USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Brooklyn, N.Y. : an illustrated centennial record, historical and biographical > Part 26
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After his trial and suspension he withdrew from the Method- ist Episcopal Church; the Centenary church revolted, refusing to receive their new pastor, and undertook, as an independent organization, to retain Mr. Green. In the litigation which fol- lowed the courts decided that the Methodist Episcopal Church could hold the property; whereupon a large number of the members withdrew, and established, under Mr. Green's leader- ship, a Congregational Methodist church, in Lawrence-street, Brooklyn.
A few years later, (in 1849,) ex-Justice John Pierce, step- father of Maffit's wife, having spoken of Green as a " drunken scoundrel," the latter brought a suit against Pierce for slander, and a verdict was given in favor of the plaintiff. John Dike- man and James M. Smith, Jr., were counsel for Mr. Green. Among the prominent witnesses in the case were the Revs. Nathan Bangs, George Peck, Valentine Buck, John C. Tacka- berry, Bradley Silleck, and William H. Norris; also, Messrs. Jacob Brown, Joseph Moser, John Smith, Rufus S. Hibbard, J. Wesley Harper, Henry R. Piercey, and others. The entire
1 See the Christian Advocate and Journal, January 9, 1847.
2 See Rufus S. Hibbard's pamphlet, entitled "Startling Disclosures con- cerning the Death of John Newland Maffit," pp. 16-22 ; also " The Trial of Green vs. Pierce," p. 39.
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Old Sands Street Church.
ministerial life of Mr. Green was throughly canvassed. It was not proved by the evidence adduced, nor is it now claimed by the friends of Mr. Green, that he was a teetotaler; and it seems to us an error and a misfortune that, as a minister of Jesus Christ, he did not attain to that standard. That he was an inebriate, either before or after this trial, his most intimate friends declare to be false.3 The tremulous, excitable state in which he was often seen, was declared by Dr. Reese to be due to a constitutional infirmity, or mobility of temperament.4
John C. Green is described as a fine-looking man, rather tall, an excellent speaker, with pleasant voice and winning manner, and a very happy and "impressive way of putting things." There was a nervous energy and a manifest unction attending his appeals under the excitement of revival services rarely sur- passed by the best evangelists.
He survived his resignation as pastor of the Congregational Methodist church only about eight months, and died of paralysis, in the city of Brooklyn, on the 7th of April, 1854, aged fifty-six years. His grave in Greenwood cemetery is marked by a stone carved in the form of a pulpit.
ESTHER, wife of John C. Green, was born in the town of New- burgh, N. Y., May 2, 1798, and died September 14, 1875, in the 78th year of her age. She is buried by the side of her husband. One of their sons, James Wilson, attended the Wesleyan Uni- versity in 1836, and afterward died in Texas. John Henry, another son, resides in New Jersey, and is engaged in business in the city of New York. One daughter, Elizabeth, died at the age of sixteen. Mary C. married a Mr. Porter, and for her second husband a Mr. Bellinger, of Davenport, Iowa. Caroline was married to Mr. Levi P. Rose. She is now deceased. Emma E. married Daniel Colgrove, of Brooklyn, and she, like- wise, is dead.
8 The author has conversed with William I. Steele, Potter J. Thomas, Rufus S. Hibbard, and others, and their testimony is decided and unanimous on that point.
4 Trial, Green vs. Pierce.
LILL Chas F.Carpenters
CONSIDERABLE number of young persons who be- gan their Christian life in the Sands-street church became ministers of the gospel. Prominent a- mong them in point of talent and usefulness, and preceding most of them in point of time, was the REV. CHARLES WES- LEY CARPENTER, distinguished, moreover, as the only one of the Sands-street converts who became pastor of that church.
Ilis father, Thomas Carpenter, was a native of Long Is- land, "and one of the noble men of early Methodism" in the city of New York. As an active business man, as a patriotic citizen in the Revolution, as an alderman of the city for sev- eral years, as one of the first managers of the American Bible Society, as a member of our missionary board, as trustee and class-leader in John-street church, he "served his generation by the will of God." He probably retained his membership in the John-street church until his death, but was buried in the Sands-street church-yard in 1825. Edith (Bunce), moth- er of Charles W. Carpenter, died before her son was sixteen years of age.1
' On her tomb-stone in the Sands-street church-yard it is stated that she died March 13, ISOS, aged 46. For sketch of Thomas Carpenter and his second wife see Wakeley's "Lost Chapters," Pp. 547-550.
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Old Sands Street Church.
The subject of this sketch was born in New York city, 1
December 16, 1792. He was brought to a saving knowledge of Christ in Brooklyn, in 1806, during a gracious revival season, in which were converted two other young men-Marvin Rich- ardson and Josiah Bowen-who became eminently honored and useful ministers of God. The following account of his conver- sion is in his own words :
Though at different times I was the subject of serious thoughts, yet no last- ing impressions were made upon my mind until my fourteenth year ?? At that time my parents lived in Brooklyn, where they retired in the summer season for the benefit of pure air. A revival of religion broke out under Mr. E. Cooper, then stationed at that place.3 On a Sabbath evening, having loitered about the meeting-house until after the sermon had closed, I went in to see the exercises which took place among those that were ander awakenings. My attention was caught by the earnest devotion of a young man just emerged from darkness into light. I looked at him for some time, when my heart became so affected that I could not refrain from shedding tears. I felt an earnest desire for the same enjoyment which he seemed already in possession of, but did not feel, in so great a degree as many, the horrors of a guilty con- science. This may have been in consequence of my tender years. I sat down with a sorrowful heart, when a godly man, James Herbert, noticing my agita- tion, came to me, and in an affectionate strain, urged the necessity of my being born again. His words, attended with the power of God, fastened conviction upon my mind. I remained in the meeting-house till quite late, my burden and sorrow of soul continually increasing. On Thursday evening, in conversation with a young disciple of Christ, P. Coopers, my mind seemed measurably relieved, but yet I was not satisfied. In the course of the Friday following I retired frequently, and poured out my soul to God in prayer. In the afternoon, while engaged in private, (the spot I well remember,) I felt a sudden and glorious change in my feelings. My burden was fully removed ; my soul was filled with inexpressible peace.+
Thenceforward he was a happy and devout Christian. He entered Columbia College, but on account of ill-health was not able to complete the course.6 When a little past nineteen years of age, he received from Freeborn Garrettson his first license to exhort, and on the 20th of October, in the same year, he was licensed as a local preacher by the quarterly conference in New York. He was married April 24, 1813,6 being less than twenty-one years of age. One year later he was admitted to
2 Not his eighteenth year, as stated in M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopedia.
3 Samuel Thomas was his associate.
4 Quoted in his memoir-Conference Minutes, 1853, pp. 194, 195.
5 Sprague's Annals and M'Clintock and Strong.
6 Suffolk Circuit quarterly conference record.
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Record of Ministers.
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the annual conference on trial, and the following, in brief, is his
MINISTERIAL RECORD : 1814, (New York Conf.,) Suffolk and Sag Harbor cir., N. Y., with A. Scholefield ; 1815-1827, local preacher, Savannah, Ga .; 1820, ordained deacon ; 1826, ordained elder ; 1828, (New York Conf.,) Suffolk and Sag Harbor cir., N. Y., with R. Seaman and O. V. Amerman : 1829- 1830, Sag Harbor ; 1831, Brooklyn cir., with John C. Green ; 1832, ditto, with J. C. Green and J. C. Tackaberry; 1833, New York, west cir., with P. P. Sandford, Fitch Reed, Josiah Bowen, and J. C. Green; 1834, Sag Harbor and Bridg: Hampton cir., with Harvey Husted ; 1835, Sag Harbor and East Hampton ; 1836, New York, west cir., with J. Covel, Jr., J. Z. Nichols, L. Mead, E. E. Griswold, and L. Pease, sup'y; 1837, ditto, with J. Covel, Jr., J. Z. Nichols, A. S. Francis, C. K. True, N. Bigelow, sup'y, and R. Seaman, sup'y ; 1838-1839, Poughkeepsie; 1840-1843, presiding elder New Haven District, Ct .; 1844-1845, Brooklyn, Washington-street ; 1846-1847, New Paltz and Platte- kill cir., with John Reynolds ; 1847, ditto, with J. K. Still ; 1848-1849, North Newburgh, with J. W. Le Fevre, sup'y, and R. H. Bloomer, sup'y; 1850- 1851, sup'y, Plattekill cir., with John C. Chatterton, sup'y; 1852, sup'y, Pleasant Valley, in the Newburgh District.
His retirement at the close of his first conference year was mainly on account of ill-health ; nevertheless, he was able to engage in business while in the South. Returning, he was warmly welcomed by a host of friends, recommended to the annual conference by the quarterly conference of Suffolk cir- cuit, and re-appointed to his former charge. In Sag Harbor, where he was pastor three terms, the author has heard the older people speak of their exceedingly pleasant recollections of his ministry among them. He was secretary of his conference for many years, and in 1840 and 1844 was elected to a seat in the General Conference.
His last sickness was attended with extreme suffering, but greater than his bodily pain was his grief on account of not being able to meet his brethren in conference. He departed this life in peace, May 10, 1853, during the session of the New York Conference, in the sixty-third year of his age. His death occurred in the same house in Plattekill, N. Y., where Daniel Ostrander died ten years before. Dr. John Kennaday preached a sermon on his life and character.8 His remains were first buried in Plattekill, but they now repose in Greenwood ceme- tery, on Long Island.
" Sprague's Annals.
8 The Christian Advocate.
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Old Sands Street Church.
Charles Wesley Carpenter "held a high and strong position in the confidence of his brethren," who regarded him as pre- eminently " a Christian gentleman," and "an intelligent, able, and efficient minister of the New Testament."" Judge Dike- man said to the author:
Brother Carpenter was familiar with almost every subject, but his conversa- tion always savored of religion. His sermons were uniformly short and neat, and his appearance in the pulpit was the most clerical of all the men I ever heard.
One of the leading ministers of the conference writes :
I knew him as a most amiable boy, and a most amiable and excellent man. He was a tall, slender man, of a graceful form and delicate features, and an expression of countenance indicating rare gentleness and loveliness. * His labors found great favor with some of the most intelligent congre- gations in the denomination. * * * I doubt exceedingly whether his image still lives in any memory, where it is not associated with every thing pure and lovely and of good repo: t.10
His bland and peaceful spirit lulled many a rising storm in conference. He was too modest to be prominently active, and yet few men wielded a more persuasive influence in that body. V
BETHIA (WALKER,) his wife, was a native of Smithtown, L. I., a quiet, unobtrusive, industrious Christian woman, greatly devoted to her husband, and interested in his work. It was the author's privilege to converse with her frequently, while he was her pastor, in 1869 and 1870. She survived her husband about twenty-two years, and fell asleep in Jesus, in Newburgh, N. Y., in May, 1875, aged about eighty years.
Their only children were Anna Maria, and Albert. The former died, an infant, in 1815; the latter was connected with the Sands-street church and Sunday-school for several years, and afterward removed to Newburgh, N. Y., where he died only a few years ago.11
9 Memoir in the Conference Minutes.
10 Dr. Samuel Luckey, in Sprague's Annals.
11 See notice of Albert Carpenter, in Book III.
N.
J. Jarkaberny
REV. JOHN C. TACKABERRY.
LIV. JOHN C. TACKABERRY.
HE REV. JOHN CRANWILL' TACKABERRY was born in the town of Wexford, Ireland, September 8, 1799. His parents, John and Jane (Cranwill) Tackaber- ry, were connected with the people called Methodists. Fos- sey Tackaberry, a brother of the subject of this sketch, was a very distinguished Methodist preacher in the Irish Confer- ence, whose life was written by the Rev. Robert Huston and published in Belfast.
When J. C. Tackaberry was eighteen years of age he emi- grated to America, and resided some time in Quebec. There, in July, 1817, soon after his arival, he obtained the joy of pardon, and before many days united with the people of God. His conference memorial says:
In 1819 he received license as an exhorter, and faithfully and zealously served the church in that capacity until 1821, when he was licensed as a local preach- er. For a year or two subsequently he was employed under the presiding el- der do labor within the limits of the Canada Conference. In 1826 he was or- dained as a local deacon by Bishop Soule.2
Thenceforward he received the following
APPOINTMENTS: 1827, (Pittsburgh Conf .. ) Greenfield cir., Pa., with P. Buckingham; 1828, Washington cir .; 1829, ordained elder, -(New York Conf.) Troy, N. Y., with S. Merwin; 1830, Kingston, with F. W. Smith and E. An- drews, 1831, Catskill and Saugerties cir., with D. Poor; 1832, Brooklyn, with J. C. Green; 1833, Stratford and Bridgeport cir .. Conn .; 1834, New York, west cir., with J. B. Stratton, F. Reed, J. C. Green and D. DeVinne; 1835, ditto, with J. B. Stratton, D. De Vinne, L. Mead and E. E. Griswold; 1836, visited Europe on business and to see his friends; on his return, Harlem mis- sion, with John Luckey and D. DeVinne; 1837, Montgomery cir., with David Webster; 1838, Ilarlem mission, with J. Floy; 1839, ditto, with S. II. Clark; 1840, Stamford, Ct., and Poundridge, N. Y., with S. J. Stebbins and I. San-
1 This is said to be one form of the celebrated name Cromwell. The widow of J. C. Tackaberry says Cranwill was her husband's name, not Cranville, as it is spelled in the Conference Minutes and elsewhere. He usually omitted the second name in writing his own signature. See Life of the Rev. Fossey Tack- aberry, p. 298, where his grandmother Cranwill is mentioned.
? Conference Minutes, 1852, p. 42, and Hist. St. James' M. E. Church, New York, p. 57 ..
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Old Sands Street Church.
1841-1843, sup'd; 1844, New York, Seventh-street, with A. M. Osbon ; 1845, sup'y, Brooklyn, Sands-street, with II. F. Pease; 1846, ditto, with N. Bangs; 1847, sup'y, New York, Forsyth-street, with J. B. Stratton; 1848- 1849, sup'y, New York, Greene-street, with Daniel Smith; 1850, sup'y, ditto, with Davis Stocking; 1851, sup'y, New York, Bedford-street, with Addi Lee.
His ministerial life, as above outlined, comprises many im- portant details, of which no record has been preserved. We must be content with a few interesting incidents. In a letter addressed to the Rev. W. H. Dikeman, of New York, and pub- lished in one of our church papers, he describes a terrific storm at sea, which he encountered on his return from Europe, April 19, 1837. The following extract conveys a vivid impression of the thrilling event :
At half past two A. M. a black cloud arose above the horizon to the north- west. The first mate called the captain on deck. Suddenly the wind hauled round to the north-west, blowing violently and took the ship all aback, driv- ing her stern foremost at about five knots. The hands were immediately called to bring the ship about and shorten sail. While the sailors were per- forming this duty, a ball of fire or a flash of lightning struck the ship and passed down the rigging, exploding with a noise cqual to the report of a can- non, and with such force that it knocked down almost all the men on the · deck. The sparks of fire fell in every direction, and for-some moments seemed to cover the deck. The sailors exclaimed that the ship was going down, while some of them ran to the forecastle. * In a few minutes another flash struck the ship and passed down the rigging, exploding the same as the first, and again knocking down several of the men. * " The sail was shortened immediately, and a little after three o'clock the wind died away, and there was a dead calm. A few minutes before this phenomenon took place, I had been observing the progress of the vessel; but, perceiving no danger, I had turned into my berth again, when the ship received the first shock. As I had heard all hands called on deck, and knew that they had been taking in sail, my first thoughts were that some of the passengers on board had a quantity of powder which had exploded ; or that some of the hands had fallen from aloft and were killed. And as the shock jarred the skylight over the cabin, I thought whoever had fallen must have struck upon it, and that the large lamp which usually hung under it, being shaken, had caused the waving light which I had observed when the first flash took place. When I went to the lobby there was a smell of sulphur, as strong as if several guns had been discharged in it. I dressed as soon as possible, intending to go and render any assistance in my power to those who might be hurt, as I knew the hands were all employed. When the second explosion took place I was satisfied that it was lightning, and supposed that the vessel and all on board would be at the bottom in fifteen minutes.
While I feel grateful to God for his goodness in preserving me amid the perils of the sea, I feel the highest satisfation in being permitted to meet my numerous friends on this side of the Atlantic .. My travels through Europe
Record of Ministers. 277
have only increased my attachment to our country and institutions, and I am fully satisfied there is really nothing (even in these embarrassed times) to prevent our being the happiest people under the sun.3
In his fortieth year, on New-Year's-day, 1839, he was married to MISS SARAH L. TIEMAN, an estimable lady, who still sur- vives, (1884,) in the thirty-fifth year of her widowhood.
As appears from the list of his appointments, he was colleague of John C. Green, in Brooklyn, in 1832. Seventeen years later the testimony of Mr. Tackaberry, in the case of Green versus Pierce, revealed the fact that there was a lack of harmony be- tween the two preachers while they were associate pastors in this charge. He says :
I was removed at the end of one year. I did believe that Mr. Green and Judge Dikeman obtained my removal. * *% There was a difficulty be- * tween Mr. Green and myself. I told Mr. Merwin he was trying to keep peo- ple away from my congregations. I stated the circumstances to. prove it.4
Farther on in the testimony it is faintly intimated that Green found fault with his playing on the violin. These slight infe- licities were unquestionably more frequent formerly than now.
In his best estate, before his health declined, his preaching was fervent, pungent, and often pathetic. He particularly ex- celled in "doctrinal discourses." W. H. Dikeman, who knew him intimately from 1833, said to the author :
Mr. Tackaberry wrote his sermons with great care, but preached without notes. It was his habit always to cite authorities, sacred or secular, and he was often called " Book, Chapter, and Verse," from his method of quoting Scripture in his sermons.
In social intercourse he was bright. Few excelled him in wit and repartee, but his language was always chaste. . I tested his friendship for nearly twenty years, and I never knew a man to show more unswerving fidelity to his friends in storm and in sunshine.
Many others have spoken of him as " a walking concordance," and it has been affirmed that he knew the New Testament by heart.
He was a man of slender build, taller than the average, of light complexion, and pleasant countenance. The likeness ac- companying this sketch, is copied from an oil portrait in the possession of the family.
3 The Christian Advocate and Journal, August 18, 1837.
4 " The trial of the Rev. John C. Green against John Pierce for slander," p. 13.
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Old Sands Street Church.
In his later years he preached only occasionally. He longed for a return to the active ministry, but the derangement of his nervous system, and a tendency to congestion of the brain, made the labors of the pulpit impracticable. He died in the fifty- third year of his age, in New York city, May 9, 1852, of South- ern fever, contracted while he was chaplain and physician upon a New York and Nicaragua steamer. In one of his intervals of consciousness he said : "In the word of God is my trust; its promises are my support."
His remains were first deposited in the vault of the 125th- street church, afterward they were removed to Greenwood.
Of his six children all except Albert, who died in youth, are now living, (1884,) and continue to revere God and the church of their father. They are John A., William G. H., Jane C., Emily G., and A. Antoinette.
CG:
MOSSE
a Hardday
REV. JOIIN KENNADAY, D. D.
LV. JOHN KENNADAY.
HEN the " fathers " repeat the names of the most ad- mired and beloved of the earlier Methodist preachers of Brooklyn, the REV. JOHN KENNADAY, D.D., is never omitted from the list. He was born in the city of New York, November 3, 1800. When he was quite' young his father, who was a native of Ireland and a Roman Catholic, was drowned. His mother was a native of this coun- try.' He learned the printer's trade when a youth, but devoted his leisure hours to reading and study. A more minute account of the boyhood of such a man as Dr. Kennaday could not fail to be interesting and instructive. What there was in his train- ing and his early habits to inspire hope for his success in life would then be more apparent. Probably, however, there was little previous to his conversion, except his love of learning, to . suggest the character of his subsequent career.
On New-Year's Day, 1822, when twenty-one years of age, he was awakened in John-street church, New York, under a ser- mon preached by Heman Bangs, who thus graphically describes the beginning of young Kennaday's noble Christian career :
In those days we took advantage of all the holidays to hold public worship, and in John-street we had a public service on New-Year's Day. My brother Nathan was to preach the sermon ; I went to the church ; he did not come, and I had to rise on the moment and preach myself; and Providence di- rected this young man (Kennaday) into the church, and God was pleased to awaken him. I held always, once a week, a meeting for seekers in my house. IIe attended and made known his desires, and I took him into the church. I exhorted him to preach and recommended him to travel, and was present when he received his first license. I remember the first speech he ever made in public. It was in John-street, the occasion being a love-feast. Our city (New York) was then one circuit, and we all came together for love-feast into one church, and consequently the church was crowded. Among
1 The author learned these facts from the widow of the Rev. Dr. Kennaday.
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Old Sands Street Church.
others, a young man arose in the back part of the church, near the gallery, and began to speak. The moment he opened his mouth it seemed like pour- ing the oil on Aaron's head ; the odor was such that it seemed to diffuse itself all over the congregation, and the fragrance was such that every one seemed to catch it. The inquiry was made : " Whose silvery voice is that ?" I be- lieve that eloquence which he then manifested, and which seemed to be nat- ural, easy, and unaffected, continued with him to the last, more or less.2
After a few months he was licensed to exhort and to preach, and labored without a break for more than forty years in the following
APPOINTMENTS : 1822, supply on - cir., N. J .; 1823, (New York Conf., ) Kingston cir., N. Y., with J. D. Moriarty ; 1824, ditto, with D. Lewis ; 1825, ordained deacon, -Bloomingburgh, N. Y .; 1826-1827, (Phila. Conf.,) Paterson, N. J .; 1827, ordained elder; 1828-1829, Newark ; 1830-1831, Wilmington, Del .; 1832, Morristown, N. J .; 1833-1834, Brooklyn, with Thomas Burch and John Luckey-New Utrecht was included in this charge in 1833 ; 1835, New York, east circuit, with S. Cochran, J. Youngs, N. Bigelow, and J. Law; 1836, ditto, with S. Merwin, S. Remington, H. Brown, and D. Smith-this east circuit embraced all the churches east of Broadway; 1837-1838, Newburgh, N. Y .; 1839-1840, (Phila. Conf.,) Philadelphia, Union ch .; 1841-1842, Phila., Trinity ch .; 1843-1844, Wilmington, Del .; 1845-1846, Wihnington, St. Paul's ; 1847-1848, Phila., Union ch .; 1849, Phila., Nazareth ch .; 1850-1851, Brooklyn, Pacific-street ; 1852-1853, Brooklyn, Washington- street ; 1854-1855, New Haven, Conn., First ch .; 1856-1857, Brooklyn, Pacific- street : 1858-1859, Brooklyn, Washington-street, with S. H. Platt, sup'y; 1860- 1861, New Haven, Conn. First ch .; 1862, Hartford ; 1863, presiding elder, L. I. Dist.
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