History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 28

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703

USA > New York > Queens County > History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals. > Part 28

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

From the time of Doughty's departure there is no record of his place having been filled by any resident preacher; and it seems probable that during the re- mainder of the Knickerbocker administration preaching was supplied by preachers from Newtown and Jamaica, at which points churches had been erected.

tains a fine bell (which is also used for a fire alarm) and the town clock. In the spring of 1859 the church was enlarged and repaired, and an organ built, at an expense of $3,000. The lecture room is a neat building on a lot adjoining the church.

In 1850 Mr. Gordon resigned and removed to New York, and after remaining vacant for nearly eighteen months the pulpit was filled by Rev. G. Henry Mande- ville, who accepted the pastorate July 28th 1851. Dur ing a term of eight years' service Mr. Mandeville was instrumental in largely increasing the membership and strength, and in his hours of leisure prepared, and after ward published, a breezy little volume entitled “ Flush- ing, Past and Present," to which the present writer is indebted for much of the material used in this historical sketch of the town. In August 1859 he removed to New- burgh, N. Y., and in September following Rev. W. W. Halloway was called and settled as pastor.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

The movement which resulted in the organization of the First Congregational Church of Flushing began in a meeting which was held in the chapel of the Flushing In- stitute, January 23d 1851. At this meeting it was unan- imously voted that it was "expedient to unite in a new organization for the public worship of God." This conviction was reaffirmed at a meeting held at the house of D. S. Williams February 18th of the same year; and at this meeting a committee, consisting of D. S. Wil- liams, S. A. Smith and B. L. Fowler, was appointed "to take iniatory steps for the organization of a (new and independent) church, and to draw up a confession of faith, covenant, and standing rules for its government, to be reported at a future meeting of those who propose to unite with it."

The denominational complexion of the new organiza- tion was determined April 4th, and steps were taken to secure a place for holding worship. The union school- house on Church street was rented and fitted up for this purpose, and on April 20th the first religious services were held, the Rev. Charles Parker, of New York, offi- ciating.

For nearly two hundred years a total blank occurs in The articles of faith, the covenant, the form of admis- sion, and the standing rules were adopted at various meetings held during the months of May and June, and on June 9th a committee was appointed "to invite the attendance of a council of ministers and delegates to or- ganize a Congregational church," if it should be deemed expedient. Pursuant to the invitation a council convened at the union school-house Tuesday July Ist 1851. Rev. D. C. Lansing, D.D., was chosen moderator, and Wil- liam C. Gilman scribe. After listening to the report of the committee appointed by those who proposed to enter the new organization, and examining the confession of faith and covenant, the council signified approval of the the history of the denomination here. The arm of flesh failed to uphold the church, and it was not until the names of the old bigoted Knickerbockers had been lost to history that a successful effort was made to found a Reformed church in Flushing. Rev. William R. Gordon, of Manhasset, commenced holding services about the year 1841 in a hall on Bridge street, and in 1842 he or- ganized a chuch of six members. Soon afterward Mr. Gordon was induced to become its pastor. Services were held in a school room on Church street, with an increas- ing congregation, until 1845, when Gardner G. Howland and William Henry Roe were appointed a building com- mittee, and the church edifice was erected, at a cost of action taken, and assigned the public services of recog- $12,000. It is pleasantly located at the corner of Prince and Washington streets, and is built of cut stone, which was brought from Blackwell's Island. The tower con-

nition as follows: Introductory prayer, reading of Scrip- tures and sermon, Rev. George B. Cheever, D.D .; read- ing the articles of faith and the covenant, and constitut-

I19

CONGREGATIONAL AND BAPTIST CHURCHES, FLUSHING.

ing prayer, Rev. D. C. Lansing, D.D .; fellowship of the churches, Rev. R. S. Storrs jr .; address to the church and concluding prayer, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher; bene- diction by the moderator, Rev. Dr. Lansing. On the same evening those who had applied for admission to membership in the new organization, and whose applica- tions had been approved, publicly assented to the articles of faith and the covenant, and were received to member- ship. The church, as thus constituted, consisted of eighteen members, as follows: Robert B. Parsons, John B. Holmes and Richard Cornell, received on profession of faith; Scoville D. Foote, Mrs. Martha W. Foote, Ben- jamin I .. Fowler, Mrs. Jane S. Fowler, Gilbert G. Weeks, Mrs. Cornelia M. Weeks, John Fowler, Mrs. Letitia Ann Fowler, S. Addison Smith, Mrs. Mary E. Holmes, Mrs. Nellopee C. Rickey, by letters from the Reformed Dutch church at Flushing ; Jeremiah De Graff and Mrs. Caro- line De Graff, by letter from the Presbyterian church of Newtown; David S. Williams and Mrs. Phila A. Williams, by letter from the Broadway Tabernacle Congregational church, New York city.

The ordinance of the Lord's Supper was celebrated for the first time September 7th 1851, Rev. Joshua Leavitt, of New York, officiating.

The first board of officers was as follows: Deacons, Thomas F. Harrison, John Fowler; clerk, David S. Wil- liams; treasurer, Benjamin L. Fowler; prudential com- mittee, Richard Cornell, S. Addison Smith, Robert B. Parsons. Mr. Harrison resigned soon after his election, and at the first annual meeting, April 21st 1852, Gilbert G. Weeks was chosen in his stead.

On the 9th of September 1851 the congregation met and organized a religious society in accordance with the laws of the State, under the corporate nanie of " The First Congregational Society of Flushing, L. I." The following persons were elected trustees: Robert B. Par- sons and John Rickey for one year, Thomas F. Harrison and Rufus Leavitt for two years, Edward Roe and David S. Williams for three years.

The first pastor was Rev. Charles O. Reynolds, of East Hartford, Conn., who was ordained October 28th 1851, and dismissed by council September 5th 1854. His suc- cessors have been as follows: Rev. S. Bourne, of Hart- ford, ordained December 6th 1859; Rev. Henry T. Staats, of Princeton, ordained February Ist 1860, dis missed by council October 26tlı 1860. After Mr. Staats's resignation Rev. P. M. Bartlett supplied the pulpit six- teen months, from January 1861 to May 1862. Rev. Henry H. McFarland was ordained June 16th 1863, and was dismissed by mutual council April 24th 1866. Rev. John A. French was engaged as stated supply in Sep- tember 1866, and ministered about two years. Rev. Martin L. Williston began his labors in June 1869, was ordained March 3d 1870, and dismissed by council May 7th 1872. Rev. Albert (. Reed was called in June 1873, installed October 30th 1873, and dismissed by council April 3d 1878. Rev. James O. Averill, the present in- cumbent, was ordained June 17th 1879. He has preached, as stated supply, since January 19th 1879.

The first church building was erected on the east side of Union street, near what is now Washington street, and adjoining the present primary school building. Work

was begun upon it about the Ist of December 1851, and it was dedicated January 29th 1852. Its seating capacity was about 275, and its cost about $800. This first edi- fice was subsequently removed to its present location on Lincoln street, in the rear of the church, and it is now used as a chapel and Sunday-school room.

The large and commodious edifice in which the church now worships was built in 1856, on the southwest corner of Bowne avenue and Lincoln street, on ground presented to the society by the Messrs. Parsons. The auditorium is 75 by 55 feet, and has a seating capacity of about five hundred. The building and its furniture are valued at $10,000.

A Sabbath-school was established soon after the or- ganization of the church, and it has been steadily main- tained ever since. D. S. Williams was the first superin- tendent, and for twelve years or more he was annually elected to that office, until failing health compelled him to relinquish it. R. B. Parsons is the present superin- tendent. There are about one hundred names on the rolls of the school, and the average attendance is eighty. There is a small but well selected library of Sunday- school books, and a parish library of one hundred and fifty volumes. The Sabbath-school meets at 9 o'clock every Sabbath morning.

THE BAPTIST CHURCH.

This body was organized January 17th 1857, two hun- dred years after the first attempt to instill the doctrines of the denomination here and the first act of persecu- tion, which the colonial records relate as follows: “ In 1656 William Wickendam, a cobbler from Rhode Island, came to Flushing, and began to preach, and went with the people into the river and dipped them. For this he was fined £100, and ordered to be banished. As he was poor and had a family the fine was remitted. Hallet, the sheriff, had dared to collect conventicles in his house, and had permitted Wickendam to preach and administer the sacraments, though not called thereto by any eccle- siastical authority. For this he was removed from office and fined £50.

Wickendam, who was a personal friend of Roger Wil- liams, submitted to his sentence, and the interest that had been awakened died out or was absorbed by the Quaker revivals of the time; and, strange as it may seem to those who know the fearless zeal and untiring mission- ary spirit of this denomination, no attempt to organize seems to have been made prior to the date first given above. The first meetings of the church were held in the school-rooms of a Miss Hammond, and in 1857 a neat little church was erected at the junction of Jamaica and Jaggar avenues. Rev. Howard Osgood was the first pastor.

MOUNT PLEASANT UNION CHAPEL,

at what is known as "the head of the Vleigh," was built in 1858, Thomas Whitson donating the land and Mrs Mary Pell subscribing the largest part of the cost of its erection. It has been occupied by a union Sunday- school and for mission services by the clergymen of dif- ferent denominations from the adjacent villages. During the winter of 1880-81 Rev. J. W. Smith, of Jamaica, held services there.

I20

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

Robert In Bell

ROBERT M. BELL.

Robert M. Bell is a son of Richard and Rachael (Moore) Bell, and is of Irish extraction on his father's side; his mother was a Quakeress.

Mr. Bell was born about six miles west of Port De- posit, in Cecil county, Md., March 3d 1807. Orphaned at the age of ten, by the death of his father, Robert went to live, with his mother, at Sadsbury, Lancaster county, out his own fortune successfully, and to stand at the Pa., and remained there and with other relatives in the vicinity until 1824, when he was induced to take charge of the farm of his uncle, Abram Bell, in the town of Flushing, Long Island, of which a small part of Mr. Bell's present farm formed a portion. December 19th

1832 Mr. Bell married Miss Catharine H. Lawrence, a homestead from the paternal property for him and his. sister of Cornelius, Joseph and Richard Lawrence, who were all at one time prominent and influential citizens of New York, who died January 7th 1880.

Mr. Bell has two children, a son and a daughter, named respectively Richard M. and Lillie, the latter now the wife of Mr. John W. Ahles, a member of the Produce Exchange of New York. Richard M. Bell

married Miss Julia Black, of Mt. Holly. N. J., whose father was for six years president of the Mt. Holly Bank. Left early, in a measure, on his own resources, Mr. Bell learned that self-reliance which, combined with accurate judgment, energy, perseverance and a wise ad- ministration of business affairs, has enabled him to carve present time among the best known and most respected of Flushing's citizens. In 1830 Mr. Bell bought the old Lawrence farm, consisting of 160 acres, which, together with other lands and property, constitutes his estate. Upon the marriage of his son he provided an ample

In all matters of local public interest Mr. Bell has ever been prominent, and has always aided with his time, judgment and means all efforts for the benefit of his townsmen. His home, which is located in one of the pleasantest spots in the town of Flushing, is presided over by a sister of his late wife, who supplies, as far as may be, the place of her who has gone to her reward.

I21

THE FLUSHING BATTERY.

& Kommer Mayor Land Ligth Let,4L 2! N y hbelling

MAJOR ROEMER'S BATTERY.

was to come, however, when the test of soldierly qualities was to be fully and severely made.

The Flushing Guards was the first uniformed military The first captain was Charles A. Hamilton. On his promotion he was succeeded by William O. Mitchell, and he by Thomas L. Robinson, who was in command when the late war broke out. The battery soon aban- doned the name by which outsiders had christened it, and adopted that of the old commander, by which it was known for some years. organization in the town. It was commissioned as light infantry, and attached to the old 93d regiment as a flank company November Ist 1839. Its first parade, January 16th 1840, turned out twenty-six uniforms. Attaining a high degree of discipline, its designation was changed in 1843 to artillery; and in June 1845 to light horse artil- lery and it was attached to Storm's famous Ist brigade, Responding to the call of President Lincoln for three years' troops the Hamilton Light Artillery was recruited to its full complement early in June 1861, and 156 men, under Captain T. L. Robinson, First Lieutenant Jacob Roemer, Second Lieutenant Standish, Third Lieutenant Hamilton and Fourth Lieutenant Rowelle, marched to Washington, where in the spring of 1862 the battery was reorganized: Lieutenant Roemer becoming its captain, Lieutenant Rowelle first lieutenant, Standish second in which it took high rank. The brilliant movements of the battery attracted the attention of the general in com- mand, and its parades called together the most celebrated tacticians of the State, who styled it " the incomparable," and gave it the name of Bragg's battery-the hero of Buena Vista not then having become a traitor to his flag. At the outbreak of the Mexican war the battery, eager to prove that its members were not carpet knights, volun- teered its services, but they were not needed. A time lieutenant, Cooper third and Heasely fourth; and the bat-

122

HISTORY OF QUEENS COUNTY.

tery was attached to the 2nd N. Y. light artillery as Bat- tery L, and assigned to duty in the roth army corps. The first engagement of the command was at Cedar Mountain, August 9th 1862, in which six of the horses were shot. On the 29th and 30th days of the same month occurred the memorable battle of Manassas, or the sec- ond Bull Run, as it is sometimes called. During the first day Battery L sustained no losses; but on the second the left wing of the Union army was driven in by a charge and during a hot engagement, lasting but about five minutes, 56 rounds were fired, Captain Roemer and thir- teen men were wounded-one mortally-and twenty horses killed. The next trial of the metal of this battery was at Antietam, September 16th and 17th 1862, when it supported the infantry who charged the Antietam bridge, and lost two men wounded and three horses killed. After this decisive victory the battery was assigned to duty with the 9th corps, and for twenty-seven days was stationed on picket duty before Fredericksburg; on the IIth and 12th of December it sustained a sharp engage- ment, in which one man was killed and two were wounded. After that date the corps fell back to Falmouth Heights, and went into winter quarters. On February 5th 1863 the corps struck tents and, marching to Acqua Creek, embarked for Newport News. After a stay there of three weeks it was ordered to Baltimore, and from thence sent to Lexington, Ky., to join the army of the Ohio, under Burnside. After three weeks the corps started in pursuit of Mosby, following him through Winchester, Stanford, Crab Orchard and Huckman's, back to Lexing- ton, and on the 3d of June marched for Vicksburg, where it arrived on the 18th, taking position on Haines's Bluff. On the 4th of July occurred the memorable surrender of Vicksburg, and immediately afterward this battery was sent to Jackson, Miss., where with the 9th corps it took posi- tion on the 11th, bombarding that city for six days, when it was abandoned by the enemy. The next movement was a return to Lexington, and an advance to the Cumber- land Gap, the taking of which and the march to Knox- ville were without incidents of especial interest. After the capture of Knoxville commences a thrilling chapter in the history of this battery.

which were, however, disturbed three days later by the advance of the rebel army. Meanwhile the time of the men's enlistment had expired, and the battery re-enlisted in-the veteran corps as an independent organization of light artillery. Longstreet's advance drove them back to Knoxville, in a series of sharp encounters, during which the battery was almost constantly engaged, and Captain Roemer was on horseback five successive days and nights without sleep. Hotly pressed by the foe, the Union forces had but little time to prepare for the defense of Knoxville before the rebel batteries commenced the

bombardment. Completely exhausted by the severe struggles of the last five days, when the streets of that city were reached and the order to halt was given the troops lay down in the ranks and slept two hours. They were then awakened and the meagre force employed to the best advantage to protect the important stronghold against the attack of four times their number, composed of the flower of the rebel army, flushed with victory and headed by their most popular and bravest leader. Bat-

tery L took position on East Tennessee College Hill, overlooking a redoubt, afterward named Fort Sanders. For twelve days the siege was continued, with famine staring the men in the face-only one-fourth of a pound of bread being given to each man. Five thousand horses and mules were driven out of the city and abandoned, and to the rest three or four ears of corn apiece were doled out daily. Charges and counter charges filled the history of the working hours of that eventful fortnight, until 5 o'clock on the morning of the 29th of November, when, under the starlight, a picked body of volunteers, 5,000 strong, led by their favorite commander-in- chief, Longstreet, moved to the storming of Fort Sanders, the key of the defense. Only a few hun- dred strong, the half starved defenders were, however, led by men whose courage never flinched, and whose en- thusiasm was contagious. Captain Roemer had been ordered to send one section of his battery under Lieu- tenant Heasely to the fort, and to furnish fifty rounds of shrapnel with twenty-second fuses to be thrown by hand into the trenches at points which the guns of his battery did not command. The charge was gallantly made, and desperately resisted. Once the rebel flag was planted on the rampart, but an instant after it fell, with its bearer a corpse, to the trenches. The gun at which Captain Roemer was stationed fired twenty-seven rounds of double canister, at every flash mowing a wide swath through the advancing column. It was loaded with its last remaining charge as onward through the storm of fire came the reckless, maddened foe. They swarmed up through the trenches, and a rebel major, laying his hand on the muz- zle of the piece, shouted: " Cease firing, the gun is ours!" At that instant a white puff of smoke, a blinding flash, The next movement of the army of Burnside was di- rected againt Johnston's advance, and the 9th and 24th corps were marched to Blue Springs, where a sharp en- gagement, without decisive results, was sustained, Battery L suffering a loss of but one man wounded. Moving to and the officer and fourteen files of men fell to rise no more. Terror stricken, seven hundred rebels threw down their arms, and entered the porthole as prisoners of war. The charge was over, the glory of the rebel army lay dead, dying and prisoners; and the cheers of Loudon the army was ordered into winter quarters, the defenders of Knoxville were heard by Sherman's ad-

vance forces, who came in sight that day. The siege was over; Longstreet was pressing every nerve to with- draw his shattered army to a safe distance from the ap- proaching Union army. The best of the rebel guns had been trained on the single piece of light artillery that had contributed so signally to the victory; and yet but two men were wounded in Battery L.

The gallant captain stood wearily leaning against his sword when General Burnside rode up. " Good morning, captain." "Good morning, general." " Captain, what made your shells explode so this morning ?" " Oh, gene-

123

THE FLUSHING BATTERY.

ral, how should I know ?" " What did you tell the ser- geant list night ? " " Don't remember, general ; I said much it were best to forget." " Well, I remember, and am proud of it. Captain Roemer and his battery will not be forgotten." This conversation had this source : On the night before the attack it was found that but little available ammunition, except some shells that had been buried by the rebels and dug up by our forces, could be found ; and that these had corroded, so that but few ex- ploded. Captain Roemer called for a volunteer to as- sist him in boring out the fuses of these shells-a work fraught with great danger. Sergeant Kauffman, of the 45th N. Y., immediately consented to help, saying that if the captain could afford to risk his life he could. Tak- ing their ammunition box they crept close under the shelter of the ramparts to avoid the chance of a flying shot, and were busily engaged when a shell from a rebel battery struck the rampart and exploded, covering them with dirt and destroying the ammunition box, containing twelve shells, which, fortunately for the garrison, did not explode. The sergeant mildly remonstrated :- " Cap- tain, if you keep on you'll blow us all up." " Never mind," said the captain. " Better be blown up here than go to Richmond." "All right, captain, just as you say," was the only response ; and the duty of filling the shells for their terrible morning work was grimly resumed. It was this incident of coolness and self sacrifice that had reached the ear of the commanding general. With such officers the defense of Knoxville was possible; without them no troops could have resisted the accumulated hor- rors of the situation.

But little time was spared for rest : for on the 2nd the troops were marched in pursuit of Longstreet, as far as Strawberry Plains and Church Mountain, and encamping at the foot of the mountain lay there until January 19th, when the long-hoped-for veteran furlough order was re- ceived, and the battery was ordered to Albany for review and assignment of title by the governor of New York. Arriving in that city February 9th, under command of Captain Roemer and Lieut. Heasely (Lieut. Rowelle hav- ing previously been detached for duty on the staff of General Sturges), they were reviewed by Governor Mor- gan on the 10th, and given the name of the "34th N. Y. independent battery light artillery;" and on the roth they filed into Flushing, sixty-nine men and two officers, amid the cheers of their admiring townspeople. Here a grand reception awaited them. Grave clergymen, judges and lawyers took off their coats and served as waiters at the table filled with the tanned and battered artillerymen ; while the silks and laces of Flushing's lovely daughters fluttered wondrously close to the faded coats of blue, whose occupants found it a glorious rest after having traveled 9,600 miles in " Burnside's Caravan" to no softer music than the boom of cannon.

Thirty days' rest was to be given to all; but the gallant captain, knowing the need of artillerists, resolved to fill up his ranks, and immediately commenced the work of recruiting, which was successful in enlisting eighty-five new men. No sooner was this work completed than the

furlough expired, and the 34th was ordered to Fort Schuyler, whence it was transferred to an ocean steamer, having on board 700 more recruits, who were put under Captain Roemer's orders, and the transport sailed for Fortress Monroe, from whence they joined the reorgan- ized 9th corps at Annapolis. On the 4th of May the army crossed the Rapidan, and fighting with Lee's army was renewed the following day, the battery being en- gaged on the left in a dense wood, with no loss. From the 8th to the roth occurred the march to.Spottsylvania, and on the 11th the battery crossed the creek and en- gaged the enemy, falling back at night to its quarters. The battle of Spottsylvania Court-House occurred on the following day, and the 12th of May is marked in the an- nals of the battery as the hottest of its many engagements. Stationed on the extreme left at Dr. Beverly's house, it repelled the constant efforts of the enemy to turn that flank and withstood repeated charges, its well trained guns firing seven rounds per minute some of the time and throwing in all 1,800 rounds of shell, doing terrible execution, the 34th sustaining a loss of five men wounded, including the captain, who had as yet scarcely recovered from his wounds received in the west, and who, his repu- tation as an artillerist having gained him a soubriquet among the rebels more forcible than polite, was a special mark for their sharpshooters.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Queens County, New York : with illustrations, portraits, and sketches of prominent families and individuals., Part 28

Author: Publication date: 1882 Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co. Number of Pages: 703

Author:
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: New York : W.W. Munsell and Co.
Number of Pages: 703