USA > New York > New York City > A history of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the city of New York > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
* "Manuscript Hist.," pp. 17-20.
31
THE NEW CHURCH
charity, but in the inherent faults of the system. It was throughout a noble and truly Christian rela- tionship, and it set up an ideal which, as one observes with interest, the Brick Church of later years has striven once more to realize, not without success .*
The strong feeling of unity and equality which existed, was no doubt produced at the beginning by the fact that the congregation of the New Church was taken bodily out of the Wall Street congregation. There existed no little nucleus of people who had been already worshipping separately in some sort of makeshift quarters at the north end of the town, and for whom the good people of the Wall Street district provided a decent place of worship. The good people of Wall Street themselves were the ones who lacked adequate quarters, and they provided the New Church for those of their own number who found it convenient to worship there, or who for any other reason were willing to make the change.
At the same time it must be admitted that even from the start there was a certain observable differ- ence between the two congregations. For one thing, tested by the record of the charitable offerings made from year to year, the Wall Street congregation was the wealthier. This is in part explained by the probability that the younger rather than the older portion of the congregation moved to the New Church, both because they had not so deeply rooted an affection for the very walls and pews of the old building, and also because the young people prob- ably lived further uptown, in the region where the New Church stood. But there was another differ-
In its relation to its two affiliated churches.
32
THE BRICK CHURCH
ence also which was even more important than that of wealth or that of age. Either by accident or, more probably, by the drawing together of congenial per- sons, the strong Scotch and Irish element of the Presbyterian membership remained for the most part in the older church, while the New England element was largely transferred to Beekman Street .*
It is not to be supposed that this difference of origin amounted to a sharp demarcation or that the diverse characteristics of these two classes, the con- servatism of the Scotch-Irish and the more demo- cratic spirit of the New Englanders, were obtrusively displayed by the respective congregations, but the difference existed and was bound to play its part in the subsequent history.
* See "Br. Ch. Mem.," p. 153.
CHAPTER III
IN COLONIAL DAYS : 1768-1774
"The pews were all immediately taken, and it soon became abundantly evident that the erection of an additional church was neither unnecessary nor premature." --- "Memoirs of John Rodgers," p. 182.
" As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."-Galatians 6 : 10.
O N New Year's Day, 1768, the congregation assembled in the New Church for the first time and dedicated it to the service of God. Even the very imperfect picture of the scene that, by the help of the records, rises to our view is well worth looking upon. Members of all the represen- tative Presbyterian families are in the pews-Liv- ingstons, Broomes, McDougals, Ogilvies, Quack- enbosses. The clerk is in his desk and Mr. Rodgers, in gown and bands, with his full, curled wig upon his head, has ascended into his lofty pulpit. There he offers the introductory prayer, reads from the Script- ures and gives out the Psalm, not improbably the one hundred and twenty-second as being most ap- propriate for this occasion.
"How did my heart rejoice to hear My friends devoutly say, 'In Zion let us all appear, And keep the solemn day.'"
Though we must guess at the Psalm, we have pre- cise information about the text of the sermon. It
33
34
THE BRICK CHURCH
was taken from Haggai 2 : 7, "I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts." The theme and spirit of the discourse, thus introduced, cannot well be mistaken. Although both minister and peo- ple had themselves given so freely and worked so faithfully to build the church, they were not per- mitted on that day to think of their own powers or their own success. The house belonged to God and its only real value must come through His blessing it and using it. The occasion was in itself impressive, and Mr. Rodgers was a preacher thoroughly capable of putting it to its best use. We are assured by those who listened to him through many years that his sermons were remarkable for their effect upon his hearers. He had the power to stir the emotions as well as convince the mind, and commonly, before he had concluded, both preacher and congregation were literally moved to tears .*
But while we may well believe that on that day such a preacher drove home to the hearts of the people his message of the divine presence and power, we may believe, also, that as the congregation dis- persed after the service they were by no means un- mindful of the leading part that had been played in the creation of this New Church by Mr. Rodgers himself. They must have felt, too, that its future success would, under God, depend in no small meas- ure upon his continued energy and devotion. And we, also, if we are to understand the history of the church, must recognize at the outset the power of leadership in the pastor.
We have already seen what manner of man he was
* "Rodgers Mem.," p. 88.
35
IN COLONIAL DAYS
at the time of his call, endowed with a strong person- ality, one who might be confidently expected to take a commanding position in all the affairs in which he was concerned, and to lead them to a successful con- clusion. During his early years in New York he had continued to display these same qualities. His prompt settlement of the difference regarding the manner of opening divine worship, whether at clerk's desk or pulpit, has already been described, but another anec- dote may be added which reveals in a still more entertaining manner the forcefulness with which he exercised his authority. 1314640
It seems that at one of the services a stranger had entered the church and had walked nearly the length of the aisle without being invited to a seat by any of those who occupied the pews. Mr. Rodgers, "from his pulpit watch-tower," as the narrator describes it, saw clearly what had happened and chose an unex- pected way to remedy it. His house-servant, a negro, was at that time the sexton also. To him Mr. Rod- gers called out in a loud voice, "Frank, show the gentleman to my seat." We are told that this broad hint to the congregation had an instantaneous effect, and that so many pew doors flew open as to make the stranger's choice among them almost embarrass- ing. The noteworthy thing about such incidents as these is not that they should have occurred, but that the minister who ventured to make his points in such a direct and unconventional manner, carried his congregation with him, as Mr. Rodgers indisputably did. A weak man, acting so, would soon have been disliked as a meddler, but in Mr. Rodgers the strength of genuine leadership was recognized by everybody,
36
THE BRICK CHURCH
and his bold strokes, whether in great or in small matters, were justified by their success.
Even at this early date his reputation was by no means local only. On December 20th, 1768, he re- ceived from the University of Edinburgh the degree of Doctor of Divinity,* at that time a most extraordinary honor for an American clergyman, and rendered doubly significant in his case by the fact that Dr. Benjamin Franklin had been sufficiently interested to write from London the commendatory letter which led to the granting of it. Dr. Rodgers was at this time only forty-one years of age.
But we must return to the history of the New Church itself. The pews, we are told, were all im- mediately taken, showing that the forming of a second congregation had been no mistake. The list of pew- holders must, however, have included a considerable number who were not communicants, for we learn from a list of the united congregations, drawn up at this time, that there were in all three hundred and ninety-one members, allowing only about two hun- dred to each church.
It would appear that the part which the Christian laymen of those days were expected to take in the church activities was very limited, a striking con- trast to the ideal of the present time. Besides living Christian lives, their duty was practically confined to attending public worship and contributing to the church collections. None of the societies, which to- day form a natural part of the machinery of every
* The diploma conferring this degree is now in the possession of the Brick Church, having been presented by Dr. Rodgers' great-grandson, Mr. Robertson Rodgers.
-
2
3
4
5
SERMON.
Public THANKSGIVING
6
7
8
BRICK CHURCH RELICS
1. Diploma from Edinburgh University conferring degree of D.D on John Rodgers. 2. Pocket cal- endar of Dr. Rodgers, with entries of marriage fees. 3. Dr. Spring's sand-box (old-time substitute for blotting paper). 4. Brick from the Brick Church on Beekman Street. 5. Breastpin made from wood of the Beekman Street steeple. 6. Manuscript of sermon preached by Dr. Rodgers at close of Revolutionary War. 7. Sermon-case of Dr. Rodgers, worked in colored crewels. 8. Printed form of sermon shown in No. 6.
37
IN COLONIAL DAYS
church, had then been conceived of, and it is espe- cially noteworthy that the women had not begun any active or organized work, such as in later times has so greatly added to the church's usefulness.
In a word, the work of the church was carried on by its officers. The ministers, of course, conducted the public worship and administered the sacraments; and theirs for the most part, was the work of visiting the families of the parish; the session busied itself especially with the matter of church discipline; and to the deacons was committed the administration of the benevolences. We may examine the work of the New Church, during the first seven or eight years of its existence, under this threefold division.
The public services of the church were not many in those days, little more than half as many as at the present time, but it is to be presumed that they were a good deal longer, and that in them a much larger proportion of time was devoted to the sermon or the lecture. The congregation on Beekman Street assembled every Sunday morning and on alternate Sunday afternoons. Four times in the year the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered, apparently on the first Sundays of March, June, September and December. It is indicative of the close personal oversight given to individual mem- bers in those days, that in order to partake of the Communion it was always necessary to obtain in advance a sort of certificate of good standing. To those members who were deemed worthy of it-and the judgment was a strict one-this certificate was given in the form of a "token," evidently either a metal voucher or a ticket. These, we know, were
38
THE BRICK CHURCH
applied for in person at a fixed time in advance, for in the session records we read of being "directed to attend for receiving a token for admission to the Lord's Supper." Only those who presented tokens were allowed to receive the sacrament.
We are not informed whether at first there were week-day meetings held at the New Church. We know that among the Presbyterians at this time there was a weekly class for the instruction of chil- dren in the shorter catechism, and a public lecture on the catechism on Thursday evenings,* at which the doctrinal exposition was followed by an earnest practical application. There were also private asso- ciations for prayer established in different localities. But it is uncertain whether any of these week-day meetings was at the beginning actually held in the New Church. We must remember in this connec- tion that Beekman Street is but a short distance from Wall Street.
By Dr. Rodgers the work of visiting the people of the congregation was most thoroughly and persist- ently performed. We know already the methods he had employed in his former parish, and these he continued in New York.
The work of the minister and elders meeting as the session of the church is very fully preserved in the minutes of that body, so that we are able to say
* This was started by Dr. Rodgers soon after coming to New York, and was originally intended for the older children. It was open, however, to all who chose to attend, and the room was usually filled to overflowing by people of all ages. Dr. Rodgers frequently, in later years, expressed his belief that these Thursday evening lectures had been more signally blessed to the spiritual benefit of his people than any other part of his ministra- tions. ("Rodgers Mem.," p. 176.)
39
IN COLONIAL DAYS
with certainty what the nature of it was and how thoroughly it was done. They regularly passed upon the worthiness of all persons who desired to be ad- mitted to church membership, and once a year they received and examined the financial report of the deacons; but the distinctive occupation of the ses- sion at this time was the uncongenial work of church discipline, for, to an extent, now utterly unheard of, the private morals of the individual members of the church were then investigated, corrected, and con- trolled. Delinquents, or suspected persons, or per- sons accused of wrong-doing by other members, were summoned by formal citation to appear at session meeting, and there their conduct was thoroughly sifted. At times the examination was so extended as to amount to a formal trial, witnesses being exam- ined at great length, and the full testimony being re- duced to writing. Not only was judgment pro- nounced upon offenders whose wrong-doing had already become a public scandal, but the attempt was made to discover and check, before it was too late, every sort of evil in the conduct of the members of the church. Not infrequently, on the other hand, the investigation ended in a complete acquittal, and it is apparent that in at least some of these cases the accused person had been most forward to bring the case before the session, as a means of silencing un- just or malicious attacks, without resorting to law.
During the period with which we are at present occupied the session, it must be remembered, be- longed not to the New Church alone, but to the two united congregations, and we have no means of ascertaining when the recorded acts of discipline
40
THE BRICK CHURCH
had reference to New Church people. It will, therefore, be best to defer the more full and serious discussion of this part of the church's life till we come to the time when the New Church had a session of its own. A passing reference may, however, be made to the curious and sometimes (in spite of the serious occasion) amusing passages which the sub- ject of discipline has introduced into the records of this reverend body. It is certainly odd to turn over page after page in which is discussed the fate of a red-and-white handkerchief supposed to have been stolen, or of "a pair of speckled silk stockings of a bluish cast," that had similarly disappeared. You may read, in the handwriting of the session clerk, the momentous history of a certain blue cloth cloak, and how the material of it was afterward identified with great certainty, although transformed into a "surtout and a pair of trousers." Or you may even learn at the mouth of an apparently friendly witness that Mrs. - "loved a little Small Beer dashed with Rum every Day to refresh Nature whenever she had Money to buy it." And, by the way, the verdict of the session in this particular case is interesting for its very moderate severity. They did not decide in so many words that the accused had been guilty of intemperance, but only went so far as to affirm that she had "given too much grounds to suspect her of too great a fondness for Strong Liquor."
Upon the shoulders of the deacons rested the whole work of caring for the poor of the church. And this is the same thing as saying that they admin- istered the whole of the church's benevolences, for in those days no collections were taken and no money
41
IN COLONIAL DAYS
was given through the church for any other benevo- lent purpose than to supply the needs of the parish poor. The Church of Christ had not yet awakened to her duty and her power as the organizer and sup- porter of every sort of religious and philanthropic enterprise.
The money which the deacons distributed in alms was received in the offering made at each Com- munion Service, known as "table money," and also in a special offering taken in connection with an annual "Charity Sermon," which in the New Church was preached usually on the second Sunday after- noon in December. In this special offering from twenty to thirty pounds sterling was given annually, and about an equal amount was received from the four communion offerings together .* The entire sum was annually divided among the deacons, who attended personally to the distribution of it, and reported upon their work to the session at the end of the year.
One is impressed, in this brief review of the first years of the New Church, by the air of maturity to which it almost immediately attained. Sharing as it did from the beginning the whole history and experi- ence, and all the methods, customs, and traditions of the older church of which it was an integral part, it seems almost to have had no youth. As soon as the stir which accompanied the provision of land and building had passed, the church life appeared to settle at once into a placid middle age of routine use-
* On one occasion at least (in 1773), the deacons endeavored to increase their ability to aid the poor by investing in two lottery tickets, showing that the moral objections to the lottery were not felt by them in that period. . '
42
THE BRICK CHURCH
fulness; and, so far as its own internal affairs were concerned, it might have so continued indefinitely. But there were outside factors to be reckoned with, through which the second period of the New Church's history, beginning in 1775, was destined to be any- thing but serene and uneventful. Political affairs, even during the seven years studied in this chapter, were clearly moving toward a crisis, in which the church would inevitably be involved, and we must now turn back to study these contemporary events.
CHAPTER IV
"THE PRESBYTERIAN JUNTO": 1752-1775
"The early and just alarm our country took at the measures pursued by the British Court towards us strongly points us to the watchful care of a kind Providence over us."-JOHN RODGERS, "The Divine Goodness Displayed in the American Revolution," p. 12.
"When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? And he said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born."-Acts 22 : 26-28.
I HAT little or nothing should have been said until now about the affairs of the country at large, at the time when the New Church was founded or during the first years of its existence, must appear strange and perhaps neglectful; for the period was, of course, a momentous one. The epi- sode of the Stamp Act was still fresh in men's minds when the church on Beekman Street was projected, and throughout the succeeding years the clouds of threatened conflict with the mother country were becoming more and more ominous. Indeed, so ab- sorbing were the political questions of the period that one can but wonder how men at the same time found energy for starting and maintaining a new church. It can be explained only on the assumption that those colonial Presbyterians did really seek first the kingdom of God.
Why, then, it will be asked, since political ques- tions were at the time of such absorbing interest, has
43
44
THE BRICK CHURCH
no mention of them been made until we have almost reached the outbreak of the Revolution ? This question may, perhaps, be best answered by asking another, Why is it that the church's own records maintain an almost unbroken silence in regard to the momentous events of the years before the war? For such a silence they do indeed maintain. Between 1768 and 1775 the minutes of the session contain but two important references to current politics. In October, 1770, when Lord Dunmore arrived from England to take the office of Governor of the Prov- ince, and again in July, 1771, when Governor Tryon succeeded him, the officers of the church presented addresses of welcome; and in both of them, it is noticeable, loyalty to King George was most une- quivocally expressed .* Beyond these two allusions the records have nothing to say about current events.
This silence, however, was very far from indicat- ing that the members of the church were indifferent to the problems and conflicts of the time. Abundant evidence will presently be adduced to show that they were not only intensely interested but highly influen- tial in the events that led to the Revolution. The silence means rather that the church itself, as an institution, took no formal part in the conflict.
It was neither necessary nor proper that it should do so. The principles of religion were not involved, and there were, of course, good Christians on both
* For this they have, by Tory sympathizers, been accused of insin- cerity, for many of these very men were ardent and active patriots, pledged to resist every encroachment upon their liberties. But at this time they refused to believe that insistence upon their rights would end in a break with England. On the contrary, they conceived themselves more loyal to the true England than were the so-called loyalists.
45
"THE PRESBYTERIAN JUNTO"
sides. Even within the Presbyterian Church of New York, although the large majority of its members were of the patriotic party, there were also a number who, by sympathy and conviction, belonged to the other side. Indeed, it was one of the melancholy re- flections of the time that in the event of a resort to arms, the very men who had joyfully united in building the New Church and who, under its roof, had together received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, might soon be fighting in opposite armies. There was every reason, therefore, why the church, as a church, should not take active part in the conflict, and why its records should make little reference to the events which were dividing men into two opposing camps.
At the same time it was, of course, impossible that a church, which after all was but a collection of indi- viduals, should preserve an actual and absolute neutrality. Even though the majority made no at- tempt to commit the church officially to the political views which they themselves held as individuals, there was no disguising the fact that the majority was decisive, or that when a Presbyterian congrega- tion assembled-in the New Church, for instance- it was likely to include leading spirits among the New York patriots. It was well known that if war came, and if the British occupied New York, as they would certainly try to do, the New Church would be closed for want of a congregation. When we add to this that Dr. Rodgers, whose sermons and prayers from Sunday to Sunday could hardly have been quite colorless, was "an early and decided friend to American independence," * it becomes
* "Rodgers Mem.," p. 206.
46
THE BRICK CHURCH
evident that, to say the least, the Tories who at- tended a Presbyterian service must have felt some- what lonely. There is on record at least one Tory protest * against petitions offered by Dr. Rodgers in public worship in which, with great distinctness, he asked a blessing upon the cause of American liberty. He continued to pray loyally for the King also, t but that did not affect his views, or the views of the congregation, on the subject of American rights. In short, that the New Church, as a whole, belonged distinctly to the party whose first, and controlling determination was to uphold and maintain American liberties-by peaceable methods, if possible, but by force, if at last no other way were found-there was, and could be, no real doubt.
Our immediate concern, however, is not with the church as a whole, but with the individual Presby- terians of whom the church was composed. Our present object is to ascertain what was the relation of these individual church members to the thoughts and doings of the time, first during the years that led up to the Revolution, and afterward (in the next chap- ter), during the Revolution itself. For while the per- sonal affairs of individual members would commonly lie beyond the scope of this history, there are special reasons why an exception should be made in regard to the service rendered by the officers and members of the Presbyterian Church in New York during the Revolutionary period. ¿
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.