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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY ELLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01179 0182
HISTORY
OF THE
First Presbyterian Church of Albany, N. Y. lot
LISTS OF ITS OFFICERS, AND
COMPLETE CATALOGUE OF ITS MEMBERS
FROM ITS
ORGANIZATION.
PREPARED BY THE PASTOR,
REV. J. McCLUSKY BLAYNEY.
ALBANY : JENKINS & JOHNSTON. 1877.
MCCLUSKY. D BLAYNEY, J
285102 History of the First Presbyterian church of .1 Albany, N.Y. Lists of its officers, and a com- plote catalogue of its members from its organi- zation ... Albany, Jonkins, 1877. 124p.
D 2
34677
NL 36-4184
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoffirstpr00blay_0
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HIE substance of this sketch was delivered to the congregation in a couple of discourses on Sabbath, the 25th of October, 1876, being the seventh anni- versary of the pastor's installation. Its publication has been delayed several months, in hopes that the Records of the old Dutchess County Presbytery might be obtained, which would doubtless furnish some facts concerning the organization of the church nowhere else to be had. They were in posses- sion of Dr. Johnston of Newburg, and his daughter writes that at his death about twenty years ago all Presbyterial documents were passed into the hands of the Stated Clerk of the North River Presbytery. Since that time no trace of them appears. This fact is put on record for the benefit of any future historian of the church.
ALBANY, February 23d, 1877.
HISTORY
OF THE
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
KNOW THEREFORE THAT THE LORD THY GOD, HE IS GOD, THE FAITH- FUL GOD, WHICH KEEPETH COVENANT AND MERCY WITH THEM THAT LOVE HIM AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS TO A THOUSAND GENERA- TIONS. DEUT. 7: 9.
HIE faithfulness of our covenant keeping God is strik- ingly illustrated in the history of every individual church. The establishment of a church in any community is the working of God's providence there accom- plishing the declaration, " I will make known my words unto you." " Every soul added to any church from year to year, and generation to generation, is in remembrance of the Father's great covenant with the Son, " A seed shall serve him," " Thy seed will I establish forever, and build thy throne to all generations. Selah." God's care of all the congregations of his people when they are weak, and in times of trouble, and when errors abound, is the fulfilling of the promise concerning the church that " the gates of hell
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shall not prevail against it." It is good for us, therefore, to " remember the days of old," and " consider the years of many generations," that we may behold in God's gracious dealings with our fathers His never failing faithfulness to his covenant engagements with His Son and His church. In this spirit, let us to-day glance at the history of our own church, and recall the way in which God has cared for it, and led it on from the feeblest beginnings, building it up and mak- ing it strong, until it has become the venerable parent of churches in this community.
The city of Albany dates the beginning of its history back to the year 1611 or 12,1 and next to Jamestown is the oldest settlement in the United States. Its first settlers were Hol- land traders, and for many years, indeed up to 1630, it continued to be little more than a trading post of the Dutch West India Company, named Fort Orange after the Prince of Orange, who at that time presided over the New Nether- lands,- as the Dutch possessions of America were then called. In 1629, a new charter was granted to this company to encourage the settling of colonies in the New Netherlands, ceding large tracts of land to any of its members who within four years would plant a colony of fifty souls, and giving them almost imperial authority over such colonies under the title of " Patroon." The only condition required by this charter,
1 Mather and Brockett's Geography of N. Y.
7
in order to the absolute acquisition of these lands, was that they should be purchased from the Indians, which usually was done with but a few trinkets. Under the operation of this charter, several of the members of the company hastened to become "Patroons of New Netherland." Among this number was Kilaen Van Rensselaer, a wealthy and enter- prising pearl merchant of Amsterdam, and one of the " Lords Directors " of the company. In the year 1630, he, through his agents, purchased a large tract of land on the Hudson river comprising the greater part of this and several adjacent counties, and the same year sent over a colony to settle it; and thus by the terms of the charter became " Patroon." This settlement was henceforth known by the name of Rensselaerswyck, and the hamlet which was gathered on the site of Albany, was called Beaverwyck. Thus the infant city of Albany, and all the surrounding territory, became the private property of one of the directors of the Dutch West India Company; which fact, to a great extent, determined both the civil and religious history of the settlement for well nigh a century.
In the year 1642,1 the Patroon sent over, at his own ex- pense, the first Christian minister of the colony of whom any- thing is certainly known, the Rev. Johannes Megapolensis, a member of the Dutch Classis of Alkmaar, who the next
1 Munsell's Annals.
8
year organized a Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, which is now the large and influential First Reformed Church of this city. Being the only congregation of the colony, it was largely maintained from the public revenues, and even after the British government acquired the possession of the New Netherlands, public aid was allowed. After the incorporation of the city in 1686, a grant of one hundred and fifty acres of land lying westward was made to that church; and, as late as the year 1786, an application was made for an additional grant of two hundred and thirty-seven acres. This seems to have been the occasion of a petition of the members of our own church, which I find recorded on the first page of the Book of Minutes of the Board of Trustees, asking for a similar grant. From the wording of this petition of the Presbyterians however, it would appear that it was designed more to put a stop to such grants of the public domain to particular denominations of Christians than to secure any- thing for themselves. And possibly it is owing to this peti- tion, or protest in effect, that we have not here now a great religious corporation, owning a large proportion of the ground covered by the present city.
Having for many years a monopoly of the religious privi- leges of the settlement, the Dutch Church was slow to re- cognize the rights of other Christian denominations. The first of these, which claimed the right to exist here along
9
side of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, was the Lutheran.
At a very early period, there seems to have been a con- siderable element of this persuasion among the settlers of the colony ; but in all their attempts to organize a church of their own faith, they encountered the determined opposition of the dominant church party. At first they were allowed no privileges whatever. Parents were compelled to have their children baptized in the Dutch Church, and declare their belief in the doctrines of the Synod of Dort, contrary to their convictions. They were "permitted to worship in their own houses,"1 although denied the privilege of assem- bling in a public way. In the year 1664, the province of the New Netherlands came into the possession of the English government, and British rule brought in with it full permis- sion for the Lutherans to worship according to their own predilections,- a proclamation to this effect having been issued by Gov. Lovelace, Oct. 13, 1669. Sometime within the next ten years, the congregation of the Lutherans was organized (the precise date of which is not known), and it has continued with interruptions to the present time, - the Evangelical Lutheran Church on Pine street being its out- growth.
I have already mentioned that in 1664 the Dutch territory 1 Munsell's Annals. 2
10
of America passed into the hands of the English. The name of Beaverwyck was then changed to that of Albany, that being one of the titles of the Duke of York for whom the state was called. With the change of government, the English clement was introduced into the little community. Early in the next century, the place was first visited by missionaries of the Church of England sent out to the Indians by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. In the year 1708, there was a chaplain of the Church of England at the fort who conducted the services in the Dutch language, showing that as yet there was a very small element of English speaking people in the place. For seven years this congregation met in a small Lutheran chapel, and in November 1716 the first English church was opened for service. Soon after this the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel withdrew its sup- port, and the church ceased to have a minister till 1728.1 This organization has its development in the venerable St. Peter's Church on State street.
The next church organized in this city was the First Presbyterian, known for many years as the " Presbyterian Church in the city of Albany."
I have thought fit thus to advert to the settlement of the city, and the organization of its churches hitherto, in order to show the religious condition of the community 1 Munsell's Annuls.
11
when Presbyterianism was introduced; and especially, to account for what seems to some a remarkable fact, that, although Albany is the second oldest settlement in the country, and long one of the most important, no Presbyterian church should have been established here for so long a time after Presbyterianisin had gained a foothold in other parts of the land. It thus appears; that this was peculiarly a Dutch settlement, and had an established church of its own ; that about half a century after the conquest of the colony by the English, there were not even then enough English speak- ing people here to justify the chaplain in the fort in con- ducting the services in the English tongue. Indeed, up to the year 1776, there had not been an English sermon preached in the Reformed Church, and not till 1782, were the services of that church conducted in English.1 The settlement was almost as thoroughly Dutch as Holland itself, and the people were well nigh as universally identified with the Dutch Church as in the mother country. The small English element, which came in with the new government was of course as naturally allied to the Church of England. But now a new religious element is introduced into the commun- ity. During the French war, which continued from 1754 to 1760, several families from the north of Ireland settled here, who had been trained up in the principles of the Church of Munsell's Annals.
12
Scotland. These brought with them their attachment to their church and soon sought to have its worship established among them.
The exact date and circumstances of the organization of the Presbyterian Church in this city, I have not been able to ascertain. The earliest mention I have found of Presbyte- rianism in Albany, is in the Minutes of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, which, before the organization of the General Assembly, was the highest judicatory of the Pres- byterian Church. And to the fact, that the Synod then ex- ercised many of the functions now regarded as belonging exclusively to the Presbyteries, we are indebted for this inci- dental notice of how Presbyterianism here struggled into life. In the records of that Synod, sitting in Philadelphia May 26, 1760, is found this minute - " A very pressing application being made by the English Presbyterian gentlemen of Albany for supplies, the Synod appointed Mr. Hector Alison to sup- ply them till the second Sabbath of July, if it suits his con- venience." Also, at the same session, Revs. Andrew Bay, Wn. Tennant, Kettletas, Woodruff, Smith and Richards, were appointed to supply at Albany on subsequent Sabbaths. The following year, these appointments were reported as having been fulfilled. The Rev. Hector Alison, therefore, was the first Presbyterian minister, of whom we have any information, that ever visited Albany : the time of his visit
13
was June and July of 1760. In all the published notices I have ever seen of the organization of this church, it is uniformly set down as having occurred in the year 1763. But this is probably a mistake ; and has grown out of the fact, that in October of that year, a deed was executed by the corporation of the city to Jomm Macomb, David Edgar, Samuel Holladay, Robert Henry, Abraham Lyle, and John Munro, as trustees of the Presbyterian congregation of Al- bany, for a lot of ground on which to build a house of worship.
The organization of the church, however, was probably ef- fected a year or more earlier. Among some old files of papers, belonging to the Presbytery of Albany, and preserved in the fire proof building of Union College, I found a brief manu- script sketch of the history of this church, which was pre- pared by the Rev. John McDonald, the first pastor of the church after the revolution, and reported to Presbytery in 1793. In this sketch it is stated, that the Presbyterian families in Albany, "in 1762, associated themselves into a religious society and solicited subscriptions for building a church." It would therefore appear; that from June 1760, there was preaching here by supplies appointed by Synod ; and, that in 1762, organization of some sort was effected, al- though, as the church had as yet no Presbyterial connection, that organization was not perfect as we now understand it.
The first Presbyterial relation of this church was with
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14
the Dutchess County Presbytery ; which was informally or- ganized in October of 1762, and in the spring of 1763, was recognized by Synod. Webster, in his history of the Pres- byterian Church, refers to the manuscript Minutes of the Presbytery, and says that soon after its organization, "they received the church in Albany under their care with its minister William Hanna." But the reference of this quotation is so vague, it is of no special value in determining the exact date of the first connection of this church with Presbytery. It serves, however to indicate that somewhere about the latter part of 1762 or the early part of 1763, this church came into Presbyterial relations. In May, 1775, the church petitioned Synod to be transferred from the Dutchess County Presbytery to the Presbytery of New York ; which request was granted, and its connection continued to be with the New York Presbytery till the erec- tion of the Presbytery of Albany in 1790.
1
(3) ROMEYN
() BTANSBORY.
(1) McDONALD
(7) CAMPBELL.
(2) NOTT,
(+) NEILL
ny) WEED,
(4) LPDLOW
(9) BLAYNEY.
MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH.
1 REV. WILLIAM HANNA.
T is uniformly stated that the Rev. William Hanna was the first pastor of this church. John McDonald, in his sketch to Presbytery in 1793, states that " William Hanna, a candidate for the Gospel ministry, received a call from the congregation, and was ordained and installed their pastor." But this must be a mistake. The name of William Hanna never appears in the roll of the ministers of the Presbyterian church excepting in connec- tion with the Dutchess County Presbytery ; and that he was not ordained by that Presbytery, is evident from a minute I find in the Records of the Synod for 1766. It is as fol- lows :- " The Dutchess County Presbytery reported that since their organization they had received into their number William Hanna and Mr. Dunlap, ordained Mr. Wheeler Case, and licensed Jolm Clove." Mr. Hanna, therefore, was not ordained by that Presbytery, or the fact would have been so reported along with that of the ordination of Mr. Case; but he was "received" into Presbytery as a regularly ordained minister from some other body. And, that he was never regularly installed pastor of the
1
16
church is shown by the fact, that no report of his installa- tion was ever made by Presbytery to Synod according to the custom of the times. He, however, exercised all the functions of the pastoral office during his stay among this people, which lasted about two years. It was during his ministry the first house of worship was built. Soon after the termination of his connection with this church his labors as a Gospel minister seem to have ended.1
2. REV. ANDREW BAY.
The name of Andrew Bay first appears in the roll of Pres- byterian ministers, in connection with the Synod of New York in 1748. He had, therefore, been about twenty years in the exercise of his ministry in connection with the Pres- byterian church in this country, before coming to this city. For several years after the removal of Mr. Hanna, the church was left without the stated ministry of the word - the Synod in response to applications from the church, sending them occasional supplies. In 1767, it was reported to Synod that many vacancies existed in the neighborhood of Albany ; and Mr. Kennedy was appointed "missionary in those parts." Dr. Rodgers, also, in response to a request from Albany, was appointed to take a journey "to Albany and adjacent places " and supply. In 1768, the Synod appointed Mr.
1 Minutes of Synod of New York and Philadelphia for 1768.
-
17
Bay, a member of the New Castle Presbytery in Pennsyl- vania,- who had previously been appointed to make long missionary tours through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia - to make a journey to the northward and " sup- ply vacancies above the city of Albany for six Sabbaths." It was probably during this missionary tour in the summer of 1868, that Andrew Bay visited the Albany church, then vacant, and began his ministry in this place. The next I can find of him, he appears in Synod at Philadelphia in 1770 " from the church of Albany with his elder Robert Henry." The church at this time made to Synod a state- ment of their financial distress, and asked to be recommended to the churches for help; which was done.
Mr. Bay continued his labors here for about five years ; but he was never regularly installed pastor of the church, as is generally stated, because at no time did he become a mem- ber of the Presbytery to which this church at that time belonged. After his removal from Albany, he labored some years with the church at Newtown within the bounds of the Presbytery of New York, and in the year 1776, because of a decision of Synod against him, he solemnly announced to that body liis determination to withdraw from their jurisdic- tion, and his name disappears from the roll of the ministers of our denomination.
From the departure of Mr. Bay till the close of the revo- 3
.
-
18
lutionary war, there was no regular minister with this church. The people were supplied occasionally with preaching by missionaries journeying in this direction, and by special appointments of Synod. Although without a pastor, it is stated upon what I regard as trust-worthy authority, that the meetings of the congregation for prayer were regularly maintained during the entire period of the war; and, that it was the only church in the city whose public services were not all intermitted. No records of the church were kept up to this time, or at least none were preserved.
..
3. REV. JOHN McDONALD.
The first regularly installed pastor of this church was the Rev. John McDonald. He was a licentiate of the church of Scotland, under the care of the Presbytery of New York, when, on the 12th of July, 1785, a call from this church was made for his pastoral services. He was ordained to the Gospel ministry and installed pastor of this people on the 8th of November, 1785. From this time forward the stated ministry of the Word has been regularly maintained. About eighteen months after the installation of Mr. McDonald, we have the first intimation of the size of the church. The first communion under Mr. McDonald's ministry was on the 15th of April, 1787. The number of communicants, who partook of the Lord's Supper at that time, was one hundred
.
19
and sixteen. Since then the number of additions to the church from time to time is regularly given, and after Sep- tember, 1795, we have the names also.
The relative strength of the different religious denomina- tions of this city, as represented to Presbytery by Mr. Mc- Donald in 1793, was as follows : - " Divide the city into ten equal parts. Of these the Dutch have at least four parts in numbers, and in wealth a much greater proportion. The Presbyterians will hardly claim full three parts in numbers, and still less in real wealth. Two parts of the inhabitants will be the full proportion of the Episcopal church; but in real wealth they will reach higher. The Lutherans, German Calvinists, and Methodists, will amount to no more than one of these parts of the inhabitants, but not perhaps near that proportion of the real wealth of the whole." Thus from this . estimate, it would appear that the Presbyterian church had already outstripped the Episcopal and Intheran churches, which had the start by more than half a century, and was fast gaining on the progress of the Dutch Reformed Church with the advantage of more than a century of a start. In the year 1790, the Presbytery of Albany was erected by the decree of Synod, and held its first meeting in this city and John McDonald was chosen its first Moderator.
The pastorate of Mr. McDonald continued till September, 1795, when Presbytery dissolved the relation. He after-
20
wards preached a number of years in Albany, and gathered about him the nucleus of what is now the United Presby- terian Church, on Lancaster street. He died here, Septem- ber Ist, 1821. Ile was a man of great power and popularity, and lived and died with the esteem and affection of a large circle of friends.
4. REV. DAVID S. BOGART.
After the retirement of Mr. MeDonald, the church was again for nearly three years without a settled pastor ; although a portion of this time it enjoyed the stated ministry of Mr. David S. Bogart, then a licentiate of the Dutch Classis of New York. All accounts make the period of his labors with this people about two years, when in reality it was scarcely
one. He was supplying the Presbyterian church of South- ampton, L. 1., when on Sept. 27th, 1796, the call of this church was made out for his pastoral services. " After much consideration in his own mind, and consultation with judi- cious friends,"1 he concluded to accept this call and remove to Albany, " where he arrived in the beginning of January, 1797."1 In August, of the same year, not yet having been installed pastor, he signified to Presbytery his determination to decline the call of the Albany church, assigning as his reason in a letter to Presbytery, " ill health, apprehension of 1 Funeral Sermon of Mr. Bogart preached by Dr. De Witt of N. Y.
21
inability to discharge the duties of the office in such a man- ner as would be expected of him, and changed circumstances in the congregation." Ile returned to Southampton in De- cember of the same year he had left there.1 He continued in charge of that church for sixteen years, refusing a number of calls to other places on account of the affection of his peo- ple, and spending a long and most useful life in the service of that and several other churches in that region. He was a man of the most scholarly attainments, and popular both as a preacher and pastor, wherever he labored. He died in New York, July 10th, 1839, in his seventieth year.
5. REV. ELIPHALET NOTT, D.D., LL.D.
In August, 1797, Mr. Nott, a young man and a licentiate of the Congregational Association of New London, was re- ceived under the care of Presbytery. For about a year he preached mostly to the congregation of Cherry Valley, occa- sionally supplying at Albany. The following year a call was made by this church for his pastoral services, and on October 3d, 1798, his installation took place. Standing where we do to-day- looking back over his splendid career as preacher, educator and philanthropist - the fame of his name still re- verberating through the land -it may seem strange tous that any opposition should have been made to his settlement as I Letter of his daughter.
22
pastor here. But the fact may here be stated ; because it can now work no injury to his venerated name fortified around with the record of his usefulness : and especially, be- cause it serves to illustrate conspicuously how much better it is for a minority in a church to acquiesce in the decision of the majority lawfully expressed, accepting it as the will of the Great Head of the church. The brief pastorate of Mr. Nott was a most fortunate circumstance in the history of this church. But the great promise of this young man did not at first appear to all the people. A most determined opposition was made to his settlementover this charge, which at one time seriously threatened the continued unity of the congregation - a portion of the people going so far as to peti- tion the trustees for the use of the old house of worship, that they might organize a new church, and " get another min- ister to suit themselves." The minister to suit them, they describe to be, "one who will compose with accuracy, speak correctly, and preach without reading." But he rapidly grew in the community, attracted large congregations, and built up for himself a high reputation as a preacher. Ilis field was a difficult one for a young and inexperienced pastor - his audiences were "critical and cultivated." " Among the constant attendants at this church were such men as Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Brockholst Livingston." But he had confidence in himself, and all this
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