Chaplain of the United States Senate during the Civil War and again in the 1870s and was a friend and adviser to President Abraham Lincoln. Among the pastor’s many contributions to the Presbyterian denomination and the Washington area was his role as a founder of what is today Gallaudet University. Presidents John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison worshiped at “Old First.”"Easter in the Churches: President and Mrs. Harrison Attend Service – the Celebration of the Day", The Washington Post, pA2, 22 April 1889. Sunderland performed the marriage ceremony of President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom at the White House. Orators of the day who spoke from the church’s pulpit included Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Henry Ward Beecher, and T. DeWitt Talmage, who later became pastor of First Presbyterian Church and then editor of the [Christian Herald]'' magazine. In addition to Sunderland (who served as Senate Chaplain from 1861-1864), four other pastors of National Presbyterian Church congregations served as Senate Chaplains: John Brackenridge (1811-1814); John Clark (1818-1819); Reuben Post (1819-1820); and Edward L.R. Elson (1969-1981). (A total of 14 Senate Chaplains have been Presbyterians). By the early 20th century, First Presbyterian’s neighborhood had become largely commercial, and members were increasingly dispersed throughout the city. The Federal Government changed the name of 4½ Street to John Marshall Place and acquired the church site to erect court buildings. The congregation worshiped there for the last time on May 11, 1930, and then merged with the Covenant Presbyterian Church. The Church of the Covenant (Presbyterian) The urban growth that ultimately led to the destruction of the old First Church gave rise to many other Presbyterian congregations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the Church of the Covenant. On March 11, 1883, eleven men, meeting in the home of Supreme Court Justice William Strong at 1141 H Street, N.W., formed the nucleus of The Church of the Covenant. Officially organized on October 13, 1885, with 53 charter members, this congregation acquired a strategic site at the intersection of N and 18th Streets and Connecticut Avenue NW, the heart of a fast-growing and affluent residential area. On June 28, 1887, the cornerstone of the greystone Romanesque Revival church was laid. The first service was held there on September 25, 1889. It was dedicated January 6, 1901, after the construction