USA > New Jersey > Mercer County > Trenton > History of the city of Trenton, New Jersey : embracing a period of nearly two hundred years, commencing in 1676, the first settlement of the town, and extending up to the present time, with official records of the population, extent of the town at different periods, its manufactories, church history, and fire department > Part 10
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The following is a list of the clergymen who supplied the pulpit of the Fourth Church previous to the arrival of the pastor elect :
November 7th, Rev. John Hall, D. D., from I Cor., i., 9. November 14th, Rev. W. H. Green, D. D., from John, xiii., 2. November 18th, (Thanksgiving Day), Rev. W. H. Green, D. D., from Psalms, cxxxvi., I. November 21st, Rev. W. P. Bond, morning-from I Cor., ix., 27; evening-from John, xxiv., 15. December 5th, Rev. J. C. Moffat, D. D., morning-from 2 Cor., v., 9 ; evening-from Mat., v., 10-12. December 12th, Rev. A. T. McGill, D. D., morning-from Is., xxviii., 17; evening- from Mat., xxviii., 5.
The Rev. E. D. Yeomans preached his first regular sermon December 19th, from Psalms, cxix., 105.
At a meeting of the congregation on Wednesday, December 15th, Messrs. Elias Cook, A. R. Titus, B. S. Disbrow, Joseph C. Potts, Wm. White, and Edward T. Green were elected trustees.
At Princeton, December 16th, the Rev. E. D. Yeomans was received by the Presbytery of New Brunswick as a member of that body, and having accepted the call of the Fourth Church, his installation was appointed for the 25th of February, and he was accordingly installed. The Rev. E. F. Cooley, D. D., pre- sided, the Rev. J. W. Yeomans preached the sermon ; the charge to the pastor was given by the Rev. A. M. McGill, D. D., and the charge to the people by the Rev. John Hall, D. D.
At a meeting of the church July 6th, 1859, Mr. Aaron A. Hutchinson was elected a ruling elder, and on the following Friday evening was duly installed.
At a similar meeting held September 19th, 1860, Mr. E. B. Fuller was elected ruling elder, and Messrs. John C. Titus, John McKelway, and Andrew R. Titus were elected as deacons, and on the 7th of October following, these gentlemen were installed in their several offices.
On the 2d day of June, 1863, the Rev. E. D. Yeomans was released, at his own request, from the pastoral charge of the
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church, with a view to his settlement over St. Peter's Presby- terian Church, Rochester, New York.
The Rev. J. T. Duffield, D. D., of Princeton, supplied the pulpit until the arrival of the Rev. W. M. Blackburn, December 20th, 1863.
Mr. Blackburn was called to the pastorate of the church November 28th, 1863. He commenced his labors December 27th, and was installed in February, 1864. At the installation the Rev. George Hale, D. D., presided, the Rev. J. G. Symmes, preached the sermon, the Rev. John Hall, D. D., gave the charge to the pastor, and the Rev. J. T. Duffield, D. D., the charge to the people.
The pastorate of the Rev. W. M. Blackburn continued until August 16th, 1868, when it was declared ended by the action of the Presbytery, Mr. B. having been elected by the General Assembly in session at Albany, New York, the May preceding, to the professorship of Biblical and Ecclesiastical History in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the Northwest.
The pulpit of the church was then supplied by the Rev. Prof. C. A. Aiken, of Princeton, until November Ist, 1868, when the new pastor elect assumed the duties of his office.
At a meeting of the congregation October 5th, at which the Rev. Dr. Hall presided, a call to the pastorate of the church was given to the Rev. R. H. Richardson, D. D., of Newbury- port, Massachusetts, Presbytery of Londonderry, and on the 6th, permission was given by the Presbytery to prosecute it through Messrs. A. A. Hutchinson, W. W. L. Phillips, E. Cook, J. W. Farrand, and R. Brandt, commissioners chosen by the congre- gation for that purpose.
The call having been accepted, the pastor elect was installed December 3d, 1868. On this occasion the Rev. Dr. Hall presided ; the sermon was preached by the Rev. C. W. Shields, D. D., of Princeton. The charge to the pastor was given by the Rev. A. Gossman, D. D., of Lawrenceville, and the charge to the people by the Rev. J. R. Mann, D. D., of Kingston.
On the 3d of February, Messrs. C. Brearley, B. Pickel, and W. D. Sinclair were elected elders of the church, and on the 2Ist were duly installed.
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January 11th, 1871, Mr. E. M. Fuller was re-elected to the same office, and installed.
And on the 18th of the same month, Messrs. Sylvester Dana, Mindred W. Johnson, and W. W. L. Phillips were elected deacons, and on Sunday, 29th, were installed.
The present organization of the church (April 15th, 1871), is as follows: R. H. Richardson, D. D., pastor ; B. S. Disbrow, A. A. Hutchinson, E. B. Fuller, C. Brearley, B. Pickel, W. D. Sinclair, ruling elders ; J. McKelway, J. C. Titus, S. Dana, W. W. L. Phillips, M. W. Johnson, deacons; Elias Cook, J. H. Cogill, B. S. Disbrow, C. Brearley, W. W. L. Phillips, W. White, trustees ; E. B. Fuller, treasurer : B. Pickel, superinten- dent of Sabbath-school ; M. W. Johnson, vice superintendent of Sabbath-school.
Immediately after the organization of the church, measures were taken for the erection of a church building, and the very eligible lot at the intersection of State, Clinton, and Ewing streets was soon purchased and the building began. The con- gregation worshipped in the city hall until the completion of their edifice.
This was accomplished under the faithful and judicious super- vision of the building committee, consisting of Messrs. E. Cook, W. White, and C. Brearley, of which Mr. Cook was the chair- man, by October 15th, 1860, precisely one year from the day on which the corner-stone was laid. On the 16th, the church was dedicated to the worship of the Divine God, the pastor, the Rev. E. D. Yeomans preaching the sermon.
The buildings connected with the church are the main edifice, in the rear of which is the lecture room and Sabbath-school room, and behind these the parsonage. The spire was blown down January 2d, 1870, and was a great loss, not only to the church, but to the city of which it was so conspicuous an orna- ment. The present value of the church property is about seventy-five thousand dollars.
CHAPTER IX.
First Presbyterian Church-New Building-Mysterious Vault- Church in Maidenhead-Ewing-German Reformed Church- Evangelical Society-Reformed Dutch Church-St. Michael's Church-St. Paul's Church-Trinity Church-Methodist Epis- copal Churches, etc., etc.
The First Presbyterian Church, in the city of Trenton, was built subsequent to the Presbyterian Church in Hopewell (now Ewing), and was a very antiquated stone building, about thirty feet front by the same in depth, and would seat about three hun- dred persons. The society was formed in 1712, and in 1726 the stone church was built.
In the year 1756, the church was incorporated by George II., by letters patent, appointing the Rev. David Cowell, Charles Clark, Esq., Andrew Reed, Esq., Joseph Yard, Arthur Howell, William Green, and Alexander Chambers trustees, under the name of "Trustees of the Presbyterian Church of Trenton."*
According to the inscription on the church in State street, the old stone building must have stood about eighty years, as it remained there until 1804, when it was taken down, to make room for the large brick church, which was built in 1805. This church was a much larger and more costly edifice than the old church. It occupied the same spot of ground. The new edifice was built of brick, in the year above named. It was placed about twenty feet back from the street, with a tower in the centre, and surmounted by a steeple, in the belfry of which hung the same bell now in the steeple of the First Presbyterian Church of this city.
* Liber 2 of Deeds, folio 444, secretary's office.
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The city clock was also placed in the steeple of the old church, having a face upon three sides of it, so that the time could be readily seen, approach the church from whatever quarter you might. This clock, for more than forty years, told to the deni- zens of our goodly city, faithfully, the hours as they onward rolled, and when the same were struck upon the old bell, its sound was plainly heard, " the country round."
The entrance to this church was by double doors, placed on each side of the brick tower. The entrance to the tower was by a door opening from the street, and located on the east side of the same. The pulpit was placed against the tower, and the congregation sat facing the door. The galleries extended around three sides of the building, and were entered by an open, wind- ing staircase, on the east and west side of the church, and near the doors.
The church was formerly lighted by three large glass chande- liers, suspended from the ceiling, and burning spermaceti candles. But of late years, two of these chandeliers had been broken, and the church had been supplied with side lamps. This church being the largest building in the city, was in constant requisition for public purposes. Fourth of July celebrations, temperance meetings, &c., were usually held there.
About the year 1836, the subject of building a new church began to be agitated, in consequence of fears in regard to the old structure. Accordingly, in 1838, the old brick building was demolished, the place where it stood was filled up and levelled, and the new edifice was erected in the immediate centre of the yard. The new building cost twenty thousand dollars. It has a gallery across the front end for the use of the choir, and in it was a handsome fine-toned organ, manufactured by Holbrook & Ware, of Massachusetts. The body of the church will seat about nine hundred persons. The builders were Messrs. Hotch- kiss & Thompson, of New Haven, Connecticut.
In removing the old stone church, in 1804, a vault was dis- covered containing two skeletons in a good state of preservation. This vault was supposed to have been built by Governor Cosby in 1732, and the bodies found there, it has been thought, were British officers, belonging to the colonial government. Tradition
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says that one of these, an old bachelor, was, at his own request, buried by candle light, to prevent females attending his funeral. This vault remained under the brick church, unknown to the present generation, until 1838, when, removing that church, it was again discovered, and the coffins, although having been there over a century, were in a tolerable state of preservation, and the skeletons themselves were perfect. I was the first one who explored that subterraneous abode of the dead. I found the lid of one of the coffins had been removed, and was placed in an upright position against the wall. Near it, on the floor of the vault (which was cemented), lay a metal plate, which had evidently been upon one of the coffins, but was so eaten up with rust as to render it impossible to decipher the figures upon it ; but from what little I could see, I am fully satisfied it was the coat of arms of some ancient English family.
In 1790, the congregation in Maidenhead called the Rev. James Francis Armstrong half of his time, when his labors were confined to the two congregations of Trenton and Maidenhead ; but in 1806, shortly after the new brick edifice was completed, he accepted a call from Trenton city, for all his time, and officiated there only. After being dismissed from his charge at Maidenhead, the congregation called and settled Rev. Isaac V. Brown, who continued their pastor twenty-one years, when, in consequence of ill health, he asked for his dismissal, which was accepted and his connection dissolved, December 9th, 1828. Through his influence the name of the village was changed to Lawrenceville. On the 16th of June, 1830, Rev. Henry Axtell was ordained and installed pastor of this church and congrega- tion, and in February, 1835, he was, at his own request, dismissed, and on the 27th of April, 1836, the Rev. Joseph Mahon was installed pastor of the church and congregation, and in 1847, he was, by his own request, dismissed. The church continued for three years without a settled pastor, when in the spring of 1850, their present pastor, Rev. A. Gossman, was installed.
In the year 1789, Rev. Joseph Rue received a call from the Trenton First Church (now in Ewing) for one-fourth of his time, and the congregation of Pennington assenting, he accepted the
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call, and continued till 1800, when he gave to Trenton First Church one-third of his time, until 1821, when he asked for a dismission from his charge in Trenton First Church, which was granted. From this time the Presbytery of New Brunswick supplied their pulpit till April, 1823, when the Rev. Eli F. Cooley, of Middletown Point, having received a call, removed there and was installed pastor the following June, which position he retained for a period of thirty-four years.
At the meeting of the Presbytery, when the Rev. Mr. Guild was dismissed from his pastoral charge, the Rev. Joseph Rue, who had been ordained an Evangelist, in June, 1784, received a call from the congregation of Pennington to become their pastor, which call he accepted, and was installed not long after. Mr. Rue continued to be the pastor of this congregation until the 26th of April, 1826, when he departed this life.
On the 30th of September following, the congregation gave the Rev. Benjamin Ogden, of Delaware, a call, which he accepted, and was installed December 5th, 1826. In October, 1838, he asked for and obtained a dismission from his pastoral charge, and removed with his family to Michigan. On the 7th of February, 1839, Rev. George Hale, their present pastor, having received a call to settle among them, was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick .*
In the year 1834, a few members of the Presbyterian Church of Trenton city formed themselves into a society denominated "The Trenton Evangelical Society." They employed the Rev. Truman Osborne, who labored for them for seven months as a missionary, preaching in one of the rooms of the Masonic lodge, corner of Front and Willow streets.
On the 2d of April, 1835, the Rev. J. W. Davis, of the Ger- man Reformed Church, who had been preaching for the society for some time, organized seven persons into a German Reformed Church. On the 4th of March, 1836, the Rev. John H. Smaltz received a call to be their pastor, and remained with them till
* As these churches, Trenton, Ewing, Lawrence, and Pennington, are in their history so closely connected, we thought it best to give a history of each one for the benefit of the reader.
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near the close of the year 1838. During Mr. Smaltz's residence here the walls of the brick church were put up and the edifice enclosed. The corner-stone was laid September 8th, 1836. After Mr. Smaltz left the place, the Rev. Messrs. Jesse Steiner and Edward D. Smith labored here each a few months. On the 2d of January, 1841, the Rev. Charles P. Wack, of the Reformed Dutch Church, received a call. In May following, the church dissolved its ecclesiastical relation with the German Reformed Church, and in June, at a stated meeting of the Classis of Philadelphia, the church was received into the com- munion of the Reformed Dutch Church. Mr. Wack, by his indefatigable exertions while pastor here, had the church edifice handsomely finished, and on the 30th of January, 1841, the. church was dedicated by the Rev. Samuel A. Van Vranken, D. D., of New Brunswick. Mr. Wack continued their pastor for about two years, when, resigning his charge, the church was closed.
Concerning Saint Michael's Church (Episcopal) but very little is known; all the facts, however, which I have been able to. ascertain I will now proceed to lay before you.
Kalm says: "The church, a frame building, was commenced in 1748, and finished in 1753."
In 1755, the Rev. Michael Endang was settled as pastor, but in 1761 the church was vacant.
In 1763, the Rev. Mr. Treadwell was settled. In 1770, Rev. William Thompson was pastor. In 1774, Rev. Mr. Panton was settled, and in April 1776, the services in the church were sus- pended in consequence of the war of the Revolution.
When the British were in Trenton they converted the church into a stable for their horses. After the close of the war the- building was repaired.
In 1788, the Rev. William Frazer was appointed to the rec- torship.
In 1795, the Rev. Mr. Vandyke was settled as pastor.
In 1798, the Rev. Henry Waddell was appointed to the rec- torship, and continued to officiate until the year 1810, when he departed this life.
In 1811, Rev. Mr. Ward was appointed rector, and continued.
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in his charge until the close of the year 1814, when the Rev. Mr. Sherwood was appointed in his stead.
In 1817, Rev. James Montgomery, of Philadelphia, was chosen and officiated as pastor for about a year, when he removed to the city of New York.
In May, 1818, the Rev. Abiel Carter received a call, which at the close of the year he accepted, and at the close of the year 1822, he resigned his charge and removed to Savannah, Georgia.
In 1823, the Rev. William L. Johnson having received a call from this congregation, removed to Trenton early in the year, and in the beginning of the year 1830, he removed to Brooklyn, New York.
· In August of this year, (1830), the Rev. Mr. Beasley, D. D., of Philadelphia, was chosen rector, and removed here the same season. Dr. Beasley resigned his charge in May, 1836, and in September following, the Rev. Samuel Starr received a call, which he accepted, and removed to this city shortly after. Dur- ing his residence here the church was entirely remodeled, the front being extended out to the street, thereby considerably enlarging the building. Previous to this alteration, the front stood about twenty feet back from the street.
Rev. Samuel Clements was rector in 1855; Rev. Richard B. Duane, in 1858; Rev. Edward W. Appleton, in 1862.
The present rector, Rev. Christopher W. Knauff, commenced his rectorship November 18th, 1866.
The names of the present officers, elected April 10th, 1871, are James M. Davis, O. W. Blackfan, wardens ; James M. Davis, Ogden W. Blackfan, Henderson G. Scudder, Samuel K. Wilson, E. Mercer Shreve, John Moses, William R. McIlvaine, James C. DeCou, Frederick R. Wilkinson, Samuel S. Stryker, and James Murphy, vestrymen.
The church edifice has been rebuilt almost entirely during the present year (1870) at a cost of seventeen thousand dollars. Its present seating capacity is seven hundred and fifty. Value of church property about forty thousand dollars. Number of com- municants two hundred and fifty-six.
In 1848, Saint Paul's Church, in the third ward, was formed by members from Saint Michael's. They purchased a lot in
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South Trenton, (now part of the city), and erected a stone edifice thereon in the Gothic style of architecture.
Their first rector was the Rev. Benjamin Franklin ; he con- tinued with them about three years, when, removing to Hoboken, the church was without a pastor.
The rectorship being offered to Rev. Francis Clements, he accepted, and remained with them until his death, which occurred on the 18th of December, 1852, in the twenty-eighth year of his age.
The church was again for a short time without a rector, until the settlement of the Rev. James L. Maxwell, in 1853. In 1854 he was appointed moral instructor in the State Prison, at the same time continuing to officiate as pastor of Saint Paul's.
The Rev. J. L. Maxwell was called to the rectorship of Saint Paul's Church, at a meeting of the vestry, February roth, 1853, resigning the same in the month of April, 1855. No services were held in St. Paul's for the ensuing five years.
At a vestry meeting held in September, 1860, the Rev. Thos. Drumm was called to the rectorship, holding this position until his acceptance of a chaplaincy in a New Jersey regiment, in the spring of the year 1862.
In May of the same year, the present rector, the Rev. John C. Brown, accepted a call to the rectorship. The present officers of the church are Rev. John C. Brown, rector; Thomas Green, William Clark, wardens ; George James, Robert Aitken, William Green, M. D., J. Stokes, J. Bergelin, Joseph Little, Ambrose English, vestry ; Charles Hewitt, Earl English, Jacob R. Freese, delegates to the diocesan convention.
There are sixty-four pews in the church, seating three hundred persons. Communicants over one hundred. Value of church property twelve thousand dollars. There is a large and flourish- ing Sunday-school of three hundred children, under the care of Mr. Charles Hewitt as superintendent. Two Bible classes of twenty-five each, male and female, are taught by Mr. Timothy Abbott and Mrs. S. McTrim. The libraries contain some eight hundred volumes. In nine years the congregation has grown from twenty-five to one hundred and twenty-five families.
The parish of Trinity Episcopal Church was organized Septem-
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
ber 23d, 1858, by Catharine McCall, S. S. Barnes, G. A. Perdi- caris, Rodman M. Price, M. Beasley, M. Dunn, C. C. Phelps, Edward D. Weld, A. T. Howell, Philemon Dickinson, W. W. Norcross, William M. Babbitt, Thomas Cadwalader, William E. Hunt, C. H. Higginson, A. S. Livingston, and Samuel Simons.
Rev. Hannibal Goodwin accepted the first rectorship Decem- bet 8th, 1858. He resigned September 29th, 1859.
The first services were held in Dolton's building, Warren street, and were continued at that place until the present church edifice was ready for occupancy.
The Rev. Norman W. Camp, D. D., was called and accepted the rectorship of the parish, December 19th, 1859.
Rev. Henry Palethorp Hay, the third rector, accepted the call tendered him, on December 30th, 1860. He resigned October 3Ist, 1863.
Rev. Mark L. Olds, fourth rector, accepted June 30th, 1864. He resigned March 27th, 1867.
Rev. E. P. Cressy, D. D., fifth rector, assumed the duties of his office May 12th, 1865, and continued his rectorship until his decease.
Rev. Albert Upham Stanley, the sixth and present rector, entered upon his duties November 11th, 1866,
The corner-stone of the new church in Academy street was laid with solemn and impressive ceremonies, June 15th, 1860, by Rt. Rev. Mr. Odenheimer, Bishop of the Diocese, assisted by Rev. Mr. Brown, of Lambertville, Rev. Messrs. Burton and Maxwell, Rev. P. L. Jaques, Rev. Dr. Dod, Rev. Dr. Camp, and Rev. Mr. Beasley. The service was commenced by singing · the one hundred and second selection of Psalms, after which the Bishop read the Litany.
These services were performed at the hall where the congrega- tion had been worshiping, after which a procession was formed and marched to the lot on Academy street, the bishop and clergy wearing their robes of office. When near the location of the proposed church, the bishop, clergy, and others in the proces- sion commenced reading antiphonally, the one hundred and twenty-second Psalm of the Psalter. When this was concluded
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the bishop, clergy, and procession had reached the spot where the corner-stone was to be laid.
After an appropriate prayer, Rev. Dr. Camp, the rector of the parish, read a document setting forth that the corner-stone was laid by the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the Diocese; and recited at length the history of the parish, with the names of its officers, communicants, &c.
After the laying of the corner-stone and the singing of Gloria in Excelsis, the bishop returned thanks for the interest mani- fested in the project by the citizens present. He then spoke briefly of the enterprise which they had assembled to inaugurate with appropriate solemnities.
After the ceremonies had been concluded, the clergy and invited guests dined at the State Street House. After dinner, the Rev. Dr. Camp made a few remarks concerning the enter- prise so auspiciously inaugurated, and tendered a welcome on behalf of himself, the wardens, and vestry to the bishop, clergy, and other invited guests, to which Bishop Odenheimer responded in a short and beautiful speech, and in one of his most happy moods tenderly and appropriately mentioned the name of the late Bishop Doane, when the whole company arose and remained standing in silence a few moments. The Rev. Mr. Brown hap- pily responded for himself and on behalf of the clergy. On behalf of the laity, Judges Ogden and Vandyke responded in short speeches. Addresses were also made by Mayor Mills and E. Mercer Shreve. Rev. Dr. Camp read a letter from Rev. Mr. Goodwin, the first rector of Trinity Church. A. S. Livingston, Esq., one of the wardens of the church, spoke of the enter- prise this day entered upon, and of the connection of Rev. Mr. Goodwin with the parish, in most eloquent and glowing terms, and he sat down in the midst of great applause.
The day was a very warm one, but admirable arrangements had been made by Mr. Westley P. Hunt, the untiring senior warden of the church. With admirable forethought Colonel Hunt ordered the erection of a temporary shed, made of lumber on the ground, and open on all sides, for protection against rain or sunshine. Under its grateful shade the bishop, clergy, invited guests, the ladies, and the choir were gathered. Around upon
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HISTORY OF TRENTON.
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