USA > New York > Orange County > Warwick > The Record of a century of church life of the Reformed Church, Warwick, N.Y., 1804-1904 > Part 4
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Early in January following his installation, Mr. Cris- pell had the assistance of the Rev. Dr. Barr of New- burgh, in holding a series of special services, which were very much owned of God. The additions to the mem- bership of the Church that followed were the largest, for any similar period, in the history of the Church; in fact, the pastorate was characterized by a large addition to the roll of members. The young people's society of the Church was organized during Mr. Crispell's min- istry.
In 1889 it was evident the Church THE CHURCH OF 1890. was not large enough for the people, and the question of enlargement or rebuilding was settled in favor of a new edifice. Plans
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submitted by Mr. E. G. W. Dietrich, architect, of New York, calling for a handsome stone structure, altogether unique in character, were adopted. The building com- mittee was appointed, very naturally with Elder Thomas Welling as chair- man, who for over forty years gave to the Church unstinted care, solicitude and love; and whose word and wisdom carried un- usual weight in its coun- sels. The other members of the committee were Deacon C. W. Wisner, whose artistic sense finds everywhere in the edifice characteristic expression; Deacon F. V. Sanford, THOMAS WELLING. who held the arduous office of secretary and treasurer of the committee, and Mr. Richard Wisner representing the congregation at large, on whose most capable shoulders was placed the onerous responsibility of superintending the work of con- struction, to which he gave constant and zealous attention.
The corner stone was laid August 6, 1889, in the pres- ence of a large audience; the service was conducted by the Pastor; F. V. Sanford, Esq., made the historical address; the Rev. N. H. Van Arsdale, D. D., delivered an address on the "Scriptural Significance of the Corner Stone." The corner stone is located on the southwest corner of the building, and is a great weather stained lime stone, three feet square; in it was placed a copper box containing the following articles: a sermon by the
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Rev. C. E. Crispell, D. D., on the "Supply of the Gospel Ministry"; address by the Rev. N. H. Van Arsdale, D. D .; sermon by the Rev. John I. Christie, on occasion of the funeral of Richard Pel- ton, in May, 1830; copy of Christian Intelligen- cer, New York Tribune, Sower and Mission Field, Mail and Express, illus- trated edition Warwick Valley Dispatch, contain- ing Rev. Peter Crispell's sermon on the need of the new church, preached in February, 1889, also of July 31, 1889, Warwick Advertiser of July 14, 21, 28, 1887, containing Rev. Mr. Carroll's History of the Church, also of July RICHARD WISNER. 16, 1889, containing the history of the Welling family, and also of Aug. 1, 1889, showing the cut of the new church and the New York Herald's article about it; copy of a Scran- ton paper; a pen sketch of the original churches of 1774 and 1812, made by J. M. Pelton from memory; photo- graph of the church of 1846, by H. F. Morley; also of the Rev. Peter Crispell, the Pastor; business card of E. G. W. Dietrich, the architect of the church being built; copy of the Signs of the Times; the Bellvale Rising Star; copy of certificates of incorporation of the Presbyterian Church, and of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church; list of teachers and officers of the Sunday School; the subscription list for the new building aggregating at the time $21,545.00; an envelope containing the current pos-
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tage stamps, silver and copper coins and a postal card. The entire cost of the building complete, with furnish- ings and sweet-toned organ, was $36,000, besides the value of work done and material furnished gratuitously. By the personal exertions of Mr. Crispell and the liberal response of a most united people, the church was dedi- cated without a cent of encumbrance, on June 26, 1890. On this occasion the sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. V. V. Mabon, Professor in the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, and addresses were delivered by the Rev. Professor T. S. Doolittle, D. D., of Rutgers College, the Revs. V. B. Carroll, T. S. Dusinberre, J. W. Bertholf, and Robert H. Barr of Newburgh.
The building is in many respects an unique structure. Its architectural style is Byzantine, its walls and arches, towers and buttresses are built of the rough stones gath- ered from fields and fences, which, when first built into the structure, were still green or black with growing lichen and moss and the mould and weather stains of years, and are still most beautiful covered now with growing ivy. Our seating capacity is five hundred. The interior decoration and glass is the work of J. & R. Lamb of New York City; the organ was built by George Jardine and Son, the latter presiding at the organ at the dedication service.
During the erection of the church the congregation accepted the hospitality of the Methodist Episcopal Church. No changes of moment have been made in the church since; additional heating facility was pro- vided in 1898, electric lighting installed in 1900, and in the fall of 1903, just passed, the choir space was enlarged, a new room for the Junior Department of the Bible School provided, the walls redecorated, and the floors recarpeted, at an expenditure with improvements on the
FRONT VIEW PRESENT CHURCH, WINTER 1904.
INTERIOR VIEW OF CHAPEL AND BIBLE SCHOOL ROOM.
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parsonage at the same time, including electric lighting, of $1,900. The care of the church ever since its build- ing, as well as of the old church for five years before, has been in the hands of our courteous and faithful sex- ton, Mr. Thomas Nesbit, who has ministered with unfailing kindness to the comfort of his fellow members for over nine- teen years.
When the stone church was erected the old graveyard on the north, was converted into a lawn. A plot was purchased in the Warwick Cemetery to which were removed the remains and the stones marking the graves of 116 persons; others to private THOMAS NESBIT. burial plots. The oldest stone was memorial of Anna, wife of William Eagles, 1771; the latest, of Daniel Sin- sabaugh, 1869. Among others is the grave of Jacob Gaul, for twenty years sexton of the church; of William Culver, whose monument appears to have been erected by the Church as "a memorial to his attachment and mu- nificence" to the Church; also members of the early Con- sistory, Revolutionary soldiers and other prominent per- sons are here interred.
LEGACIES. By the will of Mr. William R. Welling, the Church came into possession of a generous legacy in 1885, the last gift toward its endowment fund to date. From time to time since 1846 the Church has been the occasional beneficiary of her sons and daughters, who passing away from the opportunity to render personal help, have left a permanent token of their love, that to-day materially helps us in meeting
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the financial demands of our work. Those who have thus made the Church one of the beneficiaries of their wills are as follows:
(1) William Culver, the builder of the second church building, who gave $400 as early as 1823.
(2) The Rev. John I. Christie, in 1845, leaving $100.
(3) John Magee, in 1846, giving $500.
(4) Sarah Demarest, in 1858, who gave $300.
(5) Hannah Palmer, wife of James R. Christie, in 1858, leaving $1,000, half of which was to be a perpetual mis- sionary fund.
(6) James Magee, (son of the former), in 1859, also giving $500.
(7) Samuel Denton, in 1874, who gave to the Church $500.
(8) W. R. Welling, 1885, leaving $5,000.
In making this record, however, it should certainly be remembered that the much longer list of those still liv- ing, as well as of those passed away, who have given as generously to the building of the splendid edifice in which the congregation worships to-day, should not be forgotten. The structure itself speaks as eloquently of their affection as does the annual income accruing from the gifts of the others, and their names, were it practic- able, could certainly be as worthily recorded.
We now reach the last period in THE EIGHTH PASTOR CALLED. the Church life of the century, in the calling to the pastorate the present pastor, the Rev. Taber Knox, who was unani- mously elected to fill the vacancy, July 14, 1894; was for- mally called July 23; began preaching Sept. 16, and was installed Oct. 23, 1894, on which occasion the sermon was preached by the Rev. David J. Burrell, D. D., of the Col- legiate Church, New York; the Charge to the Pastor
TABER KNOX.
THE M'BURNEY MEMORIAL WINDOWS.
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was made by the Rev. Anson DuBois, D. D., and the Charge to the People, by the Rev. R. B. Clark, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen. Mr. Knox was called from the Fourth Reformed Church of (Manayunk) Philadelphia, of which Church he had been pastor since 1889. Previously to becoming pastor of that Church, he was pastor of the Second Reformed Church of Tarry- town, N. Y. (1887-1889). He was born in New York City in 1863, the son of the late Calvin E. and Lorinda (Taber) Knox, and the grandson of the Rev. John Knox, D. D., who for forty years was one of the ministers of the Col- legiate Church of New York City, and a great-grandson of the Rev. John Mitchell Mason, D. D., prince of Pres- byterian preachers of his day, and Provost of Columbia College, 1811-1816. Mr. Knox is a graduate of Columbia College, class of 1883, and of Union Theological Seminary, New York City, class of 1886. After leaving the Semi- nary he had temporary charge, in the absence of its pastor, of the Presbyterian Church at Schaghticoke, N. Y. He was ordained to the ministry when installed pas- tor of the Church at Tarrytown, July 12, 1887. On Oct. 18, 1890, he married Ada Quinby, daughter of Joshua S. and Martha (Stephenson) Quinby of Mt. Kisco, N. Y. In the spring of 1896 the beauty of our THE MEMORIAL WINDOWS. already attractive church was enhanced by the gift, by Charles I. McBurney, Esq., of New York City, of three handsome memorial windows, in memory of his mother, Mrs. Isabella Scott McBurney. The windows, most beautiful in color and conception, are among the choicest work of the Tiffany Studios of New York City. They are the centre group of three windows on the north side of the church, and portray the "virtuous woman" as described in the closing chapter of the Book of Proverbs; the windows
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illustrate in order the description given in the three statements: "With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard;" "She reacheth forth her hands to the needy;" "Like the merchants' ships, she bringeth her food from afar." The windows were placed in the church the week preceding Sunday, March 22, 1896. In making reference to the windows on that Sunday, the pastor said in part, as follows: "As, owing to the charac- teristic modesty of their giver, we may be deprived of the pleasure of any special presentation service, I feel as though we should make at least some small reference to them on this, the first Sunday that God's sunshine comes to us through them. They are placed here in memory of Isabella Scott McBurney, the eldest child of the late Israel O. Beattie, who was for the few years of his residence here, prior to his death, an active and hon- ored member of this Church; and Elvira (Scott) Beattie. [Since then also deceased]. Mrs. McBurney was a mem- ber of one of the Presbyterian Churches of Middletown, N. Y., but as her dust lies in the Warwick cemetery, and as more of her family and friends are now resident here than at Middletown, it is a fitting and to us a most delightful thing, that these memorial windows should be placed in our church, the church home of her father and mother, and of her brothers [Hon. John J. Beattie and F. O. Beattie, Esq.], and of so many friends. As you will observe on close inspection, the three windows are one in idea, representing the description of the virtuous and successful woman given in the latter verses of the last chapterof Proverbs. We read in the Book of Revelation that the overcomers shall be 'pillars in the temple of our God!' Surely it is fitting that the earthly sanctuary of our God should be beautified with that which shall ever remind us of those excellencies of character which by
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God's grace and through the operation of His Spirit shall fit either man or woman to become a 'pillar' in the higher temple. As the light of God's sunshine streams through those beautiful figures, may it be to us a con- stant reminder that just so must the light of the God of Heaven shine upon all our characters and pervade all our being, if we are to be made truly beautiful and vir- tuous and successful."
It is highly interesting to note the dif- THE AUXILIARY ORGANIZATIONS. ference in the Church life of a century ago and of to-day; a difference that results from the larger conception of the province of the Church and a wider vision of its work. Bible schools then were unknown; young people's organizations prac- tically as unknown in churches generally; children's organizations would have been considered utterly foolish, while the modern missionary movement that has given birth to the missionary societies everywhere had not begun. The electric lighting of modern churches is in no greater contrast with the tallow dip of a century ago, than are the modern activities of the same churches with the church work of a similar time. The prayer meeting itself was not an institution in our church until some time during the earlier years of Dr. Van Derveer's pas- torate; prior to that, neighborhood prayer-meetings had been held with no reference to denominational lines. The organization of the Bible School, as has already been stated, dates from 1830, the Women's Missionary Society only from 1880 (though there is a record that a mission- ary society of some sort was organized as early as Nov. 2, 1839; what it was the present generation does not know, and its life was probably not long). The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor is of the modern period, the society that was its forerunner being organ-
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ized, as has been said, in 1887. The last decade of the century has been marked by the forming of additional agencies in the Church to meet discovered or developing needs: the Junior Christian Endeavor Society, the Heart and Hand Society (the missionary society for the young ladies) and the Brotherhood of Andrew and and Philip, all in 1895 (the latter re-organized for younger men in 1902), and last on the list, the Builders, the social organization of the Young Men's Bible Class of the Bible School, dating from the present year. [The history of all these organizations, as well as of the choir, have their separate departments in this history.]
From time to time the spiritual life of HELPERS FROM OUTSIDE. the Church has been quickened, apart from the ordinary ministrations, by the co-operation of men particularly fitted to give help along special lines. During the pastorate of Mr. Carroll, much evangelistic work was carried on in co-operation with other village pastors, at one time such meetings being conducted by Rev. Mr. Nicholls. The visit of Dr. Barr of Newburgh, during Mr. Crispell's pastorate, and the large accession to the Church, following, has already been noted. More recently the Church has had the labors of the evangelist, the Rev. Arthur J. Smith, assist- ed by the singing evangelist, the Rev. Frank Miller, in the fall of 1895, in union services with Calvary Baptist and the Methodist Churches, a memorable feature in connection with which was the holding for eleven con- secutive weeks of ten neighborhood prayer-meetings at the same hour, with uniform topics; these were very large- ly attended and exceedingly helpful in character. In the winter of 1899 the Church enjoyed a series of meetings of great importance, on "Child Study," conducted by Mr. George H. Archibald; and later in the same season
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the rare privilege of a series of meetings for deepening the spiritual life, addressed by the Rev. Arthur T. Pier- son, D. D., the Rev. F. F. Walton, and the Rev. Cornelius Woelfkin, D. D.
BENEVOLENT INTERESTS. The Church has had a lively interest for many years in world-wide missions; her enthusiasm has from time to time been kindled by the visits and burning words of missionaries from the wide field and the secretaries of our mission boards; and her contributions have given her a commendable place among the churches of the denom- ination. Our missionary societies are well organized and full of vitality, and our Christian Endeavor Socie- ties are their worthy seconds in missionary interest. The Church feels that hers is a cherished part in the work being done in the broad territory of our own grow- ing new West, in the work for the Indian, in the moun- tains of Kentucky where she is represented in the little organ that leads God's praises at McKee, or farther away in the lands beyond the seas, where she has tried to clasp the hands of some of God's precious ones and lead them into the light. Yet is there not a still larger part that can be hers in hastening the coming of the King? "The Fresh Air work" has very strongly appealed to the inter- ests of the Church in recent years, and in the past seven years she has given to about 175 children the inestimable benefit and joy of a two weeks' outing in the middle of the summer's heat.
The Church has been repre- DELEGATES TO CLASSIS AND SYNOD. sented in Classis during the century gone by Elders Cor- nelius, David C., Frederick, Cornelius C., Cornelius H., and Henry P. Demarest; Edward and John C. Eckerson; John, Robert, Henry and Samuel Pelton; Aaron Taylor;
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Sylvanus Fancher; Thomas Sproull; James Bell; Daniel C., Peter, and Henry C. Dusinberre; Maurice Hoyt; James R. Christie; Samuel J. Van Saun; Mahlon Cooper; Thomas Welling; James Wisner, and Ferdinand V. San- ford. The Church has been represented in General Synod by elders as follows: Maurice Hoyt, 1837 and 1870; Frederick Demarest, 1840; Daniel C. Dusinberre, 1841 and 1848; Henry Pelton, 1863; Thomas Welling, 1878, 1893 and 1894; Cornelius C. Demarest, 1881 and 1886; James Wisner, 1889; Ferdinand V. Sanford, 1899; Henry P. Demarest, 1903; and by its pastors as follows: Mr. Christie in 1815, 1818, 1820, 1823, 1824, 1828 and 1831; Mr. Van Keuren in 1837; Mr. Stewart in 1841; Dr. Van Derveer in 1845, 1848, 1855, 1856, 1859, 1863, 1867, 1870, 1872 and 1876; Mr. Carroll in 1878, 1880 and 1884; Mr. Crispell, in 1893, and Mr. Knox in 1899 and 1903.
The Church has entertained the Classis of Paramus on seventeen occasions, and the Particular Synod of New Brunswick twice, namely, in 1884 and 1899. The Orange County Bible Society, the Orange County Sunday School Union, and the Orange County Christian Endeavor Union have all of them been on several occasions the guests of the Church.
OUR MEMBERSHIP. The Church has carried on her roll 894 members, 534 uniting on con- fession and 360 by letter; there remain to-day on the list 288 members resident or in communication with the Church. Her oldest surviving member, in length of mem- bership, is Mrs. Hannah L. (Dator) Galloway, who united with the Church in March, 1845, and is now resident in Hackensack, N. J., most of the time. Our resident member whose continuous membership is the longest, is Mrs. George W. Sanford (Frances A. Baird), who united with the Church December, 1851; though her length of
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membership would have been exceeded by that of Mrs. Mary Wood, who originally united with the Church Sept. 1849, had not the latter transferred her membership for many years because of residence elsewhere and did not restore it until September of 1902. Our senior mem- ber in years is Mrs. Mary Herrick, who has passed her ninetieth year. The last person uniting with the Church on confession of faith in the old century (at the Decem- ber communion, 1903), was Henry Toland Demarest, the great-great-grandson of the first member received into the Church January, 1804; while the first members uniting with the Church on confession of faith in the new century just begun (March, 1904), are John Farries Winslow and Charles Francis Hawkins, the latter the last name now on the roll of members, and, in years as well, the youngest member of the Church. The youngest persons in covenant relation with the Church are the children baptized at the last preparatory service held in the old century (Dec. 12, 1903), namely: Margaret Dem- arest, Catherine Bevans Shimer and Charles Victor Knox, the first of the trio being actually the youngest person in covenant relation with the Church, at the close of the century, and, singularly, another of the descendents of the Church's first member and elder, being a great-great- great-granddaughter of the Elder Cornelius Demarest.
OUR GROWTH. The first report made by the Church to Classis was in 1819, when the families of the Church were reported to be 78 in number and the membership at 72. Apparently the first full report made to Classis that has been preserved in our records, was that of 1877. That year there were 100 families connected with the Church, 133 communicants; 95 Bible School scholars, $161 contributed for benevolence, and $1,450 contributed for congregational purposes. The
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THE RECORD OF A CENTURY.
last report made to Classis (April, 1904), was as follows: Families in the Church 160; total number of communi- cants 288; total Bible School enrollment 275; benevo- lent contributions $1,538, and contributions for congre- gational purposes $4,903.47. [This includes special con- tributions for repairs on church property; the average offerings for five years exclusive of such unusual contri- butions, have been for congregational purposes $2,833; for benevolent objects $1,627.]
The communion service now in COMMUNION SERVICE. use in the church was the gift to the church of Benjamin F. Dunning, Esq., of New York and of Warwick, long the valued friend of the Church, and who passed to his reward in 1888. The gift was made some time during the ministry of Mr. Carroll. There are in the possession of the Church two of the goblets of an older service, that formerly had been in use. Those who, like the Levites of old, have been the caretakers of these utensils of the sanctuary during the more recent past, have been James R. Christie, John McWilliams, F. V. Sanford, and at the present, R. A. Demarest.
OUR FUTURE. To the life and development and service of the past, how many have worthily contributed !- ministers that have given their best work and some of them the work of the best and most mature years of their lives,-laymen and women, who have loved and have labored for the Church's welfare according to the fullness of their ability, some of them with some- thing approaching adequate appreciation, many per- chance most inadequately recognized. Much of the work we can see and record, but the work no man can measure is that done in building into character divine elements, and this, unwritten-unknown-is the best.
MRS. TABER KNOX. ( Wife of present pastor.)
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The record on high includes this; there it is written, there it is known. The Church has tried to serve the old Warwick, and it is the prayer of those who are seeking the welfare of Zion to-day that she may be girded with strength and baptized with the divine Spirit, so that she may serve the new Warwick of coming days at least as well. The old Church, however, has served more than Warwick. Out into the activities of the world, away from the Church of childhood and of ancestry have gone her sons and her daughters, and through their christian work and worthy character the Church of Warwick has served the larger world. But farther yet has her influence and service reached; her saints have passed through the valley into the eternal light of the heaven of the redeemed; and some, grandsires, and sires and sons together sing the song of the redeemed and enjoy the beatific vision and the unwearying service of the Redeemer, because in the old home church in our lovely valley they caught the glorious vision of their King. But greater than her service is the unspeakable gifts to her of the unfailing presence and guidance of the divine Spirit, of the blood that has purchased the redemption of her children, and of the love that has streamed from the cross and throne of her adorable Lord. As she peers into the future and resumes the labors for that Lord, she knows that to whom much is given, much shall be required, and prays that larger power and wisdom and love may be given her to win and to train immortal souls, to the glory on earth and in heaven of her Lord.
[The date of the death of Mr. B. F. Dunning, page 60, should read 1895.]
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