V

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V. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES.

First Presbyterian Church (New School). The ground upon which the Plymouth Church now stands, comprising seven lots, running through from Cranberry to Orange streets, was purchased in 1822, by John and Jacob M. Hicks, for the erection of an edifice for the use of the First Presbyterian church. At that time the population of Brooklyn was less than ten thousand, and the enterprise was regarded by cautious men as hazardous; the church being built in what was then cultivated fields, and far out from the settled portion of the village, though now in the densest part of Brooklyn Heights. It was organized with ten members, by the presbytery of New York, on the 10th of March, 1822, and was incorporated on the 13th of the same month. The high personal character of its first trustees gave to the new enterprise a dignity and prominence which assured its success. The new organization was admitted to connection with the presbytery of New York, April 10, 1822; and on the 15th of the same month the corner-stone of a substantial church edifice was laid. This building, which was considered in those days as 14 a very handsome brick building, something in the gothic style," was seventy-two feet in length, and was afterwards enlarged by the addition of eighteen feet, making it ninety feet in depth, by fifty-five feet in width. A lecture room, including a sabbath school room and study, was attached to the rear of the church, fronting upon Orange street, in 1831. The first pastor was the Rev. Joseph Sanford, who was installed on the 16th of October, 1823, was dismissed January 11, 1829, and removed to Philadelphia, where he died at the age of thirty-five years, December 25, 1836. His remains, by request of the people of this congregation, were removed hither from Philadelphia, and now rest in the minister's vault beneath the church edifice, with those of his first wife, with whom he was permitted to live only a few months, and suitable inscriptions to their memory are engraven upon two marble tablets inserted, under cover, under the south portico. He was succeeded by the Rev. Daniel Lynn Carroll (father of the present pastor of Lee avenue Reformed church), previously pastor of a church in Litchfield, Conn., who was installed March, 1829, and dismissed July 9, 1835. After his departure, the pulpit remained vacant nearly two years; until, on the 8th of May, 1837, the Rev. Samuel Hanson Cox, D.D., was installed as third pastor of this church. In November, 1838, the division of the synod of New York was followed by a corresponding division of the membership of this church. About forty families, including three elders and nearly one hundred members, claiming to be the legitimate representatives of the original founders of the church, in their religious opinions and sentiments, preferred to retain their connection with the presbytery of New York, which remained attached to the old school synod and general assembly, and therefore asserting themselves to be the First Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, withdrew from Dr. Cox's charge. The pastor, seven elders, and about five hundred and fifty members, acknowledging the jurisdiction of the presbytery of Brooklyn, continued on the even tenor of their way. On the 28th of July, 1846, the corner-stone of the present elegant house of worship was laid; the edifice being first opened for service on the 6th of June, 1847. The old church in Cranberry street had been sold, in June, 1846, for the sum of $20,000, to parties who subsequently conveyed it to Plymouth church.

Dr. Cox's farewell sermon was preached on the 16th of April, 1854, and a call having been extended, in December, 1854, to the Rev. William Hogarth, of Geneva, N. Y., and accepted by him, he was installed on the

15th of March, 1855. On the 20th of March, 1860, the Rev. Charles S. Robinson, D.D., formerly of the Park Presbyterian church, of Troy, N. Y., was installed; resigned March, 1868, in consequence of the illness of a member of his family, and went to Europe, being at present the pastor in charge of the American chapel at Paris. He was succeeded by the Rev. Norman Seaver, who was installed December 1st, 1869. He is a native of Boston, Mass., where he was born April 23d, 1834; graduated at Williams College, in 1854; was admitted to the Suffolk bar in 1856, and for two years practiced law in Boston. He then studied divinity and graduated at Andover Theological Seminary, in 1860; was installed in the pastorate of the Congregational church at Rutland, Vt., August 29, 1860, from which he resigned to accept his present charge. He received his degree of D.D. from Middlesex College, Vt., in 1868. Present church membership, seven hundred and ten, and of Sunday school, eight hundred and twenty.

First Presbyterian Church (Old School). The seceding portion of the congregation of the First Presbyterian church, for about a year after their withdrawal, maintained public worship in the Court House; until, after several ineffectual efforts to secure an amicable division of the property, they set about the erection of a new edifice, the cornerstone of which, was laid on the 3d of September, 1839, by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Miller of Princeton. This building, which was finished during the ensuing year, was situated on the corner of Fulton and Pineapple streets, its dimensions being eighty-five by sixty-five feet, and was constructed of brick, in the gothic style. It was then considered one of the finest church edifices in the city, and its cost, including the ground, was $40,000. The Rev. Melancthon Williams Jacobus, was installed as the first pastor of this congregation in the fall of 1839, and was only dismissed on account of ill health, October 21, 1851. His labors here were faithfully carried on in the face of difficulties which few young ministers have encountered and overcome. For over two years. after his departure the pulpit was vacant, and the congregation in a very unsettled and distracted state. When his successor the Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke, came here in May, 1853, the church edifice which had been removed, in 1850, from Fulton and Pineapple streets to its present location, on the corner of Clinton and Remsen, was still unfinished and the membership had dwindled to one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty. Mr. Van Dyke was installed as pastor on the 29th of June, 1853, and since that period the church has expended about $12,000 in the completion and the improvement of the building, and some $15,000 towards the extinction of' their debt. Its progress in other respects has been encouraging.

Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke, D.D., the present pastor, is the son of a venerable physician in Philadelphia, and is of Dutch descent. He was born at Abingdon, Montgomery Co., Pa., March 2, 1822; graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in July, 1843; married on the 14th of .March, 1845, and was ordained and installed pastor of the 2d Presbyterian church of Bridgeton, N. J., in the following June. In April, 1852, his health being seriously impaired by repeated attacks of bilious fever, he was obliged to leave his pastoral cares, and after preaching as a stated supply for three months, at Pottsville, Pa., he was settled over the First Presbyterian church at Germantown, Pa., where he remained until his removal to Brooklyn.

The Second Presbyterian Church (Old School), was organized by the Presbytery of New York, October 25th, 1831, from a colony of the First church, consisting of thirty-one members. They first erected a I lecture room on Adams street, near Concord, which was opened for divine worship, May 1st; 1832. During the years 1833 and '34, a brick church edifice, of the Grecian Doric order, one hundred and three feet by seventy-five, was erected on Clinton street, near Fulton, at a cost of about $24,000, and $4,000 for the ground. It was dedicated May 4, 1834, and a lecture room was subsequently built on an adjoining lot, at a cost of $6,000, the old one in which they bad first worshiped having been disposed of for $8,000.

The Rev. Ichabod S. Spencer, D.D., was installed pastor of this church, March 22d, 1832. He died November 24, 1854, aged fifty-six years. His successors have been the Rev. Willis Lord, D.D., who served for about two years, and the Rev. Mr. (now Dr.) Nathaniel West, during whose term difficulties arose, which resulted in his dismissal; and the pulpit is as yet vacant.

The Third Presbyterian Church (New School). In the spring of 1831, a few members of the First Presbyterian church, Rev. Dr. Carroll pastor (this was the only Presbyterian church at this time), commenced a mission sabbath school in the upper room of a dwelling house on the corner of Nassau street and Hudson avenue, then Jackson street. In January, 1833, a frame building was erected at 153 Nassau street, nearly opposite Stanton street, for a school and for occasional religious meetings. April 13, 1835, the Third Presbyterian church was there organized with thirty-four members, and the Rev. Rollin S. Stone was installed as the first pastor. Mr. Stone resigned in 1837, and the congregation removed to the Classical Hall in Washington street, near Concord, now occupied by the Church of the Mediator. Rev. William Beale Lewis was installed pastor October 10, 1837 ; and the present church edifice was erected, in Jay street, between Sands and High, in 1840.

Mr. Lewis resigned in October, 1.848, after a pastorate of eleven years, and died in January, 1849. Rev. Daniel P. Noyes was installed in April, 1849, and resigned to become a secretary of the American Home Missionary Society, September, 1854. Rev. William S. Karr was installed on the 28th of September, 1854, and resigned November 15, 1867, after a pastorate of thirteen years. Rev. Joseph M. Greene was installed the 12th of May, 1868, and is now the pastor. Present church membership is about three hundred and fifty, and that of sabbath school two hundred and fifty.

The Fourth Presbyterian Church (New School), was organized at Gowns, by the third presbytery of New York, in February, 1838. A house of worship was erected soon after, and the Rev. Robert R. Kellogg was installed June 4, 1839, by the presbytery of Brooklyn. ^[1]He was dismissed on the 7th of December following, and the congregation being few, and oppressed with debt, the church was dissolved by the presbytery, May 9, 1842, and subsequently, the building was purchased by the Third Dutch church (Prime's L. I., p. 398).

The Fifth Presbyterian Church (New School), which was first organized in Brooklyn, was entirely distinct from the congregation which subsequently existed under the same name. It had its origin in the schism which occurred in the infancy of the Second, or Central Dutch church. "Those members," says Prime, "who were dissatisfied with the rejection of Mr. Tappan, by the classis, in 1838, immediately seceded and set up worship in a school house in Henry street, near Pineapple, under the administration of Mr. Tappan, and were shortly after organized a Congregational Church. In the course of a year, the building now occupied by the Fifth Presbyterian church, was erected at the sole expense of Samuel A. Willoughby, Esq., and this church removed to that building, which was dedicated May 30th, 1839, Mr. T. still continuing their preacher. In the spring Of that year, the church changed its order, and placed itself under the care of the presbytery of Brooklyn, by the name of the. Fifth Presbyterian Church. In 1839, the church was reported as consisting of thirty members, Mr. Tappan pastor. He, however, left the church during that year, and in December, 1839, after some trials, the Rev. Absalom Peters, D.D., was called, but for some unascertained reason, was not installed," and the church and congregation shortly after removed from the building above mentioned, to a school room near the South ferry, where Dr. Peters continued to preach. After a few weeks this discontinued, and it is presumed the church was soon after disbanded.

The Fifth Presbyterian Church (New School), was an entirely distinct organization from the preceding. The Rev. George Duffield, Jr., was ordained in January, 1841, in the church on the corner of Pearl and Willoughby streets, built in 1839, by S. A. Willoughby, Esq., and occupied by the first mentioned Fifth Presbyterian church. Shortly after a church was formed of twenty members. The building is seventy by forty feet, and cost $10,000, but is now used as an auction sales room.

The Sixth Presbyterian Church (New School), was organized at the Wallabout, January 26, 1840, by a committee of the Brooklyn Presbytery. It consisted of ten members, to whom eight more were soon after added, but it was never legally organized. At a subsequent meeting for the election of a pastor, the vote was divided, but a majority being for the Rev. James Knox, who was called but declined. He, however, labored here about three months. After his departure, the church became extinct, although it continued to have a nominal existence for about three years. Some of its members joined the present Wallabout church, others were scattered, and, at length, July 9, 1843, the two elders who alone remained removed their relations to the Wallabout church, which closed the whole concern.

The Free Presbyterian Church (New School), was organized with thirtysix members, March 22, 1841, and the Rev. Russell J. Judd installed pastor, the 1st of May following, by the presbytery of Brooklyn. He was dismissed in the autumn of 1843. In the spring of 1844, the Rev. Edward Reed was installed and dismissed in about a year. Subsequently this congregation purchased the edifice erected by the Second Baptist church on the corner of Tillary and Lawrence street. In the spring of 1845, the church, having become vacant, unanimously agreed to change their order and become Congregational (Prime's L. I., p. 399).

The South Brooklyn Presbyterian Church (New School), was organized September 18, 1842, with seventy-two members, and the Rev. Samuel T. Spear was installed pastor, on the 14th of May, 1843, by the presbytery of Brooklyn. Their first place of worship was a school house on Pacific street, which they purchased and occupied until their present beautiful edifice, on Clinton, corner of Amity street, was completed and opened for divine service on the 24th of August, 1845. Its dimensions are sixty by one hundred and fifteen feet, including a lecture room in the rear, and its whole cost was about $28,000.

The Wallabout Presbyterian Church (Old School). The Wallabout village, now East Brooklyn, is nearly a mile to the eastward of the Navy Yard, the ancient Waale-boght. Prior to the years 1828 and '30, this territory lay in farms. About that time, however, an extensive rope-walk, constructed of brick, and worked by steam, was erected, together with a large stone building for dwellings. This soon became the nucleus for a little village, and in 1836 and '37, the farms were out up into lots and streets, several of which were graded, paved and lighted, and the settlement was fairly commenced. The first religious occupation of the ground was by the Primitive Methodists, in 1836; followed, in 1837, by the Episcopalians, and in 1840, by the (New School) Presbyterians, and the Reformed Dutch denomination. These enterprises, with perhaps the exception of the Episcopalian, proved failures, and are now numbered among the things that were.

Shortly after the abandonment of the last named organization, the Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf engaged Acadamy Hall, in Skillman street (the same building that had been occupied by the former Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed churches), and, on the last sabbath in September, 1842, held a meeting which was attended by about forty-five persons, children included. This meeting was continued, and in a few weeks Mr. Greenleaf was duly commissioned by the Board of Minions of the Presbyterian church, to labor at the Wallabout, as their missionary. His labors being steadily prosecuted, some special attention to religion appeared, the public meetings increased in the numbers of attendants, and toward winter it was thought that the proper time had arrived for the formation of a church. Application being made to the Old School Presbytery of New York, a church was regularly organized by them, on the 20th of December, 1842, under the name of the Wallabout Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn. It consisted of sixteen members (five males and eleven females), nine of whom had been dismissed from the First Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, under the Rev. Mr. Jacobus. In January, 1843, the congregation was legally constituted under the statute and trustees chosen, and in February, 1843, a call was extended to the Rev. Air. Greenleaf to become their pastor, and on the 8th of March following he was installed in that office by the New York presbytery. The next effort made was to erect a church. A lot of ground on Franklin near Myrtle avenue, was given for the purpose by Mr. Greenleaf and wife, and a subscription opened for the raising of the necessary funds, on these two conditions, viz : First, that neither house or land should be Mortgaged for money to build with, and secondly, that the building should advance only as funds were provided with which to pay the bills. The founders of the Wallabout Presbyterian church, had learned wisdom from the Mistakes and ill-success of their predecessors; and the result proved the soundness and Christian honesty of their views. The subscription was opened at the close of the summer of 1843, and on the 19th of March, 1844, a commencement was made of laying the foundation of the building; towards the last of October, the house was finished, glazed and painted, and on the 27th of March, 1845, was dedicated to the worship of Jehovah. It is a neat edifice of wood, with a stone basement, its dimensions being sixty-five by fifty feet, with turret and belfry, a gallery at one end, and one hundred and two pews on the ground floor, with a capacity of seating comfortably six hundred persons. It has a lecture room and other convenient apartments in the basement, and the whole was completed without burdening the congregation with debt, at a cost of $5,500, exclusive of bell, chimneys, carpets, lamps, fence, etc., which were contributed by individuals.

The number of members, in July, 1862, was about two hundred and fifty. Rev. Dr. Greenleaf died, April 24th, 1865, and was succeeded by Rev. Win. A. Furguson, who was called April 28th, 1865, and whose relation with the church was dissolved by the presbytery, October 29th 1867. He was followed by Rev. Samuel P. Halsey, who commenced preaching January 1st, 1868, and was called to the pastorate February 21st, 1868, but, owing to ill health, was not installed until November 3d, 1869. Total church membership, three hundred and two, and sabbath school three hundred.

Central Presbyterian Church (Old School), Schermerhorn, near Nevins street. On the 19th of July, 1834, the Prince street Mission School was established under the direction of the Second Presbyterian church, then under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Ichabod S. Spencer. The success of that school, of which John Morris, the senior elder of the church, was the first, and C. C. Mudge the last superintendent, drew attention to the importance of a church in that section of the city, and on April 13th, 1847, twenty-five persons were set apart as it distinct church, under the title of the Central Presbyterian Church. Worship was conducted, at the school room in Prince street, until the purchase of the building in Willoughby street, corner of Pearl , formerly occupied by the Fifth Presbyterian church. The Rev, Nathaniel C. Locke was installed as the first pastor, and under his labors, the congregation grew and strengthened, and during a season of revival, a goodly number were added to its membership. Mr. Locke being dismissed in 1850, was succeeded by the Rev. Calvin Edson Rockwell, who was installed on the 13th of February, 1851. At length, after the lapse of two years, it became manifest that the church must secure a more attractive and permanent house in this part of the city. The erection of anew edifice, however, seemed at that time impracticable, until a sale had been first secured for their Willoughby street property, over which impended a heavy mortgage. On the evening of the 12th of January, 1853, the usual lecture was interrupted by a severe storm; but six or seven were present, who, with the pastor, held a prayer meeting, making the difficulties that were impeding the progress of the church, a special subject of prayer. On the succeeding week, an advantageous offer was made for the building, which was accepted at a meeting of the congregation, held on the evening of January 24th. A frame tabernacle was erected on the corner of State and Nevins streets, which was first occupied for public service on the 3d of April, 1853, and the congregation immediately proceeded with the erection of the new building, located on Schermerhorn, near Nevins street. The corner-stone was laid November 4, 1853, its basement was first opened for public worship on the 11th of June, 1854, and on the 10th of December, of the same year, the church was dedicated to the worship of God. It is a brick building, ninety-nine by sixty-two feet, having one hundred and forty four pews on the ground floor, and forty-two in the gallery. Its front is decorated with a portico of the Grecian Doric order, and its cost was estimated at about $30,000. In 1855, an extensive revival added largely to the number of the church. Dr. Rockwell resigned his charge in 1868, and was succeeded by the Rev. T. Dewitt Talmage, who was installed March 22d, 1869. Mr Talmage was born in Bound Brook, N. J., first studied law, then graduated at the University of the city of New York, and then pursued his studies for the ministry at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He came to Brooklyn from Philadelphia where he had been settled for seven years.

The First Reformed Presbyterian Church is an offshoot from the church of the same name in New York city, for more than forty years under the pastoral care of the Rev. John N. McLeod, D.D. Several respectable families in connection with that church resided in the city of Brooklyn; and, believing that there was room and need for another church, Dr. McL., in January, IM, after conference with Mr. Thomas MeBurney and others, hired a hall, and advertised that he would preach there on a certain day. Thirty-one persons were present at the appointed time; preaching was continued; the numbers increased, and, on the third of April, 1848, a congregation of twenty-five members was formally organized by. the presbytery. 'Mr. G. A. McMillan, their first pastor, resigned on account of failing health. On January 12th, 1861, Mr. J. Agnew Crawford, then pastor of a church in Zenia, Ohio, was called and settled. He resigned in the fall of 1863, and Rev. Alexander Clements received and accepted a call November 30, 1863; being installed January 4, 1864. 111 health obliged him to resign in May, 1865, and be was succeeded by the Rev. Nevins Woodside, who was ordained and installed January IT, 1867.

The congregation have a respectable place of worship in Duffield street, near Myrtle avenue, and are a persevering, public spirited and liberal people.

The Westminster Presbyterian Church (New School), was organized in a hall on the corner of Court and Sackett streets, January 31, 1856, with about sixty members. A lecture room was immediately commenced on the 'corner of First Place and Clinton street, and for a year the congregation enjoyed the pulpit services of the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, professor of the Union Theological Seminary, New York. In the fall of 1857, the present pastor, Rev. Hugh S. Carpenter was installed. He had previously been settled in the Canal Street church, New York, and the State Street church, Portland, Me. He is a graduate of the New York University, and of Princeton Theological Seminary. The Westminster under his charge has enjoyed unbroken harmony and a quiet but steady increase of membership, now numbering about two hundred. In October, 1867, the new church edifice, facing on Clinton street, corner of First Place was finished and dedicated. It is in the semi-circular gothic style, and comprises the auditory, lecture room, with Sunday school over it, also class rooms and study; covering ground about eighty by one hundred and fifty feet, the lecture room forming the rear portion of the building and fronting on First Place. The main front and tower (which stands on the southeast corner, and is ninety feet in height), and the lecture room front is of Belleville (N. J. ), drab Ban sandstone, the arches being relieved by alternate arch stones of lighter color, giving a pleasing effect, the whole being in ashlar, set in courses and dabbed and tooled on the face; the flanks are of Connecticut brown stone, finished in broken ashlar. The roof is of variegated slate. The auditory is seventyfour feet wide, by ninety-six feet long, and forty feet high in the Centre, the organ gallery being in the front of the building, facing the pulpit. The main roof is sustained, and aisles formed on each side by a row of round columns with rich capitals; the aisles and the Centre portion, or nave are handsomely groined, ribbed and moulded, the whole being in plaster work. The apse for pulpit is richly moulded and ornamented, the lower portion of the same being finished to imitate white marble, and the upper in delicate blue with yellowish gray mouldings; the auditory walls are colored in reddish gray blocks of different tints, and the ceilings are the same as the upper part of the apse. The whole interior wood work is finished in black walnut; the window glass tinted and stained, and will be lighted at night by a cluster of gas jets under a Frinck reflector nine feet in diameter.

The John Knox Presbyterian Church, was commenced on the corner of Fulton avenue and Adelphi street, May 4th, 1856; and a church organized June 12th, by the presbytery of Nassau, with sixteen members, eight of whom were males. The Rev. Lorenzo Wescott was ordained pastor, October 16, 1856. We have no further history of this church.

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (New School), corner of Lafayette avenue and Oxford street. On the 16th of May, 1857, a meeting of several gentlemen was held at the house of Mt. Edward A. Lambert, Clinton avenue, for consultation in reference to the formation of a Presbyterian church in that vicinity, to be under the care of the presbytery of Brooklyn. After prayer and deliberation, it was resolved, 11 That in the providence of God, the time has now arrived when it is not only desirable but expedient that a Presbyterian church should be organized in the 11th ward, to be connected with the presbytery of Brooklyn." A committee was appointed to take the necessary steps to further the object contemplated in the resolution, and on the 16th of June a public meeting was held in the church on Carlton avenue, occupied by the Park Congregational Society, when, after a full expression of opinion, it was unanimously resolved to organize a Presbyterian church, as contemplated in the resolution of May 16th, and arrangements were immediately made to purchase and occupy the building in Carlton avenue, near De Kalb; the, Park Congregational church worshiping there having resolved to disband.

Trustees were elected according to law, and the congregation organized under the corporate name of the Park Presbyterian Church. On the 29tb of June a constitution was adopted, and a petition was presented to the presbytery of Brooklyn to organize said church.

The presbytery granted the application June 30th, and on the 9th of July, met in the church, Carlton avenue, and duly constituted the church, sixteen males and thirty-two females being received from the various churches. Messrs. N. W. Burtis, Josiah Windell, and Harrison Teller, M.D., were chosen elders, and John Rhodes and Ralph Hunt, deacons.

Soon after the organization, the church engaged the services of the Rev. Roswell D. Hitchcock, who continued to occupy the pulpit until January, 1859. In the spring of 1858, the congregation had so increased that it was found necessary to enlarge the accommodations, by extending the building towards De Kalb avenue, thus furnishing seats for some seven hundred and fifty. On the termination of the services of Rev. Professor Hitchcock, the Rev. Lyman Whiting, of Portsmouth, N. H., occupied the pulpit until August, 1859.

On the 7th of February, 1860, the Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, of the Market street Reformed Dutch church, New York, was unanimously elected pastor, and having accepted the call, entered upon his duties on the eighth of April, and was installed by the presbytery of Brooklyn on Tuesday evening, 24th of April.

On the 9th of November, 1860, ground was formally broken for a new church edifice on the corner of Lafayette avenue and Oxford street, and the building commenced in the spring of 1861, and was completed in March, 1862. The building is of Belleville freestone, and in the Romanesque style; it is one hundred and forty-six feet in length, and eighty-six in width. The height of the spire is one hundred and ninety-five feet. The auditorium contains three hundred pews, and will accommodate from one thousand seven hundred to one thousand eight hundred persons. Above the lecture room and pastor's study are two spacious sabbath school rooms, each ninety feet in length, The whole cost of the ground and of the edifice did not exceed $60,000.

After the completion of the new edifice, the name of the church organization was changed to that of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. its present membership numbers one thousand one hundred and twenty.

The Rev. Theodore Ledyard Cuyler was born at Aurora, on Cayuga Lake, January 10th, 1822. His father was a lawyer and died when his only child was four years old. Dr. Cuyler graduated at Princeton College in 1841, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1846. lie married in 1853, the daughter of the Hon. J. Mathiot, of Ohio ; preached first at Burlington, N.J., in 1846, then at Trenton, N.J., in 1849, whence he removed to Market street church, in New York, in 1853. He was installed the first pastor of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian church, Brooklyn, in April, 1860. Dr. Cuyler possesses sound health, and a remarkable energy for work. During a ministry of twenty-two years be has lost only one Sunday through sickness. In addition to his pastoral and pulpit labors, he has been an indefatigable contributor to the religious press. Besides three little books, entitled Stray Arrows, The Cedar Christian, and the Empty Crib, which have a large circulation, Dr. Cuyler has written over one thousand articles of a religious and reformatory character, which have appeared in the Independent, Evangelist, Intelligencer, Presbyterian, Zion's Herald and National Temperance Advocate.

The Cumberland Street Chapel (near Myrtle avenue), which is connected with this church, has a preaching service every sabbath morning, and a Mission school in the afternoon; the communion being administered there five times in the course of the year, by the pastor and session.

A new mission chapel, erected by the Lafayette avenue Presbyterian Church, as a memorial of the revival of 1866, on Warren street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, is now a distinct church, known as The Memorial Presbyterian Church, Rev. Theodore S. Brown, pastor. It was organized in March, 1867, having thirty-three members; on the 23d of April succeeding the present pastor was installed, and now the church has ninety members, with a rapidly growing congregation.

The Genevan Presbyterian Church (Old School), Gates avenue, corner of Hunter street, was organized by the Presbytery of Nassau, June 12, 1856, under the name of the Greene Avenue Presbyterian Church, and so continued until June, A. D., 1864, when its place of worship was removed from Greene avenue, corner of Clermont avenue, to its present place, where the church edifice was completed and dedicated, June 19, 1864, and at the request of the church, and by order of the presbytery, the title was changed to the name of the Genevan Presbyterian church, of Gates avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

The edifice is built of brick, and its external appearance is neat, symmetrical and substantial. Within, the principal room or auditorium is about thirty-five feet by seventy feet, and twenty-five feet in height, abundantly lighted and well furnished. The trussing of the roof timbers is exposed, having been finished and grained in oak, to correspond with the other woodwork; the walls are rough cast in blocks representing cut stone; the whole effect is pleasant, the room will seat about three hundred persons; cost $9,000. At present date the church numbers two hundred and one members, and has a sabbath school of about five hundred members; W. B. Lee, pastor.

The Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church (New School). On the 10th of December, 1866, the sessions of the First church, in Henry street (Dr. Robinson's), and of the Lafayette avenue church (Dr. Cuyler's), at the request of the former, met in Rev. Dr. Cuyler's study, in Oxford street, to consider the question of establishing a new church organization, somewhere east of Washington avenue, in the seventh ward. After hearing statements from Rev. Mr. St. John and others, and a full discussion, a committee consisting, of Hon. Ed. A. Lambert and James Robinson, was appointed to examine into the matter and report to a future meeting. At the invitation of the committee, a meeting was called for the 20th of December at the house of Mr. Olin G. Walbridge; Rev. Drs. Robinson and Kendall with only four others were present; and it was then and there determined to take measures for the establishment of a new Presbyterian church in this vicinity to be in connection with the presbytery of Brooklyn. Further meetings were held, the result being that on sabbath, the 27th of January, 1867, rooms in Mrs. Stone's house on Gates avenue, having been rented for the purpose public services were held morning and evening, and a sabbath school organized. Mr. Henry M. Booth, from the Union Seminary officiated.

On the 26th of March, 1867, trustees were elected according to law and the congregation organized under the corporate name of the Classon avenue Presbyterian church. Six Iota were purchased on the north-east corner of Classon avenue and Monroe street, and a building for a chapel commenced. On the 30th of June it was finished and dedicated. On the 5th of July a constitution was adopted, elders and deacons chosen, and a petition made to the presbytery to organize the church. On the 8th of July, 1867, the church was duly constituted by the presbytery of Brooklyn; fifty-seven members being received on certificate from other churches, and two on profession of faith. John Gibb, Olin G. Walbridge and James Robinson were installed as elders, and Milo Root, John Rhodes and J. McMartin deacons. On the 3d of December, 1867, a meeting of the congregation was held, when a call was unanimously voted to Rev. Joseph T. Duryea, D. D., of the Collegiate church of New York city to become their pastor. The call having been accepted on Tuesday evening, December 20th, he was duly installed by the presbytery of Brooklyn. At the first annual meeting of the congregation, held March 24, 1868, it was resolved to enlarge the chapel by twenty-three feet. This was done and finished on May 21st. At a subsequent meeting on March 30th, plans of a new church edifice were submitted, and unanimously adopted; and resolutions passed, authorizing to proceed with the erection of the building as soon as the pews, to the amount of $40,000 were sold. The required amount having been obtained, ground was broken for the new building on Monroe street, in May, 1868, and the corner-stone was laid Tuesday, December 1st, 1868. The building is to be of Belleville brown stone, with Nova Scotia stone trimmings; in the romanesque style, and will have eighty feet front on Classon avenue and one hundred feet on Monroe street. The front elevation will be ornamented with two towers, from one of which will arise a spire two hundred feet high. The interior will differ from Dearly every other church edifice in the country, inasmuch as the pulpit instead of being placed at the end of the building, will be at the side. The organ will be placed in a recess in the rear of the pulpit, the manuel, however, on ground floor so that the organist will face the pulpit. Beside him the choir will have a place. This arrangement is made in order to continue congregational I singing, so successful in the chapel. Pews will be semi-circular. Galleries on three sides to seat from one thousand three hundred to one thousand four hundred people. After the church building is completed it is proposed to erect a lecture room to correspond with the church. Whole cost about $100,000. A mission school is conducted by the adult members, and another by the Young People's Association. Present membership about three hundred and fifty.

Joseph Tuthill Duryea was born in Jamaica, L. I., in 1832; went to school at Union Hall Academy, and entered the college of New Jersey, at Princeton, in 1852. He graduated and was valedictorian of his year in 1856, and entered Princeton Theological Seminary in the fall of the same year. He was connected temporarily with the faculty of the College of New Jersey in 1858 and 1859, during which time he taught classes in Greek and Rhetoric. In May, 1859, he succeeded the Rev. Charles Wadsworth, D.D., as pastor of the Second Presbyterian church, Troy, N. Y., where he remained for three years. During his stay there Dr. Duryea received no fewer than twenty calls to different churches in every quarter of the country, California included. In March, 1862, Dr. Duryea settled as pastor in the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, in New York; removed to Brooklyn in December, 1867.

The City Park Mission was originally organized as the City Park Union Mission Sabbath School, in July, 1848, at a prayer meeting held at the residence of Mr. Kellogg, in Willoughby street. Its first officers were Isaac N. Judson, Superintendent, John T. Davenport, Assistant Superintendent, and Thomas S. Simmons, Secretary and Treasurer. At its first session, held on the third sabbath in July, 1848, in the basement of a house at the corner of Nassau street and Hudson avenue, seven teachers and seventeen scholars were present. Its attendance so rapidly increased as to demand larger accommodations; and, in the spring of 1851, the association was organized which purchased lots in Concord, near Gold street, on which was erected the building now occupied by the Children's Rome. The first board of trustees of this association was composed of the following gentlemen, viz: Austin Melvin (Congregationalist), Thomas S. Simmons (Methodist), Silas R. Beebe (Baptist), John T. Davenport, Timothy Dauncy and Isaac N. Judson (Presbyterians). Mr. Judson, after six years service, was succeeded in the superintendency of the school by Mr. Nathaniel M. Terry, for about six years; followed by Mr. A. A. Smith for a year, and, in May, 1864, by Mr. A. M. Earl; and in May, 1868, by Mr. R. J. Dodge. The school continued to flourish for many years, but the city in its vicinity began to be occupied by other schools established and sustained by individual churches, so that the union principle became less effectual in it's operations, and hence, those interested in the Park Mission Union Sabbath School became convinced that a church organization would better accommodate the people of the neighborhood in which the school was located. They accordingly applied to the presbytery of Brooklyn, which granted their petition, and an organization was effected, composed of persons mostly from the First Presbyterian Church. From various reasons, however, this church organization, on the request of some of its members, was disbanded, by the presbytery; the teachers continuing to labor in the mission school. In the spring of 1862, the school was transferred to the charge of the First Presbyterian Church, in Henry street, which had furnished a greater part of its teachers and most of the funds by which the mission had been sustained. The wisdom of this movement has since been amply illustrated and justified by the increased prosperity of the mission. In February, 1866, a new building was erected by the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church on lots adjoining the old one, at a cost (including a handsome organ), of nearly $21,000, and the friends of the enterprise determined on securing the regular services of an ordained minister of the gospel. Accordingly, in January, 1867, the session of the First church extended a unanimous call to the Rev. Charles Wood, pastor of a church at Blackwoodtown, N. J. Mr. W. accepted the call and entered upon his charge on the first Sabbath in February following. Since that time the enterprise has continued to flourish, the school averaging nearly five hundred pupils and its sabbath morning and evening services being well attended. The trustees of the First Church are also the trustees of the chapel, where prayer meetings, preaching, baptism and the Lord's Supper, and other means of grace, are administered for the benefit of those who find it inconvenient or impossible to worship in the church. The session, with the pastor of the field, hold eight regular meetings in the year, previous to the quarterly communion services in the chapel for the reception of members, who became, in fact, members of the First Church itself. More than a hundred members have been added to the First Presbyterian Church, by profession of their faith, through the instrumentality of this chapel, during the past two years. The chapel congregation not being, as yet, self-supporting, is maintained by the contributions of the First Church, to which it is an appendage, and whose noble generosity and Christian philanthropy it is an enduring monument.

The Lawrence Street Presbyterian Church. In the year 1852, the associate reform presbytery of New York established a mission in Brooklyn, where they soon organized a church. The young organization not having been supplied with regular preaching, or a fixed place of worship was frequently reduced to the verge of dissolution. In 1858, the church called the Rev. Adam McClelland to become their pastor, and moved from their hall in Front street to their present edifice which they then purchased from the Congregational Methodists. Early in the following year the church joined the assembly, and they have ever since remained under the fostering care of the Presbytery of Nassau.

Rev. A. McClelland, the present pastor of the church, was born 1833, near Belfast, Ulster; and was dedicated by his father to the gospel ministry in infancy. But his father's death in 1839, and his own loss of sight from measles in the following year, with other domestic afflictions, tended to render the realization of his father's views impossible. The three following years Of boyhood were marked by extreme suffering and futile attempts to recover sight. When about twelve he was converted, and during his boyhood the scanty library in embossed characters only increased his insatiable thirst for knowledge. He was appointed, at the age of twenty-one, principal of the New York Institution for the Blind; received the degree of A. M., from the New York University, studied at the Mt. Zion Theological Seminary of New York, was licensed to preach by the Associate Reformed Presbytery of New York in 1856; ordained and installed first pastor of his present charge, September 22d, 1858; married November of same year.

The United Presbyterian Church. ^[2]In response to the petition of sixtyfive citizens of Brooklyn, desirous to be taken under its care, and supplied with preaching, the presbytery of New York, of the United Presbyterian church, on the 13th of July, 1858, consented to the request, and approved of the organization of this congregation. The new church immediately commenced public worship in the Brooklyn Institute, where it still continues, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. David J. Patterson, its first and only pastor, who was installed on the 2d of February, 1859. Its increase has been encouraging, and it also has a sabbath school in full and effective operation.

The First Presbyterian Church (New School), E. D., was organized with fifteen members (seven male and eight female), and placed under the care of the Presbytery of Brooklyn, May 26, 1842. Shortly afterwards, its members became divided on the subject of abolitionism, which resulted in the dismission of four male and three female members, who subsequently united in the formation of a Congregational society, which will be noticed elsewhere. At first dependent upon occasional supplies, the congregation received an element of permanence, by the installation, June 13th, 1843, of the Rev. Joseph Rawson Johnson, who had commenced his labors with them during the previous November, and under whose ministrations they enjoyed a season of special refreshing, by which their membership was greatly increased. In February, 1844, when their number amounted to eighty-six, a proposition to transfer their relation to the Old School Presbytery of New York, again divided the feelings and opinions of the church; and, finally, three elders, and some twenty members, were at their own request dismissed, March 29, 1844, for the purpose of organizing another church to be placed under the New York Presbytery. In April, 1845, Mr. Johnson was dismissed from his pastoral relations, and was succeeded by the Rev. James W. McLane, who was installed September 2, 1845. During his pastorate, in 1848, a new church edifice was erected, on South Fourth, corner of Sixth street, of brick, and with a lecture room, on the rear, two stories high and facing on Sixth street. Rev. Samuel Carlile, pastor in 1870.

South Third Street Presbyterian (Old School), corner of Fifth street. This church originated in the second secession from the First church, previously alluded to. They first assembled for divine worship, on the 7th of April, 1844, in the public school room of District No. 1, which had been procured for their temporary use. On application to the (Old School) presbytery of New York, a committee of that body was appointed, who met on the 19th of April, and organized a church, consisting of twenty-seven members, which was subsequently taken under the care of that presbytery, and the Rev. N. S. Prime, at the request of the session, was engaged as a stated supply. At a meeting, April 22d, 1844, which bad been duly notified according to the statute, trustees were elected, and the congregation became incorporated under the style of The Presbyterian Church of Williamsburgh. The Rev. Eugene P. Stevenson received a unanimous call, October 31st, 1844, to the pastoral charge of this church, and shortly after commenced laboring with them, being installed on the 20th of February, 1845; meetings being held in the public school house on the corner of South Third and Fifth streets. On the 15th of July, 1845, ground was broken on South Third and Fifth streets, for the erection of a church; the corner-stone was laid with appropriate religious services on the 18th of August, ensuing, the building being first occupied on Thanksgiving, December 4, 1845, and dedicated on sabbath, May 10, 1846. This edifice is of brick, sixty-two by seventy-five feet, with a projection of twelve by twenty feet for a tower and steeple; the land costing $650, and the building $16,000, together with a parsonage costing $3,800. In the following year the house adjoining the church, now owned by the congregation, and occupied as a parsonage house from the beginning, was built. Mr. Stevenson was succeeded by the Rev. John D. Wells, who was ordained in his office, was dismissed from his charge by the presbytery, October 9, 1849 ; and January 20, 1850.

In 1852, extensive repairs and improvements were made in the interior of the church, and several times since the congregation has expended large sums in adding to the beauty and comfort of the building which has become so much endeared to them.

This church has been the centre from which a number of churches have radiated, viz: the Christie Street, the Throop Avenue and the Ross Street Presbyterian churches. All of these churches are thriving and prosperous, and are doing excellent service in the various parts of the city in which they are located. The old church, meanwhile, though often tried by the removal of influential members to the country, is still strong for its great work. It has ten ruling elders, three deacons, seven trustees, more than three hundred members, and about the same number of scholars in the Sabbath school, while it instructs many more in other Sabbath schools wholly or partially under its care.

The Rev. John D. Wells, D.D., is a native of Whitesboro, Oneida county, N. Y. His education preparatory to college, was received in the Cambridge, Washington County, and Sing Sing academies, under the care of the Rev. N. S. Prime, D.D. He graduated at Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1839, and received the honorary degree of D.D., from the same institution a few years ago. After leaving college he taught the academy in Huntsville, Alabama, for two years and a half. He studied theology in Princeton Seminary, graduating in 1844, and was licensed to preach the gospel by the North river presbytery. He supplied a private chapel till the fall of 1844, when he took charge of a mission enterprise at the corner of Madison avenue and Twenty-ninth streets, New York. Losing his health here, in 1847, he became the teacher of the parish school connected with the First Presbyterian church in the same city. After regaining his health he relinquished the school to accept a call from the South Third street Presbyterian church, Williamsburgh. In 1858, after he had labored unceasingly for eight years among them, his people sent him abroad for the benefit of his health.

German Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In the year 1853, the Rev. John Neander, who during the year previous had been carrying on a missionary work among the Germans in New York city, was invited by seven Germans in Brooklyn, to meet with them and bold religious meetings, which they did regularly, for some time, at private houses. The board of foreign missions, of the Presbyterian church, by whom Mr. Neander was already employed as a missionary among the Jews, authorized him to improve the opportunity which thus seemed to present itself, of establishing a German church in a section of our city which much needed one. The attempt was successful, and a church was organized in 1853, under the care of the Presbytery of New York. After worshiping at two different places, both of which became too straightened for the increasing congregation, they Secured two lots on the corner of Leonard and Stagg Streets (E. D.), and laid the corner-stone of an edifice on the 2d of May, 1855. The church building, which was of brick, forty feet front (on Leonard street), by sixty feet deep, with a lecture room in the basement, was dedicated October 14, 1855. Its whole cost was $9,000, a large portion of which was defrayed by the generosity of Mr. George Douglas, of Flushing, L. I. Some years since it was found necessary to enlarge the building, which is now the centre of an extensive and increasingly useful work of grace among the Germans of the Eastern District of the city.

Ainslie Street Presbyterian Church (Old School), corner of Ewen street, was founded in 1854. Its first pastor was Rev. C. W. Hodge, who was dismissed, on his own request, February 14, 1856. We have no subsequent history of this church.

The Ross Street Presbyterian Church (Old School), was organized on the 28th of April, 1864, in the chapel of Christ Church, Division avenue, by a committee of the Presbytery of Nassau. The church numbered at that time forty-three members, of whom twenty-seven were from the South Third Street Presbyterian Church, and the remainder from the First Reformed Dutch, and First Presbyterian churches. On the 7th of September, 1864, they extended a unanimous call to the Rev. Charles S. Pomeroy to become their pastor, and on the 15th of October he was duly installed by the Presbytery of Nassau. Lots were at once purchased for a large church edifice on Ross street, between Lee and Bedford avenues, and also lots in the rear on Wilson Street for the erection of a chapel and Sabbath school room to be connected with the main building. The chapel was completed and dedicated to the worship of God on Sunday, May 14,1865. Its size is eighty-five feet by forty; substantially built of brick and brown stone, with a school room upon the lower floor, and an audience room above, seating with the galleries subsequently added, about six hundred. It was furnished with a fine large organ, and all the appointments of a modern church edifice. The expense of this chapel and the ground, was about $35,000, provided by the congregation, free from debt. Early in the present year (1870), they expect to commence the erection of their contemplated church edifice, upon the lots belonging to them in Ross street.

The growth of the Ross Street Church has been rapid and healthful. The present membership is two hundred and thirty-four. The Sabbath school numbers two hundred and forty; superintendent Mr. R. T. French. The sum of $11,600 was collected for congregational and benevolent purposes during the year 1869. In May, 1869, the pastor and session organized a mission school on the north side of the city in Grand street, as a branch of the home school, and conducted by members of the Ross Street Church. Mr. Frederick A. Thompson was the first superintendent. At the close of the year 1869 this school numbered three hundred and fifty, with prospects of great usefulness.

February 3d, 1869, at a meeting held in one of the rooms of the Masonic Temple, corner of Seventh and Grand streets, E. D., a new congregation was organized in connection with the general synod of the Reformed Presbyterian church. Messrs. John B. Guthrie, and Thomas M. Stewart were chosen elders, and Messrs. Dunn, Black, McFadden, Hawthorne and Martin, were elected trustees. This enterprise is under the supervision of the Northern Reformed Presbytery.

First Presbyterian Church of Green-Point (E. D.), Noble, corner of Guernsey street, was organized with fourteen members at a meeting held in May, 1869, at Masonic Hall, under the auspices of the presbytery of Nassau, Four lots were immediately purchased for $10,000, on which they proceeded to build a neat one story frame structure, thirtyfive by seventy-five feet in size, seating upwards of four hundred and fifty persons, and costing $4,000. It was dedicated July 18th, 1869. Officers: deacon, George Brinkerhoff; elders, John N. Stearns, David Joline; trustees, D. H. Furbish, Henry Dixon, David Joline, George Campbell, John N. Stearns. A thriving Sunday school, under the superintendence of Mr. Stearns, is, a feature in connection with this new enterprise.

Christie Street Presbyterian Church, organized October 22d, 1854, by eighteen members from the South Third Street Presbyterian church.

Throop Avenue Presbyterian Church, was organized June 8th, 1862, by seventeen members from the South Third Street Presbyterian church, in connection with an extensive mission sabbath school work among the German population in the neighborhood of Flushing avenue and Broadway'. It was composed mostly of young Christians engaged in this work, from the South Third Street Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, E. D. At this time, they worshiped in a brick building, erected by them for sabbath school and church purposes, in Throop avenue near Flushing avenue. That building they still own and occupy with their large mission school, numbering about seven hundred children, and a German Presbyterian church, under the pastorate of the Rev. Henry Lorch. In 1867, believing that the time had come for a church to the south of their old location (a few blocks), they determined, in connection with a number of Christians residing in the neighborhood, to erect a temporary church edifice on the corner of Throop and Willoughby avenues. Its corner-stone was laid on Saturday, May 25th, of that year., and the building completed in October of the same year. On sabbath October 20, in the morning, it was dedicated to God with a prayer by the Rev. R. S. Stone, and a sermon by the pastor elect, Rev. John Lowrey. In the evening of the same day, Mr. Lowrey was installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of Nassau. He continues pastor to this time. The church has had but one other pastor, Rev. John Hancock, who was installed December, 1863, and released by the Presbytery of Nassau, December, 1866, to accept a call from the Ainslie Street Church, Brooklyn, E. D. The present edifice is about thirty by seventy feet, and cost at time of erection $9,000. With the other brick church in Throop, near Flushing avenue, the church property is valued at about $30,000.

NOTES:

^{[1] One account says that the corner-stone was laid in February, 1837, by the Rev. Dr. Cox, and dedicated by the Rev. Edwin F. Hatfield, D.D., of New York, and that its first pastor was Rev. William Belden, who was followed by Mr. Kellogg- H. R. S. BACK
^{[2] The United Presbyterian church was formed in May, 1858, after about twenty years of negotiation, by conventions from the two component bodies, known as the Associate Presbyterian and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches. BACK}}