A history of the churches, of all denominations, in the city of New York, from the first settlement to the year 1846, Part 6

Author: Greenleaf, Jonathan, 1785-1865. cn
Publication date: 1846
Publisher: New York, E. French; Portland, Hyde, & Duren
Number of Pages: 784


USA > New York > New York City > A history of the churches, of all denominations, in the city of New York, from the first settlement to the year 1846 > Part 6


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Church of the Messiah 1837


St. Timothy's (German) 1837


St. Matthew's (colored) 1840


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FRIENDS. 1703.


BEFORE we sketch the history of the Friends' Meetings in the City of New York, it may be well to describe some of their peculiar customs, especially as regards the several kinds of meetings held.


Meetings for worship are held as other Christians hold meetings,-on the first day of the week, and at other stated periods, near the middle of the week.


For the regular administration of dis- cipline, the Friends have four other meet- ings,-viz. : preparative meetings, monthly meetings, quarterly meetings, and yearly meetings. In these meetings worship is first attended to, and then business. The preparative meeting consists of Friends belonging to one or more meetings for wor ship, and before this meeting most matters 112


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of business are first brought, and, if thought of sufficient importance, the business is properly arranged, and passed forward to a monthly meeting. The authority for holding a preparative meeting is derived from some monthly meeting, with the approbation of a . quarterly meeting, to which it is accountable .. 'The monthly meeting includes several con- gregations in a neighborhood, who meet at a given place within the circle once a month .. A meeting for worship first takes place, and then they separate to attend to business,- the men to transact what belongs to the men of their own district, and the females to attend to what pertains to their own sex. The quarterly and yearly meetings are con- stituted in much the same way, and their business is managed in a similar manner. " The quarterly meetings are careful annually to depute such Friends to attend the service of the yearly meeting as are men fearing God, of good conversation, weighty spirits, prudent and sincere, well acquainted with the affairs of truth, and diligent attenders of meetings for discipline at home; whose practice and conversation is answerable to the testimony they profess to bear; men


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known to be faithful and conscientious."* It would be well if all our churches would observe similar rules in the selection of delegates to attend public meetings.


: In the yearly meeting, the state of the society at large is ascertained by written statements from the different branches ; whole days are devoted to business, with occasional intervals for public worship. Thus the meet- ings of the Friends rise in rank from one to another, and, viewed as a whole, present, perhaps, as perfect a system of discipline as can be found in any denomination.


( George Fox, who was born at Drayton, . in Leicestershire, England, in July, 1624, stands at the head of this denomination. At the age of twenty-three, he began to preach the doctrines which he had embraced, and before the close of that century, the senti- ments he held had been embraced by many, both in Europe and America. Meetings had been established in many countries, and their ministers, with a zeal which nothing earthly could subdue, travelled from nation to nation, to make known their faith. With a constancy not surpassed in modern times,


- * Rules of Discipline of the yearly meeting.


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· they bore the most cruel mockings and scourgings, in almost every country they en- tered. Public sentiment was against them, it was an age of persecution, and they were made the victims; and it was many years. . before men appear to have discovered that the rights of conscience ought to be respect- . ed, and that open persecution was no way to propagate the religion of the Prince of Peace.


It is very difficult, if not quite impossible,. to fix the date of the establishment of Friends' Meetings, in the city of New York .. In the year 1656, Robert Hodgson, a preacher of this denomination, landed in New York, with some others, but finding:it dangerous to remain there, they left without much delay. In 1672, George Fox, the founder of the sect, travelled over Long Is- land, and passed by water over to Rhode Island ; but he seems to have avoided New York, for he came across by water, from Middletown, in New Jersey, to Gravesend, and returned by the same route .*


As far as can now be ascertained, the first stated meetings for worship in this city were-


*See Prime's History of Long Island, page 338.


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established about the commencement of the last century, and were connected with a · monthly 'meeting held at Flushing, which "was connected with the yearly meeting held on Long Island, which was established as early as 1670. The first Friends' Meeting- House in New York city was erected not . far from the commencement of the last cen- tury. Some have placed its date in the year .1696; others in 1703, and others in 1706. · It was a small frame building, standing on Little Green street, running from Maiden ·lane to Liberty street, which was then called " Crown street .; " and this continued as the sole place of public worship for the Friends in this city for about seventy years.


In the year 1775, a substantial meeting- house, of brick, was erected on Pearl street, between Franklin square and Oak street, which was taken down in 1824, and its place ."supplied by stores and dwellings. In the year 1794, the old meeting-house on Little Green : street having become very much decayed, a new building was put up adjoining it, but fronting on Liberty street, which was used for about seven years as a school-house, and a place of public worship. In . 1S02, the


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school-house and the old meeting-house were both removed, and a new house of worship built. It was a brick building, measuring 60 feet by 40. This was occu- pied as a meeting-house until 1826, when it was thought best to remove the meeting from : that location, and in October of that year, it was sold to Mr. Grant Thorburn, who occu- pied it as a seed store for nearly. ten years, when it was taken down, and large brick stores were erected in its place.


In 1919, another meeting was opened, and a large house of worship built of brick, on Hester street, between Elizabeth street and the Bowery; and about the same time a meeting was opened at Manhattanville, where a small frame building was erected. This meeting has since been discontinued.


When the meeting-house on Pearl street was taken down, in 1824, as previously re- lated, a very spacious building was erected on Rose street, near Pearl street, and to this the congregation repaired, who had formerly assembled in Pearl street. Such was the state of things in the year 1827, when the great schism in the denomination took place. At that time the Orthodox Friends, as they


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are styled, separated and built a house of worship on Henry street, between Catharine and Market streets ; which, having occupied for about twelve years, they sold to the Jew- ish Synagogue " Anshi Chesed," in the year 1840, and erected a large and very substan- tial building of brick, on Orchard street, near Walker, where they still remain; the meet- ings in Rose street, and Hester street being attached to the other division of the church ; and a third meeting has been added to these since, viz .: a small assembly who meet in Downing street, near Bleecker, where they have a brick edifice, erected in the year 1832, 40 by 46 feet in dimensions.


THE MEETINGS OF FRIENDS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, WITH THE DATE OF THEIR ESTABLISHMENT.


Date,


Rose street, formerly in Little Green street, Liberty street, and Pearl street 1703 Hester street . .1819 Orchard street, formerly in Henry street 1828 Downing street ..... .1832 Manhattanville, opened in 1819, but soon discontinued,


JEWS. 1706.


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AMONG the early settlers of the city of New York, there were some families of Jews. That was not a day of free toleration, for although the seed of Abraham were not persecuted here as in some other countries, yet when they respectfully petitioned for leave to establish public worship, and main- tain it according to their own faith, they were refused by the city authorities. This took place in 1685. But this state of things did not long continue, for some evidence re- mains that before the close of that century the Jews did assemble for worship according to their own forms. A piece of ground for a burying place was procured very early, a large portion of which was the gift of a few gentlemen. It is situated on the west side of Oliver street, nearly opposite the Baptist


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meeting-house, and is now entirely hemmed in with buildings. Monuments are still stand- ing there, bearing the date of 1672. A grant for the same purpose was afterwards made to the Jews by the City Council, but the gift does not appear to have been realized.


It may be difficult to date with precision, the establishment of the first Jewish congre- gation in New York. The first minutes which can now be found, are written in Spanish and English, and are dated in 1729, but reference is made to other minutes dated in 1706, at which time, if not before, it is altogether probable that a congregation ex- isted in an orderly manner. About this time a small frame building was erected for a Synagogue, standing on Mill street, so called, from a mill built on a run of water, in which it was said the Jewish females performed their ablutions. In a few years the congre- gation increased considerably, and in 1729, finding their place of worship inconvenient, they erected a neat stone edifice, measuring thirty-six feet by fifty-eight. This also stood on Mill street, on the site of their first build- ing. Here the congregation continued to worship for almost a century, and while the


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fathers went down to the grave, the children rose up in their places. In the year 1818, the synagogue in Mill street, which had be- come decayed, was rebuilt, and in a few years more, the increasing business of the city drove the families away from the vicinity of the synagogue, and constrained the Jew- ish congregation, like other churches, to change their location. Accordingly, they disposed of their property in Mill street, and in the year 1833, erected a spacious and elegant synagogue, with houses for the minister and sexton, on Crosby street, near Spring street, where they now remain. The names of the earliest ministers of this con- gregation have not been ascertained. The earliest name which the writer has obtained is that of the Rev. Joseph Isaac Jeshurun Pinto, who died in the year 1766, but it is not known how long he officiated. He was succeeded in the same year, by the Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, who officiated fifty years, and died much lamented, in 1816. The Rev. Moses L. M. Peixotto succeeded Mr. Seixas, and officiated until his death, in the year 1827. 'The Rev. Isaac B. Seixas a nephew of the former minister, succeeded,


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and served until his death, which took place in August, 1839. The Rev. Jaques J. Lyons succeeded Mr. Seixas, October 15, 1839, and still sustains the pastoral office.


About the year 1824, a second synagogue was established, principally of German and Polish Jews, who separated from the congre- gation in Crosby street. The difference be- tween them and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, who assemble at Crosby street, related to a difference of dialect in reading the He- brew, and some forms of worship, though, of course, nothing essential in the framework of their religion. They met for a time in a Hall in the Dispensary, on the corner of White and Centre streets, but in 1826 they ' purchased a church edifice standing on Elm street, near Canal, which was built by the colored Presbyterians two years before, and altering it to suit their own worship, re- moved there. The Rev. Mr. Hart was their first minister. He was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Myers, and he, in the autumn of 1839, by the Rev. S. M. Isaacs. About the year 1844, a secession took place in this con- gregation which led to the establishment of another, which assembles at the present time


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in Franklin street, with Mr. Isaacs as their minister. The congregation in Elm street have been destitute of a stated pastor since that time, but are now expecting the services of the Rev. Mr. Leo.


Soon after the Jewish congregation, now in Elm street, took possession of that build- ing, measures were taken for collecting a third congregation, and a meeting was open- ed in the Hall of the Dispensary in White street, under the charge of the Rev. S. Sam- uelson, and worship was continued here for several years. At length a house of worship built by the Friends, on Henry street, being offered for sale, it was purchased by this con- gregation, and they removed there in 180.


The Rev. Jonas Hecht is their present minister.


In 1841 a fourth synagogue was built on Attorney street, near Rivington, of which the Rev. Joseph Lewin is minister.


In the following year of 1842, a fifth syn- agogue was built in Attorney street, near Houston, of which the Rev. L. Heitner is minister. In the early part of 1846, the two congregations in Attorney street, and the one in Henry street, elected as Chief Rabbi, the


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Rev. Dr. Lilienthal, who was recently em- ployed in the Department of Education in the Russian government. He officiates at each of them in turn. The other synagogues in the city are independent bodies.


Four other Jewish congregations are com- menced in this city, which, as yet, have erected no buildings, viz. in the Dispensary in White street, where the Rev. S. Samuelson offi- ciates ; in Grand street, under the minis- try of Rev. S. M. Cohen; in Leonard street, under the ministry of the Rev. S. M. Salin- ger ; and in Franklin street, under the minis- try of the Rev. S. M. Isaacs. It is understood that this last named congregation are about erecting a building on Wooster street, near Prince street.


Each of the synagogues adopts some sig- nificant Hebrew title. The following are un- derstood to be their titles :-


Crosby street-Sheareth Israel. (The remnant of Israel.) Elm street-Benai Jeshurun. (Sons of Jehurun.) Henry street-Anshi Chesed. (The men of benevolence.) Ist in Attorney street-Shaary Shomaim. (The gates of heaven.) (The pursuers of 2d in Attorney street-Rodof Sholom. peace.)


White street -- Shaary Tsadeck. ( The gates of righteousness.) Grand street-Immanuel. ( God with us.)


Leonard street-Beth Israel. (The house of Israel. ) Franklin street-The Franklin .Association.


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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 1716.


About the year 1706, a very few individuals from New England, then living in the city of New York, who were Presbyterians in sentiment, were in the practice of meeting together in private houses for social worship. In the month of January, 1707, the Rev. Francis McKemie, and the Rev. John Hampton, two Presbyterian ministers, who had been sent to America by a respectable body of dissenters in the city of London, and who had been preaching in different parts of Virginia and Maryland, came to New York, and having made known their cha- racter, and produced their credentials, leave was obtained for Mr. M'Kemie to preach in the Dutch Church in Garden street, while Mr. Hampton went over to Newtown on Long Island. But this coming to the ears


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of Lord Cornbury, the royal governor, he prohibited his preaching in that church. However, Mr. William Jackson invited him into his house at the lower end of Pearl street, where he preached to a small audience and baptized a clfild .* He then went over to Newtown, where he was arrested by the sheriff of Queen's county, by virtue of a warrant from Lord Cornbury, and thrown into prison. He was, however, acquitted on trial, though the costs of prosecution were most wickedly extorted from him.t


These persecutions did not altogether dis- courage the few Presbyterians in New York, who continued to meet together for worship as best they could, until the year 1716, when they resolved to form themselves into a regular church, and, if possible, to obtain a minister. This was accomplished ; a church was organized and connected with the Pres- bytery of Philadelphia, and the Rev. James Anderson, a native of Scotland, became their minister. For about three years, wor- ship was held in the City Hall, and in 1719, the first Presbyterian church building ever


* Miller's Life of Rodgers, pp. 87-91. t Miller.


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erected in this city, was put up. It stood on Wall street, near Broadway. Mr. Anderson remained pastor of the church until the summer of 1726, when he was dismissed in order to take charge of a church in Netr Donegal, Pa.


About four years prior to the dismission of Mr. Anderson, some difficulties having arisen in the church, a party drew off, and formed a distinct. society, holding worship in a room on William street, near Liberty street. But no church organization seems to have been effected. This new society invited Mr. Jonathan Edwards, who was afterwards the celebrated minister of North- ampton, then a candidate of about 19 years of age, to preach to them, which he did for the space of eight months, but declined to remain permanently, and after a while the separate organization was given up, and the members of it principally returned to the old church. Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton was the second pastor of the church, and was ordain- ed for this purpose, in Boston, August 4. 1727. The ministry of Mr. Pemberton con- tinued twenty-six years, and was very suc- cessful, and the church was much .en-


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larged. After the first visit of Mr. White- field to America, in the year 1740, the con- gregation became so large that it was found necessary to enlarge the place of worship. This was done in 1748. Two years after this it was thought advisable to settle a col- league with Mr. Pemberton to meet the wants of an increasing congregation, and in October, 1750, the Rev. Alexander Cumming was ordained as such. In about three years after this, very serious dissensions arose in the church respecting the psalmody, and some other matters, which induced both pastors to resign their charge. In October, 1753, they were both dismissed, though with the most ample testimonials of Christian character and ministerial ability.


Soon after this, a call was presented to the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, then pastor of the Congregational church in Bethlem, Conn., which he declined. It was repeated, and urged with great zeal, but he still declined. The church then invited the Rev. John Rodgers of St. George's in Delaware, to become their pastor, and he declined; and they then called the Rev. David McGregor, of Londonderry, N. H., and again received a


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negative. Thus nearly two years were con- sumed, till at length, in July, 1755, they called the Rev. David Bostwick, then pastor of the Presbyterian church, Jamaica, L. I. After long consultations and discussions respecting the difficulties in the church, especially upon the subject of psalmody, Mr. Bostwick was prevailed upon to accept the call, and he took the pastoral charge of the church in the early part of 1756. The settlement of Mr. Bostwick did not entirely heal the division in the church. A few were still dissatisfied, particularly on the subject of psalmody, and ultimately withdrew, and formed what is now the " Scotch Presbyte- rian Church" in Grand street. This took place in the autumn of 1756. 'The sketch of this church, and those which have sprung from it, will be given in its proper place.


In October, 1762, the Rev. Joseph Treat became colleague pastor of the church, and in November of the next year, Mr. Bost- wick was removed by death. In the spring of 1764, the church presented a call to the Rev. John Murray, then recently from Ire- land, to become colleague pastor with Mr. Treat, but he declined, and was afterwards 12


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settled in Newburyport, Mass. In January following, the church made out a call for the Rev. John Rodgers, of St. George's, in Delaware, whom they had called ten years before. This application was successful, and Mr. Rodgers was installed colleague pastor of the church, Sept. 4th, 1765.


Up to this time the congregation had had but one place of worship, but the increasing numbers, and the gradual extension of the city, led to the belief that a second place of worship was necessary. Accordingly ground was obtained by a grant from the corporation, on the corner of Beekman and Nassau streets, then "in the fields," quite " out of town," and here the present " Brick Church " was erected, and opened for wor- ship Jan. 1, 1768. A large congregation soon assembled here. The church was considered as one body with that worship- ping in Wall street. They had one board of trustees, one eldership, and one minis- try. The war of the Revolution, which fol- lowed not long after this, scattered most of the 'congregations in New York. Wall Street Church was converted into barracks for the soldiers, and the Brick Church into


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a hospital. The ministers left the city. Mr. Treat never returned, and the pastoral relation between him and the church was dissolved Oct. 2, 1785. Rev. Dr. Rodgers returned to his charge in the fall of 1783, and delivered a sermon on that occasion in St. George's Chapel, in Beekman street, the use of that building and of St. Paul's hav- ing been generously offered to the congre- gation by the vestry of Trinity Church, until their buildings should be repaired-an instance of true liberality of feeling, which, it is much to be wished, could have con- tinued to this day. It was at once seen that, with two places of worship, the church must be provided with more than one min- ister, and accordingly Mr. James Wilson was called as colleague with Dr. Rodgers, and was ordained and installed as such, Aug. 10, 1785. Mr. Wilson remained but a little over two years, and in Jan., 1788, was dismissed at his own request, his health requiring, as he supposed, a more southern climate, and an opening then pre- senting for ministerial labors in Charleston, S. C.


After more than a year spent in inef-


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fectual attempts to obtain a colleague pastor, the Rev. John McKnight was installed in this office, on Dec. 2, 1789. The congregations were constantly enlarging, and the labors of the ministers incessant, and on June 5th, 1793, Rev. Samuel Miller was ordained and installed collegiate pastor with Drs. Rodgers and Mcknight.


'The city was now spreading out, espe- cially in the northeastern section, and it be- came apparent that a Presbyterian church was needed there. When this fact began to engage attention, Henry Rutgers, Esq., presented a lot of ground to the First Pres- byterian Church, lying on the corner of Rutgers and Henry streets, on which it was proposed to erect the contemplated edifice. This was accomplished during the summer of 1797, when the " Rutgers Street Church," a spacious frame building, measur- ing eighty-six feet by sixty-four, was erected. It was first opened for worship, May 13, 179S.


Although the three churches now gathered were a collegiate charge, yet it was supposed the time was not far distant when each should stand alone; and when the Rev.


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Philip Milledoler, D.D., was installed as a colleague with Drs. Rodgers, McKnight, and Miller, in November, 1805, it was with a view to taking the church in Rutgers street under his more particular care, and being considered its sole pastor, when a separation of the churches should take place .* In the month of April, 1809, the three churches were separated in an orderly manner by the Presbytery ; Dr. Rodgers, then bending un- der the weight of years, continuing his pas- toral relation both to the Wall street and Brick Churches; Dr. McKnight, with the consent of Presbytery, resigned his charge ; Dr. Miller being collegiate pastor of Wall Street Church only, and Dr. Milledoler being sole pastor of Rutgers Street Church.


WALL STREET, OR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.


The origin and progress of this church is sketched above, down to April, 1S09, Rev. Drs. Rodgers and Miller being colleague pastors. Dr. Rodgers died May 7, 1811, aged eighty-four. Dr. Miller was elected a Professor in the Theological Seminary at


* Rev. Dr. Miller. 12* 1


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Princeton, in the year 1313, and resigned his


charge. The Rev. Philip Melancthon Whelpley succeeded Dr. Miller in April, 1815, and died in the 30th year of his age, July 17, 1824. For more than a year the church was without a pastor. At length they called the Rev. William W. Phillips, who was then pastor of the Pearl Street Church, and he was installed pastor of the Wall Street Church, on January 19, 1826. The ministry of Dr. Phillips with this church still continues. The house of worship in Wall street, which was enlarged in 1748, as before stated, remained as then built until the year 1810, when it was rebuilt on an en- · larged plan, ninety-seven feet long, and sixty- eight feet wide, with a handsome spire. This building was burnt out in 1834, and rebuilt with the same walls the following year. Thus it stood until the year 1844, when it was sold for $3,000 to the Presbyterian Church ' in Jersey city, and taken down and removed to that place. During the following year a new and elegant building, one hundred and nineteen feet long, and eighty feet wide, was erected for the accommodation of the church and congregation in the upper part of the




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