♦ MAY 26 
 
 ^X95I7 MONTGOMERY, N.Y. 
 
 .i).M7 
 63A3 
 
 
5'.a6. // 
 
 ^^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^ 
 
 Division 
 
 Section »..s-.'».l \ I 
 
>e^^^^^^ 
 
 MONTGOMERY. N.T, 
 
'^ME I^ELEBKATION 
 
 
 
 — OF THK- 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND EIFTIETH 
 
 ^.:Kr ::2^i^^jEK ^.^isikr5 
 
 oifa5llK3l<. 
 
 
 
 nuifiMri^iiia^-^-^ffsitin^K^g'll^ 
 
 
 J 
 
 M&Wim!'m&mmm'Wf Q)mjki^&m €'©•> NtY". 
 
 Montgomery, N. Y. 
 
 'I'HK^'S'PAXriARD'" I'RFSS I'mXT. 
 liKSTKH WlXFIKl,D. Prop. 
 
 lss-_>. 
 
'feK£S£NT ■■'Organization. 
 
 COHPOUATE TlTLl-; 
 
 GERMAN REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH OF MONTGOMERY, N. Y. 
 
 Pastor:— FERDINAND S. SCIIENCK. 
 
 Robert Ashby, 
 
 CONSISTURV : 
 
 Elder ts, 
 
 MlLTOX BOOKSTAVER, 
 
 Damel Molld, 
 
 DeacoJis, 
 William Bookstaver, Johx C Mould, 
 
 AiJNER Shafer. 
 
 EBEXEZER VAX Alst, 
 
 William McNeal, 
 
 C/e/-^,— Robert Ashby. 
 
 Tnasarer.—B. B. JoHXSTO^^. 
 
 great CONSISTORY : 
 
 Elders, 
 
 llEKRY Bergen. Alaxsox Bookstaver, Rexwick Gillespie, 
 
 Jacob Y. ^Shafer, Jesse F. Mould, Daniel Van Alst, 
 
 Christopher P. Mould, [Samuel Augustus Comfort, 
 
 John Mould, Albert Crans. 
 
 De(U:ons, 
 William P. Decker, Charles J. Van AlsTjWickamRockafellow 
 llEXRY Sease, Alonzo Comfort,. JosEi h C Mould, 
 
 James Russel Rumph, John D. Shafer, 
 Matthew Row, John D. Mould, 
 
 Damel Carvey, J. Theron Sease, 
 
 William S. Mould. John Bookstaver. 
 
 Alex. LaFountaix, 
 Andrew H. Smiley, 
 Jacob B. Youxg blood, 
 Ralph Mowbray. 
 
 JOXATHAX M. ^[ORRISOX, 
 
 Choir: 
 Mr. B. B. Johxston,— Teiicr and Leader, 
 Miss Mixxie L. Johxstox,— Soprano, 
 Mrs. Joseph C. Mould,— Alto, 
 Mr. Joseph C*T .Mould,— Bus.s, 
 Miss Georgie B. Gillespie,— Organist. 
 
 >SVr?'fo7j.— George E. Bookstavi-r. 
 
THE BRICK ciiriirii; 
 
 #NTKOI)UCTION. 
 
 Extrncts from tln^ Jliuutcs of Cou.s/Nfojj/. 
 
 Sept. 23d, 1SS2.—'' Jiesohed, Tluit the loOtli aiinivcrsury 
 of tlie organization of tlie Churcli be celebrated on Oct. 23d; 
 that llev. Mr. Brett be invited to make an addre.ss, an. I that 
 the pastor read tlie liistory of tlie Cliiurli and take cliarge of 
 the serviees." 
 
 Xov. 15th, 1882. — "■Rcsulced, That the papers coinK'cted 
 with the 150th Anniver.sary be published in pamphlet form." 
 
 At the Prayer Meeting on the Tlinrsday evening preced- 
 ing the anniversary, the pastor re(iu«'sted those i)resent to ai*t 
 as Ji committee to adorn the Clinrch with flowers, an<l appoint- 
 ed Mr. Daniel Van Alst, chairman. 
 
 The late Dr. Van Zandt wrote the liistory of tlie Ciiurch in 
 1871, and read it at the re-opening of the Church after the r«'- 
 pairs made in that year. At the recjuest of the pastor and the 
 consistory, the family cheerfnlly fnrnished them the manu- 
 script. The larger portion was read at the anniversary service, 
 and it is here iniblished in full. 
 
THE CELEBKATiON. 
 
 ?T*ME vCelebkation. 
 
 The sevvices in the celebration of the one liun lie<l an«l 
 fiftieth anniversary of tlie oro-aiiization of the Church, -were liehl 
 on Monday, October 23(1, 1882, at 2 o'clock, p. ni. The day was 
 fair, and a hirge audien(!e fiUed the Church. The committee 
 on flowers, and tlieir friends, had athirned tlie Church with 
 b(?auty. l>ack of the ])ul])it, surrouiKb'd by festoons, \v;is the 
 inscription in tlowers: "One Hundred and Fifty Years." The 
 l)ulpit was covered witli flowers, banked up from the floor, and 
 flanked with lare [)lants. The window benches were tilled with 
 choice plants and flowers. 
 
 After a fine opening ])iece by the choir, the congregation 
 standing, sung the Doxology, "Praise God from whom all bless- 
 ings flow." The 84th Psalm was then read, and the Eev. J. T. 
 Demarest, D. ])., of New Prospect, led in i)rayer. 
 
 After the singing by the choir of the hymn, "I love Thy 
 King<lom, Lord," the history of the Church was read by the 
 pastor. Both the ancient history by Dr. Van Zandt, and the 
 modern history from 1858 by the pastor were received witli 
 great interest. The congregation then sung the hymn, "Ail 
 Hail the Power of Jesus Xame." 
 
 An address was then delivered by Tiev. C. Brett, the otily 
 living ex-Pastor. It was one of tender reminiscence and bright 
 hopes, and touched all hearts. 
 
 Rev. ^{. V. Schoonmaker, I). 1)., of Waldcn, led in the 
 closing prayer. The congregation sung the hymn, "Our Ccxl, 
 our help in ages past." and Avere dismissed with the benedic- 
 tion by Rev. Mi'. BK'tt. The services throughout were deeply 
 iiitcvcsting and imiii'cssivc. 
 
'^<Mi: -^^^EOPLL AND TK£IH >6hURCM. 
 
 IJy Rev. A. B. Van Zamlt, 1). I). LI. I). 
 
 AVi' sluill Jippic'ciatc better tlie character of the early set- 
 tlers in this section of the Wallkill ^'alley by a brief reference 
 to their origin and the causes which led them to seek for them- 
 selves a home in what was then a wilderness. It was not the 
 restless spirit of adventure or the love of iiidn wliicdi, in later 
 years, has so rapidly tilled uj) the Western States and Terri- 
 tories, which brouQ-ht these pioneers from their ancestral honu^s 
 to this distant continent, an<l to the banks of the Hudson and 
 the Wallkill. A stroiiii'er incentive w;is needed to i»eople these 
 shoics, and it was lound in the lose of relii^ious lilx-ity, inten- 
 silieil by the bitter ])ersecutions of ])ai)al intolerance. This, 
 indeed, cannot l»e said of the earliest emii^ration, for Ilolhmd 
 ever since the successful termination of lier jtrotrac-ted strn^;- 
 ole with Si)ain, has been the home of toleration and the asylum 
 of the o])pressed. "In 1009 when Hendrick Hudson first land- 
 ed on the Island of Maidiatas, free schools and freedom of re- 
 ligious creeds ha«l long been estal>lished and undisi)uted things 
 in the Fatherland." IJeekmairs oration "Founders of New 
 York." Hut when her comnu'rcial enter|)rise had o])ened this 
 country to emigi-ation and planted a colony here, the multitude 
 of refugees from IJritain, I' ranee and (Jermany, who swarmed in 
 lier crowded cities and towns, were not slow toasail themselves 
 of the opportninty. 
 
 The I'liritaiis I'ound their first icl'iige in Holland, and it 
 was trom Kotterdam the Mas How t'i- sailed when she lironght her 
 l)assengers to IMymouth Rock in Ki'Jd, sexcn years after the 
 Dutch Fast India Comi)any had established a trading post at 
 Fort Orange, now the City of Albany. 'I'he i)erseciite(l and ex- 
 iled Huguenots of l'''rance, and I'alal inates of ( Jeniiaiix follow - 
 eil afti'r these hard v ad\"ent ur<'rs. .\iid so w hen this fertile Wall- 
 
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHUliCH. 
 
 kill Valley eaiiie to be settled, its population eoiitaiiied repre- 
 sentatives of diftevent nationalities. The Diiteli, who were the 
 liioneers of the State, had established" a trading' i)ost at the 
 mouth of the river, on the site of the present village of Kondont 
 as early as 161-i, six years before the rilgrims landed on Plyiuoutli 
 Eock. This first settlement was broken up by Indian hostili- 
 ties, and a second one begun between 1630 and 104U shared the 
 same fate. But before 1660 settlers had again located at Kings- 
 ton and its vicinity. In tlie last mentioned year a treaty had 
 been concluded with the liulians on the faith of which the peo- 
 ple indulged in a sense of security, which the event proved to 
 be delusive — and fatally so to many of their number. 
 
 The current tradition is that the Valley of the Wallkill was 
 first discovered and opened to settlement by a i)arty in pursuit 
 of a predatory l)and of Indians who had suddenly nuide a mur- 
 derous raid upon the settlement at Ksopus, killing some and 
 carrying captive others. Following up the Uondout to its 
 junction with the Wallkill, and then following the latter in a 
 southerly direction, they are sai<l to have come upon the camp of 
 the savages near the junction of the Shawangunk with the Wall- 
 kill; thus opening to their view the fertile plains of New Paltz, 
 and the whole stretch of the valley southward whenever cir- 
 cumstances requiied, or would ])ermit its occupation. Thus in 
 due time the stream of emigration set in from the >;ortli, and 
 from Kingston to Montgomery the fiist settlers were Holland- 
 ers, Huguenots and (rermans. 
 
 From the direction ol' New Windsor and (loslien came the 
 liinglish, Scotch and I'rotestant Irisij, who found for themselves 
 homes in Hamptonburgh, Wallkill, and the rich but rugged 
 hills of Crawford. These representatives of s.'veral nationali- 
 ties of kindred faith and character, combined to form a popula- 
 tion whitih has always been distinguished for its intelligence, 
 enterprise, industry and regard for the institutions of religion. 
 It was tiieir devotion to tiu' principles of civil and religious 
 liberty, which originally brought them here and in every gen- 
 eration, and through all political changes they have ever main- 
 tained a marked fidelity to the traditions of the Fathers. 
 
THE BRICK CHriKir. 
 
 TIk' iiunuMliate settlement of wliicli tiiis C'lmicli in;i> be re- 
 i^iinlcd as tlie nucleus and center, was comiKised luincipally of 
 (lernians. They were a lianly, industrious and fru-^al race, 
 eoniin^- originally I'roni a (diinate as ri;;<>rous as our own. Tliey 
 were i)repared to endure its severity, and witli their niLTLiol 
 constitutions and stalwart frames, they were the \ ery men to 
 transform a wilderness intii a jiarden. 
 
 It is inipossilde now to fix the exact date of the first set- 
 tleiueiit in this iiiiiiiedi;ite vi«'inity. It seems to have been tlie 
 liractice at that early day for settlers to locate where they 
 jdeased, and cominencc their improvements, and if satisfied 
 with their location, afterwards to purchase a title to the land 
 from the patentees. Hence the dates on deeds and other docu- 
 njents are an uncertain i^uide, and enable us only to a])i)i(»x- 
 imate the tinu' when any settlement was first made. Thus wo 
 find that in 1735 a bill was pas.sed by the colonial assembly 
 naturalizing', amon^ others, Matys Milsbach, llendrick Crist, 
 Stephanus Crist, Laurens Crist, IMiili]* Milsbach, Jacob Sinse- 
 bai^h. .lacob lioochstalx'r, and dohannes don^- liloet; and tliat 
 same year (1735) daeob Hoot hstaber, .Johannes J()n<>- Bloet and 
 Frederick Sinsebach pundiased of William Sharpus, of thecitv 
 of New York, a tract of SOO acics ot land on the west side of 
 the Wallkill. Hut there is i^ood reason to believe that the land 
 cleared up by these individuals was the first in this iiiunediatc! 
 vicinity that was disrobed of its native forest. 
 
 Y»'t this CliuKdi was ori;ani/ed in 1732, and .lohannes doui^ 
 Hloet was the first eider, and dacolt Uoochstabcr was the first 
 deacon, tliou<,di these individuals wer<' not naturalized ami did 
 not mak<' their first i>urchase of land until 1735— three vears 
 later. From whi(di fact it appears that the settlement Avas 
 formed a considerable time before the land was i>oiio|it. And 
 from the further fact that the Church was ori,'anized with six- 
 teen nieinl>ers in 173'J, it appears that at that time the settle- 
 ment must have been consideral)ly extended and ot" several 
 years <luraf ion. We know that dohannes Miller, located on the 
 east bank of the Wallkill as early as 17'J7, on what was called 
 the "5,(M»n acre patent," which was ;^raiited in I7-J-J And the 
 
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHURCH. 9 
 
 probabilities are that tlie settlement on the west bank was be- 
 <^\\n at even an earlier day, and we think Ave shall not be far 
 from the mark if we date the beginning- of the settlement of 
 those who were tlie founders of this Church as early as 1725. 
 
 There is reason to believe tliat these pioneers had main- 
 tained the public worship of God and erected their first hum- 
 ble temple before their formal organization into a church in 
 1732. But even tliat date is the earliest authentic record of 
 any cliurch organization on the line of the Wallkill between 
 New Paltz and Goshen. We do not claim to be the "Mother 
 Church" in the sense that the others around have been derived 
 from us though in respect to some of them this is largely true. 
 But with the single exce])tion of the Presbyterian Church in 
 the viUage of Goshen, we claim to be the oldest Church in the 
 present County of Orange. I have said already that the first 
 elder of this Church was Johannes Jong Bloet, and the first 
 deacon was Jacob Boochstaber, It may be interesting to you 
 also to know the names of the sixteen members witli whom tlie 
 Church was organized. They are all familiar names, and with 
 one or two exceptions are common among us to this day. The 
 record in low Dutch reads as follows: — 
 
 " On confession were received to the fellowship of this 
 Church, 1732."— .Alichael Krans, M^irgriet Maul, Cathrina Maul, 
 Johannes Krans, Jacob Sinsebach, Magdalena Sinsebach, Benira 
 Xewkerk, Aitje JNIenges, wife of 8tephanus Christ, Elizabeth 
 Menges, wife of Lawrens Christ, Gertrout Jong Bloet, Fredrick 
 Weller, Anna INIargretta Kochin, Maria Gertrout Stemer, wife 
 of Philip Melsbach, Maria Cathrina Stemer, Elizabeth Stemer, 
 Geertje Klearwater, wife of Johannes Newkerk. 
 
 The first recorded baptisms are as follows: Anno 1734 — 
 
 April 17th. 
 
 C34- 1 /> ( Steplianus Christ, 
 
 Stephanus, son of < . ^ .. ,, ' 
 
 ^ ' ( Annatje Menges, 
 
 T. .-.1. .„., ^+- I Ptiilippus Melsbach, 
 
 .Jacob, son ot < ^. .^\, , , ^,, ' 
 
 ( Jiaria Gertrout Stemer, 
 
 T I „-. ^+- *♦ ! Christian Eboltz, 
 
 Johannes, son ot < ^. . ,,,. ,,, . ' 
 
 ' [ ]\Iana Eliz Christ, 
 
 V 4-- 1 14^.,.^+' j Ciiristoftel Maui, 
 
 Annaatie, daughter ot < . t ,. o • 
 
 •' ' "^ ( Anna Junana Searing. 
 
'ini: i!i;i(i\ < iii u<'H. 
 
 The fiist niMiiiiiu'c record is (Litcd Octolx-r 23(1, 1734, iiiul 
 is that (•f.loli;iiiiM's Kraiis ;iii(l ICli/.abctli Klcaiwatcr. Tims we 
 have cairicil you l>acU as lar as tlic fiist i-ccords can do it, to 
 the heiciimiii^ of tlie settlcineiit in this vicinity and th«* oiuan- 
 i/ation oftliis Chnndi. Dut to ai>i)reciati' tiie character of tlie 
 settlers, and their snrroundin^s, soiiietliiiin- more is necessary 
 than a mere recital of dates and names. We must (-arry our- 
 selves l)a(d< in imau;ination to the time and circumstances in 
 whi<-li tliey lived. It is oidy about l.')0 years ayo; and such a 
 ])eriod would l»e Init a luiet Cpisode in the history of the <'ities 
 and towns of the ohl world, and be marked, i>{'rhai>s, by but a 
 few noticeable (dian^es. iJut here a century and a iialf have 
 been loni,^ enou<;h to chariii-e the whole face of the country, and 
 leave but few mementoes behind of the almost unbroken wil- 
 di'rness with whicdi the i»eriod be<;an. To the Ivist, the Colden 
 si'ttlement was abont the only cultivated spot between the 
 W'allkill ami tlu' Hudson. To the South, Goslion had become 
 a thriviuLi hamlet. To the West, Comfort's Hills were tin' 
 boundaiy of jtopulatioM ; and to the North, wheiu-e these set- 
 tlers had come, t!ie I'altz was their nearest iiei;nhborhood. The, 
 earlii'st of them ariiviui;- tow. iris the beginning;- of winter, and 
 with no tim.' to construct even a loi^ cabin for their slielter, are 
 said to have burrowed in the earth, and in an excavation in the 
 suiniN side of the i^ravtdly hill, next, east from the site of this 
 Cliurcdi, was born that winter, lOlizabeth, daughter of dacob 
 T»o(Mdistabei', and Anna .Maria Menkes. But soon the forests 
 beiran to fall and the earth disrobed of its ancient covering' and 
 o|»ene(| to the sunlight, be^au to yitdd its i;-ratel"ul return to the 
 labors ol" the husbandman, lint no sooner had they found hab- 
 itations for t hemsidves in the lou; cabins of the pioneer, than 
 they bei^an also to seidv a h(Uisc foi' the Lord, and their tirst 
 saiictuaiy is said to have been like their own d\vellin>;s — con- 
 structed of unhewn loirs. This Ituildin-; was situated on the 
 old road runniuii thiou-ih the south-east corner ol' the i>;rave 
 yard, and across the me;idi>w of Dr. Smith, and Ixdnnd his [)res- 
 ent buildinics, until it came out som-where on the iState road. 
 
 The ("liurch was within the present ^raveyarl eiudosure. 
 
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHURCH. 11 
 
 and near its eastern line. Mr. Eager, in his history of Orange 
 County, gives it on the authority of Mr. Henry Crist of the hxst 
 generation, that this building was entered from the outside by 
 a bidder. Mr. Crist woubl be good authority, though he prob- 
 ably never saw the rude old sanctuary— not having been born- 
 until 1760, about the time that the second edifice was erected. 
 But as this second edifice was further west, nearly on the site 
 of the present one, it may be that the old log structure was 
 left standing, and that he saw it in his early days. At any rate 
 it is not unreasonable that tlie method of entrance mentioned 
 should have been adopted for the safety of the congregation 
 when assembled for worship, and as a protection from any sud- 
 den Indian assaults. The probability is that the building was 
 constructeil with a double purpose, to S3rve as a place of wor- 
 ship, and also as a rallying point and fort in case of attack, 
 and Mr. Crist in his early life would often hear the story of 
 those days of hardship and of danger. 
 
 But just here is a noticeable fact confirming wh"^ I have said 
 about the habit of the people in taking up unoccupied land 
 whenever they needed it, and buying a title to it afterwards. 
 This first sanctuary was built upon land whicli was not owned 
 by the congregation, or l)y any meml)er of it until many years 
 afterwards. The deed of Ballard Beckford, conveying the four 
 acres upon which the old log church stood, and upon which the 
 present e<lifice stands, was not executed until 1758, and in tlie 
 description of the plot it is designated as "laying a little above 
 the mill commonly known and called by the name of IMenges 
 Mill, where the High Dutch Cliurch now stands." The people 
 were preparing to erect their second and more convenient ed- 
 ifice, and deemed it prudent to secure the title. The fee simple 
 Avas a gift from Col. Beckford — or as the deed expresses it, "for 
 and in consideration of the natural love and aftVction v^iiich I 
 bear to the High Dutch congregation in the precinct of the 
 Wallkill, Ulster County, in the Province of IsTew York." The 
 money to pay the ex]>ense&»of drawing and recording this deed 
 was raised by a subscription, a copy of which is on record, and 
 it is a roll of honor— not on account of the amount subscribed. 
 
12 
 
 THE lUMCIC ("III Kf'H. 
 
 but Ix'cnusc it Wiis sliiircd iilikc l».v ;ill. It bears 58 names, each 
 of wliicli stands opijosifc to a siilis!"iii)tion of "0£, O.s', (>'/," iiiak- 
 iiiii- ill all It', !».v, (>'/, stciliiii;-. The rci t ilicatc adniittini^ the 
 deed to record is sii;iied Cad\valla(U'r Col(b'ii, "one of his maj- 
 esty's counsel i'or the I'rovine<' of Xew Y(uk," and the record 
 
 itry by "Chark\s Clinton, Deputy Clerk of Ulster County." 
 Aeeompanyin;;- tliis (b'e(l is a surv<\V()r's ma]) of a hiter date, 
 r«'presentin,u' tlie situation of tlie Church as on its present site, 
 an<l the (dd ])arsoiia^-e and barn in the rear of it. Tliis was 
 drawn when tiie ohl deeds were recorded in the (Merk's OHiee 
 of ( )ran^(' County. 
 
 Of the second (diurch edihce, 1 can ,nive you but little in- 
 lormatittn. There is intthiuii' on record concernini;- it except an 
 entry on the liy leaf of tlie old book in the hand writing of the 
 late Dr. JiCe, which states that it "was a frame church erected 
 about ITdO." The careful accuracy ol"])r. Lee warrants us in 
 l)elieving that his information, wlu'rever he obtained it, was 
 substantially correct. If so the (dd loii; churidi inust have serv- 
 ed at least one generation, and inuuediatidy around .where it 
 stood in now almost obliterated graves, surrounded by other 
 generations who have followed them, sleej) tho.se brave and 
 hardy sons and daughters of toil who oiicc worshii)ped in its 
 rude but consecrated walls— consecrated by the i)iety which 
 reared with willing hearts and hands this sanctuary in the 
 Avilderne.s.s, and by (he manifested lucscnce and blessing of 
 (bid accepting their lowly altar and their humble worsliip. 
 
 The frame (diuridi (d' whi(di I have s])oken as sncceedin«>- 
 the first about 17(>() was surmounted by a IxdlVy and a spire, 
 and i'or the lirst time was heard over thesi' hills and plains the 
 W(dcome tones of the (diui(di-going bell. That sanu' b;dl, as I 
 am infonned, as (dear toiu'd as ever, is now doing duty in the 
 cui»oIa of the District S(diool House at Searsville. , 
 
 In this IVanw clinrch, wliicli was erected b(d'ore a pastor 
 was settled, ministeicd with great success Dominie (Iherardus 
 Co(d<, for several years a stated sui)i)ly, then Mr. Kearn, the 
 first i»astor, then .Mi-. \'an Nest, then Mr. Fneligh, until 1804, 
 when it \\as taken down and rejdaced b\ the "r,i\cl< Clunndi " 
 
THE PEOPLE AND THEIR CHURCH. 13 
 
 which preceded the present edifice. Meantime other changes 
 and improvements had taken place, indicatin«>- the growing- 
 wealth and liberality of the people. 
 
 Previons to the year 1784, by an act of the Legislature, 
 chnrch property conld be held only by a Board of Trustees ap- 
 pointed by the congregation and distinct from the consistories, 
 and Avho were the body corporate. But in 1784 this act was 
 amended so ;is to permit consistories themselves to be the 
 Trustees and corporate body. Tliis act as amended was passed 
 for tlie relief of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Churches by 
 whose constitution the temporalities of the congregation as 
 well its its spiritual interests are vested in the consistory. 
 
 Accordingly in 1792 the then existing Trustees of this 
 Church, by a formal instrument duly subscribed, sworn, certi- 
 lied and recorded in the ottice of the County Clerk, renounced 
 the oftlce of Trustees, and the consistory by a like instrument 
 according to the provisions of the statute, assumed the title 
 and became tlie body corporate, and so have remained to this 
 day. This change was made because of the greater inconven- 
 ience and expense of the former method and the greater security 
 of the present. ^Moreover tlie congregation were now about to 
 extend their temporalities. They foresaw the necessity of bet- 
 ter accommodation and i)rovision for their Pastor, and wisely 
 judged that they ought to avail themselves of the opportunity 
 while land was comparatively chea]). 
 
 Accordingly they purchased in 1796 of James Johnston, of 
 the City of London, the present parsonage farm, together with 
 the Avood lot (sold some years ago) for "six hundred and forty 
 pounds lawful money of the State of New York." The sub- 
 scription lists to raise this money are still extant. The largest 
 amount of any one subscription is £10, of which amount there 
 are several, and so on down to -is. Tlie deed bears date 1796, 
 but the subscriptions were not raised until 1798. 
 
 Following closely upon this large eft'ort m purchasing the 
 farm, came the question o^[\ new Church. The spirit of the 
 people was up, aiul they were devising liberal things for those 
 davs when monev was scarce and harder t > be won than it is 
 
14 THE BRICK ciirRni. 
 
 now. So five years after ]iayinj;- for tlie farm tliey entered into 
 a eontraet witli T>enjaiiiin Sears and Jolin I). Smith to bnild a 
 new Briek Clinreli. Tlie new biiildiiiy' was to ho 58 feet in 
 leno-th and 46 feet in widtb, and to be com]ilete(l by the first 
 <lay of June, 1804. Tlie contractor was to fnrnisli all the ma- 
 terial except the brick, for providini;- which the consistory de- 
 duct $750. These brick were made and burned on the land of 
 Mr. John Bookstaver, just -we.st of the Church lot. It was also 
 stipulated that "the bell spire, weather cock and ball" on the 
 old chnrch slionld be used on the new one, and so much other 
 of the material in the old church mio-ht be used as should be 
 approved by a committee; whilst it was expressly stipulated 
 that the old church "should not be broken down until the new 
 one was fit to hold worshij) m." The consistory who signed 
 this contract were Moses Frelioh, Henry Smith, John Sease, 
 David Crist, ITenry Crist, Jacob Smith, Jacob ^likels ajid Jacob 
 T. l>ookstaver. The contract was signed on the 22d of Janu- 
 ary, 1803, and on the 12th day of December of the same year, 
 the ]>ews in the new church were sold at public vendue, and 
 realized the sum of $3,925, and so the Cliurch Wiis built and 
 ])aid foi- within less than a year. 
 
 The next improvement, six yeais al'terwards, in 1809, was 
 the building- of a new ])arsonao(\ and the ju'csent i)arsonac;e 
 lionse, as it was before the alterations made in 18(»0, was then 
 erected. The contract was with Tlionias and Daniel ]\IcXeal, 
 and stipulated that the house and ]<itelien wei-e to ho built "in 
 the form of Dr. J()se]>h A\ helan's house," with ceitain s])eeified 
 difi'erences in the arran^-ement, for !^1,5^0, and the iise of what- 
 ever snitable material conld be taken from the old house. On 
 the back of this contract ^Ir. Freli«:;h has entered his account 
 of moneys reeeive<l foi- bnildiui;- the luuise, showing an excess 
 of $48 over and abo\-e the aiuouut ai^reed to b(» ])ai(l the con- 
 tractors. Thus the spirit of imjirovement went (»n, steadily 
 kee])inii- pace with the ])roi:;i"essof tlu^ connnunity and i)roini)tly 
 meetiuii- the demands of the oc(Msion as they arose. 
 
 In 1822 several hundred dollars were si)ent foi- a ikmv ]>u1- 
 pit and paintinic and repairs. In 1834 the Chur/h was a^ain 
 
THE PEOPLE AND TUEIR CHURCH. 15 
 
 extensively repaired; a new steeple was erected and a new bell 
 put into it, and tlie Churcli was enlarged by an alteration in 
 the front of it. Again in 1844 other .4:epair8 were found nec- 
 essary, and were made — the people always coming up to the 
 work with a commendable liberality. 
 
 At length in 1855 the matter of again enlarging- and repair- 
 ing the Church began to be seriously entertained, and at a 
 meeting in September of that year the consistory resolved to 
 call the congregation together to consider the subject. The 
 meeting of the congregation was held on the 23d of October, 
 and resulted in recommendations to consistory to sell the "wood 
 lot" and institute inquiries as to the "practicability and cost of 
 enlarging the church edifice." Nothing further was done until 
 April 1850, when application was made for an order of court to 
 sell the wood lot, and the elder Egbert Millspaugh, was ap- 
 pointed to "employ two architects to examine the church ed- 
 ifice thoroughly and report on the practicability and cost of 
 enlarging it." This report having been received, a special 
 meeting of consistory was held at the Church on the 12th of 
 March 1857, to consider the subject of erecting a new church 
 edifice, and after due deliberation it was unanimously resolved 
 to call a meeting of the Great Consistory and submit the sub- 
 ject to them for advice. 
 
 The Great Consistory met on the first Monday in April 
 1857, and advised the erection of a new church edifice, and that 
 the congregation be convened to consider the matter. The 
 congregation met on the 18th of May 1857, and it was resolved 
 to have a new Church, and a committee appointed to take sub- 
 scriptions. Finally, in September of the same year the con- 
 sistory resolved to proceed to the erection of the new Church, 
 and Henry D. Copley, Egbert Millspaugh, and David Seaman 
 were appointed a building committea» On the 18th day of 
 March 1858, the contract was signed with James G. Crawford, 
 of Wallkill, to erect the building according to plans and spec- 
 ifications furnished b^ the architect, Gewasse Wheeler of New 
 York, for the sum of $12,541. The corner stone was laid with 
 apiiropriate services on the first day of July of the same year, 
 
Ifi THE ERiCK cnuRrn. 
 
 iind tlie c()mi)]i't('(l Churcli was dedicated the ITtli day of 
 Febniaiy 1859. Tlie Cliurcli beino; then witliout a ]>astor, Dr. 
 Lee liaving died in September 1858, it Avas not without some 
 anxiety that the pews were offered for sak' not lono- after tlie 
 dedication. But tlie sale Avas a complete success, and a hand- 
 some premium above the valuation was realized. The people 
 as usual coming up to the occasion when the occasion called 
 for their energies. 
 
 And now you will bear with nu' if 1 add a few reliections 
 pertinent to this review: 
 
 I. The true Protestant Reformed faith which the Fathers 
 of this Church and community brought with them from the old 
 world, and which has ever been maintained and taught in the 
 four successive sanctuaries which have stood upon these 
 grounds, is proved to be a faith in which men can afford to live 
 and die. If not, like the faith of miracles, able to remove 
 mountains, yet as a system of truth underlying christian char- 
 acter, it can inspire the noblest heroism and the most sublime 
 devotion. Anchoring its confidciu'C in the i)uri)0S('S and pro- 
 visions of Divine grace, it is unappalled amid diltieulties and 
 dangers, unfaltering amid hardships and privations, and un- 
 siiakcu by the i)lausibilitics of error. It was the I'aith which 
 formed the chaiactcr of those who braved the i)crils of the sea, 
 and the greater perils of the wilderness, to establish the princi- 
 ])k's of religious liberty, and to lay the foundations in toil and 
 suffering of the institutions and blessings which we enjoy. It 
 is the faith in which this Church has been perpetuated and 
 grown in all the generations of the ])ast; and it is just as true 
 and ctfective to-day as it ever was, for it is the faith of God's 
 word "which liveth and abidcth forever." 
 
 IJ. The faith and i)iety of these early settlers found a 
 striking expression in their zeal for the house of God. Taking 
 the Bible for their guide, they had learned that "God loveth 
 the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings oi" dacob,'' and 
 whilst yet their own (hvelliiigs were scarcely tenable, they 
 sought also a "tlwelling place for the (iod of Jacob." Without 
 seeking extraneous aid with their own strong hands, tlicy felled 
 
THE TEOPLE AND THEIR CHURCH. 17 
 
 the forest and piled up the unhewn logs iu rugged shape and 
 symmetry to he to them and their's, at once a glory and defense 
 
 and a glory it was— that rude structure as it stood there, a 
 
 sanctuary in the wilderness more creditable to these pioneers 
 in tlieir poverty than even this spacious and elegant edifice is 
 to us their successors in our abundance. 
 
 III. But a third fact deserves our notice in this review. 
 This people have always manifested a becoming liberality with 
 willing hearts and hands to keep up the appointments of the 
 sanctuary on a scale in proi^ortion to their own pecuniary and 
 social advancement and the demands of the times. In the 
 erection of this comfortable, and for the times no doubt expen- 
 sive frame Church, with its carved work, belfry, bell and spire, 
 the second generation emulated the zeal of the first. And 
 when in the next generation this was found "too straight" for 
 the increasing population, and time and the elements had 
 wrought their work upon it, it too gave place to the old "Brick 
 Church," which, when it was built, was a thing to be talked 
 about in all this country side, and which in common parlance 
 has given a name to the congregation ever since. The present 
 generation witnessed with many regrets the removal of the 
 venerable edifice in which Freligh and Fonda and Lee hacf so 
 long and successfully administered the word and ordinances. 
 But necessity seemed to require it, and it was done. This pres- 
 ent sanctuary, now renovated and beautified, has followed it, 
 and is just the carrying out of the same spirit of progress and 
 improvement which has marked the past. It is not out of pride 
 or ostentation that these changes are made from time to time. 
 A Church like every other institution must keep up with the 
 progress of the community or it must suffer; and we would be 
 unworthy successors of those who have gone before us if with 
 greater means we had less enterprise and spirit than they. 
 
 IV. But from all our reminiscences and reviews how im- 
 pressively comes back to us that lesson, written upon all the 
 works of man, and mol5t legibly of all written upon his tomb: 
 "One generation passeth and another generation cometh." The 
 siouificant interrogatory of ancient wisdom is equally an ad- 
 
18 
 
 THE BRICK CIirRCH. 
 
 monition unto lis. "Your Fathers, where are they? and the 
 Prophets, do they live forever?" Yonder tliey lie, pastors and 
 people, the fathers with the children and children's children, to 
 the fourth and fifth <>eneration. All that now live will soon he 
 numbered with the past, and the generation following will gath- 
 er up the story of our lifetime, and as we shall have fulfilled 
 our obligations to God and His Church, will write the record of 
 our faith or folly. 
 
By Key. A. B.JVao^Zaiidt, D.D. LL. D. 
 
 . The record of God's dealings Avitli one generation is liis wit- 
 ness to anotlier. The constant faith of tiie Chnrcli is perpet- 
 uated, and personal piety is advanced by a recurrence to the 
 memorials and traditions of the past. There are no saint-days 
 in the calendar of the Protestant Church, but the records of the 
 l)ast are always instructive, especially if they are the records 
 of their faith and piety into whose labors we have entered and 
 by whose zeal and devotion we haA^e been blessed. They be- 
 ing dead, yet speak, and it is befitting at times to gather up 
 the story and the moral. 
 
 Designing therefore some further illustrations of the history 
 of this Chiircli, I propose to consider the records of those who 
 as Pastors or Supplies have ministered to this people and 
 spolcen to them the word of Clod from the organization of the 
 Church in 1732 to the beginning of tlie present pastorate. 
 Tliough the period covered by the survey is extended, yet the 
 roll of names is not long, and I regret to say the materials for 
 the work are not very abundant. From whatever source I 
 could, and with no small expenditure of time and labor, I have 
 gathered up and arranged the statements wliich follow, and 
 which, however devoid of interest, may be considered as re- 
 liable. 
 
 Beginning then Avith tlie beginning, the first name that 
 <'laims our attention is that of Dominie Georgius AVilhelmus 
 Mancius. The first connection of this distinguished divine with 
 the Church of IMontgomery, is found in the fact that it was by 
 his official act that it was organized by the election of an elder 
 and a deacon in 1732. He was at that time pastor of the Church 
 at Kingston, recently^ettled there, having previously exercised 
 his ministry for two years in the churches of Schaalenburgh 
 and Paramus. To the south of Iviuustou, and in the Vallev of 
 
20 THE BRICK CHURCH. 
 
 tlio Wiillkill was tlio Clinicli of X(mv Paltz, orininally FnMicli, 
 and coiisistiiii^ cliiefly ol' ]riit;nenot dt'ScciHlaiits, in tliosi^ years 
 siii)itIi(Ml cliiefly by ministers from Kingston. But the o-rowing 
 iin|>(ntan('(M)f tlie German S(^ttlement still fnrtlier southward 
 in the "Wallkill Precinct" no doubt early attracted the atten- 
 tion of the zealous youtliful ])astor, and througli his instru- 
 mentality this Church was organized within the first year of 
 his settU'ment in Kingston. The necessities of the case imi>os- 
 ed u])on these earlier pastors, more of missionary work in the 
 regions lying beyond their special charges than falls to the 
 lot of their more favored successors. If we may judge from the 
 handwi'iting in the old records, Dominie Mancius continued to 
 N'isit this Church at stated times for the ordination of elders 
 and deacons, and for other ministerial services during the 
 whole remaining i)eriod of his life. Tliere are entries ap]>ar- 
 ently in his hand-writing of ordinations as late as 1761, and of 
 baptisms as far down as Mny 1762, during which latter year he 
 died. 
 
 Dominie ^lancius api)ears to have been edncated and or- 
 dained in Holland, and his allegiance to the Classis of Amster- 
 dam remained unshaken to the last, and brought some trouble 
 to his later years. He never acknowle<lged the authority of 
 the Coetus, ami after the division in that body in 1754 on the 
 proposition to form itself into a Classis, he nnited with those 
 who formed the assembly or i)arty known as the Conferentie. 
 Some forty years ago his reputation as a ])reacher was covertly 
 assaile(l by a writer in the ".Magazine of the Ileformed Dutch 
 Church ." r>nt his memory was triumphantly vindicated by a re- 
 l)ly from the late Dr. C W. liethune, who upon the best evi- 
 <lence re])resents him as "not only a learned and industrious 
 but a faithi'ul and zealous preacher of the Cospel of Christ — 
 one who did not fear to declare the whole <;ouns(d of Cod." We 
 (easily a(H'e])t this testimony in view of his s;'lf-denying, labor- 
 ious a]id long-continued services in the organization ami estab- 
 lislnnent of this then infant Church so far distant from his own 
 peculiar charge. As the Church had no sctth-d ])astor until 
 the year 1771, it was d«'p(Midciif in tlic nu'an t-iuc niioii such oc- 
 
THE PASTOR ATP:. 21 
 
 cnsional or temporary supplies as could be obtained. Besides 
 the annual visits of Dominie Mancius for the ordination of 
 elders and deacons, the Church enjoyed also the services of 
 otiiers, who at long- intervals seem to hitve made them a passing- 
 visit. Among these are the names of some concerning whom 
 we have not been able to gather any information. 
 
 Of tliis number is the name of Dominie Gilston, who ad- 
 ministered baptism to a cliild of Johannes !N"ewkerk and Geertje 
 Klearwater in the year 1740. He was probably a minister of 
 some otlier denomination who chanced to be in the vicinity at 
 the time, as no such name appears in the early records of the 
 Dutch Churcli. Next to him we find the name of Dominie 
 Chalker as officiating in the months of February and March, 
 1742. Of liim nothing is known except that he also served the 
 Church of i!^ew Paltz for a time. In October 1750, Dominie 
 Lennest baptized Benjamin, son of Peter Melsbach, and Susan- 
 na Comfort. This is tlie only record in which the name of 
 Dominie Lennest occurs, and we can find no traces of him 
 elsewhere. 
 
 In the following year (1751) Dominie Hofhout baptized 
 some cliildren in this congregation. As botli of these entries 
 are made in the same handwriting, we suppose the person wlio 
 made them must have mistaken this latter name for that of 
 Dominiv^ Ilaaghoort, a prominent member of the Coetus party, 
 and the man who was appointed to draw uj) the system of rules 
 for tlie government of that body. He was settled at wh^it was 
 then called Second River — now Bellville, jST. J. His presence 
 here in a congregation over which Dominie ^lancius still exer- 
 cised a supervision, is matter of surprise when we consider that 
 the one was the strong opponent of the Coetus, and the other 
 was equally prominent as its advocate. But on comparing 
 dates we hud that the very year in which he officiated here, he 
 also broke with the Coetus and soon after joined with the Con- 
 ferentie party. The probability is that he made his visit here 
 on his way to or from l^ingston, whither he journeyed for con- 
 sultation with his old opponent, Dominie Mancius, concerning 
 the state of the Cliurch. He seems to have been a man of strong 
 
22 THE I3KICK CIIURf'II. 
 
 impnl.sos nnd prono to not upon tliem, for in 1760 lie n.onin 
 niiccronioiiiously roiioiinc-cd flic CoutVrentio, ami tlioiiii'Ii lie coji- 
 tiiiued to iniiiistci- in P)ellvil!e until 1776, >('t lie iicld liiiusclf 
 aloof from all occle.sia.stical bodies. 
 
 The name wliicli is next found on the rreord of tlie min- 
 isters otti elating- in this (yliur(;h previous to the sctth^ment of a 
 regular pastor, is one wiiieh in our own <>"eneration has beeome 
 prominent not only in the institutions of the Church, but also 
 in the Councils of the State. In February 1751, the IJev. 
 Theodorus b''relini;-huysen, then pastor of the chureh in Albany 
 visited this i)lace, preached and bai)tized two children. i\Ir. 
 Frelijinhnysen was the oldest of hve brothei'S, all of wliom en- 
 tered tln^ ministry — four of them were licensed in Holland, and 
 two of the fonr who had gone there for that purpose, died on 
 the return voyage, having received calls, the one to Kinder- 
 hook and the other to Wawarsing, liochester and Marbletown. 
 TIh\v were the sons of Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Freling-huysen, 
 the first minist(U' of the Reformed Dutch Church in central 
 New Jersey, and the intimate friend of the older Tennent, AVhite- 
 ticld and Jonathan I^^dwards. To him belongs the credit of 
 fonnding the ('liuich in Xew lirunswick, and first suggestino- 
 the i)lan of a College' and Seminary for providing in tliis coun- 
 try a w(dl cdncated ministry. 
 
 'fhcodorns, the son of this ])ioniM'i' of the (Miurch in Xew 
 dcrs'-y, wliosi' visit to this ])Ia(M' we lia\ e recorded, was licensed 
 in Ilu.liand in 174"), and immediately came to .\lbany where he 
 ministered in the old stone chnreh then standing in the middle 
 of the street at the intersection of State Street and Iboadway, 
 nntil 1759. He is sai<l to have been a man of more than ordi- 
 nary excellence and ability, and the occasion of his leavino- 
 Albany alter tifteen years of successful labcn-, is a curious illus- 
 tration of his cliaracter as well as of the times. A reniment of 
 royal tioops statioiie<l at Alban\, lia<l introduced aiuiui-^- the 
 young i»eo])le of that staid and sobei- city, a s|)irit of yaiety and 
 faslii(m, very trying; to the feelings of the more godly in- 
 habitants ami of their /ealons pastoi-. Thereupon Dominie 
 Frelingliuyseii preached an unusually earnest sermon a-^ainst 
 
THE PASTORATE. 23 
 
 tlie iirevailing' follies in wliicli no rtonbt lie dealt with them 
 very faithfully. The next morning he fonnd at his door a pair 
 of shoes, a walking statt*, a silver coin and a loaf of bread. This 
 he interpreted as an intimation for himto leave, and being a 
 man of peculiar sensitiveness, he determined at once to go. 
 Accepting a mission to Holland in behalf of the seminary to 
 which he had been previously appointed by the Coetus, he sail- 
 ed from New York in October 1759, and never returned. His 
 fate is a mystery, and whether he was lost at sea or died abroad, 
 remains unknown. 
 
 The next year after the visit of Mr. Frelinghuysen, we find 
 the first record of occasional services performed in this congre- 
 gation by the Eev. John Moftet, the then recently installed 
 pastor of the Goodwill Church. Mr. Mott'et continued to per- 
 form these kind and neighborly services from time to time dur- 
 ing the whole period of his pastorate of some ten years in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 Ill 1753, Rev. Barent Yrooman, then pastor of the churches 
 of Sliawaugunk and New Paltz, and afterwards for thirty years 
 the pastor of the church in Schenectady administered the or- 
 dinances occasionally in this place. Otliers, Avhose names are 
 not recorded, appear to have performed the same kind offices 
 until 1764, when Ave meet with the name of Rev. Gerhard Daniel 
 Cock, Avho supplied this Church for an uncertain period — prob- 
 ably until about the year 1770. Of Dominie Cock we know 
 nothing except that he had previously ministered to the united 
 congregations of Rhinebeck and Germantown, and belonged to 
 the so-called "Conferentie" party. 
 
 This rapid sketch of the ministers who served this Church 
 at intervals during the first forty years of its history, brings us 
 down to the time of its first regular ])astorate, one hundred 
 years ago. From 1732, wlien the Church was organized with a 
 c(mimunion of sixteen members, until 1771 it was dependent 
 upon occasional and temporary supplies. Dominie Cock's min- 
 istry as a supi)ly was tlic^ longest of any, extending over a i)e- 
 riod of six or seven years. During these years he had baptized 
 183 children in this congregation, nnd there Avere at the close 
 
24 THE BRICK C'lIlROH. 
 
 of his ministry here, the names of ISP) persons entered on the 
 record of those who liad been received to tlie communion of 
 this Church since its oruanization in 1732. Considering- the 
 comparative sparcity of popuhition, and that the Clmreli was 
 as yet withont a settled ])astor, and most of the time withont 
 re<;'nhir services, and only at lon^- intervals favored with the 
 occasional administration of the word and ordinances, this is a 
 record of very rapid growth, and speaks volumes in praise of 
 the early settlers who gathered about this sanctuaiy in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 This portion of what is now Orange County, then belonged 
 to Ulster, and the entire white po])ulation of Ulster County at 
 this time (1771) was less than twelve thousand, an<l as the 
 "Wallkill precinct" was one of its remote and more recently 
 settled portions, we cannot estimate its entire white population 
 as over five hundred, and yet this Church had on its roll already 
 l;j<) members, thus showing that a very large proportion of its 
 adult population were in the communion of the Church. Add- 
 ing to the membershi]> here, those who belonged to the Good- 
 will Church and to the now extinct Lutheran Church, wliich 
 st(>(Kl neai- the intersection oi' tiu' Goshen and jNIiddletown 
 roads, it would seem that all or nearly all the adult population 
 must have been in Church relations. The influence of this pre- 
 vailing christian character oi' those who laid the foundations of 
 our present institutions and attluence, cannot be too highly es- 
 timated, and we have reason for devout thankfulness to-day 
 that the early iiettlers in this favored section from Germany, 
 Holland, Scotland ami Ireland, were nu'u who learcd God aiid 
 valued the ordinaiu-es of his house. 
 
 1 have intimate<l already that the first regular pastorate 
 of this Clnireh began in 1771— just one huiulred years ago. 
 Towards the close of that year the Hev. John Michael Kern, 
 who had been for some years pastcu' oi the (ierman Reformed 
 Church of Xew York, came to Montgomery ami eomnu'iiced his 
 ministry in this Church. 
 
 J)(miinie Kern was educated at IIei(lell)urgh, Germany, and 
 on an api)lication from the (Jennan Keformed Cliurdi of Xew 
 
THE PASTORATE. 25 
 
 York he came to this country in September 1763, and took the 
 charge of that congregation. Tliere being no German E-eform- 
 ed ecclesiastical authority in this country at that time, INIr. 
 Kern's congregation attached themselves to the Classis of Am- 
 sterdam and Synod of North Holland, to which all the Reform- 
 ed Dutch Churches of this country then belonged. When a 
 regular call was made out for Mr. Kern and*duly approved by 
 the Classis in Holland, he was installed on the 27th of January 
 1764, tlie ministers of the Collegiate Church of New York, 
 officiating on the occasion. This is one instance of the early 
 intimate relations between the German Reformed and the Dutch 
 Reformed Churches of this country. Our own Church is anoth- 
 er exa uple. It was originally composed of Germans, and Avith 
 scarcely an exception the earliest recorded names, most of 
 which remain among us to this day, are of German derivation. 
 The corporate and legal style was and still remains the "Ger- 
 man Reformed Church." And yet we have seen that it was or- 
 ganized and fostered for years by ministers of the Reformed 
 Dutch Church, and from the beginning, its ecclesiastical rela- 
 tion has been with that body. Mr. Kern continued in New 
 York for seven years with a high reputation for ability and 
 learning. The late Dr. Milldollar was one of his pupils there, 
 and always spoke of him with the highest respect and reverence. 
 Doctors Rogers, Mason, Laidlie and Livingston were his inti- 
 mate associates and friends. His brief ministry in New York 
 was signalized by the building of a new church for his congre- 
 gation somewhere in Nassau Street. 
 
 Late in the Fall of 1771 INlr. Kern removed to Montgomery, 
 then still known as the "Wallkill Precinct," though in the fol- 
 lowing year, 1772, the precinct Avas divided, and that portion 
 which is now the town of Montgomery, was called the "Hanover 
 Precinct," the other portion retaining the old name of "Wallkill." 
 Mr. Kern's ministry in this congregation continued until 1778, 
 and the former part of it seems to have been highly successful. 
 From the year 1771 to n76 he had received to the communion 
 eighty-two persons, and though he remained here two years 
 longer and administered the ordinances, yet there is no record 
 
26 THE BRICK CnUROH. 
 
 ol" any ailinissions to tlic coiiiinuiiiou aftoi' 1776. That year in 
 wliicli the troubles of tlu* coloiiios witli Great Britain enlmi- 
 nated in an open rn])tm'e, seems also to have terminated the 
 nsefulncss of Mv. Kcni in this congregation. 
 
 The troubles which resulted in his ultimate reiuoval seem 
 to have aris?n from his peculiar views of loyalty. Being him- 
 self a German, he may have been the more disposed to favor 
 the (daims of the House of Hanover. At any rate tradition re- 
 ports that he ailhered to the royal cause after the Declaration 
 of Indei^endence, and continued as before to pray for the Iving 
 in his i)ul)lie ministrations. This was too much for the stern 
 patriotism of his Ihxdc, who for the nuist i)art espoused the 
 cause of the colonies with great fervor, and they Anally closed 
 the doors of the Church against him. This does not appear to 
 liave taken place, however, until two years after the breaking 
 out ol" the Revolution, as he did not leave until 1778, when he 
 made his way by some means back to New York, then in the 
 possession of the British, where he continued i^reaching 
 for his old congregation until after the evacuation and the re- 
 turn of ])('ace, when he retire<l to St. John's, Xew Brunswick, 
 where he remaine(l until 1790, when having received a call from 
 a (rerman Refonne(l Church in Smithtown, Bucks Co., Penn., 
 he removed there, and after a brief ministry of a few weeks he 
 (lied there in 17!H. 
 
 Mv. iveiii was a man of great ability and high attainments. 
 Tiie recoi'ds in his hand writing which are all in German are 
 marked by a bohl and elegant i)enmanship, which may be tak- 
 eii as an imlication of the chaiacter of the man. Perhaps we 
 are not as (diaritable to his mistaken views of loyalty as we 
 ought to be, or as we would have been if tlie event of the strug- 
 gle had been dilferent, and instead of the triumph ol' the col- 
 onies they had Iteen sul)Jugated, and their condition under the 
 yoke of Ibitain had eonseijuently been worse tlian before. Xo 
 «loubt man.v good men were averse to engaging in the ])atriot 
 cause fi'oni I his appreliension. They looked ui»on the move- 
 ment as premature and extra hazardous, and upon the odds 
 against them in the contiict as too great to be succesfnlly over- 
 
THE PASTORATE. -! ( 
 
 come, and would have preferred to endure the ills they were 
 exposed to, rather than to rush upon other and greater ills they 
 knew not of. Moreover we should bear in mind that the rights 
 of the people were not generally so weU understood in those 
 days as they are now. The "jure divino" doctrine of the pre- 
 rogatives of Kings and governments as taught in the universi- 
 ties and schools of Europe, had also been stretched to an ex- 
 tent which would not be tolerated in our day. 
 
 Under these circumstances it is not so wonderful that a 
 retired stndent, naturally a lover of peace and influenced by 
 tlie theories which he had early learned, should be averse to 
 what he considered a rebellion against constituted authority, 
 and a rebellion too, which seemed most likely to entail vastly 
 greater evils than those from which it souglit to escape. Xor 
 on the other hand is it strange that a people sufferiug under a 
 system of oppression long continued, and aggravated by meas- 
 ures wliich the wisest statesmen of Britain pronounced to be 
 inexcusable, should become impatient and resentful and hav- 
 ing determined to right their own wrongs by the stern arbitra- 
 ment of battle, that they should count as an enemy whoever 
 discouraged or opposed their desperate emprise. From the 
 historians of the period we can easily understand the tide of 
 feeling which swept over the country upon the Declaration of 
 Independence on the 4th of July 177(J. From that day the line 
 of demarkation was drawn, and it was drawn alike through 
 communities, churches aud families. Whigs and Tories were 
 the only recognized distinctions, to which the most sacred and 
 intimate relations of life were made subordinate. 
 
 AVe have no reliable data by which to determine how far 
 Mr. Kern took sides in this contest at its beginning. But we 
 do not hesitate to say it was unwise, it was wrong, after the 
 4th of July 1776, for him longer to imperil and destroy his use- 
 fulness as a servant of Christ by any expressions of his adher- 
 ence to the rejected crown of Great Britain. That official act 
 of the assembled wisdom of the colonies dissolved his alle- 
 giance, and if conscientious scruples forbade his silent acqui- 
 escence, he should at once have sought the protection of the 
 
28 THE BRTOK CHURCH. 
 
 government to wliicli he still adhered within its own territories, 
 as he afterwards did in 1778. And that he was permitted to 
 remain so lon.i;' after the war l)ei>'an, si)eaks w<dl for the for- 
 bearance of this people. Tliey were Wliiij^s almost to a man, 
 and earnestly devoted to the cause of American Indepen<lence 
 from the first outbreak of the revolution. But they bore with 
 tiieir mistaken i)astor for two years of fearful excitement, civil 
 conflicts and bitter sufferings for tlie patriot armies. In 1778 
 jiowever, matters drew to a crisis. The feelings of the i)eoi)le, 
 intensified by the protracted struggle, were yet more exasper- 
 ated by the outrages of men calling themselves loyalists, wjio 
 in some of the neighboring counties, took advantage of the 
 times and of British protection to commit all manner of violence 
 and dc]>redati()n. The name of a Tory became odious an«l the 
 presence of one however inoffensive his conduct could no 
 longer be endured. The Church was closed u])on ^Fr. Kern, 
 and he was c()m])elled to leave, making his way, as 1 said, to 
 the City of New York, then in possession of the British, lie is 
 the only one of all those who have been settled pastors of this 
 Church Avho has ever left it until called away by death. A fact 
 eipuilly honorable to the ])ast()is and to the ])eople. For <uie 
 hundred years the tie of this relation, except in this one in- 
 stance, has never been sundered in this Church excei)t by tliat 
 inevitable event which severs all earthly bonds. 
 
 Aftei- the de])artnie of Mr. Kern the Church Avas a^-ain 
 without a i)astor for a nund)er of years, though not without the 
 fre(|nent administration of the ordinances. In Se])tember 1778, 
 the same yeai' that ^Ir. Kern left, we find in the recoid written 
 ill Low Dutch, in hii; own beautiful ajid distinct hand writing, 
 that the Rev. Ryneir Vau Nest officiated here for the first time. 
 ]Mr. Van Xest was then settled jit Shawangunk and cojitinued 
 to reside there, extending also his ministrations to this ]dace 
 until 178'). His visits were frcfiuent, and the ivcoid shows 
 that during the sev<>n years that he thus ha<l the oversight of 
 this Work he baptized over three hundre<l (diihlren and adults, 
 and received a number of iKMsons to the communion. It was 
 a ha])ity circumstance thai a man of his discretion and piety 
 
THE PASTORATE. 29 
 
 was settled over a neigliboring church in these troublous times. 
 Tlie Church probably owes its preservation from utter distrac- 
 tion, and certainly its encouraging- progress under unfavorable 
 circumstances to the blessing of God ui^cui the labors of ]Mr. 
 Van Nest. Mr. Van Nest was born near Somerville, X. J., in 
 1736. He studied in this country and was licensed by the 
 "general meeting of ministers and elders of tlie Jlutch Reform- 
 ed Churches in the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, 
 lield at Kingston, N. Y., Anno 1773." Besides his labors at 
 Sliawangunk and this phice he afterwards also served the 
 cliurclies of Middleburgli, Schoiiarie, Jamaica, Newtown, and 
 Oyster Bay, at different times, and died near Somerville, N. J., 
 in 1813. Rev. Dr. Abraham Ryneir Van Nest, formerly of the 
 21st St, Cliurch, New York, and now laboring for the X)romotion of 
 evangelical cliristianity in Fhu'cncc, Italy, is the great grandson 
 of the old dominie who, for seven years, watched over and 
 fostered the interests of this congregation as a labor of love in 
 connection with the duties of his own especial charge. The 
 late venerable Elder Van Nest of New York, whose name will 
 ever be fragrant in the Dutch Church for his sound good sense 
 and large liberality, was his lineal descendant. 
 
 Next after Dominie Van Nest the Church was occasionally 
 supplied by the Rev. Stephen Goetschius, pastor of the churches 
 of New Paltz and New Hurley. This continued untd the time 
 of j\lr. Freligh in 1788. Mr. Goetschius was the son of Rev. 
 Johannes Henricus Goetschius, a man of great ability and at- 
 tainments who exercised a successful but troubled ministry on 
 Long Island and in New Jersey during those years of dissension 
 when the (luestion of the prerogatives of the Classis of Amsterdam 
 over the churches in this country was still in dispute. His 
 son Stei)hen, who occasionally ministered here, was a man of 
 peace, and was highly instrumental in healing the breach at 
 New Paltz, occasioned by the controversy about American 
 ordination. He was also a man of great energy and activity, 
 and is said to have organized no less than nine churches in 
 Ulster County after the close of the war. He continued in 
 charge of the churches of New Paltz and New Hurley until 
 
30 THE liRicK ciiURni. 
 
 179fi, Avlieii lie romovod to tlio ])astorate of the united churches 
 of MarbletoAvii iuid Shokaii, whicli he hehl until 1814. Thence 
 lie removed to New Jersey and ministered to the ehnrches of 
 Pascack and Saddle River nntil 1835. Tims from the time of 
 his licensure he had fulfilled a ministry of sixty years, and 
 though small of stature and hent in form, yet so vigorous was 
 his constitution tliat when over ninety years of age he could 
 yet ride on lioisc back' between liis two charges. ]Mr. (loetsch- 
 ins never was a proficient m the Englisli language, but loved 
 to preach in Dutch, in whicli lie unfolded with great power and 
 clearness the doctrines of grace. Mr. Croetschius baptized a 
 large number of persons in this congregation who for tlie most 
 l)art are fallen asleep, thougli here and there one still survives. 
 Tliis brings us down to the time of the second regular pas- 
 tor of this Chui'cli, Ifev. Moses Freligh, the recollections of 
 whom still linger in the minds of some of our older members, 
 and the memory of whom will long be tragrant. Mr. Freligh 
 was born m 17G3 — studied under his brother Solomon Freligh 
 and Dr. Livingston, and was licensed by the General Synod 
 of the Dutch lieformed Church in 1787. The next year after his 
 liceiisure he was ordained as i)astor of the churclies of Sha wan- 
 gunk and .Montgojuery. The minutes of the General Synod 
 in extra session in that year contain the following record: 
 "Messrs. Jacobus Van Campen limneyn, Closes Freligh and 
 Gerardus Kupers, S. S. .Alin. Cand., after well composed and 
 agreeable exercises upon the trial texts assigned which art'or<l- 
 (m1 the l>ody great satisfaction, were carefully examined by the 
 Dcputnti as well in the sacred languages as in the i)riiH'-ipal 
 branches of sacred theology, both ])ositive and polemic. The 
 llevercnd (iiMitli-mi'ii having, by their read\ and intelligent 
 answi'rs, alVor(b'(l the licv. I'>(»(ly universal satisfaction, were 
 ther<Mipon witli much freedom received among tln^ number of 
 ministers and gianted the ]>riviiege of preacliing tlu» Gospel of 
 Salvation and of adntinistering the holy sacraments. The 
 IMcsident and Clerk were likewis(i directed to furnisli the same 
 with honorable testimonials, and assign tliem to their respect- 
 i\e conuiegiitions. The time for (udination as to Moses Freligh 
 
THE RECENT YEARS. 31 
 
 was the third Sunday in June approaching, the discourse to be 
 delivered by Dr. Isaac Bhiuvelt, and the laying on of hands 
 likewise by Drs. Kysdyk, Stophanus Goetsehius and Petrus De- 
 witt." Mr. Freligh continued to serve the two churches of Shaw- 
 angunk and Montgomery with great acceptance to each until 
 1811, wlien finding the burden too great he resigned the charge 
 of Shawangunk, and confined his labors exclusively to Mont- 
 gomery until 1817, when he died. 
 
 In my inquiries among tliose who remembered him for the 
 characteristics of Dominie Freligh, 1 have found the testimony 
 uniform that he was a man of genial disposition, of great social 
 powers, fond of his joke, but withal a most faithful and successful 
 preacher and pastor. A very intelligent and very aged lady, 
 recently deceased, summed up her account of him in a few ex- 
 pressive words: "Mr. Freligh was a jolly man, but he was a 
 good dominie." Dr. Sprague in his annals of the American 
 Pulpit, speaks of him thus: "He was a man of prepossessing 
 appearance and of a good mind. His voice was clear and his 
 enunciation distinct, his gesture natural and his delivery un- 
 embarrassed. He was familiar and agreeable with his friends, 
 but sometimes fearfully sarcastic to others. He had an ex- 
 uberance of wit and anecdote at command by which he often 
 and easily carried his point in argument. Witli advancing age 
 he became more reverential and manifested more religious 
 sensibility. In all important matters he was exceedingly con- 
 s;^'ientious, and where duty was involved he Avas absolutely 
 immovable. His wonderful exuberance of spirit no doubt some- 
 what k^ssened his usefulness." 
 
 Wc fully accord with this just estimate of the man, but to 
 the last sentence of it we beg leave to demur. So far from hin- 
 dering his usefulness we believe that Mr. Freligh's extraordi- 
 nary fiow of spirits was one secret of his success. Xo one 
 dreaded his presence as an infliction, but hailed it as a boon. 
 With a pleasant word for all, both young and old, he was the 
 favorite of all. His r^^ady wit sent them away with sunny 
 smiles if he was pleased with their conduct, and they knew 
 tliat his entting sarcasm could leave a tingling smart if they 
 
32 THE BRICK rniRcn. 
 
 deserved liis rebuke. Mr. Freligli was not a man wlio counted 
 austerity and i>loom as essential to or indicative of piety. With 
 a consi'iciitious piiri)()SO to <lis('Iiart>-o liis whole duty as a min- 
 ister and a man, lu' was yet willin<;' to make the most of life 
 wliilc it lasted in the enjoyment of its blessin«>s, as well as in 
 tile elieerful cndnranco of its ills. Such a man as it se(Miis to 
 nu' best ai)pr('ciat('s the <^!orious ii;ospel, and will lust recom- 
 mend it to others. 
 
 ] love to think of the old Dominie as he has been repre- 
 sented to me crouching' in his bon^h honse early of a Monchvy 
 moniinii,- watchinii- the distant tlight of a Hock of pigeons and 
 skillfnlly phiying his fliers to draw them within the range of his 
 unerring fowling piece, and I say to myself it is better to be 
 there after the mental and i)hysical strain of the Sabbath is 
 over, than moping in the Study. It was, 1 verily believe, tiie 
 cheerful spirits of the hale, hearty old man and his love of out- 
 door exercise and cmi)l()yments that added to his success, as it 
 added to his strength and enabled him to hold out as huig as 
 he (lid ill his laborious field. At any rate the records show 
 that his was a very fruitful ministry. In all he served this 
 (Jiiurch twenty-nine years— for the last six years serving it ex- 
 (dusively. His baptisms are numbered by the hundreds, and 
 the accessions to the communion were continuous, and often 
 large— on one occasion no less than thirty being admitted at 
 one time on confession of their faith, in yonder inclosnie his 
 remains rejiose, siuroiinded by the silent multitude to whom 
 he so long declared the glorious gospel of (lod. Peace to his 
 ashes, ;ind honor to his name. His record is on high, and when 
 tJH' Areli angePs tiiimiiet sIkiII wake the dead, he too will 
 arise siu roiiiided l»y the many seals of his elticient and faithful 
 ministry as the second settled pastor of this Church. 
 
 ]\lr. Freligh (li<'(l on the lOth day of February 1817, and on 
 the 28th of September of the saiiu' year, Uev. .lessie Fonda was 
 installed as his successor. In a conversation with the late Dr. 
 AVm. IMiilliiis of New Voik some years ago, he spoke of Mr. 
 l-'omla as his classmate and friend in terms of highest commen- 
 dation, and he inl'orined me also that it was a ([nestion at tlie 
 
THE PASTOKATE. 33 
 
 time whether Mr. Fonda or himself should go to Montgomery. 
 "But, said he, ]Mr. Fonda received the call and I had to look 
 elsewhere for my heUl." He described Mr. Fonda as a man of 
 commanding' i)resence, of very fine elocution, and of an excel- 
 lent and highly cultivated mind. This fully agrees with the 
 uniform testimony of those wlio knew him best, and with tlie 
 very able productions which he has left behind him. I have in 
 my possession several manuscript sermons of his i>resented to 
 me by his son wliich are certainly models of pulpit composition. 
 They were evidently written Avitli tlie greatest care, and are 
 remarkable for the clearness and force of the argument and 
 for the pertinency and urgency of the application. With his 
 fine presence and splendid delivery, they must have been ex- 
 ceedingly impressive. These, together with his book on the 
 Sacraments, enable us in some degree to estimate his ability, 
 and we have no hesitation in saying that he had but few equals 
 and ])erhaps no superiors in the ministry of his day. 
 
 From an extended memoir of him, written by Dr. 
 Brownlee, and found in the "Magazine of the Reformed Dutch 
 Ciiurch'.' for November 1827, we have gathered the following 
 facts: Mr. Fonda was born in Watervleit, Albany County, 
 X. Y., in 1786. He graduated at Union College, and having 
 pursued his theological studies with neighboring ministers, was 
 licensed to preach tlie gospel in 1809. That same year he ac- 
 cepted a call from the united churches of Nassan and Schodack, 
 in llensselaer County, X. Y. Here he devoted himself most 
 assiduously to the work of his calling, and by systematic study 
 laid the foundation of his future eminence. After a few years 
 he was called to a more conspicuous and important field where 
 he had an op])ortunity to make full proof of all his acquire- 
 ments and occasion for the use of all his resources as the suc- 
 cessor of such men as Drs. Hardenburgh, Condict and Schure- 
 man, in the 1st Reformed Dutch Church of Xew Brunswick, ]S^. 
 J. This was considered at the time as one of the most arduous 
 and difticult charges in^he whole church, not only on account 
 of the great extent of the congregation, but also from the fact 
 thr.t it cmbrnced the members of the Faculties and the students 
 
34 THE BRTCK CHUKOII. 
 
 of the Theological Seminary aii<l of tlio Colleo-e located at that 
 place. But the youn<>- pastor in'oved liimself fully equal to his 
 work anrl his labors in that tiyin-i- field, were highly satisfac- 
 tory and eminently successful. He always brought "beaten 
 oil into the sanctuary," and never was found in the pulpit 
 serving his Divine master with that which had cost him 
 nothing. 
 
 l)iit it is prol>iibl(' tliat the continued mental and physical 
 strain of such a position began to tell, and nature craved the 
 partial relief of a change. At any rate, in 1817, as I have said, 
 after eight yeais in the ministry, and in the 31st year of this age, 
 he accepted tlie unanimous and pressing call of his congrega- 
 tion an<l came to Montgomery. The earnest desire of the peo- 
 ple to secure the services of Mr. Fonda is evidenced by the fact 
 that whereas they had paid ^Iv. Freligh only $450, with the use 
 of the i)ars()nage farm, their call to Mr. Fonda was on a salary 
 of $800 and the farm; a sum which in those days was fully equal 
 to twice that anu)unt now. And the poi)ularity of the new 
 l)ast<»i' seems to have been unbouu<led. Every \w\y and sitting 
 on the Hoor and in the gallery was rented, and the first year 
 the income from the .seats went up from $460 to $850. ■ 
 
 Mr. Fonda's ministry here lasted but ten years, but during 
 that time two liuiidred and ninety-six persons were added to 
 the full coiuiiiiinion of the Cliurcli. ^Vith such evidences of 
 tlu' Divine blessing we canuot but couclude that he was an 
 honest, earnest and ellicieiit laborer in the vineyard of the JiOrd. 
 Some sa<l casi's ol' (liscii)liiu' occurred during his time, and the 
 last years oi* his life were not without serious contentions 
 anuMig his own jM-oplc aud bitter op})osition from those who 
 were witluuil. The dinicultit's within the Church arose out of 
 the question "Whose children ought to be baptized?" A con- 
 troversy which has now long since been put forest, and which 
 we need n(d revive even by a statement of the ])oints in dis- 
 l)ute. The oit]>osition from without was awakened by the 
 ])reacher's iearless dennnciations of certain prevailing immoral- 
 ities. 
 
 The hist sermon he c\ cr iJicached was long remembered in 
 
THE PASTORATE. 35 
 
 this community, and is still remembered by some wlio heard it 
 and by many more who heard of it from their parents and 
 others. His text was the XII chapter of Proverbs, 10th verse: 
 "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender 
 mercies of the Avicked are cruel." From these words he un- 
 burdened his heart on the then prevailing practice of horse 
 racing- and its cognatic vices. In his own graphic and animated 
 style he set forth the whole process of training by which the 
 noble brute was pampere<l and prepared as a victim for the 
 torture until he entered the field of contest. Then with the 
 vividness of reality he picture<l the gatliered and expectant 
 crowd, the drinking and swearing- and betting; and then the 
 start with the whoop and hallo, the bloody spur and flashing- 
 whip, the panting- flanks and distended nostrils with which the 
 flying steeds swept round the circle, and the barbaric shouts 
 and fiendish oaths wliicli greeted a victory and defeat. The 
 bickerings, fightings and debauchery whicli followed were not 
 forgotten; and so true was the picture drawn to the life that 
 repentance or rage must have followed tlie terrible castigation. 
 
 On liis return to liis Study tliat day he said, "I have faith- 
 fully proclaimed the truth to-day if I never do it again." It 
 was indeed his last testimony, his last exhibition. For years 
 lie had suffered from a spasmodic affliction of the stomacli and 
 bowels, gradually undermining his constitution. As early as 
 1821 he says in a letter to a friend, "I have had s(mie v^ery 
 severe attacks, and I have been most solemnly reminded that 
 I must sliortly put off this tabernacle." Excitement no doubt 
 aggravated his malady and finally paralysis and apoplexy fin- 
 ished his brief but brilliant career. The tolling of the church 
 beli at 5 o'clock in the morning of the 2d day of :\Iay, 1827, was 
 the melancholy signal of his departure. His sepulchre also is 
 with us to this day, and this brief sketch closes our account of 
 the third pastor of the Church of IMcuitgojuery. 
 
 After the death of ^Ir. Fonda there was an inter-regnum of 
 two years during wlTich the elements of discord threatened to 
 break out in a dangerous explosion. Mr. Fonda died in May 
 1827, and in the following December the consistory made a call 
 
30 THE BRICK cnrr.rn. 
 
 ii]>oii tlio Rev. Jacol) C. Soars. But for some reason the Classis 
 of rister (leelined to ai>])rove that call, and a consi(lera})le 
 commotion was the consequence. The friends of Mr. Sears 
 were anxious to secure his services, and indisposed to accept of 
 any otiier candidate. The consistory gave notice of an appeal 
 from the action of Chissis, and still the excitement went on and 
 l)arties were formed. Meanwhile candidates were heard and 
 rejected, and the discord waxed worse until in May 1829, wlien 
 l*rovideiU'e sent relief from an unexpected quarter. A young 
 man of modest bearing and retiring manners, just ont of the 
 Seminaiy, was i>assing through Montgomery and was induced 
 to stop and snp])ly the vacant pul]ut. Xo one looked ujton 
 him as a candidate, himself least of all. I>ut he i>reached on 
 the Sabbath, and then was persuaded to spend the week and 
 ])reach again, which he did. The result was that a congrega- 
 tional meeting was called and he was duly elected pastor. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to say that that young man was 
 Jlev. Robert I'eriiu^ Lee, Jr., who from that time up to the day 
 of his death went in and out before this ]>eople, ministering to 
 them in lioly things, and every day growing strongei' in their 
 atfections as he also grew more able and succes-^ful as a min- 
 ister of the New Testament. Others have had tlieir iM'riods of 
 greatest i)opuhnity witli something of a subseiiuent decline. 
 r>ut tlie conise oJ'Dr. Lee was steadily onward until it culmi- 
 nat<'d in (h'atli, like tlie i)atliway of the just, sliining more and 
 more into the peifeci day. Tiis decease is too recent and his 
 memory too fresli aiul IVagrant in all your minds to re<inire an 
 extended notice of his- life and eliaracter. lie was born at 
 Yorktown, Westchesti'r Co., X. V., in 1808. He graduated at 
 I)ickins(Ui Colh'ge in 18"24, and from the Theological Senu'nary 
 in New llrunswick, N. .1., in 1828, he was licensed by the South 
 Chissis of New Vor!< and ordained nnd settled in Montgomery 
 in 1829, and sp'nt the wlioh' of his ministerial life of W years 
 in the t'aitlifnl service t>l' this congregation. 
 
 An iiitmiate ac(|naiiitance ol'many y(\ns enables me tosiiy 
 that Dr. Lee was one of t he most faultless men whom I have 
 ever known, it there was any (l(»fect in his character it was 
 
THE PASTORATE. 37 
 
 an extreme of caution which sometimes made him less aggress- 
 ive than his position and influence wouhl warrant, but whicli 
 never led him to shrink from responsibility when once it was 
 laid upon him. With all his modesty and reserve he was yet 
 firm as a rock when he saw the path of duty before him. He 
 Avas not only a man of peace, but kindly in disposition and 
 wise in counsel— he was eminently a peace-maker. In eccle- 
 siastical courts his judgment was almost unerring, and his 
 opinion was accepted as law. Though never a brilliant man 
 yet with a very retentive memory, he had at command all that 
 he had ever learned, and his attainments in every dei^artment 
 of christian science were more than lespectable. With a clear 
 and connected view of the theology of the Reformed Cliurches, 
 he adhered to all its distinctive doctrines with unyielding 
 tenacity. Witli a warm heart, sound sense and great industry 
 his sermons carefully prepared were always instructive, im- 
 l)ressive and profitable. Without being in the ordinary sense 
 of the term, a great man, he was just, all in all, one of the most 
 successful pastors this or any other church ever had. 
 
 The first time I ever met Dr. Lee was on the occasion of 
 my settlement over the Church in ^''ewburgh. The last time 
 we met AA^as at the laying of the corner stone of this Cliurch. 
 Little did I dream that before the building Avas completed, the 
 pastor then apparently in the fullness of health and in the ex- 
 uberance of spirits, Avould be in heaven! Still less, that I 
 should stand liere to-day as his successor to pay tliis ])assing 
 tribute to tlie fourth and ])erhaps the best beloved pastor of 
 this Churcli. 
 
 "Life's little stage is a small (Mninence, 
 "Inch high the grave aboA^e; that home of men, 
 "Where dAvells the multitude; we gaze around; 
 "We read their monuments; we sigh, and while 
 "We sigh we sink; and are Avhat we deplored; 
 "Lamenting or Lamented — all our lot." 
 You perceive that in tin's rcA'iew I liaA^e confined myself 
 strictly to the personal history and characteristics of those who 
 as temporary supj)!ies or settled pastors, have ministered to 
 
38 THE BRICK CHUKOII. 
 
 this people and "spoken to tliem the word of God." And now 
 one oi' two remartvS pertinent to tlie recollections in which we 
 have iiiduliicd may not be misplaced. - 
 
 1. And I'irst: This Clinndi has been blessed with a suc- 
 cession ol" most able and exccdlent ])astors. Tlie catalogue, 
 tiioui;-h slioit, is very select. It would be hard to find better 
 men in their day and <>eneration than those whose histories I 
 have biieliy sketched. They were all of them men of God, men 
 of faith and tidcdity, whom God raised up and furnished for 
 their woik. In an unusual degree they seem to have been 
 adapted to the times and circumstances in which they lived. 
 Kern A\ as a man of high culture obtained in one of the best 
 universities of Europe, thoroughly imbued with the distinctive 
 <lo('tiines of the ]^«^formed, and just the man to lay the founda- 
 tion of a sound theological training among a people just set- 
 tling down to fixed hal)its of thought and habits of life. AVheu 
 his work was done, Van Nest (who had just abandoned an or- 
 ganization at New Paltz, where Goetschius had succeeded in 
 merging two parties into one) taking this Chundi under his care 
 in connection with one at Shawangunk, did all that any man 
 comM do in those tioublous times, and kept alive the organiza- 
 tion thi'ongh the stormy period of the revolutionary war. 
 
 TliiMi caiiu' the genial, warm hearted Freligh, than whom 
 no man w is lietter fitted to gatlier ui> the scattered tl<Hdv and 
 concentrate tlieir interests and energies around their ancient 
 sanetuar> . I'.ut affer thirty years of progress, during which 
 ]»oi)nlation had increased and educational interests greatly ad- 
 vanced, when the old Dominie was called to his rest, it needed 
 the commanding i)resen('e and stirring ehxiueiUM^ of Fonda to 
 re-awaken the zciil and enteii»rise of the peoi)le. He too ful- 
 lilh'd jii.s pecniiar woik and went to his rest and reward. l>ut 
 the resnlts of that work, l)enelicial as they wei'e in enlarging 
 the borders ol Zion and strengthening her stakes, were ju'c- 
 cisely such as rcipiired the iirm yet modest bearing, the un- 
 tiring industry and nnrivaled discretion of Lee to preserve the 
 Church from ruinons diss(Misions. Thus (Jod watched over his 
 "vine and the viiu'yard whicli he had jdanted," by i-aisinir up a 
 
THE PASTORATE. 39 
 
 succession of men witli qualifications widely different and yet 
 just adapted to tlieir work. 
 
 II. The secontl remark wliicli I have to make is that all 
 these men were distinguished for their uncompromising adher- 
 ence to the doctrines of the faith as ever held by the Reformed 
 Churches. Tlieological novelties never found favor here; and 
 God grant they never may! The truth of God is one and im- 
 mutable. The volume of revelation is complete, and the gospel 
 was not given to be revised and amended to suit the exigencies 
 and caprices of successive generations. Though no enemies to 
 ])rogress in theological science, but ever striving after higher 
 attainments in the interijretatiou and exposition of divine 
 tiuth, yet the men of whom I have spoken were no believers in 
 tlie peculiar "visions, interpretations and dreams" by which 
 unbalanced minds are often deluded and charlatans in every 
 age seek to ride into notoriety and eminence. Adhering to the 
 form of sound words they made the catechisms the manual, and 
 the Bible the basis, of their instructions to young and old. Not 
 turning aside for every "Lo! here" or Lo! there," they were con- 
 tiMit to preach a pure gospel, and God honored their fidelity by 
 blessing their work. 
 
 III. And that leads me to remark finally, that this sound 
 conservatism in doctrine and practice go far to explain the 
 success of these iiastorates, and the prosperity and permanence 
 of this Church. The fact to which I have already referred is a 
 record Avhich few churches can show: that with a single excep- 
 tion and that under peculiar circumstances, for one hundred 
 years the relation of pastor and people in this congregation has 
 never been broken until death dissolved the bond. Than that 
 fact no higher eulogium could be pronounced upon both pas- 
 tors and i)eople. 
 
^KE ^gECENT 0Ey^HS. 
 By The Pas tor. 
 
 Dr. Van Zandt with characteristic modesty l)rin<^-s this 
 liistory to a close with the death of Doctor Lee in 1858, although 
 it was written over ten years after the l»e<>innino- of liis own 
 pastorate. It is not necessary T slionUl describe the personal 
 ap])earance, character and work of Dr. Van Zandt to you who 
 liold him in such admiring remembrance. You haA^e often been 
 thrilled by the magnetic poM'cr of his ebxpience, convinced by 
 the clearness and strength of his reasoning, and subdued by 
 the pathos of his appeals. He was born in Albany County in 
 1816— graduated at l^nion College, and at Princeton Theological 
 Seminary— was i^astor of the Ueformed Church of Newburgh, 
 N. Y., of the Presbyterian Church at Petersburgh, Ya., of the 
 Ninth Street Reformed Church in Xew York City, and in Oct. 
 1859, was called to this Church. 
 
 He was a man of lich gifts and large attainments, a studious 
 man and an eloquent. .Alany of his sermons have been describ- 
 ed to mc, and they must have been master pieces of i)iili)it 
 elo((iU'nce. ^Vrth logical mind, brilliant imagination, deep 
 Iceling, keen sarcasm when occasion called, choice ])owcr of 
 language, and a lincly m()dulat<Ml voice, he was in the highest 
 sense of the word, an orator, and he fiithfnlly used his great 
 power* in i)roMioting the well'are of this Church, lie also ren- 
 dered great service to this conununity in a niattMial point of 
 view. When it was i)r(>posed to build a raili-oad thiongh this 
 valley, the friends of the enterprise arranged public meetings 
 along the line IVoin Coshen to Kingston, and they selected Dr. 
 Van Zandt to advocate the cause before the peop!(>. ('rowds 
 gathered ic ]wav liiiii. He made one of the leading aildi-esses 
 at the ojiening meeting at the Court House in (Joshen in 18()5, 
 before a sph-ndid audience, awakening the dee]>est interest in 
 
THE RECENT YEARS. 41 
 
 tlie project; lie addressed many otlier meetings during the fol- 
 lowing year; and he was the orator at the celebration in Mont- 
 gomery in 1867 of the completion of the i;oad. This railroad 
 has revolutionized the industry of this community, introduced 
 many comforts to our homes, and added much to our conven- 
 itMice; the influence of Ur. Van Zaiult Avas an important factor 
 in its establishment. 
 
 In the councils of the Church, the Classis and the Synods, 
 he was a man of great power, having a taste for and clear un- 
 derstanding of constitutional law and excelling in debate. In 
 1870 he was appointed by the Classis of Orange to advocate 
 tlieir cause in the Particular Synod of Xew York in the apj^eal 
 of tlie Connitt case-. His argument on the floor of the Synod 
 on "the Tower of the Classis to dissolve the Pastoral Relation" 
 was an exhaustive treatment of the subject, overwhelming all 
 opposition, and giving direction to the jiolicy of the Church. 
 It was ])ublished by the Church as an appendix to the minutes 
 of the Synod for 1870. 
 
 During his ministry here the property of the church was 
 greatly improved. In January 1860, at a congregational meet- 
 ing, the consistory Avas authorized to build an addition to the 
 parsonage at an expense of two thousand dollars. Henry Ber- 
 gen, Christopher J. Mould and Dr. Van Zandt were appointed 
 a committee to superintend the building. In 1871 the consistory 
 resolved to fresco and repaint the interior of the Church and 
 ])urchase new chandeliers. Henry Bergen, Cliristopher J. ]Mould 
 and John ]\1. QuackiMibos were appointed a committee, and 
 Avere authorized to use their discretion as to the extent, style 
 and cost of the improvement. The work was completed at a 
 cost of $4,300, and the confidence placed in the taste of the com- 
 mittee was richly justified in the result as we Avitness it to-day. 
 
 In 1872 the General Synod of the Church elected Dr. Van 
 Zandt to be Professor of Theology in the Theological Seminary 
 at Xew Brunswick, N. J. He filled tliat difficult and responsi- 
 ble i)ositioii to the satiVaction of the whole Church, until his 
 death in July 1881. He retained through life a AA^arm affection 
 for this Cluirch, as is AAntnessed by his purchasing a farm in the. 
 
42 THE BRICK CHUKCn. 
 
 borders of the congregation wlicrc lie spent liis vacations, and 
 wlicii lie came to die, by bis clioosing tlie cemetery of tliis 
 Ciimvh as bis burial place. There be sleeps, surrounded by 
 the fast filling graves of bis people; the fourth Pastor whose 
 s(']>iilchre is with us. 
 
 The pastor following Dr. Van Zandt was one whom you all 
 love, and to-day «lelight to honor—Rev. Cornelius Jbett. He 
 was born in New York City — gi-aduated at Xew York Tniver- 
 sify and New Ibiinswiek Seminary — was pastor of the llefonu- 
 ed Chui-ch of Flatlaiuls, Long Island, an<l then of the lieformed 
 Church of Newark, N. J., from whieh Church he was called here 
 in the Spring of 1878. At the very opening of his ministry the 
 proi»erty ol' the Chuicli was further improved by the erection 
 of a new tenement htuise at the cost of $1,000; the committee of 
 the consistory having charge of the improvement being Ken- 
 wick (Jillespie, Christopher J. ^Nlould and Samuel Augustus 
 Comfort. In 1HT() Cinist(>pher J. Mould resigned the olitice of 
 financial agent of the Church. The money expended for the 
 inquovenuMit of the Chnrch property from the time of the build- 
 ing ol" this (Miurch in 1858 to the erection of the new ti'uement 
 house h;i(l passed through his hands. A i)art of hi,s accounts 
 were j>iil>lislied in 18()2 and the ]'emainder in 1875. These show 
 that s4(),i).')7 had been received and expemled by him, which 
 speaks cleiMJy of the long <-ontinue<l fidelity of the agent and 
 of the whole souled liberality of the ])eople. 
 
 Mr. Ibctt's ministiy here was blessed of (lod with the 
 gi'eiitest revixal known in the history of the Church. The books 
 siiow a large accession to the membership of the Church at 
 nearl\ excry comnuinion service from the opening of his min- 
 isti>. Doling the winter of 1875-0 the religions interest grew 
 intense, :iiid at the .March communion fifty-five members were. 
 recei\('d into tiie fellowslii]) of this Church on confession of 
 their faith. A scene iM'ver before witnessed here, ;ind which 
 will long nil the memory and cheer the souls of those who be- 
 held it. Of Mr. Ilrett, ]>ersoiially, it is not fitting I sluuild 
 speak in his i>resence in the high teiiiis the subject deserves. 
 1 can onh' sav the iccortls of the Church will ever bear their 
 
THE RECENT YEARS. 43 
 
 silent but impressive witness of his able preaching and faithful 
 pastoral work. In the summer of 1876 he was called to the 
 Reformed Church of Bergen, N. J., of whi.(,'h Church he is now 
 the pastor. 
 
 The present, which is only the seventh pastorate, began in 
 March 1877. The characteristic liberality of the people in the 
 care of their Church property, found in 1880 an unsought occa- 
 sion for its exercise. A tornado in the Spring of that year de- 
 molished the upper part of the tower of the Church. At once 
 the project was formed not only to rebuild it but to surmount 
 it witli a spire. The original design of the Church drawn by 
 tlie architect in 1858 included a spire. For some cause it was 
 not erected at that time; but the design, containing speciUca- 
 tions, was still in existence. The consistory decided to build 
 the spire according to this design, and Ebenezer Van Alst, 
 Jesse F. Mould and John I). Mould were aj^pointed a commit- 
 tee to carry on the work. It was found the cost would be 
 about $1,400, and nearly the whole amount was raised before 
 the Avork was begun. Wlien the frame of the spire was up and 
 inclosed with boards, it was generally regarded as deficient in 
 height and too bulky in form. The building committee promptly 
 concluded to take it down and build another thirty feet higher, 
 ami tlu^ present lofty and graceful spire— the pride of all the 
 country round — was finislied. The consistory and the people 
 approved the action of the committee and cheerfully assumed 
 the increased expense. In the Summer of 1882 improvements 
 were made in the interior of the Church. The faces of the 
 pews were remodeled, and the whole floor was made one level 
 and newly carpeted thronghout. The expense of this improve- 
 ment was paid by a legacy left the Church by Chri«tophor J. 
 ;Mould, then recently deceased, which was generously advanc- 
 ed by the family before it was due for that purpose. 
 
 While this Church has ever exercised a generous care in 
 the appointments of her worship she has also been very liberal 
 in advancing the caus^ of Christ beyond her bounds. For 
 many years she has contributed annually between $G00 and 
 ^700 to the cause of foreign missions; two years ago when an 
 
44 THE BRICK CHURCH. 
 
 effort was made to pay the debt of our Foreign Mission Board, 
 she gave over $1,000. Her annual gift to the Board of Domes- 
 tic Missions amounts to about $300. Besides she contributes 
 liberally to the American Tract Society and the Bible Society, 
 and to every good cause in the community, and in the world 
 which appeals to her for support. 
 
 The Church which was founded in the wilderness one hun- 
 dred and fifty years ago with sixteen members, now flourishes 
 in this goodly land with one hundred and eighty-five families 
 and three hundred and ninety-eight members. God has blessed 
 our fathers. He is blessing us. With gratitude and hopeful- 
 ness we enter the future. Let the memories of the past prove 
 incentives for the time to come. 
 
THE ADDRESS. 45 
 
 
 By Rev. Cornelius Brett. 
 
 My Dear Brother: — I thank yoii heartily for tlie kind 
 words Avith which you have spoken of my ministrj- in this Church, 
 and I thank both you and the consistory for the x>rivilege of 
 joining- In these deeply interesting- services. 
 
 Young- and old are relative rather than absolute terms. A 
 butterfly whose ephemeral life is finished in a single summer, 
 may be called old when two of its three months are ended. 
 But the man-child who has lived but sixty days, is still a help- 
 less nursling- whose life is hardly begun. On the other side of 
 the Atlantic, people smile at our centennial celebrations, for 
 these older nations count time by millenniums rather than cen- 
 turies. But to the Orientals, even the antique cathedrals of 
 Europe seem but the creations of a day, beside monuments 
 which are coeval with the race. 
 
 In this parvenu land however, which four hundred years 
 ago had not been visited by white men, a Church one hundred 
 and fifty years old ranks with the elders of America. Where 
 everything- is so very new, where all our institutions smack of 
 juvenility, and our buildings are redolent of new paint, it is a 
 satisfaction to find some traces of antiquity, and to cherish a 
 few precious relics that have come down to us from a never- 
 to-be-forgotten past. I esteem it a high honor that I have been 
 permitted during my ministry to serve three ancient churches, 
 and thus to have linked my poor imiierfect labor in the historic 
 chain, whose beginning is riveted into the pillars which stand 
 at the gate of the Eepublic. That Montgomery is the youngest 
 of this trio, is due to the fact that early emigrants settled in the 
 immediate vicinage of^New Amsterdam full fifty years before 
 they discovered the scenic beauty and abundant fertility of 
 the Wallkill Vallev. 
 
40 TTIE BRICK CIirKCII. 
 
 l"\-\v climclics IiJiN'c sucli a iccoid ns tlie Reformed Chiircli 
 of Mont.uomery. Only one pastor in all its' history has been 
 dismissed to another (diuroli! Four noble men honored by the 
 whole Ohnreh as God's faithful servants, j>ave the stren.nth and 
 \\iXov of their manhood to this community. Did ever one 
 cliurch count amon^' its ministers four such men as Frelijih, 
 I'oiKla, Lee ajid \'an Zandt? Three of these died here in your 
 service witli the harness on; one in his latter days asi^ended 
 from your ]>uli)it to the hi,i>hest ])lace in the i»ift of the Church. 
 All ol' them >()U have buried under the shadow of your sanctu- 
 ary, where now their sacred dust is cherished to await the 
 trumpet blast which shall call pastor and people to meet before 
 the Great White Throne. It is indeed an honor to be enrolled 
 in such company; to build on foundations which such servants 
 of God have laid, liiihtens the ])astor's labor and ^ives earnest of 
 success. We may con«>ratulate each other, my brother, that tlie 
 head of the Church has called us to this service. 
 
 Every church with a history develops certain peculiarities 
 of church life, which are maintained as its characteristic fea- 
 tur<'s. Tiiese may be the result of national idiosyncrasies. The 
 descendants of the Freiudi will manifest an earnest enthusiasm 
 in life and worship. The 8cot(di Irish may be known by their 
 stron;;- aHe.iiiance to the faith of tludr fathers. Germans will 
 be thoughtful ; llolhiiiders loyal in their unyieldin<>- determi- 
 nation; and the i'nritaus will ever assert the freedcmi of thoui»ht 
 and ri^^ht of private jud;.;nu'nt. Or, a^ain, characteiistics of 
 chiirclies may be t he result of early training-. Careful theological 
 instrnction will be a])preciated throughout many generations, 
 and on the other hand, looseness of statement leads as surely 
 to the faith of vacillation, easily turned about with every wind 
 of doctrine. The surroundings and occupations of the people 
 also ha\(' theii' inlluence in giving tom> and color to piety. 
 Farly sacrifi<-cs in the day of small things increase larg«dy the 
 lilterai thought (»f the future; wliile tlu' jtrosperity of later years 
 enlarges (»i»portiinily. A country church will develop in one 
 direction, a city or village churcdi in still other a<'tivities. 
 
 The history so ebxjnently written and imi)ressiv(dy d(div- 
 
THE ADDRESS. 
 
 ered, has prepared you to consider the influences exerted in 
 the organization and growth of your church. It is my part in 
 these exercises not to review the history but to gather ui) re- 
 sults, to tell as they ap]>oar to me the characteristics of our 
 Ancient Zion. 
 
 I. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is tirm, unwaver- 
 ing orthodoxy. There has been no free thinking or doubting 
 among you. The isms which have rent other communities, 
 found here no congenial soil. If there has ever been a deist 
 liere, he has been a marked man to be shunned as a blasphemer, 
 and not admitted to intimate friendsliip. The strong faith of 
 a Church instructed and indoctrinated has made the very air 
 hostile to doubt. To the ancestral bias which tliought receiv- 
 ed from the orthodox emigrants who settled on these beautiful 
 hills, has been added persistent instruction in the catechism 
 and a long succession of theological sermons. I^o wonder you 
 stand fast in the doctrine which you have received from the 
 beginning "line upon line, precept upon i^recept." 
 
 II. It is to be noted also that the peculiar form of your 
 theology is the grand old continental system of the Covenants. 
 In Adam our Federal Head, we fell; in Christ the Second 
 Adam, we stand, because of the Covenant made for our re- 
 demption. The sign and seal of this Covenant is transmitted 
 from generation to generation in the holy ordinance of bap- 
 tism. Since the first German emigrants built their homes on 
 yonder stream, this sacrament has been held in high esteem; 
 now the long line of babes at the public administration gives 
 promise of perpetuity to the Cliurch. There is scarcely an un- 
 baptized child in the community. 
 
 III. The result of this fidelity to the ordinances of God's 
 lionse, has been a regular and large increase of membership. 
 Parents seemed to expect the rising generation in due time to 
 make public profession of their faith in Christ. Every year 
 has brought its accessions. If in early life any failed in the 
 performance of duty, \\*iien the man and woman were joined in 
 holy wedlock, they came together to Christ's table ansl took 
 Jesus as a ])arty to their solemn comi)act. 
 
48 THE BRICK CHUKCn. 
 
 IV. In an intense degree has been developed also amons: 
 the membershii) a loyal devotion to the Church. The Church, 
 as an organization and institution, has been on the lu^art of the 
 people. It has not been known as "J)r. Lee's Church" or "Dr. 
 Van Zandt's Church," but as the Brick Church. Those who 
 live at a distance attend the services as regularly as the door- 
 keepers. Church ])ride as a form of church loyalty, led this 
 community to erect and adorn this graceful jind tasteful house, 
 and to give the ])astor a parsonage so commodious. It is true 
 there has sometimes been a thought out-si)oken that committees 
 were spending too much money in these externals; but those 
 Avho held back at first wheeled into line at last, and were as 
 l)roud as the others of the Church and its surroundings. Even 
 when circumstances have compelled removal, many a pilgrim- 
 age has been made by loving feet to the old shrine, and liun- 
 dreds are glad to say unto the ebb of life that hither they came 
 up of old to Zion's solemn feasts. 
 
 V. Another development of your activities has been in 
 the line of missionary etfort. At a recent meeting- of the Amer- 
 ican Board a lengthy discussion was held concerning the true 
 motive of missionary effort. While some held that the philan- 
 thropic idea is uppermost, and men hasten to distant lands, 
 zealously desiring above all to save their fellowmen. Others 
 again made prominent the ultimate end of all labor for souls, 
 the regeneration and conquest of the world. While there were 
 still otlu^rs who referred all their zeal and consecrated toil to 
 the i)romi)ting of tlie love of Christ. Now these three motives, 
 the two formei- jjroceeding from the last, have conjoined to 
 stimulate your beneficence. Every year you have laid aside a 
 g:oodly portion of your means, as God has prospered you for the 
 conversion of the world to Christ. Your contributions have 
 thus brought you into a living- and throbbing- union with mis- 
 sion fields. You have been deeply interested in all their suc- 
 cesses, and have felt yourselves to be co-laborers Avitli God. 
 Xor have other dei)artments of Christ's Kingdom escaped you. 
 The P.ible Society, Tract Society, Home Missions, Christian 
 Education, have systematically and regularly received your 
 
THE ADDRESS. 49 
 
 support. No call has been made on your inirses that has not 
 met Avith liberal response. 
 
 VI. Still further has piety in this community taken the 
 form of a strong and vigorous manhood. Orthodoxy does not 
 run men and women in one mould. Unity of doctrinal thought 
 leaves room for honest differences of opinion, which have been 
 discussed in public and private, in friendly gatherings from 
 house to house, and about the fire of the village store. "Many 
 men of many minds" are here. There is a strong individuality 
 of character. Never have I known personality so marked and 
 diverse as among these my old neighbors. Yet withal there 
 abounds a sterling honesty, unwavering integrity, outspoken 
 truth, self-sacrificing neighborliness, and loving brotherly kind- 
 ness. By their fruits ye shall know them, and these are the 
 fruits of the spirit. Especially has the power of the Gospel 
 been manifested that the nearer men came to the Church, and 
 the more they put themselves under its holy influences, the 
 grander has been the development of a noble type of manliness. 
 By the hand of christian men, has the banner of Truth, Tem- 
 perance and Reform been flung to the breeze. 
 
 As I come back to this pulpit, my friends, after an absence 
 of six years, I cannot but realize what you have felt in the 
 pains of sore bereavement, that many valued lives have been 
 lost to you. What a change has come over the face of this 
 congregation ! I look in vain among these wing pews on the 
 left for that faithful elder and beloved physician. Dr. Bushrod 
 Millsj^augh, who notwithstanding his extensive practice, always 
 found time for the Sabbath service. Over there also on the 
 left I miss the pleasant face of one of our most successful Sab- 
 bath School teachers, Mrs. Theron Sease. From the singer's 
 seat we no longer hear the sweet voice of the gentle maiden 
 who has joined the choir of angels in Heaven. From the neigh- 
 bors of the parsonage on the east and west, two families have 
 folded their tents and moved silently to the land whence no 
 traveller returns. * 
 
 And down this middle aisle it seems as if the reaper death 
 had been mowing a great swarth. All is here changed. Wib 
 
50 THE BRinc ciiuKCir. 
 
 liam Sliafer and wife were both teaeliers in the Sabbath School. 
 His sound judgment and her Jienial hosi)itality we all appre- 
 ciated and enjoyed. INIoses Mould and wife, suddenly called 
 away by that strange providence, "lovely and pleasant were 
 they in their lives, and in their death they were not divided." 
 Tlicre sat also David ^louhl, the patron and friend of the Tract 
 Society, as of every j;ood work; and next to him the sister, 
 whose poetic tliouiilits often led the people of God to higher 
 meditations. 1 seem to see her now standing, IMhk' in liand, 
 Itcfore that huge class of young ladies enchaining attention as 
 she expounded to them the mysteries of truth. One of the last 
 acts of my pastorate here was to lay in t]\e tomb of his fathers 
 my old friend and father in Israel, Daniel Uookstaver. 
 
 And when last I stood in this place, the Church was 
 thronged even as to-day while the noble form of Christo])her 
 J. ]\I()uld lay waiting for burial. In the experience of four con- 
 gregations, 1 have never met a grander specimen of earnest 
 manly piety. lie was ready in every emergency to help for- 
 ward every good work. He was known as the preacher's friend, 
 and the man who carri(Ml his heart in his hand and the Church 
 in his heart. "Do not i)ut me in consistory," he would some- 
 times say ; "I will work for the Church even if I am out of oftice." 
 To use his own homely tigure, he was a man whom you could 
 "harness every time." No matter who proposed a measure, if 
 a good one, he was ready to second it. If tlu're was no leader 
 ready he ste}>ped to the front. 
 
 As I think of tiiese losses, friends, sustained during these 
 few years, I often wonder how the Church is able to carry for- 
 ward its work without the men and women wlio have gone. 
 "The Fathers! where ;ire they ? And the Prophets ! do they 
 live forever?" And yet this is our comfort: "Instead of the 
 fathers shall be the children." It has ever been thus in the 
 history ol' the ("liurch. Though the most useful nu'jnbers of 
 society are taken away, (lod takes care of his work. An 
 eagl(^ flying in mid air drops a few feathers u])on the whirling 
 eddies, but he stops not in his course. Neither can the i>rogTess 
 of Truth cease, because lives which have given i( inijiulse 
 
THE ADDRESS. 51 
 
 cease on earth. From father to son, then, we stand ready to 
 hand down the lighted torch of the divine word. When one 
 light bearer falls let another seize nnd Avaye it triumphantly 
 on high. 
 
 I cannot close these desultory remarks Avithoiit contribut- 
 ing- a few personal reminiscences to the history of your Church. 
 
 How time flies ! I have been away from jMontgomery twice 
 as long as I was here. I remember well that hot and dusty 
 July day in the year 1873, when a wearied family left the cars 
 at Montgomery station, to find friendly carriages waiting to 
 take them home. Kever was tlie quiet beauty of the rivei-, 
 reflecting hills and woods, the waving g-rain almost ready for 
 luuvest, and the distant mountains solemn and grand, more re- 
 freshing, or more lieartily enjoyed. And when your liberality 
 brought the horse and buggy to our door, and liberty was 
 given to explore at will the nooks and corners of the wood- 
 land, happiness seemed complete. Your reception Avas replete 
 witli kindness; loaded tables were set as for the banquet of a 
 King, and the cheerful helpfulness of strong- arms was put 
 forth to bring' order out of chaos. 
 
 A fcAV other scenes are very vividly before me. Hoav we 
 enjoyed the first prayer meeting" ! With trembling hands Ave 
 "set the old room in order, and waited for you to come. You 
 came in large numbers. We had a precious season, the har- 
 l)inger of many more to folloAV. Then came the time for the 
 first session of the Sabbath School. We tried to meet in the 
 gallery, but soon were croAvded out into the larger space of the 
 ground floor. What pleasant entertainments we held at Christ- 
 mas, AA'hen the house was a boAver of green and resounded Avith 
 flashing crackers; Avhen the smokers were remembered Avith a 
 harmless cigar, and the merry laugh of childhood seemed to be 
 a carol of praise. We remember the throngs aaIio came Avith 
 their gifts to the parsonage at the annual donation; also the 
 great familv parties when tables fairlv groaned beneath the 
 Aveight of your good cheer. I haA^e not forgotten the catech- 
 umens AAdio waited for me at the school houses; nor the eager 
 attention of the older friends Avho attended our district preach- 
 
52 THE BRICK CHITHCII. 
 
 ]r\jX find prayer services. On one of the days of prayer for 
 Colleges and Schools, I visited every school in the cong-reg'a- 
 tion, to speak a few tliou<4htt"nl words to the children. From 
 these meetings hand to hand, and face to face, I always exi)ect- 
 ed resnltant g"ood. 
 
 AVe had m;niy a battle for Temperance also; sonn^times we 
 suffered defeat, but there was one day of victory when a mem- 
 ber of this Church withstood the enemy to his face, and won 
 from our Excise Board a decree of "No License." 
 
 Perliaps the most vivid impressions were made by the re- 
 vival services of my last winter. A few of us bowed with the 
 evangelist one afternoon in the Methodist Church; before his 
 visit closed we saw the Presbyterian Ciiurch crowded, and on 
 one evening every place of business closed that all mig'ht attend 
 to the soul's salvation. Then came the ingathering, when the 
 happy company of young and old stood up in this place to con- 
 fess their Savior, and be received into Church fellowship. Great 
 Avas tlie rejoicing- of that hour as united households of ransom- 
 ed si)irits sang- praises on earth, and gave the chord for the 
 angels' song on high. 
 
 Dearly beloved in the Lord, 1 congratulate yon on your 
 woitiiy rccoid. Praise God for your historic past, but go on to 
 acliirve nol)ler and grander things in the future. Remember 
 this is not now a .struggling Church, whose existeiu;e is in doubt, 
 wliosc life is ill i)eril. Your future is assured by the past. No 
 hand can fell you to earth, your roots take such deep hold on 
 the earth they cannot be torn away. The community expects 
 much of you; it has a rig-ht to its expectations; do not let any 
 be <lisai)i)ointed by your failures. 
 
 Voiiiig men and maidens are you taking tlie i)lace of your 
 elders, who cither have b(>en trarishited or must soon be caught 
 ujt to Heaven*:' As the world lias .so far advanced you ought 
 to do even better work than they. Do not hang- back reluctant 
 to t'liter the strife, but "i)ut on the whole ai'mor of (iod," and 
 "stand in the lot" where lie has ]>laced you. 
 
 The Chiiivh is built u)) like those grand old cathedrals, 
 whieii are the marvel of the worhl. Centuries aij-o were the 
 
THE ADDRESS. 53 
 
 foundations laid, and slowly does tlie massive pile approach 
 completion according to the master plan. Each age adds a 
 chapel, tower or spire. On gronnd plan as in every decoration 
 the cross stands forth, and when at last the ?ime has come for 
 the last stone, it also bears aloft, as it were a very key to un- 
 lock the gates of glory, the same symbol of our Savior's sacri- 
 fice. Eighteen centuries ago the Redeemer laid down his own 
 person, tried and true, as the corner stone of faith. Before his 
 life work ended he had added but the single tier of apostolic 
 life; day by day has progress been made; every generation has 
 built in its share of "lively stones;" the work in our hands 
 looks as yet only to further progress, but as we labor, let us 
 keep the plan of the Sacrifice before us and never depart from 
 the cross. If not in our day, at some time, will the caj)stone 
 be brought forth with "shoutings of grace, grace, unto it," while 
 choirs above and choirs below will join the ecstasy of praise. 
 
THE BKioK ciiruni. 
 
 -TIIE- 
 
 «^^«; ,3^1^ 
 
 Sermon on the Sabbath l^rxEK the ^^^nniveks aky. 
 
 T)V The Pasioij. Ye^-r d , -v^ »-»-> A *t5, 'oc\n 
 
 PSA1.M 45:10. — Instead of thy fathers shall he thy children rohom 
 thou may est make princes in all the earth. 
 
 Tlie Jew loved to tliink of the past, of liis noble ancestors 
 who had received the marked favor of God, of Abraham, Isaac 
 and Jacob, of Moses and Joshna, and in later days of David and 
 Holomon. In this Psalm the Sacred ]*oet has a vision of i^rc^ater 
 ,i;lor.v in the future than the past could boast; he sees a Kinf>- 
 whose righteous scepter shall hold universal and everlastini*- 
 sway. This Kinjj- is addressed in the text with the prediction 
 that his des(;endants shall be more illustrious than his ])rou;en- 
 itors. He, in his human nature, descended from a long line of 
 Heroes and Kings but he would make his spiritual seed piinces 
 not of a single nation, but in all the earth. 
 
 Tlje really great and good men are yet to come. The si)irit 
 of the text is, the future will be more glorious than the i)ast. 
 In this spirit let us gain inspiration from the past we have just 
 held ill review, that the future may be even better. 
 
 There is ii dangerous tendency to be content with the past, 
 to think all has been accomplished that can be or need be done. 
 This finds expression in the common saying, "The Son of a great 
 man seldom bcconu's a great man." Circumstances do not call 
 liis natural energies into exercise; there are no difhculties and 
 liardshi])S in his lot, such as his father struggled with and grew 
 strong in the strugghv lU'sidcs he may be content Avith the 
 renown, the s(»cial i»osition, and the affluence his father has 
 won. As with a young nnm, so with a nation. If she looks 
 l)ack for lier great nu'n and noble deeds, is content with pres- 
 ent prosperity, and has no ideals in the future, that nation is 
 on the eve of a decline. So with a Church. If our Cliurch 
 to-day glorying in her past and rejoicing in her present is con- 
 tent with these, the future will only need to write liei- epita])h. 
 
THE SERMON. 55 
 
 To counteract this tendency and secure the reverse, to he 
 fired into life rather than chilled into death, is our privilege. 
 The young- man may say: Let my life be worthy of such a great 
 and noble father. I have inherited not merely his possessions 
 and position, these are of comparatively little value. I have 
 inherited his qualities of mind and heart. I will show I am 
 my father's son by my character. He may go further and say: 
 1 start from the plain my father won, lifted high above his 
 starting place. Instruments and surroundings of education 
 and training- such as he did not possess are mine. To some de- 
 gree I have inherited his cultured powers. I may and will do 
 a grander work, win a nobler i)osition and a wider fame, be a 
 greater man than my father. So the fathers life becomes an 
 incentive to a still nobler life. This is ambition of a generous 
 kind. He may have a still nobler spirit. I have inherited tliis 
 character and these great advantages from mj^ father. They 
 are God's gifts to me through him. I am under obligation to 
 God to use them to their full extent in his service. There is 
 jnuch to be done for the good of mankind. God has richly en- 
 dowed me and calls me to the work. ]My true nobility is in 
 serving Him. 
 
 If our Church has this spirit to live worthily of our fathers, 
 to use our inheritance for still nobler deeds and grander work, 
 to see in all our gifts the calls of God to His service, and to en- 
 tirely consecrate all we have and are to Him — then however 
 glorious may have b^en the i)ast, the future will be still better. 
 
 There is one very stimulating lesson we may learn from our 
 fathers and those who with them settled this new country. They 
 sought freedom from oppression and a home for themselves and 
 the generations to follow them. They were men of faith, they 
 had i>lans and hopes for the future. But they could not have 
 foreseen that future which has become the present to us. This 
 beautiful valley, fringed witli its guardian mountains, a garden 
 of peace and i^lenty. The comfortable homes dotting the land- 
 scape; the many villa|:es strung upon the river like gems upon 
 a silver cord; the frequent school houses with their gToups of 
 children; the many churches with their multitudes of worship- 
 
56 THE BRICK CHrKCII. 
 
 ers. Tliey could not have foreseen tliis grand Eepublic, com- 
 posed of many prosperous States, stretcliing across a continent, 
 tlio homo of millions of the free, the admiration of the world. 
 They did not know where unto their work would grow. 
 
 There is the same hopeful facinating uncertainty about the 
 future to us to-day. Our fatheis ]danted the seed, we are cul- 
 tivating the sapling, the distant future alone will see the wide 
 spreading tree. We do not know where unto our work will 
 grow. But God knows. He has his designs. He calls us to 
 be faithful to present duty, to do the work he lays to our hands 
 as our fathers did theirs, he will make it apart of the grand 
 result; and so he cultivates our faith. Some day when our 
 minds and hearts are purified from the dross of sin, and enlarg- 
 ed and ennobled under his culture he will show us his bright 
 designs, reveal to us his glorious puri)oses. From his dealings 
 in the past, and from the prophecies we are able to read we 
 may know, even now, enough to thrill our souls with noble 
 hopes. Be ours the true nobility of being in harmony with the 
 righteous God, of faithfully performing present duty to Him 
 and to our fellowmen. 
 
 The circumstances of our lives are widely different from 
 those of our fathers, and in these changed circumstances we 
 see the calls of God to our work. P^ach church is no longer 
 merely local in her life and influence, through the agencies of 
 our liigh civilization she sends her living forces through the 
 land, even through the world. 
 
 Our Nation makes many calls upon us. There is danger 
 as well ;is hope in our great material prosperity. Immense 
 wealth brings power to selfish ambition, luxury to self-indulg- 
 ence. There is danger as well as hope in the energetic char- 
 acter of the i)e()i)le. We may tolerate i^etty Avrongs in private 
 and political affairs, being too busy and too good natured to 
 right them and so tending to acquiesce in wrong lose moral 
 tone from our character. There is danger as well as hope in 
 the fact that tlu^ constituent parts of our Nation are the strong 
 races of Nortlunn Europe. The vices as well as the virtues of 
 such races are strong. Their barbarism was a terrible thing, as 
 
THE SERMON. 57 
 
 their christian civilization is a noble thing'. Besides the em- 
 igrants to-day are no longer the choice of these races in moral 
 and religious character, coming solely to better material con- 
 ditions, very many of them are careless of religion, and some 
 are openly infidel and immoral. They are capable of being 
 made good citizens, capable also of becoming very bad citizens. 
 The need of our [N'atiou is the prevalence of moral principle, 
 righteousness in the sight of God. The Church is needed as 
 well as the school house. The call is for religious influeuces 
 and training. This Church has for years used, and should con- 
 tinue to use the Bible Society, the American Tract Society, our 
 owu Boards of Education and Domestic Missions, to reach with 
 religious influences our own Nation even to its most distant 
 bounds. 
 
 The world makes many calls upon us. The millions of 
 Asia worsliiping her many gods; Europe worshij)ing the true 
 God, but in many sections with great lack of knowledge; Africa 
 still the outcast of the nations; as well as the benighted parts 
 of our own Continent, all call upon us, and the glorious future 
 should cheer us, to put forth every effort that all tribes and na- 
 tions may hear the glad tidings of salvation, and unite with us 
 in the service and the praise of our God and His Clirlst. The 
 race is bound together now as never before. The Steamship, 
 the Telegraph, the Railroad, the Printing Press, are demon- 
 strating the brotherhood of man. We are citizens not merely 
 of this locality, but of the world. Our fathers led a restricted 
 life, they heard but rarely from the outside world, and could 
 influence it but little. Our advantages are greater, our duties 
 are wider. Happy are we to live in this day and in this land. 
 Married to our privileges are our responsibilities. The hum- 
 blest of us may know more to-day of science, of other people 
 and lands, of history, ancient and recent, than the most learned 
 of the most advanced races of the past; and he may have more 
 l)o\ver too, he may exert a wider influence through the agencies 
 at his hand. This doltar you have earned, it is yours, you may 
 spend it on some luxury or add it to your store for your heirs; 
 or you may with it, if you choose, send an educational or relig-. 
 
58 THE BRICK cnuKcn. 
 
 ions influence to the end of the Nation, to the very ends of the 
 earth. 
 
 After all the main influence of a Church as of an individual 
 must be at home, in our own community. And the Cliurcli 
 should touch and advance every interest of the community. 
 
 The material interests are to be fostered. The whole com- 
 munity should be more industrious, economical, self-controllin*;- 
 and wise in the use of iirosperity from the influence of the 
 Church upon it. Of course the poor should receive the best 
 lieli) christian wisdom and love can devise. 
 
 The educational interests have a strong- claim upon us. 
 We liave good school houses — though a few might be improved. 
 We should have in tliem all the best teachers good wages can 
 obtain. Better deny your children butter upon their bread 
 than a good teacher because of the cost. But there is no need 
 of such denial, it is simply a question between a few more dol- 
 lars left to your children when you die, and well trained and 
 richly stored minds secured to them now. The old Academy 
 which has conferred such inestimable beneflts upon this whole 
 community, and of which we all are so justly proud, still aft'ords 
 a tine oi>portunity for securing a liberal education for our 
 childien, and richly deserves our patronage. 
 
 The Church will exert a powerful influence in advancing 
 the moral interests of the community. Her life will ever man- 
 ifest itself in making good neighbors and good citizens. We 
 should never be indifl'ereut to our local or national politics; 
 we should regard our voting not so much as a i)rivilege or a 
 right as it is a duty. All our influence — unitedly — heartily — 
 should be cast against every vice, for every reform, for every 
 virtue. 
 
 But the religious interests of the community must ever lie 
 nearest tlie heart of the Church. As Michael Angelo said to 
 his student engaged on a diminutive picture: "Make your 
 heavens higher — your distances greater — your views wider." 
 So the Cliurch says to the community in which she dwells: 
 "Look u]), there is a God ! Honor llim ! Look beyond, there is 
 a Heaven of holv blessedness ! Live f<n' Eternitv !" 
 
THE SERMON. 59 
 
 The Church life will manifest itself in every household in 
 family religion. The family is the unit upon which the Church 
 is built. The children are to be instructed in the religion of 
 Christ, the text book is the Bible, the place is at the mother's 
 knee, the father's side. There were many advantages and some 
 disadvantages about the old method of Church instruction of 
 the cliildren instituted by Dr. Lee — the neighborhood catechet- 
 ical and Bible classes. There are many advantages and some 
 disadvantages about the new system of Sunday Schools, which 
 change of times and customs has brought about. But both 
 systems are alike dependent u^ion family instruction. The 
 Church can only direct and aid, never can take the place of 
 the father and the mother in the religious instruction of the 
 children. Faithfulness in family religion will make the future 
 glorious. As in the past and in the present, so may it ever be, 
 whole families coming up to the public worship of the Lord 
 in His sanctuary, the parents with their children. 
 
 All these calls are upon each individual to entire personal 
 consecration to Christ in His Church. Individuals are very 
 apt to leave to the general company the carrying on of the 
 cause, forgetting that the company is made up of themselves 
 and their fellows. The Church will go on, they say, we need 
 not exert ourselves. It will go on, because all are not of that 
 mind. It would go on far better if there were none of that 
 mind. 
 
 Let us then rightly value our j)ossessions centered in this 
 Church, that faithfully cherishing and using them, the Master 
 may call each one of us at last His "good and faithful servant." 
 The value of anything may be said to be Avliat it has cost. The 
 gold dollar has cost just that value in the toil, hardship and 
 danger of getting it from the mine. So your acre of cultivated 
 land is worth the cost of reclaiming it and its surroundings 
 from wildness. What is the value of our Church? It has 
 cost the hardships and dangers our fathers endured on the sea 
 and in the wilderness; their sufi'erings and heroic struggle for 
 religious freedom in Holland and Germany; the patient faith 
 that lived through the dark ages; the labors and perils of 
 
60 THE BRICK CHUKCn. 
 
 Apostles and Martyrs in the early spread of Christianity. What 
 precious value there is treasured in our CInircli which has cost 
 so much. ]\Iore, far more, than all this has it cost. It cost the 
 tears and groans and blood of our Savior, the agony in the gar- 
 den, the suifering and death upon the cross of the Son of God, 
 our Lord. 
 
 Some of you are growing old, you have borne the burdens 
 of the day and would like to rest. Is there nothing remaining 
 for you to give to Christ in His Church ? to Him who has done 
 so much for you ? You have much the young have not; the 
 wisdom from experience and ripened piety, to counsel and guide ; 
 the gathered influence and possessions of which you know the 
 value, to consecrate to Christ; and your prayers, prayers for the 
 Church you love, as the light from the opening Gates falls in 
 benediction upon your bowed heads. Is there anything too 
 precious to give to the Christ you hope so soon to meet? 
 
 Young men and women, what have you to give to your 
 Savior in His Church ? Much the aged have not, the hopeful 
 enthusiastic spirit of youth, the ardent <levotion of young- 
 hearts, the strong energies of young hands. The generous im- 
 l)ulses of your y()uth ten«ling ii> right directions will become 
 the controlling powers of your manhood. One by one the 
 fathers pass from us. God calls you to take their idaces and 
 carry on their work. What a glorious life you nmy lead, as the 
 servants of Christ. How your lives may abound with elevat- 
 ing and ennobling influences that shall tell for the good of 
 your fellow men in time and in eternity. You may be princes 
 in the earth, your brows not crowned with anything so mean as 
 an earthly diadem, but with heavenly glories, princes not of 
 earthly position but of inward character,^ true ininces in the 
 sight of (iod. Then your whole life si)ent in the service of 
 Christ will leave on earth a monument of inyi)erishable worth, 
 and secure to you before the Throne the glad welcome, "Well 
 done," which will fill your eteriuil fi,iture with glorious blesvsed- 
 ness. 
 
LIST OF MINISTERS AND PEW HOLDERS. 
 
 01 
 
 IIIeMBKKS who AaVZ fiNTEKEB THE miNISTKY. 
 
 Daniel Comfort, . . . . 
 
 Jacob 0. Sears, 
 
 William Younoblood, (Missionary to Borneo,) 
 
 Robert Pitts, 
 
 Alexander C. Millspaugh, . . . . 
 
 Jacob Bookstaver, 
 
 Samuel Bookstaver Bell, . . . . 
 Lawrence L. Comfort, - - - - 
 Milton B. Comfort, (Missionary to India,) 
 A. Augustus Bookstaver, .... 
 Jesse F. Shafek, 
 
 Ordained in 1811 
 1824 
 1835 
 1841 
 1841 
 1842 
 1850 
 1851 
 1868- 
 1870 
 1878 
 
 cL^s—ie-^^'^^S'^j^s 
 
 AsT or few ^K'OLDEKS. 
 
 Asliby, Robert 
 Andrews, Xeliemiali 
 Asliton, James M. 
 Bookstaver, Abner 
 Bookstaver, Alan son 
 Bookstaver, John 
 Bookstaver, Milton 
 Blakley, William H. 
 Bodine, Adam I. 
 Bodine, ]\[rs. Elmer 
 Bergen, Henry 
 Brown, George 
 Crist, Mrs. Lewis 
 Carvey, John 
 Crans, Albert 
 Crans, Alfred 
 Comfort, Samuel A. 
 Comfort, Alonzo 
 
 Comfort, D. H. 
 Crawford, J. .7. 
 Clum, Albert 
 Cox, Oliver 
 Decker, William P. 
 Decker, John J. 
 Decker, James 
 Decker, Abner 
 Decker, Francis C. 
 Decker, John 
 Decker, Joseph 
 Dusenberry, John B. 
 Gillespie, Renwick 
 Higby, Mrs. J. L. 
 Hasbronck, W. E. 
 Johnston, B. B. 
 Luquer, Abraham 
 Low, Daniel 
 
62 
 
 THE BRICK CHrECn. 
 
 LaFonntiiiii, Alex. 
 Mould, .loliii 
 ]\Ioul(l, John D. 
 IVIould, William S. 
 Mould, Chiistoidier P. 
 Mould, Joliu I). 
 :Mould, Mrs. C. J. 
 AFould, Daniel 
 Mould, John G. 
 Mould, ,losse F. 
 Miller, John G. 
 McXeal, William 
 Millspauiii'h, Raehael 
 .MoiTison, floiiathan M. 
 jAIowbray, Ivaljdi E. 
 Mowbray, Jiee A. 
 IVIcGarr, James 
 Newkirk, Sarah F. 
 Xewkirk, Henry V. 
 Pitts, Mrs. Geor^-e A. 
 Quackeubos, N. I. 
 Ka])alje, Stephen 
 Kocdvafellow, William 
 lio(dval"ello\v, Mrs. Angeline 
 Koat, :\Irs. Sarah 
 Koat, Mrs. David 
 Keeve, J. M. 
 Itowe, Matthew, 
 Jtumi)h, James 11. 
 Kum]»h, Isaac 0. 
 Humph, James H. 
 Kedeker, John S. 
 liiley, Fiaiicis E. 
 Sparks, Charles H. 
 Sears, Charles A. 
 Sears, Samuel S. 
 
 Smith, Miss Hr.rriei:te 
 Smith, Zenas 
 Smith, James 
 Smith, Niel T. 
 Smith, Edi^-ar 
 Sears, William S. 
 Sears, 1). Smith 
 Sears, Charles 
 Sears, Theodore 
 Sinsabauo-h, Robert P. L. 
 Sanns, Samuel X. 
 Shaler, Abuer 
 Shafer, John S. 
 Shafer, John D. 
 Shafer, Jacob Y. 
 Shafer, Mrs. John D. 
 Shafer, Miss Susan A. 
 Smiley, Andrew H. 
 Sease, Theron 
 Sease, John H. 
 Sease, Henry 
 Samuels, Richard 
 Tears, George 
 Van Alst, Charles J. 
 Van Alst, Ebenezer 
 Van Alst, Daniel 
 Vande water, John 
 Van Kleeck, James 
 Van Kleeck, Levi L. 
 Wilkin, Mrs. Ann M. 
 Wilkin, Joseph M. 
 Weller, ]\Iiss Effie 
 Wintield, Lester 
 ^^'ood, ]\Irs. Jonas 
 Wallace, A. T. 
 youngblood, Jacob B. 
 
ROLL OF MEMBERS. 
 
 63 
 
 ^gOLL or ^EMBERS. 
 
 Anderson, Mrs. Elizabeth Mould 
 
 Andrews, Mrs. Sarah Crist 
 
 Andrews, Mary 
 
 Andrews, Erastus D. 
 
 Archibald, Jemima 
 
 Asliby, Robert 
 
 Ashby, Sarah Maria 
 
 Ashton, James M 
 
 Ashton, Mrs. Elsie Cox 
 
 Bergen, Henry 
 
 Bartolf, Mrs. WiHempie 
 
 13oice, Judson A. 
 
 Boiee, Mrs Christina Rump 
 
 Blakley, William Hamilton 
 
 Blakley, Mrs. Ellen Hall 
 
 Bodine, Mrs. Ann 
 
 Bodine, IMrs. Malinda Youngblood 
 
 Bodine, Adam I. 
 
 Bodine, Sarah Ann 
 
 Bodine, Mrs. Louisa Blake 
 
 Bodine, Warren 
 
 Bodine, Elizabeth 
 
 Bodine, Louisa 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Elizabeth B. 
 
 Bookstaver, JMrs. Nancy Sears 
 
 Bookstaver, Alanson 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Mary Barclay 
 
 Bookstaver, Daniel Jr., 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Lavina Corkey 
 
 Bookstaver, Milton 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Emily Sease 
 
 Bookstaver, Lewis 
 
 Bookstaver, John M. 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Emma Vanderlyn 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Rachel Sears 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Letty Weller 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Anna Mould 
 
 Bookstaver, William 
 
 Bookstaver, Agnes B. 
 
 Bookstaver, Isabella E. 
 
 Bookstaver, Adelia % 
 
 Bookstaver, George E. . 
 
 Bookstaver, Mi"s. Mary Lawson 
 
 Bookstaver, Carrie 
 
 Bookstaver, John 
 
 Bookstaver, Mrs. Pha'be Lynch 
 
 Bookstaver, Phedora M. 
 
 Brooks, Mrs. Martha Wait 
 
 Brown, Louis T. 
 
 Brown, Mrs. Delia Mould 
 
 Brown, Mrs. Rachel Newkirk 
 
 Barclay, Nancy 
 
 Bull, Mrs. Harriet Low 
 
 Barrert, Carrie IL 
 
 Burnett, Mrs. Mary Van Alst 
 
 Cameron, Mrs. Jane Bodine 
 
 Carvey, Mrs. Sophia 
 
 Carvej , Daniel C. 
 
 Carvey, Mrs. Jane Sears 
 
 Chambers, Mrs. Maggie Rhinehart 
 
 Charlock, Wilbur F. 
 
 Clayton, Mrs. Ellen Mould 
 
 Clearwater, Mrs. Catharine Comfort 
 
 Clum, Albert 
 
 Clum, Mrs. Mary Hanmer 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Mary Rockafellow 
 
 Comfort, Harvey D. 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Mary Shafer 
 
 Comfort, Samuel Augustus 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Sarah Youngblood 
 
 Comfort, Fannie J. 
 
 Comfort, Alonzo 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Mary Bookstaver 
 
 Comfort, Eve Ann 
 
 Comfort, Andrew 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Rachel 
 
 Comfort, Reeve 
 
 Comfort, Mrs. Clarissa LaFountain 
 
 Couch, Mrs. Elizabeth Smith 
 
 Copley, Mrs. Nancy Crist 
 
 Cleans, Albert 
 
 Crans, Mrs. Maria Mould 
 
 Crans, Libbie L. 
 
 Crans, Hermon 
 
 Crans, Mrs. Ruth Galloway 
 
 Crans, Mrs. Mary C. 
 
 Crans, John C 
 
 Crans, Mrs. Anna Sanns 
 
64 
 
 THE BKICK CHUECn. 
 
 Crans, Alfred 
 
 Haines, IVIrs. Margaret Low 
 
 Crans, Mi-s. Mary Einbler 
 
 Hall, Hannah E. 
 
 Crans, Wickliain 
 
 Hall. Margaret'j. 
 
 Crawford Mrs. Catharine Bookstaver 
 
 Ilulse, Mrs. Susan Shafer 
 
 Crawford, Anjiustus 
 
 Hulse, Charlotte A. 
 
 Crawford, Mary I. 
 
 Hunter, Mrs. Maria Mould 
 
 Crawford, Mrs. Sarah Smiley 
 
 Jackson, Mrs. Sarah 
 
 Crawford, Mrs. M. Emma Sease 
 
 Jennings, Mrs. Phoebe Lay 
 
 Crist, ]\rrs. Catharine Millspangh 
 
 Johnston, Benjamin B. 
 
 Crist, Mrs. Melinda Comfort 
 
 Johnston, Mrs. Mary E. Waring 
 
 Crist, Mrs. Annie Comfort 
 
 Johnston, Minnie L. 
 
 Crist, Ellen E. 
 
 Jewell, Catharine 
 
 Decker, Mrs. lliran) 
 
 LaFountain, Alexander 
 
 Decker, WiUiam P. 
 
 LaFountain, Mrs. Ann Decker 
 
 Decker, Mrs. Eliza Bookstaver 
 
 LaFountain, Emeline 
 
 Decker, Mrs. Maria Dickerson 
 
 LaFountain, Mary C. 
 
 Decker, Francis C. 
 
 LaFountain, Caroline 
 
 Decker, James 
 
 LaFountain, Alexander Jr., 
 
 Decker, Mary P. 
 
 Lare, John Theion 
 
 Decker, Mrs. Rebecca Rhinehart 
 
 Lawson, Elias 
 
 Decker, Mrs. Mary Sears 
 
 Low, Mrs. Rachel Dunning 
 
 Decker, Mrs. Mary Ella 
 
 Low, Daniel 
 
 Decker, Sarah Francis 
 
 Lupton, Mrs. Ellen Clearwater 
 
 Dusenberry, Mrs. Ruth iSmiley 
 
 Lupton, Evelyn 
 
 Du sen berry, John B. 
 
 Lupton, Alice 
 
 Embler, Mrs. Maria Ashby 
 
 Madden, Eliza 
 
 Embler, Ada 
 
 Mapes, Robert M. 
 
 Felter, Sarah Catharine 
 
 Ma pes, Daniel S. 
 
 Forbes, John 
 
 Mtipes. Mrs. Ann Crans 
 
 Fowler, Mrs. Sarah Shafer 
 
 Meddler, Jane 
 
 Fritz, John 
 
 Mennen, Hugh 
 
 Fritz, Mrs. Ann Selileyer 
 
 Mennen, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 
 Gillespie, Ren wick 
 
 McGarr, James 
 
 (jillespie, Mrs. CaroUne Snuth 
 
 McGarr, Mm. Margaret Kelly 
 
 Gillespie. William II. 
 
 McGarr, John K. 
 
 Gillespie, George 
 
 McGarr, Lizzie .J/. 
 
 Gunsolas, Martha Ann 
 
 .Mc.Monagle, William A. 
 
 llait;ht, Ilattie S. E. 
 
 .Mc.MonaLcle, Mrs. Adeline Smiley 
 
 Hammond, Mrs. Matilda Crist 
 
 McNeal, William 
 
 iianlon, .Mrs. Pho'be Shafer 
 
 .McNeai, Mrs. Sarah Brown 
 
 llasbrouck. Wilhehnus E. 
 
 .Miller, Mrs. Mary Rumph 
 
 Ilashrouik .Mrs Mar-iaietVunlderstine 
 
 .Miller, Mrs. Maria Alexiinder 
 
 llasbrouck, Charles D. 
 
 Miller, Margaret J. 
 
 lligby, Mrs. Sarah Roat 
 
 Miller, Mrs. Julia Rockafellow 
 
 lligby, Robert P. L. 
 
 Miller, Mrs. J. W. 
 
 lligby, Mrs. Harriet Corwin 
 
 Miller, Mary 
 
 Iligby, Sarali Francis 
 
 Miller, Charles II. 
 
 lligby, Robert Lee 
 
 Miller, Mrs. Helen Wallace 
 
 llinoult, Mrs. Sarah Williams 
 
 Miller, Frank 
 
 llinouit, Mis- Lucilla Bookstaver 
 
 Millspaugh, Josephine 
 

 ROLL OF 
 
 MEMBERS. 65 
 
 IMillppau^li, Rachel 
 
 Newkirk, Mrs. Eve Shafer 
 
 Millspaugh, Mary E. 
 
 Newkirk, Moses N. 
 
 Millspaugh, Rachel D. 
 
 Newkirk, Sarah Francis 
 
 Millspaugh, Jane B. 
 
 Norris, Fannie K. 
 
 Millspaiigh. Mrs. Sarah Beattie 
 
 Norris, William M. 
 
 Morrison, Jonathan M. 
 
 Norris. Samuel Gilbert 
 
 Morrison, Mrs. Margaret Winfield 
 
 Ostrander, Jacob 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Catharine 
 
 Owen, Mrs. Lizzie Millspaugh 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Mary 
 
 Pierson, Mrs. Mary Mould 
 
 Mould, 
 
 iNIrs. Ehnira 
 
 Pitts, Emily 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Mary Rowe 
 
 Pitts, Mrs. Sarah Dusenberry 
 
 Mould, 
 
 John 
 
 Puff, Charles 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Emily Douglas 
 
 Puff, Esther Cecelia 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Christopher P. 
 
 Puff, Mrs. Elizabeth Mackinson 
 
 Mould, 
 
 ^Ijs. Sarah Eager, 
 
 Puff, Mrs. Jane V. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Martha Bull 
 
 Quackenbos, John M. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Lemma 
 
 Quackenbos, Nicholas I. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Van Voorhis 
 
 Quackenbos, Mrs. Catharine Mould 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Daniel 
 
 Randolph, Mrs. Jennie Bookstaver 
 
 Mould. 
 
 Jesse F. 
 
 Rapalje, Mrs. Leonora Weller 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Helen Vail 
 
 Redeker, John V. S. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mary 
 
 Redeker, Mrs. Mary Cronk 
 
 Mould, 
 
 William S. 
 
 Reeve, J. Mortimer 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Uannah Conning 
 
 Reeve, Mis. Fannie L. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Ida 
 
 Reeve, Charlotte Y. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 John C. 
 
 Riley, Francis E. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Sherman 
 
 Riley, Mrs. Mary Bookstaver 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Catharine Rowena 
 
 Riley, Elizabeth 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Sarah 
 
 Richardson, Mary 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Joseph C. 
 
 Rhinehart, Mrs. Effie Alexander 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Anna Wallace 
 
 Rhinehart, Mrs. Sarah Youngblood 
 
 Mould, 
 
 John B. 
 
 Roat, Mrs. Sarah Zagger 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Emily Youngblood, 
 
 Roat, Mrs. Katie Shorter 
 
 Mould, 
 
 John D. 
 
 Roat, Sarah P. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Mary Van Alst 
 
 Robinson, Hancel 
 
 Mould. 
 
 Eh'zabeth 
 
 Robinson, Mrs. Margaret 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Maria Morrison 
 
 Rockafellow, Mrs. Pricilla Newldrk 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mary 
 
 Rockafellow, Mrs. Angehna Weller 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Alice T. 
 
 Rockafellow, Wickam 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Isaac W. 
 
 Rockafellow, Sarah E. 
 
 Mould, 
 
 JNlary Anna 
 
 Rockafellow, Mrs. Elizabeth Ellis 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Mrs. Louisa Lawrence 
 
 Rockafellow, William 
 
 Mould, 
 
 :\Iilton B. 
 
 Rockafellow, Mrs. Mary Smith 
 
 Mould, 
 
 Charles Everett 
 
 Rockafellow, Mary Emma 
 
 Mowbray, Ralph E. 
 
 Rogers, Sarah Ann 
 
 Mowbr 
 
 ay, Mrs. Sarah Smiley 
 
 Rowe, Ellen 
 
 Mowbray, Agnes E. % 
 
 Rowe, Matthew 
 
 Mowbray, Mrs. Clara Sanns 
 
 Rowe, Mrs. Eveline Clineman 
 
 Mowbr 
 
 ay, Mrs. Matilda Hawkins 
 
 Rowe, Thomas C. 
 
 Newkirk, Mrs. Catharine Bodine 
 
 Rowe, Moses B. 
 
66 
 
 THE BRICK CHUKCH. 
 
 Rowe, Mi-s. Estella Campbell 
 
 Itowe, George 
 
 Ruiiiph, James Russel 
 
 Rumph, INIrs. Elizabeth Martin 
 
 Ruiiiijh, Mrs. (Jlarissa Crans 
 
 Ruuiph, Marcus E. 
 
 Ruuiph, Mrs. Amanda Sinsabaugh 
 
 Kumph, Jane E. 
 
 Rumph, Sarah E. 
 
 Rumph, James Harvey 
 
 Rumph, Mrs. Mary Radfield 
 
 Sammons, Mrs. Elizabeth G. 
 
 Sanns, Samuel N. 
 
 Sanns, George 
 
 ScheiK'k, Mrs. Abigail Vanderveer. 
 
 Sc-henclt, Mrs. Ellie llaring 
 
 Bchlejer, Mrs. Catharine 
 
 Hcott, Mrs. Caroline Sehleyer 
 
 Scott, Ira 
 
 Bears, Mrs. Elizabeth Comfort 
 
 Sears, Mrs. Elizabeth 
 
 Sears, Samuel S. 
 
 Sears, Mrs. Melissa Van Keuren 
 
 Sears, Theodore 
 
 Sears, Mrs. Harriet Sherman 
 
 Sears, William Sewall 
 
 Seal's, Daniel Smith 
 
 Sears, Mrs. Harriet Bookstaver 
 
 Sears, Samuel B. 
 
 Sears, Annie C. 
 
 Sears, Charles A. 
 
 Sease, Henry 
 
 Sease, Emeline 
 
 Sease, J. Theron 
 
 Sease, Hattie A. 
 
 Sease, Mrs. Helen Stone 
 
 Sebring, Mrs. Julia 
 
 Senior, .Mrs. Lucinda Sears 
 
 Shafer, Mrs. llarzilah Bookstaver 
 
 Shafer, Ann 
 
 Sliafer, .larub V. 
 
 Shafer, .Mrs. Hilah Hhike 
 
 Shafer, Susan A. 
 
 Shafer, Mary (Catharine 
 
 Sliafer, Mrs. Eiiiily Sliafer 
 
 Shafer, .Mrs. Ph(i>be Comfort 
 
 Shafer, Mrs. Maria Comfort 
 
 Sliafer, John 1). 
 
 Shafer, Adeline 
 
 Shafer, Daniel 1. 
 
 Sliafer, Mary E. 
 
 Shafer, Abner 
 
 Shafer, Mrs. Cliarlotte Morris 
 
 Shafer, Anna 
 Shafer, Julia 
 Shafer, Joseph M. 
 Shafer, John 
 Sinsabaugh, Sally Ann 
 Sinsabaugh, Robert P. L. 
 Sinsabaugh, Mrs. E. Vanderlyn 
 Sinsabaugh, Eliza 
 Smiley, Andrew H. 
 Smiley, Mrs. Catharine Comfort 
 Smith, Mrs. Jane E. Bookstaver 
 Smith, Mrs. Susan Linebergh 
 Smith, Mrs. Lida Rapalje 
 Smith, Zenas 
 Smith, Maria 
 Smith, Harriet 
 Suydam, Mrs. Anna Van Alst 
 Tears, George 
 Townsend, William 
 Van Alst, Ebenezer, 
 Van Alst, Mrs. Eve .Mould 
 Van Alst. Daniel 
 Van Alst, Mrs. Adelade Miller, 
 Van Alst, Charles J. 
 Van Alst, Mrs. Harriet Deiker 
 Van Alst. Ella 
 Van Alst, George 
 
 V^anderlyn, Mrs. Elizabeth Newkirk 
 Vance, Alexander M. 
 Vance, Mrs. Elizabeth Karney 
 Van Voorhis, Mrs. Catharine Hart 
 Walker, Mrs. Mary Crans 
 Wallace, Andrew T. 
 Wallace, Mrs. Hannah Knapp 
 Weller, Elizabeth 
 Weller, Marv Elizabeth 
 Weller, Mrs." Elizabeth Newkirk 
 Weller, Effie Ann 
 Weller, Harvey 
 Weller, William J. 
 Wilkin, Mrs. Ann Maria Millspaugh 
 Wilkin, Mrs. Catharine Copley 
 I Wilson, Eliza Jane 
 ; Win field, J^ester 
 Winlield, Mrs. Mary Johnston 
 Wood, .Mrs. Mary Bookstaver 
 I Wood, Charles S. 
 Wood, Mary Friiucis 
 Wright, Mrs. Augustus Sears 
 Young, Mrs. 
 
 Voungblood, Mrs. Sarah Dickerson 
 Youngblood, Mrs. Martha Bush 
 Voungblood, Jacob B. 
 

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 The celebration of the one hundred and 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
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