USA > New York > Essex County > Bloomingdale > The New York of yesterday; a descriptive narrative of old Bloomingdale, its topographical features, its early families and their genealogies, its old homesteads and country-seats, the Bloomingdale Reformed church, organized in 1805 > Part 16
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
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The Church at harsenville
Immediately on leaving here Domine Kip became pastor of the Ninth Street Church, which he served five years. His Alma Mater conferred the degree of S.T.D. upon him in 1857 and he became a Trustee of the Denomination in 1860. He is said to have been unassuming in manner, kind of heart, and devoted to his calling. An excellent historian and theologian, he was well versed in ancient languages and a great antiquarian.
The Third Minister
R. A. Striker and Patterson were appointed a com- mittee to wait upon the Rev. William Labagh with pow- er to engage him for six months from October Ist. He was the son of John J. Labagh who had been Assistant Alderman of the First Ward from 1831-3, was at this time Alderman of the same ward, and again represented it in 1840. At the meeting which assembled at Har- sen's in January, 1832, the minister was present and accepted. R. A. Striker resigned as Clerk and Treas- urer and his brother John H. Striker was elected to fill both offices. Mr. Labagh gave much satisfaction, but on the expiration of his term it was deemed wise to settle a permanent pastor, and a committee was nominated to find the proper individual. In May, Rev. John AlBurtis was decided on. A Columbia graduate, he was educated for the ministry at the Seminary in New Brunswick and licensed by the Classis in that place in 1817. Called for three years at the same compensation, he moved with his family into the parsonage. In January, 1833, the spire of the old church was struck by lightning and burned. Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby was then a lad at the boarding school presided over by Rev. Mr. Huddart. From his
14
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The new Dork of Desterday
bedroom window he saw the fire. Because of this loss, afternoon services in the new edifice were sub- stituted for the usual evening service at the old one. Mr. AlBurtis did not remain his full term with the Church. He expressed his desire to retire in October, 1834, and on November 28th he was released from all connection therewith. A hiatus of six months in- tervened before a permanent pastor was selected.
The Fourth Minister
At a session held at the Harsen Mansion on May 26, 1835, the Rev. Francis M. Kip, being present by invitation, was requested to draft a call to the Rev. Enoch van Aken, at a salary of $800 and the free use of the parsonage. He had been for a short space connected with the church at Kinderhook, Columbia Co., N. Y. He came to Bloomingdale at the age of twenty-six, full of courage and evangelical spirit, and was destined to make this pastorate his life work. For fifty years he went in and out among his people, bearing the burdens of an uphill fight for the right and the preservation of The Church of the Village. Until now it had been the religious and social centre of a homogeneous community numbering some two thousand souls. Parishioners gathered here from all surrounding quarters-some from a distance of ten miles north, says The History of Eighty Years. But with the upward growth of the city and the consequent removal of downtown churches in the wake of popula- tion, together with thereligious accommodations provid- ed in the outlying districts, the more remote church- goers dropped away into local houses of worship. An important element of strength was thus lost to Bloom- ingdale. Worse still, the character of the community
2. VanAken
Portrait and signature of Rev. Enoch Van Aken
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The Church at harsenville
was disastrously changing. Death, removal, the vicissi- tudes of time were busy. The old families were thinning out. Their farms were beginning to be cut up into imaginary city lots. Assessors and Street Commissioners, like an invading army, quartered themselves on the land. Following in their track came a swarm of squatter sovereigns in the shape of newly arrived immigrants. These were utterly un- sympathetic with the old church life of the hamlet. This was the condition which confronted the new pastor. When the church records were rectified, there were just twenty-eight members in full standing. The meeting at which Domine van Aken was called was the last which assembled at the Harsen Mansion. The Elder had died full of years-all of honor-prior to the next session, and thus passed away the last of the original officers of the Church. His valuable advice and assistance were missed at this juncture. This item from his will closes the long series of contributions which he delighted to shower upon his beloved Church :
I order and direct my said executors as soon as con- veniently may be after my decease to invest out of my personal estate a sum of money sufficient to produce the yearly income of one hundred dollars and that they pay the said sum yearly and every year for the period of twelve years from the time of such investment to the Corpora- tion styled "The Church at Harsenville according to the doctrine and discipline of the Synod of Dort," such sum to be applied by said incorporation towards the repairs of their church edifice, parsonage and the fences enclosing the same and I do order and direct that after the expiration of the said period of twelve years the said principal sum so invested shall form part of my residuary personal estate to be applied and go as by me hereafter directed.
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The new Dork of Desterday
The donations made by this devoted Christian aggre- gated $217,913.50, made up as follows:
1806. Conveyance of original site, sold 1860 for $ 6000
1809. " parsonage acre, ¿ thereof
between 72d & 73d Sts., sold 1860 for 80,000
balance between 7Ist & 72d Sts., sold I886 for 130,000
1830. Donation of claims against Consistory 513.50 1835. Bequest I200
To this should be added two lots of the Beekman bequest which were sold in 1821, for $200, the proceeds of which were presented to the Consistory.
New hands were raised up to aid the pastor. In August, Quackenbush was re-elected and Parks elected Elders, the latter in place of Harsen, and Patterson and J. H. Striker were chosen Deacons. Church work was taken up with a vim. The administration of the sacrament was fixed for next Sabbath week, prayer meetings were scheduled for Wednesday evenings and a Bible class on Sunday evening opened. The sexton had resigned and another was to be sought. Parks and Striker were appointed to view the old church ground, and the latter to obtain a quitclaim thereof from Harsen's heirs. The first meeting at John Parks' residence took place on September 2d. Striker was appointed to apply to the Board of Domestic Missions for aid; the application resulted in an allow- ance of $200 for the coming year. It was decided to let the old ground and Secretary Striker was dele- gated to do so. Patterson and Striker were elected Elders, and David Law and Ackerly Fitch Deacons on April Ist, 1837. Parks was absent from the meeting in October, and died shortly thereafter. Law was
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The Church at harsenville
appointed Treasurer. It was not until June of the following year that all the vacancies in the Consistory were filled. Then Caspar Meier was elected Elder to fill Striker's place, who had removed from the city, and Cornelius Westerfield and Thomas J. Emmons, Deacons. The date of the election thereafter was set for the third Monday in July of each year. Meier became Secretary in October and the Board met at his residence on the 23d. Jordan Mott, David Cargill, Gerard Willam Livingston, Caspar Meier, and the Pastor were appointed to draw a petition to the Church in town, asking assistance, and Meier, Cargill, and Westerfield to apply to the heirs of Harsen for a release of the parsonage property. In February, 1839, Pelatiah Perit was added to the committee, with Livingston, Cargill, and Mott, to appear before the Collegiate Church officers, the result of which was an appropriation of $500. Emmons was designated in April to arrange the letting of the church lot in the village. In July, for the second time, this matter was deferred. An examination was to be made to see if any of the church land lay in the street. It being found that it did, the sexton was directed not to dig graves thereon. An addition to the burying ground was again suggested in January, 1840. Perit, Charles Darke, and Emmons were to see to repairs to cupola and roof in April. Westerfield and Livingston were elected Elders in July, and Emmons and John Waite Deacons. Livingston declined at this time. Waite became Treasurer. Inquiry was to be made con- cerning a strip of ground adjacent to the church in the rear, for burial purposes.
Consistory met at Waite's residence the first time in November, 1841. Livingston and John N. Boyd
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The new Dork of Desterday
were elected Elders in April 1842. Henry Quick was chosen Deacon. The long-contemplated expediency of a Public vault became pressing this year. Wester- field and Waite were appointed to make inquiries con- cerning it. In September, Livingston and Emmons, a building committee appointed for the purpose, executed a contract for its construction at a cost of $325. So much dampness was found in the present vault that it was necessary to blast out a drain therefrom to carry off the water to the Road. The above officers were accordingly empowered in April, 1843, to proceed with the work. They were also required to draft new by-laws for the Consistory. These are entered in full on the records, having been adopted in May. Regular meetings were set for the second Monday in January, April, July, and October "at such place as shall be mutually agreed upon." The duties of the Treasurer and Secretary were detailed. Officers of the Consistory were to be chosen at the July meeting. In that month, William Holmes was elected Elder and Peter Rennie, Deacon, who was installed on November 12th. An extra session was held the same month at Boyd's whereat he was made Secretary, Westerfield having resigned. Emmons was appointed Treasurer in place of Waite. Livingston to attend Classis.
Emmons and Rennie, by appointment in July, 1845, announced that they had rented the old site in the village adjoining John Jasper's property to him at $7.50 a year during the pleasure of the Board. Land was certainly a drug in those days. This property commenced at a point in the line of the lot occupied by said Jasper on the Bloomingdale Road, ran westerly eighty feet, thence northeasterly thirty-five feet, thence easterly sixty-six feet to the Road and thence
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The Church at harsenville
southerly along said Road fifty-five feet to the place of beginning, unless the western boundary be changed by the opening of Tenth Avenue. In November, John Read made an offer therefor for the purpose of building thereon, and on December 2d a lease to him for seven years at $20 per annum was signed, to begin May 1, 1846, which provided that no spirituous liquors be made or sold on the premises.
At this time there was no drainage in the village and fever and ague prevailed to a very great extent. A few blocks to the south of the parsonage there was a large pond near present Central Park West. Those who lived near by remember how often two or more members of a family were seen shaking at the same time. Mr. van Aken finally refused to live in the parsonage, for his health's sake, and removed there- from. The Directory of 1843 gives his address as 203 West 20th Street. He went to Florida in 1844 because of failing health, where he spent a year. At such times he rented the parsonage. During his ab- sence the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. Mr. Robinson and Dr. Vermeule. The kind, genial bearing of the latter is recalled. He had a fund of humor, in which, however, he never indulged at the sacred desk. With always a kind word for the young people, he won the hearts of all during the short time he was there. The land-owners in the neighborhood were averse to the cir- culation of the unfavorable report respecting the health- fulness of the village and the removal of so conspicuous a man as the minister caused some dis- satisfaction among them.
It got to be neighborhood talk largely because of an infliction of illness which occurred a few years previously, by which whole families, in every direction,
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The new Dork of Desterday
were prostrated. Domine van Aken used it to point a moral in his discourses, and these, instead of allaying, added fuel. We are in possession of a letter from the pastor to one of our relatives, dated September, 1845, in which he defends his course by asserting that God would have held him guilty had he suffered that most severe dispensation of Providence to pass without warning the people to whom He had commissioned him to preach, to take heed thereto and profit thereby. It got to be common report that the pastor had removed because of this sickly condition, and many would-be comers to the village were frightened away because of this rumor and the lasting impression it made. It is asserted that it was never proclaimed from the pulpit that such illness was caused by the surroundings. At the same time sickness was prevalent, let the cause be what it might. The Domine, however, did not remove for the alleged reason; the state of his lungs required he should locate where the congested districts would prevent the cold river air from penetrating, and his Consistory approved his course. He wrote at this time that he hoped his health would warrant his return to Blomingdale within two years. So much for this, which caused somewhat of a tempest in a thimble at the time and proved in a manner how large an influence the Church really wielded. While on the subject of the pastor it seems appropriate to add here some expressions in one of his letters which give a glimpse of his inner consciousness and character. He says:
I conceive it to be my duty to preach the word of God with all plainness and to proclaim the whole counsel of God and to withhold nothing. This is the express com- mand of Jesus, and I have no inclination to disobey it lest
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The Church at harsenville
the blood of souls be found upon my skirts, and especially since my recent affliction, have I felt the more the weight of my responsibility and most earnestly prayed that I might be enabled to preach with increased faithfulness and force His whole truth. In the old time there were those who did not wish to hear the whole word of God, and some false prophets, to please them, prophesied only smooth things. You will recollect how awful were the judgments in which God denounced these prophets. I have therefore endeavored to rouse all who heard me to a sense of their whole duty to God and men, and have en- deavored to sweep away every false hope upon which any might rest. In the particular discourse you mention I drew as plainly as I was able the line of distinction between that true ground of hope which is connected with a right zeal for God and those false grounds which are connected with the various kinds of spurious zeal which men profess. God might overrule these things for good to His church, but as far as the individuals themselves are concerned the latter motives cannot be approved in the sight of God. They must have better ones than these if they would hope to be saved. It was for the truth's sake that Paul was scourged and stoned and cast into prison. It was for this very reason that he was finally put to death, for this very reason all the apostles suffered; and so of our Lord and Saviour-men hated and crucified Him because he preached the truth. My life work is the endeavor to preach faith- fully His message.
More quotations from Domine van Aken's letters could be given. This is sufficient to show his zeal in going about his Master's business.
A regular meeting of the Consistory was held on April 9, 1846, at the Cozine Mansion, which stood at Eighth Avenue between 53d and 54th Streets. Mrs. Cozine was an own cousin of Jacob Harsen and the pastor came to regard this as his home. With his
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The new Dork of Desterday
wife and their son Gulick, he, for many years, passed the winters in this abode. During the summer the parsonage house, the barn, and fences were put in repair, and a brick cistern was authorized to be built. After these improvements, the minister spent his winters there. In 1847, the Collegiate Church again rendered assistance to the extent of $1600 and in October General Striker, Emmons, and Rennie took in charge the solicitation of the usual fall contributions to the funds. Bloomingdale Road was widened in 1849 and an award was granted to the Church, of $265.
Perhaps the church was more strict in those days than later in the matter of watching the walk and con- versation of members. Anyway there seemed to be an avalanche of cases thought to require discipline running through the years from 1838 to 1850. The unchristian and criminal conduct of two individuals was the cause of an investigation in the first year mentioned. This case was the topic of a number of sessions, and resulted in a suspension of the back- sliders. Another was found guilty of profaning the Sabbath by being found on a number of occasions frequenting "the Public House." A committee was appointed in 1842, to endeavor to reconcile two parties. A married couple were the subject of a report, circulat- ing about the neighborhood, of "inconsistent walk" and were cited before the Consistory, where they were admonished. Two male members sinned by indulging in "offensive, opprobrious, brawling and boisterous conduct" after service, in the hearing of a portion of the congregation, to the great scandal of religion, and of repeating such gross misconduct in the afternoon of Communion Sabbath. They had been twice notified to appear before the Board, the one to answer charges
Grave Yard. East Vaults
Harsen Monument
North
Elders'Pew
Pulpit
Deacon' Per
Railing
O
Hinges
Hinges
HarBen
Hopper
Livingston
Meier
Havemeyer
Striker
Perit
Lowrence
Post
Beekman
Grave yard.
Wood
Wood
Orphan
Stoye
Stove
Orphan
Girls
Reserved
Reserved
Library Book
for
for
Colored people
Colored people
Case
Vestibule
Vestibule
To Gallery
Vestibule
Je Gallery
South
Bloomingdale Road.
Interior of the Church prior to the alterations
made in 1854. 219
Grave Yard
Boys
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The new Dork of Desterday
of drunkenness, profanity, and unbecoming deportment; and the other, of profanity, brawling, abusive, and un- christian conduct. They were accordingly suspended. To a committee who undertook in a kind and becoming manner to notify them of this action, they added in- sult to injury. The Consistory thereupon asked au- thority of Classis to excommunicate them. Finally, a member, charged with immoral conduct, confessed
Bloomingdale Road.
Bell-rope room.
Organ
Choir
Diagram of Gallery, 1854.
sorrow for his sin, with the hope through grace to obtain pardon and forgiveness from his God. After a solemn admonition, he was advised to abstain from the communion table until he should by his walk and conversation give evidence of reformation.
The parsonage was painted in December, 1852.
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The Church at harsenville
Emmons was elected Elder and Duncan Macfarlan Deacon in January, 1854. The Church had for so long been known as the Bloomingdale Church, both locally and in the minutes, its corporate name notwithstand- ing, that the question of changing the name in order to fit the popular parlance was raised. It was voted down on April Ioth. It was reported to Classis on the 18th that the congregation was composed of sixty families with an attendance of three hundred, that the population dependent for ministerial attention numbered nearly two thousand and that there were seventy children in the Sabbath-school.
In December, 1854, a store was rented at Broadway and Amity Street (now Third) and here a fair was held, which proved successful. With the money thus acquired, the church was renovated. The straight- back pews were lowered and made more comfortable, the pulpit also lowered, the church carpeted, and an organ-the first musical instrument to be introduced- was installed in the gallery. From a number of plans submitted by old communicants the diagram repro- duced has been prepared, showing the interior prior to the alterations, with some of the changes made this year. It was generally the custom in the Re- formed Church to reserve free pews for the colored people. Those shown on the plan had to be removed, in order that place be made for the erection of stoves.
VI
: The Church at harsenville 1855-1906
Fifty years had now passed into history since the organization. During this protracted period three ministers had labored successfully in the vineyard and Domine van Aken had been pastor for twenty years. His ministry had been a source of blessing to a community largely changed from its original condi- tion. With the opening of the second half century new elements had to be catered to and new associations met, occasioned by the absorption of the locality into the city and the change caused by altered surroundings. The Church continued to be the only one of any de- nomination in this part of Bloomingdale if we except the embryo society known at its inception as "Pelatiah Perit's church," and much was expected of it as a centre of godly influence and righteousness. For a number of years at this stage it enjoyed the blessing of having no history worthy of record.
Robert Carss was elected deacon in 1858. Macfarlan resigned in April and William Kelly was selected to fill his place in January, 1859. To the preparatory service held in the Church February 3, 1860, was un- ited the Classical Visitation. A sermon was preached
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The Church at harsenville
by Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Vermilye and an address delivered by the Rev. Abraham R. van Nest. A number of members were then inducted.
The plot on which the first edifice was erected had been leased, as we have seen, to John Read. The term of seven years was about to expire when a proposi- tion was made to said lessee and his sisters, the Misses Read, that a renewal of one year would be granted at $50, provided possession would be given on the
Bloomingdale Road
76.4
59.9.
40.2%
50.6
Tenth Avenue
29.6
37.3
70th, Street
receipt of three months' written notice. Should a sale be made during the year, no rent would be demanded. Although this proposition was accepted, the Consistory decided in 1854 to make a straight lease at $75 per annum. On July 18, 1860, it was resolved to sell a part of the Church's realty. This was found neces- sary because of the large indebtedness for assessments. Streets and avenues were being cut through at an extravagant rate. Heavy assessments fell on the
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The new Dork of Desterday
abutting property accordingly. Domine van Aken and Secretary Boyd were authorized to apply to the Supreme Court for permission to sell. Tenth Avenue had been opened and the boundaries changed from those described in 1846 when first leased to Read. The land was now bounded as shown by plan on page 223.
This petition recited that the Church was situated in the suburbs in the midst of a poor, fluctuating, and mostly foreign population, to a great extent the ob- jects of charity rather than contributors to the main- tenance of said church or of the worship therein; that the petitioners were indebted in the sum of $3000 and upwards for taxes and assessments and for debts incurred for the preservation of their property; that the land belonging to them was unimproved and un- productive and that they had been offered for the real estate shown on the above diagram $6000, its full value, and prayed that an order be issued permitting such sale. The petition was granted by Justice Daniel P. Ingraham at a special term held July 14th. Deed was executed and delivered to the purchaser, Newbold Lawrence (L. 821, Conv. 332). This land now forms a portion of the site of the Nevada apart- ment house. From the proceeds of the sale the out- standing obligations were met and $1400 invested on bond and mortgage by the Pastor and Elder Emmons under instruction, as directed by the order.
In anticipation of this sale, and in order to clear the title of all the church land derived from Jacob Harsen, the Consistory had a conveyance drawn dated Feb. Ist, 1860, which was executed by the heirs of said Har- sen, whereby and wherein they quitclaimed the above land and also the parsonage plot, the latter by this description: Beginning at a point in the northerly
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The Church at harsenville
line of 7Ist Street distant 38.4 feet easterly from the intersection of said northerly line of 7Ist Street with the easterly line of Ninth Avenue, thence running easterly on the northerly line of 7Ist Street 100 feet, thence northerly 204.4 feet to a point in the southerly line of 72d Street, distant 143.5 feet easterly from the intersection of the said southerly line of 72d Street and the easterly line of Ninth Avenue, thence westerly on said southerly line of 72d Street 100 feet, thence southerly 204.4 feet to the point in the northerly line of 7Ist Street, the place of beginning. Also all that other lot beginning at a point in the northerly line of 72d Street at a point distant 46 feet easterly from the intersection of the said northerly line of 72d Street with the easterly line of Ninth Avenue, thence running easterly on said northerly line of 72d Street 100 feet, thence northerly 204.4 feet to a point in the southerly line of 73d Street, distant 151.2 feet easterly from the intersection of said southerly line of 73d Street and said easterly line of Ninth Avenue, thence westerly on said southerly line of 73d Street 100 feet, thence southerly 204.4 feet to the point in the said northerly line of 72d Street, the place of beginning (L. 851. Conv. 5). The same premises as were conveyed to the Church by deed, dated September, 16, 1809, by Jacob Harsen.
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