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(Aaró, ſº º aw . / ?/ ?. p . . 4 ** Ž. º Joey me.” " ' ' , , , , 4. 3.4% ſ , , , 722,220×4. /3' 30 % a. * * *…*.* º % a 4.4% % a 3, 4, 9, 227. /36 2–. º “ (ow. & a′4. / y J & * / 64, a 4% - - o/ 2%, 4.2 Zºo” a (, zoºd × 7). 38.66 ſ.c., & Zoo, aſ /** * - ſº gº ºne 7% ºwy/A 24 or ºr 4 /f/Z ...sºmº-º-º: /2 . . . . /3, , , ITS | MISSIONARY WORK A T H O M E. PROF. CHARLES SCOTT, D. D., HOLLAND, MICH. *-* & • . 29 A / r Zº Aft * …g A. _* zº – ... ... *- ITS MISSIONARY WORK A T H O M E. Pºor. CHARLEs SCOTT, D. D. HOLLAND, MICH. 499 ITS MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. “I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, * * * * * * and thou art come to excellent ornaments.”—EZEKIEL, xvi; 6. THE Saviour looked upon the lilies of the field, and from the lesson of their radiant beauty taught the providential care of God. In like manner may we gaze upon the spreading oak, so strong among the forest trees, and learn the Creator's law of develop- ment and growth. The little rootlet sinks into the moist earth beneath; the primal stem shoots up into the clear atmosphere above; the vital sap begins to figw ; the swelling buds put forth the leaf, the branch, the trunk in nature's order; and thus goes on the mystery of its organism—the adding of fibre to fibre and of tissue to tissue—until the noble tree Stands as a cedar in Leba- non. All the changes of time may pass over it—the summer's heat and the winter's storm, the fury of the tempest and the crashing of the thunderbolt—and yet for centuries it will scorn decay, as if it claimed eternal years. And what is the principle that thus repels the forces of destruction ? It is in the simple fact that every function of the plant is devoted, not to mere existence but to continued expansion. Let that law of its progress cease, and soon the finest shaft that ever waved its boughs over “the rivers of water" would struggle with the issues of death. For a Season, and only for a season, the green foliage might conceal the canker at the heart, but no outward form of life can long supply 501 4 . CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. the want of internal vigor for enlargement. A simile this of many important truths: and it is not difficult to apply the same to the moral and religious things of the kingdom of God. Once there was great rejoicing at the Roman Vatican. The bigots of the Pope had reported that the Protestant Reformation was checked, and stood only on the defensive. “All P’ said a crafty cardinal, “then the crisis is past, and this arch heresy, like all before it, will hasten to perdition.” That cardinal in his inference was right. Let it never be said of any pure church of Jesus Christ, in this or any other land, that it has reached its limits of development. - I have been chosen to sketch the “Home Missionary Work” of the Reformed Church in America, and enter upon the task with a firm conviction that our beloved Zion has not been planted and watered in vain in this garden of the western world. The Lord hath caused her “to multiply as the bud of the field,” and hath made her “ comely as Jerusalem.” Otherwise would it be a sad pen that recorded her shame, while now,there are so many glad hearts to welcome her progress and beauty. The facts of her his- tory, however, must speak for themselves, whether they come with sombre shades or with brighter hues of hope; and it is my simple office to present those facts in their proper groupings, and not to indulge in misplaced criticism or eulogy. It pleased the Most High, who “divideth to the nations their inheritance,” to plant the flag of the Dutch Republic over the region now known as the States of New York and New Jersey. Contemporaneous with the sittings of the Synod of Dort the yeo- manry of the Netherlands began to lay the foundations of a new commonwealth around the waters of Manhattan. They came, not like the Puritans, for conscience sake, but still with a con- science as deeply rooted in the gospel of Christ. Precious mem- ories of the fatherland, and of its long struggle for civil and religi- ous freedom; of the shed blood of their martyred kindred; of the faith, and labor, and sacrifice that had gained the final triumph over Philip, followed them across the seas, and hallowed, as it were, their American homes. The first congregation of the Lord seems to have been gathered between 1622 and 1624, at New Am. sterdam, but the first preaching of the word through the settle- ments was in 1628. Already the colonies of Plymouth and Mas- sachusetts Bay had rejoiced in their means of grace, and already the churchmen of Virginia had reared a sanctuary on the James. 502 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 5 Hence our denomination is not the first that unfurled the banner of the Cross in the United States, but it did thus early rear up a “pillar and ground of the truth,” and thus early begin to unfold, in this western world, as one of the “fair daughters of Zion.” In 1644, after fifty years of occupancy, the dominion of the States General passed away from the New Netherlands, and they became subject to the sway of Britain. Meantime, not 8,000 souls had gathered under the somewhat rigid rule of Governor Stuy- vesant and his council. The Dutch boweries had scarcely spread beyond the signal call from the forts and redoubts, and their trading posts were everywhere confined to narrow limits. Kings County, on Long Island, was the heart and centre of the colony, and the outposts extended thence to Harlem, Hackensack, Ber- gen, and beyond the Sandy Hook to Middletown. At Albany a village of some extent was seated on the hill side; Esopus and Schenectady marked the newest of the settlements; while the more distant New Amstel was a recent conquest from the Swedes. Think not, however, that these strangers from Holland and Zs-se, land—from Utrecht and Overystºl—had forgotten the religious principles of the fatherland or the teachings of the Reformation. By no means, for the word of God had come to every family circle, and had permeated the whole community. At the time of the surrender, in 1664, there were thirteen organized congrega- tions in the New Netherlands; and seven ordained pastors, who not only ministered to their immediate flocks but followed all the people to their scattered habitations. Seldom has a new country been more favored of the means of grace, or more subservient to the ordinances of the gospel (Appendix A). The English colonial period, from 1664 to 1775, must be passed with as rapid a survey as the subject will admit. Not only did new accessions from the Netherlands almost entirely cease, but many of the colonists, chafing under an unwelcome yoke, returned to Europe, or scattered along the rivers of the South." At once began that adverse train of circumstances which increased from generation to generation, and which would have destroyed the feeble Dutch churches in the land, had not their gracious Head Spread over them. His guardian care. Episcopacy was soon es- tablished in New York, with taxation for its support, and all the influences of social and political life were brought to bear upon the proselytism of the sons and daughters of the old inhabitants; as also the charms of the English tongue, and the seduction of 503 6 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. English alliances. No wonder that so many Holland and Hugue- not names appear upon the early parish registers, and that the Church of England became so strong along the Hudsoff." More. over, a flood of immigration poured in upon the land from New England and the British Isles, and the new comers being unable to worship with the people, had no alternative but to build up an ecclesiastical sisterhood of rivals. Meanwhile, the Dutch congre- gations remained in servile dependence upon the Classis of Am- sterdam, while the Congregationalists and Presbyterians at once organized their own church courts, founded their own academies, and trained a native ministry for the work of the Lord. The very money and energy which should have reared a new Leyden in America were wasted in useless disputes upon the endowment of Columbia College. Then, a century after the surrender, came the famous Coetus controversy, and the troubles and defections caused by a needed change in the language of worship. Can this Zion go on and prosper when around her are so many hurt- ful agencies, and over her so many dark and threatening clouds 3 Yet prosper she did, yea, almost without a parallel upon the Continent. We began with 7,000 or 8,000 colonists, and, without increase from abroad, these had multiplied to from 60,000 to 70,000 in 1775, of whom a portion had been lost, as already stated. Dutch settlements had flanked the Hudson on either side to be- yond Saratoga; had penetrated far up the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys; had appropriated the finest portions of East New Jersey and of Central Long Island; and wherever they went the school, the Catechism, the word of God, the Church and the sacraments Went in company, and started the praises of God through all the forests and mountains of New Netherlands. The new congregations had no special mission aid, but the members thereof faithfully clung to some Mother Church, and received the ordinances from the pastor thereof as he came on circuits of $99, until by the organized union and effort of two or ‘. . . v.-, y-, * ~ Gºſ " '}^ f * 23 - tº e thréé or four together they called and supported a minister of their own. Little conception can we have of the effort demanded, often for years together, to secure the preaching of the word, or of the herculean labors and unflagging zeal of some of those early evangelists. Theirs was a “home mission work” of the noblest kind. Rev. J. H. Goetschius, of Hackensack, filled his appoint. ments to the hour for it 100 miles, and the Rev. J. C. Fryenmoet gloried in a parish that reached from old Esopus to the Water Gap 504 , • ^\. 47 49 47 - __* - ... /* - 2’ Af K.' & x * > * & • ‘2’ = . … *- 4 - - * … ( , , ‘’’, , , , 2-3 .. 2 & y Aſ ſ 2." 49 _º y; 2 * A x^, 2. (~2. º */ ºf d’ ºr r < ºr *2 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 7 of the Delaware. Hardly a child's name failed to be found on the baptismal registers, or among the catechumens of the Church. As the natural result, 86 new congregations, or 98 in all, had been formed, and remained up to 1775, with 41 active pastors in the field. The number of families and communicants may be esti- mated at about 9,000 or 10,000 respectively, and the people reached, by church ordinances, at from 45,000 to 50,000. We only pause to ask if any other colonial denomination can make a better showing ? (Appendix B.) If the American churches clung too tenaciously to the Classis of Amsterdam, as to a dear mother, we must remember that that mother was worthy of the love bestowed. No Christian body in Europe or the world had so much evangelical zeal, or gave SO much fostering care to the spread of the faith abroad, as that recognized mission board of all the Synods of the Netherlands. In the East and in the West; in Ceylon and Java, as well, as in Demarara and Brazil; in Pennsylvania, among the Germans, as well as in New York, among their co-religionists, did the Classis labor wisely and well. Let this fact entitle them to our everlasting remembrance. The schism between the Coetus and the Conferentie, deplorable as it was for a season, had no permanent evil effects upon denomi- national growth. Yea, rather, God overruled it for good. It gave origin to Queen's College and shape to the happy union and organization of 1772. The college, and all other plans for . . good, were nipped in the bud by the overwhelming civil commo- tions of the Revolution ; but the Reformed Church had gained its automatic existence, and all the needed germs of future national development. The great misfortune of its history was that its independent establishment in America, and the measures of the fathers of 1770–75, came just a generation too late, and many generations to come will deplore the fact, while still thanking the Lord for the multitude of His mercies. We now come to the century which is specifically to be por. trayed—the century extending from 1776 to 1875. We have given the statistics of the former year, and for the latter we have the minutes of the General Synod. And what is the first fact that strikes the observer ? During the preceding one hundred years the Dutch population in this land had increased about eight or nine fold; the churches, eight fold; the ministers, six or seven fold; and the number in the congregations seven fold; but dur. 505 8 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. ing the one hundred years just ended, while the general popula- tion has kept up its ratio of increase, the American churches have multiplied by four; the membership by five; the ministers by twelve, and the reported families by three and three tenths. Hence the century, with all its ministers and ministerial agen- cies and boards, has not followed and gathered in the children of Netherland households like that which preceded. Fully one half of the descendants of those who worshipped in our pre-revo- lutionary sanctuaries are now scattered into other folds or lost to the Christian faith. Whatever grounds we may have for cen- tennial joy, it is well to keep these figures before our mind as a reminder that God's kingdom prevails by struggle, and that nothing but pure devotion and untiring energy can secure to Zion her promised increase. The statement made is exclusive of the congregations gathered in India, and of those formed out of the Holland and German immigrations. The century, in its relations to our subject, divides itself into five distinct periods, as follows: I. The Revolutionary or Transition Period, - 1776–1791 II. The Period of Synodical Effort, º * * 1792–1821 III. The Period of the Missionary Society, - - 1822–1831 IV. The earlier Period of the Board of Domestic Missions, - sº gº gº * - tº - 1832–1850 V. The later Period of said Board, º a 1851–1875 A few groupings, facts, figures and conclusions, under each period.must make up this sketch of “Home Missionary Work.” L–1776–1791.--THE REVOLUTIONARY OR TRANSITION PERIOD. It is a conceded fact in ethics that civil strife and warfare is most injurious to the cause of religious and moral progress. So was it in the American Revolution throughout every portion of the land, and especially through that part of it once known as the New Netherlands, and covered with the Reformed Belgic churches. The student of history can be at no loss in accounting for this state of things, and feels thankful indeed that Jehovah set limits to the evil. 1. The war found the Dutch congregations in an unsettled state, and without the institutions of a staple ecclesiasticism. Old animosities had not quite died away in love; the supply of pas- 506 MISSIONARY WOREC AT HOME, 9 tors from the old country had ceased, and some of those already in charge of pulpits had no proper sympathy with American ideas and wants; the young college at New Brunswick had been con- strained to close its doors, and no separate theological professor- ship, as proposed in 1775, could be established in its place; a spiritual dearth came over the churches, and candidates for the ministry did not fill even the places of the dead. In the first ten years of the period twenty of the ministers had been laid aside from pastoral work by death or otherwise; only seven had been sent forth into the harvest, and thus the original forty-one had become reduced to twenty-eight. After the lapse of the sixteen years, in 1791, the denomination had one man of God less in the field than when the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed. Regions of the size of a dukedom could be found where no living preacher of the word was seen for months. What could be done under such a lack of laborers ? 2. The war swept, as with a besom of destruction, the whole area occupied by the Reformed Dutch Church. No portion of the land was so long and so fearfully in the very focus and furnace of burnings and plunderings, of rapine and death. From New York the British fleets and armies radiated through all their settle- ments; and upon the frontiers the savage and tory were ever ready for deeds of bloody atrocity. This is not the place to de- tail the churches of our order closed, or desecrated and burned; the worshippers exiled from their homes; the places pillaged; the lives destroyed and the millions wasted, but the record is a sad one, and justifies the statement of a fact so often overlooked, that the Dutch populations were exhausted by the Revolution, and that up to 1791 they were scarcely able to restore even their ruined sanctuaries. But this baptism of blood, was their full initi- ation into the duties of American citizenship.’” 3. Some other facts must be grouped together. Examination of the records shows that religion generally declined, and that conversions were not frequent in the churches. After the war was over it was no easy task to restore the moral status and dis- cipline of the former days. Moreover, at this time came the crisis in the matter of language, and although the important change from Dutch to English was generally introduced, the transition had its difficulties and perils. The young people demanded the English ; some of the older resisted the demand, and a portion of the ministers as yet could not use both tongues, or either tongue 2 507 : ; ; 2 3 g 3. * > * : 3. s 5. - ’, ,' * , y y y 3% , - A. ...T ... ºr . . tº e- - * - - gº' : . 2 -- *. ~ - - <- *--- & Cº. re <2 2. Aº’ zººſ - * *º- …” o 10 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. at option. Hence families were steadily lost, and it may be doubted whether the members and supporters of the Church were any more numerous in 1791 than in 1776. Still there was progress. At the end of this period the breaches made by the war had been greatly repaired, and the vacant con- gregations were earnestly seeking for men to break unto them the bread of life. The establishment of the Federal Union, in 1787–89, had imparted new vigor and hope to every interest in the land; and so the Reformed Church was busily engaged in per- fecting its plans of organization. As early as 1784 the profes- sorate or theological school had been inaugurated, and in five years, beginning with 1787, furnished over twenty candidates for the ministry, so that, as already mentioned, the pastors of 1792 were forty, as against forty-one in 1776. To the best of their ability the several classes exerted themselves to extend the bounds of Zion, and while only two congregations, and those of German origin, became extinct, there were added to the roll twenty new consistories. The total of churches was now one hundred and sixteen. The Rev. Stephen Goetschius, who left New Paltz in 1796, stated in his farewell sermon that he had aided in the organization of nine churches in the Classis of Kings- ton. Ramapo and Saddle River came under our tabernacle in New Jersey, while Saratoga, Florida and Lawyerville marked the placing of the more distant stakes in New York. Before and during the Revolution (Appendix C) there had been started a movement of immigration from the vicinity of the Hudson to the Susquehanna, especially to Conewago, in York County, and to Hanover, in Luzerne. With characteristic fidelity and zeal these little colonies formed themselves into Dutch churches, and called again and again for pastoral care. Not long after a few families located on the head waters of the Poto- mac, and a larger number in Mercer County, on the Kentucky. The needs of the former led to the ordination of the first settled missionary of the Synod, the Rev. Jacob Jennings, in 1789; and the pressing calls of the latter continued in vain for years, show- ing that as yet our denomination was unprepared for the wide door of usefulness which the Master had opened. In 1789–91 began a steady flow of population from all the old Holland set- tlements towards the Seneca and Genesee countries, and also towards the fertile regions of Ohio. And just at this juncture there was not a man to spare for these outposts—these golden ; : ; ; ; ; ; ; 508 * * g - -- strº - 2 r & e. - A * * * -, -e ºr ºf |-sº * *- - ... * *- .” • ‘ , i. - , , ' * - * * * ~' . . 4-2 . *. 2^ ..' - ~ 2. 3. * ~ - .- g ...” Z" 2 r / ...” ~ ; * * 2 « ' ' 2 - - ,” 2 . . /*** > . . .” / . /* s’ & -- / y / & w - - - 2 .." a 2^ : MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 11 opportunities—and every energy of the Classis and Synods was more than demanded at their very doors. Let it only be added that, among the loyalists who fled to Canada and received estates under their chosen king, there were some who had wor- shipped with the Reformed, and who never lost their affection for the Church of their fathers. II. —1792–1821.—PERIOD OF SYNODICAL EFFORT. With increasing congregations, with many new openings, and such a disposition, even among the staid Dutch, to migrate, how natural was it that a demand for mission effort should come upon the Synod like thunder voices breaking from the cloud. The several Classes could labor and evangelize within their bounds; but when it came to these claims and pleadings from afar, what could they do but cast the burden upon that supreme judicature of the Church 7 As early as 1786 a committee had been appointed to prepare a plan of “church extension,” and two years later it reported and asked for collections in order that missionaries might be employed; but nothing was further done until 1792, when a General Synod met at New York and adopted the first constitution of our ecclesiastical body. Meantime about $150 had come into the treasurer's hands from the collections, and this same Synod sent forth the Rev. Andrew Gray, of Pough- keepsie, to the regions of the Susquehanna, and directed the licenti- ates to visit the various vacant congregations and preach for them. What they were enjoined to do they did, and thus this year marks a momentous era in our denominational history and growth. Mr. Gray organized a new congregation at Wilkesbarre, and become so imbued with the missionary spirit that he resigned his charge at Poughkeepsie the next year and removed to Wilkes- barre, in connection with Hanover. In 1796 his people began such a general migration to the Genesee country that he also went and located at Rarr Valley, now in Almond, Alleghany County, New York. Here, on the 1st of May, 1797, he organized a church, and afterwards three others at Angelica, Danville and Tuscarora, and one in Sharon, Potter County, Pa. Through this region he spent his days in the service of the Gospel, until the Lord called him to rest in 1819. His work was just what the exigency of the times demanded, and if pushed on for a few years would have remained as his memorial to-day. As it is, he stands on record as the proto-missionary of the Synod. 509 12 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. Other missionaries from time to time followed. Before 1800 they had traversed the usual routes of emigration; had visited most of the Dutch settlements of the west, and had given form to Chenango and Union churches, in Broome County, and to Owasco, in Cayuga. In 1796 Rev. Peter Labagh proceeded to Kentucky and organized the congregation of Salt River, but too soon re- turned to the east and left it to languish. Indeed, all the appoint- ments were temporary, and were marked by few permanent re- Sults, for there were no candidates waiting for mission work and no fund to aid the feebler flocks. The special benefit of the Synodical acts was to stimulate the Classes to activity and to greater solicitude concerning the ministerial supply. Accord- ingly, these bodies began to license and ordain, as they had the Opportunity, and to enter upon such plans of church extension as Seemed to promise success. Particularly the Classis of Albany, standing as it did at the gateway of the west, seemed to compre- hend its grand opportunity, and by means of home evangelists greatly multiplied the number of its churches. Between 1792 and 1800 there were constituted within its proper bounds the extraordinary number of thirty-three or thirty-four new congre- gations. Well was it entitled in that day to missionary distinc- tion. Thus it happened that the counties of Schoharie, Montgom- ery and Herkimer were so fully entered and preoccupied for our denomination. (Appendix D.) We now come to a pleasing and yet a regretful episode in the history of the Church. In 1798 the Rev. Robert McDowell, a licentiate and missionary of the Classis of Albany, toured along the valley of the Black River, in Jefferson County, and thence passing over the St. Lawrence to the Bay of Quinte, in Canada, found the destitution so great and the Gospel demand so pressing that he resolved to take up his abode among the people, and to spend his life in their Christian service. In this region he organ- ized three large congregations, and then passing down the river to the vicinity of Prescott, opposite Ogdensburgh, organized three more. He returned to become the pastor of those on the Bay of Quinte, but no solicitation could ever secure a colaborer for Eliza- bethtown and its adjuncts, and so he toiled on alone in that vast vineyard, an overburdened servant, for more than twenty years. His ministrations covered an extent of nearly 300 miles, and resulted in a crown of fourteen churches—one of which was at Toronto, and another among the Germans to the north of that 510 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 13 city. The denomination took the deepest interest in this mission, and the General Synod and its committee repeatedly sent trusty men to preach and administer the sacraments to the people; but as no pastors could be, or, as a fact, were furnished at their call, the Canada churches declined, and finally disappeared from the register. The only home result was to keep the treasury of the Synod exhausted, and to distract attention from nearer and more promising fields within the United States. (Appendix E.) From 1800 to 1821 the General Synod continued to conduct its missions on essentially the same plan as before. For six years the Classis of Albany was its agency for the work; then a body of eight, within the Synod of Albany, was substituted, and called “the Standing Committee of Missions,” and finally, in 1819, this committee was transferred to New York, and definitely instructed to extend its operations over every part of the denominational field. The amount of moneys furnished was small—very small; but then each Classis had its own collections and disbursements. Up to 1800 one thousand dollars in all, and from that time up to 1821 an average of four hundred dollars a year, will represent the full financial resources of our Reformed Church in its extension efforts. As to men, the Theological Seminary was located at New Brunswick and manned with three professors. Noble and Successful efforts were made to endow the chairs. The Van Bunschooten and Knox funds had been invested for the aid of students, and the whole subject of education prospered ; and yet, even with the aid of 30 ministers from other denominations, the Supply could not be made to meet the demand. During the thirty years of this period the churches increased from 116 to 187, and the ministers from 40 to 109, but of the latter only 98 were pas- tors. What a drawback upon all ardent hopes of church exten- sion was this continued lack of ambassadors for Christ The details of those thirty years can give but little interest to the history. We have seen how far the heralds of the cross pene- trated on their missions of salvation. The Upper Hudson, the Mohawk, the Schoharie, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the central lake region of New York, the Black, the St. Lawrence, the shores of Lake Ontario and the distant State of Kentucky, were all visited in the Redeemer's name; and only the beautiful Ohio was strangely forgotten by the Synod. One hundred and fifteen (115) churches in all were added to the denomination, and the number of Classes was increased from five to feur. " 511 14 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. teen.” But now some sad shadings must come in to complete the picture. Up to 1821 not a permanent missionary had been employed (Rev. Isaac Van Hook, possibly, excepted); not a pastor had been directly located; not one church had been aided. Brinkerhoff, Labagh, Manly and Palmer had turned back; Mandeville and McDowell had gone to the Presbyterians; Gray had fallen, with none to take his mantle; and thus, of all our long line of thirty- five gospel outposts on the frontiers, extending from Virginia through Pennsylvania and New York, to and beyond the St. Lawrence, only five remain to this day, and twenty-seven were practically lost in the period before us. Ten Eyck, of Owasco, had become the cause of intestine dissensions; Brokaw, of Ovid, had been deposed, and through all the mission churches of the North was spread the spirit of disorder and secession. The total loss of the thirty years were forty-four congregations. No wonder that some discouragement came over the mind of the Synod, and the Committee of 1821 reported as follows. . “The missionary operations of this Synod have not been attended with the success which might have been expected. * * * * * * Experience has shown that the transient missions of a few days or weeks in a place have not been attended with any great degree of usefulness, either in turning souls to Christ or in organizing new congregations. * * * * One of the greatest difficulties this Synod has labored under has been the want of a sufficient number of zealous, devoted and active missionaries.” Yes, Want of funds and want of men had all along been stum- bling blocks in the way. Could anything be devised to remedy the evil? It was “Resolved, That a committee be appointed to draw up a (new) plan of missionary operations, and report to the next General Synod.” (Appendix F.) III.-1822–1831.--THE PERIOD OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Sometimes the darkest hour precedes the morning light. In January, 1822, and before the report above provided for could be made, the friends of Zion in New York City organized the “Mis- *Toward the north the advanced lines had extended to West Troy, Union village, Fort Miller, Northumberland and Johnsborough; towards the west to Caroline, Cato, Fayette, Ovid and Le Roy, while in New Jersey such accessions as Rockaway, Leba- non, Stillwater and Hardwick swelled the charge of the Classis of New Brunswick. In 1817 were secured the First and Second Churches of Philadelphia. 512 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 15 sionary Society of the Reformed Dutch Church,” and so energet- ically did it enter upon the work of home evangelization that in June the General Synod, by a strong vote, appointed its “Board of Managers” as the Synod’s “Standing Committee of Missions;” and this position of things was continued for ten years, although in 1830 an adjunct committee of fifteen was appointed for the Synod of Albany. The Missionary Society was a noble concep- tion, to the honor of Rev. Paschal N. Strong and others, and in four or five points gave a new character and impulse to the devel. opment of the denomination: : 1. It devised liberal things for Christ; for the very first year of its existence it received and paid out nearly $2,000 for mis- sionary purposes, and the contributions gradually increased to $7,342.53, in 1831, making an average of over $3,500 per annum. What an advance over previous figures 2. It developed a large amount of interest in the churches and engaged them in the good cause by various suitable means. Auxiliary societies, cent societies and memberships were urged. A magazine was published, and eventually changed into a weekly journal, called the Christian Intelligencer; and then, in order still further to educate the whole denomination up to Christian duty, it sent out the Rev. J. F. Schermerlorn as financial agent—an appointment which the Synod itself assumed in 1830, and made general for all its benevolent work. By such measures an im- mense influence for good was created. 3. It commenced operations in all quarters with new energy, and adopted a new policy. Missionary appointments became more permanent, and feeble churches were aided in giving sup- port to their pastors. The first case of the kind was at Spots- wood, N. J.; but this plan of evangelizing was soon adopted as a denominational law. 4. It kept up a correspondence with the missionaries, gained information, arranged the facts into able and readable reports, and published and circulated the same among the churches. During these ten years forty-eight new congregations were constituted, of which about one half were through the agency of the society. Many very important points were occupied, and remained as an ornament to the Synod. Manayunk, on the south; Broome street, Houston street, Jersey City, Fishkill Landing and Athens, on the Hudson; Utica on the Mohawk, and Chittenango, Ithaca and Geneva, in Central New York, will 33 513 16 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. serve to illustrate the progress of the period. At the same time no zealous preacher of the word penetrated the new regions of the northwest, and twenty-eight more of the churches were lost. The year 1822 was further marked by the great secession of Dr. Proeligh and his adherents, which event was so peculiarly disas- trous along the Mohawk and between the lakes. Had it not been for the Missionary Society the breaches of Zion had never been healed as they were, and the secession might have been a much more serious injury to the Church. In 1832 four new Classes had been constituted. The congrega- tions had increased to two hundred, and the ministers to one hundred and seventy-four. The ineological seminary had its three professorships endowed, a § its board of education organ- ized. Moreover, Rutgers Collegé/was again in successful opera- tion, and thus all the needed foundations seemed to be laid for the future rapid growth of the denomination. The dawn is passed, and brighter light hails the prayers and anxieties of the Synod. (Appendix G.) - IV.-1832–1850.--THE EARLIER PERIOD OF THE DOMESTIC MISSIONS BOARD. As was naturally to be expected there would be prejudices against the New York Society in the northern sections of the Church, and a feeling that its operations were partial. Again, it was argued with propriety that the whole cause of missions appertained to the general Synod, and should be under its imme- diate and direct control. Influenced by such considerations the Synod of June, 1831, constituted a Board, which afterwards was called the “Board of Domestic Missions.” This body continued its operations as first created, with occasional experiments, until 1849, when it was reorganized and placed under the secretaryship of Rev. John Garretson. About the same time began the new immigrations from Holland and Germany, and the rapid organi- zation of churches out of those nationalities. Let this era be a dividing line in the forty-five years' history of that most impor- tant Board and of the “Home Mission ” work. One great advantage the Board had from the first, viz., the coöp- eration of the churches in all sections, and a more liberal supply of candidates and ministers for evangelization. True, the funds did not greatly increase during the twenty years, but the yearly average of $5,000 to $6,000 furnished the means of no inconsider 514 z' 7 2 4 … -< *: * - CP - : - * ... * . 2 4. . e”. =& .* 2 MISSIONARY work AT HOME. 17 able degree of enlargement and progress. Former plantings were watered; new stations of importance were occupied, and marks of wiser management were everywhere apparent. In and around New York City we are gratified with such enterprises as the Twenty-first street and the two German Evangelical Mission churches: as Astoria, Greenpoint, and on the Heights at Brook- lyn. Philadelphia adds a third station; in New Jersey gains are made at Trenton, New Brunswick, Newark, Somerville, Jersey City and Hoboken ; along the Hudson the towers of Zion arise in a score of places, such as Yonkers, Newburg, Saugerties, Catskill and Hudson; and towards the Lakes, although the evils of the secession continued to retard, the work went surely on, and gathered such congregations as Canestota, Syracuse, Fair Haven and Buffalo. In no twenty years of our history have so many and so influential churches been constituted over the old camp- ing grounds of the Dutch. East of Lake Erie the organizations were one hundred and nine, and of these eighty-four are yet upon the minutes; while for the preceding forty years there remain but eighty-seven. Surely, then, the Board, without large funds, and without a permanent secretary, did most excellent service at the east by aiding the Classes in their aspirations for “breaking forth on every side.” But the crowning glory of this period is yet to be mentioned. For a few years the central counties of Illinois had been colonized by families from New Jersey; and by some good men, like Elder John G. Voorhees, the Church of Fairview, in Fulton Co., was organized in 1837. The first congregation beyond the Allegha- nies was hailed as a favorable omen by the Board and the Synod; and at once began a systematic, faithful endeavor to extend our denomination with the nation toward the setting sun. Revs. Wilson, Sill, Hillman and Slingerland, and soon after William- son, Westfall and Schultz went to preach Christ in the prairie States, and before 1850 ten churches had been formed in Wiscon- sin and Illinois. The Classis of Illinois was constituted in 1841, and the father of the movement, Rev. A. D. Wilson, after sixty years of ministerial life, has just entered into rest. It is but jus- tice to add that Rev. Simon V. E. Westfall also remained at his post, with martyr resolution, until he returned to die among his friends. Somewhat similar was the mission history of Michigan. Rev. Isaac Ketchum, the pioneer, broke ground in St. Joseph County about 1836. Rev. Daniel Michael organized the first 515 18 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. church at Redford, near Detroit, in 1838, and to this was soon joined Grand Rapids, Centreville and Constantine. A Classis was authorized in 1841, but was not actually constituted until the next year. Revs. Waring, DeWitt, Taylor, McNeish, Ben- nett, Seeber, Minor and Heermance were commissioned from time to time, and here also ten churches had been organized before 1850. Efforts were made in Indiana by Quaw, Schermerhorn and Sheffield, and it was the wish of the Board to give origin to a Classis of Indiana, but this aspiration could never be gratified. These twenty years then gave the Board of Domestic Missions a worthy record in the West as well as in the East. (Appen- dix H.) In all, one hundred and twenty-nine congregations were organ- ized and thirty-one were lost during this period, and at its close the catalogue shows three hundred and five churches and about the same number of ministers. It will be noticed that the want of men had not been such a serious hindrance to the progress of the work as hitherto. The Board had its calls reasonably re- garded, and among the praiseworthy deeds recorded of its admin- istration it is only to be regretted that it did not seize upon Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Milwaukee and Chicago, as well as Buffalo, and hold steadily and prudently on until these centres of western power had been permanently included in the proper ter- ritory of the Reformed Church. V.—1851–1875.--THE LATTER PERIOD OF THE DOMESTIC MIS- SIONS BOARD. Whatever may have been the success of former years, there was a widespread sentiment that more might have been accom- plished; that the failures were discouraging; that more liberal and steady efforts must be made in the new portions of the coun- try, and that a rich blessing was in store for the Mission Board should it be rightly constituted and directed. Hence Dr. James Romeyn, in his celebrated report on “the State of the Church,” in 1848, recommended a reorganization with enlarged powers; that a corresponding secretary should be chosen for the general management of the evangelic work, and an “itinerant mission- ary " for the superintendency west of Buffalo. The Synod adopted these views and directed them to be carried out. The western superintendent never came into being (a fatal mistake), but the reorganization and the corresponding Secretary were 516 JMISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 19 secured in 1849, and these improved features of the Board have continued until the present time. The new regime, however, did not fairly get into operation until 1851, and this year is therefore adopted as the beginning of the last period of our century. The collections for the cause at once arose to over $10,000, being nearly doubled, and gradually increased to over $16,000 in 1859, the year in which Mr. Garretson resigned. (Of this respected brother let it be stated that, by hard work and prudent counsels, he placed the Board and its work in a much more effective posi- tion. His whole aim was the advancement of Zion, and God is to be thanked for giving the services of just such a man at such a time.) Since 1859 four other secretaries have worthily followed out the plans and wishes of the Synod, with the unaccountable exception that no superintendent was ever appointed for the West. The collections, not including legacies, keep pace with the growth of the denomination and the demands of the work, being in 1865 $20,000; in 1870 over $26,000; and in 1865 not quite $24,000; and the missions aided have been in proportion to the means employed. It is also to be noted that in this period the educational interests of the Church have put on their present fair proportions, and that the ministerial supply may be said to have equalled the demand./* In 1847 the religious troubles of the Netherlands led the Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte and others to migrate to this free land, and these became the forerunners of the many thousands who have since, like the Puritans of old, left home and kindred in the old world that they might enjoy the coveted blessings of the new, The result has been the settlement of the Holland colonies in Michigan and Iowa, the aggregation of large Netherland popula- tions around Lake Michigan, and the Scattering of congregations of the same noble people through almost every large city, from Boston to St. Louis. It is a remarkable fact that there are as many native born Dutch, with their families, in the United States in 1875, as there were of Dutch descent in 1775, and that they have greater ability and willingness to work for the kingdom of God. Now all this immense opportunity and responsibility came upon our Reformed Church, and it embraced the occasion with earnest zeal. Again and again the Synod and Board resolved to give to these strangers a helping hand and hearty love. Now count the precious fruits. In 1851 not less than thirteen Holland. 517 y - * e ſe A / 49 2’ Ay .# ~. Af : , • 2^ * z \ z-r e” «» . < ~2 * . 47 - º - - - *_ & Af Aº’ 2' A 2; & $ , * . ~ - e. } | . A -, - , * A *- r 'Z 2 Ae . --> -- ;’, . 2 . " … ... ºr A 2: . - 2^, F- *2. ar - ~ • • 5° 2^ a' ’, 2 y A. 2. ' • 2 < * ~ 5 A 2 . . 4. . g." 20 CENTENNIAL IDISCOURSE. ish Churches were organized, with such pastors as Van der Meulin, Bolks, Kleyn and Ypma, and year by year the work went on, until at the end of the twenty-five years we find the number seventy-nine (four having been lost), with 6,500 families and 10,000 members. Out of them three new Classes have been formed, and a fourth is in contemplation. What may another century produce from all this rich sowing of the seed . From this Western enlargement have grown the Synod of Chicago, with its eighty-four churches, and the founding of Hope College and its theological school in 1866. The facts must be epitomized, but surely here are some of those “excellent ornaments” specified in Our text. The civil commotions in Germany (Appendix I) about 1848–50, also sent vast multitudes of the Teutonic race towards our shores. Many of them were of the Reformed faith, and becoming like dis- persed sheep without shepherd or Gospel care, these also ap- pealed to the sympathies of our Church, as of old the Palatines did to the Classis of Amsterdam. The Synod regarded the coun- sels of such men as the noble Guldin, and the Board grappled with the many difficulties and discouragements of this burden- some work. Since 1851 forty-two congregations of German peo- ple have been formed in the several cities where they congregate, of which thirty remain, and these, with two of older origin, con- tain 2,320 families, and a membership of 4,600. The harvest can- not be so great and rich as among the more religious Nether- landers, but it will be as truly to the glory of God and to the sal- vation of the world. Among the American populations the record of the twenty-five years has not so many of the rainbow hues. The reorganization of the Board had special reference to greater progress among the native people of the land, but the pen of truth cannot give itself to 'special eulogy. In New York and Philadelphia there has been a decline; too many of the old bulwarks of Zion have become desolate, and Greenwich, Market street, Houston street, Man- hattan, Washington Square, have ceased to sing the praises of the Lord. In the suburban cities there has been growth, but not in proportion to the advance of the census. Where are the promi- ment positions taken and held for Christ, such as distinguished the preceding period # It is indeed a pleasure to recall Easton and Orange, Newark North and Jersey City Third, or to go to. wards the north and mark the appearance of Second Tarrytown, 518 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. 21 Castleton, Second Schenectady, and some other congregations; but the pleasure is clouded when we think of such sad failures as Ithaca, Lee Avenue, New Haven and Buffalo. The Classis of Cayuga and Geneva number fewer American Churches by three, and perhaps by five, and with no special gain in families or membership. Passing to the West, the only prominent and per- manent positions occupied in Michigan have been Holland Sec- ond or Hope, and Battle Creek, and although its churches are much stronger, the Classis is practically in size where it was over twenty years ago. Wisconsin has received missionary labor, but not one American congregation remains in that broad State. The Classis of Illinois has received more favor of the Lord, and has grown from four to a fair sisterhood of fourteen, with Pella and Somerset looking towards the Pacific. But shall Chicago and Davenport continue among her ornaments & Alas ! if their call- dlesticks are fated to removal. - The number of American Churches organized since 1851 have been one hundred and twenty-two, as against the one hundred and twenty-nine of the preceding period, and the losses have been forty-eight. The total number of new organizations, American, Hollandish and German, have been two hundred and forty-seven, and the losses sixty-four. The three hundred, and five congrega- tions of 1850 thus become four hundred and seventy-eight in 1875, with 42,000 families and 74,000 members; and if to this number be added the eighteen belonging to the Classis of Arcot, we have the five hundred and six catalogued on the minutes of the last General Synod. The ministers now outnumber the churches, and are reported as five hundred and forty-six. The whole number of Reformed Churches formed in this country and Canada since 1622 have been six hundred and fifty-eight; and of the one hun- dred and seventy that have been lost, about one third were abor. tive efforts; another third lived, and perhaps flourished, and then disbanded, and the remainder passed more or less directly into other evangelical denominations. Generally they have set up the standard of Westminster. One subject alone remains for discussion. Bitter, very bitter have been the experiences of destitute communities, when they sighed for the tabernacles of God, and found no way to erect a fitting house for His worship. Among the greater powers con- ferred upon the Domestic Board in 1848 was that of church erec- tion. To give shape to the project, the “building fund” was 519 22 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. created in 1854, and has been gradually shaping into one of the most useful institutions of our Church. The indispensable sanc- tuary now stands in temple grace, and gives effect to God's good word, where nothing but irreligion had reigned unless this fund had extended help to Christian workers. Let it be cherished among those who love Zion, for hereafter it must ever be the most efficient minister of good to all the Boards!"Is it now said that the whole subject of “church extension” has been treated as “mission work?” Yes, indeed Every evangelical denomination in this land is but a missionary organization, and any agency which it employs, such as a “committee” or a “board,” is but a means of centralizing, directing and aiding the constant efforts of the body to do its mission from the Lord. When pious members separate from some cherished society of Christians, and give labor and sacrifice to a new organization, or when a minister toils in such a new field year after year for its edification and establish- ment, and all this without outside help, but through many trials, what is it but the noblest species of “missionary work?” Such a work goes ever on in the Reformed Church, and its most useful Boards are only the leaders as Zion advances to her destiny—the conversion of the world. Thus ends the history of Home Missions in the Reformed Church; and such as they are, I commend the facts to the attention of the denomination. For comparisons I have neither time nor inclina- tion. If sister evangelical bodies have been able to advance the blessed kingdom of the Lord more speedily and with better results, we can only bid them God speed, and give thanks that the Gospel has been magnified. One thing is certain, however; humbled as we may and ought to be, that so much sowing has been lost by the way-side, we can and will rejoice that so many of the reapers have come again, bearing with them the loaded sheaves of blessing. No “Ichabod’” has been written over our gates—the glory has not faded from the habitations of our Israel. Most truly has “the word of God multiplied" by our means, and the planting of Jehovah in our garden has come to “excellent ornaments.” Let their fair lustre never be tarnished in the time to come. We have not the whole land for our lot, but rather a tribal possession, like that of Judah among her holy mountains. Let us stand in that lot, amid the vineyards and olive groves, and make its Sanctuary glorious and its borders “a munition of rocks.” 2. .* # 520 MISSIONARY WORK AT HOME. - 23 Yes! keep on thy mission, noble Church of the Huguenot and of the Netherland reformers and martyrs. Guided by the pres- ence of Jehovah, only want of faith can turn thee back from the assured inheritance of Zion. Keep on, as the great Head and Leader shall mark the way, and when another Centennial shall fill the nation with joy, thy “ ornaments” shall be as a sparkling crown, and thy “bud” shall be multiplied, until, like the vine in the 80th Psalm, it may be said, “The hills are cov- ered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof are like the goodly cedars.” Then shalt thou be known, indeed, as “the planting of the Lord,” and in thee shall He “be glorified.” 521 24 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. A P P E N D I X. A. CHURCHES IN 1664. NOTE.—In this Appendix the present names of the churches are given. Those in italics are extinct, or have passed from the denomination, and the dates when lost are appended (approxi- mately). And when any congregation is only suspended, and afterwards reappears in the same locality, even under a different name, it is considered as if keeping up a continued existence. New York. . . . . . . . . . organized. ... 1622 || Kingston. . . . . . . . . . . organized. ... 1659 Albany. . . . . . . . . . . . { { . . . .1642 | Brooklyn . . . . . . . . . . { { . . . . 1660 Bushwick... . . . . . . . {{ . . . . 1654 Harlem ... . . . . . . . . . { { . . . . " Flatbush . . . . . . . . . . { { . . . . “ Bergen. . . . . . . . . . . . { { . . . . 1662 Platlands. . . . . tº e º O C. * { . . . . “ Richmond... . . . . . . . {{ . . . . “ Gravesend. . . . . . . . . { { . . . . “ Holmdel. . . . . . . . . . . { { . . . . “ New Amstel (1690).. $4 . . . . “ Total—13. Lost—1. MINISTERS IN 1664. Johannes Megapolensis, Hermanus Blom, Samuel Drisius, Gideon Schaats, Henricus Selyns, Samuel Megapolensis, Johannes T. Polhemus, Warnerus Hadson (who died at sea). Total—7. Samuel Megapolensis could preach in English, and Selyns min- istered in French to the Huguenots on Staten Island and else- where. - B. CHURCHES-1664–1775. New Utrecht. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1677 | Port Richmond.................. 1690 Schenectady..................... 1680 Acquackanonck....... © tº a s e º is a e s = 1694 New Paltz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1683 | Tappan. . . . . . . .................. | || Hackensack................... . .1686 || Fordham... . . . . . * * * * * * * * * * s a a s a e s l696 522 APPENDIX. Tarrytown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1697 | WaWarsing.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tº Raritan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1699 || Shawangunk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Belleville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Q Q - ſº tº G e 1700 | Clarkstown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rochester (Ulster Co.). . . . . . . . . . . .1701 | Fairfield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jamaica, . . . . . . . . . . . tº e º e º e º 'º at e º 'º º 1702 | Rhinebeck, German (1798). . . . . . . . . Schaghticoke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1707 | Red Hook (Upper). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Freehold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1708 || Totawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ponds (Panna). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1710 | Montville. . . . . . . . m e º e º e º ºs º º us tº e º º Rinderhook. . . . . . . ** G - G - © s = e º sº e º ºs 1712 || Hackensack, 2d (1822). . . . . . . . . . . . . Claverack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1716 Schraalenburgh, 2d (1822). . . . . . . . . Poughkeepsie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ Hopewell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fishkill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ New Hackensack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . New Brunswick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1717 | Neshanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Six Mile Run. . . . . . . tº º e º º e º 'º ſº tº º ſº tº { { Bedminister. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Readington. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1719 Greenbush. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schoharie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1720 | Taghkanick. . . . . . . . . . . . & E is tº º e º e e Linlithgow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1722 || German New York (1823).......... Schraalenburgh . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724 | Canajoharie., ... < ............ © ºt Paramus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1725 | Fort Herkimer (German Flats)..... Harlingen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1727 | Bethlehem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e Germantown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1728 Beaverdam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cortlandtown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1729 || Fonda (Caughnawaga). . . . . . . . . . . . Middleburgh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1730 || Hillsborough. . . . . . . . . ... tº º e º & tº º 'º Newtown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 1731 || Red Hook Landing (1831)... . . . . . . . North Hempstead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Hillsdale (1846). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oyster Bay.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ Schodack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhinebeck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Clove (Dutchess Co.) (1813)........ Leeds (old Catskill). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1732 Dover ( { { ) ( “). . . . . . . . Catsbaan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Manheim. . . . . . . . tº s s is e s w tº it is a s a s s s Coxsackie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Albany, German (1783). . . . . . . . . . . Montgomery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Kingston, German ( “ ) . . . . . . . . . . Pompton Plains.................. 1736 | New Hurley. . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marbletown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1737 English Neighborhood. . . . . . . . . . . . Deerpark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Waterford or Half Moon (1875)..... Minisink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1737 | North and Southampton..... • e º e º e Walpack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $t Indian Castle... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smithfield (1799). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ West New Hampstead. . . . . . . . . . . . Stone Arabia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1740 i Ghent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But New York was now three congregations. ized,” eighty-six; of which have been lost, twelve. Total, in 1775, ninety-eight, as follows: On the Delaware... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 In Central New Jersey. . . . . . . . . . . . I0 In Northeast New Jersey... . . . . . . . l4 On Statell and Long Islands . . . . . . 12 On Manhattan Island. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 * @ 8 e º ºs e º 'º e º ºs e e g º º e {{ Churches organ- * A few Conferentie congregations were formed, which dissolved after the Union of 1772, and are not noted. z Af - !----> ... " - A 4 -, * * t 2 */ 4 * * ~ 2% 2 : . 2 . . . " ... + * , 22 ſ *- * 2^ S. 2 *- 1. s. 2 / * _º - zº …” - A - J 2. - - - (* A 3× - - 2 ” sº ºr Z ºr- sº- 7 . . . --e- 2. * / 1 / / 2^ 2. - - - <- *- z A g *— " A - 26 CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. MINISTERS IN 1775. Those in italics were born and brought up in Europe. Lambertus De Ronde. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emeritus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1784 Johannes Ritzema. . . . . . . . . tº gº tº e g º ſº tº Q e e a e e s e e s a • s • “ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ Archibald Laidlie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . © e º e º e º e C & Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .1778 John H. Livingston. . . . . . . & sº se e e is tº tº dº º tº gº ºn tº dº e º ſº tº gº tº º John G. Gebhard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martinus Schoonmaker. . . . . tº e º 0 e º ºs s e e º e º s ſº e º & © & & Ulpianus Van Sinderen... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emeritus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784 Johannes C. Rubel... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Loyalist, deposed... . . . . {{ Jermanus L. Boelen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . § { fied. . . . . . . . . . 1780 Solomon Froeligh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘........... g Benjamin Dubois. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johannes Leydt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'783 Christian F. Foering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'779 Johannes M. Van Harlingen. . . . . . . . . . . º e s a sº e o e º e Jacob R. Hardenberg. . . . . . . . . . . as g g c s ſº º e º ºs e º 'º e ºs Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1790 William Jackson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tº e s e s is us e º 'º e s tº s Deranged. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Gerardus Haeghoort. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1777 Henricus Schoonmaker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gerret Lydekker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Loyalist, fled. . . . . . . . . . . 1777 Warmoldus Kuypers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tº e s tº e G s is e e Dirk Romyn. . . . . . . . . . . . .244. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bermanus Meyer. . . . . . . . . ‘. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1791 Benjamin Vander Lende. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Samuel Verbryck. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784. David Marinus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ºn e º ºs ºn tº gº º tº e . . . . . Deposed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1780 John Michael Kern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Loyalist, fled. ... . . . . . . . 1778 Rynier Van Neste. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isaac Rysdyk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . & Q & Q = E e e º e º C G → ç C & e º e Emeritus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784 Stephen Goetschius........... ſº tº e º ſº º te e e g º gº tº e º 'º - © George J. Doll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • * * * * * * * * * * * * John Daniel Gross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prof. Columbia Col. . . . . . . . 1787 Stephen Van Voorhis........................... Presbyterian . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1788 Gerhard D. Kock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Left, or dismissed. . . . . . . . . 1783 Johannes Schuneman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johannes C. Fryenmoet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'778 Elias Van Benschooten. . . . . . © G & º e s e © tº ſº e s & © tº s a C & Ellardus Westerlo. . . . . . . . . . . . . Q & Q 9 @ tº ſº e C & & s m > e s tº Died... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790 Barent Vrooman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tº º Died... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1784 Johannes Schuyler. . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Died. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1779 Thomas Romeyn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Q & G is º º O p ∈ Abraham Rosenkrantz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foreign born, 16. Native born, 25. Total....... • . . . . . 41 Lost from the pastorate in ten years........... • . . . . . . . 18 Additional losses up to 1791. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Leaving in the pastorate at that time................ . . . 16 524 APPENDIX. 27 These facts are given in order to explain the condition of our churches during and after the Revolution. C. CHURCHES, 1776–1791. Niskeyuna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1780 Saratoga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * { Stüssing (1801). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1781 Conewago (1793). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1782 Banover (1796). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1783 Lansingburgh (1792). . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Greenbush, Rensselaer Co. . . . . . . . . 1784 Boght. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . § { Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Salem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1785 Ramapo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1785 Clove (1818), Sussex, N. J. . . . . . . . . 1787 Lawyerville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1788 Saddle River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Buskirk's Bridge*. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1790 Helderbergh... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1791 Middletown (1813), Saratoga Co..... “ Jerusalem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1791 Esopus, Klein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * { Westtown (1801)... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ Churches organized, 20; of which have been lost, 7. Churches in 1791, 116. THE MINISTRY, 1776–1791. Candidates ordained up to 1785. ... 7 OF WHOM Matthew Leydt died. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1783 Theodore F. Romeyn died. . . . . . . . . 1785 Simon Van Arsdale “ . . . . . . . . . 1786 Isaac Blauvelt was deposed. . . . . . . . 1791 Candidates ordained to 1786–91. . . . 21 Entered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 OF WHOM Brant S. Lupton died... . . . . . . . . . . . 1789 Jacob Jennings left. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1791 Remaining in the ministry.. . . . . . . . 24 Former pastors, 16; additions, 24. Total (1791), 40. D. CHURCHES, 1792–1800. Wilksbarre (1797). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1792 Mayfield (1826). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1793 Hyde Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Owasco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Rockaway . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1793 Chenango (1820). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1794 Coeymaus.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Union (1820), Broome Co... . . . . . . . it. Westerlo or Baisic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ t Amsterdam (1803). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1795 Paistonkill (1808)... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tt New Harlem (1826). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Wynantskill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Salt River (1817)... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I '796 * This church is a union of Tiossiock and Sinthoick. 525 28 CENTENNIAL IDISCOURSE. 2 Bloomingdale, Ulster Co. . . . . . . . . . 1796 | Peekskill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1799 Karr Valley (1810). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1797 || Woodstock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ! { Angelica (1820). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( [. Pittstown (1807). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Charlestown (1845). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Stillwater, N. Y. (1808). . . . . . . . . . . { { Currytown or Root. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Amity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ $ Herkimer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " | Rotterdam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . § { Shokan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1798 | Duanesburgh (1813)... . . . . . . . . . . . . . | || Middletown (1827). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Veddersburgh (1812). . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Roxbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Sacondaga (1812). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Prattsville. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { Sharon, N. Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Oak Hill (1835). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {{ Caroline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1800 - 4. Henderson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ And six in Canada. (See Appen- - Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { dix E.) Churches organized, 44; of which have been lost, 24. Of the above churches it will be seen that all but ten, or that thirty-four were originally connected with the Classis of Albany. One may plant, but another must water. E. - THE CANADA CHURCHES, 1798–1821. The Rev. Robert McDowell went to Canada just as the country around Lake Ontario was being settled, and before any Presbyte- rian body or missionaries had entered upon the field. Had he succeeded in placing his congregations under pastoral care, and in forming a Classis, he and his helpers would undoubtedly have built up a strong branch of the Reformed Church along the St. Lawrence. As it is, we can only record the facts, and regret that there were no men to be Spared for such a distant although most important work. The fourteen congregations thus organized were Ernesttown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1798 } . Fredericksburgh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . { { ;sº on the Bay of Quinte, opposite Adolphustown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “ J Amherst Island, and in a fine region. Of these Mr. McDowell became pastor. In 1821 he and they joined the Canada Presbyterian Church. He died in a good old age, about 1843 or 1844. ſº : {{ | Situated along the St. Lawrence, above wimming. ... {{ and below Prescott. Under a burghel ...]... . ] minister in isis lizabethtown... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'798 re . §26 7, y 7 º A. A 2 a' 3. . ... f A. *. * - … … zº. : .