Independent Congregational Church. On the 18th of September, 1785, an Independent Meeting House " was erected, and a congregation regularly incorporated with the following officers: John Matlock, pastor; George Wall, assistant; John Carpenter, treasurer ; George Powers, secretary ; William Benton, Robert Steath, Barnard Cordman, John Emery and William Hinson, trustees. Their place of worship, which was a sort of partnership or union concern, stood on what was, until lately, the old Episcopal burying ground in Fulton street. Its members, however, disagreed among themselves, and the building shortly after came into the possession of some of the
Episcopal denomination, who were worshiping in Brooklyn under the care of the Rev. Geo. Wright, and it was consecrated by Bishop Provoost. Such was the untimely end of what may be called the First Congreptional Church of Brooklyn.
The Church of the Pilqrims (Henry street, corner of Remsen street) commenced its existence as an organized body on the 22d day of December, 1844, and the ecclesiastical society connected with it was legally constituted on the 24th of the same month. Its membership was, and still is to a considerable extent, composed of those who were emigrants from New England, or who were from a Puritan ancestry. The first meeting of individuals interested in this enterprise was held on the evening of January 25th, 1844, and owing to the inclemency of the night, but few were present; yet a committee was designated to draft a plan for subscriptions; a day was appointed for another assembling, and from that time the work went steadily forward. Subscriptions having been secured, sufficient, as was thought, to meet the entire expense of the undertaking, the site was secured and the erection of the edifice commenced. Its corner-stone was laid on the 2d of July, 1844, in presence of a large assembly, but it was not until the building was measurably completed, that on the evening of the 22d of December, the 224th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, seventy-one persons assented publicly to articles of faith, entered into covenant with each other and with God, and were recognized by a Council as a church of Christ. On the 12th of May, 1846, the church edifice, which had been greatly retarded by unforeseen causes in its progress towards completion, was for the first time opened and dedicated to its sacred use. In June, 1846, a unanimous call was presented by the church and society to Rev. Richard S. Storrs, Jr., of Brookline, Mass., to become their pastor; and in November of that year, the call having been renewed, he accepted it, and was installed. In June, 1847, nine members of the church, including several who had been most actively engaged in it from its inception, were dismissed at their own request, to unite with others in establishing the Plymouth Church, which was organized soon after; and it may be mentioned in this connection, that this church has also given, of its members and means, to the formation or the strengthening of most of the other Congregational churches in Brooklyn and its vicinity. Soon after the institution of regular sabbath services in the lecture room of the church, a sabbath school was commenced, which has continued with increasing inter. est to the present time. A schedule was also adopted of monthly contribu. tions for objects of Christian interest, and the results of this systematic Benevolence have been surprising in their amount. Twenty-five thousand dollars had been considered as amply sufficient to meet the cost of the edifice, but when completed it was found that owing to unforeseen delays, expenditures, etc., its entire cost had been $65,000, and that after subscriptions were paid, a debt of $18,000 would still remain. Under a strong conviction that the highest prosperity and energy of the society would never be fully realized until this was removed, measures were adopted in January, 1848, which resulted before April of the same year, in the complete release of the property from every encumbrance ; and a secure basis being thus secured for permanent pecuniary prosperity, the society now shows year by year a regular balance in its treasury. It has also accumulated gradually, a choice and ample Pastoral Library.The present membership of the church numbers six hundred and fifty. In the Sunday school of the church, and in the mission school sustained by it, are nearly one thousand children and youth. In the summer of 1869, the work of building a large and costly addition to the church edifice was commenced, and it is expected to be completed by May of the present year. By this addition four hundred and fifty sittings are to be added to the previous pew capacity of the church; a much larger lecture room, and Sunday school room are secured; and ample and delightful arrangements are made for bible classes, infant classes, committee meetings, etc. The extended southern front of the church' on Remsen street, covering nearly one hundred and eighty feet, will be architecturally one of the finest and most impressive in Brooklyn or New York. By the labors and liberality of those connected with this church, mission enterprises have been maintained which have resulted in the establishment of two mission churches, viz: The Warren Street Mission and The Navy Mission, and they have charge, also, of another mission school among the Germans.
Dr. Richard Salter Storrs was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1821, and his father, grandfather, and greatgrandfather, have all been Congregational clergymen. He was educated at Amherst College, Amherst, Mass., and graduated there, in 1839, at the age of eighteen. Having studied theology at the Andover Theological Seminary, he was ordained at Brookline, Maas., in 1845. He received the degree of D.D. from Union College in 1853, and also afterwards from Harvard University. He has been chairman of the executive committee of the Long Island Historical Society ever since that society was organized, and for a number of years, president of the City Mission and Tract Society. As a man of letters, he takes preeminent posi tion among the clergy of the city. As an orator he possesses remarkable eloquence and power. His orations before the New England Society, in the city of New York, on 11 The Puritan Scheme of National Growth," in Dec., 1857; on the 11 Life and Services of Gen. 0. Mitchell;" and the one 11 Commemorative of President Abraham Lincoln," delivered in Brooklyn, June 1, 1865, at the request of the War Fund Committee, are models of the finest style of oratory. As a theologian be is a Calvinist (though not a fatalist) and a Puritan throughout; and his pulpit ministrations are DO less impressive and effective than his oratorical efforts.
The Free Congregational Church was constituted, June 16, 1845, by a vote of the Free Presbyterian church worshiping on the corner of Tillary and Lawrence streets, by which they resolved to change their platform. In the month of September they gave a call to the Rev. Isaac N. Sprague, of Hartford, Conn., to become their pastor, which he accepted. This church merged in the organization from which originated the State Street Congreptional Church. Plymouth Church. The ground upon which Plymouth Church stands was purchased in 1823, for the erection of an edifice for the use of the First Presbyterian church. At that time Brooklyn Heights were cultivated fields, and the church thus built was remote from the settled portion of Brooklyn, the population of which was less than ten thousand. A lecture room, including a sabbath school room and study, was attached to the rear of the church, fronting Orange street, in 1831. In 1846, John T. Howard, then a member of the church of the Pilgrims, obtained the refusal of the premises, which were for sale, at the price of $20,000, and the contract was completed on June 11, 1846. The purchase money ($9,500, the rest being on mortgage), was furnished by Henry C. Bowen, Seth B. Hunt, John T. Howard, and David Hale, and paid on September 9, 1846. The first three gentlemen were members of the Church of the Pilgrims. Possession was given on the 16th of May, 1847, and the final conveyance to the trustees of Plymouth church, was made on June 1, 1848, for the actual cost and interest. The first meeting of those interested in the establishment of this church was held at the house of Henry C. Bowen, on Saturday evening May 9, 1847. Present: David Hale, of New York; Jira Payne, John T. Howard, Charles Rowland, David Griffin, and Henry C. Bowen, of Brooklyn. At this meeting David Hale, in behalf of himself and the other owners, offered the use of said property for purposes of religious worship, as soon as the premises should be vacated by the First Presbyterian church; and it was resolved that religious service should be commenced on the first Sunday thereof. On Sunday morning, May 16, 1847, divine service was commenced, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, then pastor of the Second Presbyterian church in Indianapolis, who was on a visit to New York, speaking at meetings for the American Home Missionary Society, preaching both morning and evening. His star was already in the ascendant, and there was a widely diffused feeling among those who heard him, that he was destined for great things. At the close of the services, public notice was given that a weekly prayer meeting would be established, commencing the next Friday evening, in the lecture room. At the appointed time, about thirty persons were present, most of whom expressed a desire to connect themselves with the church when organized. At the close of the prayer meeting, on motion of David Hale, from New York, John T. Howard, Henry C. Bowen, Richard Hale, Charles Rowland, and Jira Payne, were appointed a committee to make arrangements. On Friday evening, June 11, 1847, twenty-one persons united in the formation of the new church. These members were Henry C. Bowen, Lucy Maria Bowen, Eli C. Blake, Benjamin Burgess, Mary Burgess, Mary Cannon, David Griffin, Richard Hale, Julia Hale, John T. Howard, Rachel Knight, John F. Morse, Rebecca Morse, Jira Payne, Eliza Payne, Charles RoWland, Maria Rowland, Alpheus R. Turner, Louisa Turner, John Webb, Martha Webb. On Sunday evening, June 13, 1847, the church was publicly organized, the sermon for the occasion being preached by Rev. Richard S. Storrs, Jr., of the Church of the Pilgrims. "The Plymouth Church" was adopted, upon deliberation, as the corporate name of the society. The certificate of incorporation was recorded in the clerk's office of Kings county, on September 27, 1847. On Monday evening, June 14, 1847, the church, by an unanimous vote, elected Henry Ward Beecher to be their pastor, and the invitation was accepted. He commenced his pastorate on Sunday, October 10, 1847; and on Thursday, November 11, he was publicly installed. On the first Sunday of Mr. Beecher's ministry, the church was about three-fourths full in the morning, and completely filled in the evening. During the first year it became so Inadequate to the constantly increasing congregation, as to suggest the necessity of rebuilding. The question was, however, unexpectedly settled by fire, January 13, 1849, which so seriously damaged the structure, that, upon examination, the society were unanimously of opinion that the church should be rebuilt rather than repaired. The corner-stone of the present edifice was laid May 29, 1849, and was occupied by the congregation on the first Sunday in January, 1850. [1] A new organ was purchased for the church in 1866, at an expense of $22,000. It was manufactured by Messrs. Hood & Co. of Boston, and is the largest church organ in America. The church has sittings in the pews and choir gallery, for 2,100 persons; while with the seats in the walls, and in the aisles, it accommodates about 2,800. The pew rents in 1853 were $11,157; they now amount to $50,000. The pews, and half the aisle seats (the others being free), are publicly rented on the Tuesday evening succeeding the first Sunday in January of each year. Each pew and aisle seat has a fixed valuation, and the choice of any in the house, without any reservation for previous occupants, is offered to the person who will bid the highest premium above the valuation. Two Sunday schools in connection with the church are in successful operation. In December, 1868, the almost obsolete office of deaconess was revived by the election in this church, of Mrs. Morrill, Mrs. T. C. Fanning, and Mrs. Thalheimer, to that office. Membership in 1868, 1,797; pew rents, $50,000; donations for benevolent purposes, $40,000. Plymouth Church Bethel, No. 15 Hicks street. The Bethel Mission Sabbath School was started in 1841 by Captain A. B. Clark (now of Nantucket, Mass.) and a Mr. Wadsworth, in an old building on Main street, near Catharine ferry, which had previously been used as a stable, but was fitted up for mission purposes. Father Burnett, a Methodist preacher, used to preach in the same building, but never had any direct connection with the sabbath school. The first superintendent was Mr. John P. Elwell, who served for one year, and was followed by Mr. Albert Woodruff, the latter resigning to Mr. Richard J. Thorne. The teachers were then principally from the churches of Rev. Drs. Spencer and Cox. Mr. Thorne was succeeded by Mr. Anderson (now of Norfolk, Va.), and he by Mr. I. N. Judson, Rev. G. W. Coan, now missionary at Cromaish, Persia, assisting Mr. Judson. In 1847, Mr. J. P. Montgomery was chosen superintendent. Up to this time, the school had been in a comparatively weak state. The next year (1848) Mr. Andrew A. Smith was chosen superintendent, which position he held for about fourteen years, and labored so faithfully that the school increased in numbers and enlarged its field of usefulness. Weekly prayermeetings were held in connection with the other mission work. Messrs. H. W. Law, S. R. Stone, M. T. Lynde, and R. S. Bussing were consecutively assistant superintendents to Mr. Smith. In the year 1855 a room over the market on James street was leased, and evening services and lay preaching increased the usefulness of the mission. Three years later the mission removed to Poplar Hall, on Poplar street, next to the Newsboys Lodging-House, and in 1859, to rooms on Fulton street, opposite Front, which were then considered very desirable. In 1862 Mr. A. A. Smith resigned as superintendent, and was succeeded by Mr. R. S. Bussing, with Mr. Thos. H. Bird as assistant. The annual expenses of the mission at that time were seven hundred and fifty dollars per annum. The mission having faithful teachers, became more and more prosperous, and added largely to the membership of Plymouth and other churches, of those converted through its agencies, besides doing much untold good. Soon after Mr. Bussing became superintendent, Mr. John B. Gough agreed to give the proceeds of one lecture each year to the mission, and by that means five hundred dollars was received annually for five years. July, 1866, the mission was taken under the auspices of Plymouth Church, in accordance with a mutual desire entertained some time previous, growing out of the fact that that church furnished most of the teachers. For some time a new building, especially adapted for the school, had been contemplated, but it was not until October, 1866, that an offer by Mr. J. T. Howard of five hundred dollars towards the object put the project in a definite shape. Mr. Howard was a teacher in the mission twenty-five years ago, and his name stands first on the roll of Plymouth Church. His subscription was followed by others of a like amount. A plan by which sufficient of the money from pew rents to pay for one-half of the new building, the other half to be made up by voluntary subscriptions, was prepared by Mr. Bussing, and adopted by the trustees of Plymouth Church. February 3, 1867, Mr. George A. Bell, formerly superintendent of Plymouth Sabbath School, assumed the duties of superintendent of the Bethel Mission, which duties he has faithfully discharged up to the present time, assisted by Mr. Thomas H. Bird.In September following, the ground in Hicks street, near Fulton, was secured (50 X 100) and the building was completed in the summer of 1868. It was opened on the first Sunday in October, 1868, the school having increased from an attendance of two hundred and twenty the previous year to three hundred and seventy-three. It now averages six hundred. The room is arranged for a school of nine hundred with space for about one hundred visitors. There are sixty-eight classes including two infant classes. On the first floor of the Bethel are the reading room for men and women, open every evening (except Sunday) from 6 till 10; and a boy's reading room, open from 6 to 9.30 P. M. The building, furniture, and ground cost about $76,000. The property is owned by Plymouth Church; $20,000 was raised by voluntary subscriptions, $6,250 by a fair, and the balance furnished from the surplus of pew rents in the church.
The grand and original features of the Bethel are the Sunday evening services for the working classes, and the popular Wednesday evening entertainments. At the former, addresses by laymen as well as ministers are delivered on religious, moral and scientific subjects. Dr. Willard Parker gave four excellent lectures on health in December, 1868. At the Wednes. day evening entertainments there have been several admirable concerts, readings, lectures and exhibitions; they are generally crowded, and our mechanics enjoy for fifteen cents what would previously have cost them fifty cents and upwards. We regard the Bethel as one of the best of our local institutions, doing and destined to do the work of a great physical, mental and moral evangelist, weaning men from low haunts and pleasures, and infusing into the masses intellectual tastes which always carry with them, refining and purifying influences.
In the building project Mr. Bell has been particularly active, and to him much of the present success is due. During all the years of its existence the Bethel has never been closed on the sabbath, and, until within the past three years, two sessions each Sunday were regularly maintained from as far back as 1841.
The Warren Street Mission Church. In the year 1845 or '46, a few active Christians commenced a Mission Sabbath School, in "Freeman's Hall," corner of Amity and Columbia streets, South Brooklyn, a much neglected neighborhood inhabited mostly by foreigners, the larger proportion of whom were Irish Catholics. By perseverance and devoted labor, however, the school was established and prospered; and in 1852, a few benevolent and enterprising Christian gentlemen, desirous of placing the matter on a permanent basis, purchased three lots of ground on Warren street, between Hicks and Columbia streets, on which they commenced the erection of a neat and commodious chapel, capable of accommodating from four hundred to five hundred persons. In order to enable them to hold the property, these gentlemen, on the Ist of February, 1853, effected an organization, pursuant to the law of the state of New York, entitled "An act for the incorporation of benevolent, charitable, scientific societies," and assuming the name of the The Warren Street Mission. [2] The building, which, together with the lots, cost about $9,000, was finished in November, 1852, free of all debt. About this time the Rev. Samuel Bayliss was invited by the association to labor as a missionary in this field, and on the Ist of January, 1853, he commenced his labors, visiting from house to house, and gathering the people together on the sabbath; God blessed these labors, both in the deep religious impressions communicated to some hearts, and by the conversion of others; and on the 20th of March, 1854, a church was formed, consisting of thirty persons, only one of whom was received by letter. Mr. Bayliss's pastorate closed on the 1st January, 1866, and he was immediately succeeded by Rev. J. Emory Round, whose term of service will close April Ist, 1870. Neither of those pastors were installed, being merely employed from year to year. The present congregation now numbers sixty-two; the sabbath school numbers four hundred and sixty-eight scholars. The Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, Clinton avenue, corner of Lafayette avenue, was organized on the 18th of November, 1847. Its first years were full of discouragement and difficulties, but the indomitable energy of its founders, and of its first pastor, Rev. Dirck C. Lansing, D. D. who was installed in March, 1848, were crowned with success. Gradually drawing to Its communion the New England element which constitutes so large a portion of the surrounding population, the church grew in strength, until at last, August 4th, 1854, ground was broken for the erection of a large and commodious edifice on the corner of Clinton and Lafayette avenues. On the 24th of October, in that year, the corner-stone was laid, and the main building completed and dedicated in December, 1855; the chapel adjoining being finished in September, 1856. The style of this spacious and beautiful church is Romanesque, and its length, inclusive of porch and chapel, is one hundred and forty-seven feet, while the width of the principal front, facing Clinton avenue, is eighty-nine feet. It has two towers, one ninety feet and the other one hundred and ten feet high, with buttresses, pinnacles and finials. The height of the edifice to the apex of the roof is seventy-two feet, and of the side walls to the top of the balustrade, forty-eight feet. The main audience room is one hundred and four feet long by sixty-eight wide, entirely free from obstructions, containing one hundred and forty-eight pews on the lower floor, and forty-two in the galleries, affording sittings to about one thousand two hundred persons. The chapel contains on the lower floor an elegant paster's study, and a spacious room for prayer meetings, or social gatherings, while the floor above forms a magnificent hall, thirty-two feet high to the centre of the arch, and thirty feet wide by about eighty feet long. The windows, of both church and chapel are filled with stained glass of rich patterns, and the whole interior decoration is of the most chaste and finished style. The architect of this splendid edifice was James Renwick, Jr., and its cost, including ground, about $60,000. The erection of such an edifice as this, and in such a locality, was an event of great importance to the development and establishment of the Congregational denomination of Brooklyn. Clinton avenue, running, south from the East river (nearly opposite the termination of Canal street, New Yerk, should that street be carried through to the river), is one of the most beautiful avenues of which any city can boast. The land rises from the water side by a beautiful gradual slope for the distance of a mile to the intersection of Lafayette avenue, which is the summit of the hill (crowned by the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church) and the most commanding position in the city, overlooking Brooklyn, Williamsburgh and the city of New York, and affording glimpses of the bay, the Hudson, and the Jersey shore beyond. This avenue thus favorably located, has been built up with an elegant elm of residences, many of them palatial in style, surrounded by gardens and trees, and tastefully adorned with shrubbery and flowers. To plant this church upon so beautiful a site, and in the midst of a population comprising not a few of the most cultivated families in Brooklyn, was indeed a great and arduous undertaking, but the issue has proved its farsighted wisdom.The health of its venerable pastor, to whose personal efforts, both the inception and execution of this enterprise were largely due, finally compelled him to seek for a dissolution of his pastoral relations with this people which was effected on the 19th of December, 1855, having three days previously preached the dedication sermon of the new house of worship.
Previous to his resignation (i. e., from the 22d of April), the principal duties of the pastorate had been assumed by the Rev. William Ives Buddington, and who was formally installed as his successor, on the 19th of December, 1855. Under his eloquent and faithful ministrations, the congregation has been, and now is, among the largest in this 11 city of churches," largely and favorably known for its benevolence, and actively identified in the cause of mission schools, and every other 11 good word and work." Since 1862, the mortgage debt upon the church of $25,000 has been paid off; and as much more contributed to put the society in possession of all the pews, some of which were private property, and to redeem all outstanding scrip. The rental of the church now amounts to between fourteen and fifteen thousand dollars.
The present church membership (in January, 1870), is 544; that of the Sunday school, including Bible classes, 365. The church has sustained two mission schools, one on the corner of Atlantic and Grand avenues, having been constituted an independent organization, called the Church of the Covenant, which began (in January, 1870), to the support of its own pastor, the Rev. Frank Noble; and the second, originally located on Myrtle avenue corner of Steuben street, but now on Grand avenue, south of Myrtle, which will be more fully described as the Grand Avenue Chapel. The number connected with the Atlantic Avenue Sabbath School is 300.
The Rev. Win. I. Budington, D.D., its present pastor, was born at New Haven, Conn., April 21, 1815, graduated at Yale College, in 1834, pursued his theological studies at New Haven and Andover, leaving the latter institution in the autumn of 1839, and was ordained pastor of the first church, Charlestown, Maw., on the 22d of April, 1840. In September, 1854, he removed to Philadelphia, expecting to take charge of a church in that city, but the death of his wife, in December of the same year, together with other circumstances, led him to accept a call from the Clinton Avenue Congregational church. He received his degree of D.D., from Amherst College, Mass., and has published a History of the First Church of Charlestown, and several occasional sermons. He is an active member of the Long Island Historical Society, and other local literary institutions; and his pulpit ministrations are marked by a high style of intellectual culture, eloquence and impressiveness.
The Mount Prospect Mission Sabbath School was organized July 4, 1852. Rev. Harvey Newcombe, while visiting Prospect hill had seen the need of some religious effort for the improvement of its residents, and had invited a few children to meet him on Sunday, June 6, under a tree on the corner of Pacific street and Vanderbilt avenue. About eighty, men women and children assembled, spent an hour in singing and religious exercises, and agreed to meet the next sabbath and establish a Sunday school. Daring the week a small dilapidated garret room was hired, and on the appointed sabbath about ninety children met there. The next week, a building used as a milk stable, and two lots of ground on the north side of Dean street, between Vanderbilt and Underhill avenues, was bought of Mr. S. B. Walters. The first sabbath the school occupied the old stable, a horse had to be led out from one corner to make room for the scholars. Silas Davenport was elected the first superintendent, succeeded by A. S. Barnes, in 1853, and S. E. Warner in 1865. The school occupied the premises in Dean street till September, 1859, having always maintained there a flourishing existence.The uncomfortable building having become too straightened for the purposes of the school, and the school house of the Hope Union Mission (commenced almost simultaneously with the Mt. Prospect Mission, but located in an adjoining neighborhood, known as Jackson's Hollow), in Van Buren street, having been destroyed by fire June, 1858, it was thought desirable to unite the two schools, for the purpose of building up a still more prosperous en. terprise in that part of the city. Accordingly a desirable lot, sixty feet by ninety-five was purchased on the south-west corner of Atlantic avenue and and Grand avenue, on which a two story building forty feet by sixty-five was erected, at a cost, including the furniture, of over $8,000, designed to be occupied jointly by the United Sabbath School and the Mount Prospect Industrial School, the upper floor being fitted for a sabbath school, and the lower floor for the week day exercises of the Industrial School. The building was dedicated with appropriate exercises, September 18, 1859.
The name of the united schools was changed to the Atlantic Avenue Sabbath School, and Mr. S. E. Warner was elected superintendent. From the beginning of the occupancy of the new building, the school increased in numbers, efficiency and usefulness. Religious services were held on sabbath evenings in the large Sunday school room conducted for some time by the clergymen of the city, As the importance of more permanent work was felt, early in 1864, Rev. Anson Gleason was invited to become the missionary of the school, and began his labors May Ist. Morning services as well as evening were held from that time. 11 Father Gleason" continued his labors with all the ardor and enthusiasm of his genial nature till July 1, 1866. He was succeeded by Rev. Franklin Noble, who commenced his labors, November, 11, 1866, and continued till March 10, 1868, when he' became pastor of the Church of the Covenant, which used the Sunday school room as its place of worship, was instituted by an ecclesiastical council, with twelve members uniting by letter, and twenty by profession of their faith. Rev. Mr. Noble was chosen pastor of the new church, who in 1870, assumed his entire support.
The Mount Prospect Mission School, which merged under the Atlantic Avenue Sabbath School, was the first mission enterprise of the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, the two schools being supplied with nearly all their teachers, and all their pecuniary support from that church.
The Grand Avenue Chapel. Several years ago a Sunday school was established with the title of the Steuben Mission. The teachers were of various denominations, but principally from the Cli nton Avenue Congregational church, of which Rev. Dr. Win. Ives Budington is pastor; the enterprise may be considered as the child of that church. The work enlarged, and, under the superintendency of Mr. E. P. Maltby, money was collected for the erection of a chapel. This is a frame building located on the west aide of Grand avenue, a little south of Myttle avenue. It is forty feet by eighty in size, and contains an audience room thirty-eight by sixty-five feet, seating four hundred people; a gallery twenty-two by thirty-eight feet used as a lecture room and for the infant department of the Sunday school ; a Bible class room; and a pastor's study which has been neatly furnished by the ladies of the congregation.The dedication services were held on the 18th of March, 1867; and for two years evening preaching services were sustained, chiefly by ministers from the City Mission. Rev. Dr. Waterbury was for some time in charge of the pulpit. At length the friends of the enterprise were convinced that the field needed, and would soon warrant, the organization of a church.
With this view Rev. Moseley H. Williams, then pastor of the Second Congregational church of Philadelphia, Penn., was invited to take charge of the work. He entered upon his duties Sunday April 18th, 1869. The protracted sickness of the pastor and the absence of teachers from the 'city retarded the work during the summer. In September Mr. Maltby resigned the superintendency and Mr. S. L. Parsons was elected to fill the vacancy. Before the first of January, 1870, the evening congregation had reached nearly two hundred, while the Sunday school showed an actual attendance of two hundred and eighty-six, implying a membership of considerably more than three hundred. It is hoped that a church may soon be organized and a more commodious building erected.
The Navy Mission Sunday School, located in Front street, corner of Green lane, was organized in the year 1848, by members of various religious denominations, as a union school, to meet the wants of the destitute in that portion of the city. The school has always been an interesting and successful one. Teachers are within it to-day, who assisted in its organization, while the former scholars are many of them found active working Christians in our several churches, and two of them have become Christian ministers.The school now numbers over two hundred scholars, and is more immediately under the patronage of the Church of the Pilgrims. Mr. Coe Adams, one of the deacons of this church, is the superintendent of the Sunday school, and the large majority of the teachers are from the same wealthy and influential church.
The Navy Mission Church (Congregational) is the direct fruit of the labors of the city missionary among the poor, and was organized with fortyfive members on the last Sabbath in April, 1867, and in March, 1868, numbered about seventy, with the prospect of a steady increase. Rev. Job G. Bass, one of the city missionaries, and late chaplain of the Ninetieth New York Volunteers, is the acting pastor. Such is the success of the enterprise that the trustees are seeking for suitable lots on which to build a larger edifice which will be an ornament to the city, and meet the growing wants of the church and Sunday school. Bedford Congregational Church. On the 5th of December, 1848, was commenced the erection of a small frame edifice, thirty by forty feet, without basement, and costing $2,300, on the corner of Pacific street and Clove road. The corner-stone was laid December 11th, and on the 3d of August, 1849, the church was fully organized with twelve enrolled members, under the care of the Rev. Thos. S. Britten. It was once called the Pacific Street Congregational Church; and its pulpit was vacant during 1850-1, supplied by Rev. Dr. B. R. Hall in 1855; and Rev. E. Carpenter, pastor, in 1856-7, H. B. Elliot, in 1861. Rev. R. G. Hutchings, pastor in 1870. The State Street Congregational Church. [3] The persons originally uniting in this organization, were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn, who desiring the establishment of a Methodist church with the Congregational form of government, held a meeting, May 8th, 1848, and resolved to form a new religious society, to be known as the First Congregational Church of the City of Brooklyn. The certificate of incorporation was recorded in the Clerk's office of Kings Co., N. Y., on the 5th of June, 1848. The Second Congregational Church, at the corner of Lawrence and Tillery streets, was purchased, and regular religious services held therein until January lot, 1859. Rev. John C. Green was the first pastor, and held the position until his health failed in August, 1853, when the Rev. James J. Bell, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was selected as his successor, and having withdrawn from that body, at once entered upon his duties as pastor. After serving the church satisfactorily, Mr. Bell resigned on the lot of May, 1856, and accepted a call to the North Congregational Church, at East Hampton, Conn.In October, 1858, the society purchased the lots in State street, near Hoyt, and erected their present neat and commodious church edifice, which has a capacity of about nine hundred sittings, capable of increase to one thousand two hundred sittings. The entire cost of the enterprise, ground, building, and furniture, was $30,000. The corner-stone was laid November 19th, and on the 17th of April, 1859, the lecture room was occupied, the church itself being dedicated on the 30th of June following. On the first sabbath in May, 1-860, the Rev. Washington Gladden, of Owego, N. Y., preached his first sermon in this church, and having received and accepted a call extended to him by the church and society, began his pastoral labors on the first sabbath in June, although not ordained until the 15th of November ensuing.
At a special meeting of the church and society, held January 9th, 1861, the name of the State Street Congregational Church of Brooklyn was unanimously adopted. On the lot of June, 1861, Mr. Gladden resigned and accepted a call to the Congregational church at Morrisania, N. Y.
During the months of June, July and August, 1861, negotiations were entered into with the Rev. Newton Heston (formerly of Philadelphia), of the Methodist Episcopal church, in Newark, N. J. After serious deliberation, involving considerable delay, Mr. H. referred the committee to the Episcopacy, and expressed a willingness to assume the relation of pastor, provided he could do so with the sanction of the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal church. Negotiations were therefore opened by the committee, and every effort made to secure the desired sanction. It was not until the 19th of October that a final and decisive answer was received from the bishops, to the effect that there was no law or precedent in the M. E. church which would allow of the appointment of one of its preachers to a church of another denomination, however much that church might desire it. The whole matter being then referred again to Mr. Heston, for final consideration, resulted in his acceptance of the unanimous call of the church, and his withdrawal from the M. E. church. This change of denominational relations was effected with the mutual regard and respect for each other, of pastor and people; and the union of the State Street church with its new pastor was attended with great prosperity.
Rev. Newton Heston died July 1864, and was succeeded by Rev. W. W. Hicks, who remained (as pastor elect), until July, 1866, when he resigned; and was followed by Rev. C. A. Harvey who was regularly installed, and remained for seventeen months. After his resignation, the church remained without a regular pastor until May 1, 1869, at which time the Rev. Maxwell P. Gaddis entered the pastorate. The church is, at present, in a flourishing condition, having increased sixty per cent in attendance, and in con. gregation and largely in the society proper, as well as in sabbath school, Maxwell P. Gaddis was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832; and, thrown upon his own resources when a mere child, commenced his life work by sweeping the school house in which he studied. At fifteen years of age he commenced the trade of shoemaking, working faithfully for two years for merely his board and clothes; and, then, determined to have an education, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was again compelled to seek his education by the labor of his hands. Working at his trade, he also swept-fourteen rooms and three flights of stairs at the college, and sawed wood enough for the professor's rooms, and graduating after three years' study, in 1854, he returned to Cincinnati, where he shortly after accepted the professorship of Mathematics in Herron's Seminary. While here he received a local preacher's licence in the M. E. church, but, after eight years' connection with that denomination, attached himself to the Protestant Methodist. In 1856, he became president of Wilberforce University (for the colored people), at Xenia, Ohio, and after holding that position for nearly a year, returned to his old place at Herron's Semninry. In 1860, he stumped the state of Ohio, on invitation of State Temperance Committee of Pennsylvania, and, when the war of the rebellion broke out, promptly identified himself with the loyal cause; was appointed chaplain of the Second Ohio regiment, and remained in the service two years, resigning finally on account of ill health. Returning to Ohio, he accepted the pastorate of the Sixth street Methodist Protestant Church, which he served nearly three years, and also acted as Commissioner of Enrollment in the Second District of Ohio. Severing his connection with the Sixth Street Church, he established, October, 1865, an independent People's Church, which was a success, and to which he preached for two years, without salary, and, indeed, paying largely out of his own means, to its support. He was also elected to the State Legislature, from Cincinnati; a delegate to the Baltimore Convention that resulted 'in the nomination of Lincoln and Johnson ; and in July, 1866, was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the Second District of Ohio. In 1869, be left the People's Church and came to Brooklyn. He is an earnest, impassioned speaker, and prominently identified with the advance movements of religion, temperance and politics.
The South Congregational Church. After a full examination of the field, and a due conviction of the importance of an increase of the means of grace in South Brooklyn, Messrs. Henry C. Bowen, John T. Howard, and James Freeland, procured lots at the corner of Court and President streets, upon which they erected an edifice for a lecture room, sabbath school room, and pastor's study. This building was finished the last week in January, 1851, and on the first sabbath in February it was opened for public worship.A meeting of persons interested in the establishment of the institutions of the gospel in South Brooklyn, was convened in the new chapel on Tuesday evening, February 4th, 1851. A committee was then appointed, consisting of seven brethren, viz: S. W. Grant, Solomon Freeman, S. H. Turner, E. S. Pinney, John T. Howard, C. M. Saxton, and H. C. Bowen, to make arrangements for the formation of a church.
In due time, letters missive were issued by the committee, inviting the several pastors and churches of the cities of New York and Brooklyn to meet on Monday, the 24th of March, at the chapel in President street, to counsel and aid in the organization of the church.
The church having been organized, with the usual public services, a meeting was held, in accordance with the laws of the state, on Monday evening, the 31st day of March, 1851, in the chapel, for the purpose of organizing a religious society. 11 The South Congregational Church " was adopted, upon deliberation, as the corporate name of the society. The certificate of incorporation was recorded in the clerk's office of Kings county, on the first day of May, 1851.
On Friday evening, March 28th, Rev. Wil liam Marsh, of North Woodstock, Conn., was elected pastor by an unanimous vote of the church, and signified his acceptance of the invitation. On the first sabbath in May, he entered upon his labors ; and on Tuesday evening, June 10th, was publicly installed as pastor of the church and congregation. On the 4th of September, 1854, the Rev. Mr. Marsh resigned the pastoral charge of the church, which resignation was accepted.
At a meeting of the church, held December 18, 1854, a unanimous call was extended to the Rev. Daniel March to become their pastor, and the society concurring, the invitation was accepted. The installation services were held January 16th, 1855. On the 18th of September, 1856, the Rev. Mr. March resigned the office of pastor, and he was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council on the 15th of the same month. At a meeting held January 31, 1857, the Rev. Rufus W. Clark was unanimously invited to become pastor, and on the 14th day of April, 1857, was installed in the new church edifice, which was then completed for public worship. In the foIlowing May the pews of the new church were offered for rent, and the society were encouraged by large and valuable accessions to their number. During his pastorate over two hundred persons were added to the church, and the congregation and sabbath school were greatly enlarged.
On the 17th day of November, 1862, the Rev. Mr. Clark tendered his resignation as pastor, and was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council on the 30th day of the same month.
On the 4th day of December, 1863, Rev. Edward Taylor received an enthusiastic call from the church and society to become their pastor, and entered at once upon the duties of his office. The Rev. Henry M. Storrs, D.D., is the present pastor.
The Elm Place Congregational Church, Elm Place near Fulton avenue, was organized in 1853, by the members of the former Bridge Street, and Fulton Avenue churches. The Fulton Avenue Church was formed by a seceding party from the Bridge Street Church, and after a brief existence was dissolved. At about the same time the parent church was also disbanded, and upon the ruins of both, arose the present organization. On the 19th of September, the Fulton Avenue Church was formally dissolved by council, "preparatory to the organization of a Dew church, to be composed of members of the Fulton avenue church, the Bridge street church and as many from other churches, as could be induced to unite in the enterprise." At a meeting held on the 29th of the same month, it was resolved; that it was "practicable and expedient," and on the 13th of October following, a church and society was formally organized by the name and title of the Elm Place. Congregational Church of the city of Brooklyn. On the 8th of November, 1854, a call was extended to Rev. Samuel D. Cochrane, to become their pastor, the pulpit having been previously filled by supplies. The call was accepted, and he was installed in December following, and labored with much success, until April 27, 1856, when he offered his resignation, which was accepted by a resolution highly honorable to him. After him, the church had no pastor until the Ist of September, 1858, when the Rev. William Alvin Bartlett, till then pastor of the Congregational church at Owego N. Y., commenced his duties as pastor of the church, having accepted the call of the church and society.Early in the history of the society, four lots had been purchased on Elm Place near Fulton avenue, and a small brick edifice erected thereon. Soon after Mr. Bartlett's coming, however, the accommodations became quite inadequate to the demand; and, in consequence, the auditorium of the Poly-technic Institute was engaged, and divine worship held there during the winter and spring of 1859. Meanwhile an edifice was in process of erection in the rear of the corner of Hoyt street and Fulton avenue, which was completed in May at a cost of about $9,000, and was designated the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It had two entrances, one on Hoyt street, and the other on Fulton avenue, and was capable of seating about one thousand five hundred persons. It was dedicated in June, 1859, and used as a place of worship, the edifice on Elm Place being employed as a lecture room, and sabbath school.
At the end of five years the building, which was on leased ground, was to revert to the owner of the land in payment of the rent. It could only prove a temporary resting place for this progressive congregation. They determined the next time 11 to build upon a rock " and in such a place as not soon to be compelled to move. Ground was broken on Sth of December 1 1862, for the substantial and elegant church edifice which they now occupy. It was built of brown stone upon the site of the little chapel on Elm Place, the ownership of which the congregation had retained during all its mutations. Its cost was about $50,000, and was consecrated in May, 1864. In less than two years after the dedication sermon was preached, the entire debt created by its erection, with a trifling exception, was swept away. In this, as in all enterprises of the church, the characteristic energy and vigor of the pastor were manifested. In two months $26,000 were raised to apply to the liquidation of the church debt, half of which amount was collected from his own personal friends. Under Mr. Bartlett's leadership, in ten years its property increased from $10,000 to $75,000; Its membership from fifty to four hundred.
In 1868, Mr. Bartlett accepted a call from the Plymouth Congregational church in Chicago, Ill., and were followed in the pastorate of the Elm Place Church by the Rev. Henry Powers, formerly of the Second Congregational Church of Danbury, Conn. He was installed March 3d, 1869.
Central Congregational Church, Ormond Place. The church in Ormond Place, now occupied by this society, was erected in the year 1853, by Mr. R. L. Crook, with the intention of disposing of it, at a reduction from its cost, to such protestant religious association as should seem to embrace a majority of the surrounding population, and manifest sufficient interest to render the permanency of their organization probable.In February, 1854, several gentlemen, residing in the neighborhood rented the building from Mr. Crook for two years, commencing May 1, 1854. The Rev. Henry W. Parker was engaged to supply the pulpit, and on the second sabbath in April, the house was opened for public worship.
An ecclesiastical society was formed under the style of the Central Congregational Society of Brooklyn, and on the 27th of November, 1854, a church of thirty members was organized by a council of pastors and delegates from the Congregational churches of Brooklyn and vicinity. The following persons were its founders: Mr. Thomas W. Abbott, Mr. D. Austin Taylor, Mr. William T. Cutter, Mr. W. R. Robinson, Mr. Andrew Van Tuyl, Mr. Charles N. Kinney, Mr. Cranston Howe, Mr. John L. Merrill. Others, of course, soon connected themselves with the enterprise. Messrs. Abbot, Cutter and Kinney assumed the pecuniary responsibility, for the first two years of the existence of the society.
On the expiration of the lease, strenuous efforts were made to raise the amount necessary for the purchase of the edifice, which for a time were unsuccessful; and the society was compelled to vacate the building, and temporarily worshiped in the mission school house, in Van Buren street, the use of which was kindly tendered by its trustees.
At length, however, being largely aided by the Plymouth Church, and the Church of the Pilgrims, the society was enabled to effect the purchase of the property, and on sabbath, 16th of November, 1856, the house was reopened for the public worship of Almighty God. The church edifice stands upon the south-east corner of Ormond place and Jefferson street. Its lots are One hundred by one hundred and thirty feet.
The Rev. Mr. Parker having removed to another, field of labor, the pulpit was occupied by various clergymen, as temporary supplies, until the Rev. J. Clement French, having accepted the unanimous call of the church and society, was ordained and installed as pastor on the 5th of March, 1857.
In 1863, the church was closed for three months, during which time it was thoroughly renovated and improved both within and without, and a new organ placed in the gallery, all at a cost of about $6,000. Two years later, the house and lot, No. 13 Ormond place, adjoining the church, was purchased for a parsonage. During May, 1867, the building was again closed for three weeks for the addition of galleries, affording accommodations for one hundred and seventy five persons, and greatly increasing both the value and beauty of the edifice. A few months later, the basement of the building was extensively improved at a cost of several thousand dollars. During the past two or three years, the demand for pews has been much beyond the capacity of the building. The rental of pews exceeds $6,000.
In December, 1869, a mission sabbath school, located at the corner of Marcy avenue and Monroe street, was organized and provided with a commodious and tasteful building, filly by sixty-six feet, capable of accommodating three hundred and fifty scholars.
Justus Clement French, pastor of the Central Congregational Church, was born May 3d, 1831, at Barre, Vt. ; and was the youngest of four children of Rev. Justus Warner French, who preached at Barre, Montpelier and Hardwick, Vt., daring eleven years. When J. C. F. was a year and a half old, his father went to Geneva, N. Y., and became principal of the Geneva Lyceum, for the education of young men for the ministry. Here, and at Albion and Palmyra, the subject of this sketch pursued his academic studies. In 1850, he entered Williams College, Maw., (Sophomore); graduated in 1853, as valedictorian of his claw. He entered Union Theological Seminary, N. Y., in autumn of 1853, where his theological studies were pursued; and he was licensed to preach the gospel by the association of Albany in 1856. A throat difficulty seeming to forbid public speaking, he entered upon the work of teaching, but accepted occasional invitations to preach. In the month of December, he received an unanimou's all to become the pastor of the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., which he accepted.
During the period of eleven years the church has had, in all, between five and six hundred members. The sabbath school connected with the church numbers four hundred scholars; and has a missionary association, organized October, 1865, whose yearly average of contributions has been $1,250. The sabbath school employs as a special missionary a portion of his time, the Rev. Anson Gleason, for forty years a missionary among the Indians. The Mission Sabbath School numbered nearly one hundred scholars during the first quarter of its existence. A weekly prayer meeting and sabbath evening preaching services are maintained at the mission school building. The membership of the church, at date of ordination, was twenty-seven. Present membership, three hundred and fifty.
Church of the Mediator. The origin of this church may be traced to the gathering of a sabbath school in the month of August, 1859, in a building on the corner of Patchen avenue and Chauncey street, which, on the 1st of May following, was removed to the basement of the German Lutheran Church on Herkimer street. On the 21st of March, 1860, a society was organized under the name of the Rochester Avenue Mission, having for its object the moral and religious improvement of the children and families that might be within its reach. Subsequently, a pretty and convenient chapel was erected by the society, on the south-east corner of Rochester avenue and Herkimer street. It was occupied for the first time, March 17, 1861, and regular weekly and sabbath day services were at once established, the pulpit being supplied by volunteers. In October, 1863, however, the Rev. Bishop Falkner became the pastor of the society, and the steps which led to the organization of the church became more marked and decided. The sabbath school was a success, and besides converts from that source, there were a number of those attending upon the services who were desirous of joining themselves together under some form of Christian union. These, with some already connected with churches of different denominations, met in February, 1865, and having adopted a creed and covenants, organized a society called " The Christian Brotherhood of the Rochester Avenue Mission." Twenty-four persons afterwards gave public assent to the creed, and entered into covenant with God and each other. For a time this society answered its purposes admirably, but, having increased in numbers, and not admitting its members to the full rights and privileges of a recognized church, it was decided at a meeting, held June 22, 1866, to change the brotherhood into A church of Christ, and that said church organization should be of the congregational order. This meeting the approval of a Congregational ecclesiastical council, the church was, on the evening of July 12th, 1866, duly organized, with a membership of forty-eight, and at a meeting held July 27th, adopted its present name, the Church of the Mediator. The new congregation tendered to the Rev. Bishop Falkner (ordained January 25th, 1865), a unanimous call to become its pastor, and he assumed the pastoral charge, October 23, 1866. Puritan Church, corner of Lafayette and Marcy avenues, Late in the month of December, 1863, a few of the teachers of the Wallabout Presbyterian Church Sunday school, believing that they could be more useful elsewhere, decided to change the sphere of their labors, and to endeavor to gather together a new school, which might prove a nucleus of a church. With this view, a committee was appointed to procure for the proposed undertaking a suitable place in the same ward, but as far removed from the school they had just left as possible. After diligent search the committee rented the store No. 712 Myrtle avenue, for one year from the first of January, 1864, and it was decided that the sabbath school should be opened on the first Sunday in January at half-past one o'clock, P. M., and that a regular afternoon service should be held at three o'clock. The school was opened on the appointed day with twenty-nine scholars and nine teachers, and the first sermon was preached by the Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler. The little school continued to increase in the number of its teachers and scholars; and the attendance on the preaching grew so rapidly, that on the 28th of March it was resolved to organize a Congregational church, to be styled " The East Brooklyn Congregational Church." In answer to a call, issued 29th of June, a council of ministers and delegates, thirteen in number, from the Congregational churches in the vicinity, met on July 7th, a; 712 Myrtle avenue, and on motion it was unanimously resolved to organize the church on Sunday, the 17th of July, 1864, in the DcKalb Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, The articles of faith and covenant were examined and approve.], and twenty-six members were admitted by letter, and two on profession of their faith.In October a plot of ground, fifty by one hundred and eight, at the corner of DcKalb avenue and Walworth street, was leased for ten years, and a church building was erected at a cost of $4,000. On Monday evening, November 28, 1864, Charles Hall Everept, then of Owego, N. Y., was unanimously called as pastor. On the 23d of May, 1866, he was duly installed.
June 27, 1865, the present title of 11 Puritan Church " was adopted. The growth of the society, from the first has been so rapid as to necessitate repeated enlargements of the church building. The spiritual prosperity of the church has also kept pace with its temporal, the years 1866 and 1868 being especially memorable for revivals of great power and faithfulness. The number of members is now four hundred and seventy-two, and their enthusiasm may be inferred from the nature of the edifice they are now undertaking to construct, and of which the cornerstone was laid July 17th, 1869. The plans for the new edifice were presented by E. T. Potter, architect, and call for a building one hundred and seventy feet by ninety-five, including the main audience, lecture room, sabbath school room, parlors, pastor's study room, etc. It will be of brown stone and Ohio light stone, and will cost $40,000.
Fifth Avenue Congregational Church. In May, 1863, on the invitation of Mr. Lindsley J. Wells, a resident of the neighborhood, Rev. Newton Heston. pastor of' State Street Congregational Church, commenced open air services at the corner of Seventh street and Sixth avenue. Mr. Wells immediately rented a store building at the corner of Fifth avenue and Twelfth street, and opened a flourishing Sunday school. A prayer meeting soon followed. In November the preaching service was removed to a hall rented at the corner of Third avenue and Tenth street, and the school removed to Mr. Wells's residence on Ninth street.In September, 1865, Mr. Wells, on his own responsibility, commenced the erection of a tabernacle at the corner of Fifth avenue and Eighth street. This was completed at a cost, including the lots, of $3,000, and dedicated in January, 1866. Preaching service bad been kept up by Rev. Mr. Heston, Dr. Edward Taylor, of the South Church, and others. Rev. James A. Daly now of California, then of Union Seminary, was the supply until May, when Rev. H. U. McFarland was engaged as stated supply.
The church was organized in June, 1866, with a membership of twentyeight persons. In the winter of 1867 and '68, when the membership had increased to sixty-five, a difficulty arose on the question of continuing the supply, which led to a division of the church and society, one party commencing worship on Third street, near Fifth avenue, under the name of Park Congregational Church, taking with them one-half of the membership of' both church and society, but taking none of the property, and none of the officers excepting the stated supply. In April, 1868, the Rev. Frank Russell of Philadelphia was called to the pastorate of Fifth Avenue Church, where he found a membership of only thirty-two persons.
In March, 1869, the membership having increased to ninety-eight, and the pastor having been so thoroughly neutral as never to gain even a knowledge of the real merits and demerits of the difficulty, and the Park Church on Third street being about to give up their stated supply, the council whom they had called, advised a reunion of the two churches under the name of the Park Congregational Church, which was ratified by council on the 16th of March, making a membership of one hundred and forty-two persons. At the same time Mr. Russell was installed pastor. The council, on Behalf of the churches pledged $8,900 as an aid to the reunited church for the erection of a chapel. The membership has increased to one hundred and sixty; number enrolled in Sunday school is three hundred and twenty. A fine location for a church and chapel has been purchased on the corner of Sixth avenue and Seventh street, and a chapel forty-five by eighty is now in process of erection. It is to be of brown stone, and to cost $20,000.
Rev. Frank Russell, the pastor, was born in 1840, at Marion, Wayne county, N. Y. His father was a farmer. His education was procured by his own efforts, teaching a district school during winters, when fifteen and sixteen years of age, an academy in Niapra county when seventeen. In 1858, being then prepared for the sophomore year, he went to Phillips Co., Arkansas, with a view of earning sufficient money to bear his college and seminary expenses Together with an older brother he opened a flourishing academy which was abundantly successful until the entrance of the Union army in the summer of 1862, when every dollar was lost, together with a library and wardrobe Mr. Russell then made his way to Michigan, entered the junior year of Adrian College, and graduated under Dr. Asa Mahan, with highest honors, in 1864. Entered Union Seminary in the same year; graduated in 1867, and removed to Philadelphia where he had already been preaching during his last year in the seminar and had organized the. Plymouth Congregational Church, which he left, as above stated, in March, 1868.
The New England Church, Brooklyn. A meeting preliminary to the formation of this church was held at the house of Dr. Edwin N. Colt, No. 41 Fourth street, March 18, 1851. On the fifth of April following, public worship was commenced at Central Hall, corner of Fifth and South First streets, under the ministration of Mr. Thomas K. Beecher, and on the 21st of the same month, an ecclesiastical society was organized, in conformity with the laws of the state of New York. With the approbation of a council of neighboring churches, the New England Congregational Church was organized May 26th, 1851. Mr. Thomas K. Beecher was chosen to be its pastor, and on the 26th of June following was ordained to the ministry in that office. After January 7th, 1853. when the Central Hall was destroyed by fire, the church worshiped in a public hall known as the Odeon, in Fifth street between South Third and South Fourth streets, until the completion of the lecture room of the church edifice in South Ninth street, in July, 1853. In September, 1852, the society purchased three lots a the north side of South Ninth street, between Fifth and Sixth streets known as Nos. 120, 122 and 124, South Ninth street, being seventy-five feet front, by about one hundred and ten feet deep. The ground was broken for the building in November, 1852, and the corner-stone of the present church edifice was laid, January 11th, 1853, and the building completed, was dedicated to the worship of God on the 22d of the next December. The entire cost of the property was about $38,000. The years 1858 and 1866 are thankfully remembered as years of special divine favor, in which large numbers were added to the church. The successive pastors of the church have been as follows: Thomas K. Beecher, June 25th, 1851 to May 16, 1854; Henry B. Elliott, November 9, 1854 to November 19, 1855 ; William R. Tompkins, October 9, 1856 to September, 1864; Leonard W. Bacon, March, 1865.In May, 1868, a parsonage was added to the church property adjoining the church edifice, at an expense of $16,000. The church has no mission schools, but sustains several neighborhood prayer meetings, for missionary purposes, and a system of visitation. The communicants, in February, 1869, numbered two hundred and thirty-four.
First Congregational (E. D.), corner of South Third and Eleventh streets, was organized May 28, 1843, principally of the first secession from the Presbyterian church, and during the same year, they erected a brick edifice on South Third, corner of Eleventh street. The Rev. S. S. Jocelyn took the pastoral charge at its first organization, the number of communicant's being eight, and its first deacons James Warner, Samuel Wilde and Henry Davis. No subsequent history of this church has been obtained.NOTES:
[1] No sooner had the congregation been deprived of their place of worship by fire, than invitations were extended by almost all the neighboring churches, to use their respective buildings for worship, which kindness was gratefully accepted for a period of nearly two months. Sabbath evening services were held, during this time, in the church of the Pilgrims. As It was found to be impossible to conserve the interests of the church and congregation while they were In such an unsettled and migratory state, they at once decided to erect a temporary place of worship upon rounds in Pierrepont street, generously offered by Lewis Tappan, Esq. A building, one hundred feet by eighty, was erected In the brief space of thirty days; in this the congregation worshiped, with great pleasure and profit, until the first Sunday in January, 1850. The whole expense of the Tabernacle, including a small study, was $2,800. The sale of the building, together with the sabbath collections taken during its occupancy, more than reimbursed the original cost; and the rents of pews were amply sufficient to meet current expenses. The erection of this building proved to be a most beneficial measure. The absence of the pastor for several months, by reason of sickness, with the general prevalence of cholera during the summer, would have proved well nigh the dispersion of the congregation, had they been obliged to wander from place to place, or to occupy the only very limited and inconvenient halls which could be obtained. BACK [2] The members of this association are members of different churches in this city, mostly of the Plymouth Church, Church of the Pilgrims and the Warren Street Mission Church. The pecuniary support has usually been about equally divided between the two first named churches; though, during the year 1869, the Warren Street Mission Church has raised rather more than one-third of the amount. Its projector, Mr. Albert Woodraff, belongs to the Church of the Pilgrims, and Messrs. R. W. Ropes and A. D. Wheelock, its most devoted supporters, belong to Plymouth Church; while all the support it receives (outside of the Warren Street Mission Church), is from individuals, not from churches, an such. BACK [3] Mainly from a sketch in the Congregational Quarterly, April, 1862. BACK