USA > New York > Orange County > Newburgh > Newburgh; her institutions, industries and leading citizens, historical, descriptive and biographical > Part 30
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CHURCH OF THE CORNER STONE-REFORMED EPISCOPAL.
South Street near Grand Street.
the election of Daniel T. Rogers and Walter C. Anthony as wardens; James G. Graham, J. Wilson Stratton, William J. Roe, jr., George Middleton, Robert L. Case and Edward Haigh, vestrymen; B. Franklin Clark, secretary and treasurer. The corporate name of " The Church of The Corner Stone " (suggested by William J. Roe) was adopted, and application made to the Standing Committee of the Reformed Episcopal Church to be admitted into membership with the same.
The Rev. Benjamin B. Leacock, D. D., was called as pastor, and the call was accepted by him November 2, 1875. A lot of ground was purchased in South Street, October 23, 1875; and willing hands
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made the excavation for the cellar and foundation of a church edifice as their donations to the same. The corner-stone was laid without ceremonies, December 22, 1875, and the first service was held ou Easter Sunday, April 16, 1876. Dr. Leacock read the service, assisted by the Rev. Marshall B. Smith.
On April 22, 1878, Dr. Leacock resigned the pastorate, and the Rev James M. Gray accepted a call October 1, 1878, Mr. Gray resigned the charge November 18, 1879. The Rev. Dr. Leacock filled the va- cancy until called as " minister in charge" April 3, 1880. He associa- ted with himself the Rev. J. W. Fairley as assistant. Leave of absence was given to Dr. Leacock, on account of ill health, for two years, and he finally resigned the pastorate December 2, 1883. The Rev. Mr. Fairley occupied the position as assistant minister until this resignation. The Rev. James Otis Denniston acted as " minister in charge " from June, 1884, until April 5, 1885, when the Rev. Richard H. Bosworth accepted the call as pastor. Mr. Bosworth resigned in June, 1887, and the Rev. Arthur Potts became pastor October 16, 1887. The present ves- try, a Board of Trustees, consists of T. Hazard Roe and B. Franklin Clark, Wardens; and Walter C. An- thony, William J. Roe, Dr. James G. Birch, James Stew- art aud James M. Wentz, Trustees.
The Sunday school, established during the first month of the church's history, has never been in- termitted, and is now large and flourishing, under the supervision of Walter C. Anthony the prospects of fu- ture growth being very encouraging.
During the pas- PHOTO BY ATKINSON. torate of the Rev. REV. ARTHUR POTTS. Arthur Potts the church has been abundantly blessed. Not only has the membership and the general attendance much increased, but there has been manifested a great unanimity of feeling. Young people's associations of various kinds have been inaugurated, and, under the fostering care of Mr. Potts, seem to be doing a great and good work. The ladies have a society for foreign and domestic missions connected with that of the church at large.
REV. ARTHUR POTTS was born at Natchez, Mississippi. His father and grandfather were both prominent ministers in the Presby- terian Church.
He is a graduate of the New York University, and attended a special course of medical and surgical lectures immediately after graduating.
The loss of the use of his eyes diverted him from his studies for several years, during which time he resided in the far West, and was also engaged in the cultivation of the grape at Balmville, where he still owns a small farm.
On the recovery of the use of his eyes he returned to his studies, which were conducted under the superintendence of his father, and was licensed by the Presbytery of New York in 1865.
His first charge was at Washington Avenue and 165th Street, where he called a congregation around him, and finally organized the
Potts Memorial Church, named after his father. His second settle- ment was at Little Falls, N. Y., where, during a pastorate of five years, he built one of the most substantial and beautiful churches in the Mohawk valley.
Just after the completion of this work and the entire payment for the building, Mr. Potts received an appointment to the chaplaincy of the British and American Chapel, under the auspices of the Seaman's Friend Society, of New York.
Very much against the protest of his entire congregation Mr. Potts was induced, by his need of rest, to accept this appointment, which led to his residence in Antwerp, Belgium, for nearly four years.
During the last year of his appointment he spent a number of months traveling in the Orient. His tour embraced the Nile, a month's horseback ride through Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey and Greece.
After an interval of rest immediately after his return, he accepted the call to his present position as pastor of the Church of The Cor- ner Stone, where he was received without re-ordination. He has now been about four years iu this pastorate.
GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This congregation was organized in the Spring of 1876, by the late Rev. W. R. Buehler, who came here from Hastings-on-Hudson, on alternate Sundays, to hold divine ser- vice. At a regular meeting of the con- gregation, held Ju- ly 7, 1876, the Rev. Mr. Buehler was elected, and a call was sent him to be- come the regular pastor. He accept- ed, and labored under many diffi- culties (financial in- cluded) among the members of the congregation until the Spring of 1878, when a division of the congregation occurred, and on June 18, 1878, he resigned his pas- torate and attempt- ed to organize an opposition congre- gation; however, only a few families left the old congre- gation with him, and held services in the chapel of the Associate Re- formed Church without meeting with success, and finally he removed GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. Johnston Street near Broadway. to another field of labor. As a result of his labors we find that the congregation purchased the edifice in Johnstou Street near Broadway, formerly St. Paul's German M. E. Church, for $3,200, of which sumn $700 was paid as purchase money, and until recently only the interest on the indebted- ness was met. At the close of the first year of his pastorate he re- ported a communicant membership of 73, and at the close of the second year a membership of 100. After the departure of the Rev. Mr.
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Buehler, the pulpit was supplied by pastors of the First District Con- ference of the New York Ministerium until March, 1879, when the late Rev. J. Steiner acted as supply until November of the same year. In the Spring of 1879 the communicant membership was reported to be 100.
In November, 1879, the Rev. F. E. Fickeissen was elected and called as regular pastor, and he shortly thereafter entered upon his duties as such. The future of the congregation seemed bright, and although there was not such unity among the members as was de- sirable, pastor Fickeissen still labored under many hardships with the hope of uniting the two forces which had become divided in the Spring of 1878. In this pastor Fickeissen was successful. In 1881 he reported a communicant membership of 94. He resigned in April, 1882.
On May 7 and 14, 1882, the Rev. Carl C. Manz came and filled the pulpit, and at a meeting of the congregation was elected pastor. He began his duties June 23. There were then only 70 communi- cant members, but under the young pastor's ministration the num- ber increased to 145 in five years, notwithstanding many discourage- ments. January 1, 1887, Mr. Manz tendered his resignation, but at the urgent and unanimous request of the congregation he withdrew it. During his pastorate over five hundred dollars was expended for repairs, and the church debt greatly reduced. In 1889 the member- ship, notwithstanding many removals, had increased to 180, and continued to grow during the remainder of his pastorate. He resign- ed November 9, 1890, and preached his farewell sermon December 28. The present pastor is the Rev. Emil F. C. A. Meyer.
REV. CARL C. MANZ was born October, 20, 1859, at Poughkeep- sie, N. Y., his father, the Rev. C. G. Manz, being at that time the pastor of the German Evangelical Lutheran church in that city. His mother was Marie Catherine Kraushaar. Both parents were natives of Germany. He first attended a parochial school at Liverpool, N. Y. Then the public schools at Clarence Center, N. Y., and Lyons, N. Y.
REV. CARL C. MANZ.
In 1873 he entered the college of the Evangelical Lutheran New York Minis- terium at Newark, N. Y., where he took up the study of Latin, Greek and French, besides the regular branches of education. He remained at this school but one year , returning home and receiv- ing private instructions until September, 1876, when he entered the classical depart- ment of St. Matthew's Acad- emy at New York City, graduating from that insti- tution on July 3, 1879.
In September of the same year he entered the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Pa. From June 15, 1881, to September 15, 188It being the summer vacation, by permission of the theological faculty he supplied the German-English Evangelical Lutheran Church at Beaver Falls, Pa., in the absence of the regular pastor. Returning to the semiuary, he was recommended by the faculty to the Rev. Dr. Geissenhainer, of New York, to supply in his stead the Ev. Lutheran church at Hainesport, N. J., during the Winter of 1881 to 1882. He was graduated from the theological seminary at Phila- delphia, in May, 1882, and was ordained June 18, 1882, during the convention of the New York Ministerium at Rochester, N. Y., where his parents reside.
On May 14, 1882, he received a call to the pastorate of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at Newburgh, and he entered upon his duties as pastor June 23, 1882, and was installed Angust 27.
He was married at Utica, N. Y., September 28, 1882, to Cornelia C., daughter of Prof. Charles Lutorins, of Utica, N. Y. The church at Newburgh was his first regular charge, and he found the con- gregation, both financially and numerically, in a very poor and weak condition, but by patient and persevering work he left the church in better condition. The communicant membership had increased by more then 100, after deducting all losses caused by removals, by death, and otherwise. During the years 1889 and 1890 the mortgage on the property was reduced from $2,500 to $1,600. Mr. Manz re- signed his Newburgh charge in December, 1890, and accepted a call to become pastor of St. John's Church at Syracuse, N. Y.
REV. EMIL F. C. A. MEYER was born November 26, 1865, in Bremen, Germany. After being graduated from the high school in that city, he came to this country in 1879, and lived in New York City with his parents for several years. In 1883 he went to the Wagner Memor- ial Lutheran College, in Rochester, N. Y., and enter- ed the practical department. After four years of study he was graduated in the year 1887. Mr. Meyer then took a full course of three years in the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary at Mt. Airy, Phil- adelphia, Pa., and was grad- nated in 1890. He was ex- amined on June 4, 1890, in Lyons, N. Y., by the exam- ination committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Min- isterium of New York, and ordained on December 26, in St. Marc's German Evan- gelical Lutheran Church in New York City. After acting as assistant and filling va- cancies throughout the REV. EMIL F. C. A. MEYER. State, he was called to the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Newburgh, N. Y., on Jan- nary 1, 1891, as his first charge.
CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD-Protestant Episcopal.
The work which has resulted in the organization of this separate parish was begun by the Rev. Dr. Applegate, rector of St. George's, in June, 1871, by the opening of a Sunday school in what was then known as McConkey's Hall, on Broadway. In October a change to better quarters in the same neighborhood was made, and an evening service begun by the rector, who took charge until the Rev. Nelson R. Boss became his assistant in August, 1872.
A chapel was completed and opened February 16, 1873, and in 1880 the work had so grown as to necessitate enlargement and extensive improvement.
In 1889 a lot on the corner of Broadway and Mill Street was pur- chased, and plans for a new chapel and mission-house were prepared by Frank A. Wright. of New York, and the contract awarded to D. H. Flansburgh, of Newburgh.
On January 1, 1890, the corner-stone was laid by the rector of the parish, the Rev. Dr. O. Applegate, assisted by the Rev Messrs. Emery, Walsh and Marvine, of Newburgh; Washburn, of Rondont, and Buckmaster, of Marlborough, in the presence of the Sunday school and members of the parish and a large assemblage of citizens. The
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old chapel was vacated September 30, 1890, for the occupancy of the present permanent church edifice. The total cost was about $20,000. The following clergy had immediate charge of the mission at different periods: the Rev. Messrs. Nelson R. Boss, J. H. Smith, George W. Hinckle, George D. Silliman, A. C. Hoehing, James Baird, D. D., Sturges Allen, G. A. Rathbun, Henry Tarrant, George W. Lay and Walter Marvine.
In June, 1891, the mission was reorganized as the Church of the Good Shepherd, with the Rev. John Marshall Chew as rector, and with the following officers: Wardens-David Perrott, George W.
CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD-PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL.
Broadway corner of Mill Street.
Fuller: Vestrymen-Benjamin Cliff, Matthew Walsh, David Carru- thers, John Conyngham, Edmund Carter, Henry Good, sr., Joseph Cooper and W. H. B. Sands.
On Tuesday, July 28, 1891, the church was consecrated by Bishop Potter. Among the other clergy present were the Rev. John Marshall Chew, rector of the church; the Rev. O. Applegate, S. T. D., of St. George's; the Rev. Rufus Emery, of St. Paul's; the Rev. H. L. Zieg- enfuss, of Poughkeepsie; the Rev. S. A. Weikert, of Pine Plains; the Rev. B. F. Crary, of Poughkeepsie; the Rev. G. S. Ayres, of Staats- burgh; the Rev. P. C. Creveling, of Canterbury; the Rev. Lewis T. Wattson, of Kingston; the Rev. William Walsh, the Rev. E. F. C. A. Meyer, the Rev. W. H. Abbott and the Rev. Henry T. Johnson, of Newburgh; and the Rev. O. Applegate, jr., of Ellenville.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
(See Illustration, Page 64.)
In November, 1888, the Rev. James B. King came to Newburgh in the interest of the New York Home Missionary Society of the Con- gregational Church, who thought it possible to form a congregation in this city. Resting for a brief period, in order to take a substantial estimate of the surroundings, and to determine just what he should do, his judgment decided that at Washington Heights there was a field that could be cultivated to advantage. It was but a short time when Mr. King had enlisted the sympathy of a number of persons, who thought well of his suggestions, and encouraged him by their assistance in establishing the nucleus of what to-day is a promising young religious society.
The congregation was organized January 3, 1889, in a dwelling on Carson Avenue. Eightcen persons became members then. The first Trustees were James T. Decker, G. W. Youngblood, James H. Val- entine, John II. Valentine and George Prince. A lot in Carson Ave-
nue, east of Liberty Street, was purchased, and the erection of an edifice begun on May 30; but the funds gave out and the work ceased.
In the Summer of 1890 an arrangement was made whereby the money paid on the Carson Avenne lot was returned, and the society permitted to vacate the lot and take the present site at the corner of Liberty Street and Courtney Avenne. The church was dedicated March 26, 1891. The Rev. Dr. R. R. Meredith, of Brooklyn, preached the sermon from Matthew vii : 11. The total seating capacity is about 375. The total cost was about $9,000.
REV. JAMES B. KING, the founder of the Congregational Church in Newburgh, is of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian stock, and was born at Gettysburgh, Pa., October 5, 1839. His ancestors came from the north of Ireland about 1735, and became the first permanent settlers of Adams Connty, of which Gettysburgh is the county-seat. Mr. King was graduated from Princeton, in the class of 1860, and be- gan the study of law. His studies were interrupted by the war of the Rebellion. Mr. King volunteered and served nearly three years with
PHOTO. BY MAPES.
REV. JAMES B. KING.
the Third Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, joining as a first lieutenant and afterward being promoted to captain of Company C. He was not permitted to see much service in the field. For the most part he was on courts-martial, boards of survey, and military commissions of various kinds, or in garrison drilling and disciplining troops, or otherwise preparing them for active service.
He resigned his commission after the surrender at Appomattox, and subsequently was chosen by some gentlemen of Boston to man- age and develop some mining interests in Nova Scotia, where he re- sided for several years. Returning to Boston, he was there engaged in mercantile pursuits for some years, until at length brought by divine Providence and by experiences which cannot be detailed here, to hear and heed what was believed to be a divine call to the gospel ministry, for which there had been for a long time an unconscious preparation. Mr. King's first pastorate was at Sandwich, Mass., in which he was ordained and installed by an ecclesiastical council con- vened for the purpose. In this pastorate he remained until failing health compelled a relinquishment of the charge. In November, 1888, he came to Newburgh, a stranger, not knowing a single resi- dent of the place. In two months (January 3, 1889,) he organized the first Congregational church in this city, which now has a comfortable house of worship and steadily growing in temporal and spiritual power.
BENEVOLENCE.
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Institutions Which Care for the Bodies, Minds and Souls of the People.
HE question, to what degree does a city meet the high- est demands of our modern civilization ? must be decid- ed upon higher tests than mere physical and material advantages. Does it stimulate and satisfy men's higher and more intellectnal wants? Does it respond to the great sentiments of philanthropy that characterize the age? Does it relieve the dread that hangs around helpless infancy and helpless old age? Does it seek to guide its youth in the path of rectitude? Does it help the poor, visit the sick and heal the wounded? These are the higher tests by which intelligent people estimate the degree of advancement, culture and moral worth of a population. In proportion to its size, in propor- tion to its means, Newburgh is fully abreast of modern ideas. The institutions we possess do not represent the philanthropy of a single wealthy citizen merely-none of them has heen founded by legacies or gifts as memorials-but they typify the self-denial, the loving-kindness and fellow-feeling of the community; they represent the charity of many, not the liberality of a few. Few cities of its measure have so many charitable and benevolent organizations-we cannot hope to even name them all. There are many connected with the churches, while scores of societies of almost every nature have benevolent features as their fundamental principle. Each has it own field of labor; working quietly and without ostentation, ful- filling the divine command in not letting the right hand know what the left hand doeth. Over thirty thousand dollars is annually given in this city for the relief of the poor from known sources; while from the churches, the mutual relief societies, the secret lodges and benev- olent associations, from families and individuals in their own chosen private channels, benevolence constantly flows forth in full generous tide.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION.
On June 29, 1857, less than six years after the introduction of Young Men's Christian Association work in America, a meeting was held in the American Reformed Church, in this city, to consider the advisability of organizing an association. Nothing came of it. Soon after the first attempt Arthur Potts, now pastor of the Church of The Corner Stone, one of a little company of young men who had been instrumental in bringing into existence the organization in New York City, came to Newburgh to live. Upon ascertaining his connection with the work in the metropolis, some of the young men applied to him to assist in organizing here. After several preliminary meetings a constitution was adopted in the Court House, on the evening of Sep- tember 17, 1858; and a week later the following officers were elected: President-Arthur Potts; Vice-President-Thomas S. McAlles; Corre- sponding Secretary-M. C. Belknap; Recording Secretary-Charles Estabrook; Treasurer-James T. Lawson; Librarian-John H. Martin. They rented in the Fall of 1858 a large room at No. 78 Water Street, corner of Third. This was the first and only home of this association during the two and a half years of its existence. About the close of 1858, 139 members were enrolled. The last advertised meeting was
for March 15, 1861, and the organization probably dissolved soon after.
After a lapse of seven years the present association came into be- ing. The interest in the movement appears to have been awakened by a sermon preached by the Rev. DeLoss Lull, then pastor of St. John's Church, in which he spoke with feeling of the temptations which assail young men, and remarked that Newburgh was behind her sister towns on the Hudson in providing a pleasant place of even- ing resort for her young men. A few days later, March 6, 1868, there appeared an article in the Daily Journal, suggesting that those feel- ing an interest in the organization of a Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation send in their names to the office of the paper. Within three days we find some sixty names handed in, and a meeting was called for the evening of the 12th, in the chapel of Trinity Church. The meeting was an enthusiastic one, the Journal giving a three-column report of it. It was resolved to organize, and a committee was ap- pointed to draft the constitution and by-laws.
On the 27th of March the organization was completed by the adoption of the constitution and the election of the following officers for the first year: President-William E. Mapes; Vice-President-R. V. K. Montfort; Corresponding Secretary-M. C. Belknap; Recording Secretary-J. H. Martin; Treasurer-Willard M. Phillips; and the fol- lowing directors: Charles J. Howell, D. C. Rider, Hugh Neill, W. B. Hall, James Eaton, John Baldwin, Dr. John Campbell, Dr. C. J. Walsh, William H. Kelly, James T. Van Dalfsen and James Harri- son, representing different churches. The Savings Bank building was then in course of erection, and the association secured a fine snit of rooms on the third floor, paying therefor $500 per year. The rooms were handsomely fitted out at a cost of $350. These were not ready for occupancy until June, and the meetings of the association were held temporarily in Masonic Hall, corner of Colden Street and Broad- way.
For a few years the association was prosperous in a limited way, but its efficiency was weakened by frequent removals from one place to another, and inadequate quarters. From the Savings Bank it went to the Law Building, then to 61 Smith Street, then to 42 Water Street, and afterwards to 19 Water Street. The year 1877-78 found the asso- ciation in a very depressed condition. Early in November, 1878, State Secretary Hall had a conference with the directors, and urged the immediate employment of a competent general secretary for at least a few months, believing that the crisis might he tided over by that time, and suggested E. W. Watkins, of New Hampshire-afterwards one of the secretaries of the International Committee-and arrange- ments were made with him to take charge of the work for three months. Mr. Watkins arrived about November 9. At an association meeting held December 4, E. S. Turner was elected president. O11 the 6th of December, it was resolved to reorganize the association.
The work which brought about the reorganization, and established the association, will never be fully known to any save those who en- gaged in it, for the records show but little of the steady, persistent self- sacrificing effort which was put forth almost night and day during the months of December, 1878, and January and February, 1879. In
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January the association moved to rooms in the Schoomaker, Mills & Weller building. At the annual meeting a new constitution was adopted, and the election of officers resulted as follows: President- E. S. Turner; First Vice President-R. V. K. Montfort; Second Vice President-Martin L. Lee; Treasurer-John J. S. McCroskery; Re- cording Secretary-Charles L. Chatterton. A few months later Gen- eral Secretary J. T. Bowne, one of the most prominent and able work- ers in the national field, came here and took charge of the work. A new era dawned, new life was put into the work, and the result is the
CE
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING, Corner of Third and Smith Streets.
large and prosperous association of to-day. We will not detail the work of President Turner and Secretary Bowne and their co-laborers during the years 1880,'81 and '82. For the eighth time the association was " on wheels," taking rooms at 99 and 101 Water Street. Although at times things looked discouraging, the association continued to grow under all disadvantages. A building fund was started by the ladies of the city, which amounted to $2,500. When the new building was occupied, in 1883, $17,000 had been raised, largely through the inde- fatigable efforts of E. S. Turner.
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