USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Newark > A History of the city of Newark, New Jersey : embracing practically two and a half centuries, 1666-1913, Volume II > Part 36
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Synod of Philadelphia, and after that all ministers were obliged before becoming members of the synod to declare their agreement with the West- minster Confession and the Catachisms. Probably the Newark church was first officially recognized as Presbyterian when, in 1719, Webb was ordained. It remained in the Presbytery of Philadelphia until 1733, when, with other churches in the vicinity, it became a part of the new Presbytery of East Jersey.
About 1726 a Dutch congregation formed a church at Second River, now Belleville. Toward the latter part of Mr. Webb's ministry occurred the secession of a number of members to join the Episcopal mission which resulted in the organization of Trinity church. It was to the Synod of Philadelphia that Colonel Josialı Ogden, in 1734, appealed his suspension by the First Church of Newark. Further details of this notable event will be found in the history of Trinity church. For such scenes of controversy Mr. Webb, it is said, was ill-fitted, though the worst thing they could say of him was that "he was too peaceable and too good," too much like his Master, no doubt. He let Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, of Elizabethtown, fight it out in a war of pamphlets with Rev. John Beach, an Episcopalian clergyman, of Connecticut. He might have felt like saying with old Omar:
"But leave the wise to wrangle, and with me The quarrel of the universe let be."
In November, 1736, he was released from his charge by the Synod of East Jersey, a majority of the congregation having made the request. He was given £100, and all arrears guaranteed. He remained in the neighbor- hood, preaching at times, and faithfully discharging his duties as a member of presbytery and of synod. The good man, with his son, was drowned while crossing Saybrook ferry, on the Connecticut river, in 1741.
The seventh pastor of Newark was Rev. Aaron Burr. He remained from December, 1736, to the fall of 1755. He was the first year a candidate in trial. He was the son of Daniel Burr, and was born at Fairfield, Con- necticut, January 4, 1716. He graduated at Yale College in 1735, and, obtaining a Berkley scholarship, continued his studies another year. Hle was licensed as a candidate in 1736. He preached his first sermon at Green- field, Massachusetts. He preached for a time at Hanover, New Jersey, and was invited during November of the same year to come to Newark on trial. The town on December 21 voted to hear him for a year. On January 25, 1738, he was ordained pastor by the Presbytery of East Jersey, after sub- scribing to the Westminster Confession of Faith. The pastorate of Mr. Burr was a bright era religiously in the history of the church. It was marked by several revivals, one of them in 1739. Later, in the fervor of Rev. George Whitefield's visit to America, a revival occurred during the winter of 1740-'41. Whitefield preached at Newark in December of that winter. The noted missionary to the New Jersey Indians, David Brainerd, was ordained in the Newark church on June 11, 1744. This office was per- formed by the Presbytery of New York, to which body the Newark church had belonged since 1738.
During Mr. Burr's ministry occurred in the Presbyterian Church of America the Great Schism, from which resulted the Old Side and the New Side parties. The division came about as a result of the revival movements. There being an increased demand for ministers, there was a tendency in some of the fervent spirits, as in the Tennents of the New Brunswick Pres- bytery and many others, to ordain men lacking the usual educational
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qualifications. This was objected to by the conservative side, which, in time, ejected the New Brunswick Presbytery. The division became localized, the Presbytery of Philadelphia standing with the Old Side, and that of New York, in which was Newark, with the New Side. In 1743 the proposals for agreement presented by the New York men were rejected in the synod by the stronger side, and in 1744 the New York men stayed away from the meeting. In 1745 the Presbytery of New York, and of New Brunswick, formed the new Synod of New York. They were not reunited until 1758.
The New Jersey College, now Princeton University, was the result of the Great Schism. The Synod of New York immediately after its organiza- tion took steps to provide for the education of young men for the min- istry. A charter was secured October 22, 1746, from the Province of New Jersey by Jonathan Dickinson, John Pierson, Ebenezer Pemberton and Aaron Burr as trustees, and the next May, under the supervision of Mr. Dickinson as president, it was opened at Elizabethtown. On October 7, 1747, Dickinson died, and the four months' old college was removed to Newark and placed under the care of Mr. Burr. Another cause to have produced the new col- lege, as once stated by Mr. Burr, was the Brainerd incident at Yale, he having been expelled about the end of his course, and, though penitent, refused his degree unless he returned for another year. Mr. Burr said: "If it had not been for the treatment received by Mr. Brainerd at Yale College, New Jersey College never would have been erected." The New Jersey College was reorganized after a new charter had been secured from Gov- ernor Belcher in September, 1748. The reorganization took place in the Newark church on November 9, 1748, and Aaron Burr was elected president. The story of this college is more fully told elsewhere in this volume by Mr. Urquhart.
During Burr's pastorate, civil and parochial affairs were increasingly separated. His salary had been voted, like that of three of his predecessors, by town meeting, but it was paid only by those who had specially obligated themselves. The church began to take care of itself. Church and State thrive when there is but one church. There were three at this time-three churches representing two denominations-the "Old First," the Mountain Society (Orange), and Trinity. The separation was further defined by the securing of a charter for the old church from Governor Jonathan Belcher. It was dated June 7, 1753.
In 1758 the Great Schism was healed, and the Newark church came under the wing of the new Synod of New York and Philadelphia. Between 1750 and 1757 the Synod of New York had convened five times in Newark.
Burr resigned his pastorate in 1755. He retained the presidency of the college, and with it removed to Princeton in 1756. He died September 24, 1757, and was buried at Princeton. He was widely lamented. He was popular and efficient as pastor, presbyter and president. In Newark on June 29, 1753, he had married Esther, the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, and their two children, Sarah, born May 3, 1754, and Aaron, who afterward became vice-president of the United States, born February 6, 1756, probably first saw the light in the manse on Broad, south of William street. Sarah married the Hon. Tappan Reeve, of Litchfield, Connecticut. Mrs. Burr died April 7, 1758.
The Rev. John Brainerd began to preach at Newark in 1755, imme- diately after the resigning of President Burr. He came from Cranberry, where, in 1747, he had succeeded his brother, David, as missionary to the Indians. The minutes of the presbytery covering the period of Brainerd's
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preaching at Newark are missing, and there is no record to show he was ever formally installed. With interims of absence on missionary tours ordered by the synod, he was at Newark three and a half years. The minutes of the synod indicate that he was actually the pastor of the church. Ho asked that body in May, 1759, "whether it was his duty to leave his present charge at Newark and resume his mission to the Indians." The synod answered that "though he had a very comfortable settlement at Newark, yet the synod advised him to give up these temporal advantages and settle as a missionary among these poor Indians." To which advice this noble min- ister, it is recorded, "readily and generously complied."
Alexander Macwhorter, son of Hugh Macwhorter, was installed pastor at Newark in the summer of 1759. He had been ordained on the 4th of July, by the Presbytery of New Brunswick. He was born at New Castle, Delaware, July 15, 1734. He graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1757, and studied divinity under Rev. William Tennent. With an interim of two years excepted, when, between 1779 and 1781, he preached at Mecklinberg, North Carolina, he remained at Newark as pastor until his death, July 20, 1807, serving forty-six years. When Washington, retreating, passed through Newark in November, 1776, he was joined by Macwhorter. who was present later at the council preceding the attack on Trenton. Mac- whorter became a chaplain in the patriot army ... The happenings in Newark during the Revolutionary period whichi affected the church and its pastor are related elsewhere in this volume by Mr. Urquhart.
The building of the third church edifice occurred during this pas- torate. On January 1, 1791, was opened for worship the handsome building which still stands as an architectural monument, and is still in active use. Considered when built the finest edifice in the State, it still has no equals of its type and generation in New Jersey. It massively holds its own even In the midst of tall office buildings hedging it about. Over the middle entrance to the church is placed a marble tablet containing an inscription in Lath, written by Hon. William Peartree Smith. It is translated as follows: "This spacious edifice, consecrated to the service of God, the inhabitants of New- ark, under the pastoral care of the rev. doctor Macwhorter, who laid the corner stone, with pious zeal and distinguished liberality, erected, in the year of our Lord, 1787, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. Through the good providence of God, long may it endure."
It was during Macwhorter's pastorate that the Bloomfield church was organized. Permission was granted by the presbytery on July 23, 1794. to form at Bloomfield the "Third Presbyterian Church," that at Orange being the second. On January 1, 1801, Macwhorter preached his well- known "Century Sermon," published in 1807. It contains a brief history of the church up to that period. Probably the author was not a good his- torian, but his pamphlet contains much that otherwise would be lost. The Rev. Stephen Dodd, who was interested in Newark history, said in 1851 that "Doct. Macwhorter made his centenary sermon in the dark, and stumbled over historical facts." Dr. Stearns points out that as far as Macwhorter's history is concerned it never would be suspected that his predecessor, "John Brainerd, ever spent a Sabbath in Newark."
On October 20, 1801, the Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin was installed as colleague pastor with Macwhorter. He became the sole Incumbent at the death of the aged pastor, July 20, 1807. Edward Dorr Griffen was born at East Haddam, Connecticut, January 6, 1770. Ho graduated at Yale with
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Arst honors in 1790. He studied theology under the second Jonathan Edwards at New Haven. He was ordained as pastor of the church at New Hartford, May 17, 1796. He visited New Jersey in 1800, and preached for a time In the Orange church. That people desired to call him, but he accepted a call from Newark. 'While at Newark he was highly acceptable. There was built for him a parsonage on the west side of Mulberry street, facing east, and just to the north of where the Central Railroad of New Jersey now passes. The lot backed against the burying ground. Macwhorter's par- sonage was on the west side of Broad street, below William. Griffin's pas- torate ended April 27, 1809. He accepted a professorship at Andover Sem- Inary, and supplied at the same time Park Street church, Boston, where, on July 31, 1811, he was installed pastor, having given previously up the professorship. He returned to Newark in 1815 as pastor of the Second church. In 1821 he became president of Williams College, holding that office fifteen years. He again returned to Newark, and died here November 8, 1837. He lies buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. In the possession of the New Jersey Historical Society is the study chair and the walking stick of Macwhorter, and in a glass case is the tall beaver hat worn by Griffin during his last sojourn in Newark. Among the books of the society may be found Macwhorter's "Series of Sermons," published in two volumes at Newark in 1803 by Pennington & Gould, and a number of volumes of sermons and addresses by Griffin, among them his "Park Street Lectures," delivered at Boston. There also Macwhorter's "Century Sermon" and Griffin's "Farewell Sermon" may be seen.
The Rev. James Richards, D.D., became pastor immediately after the removal of Dr. Griffin. He came from the Presbyterian church of Morris- town, where he had served fifteen years, and was installed pastor at Newark on June 7, 1809. He was born at New Canaan, Connecticut, October 29, 1767, and entered Yale in 1789. He was not able to finish, but received his degree of Master of Arts in 1794. Dr. Richards remained at Newark until the autumn of 1823. On October 29 of that year he was inaugurated as professor of theology in Auburn Seminary, New York. Much information about Dr. Richard's career at Auburn may be found in Hotckin's "History of Western New York," published by M. W. Dodd, New York, 1848.
On November 14, 1809, was formed the Presbytery of Jersey from a part of the Presbytery of New York, and the Newark church was included under the new body. On October 9, 1911, the Second Presbyterian Church of Newark was organized, and two-sevenths of the real estate of the "Old First," excepting the church and the land about it, was granted to the new enterprise "for the support of the gospel forever."
During this pastorate there occurred notable revivals in the years 1812- 1813 and 1816-1817. The church in 1817 is said to have been the largest of the denomination in the United States. The first Sunday school in Newark was started about 1814 by Miss Anna Richards, afterwards Mrs. Aaron Beach, the pastor's daughter. It met in the church gallery. In 1815 the Presbytery of Jersey authorized a Sunday school, and Rev. Burr Baldwin opened a school in the Academy on the first Sunday of May.
On October 21, 1823, was held in the Newark church the first meeting of the Synod of New Jersey, organized that year from a part of the Synod of New York and New Jersey. It included the presbyteries of Jersey, New Brunswick, Newton and Susquehanna.
The Rev. William T. Hamilton, an Englishman by birth, was installed pastor on July 27, 1824. He remained ten years. Previous to his installa-
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tion he had preached to the congregation for some months. There occurred a division over extending him a call, and the result was the forming of the Third Presbyterian Church of Newark. It was given two-sevenths of au real estate held in 1809, excepting the church and lot. The outgoing mem- bers settled Rev. Joshua T. Russell, also a candidate with Hamilton, as their pastor, and organized June 8, 1824. Nine days later the First church voted to call Mr. Hamilton.
In 1824 was formed from the Presbytery of Jersey the new Presbytery of Newark. The first meeting was held in Jersey City on November 2. Ou April 14, 1831, was organized the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Newark, now extinct. Its first pastor was Rev. Dr. Weeks. The African church, long known as the Plane Street, was organized in October, 1831. In March, 1834, was formed the Free church, which later became Congregational.
On July 24, 1825, at the Second church, Hamilton preached a sermon for the benefit of the American Colonization Society. Later it was printed in pamphlet form by W. Tuttle & Co., 1824, under the title "A Plea for the African." The author was a master of sentences and could move on a high rhetorical plane without stilts. The College of New Jersey gave him the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1825. Finding a southern climate better suited to his health, Mr. Hamilton resigned, and was dismissed October 22, 1834. He settled in a church in Mobile, Alabama, and was living there at the close of 1850.
The Rev. Ansel D. Eddy was installed pastor on August 11, 1835. He had graduated at Union College in 1817. He remained twelve years and five months. He resigned and was dismissed by the Presbytery on February 22, 1848. There had grown up a desire for a change in the pastorate, but the result of the resignation was the going out of a group to organize, with Mr. Eddy as its pastor, the Fifth church, afterward to be called the Park church. During the same year, on October 1, 1848, was organized the Sixth church. On September 16, 1849, was organized, in the edifice of the Third church, the High Street church.
In 1838 the Presbyterian General Assembly was divided over denomina- tional and doctrinal questions, into two bodies known as the Old School and the New School. The Old School had objected to the "Plan of Union" devised for the carrying on of missionary work with the Congregational church, and the New School favored it. On the doctrinal feature it may be said that Rev. Albert Barnes was tried for heresy by the Second Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1835, and acquitted, and then on appeal convicted by the synod, and still later acquitted by the assembly, all of which agitation helped to cause the division. Barnes became the leader of the New School party. The reunion occurred in 1869. The First Church of Newark adhered to the New School, while the Third remained in the Old School Assembly. During the division the Old School churches were for a time under the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of Passaic.
The Rev. Jonathan P. Stearns, D.D., was installed pastor on December 13, 1849. He was born at Bedford, Massachusetts, where his father, Rev. Samuel Stearns, was pastor of the Congregational church for forty years. Hle graduated at Harvard in 1830, and studied theology at Andover. On September 16, 1835, he was installed a pastor of the Newburyport Presby- terian church, beneath the pulpit of which rest the remains of George Whitefield. He was pastor of the Newark church from 1849 to February 21, 1883, and was then made pastor emeritus. In January, 1851, he preached a series of historical discourses on the history of the church, and two years
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later they were printed with copious notes in book form by the Daily Adver- tiser press, under the title, "First Church in Newark Historical Discourses." This book is invaluable on the history of the church and the town. During this pastorate, Bethany church, elsewhere to be considered, was, in 1872, taken under the care of the First church. The same year the commodious chapel now in use for the Sunday School and for general parish needs, was erected at the north side of the church and in the rear.
The Rev. David R. Frazer, D.D., was installed February 21, 1883. His pastorate terminated June 16, 1909. He graduated at Princeton University in 1861, and Union Theological Seminary in 1864. Previous to coming here he served as Presbyterian pastor in the following places: Clifton, Staten Island (First church), 1865-'67; Hudson, New York, 1867-'72; Buffalo, New York, 1872-'80; Brooklyn, New York (Classon Avenue), 1880-'83.
During this quarter of a century pastorate Newark grew greatly in population, and the First church took a prominent part in the development of church extension work, giving liberally and establishing missions. Dr. Frazer, as the head of an historic church, became logically as well as meritoriously the representative of Presbyterian interests. He may fairly be said to have occupied in the nineteenth century the position held by Mae- whorter in the eighteenth. He was highly esteemed socially, and was the welcome and honored guest at municipal, social, or ecclesiastical functions. He was known as the friend of younger ministers. He was easily approached by any worthy person. Abroad he was valued as an efficient publicist and adviser. Since retiring from the pastorate, Dr. Frazer has devoted a large part of his time to furthering as president of the board of directors, the interests of the Bloomfield Theological Seminary. In this field his pro- nounced faithfulness and executive ability have shown lasting results. On Tuesday, September 16, 1913, he had the happy satisfaction of presiding at the cornerstone exercises of Knox Hall, erected at Bloomfield, on the campus of the seminary. Dr. Frazer holds also the offices of director of Union Theological Seminary and of trustee of Princeton University. He resides at present in Short Hills, New Jersey.
During this pastorate was established, in 1885, the Tabernacle Sunday School, since developed into a chapel of the church. Originally located at the corner of South Market and Ferguson streets, it was removed to the southwestern corner of Lafayette and Sandford streets. Rev. A. F. Lyle, D.D., Rev. Israel L. White and Rev. Robert T. Graham have had charge.
In 1903 Olivet (Italian) Chapel was begun as a mission, with Rev. Francisco Taramella in charge. In 1904, Rev. Bismark J. Coltorti took charge, and still remains. A handsome building was erected in 1906.
The Rev. William J. Dawson, D.D., was installed pastor on March 25, 1912. The church had been vacant for more than a year when Dr. Dawson was secured as a supply. He preached acceptably for a year, and was requested to settle as pastor. Dr. Dawson was received by the Presbytery of Newark from the Northern New Jersey Congregational Association on March 8, 1912. He was born at Towchester, England, and graduated at Dids- bury College, Manchester. He was ordained Weslyan minister in 1875 and held various appointments. He became pastor of Highbury Quadrant Con- gregational church, London, in 1892. He removed to the United States in 1905, and lectured extensively. He is the author of numerous books of religious, ethical and literary character. During 1912 the church was exten- sively renovated. A tiled floor of marble was laid in the aisles of the auditorium, and the backs of the pews were cushioned. The church parish rooms are used during the week in the interest of social service, a girls'
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luncheon club and an employment bureau being prominent features. The policy of the church is toward institutional work without the impairment of its traditional character as a center of worship.
The Second Presbyterian church, at the corner of Washington and James streets, was organized in October, 1811. Previously the corner- stone of the edifice had been laid June 18, 1810, and the edifice was dedi- cated September 30, 1811. Trustees had been elected January 12, 1911, as follows: James Hedden, Joseph T. Baldwin, David Doremus, John N. Cum- ming, Marcus B. Douglas, James Conley and Theodore Frelinghuysen. On January 23, 1811, Rev. Hooper Cumming had been called to be pastor. In April the church was taken under care of the Presbytery of Jersey, and on October 3 Mr. Cumming was ordained and installed. On November 6, 1811, Nathaniel Douglas, Joseph L. Keene and Aaron Ward were elected elders. The succession of ministers is as follows: Rev. Hooper Cumming, October 3, 1811, to January 3, 1815; Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, June 20, 1815, to October, 1821; Rev. Philip C. Hay, December 17, 1822, to July 11, 1833; Rev. Ebenezer Cheever, April 23, 1834, to April 26, 1845; Rev. Jonathan B. Condit, December 15, 1845, to April 5, 1851; Rev. George L. Prentiss (associate), November 6, 1850, to April 15, 1851; Rev. Joseph Few Smith, D.D., December 23, 1851, to June 22, 1888 (by death) ; Rev. Pleasant Hunter, D.D., October 3, 1889, to October 1, 1892; Rev. Paul F. Sutphen, D.I)., January 20, 1893, to September 24, 1894; Rev. Thomas R. Bridges, D.D., November 7, 1895, to October 4, 1905; Rev. Pleasant Hunter, D.D. (second pastorate), February 14, 1907.
The old building, long known as the "Old Blue Church" from the color of its masonry, was replaced in 1886 by the handsome edifice now standing. The present sumptuously appointed Sunday school and parish house building was erected in 1911, replacing a former building. The early history of this church may be found in Dr. Fewsmith's "Fiftieth Anniversary" discourse, printed at Newark, 1861. The church has 614 members. For a number of years this church supported the Fewsmith Memorial Chapel on Jay street. The West Side Park Chapel, opened May 5, 1911, is maintained entirely by the Second church. The Rev. Charles N. Thomas is in charge.
The Third Presbyterian church, on Broad street, opposite Green street and the present City Hall, was organized on June 8, 1824. Previously, according to Dr. Craven's "Historical Sermon," published in 1874, there had been steps taken to build a house of worship on the southern angle of the common now called Lincoln Park. The foundation was laid some time before 1810, and then the work was stopped. Soon afterward work was begun on the Second church at the other end of the town. It is supposed that there had been some question as to which end should first be consid- ered in the matter of church extension. The abandoned foundation remained until 1824, and then the stones were used in the construction of the present church. The immediate cause of the revived project in 1824 was the unwillingness of some of the First church members to settle Rev. William T. Hamilton, and a desire that Rev. Joshua T. Russell, another candidate, should be chosen. Fifty-six persons took letters from that church and united to organize the Third church.
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