USA > New York > Schenectady County > History of the County of Schenectady, N. Y., from 1662 to 1886... > Part 21
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KLOKLUYER. - The sexton of the church was called the Klokluyer, or bell-ringer, and his duties seem to have been not only to ring the bell, but to keep the benches and seats in proper order and to dig and fill the graves. The earliest mention of this officer in the church records is the following:
" At a consistory held this Ist July, 1696, it was resolved that Simon Groot, Sr., for ringing the bell and arranging the benches and stools in the church, shall receive annually, out of the income of the church or of the deacons' money, the sum of 60 guilders seawant [$7.50], to begin on this Ist of July."
This Simon Groot was the first of the name that settled here, and the ancestor of all the Groots found in this vicinity. He and his five sons were carried captives into Canada by the French and In- dians in 1690.
The salary of the sexton was the same down to 1735, when it was increased to the yearly stipend of $15.
Margaret Veeder, widow of Symon Volkertse Veeder, held the office during the years 1748-9 for $8. 25 per annum.
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
From 1750 to 1758 Sara Marselis was bell-ringer, the duties being performed for {4, or $10.
In 1759 Isaac Quackenbos' "neger" rang the bell, and "Peeter Seesar " (Cæsar), from 1760 to 1766, for {6 per annum.
Jacob Van Cise was sexton from 1771 to 1791, at a salary of {10, and was succeeded by his son Gysbert, who was dismissed from the office in 1799 "for delivering the skull of a corpse to the house of Dr. Anderson, and which he was compelled to return in the presence of one of the members of the consistory, and deposit in the place whence it was taken."
The sexton was required to keep order in the church during public worship, and was indemnified against any legal process "that might arise for correcting or turning out of church the unruly and refractory; provided he do not essentially injure or scandalously abuse any person."
Mr. Janus Lighthall was appointed sexton in 1799.
BAPTISMS .- The baptismal register of this church from 1694 to this time is entire, with the exception of ten years during Dominie Vrooman's ministry; and as all children were baptized, both colored and Indian as well as white, legitimate and illegitimate, it is the only authoritative source, if rightly inter- preted, whence the descendants of most of the old Dutch families of this region can derive their pedi- grees. In early times baptism was always per- formed in the church, unless unavoidably prevented, and within a few days after birth; sometimes on the birthday. And it was the duty of the dominie to register each baptized child, with the parents and witnesses' names.
The number of registered baptisms from 1694 to 1852 is 11,396.
MARRIAGES. - The marriage register of this church contains the names of 2, 543 couples married be- tween 1694 and 1852.
Under the Dutch Government of New Nether- lands, marriage was considered a civil contract, and might be confirmed either by a magistrate or a minister of the gospel. Preliminary to such con- firmation, however, the bans were published three Sundays or market days by the minister of the church where the parties resided, or by a magis- trate in the court, after which the marriage could be confirmed by any minister or magistrate on pres- entation of a certificate of such publication. No particular place was required for the marriage cere- mony. Sometimes it was performed in the church and sometimes in private houses. As it was im- possible or inconvenient to comply with the law in all cases, a dispensation and license was granted by the Governor, on the presentation of a "penal bond of {500 that there was no lawful let or im- pediment " to such marriage. The practice of issuing licenses ceased with the British rule in this State in 1783.
When a widow or widower with infant children married again, it was customary for the parties to contract with the Orphans' Court guardians to pro- tect and preserve the property of said children un- til they arrived at lawful age.
COURTSHIP .- Comparatively little can be learned about the courtship customs in the early days of the frontier settlements. However, "old maids " were unknown, and widows seldom died in widowhood, unless at very advanced age. They easily and soon secured another husband, a very necessary protection in the sparse settlements of the border lands. The girls were needed at home, and were in great demand as housewives, and needed no fortune save health and strength as their marriage portion. If marriages of convenience were made, the wealth brought to the husband was in the bride's strength and housewifely skill, and the fam- ily influence gained by the match. The custom of "bundling " was probably practiced to some ex- tent in all the early settlements along the Hudson and in this vicinity. The records of Albany County show some early cases in this locality. At the time of the Revolution it was generally preva- lent among the Dutch, insomuch that anything wrong in it did not prevail.
Speaking of Van Corlear, Washington Irving says: "Van Corlear stopped occasionally in the villages to eat pumpkin pies, dance at country frolics and bundle with the Yankee lasses."
Tradition says that within this century sermons were preached against it in the Dutch church here, and that it was earnestly defended.
FUNERALS .- At funerals no women attended the body to the grave, but after the body was borne out, remained to eat cakes and drink spiced wine. They retired quietly before the men returned, who then, in their turn, participated in the funeral feast, and finished with pipes and tobacco. The best room in the house was specially appropriated as the "dead room," and was rarely opened but to be aired and cleaned. Wealthy citizens, in an- ticipation of a death in their families, were accus- tomed to procure a cask of wine during their life- time, and preserve it for this purpose. The prep- arations for the funeral included setting tables through the house, and placing thereon plates of cake, plates of tobacco, and sometimes hundreds of pipes. At the side of each plate of tobacco was a small roll of paper for lighting the pipe, also candles lit, and wine put up in bottles, and set on the table with wine glasses. The spiced wine was placed on the tables in silver tankards. The occa- sion was more like a wedding than a funeral.
The coffins were black, made with a regular taper from head to foot, the top like the pitched roof of a house. A large silver plate, the name and date of death and age carved on it, was the only ornament. When removed from the house it was placed upon a bier at the door, a black pall, owned by the church, thrown over it, and it was borne by six or eight pall-bearers, who had four yards of linen given them for scarfs, and the minis- ter had the same. They bore it upon their shoul- ders to the grave, followed by the relations, even to remote cousins, two by two, and likewise in- vited guests. No one attended funerals in olden time without an invitation. A list was made out by the friends of the deceased, and the sexton would go around and invite those whose names
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were thereon. The charges for attending funerals were regulated by the consistory of the church. The following is a list of prices established in 1771 :
"Rules for Cornelis De Graff, appointed sexton the 18th of November, 1771, in regard to what he is at liberty to take for inviting (the friends) and burying (the dead).
" For a person of twenty years old and upward, 16s. to 20S.
" For a person of 15 to 19 years, 15s. to 19s.
" For a person of 10 to 14 years, 14s. to 18s.
" For a person of 5 to 9 years, 13s. to 17s.
" For a person of 1 to 4 years, 8s. to 12S.
" For an unbaptized child, when the bell shall be rung once, 6s. to IOS.
" For ditto when the bell shall not be rung, 3s. to 78.
" For the Great Pall, 3s.
" For the Little Pall, 9d.
" All thus when he is obliged to invite (the friends) within the village; but when he likewise is obliged to extend the invitations without, he may ask 4 shillings (altered to 6 shillings) more each; this is
to be understood, as far as Claas Viele's (upper end of Maalwyck), or this side; but when he is obliged to extend invitations further-to Syme Vedder's (Hoffman's Ferry) or this side- then he may ask 3 shillings (altered to six shillings) more.
"The prices in the above rules are increased by reason of the hard times."
The grave-digger and bell-ringer was allowed to charge as follows:
"For a person of 7 up to and above 20, for a grave, 3s., and for the bell, 3s.
"For a child I to 6 years, for the grave, 2s., for the bell, 3s.
"For an unbaptized child, when the bell shall be rung once, for the grave, 2s., and for the bell, 2s.
"For tolling the bell he may likewise ask one shilling more."
He was required at his own expense to keep proper tools for making and filling graves, likewise proper cords, etc.
Prior to the year 1800 there had probably been no hearse in the village. In all funeral processions the bier and pall were used ; hence it was not con- venient to carry the dead a great distance in this manner, and the people in the country buried their dead on their own lands.
The consistory of the church procured the first hearse in December, 1800, for the use of the con- gregation and the public for an established fee.
ENDOWMENTS .- Probably no church in the State outside the City of New York was so munificently endowed as that of Schenectady. In 1740 she owned fully twelve square miles of land in this county, which, had it been conveyed by long leases and not in fee, would have been worth to her now from 300,000 to 500,000 dollars. All this mag- nificent estate has passed away ; at this time she possesses barely a fine house of worship and the lot upon which it stands.
FINANCES .- In early times the Dutch churches often acted as guardians of widows and orphans ;
they provided for the poor and kindly looked after the aged and infirm who had no natural protectors; and it was not unusual for the latter to place their property in the hands of the consistory, from whom they received, from time to time, such sup- port as their wants required. The consistory were the almoners of the church. Every Lord's day a collection was taken of the free-will offerings of the people for this, and certain other purposes, and this duty was not omitted even though there were no present objects upon whom their bounty might be bestowed.
In the outset, the little community of Schenec- tady seems to have had few or no poor people; with the exception of a "shirt for a captive French- man," it does not appear from the accounts that the deacons gave a stiver to any person during the years 1687-9. As the funds accumulated they were loaned on bond at 6 per cent. interest to citi- zens. Thus, in the audit of 1689, obligations to the amount of nearly 3,000 guilders were included in the assets of the church. Moreover the consis- tory traded with another portion of these funds, buying and selling brass kettles, nails, linen, thread, baize, coverlets, etc.
Particularly unfortunate has it been for Schenec- tady that the flames of 1690 spared almost nothing of her early records ; with the exception of a few leaves of the deacons' account book, all is a blank.
In 1790, and for some years later, there was great scarcity of small change. To meet this in- convenience, many individuals, corporations and churches issued "shin-plasters " for one penny and upward.
On the 6th of September, 1790, the deacons an- nounced to the consistory that in consequence of the scarcity of copper money the weekly collections in the church had fallen off nearly one-half, and therefore inquired whether there was no way of remedying the loss. The Reverend Consistory, having considered the matter, came to the unani- mous conclusion to issue "shin-plasters."
The consistory immediately had printed £100 in one, two, three and six penny notes. They were issued by the deacons, and the money re- ceived for them was held for their redemption.
PASTORS FROM 1740 TO 1885.
During the four years succeeding Dominie Erichzon the church was without a settled pastor, but was occasionally visited by the ministers of Albany, although they made efforts to secure a pastor from Holland. They finally succeeded in securing Dominie Cornelis Van Santvoord, of Staten Island, who was born in Leyden, and began his ministry in Schenectady, August, 1740.
Dominie Van Santvoord was a man of good natural parts and fine culture. He preached not only in his native tongue, but also in French and English. Under his ministry the church enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. His sudden demise at the early age of 55 years was a sad loss to the town.
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
For nearly three years after the church was again destitute of a pastor.
The sixth minister of the church was Dominie Barent Vrooman, the first native of the Province ever called to this sacred office. His great-grand- father was one of the pioneer settlers, and, together with his son, was killed in 1690, in the sacking of the village by the French.
He was born in 1725, and began his studies for the ministry under Do. Van Santvoord and fin- ished them under Do. Frelinghuysen, of Albany. In 1751 he went to Holland and studied at the University of Utrecht and obtained ordination. He was inducted into the sacred office as pastor of the congregations of New Paltz, Shawangunk and Wall- kil, his parish embracing more than two hundred square miles. Although called to Schenectady September 18, 1753, he did not arrive there until November 1, 1754.
The expense and trouble of calling a minister one hundred years ago is very imperfectly understood by those of the present day. All candidates in theology were obliged to spend more or less time at a university in the Fatherland, and after ordina- tion they returned at the expense of the church calling them. In case of a subsequent removal, it was customary for the church making the call to pay a portion of this expense. The call of Do. Vrooman cost the church in Schenectady $563. For thirty years he remained pastor of the church, though for four years preceding his death he was unable to preach but occasionally, and married 386 couples, baptized 3, 521 children, and received 453 into church membership. He is said to have been a man of much heart, familiar and social, and popular with his people.
Dominie Romeyn was the seventh minister, and the last of that long line of ministers who had, from the days of Thesschenmaecker, conducted the entire service of the church in the Dutch lan- guage. His active spirit infused new influence into the church and community ; an influence that is felt to this time in the educational institutions of the city. He was born in Hackensack, N. J. ; graduated from Princeton College, 1765 ; ordained May 14, 1766; and on the first Sabbath of November, 1784, was installed pastor of this church.
Among his first labors in Schenectady was an attempt to improve the schools and establish an academy and seminary. The result was a charter for Union College, which institution he lived to see commence its prosperous career under the manage- ment of Doctors John Blair Smith, Jonathan Ed- wards and Jonathan Maxey.
His health began failing in 1801, and about the middle of 1802 he became permanently incapaci- tated for the full performance of his ministerial duties and relinquished all claims upon the church, accepting instead a salary of $520, and was to preach one sermon on the Sabbath in Dutch.
In 1797 the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church elected him one of its Professors of Theology, the duties of which he discharged with honor to himself and benefit to others till the close of his life. He was twice honored with the offer
of President of Queen's (now Rutgers) College, and received from her the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
During his ministry the church was seriously disturbed on the subject of English preaching, as there was preaching in English in the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, and fears were enter- tained that members of the Dutch congregation would be enticed away from their own church. Various compromises were made by which there was preaching in both English and Dutch at differ- ent stated times. The agitation began in' 1794, and was carried on with more or less intensity for some years. Dominie Romeyn died on the 16th of April, 1804, and with his death ended stated Dutch preaching in the church of Schenectady.
The Rev. Jacob Sickles was the eighth minister. He was born in Tappan in 1772; graduated at Columbia College in 1792; and was licensed by the Classis of New York in 1794. He was called as assistant minister of this church in October, 1795, being then a divinity student, at a salary of $500.
The Rev. John Hardenberg Meier was the ninth minister. He graduated at Columbia College in 1795, studied theology under Dr. Livingston, and was licensed by the Classis of New York in 1798, at the age of twenty-four years. He accepted a call as assistant minister to Dr. Romeyn, in 1802, at a salary of $662.50, with a house and grounds. The following May he was installed. In less than a year his venerable colleague was removed by death, and within two years thereafter the church was called to mourn his death also.
For two years after the death of Do. Meier, the pulpit was supplied temporarily by ministers from the neighboring churches. The church called Rev. John Brodhead Romeyn, son of the late pastor, at a salary of $1,000, with house and fire- wood. For some reason the call was not accepted, and a call was made to Mr. Cornelius Borgardus, and he became the tenth minister of the church. He was licensed by the Classis of New York in 1808, and was ordained and installed pastor of this church the 27th of November the same year, being in the twenty-ninth year of his age. He remained with the church four years, and died December 15, 1812, aged thirty-two years.
The first application made for the use of the church for a Fourth of July celebration was June 24, 1811, when the consistory granted the request, "provided no instrumental music shall be used and nothing be said in the oration to wound the feelings of any political party."
The Rev. Jacob Van Vechten became the eleventh minister, and remained the longest of any of its pastors. He graduated from Union College in 1809, and was licensed by the Classis of New Brunswick in 1814, at the age of 28 years. He was inducted into the pastoral office in this church June 8, 1815. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Williams College, and at the time of his death was senior trustee of Union College, to which office he was elected in 1837. He resigned his pastorate here on the 6th of March, 1849, after a service of more than 34
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years. He died in 1868 at the residence of his son-in-law, Prof. Huntington, in Auburn, N. Y.
The twelfth minister was Rev. Wm. J. R. Tay- lor, D. D. He was born in Schodac, Rennselaer County, N. Y., July 31, 1823; graduated at Rutgers College, 1841, and from the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1844, and was ordained the same year. His pastorate in Schenectady began in 1849 and terminated in
1852. During the last year of his ministry here the church "enjoyed a gracious revival of relig- ion." It was chiefly through his exertions that the Second Reformed Church of Schenectady was formed.
In 1853 the Rev. Julius H. Seelye, now Presi- dent of Amherst College, was settled over the church, it being his first charge. He was born in Bethel, Conn., September 14, 1824. He graduated
MPDAVIS-
PRESENT DUTCH CHURCH.
from Amherst College in 1849, and from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1852.
After a year of study at Halle he returned from Europe, and preached his first sermon at Schenec- tady May 22, 1853, and received a unanimous call as pastor of the church and was installed August 10, Dr. Hickok, Vice-President of Union College, preaching the sermon. He severed his connection with this church to accept the professor- ship of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Amherst College, having been its pastor for a little more than
five years. No communion service passed during his ministry here without the reception of some members to the church on a profession of faith, and the annual contributions for benevolent purposes more than doubled during his pastorate.
The Rev. Edward E. Seelye, D. D., was the fourteenth minister. He was born in Lansing- burgh, September 24, 1819; graduated from Union College in 1839, and from Princeton Seminary in 1843. He was installed over the church in Schenectady November 1, 1858. During his pas-
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HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF SCHENECTADY.
torate here the church was destroyed by fire, and the present beautiful and costly edifice erected, the dedication sermon being preached by himself, August 6, 1863. He died while on his summer vacation, August 10, 1864, at Sandy Hill, the place of his former charge.
The Rev. Dennis Wortman, D. D., became the successor of Dr. Seelye. He graduated from Amherst in 1857, and from New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1860. Because of ill- health he resigned his charge here in 1870, greatly to the regret of a loving people. During his stay $11,000 of indebtedness on the church was paid, and the iron fence put around the church.
The Rev. Ashbel G. Vermilye, the sixteenth pastor of the church, was born in Princeton, N. J., in 1822; graduated from New York Univer- sity in 1840. He preached his first sermon in the church here August 6, 1871, the anniversary of the burning of the old and the dedication of the new edifice. His labors ceased by resignation, December, 1876.
The Rev. Wm. E. Griffis, the present pastor, was born in Philadelphia in 1843; entered Rutgers College in 1865. After graduation, in 1869, he traveled in Europe for a few months, entered the New Brunswick Theological Seminary for a year, and in December, 1870, went to Japan to engage in government educational service. Returning to this country in 1874, he spent two years in the Union Theological Seminary of New York. He received a unanimous call to the pastorate of this church, May 1, 1877, while yet a member of the senior class, and was ordained May 31, 1877. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Union College in 1884.
He is the author of "The Tokio Guide," " The Yokohama Guide," " Map of Tokio, with Histori- cal Notes," "The Mikado's Empire," "Japanese Fairy World," "Corea, the Hermit Nation," " Corea, Without and Within," "Schenectady First Church Memorial " (with Prof. Pearson), and is now preparing a life of Arendt Van Curler, the founder of Schenectady.
CONCLUSION .- This church, with its vast estates and civil interests, must have had many valuable papers pertaining to the ancestry of the people and defining many historical facts which are now but conjectures. A committee "to examine the papers in the old box belonging to the Board, and to de- stroy all such papers as they may deem useless," was appointed in 1813, and they probably de- stroyed much history. It is said that the old rec- ords of Virginia were destroyed to cover up the sins of the destroyers' ancestors, and tradition has it that the consistory of this church in its business aspect was a close corporation for the benefit of its friends.
However this may be, this committee swept out of existence the original titles to much of the land, and, doubtless, obliterated the ancestral trace of many worthy as well as unworthy Dutch settlers whose descendants are numerous throughout the country.
ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH (EPISCOPAL).
This church was the natural outgrowth of the English occupation from 1664 to the Revolution. After the peace in 1754, at the close of the old French war, few troops were stationed here, and those of the inhabitants who desired to hear preach- ing in the English language, such as the English, Scotch and New Englanders, were forced to build a church for themselves. Paucity of numbers and of means delayed this for years, though the founda- tion was commenced in 1759.
The old church still stands-transepts have been added in same style of architecture. Unfortu- nately, the old sounding board has been removed from over the pulpit, but the general quaintness of the interior has been preserved.
"At an early period, the Rev. Thomas Barclay, missionary of the English church at Albany, vis- ited Schenectady, and, so far as can be ascertained, was the first Episcopal minister who held service in the place. Writing to London, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, by which he had been sent over, he says, under date of 1710: 'At Schenectady I preach once a month, where there is a garrison of forty soldiers, besides about sixteen English and about one hun- dred Dutch families. They are all of them my constant hearers. I have this summer got an English school erected amongst them, and in a short time I hope their children will be fit for catechising.'
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