USA > New York > New York City > History of St. Stephen's parish in the city of New York, 1805-1905 > Part 2
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" On the subject of your communication from X. ... , I suppose that he has heard that the people like me. They appear to do so by their attendance on, and at- tention to, my preaching. From some individuals I have
20 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
received marks of kindness, and I do not know but what the whole of them are disposed to be kind. But the truth is that, as yet, they are so wholly destitute of ar- rangements, that a man who is not possessed of a private fortune to live upon, can not here, under present circum- stances and arrangements, live comfortably, or be free from many embarrassments. I was aware beforehand that if my ministry should be acceptable to the people, and promise success to the church, the Bishop would wish me to continue. I therefore obtained his sanction to my stipulation that if, at the end of six months, the place did not suit me, I could leave it without further question. It does not suit me, and when he hears my reasons I am persuaded that he will make no objections to my removal.
" You say he has something laid up in store for me. I know it can be nothing for me, except it be an apos- tolic benediction, and authority to priesthood. This he has, and I hope he will dispense it to me in the spring. I did think of visiting New York before now, and am yet thinking to do so shortly. However, mother expects to leave this for New York tomorrow a week, and per- haps I may come with her."
On May 1st, 1805, the Rev. Mr. Strebeck was called to serve as a missionary in Grace Church, Jamaica, Long Island, but did not enter upon the work. Five days thereafter he accepted the call to the rectorship of the new parish of St. Stephen's, New York City.
It is interesting to note that the effort, already al- luded to, which had been made by Rev. Mr. Strebeck, to carry over to the Episcopal Church the Lutheran
21
THE FIRST RECTOR.
congregation of Zion, but which failed, was successfully accomplished by his successor, Rev. Ralph Williston, on March 13th and 14th, 1810; and their pastor was ordained deacon in Trinity Church, by Bishop Moore, on March 23d. Zion Church was consecrated March 22d, and was received into the union with Convention of the Diocese, October 3d, 1810.
The following action was taken by the trustees of the Lutheran Church, at a meeting held January 22d, 1810:
" The subject of our church turning Episcopalian was discussed at length. A proposition from St. Ste- phen's Protestant Episcopal Church, offering an oppor- tunity for a union of the two churches, was laid before the meeting, but it being doubtful 'whether a union with St. Stephen's Church would be more advantageous than assuming the name of a separate parish, the fur- ther consideration of the proposal was deferred until the adjourned meeting, January 26th.'"
It was at this subsequent meeting that action was taken, as noted above.
Mr. Strebeck made a translation into English of the German Lutheran Catechism, during the time that he was pastor of Zion Church.
Owing to the increasing demand for the services of the Episcopal Church and the scarcity of clergymen, the Convention of 1806 adopted a canon " providing for the supply of vacant parishes." Under the provisions of this canon all settled rectors were to take duty in outlying parishes. By appointment of the Bishop we find the Rev. Mr. Strebeck assigned to Grace Church, Jamaica, for December, 1807; and to Newburg and
22 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
neighborhood in July, 1808, and in September, 1809. It was required, when clergymen were absent from their parishes on this missionary duty, that the rectors of neighboring parishes should supply their congregations with Sunday services.
In 1805 Rev. Mr. Strebeck lived in the house No. 51 First Street, and in 1807 he moved his family to No. 185 Bowery.
Mr. Strebeck resigned the rectorship of St. Stephen's Parish by a letter dated April 25th, 1809. We find this memorandum in the diary of Bishop Moore:
" May 5th, 1809 .- A committee of the Vestry of St. Stephen's waited on me to inform me that at a meeting of the Vestry last evening, the resignation of the Rev. Mr. Strebeck, as rector of said Church, was presented to the Vestry and accepted."
After Mr. Strebeck had left the parish, he moved to his brother-in-law's country seat, the Mott Homestead (54th Street and the East River). He took no other parochial charge in New York diocese. His name ap- pears in the Diocesan Convention Journal of 1811, en- titled to an honorary seat, as a clergyman residing in New York.
Mr. Strebeck, it is known, was not in good health at this time, and for that reason probably he left New York and moved to the South. We hear of him soon there- after as principal of a girl's school in Fredericksburg, Va. In a letter from there, bearing date December 9th, 1811, he writes :
" I have this morning received a letter from my
23
THE FIRST RECTOR.
brother William in Baltimore, informing me that my father was dead; that he departed this life on Saturday morning last, in the 73d year of his life. When I was in Baltimore, about five weeks ago, he was considerably indisposed, but I had not expected that his mortal career would so soon be terminated. My mother, too, is very ill, and I expect it will not be long ere she will leave the way of all living-the way in which we must all ere long go. I trust God will give me grace to improve by the late providences, in which death has deprived me of both a companion and a parent."
The rectorship of Rev. Mr. Strebeck extended over a period of four years. Although he may not have been a great scholar, nor an eloquent preacher, yet he was a man who had the respect and confidence of the commu- nity in which he dwelt, and the personal friendship of many of New York's influential churchmen. In addition to faithful services as pastor and founder of a Lutheran Church in his earlier years, when he became an Episco- pal minister in New York he had the honor of founding a church which became prominent in the history of this diocese. As a faithful laborer and an earnest preacher of the Gospel, he has left a record of fidelity and earnest- ness in the cause of the Master. During his pastorate he baptized 163 (infants and adults), married 115 couples, and officiated at 14 funerals.
In the Diocesan Convention of Virginia in 1812, Rev. Mr. Strebeck represented St. George's Parish, Fred- ericksburg, and took part in the services, reading Morning Prayer. In the year following he was elected
24
HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
a deputy to the General Convention, which was to sit in Philadelphia in 1814. He was also chosen to preach the sermon before the Diocesan Convention of Virginia in 1814, but before that date the Bishop reports that he " had removed from the diocese." Where he went after leaving Virginia is not known. In those days church records were loosely kept, and transfers and deaths of the clergy were not chronicled. But in the Journal of General Convention of 1814 a list of the clergy is given, in each diocese; and nowhere do we find the name of George Strebeck. The inference therefore is, that he must have died shortly after leaving Virginia.
It is a source of regret that after diligent inquiry, no portrait can be obtained of the founder and first rector of St. Stephen's Parish.
Closely associated with Mr. Strebeck in the founding of this parish was Mr. Jordan Mott, a member of the vestry, and its first treasurer. A very unique miniature of Mr. Mott is in existence, moulded in wax about 1796, and through the courtesy of Mr. Hopper Striker Mott, a descendant, we have been permitted to copy the same, and to make use of valuable information furnished by him regarding the Mott family, who were related by marriage to the Rev. Mr. Strebeck, and who bore a prominent part in the organization and early history of St. Stephen's Parish.
"Mr. Strebeck's wife (Jerusha ) was the great-grand- daughter of Adam Mott, who died in 1690, and the daughter of Isaac and Anne (Coles) Mott. She was born at Hempstead Harbor (now Roslyn), February 5th, 1772. Isaac Mott was a Quaker merchant, and it
Jordan Mott.
25
THE FIRST RECTOR.
fell to the lot of his wife to minister to the wants and necessities of American prisoners confined in the sugar- house by the British, in the days that tried men's souls.
Jordan Mott, the first treasurer of St. Stephen's, was Mrs. Strebeck's elder brother. At the age of twenty- one he entered the importing business in Pearl Street. He was married by Mr. Strebeck, on September 24th, 1801, to Lavinia, only daughter of James Striker, of Striker's Bay, which was located at the present 96th Street and Riverside Drive. This property was in the midst of the Revolutionary manouvers, and the home- stead was used by the enemy as quarters for officers during the month that Sir Henry Clinton resided near- by, at the Apthorpe House (91st Street and Columbus Avenue). Striker's Bay formed the westerly end of the British entrenchments which extended across the Island in 1776 from Hoorn's Hoek at East 89th Street. Mr. and Mrs. Mott were communicants at St. Stephen's Church, and occupied pew No. 116.
" Mott's Point," the Bloomingdale residence of Mr. Mott, was built by John Hopper the younger, in 1796, the grandfather of Mrs. Jordan Mott, her marriage being then in contemplation. She and her family occu- pied it during the summer season only, until 1829, when they settled there permanently. Massive denizens of the forest shut it in and towered above the landscape, and sloped to the river's banks.
Advantage was taken of the supply of remarkable plants and trees which Lewis Morris, minister to France, had imported about 1792, and distributed between Mon-
26 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
tressor's (Ward's) and Randall's Islands and Morris- ania. From the former island Mrs. Mott selected the vegetation which so charmingly embellished her home. One of the sons was an enthusiastic horticulturist and the grounds were noted among the beautiful country seats of Bloomingdale-that vale of flowers-for the variety and diversity of the productions of each season's efforts. Great success was experienced with the novel- ties as they were introduced. All sorts and kinds of fruits were in profusion, and the fig, magnolia, madeira, and mulberry lent their grace to the environment. It was to this scene of rural beauty that Mr. Strebeck and his wife retreated at the time of his resignation as rector of St. Stephen's in 1809 ; and here he left his daughter, Lavinia (August 22d, 1811), when he removed South for the benefit of his health. This mansion was de- molished in December, 1895, to make way for the exten- sion of 54th Street to the river, and another of the few remaining landmarks of the island disappeared.
Jacob Coles Mott, a younger brother of Mrs. Stre- beck, and who was the first clerk of the vestry, was born January 5th, 1770. He married Mary Green Smith, in 1792 (whose parents came to Roslyn from England in the midst of the " tea unpleasantness "), and moved westward to Orange County, New York. He was a merchant in the Swamp, living at 37 Frankfort Street. When Mr. Strebeck left New York, he entrusted his only son, Jordan Mott Strebeck, with his uncle, with whom he remained for a time, and later removed to his Uncle Jordan's country seat, at Bloomingdale; and finally joined his father in the South."
The First Church.
T may not be inappropriate to pen a picture of the happy assembly which gathered at the corner of First and Bullock Streets on the afternoon of Thursday, the 7th of May, 1805, and, by their presence, assisted the rector and officers of the new parish in the ceremony of laying the corner-stone. The Rev. Mr. Strebeck, in his customary black silk gown, and spotless white bands, offered prayer and read selections of Scrip- ture ; the choir of men and women, aided by the assembled company, sang the familiar hymns of the days of our forefathers, and an address was made in a thankful vein, and full of faith as to the future. For it was a venture of faith. The city had not yet extended so far as the site of the new church. Only two blocks to the north was the fever-producing swamp; green fields to the west stretched out along the line of Broadway and the Bowery Lane. Beyond were sandy hills, surrounding the Lispenard Meadows, soon to be leveled, to fill up the Salt Marsh and make the beautiful St. John's Park, and also to provide more streets and building lots for the rapidly growing city.
St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, as yet without a steeple, was far to the northeast; and to the southwest could be seen the spire of the new St. John's Chapel, in Hudson
27
28 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
Street, which stood on the southern edge of the Salt Marsh (begun in 1803, but not yet completed).
The work of building was pushed on expeditiously, and within eight months after the corner-stone had been laid, the congregation assembled within its walls for the service of consecration.
It was indeed a red-letter day in the parish when, on the Festival of St. Stephen, December 26th, 1805, Bishop Benjamin Moore consecrated the church. Morn- ing Prayer was read by the Rev. William Harris, rector of St. Mark's Church; and the Rev. Cave Jones, an assistant minister of Trinity, preached the sermon, tak- ing as his text Acts vii. 55.
The congregation constituting this new parish com- prised the families of many men engaged in the business and professional life of the city. Among the pew- owners occur the names of Cornelius Schuyler, John DeLancey, the brothers Jordan and John C. Mott, Rufus King, Dewitt Clinton, Fredk. De Peyster, Isaac Emmons, John Pell, Abraham Fowler, William Rhine- lander, Thomas Gibbons, James Des Brosses, and Richard Harrison.
St. Stephen's Church was of brick and stucco, fifty- five feet front, with entrance on First (Chrystie) Street, and seventy-five feet on Bullock (now Broome) Street. The estimated cost of the building was $4650.00. To- wards this amount we have a subscription list, in the hand-writing of the rector, showing a total of $3239.50.
Bishop Moore, and the Rev. Dr. Hobart, of Trinity, were liberal subscribers. The largest gift was $1250.00 from Mr. Cornelius Schuyler.
2% Benjamin Moore by divine per. mikron Dedash of the Pilotant Chiccopal Church in The State of new york do hereby declare that This House, by the name of Saint Stephen's Church is Consecrated to the service of almighty God, for the administration of the Sacramento, and other Sites & Ceremonies, According to the me of the Protestant Opened hal Church in The United States of America Ihn techmony when I have here unto at my hand of deal This 26th day of Dec.", m The year of our Jord one thousand eight hundred I have; and in the fourth year of my Convention
Bony: Moore
Brokoli of the Part. Er. Churchin. The Art of new york
Letter of Consecration.
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THE FIRST CHURCH.
The cosmopolitan character of the early congregation may be understood by a reference to the New York City directory of those years. Merchants, grocers, butchers, wheelwrights, shoemakers, watchmakers, sailmakers, and bricklayers were largely represented. In Dr. Moore's time a revival of religion took place, in which Mr. George Warner, a sailmaker, was an active participant, and it is a noteworthy fact that a large number of those who were influenced thereby were butchers.
The building in which the congregation of St. Ste- phen's worshipped was exceedingly plain. The archi- tecture was of the style of St. Paul's Chapel, although not so elaborate in decoration. The illustration here given shows a barn-like structure, with two tiers of win- dows and a flat roof. Above the square belfry is a low wooden tower pierced with four oval windows. A one- story room, for the use of the rector, was built in the rear, and served both as a vestry and robing-room. On the south side of the church were vacant lots, eventually to be used as a burial ground.
Of the appearance of the interior of the church we can form some idea from churches still standing, which were built prior to that time (St. Paul's, St. John's, and St. Mark's), and also from newspaper accounts of the day.
The most prominent object was the high pulpit, placed in the center of the chancel; underneath this was the reading-desk, with a velvet cushion (ornamented at each corner by a large silk tassel), upon which rested a quar- to Bible and Prayer Book. Below this reading-desk was a desk for the clerk, who gave out the hymns and led in
30 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
the responses ; standing on the chancel floor, behind the pulpit, was the Communion Table. Two large chande- liers, for candles, were suspended from the ceiling in the nave of the church. Galleries extended. around three sides of the building; the one, over the main entrance, being for the organ and members of the choir. Over that was a smaller one, called the "Sunday School Gallery."
Above the pulpit was a sounding-board, and this was surmounted by a gilt bronze statue of St. Stephen the Martyr, in honor of whom the church was named. The saint was in a kneeling posture, as the Scriptures repre- sent him to have been when his persecutors stoned him to death. On the keystone of the large arch was painted the text, in gilt letters: "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying: 'Lord Jesus receive my spirit.' "
In the rear of the altar, against the east wall, there was an ornamented entablature of wood, on which were inscribed in gilt letters, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments.
Although the church was built in 1805, yet not until 1825 was there an organ. The choir consisted of men and women from the congregation, under the lead of the brothers Lewis and Thaddeus Seymour, who set the tune, probably with a tuning fork.
The officiating clergyman wore a surplice, gathered with fine pleats in a yoke around the neck, and reaching to the ground, with scarf of broad black silk, and bands made of lawn (tied around the neck with small strings), which hung in front of the collar. It was customary for
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THE FIRST CHURCH.
the clergyman to retire during the singing of a hymn, after the Gospel had been read, and to return arrayed in an academic black silk gown, to enter the pulpit and preach the sermon. On the first Sunday of each month, at which time the Holy Communion was administered, the clergyman returned to the vestry-room after the sermon, and resumed his surplice. He then proceeded in the administration of the Lord's Supper.
The music consisted of hymns, and Psalms of David . in metre. It is doubtful if chanting was in practice at St. Stephen's, although it is claimed that in 1805, chant- ing was introduced into Christ Church in Ann Street, by the organist, L. P. Taylor, an English emigrant. But we find in the newspapers of the day an account of the attempt by Rev. William Smith to chant the Gloria Patri, in St. George's Chapel, Beekman Street, in 1813. This innovation created great consternation. Mr. Gar- ret Van Wagenen, a warden of the church, unable to repress his anger, arose and said: "Away with your Jewish gibberish; we want no such nonsense in the Church of God," and walked out of the church. Boss Walton followed, saying: "I go too."
Neither gas, nor coal, nor furnaces were at this time in use in our city churches or dwellings ; nor as yet loco- foco matches. The church was heated with hickory wood, burned in four large cast-iron stoves. During the winter portable footstoves were also in use. These were square, open-work tin boxes, set in wooden frames, con- taining an iron cup for coals, which were supplied from one of the large stoves ; and a fee was expected by the sexton for this luxury.
32 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
Candles were used in the large chandeliers suspended from the ceiling, and also in brackets on the walls of the galleries. Their wicks were dipped in turpentine, and were lighted by means of wax tapers attached to poles.
Another accessory of worship now in use in nearly all our churches, and supposed to be "modern," is the hymn-board. Did St. Stephen's Church have one? It is not improbable. We find them in use in other churches prior to 1805. In the Middle Dutch Church, built in 1729, in Cedar Street, we learn that on the sides of the walls of both floor and galleries, four black boards were suspended, containing the words in plain letters : " PSALM - " and before the commence- ment of the service the clerk filled up the blanks with blocks, containing the numbers, in white letters, of the "Psalm " and " Parts," large enough to be read from any direction in the church. And the writer of the above adds : "We have not ascertained the origin of this custom."
Services were held in St. Stephen's Church three times each Sunday, the minister preaching both morning and evening, and catechising the children openly in the church in the afternoon. If we may judge from the length of the sermons of that day which are in print, forty-five minutes would be about the average time for delivery.
To the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, rector of Grace Church, in 1821, is due the credit of being the first to abolish that nondescript person, of English importation, the Parish Clerk. This was not done without creating opposition on the part of the congregation, because by
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THE FIRST CHURCH.
his loud voice they had been relieved from reading the responses directed by the rubrics.
And there is one other feature of the interior of the old church which must not be overlooked. All pews at that time were owned by the occupants, in all churches in the city (the Roman Catholic excepted). A writer, speaking from the recollections of his boyhood, concern- ing the pews in St. John's Chapel, so accurately de- scribes the universal condition of things that we quote his words as applicable to St. Stephen's :
" The backs of the pews were high and the doors fastened with a button or a spring-lock on the inside, so that the householder could fence himself in and defy the entrance of any spiritual tramp.
" It was an age of upholstery decoration in churches, and there was a profusion of velvet and woolen furnish- ings, visible on all sides. Owners of pews upholstered them in such colors and materials as they pleased, cush- ioning the backs, and making them as comfortable as possible. The result was as large a variety of hues as in the woods of October. Some of the old-fashioned pews were set out with cushions, footstools, and little tables to hold books, in such a manner as to make chil- dren in other pews envious of their superior adapted- ness to purposes of repose." *
It is worthy of note that at this time it was customary, during Divine service, to have iron chains extended across the street in front of the church, to prevent the passing of vehicles, and so insure freedom from noise.
From the diary of Bishop Moore, we learn that the * "Walks in Our Churchyards"; by Rev. Jno. Flavel Mines.
34 HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S PARISH.
first confirmation in St. Stephen's was held on Good Friday, April 4th, 1806, when seventeen were confirmed. Also on May 11th, 1806, the Bishop held an ordination service here, and advanced the Rev. John Churchill Rudd to the priesthood. The sermon was by the Bishop, and the service was read by the Rev. Mr. Strebeck.
From a receipt given by the clerk of the parish, it appears that the pews in the church were purchased for a term of seven years, and were also subject to annual rental. If this was not paid, for two successive years, the pew was forfeited to the corporation.
Jordan Mott purchased pew No. 116 for $16.00, and paid annual rental of $7.00.
Among the gifts made to the church a marble tablet was placed over the front door, displaying the name of the church, and of the first rector, wardens and vestry- men, 1805, the gift of Mr. John Poillon; and a Com- munion service of silver plate was given by Mrs. Mary De Lancey. We regret to say that there is a record of this Communion plate having been sold in later years.
After the death of the Rev. Dr. Feltus, the interior of the church was altered, and modernized. The rector had been buried beneath the chancel, and a monumental tablet, commemorating his Christian character, was placed on the south wall, over against the altar. On the opposite side was a mural tablet, commemorating the virtues of his wife, Martha.
On the south wall of the nave was a monument to the memory of George Warner.
There were no parish Sunday schools in existence in the early days of St. Stephen's. Indeed it was in the
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THE FIRST CHURCH.
year 1805, the year the parish was organized, that the first Sunday school in the city was established by Mrs. Graham, who, with her daughter, went around and gathered the poorer class of children for religious in- struction.
The first parish Sunday school was opened in St. John's Chapel in 1817, which proved so satisfactory as to occasion the formation of the "New York Pro- testant Episcopal Sunday School Society," with Bishop Hobart as president. The institution grew rapidly, and both teachers and pupils regularly attended the Church's services. For their accommodation, in St. John's Chapel "stages, with seats rising in tiers, were erected on either side of the organ loft." *
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