History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 135

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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1431

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

thousand dollars were pledged toward this object at this meeting, one person engaging to subscribe twenty thousand dollars of that sum. Subscription books were opened, and a committee on facts and plans was appointed. In answer to a public call a large meeting was held, in the hall at the corner of Broad and Arch Streets, on Feb. 28, 1871, to consider the subject, at which Hon. Daniel M. Fox was chosen president ; William Musser, Joseph Jones, George K. Ziegler, W. L. Schaffer, Dr. John Rommel, S. Gross Fry, Dr. H. E. Goodman, Frederick Graff, and John R. Baker, vice-presidents; and P. A. Keller, W. W. Kurtz, Joel G. Baily, Charles E. Blumner, and C. D. Norton, secretaries.

The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. C. P. Krauth, and addresses were delivered by Mayor Fox, Dr. Seiss, and Dr. Krauth. Three lots were purchased at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, front- ing seventy-five feet on Arch Street with a depth of one hundred and thirty-nine feet on Broad Street. The corner-stone was laid Nov. 28, 1871, and the Sunday-school room was dedicated and occupied Dec. 25. 1873. The first service was held in the lecture- room on Oct. 11, 1874, and the church was dedicated Feb. 17, 1875, at which time one hundred and fifty- nine persons were enrolled as members. On the 20th the congregation was regularly incorporated. The present membership of the church is two hundred and sixty-five.

The church is built of greenstone, variegated with light sandstone and stone of other colors. The style of architecture is the Florid German Gothic. The square tower at the northeast corner rises from the pavement, in the castellated style, to the height of ninety-two feet. The main audience-room is one hundred and twelve by seventy feet. On the Arch Street front the main building is relieved by a covered arcade, the arches being supported by polished stone pillars. The interior is very rich, and the cost of the lots, building, organ, and furniture was two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The pastor is Rev. Joseph A. Seiss, D.D.

Emanuel's Congregation is an offshoot of St. Michael's and Zion Church. The mother-church in 1864 purchased the building known as Robert Reicke's school-house, on Sixth Street, below Chris- tian, and fitted up the upper story for a parochial school, with three teachers, for the use of the chil- dren of the parish. The lower story was used by the members in the neighborhood for church service. Zion's congregation, having been authorized by the Legislature of Pennsylvania to sell their valuable ground on Eighth Street above Race, voted to their Southwark members forty thousand dollars for the erection of a church. Thereupon, Rev. H. Grahn was called in July, 1866, and organized Emanuel's (German) Lutheran congregation. In 1867 a lot was purchased at the southeast corner of Fourth and Carpenter Streets, for fourteen thousand dollars, and

in 1868 the corner-stone of the new church was Jaid. The building was dedicated on July 4, 1869, Rev. J. W. Mann, D.D., preaching the dedicatory sermon. The edifice is of brick, with brownstone trimmings. It has a front of one hundred and six feet, and a depth of sixty-four feet, with a tower one hundred and ninety feet high, and clock and a chime of three bells. The lot and improvements cost eighty-six thousand two hundred dollars. In 1872 the congregation erected a parsonage on a portion of the church lot, at a cost of six thousand five hun- dred dollars. The church has also a parochial school, with two teachers, and Sunday-school, with four hundred children and thirty-eight teachers. The church membership (in 1884) is seven hundred. Rev. H. Grahn, who organized the congregation, is still its pastor.

Zion (German) Church, on Franklin Street, above Race, is another fine Lutheran Church. It is built of brownstone, and has a steeple one hundred and eighty-six feet high. The corner-stone was laid May 10, 1869, and the building was dedicated on the 11th of September, 1870. This is the original Zion con- gregation which removed from Fourth and Cherry Streets.

St. Paul's (German) Church, at the corner of St. John and Brown Streets, is an offshoot of Zion Church. The present site of the church was first occupied as a mission early in the present century, but in 1840 a church edifice was erected and occu- pied by St. Paul's congregation, under the minis- terial charge of the pastor of Zion Church. It was dedicated Dec. 13, 1840, and being struck by light- ning, it was partially destroyed by fire July 16, 1847. It was repaired at a cost of fourteen thousand dollars, and is still in use. On the 14th of April, 1869, St. Paul's congregation became a separate organization, having its own pastor and council. In the fall of 1868, Rev. Emil Reiche, of Würtemberg, was chosen as their pastor, and began his labors as soon as the church was officially organized. He was not in sym- pathy with the Lutheran Synod, and remained until July, 1870, a portion of his congregation, under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Reiche, forming a new or- ganization, under the name of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Independent. The latter erected a church at the corner of Fourth and Canal Streets. It is at present under the charge of Rev. G. J. Müller. A number of the old St. Paul's congregation adhered to their church, and called Rev. F. Wischan to the pastorate in September, 1870. He accepted, and at once entered upon the discharge of his duties, and is still pastor. The church has a membership of about four hundred persons, and a Sunday-school of eight hundred pupils. The parochial school adjoining the church is attended by four teachers, and has two hundred and twenty pupils.

The Lutherans have the following church organiza- tions in this city in 1884:

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Committee of General Council on Foreign Missions. President, Rev.

A. Spaeth, D.D .; English Secretary, Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D.D .; German Secretary, Rev. F. Wischan ; Treasurer. William H.

Staake. Meets in Seminary on the fourth Monday of each month. Theological Seminary, Nos. 212 and 214 Franklin Street. Faculty, Rev. C. W. Schaeffer, D.D., Rev. W. J. Mann, D.D., Rev. Henry E. Jacobs, D.D., Rev. A. Spaeth, D.D.

Board of City Missions. President, Rev. H Grahn ; English Secretary,

L. L. Houpt ; German Secretary, John C. File.

Orphans' Home, Main Street, above Carpenter, Germantown. President, Henry Lehman ; Secretary, Lewis L Houpt; Treasurer, John C. File ; Superintendent, Charles F. Kubule; German Transcribing Secretary, Rev. F. Wischan.

Lutheran Mission and Church Extension Society. President, Rev. S. Laird; Treasurer, Peter A. Keller; Secretary, William H. Staake.

Rev. J. Fry, D.D., Reading, Pa., Treasurer of German Evangelical Lu- theran Ministerinm of Pennsylvania and the Theological Seminary. William H. Staake, Esq., Treasurer of General Council.

The Lutheran, No. 117 North Sixth Street. Rev. G. W. Frederick, Busi- ness Agent.

Lutheran Observer, No. 524 Walnut Street. Editors, Rev. F. W. Conrad, D.D., Rev. V. L. Conrad, Ph.D., Rev. H. M. Bickel.

Publication Society, No. 42 North Nioth Street. President, Rev. Wil- liam M. Banm, D.D .; Superintendent, Il S. Boner.

English (General Council) .- Advent, Fifth Street, above Cumberland. Rev. J. F. C. Fluck.

Christ, corner of Main Street and Southampton Avenue, Chestnut Hill. Rev. Charles J. Ilirzel.

Holy Communion, southwest corner of Broad and Arch Streets, Rev. Joseph A Seiss, D.D.

St. John, Race Street, below Sixth. Rev. E. E. Sibole.

St. Luke, Fourth Street, above Girard Avenne. Rev. J. L. Sibole.

St. Mark, Spring Garden Street, above Thirteenth. Rev. Samuel Laird. St. Michael, corner of Main and Church Streets, Germantown, Rev. F. A. Kalıler.

St. Paul, Twenty-second Street, above Columbia Avenue. Vacaot.

St. Peter, Reed Street, east of Ninth. Rev. E. R. Cassady.

St. Stephen, Powelton Avenue, below Fortieth Street. Rev. W. Ash- mead Schaeffer.

Trinity, Rope Ferry Avenue, below Passyunk road. Rev. S. A. K. Francis.

German (General Council) .- Emanuel, corner of Fourth and Carpenter Streets. Rev. H. Grahn.

German, corner of Martin Street and Prospect Avenue.

Immanuel, corner of Tackawanna and Plum Streets, Frankford, Rev. Matthias Schimpf.

St. James, corner of Third Street and Columbia Avenue. Rev. F. W. Weiskotten.

St. John, corner of Fifteenth and Ogden Streets. Rev. A. Spaeth, D.D.

St. Michael, corner of Cumberland Street and Trenton Avenue. Rev. F. P. Bender.

St. Paul, northwest corner of St. John and Brown Streets. Rev. F. WischaD.

St. Peter, corner of Fifty-second and Myrtle Streets, West Philadelphin. St. Thomas, corner of Herman and Morton Streets, Germantown. Vacant.

Trinity Mission, Rising Sun. Rev. A. Linsz.

Zion, Franklin Street, above Race. Rev. William J. Mann, D.D .; Rev. J. E. Neidecker, assistant.

Independent Lutheran .- St. Paul, corner of Fourth and Canal Streets. Rev. G J. Müller.

Swedish (Augustona Synod) .- Swedish services for sailors. Home, 422 South Front Street.

Zion, Ninth Street, below Buttonwood. Sunday afternoon, Rev. C. J. Petri.

Germin ( Missouri Synod) .- St. John, corner of Wharton and Barlow Streets. Rev. O. Scbroeder.

English (General Synod) -Calvary, southeast corner of Forty-third and Aspen Streets. Rev. Samuel A. Holman.

Grace, corner of Thirty-fifth and Spring Garden Streets. Rev. . J. H. Mentges.

Memorial, hall, 2529 Ridge Avenue. Rev. J. R. Williams.

Messiah, corner of Sixteenth und Jefferson Streets. Rev. E. Huber.

St. Matthew, northwest corner of Broad and Mount Vernon Streets. Rev. William M. Baum, D. D.

Trinity, cornet ut Main and Queen Streets, Germantown. Rev. Luther E. Albert, D.D.

"THE NEW CHURCH" (NEW JERUSALEM, OR SWEDEN- BORGIAN).

The earliest promulgation of Swedenborg's doc- trines in America was made in a course of lectures in Philadelphia by James Glen, of Scotland. They were delivered in a hall over Bell's bookstore, South Third Street, adjoining St. Paul's Church, in June, 1784. Notice of the lectures was given in the daily papers. Many prominent citizens attended, among whom were Miers Fisher, lawyer ; John Young, a student-at-law, afterward Judge Young ; and Francis Bailey, printer and publisher. Mr. Glen brought with him from Scotland several of Swedenborg's books, which had been translated from the Latin into English. Copies of these books came into the hands of Mr. Bailey, who printed several of them, among which were the following: In 1787, " A Summary View of the Doctrines of the New Church ;" in 1789, "The True Christian Religion," in two volumes octavo; and in 1796, "Conjugial Love," one volume octavo. Among the names published with the edi- tion of "The True Christian Religion," as subscrib- ers to that work, are to be found those of three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, viz., -Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and Thomas McKean.

A number of those who had become interested in Swedenborg's writings held meetings at the residence of Mr. Bailey, No. 116 High | Market] Street, for read- ing and conversation, and subsequently for worship. In 1794, Rev. William Hill, an English clergyman, who had been ordained by Mr. Hindmarsh, came to the United States, and preached the doctrines of the New Church in Philadelphia and at other places. He re- turned to England in 1804. In time the meetings be- came too large for Mr. Bailey's residence, and in 1808 were removed to the school-room of Johnson Taylor, No. 37 Cherry Street, where they were held until 1815, when the receivers of New Church doctrines took meas- ures for effecting a permanent organization, changing their place of meeting to the school-room of Maskell M. Carll, No. 226 Arch Street, who acted as lay reader to the congregation which met there every Sunday for worship.

On the 25th of December, 1815, the organization was effected under the title of the American So- ciety for Disseminating the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, by the following-named twelve gentlemen : Daniel Thunn, William Schlatter, John- son Taylor, William Kneass, Maskell M. Carll, Job Harrison, John K. Graham, John Hunt, Condy Ra- guet, Charles Beywroth, John Sterling, of Glasgow, Scotland, and William Barton, of New York. On the 1st of January, 1816, there were added Francis Bailey, Daniel Groves, Frederick Eckstein, and William Strickland. On the same day the organization was completed by the election of the following officers : President, Jonathan W. Condy; Vice-President, William Schlatter ; Treasurer, Daniel Thunn; Re-

1433

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

cording Secretary, William Kneass ; Corresponding Secretary, Condy Raguet.

Jonathan W. Condy was a member of the bar in excellent standing. He was a successful maritime and prize lawyer, and was employed in many im- portant cases. In 1810 he edited, with American references, Samuel Marshall's "Treatise on Insur- ance." William Strickland was the well-known architect, who did more in his time than any of his professional contemporaries in beautifying the city. He was born in Philadelphia in 1787, and studied under Latrobe. The Bank of the United States, the Mint, the Merchants' Exchange, and other public buildings, besides many churches and residences, were his work.

William Schlatter was a very successful merchant, and was thought to possess great wealth. He was established in business before 1805 as a merchant at No. 129 High Street, near Fourth. He built, about the year 1815, the fine, large, double mansion on the south side of Chestnut Street, east of Thirteenth. He lost his property, and died Jan. 10, 1827. Daniel Thunn's bookstore was in Sixth Street below Market ; William Kneass was an engraver at No. 8 South Eighth Street; Johnson Taylor was a school-teacher, as was Maskell M. Carll; Daniel Groves was one of the leading brick-layers and contractors of the time; John Hunt, the coach-builder, was at No. 60 Zane Street [now Filbert] ; Frederick Eckstein was a dis- tiller ; John K. Graham, a grocer ; and Job Harrison, a shoemaker. Condy Ragnet was one of the best- known politicians and writers of the time, a native of Philadelphia, and born in 1784. He made two voyages to the West Indies, and in 1805 published " A Short Account of San Domingo, and a Circum- stantial Account of the Massacre there." He was one of the founders of the Philadelphia Savings- Fund Society, was president of the Pennsylvania Company for Granting Annuities, etc., and at one time was president of the Chamber of Commerce.

In 1815 he was elected a member of the State As- ! in 1880, transferring its property to the First Society, sembly, and in 1818 a State senator. In 1822 he was then worshiping at Broad and Brandywine Streets. appointed consul to Rio Janeiro, and afterward made chargé d'affaires. He remained in that country for five years. Mr. Ragnet was a prominent writer on political economy, and published several important books and pamphlets on banking and the currency. In the latter part of his life he was editor and pub- lisher of the Philadelphia Gazette. He died in 1842.

In 1816 the society secured a lot of ground at the corner of Twelfth and George [ now Sansom | Streets, containing ninety feet on Twelfth Street, and ninety- nine feet on George Street, and at once proceeded to the erection of a house of worship.

The corner-stone was laid with appropriate services on June 6, 1816. The building being finished in the course of the year, the Rev. John Hargrove, of Bal- timore, ordained Maskell M. Carll as minister and pastor, and on the 1st day of January, 1817, the new

temple was consecrated with solemn services by the Revs. Messrs. Hargrove and Carll. The society con- tinued to worship here until 1824, when severe com- mercial reverses among the members compelled the sale of their temple and their removal to other quar- ters. Their meetings for worship were for some years afterward held in Mr. Carll's school-room, Arch Street above Seventh, but were at length discontinued for a period. The society, however, did not abandon its organization. In 1840 a hall was rented, and the Rev. Richard de Charms invited to become its minis- ter. He was succeeded by Rev. William H. Benade, formerly a preacher of the Moravian faith, and son of Bishop Benade, of the Moravian Church.

In 1853 the society purchased ground at the corner of Broad and Brandywine Streets, and erected a church thereon, which it occupied until the fall of 1882, when it was sold to the Spring Garden Unitarian Society.

In 1822 another society, known as the Second Phil- adelphia Society of the New Church, was formed. In that year the Rev. Manning B. Roche, pastor of Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, having become a receiver of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, tendered his resignation to the bishop, and on the following Sunday made a public resignation of his charge, in an affectionate address to his con- gregation. A number followed him, and thus laid the foundation for the Second Philadelphia Society. The first meetings were held in Commissioners' Hall, South Second Street, above Christian.

This society purchased a lot on Fourth Street, below German, and erected a house of worship, which was dedicated on the 25th of October, 1829. Mr. Roche remained the pastor for several years, during most of which time he attracted large audiences. After his resignation and removal from the city the congregation, from various canses, was gradually reduced in numbers, until at length it ceased to hold public services. The society was virtually dissolved

Rev. William H. Benade was pastor of the first society until the year 1854, when he resigned, and, in connection with some of the members who were in harmony with certain views of church order which he entertained, formed a third society, and built a small honse of worship in Cherry Street, west of Twentieth. This society, known as the Society of the Advent, is still in existence. Rev. Louis HI. Tafel is the minister.

There is also a New Church Society in Frankford. This society was organized more than fifty years ago, and was for a long period of time, and until fris death, under the pastoral charge of Rev. James Seddon. There are quite a large number of receivers of Swedenborg's doctrines in Frankford. The minister of this society in 1884 was the Rev. J. W. MacPher- son.

1434

HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

In the first New Jerusalem Society Mr. Benade was succeeded by Rev. E. A. Beaman. Rev. B. F. Barrett, Rev. E. R. Keyes, and Rev. W. F. Pendleton subse- quently occupied the pulpit. In 1878, Rev. Chauncey Giles, who had been pastor of the New Church Society in the city of New York for fifteen years, was invited to become the pastor of the Philadelphia society, and accepted the call. Under his ministry it soon hegan to increase in numbers and activity. This growth continued until it became necessary to seek for larger accommodations. To this end a lot of ground at the corner of Chestnut and Twenty-second Streets was purchased in May, 1881, and the work of erecting a new house of worship and a suitable building for the Sunday-school, a free library and reading-room for social entertainments and for business meetings was commenced, and the work completed in the year 1883. On the 11th of March the main edifice was dedicated to the "worship of the Lord Jesus Christ in his Divine Humanity." The cost of the ground and buildings, when completed, was one hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars. No debt remained on the property when the church was dedicated, the mem- bers of the society having within the space of two years raised among them- selves nearly the whole of this large sum.

The buildings were de- signed by and erected under the supervision of Theophilus P. Chandler, architect. The lot of ground has a front of about one hundred and sixty-four feet on Twenty-second Street, and ninety- two feet on Chestnut Street. The church is placed on the northern end of the lot and is ninety-two feet by seventy-three, and the Sunday-school build- ing is on the eastern side and is about sixty-four feet by forty-two feet. By this arrangement a large lawn is left at the corner of the streets, which adds greatly to the beauty of the buildings. The grouping, as is shown in our illustration, is very successful ; the monotony of having the buildings directly upon the street is avoided, and a full view of two sides of each is obtained at once. The church can be entered from Twenty second Street or from Chestnut, either through the Sunday-school or across the lawn.

The church is in outline simple and dignified, belonging to the early English Gothic style of archi-

REV. MANNING B. ROCHE.

tecture of the thirteenth century. It is built without any clere-story, the church being spanned by one large truss. The orientation is correct, the chancel end facing east ; the south and north sides are broken with windows and gables, which have the appearance of transepts. At the southwestern corner a pictur- esque porch, vaulted with stone, gives entrance to the main edifice. This porch is in itself an architectural gem of much beauty, as it is something never done before in this city,-in fact it is only seen in the old cathedrals and churches abroad. The stone arches run up to a Gothic groin, of which there are very few examples in America. The roof, which is necessarily very high and wide, is relieved by graceful but simple pinnacles at the corners and between the windows. The roof is covered with red tiling. The material used in the construction of both edifices is Trenton and Newark brownstone, which has a soft, warm, pleasing color, eminently well suited for this pur- pose. On the interior the roof timbers are ex- posed, and the arches and piers at the east end are of finely-finished stone- work. At the right of the chancel is the robing- room and at the left a fine organ, which was built at the factory of H. L. Roosevelt, in Philadel- phia. The windows are filled with cathedral glass in graceful geometric forms, so arranged that in the future memorial windows may be substi- tuted. A striking feature of the windows is that the mullions are of heavy stone-work appropriately grooved and decorated, which give a very rich effect to the whole structure. The church will seat com- fortably about nine hundred people.

The Sunday-school building belongs to'a later style of Gothic architecture than the church. It is built of the same material and is two stories in height. The windows are peculiarly striking, the mullions here being also of stone and filled with glass leaded into the stone-work. There are no wooden frames either inside or outside. On the first floor is a ladies' parlor, infant-class room, free library and reading-room, and book-room for the sale and distribution of books and tracts. The second floor is the main Sunday-school hall, which has an open timber roof. A stone cloister connects the two buildings near the chancel end of the church. The interior of both the church and

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

1435

Sunday-school building is finished in hard woods, cherry being used in the church and butternut in the Sunday-school building.

The work of the society in making known the doc- trines of the New Church is, in one of its features, novel, but practical and business-like. It uses the press largely in order to supplement its pulpit work. Most of the pastor's sermons are printed, and on the Sundays after their delivery are handed by ushers to the congregation as it is leaving the church, each person being invited to take one or more copies. In this way from eight to twelve hundred neatly-printed discourses are taken away nearly every Sunday, read at home, and handed around to friends and neighbors.

an arrangement, at the very start, with the extensive publishing house of J. B. Lippincott & Co., of Phil- adelphia, to "print, publish, and circulate" its books, thus securing all the advantages of their large facili- ties for reaching the public. This arrangement still exists, and has, from the first, been entirely satisfac- tory to both parties. During the first year of its existence the cash receipts of the society, from volun- tary subscriptions, were $5384.95, and it stereotyped thirteen hundred and ninety-six pages, at a cost of $1938.82. In the second year (1867) the receipts were $3823.84. Stereotype plates of Swedenborg's " Heaven and Hell," "Divine Love and Wisdom," and a part of his "Divine Providence" were made, at a cost of

K.LITTLE PHILA

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH, CORNER OF CHESTNUT AND TWENTY-SECOND STREETS.

Over fifty thousand copies of Mr. Giles' sermons have, in this way, been distributed in a single year.

The American New Church Tract and Publica- tion Society has its headquarters in the Sunday- school building. This society was organized in 1866, and incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania. Its object, as stated in the constitution, "is to print and distribute tracts and other publications of a re- ligious character; also to stereotype New Church works, and to arrange, when practicable, with some leading house in the book-trade to print, publish, and circulate them through the ordinary channels of trade."

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 135

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