USA > New York > Kings County > Williamsburgh > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 18
USA > New York > Kings County > Bushwick > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 18
USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 18
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178
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
The difficulty being laid before Governor Hunter, as soon as pos- sible after his arrival, occasioned the following kindly and prudent communication from him to the Justices of Kings County :
" New York 15th Sept" 1710.
" GENTLEMEN
"The Controversy between Mr ffreeman and Mr. Antonides concerning the Churches in your County looking now with a fairer aspect towards a Reconciliation than hitherto they have; to the end that nothing may be done to impede so good a work, I desire you to permit M' ffreeman and M' Antonides to preach to-morrow in the Respective Churches wherein in Course it is their Turn to preach and that no molestation be given to either of them therein, having good hopes that before the next Sunday everything will be so disposed that this unhappy dispute will be accommo- dated to the Satisfaction of both those Gentlemen, and to the generall approbation of all their Congregations, whereby their present devisions may be healed, and the disagreing partys united into one mind. And that no misinterpretations may be made hereof on either hand, I desire you to let each party and their respective Congregations know that I am so farr from determining any one point in dispute, that the Right of either of them is as entirely reserved to them as it was before and that after to-mor- row no further use be made hereof.
dispute between Coll. Beeckman and myself, about his particular order that he lately made to Mr ffreeman, when he was President of the Councill, without the consent of the Councill : Coll. Beeckman stood to affirm there, before most of the Justices of Kings County, that said order that he made then to Mr. ffreeman as President only, was still in force, and that Mr ffreeman should preach at Broockland next Sunday according to that order : whereupon I said it was not in fforce, but void and of noe effect, and he had not in this County any more power now than I had, being equall in commission with him in the general commission of the peace and one of the quorum as well as he ; upon which he gave me affronting words, giving me the lie and calling me pittifull fellow, dog, rogue, rascall, &c., which caused me, being overcome with passion, to tell him that I had a good mind to knock him off his horse, we being both at that time getting upon our horses to goe home, but that I would not goe, I would fight him at any time with a sword. I could wish that these last words had been kept in, and I am troubled that I was soe overcome with passion and inflamed with wine. The works of these Dutch ministers is the occasion of all our quarrels. And this is the truth of the matter, there were no blows offered, nor noe more done. Mr ffreeman has preached at Broockland yesterday accordingly, and the Church doore was broke open, by whom is not yet knowne. Soe I beg your pardon ffor this trouble, crave your favour in this matter, and shall always remaine,
" Sir, your ffaithful and humble servant,
"(June, 1710.)
" H. FILKIN."
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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
" I desire you to tell Mr Antonides and Mr ffreeman that I would speak with them here on Monday next.
" I am sincerely, Gentlemen, " Your very humble Serv' "Ro. HUNTER." 1
The " good hopes" of the worthy Governor were not destined to be realized -- dissension still prevailed, and on the 27th of November his Excellency desired the members of the Council to favor him with their opinions as to what should be done in the case. The members of the Council, with but one dissenting voice, advised that "the order made in Council in this matter on the 18th of April last, be con- firmed, whereby Mr. Antonides was to be protected in the free exercise of his ministerial functions in the towns of Flatbush, Flat- lands, and Brookland," etc. On the 30th of April, 1711, in conse- quence of a complaint that Domine Freeman had "lately preached in the churches of Kings County to which Mr. Antonides is called, and that many violent proceedings are taken, to the great disturb- ance of the public peace of the said churches and county ;" and, furthermore, that the town of Flatbush had lately elected Church- Masters, " after a new and unprecedented manner," etc., a Council order was issued, ordering "that Mr. Freeman does not presume to preach in any of the churches to which Mr. Antonides is called, and that none of the said Church-Masters so newly elected presume to intermeddle in the affairs of the said church, or in any lands, houses, or other effects, thereto belonging."?
The next item recorded, is an application of Antonides and his Consistory for a charter, as follows :
" To his Excellency ROBERT HUNTER Esq' Capt" Gen" & Gov' in Chief in in and over her Maties Province of New York &c &c &c.
" The humble Peticon of Vincentius Antonides Minister of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Churches of Flatbush Brookland & flatlands in Kings County on the Island of Nassau in the Province of New York Joannes Cornel Rynier Aarsen, & Henry Filkin Elders of the said Church at Flatbush Benjamin Hegeman Cornelis Cornel & Jan Bennet Deacons thereof-Michiel Hansen Jan Dorlant & Cornelis Van Duyn Elders of
1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii. 175.
2 Ibid., iii. 177.
180
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
the said Church at Brookland Nicolas Van Dyk Isaak Remse & Jan Rapalie Deacons thereof, Jan alberts ter hennen Lucas Stevense H Gerrit Stoothof Elders of the said Church in Flatlands, Harman Hoog- lant Alexander Simson & Jan Amerman Deacons of the same.
" MOST HUMBLY SHEWETH,
"That for many years last past at the charge of sundry of the Inhabitants of the said Towns & of other Pious persons there hath been erected in each of the said Towns a Church for the Publicq worship of Almighty God and other Divine Service to be celebrated therein after the manner of the Dutch nationall Churches of the Provinces of the United Netherlands acording to their Profession and Discipline Established by the nationall Synod of Dort held in the year 1618 & 1619 which said three Churches since the settlement have always Joyned together in the calling & paying of one Minister for them all.
" And whereas the said Minister Elders & Deacons respectively for the use of their said churches by virtue of sundry mean conveyances in the Law are possessed of sundry parcells of Lands & Tenements respectively for every particular Church aforesaid That is to say for the Church of Flatbush two Lotts of land situate lying and being in the said Town on the north side of Col. Gerardus Beekman Jacob Hendrickse & Roelof van Kerck on the south of the lane that leads to Gouwanes conteining one hundred & eighteen acres as allso two Lotts of meadow the (whole) being in the bounds of the said Town over the fresh creek broad 7 Rodd laid out by Nº 19 and the other over the Second Creek broad 12 Rod Nº 15 both stretching from the woods to the Sea ALLso oneother Lot of Land in the said Town to the north of Peter Stryker and to the South of the highway that Leads to the New Lotts Containing fourty eight acres ALLso one other Lot to the South of Peter Stryker & matty Luyster and to the North of the Lane that leads to the New Lotts conteining fourty eight acres ALLSO two Lotts of meadow the one over the fresh creek broad 7 Rodd Nº 20 and the other over the Second creek broad 13 Rodd Nº 11 ALLSO one Lot of Land lying amongst the new Lotts of the said Towns to the west side of Rem Remsen to the East of Elsie Snediker conteining thirty four acres as Allso the Church and ministers Dwelling howse in the said Town together with the orchard gardens and yard adjoyning conteining ten acres, ALLSO one howse & Lot of ground in the said Town called the School howse con- teining Eight acres, together with the Lands and meadows in right thereof laid out for the use of the said Church out of the comons of the said Town.
181
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
" And for the Church of Brookland one Lot of Land in the said Town in breadth Eight Rodd Long thirteen Rodd & a half bounden on the South West by the highway on the north west by Jacobus Beavois and on the south east by Charles Beavois ALLso one church yard elleaven Rodd square bounded on the north east by the highway on the south east by a Small Lane to the South West by Joris Hanssen & to the north west by Albertie Barents and the Church in the said Town Standing in the middle of the highway.
" And for the Church of Flatland, One Lot of Land at a place called Amesfoorts Neck containing Twenty Acres laid out by Nº 10 And ALLSO the Church in sd Town & one howse called the School howse with the Land adjoyning Containing two acres or thereabouts therefore for the advanceing of Piety & Religion and that the said Lands may be the better administered and the Revenue thereof duly applyed for the Maintenance of the minister or ministers for the time being & other Pious Charitable uses-
"They do most humbly Pray that the said Minister Elders & Deacons & their Successors may be by her Majesties Grant or Charter under the Seal of this Province Made One body Politick and Corporate in the same, and in like manner and as near as may be to the Charter heretofore granted to the Minister Elders & Deacons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York, save only that the severall Lands & Tenemens aforesaid now in their Possession be therein reserved to the use of Each respective Church aforesaid paying to her Matie her heirs and successors the Proporcon of the Quitrents they now pay in each respective Town aforesaid
" And yo" Petion"s as in Duty bound shall ever Pray &c
" LUYCAS STEUENS, " V. ANTONIDES,
" GERRIT STOOTHOF,
" REYNIER AERTSEN,
" CLAES VAN DYCK,
" JOHANNES CORNELL,
" HERMANUS HOOGLANDT,
" HEN: FFILKIN,
" JAN AMEARMAN,
" ALEXANDER SIMPSON (mark),
" MIGGUEL HANSEN,
" BENJAMIN HEGEMAN,
" JOHN DORLAND (mark),
" CORNELIS CORNEL,
" CORNELIS VAN DUYN,
" Dit is het IB cigen gestelt
" ISAACK REMSEN, " JAN RAPALE,
handt merk van
" JAN BENNIT.
" Kings County the 1 Augs 1711.
" Read in Council 8 Aug 1711. & referred."
182
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Contrary to the order of April 18th, 1710, and the subsequent confirmatory orders, Mr. Freeman once more intruded his ministra- tions upon the congregation at Flatbush, in September, 1713;1 but this is the last recorded belligerent act of the controversy which had now agitated the churches of Kings County for upwards of thirteen years, and vexed the souls of four royal governors and their councils. Near the close of the year 1714 the long contest was happily terminated by a convention of delegates from the sev- eral congregations, who mutually agreed to lay aside their ancient differences, and acknowledge Messrs. Freeman and Antonides as their ministers.2 Breuckelen, Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, New Utrecht, and even Jamaica, were all included within the charge, and both the domines resided at Flatbush, in the pleasant and har- monious discharge of their duties. They were esteemed as men of respectable talents and acquirements.
During their ministry the Reformed Dutch Churches of New Netherlands were sadly agitated by the question concerning the or- ganization of a Cœtus, or assembly of ministers and elders, in this country, subordinate to the Classis of Amsterdam.3
1 Strong's Hist. Flatbush, p. 46.
2 This Convention agreed upon the proportion of salary to be raised by the different churches for the support of the ministers, and the times and places of preaching and of communion. It was arranged that one minister should preach on one Sabbath in Bush- wick, and the other in New Utrecht ; the next Sabbath, one in Brooklyn, and the other in Flatlands ; on the third Sabbath, one in Flatbush, the other in Jamaica ; and so on, in regular rotation. As to communions, Bushwick, Brooklyn, and Flatbush were to commune together ; Flatlands, Gravesend, and New Utrecht, together ; and the congre- gations of Queens County should form another communion.
3 The movement towards the formation of a Cotus was initiated in 1737, by a conven- tion of ministers at New York, at which Domine Freeman attended on behalf of the Dutch churches of Long Island. A plan was formed, and having been generally adopted by the churches, was ratified by a second convention, held in April, 1738, at which Freeman again appeared as delegate. The approval of the Classis of Amster- dam did not, however, reach this country until 1746, being brought over by Rev. Mr. Van Sinderen · and the first meeting of the new Cætus was held in September, 1747, at the city of New York, being the first judicial organization, higher than a Consistory, established in the American Dutch Church. The Cætus plan, however, met with oppo- sition from several churches and ministers, and gave rise to differences which seriously agitated the Reformed Dutch denomination for many years thereafter. The contest related principally to the question of the right of ordination, and the exercise of church authority : the " Cotus party" claiming that, in view of the increase of churches in this country, and the inconvenience of importing all their ministers from Holland, it would be better to have a regular organization into classes and synods, similar in all regnerts
183
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
FREEMAN was born at Gilhius, Holland ; received a call to Sche- nectady, to which charge he was ordained by the Classis of Linge, March 16, 1700. He first officiated at Schenectady, July 28th of that year, learned the Mohawk lan- guage, and made many Indian converts. On the 25th of August, 1705, he married Magretia Van Schaick of New York, who died January 18th, 1738, leaving him a hand- some fortune. In 1721 he published a volume of sermons in Dutch, en- titled " The Balances of God's Grace," which was Barrantes Freeman printed in Amsterdam, and another entitled "De Spiegel der Selfkennis" (or Mirror of Self-knowledge), being a col- lection, in the Dutch language, of ancient moral and philosophical maxims, which was subsequently translated by General Jeremiah Johnson, and which is described as displaying a great amount of learning and research. In 1735 he purchased seven acres of land at Flatbush, and built a house, which is still standing, although altered ; and died in the year 1741. His only child, Anna Margaretta, mar-
to those of the mother country ; and the "Conferentie party," as they were called, that all ministers should be ordained by, or under the authority of, the Classis at Amster- dam. This unhappy controversy continued until 1772; and so alienated and embit- tered were the opposing parties, that many would not worship together with, or even speak to, those of the other party. "Sometimes" (says Strong, Hist. Flatbush) " they would not turn out when they met on the road. On one occasion, it is said that two of these redoubtable opponents, belonging to Flatbush, meeting in their wagons, and both refusing to give the road, they each deliberately took out their pipes and began to smoke! How long they continued at this very pacific employment is not stated, nor is it said whether the difficulty between them was lost sight of by the cloud of smoke obscuring their vision, or whether their pipes were ever turned into the calumet of peace."
184
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
ried her cousin, David Clarkson, a son of the Secretary of the Province, and left numerous descendants.
Freeman's successor, in 1742, was the Rev. JOHANNES ARON- DEUS, from Rotterdam, who seems to have possessed a contu- macious spirit, and to have led an irregular life. He quarrelled with his new colleague, Van Sinderen, very soon after the lat- ter's arrival ; and, in May, 1747, he went off secretly, as was alleged, to the Raritan, where he was installed as minister ; returning, however, July 31, 1748, to Kings County, where he resumed his functions, especially at Brookland and New Utrecht. His outraged parishioners brought charges against him (Septem- ber 27, 1748) before the Cœtus. These he Jokes brandend refused to notice ; whereupon he was de- clared to be an unlaw- ful minister of Kings FAC-SIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF REV. JOHANNES ARONDEUS. County, but replied that he should continue to perform service there. On appeal to the Classis of Amsterdam (January 12, 1751), the action of the Cotus was confirmed, and the latter, on 16th April, 1752, passed sentence upon Arondeus-(1), that his Consistory was unlawful ; (2), that he should not administer the word of sacra- ments ; and (3), that the church property should be restored to Van Sinderen. Their action was, however, totally disregarded by Aron- deus. Proposals of peace for Long Island were offered (December 5, 1752) by the Classis of Amsterdam. On the 20th of September, 1753, the Cœtus confirmed anew their former sentence, averring, in reply to his appeals, that (1), he misbehaved to his servant-maid ; (2), that he was a drunkard; and (3), that he kept alive the flames of discord. The last time he baptized a child, in Queen's County, was at Jamaica, in April, 1754. He probably remained on the isl- and, leading the same dissolute life, for some time ; for, in October, 1772, the Synod cautioned the people against "one Johannes Aron- deus, who claims to be a minister of the Church, but has no ecclesi- astical attestation."
Mr. ANTONIDES died in 1744. In a New York paper of that date we find his death thus noticed : " On the 18th of July, 1744, died at
185
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
his house at Flatbush, the Rev. Mr. VINCENTIUS ANTONIDES, in the 74th year of his age. He was a. gentleman of extensive learning ; of an easy, condescending behavior and conversation, and of a reg- ular, exemplary piety, endeavoring to practise, himself, what he preached to others ; was kind, benevolent, and charitable to all, according to his abilities ; meek, humble, patriotic, and resigned under all afflictions, losses, calamities, and misfortunes which be- fell him in his own person and family, which were not a few ; and after a lingering disease, full of hopes of a blessed immortality, departed this life, to the great and irreparable loss of his relations and friends, and to the great grief V. Antonides Ill Cali Branfalls &c of his congregation and friends." He was succeeded by the Rev. UL- PLANUS VAN SINDEREN,1 a native of FAC-SIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH OF REV. VINCEN- Holland, in the year 1746. He TIUS ANTONIDES. began to preach at Flatbush, April 19, 1747. In October of the following year he married (his first wife) Cornelia Schenck, who was subsequently killed by being thrown out of a wagon.
Upon the deposition from the ministerial office of the Rev. Mr. Arondeus, his place was filled by the Rev. ANTONIUS CURTENIUS,2 from Hackensack, N. J., where he had preached since 1730, and was installed as Van Sinderin's colleague, May 2, 1755. He died in Oc- tober, 1756, at the age of fifty-eight years. In a newspaper of the day we find the following notice of this gentleman : "On Tues- day, the 19th ultimo, the Reverend Mr. ANTHONY CURTENIUS de- parted this transitory life, at Flat-Bush, Long Island, in the 59th Year of his Age, after an Illness of about four Weeks, being Pastor of the five Dutch Reformed Churches in Kings County, on Long Island. He was a Gentleman regularly educated, and remarkable for his indefatigable Diligence in the Ministration of his Function. His Actions in all the Affairs of Life have ever been accompanied with the strictest Rules of Justice; so that none could with more
1 His great-grandson, Adriaen Van Sinderen, a prominent and highly respected citizen of Brooklyn, was the founder and first president of the Long Island Bible So- ciety.
2 So named from Curten, a town of Holland.
186
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Propriety claim the Title of a Preacher and a sincere Christian, which not only his Morals manifested, but his Glorious Resolutions to launch into endless Eternity, saying with St. Paul, O Death ! where is thy Sting? O Grave ! where is thy Victory ? His Remains were decently interred on Thursday following, in the Church of the above-named place. His Death is universally lamented by his Re- lations, and all those that knew him, particularly his Congregation, who are highly sensible of the Loss of so inestimable a Shepard, whose every Action displayed the Christian."1
His place was supplied by the Rev. JOHANNES CASPARUS RUBEL, a na- tive of Hesse Cassel, in Germany, who had been settled at Red Hook, Dutchess County, from 1755 to August, 1757, when he was called to be colleague pastor with Domine Van Sinderen, over the churches of Kings County. He was educated in Germany, and came to this coun- try (1751), with others of the German Reformed Church, under the auspices of the Classis of Amsterdam, from which body he received an annual salary of £15, while settled over the German Church at Philadelphia. Even then he was so insubordinate to his superiors, that the German Cotus styled him "the rebellious Rubel," and voted, April 9, 1755, that he ought to withdraw from his charge. He, at first, desired to avail himself of the six months' notice ; but finally gave his farewell discourse, April, 1755, left Pennsylvania, and set- tled at Rhinebeck. He was naturalized on the 23d of December, 1765 ; and in June, 1769, styled himself "Ecclesiastes in Kings County and in the Manor of Cortland ;" and in August, 1770, " Min- ister of Clarkstown"-probably on the strength of his having occa- sionally filled a pulpit there.
"Both of these gentlemen continued in the work of the ministry until after the close of the Revolutionary war. In politics they dif- fered extremely, Mr. Van Sinderen being a firm Whig, while Mr. Rubel was as decided a loyalist.2 In Colonel Graydon's Memoirs we find the following brief but spirited picture of the two pastors :
" The principal person in a Low Dutch village appears to be the
1 His funeral eulogy was printed, in Dutch, at New York, by H. Goelet ; price, three coppers.
2 On a fast-day appointed by the Provincial Congress, it is said that he took occasion to preach, at Flatbush, from the text, "Honor the king ;" and, among other things, remarked that " people could do as well without a head as without a king." (Strong's
187
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
Domine or minister, and Flatbush, at this time, revered her domine, Rubel, a rotund, jolly-looking man, a follower of Luther, and a Tory.1 At Flatlands there was also a domine, Van Zinder(en), a disciple of Calvin, and a Whig. He was, in person and principle, a perfect contrast to Mr. Rubel, being a lean and shrivelled little man, with a triangular sharp-pointed hat, and silver locks which 'streamed like a meteor flowing to the troubled air,' as he whisked along with great ve- locity in his chaise through Flatbush. He was distinguished by a species of pulpit eloquence which might be truly said to ' bring matters home to men's business and bosoms.' Mr. Bache as- sured me that, in once descanting on the wily arts of the devil, he likened him to my landlord, 'sneaking and skulking about to get a shot at a flock of snipes,' in shooting of which, it seems, Jacob was eminently skil- PORTRAIT OF REV. ULPIANUS VAN SIN- DEREN. ful."2
In the minutes of the Particular Synod at New York, May 14, 1784, we find a complaint from the Consistory of Flatbush and the other churches of Kings County, concerning the unchristian conduct of both of their ministers, Van Sinderen and Rubel, and requesting to be released from them ; one (Van Sinderen) being useless from advanced age, and the other (Rubel) being of notoriously bad hab-
Hist. Flatbush, 93.) When the famous privateer boatsman, Captain Marriner, made a descent on Flatbush and captured several noted British officers, Domine Rubel gave the alarm by ringing the church bell. (See Onderdonk, Kings County, section 845, p. 179.)
1 See Strong's Flatbush for particulars.
2 See Strong's Flatbush, which relates that he was " too much in the habit of intro- ducing the occurrences of the week previous in his sermons on the Sabbath, and often would allude to very trifling circumstances. On one occasion, a good elder, who had borne with the Domine in this particular till his patience was exhausted, very injudi- ciously, under the excitement of his feelings, rose in his seat during divine service, and interrupted Mr. Van Sinderen by saying that they had called him to preach the gospel, and not to detail to them such matters. The Domine, indignant at being stopped in his discourse, leaned over the pulpit and replied : 'You, Philip Nagle, if you can preach the gospel better than I can, come up here and try !'"
188
HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.
its. Several witnesses testified to the unchristian and intemperate language used by Rubel, both in and out of the pulpit, in regard to Americans who opposed the King of Great Britain, calling them " Satan's soldiers," and saying " that they were accursed, and many were already in hell, and those who were not dead would go there, and that he could prove it by the Bible," etc. Also, that he quar- relled frequently with his wife, towards whom he not unfrequently used personal violence ; that he drank freely, and led a bad life, keeping much company with the Hessian officers quartered in the town of Flatbush, who were great swearers and drunkards. All the witnesses, however, agreed that they had nothing against Van Sin- deren except his age, and that the breach between him and Rubel had gone so far that the old domine could not control his temper whenever he met the latter. The matter was referred to the Gen- eral Synod, before whom Rubel was cited to appear, but replied only by an angry letter. He was, therefore, deposed in May, 1784. In May, 1788, he appeared before the Synod, desiring to be rein -. stated, but evincing no spirit of contrition. He continued to reside at Flatbush, devoting his time to the preparation of quack medi- cines, and in his advertisements styles himself "Minister of the Gospel and Chymicus."1 In 1788 he published a pamphlet, in Dutch and English, showing, as he pretended, how he had been defrauded of his living by a wicked man in New York. He had a daughter, who was seduced by a Hessian officer during the war ; and the old man's unhappy life ended in 1797, his solitary tomb- stone still existing in the Flatbush churchyard.2
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