804 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

stands upon the south-east corner of Ormond place and Jefferson street. Its lots are one hundred by one hundred and thirty feet.

The Rev. Mr. Parker having removed to another field of labor, the pulpit was occupied by various clerg men, as temporary supplies, until the Rev. J. Clement French, having accepted the unanimous call of the church and society, was ordained and installed as pastor on the 5th of March, 1857.

In 1863, the church was closed for three months, during which time it was thoroughly renovated and improved both within and without, and a new organ placed in the gallery, all at a cost of about $6,000. Two years later, the house and lot, No. 13 Ormond place, adjoining the church, was purchased for a parsonage. During May, 1867, the building was again closed for three weeks for the addition of galleries, affording accommodations for one hundred and seventy five persons, and greatly increasing both the value and beauty of the edifice. A few months later, the basement of the building was extensively improved at a cost of several thousand dollars. During the past two or three years, the demand for pews has been much beyond the capacity of the building. The rental of pews exceeds $6,000.

In December, 1869, a mission sabbath school, located at the corner of Marcy avenue and Monroe street, was organized and provided with a commodious and tasteful building, fifty by sixty-six feet, capable of accommodating three hundred and fifty scholars.

Justus Clement French, pastor of the Central Congregational Church, was born May 3d, 1831, at Barre, Vt.; and was the youngest of four children of Rev. Justus Warner French, who preached at Barre, Montpelier and Hardwick, Vt., during eleven years. When J. C. F. was a year and a half old, his father went to Geneva, N. Y., and became principal of the Geneva Lyceum, for the education of young men for the ministry. Here, and at Albion and Palmyra, the subject of this sketch pursued his academic studies. In 1850, he entered Williams College, Mass., (Sophomore); graduated in 1853, as valedictorian of his class. He entered Union Theological Seminary, N. Y., in autumn of 1853, where his theological studies were pursued; and he was licensed to preach the gospel by the association of Albany in 1856. A throat difficulty seeming to forbid public speaking, he entered upon the work of teaching, but accepted occasional invitations to preach. In the mouth of December, be received an unanimous call to become the pastor of the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., which he accepted.

During the period of eleven years the church has had, in all, between five and six hundred members. The sabbath school connected with the church numbers four hundred scholars; and has a missionary associa-