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 13
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We are, unfortunately, not able to determine with exactness the benevolent statistics of the parish, until within a period quite recent. For several years preceding 1833, contributions had been made to a missionary society in Essex County, auxiliary to the American Board. The sums con- tributed cannot be ascertained, nor those given to other objects in which Dr. Hillyer is known to have been actively interested. Our researches in this direction, for the period following Mr. White's set- tlement, have been more satisfactory, though their results cannot be relied upon for perfect accuracy during his ministry. The statistical tables appended to this work will exhibit those results, and the reader will find them indicative of a considerable
215
REVIVAL OF 1850.
enlargement of action in the line of religious benef- icence. There was an opening of heart, and an expansion of charity, while the church was dimin- ished in numbers.
The year 1850 was another year of blessing. Signs of awakening appeared early in the winter. The work affected, especially, the younger part of the congregation, and went forward chiefly under the ordinary appliances of the Word. Among those who rendered some occasional assistance, was Rev. Charles Bentley, a clergyman of New England. In the course of the year, thirty-four persons were received into fellowship as the fruit of the revival.
Another cause was now operating visibly upon the character and growth of the congregation. By the construction of the Morris and Essex Railroad, the village had many years been placed in close re- lations with Newark and New York. It had not, however, attracted hitherto the attention which it since has, from families seeking rural homes in the neighborhood of those cities. A long-existing prej- udice against New Jersey had kept from multi- tudes in the over-crowded metropolis a knowledge of the inviting features of this region. This igno- rance could not long continue after the opening of railway communication that converted Orange into a suburb of Newark, and that made it one of the most accessible, as it is one of the most attractive, of the rural villages that environ New York. The
216
A NEW ERA.
sharp eye of enterprise, the anxious eye of the in- valid seeking health, the eye of the retiring mer- chant and man of taste, began, ere long, to be turned in this direction. At no place, within the same distance, was there a happier combination of the characteristics of scenery and climate, desirable in a country home.
The tide once beginning to flow, was certain to continue, and to rise. It began with the comple- tion and successful working of the railroad. The first immigrants were the means of bringing others. The old farms around the village, much as they loved their ancient boundaries, and shrank from the dissecting knife, began to lose their integrity. The surveyor's line was stretched upon them. Streets were run across them. The field became a lawn, in the midst of which rose the merchant's mansion. The tapering knoll was crowned with stately ar- chitecture, and covered with shrubbery and blos- soms.
During the latter years of Mr. White's ministry, the effects of this immigration were appearing in all the religious societies of the place. New ele- ments were commingling with the old, producing, as a matter of course, some friction, some effervescence. But the time had come. Innovation and trans- formation were inevitable. And many who de- plored the social changes which their tempting grounds and their railway stock had contributed to
217
REPAIRS AND ALTERATIONS.
bring about, found a large pecuniary solace for their dissatisfaction.
With these changes came another in 1851, having reference to the interior arrangements of the sanc- tuary. The pulpit, at the south end, and the gallery opposite, were made to change places. The front of the galleries was lowered, and the entire house reseated,-the seats introduced, together with the pulpit, being transferred from the Duane Street Presbyterian Church, in the city of New York. The walls were papered ; furnaces were placed under the house; and an organ was purchased. These improvements, exclusive of the last item, were made at an expense of $5,845. The organ, made by Henry Pilcher, of Newark, had been in use, and was purchased for $800. By these new furnishings the house was improved in appearance, the comfort of the congregation was promoted, and an impressive auxiliary supplied to one part of public devotion. While they were not universally approved, there was a general concurrence in them on the part of the pew-holders.
The parish now provided for its current expen- ditures by annuities received from the pews. The method, which has not been changed, is the follow- ing: An estimate of the fiscal wants of the ensuing year is made by the treasurer, and submitted at each parish meeting. Upon this, as a basis, the appropriations of the year are voted. The annui-
218
GRACE CHURCH.
ties are then graduated to the amount required. Each pew has a valuation, at which it may be pur- chased or rented. If purchased, the assessment is simply on its estimated value. If rented, it is seven per cent. higher. The rule is simple and reason- able, and its working, in this congregation, has been highly satisfactory.
The year 1854 witnessed the beginning of a new religious enterprise, by members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The movement was entered upon in connection with the labors of Rev. Joshua D. Berry, D. D., who became rector of the new organization. The church was formed in March, and Dr. Berry left the charge in the following January. In July, 1855, it was assumed by Rev. James S. Bush, the present rector. On the 12th of August, the next year, the corner-stone of a house of worship was laid, which was consecrated in July, 1858. This edifice (Grace Church) stands on the old parsonage lot described in our narrative. It is a few rods east of the site of the old parsonage house, which, after having long ceased to be used by the parish, and having passed from its owner- ship, was finally demolished in 1854. It had been standing a hundred and five years.
Sacred as were the associations which once had clustered round this ancient domicil, they had all been separated from it, or nearly so, by its later uses, and nobody thought of expending upon it a
219
END OF THE OLD PARSONAGE.
sigh or a sorrow when its destruction took place. One, however, who was yet but a stranger in Orange, obtaining some knowledge of its history, and thinking it a pity that a house of such an- tiquity should pass away with no attempt to pre- serve its time-worn features, engaged an artist of Newark to daguerreotype it. This was Edward Gardner, editor of the Orange Journal, to whose seasonable forethought our readers are indebted for the accompanying view.
The destruction of the edifice was not the de- struction of its material, and it may interest the present townsman of Orange, as he steps into the Willow Hall Market, or walks over the almost unnoticed bridge in front of it that separates his feet from the waters of Parow's Brook, to know his personal proximity to some of the enduring relics of the Old Parsonage. As a " beam out of the timber " of the First Meeting-House still remains to tell something of its substance and form, so more than one "stone out of the wall" of the second minister's home still endures, a not unfit- ting symbol of joys and affections which, like itself, have passed into other relations without ceasing to exist. The building having been purchased for removal by Albert Pierson, its " precious stones " (which, like the piety they once enshrined, were none "the worse for wear ") were set anew, some in improvements about his own dwelling, some in
220
MR. WHITE'S RESIGNATION.
the foundations of Willow Hall, and some in the bridge over the stream hard by; while others have found a still sacred use in the new Cemetery, where there are "sermons in stones " if anywhere. It is likely they will long remain there, associated hence- forth with the solemn eloquence of the dead.
While this antique home was undergoing disso- lution, another tabernacle, for whose preservation many prayers were offered, was beginning to give signs of premature debility. Mr. White's health was evidently failing for two or three years before he resigned his charge. He was troubled with vertigo and other symptoms of bilious derange- ment. His physical energies declined. It was manifest to his friends that his strength was becom- ing unequal to the labors and cares which increased upon him. Yet he struggled to sustain them till the spring of 1855, when he yielded to what he now felt to be a necessity, and asked the church to unite with him in a request for his dismission. On the 18th of April this request was laid before the Presbytery, and the pastoral relation dissolved. His ministry had extended through twenty-two years.
Release from labor brought no improvement of health. He still declined, but was able to keep up some intercourse with the people. A presentiment that he had not long to live seemed to inspire him with an unusual tenderness of feeling. It was
221
HIS SUCCESSOR.
noticed in his family how subdued, patient, trust- ful and thankful was the spirit manifested in his conversation and prayers. With the trial of faith came the sufficient grace. There was no complain- ing, but a higher reach after the joys of the Com- forter. He spoke often of the great goodness of God. His graces were fast ripening under the beams of that love which makes the showers of affliction productive of heavenly fruits.
The pulpit was supplied during the summer and autumn, about five months, by Rev. Silas Billings, then residing in Brooklyn. His preaching was highly acceptable, and he would have stood favor- ably before the congregation as a candidate for the charge, but for a bodily infirmity which made him undesirous of a settlement. In January, 1856, the writer was invited to the pulpit. Having occupied it two Sabbaths, he received an expression of the united desires of the parish that he should settle among them permanently in the gospel work. The committee through whom this expression was con- veyed, were instructed to urge his acceptance of the call, and as early an entrance upon the duties of the pastorate as his circumstances would permit. He was accordingly settled without much delay, on the 14th of February.
About the beginning of that month Mr. White left his house for the last time. He was taken in a carriage to see his friend, Judge Stephen D. Day,
222
MR. WHITE'S DEATH.
who was lying very ill and near his end. The interview was to both an affecting one. It was closed with prayer. They parted, but for a speedy reunion. Mr. White rode home. For several days he continued feeble, yet without any symptoms specially alarming. On the evening of the 7th, at about nine o'clock, he complained of an unusual illness and lay down. A cup of cocoa was soon brought him. He drank a little, and fell back upon his pillow. His wife spoke to him, but he made no reply except by signs, laying his hand on his head. In a few minutes he expired. His age was fifty-three, but he had the appearance of being much older. The writer had seen him but once.
This sad and sudden event made a deep impres- sion on the community. It took place on Thurs- day evening. His funeral the next Sabbath drew to the church an immense concourse of people. The clergy of other denominations were present, with whom he had ever cultivated the most friendly relations. Several of the neighboring ministers of his own order also attended, and took part in the funeral service. A sermon, from Rev. 14 : 13, was preached by Rev. John Growell, of the Second Church. From the front of that pulpit in which he had often stood, and around which and upon the galleries hung the drapery of grief, the good man and faithful pastor was borne to his rest in the cemetery.
223
MINUTE OF THE SESSION.
It was a happy circumstance to his family, and but an act of justice to him, that the parish had voted to present to him the house and lot which he had occupied, together with a donation in money of one thousand dollars. His children were three sons and a daughter, the last being at the time of his death about two years old. Mrs. White is still with us, with her fatherless charge.
The Session of the church placed upon their records the following minute :
" It having pleased God to remove suddenly from this life, on the 7th inst., the Rev. William C. White, late pastor of this church, the Session unanimously resolve-
"1. That they record the event with feelings of submission to the Divine will, and of gratitude for the many blessings conferred upon us by the great Head of the Church in the useful ministry of his servant.
"2. That they cherish with much esteem and affection the memory of their late pastor, who during twenty-two years, and under increasing bodily infirmities in the later period of his minis- try, devoted himself with great assiduity and faith- fulness to the varied and arduous labors of his station. With a well-disciplined mind, studious habits, clear views of divine truth, and a manifest and tender love for souls, he prosecuted his work with many evidences of the divine favor, till com-
224
HIS CHARACTER.
pelled to desist by the necessities of failing health and vigor.
"3. That they tender to his bereaved family their Christian sympathies in this sudden and deep affliction."
The Presbytery in April adopted a minute of similar purport, drawn up by Rev. Joseph S. Galla- gher, for some years pastor of the Second church. With his brethren in the Presbytery Mr. White's relations had always been amicable and cordial. And with them, as with others, his accurate judg- ment and unofficious worth gave him an influence not always connected with the gifts that make a brilliant and popular oratory.
He was a man of medium height, rather strongly built; kind and affectionate in his family; modest and unseeking in his more public relations. The number of persons added to the Church during his ministry was somewhat over three hundred.
The following is the inscription of a tablet re- cently erected to his memory, and placed at the east of the pulpit. It was written by Rev. F. A. Adams, formerly Principal of the Orange Acade- my.
225
TABLET INSCRIPTION.
REV. WILLIAM C. WHITE, BORN IN SANDISFIELD, MASS., JAN. 16, 1803 ; GRADUATED AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE IN 1826,
Ar PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN 1831 ; ORDAINED AND INSTALLED OVER THE FIRST CHURCH IN ORANGE, FEB. 13, 1833.
In the labors of this charge he spent his entire strength. His love for the work drew into it all the powers of his mind, and the resources of his growing culture. A rare native sagacity joined with habitual study gave symmetry and strength to his discourses. Clothed with humility, he found his chief joy in the duties of Teacher, Pastor, Counsellor and Friend to his people. Beyond this sphere he sought neither influence nor place ; within it, no rest nor relaxation.
ON ACCOUNT OF FAILING HEALTH HE WAS RELEASED FROM HIS CHARGE APRIL 18, 1855 ; DIED FEBRUARY 7, 1856.
CHAPTER VIII.
FROM 1856 TO 1860.
THE five pastorates through which we have followed the line of this history, illustrate the practicability of what we believe to have been a primitive idea of the pastoral relation, namely, per- manency. The first continued at least twenty-five years. The second was closed by death at the end of fourteen years. The third was prolonged to thirty-four years. The fourth to thirty-one. The
fifth to twenty-two. This makes an average length of a quarter of a century. With respect to the utility and expediency of such a continuity of ministerial labor in the same congregation, opinions differ. Many advantages are gained by it. A minister long settled is like a tree long planted and left undisturbed ; he has had time to grow, and to take root in the hearts of his people. He is under the necessity of continuous study. He acquires a large local influence. He is more identified with the people, and is more secure against personal reac-
.
227
THE WRITER'S SETTLEMENT.
tions in the faithful discharge of his duties. Wheth- er the disadvantages are equal, or greater, we shall not here discuss. The theory is one which enters into the constitution of the Presbyterian Church, though not now as closely followed as it once was.
It was our intention to drop the pen with the office which it has now performed. The task is discharged for which it was chiefly taken; that of exploring a past believed to contain enough of memorable names and deeds to deserve such a labor. But the four years which have now nearly gone since the closing event of the last chapter, have too powerfully impressed their changes on the social and religious aspects of the town, to be left without some notice. Human enterprise has in that period accomplished much, and God has done still more. We shall therefore follow the thread of events a little farther, and notice briefly such exist- ing features of our town as will be likely to interest the readers of another generation.
It has been stated that the writer became pastor of the First Church, February 14, 1856. It was just a week after the death of his predecessor, and but four days after the gathering of the mournful assembly for the burial service. The happier emo- tions excited by the occasion were not a little soft- ened by the sadder ones which had so recently prevailed. To add to the solemnities which death threw around the event, the demise of Judge
228
CHURCH OFFICERS.
Stephen D. Day took place simultaneously with it, at the distance only of the street's width. He had been an influential and highly respected member of the church and the community.
The following clergymen took part in the instal- lation service. Rev. John Crowell, of the Second church, Orange, presided and put the constitutional questions. Rev. James M. Sherwood, of Bloom- field, preached a sermon from Matt. 13 : 33. Rev. Daniel W. Poor and Rev. James P. Wilson, D. D., of Newark, delivered the respective charges to the pastor and the people. Rev. Robert W. Landis, of Paterson, who was moderator of the Presbytery, offered prayer.
The elders of the church at this time were Josiah Frost, Ira Canfield, Jonathan S. Williams, Smith Williams, Cyrus Gildersleeve, and Charles R. Day. The deacons were Josiah Frost and Moses B. Can- field. By reason of his age and infirmities, espe- cially hardness of hearing, Mr. Frost had ceased to take any active part in the affairs of the parish. Of his earlier contemporaries in office, Amos Vin- cent, (who resigned office in 1840,) Abraham Har- rison, and Daniel D. Condit, had deceased. Samuel L. Pierson and Abiathar Harrison had left the place. Deacon Abraham Harrison had been a man of dis- tinguished usefulness in the church, having in early life studied for the ministry and received license to preach.
229
VIEW OF THE PARISH.
To the elders just named there were added in the following May, James Greacen, John Boynton, Ira Harrison and Dr. Stephen Wickes; of whom the first two had held the same office in Brooklyn, the last in Troy, N. Y. Erastus A. Graves and Cyrus S. Minor were at the same time added to the number of deacons. The two offices, which had so long been held together, were now separated, except in the person of the senior officer, Mr. Frost.
The church had a membership of about two hundred and fifty, including those who had re- moved from the parish without a change of their church relations. The attendance upon the Sab- bath services was from five to six hundred. About a hundred and seventy-five families were comprised in the parish, though not all of them regular at- tendants upon public worship. Of those who held seats in the sanctuary, a few were members of another denomination, or by habit and preference connected with it, who were waiting for a church of their own order to be organized in this part of the town. There was a prosperous Sabbath-school, with about a hundred and fifty pupils, under the superintendence of Mr. Charles M. Saxton. The course of religious services comprised a morning and afternoon preaching service on the Lord's day, one session of the Sabbath-school, a Sunday even- ing prayer-meeting, a Tuesday evening lecture, and a prayer-meeting sustained by Sunday-school teach-
11
1 e. S- to
230
VALLEY MISSION SCHOOL.
ers and others, which was held on Friday evening at private residences. The last has been since transferred to the lecture-room, and made a congre- gational service. At various outposts of the parish, the pastor had regular preaching appointments.
There was also a missionary Sabbath-school in the neighborhood now known as Orange Valley, between North and South Orange. This was originated in 1854 by Mr. James Greacen, then a new resident of the town. Having located his home in that vicinity, his heart was moved to undertake the work, and he devoted himself to it with untiring zeal to the end of his life. The school was assembled in the afternoon of the Sab- bath, after the second service at the church. It was gradually strengthened by the confidence which its success inspired. Teachers came in because they were needed, and these again drew in more children. Mr. Greacen, also, for a year and a half, kept up at the same place a Sunday evening relig- ious service, which was sometimes conducted by himself alone, and which seldom failed to draw together as many people as could be comfortably seated in the school-room. This he at last, with much reluctance, discontinued, from a conviction that his engagements and labors were too much for his strength.
The writer, during the autumn that followed his
231
NORTH ORANGE BAPTIST CHURCH.
settlement, had a visitation of sickness which inter- rupted his work a little more than two months. It was a very sudden and violent attack of bilious fever, supposed to have been the result of a condi- tion of health which he brought with him to the parish. He had the year before been travelling in the West, where he contracted the ague and fever, from the effects of which he had not entirely re- covered. The present illness seized him in the pulpit, in the midst of a sermon, compelling a sus- pension of the service. It was the most critical sickness of his life. Though brought near the grave, he was by the goodness of God permitted to return to his labors, and to enjoy more vigorous health than before.
We have already noticed the formation of a Baptist church at East Orange. Its distance from the families residing nearer the mountain led to a new movement by that denomination in 1857. The North Orange Baptist Church was constituted November 4th, with twenty-seven members, and on the following day was publicly recognized by a Council, who at the same time ordained to the min- istry Mr. Jerome B. Morse, the pastor elect. The moment was auspicious for such an enterprise. A powerful revival was just beginning in the place. The church shared the copious baptism, and now numbers above one hundred communicants. It worships in Waverly Hall.
232
DEATH OF MR. GREACEN.
While the Council was convened for the ordina- tion service just mentioned, a devoted elder of this church was removed by death. It was the founder of the mission Sabbath-school-a man of pure mind and earnest purpose, a Christian whose aim was single, a church officer able and faithful. He threw into the cause of his Redeemer all the ener- gies of his mind and body. On a Sabbath during his sickness, feeling unable to meet his Sunday- school, he sat up and wrote to the children a short letter. The sun shone in brightly at his window, and his feelings caught a sympathetic glow. He wrote of the beautiful sunlight, and of the brighter light that filled his soul from the Sun of Righteous- ness. Heaven was coming near. In a few days his body was laid in the vault of the cemetery, to which it was followed by a long procession. He died at the age of forty-two. The oldest child and only daughter of the pastor was laid beside him six weeks afterward, in her tenth year.
God was smiting the shepherd and taking the sheep. But He smote with the rod of His faithful- ness.
These events were in the midst of a financial crisis which was spreading anxiety and gloom over the whole country. But a new and marvellous religious movement was also beginning. The un- certainties on which even colossal fortunes were seen to stand, were leading men, and especially
233
REVIVAL OF 1858.
Christian men, to think more of the true riches. There was everywhere a quickening of the relig- ious life. The churches of Orange felt it.
The first manifestations of the revival were in the Second congregation, and in that its greatest power was witnessed. In the First church, the death of Elder Greacen, followed by a death in the pastor's family, made a visible impression. The week before the latter occurred, the annual visita- tion of the church by a deputation of the Presby- tery took place. The visitors were Rev. Robert Aikman, of Elizabeth, and Rev. Dr. Rowland, of the Park church, Newark. A good attendance was secured, and the religious feeling was percepti- bly deepened. In January, a daily morning prayer- meeting was commenced, which was held in the lecture-room. This was continued till June. It was a five-month series of those happy scenes
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