USA > New Jersey > Union County > History of Union County, New Jersey > Part 28
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In 1872, during the rectorship of Dr. Clark, mission services were begun in private houses, and later on were regularly established in two places,-one in South street and the other in the neighborhood of Catherine street and Magnolia avenue,-such buildings being rented as could be procured for the purpose. In January, 1886, a house and lot at the corner of Bond and Catherine streets were purchased, and here for several years the services were held, and a workingmen's club was estab- lished. About the same time the South-street services were discontinued and services were held at St. John's Home instead. Later a change of location seemed desirable, and in 1890 the Bond-street mission was sold, and land bought in Division street, near East Jersey street, on which a frame chapel, named St. Andrew's, was erected. In 1893 the adjoining lots to the north, and extending to Rebecca Place, were purchased, giving the whole property a frontage of over one hundred and
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eighty-three feet in Division street and one hundred feet in Rebecca Place. The work at St. Andrew's is in a flourishing condition, and it is not unlikely that it will ultimately result in the formation of an indepen- dent parish, like Grace, Christ's and Trinity, to all of which St. John's bears the relation of the mother church.
The work at St. Andrew's and at the former mission stations has been largely conducted by the laymen of St. John's, though, at times, an assistant to the rector has been employed on this field. At Bond street, Mr. J. Augustus Dix, and at South street, Mr. J. Parkinson Roberts and Mr. James Morrison were the principal workers. St. John's and St. Andrew's each have flourishing Sunday schools, St. John's Sunday school having been founded in 1818, May 24th.
CHRIST CHURCH, RECTORY AND GUILD ROOM
CHRIST CHURCH
was formed in 1853. The first Sunday service was held April 10, 1853, in the lecture room of the First Presbyterian church, where they continued to worship until their chapel, on the corner of East Jersey and Bridge streets, was built. The chapel, rectory and the school house cost, with the land, about thirty thousand dollars.
Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman, D. D., was rector for ten years, when he left, in 1863, to take charge of Grace church, Brooklyn, New York. He was succeeded by the Rev. Stevens Parker, D. D., of Boston, a grandson of Bishop Parker. His valuable ministrations to this people continued, to the honor of Zion, and to the exaltation of his Master, till his resigna- tion, in the year 1879, when, on the Ist of June, the Rev. H. H. Oberly, the present pastor, was called to his place.
Daily service has been maintained in this church since 1854. In 1857 the weekly Eucharist was established. Two Sunday schools provide instruction for the children. A gothic stone rectory adjoins the church. The church also built, in 1885, a mission chapel, established in 1881, and named St. Paul's. The church is open all day.
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INTERIOR OF CHRIST CHURCH
GRACE CHURCH.
Rev. Abraham B. Carter preached at the house of Mr. Vincent Bodine, November 3, 1845. This was the first service of Grace church, Elizabeth, and these services were continued at Mr. Bodine's residence until the spring of 1846. Rev. Mr. Carter was followed by Rev. Edward B. Boggs, who, in turn, was succeeded by Rev. David Clarkson, in December, 1848. The parish was organized on the 18th of August, 1849. The church was at once built, and on April 2d following was consecrated.
Rev. Eugene A. Hoffman took charge of the parish in August, 1851, remaining until 1853, other ministers officiating until March, 1857, when Rev. Clarkson Dunn accepted the rectorship and continued in charge for thirteen years, until his death in 1870.
Succeeding rectors were Rev. Joseph Mayers, 1870-2; Rev. Jaines Stoddard, 1872-6; Rev. John F. Esch, 1876-7; Rev. Henry Duncan, D. D., 1878-83 ; Rev. Samuel B. Moore, 1883-7. In 1888 the Rev. Henry H. Sleeper, the present rector, was called to the rectorship. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1884, and from the theological seminary in the class of 1887. The church was enlarged in 1873. The number of communicants at the present time is four hundred and thirty.
TRINITY CHURCH.
This church was organized as a new Episcopal parish May 23 and 30, 1859, and incorporated June 22d of the same year. Services were held regularly in the county court-room until January, 1860. A gothic church edifice, capable of seating about four hundred persons, was erected
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
on the corner of East Jersey and Jefferson streets, but in 1865 it was sold to St. Paul's church. The parish then held services in the Third Presbyterian church until a chapel was built on the plot selected for the church, on North Broad and Chestnut streets, in 1866.
Rev. Daniel F. Warren, D. D., was the first pastor. He resigned June 1, 1868, and Rev. Mr. Lowry succeeded him in 1869. Mr. Lowry
TRINITY CHURCH, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
retired in 1873, and Rev. F. Marion McAllister, the present rector, succeeded. The corner-stone of the present church was laid April IO, 1871, and the first services were held Christmas day of that year.
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
In 1842 Elkanah Drake, a member of the church at Mount Bethel, came to Elizabeth to reside. He soon gathered a few Baptists together and established a "meeting " in the Select School, in Union street. On June 5, 1843, a council from eight churches met in the Select School and recognized as a gospel church the "First Baptist church of Eliza- beth." The first officers chosen were David S. Higgins, deacon ; and Elkanah Drake, clerk.
The Select School room was purchased, and on November 16, 1843, was dedicated. The society was formed on February 15, 1845, and
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incorporated April 25, 1848. The first pastor was Rev. Charles Cox. The first baptism by immersion occurred in the Elizabeth river, when Pastor Cox baptized his wife and Miss Ann Holton. The pastorate of Rev. Mr. Cox was a short one, but the church membership grew to number thirty- one under his ministry, and in 1844 a Bible school was organized.
Following came pastors : Edward Conover, E. Tibbals, W. H. Turton, I. H. Waterbury, T. S. Rogers, I. N. Hill, George W. Clark, T.
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**
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
A. K. Gessler, J. C. Allen, Carter Helm Jones, W. H. Shermer and Rev. William Staub, the present incumbent.
Under the ministry of I. N. Hill the building in West Jersey street was erected, at a cost of three thousand dollars, and was dedicated September 28, 1858. In 1866, under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Clark, a revival occurred, and in that year forty-eight members withdrew and formed a new church, now known as the Central Baptist church.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
Under the able direction of the Rev. Mr. Gessler the present house of worship, at the corner of Union avenue and Prince street, was erected in 1868. About this time thirteen more members withdrew from this organization to form the Memorial Baptist church. Under Mr. Allen's ministry, in 1884, the indebtedness of the church, then amounting to forty thousand dollars, was removed.
CENTRAL BAPTIST CHURCH.
The society of the Central Baptist church was organized Septem- ber 25, 1877. The church building stands on the corner of East Jersey street and Jefferson avenue, and is a gothic structure capable of seating about four hundred persons. It was erected by Trinity church in 1859, and was sold by them to St. Paul's Methodist church. The present owners came into possession of the property about the time of their orginization, at which time also a membership of sixty persons was received by letter, under the supervision of a committee consisting of Messrs. C. C. Taintor, D. W. Silvers, and G. W. Kiersted.
Upon organization the church immediately extended to Rev. John Mckinney a call which was accepted on the 2d of October, 1877. April 20, 1888, Rev. Mr. Mckinney was succeeded by the present pastor, the Rev. Everett T. Tomlinson, Ph. D.
Officers of the church at time of organization were as follows : Trustees, J. Madison Watson, A. D. Coykendall, and Frederick Foster; deacons, G. W. Kiersted, T. O. Conant, and J. Madison Watson; treasurer, Frederick Foster; Clerk, I. E. Gates. The officers in 1896 are as follows: Trustees, C. C. Taintor, F. H. Davis, G. E. Dimock, A. R. Van Deventer and R. C. Myer; deacons, J. Madison Watson, J. J. Coyne, I. M. Littell and A. D. Myer; treasurer, A. W. Macdonald; clerk, J. M. Dudley. The church has a membership of three hundred and sixty.
Dr. Tomlinson is a graduate of both Williams and Colgate Colleges. He is a writer of historical fiction of recognized merit, and as an educator he has been honpred with two calls to the presidency of the college in Chicago that was recently endowed by John D. Rocke- feller, and since that time he has been called to the presidency of the college at Kalamazoo, Michigan,-all of which offers, however, have been declined.
THE EAST BAPTIST CHURCH.
This church was built to accommodate, in the east section of the city, a few families of the Baptist faitli, who, prior to 1871, maintained their prayer meetings by holding them weekly from house to house. In 1871 Peter Amory purchased a small building, which he moved to Third street, and in September, 1871, it was dedicated as a Baptist mission, a memorial to the founder's daughter. In January, 1872, thirty-seven Baptists organized a church and obtained the free use of
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this building. In 1879 that church was disbanded, and in January, 1880, the present East Baptist church was organized, and began worshiping under the pastorate of Rev. Adam Chambers. He was succeeded in 1882 by Rev. Theron Outwater, of Sanborn, New York, under whose pastorate the church erected an edifice on the corner of Third and Franklin streets. The church property is valued at ten thousand dollars. Rev. J. Madison Hare succeeded Rev. Mr. Outwater in 1888. The present pastor, the Rev. W. H. Shermer, is very popular, and under his ministration the church is growing rapidly.
METHODISM IN ELIZABETH.
" Bishop Asbury on passing through the town," says Dr. Hatfield, "preached by invitation, September 6, 1785, in the unfinished Presby- terian church. It was about this time that a society of Methodists was organized here and taken under the care of the conference. Of this society one of the earliest and most efficient members was the wife of Mr. Jonathan Morrell. She was a member of the first Methodist class in America, converted and enrolled as a member of the Methodist church in New York, under the preaching of Philip Embury, the carpenter, in his own house, in the year 1766. In 1772 Mr. Morrell moved to this town, and, with his wife, united with the First Presbyterian church, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Caldwell. At the organization of the Methodist church, Mrs. Morrell returned to the people of her first love and became one of the principal supports of the society."
Thomas Morrell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Morrell, familiarly known as Father Morrell, and practically the founder of Methodism here, in speaking of his mother, says: "It was about the year 1760 she was converted to God, and when Mr. Embury, the first Methodist preacher, came over, she went to hear him and was among the first members who joined the society in New York, and, consequently, the first Methodists in America. When we moved to Elizabeth Town, about the year 1772, there was no society in that place, and she communed with and joined the Presbyterian church there. But it pleased God to send the Rev. John Hagerty to Elizabeth Town in 1785, who was recom- mended to our house (through whose instrumentality I was awakened that year), and being kindly entertained at our house, laid the foundation of Methodist preaching in Elizabeth Town, and so of forming the circuit. She was, indeed, a mother to the preachers and a mother in Israel. She was a Christian thirty-six years. She knew from the first
that her sickness would be unto death. * * My mother when she died was aged sixty-eight years, nine months and two days. I mourn only as one that has hope, and murmur not. This day, while she is a corpse in the house, I do afresh dedicate myself to God, and humbly hope, through mercy and grace, to persevere to the end, and meet iny dear mother in glory ! God grant it for Jesus' sake, Amen. She was
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
ST. JAMES METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
interred in the family vault on Monday, Ist of August. Her corpse was first carried to the Methodist tabernacle, where a sermon was preached by Brother Filters."
Mr. Jonathan Morrell was a man of sterling character. He did not enter with the Methodist society, but called himself a "Bible Man," and when the circuit preachers were not present he would exhort the people, preaching to and praying with them.
The Rev. John Hagerty, the spiritual father of Thomas Morrell, was very useful in different fields of labor. In 1785 he was stationed in New York. The Rev. Thomas Morrell was the eldest child of Jonathan Morrell, and was born in New York, November 22, 1747. His father was a merchant, and from the time of their coming to this town, in 1772, the son had a partnership in the business. When the tidings of the battle of Lexington reached the town, a company of volunteers was immediately gathered, of which he was chosen captain. He was in command of one of the boats that captured the "Blue Mountain Valley," off Sandy Hook, January 23, 1776. In June, 1776, he received a captain's commission, with orders to muster a company of seventy-eight men and report to General Washington, then in New York. Two companies of militia were parading in front of the Presby- terian church, and young Morrell gave them an earnest talk and then called for volunteers. So effective was his speech that in five minutes his quota was filled. Six days after the Declaration of Independence they reported at New York, ready for service. In the fatal engagement at Flatbush, August 27, 1776, they were nearly cut to pieces. Captain Morrell fell severely wounded, and barely escaped with his life. He was afterwards appointed a major in the Fourth Jersey Regiment, taking an active part in the battles of Germantown, Pennsylvania, and Brandywine, but his health becoming too much impaired for service on the field, he returned to his home, and resumed his mercantile pursuits.
In the month of October, 1785, he was converted to God. In June, 1786, he began to preach as a local preacher, and in 1787, began to ride as a traveling preacher. He rode on the Elizabeth Town circuit twenty months. In 1788 he was ordained deacon; in 1789 he was ordained an elder, and continued at New York nearly five years, residing at No. 22 John street. During the first six months of his stay in New York he raised funds and built the Forsyth church. This church was dedicated November 8, 1789. A great revival followed, resulting in four hundred conversions and two hundred accessions to the society. In 1790 he was appointed presiding elder for this district, which included Elizabeth Town, and in 1794 he retired to Elizabeth Town, but subsequently accepted other appointments till 1804, when he became a permanent resident of the town.
The old homestead is still standing, in the rear of the pottery
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
buildings on Elizabeth avenue (formerly Water street), just on the bank of the creek. From this place Father Morrell and his family removed to a new property purchased by him farther down the avenue. Here he built for himself a house, about 1814, on the northwest corner of Elizabeth avenue and Morrell street, next to which the Methodist church building was erected. The church lot, fifty feet wide, fronting on Elizabeth avenue, is the very ground now known as Morrell street, named of course for this distinguished man. Father Morrell gave the lot and largely of his means in the building of this church, and here the Methodists worshiped until the pastorate of James O. Rogers, in 1845, when the new church, on Elizabeth avenue, was dedicated.
The Morrell street church, so called, was the only Methodist church within fifty miles, except in New York. In this church, for nearly twenty years, Father Morrell preached regularly once a Sabbath. F. A. Morrell, a son of Father Morrell, married a daughter of Jonathan Griffith, who had been one of the supports of this church for seventy years. Mrs .. Crowell, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Mayor Caleb Halstead (the mother of Chancellor O. S. Halstead), Abraham Cozine, John Van Name, Isaac Bird and Jonathan Chandler were among the early, active and useful members of that church in those earlier days. Still among the first of this church who loved and served Christ were such men as Ezra Cleveland, more than sixty years a member and seventeen years a trustee. He was the trusted friend of Father Morrell, and the friend of all the pastors. Mr. Cleveland was the first to move in the project of building the new Water street church, and, besides liberal gifts, labored with the Rev. Joseph Ashbrook to secure subscriptions for the same. John Faulks, James C. Denman, Joseph Cleveland, Enoch Coddington, Aaron Q. Thompson, Periam Price, Joanna Cleveland, Ann Hicks, Eliza Wardell, Hannah Chamberlain, Angeline A. More- house, Mrs. Elliot Hunt, Elizabeth and Ann Meeker, Robert L. Cleve- land, Moses O. Winans, Freeman T. Winans, Mrs. I. O. Reeve, Mrs. Matilda Clark, Mrs. Sarah Ayers, Samuel Osborn and Mrs. J. C. Den- man were members of the old church.
THE GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The German church, at the Crossroads, was established in 1852-3. J. W. Freund, of the New York conference, promised to engage in evan- gelical work among the German population of that place, and his efforts resulted in the donation, by a member of the Presbyterian denomina- tion, of three lots, on which the church was erected in 1845. Rev. John A. Roesch was the first pastor at that place, and was there during the years 1854-5.
During the pastorate of A. H. Mead, 1853-4, in the Water street church, dissensions arose and continued for some eleven years, culmin- ating in a withdrawal of a large number from the church. A new
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
organization was effected, but, not being recognized by the elder, the organization disbanded.
In 1859 a new enterprise was originated, known as the Mechanic street church, in which George W. Tubbs was actively interested. John F. Dodd was the first pastor of this church. In about six years this society joined with a number who catne out of Water street church, and the St. Paul's church was formed. This new organization, after worshiping for a time in the court house, took possession of the edifice, at the corner of Jefferson avenue and East Jersey street, which they purchased from the Trinity Protestant Episcopal church and which was dedicated by Bishop Simpson in December, 1865. In the interests of Methodism it was decided that a church be built at or near Jefferson
GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Park, and on or near Reservoir hill, the latter to retain the name of St. Paul's. In the spring of 1875, the new society was formed under the name of the Park Methodist church, and, May 16th, a chapel, which had been built on Monroe avenue, was occupied until the building was ready,-the two societies worshiping together at St. Paul's, and the two pastors officiating in turn. The church edifice on Madison avenue was erected in 1879. The project of building on Resorvoir hill was finally abandoned by the St. Paul society for another enterprise, which was consummated in the spring of 1877.
From the records of St. James church we quote: "On Monday evening, the 23d day of October, 1876, a committee of eight, consisting of A. P. Baker, B. E. Browne, R. L. Cleveland and William Trewin,
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
of Elizabeth avenue Methodist Episcopal church, and William J. Carlton, D. Denham, James Y. Floy and I. O. Reeve, of the St. Paul Methodist Episcopal church, met at the residence of R. L. Cleveland, 1134 Washington street, to consider the desirability of effecting a union of these two societies, which had been first suggested by the Elizabeth avenue Methodist church. They were also to consider the feasibility
PARK METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
of an exchange of their respective properties for the property known as the Broad street Baptist church. The outcome of this and subse- quent meetings was the union of the two societies in the new organiza- tion known as the St. James' Methodist Episcopal church and tlie exchanges of the respective properties for the property now occupied by this society."
Major Morrell, the father of Methodism in Elizabeth, was a man of decided convictions, strong will and warm temper, which were,
1
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
however, kept under control by divine grace. He was a student of religious literature, was especially devoted to the ancient fathers of the church, and, in many respects, was well fitted for his chosen work in the ministry. Following him were other noted men, also, who have served the Methodist church in Elizabeth. John McClasky, an Irish lad in the Revolution, and imprisoned a year in the old sugar house,
FULTON STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
in Liberty street, New York city, afterward became couverted, and served this church in 1788. He was a mighty preacher, a recognized leader, and a wise counselor. In 1794 Hezekiah C. Wooster, a wonder- ful preacher of the Word, was here. He is described as a " flaming herald, whose eloquence was overwhelming."
Shadrach Bostwick, M. D., whom Bishop Hedding called "a glorious man," was here in 1795; Thomas Everard whose " wit was caustic and words inspiring," rode this circuit in 1799; Joseph Lybrand,
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
"a princely man, whose eloquence was equal to that of Charles Pitman;"' Joseph Holdich, the fine scholar, afterwards professor in Wesleyan University, Connecticut; Bishop Edmund S. James, and his sweet- spirited brother, Edwin L. James, the author of the "Beauties of Payson"; William H. Gilder, father of the distinguished Richard Watson Gilder, editor of the Century Magazine, and also of J. L. and J. B. Gilder, editors of the Critic; James Buckley, the uncle of the present editor of the Advocate; Jolin F. Hurst, now bishop, and many others equally as able, officiated as clergymen in the Methodist churches of Elizabeth.
FULTON STREET CHURCH.
As early as 1830 a Methodist class was formed at Elizabethport under the leadership of James C. Denman, and in 1851 the Fulton street church was organized, and a church edifice was completed in the following year. Isaac Trotter was the first pastor of that church.
ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Fifty-three years ago the first regular services were held by the Catholics in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Before this a priest would occasionally come over from Staten Island and celebrate mass for the few people of that faith, but it was not until 1844 that a permanent priest was granted them. Rev. Father Isaac P. Howell, the first pastor, met his little band of twenty-five people for the first time on Palm Sunday, 1844. He proved to be a most successful guide both in things spiritual and temporal. At the end of the first year of his labors, his flock had grown in numbers to a membership of one hundred. Father Howell in the meantime had been zealously laboring to secure means to build a house of worship, much of which had to be sought for outside of the newly formed parish. The laborers on the Morris canal were appealed to and responded liberally. The pastor working unceasingly for the one end, was finally rewarded for his diligence in having a comfortable place for service, besides a rectory, which was mostly paid for by himself. He had true missionary spirit, and his memory is held in affectionate remembrance. He was followed by Father Kane, his assistant, who, after the decease of his former rector, succeeded to the charge of St. Mary's and continued therein several years. Father Kane came to Elizabetlı from St. James' church in Newark, New Jersey. He was followed by Father Thebaud, of a noble French family, who fled from France during the revolution. He was a classmate of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Wigger, the present bishop of the diocese of Newark, at Brigonlisle College, Genoa, at which institution he was graduated. After his death Father Corrigan took charge of the parish. Father Corrigan was a brother to the Most Rev. Michael Corrigan, formerly bishop of this diocese, and now archbishop of New
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY
York. To distinguish him from this eminent prelate he was called "Father James." He was once president of Seton Hall College. Father Corrigan died in 1890, at which time Father O'Neill became pastor, where he still continues. Up. to September, 1896, he was ably assisted by Father Carroll, now himself rector at Newark, and whose place is filled by Father Brady. The present church building of St. Mary's was begun in 1845, when the basement walls were built. Afterward a small structure was placed upon these, in which the congregation worshiped until 1858, when they were able to begin the
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