History of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian

V Visitor? (* JUL 14 1909 * jfifti) labenue ^resibpterian Ciiurcf) of ^cto Smb Citp, ^eto gotfe from 1808 to 1908 together with an account of its Centennial ^nnitierstarp Celebration December 18—23, 1908 V-' Prepared by Henry W. Jessup An Elder of the Church Under direction of the Centennial Committee 1909 Centennial Committee Rev. J. Ross Stevenson, D.D.—Ex Officio SILAS B. BROWNELL EDGAR S. AUCHINCLOSS' HENRY B. BARNES ROBERT W. STUART JOHN W. AUCHINCLOSS DR. SILAS F. HALLOCK ROBERT E. BONNER ALFRED E. VONDERMHULL JOHN J. McCOOK H. EDWARDS ROWLAND WARNER M. VAN NORDEN CHARLES P. BRITTON GEORGE B. AGNEW A. GIFFORD AGNEW JAMES TALCOTT GEORGE F. VIETOR GEORGE TAYLOR CHARLES B. ALEXANDER EDWIN J. GILLIES JAMES ANDERSON HAWES Chairman:SrL\s B. Brownell Secretary:—JAMUS Anderson Hawes Treasurer:—A. Gifford Agnew Sub Cow,mitiee 07i Arrangemeiits Chairman:— "E.TtvfiN J. Gillies George B. Agnew George Taylor Sub Committee 07i History a7id Publication Chairman:—Henry B. Barnes Charles B. Alexander James Anderson Hawes Sub Comm.ittee on Fijiance Chairman:—iAMKS Talcott A. G. Agnew Charles P. Brixton Copyright, 1909, By FIFTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH New York, New York : FOREWORD. In 1907, a Committee, consisting of the Pastor and Clerk, with power to select and appoint a General Com- mittee from the congregation, was appointed by the Ses- sion to prepare for a suitable Centennial Celebration of the founding of this Church. On the 28th day of May, 1908, at a meeting of the General Committee, the members of which are named on another page, Silas B. Brownell was elected Chair- man. The following resolution was adopted "That the Chairman be authorized to appoint a committee, consisting of himself and five other members, to determine and report the organization of this Committee, the mode and form of celebration, and to appoint Com- mittees of arrangement, of finance, and of history, and to enlarge this Committee by adding members." Acting under the above resolution, the sub-committee reported, at a later meeting, the following recommendations : 1. That the Centennial Celebration be held on Sunday, December 20th, 1908 (if the way be clear), and on one or more week days following. 2. That the public exercises shall include The Com- munion, which shall be observed on the afternoon of De- cember 20th, appropriate preaching services in the morn- ing and evening of December 20th, and such exercises on one or more ensuing days as may be determined by the Committee of Arrangement. 3. That a historical memorial account of the century of the Church life and its activities and of the celebration be published. 3 4- That three standing Committees be appointed to carry these recommendations into effect, each Committee to consist of three members, with power to add to their numbers, and that the Rev. Dr. Stevenson and Chairman Silas B. Brownell be members of each Committee, ex officio. 5. That a permanent Secretary of the Centennial Com- mittee be appointed, also a Treasurer. In accordance with these recommendations, which were approved and adopted, the exercises were held as related in the program and published in this book. ——— Historical Sketch and Centennial Celebration of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Insert on pages noted Page 90 ELDERS CHOSEN April 22, 1896 Alexander Maitland John Inglis - James R. Jessup Edward F. Hyde Page 91 DEACONS CHOSEN April 22, 1896 William Irwin William Sloane Samuel S. Auchincloss April I, 1906 Henry R. Danner Page 96 TRUSTEES February 14, 1898— James Talcott TABLE OF CONTENTS. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portraits of Pastors. John Hall, D. D., LL. D. (in 1897) Frontispiece John B. Romeyn, D. D. Cyrus Mason . George Potts, D. D. James W. Alexander, D. D Nathan L. Rice, D, D. John Hall, D. D., LL. D. (in 1878 George T. Purves, D. D., LL. D. J. Ross Stevenson, D. D. Church Buildings. Cedar Street Church Duane Street Church Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth Street Church Fifth Avenue and Fifty-fifth Street Church Alexander Chapel Young People's Association House John Hall Memorial Chapel Sunbeam Day Nursery . Romeyn Chapel Centennial ©istotical ^betcft of tU $mb atienue pteg&ptetian Clutcft Name: This Church has had four names, each in turn gov- erned by its location. Originally incorporated in 1808, under the name of "The Presbyterian Church in Cedar Street"; its name was changed by a special act (Laws 1835, Chapter 53) to "The Presbyterian Church in Du- ane Street." Again the name was changed by a special act (Laws 1852, Chapter 408) to the "Fifth Avenue Church, corner of Nineteenth Street." Finally, upon its removal to the present site, in 1875, it assumed its present name, "The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church," under an order of the Court of Common Pleas. Scope of this Sketch: The examination of the history of this organization has involved a study of records of the Church itself, of the Presbytery of New York, of the General Assembly, besides numerous books of biography and of church history. As will appear below, the growth and develop- ment of this Church and its increase in usefulness in the Church at large has been extraordinary, whether viewed from the standpoint of its temporalities, increasing in value from less than $50,000 in 1808 to nearly $2,000,000 in 1908; or from that of its benevolences, from a few hundred dollars, in its early years, to upwards of $360,- 000 in the last church year, or from that of its spiritual strength and of its influence in the community. The task has been an inspiring one. At every stage of its history its pastors and its leading men and women have been identified with the great missionary and beneficent activities of the community, as well as of the Church at large. Represented to-day on the Boards of a score of 7 8 Centennial Cele&tation of tbt charitable societies and civic org-anizations, it has also members on several Boards of the Church, on the Women's Boards, on the Permanent Judicial Commis- sion, or Supreme Court of the Presbyterian Church, and on Synodical and Presbyterial Committees. So from its first years of life its activities were wide- spread. Its first pastor was first Secretary of the New York Bible Society, of which such members of our Church as Divie Bethune, Zechariah Lewis and Elisha Coit were managers. Again, when the American Bible Society was organized, May 8, 1816, Dr. Romeyn and Dr. Lyman Beecher were elected its secretaries, and William C. Mulligan was a charter member. And the third annual report, in 181 7, records the gratification of the managers that "a number of females of the Presbyterian Church in Cedar Street, New York, have made the Rev. Dr. Romeyn director for life." And among the life members, sub- scribers of thirty dollars and upwards, are named Hugh Auchincloss, Divie Bethune, Archibald Grade, Thomas Masters, Elisha Coit, C. G. Smedburg, as well as a number of the women of the church, as Mrs. Hugh Auchincloss, Mrs. Margaret Beers. So the New York City Mission and Tract Society, founded in 1827, has numbered on its Board, not to go back to the early days, Dr. John Hall and Dr. Steven- son, and such men as John Sinclair, Constant A. An- drews, John W. Auchincloss and Alexander Maitland. As to Princeton Seminary, it is doubtful whether this Church has ever been without a representative among either its directors or its trustees. It would prolong this note indefinitely if we should enumerate our represen- tatives on the Boards of the American Seamen's Friend Society, the Boards of the Church, the Hospitals of the city, in some of which we maintain free beds, or the various civic philanthrophies of this great city. jFiftt) auenue jpresfipterian C[)urcl) Origin of the Presbyterian Church in New York City: This Church was organized as one of the last acts of the old Presbytery of New York, in the year before the readjustment of the new Presbytery as constituted by Synod, October 5, 1809. Prior to the organization of our Church, the church in New York City was collegiate in form, and had three buildings, in Wall Street, Beek- man Street and Rutgers Street. Presbyterian Church history in New York City dates back to 1707, when the Rev. Mr. McKemie, from Virginia, preached the first sermon and baptized a child at the house of Mr. William Jackson, in Pearl Street, near the Battery. His exercise of ecclesiastical authority and power was the occasion of his being at once proceeded against, as was pointed out at the Quarter-Millennial Anniversary of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in November, 1878. Dr. Howard Crosby, speaking for Presbyterianism, re- marked : "We boast of being the only church in the City of New York that began its career amid the storm of persecution," and then he told the story of Mr. Mc- Kemie's arrest at the instance of the Established Church, by the Colonial Governor, Lord Cornbury, who was an own cousin to Queen Anne. But less than ten years later the first Presbyterian minister was settled in New York. He was the Rev. Mr. Anderson, who preached for three years in the City Hall, after which time the church in Wall Street was erected, contributions being secured locally, and also in Connecticut and in Scotland. Dr. Gillette, in his history of the Presbyterian Church, records that Dr. Rodgers, the chief minister of this collegiate Church, re-entered the city the day after the British evacuation, and found both his Churches ruined. The "Brick" Church had been used as a prison, and was unspeakably foul and unfit for use, and the interior of lo Centennial Cele&tation of tfje the "Wall Street" Church, which had been converted into a British hospital, was completely destroyed.

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