USA > New York > Ulster County > History of Ulster County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Vol. I > Part 59
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
versity of New York, which led him to tender his resigna- tion as pastor of the church on the 6th of August, 1841. After an absence from King-ton for a number of years, during which he was engaged in preaching, teaching, and translating, he was called, on the 2d of March, 1855, to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church of Kingston, in which he labored diligently, successfully, and acceptably, until, on the 23d of February, 1867, he entered into rest.
The literary and theological attainments of Dr. Lillie won for him the honorary title of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater, the University of Edinburgh, in 1835, when on a visit to his native land.
During the pastorate of Dr. Lillie in this church the present commodious parsonage was erected for his accom- modation.
After the resignation of Dr. Lillie the church of Kings- ton had its attention directed to Rev. John H. Van Wagenen, a native of Ulster County, as his successor, who received a call on the 26th of October, 1841. Mr. Van Wageneu was at the time pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, Liulithgo, N. Y. He was installed Dec. 9, 1841. Rev. Dr. C. Van Santvoord preached the sermon. Mr. Van Wagenen graduated at Union College in 1823, and from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1826. He was an eminently devout man, and a plain, pungeut, practical preacher. He delighted to expatiate on experi- mental Christianity. He was zealous in the cause of tem- perance. The seal of Divine approbation rested on his la- bor- in every church to which be ministered. In .. Sprague's Annals" it is recorded of him that " few men have been more useful He probably received more ime mbers into the church during his ministry than any other man of his age then Bying. In each of lis several pastorates he was blessed with powerful revivals of religion, and during the last years of his life at Kingston received 163 into the church," of whom IT were ou confession. As the result of a revival, 81 were received April 8, 1843.
The ministry of Mr. Van Wagenen at Kingston was less than three years, and he was greatly blessed in the large number of conversions, in reviving the church, in advancing various objects of moral reform, and in elevating the standard of Christian life to a higher plane. Mr. Van Wageneu died, after a brief sickness from typhus fever, Sept. 27, 1844, and was buried at his own request in the old church-yard, near the spot where lie the remains of several of his predecessors. Drs. Ostrander and Gosman officiated at his funeral.
The year succeeding the death of Mr. Van Wagenen the church was without a pastor. Calls were extended, only to be declined. On the 18th of September, 1545, a unani- mous call was made on the Rev. John C. F. Hoes, the pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, Ichaca, N. Y., which was accepted, and he was installed Nov. 13, 1845. Rev. C. Van Santvoord preached the sermon. His ministry extended to Jan. 7, 1867, a period of more than twenty- Que years.
In the fomth year of the pastorate of Dr. Ilves (1848) the numerical strength of the church consisted of 275 fami- lies, 1325 persons in the congregation, and 537 commuui- cants, the largest statistical exhibit that the church has ever
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presented, from the year of its organization (1659) to the present time (1880). For the accommodation of these num- bers the church edifice was regarded as entirely inadequate. It was therefore deemed expedient that a second church should be formed. This organization was effected by the Classis of Ulster, Jan. 29, 1849, the membership of which was largely taken from the old church. In parting with these members it was gratifying to receive their assurance, ex- pressed in their letter asking for dismission, "that in making this request we beg the Consistory to be assured that we are actuated by no hostile or unkind feeling towards our present respected pastor or the church, but simply from the belief that the interests of our church and religion demand a see- ond organization among us; and, while leaving the church in which we have so long worshiped with pleasure and profit, it is with sincere wishes and prayers for its abiding peace and prosperity." Even after the exodus of the Sie- oud Church there were many families which could not be accommodated with pews, and it was deemed best to in- crease the conveniences by enlarging the church edifice. The question, of enlargement was submitted to a vote of the congregation, and it was decided to be inexpedient. Measures were then promptly devised to crect a new church on the present site, which by the charter of 1721 had been given for the twofold purpose of a site for a church and a burial-place for the dead. The corner-stone of this church was laid May 20, 1851, accompanied with appropriate services, conducted by the pastor and Rev. Drs. Dewitt and Gosman.
This spacious and attractive edifice was finished and ded- icated Sept. 28, 1852. Rev. Dr. G. W. Bethune, of Brooklyn, preached the sermon from leb. ini. 10. It stands as a memorial of the enterprise and energy of the pastor and people whose united action carried the work to a successful completion.
A sad calamity soon befell this church edifice. On the night of Dee. 24, 1853, a torundo swept away its stately and graceful spire, inflicting great injury to the building, so that it was not again used for public worship until May 7, 1854.
The Reformed Dutch Church of the Comforter, at Wilt- wyck, was organized Ang. 27, 1863, being another colony from the old mother church.
It is unnecessary liere to speak of the life, character. and work of Dr. Hoes, as a full biographical sketch, prepared by one of his former parishioners, may be found in another part of the volume. We who stand apart and gather up the rec- ords of Dr. Hoes' ministry are impressed as those who look upou a well-cultivated field. Better than he who stood in the midst of the field, we can see that his work was thor- ough, and, in the indoctrination of his people, deep and lasting. Out of his positive personality came impulses which have left their abiding mark npou the church, and, through the church, upon the community. As a preacher he was pre-eminently a teacher of his people, and in his pastoral labors, faithful and constant. The congregation grew steadily in strength under his long ministry. and planted itself on those substantial foundations which afford the best basis for an enduring prosperity. During his pas- torate 430 active members were added to the communion of the church.
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
The sneeessor to Dr. Hoes was the Rev. D. N. Van Der- veer, a candidate for the ministry. He was born at Sche- nectady, and, having studied theology at Princeton Sem- inary, was Hieensed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1866, ealled to the church of Kingston Feb. 14, 1867, and ordained and installed May 7. 1867. The sermon was preached by the Rev. I. N. Voorhis, from Ps. vini. 3; charge to the pastor by Rev. N. F. Chapman, and to the people by Rev. J. Gaston. In the spring of 1876, Mr. Van Derveer was called to be pastor of the Union Park Congre- gational Church of Chicago, where he labored for two years and then resigned his office. In 1878 he was called to the pastorate of the First Reformed Dutch Church of Brook- lyn, N. Y .. where he is at present successfully laboring. As a preacher Mr. Van Perveer was Highly popular and successful, having admitted into the church of Kingston 248 members, 169 of whom were received on confession of their faith.
The successor of Rev. Mr. Van Derveer is Rev. J. G. Van Slyke, who graduated with honor from Rutgers Col- lege in 1836, and from the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1869. He was licensed by the Classis of Al- bany in 1869, was pastor of the Reformed Church of Read- ington, N. J., in 1800 and 1870, and of the Jamaica (L. I.) Reformed Church from 1870 to 1876. His ministry at the latter place was characterized by every mark of genuine success. The congregation was largely increased. aud greatly developed in strength and vitality. He was par- ticularly successful in drawing into the church there men of intelligence and culture, who made it a fountain of potent infinence in the eoiemunity.
Mr. Van Slyke was called in 1976 to the pastorate of the First Reformed Church of Kingston, and was installed on the 17th of December of that year. Rev. Dr. Van Sant- voord. president of Classi, presided, and the Rev. James R. Talmage, D.D., preached the sermon, from Rev. i. 1-7. Mr. Van Slyke is a man of philosophie mind, scholarly attainments, devoted to literary and professional studies, and a preacher of superior excellence and power.
Although the church of Kingston has passed through varied scenes of adversity and prosperity, and enn number her children and grandchildren by scores, scattered on the west bank of the noble Indson, she still survives, having attained her two hundred and twenty-first year, vigorous and prosperous, -- a blessing to the living, as she has been to the departed, and hopes to be to the generations yet to come. Her present strength. as indicated by her last annual report, is 240 families, 458 communicants, 375 Sabbath-school scholars, with a revenue amply sufficient to meet all her current expenses.
The bell at present used in the church of Kingston was imported from Holland, and consigned by the ship .. Mi- verva" to Jacob Le Roy & Son, merchants, in New York, by Paulus Kuck, of Amsterdam, at a total cost of $515.19, who, on shipping it, addressed a facetious letter to the Con- sistory, dated May 10, 1794. Upon the circumference of the bell is the following inscription :
"C : en I : Seest. Am-telodami, Anno 1794-M. E. Feeit."
A mural tablet has recently been enshrined in a conspicuous place in the church, on which is inscribed in full the uamcs
of all the pastors and the time of their service, with a transcript of which it will be appropriate to close this his- torical sketch :
PASTORS OF THIS CHURCH.
Hermannus Blom, 1660-67.
Laurentius Van Gaasbeek, 1678- 80. Johannes Weekstein, 1681-87.
Laurentius Vanden Bosch, 1687- 89. John Petrus Nucella, 1695-1704.
Henricus Beys, 1706-8. 1845-67.
Petrus Vas, 1710-56.
George Wilhelmus Mancius, 1732 -62.
Hermannus Meyer, D.D., 1763 -72.
George Jacob Leonard Doll, 1775 -180S.
John Gosman, D.D., 1808-35.
John Lillie, D.D., 1836-41.
John Hardenbergh Van Wage- nen, 1841-14.
John Cantine Farrell Hoes, D.D.,
David Newland Van Derveer, 1867-76. John Garnsey Van Slyke.
REV. DR. JOHN GOSMAN.
The name of the Rev. John Gosman, D.D., stands in the foremost rank among the eminent men whose lives and labors illustrate the history of Ulster County during the present century. Though not a native of the county, he came to it in the morning of his quanhood ; passed here the greater part of his active and energetie ministry ; re- turned here to resume ministerial labors after an absence of eighteen years of service in other fields ; retired in 1559, in a good old age, from the pastoral work near the spot where he had entered ou his longest pastorate, more than fifty years before (1808) ; continued to reside in the county till the hour of release came from all mortal burdens; and now sleeps within a short distance of that church he so long and faithfully served, and whose cherishing arms most ap- propriately gnard his dust. He belongs, therefore, to the county in which his last and so many of his carlier years were spent, to whose interests so large a portion of his life was earnestly devoted. The narrow space assigned to these notices will permit only a sketch of the life and ser- vices of Dr. Gosman, with, perhaps, a glance at some of the marked features of his character as a minister and man.
Dr. Gosman was born in the city of New York, Feb. 10, 1781. His childhood and youth were passed iu that city, where he pursued his preparatory studies with the view of entering Columbia College, from which he graduated with honor in 1801, when only seventeen years old. Having some time before his graduation decided to enter the Chris- tian ministry, he commenced the study of theology shortly after leaving college, under the Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, in whose church his boyhood was reared, his father having long held therein the office of elder. He completed his theological course under the Rev. Dr. Alexander Proudfit, of Salemi, N. Y., and was licensed to preach by the Presby- tery of Washington on Oct. 10, 1804, when but twenty years of age. His health uot being robust at this time, he did not at onee seek a pastoral charge, but passed four years in supplying vacant churches, chiefly that of Lansingburg, N. Y., till in 1808, when, his health having greatly im- proved, he was invited to the pastoral charge of the Re- formed Dutch Church of Kingston, N. Y., and was ordained and installed as its pastor the same year. This church was organized in 1659, being one of the oldest in the country, and had had a succession of twelve ministers. mostly from Holland, during the interval between 1Cco
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HISTORY OF ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK.
and 1808, the last being the Rev. George J. L. Doll, whose ministry here extended from 1775 to 1808. Dr. Gosman was the first pastor of this old church whose services were rendered wholly in the English language, his ministry marking the transition from the Holland language to that in which the services have sinee been condueted. He con- tinued in this pastoral charge till 1835, a period of twenty- seven years. Resigning his pastorate here, he removed to Philadelphia, taking charge the same year of the Second Reformed Dutch Church of that city, in which position he remained but for a short time. From 1836 to 1838 he ministered to the Reformed Dutch Church of Westerlo, in Albany Co., N. Y., and then removed to Port Byron, N. Y., the Presbyterian Church of which he supplied for three years. He was called in 1811 as pastor of the Re- formed Dutch Churches of Coeyman's and New Baltimore, N. Y., but resigned theur in 1842 to assume the charge of the Reformed Dutch Church of Hudson, N. Y., with which his pastoral connection continued for ten years, closing in 1852. In the following year, 1853, he returned to Ulster County, having accepted a eall to the Refermed Dutch Church of Flatbush, a parish adjoining the one where his labors began forty five years before. After a faithful service in this church of six years he finally retired from official duties in 1859, at the ripe age of seventy-five. The six remaining years of his life were passed in the vicinity of Saugerties, where, ou Dee. 8, 1865, in his cighty- second year, he ealiuly expired, cheered by the hopes and promises of that Gospel which for more than sixty years he had loved to proclaim as the rest for all weary, heavy- laden soul ..
Dr. Gosman was married to Mary Hay, of Cambridge, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1807, the year before he became pastor at Kingston. Of four children, -- one son and three daughters,-two daughters are living, and re-ide at Kings- ton, enjoying the esteem and affection of a wide circle of friends. Mrs. Gosman died in 1856, during her husband's pastorate at Flatbush. She was a most amiable and ex- cellent lady, exemplary in all the relations of life, and eon- stantly helpful to her husband in all his work, whose re- quirements she thoroughly understood, and with whose responsibilities and trials she had the readiest sympathy. She was interred at Wiltwyck Cemetery, where the remains of her husband aud daughter, Catharine, have since been laid, and now repose together.
As a preacher, Dr. Gosman possessed gifts and qualities that gave him a rare fitness for his sacred ealling. He had liberal and varied culture. He was familiar with theology in all its departments. He had a thorough mastery of the Scriptures and of the science of biblical interpretation. He.was well acquainted with history and general literature, and drew freely from their treasuries, laying up the stores gathered in a memory singularly retentive, ever ready to use them on the fitting occasion, and especially to make them subserve the great end of the Gospel message, which is to attract and interest as well as to enlighten and per- suade men. He had, besides, a graceful presence and ad- dress, great facility of utterance, a pleasing and flexible voice, which, though prone to pour out its words somewhat too rapidly, was yet distinet in its articulation. flis delivery,
too, was marked by great earnestness, and even fervor, showing how the speaker's soul was aglow with the senti- ments of his message, that rarely failed to produce sensible effeets upon his hearers. The sermons, moreover, were of a character to command attention. They were the result of severe diligence in preparation. They were lucid in arrangement, strong in reasoning and appeal, felicitous in dietion, apt in illustration, rich in seriptural language, while through them all breathed the spirit of love to men, that yearned to bring them into the ways of righteousness and life. With traits such as these, it is easy to understand why his preaching possessed sueh eharm to interest and move an audience. This will explain, too, the reason for his being sent for far and wide throughout the county, and even beyond it, to render services on special occasions. These services impesed a large amount of extra labor upon him, which, indeed, he stood ever ready to bear, counting it happiness to do with all his might whatever his hand found to do to benefit men and promote the cause that lay nearest his heart.
It was this readiness to do good as the ocension arose that led him to undertake work not strictly included in his pastoral requirements. Thus the Bible Society found in his enlightened sympathies a hearty response to its claims for support. Mainly through his influence and fervid ap- peals the Clster County Bible Society was organized in 1816. This institution became a thrifty branch of the parent society, and has continued to the present time, doing a noiseless but influential work in enlisting the interest of churches and communities in the matter of circulating the Scriptures among the destitute families of the county and land. Dr. Gosman's heart was in this cause, and the whole weight of his influence was given to commend and strengthen it. Many names of Ulster County people stand to-day on the list of life members and directors of the American Bible Society to attest the influence of Dr. Goswan in prompting their decision, and the faithful and efficient services which he rendered in this direction.
The cause of education, too, found in him a wartu and steadfast frieud. The Kingston Academy, one of the oldest in the State, and of wide reputation as an educator, re- ceived his special attention. He was a member and presi- dent of its board of trustees during nearly all the years of his ministry in Kingston, and the high place the school held in the publie regard was largely owing to his disereet supervision and intelligent management. He was also a trustee of Rutgers College, being elected to this position in 1825, and holding the office till his death. His aid was often invoked to raise funds for educational purposes, and both the seminary and college at New Brunswick shared iu the benefit of his appeals in their behalf. The frank and friendly style of his intereourse, his ready eloquence, lis earnestness in advocating a eause, the magnetism of Lis conversation as well as of his publie address, made his efforts to evoke contributions unusually successful, and they who could seeure his services in behalf of some important charity deemed themselves specially fortunate. Even after the burden of the pastoral work had been laid aside and he had reached fourscore years, he was induced to under- take a service of this kind for Rutgers College, which was
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CITY AND TOWN OF KINGSTON.
attended with nearly all the vigor and success of former years. The strong hold which he retained upon the sym- pathies of the people of the county is made apparent by this circumstance, which simply illustrates his character as given in the preceding notices. Ifis lifelong friend, the late IIon. A. B. Hasbrouck, in a letter read at the funeral services of Dr. Gosman, speaks in these fitting words of the estimate in which he was held : " There is probably no man now living in the county whose death recorded in our publie journals would be so painfully noticed, or be read with so much reverence, as Dr. Gosman's will be. The respect and affectionate regard which he attraeted in his early manhood, and with which he was clothed as with a garment of praise, have grown with his growth and strength- eued with bis strength, and now, after the lapse of more than fifty years, will be mournfully laid upon his coffin, more precious than floral offerings in all their original warmth and sincerity."
Little more need be said. The sentiment of the fore- going extraet, it may be added, is not confined to Ulster County. Throughout the denomination of which Dr. Gos- man was a minister he mimbered " troops of friends," who honored him for his mental and moral excellence and loved him for his genial, manly qualities. In all the fields where he labored he won the esteem and affections of the people, and the fruits of his earnest ministry were sure to appear in due time, and many, no doubt, will yet appear to attest and reward his fidelity to truth and daty. Ilis name is revered by the whole Church which he served with a single great purpose ever controlling his energies. Being dead, he yet spuiks to men by his wholesome counsels and de- voted life, thus showing that the influence of a good and useful mian does not end with his death, but is projected, shedding benefits as it runs on, far into the future.
THE REV. JOHN. C. F. HOES, D.D., S
was born at Middleburgh, Schoharie Co., N. Y., on the 13th of July, 1811. His ancestors came from Holland to this country among the earlier emigrants from that father- land which has contributed to New York so large and in- Auential a portion of the people by whose joint enterprise and toil the State has been advanced to its present prosper- ous condition. The paternal name of Hoes in this country reaches through eight generations, to the beginning of the seventeenth century. The grandfather of Dr. Hoes, John D. Hoes, died Jan. 25, 1789. His father, Peter I. Hloes, was for many years a respected and prominent citizen of Kinderhook, N. Y., the place of his birth, whither he re- moved from Middleburgh in 1817, and died at the former place Nov. 16, 1846. aged sixty-one years. Dr. Ilves' aunt, Hannah Hors, the sister of Peter I. Ilves, was the wife of Martin Van Buren, late President of the United States. The grandfather ou the mother's side was Peter Swart, a native of Schoharic, where he died Nov. 3, 1829, at the age of seventy-seven years. Ile was an officer in the Revo- lutionary war, and rendered efficient service in the valleys of the Schoharie and the Mohawk. After the war he filled several civil positions of honor and trust. Among
them were those of judge of Schoharie County, State As- semblyman and Senator, and representative in Congress. He was a man of high character and influence in his day, commanding wide respeet. His daughter, Maria Swart, a most estimable lady and exemplary in every relation, was married to Peter I. Hoes, the closing years of her life being passed at Kinderhook, where she was respected by all who knew her. A sad accident terminated her life while on a visit to her son, Peter S. Ilves, in the city of New York, June 5, 1851.
Dr. Hoes enjoyed the advantages of a Christian nurture as well at home as in the society in which his lot was east. He was a subject of a revival of religion in the Reformed Dutch Church of Kinderhook, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Jacob Sickles, D.D., and at the early age of six- teen became a member of that church. His preparatory studies were pursued in the Kinderhook Academy, then one of the foremost of its kind in the State, and before leaving this school for college he had decided to devote his life to the work of the Christian ministry. He entered Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1829, and graduated from it in 1832. The same year he entered the Theologi- cal Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of New Brunswick in 1834. Ilis first pastoral charge was the Reformed Dateh Church of Chittenango, N. Y. Here he was ordained and installed pastor of the church by the Classis of Cayuga, April 22, 1836, his call to the church dating from the pre- vious August, 1835. After serving this church with much acceptance and efficiency for nearly two years he was called, in 1837, by the Reformed Dutch Church of Ithica, N. Y., to become its pastor. Having decided to assume this pas- torate he was installed by the Classis, and performed the duties of his offee with carnestness, vigor, and success for a period of eight years, when he accepted a call from the Reformed Dutch Church of Kingston, N. Y., being duly installed over said church Nov. 13, 1945.
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