USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Lives of the clergy of New York and Brooklyn: embracing two hundred biographies of eminent living men in all denominations. Also, the history of each sect and congregation, Pt. 1 > Part 14
USA > New York > New York City > Lives of the clergy of New York and Brooklyn: embracing two hundred biographies of eminent living men in all denominations. Also, the history of each sect and congregation, Pt. 1 > Part 14
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Dr. Dix is a tall, sparely-made person, with long, sharp features. His complexion is pale, and his composed expression approaches to severeness. Like so many of this class, however, his face most generally lights up with animation when he speaks. He is one who would be singled out of the crowd as a man of student life and large intellectual capacity. His head, in the upper sections, expands as if it were a dome, and the calm, steady, intelligent eye speaks of the massive brain within. He is a courteous, affable, high-toned gentle- man, and altogether free from that affected dignity and supercilious- ness of which successful young clergymen are so often guilty. Born the inheritor of an honored name, ambitious to attain eminence in his profession, singularly fortunate in this advancement, yet he seems to have thoroughly schooled himself in humility rather than at all in arrogance. Ilis professional and official associations are mostly with men much his seniors in life, but they find him their equal in ability, and award him their admiration for his long-matured virtues.
We regard Dr. Dix as one of the most promising of the Episcopal clergy. He has already made himself a reputation as a thinker and speaker, among both ministers and people. ITis sermons are highly original productions, written in pure, beautiful, readable English. The words have force, harmony, and fascinating eloquence, and throughout the thought is profound. There is no slip-shod, frothy declamation, but every page has received the impress of scholarly, manly, Christian reflection. He is likewise an agreeable, graceful speaker. There is something of a harshness about his full, strong voice when he commences, but this gradually disappears, and the ear is captivated by those careful modulations which show the finished orator. His gestures are few and simple, while always expressive and impressive.
Such, in brief terms, is a description of the talented rector of Trinity parish. Already clothed with functions of commanding im- portance and influence, esteemed and honored in all past and present relations of his social and professional life, he may well lay claim, in his future career, to the proudest honors which the Church can be- stow.
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1 Bowling
REV. JOIIN DOWLING, D. D.,
.
PASTOR OF TIIE SOUTH, BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. JOHN DOWLING was born at Pavensey, on the sea coast of Sussex, in England, May 12th, 1807. This place is memorable as the landing place of William the Conqueror in 1066, and near the town of Hastings, where the Norman Conqueror, soon after landing, triumphed over the Saxon monarch of England. Overhanging the house in which Dr. Dowling was born may still be seen the ivy-crowned walls of Pavensey Castle, which once sheltered the soldiers of King William-even in his day an ancient ruin of Roman origin, covering several acres. Dr. Dowling's parents and ancestors for several gen- erations were zealous adherents of the Established ( Episcopal) Church of England. He removed, however, at an early age to Lon- don, and at seventeen became a member of the Eagle street Baptist church, under the care of Rev. Joseph Ivimey, the historian of the English Baptists. His youth was devoted chiefly to study and literary pursuits. At the early age of nineteen he accepted an ap- pointment as instructor in the Latin language and literature at the Chapham Rise Classical Institute, in the suburbs of London, and two years later he became instructor in the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French languages, in a similar institution in Buckinghamshire, under the care of Rev. Ebenezer West.
In 1829, Dr. Dowling established a classical boarding-school in Oxfordshire, a few miles from Oxford University, which continued in a flourishing condition until he disposed of it for the purpose of re- moving to America. He frequently officiated as a preacher in the pulpits of the neighboring pastors.
In 1832, he embarked with his family for the United States, where he arrived in safety. It was not long before he received a call to the Baptist church at Catskill, where he was ordained November 14th, 1832, and preached with success for two years. After this he
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passed two years at Newport, R. I., and in August, 1836, was in- stalled as pastor of a Baptist congregation in New York, worshiping in Gothic Masonic Hall. He also preached for some two or three years as pastor of the Broadway Baptist church in Hope Chapel, and at another period went to a church in Providence.
In 1844, he first became pastor of the Berean Baptist church in Bedford street, New York. After a ministry of eight years, in 1852, he accepted a call to a church in Philadelphia, where he remained some time. In 1856, he resumed his charge of the Bedford street church, at their urgent and unanimous request. Subsequently, after many years of efficient service, he went to a church in Newark, for a few years, but he is now the pastor of the South Baptist Church, New York.
Dr. Dowling has been a somewhat prolific writer. While living in England he published three school books, which for many years were in general use, and are still in use in some of the schools of Great Britain. He has published in this country the "History of Romanism," ( a large octavo volume of 734 pages, of which some thirty thousand copies have been published and sold, ) " Power of Illustration," "Nights and Mornings," "Judson Offering," etc. He has also contributed largely to the religious and periodical literature of the day, written introductory essays to several works, and pub- lished numerous anniversary sermons and college addresses.
In 1834 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown University, and in 1846, soon after the publication of his " History of Romanism," the degree of D. D. from Transylvania University.
Dr. Dowling has a large, round head, bald about the brow, and wears heavy whiskers. His features are regular, and, while not over large, are prominent, and expressive of the intelligent and highly moral man. His forehead is particularly high and broad. His eyes are clear and penetrating, and at the same time that there is every- thing gentle about them, as well as in the half smile which lingers round the mouth, still his face likewise betokens a strong, inflexible, stern character both in regard to principles and purpose. His man- ners are cordial, and he is an outspoken man-always, however, with due regard to the feelings of others and a nice sense of propriety. There is a great deal of cheerfulness and hunor about him ; and he is a person well calculated to interest and fascinate the youthful as well as those of matured years.
Dr. Dowling's sermons are thoughtful compositions, deeply emo-
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tional, and full of religious fervor. His mind is thoroughly trained in theological discussion, and with this capacity he unites a heart overflowing with tender sympathies, and a nature completely infused with religious enthusiasm. Hence he preaches most effectively. He makes the doubtful points of doctrine plain, he kindles the emotions of his hearers from his own, and he is eloquent to a degree in pic- turing the bliss of the true and constant religious life.
Dr. Dowling is in every sense an able and a valuable man. The abilities and fidelity of such men are the very rock and foundation upon which the church must rest her whole earthly superstructure. Working for the redemption of a fallen race and the glory of God, they are its faithful apostles and our perfect men.
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REV. GEORGE B. DRAPER, D. D.,
RECTOR OF ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, (HARLEM,) NEW YORK.
EV. DR. GEORGE B. DRAPER was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, July 20th, 1827. His early studies were at Trinity school, New York. He was graduated at Colum- bia College in 1845, and at the General Episcopal Theolo- gical Seminary, New York, in 1849. He was made deacon the same year, at Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, by Bishop Whitehouse, of Illinois, and priest in 1851, at the Church of the Ascension, New York, by Bishop Chase, of New Hampshire. He officiated for one year as assistant of the Rev. Dr. C. S. Henry at St. Clement's Church, New York, while deacon, and then accepted a call to St. Andrew's parish. He entered upon his duties July 23d, 1850, and has now been in charge of the parish for the term of twenty-three years.
The earliest movement for the establishment of an Episcopal parish in the district called Harlem was in August, 1828, through the exertions of the Rev. Dr. Wainwright, afterward Provisional Bishop of the Diocese, and who had a summer residence on the bank of the East river, near Hurlgate. The subject was agitated, and several meetings took place at a private house. Religious services were held in the school house in November, and the parish was duly or- ganized under the name of St. Andrew's Church, New York, Febru- ary 4th, 1829. Rev. George L. Hinton was called as the first rector, who served until his death by cholera in the summer of 1832, when himself, wife, and child all died within a few hours. A donation of eleven lots of ground on Fourth avenue was made by Charles Henry Ilall, Esq., and six adjoining lots on One-hundre l-and twenty-sev- enth and One-hundred-and-twenty-eighth streets were purchased for five hundred and fifty dollars for the whole. The corner-stone of a church edifice was laid by Bishop John Henry Hobart on the 6th of August, 1829, and the building was consecrated on the 7th of June,
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1830. The consecration was among the latest public acts of Bishop Hobart, who died on the 12th of September following. The whole cost of the structure was about four thousand six hundred dollars, of which there remained a debt of four thousand dollars in a mortgage on the property. At that time the church had twenty communicants. The Rev. Gurdon S. Coit officiated temporarily as rector after the decease of the Rev. Mr. Hinton, and in October, 1833, the Rev. Abraham B. Hart accepted a call to the parish. In the summer of 1833, the finances of the church were much improved by the pay- ment of the mortgage by Trinity church, a new one being given to that corporation for the same amount, on which they agreed to exact no interest. In 1839 nearly twelve hundred dollars were paid for assessments on account of the opening and regulating of streets, which sum was raised by subscription among members of the con- gregation.
The rector having resigned by reason of ill-health, the Rev. J. Rosevelt Bayley accepted a call in October, 1840. In April, 1842, Mr. Bayley resigned the rectorship, and soon after united with the Roman Catholic Church. He became a priest, and is now the emi- nent Most Rev. Dr. Bayley, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic See of Baltimore, Md. It may be mentioned that his father was the late Guy C. Bayley, M. D., one of the vestrymen of St. Andrew's, and that his grandfather, James Rosevelt, Esq., a wealthy old Knicker- bocker, disinherited him for what he deemed apostacy to the true creed, appropriating his portion to charitable purposes. In July, 1842, the Rev. Ralph Hoyt was called to the charge of St. Andrew's, who remained one year. In 1843 the Rev. Richard M. Abercrombie was placed in charge, and in 1846 was called to the rectorship, which he retained until 1850.
On the 6th of June, 1850, the Rev. George B. Draper, deacon, was called to the rectorship "so soon as he should have received priest's orders, and meanwhile to officiate as minister." Having been admitted to priest's orders, he entered on his duties as rector on the 16th of March, 1851.
The church property of St. Andrew's parish consists of sixteen city lots, a little more than one half of which was used for burial purposes. The original church building stood on One Hundred and Twenty-seventh street, and was a neat structure of wood, with a high stone basement. It was three times enlarged during the term of the present rector, and materially altered from the original building. In
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1851, a rectory was built on a line with the rear of the church to- ward Fourth avenue. During 1867 fourteen thousand dollars was raised by the congregation to pay for repairing and improving the church property. In November, 1871, the church was destroyed by fire. Subsequently the dead were removed from the graveyard, for the purpose of erecting a new church on that site. In December. 1872, the corner-stone of the new edifice was laid by the Bishop of the Diocese. A fine stone structure has been erected, with a seating capacity of one thousand persons. At the commencement of Mr. Draper's term there were only thirty families, whereas there are now two hundred families, two hundred and fifty communicants, and a Sunday School of twenty-two teachers and two hundred and fifty scholars.
This church, like the others on the north end of the Island, was originally largely attended by families in Westchester county. Many of the best known and wealthiest families of New York and that county have been among its parishioners. The congregation is now so numerous that another parish has been organized.
Dr. Draper received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College in June, 1868. At one time he was editor of the Churchman's Month- ly Magazine, but his increasing parochial duties obliged him to re- linquish the position.
He is above the medium height, well-proportioned, and erect. He has a head round and full in the upper part, with a thin and narrow face. His features are regular, and there is an honesty, frankness, and good-nature in both his countenance and manners which are very attractive. You readily see that he is a man of great force and energy of character, though his labors are always per- formed in a mode the most circumspect and modest. Few men have bolder or better settled purposes than he, and still he ever goes on the "noiseless tenor " of his way in a manner unlike most of those who are engaged in great public efforts.
Dr. Draper is a preacher of eloquence and power. He has a mind of natural scope and vigor, and his life has been one of close investigation in the fields of theologieal and general learning. The action of his mind is quick and keen, and his powers of elucidation and reasoning are such that he has no difficulty in making every subject clear to the understanding of others. He is fair and frank in his style of argument; he searches out all obstacles and embarrass- ments for you ; he presents the matter in every possible point of
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view, and even then he does not ask for your concurrence in his opinion until you have given a calm, mental consideration to this argument. His words are sincere and well meant; he rises before the mind as the interested friend and affectionate brother ; he touches the susceptibilities by his gentleness, his frankness, and his fascina- ting intelligence, and thus it is that he wins souls to repentance. It is not in him to wound by a single expression, but his lips are truly annointed to heal ; it is not in him to repel, but to save. His calm and impressive delivery, his well chosen and fluent words, his simple but expressive gestures, are all potent in his public exercises. With an entire abnegation of the individual, he seems the impersonation of those endowments which exalt the muere human into the spiritual character.
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REV. T. STAFFORD DROWNE, D. D.,
RECTOR OF ST. PAUL'S (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH, BROOKLYN.
EV. THOMAS STAFFORD PROWNE, D. D., was born at Fruit Hill, North Providence, Rhode Island, on the 9th of July, 1823. He was graduated at Brown Uni- versity, Providence, September 3d, 1845, and at the General Theological Seminary, New York City, June 30th, 1848. Immediately afterward, on July 2d, he was ad- mitted to deacon's orders in Grace Church, New York, by Bishop De Lancey, of Western New York ; and to priest's orders on July 1st, 1849, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, by Bishop Whittingham, of Maryland.
On the 1st of November, 1848, Dr. Drowne became Assistant Minister of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, in which position he continued for a period of nearly ten years, at the expira- tion of which, on the 22d of June, 1858, he was elected to the rector- ship of St. Paul's parish. This church was organized on Christmas Day, 1849, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Isaac P. Labagh, being one of the religious movements in South Brooklyn, a portion of the city then but sparsely populated. Services were held for a short time in a room over a stable at the foot of Union street, when lots were procured, and a small edifice was erected in Carroll street, be- tween Henry and Hicks streets. In the fall of 1850 there were only thirteen communicants ; but the congregation increased, and during the summer of 1852 the building was enlarged with transepts and a chancel. The Rev. Mr. Labagh having withdrawn to take charge of Calvary Church, in another part of the city, Dr. Drowne was called to the vacancy, and the parish has since enjoyed increased and con- stant prosperity. During 1860 the building was again enlarged and improved, with sittings for about six hundred people. When Dr. Drowne took charge in 1858, the number of communicants was under
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fifty, but it has steadily increased, until there are now four hundred and forty-five; while the number of families connected with the par- ish is two hundred, and of individuals nearly a thousand. The Sunday school contains over two hundred and fifty children : and the contributions during the past year for parochial and general objects have been nearly twenty thousand dollars. The steady growth of the congregation having rendered necessary a larger and better edifice, a new and more central site was obtained on the corner of Clinton and Carroll streets, and on the 2d of November, 1866, ground was broken for the present church. It was completed, and first used for divine worship, on the 19th of September, 1869 : and for appropriate design, massive and elegant workmanship, and pleasing architect- ural effect, has few equals in our country. The dimensions are 145 feet in length, 72 in width, and 60 in height, with ample accommo- dation for a thousand persons. A commodious chapel has since been added, 85 feet in length by 34 in breadth, also of rich design, in harmony with the church, which was first occupied by the Sunday- school of the parish on the 15th of September, 1872.
Since the erection of Long Island into a diocese, Dr. Drowne has filled the office of its Secretary, and been a member of its Stand- ing Committee, and also served on other important committees and boards of trustees. In 1870 he was appointed the registrar and his- toriographer of the diocese. His interest in historical and anti- quarian researchies has led to his election to membership in several State historical societies, the American Ethnological Society, and other literary bodies. In his library, which is very large and select, the works of the best authors of all times are to be found, in almost every department of theology, history, the fine arts, and general literature.
Dr. Drowne has made architecture a subject of extensive study. He was intimately associated in these investigations with that eminent master of the art, the late Minard Lafever, and is the author of the letter-press of a work of deep research, issued under the name of the latter, and known as "The Architectural Instructor," containing a history of architecture from the earliest ages to the present time. Dr. Drowne has also published " A Commemorative Discourse, delivered on the completion of the Church of the Holy Trinity, December 19th, 1867, with Illustrative Historical Notes," and an " Address at a Memorial Service," in the same church, November 26th, 1871, on the occasion of uncovering the mural tablet erected in memory of its
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founders. From time to time he has contributed articles, theologic- al, critical, and historical, to various reviews, and he is a person of the most acceptable literary as well as artistic taste.
We make the following extract from a published sermon, entitled " The End of Pride," preached at the Church of the Holy Trinity, July 24th, 1853 :
" And looking at society in its best phases, and selecting its best examples, is there not too much groveling selfishness, and luxurious living, and fashionable dis- play, and irreligious vanity ? Is there not, even among Christians, the professed disciples of a lowly and self-denying Master, too much extravagant self-indulgence and worldly conformity ? One man prides himself upon his large estate, his splen- did equipages, his magnificent house, his beautiful paintings, his elegant furniture, and the number of servants he employs. Another congratulates himself upon his mental gifts, his literary reputation, his business talents, his mechanical skill or his graceful accomplishments. Another is puffed up with his beauty, or his dress, or his polished manners, or his noble descent. What excess of folly ! Why glory in that which is so transitory and worthless ? Why glory in that which is not thine, but which thou hast received as a talent from God ? Boastest thou of wealth ? It is always winged for flight, and may in a moment break away from thy grasp for- ever. Boastest thou of thy grace and beauty? They are as fading as the flower that charms at early morn with its loveliness, and before eventide is withered. Boastest thou of thy mental gifts ? They may be the very means of thy disgrace or thy destruction. Boastest thou of thy noble virtues, or thy deeds of liberality ? Thy very boasting deprives thee of respect, and renders them of no effect.
"Alas ! what a sudden overthrow and complete destruction shall come at last to all this worldliness, and ostentation, and pride! They must end. A man must reap what he sows. How soon in the dark charnel-house will be laid the pampered body, and to the darker abodes of the lost will descend the wailing soul ! The pro- phet's sentence will have its fulfilment anew-' Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols : the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.'
" After all, what is it that we get out of this world ? It is but the supply of our few necessities- a little food, a few pieces of raiment, a short-lived reputation, a narrow grave, and perhaps a monumental shaft, chiseled with a pompous enlogy. We can take nothing with us on our last journey. The hand that now clings so tightly to this world's baubles must loosen its hold as it stiffens in denth. What a quick transition must there soon be from affluence to emptiness ; from gay laughter to utter silence ; from painted ceilings to dark coffins ; from all this beautiful nud marvelous life to a little heap of dust ! 'Recently two young princes,' we are told. ' wished to see the remains of Gustavus Vasn, which lie in the vaults of the enthedral of Upsala. They obtained the consent of the King of Sweden, and the marble sar- cophagus was opened. But there was only the great man's skeleton, while the silk, and the velvet, and the brocade were yet fresh. The crown was there, and the sceptre, and the golden buckle, while precious stones shed a gleam through the ghastly chamber of the sepulchre. And this is the moral of all mere earthly good - even the highest. Its splendor decorates the heart that must soon cease to heave, and its pomp survives and mocks the mortal dust.'"
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Dr. Drowne is slightly above the medium height, compactly made, with an erect bearing and active movements. His complexion is light, and he has one of those faces in which the calm hopeful nature is most typified. All the features are good, and intelli- gence is strongly signified in his fair, broad brow, but the expres- sion which arrests you is a cheerful serenity. Withal, and strangely too, judging from his contemplative habits and scholarly tastes, he is one of your strong men for action-for resolution which trims and relights the torch of hope as often as the flame dies out. Uniformly gentle and courteous in manner, whenever occasion demands he is iron of purpose, and he is strong in courage. Slow to resolve, he is the more firm when determined; and conscientious in his judgment, he is calm in accepting all the consequences of his opinions. Cheer- fully serene, not at all intent to individualize himself from the mass of his fellows, it might well be thought that the potter's clay were not more pliant. But his character is as different from this as is the soft moss different from the rock to which it clings. In the ordinary everyday life, walking the beaten path, he is not unlike other men- common-place men-men tame from want of originality-men no- thing because there is so much of the same human material; but outside of the ordinary life, in that whirlpool of action where man- hood and resolution and hope must cleave down obstacles, and pluck success from the grasp of ill-fortune-in that sphere he is a man of new and nobler elements of character. As you put your foot on the saudy shore it settles, but is sometimes checked by the hidden stone; and so in the case under consideration ; many a one has found the strong foundations of manly character where there seemed the least evidence of it. Not the man to make a noise in the world, not the one to fascinate by showy qualities, and not the one to court no- toriety ; and yet one influential from potent though unobtrusive merit, one unwavering and heroic in life's battle, and one ever teach- ing the lesson of cheerfulness and patient endeavor.
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