USA > New York > The centennial history of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of New York, 1785-1885 > Part 35
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missionary purposes, were erected : "The House," in 1871 ; " The Beehive," in 1872 ; "The Hospital," in 1872-3; " The Riverside " (purchased), in 1872 ; " The Rectory," in 1880-1, and " The House of Prayer," in 1881-2. The corner-stone of the " Church of the Holy Child Jesus" was laid in June, 1871. The foundations and basement walls are built, and stone col- lected. There is no debt incurred. The building fund is in- creasing slowly, but, at this date (1885), some $3,000 are needed to complete the edifice. Since the opening of the house, there have been cared for under its roof some 45 children, on an average, from year to year. The present number is 30. Some make a longer, some a shorter stay. The children have here a Christian home, in which they are trained for usefulness in life, and towards which in later years they entertain feelings of sincere affection and lasting obliga- tion. The missionary work in the vicinity of the House of the Good Shepherd is, in substance, as follows: There are five stations. I. The chapel of the house, full services through the year; Sunday-school, 100 scholars and 6 teach- ers. 2. The House of Prayer, at Caldwell's, services on Sundays, in afternoon; Sunday-school, 45 scholars and 5 teachers; Tuesday, service and lecture. 3. Grace Church (about a mile south of the house), service and sermon on Sunday, in afternoon ; on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, service and lecture. 4. Montville, occasional services. 5. At various points in the mountains, occasional services. In con- nection with these latter, it is proper to state that about ten miles distant and in the woods, mission services were begun among the simple people there, who earn a scanty livelihood by making baskets. This was in October, 1879. A congre- gation was gathered, and a log cabin served as a place for a school and public worship. Through the generosity of a New York lady, Mrs. Margaret E. Zimmerman, a handsome stone church and a school-house have been erected for the spiritual good of these mountaineers. It is entitled " The Mission Church of St. John the Evangelist, in memoriam of John Edward Zimmerman." It was opened for divine ser- vice November 15, 1880, and will seat 200 people. The
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House of the Good Shepherd depends for its support and continuance upon the gifts and offerings of the benevolent and charitable members of Christ's body, the Church.
HOME FOR INCURABLES, FORDHAM, 1866.
The Home for Incurables was founded in April, 1866, by a board of clerical and lay managers of the Protestant Epis- copal churches in New York city, and was incorporated the same year. Its special work is to care for the incurably sick, and to furnish a " home" for its inmates, who, unlike those of an ordinary hospital, are afflicted with diseases pronounced incurable, and who consequently will, in many instances, re- main objects of its nursing care for life. The institution is located at Fordham, in the twenty-fourth ward, New York City. The property was purchased by Miss C. L. Wolfe, and donated to the institution in memory of her father. Its buildings were erected by the contributions of friends of the charity, the last structure being a chapel, excellently built and furnished, through the generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ben- jamin H. Field, of New York City. The " home " needs ad- ditional buildings, and hopes ere long to secure them, and thus accommodate many applicants who are now turned away for lack of room and means. A payment of $5,000 endows a free bed in perpetuity, and a payment of $2,000 a free bed during the life of the donor.
THE MIDNIGHT MISSION IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, 1867.
This institution was founded in 1867, under the auspices of the New York Protestant Episcopal City Mission Society. A meeting of Church people was held in Trinity Chapel Sunday-school room, on the evening of January 21, 1867, at which the bishop of the diocese presided, and spoke in en- couragement of the object had in view by the proposed society, viz. : to lessen the obstacles to the return of fallen women to a virtuous life, and to encourage their reform, chiefly through the loving kindness and sympathy shown by Christian women towards them. The Rev. Drs. Montgomery
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and Tuttle, the Rev. Mr. Hilliard, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Randall, and the Rev. Dr. Dix, followed briefly, commend- ing the undertaking. A society was at once formed, under the name of " THE MIDNIGHT MISSION," mostly composed of members of the executive committee of the City Mission Society and of the St. Barnabas' Men's Missionary Associa- tion. A ladies' committee, under the presidency of Mrs. A. Tyler, was also promptly organized, and by faithful, self- denying work made the idea of the mission a reality. The institution was incorporated by the Legislature of the State, July 7, 1868. It owns its "home," No. 260 Greene Steeet, which is built on a Sailors' Snug Harbor lease, and is free from debt. The conduct of the " home" is now in charge of the Sisterhood of St. John the Baptist, and its capacity (for about forty inmates) is too limited for the number applying for admission. There is, however, a fair prospect that the mission may soon obtain, what has always been much de- sired, a house in the country, where, removed from the dis- tractions and temptations of the city, women may be sent who manifest a sincere penitence, a desire to reform, and a resolute purpose henceforth to lead godly and Christian lives.
THE SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF OF THE DES- TITUTE BLIND OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK AND ITS VICINITY. 1868.
This institution was founded in 1868, by the Rev. East- burn Benjamin, since deceased. The work which it took in hand was to provide a home for indigent blind people, of whom there is a large number in the city of New York un- cared for. The Home was opened at first in the Second Avenue ; then it was removed to the Seventh Avenue ; after- wards, and up to date (1885), it occupies for its Home, No. 219 West Fourteenth Street, which is the property of the society. The average number of its inmates has been about 40. The new house, which is now in course of erection on the Tenth Avenue, corner of One Hundred and Fourth Street, will accommodate 100 or more persons. It is ex- pected that the society will be able to remove to its new building in May, 1886.
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THE SHEPHERD'S FOLD OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 1868.
This institution was founded and incorporated by the Legislature in March, 1868, the certificate being signed by W. Rhinelander, Abbott. Brown, Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., John Cotton Smith, William T. Sabine and Edward Cowley. The particular business and objects of the society are : "the re- ceiving and adopting children and youths of both sexes, be- tween the ages of twelve months and fifteen years, who are orphans, half-orphans, or otherwise friendless ; these to keep, support and educate, apprentice, and place out to service, trades, and schools; also to receive such children of poor clergymen deemed eligible, and who shall be approved by the trustees of the Shepherd's Fold, and to receive other children and youths for education and training, to such ex- tent as, in the judgment of the trustees, may be expedient." The building formerly occupied and owned by the society on East Eighty-sixth Street was sold some years ago, and active operations were for a time suspended. There is a Build- ing Fund of about $10,000, to which additions are made from year to year. The present head-quarters are in a hired house on the Tenth Avenue, containing 24 boys. Other build- ings have been hired for the accommodation of children, of whom there are at present 60, under the care of the charity.
THE SISTERHOOD OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 1869.
This association was founded on the second Tuesday after Easter, April 6, 1869, in St. Ann's Church, New York, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., Bishop of New York. The nature and object of its work are: "to minister to the poor, the sick, the homeless and the outcast, and to care for little children." The House of the Good Shepherd, for the use of this association, was erected in 1878, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, upon land given by Mr. James
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A. Bradley, by donations of friends of the sisters. It is used as a place of needed recreation for the poor during the summer. The house No. 191 Ninth Avenue, New York, has been rented by a friend, for the Sisters' House and the Train- ing School for Girls. The sisterhood is in charge of St. Barnabas' House, New York, and visits various public institu- tions. It is also in charge of Christ Hospital, Jersey City, and St. James' Parish Home and Day School, Wilmington, North Carolina. The Bishop of New York is the head of this sisterhood, the Rev. Dr. Gallaudet the pastor, and Sister Ellen the presiding sister.
THE HOUSE OF REST FOR CONSUMPTIVES. 1869.
This institution was founded in 1869, and incorporated October 7, 1869, by Theodore S. Rumney, Edward Haight, W. C. Wetmore, Alexander M. Stanton and H. J. Cammann. The special work of the institution is the care and relief of consumptive patients, these being chiefly among the poor and those in very straitened circumstances. The patients, as a rule, are entirely destitute, having consumed past savings in long illness at home, and coming to the house when the purse has given out. The door of this house is always open to the desolate and poor, and him that hath no helper. This institution owns an acre of ground and buildings The thereupon, with accommodations for 40 patients. property is situated at Mount Hope, Tremont, New York, and is free from debt, and the endowment fund amounts to $30,683.47. The house needs additional funds and in- creased liberal gifts, in order to carry out the charitable pur- poses of the officers, the Board of Trustees and the Ladies' Association.
ST. MARY'S FREE HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN. 1870.
This free hospital was founded in September, 1870, by the Sisters of St. Mary. Its specific work is to furnish med- ical and surgical treatment for children between the ages of two and fourteen years. The hospital building is located at
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Nos. 405, 407 and 409 West Thirty-fourth Street, New York. It was erected in 1880, has all the modern improve- ments, accommodates 70 patients, and has connected with it a dispensary, which is open daily. The institution has also a summer branch at Rockaway Beach, Long Island, to which most of the patients are removed in June, and re- main through the summer months. Eighteen of the beds are endowed by the payment of $3,000 each, and ten are sup- ported each year by the payment of $200.
THE CHILDREN'S FOLD. 1871.
The Children's Fold was incorporated by the Legislature of New York, in the year 1871. The certificate of incorpora- tion was signed by Edward Cowley, H. D. Wyman, William R. Gardner, Elias J. Pattison, James Pott, Mrs. George De- pew, and Mrs. S. M. G. Cowley. The object of the Fold, as stated in the certificate, is "the receiving and adopting chil- dren and youth of both sexes, between the ages of twelve months and twelve years, who are orphans or half-orphans, or otherwise destitute, always giving preference to those coming from the institutions on the islands of the city of New York; these to keep, support and educate, or appren- tice and place out to service and trades ; also, to receive such other children and youth for training and education as, in the judgment of the managers, may be deemed expedient." The Fold has always thus far been gathered in houses hired by the managers for the purpose. Its present location is in Broadway and Ninety-third Street. The number of children under its care at date (1885) is 160.
HOME FOR OLD MEN AND AGED COUPLES. 1872.
This institution was founded in October, 1872, and was incorporated by the Legislature of New York December 14th of the same year. The persons named in the certificate as trustees were the Rev. Isaac H. Tuttle, D.D., the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, D.D., the Rev. Morgan Dix, D.D., Thomas P. Cummings, Lloyd W. Wells, William Alexander Smith, Isaac C. Kendall, Anthony B. McDonald, Charles H.
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Clayton, William Niblo, Henry K. Bogert, Francis Pott, William A. Duncan, David Pell Secor, and Albert G. Thorp, Jr. The nature of the work of this institution is the caring for the old people placed in it, and a peculiar feature is that old couples are not forced apart, but are enabled to live out their lives together. Over seventy persons have been taken care of so far, and nearly all of them have been persons of refinement and education. Among them have been clergy- men, doctors, lawyers and merchants, who formerly were quite wealthy. These people certainly must suffer much when exposed to extreme poverty, and to hardships to which they have been so utterly unaccustomed, and to them the Home has been opened in preference to others. The build- ing now occupied (1885) for the institution is No. 487 Hudson Street, adjoining St. Luke's Church. This has been hired, but recently a plot of thirteen lots was purchased on Morn- ingside Avenue, extending from One Hundred and Thirteenth to One Hundred and Fourteenth Street. The trustees, how- ever, have not begun to build as yet, there not being sufficient funds in hand to authorize such action. As a matter of gen- eral interest the following facts deserve to be put on record : In the autumn of 1872 a layman who was connected with a number of Church institutions was called upon by an " old man "-a vestryman of the Church of the Holy Evangelists, in Vandewater Street, Rev. Benjamin Evans, rector, to ask for himself and wife help towards getting into a Church institution, as they were without means and unable to earn a living. The layman gave him a letter to the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg, hoping the persons applying might find a rest- ing-place at Saint Johnland. Dr. M. received the old man very kindly, and said that he could provide for him at the " Old Man's Inn," but that there was no place for his wife. The layman, on inquiry, found that there was no institution in the Church where a man and wife could be taken care of. He thereupon made up his mind that such a state of things ought not any longer to exist. He called on Bishop Potter, the Rev. Drs. Tuttle, Gallaudet and Dix, and several laymen of the Church-among them Messrs. Niblo, Lloyd Wells,
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A. B. McDonald, Clayton, Kendall (now deceased), with others-and all favoring the project, arrangements were made for a meeting to be held in St. Ann's Church, Eighteenth Street, on October 16, 1872. The meeting was held in the morning, and the "Home for Old Men and Aged Couples" was duly organized. The vacant building on Hudson Street, adjoining St. Luke's Church (and recently vacated by removal of " St. Luke's Home for Indigent Christian Females " to the new quarters on Eighty-ninth Street), was leased and opened for the reception of the "old couples" and others. The officers of the Home are the Rt. Rev. Bishop Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., president ; the Rev. Isaac H. Tuttle, D.D., vice-president ; Henry Lewis Morris, secretary, and Hermann H. Cammann, treasurer.
THE CHURCH MISSION TO DEAF MUTES. 1872.
This mission was founded in October, 1872, by the Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., and a number of clergy and laity of New York, at the urgency of the Rev. Thomas Gallaudet, D.D., who was appointed general man- ager. The special work which the mission has in hand is "to promote the temporal and spiritual welfare of adult deaf mutes." For twelve years past the mission or society has maintained a home for aged and infirm deaf mutes, at No. 220 East Thirteenth Street, a hired house. Recently, how- ever, it has purchased a farm of 156 acres, with suitable buildings, on the Hudson River, six miles below Poughkeep- sie, to be occupied as a permanent home for deaf mutes.
THE ST. JOHN BAPTIST FOUNDATION. 1874.
The present community was founded February 5, 1874, by Helen Stuyvesant Folsom, with the purpose of establish- ing a branch of the Community of St. John the Baptist in America. The lines of work of the Community of St. John the Baptist are: I. The restoration of fallen women who are either prepared to return to the world to live in it more faith- fully, or else to remain secluded under religious rules, if, after due probation, they are found fitted thus to devote
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themselves. 2. The instruction and training of orphans and other children. 3. The care of the sick and infirm. 4. Mis- sion work amongst the poor. The Community in New York was incorporated by the Legislature of the State in the spring of 1876. In 1881 it was affiliated, and its government became independent. The present St. John Baptist House, No. 233 East Seventeenth Street, New York City, was built in 1878, to be the mother house of the Community in the United States. A Church work-room for ecclesiastical em- broidery is carried on in the house, and some of the sisters are largely engaged in active work amongst the sick and poor in Holy Cross Mission. A new school-house for young ladies was built in 1884, adjoining the mother house. It is called St. John Baptist School, and will accommodate about thirty pupils. The present is believed to be the first Religious House built for the express purpose in the American Branch of the Church Catholic. The Bishop of the Diocese of New York is visitor, and the Rev. G. H. Houghton, D.D., is warden.
HOUSE OF THE HOLY COMFORTER, FREE CHURCH HOME FOR INCURABLES. 1879.
This institution was founded by Sister Louise, September 15, 1879, and was carried on under her charge till her death, March 29, 1883. Experience acquired by her in visiting and ministering to the poor of the city, had " revealed a peculiar and pressing demand of suffering, in the form of incurable diseases among the respectable sick poor." Having obtained the approval and authorization of the bishop of the diocese, the home was opened, at No. 18 East Eleventh Street, with one patient, the avowed object being not merely to establish a hospital, but to make it a thoroughly Christian home for sufferers. The House of the Holy Comforter be- came a legal corporation under the State law, June 10, 1880, with nine trustees, and the bishop of the diocese as visitor. The objects of the society were thus defined : "I. The establishment of a free home for incurables among Protestant women and female children of the better class, who are with- out means, or friends able to support and care for them, and
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who are, upon examination of the house physician, pro- nounced as suffering from an incurable disease, and cannot be received into hospitals and homes for the young and aged. 2. Also of a training school in connection with such home, for the reception of Protestant girls from the ages of nine to fourteen years, retaining its care of them until they are eighteen years of age, and giving them a spiritual and secular education, together with a thorough training in all domestic and useful duties." Without a suitable home, or any endowment beyond a small sum devoted to a specified object, the institution has yet been enabled to do a large amount of good, and to relieve an untold extent of suffering. It provides for 35 or 36 patients, and has ministered to 125 in all. Of course, all who enter it expect to remain there through life, and some have been inmates ever since its foundation, while others have re- covered sufficiently to leave, and resume their usual avocations. Its object and the work it has done, and is doing, give it a claim for aid from the charitable and benevolent, whose alms and gifts are its sole dependence, under God. The hospital work is carried on by the Sisters of the Community of St. John the Baptist, under a board of trustees, of which the Rev. George H. Houghton, D.D., is the president. A "Ladies Association," of twenty-four members, of which Mrs. J. C. O'Connor, Jr., is treasurer, and Mrs. S. K. Walton secretary, takes an active part in providing for the support of the home. The duties of house chaplain are performed by the Rev. M. Van Rensselaer, D.D.
SOCIETY OF ST. MARTHA. 1881.
This society was founded December 19, 1881, by a benev- olent lady and communicant in the Church in New York. The special object of the society is both to protect children and young girls, and also to give them suitable training in manual labor, cooking, laundry work, housework, sewing, and embroidery. The society occupies at present the house, 60 South Washington Square, New York City, but expects early in the year 1886 to remove to a more eligible location in Twenty-second Street. The number of inmates is about
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twenty. The house mother is Miss J. E. Faitoute ; the pres- ident of the society is the Rev. Geo. H. Houghton, D.D., and the secretary and treasurer is Charles W. Kent.
YONKERS NURSERY AND HOME. 1881.
This institution was founded in January, 1881, by the rector and a few ladies of St. Paul's Parish, Yonkers, New York. It was incorporated by the Legislature of the State in May, 1884. Its chief purpose is to provide a temporary home for homeless children, under eight years of age, and a home for old women. On the first of May, 1881, the present house, No. 176 Palisade Avenue, was rented. In May, 1884, the trustees purchased the property consisting of the house and the lot on which it stands, and two adjoining lots. The cost of this property was $7,500, of which $2,500 were paid, leaving a mortgage of $5,000. During the summer of 1885 an addition was made to the house, costing $1,000, which has been paid. A board of trustees, consisting of nine persons, members of St. Paul's Parish, have full control of all the affairs of this corporation. A board of managers, con- sisting of fifteen ladies, have the full charge of the domestic affairs of the nursery and home. There were in the institu- tion during 1885 twenty-five children, and two old women. The present officers of the corporation are : The Rev. W. H. Mills, D.D., president ; E. M. Le Moyne, secretary, and C. W. Seymour, treasurer.
CHURCH LITERATURE OF THE CENTURY.
CHURCH LITERATURE OF THE CENTURY.
IT has been thought desirable to have some account given of the scholars and authors who have lived and labored, or are living and laboring, in the Diocese of New York, and whose published works furnish evidence of the progress of good letters during the century just past. At the request of the editor of the present memorial volume, the following paper has been prepared. Without claiming for it anything like an exhaustive treatment of the large and interesting field of Church literature since the opening of the nineteenth century, it is hoped that the record here presented will not be deemed wholly without profit or value to Church people. For the literature of the Church at large, during the same period, the Rev. J. H. Ward's monograph, in Bishop Perry's History of the American Episcopal Church, may be' con- sulted with advantage. The sketch here given is limited, of course, to those identified with the Church in New York, including those who, for a longer or shorter portion of their careers, were connected with the Diocese of New York. Beginning with the bishops, as is proper, we note that Bishop Provoost, though an accomplished scholar, did not see fit to put anything of his into print. The second Bishop of New York, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Moore D.D., was educated at King's (now Columbia) College, and was president of that institution from 1801-1811. He was regarded as an excellent preacher, and published a number of occasional sermons, and also put forth a pamphlet defending the Church against some Presbyterian strictures. After his death, two volumes of Discourses were given to the world by his son, Clement C. Moore, LL.D. (8vo, 1824); these have obtained high praise from competent critics. The Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart, D.D., third Bishop of New York, was not only the most energetic and active bishop in the Church in his day, but was
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also unflagging in the use of the pen. He began at the com- paratively early age of twenty-eight, and as he was an entire believer in the Apostolic position and rightful claims of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as well as thoroughly honest in purpose and conviction of duty, he devoted himself chiefly to the setting forth of the true place of the Church in the United States, and defending it against all opponents. Dr. Sprague, in his Annals of the American Pulpit (v., 447-50), gives a full and complete list of the works of which Bishop Hobart was the author, compiler, or editor ; among these it is suffi- cient here to name, The Companion to the Altar (1804); The Companion to the Festivals and Fasts (1805) ; The Clergyman's Companion (1806) ; Apology for Apostolic Order and its Advo- cates (8vo, 1807) ; The Christian's Manual of Faith and Devotion (1814) ; Funeral Address at the Interment of Bishop Moore, with an Appendix on the Place of Departed Spirits, and the Descent of Christ into Hell (1816); The Corruptions of the Church of Rome Contrasted with Certain Protestant Errors (1817) ; D'Oyly and Mant's Commentary on the Bible (1818-23) ; Sermons on the Principal Events and Truths of Redemption (2 vols., 8vo, 1824); The High Churchman Vindicated, a charge to the clergy (1826). Bishop Hobart's posthumous works, with a memoir by Rev. Dr. Berrian, were published in 1833 (3 vols., 8vo). As Bishop Hobart wrote rapidly and under strong impulses usually, his style is open to criticism for lack of polish, etc. (as has been noted, p. 153, ante).
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