Presents: That we,
the undersigned, a majority of whom are citizens and residents of the state of
California, have this day voluntarily associated ourselves together for the
purpose of forming a corporation under the laws of the state of California.
“And We Hereby Certify, First: That the
name of said corporation shall be the ‘True Life Church.’
“Second: That the purposes for which it is
formed are to establish, control and maintain the True Life Church in the city
of San Jose, county of Santa Clara, state of California; and in connection
therewith to make suitable and customary provision for public worship, and to
this end to purchase, hold and convey such real and personal estate as the
purposes of the corporation may require; to erect buildings and structures on
said real estate for public worship, religious training and other purposes; and
to do any and all things necessary and proper for the carrying out of said
purpose in accordance with the laws of the state of California, and in
conformity with the doctrine, government, discipline and worship of the True
Church as founded and established by Mrs. Mary Hayes-Chynoweth.
“Third: That the place where the principal
business of said corporation is to be transacted is at the church of said
corporation in San Jose, Cal.
“Fourth: That the term for which said
corporation is to exist is fifty years.
“Fifth: That the number of trustees of
said corporation shall be nine, and that the names of those who are appointed
for the first year are as follows, to-wit: E. A. Hayes, Dr. O. H. Dogge, Arthur M. Free, Mrs. J. O. Hayes, W. B. Stone, Mrs.
Townsend Wood, William H. Rogers, Mrs. W. P. Lyon, Jr., and A. Flosbach.
“This corporation assumes to itself all
rights, powers, privileges and immunities which are and which may, during the
existence thereof, be conferred by law upon corporations of a similar nature.”
On the day of the founding of the church
Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth read the statement of belief, previously signed by those
who proposed the organization of the movement. It read as follows:
I
“We hold that religion consists in pure
and holy living and unselfish doing, and not in professions.
II
“We believe in God, the Creator and Ruler
of the universe, and in Him only as the author of salvation for every human
being, through developing Himself in each soul to the fullness of the Christ
life as shown forth in the New Testament. We believe that it is the destiny of
every human soul, when he so wills and labors with sufficient diligence to that
end, to develop to the same purity and spiritual power as Christ is represented
in the Bible to have reached.
III
“In order to reach that end a constant
dual effort by each individual is a necessity.
“First: Each one must pray unto God for an
increase of His Life and power within him and must desire as the chief of all
valuable possessions to have incorporated in life and character all that is
pure and holy in thought, word and deed.
“Second: Each must resist with all his
will the promptings of his lower nature, and overcome as rapidly as he can the
temptations to evil.
IV
“We are convinced that the Christ standard
of perfection in human life is possible for each one of us and that spiritual
light and wisdom come as results of growth and the overcoming of the physical
elements in each nature, because of the manifestations of God’s life and power
which have been brought to the world through Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth. Among other
things she has healed the sick by the laying on of hands when no human agency
could alleviate their sufferings; she has preached the Gospel without previous
study, but as the truth was given her through inspiration at the time; she
reads the human heart as an open book, and knows its yearning and needs which
God helps her satisfy and supply; she has had revealed to her the whereabouts
of the wealth hidden in the earth, as well as many of the mysteries of the
spiritual world. God is no respector (sic) of persons
and what He has done for Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth He will do for all of His
children who work for the spiritual life with the same zeal and singleness of
purpose with which she has worked.
“We each pledge ourselves to do all in our
power to overcome the physical elements in our natures and to grow from day to
day in purity and godliness; to do everything that we can to add to the
interest of the meetings of this organization, and to induce as many others as
possible to attend them in order that they may be benefited with ourselves.”
Since its organization the True Life
Church has been growing in numbers, in zeal and in effective service, and
through the consecrated labors of its life pastor, as well as through the
publication of the periodical called “The True Life,” has become a well-known
factor in religious circles. With the deepest friendship toward all
denominations and all sects striving to upbuild (sic)
the world spiritually. Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth has nevertheless endeavored, with
all the power of her forceful, prayerful life, to lead people to return to the
doctrines of the Scriptures as preached by the apostles. In spite of her eighty
years, she is as active mentally and physically as many women of fifty, and
continues, as in the past, her self-sacrificing efforts to help the poor and
needy, ministering to the distressed and sorrowful, healing the sick “without
money and without price,” and withal conducting three evening services each
week and preaching a sermon every Sunday morning to the members of the True
Life Church.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 283-285. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2014 Cecelia M. Setty.