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 9
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The pecuniary strength of the congrega- tion being found inadequate to meet the ex- penses of so large an establishment, a union was very harmoniously effected between this church, and the " First Free Church," in Dey Street, probably to the advantage of both. The Dey Street Church presented one condition to which the Tabernacle Church assented, viz., that the united church should be Presbyterian. The Dey street Church brought with them their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Helffeinstein. This took place in Feb., 1838. Not many months after this, both the pastors retired, and in the autumn of the same year, the Rev. Joel Parker be- came, pastor of the united church. At this time the free church plan was, by mutual
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consent, partially relinquished, and the pews rented as in other churches.
For several months after Mr. Parker's settlement, the church was harmonious and prosperous, but some matters of discipline led to a dissatisfaction ; a sharp controversy arose, and at length the proprietor of the building, which had never been paid for, prosecuted his mortgage to foreclosure, and in July, 1840, it was sold at auction, and purchased by Mr. David Hale for $34,250. At this time, the church consisted of be- tween five and six hundred members, and at a very full meeting of the church, held im- mediately after the sale of the house, it was proposed to form a Congregational Church after the model of the New England Churches. The officers of the church, and , a majority of the members, were unfavora- ble to this measure, and having no house of worship, they scattered into other congrega- tions. Dr. Parker, for a short time, preach- ed a part of each Sabbath in the Pearl street Church, where a large portion of his people attended, but at length they all scattered," and " The Tabernacle Presbyterian Church". is no more.
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SIXTH STREET CHURCH.
In the month of November, 1830, Mr. John A. Murray, a licentiate preacher, commenced a religious meeting in a school-room on the corner of Stanton and Essex streets, with a small congregation of people, many of whom had been members of the Presbyterian Con- gregation in Broome street, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Dr. Patton. On January 8th, 1831, eleven persons were there organized as a church, by a committee of the third Presbytery, all of whom were dismissed for that purpose, from the " Central Church " (Dr. Patton's) ; and being a colony from that church, it was styled " The Branch Presby- terian Church," and the Central Church paid the salary of their minister for a considerable length of time. The congregation continued to enlarge, additions were made to the church, and everything looked encouraging. A spacious house of worship was erected on the Second avenue, near Third street, the church was legally incorporated, and called the " Second Avenue Church," and on June 22d, 1832, Mr. Murray was ordained and installed its pastor. But like many other
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congregations, they were heavily burdened with debt for the erection of their house of , worship, and a hard struggle was necessary to enable them to keep along, yet with com- mendable perseverance they kept on.
In the summer of 1834, Mr. Murray was appointed a secretary of the Home Mission- ary Society, to reside at Geneva, New York, and was accordingly dismissed in October of that year. A call was immediately pre- sented by the church to the Rev. Ansel D. Eddy of Canandaigua, to become their pastor, which he declined ; and in the April following, a call was given to the Rev. Charles S. Porter, of Gloucester, Massachu- setts, which he accepted, and was installed June 14th, 1835. Mr. Porter continued pas- tor of this church about five years and a half. A considerable congregation were generally in attendance, and many were added to the church ; but a load of debt was pressing hard upon the people, and they became disheart- ened. On November 15th, 1841, Mr. Por- ter was dismissed at his own request, and shortly after the house of worship was sold at auction for about $13,000, and purchased by a church of Roman Catholics.
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A large portion of the church and congre- gation now scattered into other churches, and mingled with them, while a few chose to remain together still, and having rented a Hall on the Bowery, obtained occasional supplies. Mr. Horace Eaton, then a stu- dent in the Union Theological Seminary of New York, conducted their meetings for a considerable season. Though reduced to a mere handful in number, yet after a time the spirit of that few began to revive, and ar- rangements were made to procure a house of worship. Ground was purchased on Sixth street, near Second avenue, and a neat brick building measuring 60 feet by 40, was erccted and paid for, and when this new building was first opened, on June 1S, 1843, Mr. Eaton was ordained to the pas- toral office in the church, the name of which is now changed to that of the street on which the building stands.
The condition of this church will be un- derstood, when it is stated that in April, 1841, just previous to the dismission of Mr. Porter, the church reported 264 members in communion, but at the ordination of Mr. Eaton, in June, 1843, no more than 75 could
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be found. But a far more healthy state of things now exists. A good congregation is gradually collecting, to whom Mr. Eaton continues to minister with increasing use- fulness, and 155 members are now enrolled in communion.
€ WELSH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
A congregational church had been formed in the year 1824, or 1925, which met in Mul- berry street, a considerable portion of whom were Welsh, and the services were conduct- ed for a part of the time in that language. In July, 1833, they thought it expedient to change their form of government, and were organized as a Presbyterian Church, with 52 members, and attached to the third Pres- bytery. The Rev. Jenkin Jenkins was their minister at that time, and remained with them for about two years after, when he re- signed the charge of the church, and left the city. He was succeeded by the Rev. Jona- than J. Jones, who was installed July 1, 1836, and remains in charge of the church at the present time. Their place of worship is in Broome street near the Bowery, and the services are conducted altogether in the
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Welsh language. [The prospects of the congregation are on the whole encouraging. [See sketch of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church on a subsequent page.]
VILLAGE CHURCH.
We have' already given a sketch of a church by this name, called also the " Taber- nacle Church," formed in the year 1822, and which became extinct in about eight years after. The field of operations of that church was in the westerly part of the city, and toward the Greenwich village, and although that church had failed, it still seem- ed desirable to maintain a Presbyterian church on that ground. Hence arose another church, called also the " Village Church." It was organized by the third Presbytery, December 29, 1833, most of the original members being dismissed for that purpose from the Carmine Street Church. They met for a time in a building on the east side of Abingdon Square, which had been erected for a bank several years before, during the prevalence of the yellow fever in the city. Arrangements were, however, made for building a house of worship, which
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was accomplished in the year 1836. It is situated on Jane street.
This church continued in operation about seven years, and was under the charge of three successive pastors, viz., Rev. William Page, installed June 22, 1834, and dismissed October 7, 1835; Rev. Daniel Clark, jun., installed March 23, 1836, and dismissed April 4, 1838; and Rev. Daniel Brown, installed November 10, 1840, and dismissed October 6, 1841. Very soon after this the house of worship was sold, the congregation scattered, and the church became extinct.
BRAINERD CHURCH.
This church owes its existence, under God, mainly to the labors of the Rev. Charles Hall, one of the secretaries of the Home Missionary Society. The north- eastern section of the city had been extend- ing, and had become quite populous, yet with a lamentable dearth of the ordinary means of grace, when on the first Sab- bath in January, 1833, Mr. Hall commenced preaching in an inconvenient " upper room," on the corner of Stanton and Essex streets. The assemblies at first were small, but the
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constant preaching of the Gospel, with its · auxiliaries, the prayer-meeting, and the Sab- bath school, accompanied as they usually are, when faithfully used, by divine influ- ences, soon produced a marked effect. The people of God who attended on these ser- vices were enlivened, and some few persons were hopefully converted. In about a year from the time the meeting was opened, it was thought expedient to organize a church, which was accordingly done by the Third Presbytery, on February 9, 1834. About thirty members were first enrolled, and they assumed the name of the " Brainerd Church." During the following summer the Rev. Asa D. Smith was engaged to preach, and in November, 1834, he was ordained and installed as pastor. A substantial house of worship was built on Rivington street, near Ludlow street, which was completed in the following year, at a cost of about $20,000, including the ground. Mr. Smith is still its pastor. His labors have been much blest, and a numerous assembly is found there.
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EIGHTH AVENUE CHURCH.
Such is the corporate name of a Presby- terian church, now situated in West Twen- tieth street, between the Sixth and Seventh avenues. The Presbytery of New York having directed their attention to the wants of that section of the city lying on the Eighth avenue, and its vicinity, authorized their missionary committee to engage a man to labor in that field, and in November, 1833,. Mr. James C. Edwards, a licentiate preacher, was appointed to that service. Meetings were first held in private houses until the- last of December, when the people assem- bled in a building prepared for their recep- tion, on the west side of the Eighth avenue,. above Nineteenth street, and on January 5, 1834, it was formally opened as a house of worship. On the 9th of February follow- ing, a church of thirteen members was- organized, and its officers installed; Rev: Mr. Carroll of Brooklyn, and Rev. Dr. Phillips of New York, officiated on that oc- casion.
Mr. Edwards continued to labor in this congregation until the spring of 1835, when 17
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he left, having accepted a call from the church in Smithtown, Long Island. The Eighth Avenue Church was notlong destitute, for, on April 25th, 1835, the Rev. Henry A. Riley was installed pastor, and continued in that office until January, 1839, when he re- signed his charge.
, Mr. Riley was succeeded, in April follow- ing, by the Rev. R. C. Brisbin, who remained pastor of the church about two years. In the autumn of 1839, during the ministry of Mr. Brisbin, the congregation sold the small house of worship they had occupied, and hired and fitted up a hall on Eighteenth street, east of the Eighth avenue, and here they remained until May, 1843. After the dismission of Mr. Brisbin, in April, 1841, the Rev. James I. Ostrom, their present pas- tor, was engaged as a supply, but was finally installed in June, 1843, at which time the new house of worship, which they now occupy, on Twentieth street, was dedicated. It is a substantial brick building, and cost about $10,000. This church is now con- nected with the Fourth Presbytery of New York.
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MANHATTAN ISLAND CHURCH.
The settlements around the " Dry Dock," -known formerly as " Manhattan Island," became the scene of some interesting labors of the early city missionaries. During the summer of 1816, Mr. Stafford preached there often, at the ship-yards, in a room kindly furnished by the Messrs. Brown, who were then extensively engaged in ship-building in that neighborhood. Here large assemblies were often collected .* The labors of Mr. Baldwin and other city missionaries were also occasionally directed to this spot. But nothing permanent was effected for many years.
In the early part of the year 1834, the Rev. John J. Slocum commenced preaching in that part of the city, with the view of collect- ing a congregation. A building had been erected on what is now Fourth street, having a schoolroom on the first floor, and a place fitted up for public worship on the second, and often called at that day " the church in the Swamp," as it was a low and marshy place all around. Here Mr. Slocum held
* Stafford's " New Missionary Field," page 4.
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his meetings. A considerable congregation attended, and on June 9th, 1834, a church of a few members was duly organized by the Third Presbytery, and, on the 15th of the same month, Mr. Slocum was installed its - pastor. He continued in this office a little more than two years, but with small success, and finally resigned his charge in October, 1836.
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The church still kept together, and con- tinued to meet for worship with such sup- plies as they could obtain, and in February, 1833, they made out a call for the Rev. Elihu W. Baldwin, formerly a city missionary on that ground, but at that time President of Wabash College. But failing in this appli- cation, they gave up, and scattered, and the few members that remained, united with the Eleventh Church, when that was organized, in the following year.
TABERNACLE CHURCH (Catharine street.)
In the autumn of 1832, or the early part of 1833, the Rev. Alonzo Welton commenced a meeting in a room, formerly a brewery, on Catharine street, near Madison street ; and in June, 1833, application was made to the
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Third Presbytery, by about thirty persons, to be organized as a church, with a view to be placed under the ministry of Mr. Welton. After some little delay, and hearing the re- port of a committee of investigation, the Presbytery declined acting. But the meet- ing was continued, and, in February of the following year, application was made to the First Presbytery to organize the church,-the proposed members of which presented, at the same time, a call for Mr. Welton to be- come their pastor. The Presbytery orga- nized the church by the name of the " Taber- nacle Church," but the church did not prose- cute their call. Mr. Welton ceased preach- ing there after a few months, and, disposing of their building to the Fourth Free Church, the 'l'abernacle Church scattered, and became extinct.
GERMAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The same year of 1834 was signalized by the formation of a Presbyterian Church, for the benefit of the German population. . It was but a small and feeble band. They met in Houston street, towards the East river, having for their minister the Rev. 17*
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George Mills, who was installed as pastor on November 16th, 1834. In about three years after, finding themselves pressed with pecu- niary difficulties, both minister and church were induced to withdraw from the Presby- terian connection, and unite with the Epis- copal Church.
MERCER STREET CHURCH.
In the summer of 1834, an elegant house of worship was completed, situated on Mer- cer street, near Waverley place. On the 8th of October of that year, a church of twenty- four members was organized by the Third Presbytery, more than half of whom were from the Laight Street Church, from which congregation also many of the leading mem- bers of the Mercer street congregation had removed. On Nov. 11th, 1835, the Rev. · Thomas H. Skinner, D.D., was installed pastor of this church, and continues in that office to the present time. The congregation is large and wealthy, and the church now numbers more than five hundred members.
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SIXTH AVENUE CHURCH.
This church was organized by the Pres- bytery of New York, in the summer of 1835. Its beginning was rather encourag- ing. They occupied a small house of wor- ship in Sixth avenue, opposite Amity street, being on the same ground occupied a few years previous by the North Church, and in all ·probability embracing a considerable portion of the same people. The Rev. David Long- more became their stated supply. In two years the church had increased to one hun- dred and forty-seven members in commu- nion, but in October, 1838, the whole enter- prise was abandoned, and the church was dissolved by Presbytery.
UNIVERSITY CHURCH.
This was a small band organized as a church, by the Presbytery of New York, on April 19th, 1836. They assembled for worship in the chapel of the New York University, under the ministry of Rev. John Woodbridge, D.D., then recently dismissed from the Bowery Church. But Dr. Wood- bridge leaving the city after a few months,
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the church ceased operations, and was soon after dissolved by presbytery.
MADISON STREET CHURCH.
This church was organized by the Third Presbytery, with seventy-seven members, mostly from the Seventh Presbyterian Church, on Aug. 12th, 1836, and on Nov. 4th, of the same year, the Rev. James W. · McLane was ordained and installed pastor. In August, of the following year, the con- gregation completed a very neat and com- modious house of worship on Madison street, corner of Governeur street, at a cost, for house and land, of about $30,000. The ministry of Mr. McLane was useful and successful among this people. He was in- strumental in gathering many into the church, and the circumstances of the con- gregation were very materially improved dur- ing his continuance. He, however, resigned his charge in April, 1844, and was succeeded, in April of the following year, by the Rev. D. Taylor Bagg, the present pastor.
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NINTH CHURCH.
A church by this name was constituted by the Presbytery of New York, Oct. 16th, 1836. They met for worship in a hall on the corner of Canal and Varick streets, and were supplied for several months by Mr. Robert Birch, a licentiate. Some little suc- cess attended his preaching, and the church increased within a year to nearly sixty mem- bers. In September, 1837, Mr. Birch be- came pastor, but in less than a year he re- signed this charge, having accepted a call from the church in New Brunswick, and the Ninth Church was soon dissolved.
ROSE-HILL, OR TENTH CHURCH. 3
A Presbyterian church of a few members was organized by the Third Presbytery in June, 1837, near what was formerly called " Rose-Hill," near the junction of Twenty- second street and Third avenue. Mr. S. G. Spees, a licentiate, was obtained as a supply, and continuing acceptably with the people, he was ordained and installed pastor of the church, May 13, 1833. In the follow- ing year a comfortable brick edifice was
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erected on Twenty-second street, where Mr. Specs continued to minister until De- cember 21, 1840, when he was dismissed at his own request. The church was vacant for nearly a year, when, on November 15, 1841, the Rev. Charles P. Bush was or- dained and installed. The ministry of Mr. Bush was terminated by his resignation in October, 1845. The present pastor of the church, the Rev. James Knox, commenced his ministry very soon after the dismission of Mr. Bush. He was installed January 28, 1846.
ELEVENTH CHURCH.
The Manhattan Island Church ceased operations, as has already been related, in' 1833, but it was still thought desirable to maintain a Presbyterian church on that ground ; and on May 13, 1839, a new church was organized by the Third Presbytery, con- sisting of eighty-nine members, being a colony from the Seventh Presbyterian Church, with a few who remained of the Manhattan Island Church.
In the following month, the Rev. Mason Noble was unanimously invited to become
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their pastor ; he entered on his labors in July, and was installed on the 14th of Oc- tober in the same year. For more than three years the congregation occupied the place of worship which had been occupied by the Manhattan Island Church in Fourth street ; but in October, 1842, they completed and dedicated a new house of worship at the corner of Fourth street and Avenue C. Mr. Noble is still their pastor. The circum- stances of this church are very encouraging. Many have been added to the communion, and an increasing congregation is usually in attendance. .
JANE STREET CHURCH.
This church was organized by the Second Presbytery in the year 1842. They occu- pied a house of worship built by the Vil- . lage Church, in Jane street, near Abing- don Square, a church which had ceased operations but a few months previous. The Rev. John Johnston was installed pastor of · this church about the beginning of 1843, and continued his ministrations there but little more than a year, he being dismissed in the spring of 1844, having accepted a
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call to the Presbyterian church in Jersey City. Soon after this, the church disbanded, most of the members uniting with the Fifth Associate Reformed Church, whichj very soon after occupied the building.
FIFTEENTH STREET CHURCH. ·
With a most laudable desire to extend the privileges of the gospel to the more des- titute parts of the city, as well as to occupy seasonably the vacant ground, private and individual munificence had secured the erection of a very commodious church edifice on Fifteenth street, near the Third avenue, in the year 1843. In the early part of 1844, the Rev. William D. Snodgrass, D.D., commenced preaching there. On September 18th of that year, a church of twenty-seven members was organized by the Presbytery of New York, and on March 15, 1846, Dr. Snodgrass was installed as pastor.
HARLEM PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
This is a small band of less than twenty members which was organized by the Third
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Presbytery, on June 29, 1844. A small but .very neat house of worship was built during that summer, and on the 16th of April, 1845, the present pastor of the church, the Rev. Ezra H. Gillett, was ordained and installed.
BLOOMINGDALE CHURCH.
This is a small church of twelve mem- bers, constituted by the third Presbytery, on March 17, 1845. They meet for worship in a Hall on Fiftieth street, near the Eighth avenue, but have as yet no stated pastor.
During the winter of 1845-6, Mr. John Cromwell, a licentiate, supplied this church. A most signal blessing attended his labors, for the assembly, though small, was evident- ly favored with the effusions of the Divine Spirit, and the church was more than doubled by the admission of recent hopeful converts.
HAMMOND STREET CHURCH.
This church was constituted by the Pres- bytery of New York, on July 26, 1845. They had twenty-one original members, and ten more have since been added. 1. They
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have built a lecture-room on the corner of Hammond and Factory streets, which they now occupy. Rev. William E. Schenck is their stated supply.
YORKVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Rev. Joshua Butts commenced preaching in a school-room on the Third avenue, at Yorkville, in the autumn of 1845, and a church of eighteen members was organized there by the Presbytery of New York, on the 16th of April, 1846. No pastor has yet been installed.
MADISON AVENUE CHURCH, AND FORTY- SECOND STREET CHURCH.
The same active beneficence which pro- vided a place of worship for the Chelsea Church, and the Fifteenth Street Church, led to the erection of two other convenient and substantial houses of worship, one situ- ated on Madison avenue, opened in 1844, and the other on the corner of Forty-second street and Eighth avenue, opened in Sep- tember, 1845. Mr. John D. Wells, a licentiate of the Presbytery of New York, is supplying the Madison Avenue Church, and the Rev.
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John C. Lowrie, that on Forty-second street. Church organizations have not been accom- plished in either.
In the month of April, 1846, preaching was commenced in the Manhattan Hall, No. 63 Houston street, by Mr. B. T. Phillips, a licentiate of the Presbytery of New York, with a view to the ultimate gathering of a church, and a considerable congregation is already. assembling there.
ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES.
It falls not in with the plan of these sketches to detail the theological questions which have rent into parties any of the reli- gious denominations, but simply to state, in as intelligible a manner as possible, the facts which illustrate the history of each. The Associate Reformed Church is a union of two bodies, which originated in secessions from the Established Church of Scotland. Five churches of this denomination have been formed in the city of New York.
The first church of this character was formed about the year 1757. There had, for some time, existed a difficulty in the
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