USA > New York > Staten Island > History of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York : from its discovery to the present time > Part 40
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
fore have been erected immediately. The building was removed several years since, the establishment of churches at Totten- ville, so near by, doing away with the necessity for a church here. Its site was a few rods southeast of the railroad station at Richmond Valley. Some of the foundation stones are still lying there.
The membership of the original church was so large in the neighborhood of Tottenville that in 1841 it was deemed advis- able to organize another society there. This was done, and the name " Bethel Church " given to it. A church was erected in 1842, and the society prospered. The church cost about $14,000. It was destroyed by fire on Sunday night, Jannary 10, 1886. The building at that time, with its furniture, heating apparatus and organ, was valued at about $23,000.
St. Paul's, located also at Tottenville, was organized in 1860, Immediate steps were taken to erect a house of worship. The corner stone to this was laid September 6, 1861, and the walls were rapidly raised, and the building advanced toward comple- tion. A debt hung over the church until November 13, 1881, when by a liberal effort it was cleared. The debt then amounted to $4,500. Among the foremost names on the subscription for that purpose and at that time were the following : Mrs. E. P. Wood, $1,100 ; David C. Butler, $250 ; Henry Van Name, $200 ; Aaron Van Name, 8200 ; Panl Van Name, $100 ; Daniel Butler, $125 ; John S. Sleight, $100; Wesley Patten, $100 ; Sylvester Joline, $100 ; Moses J. Van Name, $100.
The early Methodists did not confine their efforts to the town of Westfield; for, not long after they had become domiciled there, a small class, under the leadership of Elias Price, who afterward became a local preacher, was organized in the town of Northfield, which, in 1802, had expanded sufficiently to warrant the creation of a new society, and the erection of a new church, which now is recognized as the Asbury church at New Springville. For more than thirty years this church was the only place of public worship possessed by the Methodists of Northfield and Castleton. It was connected in pastoral supply with the church at Mariners' Harbor from 1839 to 1849, when the latter church secured a minister independently of this.
A branch of this church, called Bloomfield church, was estab- lished by the laying of its corner stone in Jnne, 1885. It stands at the head of Merril avenue, on a plot of ground which was
27
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
given by Joseph Ball, of Bloomfield, and Rev. J. B. Hillyer of New Springville. Its erection is mainly due to the labors of Messrs. J. B. Hillyer and Thomas Standering, two local preachers of the congregation.
In 1838 those residing along the shore in Castleton and North- field began to agitate the matter of building a new church nearer their own residences, and at or near Graniteville. The next year Mr. Robert C. Simonson offered a lot of land on the Pond road, Port Richmond, as a free gift, if they would erect a church thereon. This offer was at once accepted by those re- siding in that vicinity, and the proposed church at Graniteville was abandoned.
The church on the Pond road was erected and dedicated early in the winter of 1839, the conveyance of the lot from Mr. Simon- son being dated December 1, 1839. The Westfield and North- field charges were divided in 1840, and Daniel Cross became the preacher on this circuit, which was called the Northfield and Quarantine mission, In 1841 this was again divided and made two circuits, that of Northfield comprehending Asbury and Mariners' Harbor, while this was known as Quarantine and Port Richmond, Of this Rev. R. Lutton became pastor. His name appears with those of Benjamin Day and Jefferson Lewis, between that date and 1848. They were succeeded by pastors as follows: Alexander Gillmore, 1848-49; Charles E. Hill, 1850-51; Kelly, 1852-53; T. Pierson. 1854-55; N. Vansant, 1856-57; M. E. Ellison, 1858-59; J. M. Freeman, 1860 61; R. S. Arndt, 1862-63; J. C. Winner, 1864; J. F. Hurst, 1865-66: -- Owen, part of 1866; T. H. Smith, 1867-69.
The house erected on the Pond road, now occupied by the German Lutheran church, continued to be their house of wor- ship until 1853, when they erected the large and commodious brick church edifice at the corner of the Shore road and Dongan street, West New Brighton, The original building and lot were sold April 28, 1853, to the German Evangelical Lutherans for the sum of $1,500. The new church took the name of Trinity, and was incorporated under that name January 10, 1853, the trustees being Jasper G. Codmus, John W. Snedeker, Lewis Edwards, Azariah Dunham and John Simonson, The land on which the present church and parsonage is built, consti- tuted the lots numbered 45 and 46 of the estate of John Bodine, Sen., and was purchased of Noyes P. H. Barrett, June 25, 1851,
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
Jasper G. Codmus, John W. Snedeker, Lewis Edwards and John Simonson being trustees. It was subsequently discovered that the title was defective, inasmuch as the land was con- veyed to the above named persons individually, and before the incorporation; therefore on the 10th day of July, 1869, the same individuals quit-claimed the property to the trustees of the church, and thus remedied the defect. The bell and clock in the tower of this church were procured by the contributions of the people residing in its vicinity. The stewards in 1885 were William Snedeker, Noah Sellick, William Bamber, T. D. Lyons, M. D., Benedict Parker, George Pero, E. L. Kennedy, Ephraim Smith, C. E. Surdam, A. H. Richards and J W. Bodine.
In 1838 the Methodists of Mariners' Harbor resolved, inas- much as a church for their accommodation had become a neces- sity, to erect one nearer their own homes. Accordingly on the 6th day of April, 1839, a new society was organized by the election of Peter Braisted, Henry Jones, Benjamin B. Kinsey, John L. Richards and Daniel Simonson as trustees. The cer- tificate of incorporation was recorded on the 4th day of May following, and immediately thereafter-that is, on the 11th of the same month-a lot was purchased for the consideration of $275, and during the following six months the church was erected, and on the 1st day of December, 1839 it was dedicated. For several years the same preacher served this church, and the one on " the Neck" (now Asbury), but in 1849 the connection was severed, and each church became independent of the other. In 1854 a parsonage was purchased. The membership of the church having rapidly increased, it was found necessary to erect a new and larger house, which was accordingly done, and the new edifice, which has since been known as the "Summerfield Church," was dedicated on the 10th day of October, 1869. The old church, which is the southwesternmost building within the corporate limits of the village of Port Richmond, was sold for $1,500, and is now occupied as an African church,
The new church is nicely finished and the interior tastefully furnished. The society rejoices in the fact that it is clear of debt. The minister's salary has been raised from $1,000 to $1,500, and the church is now ranked as the fourth in the Eliza- beth conference district.
Grace church was originally called the "North Shore Free M. E. Church." It was organized under that name, January
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
23, 1867, being then composed of forty-eight persons, the most of whom had withdrawn from Trinity M. E. church. The meet- ing for organization was held in the Baptist church at Port Richmond, at which place the first Sabbath services of this church were also held, on the 27th of the same month. At the first election of trustees, on the 18th of February, 1867, the present name was adopted. The trustees then elected were Read Benedict, Ward McLean, John Q. Simonson, William Greer, N. P. H. Barrett, John S. Spragg, William Bamber, Dr. Frank G. Johnson and George F. Heal. Previons to the erec- tion of the present church a tabernacle, which cost $600, was temporarily used for public worship.
The corner stone of the new church was laid August 1, 1867, and the church was dedicated December 29, 1867. The church lot is bounded on the north by Bond street, on the south by Cornelins street, and on the west or front by Heberton street, the land having been purchased of Cornelius B. Merserean. The building was erected at a cost of about $10,000.
The pastors of this church have been: Alexander M. Mead, 1867 to September, 1868; P. D. Day, September 15, 1868, to the end of the conference year; John Coyle, 1869 to 1871; A. J. Palmer, 1872; J. J. Read, Jr., 1873; W. I. Gill, 1874 to 1876; T. H. Landon, 1877; Joseph A. Owen, 1878; J. S. Gilbert, 1879 to 1881; E. C. Dntcher, 1882 to 1883; R. S. Arndt, 1884 to 1886.
In July, 1872, the church known as St. Marks, at Pleasant Plains, was dedicated. For a brief period it was considered as under the patronage and supervision of the Woodrow church, but in 1873 it became an independent organization.
The Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church, situated on Cebra avenue near Saint Paul's avenne, Stapleton, is one of the oldest of the denomination on the island. The traditional history, strongly supported by documentary evidence, is that Rev. Henry Boehm, a minister in the Philadelphia conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and stationed at Woodrow, organ- ized a class in the spring of 1835, at the house of Widow White, on " Mud Lane," now known as St. Paul's avenue, and directly opposite the present site of the church. The names of this class, as nearly as can be ascertained, were : Mrs. James White, Wil- liam Howard, William Thoon, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, and Mr.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
and Mrs. Capt. Hart. William Thoon was made the leader of the class.
Public services were first held at the residence of Mrs. James White, the lady above referred to, and afterward, until the first church was built, in the " Village Academy."
The first board of trustees was elected on the 21st, and the "Society " was incorporated on the 22d of July, 1835, under the name of the "Methodist Episcopal Church of Tompkins- ville, Staten Island." The board of trustees consisted of John Totten, Joseph Smith, A. C. Wheeler, Henry Cole and Law- rence Hillyer.
The present site of the church is the only one the society has ever owned. It originally consisted of four lots, and was do- nated by Mr. Caleb T. Ward, of Stapleton, in December, 1835. on condition that it be used only for church purposes. Mr. Ward, many years afterward, gave the land in fee to the society, and an additional piece of land, so as to bring the site of its western boundary to Marion avenne.
On the Sth of June, 1837, plans for a church building thirty- eight by sixty feet were agreed npon, and estimates were re- ceived for its erection. The contract was finally awarded to Mr. J. H. Quilthot for one thousand one hundred and sixty dollars. Mr. Quilthot mysteriously left the place before the house was completed, and it is said was never heard of afterward. The church, when it was finished, cost the society one thousand five hundred dollars. The corner stone was laid about the 1st of July, 1837, and the building was completed and dedicated about the 1st of September, 1838.
In 1853 the building of a new church was agitated, the old one being considered not well located and unsuitable. Nego- tiations were entered into with Mr. Richard Smith for the pur- chase of lots located on Richmond road, near Beach street, and three hundred dollars was paid on them by the trustees of the society. When the trustees made application to Mr. Ward for the privilege of selling the old site, it was found that in at- tempting to buy a new site before the old was sold, they had reckoned "without their host," for Mr. Ward refused to re- move the proviso in the deed, and so they lost their three hun- dred dollars. The idea of a new location was then abandoned, but the agitation for a new church continued, until finally, on the 28th of May, 1855, the first church building was sold at pub-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
lic auction. Mr. S. N. Havens was the purchaser, for two hun- dred and fifty dollars, and he removed it at once to New Brighton, and converted it into a dwelling house, where it still stands. The present membership of the Sunday school is one hundred and twenty.
For fifteen years after the organization of this church, it was connected with other M. E. churches on the island in what is called the "Circuit" plan, making the pastor of this church also the pastor of all the others embraced in the circuit. With this explanation, the first pastor was Rev. Henry Boehm, who had been the travelling companion of Bishop Asbury, one of the first bishops of the M. E. church in the United States. Father Boehm, as he was afterward called, lived to the advanced age of 100 years, and died on Staten Island the 28th of December, 1875.
The society has had twenty-nine pastors, viz .: Henry Boehm, two years; Mulford Day, two years; John S. Begle, one year; Mr. Lutton, one year ; Mr. Lewis, one year; Benjamin Day, two years; George Wisnor, two years; Watters Burroughs, two years; John Stephenson, two years; Mr. Miller, one year; J. B. Graw, two years; D. F. Reed, one year; Mr. Bishop, eight months; Rev. E. Clement, four months; William H. Dickerson, one year; A. S. Burdett, fifteen months; C. R. Snyder, twenty- one months; S. N. Bebour, one year; J. B. Fanlks, two years; J. Coyle, three years; H. Spellmyer, three years; J. Cowans, one year; G. Smith, one year; H. Simpson, two years; T. Michael, one year; J. F. Andrew, two years; C. S. Woodruff, three years; C. W. McCormick, one year; R. B. Collins, three years.
In April, 1885, this society completed a beautiful and com- modions, parsonage at the cost of $3,500. It is situated on the west side of the church, and has a commanding view of New York bay and Coney Island. The whole church property is valued at $15,000.
The above history was prepared for this work by Rev. R. B. Collins, pastor of the church.
The corner stone of the second church building was laid about the 1st of June, 1855, during the ministry of Rev. J. B. Graw, and was dedicated to the worship of Almighty God in December of the same year. The new church was known, thereafter, as the "Stapleton Methodist Episcopal Church."
423
HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
In 1870, during the ministry of the Rev, Henry Spellmyer, the church was remodelled, enlarged and refurnished, at a cost of $12,000. After these improvements, its name was changed again, this time to Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church, Stapleton, after Bishop Calvin Kingsley, of the M. E. Church, who while performing a tour of Episcopal visitation of the world, and when on his way home, was attacked by disease and died at Berut, Syria, April 6th, 1870. The building has a seating capacity for 700 persons, and with a commodious lecture room for Sunday school and social meetings, has every covenience in the way of room to carry on its work. The present membership of the church is one hundred and thirty. The Sunday school was organized in 1838, during the ministry of Rev. J. S. Begle. William Thorne was the first superintendent.
So far as is now known, the first of the denomination of Chris- tians called Moravians, or United Brethren, on Staten Island, was Captain Nicholas Garrison. It is said that the ship which he commanded, while on a voyage from Georgia to New York, was overtaken by an exceedingly violent storm. Among the passengers on board was the Bishop Spangenberg, who remained calm and undisturbed amidst the confusion and terror which prevailed on board, spending most of the time in earnest prayer. This ship was built for the purposes of the Moravian church, most of the expense having been borne by Bishop Spangenberg himself. She made many passages across the ocean, and on a subsequent voyage was captured by a French privateer and finally wrecked on the coast of Cape Breton island.
In 1742, David Bruce, a very zealous servant of God, was sent to visit the scattered flocks in New York, and on Long and Staten islands, and he was probably the first Moravian preacher who ever officiated as such on Staten Island. Of those most prominent in sustaining this church on the island the names of Jacobus and Vettje Van Der Bilt are mentioned in September, 1747, at which time the church in America compre- hended three localities, viz., New York city. Staten Island and Bethlehem, Pa. After the arrival of the first colony of Mora- vians in June, 1742, these three places jointly constituted a field in which their evangelists labored. Among those who thus labored in these early years were the Brethren David Bruce, Almers, Gambold, Jasper Payne, Thomas Rodgers, Thomas Yarrell, Neisser, Richard Utley, Owen Rice and John Wade.
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
In referring to the early period of this church, Mrs. Bird, an aged lady who was interviewed by Professor Anthon years ago. said : " Mr. Gambold was a nice old man. The church on Christmas eve used to be beautifully decorated with greens, and artificial flowers, such as roses, pinks and such like, of their own make. The pulpit was covered with flowers from top to bottom, and the windows were also adorned. But the custom of celebrating Christmas eve was not kept up in later years so much as in early times."
OLD MORAVIAN CHURCH AND PARSONAGE.
Between 1742 and 1743, abont a dozen different clergymen of the denomination came occasionally to the island to officiate. In 1756 there were only three communicant members on the island, viz .: Jacobns Vanderbilt and his wife Vettje or Neiltje. and the widow Elizabeth Inyard. The religious services were usually held in a school house, which, as some say, stood on or near the site of the present church, but as others say, with more probability, at the corner of the roads at what is now called Egbertville. In 1762, Richard Connor, Stephen Martino, Jr., Tunis Egbert, Jacob Vander Bilt, Aaron Cortelyon, Ma-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
thias Enyard, John Baty, Cornelius Cortelyou, Cornelius Vander Bilt, Cornelius Van Deventer, Stephen Martino, Mary Stilwell, Cornelius Martino and Peter Perine, applied to the church authorities at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for the estab. lishment of a Moravian church on Staten Island. On the 7th of July, 1763, the corner stone of a church and parsonage was laid, and on the ensuing 7th of December the church was con- secrated. The identical building is still standing, and is shown in the illustration accompanying this notice. The custom of the Moravians at that period was to combine church and par- sonage under one roof, hence the arrangement and un-church- like appearance of this old building. The last religious exer- cises in this church, before its removal from the original site, were held on Thursday, October 26, 1882. They were con- ducted by Rev. W. H. Vogler, the pastor of the church.
The first regularly settled pastor was the Rev. Hector Gam- bold, who had come to the field August 17, 1763, and pending the completion of the parsonage was accommodated in another house. On the 21st of December, he and his family moved into the rooms now made ready for his occupancy, and here he found his home during his long pastorate, which extended to the year 1784, Following him for brief periods were James Birkly and E. Thorp, and in 1787 Frederick Moehring assumed the pastor- ate. His term of service continued nntil 1793, when he was followed by Mr. Birkly again. The latter remained till 1797, when Mr. Moehring returned and exercised the pastoral func- tion until 1803. His successor that year was Nathaniel Brown, who held the position until removed by death in 1813. He was a native of Nazareth, Pa., where he was born July 9, 1763, two days after the laying of the corner stone of this church. His father, Rev. Peter Brown, was for upward of twenty years a missionary of the United Brethren on the island of Antigna, and he had himself been a missionary to the island of Jamaica, whither he was sent in 1789. His stay there was not long, his return to the United States following shortly after the death of his wife, Elizabeth Chitty. He afterward married Anna Cath- erine Frederica Unger, in Maryland, about two years before he came to this charge. He was followed by John C. Bechler, from 1813 to 1817, and others followed successively as named : George A. Hartmann, from 1817 to 1837; Ambrose Rondthaler, from 1837 to 1839 ; H. G. Clauder, from 1839 to 1852 ; Bernhard de
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
Schweinitz, from 1852 to 1854; Amadeus A. Reinke, from 1854 to 1860 ; Edwin T. Senseman, from 1860 to 1862 ; Eugene Leib- ert, from 1862 to 1867; Francis F. Hagen, from 1867 to 1870 ; William L. Lennert, from 1870 to 1876; William H. Vogler, from 1876-present incumbent.
The early dates and events given above have been derived chiefly from denominational sources, the records of the church having been destroyed during the revolution, when some Brit- ish soldiers forcibly entered the parsonage at night, and after
1
MORAVIAN CHURCH, NEW DORP.
wantonly destroying furniture and other articles belonging to the occupant, carried off the archives of the infant church. About the same time, probably on the same night, the house of Capt. Christian Jacobson, in the vicinity of the church, was also entered, and he was killed by being shot. He was an eminently pious man, and captain of the Moravian ship "Irene," after the retirement of Captain Garrison.
The society was incorporated April 15, 1808. The land on which the church was erected was sold by John Baty to Thomas
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
Yarrell, the minister, and Henry Van Vleek, of New York city, and Cornelius Van Deventer and Richard Conner, of Richmond county, June 19, 1763, for £25 10s. This parcel of ground con- tained five and a half acres, more or less, and was bounded on the southwest by Cornelius Cortelyou, northwest and northeast by John Baty and southeast by the King's highway. A deed of confirmation was given for the same, to the representatives of the denomination, by Edward Baty, executor of his father, John Baty, March 2, 1790.
The present church edifice was erected in 1845, being conse- crated May 15th of that year. The old church was re-arranged for school purposes and dwelling apartments in 1851. Mr. N. J. Ostrander, superintendent of the cemetery, moved into a part of the house in 1872.
The old church has the honor of having been the first house of worship on the island in which an organ was used. This statement is made on the authority of an old lady whose mem- ory extended back into the pre-revolutionary time.
The Sunday school first organized July 19, 1829, has con- tinued to flourish to the present time. On the 31st day of Au- gust, 1873, the chapel and Sunday school building at the Four Corners was dedicated. It was built on land donated for the purpose by Mr. Cornelius Du Bois; the lot is one hundred feet square. The whole premises are estimated to be worth over seven thousand dollars.
The donations of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt to this church of his forefathers have been munificent. When the present church edifice was erected, he contributed the sum of one thousand dollars toward its completion. On the 20th day of December, 1865, he gratuitously conveyed to the trustees of the "United Brethren's Church on Staten Island," eight and a half acres of land on the east side of the original five and a half acres, and on the 30th day of October, 1868, about forty- six acres more on the north and west sides thereof. A new parsonage, a very handsome building of modern style, was erected by the gift of William H. Vanderbilt in 1880, and Mr. Vogler moved into it on the 21st of December of that year. In 1882 Mr. Vanderbilt also purchased property of Mrs. Susan Jane Fountain, comprising about four acres, with the buildings on it, at a cost of five thousand dollars, and presented it to the trustees of the church on condition that certain improve-
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HISTORY OF RICHMOND COUNTY.
ments should be made, which conditions were accepted. This stands on the opposite side of the Todt Hill road from the par- sonage, and was given for a residence for the superintendent of the cemetery. By this accession to the church propery its line of frontage along the Richmond road was extended to nearly four thonsand feet in length. The old church was moved back to its present site, and protected by paint and repairs to pre- serve it against the encroachments of time and the elements, while the surroundings were improved and beautified. Up to that time it was estimated that the Vanderbilt family had made gifts to this society, in cemetery property, buildings and im- provements to the amount of thirty-seven thousand dollars. In addition to this, the society received by bequest of William H. Vanderbilt, whose will bears date September 25, 1884, and whose death occurred December 8, 1885, the princely gift of one hun- dred thousand dollars.
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