USA > New York > Orange County > Warwick > The Record of a century of church life of the Reformed Church, Warwick, N.Y., 1804-1904 > Part 2
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g. See deeds mentioned in note e, which refer to certificate of this date acknowledged before Judge William Thompson of Common Pleas, January 26, 1792, and entered in Clerk's Office, Orange county, Febru- ary 14, 1792, in Liber A, &c.
h. Rev. Jonathan Elmer, ordained and installed at Florida, October, 1750. Preached at Florida and Warwick; then three years at Florida ; then took a dismissal .- Rev. H. A. Harlow.
"Some difficulty arising between Mr. Elmer and the people of War- wick, Mr. Elmer left Warwick and continued the duties of his minis- terial at Florida for about three years, when he was dismissed by con- sent of the congregation, for want of ability to give him a sufficient support."-R. & C. History of Orange Co., 583.
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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WARWICK.
"There was no organization of either Dutch or English till 1804."- -(Recollections of Henry Pelton, page 5. ) This is no doubt an error, as also the statement in History of Orange County, 582, that "down to 1764 the people of Warwick Valley had lived wholly destitute of re- ligious privileges."
i. The lost records of the Presbytery of New York might demon- strate an error in this statement.
j. Rev. H. A. Harlow and History of Orange County, page 583.
"Within a few years after Mr. Lewis' ordination the people of War- wick became dissatisfied with Mr. Lewis and a committee of the Pres- bytery of New York met at Warwick. The result was Mr. Lewis was dismissed from Warwick. The congregation of Florida continued Mr. L. as their minister until 1787."-History of Orange County, 584.
k. Rev. S. D. Alexander, Clerk.
1. It was in possession of John L. Servin, Esq., in 1880.
In. The first official list published by the Presbyterian General As- sembly in May, 1789, was printed in 1794. Under the "Presbytery of New York" we read-"Florida and Warwick united-both vacant."- Rev. H. A. Harlow. In official list of General Assembly, published 1798, Florida and Warwick appear in the Presbytery of Dutchess under the care of Rev. John Joline. As suggested by Mr. Harlow, this is evidently a printer's error, since this Presbytery was merged into that of Hudson in October, 1795. It should read "Presbytery of Hudson."
1. "Rev. John Joline was ordained October 18, 1790. On May 10, 1795, he began to labor as pastor of the church in Florida."-Rev. H. A. Harlow.
The first reference-in the minutes of the Presbytery of Hudson-to the Warwick church is in connection with Mr. Joline's installation at Florida, June 13, 1797, and is as follows: "When the people of Florida made a call for Mr. Joline, they expressed their consent in the call, that, if the people in Warwick requested and Mr. Joline agreed, he should preach one-third of his time at Warwick. There was no one present appointed to represent the church in Warwick. No act of the Florida congregation had shown any contrary determination, and Mr. Joline was installed with that understanding."-H. A. Harlow.
This installation had been preceded by two years' pastoral service on the part of Mr. Joline, as appears from the records of the church at Florida: "May 10, 1795, Mr. Joline's stated labors in the ministry at Florida and Warwick began, the former place to have two-thirds of his time."
The following statement seems to be inaccurate. The reference is probably to the ordination of elders and not to the organization of the church, which already, as a church, had had at least three successive pastors:
"The church of Florida was organized 1795, Mr. Joline setting apart the elders, and preaching from Rom. [2:6,7,8." According to History of Orange Co., 583, the organization was as early as 1742.
Rev. H A. Harlow.
p. It is interesting, in this connection, to note the statement of Mr. Henry Pelton in his valuable pamphlet (page 5:) "It appears from stones standing in the yard, that this piece of ground bad been used for a burying ground for some years before the gift was made, 1770." This statement is undoubtedly correct. But at the present date, 1887, the three oldest stones which we can discover are marked as follows: Cor- nelius Pauling, May 17, 1778. Alida Johnson, July 29, 1777. Anna,
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
wife of William Eagles, July 8, 1771. Under this last name is a quaint inscription :
How loved, how valued once, avails thee not ; To whom related, or by whom begot.
A heap of dust alone remains of thee ;
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be.
"The Church of Pittsburgh was at Washington Hollow, Dutchess county, N. Y. In the minutes of General Assembly for 1837, Pittsburgh church is reported with fifty members. The name is in the list of churches of N. River Presbytery in 1838, with no report following. It disappears in 1839, but so do the majority of the N. R. roll of churches. Perhaps it may be traced further in the minutes of the Presbyterian Church, N. S. 1839-1869."-H. A. Harlow.
"As to the origin or exact application of the name Pittsburgh, I have no data. In the old records it is spelled variously-Pittsberry, Pitts- bury, and finally Pittsburg and Pittsburgh being, if I remember cor- rectly, its successive developments. The old church there was, at one time, a most important center of religious interest. The name Pitts- burgh applied only to that district at present covered by the name Washington Hollow. Charlotte Precinct is an older name than either, and seems to have embraced Pleasant Valley, or at least a part of it, as well as Pittsburgh."-Rev. A. B. Pichard, late pastor at Pleasant Valley, now of Brooklyn, N. Y.
r. Possibly Warwick may have been deprived of the stated ministra- tion of the word for a considerable period previous to the death of Mr. Joline, whose resignation may have been due to failing health, a moni- tion of his death which speedily followed the close of his pastoral labors.
s. Rev. H. A. Harlow. The pastors at Warwick to date had been, so far as recorded: Johnathan Elmer. 1750-1754; Samuel Parkhurst, 1762-1768; Amzi Lewis, 1772-1777; John Joline, 1795-1802.
t. Rev. H. A. Harlow.
n. This Mr. Prime seems to have been a favorite in Orange county. Whether he ever became an ordained minister of the word we do not know. In 1804 he preached again at Warwick. A receipt which he gave for his salary, dated Feb. 23, 1804, still exists among the papers of the Reformed Church. - H. Pelton, 5. See also History of Orange Co., 585.
In the session book of the church at Amity we find-"In 1807 the con- gregation employed the Rev. Mr. Benjamin Prime to preach half the time for one year. After which the congregation was again vacant till the spring of 1809, when they were supplied by D. C. Hopkins " It is scarcely possible that this refers to the statement of Presbytery April, 1 802.
y. The official list of the General Assembly, 1803. under the head of Presbytery of Hudson, has "Warwick and Amity vacant; if united, able to support a pastor."
w Mr. Harlow has kindly furnished us with an outline of said letter. "The Presbytery much concerned for the welfare of vacant churches. Informed that you have a prospect of settling a young man-Classis- of good report-contributes to our happiness to hear-regular gospel ministry-yet neglect of rules of church-treated Presbytery with much neglect. If you designed to leave-gratitude dictates that you should at least have asked our approval. We wish you God speed. We would not be strenuous-yet reason dictates that the preacher should come to the people and not the people to the preacher-you are of age-you have
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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WARWICK.
an undoubted right-but you ought to have had a due respect to good order. We pray you may be guided by the unerring wisdom of the Most High.'
Mr. Harlow adds also a copy of a paper prepared by order of the Gen- eral Assembly, and dated August 30. 1807, by the Rev. Isaac VanDoren -- ordained June 29, 1803, and installed pastor of Hopewell Church.
THE CONGREGATION OF WARWICK.
"The congregation was for many years in connection with that of Florida, and enjoyed the ministerial labors of Messrs. Elmer, Parkhurst and Lewis (and Joline-V. B. C.) In consequence of a considerable number of families educated in the Reformed Dutch Church removing within the bounds of this congregation, they made application, about four years ago to the Classis of Hackensack (should be Classis of Para- mus .- V. B. C.) for supplies. A short time afterward they settled a young gentleman in this connection, and placed themselves under care of the above mentioned Classis."
i. Vet, as late as 1809. five years after the organization of a Re- formed Dutch Church at Warwick, and the formal surrender of the church by Presbytery, as in preceding note, we find the Warwick peo- ple applying to both Presbytery and Classis for pulpit supplies. There is a quaint mixture of sincerity and business shrewdness in their appli- cation. Evidently the people still held to the idea that their purpose of organizing a Presbyterian Reformed Church had been effected. What had been effected was the organization of a Reformed Church with its Consistory-its legal trustees-and the continuance of the corporation (not church) represented by the Presbyterian trustees. The following is the application referred to:
WARWICK, February 1, 1809.
Rev. Sir :- The Consistory and Trustees of the church and congrega- tion of Warwick have recently had a meeting and requested me to in- form you that it is their wish to have supplies appointed by Presbytery. if they should think proper.
In order to obviate the supplies of Classis and Presbytery being on one day, I have to request that the Presbytery will not assign supplies on the first nor second Sabbaths of May, July and September. These are the days appointed by the Rev. Classis. I am sir, with respect, your humble servant,
J. WHEELER.
To REV. ISAAC LEWIS, Goshen
1. To the Reverend Classis of the Reformed Dutch Church of Para- mus:
The petition of the petitioners, subscribers, humbly showeth that,
Whereas, We, the inhabitants of Warwick, professing an attachment to the Retormed Dutch Church, being destitute of the regular adminis- tration of the ordinances which God hath appointed for the salvation of sinners, and being desirous to have said ordinances regularly adminis- tered amongst us and to us, that we, with our children, may be in- structed in the true religion of Jesus Christ, and by use of the said means of Grace (being sanctified to win souls) be made heirs of ever- lasting life, and whereas we have not had sufficient opportunities of being instructed in the Reformed religion, and consequently are not members in full communion.
Therefore, We humbly request of the said reverend Classis to take us under their special care, and from time to time to appoint their ministers, not only to preach the gospel to ns, but also particularly to
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
teach us by catechetical instructions, and by that means prepare us to make confession of our faith, that so we may become members in full communion with said church, and, as soon as possible, may be organ- ized into a church state, and thus be enabled to have the regular admin- istration of the ordinances introduced amongst us, which is the sincere desire of our souls, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Warwick, February 23, 1803.
Ananias Rogers, Abrahanı Genung,
George Vance,
Thomas Sproul, Samuel Demerest, Henry Elyea,
Garret Vandervort,
Gilliam Bertholf,
Nicholas Demorest,
John Demorest, David Demorest,
Josiah Feagles,
Jacob Feagles, John Magie,
Garret Ackerson, Jr.,
William T. Weeden,
John Mabee,
John Vance,
Micah Mills, Andrew Ackerman,
Richard Johnson,
James Ackerson,
John Feagles,
John Bertholf,
Samuel Bertholf,
Cornelius Vandervort,
Crines Bertholf, Samuel Smith,
John Simmons,
Garrit Post,
Samuel Vance,
William Jones,
Simon Vanse,
John G. Ackerson,
Aaron Taylor,
Jacob Mabee,
John Blaine,
William Johnson,
Samuel Johnson.
Joseph Totten,
Cornelius Demerest, Garret Ackerson.
z. Official minutes of the Classis of Paramus. Mr. Pelton's "Recol- lections," page 5, state-"The church building and ground were given for a Presbyterian church and neither party-Dutch or English-was able to support a minister of themselves, which, could they be united, might possibly succeed. The Presbyterians, owning the property, had, therefore, the advantage. But about this time several young Dutch ministers, lately licensed, preached here to the great acceptance of the people. A consultation was held about organizing a church, and the matter was warmly discussed till finally the Dutch element prevailed. and the Presbyterians agreed to organize under the name and style of the Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed Church of Warwick. The Trus- tees were to have charge of the church * and the Consistory of all the spiritual interests of the church. And this plan has worked admirably thus far, and without clashing or dissatisfaction on either side."
[* The church, of course, here means the church building. The spiritual interests refer to the ecclesiastical organization and its work- ing .- V. B. C.]
t. Such an anomalous organization was, of course, never recog- nized. The church was organized as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. It could not be both Reformed and Presbyterian. See min- utes of Consistory January, 1804; also the wording of the petition, (note 1) and of the classical actions Oct. 5, 1803 and April 4, 1804. The Classis would aet only "consistently with the rules of the church."
+. Rev. Wilhemus Elting, D. D., Paramus, N. J. It is stated, on good authority, that he was subsequently called as pastor to Warwick, but declined the invitation.
$. Afterwards noted as the leader of a secession movement in the Reformed Dutch Church at Hackensack and vicinity, out of which grew the "True Dutch Church," who are hyper-Calvinistic in doctrine.
". This is the corporate title of the church at the present day, (1887.) The act of Legislature which changed the title of the denomination to that of the "Reformed Church in America," made special provision so that the corporate titles of individual churches should not be affected.
John T. (I ?) Gurine,
John Baird,
THE REV. WILHELMUS E. ELTINGE. (Chairman Committee of Classis that organ- ized Warwick Reformed Church.)
THE RECORD OF THE HUNDRED YEARS. 1804-1904.
I love Thy kingdom, Lord, The house of Thine abode, The Church our blest Redeemer saved With His own precious blood.
I love Thy Church, O God; Her walls before Thee stand, Dear as the apple of Thine eye, And graven on Thy hand.
THE RECORD OF THE HUNDRED YEARS
BY THE REV. TABER KNOX.
ORTHY of note is the loyalty to the church of their ancestral faith that characterized the first sons of the Dutch Church that came into the Warwick Valley in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and enabled them to put the stamp of the Dutch upon the Presbyterian congregation that they found already here. Similar loyalty to the Dutch Church has continued always a characteristic of the or- ganization that they launched upon its career the eighth of January, 1804. The activity of the congregation already here had evidently been exceedingly spasmodic; the Dutch element coming from more vigorous bodies had brought into the Christian community a new life and churchly ambition, and not unnaturally they won the fol- lowing of those who appear to have been needing just such leadership. Yet these early founders of the Re- formed Church did for a time evidently think that a dual connection could exist with both the Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church and the Classis of the Reformed, as is evidenced by their application even so late as 1809 to the Presbytery of Hudson for supplies, but not for certain specified dates, because, as with unconscious humor they added, "these are the days appointed by the reverend Classis !" Though for half a century services had been held and a building had been commenced in 1773, it was not until the Reformed connection began,
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
that there had been any such thing as a continuous min- istry (so far at least as records go to show.) During the fifty-four years preceding the organization of the Re- formed Church, there were thirty-nine years when the congregation appears to have been without any regularly settled pastor; and at the time of its accepting gifts of property it was officially recorded that the Church had "no pastor, elders or deacons." At that moment it cer- tainly could not be claimed that there was evidence of marked vitality.
The church edifice that in these early days THE FIRST EDIFICE. stood upon the ground where the congrega- tion has always worshipped, has been thus described: "It was an ill-shaped uncouth looking build- ing; built nearly four square, with gambrel roof in the end in which was the en- trance, fronting the road. The seats were very clumsy affairs. An aisle led from the entrance to the pulpit with one tier of seats on each side, and around the outside there were box pews, four- THE FIRST EDIFICE. square, according to the old style. The gallery was never finished, more than a floor laid and a breastwork put up in front. There were loose boards placed on blocks for seats. Such was the church our fathers and mothers worshipped in, and we would see them going through the storms or coldest weather, to enjoy what was then thought a blessed privi- lege, without any fire to warm at when arriving at the house, and sit through the entire service, their bodies
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THE RECORD OF THE HUNDRED YEARS.
and limbs almost stiff with cold." This was the house that was begun in 1773, and occupied until it gave place to the then spacious edifice of 1812.
It was on the nineteenth of ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH. May, 1803, that the application of "the people of Warwick," as they designated themselves, first was presented to the Classis of Paramus of the Reformed Church to be sup- plied with preachers and "in due time to be organized into a congregation." The organization was authorized at that time and again at the Fall Session of Classis, October 5th. The body to whom this application for or- ganization was made is one of the thirty-four groups into which the Churches of the denomination are arranged by the General Synod of the Reformed [Dutch] Church in America. It was less than four years before the organization of the Warwick Church that the General Synod had divided the old Classis of Hackensack into two parts, one to be known as the Classis of Bergen, the other, as the Classis of Paramus. The Church at Warwick was the first Church organized by the new Classis, and its first pastor was the first minister ordained by the Classis. In the hundred years that have passed, Classis has held seventeen meetings with the Church. The Church has been represented in Classis by twenty-six of its elders, the first, Cornelius Demarest in 1805, whose great-grand- son, Henry P. Demarest, was the elder representing the Church at the Centennial meeting of the Classis in the Fall of 1900.
Classis appointed a committee consisting of the Rev. Wilhelmus E. Eltinge and the Elder Stephen Hopper to organize the Church. It is interesting to note who these men were, who thus presided over this important event
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
in the history of our Church. Rev. Mr. Eltinge was one of the most conspicuous ministers at the time in the Classis; he was pastor of the Churches of Paramus and of Saddle River, and was from 1800 to 1808 the Stated Clerk of the Classis. At the very beginning of his min- istry (at Paramus) he had been very remarkably used of God in a revival that began with his first sermon, and which continued with wonderful power for two years at the least, during which period he received two hundred and seventeen persons into his Church. The Elder, Mr. Hopper, was the Elder delegate to Classis from the Churches of which Mr. Eltinge was pastor.
On the seventh of January (Saturday), the committee met with the Warwick people and received into the Church, as its first members, Cornelius Demarest, Aaron Taylor, John G. Ackerson and Andrew Ackerman. These were received "on giving satisfactory evidence of experi- mental and doctrinal religion," or as we would say on the confession of their faith, but all of them had been members of other congregations, and some of them, and perhaps all communicant members. Mr. Ackerman came from the Church at Schraalenburgh, N. J., and Messrs. Demarest, Ackerson and Taylor from the Church at Paramus. These men were then designated by the organizing committee elders and deacons, as follows : Elders, Cornelius Demarest and Andrew Ackerman; Deacons, John G. Ackerson and Aaron Taylor. As it was reported later to Classis that the Church was organ- ized on the 8th of January, it is probable the first com- munion was administered to the newly officered Church on that day (Sunday), and not unlikely is it, that then the elders and deacons were ordained. It is a question whether the wives of Elder Demarest and Deacon Tay- lor were received at that time. The minutes of that
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THE RECORD OF THE HUNDRED YEARS.
day seem to say so, but they are also mentioned as hav- ing been received by the officers of the Church at the next communion, six months later. The presumption would seem to be that only the men, who were to be designated as officers, were received into the Church by the Classical committee.
It is a matter of peculiar interest that all of the origi- nal members constituting the first consistory are repre- sented in the congregation of to-day by their descen- dants or, in the case of Mr. Taylor by his brother Elihu's, descendents as follows: The Elder Demarest by the households of Mrs. Cornelius H. Demarest and her sons, C. M. and Henry P. Demarest and their descen- dants; the Elder Ackerman by Mrs. Charles W. Stevens and Mr. W. D. Ackerman, and their descendants; the Deacon Ackerson by Mrs. F. O. Beattie and her descen- dants, and the Deacon Taylor (through his brother) in the persons of Mrs. Bradner Van Dervort, Mrs. T. H. Demerest, Mrs. J. H. Van Duzer and their descendants. As still further linking the Church of to-day with the first consistory, is the fact that with the exception of four years in the sixties, the Elder Cornelius Demarest has never been without a direct descendant in the Dem- arest line in its consistory, and for much of the time by two, as follows: Cornelius Demarest (first), 1804-1815; David C., 1806-1808; David, 1810-1827; Cornelius C., 1824- 1861; Frederick, 1820-1853 (with intervals); Cornelius H., 1865-1890; Charles M., 1881-1896; Henry P., since 1896; Rensselaer A., since 1900. This very unusual circumstance has been quite as remarkably duplicated by our beloved senior elder, Samuel Pelton, and his for- bears. On Christmas Day, 1805, Rebecca Pelton and her son John, with his wife Deborah, were received into the Church and eleven days afterward John Pelton was elect-
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
ed an elder, at which time the first full consistory of eight members was chosen. The young elder had but recently brought his bride to Warwick from her New England home, both of them riding on the back of the same horse and carrying with them the wedding trou- sseau in a tiny hair trunk, preserved to-day as a much prized heirloom in the family of one of their descendants. Since that time the Church has never been without the service of one of his descendants, a Pelton, among its most honored officers; and still more noteworthy is the fact that owing to the long terms of service on the part of each, the succession including the present elder has come down through only three persons, viz: John Pelton, 1806-1843; Henry Pelton, 1836-1872, and our venerable elder of to-day, Samuel Pelton, since 1872. Robert Pelton, a brother of John, also served in consistory for seventeen years, from 1815 to 1832.
The first full consistory, as just noted, was elected January 5th, 1806. On that date the first elders and deacons were re-elected to their respective offices, who, with Edward P. Eckerson and John Pelton, elders, and Andrew B. Underdonk and David C. Demarest (a son of Cornelius), deacons, constituted this first full consis- tory; its members were ordained January 16th, 1806. Through the descendants of the Deacon David C. Dema- rest, just mentioned, the first Elder Demarest is still more largely represented in the Church of to-day in the family of Augustus Demorest, Esq., as also he is in yet another line, through another son, Frederick, in the per- sons of Mrs. Thomas E. Howe and her children, and of Miss Anna Pelton and her brother, Henry Pelton, Esq., these latter two uniting in themselves both the consis- torial families of Demarest and Pelton.
Other names, familiar in the church life of to-day, that
JOHN PELTON, in Consistory 1806-1843. SAMUEL PELTON, in Consistory 1872, (still serving.) HENRY PELTON, in Consistory 1836-1872.
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THE RECORD OF THE HUNDRED YEARS.
we find on the roll of the church in its first ten years are those of Welling, in the persons of John Welling and his wife Anna, (April, 1810); Bradner, in the person of Charity Bradner, (August of the same year); Minthorn (Minturn), July, 1813, in the person of Nathaniel Min- thorn, and DeKay, in Elizabeth, wife of Thomas DeKay, (Oct. 1814).
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