USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 25
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As a theological student he was brought into close contact with minds of the first order, as Drs. Cook, Dick and Symington. This contact moulded greatly his own mental powers, and imparted the clearness and strength that so marked his unfolding of the Truth of God. At the age of twenty-one, in the Spring of 1849, he came to this country. A few months after his coming he received a hearty call to the Reform- ed Presbyterian Congregation of Newburgh. He accepted the call, and was ordained and installed Nov- ember 14, 1849. This was his first and only charge- beginning in 1849 in his twenty- second year and ending in 1887, in his fifty-ninth year: thirty - eight years of constant and faithful ser- vice.
His long pas- torate witness- ed many great changes in New- burgh and its vicinity. In 1849 it was a small vil- lage on the Hud- son; in 1887 it had become a thriving REV. JOHN W. F. CARLISLE. city of twenty-two thousand. In 1849 the Rev. Drs. Brown, Johnston and McCarrell were in their active ministries; in 1887 they were gone, and other servants of God were laboring in their places. All this makes the history of Mr. Carlisle of more than local interest, connecting it closely with that of the city itself. For a period of nigh two-score years he was conspicuons as a most earnest Christian, a most evan- gelical minister of the Word.
Both his private and public life were of spotless integrity. Sım- plicity of character, honesty of purpose, faithfulness to convictions of soul, loyalty to his Lord and Master, were the striking features of his manhood. As a servant of God, he was deeply conscious of his great responsibility, and in his presentation of the truth he was for- getful of self and aimed entirely at the salvation of his hearers. As a thinker, he was clear, forcible, honest and helpful. The strength of his pen may be seen in the thoughtful paper on " The History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Newburgh and Vicinity, and the Life of the Rev. Dr. James R. Willson," delivered by him before the Newburgh Historical Society, Feb., 1885; also the " Centennial Discourse," delivered by him at the request of the Newburgh Minis- terial Association, at Washington's Headquarters, July 3, 1876. Both of these were published in pamphlet form and widely circu- lated. Living in the midst of the " slavery contest," from the very
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first his voice was heard on the side of the slave; his pulpit was true to the abolition cause and the Union. In a word, on all questions of Reform, he was " out and out " for the right. As a citizen, he mani- fested a keen interest in whatever concerned the welfare of society. He was identified with every public measure that tended to lessen human want, to elevate public morals, to promote good government, and to advance the cause of his Master. He was chosen as one of the first members of the Newburgh Organization for Improving the Condition of the Poor, now the Associated Charities of Newburgh.
away on Sabbath morning, July 3. He was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery, a large concourse of friends following his body to its rest- ing place. He was married May 10, 1853, to Margaret M. Fenton, daughter of Dr. Fenton, of Newburgh. His wife and four children survive him.
REV. JOHN W. F. CARLISLE was born in Newburgh Septem- ber 21, 1858. He attended the grammar schools and the academy, graduating in 1875. He was prepared for college under Prof.
TRINITY M. E. CHURCH AND PARSONAGE-Corner of Liberty and Third Streets
He was made by the Newburgh Bible Society a life member of the American Bible Society in 1851, and a life director of the same in 1874.
Of a strong and vigorous constitution, he enjoyed unusual health throughout his whole ministry. His record was a rare one, of not being absent from his pulpit a Sabbath through illness. On the 6th of January, 1887, he preached his last sermon on the words: " In the day of adversity consider," and on the next morning he was stricken with paralysis which affected his right side. For a time he rallied, but on June 28 received a second stroke, and passed peacefully
Doughty and Prof. Banks. He entered Columbia College in 1876, and was graduated in 1880. Mr. Carlisle was made a member of the honorary society Phi Beta Kappa in May, 1880. Mr. Carlisle studied theology in the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary at Allegheny, Pa., in 1880-84, and was licensed to preach by the New York Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church May 13, 1883. He was ordained by the Pittsburgh Presbytery aud installed pastor of the congregation at New Alexandria, Pa., June, 1884. He resigned this charge in January, 1888, and was installed over the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Newburgh in June, 1888.
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TRINITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
In 1786 there stood on the site of the present First Presbyterian Church a dwelling occupied by Elnathan Foster. The class from which Trinity Church grew held its first meeting in this house in the year named. The church was organized in 1808. It was supplied by circuit preachers until 1820, when Samuel Fowler, son of Samuel Fowler, of Middlehope, became the first settled pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1808-9 on the southwest corner of Gidney Avenue and Liberty Street, built of brick, 45x35 feet. The first trustees were Morgan Cole, Lewis Carter, William Baker, Joseph Cole and George Westlake. Before the church was erected services were held in the old Lutheran Church, in the McIntosh house, and in the upper room of the Academy. In 1834-35 the building now known as the Opera House was erected as a church edifice at a cost of $10,000.
November 14, 1860, the corner-stone of the present edifice was laid. The architect was R. Lockwood; Little & Kelly, carpenters; John Little, mason ; Madden & Fitzgerald, stonework. The building was dedicated by Bishop Simpson November 13, 1861. The church is purely Gothic and architectually enriched. On Lib- erty Street it has a frontage of seventy -three feet and six inches, and on Third Street it was originally one hundred and forty-three feet deep. The middle tower and spire rise to a height of one hundred and eighty feet, with rich architectural trimmings. The side towers are sixty-three feet high. The side walls are supported with buttresses of heavy masonry, and all the windows are of stained glass. The dimensions of the main building inside are: nave, eighty-five feet in length by sixty-two in breadth; transept, seventy-eight feet in length, terminating at each end with a large window. The ceilings of nave and transept are groined to a height of forty feet from the floor, and are finely finished with the walls in rib work. The nave has an organ loft and singers' gallery, and an organ that was put in (1870) at a cost of $5,000. The cost of the building and lot was about $35,000. This church, on account of its situation and architectual beauty, is an object of general interest.
During the pastorate of the Rev. J. R. Day, D. D., (1887) about thir- teen thousand dollars was expended in enlarging the chapel, which now contains a lecture-room with seating capacity for six hundred persons, a spacious parlor, pastor's study and several smaller class rooms, affording ample accommodation for the Sabbath school and prayer and class meetings. A parsonage was erected in 1890 on the plot at a cost of $10,000.
The church is in a flourishing condition, having a membership of 750. The annual income is about $5,500, in addition to which there is contributed annually $4,500 for benevolent purposes. The Sabbath school has six hundred and nineteen ou the roll, with an average at- tendance of three hundred and eighty. The school is graded, having primary, intermediate and senior departments, with an assembly for adult members, young men's Bible class, young women's Bible class, and other Bible classes, into which promotions are made from the senior department. The contributions from the Sabbath school amount to $2,000 a year, $1,000 of which is contributed for missionary purposes. The societies and methods of work are quite varied, in- cluding Women's Foreigu Missionary Society, Society of King's Daughters, Christian Endeavor and Epworth League Society, Kheira Bajera Society, reception committees, entertainment committees, class meetings peculiar to Methodists, Children's Missionary So- ciety, etc.
The following is the list of pastors since 1860: 1860-61, the Rev. Charles Shelling (the Rev. John Parker filled part of the term, as Mr. Shelling went to the war as Chaplain of the 56th Regiment); 1862, M. D'C. Crawford, D. D .; 1863-65, G. S. Hare, D. D .; 1866-68, John Miley, D. D .; 1869-71, Wm. P. Abbott; 1872-74, Andrew Longacre; 1875-77, G. S. Hare, D. D .; 1878-79, DeLoss Lull; 1880-82, W. N. Searles; 1883-85, W. H. Mickle; 1886-88, J. R. Day, D. D .; 1889-91, A. Longacre, D. D., present pastor.
Trustees-Francis Gouldy, President; T. H. Skidmore, Vice Pres- ident; W. H. Kelly, Secretary; T. J. Seymour, Treasurer; T. S.
Quackenbush, C. H. Weygant, W. S. Hanmer, W. W. Terwilliger, S. M. Bull.
Stewards-M. Rydell, President; John Westlake, Secretary; James T. Fanning, Treasurer; John Woodin, Ezra I. Hunter, David D. Miller, Milton D. Seymour, M. C. Stone. J. Scott Wiseman, Isaac Vernol, James W. Barnes, H. H. Carver and Frank S. Hull.
Sunday School officers-Albert H. Strong, Superintendent; Janies W. Barnes, Asst. Superintendent; Mrs. W. H. Kelly, Female Asst. Superintendent; W. H. Kelly, Secretary; J. Scott Wiseman, Treas- urer; W. A. Coutant, Librarian; J. D. Wilson, jr., J. H. Kidd, P. B. Taylor, jr., and H. D. Brundage, Assistant Librarians,
REV. ANDREW LONGACRE, D. D., pastor of Trinity Church, was born in Philadelphia, June 12, 1831, the son of James B. Long- acre, a portrait engraver, and for twenty-five years the engraver to the Mint of the United States. He was converted in childhood, and was a member of the Union Methodist Episcopal Church until admit-
REV. ANDREW LONGACRE, D. D.
ted to the ministry in the Philadelphia Conference, in 1852, after serving an appointment for one year under the Presiding Elder.
After filling charges for four years he was compelled to suspend his ministry by impaired health. In 1860 he resumed work, going to the American Chapel, in Paris, as assistant to the Rev. Dr. Mc- Clintock. Since then Dr. Longacre has filled pulpits in some of the most prominent churches of his denomination, and is recognized as one of its ablest divines.
In 1862, on his return from Paris, he was appointed to the church at Hestonville, Philadelphia; in 1863-65 he was at Trinity in Phila- delphia; 1866-68, Charles Street, Baltimore; 1869-71, Central Church, New York; 1872-74, Trinity Church, Newburgh; 1875-77, Green Street, Philadelphia; 1878-80, Tabernacle, Philadelphia; 1881-82, Trinity, Philadelphia; 1883-85, Arch Street, Philadelphia; 1886-88, Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore; 1889-91, Triuity, Newburgh.
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NEWBURGH.
ST. GEORGE'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
This is one of the oldest Episcopal Church organizations in the Diocese of New York. The earliest notice of it is an application made to the Propagation Society in England for help toward the support of a missionary in 1728. In 1752 there is record of the grant of five hun- dred acres of land for a glebe, and at various other dates reports were made by the missionaries sent here of their services and successes. In 1770 the church was incorporated. The Revolution was a period of great adversity for the church throughout the country, and this parish suffered severely. When the war was ended it had neither minister, nor wardens, nor vestry, and practically it had ceased to exist. No attempt to resuscitate the church appears to have been made until 1790, when the Rev. George H. Spierin was elected to dis- charge the double duty of minister and schoolmaster, but he resigned in 1793, and the station again became vacant.
In 1805 the parish was re-incorporated. In 1814 the Rev. John Brown, then in deacon's-orders, commenced his ministerial labors at Fishkill. During the Summer of 1815 he held a third service in Newburgh, and later removed here at the solicitation of Bishop Ho-
of a gallery, and an organ was procured. In 1834 it was again en- larged, and the tower was erected in which a bell was hung. Again, in 1853, it was further enlarged and beautified, and a commodious Sabbath school building and vestry-room were added. The church, as originally built, was a substantial stone structure, rectangular in form, according to the usage of that early period; but at this time a' recessed chancel was added, giving it a more churchly appearance, and in this year also the old organ was replaced by a new one.
Dr. Brown resigned February 6, 1878, but was made Rector Emer- itus for life. He died August 15, 1884, after a residence of sixty-nine years in the parish. February 6, 1878, the Rev. Octavius Apple- gate, who, since November 8, 1868, had been assistant minister with full pastoral charge, became rector of the parish.
In 1874 the ladies of St. George's Church projected a home and hospital, which was incorporated by the ladies of Newburgh and New Windsor. In 1880 the old-fashioned, narrow pews in the church were replaced by more modern and comfortable ones, the chancel was decorated in a chaste and suitable manner, and a beautiful chancel window erected. In 1884 the rectory in Grand Street was purchased; and also a new organ for the church. In 1886 the Sunday school build-
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ST. GEORGE'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH-Corner of Grand and Second Streets.
bart, as affording him a larger field of usefulness. Deeply imbued with the religious missionary spirit, possessed of untiring energy and an enduring constitution, he then entered upon a vigorous, success- ful and almost unprecedented ministry of sixty-two years. Speaking of the time when he began to work in this parish, he said, " I stood alone, the only clergyman of the church between Yonkers and Pough- keepsie upon the eastern side of the Hudson, and between the City of New York and the Town of Catskill on the western." The labors of Dr. Brown were not confined to St. George's parish. He was most helpful in organizing new parishes in the neighborhood, and in keep- ing weak parishes alive.
The services of St. George's were first held in the Lutheran Church, afterwards known as the old Glebe schoolhouse. It is not known when it ceased to be used for that purpose, but probably at the time of the Revolutionary War. When Dr. Brown came to the parish a building was temporarily fitted up as a chapel. In the fol- lowing year the increase of the congregation made it expedient to provide for their accommodation by the erection of a church edifice. The work proceeded slowly, but steadily, until it was finally com- pleted, and solemnly consecrated by the bishop of the diocese No- vember 10, 1819. 1n 1826 its capacity was increased by the addition
ing was again enlarged, and other rooms were added. Dr. Applegate still continues rector of the parish. Part of his successful work has been the planting of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
The officers of the church are as follows: Senior Warden-Homer Ramsdell; Junior Warden-Eugene A. Brewster; Vestrymen-Joseph H. H. Chapman, Michael Doyle, James Chadwick, Henry Dudley, Samuel C. Mills, Clayton E. Sweet, A. H. Havemeyer and Edgar O. Mitchell.
REV. JOHN BROWN, D. D., was born in the City of New York, May 19, 1791. He was baptized in the parish of Trinity Church, of which his parents were members. He received his early education in his native city, and entered Columbia College, October 22, 1807. He was graduated August 7, 1811, and pronounced the valedictory address for his class. He selected the ministry as his profession, and studied theology under the Right Rev. John H. Hobart, the Assist- ant Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York. He was licensed as a lay reader to Fishkill, October 12, 1812, and con- tinued as such in the old parish of Trinity Church-which had been closed for the want of a clergyman for more thau seventeen years- until April 13, 1814. He returned to New York City, and was admit-
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ted to the order of Deacon in St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, July 10, 1814. On September 13 of the same year he received and accepted a call to Trinity Church, Fishkill. On November 5, 1815, having arrived at the canonical age, he was ordained to the priesthood, by Bishop Hobart, in Trinity Church, New York City. During the Summer of 1815, after officiating twice on Sunday in his own parish at Fishkill, he established a third service in Newburgh. He found but two communicants in the village. A room was obtained in the Bath Hotel, in South Water Street, where the services of the young minister were favorably received.
November 20, 1815, he received a call to the rectorship of St. George's Church, Newburgh, and wrote his acceptance on the follow- ing day. By the advice and consent of his Bishop, he resigned his charge at Fishkill, and entered upon his duties as Rector of St. George's, December 1, 1815. His ministry commenced in a room fitted up as a temporary chapel in the McIntosh House in Liberty Street. Here he delivered his introductory sermon December 24, 1815. His text was from I Timothy, iv: 16. The manuscript of the sermon is still preserved.
Dr. Brown also organized St. Thomas's Church, New Windsor, was chosen its rector, and held that position-devoting one-fourth of his time to the New Windsor parish-till 1847. During his earlier years he performed a large amount of missionary work in this section of the country, he being for many years the only minister of his church on the west side of the Hudson between New York and Catskill, He organized St. John's Church at Monticello, Grace Church at Middle- town, and the churches at Coruwall and Marlborough. He revived the church at Goshen; also St. Andrew's, at Walden, St. Peter's, at Peekskill, and St. Philip's, at Garrisons, holding services at intervals at those places until the churches were strong enough to support rec- tors.
Speaking of this work long afterward he said: " It is to me a sub- ject of unfeigned gratitude that I was made the humble instrument of organizing so many of these new congregations, and of resuscitat- ing many which were then in a state of decay. It is to this portion of my ministry that I look back with most pleasure and satisfaction."
He attended to the whole work of his parish without assistance till February 1, 1859, when an assistant minister was appointed. He continuedin full charge of his church till November 8, 1868, when, still retaining the title of Rector, the spiritual care of the congregation was resigned into the hands of the assistant minister. On February 6, 1878, he resigned the Rectorship, and was made Rector Emeritus.
Dr. Brown received the degree of Master of Arts from Columbia College in 1815, and the degree of D. D. from Hobart College in 1841. He declined the proffer of the Presidency of Hobart College at its or- ganization. He was elected a Trustee of the General Theological Seminary in 1832, and continued a member of that board till his death. In 1844 and in 1847 he was elected a Deputy to the General Convention.
During his ministry Dr. Brown preached special sermons on the occasion of the death of ten Presidents of the United States. Janu- uary 14, 1856, he presided at the obsequies of Uzal Knapp, the last of the Life Guards of Washington. On November 5, 1865, the semi- centennial anniversary of his admission to the priesthood, he deliv- ered a historical discourse, wherein he reviewed his labors in organ- izing and reviving churches of the Episcopal faith, and gave the fol- lowing statistics from the parish register: He had baptized 1,574 children, and 175 adults, making in all 1,749. He had solemnized 499 marriages, enrolled 911 communicants, and buried 1,321 persons.
Aside from his distinguished services to the church, Dr. Brown exhibited a devotion and zeal in other matters within his appropriate sphere, second only to his fidelity and love for his priestly calling. He served as one of the Trustces of the Academy, and was President of the Board from 1833 till the property was transferred to the School Trustees of the village. He was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the common schools, and was President of the first Hor- ticultural Society of Newburgh. He was chaplain of the Nineteenth Regiment, and delivered a sermon to its members one Sunday afternoon in April, 1861, in St. George's Church, a few days before the regiment left for the front. On the afternoon of August 25, 1861, he delivered a sermon before the Tenth Legion, then in camp at
New Windsor. At the reception of Lafayette in Newburgh in 1824 he delivered an address of welcome. Other public appearances of the Doctor might be mentioned, but enough has been related to show the temper of his mind, and his abiding interest in the welfare of his community and of his country. Dr. Brown became a member of the Masonic fraternity in 1817, in Hiram Lodge. From 1873 till his death he was chaplain of Hudson River Lodge.
Dr. Brown's life was a singularly eventful one-full of sacrifice and zeal in the work of the Master. His influence was ever exerted in the encouragement and support of various benevolent, educational and ennobling movements of the day. The good he accomplished is immeasurable. He was the oldest minister of his denomination in the State. Old residents say of his preaching that it was remarkably thoughtful, logical, impressive, reverent and imbued with the spirit of religion. It was as a father addressing, comforting and encourag- ing his children. People of all sects and denominations recognized the perfectness, the beauty, the worth of such a life as his.
MASA
REV. OCTAVIUS APPLEGATE, M. A., S. T. D.
Dr. Brown married November 15, 1819, Frances Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Robert Ludlow, of Newburgh. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Hobart in St. George's Church. She died April 19, 1871 They had ten children, namely: William, Ludlow and Frances, who died in childhood, Mary, who married Daniel T. Rogers; Margaret, who married George W. Kerr; Augusta, who married Moses Ely; Helen; Anna, who married Eugene A. Brewster: John Hobart and Charles L.
He died at his home in First Street, August 15, 1884, aged 93, and was buried in St. George's Cemetery.
REV. OCTAVIUS APPLEGATE, M. A., S. T. D., rector of St. George's P. E. Church, was born July 8, 1840, at Kingsbridge, Devonshire, England. His father, the Rev. Thomas Applegate, was, in 1846, resident supply for the First Baptist congregation of New- burgh, and shortly afterward entered the Episcopal Church. He has a brother in the ministry, the Rev. L. W. Applegate, who is rector of
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Christ Church, Streator, Ill. Dr. Applegate is a graduate of Hobart College, Geneva, from which he received his master's degree in course, and in 1883 his doctorate. He took his divinity course in the General Theological Seminary, of which he is an alumnus. Was ordained Deacon in Calvary Church, New York, by the Right Rev. Horatio Potter, July 3, 1864, when he became assistant minister of Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, where he was ordained a priest March 12, 1865, in order to become the first rector of St. Paul's Church, of Frank- lin, Delaware County, N. Y. Here he built a beautiful gothic church, and secured for the parish on the same grounds a commodious rectory.
November 8, 1868, he entered upon his duties in Newburgh, hav- ing accepted a call to be the " assistant minister of St. George's, with full pastoral charge," etc. February 6, 1878, the Rev. John Brown, D. D., resigning the rectorship after an incumbency of 62 years, Dr. Ap- plegate was elected rector. In 1877 he became Dean of the Western Convocation, but on its reorganization as the Archdeaconry of Orange a few years ago, he declined reappointment as the Archdeacon on account of ill health. Since 1873 he has been a member of the Mis- sionary Committee of the Diocese, for several years on its Committee on the Canons; he was elected by the General Convocation a member of the Board of Managers of Domestic and Foreign Missions, in which he is chairman of its leading committee-that on funds. Dr. Apple- gate ranks as a learned and influential minister of the Diocese of New York.
Sincerity of conduct, and zeal and earnestness in religious work are marked traits in his character. His style as a preacher and writer is finished and scholarly in a high degree, and his logical powers are well developed. He has a special inclination, it may be said, for the discussion of ethical questions and the many subtle influences which largely control the opinions and conduct of men. He prefers the con- sideration of great principles, rather than the varied facts of every- day life.
Earnestness is the marked feature of his style of preaching. His voice is deep-toned and well modulated. He uses gesture very mod- erately in his delivery, but his sermons are marked by beauty of thought and elegance of expression. His inclination undoubtedly is for studies in the line of his profession, or those which are most efficient aids in his work.
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