USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > Old Sands Street Methodist Episcopal Church, of Brooklyn, N.Y. : an illustrated centennial record, historical and biographical > Part 33
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This is not the place to enter into any discussion upon the reasons of the departure of Mr. Watkins from the Methodist communion, and his entrance into the Protestant Episcopal Church. Suffice it to say that it was upon no grounds of selfish expediency, nor because of the friction of the itinerancy, but upon conscientious grounds .?
In Brooklyn he took charge of a small mission ; lots were purchased, a chapel erected, and a prosperous Sunday-school and congregation gathered. As rector of the Church of the Epiphany he ministered to the largest congregation, with one exception, (Metropolitan Methodist,) in the city of Washington, and numbered among his hearers some of the first men of the nation. Here he was again prostrated, but restored by rest and a European tour. While serving Christ Church, in Baltimore, he received from William and Mary College in Virginia the de- gree of Doctor in Divinity. He wrote from Baltimore to the Bibliothean Fraternity-composed of his earlier friends and associates in the Biblical Institute-assembled in their triennial re-union, that he warmly cherished the old fraternal feeling,
2 The Rev. C. A. Tibbals, in " Hanson Place Quarterly," October, 1883.
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fully believed in evangelical Christian work, stood by Moody in the revival in Baltimore, and had established a weekly prayer- meeting in his church, largely attended by persons converted in the Moody meetings.
In his present parish he is successor to the younger Dr. Tyng, and here his former popularity and usefulness are, if pos- sible, surpassed.
Dr. Watkins is a fascinating speaker, engaging in his appear- ance, easy and graceful in manner, with a voice of uncommon melody, and a fluency rarely excelled. To quote Mr. Tibbals again :
As a speaker, Dr. Watkins possesses natural gifts of rare excellence, which have been finely developed by cultivation. His style of composition, though in the beginning of his career florid and highly rhetorical, has become, by intellectual growth, terse and nervous to a marked degree. Full of energy, his thoughts come forth in clear-cut sentences, and by an impressive and fascinating delivery, are impressed upon the mind, never to be forgotten. At times, carried away by the grandeur or solemnity of his theme, our preacher rises to flights of eloquence, startling in their power and beauty. And so he is said to be in the best sense the most popular preacher in the communion of which New York can boast. His social qualities are equally delightful and engaging. ITis genial cordiality, united to unusual conversa- tional powers, his kindly humor, and noble genorosity, all combine to make friends for him every-where, and attach them with a genuine and lasting en- thusiasm. Dr. Watkins' fondness for and interest in young men are pro- verbial. He is always befriending, helping, and attracting to himself young men, over whom he exerts the best possible influence.
His estimable wife, ESTHER G. (HALSTEAD), "entered into rest" December 16, 1884. From her father's home, which echoed with Methodist shout and song, she passed well-trained into the position of an itinerant's wife, where she was happy and useful; yet she heartily concurred with her husband in his latter choice as to their church relations. One year ago Mr. Tibbals wrote concerning the children :
The eldest, Wilbur Fisk, fr., is a deacon in the church, and at present (1883) assisting his father. He is a young man of bright promise and of studious habits, devoted to his calling. The second son, S. Halstead, is study- ing in preparation for holy orders in the Berkeley Divinity School, at Middle- town, Conn. The third, Thomas Coke, is a young lad who looks forward to a mercantile life. The youngest are two charming girls ; the elder is just budding into sweet girlhood, and the other a child of seven years. One child, Ruth, has passed on to make heaven more attractive to this family, who enjoy in their happy life a taste of that love which is the gate to the Paradise of God.
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LXXII.
JOHN B. HAGANY.
HE REV. JOHN BISHOP HAGANY, D.D., the much es- teemed pastor of the Sands-street church in 1848 and 1849, was successor to Dr. Miley. He was born in Wilmington, Del., August 26, 1808. His father was a Methodist local preacher, a devout man, and somewhat over- strict and severe in the government of his family. Becoming restless under discipline, John, at two different times, ran away from home to try the fortunes of a sailor's life. The father's prayers were answered at length, and his heart made glad by the conversion of the young man at the age of nineteen, and his entrance upon the work of a traveling preacher at the age of twenty-two.
ITINERANT RECORD : 1831, (Phila. Conf.,) Talbot cir., Md., with M. Hazel and B. Andrew; 1832, Port Deposit cir., with Thos. M'Carroll ; 1833, ordained deacon,-Elkton; 1834-1835, Easton, Pa., ordained elder in 1835 ; 1535, (New Jersey Conf., ) Burlington, N. J. ; 1837. ( Phil .. Conf., ) Philadelphia, Kensington ch .; 1838-1839, Elkton, Md .; 1840, Pottsville and Minersville, Pa .; 1841-1842, Philadelphia, St. George's, with E. Cooper, sup'y; 1843-1844, Phila- delphia, Ebenezer ; 18.45-1846, Middletown, Del .; 1847-18.48, Pottsville, Ist ch., Pa .; 1849-1850, Philadelphia, Trinity ; 1851-1852, (New York Conf.,) New York, Vestry-street ; 1853-1854, New York, Mulberry-street ; 1855-1856, Yonkers ; 1857, New York, Sullivan-street; 1858-1859, (New York East Conf.,) Brooklyn, Sands-street ; 1860-1861, (New York Conf.,) New York, St. Paul's ; 1862-1863, New York, Bedford-street ; 1864-1865, New York, Thirtieth-street.
His pastoral term was duplicated in Elkton, in Pottsville, and in the Mulberry-street charge, New York, after it had become St. Paul's. His stations were six years in Philadelphia and a little over nine years in New York city. He was a member of four different annual conferences. While in the Philadelphia Con- ference he was the friend and associate of George R. Crooks, Will- iam H. Gilder, John A. Roche, John S. Inskip, John Kennaday,
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Record of Ministers. 349
and the venerable Ezekiel Cooper ; all of whom, either before or afterward, were prominently connected with the Methodism of Brooklyn and New York. His conference memorial says :
No man among us was more uniformably acceptable to the people, or re- tained to the last a more controlling power in the pulpit. * As a Chris- tian, he was devout without the ostentation of superior piety. * * * As a preacher, Dr. Hagany possessed the advantage of a fine physique, a voice of extraordinary compass and sweetness, and a quiet self-poise which always rendered him a most agreeable and captivating speaker. * * His sermons were rarely thrilling, but always pleasing, and sometimes overwhelmingly emotional. * * * In the social circle he shone the brightest ; as a companion one of the pleasantest, and as a conversationalist racy and sparkling ; yet he never forgot or forsook the dignity of the minister.1
His familiar friend, the Rev. Dr. George R. Crooks, contrib- utes the following testimony :
Dr. Hagany was an eloquent preacher. He had a sweet-toned voice, a calm rather than a fervent temperament. a quick, tender sympathy, by which he was readily affected himself, and could readily affect others to tears. Ilis memory was retentive, and enabled him to command instantly all his re- sources. In the early Methodist literature and the English classics of the sev- enteenth century he was unusually well-read, and his citations from his favorite authors pleasantly spiced his conversation. Withal there was a vein of humor running through his speaking and writing which gave a flavor to both. His literary remains consist chiefly of essays contributed to religious and other pe- riodicals. One of these, on John Wesley, furnished to Harper's Magazine, is one of the most striking characterizations of the great reformer extant."
Dr. Hagany is elsewhere described as "a writer of force, exquisite polish, humor, and pathos." "
While pastor in New York and Brooklyn it was his uniform habit to dine once or twice a week at the house of Fletcher Harper, and usually in company with his choice friends, Drs. Milburn, Prime, Stevens, and M'Clintock. Dr. Stevens, on meeting a daughter of Dr. Hagany in Switzerland years after- ward, recalled those pleasant hours of conversation, assuring the lady that her father's genial and sparkling humor was the very life of those meetings.
Dr. Hagany's death was sudden and unexpected. He preached to his congregation on the last Sunday in June, 1865, from the text, " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let
1 Minutes of Conferences, 1866, p. 73.
2 M'Clintock and Strong's Cyclopedia.
3 Simpson's Cyclopedia.
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my last end be like his," and proposed to resume the interest- ing subject the next time he preached. In the evening he was too unwell to go into the pulpit. Three days afterward, Wed- nesday, June 28, he sat reading aloud to his wife some passages from the sermons of the Rev. Jonathan Seed, an old favorite of John Wesley, when suddenly he was seized with a spasm of pain in the heart, the book dropped from his hand, he leaned forward upon the table, and almost instantly expired. He had nearly completed his fifty-seventh year, and the thirty-fourth of his ministry.
Dr. Crooks preached his funeral sermon in the Thirtieth- street Methodist Episcopal church, and his remains were carried to their resting-place in the Wilmington and Brandywine cem- etery, Wilmington, Del. His grave is marked by a white mar- ble tomb-stone on which is inscribed the text of his last discourse.
His wife, CAROLINE S. (FORD,) was, previous to their mar- riage, a resident of Elkton, Md. She died in the month of Au- gust, 1877, aged sixty years, and is buried by the side of her husband.
One of their two daughters, Mary, wife of John E. Fay,4 died in the year 1876; the other, Emma, is the wife of Mr. Henry Bartlett, of Brooklyn, N. Y.
See account of the Fays in Book III.
BA Nadal
REV. BERNARD H. NADAL, D. D.
LXXIII.
BERNARD H. NADAL.
BRIGHT star in the galaxy of the Sands-street pastors was the REV. BERNARD HARRISON NADAL, D.D., succ essorof Dr. Hagany. Bernard Nadal, his father, was a native of Bayonne, France. He was very early placed in training for the Roman priesthood, but when a lad of twelve years he threw down his books in the street, ran away from his parents, and came to the United States. As we ob- serve concerning our beloved and honored Kennaday, and De Vinne, and others prominently connected with the Sands-street church, we see here also another marked illustration of the fact that the Roman Catholic Church not only is now, but has been for generations, losing her children and her children's children, and furnishing Protestantism with some of her best and grandest champions. From Dr. Buttz we quote the follow- ing additional statement concerning the elder Nadal :
He was married twice ; his second wife, whose maiden name was Rachel Harrison, became the mother of three children, Bernard being the youngest.
The father died five months previous to Bernard's birth. The boy's maternal grandfather was a man of decided moral convictions. He freed all his seventy-five slaves, although they constituted the greater part of his wealth. Bernard's mother was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from her child- hood-a woman " of much intelligence and force of character," teaching school and making many sacrifices to support her children respectably. From 1821 to her death she resided with her brother in Hookstown, Md., five miles from Baltimore.
Bernard Harrison Nadal was born in Talbot County, Md., March 27, 1812. While very young he entered the employ
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of a chemist and liquor merchant in Baltimore. At seventeen he was apprenticed to a saddle-maker, John Bear by name, in Hanover, Pa. While there, at the age of twenty, he found the pearl of great price. He began the study of Latin, learning the paradigms and rules from his book on a little frame before him, while his hands and eyes were occupied in stitching sad- dles. He took little interest in his work, and thought he had missed his calling. Leaving this place, he was hired as a clerk in a store in Woodstock, Va. A young lawyer gave him assist- ance in his mathematical studies. The next we know of him he has entered the traveling ministry.
CONFERENCE RECORD : 1835, (Baltimore Conf.,) Luray cir., Va., with M. Goheen ; 1836-1837, St. Mary's cir., Md., with W. S. Evans,-or- dained deacon in 1837 ; 1838, Bladensburgh cir., with F. M'Cartney ; 1839, ordained elder,-Baltimore city station, with John Bear, G. Morgan, W. B. Edwards, and T. Myers ; 1840, ditto, with I. Bear, C. B. Tippett, John A. Henning, and T. Myers ; 1841-1842, Lewisburgh, Va .; 1843, Lexington cir., with W. Krebs ; 1844, ditto, with F. H. Richey ; 1845-1846, Baltimore, Co- lumbia-street ; 1847-1848, Carlisle, Pa .; 1849, agent Baltimore Conf. Female College ; 1850-1851, Baltimore, High-street ; 1852, Baltimore city station, with John Poisal, S. Register, and E. A. Gibson ; 1853, ditto, with S. M'Mul- lin, S. Register, and T. A. Morgan ; health poor, visited Europe ; returning, supplied the pulpit of Dr. Duncan's Presbyterian church ; 1854, appointed (sup'y) to Baltimore city station, but continued to supply the I'resbyterian church ; same year appointed Prof. of History and English Literature in In- diana Asbury University ; 1855, (North Indiana Conf.,) retaining his position as professor ; 1857, (Baltimore Conf.,) remaining at the university during the first part of the year ; last part, presiding elder, Roanoke Dist., Va. ; 1858- 1849, Washington, D. C., Foundry church ; 1860-1861, (New York East Conf.,) Brooklyn, Sands-street ; 1862-1863, New Haven, First church : 1864-1865, (Baltimore Conf.,) Washington, D. C., Wesley Chapel ; 1866-1867, (Philadelphia Conf.,) Philadelphia, Trinity ; 1868-1871, Professor of Historical Theology in Drew Theological Seminary.
When he came to travel his first circuit he realized some ad- vantage from having been an apprentice, for he was able to make his own saddle. During his second year in Lewisburgh, Va., he was married to MISS SARAH JANE MAYS, daughter of John Mays, Esq., of that place. During the years he was sta- tioned in Carlisle, having previously made preparation to enter an advanced class in Dickinson College, he read up the entire course, was examined, and took the degree of A.B. in 1848. This he is said to have done "without neglecting any of the proper duties of his office."
While at the Indiana Asbury University he was the associate
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of Dr. Curry, who speaks very highly of his ability, thorough- ness, and efficiency as an instructor of young men. He received the degree of I). D. from Dickinson College in 1859, nine years after his graduation at that institution.
His presence in Washington amid the closing scenes of the war, and his influence both in public and in private, are be- lieved to have been of great value to the cause of the Union. He enjoyed the confidence of President Lincoln and other fore- most men of the nation, and was recognized as a stanch sup- porter of the Union. His biographer says :
He preached the funeral sermon of Governor Hicks, of Maryland, in which he portrayed his excellent services to the nation in her hour of peril ; and while at all times he maintained his views of right with great conscientious- ness, yet he secured the respect of those from whose principles and aims he was compelled to dissent.1
His position as professor in Drew Theological Seminary he had held only about two years when he speedily followed his friend and associate, Dr. M'Clintock, to the world of blessed rewards.
He first complained of indisposition on Thursday of the week preceding his decease, but no alarm was felt either by himself or his family until the succeeding Sunday. Then it was found that his old chronic complaint, a disease of the kid- neys, without causing much pain or prostration, had really weak- ened his constitution to such an extent that congestion of the lungs and brain seemed to be inevitable. When informed of his extremely critical condition he replied promptly that he had left the issne entirely with the Lord. As the evening advanced he gradually sunk into a stupor, from which he did not awake. Thus on Monday morning, June 20, 1870, in the village of Mad- ison, N. J., at the age of fifty-eight, Dr. Nadal came suddenly to the end of his race, "dying 'in warm blood,' running at the top of his speed, but he failed not, for he gained the prize of his high calling."ª He was buried in the Laurel Hill cemetery, in Philadelphia.
Dr. Wm. M. Punshon, in his memorable address before the General Conference, in Brooklyn, a few months after the death of Dr. Nadal, assigned him a prominent place among the re- cently crowned victors of whom he spoke. He said :
1 Dr. Buttz in " New Life Dawning." p. 36.
2 Minutes of.Conferences, 1871, p. 47.
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And then I think of Jolm M'Clintock, that anax andron, 3 almost an Ad- mirable Crichton in versatility of attainment, Melanchthon in tenderness, and Luther in courage, but all whose wise, rare gifts he cast at the feet of him who was the Man of Sorrows, but upon whose head are many crowns ; of Nadal, who dropped so soon after his friend that it seemed as if, in preparing his memoir, he had got to long so much for nearer communion that he must needs ascend to join him in the presence of the Master whom they both loved.
Bishop Foster mourned for him as his "dear Nadal," and penned a beautiful tribute, in which he said :
To rare beauty of mind he added the superior charm of perfect candor and unflinching bravery. He was no trimmer. The church had in him a true and faithful son, always ready to do valiant service. But he was no bigot ; his catholicity was broad and genial ; many of his most attached friends were found in other churches than his own.4
In the pulpit Dr. Nadal was instructive, convincing, persua- sive, and often eloquent. In doctrinal statements and opinions he was decidedly evangelical and Methodistic in the best sense of those terms. In his early ministry he often wrote and deliv- ered his sermons verbatim. Later in life he quite frequently used his manuscript, but always with good effect.
He was oppressed by a conviction, which he frequently and strongly expressed to his nearest friends, that he was not adapted to the itinerancy-that he might have accomplished vastly more good in the settled ministry ; yet his love for Methodist theol- ogy led him to decline very flattering invitations to become a permanent pastor of a Calvinistic church.
He attained a high rank among educated men, and may be cited as a marked example of successful achievement by dili- gent application in spite of great disadvantages. "He loved knowledge for its own sake." The trustees of the Drew Theo- logical Seminary published the following :
We desire to record our sense of his eminent abilities as a scholar, a preacher, a writer, and a professor ; in all of which respects he has made a marked impression on the students, and left a brilliant example.5
Dr. Nadal attained his chief pre-eminence as a writer. As his brethren testify --
The range of his writings included theology, ethics, politics, social life, nature, and art ; and each was treated in a masterly way. Lectures, addresses, sermons, newspaper editorials, were continually pouring from his tireless pen.6
Prince or king of men-avas avdpor.
4 Introduction to " New Life Dawning," p. 7.
6 Extract from a resolution published in The Christian Advocate.
6 Memoir in Conference Minutes.
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Record of Ministers.
A posthumous volume, entitled "New Life Dawning and Other Discourses," accompanied by an excellent memoir from the pen of the Rev. Dr. H. A. Buttz, has attracted considerable attention.
The Rev. L. M. Vernon, in The Christian Advocate, ascribes to Dr. Nadal a " marvelous analytic power," " glowing imagina- tion," and " instinctive profundity of thought," while his " heart was a glowing furnace that warmed to blood-heat every thought of the brain." Dr. Crooks classes him with those " who ripen slowly, and have a long period of fruitage." Another, who knew him intimately, writes :
His religion tinged all the habits of life as well as his duties. * * * The following resolutions found in his diary, supposed to have been written about 1865, show the practical character of his mind, as well as his earnestness in improvement : " I promise, God helping, the following, namely : I. To do my best not to lose my temper ; 2. Not to smoke ; 3. To eat nothing for sup- per beyond bread and butter ; 4. To try to be in bed before eleven o'clock ; 5. To visit more diligently .- B. H. N." "I further promise, by the help of God through Christ, never to speak favorably of myself, except to my most intimate friends, and sparingly even to them .- B. II. N." How this simple record, intended for no eye but his own, reveals his character.7
The same writer describes his person and manner thus :
Dr. Nadal was about five feet seven inches in height ; though short, he was rather thick-set and very erect and active in his bearing. His step was firm and decided ; he carried himself well, and there was nothing uncertain in his demeanor. Hle could be stern at times, but was, as a rule, winning and pleas- ant. His eyes were bright, and, when his mood was a happy one, they had warmth in them, a fireside glow, delightful to all that came near him.8
Dr. Buttz describes the " cheerfulness " and " hospitality " of his home, and quotes from his beautiful tribute to his " little Lizzie," who died.
The home of MRS. SARAH JANE (MAYS) NADAL, his widow, is now (1884) in the city of New York, where all but one of his surviving children also reside. The following are the children : I. Ehrman S., formerly an attaché of the American Legation in London, now secretary of the Municipal Civil Service Examin- ing Board, New York city-author of a work on his observations in England, and a volume of essays, etc. 2. Thomas IV., a
7 Dr. Buttz in " New Life Dawning," pp. 77, 78.
8 Ibid., pp, 88, 89.
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physician in Jamaica, L. I. 3. Rebecca M., joined Sands-street church by letter, with her mother and brother, in 1872, and re- moved by letter in 1876. 4. Bernard Harrison, a student in Wesleyan University in 1868, member of Sands-street church 1872-1876, for years past employed in the Custom - house, New York. 5. Charles C., a lawyer in New York. 6. Frank, a youth of great promise, was a member of the senior class of Co- lumbia College at the time of his death by drowning in Ber- nardsville, N. J., in 1879. A beautiful memorial, by Mrs. Mary Stevens Robinson, was published in The Methodist. 7. Jen- nie. 8. Grace M.
Daniel Curry
REV. D. CURRY, D.D., L.L. D.
LXXIV. DANIEL CURRY.
E have knowledge of the ancestry of the REV. DAN- IEL CURRY, D. D., L L. D. as far back as Richard Curry, who was born in East Chester, just above the city of New York, in 1709.
About 1730, having married, he took his young wife and all their effects, and, mounting themselves on a single horse, they rode northward into the al- most unbroken forests in the northern part of Westchester County, then still, occupied by the wild Algonquins. He located in the valley of Peekskill Creek, a few miles back from the Hudson, where he became an extensive land owner reared a large family, and died in 1806.1
Stephen, second son of Richard Curry, was the father of four sons and a number of daughters. Thomas, second son of Stephen Curry, reared a family of nine children, six of them sons, the fourth of whom is the subject of this sketch. The longevity of several persons in the different branches of the family has been remarkable. Richard, the great-grand- father of Dr. Curry, died in his ninety-seventh year, and an uncle, Stephen Curry, celebrated the one hundredth anniver- sary of his birth about the year 1870, at which date all the five brothers of Dr. Curry were living, the eldest seventy years of age. . The family name has been honored by several persons who have attained considerable distinction. A broth- er of Daniel Curry was candidate for Governor, and after- ward Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California, a- bont the time of the war of the Rebellion.
Daniel Curry was born near Peekskill, N. Y., November 26, 1809. At that date the Methodist Episcopal Church had been organized just twenty-five years; there were less than six hundred traveling preachers and only about one hun- dred and sixty three thousand (163,000) members in the
1 Article in the Christian Advocate about 1870.
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United States and the Canadas. A comparison of these figures with the statistics of the present centennial year will convey some idea of the growth and development of the church during Dr. Curry's life-time.
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