USA > New York > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and family history of New York, Volume IV > Part 5
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Rev. J. A. Denniston was the next incumbent, remaining in charge for one year and being succeeded by the present rector, who entered upon his duties Mareh 1, 1896. Through his inde- fatigable efforts the church membership has largely increased in numbers and the affairs of the parish have been placed upon a sound financial basis. He has officiated at one hundred and sixty baptismis, one hundred and thirty-seven confirmations, and more than one hundred marriages. The present member- ship roll contains four hundred and twenty names, and there is an average Sunday school attendance of seventy-five.
Rev. George F. Miller was born in Aiken, South Carolina, November 28, 1864. His preliminary education was acquired in the publie and some of the private schools of Charleston, South Carolina, and he then entered the Howard University, Washington, District of Columbia, from which he was grad- uated in 1888 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the fall of the same year he entered the General Theologieal Seminary of New York, being graduated from this institution in the class of 1891. He was ordained deaeon in St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal church, Charleston, South Carolina, May 24, 1891, by Right Rev. W. B. W. Howe, and ordained priest June 24, 1892, in Calvary Church. Charleston, South Carolina, by Right Rev. C. K. Nelson, bishop of Georgia. Dating from the time of his ordination as deaeon he was the minister in charge of Calvary Church, Charleston, South Carolina, until April, 1894, when he was appointed rector of St. Cyprian's Church, New- bern, North Carolina, where he labored zealously until March, 1896. The degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him in 1893, the thesis at the time being a philosophieal dis- eourse upon the subject, "The Evidential Value of the Moral Argument of Theism." In 1901 he entered the Graduate School of Philosophy of the University of New York, taking a post-
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graduate course and devoting especial attention and time to the philosophy of religion and logical science. He has just completed a work entitled "Adventism Answered," which treats of Christian liberty in the observance of days, and the an- swer to the ancient Sabbath claims or the duty of Saturday observance. He is also the author of numerous tracts and dis- courses of considerable merit. He is an eloquent preacher and an earnest, zealous worker, and his efforts are meeting with well-merited success.
NEWMAN MEMORIAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Newman Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, located in Herkimer street near Schenectady avenue, Brooklyn, New York, whose present pastor is Rev. Joseph H. Jenkins, was organized in 1900 by Rev. Dr. W. S. Brooks, of St. Mark's Church, New York city. This work was started by Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Hill with seven members at 301 Howard avenue. The first pas- tor was Rev. M. C. Jennings, and services at that time were held in Emery Methodist Episcopal Church in Schenectady ave- nue, where they worshiped until November, 1904. At that time they removed to their present location. Rev. Jennings re- mained in charge two years and was succeeded by Rev. Charles E. Winston, who served for seventeen months and who had as his successor Rev. Joseph H. Jenkins, the present pastor, who took charge August 20, 1904. The membership roll contains forty-two names, and there is an average Sunday school at- tendance of twenty-five. A plot of land, fifty by one hundred feet, has been purchased, and it is the intention to erect a new church building on the site of the present edifice within a very short time. The new structure will have a seating capacity of four hundred persons to meet the growing needs of the con-
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gregation. Since Rev. Jenkins has had charge of the admin- istration he has paid one thousand dollars on the church prop- erty, and the membership is growing constantly and rapidly. The organizations connected with the church are: The Ep- worth League, Jolly Union Progressive Club, Ever Ready Working Club, Women's Independent Club, and the Juvenile Working Club.
Rev. Joseph H. Jenkins was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, October 1, 1874. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native state and he then became a student in Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1902 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He pursued his theological studies in Drew Theological Sem- inary, Madison, New Jersey, being graduated from that insti- tution in 1906 with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He was ordained deacon in Washington, District of Columbia, March, 1902, in the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, by Right Rev. I. B. Joyce, and ordained elder by Bishop Fowler, in Balti- more, Maryland, in Ames Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, March 29, 1904. His first appointment took him to Holly Run, Baltimore county, Maryland, where he remained in charge for one year, being then transferred to the Delaware conference and appointed pastor of Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, on Staten Island, New York. There he served efficiently and conscientiously until appointed to his present pastorate. He is a man who is unusually gifted for the pro- fession he has made his life work, being mild, yet energetic, strong in his convictions, an able preacher, and of a devoted self-sacrificing disposition.
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REV. WILLIAM R. LAWTON.
Rev. William R. Lawton, pastor of the Bethany Presby- terian Church, in Englewood, New Jersey, was born in Charles- ton, South Carolina, May 1, 1860. His early education was acquired in the public schools of St. Louis, Missouri, and he was subsequently a student at Lincoln College, state institution, Jefferson City, Missouri, pursued his classical studies in Lin- coln University, Chester county, Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1883, and was graduated from the theological department of the same institution in 1886. He was ordained in Lynchburg, Virginia, the same year, and his first pastorate was Central Presbyterian Church, in that city, where he labored zealously for a period of two years. He was then appointed to Beaufort, South Carolina, as principal of the Beaufort Normal and Industrial Academy. He remained there two years, and from thence went to Greensboro, North Carolina, to St. James Presbyterian Church. He taught history and civil polity for two years in Lincoln College, Jefferson City, Missouri, and was then called to Siloam Presbyterian Church, in Brooklyn, New York, in 1892. This church had been organized in 1855, and at the time Rev. Lawton took charge of affairs the condition of the parish was far from encouraging. By his energy and good management, however, the scattered membership was again united, and services were held in a hall at the corner of Wil- loughby avenue and Bridge streets. The following year he began the erection of the present church building, and as soon as the basement story was completed divine services were held in it, and this is done at the present time and will be continued until the completion of the church building proper. Rev. Lawton was a faithful and conscientious worker in this parish for two and one-half years, during which time he made many improvements
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and placed the congregation in a flourishing financial condition. He was then called to the Bethany Presbyterian Church, Engle- wood, New Jersey, where he is a zealous worker at the present time. He is indefatigable in his efforts to better the condition of those in his charge in every direction, and these efforts have met with their just share of appreciation. He has the affection of all those entrusted to his care, and is looked upon as a true friend as well as a spiritual adviser. His sermons are plain, forceful and convincing, and he has the reputation of having made many converts. He is the first president of the Long Island Clerical Union (colored), organized in May, 1906.
ST. PHILIP'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
St Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, located on Dean street, near Schenectady avenue, Brooklyn, New York, having for its rector Rev. N. Peterson Boyd, was organized May 14, 1899, as a mission from St. Timothy's Church, in the same city, the first rector being Rev. Walter I. Stecher. At that time the membership was but thirteen and the average attendance thirty. Services were held in Pacific street, near Utica avenne, until the purchase of the present church, since which time the congre- gation has worshiped in its present location. The church is now entirely free from debt, the mortgage resting upon it hav- ing been burnt December 8, 1904, and it is the intention to erect a large and suitable building in the near future, which will be called St. Philip's Guild Hall and Rectory. It will be twenty-two by fifty feet, with a full cellar which is seven feet in the clear. The ground floor is in one large anditorium, ten feet in the clear, with a platform in the rear, a dressing room on either side and all necessary conveniences for such a meeting room. The next floor is divided in six rooms and bath for the rectory and is nine feet six inches in the clear. The arrangement is
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unique, in fact it is specially designed for perfecting the church's mission to its people through St. Philip's. Two hun- dred camp chairs and a piano will be needed for the Guild Hall. The present membership (communicants) is one hundred and five, and the following is over five hundred. The parish em- braces one hundred and twenty-five families, and the average Sunday school attendance is upward of one hundred. The as- sociations connected with the church are: Rector's Aid So- ciety, Girls' Friendly Society, Boys' Club, a military organiza- tion ; Brotherhood of St. Andrew's; Altar Guild; and the Sew- ing Class and Cooking Class. Rev. Stecher remained in charge of the parish until 1903, when he was succeeded by the present rector. Rev. N. Peterson Boyd has since his incumbency suc- ceeded by his efforts in raising sufficient money to pay off the in- debtedness of the church and another sum of about fifteen hun- dred and fifty dollars which has been applied to making many inneh needed improvements in the church property and paying for adjacent property. There is also a surpliced choir of twenty-four voices.
Rev. N. Peterson Boyd was born in Mecklenburg county, Virginia, June 9, 1876. His preparatory education was ac- quired in St. Mark's Parish School, Bracey, Virginia, and his classical education in St. Paul's School, Lawrenceville, Vir- ginia, from which he was graduated in 1898. He studied the- ology in St. Andrew's Divinity School, Syracuse, New York, under the late Bishop F. D. Huntington, and was graduated in 1902. Was ordained deacon by the above named bishop De- cember 9, 1902, and priest by Right Rev. Frederick Burgess, bishop of Long Island, December 18, 1904. He was the minister in charge of St. Philip's Church in Syracuse, New York, until May, 1903. when he was appointed minister of St. Philip's Protestant Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York. He is con-
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nected with the following organizations: Carthaginian Lodge, No. 47, Free and Accepted Masons; King David Consistory, No. 3; president of the alumni of St. Paul's School; and was adjutant of the military organization connected with that in- stitution. He is one of the most popular of the younger gen- eration of preachers in the city of Brooklyn, and his reputation is well deserved and earned. He is indefatigable in working for the welfare and advancement of those in his charge, and is an eloquent preacher.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE RE- DEEMER.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, at No. 422 West Forty-fourth street, was founded in 1896, and the con- gregation worshiped in St. Luke's Church, on Forty-second street, where services were held in the English language. Later they rented a hall on the same street, and still later the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, on Forty-fifth street, was used. In 1903 they moved into their present quarters.
Rev. Ferdinand C. G. Schumm, the present pastor of the English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, was born in Schumm, Ohio, January 28, 1864. He is the son of the late Frederick and Magdalena (Meyers) Schumm, the former a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, the latter of Strasburg, Germany.
Rev. Ferdinand C. G. Schum received his early education in the parochial school of Schumm, and then entered Concordia College, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he pursued his classical studies. In the fall of 1886 he matriculated at the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, where he studied theology. He was graduated from this institution in 1889, and was ordained in August of the same year, at Worcester, Massachusetts, and
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immediately appointed pastor of the First Evangelical Lu- theran Church of that city, where he worked faithfully for six years, and while pastor of this church founded another at Web- ster, purchasing land and in 1895 erecting a handsome church edifice, where he was pastor until 1900. In that year he received a call to St. John's Evangelical Church, at Bayonne, New Jer- sey. There he found the parish in a very unsatisfactory state, but through his assiduous labors he succeeded in bringing it to a flourishing condition. He also entirely renovated the interior of the church and parsonage, gained the confidence of his parishioners and doubled the membership. After working here zealously for nearly six years he was called to succeed Rev. William Dallman as pastor of the Church of the Redeemer. He is an able preacher, a consistent Christian and a devoted, self- sacrificing friend. He is secretary of the Synod Mission Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
He married, September 3, 1891, at Logansport, Indiana, Minnie F. Brookmeyers, born in Logansport, Indiana, and they have children: Adolf F., born November 7, 1892; Carl H., No- vember 13, 1894; Elsie L., February 8, 1896; Franz Joseph, Sep- tember 28, 1898, and Benjamin.
REV. WILLIAM PROEHL.
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, of which Rev. William Proehl is pastor, is situated in East One Hundred and Eighty-first street, New York city. This parish is a very flour- ishing one, and the membership of the church is constantly in- creasing under the able ministrations of the pastor.
Rev. William Proehl was born in Durand, Pepin county, Wisconsin, February 27, 1875, son of Rev. Frederick and Eliza- beth (Conrad) Proehl, the former now pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Plymouth, Wisconsin. Rev. Will-
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iam Proehl acquired his early education in a parochial school under the tuition of his father. At the age of fourteen years he entered Concordia College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and there ob- tained his classical education. After six years of study in this institution, he entered the Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Mis- souri, where he took a three years' course in theology, and was graduated in 1898. He was ordained September 4 of the same year, at Dunkirk, New York, and was at once appointed pastor of St. Peter's Church in that city. Ile labored there faithfully, and during his incumbeney the church and parsonage were pur- chased and the membership almost doubled. He received a call to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in June of 1905, and on the 25th of the month was installed pastor to succeed Rev. (). H. Restin. He is a logical, forceful and convincing preacher, well liked by the members of his congregation, and as they feel that he has their interest and welfare at heart, he exerts consid- rable influence over them. He married, June 9, 1903, in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, lda Mackensen, who was born in that city. They have one child, Conrad Frederick, born April 11, 1904.
BROOME STREET ITALIAN TABERNACLE.
This parish is situated in the heart of the Italian district of the city of New York. It has a seating capacity of about one thousand persons, and the members are devout and regular in their attendance. The membership list has been constantly growing since the work of the parish commenced, and now num- bers about one thousand two hundred and forty-six, all these being received into the church by confession of faith. Twelve members of this congregation have been ordained to the Chris- tian ministry, and twenty-two are working as missionaries among their own countrymen. The Sunday school has an aver- age attendance of about four hundred and fifty, being second
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in size to the Sunday school which meets in Olivet Memorial Church, and it is within the range of possibility that before long it may be the largest under the care of the City Mission Society. The services are mainly in the Italian language, but a certain number are conducted in English. This church has a well- equipped gymnasium in the basement of the church in Mulberry street, and there is a library stocked with six thousand Italian books, in addition to newspapers and magazines from all parts of Italy and America. All this is entirely free to the Italians of the city of New York. Lessons in the English lan- guage are given three times a week, and in connection with the library is the largest sewing school in the city for Italian children. The library and the work in connection with it were organized and are carried on by Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes, by whose liberality it is supported. The societies in connection with the church are as follows: Young People's Society, Mothers' Meeting, Band of Hope, various boys' clubs, a working girls' class, in which girls who are employed during the day are taught plain sewing, dressmaking, etc.
Rev. Antonio Arrighi, pastor of the Broome Street Italian Tabernacle, was born in Florence, Italy, September 25, 1837. He volunteered under Garibaldi, in 1849, and was at the siege of Rome, where he was taken prisoner by the allied forces of France and Austria, and after a confinement of five years was exiled to America. He came to this country in 1855, and his first few years in this country were spent in various business occu- pations. In 1859 he commenced his studies for the ministry by taking a preparatory course of one year in the Iowa Wesleyan University. He volunteered for military service in 1861, and was enrolled in the First Iowa Regiment, under Colonel Bates. Was present at the battle of Wilson Creek, Missouri, and was discharged in the fall of the same year. He then entered the
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Wesleyan University of Ohio, but in 1863, on account of failing health, he was transferred to Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn- sylvania, where he studied for two years. He entered the Bos- ton Theological Seminary in 1866, and was graduated from this institution in 1869. At this time he went to Italy as a mis- sionary, and started a mission in the city of Florence. There he labored zealously until 1880, when he was sent to America as a delegate to the Presbyterian Ecumenical Council of the Presby- terian church, which met in Philadelphia in 1880, and in the following year he was commissioned by the New York City Mis- sion and Tract Society, of which Morris K. Jesup was then active president, to begin work among the Italians in the neigh- borhood of the Five Points. He preached his first sermon in the Chapel of Five Points House of Industry, June 21, 1881.
Not only has Rev. Mr. Arrighi been able to supervise work among the Italians of New York, but he has also been able to give counsel and advice to other Italian enterprises in our land. The Italian church in Broome Street Tabernacle is practically the mother of fourteen Italian missions and two in Italy. June 10, 1906, Rev. Mr. Arrighi completed his twenty-fifth year of continuous service in the employ of the New York City Mission. The anniversary was celebrated by special services in the Taber- nacle, and appropriate addresses were made by Rev. A. F. Schauffler, D. D., who presided; Rev. Paseturo, Peter Agre- tilli and others.
The first Italian Evangelical Church was organized in 1886, and he was appointed its pastor, and had charge of this church for fourteen years. When the building in which the services were held was torn down, his work was transferred to the Broome Street Tabernacle, in which, at that time, the work was carried on in two distinct branches-English and Italian. The English branch of the work was abandoned in March, 1905, with Vol. IV-5
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the understanding that services were also to be conducted in English. Rev. Arrighi has been very successful in all attempts to further the interests of the parish of which he has charge. His kind heart and ready sympathy have won for him the love and confidence of all in the parish, and he is ever ready to assist them in word and deed. He is a fluent speaker, and his sermons, while the language is elegant, is yet simple enough to be readily comprehended by the most ignorant in the congregation. The parish is in a flourishing condition, and it is to be hoped that Rev. Arrighi will be spared for many years to continue the work he has superintended up to the present time.
SECOND GERMAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The Second German Methodist Episcopal Church, whose present pastor is Rev. William A. Stark, is located at No. 348 West Fortieth street, New York city. This congregation was organized by the Ladies' Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1846, and the first divine services were held in a small, frame church building located on the south side of Thirty-sixth street, now known as No. 347. The first regular pastor was Rev. Adam Mueller, who remained but a short time and was succeeded by Rev. H. Hartman, and he by Rev. William Schwartz, who was sent to Germany in 1850 as a missionary, and in the same year Rev. C. F. Grimm became the regular pastor, remaining in charge for a period of two years. The next in charge was Rev. Christian Afferbach. Dur- ing the incumbency of Rev. Christian Blinn, in 1865, the present church building was erected, and dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in the following year. Rev. Louis Wallon was the next incumbent, his successor being Rev. Henry Kastendieck, who was sneceeded by Rev. F. H. Rey, and then followed in succession Rev. J. C. Deininger, Rev. John Mueller, and then
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Rev. William A. Stark, the present pastor. The church edifice is a handsome brick structure, the interior furnishings being harmonious and entirely in keeping with the character of the building, and it has a seating capacity of three hundred and fifty persons. The present membership roll contains one hun- dred and fifty names and there is an average attendance at the Sunday school sessions of one hundred. The associations con- nected with the church are: Ladies' Aid Society; Epworth League; and a branch of the Women's Foreign Missionary So- ciety. The present board of trustees is composed of the fol- lowing members: F. K. Keller, Henry Poppe, Frederick Kochendorfer, Henry Doscher, William Deininger, Ernest Schlenker and H. Schellhom.
Rev. William A. Stark, the present pastor of the Second German Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Wnerttem- berg, Germany, Angust 30, 1858. He is a son of John and Caro- line (Epple) Stark, both natives of Switzerland but for many years honored and respected residents of Germany, the former dying in Wnerttemberg in 1879, the latter coming to the United States with her son, Rev. William A., and residing for some time in Boston, Massachusetts, where her death occurred in 1884. Rev. William A. Stark acquired a good preliminary education in the public schools of his native city, and this was supplemented by a course of instruction in a technical school where he studied architectural and mechanical drawing. He decided, however, to devote his life to the cause of religion and at the age of twenty-one years entered the Theological Seminary at Reut- lingen, Germany, where he made a thorough study of theology in all its branches and from which institution he was graduated with honor in 1883. He began his ministerial duties as pastor of a mission in the Black Forest, Germany, and labored there zealously for three years. He was then regularly ordained
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to the ministry at Stuttgart, Germany, and then came to the United States. His first charge here was the German Evan- gelical church, at Little Falls, New York. Two years later he was transferred to St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, New York, re- mained there for three years and then spent two years in charge of the Rhode Island Street Evangelical Church in the same city. He was transferred to Seacliff, Long Island, in 1891, and two years later to the First German Methodist Episcopal Church at Boston, Massachusetts, where he was a conscientious worker for four years, and his labors productive of excellent results. At the end of this period he became pastor of the German Meth- odist Episcopal Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, remaining there until 1901, and then took charge of the Broadway German Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, where his faithful work for five years was highly appreciated, and which pastorate he left in order to take charge of his present church. Rev. Stark has a most enviable reputation as an earnest, con- scientious worker, deeming no sacrifice too great where the welfare of his parish is concerned. He is an eloquent, force- ful and logical preacher, and is greatly beloved by his congre- gation.
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