The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 79

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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The Central Mission School was organized May 9, 1886, in No. 840 Federal Street, with sixty scholars and the following officers : Superinten- dent, Thomas S. Collings; Assistant, William J. Searle; Secretary and Treasurer, R. C. Jones; Librarian, Wm. C. Temple; Organist, Mrs. B. F. Stiles.

THE SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH was or- ganized on the 1st of March, 1860, and, to use the language of its first pastor, it "was launched into being under the fostering care of the First Pres- byterian Church, being born, not as new churches sometimes are, out of disaffection or controversy, but out of love for the Master and for the exten- sion of His kingdom."

The Central Church, situated at the corner of Fourth Street and Hartman, after a short and precarious existence, had quietly succumbed to the force of circumstances and had been dissolved by the New School Presbytery of Philadelphia. For several years after its dissolution no attempt had been made to reoccupy the field in which it had stood. In 1859, however, Rev. Dr. Daniel Stewart, pastor of the First Church, urged upon his people the importance of forming another Presbyterian Church. A meeting for this purpose was called for March 23, 1859, at which a committee, com- posed of Isaac Van Horn, Thomas McKeen, James H. Stevens, George W. Carpenter, Sr., and Gilbert Bulson, were appointed "to seek out and secure one or more sites of church edifices in suitable location, and in the event of finding such loca- tion, to erect a temporary edifice for the purpose of worship and Sabbath-school instruction." This committee, through the influence of Mr. Van Horn, purchased from E. A. Stevens, of Hoboken, N. J., four lots of ground situated at the corner of Fourth Street and Washington, Mr. Stevens donating eight hundred dollars of the purchase money. These lots were afterwards-exchanged for the lots upon the upper side of the same square, at Fourth Street and Benson, the site of the present church, where a chapel was built, at a cost of nineteen hundred dollars, the money having been contrib- uted mainly by members of the First Church, who, at their next congregational meeting, upon recommendation of the committee, deeded the whole property to the "Trustees of the Second Presbyterian Church."

The Presbytery of Burlington met in the chapel March 1, 1860, and organized the church with a membership of twenty persons, viz .: Robert Bar- ber, Thomas F. Lambson, Isaac Van Horn, James Good, Thomas McKeen, Emily Barber, Sarah J. McKeen, Mary A. Turtelot, Mary A. Van Horn, Elizabeth Van Horn, Anne E. Clark, Nancy A. Hoxie, Margaretta Lambson, Jane Marshall, Hen- rietta Smith, Selina O. Turtelot and Ann E. Van Horn. Upon the same day Mr. Lewis C. Baker was called, ordained and installed as pastor of the

1 By Rev. William Boyd.

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

church. Isaac Van Horn and Robert Barber were set apart to the office of the eldership, and Isaac Van Horn, Thomas McKeen, Cyrus Kellog, James Good, Thomas F. Lambson, James C. Wright and J. L. Prentiss were constituted the first board of trus- tees.

The wisdom of the new enterprise and the ad- vantages of its location soon evidenced themselves in the rapid growth of the Sabbath-school and congregation. The chapel was often uncomfort- ably crowded, and the need of better accommoda-

SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

tion began to be more and more felt. To form the nucleus of a new building fund, Messrs. Van Horn and McKeen fenced in the square of ground lying between Washington Street and Berkley and Third and Fourth, and converted the in- closure into a skating park. From this novel expedient eighteen hundred dollars were realized, with which, as a basis, Mr. Baker, in 1864, agi- tated the erection of a new church. A plan was accordingly procured from S. D. Button, archi- tect, and in April, 1865, it was resolved to begin the work. Isaac Van Horn and Thomas McKeen were appointed a building committee, with . the pastor as an advisory member. The sudden and

lamented death of Mr. Van Horn before the com- pletion of the building necessitated the addition of his son, F. C. Van Horn, and S. L. Stimson to the committee. The building was roofed in dur- ing the summer of 1865, and upon the first Sabbath of September, 1866, was solemnly set apart to the service of Almighty God. In the dedication ser- vice the First Church united, its former pastor, Dr. Stewart, and W. C. Cattell, D.D., president of Lafayette College, taking a prominent part. The cost of the building was about nineteen thousand dollars.

The history of the Second Church has been one of constant, steady, healthy growth. Starting with but twenty persons, it reported to the last General Assembly a membership of three hundred and fifty-five. Its Sahbath-school is large and flourishing. A thriving mission is sustained in the neat building recently erected at the corner of Broadway and Atlantic Avenue, and action will soon be taken looking to the erection of a new and more commodious building upon the site of the present chapel on Fourth Street.

The elders from the beginning have been Isaac Van Horn, Robert Barber, Solomon L. Stimson, Judge George S. Woodhull, William Campbell, Alexander Marcy, M.D., James Berry, Reuben F. Bancroft, John Callahan and Benjamin O. Titus ; its deacons have been George W. Carpenter, Jr., George E. Howes, Alfred M. Heston, David B. Riggs, Daniel Donehoo and Francis T. Lloyd ; and its Sabbath-school superintendents, Judge Woodhull, William Getty, James Berry, S. Bryan Smith, William H. Bancroft and John Callahan.

During the twenty-six years of its existence the church has had but two pastors. For more than twenty-two years it enjoyed the ministrations of Mr. Baker. His long and faithful term of service had afforded opportunities for quickening the spir- itual life of the people, which he had not failed to improve. Beloved both within and beyond the bounds of his congregation, it was a matter of wide-spread regret that retirement from the pulpit of his church should have been accompanied by a change of residence. The relation which had subsisted between him and his first charge for nearly a quarter of a century was, at his own request, dissolved November 1, 1882. He now resides in Philadelphia, devoted to literary work, and to such opportunities of preaching the Gospel, by tongue and pen, as Providence may present.

The present pastor, Mr. William Boyd, was in- stalled May 2, 1883. His ministry has been greatly blessed. Large accessions have been made to the membership of the church, the property

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

has been modernized and improved and every de- partment of religious work has been sustained with zeal and vigor.

The officers of the church as at present consti- tuted are,-Elders, Reuben F. Bancroft, Alexan- der Marcy, M.D., John Callahan, Benjamin O. Titus, John Warnock, David B. Riggs and Daniel Donehoo; Deacons, J. H. Troutman, S. H. Sar- gent, Clarence Yardley, Valentine S. Campbell and Edwin S. Titus; Trustees, Christopher Bergen (president), John Warnock, John Callahan, Ben- jamin O. Titus, William T. Waters, David B. Riggs, Theodore B. Culver, Lewis H. Archer, and Stephen A. Sargent (secretary.)

THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, in Memorial Hall, Broadway, below Kaighn Avenue, is the child of the West Jersey Presbytery, and was or- ganized as a colored mission on the first Sunday in August, 1886, and Rev. T. W. Davenport appointed to the charge. A Sunday-school, with three teachers and thirty pupils, was organized at the same time, with Theodore Henson as superin- tendent.

TRINITY GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH .- An effort was made in 1853 to organize a Lutheran Church in Camden. A lot was pur- chased on Pine Street, west of Fourth, and the foundation laid for a church building. The min- ister was the Rev. Georgii, who soon afterward re- turned to Switzerland, before a congregation was organized or a building erected.

In October, 1857, Rev. F. Herold arrived from Germany. On his way west he stopped with rela- tives in Camden, and on learning that a large number of Germans lived here, who desired to have a church and a pastor of their own faith in their midst, he concluded to stay. Services were held in Reed's Hall, on Federal Street. An or- ganization was effected on December 22d of the same year. The congregation numbered seventy members. The following were the first church council: John Hager, John D. Scybold, Charles H. Fackler, John Beck, George Bauder, John M. Hertlein, Philip Dauer, George F. Stephany, Emanuel Schneider, J. Sommers and F. Schilpp. The congregation adopted a constitution and by- laws for its regulation. The principal points in it are: The pastor is obligated to preach in the Ger- man language, upon the foundations of the apos- tles and prophets ; the unaltered Augsburg Con- fession and Luther's Catechism, as the Confession of Faith of our holy Lutheran Church, to be the basis of all the teachings. The name adopted for the congregation was "Trinity German Evangeli- cal Lutheran."

The church council in June, 1858, purchased the lot on which the church stands. The funds available for building a church were very small, as the majority of the members were people of limited means. The pastor visited a number of the congregations of the German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania, and solic- ited contributions. The members of the vestry also took their share of the responsibility and col- lected from friends and business firms wherever an opportunity offered, and in May, 1861, application was made to the Church Extension Society of the General Synod, and five hundred dollars secured. With this amount the work went on rapidly, and on October 6, 1861, the dedicatory services were held.

In 1864 the school building at Sixth Street and Market was purchased, with its material, a build- ing, twenty by forty feet, erected to the rear of the church, and the parochial school opened. In Au- gust, 1865, Rev. F. Herold removed to Mascoutah, Ill., and the present pastor, Rev. J. C. Dizinger, accepted the call of the congregation.

In 1870 the lots on the east and west sides of the church were purchased for fifteen hundred dollars. George Pfeiffer contributing one-third of the amount. In 1872 the church was repaired and beautified and the ground surrounding the church improved. In 1874 the school-house received an addition of twenty feet in length and the latest im- proved desks were obtained. In 1883 a large pipe- organ was secured. It was used for the first time on the four hundredth anniversary of Luther's birth. The congregation numbers at present (1886), three hundred communicant members. It has a Sunday- school of three hundred members, a parochial school with two teachers and sixty pupils. A Funeral Aid Society was organized in 1876, which has now seven hundred members. The congregation is in connection with the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania.

EPIPHANY EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. -Prior to the year 1879 no English Lutheran congregation existed in Camden. At the fall meeting of the First District Conference of the Pennsylvania Synod, a committee was appointed to canvass the city for Lutherans. Several meet- ings of interested persons were held at the resi- dence of George Shimer, No. 503 Linden Street, the outcome of which was the organization of a congregation under the name of " Epiphany Evan- gelical Lutheran Church." The first service of the congregation was held Sunday evening, No- vember 23, 1879, in Reed's Hall, at the corner of Third and Federal Streets. Rev. William Schaef-

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

fer, of Philadelphia, conducted the worship and preached the sermon. He had charge of the mis- sion from that time until the close of the following summer. He was succeeded by Mr. S. L. Sibole, then a student in the Philadelphia Seminary. In June, 1881, this gentleman was ordained and reg- ularly installed as the first paster of the new con- gregation. He served the mission until October, 1882, when he resigned to accept a call to St. Luke's Church, Philadelphia. For four months the pulpit was vacant, when Mr. Clarence K. Bin- der, of the senior class of the Theological Semi- nary assumed charge, and was installed pastor June 10, 1883.

Under Rev. Binder's pastorate the congregation has been steadily advancing. A fine building lot has been secured at the corner of Seventh Street and Market, and it is the intention of the con- gregation to erect a handsome chapel.

The congregation hold services at present in the commodious hall at the southwest corner of Third Street and Market. The membership is about one hundred. A Sunday-school has been con- nected with the congregation since its formation. It was organized with eight pupils, which number has gradually increased until at the present time (1886) there are over two hundred. The school is under the care of the pastor as superintendent, and George Boyer as assistant.

EMANUEL UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH is sit- uated on Line Street, above Fourth. In 1854 a small number of the German population living in the southern part of Camden conceived the feasi- bility of organizing a German Emanuel Church ; a little Sunday-school had been started, the meet- ings being held in the house of Mrs. Louisa Moushe, on Cherry Street, above Third. The par- ents of these children soon took an active interest in the welfare of the school, and under the guid- ance of the Rev. Adam Hinkle, preaching in the German language and regular Sunday services were held at the above-mentioned house. The membership increased, the school prospered, but they were unable to build a place of worship. In 1855 John Warner, a philanthropist of Philadel- phia, and a warm friend of Adam Hinkle, con- cluded to build a church for this congregation at his own expense, stipnlating that the preaching should be in the German language, that the church should be free to all the poor people of Camden, and that the congregation should he under the pastoral care of the Rev. Adam Hinkle. In Jan- uary, 1856, the corner-stone of the present church was laid. The building is a one-story brick, thir- ty by fifty feet, and was dedicated in the same 59

year. The Rev. Adam Hinkle served as pas- tor for more than twenty years, and during seven years of that time he received no compensation. When he was seventy years old the Conference sent him some assistance. In 1876 a paralytic stroke disabled him, and he never fully recovered his health. He died in 1881. Since his death the records of the church are, in a measure, in- complete, and the following names and data have been furnished by Casper Tenner, one of the church trustees, who has served continuously since the time of organization. The ministers in suc- cession were Revs. Adam Hinkle, Christiau Mey- ers, R. Deyshur, M. Staetzel, Daniel Yengst, Henry Early, Nicholas Gabal and Joseph Steltzer. Dur- ing the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Steltzer there was a division in the congregation, and a portion of it formed another congregation. The original con- gregation adopted the name of the United Breth- ren in Christ. Since this change the ministers who have officiated are David Hoffman, Gottlieb Meyers, Frederick List, M. Muller, Frederick List, H. E. Roediger and J. H, Unger, whose term closed in 1885. At present there is no regular pastor, and services are conducted every Sunday afternoon by Rev. John Light, of Philadelphia.

BETHEL CHURCH of the United Brethren in Christ is situated on Third Street, below Walnut. During the summer of 1878 the Rev. William O. Shimp conducted open-air services under the an- spices of this denomination at different points in Camden. On the approach of cold weather these meetings were held in the house of William God- win, on Third Street, below Line. A mission Sun- day-school was also started at this honse and con- tinued for several months. There were only eight members of the original congregation, and six children in the mission school. In 1879 the re- ligious services and the Sunday-school were re- moved to the house of Mrs. Hebler, on Pine Street, below Fourth, and the same year a board of trus- tees was chosen for the purpose of adopting meas- ures to build a church or rent a suitable hall in which the congregation could worship. This board, after consideration, recommended the rent- ing of the present church, which is owned by Miss Sallie Stevens. It is a one-story frame building, and was built for a mission school. It formerly stood on Locust Street, but was removed to its present location. The congregation then wor- shipped as Independent Wesleyan Methodists, but in 1880 the name was changed to " The Methodists,', with a Conference in Philadelphia, under the di- rection of Rev. Dr. Kirby. In 1882 a favorable opportunity was offered to this church to unite

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

with the Society of the United Brethren in Christ, and soon after the change was effected. Since this date the congregation has greatly increased in number, and fifty children have been added to the Sunday-school, which is now under the care of the pastor. Early in 1886 Rev. William O. Shimp started a mission for services and Sunday-school in the frame church on Eighth Street, above Ferry Avenue, lately vacated by the Scott Methodist Episcopal Church. The Sunday-school connected with the mission has twenty-nine members, and is superintended by William Stephenson.

ZION CHURCH, on the corner of Berkley and William Street, is a branch of the Evangelical Association of North America. The Camden con- gregation originated in 1854, when the Rev. An- drew Ziegenfus, a minister of the Evangelical As- sociation of Southwark Mission, Philadelphia, came to Camden to officiate at the first meeting of this denomination held in this city, at the house of Mrs. Louise Mousche, and for a number of years services were held in her house, and in the little church on Line Street, above Fourth. During these years a number of ministers served the con- gregation, among whom were the Rev. Adam Hinkle, Christian Meyers, Mr. Shimer, R. Dey- shnr, Henry Stetzel, Daniel Yengst, Henry Earley, Nicholas Gabal, A. S. Steltz, Joseph Steltzer and C. Philibar. Under the ministration of the last two pastors the present church was built during the year 1878. It is a one-story brick building, forty by sixty-five feet, with a large auditorium and a gallery. The dedicatory services were per- formed by Bishop Reuben Dubs, of Cleveland, O. The pastors who have since served the congrega- gation were C. Philibar, Antony Straub, C. B. Fliehr, A. S. Steltz, G. Redman, O. Arnold and George Hanser. The Sunday-school, which was organized when the religious meetings were in -. angurated, had greatly increased in membership when this church was dedicated, having sixty regnlar attendants, with Henry Daman as super- intendent. At present (1886) there are about one hundred pupils and teachers, and Solomon Fliehr is the superintendent. The church membership is sixty-five communicants. This congregation is one of the missions of the Atlantic Conference, which is an exclusively German Conference, having its work in New York City, Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and in several sea-board cities. The Evangelical Association has at this present time twenty-four Conferences, which are located in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland, as also a prosperous mission in Japan.

THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, next to the church, and therefore next to the heart and head of all religious work, has made great strides forward during the past quarter of a cen- tury. It was organized October 16, 1878, at the residence of Samuel B. French, corner of Cooper Street and Front, by George H. Davis, W. Howard Curtiss, Bartram L. Bonsall, Samuel B. French, Howard Carrow and I. S. Conover. Mr. Davis was chosen chairman, and Mr. Conover secre- tary. It was "Resolved, That we, members of the church of Christ, and believers in Him, or- ganize ourselves into a Young Men's Chris- tian Association, to be called The Young Men's Christian Association of Camden." W. H. Cur- tiss, B. L. Bonsall and Fitch Taylor were ap- pointed a committee on organization. Another committee was appointed to visit the pastors of the city with the view of obtaining their co-operation. .

The next meeting was held in the lecture-room of Tabernacle Baptist Church (now the hall of Wm. B. Hatch Post, G. A. R.), on the 24th of the same month. By-laws and a constitution were adopted, and the officers elected were,-President, George H. Davis ; Vice-President, W. H. Bancroft; Cor- responding Secretary, W. Howard Curtiss; Re- cording Secretary, George H. Higbee ; Treasurer, Bartram L. Bonsall ; Directors, Samuel B. French, Fitch Taylor, E. Dallas Stager, H. L. Titus and the officers. The association continued to meet in the Tabernacle until the 2d of December follow- ing, when the first meeting was held in the second story front room of the house at 318 Federal Street, and here the association remained during the year of 1879, growing in membership and in- fluence, and carrying forward a good work at the Camden jail, at the rooms and at open-air meet- ings.

With the beginning of 1880 the association oc- cupied the desired second and third floors of the hall now known as the Association Hall, at Third Street and Market. But, notwithstanding the limited quarters at 318 Federal Street, the older members still retain pleasant memories of the year spent there, and perhaps it would be entirely proper to claim that in no year of its history was the devotional work of the association conducted with greater enthusiasm. In 1881 Wilbur F. Rose was elected president, and he continued until January, 1885, during which time the membership increased greatly, and W. H.Geistweit and William Getty successively filled the post of general secre- tary. John J. Robinson became general secretary afterward, and in the spring of 1886 George H. Barker, general sccretary of the Bordentown Asso-

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

ciation, assumed the duties as general secretary of the Camden organization and has since done very effective work. Upon the retirement of Mr. Rose as president, at the close of the year 1884, Walter M. Patton was elected president, and is now the efficient head of the association.

The official minutes show the officers of the as- sociation, from its institution to this date, to have been as follows :

1878 .- President, George H. Davis; Vice-Pres- ident, W. H. Bancroft, Corresponding Secretary, W. Howard Curtiss; Recording Secretary, George H. Higbee; Treasurer, Bartram L. Bonsall; Di- rectors, Samuel B. French, Fitch Taylor, E. Dallas Stager and Harry L. Titus.

1879 .- President, George H. Davis ; Vice-Pres- ident, William H. Bancroft ; Corresponding Sec- retary, W. H. Curtiss; Recording Secretary, Jos. Alexander ; Treasurer, B. L. Bonsall; Directors, Crowell S. Fewsmith, Fitch Taylor, J. Kelley Brown, Thomas S. Conover.

1880 .- President, George H. Davis ; Vice-Pres- ident, Robert P. Stewart; General Secretary, W. H. Curtiss ; Recording Secretary, Dilwyn C. Cliver; Treasurer, B. L. Bonsall ; Directors, James E. Leadley, Samuel R. Murray, J. Kelley Brown, C. S. Fewsmith, S. H. Higbee, Westcott. Campbell, Thomas S. Conover, S. G. Wallace, Carlton M. Williams, Charles H. Armstrong.

1881 .- President, Wilbur F. Rose; Vice-Pres- ident, Robert P. Stewart; General Secretary, W. H. Curtiss; Financial Secretary, Asa L. Curtis; Treasurer, B. L. Bonsall; Directors, George H. Davis, A. Ledden Iszard, C. M. Williams, C. A. Hotchkiss, J. E. Leadley, S. G. Wallace, E. M. Howard, M.D., G. H. Higbee, E. Shivers, E. H. Plummer.

1882 .- President, Wilbur F. Rose; Vice-Presi- dent, Robert P. Stewart ; General Secretary, Geo. H. Davis; Recording Secretary, Clifford W. Shinn; Treasurer, Bartram L. Bonsall ; Directors, Harris Graffen, E. M. Howard, M.D., A. L. Iszard, Saml. Finney, S. G. Wallace, C. A. Hotchkiss, E. H. Plummer, Asa L. Curtis, G. H. Higbee, Carlton M. Williams.

1883 .- President, Wilbur F. Rose; Vice-Pres- ident, E. M. Howard, M.D .; General Secretary, W. S. Geistweit; Recording Secretary, Harris Graffen ; Treasurer, George H. Higbee ; Directors, J. Lynn Truscott, Harry Humphreys, Carlton M. Williams, C. A. Hotchkiss, S. Bryan Smith, Robt. P. Stewart, Samuel Finney, George H. Davis, F. W. Ayer.

1884 .- President, Wilbur F. Rose; Vice-Pres- ident, E. M. Howard, M.D .; Treasurer, G. H.

Higbee; Recording Secretary, J. Lynn Truscott ; Directors, E. H. Bryan, Samuel Russell, Carlton M. Williams, Walter M. Patton, Oscar C. Molan, E. E. Read, Jr., J. T. Harker, Harry Humphreys, E. A. Armstrong, Louis T. Derousse, Thomas H. Harris, E. R. Smiley, M.D. ; George E. Taylor, David M. Chambers, J. L. Truscott.

1885 .- President, Wilbur F. Rose ; Vice-Presi- dent, E. M. Howard, M.D .; Treasurer, Harry M. Anderson ; Directors, E. H. Bryan, O. C. Molan, E. M. Howard, Samuel Russell, Walter M. Patton, Harry Humphreys, Carlton M. Williams, George H. Higbee, R. P. Stewart, E. A. Armstrong, Bar- tram L. Bonsall, John T. Seymour, S. G. Wallace, E. H. Plummer, Charles Danenhower.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 79

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220