USA > New York > New York City > A history of St. James' Methodist Episcopal Church at Harlem, New York City, 1830-1880 : with some facts relating to the settlement of Harlem > Part 4
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" When we are once thus convinced of sin, our hearts are touched and God's law reveals to us the plan of salvation. As in the case of Isaiah, in the very moment of deepest self-abasement, and misery, the spirit of the
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Lord comes down upon us, and the work of regeneration commences. Pardoned and regenerated, forgiven and sanctified. and the witness of it in the heart. Oh! the effect of such a conversion. To feel that our sin is for- given and our heart renewed. What a wonderful blessing it is. But to attain it the heart must be touched. Appeals to the reason are inefficient. It is this inspiration which comes forth out of the heart which brings men into the Church ; which inspires men to labor, suffer and die for the Church ; which brings our young men into the ministry.
"When a young man is filled full of this spirit, he does not stop for the labors and hardships which may be before him, but he enters at once into the Church, and he does it at the time of his conversion. He does not wait six or seven years, till he has failed in every other occupation, and then conclude that the Lord has called him to the ministry, but he throws himself heart and soul into the work at once. This is the inspiration which takes our men and women into the Sunday-school; which makes men rise up at once when there is a call for money, and say, 'Lord, here am I.' If we have not this, we have not the religion of God. It is this kind of spirit by which men are saved, and not by sacramental religion. May that spirit inspire the Church, may it direct every service, may it be with the pastor, with the workers of the Sunday-school, even with the trustees who have charge of the funds, and may it descend upon all here and make each one a temple of God for His service.
"The Rev. Mr. Ives followed Bishop Janes with a brief exhibition of the financial situation of the congregation: The whole church establish- ment, including the land, parsonage, organ, parlor furniture, &c., has cost one hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars.
" The consummation of such a magnificent work, he thought, highly creditable to a congregation that was small in number and by no means re- markable for wealth. Forty-six thousand five hundred dollars had been realized toward the cost of the church; forty thousand dollars it had been decided to fund as debt, and the remainder, thirty-six thousand five hundred dollars, must be raised by contributions at once.
"Secretaries were then appointed, and under the dexterous guidance
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of Mr. Ives, the astounding sum of more than thirty-three thousand dollars was raised upon the spot, in contributions ranging from ten dollars to two thousand dollars. Further contributions were handed in during the day, which more than made up the whole sum required.
" In the afternoon, Rev. Mr. Ives preached to another very large con- gregation on 'The Glorious Gospel of Christ,' 2 Cor. 4 : 4. .
"In the evening, Rev. J. P. Newman, of Washington, preached from Isaiah 21 : 11, and the formal dedication was had.
" Bishop Janes officiated."
From St. James there have gone forth, from time to time, colonies who have been instrumental in planting the Second Avenue, the 125th Street and the North New York Methodist Episcopal Churches.
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SKETCHES OF THE PASTORS BOTH LIVING AND DEAD.
REV. IRA FERRIS.
HE Rev. Ira Ferris was born in Roxbury, Delaware County, New York, July 6, 1804. In the Fall of 1818, under the preaching of the Rev. James Young, he was awakened to a consciousness of sin, and the following week, while in secret prayer, was happily converted to God, and received into the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, in Gilboa, Delaware County, by the Rev. Arnold Schofield.
He was licensed to exhort March 25, 1822, by the Rev. John Bangs.
He received a local preacher's license February 4, 1824, and was em- ployed by the Rev. Daniel Ostrander, (whose daughter he subsequently married) Presiding Elder, as junior preacher on Delaware Circuit. In the Spring of 1824 he was received on probation in the New York Conference and appointed to Sullivan Circuit, with Daniel De Vinne.
In 1826 he was received into full connection with the Conference, and ordained deacon, by Bishop Hedding.
In 1828 he was ordained an elder, by Bishop Hedding.
During these years he was regularly and successively appointed to various circuits in the bounds of the New York Conference.
In 1828-9 he traveled Flushing Circuit, Long Island; and in 1830 he was appointed to Harlem Mission, in the upper part of New York Island, at that time the most unpromising field of work in the New York Conference, embracing all of New York Island above 18th Street. He found a small society at Rose Hill, the nucleus of the present Twenty-seventh Street Church.
Early in the year he made an appointment for regular service at the
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Academy in Yorkville, used to ride there on Sunday mornings, himself build the fire, ring the bell and call his congregation.
God owned his labors in the awakening and conversion of sinners; a class was formed, the nucleus of the present Eighty-sixth Street Church.
At that time there was a member of our Church, by the name of Platt, living at Harlem Bridge, as bridge-keeper, and the proprietor of a public house. The preacher made this man's house his home, and preached in a school house, near at hand.
The work prospered, and during the year he made arrangements to build a church, and expected in another year to have accomplished the work, but on account of sickness in his family, was obliged to move at the end of the year, and was appointed to the New Rochelle Circuit.
Mr. Ferris was an able minister of Christ, distinguished for soundness of mind, clearness of intellect, genuine humility and a devotional spirit; while his decision of character gave him strong, unflinching courage in his work. An able theologian, he reasoned like Paul, and as Apollos, he was mighty in the Scriptures. He performed his work in the ministry for forty- six years, entering sweetly and rejoicingly into rest, March 12, 1869, attain- ing the object of his life, to die on the field of battle, and realizing his highest ambition, " to finish his course with joy, and the ministry, which he had received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God."
REV. RICHARD SEAMAN, M.D.
Rev. Richard Seaman was born April 28, 1785, and died November 6, 1864, aged 80.
When a little over fourteen he left the home of his childhood, Herricks, L. I., and came to New York, where he became a clerk in a drug store.
Hc immediately commenced the study of medicine, and when about nineteen was a licensed practising physician. At the age of twenty-one he was appointed resident physician of the almshouse. In the Fall of 1812,
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with the deliberation and firmness which strongly marked his character, he resolved to devote his life to God's serviee.
In 1823, he was received on trial in the New York Conference, and was regularly appointed to different fields of labor for twenty-two years, when, in 1845, through failure of health, he was obliged to take a super- annuated relation. He, however, continued to labor faithfully according to his ability and opportunities, until entirely disabled by disease. Several churches in the upper part of this eity are largely indebted for their estab- lishment to his self-sacrificing labor and contributions.
During the last thirteen years of his life he was a great sufferer. The death of his wife in 1861, who had been his faithful companion for nearly fifty years, severed the last tie which attached him to this world. At the house of his brother and in the midst of his kindred, he passed away to his reward, exelaiming, "O my Saviour, how I love Thee!"
REV. S. HUESTON.
The Rev. S. Hueston was assistant pastor to the Rev. Dr. Seaman during the conference year, 1833.
Further than this, I have not been able to obtain any information re- specting him.
REV. JOHN LUCKEY.
Rev. John Luekey was born Mareh 13, 1800, and died in Rollo, Mo., Jan. 10th, 1876. He was converted at nine years of age, and licensed to exhort in 1819. As an exhorter and local preacher he served the Church one year, and traveled under the presiding elder one year. He was admitted on trial by the New York Conference in 1821, ordained deaeon in 1823, and elder in 1825.
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Among his other appointments he was Chaplain to Sing Sing prison nineteen years, and superannuated from 1867 to the close of his life.
He wrote two books, one, "Prison Sketches," the other, "Life in Sing Sing Prison."
For the mission work at the Five Points he was equally well qualified; indeed, the Chaplaincy at Sing Sing, had prepared the way for him at the mission, where he inet many of the friends of his former parishioners.
In the Spring of 1868 he left Sing Sing and removed to Rollo, Mo. In his western home, although he had reached " three score and ten," he was an untiring laborer.
The condition of his health becoming such as to make it desirable for him to be near a physician, he removed to town.
From this time until his death, he maintained his usual cheerfulness, when, a few days after, he sank into a deep sleep, and at one o'clock breathed his last without pain or returning consciousness.
REV. DANIEL DE VINNE.
The Rev. Daniel De Vinne was born in Londonderry, February 1, 1793. When about eight months old, in company with his father and family, he came to America. At ten years of age, he was sent for the first time to school. Here, on account of his supposed attachment to Romanism, he underwent a real persecution. Six years afterward, he suffered similar persecution from another quarter, on his becoming a Methodist.
In regard to his religious training, his mother was his only instructor ; for in the neighborhood there was neither church, school, minister nor preaching, and only one Bible, which his mother sometimes borrowed. And yet the Lord visited him early. When eleven years old, his mother died, and he was transferred to the guardianship of his grandparents in Albany. By them he was required to attend the Roman Catholic Church. At fifteen, however, he thought he would judge for himself; and, accord- ingly, he set out on a tour of visitation to all the churches. He visited all
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of them in Albany except the Methodists, who were then thought to be so far out of the way, that it was not worth while.
By a very strange Providence, it so happened that on the last evening of 1809, he fell in company with five young men, with whom he perambu- latcd the streets of Albany till about eleven o'clock, when they came near the little church in North Pearl Street, where the Methodists were holding a watch night. It was here and then that Mr. De Vinne became awakened, and soon after (a little before or after midnight of January 2, 1810) entered into covenant relation with God, and on the seventh, the Sabbath of the same week, joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Albany.
We next find Mr. De Vinne in Brooklyn, which, at this time, (1815) was a small village. Here he engaged in teaching, until October, 1818, when he sold out his school establishment and went by sea to New Orleans. We next find him in charge of a school near Woodville, Mississippi. Here, too, he opened a Sunday-school to teach the slaves to read the Scriptures. Though still a private member, he went on the Natchez Circuit, and preached his first sermon in Feliciana, Louisiana. Three months afterward, he was regularly licensed to preach and recommended to travel.
At the session of the Mississippi Conference for the year 1819, he was, on being received, sent, at his own request, to the French, of Lower Louisiana.
In 1821, he was ordained to the dcaconate and subsequently elder.
In 1824 he was a delegate to the General Conference, held in Eutaw Church, Baltimore. It was at this conference, after traveling various circuits in the South, that he applied to Bishop George for a transfer to the North. He was subsequently transferred to the New York Conference by Bishop Roberts. Without enumerating all the circuits and stations Mr. De Vinne has traveled and filled, suffice it to say, that they have been numerous, varied and extensive, and the miles he has traveled, and the sermons he has preached, are counted by the thousands.
Mr. De Vinne has attained to a ripe old age, and though compassed about by bodily infirmities, is cheerful, and living in blest anticipation of the rest that remains to the people of God.
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REV. JAMES FLOY, D.D.
Rev. James Floy, D.D., was born in the city of New York, August 20, 1806. He received his academical and collegiate education at Columbia College, New York. His conversion to God occurred February 13, 1831, during a revival in the Allen Street Church. He united with the Bowery Village (now Seventh Street) Methodist Episcopal Church, and for some time acted as teacher and superintendent of a Sunday-school for colored persons under the care of that church. He was licensed to preach in Feb- ruary, 1833, two years after his conversion, and for the next two years he filled the office of a local preacher.
He was received into the Traveling Ministry as a probationer at the session of the New York Conference, in the Spring of 1835.
As a preacher, Dr. Floy was clear, direct and earnest; eminently evangelical in doctrine; in exhortation, pungent and effective; elevated in matter, and rigidly correct in style and manner.
His death was sudden, and quite unexpected by himself or friends. On the evening of October 14, 1863, in his study, with only a son in his company, he was seized with apoplexy, and expired almost instantly.
REV. JOHIN CRANVILLE TACKABERRY.
Rev. John Cranville Tackaberry was a native of Ireland, born Septem- ber 8, 1799. He emigrated to America in 1817. A few weeks after his arrival in this country, while residing in Quebec, he experienced religion. He soon after united with the M. E. Church. In 1819 he received license as an exhorter, and in 1821, was licensed as a local preacher. For a year or two subsequent, under the presiding elder, he was employed to labor within the limits of the Canada Conference. In 1826 he was ordained a local deacon. The following year he was admitted on trial in the Pitts- burgh Conference. At its next session he was ordained elder. In 1829 he was transferred to the New York Conference, and stationed at Troy, and
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successively labored as a faithful minister of Christ at Catskill, Brooklyn, Stratford and New York.
In 1837 he was appointed to Montgomery Circuit. The two succeed- ing years he was appointed to the Harlem Mission. His next and last appointment as an effective preacher was at Stamford. Here, his health failing, he was compelled to take a superannuated relation, which he held till 1844; from which time, to the close of his life, he maintained a super- numerary connection with the New York Conference.
He ended his sufferings in this city, May 9, 1852. A short time previous to his death, he requested an intimate friend to read from the Bible, naming the chapter and remarking, "In the Word of God is my trust; its promises are my support."
REV. SYLVESTER HALE CLARK.
Rev. Sylvester Hale Clark, son of Jonathan and Mary Hale Clark, was born in South Wilbraham, Mass., December 31, 1810. He was born again in July, 1827, in Tolland, Conn., and joined the M. E. Church. He received his first license to preach in 1832, from the Rev. P. P. Sandford, Presiding Elder, at West Point, where he was teaching a school.
In 1834, by request of Rev. Marvin Richardson, Presiding Elder, he traveled the Montgomery Circuit with the Rev. Hiram Wing. At his request he organized the first class at Middletown, where they preached in a school-house.
In 1835, he was received into the New York Conference on probation and stationed at New Britain, Conn., which was then first made a station.
In 1837, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Waugh, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and stationed at Farmington, Conn.
In 1839, he was ordained elder by Bishop Wangh at Willett Street M. E. Church, New York, and stationed on the Harlem Mission with the Rev. John C. Tackaberry, he (the latter) residing near the Rose Hill or Twenty-
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seventh Street Church, and the former (Clark) next door to the church in Harlem, 125th Street.
The mission also included the Forty-third Street and Yorkville or Eighty-sixth Street Churches, at which they alternated, preaching three times each Sabbath. Brother Tackaberry took charge of the pastoral work and social meetings at the lower end of the mission, and brother Clark at the upper end.
In 1852, suffering from bronchial difficulty and general prostration, by the advice of Bishop Janes, brother Clark took a superannuation, hoping that entire rest might restore his health ; but this hope was not realized, and he has seldom been able to preach since.
In conclusion, brother Clark, in writing of himself and his life-long companion, says: "During all these years, with their joys and their sorrows, our Heavenly Father has kindly led us, and now, 1880, in the good old town of Plymouth, Mass., amid the memories, relics and descendants of the Pilgrims, near the rock on which they landed-
' We are waiting by the river, Only waiting for the boatman, We are watching on the shore, Till he come to bear us o'er.'"
REV. ELBERT OSBORN.
The Rev. Elbert Osborn was born April 7, 1800, in that part of the town of Fairfield, called Greenfield, in Connecticut.
It is his opinion that before he was nine years old, the Lord converted his soul. He then joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has since been connected with it, a period of seventy years.
When about twenty-two years old, he was licensed as a local preacher 'by the Rev. Samuel Merwin. About a year later, he entered the itineracy, and joined the New York Conference, of which he has continued a member for fifty-seven years.
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SKETCHES OF THE PASTORS BOTHI LIVING AND DEAD.
During forty-three years he has been on the list of effective ministers, and for the remainder, on the superannuated list.
His appointed fields of labor have included portions of Litchfield and Hartford Counties, in Connecticut, a part of Hampden County, in Massa- chusetts, and places in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Rensselaer, Albany, Schoharie, Delaware, Greene, Ulster, Queens and Suffolk Counties, in the State of New York.
In regard to the number of sermons he has preached, brother Osborn writes: "As near as I can now ascertain, I have, in my weak way, preached about ten thousand and three hundred times in the course of my ministry. The state of my health forbids my preaching now, yet I would 'cry in death, behold the Lamb.'"
He died at Ocean Grove, N. J., on Saturday evening, February 15, 1881, aged nearly eighty-one years. His end was peace.
REV. SAMUEL U. FISHER.
Rev. Samuel U. Fisher was born in White Plains, Westchester County, N. Y., November 30, 1795. When about twenty-four years of age, he sought, successfully, a saving interest in the Lord Jesus.
He was received on probation in the New York Conference in 1826, was ordained deacon in 1828, and elder in 1830. In 1826 he was stationed on Kingsbridge Circuit; 1827-8, Stamford; 1829-30, Matteawan; 1831-2, Dutchess; 1833, Amenia, where his health failed, and in 1834 he was returned supernumerary.
From 1835 to 1838, inclusive, he was superannuated. His health having improved a little, his relation was changed to supernumerary. In 1840, he was returned effective, and appointed to New Rochelle Circuit; 1841, Harlem, where his health again failed. He was returned supernum- erary in 1842, and continued so until 1845, when he was superannuated, and remained in this relation until May 9, 1850, when he was released from his toils and sufferings, and peacefully passed to his reward in heaven.
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As a minister, he was faithful as long as he could attend to the duties of his calling, and instrumental in bringing souls to Christ; sound in doc- trine, taking the Word of God as the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice.
REV. SAMUEL A. SEAMAN.
The Rev. Samuel A. Seaman was born in the city of New York, August 18, 1818.
His father's name was Samuel Seaman, the youngest brother of Rev. Richard Seaman, M.D., so long identified with the early history of the 125th Street M. E. Church.
He was converted in the Greene Street M. E. Church, in New York City.
In 1841 he was graduated from the New York University, and in the Fall went to Westville and Bethany, and in 1842 to Wethersfield. In 1843 he was associated with his uncle, the Rev. Dr. Seaman, in the Harlem M. E. Church. He is at present stationed at Stratford, Conn.
REV. GEORGE TAYLOR.
The Rev. George Taylor was born in the village of Honley, near Hud- dersfield, Yorkshire, England.
His parents were pious and earnest Methodists, and did all they could to train him to piety of heart and life.
In very early life he received strong religious impressions in the Sunday-school, and under the prayers and teachings of a very devoted mother, he received his first ticket of membership from the hands of the Rev. John Bowers.
At the age of eighteen he was received as a local preacher in the Gloysop Circuit, Derbyshire.
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From there he removed to the Theological school kept by the Rev. Thomas Allin, in Alltringham, near Manchester.
In 1843 he left Alltringham for New York with the intention of joining the New York Conference. He spent the first year in Wolcottville, Conn., under the eldership of Bartholomew Creagh.
His first Conference appointment was Harlem, (1844.)
Suffering from ill health during the year, he was, at its close, removed to the mountain region.
The people treated him with great kindness, the society was peaceable and united, and all experienced a pleasant year.
REV M. E. WILLING.
The Rev. M. E. Willing was Pastor of the Harlem M. E. Church during the Conference year 1845.
Brother Willing has since left the Methodist Episcopal Church.
REV. SAMUEL D. FERGUSON.
The Rev. Samuel D. Ferguson was born in the city of New York in 1798.
At the age of fourteen, with joy, he responded to the call of his Heavenly Father, "My son, give me thy heart." He then identified himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was licensed to preach, and employed by his presiding elder to aid the Rev. Arnold Scofield. He joined the Conference in 1819, and was appointed to Stamford Circuit; in 1820, he was appointed to Suffolk; and during succeeding years, succes- sively, to different circuits, until, in 1829-30, he was stationed in Bedford Street, New York City; and in 1831-4, he was Presiding Elder on Platts- burgh District; in 1835, he was stationed at North Second Street, Troy.
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In consequence of poor health he did not return to Troy the second year, but accepted the appointment of General Agent of the Troy Confer- ence Academy. From 1838 to 1844 he filled various appointments, among them, that of Presiding Elder of the Delaware District. In the Spring or Summer of 1844, his health having failed, he accepted the appointment of Superintendent of the Leake and Watts' Orphan House. Here he remained for four years. (It was during the years 1846 and 1847, that brother Ferguson officiated also as Pastor of the Harlem M. E. Church.)
As a man, brother Ferguson was emphatically strong; as a Christian, he was meek, humble and unostentatious. He was an able minister of the New Testament. All the religious enterprises of our Church shared in his liberality, and they were not forgotten in his last will and testament.
On the 30th of December, 1855, at the residence of his sister, in the city of New York, on Sabbath morning, he went to the "land of pure delight," where everlasting Spring abides, where he can die no more, but will be like the angels of God, ever young, ever strong and immortal.
He repeated, as expressive of the feelings of his own heart, the words of the Psalmist: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want * yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."
REV. JAMES M. FREEMAN, D.D.
The Rev. James M. Freeman was born in the city of New York, Janu- ary 29, 1827.
He was converted in the Sabbath-school of the Allen Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and united with that church when he was not quite eleven years old.
He was educated for a teacher in the public schools of the city, under the old Normal school system, and taught seven years in several different schools.
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