History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 18

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 18

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" ' Resolved, That the Trustres of the Church and Society he, aud they are hereby, requested and instructed to accept the conditions on which Bros. TREVOR and COLGANTE propose to transfer the deed of the new church edifice, and to take the necessary measures to carry into prompt and complete effect every condition named in their communication.

" ' Resolved, That a copy of this report be communicated to Bros. TRE- VOR and COLGATE, individually, by the Pastor and Clerk of the Church.

. ' EDWARD BRIGHT. " ' PETER F. PEER. " 'ISNA( G. JOHNSON.'"

The corner-stone of the new house of worship was laid on the 11th of April, 1868, with appropriate ser- vices, in which the pastor was cordially assisted by the Rev. U. T. Tracy, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church ; the Rev. M. D'C. Crawford, D.D., pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rev. David Cole, D.D., pastor of the Reformed Church ; the Rev. D. M. Seward, D.D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church ; nnd the Rev. L. W. Mudge, pastor of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, all of them active pastors within the bounds of the village corporation.

The building is located on the corner of two of the principal nvenues in the village, from one of which its name is derived. Its extreme length, including the two-story chapel in the renr, is one hundred and fifty-four feet, and its extreme width in front is ninety feet. The chapel is ninety by thirty-six feet. The walls ure thirty feet in the clear from the water-table to the roof cornice, and the roof has a perpendienlar elevation of nearly thirty-two feet. The main tower

"GLENVIEW." RESIDENCE OF JOHN B. TREVOR, YONKERS, N. Y.

YONKERS.

and spire are on the southwesterly corner, and rise to an elevation of one hundred and sixty feet from the water-table, surmounted by a beautiful and sym- metrical stone cross. On the southeasterly corner is an octagon tower, sixty feet high. The architecture is the Romanesque, or round-arched. The main audi- ence-room is eighty by sixty feet, with galleries on both sides and on the end opposite the pulpit. There are two hundred and six pews in this room, of which one hundred and forty-eight are on the main floor and fifty-eight in the galleries, giving the house a seating capacity of from one thousand to twelve hun- dred. The furniture is of solid black walnut, oiled and waxed. The ceiling and walls are handsomely fres- coed, thie coloring being subdued in general tone. The windows are all of stained glass. The organ is still in process of construction under the direction of Henry Erben, Esq., of New York City, and will be of great power, with two banks of keys and thirty-five stops. There is a fine, spacious baptistery under the pulpit platform, from which there are convenient communications with the robing rooms. These, with a church parlor, intended for social gatherings, thirty- seven by thirty-two feet, and pastor's study and library, occupy the first floor of the chapel. The second floor contains the Sabbath-school and lecture- room, sixty-nine by thirty-two feet, with an end gal- lery for the infant department of the Sabbath-school, and separated from the main room by sliding glass- doors. This room is furnished with semi-oval, cane- bottom settees, and the walls and ceiling are painted and lightly frescoed. Both this room and the audi- ence-room are lighted from great reflectors in the ceiling. A great deal of attention has been given to the thorough ventilation of the building, and considerable money has been expended on the same, under the very just notion that pure air, and plenty of it, is cheap at any price. The architect pronounces it one of the very best ventilated buildings in the country. The structure, including towers and spire, is built of Belleville freestone, of a handsome brown color, and the roof is of the best quality of slate. The entire cost of the ground, building, appoint- ments, ctc., is nearly two hundred thousand dollars, all of which, with the exception of ten thousand dollars raised by the church and society, has been generously and cheerfully contributed by Bros. John B. Trevor and James B. Colgate.

When this enterprise was under serious considera- tion-the site having already been purchased and the plans adopted-Louisa S. Stewart, the beloved wife of our brother, John B. Trevor, was called home. For many years an active and useful member of the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, and a great but patient sufferer during the closing years of her life, she fell asleep on the 7th of September, 1867, and her body rests in the city of the dead at Greenwood, with God keeping tender watch over her dust. A choice memo- rial tablet of the finest Aberdeen granite is firmly set

in the southerly wall of the main audience-room, near the southeasterly corner, and a marble vase and flowers, of purest vein and exquisitely carved, set in a projecting Gothic marble frame, and fronting the en- cased tablet, seems to perpetuate in silent, solid stone, the delicate fragrance of her pure Christian life. The tablet bears the following inscription :

In Memory of LOUISA S. STEWART,

WIFE OF JOHN B. TREVOR, Born May 21, 1836. Entered into rest September 7, 1867. UNWAVERING IN HER FAITII, SHE DIED REJOICING IN THE SAVIOUR.

The following account of a special meeting of the church and society, held on Monday evening, June 7, 1869, is taken from the columns of the Examiner and Chronicle :

" The deed of the superb gift, wade by Messrs. TREVOR and COLGATE was formally presented and accepted in a meeting of the Church on Monday evening last. In preseutiug the deed, Mr. COLGATE spoke as follows :

" ' Mr. Chairman and Brethren :- Abont thirty years since, in conver- sation with my friend, GARRETT N. BLEEKER, I expressed to him a hope that I might live to build a house of worship for the service of God. This hope, since then secretly cherished, is about to be fulfilled.

*** Nothing belongs to me in this enterprise which does not belong equally to my associate and friend, JOHN B. TREVOR.

"'In the erection of this house of worship, we trust we have been actuated by no motives which will not bear the scrutiny of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

"* We are not careful to reply to those who may charge us with extravagauce. Such we would refer to the answer of our Lord, in reply to the question : "Ought not this ointment be sold for more than two hundred pence and given to the poor ?" And we would also remind such that the oldest historical fact on record pertaining to public worship is that God had respect to the sacrifice of Abel, who offered ;the firstlings of his flock, while he rejected the meaner offering of ('ain, as insulting to his Creator.

"' In conveying this property, we have imposed some conditions, in which we think the Church will cheerfully acquiesce.

"$1. The property can not be sold, but must be used solely for a Bap- tist church.

"'2. Its use is restricted to religions purposes only, excluding every- thing secular.

" '3. The Church is debarred the right to encumber the property.

" 'And, brethren, may peace dwell ever with you. May these new walls never reverberate with the strife of brethren, but may they resound with the teachings of God's Word, accompanied with the notes of praise and prayer. May the interesting associations clustering around the old be transferred to the new edifice, and there be entwined with dearer and fresher and more glorious associations ; and may " lle who dwelleth be- tween the cherubim shine forth " and fill the house with his glory.

" We now most cheerfully and cordially tender to you this deed of the property.'

"The pastor responded in a few words, and G. H. SCRIBNER, E'sq., read the carefully drawn document, which, besides being a full deed of con- veyance, embodies the complete Articles of Faith of the Church, adher- ence to which is a perpetual condition of the gift. Ile then moved the resolution by which the Church received the property-one of the largest donations ever made by two individuals to a church of Christ. And the Church will do well to remember that it 'is never to be encumbered'- which, by a free interpretation, must mean that no mortgage is to rest upon its stone and mortar, and no dead formalism is to crush the life out of the worship and enterprise of which it is to be the home and ceutre."

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

John B. Trevor who is one of the most liberal among the benefactors of the educational, benevolent and re- ligious enterprises of the Baptist Church, was born in Philadelphia. After leaving school he entered a whole- sale dry-goods house, where he remained four or five years, when he went to the West Indies, and after- ward spent several months in Europe. He then went to Iowa and Missouri, thence to New Orleans, and then for six months had charge of a mining property in North Carolina, which was owned in Philadelphia. In 1849 he became a stock broker in New York City, and has since continued in that business, although part of the time in an indirect way. He has held no political office except that of Elector of President and Vice President in 1880, when he was chosen upon the Republican ticket to represent the twelfth congres- sional district and voted for Garfield and Arthur on that ticket.

Mr. Trevor has made large gifts to the Warburton Avenue Baptist Church, Yonkers, and to the various organizations of the Baptist church with which he is connected. He has given to the Rochester Theologi- cal Seminary, which is under the patronage of the New York Baptist Union for Ministerial Education, at various times, sums aggregating $166,677.99. Trevor Hall, which is occupied by the seminary, is one of his gifts to the institution. He has given $120,000 to the University of Rochester, and $79,000 to Madison University. His chief interest in the University arises from his conviction that it is doing a great work for the cause of higher education. In view of the increasing antagonism between the agri- cultural interest and the railroad corporations, Mr. Trevor regards it as very important that all our young men who are educated in colleges should be well in- formed on all economie questions ; and the opinions upon these questions, entertained and taught by Dr. Anderson, president of the University, have received his heartiest approval.1 Mr. Trevor came to Yonkers in 1861 and has resided there since that time. His beneficence and constant liberality have rendered his name an honor in the community.

Mr. James Boorman Colgate, so well known throughout Westchester County and the country at large for his deep interest in all philanthropic move- ments, was born in the city of New York, March 4, 1818. The family is of English stock, appearing in the county of Kent as early as the beginning of the fifteenth century. The first of the name in this coun- try was Robert Colgate, who had been prominent among the freedom-loving ycomanry of Kent, in the days of the American Revolution, as an outspoken advocate of the cause of the colonies. Subsequently sympathizing with some of the principles of the French Revolution, and joining in the demand for reform in England, he was in danger of arrest ; bnt, through the friendly suggestion of Pitt, who had been

a companion of his boyhood, he decided to remove from England, and, carly in 1795, left his home with his wife and children for the United States, his de- parture being marked by many tokens of regard from the people of Kent. He resided for some time in Maryland, but spent his last years in Delaware Coun- ty, N. Y.

William Colgate, the eldest of his sons, entered into business in the city of New York in 1806, and built up the well-known house of Colgate & Co., in Dutch and John Streets, of which he was the head till his death in 1857, having maintained for half a een- tury a high reputation for sagacity, sterling commer- cial integrity and Christian character. Hissurviving sons are Samuel, at the head of the old house ; Robert, of the Atlantic White-Lead Company, and James, the subject of this sketch.

James B. Colgate received his carly education partly in Connecticut and partly in New York City. At the age of sixteen he was prepared for college, but his mind turned to business, and he spent the next seven years in acquiring a thorough knowledge of mercan- tile life. The last four years of his clerkship were passed in the well-known commission house of Boor- man, Johnson & Co. Failing in health, he spent the larger portion of the year 1841 in Europe. On his return he accepted an opening in the wholesale dry- goods business. In 1852 he entered Wall Street as a dealer in stocks, associating himself with Mr. John B. Trevor, under the firm-name of Trevor & Colgate. In 1857 they added a bullion department, and established themselves at No. 47 Wall Street. This has always been the leading bullion-house of this country. To this branch of the business Mr. Colgate has cspecially directed his attention. He was among the first to or- ganize, during the Civil War, the New York Gold Exchange, of which he was for many years president. His papers advocating the remonetization of silver, and expressing views in which he at one time stood almost alone, have been extensively read, and evince his well-known strength and independence of judg- ment.

Mr. Colgate's leading interest, apart from his busi- ness, has been given to education and general Chris- tian benevolence. At the age of twenty-one, moved by convictions which had influenced his whole life, he became a professing Christian and identified him- self with the Baptist denomination. Beginning in his early business career, while receiving bnt a moder- ate salary, he has made it a life-principle to give a percentage of his income for the promotion of Chris- tianity in all departments of its work. This self- resolved pledge has been more than kept. He has been fortunate in his association with a partner who has sympathized with him in his purposes, and has emulated his gifts. Mr. Colgate and Mr. Trevor united in building the Baptist Church in Yonkers, New York, at a cost of one hundred and ninety thou- sand dollars, in giving fifty thousand dollars to the

1 From the Public Service of the State of New York.

RESIDENCE OF JAMES B. COLGATE, GLENWOOD, WESTCHESTER CO., N. Y.

YONKERS.

Baptist Church Extension Fund, and in fostering many other enterprises, both benevolent and ednea- tional.

Mr. Colgate's devotion to the cause of Christian education was, in part, the result of his early home- training, and has thus been shared by his brother Samuel and others of the family. William Colgate, the father, was one of the leading corporators of Madi- son University. The Colgate Academy building was erected in 1873 at the sole expense of Mr. James B. Col- gate. He gave also forty-two thousand dollars toward endowing the principalship. Mr. Colgate's interest in Madison University has been more than an inherit- anee or a sentiment, however profound. It has rooted itselfin his intellectual and moral convictions. Hefully appreciates the worth of higher Christian education to his denomination, and so to the world. He became a member of the board of trustees of Madison Univer- sity in 1861, and, in 1864 was elected president of the board, which position he still holds. Since January, 1865, he has, at various times, contributed to the inves- ted funds of the University no less than two hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars, besides expending an additionalsnm of sixty thousand dollars for the build- ing and grounds of Colgate Academy. These repeated and munificent gifts have not been due to any pres- sure of solicitation, but have been spontaneous offer- ings. He has led all others in his desire for the pros- perity of the University. His donations, having been prompted by principle, have been altogether free from ostentation. Neither has his interest in the Univer- sity been alloyed with any of those personal elements that frequently enter into large benefactions. He has never subordinated the welfare of the University to any of those private ends, fancies or friendships. Mr. Colgate's benefieence has not been confined to one in- stitution. He has been alive to the elaims of others. He has given, for his wife (daughter of the late Gov- ernor Colby, of New Hampshire), abont ninety thou- sand dollars to the Colby Academy, at New London, N. H .; also twenty thousand dollars to Rochester University ; ten thousand dollars to the Peddie Insti- tute, at Hightstown, N. J., besides liberal sums to Columbian College, Washington, D. C .; to Rochester Theological Seminary; to the Cook Academy, at Havana, N. Y., and to other institutions, both at the North and South. To these donations may be added his gifts to needy churches and to varions missionary and benevolent societies.

Mr. Colgate is a man of strong physiqne, with a countenanec that betrays intelligence, frankness and force. He has indomitable energy, breadth and aeute- ness of intellectual perception and deep religious eon- victions. Associated with these is a love of truthful- ness so intense as to produce a thorough intolerance of all shams and false pretensions. His character is also equally marked by the openness and geniality of his nature and his great kindliness of heart. He de- servedly holds a high place among the princely givers

of our times, and it is to be hoped that many other men of large wealth may emulate his example.1

We take pleasure in presenting to the citizens of Yonkers this short sketch of one of the city's oldest residents-one whose truly religions tendencies and liberal spirit have long made themselves felt in the town, both to its own honor and the lasting benefit of others.

Opening of the Sabbath-School Room. - Formal possession was taken of the new Sabbath-sehool room on the morning of the day of dedication, June 20, 1869. The church-school, Brother Heman L. White, superintendent, and the Spring Street Mission school, Brother Edward Bright, superintendent, marched from the old house in a solid procession of six hundred strong, preceded by a beautiful silk ban- ner, a gift to the church-school from its superintend- ent. Arrived at the new room, which was crowded in every part, addresses of welcome were delivered by Brothers Colgate and Trevor, Heman L. White, super- intendent of the church-sehool, Rev. Dr. Edward Bright, superintendent of the mission-school, Mr. Gray, a former Superintendent of the ehnrch-school, and Rev. Mr. Behrends, the pastor. The exercises were elosed with singing, and next in the order of the day came the

Dedication of the Church .- At half past ten the main andience-room was] thronged with a large, in- terested audience, who had gathered from far and near to share in the joy of the dedication day. The pastor, Rev. A. J. F. Behrends, Rev. C. D' W. Bridg- man, D.D., of Albany, and Rev. Edward Bright, D.D., of Yonkers, occupied seats on the pulpit platform. After the invocation and the singing of the 933d hymn in the Psalmist, the following selections from Scripture were read by Dr. Bridgman : Psalm exxii., Aets xvii. 24-28, and 1 Cor. iii. 11-23. The dedica- tory prayer was then offered by Dr. Bright, a member of the ehnrch. After the singing of the 338th hymn, the pastor preached the dedicatory sermon, from Haggai ii. 9, after which the choir sang the sentence beginning : " How beautiful are thy dwellings, O Lord of Hosts !"

At half-past three o'clock P.M., the house was crowded to its utmost capacity, hundreds being nn- able to gain admittanee, by the members of the various village churches and eongregations, to join in a general Christian congratulatory service. A por- tion of Scripture was read, and prayer offered by the Rev. L. W. Mudge, pastor of the Westminster Pres- byterian Church. The pastor of the church, in the opening address, extended a most hearty Christian welcome to the pastors who were present, and through them to their respective churches, and was met with a response of equally outspoken cordiality in addresses by the Rev. M. D'C. Crawford, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Rev. Dr. Cole, of

1 From the Public Service of the State of New York, 1880, '81, '82.

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

the Reformed Chureli, and the Rev. Thomas A. Jag- gars, rector of St. John's Episcopal Church. The meeting was one of marked heartiness, and inspiriting to the highest degree.

In the evening a very large audience listened, with unwearied interest, to a foreible plea for " Faith in God," from the Rev. C. D'W. Bridgman, D.D., pastor After Rev. Mr. Sanders' departure there was a vacancy of eleven months. A call was then extended to the Rev. Edwin P. Farnham, pastor of the Friend- ship Street Baptist Church, of Providence, R. I., which was accepted. Rev. Mr. Farnham is a native of Litchfield, Conn., and a graduate of Brown University and Rochester Theologieal Seminary. He is a most faithful and earnest student, preacher and pastor, is loved by all who know him, and was doing excellent work in the city when owing to affliction in his family and obstacles beyond his control, he sud- denly resigned his charge, preaching his last >ermon to an immense and deeply sympathetic audience on the evening of the 25th of April, 1886. The church is now again without a pastor. of the Pearl Street Baptist Church, Albany. This service elosed the dedicatory exereises. On Monday evening another and an enthusiastic meeting was held in the church, at which the pastor presided, and Rev. Dr. Bright and William Allen Butler, Esq., of Yonkers, and Rev. Dr. J. R. Kendrick, of the Taber- nacle Baptist Church of New York City, made inter- esting addresses. In this way was introduced to Yonkers a gift which is beyond all praise for its liberality, its good taste and its useful character. The pastor, Rev. Mr. Behrends, was the manly scholar and the scholarly man to receive such a gift with graceful neatness of address, and to put it at once to its fullest capacity for usefulness. He had filled the pulpit of the earlier house from 1865 to 1869, preach- The church, in 1884, contained five hundred and ing to all the audience it would hold, and now he had i eighty-seven members. Its present deacons are James the pleasure of welcoming full and often packing audiences in this large and imposing house of the Lord. In 1873, however, he received and accepted a call to a Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Later on he became a Congregationalist, and pastor of a Congregational Church in Providence, R. I. Now he is pastor of the Congregational Church in Brooklyn, N. Y., formerly known as Rev. Dr. Henry Martyn Scudder's. Rev. Dr. Belirends (as he is now known) is a preacher of great power. From his entrance into the ministry he has always been a growing man, and long ago he came to be widely known, so that he needs no further word from us here.

The pastors of the Warburton Avenue Baptist Church have been as follows :

Rev. D. Henry Miller, began 1819 ; resigned 1856. Rev. J. R. Scott, began 1858 ; resigned 1×60.

Rev. John C. C. Clarke, began 1862 ; resigned 1×65.

Rev. A. J. F. Behrends, began 1865; resigned 1873.

Rev. William T. Burns, began 187 ; resigned 18;5.

Rev. Henry M1. Sanders, began 1876 ; resigned 18>1.

Rev. Edward P. Farnham, began 1883; resigned lasG.

The Rev. D. Henry Miller is now stationed at Greenpoint, L. I .; the Rev. J. R. Scott has been ealled to his heavenly reward ; the Rev. J. C. C. Clarke has a charge in Madison, Wis .; the Rev. A. J. F. Belirends, D.D., is in Brooklyn, as stated above. The Rev. William T. Burns was a native of Ohio, and upon taking his charge in Yonkers, had just been - graduated at the Rochester Theological Seminary. He is at present stationed at Camden, N. J.

The Rev. Henry M. Sanders, who followed, was born in New York City, and was gradnated at Yale College, and afterward at the Union Theological Seminary of New York City. The Warburton Ave- nue Baptist Church was his first charge. He left it to become pastor of the Forty-second Street Baptist

Church in New York City, where he still is .* He has earned a high reputation as an eloquent and successful preacher. During the five years of his stay in Yonkers the church was in a flourishing condition, and there was an increase of one hundred and fifty- one members.

B. Colgate, Isaac G. Johnson, William Holme, Samuel Dinsmore and W. N. Bailey. It has a chapel on Nepperhan Avenue, built for the accommodation of a mission Sunday-school, which it has sustained for many years. The school was started on the second Sabbath of November, 1863, and owed its origin chiefly to Rev. Edward Bright, D.D., and his daughter. The meeting to organize it was held in a room in the second story of the morocco-factory near the corner of Nepperhan Avenue and New Main Street. and was largely attended, those present being almost all members ofthe Mount Olivet Baptist Church. The following Sabbath, when teaching was begun, the ehil- ren present were so numerous that seats for all could not be procured. The meeting was held in the morocco- factory for a few Sabbaths only, when it was removed to a building on Spring (now New Main) Street, at present known as Teutonia Hall. This hall had very soon to be enlarged to make room for the children. A vigorous canvass of Nodine Hill and other parts of the town for scholars was made at the outset by teachers in the school and by Rev. Henry Bromley, a missionary secured by Dr. Bright for this purpose. For about three years and a half of the continuance of the school in the Spring Street build- ing, Captain Holmes, a former sea captain, was en- ployed as the regular missionary, and by his zeal and energy added greatly to the growth of the school. After his death, Mr. Bromley again entered the field for a time, but afterwards became employed in mis- sionary work in Brooklyn.

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History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 18

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286