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 24
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 24
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EV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH was born in the city of Boston, Febuary 4th, 1833. He is of French descent, on his mother's side, and some of his ancestors met the fate of the popular leaders in the French Revolution. Two of them were guillotined in Paris during Robespierre's "Reign of Terror." " If it is true," says another, " that one's life-work is ever decided before we are born, the law applies to the case of Mr. Hepworth. It was the earnest wish of the mother than one of her children should be a preacher. She was in many respects a remark- able women, and would often ride a dozen miles of a cold winter's night to hear some distinguished and eloquent minister. She gave the preacher's temperament to her son. In his carliest influences al- almost before he could speak plainly, he would mount his little chair for a pulpit and deliver a boyish sermon. He never experienced that doubt as to what his profession should be which characterizes so many. From childhood he entertained the single purpose of becom- ing a preacher."
After concluding studies at the Boston Latin School, he was graduated at the Harvard Divinity School in 1853. Ile was first settled over the Unitarian Church in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for about two years, and then returned to Cambridge, where he studied for several months as a resident graduate. In December, 1857, he was called to the temporary care of the Church of the Unity, then a newly organized Unitarian congregation of Boston. At that time he was not quite twenty-five years of age. Ile was engaged to supply the pulpit for six months, from December 1st, 1857, and on the 14th of March following received a unanimous call to the pastorate, which he accepted. His pastorship was of the most efficient and successful character, and his congregation became one of the most prominent and wealthy of Boston.
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REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH.
At the outbreak of the war Mr. Hepworth exerted himself in the pulpit and lyceum, and through the press, in behalf of the govern- ment. In 1862 he joined General Banks' command in Louisiana, as an army chaplain, and remained in the South for a long period. He was soon appointed to a place on the General's staff, with the super- vision of the free labor system of Louisiana. In this capacity he performed very valuable services to the country. Upon his return, he embodied his experience in a book entitled " The Whip, Hoc, and Sword." He also deliver d a number of lectures throughout the country, particularly during the Presidential election of 1864. While in Boston he originated the system of Sabbath evening dis- courses in one of the principal theatres, which has since spread to other cities of the Union. He is also entitled to the credit of having by his own personal exertions established the Boston School for the Ministry, which consists of four leased brick houses on East Dedham street, where in the second year nearly forty students entered upon the course of study.
On Sunday, May 16th, 1869, Mr. Hepworth tendered his resigna- tion of his Boston pastorship, having accepted a call to the Church of the Messiah, New York city, formerly under the care of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood. His first sermon was preached before a large congregation on the morning of Sunday, June 13th, 1869. His salary was twelve thousand dollars.
He preached with his usual success, until the winter of 1872. Unexpectedly to the congregation, one Sunday he announced that he intended, after serious and mature deliberation, to secede from all connection with the Unitarian church, having changed his religious views. The matter produced great excitement in the whole Unitarian organization of the country, and indeed, in all sects.
He was soon after received into the fellowship of the Congrega- tional church, and interesting services held at Rev. Henry Ward Beecher's church in Brooklyn. Regular Sunday services were com- menced by Mr. Hepworth in Steinway Hall, which were largely attended. A new congregation was organized, under the name of the Church of the Disciples, and a large amount of money was sub- scribed to build a church edifice. This structure was erected chiefly of iron, on the corner of Madison avenue and Thirty-fifth street, and dedicated in the spring of 1873.
An Ecclesiastical Council convened at the request of the Church of the Disciples, at the Brick Church, New York, on the afternoon of
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REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH.
December 5th, 1872, in the words of the invitation "to consider our covenant articles of faith and church rules, and if deemed advisable to recognize us as a church of Christ ; also to examine the pastor of the church and to assist in his installation if found worthy of your fellowship in the Gospel." Twenty-seven pastors and lay delegates, of different churches and all the evangelical denominations, composed the council. Mr. Hepworth appeared before them and was examined at great length and with great severity. His orthodoxy being by the result made apparent, the unanimous vote was that he be in- stalled, as he had requested, and heartily welcomed into the fellow- ship of the churches as a Christian man and a minister taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and led by His spirit.
On the evening of the same day Mr. Hepworth was duly installed before a large congregation. The services were conducted by various distinguished clergymen, the Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, preaching a most eloquent sermon.
Mr. Hepworth is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. His figure is erect and graceful, and he shows much activity in all his movements. His head is large, having a somewhat square face, with handsome, intellectual features. His expression is one of great amiability, and wins you in a moment. There is much calmness and thoughtfulness about his face, but the peculiarity which is most no- ticeable is its constant glow of bright intelligence, which ever and anon gathers into a soft, unconscious smile. In conversation and in public speaking, you see these rays of sunny light stealing over his countenance, giving it an unusual fascination. His manners are altogether plain and unassuming. He is warm and genial with all persons, and withal so cheerful and entertaining that there are few who can claim more general popularity with all ages and conditions
Mr. Hepworth is one of the most eloquent and effective preachers of the day. He is not of the noisy, sensational order, but, on the contrary, is the very reverse of it. He often preaches without writ- ing out his sermons. He gives them, however, deep and searching thought, and what he says in the pulpit has all the vigor of expres- sion which could be obtained by writing it, and at the same time the freshness and fervor of an extemporaneous discourse. He puts him- self on the closest footing with his hearers. A great deal is said in almost a conversational manner. There is no restraint and no form- ality. He stands with one arm thrown over a corner of the book- board, or he leans entirely over it himself, and then, in a friendly,
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social, matter-of-fact style, he talks more than he can be said to preach. Then, from time to time, he gives way to a degree of animation which leads to a few expressive gestures, but nothing more. His thoughts are most simple in their expression, but they are of the highest effec- tiveness. His language is clear, chaste, and scholarly, and his argu- ments are logical, and additionally sustained by apt and forcible similes and other illustrations. His opinions are always manly, just, and Christian, and his kindly, beaming face is fully expressive of the sincerity and truth which go with them and are inseparable from his character. You are led along with him by influences which come upon you as the silent vapors steal over the earth. Chains, which are no more to be broken than iron, elasp about you, but they have fallen upon you as softly as if they were gossamer threa Is. It is the persuasion of reason and truth which arrests the mind, and it is the loving tenderness of humanity and brotherhood which melts, subdues, and wins your heart. It is not the fascination of eloquence, nor is it the power of learning, but it is that magnetic charm which is to be found in words of moral and religious truths when fitly spoken. Some speak with a force and thunder which startle, and some with a beauty and eloquence which dazzle. Mr. Hepworth does neither of these. IIe is simple in matter and manner; he is moderate and gentle always. But it is this simplicity and moderation which are so attractive. You are not carried away by brilliant oratory, but you feel refreshed in soul. You say here is a good man to whom it is pleasant to listen, and whom it will be wisdom to make an exam- ple. You are withdrawn from the baser part of nature which may be in you, and rise to a nearer alliance with principle and love to mankind.
Mr. Hepworth has abilities of various kinds which eminently fit him for a success in the ministry equal to any minister of his time. HIe is a thinker and worker. His heart is in his labors, and his young energies are all enlisted for a life-time of faithful, unselfish service in the cause of truth and religion. Simple and unostentatious, and yet effective in the pulpit, and zealous and loving in his duties out of it, he must go forward to triumphs still greater than those which have already made his career so marked by practical useful- ness.
269
REV. J. STANFORD HOLME, D. D., PASTOR OF THE TRINITY BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. J. STANFORD HOLME was born in a section formerly known as Holmesburg, and now a part of the city of Philadelphia, March 4th, 1822. His ancestors came to America from England in 1683, and purchased their lands of William Penn. John Holme, a prominent mem- ber of the family, was an early magistrate under Penn, but re- tired from his position by reason of what he deemed to be intolerance on the part of his Quaker associates. Another ancestor was Abel Morgan, who was one of the earliest writers in defense of Baptist doctrines in the colonies, as appears by a volume which was pub- lished by Benjamin Franklin in 1747, at his printing-office in Market street. It thus appears that the earliest efforts in planting the Bap- tist faith in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey are due in a great measure to the ancestors of the subject of our notice.
His academic studies were at New Hampton, New Hampshire, and he then studied law in Philadelphia, but did not seek admission to the bar, as he had determined to prepare for the ministry. He was graduated at Madison University in 1850, and first settled over the Baptist church at Waterloo, New York. After nearly four years of service he accepted a call to the Pierrepont street Baptist church, Brooklyn, where he remained ten years. He now devoted two years to literary pursuits, and temporarily supplied different pulpits: Dur- ing a year and a half of this time he officiated at the Tabernaele Bap- tist church, New York.
It had been the desire of his life to found a new church, and the time and opportunity now seemed to have arrived. The necessity for a new Baptist church was felt in one of the up-town sections of the city, and in the spring of 1866, Dr. Holme commenced preaching in a hall on the corner of Third avenue and Fifty-second street. A mission of the Madison avenue Baptist church had been for some
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time conducted at the same place under the care of Rev. Samuel Covell. Dr. Holme, however, took charge of the enterprise, with a view to the formation of an independent Baptist church. A large congregation was collected under his ministry during the year, and it was deemed expedient to organize a church without further delay. A meeting was called for this purpose June 4th, 1867, at which the church was duly organized with seventy-five members, under the name of the Trinity Baptist Church of the city of New York, and Dr. Holme was called as the first pastor. A chapel was fitted up in the building where services were held for some time. A few years since the fine structure of the Eleventh Presbyterian Church in Fifty- fifth street was purchased by the Trinity Congregation, and soon after occupied by them.
Dr. Holme is above the average height, and of full round figure, while of active step. His head is large and round, with marked evidences of intellect and character. His features are regular, though outlined with the same boldness of the massive head. You are par- ticularly struck with his amiable, genial-looking face. It has great mobility, and is fully expressive of his feelings at all times. When in simple repose it is aglow with light from his luminous, intellectual eyes, and the natural cheerfulness which pervades it; but in anima- tion it gives instant and vivid reflections of all his emotions and thoughts. Had he been a professional actor, he would have been peerless in his parts ; and as a teacher and orator he has that power of effectiveness in the facial expression which is electrical, and simul- taneous with feeling, conviction, and utterance. His brow is like a towering dome to the rest of the fine physical structure, and shows the seat of commanding mental powers. Perhaps the greatest charm, however, about Dr. Holme consists in his affable and fascinating manners. He is never without a dignity becoming a minister of the gospel, and yet his whole conduct is characterized by a frank, open bearing, and so much good-nature and courtesy, that all persons find themselves on the most friendly and genial terms with him.
With these elements of character he is pre-eminently a popular man. Wherever he goes he carries good feeling; whoever he talks to feels the warmer and kindlier in his heart for it. It is not, however, the element of "all things to all men;" it is not the spirit of demagogism, striving for popularity by sacrifices of principle, but it is in the fullest sense the heart of a good and kindly man diffusing its influence into every person and into every scene.
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REV. J. STANFORD HOLME, D. D.
People say they are happy in his ehureh. We divine this to be the case especially from the fact that their pastor is a man alive with the genuine impulses of love and fellowship, and not a dead fossil of dignity. IIe believes that like the tendrils of the water plant that shoot forth in every direction for the fluid which gives it life, so the human heart stretches forth its tendrils of feeling, seeking the nour- ishment of congenial souls and sentiments. Some men are so iron- elad with professional and personal dignity that they are impenetra- ble to these self-evident pleadings which are uttered in all organiza- tions and communities. Other men are like the springs which bub- ble up to the thirsting plants, and give to those with whom they come in contact the refreshment of love, friendship, and cheerfulness. It is due to the exercise of these characteristics that the churches over which Dr. Holme has been placed have had such religious vitality and personal concord.
Dr. Holme is one of the most popular preachers in the Baptist denomination. His sermons are, to a certain extent, argumentative; but his main attack is upon the feelings of his audience. He is a clear, comprehensive writer, taking hold of any and every subjeet with sufficient ability to do it full justice, and not only advanee every plea in its favor, but from his own standpoint demolish every argu- ment of opposition. There is seope and vigor in his whole range of thought; and yet in its application it is softened by tender personal sympathies, and eommended by eager zeal in the eause of the im- periled soul. He has a fine round voiee perfeetly under his control, and his manner of delivery is composed and effective. He enjoys natural powers as a speaker, and has not required mueh training, and consequently there is no restraint upon him. Ilis flow of lan- guage is ready and ample, and not less terse than tasteful in its se- leetion. He feels every word that he utters; and he shows it. Not, however, in boisterous thunderings, and in the wild utterances of sensational eloquence, but in the countenance-beaming with sincerity -- and in the unmistakable tones of truth and faith. His purpose is not to exhibit the graees of oratory, though he has all of these, but it is to give potency to religious truth by the aid of the human mind and lips. This is the conviction which steals upon the hearer. His arguments, his soft words of persuasion, and his more eloquent and impassioned passages are all methods of showing the way to grace, and in no particular intended for the vain display of personal powers. 272
REV. GEORGE II. HOUGIITON, D. D.,
RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIG. URATION, (EPISCOPAL,) NEW YORK.
EV. DR. GEORGE H. HOUGHTON was born at Deer- field, Mass., in February, 1820. He was graduated at the New York University in 1842, and pursued his theologi. cal course privately. He took orders in the autumn of 1845, and after remaining one year as assistant to Dr. Muhlen- berg, at the Church of the Holy Communion, in October, 1848, commenced officiating at a private house for a small number of per- sons who, in the following year, were organized as the Church of the Transfiguration. Soon after a location on Twenty-ninth street, near Fifth avenue, was chosen, and, through the disinterested benevolence of one of the members of the parish, a church edifice was commeneed, which was occupied on Sunday, March 10th, 1850. Additions have been made to the building from time to time, and now has the form of an L, occupying one side and the rear of the property, with the rectory on the other side. The church is a long, low building ; the several entrances have turrets over them ; in front is a small park with trees and flowers, and the whole has a very picturesque appear- anee. Until May, 1854, the entire pew rents were used for reducing the debt incurred in purchasing the ground and building, two hun- dred dollars being the largest single offering made at one time by any member of the parish for these purposes. The pews-which are rented, not sold-are rated much below the ordinary average, while there are one hundred and fifty free sittings. These latter are in the chapel part of the edifice, which is so arranged that, by turning the seats, it becomes a portion of the body of the church. During ten years Dr. Houghton gave to the church, of his carnings in another sphere of duty, more than three thousand dollars, and during four years received irregular salary. The congregation is now one of the largest and wealthiest in New York. Dr. Houghton held the posi- tion of instructor of Hebrew in the General Theological Seminary, in
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connection with his rectorship, and finally resigned after a service of twelve years. He received the degree of D. D. from Columbia Col- lege, in 1859. His publications consist of occasional sermons.
Dr. Houghton and his church have received great prominence from the fact of his having there performed the burial service over the remains of a worthy deceased actor, George Holland, this rite having been refused by the Rev. Mr. Sabine. Many expressions of the public concurrence in the action of Dr. Houghton took place, and the "little church around the corner," the language in which it was referred to by Mr. Sabine, has become embalmed in the lasting remembrance of all truly Christian people.
Dr. Houghton is slightly under the medium height, sparely made, and in every respect of a delicate organization. He has a well-de- veloped head, and a face of marked intelligence, combined with an impressive simplicity. ITis complexion is very pale, and is the more observable from the contrast with his black hair and whiskers. Ile also wears a moustache, which is altogether unusual among ministers. The intellectuality of his fine marble-like brow, the calmness, serenity, and sweetness of expression, and his gentle, kindly voice and man- ners, cach and all throw about him the influence of a being extraor- dinarily endowed with manly and Christian virtues. And, in truth, he stands a noble example to his fellow-inen. His whole life has been remarkable for its uprightness and piety. In strietness to con- scientious duty and religious responsibility it has been undeviating from youth up. He is a moral hero in every sense. Personal sacri- fice, and even suffering, have never been considered for a moment. The demands of duty have ever been regarded in their largest seope, and to discharge them fully has been an aim to which all else was subordinate. The exact line of duty, and the way lighted at every step by an approving conscience, have been the only paths in which his feet have gone. Honorable, just, conscientious, and heroic in holding to them all, he has truly illustrated the Christian life. We mean the Christian life in distinction from the morally upright life, and the life which only seeks perfection in the greater things, forget- ful of the smaller, which, like the water dropping on the granite. slowly but surely wear away conscience. Nobly perfect in the great and small; sublimely true to faith and all professions, Dr. Houghton belongs to that measure of man coming nearest to God. When the little children look in his face, so beaming with gentleness and good- ness, they listen and believe. When the man, toughened with the
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world's hard blows, and saddened by its wrongs, notes him day by day, and year after year, the same in purity of character and holiness of life, he begins to feel the awakening of the sacred inspiration which lifts the lost to Heaven. We are not overstating the influence of Dr. Houghton. His ministrations in his present parish were com- menced with only six persons as attendants upon them, and now he has reared a fine church, and drawn about him a numerous and de- voted congregation. He has done it by great labor, but more by the fascination of his character and the beauty of his life. Those out of his own denomination have aided him because they saw that he was a Christian hero, and those of his immediate flock have spiritedly upheld him because amidst earth's temptations he was upholding them. As a man he is everywhere cherished ; as a citizen he is re- spected by all with whom he comes in contact ; and as the pastor he is beloved with an affection which withstands all save death.
Dr. Houghton attempts nothing especially brilliant in his ser- mons. They are all well written, but he seems to consider it out of place to introduce anything beyond simple, devout, and instructive language. Hence, while each is plain, practical, sincere, and learned in divine truths, there is a total absence of florid, sensational, and even eloquent passages. As he declared he would, he preaches the doctrines of his church, and nothing else. He is a very correct and impressive reader, and his rendering of the service is very fine. His voice is full and mellow, filling the whole building.
Dr. Houghton is an able scholar. His attainments in the Hebrew are such that he has established a wide reputation as a teacher of it. The study of this language with him has been most enthusiastically pursued, as it has appealed so much to his religious emotions While he has a great love for refined literature, and a passion for art, still he allows himself but little respite from severe application to theological investigations. Always looking beyond for something better and higher, in both temporal and spiritual matters, he never deems his work accomplished, and unweariedly presses onward in the life-long race.
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REV. ROBERT S. HOWLAND, D. D.,
SENIOR RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HEAVENLY REST (EPISCOPAL), NEW YORK.
EV. DR. ROBERT S. HOWLAND was born in the city of New York, November 9th, 1820. He spent some time at a French school, and at length entered St. Paul's Col- lege, Long Island, where he was graduated about 1840. IIe was next engaged with Bishop Kerfoot, now bishop of Western Pennsylvania, in organizing St. James' College, in Maryland, in which State he remained a period of eight months. Ile then went abroad, traveling in Europe and in the Holy Land, and returned after an absence of eighteen months. He had before taken a partial theological course at the General Episcopal Seminary, New York. He now returned to that institution and completed his studies, and was graduated in 1845. During the same year he was made a deacon of the Episcopal Church, in New Haven, by Bishop Brownell, and priest in the following year, at St. Luke's Church, New York, by Bishop Ives, then of North Carolina, and later a priest of the Catholic church. For some time he was the assistant of Rev. Dr. Forbes, at St. Luke's church, and in 1847 was called to the rectorship of the Holy Apostles. HIe received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College, in 1863. He has recently made another extended tour in Europe.
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