USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Brooklyn, N.Y. : an illustrated centennial record, historical and biographical > Part 31
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Old Sands Street Church.
Ch .; 1860-1861, Bethel ; 1862, sup'y, at Bethel ; 1863, Williamsburgh, N.Y., North Fifth-street ; 1864-1866, presiding elder, L. I. North Dist .; 1867-1870, : presiding elder, New York Dist .; 1871, presiding elder, L. I. North Dist .; 1872, Brooklyn, Broadway Mission ; 1873-1878, sup'y ; 1878-1880, Berlin, Conn .; 1881-1884, superannuated.
The author has often heard old people in Meriden speak of their pleasant , recollections of Mr. Pease, the youthful teacher and exhorter who was with them fifty years ago. He suc- ceeded Leonard M. Vincent in Sands-street, soon after the first brick church was built. The older people of the church remember vividly his ministry among them. They speak of his sermons in that day as always interesting, remarkable for pith and point.
He was granted a supernumerary relation in 1862, in order that he might remain a third year at Bethel, Conn., to com- plete the building of a church there.
When Mr. Pease was presiding elder, the author took great pleasure in greeting him on his quarterly visits to his charge, always enjoyed his sermons exceedingly, and found him a warm and true friend, in whom he could safely confide.
The New York East Conference elected him a delegate to the General Conference in 1868, and a reserve delegate in 1872.
Mr. Pease was married by the Rev. Stephen Martindale to MISS LOUISA L. IVES, of Meriden, Conn., April 3, 1836. Of their seven children, Mary L. and Rowena C. are deceased. The latter was converted at the age of ten, lived a " singularly pure and consistent Christian life of thirty-two years, and died a most happy and triumphant death " in Hartford, Conn., July 19, 1882. She was the wife of Gen. Wm. R. Pease, U. S. A.' The other children are Maronette A., Frances J., Emma L., and Hart E.
1 Obituary notice in The Christian Advocate.
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NO. CON. Y.
14055
FBMlerwin.
REV. JOIIN B. MERWIN, D. D.
LXV. JOHN B. MERWIN.
HIE REV. JOHN BOCKING MERWIN, D.D., is the only one among the pastors of the Sands-street church whose father was pastor there before him.' John was two years old when his father, Samuel Merwin, be- gan to hold forth the word of life in the "old white church." When Dr. Nathan Bangs was re-appointed to Sands-street in 1847, he was not in good health, and the as- sociate preacher had practically full charge of the station; indeed, some pleasantly said that he had a double charge- that of Dr. Bangs and the church. Mr. Merwin was then in his youthful prime, about thirty-five years of age. His con- tinuance in Poughkeepsie for a fourth year was desired, and it was arranged that he should remain supernumerary and be returned, but for the sake of Dr. Bangs this plan was changed at conference, and Mr. Merwin was appointed to Brooklyn with him.
John B. Merwin was born in Albany, N. Y., May 14, 1811. He gave his heart to God at a very early age, and was re- ceived into the old Light-street Methodist Episcopal church in Baltimore in September, 1824, by his father who was pas- tor there at that time.
He graduated at Augusta College, Kentucky, in 1832, com- pleting the course in three years. Martin Ruter was pres- ident, Ilenry B. Bascom was professor of moral science, and J. P. Durbin, professor of languages when young Merwin entered that institution. He accompanied Dr. Durbin on his return from a visit to New York, and
I See Sketch of the Rev. Samuel Merwin in this book.
.
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was a member of his family. He preached his first sermon at a watch-meeting on the last night in 1832, and was soon after licensed as a local preacher and recommended to the New York Annual Conference by the quarterly conference of Brooklyn. The following is his
MINISTERIAL RECORD : 1833, (New York Conf., ) White Plains cir., N. Y., with R. Seney ; 1834-1835, Smithtown cir., L. I., with W. K. Stopford ; 1835, ordained deacon ; 1836, agent for Plattekill Seminary ; 1837, ordained elder,-Newington, Conn .; 1838, Newington and Wethersfield ; 1839-1840. Patchogue, L. I .; 1841-1842, Lenox, Mass .; . 1843, Glenham, N. Y., and Troy. Second-street ; 1844-1845, Poughkeepsie, Cannon- street ; 1846, ditto, sup'y ; 1847, Brooklyn, Sands-street, with N. Bangs; 18.48-1849, (New York East Conf.,) Flushing, L. I. ; 1850- 1851, Danbury, Conn. : 1851-1852, Westville ; 1854-1855, Middletown ; 1856, Bloomfield ; 1857, sup'y, agent Wesleyan University ; 1858-1859, Nichol's Farms, Conn. ; 1860-1861, Watertown ; 1862, New York, Ninth-street ; 1863-1865, Hempstead, L. I .; 1866-1868, Brooklyn, Grand- street ; 1869-1870, presiding elder, L. I. North Dist .; 1871-1874, New York Dist .; 1875, New York, Forsyth-street ; 1876, Ridgefield, Conn .; 1877, Brooklyn, Simpson Ch .; 1878-1880, Handen, Conn .; 1881-1883, Brooklyn, Gothic chi .; 1884, East Norwich, L. I.
Mr. Merwin received the degree of A.M. from his alma mater in 1836, and the Iowa University conferred upon him the de- gree of D).D. in 1875. He was a delegate to General Confer- ence in 1856, and in 1872 he was first reserve delegate, taking his seat on the election of Bishop Andrews.
A few of the many incidents connected with his long and busy career may serve to illustrate the work and character of the man. During his pastorate in Flushing, L. I., he organized the Methodist Episcopal church in Whitestone. Some years ago he performed an "itinerant feat, which has seldom, if ever, been paralleled." The Christian Advocate published the following account of it :
After attending the Sing Sing camp-meeting, on a Saturday afternoon, he started from his father's, at White Plains, at four and a half o'clock P. M., for his Sabbath work (morning and afternoon) in eastern Long Island, the whole involving a journey of over one hundred and twenty-four miles and two sermons. Driving hastily to New Rochelle, he hoped to go by the evening steamer across the sound. On reaching the wharf in time he was met by the unwelcome announcement that the steamer would not land, and the alter- native was presented of continuing the journey by carriage, or disappointing the congregations on the Sabbath. The conclusion was quickly made-to meet, if possible, the appointments. The horse was hastily rubbed down and. the ride renewed. The ninetieth mile was reached by sunrise ; then followed
Record of Ministers. 327
a change of horses and a renewal of the ride. The thing was done ! At three and a half P. M., Mr. Merwin had, in twenty-three hours, journeyed one hundred and twenty-four miles, (by private carriage, 107; on foot, 5; on horseback, 12; total, 124,) and preached twice .. What pastor, presiding elder, or bishop has ever outdone that ? Does not that beat the fathers ?
While at Poughkeepsie, in 1846, he was appointed a repre- sentative of the Ministerial Union of that city to the Evangelical Alliance in London, and he availed himself of the opportunity to visit various parts of Europe. The California Christian Ad- vocate of May 31, 1877, published the following :
Rev. J. B. Merwin, of the New York East Conference, gave us a call last week. He has gone to do up Yosemite. On returning he may possibly visit Oregon. Brother Merwin is a member of the Mission Committee, and is tak- ing a deep interest in our missions on this coast-German, Chinese, and Indian.
Dr. Merwin is a bachelor. The dates make it certain that he is seventy-two years of age, but he seems more like a man of fifty. Time has dealt kindly with him, and, judging from his erect form and elastic step, we should say he could even now perform an amount of work that some of the youngest of his brethren would not care to undertake. Sands-street church was re-enforced by about one hundred converts during his min- istry there, and it was found, one year later, that of that number ninety-seven were members in Sands-street church or some other, or were in heaven. In every other charge, save one, God has favored his labors with a revival. Few men among us have made a more honorable record, or gained a higher place in the esteem of their brethren, than the Rev. Dr. Merwin.
LXVI.
JOHN W. B. WOOD.
ILLIAM HAWKINS WOOD, father of the subject of this sketch, was a native of Wilmington, Dela- ware. He became an importer and manufacturer in Baltimore, and an honored local preacher in the Method- ist Episcopal Church. His wife, Anna Bond, was the only daughter of Thomas Bond, Esq., of Harford County, Md., one of the earliest converts to Methodism in America, under the labors of Robert Strawbridge. She was sister to the Rev. John Wesley Bond,1 and to the eminent Dr. Thomas E. Bond, who was for twelve years editor of "The Christian Advocate and Journal."
The REV. JOHN WESLEY BOND WOOD is one of a family of five children, He was born in Baltimore, Md., January 15, 1804. In early childhood he was the subject of deep re- ligious impressions, and from the age of seven years confi- dently expected to be a preacher of the gospel. From his godly mother he received faithful instruction in the Holy Scriptures. After the death of his parents, he and one of his sisters (now the widow of the Rev. John Poisal, D. D.,) found a home with their uncle, Dr. Thomas E. Bond, who then resided in Harford County, Md.
It being intended by his friends that he should study for the medical profession, he entered Asbury College, in Baltimore; but that institution failed, and the result was a decided change in the course of his whole life. He went to sca at the in- stance of the merchants of Baltimore, who were determined to change the character of the whole mercantile marine, and so introduced educated young men into the service. After a voyage of twenty months, having doubled Cape Horn in safety, he returned to Baltimore, but was induced to go again and again, crossing the ocean eighteen times. Returning at last from a voyage of several years, he left his ship in New York city, determined to revisit his native town. He took passage on a coasting clipper which was overtaken in
1 For memorials of this excellent minister see Minutes of Conferences, 1819, P. 324, also Methodist Magazine, 1819, p. 284.
REV. JOIIN W. BOND WOOD.
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Record of Ministers.
the night by a terrific gale and seemed destined to be driven on the shoals and wrecked. The thought came to him, "I shall not be lost ; for am I not appointed to preach the Gospel?" Kneeling down he solemnly vowed that his heart and service from that moment should be given to God. Instantly his fear was gone, and he exclaimed, "Lord, give me the assurance of the acceptance of my vow by breaking the gale at midnight." Upon this he fell into a sound sleep. At twelve o'clock he was startled by the midnight call for the watch below. The gale was broken. A voice within said, " Remember your vow," and he cried, " My Lord, I will." When he reached Baltimore and stood upon the shore the same voice was repeated and the same answer given. It was Sunday evening. His friends had gone to church, a mile distant, and he followed them, still hearing the divine voice, "Remember your vow," and answering anon, " My Lord, I will." The next morning he followed the advice of Mrs. Bond, his aunt-his best Christian counselor, then living-took one of the farm horses, and went to camp-meeting and there found joy and peace in Christ. This was in the year 1831, when he was twenty seven years of age.
MINISTERIAL RECORD : 1831, supply on Jay cir., N. Y., with Orris Pier; 1832, (Troy Conf.,) Chazy and Champlain cir,, N. Y., with E. Goss and M. H. Stewart ; 1833, Peru cir., with D. Stevens ; 1834, ordained deacon,-Grand Isle cir., Vi .; 1835, Granville and Hebron cir., with O. E. Spicer ; 1836, ordained elder,-Fort Ann cir., N. Y., with J. B. Houghtaling, 11. W. Steward, and D. Brayton, sup'y ; 1337, ditto, with J. B. Iloughtaling, and ----- , supply ; 1838, East Whichall and Whiteball Mission, with J. Squire ; 1539-1840, sup'd ; 1841, located ; 18q2, (Troy Conf.,) Stowe cir., Vi., with S. Hewes ; 1843-1844, (New York Conf., ) Tarrytown, N. Y .; 18.45- 1846, Matteawan ; 1847, Flushing, L. I .; 1848-1849, New York, Forsyth- street ; 1850-1851, Brooklyn, Sands-street ; 1852-1853, Rockaway cir., 1. 1 .; 1854, Williamsburgh ; 1855-1856, Brooklyn, Carlton ave .; 1857- 1858, Sag Harbor ; 1859, Westchester and West Farms, with D. De Vinne, sup'y .; 1860, (New York Conf.,) Rondout ; 1861, Coxsackie and Baltimore Corners, with G. C. Esray ; 1862-1863, Tarrytown ; 1864-1866, Hancock ; 1867-1868, Goshen ; 1869-1870, Monroe ; 1870-1872, Highland Mills ; 1873- 1875, West Point ; 1876, chaplain Sing Sing prison ; 1877-1883, sup'y ; 1884, superannuated.
On his first charge in the Adirondack Mountains his labors were greatly owned of God; nearly two hundred souls were gathered into the fold. A revival of remarkable extent and power occurred under his labors on the Hancock circuit. Tarrytown and other places were divinely blessed through his
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Old Sands Street Church.
ministry. In Sag Harbor the writer found excellent results of his faithful labors there, after he had been gone from that charge ten years.
He was married in 1834 to Miss Juliet C. Ketchum, daughter of Benjamin Ketchum, of Plattsburgh, N. Y., whose death-the greatest affliction he was ever called to endure-occurred while he was among the Sands-street people. He was greatly com- forted by their friendly sympathy.
Mr. Wood is a man of marked individuality. He seems to have been fitted by nature and by his long experience as a sailor to gain ready access to rough, godless men, and few min- isters are able to exert so strong an influence over that class of persons. He was doing excellent work among the convicts of the Sing Sing prison, when, through political influence, he was suddenly removed. He is genial, exceedingly frank, and some- times droll in his utterances. One of the oldest preachers in the New York Conference, he appears to be enjoying pleasantly the evening time of life. .
JULIET CAPULET KETCHUM was married to J. W. B. Wood at the age of nineteen years. She died of consumption, in the parsonage of the Sands-street church, in 1852, after suffering six years. Living and dying she was the Lord's.
Of their seven children only four survive. Jennie, the eldest, has been her father's housekeeper many years. At her mother's death she took charge of three younger children, though but a child herself. John Wesley Bond, Jr., has resided for some years in Montana. Juliet C. (named for her mother) is the widow of the late James Bishop, of New Brunswick, N. J. Emma married Henry Malcomson, an English gentleman, a merchant, and resides in New York city.
- MASSING CON VY
Athun
REV. HENRY J. FOX, D. D.
LXVII.
HENRY J. FOX.
NUMBER of the learned and eloquent pastors of Sands-street church are distinctively recognized as "self-made men." Among these the REV. HENRY JOHN Fox, D. D. should be prominently named.
He was born-the second of a family of nine children- in the parish of Sculcoates, Kingston-upon-Hull, England, May 13, 1821. His parents, Thomas and Sarah (Clarke) Fox, were devoted members of the Wesleyan Connection. The former lived to be ninety-one years of age. He is buried in Columbia, S. C., where he died in 1877. The latter died and was buried in Ashland, Greene Co., N. Y., in December, 1858.
Henry J. Fox, when a lad, attended a private academy in his native town, conducted by Thomas Ager, Esq. He was powerfully awakened under the preaching of Rev. Robert Atkin, a distinguished minister of the Established Church, but on entering upon a Christian life, he chose to connect himself with a small sect of Methodists, of which Dr. Warren was the most prominent founder. His class leader was Geo. Cookman, Esq, mayor of the town, a local preacher, and fa- ther of the distinguished Methodist orator, the Rev. George G. Cookman, who was lost in the ill-fated steamer Presi- dent, in 1841.
In a short time he left this small seceding body, and united with the' Wesleyans. Being placed on the "plan" as a local preacher at nineteen years of age, he preached his first ser. mon Nov. 15, 1840, at Analby, an appointment on the Hull circuit.
Four years later he left England intending to go to Cana- da, but was detained in New York by the Rev. George Taylor, afterward one of his successors in the Sands-street church, who writes:
23
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Old Sands Street Church.
I invited him to spend the Sabbath with me at Harlem, and preach for me. He consented, and his preaching was so simple, so earnest, and so profitable to my people, that we felt he ought to give himself wholly to the ministry.1
Mr. Taylor introduced him to the Rev. Samuel D. Ferguson, who persuaded him to go to Durham, Greene County, N. Y., where he was employed for some time as a pastor, the preacher in charge being sick. Thus, providentially and unexpectedly, he entered upon his public ministry, and his services thence- forward are briefly epitomized in the following list of
APPOINTMENTS : 1844, Durham cir., N. Y., a supply, with J. D. Bouton and William C. Smith ; 1845, Prattsville cir., supply, with William Bloomer and Wm. C. Smith ; 1846-1847, (New York Conf.,) Newfield and Plymouth, Conn ; IS48, (New York East Conf., ) ordained deacon ; 1848-18.49, Farmington ; 1850, ordained elder, -- Hartford ; 1851, Hartford, Second ch .; 1852-1853, Brooklyn, Sands-street ; 1854-1855, Williamsburgh, South Fifth-street ;" 1856, Hempstead, 1 .. 1 .; 1857-1860, President Ashland Colle- giate Institute ; 1860, (New York Conf .; ) 1861-1862, New York, Forty-third- street ; 1863-1865, New York, Central ch .; 1866-1868, Carmel and Drew- ville ; 1869-1871, (South Carolina Conf.,) Oro, S. C., with W. H. Scott ; 1872-1873, Charleston, with S. Weston ; 1873-1876, Prof. of English Litera- ture and Rhetoric in the University of South Carolina; [877-1878, (New England Conf.,) Hyde Park, Mass .; 1878-1881, East Saugus ; 1882-1883, Wilbraham ; 1884, North Andover.
Beginning his ministry with comparatively limited literary attainments, Mr. Fox commenced and kept up a rigid course of study. He found time on his six-weeks' circuits, with twenty-two appointments, to make rapid and thorough advance- ment in literature and science. He was honored with the de- gree of M.A. by the Wesleyan University in 1857, and nine years later he was made a Doctor in Divinity by Union College. About the same time he was elected secretary of the New York Educational Society.
In 1863, in company with Dr. (now Bishop) Foster and the Rev. W. F. Watkins, he spent two weeks in the service of the Christian Commission on the battle-field of Gettysburgh. As a delegate from the American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance he attended a meeting of the World's Alliance, in Amsterdam, in 1867.
He was exposed to great danger during the first years of his residence in the South, and experienced no small amount of
1 Letter to the author.
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Record of Ministers.
suffering and pecuniary loss by the persecutions of the Ku-klux Klan. His name appears in the Minutes as secretary of the South Carolina Conference. The charge to which he was ap- pointed in Charleston was a large church in Wentworth-street. The Legislature gave him his position in the university, and he held it until the institution was closed.
Dr. Fox has achieved a good reputation as a lecturer. As a writer he is well known by his numerous contributions to The Christian Advocate and Zion's Herald. Articles from his pen on the Negro, Plagiarism, and Shakespeare, in the Methodist Quarterly Review, do credit to his ability. His chief works are a " Quadrennial Register of the M. E. Church," of which 10,000 copies were sold, " The Land of Hope," "The History of our Mission in Cape Palmas," "The Student's Commonplace Book," and " The Student's Shakespeare."
His success as a man of letters is believed to be more than equaled by his usefulness as a preacher and pastor. Very large accessions to the church were the result of his ministry in Hartford, Sands-street church, Brooklyn, and Forty-third-st., New York. Among those received by him into the Sands-street church were Richard Vanderveer, Mrs. Richards, (afterward the famous Mrs. Tilton,) also an old man, Joseph Riley, who had sat under the preaching of John Wesley.
Dr. Fox was married to MISS CLARINDA S. WHITE, in Ash- land, Greene County, N. Y. Of their nine children five are living at this date, (1883.) Belle Amelia was born in the par- sonage of the Sands-street church. Gilbert D., the eldest son, has been for seven years secretary to one of the committees of the United States Senate. He is a steward of the Metropoli- tan M. E. church, in Washington, D. C., and a worker in the Sunday-school of that church. Henry A., a graduate of the South Carolina State University, an attorney-at-law, was in- stantly killed by. a collision on the Charleston and Savannah railroad. Clarence IV. is engaged in business in the city of Boston. Irving P. was graduated at the Boston University in 1883, and is now connected with the Boston Courier.
LXVIII. LEVI S. WEED.
HE name of the REV. LEVI STEVENS WEED, D. D., is a household word among all the members and friends of old Sands-street church. This excel- lent minister was born in Darien, Conn., May 29, 1824. His parents moving to Williamsburgh (now Brooklyn, E. D.,) and thence to New York, much of his early life was spent in those two cities. At that time neither his father nor moth- er professed religion, but his mother was "a truly exemplary woman," and later in life became a faithful member of the church.
In 1843 the family were living in Durham, Greene coun- ty, N. Y. Meetings were held under the direction of the Rev. Reuben Bloomer; and our friend, then nineteen years old, with several others gave his heart to the Lord. It is said that before the extra meetings closed, he and another of the converts, A. II. Mead, were out on the circuit, filling the pastor's appointments.1 An exhorter's license was given him about this time, and he began a course of theological studies under the direction of the Rev. S. S. Strong. In 1844 he entered upon the work of preparing for college in the Delaware Literary Institute, in Franklin, N. Y. While there he was licensed as a local preacher. By close application to study his health was somewhat impaired, and his earnest de- siré for a college training was overborne by the urgent pro- test of the older ministers. He says: "They told me it was a wicked waste of time while souls were perishing. I yield- ed; but it has been the regret of my life." "Yet we doubt," says his conference memorial, "if his cherished desire real- ized, would have added to the luster of his long and pros- perous ministry."
PASTORAL RECORD: 18.45, supply, Catskill cir., N. Y., with E. S.
! This statement was made to the author by the Rev. E. S. Hebberd.
MUSS AND CO.
1. Need.
REV. LEVI S. WEED, D. D.
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Record of Ministers.
Hebberd ; 1846, supply, Prattsville cir., with Wm. Bloomer and W. C. Smith ; 1847, supply, Franklin cir., with Addi Lee ; 1848-1849, (New York East Conf.,) Southampton, L. I .; 1850, ordained deacon,-Orient ; 1851, Southport, Conn .; 1852, ordained elder ; 1852-1853, Colebrook River ; 1854-1855, Brooklyn, Sands-street, with M. B. Bull, sup'y ; 1856-1857, Hartford, Conn .; 1858-1859, New Haven, First ch .; 1860-1861, Stamford, Conn .; 1862- 1863, Brooklyn, Sands-street ; 1764-1865, Brooklyn, Summerfield ch .; 1866-1868, New York, Allen-street : 1869, Mamaroneck ; 1870-1872, New York, John-street ; 1873-1874, Brooklyn, Carroll Park ; 1875-1877, New Haven, First ch .; 1878-1879, Harlem, 118th-street ; 1880, New York, John - street ; 1881-1882, Brooklyn, New York Avenue.
Before coming to Sands-street, as the record shows, he had been assigned to small country appointments. While assisting the pastor, Henry J. Fox, in a series of extra meetings, he manifested so much ability and piety that the brethren of this church expressed a strong desire that he might become their next pastor, and he was appointed in accordance with their wishes. Thenceforward he was always stationed in the most prominent appointments in the conference. Three of these- Sands-street, First Church, New Haven, and old John-street, New York-he served a second term.
In 1849 he was married to Miss Julia M. Stephenson, daugh- ter of P. Stephenson, of Coxsackie, N. Y., who after twenty months was called to her reward. Two years later he married a younger sister of the deceased wife, Miss Cornelia A. Ste- phenson. His little girl, an only daughter, aged about four years, died in 1855 ; and in 1880 his wife, who had been the light of his home for nearly thirty years, was taken from him. While the shadow of this last great affliction was upon him he remarked to some of his relatives, "I take up my work as if nothing had happened; yet," said he, with a sigh and a tear, " every moment of my life I know that something has hap- pened." Thus thoroughly was he prepared to sympathize with the sorrowful.
Mr. Weed was remarkably genial and kind toward his minis- terial brethren, and they took pleasure in his promotion. . He united with the New York East Conference at the beginning of its history, and wrought nobly within its bounds to the last, without a break or a transfer. By appointment he preached the missionary sermon before the conference in 1865, which was delivered with rare eloquence and power. The following is a brief extract of that discourse :
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