USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Orange > The First Church, Orange, N. J. : one hundred and fiftieth anniversary, November 24 and 25, 1869 > Part 6
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Through those and all the years of noise and strife He did his work, nor counted dear his life; In Church and State, was true to God and man, Wise in his work, and honest in his plan : He saw the War with all its tumults cease,
The many States slow rounding into One, While on the Church, God sent with days of peace, That power by which alone His work is done. I may not on long years of service dwell, Or speak of all so wisely done and well : Enough that from your church another came,
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Whose altar-fire, though separate, was the same ; And he in public measures foremost still, Cheerful of heart, and sovereign in his will ; Though strong in speech, was careful how he wrought, And ever practiced what he clearly taught !
A single fact, a word of comfort here For those who cause of Woman's Rights hold dear,- Who'd lift the Angel woman to each place That Man now holds, that demon of the race ! When a good deacon of this church resigned His Treasurership, this record do we find : That to his daughter ESTHER, then a maid The sum of twenty shillings should be paid : And facts there were which made this duty clear,- She had the Treasurer been for many a year ! The old, old law, of Christian and of Turk, Man has the honors, woman does the work !
One other picture, and I leave you then To memories that are fresh in living men.
Awhile had GRIFFIN, he of silvery tongue And heart of fire, served his Master here ;- What pathos on those lips there often hung ! What piercing notes to stir the soul with fear ! Then HILLYER came, with ample gifts and rare,
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Your fathers' work and generous love to share. Abundant labors, in unnumbered ways, Attest his virtues and prolong his praise ; Alike the rich, the needy or oppressed, Held him as friend, or welcomed him as guest ; No noble cause to which he did not lend The skill to do what faith could comprehend. These solid walls, this temple of the Lord, His steadfast faith and patient toil record ; But dearer for those monuments of grace I in the fathers and their children trace ;
Who now as then still rise to call him blessed, Who with them wrought till here they Christ confessed. I see him now, as down yon aisle he came, Up to the feast spread in his Master's name : Those emblems mute of body and of blood, How glad his heart as then and there he stood ; The earth afar, the hour so near at hand, When he beside his risen Lord should stand ! With feeble lips, and sweetest whispering word, The secret pulses of the people stirred ; Awhile with trembling hands the bread he brake, And bade them eat it for the Master's sake : And then, e'en while they wept, the cup he poured, And gave his final message of the Lord.
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'Twas his last service, fitting and complete, A hallowed scene, a memory rare and sweet.
As one who through a crowded gallery strays Where Art its master-pieces well displays, Observes each one, in each finds some delight, Yet holds them all within his wondering sight, Nor knows which most he loves, or which is best, What school is rarer, or is best expressed, Still finds in all a joy to carry thence, A loftier thought, a clearer, deeper sense,-
So I, my friends, amid the Fathers here, Speak of the few, but all alike revere ; No wondrous name nor single life display, But equal honor unto all would pay.
Each did his work, each in his place has shown That which was worthy, and which should be known. Let us to-night these many names enshrine:
THEIR DEEDS HEROIC, AND THEIR FAITH SUBLIME !
VI.
REV. JAMES HOYT,
WITH
RECOLLECTIONS OF HIS PASTORATE, BY STEPHEN WICKES, M. D.,
MEMBER OF SESSION.
" He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
PSALM CXXVI : 6.
DISCOURSE.
HIE ministry of the Rev. Wm. C. White, the fifth pastor of this church, termi- nated by his resignation of his charge in April, 1855. During the most of the period of his honored and useful ministry, Orange, which then embraced within its limits all the present Oranges, and extended over the mountain to the town of Livingston on the west, contained a somewhat sparse and rural population. About the time of
his settlement, the historian describes the place as a straggling village and post-town, extending about three miles along the turnpike from New- ark toward Dover, containing two Presbyterian churches, one Episcopal, and one Methodist ; two taverns, ten stores ; two saw mills and a bark mill ; and about two hundred to two hundred and thirty dwellings ; a large trade being carried on in the
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manufacture of leather, shoes and hats. The population of the township, four years before his settlement, was rated by the census at 3,887. The opening of the Morris & Essex Railroad in the year 1836, first run from Orange to Newark by horse power; and in less than a year thereafter by steam, through from Madison to Newark, connecting at that place with the New Jersey Railroad to New York, stimulated a new and hitherto unknown source of local growth. The facilities of inter- communication increased trade and manufactures, and began to invite new residents within its limits. These changes, at first slow in their influence, had begun, at the time of Mr. White's resignation, to exert a marked change in the character of the population of the town. The rapid increase of the metropolis in commercial growth, and the appro- priation of all the lower parts of the city to business purposes, rendered necessary the removal of the merchants' homes to the upper parts of the city, or to those towns contiguous which afforded conven- ient modes of transit. The business hours of the great city had begun to be regulated by the time tables of railroad and steamboat lines. The natural
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beauty of the Orange landscape, its hill and dale, its mountain slope, its elevation above tide water, and the perfection of its natural drainage, all com- bined to offer unusual attractions to those in search of a rural home. The quiet of the region, and the absence too of those influences which invite the sporting class, secured, to a marked degree, an increase of residents distinguished for their love of high moral and Christian influences. This infu- sion of a new and vigorously active Christian element exerted a marked effect upon all the Christian congregations of the town, and upon none more so than upon our own.
It will thus be readily seen that when the suc- cessor of the faithful White entered upon his labors in Orange, the church was in a transition state. The impulse and vigor of city life was being brought in contact and commingling with the slower and perhaps more substantial habits, nur- tured under the more quiet influences of rural occupations. Each element, the old and the new, had much to learn from the other, and the lessons of the period were cordially accepted by a church ever united and harmoniously striving to promote
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its highest interests, for the honor of the Divine Master.
The Rev. James Hoyt was installed the sixth pastor of this church on the 14th of February, 1856. He was the son of Jas. Taylor and Re- becca Hoyt, and was born in Greenfield, Saratoga County, New York, on the 7th of October, 1817, being the youngest son of a family of eight child- ren. IIis father, during the earlier years of his married life, was not a professor of religion. IIe was brought to repentance, and to the exercise of faith in Christ, by the sudden death of his eldest son by drowning. This afflictive providence gave to the godly mother a pious husband, and to the children a pious father. The change in his charac- ter was at once manifest. Before his conversion he had little sympathy with the religious senti- ments of his wife, being inclined to adopt the doc- trines of Universalism. He once said to his son, that whatever change of views he might expe- rience in regard to religion, he knew that he should never become a Presbyterian. He knew not him- self, nor the power of Divine grace. Upon his conversion, he became very decided in his Calvin-
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istic views ; united with the Presbyterian church in Galway, New York, and became, at once, an earnest and active church member; often riding from seven to nine miles to attend the evening prayer meeting. He was soon elected a ruling elder, and exercised the functions of his office till laid aside by disease. He was characterized by great firmness of moral principle, great argument- ative powers, and a most retentive memory. The godly parents lived to see their seven surviving children hopefully pious, and pleasantly settled in life. James, the subject of this notice, exhibited, when very young, a peculiar aptitude for learning. When he was five years old, his father brought home, among other books, a copy of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, which was given to him. Pleased with his new book, he devoted himself to its study. The minister soon after visiting the family, in noticing the youngest boy, said to him, " I suppose that you will soon be old enough to read." "I can read already," he replied, and gave evidence of his ability by the ease and cor- rectness with which he read the book. As a child he was always frank, unassuming and kind. His
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brother says of him, "Iknow not that he ever quarreled in the least, with one of his playmates, and had he in early life professed piety, no one could have charged him with impropriety of deportment as a Christian." Once when sus- pected by another with an attempt to deceive, a companion came boldly to his defence, exclaim- ing, " boys, you know that James Hoyt never told a lie." His fondness for books, and the ease and rapidity with which he learned, induced his father to favor him in the acquirement of a liberal educa- tion. When he commenced Murray's English Grammar, he committed it to memory with so much rapidity, that his teacher concluded that he was one of those who learned rapidly, and forgot so soon as learned ; and with this view, when he had completed the book, she turned to the com- mencement, and asked him, “ What is English Grammar ?" he answered immediately, and con- tinued reciting until she handed him the book, saying that she had not time to hear him recite the whole. In the Sabbath School he was accustomed to recite from one hundred to two hundred verses of Scripture at one lesson. While he was pastor
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in Orange, he once remarked to a friend that the large amount of Scripture which he had committed to memory when a boy, was of great value to him in the preparation of his sermons. He had also a good voice and ear for music, taking, while very young, the lead of the singing in public worship.
In the summer of 1835 he left home, to enter upon a course of study preparatory to entering col- lege. While at the academy in Fairfield, New York, he made a public profession of religion. He stated at the time, that he had experienced no sudden change of feeling or sentiment, but that he believed that he was a Christian, and as such, he felt it to be his duty to take a more public stand for Christ, "and," said he, "henceforth I shall do so."
He entered the senior class in Union College in 1839. As a college student, he was especially fond of the languages, a knowledge of which he acquired with great facility; and yet his knowledge of the mathematics was such, that his professor, at the close of a recitation, once asked him if the mathe- matics had not always been his favorite study, to which he gave a negative reply.
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Upon his graduation at college, he immediately entered the Union Theological Seminary, at which he graduated in 1844, and was licensed to preach by the Third Presbytery of New York. Just after he was licensed, a friend says, "I remember with what a solemn expression he stated his feelings, when he entered the sacred desk to preach his first sermon ; said he, ' now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ.' A classmate remarked to me after- wards what a deep impression that sentiment, as spoken by him, had made upon his mind."
Soon after his licensure, he was invited to supply the pulpit of the church in Harlem. While there he was visited by a committee from a church in Stanwich, Connecticut, inviting him to visit them and become their pastor, if it should prove to be mutually desirable. He was thereupon presented with a call from the church in Harlem, which he did not feel at liberty to accept. He went to Stan- wich, and labored with such acceptance as to secure the warm affection of the church and congregation. While at Stanwich his lungs, which had become somewhat diseased during his course of prepara- tory study, became so seriously affected that a resi-
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dence at the South was recommended by his medi- cal adviser.
After visiting many of the principal cities of the Southern States, he was called to the First Presby- terian Church of Tuskegee, Alabama. · IIe was ordained as its pastor in 1846. The church being new and somewhat weak, he devoted himself, with no ordinary success, to the promotion of its growth. While at Tuskegee he was married to Miss Frances L. Pratt, daughter of Dr. Linus H. Pratt, of New York. After a ministry of three years at this place, he resigned his charge. The reasons moving him thereto were partly pecuniary and partly those of health, and with the conviction that his usefulness might be greater in some other field of labor.
He had always taken a deep interest in the education of the young, had been an early friend of common schools, and had done much for their improvement. He had always been a successful teacher, and hoping that his health might be benefitted by the change, he accepted a position as principal of a large Female Institute under the care of Presbytery, at Talladega, Alabama.
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Here his characteristic diligence and devotion to his work were shown, employing his time, in the school and out of it, for the good of his pupils. The moral and religious influence which he exerted over this institution was of a marked character. One of the trustees remarked that in Mr. Hoyt were embodied all the essentials of a successful teacher. During his connection with the Institute, he delivered a course of chemical lectures with experiments, also several lectures on education. One on "Religion in Schools," was published by the trustees.
In 1853 he returned to the North, with his wife and child. The signs of the approaching conflict were, even then, beginning to make his position uncomfortable, and his restored health led him to desire once more to engage in the work of the ministry. The first winter after his return was spent in New York. He then supplied the pulpit of the church in Stamford, Connecticut, and the following winter declined a call to become its pastor, and accepted an invitation to the First Con- gregational Church in New London, Connecticut,
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as a colleague to the Rev. Dr. McIRWIN. After an engagement of about nine months, he received a call from that church, but did not consider it suffi- ciently unanimous to warrant his acceptance. He soon after received a unanimous call from this church, and entered at once upon his ministry with this people. His diary, which records this new relation, has the following minute: "I am thus the second time a pastor-the shepherd of a numerous flock. Oh that I might ever feel the responsibilities which such a charge imposes, and so be led to the unfailing source of strength and wisdom. That I may suitably feed the flock, and lead them to the heavenly pastures, is my heart's desire and prayer to God."
His entrance upon his ministerial work in Orange was marked by circumstances of peculiar and solemn interest. Only four days before his instal- lation, he had seen this House of God hung with the emblems of mourning, and filled by a sorrow- ing congregation. The servant of God, who for more than twenty-two years had ministered to this people, had been suddenly called to the heavenly 1
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rest. There were two coincidences. The first was, that his pastorate began in the same month, and the same week of the month, in which his predecessor's had commenced twenty-three years before. IIad the installation occurred a day sooner the coincidence of dates would have been exact. The second was, that it took place in the same week with his burial. One minister at the altar was just carried out, as another was called to officiate in the same holy office. In his first anni- versary discourse, alluding to these impressive events, he says : "I was taught that the pulpit is, like other places, but a step from the grave, and that I should do with my might whatsoever work God gives me to do. There was also something in such a juncture of events to support the faith of the church. Ministers die, but the ministry remains. The Word still lives, though tongues that have pro- claimed it become silent." With such sentiments, he entered with his characteristic energy upon the responsibilities of his ministry in this church.
It is less the design of this discourse to give a connected history of Mr. Hoyt's pastorate, than to
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furnish such recollections as may illustrate its character, and to preserve such facts and incidents as may be worthy of being treasured in the future. If what is offered may prove to be somewhat desul- tory, it is hoped that it may possess more interest for an occasion like this, than a continuous history would afford.
I notice first, the valuable contribution to the history of the church and of the town, entitled the " Mountain Society, a History of the First Presbyte- rian Church of Orange." This book was the out- growth of a resolution of the Session to compile a manual for the use of the members of the church and congregation. When the manual was pre- pared, the pastor was requested to preface the same by a concise history of the church, with a short notice of its former pastors. He accepted the task, and entered upon its execution, not know- ing how large a field of historical research was before him. The work of publishing the manual was delayed for a considerable time, waiting for the short historical preface. It was finally fur- nished to the Session by the pastor, with the state-
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ment that this little effort had so grown upon his hands, and he had struck so many historical veins, before unopened, that he preferred to prepare and publish a history by itself. His book was given to the public in 1860. It was the result of much labor and research. As he says, when writing of it, "no one can appreciate such a labor, who has not personally undertaken it. The letters written in the way of eliciting information would of them- selves make quite a volume. Some scores of miles have had to be traveled in the parish and its vicinity, to gather names and facts and dates. The old graveyard has had to be visited, its dim monuments patiently cleared, and their inscrip- tions copied ; many an hour, or series of hours, has been passed in the company of these silent memorials of generations gone." All this, with searches into the old township records of Newark for two hundred years, and records of Presbytery and Synod, involved an amount of time and labor which led him, at times, to regret that he had undertaken it. The result, however, is the pre- servation of valuable material which would very
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soon have been lost, and furnishes an enduring monument to his zeal for the honor of this ancient church, for which his name will be held in lasting gratitude.
The Presbytery of Newark, with which our church is connected, has for many years past taken a special interest in promoting the Christian wel- fare of the German population within its limits. In 1861 a German church in Paterson was made by Presbytery an object of its regard, and a committee was appointed to procure among the churches a sum of money sufficient to relieve it of its pecuniary burdens. The committee consisted of three, but it proved that the work was chiefly thrown upon our pastor, as the man best adapted to secure its success. He entered upon it, and by exchanges with the other ministers of Presbytery, and appropriating to the effort the time allotted to him for his summer vacation, he successfully com- pleted it, creating in his own mind a deep and lasting interest in the German population. His interest and efforts for this class of our fellow citi- zens continued while he lived. It was a remark
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not uncommon among his people, that Mr. Hoyt had German on the brain. It was more true that he had the German on his heart, and its reflex action on his vigorous brain secured a large suc- cess to the cause he loved. In 1864 the Presbytery initiated the work of German church erection, fixing upon the sum of eight thousand dollars as the amount to be raised among the churches. To this end, Dr. Poor, late of Newark, was made chairman of the committee of Presbytery, and Mr. Hoyt his associate. It was expected by Mr. Hoyt, and by Presbytery, that the chairman would assume the chief labor of the work, but being very providentially laid aside by sickness, his asso- ciate assumed it. During the fall and winter of that year he presented the cause in the Second Church of Orange, in Caldwell, Montclair, South Orange, Plainfield, Mendham, Morristown, Bloom- field, in the five churches in Newark, and in his own church, preaching and taking collections fourteen times; the pastors from these different churches filling his pulpit in the morning, and where practicable returning himself to conduct the
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second service. Dr. Poor remarked to the writer, that he felt deeply disappointed at the necessity which disease had laid upon him to abandon any active agency in this effort, and invited Mr. Hoyt to present the subject to his own people. “ When I heard his admirable appeal," said he, "I felt that God had placed the matter in the best hands, and that its success was assured." The Presby- tery passed a vote of thanks to the committee, and in a resolution recognized the aid which this people had rendered, by generously allowing their minister to proceed with the enterprise through so long a time. " One effect of this work," says Mr. Hoyt, in writing upon the subject, " has been to awaken attention to the heaving masses of foreign- ers that are displacing the old American residents of our large cities, and to the pressing importance of such mission work among the Protestant Ger- mans as will engraft them, (which may easily be done,) upon our American Protestantism. It is now a recognized fact that we have a great work of this kind to do."
As a preacher, our pastor was much above the
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average. A Calvinist in his belief, his views of Christian doctrine were remarkably accurate: He knew exactly what he believed, and could defend his faith by the most logical argument. His dis- courses were well studied and well written, with passages often of much eloquence and power. He was not emotional, but presented truth in so clear and logical a form that it found a lodgment in the convictions and conscience of the attentive hearer. The great theme of his preaching was Christ and Him crucified, and around this primal truth were drawn the powers of his cultured mind.
Nevertheless, possessing great force of character, with strong convictions, and with moral courage to proclaim and enforce them, he sometimes brought himself in collision with those whose sentiments were not in correspondence with his own. He was inspired with a broad view of his responsi- bilities as a minister of God, and with enlarged and accurate ideas of the relations of moral and religious truth. No considerations of personal popularity prevented him from meeting the de- mands of the times. Popular errors, vicious
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practices, social evils and national sins, met their fitting rebuke at his hands.
It stands to his honor as a citizen, and as a Christian minister, that his preaching was not always popular. As was said of him by one, not a member of his congregation, " Mr. Hoyt was a marked man, and he has left an enduring mark upon this community." The terse, doric record on that memorial tablet is historic of his work : " IIe died in the discharge of an honored and faithful ministry."
IIe had been our pastor about three years, when he was impressed with the belief that the insidious doctrines and evil tendencies of the so-called spiritual manifestations, were exerting a disturbing influence upon the minds of some within the bounds of his own parish. Having, in a place of his former residence, witnessed the distracting effects of such teachings in the breaking up of happy family circles, the insanity of their dupes, and the destruction of the solid foundations of Christian belief, he deemed it to be his duty to meet the error here; and on the 19th of June,
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