History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 112

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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" This corner-stone of a new church or meeting-house of the society styled The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Unitas Fratram, or United Brethren. adhering to the twenty-one doctrinal doctrines of the Angustan Confesses or Confession of Augsburg, erected on the site of the former church built in the year 1742, waa solemnly laid in the name of God the Father, God the Sou, and God the Holy Ghost." May 12, 1819.

1 Nazareth Hall and the boarding-school there, as well as the extended economy of the brethren, had been extremely prosperous, ontgrowing their carlier difficulties. Rev. C. G. Reichel, a graduate of the Moravian Theological Seminary in Barby (Saxony , became in 1785 principal of the school, and so remained till 1802; during these seventeen years one hun- dred and sixty-three pupils were taught there. Mr. Reichel was then made a bishop, and called to Salem, N. C., where the Moravians had set- tled in 1753. In 1818 he returned to Herrnhut Mr. Frueauff must have held an inspectorship over some other department at Nazareth, as Reichel's successor, Rev. Jacob Van Vleck, took immediate charge of the school, serving from 1802 until 1809. This gentleman was descended from an old Dutch family in New York, and during his administration the Moravian Theological Seminary was founded.

"Text appointed for the day in the Brethren's Church, 'I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord.'- Jeremialı xxx. 9.

"' Ye are the temple of the living God.'-2d Corinthians i. 16.

" Present number of members belonging to the congregation one hun- dred and fifty adults, of whom fifty are communicants; one hundred children ; total, two hundred and fifty."

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In order to suffer as little inconvenience as possi- ble, the southern portion of the building, which com- prised the original house for the church, was first torn down, and the new church building was erected upon its site. The old parsonage building, which fronted the church on Race Street, was left standing, to be used until the church was completed. The congregation removed for public worship to the old academy on Fourth Street, below Arch. The Eng- lish Lutheran congregation of St. Matthew's was worshiping there at the same time, and an amicable arrangement was made between the two congrega- tions, by which it was agreed that the Rev. Mr. Van Vleck should preach alternately with the Rev. Mr. Cruse, of St. Matthew's. The contractor for the building was Joseph Worrell, a member of the society. Its dimensions were forty-four by fifty-three feet. Mr. Van Vleck conducted the regular services of the day, preaching from 1 Kings, chapter ix., verse 3. In the afternoon there were further services, in which the Rev. Dr. Broadhead, of the Dutch Re- formed Church, and Dr. Helmuth, of St. Michael's and Zion's Lutheran Churches, took part. In the evening the Rev. Mr. Cruse, of St. Matthew's Eng- lish Lutheran Association, and Mr. Helfenstein, of the German Reformed Church, assisted Mr. Van Vleck. There were also present Bishop White, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Rev. Drs. Shaefer and Mayer, of the Lutheran Church.

The building cost about ten thousand dollars, one half of which was the gift of Godfrey Haga. Ritter says, in his description of the building,-

" The front entrance of the church was guarded by a small vestibule of about five feet in depth and teu in breadth, leaving a door at each side opening to the stairway of the galleries, as well as to the area below ; but for the more convenient egresa of the congregation, a large folding- door formed the centre of the partition. The elevation of the building was two feet six inches, leaving only space below for a current of air. A cellar was objected to, lest at eome future period it might be let for the storage of malt or apirituous liquors. The height of the build- ing was twenty-nine feet to the eaves, and thirty-six feet to the apex. The interior arrangement waa plain and unadorned. The pulpit was a meagre apology for a sightly roetrum."

The side galleries were nine feet wide; the organ gallery twelve feet. A new organ, which cost twelve hundred dollars, was placed in position in 1825, E. N. Scherr builder; the old organ, which had cost four hundred dollars, being taken in part payment. The first organ the church had bought was in 1797, of Peter Kuntz, organist of Christ Church, and was in use till 1809, when it was exchanged with John Shermer for one of four stops, which cost four hun- dred dollars, valuing the old organ, which was taken in part payment, at one hundred and twenty dollars, thus requiring only two hundred and eighty dollars in cash. This organ remained until after the erection of the new church, in 1819. The organists between 1800 and 1825 were Frederick Boller, John Boller, Jacob Boller, and Abraham Ritter, who served from 1817 to 1843.

on Race Street was torn down, and a passage through from Race Street was opened. On each side of this space was built a three-story brick house for the church home, one of them being the residence of the pastor. In 1822, Mr. Van Vleck was called to the in- spectorship of Nazareth Hall. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Reinke, who served until December, 1822. He preached his valedictory sermon Novem- ber Sth, from Acts xx. 18. He was succeeded by Rev. John G. Herman, who was in charge of the con- gregation in 1825.

During this quarter-century there were changes in the officers of the church. The standing committee -analogous to the vestry or trustees in other churches -was composed in 1800 of Isaac Smallwood, Jacob Ritter, Sr., and Jacob Frank. From 1803 to 1809 it consisted of Conrad Gerhardt, Godfrey Haga, Jacob Frank, Jacob Ritter, Sr., John Jordan, and John Boller. In 1809 there was a vacancy caused by the death of John Boller, and Benjamin Lyndall was chosen to fill it. Conrad Gerhardt died in 1814, and his place was filled by the election of Jacob Ritter, Jr., in 1817. In 1821 Adam Neiss replaced Jacob Frank, deceased. He was expelled in the succeeding year, and Joseph Lyndall was elected in his place. In 1825, Joseph Lyndall and Godfrey Haga being dead, John W. Peter and George Esler were elected. Benjamin Lyndall died in 1818, and Thomas C. Leu- ders was chosen in his place. The secretaries of the committee were as follows: 1794-1802, Frederick Boller ; 1802-9, John Boller; 1809-18, Jacob Ritter, Jr .; 1818-25, John Wise Peters. The treasurers of the church were: from 1795-1814, Conrad Ger- hardt; from 1814-15, William Gerhardt; and from 1815-34, Jacob Ritter, Jr. The stewards after Thomas Barton, who served from 1785 to 1792, were: Conrad Gerhardt, 1792-1814; William Gerhardt, 1814-15; John Jordan, 1815-36.

The collector of the sustentation fund from 1793 to 1823 was Jacob Ritter, Sr. The almoners were, from 1788 to 1815, Conrad Gerhardt, and from 1815 to 1836, William Gerhardt. The superintendent of the burial-ground from 1812 to 1818 was Benjamin Lyndall, and from 1818 to 1825, and afterward, Jacob Ritter, Jr.

Jacob Frank, the chapel servant, who was ap- pointed in 1787, served until his death, Nov. 26, 1819, he being then above the age of seventy-six years. Jacob Ritter, Sr., was also chapel servant from 1787 to 1819. They were assisted in those positions be- tween 1801 and 1804 by Zachariah Poulson, father of Zachariah Poulson, publisher of the Daily Advertiser. Poulson, Sr., was a native of Denmark, and was born at Copenhagen, June 16, 1737. His father, Nicholas Poulson, brought him to America in 1749, settling in Germantown, where he died a few years afterward. Zachariah was placed as an apprentice with Christo- pher Sauer, printer, in Germantown. He married

After the church was dedicated the old parsonage . Anna Barbara, daughter of Andrew Stollenberger,

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formerly of Lindenbach, near Wertheim-Leibenstein, in Germany. Zachariah Poulson died in Philadel- phia, June 4, 1804. He was succeeded as chapel ser- vant by Jacob Ritter, who served for many years. In 1820, Adam Neiss took this office, but was expelled from the church in the same year, and George Ritter was elected in 1820. He served many years after- ward.

Godfrey Haga, long a member of this congregation, died in 1825. He had disposed of one hundred thou- sand dollars in charitable gifts in the nine years pre- vious to his death. In his will, after bequests to relatives and friends, amounting to more than fifty thousand dollars, he bequeathed two thousand dol- lars to the Church of the United Brethren, six thou- sand dollars to the bishop at Bethlehem, to be divided among superannuated preachers and their widows, and twenty-five thousand dollars were bequeathed to benevolent institutions in Philadelphia. The residue of his estate was bequeathed to the Society of the United Brethren for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen, of which he was a member, the interest on twenty thousand dollars of that amount to be expended at Nazareth Hall in edu- cating pious young men for the gospel ministry and for missionary purposes; the residue for the "pur- pose of enlarging the schools in the Indian country of North America and elsewhere, for furnishing and providing books, diet, and clothing for such children whose parents are unable to supply them, and for the instruction of persons as schoolmasters and school- mistresses in the seminaries of Nazareth and Bethle- hem." The value of this residue thus disposed of was two hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

A number of the earliest members of the church died during this period. John Adam Goos, born in 1712, probably one of the "original thirty-four," whose names are not all recorded, died Nov. 28, 1804, aged ninety-two. George Schlosser died Feb. 25, 1802, aged eighty-seven ; Conrad Gerhardt, Feb. 24, 1815, aged seventy-five; John Cornman, June 22, 1794; Isaac Smallwood, Jan. 7, 1811, aged fifty-six ; John F. Boller, Nov. 24, 1802, aged thirty-five; Abram Frank, Nov. 26, 1819, aged seventy-six. In 1805 the burial-ground at Lawrence and Vine Streets was sur- rounded with a strong brick wall, as the street had been graded several feet below the natural surface.

In November, 1817, the congregation received an elegant piece of plate for the baptismal rite, inscribed " Unitas Fratrum, Philadelphia." It was the gift of an unknown lady, who sent it with a note, unsigned, begging its acceptance. A set of silver plate for communion service was presented by Capt. James King in 1820, and is still in use. The first Sunday- school was opened at the church Feb. 26, 1820, with about seventy scholars. A Bible class for men was opened Oct. 24, 1821, and was held weekly.

The church built in 1819 was soon found to be inconveniently located, and in some other respects

not suited to the needs of the congregation. In the spring of 1853 the sale of the old premises was ordered, and also that a new church be built on some new site. The lot so long occupied as a burial-ground seemed to fulfill the requirements, and was adopted. March 7, 1854, the property at the corner of Race and Bread Streets was sold for sixteen thousand dol- lars at public auction. Thus the home and birthplace of Moravianism in Philadelphia passed into secular hands after one hundred and twelve years of use by the "Unitas Fratrum." The sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars was paid for ground sufficient to extend the cemetery lot to the corner of Franklin and Wood, and for a brick house already occupying the corner. The house was demolished, and April 30, 1855, the corner-stone of the new edifice was laid by Bishop Wolle, aided by the pastor, Rev. E. A. de Schweinitz, Brethren Bohnsen, Schultz, and others, besides Dr. Mayer, of the English Lutheran, and Revs. J. Berg and Bomberger, of the German Re- formed, Churches. On the 26th of January the church was formally dedicated. The building com- mittee consisted of Abraham Ritter, Jacob E. Hagert, Charles L. Bute, and Francis Jordan. The dimen- sions of the building were fifty-five by eighty feet. This church, like its predecessor, stands on classic ground. A portion of its site had been for one hun- dred and twenty years in Moravian hands, and here, in the midst of trade and commerce, rests the hal- lowed dust of the elders and the founders of the church. On the 25th of November, 1883, one hun- dred and forty-one years had passed since Moravians met in their own church in Philadelphia.

We have said that the present church building is at the south west corner of Wood and Franklin Streets, and open to Vine Street. The principal room has space for five hundred worshipers. The basement floor has a vestibule, Sunday-school room, minister's room, apartment for " love-feast" arrangements, and other conveniences. The organ is eighteen feet front, eight feet deep, and twenty-nine feet high, and cost two thousand dollars. The furniture is neat and worthy of the place.

The more recent changes in pastorate and commit- tees must be noted. It was in 1822 that Rev. W. H. Van Vleck was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Renike, who served one year, and was followed by Rev. John G. Hermann, who went to Lancaster in 1826. Rev. Peter Wolle then took charge until 1836, and Rev. David Bigler, from Antigua, followed, until 1842. Rev. Henry A. Schults served from Sept. 1, 1842, to June, 1844, and Rev. William H. Benade till No- vember. 1844. From the month of November Rev. Emanuel Rondthaler supplied the pulpit until Nov. 30, 1848, when his death occurred, and Rev. Edward Reichel filled the gap until April, 1849. Rev. Ed- ward Rondthaler then assumed the pastorate until August, 1853, when Rev. Edmund A. De Schweinitz took charge.

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In the church committees the changes up to 1825 have been given already. In 1830, Abraham Klewel was chosen in place of J. W. Peter, deceased. In 1834 the tenure for life or good-behavior plan was changed to an election for a term of three years. The first committee consisted of Brothers John Jordan, John Binns, Valentine Hent, Thomas C. Lueders, Charles L. Bute, and Abraham Ritter. In 1837, Charles Williams took the place of Valentine Hent. In the election of 1840 the latter returned to office, and William Boller took Mr. Lueders' place. In 1843, Joseph Cake and Thomas W. Jones took the places of Mr. Bute and Mr. Williams. The board of 1846 was as follows : George Esler, William Boller, John Binns, A. B. Renshaw, Frederick Wilhelm, Alexander Leimer. In 1847 the church was incor- porated, and the standing committee called elders. The election of 1849 chose A. B. Renshaw, T. W. Jones, Philip A. Cregar, Charles Williams, Alex- ander Smith, and Frederick Bourquin. In 1862, Abraham Ritter took Mr. Williams' place on the committee, and in 1855 Mr. Bourquin and Mr. Jones retired in favor of Charles Williams and C. L. Bute.

The stewardship was held by Thomas C. Lueders, 1836-38 ; Charles L. Bute, 1838-42; Valentine Hent, 1842-45; Thomas W. Jones, 1845-46; Frederick Wilhelm, 1846-49. The secretaryship was held by Henry J. Boller, 1825-33; John P. Binns, 1833-36; Abraham Ritter, 1836-40; William Bollar, 1840-47. The almoners were William Gerhard, 1836-46; F. Wilhelm, 1846-49; A. B. Renshaw, 1849-52; Abraham Ritter, 1852.

THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.1

Before entering fairly upon a sketch of the history of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, it may be said that, as it is at present organized, this denomination may be viewed from two different points,-i.e., the civil and political, or the strictly eccle- siastical. The parishes are organized bodies incorpo- rated under the State laws, and practically they are, in many respects, the sources of all power. They form the primary constituencies of the church. A number of citizens wishing to establish a parish organize themselves, and apply to the civil authorities for a charter, and if there are no legal hindrances they become duly incorporated. By a vote of the Diocesan Convention they are "admitted into union with the diocese," and acquire the right to send three lay members as deputies to represent the parish in the Episcopal Convention. They elect their own rectors. The clergy have seats in the Convention by right of their orders, and many of them have no parochial connection. The clergy represent them- selves ; the parishes are represented by the lay depu- ties. In any important matter the vote is taken in

the Convention "by orders," and a majority of the clergy and a majority of the laity (and in some cases the consent of the bishop) is necessary to the approval of the proposed action. This principle of a distinct recognition of the rights of the laity runs through all the higher deliberative councils of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and has done so from its first or- ganization after the war for independence.

In the other, the strictly ecclesiastical view, the bishops are the source of power. They alone can lawfully ordain the clergy, who in turn administer the sacraments of the church. Bishop Bedell says, "No historical record of a succession of civil govern- ments is so perfect as is the proof of the perpetuation of the Episcopate in Christ's Church, by a succession of consecrators, dating back to the Apostles' days."

No attempt has ever been made to establish in Phil- adelphia parochial boundaries, the whole city being the- oretically regarded as the joint parish of all the rectors of the churches in the city limits. For a few years, about 1855, an informal division of the city into paro- chial divisions was made, for the purpose of systemat- ically distributing relief to the poor, through the Epis- copal Aid Society (which has long ceased to exist), but it was altogether informal and temporary. Quite recently, to avert the evils of the erection of rival churches near each other, a canon was passed, for- bidding, under ordinary circumstances, the erection of a church in a new locality without the consent of the rectors of the three churches nearest to the pro- posed new site. This canon has accomplished its object, doubtless, but has practically proved some- thing of a hindrance to the rapid growth and exten- sion of the church. Something like parochial metes and bounds will doubtless ultimately be established.

The Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia has always comprised a large number of persons of wealth and prominent social position. It has re- ceived, not only into the ranks of its clergy but also into its general membership, large and valuable addi- tions from those who by birth and early training were affiliated with other religious bodies. The United States census of 1880 gives the Protestant Episcopal Church in the country at large almost the largest percentage of comparative increase during the pre- ceding decade, and this steady and rapid growth is largely accounted for by additions from those of other denominations.

To all who are identified with the Protestant Epis- copal Church the Episcopate is the centre of influence and government. The bishop is placed in such pecu- liar relations to all the souls in his diocese, and to all associations, authoritative assemblages, and institu- tions of the diocese, that very much of the church history will naturally centre around him, and the life and activities of the church and the life and labors of the bishop run parallel and are closely in- terwoven. This was to an unusual degree the case with Bishop William White. He took so prominent

1 The history of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia was contributed by Rev. Washington B. Erben.

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

a part in the affairs of the church at a critical period 1770, in the ship "Britannia." He was received in England by his aunts, Miss White and Mrs. Weeks. There were several obstacles in the way of his se- curing immediate ordination. He was not yet quite in its history, he was so influential in arranging its orders, discipline, doctrine, and worship, and his life was so prolonged in the high station to which he was called, and which he so honorably filled, that his per- , twenty-three, the canonical age for ordination, and sonal labors and influence are apparent in much of the early history of the church.

He held a prominent position in the church at large, and his influence was widely felt. But Phila- delphia was his home, and here most of his work was performed, and no general history of this city would be complete that did not notice his life and labors.

The Rt. Rev. William White, D.D., the " Father of the American Church," was the son of Col. Thomas and Mary White, and was born in Philadelphia, March 26, 1748.1 He pursued bis studies and re- ceived his earlier education in the preparatory depart- ment and the grammar school connected with the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), and grad- uated at the age of seven- teen. At that early age he had already decided to de- vote himself to the ministry of the church. For several years he pursued his theo- logical studies under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Peters and the Rev. Dr. Duché. He took special interest and pleasure in a course of theological exer- cises, in which four other young men looking for- ward to the ministry joined with him, under the direc- tion of the Rev. Dr. Wil- liam Smith, provost of the college. During the Sunday evenings of a few months, for several successive years, these young men wrote out and delivered notes and exegeses upon Bible history. These exercises having been first submitted to the provost, were then delivered in public, in the hall of the old college, two speakers in turn each evening, the provost at the conclusion enlarging npon the themes discussed hy the young men. The bishop says, " Although this was far from being a complete course of ecclesiastical studies, it called to a variety of reading and to a concentration of what was read, and was also of use as an introduction to public speaking."

There was no bishop in America, and to obtain orders he sailed from Chester for London on Oct. 15,

he was not a graduate of either Oxford or Cambridge. The archbishop of Canterbury granted a faculty or dispensation for his ordination infra atatem, and he passed so successful an examination, as to his learn- ing, before the bishop and three clergymen, that the examining chaplain said, "that his examination would have been an honor to either of the univer- sities."

He was ordained deacon on Dec. 23, 1770, in the Chapel Royal of St. James' Palace, Westminster, by Dr. Philip Yonge, Bishop of Norwich, acting for the Bishop of London. He re- mained in England until he reached the canonical age of twenty-four years, requisite to his ordination to the priesthood. He per- formed no clinical duties, but pursued his studies, visited several parts of Eng- land, and spent some weeks at Oxford. On April 25, 1772, he was advanced to the priesthood by Dr. Richard Terrick, Bishop of London. The English col- onies in America were then under the Episcopal juris- diction of the Bishop of London, and after his ordi- uation the bishop licensed the Rev. Mr. White to officiate in Pennsylvania. He sailed from England in June, on the ship " Penn- sylvania Packet," Capt. Os- borne, and after a tedious voyage reached Philadel- phia on the 19th of September, 1772.

BISHOP WILLIAM WHITE.

The Rev. Richard Peters, rector of the united churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, asked the vestry to secure the services of two assist- ants, as the work was too great for himself and the Rev. Mr. Duché, and suggested the appointment of the Rev. William White and bis friend and college- mate, the Rev. Thomas Coombe. The rector con- sented to give to each of the assistants one hundred pounds per annum, in addition to any sum given by the vestry, and on Nov. 30, 1772, the Rev. Mr. White entered upon his duties as an assistant minister in the united, churches, at a stipend of one hundred and fifty pounds per annum. This was the commence- ment of his connection with this parish, which con- tinued unbroken for sixty-four years. The Rev. Dr.

1 He was baptized in Christ Church on May 25, 1748, by the Rev. Dr. Jenney.

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Peters died July 10, 1776. The Rev. Jacob Duché, a native of Philadelphia, who had been the popular and acceptable assistant in the United Churches since 1759, was elected rector. Mr. Duché left for England in 1777, where, ten years after, in 1787, he witnessed in Lambeth Chapel the consecration of his former assistant, successor, and friend as bishop of the com- monwealth of Pennsylvania.

At the commencement of the war of independence the Rev. Mr. White at once esponsed the cause of the colonists. On the very day on which independence was declared the vestry of the United Churches re- quested the rector and assistant ministers to "omit those petitions in the liturgy wherein the king of Great Britain is prayed for," and he acquiesced in their action. In 1776 he took the required oath of allegiance to the United States. Rev. Dr. Bird Wil- son, in his "Life of Bishop White," says of him, " When he went to the court-house for the purpose a gentleman of his acquaintance, standing there, ob- serving his design, intimated to him by a gesture the danger to which he would expose himself. After having taken the oath he remarked, before leaving the court-house, to the gentleman alluded to, ' I per- ceive by your gesture that you thought I was exposing my neck to great danger by the step which I have taken ; but I have not taken it without full delibera- tion. I know my danger, and that it is greater upon account of my being a clergyman of the Church of England. But I trust in Providence. The cause is a just one, and I am persuaded will be protected."

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 112

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992