USA > New York > History of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy of New York 1797-1894 > Part 17
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ST. TIMOTHY'S CHURCH.
James B. Young died February, 1887. In the death of our associate and friend, St. Timothy's Church sus- tained the loss of a member, and the Vestry of an adviser whose presence will be sadly missed. An earnest Christian man, he was devoted to his Church and its interest, and of late, particularly to the endeavor to secure larger and bet- ter accommodations for carrying on the work of the Church. He was truly a man "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." The memory of the just is blessed.
CHURCH OF ZION AND SAINT TIMOTHY. REV. HENRY LUBECK, LL.D., RECTOR.
I N this composite, if not altogether felicitous title, the name Zion was given first place upon grounds of seniority.
Under an order of the Supreme Court, uniting the two corporations, the following-named persons were appointed Church Wardens and Vestrymen until the first annual election :
John Jewell Smith and Frederick W. Devoe, Church Wardens ; Robert Milbank, David Clarkson, Horace Manuel, Benjamin F. Watson, A. Howard Hopping, William S. Hawk, Charles Harvey Lane, and M. Taylor Pyne, Vestry- men.
The Vestry held its first meeting May I, 1890. After electing a clerk and a treasurer, it proceeded, in compliance with canon law, to the election of a Rector.
The Rev. Henry Lubeck, M.A., LL.B., (since given the honorary degree of LL.D. by Hobart College), was unani- mously elected. The Rector, upon taking the chair, ex- pressed his sincere thanks for so gratifying an evidence of the confidence of the Vestry.
By virtue of an order of the Supreme Court uniting the
279
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corporations, the Rev. Charles C. Tiffany, D.D., was declared Rector Emeritus. The Rev. Charles H. S. Hartman, assist- ant minister of St. Timothy's Church, was appointed to the same office in the new corporation. The organist of St. Timothy's Church, Mr. Charles H. Sunderland, was also en- gaged, as was Mr. Benjamin Mckeever, the sexton.
To complete the organization, Standing and Special Committees were chosen and the corporate seal adopted.
Mr. William Halsey Wood was chosen architect. A Building Committee was appointed, composed of the Rector, Messrs. John Jewell Smith, Frederick W. Devoe, and William S. Hawk.
On Sunday, May 4, 1890, the congregation of the new cor- poration assembled for divine service in the Sunday-school room in the basement of St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, in West Fifty-third Street, east of Eighth Avenue, where the congregation of St. Timothy's Church had been worshipping since the burning of their church.
Despite the inconvenience under which services were con- ducted in this place, and the lack of all accommodations for parish work, the congregations were large, and steadily and notably increased.
On May 21st, the property in Madison Avenue, formerly owned and occupied by the corporation of Zion Church, was sold by public auction, through Messrs. A. H. Muller & Son, to the South Reformed Church for three hundred thousand dollars. The announcement of the name of the purchaser caused much gratification on the ground that the
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consecrated church was to be preserved as a place of worship. If severed from our communion, into whose hands could it better fall than into those of a denomination with which our Church has stood in such friendly relations during the whole history of this city ?
AN HISTORIC CHURCH.
" The history of the South Church is coeval with that of this city. It is a lineal descendant of the first place of Chris- tian worship built upon this island in 1633, for the Rev. Evarardus Bogardus. The successive churches in which the New Amsterdamers worshipped, were the predecessors of the South Church until March 13, 1813, when, owing to discon- tent at the proceedings of the Collegiate Church manage- ment, a number of the latter's congregation secured permis- sion from the classis, and in an edifice in Garden Street, began an independent existence under the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. J. M. Mathews.
" In the great fire of 1835, this church was destroyed, but on December 24, 1837, it took possession of a new house which it had built at the northeast corner of Murray and Church Streets. February 28, 1838, the Rev. John M. Mc- Cauley became its pastor, and continued as such until 1862, when his connection with the church was dissolved. In June, 1849, the congregation becoming too large for the old edifice, the present one at Twenty-first Street and Fifth Avenue was taken possession of.
" When Mr. McCauley retired, the pulpit was taken by the Rev. Dr. E. P. Rogers, who continued until 1881, when
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the Rev. Roderick Terry, D.D., the present pastor, suc- ceeded him."
The altar, memorial windows and tablets, lectern, pulpit, organ, baptismal font, peal of bells, and chancel furniture, were excepted from the sale.
June 9th, the Vestry agreed to continue Zion Chapel, located in Forty-first Street, under the auspices of this parish, subject to the provisions and conditions expressed in resolutions then submitted. This chapel, now known as the Chapel of Zion and St. Timothy, was begun over twenty years ago by The Church of the Atonement in Madison Avenue, and was continued when that church was consoli- dated with Zion Church in 1880. The Rev. Isaac C. Sturges was elected to resume his former, and most acceptable, relations with the chapel. This chapel is sustained by voluntary subscriptions of members of the parish church, supplemented by liberal offertories at the chapel.
In June, 1890, excavation was begun for the new build- ings. The work of construction was, unfortunately, delayed, as it became necessary to materially modify the first plans submitted to the building committee. While eminently satisfactory, they called for a larger outlay than was deemed prudent. Useless ornamentation was therefore eschewed by the committee, and massive dignity substituted. Revised plans were subsequently submitted, and ap- proved by the Vestry. A contract was executed in con- formity therewith, on November 24th (Mr. James D. Murphy being the contractor), and work was com-
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menced the following week, under the supervision of the building committee. The congregation cheerfully bore the disappointment arising from this delay, being animated by the hope that, after the contract was at last executed, the work would progress to an early completion.
During August, it became necessary to remove the re- mains of the dead from the crypt beneath the tower of Zion Church, to allow extensive alterations to be made in that . church by the purchasers. Upon opening the crypt, it was discovered that the remains were entirely indistinguishable and unrecognizable. Under the supervision of the late sex- ton of Zion Church, Mr. Alfred W. Fraser, the remains were exhumed, placed in seventeen chestnut caskets (zinc lined, and hermetically sealed), and on the 16th of the month they were interred in Trinity Cemetery, in a plot purchased by this parish, and located on the westerly side of Eleventh Avenue. The plot was known as No. 641, and contained three hundred and sixty-nine square feet. The records of burials during the early history of Zion Church, and of the Lutheran Church, have not been found. Of the number of the dead removed-believed to exceed two hundred,-the names of only two persons are known. One plate was found, engraved : " Capt. George Tait, died April 13, 1819, aged 57 years," and the Mary Welsh mural tablet is inscribed : "Her remains are interred beneath the tower of this church."
In September, the large auditorium of St. John's Method- ist Church was offered for rent upon terms that were
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accepted. With its galleries, it afforded increased seating capacity, and much greater comfort.
On December 19th, the assistant minister, the Rev. Chas. H. S. Hartman, severed his relation with the parish, carry- ing with him the respect of a congregation that had appre- ciated the merit of his ministry among them.
"NEW YORK, November 5, 1890.
" At a meeting of the Vestry of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy, held this day, the following preambles and resolutions were adopted :
" Whereas, the Corporation of Zion Church was consoli- dated April 25, 1890, under the corporate title of the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy in the City of New York, and
" Whereas, Zion Church was built A. D., 1854, on Madison Avenue, corner Thirty-eighth Street, upon land given in 1851, by the heirs of Susan Ogden ; and
" Whereas, in and by the order of the Supreme Court, of June 19, 1890, authorizing the sale of said real estate, it was ordered that the proceeds arising from such sale should be applied for such purposes as contained in first and second clauses of agreement of consolidation. That the residue thereof be set apart and held by this Corporation, as a sepa- rate and permanent fund for the maintenance of this Corpora- tion, in the nature of an endowment fund. And
" Whereas, the residue of said sale, after satisfying the requirements of said order, will, as now ascertained, amount to a considerable sum : Therefore
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" Resolved ; That in commemoration and grateful recog- nition of this free gift to Zion Church by the heirs of Susan Ogden, the said fund so set apart be designated and known as " The Heirs of Susan Ogden Endowment Fund."
" Resolved ; That the mural tablet recently removed from the vestibule of the old church edifice of Zion Church, in- scribed :
6 THIS EDIFICE
BUILT A. D. 1854
ON LAND GIVEN TO
ZION CHURCH
BY THE HEIRS OF SUSAN OGDEN '
be placed upon a wall of the parish house of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy, with such suitable additional inscrip- tion, in view of its changed location, as may be determined upon by the building committee."
February 1, 1894, the actual amount of the said fund, so set apart, is $130,275.40.
In February, 1891, the Rev. Karl Schwartz, M.A., from Trinity Church, Lowville, diocese of central New York, was appointed assistant minister.
On Wednesday, 29th April, 1891, at three P.M., the corner- stone of the new edifice was laid.
The circumstance leading up to the occurrence attracted unusual public interest. Previous to the ceremony, the
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CHURCH OF ZION AND ST. TIMOTHY.
clergy (in their vestments) assembled at the residence of Mr. John Jewell Smith, senior warden, 362 West Fifty-seventh Street. Among those present were the Bishop of the dio- cese, the Rev. A. Mackay-Smith, D.D. ; the Rev. Mr. Butter- worth, the Rev. Dr. Brady E. Backus, the Rev. Mr. Magill, the Rev. Arthur Whitaker, the Rev. John T. Patey, the Rev. Arthur Mason, the Rev. Mr. Ridgeway, the Rev. Thos. H. Sill, the Rev. Henry Lubeck, Rector ; the Rev. Karl Schwartz, assistant ; the Rev. Isaac C. Sturges, assistant ; the Rev. C. H. S. Hartman, the Rev. Mr. Nisbet, the Rev. James Wasson, the Rev. Geo. G. Hepburn, the Rev. Dr. H. Y. Satterlee, the Rev. Robt. F. Crary, the Rev. Mr. Cleveland, the Rev. Robt. M. Kemp, the Rev. P. Macfar- lane, the Rev. Mr. Spinoza, the Rev. O. B. Keith, the Rev. T. McKee Brown, the Rev. Dr. T. M. Peters, the Rev. C. T. Ward, the Rev. Newton Perkins, the Rev. Dr. Dunnell, the Rev. M. M. Fothergill, the Rev. J. C. Hewlett, the Rev. Mr. Bleecker, the Rev. Walter Hughson, the Rev. Dr. Tat- lock, the Rev. Mr. Spong, the Rev. Dr. Harris, the Rev. W. M. Geer.
The procession started to the strains of Baring-Gould's hymn, " The Church's One Foundation," in the following order : the sexton, the vested choirs of the church of St. Mary the Virgin, and of this parish, headed by musicians playing on brass instruments, under the leadership of George B. Prentice, Mus. Doc .; the wardens and vestry- men, the architect and builder, the clergy, archdeacons, the clergy of the parish, and the Bishop of the diocese.
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REV. HENRY LUBECK, LL.D.
The services were held under an immense canopied tent, stretched over the pillars of the new structure, entirely pro- tecting those assembled from a sharp northwest wind. There was sufficient indication in the rising outlines of the building to reveal the promise of a noble edifice. The usual service then followed. The Rector, the Rev. Henry Lubeck, gave a short history of the united parishes. The inscription on the stone
1810 + 1853 1890.
was announced, and the contents of the copper box to be deposited in the corner-stone were enumerated as follows :
Holy Bible, Common Prayer and Hymnal ; Journal of Diocesan Convention, N. Y., 1890 ; Canons of General and Diocesan Conventions, 1890; Protestant Episcopal Church Almanac and Parochial List, 1891 ; service used at laying of corner-stone; histories of Zion Church, St. Timothy's Church, and Church of Zion and St. Timothy; copies of agreement and consolidation papers; names of officers of Church of Zion and St. Timothy, canons of parish guild and names of officers and chapters, societies and officers of Chapel of Zion and St. Timothy, action of Vestry adopting Zion Chapel, action of Vestry respecting "the Heirs of Susan Ogden Endowment," plans and description of church and parish building, names of building committee, architect, and contractors, view of Zion Church in Mott Street, erected 1815-18 ; view of Zion Church in Madison Avenue, erected 1853; interior and exterior view of St.
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CHURCH OF ZION AND ST. TIMOTHY.
Timothy's Church, erected 1867 ; memorial book to the Rev. Geo. Jarvis Geer, D.D., portrait of the Bishop of the diocese.
The following cable from Italy was received by a mem- ber of the Vestry during the ceremonies, and read by the Rector :
" VENICE.
" Congratulate Rector, Vestry, and congregation this day.
"C. C. TIFFANY."
The corner-stone was laid in its place, with the usual ceremonies, by the Bishop.
Then followed an extemporaneous address from the Rev. Dr. Satterlee, Rector of Calvary Church, New York City.
Dr. Satterlee said :
" BRETHREN OF THE CLERGY, BRETHREN AND SISTERS OF THE LAITY :
" All through these services these words of the old preacher have been ringing in my ears: ' A three-fold cord shall not be quickly broken.' Ten years ago there were two parishes in this part of the city, each of them struggling for existence by itself, and each one of them living a life that was in many respects the reverse of that of the other, while prayers went up from one and from the other, that God would bless His work in these two spheres.
" The first of these two parishes is Zion Church, situated on Madison Avenue; at that time it was almost at the head of Madison Avenue : the end was at Forty-second Street ; and in Fifth Avenue there was not a single house
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that I remember, yes, but one house above the reservoir. All beyond there were places at that time which had just begun to be broken up into blocks by the passing of the streets. There it was that Zion stood, its spire pointing upward towards heaven; while it stood there, as it were upon the outposts of New York City. Time passed on, and very soon a change took place. The vacant lots were all filled, house after house was built, until the long lines of brownstone houses were to be seen everywhere, until at last there was not a square inch of space that was not filled. Then it was that the churches began to come after the people. In a few years where Zion had been alone, within one square half-mile, there were sixteen, or perhaps twenty, churches of various Christian bias.
"The logic of events pointed out what the future must be for some of these parishes. Then it was about a dozen years since the proposed Church of the Atonement had moved uptown, and became united under the able rector- ship of Dr. Tiffany, with Zion Church, and the elements of two kinds of life, in these two kinds of parishes, were so completely harmonious, though they were in some respects parishes of different kinds of ecclesiastical strength, they were so harmonious, I say, that the united parish went forth and did its work for God. But it was doing it in a thinly settled district. For when you compare what Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue are to-day, with life as it is in the eastern and western parts of the city, we must call that kind of a neighborhood a sparsely settled neighbor-
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hood, although you have the luxurious regions of Murray Hill. Then it was felt that a move was necessary.
" Turning from this parish of Zion, we come to the other part of the city where there was little St. Timothy's Church struggling to do its work under God as best it might. I never knew the first Rector of the parish. He was there but two years, and then he was followed by Dr. Geer, under whose rectorship of thirty years has this parish of St. Timothy grown; under whose care it attained, as we have read this morning, this shape, until it was united with Zion. Earnestly that little band of workers struggled on; St. Timothy's Church, before a single stone was laid, was formed in the hearts of the people; the church itself was built about an idea: and then the idea was founded on Jesus Christ Himself, the chief corner-stone. The little band of workers determined that St. Timothy's Church should be to the end of its days a free church, devoted to the service of God ; and to this work Dr. Geer gave his life. From that they all looked forward to a time of trial. As we read the history of the parish, we know that those were days and years which tried men's souls. But still they went on with the work patiently, and with faith.
"The Rector of St. Timothy's was one I had the privilege of knowing intimately ; and I can remember, and I trust his family will forgive me, if I here repeat a remembrance and a reminiscence of those by-gone days. One time when we were talking together, and also speaking of the struggles of St. Timothy's Church, of the time when a free church was
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REV. HENRY LUBECK, LL.D.
contrary to the spirit of the age, and when this little band of workers had to breast all the discouragements that come when one is working against the spirit of the age, ยท . I can remember, I say, speaking with Dr. Geer about it, and saying, 'Yes, but you are at the same time leaving another monument which is more enduring than many of these human tablets; I think that perhaps the greatest privilege of my life, Dr. Geer, is to see you in the midst of your family, surrounded by those, every one of whom is a communicant of the Church who will live after you to be a witness for Almighty God.' Then came his answer: 'I have always held that whatever a man's life may be, whatever his efforts or his success, in other directions, if he does not bring up his sons and daughters to be Christian men and Christian women, his life is a failure.'
" Brethren, if we may call Dr. Geer with the first Rector, the founder of this parish, if I may have the privilege of speaking of him as the founder of St. Timothy's, we have here then something that we may all lay to heart. In these days they say that a free church, that free churches are con- trary to the spirit of family life. Here, in the founder of St. Timothy's, we see one who has set the example of the way in which the family life and free church life may be brought together in one.
" Now turning, in conclusion, to the subsequent history of this parish, we have before us to-day the result; we have heard all that has been spoken of that history ; we have listened, I myself have listened, with intense interest to the
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CHURCH OF ZION AND ST. TIMOTHY.
story of these two parishes; and, as I said before, the time had come when the logic of events itself compelled the con- viction, that some of these churches on Murray Hill must be moved where they could do God's work more perfectly. Then came the thought : shall Zion Church move up into the more favored parts of the city, and there found a new church, a new life, a new congregation, in a portion of the city where its labor and its life must meet with success? This thought arose, and the vision also arose before the Rector of this struggling parish of St. Timothy-one parish was weak just at that point where the other parish was strong-and then it was that there came that thought in the heart of him whose chivalrous self-sacrifice, whose sound judgment, whose warm, broad sympathies and gentle words we all know so well, and he resolved that if his Vestry would stand by him, he himself would stand aside and let this work of God go on. His Vestry did stand by him, all honor to those who have thus, by the spirit of their lives, helped to breathe a benison upon the services of this blessed day.
" And now, turning to the future, it seems to me that the future history of Zion and St. Timothy's is as rich in possi- bilities, as the past has been in reminiscences. Looking toward that future, we know that, for all the coming days, Zion and Timothy's is to be a free church, in which God's service shall be freely preached. Brethren, the cry in this day is that Christianity is unable to reach the masses ; everywhere about us we hear that cry ; everywhere about us we find men who are striving to come down to the
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thought and to the level of the masses, to preach the Gospel in the way that the masses can comprehend and understand ; and it seems to me that the nearest approxi- mation to a solution of this problem that has yet been found, is in the establishment of a free church. As we see how the free churches in this city are crowded to the very doors ; as we contrast their hearty service with the services that we see in the churches that are not free, and which for the greater part of the year almost are only half-filled, in those churches where the Gospel is made too easy and therefore is robbed of its spirit of self-sacrifice, . . . why then it seems to me that a free church where the Gospel is freely preached, where the ministers go out in the highways, and byways, and hedges, and compel the people to come in; where the ministers and people together stand and call to all with earnest hearts, and where that cry is heard in all its ful- ness 'Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,' it seems to me that in a church like that, we have the solu- tion of that problem which this day seems so insoluble ; and that in a free church we have that church and congregation which is nearest the type of the New Testament itself.
"God speed the future of the Church of Zion and St. Timothy ; it has indeed a golden outlook before it; whose Rector has already challenged the respect of his brethren in New York, who has more and more widely commanded the confidence of the laity as he has become the more widely known ; and God grant that each one of us who are here to- day, may not enter into these services as a mere perfunctory
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and formal thing, but may utter from the heart as well as from the lips, that prayer which heaven itself shall hear, ' God bless the future of Zion and Timothy's parish.' Amen."
The services were concluded with prayer, after which the Gloria in Excelsis was sung and the Bishop pronounced the benediction. The procession re-formed and proceeded to the residence of Mr. Smith, to the strains of Hymn 138.
Not the least interesting incident in the day's proceedings was the following letter received from the Rector Emeritus.
"From this kingdom of United Italy, I send my greeting to the united parish of Zion and St. Timothy on the auspi- cious occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the new church. From this far-famed city of Florence by the Arno, which is the distant platform from which I address you, my eye glances across the intervening continent and ocean to the banks of the Hudson, near to which our new church house will lie. Could the body travel as rapidly as the thought, how gladly would I be with you, as with devout gratulation for the past, and cheering hope for the future, you put into position the stone which shall witness to the care and consideration with which the building has been undertaken. In comparison with the great churches of Italy, the magnificent basilicas of Rome, the unrivalled dome of Brunelleschi, surrounded by Santa Croce, San Miniato and Santa Maria Novella, of Florence, and the far- famed Cathedrals of Orvieto and Siena and Perugia, how
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small our grandest ecclesiastical undertakings seem to be. The vastness of structure, the splendor of decoration, the richness of material, the glowing surfaces of frescoes, of mosaics, of marble bas-reliefs, these cannot be ours. It is perhaps well that they cannot, for such vastness and rich- ness of resources demand the genius of a Michael Angelo, a Raphael, a Luca della Robbia, to rightly use them. Our conditions, our means limited to private benefactions, our task set us to educate the people in personal and social righteousness ; these call us to less splendor of ecclesiastical display, but to the more vigorous and spiritual methods of ethical religion. Here we propose to rear a solid, spacious, beautiful, but simple church, where all classes of the com- munity will be equally welcome to worship and to work. The parish house rises simultaneously with the church, and ' worship and work ' should be the watchword of our under- taking. They are the correlative terms of a genuine Christi- anity. To applaud work and decry worship, is to deride the sun and demand only light and heat. To applaud wor- ship and decry work is to praise the reservoir and neglect the conduits which lead the water to the spots where it is needed. The true faith is that which works by love. Long may this church stand as a reservoir of Christian truth and enlightened devotion. Long may its parish house stand as a centre of Christian zeal and practical effort in doing good. My congratulations, my best wishes, my earnest prayers attend every movement of the united parish of Zion and St. Timothy. May every success attend the erection of the
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