USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Orange > The Mountain Society : a history of the First Presbyterian Church, Orange, N. J. organized about the year 1719 with an account of the earliest settlements in Newark > Part 12
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The two new societies considering themselves entitled to a share of the fund belonging to this parish, it was agreed that they should "receive and enjoy two-sevenths each of the fund belonging to the First Congregation, at the expiration of the
196
REV. E. F. HATFIELD.
existing contract with Dr. Hillyer." It is not known what amounts were distributed under this arrangement, but they are said to have been incon- siderable.
It is unnecessary to enter into an explanation of the particular causes which led to these movements. They were not of a nature to create any perma- nent barriers to a cordial fellowship between the churches separated. Dr. Hillyer never ceased to regard with a pastor's affection those who had so long been members of his flock, nor to be regarded by them with a reverence almost filial. He looked upon them all as his children, and to the end of his life had the freedom of three pulpits, in which his venerable form was always a welcome presence.
By Mr. Pierson's removal to another charge, the entire care of the old society again devolved upon him. It was, however, but for a short period. During the year 1832, he was assisted six months by Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, who was then just entering upon the ministerial work, and whose labors here were attended with a signal blessing. It was a year long to be remembered in the parish, and indeed throughout the land .* In the general
* "During July and August the cholera prevailed in New York, and the town [Orange] was full of people. The big church also was filled every Sabbath with earnest hearers." Mr. Hatfield was here from the first of March to September, " preaching four times weekly in Orange during the whole time, and frequently in
197
DR. HILLYER'S RESIGNATION.
awakening and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, this congregation was permitted largely to share, though the results were not equal to those of the revivals of 1807 and 1817. Sixty and more were added to the church. The thoughts of the people turned to Mr. Hatfield as a candidate for the co-pastorate, but he decided in favor of a western field, and was soon after settled in St. Louis. His subsequent ministry has been in the city of New York, where he still labors with undiminished usefulness. Of those who were brought into the kingdom under Dr. Hatfield's preaching here, a considerable num- ber remain with us, who remember him with great affection.
At the close of this season of special labor and rejoicing, Dr. Hillyer laid down the responsibilities of a charge which he had now held for thirty-one years. He was dismissed on the 12th of February, 1833, and his successor, who had occupied the pul- pit from October, was installed the day following. From that time till his death, he preached occasion- ally on the Sabbath, attended religious meetings in the week, and devoted himself to visitation. For this he had a fondness, to which were attributable in no small degree the warm personal attachments he had won. The writer is informed by one of his family that he used to employ five days of the
the towns round about; boarding with the pastor." Letter from Dr. Hatfield.
198
OLD AND NEW SCHOOL.
week in pastoral labors, reserving Saturday for the exclusive business of the study. His mind was doubtless occupied through the week with the sub- jects upon which he was to preach. The work of Saturday was to collect and arrange his thoughts, and to draw the outlines of his discourses, which he seldom wrote out in full. Others may question whether he did not exalt the pastor at the expense of the preacher, whether he did not magnify one part of his office to the diminishing of the other. We think it can hardly have been otherwise. We do not see how such a distribution of his labors could have given scope for the full development of his power in the pulpit. But it was an error, if such, on the side most easily excused. If criticism was provoked, it was by the same cause disarmed. The people loved him, and their charity would have covered more faults than could ordinarily have been laid to the account of his public dis- courses. About seven hundred persons were brought into the communion of the church under his ministry.
The division of the General Assembly in 1837 left Dr. Hillyer on the side of the New School. The event was by him deplored, but it never affected his fraternal relations with those from whom he was ecclesiastically separated. He recom- mended mutual forbearance and charity, and en- joyed to the end of his life, which was now near at
199
FRATERNAL COUNSELS.
hand, the unabated good-will and warm personal esteem of prominent men in both divisions of the church. Among his last public efforts was a ser- mon preached before the Synod of Newark, from the words of Abraham to Lot : "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and be- tween my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee ?" &c. (Gen. 13 : 8, 9.) He urged that there was ample room in our vast country for the fullest activity and expansion of both Assemblies, and, holding up the noble example of the Hebrew patriarch, " Let all," said he, " who have interest at the throne of grace, and all who love the Redeemer and the Church which he purchased with His own blood, unite their prayers and their influence for the spread of this benevolent, this heavenly principle. Be- loved brethren, (he added,) permit me as your elder brother, as one who has borne the heat and burden of the day, and whose departure is at hand, affec- tionately to press these remarks upon the Synod now convened. We are indeed a little band. Separated from many whom we love, we occupy a small part of the vineyard of our common Lord. But let us not be discouraged. Let none of our efforts to do good be paralyzed by the circum- stances into which we have been driven. Rather let us with increased zeal and diligence cultivate the field which we are called to occupy, while we
200
THE LAST COMMUNION.
are always ready to cooperate with our brethren in every part of the land in spreading the Gospel of the grace of God, and in saving a wretched world from ruin." In these noble sentiments we hear an echo of the voice which spoke to the Synod of 1787. Counsels wise and kind from the Orange pulpit accompanied the formation of the General Assembly. Counsels wise and kind were heard from the same quarter when the harmony of sixty years was broken. The pen of history may with gratitude record, that the spirit by which they were dictated has not passed away, but is more and more pervading and prevalent throughout the Christian world.
In two or three months after his appearance be- fore the Synod, Dr. Hillyer was seized with an illness that was to hasten the departure which he felt to be at hand. As the winter advanced, his strength visibly declined. It was hoped that he would rally with the return of warm weather, but the hope was not realized. On the 5th of July he stood up for the last time to address the people. It was at a communion, when about thirty persons made a profession of their faith, and sat down to commemorate a Saviour's death; the fruit of a re- vival in whose scenes his weak condition had not allowed him to have any active participation. The following Sabbath his hands were lifted in benedic- tion over the assembly. This was his last minis-
201
DEATH OF DR. HILLYER.
terial act. As the end approached, he welcomed it; retaining his consciousness apparently till the spirit took its flight. " I am not afraid to die, said he, on recovering from a fainting fit. "I have not the wonderful views of Payson in his dying hours, nor have I lived such a life. But God is a great deal better to me now than I had any reason to expect. I had no expectation that one no more faithful than I have been would be favored with so much serenity and joy in the closing scene." The doctrines of grace which he had preached now yielded to him their richest consolations. He ex- pired during the evening of the 28th of August, 1840. His funeral was attended by a large con- course of people, embracing all classes. The rich and the poor met together. The aged and the young felt they had lost a friend.
His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Fisher, who also composed the following inscrip- tion for the tablet seen on the west side of the pulpit.
202
TABLET INSCRIPTION.
REV. ASA HILLYER, D. D., WAS BORN AT SHEFFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS : APRIL 6TH, 1765. HE GRADUATED AT YALE COLLEGE, 1786. HE WAS ORDAINED AND INSTALLED PASTOR OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MADISON, NEW JERSEY, SEPT. 29TH, 1789.
ON THE 22D OF JULY, 1801, AT HIS OWN REQUEST HE WAS DISMISSED FROM THAT CONGREGATION, AND ON THE 16TH OF DEC., 1801, HE WAS INSTALLED PASTOR OF THE 1ST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. HE DIED AUG. 28TH, 1840, AGED 77 YEARS 4 MONTHS AND 22 DAYS.
DR. HILLYER WAS A PLEASANT AND INSTRUCTIVE COMPANION, A DEVOTED CHRISTIAN, SOUND IN THE FAITH, A LABORIOUS AND SUCCESSFUL PASTOR, WHO WATCHED OVER HIS FLOCK WITH PATERNAL TENDERNESS AND CARE, KIND AND COURTEOUS TO ALL WITH WHOM HE HAD INTERCOURSE. THERE WAS ONE DISTINGUISHING EXCELLENCY IN HIS CHARACTER, HE WAS EMPHATICALLY A PEACE-MAKER. HE WAS A FRIEND TO THE CAUSE OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE, AND FOR MANY YEARS A TRUSTEE OF THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY. HE WAS A LEADING AND EFFICIENT MEMBER OF MOST OF THOSE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES WHICH HAVE BEEN INSTITUTED TO EXTEND THE REDEEMER'S KINGDOM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
" THY KINGDOM COME," WAS THE SINCERE DESIRE OF HIS HEART AS WELL AS THE PRAYER OF HIS LIPS.
THE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED.
CHAPTER VII.
REV. WILLIAM C. WHITE.
D R. HILLYER'S successor was Rev. William C. White. He was another son of Massachusetts -the mother of scholars and clergymen as well as of States.
Mr. White was born in Sandisfield, Berkshire County, January 16, 1803. He was of Puritan stock, being a lineal descendant of Peregrine White, the first child of the Pilgrim exiles, who was born on the " Mayflower," after her arrival in Plymouth harbor, in 1620. His parents, of whom he was the second son, were Rev. Levi and Mary White, the latter being the oldest daughter of Rev. John Ser- geant, for many years a missionary among the Stockbridge Indians.
He entered Williams College soon after Dr. Griffin became President of that institution, and graduated in 1826, in his twenty-fourth year, with one of the highest honors of his class. About. three years subsequently, he began a course of theological study at Princeton. In the autumn of
204
SETTLEMENT IN ORANGE.
1830, he was licensed to preach, by the Berkshire Association, but continued his studies at the semi- nary another year. His first preaching was at East Machias, in the State of Maine, where he labored four months, with a special blessing on his labors. He was afterward engaged six months in Tyringham, Mass., leaving the latter place in the summer of 1832. In October of that year he ac- cepted an invitation to visit this parish. It was soon after Mr. Hatfield's temporary labors here had closed, and while the church was rejoicing over the fruits of a precious revival. The result of the acquaintance was the presentation of a call, which he decided upon accepting, in preference to one or two invitations which he is said to have had from other fields. On the 13th of the following Febru- ary, the day after Dr. Hillyer's dismission, he was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of New- ark. Dr. Weeks preached. Dr. Hillyer gave the charge to the pastor, and Dr. Fisher to the people. The text of the day was 1 Tim. iv. 16-" Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." It was worthy to have been the motto of a ministerial life charac- teristically studious and single-aimed.
He was now thirty years of age, and had been married a year and a half. The chosen associate of his life and ministry was Clarissa, daughter of
205
VIEW OF THE PARISH.
Joseph Dart, of Middle Haddam, Conn., to whom he was united in August, 1831, soon after the com- pletion of his preparatory studies.
Since the settlement of his predecessor, the cir- cumstances of the parish had greatly changed. The population was less homogeneous. There were now denominational rivalries. Two new Presby- terian churches had sprung up, which had taken from this about a hundred and fifty members, and from the congregation a much larger number. While there remained a larger membership than Mr. Hillyer had found when he entered the parish, in 1801, and the society had a larger and better house of worship, the tendency of events was less favorable. The church, at the beginning of the century, was like a tree planted alone by the rivers of water. Its roots had struck deep; its branches were many ; its life was in full vigor; it was ma- turing its fruits. Now it had cast its fruits around it, and a number of young and vigorous scions were growing up at its side. Into these not a little of its life and strength had passed. Toward these, as the newer growth, the religious zeal and enter- prise of the population were powerfully attracted. No man could now draw around himself the sup- ports of a large and undivided Christian com- munity, as Dr. Hillyer had done. The old order of things was broken up, and a new order begin- ning. Orange was in a transition state. The field
10
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DIMINISHED MEMBERSHIP.
had just been mapped out anew by its great Pro- prietor, for the joint occupancy and generous com- petition of many cultivators.
The number of communicants reported in 1831, was 596. The two colonies that went out imme- diately after, reduced the number, the next year, to 439. The statistics of the following year were not reported, but in 1834, we find a mysterious descent of the figures to 294. What had become of the 145 members, who thus disappeared ? There had been no new organization in that interval. The diminution is probably to be accounted for in two ways ; first, by a continued and somewhat rapid absorption into the recently formed churches; and, secondly, by a purgation of the roll, which churches of long standing find to be occasionally necessary. Members removing to a distance are not always careful of their church relations. They go with no " epistles of commendation," and suffer years to roll by without applying for any. At last, many of them being lost to the knowledge of the church, and having, by their neglect, no further rights to its communion, their names are dropped from its roll. If they are still living, and their location known, it is sometimes the case that a cor- respondence is opened with them for the purpose of having their relations transferred, leading to nu- merous dismissions at about the same time. This has been done by the Session since the writer's
207
CHURCH OFFICERS.
connection with the church. ' To both these causes it is not unlikely that the diminution above alluded to was owing. Possibly, too-a thing not uncom- mon with aged pastors-some oversights were com- mitted by Dr. Hillyer in the matter of erasing or marking the names of members dismissed. It is evident that Mr. White's first report to the Presby- tery, in 1834, was based upon a census taken of the actual communicants, found by him after his settlement.
The changes coincident with a long pastorate had largely affected the official record of the church. The Session of 1801 had but a single representative in that of 1833. Deacon Baldwin, from the eastern part of the parish; Deacon Peck, from the same neigh- borhood ; Deacon Perry, of the Mountain ; Linus Dodd, from Doddtown; and Amos Harrison, from the Valley, had been successively borne to the churchyard; the last, only a month before the new pastor's introduction to the parish. Aaron Munn and John Lindsley had deceased, and Henry Osborn was removed to Connecticut Farms. Of the elders of later appointment, Nathaniel Bruen, Daniel P. Stryker, the second Joseph Pierson, and Daniel Condit, had been removed by death ; four others were in the Second church; one in that of South Orange. There remained, of the more ancient, the elder Joseph Pierson, now in the forty-second year of his office ; and Moses Condit, in the twenty-
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TRIALS OF FAITH.
eighth year. Both had passed their three score and ten. The younger men were, Aaron R. Har- rison, Amos Vincent, Abraham Harrison, Josiah Frost, Daniel D. Condit, Ira Canfield and Samuel L. Pierson. With these, Abiathar Harrison took his seat on the 4th of March-the first meeting of the Session after Mr. White's installation-and Jonathan Squier Williams a year afterward.
Surrounded by these counsellors and helpers, the newly-settled pastor addressed himself to his work. There were some circumstances of his position, be- sides those we have noticed, which were not entirely favorable. He was in the wake of a great religious excitement, which was to be followed, in the churches generally, by a long calm. The church had just reaped a harvest ; a long husbandry would be needed to prepare the ground for another like it. His honored predecessor was still living, the object of peculiar veneration and of long-cherished attach- ments; and for his support provision was still to be made. When we add to these circumstances the recent loss of membership by colonization, the com- petition commenced by other denominations, and the disposition of the young people, especially, to flow into the newer congregations, we can see em- barrassments and discouragements in the path of one whose heart had no place for any jealous re- grets.
Mr. White was settled with a salary of six hun-
1
8
a
209
NEW PARSONAGE.
dred dollars. The old parsonage still brought a a small rent to the Society, as a tenement house, but was of no service to the pastor. After boarding three months, he hired a small new cottage in Main street, on the western slope of the hill, beyond what is now Boyd street. The place is at present owned by Mr. Hooker, by whom the cottage has been re- moved to Boyd street. He afterward lived two years in Scotland street, within and near the pres- ent bend of the railroad ; his rent, the second year, being paid by the parish. In 1836, measures were taken to provide another parsonage. Abraham Harrison offering a lot " near his residence, at two dollars per foot, fronting on a new street soon to be opened," a purchase was made of about fifty feet, to which he added an equal quantity, by way of gift. The location was in High street, where Mrs. White now resides. A house was built by subscription and contract for $1,875. It was entered the next year, and was to be the pastor's home till his re- moval to the " house not made with hands."
A work of this kind, promoting the minister's comfort and freedom from care, has an inspiring influence on both him and the people. Their hearts are warmed and expanded by the deed, and his by the benefit. God, too, is honored, and is not slow to open the windows of His high habitation, and to pour out upon His people that blessing which is faith's reward. If we could doubt that
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH.
Mr. White now went into his study with a stronger heart ; that he wrote his sermons with more spirit, and preached them with more power; that he prayed with a quickened faith and more earnest thanksgivings ; that his people prayed and wrought with him more ardently and hopefully; and that God fulfilled His promise to those who devise liberal things; the doubt is removed by the next year's history of gathered fruit. The records of the Ses- sion, which tell of twenty persons admitted to sac- ramental privileges, are but a record of divine faithfulness, and of the spiritual economy of pro- viding comfortably for the spiritual laborer.
Another religious enterprise now sprang up on the eastern border of the town, and within the ancient limits of the parish. This was the First Baptist Church of Orange, which was constituted the 14th of June, 1837. Its first pastor was Rev. John Beetham. The position of this church, be- tween Orange and Roseville, in a locality not thickly settled, has not been favorable to a rapid growth. Its light has, however, continued to shine, leading many to the knowledge of Christ.
We may notice here an act in the legislation of the State, which was destined to affect the future status of the Orange Academy. It was the act passed in 1838, regulating the boundaries of school districts, and the mode of administering the com- mon schools. In the application of the new law,
211
WEST BLOOMFIELD CHURCH.
the Academy, falling within the seventh district of the township-known henceforth as the Academy district-was shorn of its long honors, and brought down to the level of a common school. Its age, and the need felt of having a better building for academic purposes, were circumstances which had their influ- ence in leading to this change. It had maintained its classical preëminence more than half a century.
At West Bloomfield, (the Cranetown of our his- tory,) a Presbyterian church was formed in August, 1838. This was an outgrowth from the Bloomfield Church, which had grown to be one of the largest and most flourishing churches in the Presbytery of Newark. Nearly as many persons were dismissed from the latter as had constituted its first member- ship, forty years before. This new parish on the north was the fifth in the circle now formed around the ancient "Mountain Society," of the Presbyte- rian order, outside of the modern limits of New- ark.
Among the items recorded at this period by the trustees, is the appointment of James Matthews as sexton, with a salary of sixty dollars a year. In January, 1839, " William Condit and Smith Williams were appointed a committee on the sing- ing in the church;" and, "inasmuch as intimation had been given to the female part of the choir during the past year that some present should be made to them, it was resolved that a Psalm and
212
LECTURE-ROOM.
Hymn-book, with the select hymns, should be given to each of them." This book, compiled by Dr. Samuel Worcester, of Massachusetts, and comprising Watts, with a copious addition from other sources, was to continue twenty years longer in the hands of the choir.
Till the year 1839, the Society was without a lecture-room. The weekly meetings continued to be held in the old Academy, a place not very con- venient either in its dimensions or its furnishings. On Sabbath evenings a third service was held in the church. It was now determined to build a lecture-room "thirty feet wide, forty-five feet long, and with posts about twelve feet high, agreeably to the outlines of the plan proposed by a committee and adopted at a parish meeting, February 25th." The house was built by subscription, at a cost of $1,000. The subscribers having been personally consulted respecting the site, "an overwhelming majority were in favor of placing the building on Day street," where it yet remains, with some recent repairs.
This was a new offering made to the Lord. It was accepted, and made the antecedent of another display of His favor. In the year 1840, the Spirit again came down. It was the last summer of Dr. Hillyer's life, and, though he murmured not, it was a trial to him that his wasting energies would not suffer him to take any public part in the work.
213
GAINS AND LOSSES.
His last prayers were blended with it. His last praises, before he joined the seraphim, were his thanksgivings over it. His last public address, as we have before stated, was at the sacramental table, at which sat, for the first time, near thirty rejoicing believers. The scene was impressive. It was a solemn farewell-to the minister who sat by his side, to the assembly on whom fell his tender bene- dictions. But, it was a glad farewell. He could say to a multitude whom he loved, and to many just converted, " We meet soon in heaven."
During the year 1842 the church received an- other refreshing. The report of the following April shows an addition of fifty persons, of whom thirty-six were admitted by profession. The loss, however, by death and removal, appears to have exceeded the gain, the aggregate membership being five less than the year previous.
This decrease continued. In 1850, there were reported but 223 members. The number had now fallen to the point from which it rose in 1806-the earliest date at which it stands recorded. From that date there had been a regular ascent, till the point of culmination was reached, in 1827; then a descent, for about an equal period. It was like the rising and falling of the ocean wave; for a time carried up, and then as inevitably carried down, by the force and tendency of circumstances.
There were other circumstances, however, which
10*
214
SPIRIT OF BENEVOLENCE.
had continued to operate steadily in a favorable direction. The spirit of religious benevolence which had recently developed itself in so many forms, was making its frequent appeals to the churches, and stirring their holiest sympathies. The extensive revivals of 1832 had given it a quickening impulse. Eloquent and earnest men were traversing the country as agents of the different societies. And, in other fields, as well as this, while the spiritual husbandry was less fruitful in conversions, it was more fruitful in contributions and offerings. God was working by a new method, and upon a large scale, to bring into exercise the faith, and love, and zeal of His people.
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