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. 2 > Part 10
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. 2 > Part 10
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
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REV. JOHN A. PADDOCK,
RECTOR OF ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BROOKLYN.
EV. JOHN A. PADDOCK was born at Norwich, Con- necticut, January 19th, 1825. He was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, in 1845, and at the Espiscopal General Theological Seminary, New York, in 1849. Taking orders the same year, he was called to Christ Church, Stratford, Conn., where he remained over five years. In 1855 he became rector of St. Peter's Church, Brooklyn, then located on the corner of Atlantic and Bond streets. During the following year the congregation commenced the erection of a new church edifice in State street, near Bond, which was opened for divine service January 6th, 1857.
This structure was planned by the late Frank Mills, and is one of the most tasteful among the many fine edifices of the kind in the City of Churches. It consists of nave and chancel, with north and south aisles and vestibule. The nave is eighty-five feet by fifty-eight, and there is seating room for eight hundred persons. The roof rests on iron arches, the pillars are pine, the panels of the ceiling are plastered, and the seats and furniture are of chestnut. The south front has two turrets, one on either side of the nave gable. Between the turrets is a vestibule and stairway, projecting some few feet in front in the main wall. The doorway projects in front of the vestibule screen, and with its rich gabled pediment, forms a striking feature of the work. A beautiful blue granite and the Caen stone are used in the exterior walls. The cost of the ground and edifice was forty thousand dollars.
In 1871 the prosperity of the congregation led to a second fine improvement. This was the erection of a Sunday School building on lots adjoining the church, at an outlay of about forty-five thousand dollars. The structure is in keeping with the architecture of the
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church, and the interior is greatly admired for its beauty, convenience, and adaptation for the purpose for which it was designed.
The congregation is composed of about two hundred families and five hundred communicants. More than five hundred children are under instruction in the Sunday School. A Mission Sunday School is maintained in Wyckoff street.
Mr. Paddock is slightly under the medium height, and equally proportioned. He has a round head of the average size, with an in- telligent face of most amiable and modest expression. As he walks along the street he has a habit of looking downward, and at all times exhibits a retiring air. He dresses in a clerical garb, and his whole manner is that of humility and propriety. He is a man of extensive learning, of rare judgment in the pastoral work, and greatly valued throughout the church for both his ability and success. His sermons are fine specimens of clear, common sense diction, and are delivered with marked sincerity of personal feeling.
Mr. Paddock is well known in his parish. He is very attentive to all his duties, and makes himself personally familiar with his own people. His life is so meritorious, and his manners so agreeable, that he is greatly beloved. The poor and afflicted find in him a constant visitor and sympathizing friend. He loves the lowly walks and the places where he can dispense the comforts of his religion. Ile is not a man who thinks of dignity or discomfort, but ever goes forth in all humbleness, and in total disregard of every thing save duty. From these labors, which are best known and appreciated by his own con- gregation, he has drawn about him the considerable body of wor- shipers at St. Peter's. They work together harmoniously and suc- cessfully, and the parish, after being in a feeble condition for many years, is now one of the most flourishing in Brooklyn. The district has a growing population of well-to-do and intelligent people.
There can be nothing but commendation of Mr. Paddock in re- garding him as a diligent, conscientious worker in the cause of his faith. His meekness of disposition adds to the beauty of a censure- less life, and at the same time makes even more conspicuous his Christian uprightness. No man is more highly valued for talent and experience by his brethren of the ministry in all denominations. Faithful in his work, he is not without earthly fame, nor can he be without the heavenly reward.
418
RIGIIT REV. BENJAMIN HI. PADDOCK, D. D.,
BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS; LATE RECTOR OF GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BROOKLYN.
IGHT REV. DR. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK, D. D., was born at Norwich, Connecticut, February 29th, 1828. He is a younger brother of the Rev. John A. Paddock, rector of St. Peter's Episcopal church, Brooklyn. He was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in August, 1848. After serving for one year as an assistant teacher at the Connecticut Episcopal Academy, Cheshire, he entered the general Theological Seminary, New York, in September, 1849, and was grad- uated in June, 1852. He was ordained deacon on St. Peter's day, June 29th, 1852, at Christ church, Stratford, Connecticut, by Bishop Brownell, and priest in September, 1853, in 'Trinity church, Norwich, by Bishop Williams. Most of his deaconate was spent as assistant to the Rev. Dr. Lot Jones, at Epiphany church, New York city, In April, 1853, he accepted charge of St. Luke's church, Portland, Maine, but withdrew, from ill-health after three months, and became rector of Trinity church, Norwich, in August, 1853. He became rector of Christ church, Detroit, Michigan, in February, 1860, where he re- mained until he accepted the rectorship of Grace church, Brooklyn Heights, in May, 1869.
While still in this rectorship, on the 15th of May, 1873, Dr. Pad- dock was elected Bishop of Massachusetts. He accepted the office in a letter, dated June 4th, 1873, in which he remarks :-
"I am not unmindful of the great honor conferred upon me, nor ungrateful for the confidence reposed in me by this election. I have not sought, but I dare not decline it ; and yet, as I recall the learning, wisdom, zeal, and saintliness which have adorned the Episcopate of your historic diocese, I cannot help standing humbled and oppressed by a sense of insufficiency and unworthiness. I can bring to such an honored succession little more than an unfeigned longing and purpose to con- sccrate all that is within me, ' to the edifying of Christ's church, and to the honor, praise, and glory of His name.' But it cheers me to think that if loving thoughts and prayers and appreciation on the part of a chief pastor, for all who are striving
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RIGHT REV. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK, D. D.
together for the faith of the gospel in the church's ways and works, may only be met by generous love and confidence and prayerful co-operation, then, even thus, with- out other and greater conditions of success, the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, can mightily work through His ministry and people, and the church can grow up unto Christ, who is the Head in all things, and can make glorious increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
The consecration of the new Bishop took place at Grace church, Brooklyn, on Wednesday, September 17th, 1873.
Bishop Paddock is of the average height, sparely made and erect. He has light complexion, hair, and eyes. The face is long, with a full, high brow, and has an expression of composure and amiabil ity. His manners are quiet and courteous. Judging him by cas- ual observation, and knowing him by long acquaintance is to find his disposition and talents altogether the same. There is no change, no policy, and no affectation about either his conduct or speech. He shows what order of person he is on the instant; and he is the same at all other times. If you are the stranger or slight acquaintance, he talks with you in that sincere, friendly way, which puts both on the most agreeable footing at once. And if you are the old and valued friend, why it is the same frank, genial grasp of the hand, and earn- est welcome of the heart, which have delighted you from the begin- ning. And all this is most natural in speech and action, evidently springing simply from the true habit and motives of the man. No personal character can be more beautiful, more admired, or more in- fluential.
As a preacher, Bishop Paddock is one who always appears in the sa- cred desk after scholarly and prayerful preparation. He feels his great responsibility, and he makes this cvident to cvery hearer. Hence, his solemnly uttered words have full weight, and his occasional out- bursts of eloquent and pathetic appeal are not less effective. Writ- ing with strength and clearness, particularly the doctrined subjects, he speaks with tones and gestures, which add force to his language. No person can fail to understand him, and few can long remain indif- ferent to his calls to grace. In all the duties of the rector he is con- scientious, faithful, and experienced. Too modest and devout to be a mere seeker for fame, still he is winning it by the force of works which cannot go unobserved.
420
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REV. ALFRED II. PARTRIDGE, RECTOR OF CHRIST CHURCH, BROOKLYN, (E. D.)
EV. ALFRED H. PARTRIDGE was born at Hatfield, Massachusetts, December 14th, 1811. His carly academic studies were at Hadley, in the same State. Having taken a course of private instruction in the collegiate branches, he entered the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New York, where he was graduated in June, 1838. He was made deacon at St. Mark's Church, New York, by Bishop Onderdonk, July 1st, 1838, and priest at St. Matthew's Church, Bedford, West- chester county, by the same Bishop July 20th, 1839. Ile became assistant of the Rev. Samuel Nichols at St. Matthew's Church, but after one year was himself called to the rectorship, in which he re- mained during a period of seventeen years. The increase of the Epis- copalians and the crection of new churches of the denomination in that section of Westchester county is largely due to the efforts of Mr. Partridge. He was instrumental in the organization of St. Luke's Church, at Somers ; St. Mary's, at North Castle ; St. John's, at Lewis borough; and St. Mark's at Katonah, all of which are flourishing churches at this time. In May, 1855, he commenced the duties of his present rectorship at Christ Church, in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, which he has now discharged for more than eighteen years.
This parish was organized in 1846, and grew out of St. Mark's parish. The Rev. Charles Reynolds was the first rector, but up to the time when Mr. Partridge came the parish was small and feeble. Worship was held in a small wooden building on South sixth street, which was subsequently sold for one hundred dollars. Mr. Partridge at once threw his accustomed energy into his work, and the parish has now grown to be one of the most important in Brooklyn. Just at the opening of the war, the erection of a splendid stone church edifice was undertaken on a very eligible site on Bedford avenue, donated by the Boerum family. This structure was opened on the first Sunday before Christmas, 1863, and cost about fifty thousand
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REV. ALFRED H. PARTRIDGE.
dollars. It is a very superior building, being large, and constructed in the best manner, and its fittings and adornment are of the most costly, elaborate, and tasteful character. An elegant dwelling in Ross street has been purchased for a rectory.
Mr. Partridge is about the medium height, equally proportioned, and active in his movements. His head is round, with regular feat- ures, and he has light hair and whiskers. His face shows intelligence and shrewdness of observation, and his manners exhibit impulsiveness and energy. Asa business man he would have made a mark in any occupation, for he has all the judgment, tact, and enterprise which are necessary to success in worldly affairs. In the building up of his parish, and in carrying forward their recent operations in constructing a new church, he has displayed an energy, an adaptation of means to ends, a spirit to overcome obstacles, and a business capacity, which have been quite omnipotent in their way.
Hlad Mr. Partridge been less of a practical business man, it is probable that his parish would not now have been in existence. When he took hold of it, there were not only long unpaid debts but no means to discharge them. The whole work of the Lord was about to come to a stand-still simply for the want of business talents and energy to raise money and elevate a defaulting and bankrupt church into an honest and thriving parish. Praying and waiting, without something more, would not do. It required the same kind of striving which hard run merchants make every day, and that kind of practical calculation and exertion which spring from the business mind.
Look at the results. The old tottering church building has passed away, and a magnificent structure has appeared, and the scene of the humble, impoverished congregation has merged into the great throng of influential people who now compose the parish. A super- ficial, inexperienced rector would have been the means of allowing the light of this enterprise to go out forever; but the nerve and busi- ness capacity of Mr. Partridge has fanned it into a blaze of prosperity which has few parallels in church history.
His qualifications for the spiritual work are not less conspicuous. He is polite and genial in his manners, and has excellent conversa- tional powers. In both public and private life he has characteristics which render him extremely popular with all persons. He is ad- mired and beloved for his consistent, pure life, for his spirit of self- sacrifice, and for his bold, earnest efforts in the line of his duty.
422
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REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D.,
PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHI, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. WILLIAM M. PAXTON was born in Adams county, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, June 7th, 1824. The locality now made immortal by one of the great martial contests of the late war, was the familiar scene of his youthful recreations. He was graduated at Pennsylvania College in 1843, and afterward studied law with Judge George Chambers, of Chambersburg, and Alexander Stephenson, of Gettys- burg. On the eve of his admission to the bar he was converted, and, having united with the church, he determined to study for the ministry. He entered Princeton Theological Seminary, and graduated in 1848. In the spring of the previous year he had been licensed as a minister of the Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of Carlisle, and in the fall of 1848 he was ordained and installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Greencastle, Franklin county, Pennsylvania, where he remained two years. In the fall of 1850 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg, and was installed early in January, 1851. This church was under the pastoral care of the late Rev. Dr. Francis Herron, one of the most learned and distinguished clergyman of the west, for the long period of thirty- nine years. Dr. Herron resigned his pastorship in December, 1850, and Dr. Paxton was called as his successor. During the subsequent ten years up to the death of Dr. Herron, the closest relations existed between the officiating and retired pastors as ministers, Christians, and friends, cach giving evidence of the most exalted regard for the other. Dr. Paxton thus speaks of his intimate and affectionate association with Dr. Herron : "I never met a frown from his brow ; never heard an unkind word from his lips; never felt a single jar in our intercourse; never was a moment trammeled or embarrassed in my personal or ministerial actions by anything that he said. On the other hand, he was a friend, who stood by me in every extremity ; a 423
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REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D.
counsellor, ever ready with the wisdom of age and experience ; a comforter, full of tenderest sympathy ; a defender, who would stand forth and receive reproach himself rather than it should fall upon me."
Dr. Paxton remained with the First Church of Pittsburg for fifteen years, when he was called to a field equally important in the city of New York. In the spring of 1865, Rev. Dr. William W. Phillips, for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York city, departed this life, and Dr. Paxton was invited to assume pastoral relations with this influential and wealthy congrega- tion. Having accepted the call, he was installed in January, 1866.
We draw from a sermon preached by Dr. Phillips, at the opening of the new church of the First Congregation in Fifth Avenue, the following interesting historical details regarding the Presbyterian Church in New York.
" The first movement which led to the organization of a Presbyterian congrega- tion in New York was in January, 1707. Prior to that period a few Presbyterians had assembled for worship in a private house, being without a minister. Two min- isters of the faith, named Francis MeKemmie and John Hampton, from the eastern shore of Maryland, now visited New York on their way to Boston, and application was made to the Consistory of the Dutch Church for the use of their place of wor- ship, that these clergymen migh: preach. Permission was given by tho Consistory, but that of Lord Cornbury, the governor of the province, was also requisite, and it was refused. Mr. McKemmie, however, preached in a private house in Pearl street, and baptized a child. The performance of these ministrations, without a license from the governor, resulted in the arrest of both Mr. McKommie and his companion, who were brought before his lordship, and by his order thrown into prison. After two mont' s of confinement they were brought before the chief justice by a writ of habeas corpus, and Mr. Hampton. not having preached, was discharged, and. Mr. McKemmie admitted to bail. The latter returned from Virginia in June, to answer his prosecution before a civil court, where he was acquitt d by a jury, but was ob- liged to pay costs to the amount of £83, 7.s. 6d. In 1717 John Nicholl, Patrick McKnight, Gilbert Livingston, and Thomas Smith, with a few other, organized a congregation, and called as their minister the Rev. James Anderson, a native of Scotland, but at the time a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Worship was held in the City Hall, at the corner of Nassau and Wall streets, the use of which was granted by the corporation of the city. In 1718 a lot was purchased in Wall street, and in the following year a church edifice was erected. Money was collected in Connecticut and in Scotland for the new enterprise. In 1720, application was made for a charter, the granting of which was successfully opposed by the Vestry of Trinity Church, at this time and at other periods, for more than half a century. Having no prospect of obtaining a charter by which they might enjoy, as an incor- porate body, a right to their church and cemetery, and alarmed by what had occurred At Jamaica, Long Island, where the property of the Presbyterians had been actually taken from theni by the Episcopalians, they invested the fee of their church and ground in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Subsequent to the
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REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D.
revolution the property was reconveyed to the trustees of the church. The church was enlarged in 1748. The following inscription was placed in the wall over the magistrate's pew : 'Under the auspiees of George II., King of Great Britain, Patron of the Church, and Defender of the Faith.' Rev. David Bostwiek was ealled to the church in 1756, and early in his ministry a portion of the members seceded and formed the First Associate Reformed Church in Cedar street, now the Seoteh Presbyterian Church in Grand street. In 1765 the Rev. John Rodgers was installed, when the church was revived, prospered, and greatly increased. A lot was obtained from the corporation on the corner of Nassau and Beekman streets, on which a new building was erected, and dedicated in January, 1768.
"Most of the members of the First Church and their ministers went into exile during the Revolution. On their return, they found their churches had been dese- crated and left in an injured and ruinous state. The parsonage house belonging to the church had been burned. The Vestry of Trinity Church, now unsolicited, offered the Presbyterians the use of St. Paul's and St. George's Churches until their own might be repaired. At a later period, a lot of ground on Robinson street was donated for the use of the Presbyterian senior minister. In fact, the Episeopalians in a minority, as they were after the war, were a very different people than when in a majority. The Brick Church was re-opened in June, 1784, and the church in Wall street in the following year. In 1798, a third Presbyterian Church was opened in Rutger street ; in later days under the charge of Dr. Krebs. In 1807, a colony from the Wall street church and from the Brick Church, with others who were unable to obtain pews in either, purchased ground and built the Cedar street church. The churches were separated and became independent of each other in 1809, each having their own pastor, except that Dr. Rogers continued his pastoral relations to the First and Briek Churches. During 1809-10, the Wall street church was rebuilt; the old materials being used for building another ehureh in Spring street in part. A sep- aration of the Wall street and Briek Churches was effeeted by mutual consent. Dr. Rogers died in May, 1811, leaving Dr. Miller, who became a colleague in 1792, sole pastor, which he retained until 1813, when he became one of the professors at Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1815, Rev. Philip M. Whelpley accepted a call to the church, but was removed by death, in July, 1824. He was sueceeded by Dr. Phillips, in January, 1826. In 1834, the church was partially destroyed by fire, but was immediately rebuilt and re-opened in 1835. In May, 1844, the building was vacated and removed to Jersey City, where it is used for the purpose for which it was originally built. The corner-stone of a new edifice, to be erected on the cor- ner of Fifth avenue and Eleventh and Twelfth streets, was laid in September of the same year, and the first service was held January 11tb, 1846. The church is construeted of brown free-stone, and is one of the most imposing in New York, and the congregation is among the most wealthy."
The statistics of the Presbyterian denomination in the United States for 1872, show that its number of churches is 4,730; minis- ters, 4,441; communicants, 468,164, and Sunday school members, 485,762, and their contributions during the year amount to $10,086,526, being an increase of $1,003,117 on those of the previous year.
In 1860 Dr. Paxton was called to a chair of theology in the Western Theological Seminary at Alleghany City, which he still 425
REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D.
holds, in addition to his pastoral duties. He received his degree of D. D. from Jefferson College in 1853. He has published a " Memorial of Rev. Francis Herron, D. D." containing two sermons, and various other occasional sermons. We take the following ex- tract from one of the memorial sermons :
"Elijah, the prophet father, and Elisha, the prophet son, were bound together by no ordinary ties of endearment. When it became manifest to the old prophet that he must ere long retire from his sacred office, and it was indicated that Elisha should fill his vacant place, Elijah sought him, and, throwing his mantle upon him, indicated and installed him as his successor. Accordingly, Elisha bade farewell to the home of his youth, and crossed the mountains of Gilead to take part in the ministry of the old prophet, and to comfort and cheer him with the ready offices of kindness and affection. From that time they lived and labored together in the in- timacy of a harmonious fellowship and reciprocated attachment. It was no ordinary friendship that bound them to each other. They had one interest, one aim, one motive, one sphere of blessed, holy, consecrated action; but deeper than this was the affinity of congenial temperament, the unity of kindred sympathies, the harmo- ny of feelings strung to the same key, and, deeper still, the affianco of grace, the common experience of the love of God, the endearing intimacy of spiritual fellow- ship and communion which bound them together heart and soul, wedding youth and age with a bond of perfectness.
"The life of Elijah was spared longer than he seemed first to anticipate. It was doubtless so ordered in mercy to Elisha. He needed the experience of age to direct him, and the wisdom and instructions of the old prophet to prepare and mature him for his future responsibilities. For a period of about ten years this happy asso- ciation and co-operation in the work of God continned ; but now at last the time arrived when they must part, Eli'ah to ascend into glory, and Elisha to bear the responsibilities of the sacred office alone.
" When it became known in the school of the prophets at Jericho that Elijah was about to finish his earthly career, it awakened such a painful interest among the young men in training there for the work of God, that a band of fifty followed after the two prophets as they took their course toward the Jordan, and, ascending an eminence that overlooked the valley, witnessed the sublime scene that followed. The Jordan parts before the stroke of Elijah's mantle, and now they stand upon the opposite shore-the prophet father and the prophet son in their last act of earthly communion. Elijah, with an overflowing heart, tells Elisha to present now his last request. 'Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee.' Elisha had no difficulty in fixing upon his request. One great thought now filled hi ; mind-anxiety about the cause of God after Elijah was gone. Hence he instantly replies : 'I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.' But whilst they were talking, behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by whirlwind into Heaven."
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