USA > New Jersey > Camden County > Camden > Fifty years after : or, A half century of Presbyterianism in Camden, New Jersey with biographical sketches of the Presbyterian ministers who have labored there > Part 2
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In this school-room divine service was regularly held to a con- gregation that varied in number from eight to twenty persons, in- cluding children. In the month of April the service was trans- ferred to the Court House, on Federal Street, near Fifth, where the organization* as stated above took place. The Court House
* Upon the occasion Rev. George W. Janvier, of Pittsgrove, preached the ser- mon ; Rev. Samuel Miller, of Mount Holly, offered prayer; Rev. Dr. Van Ren- sellaer, of Burlington, proposed the constitutional questions, and Rev. John M. Rodgers, of Woodbury, made an address.
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OF CAMDEN, N. J.
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was ill-adapted to the purposes of worship. Political meetings were sometimes held upon Saturday nights, and Benjamin Hunt, Joseph Casner, and others, after the adjournment of these meet- ings, with broom and pail in hand, would work hard and long to clean the room and make it sweet and wholesome for Sabbath worship. During the existence of the "Old First" Church an effort had been made to erect a church edifice. Mrs. Alexander Henry, of Philadelphia, had promised to give an eligible lot, upon condition that the congregation would put up a building worth $4,000. Subscriptions had been secured to the amount of about $800, but the failure of the church to settle a pastor, and its sub- sequent dissolution, frustrated the fulfillment of the plan. As soon, however, as the new organization was effected, steps were taken to secure a house of worship. The lot previously donated by Mrs. Henry was again obtained by gift, the foundations of the church edifice were laid, and the corner-stone was set in place October 28th, 1846. From the newspaper report of the exercises connected with this auspicious event, we learn that Revs. Van Rensellaer, of Burlington ; C. C. Cuyler and John McDowell, of Philadelphia ; David S. Tod, of Louisville, Ky., and Messrs. Taylor and Street, of Camden, officiated ; that Mr. Manwaring read the history of the Church and deposited it, together with the Shorter Catechism and some religious and political papers, in a leaden box, which was placed in the corner-stone; and that in substance he said, " I now lay this corner-stone of the First Presbyterian Church, in the city of Camden, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And since the Great Head of the Church has prospered this enterprise thus far, may He continue to do so, not only until these materials around us shall be converted into walls, but until we are permitted to enter the inclosure and dedicate it complete to His service. And when this shall be accomplished, may the Gospel in its purity and primitive simplicity be proclaimed to all who enter it. And may the Spirit of all grace accompany the truth, so that this shall be the spiritual birthplace of souls. Let us commence the work in prayer; and ever bear in mind that, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Let us continue in prayer, and labor in the cause of Christ until
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laboring and praying shall come to an end, and we enter that temple above, where the noise of the chisel and the hammer shall never be heard, but where we shall unite in celebrating the praises of God and the Lamb. And we will ascribe all the glory to the triune God forever. Amen."
Through the untiring efforts of Mr. Manwaring, the work was so far advanced that in the spring of 1847 the congregation was enabled to worship in the basement lecture-room. The main audience-room was not completed until the summer of 1848. The new building had cost $5,000. To its erection the churches of the Presbytery and the citizens of Camden and Philadelphia had largely contributed .*
Mr. Manwaring resigned his charge in 1848, having served the church two years and two months. At the close of his ministry there were fifty-three communicants upon the roll. He was a man of lovely Christian spirit, a consecrated servant of God, who in the discharge of ministerial duty did not shrink from "enduring hard- ness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." The late Dr. A. A. Hodge, when writing upon one occasion of the sacrifices which are some- times exacted from the ministry, illustrated his meaning by an allu- sion to the experiences of Mr. Manwaring. His life in Camden was a life of faith, as some of the members of the Ladies' Aid Society, who assisted in gathering up the scanty provision made for his sup- port, could testify.
He was born in Lyme, Connecticut, July 20th, 1814, but spent the years of his childhood in Bethany Centre, N. Y. He united with the Presbyterian Church when fourteen years of age. At the age of seventeen he entered the High School at Geneva, N. Y., re- maining there until he matriculated at Union College, Schenectady, from which he graduated in 1840. For one year he was principal of the Lyceum in Schenectady. He entered Princeton Seminary 1841, and graduated in 1844. He was licensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick, April 26th, 1844, and was ordained by the same body, August 26th, 1844. For a little more than a year he
* Hand-book and Minutes of the Church; Fisler's History of Camden ; Com- munication from Mrs. Denning ; Camden Mail.
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served as stated supply and pastor of the Church of Tariffville, Conn., resigning that charge to come to Camden, where he minis- tered until May 23d, 1848, when he felt constrained to resign for lack of adequate support. Having exhausted his means in the prosecution of the work in Camden, he opened a boarding-school in Philadelphia, but was obliged by ill-health to relinquish this enterprise July, 1851. Four years after his withdrawal from Camden, he passed from the scenes of his earthly toil to an eternal and glorious reward. He had just entered upon his duties as prin- cipal of the Raymond Collegiate Institute, a high school for young ladies in the village of Carmel, Putnam County, N. Y., and prospects of great usefulness were stretching out before him. He had been teaching three months, at the same time supplying the neighboring pulpit of Red Mills. The double exertion proved too much for his constitution, and on the 11th of May, 1852, in the 38th year of his age, and the eighth year of his ministry, he entered into the Paradise of God. The last sermon that he preached was from the text, " My grace is sufficient for thee."
The brief story of Mr. Manwaring's pastorate in Camden we have sought to write ; but the unwritten portions of that story, what human hand can record ? Upon the smiles and tears, the anxieties and discouragements, the prayers and patient toils of this self-denying servant of Christ much of the success of these latter years of Presbyterianism in this city rests. With the Apostle Paul, he might truly have said, " According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the founda- tion and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon."*
The second pastor of the church was Rev. Robinson Potter Dunn, D. D., who was installed November 1st, 1838, and who labored with great acceptance until April 24th, 1851, when he became Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Brown University, Providence, R. I. During his ministry forty persons were added to the church.
* General Catalogue of Princeton Theological Seminary ; Communication from Rev. Allen H. Brown ; the Presbyterian ; Memoranda in Alumni Alcove of Prince- ton Seminary Library.
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Mr. Dunn was born in Newport, R. I., May 31st, 1825. At twelve years of age an attack of hip disease confined him to his bed for six months. It was during this illness that the question of personal religion suggested itself to his mind. That question never left him until, on the 18th of November, 1838, he passed into "the new life in Christ Jesus." He was admitted into the Congregational Church, December 26th, 1842. At a very early age he manifested a predilection for belles lettres. Series of resolutions, and moral meditations written at the age of 13, give evidence of the precocity of the child, and of the spirituality of his nature. He matriculated as a freshman in Brown University, in 1839, and graduated with the highest honors from that institu- tion in 1843. For a short time after graduation he had charge of the college library, and gave instruction in French during the ab- sence of the regular professor in Europe. He studied theology at Princeton Seminary, was taken under care of Presbytery as a can- didate for the ministry in April, 1846, and was licensed at Free- hold in the following year. For five months during his seminary course, he conducted services every Sabbath in a mission-hall, under the care of the Tenth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. In May, 1848, he graduated in theology. Overtures had been made to him to settle in Bristol and Easton, Pa., but under the advice of Dr. Addison Alexander and other friends, he accepted a unanimous call to Camden, and was ordained over that church by the Presbytery of West Jersey, Rev. T. L. Cuyler preaching the sermon. His ministry in Camden was early clouded with the shadow of a great domestic sorrow. His infant son died upon the day of his birth, and the mother followed him only two days later. Six months after this event came the first temptation to leave the scene of his trial. The directors of Princeton Seminary offered him the position of Instructor of Hebrew. The honor was de- clined only to be repeated in another and seemingly more impera- tive form, when, in the spring of 1851, came the appointment to the vacant chair of Belles Lettres in Brown University, which he decided to accept. For sixteen years he was professor in that in- stitution. August 22d, 1867, he was attacked with erysipelas in the forehead, which, in a few days, extended over the entire face
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and head. Upon the day of his death, after a night of restless- ness, when the windows were thrown open to relieve his breathing, he exclaimed : " What a delicious whiff of air. It is like a breath from the River of the Water of Life," ignorant of the fact that he was already standing upon its shores. When told that he was sinking fast, he simply said, " Am I so sick as that ?" He met his death without a tremor. His biographer says : "A few hours before his death, when asked to take more stimulants, he replied, 'Good-bye, I am going home.' 'Yes,' it was said to him, 'you are going to the Heavenly City which you loved to write about,' and he assented, The last sermon he had written, and the last which any of his family had heard him preach, was one on the City of God. About five o'clock that beautiful afternoon he passed away. ' He asked life of Thee and Thou gavest him long life, even forever and ever.' "
Dr. Dunn was a polished Christian gentleman, a scholarly preacher, a vivacious and sympathetic teacher. He possessed to an uncommon degree the rare faculty of winning the respect and esteem of young men. He was a close student of the Scriptures in their original tongues, had mastered the French language in his childhood, and in later years had become proficient in German and Italian. He had entered into an engagement to translate the book of Proverbs for Dr. Schaaf's edition of "Lange's Commentaries," and had just begun the work when death surprised him. He was somewhat of an hymnologist. The familiar hymn
"No, no, it is not dying, To go unto our God,"
which he had himself translated, was read at his funeral. "Jesus, Jesus, Visit Me;" " A Stronghold Firm, a Trusty Shield ;" " Attend, O Lord, My Daily Toil," are the opening words of three other well-known translations. He received the degree of D. D. from his Alma Mater .*
The third pastor of the church was Rev. Levi Hunt Christian, whose ministry extended from July 1st, 1851, until December
* " Biographical Sketch," by Dr. Caldwell; the Presbyterian ; "English Hymns," by Duffield ; " Sacred Lyrics from the German."
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13th, 1853, when the pastoral relation was dissolved. Forty-five persons united with the church during his pastorate.
Mr. Christian was born in Albany, N. Y., August 1st, 1817, and graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1840. He subsequently became principal of the Academy at Fredericksburg, Va .; was mis- sionary at Lewinsville and Fairfax from 1845-48 ; was ordained as an evangelist by the Presbytery of Winchester, October 3d, 1846 ; was pastor of the Court Street Church, Rochester, N. Y., 1849-50; associate pastor of F Street Church, Washington, D. C., 1850-51 ; pastor of First Camden, 1851-53 ; pastor-elect at Hamilton, Ohio, 1855, and pastor of the North Church, Philadelphia, from 1855 until about the time of his death, which occurred October 23d, 1864. He was an earnest and exemplary Christian, an able and faithful preacher. Several of his sermons were given to the press. Among these was a Thanksgiving discourse on "Our Present Position," published in 1862 .*
The fourth pastor, Rev. Daniel Stewart, D. D., began his labors April 1st, 1854, but was not formally installed over the church until June 12th, 1856. With his coming the era of prosperity began to dawn. The church, which, up to this time, had received assist- ance from the Board of Home Missions, became self-sustaining. The church edifice was enlarged at an expense of $2,750, and to the extent of nearly double its former capacity ; the lecture-room was refurnished ; and, in the early part of 1860, a colony was sent off to constitute the Second Church. Isaac Van Horn, an elder, and 14 other members were set aside to form the new organization, and substantial assistance was from time to time rendered, until the enterprise was assured of success. Dr. Stewart resigned his charge in the month of March, 1861. During his ministry 160 members had been added to the roll.
Dr. Stewart was the son of John and Catharine Monteith Stew - art, and was born July 17th, 1811, in Amsterdam, N. Y. He graduated at Union College in 1833, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1838. He was installed pastor of the First Presby-
* Presbyterian Encyclopædia ; Nevin's "History of the Presbytery of Phila- delphia Central."
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terian Church of Amsterdam, February 20th, 1839. In 1840 he assumed charge of the church at Ballston Spa, and in 1844 was installed over the First Church of New Albany, Ind. From 1849-53 he filled the chair of Biblical Literature and Hebrew in the New Albany Theological Seminary. He then became pastor suc- cessively of the churches of Camden, N. J., Johnstown, N. Y., Second Church, New Albany, Ind., and the Andrew Church, Min- neapolis. For many years he ministered to the First Church of Minneapolis, and in that city still resides, though honorably retired from active work.
Dr. Stewart possessed in a conspicuous degree, the qualifications which make a minister of the gospel " a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." He was a diligent student, a faithful pastor, a vigorous preacher. Several of his sermons have appeared in print. He was a warm friend of church extension, and each of the con- gregations to which he ministered was largely built up and strength- ened through his influence .*
The fifth pastor was the Rev. Villeroy D. Reed, D. D., who was installed November 20th, 1861, and for nearly a quarter of a century, or until June 30th, 1884, conntinued to minister to the congregation. His long and useful pastorate was signalized by a marked advance in the temporal and spiritual prosperity of the church. His faithful preaching was honored by two or three sea- sons of special quickening, and by 747 accessions to the member- ship, 328 of which were upon profession of faith. His wise administrative ability bore fruit in the erection of the present com- modious and handsome house of worship, at a cost, including lot and furnishings, of nearly $90,000. The impress of his consistent Christian character, of his discreet and well-ripened judgment, of his unremitting pulpit and pastoral labor, will long be felt in this community in giving direction, influence, and shape to the future destiny of Presbyterianism.
Dr. Reed was born at Granville, N. Y., April 27th, 1815. He united with the Presbyterian Church in Lansingburg, N. Y., when twelve years of age. He graduated from Union College in 1835,
* Presbyterian Encyclopædia.
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studied theology at Auburn and Princeton, and was licensed to preach the gospel August, 1838. He was pastor of the church at Stillwater, N. Y., five years, and of the church of Lansingburg, fourteen years. In October, 1857, he was elected by the Synod of Iowa President of Alexander College, Dubuque. In 1861 he was installed over the First Church of this city, where he labored until his resignation in 1884. Since leaving Camden he has been pastor of the East Whiteland Presbyterian Church, at Frazer, Pa. He is now without a charge. Besides being an able, sound, and earnest preacher, Dr. Reed has been a valuable member of our church judicatories. He was one of the Old School Assembly's committee on re-union, in 1866, and acted as secretary for that committee. He was for twelve years a member of the Board of Education, and for five years its president. He has been president of the Board of Ministerial Relief since its organization in 1876 .*
The sixth pastor of the church was Rev. Marcus A. Brownson, who was installed November 13th, 1884. The ministry of Mr. Brownson was marked by increasing prosperity, and like that of his predecessor, is still fresh in the memory of many who will read these pages. Coming to Camden in the morning of his ministerial life, he cast his youthful energy into his work, and by his kind and consecrated spirit, and his effective and stirring preaching won his way at once to the affections of his people. His pastorate was marked by numerous accessions to the roll, an indebtedness of $19,000 was lifted from the church building, and the benevolences of the congregation were placed upon a new and more systematic basis. It was an occasion of great sorrow to his church, and a source of regret to the community, that an unexpected and unani- mous call from the First Church of Detroit should have removed him from the field in which he had labored with so much useful- ness and success.
Mr. Brownson is the son of Rev. James I. Brownson, D. D., and Mrs. Eleanor A. Brownson, and was born in Washington, Pa., where his father has for more than a quarter of a century preached
* Presbyterian Encyclopædia ; Hand-book of the Church.
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the gospel. He received his collegiate training at Washington and Jefferson College and studied theology at the Western Theological Seminary, in Allegheny. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Washington (Pa.), April 28th, 1880, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Newcastle, April 29th, 1883. From 1881-1883 he had charge of the Hebron Memorial Chapel of the Olivet Church, Philadelphia, and was assistant pastor of the Central Presbyterian Church, of Wilmington, Del., from 1883-1884. From 1884-1889 he ministered to the First Church, of Camden. He is still pastor of the First Church, Detroit.
The present pastor of the church is Rev. Wellington E. Loucks, who is a native of Peoria, Ill. Graduating from the High School of that city in 1873, he began the study of medicine under an eminent physician, meantime spending the winters of 1873 and 1874 in teaching school. He was converted June 6th, 1873, under the ministry of Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Two years after this event, feeling called to preach the gospel, he entered Hanover College, Ind. On account of intimate connection with revival movement in the neighboring city of Madison, which threatened to make serious demands upon his time, he left Hanover and entered Wabash College, Ind. From that institution he graduated in 1877. He studied theology under the direction of Dr. Edwards, then of Danville Seminary, Ky., and afterward completed the en- tire course prescribed at Chicago Seminary in private. He was licensed to preach April, 1877; was ordained and installed over the churches of Darlington and Bethel, Ind., October, 1877; was called to the First Church of Crawfordsville, September, 1879; was settled over the First Church of Logansport, Ind., December, 1880, and continued to be its pastor for nearly seven years. His health becoming impaired, he relinquished this charge and in the month of September, 1887, accepted a call to the assistant pastor- ate of North Broad Street Church, Philadelphia. From April to September, 1889, he ministered to the Oxford Church, of that city, during the illness of its pastor. He was called to Camden October, 1889.
Mr. Loucks, in the short period of his pastorate, has given the community abundant evidence of his ability to fill the pulpit of
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the First Church with all the fervor, grace, and eloquence which have marked the ministrations of the line of godly men who have preceded him. . As an earnest of the good things yet in store for this congregation, large accessions have already been made to its membership, while the beautiful Mission Chapel of the Central School, dedicated September 28th to the service of God, will prove a lasting monument to the devotion and zeal which have charac- terized the first few months of his ministry.
The following persons have been Elders of the church : William Howell, David Roe, George H. Van Gelder, Isaac Van Horn, James H. Stevens, William Hart, Joseph D. Reinboth, John Aikman, John S. Chambers, George W. N. Custis, William Fewsmith, Jacob H. Yocum, John F. Starr, Robert P. Stewart, Asa L. Curtis, James A. Armstrong, M. D., William Howard Curtiss, Carlton M. Williams, William B. Robertson, Howard O. Hildebrand, Charles Danenhower, Gerard R. Vogels, Andrew Abels, William J. Searle.
The Deacons who have served the church are John V. Schenck, M. D., Cornelius P. VanDerveer, William M. Shivers, Benjamin G. Davis, Thomas Fitzgerald, James A. Armstrong, M. D., A. T. Dobson, M. D., William J. Searle, George W. Cole, William G. Garland, William H. Hunterson, Jr., John H. Shelmire, Lawrence E. Brown, Downs E. Hewitt.
The following persons have been Trustees : Joseph Pogue, George W. Carpenter, George Helmbold, Joseph Casner, William Howell, John Osler, Auley G. McCalla, John Morgan, Lawrence Cake, Charles J. Hollis, Solomon L. Stimson, Henry J. Vanuxem, John V. Schenck, M. D., Thomas McKeen, Leander N. Ott, James R. Caldwell, Charles P. Stratton, Peter L. Voorhees, Cor- nelius P .. Van Derveer, James H. Stevens, David Caldwell, Isaac Van Horn, William Fewsmith, Charles Carpenter, Samuel L. Davis, Elisha R. Johnson, George W. N. Custis, John S. Chambers, John Stockham, William Curtiss, Christopher A. Bergen, Jacob H. Yocum, Albert W. Markley, John F. Starr, James L. R. Campbell, Malcolm Macdonald, Charles Stockham, Alfred J. String, D. T. Gage, Randal E. Morgan, Edward F. Nivin, Louis T. Derousse,
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Simeon T. Ringle, Welling Schrack, Luther H. Kellam, John W. Yeatts, Harry Fricke, Cyrus H. K. Curtis .*
THE OLD CENTRAL CHURCH.
Very few persons now resident in Camden are aware of the fact that three years after the organization of the present First Church, and for six years subsequent to that time, another Presbyterian Church existed at the corner of Fourth and Clinton Streets. Al- though long dead its influence still lives and perpetuates itself in the Central Public School, which occupies the ground upon which it stood.
Some little unpleasantness had arisen in the First Church, which had resulted in the disaffection and withdrawal of a number of persons, the most prominent of whom were connected with the families of Casner, Hunt, Davis, Taylor, and Smith. Most of these persons were warm friends of Joseph Casner. When Rev. John W. Mears, in the year 1850, called at the house of Mr. Casner's mother and broached the organization of a new church, in the cen- tral part of the city, the proposition awakened immediate sym- pathy. How the attention of Mr. Mears was drawn to Camden is not known. The lamentable division of the Presbyterian Church into Old and New School had occurred little more than ten years previously, and the reasons which had wedged the body asunder were still most keenly and bitterly cherished.
The division had been overruled of God to a marked activity in the matter of church extension. Upon the 18th of October, 1849, we find the following minute recorded upon the book of the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia : "The attention of Presbytery has been called to several desirable locations where congregations might be gathered, but which it laments that the prevailing apathy to church extension will not warrant it to occupy. Feeling deeply the urgent need of the presence of the Divine Spirit in its midst, the prayer of Presbytery would be 'Awake, oh ! North wind, and come thou South. Blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow
* Hand-book of the Church.
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out.'" Camden evidently was one of these " desirable locations," for upon the 9th of October, 1850, Mr. Mears, who was then a licentiate of the Association of the Western District of New Haven County, was taken under care of Presbytery, and was permitted to make a statement respecting the progress of Presbyterianism in this city, and to present a request from the congregation worshiping here to be organized into a church. The visit of Mr. Mears had been successful. Preliminary meetings, in the interest of the new enterprise, had been held in the house of a Mr. Robinson, on Line Street. A social organization, presumably the Sons of Temperance, rented the upper room of this dwelling, and in this " upper cham- ber " the first services were held. Subsequently, and up to the time of the completion of their church edifice, the little company of worshipers held services in Washington Hall.
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