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Gc 974.702 N422neb 1714731
M. L:
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02233 7007
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE SOUTH CHURCH (REFORMED) OF NEW YORK CITY -
Printed Caster, 1887
NISI
FRUSTRAT
DOMINUS
Een-dracht maakt macht:
-
Gc 974.702 N422 neb
NEW YORK GILLISS BROTHERS & TURNURE, THE ART AGE PRESS 400 & 402 WEST 14TH STREET
Upon the 20th of February, 1887, Commemos ratibe Services were held to celebrate the Sebenty: fifth Anniversary of the Separation of the Church from the other Collegiate Churches.
In connection with this Anniversary it was decided to print this sketch of our history.
The facts mere compiled by mr. Frederic C. White, Clerk of the Consistory, with the assistance of the Pastor.
1714731
Organization
HE Congregation was organized as a sepa- rate Church upon the 18th of March, 1812, under the corporate title which is still hers of :
The Ministers, Elders and Deacons of the
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in Garden Street in the City of pem Work.
The Seal of the Church, adopted at the same time, is appended.
RC
CHU
ER.
SEAL OF
1812
GARDEN STREET. N.Y
1
Contents
HE following are the important facts of the history of the Church as recorded in this sketch. In observing the divisions into chapters, it will be noticed that the seventy-five years of our separate existence are natur- ally divided into three quarter centuries, each associ- ated with one Pastorate.
PAGE
Church first established in New York, 1628, . 7 South Church separated from its Collegiate connection, Febru- ary 18, 1812, 14 ·
Incorporated as Independent Church, March 18, 1812, 19
Dr. Mathews installed Pastor, July 4, 1813, . 21
Dr. Hutton called as Associate Pastor, October 1, 1834, . ·
25
Church building destroyed by fire, December 16, 1835, 27 Church in Murray street dedicated, December 24, 1837, 3I
Dr. Macauley installed Pastor, April 15, 1838, . . 32
Church on Fifth avenue completed, June 1, 1849, · 39
Dr. Rogers installed Pastor, June 1, 1862, ·
41
Dr: Terry installed Pastor, October 23, 1881, .
·
47
History of the Sunday School, .
.
49
Officers of the Church,
· 53
6
CONTENTS-ILLUSTRATIONS
Etching of Present Church,
. Frontispiece . FACING PAGE
The Old Church in the Battery Fort,
7
The First Church in Garden Street,
IO
The Second Church in Garden Street,
. 14
Portrait of Dr. James M. Mathews,
· 20
Portrait of Dr. M. S. Hutton,
. 24
The Morning after the Fire,
· 29
Portrait of Dr. J. M. Macauley,
· 32
The Church in Murray Street,
· 36
Portrait of Dr. E. P. Rogers,
· 42
Interior of the Present Church,
· 48
The ol chis
Rockwood Auto-type.
THE OLD CHURCH IN THE BATTERY FORT.
The First Church in New York City
ON the sixteenth century the term Reform- ers was applied to those Christians who denied the authority of the Pope and rejected the unscriptural doctrines of the Church of Rome. The Reformation rapidly advanced in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Scotland and England, through the labors of Calvin, Zuinglius, Knox, Cranmer and others. The term Dutch was ap- plied to that branch of the Reformed Church which was organized in Holland. The Reformed Church in Holland soon became distinguished for her well-trained theologians, her devoted Pastors, and the purity of faith and practical godliness which characterized her. She was the refuge of the persecuted Huguenots, the Waldenses, the Covenanters of Scotland, and the Puri- tans of England.
In 1621, the Dutch West India Company was organ- ized, and by its agency the permanent settlement of New York was effected in 1623. In 1626 the first religious meetings of which any record is left were held in the upper room of a horse-mill built by Francis Molemaker near the Fort on the Battery. Sebastian
8
THE FIRST CHURCH
Jansen Krol and Jan Huyghens, had supplied the want of a Pastor by reading to the people on Sundays, pas- sages of Scripture and the Creed. These two men with the Director Minuit were chosen members of Consistory. Minuit had been an Elder, and Huyghens a Deacon in Holland. Thus there was a sort of official connection with the mother Church, and thus the lay readers of the infant settlement were made office bearers in the new Church.
On the 7th of April 1628, Rev. Jonas Michaelius arrived from Holland with his family ; and on the fol- lowing IIth of August he wrote to a clerical friend in Amsterdam, giving an account of his establishing the Church, and stating that "at the first Communion there were full fifty communicants of whom a portion made their first confession of faith at that time, and others exhibited their Church Certificates. Some had forgotten to bring their Certificates with them, not thinking that a Church would be formed and estab- lished here, and others had brought them and lost them, but were admitted on the satisfactory testimony of others to whom they were known and also upon their daily good deportment; since we cannot observe strictly all the usual formalities in making a beginning under such circumstances."
In 1633 Rev. Everardus Bogardus with Governor Wouter Van Twiller, and the school-master Adam Roelandson arrived, and a plain wooden building was put up for religious services on the shore of the East River, in what is now Broad street between Pearl and Bridge streets. In 1642 the colonists became dissatis-
9
IN NEW YORK CITY
fied with this Church edifice. "It was a shame," they said, " that they should worship in a mean barn when they had plenty of fine wood and stone, and oyster shells for lime at their very doors." How to get money to build a new Church agitated the people. The Dutch West India Company promised a thousand guilders. A private subscription proved insufficient. Some of the old burghers put their heads together and concocted a stratagem. A daughter of the Dominie was to be married. It was determined to make it a great occasion, and to invite all the citizens. As soon as the festivities reached their height the subscription paper was produced. Emulation was aroused, and the guests vied with each other in the sums set down to their names. The amount was raised, but some of the donors were afterwards very sore over their liberality. The Church was built within the Fort. It was of stone, seventy feet long, fifty-two feet wide, sixteen feet high, and cost twenty-five hundred guilders, about 1,081 dollars. A marble slab was inserted in the front wall, on which was the inscription :
An. Dom. MDCXLII. W. Kieft. Dir. Gen. Heeft de germeenten dese Tempel doen bouwen.
"In the year of our Lord 1642, W. Kieft, Director- General, have the people built this Church."
The usefulness of Dominie Bogardus was impaired by wordy troubles between him and certain individuals and the Governor. In 1647 he took passage for Hol- land to meet charges presented to the Classis of Am- sterdam, and make explanations. Gov. Kieft went in the same vessel. It was lost at sea, and all on board
IO
THE FIRST CHURCH
were drowned. Soon after this sad catastrophe the Rev. Joannes Megapolensis was about returning to Holland from Albany, and while in New York, or New Amsterdam as it was then called, he was strongly pressed by the people to take charge of the Church. He consented although his wife had already gone to Holland.
In 1652 Rev. Samuel Drisius became Colleague Pas- tor. In 1670 on the death of Megapolensis and the sickness and debility of Drisius, inducing a pressing want of ministerial service, a call was made upon Rev. Henricus Selyns, and in 1681 he responded favorably and became the Pastor. He was sole Pastor of the Church from 1681 to 1699. In 1687 a subscription was circulated for a new Church, the old one in the Fort being inconveniently located and falling into decay, and the popularity of Selyns called for more spacious accommodations. In 1690 the Church was built on the upper side of Garden street, now Exchange Place, and between the present Broad and William streets and adjacent to the orchard of Elizabeth Drisius, and the gardens belonging to the dwelling houses on Wall street. It is interesting, however, to note that a portion of the congregation contended that the place was too far out of town. The Church cost 64,178 guilders, about 28,000 dollars. It was solid and substantial, and built in the Dutch style of architecture with round arch windows and imposing bell tower; the panes of the windows were set in lead. The Pulpit, bell, and several escutcheons were removed from the Church in the Fort and were placed in this edifice. On the bell was the
VL VI
=
.9047.DE
THE FIRST CHURCH IN GARDEN STREET.
II
IN NEW YORK CITY
inscription, Dulcior e nostris tinnitibus resonat aer. P. Henomy me fecit. 1676. It was opened for service in 1693, and in 1696 the Church membership was incor- porated by charter granted by King William III., May II, 1696, which charter was ratified by the Colo- nial Legislature December 5, 1753.
In 1694 the year following the building of the Church, a silver Baptismal Basin was procured at a cost of sixty-three Holland guilders, about $27.00, which is still in use in our Church ; the only sacred relic of those early times which we have retained.
Around the border of the Basin is written the fol- lowing poetical verse in Low Dutch, composed by Dominie Selyns :
"Op' t bloote water stelt geen hoop T' was beter nooyt geboren Maer ziet iets meerder in de doop, (Zoo gaet men noyt verloren ;) Hoe Christus met zyn dierbaer bloedt, My rienigt van myn zonden,
En door zyn geest my leven doet En wast myn vuyle wolden."
The late Dr. De Witt thus gives the sentiment con- tained in these words :
"On the mere water (or external ordinance) hope of freedom from condemnation cannot rest. But on carefully considering the nature and uses of Baptism, faith apprehends that Christ, by His precious blood, cleanses us from the guilt and malady of sin, and causes us to live unto God by His Spirit."
In 1699 Rev. Gualterus Dubois became Associate Pastor. Selyns died in 1701, and Dubois succeeded to the sole charge. In 1714 Rev. Henricus Boel was as-
12
THE FIRST CHURCH
signed as his Colleague. In 1720 Governor Burnet brought over what was probably the first organ used in this city, and in 1728 he gave it to this Church.
This organ was in use at the commencement of the Revolution, but at its close was not to be found, and no traces of it were ever discovered. It is supposed that its fate was similar to that of the pulpit of the North Church in Fulton street, which disappeared at the same time, only to be discovered some years after- ward in use in a Parish Church in England.
In 1729 a portion of the congregation branched off and built a Church in Nassau street, extending from Liberty street to Cedar street. In 1741 the old Church in the Fort was destroyed by fire, and in 1787 when the foundations of the Fort were removed, the marble slab heretofore mentioned was found and placed in the belfry of the Church in Garden street.
Johannes Ritzema and Lambertus De Ronde suc- ceeded Dubois, who died in 1751, and Boel, who died in 1754.
In 1764 Rev. Archibald Laidlie arrived from the Church at Flushing, Holland, and became the Pastor. He was powerful and persuasive in speech and manner, and a large measure of spiritual blessing rested upon his labors.
In 1767 another portion of the congregation branched off and built a Church on the corner of Fulton and Will- iam streets. The three Churches were thereafter des- ignated as the North Dutch Church, the Middle Dutch Church and the South Dutch Church ; all under one governing body, with the corporate title "The
13
IN NEW YORK CITY
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the city of New York."
After the death of Laidlie in 1778 and during the Revolutionary war no services were held in the Church.
In 1789 Gerardus A. Kuyper, of Paramus, New Jersey, became Pastor, and the last sermon in the Dutch language in the Church was preached by him in 1803.
In 1807 a new Church was erected on the site of the old one in Garden street. It was sixty-six feet long and fifty feet wide, with a circular rear. The old bell was rehung. It was suggested by some persons that the bell was too small, and that a larger one should be substituted in its place. Judge Benson was at this time an Elder, and he insisted that the bell should re- main where it was, that it came from Holland, and was the first of the kind used in this city, that its silver tones had struck the ears of the native Indians, and for antiquity's sake it ought not to be replaced by modern castings. It remained in use until destroyed with the church in the fire of 1835.
The First Quarter Century of Our Separate Existence
HE most interesting event to the present congregation in our past history, is the separation of the mother congregation in Garden street from its collegiate connec- tion, and our organization as a separate and independ- ent Church.
The first public action looking to such a result appears in the following :
Memorial.
December 27, 18II.
At a meeting of a number of the pew-holders in the South Church in Garden street, convened by previous notice at Bridge Street Academy, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of a severance of the South Church from the Collegiate system.
John Suydam was chosen Chairman, and George Brinckerhoff Secretary.
When the following MEMORIAL was presented, read and ap- proved :
To the Ministers, Elders, and Deacons of the Reformed Prot- estant Dutch Church in the city of New York in Consistory con- vened :
THE SECOND CHURCH IN GARDEN STREET.
15
THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
The MEMORIAL of the undersigned, members of the congre- gation of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the city of New York, respectfully showeth : That your Memorialists from the experience of recent years are convinced that much practical good would result from a severance of the connection at present existing between the Churches in this city, under the denomination of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the city of New York.
It has not escaped the observation of your Memorialists, and from the notoriety of the fact, they presume it to be within the knowledge of the Consistory that for years past, some who were regularly constituted members of the Church, others who were in the habit of a regular attendance on Divine worship, and many who from their parentage or family connections were presumed to have attached themselves to, and regularly attended Divine Service in one or other of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Churches in this city, have either wholly withdrawn themselves from, or discovered by their partial and irregular attendance, such an indifference and want of zeal for the prosperity of the Church as ought to awaken the most serious apprehension for its welfare.
In thus directing the attention of the Consistory to what your Memorialists cannot but consider in reference to the concerns of the Church, a lamentable state of depression, they expressly disclaim the intention of developing the causes which in their opinion have produced it ; such a disclosure would not only be invidious, but might possibly prove prejudicial to the object they have in view. It may however be remarked, that those causes would no longer have any operative effect, when by granting the request of your Memorialists the reasons which foster them would cease to have their influence.
Many of your Memorialists are proprietors of pews in the South Church in Garden street, and others of them contemplate purchasing pews in that Church should the application which is now submitted to the Consistory prove successful.
Your Memorialists therefore respectfully pray that the South Church in Garden street, with its cemetery and appurtenances be
16
THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
secured (in such manner as the Consistory may be advised) to such of your Memorialists and to such other persons as are or may be- come proprietors of pews in the Church for a stipulated number of years, upon such terms and on such conditions as may be settled and agreed upon by and between the Consistory and Thomas Storm, Henry J. Wyckoff and Abraham Brinckerhoff, Jr., a committee from the body of your Memorialists, authorized by them to carry into full effect the object contemplated by this Memorial.
Educated and instructed in the Doctrines and Discipline of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, the attachments of your Me- morialists would naturally have disposed them to have formed permanent establisments in the city for themselves and their fam- ilies. Hitherto for reasons which have been too generally dissemi- nated to be again repeated, such establishments have been either wholly avoided or partially made. Their necessity however, is now enforced as well by the duty as the inclination of your Memorialists.
By a dissolution of the Collegiate connection and a separation of the South Church from the other Churches in the city in connec- tion with it, the clouds which hang so heavily over the church would, in the opinion of your Memorialists, be dissipated.
Such a dissolution, by enabling your Memorialists to select a Minister whose time and talents would be exclusively devoted to his hearers, by affording them a house of worship to which they might resort with an assurance of hearing the Preacher thus selected, by easing the disquietude of some, by silencing the clam- ors of others, by reclaiming the wandering and by confirming the wavering, would, under the blessing of Divine Providence, banish the fears and brighten the hopes and prospects of those who feel a deep interest in the welfare of the Church.
On a body composed of enlightened and liberal men, considera- tions of a nature so forcible and impressive cannot fail to have their influence.
To the good sense and reflection of such a body influenced by enlightened and liberal principles, your Memorialists address them-
17
OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
selves, under a full confidence that the considerations which they have submitted will receive their due weight, and as in duty bound they will ever pray.
To this Memorial the following names were signed : Garrit B. Abeel, Abraham Brinkerhoff, James Bailey, John H. Bailey, George Brinkerhoff, Henry Beekman, Jesse Baldwin, Mathias Bruen, John J. Brown, Michael Burnham, Egbert Benson, William Coit, William Chap- man, John Clark, Jr., John Y. Cebra, Laurence V. De Forest, Phineas Freeman, S. Gould, Isaac Heyer, W. S. Herriman, Walter W. Heyer, Jeromus Johnson, William G. Jones, John Kane, John King, Jr., James W. Lent, Joseph Lloyd, John N. Luff, John A. Lent, A. H. Laurence, John T. Laurence, Samuel McCoun, John Manley, John Nitchie, Peter J. Nevius, James Oakley, Isaac Plum, David Perine, Peter Remsen, Daniel Remsen, Jacob Rezeau, Elbert Roosevelt, James J. Roosevelt, William Radcliff, Jr., Paul Rap- elye, John Suydam, Garrit Storm, John F. Suydam, John Stoutenburgh, Cornelius Schmerhorn, Jr., Thomas Storm, Peter A. Schenck, George H. Stanton, Daniel Strang, Ferdinand Suydam, Henry Suydam, Jacob L. Sebring, John J. Sickles, Peter H. Schenck, Francis Saltus, Abraham A. Slover, Stephen Storm, Jacob Tallman, John V. B. Varick, C. S. Van Winkle, Thodore V. W. Varick, Abraham Varick, A. Voorhees, Peter Van Winkle, Cortlandt Van Buren, Cornelius Van Cleef, Henry J. Wyckoff, Augustus Wynkoop.
In response to this Memorial a committee was ap- pointed by the Consistory of the Collegiate Church to confer with the committee of the Memorialists.
18
THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
After several conferences the two committees agreed upon a plan of separation, containing among other con- ditions the following :
That the lease be given to the Consistory to be organized for the South Church for the term of 999 years.
That the ground now inclosed as the church-yard be not used for any other purpose than interring the dead.
That a bond be given by the ruling Consistory for the re- payment of the money for which pews had already been sold, amounting to $14,832.93, to bear date from the commencement of the salary of the Minister who shall accept a call in said Church.
That the Consistory of the South Church when organized do not call any of our present Ministers as the Minister of said Church.
The lease here referred to was regarded as a virtual giving up the property to the new organization; a transfer of the deeds being regarded as impossible under the deed of gift by which it had been ob- tained. The rent to be paid was "One pepper-corn if demanded."
And it was expected that some income would be derived from the interments in the cemetery as well as from the sale and renting of pews.
Upon the 22d of February, 1812, the committee reported to a meeting of pew-holders again convened that the separation had been effected. The Great Consistory of the Collegiate Church approving it at a meeting held January 24th, and the Classis having completed the separation February 18th.
The organization of the new Church was effected March 13, 1812, when the Rev. Gerardus A. Kuypers
19
OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
presided at a meeting of the Memorialists, at which the following were elected officers of the new South Church :
ELDERS.
DEACONS.
THOMAS STORM,
CORNELIUS HEYER,
EGBERT BENSON,
JOHN NITCHIE,
JEESE BALDWIN,
THOMAS BOYD,
PETER DUMONT.
JACOB TALLMAN.
They were regularly installed on Sunday, March 15th, by Dr. Kuypers, and the first meeting of the new Con- sistory was held on the 18th of March, 1812. At this meeting they resolved : " To publish, declare, and make known, to all whom it may concern, that we Elders and Deacons and our successors forever shall be known and distinguished as a body corporate under the name and title of
The ministers, Elders and Deacons
OF THE
Reformed Protestant Dutch Church
IN
Garden Street,
IN THE City of pem Work."
Many of our Congregation are probably ignorant that this is our present corporate title.
The Certificate of Incorporation was recorded in the office of the Clerk of the city of New York, in Liber No. I of Religious De- nominations, on the 21st of March, 1812. On April 8th the follow- ing was selected as the corporate Seal of the Church : " A brass
20
THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
seal of an elliptical shape having for its device a candle-stick with a lighted candle in it, standing on a mosaic pavement. In the space around the blaze of the candle are the Greek words H ATXNIA and in the exergue in Roman characters the words, 'Seal of the R. P. D. Church in Garden street, New York 1812.'"
HE Consistory at once began the search for a proper Pastor, and upon December 22d a call was made upon the Rev. James M. Mathews, D.D. He accepted, and was installed July 4, 1813, and entered with zeal upon the work of building up the Church.
Dr. Mathews was born in Salem New York, March 18, 1785, and graduated from Union College, Schenec- tady, in 1803, and from the Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church in 1807. In 1809 he was appointed assistant professor in the Seminary, and fulfilled the duties of that position until he was called to this Church.
In an address entitled "Fifty Years in New York" delivered in the South Church December 20, 1857, Dr. Mathews thus speaks of his Pastorate :
Our first place of worship was in Garden street, now Exchange Place. The building in which we worshipped had been erected, not because there was a want of religious accommodation for the inhabitants in the vicinity, but because the ground having been once set apart as the site of a Church, the feeling of the times would not allow it to be used for any other purpose. But when the Church was finished and dedicated, the first effort to collect a congregation proved a failure. Stores, even then, were encroaching on the dwellings in that part of the town, and the population con- stantly decreasing. At this juncture, a few gentlemen who had
Rockwood Auto-type.
J.M. Markus
21
OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
previously belonged to the Collegiate Church, and who wished to have an organization and a Pastor of their own, proposed that the building and the adjacent Church grounds should be ceded to them for the purpose contemplated. This was ultimately done, and a new Consistory was organized. The success of the experi- ment, however, was much questioned. Few, indeed, could be induced to attach themselves to an enterprise when the result was thought so doubtful; and when I was called to take charge of the Church, there were but nineteen families to be considered as belonging to it, and at our first Communion the members who sat down to the Lord's table, with the Elders and Deacons, all told, amounted to seventeen in number.
With such small beginnings did we engage in the work of building up what had been for years a waste place in Zion. It was my first parochial charge, the few former years of my public life having been chiefly occupied with the duties of a chair in the only Theological Seminary then in our city. But I willingly em- barked in the service of the small congregation when I understood the character of those who called me to it. Nor was I disappointed in the result.
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