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T
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01733 0553
GENEALOGY 974.702 T75SRC
SOUTH REFORMED CHURCH,
WEST TROY, N.Y.
MANUAL 1844-1879
SOUTH REFORMED CHURCH,
WEST TROY, N. Y. "Memorial Building" erected by James B. Jermain, 1874.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
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MANUAL
OF THE
South Reformed Church
OF
WEST TROY, N. Y.
ALBANY, N. Y. : VAN BENTHUYSEN PRINTING HOUSE. - 1879.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE.
I. HISTORICAL. SKETCHES, 7
I. Of Organization, - 7
2. Of " Memorial Building," - 16
3. Architectural description " Memorial Building," 26
4. Chapels, 30
(1) Chapel on Broadway, 30
(2) Chapel on Groton street, 30
5. Parsonages, 32
(1) Parsonage on Broadway, 32
(2) Parsonage on Middlé street, 33
II. NOTABLE DATES, 34
III. OFFICERS, 37
I. Pastors, 37
2. Elders and Deacons, 40 41
3. Clerks,
4. Treasurers, 41
5. Choristers and Organists, 41
6. Recorder, 42
7. Sextons,
IV. SERVICES,
V. ORDER OF SERVICE, 43
VI. ADMINISTRATION OF SACRAMENTS,
47
1. Lord's Supper, 47
2. Baptism, - 47
VII. THE CONSISTORY, 51
VIII. MEMBERSHIP, - 53
I. Admission, 53
2. Dismission, 55
IX. THE SABBATH SCHOOL, 56 Infant Department,. 59
X. PASTORAL VISITATION, 61
XI. MARRIAGES AND FUNERALS, .
63
XII. PLAN OF SUPPORT, 66
XIII. BENEVOLENT COLLECTIONS,
68
XIV. DISTRICTS, - 70
XV. ANNUAL CALENDAR, 73
XVI. RECOMMENDATIONS, 75
XVII. RECORDS, 77
XVIII. STATISTICAL TABLE, . 88 -
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"Christ is the Head of the Church." "Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it." EPH: 5 : 23, 25.
" I love thy Kingdom. Lord, The house of thine abode, The Church, our blest Redeemer saved . With his own precious blood.
"Beyond my highest joy I prize. her heavenly ways. Her sweet communion, solemn vows, Her hymns of love and praise."
"The Church of the Living God. The pillar and ground of the truth." : I TIM., 3 : 15.
PREFACE.
THIS Manual has been compiled and pub- lished-
First. For the information and use of the congregation and all concerned.
Second. To preserve, in convenient and . permanent form, matters of interest and importance.
SELAH W. STRONG.
FIRST CHURCH BUILDING IN WEST TROY, N. Y.
Dedicated July 10, 1816, and first site of the South Reformed Church, occupied by them for 30 years, abandoned 1874. View shows also first Chapel and Parsonage.
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Oscar H. Gregory, D. D., upon whom the Church made a call in the spring of 1838. About two years later, the congregation de- cided to build another Church edifice in the . upper part of the village; the result of which decision was the erection of the present Church edifice of the (North) Reformed Church of West Troy, on the corner of Washington and Buffalo streets. In the latter part of the year 1843 it became' necessary for the Church, on account of financial embarrassment, to dispose of part of their property, and upon application to the Chancellor, he directed the sale of the South Church to Philip S. Schuyler, or some other member of the Church residing south of the arsenal.
The purchase was made by Mr. Clarkson F. Crosby, a member of said Church.Appli- cation was then made to the Classis of Albany, for the organization of a new Church. The application was favorably re- ceived, and the "South Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, in the village of West Troy," duly organized on the 18th of June, 1844, with Philip S. Schuyler, Robert Dunlop and
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John C. Schuyler, Elders, and David Moore and Stephen C. Dermott, Deacons, and thirty-six other members. The Consistory then agreed with Mr. Crosby for the transfer of the Church property; and on the 25th of July, in the same year, invited the Rev. Theodore F. Wyckoff to officiate as stated supply-in which situation he continued un- til May, 1846, when he was duly installed as Pastor of the Church. This connection con- tinued until December 18th, 1854, when Mr. Wyckoff resigned his charge and re- moved to the Island of St. Thomas, where he shortly after died .* On the 16th day of May, 1855, the Rev. Garret L. Roof (having accepted the call to become the-Pastor of this Church) was duly installed. Mr. Roof continued here until January 23d, 1865, when he resigned his call and removed to Lowville, N. Y.
On the 12th of April, 1865, the Consistory made a call upon the Rev. Jacob S. Wyckoff, which having been accepted by him, he was
* A marble tablet to his memory was placed in the Church at the right of the pulpit. It has since been removed, and placed in the " Memorial Building." :
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duly installed on the moth day of May, 1865. Mr. Wyckoff continued Pastor of the Church until October 28th, 1869, when he resigned on account of ill-health. Regular services were held in the Church by special supplies until the 16th of March, 1870, when the Rev. Selah W. Strong having accepted a call, was duly installed as Pastor of the Church, and continues as such to this day."
In connection with the above, the following parallel account from "The Christian Intelli- gencer" of July 27th, 1876, is also of interest. It is an abstract from an historical sketch by the Rev. Alfred J. Hutton, Pastor of the (North) Reformed Church of West Troy, which congregation, as will be seen, for a long time occupied the building in which the South Reformed Church worshiped for some thirty years, and which had a large part of its con- stituency in that part of the village now embracing the parish of the South Church. The confusion of these two Churches, in the minds of many, is largely owing to the above facts; and these historical statements are in- serted, among other reasons, with a view to
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making the distinction clear between these two organizations.
"The history of the Reformed Church of West Troy covers a period of sixty-two years. Its corporate title was changed to its present form in 1840, it having been known till that time as the Reformed Dutch Church of Washington and. Gibbonsville. The first record of its organization reads as follows :
"At a meeting held in the school-house, in the village of Washington, agreeably to notice, for the purpose of electing Elders and Deacons to manage the concerns of a church to be organized, Philip S. Schuyler was chair- man, and Volkert D. Oathout, clerk. Philip S. Schuyler and Volkert D. Oathout were elected Elders, and Samuel Phelps and Ste- phen M. Conger, Deacons. Dated March 19, 1814."
The dividing line between the villages of Washington and Gibbonsville was what is now known as Buffalo street.
The school-house above mentioned still stands in the vicinity of the engine-house · in the first ward. The actual organization
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of the Church must date from the follow- ing Sunday, March 22, 1814. Immediately after the divine service, on which occasion Rev. Mr. Bradford, of Albany, preached, the persons above-named, were solemnly ordained, according to the forms of the Reformed Dutch Church. The two Dea- cons presented to this meeting letters of dismissal from the First Presbyterian Church of Troy, of which Rev. Dr. Coe was then pastor. At the first meeting of the Con- sistory Rev. Robert Bronk, then a candi- date under care of the Classis of New Brunswick, was called as pastor of the Church, upon a salary of $300, to be paid in semi-annual installments. He was, how- · ever, to preach here only on alternate Sab- baths, dividing his time equally between this charge and the older Church at the Boght. Rev. Mr. Bronk continued his labors in this manner for ten years, when his connection with the Boght Church was severed, and his entire time given to the Church in Port Schuyler. The Sabbath services and meet- ing for prayer continued to be held in the school-house above alluded to until June or
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July, 1816, when the want of a more com- modious place of worship was felt, and plans for securing it agitated. October 25th fol- lowing, a meeting of the Consistory was held for the purpose of taking this matter into official consideration. At this time it was stated that $2,025 had been subscribed toward the proposed edifice, and a commit- tee appointed to forward the subscription. The amount was raised to $3,000 within the next month, at which time the Consist- ory appointed another committee to obtain drafts of a suitable building, together with its probable cost; and early the following spring a contract was closed with Reuben Sanderson, in which he engaged, for the sum of $2,000, to build a Church almost precisely similar to the one at Athens; the Church to furnish the materials. Ground was broken at once, and in little more than a year the edifice was finished, and still stands on the original site, just south of the arsenal. The corner-stone was laid in April, 1815, and the building dedicated July 18, 1816. Inasmuch as a considerable. por- tion of the Congregation were residents of
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Gibbonsville, it was thought advisable to erect a chapel, at a cost of about $1,000, on the spot where this Church now stands. This event was contemporary with the elec- tion of Andrew Meneely as a member of the Consistory, who, from that time until he died, labored with untiring zeal and distin- guished success for the promotion of the spiritual and temporal welfare of this Zion. This Consistory room, or chapel, was in a very few years found to be too small a place for the rapidly increasing number in the northern part of the parish, and early in 1838 the question of building our present house of worship began to be considered. At a meeting of the congregation, held on the twelfth of February of that year, at which John Schuyler presided, and which was opened with prayer by Lewis Rousseau, the following resolution was passed :
"Resolved, That this Society deem it ex- pedient, and therefore will build a new and more convenient house of worship."
The Classis of Albany, with which the Church was then connected, were requested to select a suitable site, and the spot upon
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which the chapel stood was chosen. It was also resolved at this time to spend $500 in repairing the old Church, and, furthermore, to provide the pastor with a suitable house in which to live. Little appears to have been done within a year to forward the pro- ject, when, after another meeting of the male members of the Church, a building commit- tee of nine was appointed, under whose judi- cious and competent direction our present substantial, and, at that day, spacious and even elegant edifice was built, and dedicated in 1840, the corner-stone having been laid by Dr. Gregory in August of the previous year. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Wyckoff, of Albany. The cost of the first building was $5,568, and that of this house $12,922. For a few years ser- vices were held in the morning in the South Church, and in the afternoon and evening here; but in 1844 the parish was divided, and the South Reformed Church organized.
2. MEMORIAL BUILDING.
The following is a relation of some facts in connection with the origin and completion of
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the "Memorial Building," erected for this Congregation, by James B. Jermain, Esq.
On the 19th of March, 1871, the subject of Church building was formerly presented to and urged upon the people. So great was the conviction of the importance of a move in this direction, that the sermon upon this occasion was published- by request-with the view more thoroughly to agitate this question.
While all admitted that a new building was greatly to be desired, yet a growing convic- tion forced itself upon the minds of the people of the utter impossibility of doing what the times, the future, and the tastes of the people would demand.
And yet, necessity was laid upon the people; for so urgent was the need of re- pair to the old building, that it was a ques- tion either of a new building, or of extensive repair-modernization and enlargement of the old one. As a compromise, the Consist- ory, in the fall of 1871, resolved to test the practicability and expense of such a renova- tion and enlargement of the old building as,
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would meet the demands of a growing com- munity, and of which, when complete, the con- gregation might well feel satisfied for some years to come. Accordingly, in November, 1871, plans and specifications were carefully prepared with a view to such a repair. It was supposed that $10,000, at the very ex- treme, would pay for all that could be desired in the way of such an undertaking.
Subscriptions were circulated accordingly, and between $6,000 and $7,000 was con- tributed for this purpose.
. Meantime the plans and specifications were put into the hands of practical mechanics for their estimates. The result of this practi- cal test was, that the carpenters and masons' estimates alone amounted to nearly $15,000. With the labor of other mechanics, and the unforeseen contingencies in repairing an old building, together with new furniture, etc., it was thought that $20,000 would barely meet the cost.
Necessity compelled either to cut the plans short or abandon them altogether. Wisdom advised that it would be better to abandon the plan altogether than to attempt anything
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which, for many reasons, would be unsatis- factory when complete.
That winter was a dark time for some whose hopes had been so bright that the coming spring would witness active move- ments in carrying out those beautiful plans of renovation and enlargement which had been so generally approved. But while these hopes died, the interest in this subject of Church building did not cease among some of those that remembered Zion. A few seriously con- sidered : if a new building on the old site, or such repairs as are advisable, seem im- · practicable, why not devise for the future, and while continuing to worship in the old building, yet procure another site in the neighborhood where the present memorial building is, and progress a building from time to time, according to ability ?
Now, while this project involved two very serious obstacles, viz. : a change of site, and a great trial of the faith and patience of the people, perhaps through many years, yet it was thought the best way out of the dilemma.
The plan was about to be publicly pro- posed and urged, when, on the 19th of Feb-
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ruary, 1872, just eleven months from the time of the formal presentation of this sub- ject of Church building, the Consistory received a communication from James B. Jer- main, Esq., proposing to erect for the con- gregation, at his own expense, a Church edifice, upon the following among other con- ditions :
I. A change of site, including the pur- chase of ground on the part of the people.
2. The equipment of the building with all its necessary furniture, including organ, heat- ers, etc., by the people.
3. The edifice to be a . " Memorial Build- ing," in memory of Silvanus P. Jermain (for more than twenty years a worshiper in the old Church) and of his family.
It is hardly necessary to say that this proposition was accepted, with the thankful acknowledgment that "the Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."
' The congregation readily transferred the subscriptions which had been made for the repair of the old building toward fulfilling the conditions of this enterprise, and the present site, of 100 by 234 feet, on the cor-
2I
ner of Groton and Middle streets, was pur- chased for $6,000, and possession given April I, 1872. Two lots more, 100 by 120 feet, on Groton street, were afterwards purchased by the Consistory for $1,000. After removal of a building seventy feet westward, which now answers as a parsonage, ground was broken for the Church June 28, 1872. The first stone was laid August 5, 1872, on the north-west corner, by Joseph Kelly, a mem- ber of this Church, and the last stone on the belfry-tower, in its incomplete state, by the same person, in November, 1874.
The corner stone was laid, with appropri- ate services, on Sabbath afternoon, Septem- ber 22, 1872.
The following is a programme of the exer- cises on that occasion :
SINGING- Hymn-"Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken."
PRAYER -By Rev. Alfred J. Hutton.
READING-Scripture, by Rev. W. W. Scudder, D. D.
SINGING-Hymn-" This House, O Lord, for Thee we Raise ! "
ADDRESS- By Pastor, Rev. Selah W. Strong. 3 ADDRESS-Laying of Corner-stone and Prayer by Rev. O. H. Gregory, D. D.
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HYMN-" O Lord of Hosts, whose Glory fills !" DOXOLOGY AND BENEDICTION.
The following is a list of articles deposited in the corner-stone :
I. Copy of the Constitution of the Reformed Church in America.
2. Copy of the Minutes of the General Synod. Ses- sion of 1872.
.
3. Copy of Minutes of the Particular Synod of Albany, 1872.
4. The Christian Intelligencer of September 19th, 1872.
5. The Sower and Gospel Field of September, 1872.
6. Copy of the letter of James B. Jermain of Febru- ary 19th, 1872, to John C. Schuyler, containing proposal and conditions to the Consistory for the erection of this building.
7. Copy of the Consistory's acknowledgment of the same.
8. A copperplate with the inscription : " This Church, erected A. D. 1872-73, by James B. Jermain, in mem- ory of his father, Silvanus P. Jermain, deceased."
9. List of officers and members of the Church.
10. List of subscribers to the present Church fund for this enterprise, including the names, also, of the Sabbath-school children who have subscribed one dollar."
II. Copy of the Troy Daily Times, Whig, and Press, Albany County Democrat.
12. United States coins and fractional currency.
$
13. Programme of the exercises of the occasion, with printed list of Hymns sung.
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14. Copy of the Psalms and Hymns now used in the Church.
15. Masonic Directory of Troy and vicinity.
16. Constitution and By-Laws of the Sabbath-school of this Church.
17. Statement of the organization and ministry of the Church.
The building was dedicated to the service of the Triune God, on Wednesday afternoon, December 30th, 1874. The following is a programme of the exercises on that occasion:
I. ANTHEM-" O Sing Unto the Lord !"
II. INVOCATION-By Rev. A. Dickson, D. D.
III. READING OF SCRIPTURE.
IV. SINGING-Hymn-"I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord."
V. DEDICATION :
I. Historical statement by Pastor.
2. Reading of Psalms 24 and 132, by Rev. J. S. Wyckoff-the people responding.
3. Repetition of Apostles' Creed.
4. Dedicatory Prayer by Pastor.
VI. SINGING-Hymn-" Arise, O King of Grace !"
VII. SERMON-By Rev. Henry. Darling, D. D.
VIII. PRAYER-By Rev. William Irvin, D. D.
IX. ANTHEM-" O Praise the Lord, all ye Nations!"
X. SINGING-Hymn-" Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken."
XI. DOXOLOGY.
XII. BENEDICTION.
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During the three years' progress of the building a merciful Providence prepared the lives of those engaged upon it. On only two occasions was life threatened : once: by the falling of a "scaffold pole, and on another occasion by the falling of the scaffold erected for the ceiling. On both occasions the inju- ries were only temporary. 1
But among the sad things during the pro- `gress of the building was the death of Mrs. Jas. B. Jermain, April 21, 1873. Her inter- est and hopes in this enterprise were most sincere and intense. Her name is engraven in stone - on the memorial tablet; but her memory will be everlasting, and those, who remain rejoice in the assurance of her having entered into the "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
We record also, in this connection, the death of one of the architects, William L. Woollett. The architectural. work of the building was completed by his son, William M. Woolett.
The following are a few items of interest with respect to the donation of the furniture, etc., of the building :
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The organ, heaters, gas-fixtures, furniture for the vestry, with some sundries, are the gift of the congregation at large.
The carpet and cushions are the gift of the ladies of the Congregation.
The book-board, the table upon the plat- form, the five chairs (three upon the platform and two at the side), are the gift of Mrs. Alida Bronk, deceased, widow of the late Rev. Robert Bronk, one of the pastors who officiated in the old building.
The communion table is the gift of Miss Maria Lansing.
The Bible and hymn books of the pulpit, and flower-stand, together with small table, are the gift of the daughters of the late Mrs. . L. V. V. Schuyler.
The carpet on pulpit platform is, the gift of Mrs. John C. Schuyler.
Four (4) walnut collection plates are the gift of Green & Waterman, of Troy, N. Y.
The baptismal font is the gift of the Sab- bath School.
The communion plate is the gift of a com- pany of fourteen young ladies, who were associated under the name of the " Band of
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Reapers." Their names are as follows : Sarah Anderson, Christina Beattie, Mary A. Schuyler, Mary J. Anderson, Sarah E. Cash- man, Ida M. Campbell, Mary L. Knower, Bella L. Waugh, Phebe Tyrrell, Adelia F. Gilbert, Agnes Anderson, Sarah C. Forsyth, Mary B. Lyon, Mary Tyrrell.
3. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION. :
The following is a description, in general, of the architectural features of the " Memo- rial Building," together with a list of the mechanics and artisans that were employed thereupon :
The style of architecture is that of the Early Decor- ated Gothic, with a treatment to take advantages of the appliances of modern art. Care has been taken in every part to have everything just what it appears to be, and all shams are ignored. The church in plan is rectangular, 52 by 94 feet, with tower 17 feet square on south-east angle. Below water-table the Church is faced with Schenectady stone ashlar, and the dressings, steps, platforms and water-table of Lockport lime stone ; above water-table, with stone from the Essex county quarries. All cut stone is of Ohio stone, with a sparing use of Belleville material for shafts, bands, etc. There is a porch on the south side at west end. The centre doorway is east, front with gabled head; a turret 7 feet square divides front gable from return gable facing the
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north. This turret is carried up above the roof some twenty feet, being built entirely of cut stone, and having a pyramidal roof of stone supported by columns with shafts of red Belleville stone, and carved caps and bases, with iron finial crowning the whole. The entrances are through doors in the south of tower, south porch, centre front and north of east front. All these door- ways have blocks and starts of Ohio stone with mould- ings wrought on the angles of same, and arches turned in blocks of cut stone with label mould over same, and near flower terminal. Spandril heads of all doorways are cut in Ohio stone, while the centre doorway and the gable over the same have jambs moulded, with columns having carved caps, and moulded bases and shafts of red Belleville stone with ornamental stone copings with gablets and stone cross. Directly over the centre doorway is a large and handsome rose window, filled with elaborate tracery, and surrounded with cut-stone dressings. Large windows, with elabo- rate tracery on the sides, give light to the audience room, while the walls between the same are relieved, as well as strengthened, by the bold, projecting buttresses, with weatherings of Ohio stone. The tower has heavy buttresses on all angles, with weatherings of Ohio stone, and the blank section of same has bands of Ohio and Belleville stone running through to relieve the color; while above, on each face, is a large pointed window, with elaborate tracery and louvre boards. The roof is covered with slate, in bands of color. Large dormers, filled with tracery, give a broken sky-line to the roof. A small gable at the rear end, over the porch, gives pic- turesqueness to the rear. All ridges of roofs are sur- mounted with crestings, painted black, and relieved with gold. The front vestibule is 12 feet in height. The audi-
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ence room has roof-timbers of trusses exposed, and neatly carved to ornamental forms in chestnut and walnut. A spandril-rib carries the weight of truss lower down on the walls, on small columns having richly carved caps, polished shafts, and resting on carved corbels. Between each truss in the ceiling pointed lunettes intersect the ceiling, while the backs of same contain traceried win- dows, with tracery-frame movable, so that the same may be utilized for ventilation. Ceiling of vestibule, organ-loft, etc., is groined with heavy moulded ribs, springing from small columns resting on foliated cor- bels. Gallery is nearly in the form of a horse-shoe, and the sittings contained therein are among the most desirable in the house. The front of the gallery is arcaded with chestnut arches on columns, with shafts of iron, the capping and base being of walnut. The seats in the audience room are arranged in the segment of a circle, and are fitted up with walnut and chestnut. All the side walls of the vestibules and audience room are wainscotted in walnut and chestnut .;
At the west end a chancel recess is formed for the pulpit and platform, the back and 'sides of the same in fine tracery work, with crocketed gablets of tracery rising in the rear of the desk to emphasize the center. Fine carved work, in walnut and polished shafts, gives a very rich and chaste appearance to the background. The pulpit is worked in as a part of the platform, with crocketed gablets, tracery, with shafted mullions, caps carved, moulded bases and polished shafts.
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