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 18
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 18
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REV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. D., LL. D.
letters and souvenirs of the departed statesman. A copy of an en- graving, thought by Gen. Jackson to be the best extant of himself, bears on the back, in bold penmanship, this inscription : "Gen. A. Jackson, with his kind regards, presents his friend, the Rev. Mr. Scott, the enclosed picture of himself, as a memento of his personal esteem and kind recollection of his friend, Mr. Scott. Hermitage, November 29th, 1841. Andrew Jackson." In 1839, Dr. Scott became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he remained eighteen months, going in 1841 to the Presby- terian Church on Lafayette square, New Orleans. Later, his health failed him, and he went twice to Europe, and also visited California. The climate of the Pacific restored him, and, returning, he resigned his charge in New Orleans, in 1854, and, removing to San Francisco, organized the Calvary Presbyterian congregation, over which he re- mained until 1861. It was mainly through Dr. Scott's exertions that University College, San Francisco, was established in 1859. He deliv- ered a powerful sermon, entitled "A Discourse for the Times," in 1856, during the reign of terror under the Vigilance Committee, taking ground against its proceedings. In 1858, he was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Resigning his charge in San Francisco, he a third time took his departure for Europe, and remained abroad two years, a portion of the time min- istering in New John street Presbyterian Church, Birmingham. He published in London one of the first replies addressed to Bishop Colenso, entitled "Moses and the Pentateuch."
Reaching New York in the Summer of 1863, Dr. Scott accepted the pastorship of the Forty-second street Presbyterian Church. Dr. Scott received the degree of A. M. from the University of Alabama in 1840, and that of D. D. from the same institution in 1844. While abroad in 1850-51, he made the tour of the Holy Land. For three years he was editor of the New Orleans Presbyterian, and he founded the Pucific Expositor, a religious magazine. He is also the author of "Daniel, a Model for Young Men," published in 1854; " Wedge of Gold," 1856-58; "Trade and Letters-their Journeys Round the World," 1856; " Giant Judge, or the Story of Samson," 1859-60; "Esther, the Hebrew Queen," 1859 ; " The Church in the Army," 1862; besides various sermons, &c. A sermon entitled "Bible and Politics," being a plea for religious free- dom in the public schools, made a great sensation. More recently he published his most important work, "The Christ of the Apostles'
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REV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. D., LL. D.
Creed : the voice of the Church against Arianism, Strauss and Renan." . With an appendix, by Rev. W. A. Scott, D. D.
We take the following selection from a sermon entitled "Faith, the Element of Missions," preached before a General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church :
"There is no faculty of the mind, no noble and pure affection of the heart, no proper action of social relation of man, that true religion does not recognize and bless. A belief in God is itself the sublimest conception the human min l can en- tertain. An intelligent, earnest apprehension of God as our Heavenly Father does more than anything else to expand, strengthen, elevate and refine the human intellect. As mind is truly the offspring of God, the entrance of his word giveth light. Other things being equal, the pious are possessed of more strength of intellect, of greater sources of enjoyment, and of infinitely greater expectations in the world to come. It is in those countries and amongst those races and generations that have been most com- pletely under the influence of the Word of God that we find the highest development of intellect, virtue, and patriotism. It is in their history that we see the greatest breadth and solidity of character, the sublimest conceptions of the invisible world, and the purest forms of government. It is with them that we find the poetry of ac ion and the loftiness of genius. There was poetry loftier than the strains of Mil- ton in the faith and heroism and moral sublimity of the Mayflower's cabin, when, as has been beautifully said, she hovered near the rocky shore, ' like a wounded sea-fowl, seeking some place to die.' Three thousand miles of waves stretched behind them and between them and civilization. Their sails streamed in shreds through the win- ter's blasts, and before them lay an unknown, frowning, snow-clad coast, where the howling of the wild beast mingled with the wilder war-cry of the savage: and yet we hear of no regret shaking the high resolve of a single heart, nor of a tear dimming the lustre of a woman's eye. As they had lived by faith as pilgrims and strangers in the old world, of whom it was not worthy, so by faith they had crossed the stormy ocean; and now by faith they framed laws and made a constitution for a new empire, and then by faith debarked, and in faith poured out their hearts in psalms of gratitude, and build a house for God and a house for the instruction of their children; and so do their descendants to this day, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. When our pious fathers landed on the shores of the new world, they sowed a handful of seed-corn of the most precious kind on the broad fields of this vast continent, and, it being in- creased by fresh winnowings from Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and France, has multiplied itself a thousand fold, and the fruit thereof is now shaking as Lebanon over the globe. Was there nothing but witchcraft, blue laws, nasal chanting, and psalm- singing among the first settlers of America ? Was there no poetry, no faith, no heroism, no missionary spirit, in the high-souled, Heaven-trusting, Jesus-loving bands that sought the wilderness for freedom to worship God ? A careful study of the history of a large majority of the emigrants who first settled America shows that their prin- ciples and character were formed by reading and studying the Bible. Their faith seized on things to come, and brought them in daily communion with the living truths and unseen beings of a spiritual world. To them the Word of God was every- thing. To them the famous motto of Chillingworth had a real meaning and applica- tion-' The Bible is the religion of Protestants.' "
In 1870, Dr. Scott accepted an earnest invitation to return to San Francisco, where he was warmly welcomed, and soon succeeded in establishing, St. John's Presbyterian Church. This is now a large 506
REV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. D., LI. D.
and flourishing congregation of which he is the pastor. Dr. Seott is also Professor of Systematic Theology in the San Francisco Theo- logieal Seminary, an institution recently established.
The University of New York conferred upon Dr. Seott the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1872.
Dr. Seott is tall, with a large, broad frame, and high, rather round shoulders. His head is of good size, and, while it has no peculiarly striking marks in its formation, is well developed in the intellectual portions. The eyes are small and ealm, but full of intelligence, and the whole expression of the eountenanee is that of a kind-hearted, re- flective, and far-seeing man. His manners are courteous and genial in the extreme. IIe interests you at once as a man of far more than the ordinary ability. Laying aside everything like reserve, he readily and delightfully falls into animated conversation. His conversational powers are the amplest. He exhibits a fund of the widest learning and the richest thought upon deeper subjects, and not less spirit and intelligence in regard to those of a more common character. His life has been one of a varied experience, the largest acquaintance with his fellows, and a elear-sighted observation. A missionary in the wilds of America, a tourist in refined Europe, a pilgrim in the Holy Land, a preacher in the great cities, his field of view has been the most extensive; and to experience he has added a treasure of lore gained in a lifetime of profound mental application. Fame and hon- ors have never lifted him away from sympathy and communion with the humblest who might cross his path, and exalted learning has not inade him less the genial companion of those without a like possession. IIence there is a plainness, simplicity and frankness in his deportment and speech which make him companionable for all men, and at the same time, when the occasion requires it, he rises to the grandest height of brilliant and dignified scholarship.
Dr. Seott is an excellent writer and an agreeable speaker. If one thing more than another is apparent, it is that he has full mastery of his subjeet. A giant strength for debate is self- evident, a commanding self-possession appears throughout, and neither learning nor personal sineerity is ever laeking. His arguments stand forth impregnable bulwarks of logie, while every step in them is illustrated by the heart's pious and sympathetie over- flowings. Of an independent, courageous nature, his assaults upon error are bold and uneompromising ; but to the suffering spirit he uses a tenderness of expression in which his religion and his emotions have an equal part. 507
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REV. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER, D. D., PASTOR OF TIIE CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHI, BROOKLYN.
EV. DR. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER was born in Panditerripoo, in the Island of Ceylon, lying off the Southern coast of Hindoostan, in the year 1822. His father was a missionary. He came to the United States when ten years old. In 1840, at the age of eighteen, he was graduated at the New York University, and in 1843 at the Union Theological Seminary, New York. Ile was ordained as an evangelist of the Third Presbytery of New York, and sailed as a missionary for India in May, 1844. For twenty years he pursued the self-sacrificing labors of a missionary in India, and finally re- turned on account of ill health to the United States.
After a settlement of a few months over a church in Jersey City, N. J., he was called to the pastorate of the Howard Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California. He went to the Pacific coast in 1865, where he soon attracted a great deal of attention by his eloquent preaching. Six years later, in 1871, he accepted a call to the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, to succeed the Rev. J. Clement French, who had resigned by reason of impaired health.
The first church edifice of this congregation, in Ormond Place, was built in 1853, at a cost of $27,000, by R. L. Crook, Esq., in the then suburbs of the city, doubtless " to enhance the value of the owner's large real estate interest in the vicinity," having "also a well . considered regard for its moral and social influence upon the com- munity of which it was by-and-by to become the center." The Congregationalists were the first to occupy the building as a society, having organized in 1854, under Rev. Mr. Parker, who was succeed- ed by Mr. French. In 1863 extensive improvements were made in the building, at an expenditure of three thousand dollars. A new organ cost two thousand dollars additional. At that date the con- gregation had increased from scarcely a dozen to one hundred and
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REV. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER, D. D.
seventy-five families, and it continued thus to prosper and increase throughout the ministry of Mr. French. Soon after Dr. Scudder came, the imposing structure now occupied was erected. It cost a large sum of money, and contains one of the most capacious and finest audience rooms in the country.
Dr. Scudder received the degree of M. D. from the New York University, and the degree of D. D. from Rutgers College, New Brunswick. In all his pastoral positions, as well as in active rela- tions to the leading religious movements and enterprises of the day, he has been an efficient and conscientious worker, and he conse- quently exerts an influence which goes far beyond his own church and denomination. He often appears on the platform as a speaker, at anniversaries and other meetings of the city organizations engag- ed in different works of evangelization and reform, where he is listened to with great interest and profit.
He is a man of the most sincere convictions of piety and duty. All the associations and impulses of his life have been of a nature to lead him to a deep spirituality of thought and conduct. He is absorbed in his mission to men, and in the faithful performance of all its obligations is his highest ambition and his eternal hopes. Hence in the daily demands of pastoral duty, and in the preaching of God's word, he is solely intent upon accomplishing the greatest good to his fellow-creatures by the untiring application of his talents and energies to the purpose in view. In the first case, it is not personal convenience, nor in the second, is it desire for personal fame which control him, but in both it is the yearning and the resolution to dif- fuse the comforts of religion among a sinful and immortal race.
Dr. Scudder's sermons are productions of far more than ordinary power. Learning, piety, and zeal are all aglow in them. With a force and emphasis of action peculiar to the man, and with a clear- ness and beauty of language which are invariable to his thought and utterance, he makes all occasions and all themes of memorable inter- est. He is fluent and impassioned. His command of language and grasp of his subject are both complete. Sometimes his words are quite ornate, though always powerful. Impressive in his appearance and a natural as well as a cultivated orator, he is well calculated to teach and move the masses. Arresting the public attention alike by his pleasing gifts of eloquence and crudition, he is one who makes full use of this circumstance for the advancement of religion.
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REV. WILLIAM J. SEABURY,
RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIA- TION, NEW YORK.
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EV. WILLIAM J. SEABURY, son of the late Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury, was born in the city of New York, January 25th, 1837. He was graduated at Columbia College in 1856. He then studied law in the office of Stephen P. Nash, was admitted to the bar in 1858, and remained in practice for several years. In the autumn of 1864, he entered the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, and was graduated in the middle class in 1866. He was ordained dea- con in June, 1866, at the Church of the Annunciation, by Bishop Potter, and priest on the feast of St. Andrew, November 30th, 1867, at the same church and by the same prelate. Immediately on his first ordination he became the assistant of his father, who had been the rector of the Church of the Annunciation since its organization in 1838. In 1868 Dr. Seabury resigned the rectorship, when the Rev. William J. Seabury was at once elected to fill the vacancy.
As Dr. Seabury was the rector of this parish for thirty years, and greatly distinguished himself as a preacher, professor, and writer, a notice of him is not inappropriate in this place :
Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury was born at New London, Conn., June 9th, 1801. IIe was the son of Rev. Charles Scabury, who was the son of Rev. Samuel Scabury, Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, who was also the son of a clergyman. The subject of our notice attended school at his native place during his residence there, but when about thirteen years of age his father removed to Setau- ket, Long Island. IIere there was not much opportunity for school- ing, and his father's salary as a country clergyman, was not sufficient to give him the advantage of other schools, or the privilege of a col- lege education. When about seventeen or eighteen years of age, he came to New York to gain a living for himself, but found time to pursue studies of his own. After a time he gave up the business
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REV. WILLIAM J. SEABURY.
pursuits in which he was engaged, and opened a school. Having prepared himself for the Episcopal ministry, he was ordained deacon. and afterward pricst, by Bishop Hobart, about 1826-27. After ordi- nation, he spent some time in preaching at Jamaica and Setauket, and then took charge of the parish of Huntington, where his father and great-grandfather had been settled, and where his grandfather had also officiated. About a year later he was called to a parish in Astoria, or Hallet's Cove, as it was then called, on Long Island. While in charge of this parish he formed a connection with Rev. Dr. William A. Muhlenberg to act as one of the professors of St. Paul's College, which was then being established at Flushing, Long Island. He continued in this position until about 1834-35. About the year 1832 he was invited to take the cditorship of The Churchman, then vacant by the resignation and absence in Europe of Rev. Dr. Whittingham, now Bishop of Maryland, and he discharged the duties of the position until 1850-51. After leaving Astoria he officiated temporarily at the Church of the Nativity and St. Luke's Church, in New York, but had no permanent connection with any parish until the Church of the Annunciation was organized in 1838.
The first services of this parish were held in the building on the corner of Prince and Thompson streets, now St. Ambrose's Church. In August, 1847, the present spacious stone church edifice in Four- tecnth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues was occupied. Dr. Seabury was the first rector. In the winter of 1861-62, he began to perform the duties of the professorship of Biblical Learning and Interpretation of Scriptures at the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New York, residing at the Seminary.
He received the degrees of M. A. and D.D. from Columbia College. His published works were various occasional sermons, and the fol- lowing: "The Christianity of the Church of England in the Six- teenth Century ;" "The Supremacy and Obligation of Conscience ;" " American Slavery Distinguished from the Slavery of English Theorists, and Justified by the Law of Nature;" "The Theory and Use of the Church Calendar." A sermon preached at the funeral of the late Right Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, Bishop of New York, entitled " Witness unto Truth," had a large circulation. For some years his health was impaired, but he continued to discharge his duties as professor until his sudden and lamented decease on Thurs- day, October 10th, 1872, at the age of seventy-one years.
The present rector of the Church of the Annunciation is very
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REV. WILLIAM J. SEABURY.
efficient and popular. The congregation is still numerous, and the choral services are noted as being among the best in the city. There are daily morning and evening prayers, and the weekly communion.
In 1865, and again in 1872, Mr. Seabury visited Europe. On the 29th of October, 1868, he was married to Alice Van Wyck, daughter of Thomas Marston Beare, of New York. In 1873 he was elected Charles and Elizabeth Ludlow Professor of Ecclesiastical Polity and Law, in the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New York.
Mr. Seabury is of the average height, and equally proportioned. He has an intelligent countenance, and is affable in his manners and address. The Seabury family, through generations, has been one prominent for its religious and social culture, its clear, practical intelligence and earnest usefulness in life. This gentleman, in all these characteristics, is but a follower in the peculiarities and foot- steps of an illustrious ancestry. He has the highest virtue, much grasp of mind, and is ever busy in the Lord's work. He writes and preaches with scholarly power and eloquence, and his daily life is true to principle and duty. He has published a pamphlet con- taining an essay on the question of "The Lawfulness of Marriage with the Sister of a Deceased Wife," with " Thoughts on a Proposed Canon," which are papers of great logic and power, upholding the Levitical law, prohibiting marriages within this degree of kindred. Making no assumption in regard to either merit or success, still he is a man whose career in both particulars is likely to be very highly esteemed by his fellow-men.
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REV. NORMAN SEAVER, D. D.,
PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (HENRY ST.), BROOKLYN.
EV. DR. NORMAN SEAVER was born in Boston, Mas- sachusetts, April 23d, 1834. He was graduated at the Latin School of that city in 1850, and at Williams College in 1854. In the following year he was ad- mitted to the Boston bar, where he practiced for some time. He determined, however, to study for the ministry, and, entering the theological seminary at Andover, Massa- chusetts, he pursued these investigations from 1858 to 1860, when he was graduated. His first settlement was over the Congregational Church at Rutland, Vermont, where he was ordained and installed in August, 1861. After a faithful service of over seven years, he accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church in Henry street, Brooklyn, which is his present field of duty. He received the degree of D. D. from Middletown College, in Vermont, about 1866.
The First Presbyterian Church in Henry street is an old or- ganization, carly under the care of the celebrated Rev. Dr. Carroll, and then under that of the learned Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, who was installed in May, 1837. At the period of the difficulties in the Presbyterian Church, which finally led to the formation of what was called the Old and New School branches, a division took place in the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, the seceders adhering to the Old School body, and those remaining to the New. Both took the title of the First Presbyterian Church, and still retain it, though now a part of the re-united Presbyterian Church, and members of the same Presbytery. The other congregation was, for a long time, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr. Jacobus, who, in 1853, was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Van Dyke. The church is more par- ticularly designated as the First Presbyterian Church in Remsen
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REV. NORMAN SEAVER, D. D.
street. Dr. Cox retired from the pastorship of the First Church in Henry street, after laboring seventeen years, leaving it one of the most numerous and wealthy congregations of Brooklyn. His first successor did not remain very long, and the next pastor was the Rev. Dr. Charles S. Robinson, who came in March, 1860, and re- mained several years. Dr. Seaver next became the pastor. There is a present membership of about six hundred persons. A Mission chapel, under the care of the Rev. Charles Wood, and a Sunday School, of five hundred and fifty scholars, located in Concord street, near the Navy Yard, are supported by the First Church, and the home Sunday School has one hundred and fifty scholars.
Dr. Seaver is of the average height, with a well-proportioned and ercct figure. His eyes and complexion are light, and, in every particular, he is an excellent type of the New Englander. He is polite and friendly in his manners, with, however, more reserve than forwardness. He talks pleasantly, and it is evident that he is a per- son of the utmost sincerity and kindness of feeling. In study he is an intellectual investigator, looking deeply into all subjects, and in his pastoral labors he is conscientious, devoted, and energetic. He preaches with a pointed and clear explanation of his theme, and with an earnest interest in the spiritual welfare of those committed to his charge. With constantly unfolding talents, and a steadfast purpose in doing his whole duty, he is one of the men upon whom his denomination and society may rely as a strong bulwark.
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REV. GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, D. D.,
PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY IN THE EPISCOPAL GENERAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. GEORGE F. SEYMOUR was born in the city of New York, January 5th, 1829, and is the son of Isaac N. Seymour, Esq., for forty-four years treasurer of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and Elvira B., both deceased. His academic education was obtained at the Gram- mar School of Columbia College, and subsequently at the College. He entered the freshman class, and obtained and held the headship of his class until his graduation in 1850. At the semi- annual exhibition of 1848, when a sophomore, he gained the highest prize for declamation, having as his competitor the present distin- guished rector of Trinity parish, Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix. On gradua- tion he spoke the Greek salutatory, which was a poem of remarkable finish and power. He entered the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New York, in the autumn of 1851, and was graduated in the summer of 1854. He was ordained by the Right Rev. Horatio Potter, D. D., in the Church of the Ascension (Dr. Seabury), New York, on Sunday, the 17th of December, 1854, Dr. Seabury preaching the sermon. His first work was in founding a mission station at Annandale, in Dutchess county, New York, where he was efficiently engaged from January, 1855, until July, 1861. . During this period, through Mr. Seymour's instrumentality and energy, the parish of Holy Innocents, with which he was connected, erected a beautiful stone church at a cost of some thirty thousand dollars. Just as the building was about ready for occupation, in December, 1859, it took fire from a defective flue, and was entirely destroyed except the walls. Mr. Seymour at once collected money and began the work of rebuilding it, and on the 2d of February, 1860, it was duly con- secrated. The entire cost of the building was subsequently assumed by John Bard, Esq., a wealthy resident of the vicinity, and the funds
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