USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Presbyterian Church, Newark, N.J. : a discourse preached September 29, 1861 > Part 1
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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Gc 974.902 N51sm
Smith, Joseph Few, 1816- 1888.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Presbyterian
HISTORY
CHURCH
Connecticut
istorical
Society.
TRANSTVLIT
No. 12.782
Presented by
Subscribers for the Patterson Library.
1893.
!
7519
Few Quithe
THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
NEWARK, N. J.
A DISCOURSE PREACHED SEPTEMBER 29, 1861.
BY THE PASTOR, J. FEW SMITH, D. D.
NEWARK, N. J. : A. S. HOLBROOK, PRINTER, No. 3 MECHANIC-ST. 1861.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
THIS DISCOURSE occupied in its delivery the hours of both the morning and the afternoon service. In preparing it for publication, considerable additional matter has been inserted, and a number of notes have been appended ; which, it is be- lieved, will enhance its interest and its permanent value.
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children .- 2 CORINTHIANS xii : 14.
The father to the children shall make known thy truth .- ISAIAH XXXViii : 19.
THESE verses distinctly announce the principle, that each generation of our race should seek to provide for those who are to succeed it. One generation is the parent of another : and the pa- rental relation was established not only for the perpetuation of the race, but also for its instruction, and for handing down from age to age the moral and religious truth which is to be the source of highest good to mankind.
The parent is entrusted with the care of the child ; bound to make provision for its wants, physical, intellectual, moral. This is his duty ; demanded of him by his Creator and Sovereign. To this he is called by that affection which belongs
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to the relation he sustains, and which prompts him to find his highest happiness in the well being of his offspring.
Thus Paul, sustaining towards these Corinthian converts the relation of a spiritual father, (1 Cor. iv : 15,) declares his warm affection for them, and his desire for their good. "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you," he says ; "for I seek not yours but you." " I have no gain to make of you ; but with fatherly affection I seek your high- est permanent well-being; aiming to carry out the principle which nature and revelation alike sanc- tion, that the parents should lay up for the child- ren." The children must honor the memory of their parents, and when the infirmities of age come upon them should relieve and support them. But it is for the parents first to care for the children, and to secure to them such permanent good, as shall enable them to meet their obligations to their parents, and in turn to provide for their successors.
Thus each generation must endeavor so to live as to leave positive and permanent blessings for those who are to come after it. While each is to "act in the living present," each should so act that the present may be fraught with highest good to the future. Every age is both a harvest time and a seed time. Those tropical plants which show us on the same branches the flowering blossom and
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the ripening fruit, are emblematic of our life. No generation lives simply in the present and for the present. While deriving life from the past, and working earnestly in the present, it is laying foundations of future strength and grandeur ; it is sowing seeds whose full grown harvests after years shall reap. Whether we purpose it or not, think of it or not, this is inevitably so. For in this world we are not simply individuals, but members of the human family, each bound to each by numberless seen and unseen ties of relation and influence. And so, while "one generation passeth away and another generation cometh," (Eccl. i: 4,) the life of the human race continues unbroken, and history becomes a possible thing. Human History is the Biography of the human race, and is a record of the faithfulness with which the parents lay up for the children, and the fathers to the children make known the truth. And as all the interest of human history centres at last in the church of the living God, or rather in Him who is the head and heart and life of the church, it be- comes a matter of the deepest interest that each generation should hand over to another the bless- ings of the true religion, and perpetuate with unimpaired purity and vigor, and with ever grow- ing dominion, the knowledge of the true God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent. " The father
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to the children shall make known thy truth." " One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." (Ps. cxlv : 4.) Each generation is bound to care for the religious interests of another, and to carry forward the work handed to it by its predecessor. Thus is the name of the Lord to be honored from age to age. Thus instead of the fathers in constant succession shall the children rise up to bless His name; until at length there shall be a generation who shall all know and fear Him, the population of the whole earth being evangelized, and fathers who love Him bequeathing the rich legacy of faith and love to children who themselves are filled with faith, the parents of still other seed to serve Him.
And a review of the way in which those who have gone before us have discharged their obliga- tions to posterity will be an appropriate tribute to their memory, will furnish occasion for gratitude to God, and may incite us to diligence and fidelity in laying up for those who are to come after us, and in making known the truth to succeeding times.
FIFTY YEARS have passed since the edifice in which we are to day worshipping was first occupied by a congregation of worshippers, and dedicated to the service of God, Father, Son, and Holy
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Spirit. Fifty years! Many who were then in the bloom of youth, or of early manhood, still live in the mellowing season of old age; but in that time more than a generation have gone, to join the generations that preceded them and sank like the leaves of the forest into the earth. The old men, the aged women, who were the fathers and mothers then, have dropped one by one along the way, hiding their worn bodies beneath the green mounds of our churchyards and our ceme- teries, finding a nobler rest for their souls; and the young men became the fathers, and many of them too sleep; and the boys and girls, who then accompanied their parents with decent solemnity to the house of God, are in their turn fathers and mothers, here and elsewhere, telling their children of the truth of God. Fifty years ! What changes this community has witnessed in that time! At the beginning of that period, the population of Newark, then a thriving country town, was about six thousand; now it exceeds seventy-two thou- sand. The open spaces on its main thoroughfares have been filled up with stores and dwellings ; and large factories and blocks of buildings occupy its fields. Then there was one Presbyterian church, one Episcopal, one Baptist, one Methodist. Now there are twelve Presbyterian churches, besides three or four Mission chapels ; seventeen Methodist
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churches and chapels ; seven Protestant Episcopal, seven Baptist, and three Reformed Dutch churches, besides numerous others belonging to the Luther- ans, the Congregationalists, and the United Pres- byterians; and to Roman Catholics, Jews, and Universalists : making in all nearly seventy places of worship. Many of these are large, and costly, and beautiful edifices, highly ornamental to the city. Of the increase of the business, the wealth, and the size of the city ; of the change of charac- ter consequent on its becoming so largely a manufacturing town; of the enterprise, skill, and energy of its population; of the advance in the · style of building, in the adoption of numerous improvements for our streets, and houses, contrib- uting alike to comfort and to health; and of our noble system of Free Schools, I cannot stop to speak. Newark, the city of churches and of factories, with her broad paved avenues, and her crowding population comprising people of almost all tongues ; with her virtues and her vices, her thrift and her poverty, is not the Newark of fifty years ago. The old trees, and the old parks, and some of the old houses, and a few of the old families remain ; but in most respects how changed the place! Changed, as some, who remember it of old, and look only at the evils which are incidental to the rapid growth of a business
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community, say with a sigh, not for the better; yet evidently advanced in all the sources of material prosperity, in the facilities for intellectual and moral culture, and in true and desirable growth.
And these fifty years, what changes and pro- gress have they witnessed in the world's history ! what discoveries in science! what inventions ! what improvements ! what increase and diffusion of knowledge! what growth of the Church ! what revivals of religion ! what wonderful efforts and success in the cause of the world's evangelization ! In this period our Foreign and Home Missionary Associations, our Bible and Tract Societies, have begun, and risen to their highest prosperity ; most of our Theological Seminaries have been estab- lished, and our Education Societies have largely contributed to the supply of the ministry; and the Sunday School cause has grown to be a widely extended institution for the religious training of the young and the spread of the Church. It has been a period fraught with great interest to the Church at large, and especially to that branch of it with which this congregation has been connected .*
* The population of the United States in 1810 was 7,239,814; in 1860, it was 31,429,891. The population of New Jersey in 1810 was 245,555; in 1860, it was 672,031.
In 1800 the proportion of church members to the whole pop-
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On all these things it would be profitable as, well as interesting to dwell. Nor, did time permit, would such a review of the past fifty years be unsuitable to the history of this church. For with them all it has been associated. The relations of the Church and the State are far more intimate than may at first sight seem to be the case. And no one can fully write the history of a church in a community, without regarding this fact. Nor can the history of such a community as this be written without due regard to the religious element which has been so prominent and potent here.
ulation of the United States, leaving out those under ten years of age, was 1 to 18; now it is about 1 to 5.
At the beginning of this century there were about 200 Pres- byterian ministers; in 1859, there were in connection with the different branches of the distinctively Presbyterian Church in this country, including the Reformed Dutch, 6,254 ministers, 7,751 churches, and 635,044 communicants. Our own branch of the Church, whose separate existence began in 1838, now (1861) contains 22 Synods, embracing 105 Presbyteries, 1,558 ministers, 138 licentiates, and about 135,000 communicants.
Andover Theological Seminary was founded in 1808; Prince- ton, in 1812; Auburn, in 1821; Union, New York, in 1836. There are now upwards of 40 Theological Seminaries in the United States.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions began its existence in 1810; the American Bible Society, in 1817 ; the American Home Missionary Society, in 1826; the American Tract Society, in 1825; the American Sunday School Union, in 1823.
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But I may not dwell on these things any farther, except to mention this additional fact as a matter of interest: This church commenced its existence at a period when the mutterings of war were making themselves heard in the land; the war with Great Britain being formally declared in less than one year after the time when this building was dedicated : and now its first fifty years close amid the sad tumult of a more lamentable strife ; the call to arms coming from a tried government imperilled by a portion of its own constituents ; not a nation rising against a foreign foe, but a nation rallying to defend its institutions and its life against a foe springing out of its own bosom. But as in the beginning this church went on growing and prosperous even while the foreign war lasted, and as that soon came to a close, and was succeeded by a fruitful peace, so let us trust that now amid these distractions God will preserve us, and that soon the fierce storm will pass, and a blessed peace ensue, to continue unbroken and fruitful through coming years.
The town of Newark was originally settled by men who duly valued the institutions of religion, and recognized the obligations that rested on them to provide for the religious instruction of the generations that were to succeed them. They were in fact a company of church members,
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bringing with them from their home in New England all the institutions of the Gospel, and a deep veneration for them, and an earnest practical religious spirit. Their first care was to establish here the Church of Christ; and in the original " fundamental agreement " adopted by them Octo- ber 30, 1666, they declared their purpose "with care and diligence to provide for the maintenance and purity of religion."* This spirit moulded all their arrangements, municipal and social, as well as ecclesiastical ; and it gave a character for solidity, love of order, maintenance of law, and strictness of integrity, and reverence for the Sabbath and the Bible, the results of which may be traced in
* Newark was " settled " by a colony from what is now the State of Connecticut, in the years 1666 and 1667. The design of the leaders in the enterprise seems clearly to have been that of the original colonists who landed on Plymouth Rock, "the founding of a pure church and a godly government." The " fundamental agreement " above alluded to was adopted before they left the town of Branford, from which most of them came. They came, it may be said, as a church, bringing with them their pastor and church organization, and just continuing on the soil of New Jersey the life which had begun in the New England province. "The name of the town appears to have been at first Milford, but was soon changed to Newark, in honor, as is supposed, of its first minister, the Rev. Abraham Pierson, who preached for a time in Newark in England before he came to this country." See the admirable and valuable History of the First Church, Newark, by the Rev. Dr. Stearns, pp. 1-25.
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their descendants, and the influence of which we now feel.
Among their earliest provisions was one for the erecting of a church and the support of the ministry ; and ere long certain lands were set apart to afford a perpetual fund for this purpose, the benefit of which several generations have enjoyed, and to which we as a congregation are largely indebted. The original congregation thus coming in and taking possession of the place in 1667 was to be the precursor of a long train of churches, the fruitful and honored mother of a numerous progeny. The first house of worship was built between 1668 and 1676, and stood on the west side of Broad street, nearly opposite the present First Presbyterian Church. It was "a low and somewhat singular looking wooden edifice, without chimney or cupola, spreading out to the breadth of thirty-six feet square upon the ground, and at most sixteen feet high in front beneath the eaves, and somewhat less in the rear."* Some forty or more years later that gave place to a larger and more substantial edifice; which was in turn superseded, in 1791, by the present large, and commodious, and sightly, and venerable edi- fice of the First Church.
I cannot stop to speak of the origin of the * Dr. Stearns's History, p. 71.
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churches of Orange and Bloomfield, both out- growths of the church of Newark, which were organized respectively in 1718 and 1798 .* No steps were taken towards the organization of an additional church within the limits of the Town of Newark until the year 1809. Up to that period the existing edifice and organization seemed to be sufficient for the wants of the people. "But the time had come when the need of greater facilities, for the accommodation of a large and growing population, was manifest to all." The spirit and principle of Church Extension belonged inherently to the first settlers of the town, and entered into the very purpose of their settlement, and into the organization of the First Church. These had already manifested themselves in the creation of the churches of Orange and Bloomfield. They were now to be evinced in noble deeds nearer home. As children going forth from the parental roof to establish new homes for them- selves, go with a parent's blessing and a parent's gifts, so was the First Church to send forth again
* Orange and Newark were both originally embraced within the Township of Newark. The First Church in Orange was known for sixty years as the "Mountain Society," and after- wards, until 1811, it was called the "Second Presbyterian Church of Newark." So when the church in Bloomfield was organized it was called the "Third Presbyterian Church of the Township of Newark."
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its children, with blessings and gifts, to create a new home and extend the influence of the Redeemer's cause. As brothers seeking separate homes divide among themselves the common patrimony, so these children of the same family shared the inheritance which had come down to them from the fathers. When the demand for increased church accommodation arose it was promptly met. The subject had already enlisted attention, and awakened interest ; and at a meeting of the congregation of the First Church held April 8, 1809, "it was Resolved, That it is advisable for this Society to build another meeting house," and a committee* was appointed "to consider the subject, and to prepare some plan for the congre- gation to bring about this great object." At a subsequent meeting, on the 18th of the same month, that committee reported; and it was resolved "that from this congregation a separate and distinct congregation should be set off, and measures taken to invest it with all the powers and privileges of a body politic." And then for the encouragement of the purpose, and for securing to the new enterprise the highest prosperity, the
* That committee consisted of the following nine persons : Lewis Thibou, William S. Pennington, Nathaniel Camp, Robert B. Campfield, Isaac Andruss, David D. Crane, John N. Cum- ming, Hugh McDougal, and Joseph T. Baldwin.
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following resolution was adopted, namely : "That when the new congregation shall become incorpo- rated and legally qualified to hold property, and shall have built a meeting house not less than fifty feet by seventy, on its base, in a good and substantial manner; and shall have called and settled a minister, this congregation shall convey to them two-sevenths of all their real estate, in as full and absolute a manner as those learned in the law shall advise, to be held by the congregation for the support of the Gospel forever, excepting the present meeting house and the lot of land attached to it." It appears to have been a question that elicited discussion whether the new edifice should be erected in the southern, or in the northern part of the town, and it was decided to make the attempt in the south end; with the understanding that the people there should proceed at once to build, and should have the walls raised "as high as the water table" within six months from the date of the resolution. If this condition were not complied with, the people in the north part of the town were to be at liberty to proceed, and should receive the benefit of the appropria- tion : provided “ they should have the foundation of a church laid, and the walls raised as high as the water table in nine months, to commence at the expiration of the six months" first designated.
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Accordingly the foundation of a new edifice in the south part of the town was begun and completed; the corner stone being laid by the Rev. James Richards, Pastor of the First Church,* October 9, 1809. But the building advanced no farther.
The people in the northern part of the city now availed themselves of the opportunity afforded them. The opening paragraph in our first book of Records is as follows : "During the Spring of the year 1810, a number of individuals, residents in the upper part of the Town of Newark and members of the First Presbyterian congregation in that place, being impressed with the importance
* Dr. Richards was born at New Canaan, Conn., Oct. 29, 1767; entered Yale College in 1789, but for want of pecuniary means was compelled to leave without graduating; was licensed by an association in Fairfield County, Conn., in 1793; was ordained Pastor of the church in Morristown, May 1, 1795; succeeded Dr. Griffin as Pastor of the First Church, Newark, June 7, 1809; received the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1815, from Yale and Union Colleges, simultaneously ; in 1823, was called to the Professorship of Theology in the new Seminary at Auburn, N. Y .; and continued in that important position until the day of his death, August 2, 1843. He was eminent. for sagacity, for a deep solid piety, for unwearying diligence .. His life was full of usefulness. As a Pastor, a counsellor, an instructor, a member of the judicatories of the Church, his: position was one of great prominence. His influence was wide, and great, and lasting. Few names as so much honored in the Church.
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of having a Second Presbyterian Church erected, drew up a subscription, and having met with sufficient encouragement, purchased a convenient lot of ground, and on the 17th of June* following began the building. 17 The "convenient lot of ground" is this on which we are now worshipping ; admirably situated both in point of agreeableness and beauty, being in front of the open Park with its noble elms, and in respect to its adaptation to the wants of the growing population of the part of the city in which it was placed. + On the day mentioned-June 18, 1810-the corner stone of the building was laid with appropriate religious services by the Rev. Samuel Whelpley. I copy in full the following account of the proceedings on that occasion, from The Sentinel of Freedom -- the
* This is a mistake. It should be the 18th of June, which was Monday. The Sabbath would hardly have been selected for such a service, and the account in the newspaper of the time places the laying of the corner stone on Monday, the 18th.
" The North, or Washington, Park, on which the church fronts, was not then enclosed. It was known as "the Com- mon," and the southern part of it being often covered with water, in the winter season afforded a fine skating pond for the boys and young men. The large elm trees, though of much smaller size, then surrounded it, as they do now; but the other trees, and the graveled walks, and the green turf, are of much later date. The congregation purchased property, extending from Washington to Plane streets; and James street, at the corner of which the church stands, was opened about that time.
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Newark newspaper of that day-of June 26, 1810: "On Monday Morning, the 18th inst., was laid the corner stone of the North Presbyterian Church,* in Newark. The exercises were per- formed by the Rev. Samuel Whelpley, with a solemnity, simplicity, and fervor of devotion, peculiarly appropriate to the interesting occasion, and illustrative of that 'power of godliness,' which we trust he has experienced, and the God of grace (has) given him for extensive usefulness in his church. The ceremony commenced with prayer, after which the corner stone was laid. and a solemn and affecting address made to the friends and patrons of the church, and to the numerous. audience that had assembled. A well adapted hymn was then sung, and the exercises concluded with prayer. The whole service was performed with a truly Christian spirit. No illiberal party zeal, no bigoted opposition to other denominations. was manifested, but a Christian meekness and gentleness must have been conspicuous to every spectator, and must have delighted the hearts of all who have 'the spirit of Christ.' May the
* This designation appears to have been given to the new congregation while it was yet unorganized, as a matter of con- venience, having direct reference to its locality. Afterwards, when it became necessary to adopt a corporate name, it was deemed best to call it the Second Church.
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Lord, without whose blessing no plan, however well devised, can be accomplished, smile in mercy on those engaged in erecting this house to His praise. May His presence ever dwell in it, and the distinguished truths be there preached which He has honored, and which we pray He will still honor in the conversion of sinners and the edification of His dear people."
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