USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > Jersey City > History of the First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City, New Jersey : in four discourses preached in the month of July, 1876; also, the discourse preached at the close of services in the church building, Sunday morning, April 29, 1888 > Part 1
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T
HE First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City, New Jersey.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSES. BY CHARLES K. IMBRIE.
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02712 3626
Gc 974.902 048i Imbrie, Charles Kisselman, 1814-1891. History of the First . Presbyterian Church
Mr, M Pierce
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12. 5 1909 Id Ene E-22-
1200
HISTORY
OF THE
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
OF
JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.
IN FOUR DISCOURSES PREACHED IN THE MONTH OF JULY, 1876.
ALSO
THE DISCOURSE PREACHED AT THE CLOSING OF SERVICES IN THE CHURCH BUILDING, SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 29, 1888.
BY
CHARLES K. IMBRIE, Pastor of the Church.
NEW YORK : ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
PRESS OF EDWARD O JENKINS' SONS, NEW YORK.
CONTENTS.
F
PAGE
PREFACE,
.
.
5
SERMON I.,
.
.
7
SERMON II., .
· 31
SERMON III.,
. 51
SERMON IV., . .
. 65
PREFACE TO SERMON V.,
. . 91
SERMON V., . .
.
.
. 95
LIST OF TRUSTEES,
I21
HISTORY OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL, . .
. . 126
PREFACE.
THE first four of the following discourses were preached in the First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City on successive Sabbath mornings in the month of July, 1876, in compliance with the rec- ommendation of the General Assembly of the year 1873 (see Minutes of the General Assembly, page 490), that that month in the Centennial year of the country should be used as the occasion for presenting from the pulpit the histories of the churches in our denomination throughout the land. It was intended to publish them immediately after their delivery. But owing to circum- stances, which need not be here stated, this design was postponed.
Even at that time it began to be very plain, as will be seen in the close of the fourth discourse, that, sooner or later, the church building must be removed and the congregation seek other quar- ters. When, at length, after twelve years of further labor it was decided to dispose of the church building, the desire was revived that these discourses should be published and be followed by the sermon preached by the pastor at the closing services held in the church just before his announcing the dissolution of the long con- tinued pastoral relation between himself and the congregation. This sermon is the fifth in the present volume. It was judged best to print the former ones just as they were originally delivered, without pausing to correct them in reference to the changes which had occurred in the interval. A number of persons represented as living in 1876 have since deceased. These and some other changes are simply noted in the margin ; and a few other notes are there added also to explain or illustrate the statements in the discourses. It may be proper to state that the corporate title of the church whose history mainly occupies the following pages has always been "The Presbyterian Church of Jersey City." But
6
Preface.
as other Presbyterian churches have since been organized within the city, it has usually been called for the sake of convenience " The First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City." And this title is used in reference to it throughout this history.
These discourses, such as they are, are now sent forth to the many attendants upon the services held in former and in later years, in this old historic building, in the belief that they, at least, will be interested in seeing revived these scenes of the past, and in the hope that they may be prompted thereby to look forward with increased faith and hope and longing toward the coming Kingdom of God when our separations shall be at an end and we shall be forever together with the Lord.
JERSEY CITY, September 1, 1888.
CHAS. K. IMBRIE.
1.
SERMON I.
: "So he built the house, and finished it ; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar. And then he built chambers against all the house five cubits high ; and they rested on the house with timber of cedar. And the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them ; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father : And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel."-I KINGS vi. 9-13.
SUCH is God's promise concerning the temple built by Solomon. Such is the condition upon which the promise to Israel rests regarding it. And such is the glory which was sure to follow the performance of the condition. In a certain and proper sense this is true of every house builded for the proclamation of the Lord's name and for the decla- ration of His truth and for the administration of His ordi- nances and the worship of His people. That sure promise, " If thou wilt walk in my statutes and keep all my com- mandments, I will perform my word unto thee," is for those who worship in these also. And it is this which sets such buildings apart from buildings devoted to other pur- poses. While they last it confers upon them a glory and an honor which renders them places of peculiar blessedness to those who are therein accustomed, from generation to generation, to meet the Lord in His ordinances. And when, in the course of time, these structures have passed away it associates these buildings with the tenderest and most precious memories.
It has been judged by our General Assembly appropriate to this Centennial year, in which our land rejoices together over the national mercies with which the century has been crowned, to devote the Sabbath before our National Anni-
8
History of the
versary, for presenting the history of the several churches of our denomination. Such a record of the beginnings and progress of places devoted to God's worship is not without Scriptural warrant. Not only is the history of the rise and formation of the worshipping congregation of God's people recorded, but the very stones of memorial in the channel of the Jordan and on its banks are held in honor. With what minute detail, in the Scriptures too, has the Spirit of God honored the gradual erection of the tabernacle in the wilder- ness and also this very temple of Solomon. The very carved work of the sanctuary was precious (Psalm lxxiv. 6, 7). True, there were special occasions for this in these particular cases, inasmuch as God only could, of right, prescribe the forms and circumstances of His own worship. But apart from this, what minute detail is given as to the preparation and silent erection of the stones of the building, the arrangement of the chambers and other particulars of mere construction. And so precious was the very building itself that even when the foundations of the second temple were laid, as has not been deemed unworthy of record by the Spirit of God, it was not without sore weeping that the greater glories of the earlier House of the Lord rose up in their memories. Nor is it wrong to bring to remembrance the names of the men whose zeal and activity have been instrumental in God's hands for founding and building these houses of God where so many have enjoyed the holy ordinances of Christianity and had their souls nourished for heaven. It was no mean recommendation which the Jews offered to Christ in behalf of the centurion, when they said of this benevolent Gentile, " He loveth our nation and hath built us a synagogue."
Not that we need carry this to excess. Not that Chris- tians should ever forget that we are but pilgrims and stran- gers here after all, and our true house of worship, as "our citizenship," is above and in the future, and that all these present places of solemn worship-the old temple, the syna- gogues, and the New Testament churches-just as our na- tions and our earthly habitations are temporary, and are
9
First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City.
passing away to give place to the permanent house and kingdom of God in the future, whereon alone our hearts are therefore to dwell. Even of the temple Christ could say with a sort of indifference, "The time cometh when neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem shall men worship the Father." And yet perhaps even in the king- dom there shall be a fond recollection of the old sites and the old tabernacles of the Lord wherein God's people have been refreshed in the wilderness; and there shall be many a sweet conversation of the saints pointing back to sacred scenes on the journey toward the place of rest. The staves which had carried the ark of the covenant during its wan- derings were indeed drawn out when the ark had found a settled rest in the new temple; and yet the ends of the staves were still placed in view as a fond remembrance of God's past mercies toward His tabernacle and His people while they were still in the weary wilderness.
Let us then trace the beginnings and progress of our branch of the Church of God in this city.
The Presbyterians were among the first, if not the very first, who held regular worship in this part of what is now called Jersey City, and known at that time as "Paulus' Hoeck" (Paul's Corner). The Episcopalians are known to have held worship here nearly as early. Mr. Winfield, in his " History of Hudson County," p. 391, states that St. Matthew's Episcopal Church was organized August 21, 1808, and that Trustees were elected in December of the same year. He states also that at first the services were held in the " Jersey Academy," built by the town authorities, and completed in February, 1807. Whether the Episcopalians had services before their organization in 1808 I do not know. The Rev. Dr. Taylor also states * that a desire was expressed by the inhabitants of Jersey City to have a Re- formed Dutch Church organized in 1807. But nothing came
* " Annals of the Classis and Township of Bergen," by Benjamin C. Taylor, D.D., p. 343.
IO
History of the
of this. Now, as nearly as I can make it out, for several years previous to these dates (in 1804) the Presbyterians were holding services. Mr. Stephen Seaman, son of one of the early elders in the Presbyterian Church here, and now* living in this city, tells me that his father's family removed here from Ellis' Island in 1805. And he states distinctly that at that time the old Academy building (of which I shall speak presently) had just been finished, and that regular Presby- terian services were held in this building when his father's family took up their abode here. These services were con- ducted most probably by Supplies obtained from the Pres- bytery of New York or the Presbytery of Jersey. It must be understood, however, that at this time there was not a regular organization. These were merely assemblies for Presbyterian worship. The organization took place in 1809. I have in my possession a letter t in the handwriting of the late Rev. Samuel Miller, D.D., of Princeton, N. J., in which he says : "The history of the Presbyterian Church in Jersey City is short and easily told. On the 10th day of January, A.D. 1809, a Presbyterian church was organized in this city by him who now addresses you"; and he further says : " My impression is that it was the first church of any de- nomination that was organized in the place."} This marks the organization clearly. I supplement this by a reminis- cence of the Rev. Dr. B. C. Taylor,§ of Bergen, who informs me that he has a distinct recollection of Dr. Miller telling him that when he came to Jersey City and organized the church, he ordained two elders. Who these elders were is not certainly known. The probability is that one of them was Mr. James Morrison, who is known to have afterward
* In 1876.
+ An extract from a sermon preached by him at the dedication of the Presbyterian Church of Jersey City in 1845.
# The Episcopalians were four and a half months earlier in organ- ization, but not in preaching services.
§ In 1876. Since deceased.
II
First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City.
long served in that capacity. And I judge that the other was Mr. John Seaman, although his son thinks not. Mr. Stephen Seaman tells me that he is sure his father was not ordained elder of the church until some years after his ar- rival. But this would still allow four years to intervene ; and I presume, as no other name offers, that he was the other elder whom Dr. Miller ordained. The impression of Dr. Taylor is that Dr. Miller stated to him that this organ- ization died out. And some others also have the impres-' sion that it was extinguished. But this is evidently a mis- take. Dr. Miller's own language is: "They continued worshipping in the school-house which they were occupying, if I mistake not, until about the year 1824." But in addi- tion to this, Mr. Stephen Seaman, who has lived here ever since,* assures me that the church's services were never dis- continued, but went on until the year 1827, when the con- gregation· had erected a building and moved into their new edifice in Grand Street-the same building which afterward passed into the possession of the Reformed Dutch Church. On the same authority we find that these services were reg- ularly held in the same place (the Academy building), with occasional exceptions, when for one reason or another the congregation met in a private dwelling. The history then of the First Presbyterian Congregation of Jersey City was continuous and not broken up and then afterward replaced by a second organization. Beginning with stated preaching about the year 1804, it became regularly organized, accom- panied by the ordination of elders, in 1809, and thence on- ward maintained regular worship by supplies until it was incorporated in 1825, and not very long afterward occupied its new building in Grand Street, and so continued until its transfer to the Reformed Dutch Church. It was a period of feebleness, indeed ; but nevertheless of continued life for about twenty-three years.
I now return to Dr. Miller's paper. He says further :
* In 1876.
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History of the
" What is now a populous city was then a small village, or rather an inconsiderable hamlet, and the congregation was, of course, feeble, and found some difficulty in main- taining the ordinances of religion. They worshipped in a public school-house, and continued to occupy that building for a number of years ; part of the time in connection with a small body of Episcopalians who worshipped every other Sabbath in the same humble edifice. During this period it was my privilege, a number of times, to preach to this con- gregation."
I quote this passage as it refers to the town itself, to the place in which the people worshipped, and to the mode of supply. Of these I wish to speak.
As to the town at the time, Dr. Miller calls it " a small village," or rather, " an inconsiderable hamlet." He refers, of course, to old Paulus Hoeck. This was a sand heap, made at high tide an island, with a salt marsh and a stream running through what is now Warren Street, toward Greene Street, from Communipaw Cove below to Harsimus Cove. It became the property of "The Jersey City Associates," incorporated about the same time that Presbyterian preach- ing was begun, or five years earlier than Dr. Miller's reference. It was bounded off from the adjacent land (or Mr. Cornelius Van Vorst's farm), by this stream of water, which, extending from cove to cove, though shal- low at low tide and even dry in parts, was, at high tide, filled to the depth of six feet, and was easily traversed throughout by rowing-boats. Mr. Stephen Seaman tells me that his father, in the very earliest years of the century, moved from New York and kept house on Ellis Island, and that often the passengers from Philadelphia to New . York were detained late at night, and were poled, in a cov- ered boat, to the island, and the inmates were roused to get them supper. He also states that this same island was often resorted to from Paulus Hoeck by pleasure parties who went thither to enjoy the cool shade and the oyster suppers. Quite a bed of these shell-fish was kept supplied
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First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City.
at the end of the island. Paulus Hoeck itself, looked, as I said, like a sand bank. The beach, or landing, was just as it had always been. Roadways had been cut through, which are now our streets. Three years before (1802) there were resident on the island only thirteen persons .* And when the Seaman family came in 1805, Mr. Seaman judges that, on the whole island, there were not more than a dozen houses, with the remains of two forts.
Among these houses, however, was one structure, in which we are particularly interested. It is the one in which, for more than twenty years, our Presbyterian predecessors, led by different ministers, worshipped God, on alternate Sab- baths, with the Episcopalians under the charge, first, of the Rev. Timothy Clowes, and next under that of the late Rev. Edward D. Barry, D.D. This house still stands-a relic of the past-a few yards from us, on Sussex Street, between Washington and Warren Streets.+ After many inquiries, I have not been able to ascertain certainly who erected this building or the date of its erection. The statements are conflicting. Mr. Winfield states that it was finished in February, 1807 .¿ Mr. Seaman, on the contrary, states that it was already built, and was new when he arrived in 1805, and that worship was then held in it. In the " New Jersey Register," a small volume published in 1810 by Timothy Alden, and loaned to me by Hon. Robert Gilchrist,§ of this city, there is given (p. 100) an account of the incorporation of " The Jersey Academy." This took place May 12, 1808. The Trustees were Amasa Jackson, Joseph Lyon, Henry Caldwell, David Hunt, Samuel Beach, Philip Williams; and Reuben Winchell was Preceptor. It has always been known as "The Academy." And it is certain that it was built for school purposes. Dr. Benjamin C. Taylor's sugges- tion is therefore probably correct, that it was erected by the
* Winfield's History. He gives the names.
t In 1876. Since removed. # Winfield's History, p. 392.
§ Deceased 1888.
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History of the
township of Bergen as a public school-house and afterward was incorporated, and that the use of it for church purposes was an afterthought. I have already referred to Mr. Sea- man's statement that it was just finished when his father's family came here to live in 1805, and that at that time it was already used both for school and church purposes. In- deed it is certain that both were provided for ; for the lower story was fitted up as a school-room and the upper story arranged for religious services. After the incorporation of Jersey City in 1820, it was called "The Town Hall," and was used, I am told, when the city ceased to be governed by the "Select Men," in 1838, for the induction of the Hon. Dudley S. Gregory, the first Mayor, into office. There has been a question whether it has always stood on the same foundation. Dr. Theodore R . Varick * has a clear remembrance of two cells having been built underneath it, during his boyhood, for the retention of prisoners, and of his looking through the bars, with boyish awe, at the places of criminal confinement. And he has a very strong im- pression that the building was, at that time, moved back a considerable distance from its former position on the street. That the cells were built, there is no doubt. The place of them is pointed out to-day. But the recollection of others of the old inhabitants is so clear (e. g., Mr. David Smith and Mr. Seaman), that it has never been removed, that we judge it stands now where it always did, but that it was altered for the purpose already mentioned. As all agree, it faced on what is now Sussex Street. One authority (Mr. W. Stone, of Jersey City,) declares that it originally stood with the gable-end toward the street. It stood, however, alone. As our Presbyterian friends went up to it there was no other house near. A row of Lombardy poplars stood in front, and a pathway led from the Grand Street side across the lot. Those who attended worship from that side were accustomed to drive from Grand Street across the lot in the
* Since deceased, 1887.
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First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City.
rear of the building. What is now Washington Street was opened. From below the Academy a continuous hill rose as one looked along Sussex to Greene Street. This was one of the forts alluded to. In the same manner a rising ground stood on Essex Street, at the foot of Washington Street, about forty feet distant. Here was the second fort. There was a redoubt, or hollow, along which soldiers could pass from one to the other in safety. This passed down Wash- ington Street. This I have from Mr. Seaman, who tells me that he has several times seen "little Stephen Decatur," as he calls him, bring out his men from the vessel below and exercise them in the place between the two forts, on the ground fronting the church where we now are. I mention this circumstance as it will account for the apparent dis- crepancy in the recollection of those who remember this old place of worship and school several years later, in their childhood. Some of these recall it as standing on a hill. To others it stands out in memory as being on a level, or even somewhat in a hollow. Approaching the place of worship from Grand Street, it did, of course, seem to be on a hill, because part of Grand Street was low. While stand- ing in front of the building and looking up east and south along Sussex Street and toward Essex Street, it seemed, viewed from the higher rising ground, to be (in contrast with the bank of sand) in a depression.
In this unpretending building, through weakness and dis- couragements, those who preceded us worshipped God ; Presbyterians and Episcopalians both endeavoring to lay the foundations for these separate branches of the Church of God, for those who should come after them. And a number of families who still continue to attend the services of the Presbyterian, Reformed, and Episcopal churches re- tain pleasant memories of their regular rides to this old house of worship, in their early childhood. It was an early time indeed for Jersey City ; a time when the houses were so few in this now compactly-built city that a family car- riage starting from what is now Henderson and Second
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History of the
Streets, and travelling to the church along the Newark road, could be easily seen for the whole distance by a person standing on Grand Street, beside the church .*
Who were the preachers who ministered to this congre- gation it is difficult now to tell. All agree that there was quite a number of them. Among these we are sure that Dr. Samuel Miller, then of New York, appeared occasion- ally. For he distinctly says: "During this period it was my privilege a number of times to preach to this congrega- tion, who continued worshipping in the school-house." Be- sides him, I find, in an old almanac loaned me by our At-
* To give some further idea of the place in those early days, I quote some personal recollections from the Jersey City Evening Journal of Jan. 19, 1883, in a communication by the late Samuel Bridgart, who came to Jersey City in 1819, and lived here until his death. He says of the year 1819: " At that time there were only 400 inhabitants in the tract, of whom Mr. David Smith is the sole survivor now living within its bounds." . . " In the central portion were very high sand hills, on one of which a British fort was located. The residence of Mr. David Taylor now occupies the site of that fort. An intrenchment ran from the fort to the bay. The old revolutionary burying-ground was on the spot now bounded by Washington, Sussex, Morris, and Warren Streets, and when the sand hills were graded for building purposes, the remains of soldiers and others were unearthed. By order of the late Chas. Dummer, these remains were placed in sugar hogsheads and buried near the corner of Washington and Morris Streets. I saw the remains of a British officer dug up. His skull was in a good state of preservation. His epaulets and sword had been buried with him." .... Of the primitive ferry, which then plied be- tween Jersey City and New York, he says : " There were two boats- the Jersey and the York. They were catamarans, with the paddle in the middle and the whole decked over. It took twenty minutes to cross the river in summer, but in the winter the boats were frequently caught in the ice and carried down as far as Staten Island. A Maj. Hunt was the proprietor at one time, but was bought out by Cadwall- ader & Colden. The ferriage was a shilling, or twelve and a half cents. On the site now occupied by Colgate & Co.'s soap factory stood Lyon's Hotel, whence the mail coaches plying between New York and Phil- adelphia started. The building still stands in Grand Street."
"There were no churches in Paulus Hook at that time, but the Presbyterians occupied the old school-house, which now adjoins St.
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First Presbyterian Church of Jersey City.
torney-General, Robert Gilchrist, Esq., the name of the Rev. Eliphalet Price, of the Presbytery of Jersey, mentioned as a supply for Jersey (i. e., the towns of Jersey) and Hacken- sack; and also the name of the Rev. Alexander Frazer, of Elizabeth.
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