USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Brooklyn, N.Y. : an illustrated centennial record, historical and biographical > Part 13
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In 1806 Mr. Strebeck gave the following report to the con- vention.
The congregation is increasing, and those who are regular members of it appear generally to be attached to the doctrines and worship of the Protestant Episcopal Church. To me it is peculiarly gratifying that they join with fer- vor in the responses of the service. One hundred families holding pews ; sixty commimicants.
Dr. Wakeley, who had no patience with those who turned aside from the Methodist ministry to other churches, says :
ITis children had been baptized, but he repudiated their former baptism, and they were rebaptized in the Protestant Episcopal Church. * * .
I have watched the course of Mr. Strebeck, as of others who have left us. In- stead of being pastor of a large church, with splendid parsonage and a great salary, he was pastor of a little country church, where he had very dry fodder ; and, as discretion is the better part of valor, he retired from his pulpit duties and pastoral labors, to keep a boarding school for boys.5
The same authority states that he left New York after a short time, and went South, and died in Charleston or Savannah. Mrs. James S. Carpenter, of Glen Cove, L. I., said to the author that he married her cousin, Jerusha Mott. Diligent effort to obtain further information concerning George Strebeck has been with- out avail.
6 " Lost Chapters," pp. 387, 388.
REV. EZEKIEL COOPER.
XVIII. EZEKIEL COOPER.
ROOKLYN never rejoiced in a Methodist pastor of greater talent and popularity than the REV. EZE- KIEL COOPER. He was born in Caroline Co., Md., February, 22, 1763, and died Sunday, February 21, 1847, hav- ing just completed his eighty-fourth year. He had spent sixty two years in the ministry.
His step-father, Nathan Downs, was an officer in the Rev- olutionary army.1 Freeborn Garrettson came into the neigh- borhood in 1776 and proposed to preach. The soldiers were drawn up in front of the house, and formed into a hollow square, while Garrettson stood in the center and addressed them. The preacher noticed among the most thoughtful and respectful listeners, a boy standing, and leaning upon the gate. That boy was Ezekiel Cooper; and that sermon seems to have made a profound impression upon him and decided his future course. Before he became of age, he com- menced preaching under Ftancis Asbury, and a year or two later he entered the itinerant ranks, and rendered the most distinguished service to the church in the following
APPOINTMENTS: 1785, Long Island cir .; 1786, East Jersey cir., wih John M'Claskey; 1787, Trenton cir., with Nath'l B. Mills; 1788, ordained dea- con,-Baltimore, Md., with Francis Spry; 1789, ordained elder, -- Anapolis; 1790, ditto; 1791, Alexandria Va .; 1792, no appointment named: 1793. presid- ing elder, Boston District; 1794, (New York Conf.) New York and Brook- lyn, with 1 .. M'Combs, Wm. Phabus, sup'y, J. Brush, sup'y, and D. Kendall, sup'y; 1795, Phila., with John M'Claskey; 1766, ditto with Wilson Lee; 1797- 1798, Wilmington, Del. Appointed book agent in 1798, vice John Dickins, deceased.2 1799-1804, editor and general book agent. (From 1802, in the Phila. Conf.) 1804, last part, Brooklyn, in place of C. Stebbins, resigned; 1805, (New York Conf.) still in Brooklyn-Sam'l Merwin was there the last quarter; 1806, ditto, with Samuel Thomas and Oliver Sykes;3 1807, New York
1 Lednum -- Rise of Methodism; Introduction, p. xix.
" Simpson's Cyclopa dia.
3 See sketch of O. Sykes in this bod !!
10
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cir., with T. Bishop, F. Ward, P. Peck, and S. Thomas ; 1808, ditto, with W. Thacher, J. Wilson, F. Ward, L. Andrus, and P. Peck ; 1809, Wilmington, Del. ; 1810-1811, "missionary; " 1812, Baltimore city, with A. Schinn, J. Smith, and J. Fry ; 1813-1819, located ; 1820, (Phila. Conf.,) Philadelphia, St. George's, with James Smith, Sen., and James Smith "of Baltimore ;" 1821, sup'y, same church, with James Smith and Thomas Miller; 1822, New Castle, Del. ; 1823-1824, sup'y, without appointment ; 1825, sup'y, presiding elder, West Jersey Dist. ; 1826, sup'y, Philadelphia, St. George's, with S. Merwin, L. Prettyman and R. Lutton ; 1827, conf. missionary; 1828-1834, sup'y, conf. miss'y ; 1835-1836, sup'y, without appointment ; 1837, sup'y, Philadelphia, St. George's with Charles Pitman; 1838, ditto, with Jos. Lybrand ; 1839-1840, ditto, with R. Gerry: 1841-1842, ditto, with J. B. Hagany ; 1843, ditto, with E. L. Janes ; 1844-1845, smp'y, without appoint- ment ; 1846, superannuated.
· He was seven times a member of General Conference, repre- senting the Philadelphia Conference first in 1804, and the last time in 1832. He was superannuated less than one out of the threescore years of his ministry.
Ezekiel Cooper was the first of the large number of Method- ist preachers who began their itinerant ministry on Long Island. His field in 1785 included the whole of the island, but there was no Methodism in Brooklyn, and the place was not until five years later included in that circuit. The only Methodist soci- eties that Cooper found on Long Island were at Newtown and Comac. Philip Cox had wrought nobly as a pioneer, and estab- lished several preaching appointments. It is also probable that the number of members increased, (he made no report,) but he did not, so far as is known, form any new classes. At the close of Ezekiel Cooper's year on the island, he reported 154 mem- bers, having organized societies at Rockaway, Searingtown, Hempstead South, and Musketo Cove, (now Glen Cove.)
Among those who were brought to Christ through his faithful ministry in Brooklyn was a lad fourteen years of age, named Charles Wesley Carpenter. He became one of the pastors of the Sands-street Church, and a St. John among them all.
The greatest historian of American Methodism says of Ezekiel Cooper :
His personal appearance embodied the finest ideal of age, intelligence, and tranquillity. ITis frame was tall and slight, his locks white with years, his forehead high and prominent, and his features expressive of reflection and serenity. A wen had been enlarging on his neck from childhood, but without detracting from the peculiarly elevated and characteristic expression of his face. He was considered by his associates a living encyclopedia in respect
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not only to theology, but most other departments of knowledge, and his large and accurate information was only surpassed by the soundness of his judgment.4
The following extract from his correspondence will serve to illustrate his practical wisdom and common-sense, as well as his ability to express his thoughts with clearness and precision. Mrs. Catherine Garrettson had written him a letter which called for his judgment as to the importance to be attached to certain remarkable " dreams and visions," the details of which are not known to us. He replied :
As to the cause of the dreams and visions of Miss K-, I have but little that I wish to say upon that subject. Time will show and make manifest better and more fully than any other commentary. I agree, "It is our busi- ness to investigate truth and support the cause of God, whatever we may suffer in its defense ; " but we are not bound to support, or to believe, that which is not supported by rational evidence drawn from credible and competent sources, either human or divine, and more especially when it clashes with established rules and principles in nature, fact, or revelation, by which we are to test truth and detect error in our investigations. A person may "be sin- cere," and yet labor under great delusions of imagination. " Marvelous and momentous things, times and events" may be imagined from the fanciful effervescence and effusions of a lively, inventive, and heated imagination, which cannot stand the test of calm, deliberate investigation. We may, in such cases, admit great error of judgment, without impeaching the moral intention.3
In the pulpit he gained a position among the "brightest lights " and "ablest orators " of his day. 'Says a writer in The (New York) Methodist : 6
At times an irresistible pathos accompanied his preaching, and in the forest worship andiences of ten thousand would be so enchanted by his discourses that the most profound attention, interest, and solemnity prevailed. In public debate he possessed powers almost unequaled, and he seldom advocated a measure that did not prevail.
The Rev. Dr. John Kennaday says, in an appreciative criticism :
His ability as a preacher and debater excelled his ability as an author. In discussion his name was Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.7
He published a " Funeral Sermon " on the Rev. John Dickins, and the " Substance of a Funeral Sermon on the Rev. Francis
4 Stevens' Hist. M. E. Church, vol. iii, p. 132.
5 Unpublished letter, dated Philadelphia, February 3, 1821.
6 June 16, 1866.
7 Sprague's Annals.
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Old Sands Street Church.
Asbury." The latter was a 32mo volume of 320 pages." Previous to its publication he said, in a letter to Freeborn Garrettson :
Did you ever write down the substance of your discourse on the death of Bishop Asbury? I have written mine, agreeably to the request of the con- ference, but I have never given it up, nor submitted it to the inspection of the committee, nor to any other person. It is rolled up among my papers. I don't know but I may yet consent to let it be published. I am undetermined at present ; sundry considerations influence me to keep it back for a while. I wish to do what may be right and most prudent in the case.9
In the same letter he wrote :
I cannot labor constantly, but occasionally I stand forth to bear my testi- mony. I am pressed rather too much at times for my strength and health. Could I do the work of three strong men, I have sufficient calls and invitations to fill up all the time. If I venture to preach twice in one day, which some- times I do, it hurts me. I am going down hill. Oh that we both may make a safe and happy close of life and labor in the Lord's good time !
This reads like the language of an old warrior on the eve of his discharge, but it was written thirty years before his work on earth was done.
Like most men of mark, he had his peculiarities. An author- ity already quoted writes :
He was known as a great angler ; like Izaac Walton he carried his fishing- tackle with him, and was ever ready to give a reason for his recreation. Bishop Scott says that his walking-cane was arranged for a fishing-rod, and he always had on hand a Scripture argument to prove that fishing was an apostolic practice. On one occasion, when he returned from an excursion without catching any thing, a preacher was much disposed to laugh at his poor success. " Never mind," said the reverend old angler, "although I have caught nothing, while watching my line I have finished the outline of one or two sermons." So his time had not been idly spent.10
Some peculiarity of his disposition may be supposed to ac- count for his continuing in " a state of single blessedness." He possessed rare business talent. Under his management the cap- ital stock of the "Book Concern " advanced in six years from almost nothing to $45,000, and at his death his personal estate was valued at $50,000. He was frugal to a fault, but at the
8 See M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopedia.
9 Unpublished letter, dated Burlington, N. J., October 24, 1817.
10 Stevens' Hist. M. E. Church, vol. iii, p. 134 ; quoted from The Methodist.
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Record of Ministers.
same time " liberal to the poor." Simpson's Cyclopædia states that he made a bequest for the benefit of the poor in the St. George's church, Philadelphia.
It is said, however, that, in consequence of an imperfect codicil, the portion of his estate which was designed for benevolent objects "failed of its good mission." A note in The Christian Advocate states that he bequeathed an octavo Bible to every child named after him. However, Ezekiel Coopers do not seem to be a numerous race.
He attained the age of eighty-four years lacking one day. His sickness was neither long nor very painful. Calmly, peace- fully, and sometimes exultingly, with hallelujahs on his lips, he waited for the chariot to come, and at length, on the 21st of February, 1847, the hero of a hundred battles, the oldest mem- ber of a Methodist conference then in America,11 was translated to the highest heavens. His intimate and venerable friend, Nathan Bangs, preached his funeral sermon in the St. George's church, Philadelphia, in front of which, near the grave of Law- rence M'Combs, his remains were interred.
His portrait in oil has been preserved in the Methodist build- ing in New York, of which the accompanying engraving is a very excellent copy. His fore-finger hides the large wen on his neck. So Alexander the Great, while the artist painted his por- trait, covered an imperfection in his face.
11 Stevens' Hist. M. E. Church, vol. iii, p. 130.
XIX.
I M' Combi
HE REV. LAWRENCE M'COMBS' was pastor of the Brooklyn charge one year -- 1794. This was his second appointment, and he was twenty-five years of age, having already given promise of the commanding eminence he was destined to attain in the Church.
He was born of wealthy parents,? in Kent County, Del., March 11, 1769. At a very early period, as his memorial in the Conference Minutes affirms, he obtained remission of sins. There appears to be no further record concerning him until 1792, the date of his admission on trial into the travel- ing ministry. His history subsequent to this time is epit- omized in the following
MINISTERIAL RECORD: 1792 Newburgh cir., N. Y., with S. Fowler; 1793 ditto with S. Weeks; 1794 (ordained deacon3) New York and Brooklyn with Ezekiel Cooper: ( supernumeraries, Wm. Phoebus, J. Brush and D). Kendall); 1795 New London cir., New England, with G. Thompson; 1796 (ordained elder) Middletown cir .; 1797-1798 Tolland cir .; 1799 New London a 2nd term, with A. Wood; 1800 Philadelphia; 1801 Balt. Conf., Baltimore, with George Roberts; 1802 Baltimore city and Fell's Point, with J. Wells and S. Coate; 1803 Fell's Point; 1804 Baltimore cir., with N. B. Mills; 1805 among the elders, but no appointment named; 1806-1814 a local preacher; 1815 Phii- adelphia Conf., Smyrna cir., Del., with John Collins; 1816 ditto with S. P. Levis; 1817 Queen Ann's cir., Md., with Thomas Ware; 1318 Kent cir., Md., with W. Ryder; 1819-1822 P. E. Jersey Distrie $ 1823 Essex and Staten Island with I. W.nner; 1824-1825 Philadelphia, St. John's; 1826 Wilmington, Del .; 1827- 1828 P. E. Jersey Dist. 2nd term; 1829-1832 Chesapeake Dist .; 1833 South Phila. Dist .; 1834 sup'y at Philadelphia, St. Paul's Church, with Wm. Urie; 1835-1836 superannuated.
1 Incorrectly spelled M'Coombs in his conference obituary and in the Index to Stevens' Hist. M. E. Church.
'Rev. E. De Pew in M'Clintock and Strong.
3 His name, though on the roll of those received into full connection, is, it would seem, inadvertently omitted from the list of deacons.
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Record of Ministers.
No one, so far as known, is able to furnish reminiscences of his ministerial labors in Brooklyn. It is well known, however, that he " performed an unprecedented amount of labor, and left the impress of his energetic character wherever he went."' It is related that on his first circuit
This intrepid young man urged his way over mountains and through val- leys, stirring the community wherever he came with hymn and sermon, until the wilderness and solitary places were made glad. His popularity became almost unbounded, and from the very commencement of his ministry crowds attended his appointments. There were few church edifices, and his preach- ing during the milder season was chiefly in the fields.5
Of his services on the New London circuit, after leaving New York and Brooklyn, Stevens says :
The tireless Lawrence M'Combs succeeding in fortifying the yet feeble so- cieties of that large circuit, and in planting several new ones.6
He was a member of every General Conference from 1804 to 1832, excepting the two held in 1808 and 1812, while he was a located preacher. He distinguished himself in 1812 as a vol- unteer to defend the village of Havre de Grace. During his period of location, 1806 to 1814, he is said to have preached frequently and with unabated zeal in the vicinity of his resi- dence on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, near the head of the. Chesapeake Bay. His record shows that he held a superannu- ated relation but a little more than a year, and his memoir says, mournfully, that during that time he was "agonized in body, enfeebled in mind, and nearly deprived of speech ;" yet he suf- fered all without a murmur. In Paul's language, about being with Christ, he expressed the steadfast lrope of his heart, and those were, the last words that fell from his lips." Thus peace- fully he departed this life at his residence in Philadelphia, on the rith of June, 1836, aged sixty-seven years.
He was laid to rest in the old St. George's church-yard, and a memorial tablet on the wall of the church commemorates ap- propriately his greatness and his usefulness.8
In an admirable portraiture of his character, one of his inti- mate friends says of him :
4 M'Clintock and Strong. 5 Rev. Dr. J. Kennaday in Sprague's Annals.
6 Hist. M. E. Church, vol. iv, p. 61.
1 Minutes of Conference, 1837, p. 492.
$ Letter of John Whiteman to the author.
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Old Sands Street Church.
No hostility could intimidate him in the course of duty, nor could any prov- ocation betray him into petulance or resentment. His perceptions were quick and clear, and his judgment sober and impartial. He had a fine im- agination, which, being restrained and regulated by his admirable taste, gave beauty and warmth to all his pictures.9
Another, who knew him well, says :
Ile spoke in the pulpit with a fluency and power almost unsurpassed. A Frenchman after hearing him preach exclaimed : "That man's tongue is hung in the middle, and goes at both ends." The foreigner was converted and became a Methodist preacher, 10
Bishop Scott, who accords to M'Combs a natural geniality and cheerfulness of spirit, adds the following qualifying state- ment :
There was a tendency in the latter part of his life to melancholy and im- patience. * * * As a preacher he had great power over the masses. He dealt much in controversy, but was not a close thinker, and his style was diffuse and even wordy. 11
It is presumed by one of his biographers,12 from the favor- able conditions of his early life, that he was, distinguished for culture. It is true, that he held a high place as an orator, and was honored in the councils of the Church ; he was a member of the General Conference Committee on Education in 1828. These facts, however, do not establish his reputation for a high grade of scholarship. Like most of his contemporaries, he is not known to have published any sermons or other literary composition. The following extracts from a letter" written by him will aid the reader to form an estimate, not only of the spirit of the man, but of his style also :
BALTIMORE, March 17, 1802.
Dear Brother : I received your letter, which was the first intimation that you were in the Province of Maine. Since I left the New England States I have had but a superficial knowledge of the state and stations of the preachers. But I perceive that they are still upon the circulating plan, and I hope they are still getting and doing good.
The work of the Lord in this part and south of us is very prosperous. We
9 Rev. Dr. J. Kennaday in Sprague's Annals, vol. vii, p. 21I.
10 Laban Clark, in Sprague.
11 Sprague's Annals.
12 E. De Pew, in M'Clintock and Strong.
13 The original is in the library of the New England Methodist Historical Society. Many of the words are misspelled.
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Record of Ministers.
have some of the most powerful conversions in the public congregations that you ever beheld. The work is so general that from the aged down to the children they can speak good in the name of the Lord. South of us the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians have so far united as to hold their public and private meetings together, and the work is going on with a most astonishing rapidity. And to the westward of us, in the wilderness, they con- tinue, according to the most recent accounts, to meet in the woods -- from 75 to 20,000 persons at one place-have their wagons at the distance from 50 to 100 miles, and strike their tents, and there continue from one to five, six, or seven days, preaching, singing, and praying. And from 100 to 500 have pro- fessed to find peace at one of those meetings. The work astonishes even the most pious-it is so great as to the numbers converted, and the effect it hath upon their lives. The work is now spreading in Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I hope the flame will continue until it reaches the Province of Maine." I don't feel any doubt but God will continue his work, and will spread it far and wide, if the people will receive it. But I know it would be rejected by some in New England, though others might rejoice in it. What would the people think and say if they were to see from 100 to 500 people of all descriptions fall down upon the ground and call for merey ?
Ah ! brother, this is serious and solemn work. We have in this city the last year hundreds converted to God. The work is of the above kind. It is enough to melt the heart of stone, comparatively speaking, to see and hear hundreds of souls call at the same time for God to have merey on them.
Myself and child are well, and hope these will find you in health and peace.
I am, etc.,
L. M'COMBS.
REV. EPAPHRAS KIBBY, Monmouth.
Dr. Kennaday thus further describes him :
His personal appearance was very imposing. In stature he was full six feet in height, with a fincly developed form, though not corpulent ; the breadth of his chest indicated the prodigious strength which enabled him to perform his almost gigantic labors. The general expression of his counte- nance betokened intelligence, gentleness, and energy; while his full, frank face was illumined by his ever-kindling eye. His voice was full, clear, and of great flexibility, sweeping from the lowest to the highest tone, and modu- lated in the most delicate manner, in beautiful harmony with his subject. In preaching in the field, which was his favorite arena, I used to think he was quite an approach to Whitefield. Such was his known power at camp-meet- ings, that the announcement that he was to be present on such an occasion would draw a multitude of people from great distances. 14
Another says :
As he warmed in speaking he had a singular habit of elevating, I think, his right shoulder by sudden jerks. He wore his hair combed smoothly back,
.14 Sprague's Annals.
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and being long, it fell somewhat upon his shoulders. His countenance was of an open and benevolent expression. His whole appearance was attractive and impressive, suggesting repose of mind, sympathy, self-possession, and authority.15
It is a matter of regret that no likeness of Lawrence . M'Combs can be found.
His first wife was a native of Port Royal county, Va.,-a Christian from her childhood. Dr. Kennaday wrote of her as a lady of most discreet and amiable deportment. She died, in great peace, in Wilmington, Del., April 17, 1832. By this mar- riage he had one daughter, a lovely girl, who survived her mother but a few months. An old Methodist writes on the authority of the Rev. A. Atwood, that both mother and daughter are buried in Wilmington, Del., in the grounds of the Asbury Methodist Episcopal church.1 The pastor of that church, in 1881, wrote as follows :
I have inquired and searched diligently in reference to the persons about whom you inquire. The first wife of Lawrence M'Combs is not buried in the grounds of Asbury M. E. church. His daughter is, but there is no stone, that I can find, to mark her resting-place.17
On the 4th of April, 1833, Mr. M'Combs was married to MRS. SARAH ANDREWS, of Philadelphia," whose " fortitude and kind- ness contributed much to the comfort of his declining years." 19
15 Bishop Scott, in Sprague.
16 John Whiteman, of Philadelphia, letter to the author.
11 Rev. Charles Hill, letter to the author.
18 Notice in The Christian Advocate and Journal.
19 Kennaday.
George Roberts
REV. GEORGE ROBERTS, M. D.
From "Centenary Album," by Roberts, Baltimore, 1866.
-
XX.
GEORGE ROBERTS.
HE REV. GEORGE ROBERTS, M. D. was born about 1766, of English parents, probably after their immi- gration to the neighborhood of Easton, Pa. Dur- ing his boyhood he worked on his father's farm. He was studious, and often sat in the chimney corner, reading by the light of the fire such books as he could find. Candles were an expensive luxury which his parents could not af- ford. His Christian life began on the 29th of April, 1783, when he was seventeen years of age. After his father's death he managed the little farm for his mother, who was a gentle, amiable woman, a member of the Church of England, as was also his sister, Mrs. Rue.
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