USA > New York > New York City > Historical sketch of the South Church (Reformed) of New York City > Part 2
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The success was far beyond our deserts. Notwithstanding the unfavorable circumstances of its location, the Church was soon filled with a strong congregation. Members attached themselves to it, having large means and large hearts, soon putting its tem- poral welfare beyond the reach of peradventure.
But the chief glory of the Church lay in its spiritual prosperity. If the members were few at the beginning, it was a spark of the right fire that dwelt with them. It was a coal from the altar above. No credit belongs to me for having kindled it. It was there to meet me, and the spirit pervaded the women as well as the men, which was one of its best features. No Church can rise to a full and happy growth unless she can count her Priscillas with her Aquilas, taking the part which befits their sex in spreading the influence of the Gospel. Of such Christian women this Church had a large proportion from its infancy; and I believe it was greatly owing to their fidelity in their families, as mothers in
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THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
Israel, that so great a number of the young in the congregation were from year to year savingly converted to God in the morning of their days.
So remarkably was this blessing bestowed, at one period, that I will specially refer to it. We were allowed to share largely in the general revival of religion that spread through many Churches in our city in 1832, and during that happy season, aged members of the congregation who had reached their three score, and even three score and ten years, were made subjects of the gracious work.
But the harvest was chiefly among the young ; and so pro- fusely was the Spirit poured out upon them, that in several in- stances every son and daughter in whole households came forward, and publicly professed the name of the Saviour.
Nor have I yet told the whole story. Many of us at the time were often surprised by what at first we scarce knew how to ex- plain. Young children, five or six years old, were so baptised with the Holy Ghost as to remind us of the wonderful scene in the days of our Lord, when the children in His temple cried out their Hosannas to the Son of David.
It was a spectacle that filled the heart of many a parent with both joy and wonder. We believed, and could we do otherwise than believe, that " Christ was formed " in the hearts of these little ones, the " hope of glory," and time afterwards showed how fully our belief was justified. Though not sufficiently advanced in years, as we judged, to warrant their open reception into the Church on a confession of their faith, we were careful to watch their subsequent course.
Some of them became examples of the saying, "early ripe and soon taken," and of those who were spared to longer life, not one, so far as I can tell, no, not one can be named who did not show that the grace bestowed on them in infancy grew with their growth, and strengthened with their strength, until they arrived at the stature of full-grown men in Christ Jesus.
But where did we find these babes and sucklings, from whose mouths the Redeemer thus perfected his praise ?
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OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
They were the children of parents, especially of mothers who, with a mother's faith, took a strong hold of the promise, " I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee," and whose faith in God's word was made perfect by works of parental faithfulness.
Much as it would please me to do it, I have not time to dwell farther on the measure of blessing you long enjoyed as a Church. Your "cords lengthened and your stakes strengthened " year after year ; seals still given to the Ministry, " brethren dwelling together in unity." And in this state of peace and prosperity you were continued, until overtaken by an event painfully chronicled in the annals of our city.
At the close of 1835 " our holy and beautiful house wherein our fathers worshipped was burnt with fire."
In that wide conflagration, which rendered a large district of our city an utter ruin, much that appertained to our previous wel- fare appeared to have been consumed.
Perhaps we had been too proud of the unity which distinguished us as a people, and deserved a rebuke for our self-complacency. For the first time we found ourselves divided in our councils. We were not of one mind on the question of where our Church should be rebuilt. But if there were differences of opinion, it was be- tween brethren who knew how to respect and to love each other. And we have lived to see that the overruling hand of God was in the thing which we deplored as a calamity. We all felt it to be a crisis in our condition. Our Church was in ashes. If the sheep were not without a shepherd, they had been driven from the fold. There was a strong and pervading desire that we should keep together as one Church, and our early plans were formed with that view.
But He who "sees the end from the beginning " did not allow us to have our own way, and His will is now seen to have been wisest and best. He so ordered our diversity of views that two Churches have arisen in the place of one, living in affectionate harmony with each other, both fully able to sustain His worship, and so far has He now enlarged them both that eighteen hundred and ninety-four members have been added, chiefly on confession
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THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
of their faith, to the small band of seventeen, with whom the Church first celebrated her Lord's death.
Let all the praise be to Him who has, by His blessing, made His word thus instrumental of good. The severance of the tie that once bound me to these Churches as their Pastor, and my subsequent occupation in labors more adapted to advanced years than the details of parochial duty, have never severed the people from my heart. Were I to lose my interest in their welfare, or cease to pray for it, I might well feel myself rebuked for the sin by the spirits of friends and companions now in heaven, whose names are not only written in the Book of Life, but are too deeply engraven within my bosom ever to be forgotten. Not only when I enter the Temples of Worship, where their smiles often greeted and cheered me in my public labors, but often in the silent watches of the night. My mind recalls the familiar faces of Benson, Baldwin, Storm, Keese, Nitchie, Vroom, Heyer, Hutton, Boyd, Steward, with others who partook of their spirit; and, while I can remember their wise counsels as rulers in the Church, I seem at times, even still, to hear the melting tones in which some of them were wont to pour out their souls to God in prayer for His blessing on their Pastor, on the congregation, on our city and the world.
Sainted men! All hail to them in the Heaven which has re- ceived them. They have now entered into the joy of their Lord.
In 1834, Dr. Mathews having become Chancellor of the University of the City of New York, it became im- perative that he should have an assistant, and the Rev. Mancius S. Hutton was unanimously called as Associate Pastor. He was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1803, and graduated from Columbia College in 1823 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1826. He was Pas- tor of the Church in German Valley, New Jersey, until 1834.
Under Drs. Mathews and Hutton the Old South
Rockwood Auto-type.
M. J. Hutlow
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OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
became a power among the Churches of the city, and the forlorn hope of 1812 in Garden Street was in 1835 so crowded that when the large building was destroyed by fire there were in the hands of the sexton over twenty applications for pews which could not be ob- tained.
The Rev. Dr. Hutton, in an " Historical Sermon " relating to the Garden street and Washington Square Churches, delivered in 1877, thus recalls his connection with the church as member and Associate Pastor :
Although I was a lad of only ten years of age (at the time of the new organization), I recall with great vividness the deep inter- est, pride and love with which we were wont to regard the Church and its loved and popular Pastor. In our estimation there was no superior in the pulpit to Dr. Mathews. And the men who were grouped around him commanded our warmest love. They were truly helpers in the good cause. Two of the Elders aided him every week in catechising. Every Saturday evening there was held what was called the "Elders' Prayer Meeting." It was a kind of Bible-class-always pleasant and profitable. It was at one of these meetings that I offered my first public prayer, and I am not certain that the influence of those meetings had not something to do in leading me into the Gospel Ministry; they certainly had much to do in cultivating the zeal, piety and activity of the Church. Dr. Mathews possessed large views of Christian union and enter- prise, and was in the foremost rank as an advocate of the re- ligious efforts which at this time were awakened in the Churches. And his influence was felt and responded to by his attached people. The most perfect harmony and union pervaded the whole church, and the continued presence and blessing of the Holy Spirit was enjoyed to the very last.
It was two years after the great ingathering of 1831 that my connection with the Church as an Associate Pastor commenced. It was an honor unsought, and most unexpected, by me. To my
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THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
mind it was the highest, the noblest, the most desirable position which the Great Head of the Church could bestow upon me. It was with devout sentiments of wonder and gratitude, and love, that I found myself connected as Christ's Minister with my most loved and honored Pastor, and saw myself surrounded and sus- tained by the venerable Elders, to some of whom I had in my early days recited the Heidelberg Catechism.
But a storm of desolating fury from a clear Heaven broke upon us, sweeping away in a single night our Church building with all its hallowed associations. I allude to the great fire of 1835. About nine o'clock in the evening of the sixteenth of Decem- ber, with the thermometer three degrees below zero, we were startled by the ringing of bells and the cry of fire. The alarm con- tinuing to sound so long, and the lights in the heavens increasing, I was induced to go out to witness the scene. I returned after midnight with a solemn and saddened heart, the Church in ashes. I, with the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, had climbed into the steeple of the Church, where for some two hours we watched the radiant fire sheet rapidly advancing, even against the wind, to inclose the Church in its terrible folds. So intense was my excitement that I was unconscious of the cold, and was only aroused to it by the remark of the engineer, " we had better de- scend, the Church is already on fire." Dr. Mathews and myself then took our stand on the steps of a house on the opposite side of the street, unable to draw ourselves away from the loved build- ing. We stood silent, with our eyes fixed upon the pulpit. At last he exclaimed "there goes the pulpit !" Our organist entered the building when almost all others had deserted it, and the organ ceased not to utter its wail until the fire commenced dropping froin the ceiling; and the sexton, until the fire cut off the rope, ceased not to ring, with a wild ring, the bell which sounded as if struggling in its last agony ; but the agony was in our hearts. Nothing was left of the scene of our labors and enjoyment but the blackened and crumbling walls.
This calamity, which rendered our Church, and a large district of our city, an utter ruin, at once brought up the important ques-
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OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
tion, Where ought the Church to be rebuilt ? No one for a single moment thought of rebuilding it on that spot, sacred as we felt it to be. Before the fire it had become surrounded by lofty store- houses, and very few dwelling-houses were to be found south of Wall street and east of Broad street. Although we held the prop- erty, as has been noticed, by a lease for 999 years, yet it was a lease-not a deed. We, of course, could not dispose of the ground without the consent of the Collegiate Church. This con- sent, after several plans and propositions had been rejected, was at last obtained on condition of our paying into their treasury $62,000, a measure which we at the time thought was very hard, but which, as I look back now, I have no doubt actually saved from financial ruin both the enterprises which resulted from the fire-God, by His Spirit, overruling and guiding the whole matter. The property being thus placed in our hands, it was found that we were not of one mind on the question of where the Church should be rebuilt. This diversity of opinion eventually resulted in our dividing into two bands, both of which have been blessed of God. The old Garden Street Church built, temporarily, on the corner of Church and Murray streets, whence it removed to Fifth avenue and Twenty-first street, and is still flourishing as the garden of the Lord, under the care of Dr. E. P. Rogers, and still rejoicing in her old title, " The South Dutch Church." Her loved title will, ere long, become no misnomer. She is already almost the furthest south of the Reformed Churches in the city.
After the great fire of 1835 Sabbath services were at once resumed in the Chapels of the First Presbyte- rian Church, in Wall street, and of the Brick Pres- byterian Church, at the junction of Park Row and Nassau street. It was while worshipping within these friendly walls that the differences of opinion occurred to which Dr. Mathews has referred, which resulted in a division of the congregation. A considerable por- tion, with the two Pastors, severed their connection
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THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY
with the old Church and organized a new one on Wash- ington Square.
Of the subsequent careers of these two noble Pastors there is no need to write at length. Each has left a memory so rich and precious in our city that it cannot fade. Dr. Mathews, as the first Chancellor of the University of the City of New York, which position he held for more than eight years, left the stamp of his own personality upon it and brought it to a high position among our institutions of learning. He was a man of scholarly tastes and broad Christianity. During his later years, in addition to his literary labors, he gave himself heartily to efforts for the union of Christians of different Evangelical bodies. One of the last public acts of his life was to preside over an American Evan- gelical Council, held in this city in 1869. He died in January, 1870, full of years and of honor.
Dr. Hutton spent all the later years of his life in the pastorate of the Washington Square Church, of which, in 1843, he became the sole pastor. He was exceedingly beloved and deservedly popular, especially among the young. For a time the Church was crowded. But about 1860 the resistless northward current of New York's population left Washington Square in the rear, and the Church could not, during the last ten years of his ministry, do more than cling with ardent affection to its leader, with perseverance if not with hope. In 1875 the fight was given up, the Church dis- banded, and Dr. Hutton, honored of all, spent his re- maining years in rest and peace. He died April II, 1880.
Rockwood Auto-type.
THE MORNING AFTER THE FIRE.
The Second Quarter Century of Our Separate Existence
FTER the great fire and the departure of the Washington Square party, the Old South Church found itself in possession of property on the north-east corner of Mur- ray and Church streets, previously bought; and of $16,000 in funds, also three lots in Exchange Place, valued at about $25,000 a lot, with a mortgage upon them to the Collegiate Church toward the payment of $100,000 (afterward reduced to $62,000), which that Church claimed as the price of the whole property.
The South Church at once proceeded to build upon the lot in Murray street. The building was the full size of the lot, 50 x 731/2 feet. Its total cost was $32,500.
Upon the 24th of December, 1837, it was dedicated with most interesting services, lasting all the day.
Upon the 28th of the following February the Rev. John M. Macauley was called to the Pastorate. The call was accepted, and Dr. Macauley was installed Pas- tor, April 15, 1838.
Dr. Macauley was born in Schenectady, N. Y., August 30, 1813. He was graduated from Pennsyl-
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THE SECOND QUARTER CENTURY
vania University in 1834, and from Princeton Theolog- ical Seminary in 1837.
The Consistory of the South Church when Dr. Macauley became the Pastor was composed of the following :
ELDERS.
DEACONS.
THOS. C. DOREMUS,
CHAS. J. MANNING,
WILLIAM FORREST,
M. C. MORGAN,
JOHN D. KEESE,
H. H. REYNOLDS,
C. N. KIERSTED,
JOHN SLOSSON,
W. M. TOWNSEND.
J. B. WILSON.
And the call upon Dr. Macauley was signed by the following members of the Church and congregation :
John H. Bailey, Nicholas Van Brunt, Oliver Cobb, William E. Mathews, Charles Durfee, Charles L. Vase, Ezra Ludlow, Jr., C. H. Van Brunt, William H. Ludlow, Charles J. Manning, James O. Ward, J. S. Kilbourn, Warren Slover, Henry Britter, John T. Rol- lins, Rynier Veght, Peter J. Nevius, Jerome Johnson, William E. Mathews, Jr., Daniel Fanshaw, R. M. Penoyer, W. Simonson, James T. Thorburn, Daniel S. Miller, John M. Keese, Sidney A. Dwight, George B. Rollins, Isaac T. Storm, Peter Martin, H. S. Wilson, H. Channing Beals, J. R. Thorburn, Henry J. Wyckoff, Aaron Clark, Abraham A. Slover, William Whitlock, James Gillespie, John Cole, A. V. D. Taylor, John H. Shepperd, William Gillespie, Edgar Ketchum, John H. Atkin, Francis S. Wynkoop, A. A. Slover, Jr., James C. Johnson, D. B. Hasbrook, G. A. Rollins, and others.
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OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
The following, kindly written for this pamphlet, will be of exceptional interest, coming from the only for- mer Pastor now living :
Reminiscences of the South Church. BY
THE REV. JOHN MAGOFFIN MACAULEY, S.T.D.
ON 1812 THE SOUTH DUTCH CHURCH became separate from the North and the Middle Churches, having the lot it occupied secured to it by a lease for a thousand years, at the rent of a peppercorn if demanded, and relinquishing all control of the lots occupied by the others. It then ceased drawing support from the property before held in common, and undertook to sustain its own services of worship.
The great fire of 1835 destroyed its Church edifice in Garden street, then Exchange Place. The removal of families from that vicinity rendered it inexpedient to rebuild on the same site. Prices were then at their height. The Consistory sold their lots for $280,000. They had to obtain a deed instead of their lease. For this they agreed to pay the Collegiate Consistory. To a part of the congregation then up-town they promised to give $100,000 to build a Church on Washington Square. For themselves they re- served $100,000 to establish a Church in Murray street. Prices began to decline. Purchasers became anxious to void their con- tracts. Delays occurred in the perfecting of the title. The sale fell through. Instead of having a clear cash capital of $200,000, they had their property thrown back on their hands, and found themselves possessed of only an unproductive estate of the value then of $180,000, encumbered by a debt of some $60,000, the sum the Collegiate Church agreed to accept instead of the amount named when prices were higher. To the Washington Square Church was given half of this property, charged with half of this debt. Subsequently there was given to it by the South Church
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THE SECOND QUARTER CENTURY
$5,000 more. The South Church then had for its down-town Church enterprise property worth about $85,000, burdened with a debt of $30,000, the money borrowed to pay the Collegiate Con- sistory.
The South Church entered its house of worship in Murray street some months before I was ordained as their minister in 1838. A congregation consisting largely of new members was soon gathered, and by constant accessions it maintained its flour- ishing condition for ten years. At length, however, like other down-town Churches, it began to show the effect of the tide of re- moval. It was surrounded by a transient population. After prayerful consideration the congregation resolved to select another situation where they could hope to continue an efficient Church for years.
Lots were purchased on the Fifth avenue on the corner of Twenty-first street. A Church and lecture-room were erected. The site was well chosen, and for the amount expended the result was satisfactory. Many of the old members were soon gathered, but, as in Murray street, a great portion of the congregation was of recent addition.
From the time of the building in Murray street our Church continued under the debt of $30,000. For eighteen years it paid interest on this debt; for this it paid some $36,000. As soon as the congregation was somewhat consolidated on the avenue we resolved to make an effort to remove this wearisome load. I stated to the Consistory that I thought I could obtain $20,000 as a gift from the Collegiate Church, if among ourselves we could raise the additional thirteen thousand necessary to free the Church from all indebtedness. The congregation subscribed that amount very promptly. It was thought best to leave to me the application to the Collegiate Church. I called on each member of that Con- sistory, and was so happy as to obtain by their most cordial vote the twenty thousand for which I asked. This liberal action of that Consistory was a manifestation of enlightened Christian sympathy never to be forgotten by any one who ever felt any interest in the South Dutch Church.
Rockwood Auto-type.
MaMacaulay.
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OF OUR SEPARATE EXISTENCE
A new organ was proposed by Dr. R. Ogden Doremus, a large portion of the cost of which was paid by the proceeds of a concert made successful by his influence and efforts, and the liberal sub- scriptions of Mr. D. Jackson Steward, Mr. Francis Wynkoop and other members of the congregation.
The Members of Consistory were Christian gentlemen with whom it was a pleasure to meet for either business or social inter- course. Of one or two of them, the eldest of the Elders, I may be pardoned a few words.
JOHN D. KEESE, for very many years an Elder of the Church, was a man of fine mind, most amiable disposition and rare spirituality. It seemed natural for him to speak of sacred things. He addressed men so kindly, with such evident sincerity that many yielded to his persuasive words. Before attending the weekly devotional meetings he usually retired from business and passed an hour in meditation. Many a young person came to the meeting attracted by the charm of his sympathetic prayers. During my long intimacy with him I saw him, more than once, when his life was trembling in the balance; forbidden to speak, he lay upon his couch pale and silent ; but his countenance was always serene and cheerful, and his eye always beamed with benevolence or devotion. I never saw him indifferent to the interests of others. He had my highest esteem : my affectionate confidence. He passed away with the exclamation of humble, but triumphant, faith : " I have finished my course, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing."
JOHN STEWARD was another of our Elders. A man of sterling integrity, extensively engaged in commercial life, in constant inter- course with men, he was universally respected. His life was a beautiful illustration of what it is to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. He was a fine example of a type of piety not frequently seen in these busy times; he delighted in quiet thought and devout meditation. In his place of business his leisure moments were often occupied with prayer. In his walks
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THE SECOND QUARTER CENTURY
in the country he was not seldom seen with uncovered head as he thought of God. His sound judgment and large experience made him a safe counselor. With characteristic unselfishness he was one of the first to advise our removal up-town, although he then resided at the Battery; and his approval gave us confidence in our choice of the site we selected. He left to his family an hon- ored name and to the community a bright example. He was one of those who gave the Church the position and influence it has long enjoyed.
Of two of our Deacons we must write a few words. The office they held demands this. HENRY H. REYNOLDS was for years Clerk of Consistory. Even when not a member he was elected clerk, both on account of his efficiency and because our meetings were dull without him. In the prayer meetings of the Church he was one who could always be relied on. He had the gift of prayer. As a Sabbath-school teacher he had high qualifications. The Church in Murray street owed much to his faithful labors.
DANIEL R. SUYDAM was Clerk of Consistory for several years. The Church never had a better friend or more faithful officer. He was always ready to do anything he could for the interest of the Church or of any of its members. Would that I had space to express more fittingly the obligations I feel towards him.
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