USA > New York > Dutchess County > Fishkill > A discourse delivered on the 12th of September, 1866, at the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the First Reformed Dutch Church, Fishkill : with an appendix, furnishing a brief historical sketch of the associated churches of Hopewell, New Hackensack, Fishkill Landing, and Glenham > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01230 5733
GENEALOGY 974.701 D95KIP
Historical Discourse.
FIRST R. D. CHURCH, FISHKILL.
FRANCIS M. KIP. D. D.
.
A DISCOURSE
DELIVERED ON THE
12TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1866,
AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
First ,
Reformed
Dutch Church,
FISHKILL;
WITH AN APPENDIX, FURNISHING A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ASSOCIATED CHURCHES OF HOPEWELL, NEW HACKENSACK, FISHKILL LAND ING, AND GLENHAM.
BY
FRANCIS M. KIP. D.D ..
PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST,
UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE (ONSISTORY
NEW YORK : PRESS OF WYNKOOP & HALLENBECK. NO. 113 FULTON STREET. 1866.
INTRODUCTION.
WEDNESDAY, 12th September, 1866, was the day set apart for the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the organization of the First Reformed Dutch Church, Fishkill. The previous day had been dark and stormy, but the dawning of the 12th was bright and cheerful.
The exercises commenced at 10.30 A. M. in the venerable church, which had been tastefully decorated for the occasion with festoons of evergreens and bouquets of flowers. On the different galleries, in letters of evergreen, were the inscriptions " The Lord our God be with us as He was with our Fa- thers," "Instead of thy Fathers shall be thy Children," " Praise ye the Lord." A large number of the clergy of the church took their seats near and around the pulpit; the pulpit being occupied by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. THOMAS DE WITT, and the only surviv- ing ex-pastor, Rev. Dr. GEORGE H. FISHER, together with Rev. Dr. VAN CLEEF and Messrs. COBB, BERGER, and HORTON, the pastors and representatives of the
4
four churches formerly associated with and springing from the church at Fishkill.
After an anthem by the choir, the Rev. Dr. FISHER offered a solemn and impressive prayer. The following hymn, written for the occasion by Miss ANN R. BARCULO, of Hopewell, was then sung :
Thrice fifty years our altar fires Have burned within this sacred place,
Enkindled by our honored sires, Inspired by the God of Grace.
Thrice fifty years, thrice fifty years ! How many from earth's toils have slept !
What wealth of human joys and tears Adown life's troubled stream has swept !
Thrice fifty years ! sweet words of grace Have sounded hence with clarion calls ; The heralds sleep-all sleep in peace- Save two, who watch on Zion's walls.
Our Saviour God, hear thou our prayer ! As ever in the ages past, This church would be thy loving care, And crowned with joy by thee at last.
Oh, never may our altar fires Burn dimly in this sacred shrine ! Where lie the green graves of our sires Let every Christian virtue shine.
The discourse contained in the following pages was then delivered by the pastor, after which this
5
hymn, written for the occasion by JAMES E. DEAN, Esq., of Fishkill, was sung :
This church, first planted by thy hand, Still stands and points to thine abode ; The fathers in that better land, The children yet upon the road.
Man passes, but thy work still stands,- Thy church for ages rests secure ; Thy grace upholds thy people's hands, Thy promise is for ever sure.
Accept our thanks for mercies past, And bless us still for time to come ; Aid us through life, and then, at last, Receive us to our heavenly home.
There, joined with those who've gone before, We'll sing thy praise through endless years Upon that bright celestial shore, Forever free from care and tears.
Still make this church thy special care, As seasons roll and ages glide ; Answer, O Lord, its every prayer, And for its every want provide.
May myriads here, in coming time, Feed on thy truth and learn thy love ; The rugged hill of Zion climb, And reach that better home above.
When this hymn had been sung, the Rev. Dr. JOHN DE WITT, of the Theological Seminary,
6
New Brunswick. arose and offered a resolution " That the discourse just read should be published." which, being seconded, was adopted by the rising of the congregation.
To this succeeded a poem, prepared for the occa- sion by T. VAN WYCK BRINCKERHOFF, Esq., of Hopewell: and then the venerable Dr. DE WITT, after offering an appropriate prayer, dismissed the congregation, blessing them in the name of the Triune God.
A plentiful collation had been prepared by the ladies on the green fronting the residence of JOHN C. VAN WYCK, Esq., to which all friends were in- vited, and of which it is computed that from eleven to fifteen hundred persons partook. Their bodily wants having been supplied, the congregation gath- ered around the platform to listen to the impromptu remarks of the friends providentially present.
For the substance of these addresses we are in- debted to the report in the " Christian Intelligencer."
The Rev. Dr. CAMPBELL, President of Rutgers College, said that he had come a hundred miles to attend this celebration, and had been amply repaid for his trouble. He urged those present to prize such celebrations, both for the memories of the hon- ored dead they recalled and the social benefits they imparted.
7
The Rev. Dr. FISHER, of Hackensack, N. J., said that this church was founded on the principles of piety and intelligence. Alluding to the fact that during the celebration of the morning the flag of Holland was on the right. that of England on the left, and that of the United States in the centre of the pulpit. he observed that the flags of Holland, England. and afterward that of the United States, had floated over this spot. and the free principles of piety and knowledge had saturated this whole land. After referring to the various improvements in science and the arts witnessed since the foundation of our government was laid, the Doctor pronounced the Church the noblest institution on American soil, and the celebration of this day of more importance than any other.
The Rev. Dr. FERRIS, Chancellor of the Univer- sity of New York, thought that the grand idea incul- cated by the occasion was progress. He met and conclusively, by the facts he stated, confuted the oft repeated assertion that as a denomination we are slow. Our Church, said he, has a conservative and healthy progress : it goes forward and holds its own, doing its work without blowing a trumpet. The single church planted in New York in 1619 has ex- panded into four hundred and thirty-four.
The Rev. Dr. THOMAS DE WITT spoke of old age
8
as the season of retrospection. He said that on the morrow he would be seventy-five years of age-a pe- riod one-half as long as the age of the church whose anniversary we were commemorating. His ministry had now been continued for fifty-four years, equal to one-third the life-time of the church. The honored speaker's reminiscences awakened by the occasion were both affecting and pleasing.
The Rev. Dr. DEMAREST. Professor in the Theo- logical Seminary of New Brunswick, referred to his great interest both in this celebration and in the Church of his fathers. Admitting that our Church has not grown so rapidly as some others, he assigned satisfactory reasons for the fact. The stay of the tide of emigration from Holland after the cession of the colony to the English, the influence of the gov- ernment in favor of the Episcopal Church, and the persistence of our fathers in the use of the Dutch language in their public services for more than a century after the English rule had commenced, nec- essarily retarded the progress of the Church. The Doctor was very urgent in his appeals for more young men to consecrate themselves to the work of the ministry.
The Rev. J. McC. HOLMES, of Hudson, who had married a descendant of the Rev. NICHOLAS VAN V'RANKEN, during the progress of his remarks, exhib-
9
ited a manuscript sermon of that man of God, writ- ten and preached in this place in the year 1792. He also related the fact of a minister between eighty and ninety years of age calling upon him and preaching in his pulpit who ascribed his conversion to the divine blessing on the labors of Mr. VAN VRANKEN.
The exercises were then closed with the apostolic benediction by the Rev. Dr. THOMAS DE WITT.
2
THE DISCOURSE.
HE who relates facts previously unknown which have fallen under his own observation, or which he has learned from chronicles hitherto concealed, or gathered from his intercourse with those who partici- pated in the events narrated, imparts what may be considered original information. Those who derive either benefit or gratification from the narration are debtors to him for an enjoyment they might not otherwise have known. But he who relates the oc- currences of long past years, facts which have been already gathered together and recorded by others, can lay no claim to originality. Other men have labored, and he avails himself of their labors.
This is my position to-day. One hundred and fifty years have elapsed since the organization of the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill, and we have convened this morning to celebrate the anniversary. We do not know, nor is it possible for us to learn, the precise day or even month when the Rev. PE- TRUS VAS, in the name of the Triune God, constitut- ed this church ; for we have to regret a sad careless- ness in keeping, or a shameful neglect in not pre- serving the record of events, a knowledge of which would now be highly appreciated. The year is all
12
we know; the selection of the day is arbitrary on our part.
The present discourse is expected to comprehend the history of the intervening period. The fulfill- ment of the expectation is not without difficulties. For the records of our church, with the exception of a volume in the Dutch language. extending from 1728 to about 1766, are lost and, it is feared. beyond recovery. It is thought that they were taken to Poughkeepsie to be used as testimony in some trial, and through carelessness were left there. Be this as it may, the only records since 1766 in the possession of the church, with the exception of some occasional consistorial minutes, are those which were commenced by my immediate predecessor, the Rev. Dr. GEORGE H. FISHER, in the year 1830. Of the events of the intervening sixty-four years we can only ac- quire information from the printed minutes of Syn- od, the facts which others who have made the history of the times their subject, have brought to light, and the traditionary knowledge extant in the neighborhood.
Several years since the Rev. Dr. MANN, then of Poughkeepsie, lent me his manuscript history of the Dutch Church in that city, from which valuable in- formation was derived. T. VAN WYCK BRINCKER- HOFF, Esq., who, for many years, has made the early history of our town his careful and diligent study, and whose success amply rewards his efforts, has in former years made me acquainted with many facts of much interest, and, for my assistance in the prep- aration of this discourse, has kindly placed in my
13
hands his valuable and instructive lecture on " The Pioneers of the Town." And my friend and neigh- bor, Rev. OLIVER E. COBB, of Hopewell, having prepared a very full and most interesting history of the church under his pastoral care, has, by loaning me his manuscript, furnished a mass of information I could not otherwise have acquired. Availing him- self of every possible opportunity for the attainment of historic knowledge on the subject, by searching all existing records, and personal converse with the many aged ones of his congregation, and with every one whose antecedents gave the least hope of information, his discourse is not only a monument of his patient diligence, but of his marked success. And all connected with the Dutch churches of Fish- kill who cherish an interest in their early history owe him their thanks for his careful and patient re- searches into the history of the past. From the sources of information alluded to, in connection with some others in my possession, I have derived the facts which make up this history of our church, laying claim to no further credit than such as may be awarded to compilation, arrangement, and such research as my opportunities have afforded me.
It appears from ancient records that to FRANCIS ROMBOUT," a resident of the city of New York,
* FRANCIS ROMBOUT was born in Holland, and sent out to the province of New Amsterdam as an apprentice by the Dutch East India Company. On the expiration of his apprenticeship he en- gaged in business on his own account, being associated with GELYN (or GULIAN ) VERPLANCK. This copartnership evidently continued for several years. In September, 1683, he married the Widow HELENA VAN BALL, whose maiden name was T'ELLER, and who, previously to her marriage with Mr. VAN BALL, had been
14
. together with GULIAN VERPLANCK, also a resident of that city, a license was granted by the Governor of the Province in February, 1682, to purchase a tract of land from the Wappinger Indians. This tract, consisting of eighty-five thousand acres, included the whole of Fishkill and East Fishkill, together with some portions of the adjacent towns ; and the purchase was effected during the following year, the same year in which the county received its name of Dutchess. Seventy-six thousand of these acres were in Fishkill and nine thousand within the limits of Poughkeepsie. It is said that in the course of this year a committee was sent from Ulster to examine this tract, with a view to settlement, and that they returned to those who had sent them with the re- port that the land was not worth crossing the river for.
In October, 1685, this tract-the Indians having received what was considered a fair equivalent for it- was conveyed by letters patent from KING JAMES II, under the broad seal of the Province of New York, to FRANCIS ROMBOUT, STEPHEN VAN CORTLANDT, and JACOBUS KIP. Mr. VERPLANCK having died in the interval, Mr. KIP, who had married his widow, was associated with ROMBOUT and VAN CORTLANDT to represent the children of Mr. VERPLANCK and take
the Widow BOGARDUS. KATHARINA ROMBOUT was their only child. Mr. ROMBOUT was an Alderman of the city of New York in the years 1673. '76, '77, '78, '86, and '87. He was also Mavor in 1679. In January, 1691, he executed his last will, in which he speaks of his gift to his daughter KATHARINA, of his land in the Wappins, i.e., the land purchased from the Wappinger Indians. During the year 1691 he died, his widow entering an inventory of his effects January 22, 1692.
15
care of their interests. ROMBOUT's share in this patent was transmitted to his daughter, well known among us by the name of Madame BRETT," and it was in her name conveyances were made to the purchasers of the lands. Yet her father's name long continued to designate the original purchase. In 1737 the county, including Putnam, which had been previous- ly divided into three wards, was, by an act of the Legislature, divided into seven precincts, one of these. including the territory now occupied by Fishkill and East Fishkill. receiving the name of the Rombout Precinct.
In 1714 the whole county of Dutchess contained only four hundred and forty-five inhabitants and sixty-seven heads of families. The whole amount of taxable property in 1717 was £1.300 ($3,250). The Dutch church nearest to this town was that at New Paltz. The churches of Poughkeepsie and Fishkill were organized in 1716, yet seven years
KATHARINA ROMBOUT was born in the city of New York. At the age of sixteen she was married to ROGER BRETT, a native of England. They had three sons. A few vears after her mar- riage she removed with her husband to Fishkill, making Dutchess county her permanent residence. Her husband, ROGER BRETT, as he was returning from a visit to New York, was knocked over- board by the boom of the sloop in which he had taken passage and drowned just as the vessel was entering the mouth of the Fishkill creek. He was buried in the graveyard at the Landing, near the residence of the NEWLINS. Madame BRETT died in The Fishkill in the spring of 1764, at the age of eighty. weather being very cold at the time of her death, the body was kept for a week, at the expiration of which time it was buried under the church at Fishkill, near the pulpit. Her will was exe- cuted December 13, 1763, and the following persons appointed her executors : FRANCIS BRETT, Colonel JOHN BRINCKERHOFF, Captain ELIEZER DUBOIS, and PETER DUBOIS, of Rombout Pre- cinct.
.
16
subsequently, in 1723. there were only one hundred and ninety-five taxable inhabitants in the county. After this the population appears to have increased with considerable rapidity.
From their organization in 1716, the churches of Poughkeepsie and Fishkill formed a collegiate charge, being served by one pastor and having at least some of their property in common. This union continued till 1772 .*
In the volume of records in our possession the names of the following persons are registered as the Consistory of this church. April 17, 1730 : ABRAHAM BRINCKERHOFF and HENDRICK PHILLIPS, Deacons : PETER DUBOYS and ABRAHAM BUYS. Elders. The first marriage recorded is dated 7th October. 1731. In 1846 a gentleman called on me to inquire whether we could prove the marriage of two persons whose names he gave. On searching the records I found the names registered as having been united in marriage in 1742. Soon after, being requested again to examine the records that it might be known whether any children of this couple had been bap- tized, I found that two of their children had been dedicated to the Lord in this ordinance. Having, according to request, furnished an official certificate of the fact. I was informed that one of these chil-
In a minute of a meeting of the Consistory of this church, recorded in the Treasurer's book, dated 22d September, 1789, we find that the " Consistory appointed a committee of two to visit Poughkeepsie and inquire into the state of the glebe belong- ing to the churches of Poughkeepsie and Fishkill" and, at a meet- ing in June, 1790, the " Consistory resolved to dispose of their right in the glebe at Poughkeepsie for £50."
17
dren, who had been baptized just a hundred years previously, was still living at Fishkill Landing .*
The first minute of a consistorial meeting is dated Poughkeepsie, December 22. 1745, and is signed by B. MEYNEMA, Preacher in Poughkeepsie and Fish- kill.
In this volume a copy of the call on JACOBUS VAN- NIST, Ministerii Candidatus, is recorded, dated November 28, 1758, and attested to be a true copy by the members of the Consistory, under their own signatures.
The first baptism is recorded as having taken place Sunday, October 10, 1731. The first name of a church member bears date September 30, 1727.
Although religious services were without doubt observed as opportunities offered, it was probably not till 1731 that the first edifice for the worship of the Triune God was built. In the Documentary History of New York, vol. iii., p. 974, there is re- corded the petition of the Elders and Deacons of the Dutch Reformed Protestant Church of the Fish Creek, in Dutchess county, in the Province of New York, bearing date 28th June, 1731, and addressed to his Excellency JOHN MONTGOMERIE, Esq. In this petition they state that the members of the said congregation being in daily expectation of a minis- ter from Holland have agreed among themselves to erect and build a convenient church for the public worship of God nigh the said Fish Creek but, find- ing that the said building will be very chargeable,
* The parties were ISAAC VAN TYN and MOLLIE BOGARDUS. The child's name, RACHEL.
3
18
they most humbly pray for license to be granted to collect, gather, and receive the benevolence and free gifts of all such inhabitants of the province as shall be willing to contribute somewhat toward the erect- ing and building such church." In 1736, though the edifice had been built, the church was not yet incorporated. I have a copy of a bond given in that year by ABRAHAM BRINCKERHOFF to certain parties acting as representatives of the church, from which it appears that a church had already been built, and that the said ABRAHAM BRINCKERHOFF had. with the money advanced by the congregation, pur- chased two tracts of land, the one of CATHARINA BRETT, containing seven acres and almost a half : the other of JOHANNES TER BOS, Esq., containing three- quarters of an acre and fifteen rods. the deed of which property had been made in his name: which tract, with the church and dwelling-house thereon, he bound himself, under the penalty of $800 of cur- rent money of the Province of New York, to con- vey to the church as soon as its incorporation should be obtained.
The first church was built of stone, with port- holes in the wall. The roof came up from each side to the centre of the building. The window- sashes were made of iron, or some kind of metal. the panes of glass being very small. A small cupola was on the top of the building in which the bell was hung.
When this bell became unserviceable is not known. My informant remembers seeing it during her childhood in the lower part of the present church
19
building, and to have heard that an effort, though unsuccessful, had been made to saw off the cracked portion. About 1822 a bell was purchased, which was the first ever hung in the steeple of this build- ing. In 1839 this became unserviceable, and the bell since and now used was purchased and hung in its place. The first church fronted on the street, and when it became necessary to erect a larger and more commodious edifice, and the present building was reared, as much as could be was retained of the original walls.
But before entering on the more particular history of this church, it may be well to give a brief sketch of the two parties, Coetus and Conferentie, whose divisions of sentiment most sadly distracted and rent the Dutch Church in this country. From the time the feet of our emigrant fathers had pressed this soil the Reformed Dutch had been the established Church, and was considered a branch of the National Church of Holland. On the cession of the colony to Great Britain in the treaty of capitulation, signed August 27. 1664, it was expressly stipulated that "the Dutch shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in divine worship and church discipline." From the first settlement of the country the churches had looked to the Classis of Amsterdam for clerical sup- plies, and ministers were ordained by this Classis with the approbation of the Synod of North Holland. and then sent to preach the word of life to our fathers. This arrangement, though attended with much incon- venience, continued till 1737, ordinations being occa- sionally performed in America, but only by the ad-
20
vice and with the consent of the Classis of Amster- dam. In 1737 a few ministers met in the city of New York, and formed the plan of a Coetus, or an assembly of ministers and elders, subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam. This plan, being submitted to the churches and receiving their hearty concurrence, was adopted at a large meeting of ministers and eld- ers held during the following year, and sent to the parent Classis for their approbation. Nine years elapsed ere an answer was received. This being fa- vorable, the first meeting of the Coetus was held in New York in September, 1747. At this meeting the Rev. B. MEYNEMA, the second pastor of our church, with his elder, HENDRICK VAN DEN BERG, were pres- ent. The powers of this Coetus were, however, ex- ceedingly limited. It could neither ordain to the ministry nor decide ecclesiastical disputes without the consent of the Classis of Amsterdam. Fraternal intercourse and counsel were the main benefits de- rived from it. The churches in this land, continually in- creasing in number, and, hence, finding their necessities multiplied, became painfully sensible of their need of some different arrangements for their general govern- ment and ministerial supplies ; and this feeling, con- stantly growing, led, in 1753, to a proposition in Coetus to form a regular Classis. In the Coetus of the next year a plan for such an organization was submitted, and sent to the churches for their ap- proval. Of this plan the ministers who had been by especial license ordained in this country, and the various congregations who felt the inconvenience of the existing arrangements, were the chief advocates,
21
while some few of the clergy who had been ordained in Europe supported it to the extent of their ability. But the majority were bitterly opposed to this mea- sure ; and in the next year, 1755, the opponents of an independent Classis organized their party, to which they gave the name of Conferentie. Then began that unhappy strife which continued to rage and to distract the churches to the endangering of their very exist- ence ; until healed in 1772, principally through the wisdom and prudence of our beloved and revered father, the Rev. Dr. JOHN H. LIVINGSTON. To the effects of this strife on our own church I shall have occasion hereafter to recur.
The churches of Poughkeepsie and Fishkill were organized by the Rev. PETRUS VAS in the year 1716. He was the fifth pastor of the church at Kingston, where he exercised his ministry from 1710 till 1731 or 1732.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.