USA > New York > Rockland County > History of Rockland County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men > Part 52
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The parlor of this house, which is the southeastern room on the ground floor, remains almost exactly as Washing- ton left it, even to the pegs in the old closets, whereon he hung his hat and cloak. In this room occurred some important events. Washington made liere the order con- vening the court martial that tried André and here he signed the order for his execution. From a window in this room he saw the preparations in progress for the ex- ecution,and ordered the blinds to be closed to shut out the unpleasant sight. Here, too, he received the letter from ing and dedication of that church in 1869, and condensed Andre asking that the mode of his death might be by Rev. Dr. Corwin in his Manual of the Reformed Church. changed. It may here be remarked that General Wash- ington never saw André.
REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH OF TAPPAN .*
On the 5th of October 1704, a convention of the clergy of the Church of England in this country assembled at New York, by appointment of His Excellency Edward Lord Cornbury and Colonel Francis Nicholson. A re- port was made at that convention by the Rev. William Vesey, first rector of Trinity Church, on the state of the Church here. It represented that there were ten coun- ties in the province, and it gave the condition of the Church in each county. "In Orange county," wrote the rector, " there are about sixty families, of several nations, who have no minister, and are not able to raise a salary for one." He seems to have wholly overlooked the ex- istence of a Reformed (Dutch) Church at Tappan, which at the time had already been in existence for ten years. This church was organized in 1694, although it had no house of worship till 1716, and no settled pastor till 1724. It is the oldest organized church between New York and Albany on either side of the Hudson, except the churches of Kingston, Bergen, Hackensack, and Ac- quackanonck, which date back, respectively, to 1659,
to the church of Kingston (Esopus), whose people, he says, are all Dutch. He speaks of his Excellency's har- ing appointed Rev. Mr. Hepburn to preach and read di- vine service to the people, so that the English who had never had a minister might have the benefit of public worship. And he expresses a hope of bringing the Dutch to a conformity to the services of the English Church. If the good rector of Trinity could now revisit the earth after the lapse of nearly two hundred years since he wrote these statements, he would find the Dutch still in possession at Kingston, and also at Tappan. The English governors never could force the English lan- guage or the English Church upon the settlers from Hol- land. The only result of their efforts to do so was to drive them from the city to the country for the peaceful enjoyment of their language and their religion. The church at Tappan was planted by some of the refugees under this mild but effective persecution. It was for- mally organized in 1694, and its baptismal records are without a break from that year to this. Yet its experi- ence during its first thirty years was one of struggle. The country at the time was very sparsely settled. The new organization was compelled to pass its first twenty- two years without a church building, and its first thirty years without a .settled pastor. Till 1724, it was de- pendent on the occasional ministrations of the Rev. Guilliam Bertholf, who was the settled pastor of the united churches of Hackensack. and Acquackanonck, but practically a missionary over a large region of coun- try. What is known of Mr. Bertholf is given by Rev. Theodore B. Romeyn D. D., present pastor of the church of Hackensack, in his historical discourse at the reopen-
Mr. Bertholf was a native of Holland. He had come to America in the capacity of a schoolmaster, catechiser, and voorleser, i. e., leader in singing, prayer, and reading of the Scriptures. He was so acceptable to the people in these services, that, in 1693, he was sent by the peo- ple of Hackensack and Acquackanonck to Holland to be examined, licensed, and ordained to the ministry. The Classis of Middleburgh in Holland ordained him, and invested him at once with the pastoral care of these two churches. He was the first regularly installed pas -. tor in New Jersey, and for the first fifteen years of his ministry, the only Dutch preacher in that State. He had the spiritual charge of all the Dutch people on the west side of the Hudson, and of those of Tarrytown and Staten Island besides. During all the thirty years of his ministry, he maintained the regular administration of the ordinances at Tappan. He also organized the church at Tarrytown in 1697, and the church at Raritan in 1699 He probably lived near Hackensack, where he is said to have owned thirty-seven acres of land. A receipt still extant shows that his salary in 1717 was £50. He was living in 1725, as is shown on the Tappan record by his his presence as witness at a baptism in that year. He
*By Rev. David Cole D. D.
£
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. BUILT . 1716. WHERE MAJORJOHN ANDRE WAS TRIED. TAPPAN . NY.
PRESENT DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. BUILT 1835. TAPPAN
DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH, AS RE-BUILT IN 1788. TAPPAN.
-
ORANGETOWN-REFORMED CHURCH OF TAPPAN.
229
left a large family, still represented by descendants in Bergen county and elsewhere. One of his lineal descend- ants is the Rev. James Henry Bertholf, now pastor of the Reformed Church of Nassau, Rensselaer county, New York.
Rev. Guilliam Bertholf is traditionally represented to have been a man of great purity of character and life, and of great efficiency as a minister and pastor. It is said of him, "He was in possession of a mild, placid eloquence, which persuaded by its gentleness, and at- tracted by the sweetness it distilled, and the holy savor of piety it diffused around." It is greatly to be regretted that the materials are so scant for a satisfactory history of a man who was the pioneer minister among the Dutch of this region, and who laid the Reformed Church found. ations with a solidity that has perpetuated them so nobly to the present day.
In 1716, during the life of Rev. Mr. Bertholf, the con- gregation determined to build, and did build, its first between the pastor and people which deepened more and house of worship. It was of stone and in the form of a square, as may be seen from a cast of it on the old church seal still in use, and having on the obverse a very small orange tree, bearing a very large orange. This first building stood without change till about 1780, when it was remodelled, as we shall presently show. The first itus," arrangements being made by which the congrega- church glebe included fifty acres of land. Of this, how. ever, much has now been sold and part of the rest has been set off for a cemetery. About fifteen acres still re- `main with the parsonage. The records of baptisnis, mar- riages, and members during the period of Mr. Bertholf's ministry are all still preserved. As to baptisms of children born at Tappan, however, it has been found by com- parison of the Tappan and Hackensack church records, that many of them were performed at Hackensack and recorded there. This shows that the Tappan people, when no services were held at Tappan, sometimes rode all the way to Hackensack to enjoy the privileges, and especially the ordinances, of the Lord's house.
Rev. Frederic Muzelius .- In 1724, the congregation called and settled its first pastor. The Rev. Frederic Muzelius (his name has been commonly written here according to its pronunciation " Mutzelius ") was born in Germany in 1704. We have no particulars of his birth, education, or entrance into the ministry. The name of his wife was Mary Ludlouw. She was received into the communion of the Tappan church April 9th 1732. During his pastorate at Tappan arose the exciting contro- versy in the Reformed Church in America over the question whether the American church should con- tinue in, or should break from, its ecclesiastical depend- ence upon the mother church in Holland. On one side of this controversy were arranged all whose de- votion to the Holland church and its government could not endure the idea of severance, and on the other side stood forth all whose conviction it was that the church here must become American, and for the sake of conven. ience, economy and progress, must possess within itself the means for educating, and the right to license, ordain, and install its own men as ministers and pastors. This con- troversy began during the pastorate ot Dominie Muzelius, and continued in the church till 1770. Its history is one
of the bitterest acrimony. What is now known of the first settled pastor at Tappan is drawn more from the records of this controversy than from any other source, and must on this account be received with allowance. The advocates of an Independent American Classis or- ganized themselves into a body called " The Coetus," while the party firm for continuance of the relations with Holland was known as "The Conferentie." The minutes of the Coetus and the proceedings of the Conferentie, as far as preserved, are contained in the first volume of the Minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Church. These and Dr. Corwin's Introduction to his Manual of the Re- formed Church, together with his sermon in " Centennial Discourses," give all now known of Dominie Muzelius. At first he seemed inclined to go with the Coetus, but afterwards fell back. As a majority of the congregation took sides with the Coetus, a painful disagreement arose more till it resulted in a dissolution of the pastoral rela- tions in 1749. It must be said, however, that this dis- solution was further rendered necessary by physical ailments of the pastor, and especially by a failure of his sight. In the year named, he was set aside as " Emer-
tion were to furnish him with a house, and pay him a fixed stipend, for life. The house he lived in from this time to his death, stood on the spot in the village now occupied by the residence of Mrs. William Devoe. If we are to estimate Domninie Muzelius from the references to him in the minutes of the Coetus, he must have been an exceedingly troublesome man. It is known that while living in retirement, and while subsisting as a beneficiary of the Tappan Church, he preached and bap- tized irregularly in the families of the congregation, and finally pronioted, in 1767, the founding of a schismatic organization in the neighborhood. The baptismal and other records of this organization are still in being. It lasted from 1767 to 1778, eleven years, thus long outliv- ing the collapse of the Coetus and Conferentie troubles. The dominie lived till 1782. We have intimated, how- ever, that he must be largely judged by his times, and we leave him here with this remark.
The records of the Tappan Church during his pastor- ate (1724-1749), are complete as to baptisms and men- bers, but are wanting as to marriages from January 21st 1727, to the end. His remains lie in the old church :- yard, within a few feet of the rear of the church. The spot is still marked by the original stone, bearing an in- scription, which is given as it is, blunders and all.
HERE LIES INTER'D THE BODY OF REV'D FREDERIC MUZELIUS, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE SEVENTH OF APRIL, ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO BORN IN GERMANY ANNO DOMINI, ONE THOUSAND 1704, AGED 78 YEARS, THREE MONTHS, TWO DAYS.
230
HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
Rev. Samuel Verbryck .- The second settled pastor of and of an eminently practical and useful ministry. The the church of Tappan was the Rev. Samuel Verbryck. compiler of this sketch of him has been through life intimately acquainted with his descendants, from his own children down through their children and children's children. Especially is the memory very precious of his honored son, Samuel G. Verbryck, who, during the greater part of half a century, down to 1835, led the Dutch singing in the Tappan church. All the dominie's children will be mentioned in his will given below. The remains of himself, and his wife, like those of Dominie Muzelius, are interred at Tappan. They lie his scholarly attainments and of his excellent life. And in the grave yard on the west side of the road. The spots are still marked by the original stones, bearing the following inscriptions: He was called and ordained in 1750 as pastor of the united churches of Tappan and New Hempstead (or Clarkstown). The latter had at the time just been organ- ized. He remained pastor of these churches till his death in 1784. By permission of the Classis of Amster- dam, he had been examined and ordained here by the Coetus, having pursued his preparatory studies under ministers of that body (see sketch of him in Dr. Corwin's Manual). The minutes of the Coetus speak highly of these tributes are sustained by all that tradition has handed down of his ministerial record. The Coetus and Conferentie troubles ran high during the first twenty IN MEMORY OF years of his ministry, and the American Revolution came and went during its last nine years. So his whole period THE REV. SAMUEL VERBRYCK at Tappan was one of intense excitement. From the first he was with the majority of his people on the side of the Coetus. In 1761, he sought to obtain from the govern- ment a charter for an academy, and also opposed fixed forms of prayer and festival days. On account of these things, some of his ministerial brethren asked the Classis ON THE 31ST DAY OF JANUARY of Amsterdam to discipline him for contumacy. They 1784 AGED 62 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AND 13 DAYS. especially complained that if he should get the charter for an academy, it would only tend to increase the same kind of ministers. But the dominie persisted. And he was prominent as an agent in bringing about the restored IN MEMORY OF . SUSANNA VAN DE LINDE CONSORT OF THE LATE SAMUEL VERBRYCK peace of the church. It was he who secured from the governor of New Jersey the original charter for Queens (now Rutgers) College, bearing date March 20th 1770. He was one of the original trustees of the college, and did everything in his power to promote the education of WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE young men, particularly their education for the ministry. ON THE 16TH DAY OF AUGT. He seems in all this to have been far in advance even of 1807 AGED 84 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AND 28 DAYS. most ministers of his time. His zeal was so great as to give offense to some of his people at Tappan, so that they refused to pay their share of his salary. His good judg- As a matter of curiosity, the call made upon Dominie Verbryck, in 1750, by the united congregations of Tap- pan and Clarkstown (translated from the Dutch and furnished to us), and also, as a matter of history, his will, drawn up by his friend, Mr. John Haring, on the 30th day of January. 1784, the day before his death, are here given: ment, however, carried him through the excitement, and brought him success. Yet it was providentially ordered that his life should be a disturbed life to the end. Scarcely had the church controversy been adjusted when the Revolution broke out. The historic identification of Tappan, its roads and hills, its homes, and even its old church with the incidents of the war, is detailed in other THE CALL. parts of this work. Dominie Verbryck was a genuine "Whereas the Rev. Dominie Muzelius, for some years the pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church at Tappan, has reason to complain, especially of weakness, defective sight and other maladies, and troubles which have ap- peared against him in the Coetus, from which he has ex- perienced great sorrow for fear of injury to the church, he has not been in a condition for the proper ministry of the Gospel as the pastor and teacher of the flock, he having been declared Emeritus by the Rev. Coetus of New York in the name of the Rev. Classis of Amsterdam: and whereas both the congregations of Tappan and New Hempstead to their sorrow are deprived of the stated ordinances of preaching of the holy Gospel and since we patriot, and as such was one of the sufferers in the struggle of the country for independence. After having been annoyed during his first twenty years by the oppo- . sition of Dominie Muzelius, and in the last of these twenty years by the springing up of a schismatic organi- zation among his people, he was destined to have his church life and work still further disturbed by the war, and his church edifice itself used as a court room and a prison. It is even said that at one time he was himself taken prisoner and confined in the Hackensack jail. Through all these trials, however, he seems to have borne himself with exemplary patience, and to have left behind him at his death the memory of a godly life | therefore the elders and deacons of both the aforesaid
LATE MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL AT TAPPAN AND NEW HEMPSTEAD WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE 0
1
231
ORANGETOWN-REFORMED CHURCH OF TAPPAN.
churches have solemnly taken this to heart and with the approbation of the leading members of both congregations, combined to proceed in obtaining the necesssary means of the stated ministration of the Gospel. In furtherance of this our purpose, the Rev. Samuel Verbryck in his ser- mons to both our congregations has been very satisfactory during the time he has been with us here in regard to his capability, orthodoxy and Godly walk and conversation. Therefore we are happily united in calling the Rev. Sam- uel Verbruck to become our pastor and teacher, having hereto subscribed our several names for his support with the annual salary specified. Hence, after this pre- paratory consideration, therefore, in the presence of the Rev. John H. Goetchius, minister at Schraalenburgh, uniting with our Consistory, after calling upon the name of the Lord and due meditation in the fear of the Lord, with one accord having concluded to call the Rev. Sam- uel Verbryck to become our regular pastor and teacher for both the aforesaid congregations, being fully assured that this is accordant with the desire of both parties, and therefore we have unhesitatingly subscribed our names as elders and deacons of the Low Dutch Christian Re- formed Churches of Tappan and New Hempstead, after pondering all the preceding remarks establishing our con- fidence in the Rev. Samuel Verbryck, a ministerial can- didate, and do hereby call him in the fear of the Lord to become our pastor and minister.
" And as we, calling upon the name of the Lord, have called the Rev. Samuel Verbryck to beconie our ordinary pastor and teacher in the two aforesaid Dutch churches to preach and expound God's word, to administer the on the north side, from the brook running across the lot sacraments at the appointed time and attend to the visit- of Johannes Meyer to his fence running parallel with the course of the brook provided our pastor desires to have it so. All this we promise according to our subscription by the several members of both Tappan and New Hemp- stead congregations with the aforesaid salary to which we voluntarily obligate ourselves, that is at present elders and deacons of the aforesaid two churches, also to be continued from year to year by all our successors as elders and deacons as they shall from time to time be elected to their respective offices and duly installed. Therefore, since we, the undersigned, elders and deacons of both congregations, hereby acknowledge our combi- nation and union of the two congregations, although two in number, inseparably joined." ation of families at least once a year with an elder, and attend to church discipline should any member offend, with carefulness and discretion, in short to do all which is required from a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ in God's holy word and the good order of His Church according to the requirements of the Synod of Dordrecht, A. D. 1618 and 1619, which the Reformed Dutch Church brought with them when first they emigrated to this country for the purity of said Church, and now for the further restriction of the worthy pastor's labors among us, it is our desire and expectation that our Rev. Pastor's services shall be ist, two-thirds of the time at Tappan and one-third at New Hempstead.
" 2nd. Five months in each year, on every Lord's day, he being in health, and in favorable weather, he shall preach in the forenoon, from any text he may select but in the afternoon, according to the order of the Heidel- berg Catechism.
"3d. In those seasons of the year when extra services are held by some, on such occasions as Easter day, As- cension day, Whit Sunday, and Christmas, our Pastor will be expected to preach not more than once in either church, unless Christmas should fall on the Lord's day, then twice, and once on the next day.
" 4th. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper shall be administered in each congregation four times a year and on the preceding Thursday a preparatory sermon shall be
preached in each church, but family visitation only once a year.
"Finally, Six months in the year, once a week, the pastor shall maintain catechetical exercises among his people, two-thirds of the time at Tappan and one-third at New Hempstead, he selecting his most convenient time.
" 5th. Our Pastor shall have with our concurrence three Sabbaths in the year, at such a period as he may select or prefer, to visit his friends or members of the church. In consideration of these administrations among us with God's blessing, preserving us in health, we promise our Pastor his salary every year in full the sum of Eighty pounds New York currency, that is to say, Forty pounds every six months, viz .: on April Ist and October, the first payment to be reckoned from the first of November to April, the money when due to be paid to any member of the pastor's family should he be absent, two-thirds by the elders of Tappan and one-third by those of New Hempstead until we are released from the burden of Muzelius, when from that time should it seem practicable in the judgment of the congregation, the salary will be thenceforth 100 pounds in two equal payments of 50 pounds every six months.
"6th. We promise in addition to the above to our worthy and beloved pastor gratuitously to furnish him with a parsonage, barn, orchard, and garden at Tappan, also a well, and sufficient firewood, and to keep every- thing in good repair, also the land as far as we have en- closed it with a fence for Dominie Muzelius. It shall be for the use of Dominie Verbryck extending to the bridge
THE WILL.
" In the name of God, Amen. I, Samuel Verbryck, of New Barbadoes, precinct in the County of Bergen and State of New Jersey, minister of the Gospel, being sick and weak in body, but of sound mind, and memory, blessed be Almighty God for the same, Do make and publish this my last Will and Testament, in manner and form following. that is to say, First I give and bequeath my negro woman slave named Mary unto my beloved wife Susannah and her executors, administrators, and assigns forever. Item, I order and direct that my just debts and funeral expenses be paid out of the remaining part of my personal estate, but if that should prove insufficient for
£
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HISTORY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY.
the purpose, then and in such case I authorize my ex- ecutors or the said survivors or survivor of them to sell as much of my real estate to make up the deficiency of my personal estate. Item, I give and bequeath unto my said wife for and during the time she shall continue my widow the possession and income of that part of my per- sonal estate which shall remain after my debts are paid and also of all my lands and real estate which lies in the precinct aforesaid.
Item, after the decease or marriage of my wife I give and devise unto my son, Rolef Verbryck, and to his heirs and assigns forever as many acres of land as I by deed have granted to each of iny other sons, the same to lie along the south side of the lands granted to my other sons as aforesaid and I then give and devise all the rest, residue and remainder of my lands and real estate unto my four sons, to wit: Bernardus, Hendrick van De Linde, such an exciting period .* The next pastor, on the 5th of December 1792, nearly eight years after the reopening of the member roll as above stated, makes the following. entry on this roll, accompanying it with a list of eighty names:
Samuel Gerritson, and Roelef, that is to say, to each of them an equal fourth part. To have and to hold the same unto my four sons (not as joint tenants but as ten- ants in common) and their heirs and assigns forever, each of my said sons or their heirs and assigns paying for the same an equal fourth part of all charges, ex- penses, trouble, costs and damages which shall arise or accrue or by reason of means of defending all sales and actions which now are depending and which shall here- after be commenced and prosecuted for lands which I now have and claim in the county aforesaid, the sum to be paid to any one or more of my sons who shall have advanced the same.
Item, If after my said wife's decease or remarriage there shall be any part of my personal estate remaining besides the negro woman slave aforesaid, then and in such case I give and bequeath the same unto my said four sons to be equally divided among theni.
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