USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Annals of Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania in the olden time; being a collection of the memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, Vol. III > Part 34
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A body of one hundred and nine Palatines from Rotterdam
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and Dover, with the Rev. George Michael Weiss at their head, arrived in Philadelphia Sept. 27, 1727. Shortly after Mr. Weiss and a part of these immigrants settled at Skippack, twenty-four miles from the city, and built a log church. In 1729, Mr. Weiss returned to Holland to raise contributions of money and books. He was probably succeeded by Rev. John Henry Goetschiey, who had lately arrived; his circuit for preaching was a large one. Mr. Weiss, when he returned to America, settled as pastor at Rhinebeck, near Albany, where he remained until the Indian war, when he returned to Philadelphia in 1732. Here he or- ganized the first German Reformed congregation of the city, and preached in a barn or frame building on William Allen's lot, on Arch street near Fifth. They probably built him some small church, as there are allusions to such a building. He probably remained here until 1746, when he became pastor at Goshenhop- pen and Great Swamp. Rev. Philip Boehm next supplied this pulpit, as well as those of Germantown and Whitpain. He en- gaged in a controversy with Count Zinzendorf (or Lewis von Thurnstein), who came as inspector-general over the Lu- therans.
The " octagon " church alluded to by Watson, Vol. I. p. 452, was built in 1746-47 of stone, in hexagon shape, with a cupola or steeple surmounted by the usual church-vane of a cock.
Rev. Michael Schlatter arrived in 1746, and assisted Mr. Boehm, but was installed by him as pastor January 1, 1747, and of Germantown Church in the following month. He was obliged to loan the congregation sixty pounds to finish the church. He served faithfully until the arrival of Rev. John Conrad Steiner, in September, 1749, who attached a number of the congregation to him, and a disturbance finally arose which was only settled by referring the question of the right of either pastor to the church to a body of five Quakers and one Episco- palian, who decided in favor of Schlatter. The ill-feeling en- gendered among the congregation still lingered; Schlatter wearied of the contest, and he was appointed to visit Europe to solicit aid for the Reformed churches in the State. He sailed February 5, 1751.
The one hundred and seventy adherents of Steiner built him a house and church combined at a little distance from the old one, in which he remained only a year.
Another church was built at Falkner Swamp, Philadelphia county, in 1727; it had several pastors until 1748, when Rev. John Philip Leidich was appointed.
A German Reformed church was established in Germantown in 1728 by John Bechtel, the congregation meeting at his house twice daily until 1733, when they built a small church. Bechtel was licensed by the Heidelberg authorities, and ordained by Bishop David Nitschman of the Moravian Church.
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At this time a union of all the Germans-Reformed, Luther- an, Moravian, etc .- was proposed, each denomination to retain its ecclesiastical connections and control of its affairs, subject to this Christian union or "unity of spirit." Bechtel, George Neisser, Nitschman, and others strongly favored it, while Boehm, Weiss, Dorsitus, and Goetschiey as vigorously opposed it. Bech- tel's congregation not favoring it, he was dismissed, and his pulpit was supplied by Boehm, Weiss, and others until the arrival of Rev. Michael Schlatter in 1746, who was installed as pastor. The church united with that of Philadelphia, and Mr. Schlatter served both congregations, besides performing considerable mis- sionary duty. This church is fully described in Vol. II. p. 24.
There were churches organized at Great Swamp, Old Goshen- hoppen, and New Goshenhoppen, which were served by Rev. Messrs. Goetschiey, Schlatter, and Weiss from 1730 to 1747 and for some time after ; also, at Providence (now " The Trappe " in Montgomery county), of which Rev. John Philip Leidich was pastor in 1748; at Allemingle, Philadelphia county, of which Rev. John Brandmiller was pastor in 1746; and at Manatawney, or Oley, in 1746.
The one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Reformed Church in Philadelphia was observed in the First Church, Race street below Fourth, on the evening of Friday, September 21st, 1877, and by various services on the following Sabbath. The special event commemorated was the landing here of Rev. George M. Weiss, with about four hundred refugee immigrants from the Palatinate, Germany, on September 21, 1727. Pastor Weiss, with fifty male members of his charge, appeared before the Proprietary Council at the court-house on that day, and on behalf of the colony signed a paper pledging them to " bear allegiance to the king and the Proprietor." The colony then landed, and with their pastor soon after began the worship of the Reformed Church, continued by the denomina- tion to the present time. There are several congregations of the Reformed Church in the city.
ROMAN CATHOLIC.
There was a Roman chapel, p. 453 .- In Reg. Penna., vol. xv. 200, is a letter from Rev. Jed. Andrews, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in which he gives an account of the relig- ious sects in Philadelphia in 1730. He does not mention any Catholics, but after speaking of the great accession of Irish and Scotch inimigrants arriving, he mentions "divers new con- gregations " "as forming by these new-comers." Nearly 6000 arrived in 1729; it is possible, therefore, that out of them this chapel may have had its origin.
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The number of Catholics in 1757, in and about Philadelphia, being all Irish and English, was-men, 72; women, 78; of Ger- mans, men, 107; women, 121-such as receive sacraments. (See Penna. Archives, iii. 144; Col. Recs., vii. 328.)
It appears from a correspondence between Dr. Tillotson and William Penn in 1685 that the latter was charged or suspected of being a papist, which he denies. (Reg. Penna., ii. 29, 30.)
In the London Magazine for July, 1737, page 373, is a letter containing the following paragraph; the subject of the letter is "The Growth of Papacy :"
" As I join with you about the Quakers, I shall give you a small specimen of a notable step which the people of that pro- fession have taken toward the Propagation of Popery abroad ; and as I have it from a Gentleman who has lived many years in Pennsylvania, I confide in the truth of it; let the Quakers deny it if they can. In the Town of Philadelphia, in that Colony, is a Publick Popish Chapel where that Religion has free and open exercise, and in it all the superstitious Rites of that Church are as avowedly performed as those of the Church of England are in the royal chapel at St. James's. And this chapel is not only open upon Fasts and Festivals, but it is so all Day, and every day in the week, and exceedingly frequented at all Hours, either for publick or private devotion, tho' it is fullest (as my friend observes) at those times when the Meeting-House of the Men of St. Omer's is thinnest, and vice versa. This Chapel, slightly built, and for a very good reason, is but small at present, tho' there is much more land, purchased round it for the same pious purposes, than would contain Westminster Abbey and the Apart- ments, Offices, etc. thereunto belonging. That these are Truths (whatever use you are pleased to make of them) you may at any time be satisfied by any Trader or Gentleman who has been there within a few years (except he be a Quaker), at the Carolina and Pennsylvania Coffee-House, near the Royal Exchange."
In the year 1757, p. 454 .- See Penna. Archives, vol. iii. p. 16, 131, 144 ; Col. Recs., vii. 448 ; iii. 563.
Mr. Watson is not very positive in his statements about the three Roman chapels he describes in Vol. I. 452-454, and ad- mits that the oldest the Romanists have records of is St. Joseph's, in Willing's alley.
The coffee-house at the north-west corner of Front and Walnut streets, which Samuel Coates once owned, was until 1850 in the possession of Friends from the grant of the lot by Penn to Grif- fith Jones in 1683. It was sold by his widow, through the sheriff, Feb. 2d, 1714, to George Claypoole, who resold it on the 25th to Jonathan Dickinson, and was sold by his daughter Mary in 1750 to John Reynell, and at his death in 1784 it was order- ed to be sold, but really was not till 1822, when it became the property of Samuel Coates, whose son, B. H. Coates, sold it in
27 *
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1850 to John Cook. Mr. Westcott very properly argues that, as it was always in the ownership of Friends, no rites were likely to have been performed there, unless such a thing may have been allowed by some tenant in occupancy of the place.
Nor is the testimony much stronger for the property south- east corner of Second and Chestnut streets. It is true that Daniel England, to whom it was granted, built quite a large house there-too large for a Catholic church at that time-but it will be seen that Rev. J. Andrews does not mention any Ro- manists at all in 1730, or nearly twenty-five years after this house was built.
Though the third place mentioned by Watson has stronger testimony in its favor, it yet may also be considered very doubt- ful. The John Michael Brown mentioned-not a priest, but a physician-did own some two hundred and ninety-three acres on what is now Nicetown lane, and on part of which Tioga now stands, at that time on the road leading from Frankford to Ger- mantown. Strange to say, this farm was part of a larger tract formerly owned by Griffith Jones, who owned the house at Front and Walnut streets, and where one of the Romish chapels was said to have been located. Dr. Brown in 1747 sold two separate parcels of his farm-each of seven and three-quarter acres, and for the same price, £46-to Father Greaton, who executed mort- gages for them. Dr. Brown in his will left certain church vest- ments and church plate to his sister. He was certainly a Ro- manist, though he directed his body to be buried on his farm. The chapel testified to by Deborah Logan and Thomas Bradford may have been a small private chapel built by the doctor on his place.
The chapel alluded to in the letter from the London Magazine, quoted above, was most probably St. Joseph's, as the Rev. Joseph Greaton, the same priest who bought the land from Dr. Brown in 1747, was sent to Philadelphia about 1732 from Maryland by the Society of' Jesus to establish a congregation. It is said he even entered the city in the garb of a Quaker. He took up ground on Walnut street adjoining the Friends' Almshouse, and erected a small dwelling in which was the chapel. Even in after years, when it was enlarged, it covered a lot only forty by forty feet, though in 1748 Kalm described it as " a great house, well adorned within, and has an organ." It soon excited attention, and it was brought in 1734 to the notice of two meetings of the Provincial Council, at which were present Thomas Penn and Lieutenant-Governor Gordon. They were doubtful whether, under the grant of freedom of religion by the Proprietary, it was lawful, or whether the laws of William III. extended to this country and made it unlawful. Nothing further appears to have been done; whether Gordon wrote to his superiors at home, as directed, does not appear. However, it gradually progressed
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without further molestation, though the congregation seems to have been very poor.
Father Greaton, who was succeeded in 1750 by Rev. Robert Harding, died in 1753, and left his property to his successor. One church succeeded another as the congregation grew larger until the present building, which is the fourth on the same spot. The third was torn down in 1838; it was a plain building, peb- ble-dashed on the exterior and whitewashed on the interior; it had a centre arch, with flat ceilings over the north and south aisles. In this church served Bishop Conwell, Revs. Harrold, Ryan, Cummisky, Donohue, and the celebrated John Hughes, for whom was built the cathedral of St. John's in Thirteenth street, and who afterward became archbishop.
The next church in order to St. Joseph's was at Old Goshen- hoppen, which originated in the mission of Rev. Theo. Scheider in 1741.
St. Mary's Church, on Fourth street above Spruce, is one of the oldest buildings in the city, being the second Romish church erected. It was built mainly by members of St. Joseph's, under Rev. Robert Harding. The ground was purchased in 1759-60, and the church erected in 1763 as a branch of St. Joseph's and a church of the Jesuits. It was enlarged in 1810, and became the cathedral church when the first bishop of Philadelphia, Right Rev. Michael Egan, was appointed. The diocese had formerly been under the control of Archbishop Carroll of Baltimore.
The Roman Catholic Church in this city was much exercised by a contest in St. Mary's Church in 1820. The Rev. William Hogan was appointed assistant minister of St. Mary's about April, 1820. He came from Limerick the year before, and settled at Albany, which diocese he left against the wishes of Bishop Con- nolly. He was very active in the church, building up the Sun- day-school and becoming a favorite with a large portion of the congregation. He preached a sermon in which his superior, Father de Barth, was attacked; he did not live at the parsonage, but elsewhere, and refused to do so at Bishop Conwell's order. The bishop deposed him. The congregation petitioned for his return and claimed the right to select their own clergyman, which the bishop still refused, and brought certain accusations against him. Hogan published several pamphlets in reply. An election for trustees took place in April, 1821, and the anti-bishop party was sustained. The bishop then excommunicated Hogan, but he, notwithstanding, ministered. The bishop's action was approved by the archbishop and the pope.
A few months after Bishop England came on from Charleston and effected a compromise between Bishop Conwell and Hogan; the latter was to go to Charleston. It fell through, however, and Bishop England re-excommunicated Hogan. Bishop Con- well appointed Rev. William V. Harold, a former pastor, who soon
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took active sides with the bishop, and thus alienated himself from the congregation.
At this time Matthew Carey wrote a pamphlet surveying both sides and blaming both-the bishop for violating the canons, and Mr. Hogan for being wilful and petulant. Mr. Carey proposed that the bishop should remove the excommunication, and Hogan should apologize and be associate pastor with Harold. This pamphlet produced a number on both sides, about twenty. Mr. Hogan was then tried for an assault and battery upon a female parishioner, in which eminent counsel was engaged on both sides, but he proved an alibi and was acquitted, the jury being out only five minutes. The Hogan party then attempted in the Supreme Court to have the charter amended, but it was twice refused.
At an election for trustees in April, 1822, the bishop's party went to the church at three o'clock in the morning and took pos- session of the burying-ground, and when the Hogan party arrived at seven o'clock there was a struggle for possession of the church, and heavy fighting took place; nor was the riot stopped till the officers of the peace put an end to it. Both parties then went into the church to hold the election, each party using an opposite side of the church. The Hogan party, claiming to be elected, held pos- session of the church, and the following Sunday the bishop's party of trustees were arrested. In May a compromise was effected on a new election to be held under the control of a Protestant um- pire. The two parties selected Horace Binney and Clement C. Biddle to name the umpire, and they selected General Thomas Cadwalader. At the June election he decided the Hogan party was elected by sixty majority.
Pope Pius VII. sent a decision, dated August 24th, 1822, against Mr. Hogan, who signed a note of submission, and the bishop agreed to withdraw the excommunication and restore him to the privileges of the Church. But Hogan retracted, on the plea it was not a true document from the pope, and Mr. Harold wrote hin sharply upon the subject. Various meetings were held here and in New York and Baltimore. The Hogan party then attempted to have an alteration of the charter made, but it was vetoed by Governor Hiester in March, 1823. Efforts were then made to effect a reconciliation with the bishop, but they failed.
The Hogan trustees next offered to place Rev. Angelo Inglesi in their pulpit, and that Mr. Hogan would resign. The bishop and Vicar-General Harold refused. At the election for trustees in 1823 the sheriff and the mayor were present with their force and prevented a riot. Each party claimed to have been elected, and on the 3d of April the bishop's party took possession without arms, but, strange to say, found quite an armory inside. Chief- Justice, Tilghman bound them over to answer a forcible-entry- and-detainer charge. It was suggested the church should remain in the hands of the mayor until the trial was decided ; then that
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it should be closed ; and finally that Aldermen Barker and Shoe- maker should hold possession, service to be held as usual. The verdict was found against the bishop's party, who carried it to the Supreme Court, but no decision seems to have been rendered, and the Hogan party remained in possession.
The trustees then entered into correspondence with Rev. Thad- deus J. O'Meally, and induced him to come over from England. He presented his papers, and desired the bishop to confirm him. The bishop refused. O'Meally preached, and was excommuni- cated, and, as Hogan had gone in November, 1823, to Ireland, continued to preach at St. Mary's. Hogan, when he left, said he would return, but the congregation, which was perhaps becoming tired of the contest by this time, declared that Hogan having left the church it was a virtual resignation as pastor. He came back in June, 1824, and some one having announced he would preach a charity sermon in the church, the trustees announced they had given him no authority to preach. Hogan replied very sharply. On his return from Ireland he had gone to Charleston.
In July, 1824, Hogan addressed his friends, and offered if they could get control of St. Mary's he would be their pastor and establish a church similar to the Greek Church-to be an Amer- ican Catholic church, independent of all others. He denounced the Romish Church and advocated marriage of the priesthood, as he was at that time contemplating it himself. He offered to ad- vance two thousand dollars to build a church, and do without salary until they could pay him. Nothing came of this, and his connection with St. Mary's was closed; and shortly after he preached in a Protestant church in Charleston.
Mr. Hogan, while on a visit to Charleston, S. C., met for the first time Mrs. Henrietta Mckay of Wilmington, N. C., a young and beautiful widow. Her maiden name was Henrietta Berry, her father, Mr. Berry of Wilmington, having married Miss Aneram of Charleston, S. C. She had been married, when quite young, to Mr. McKay, a merchant of Wilmington, who was many years her senior; and who died about three years after their marriage, leaving her a large estate. She had two children by her first husband, but one died while an infant; the other is still living in Wilmington. It has always been understood in Wilmington that Hogan abjured his religion for the purpose of marrying Mrs. McKay. She was exceedingly beautiful, and as amiable as beautiful-in every way most lovable. He proved to be utterly unworthy of her, treated her badly, and neglected her most shamefully. During her last illness he would absent him- self from her to attend the race-course and other places of amuse- ment, showing the utmost indifference to her in every possible way. It was charged at the time-and with truth-that he ap- propriated to his own use her watch and articles of jewelry, which he disposed of for his own benefit. She died within two
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years after her marriage with him, leaving no issue by him. She gave birth, the first year of her marriage, to a still-born infant, but had no more. Hogan's reputation in Wilmington is that of an unprincipled adventurer and a very bad man. He was a man of fine address and most cultivated manners, and well calculated to win the affections of a young and confiding woman. The family into which he married was a very prominent one in the State, and was identified with its early colonial history. He courted, it is said, a lady in New Jersey, whereupon her brother desired the pleasure of his absence. This was followed by Hogan sending a challenge to the brother to fight a duel, which was declined.
Hogan afterward went to Savannah, Georgia, about the year 1827, and was admitted to the bar. He practised law, and at the same time edited the Savannah Republican for some years. He was a violent and an indiscreet politician, and not unfrequent- ly got into difficulties with his opponents. He left Savannah in 1832. Hogan's reputation in Savannah was bad, although Judge Wayne and Judge Law, in a certificate furnished Hogan while a member of the Georgia bar, declare that " his standing among his brethren is that of a moral, upright, and honorable gentleman."
He married again, in Savannah, Mrs. Lydia White Gardner, the widow of a wealthy planter; she was a native of New Hamp- shire. After that he settled in Boston about 1842, and became a leader of the Native American party, although a native of Ire- land, encouraging the attacks upon his old sovereign the pope which were very popular at that time in Massachusetts. He ed- ited the Daily American, but the paper failed in 1843, and he removed to Nashua and boarded at the Indian Head Hotel, and wrote books against the Romish Church, and lectured in different cities. On one of these occasions he drank some water which he believed had been poisoned, and was never well afterward. He died Jan. 23, 1848, aged fifty-two years, and left considerable property to his wife, who died in 1875. It is hard to imagine a more varied career than was Hogan's.
After Hogan left the church, Mr. O'Meally had sharp discus- sions with the bishop. Finally, the trustees sent him to Rome, where he received no countenance, and was put under censure and signed a recantation. Many of the Hoganites left the church, and the quarrel was the most injurious to the Church in this country that has happened. The unyielding nature of the bishop, backed by Mr. Harold, a learned but proud and big- oted man, had much to do with the unfortunate affair.
St. Augustine's .- This church, on Fourth street above Race, was dedicated in 1801; the present church is 62 feet by 125 feet, with a steeple 188 feet high. The former church was burned in the Native American riots on the 8th of May, 1844, and rebuilt in 1846. With the church was destroyed Rush's masterpiece of wood-sculpture, the Crucifixion, besides the old clock and bel:
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which had been formerly on the State House, and which, in 1826, when the front was improved, had been placed in a cupola erected for them; it was done through the exertions and sub- scriptions of a number of those living in the neighborhood and desirous of having a clock.
Nicholas Fagan, who both designed and built the first church of St. Augustine-1796-1801-was a man of marked ability as an architect, and was at that time thought to be one of the best in this country. A member of a well-known Dublin family of that name, he came in early boyhood to Philadelphia, where a part of his relatives had preceded him a number of years. He was carefully educated, and chose the profession of an architect and builder. He designed and built many of the buildings erected in the Philadelphia of that day. Nicholas Fagan was a strikingly handsome man, of pleasing manners and address. He died in early manhood. The late John Fagan, the stereotyper, was his son. There was much difficulty in obtaining funds for the erection of the church. The Revolution had left the country so poor that the " hard times " mended but slowly. Still, money came in, in moderate sums, continuously. Among the many con- tributors to the building-fund were General Washington, Com- modore Barry, Stephen Girard, George Meade, General Mont- gomery, and Matthew Carey. Captain John Walsh, the father- in-law of Nicholas Fagan, who after the Revolutionary War had entered the lumber business, donated to St. Augustine's church nearly all the lumber used in its construction.
THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.
P. 454 .- This has been pulled down, and a new church erected at Franklin and Wood streets, above Vine, on a part of their bury- ing-ground ; during its building they worshipped in the Academy, 1854-55. The church was opened in the morning by a sermon by Dr. Berg; afternoon, by the pastor, Dr. Schweinitz; in the even- ing, by Dr. Newton of St. Paul's (Episcopal), all of which were printed. Dr. Schweinitz afterward removed to Litiz.
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