The First Reformed Dutch Church. [We resume the history of this, the oldest church in Brooklyn, from page 196 of our first volume.] On the 4th of March, 1807, the consistory determined upon the erection of a new stone edifice, and the corner-stone was laid about the 15th of May, with appropriate services by the Rev. Peter Lowe. The building was completed (at a cost of $13,745.53), and dedicated December 23d, 1807, Dr. John H. Livingston preaching on the occasion, from Hebrews IV, 12. The new edifice, which stood on the south side of the lane, now known as Joralemon street, somewhat back from the site of the present church, was a very substantial and heavy looking building. [2]
Mr. Johnson's Successor in the pastorate of this church was the Rev. Selah Strong Woodhull, D.D., the only son of James Woodhull, a respectable merchant of New York, and Keturah, his wife, the daughter of Judge Selah Strong of Setauket. He was born in New York, August 4, 1786; lost his father by yellow fever, in 1798; graduated at Yale, in 1802; was licensed to preach by the presbytery of New Brunswick in 1805, was settled the same year at Boundbrook, N. J., and in 1806 assumed the sole charge of the Reformed Dutch church of Brooklyn. During his charge here, the trustees of this church secured its incorporation on the 18th of December, 1814, at which time the following gentlemen constituted the officiary of the church: Elders, Fernandus Suydam, Walter Berry, Jeremiah Johnson, John Lefferts. Deacons, Jeremiah Brower, Lambert Schenck, Abraham DeBevoise, Abraham Remsen. [3] Mr. Woodhull was widely known for many years as the able and indefatigable secretary for the American Bible Society. In 1825, lie removed to New Brunswick, having accepted the professorship of Ecclesiastical History, Church Government and Pastoral Theology, in the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Dutch church, and of Metaphysics and the Philosophy of the Human Mind, in Rutger's College. From this post of usefulness, however, he was soon removed by death, February 27, 1826, in the fortieth year of his age.
His successor was the Rev. Ebenezer Mason son of Dr. John Mason, who was installed on the fourth Sabbath in June, 1826, and left April 16th, 1828. He was followed by Rev. Peter J. Rouse, who was installed October 13, 1828, and who died at Now Brunswick, N. J., June 4, 1832, in his thirty-second year. He was followed, in 1833, by the Rev. Maurice W. Dwight, a son of Dr. 31. W. Dwight of Kempsville, Va., and grandson of President Edwards of Northampton, Mass., where he was born, May 4, 1796. He graduated at Columbia College in 1816 ; was settled at Waterford, N. Y., from 1823 to 1826, in which year he removed to New Hackensack, Dutchess Co., N. Y., where he remained until called to this church, where he was installed May 26, 1833. The congregation had now increased to such a size, that in June, 1833, the consistory resolved upon taking measures to erect the present building. It was built by Lafever & Gallard,
architects, under the supervision of a building committee, consisting of Jeremiah Johnson, Leffert Lefferts, Samuel Smith, John S. Bergen, John Skillman, Garret Bergen, Theodorus Polhemus and John Schenck. The corner-stone was laid on the 22d of May, 1834, by the senior elder, Abraham A. Remsen, and the edifice was finished and consecrated on the 7th of May, 1835. When it was so far completed that the congregation could worship in it, the old one was taken down. The pew owners in the old church were allowed the cost of their pews in sittings in the new building.
It is an elegant and spacious building, with an imposing colonnade of six columns on both front and rear.
In May, 1843, Gen. Jeremiah Johnson resigned the secretaryship of the church, which office he had held for the space of fifty years. May 1, 1855, Mr. Dwight resigned the pastorship of the church, although he remained in the congregation preaching a part of the time for them until his death.
Rev. Acmon P. Van Giesen, a graduate of the University of the City of New York, was installed as pastor, on November 4, 1855, and resigned in November, 1859. He was succeeded by Alphonzo A. Willetts, installed in June, 1860, and resigned June 1, 1865. The present pastor, Rev. Joseph Kimball, D.D., was installed November 21, 1865. He was born in Newburgh, N.Y., August 17, 1820; graduated at Union College in 1839, and in theology, at the seminary of the Associate Reformed church (a branch of the Presbyterian church of Scotland), in 1844. He was ordained the same year as a Presbyterian minister, settled first at Hamptonburgh, Orange county, N. Y., where he served eight years; for two and a half years more lie labored in Washington county, and then became pastor of an Old School Presbyterian church at Brockport, N. Y., where he officiated for seven years. He next accepted a call to the Fishkill Reformed (Dutch) church, where he labored for two years and a half, and was called thence to the pastorate of this church. The doctrines of the Scotch Presbyterian, the Associate Reformed and the Reformed churches being the same, Dr. Kimball has, by his migration from the Presbyterian body, undergone no change of theology . His characteristics as a preacher, are earnestness and simplicity, and an adherence to the good old method of expounding the gospel.
1837. The Second, or Central Reformed Church (Church on the Heights). Agreeably to the favorable report of a committee sent to Brooklyn in 1836, by the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Dutch church, to ascertain 'what encouragement would be given by members of the First church and others to establish another church, the Rev. John Garretson was appointed to the missionary work there, and commenced his labors in the Lyceum, in October, 1836. His exertions were so far crowned with success that, on the 3d of March, 1837, by the authority of the classis of Long island, a church was organized consisting of eleven members, its first consistory being Jacob Tallman and Walter Bicker, elders ; and Cornelius C. Stryker and Joseph Hegeman, deacons. In November, 1837, Mr. Garretson resigned to take charge of another church; and in February, 1838, a call was extended to Mr. Henry P. Tappan, which was accepted; but his examination not being sustained in the unanimous opinion of the classis, a schism occurred from which originated the Fifth Presbyterian church. Rev. C.C. Van Arsdale was called to the pastorate in February, 1839, but declined; and in June following, the congregation purchased lots for $9,750, on Henry street, near Clark, on which they proceeded to erect an edifice, (now occupied by the (Zion) German Evangelical Lutheran congregation), the cornerstone of which was laid by the Rev. Dr. Milledoler, on the 16th of September, 1839. The building was completed in May, following, at a cost of $14,740, and dedicated on June 3d, 1840, the sermon being preached by the Rev. Jacob Brodhead, D.D., who, the same month, was called to the pastorate, the duties of which he accepted in April, 1841. He resigned in October, 1846, at which time the congregation numbered one hundred and thirty families and two hundred and thirty communicants, and the church debt had been reduced from $23,000 to about $9,000. On the 19th of January, 1847, the Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Malcolm McLaren was called, but resigned July 8th, of the same year, and was followed, in August, by the Rev. Dr. George W. Bethune.
On the 24th of November, 1850, the corner-stone of a larger and more imposing house of worship was laid, on Pierrepont street, near Monroe place. This edifice, now known as the Church on the Heights, is of brown stone, in the Roman Corinthian order of architecture, with a depth of one hundred feet, and a front of seventy feet, having a portico supported by Corinthian pillars. Dr. Bethune's ministry was a period of great prosperity and activity in this church, there being 200 families in attendance and 445 members in communion, whose contributions during his pastorate amounted to nearly $155,000, in addition to which were three mission school enterprises (viz: the Bethesda and Myrtle avenue schools, and Summit St. chapel and school), besides a flourishing home school and Bible class. An apoplectic attack which Dr. Bethune suffered in February, 1859, led him to seek a dismissal from the pastoral relation, and he went to Europe, where he died. He was succeeded by the Rev. James Eells, D.D., who was installed April 29th, 1860, and resigned Dec. 28, 1866. He was followed by the Rev. Zachary Eddy, D.D., the present pastor, who was installed April 3, 1867. The present number of communicants is 502, and of sabbath school scholars, 478, while the contributions, for congregational and benevolent purposes during the last year were $26,503.56. The Myrtle Avenue and Bethesda (Atlantic street), mission schools are flourishing, the former about erecting a chapel.
1838. The Third or South Reformed Dutch Church (at Gowanus), [4] located an the corner of Forty-Third street and Third avenue, had its inception at a meeting held June 27, 1838. The building, situated about a mile south of the village, was completed and dedicated on the 24th of June, 1840, and the pastorate offered to Rev. C. C. Van Arsdale; this he declined, but served as a stated supply for six months. He was followed by Rev. Samuel X. Woodbridge, who received and accepted the call, November 6, 1841, was ordained on 12th of December following, and continued until April 29, 1850. On the 2d of April, 1852, the Rev. J. M. . Rowland accepted the call, and May 18, 1852, was installed, but was removed by death, on 2d of October, 1853. On the 12th of June, 1854, a call was presented to the present pastor, Rev. John t H. Manning, which was accepted, and the installation occurred on the 16th of August, following.
It should here be stated, that from May, 1842 to January, 1850, services were held by the pastor, Rev. S. M. Woodbridge, alternately in this church and in the North Church, as it was then called, located on Third avenue between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, and which had been purchased by the consistory, in May, 1842, from the Fourth Presbyterian church of Brooklyn. (See sketch of North Dutch Reformed Church).
The South Reformed Dutch Church lost a good portion of its members and supporters during the yellow fever of 1856, and it seemed, at one time, as if its very existence must be abandoned, but the few who were left rallied to its support, and it is now in a prosperous condition, possesses a fine and commodious parsonage, and its sabbath school is in excellent condition, while that portion of the city in which it is located is rapidly improving.
Rev. John H. Manning, the present pastor, is a native of New Brunswick, N. J., graduated from Rutger's college in 1844, and from the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 1847. He was settled in January, 1848, at Spotswood, N. J., where he remained until called to his present charge.
1840. The Fourth Reformed Dutch Church was organized, November 11, 1840, at the Wallabout. The Rev. John Knox, who had labored some months in the place, was invited to take the pastoral charge, but declined. In April, 1841, the Rev. Peter S. Williamson accepted a call, and was installed on the second sabbath in May. He was, however, dismissed on the 7th of October following. The congregation being feeble, and enjoying only occasional supplies, the enterprise was abandoned about the close of 1842, but the church was not regularly dissolved by classis until October 13, 1844, when the only member (and he an older), was dismissed by the classis, on his own request, and joined the Wallabout church and the North Dutch Reformed church became extinct.
1846. The Middle Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, located on the corner of Harrison street and Tompkins place, was organized December 9, 1846, with sixteen members, in a room on the corner of Smith and Butler streets. The first officers of the church, consisting of three elders and three deacons, were elected on the same evening, and the services of John V. N. Talmage were secured, as a stated preacher, until a permanent pastor could be procured. The first regular pastor called was the Rev. Peter D. Oakey, from the Reformed Dutch Church of Oyster Bay, L. I., who commenced his labors here in March, 1847. During that year the congregation erected a church edifice on the corner of Court and Butler streets; this building, the corner-stone of which was laid on October 25th, 1847, was a plain brick structure, costing about $10,000. Mr. Oakey was succeeded, in October, 1850, by the Rev. Jas. R. Talmage, from the Dutch Reformed church at Athens, N. Y., who remained about two years. The next regular pastor was the Rev. Nicholas E. Smith, from the Reformed Dutch church of Oyster Bay, L. I., who commenced his labors February 23, 1853. This year, also, lots were purchased, and the present church edifice commenced, the session room being first completed and dedicated in March, 1855, and occupied for public worship until the completion of the main building, the corner-stone of which was laid July 30, 1855. The edifice is of brick, in the Norman style of architecture, with two towers in front, the principal one being one hundred and eighty feet in height. The building has seventy feet front on Harrison street, and extends ninety-six feet on Tompkins place; the audience room having a clear apace of sixty-four feet in width. It has galleries, and its estimated capacity is one tbousand five hundred persons. The exterior is trimmed with brown stone, the lecture room adjoining being fronted with blue marble; cost about $32,000.
1847. About the first of October, 1847, the Missionary Board of the Reformed Dutch church appointed the Rev. Thompson to labor as a missionary of the vicinity of Clinton and Washington avenues, and a meeting was opened in the public school house in Washington avenue. The erection of a small building was also immediately commenced on Clinton, near Fulton avenue. A division very soon took place, when those who favored the Dutch Reformed church began the erection of a building on Washington avenue, near Fulton, while the others continued to build on Clinton avenue. Both buildings were small, being about thirty feet wide and forty feet long, costing about $1,300.
1848. Washington Avenue Protestant Reformed Dutch Church, located on the corner of Washington and Gates avenues, was organized about 1848, and a building thirty by forty-six feet in size, and costing some $1,400, was erected, with the expectation of enjoying the labors of the Rev. Alex. P. Thompson, formerly of Morristown, N. J. Some difficulty arising, however, by direction of the Dutch Board of Missions, the pulpit was filled by the Rev. Mr. Van Kleek of Flatbush, May 28, 1848, and in June of the same year the Rev. A. Elmendorf accepted a call to the pastorate.
In 1850, a Mr Goodman was called, and the corner-stone of a new edifice was laid on the 16th of December, 1850, but in September, 1851, the church broke up, Mr. Goodman not having been installed, and the edifice was sold to the Baptists, for an amount sufficient to pay all debts, and leave a handsome surplus.
1850. Reformed Dutch Church (of North Gowanus). The property of this congregation, consisting of an edifice and eight lots located on the Third avenue between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, was purchased by the consistory of the South Reformed Dutch church, in May, 1842, from the 4th Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, and was locally known as the North Church of Gowanus. Both congregations were under the ministrations of the same pastor, Rev. S. M. Woodbridge, and worshiped in the two church edifices alternately, until January 29, 1850, when the south classis of Long Island dissolved the union, and organized the North church congregation as the North Reformed Dutch church of Gowanus, who purchased the property from the consistory of the South Reformed Dutch church, most of the members of the new organization being dismissed, on their own application, from the old to connect themselves with the new. Although regular services were held, no regular pastor was settled until the installation of the present incumbent, Rev. N. P. Pierce, in May, 1851. Mr Pierce is a native of Enfield, Conn., where he was born August 28, 1817. His preparatory studies were pursued at the academy at Monson, Mass.; graduated at Amherst, Mass., July, 1842; studied theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York city: and was licensed to preach at Templeton, Mass., by the Worcester North Association, July 1, 1845. His first charge was at Whippany, N. J., where he commenced his labors in October, 1845, and was ordained by the presbytery of Rockaway, April 30, 1846. Here he remained until November 1, 1850 ; was called to his present charge in March, 1851, commenced his labors April 6th, and was installed as pastor in May following.
Early in 1869, the property owned by the church on Third avenue, near Twenty-first street, was sold and a new church edifice is erected and fast approaching completion, on Twelfth street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues. It is fifty-five by eighty-five feet in size, of brick, with stone trimmings, will cost about $50,000, and will accommodate nearly twice the number of that worshiped in the old edifice. The corporate title is to be changed from " the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of North Gowanus," to 11 the Twelfth street Reformed church, Brooklyn."
1851. The North Reformed Church (Clermont Avenue), owes its origin to the efforts of its first pastor, the Rev. Anthony Elmendorf, D.D., and was organized May 15, 1851. A single service on each sabbath was, at first, held in the small wooden chapel of the Protestant Episcopal church of the Messiah, in Adelphi street, until the completion of the lecture room which was first occupied May 30, 1852. Mr. Elmendorf was installed as pastor on the 4th of July of the same year. On the 25th of June, 1855 (four lots of ground having been presented by the heirs of Jeremiah Spader), the corner-stone of the present edifice on Clermont avenue was laid, and the structure finished, at a cost of $20,000, and dedicated December 27th, following. In the summer of 1865, the present incumbent, Rev. W. Tillotson Enyard, succeeded Dr. Elmendorf, who died on the 29th of January, ensuing. [5] Mr. Enyard is a native of New York city; prepared for college at West Bloomfield, N. J.; graduated from Rutgers College, N. J., in 1855, and from the Theological Seminary of the Reformed church, at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1858, and was settled during the summer of the same year, at Mott Haven, Westchester Co., N. Y., where he remained until he took his present charge. The church has been steadily prospered, having a membership at present (1869), of five hundred and twenty, and a Sabbath school of over five hundred pupils, and fifty officers and teachers. A Young People's Literary Association was also organized in 1868, by the present pastor, which numbers over one hundred and fifty members. A handsome parsonage is also in process of erection.
1852. German Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of New Brooklyn was organized the 6th of October, by twenty-eight persons, acting under authority from the south classis of Long Island. Peter Hymmen and Frederick Zumbrod were chosen elders, and Martin Kaufmann and George Rufi, deacons. Ernest Schrepfer, missionary, preached for them once every four weeks, until the 1st of January, 1853. The Rev. Mr. Pfister was then called to the charge of the church, and during his term of service, January 1, 1853 to the 28th of August, 1854, regular Sabbath preaching was enjoyed by the congregation. He was succeeded, January 1, 1855, by the Rev. C. Dickhaut, who resigned October 26, 1866, and the Rev. H. C. Heyser, called on the 4th of July, 1867, was installed as pastor on the 24th of September, of same year.
On the 22d of November, 1854, a church edifice (costing about $5,500), of gothic style, was dedicated, and, in 1868, a parsonage was erected and repairs made upon the church. The Sabbath school numbers one hundred
and thirty children, and a parochial school is also connected with the church numbering seventy scholars. Communicant members of the church number one hundred and fifty.
1853. East Reformed Dutch Church (Situated on Bedford avenue near Jefferson street), was organized in 1853, on February 15th, of which year the Rev. John W. Schenck was installed as pastor, and the church edifice was raised in March, 1854, and dedicated July 16, of the same year, having been occupied from the preceding Sabbath. In 1856, the Rev. Jacob West became the pastor, and was followed by the present incumbent, Rev. S. F. Farmer.
The Lee Avenue Reformed Dutch Church. A Sabbath school was organized in a small frame building situated on the corner of Bedford avenue and Hewes street, on the third Sabbath in May, 1853. Three teachers and eight scholars were present at the opening service, and owing to the sparsity of the population in the neighborhood, the prospects were not encouraging. There were no houses in the vicinity, the land was cultivated by German market gardeners, open fields everywhere met the eye; notwithstanding all this, with a devoted pastor at its head (Rev. Wm. W. Halloway), the little band resolved to trust in God, and go on with the work. It was deemed advisable to erect a chapel at once and the site on which the Lee avenue Reformed Dutch church now stands was generously donated by Barnet Johnson for the purpose. The building was commenced on the first day of June, 1853. The corner-stone was laid, with appropriate services, by the Hon. Benjamin D. Silliman on the 3d day of the following August, and the neat and beautiful chapel fronting on Lee avenue was dedicated to the service of Almighty God, by the Rev. Dr. Bethune, in the presence of an immense congregation on the second sabbath of April, 1854. At this time the average attendance was about fifty, including scholars and teachers. So rapidly, however, did the numbers increase subsequent to this date that on the first day of January, 1856, seven hundred scholars and eighty teachers were enrolled on the sabbath school registers, and it was with difficulty that all could be seated. An enlargement was decided upon, and the work was commenced at once and completed by the first day of September, 1856. On the first day of January, 1857, the school had one thousand scholars and ninety teachers. The congregation was also very large, the sabbath audiences completely filling the church. The Rev. Mr. Halloway, who had been installed on the 15th October, 1864, resigned the pastorate in March, 1859. For several months in the absence of a regular settled pastor the numbers of the church rapidly declined, but no apparent diminution was perceptible in the school. In September, 1859, the Rev. John McC. Holmes accepted the call of the consistory, and became pastor of the church. Being a devoted sabbath school man, new life was infused into the entire enterprise. Hundreds flocked into both school and church, every seat was soon occupied, and the erection of a large and commodious church became a necessity. The corner-stone of the present edifice was laid on the 11th day of June, 1860, by the Rev. Dr. Van Vranken of New Brunswick. The work was pushed forward with the greatest vigor, and the large and beautiful Sabbath School Hall (for size without a rival on the continent), was opened on the 7th of October, 1860. At least two thousand five hundred children, teachers and friends were present. The church auditorium was dedicated on the l0th day of December, 1860, the Rev. George W. Bethune preaching an able discourse. The attendance at both church and sabbath school largely increased; every sent was soon occupied, and often hundreds were unable to obtain admission. In the autumn of the year 1864 the Rev. Mr. Holmes, owing to impaired health, and after a most successful ministry, was compelled to relinquish his charge. He was followed by the Rev. A. A. Willets in June, 1865, who was very popular, attracting large and attentive audiences. The school was at this time in a great state of prosperity, numbering upwards of two thousand children and one hundred and eighty teachers. Shortly after this time, in May, 1866, Jeremiah Johnson, Jr., who had been the superintendent of the school since its inception, and to whose tact and earnestness, its wonderful success was largely attributable, in consequence of removing to Rahway, New Jersey, resigned his position, and was succeeded by Franklin H. Summers.
The Rev. Mr. Willetts was succeeded in the pastorate, in the year 1869, by Rev. J. H. Carroll, D.D., a son of the late Rev. Daniel L. Carroll, D.D., an eminent divine who succeeded Dr. Lyman Beecher, at Litchfield, Conn., and was afterwards President of Sidney Hampden College, Virginia. He graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, in 1851; at the Princeton Theological Seminary, in 1855, and was, immediately after, ordained and installed over a Presbyterian church at Jamesburgh, N. J. At the time of his removal to Brooklyn, he was pastor of a church in New Haven, Conn.
First Reformed Dutch Church (Eastern District), Bushwick avenue, near North Second street, has its history given on pages 355 to 358 of the second volume.
Fourth Street Reformed Dutch Church (Eastern District), located on Fourth street, near South Second, was the first of that denomination erected in the village of Williamsburgh, and the third within the limits of the present city of Brooklyn. Williamsburgh, which had been incorporated in 1827, was then confined, mostly to the lower parts of Grand and North Second streets. The only house of worship it contained was a small Methodist chapel, on North Second street, which eventually became a sash factory, and was destroyed by fire about the year 1852. South of Grand street, several farm houses skirted the shore; besides these, but very few buildings of any kind occupied the territory now included within the first ward of the subsequent city of Williamsburgh. The old church edifice of Bushwick, erected shortly after the settlement of this part of the island, antique and octagonal, together with the First church of Brooklyn, both mince rebuilt, were the only Dutch churches within the limits of the present consolidated city.
The immediate and prospective necessity for a new church in this locality was clearly seen and felt, and, in 1828, measures were adopted, by a few enterprising Christians, to erect a chapel on the site of the present church edifice, the corner-stone of which was laid September 28, 1828, by John A. Meserole (a patriot of the revolution and a most generous donor to the enterprise), and with appropriate exercises by Dr. Brodhead, of New York, and the Rev. Messrs. Jacob Schoonmaker, of Jamaica, and S. H. Meeker, pastor of the congregation. This house was finished and dedicated on the 26th of July, 1829, by a sermon by Dr. Brodhead, from II Con, vii, 16th verse ; and as no regular organization had been effected, an election was held, at which Peter Wyckoff, Peter Meserole, Abraham Meserole, Abraham Boeruni and James M. Halsey, were chosen trustees. Its erection stimulated the Bushwick congregation to build a new house of worship, which was dedicated on the 20th of September, 1829, and then, the new congregation were organized as a separate church, by the classis of Long Island, on the first sabbath of November, 1829, the sermon being preached by Domine Schoonmaker, who ordained Abraham Meserole and Abraham Boerurn as elders.
This act of the classis so displeased the old Bushwick church that they joined the south classis of New York, in which connection it has ever since remained.
Immediately upon its organization, the new Bushwick church obtained the services of the Rev. James Demarest, a recent graduate of the Reformed Dutch Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, N. J., who served for the first six months as a missionary, and partly at the charge of the Board of Domestic Missions. On the first sabbath of his ministry he preached to sixteen people, on the second to eighteen, and on the third to twenty-four. The church edifice was, in fact, remote from the village, which was then forming around and above the foot of Grand street. Fourth street was then but a farmer's lane, rough, uneven with boulders, and studded here and there with stumps or with trees of the original forest. Mr. Demarest having labored here with great fidelity and success for a period of nine years and nine months, resigned in May, 1839, and was followed, in October of the same year, by the Rev. William Howard Van Dorn; the church meanwhile being amicably attended by Christians of all denominations, until the formation of the First Presbyterian church of Williamsburgh. In the winter of 1848-49, the church was enlarged, repaired and modernized, largely at the expense of Messrs. Abraham Meserole and Abraham Boerum, Nicholas Wyckoff and others. In the spring of 1849, Mr. Van Dorn resigned, and for some months the Rev. Job Halsey served as a stated supply. November 13, 1849, the Rev. E. S. Porter was called to the pastorate, and installed on the third sabbath of December, being now the oldest settled pastor of the classis to which his church is attached.[6] This has been a fruitful church; in 1848, it dismissed twenty-three members to form the Reformed Dutch church at GreenPoint; in 1851, several more to aid in the organization of the South Bushwick church, contributing also, for three years, to the support of its pastor; in 1854, it contributed members to organize the Lee avenue church, gave its school the nucleus of a library, furnished a superintendent with over a dozen teachers, and for two years paid a portion of its pastor's salary ; in 1854 rebuilt the spire of the church, which had been blown down by a tornado, and enlarged the edifice considerably; in 1858, established the Hission School in Ninth street, and has since sustained it; in 1865, assumed a portion of the floating debt of the German Evangelical church in Union avenue, and contributed a superintendent and teacher to its school. In addition to these two, the Home School is also large and flourishing. In July, 1865, the old church edifice and property on Fourth street was sold, the closing services being held on sabbath, November 4, 1866, when a most interesting historical discourse was delivered by the pastor, of which we have made free use in the compilation of this sketch; as, also, of his Historical Discourse of February 5, 1854. The new edifice of this congregation, located on Bedford avenue, corner of Clymer street, is of brick, with light stone facings. It is in some respects, one of the finest churches in Brooklyn, and the most complete and perfect in its appointments, and was dedicated on the 17th of October, 1869.
1848. The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Green-Point (Java near Franklin avenue), was organized with eight members, by a committee from the North classis of Long Island, on the first sabbath of May, 1848, and the following consistory was then ordained: David Swalm and Wm. P. Guest, elders, and Isaac K. Snell, M.D., deacon, Dr. James J. Gardner and Ann Gardner, his wife, Mrs. Margaret Marshall, Miss Mary P. Marshall, Miss Martha G. Marshall, members. Public worship was maintained in the loft of a store house in Franklin street, which had been fitted up for that purpose. Preaching services were maintained, without charge, by students from the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, and by the neighboring clergy, until August 1st, 1849, when the Rev. John W. Ward, from the Classis of Orange, having accepted a call, was installed as first pastor of the church. The present church edifice in Java street was erected in 1850 ; the corner-stone being laid on the 1st day of May, and the building dedicated to the service of God, in November of that year. In April, 1854, Mr. Ward was compelled by declining health, to seek a dismissal from his people, and the Rev. George Talmadge was called to this charge, in March, and installed June 15, 1855. He labored here until September 8, 1862, and was succeeded by Rev. Geo. H. Peeke, who was installed July 13, 1863, and dismissed July 24, 1865 ; Rev. A. P. Van Gicson, installed January 7, 1866, and dismissed September, 1867; and Rev. Alexander McKelvey, the present pastor, who was installed December 15, 1867. The edifice on Java street, in which this congregation worship, is more than full, and a new and larger one is in course of erection, in the Rhemish style, at a cost of over $60,000. The sabbath school numbers about five hundred scholars, and arrangements are in progress for establishing a branch school.
1851. The Second Reformed Dutch Church of South Bushwick (Eastern District), on Bushwick avenue, opposite the junction of Lafayette avenue and Broadway, was organized by the North Classis of Long Island in November, 1851, under A. J. Johnson, as elder, and William Ten Eyck as deacon. Services were first held in the Methodist church at the Cross roads, until the completion of the present edifice, upon six lots of land presented by the brothers Andrew and Abraham Stockholm, Messrs. Frederick Byrd and Mr. Debevoies, being also active workers. Its corner-stone was laid on the 6th of September, 1852, and the building was dedicated in the following February, the sermon on the occasion being preached by the Rev. Win. H. Campbell, D.D. The edifice, which cost about $5,900 of which $2,000 was obtained from the Collegiate Church of New York, is a very neat and substantial frame, seventy-five feet long by fifty-five feet wide, accommodating about five hundred persons, and costing about $9,000, and is situated in a new neighborhood (known as Bowronville), which is building up very handsomely, and which, in the course of a few years must become one of the most desirable locations in Brooklyn.
The first pastor of this church was the Rev. John S. Himrod, who was installed January 29, 1854. He was a graduate of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, licensed in 1842, and had labored here since the formation of the church. In 1859 he went to Williamsburgh, where he engaged in the gathering of a congregation in North Sixth street, and it; now settled at Greenpoint, Columbia Co., N. Y. He was succeeded by the Rev. Denis Wortman, Jr., born at Hopeville, Dutchess Co., N. Y., graduated at Amherst College, Mass., in 1857 ; graduated at Theological Seminary of New Brunswick, N. J., in 1860, was licensed by the classis of Poughkeepsie, and ordained and installed pastor of this church June 17th, 1860. He was succeeded, in 1864, by Rev. C. D. Hartrauft, and he, in August, 1867., by Rev. Henry V. Voorhees, whose pastoral relation was dissolved in April, 1869. During the year 1868, a parsonage was erected in rear of the church on Himrod street, on ground given by Abraham Stockholm. In the year 1869, Rev. G. D. Hulst became the pastor of this church.
1852. German Evangelical St. Peter's Church of Brooklyn, E. D., corner of Union avenue and Scholes street, was organized in 1852, as an independent Evangelical Lutheran church, by the Rev. K. U. J. Pohle (for several years pastor of the German church, corner of Graham avenue and Wyckoff street), with the following consistory: Charles Schmidt, N. Hausmann, J. Weishaar, J. Wills, H. Wicht, P. Hartman and John Moll. Their original place of worship, since improved and enlarged, was purchased from the Methodists, corner of Union avenue and South Third street ; moved and placed on the basement which had been built on the present location. The congregation was incorporated as the German Evangelical Lutheran church of St. Peter. Mr. Pohle, who was a faithful and beloved pastor, died on the 22d of November, 1859, and was followed by Rev. Mr. Zapf, who resigned in March, 1863. The Rev. Henry Hennike next commenced pastoral duties, September, 1863, and served the church most acceptably, until March, 1865, when he received a call from the German Evangelical Lutheran church, corner of South First and Ninth streets. This was a serious blow to the welfare of the congregation, whose harmony had been somewhat disturbed during the second pastorate; and the difficulty was still further increased, when, soon after, the congregation, in opposition to the consistory, called the Rev. J. A. Reidenbach, who entered upon the pastoral duties, May 1st, 1865 ; the consistory resigning, in a body. The few remaining members, unable to sustain alone the weight of the church indebtedness, applied to the North Classis of Long Island of the Reformed Dutch church, to be taken into that connection, which was effected in January, 1866, the Classis helping them in the payment of their debt and the support of their pastor. Mr. ReideDbacb resigned in September, 1866, and was followed by Rev. John M. Wagner (previously pastor of the Reformed Dutch church of Melrose, Westchester Co.), who commenced his labors on the 15th, and was installed on the 30th of December, 1866, the church being Dow regularly incorporated under its present title. The congregation is Dow in a flourishing condition, two hundred and thirty-nine members having been added during Mr. Wagner's ministry, of whom two hundred and twenty-two were admitted on confession ; most of these members being from the humbler walks of life. The church has a well conducted and flourishing parochial school, in which, besides religious instruction, the regular branches are taught both in the German and English languages; also, two sabbath schools (one German and the other English); and a Women's Association, for purposes of mutual improvement and missionary efforts. The church debt has been largely reduced, and the property is now valued at about $10,000.
NOTE:
[1] This denominational title was changed, in June, 1868, by action of the General Synod, to that of The, Reformed Church. [2] Among the papers of the late Gen. Jeremiah Johnson, we have found a scrap Memoranda without date, written on the back of another document and entitled, Builders of Me church, who are dead, which, without doubt, refers to the church of 1807. It is as follows: Michael Bergen, Simon Bergen, Peter Wyckoff, Walter Berry, Cornelius Van Brunt, Tbeodorus Pollienius, Adolphus Brower, John Covenhoven, Abraham Luquere, Fernandus Suydam, Tunis Tiebout, Jeremiah Vanderbilt, Nich. R. Covenhoven, Martin Ryerson, Jacob Ryerson, L. Schenck, M. Schenck, Francis Skillman, Jer. A. Remsen, Folkert Rappelyea, Barent Lefferts; Hend. E. Suydam, Michael Vandervoort, John Lefferts- total, twenty-five. On the same paper is a list of those who were living, viz.: A. Do Bevoise, L. Suydam, L. Lefferts, Bedford ; J.Johnson and A. A. Remsen, Wallabout; John C. Freecke, N. Denton, A. Cortelyou, G. Bergen, J. S. Bergen, Gowanus; R. Suydam, Jacob Bergen, Tunis Joralemon, Red Hook; 11. S. Suydam, John Moon, A. Remsen, S. Smith, Brooklyn-total, seventeen. [3] "An elegant but small new house for the accommodation of the congregation of the Reformed Dutch Church, Brooklyn, was opened by the Rev. Seal S. Woodhull on Sunday evening last. His text was from Matthew xxiii, 20. - Long Island Star, Nov. 13, 1811. This was the chapel on Middagh street, Site of public school No. 6. [4] Prime (History of Long bland, I), says this church was organized July 14,1840. [5] Rev. Anthony Elmendorf, D.D., was born at Kingston, N. Y., April 25, 1813, being of Holland and Huguenot descent. His father was Martin Elmendorf, a well known resident, in former years, of Kingston, and captain of a company raised in that town for the war of 1812 15. His mother was Rachel Rooss, the daughter of a respectable farmer in the adjoining town of Hurley. Mr. E. graduated in Rutgers College in 1836, and at the Theol. Seminary at New Brunswick, in 1839 ; and in the autumn of 1840 was ordained by the classis of Ulster, over the Refornied Dutch church of Hurley, which his maternal grandfather Egbert Roosa had been mainly instrumental in building, and which is now superseded by a more modern, but less substantial structure.
In Nov., 1843, lie became the pastor of the Reformed Dutch church of Hyde Park, Dutchess Co., N. Y., and in 1848 took charge of the Reformed Dutch church on Washington avenue, Brooklyn. In 1851, began his labors with his present charge, and in the spring of 1853, his health failed, and he spent six months in a tour in Europe. In 1860, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity, from his alma mater, Rutgers College. Dr. Elmendorf's time having been almost exclusively devoted to his pastoral duties, he published but little. He was well known as a frequent contributor to the columns of the Christian Intelligencer, and was the author of a Sermon published in the National Preacher (1854) on "the excess of future glory, over present sufferings." [6] A very full biography of Dr. Porter will be found in the Brooklyn Eagle, February 26,1869.