The KIRK on Rutgers Farm Q 2 1 MS ■ y^ '~T £5 Frederick Briickbauer The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Churcti of the Sea a,nd Land THE KIRK ON Rutgers Farm By/ Irederick Brucktauer ItttLstratcd hy Pau line J S t one ^l? 5 1995 Printed by Peter F. Mallon, Inc. / To the Men and Women ' who gave that the old church might refitain at Market and Henry Streets INTRODUCTION IT is evident that the preparation of this volume has been a labor of love. Of the sanctuary which, for one hun- dred years, has stood on the comer of Market and Henry Streets, the author, like many others who have put their lives into it, might well say : "Thy saints take pleasure in her stones, ^ Her very dust to them is dear." The story of "The Kirk on Rutgers Farm" is one of pathetic interest. In its first half -century it sheltered a worshipping congregation of staid Knickerbocker type, which, tho blest with a ministry of extraor- dinary ability and spiritual power, suc- cumbed to its unfriendly environment and perished. In its second half -century it became the home of a flock of God, poor in this world's goods, but rich in faith, to whom the en- vironment even when changing from bad to worse, was a challenge to faith and valiant service. Those of us who in our unwisdom 5 Introduction said a generation ago that it ought to die judged after the outward appearance. Those who protested that it must not die, took counsel with the spirit that animated them, saw the invisible and against hope be- lieved in hope. Not the least impressive pages of this book are the pages which record the names of ministers and other toilers for Christ, who in this field of heroic achievement have lived to serve or have died in service. The author has very skilfully concealed his personal connection with the history of which he might justly say : "Magna pars f ui." But for his wise and winsome leader- ship the chronicle would have closed a quar- ter of a century ago. By putting in form and preserving the memories which cluster about the Church of the Sea and Land, he is performing a real service to the Christian community and earning the gratitude of fellow-laborers to whom it has been a shrine of their heart's devotion. Gf.orgh; Alexander. ILLUSTRATIONS The Kirk on Rutgers Farm . . . Frontispiece Page Henry Rutgers 12 The Rutgers Mansion 15 Rutgers Tablet 17 Nathan Hale Statue 19 First Presidential Mansion 2Q Tablet in Church Vestibule 22 Philip Milledoler 23 North Dutch Church 24 Isaac Ferris 28 Organ 29 Old Lecture Room Pulpit 30 Theodore L. Cuyler at Market Street. . 34 Theodore L. Cuyler later 35 Pew 41 Bell 46 Sailors' Home 5° 52 Market Street 5^ Hanson K. Corning 52 Edward Hopper 5^ Communion Service 5^ Christian A. Borella 61 7 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Page Andrew Beattie 68 Old Sunday School Room 69 Alexander W. Sproull 71 Col. Robert G. Shaw 72 Kindergarten 73 Old Church Flag 78 John Hopkins Denison 81 Tower Study 82 52 Henry Street 83 Fresh Air Children 84 New Church Flag 87 John Denham 91 Old 61 Henry Street 94 New 61 Henry Street 95 Staten Island House when bought .... 96 Staten Island House renovated 97 Kitchen for Cooking Classes 99 Pulpit 104 Back of Pulpit 107 IF there be one thing certain about New York it is that nothing remains unchanged. Not only do pubhc works like the bridges change the face of things, but private activity effaces great structures to build up still greater ones. This march of progress is as relentless' as a modern army, levelling all before it. In other lands churches have been spared tho other buildings went down, but even these in New York have disap- peared, whole districts being deliberately deserted because churches were no longer able to maintain themselves there finan- cially. This is especially true of the great downtown section of Manhattan, the Old New York, in which only two churches remain that have stood unchanged for a century. Trinity church let old St. John's 9 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm go, and sixty churches have disappeared in forty years on the lower East Side alone. We lose much when old landmarks go, when we can not make history more vivid for our children by pointing out where the great men of another day wor- shipt, men of a day when other public assemblies were rare, and the church was the center that radiated influence. The old building is of value because of the living beings associated with it that were the life of the community. New York has hardly appreciated what its great families have meant for it in the past. The members of the Rutgers fam- ily, for instance, always had a noble share in the day and generation in which they lived. Their ancestor came over in the early days from Holland, spent some time about Albany, and then came to New York, branching out till Rutgers bouw- eries and Rutgers breweries were found in more than one place. lO The Kirk on Rutgers Farm A Rutgers was on the jury in the great Zenger trial that estabHsht the freedom of the colonial press,, — "the germ of American freedom." The Rutgers were Sons of Liberty and the Rutgers farm near Golden Hill was one of their meeting places. A Rutgers was a member of the New York Provincial Congress and also of the Stamp Act Congress. Alexander Hamilton was engaged in a famous case when a Rutgers defended herself against^ a Tory who had taken possession of her property during the Revolution. It was a Rutgers who drained the marshes west of the old Collect Pond and so laid the foundations for the Lispenard fortunes : a Lispenard married a fair daughter of his neighbor Rutgers. That stream still runs into the Broadway Sub- way at Canal Street apparently uncon- trollable. One Rutgers fell in the Battle of Long Island, and while the old father died in zx The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Albany, the British revenged themselves on the younger brother by making a hos- pital of his fine house in New York. The owner kept on fighting for freedom during the whole Revolutionary War, dis- tinguishing himself at White Plains. This was Henry Rutgers, in whom culminated many of the finest character- istics of a noble ancestry. His breadth of view in an age not quite so broad, is well shown in his attitude towards churches and schools. When he decided to open Henry up his farm in the Seventh Ward for Rutgers building purposes he gave land at Oliver and Henry Streets, at Market and Henry Streets and at Rutgers and Henry Streets for churches, and there was more for the ask- ing, tho only the Bap- tists, the Dutch Re- formed and the Presby- terians took advantage of the offer. The Rut- 12 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm gers Street site became the birthplace of the Rutgers Presbyterian church, begin- ning May 13, 1798, in a frame building 36x64. In 1841 the present stone church was built, and in 1862, as did others, this organization moved uptown. A Mr. Briggs, who was holding the property for a Protestant denomination, finally tired of waiting and sold the building to the Roman Catholic church, in whose hands it remains. In 1806 Rutgers gave the land for the second free school, and he succeeded Governor Clinton in 1828 as president of the Free School Society. Before that day education was not a state matter, but left to private enterprise, and the free schools then establisht were for the poor. Rutgers more than once paid sal- aries and other school bills out of his own pocket. He was a Regent of the Univer- sity of the State of New York for twenty- four years, and a Trustee of Princeton. 13 The Kirk on Rutgers farm Rutgers was not above mixing in with the poHtical Hfe of his time: he was a member of the legislature four times and took a prominent part in the election of Thomas Jefferson as President of the United States. In 1811 he raised funds for the first Tammany Hall, then a benevolent or- ganization. During the War of 1812, Rutgers pre- sided at a large mass meeting calling for the defense of New York when the port was blockaded and it seemed as if the British would attack it. He was a large contributor to the fund from which forts were hurriedly erected to keep the enemy out, Rutgers was a member of a committee of correspondence formed in 1819 to check slavery. He lived to see the day, in 1827, when slavery was abolisht in New York State. 14 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm His services to the Dutch church and his munificence brought about a change of name of the college at New Brunswick from Queens to Rutgers College. It is true the sum given was only $5,000 and Rutgers was one of the richest men in New York. In our day when only bil- lions seem to count we may well hark back to the days of simpler things. For many years Henry Rutgers gave a cake and a book to every boy who called' on him on New Year's Day. The chil- dren gathered about his door and he made an address "of a religious character." Colonel Rutgers lived in "a large, su- „ ° ° Rutgers perbly furnished mansion," on Rutgers Mansion Place, "for many years a capitol of The Kirk on Rutgers Farm fashion, where met all the leaders of the day." Here was given "the most notable reception of the time to General Washing- ton and Colonel Willett," after the latter's return from his mission to the Creek Indians, the most powerful confederacy then on our borders. Here, also, in 1824, Lafayette was entertained "like a prince," so the great Frenchman said. The house was built in 1755 by the Colonel's father, with brick brought from Holland. It stood on Monroe Street till 1865. But it was none too fine for the owner to give his fences for firewood one hard winter when fuel was scarce and trees in the streets were cut down to bum. Next summer the Rutgers orchard was said to have been safer than if the fence had been there. "The well-beloved citizen" died Febru- ary 17, 1830, in the mansion in which he had lived nearly eighty years. On Feb- ruary 28, a great memorial service was x6 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm held in the Market Street church. Dr. McMurray, the pastor, whose tablet is op- posite that of Rutgers in the church, preached the sermon, which was printed later, speaking of his "unimpeachable moral character, his uniform consistency," and saying that there was "scarcely a benevolent object or humane institution which he had not liberally assisted." Colonel Rutgers spent one- fourth of his i. income in charity, many of his benevo- lences being personal, gifts not only of money, but advice and sympathy. Rutgers was a bachelor and on his Rutgers death the bulk of his estate, over $900,- Tablet 000, went to the grandson of his sister Catherine, William B. Crosby. "Uncle Rutgers" had virtually adopted the boy when early left an orphan. Among the provisions of the Rutgers will was one that bespoke 17 SACREI> TO TMC nenoRY" or COU HENRf ■R.UTOE.RS The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the testator: Hannah, a superannuated negress, was to be supported by the estate for the rest of her life. This while slavery was still legal in 1823, William B. Crosby was a colonel in the War of 1812. He died March 18, 1865. A son of his was Howard Crosby, more than a generation ago one of the best-known preachers of New York, a man great physically and spiritually. He was moderator of the Presbyterian Gen- eral Assembly and one of the revisers of the Bible. He died in 1891. Another Crosby was in the State Legislature. The direct line of the Rutgers family died out, but they were intermarried with about every prominent family of the city. The daughters were more numerous than the sons and appear to have had a reputa- tion for good looks and good works. They were the wives of rectors, bishops, postmasters, mayors, secretaries of state, judges, and so on. i8 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm On November 25, 1816, Rutgers had deeded five lots for a Dutch Reformed church. The neighborhood in which the Market Street church was to be located was redo- lent with historic associations. The Brit- ish provost marshal hung Nathan Hale on "an apple tree in the Rutgers orchard," the exact spot adjoining the church prop- erty. Nearby on Cherry Hill, in the Nathan Franklin House, the first President of Hale the United States lived for a time, as did Statue John Hancock and members of Washing- ton's cabinet on the inauguration of the Federal Government. In the immediate vicinity was the Walton House, re- ferred to in parliament as so richly furnished that the colonies needed no relief from taxation. Close by the church lands, on July 27, 1790, 19 'te; ''ft--- «. The Kirk on Rutgers farm First Presidential Mansion Rutgers on his own grounds paraded the miHtia before President Washington, Governor Clinton and visiting Indian chiefs, and thereafter he was Colonel Rut- gers. Gilbert Stuart painted Washing- ton's portrait at that time and it was a prized possession in the Rutgers mansion. Just north on the Bowery was the old Bull's Head Tavern, "the last stop before entering town." On the evacuation of New York, Washington and his officers rested here before re-occupying the city. In connection with it the Astor fortunes were laid, and Astor was not very popular with the other butchers either, because of his business methods. In Cherry Street a hundred years ago a sea captain and his wife made the first American flag of the present type : thir- teen stripes and an ever-expanding starry field. At the foot of Pike Street, — The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the river then was nearer the church than now, — Robert Fulton built his first steam- boat in 1807, and in May, 1819, just one hundred years ago, the Savannah docked in the same place, after the first steam- boat trip across the ocean, made in twenty-two days. Not quite so pleasant a memory is the fact that Market Street was the new name for George Street, of not very fa- vorable repute, until the quiet Quakers' built £ne little houses there, surrounded by gardens, driving out denizens of a less sedate disposition. A fine story is told of an old lady, who was advised not to go to the Market Street church because of the neighbor- hood it was in. She replied that Colonel Rutgers was going there "and where Colonel Rutgers goes any lady can go." In 1819 wolves were still killed on the "outskirts," that being the present Gram- ercy Park. 31 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Tablet in Church Vestibule After the establishment of the Franklin Street church in 1807, no further at- tempt was made by the Dutch church to extend its work until in 1817 the offer made by Henry Rutgers was taken up. About the same time the Houston Street and Broome Street churches were added. FOUNDED A. D. 1817, Completed & Dedicated to the Worship of Almighty God, the 27th day of June A. D. 1819: on ground generously presented for the Site of a REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH by Col. HENRY RUTGERS; to the Rev. Philip Milledoler, D.D., the Rev. James M. Matthews, Peter Wilson, LL,.D., Isaac Heyer, Matthias Bruen, Peter Sharpe, and William B. Crosby, Trustees; Under whose Superintendence it was erected. To make the Market Street build- ing possible Rutgers gave a large sum, and he named the trustees "under whose superintendence" the building was to be erected. They were a noble group : Rev. Philip Milledoler, D.D.; Rev. James M. Matthews, Peter Wilson, 22 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm LL.D.; Isaac Heyer, Matthias Bruen, Peter Sharpe and William B. Crosby. Dr. Milledoler was one of the great men of the time. He was born in Rhine- beck, September 22, 1775, and educated in Edinburgh. He was one of the founders of the American Bible Society, and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Church. In Novem- ber, 1803, he became colleague pastor of the First Collegiate church, and in April, 1809, on division by Presbytery, sole pas- tor of the Rutgers Presbyterian church. He remained here until 1813, when he entered the Reformed Church. He was president of Rutgers College from 1823 to 1841. Rev. James Macfarlane Matthews was professor "in the first theological semi- nary of which New York could boast." It was considered Scotch Presbyterian. Dr. Peter Wilson was pro- 23 Philip Milledoler The Kirk on Rutgers Farm North Dutch Church fessor of languages in the university, as was also Isaac Heyer. Matthias Bruen was "one of the mer- chant princes of New York." Peter Sharpe was a "whip manufac- turer" and William B. Crosby is listed as "gentleman." Nothing is known of the architect or builder, tho they were probably the same, as was the fashion of the time. The building was required by the deed "to be of brick or stone materials, and the whole building of a size not less than that of the Presbyterian church in Rutgers Street." A hundred years have proven the substantial character of the Market Street church. The men of that day did their work well. Whether it was a simplified copy of the North Dutch church or not is not known. It looks much like it, tho the tower is simpler 24 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm and the two rows of windows in the Ful- ton Street building become one row of great windows on Henry Street. But it has all stood the test of time. The old hand-hewn oak timbers still span the lofty ceiling, the glistening gray stone walls still stand four-square against all the winds that blow. The hand-made hinges and numbers are still on the pew doors, and the so-called slave galleries are still there, tho neither colored servants nor. Sunday school children are consigned to them now. Hidden away, but still there are the hand-made laths, the shingles under the tin roof and the four-foot thick foundations. The old tower is there, for many years untenanted, until the men came who worked and lived there, a place of se- clusion in a busy time and neigh- borhood, and if the symbols on the rough walls have made their thoughts roam to the early Christian days the 2S The Kirk on Rutgers Farm telephone brings them back again into 1919. The years have brought some changes ; better heating than the first stoves, — the first coal bill was paid in February, 1832, and a new furnace cost $150 in 1848; better lighting than in 1819, — they had no gas till May, 1843, — ^but there have always been men who studied to maintain the quiet simplicity and beauty of the house, never more marked than in the days of its centennial. The Reformed Protestant Dutch church in Market Streeet was "dedicated to the worship of Almighty God" on June 27, 1819, the Rev. Dr. Milledoler preaching the sermon. On September 8, 1819, twenty-four members united, on the 29th more were added, but "on account of the prevailing sickness" the consistory was not elected until November 10. Henry Rutgers, John Redfield and Isaac Brinkerhoff were elected elders, and 26 The Kirk on Rutgers farm William B. Crosby, Elbert A. Brink- erhoff and Thomas Morrow were chosen as deacons. On November 28, 1819, they were ordained. On the day following they met at the mansion of Colonel Rut- gers, when he was chosen president of the consistory. On January 2, 1821, the prop- erty was finally deeded to the consistory. The first minister of the church was William McMurray, D.D., "who with fidelity and zeal" served from 1820 to' May, 1835. Dr. McMurray was born of Scotch- Irish parents in Washington in 1783, and graduated from Union College in 1804, studying theology under the famous J. M. Mason. He was a great worker, preached three times each Sunday, con- ducted catechism classes, and is said to have known nearly everyone in the Sev- enth Ward. He contracted typhoid fever, lingered for a while and died September 24, 1835. 27 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm A Sunday school was started in 1821. In 1834 the elders and deacons are re- corded as being: Crosby, Hoxie, An- drews, Doig, Moore, Herrick, Cisco, Montanye, Conover and McCullough, all famous names. Hoxie and Cisco were wholesale clothing merchants in Cherry Street then the center for that trade. In August, 1836, Dr. McMurray was succeeded by Isaac Ferris. He was a New Yorker, entered Columbia when only fourteen years old, graduated with first honors and fought in the War of 1812 with his father. The Sunday school re- ported 213 pupils at the time of his com- Isaac Ferris ing, which soon increased, for Dr. Ferris paid special attention to the school. He was president of the New York Sunday School Union and first president of the Foreign Mission Board of the Dutch Church. The church had 600 communicants, and was The Kirk on Rutgers Farm described as "a. fashionable church in the aristocratic Seventh Ward." His son, Dr. John Ferris, spent much of his earlier life with his father. Dr. Isaac Ferris died June 13, 1873. He was tall, broad shouldered and of commanding presence. In 1841 the organ was ordered and finally completed in 1844. It was built by Henry Erben, of New York, whose son became admiral in the Navy. Experts tell of the amount of lead used in the con- struction of its pipes. It is still pumped by hand as in the olden days. John Pye was the first man to do this. George Lyoder was the first organist, and P. A. Andri the first chorister. In 1843, on the land back of the church the "Consis- tory Building" was erected. It was a plain brick building with a high stoop and heavy wooden shutters The upper 29 Organ The Kirk on Rutgers Farm floor was for the Sunday school and pro- vided with circular seats for classes. In an alcove on one side and closed by glass doors was the library railed off from the rest of the school. On the main floor was the lecture room, the floor of which rose in the back. Between the stairways lead- ing to the next floor was a platform with two heavy Greek columns and a reading desk between them. It was a bold boy who would run back there thru the dark when the "infant class" met in the room. The columns were removed in the seventies and later on the rounded stiff . ^^, , seats went too. Then the floor had to be in Old Consistory leveled SO that the room could be put to Building general use. Before that it was possible to reach most of the seats only by pass- ing between the "leader" and the audi- ence. In the base- ment in dingy mEltSg«sniiK^S39saB quarters in the The Kirk on Rutgers Farm rear lived the sexton. He had the great improvement of having water brought into the house in June, 1847, by a sixty- foot hose. Six years later the hydrant was put up in the front church yard, re- maining there until quite recently. To the right and under the stoop there was a hallway, which later was changed to the "pastor's study," in which all smaller important meetings were held. It was in this little room that the session received members and for many it holds very sacred memories. There were no pictures in the building, but later a few mottoes with Bible texts were hung about. In early days a part of the building was rented for use as a school. The rental was only nominal. At the time of the erection of the consistory building the sidewalks around the whole property were flagged and the iron fence erected. 31 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm In 1848 the upper floor was arranged for the Sunday school at a cost of $500. About 1871 doors were cut thru to the galleries of the church from the upper floor. For more than twenty years this had been urged. John Crosby is recorded as "paying off the church debt of $10,542" in June, 1852. Dr. Ferris left in 1853 to become chan- cellor of the University of New York, succeeding his friend, Theodore Freling- huysen. The first chancellor had been Dr. Matthews, a trustee of the church, and the successors of Dr. Ferris were Howard Crosby, John Hall and Henry M. Mc- Cracken, So of six chancellors of the university, four were vitally interested in the Market Street church. 32 II WITH the coming of Theodore Cuyler a new era opened up for the old Market Street church. Two years before Dr. Cuyler had spoken at a large temperance meeting in Tripler Hall, together with General Houston, Henry Ward Beecher, Horace Mann and other celebrities. It was his first public address in a city that was to know much of him. In 1853 Mr. Cuyler was called and in- stalled by the South Classis of New York, November 13, 1853. He says that while walking along Henry Street Judge Hoxie said to Mr. Lyles : "If our young brother will come and work in the Market Street church we might do something yet." 33 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Cuyler at Market Street Cuyler lived at Pike and Madison Streets and later in Rutgers Street. His salary was $1,500, advanced later to $2,- 500. The church building was painted, and in 1855 a new roof was put on at the expense of the pewholders. Opposite the church on the northeast corner was a large and select private school. At 11 Market Street later was a smaller one, headed by a German patriot, whose son-in-law was one of the great generals during the Rebellion. In his address in the church at the Eightieth Anniversary, Dr. Cuyler called it "fighting the adversary of souls and geography," for even in Dr. Ferris's time there were indications of waning strength because of "the continued emi- gration of the more substantial class of church members from the down-town districts of the city uptown." But the indefatigable Cuyler post- poned the evil day, and for seven years 34 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm of intensest activity he remained in Market Street. To quote Dr. Cuyler: "I looked around me and saw there were a good many substantial families that could sup- port a church and East Broadway swarmed with young men." "Here was the lord of the manor, the nephew of Colonel Rutgers, Wm. B. Crosby. What a devoted Christian he was. His good old gray head moved up * to the pew every Sunday, rain or shine. There was a deacons' pew, and in the center sat the best-known man in New York, Judge Joseph Hoxie. When we said the creed and nobody joined he shouted it, and in song his voice was heard above the choir. There sat Jacob Westervelt, Theodore the mayor of New York, and he boasted Ledyard that he was the only mem- ^ ber of the Dutch Church who c Bible." ber of the Dutch Church — i?^-^ --v who could read a Dutch ''^5^^2^ \\ _ (L i^^St. \ - 35 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm The galleries were packed with young men. One, a young Irish boy, Robert McBurney, became the great secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association. Charles Briggs was another young mem- ber, and around him later raged the bit- terest theological controversy of the cen- tury. During the summer of 1854 the serv- ice was changed to 4 P. M., 7 : 30 being resumed in September. In 1855 the seats in the gallery were changed from four rows to three rows, and the infant school was held in the "scholars' gallery" of the church. The low seats are still in the second gallery. A stove was put in, too, as the heating was not satisfactory. In 1855, A. D. Stowell came as Bible class teacher at a salary of $12 per month. Dr. Cuyler rightly referred to it as a busy old hive, for from Market Street 36 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm church emanated some of the greatest re- hgious movements of the century. Howard Crosby, son of William B. Crosby, and brought up in the Market Street church, was the first president of the Young Men's Christian Association. Cuyler became interested in it the second year of its existence in New York, and during his long lifetime he never ceased to work for it. But if the church had done nought else than bring Robert Mc- Burney to the Association it would have been amply repaid. The master spirit in the Association for thirty years Mc- Burney's name is written in golden let- ters in the city's history. Morris K. Jesup and William E. Dodge, life-long friends of the church, were early Asso- ciation supporters. A work typical of Market Street church was the Fulton Street prayer- meeting, started by Jeremiah C. Lam- phier, who sang in the church choir. Dr. 37 The 'Kirk on Rutgers Farm Cuyler credits this with being the first move in the tremendous revival that from 1856 to 1858 swayed the city, and went on to other cities, gathering mo- mentum. Cuyler says : "In three or four weeks the revival so absorbed the city that business men crowded into the churches from 12 to 3 each day, and when Horace Greeley was asked to start a new philanthropic enterprise he said: "The city is so absorbed with this revival that it has no time for anything else." Market Street church gathered in 150 new members, and 1859 was one of the glorious ones in the history of the church. Mr. Lamphier died December 26, 1898. In the Temperance cause. Dr. Cuyler was also a ceaseless worker. From 1851 to 1857 he was in close alliance with Neal Dow, then at the height of his fame as a prohibition advocate. 38 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Another organization that had an ear- nest supporter in Dr. Cuyler was the Christian Endeavor Society, tho Cuyler gives all the credit for its fatherhood to Rev. F. E. Clarke. In a day when such things were not common Market Street church got deeply into matters civic. "The most hideous sink of iniquity and loathsome degrada- tion was in the then famous Five Points," Baxter, Worth, Mulberry, Park Streets, not far from the church. An old building, honeycombed with vaults and secret passages, called the Old Brewery, was the center of a locality that boldly flouted the police. Indeed, for years the Old Brewery was a harbor of refuge for any criminal, for the law never reached him there, nor were the Five Points ever a safe place to walk thru. At night no one dared be seen there. For some years the Five Points had played a physical part in the elections, and many a riot had its inception there. 39 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Then the city put thru Worth Street, formerly known as Anthony Street, after a Rutgers, and the Old Brewery Mission was establisht there. Thru Mrs. Pease, a member of the Market Street church, whose husband was the brave projector of the Five Points House of Industry, the church became interested in improv- ing conditions. When Mr. Pease went south, his place was taken by Benjamin R. Barlow, one of the Market Street elders. In his autobiography. Dr. Cuyler tells how he "used to make nocturnal explora- tions of some of those satanic quarters" to keep public interest awake in the mis- sion work at the Five Points. New Yorkers who remember the House of Industry of thirty years ago and who now look at Mulberry Bend Park may well thank the old Market Street church that the Cow Bay, Bandit's Roost, the Old Brewery and Cut Throat Alley are 40 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm things of the past, and that the Five Points are known to this later day only as a name. No second Charles Dickens will cross the ocean to tell us that "all that is loathsome, drooping and decayed is here." Few men have been in touch with so many public movements as Dr. Cuyler. He was the personal friend of statesmen, churchmen, professors, lecturers, teach- ers, philanthropists, diplomats, poets and presidents. And as was the minister so were the people of the Market Street church : forward in every movement for the betterment of mankind, the coming of the kingdom. Some of the best fami- lies of New York were connected there, and as fathers bought pews for the sons when they married it was a family church. These names are frequent : Duryee, Crosby, Mersereau, Brinkerhoff, Poillon, Zophar Mills, Ludlam, Suydam, Westervelt, Way dell, 41 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Chittenden, Bartlett, McKee, Purdy and a host of others. Small wonder that from among men like these great institutions should come, that the Park Bank and the Nassau Bank should be founded by Market Street church men. The annual pew rents were $5,000, then a large sum. Perhaps it was their very farsighted- ness that made the people of the church think of moving uptown. The "brown- stone front" was drawing people north- ward, and Dr. Cuyler started a move- ment "to erect a new edifice on Murray Hill, and to retain the old building in Market Street as an auxiliary mission chapel." Subscriptions were secured, William E. Dodge heading the list. But the new site at Park Avenue and Thirty- fifth Street did not find favor, and many were opposed to the whole project, so when in 1860 the consistory was to vote 42 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the first payment, the whole enterprise failed by one vote. Dr. Cuyler said he would thank the good old man who cast that vote — Meade was his name — if he ever met him in the other world. He resigned from Market Street church, his ministry ending April 7, 1860, and accepted a call from the little Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn. His friend, Henry Ward Beecher, did not see how he could get a congregation there, but after many years of ever-increasing usefulness Mr. Beecher lived to say to Dr. Cuyler : "You are now in the center, and I am out on the circumference." It was strange that a man of the force- ful type of Cuyler should leave a church because it would not move away, and that thirty years later he should preach in it, rejoicing in its continuing prosper- ity. Strange, too, that Cuyler left the Dutch Church for the Presbyterian, and 43 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm that the old building "changed its faith" in like manner. Rev. Chauncey D, Murray was the next pastor of the Market Street church, the classis installing him March 10, 1861, and he was succeeded in 1863 by Rev. Jacob C. Dutcher. William B. Crosby, of beloved memory, came forward with very liberal contributions to sustain the church, but the depletion went on. In Mr. Murray's time another attempt to move uptown had failed. In December, 1859, the courts had al- ready given permission for a sale, but on condition that another church be built uptown with the proceeds. This having failed, under a revised order of the court the building was deeded to Hanson K. Corning in 1866, another congrega- tion having meanwhile inaugurated serv- ices there. The old consistory lived on till June 2, 1869, when it held its last meeting at 44 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the home of R. R. Crosby, in Twenty- second Street. A committee had secured the necessary legal modifications so that the temporalities could be disposed of. The distribution was as follows : To St. Paul's Reformed church on Twenty-first Street, $15,000; $8,000 to the Prospect Hill Reformed church on Eighty-fifth Street, and about $18,000 to the Northwest Reformed church on Twenty-third Street. A $500 United States bond was given by William B. Crosby to the Sunday school of the Twenty-first Street church. The bap- tismal font was presented to St. Paul's church, the splendid communion service to the Prospect Hill church. All these churches have past out of existence. The organ was presented to the Church of the Sea and Land; "the property right in the Henry Rutgers tablet was given to R. R. Crosby; the McMurray tablet to Henry Rutgers McMurray. A vault 45 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm in Twenty-second Street was given to the Prospect Hill church. The bell, now loaned to the Church of the Sea and Land, was given in a revisionary right to the consistory of the Collegiate church, in case it ever ceases to ring for a Protestant church." It still rings un- disturbed, tho it has not in the memory of man swung on its wheel. Only re- cently has it been given back one of its earliest powers: it is to ring the alarum if all modern means fail. It was cast in Troy in 1847, and the committee (Cros- by, Conover and Lyles) spent $365.14 for it. The congregation thought too much of it in 1848 to allow its use by Engine Company 42 for fire alarms. The books of the Market Street church were left to the Collegiate church and are now at New Brunswick. All this having been done, the president of the consistory, Mahlon T. Hewitt, handed out 46 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the remaining letters of dismissal to D. W. Woodford, Robert R. Crosby, Wil- liam Lain, Dr. Veranus Morse, John Van Flick, Henry Taylor and Albert I. Lyon, and made a formal closing address in which he offered "a sincere prayer that its old walls may still stand, and that it may continue to be the birthplace of souls into the kingdom of Christ." The prayer has been answered. Thus ended the Protestant Reformed Dutch church in Market Street after just fifty years. 47 Ill WHILE the Market Street Re- formed Church was fighting its last fight, a little congregation had come to life in the parlor of a sailor's boarding house. It was intended chiefly for "seamen and others," the "others" re- ferring mostly to those who no longer sailed the seas. The first meeting was held June 7, 1864. Those were the days of sailing vessels; the New York of the thirties had been the ship building center of the world, especially from Pike Street up. At every pier sail boats were moored, coming from all over the World, and as they dismist their crews on arrival it left the men on shore unoccupied until their meager wages were gone, when they were crimped for another voyage. Low 49 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Sailors' Home dance halls and worse were all along the river front and the sailor was their prey. The American Seamen's Friend Society sprang into being to improve the situation, and erected a fine building in Cherry Street, to give the men surroundings that were clean physically and spiritually. With the present federal laws for the pro- tection of seamen the condition in the sixties can hardly be appreciated. Where Fulton had built his first steam- boat fifty years before huge yellow dry- docks now rose. Additional land had been gained so that Water, Front and South Streets grew out of the river. All along the river front sailing vessels pushed their bow- sprits and gilded figureheads far over the streets almost into the windows of the sail- lofts that were numerous along South Street. For these men then the so The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Presbytery of New York on December 29, 1864, at 52 Market Street, organ- ized the Presbyterian Church of the Sea and Land, with thirty-two members. Dr. Phillips, Rev. Rice and Rev. A. E. Campbell, and Elders A. B. Conger and A. B. Belknapp, were Presbytery's Com- mittee, and John Simmons and John H. Cassidy were the first elders. Rev. Alexander McGlashan was in- stalled as pastor, February 2, 1865, serv-' 52 Market ing for a little more than a year. Ill health Street was the reason for his leaving. He died in 1867. The deacons were Henry H. Smith and Henry Harrison; also Philip Halle, who served for only a short time. On December 26, 1865, the following trustees were chosen: John H. Cas- sidy, John Simmons, Henry H. Smith, Henry Harrison, David Robb, John Neal, and Jas. Mc- The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Hanson K. Corning Glashan. At this time there were 74 mem- bers and the year's receipts were $2,- 372.67. The Sunday school was organized January 1, 1865, 25 being present, soon growing to 80. It had a library of 400 volumes, costing $122.25. John H. Cas- sidy was superintendent and T. M. May secretary. Wm. McCracken was presi- dent of the Temperance Meeting and Joseph W. Cassidy president of the Band of Hope. But the man that was most prominent at this time in the church's history is never mentioned in the official records. Hanson K. Corning was a shipping merchant, who knew from his own business connections the helpless condition of seamen \ when in port. J.^ He was bom in 1810 in Hartford. The Comings con- ducted a large South Amer- 52 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm ican import business, with offices at 74 South Street. Three generations were ac- tive in it. Hanson K. Corning Hved in Brazil for a few years, paying special attention to the rubber business and also acting as United States Consul. On his return to the United States he became a member of the firm, and the business prospered greatly. Altho Mr. Corning in later life became an invalid, he went to his South Street office until 1860. Thereafter he gave his time completely to religious and philanthropic work. When, in the early sixties, the decline of the Market Street church became evi- dent, Mr. Corning conceived the idea of making it a sailors' church. He entered into negotiations with the consistory and on May 1, 1866, he became owner of the property, paying $36,500 for it. The Church of the Sea and Land moved into the building about this time. 53 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm The congregation occupied the premises rent free, and in October, 1868, the prop- erty was transferred to the Presbytery of New York, to insure greater permanence. Mr. Corning sold it for $25,000, which meant a gift of some $10,000 from him, the church itself giving about $1,500. James Lenox contributed $1,000. The deed was a peculiar one, making the Church of the Sea and Land a third party, and giving it the right of occupancy as long as it was in ecclesiastical connec- tion with the Presbytery, "or until in the judgment and by vote of three- fourths of the members present at any regular meet- ing of the Presbytery it shall be decided to be no longer expedient to continue or sustain religious services or missionary work in that church or locality." It was also stated in the deed that all seats should be free, whereas in the Dutch church the pews were private property except that one-tenth of the 54 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm pews were to "be free forever for the use of the poor and of strangers," and such pews were marked on the doors as free. This is why the new church boldly painted "seats free" over the doorway. Mr. Corning was a member of the Brick Presbyterian church, to which he gave considerable sums. He contributed liberally to many objects, but not indis- criminately, and the mission fields in Brazil, the American Bible Society and • many other organizations were stronger for his munificence and wise counsel. Mr. Coming died April 22, 1878. A gift of Mr. Corning that the church still cherishes is its pulpit Bible. Mr. Coming's interest in the church that practically was founded by him has never ceased, for after his death his daughter and son again became inter- ested, and the third generation is still represented in the officers of the church and among its givers. 55 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Edward Hopper Rev. S. F. Farmer supplied the pulpit for a little while till John Lyle was installed June 25, 1867. Next January the session met almost continuously for the recep- tion of members. The records show that in 1867 and 1868 133 members were re- ceived after examination and 80 by letter. In November, 1868, Mr. Lyle was de- posed by Presbytery, He died in 1881. Edward Hopper came in 1868 and on June 29, 1869, he was installed as pastor. Mr. Hopper was born on February 17, 1816, graduating from Union Seminary in 1842. He was pastor at Greenville, N. Y., eight years, at Sag Harbor, L. I., eleven years. After a short time at Plainfield, N. J., he accept- ed the call to New York. In 1871 Lafayette College con- ferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity on him. Dr. Hopper wrote a num- ber of poems that were 56 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm publisht in three volumes. During his Sea and Land ministry he was brought in contact with seamen and this finds ex- pression in his later works taking char- acter from life on the sea. Many of his verses have found place in Christian hymnology, notably such a lyric as "Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life's tempestuous sea," with that sweet verse "as a mother stills her child Thou canst hush the ocean wild." Another hymn was "Wrecked ' and struggling in mid ocean, clinging to a broken spar." During the Civil War Dr. Hopper had written some stirring verses, one on The Old Flag being especially noted. He was of fine literary taste and cul- ture, proud of his Knickerbocker an- cestry. Physically as well as intellectu- ally he was every inch a man, with his bright eye, fine face and, in later years, a snow-white beard. Even in his three score years and ten a decline was hardly 57 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm perceptible until in the fall of 1887 the companion of his hfetime and partner of his literary pursuits was taken from him. On April 22, 1888, his text was: "Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Next day at noon his niece found him in his study chair, his pencil dropt from his lifeless hand. Be- fore him was a poem : "Heaven." He left to his nieces a rather large es- tate, consisting principally of railroad stocks, with legacies for home and for- eign missions. His investments had been made on the advice of his friend, John Taylor Johnson, the railroad president, who presented to the church the com- munion service that was in use for over fifty years. IV IN Dr. Hopper's time the work of the church for seamen reached its high- est development, and that was due to Christian A. Borella. He was a mis- sionary of the American Seamen's Friend Society for twenty-one years, stationed at the Sailors' Home in Cherry Street, and surely a man of God. Borella never came to church or prayer-meeting alone : he always had men in tow. There was an upper room at the Sail- ors' Home that meant much to many men, and there Borella did a work that resulted in great acquisitions to the church. It is true that many "going down to the sea in ships" were never heard of again, and years afterwards nearly 400 names of seamen were at one 59 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm time removed from the roll by the ses- sion. But again and again word came from all parts of the earth and in many languages from men that called the church blessed. It was only an exempli- fication of the wide scope of Sea and Land when a generation later one of its ministers chanced across one of these men in Western Australia. A feature of the prayer-meeting in those days was the reading of these sea- men's letters, giving account of them- selves to Borella. They always stirred the man, who would add words of Chris- tian admonition that lacked nothing in definiteness. He was the right hand of Dr. Hopper, re-wrote records and generally made him- self useful. But in his olden days he became rest- less and as no mission board would take a man of sixty-four years he went, after Dr. Hopper's death, to Africa at his own 60 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm expense. He soon attached himself to Bishop William Taylor and with his mas- ter's certificate ran the missionary boat Anne Taylor on the Congo. Bishop Taylor says of his end: "One Sunday morning we walked together to a preaching service at Vivi top. Captain Borella was suddenly taken ill and on my. return there Monday morning was very low with fever. On August 12, 1891, he fell asleep in Jesus, and we buried him under a huge baobab tree at Vivi top." Physically he was stockily built, well knit and evidently a strong man, always neat, but exceedingly plain in dress. He was born in Southern Denmark, of Span- Christian A. ish ancestry. His modest fortune he had made in California in '49, and his conver- sion was under Father Taylor when Borella came under his influence in Boston. It was Father Tay- lor of whom Walt Whitman said that he was "the one es- 6i The Kirk on Rutgers Farm sentially perfect orator" he had ever heard. After several voyages Borella became "cold and a backslider," and an eye dis- ease nearly blinded him. "The Lord cured my blindness, physical and spir- itual, and I promist him then that I would serve him the rest of my life," and he did it with the virility and sternness of an Old Testament prophet. Borella was succeeded by Captain Wil- liam Dollar, a dear old saint, who was stationed at the Sailors' Home for twelve years. The church's work in these earlier days was simple enough, prayer-meeting Thursdays, then Wednesdays, and tem- perance meeting under McClellan and Campbell on Friday. But on Sunday, be- sides the two long church services there was Sunday school, morning and after- noon, and young people's meeting pre- ceding the evening service. 62 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm When the saUing vessels were still along South Street, meetings were held on ships as opportunity offered. In 1882 the interior of the church was papered and painted by Elder B. A, Car- Ian at a cost of less than $1,000. New cushions, carpets, etc., brought the total up to $1,564. The one annual event was the Sunday school excursion, when all went on board a barge, which was towed by a tug to a grove on the sound or on the Hudson. Dancing was tabooed, but a "melodeon" was carted to the dock and hymns were sung. The tickets were fifty cents for adults, but Sunday school children were free. Robert S. Taylor, veteran secre- tary, was chief ticket seller, not only on the dock that morning, but in Wall Street for weeks before. The president of the Temperance Society once or twice put in an excursion just ahead of that of the Sunday school, and there was danc- 63 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm ing. But this was generally disapproved. Miss Fanny Crosby often came to the Primary in those days and many of her hymns were first sung there. Mr. Black- wood, her attendant, married Miss Dev- lin, the teacher of the class. In those days Market and Henry Streets had many two-story and attic houses and in almost every one of those about the church people lived who went there. Teachers whose names stand out about this time were: Hans Norsk, James Brown, Thomas Miller, William Steven- son, Evan Price, James Smith, William Gibson, Robert Pierce, Dr. Theodore A. Vanduzee, Jesse Povey, Mrs. B. C. Lef- ler, Mrs. S. M. Nelson. The excursions gave rise to a commit- tee of young people who started to pro- vide amusements other than dancing: swings, songs, and so on. There came also an "executive committee" that asked 64 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm many questions, and Dr. Hopper, in a courteous and kindly way answered them in full : that was the first report made to the congregation. Till then the annual meeting had consisted of reading the names of the subscribers who had con- tributed by means of the monthly en- velopes, and the amoimts they gave. But Charles J. Lemaire could not un- derstand why this excursion amuse- ment committee should not become a permanent organization with literary purposes. Thus began the Lylian Asso- ciation that for twenty years was a main- stay of the church and in its days of dire necessity was a vital factor. From it came the yoimg men that in later years were trustees, and it was the opening wedge that was to transform the whole church work. When two of the young men came to the trustees for permission for a literary society to meet weekly, it was questioned 6s The Kirk on Rutgers Farm whether anything but religious meetings might be held in the building. But after serious reflection the two were made per- sonally responsible for good order, pro- vided always meetings were opened and closed with prayer. In a day when the young people had no outlet whatever for their active spirits the Lylian Association became a training school for the church. The debates of that day will never be forgotten, notably when the Lylians wrested the laurel wreath from the Goldeys at Clarendon Hall, and that other one, when Dr. Hopper suddenly appeared at a meeting and after an impromptu debate "showing every evidence of being well prepared," as he said, some consciences were ill at ease. Then there was the Gossip's Journal, provoking endless parliamentary wran- gles, and perhaps helping to develop later on an editor. Memorable were the 66 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Young People's Conventions of 1886 and 1887, and Lylians will never forget the patriot Kromm, Spoopendyke Shreve, the poet laureate and a dozen others. The Fourth of July picnics at Pamrapo and Nyack are happy memories for many. Like the old Market Street stoop witlii its fancy iron posts and rails the Lylian Association has seen its day, but it amply justified its existence. When one Monday evening Mr. Pink- ham, the church treasurer, announced to the Lylians the sudden death of Dr. Hop- per, there was consternation and ad- journment. Andrew Beattie, a theological student, had been called before this as co-pastor. He was installed as pastor May 29, 1888, having been persuaded to give up his in- tention of going to the foreign field. Mr. Beattie lived down town, and his bachelor apartments on East Broadway were a 67 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Andrew Beattie gathering place for the young men, many of whom were in his Sunday school class. He with others worked out the system of quarterly written examination and grad- ing that since 1888 have been uninter- ruptedly in force in the Sunday school, long before other schools thought of such things. The school was flourishing with many young people as officers and teachers, all the activities of the church being cen- tered on its nursery. The records were systematized, and articles in the church papers printed on the system, electric bells were installed, fire drills were in- augurated, discipline was rigid, visiting by teachers and districts was carefully regulated, the library given attention. Mr. Beattie returned to his first love, resigning after eight months to go to the foreign mission field. After years of greatest usefulness in Canton, China, jj 68 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm his health necessitated his return. Dr. Beattie is with his family in California, where he is in charge of a Presbyterian orphanage. Sunday School Room of 01d6i REVEREND ALEXANDER W. SPROULL followed Mr. Beattie on January 5, 1890, serving for three years. He had been Synodical Missionary in Florida. After leaving Sea and Land he was incapacitated for further active service. He died Decem- ber 13, 1912. Another breach was made in the con- servatism of the old church when one ^igx. w. of the young trustees proposed to let the SprouU New York Kindergarten Asso- ciation use the room rent free for a kindergarten, then new in the neighborhood. The older, wiser heads were gravely shaken at this re- markable innovation, but it 71 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Col. Robert G. Shaw came on March 31, 1892, and with it the beloved Anna E. Crawford as teacher. The fairy godmother who maintained it was Mrs. Francis G. Shaw, giving the kindergarten the name of her son, Robert Gould Shaw. It was a happy combina- tion this, and the little boys became strong men in the memory of the young Colonel who gave his life at Fort Wagner at the head of the First Colored Regiment. They buried him disdainfully "with his niggers," but Robert Gould Shaw lived again in the lives of little boys trained to sacrifice at Sea and Land. Nor will the Colonel's sister be forgotten: Mrs. Charles Russell Lowell, who gave her young husband in the same cause and thereafter lived a life that merited Wil- liam Rhinelander Stewart calling her "one of the most useful and remarkable women of the Nineteenth Century." Her spirit of service was renewed in the little girls of the Shaw Kinder- 72 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm garten. The beautiful bas relief by St. Gaudens on Boston Common is less of a memorial than the kindergarten in Henry Street. Mrs. Shaw died December 29, 1902, having supported the kindergarten for eleven years. Another departure was an open air meeting establisht by Mr. Sproull, gath- ering at the church door Sunday after- noons. First things are hard things. But a storm was brewing. Uptown churches needed money, their pastors were influential in the denomination and it seemed to many good business to dis- pose of the Market Street church. Shaw Memorial Kindergarten The Kirk on Rutgers Farm So, on March 13, 1893, Presbytery ordered the church sold, declaring, to comply with the Corning deed, that "mis- sionary work in the church or in that locality was no longer expedient." The church pointed out that 29 of the 57 churches in New York Presbytery had received less members during the preced- ing year, 16 churches had fewer mem- bers, 14 churches raised less money, and that 6 churches made a worse showing than Sea and Land in every single item reported on. There were then only 4 Protestant churches for 60,000 people. The battle was on, and the bitterness of the Briggs trial had not yet sub- sided, — the same Briggs who as a young man belonged to Market Street church. Mr. Sproull's small salary allowance was discontinued and he was forced to resign, July 1, 1893. Then came hard times, no friends, no minister, no funds. 74 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm But when the tale of bricks was doubled Moses came. It was in the shape of a legacy from Borella. That saint on his death in Africa had left his estate in America to the Church of the Sea and Land and the American Seamen's Friend Society jointly. If Borella had lived he could not have arranged it for a better time. Meanwhile by an accident the press of the city gained the whole story from the church's viewpoint, and thereafter all the news reports were tinged favorably to the down-town church that insisted on living. There were illustrated articles on the church's history, caustic editorial comments, letters from correspondents, and everybody talked about the church. The ash barrels and the church doors had bills posted on them announcing that the Church of the Sea and Land would be sold at auction on April 19, 1893. The property, however, was withdrawn when 75 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the best offer was $15,000 short of what was expected. There was a lull. In the spring of 1894 it became neces- sary to devise some means of helping the New York Presbyterian Church on 127th Street, which was buried by mortgages amounting to $118,000, about to be fore- closed. Sea and Land was to furnish part of this and a mortgage was sug- gested. The church trustees opposed this successfully, altho at first it was sup- posed their consent was not required. Without the knowledge of the church a sale was then again ordered January 18, 1895. Preceding this, beginning October 1, 1894, the church had "affiliated" with the Madison Square Presbyterian church. As Presbytery had formally approved this the Madison Square church remon- strated vigorously thru Dr. Parkhurst, but feeling that Presbytery's action could not be relied on the Madison Square 76 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm church withdrew at the expiration of its one year of affiliation. Committees of prominent clergymen visited the church and were "warmly" welcomed. It was suggested that Sea and Land unite with other churches, but it is a singular fact that, as when the Reformed church disbanded, so now, not' a single church is in existence that was then mentioned for a refuge. A case in point is the Allen Street Presbyterian church. They had sold their building near Grand Street and for a time wor- shipt in the Market Street church. But in spite of earnest solicitation they erected an unfortunate structure in an unfortunate location in Forsyth Street. After a short existence there they united with the Fourteenth Street church, and that church is no more! Even the strong Madison Square church no longer preserves its identity. 77 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Old Church Flag Meanwhile work went on, at first in desultory fashion, two or three times the young men had to conduct services. But thru it all Dr. A. F. Schauffler, of the New York City Mission Society, was the church's consistent friend. His order to the city missionaries at the church to stay until the doors were shut was the one heartening feature of a time when the officers ordered the blue church flag raised and "no one from Sea and Land will ever take it down." The Women's Branch always ably seconded these efforts under Mrs. Lucy S. Bainbridge and later Miss Edith N. White. Instead of slowly dying out the work of the church gained momentum from day to day : Lodging house meetings, Sunday afternoon teas, free concerts, ad- dresses by Gompers, McGlynn, Henry George, Parkhurst and others, sermons "against thugs in pohtics." and so on. 78 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm A permanent accomplishment of the nine months' intense regime of Alex- ander F. Irvine was the starting of The Sea and Land Monthly, the first number of which appeared in October, 1893. With characteristic impetuosity Mr. Ir- vine launched it, and it has been afloat for more than a quarter century. The Monthly has been a great store- house: not only did it give from month to month the happenings at the church, but it brought to later generations an ap- preciation of the goodly heritage of years that had gone before. The vital events in the congregation's history were recorded, but so was the personal history of its people. The com- ing of little messengers to the homes, their baptism, their reception into the church, their marriage, their death. Then began another cycle like unto the first. And the Monthly kept alive the inter- est of many a Sea and Lander who was 79 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm adrift. It gave account of its steward- ship to the friends of the church who supported its work. Few churches ever publish with such detail the annual re- ports as does Sea and Land. Many are the kind words from near and far that have been said about the Sea and Land Monthly. 80 VI BUT if the Madison Square church withdrew officially it left behind more than the old church ever ex- pected. It was a young man who, in* October, 1894, reported to the Sunday school superintendent as coming from Madison Square. He was John Hopkins Denison, a grandson of Mark Hopkins, of fine New England stock. He had come to New York to become Dr. Park- hurst's assistant when he was making war J° , . Hopkins on Tammany. Those were the days of Denisop the City Vigilance League, when un- savory revelations were necessary to ef- fect a change in city government There was a meeting which crowded the old church to the second galleries when Dr. Park- 8i The Kirk on Rutgers Farm hurst spoke. It was a noble battle and not without its dangers. So when the Madison Square church went, Mr. Denison staid, and he was a prodigious worker. The quarters in the tower were enlarged for there were many visitors who bunked there. Mr. Denison set out to prove the right of the church to existence and he did it. He did more: he brought no end of friends that remained to the church. The thought of Cuyler to establish a mission. The Tower Study The Kirk on Rutgers Farm of Parkhurst to affiliate the church with a stronger one, was developed under Denison into an organization amply sup- ported by the whole church, working out by itself its own local problems. It was no longer a self-evident proposition that a church not able to support itself must go- ' jj^^^ One of the early steps was the estab- gtreet^"'^^ lishment of a church house at 52 Henry Street. Mr. Denison said: "It was not an institution — it was not even a settlement; it was simply a house where people lived. The time is gone by for men and women to come down as out- siders and pry into the homes of pov- erty and sin, and 83 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm then return to their own life far away. One must Hve in a community, one must be a neighbor." Mr. John Crosby Brown was the mu- nificent friend who made the house pos- sible, Miss Mae M. Brown being a deeply interested resident there. Mrs. Rockwell was in charge, then Miss Eleanor J. Crawford. It was the center for all social activities, tastefully fitted up, the ladies working at the church living on the upper floors. In the same house Sea and Land people had lived for many years: the Stevensons, the Boyces, Miss McGarry. In 1906 the building was torn down and other arrangements had to be made. For a time apartments were occupied at 138 Henry Street and 51 Market Street. The Fresh Air Work, too, was put on a perma- nent basis. Besides mak- ing the church The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the local station for the Tribune Fresh Air Fund, houses were rented at Rocka- way for five years, later at Huntington, until in a more recent time Staten Island property was bought. Later years saw an extension of this work to Schenec- tady, where Dr. Bigelow of blessed mem- ory headed it. Under the auspices of William W. Seymour, — of course he was not mayor of Tacoma then, — the first boys' camp was establisht at North Hero, Vt., and is still a glorious memory. The girls were welcomed at Litchfield and Saybrook. Not only did money flow in readily, but it was quite the thing for young min- isters and theological students to spend a year, a summer or a winter at Sea and Land, and they did not study books: they worked on men and women at all hours. If some wretch got into trouble some one to whom he was assigned had not been vigilant enough. Before Hoover 8s The Kirk on Rutgers Farm made a world reputation for himself, Denison studied food economics, and he proved it by having the group live on a minimum allov/ance. Then he preached on what was economical living. The most prominent men spoke in the church: Dr. Paton from the New Hebrides; Dr. Grenfell from Labra- dor, Dr. Van Dyke and a hundred others. University extension ideas were antici- pated in courses of study, the men of the church were put to work writing inde- pendent Sunday school lessons, the teach- ers had pedagogical talks and studied Biblical masterpieces. The girls were taken to sing in Rutgers Square and it was not always safe to do it either. The Upper Room was establisht in Rutgers Street, then the Lighthouse in Water Street, a fine stereopticon was in frequent use. The Men's Club, under George M. Bailey, prospered like the green bay 86 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm tree, drawing men of all classes. A de- sign for a church flag was adopted. Sports were encouraged. Numerous clubs were organized, among them the Good Time Club, also the Penny Provi- dent and the Helping Hand. Nursing was taken up; sewing and cooking classes, model flats and cottage meetings, started. Magazine and newspaper ar- ticles commented on unusual sermons, such as the one on the balloons. Ad- dresses at Northfield, Silver Bay and other places called attention to the church's work in ever-widening circles. Hamilton House came into being, but without organic connection with the church. In short, Mr. Denison's compelling ch^rch personality and enormous capacity for F'^s work put others to work, so that in the summer of 1895 9,546 persons were brought together in the old church in five weeks. 87 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm So men and women came and went, some of them wrote books and magazine articles about the work with more or less accuracy. Mr. Denison's own poems were more appreciated by those who knew. The force of it all was irresistible, and so the last trace of opposition in Presby- tery and elsewhere disappeared. On No- vember 11, 1895, the sale of the property was called off, and $2,000 a year paid for three years. Ever since Presbyterians and others have been proud of the outpost the united church is maintaining at Mar- ket and Henry Streets. It is a happy memory that all of the men who in Pres- bytery supported sale resolutions became staunch friends of the church. Mr. Denison was not ordained when first he came to Market Street, but this was done later at Williamstown in the College Chapel. On entering New York Presbytery his installation as regular pas- The Kirk on Rutgers Parm tor of the Church of the Sea and Land was effected March 23, 1899. In 1894 Mrs. Shaw spent considerable money fixing up the lecture room and in 1896 a new roof was put on the church at an expense of $600. Mr. Denison made a tour of the world, being absent from November, 1900, to October, 1901. Among the men working under Mr. Denison was Horace Day, a young theo- logical student who gave his life after a brief but intense period of work. In Mr. Denison's time, too, falls the best work of Mrs. Eliza E. Rockwell. She was indefatigable, beloved of many, none too far gone to merit her attention, nothing too hard to do. She, too, laid down her life as a sacrifice. Even Mr. Denison's book, "Beside the Bowery," insufficiently tells the full measure of her devotion for the thirteen years she was at Sea and Land. Her last message to 89 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the trustees was : "I died in harness." It was on March 14, 1908. One of the men of that day was Ed- ward DowHng. As a tinker he wandered about distributing tracts, speaking the word in truth, and returning during the winter to be factotum in the tower. In that kindly old soul few guessed the old fighter in India. Did he really know the place where priceless treasures were hid beside an old idol ? One of the men in whom united the Sea and Land of the staid old ways and the boundless energy of later days was John Denham. He lived to see the day when the boy in the primary of the school of which he was superintendent for years sat beside him in the session. He was the living embodiment of that perennial spirit in the Church of Christ which ever ad- justs itself to new conditions and never loses sight of its main object. Mr, Denham's strong point was with 90 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the older people. It was characteristic to have him read his Bible, quietly take up his hat nearby and pay a visit. When on February 4, 1910, John Den- ham went home to the Master whom he had served thru a long life the younger men first felt the burden of things: the senior elder was no more. He had held open the door of the church for many a one and they had entered in. Mr. Denison left the church December 31, 1902, to take up work in Boston. It was a great loss, but as one of the officers said : "What shall we do when Mr. Deni- son leaves ? Why, what we always do at John Denham The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Sea and Land: the best we know how." Dr. William Adams Brown said: "None know better than the people of Sea and Land how costly the contribu- tion which they have been called to make to the spiritual welfare of a sister city." It was H. Roswell Bates, who, in the Spring Street Presbyterian church, worked out Mr. Denison's plans, as he had helped to formulate them at the old Market Street church while he was resi- dent there. 92 VII MR. DENISON was succeeded by his assistant, William Raymond Jelliffe. They had been close friends, Mr. Jelliffe leaving business and entering the ministry while at Sea and Land. He was ordained June 7, 1900, having been at the church since May, 1893. He left December 31, 1905, to join Mr. Denison in Boston, and later came to the Madison Avenue Presby- terian church as assistant. Mr. Jelliffe did fundamental work with the Young People's Society, that has been a staunch support of the church ever since. Rev. Orrin Giddings Cocks next headed the church's work. In his time the financial affairs of the church were further strengthened and Mr. Cocks is 93 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Old 6i Henry Street Still an officer of the church which he has served many years. Following the custom, Mr. Cocks' as- sistant, Rev. Russell Stanley Gregory, next directed the work, being ordained June 25, 1908, and taking charge at the close of the year. He was at the church ten years. In 1909 the old Consistory Building was torn down. It held precious mem- ories for many, for in spite of its limita- tions it had in its 66 years given a serv- ice that had included about everything one could imagine connected with church work. It had sheltered )p(\\n Sunday school, Lylians, in- numerable clubs, a kin- dergarten, not to speak of the earlier days when prayer-meetings, school, temperance and j,^ Young Men's Christian ■^ Association meetings 94 - ® The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Henry Street exerted an influence that went out far beyond its narrow walls. Even the stoop that had been worn by many feet, some very little, had caused a poet to sing. It all went. The new building that took its place was splendidly planned by Cady & Greg- ory. It houses every activity of a mod-- ern church. Club rooms for girls, boys New 6i and men, gymnasium, showers, kitchens, kindergarten rooms, first-aid rooms, and quarters for the ladies in residence. There is a roof garden where on hot summer evenings services and other gath- erings may be held. The friends of the ^-^ church came to its as- sistance in such munifi- cent manner that not a single contract was made until subscriptions cover- ing it were in the hands of the trustees, and in 95 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Oakwood House Before Renovation every instance the actual cash was in the treasury before payments came due. When, on May 3, 1910, the building was opened with appropriate exercises there was a balance on hand more than suf- ficient for all claims. It cost $43,000. Another important achievement comes in this time. For years the church had been moving about in rented quarters for fresh air work, finally landing on Staten Island for several years. An option had been secured on a house with over eight acres of ground at Oakwood Heights, and after a year's occupancy that proved its availability, it was bought December 30, 1912, and next year some additional land was acquired, including ocean front. The funds collected were sufficient to pay for house and land, as well as a new The Kirk on Rutgers farm bungalow and thoro overhauling of the old but substantial house. As in the case of the new Sixty One all moneys needed were in hand before they were re- quired. On every occasion the people of the church themselves have contributed amounts that were sacrifices considering their limited means. The Fresh Air Fund is entirely sep- arate from the General Fund of the church, and each year the expenses are covered by special subscriptions, in the collection of which Mr. George C. Fraser Oakwood House The Kirk on Rutgers farm and Mrs. Stephen Baker have greatly interested themselves for many years. In its early days Miss Helen Gould was one of the good friends of the Fresh Air Fund. Mr. Gregory left December 1, 1913, to go to East Aurora, N. Y., and was suc- ceeded by Rev, John Ewing Steen, who had been ordained at the church on Oc- tober 13, 1910. In 1917 Mr. Steen left suddenly for France in company with Mr. Gregory for Young Men's Christian Association work with the army, Mr. Denison being there also. On Mr. Steen's leaving a hurry call brought Mr. Alfred D. Moore back once more, under whom the preparations for the church's centennial were taken up in spite of stress of war and inadequate as- sistance. 98 .PHHs Cooking School - Kitchen 99 VIII WORK among the cosmopolitan population surrounding the church has had various phases during these years. In Dr. Hopper's time the Scandinavian element among Borella's men predomi- nated, and there was also a small Syrian group at the church, but no services in any language but English were main- tained. Later, home classes in German for the parents of many of the children were kept up for a number of years. Work among the Jews was carried on for several years and with success, if numbers count. But the methods of the leader were not approved and so the trustees after investigation discontinued lOI The Kirk on Rutgers farm the meetings. Dr. John Hall, of the Fifth Avenue church, then most promi- nent, earnestly supported the man, but in afteryears the correctness of the posi- tion taken by Market Street was abun- dantly proven. Greek services were supported for quite a while, and since 1914 Russian has been maintained under Mr. Nicholas Motin. Italian services have been of all these most successful. Rev. Joseph A. Villelli, who was ordained June 23, 1910, has managed these with tact and ability "and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." A separate Sunday school is maintained, but with the idea of gradual amalgamation, a process that is also proving its wisdom along other lines of the church's work. The advice and active support of men great in business have for many years been at the disposal of the church. From The Kirk on Rutgers Farm the days of Matthias Bruen, the merchant princes of this great city have been loyal friends, to mention only Hanson K. Corning, father, daughter, grand- son, William E. Dodge — for three gen- erations, — and John Crosby Brown and his family. Along with the sainted Denham should be mentioned Benjamin F. Pinkham, who for twenty years acted as treasurer of the church. He was a quiet man, faith- ful in every duty, averse to discussion. When the Lord called him home his ac- counts were in perfect order : a few min- utes proved his balance, a space was left for next Sunday's collection in his book. There were sweet singers in Israel, too, who as precentors and choir leaders have brought out the best there was of tuneful harmony, men like Henry Carpenter, George T. Matthews, Henry Edwards, Allan Robinson, William P. Dunn. 103 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Thru the years some who have cared for the buildings stood out. Charles Greer in the early days, Evan Price, a sturdy Welshman, who died in service, Christian C. Pedersen, who returned to the same post years afterwards. In Mr. Denison's time David J. Ranney served, attaining later to the dignity of city mis- sionary and an autobiography. John A. Ross will be remembered for his om- niscience as to people and things about the old church. So the old Kirk on Rutgers Farm has stood a hundred years. From its vaulted dome have echoed with no uncertain sound the voices of men like the scholarly Milledoler or the indefatigable Denison, a hundred leaders of men whose words VERicaiK^Bncjiiteiw -:C^^-m ii'«Oii:i\»A-yn^ The Kirk on Rutgers farm and works have swayed the hearts of men. Down the broad aisles walked the stately Dutchman, the proud Knicker- bocker, the great merchant, the stolid seaman, the busy New Yorker, — to go out and by deeds of victory in times of peace and unflinching loyalty when war's heavy heels trod the land they helped make a great city greater and a mighty nation mightier still. Never has this been a selfish, self-con- tained organism, but a living, throbbing influence that went out beyond the shadow of its gray walls, prodigal in giv- ing to others the good things of the gospel that were fostered there. Many a church at home and abroad has cause to bless Market Street for the men and women that she brought up in the nur- ture and admonition of the Lord. "We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, a great multi- 105 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm tude, which no man could number." All who have come have felt the spell of the place, for in its dim seclusion still speak the men of old. It is peopled with a long procession of saints and sages, mariners and merchants, scholars and poets, now of the church triumphant: memories that consecrate the souls of men and banish ignoble thoughts. Here is an altar sacred to hosts of men and women, the holy of holies of their noblest aspira- tions. "Mark well her bulwarks, that ye may tell it to the generation following." As the years roll on children and children's children will arise and call those blessed whose fidelity thru a century has pre- served for them a holy place where "men still renew their youth." io6 ^ yi.Li ' Miiin m JESUS, SAVIOR, PILOT ME Jesus, Savior, pilot me, Over life's tempestuous sea ; Unknown waves before me roll. Hiding rock and treacherous shoal ; Chart and compass come from Thee, Jesus, Savior, pilot me. When the apostle's fragile bark Struggled with the billows dark On the stormy Galilee, Thou didst walk upon the sea; And when they beheld Thy form Safe they glided thru the storm. The the sea be smooth and bright. Sparkling with the stars of night. And my ship's path be ablaze With the light of halcyon days. Still I know my need of Thee ; Jesus, Savior, pilot me. When the darkling heavens frown. And the wrathful winds come down, And the fierce waves, tost on high, Lash themselves against the sky, Jesus, Savior, pilot me. Over life's tempestuous sea. 109 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm As a mother stills her child Thou canst hush the ocean wild ; Boisterous waves obey Thy will When Thou sayest to them "Be still." Wondrous Sovereign of the sea, Jesus, Savior, pilot me. When at last I near the shore, And the fearful breakers roar, 'Twixt me and the peaceful rest. Then, while leaning on Thy breast, May I hear Thee say to me, "Fear not, I will pilot thee." Edward Hopper. The Kirk on Rutgers Farm THE OLD CHURCH The old church long has stood, — For ages may it stand, Storehouse of heavenly food And lighthouse of the land. Within its sacred walls What thousands, now asleep. Where its blest shadow falls Have bowed to pray and weep ! Old church, with doctrines old As God's eternal truth, Within its sacred fold Men still renew their youth. Still in its water springs, Whose streams are never dry, Hope bathes her drooping wings. And gathers strength to fly. Still from its tower of light The radiant truth is given To cheer men thru the night And guide them on to heaven. Edward Hopper. Ill The Kirk on Rutgers Farm THE OLD FLAG Flag of the brave and free ! Flag of our Liberty ! Of thee we sing; Flag of our father's pride, With their pure heart's-blood dyed, When fighting side by side, Our pledge we bring. By their pure martyr-blood. Poured on Columbia's sod For Liberty; By all their deeds of old, Their hunger, thirst and cold, Their battles fierce and bold. We'll stand by thee! Thy 'venging stripes shall wave To guard the homes they gave ; Thy stars shall shine Upon oppression's night. To give the patriot light And make the dark world bright With hope divine. We pledge our heart and hand To bear thee o'er the land That God made free, — Till all its vales and hills, 112 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Its rivers and its rills, — Till the whole nation thrills With victory! Fear not, O Ship of State ! Tho pirates with fierce hate May cross thy sea: — Fear not ; at thy mast head We've nailed the blue, white, red Old Flag ! Our fathers bled, And so can we! We love each tattered rag Of that old war-rent flag Of Liberty ! Flag of grtat Washington ! Flag of brave Anderson ! Flag of each mother's son Who dares be free! O God, our banner save ! Make it for ages waves ! God save our flag! Preserve its honor pure, Unstained may it endure, And keep our freedom sure; God save our flag! Edward Hopper. April, 1861. "3 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm RALLY SONG The Banner. Soldier, hast thou halted, — Shrinking from the foe, — Friendless, beaten, taunted, Helpless in thy woe? Rally to the standard ! God shall surely win ! With Him thou shall triumph Over Death and Sin ! The White. Hast thou stumbled, fallen? Have they passed thee by ? In the filth, despairing, Have they let thee lie? Up! rise up, and follow Yonder folds of white ! Thou shalt share their brightness, Triumph in their light! The Beue. Dost thou feel the darkness Near the gates of death? Dost thou shrink in terror At its icy breath? Lo! the flag is o'er thee With its field of blue ! It shall guide thee homewards! Man, thy God is true ! 114 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm The Req Cross. Is the conflict bitter? Art thou faint ; at last, StruggHng, panting, straining. Foul fiends hold thee fast? Rouse thyself and smite them ! Raise thy standard high! See, its cross is o'er thee! Christ, the Lord, is nigh ! The Spade and Anchor. Christian, hast thou left us — Left the battle line? Idling, straggling, wand'ring, Heedless of the sign? Hark! the trumpet calls thee! With us heart and hand Raise the Spade and Anchor ! Strike for Sea and Land! John Hopkins Denison. lis The Kirk on Rutgers Farm THE SHADOW OF THE WALL Let us stay a while and listen to the voices of the past, Softly echoing, vaguely lingering, e'er they fade away at last, Dreaming in a dusky comer of the quaint, blue-panelled pew While the massive walls of granite shut the hurrying crowds from view, And the street's loud clang and clatter, screams of rage and cries of pain, And the endless plodding, thudding, of tired feet in quest of gain Muffled by a shroud of silence soimds a thousand miles away. And the past is hovering round us with its ghostly, dim array. Flitting by in vague procession, up the aisleway, down the hall, While we lurk here, snugly sheltered, shad- owed by the massive wall. Stately dominies, wig-powdered, all in gowns of silk arrayed; Fairest dames, slim and high-waisted, clad in flowered, quaint brocade; ii6 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Smart young captains, bold as pirates, with their slaves all gaunt and black ; Stout old Dutchmen and their ladies, gowned as in a miller's sack — How they flit past in the gloaming, thru the huge, high-vaulted hall. While we lurk here, snugly sheltered, shad- owed by the massive wall. Others come, some wan and haggard, heavy-lined and weary-eyed; Some with faces flushed and fevered, hearts aflame and hands fast tied. Others stand with frozen heart-strings, bitter, haughty, desolate ; Some creep past in shame, fresh quivering from some thrust of scorn or hate. In they throng, all seeking respite from the cruel world's maddening call, Seeking peace in the dim silence, shadowed by the massive wall. Other voices, sweet and child-like, linger in the dusky vault. Cries of babes and tiny maidens, sweet since free from conscious fault, "7 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Here they gather, brown and rosy, golden- haired and crowned with jet, Glowing cheeks and eyes that dance, where innocence and joy are met. While without are screams and curses, loathsome vice and drunken brawls, Here within, God's flowers are sheltered in the shadow of these walls. Still they stand, a hold unshaken, while the turbid stream of life Swirls around their bulwarks, brawling, black with sin, with sorrows rife, While still from the dizzy whirlpool drowning souls creep to the door ; For the House of God, unchanging, stands now and forevermore. Struggling in life's lonely battle, wounded, faint with many falls We have found a mighty fortress in the shadow of these walls. John Hopkins Denison. ii8 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm MINISTERS Market Street Dutch Reformed Church 1820-1835 William McMurray, D.D. t 1835. 1836-1853 Isaac Ferris, D.D., f 1873. 1853-1860 Theodore Ledyard Cuyler, D.D., t 1909. 1861-1862 Chauncey D. Murray. 1863-1865 Jacob C. Dutcher. * Presbyterian Church of the Sea and Land 1865-1866 Alexander McGlashan, D.D., t 1867. 1867-1868 John Lyle, t 1881. 1869-1888 Edward Hopper, D.D., f 1888. 1888-1889 Andrew Beattie, Ph.D. ; San Anselmo, Cal. 1890-1893 Alexander W. Sproull, D.D., t 1912. 1895-1902 John Hopkins Denison; France. 1903-1905 William Raymond Jelliffe; New York. 1906-1908 Orrin Giddings Cocks ; New York. 1909-1913 Russell Stanley Gregory; East Au- rora, N. Y. 1914-1917 John Ewing Steen; France. 1910 Joseph Anthony Villelli. 1917 Alfred D. Moore. 1919 Russell J. Clinchy. no The Kirk on Rutgers Farm STUDENTS AT MARKET STREET CHURCH, ORDAINED LATER "It has been the high purpose of this church to train a type of minister for whom the hard places of Hfe are places of honor, and who have been going out from there spreading the con- tagion of that idea in the ministry of to-day, making this church a great training school for a new order of ministers." — George Alexander, D.D. Thomas B. Anderson. Tyler W. Dennett. W. K. Anderson. Bayard Dodge, Syria. David Baines-Griffiths f. Ray C. Donnan. H. Roswell Bates t. Charles E. Dunn. C. G. Bausmann t- William P. Dunn. Andrew Beattie, Cali- Dwight W. Edwards, fornia. Carl Elmore, France. Samuel Boult t- Robert Elmore. Russell Bowie. Chester B. Emerson. Herbert H. Brown. Robert Falconer. Edward S. Cobb, Japan. ^^^^^ pj^^^ Illinois. Orrin G. Cocks, New ^^^^^^ p^^j^^ Turkey. ^°?'^ J- John H. Freeman, Laos. 5'"7,/; S^""^'*- Herbert Gallaudet. Robert G. Gottschall. Fred W. Cutler. Avac Cutujian, Syria. Gustave J. d'Anchise. Walter Grafton. William O. Davis. Russell S. Gregory, East J. Hopkins Denison, Aurora, N. Y. France. W. R. Grigg. 1 20 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Rowland B. Haynes, New York. Lewis B. Hillis. George Hughes. Alexander F. Irvine. W. Raymond Jelliffe, New York. Olin C. Jones. Francis W. Lawson. E. Trumbull Lee. Edwin C. Lobenstine, China. Herman Lohmann. Joseph A. Lucey. Martin F. Luther. Donald B. Macfarlane. A. Maclaren. Farquhar D. MacRae, Canada. R. George McLeod. Alfred D. Moore, New York. DuBois S. Morris, China. J. Grant Newman, Ohio. E. R. Perry. John Pigott. Jesse Povey. William G. Ramsay. Maxwell Rice. John Romola. Boudinot Seeley. J. Andrew SicelofF. John E. Steen, France. » Charles F. Taylor. L Paul Taylor. Henry H. Tweedy. Archibald S. VanOrden, New Jersey. Joseph A. Villelli, New York. Ernest L. Walz, Jr. Clarence E. Wells. Irving E. White. D. K. Young. 121 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm MEN WORKERS AT MARKET STREET CHURCH Donald A. Adams. Harry L. Adams. Robert C. Armstrong. George M. Bailey. Charles D. Baker f. H. Blackwood. Christian A. Borella t- Thatcher M. Brown. Anthony T. Bruno. Lester L. Callan. Henry Carpenter f. Percy Cocks. Arthur P. Dawson. Horace Day f- Moreau Delano. John Denham f- Earl M. Dinger. William Dollar f- Edward Dowling f. Theodore Dwight. Winthrop E. Dwight. William B. Easton. Henry Edwards. Fred Elmore. J. Langdon Erving. J. Howard Fowler. Arthur W. Francis. Joseph A. Goodhue. George Graff. Thomas Gregory. Charles H. Grosvenor. Coleridge W. Hart. J. W. Herring. Howard I. Hill. H. E. Hopkins. Nicolas Joannides. Fritz A. Judson. Clarence D. Kingsley. Sterling P. Lamprecht. George Larson. W. S. Maguire. George T. Matthews. John R. Miller. Nicolas Motin. Arthur Moulton. A. Wheeler Palmer. Christian C. Pedersen. Edward Pepper f. Lewis Perry. W. Smith Pettit. J. Raymond Ramsay. Allan Robinson. Willard C. Roper. George G. Scott. William W. Seymour. Frank L. Shoemaker. A. Karl Skinner. Floyd Smith. John M. Styles. W. S. Sullivan. Fred A. Suter. Walter Swanton. Harry E. Terrell. Henry A. Underwood t- Paul Van Dewenter. William White. 122 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm WOMEN WORKERS AT MARKET STREET CHURCH Miss Sophie Crawford. " Fanny Crosby. Mrs. Cumly. Miss Marion Darlington. " E. Day. " Virginia Deems. " Mary S. Dodd. " Maria Dowd (Mrs. F. W. Patterson). " Henrietta A. Downes f., " Florence Durstine (Mrs. Hamilton). " J. Florence Eldredge. " Josephine England. " Edith N. Fairfield. " Margaret B. Fairfield (Mrs. Stone). " Margaret B. Fergusson. " Forrest t. " Freeman (Mrs. B. F. Ross) . " Ella M. Ganow. " E. Garbold (Mrs. Bene- dict). " Hazel Gardiner (Mrs. O'Niel). " Helen Gildersleeve. " Margaret D. Golde. " Anna A. Gelding. " Goodale. " Gould (Mrs. Hallock). " Irene L. Gregory. " Virginia P. Grimes. " Eleanor Hague. " Z, Haines. " Anna I,. Hall (Mrs. M. L. Luther). Miss Acker. " E. Adams. Mrs. Alley. Miss Alice Antisdale. " Mary M. Axtell. " Mary Baker (Mrs. Fitch). " Georgine Bjersgard. " Elizabeth Bliss. " Iv. G. Birch. " Edith M. Bostmck. " Rose Brandt. " Florence Brooks (Mrs. Edw. S. Cobb). " Elsa Brown (Mrs. Barnes. " Mae M. Brown. " Sidney M. Brown (Mrs. J. J. Rigby). " Brownell. " Katherine E. Bruck- bauer. " Edith Burnett. " Mary Cable. Mrs. H. Carpenter t. Miss Edith R. Catlin (Mrs. Stowe Phelps). " E. B. Close (Mrs. J. Broomell). Mrs. Collins. Miss Margaret C. Condit. " Caroline E. Cooper. " Emma J. Couse. " Frances Cox. " Anna E. Crawford. t " Eleanor J. Crawford. 123 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Miss Esther Hall. " M. O. Harris (Mrs, McCullough). " Lydia A. Hays. " Helen Hickok. " Ida M. Hickok. " Irene Hickok. " Alice Hinman. " Jane E. Hitchcock. " Iveonora Hogarth. " Caroline E. Horton. " Hotmer. " Mary Hubbard. " Hudson. " Daphne Hutton (Mrs. Stretch). " Rosebelle Jacobus. " Helen T. Kenneally. " E. E. Kirke. " Catherine M. Kitchell (Mrs. W. R. Jel- liffe). " Gertrude H. Kitchell. " Kittridge. " Sarah K. Kliem (Mrs. Willis). " J. E. Knipe. " Josephine Knox (Mrs. Livingston). " Elizabeth H. Kunz. " Dorothy Kyberg. Mrs. Belinda C. Lefler. Miss Dorothy Leider. " Jessica Lewis. " Marjorie Lewis. " R. Lobenstine. " D. J. Luder. " Katherine Ludington. " McCormick (Mrs. Slade). " Susanne McFarland. Miss Mary McKelvey (Mrs. W. R. Barbour). " Ruth McKelvey. Mrs. Mary Mackenzie. Miss Lillie Malken t- " Caroline B. Mills. " Christine A. Mitchell. " Gertrude Morrow (Mrs. Henry J. Condit). " Neilson. " Mary E. Newell. " Adele Norton (Mrs. Fairbank). " Martha M. Norton (Mrs. A. K. Skin- ner). " Marjorie Nott. " Louise F. Oswald. " Otterbein. " Rhoda Packard. " Maud L. Parks. " Charlotte Paulsen (Mrs. G. H. Roth). " Lydia Paulsen (Mrs. H. D. Schlichting). Mrs. Pendleton. Miss Phebe Persons (Mrs. Geo. G. Scott). " M. E. Perdue. " Lois Pett. " M. G. Revell. " Edith M. Rockwell. Mrs. Eliza E. Rockwell t. Miss Bessie Rogers. " Florence E. Roper. " Anna C. Ruddy. " Helen Rumsey. " Runyon. " Alice Sanford. Mrs. Savidge. Miss Shotwell. 124 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Miss Shumard. Mrs. Mary Sibertson. Miss Angelina Simonson. " Eleanor C. Smith. " Rose Spenser. " Georgina Spooner. " Margaret H. Steen. " Mary Steen. " Mary Stevenson (Mrs. J. J. Hines). " Marie M. Stevenson. " Marion Sturgis. " Elsie Street. " Sarah Swift. " A. J. Taft. " H. N. Taft. " Georgina Taylor. " M. Thompson. " Alice Townsend. Miss Edith W. Townsend. " Jean A. Travis. " Pearl C. Underwood (Mrs. J. H. Deni- son). *' Henrietta Van Cleft. " Elizabeth Van Rensel- laer (Mrs. Benja- min W. Arnold). " Katrina Van Wagenen (Mrs. Briggs). " Mollie B. Walsh (Mrs. S. K. Higgins). " Carrie B. Wasson. " Fannie Wells. " Christine T. Wilson. " Frances Wheet. " Irma Wiss. " C. Ziegenfuss. ^2S The Kirk on Rutgers Farm DIED IN SERVICE Henry Rutgers f February 17, 1830. William McMurray f September 24, 1835. Henry Smith f March 19, 1873. Evan Price f August 7, 1887. Edward Hopper f April 23, 1888. James Murphy f August 15, 1893. Benjamin F. Pinkham f March 22, 1897. Horace Day f July 19, 1899. William Boyce f February 18, 1901. Anna E. Crawford f December 18, 1905. Edward Dowling f June 6, 1906. Eliza E. Rockwell f March 14, 1908. John Denham f February 4, 1910. 126 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm CHURCH OFFICERS 1919 SESSION Rev. Joseph A. Villelli, Moderator. Rev. Alfred D. Moore, Minister. Rev. Russell J. Clinchy, Minister. Frederick Briickbauer, Clerk. Artemus R. Richtmyer, Elder. Willard A. Hildreth, Elder. TRUSTEES James F. Coupar, President. Herman D. Schlichting, Secretary. Frederick Bruckbauer, Treasurer. Louis J. Audley. Orrin G. Cocks. George A. Ferris. George C. Fraser. Willard A. Hildreth. Artemus R. Richtmyer. 127 The Kirk on Rutgers farm OLD CHURCH BUILDINGS 1766 St. Paul's chapel, Episcopal, Broad- way and Fulton Sts. 1819 Church of the Sea and Land, Dutch Reformed. 1866 Presbyterian, Market and Henry Sts. 1820 Church of the Transfiguration, Epis- copal. 1853 Roman Catholic, Mott and Park Sts. 1825 First Moravian church. Baptist, then Episcopalian, 30th St. and Lexing- ton Ave. 1828 All Saints' church. Episcopal, Henry and Scammel Sts. 1829 St. Mark's church. Episcopal, Stuy- vesant Place. Rebuilt 1858. 1833 St. Mary's church, Roman Catholic, Grand and Ridge Sts. Brick front recent. 1836 Spring Street Presbyterian church, 246 Spring St. 1836 Allen Memorial church, Methodist. 1888 Jewish Synagog. 1838 St. Peter's church, Roman Catholic, Barclay and Church Sts. 128 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm 1841 John Street church, Methodist, 44 John St. 1841 St. Teresa's church, Presbyterian. 1863 Roman Catholic, Rutgers and Henry Sts. 1842 St. Andrew's church, Roman Cath- oHc, Duane St. and City Hall Place. 1843 Mariners' Temple, Baptist, Oliver, and Henry Sts. 1846 Trinity church. Episcopal, Broad- way at Wall St. lap The Kirk on Rutgers Farm EAST SIDE STREETS Chatham Square, after William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, our friend in 1776. Bayard Street, after a mayor, nephew of Peter Stuyvesant. Canal Street, had a forty-foot canal in center, fine shaded houses at sides. Division Street, the dividing line between the Rutgers and the DeLancey farms. East Broadway, formerly Harmon Street, after a Rutgers. Henry Street, after Henry Rutgers. Madison Street, after the President, for- merly Bancker Street, after a Rutgers son-in-law. Monroe Street, after the President, for- merly Lombardy Street. Rutgers Place, site of the Rutgers Mansion. Hamilton Street, after Alexander Hamil- ton, formerly Cheapside. Cherry Street, formerly a cherry orchard. Oliver Street, formerly Fayette Street. Catherine Street, after Catherine Rutgers. Market Street, formerly George Street, after King George of England. 130 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm Pike Street, War of 1812, formerly Char- lotte Street, after a queen of England. Rutgers Street, after the Rutgers family. Jefferson Street, after the President. Clinton Street, after Governor Clinton. Montgomery Street, after the general who fell at Quebec in 1775. Gouvemeur Street, after a New York fam- ily- Jackson Street, after the President; for- merly Walnut Street. Corlears Street, after Jacobus Van Corlear. Chrystie Street, after an officer of War of 1812. Forsyth Street, War of 1812. Eldridge Street, after Lieut. Joseph C. El- dridge, War of 1812. Allen Street, after Capt. William Henry Allen, War of 1812. 131 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm BIBLIOGRAPHY Recollections of a Long Life : Theodore L. Cuyler. Beside the Bowery: John Hopkins Deni- son. From the Bottom Up: Alexander F. Irvine. Dave Ranney: David J. Ranney. Nooks and Corners of Old New York: Charles Hemstreet. New York Old and New: Rufus Rock- well Wilson. A Tour Around New York: John Flavel Mines. When Old New York Was Young: Charles Hemstreet. Historic New York : Half -Moon Papers. The Leaven in a Great City: Lillian W. Betts. The Better New York : Tolman and Hem- street. The New York Public School: A. Emer- son Palmer. Helping the Helpless in Lower New York : Lucy S. Bainbridge. The Fire on the Hearth : Edward Hopper. 132 The Kirk on Rutgers Farm One Wife Too Many: Edward Hopper. Old Horse Gray: Edward Hopper. Echoes from the Song of Songs: Mar- garetta Hopper. An Oriental Land of the Free: John H. Freeman. One Hundred Poems : Jane A. Van Allen, American Notes: Charles Dickens. Valentine's Manual of the Common Coun- cil. New York Genealogical and Biographical Record. Records of the Market Street Dutch Re- formed Church. Records of the Presbyterian Church of the Sea and Land. The Sea and Land Monthly. Handbooks of the Presbytery of New York. Printed in the United States of America. 133