History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 77

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974

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Leaders .- Daniel L. Adams (preacher), John G. Cooper, William Rogers, James S. Yard, Abraham S. Lokerson.

Stewards .- William Rogers, James S. Yard, Joseph Murphy, James M. Hopper, John V. Snedeker, Sam- uel Conover. Recording Steward and District Steward, James S. Yard; Tract Steward, John G. Cooper.

Exhorters .- John Hanlon, William Rogers.

Sunday-School .- Superintendent James S. Yard; Librarian, James M. Hopper; Secretary, James P. Connolly.

Missionary Committee .- J. M. Hopper, John Han- lon, J. G. Cooper.

At this first official meeting for the station, the Sunday-school superintendent reported an aver- age attendance for the previous quarter of fifty- four scholars, being an increase of nineteen since last report. The highest number in attendance at any one time was seventy.

At the Conference of 1856, Adams was re- turned to Freehold charge. At the official meeting on November 6th, a resolution was adopted that the question of seating the con- gregation promiscuously be brought before the congregation. Hitherto the men and women had occupied separate seats, as was then still the practice in many Methodist Churches. About the 1st of December in this year a re- vival was held, which continued for several

weeks, and resulted in the conversion of a num- ber of young men. At the Fourth Quarterly Conference for this year, held January 23, 1857, the trustees reported that there was no debt on the church property. At this Quarterly Confer- ence Francis M. de Lombrado and James S. Bogart were appointed stewards in place of Messrs. Walters and Snedeker, who had re- moved.

In 1857, Rev. J. B. Graw was appointed to this charge. He was young, earnest and aggres- sive. He at once became a leader, especially among the younger portion of the church. At the official meeting held May 7th the leaders reported a general lack of attendance at the class-meetings. At the First Quarterly Confer- ence for this year, held May 25th, the preacher reported the Sunday-school in a prosperous con- dition, with a considerable accession to the ranks of both scholars and teachers, and an addition of twenty-five dollars' worth of books to the library. An allowance of three hundred and fifty dollars for salary, board, washing, fuel and lights for the pastor was voted at this meeting. A committee was appointed "to examine the church [ building ] and report what repairs are necessary, or, if not worth repairing, to make such report as the nature of the case, in their judgment, requires."

In a village newspaper of June 4th of this year is found the following paragraph, which is the only record of the event to which it refers :

"The Methodists of Freehold unanimously resolved, at a meeting held on Monday evening last, to build a new church in place of the one they now occupy, which is in a dilapidated con- dition and too small to accommodate the con- gregation. They intend, if possible, to build one that will not only be comfortable, but be an ornament to the village."

On June 4th two new classes were organized, one at Mount's Corner, of which B. Cook Reynolds was appointed leader, and one to be held on Friday evenings at the church, of which the pastor was to be the leader.

On the 20th of July, pursuant to notice, a meeting was held at the church for the election of a board of trustees. There is no record of any meeting of the board after that of the 20th of

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

April, 1833, to take the official oath, nor is there any official record of any new election after that date until now. In the book of minutes of the board of stewards there is a memorandum made by the secretary of that board, of the offi- cial members of the church for 1855, in which appears a list of the members of the board of trustees, as follows :

TRUSTEES.

Original Trustees 3

Joseph Murphy, Samuel Conover, Ralph Hulse,

Elected August 6, 1855

John G. Cooper, James M. Hopper.

At the meeting now held all these trustees tendered their resignations, which were accepted, when the following-named persons were then duly elected in their stead : Joseph Murphy, Ralph Hulse, Samuel Conover, James S. Yard, John G. Cooper, James M. Hopper, Steven M. Cooper,-to serve for one year, or until their successors shall be elected.

Immediately after the election the board or- ganized by the election of Joseph Murphy as president and treasurer and James S. Yard as secretary. Plans and specifications were sub- mitted, by a committee appointed by the old board, for a new church building, which were adopted, and a committee was appointed to sell the old building.

The, old building was sold at public sale on the 1st of August, and was purchased by Messrs. William H. Conover and John R. Haley for $298. They removed it to a lot adjoining the residence of Judge McLean, on the site now oc- cupied by the residence of the late Mrs. Judge Vredenburgh, and converted it into a public hall, which was called "Citizens Hall." It was so used until 1869, when it was purchased by Judge McLean, who cut it in two and moved part of it around the corner into McLean street, and converted it into a dwelling, which now stands there. The last public services in the old church were held on Sunday, the 16th of August. The next Sunday, August 23d, being Quarterly Meeting, services were held at three o'clock p. M. in the Baptist Church, which was kindly tendered for that purpose.

The corner-stone of the new church was laid

on the 25th of August. The exercises were con- ducted by Rev. J. B. Graw. Rev. E. W. Col- lier, of the Reformed Church, assisted in the ex- ercises. Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, presiding elder, delivered the sermon-his topic was " Progress." While the new church was build- ing, meetings were held in the Baptist Church on Sunday afternoons and in the session-room of the Presbyterian Church on Sunday evenings. The Sabbath-school was suspended, no suitable place in which to hold it being obtainable. Ste- ven M. Cooper was elected a steward in place of James Bogart, removed from the town.

At this time the churchyard was used for burial purposes, and frequently by persons who were not members of the church or congrega- tion. No charge was made for burial-plots, and in consequence the graveyard was rapidly filling up. All the easterly side of the yard was already filled, and the graves began to en- croach upon the westerly side. As the westerly side was needed for the accommodation of car- riages, it was thought that some restriction should be laid upon burials. Action was there- fore taken by the trustees, at a meeting on the 7th of September, forbidding any burials west of a line "parallel with the easterly line of the church lot and ranging with the easterly side of the church building," restricting burials to those who already had friends buried there, and re- quiring permission first to be had of the com- mittee to be appointed to superintend the mat- ter. It was more than nine years afterwards (viz., on the 24th of November, 1866) that a resolution was adopted forbidding burials in the church-yard under any circumstances whatever, and at the same time another resolution was adopted requesting all persons having friends buried there to remove their remains as soon as possible. The first one to accede to this request was Judge Murphy, who had a plat, handsomely ornamented and fenced, on the easterly side of the church, in which several members of his family had been buried. Others followed his example. Notices were sent out to all persons that could be reached, of the action taken by the trustees. At length, it having been deter- mined to build a parsonage on the easterly side of the lot, public notice was given, February

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THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

4th, in the newspapers to all persons interested, : John L. Snyder, J. B. Graw and William H. to remove the remains of their friends on or be- Clayton were appointed a committee to make the fore the 1st day of March ensuing (1869), if purchase. This enterprise seems to have failed, they desired to do so; otherwise the trustees as no further mention is made of it. would proceed to remove them. So generally In August of this year a camp-meeting was was this request complied with that the whole held in Gordon's woods, near Freehold, on the expense to the church of removing those that were left amounted to only $31.20.

The new church building was finished and ladies of the church kept a boarding-tent on the ready to be occupied during the latter. part of April, 1858. The dedication took place on Sunday, the 25th April, when the following exercises were had :

Singing-16th hymn, "Before Jehovah's awful throne."

Prayer-Rev. F. A. Morrell.

Reading of the 84th Psalm-" How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts !"

Singing-966th hymn, "Lord of hosts, to thee we raise."

Sermon-Rev. D. W. Bartine, from 1st John iv. 8 : " He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love."

In the afternoon there was a sermon by Rev. F. A. Morrell, of Long Branch, and in the even- ing another sermon by Dr. Bartine. During the day subscriptions and money amounting to seven hundred and twenty dollars were taken up.

The new church was designed by Charles Graham, architect, of Trenton. Originally the style was Romanesque, and finished on the out- side in imitation of brown stone. Gas-fixtures were put in while it was building, and it was lighted with gas on the evening of the dedica- tion. It was the first building in Freehold lighted with gas ; it being the last building then on the line of the mains, the first gas turned on was burned out at the church to clear the mains of air. The first cost of the church was about four thousand four hundred dollars, of which two thousand three hundred and sixty-one dol- lars was paid by subscriptions, and sale of the old church building.

At the October meeting in 1858 the class at Black's Mills reported that they were desirous of purchasing the old building at that place which formerly belonged to the Methodists. The proposition was indorsed by the Quarterly Con- ference, and Ruliff S. Hulshart, David Clayton, 28

line of the Freehold and Jamesburg Agri- cultural Railroad. During this meeting the grounds, the proceeds of which were applied to the liquidation of the debt on the church. Women never, perhaps, worked harder than these women did during the six days of this meeting ; but the expenses ran away with most of the profits. There were about sixty tents on the ground, and it was considered to be a large meeting for this section in those days. Over thirty preachers were in attendance, among them Dr. D. W. Bartine and Harris, " the con- verted Jew." There was a large attendance of people. Good order was maintained through- out. During the progress of this meeting news was received of the successful laying of the first Atlantic cable.

At the conference of 1859, Mr. Graw, to whose indomitable faith and untiring energy the church was so largely indebted for the new and beauti- ful edifice which they now possessed, was trans- ferred to a new field of labor, and Rev. G. R. Snyder was appointed to the charge.

At the official meeting of May 6th the preach- ers' salary was fixed at five hundred dollars and house rent. Lombrado and Hopper resigned as members of the board of stewards, and George H. Bills was appointed to the board. Alfred Walters was appointed recording steward.

At the First Quarterty Conference for 1861, Rev. F. B. Rose appeared as pastor.

The official members were as follows :

Exhorters .- William Rogers, R. S. Hulshart, F. de Lombrado, John Stricker.

Leaders .- J. G. Cooper, A. S. Lokerson, William Rogers, Alfred Walters.

Stewards .- William Rogers, Joseph Murphy, James S. Yard, Steven B. Coburn, Alfred Walters, George H. Bills, Samuel Conover.

At the Quarterly Conference, November 9th Ruliff S. Hulshart was licensed as a local preacher.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

On the night of February 24, 1862, during a severe storm, the roof of the church, which was of tin, was blown off by the wind. The next morning it was found hanging in strips from the eaves, swinging against the windows and breaking out the glass. It was replaced by a shingle roof at a cost of three hundred and fifty dollars.

Rev. John W. Kramer was appointed to the charge in 1862. He was very much beloved by his congregation, but there was no remarka- ble work during his pastorate. It was in the height of the excitement of the War of the Re- bellion, which seemed to swallow up all other interests.

At the Fourth Quarterly Conference Herbert H. Parker and Stephen Morris were licensed as local preachers.

In 1864, Rev. Robert M. Stratton was ap- pointed to the charge. He remained but one year. Rev. W. W. Moffett became pastor of the church in 1865. He remained three years. His pastorate is remarkable for its financial suc- cess, as well as for a revival which commenced during the latter part of the term, and continued with great power until the meeting of Confer- ence. In June of this year a committee of the board of trustees reported the estimated cost of repairs of damages to the church building, oc- casioned by the defective siding, at seven hun- dred dollars. A committee was appointed to have the work done. After the work was com- menced it was found that the damage to the building was much more extensive than was at first anticipated, and the cost ran up to over two thousand dollars.

A notable event in 1866 was the celebration here, for Trenton District, of the centenary of American Methodism, on the 28th of June, The pastor has left on record a history of the celebration, embodied in a report to the Quar- terly Conference. The principal speaker on the occasion was ex-Governor Parker. The report on the Sunday-school (August, 1867) showed two hundred and fifty scholars on the roll, with an average attendance of one hundred and fifty. At the last Quarterly Conference for this Con- ference year (held January 25, 1868) Albert J. "Garrison appears as a local preacher, and James

S. - Yard in the list of exhorters. The member- " ship of the church was reported at two hundred and sixty-five, a gain of one hundred and five in three years. This included the probationers gathered in at the late revival.

Rev. Henry Baker, Jr., was assigned to the charge by the Conference of 1868. He was a young man of fine abilities and winning man- ners. His ministry promised to be an excep- tionally successful one, but a vacancy occurring in the pulpit of the charge at Princeton, he was changed to that place, against the earnest re- monstrance of the church here. His successor was Rev. J. Howard Brooks, who was also a young man of fine abilities, but the congrega- tion were piqued by the removal of Baker, and Brooks was made for a while to feel the resent- ment manifested for the offence of which he was in no wise accountable. Before the close of the year, however, he made himself felt so strongly for good, both as pastor and preacher, that the church would have been glad to have had him returned; but before this fact was known, Mr. Brooks had made arrangements to be transferred to a Western Conference.

Rev. Henry Belting was appointed to the charge by the Conference of 1869. The first busi- ness was to build the parsonage. On the 28th of May a contract was made, and on December 27th following, the work was reported as com- pleted. The total cost of the building, fencing, flagging and furniture ($699) was $5379.17.

Rev. John Edward Adams was sent to the charge by the Conference of 1872. He had a successful pastorate.

In 1875, Rev. Ananias Lawrence became pas- tor. He remained but one year. In his closing report he represented the church in a " good, healthy condition, both financially and spirit- ually, having been much quickened by a re- vival then (January 26, 1876) in progress for the last two months, resulting in about thirty converts, twenty-one of whom had joined the church on probation."

Rev. William H. Pearne was appointed to the charge by the Conference of 1876. He also remained but one year. A remarkable event of this year was the excursion of the Sabbath- school to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadel-

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THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

435

phia. Over eleven hundred persons accompa- nied this excursion.

Rev. Amos M. North was appointed by the Conference of 1877. He remained two years. Rev. S. F. Wheeler succeeded Mr. North in 1879, and Rev. G. C. Maddock came in 1881. In the spring of 1884 he was succeeded by the Rev. W. M. White, the present pastor.

THE SECOND REFORMED CHURCH OF FREE- HOLD 1 furnishes, in its name, an instance of the confusion which often arises from perpetuating old titles after the conditions in which they arose are changed. The Second Church is the only one of that denomination in the place. It is so called to distinguish it from the mother-church at Bradevelt, popularly known as the "Brick Church." The Brick Church was established in 1699, when the name of Freehold was loosely applied to a large portion of the present county of Monmouth, and its corporate title is still the First Reformed (Dutch) Church of Freehold.

The Second or Village Church was organized October 4, 1842. For many years previous to this, occasional services had been conducted in Freehold village by the pastors of the mother- church for the benefit of that portion of the congregation. In 1835 their growing needs led to the purchase of two lots of ground in the village and the commencement of the erection of a house of worship. Its corner-stone was laid by Rev. James Otterson, then pastor of the Brick Church, in the spring of 1836, but for lack of funds it was not dedicated until Feb- ruary 1, 1838. Its cost, exclusive of the ground (which was only four hundred dollars), was five thousand dollars, and after the young congre- gation was organized into a church, the entire property was most generously transferred to them by the Brick Church, at the nominal price of seven hundred and fifty dollars. In 1847 a house on Main Street was purchased, and is still used for the residence of the pastor. The church edifice was enlarged and repaired in 1860, the pulpit, which had previously stood between the two entrances, like that of the

1 By the Rev. Isaac P. Brokaw.

mother-church, being removed to the other end of the building, and the pews turned about to correspond. Henceforth, late-comers could enter unrebuked by the reproving stare of those more punctual. At this time a large pipe-organ was added to the edifice.

A small chapel has been since erected by the side of the church for Sunday-school and prayer- meeting purposes. In 1882 this building was handsomely refurnished. The entire value of the church buildings and lots is now about twenty-five thousand dollars, and is free from all incumbrance. The Freehold Cemetery, near the village, which was originated in 1851, is also under the control of this congregation. Five pastors have served the church since its organization. The first, an able and eloquent man, was Rev. Henry D. Ganse, now a secretary in the service of the Presbyterian Church, at Chicago. His pastorate extended from 1843 to 1856, and was one of great prosperity to the church. His successors have been Rev. Ezra W. Collier and Rev. Gulick Van Aken, both of them (now deceased) men of high character and unusual pulpit talent. Rev. Charles S. Hageman, D.D., served the church from 1871 to 1878, and is now living without charge at Nyack, N. J. Rev. Isaac P. Brokaw, the present pastor, was installed January, 1879. Three young men connected with the church have become ministers of the gospel.

The congregation at present comprises one hundred families. The church membership is two hundred and twenty-five. The contribu- tions for the year ending April 1, 1884, were : for missionary purposes, $515; for congrega- tional purposes, $3065.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF FREEHOLD 2 is an offshoot from the famed and venerable Tennent Church, from which came its entire original membership. In the spring of 1835 a few members of the Tennent Church and congregation, encouraged by their pastor, the Rev. Daniel V. McLean, and assisted by other citizens in the place, determined to build a place of worship in the village of Freehold. The

" By the Rev. Frank Chandler, D.D.

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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

corner-stone of a brick edifice, forty-four by sixty feet, was laid June 10, 1835, upon the site of the present residence of Mr. Jacob B. Rue, adjoining the property afterwards occupied by the Young Ladies' Seminary. On the 5th of April, 1836, the congregation was organized „under the laws of the State, by the election of the following-named trustees: Cyrus Bruen (president), James Craig (secretary), John J. Thompson, William D. Davis, William T. Sut- phin, John W. Bartleson and Aaron Combs. They adopted for a corporate name, "The Village Church at Freehold."

The house was completed at a cost of about four thousand dollars, and was dedicated to the wor- ship of God June 17, 1837, Rev. D. V. McLean preaching the sermon from Psalm lxxxiv. 1. Mr. McLean, having resigned his pastorate of the Ten- nent Church in the fall of 1836, preached in the Village Church from the time of its completion.

On the 21st of February, 1838, a committee of the Presbytery of New Brunswick organized the Village Church with thirty-two members, all of whom brought their letters from the Tennent Church. November 1st, in the same year, Mr. McLean was installed pastor. The First Church of Howell, situated where the Fairfield Baptist Church now stands, originally constituted with seven members, after an existence of seven years, was dissolved by act of Presbytery, and those con- nected with it, then numbering twenty-three per- sons, were directed to enroll themselves with the Village Church. They were received April 13, 1839. The year following, a special work of grace resulted in the addition at one communion of forty-seven persons upon confession of their faith, so that one hundred and forty-four members were reported to the Presbytery in the year 1842.

The Rev. Mr. McLean resigned his charge in the fall of 1850, after an efficient ministry of twelve years. He was succeeded in the spring of 1851 by Rev. Samuel D. Alexander, of Princeton. This pastor was much beloved by his congregation, and resigned, greatly to their regret, in April, 1856, to take charge of the Fifteenth Street Church, in New York City. During his ministry (in 1852) the church edifice was enlarged by the addition of thirty feet to its length, at a cost of six thousand dollars.

The Rev. Frank Chandler was born in New- ark, N. J., May 26, 1831, and graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1854. In the fall of 1856 he was called to the pastorate of this church, he being then in the senior class of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, where he graduated in 1857. He was installed in charge of the Freehold church, May 19th of that year, and has been its pastor continuously from that time to the present. The church had a natural and steady growth, and became so much in- creased in numbers that, in the year 1871, April 24th, after frequent meetings and much deliberation, it was resolved to build a new and larger edifice at the corner of Main Street and Brinckerhoff Avenue. The impression had become widely prevalent that the old building was not secure by reason of a breaking of the foundation. The change of location was deemed necessary because the old lot was too small for the larger edifice which it was resolved to build. The corner-stone of the new structure was laid August 30, 1871, but the completion of the building was delayed one whole year by a dis- astrous storm, occurring November 19, 1871, which demolished the walls just as they were finished and prepared to receive the roof tim- bers.

The dedication occurred April 10, 1873, Rev. John Hall, D.D., of New York City, upon in- vitation, preaching the sermon. The adjoining building, containing lecture-room and parlor and Sunday-school rooms, was not completed until the spring of 1874. The ground floor of the church is one hundred feet long by sixty-four feet wide, with a transept at the rear thirty-five by seventy-four feet, and the whole cost, with furniture, was seventy-five thousand dollars.

In the year 1876 the church was again blessed with a wonderful work of divine grace, follow- ing which, at one communion, seventy-two per- sons made confession of their faith in Christ and joined themselves to His people. There have been connected with the church from the beginning eight hundred and forty-five persons, of whom one hundred and forty-two have died and letters of dismission have been granted to two hundred and seventy persons.

The congregation has always been distin-

Franck Chandler .

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THE TOWN OF FREEHOLD.

guished for its liberality in maintaining the or- dinances of religion and the cause of charity at home and abroad. For the erection of its houses of worship and congregational expenses one hundred and thirty thousand dollars has been expended, and not less than twenty-five thousand dollars has been contributed in works of benevolence ; and never in its history has the church been more vigorous, united and hearty in its support of every good cause than at the present time. The pastor, who has stood in his place for more than a quarter of a century, has great cause for encouragement and gratitude in his lengthened and useful ministry.

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History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Pt. 1, Part 77

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co. Number of Pages: 974

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : R.T. Peck & Co.
Number of Pages: 974