USA > New Jersey > Hudson County > Jersey City > Sketch of the early history of the Reformed Dutch Church of Bergen, in Jersey City : compiled from the ancient church records, and deacon's account books of Bergen, Communipaw, and Hasymus > Part 3
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Another very steady source of revenue was the rent for the pall. At first the deacons had resolved to charge f14 for every adult and f 7 for each child buried with it, but on June 14, 1791, the price went down to f 6 for an adult and f 3 for a child. On December 25th, 1711, the receipts for the pall, since it had been first introduced, already amounted to f864.17st., or about twice as much as what the combined cost price of the old and the new pall amounted to.
It seems that the business of the deacons, at times. was of such a nature, that the services of the sheriff had to be called in, for on June 6, 1694, an item was entered into the account book reading thus : "Paid to the sheriff f 12." Other expenses were for new chests, locks, money bags, journals and cash books, binding and book-keep- ing. In 1747 2s. 5d. were paid to Hendrik Van Winkel for surveying church lands, and a few years later several entries were made, account- ing for moneys. disbursed to people whose colored servants had done work upon the church or its belongings.
Once or twice per year the entries in the journals of Bergen, Ahasymus and Gemoenepa were carried over in the cash book. The yearly expense for keeping the journals was f 12, and the same amount.
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was paid for the annual work. As almost all collections taken up wore received in seewan, or wampum, either loose or braided, the bookkeeping, for more than a century, only reckoned in guilders seowan, and all other moneys were reduced to that. The receipts of interest and principal of loaned money consisted of Dutch pieces of eight, realtjes, and loan dollars, the value of all of which was reduced to guilders seewan. The amount of seewan at hand was sometimes so large that in 1691 not less than f 4,000 in seewan were brought to Stephen Van Cortlandt, to be changed by him for silver money. The following list will show the value in seewan of the kinds of money mostly received by the deacons at Bergen :
A piece of eight was worth
- f 12.00st. in seewan.
A realtje 66
- about 1.10 66
A loan dollar 66 66
11.00 66
A £ English 66 66
40.00 66
So that a dollar American money was worth - 8.00 66
The deacons often bought commodities for their poor instead of paying them in money, which practice enables us to get acquainted with the price of some kinds of cereals at various times.
In 1673 the price of 1 schepel of wheat was f 6 seewan; of 1 sche- pel of rye, f 4 seewan, and of 1 schepel of Indian corn, f 4 seewan. In 1690, October 12, a schepel of rye, only brought f3. On July 5, 1693, a schepel of wheat cost f8, and on May 25, 1694, the price of r'ye went up to f 6.5st. per schepel. A very sudden fluctuation had taken place in the summer of 1695. On August 11 of that year thet price was yet f 5 per schepel, and before two months had elapsed it had dropped down to f 4.
It is evident from the several accounts that the deacons of Ber- gen took the utmost care of their poor, and did not let them want anything if they could help it. In 1688 they paid Dr. Robinson f 240 for curing a man of insanity ; in 1694 Surgeon C. Viele, of New York, received f 130 for medical attendance upon a needy member; in 1735 they gave f 90 to " Johannis Kruyer, for his passage to Amsterdam.' A little later they paid the shoemaker f 1.6st. for mending a poor per- son's shoes. At another time they paid £6 per year for a poor man's board. And so it goes on ad infinitum. The following list of alms given to a needy member of Bergen's congregation may serve as an illustration : " 1681, September 24, to a needy member"-
2 blankets, f 58
31/2 lbs. of lead, - f2
10st
2 schepel of salt, 6
3 4 lbs. of shot, 4 deerskins, 35
7 lbs. of wool, - 14
13 lbs. of nails, 19
10st.
14 el of cloth at f5, - 2 cowbells, 6
112 ei of cloth at f 12, - 18
2 lbs. of gunpowder, 6
3 doz. (rest illegible), 3
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3 skeins of red yarn, - f1 1st.
7 measures of cod liver oil, 5 5st.
Sep. 24-Bill of Claas Arentse Toers, - f90 15st. Dec. 26, 1681-3 sch. of rye Apr. 3, 1683-} gallon of rum and 4 sch. of seed wheat, 40 and 18 lbs. molasses - 5 18st. 1 sch. of rye, -
Jan. 17, 1682-4 sch. of In- dian corn, - 16
4
Nails and starch,
6
July 2 -- 2 sch. rye, - 8
June 11-3 sch, of wheat, 18
Dec. 16 -- Board for his child to W. Jansen, 150
In money, 13 10st. Sum total, - f 633 09st.
Once at a time, in the earlier years, Bergen's deaconry suffered a comparatively insignificant loss, because a person who had borrowed money from it, " died bankrupt." A much severer loss was sustained through the repudiation of the Continental, State, and communal paper money, issued during the Revolutionary war and earlier. Two packages containing $1,214 in worthless continental bills, and upwards of $700 in State and communal paper are still preserved in the church treasury, and may, at some future time, be of value to the numismatist or the antiquarian.
THE VOORLEZER.
Not one single man in the Reformed Church had so many offices united in his person as the Voorlezer of a small village congregation. His two principal duties were teaching the youth and educating them "in all the christian and social virtues " during the week days, and serv- ing the congregation as precentor or voorlezer during Sundays. Before the minister entered his pulpit, at the beginning of the religious ser- vices, the Voorlezer took his place at a desk in front of the high pul- pit, or "preaching chair," as it was called, and opened the meeting by announcing and reading a verse from the Psalms. He then led the congregation in the singing of it, for which reason he was often called " foresinger." When the verse had been sung, he first read the ten commandments, or the creed, and thereupon a portion of the Scrip- tures. The preacher, in the meantime, had ascended the pulpit, a verse was again sung, and the Voorlezer now left his desk, and took his seat in the pew, set apart for the members of the consistory. When the sermon, which usually lasted an hour and a half, was about half finished, the minister again announced a Psalm verse, the fore- singer quit his pew for the desk, and while the congregation were singing, the deacons went around with "the bell," to gather in the collections. At the close of the services the " foresinger " again led in singing, the minister pronounced the benediction, and the congre- gation dispersed.
Beside teaching the youth in several branches of secular knowl-
4 sch. rye and 2 sch. wheat, 34
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edge, the schoolmaster-forereader was at the same time catechiser, and at the beginning of Bergen's history used in his school a question book, written by Dominie Johannis Megapolensis, minister at New Amsterdam. At the opening of the studies in the morning of each day a prayer was offered, a Psalm verse sung, and the lessons were often preceded by a Bible story. At the end of the morning session a Psalm verse closed the exercises ; the afternoon lessons were again begun by the singing of a Psalm verse, and at 4 o'clock P. M. the work of the day was ended, by the singing of another verse of the Psalms and with prayer.
If there was no minister, then the Voorlezer took his place, and discharged all the duties of the local pastor, except baptizing children and administering the Lord's Supper, but he was not allowed to ascend the pulpit. Beside all this the Voorlezer sometimes officiated as bell-ringer, kept the church records, took care of the communion set, the bier and the pall, acted as bookkeeper for the deacons, and also served in the capacity of Aanspreker or funeral director. In this latter capacity the Voorlezers of Bergen kept the records of the dead.
It is evident from all this, that there was no man in the village who led so busy a life as this church official, and sometimes he had to call in assistance, especially for carrying over the accounts from the journals into the cash book, which took place twice a year. Some times he called in the help of Oliver Teller or Uldrick Brouwer ; at another time it was Peter Marcels or Claas Arentse Toers, or Johannis Van Houten, and, later on, Zacharias Sickels often kept both, the journals and the cash book. The salary paid for keeping the books was f 24, viz. f 12 for the journals and f 12 for the cash book.
Little or nothing has ever been said about the early Voorlezers, but it is evident that they were as much of a power for good, though in a humbler way, as the ministers, and the people undoubtedly honored them almost as much, as they did the latter, especially when, in the absence of a local pastor, the Voorlezers were many a time the only educated persons in the settlement. As secular and religious teachers, as men of business and of experience in worldly things, and particularly as men of education, they exerted a great influence upon the popular mind, and were undoubtedly useful in shaping the public opinion of their fellow citizens. Bergen was lucky, in having for its Voorlezers men, who had evidently received a somewhat superior edu- cation, especially the four earlier ones, who may have been educa- ted in Holland, and wrote the language grammatically correct.
The first Voorlezer of Bergen was Mr. Rynier Van Giesen, who probably came from Utrecht in the Netherlands, and before locating at Bergen seems to have settled at Midwoud on Long Island. He was not only at home in the language, but also in the history of his coun-
25
try, as is shown by his correct rendering in the marriage records of the historical divisions of the seven provinces which, at that time, was not a very easy task. After having served Bergen for forty-two years in the several capacities mentioned above, he died in the harness on May 12, and on "May 15, 1707, were buried the remains of Reynier Bastianse Van Giesen, after having filled the office of Voorlezer for about forty-two years, at Bergen."
Almost a year afterward, on February 8, 1708, Mr. Adrian Ver- meulen read his first sermon in church, at which occasion the deacons took up for that time the rather liberal collection of f7.10st. On May 1 he concluded his first marriage at Bergen in presence of the Justice Helmigh Roelofse Van Houten, and a few weeks later was himself married by Rev. Guiliamo Bertholf, of Hackensack, as is shown by the following entry, copied from the marriage records: "On June 13, 1708, Adrian Vermeulen, born at Vlissingen in Zeeland, widower of Dina Swarts, married to Christina Fredricks, born at Bergen."
Mr. Vermeulen served Bergen's congregation for about twenty- eight years, and on April 3, 1736, was succeeded by Mr. P. Van Benthuyzen, who in his turn just twenty-five years later, on April 3, 1761, was succeeded by Abraham Sickels. Mr. Sickels was the last of Bergen's Voorlezers, and in 1789, his successor, Mr. John Collard, re- ceived the title of "clerk," upon a salary, it appears, of £2 15 shillings per annum.
It seems that the Voorlezer's salary, in the absence of a local pas- tor, exceeded f600, for in 1729 the deacons, on February 17, advanced f300 towards his salary, and again on July 27, f302. At another time in 1694 they paid to R. Van Giesen, "for back salary," f 401. Beside his salary as Voorlezer and schoolmaster, the official also charged for his services as bookkeeper and as Aanspreker, and prob- ' ably received some reward from the people, whose names he entered into the baptismal or marriage records, as it was the custom in neigh- boring congregations.
THE MINISTER.
From the time of its organization in 1662 till 1750 Bergen had been without a local pastor, and it seems that during all that time, except at the very beginning, no efforts had been made to secure one. The congregation probably was not able to support both a Voorlezer and a minister, and the members were satisfied with the stated weekly readings of their " forereader," and the occasional administra- tions by pastors from other places, whilst once in a while, in the ab- sence of the local Voorlezer, other members like Uldrick Brouwer or Peter Marcelis took the place of the latter. Bergen's members, there-
26
fore, heard a great variety of talent in the course of every year, for ministers from all over the country, if they happened to be at New York or in its vicinity, nearly always crossed the North River to preach before Bergen's congregation.
Besides the New York ministers, who, at stated times of the year, very often during week days, administered the Sacraments of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper, admitted new members, installed the elected elders and deacons, and conducted special services, the pastors from Long Island, Hackensack, Esopus, Fish Kill, Tapan, Raritan and sev- eral other churches, preached before the pastorless congregation. The names of Revs. John and Samuel Megapolensis, Wilhelmus Nieuwen- huyzen, Caspar Van Zuren, Henricus Selyns, Gualterus Du Bois, J. Wyckstein of Esopus, P. Tassemaker, B. Varick, Godfried Dellius, G. Bertholf, W. Lupardus, B. Freeman of Schenectady, R. Erick son, A. Curtenius, Cornelius Van Schie of Fishkill, J. Leyt, Geo. W. Mancius, Th. Romeyn, J. Ritsema, J. Frelinghuysen, Samuel Verbryck, B. Vrooman, D. Marinus, and and others, often appear in the accounts of the deacons, some of them continually, showing that the little Jersey village was not forgotten by those, who had been called upon to bring the gospel to the Dutch speaking inhabitants of the North American Colonies.
Neither did Bergen's congregation expect those ministers to preach to them for nothing. They received from f25 to f 72 per service, beside expenses and board. The New York ministers had to pay f 6 to the ferryman and f 6 for a carriage from the ferry to Bergen, as is shown by the accounts. Peter Marcelis sometimes went for the dominie, but Cornelis Blinkerhof seems to have been the man upon whom devolved this duty, and for years he conveyed the preachers between the two points. About ten years after Rev. Du Bois began his periodical services at Bergen, the Consistry in 1720 resolved to pay him f 6 whenever he found other means of convey- ance, or made use of his feet, upon coming to Bergen to preach. The Van Houten family seem to have enjoyed the monopoly of boarding the ministers, first Helmigh Roelofse Van Houten, and upon his death in November, 1729, Johannis Van Houten. The expenses for board, charged after every visit of the minister to Bergen, amounted to f 12 n seewan.
On April 1, 1750, the consistory of Bergen met in order to delib- erate about calling Dom. Petrus DeWint as joint pastor of Bergen and Staten Island, and resolved to submit the following articles, rela- tive to the proposed call, to the male members of the congregation :
I. and II. Expressing the desirability of calling Mr. DeWint.
III. He should live at Bergen.
IV. Bergen's congregation to build the parsonage.
V. Bergen shall keep parsonage, fence and grounds in good repair.
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VI. The salary shall amount to £80 per year, £40 to be paid by Bergen, and £40 by Staten Island.
VII. He shall have to preach once every Sunday, from November 1 till March 1, and twice from March 1 till November 1. He shall ad- minister the Lord's Supper four times per year, and shall preach a preparatory sermon on the Wednesday preceding the day, set aparı for the administration of the Lord's Supper.
VIII. The congregation of Bergen shall supply the minister with sufficient firewood the year round.
IX. Staten Island shall provide the minister, for the first time, with a good carriage horse ; but when that horse is no longer able, he shall have to buy one at his own expense. The congregation of Staten Island shall always procure food for the minister's horse.
X. If, on account of wind or rain storm, the minister shall have to remain at Bergen, when, it is Staten Island's turn to have him preach there, he shall, notwithstanding, preach again at Bergen on the follow- ng Sunday. But if in winter the ice should prevent him from reach- iing the Kill Van Kol, then he shall repay those turns to Staten Island as soon as possible.
XI. The congregation of Bergen shall build their minister a house, ou grounds next to the church.
XII. Finally resolved that on to morrow all males who pay for the church and religious services, shall be invited from the pulpit, to appear at the close of the second service (in the afternoon) at the house of Johannis Van Houten, where all the foregoing articles shall be read to them, in order to deliberate about their contents, and to decide by a majority of votes.
The following day Rev. G. Dubois made the announcement from the pulpit, and all invited repaired to Johannis Van Houten's house to discuss the articles, submitted to their approbation. At this meeting some civil affairs were at the same time discussed, as appears from the following : "None of those present had any weighty objections to the proposed articles, but some judged that, according to a resolution of all the inhabitants of Bergen, the lands ought to be surveyed first, in order to find out who has more fenced in than belongs to him. All those present deemed this to be very reasonable, but with few excep- tions the assembly resolved that the propositions of the governing consistory were all right, and ought to be acted upon as soon as possible."
"Hereupon it was resolved to submit the articles to the persons, come over from Staten Island, and if the congregation of Staten Is- land approved of them, to call Dom. Peter De Wint as soon as possible.'
"Thereupon the friends of Staten Island were invited to see the Consistory about it. They appeared, and all the articles were sub-
28
mitted to them. As far as concerned themselves, they did not object to them, but requested a copy to submit it to their congregation. If the congregation accepted the propositions, they would, together with the congregation of Bergen, call Dom. De Wint right away, upon the proposed conditions."
"Hereupon the meeting came to a close."
"N. B .- The articles, copied by Dom. Du Bois, have been called for by the ferryman of Staten Island, sent for that purpose by the Consistory, on April 6, 1750."
Everything was now in order, and on April 17, 1750, Elder Gerrit Post, of Staten Island, and the Consistory of Bergen called upon Rev. Du Bois at New York to make an agreement between the two congregations, and hereupon Mr. De Wint was called as the preacher of the Reformed Churches at Bergen and Staten Island. On July 13, 1750, Mr. De Wint arrived at New York. Rev. G. DuBois, in the forenoon of July 21 following, took his leave of the congregations and introduced to them their new minister, who, in the afternoon of the same day preached his introductory sermon at Bergen as pastor of Bergen and Staten Island, in which capacity he served them for about a year, and then had to leave.
Before the close of 1751 the congregations were again pastorless, but after having once tasted the sweets of the regular preaching of the Gospel, they were desirous for more, and accordingly called, on June 22, 1753, Mr. William Jackson, theological student under Rev. Johannis Frelinghuysen, pastor at Raritan, upon conditions, as set forth in the call below :
"In the fear of the Lord's holy name, amen."
" Whereas, the preaching of God's Holy Word is the means ordained by Him to lead men to salvation: Therefore we, the under- signed elders and deacons, at present forming the Consistories of the combined congregations of Bergen, in the Province of New Jersey, and of Staten Island, in the Province of New York, having heard of the gifts of Mr. William Jackson, student of divinity ; and, whereas our congregations being well pleased and satisfied (with those gifts) and as calling " come over and help us ;" therefore we, having come together, earnestly to discuss the weighty matter about making a call, have, after calling upon the Lord's name, resolved with a unanimous vote to call the aforesaid Mr. Wilhelmus Jackson, as we do by the ju esent, for our ordinary pastor and instructor, in order to administer the holy office among us, in accordance with the requirements of holy writ, of the Reformed Churches and of the discipline established in the R. formed Church of the Netherlands by the Christian Synod, held at Dordrecht in the years 1618 and 1619.
"We call his Reverence upon the following conditions :
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"I. His Reverence shall, at the earliest opportunity, sail for Europe in order to be preparatorily examined by some Reverend Classis of the Reformed Church in any of the seven provinces of the United Netherlands, and having become a Ministerii Candidatus, to be per- emptorily examined by the Reverend Classis of Amsterdam, and, with the laying up of hands, according to Apostolic and Reformed usage, to be set apart for the holy office, and to be inducted into it."
"II. His Reverence, having returned to us, shall perform all the requirements of the holy office, viz .: Call upon the God of Heaven, as it behooves a God-fearing pastor and instructor of the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ ; preach the Word of God in its purity ; ad- minister the holy sacraments according to the institutions of Jesus Christ; exercise the church discipline; visit the sick; instruct the youth, and have a good oversight in all its parts, as far as he is able, over the Church of Jesus Christ."
"III. His Reverence, when in good health, and the weather being favorable, shall, if it please God, from Easter till the beginning of November, preach twice upon every Lord's day in the churches of the aforesaid congregations, alternately, upon some text of God's Holy Word, in the morning ; and in the afternoon according to the topics furnished by the Heidelberg Catechism." "But if wind or floating ice should detain his Reverence, so that on two successive Sabbatos he preaches before the same congregation, then the same will be done in the other church, that every congregation may receive each year the just half of his Reverence's services."
"During the rest of the year one sermon per day shall be deemed sufficient."
"And if the congregation or consistory of the Church of Jesus Christ at Staten Island, should wish for some part of the service to be held in a language in which his reverence is at home, he will not refuse to accommodate them."
"IV. His Reverence shall observe the church holy days accord- ing to the custom of the Reformed Church."
"V. His Reverence will, if it please God, administer the sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper three times per year in every congrega- tion." [In March, 1769, the consistory of Staten Island resolved to have communion four times a year, probably to give the Dutch and the English portion of the congregation an equal share .- Translator. ]
"VI. His Reverence shall, before administering the Lord's Supper, preach a preparatory sermon, and visit the members at their houses, as much as the weather, the time, and the opportunities will allow."
"Upon these conditions we, the consistories of Bergen and Staten Island, in our qualities as elders and deacons, for us and our success-
30
or's, promise from time to time, as long as His Reverence shall be our pastor and instructor, besides all the love, esteem and obedience, due, according to God's Word, to a faithful minister of the gospel, this following, viz .:
1. "We shall pay His Reverence, after accepting and signing this call, £100 current money of the province of New York."
2. " We shall give His Reverence, and keep in good repairs, a decent house, with barn, garden and well, in the village of Bergen, to his, and the congregation's satisfaction."
3. "During the time that His Reverence, in the performance of his duties, shall be at Staten Island, the latter shall provide him with board and decent lodgings. The congregation of Staten Island shall likewise pay for his fare across the ferry.
4. "His Reverence will also receive a good horse with its equip- ments."
5. " We finally promise to pay His Reverence yearly and for every year, the sum of £100 current money of the province of New York, in two payments, and to pay every half year the right half, each congregation contributing its just quota."
"We, the undersigned, dedicate this call to, and deliver it up into the hands of the aforementioned Mr. Wilhelmus Jackson, wishing- of the Lord to incline his heart to accept the same in the fear of the Lord, and praying that it may please the God of heaven, the governor of the world, to conduct him safely across the turbulent element, and to let him return to us with a rich blessing of the Gospel."
"That we are sincere and in earnest in this our act, therefore we put down our signatures and affix our seals in our consistory meeting. held at Bergen, this 22d day of June, in the year 1753."
(Here follow the signatures. )
"In the presence of us as witnesses :
- JOHANNIS FRELINGHUYZEN, V. D. M., at Raritan.
GOSE ADRIANS, Justice of the Peace and Schildknaap."
(Rev. W. Jackson signed the call on September 10, 1757.)
In the same year, 1753, Mr. Jackson set out for Holland, and the consistory of Bergen, according to its promise, on November 4, 1753, paid him £50, which was undoubtedly also done by the congregation of Staten Island. After an absence of almost four years he returned in 1757, and continued to serve the churches of Bergen and Staten Island till 1789, when mental derangement incapacitated him from
--
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any longer holding his office. The consistory of Bergen then granted him the use of a house and lot, in which he continued to live until his death in 1813.
During Rev. W. Jackson's ministry the church of Bergen was in- corporated on December 20, 1771, and in 1792 united with English neighborhood. The two consistories now made a call upon Mr. John Cornelisson candidate for the ministry, which call he accepted, and on May 26, 1793, Revs. Warmoldus Kuypers, W. P. Kuypers, Nich. Lansing and Solomon Freligh ordained and installed him in the church, and before the congregation at Bergen. The Holland tongue now ceased to be the language of the pulpit and of the church records, though in some instances English and Dutch were alternately used in the latter till 1805.
INDEX.
-
THE SETTLEMENT OF BERGEN,
- 3
THE SCHOOL, - - - - -
- 4 -
- - - - 6
- -
-
-
7
THE CONSISTORY,
-
-
-
- - 8
-
- 10 -
BAPTISMS, -
- 11 MARRIAGES, - - -
BURIALS,
- - - - 13
.
RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND THE LORD'S SUPPER, - - -
RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES, - - - -
- 19
THE VOORLEZER, - - - -
- -
-
- 23
THE MINISTER, - -
-
25
-
PAGE
THE CHURCHI, - - -
THE MEMBERSHIP, - - -
- 17
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