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The BEGINNINGS of LUTHERANISM in NEW YORK
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 06843 1524
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
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Earliest Extant Document of the Beginning of the Lutheran Church of New Nether- land. Dated October 12, 1649. In Dutch. Translation is in Chapter 4 .- From the original in the Archives of the Old Lutheran Church in Amsterdam, Holland.
The Beginnings of Lutheranism In New York
HARRY J. KREIDER, PH.D.
Written for The United Lutheran Synod of New York in connection with its celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the oldest Lutheran Church in America.
Foreword by FREDERICK R. KNUBEL, D.D., LL.D. President of the Synod
New York City 1949
Copyright 1949 HARRY J. KREIDER
PRINTED BY TIMES AND NEWS PUBLISHING CO. GETTYSBURG, PA., U.S.A.
To my Mother and to the memory of my Father
Foreword
THIS book was written at the request of the United Lutheran Synod of New York, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of con- tinued Lutheran organization in America.
First Lutheran Church of Albany shares with St. Matthew's Church of New York City ( Missouri Synod) the honor of being the oldest Lutheran congregation in existence in this hemisphere; for the two were originally one congregation.
The document which proves the existence of this organized congregation as far back as 1649 has only recently been brought to light by the remarkable work of the Committee on Documentary History of the Synod, headed by Dr. Kreider. The recovered, re- corded, and translated minutes of the Consistory of the Lutheran Church in Amsterdam, Holland, show the following entry, under the date of October 12, 1649:
"There was opened and read the letter from some members in New Netherland, who declared themselves to be adherents of our religion of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, requesting that they may be supplied there with a pastor."
That the "members in New Netherland" were actually a regu- lar congregation is proved by the fact that the Consistory recog- nized the call as a valid basis for ordination.
Without interruption, in spite of the changes and perils of three centuries of turbulent history, the Lutherans of Albany and New York have continued their organization up to this day, with ever stronger life and increased numbers.
The story of the early days of the Lutherans under Dutch rule, as narrated in this book, gives to our day an inspiring exam- ple of brave loyalty to convictions, and of enthusiastic gratitude for the gift of the pure gospel.
In the face of unrelenting persecution, they kept the faith without wavering. In the midst of the strongest temptations to
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advance and prosper themselves by forsaking the public profession of essential Christianity, as expressed in the Augsburg Confession, they maintained their Lutheran stand.
This confessional loyalty was entirely without the prop of peculiarity of language. In our day, confessional loyalty has some- times been confused with nationalistic and linguistic loyalty. But these New York Lutherans spoke Dutch just as everyone else did.
Their true descendants in this generation, throughout the world, are the Lutherans who have sacrificed their comfort and even their life withstanding political tyranny. They live again in us when we in America stand strong in Christ under the blandish- ments of a questionable gospel or an ungracious theology.
The celebration of the long congregational life in New York is furthermore a fitting recognition that "the little flock" is the most important element in church organization. When the congre- gation falters, the whole church becomes weak; and when the con- gregations are holy and healthy, the work of Christ is accomplished both here and abroad. It is in the congregation that the forgiving Christ comes into practical contact with actual sinful lives. The story of the early Dutch Lutherans in America is just another ex- ample of the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
FREDERICK R. KNUBEL
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
1. OLDEST LUTHERAN CHURCH 1
2. LUTHERANS IN NEW NETHERLAND 7
3. COME OVER AND HELP US 13
4. BLOCKED 19
5. PERSECUTED 25
6. FIRST PASTOR ORDAINED 32
7. CRUSHED 38
8. FREEDOM OF WORSHIP 45
9. FIRST COMMUNION SERVICE 53
10. MORE GRIEF AND FINAL JOY 61
NOTES
. 67
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
NIEUW AMSTERDAM OFTE NUE NIEUW JORX OPr TEYLANT MAN
Manhattan When the Lutheran Church of New Netherland Was Started. "New Amster- dam now New York on the Island of Manhattan" [commonly called "The Prototype View"]. Date depicted: 1650-53. Date issued: probably c. 1670 .- From a copy in The New York Public Library. (There is no view of Albany of this period.)
CHAPTER 1
Oldest Lutheran Church
LUTHERANS in New York have a glorious religious heritage, for the events associated with the establishment of their church con- stitute one of the most heroic chapters in the history of American Lutheranism. Moreover, their earliest congregation, which came into being just three centuries ago when New York State was the Dutch colony of New Netherland, has the distinction of being the oldest Lutheran Church in America.
The earliest years of this ancient church have until recently been shrouded in uncertainty. As a result, the title of "oldest" Lutheran Church in America has been variously claimed. One claim relates to Old Swedes Church, established in 1639 at Wil- mington, Delaware, in the colony then known as New Sweden. Old Swedes Church, it is true, was begun ten years before the Lutheran Church in New Netherland came into being, but it re- mained in the Lutheran faith only two centuries, when it affiliated with the Episcopal Church.1 While, therefore, the claim is rightly made that it is the first Lutheran Church in America, it is not the oldest as a continuing Lutheran congregation.
Another is the Frederick Lutheran Church in St. Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands. It was begun in 1666, has maintained existence as a Lutheran congregation to the present time,2 and has been referred to in official reports as "the oldest in point of con- tinuous existence in the western world."" But the St. Thomas Church, we now know beyond any doubt, got its start seventeen years later than that of the New Netherland Church.
Even in New York itself there has been uncertainty, for two Lutheran congregations in that state claim the coveted distinction. One is First Church in Albany, using the year 1644 for the be- ginning of its existence; the other is St. Matthew's Church in
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
New York City, using the year 1664.5 Curiously enough, neither uses the correct year," and neither can claim to be the oldest church. The year 1649 marks the beginning of the Lutheran Church in the colony, and for the first twenty years of its existence it was known as the Lutheran Church of New Netherland, with mem- bers living at Albany and New York City, as well as in nearby New Jersey and Long Island. Then, in 1669, the members at Al- bany and New York City became separate congregations. Both have maintained continuous existence in the Lutheran faith to the present time, bearing the names now of First Lutheran Church in Albany and St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in New York City."
The reason for the uncertainty and confusion is the fact that the records relating to the actual beginnings were practically un- known until recently.8 The records were all in existence, but they were lodged in the archives of the ancient Lutheran Church in the city of Amsterdam, Holland. The story of their recovery, trans- lation and publication covers a period of nearly fifteen years, and was concluded only in October of 1948 when the whole collection was published in a complete volume.9
These records at last make possible certain definitive conclu- sions, namely, that the Lutheran Church in New York State had its beginning in 1649; that the Church has had continuous exist- ence in the Lutheran faith through the two congregations into which it was later divided, as related above; that the Church begun in 1649 is the oldest Lutheran Church in America ; that this coveted distinction is shared jointly by First Lutheran Church in Albany and St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in New York City.10
New Netherland
When the Lutherans of New Netherland organized them- selves, the colony was already a quarter century old. It was started in 1624,11 when a small company of thirty families, most of them French Huguenots, came from Holland under the direction of the newly created Dutch West India Company.12 Eighteen of the fami- lies went to Albany, and made that the principal settlement. The
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OLDEST LUTHERAN CHURCH
other families were settled on Manhattan Island, and at Gloucester, New Jersey.13
Two years later Peter Minuit became governor, and put through that most famous of all Manhattan real estate deals when he purchased the whole island from the Indians for twenty-four dollars. Albany was discontinued as the chief settlement in favor of Manhattan,14 which became the seat of the colonial government.
The colony, however, made little progress. Governors were incompetent, and the West India Company was concerned chiefly with profits from the fur trade. Nearly twenty years after the first settlers arrived, the population of Manhattan and its environs was reported to be only some four to five hundred, and at Albany only about a hundred.15
Things changed when Peter Stuyvesant became governor in 1647.16 His administration, which continued for seventeen years to the close of the Dutch rule, is of particular interest here, because the Lutheran movement was organized shortly after his arrival. Stuyvesant was an able governor, and took his responsibilities seri- ously. But he was also quite intolerant and autocratic, and when he could not have his own way he was said to "strut around like a peacock, with great state and pomp, thoughtless of others as if he were the Czar of Muscovy."
The colony took on new life, particularly after the close of the ruinous Thirty Years' War in Europe in 1648. Many people from northern Europe, which had suffered so much in the war, turned to New Netherland as a place of refuge. Soon every ship brought immigrants,17 and the number kept increasing year by year. The growth in population, however, was never staggering. Manhattan, which grew more rapidly than other towns, had in 1660 only 342 homes, and four years later a population of only about 1500.18
When we speak of "the population" of New Netherland, we should keep in mind that this is not synonymous with "the Dutch." New Netherland, it is true, was a Dutch colony, its principal offices were held by Dutchmen, and its development followed the Dutch pattern. But the population was from the beginning cosmopolitan.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
The earliest colonists, we will recall, were not predominantly Dutch, but French Huguenots. Within twenty years eighteen languages were spoken in and around Manhattan.19 Yet withal there was a remarkable homogeneity, because nearly everybody used the Dutch language.
Religious Intolerance
When the West India Company formulated its regulations for the government of New Netherland, in 1624, it stated clearly that the colonists "shall hold no other services than those of the true Reformed Religion, in the manner in which they are at pres- ent conducted" in Holland. This applied only to public services. Families which accepted other than the Reformed faith were to be permitted to worship privately in their own homes, without anyone "persecuting them on account of their faith."20
The establishment of the Reformed Church and the exclusion of all other faiths appears strange to us today. But three hundred years ago it was merely a carry-over of the situation prevailing in Europe. Several instances of Reformed-Lutheran relations there will make this clear.21
In Holland the Reformed Church was dominant. The Lu- theran Church was barely tolerated, through a curious device which its members called "by connivance."22 That is, the Lutheran Church was not legally permitted, but inasmuch as its members were law-abiding citizens, the law forbidding it was sometimes not enforced.
The Lutherans had not always had even that much toleration in Holland. For years they had been persecuted by the Reformed leaders. The persecution reached its climax in 1600, particularly in Amsterdam, where for a brief period the Lutheran Church was actually closed. Then the civil authorities stepped in and put a stop to the persecution. They wanted nothing to interfere with the growing prosperity of Holland arising from the overseas trade, and they insisted upon internal peace in the cities. In the
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OLDEST LUTHERAN CHURCH
towns and villages, however, the ban on Lutheran services con- tinued to be enforced.
Such intolerance was taken for granted everywhere. The Lu- therans did the same in places where they were dominant. In Ham- burg, Germany, for example, the Lutheran Church dominance was so complete that Reformed services could not be held even "by connivance." As a matter of fact, the Lutherans even protested against the holding of Reformed services in the Netherlands lega- tion house there.
If most of the inhabitants of New Netherland had been Dutch, the monopoly of the Reformed Church might have gone unchallenged. But the cosmopolitan population made that impos- sible. Before the colony was twenty years old, there were in Man- hattan, besides the Dutch Reformed, already five other religious groups : Catholics, English Puritans, Lutherans, Baptists and Mennonites. 28
As the population increased under Stuyvesant, it was inevit- able that attempts should be made by the non-Reformed groups to secure religious freedom. The Lutherans, largest in number next to the Reformed, were the first to attempt it, but since that story is the theme of this volume, it will be told in succeeding chapters.
Jezus, Puritans, Quakers Persecuted
Several years after the Lutherans had organized, a group of Jews made some feeble attempts for toleration, but they soon learned that they would be kept in their place. They had quite a struggle even to get permission to have a burial ground of their own. But that was all. They were told in no uncertain terms to give up any idea of securing the "privilege of exercising their re- ligion in a synagogue or at a gathering.'
The same year (1656) that the Jews were told off so plainly, two other groups became active. The English Puritans, or Inde- pendents, at Newtown, Queens Borough, Long Island, tried to hold services of their own, but the authorities promptly clamped
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
down on them.25 And at Flushing, Long Island, a Baptist, who was also the sheriff of the town, conducted services for a group of fellow-religionists at his home. For such an outrageous act, being a government official, he was banished from the colony.26
The following year (1657) the Quakers gave the authorities plenty of worries. The trouble started in Manhattan, but spread to Long Island. Two "strong young women" of Quaker persuasion had landed in Manhattan, and shortly afterward had set the town on its ears when they "began to quake and go into a frenzy, and cry out loudly in the middle of the street that men should repent, for the day of judgment was at hand." After considerable con- fusion, the two women were "seized by the head," and imprisoned.27
Shortly afterward, activity "of the abominable sect of Quak- ers" flared up at Flushing and Gravesend, which led to arrests and fines. The authorities appeared to be so concerned about the pos- sible spread of this "new, unheard of, abominable heresy," that a day of general fasting and prayer was proclaimed, on which day all amusements and hilarity were forbidden.28
Three years later the "heresy" flared up in Jamaica and else- where on Long Island, and persons who were known to be involved in it were arrested, fined or banished. To keep the movement sup- pressed, soldiers were quartered in Jamaica in the homes of Quaker sympathizers, and some magistrates were deposed who had not en- forced the laws promptly.29
Right down the line, one after another of the non-Reformed groups was suppressed. And when the Dutch rule of forty years came to a close, the colonial authorities could boast of at least one unenviable record of achievement-they had made a perfect score in keeping religious freedom out of the colony.
CHAPTER 2
Lutherans in New Netherland
THE Lutherans made up a fair-sized proportion of the whole popu- lation in New Netherland. In 1653, six years after Stuyvesant's arrival, they claimed to have about one hundred and fifty families "on Manhattan, at Fort Orange (Albany), as well as on Long Island."3ยบ Three years later the population of Manhattan embraced only about 1,000 persons living in 120 homes.
The Lutherans were of various nationalities, coming for the most part from Germany, the Scandinavian countries and East Friesland.31 Most of them were from regions which had suffered severely during the Thirty Years' War.
In Manhattan there were at least seven nationalities of Lu- therans : German, Danish, Frisian, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish and Swedish. Five of these nationalities were represented in a group of twenty-four signers of an important Lutheran petition in 1657. This group, which serves as a good cross-section of the Lutheran constituency in Manhattan, embraced among the known nationali- ties eleven Germans, five Danes, two Frisians, a Norwegian and a Hollander.
At Albany, the names of at least sixteen Lutherans are known, and among them there were at least five nationalities : six Frisians, three Danes, two Norwegians, a German and a French Huguenot.
Despite the many nationalities, the Lutherans were readily assimilated because they were held closely together by two bonds, namely, a common faith and a common language. The first bond was the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, distinctive confession of the Lutheran Church. The colonial Lutherans consistently referred to themselves as "adherents" or "joint members" of the "Unal- tered Augsburg Confession."
The other bond was the knowledge of a common language,
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
the Dutch. Though the Germans predominated in Manhattan, and the Scandinavians and Frisians in Albany, nevertheless only Dutch was used for many years at the public services in both places.
The Lutherans began arriving in the colony, so far as is known from existing records, in 1637 in Albany, and in 1639 in Manhattan.32 Among the earliest was Jonas Bronck, for whom the Bronx is named, but he died before the Lutheran movement be- came organized.38
The Lutherans were of the middle-class, merchants, shop- keepers, mechanics and farmers. Of the group at Manhattan men- tioned above, nineteen occupations are known :34 four professional soldiers, two turners, two farmers, two tavern-keepers, a baker, an accountant, a real estate dealer, a skipper, a master carpenter, a cooper, a cobbler, a brewer's man, and a laborer at the weighhouse.
Nearly all of them owned their own property. Their homes and shops were scattered all over Manhattan, from the fort to the East River, and north to the city wall.35
Of the group at Albany, the fourteen occupations known were not so diversified.36 There were six traders and real estate dealers, of whom one was also a brewer, and another also a tobacco planter ; five bakers, two blacksmiths, and a tobacco planter. Most of them, like their fellow Lutherans in Manhattan, owned their own homes and shops. 37
The Leaders
Of more than usual interest are the early leaders, for the be- ginning of the Lutheran Church in New York was wholly a lay- men's movement. No Lutheran missionary came to the colony to organize a congregation. The precarious tolerance granted the Lu- theran Church in Holland made it impossible for that body even to think of sending a missionary to the colony. The Lutheran Church in the colony, therefore, was organized by laymen, the first services were conducted by laymen, and when the first pastor ar- rived, he came by virtue of a call extended by the congregation or- ganized by these laymen.
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LUTHERANS IN NEW NETHERLAND
Among the prominent leaders in Manhattan were Daniel Lits- choe, Hendrick Willemsen, Matthys Capito, and Paulus Schrick. In New Jersey, associated with the Manhattan leaders, was Cas- per Steinmetz. In Albany were Volckert Jansen Douw, Albert An- driessen Bratt, and Tjerck Claessen de Witt. Of all of them, Paulus Schrick was the most brilliant.
The Manhattan Leaders
Daniel Litschoe has the distinction of having his name at the head of the list of leaders of the earliest known Lutheran petition in New Netherland.38 Prior to coming to Manhattan, he had been a sergeant in the service of the West India Company. In Manhat- tan he conducted, at the present No. 71 Wall Street, a tavern which was spoken of as "the best and most principal tavern."39
Litschoe held a number of offices of trust, including that of lieutenant of the guard. By virtue of his commission he was one of the twenty citizens invested with the Great Burgher (that is, Citizen) Right, when that distinction was established in Manhat- tan in 1657.40 He was the only Lutheran known to have received it.
It is not known whether he continued his activity in the Lu- theran cause up to the time of his death about 1661, for his name does not appear upon any Lutheran petition after 1653. Perhaps his distinction as a Great Burgher made him cautious about being publicly aligned with a group that was being bitterly persecuted by the authorities. At any rate, he did not become a member of the dominant Dutch Reformed Church, so it is likely that he did not desert the Lutheran cause.41
Hendrick Willemsen, in contrast to Daniel Litschoe, was one of the most consistent in his espousal of the Lutheran cause. He was a baker by trade, but no ordinary one, for he was characterized as "the most successful and important baker of New Amsterdam (Manhattan) and early New York." He had his home and bakery at the southeast corner of the present Whitehall and Stone Streets ; this property was later rented by the Englishman Francis Lovelace for his residence while governor of New York.42 Willemsen was
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THE BEGINNINGS OF LUTHERANISM IN NEW YORK
associated with the church from the beginning, and he became an elder in it upon its formal organization.43
Matthys Capito was an associate of Willemsen in the early years of the Lutheran movement. He was an excellent accountant and scribe, and as such did much work for the government. In 1663 he removed from Manhattan to become secretary of the vil- lage of Kingston, a post which he retained until his death four years later.44 He had been faithful in the Lutheran cause until his removal to Kingston. There he probably had no means of continu- ing his association with his fellow leaders of Manhattan.
Another prominent Lutheran associated with the Manhattan leaders was Casper Steinmetz, though his residence for most of the time was in Jersey City, New Jersey. While in Manhattan he owned a home on Stone Street near Broad Street. When he left permanently for New Jersey he rented his Manhattan home to the city for the first school building.45 In Jersey City he rose to promi- nence, becoming one of its earliest magistrates and later com- mander of the militia. 46
When the Lutheran Church was formally organized, Stein- metz was made an elder of the Manhattan congregation.47 Of all the early leaders he was the oldest in length of service, for he was still an elder of the church as late as 1699, fifty years after the founding of the church, and three years before his death.48
The Albany Leaders
Of the trio of leaders in Albany, Volckert Jansen Douw was the most prominent. He was the only representative of the Albany Lutherans who signed the earliest petition for freedom of wor- ship.49 He lived in and around Albany most of his life, and was a trader, brewer and real estate operator.50 He was highly regarded by the civil authorities. He accompanied Arent van Curler in 1650 on an embassy to the Mohawks, and some years later was a deputy to confer with the same Indians over difficulties with the Dutch. For a number of years he was a magistrate of the court of Albany.51
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LUTHERANS IN NEW NETHERLAND
The second of the Albany leaders, Tjerck Claessen de Witt, is credited with conducting the first Lutheran services there.52 He lived in Albany for several years after that, when he removed per- manently to Kingston. He was a dealer in real estate in and around Kingston, and held several prominent offices there, first as sheriff and then as magistrate.58 He doubtless got to know Matthys Capito at Kingston, but he is not again mentioned in the Lutheran records. He probably kept in touch with the Lutheran leaders through his brother-in-law, Martin Hoffman,54 a leader in the New York City church after the English took over the colony.
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