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 21
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 21
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Dr. Storrs has always taken a great interest in the educational movements of Brooklyn. He took an active part in the establish- ment and success of the Brooklyn Female Academy, now the Packer Institute, and in the school established by the late Rev. Dr. Alonzo Gray on the Heights.
As a preacher Dr. Storrs has some striking peculiarities. Of late most of his sermons are extemporancously delivered, though the preparation is always studious and thorough. His appearance is most dignified and solemn, and his delivery is slow, emphatic, and impressive. In every attitude and in every tone, he is the imperso- nation of not only the man of intellectual power, but the man of God. He rivets the eye and he appeals to the sensibilities in the same instant. The magnetic influence which goes out froin the great intelligence, and the pure character of one man to the minds and hearts of other men, is instantly felt by those who come into the presence of this admired preacher. IIis voice is strong but beauti- fully modulated, and highly sensitive to the emotions. Decided and
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REV. RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D.
emphatic in all utterances of fact and opinion, showing a most thorough scholarship in both theology and literature, these sermons are also most touching expressions of Christian sentiment. If the hearer desires to listen to the most polished diction, to original and great thoughts of a scholarly as well as practical mind he will be fully gratified; but in no case, should he be seeking the way of eternal life, will he fail to be told the path to it. Thus, while scholarship and oratory are attractive features of the ministrations of Dr. Storrs, it is all made subservient to his greater aim of the regeneration of his fellow-inen. While you shall go away from the service pleased and instructed, you will likewise feel stronger in virtue and in faith, for the temptations and sorrows of the world.
Dr. Storrs is of large, tall, stately person, and in the prime and vigor of manhood. His complexion is light, and he has brown hair. There is a resolute expression about his mouth, and his glance, though mild, is very searching. Still, his face is very interesting from its characteristics of intelligence and goodness. In all inter- course he is dignified, and studiously polite. His disposition, man- ners, and habits, have all been formed and schooled in the inflexible purpose, the stern dignity, and the rigid method of Puritanism. The forefathers of New England are his models of all excellence, as well in personal deportment as in morals and religious sentiment. Look- ing at individual character in this land, and in the many he has visited, he seems to turn with satisfaction to the Puritan type as the one best sustaining the true nobility in man's nature.
Without belonging exactly to the sensational preachers of the day, Dr. Storrs by no means keeps aloof from the agitation of secular topics in the pulpit. As a war man, an abolitionist and emancipa- tionist, and a moral reformer, he has been among the boldest, ablest, and most earnest. With the zeal and resolution in upholding what he believes to be the right inborn to him from his ancestry, he is a champion who generally bears the banner of victory.
Ilis varied learning eminently fits him for all the departments in which he energetically exerts himself. As a clergyman, scholar, teacher, and citizen. he has secured an exalted reputation, which is increased by his successful labors in every new field of duty. A representative of the most advanced culture of the American pulpit, he is equally an example of the stern and higher virtues, which are at once the strength and safety of society.
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REV. THOMAS STREET, A. M., LATE PASTOR OF THE NORTH PRESBYTE RIAN CHURCH.
EV. THOMAS STREET was born in Philadelphia, May 8th, 1823. He pursued his academic and theological studies at the Pennington Seminary. at Pennington, New Jersey, a Methodist institution, leaving in 1845. He was licensed in the same year by the New Jersey Conference. In 1846 he was stationed at Winslow, New Jersey ; 1847 at Prinecton ; and in 1848 he was transferred to the New England Conference, passing 1848-49 at Danvers, Massachusetts, and 1850-51 in Boston. Having become Secretary of the American Sunday School Union, in 1852, he anited with the Presbyterian Church, and joined the Presbytery of Columbia, New York. He remained in the Sun- day School work until 1855, and then accepted a call to the Green Hill Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, in connection with the Third Presbytery of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1860. After this he went to the Presbyterian church at Harrisburg, and then to another at York, where he continued until he accepted the charge of the North Presbyterian Church, New York, in association with the Third Presbytery of New York, where he commenced his labors May 1st, 1864.
Mr. Street labored acceptably in this field until May 1st, 1873, a period of nine years. Through his personal efforts a debt of thirty thousand dollars on the church was paid off. He next accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church of Cortland, New York, where he is now engaged in a most popular and efficient ministry.
He received the degree of A. M. from Princeton College in 1857. It may be mentioned that Mr. Street has considerable talent in painting, as is shown by many fine specimens of his work, which adorn the walls of his dwelling.
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REV. THOMAS STREET, A. M.
Mr. Street is of the average height, cqual proportions, and in his firm, quick step shows an active, vigorous manhood. He has a round head, and regular features. His face has considerable re- flectiveness about it, and not a little amiability, and it has also the tokens of a great deal of penetration and firmness. He is a very courteous, genial man, and one of great aptness in suiting himself to the persons and circumstances in which he may be placed. At the first glance he seems a rather passive sort of person, who would float along in opinion and action with other men from the sheer spirit of accommodation and good nature; but he is not in this respect exactly what he appears. He is really a man of a large amount of force of character, and, however far amiability may carry him, you at length find that he is neither to be molded nor led. He has a calm, reasonable, generous spirit, but he is not less conscientious and resolute. The truest specimen of a gentleman, he is likewise the best example of the man. Modest in his bearing, unobtrusive in his opinions, gentle and considerate in his expressions in the first relation, he exhibits the clearest sense of all the requirements which belong to the other. Uprightness, firmness in duty, and boldness, especially for virtue, truth, and the gospel he preaches, are character- isties which underlie and overrule his whole being. The strong points of his character do not appear so quickly and so prominently as in some men, but those we have mentioned could not be more fixed and dominant in any one.
Mr. Street makes no display in his preaching, but succeeds in commanding very close attention. Without being a terse writer, he is a forcible thinker, and expresses himself in language of like character. The subject is always discussed with animation, and there can be no doubt of his own interest and sincerity. His training in the Methodist pulpit is still apparent. He is very emo- tional, and his most powerful passages are where he addresses his appeal more directly to the heart. The cold, formal public speaker may reach the understanding, but he who would reach the feelings must first feel himself. And herein Mr. Street is never lacking. Human sympathies and Christian tenderness enter largely into his own nature, and his heart is ever tenderly inclined to others. He has an agrecable, mellow-toned voice, well suited for the pathos in which he indulges.
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REV. PETER STRYKER, D. D.,
LATE PASTOR OF THIRTY-FOURTII STREEET REFORMED DUTCII CHURCHI, NEW YORK.
EV. DR. PETER STRYKER was born at Fairfield, New Jersey, April 8th, 1826. He is the son of the Rev. Her- man B. Stryker, who, cven at the advanced age of seven- ty-three, was active and efficient in the pastorship of the Huguenot Reformed (Dutch) Church on Staten Island. His grandfather, the Rev. Peter Stryker (after whom he is named), was for many years pastor of the Reformed Church of Belleville, N. J., died in 1847, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. The Stryker family came originally from Holland. The name is prop- erly Strijcker, which means a smoother, or stroker, referring to the striking off of measures of wheat, etc. It is a very common name in the old country. A most popular preacher, now in Rotterdam has this name. In Motley's History of the "Dutch Republic," it is stated that in 1562, Herman Stryker, a converted monk, was one of the most popular preachers in the Reformed Church of Holland.
Dr. Stryker entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1841, and passed two years there. Subsequently he entered Rutgers College, New Brunswick, where he was graduated in 1845, and took his theo- logical course at the Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church at the same place, where he was graduated in 1848. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Third Reformed Dutch Church at Raritan, New Jersey, October 18th, 1848. Three years later, in the autumn of 1851, he accepted a call to the Reformed Dutch Church at Rhine- beck, Dutchess county, New York, one of the most influential churches of the denomination. Having accepted a call to the Rc- formed Dutch Church on the corner of Broome and Greene streets, New York, he entered upon his duties in May, 1856, and was in- stalled on the 1st of June following.
This congregation grew out of a missionary enterprise of the Re- formed Dutch denomination, organized January 9th, 1822. It was the
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REV. PETER STRYKER, D. D.
desire of the society to establish preaching near the corner of Canal street and Broadway, "a part of the city then growing rapidly," but no suitable room could be procured, and the locality was changed to the junction of Howard and Elm streets, where a room was ob- tained. Rev. Robert McLean was the first missionary. The enter- prise prospered, and arrangements were made to build a church edifice on a site corner of Broome and Greene streets. The corner- stone was laid in June, 1823 .. In the month of October following, service was commenced in the basement. On February 8th, 1824, the church was dedicated, and in a few years had one of the largest and most influential congregations of the city. The whole cost of lots and building was $16,200. A debt of $7,000 was paid off in three or four years. The congregation was formally organized in December, 1823, and Mr. McLean was called as the first pastor in the following year. Rev. Dr. Jacob Brodhead was the pastor from 1826 to 1837; Rev. Dr. Samuel A. Van Vranken from 1837 to 1841 ; Rev. Dr. George Fisher from 1841 to 1854, and Rev. Henry V. Vorhees from May to December, 1855, who resigned by reason of ill health. In April Dr. Stryker was called.
In 1859 a debt had accumulated of $17,000, and the congregation was greatly reduced in numbers by the removal up-town of its mem- bers. In May, 1859, a union was effected with the Livingston Re- formed Dutch Church, worshipping in a hall on the corner of Thirty- third street and Eighth avenue, where services were continued. Meanwhile the down-town property was sold, and eligible building lots purchased in Thirty-fourth street. The last service took place in the old church April 15th, 1860, when Dr. Stryker preached an appropriate discourse. In a period of between thirty-six and thirty- seven years, 488 marriages were solemnized, 557 infants baptized, and 1,204 members admitted.
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A fine church building was erected on Thirty-fourth street, and dedicated March 3d, 1861. The cost was some $60,000. A debt of $35,000 which remained was liquidated in three or four years. The church was built during the depression occasioned by the break- ing out of the rebellion, and the heavy debt seriously threatened the prosperity of tlre congregation; but its increase was such that it was soon able to remove all embarrassment.
In the spring of 1868 Dr. Stryker left New York, and became the pastor of the North Broad Street Presbyterian Churel, Phila- delphia. He was induced to leave that important field on account
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REV. PETER STRYKER, D. D.
of the ill health of two members of his family. He is now the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, New York, one of the largest and most important churches of that denomination. His sphere of influence is even larger than it was either in New York or Philadelphia. He has declined many invitations to settle in Chicago, and other prominent places. He is much engaged in the temperance cause, and also delivers popular lectures. His most entertaining and eloquent lectures are from under the respective titles of "Conversation," "Practicability," " Matrimony," and " Grease for the Wheel." In the summer of 1872 he returned from a tour in Europe, Egypt, and Palestine.
Dr. Stryker received his degree of D. D. from the University of New York in April, 1866. For many years he has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Domestic Missions, and he is one of the Council of the Patriot Orphan Home, at Flushing, Long Island.
He has written largely for the "Christian Intelligencer," "Na- tional Advocate," and "The Youth's Temperance Banner," organs of the National Temperance Society. Among his writings is much in verse, including Sunday School, missionary, and temperance hymns. He has published a volume entitled "Three Little Graves ;" another, entitled "Little Gems for the Saviour's Crown ;" and a third will soon be put to press. The most noted of his published sermons are "The Lower Depths of the Great American Metropo- lis," and "The City Wholly Given to Idolatry."
The following extract from one of Dr. Stryker's sermons is cha- racteristic of his style :
" Beloved Christians, let us look forward to heaven as the place of our abode when we shall have conquered the last enemy, Death. Sweeter bliss than the most fertile imagination can conceive, purer and more perfect enjoyment than the Chris- tian can anticipate, awaits us there. All past evil will be forgotten, and the future be entirely free from sorrow. Every blessing which an intelligent and holy being can desire will be provided. The society of all the good who have ever inhabited earth, and the angels who have never sinned, and what is infinitely more to be desired, the fellowship and love of the triune God, will be enjoyed. Oh ! how rav- ishing the anticipation ! To see the great white throne, the fountain gushing be- neath it, the river and the tree of life, the glory of the Lord ; to wear the crown, and hold the palm of victory, and strike the golden harp; to hear the anthem of the angels and all the redeemed, and see the smile of Jesus ; to join in the song of tri- umph ; to have unfolded to our view the great mystery of redemption, and learn more and more of the wonderful nature of God, and the astonishing perfection of His works-to do and experience all this, and yet to be so constituted as to feel no weariness ; to behold eternal day, and need no night to bring repose ; to see eternal
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sunshine, and require no shadows to make us better appreciate the full splendor ; to eat, but never feel satiety ; to drink, but never become intoxicated ; to glide along on a calm sea that never has a ripple ; 'o sing with millions, and not one note of dis- cord ; and all the while the voice becoming attuned to higher and sweeter strains, the ear accustomed to drink in more delicious melodies, the mind expanding to comprehend richer truths, and the heart developing to the experience and expres- sion of purer and fuller love ! Perfection, and going on to perfection ! Glory, in- creasing glory ! Praise, higher praise ! Oh! this is Heaven. This is what the poor, toiling. careworn, infirm, sick, dying believer will experience when he has crossed the rill of death, and reaches the celestial city. This is what millions of poor pil- grims who rest from their weary journey have attained."
Dr. Stryker is about the average height, and rather sparely made. To look at him, he seems of a delicate, feeble organization, but he is really a person of a great deal of physical energy and en- durance. His head is well-formed, with regular features. His brow is round and well developed, and it is to be seen that his intellectual capacity is of no mean order.
It is no trouble to become acquainted with Dr. Stryker. He is genial, talkative, and cheerful, and he puts you on a basis of good fellowship at once. You find him kind and considerate in all things ; but you see that his opinions are firm, his prejudices decp- seated, and his purpose marked out and sustained by conscientious ' conviction.
Dr. Stryker cannot but be regarded as a most valuable man in his day and generation. He loves to work, and all that he attempts is done with judgment and energy, and hence generally with suc- cess. He does not travel along the beaten track of his pastoral duties, but he puts his shoulder to the wheel wherever he thinks he can do his fellow-man a service.
He writes a fluent and very practical sermon. It has a thorough- ly religious tone ; and while he never writes a word for mere dis- play, his thoughts naturally weave themselves into fervent and eloquent language. He is also logical and argumentative, and, whatever he has to say, does not hesitate to say it fearlessly and to the point. In all reforms he exhibits great power. He is untiring, shows the keenest judgment in regard to the plans of the adversary, detects his weaknesses, and makes himself formidable by his intelli- gent mastery of the whole subject.
Dr. Stryker is more progressive than most ministers of his de- nomination. He makes his pulpit a means of carrying forward his war of reform. Convinced of his own duty in the premises, he strikes trenchant blows on every hand, indifferent to all criticism, and only eager for the overthrow of vice.
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REV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER,
PASTOR OF THE THIRD UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, NEW YORK.
EV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER was born in the town of Wakefield, Mass., March 16th, 1847. His father was a school-teacher during the greater part of his life after he attained his majority. An older brother is also a Univer- salist minister. He entered Tuft's College, Medford, Mass .. a Universalist institution, in his sixteenth year, and was graduated in his twentieth. After graduation he spent one year in business, and then entered the Theological School at St. Lawrence University, Canton, N. Y., where he pursued his studies for one year. He then accepted a call to a Universalist Church in Syracuse, N. Y., beginning his labors there September, 1868. In September, 1869, he came to the city of New York, and entered upon the duties of his present pastorship over the Third Universalist Church, corner of Bleeker and Downing streets.
This society was organized over forty years ago, and on the 19th of June, 1836, the present church was dedicated. Some years since the church was renovated at a cost of six thousand dollars, when the whole property was valued at fifty thousand dollars. There have been five pastors, Mr. C. F. Lafever, being the first. The Rev. Moses Ballou and the Rev. Day K. Lee, both eminent ministers of the de- nomination, were also pastors for considerable periods. Mr. Lee died while in the service of the society, and was succeeded by the present pastor. The membership has nearly quadrupled under the ministry of Mr. Sweetser, and the attendance is much larger. It is expected that a new edifice will be built further up-town within a few years.
Mr. Sweetser is of the average height, finely proportioned, and erect. IIis hea l is of considerable size, with a pale, intellectual face.
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REV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER.
He is a man who instantly establishes himself in your favorable opinion by both appearance and manners. You see that he is full of the genuine frankness, friendliness, and amiability, which are so delightful in social intercourse. He has dignity, too, but it is of just that measure which should be seen in one of his clerical calling, without in any way taking from that spontaneous good feeling and good nature which belong to him naturally. Thus constituted, of course, he is a popular man, standing on intimate relations of friend- ship with all who know him.
He preaches with a great deal of fervor and power. Deep, positive, and conscientious in his own religious convictions, he speaks with all the foree of his mind and of his feelings. There is nothing dry or tame about it, for it is the strong outpouring of faith, and the glow of personal emotion. His language is choice and expressive, and his gesticulation is appropriate and timely. While he is still a young man in the ministry, it is elearly to be observed that he has a self- possession which gives much additional weight to his utterances. The reason for this is, that he is a close student and a deep thinker, so that he goes into the pulpit with complete preparation to argue his subject and to defend it. Prosecuting his chosen work with earnest- ness and fidelity, he illustrates it by the practice on his own part in a life of admired virtues.
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REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE,
PASTOR OF THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHI, BROOKLYN.
EV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE was born near Bound Brook, New Jersey, January 7th, 1832. He is the son of David Talmage, who at one time was sheriff of Somerset county. Four brothers of this family are in the ministry-viz: James R. Talmage, D. D .; John V. N. Talmage, D. D., a distinguished missionary in China ; Goyn Talınage, and T. De Witt Talmage. Another brother was the late Daniel Talmage, a well-known rice merchant of New York, and one of the originators of the Native American party and the order of United Americans. The subject of our notice was graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1853, and at the Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, in 1856. During the summer of the same year he was called to Belleville, New York, where he was duly ordained and installed. He remained in this position about three years, when, in 1859, he was called to the Second Re- formed Church of Philadelphia, where he labored seven years. From his carliest appearance in the pulpit he commanded marked public attention. He showed himself to be a man of original thought, and an orator of no mean ability ; hence crowds flocked to hear him, and his congregation grew in numbers and influence. At a period when his church in Philadelphia was in an extremely flourishing condition, he was invited to the pastorship of the Central Presbyterian Church, located on Schermerhorn street, Brooklyn, which was somewhat fee- ble and disorganized. He accepted, and was installed in April, 1869.
The Central Presbyterian Church was, at an earlier date, located in Willoughby street, where for some time it was in charge of the Rev. Mr. Duffield. On the 13th of February, 1851, the Rev. Dr. J. Edson Rockwell was installed as the pastor, and thus remained for
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REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE.
some fourteen years, when he accepted a call to a Presbyterian church on Staten Island. The congregation. after many trials, in which they were continually called upon to appreciate the cheerful hope and un- tiring energy of Dr. Rockwell, were enabled to build an edifice in Schermerhorn street, scating one thousand people, which was dedi- cated December 10th, 1854. The cost of the whole property was about thirty-four thousand dollars, of which an indebtedness of twelve thousand five hundred dollars remained until 1863, when it was paid.
Mr. Talmage had preached only one year, when the church be- came crowded at every service to its utmost capacity. All the pews were taken at increased rentals, and the pastor was paid the large salary of seven thousand dollars. The increase has been constant, and now the assemblage at each service is immense. In 1870 a large structure was erected for the use of the congregation, on a site of six lots on Schermerhorn street, not far from the old church. In style it was plain, but substantial, having an interior constructed on the amphitheatre plan. It was known by the name of the "Tabernacle," and was crowded at each service. The great organ used in the Col- iseum in Boston during the Musical Peace Jubilee in 1869 was purchased for this church, and removed to Brooklyn. Just before service on a Sabbath morning in December, 1872, this novel struc- ture was totally consumed by fire. The Acadamy of Music was then obtained, and service was conducted there on each Sabbath until the completion of a new and larger church edifice on the former site. The corner-stone was laid with impressive services, on the 7th of June, 1873, and contained the following inscription :- " Brook- lyn Tabernacle, Built 1870; destroyed by fire December 22, 1872 ; rebuilt, 1873." The completed edifice was dedicated on Sunday February 22d, 1874, before an immense congregation. On the follow- ing Sunday three hundred and twenty eight new members were received and partook of the sacrament. The ceremony was witnessed by a congregation of five thousand people. This is one of the largest public buildings of Brooklyn, and there is no other church edifice at all to compare with it. The original church building had been fitted up for a reading-room, and room for the social gatherings of the congregation. It is also used for the Free Lay College, an insti- tution for the instruction of persons in the lay ministry, established by Mr. Talmage, and of which he is the President. There are six hundred students, and twenty eight preaching stations have been established in Brooklyn, New York, and other cities.
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