USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 82
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The church was regularly incorporated on the 6th of March 1787, when William Winds, Stephen Jackson, Abraham Kitchel, Benjamin Beach, Job Allen, David Beaman and David Baker were elected "the trustees of the first Presbyterian Congregation at Rockaway, in the county of Morris.'
On the 14th of May 1792 it was voted to extend to Rev. John J. Carle an invitation to supply the pulpit six months, which on the 18th of June 1792 was made into a call to become the pastor of the church. The call was accepted, and in January 1793 he was duly installed. His ordination is said to have been the first ever wit- nessed in Rockaway. Mr. Carle soon put new life and energy into the temporal and spiritual concerns of the church, and the people commenced an improvement in the church building, by putting on a ceiling, construct-
The first record of elders was made in February 1793, although the office of elder existed prior to that time. The church met at the house of David Beaman, and there were present Rev. Mr. Carle, David Beaman, Job Allen, John Clark, James Farris, William Ross and Sam- uel Beaman. David Beaman, Job Allen and John Clark were nominated as candidates for the office of ruling elder, and directed to be " propounded the three ensuing Lord's days." David Beaman was nominated at this meeting for deacon.
It appears that the congregation had hard work to keep the salary of Mr. Baldwin paid; on one occasion in 1788 a sale of part of the parsonage lands near the depot was made to pay his salary, and in 1792 the balance was sold, a parsonage lot was procured and a new parsonage built near the present residence of Henry B. Palmer at Franklin. The building which Mr. Palmer removed about four years ago to make room for his new house was the parsonage. Mr. Carle did not live in the new parsonage very long, but purchased a house of his own in Rockaway, and moved there, and in 1795 the parsonage was sold to Dr. Ebenezer H. Pierson for $1,100. After Mr. Carle moved in to his own house his salary was raised from £100 per year to £180 " and to find himself in firewood." Mr. Carle's usefulness was very much weak- ened by his indulgence in intoxicating drinks, which be-
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
came so frequent and open that he was released from his duties in the spring of 1801. He died about 1808, and is made of Rev. Barnabas King, of Rockaway, N. J., as is buried at Basking Ridge.
Six years later the Rev. Barnabas King came into the congregation. During these six years there were occa- sional supplies, who were paid $5 a Sunday for their ser- vices. Among these supplies we find the names of Revs. Lemuel Fordham, Mr. Cram, James Richards, Amzi Armstrong, Aaron Condit, Matthias Burnet and Mr. Keys. It is said that at this time the moral condition of the community was at a very low ebb, and that Deacon John Clark was the only of prayer in the congre- gation.
In October 1807 Rev. Barnabas King was installed pastor, and for 55 years thereafter, until the roth of April 1862, the time of his death, a steady work of growth and grace was kept up in the congregation. There are many persons now living who can testify to his faithful preparation for the pulpit and all the duties of his position as pastor to a large and scattered congre- gation, which extended over a territory at least ten miles in diameter. Soon after his charge commenced the people began a fresh effort at repairs to the church, and November 5th 1821 it was resolved "that Joseph Jack- son have leave to remove the canopy over the pulpit and lower the breastwork in front as low as Mr. King shall direct, and all to be done at his expense."
In 1768 a resolution had been passed " that a stove be allowed, and that if it may be found parnitious that then on Complaint that it may be so parnitious by any one [' supposed to be a person of sense ' erased] that then. in such case, it may be removed from thence by a future meeting, if proper." But no plan for warming the church was carried out until 1820, when a large stove was purchased from McQueen & Co., of Mount Hope, and put up in the church, with the stovepipe running out of the window.
November Ist 1830 it was resolved to build a new meeting-house. The farm of General Winds, having been devised to the church, was sold about this time, and the proceeds paid into the treasury. The "new meeting-house " is the brick structure now standing, and was dedicated in 1832. The old church was on the small elevation about fifty feet back of the new one.
In September 1847 Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle, who was a son-in-law of the Rev. Mr. King, was called as his assist- ant or colleague, and on the 26th of April 1848 was reg- ularly installed as such. The larger part of the work of the church fell upon Mr. Tuttle, although Mr. King preached frequently. The work of Dr. Tuttle speaks for itself. His people were attached to him, both old and young, and no one in the congregation wished him to re- sign his charge, which he did formally in April 1862. He had declined several calls to larger and more lucrative fields of labor, and his work of fifteen years at Rocka- way was finally ended by a pressing invitation to accept the presidency of Wabash College. This change in his field of labor was due partly to the death of his father- in-law, Rev. Mr. King, who died at his post in April 1862.
In the biography of Rev. Dr. Finley, page 95, mention being one of a number of the brethren in the synod of New York and New Jersey who had expressed them- selves upon the subject of universal emancipation, and had been agitating the matter in 1807 and 1812.
On the 8th of July 1862 Rev. Samuel P Halsey was ordained and installed as pastor of the church, at a salary of $600 per annum, which in September 1864 was raised to $1,000. On the 17th of January 1865 his rela- tion to the church was dissolved at his request, that he might take charge of a church at Stamford, Conn.
The Rev. William E. Honeyman was employed as stated supply on the 11th of April 1865, and remained until the Ist of April 1866. Up to the time of Mr. Honeyman's coming "Watts's Select Hymns " had been used, the choir selecting the tunes, but not after the Deacon Beaman style. Mr. Honeyman improved the singing by the introduction of the " Songs of the Sanc- tuary."
On the 7th of March 1867 the Rev. O. H. Perry Deyo was called. He was pastor until the 20th of October 1872. During his pastorate several improvements were made to the church property, including a new slate roof to the church, painting, partial new seating, lowering the galleries, erecting the present parsonage, and grading and improving the grounds, at a total expense of about $8,000.
On the 14th of April 1874 the Rev. David E. Platter accepted a call to become pastor, and remained an ef- ficient and acceptable worker until February 1881, when he left to take charge of the Presbyterian church at Canton, Ohio.
The interval between Mr. Deyo's and Mr. Platter's pastorates was filled principally by the Rev. O. S. St. John, of the New York Witness, and the Rev. Pearce Rodgers, of Mine Hill.
On the 12th of June 1881 Rev. J. O. Averill, of Flush ing, L. I., was called to this church; on the 19th of the same month he accepted the call, and he is now in charge of the congregation as its pastor.
MT. HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH.
The next oldest church erected in the bounds of this township appears to have been a Baptist church, a log structure which stood a short distance north of Mt. Hope. The information about this church comes from Agnes Walton, a maiden lady of 88 years, who resides on the " Walton farin " between Mt. Hope and Middle forge; and from Michael Dolan, residing in the same neighborhood. Miss Walton recollects seeing the church many times when she was a child, but does not remem- ber when it was taken down or disappeared. She re- members her father, Reuben Walton, going to this church. It stood on the northeast corner of the cross- ·roads on the hill north of Mt. Hope, where the Middle Forge road leaves the Denmark road. The old road bed at this point is seen a short distance to the east of the present road; and from the best information the church it is thought must have stood in the cleared field east of
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BAPTIST AND METHODIST CHURCHES, ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP.
the crossroads. A graveyard was by the church, but at present no indications can be seen of either.
There are other circumstances besides the memory of
The society at this time or in a year or so afterward Miss Walton which point very strongly to the belief that had a church erected, and a regular minister. The church building stood about a mile below Denville, on the left side of the road leading past the Catholic Pro- tectory to Boonton, at a place known as Cook's Corner. It was a small building and was called " Cook's church," in all probability after the man who built it, as a deed is recorded from widow Mary Cook, John P. Cook and Mary his wife, of Hanover, to the trustees of the Meth- odist church, for a quarter of an acre of land. The deed is dated January 13th 1825. This was nearly twenty years after the congregation was formed.
a Baptist church was there. Miss Walton's grandfather, John Walton, lived on the Walton farm, and had a son John, who was a Baptist minister and who died in 1770, while pastor of the Baptist church at Morristown. Old John Walton was a strong Baptist, and had used every exertion within his limited means to prepare his son John for the ministry of that church. The son was the second minister over the Morristown Baptist church, from 1765 to 1770, the time of his death. The name of Rev. John Walton appears several times in the book of " Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association from 1707 to 1807," which was shown to us by Samuel H. Hunt, of New- ton, whose library of over 2,000 volumes abounds in rare and valuable books. On page 115 an entry in the minutes reads as follows: "We feel chastisement from Heaven by the death of our beloved brother Rev. John Walton, and pray that God will not suffer that church with whom he resided to be like sheep without a shepherd." This entry was made at the October meeting, 1770. Mr. Wal- ton is buried in the Baptist church yard at Morristown. The Mt. Hope Baptist church is the only one that was ever erected in the bounds of this township.
METHODIST CHURCHES.
The center of Methodism in Morris county was at Flanders, in Roxbury township. The society there was the first in East Jersey to erect a church, which is supposed to have been built in 1785, under the leadership of David Moore, who was born in Mor- ristown, N. J., November 25th 1749. Prior to 1771 there were not over fifty Methodists in all New Jersey. Bishop Asbury arrived in Philadelphia in that year, and in his journal (Vol. III, page 121) says, "In 1771 there were about 250 Methodists in Philadelphia, and 300 in New York, and a few in New Jersey." The next circuit formed after Flanders was the Chatham circuit, and be- tween Flanders and Chatham there is no doubt that itiner- ant preachers of that society had visited Rockaway some time prior to 1810, and held preaching services from house to house wherever the door was opened to them.
The Methodist society was early in this field with its preachers, and no doubt good Bishop Asbury was among the pioneers to establish preaching services in our bounds.
The Oldest Methodist Church organization in the town- ship is that of the Rockaway Valley Methodist Episco- pal church, which is now the Denville church. In Book A of Religious Societies, in the Morris county records, page 29, is a record as follows: "We, Benjamin Lum, Samuel K. Wilson and John P. Cook, appointed by the Methodist Episcopal church in Rockaway Valley, having been sworn as the 5th Sec. of the law to incorporate re- ligious societies, passed the 13th of June 1799, do cer- tify that we have taken to ourselves the name, style and title of the 'Methodist Episcopal Church in Rockaway
Valley.'" This record is dated the 23d and was entered the 25th day of January 1810.
On the Ist of April 1841 William Hiler, of Denville, made a deed to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church at Denville (William E. Hinchman, Jacob Peer, Stephen Dickerson, Eliakim Anderson, Samuel D. Wood, Charles H. Gardner and James N. Clark) for a lot there. In April of the same year the trustees of the church re- solved to take down the church building on the Cook lot and move it to the Hiler lot, near the school-house in Denville. This was done and the new church was re- dedicated.
It appears that the trustees of the new church had no knowledge of the act of incorporation of January 25th 1810, and on the 23d of February 1880 Joseph A. Righter, Joseph Hinchman, J. D. Cooper, Edward C. Peer and Stephen Dickerson associated themselves into a church as the " Methodist Episcopal Church at Denville;" or, if the former organization was known to the society, they may have taken it to be the church at Rockaway Valley, near Powerville, which was then called the " Methodist Episcopal Church at Rockaway Valley." At all events the fact was discovered that there were two acts of in- corporation for the same church organization, and two names. To remedy the confusion to which this would lead, a very elaborate and comprehensive resolution was passed by the Denville society in January 1880, accepting the latter incorporate name, and confirming all that had been done by the trustees.
Prior to this a deed had been given by John Hinch- man and Mary his wife to " the Methodist Episcopal church and the trustees thereof, for the time being and their successors in office, of the village of Denville, in the county of Morris and State of New Jersey " for a parson- age lot.
The known membership of the Denville and Rockaway Valley churches is given in the minutes of the Newark conference at 103. The Rev. Mr. Chamberlain is the present minister.
Joseph Casterline, formerly Joseph Casterline jr., who resides on the old turnpike between Rockaway and Mt. Pleasant, and from whom many interesting facts have been gathered, recollects going to meetings in " Cook's church " in 1812. It was a small frame building, and quite an old structure at that early day-the oldest and in fact the only church in the neighborhood, except the Rockaway and Whippany churches-and he recollects its
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
being moved up to Denville. His first church member- ship was with this old society. Some of its early preach- ers were Rev. Messrs. Kennard, Long, Kennedy, Mc- Combs, Page, Atwood and Wenner. He was at this time living at Rockaway in the employ of Colonel Joseph Jackson. Job Allen owned and lived on the Glover farm, now the Catholic Protectory farm.
The Methodist Church in Rockaway was incorporated the 20th of April 1833. David Stickle, James Eakley, David Cole, Abraham L. Clark and Joseph Casterline jr. were the trustees at the time. The first church building was erected in the fall of 1833, on the spot now occu- pied by the building which was erected about ten years ago .. Mr. Casterline in 1833 was living near the union school-house, and was called on by Rev. James Ayres, who was the presiding elder for this circuit, to get a meeting together for the purpose of forming the Rocka- way Methodist church. Mr. Casterline took hold of the work and the result was the organization of the church. The first minister in charge was Rev. Mr. Shepherd. Among his successors were the Rev. Messrs. Dunn, Downes, Hewes, Paul, Wilson and Wyath and others, whose names are not remembered.
The land on which the church was built was donated by Joseph Righter, a resident of Rockaway. The mem- bership of this church is given at 161. Rev. Mr. Conk- lin is the present pastor.
The next church of the Methodist denomination was that of Rockaway Valley, which stands on the road lead- ing from the homestead farm of the late William M. Dixon to Powerville. The society was incorporated on the 5th of June 1842, under the name of "the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Rockaway Valley," with John Decker, Jacob Van Winkle, William M. Dixon and Caleb W. Edwards as trustees. The preaching services are under the charge of the pastor of the Den- ville M. E. church.
Miners' Churches .- A Methodist church was built in February 1873, a short distance east of the Welsh church, for the Allen and Teabo mine families, on land given by the New Jersey Iron Mining Company. The title for the church lot is held by the Andover Iron Company. Its cost was about $1,000. This church was burned about a year after its erection, and was rebuilt on the same spot in 1874 with the insurance inoney of the first building. H. O. Van Nostrand, of New York, donated the organ for this church. Teabo and Port Oram to- gether report a membership of 145. This society is now under the charge of the Methodist pastor at Port Oram, who has a preaching appointment for it once a month.
In 1870 the Mount Hope Iron Mining Company erected a church at Mount Hope, for the benefit of any society of Christians that might desire to worship in it The Methodist society, being much more numerous than others in that locality, has used it regularly since its erec- tion, and now has a minister of its own. The present pastor is the Rev. C. W. McCormick, son of the Rev. W. H. McCormick, of the Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Dover.
The title to the church lot is in the Mt. Hope Com- pany. The basement of the church edifice is used for school purposes. The society reports a membership of 68.
On the 26th of October 1869 a Methodist Episcopal church at Hibernia was dedicated. It was built with funds contributed chiefly by the Andover Iron Company, the Glendon Iron Company, the mercantile firm of Rich- ards, Beach & Co., of Hibernia, Adolph C. Poppenhusen, of New York city, Richards & Tippets, Hon. C. Beach and others; it cost about $8, 100. The church lot was donated by Mr. Beach, and is held by the Andover Iron Company. The first trustees were elected May 20th 1871, and were C. Beach, H. Lumsden, M. Prisk, W. Polland, M. S. Hiler, T. H. Whitford and W. Hanschka.
In the spring of 1871 a parsonage was erected at a cost of $2,200. The mining companies of Hibernia above named, together with several members and friends of the society, joined in defraying the expense. The house was furnished at a cost of $325, and the parsonage library was added. The library contains the " Compre- hensive Commentary," presented by Mrs. Dr. Beach.
The pastors have been as follows: In 1868, J. W. Fol- som; 1869-71, George Miller; 1871-74, A. M. Harris; 1874, 1875, W. S. Galloway; 1875, 1876, A. H. Bekes; 1876, W. C. Buckman; 1877-80, A. S. Hiller; 1880, 1881, J. W. Barritt; 1881, G. T. Jackson, the present pastor. This society reports a membership of 86.
Other Methodist Enterprises .- In 1852 a Methodist class of forty members was formed at Greenville, by the Rev. Mr. Cross, a member of the Newark Conference. In 1861 Greenville was made a preaching appointment, and it is now under the charge of the Hibernia church. No church building has been erected, and all church ser- vices are held in the school-house.
At Lyonsville school-house also the Methodist society has been holding preaching services.
The most successful religious enterprise of the town- ship has been the Denville Camp Meeting Association, which commenced in 1870 by purchasing, for $10,000, the homestead farm of Stephen Dickerson, near Den- ville, a part of which was laid out in avenues and plats and opened for camp meetings of the Methodist church. It is now a handsome village in a splendid grove of timber, and a popular resort for families during the sum- mer season. Lot owners have leasehold titles, with all the necessary restrictions for good government and the police arrangements of a city.
WELSH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
In May 1857 Welsh services were commenced at the Richards mines between Mt. Pleasant and Mt. Hope, and a nucleus for a church was formed, services being held at Mine Hill and Mt. Pleasant every other Sunday, under charge of the Rev. John R. Jenkins, a Welsh minister, who was also connected with one of the mining compa- nies. Soon after this Mr. Jenkins went to Ohio and re- mained there eight months. In the meantime the mem- bers joined with the Presbyterian church at Dover, but on
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ST. BERNARD'S PARISH-GRAVEYARDS IN ROCKAWAY.
the return of Mr. Jenkins he commenced to preach for the Welsh people at the Richards mines. In 1863 this society built the frame church edifice now standing near the Richards mines, at a cost of $1,200. The land is owned by the Thomas Iron Company, of Pennsylva- nia.
In October 1863 the Rev. William Roberts, D. D., of New York, and Rev. E. B. Evence, of Hyde Park, Pa., preached the sermons at the dedication of the church. This church was a branch of the Dover Pres- byterian church and came under the care of Morris Pres- bytery. In October 1869 the Dover church and the presbytery decided that it should be called the "Welsh Presbyterian Church of Richards Mines."
The Rev. John R. Jenkins was ordained pastor of this church November 2nd 1869, and at the same time Rich. ard Jenkins, John Bellis and Morgan Jenkins were or- dained elders. The death of John R. Jenkins, which oc- curred in January 1876, left the congregation without a pastor, and no one has succeeded him. Preaching services are held occasionally by the pastor of the Dover Presby- terian church. The church is out of debt.
ROMAN CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS.
On the 29th of September 1875 St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church of Mount Hope was duly incorporated, with Rev. Michael J. Connelly pastor, and John Burke and John Finnegan lay members of the church. About 1840 the Roman Catholic society built a church on a lot donated by Barnabas Galliger, on the corner of the Mount Hope and Mount Pleasant roads, near Michael Galligan's. The land was donated for the uses of a Roman Catholic church only, but after the church had been erected it was also used for a school. This being a violation of the terms of the deed Mr. Galliger brought an action of ejectment, and recovered possession of the land and building. This church was very soon after- ward destroyed by fire, and another was erected by St. Bernard's parish, near the Teabo mine, on the road lead- ing by Matthew Kerney's; it was called the Mount Hope Roman Catholic Church.
St. Bernard's parish has within a very short time pur- chased the hall of the Mount Hope Temperance Society, at Middletown, on the Mount Hope and Rockaway road, and also a lot of land of John Snyder at the same place, and erected thereon an expensive parsonage and school- house (the school under charge of the Sisters of Charity), which was completed and consecrated on Christmas day 1880. The grounds are large and commodious, with fine buildings and improvements.
Father McGann is the present pastor. This parish is now agitating the subject of a new and substantial church, of brick, at Mount Hope, in place of the small frame building now used by St. Bernard's society.
parish of Boonton, and the latter to that of the protectory at Denville.
The last named institution is located on the property known as the Glover farm, near Denville (once occupied by Job Allen, as before stated), and is under the care of the diocese of Newark, N. J. It has been in existence since 1871, and is one of the charitable institutions of the Roman Catholic church. The Glover farm is worked in the interest of the protectory, by those who are under its care.
GRAVEYARDS.
Rockaway township has several burying grounds, both public and private. The principal public ground is the Rockaway cemetery, connected with the Rockaway Presbyterian church, and its history is that of the church. The land title is the same as that of the church proper, and the ground contains about 13 acres. The location is all that could be desired in a cemetery-convenient, retired, un- dulating, with glens and ravines to break the sameness, and forest trees and shrubbery to ornament it; and dry graveled avenues and suitable lot enclosures have been constructed. A stroll through these ample grounds will disclose many time-worn headstones, with inscriptions en- tirely effaced, or so dim with age that a stranger cannot ascertain the occupant of the grave. Although among the oldest, yet the slab which marks the resting place of Gen. William Winds is very distinct in its lettering, and in a good state of preservation. It is composed of red sandstone, and bears this inscription: " Gen. Wm. Winds, died Oct. 12 1789, in the 62d year of age."
Besides the graveyard at the place where the Baptist church at the Mt. Hope crossroads formerly stood, as be- fore mentioned, we find a burying ground known as the "Walton yard," a short distance north of the Baptist ground, and to the right of the road from Mt. Hope to Berkshire Valley, which undoubtedly has been used for over a hundred years. There is no enclosure at present, and it is used by the old families in the neighborhood. A few scattering headstones mark the graves, some of them having inscriptions, but many without, and nothing to designate a grave except the rough mountain stone of the locality. The headstone of one of the early settlers in this neighborhood is plainly distinguished by this inscrip- tion: " John Walton, died July 30 1787, 87 years of age." He was the grandfather of Agnes Walton, and father of Rev. John Walton. The grave of his wife, Anne, who died August 20th 1791, aged 73 years, is by that of her husband. Peter Doland, father of Michael Doland, and his wife Elizabeth are buried in this yard; the latter died in 1852, aged 97 years.
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