The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 89

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345

USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II > Part 89

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The Chapel of the Church Charity Foundation, under the charge of Rev. Thos. W. Brown, Chaplain, has (July, 1883) 80 communicants and 76 Sunday-school scholars.

Church of the Mediator .- A few friends of Rev. Wm. H. Reid rented the Juvenile Academy in Washington street, transformed it into a church, which was opened in April, 1869, and org. with E. S. Blomfield and Chas. Selden, Church Wardens. It afterwards occupied the old St. Ann's Church building, which has since been taken down to make way for the East River Bridge. In 1873, the congregation purchased from the Central Congregational Society, for $30,000, their church edifice on the corner of Ormond place and Jefferson st. In May, 1875, services were discontinued, and the property was transferred to the former owners. In

November of the same year the building was rented, and services were resumed. In May, 1876, they were again dis- continued, and were not resumed till February, 1880, when the present Rector, Rev. J. W. Sparks, was called. In No- vember, 1881, the building was again purchased from the Central Congregational Society, for $15,000. It is a brick structure, with a seating capacity of 800.

Rev. William H. Reid became Rector at the organization of the Society, and resigned in February, 1874. In March of the same year, Rev. L. Van Bokkelen was called, but within a month left the parish in an embarrassed condition. In July, 1874, Rev. T. F. Cornell, M. D., was called. He re- signed in May, 1875, and was succeeded in the following Oc- tober by T. Stafford Drowne, D. D. He resigned in May, 1876, and the church was closed till February, 1880. The present condition of the parish is prosperous.

St. Mark's P. E. Church, 4th st., cor. South 5th, the old- est Episcopal parish in Williamsburgh, was org. 1837, with four communicants, by Rev. Wm. Morris, afterwards Rector of Trinity school, N. Y. At Easter, 1838, Rev. Samuel C. Davis succeeded, the communicants then numbering twelve; and during his ministry, a brick chapel was erected at the rear of the present church edifice.

In October, 1839, there being then 18 communicants, and a Sunday-school of 30 scholars and 6 teachers, the Rev. Sam- uel M. Haskins became the Rector; and, by May, 1841, a stone church, 45 by 90 feet, was completed and consecrated. It is in the Tudor Gothic style, and seats 550 people. The con- gregation steadily increased with the growth of the city. In 1846, it colonized Christ Church, and the Rector of St. Mark's inaugurated (with help from Trinity Church, New York) missionary efforts at Williamsburgh, and at Maspeth, resulting finally in the establishment of a church at the lat- ter place, under care of Rev. Wm. Walsh; and at Williams- burgh, in 1848, of St. Paul's, under the rectorship of Rev. Geo. W. Fash.

In 1846, also, Dr. Haskins organized St. James' (colored) congregation, which was aided by St. Mark's congregation, until they could do for themselves. Ascension Church, Greenpoint, in 1847; Calvary Church, in 1848, were all es- tablished by Dr. Haskins' labors and the aid of Trinity Church; the debt of his own church cancelled, and its size and adornment greatly increased in 1854. Communicants (July, 1883), 452; Sunday-school numbered 308.

Rev. SAMUEL M. HASKINS, D. D., was born at Water- ford, Oxford county, Maine, on the 29th of May, 1813. He graduated at Union College in 1836, and at the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New York, in 1839. He was ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church in June, 1839, and priest at the chapel of St. Mark's, Williamsburgh, in July, 1840, by Bishop Onderdonk. He was called to the rectorship of St. Mark's in October, 1839, and has held his high office there for forty-four years. This church, which was nursed into strength and usefulness by the patient, earnest efforts of Dr. Haskins, has enjoyed the ad- vantage of his care and love throughout its whole interesting history. It is the parent of all the other Episcopal Churches in this section of Brooklyn, which now number six flourishing parishes.

St. Mark's Church was organized as a missionary enterprise by the Rev. Mr. Davis, in October, 1837, on

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HISTORY OF KINGS COUNTY.

Same MHaskins

the outskirts of what was then the village of Williams- burgh. He was the first Rector, but left the parish in May or June, 1839. When Dr. Haskins was called, services were held in a small white-washed brick build- ing, in the midst of a cornfield. His first sermon was preached on the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, 1839, to a congregation of fourteen families and eighteen communicants. There was no other parish between Astoria and Brooklyn; yet the population was small, and sparse fields and orchards covering a large portion of the present populous city. The steady in- crease of the congregation made a larger church neces- sary. Three lots were obtained on the corner of Fourth and South Fifth streets, and a stone building erected, all at a cost of nearly seventeen thousand dollars-a large sum for a feeble congregation in those days-leaving a debt of six thousand.

In May, 1841, the church was consecrated. The congregation steadily increased, until in 1846, a new organization, under the name of Christ Church, was formed and entirely made up of families from St. Mark's.

A series of missionary services, commenced by Dr. Haskius in the same year, in the eastern portion of the

town, resulted in the organization of St. Paul's Church, which was received into the convention in 1848. These were followed by others, until six parishes now attest the zeal and liberality of the mother church, and the faithful labors of Dr. Haskins. The original debt was paid in 1853; at the same date the church was enlarged by the addition of a proper chancel and choir, and an increase to the nave of about two hundred sittings. It was also beautified by several memorial windows. A Sunday-school room was added in 1855.

In 1860, further important additions were made to the church, and other memorial windows added. The site of the church is now in the older portion of the city, and with its plain substantial exterior, and the im- provements made in the interior, it has a very neat and tasteful appearance, and looks as should the venerable cradle of so many rich and powerful parishes. Six ministers, now preaching from Christian pulpits, were originally connected with the Sunday-school. In forty- four years the church has been closed but two Sundays, and during the same time, Dr. Haskins has seldom been absent, except for his summer vacation of four or five Sundays.

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ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Dr. Haskins received his degree of D. D. from Union College in 1862. His publications consist of a num- ber of occasional sermons. He is of the average height, and well proportioned, and walks with an erect figure and an active step. His head is large, with a face of marked intellectuality and amiability; the features are large, but regular; the face shows decision and force of character; there is a kindness in the eye and a good-natured smile about the mouth, which are expressive of gentle and noble traits of character. His manners are those of the true gentleman, tender, considerate and kind, that always win the heart. With cheerfulness and smiles, kind words and genial actions, he has thus made himself popular, not only among his own people, but in social and public life generally. He is well described in those words in which Cowper por- trays the model preacher.

" In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, And natural in gesture; much impress'd Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too; affectionate in look And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men."

Seeing him in the pulpit, the living impersonation of this portrait is brought vividly before you. His clear, positive faith in the doctrines he proclaims, and his equally clear and positive language; his unpretend- ing, circumspect and solemn manner; his ease and grace of delivery and gesture; his evident sense of the obligations of his position; his tender appeals to the unconverted; his affectionate looking from face to face of those who are his sheep, all appear in most striking reality. He is not looking for popular ap- plause, but he is anxious to do his whole duty as a preacher of the glad tidings of salvation.

He is not seeking to exalt himself and his talents; but he is pleading with his whole mind and heart to save those in guilt and peril. He is eloquent; his words flow with fluency and beauty; he is strong in argument, and inspired with faith; but none of this is intended to awaken an emotion personal to himself. His language, tone and manners will not allow you to escape from a knowledge of this fact, and it gives great additional power and effectiveness to his preach- ing.

In this day of worldly ambition and of selfishness in the pulpit, as well as out of it, you can but be drawn nearer to the man who shows himself entirely free from them, and thoroughly devoted, with humility and seriousness of spirit, to the work of the Master.

Dr. Haskins has labored, from early manhood to the decline of life, in one parish. In that time he has seen a great city grow up about him, with the manifold changes and trials it has brought to his parish. He has seen the little seed of his nursing and watering

grow into the tall tree of religious power, and he has seen its goodly boughs severed one after another, until the ancient trunk is all that remains. Venerable with age, hoary, but not decayed, it still stands where it was first planted in the vineyard of the Lord, and its faithful husbandman will guard it until he, too, falls to his rest beneath its holy shade.

Christ Church, E. D .- This parish, originally organized as "Christ Church, Williamsburgh," in the summer of 1846, maintained services for nearly a year in the Reformed Dutch consistory room, Fourth st. In September, 1846, Rev. Chas. Reynolds accepted a unanimous call to the parish, which at that time numbered only thirteen communicants. Within four months, a small but neat edifice was erected on the south-east corner of South Sixth and Fifth sts. This proved too small for the congregation, and an eligible plot of ground on Bedford ave., a few rods outside of the Williams- burgh limits, being proffered to the vestry by Messrs. Jacob and B. B. Boerum, in the spring of 1844, the parish of Christ Church, Williamsburgh, was dissolved, and at the same meeting, that of Christ Church, North Brooklyn, organized. The corner-stone of a church edifice was laid on Ascension Day, 1849, and the edifice opened for divine service in the following September. A subsequent enlargement was made in the summer of 1851, at which time the number of com- municants was ninety, and the Sabbath-school, under the superintendency of Samuel Reynolds, in a very flourishing condition. Mr. Reynolds' ministry here closed, May 6, 1855, and on the following Sabbath, Rev. A. H. Partridge assumed the rectorship. He found the congregation occupying a poor building, and about $6,000 in debt. Through his exer- tions the debt was paid, and a commodious chapel erected on the rear of the lot at a cost of about $7,500, with a capa- city of seating 350 to 400 persons. The old building was then taken down and sold; and, by the first of January, 1863, a new and elegant brown-stone church, in the geomet- rical decorated Gothic style, was erected and occupied by the congregation. This edifice, which is 125 feet long by 75 feet wide, with two towers in front, will seat 1,200 persons ; with stained-glass windows, organ, and of elegant internal finish and decoration. It cost $35,000, and is an ornament to the city.

In 1868, this parish purchased a suitable and commodious house for a rectory.

After a long and useful pastorate, Dr. Partridge died April 8th, 1883, and was succeeded by the present Rector, Rev. James H. Darlington. There were 400 communicants and 450 Sabbath-school scholars (July, 1883).

Rev. ALFRED HINSDALE PARTRIDGE was born at Hatfield, Mass., Dec. 14, 1811. He belonged to the celebrated Dwight family of Hatfield, and was a descendant in the eighth gen- eration from Deacon Cotton Partridge. He first studied in the Academy at Hadley, and then entered the General Theo- logical Seminary, New York, and grad. in June, 1838. He was made a deacon at St. Mark's Church, New York, July 1st, 1838, and a presbyter at St. Matthew's Church, Bedford, N. Y., July 20, 1839.

At the latter church, he was assistant to the Rev. Samuel Nichols for one year, but at the end of that time was him- self called to the rectorship, and held that position for 16 years. While there, his great activity is shown by the fact of his organizing three new churches in as many different neighboring villages, holding the initiatory services under the trees. In May, 1855, he was called as Rector of Christ

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Church, North Brooklyn. The church had been organized in 1846, being an offshoot of St. Mark's; and, when Dr. Partridge came, worship was held in a small frame build- ing moved from South Sixth st. to its present site, and called Christ Church in the Fields. This was afterwards sold for just $100.

Twenty-eight years seem a long time to remain in the rectorship of one church, but it is a short time in which to accomplish such great results as Dr. Partridge accom- plished.

The rapid settlement of the neighborhood, and its selec- tion as a place of residence by a superior class of people, the general esteem in which the Rector was held, and his liberal and evangelical views with regard to church matters, drew many who had formerly been members of other congrega- tions to unite with Christ Church. After 28 years' faithful service, Dr. Partridge died April 8, 1883.

Rev. JAMES H. DARLINGTON, born in Brooklyn, 1856; grad. Univ. New York, A. B., 1877; A. M., Princeton, 1879; and Princeton Theol. Sem., 1880; memb. N. Y. Acad. of Sciences, 1877; located in Brooklyn, 1881; author of lectures on Amer. Literature, pamphlet on Church Government, etc .; Rector Christ Ch. since May 1st, 1883.

St. Paul's, E. D .- In the year 1846, the Rev. S. M. Haskins, Rector of St. Mark's, having obtained assistance from Trin- ity Church, New York, and other sources, conceived the project of commencing Sunday-schools and regular church services, once a Sabbath, in the upper part of Grand street, Williamsburgh, and in the neighboring village of Maspeth. From this beginning, both this church and St. Saviour's, Maspeth, date their existence. The Rev. Wm. Walsh, for a time, took charge of both stations, but subsequently devoted himself to the church at Maspeth, which was first built. He was succeeded in Williamsburgh by the late Rev. George W. Fash, at that time associated with Mr. Haskins in the man- agement of St. Mark's parochial school. On the 8th of May, 1848, St. Paul's Parish, Williamsburgh, was duly organized, and Mr. Fash elected its first pastor. Services until May, 1850, were held in a school-room over a drug store in Grand street, one door from the corner of Graham ave. In 1849, two lots of ground were purchased by the parish, on the cor- ner of South 2d and 12th streets and Union ave. In May, 1850, the congregation removed to more commodious quar- ters in Franklin Hall, corner of Graham ave. and Remsen st., and contracted for the erection of a house of worship. But, becoming financially embarrassed, and compelled to vacate their previous quarters, they met in the basement of the Lu- theran Church, corner of Graham ave. and Wyckoff st., where their wants were supplied from Sabbath to Sabbath by various clergymen. April 30th, 1851, the Rev. Henry Floy Roberts was elected Rector, and, by his exertions, the building project was revived, the edifice completed at a cost of $1,200, and opened for public worship on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 1851, although it remained during the winter un- plastered; and, not until Christmas was it warmed and made comparatively comfortable by a $20 stove. In 1852, by the help of Trinity Church, New York, St. Paul's was free from debt, and the building completed. In July, 1854, Mr. Roberts resigned his charge, and the Rev. Edmund Embury entered upon the rectorship, Sept. 1st, but, in consequence of ill-health, resigned in April, 1856. He was succeeded, October, 1856, by Rev. Wm. A. Maybin. Meanwhile the church had been enlarged by the addition of a chancel, and had been newly and tastefully furnished. The parish now received from Mr. Barnet Johnson a gift of five lots, valued at near $5,000, on the corner of Penn and Marcy aves., on which tho corner-stone of a new edifice was laid Sept. 5th,

1860, and the church opened for divine service on Advent Sunday, Nov. 23d, 1861. Its cost was $24,760.

The Rectors since 1862 are as follows : Revs. John W. Clark, 1862-'3; David F. Lumsden, 1863-'5; F. C. Wainwright, 1865; Ed. R. Atwill, 1865-'7; Wm. A. Maybin, 1867-'70; Dr. Fox, 1870-'1; Newland Maynard, 1871-'4.

In 1866, the floating debt was paid off through the liberal- ity of sister churches in New York and Brooklyn; and the free-seat system, which had been in force since 1853, was abolished. In July, 1883, there were 225 communicants and 294 children.

Rev. NEWLAND MAYNARD, D. D., born 1839, in Toronto, Ont .; grad. Upper Canada Coll. and Berkeley Theol. Inst. Ct., 1869; located Staten Island, 1871; author of 25 Lectures on Foreign Lands; elected 1879 Fellow of Royal Hist. Soc. of Gt. Britain; rec'd gold medal for lectures on Sacred Art and Medieval Architecture.

St. James' Church, E. D. (colored), was commenced in 1846, and worshiped first in a small building in South Third st., near Ninth st .; later (about 1855), they moved to Fourth st., near South Eighth, at which time the Rev. S muel V. Berry (colored) was their Rector. Afterwards the Rev. Mr. Monroe (colored) became Rector, who resigned, however, in May, 1859, and went to Africa. During this year, the frame building in Remsen st., latterly used by this congregation, was purchased for them by the Convocation for Church Ex- tension in Kings County. For a time, the services were kept up by the neighboring clergy, and by lay reading. The church was afterwards sold, the congregation disbanded, and the money appropriated, by order of the Bishop, to a colored church in South Brooklyn,

Calvary P. E. Church, E. D., South Ninth and Eighth streets, organized Jan. 23, 1849, owed its existence in a great measure to the Rev. Charles Reynolds (at that time Rector of Christ Church), and to Mr. William G. Dunn, the senior war- den. To meet the spiritual destitution of the northern part of Williamsburgh, the use of Lexington Hall, corner of Grand and Third streets was secured, services were held, and a church established in that part of the village. After a time Rev. Mr. Payne's services were engaged, and Odd Fellows' Hall, corner of North First and Third streets, was secured as the place of assembling. Rev. Robert J. Walker was his suc- cessor, followed by the Rev. B. F. Taylor, and he by Rev. George Timlow. In 1851, lots were purchased on North Fifth street, and in the following year a small church edifice erected, which was consecrated on April, 16, 1853, by Bishop Wainwright. Rev. Samuel W. Sayres was Rector from Sept. 1852, to October 15, 1856. His successor was the Rev. John P. Bansman; he was succeeded by Rev. Henry F. Roberts, who resigned on May 1, 1860, after a service of two years. In July, 1860, the Rev. Francis Peck entered upon his duties as Rector; and during the early part of his administration a step vital to the welfare of the parish, was its removal from North Fifth street to its present location, where a commodious church edifice and a better neighborhood laid the foundation of future success. Mr. Peck resigned the Rectorship in Feb- ruary, 1882, after nearly twenty-two years faithful service, and was succeeded by the Rev. H. R. Harris, in April of the same year. The church had (July, 1883) 300 communi- cants.

The Sunday-school, which was established in the early his- tory of this church, had for its first superintendent, Mr. Wm, G. Dunn. Present number of scholars, 460; volumes in li- brary, 675.

Rev. Francis Peck was succeeded in 1882, by the present Rector, Rev. H. Richard Harris. In July, 1883, there were 30 communicants and 460 Sunday-school scholars.

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ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATIONS.

Church of the Ascension (Greenpoint). In the fall of 1846, Rev. John W. Brown, of Astoria, Rev. Chas. Reynolds, of Christ Church, North Brooklyn, and Rev. John C. Brown, ar- ranged for the holding of divine service in Greenpoint, ac- cording to the ritual of the Protestant Episcopal church. In October, the first service was celebrated by Rev. John C. Brown, in the parlor of Mr. David Provost's residence. Under Mr. Brown's guidance as a missionary, a room was forthwith hired, supplied with furniture from Astoria, and services were regularly commenced. December 20, 1846, the parish was organized, and incorporated Sept. 28, 1847. In the sum- mer of 1847, the services were conducted by Rev. Michael Schofield, who had recently become associated with Rev. J. W. Brown of Astoria, and a flourishing Sabbath-school was also gathered under Mr. Wm. Mulligan, a layman of Astoria. After a few months, Mr. Schofield was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Bartow, who resigned in 1848. The Rev. Robert J. Walker, was next appointed, in November, 1848, resigning in March, 1850, in order to devote his whole attention to Cal- vary church, Williamsburgh, where he had already been of- ficiating in addition to his Greenpoint duties. In May, 1850, the Rev. Thomas Clark was called to the rectorship at Green- point, which he filled until his death in August, 1852. Dur- ing his time, the congregation worshiped in the Sabbath- school room of the Dutch Reformed Church in Java street, and in the house of Mr. Charles Cartlidge, Franklin street. The Rev. Edward C. Babcock, A. B., deacon, entered on his duties as Rector on the 31st of October, 1852, the services being at that time held at Mr. Cartlidge's house, and the congregation numbering about thirty persons. A Sabbath-school was com- menced; and the first communion was administered on Sun- day, November 28, 1852, by the Rev. C. Reynolds, to thirteen persons,

About this time, also, three lots of ground, eighty- five feet front by one hundred feet deep, on the north side of K Street, midway between Franklin and Union avenues, were secured at a cost of $1,500. On the 30th of January, 1853, the congregation met for the first time iu Odd Fellows' Hall, in K street, east of Union avenue, where they continued to worship until October following. On the 5th of July, 1853, the corner-stone of a lecture and Sabbath-school room was laid. It was opened for worship on Sunday, October 23, 1853, at a cost, for land, building and furniture of about $4,500. The pews in the early part of 1855, were voted free by the vestry. Mr. Babcock resigned November 1st, and died in December of the same year. The Rev. Merrit H. Wellman, entered upon his duties as Rector January 1st, 1857; his salary being assumed by the joint action of the vestry, the missionary committee of the diocese, and the New York Pastoral Aid Society.

In the fall of 1858, through efforts of the parish and the liberality of outside friends, an excellent organ was pro- cured, the building was ornamented and furnished, and a small balance of debt cancelled. With the close of 1860, the church ceased to receive assistance from the Pastoral Aid Society, and that derived from the Missionary Society was also much reduced, the vestry being now able to assume a larger pro- portion of the debt. The parish made a steady and healthful progress, during the rectorship of Mr. Wellman, who re- signed on May 1st, 1863. Rev. Francis Mansfield, was the next Rector, officiating first on the 28th of June, 1863. The congregation having largely increased, a new edifice became necessary, and the corner-stone of a permanent church was laid on the north side of the chapel, on the 23d of March, 1865. The church was completed at a cost of $20,000, and opened for divine service on the 16th of September, 1866. It is a Gothic structure of correct proportions and pleasing ef-

fect, with open roof, and organ chamber adjoining the chan- cel, designed by Mr. Henry Dudley; and is filled with a large and flourishing congregation. Rev. Thos. W. Haskins suc- ceeded Mr. Mansfield; and Rev. C. Ellis Stevens subse- quently became Rector; followed by the present incumbent, Rev. A. Whittaker. In July, 1883, there were 168 communi- cants and 345 Sunday-school scholars.

Rev. C. ELLIS STEVENS, born 1853, in Boston, Mass .; grad. Univ. Penn., and Berkeley Divin. Sch., Ct., 1875; located Bklyn., 1876; is a Miss. Sec'y. of P. E. Ch., in U. S .; was as- soc. Ed. of Living Church.

St. John's Church, E. D., was incorporated in 1851, and admitted into union with convention on the 24th of Septem- ber of the same year. The Rev. Benj. F. Taylor, then a missionary in Williamsburgh, was called to the rector- ship. This parish did not succeed in erecting a church edi- fice, and the congregation, never numerous, becoming scat- tered, the Rev. Mr. Taylor withdrew in 1854, and further ef- forts under this organization were abandoned.

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The civil, political, professional and ecclesiastical history, and commercial and industrial record of the county of Kings and the city of Brooklyn, N. Y., from 1683 to 1884, Volume II, Part 89

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed Publication date: 1884 Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co Number of Pages: 1345

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909, ed
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: New York, W. W. Munsell & Co
Number of Pages: 1345